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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 2084.73, 2041.20, 2173.40, 2320.42, 2443.64, 2304.98, 2202.42, 2038.87, 2155.80, 2255.61, 2175.47, 2286.41, 2407.88, 2488.55, 2515.35, 2511.81, 2686.81, 2863.20, 2732.16, 2805.62, 2823.81, 2947.71, 2958.11, 2659.63, 2717.02, 2506.37, 2464.58, 2518.56, 2655.88, 2548.29, 2589.60, 2721.79, 2689.10, 2705.41, 2744.91, 2608.72, 2589.41, 2478.45, 2552.45, 2574.79, 2539.32, 2480.84, 2434.55, 2506.47, 2564.06, 2601.64, 2601.99, 2608.56, 2518.66, 2571.34, 2518.44, 2372.56, 2337.79, 2398.84, 2357.90, 2233.34, 1998.86, 1929.82, 2228.41, 2318.88, 2273.43, 2817.60, 2667.76, 2810.12, 2730.40, 2754.86, 2576.48, 2529.45, 2671.78, 2809.01, 2726.45, 2757.18, 2875.34, 2718.26, 2710.67, 2804.73, 2895.89, 3252.91, 3213.94, 3378.94, 3419.94, 3342.47, 3381.28, 3650.62, 3884.71, 4073.26, 4325.13, 4181.93, 4376.63, 4331.69.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2017-08-17]
Volume: 2553359872, RSI (14-day): 76.23, 50-day EMA: 3059.38, 200-day EMA: 2110.40
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1286.40, Gold RSI: 64.29
Oil Price: 47.09, Oil RSI: 45.21
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
What is bitcoin, how does it work and what affects its price?: Bitcoin - Bloomberg News Few technologies have the ability to stir passionate online debate and baffle the vast majority of the population as bitcoin . The virtual currency has been a constant source of interest and confusion since it thrust itself into the mainstream more than five years ago. But interest in bitcoin is now greater than ever. Its value has soared to above $4,000, a new high point, turning some people who hoarded vast amounts early on into millionaires. But why? Is bitcoin the future of currency? Is it currency at all? What is it for? And should I buy some? Read on to have your questions answered. What is bitcoin? Bitcoin is a digital currency created in 2009 that uses decentralised technology for secure payments and storing money that doesn't require banks or people's names. It was announced on an email circular as a way to liberate money in a similar way to how the internet made information free. FAQ | Bitcoin How does it work? Bitcoin works on a public ledger called blockchain, which holds a decentralised record of all transactions that is updated and held by all users of the network. To create bitcoins, users must generate blocks on the network. Each block is created cryptographically by harnessing users' computer power and is then added to the blockchain, letting users earn by keeping the network running. A limit for how many bitcoins can be created is built into the system so the value can't be diluted. The maximum amount is just under 21 million bitcoin. There are currently 15 million in circulation, each of which was worth more than $4,000 ($3,080) at the time of writing. What affects its price? The price of a bitcoin has jumped up and down since it first entered the mainstream consciousness in 2013. That year prices rose by almost 10,000 per cent before the collapse of Mt Gox, the biggest online bitcoin exchange, sent it crashing. Prices slowly crept up after that but have since surged again. This is largely put down to regulators appearing to warm to bitcoin and the rise of initial coin offerings - a way for projects to raise money by selling cryptographic tokens similar to bitcoins. Many sceptics believe we are in the middle of a new bitcoin bubble while advocates say we are just beginning to see the rise of bitcoin. Story continues Who is Satoshi Nakamoto? Satoshi Nakamoto is the mysterious creator of bitcoin and blockchain. Despite countless attempts to unmask the person or people behind the name, their identity has remained elusive. There have been numerous unsuccessful attempts by journalists to reveal the bitcoin founder. In a high-profile incident in 2014, Newsweek magazine relaunched with a feature outing Dorian Nakamoto, a 64-year-old Japanese-American man, as the creator. The affair, having fallen apart under scrutiny, ended with a car chase and the real Nakamoto refuting the allegations. Australian computer scientist Craig Wright claimed he was Satoshi Nakamoto last year Credit: PA The most recent candidate was Craig Wright, a former Australian academic, who claimed to be the bitcoin inventor. Wright wrote blog posts and gave interviews to Wired, BBC and the Economist in 2015 and 2016 saying he was behind bitcoin. After failing to provide unquestionable proof, Wright posted an apology message that said: "I believed that I could put the years of anonymity and hiding behind me. But, as the events of this week unfolded and I prepared to publish the proof of access to the earliest keys, I broke. I do not have the courage. I cannot." How many people use bitcoin? There are as many as 5.8 million users that have cryptocurrency wallets, according to research from the University of Cambridge, the majority of whom use bitcoin. What is it used for? Bitcoin is has a range of uses, including funding companies, investing cash and transferring money without fees. It is commonly associated with criminal activity such as drug dealing, cyber crime and money laundering, since it can be near-impossible to tie a bitcoin wallet to any one individual. Bitcoin can be spent online and at select retailers in the UK. They include CEX stores, Dell's website, Your Sushi restaurants, and some pubs. A full list of online and offline businesses that accept bitcoin is available here . They can also be withdrawn at a couple of dozen bitcoin ATMs, which can be found here . Others simply hold their bitcoins, hoping they will accumulate in value and prove to be a lucrative investment. Its price is notoriously volatile, and early investors are now sitting on massive gains. Should I invest in bitcoin? Bitcoin is safeguarded against fraud and theft through independent and decentralised set up, as well as being free from transaction fees. It has also given great returns to some investors, with the price jumping from a few dollars at the beginning of 2013 to $1,100 by November. People who invested £2,000 five years ago would now be millionaires. After a few level years, its dollar price soared again this year , and it has peaked at around $4,200. But the price has also dropped in the past and left people out of pocket . Back in May it fell by $400 in a day. || What is bitcoin, how does it work and what affects its price?: Bitcoin - Bloomberg News Few technologies have the ability to stir passionate online debate and baffle the vast majority of the population as bitcoin . The virtual currency has been a constant source of interest and confusion since it thrust itself into the mainstream more than five years ago. But interest in bitcoin is now greater than ever. Its value has soared to above $4,000, a new high point, turning some people who hoarded vast amounts early on into millionaires. But why? Is bitcoin the future of currency? Is it currency at all? What is it for? And should I buy some? Read on to have your questions answered. What is bitcoin? Bitcoin is a digital currency created in 2009 that uses decentralised technology for secure payments and storing money that doesn't require banks or people's names. It was announced on an email circular as a way to liberate money in a similar way to how the internet made information free. FAQ | Bitcoin How does it work? Bitcoin works on a public ledger called blockchain, which holds a decentralised record of all transactions that is updated and held by all users of the network. To create bitcoins, users must generate blocks on the network. Each block is created cryptographically by harnessing users' computer power and is then added to the blockchain, letting users earn by keeping the network running. A limit for how many bitcoins can be created is built into the system so the value can't be diluted. The maximum amount is just under 21 million bitcoin. There are currently 15 million in circulation, each of which was worth more than $4,000 ($3,080) at the time of writing. What affects its price? The price of a bitcoin has jumped up and down since it first entered the mainstream consciousness in 2013. That year prices rose by almost 10,000 per cent before the collapse of Mt Gox, the biggest online bitcoin exchange, sent it crashing. Prices slowly crept up after that but have since surged again. This is largely put down to regulators appearing to warm to bitcoin and the rise of initial coin offerings - a way for projects to raise money by selling cryptographic tokens similar to bitcoins. Many sceptics believe we are in the middle of a new bitcoin bubble while advocates say we are just beginning to see the rise of bitcoin. Story continues Who is Satoshi Nakamoto? Satoshi Nakamoto is the mysterious creator of bitcoin and blockchain. Despite countless attempts to unmask the person or people behind the name, their identity has remained elusive. There have been numerous unsuccessful attempts by journalists to reveal the bitcoin founder. In a high-profile incident in 2014, Newsweek magazine relaunched with a feature outing Dorian Nakamoto, a 64-year-old Japanese-American man, as the creator. The affair, having fallen apart under scrutiny, ended with a car chase and the real Nakamoto refuting the allegations. Australian computer scientist Craig Wright claimed he was Satoshi Nakamoto last year Credit: PA The most recent candidate was Craig Wright, a former Australian academic, who claimed to be the bitcoin inventor. Wright wrote blog posts and gave interviews to Wired, BBC and the Economist in 2015 and 2016 saying he was behind bitcoin. After failing to provide unquestionable proof, Wright posted an apology message that said: "I believed that I could put the years of anonymity and hiding behind me. But, as the events of this week unfolded and I prepared to publish the proof of access to the earliest keys, I broke. I do not have the courage. I cannot." How many people use bitcoin? There are as many as 5.8 million users that have cryptocurrency wallets, according to research from the University of Cambridge, the majority of whom use bitcoin. What is it used for? Bitcoin is has a range of uses, including funding companies, investing cash and transferring money without fees. It is commonly associated with criminal activity such as drug dealing, cyber crime and money laundering, since it can be near-impossible to tie a bitcoin wallet to any one individual. Bitcoin can be spent online and at select retailers in the UK. They include CEX stores, Dell's website, Your Sushi restaurants, and some pubs. A full list of online and offline businesses that accept bitcoin is available here . They can also be withdrawn at a couple of dozen bitcoin ATMs, which can be found here . Others simply hold their bitcoins, hoping they will accumulate in value and prove to be a lucrative investment. Its price is notoriously volatile, and early investors are now sitting on massive gains. Should I invest in bitcoin? Bitcoin is safeguarded against fraud and theft through independent and decentralised set up, as well as being free from transaction fees. It has also given great returns to some investors, with the price jumping from a few dollars at the beginning of 2013 to $1,100 by November. People who invested £2,000 five years ago would now be millionaires. After a few level years, its dollar price soared again this year , and it has peaked at around $4,200. But the price has also dropped in the past and left people out of pocket . Back in May it fell by $400 in a day. || Dollar index holds steady ahead of Fed meeting minutes: Dollar little changed vs. rivals with FOMC meeting minutes on tap Investing.com - The dollar remained broadly higher against the other major currencies on Wednesday, as tensions between the U.S. and North Korea continued to ease and as markets were eyeing the release of U.S. data later in the day. The greenback strengthened broadly after data on Tuesday showed that U.S. retail sales rose at a faster than expected rate in July . A separate report showed that the Empire State manufacturing index climbed to 25.20 in August from 9.80 the previous month, blowing past expectations for a reading of 10.00. It was the highest level since September 2014. Market participants were looking ahead to U.S. reports on building permits and housing starts, due later in the day, as well as the minutes of the Fed’s most recent policy meeting for indications on another potential rate hike this year. EUR/USD was little changed at 1.1732. The euro initially dropped following reports European Central Bank President Mario Draghi will not deliver any fresh monetary policy message at the U.S. Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole conference. The report tempered expectations that the ECB is moving closer to announcing plans to scale back its monetary stimulus program. But sentiment on the single currency improved after preliminary data showed that the euro zone economy grew at a faster rate that expected in the second quarter . The pound moved higher, with GBP/USD up 0.19% at 1.2895, off a one-month trough of 1.2843 hit overnight. Demand for sterling was boosted after official data earlier showed that the U.K. jobless rate unexpectedly dropped in June while wage inflation registered a stronger-than-expected increase Elsewhere, USD/JPY rose 0.24% to 110.92, the highest since August 4, while USD/CHF held steady at 0.9732. Demand for the safe-haven assets continued to weaken since North Korea said on Tuesday it had delayed a decision on a plan to fire missiles at the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam while it watches U.S. actions a little longer. Story continues The Australian and New Zealand dollars were stronger, with AUD/USD up 0.49% at 0.7860 and with NZD/USD adding 0.17% to 0.7250. Meanwhile, USD/CAD slipped 0.16% to trade at 1.2737, just off Tuesday’s one-month peak of 1.2778. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 93.77, close to Tuesday’s three-week high of 94.04. Related Articles Bitcoin holding above $4,000 after pulling back from record highs Forex - Sterling higher after UK jobs, wage data Forex - Euro falls to days lows as ECB tapering expectations dim || Dollar index holds steady ahead of Fed meeting minutes: Investing.com - The dollar remained broadly higher against the other major currencies on Wednesday, as tensions between the U.S. and North Korea continued to ease and as markets were eyeing the release of U.S. data later in the day.
The greenback strengthened broadly after data on Tuesday showed thatU.S. retail sales rose at a faster than expected rate in July.
A separate report showed that the Empire State manufacturing index climbed to25.20in August from 9.80 the previous month, blowing past expectations for a reading of 10.00. It was the highest level since September 2014.
Market participants were looking ahead to U.S. reports on building permits and housing starts, due later in the day, as well as the minutes of the Fed’s most recent policy meeting for indications on another potential rate hike this year.
EUR/USD was little changed at 1.1732. The euro initially dropped following reportsEuropean Central Bank President Mario Draghi will not deliver any fresh monetary policy messageat the U.S. Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole conference.
The report tempered expectations that the ECB is moving closer to announcing plans to scale back its monetary stimulus program.
But sentiment on the single currency improved after preliminary data showed thatthe euro zone economy grew at a faster rate that expected in the second quarter.
The pound moved higher, with GBP/USD up 0.19% at 1.2895, off a one-month trough of 1.2843 hit overnight.
Demand for sterling was boosted after official data earlier showed thatthe U.K. jobless rate unexpectedly dropped in Junewhile wage inflation registered a stronger-than-expected increase
Elsewhere, USD/JPY rose 0.24% to 110.92, the highest since August 4, while USD/CHF held steady at 0.9732.
Demand for the safe-haven assets continued to weaken since North Korea said on Tuesday it had delayed a decision on a plan to fire missiles at the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam while it watches U.S. actions a little longer.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars were stronger, with AUD/USD up 0.49% at 0.7860 and with NZD/USD adding 0.17% to 0.7250.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD slipped 0.16% to trade at 1.2737, just off Tuesday’s one-month peak of 1.2778.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 93.77, close to Tuesday’s three-week high of 94.04.
Related Articles
Bitcoin holding above $4,000 after pulling back from record highs
Forex - Sterling higher after UK jobs, wage data
Forex - Euro falls to days lows as ECB tapering expectations dim || Introducing Electroneum: The First British Cryptocurrency: Electroneum is a brand new British cryptocurrency launching via an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) on September 14th . Developed to be used in the mobile gaming and online gambling markets, it will be the most user-friendly cryptocurrency in the world with wallet management and coin mining all possible on a mobile app. It wasn’t so long ago that cryptocurrencies were something that only a few tech-obsessed people understood or even knew about. But in the last two years, things have changed – Bitcoin’s sudden increase in value meant every tech-savvy entrepreneur and currency speculator wanted a piece of the action. Since then, the cryptocurrency market has become one of the most exciting – and often lucrative – investment avenues in the world. Bitcoin has remained incredibly valuable, but has seen its market share shrink as new alternatives have sprung up. What hasn’t changed, though, is how difficult these currencies are to get hold of and trade in, let alone spend anywhere. Electroneum is the first British-developed cryptocurrency and represents a huge change of pace in the market. It’s built on its own unique blockchain (a blockchain is the underlying technology infrastructure beneath any cryptocurrency) and has been designed to dominate the mobile market. Firstly, it is incredibly easy to manage and even mine on a mobile app. That means it’s capable of becoming the new, easy, secure way of making instant transactions from your phone – from buying mobile games, to sending money to friends, to betting on live sports. That sets it apart from any other cryptocurrencies that are near-impossible to spend or buy. Electroneum has also increased its palatability to the average consumer by capping the total number of coins at 21 billion, moving the decimal point two places to the right when compared to Bitcoin, which is capped at 21 million. Whereas a pizza in Bitcoin might cost 0.005 BTC, with Electroneum it would be a much more ‘real money’ figure. Story continues Richard Ells, founder of Electroneum and experienced tech entrepreneur, said: “I don’t know if you’ve ever tried buying any Bitcoin, but it’s really hard to do! I realized that what the world needs is a cryptocurrency that is genuinely easy to access and use. We’ve developed Electroneum with the ordinary mobile user in mind.” The currency also represents an intriguing investment opportunity for speculators. Cryptocurrency is well known to be a volatile, but lucrative market for investors – in the first half of 2016, the average return on investment for of 100 new coins launched was 357% – and Electroneum represents such a technological change that it’s already attracting a lot of attention in advance of the ICO in September. Re-assuring investors is the fact that the currency was developed and is managed by a tight-knit, single-minded group of British developers and is therefore not likely to be subject to the internal wrangling and volatility that has plagued other currencies. Electroneum has produced an overview white paper of the technology behind it. The company is currently raising funds to complete the launch of the currency, and the coin itself will be available for purchase from September 14th. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: All the Reasons why Bitcoin Price Breaks Above $4000, What’s Next? European Stock Continue to Rally Following Strong UK Labor Data U.S. Dollar Stays Strong and Federal Reserve Report will Impact Markets Gold Prices Under Pressure from Strong Dollar Morning Market Update – XAU/USD U.S. Dollar Soars to Nearly Three-Week High as Chance of Rate Hike Rises || Introducing Electroneum: The First British Cryptocurrency: Electroneum is a brand new British cryptocurrencylaunching via anInitial Coin Offering (ICO)onSeptember 14th. Developed to be used in the mobile gaming and online gambling markets, it will be the most user-friendly cryptocurrency in the world with wallet management and coin mining all possible on a mobile app.
It wasn’t so long ago thatcryptocurrencieswere something that only a few tech-obsessed people understood or even knew about. But in the last two years, things have changed – Bitcoin’s sudden increase in value meant every tech-savvy entrepreneur and currency speculator wanted a piece of the action.
Since then, the cryptocurrency market has become one of the most exciting – and often lucrative – investment avenues in the world.Bitcoinhas remained incredibly valuable, but has seen its market share shrink as new alternatives have sprung up. What hasn’t changed, though, is how difficult these currencies are to get hold of and trade in, let alone spend anywhere.
Electroneum is the first British-developed cryptocurrency and represents a huge change of pace in the market. It’s built on its own uniqueblockchain(a blockchain is the underlying technology infrastructure beneath any cryptocurrency) and has been designed to dominate the mobile market.
Firstly, it is incredibly easy to manage and even mine on a mobile app. That means it’s capable of becoming the new, easy, secure way of making instant transactions from your phone – from buying mobile games, to sending money to friends, to betting on live sports. That sets it apart from any other cryptocurrencies that are near-impossible to spend or buy.
Electroneum has also increased its palatability to the average consumer by capping the total number of coins at 21 billion, moving the decimal point two places to the right when compared to Bitcoin, which is capped at 21 million. Whereas a pizza in Bitcoin might cost 0.005 BTC, with Electroneum it would be a much more ‘real money’ figure.
Richard Ells, founder of Electroneum and experienced tech entrepreneur, said: “I don’t know if you’ve ever tried buying any Bitcoin, but it’s really hard to do! I realized that what the world needs is a cryptocurrency that is genuinely easy to access and use. We’ve developed Electroneum with the ordinary mobile user in mind.”
The currency also represents an intriguing investment opportunity for speculators. Cryptocurrency is well known to be a volatile, but lucrative market for investors – in the first half of 2016, the average return on investment for of 100 new coins launched was 357% – and Electroneum represents such a technological change that it’s already attracting a lot of attention in advance of the ICO in September.
Re-assuring investors is the fact that the currency was developed and is managed by a tight-knit, single-minded group of British developers and is therefore not likely to be subject to the internal wrangling and volatility that has plagued other currencies.
Electroneum has produced anoverview white paperof the technology behind it. The company is currently raising funds to complete the launch of the currency, and the coin itself will be available for purchase from September 14th.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• All the Reasons why Bitcoin Price Breaks Above $4000, What’s Next?
• European Stock Continue to Rally Following Strong UK Labor Data
• U.S. Dollar Stays Strong and Federal Reserve Report will Impact Markets
• Gold Prices Under Pressure from Strong Dollar
• Morning Market Update – XAU/USD
• U.S. Dollar Soars to Nearly Three-Week High as Chance of Rate Hike Rises || U.S. Dollar Soars to Nearly Three-Week High as Chance of Rate Hike Rises: U.S. Dollar Index futures soared to their highest level since July 25 on Tuesday after the release of better-than-expected U.S. economic data. The index was underpinned early in the session by the news that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had delayed a decision on firing missiles toward the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam, but it was the economic data that sent the index to nearly a three-week high. The U.S. Dollar rose by more than 1 percent against the Japanese Yen with the USD/JPY reaching its highest level in more than a week. The EUR/USD fell to its lowest level since July 28. Both the Euro and the Japanese Yen are the highest weighted currencies in the dollar index. Daily September U.S. Dollar Index U.S. Economic Data According to the U.S. Commerce Department, July retail sales posted their largest gain since December 2016, coming in a robust 0.6% higher. Junes figure was also upwardly revised to 0.3 percent. The government said the increase was related to consumer purchases of motor vehicles as well as discretionary spending. In other news, the New York Feds Empire State manufacturing index surge 15 points to 25.2, its highest in nearly three years. Economists were looking for an unchanged reading of 9.8. Import prices came in as expected, up 0.1%, but higher than the previous -0.2%. Business Inventories were slightly worse than the estimate. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) said Tuesday the Housing Market Index (HMI) gained 4 points to 68 in August, beating the median forecast. The index reached its high level seen earlier this year and represents strong building confidence among the nations home builders. Daily December Comex Gold Gold Gold prices retreated for a second day on Tuesday, pressured by rising U.S. Treasury yields and increasing demand for higher risk assets. Yields rose in reaction to the robust U.S. economic news, which increased the chances of a Fed rate hike later this year. Higher yields made the dollar a more attractive investment, hurting demand for dollar-denominated gold. Story continues Daily October West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil Crude Oil U.S. West Texas Intermediate and internationally-favored Brent crude oil spent most of the session lower, but managed to eke out a higher close. The markets were weighed down and the upside limited because of the stronger U.S. Dollar and signs of weaker demand in China. According to official data from China, oil refineries operated in July at their slowest daily rates since September. The steep drop came as a surprise to investors, raising concerns over the state of Chinese demand and level of domestic stockpiles. The sharp rise in the U.S. Dollar also raised questions about future foreign demand for dollar-denominated crude oil. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: All the Reasons why Bitcoin Price Breaks Above $4000, Whats Next? U.S. Dollar Soars to Nearly Three-Week High as Chance of Rate Hike Rises Market Snapshot Stronger US Retail Sales Boosts the Dollar Bitcoin Market Cap Reaches 70$ Billion, Now Worth More Than Paypal Wall Street Showing Signs of Building Momentum, US Futures Up as N-Korea Tensions Ease Weak Inflation Will Likely Keep the BoE at Bay || U.S. Dollar Soars to Nearly Three-Week High as Chance of Rate Hike Rises: U.S. Dollar Index futures soared to their highest level since July 25 on Tuesday after the release of better-than-expected U.S. economic data. The index was underpinned early in the session by the news that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had delayed a decision on firing missiles toward the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam, but it was the economic data that sent the index to nearly a three-week high.
The U.S. Dollar rose by more than 1 percent against the Japanese Yen with the USD/JPY reaching its highest level in more than a week. The EUR/USD fell to its lowest level since July 28. Both the Euro and the Japanese Yen are the highest weighted currencies in the dollar index.
According to the U.S. Commerce Department, July retail sales posted their largest gain since December 2016, coming in a robust 0.6% higher. June’s figure was also upwardly revised to 0.3 percent. The government said the increase was related to consumer purchases of motor vehicles as well as discretionary spending.
In other news, the New York Fed’s Empire State manufacturing index surge 15 points to 25.2, its highest in nearly three years. Economists were looking for an unchanged reading of 9.8. Import prices came in as expected, up 0.1%, but higher than the previous -0.2%. Business Inventories were slightly worse than the estimate.
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) said Tuesday the Housing Market Index (HMI) gained 4 points to 68 in August, beating the median forecast. The index reached its high level seen earlier this year and represents strong building confidence among the nation’s home builders.
Gold prices retreated for a second day on Tuesday, pressured by rising U.S. Treasury yields and increasing demand for higher risk assets. Yields rose in reaction to the robust U.S. economic news, which increased the chances of a Fed rate hike later this year. Higher yields made the dollar a more attractive investment, hurting demand for dollar-denominated gold.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate and internationally-favored Brent crude oil spent most of the session lower, but managed to eke out a higher close. The markets were weighed down and the upside limited because of the stronger U.S. Dollar and signs of weaker demand in China.
According to official data from China, oil refineries operated in July at their slowest daily rates since September. The steep drop came as a surprise to investors, raising concerns over the state of Chinese demand and level of domestic stockpiles.
The sharp rise in the U.S. Dollar also raised questions about future foreign demand for dollar-denominated crude oil.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• All the Reasons why Bitcoin Price Breaks Above $4000, What’s Next?
• U.S. Dollar Soars to Nearly Three-Week High as Chance of Rate Hike Rises
• Market Snapshot – Stronger US Retail Sales Boosts the Dollar
• Bitcoin Market Cap Reaches 70$ Billion, Now Worth More Than Paypal
• Wall Street Showing Signs of Building Momentum, US Futures Up as N-Korea Tensions Ease
• Weak Inflation Will Likely Keep the BoE at Bay || Bitcoin tumbles below $4,000: (Bitcoin is down about 7% Tuesday afternoon.Phil Walter/Getty Images)
Bitcoinhas tumbled below $4,000, down 7%, at 3,996 a coin.
The drop follows a strong surge that pushed the cryptocurrency's price to almost $4,500 on Monday.
Bitcoinwas on a tear following theAugust 1 forkthat split the cryptocurrency in two. The price of the cryptocurrency is up 323% year-to-date.
Bitcoin's recent meteoric rise grabbed the attention of Wall Street. Goldman Sachs, for instance, told clients in an August 10 note that thecryptocurrency space is worth paying attention to.
And VanEck, the $25 billion money manager,filed with the SEC on August 11 to launch a Bitcoin ETF.
But folks in the cryptocurrency space aren't looking at today's losses as a sign that the good times are coming to an end. Greg Dwyer, head of business development atBitMEX, a Bitcoin mercantile exchange, told Business Insider this is a normal and expected market correction.
"At $4,400, the market was looking extremely toppish - I believe this move is a result of traders deciding to take some profits off the table after this enormous rally," Dwyer said in an email.
These kind of drops are part and parcel with Bitcoin, according to Dwyer.
"For everyone who is new to Bitcoin, this is where we say 'welcome to crypto-trading,'" he added.
Aaron Lasher, the chief marketing officer atBreadwallet, a Bitcoin technology company, referred to the 7% drop as a "healthy correction."
"Keep in mind that when this bubble finally pops the price will probably bottom out with a 60-80% correction," he said.
So, keep some popcorn on hand folks.
(MI)
NOW WATCH:Stocks have shrugged off Trump headlines to hit new highs this week
More From Business Insider
• Bitcoin flies past $3,500 for the first time
• Bitcoin cash plunges as investors look to dump their coins
• Bitcoin is sliding a day after a big change was made in its software || Bitcoin tumbles below $4,000: (Bitcoin is down about 7% Tuesday afternoon.Phil Walter/Getty Images)
Bitcoinhas tumbled below $4,000, down 7%, at 3,996 a coin.
The drop follows a strong surge that pushed the cryptocurrency's price to almost $4,500 on Monday.
Bitcoinwas on a tear following theAugust 1 forkthat split the cryptocurrency in two. The price of the cryptocurrency is up 323% year-to-date.
Bitcoin's recent meteoric rise grabbed the attention of Wall Street. Goldman Sachs, for instance, told clients in an August 10 note that thecryptocurrency space is worth paying attention to.
And VanEck, the $25 billion money manager,filed with the SEC on August 11 to launch a Bitcoin ETF.
But folks in the cryptocurrency space aren't looking at today's losses as a sign that the good times are coming to an end. Greg Dwyer, head of business development atBitMEX, a Bitcoin mercantile exchange, told Business Insider this is a normal and expected market correction.
"At $4,400, the market was looking extremely toppish - I believe this move is a result of traders deciding to take some profits off the table after this enormous rally," Dwyer said in an email.
These kind of drops are part and parcel with Bitcoin, according to Dwyer.
"For everyone who is new to Bitcoin, this is where we say 'welcome to crypto-trading,'" he added.
Aaron Lasher, the chief marketing officer atBreadwallet, a Bitcoin technology company, referred to the 7% drop as a "healthy correction."
"Keep in mind that when this bubble finally pops the price will probably bottom out with a 60-80% correction," he said.
So, keep some popcorn on hand folks.
(MI)
NOW WATCH:Stocks have shrugged off Trump headlines to hit new highs this week
More From Business Insider
• Bitcoin flies past $3,500 for the first time
• Bitcoin cash plunges as investors look to dump their coins
• Bitcoin is sliding a day after a big change was made in its software || Bitcoin tumbles below $4,000: water slide jump (Bitcoin is down about 7% Tuesday afternoon.Phil Walter/Getty Images) Bitcoin has tumbled below $4,000, down 7%, at 3,996 a coin. The drop follows a strong surge that pushed the cryptocurrency's price to almost $4,500 on Monday. Bitcoin was on a tear following the August 1 fork that split the cryptocurrency in two. The price of the cryptocurrency is up 323% year-to-date. Bitcoin's recent meteoric rise grabbed the attention of Wall Street. Goldman Sachs, for instance, told clients in an August 10 note that the cryptocurrency space is worth paying attention to . And VanEck, the $25 billion money manager, filed with the SEC on August 11 to launch a Bitcoin ETF . But folks in the cryptocurrency space aren't looking at today's losses as a sign that the good times are coming to an end. Greg Dwyer, head of business development at BitMEX , a Bitcoin mercantile exchange, told Business Insider this is a normal and expected market correction. " At $4,400, the market was looking extremely toppish - I believe this move is a result of traders deciding to take some profits off the table after this enormous rally," Dwyer said in an email. These kind of drops are part and parcel with Bitcoin, according to Dwyer. "For everyone who is new to Bitcoin, this is where we say 'welcome to crypto-trading,'" he added. Aaron Lasher, the chief marketing officer at Breadwallet , a Bitcoin technology company, referred to the 7% drop as a "healthy correction." "Keep in mind that when this bubble finally pops the price will probably bottom out with a 60-80% correction," he said. So, keep some popcorn on hand folks. Screen Shot 2017 08 15 at 12.07.47 PM (MI) NOW WATCH: Stocks have shrugged off Trump headlines to hit new highs this week More From Business Insider Bitcoin flies past $3,500 for the first time Bitcoin cash plunges as investors look to dump their coins Bitcoin is sliding a day after a big change was made in its software || Bitcoin Market Cap Reaches 70$ Billion, Now Worth More Than Paypal: The price of bitcoin has gone parabolic in the past few weeks, creating and smashing countless new all-time highs along the way.
Mainstream media has been heavily coveringthe break above $4,000, most of the articles and corresponding coverage has been highly bullish.
The total crypto currency market cap has ballooned to$140 billion, withbitcoin now conferring to a larger chunk of that pie at $70 billion(more than 50% at the time of writing). The remainder is split up betweenethereumat $28 billion,ripplewhich is holding at $6.5 billion,bitcoin cashat a valuation that is slightly below $5 billion, as well as other alternative crypto currencies and assets.
In the meantime, segwit has locked in and has entered itsactivation period. Completion is expected by August 22, if the existing momentum and speed in block generation stays constant.
Interestingly, bitcoin is as of this moment, worth more thanPaypal, at least when it comes to market capitalization.
Startups in the fintech industry are rapidly taking away business from the ageing banking sector. Disruptions of the old paradigms are rampant, proving that innovation and flexibility may be needed, if the exhausted banking giants and conglomerates are to survive.
Exotic predictions are plentiful as well, and certain social media figures are citing the top of this run-upat $5,000, with some even stating $10,000 as a reasonable target.
History is being revisited due to the unfolding events, comparisons are being drawn to thedot-com bubble, and the 2008 pre-crash periodtoo. There are other numerous examples that could serve as a cautionary reminder; Silver Thursday comes to mind, as does the infamoustulip mania.
Bitcoin was trading at $4068 at the time of the report after reaching all time high of $4430.
This post was originally published byEarnForex
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• All the Reasons why Bitcoin Price Breaks Above $4000, What’s Next?
• Bitcoin Market Cap Reaches 70$ Billion, Now Worth More Than Paypal
• Wall Street Showing Signs of Building Momentum, US Futures Up as N-Korea Tensions Ease
• Weak Inflation Will Likely Keep the BoE at Bay
• U.K. Inflation Holds Steady, Eyes on U.S. Retail Sales
• RBA Minutes, German GDP, UK Inflation and U.S Retail Sales. It’s All Go || Bitcoin Market Cap Reaches 70$ Billion, Now Worth More Than Paypal: The price of bitcoin has gone parabolic in the past few weeks, creating and smashing countless new all-time highs along the way.
Mainstream media has been heavily coveringthe break above $4,000, most of the articles and corresponding coverage has been highly bullish.
The total crypto currency market cap has ballooned to$140 billion, withbitcoin now conferring to a larger chunk of that pie at $70 billion(more than 50% at the time of writing). The remainder is split up betweenethereumat $28 billion,ripplewhich is holding at $6.5 billion,bitcoin cashat a valuation that is slightly below $5 billion, as well as other alternative crypto currencies and assets.
In the meantime, segwit has locked in and has entered itsactivation period. Completion is expected by August 22, if the existing momentum and speed in block generation stays constant.
Interestingly, bitcoin is as of this moment, worth more thanPaypal, at least when it comes to market capitalization.
Startups in the fintech industry are rapidly taking away business from the ageing banking sector. Disruptions of the old paradigms are rampant, proving that innovation and flexibility may be needed, if the exhausted banking giants and conglomerates are to survive.
Exotic predictions are plentiful as well, and certain social media figures are citing the top of this run-upat $5,000, with some even stating $10,000 as a reasonable target.
History is being revisited due to the unfolding events, comparisons are being drawn to thedot-com bubble, and the 2008 pre-crash periodtoo. There are other numerous examples that could serve as a cautionary reminder; Silver Thursday comes to mind, as does the infamoustulip mania.
Bitcoin was trading at $4068 at the time of the report after reaching all time high of $4430.
This post was originally published byEarnForex
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• All the Reasons why Bitcoin Price Breaks Above $4000, What’s Next?
• Bitcoin Market Cap Reaches 70$ Billion, Now Worth More Than Paypal
• Wall Street Showing Signs of Building Momentum, US Futures Up as N-Korea Tensions Ease
• Weak Inflation Will Likely Keep the BoE at Bay
• U.K. Inflation Holds Steady, Eyes on U.S. Retail Sales
• RBA Minutes, German GDP, UK Inflation and U.S Retail Sales. It’s All Go || The coming Apple Watch won't need to be linked to an iPhone to make calls: Apple(AAPL)is gearing up to release a new Apple Watch which will not require tethering to an iPhone for key functions like calls, making it a standalone device, a source with knowledge of the matter told CNBC.
The U.S. tech giant will launch the next generation Apple Watch in September, the source said, when it is also expected to take the wraps offthree new iPhone models.
Apple Watch has always been required to be linked to an iPhone in order to receive texts or make calls. But the next generation version will have cellular connectivity, likely via an embedded SIM rather than physical SIM card users will have to put in.
Adding cellular connectivity will allow people to carry out tasks such as streaming music without the need for an iPhone present.
A September unveiling also makes sense because Apple has already announced plans to release watchOS 4 — its wearable operating system — in the fall. This will include new features around music as well as a Siri-based watchface, both of which would benefit from standalone watch capabilities.
But cellular connectivity is very battery draining and this could be a problem for Apple. But if Apple can create a battery efficient device, then it will be a big positive, analysts said.
"It is a win win for Apple as it will drive up the average selling price of the device because they will be more expensive," Neil Shah, research director of devices and ecosystems at Counterpoint Research, told CNBC, by phone on Tuesday.
"It will cater to the niche market of health and fitness users who don't want to carry their iPhone when they go for a run. It will also be good for enterprise use cases."
CNBC's source backs up an earlier report fromBloombergwhich said that Intel(INTC)will supply the modems required for cellular capability on the Apple Watch. That report also said AT&T(NYSE:T), Verizon(VZ), Sprint(NYSE:S), and T-Mobile US(TMUS)plan to sell the device, citing sources.
Apple could also be seeking partnerships with carriers in Europe, CNBC understands.
An Apple spokesperson was not available for comment at the time of publication.
On Monday, more news about the cellular-capable Apple Watch came to light. Noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo from KGI Securities said that the next Apple Watch would have a cellular and non-cellular model and ship in two sizes: a 38mm and 42mm case.
The first Apple Watch wasannounced in September 2014alongside new iPhones. TheApple Watch Series 2was unveiled two years later, again alongside iPhones. It appears, however, that Apple is shortening the time it takes to announce another Apple Watch, given the third version is likely to be announced in September.
It could hint at Apple's growing ambitions for the device. Chief Executive Tim Cook, for example, has called health care an"enormous" opportunitywith the Apple Watch potentially becoming a device to constantly monitor the body. CNBCreported earlier this yearthat Cook was recently spotted on the Apple campus trying out a prototype glucose-tracker on the Apple Watch.
While the wearable market has not taken off as many expected, Apple appears to have been performing well. Apple shipped 2.8 million watches globally in the second quarter of 2017, up 56 percent year-on-year, according to Strategy Analytics. It has 13 percent market share, just behind Fitbit and China's Xiaomi. But Apple has previously held the top spot in the market and a souped up Apple Watch may help it reclaim that title, analysts said.
"The rumored upcoming Watch Series 3 launch with enhanced health tracking could prove to be a popular smartwatch model and enable Apple to reclaim the top wearables spot later this year," Strategy Analytics said in a note earlier this month.
More From CNBC
• Bitcoin hits another record high; value has risen over $15 billion in one week alone
• HBO insider: Email suggesting $250K payout to 'Game of Thrones' hackers is 'delay tactic’
• Ethereum hits a one-month high and is up nearly 50% in the last two weeks || Bitcoin and Ethereum Price Forecast – Bitcoin Prices Continue Higher: Bitcoin prices do not seem to have a care in the world as of now as they continued to move higher despite the strength in the dollar that has been seen in the markets over the last week or so. The bitcoin prices seem to have a mind of their own and any sort of global factors that affect the dollar seems to have little impact on the bitcoin prices as it breezed through its all time highs and continued to move higher as it crossed through $4300 and now targets $4400 as of this writing.
The fundamentals remain the same and the reasons for the recent upmove continue to be the same as we had mentioned in our forecasts yesterday. With the bitcoin market and the network having survived the fork fairly well and with bitcoin cash market getting hit and falling by the wayside, the bitcoin network seems to have become even more stronger during the course of this period and this has helped to push up the prices.
Also, with the global downturn in the stock markets and with the increase in global risks, the investors and traders seem to view bitcoin as a kind of alternate investment. Though it has been around for quite some time now, it is things like the fork and corrections in price that truly tested the market in recent times and the way the bitcoin network has been able to manage these has increased the investor confidence and that is also one of the reasons why we are seeing more funds flow into bitcoin in recent days.
The ethereum market does not seem to have got as much love as the bitcoin market and right now, it trades just above the support region at $290 and looks pretty weak at this point of time. But ETH supporters will tell us that this is only a temporary break and as the supply begins to dry up, we are likely to see the prices moving higher in the medium term.
Looking ahead to the rest of the day, we do not see anything stopping the bitcoin runaway train for now and hence, $4500 could be the next viable target for the bitcoin bulls. On the other hand, ETH prices are likely to consolidate in the short term as the focus is on the bitcoin market for now.
Now is the perfect time to start trading cryptocurrency. Learn How!
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• Forex Trading Signals – August 15, 2017
• USD/JPY Fundamental Weekly Forecast – Conflict Resolution Supportive, but Retail Sales Will Set the Tone Today
• EUR/USD, AUD/USD, GBP/USD and USD/JPY Daily Outlook – August 15, 2017
• U.K. Inflation Holds Steady, Eyes on U.S. Retail Sales
• Daily Market Forecast, August 15, 2017 – EUR/USD, Gold, Crude Oil, USD/JPY, GBP/USD
• Tuesday Support and Resistance Levels – August 15, 2017 || Bitcoin and Ethereum Price Forecast – Bitcoin Prices Continue Higher: Bitcoin prices do not seem to have a care in the world as of now as they continued to move higher despite the strength in the dollar that has been seen in the markets over the last week or so. The bitcoin prices seem to have a mind of their own and any sort of global factors that affect the dollar seems to have little impact on the bitcoin prices as it breezed through its all time highs and continued to move higher as it crossed through $4300 and now targets $4400 as of this writing.
The fundamentals remain the same and the reasons for the recent upmove continue to be the same as we had mentioned in our forecasts yesterday. With the bitcoin market and the network having survived the fork fairly well and with bitcoin cash market getting hit and falling by the wayside, the bitcoin network seems to have become even more stronger during the course of this period and this has helped to push up the prices.
Also, with the global downturn in the stock markets and with the increase in global risks, the investors and traders seem to view bitcoin as a kind of alternate investment. Though it has been around for quite some time now, it is things like the fork and corrections in price that truly tested the market in recent times and the way the bitcoin network has been able to manage these has increased the investor confidence and that is also one of the reasons why we are seeing more funds flow into bitcoin in recent days.
The ethereum market does not seem to have got as much love as the bitcoin market and right now, it trades just above the support region at $290 and looks pretty weak at this point of time. But ETH supporters will tell us that this is only a temporary break and as the supply begins to dry up, we are likely to see the prices moving higher in the medium term.
Looking ahead to the rest of the day, we do not see anything stopping the bitcoin runaway train for now and hence, $4500 could be the next viable target for the bitcoin bulls. On the other hand, ETH prices are likely to consolidate in the short term as the focus is on the bitcoin market for now.
Now is the perfect time to start trading cryptocurrency. Learn How!
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• Forex Trading Signals – August 15, 2017
• USD/JPY Fundamental Weekly Forecast – Conflict Resolution Supportive, but Retail Sales Will Set the Tone Today
• EUR/USD, AUD/USD, GBP/USD and USD/JPY Daily Outlook – August 15, 2017
• U.K. Inflation Holds Steady, Eyes on U.S. Retail Sales
• Daily Market Forecast, August 15, 2017 – EUR/USD, Gold, Crude Oil, USD/JPY, GBP/USD
• Tuesday Support and Resistance Levels – August 15, 2017 || Bitcoin and Ethereum Price Forecast Bitcoin Prices Continue Higher: Bitcoin prices do not seem to have a care in the world as of now as they continued to move higher despite the strength in the dollar that has been seen in the markets over the last week or so. The bitcoin prices seem to have a mind of their own and any sort of global factors that affect the dollar seems to have little impact on the bitcoin prices as it breezed through its all time highs and continued to move higher as it crossed through $4300 and now targets $4400 as of this writing. Bitcoin Prices Break Through All Time Highs The fundamentals remain the same and the reasons for the recent upmove continue to be the same as we had mentioned in our forecasts yesterday. With the bitcoin market and the network having survived the fork fairly well and with bitcoin cash market getting hit and falling by the wayside, the bitcoin network seems to have become even more stronger during the course of this period and this has helped to push up the prices. Bitcoin 4H Also, with the global downturn in the stock markets and with the increase in global risks, the investors and traders seem to view bitcoin as a kind of alternate investment. Though it has been around for quite some time now, it is things like the fork and corrections in price that truly tested the market in recent times and the way the bitcoin network has been able to manage these has increased the investor confidence and that is also one of the reasons why we are seeing more funds flow into bitcoin in recent days. The ethereum market does not seem to have got as much love as the bitcoin market and right now, it trades just above the support region at $290 and looks pretty weak at this point of time. But ETH supporters will tell us that this is only a temporary break and as the supply begins to dry up, we are likely to see the prices moving higher in the medium term. Looking ahead to the rest of the day, we do not see anything stopping the bitcoin runaway train for now and hence, $4500 could be the next viable target for the bitcoin bulls. On the other hand, ETH prices are likely to consolidate in the short term as the focus is on the bitcoin market for now. Story continues Now is the perfect time to start trading cryptocurrency. Learn How! This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Forex Trading Signals August 15, 2017 USD/JPY Fundamental Weekly Forecast Conflict Resolution Supportive, but Retail Sales Will Set the Tone Today EUR/USD, AUD/USD, GBP/USD and USD/JPY Daily Outlook August 15, 2017 U.K. Inflation Holds Steady, Eyes on U.S. Retail Sales Daily Market Forecast, August 15, 2017 EUR/USD, Gold, Crude Oil, USD/JPY, GBP/USD Tuesday Support and Resistance Levels August 15, 2017 || Bitcoin Skyrockets, Race to First Cryptocurrency ETF Heats Up: Bitcoin soared to a new high above $4,300 today, rising more than 28% over the past week. The digital currency has now more than quadrupled in value from around $997 at the start of the year. $1 invested in bitcoin seven years ago is now worth over $1.4 million.
Recent surge in bitcoin price resulted from strong investor demand from Japan as also some safe haven buying. Investors have also become increasingly bullish after the smooth split of the cryptocurrency into two. (Read: 4 ETF Ways to Hedge Against Volatility)
Bitcoin’s gains this weekend appeared to be at the expense of other newer digital currencies. Below is the one-week price chart from coindesk.com:
What is Bitcoin?
Unlike traditional currencies, which are issued by central banks, bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency. It trades 24/7 around the world without any involvement of central administrator or clearing agency. The market, which remains largely unregulated, is more like a peer-to-peer digital payment network.
Creation and transactions in bitcoin are controlled through cryptography to keep transactions secure. And, while users remain anonymous, the record of these transactions is available on the bitcoin network.
Bitcoin Becoming Mainstream?
Bitcoin now has a market value exceeding $70 billion per coinmarketcap.com. Total value of all cryptocurrencies is more than $139 billion now. They are no longer fancy assets with few backers.
In April, Japanese regulators announced rules for bitcoin, establishing it as a legitimate method of payment in the country.
Per Goldman Sachs analysts, “whether or not you believe in the merit of investing in cryptocurrencies (you know who you are), real dollars are at work here and warrant watching.”
Nvidia(NVDA)’s CEO said in a recent conference call, “cryptocurrency and blockchain is here to stay. The market need for it is going to grow, and over time it will become quite large.” Nvidia andAMD(AMD) are among the main supplier of chips used for cryptocurrency mining.
Is Bitcoin a Bubble?
Bitcoin’s astronomical surge has raised bubble fears. Some are even comparing it to tulip mania. But unlike tulips, bitcoin has real value and is accepted by hundreds of thousands of merchants worldwide.
One of the reasons behind the surge is bitcoin’s limited supply. According to the Economist, there are about 16.3 million bitcoin in circulation, with only 1,800 new ones minted every day. The currency’s total supply would be capped at 21 million units. (Read: Follow Gundlach with These ETF Strategies)
On the other hand, demand has been rising due to geopolitical uncertainty. Many consider bitcoin a safe have asset like Gold. Due to its low correlation with other asset classes, it also acts as a portfolio diversifier.
It is difficult to arrive at a fair value for the bitcoin. I read about a model in FT that is based on the presumption that bitcoin’s core utility value is serving as a currency for the dark economy. The model found the cryptocurrency to be grossly overvalued.
Standpoint's Ronnie Moas raised his price target on bitcoin to $7,500 today as he told CNBC, "I believe there are hedge funds and very deep-pocketed individuals going into this now, really hundreds of millions of dollars."
Another bitcoin bull Max Keiser predicts $5,000 would be the next target, driven by panic buying by the world’s affluent with “rising war tensions and central bank malfeasance.”
If bitcoin’s surge looks excessive, consider this—bitcoin’s closest rival ethereum is up more than 3,400% this year. (Read: Ethereum ETF? The Bitcoin Crushing Digital Currency Explained)
Bitcoin ETFs Under SEC Review
The race to the first digital currency ETF is heating up. VanEck Vectors recently filed for an actively managed “Bitcoin Strategy ETF” which will invest in exchange-traded bitcoin-linked derivative instruments and other investment vehicles that provide exposure to bitcoin.
Earlier this year, the SEC had rejected the ETF proposed by Winklevoss twins but they are now reviewing the decision again. Another bitcoin ETF, proposed by SolidX Management, was also rejected in March. The third one proposed by Grayscale’s Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC) is being reviewed. (Read: 5 Smart Beta ETFs with Brilliant Returns)
Bitcoin derivatives are likely to be available to investors much sooner. CBOE plans to launch bitcoin futures in the fourth quarter of 2017 or early 2018, pending regulatory approval.
Last month, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) approved digital currency-trading platform LedgerX to clear bitcoin options. The exchange plans to launch bitcoin options in early fall, and ethereum options within a few months, per CNBC.
Zacks' 10-Minute Stock-Picking SecretSince 1988, the Zacks system has more than doubled the S&P 500 with an average gain of +25% per year. With compounding, rebalancing, and exclusive of fees, it can turn thousands into millions of dollars.But here's something even more remarkable: You can master this proven system without going to a single class or seminar. And then you can apply it to your portfolio in as little as 10 minutes a month.Learn the secret >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportAdvanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) : Free Stock Analysis ReportGOLD (LONDON P (GLD): ETF Research ReportsNVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) : Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWant the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report || Bitcoin Skyrockets, Race to First Cryptocurrency ETF Heats Up: Bitcoin soared to a new high above $4,300 today, rising more than 28% over the past week. The digital currency has now more than quadrupled in value from around $997 at the start of the year. $1 invested in bitcoin seven years ago is now worth over $1.4 million.
Recent surge in bitcoin price resulted from strong investor demand from Japan as also some safe haven buying. Investors have also become increasingly bullish after the smooth split of the cryptocurrency into two. (Read: 4 ETF Ways to Hedge Against Volatility)
Bitcoin’s gains this weekend appeared to be at the expense of other newer digital currencies. Below is the one-week price chart from coindesk.com:
What is Bitcoin?
Unlike traditional currencies, which are issued by central banks, bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency. It trades 24/7 around the world without any involvement of central administrator or clearing agency. The market, which remains largely unregulated, is more like a peer-to-peer digital payment network.
Creation and transactions in bitcoin are controlled through cryptography to keep transactions secure. And, while users remain anonymous, the record of these transactions is available on the bitcoin network.
Bitcoin Becoming Mainstream?
Bitcoin now has a market value exceeding $70 billion per coinmarketcap.com. Total value of all cryptocurrencies is more than $139 billion now. They are no longer fancy assets with few backers.
In April, Japanese regulators announced rules for bitcoin, establishing it as a legitimate method of payment in the country.
Per Goldman Sachs analysts, “whether or not you believe in the merit of investing in cryptocurrencies (you know who you are), real dollars are at work here and warrant watching.”
Nvidia(NVDA)’s CEO said in a recent conference call, “cryptocurrency and blockchain is here to stay. The market need for it is going to grow, and over time it will become quite large.” Nvidia andAMD(AMD) are among the main supplier of chips used for cryptocurrency mining.
Is Bitcoin a Bubble?
Bitcoin’s astronomical surge has raised bubble fears. Some are even comparing it to tulip mania. But unlike tulips, bitcoin has real value and is accepted by hundreds of thousands of merchants worldwide.
One of the reasons behind the surge is bitcoin’s limited supply. According to the Economist, there are about 16.3 million bitcoin in circulation, with only 1,800 new ones minted every day. The currency’s total supply would be capped at 21 million units. (Read: Follow Gundlach with These ETF Strategies)
On the other hand, demand has been rising due to geopolitical uncertainty. Many consider bitcoin a safe have asset like Gold. Due to its low correlation with other asset classes, it also acts as a portfolio diversifier.
It is difficult to arrive at a fair value for the bitcoin. I read about a model in FT that is based on the presumption that bitcoin’s core utility value is serving as a currency for the dark economy. The model found the cryptocurrency to be grossly overvalued.
Standpoint's Ronnie Moas raised his price target on bitcoin to $7,500 today as he told CNBC, "I believe there are hedge funds and very deep-pocketed individuals going into this now, really hundreds of millions of dollars."
Another bitcoin bull Max Keiser predicts $5,000 would be the next target, driven by panic buying by the world’s affluent with “rising war tensions and central bank malfeasance.”
If bitcoin’s surge looks excessive, consider this—bitcoin’s closest rival ethereum is up more than 3,400% this year. (Read: Ethereum ETF? The Bitcoin Crushing Digital Currency Explained)
Bitcoin ETFs Under SEC Review
The race to the first digital currency ETF is heating up. VanEck Vectors recently filed for an actively managed “Bitcoin Strategy ETF” which will invest in exchange-traded bitcoin-linked derivative instruments and other investment vehicles that provide exposure to bitcoin.
Earlier this year, the SEC had rejected the ETF proposed by Winklevoss twins but they are now reviewing the decision again. Another bitcoin ETF, proposed by SolidX Management, was also rejected in March. The third one proposed by Grayscale’s Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC) is being reviewed. (Read: 5 Smart Beta ETFs with Brilliant Returns)
Bitcoin derivatives are likely to be available to investors much sooner. CBOE plans to launch bitcoin futures in the fourth quarter of 2017 or early 2018, pending regulatory approval.
Last month, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) approved digital currency-trading platform LedgerX to clear bitcoin options. The exchange plans to launch bitcoin options in early fall, and ethereum options within a few months, per CNBC.
Zacks' 10-Minute Stock-Picking SecretSince 1988, the Zacks system has more than doubled the S&P 500 with an average gain of +25% per year. With compounding, rebalancing, and exclusive of fees, it can turn thousands into millions of dollars.But here's something even more remarkable: You can master this proven system without going to a single class or seminar. And then you can apply it to your portfolio in as little as 10 minutes a month.Learn the secret >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportAdvanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) : Free Stock Analysis ReportGOLD (LONDON P (GLD): ETF Research ReportsNVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) : Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWant the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report || Bitcoin Skyrockets, Race to First Cryptocurrency ETF Heats Up: Bitcoin soared to a new high above $4,300 today, rising more than 28% over the past week. The digital currency has now more than quadrupled in value from around $997 at the start of the year. $1 invested in bitcoin seven years ago is now worth over $1.4 million. Recent surge in bitcoin price resulted from strong investor demand from Japan as also some safe haven buying. Investors have also become increasingly bullish after the smooth split of the cryptocurrency into two. (Read: 4 ETF Ways to Hedge Against Volatility) Bitcoins gains this weekend appeared to be at the expense of other newer digital currencies. Below is the one-week price chart from coindesk.com: What is Bitcoin? Unlike traditional currencies, which are issued by central banks, bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency. It trades 24/7 around the world without any involvement of central administrator or clearing agency. The market, which remains largely unregulated, is more like a peer-to-peer digital payment network. Creation and transactions in bitcoin are controlled through cryptography to keep transactions secure. And, while users remain anonymous, the record of these transactions is available on the bitcoin network. Bitcoin Becoming Mainstream? Bitcoin now has a market value exceeding $70 billion per coinmarketcap.com. Total value of all cryptocurrencies is more than $139 billion now. They are no longer fancy assets with few backers. In April, Japanese regulators announced rules for bitcoin, establishing it as a legitimate method of payment in the country. Per Goldman Sachs analysts, whether or not you believe in the merit of investing in cryptocurrencies (you know who you are), real dollars are at work here and warrant watching. Nvidia (NVDA)s CEO said in a recent conference call, cryptocurrency and blockchain is here to stay. The market need for it is going to grow, and over time it will become quite large. Nvidia and AMD (AMD) are among the main supplier of chips used for cryptocurrency mining. Story continues Is Bitcoin a Bubble? Bitcoins astronomical surge has raised bubble fears. Some are even comparing it to tulip mania. But unlike tulips, bitcoin has real value and is accepted by hundreds of thousands of merchants worldwide. One of the reasons behind the surge is bitcoins limited supply. According to the Economist, there are about 16.3 million bitcoin in circulation, with only 1,800 new ones minted every day. The currencys total supply would be capped at 21 million units. (Read: Follow Gundlach with These ETF Strategies) On the other hand, demand has been rising due to geopolitical uncertainty. Many consider bitcoin a safe have asset like Gold. Due to its low correlation with other asset classes, it also acts as a portfolio diversifier. It is difficult to arrive at a fair value for the bitcoin. I read about a model in FT that is based on the presumption that bitcoins core utility value is serving as a currency for the dark economy. The model found the cryptocurrency to be grossly overvalued. Standpoint's Ronnie Moas raised his price target on bitcoin to $7,500 today as he told CNBC, "I believe there are hedge funds and very deep-pocketed individuals going into this now, really hundreds of millions of dollars." Another bitcoin bull Max Keiser predicts $5,000 would be the next target, driven by panic buying by the worlds affluent with rising war tensions and central bank malfeasance. If bitcoins surge looks excessive, consider thisbitcoins closest rival ethereum is up more than 3,400% this year. (Read: Ethereum ETF? The Bitcoin Crushing Digital Currency Explained) Bitcoin ETFs Under SEC Review The race to the first digital currency ETF is heating up. VanEck Vectors recently filed for an actively managed Bitcoin Strategy ETF which will invest in exchange-traded bitcoin-linked derivative instruments and other investment vehicles that provide exposure to bitcoin. Earlier this year, the SEC had rejected the ETF proposed by Winklevoss twins but they are now reviewing the decision again. Another bitcoin ETF, proposed by SolidX Management, was also rejected in March. The third one proposed by Grayscales Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC) is being reviewed. (Read: 5 Smart Beta ETFs with Brilliant Returns) Bitcoin derivatives are likely to be available to investors much sooner. CBOE plans to launch bitcoin futures in the fourth quarter of 2017 or early 2018, pending regulatory approval. Last month, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) approved digital currency-trading platform LedgerX to clear bitcoin options. The exchange plans to launch bitcoin options in early fall, and ethereum options within a few months, per CNBC. Zacks' 10-Minute Stock-Picking Secret Since 1988, the Zacks system has more than doubled the S&P 500 with an average gain of +25% per year. With compounding, rebalancing, and exclusive of fees, it can turn thousands into millions of dollars. But here's something even more remarkable: You can master this proven system without going to a single class or seminar. And then you can apply it to your portfolio in as little as 10 minutes a month. Learn the secret >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) : Free Stock Analysis Report GOLD (LONDON P (GLD): ETF Research Reports NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
[Social Media Buzz]
BUY BITCOIN
BUY BITCOIN
BUY BITCOIN
BUY BITCOIN
BUY BITCOIN https://t.co/Ptayho9DUb || 1 #BTC (#Bitcoin) quotes:
$4350.00/$4354.49 #Bitstamp
$4344.00/$4344.81 #Kraken
⇢$-10.49/$-5.19
$4324.27/$4367.74 #Coinbase
⇢$-30.22/$17.74 || BTC Real Time Price: ThePriceOfBTC: $4442.87 #GDAX;
$4449.49 #bitstamp;
$4438.19 #gemini;
$4450.00 #kraken;
$4490.00 #cex; || One Bitcoin now worth $4460.00@bitstamp. High $4480.00. Low $4094.98. Market Cap $73.637 Billion #bitcoin || BTC Real Time Price: ThePriceOfBTC:...
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4160.62, 4193.70, 4087.66, 4001.74, 4100.52, 4151.52, 4334.68, 4371.60, 4352.40, 4382.88
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 374.45, 369.95, 389.59, 386.55, 376.52, 376.62, 373.45, 376.03, 381.65, 379.65, 384.26, 391.86, 407.23, 400.18, 407.49, 416.32, 422.37, 420.79, 437.16, 438.80, 437.75, 420.74, 424.95, 424.54, 432.15, 432.52, 433.50, 437.70, 435.12, 423.99, 421.65, 410.94, 400.57, 407.71, 414.32, 413.97, 414.86, 417.13, 421.69, 411.62, 414.07, 416.44, 416.83, 417.01, 420.62, 409.55, 410.44, 413.76, 413.31, 418.09, 418.04, 416.39, 417.18, 417.95, 426.77, 424.23, 416.52, 414.82, 416.73, 417.96, 420.87, 420.90, 421.44, 424.03, 423.41, 422.74, 420.35, 419.41, 421.56, 422.48, 425.19, 423.73, 424.28, 429.71, 430.57, 427.40, 428.59, 435.51, 441.39, 449.42, 445.74, 450.28, 458.55, 461.43, 466.09, 444.69, 449.01, 455.10, 448.32, 451.88.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2016-05-01]
Volume: 40660100, RSI (14-day): 58.79, 50-day EMA: 432.24, 200-day EMA: 390.62
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Californian Startup NextTech Invited by Russian Government to Give Blockchain Presentation: LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwired - Apr 29, 2016) - US blockchain startup, NextTech, will travel to Moscow next month after receiving an official invitation from the Russian government to give a presentation on cryptocurrencies and the technology underpinning the digital payment system, the blockchain. NextTech, an LA startup with offices in Austin and Houston, is Chaired by Lee Caplin, President of telecommunications provider Picture Entertainment Corp, and pioneer in voice encryption technology, "We are offering a special blend of hardware and fintech services to provide a digital financial ecosystem with enhanced efficiencies using blockchain technology." According to Scott Akers, CEO of Next Tech, "The team will be joined by representatives of the executive branch of Russian government, members of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, prominent business owners and leading Russian scientists to explore possibilities of Blockchain Technology," outlined by an official letter received by the company earlier this week. Andrey Yalanuzyan, CEO of NextTech Russia and counterpart to Akers' US operations, says, "NextTech, is one of the most advanced and up-to-date startups in Blockchain industry. There is tremendous opportunity to offer a wide spectrum of necessary technical solutions for Russian IT market and many other fields of blockchain development. Russia has a great need to obtain, expand and use the blockchain platform in numerous economic, legal and social fields of modern life. We believe that appropriate implementation of Blockchain in Russia is going to be an evolutionary leap forward." "Governments are beginning to see how the blockchain could be used as a tool for streamlining the inner-workings of state institutions," says Akers. "We are focused on providing a comprehensive overview of the technology and its impact from a legal, economic, social, and technical standpoint." The use of Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies is currently illegal in Russia and various other countries worldwide. Prior associations with illicit online activity -- such as drug dealing, illegal arms sales and human trafficking is increasingly being seen as a distraction from the potential of the 'digital ledger' upon which it is based. Story continues "Our aim at NextTech is to address the misinformation surrounding cryptocurrencies more generally," stresses Akers. "We want to clearly illustrate the difference between 'what it is' and 'what people do with it' -- a crucial distinction." Commonly referred to as the 'blockchain,' the technology underpinning bitcoin is quickly moving mainstream as it is recognized by state officials, central banks -- including the Bank of England -- and private enterprises like Microsoft, as potentially the most secure data filing facility ever created. Downplaying focus on their commercial product offering, NextTech's blocknext.com provides us with a small glimpse into what they have in store for Russia. || Californian Startup NextTech Invited by Russian Government to Give Blockchain Presentation: LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwired - Apr 29, 2016) - US blockchain startup, NextTech, will travel to Moscow next month after receiving an official invitation from the Russian government to give a presentation on cryptocurrencies and the technology underpinning the digital payment system, the blockchain.
NextTech, an LA startup with offices in Austin and Houston, is Chaired by Lee Caplin, President of telecommunications provider Picture Entertainment Corp, and pioneer in voice encryption technology, "We are offering a special blend of hardware and fintech services to provide a digital financial ecosystem with enhanced efficiencies using blockchain technology."
According to Scott Akers, CEO of Next Tech, "The team will be joined by representatives of the executive branch of Russian government, members of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, prominent business owners and leading Russian scientists to explore possibilities of Blockchain Technology," outlined by an official letter received by the company earlier this week.
Andrey Yalanuzyan, CEO of NextTech Russia and counterpart to Akers' US operations, says, "NextTech, is one of the most advanced and up-to-date startups in Blockchain industry. There is tremendous opportunity to offer a wide spectrum of necessary technical solutions for Russian IT market and many other fields of blockchain development. Russia has a great need to obtain, expand and use the blockchain platform in numerous economic, legal and social fields of modern life. We believe that appropriate implementation of Blockchain in Russia is going to be an evolutionary leap forward."
"Governments are beginning to see how the blockchain could be used as a tool for streamlining the inner-workings of state institutions," says Akers. "We are focused on providing a comprehensive overview of the technology and its impact from a legal, economic, social, and technical standpoint."
The use of Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies is currently illegal in Russia and various other countries worldwide. Prior associations with illicit online activity -- such as drug dealing, illegal arms sales and human trafficking is increasingly being seen as a distraction from the potential of the 'digital ledger' upon which it is based.
"Our aim at NextTech is to address the misinformation surrounding cryptocurrencies more generally," stresses Akers. "We want to clearly illustrate the difference between 'what it is' and 'what people do with it' -- a crucial distinction."
Commonly referred to as the 'blockchain,' the technology underpinning bitcoin is quickly moving mainstream as it is recognized by state officials, central banks -- including the Bank of England -- and private enterprises like Microsoft, as potentially the most secure data filing facility ever created.
Downplaying focus on their commercial product offering, NextTech'sblocknext.comprovides us with a small glimpse into what they have in store for Russia. || Larry Summers joins bitcoin firm as a senior advisor: Digital Currency Group is busy these days. In the last four months alone, the companyacquired the biggest bitcoin news site, CoinDesk, and along with it, the biggest bitcoin conference, Consensus; it alsogave money to Coin Center, the bitcoin industry's nonprofit advocacy group.
On Thursday,DCG announced a laundry list of new investors and additions to its team, and among them is one very big name: Larry Summers.
Summers, former Treasury secretary and former president of Harvard University, is joining DCG as a senior advisor. It is a reminder that Summers believes in the future of bitcoin, thecrypto-currency that many fare still skeptical about. One year ago, speaking at the Museum of American Finance,Summers was asked about bitcoinand said, "We have seen so little innovation cumulatively directed at taking the frictional costs out of the system. The notion that there’s going to be a lot of innovation and experimentation around how those frictional costs can be taken out feels like a very important kind of idea.”
Digital Currency Group is an investment firm that has poured money into 72 different companies, more than two-thirds of which operate in the bitcoin space. A small portion of DCG's portfolio are companies exploring blockchain technology without bitcoin, so DCG calls itself a digital currency firm, not solely a bitcoin firm. (What is the blockchain? Watch our helpful primer video.) But it is associated primarily with bitcoin. DCG's portfolio boasts almost all of the hottest bitcoin startups, and those startups have accounted for more than 70% of all the venture capital put into bitcoin companies in total.
The CEO of DCG is Barry Silbert, who in 2004 createdSecondMarket,which allowed for the trading of private-company stock, and in 2015 sold it to Nasdaq (NDAQ).In DCG's release about its news, Summers says, "Barry and his team at DCG are building an important platform with great potential to help these technologies reach mass adoption.”
In the past, I have called DCG the Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) of the bitcoin world, but you could just as easily compare it to Barry Diller's acquisitiveInterActiveCorp (IAC), and indeed, Silbert says that DCG models itself after IAC and Berkshire Hathaway. (CoinDesk was DCG's first full acquisition, but expect more to come.) The addition of Summers, along with its new investors, supports the comparisons.
In addition to bringing on Summers and respected bitcoin developer Gavin Andresen as advisors, DCG has raised a new funding round (it will not disclose the amount) from Western Union (WU), Prudential(PRU) through its investment subsidiary Gibraltar, FoxConn through its investment subsidiary HCM International, and others.
But it is the involvement of Summers that may turn some heads on Wall Street. Silbert knows the value of the name. "I've gotten to know Dr. Summers over the past few years," Silbert tells Yahoo Finance, "and it has been fantastic to see his thinking about digital currency and blockchain evolve and mature."
What Silbert and DCG and the rest of the bitcoin industry are hoping is that the general attitude toward bitcoin will continue to mature.
--
Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering sports business and technology.
Read more:
How big banks are paying lip service to the blockchain
Here’s how you can invest in the blockchain
Bitcoin's biggest investor just bought its biggest news site
Here's a sign that PayPal is embracing Bitcoin || Larry Summers joins bitcoin firm as a senior advisor: Digital Currency Group is busy these days. In the last four months alone, the company acquired the biggest bitcoin news site, CoinDesk , and along with it, the biggest bitcoin conference, Consensus; it also gave money to Coin Center , the bitcoin industry's nonprofit advocacy group. On Thursday, DCG announced a laundry list of new investors and additions to its team , and among them is one very big name: Larry Summers. Summers, former Treasury secretary and former president of Harvard University, is joining DCG as a senior advisor. It is a reminder that Summers believes in the future of bitcoin, the crypto-currency that many fare still skeptical about . One year ago, speaking at the Museum of American Finance, Summers was asked about bitcoin and said, " We have seen so little innovation cumulatively directed at taking the frictional costs out of the system. The notion that there’s going to be a lot of innovation and experimentation around how those frictional costs can be taken out feels like a very important kind of idea.” Digital Currency Group is an investment firm that has poured money into 72 different companies, more than two-thirds of which operate in the bitcoin space. A small portion of DCG's portfolio are companies exploring blockchain technology without bitcoin, so DCG calls itself a digital currency firm, not solely a bitcoin firm. ( What is the blockchain? Watch our helpful primer video .) But it is associated primarily with bitcoin. DCG's portfolio boasts almost all of the hottest bitcoin startups, and those startups have accounted for more than 70% of all the venture capital put into bitcoin companies in total. The CEO of DCG is Barry Silbert, who in 2004 created SecondMarket, which allowed for the trading of private-company stock, and in 2015 sold it to Nasdaq ( NDAQ ). In DCG's release about its news, Summers says, " Barry and his team at DCG are building an important platform with great potential to help these technologies reach mass adoption.” Story continues In the past, I have called DCG the Anheuser-Busch InBev ( BUD ) of the bitcoin world, but you could just as easily compare it to Barry Diller's acquisitive InterActiveCorp ( IAC ), and indeed, Silbert says that DCG models itself after IAC and Berkshire Hathaway. ( CoinDesk was DCG's first full acquisition , but expect more to come.) T he addition of Summers, along with its new investors, supports the comparisons. In addition to bringing on Summers and respected bitcoin developer Gavin Andresen as advisors, DCG has raised a new funding round (it will not disclose the amount) from Western Union ( WU ), Prudential ( PRU ) through its investment subsidiary Gibraltar, FoxConn through its investment subsidiary HCM International, and others. But it is the involvement of Summers that may turn some heads on Wall Street. Silbert knows the value of the name. "I've gotten to know Dr. Summers over the past few years," Silbert tells Yahoo Finance, "and it has been fantastic to see his thinking about digital currency and blockchain evolve and mature." What Silbert and DCG and the rest of the bitcoin industry are hoping is that the general attitude toward bitcoin will continue to mature. -- Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering sports business and technology. Read more: How big banks are paying lip service to the blockchain Here’s how you can invest in the blockchain Bitcoin's biggest investor just bought its biggest news site Here's a sign that PayPal is embracing Bitcoin || Benton Capital Increases Land Package at Wisa Lake Lithium Project: THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Apr 26, 2016) - Benton Capital Corp. (TSX VENTURE:BTC) ("Benton" or "the Company") would like to announce that it has acquired a 100% interest through staking in an additional 30 units in 2 claims at its Wisa Lake Lithium project located 80km east of Fort Frances, Ontario (see BTC PR April 19, 2016). The property is connected to Highway 11 (Trans Canada), located 65km north, via an all-weather road that crosses the centre of the project. The land position was increased in order to cover an additional spodumene-bearing pegmatitic dyke located approximately 900m south of the Wisa Lake zone. Selective grab samples collected from the zones have been submitted to the laboratory for analysis.
As indicated in the Company's PR dated April 19, 2016, the property covers the Wisa Lake deposit with a historical resource of 330,000 tonnes grading 1.15% Li2O (Lexindin Gold Mines Ltd., Manager's Report, 1958; Ontario Geological Survey, Open File Report 6285, Report of Activities 2012). In 1956, Lexindin completed a total of 20 drill holes (packsack and AQ-sized core) over a strike length of 335m and to a depth of approximately 65m to outline the Wisa Lake lithium mineralization. The diamond drill log of the most easterly hole intersected 6.4m containing 20% of the lithium-bearing mineral spodumene suggesting the mineralization is open at depth and to the east. It should be noted that the historical resource estimate for the deposit was calculated prior to CIM National Instrument 43-101 guidelines and as such should only be considered from a historical point of view and not relied upon. A qualified person has not completed sufficient work to classify the historical estimates as current mineral resources. Further diamond drill programs are required to bring the mineralization into a proper NI 43-101 compliant category.
The Company has recently applied to change its name to Alset Energy Corp. and in is the process of applying for a new trading symbol. The Company has also granted 2,395,000 options to officers, directors and consultants of the company at a price of 7 cents for a period of 5 years.
All of the above transactions are subject to TSX.V and regulatory approvals.
Benton Capital is well funded with approximately $1 million in cash.
Clinton Barr (P.Geo.), V.P. Exploration for Benton Capital Corp., is the qualified person responsible for this release and has reviewed and approved all scientific and technical data and disclosures in this release.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Benton Capital Corp,
Stephen Stares, President
THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements."
Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of prefeasibility and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to gold price and other commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations or projections. || Benton Capital Increases Land Package at Wisa Lake Lithium Project: THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Apr 26, 2016) - Benton Capital Corp. (TSX VENTURE:BTC) ("Benton" or "the Company") would like to announce that it has acquired a 100% interest through staking in an additional 30 units in 2 claims at its Wisa Lake Lithium project located 80km east of Fort Frances, Ontario (see BTC PR April 19, 2016). The property is connected to Highway 11 (Trans Canada), located 65km north, via an all-weather road that crosses the centre of the project. The land position was increased in order to cover an additional spodumene-bearing pegmatitic dyke located approximately 900m south of the Wisa Lake zone. Selective grab samples collected from the zones have been submitted to the laboratory for analysis. As indicated in the Company's PR dated April 19, 2016, the property covers the Wisa Lake deposit with a historical resource of 330,000 tonnes grading 1.15% Li 2 O (Lexindin Gold Mines Ltd., Manager's Report, 1958; Ontario Geological Survey, Open File Report 6285, Report of Activities 2012). In 1956, Lexindin completed a total of 20 drill holes (packsack and AQ-sized core) over a strike length of 335m and to a depth of approximately 65m to outline the Wisa Lake lithium mineralization. The diamond drill log of the most easterly hole intersected 6.4m containing 20% of the lithium-bearing mineral spodumene suggesting the mineralization is open at depth and to the east. It should be noted that the historical resource estimate for the deposit was calculated prior to CIM National Instrument 43-101 guidelines and as such should only be considered from a historical point of view and not relied upon. A qualified person has not completed sufficient work to classify the historical estimates as current mineral resources. Further diamond drill programs are required to bring the mineralization into a proper NI 43-101 compliant category. The Company has recently applied to change its name to Alset Energy Corp. and in is the process of applying for a new trading symbol. The Company has also granted 2,395,000 options to officers, directors and consultants of the company at a price of 7 cents for a period of 5 years. Story continues All of the above transactions are subject to TSX.V and regulatory approvals. Benton Capital is well funded with approximately $1 million in cash. Clinton Barr (P.Geo.), V.P. Exploration for Benton Capital Corp., is the qualified person responsible for this release and has reviewed and approved all scientific and technical data and disclosures in this release. On behalf of the Board of Directors of Benton Capital Corp, Stephen Stares, President THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of prefeasibility and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to gold price and other commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations or projections.
[Social Media Buzz]
$455.68 #coinbase;
$451.09 #bitstamp;
$450.50 #bitfinex;
$450.00 #btce;
#bitcoin #btc || LIVE: Profit = $730.03 (9.07 %). BUY B19.49 @ $420.00 (#VirCurex). SELL @ $451.65 (#Kraken) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || #TrinityCoin #TTY $ 0.000014 (-0.30 %) 0.00000003 BTC (-0.00 %) || #TrinityCoin #TTY $ 0.000013 (-1.23 %) 0.00000003 BTC (-0.00 %) || Average Bitcoin market price is: USD 452.00, EUR 394.79 || Pirate Bay gets a "Massive" $9.00 in donations per day via /r/Bitcoin http...
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444.67, 450.30, 446.72, 447.98, 459.60, 458.54, 458.55, 460.48, 450.89, 452.73
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 40406.27, 38347.06, 38053.50, 35787.25, 35615.87, 35698.30, 31676.69, 32505.66, 33723.03, 34662.44, 31637.78, 32186.28, 34649.64, 34434.34, 35867.78, 35040.84, 33572.12, 33897.05, 34668.55, 35287.78, 33746.00, 34235.20, 33855.33, 32877.37, 33798.01, 33520.52, 34240.19, 33155.85, 32702.03, 32822.35, 31780.73, 31421.54, 31533.07, 31796.81, 30817.83, 29807.35, 32110.69, 32313.11, 33581.55, 34292.45, 35350.19, 37337.54, 39406.94, 39995.91, 40008.42, 42235.55, 41626.20, 39974.89, 39201.95, 38152.98, 39747.50, 40869.55, 42816.50, 44555.80, 43798.12, 46365.40, 45585.03, 45593.64, 44428.29, 47793.32, 47096.95, 47047.00, 46004.48, 44695.36, 44801.19, 46717.58, 49339.18, 48905.49, 49321.65, 49546.15, 47706.12, 48960.79, 46942.22, 49058.67, 48902.40, 48829.83, 47054.98, 47166.69, 48847.03, 49327.72, 50025.38, 49944.62, 51753.41, 52633.54, 46811.13, 46091.39, 46391.42, 44883.91, 45201.46, 46063.27.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2021-09-12]
Volume: 27881980161, RSI (14-day): 46.94, 50-day EMA: 45232.51, 200-day EMA: 41428.40
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
As clean energy jobs grow, women and Black workers are at risk of being left behind: Women and Black workers are vastly underrepresented in the clean energy workforce, an industry that pays higher-than-average wages and is the fastest-growing source of jobs in the U.S., according to a new report by a coalition of energy organizations. Clean energy jobs, which range from creating electric cars to making buildings more energy efficient, are transforming the nation's economy, but they are predominantly filled by white men, with Latino workers mostly stuck in entry-level positions and women and Black workers underrepresented in the industry overall, according to the report by a coalition of organizations including the Alliance to Save Energy and the American Association of Blacks in Energy. "Congress and state lawmakers need to do more to make sure people of color aren't left behind in what is shaping up as the biggest economic transition in recent history,'' says Bob Keefe, executive director of E2, a nonpartisan group that supports initiatives benefiting the environment and economy, and one of the report's authors. "So far it’s been white workers, particularly white men, who've benefited from this tremendous opportunity." ►Explained: Are we at risk of stagflation as prices rise and growth slows? ►Breaking down the big US labor shortage: Crunch could partly ease this fall but much of it could take years to fix In clean energy fields where they are most represented, women have fewer than 30% of the jobs, though they fill almost half of jobs across industries nationwide, the report says. Meanwhile, Black workers have the biggest gap of any racial group between their representation in clean energy jobs and their numbers in the broader U.S. workforce, the report says. They make up roughly 8% of clean energy employees, though they are about 13% of U.S. workers overall. Latino employees make up almost 17% of clean energy workers, just slightly below the 18% of jobs they hold in the broader U.S. workforce. But they tend to be concentrated in entry-level construction positions, "jobs that are some of the first to get cut when things get bad,'' Keefe says. Story continues That inequity was on vivid display during the COVID-19 pandemic, which also led to Black and Latino workers being disproportionately laid off in sectors like hotels and restaurants when businesses were shuttered to slow the spread of the virus. Among those who lost clean energy jobs during the pandemic, an estimated 23% were Latino, while 31% of nonwhite workers overall in the industry found themselves out of work, according to the report. High pay, good benefits The lack of Black and women workers in the clean energy field resembles a gap also seen in tech, another high-paying field, Keefe says. “What we’re seeing in clean energy is not a lot different from what we saw in the tech industry that is still overwhelmingly run and populated by men,'' Keefe says. ►Bitcoin has a bumpy start: El Salvador becomes first country to make bitcoin national currency, and then it hit a snag ►Unemployment drops: Economy added 235,000 jobs in August amid COVID surge, worker shortage. Unemployment fell to 5.2%. More than 3 million people work in the clean energy industry, nearly three times the number of Americans who work in the traditional fossil fuel sector, Keefe says. Access to clean energy jobs could help narrow the nation's gender and racial pay gap . The energy efficiency sector for instance, which focuses on the reduction of energy waste and costs, typically pays over $24 an hour, roughly 28% more than the national median wage, according to a separate report from the American Council on Renewable Energy, the Clean Energy Leadership Institute, and E2. Clean energy jobs are "also more likely to come with retirement and health benefits,'' Keefe says. In a case study, the diversity report released Thursday focused on the role of technicians who install and fix wind turbines, the key component to generating energy with wind. With more than 60,000 turbines in 41 states and two territories, wind power is a surging part of the economy, and senior technicians earn almost $40 an hour. But Black employees and women each comprise just 5% of that workforce, according to the report. Seven in 10 turbine technicians are white, and 2 in 10 are Latino. Moving forward with equity President Joe Biden has made addressing climate change a key component of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that has been passed by the Senate and is expected to be voted on by the House this month. And Biden is calling for less advantaged communities to receive 40% of the benefits from federal initiatives on the climate. But to ensure inclusion, a range of actions are needed, advocates say. "We need to remember that building back better also means building back more equitably and making sure people of color have (the same) opportunities as any other American," Keefe says. Initiatives that could help increase diversity include focusing on investing in clean energy businesses owned by people of color and making sure those living near wind farms or electric vehicle factories are given the chance to work for those facilities. Black workers could also gain access to clean energy jobs if more of those businesses are built beyond states like California and Massachusetts, Keefe says. "The sun doesn't shine any brighter in Massachusetts than it does in Georgia or South Carolina,'' he says. "We have the opportunity now to pass policies to expand solar (production), to expand offshore wind in places like the Southeast which have bigger Black populations, and to bring those opportunities of employment to those communities.'' Follow Charisse Jones on Twitter @charissejones This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Clean energy jobs are leaving women, Black workers behind, report says || As clean energy jobs grow, women and Black workers are at risk of being left behind: Women and Black workers are vastly underrepresented in the clean energy workforce, an industry that pays higher-than-average wages and is the fastest-growing source of jobs in the U.S., according to a new report by a coalition of energy organizations. Clean energy jobs, which range from creating electric cars to making buildings more energy efficient, are transforming the nation's economy, but they are predominantly filled by white men, with Latino workers mostly stuck in entry-level positions and women and Black workers underrepresented in the industry overall, according to the report by a coalition of organizations including the Alliance to Save Energy and the American Association of Blacks in Energy. "Congress and state lawmakers need to do more to make sure people of color aren't left behind in what is shaping up as the biggest economic transition in recent history,'' says Bob Keefe, executive director of E2, a nonpartisan group that supports initiatives benefiting the environment and economy, and one of the report's authors. "So far it’s been white workers, particularly white men, who've benefited from this tremendous opportunity." ►Explained: Are we at risk of stagflation as prices rise and growth slows? ►Breaking down the big US labor shortage: Crunch could partly ease this fall but much of it could take years to fix In clean energy fields where they are most represented, women have fewer than 30% of the jobs, though they fill almost half of jobs across industries nationwide, the report says. Meanwhile, Black workers have the biggest gap of any racial group between their representation in clean energy jobs and their numbers in the broader U.S. workforce, the report says. They make up roughly 8% of clean energy employees, though they are about 13% of U.S. workers overall. Latino employees make up almost 17% of clean energy workers, just slightly below the 18% of jobs they hold in the broader U.S. workforce. But they tend to be concentrated in entry-level construction positions, "jobs that are some of the first to get cut when things get bad,'' Keefe says. Story continues That inequity was on vivid display during the COVID-19 pandemic, which also led to Black and Latino workers being disproportionately laid off in sectors like hotels and restaurants when businesses were shuttered to slow the spread of the virus. Among those who lost clean energy jobs during the pandemic, an estimated 23% were Latino, while 31% of nonwhite workers overall in the industry found themselves out of work, according to the report. High pay, good benefits The lack of Black and women workers in the clean energy field resembles a gap also seen in tech, another high-paying field, Keefe says. “What we’re seeing in clean energy is not a lot different from what we saw in the tech industry that is still overwhelmingly run and populated by men,'' Keefe says. ►Bitcoin has a bumpy start: El Salvador becomes first country to make bitcoin national currency, and then it hit a snag ►Unemployment drops: Economy added 235,000 jobs in August amid COVID surge, worker shortage. Unemployment fell to 5.2%. More than 3 million people work in the clean energy industry, nearly three times the number of Americans who work in the traditional fossil fuel sector, Keefe says. Access to clean energy jobs could help narrow the nation's gender and racial pay gap . The energy efficiency sector for instance, which focuses on the reduction of energy waste and costs, typically pays over $24 an hour, roughly 28% more than the national median wage, according to a separate report from the American Council on Renewable Energy, the Clean Energy Leadership Institute, and E2. Clean energy jobs are "also more likely to come with retirement and health benefits,'' Keefe says. In a case study, the diversity report released Thursday focused on the role of technicians who install and fix wind turbines, the key component to generating energy with wind. With more than 60,000 turbines in 41 states and two territories, wind power is a surging part of the economy, and senior technicians earn almost $40 an hour. But Black employees and women each comprise just 5% of that workforce, according to the report. Seven in 10 turbine technicians are white, and 2 in 10 are Latino. Moving forward with equity President Joe Biden has made addressing climate change a key component of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that has been passed by the Senate and is expected to be voted on by the House this month. And Biden is calling for less advantaged communities to receive 40% of the benefits from federal initiatives on the climate. But to ensure inclusion, a range of actions are needed, advocates say. "We need to remember that building back better also means building back more equitably and making sure people of color have (the same) opportunities as any other American," Keefe says. Initiatives that could help increase diversity include focusing on investing in clean energy businesses owned by people of color and making sure those living near wind farms or electric vehicle factories are given the chance to work for those facilities. Black workers could also gain access to clean energy jobs if more of those businesses are built beyond states like California and Massachusetts, Keefe says. "The sun doesn't shine any brighter in Massachusetts than it does in Georgia or South Carolina,'' he says. "We have the opportunity now to pass policies to expand solar (production), to expand offshore wind in places like the Southeast which have bigger Black populations, and to bring those opportunities of employment to those communities.'' Follow Charisse Jones on Twitter @charissejones This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Clean energy jobs are leaving women, Black workers behind, report says || RAREPEPE NFT sells for $500k as Sotheby’s tease potential auction: A card from the vintage RAREPEPE collection has sold for $500k (147 ETH) on the collection’s fifth birthday, renewing interest in the 2016 NFT series. The card – a Series 1 dubbed The Nakamoto Card – is part of a 300 strong collection issued in September 2016 that features a ‘Pepe’ of pseudonymous Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto. The NFT notes that the card is “one of the most rare Pepes in existence” and has attracted big buyers seeking the rarest and most original NFTs that were available. Prompted by the surge of interest in NFTs, collectors have been using NFT ‘vault’ platform Emblem Vault to wrap the original NFTs in ERC-21 form, meaning they can be sold on NFT marketplaces such as OpenSea . An Emblem vault is an NFT container that stores one or more tokens or NFTs. Using a vault, a collector can share their pieces with others and deposit NFTs for viewing. RAREPEPE Card 1, Series 1 – The Nakamoto Card bought for 147Ξ ($505483.02) #EmblemVault $COVAL https://t.co/zfKACtfy9m — Emblem Vault Bot (@EmblemVaultBot) September 10, 2021 The recent success of the project reflects the overwhelming desire from collectors to obtain NFT projects from the early days of Ethereum such as CryptoPunks and EtherRocks , which have also recently reached record sales upwards of $1m. Based on their historical prestige and appeal to recent meme culture enthusiasts who regularly use Pepe memes across crypto communities, it’s speculated that the Rare Pepe collection could grant even higher value due to their age, standing and collectability as a series. Story continues Sotheby’s auction on the cards? Max Moore, Head of Contemporary Art Auction and Co-Head of NFTs at Sotheby’s, posted a cryptic tweet that floated the idea of a RAREPEPE card or collection being placed for sale at the famous auction house. Whether the tweet was light-hearted is unknown, with many collectors now anticipating a RAREPEPE collection to be auctioned at Sotheby’s alongside future sales featuring many highly collectable NFTs. An 👼 told me it was rare🐸 5th birthday today. Maybe we should celebrate @Sothebys soon? — Max Moore (@MaxMoore_Art) September 9, 2021 Sotheby’s has been receptive of NFTs and digital art in the modern age, going as far as describing them as “one of the groundbreaking artistic breakthroughs of the century”. It featured an auction of the “ Source Code for the WWW ” from Sir Tim Berners-Lee in NFT form, which sold for $5.43m. Other collections include the “ Natively Digital ” curated art sale, which included a CryptoPunk alongside varying pieces of digital art and “ The Fungible Collection ” – a series of cube-based NFTs from Pak . Most recently, Sotheby’s held its Bored Ape Yacht Club auction, which eventually sold for a staggering $24.39m, smashing initial estimates placed on the collection . || RAREPEPE NFT sells for $500k as Sotheby’s tease potential auction: A card from the vintage RAREPEPE collection has sold for $500k (147 ETH) on the collection’s fifth birthday, renewing interest in the 2016 NFT series. The card – a Series 1 dubbed The Nakamoto Card – is part of a 300 strong collection issued in September 2016 that features a ‘Pepe’ of pseudonymous Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto. The NFT notes that the card is “one of the most rare Pepes in existence” and has attracted big buyers seeking the rarest and most original NFTs that were available. Prompted by the surge of interest in NFTs, collectors have been using NFT ‘vault’ platform Emblem Vault to wrap the original NFTs in ERC-21 form, meaning they can be sold on NFT marketplaces such as OpenSea . An Emblem vault is an NFT container that stores one or more tokens or NFTs. Using a vault, a collector can share their pieces with others and deposit NFTs for viewing. RAREPEPE Card 1, Series 1 – The Nakamoto Card bought for 147Ξ ($505483.02) #EmblemVault $COVAL https://t.co/zfKACtfy9m — Emblem Vault Bot (@EmblemVaultBot) September 10, 2021 The recent success of the project reflects the overwhelming desire from collectors to obtain NFT projects from the early days of Ethereum such as CryptoPunks and EtherRocks , which have also recently reached record sales upwards of $1m. Based on their historical prestige and appeal to recent meme culture enthusiasts who regularly use Pepe memes across crypto communities, it’s speculated that the Rare Pepe collection could grant even higher value due to their age, standing and collectability as a series. Story continues Sotheby’s auction on the cards? Max Moore, Head of Contemporary Art Auction and Co-Head of NFTs at Sotheby’s, posted a cryptic tweet that floated the idea of a RAREPEPE card or collection being placed for sale at the famous auction house. Whether the tweet was light-hearted is unknown, with many collectors now anticipating a RAREPEPE collection to be auctioned at Sotheby’s alongside future sales featuring many highly collectable NFTs. An 👼 told me it was rare🐸 5th birthday today. Maybe we should celebrate @Sothebys soon? — Max Moore (@MaxMoore_Art) September 9, 2021 Sotheby’s has been receptive of NFTs and digital art in the modern age, going as far as describing them as “one of the groundbreaking artistic breakthroughs of the century”. It featured an auction of the “ Source Code for the WWW ” from Sir Tim Berners-Lee in NFT form, which sold for $5.43m. Other collections include the “ Natively Digital ” curated art sale, which included a CryptoPunk alongside varying pieces of digital art and “ The Fungible Collection ” – a series of cube-based NFTs from Pak . Most recently, Sotheby’s held its Bored Ape Yacht Club auction, which eventually sold for a staggering $24.39m, smashing initial estimates placed on the collection . || UATP Joins Forces With BitPay, Bringing Crypto to Its Airline Members: BeInCrypto – The UATP global payment network has partnered with crypto payments processing company BitPay, to expand the reach of UATP to a wider global customer base by allowing customers to pay for travel using cryptocurrency. BitPay and UATP have joined forces UATP has partnered with the largest provider of Bitcoin and crypto payment services, Atlanta-based BitPay. UATP is a global payment network owned by the world’s airlines, and is accepted by merchants for air, rail, and agency payments. Considering that travel and leisure are among the top 5 items purchased with cryptocurrency, according to a survey done by Pyments.com, UATP is allowing Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and six other cryptos, through its partnership with BitPay, to be used for payments. Travel is a high-value purchase, and because cryptocurrency has been growing into a safe and trusted payment option, more people are coming on board, according to Stephen Pair, BitPay’s co-founder and CEO. Litecoin was the most recent addition to BitPay in Q3 2021. BitPay supports all crypto wallets, which will enable many customers globally to pay with crypto, and has the potential to increase UATP’s client-base significantly. This story was seen first on BeInCrypto Join our Telegram Group and get trading signals, a free trading course and more stories like this on BeInCrypto || UATP Joins Forces With BitPay, Bringing Crypto to Its Airline Members: BeInCrypto –
The UATP global payment network has partnered with crypto payments processing company BitPay, to expand the reach of UATP to a wider global customer base by allowing customers to pay for travel using cryptocurrency.
BitPay and UATP have joined forces
UATP has partneredwith the largest provider of Bitcoin and crypto payment services, Atlanta-based BitPay. UATP is a global payment network owned by the world’s airlines, and is accepted by merchants for air, rail, and agency payments. Considering that travel and leisure are among the top 5 items purchased with cryptocurrency, according to a survey done by Pyments.com, UATP is allowing Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and six other cryptos, through its partnership with BitPay, to be used for payments. Travel is a high-value purchase, and because cryptocurrency has been growing into a safe and trusted payment option, more people are coming on board, according to Stephen Pair, BitPay’s co-founder and CEO. Litecoin was the most recentadditionto BitPay in Q3 2021. BitPay supports all crypto wallets, which will enable many customers globally to pay with crypto, and has the potential to increase UATP’s client-base significantly.
This storywas seen first onBeInCryptoJoin our Telegram Groupand get trading signals, a free trading course and more stories likethisonBeInCrypto || Bitcoin is now 'legal tender' in El Salvador here's what that means: It's all legal tender. Steven Puetzer/The Image Bank via Getty Images On Sept. 7, 2021, El Salvador became the first country to make bitcoin legal tender . The government even went a step further in promoting the cryptocurrencys use by giving US in free bitcoins to citizens who sign up for its national digital wallet, known as Chivo, or cool in English. Foreigners who invest three bitcoins in the country currently about 0,000 will be granted residency. Panama is considering following El Salvadors lead. Does making bitcoin legal tender mean every store and merchant in El Salvador will now have to accept digital payments? If more countries do the same thing, what will this mean for consumers and businesses around the world? As an economist who studies wealth and money , I believe that briefly explaining what legal tender is will help answer these questions. The bill may be out of widespread circulation, but its still legal tender. Douglas Sacha/Moment via Getty Images What is legal tender? Legal tender refers to money typically coins and banknotes that must be accepted if offered in payment of a debt. The front of every U.S. banknote states This note is legal tender for all debts public and private. This statement has been enshrined in federal law in various forms since the late 1800s. The greenback is not legal tender in just the U.S. El Salvador, for example, switched from the colon, its previous currency, to the U.S. dollar in 2001 . Ecuador , Panama , East Timor and the Federated States of Micronesia also all use the dollar as legal tender. Do merchants have to accept legal tender? But despite the definition above, legal tender doesnt mean all businesses must accept it in payment for a good or service. That requirement applies only to debts owed to creditors. The ability for a store to refuse cash or other legal tender is made explicit on the websites of both the U.S. Treasury , which is in charge of printing paper money and minting coins , and the Federal Reserve , which is in charge of distributing currency to the nations banks. This is why many companies such as airlines accept payments exclusively by credit card , and many small retailers take only cash . Story continues As the U.S. Treasury points out , there is no federal statute mandating that a private business, a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as payment for goods or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether to accept cash unless there is a state law which says otherwise. And this would be no different if the U.S. made bitcoin legal tender. Private businesses would not be required to accept it. There is clearly some confusion in El Salvador over the issue, however. Its original bitcoin law, passed in June 2021, states that every economic agent must accept bitcoin as payment when offered to him by whoever acquires a good or service. This led to protests and resulted in skepticism from economists and others . As a result, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele tweeted in August that businesses did not have to accept bitcoin. Will bitcoin catch on in El Salvador? AP Photo/Salvador Melendez Why did El Salvador make bitcoin legal tender? El Salvador is betting that being the first to open its doors completely to bitcoin will help boost its economy . President Bukele said he believes this will encourage investors with cryptocurrency to spend more of it in his country . He even has a plan to have El Salvadors state-run geothermal utility use energy from the countrys volcanoes to mine bitcoin . Creating, or mining, bitcoin takes a lot of energy , so mining makes sense only in places with cheap electricity. The given to every citizen who joins the cryptocurrency craze will temporarily stimulate the economy. However, the overall impact will likely be a short-term boost. The impact of similar payments in other countries, like COVID-19 stimulus payments , appear to end after people have spent the money . Moreover, its unclear El Salvadors increasingly indebted government can even afford it. [ Insight, in your inbox each day. You can get it with The Conversations email newsletter .] And the widespread adoption of bitcoin will likely take years. El Salvador has been installing 200 bitcoin ATMs to allow people to convert cryptocurrency into dollars. Since just 30% of the Central American countrys population even has a bank account , I believe the U.S. dollar will still be used in El Salvador for a long time, even if its president wants to move toward bitcoin. This article is republished from The Conversation , a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Jay L. Zagorsky , Boston University . Read more: ATMs dispense more than money: The dirt and dope thats on your cash Cryptocurrencies, blockchains and their dark side: 4 essential reads Bitcoin: El Salvadors grand experiment Jay L. Zagorsky does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. || Bitcoin is now 'legal tender' in El Salvador here's what that means: It's all legal tender. Steven Puetzer/The Image Bank via Getty Images On Sept. 7, 2021, El Salvador became the first country to make bitcoin legal tender . The government even went a step further in promoting the cryptocurrencys use by giving US in free bitcoins to citizens who sign up for its national digital wallet, known as Chivo, or cool in English. Foreigners who invest three bitcoins in the country currently about 0,000 will be granted residency. Panama is considering following El Salvadors lead. Does making bitcoin legal tender mean every store and merchant in El Salvador will now have to accept digital payments? If more countries do the same thing, what will this mean for consumers and businesses around the world? As an economist who studies wealth and money , I believe that briefly explaining what legal tender is will help answer these questions. The bill may be out of widespread circulation, but its still legal tender. Douglas Sacha/Moment via Getty Images What is legal tender? Legal tender refers to money typically coins and banknotes that must be accepted if offered in payment of a debt. The front of every U.S. banknote states This note is legal tender for all debts public and private. This statement has been enshrined in federal law in various forms since the late 1800s. The greenback is not legal tender in just the U.S. El Salvador, for example, switched from the colon, its previous currency, to the U.S. dollar in 2001 . Ecuador , Panama , East Timor and the Federated States of Micronesia also all use the dollar as legal tender. Do merchants have to accept legal tender? But despite the definition above, legal tender doesnt mean all businesses must accept it in payment for a good or service. That requirement applies only to debts owed to creditors. The ability for a store to refuse cash or other legal tender is made explicit on the websites of both the U.S. Treasury , which is in charge of printing paper money and minting coins , and the Federal Reserve , which is in charge of distributing currency to the nations banks. This is why many companies such as airlines accept payments exclusively by credit card , and many small retailers take only cash . Story continues As the U.S. Treasury points out , there is no federal statute mandating that a private business, a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as payment for goods or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether to accept cash unless there is a state law which says otherwise. And this would be no different if the U.S. made bitcoin legal tender. Private businesses would not be required to accept it. There is clearly some confusion in El Salvador over the issue, however. Its original bitcoin law, passed in June 2021, states that every economic agent must accept bitcoin as payment when offered to him by whoever acquires a good or service. This led to protests and resulted in skepticism from economists and others . As a result, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele tweeted in August that businesses did not have to accept bitcoin. Will bitcoin catch on in El Salvador? AP Photo/Salvador Melendez Why did El Salvador make bitcoin legal tender? El Salvador is betting that being the first to open its doors completely to bitcoin will help boost its economy . President Bukele said he believes this will encourage investors with cryptocurrency to spend more of it in his country . He even has a plan to have El Salvadors state-run geothermal utility use energy from the countrys volcanoes to mine bitcoin . Creating, or mining, bitcoin takes a lot of energy , so mining makes sense only in places with cheap electricity. The given to every citizen who joins the cryptocurrency craze will temporarily stimulate the economy. However, the overall impact will likely be a short-term boost. The impact of similar payments in other countries, like COVID-19 stimulus payments , appear to end after people have spent the money . Moreover, its unclear El Salvadors increasingly indebted government can even afford it. [ Insight, in your inbox each day. You can get it with The Conversations email newsletter .] And the widespread adoption of bitcoin will likely take years. El Salvador has been installing 200 bitcoin ATMs to allow people to convert cryptocurrency into dollars. Since just 30% of the Central American countrys population even has a bank account , I believe the U.S. dollar will still be used in El Salvador for a long time, even if its president wants to move toward bitcoin. This article is republished from The Conversation , a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Jay L. Zagorsky , Boston University . Read more: ATMs dispense more than money: The dirt and dope thats on your cash Cryptocurrencies, blockchains and their dark side: 4 essential reads Bitcoin: El Salvadors grand experiment Jay L. Zagorsky does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. || Bitcoin is now 'legal tender' in El Salvador here's what that means: It's all legal tender. Steven Puetzer/The Image Bank via Getty Images On Sept. 7, 2021, El Salvador became the first country to make bitcoin legal tender . The government even went a step further in promoting the cryptocurrencys use by giving US in free bitcoins to citizens who sign up for its national digital wallet, known as Chivo, or cool in English. Foreigners who invest three bitcoins in the country currently about 0,000 will be granted residency. Panama is considering following El Salvadors lead. Does making bitcoin legal tender mean every store and merchant in El Salvador will now have to accept digital payments? If more countries do the same thing, what will this mean for consumers and businesses around the world? As an economist who studies wealth and money , I believe that briefly explaining what legal tender is will help answer these questions. The bill may be out of widespread circulation, but its still legal tender. Douglas Sacha/Moment via Getty Images What is legal tender? Legal tender refers to money typically coins and banknotes that must be accepted if offered in payment of a debt. The front of every U.S. banknote states This note is legal tender for all debts public and private. This statement has been enshrined in federal law in various forms since the late 1800s. The greenback is not legal tender in just the U.S. El Salvador, for example, switched from the colon, its previous currency, to the U.S. dollar in 2001 . Ecuador , Panama , East Timor and the Federated States of Micronesia also all use the dollar as legal tender. Do merchants have to accept legal tender? But despite the definition above, legal tender doesnt mean all businesses must accept it in payment for a good or service. That requirement applies only to debts owed to creditors. The ability for a store to refuse cash or other legal tender is made explicit on the websites of both the U.S. Treasury , which is in charge of printing paper money and minting coins , and the Federal Reserve , which is in charge of distributing currency to the nations banks. This is why many companies such as airlines accept payments exclusively by credit card , and many small retailers take only cash . Story continues As the U.S. Treasury points out , there is no federal statute mandating that a private business, a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as payment for goods or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether to accept cash unless there is a state law which says otherwise. And this would be no different if the U.S. made bitcoin legal tender. Private businesses would not be required to accept it. There is clearly some confusion in El Salvador over the issue, however. Its original bitcoin law, passed in June 2021, states that every economic agent must accept bitcoin as payment when offered to him by whoever acquires a good or service. This led to protests and resulted in skepticism from economists and others . As a result, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele tweeted in August that businesses did not have to accept bitcoin. Will bitcoin catch on in El Salvador? AP Photo/Salvador Melendez Why did El Salvador make bitcoin legal tender? El Salvador is betting that being the first to open its doors completely to bitcoin will help boost its economy . President Bukele said he believes this will encourage investors with cryptocurrency to spend more of it in his country . He even has a plan to have El Salvadors state-run geothermal utility use energy from the countrys volcanoes to mine bitcoin . Creating, or mining, bitcoin takes a lot of energy , so mining makes sense only in places with cheap electricity. The given to every citizen who joins the cryptocurrency craze will temporarily stimulate the economy. However, the overall impact will likely be a short-term boost. The impact of similar payments in other countries, like COVID-19 stimulus payments , appear to end after people have spent the money . Moreover, its unclear El Salvadors increasingly indebted government can even afford it. [ Insight, in your inbox each day. You can get it with The Conversations email newsletter .] And the widespread adoption of bitcoin will likely take years. El Salvador has been installing 200 bitcoin ATMs to allow people to convert cryptocurrency into dollars. Since just 30% of the Central American countrys population even has a bank account , I believe the U.S. dollar will still be used in El Salvador for a long time, even if its president wants to move toward bitcoin. This article is republished from The Conversation , a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Jay L. Zagorsky , Boston University . Read more: ATMs dispense more than money: The dirt and dope thats on your cash Cryptocurrencies, blockchains and their dark side: 4 essential reads Bitcoin: El Salvadors grand experiment Jay L. Zagorsky does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. || Does Bitcoin's recent flash crash mean Warren Buffett is right to hate crypto?: The past month and a half has been bumpy for Bitcoin.
After a bully first quarter of 2021 that led to an all-time peak of $63,000 per unit in mid-April, the world's leading digital currency now hovers around $45,000, thanks in large part to a Tuesday flash crash of roughly 15%.
Holdout investors who only a couple of weeks ago may have thought they’d missed an opportunity of a lifetime are now sighing with relief; meanwhile, those who bought in at the peak are trying not to think about their losses.
And what about Warren Buffett? What would the world's most famous investor say to those who might be thinking of firing up their investment apps andbuying Bitcoin at a bargain price.
It’s “probably rat poison squared,” Buffett once said.
While Buffett chose not to comment on cryptocurrency during his company Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders meeting earlier this year, Berkshire vice-chairman Charlie Munger pulled no punches on the subject.
"I don’t welcome a currency that’s so useful to kidnappers and extortionists," Munger said during the meeting's much-watched Q&A session. "The whole damn development is disgusting and contrary to the interests of civilization."
Not to be outdone, Buffett has made his share of extremely cutting remarks about Bitcoin and cryptocurrency over the years: “I don't have any Bitcoin. I don't own any cryptocurrency, I never will,” he toldCNBCin 2020.
Here are three reasons Buffett won’t go near it.
The billionaire investor doesn’t like Bitcoin because he considers it an unproductive asset.
Buffett has a well-known preference for stocks of corporations whose value — and cash flow — come from producing things. But cryptocurrencies don’t have real value, Buffett said in aCNBCinterview in 2020.
“They don't reproduce, they can't mail you a check, they can't do anything, and what you hope is that somebody else comes along and pays you more money for them later on, but then that person's got the problem.”
Though Bitcoinisintended to provide real value as a payment system, that use is still pretty limited. As Buffett sees it, Bitcoin’s value comes from the optimism that someone else will be willing to pay more for it in the future than you’re paying today.
As a tradeable asset, Bitcoin boomed. But does it meet the three criteria of money? According to the most common definition, money is supposed to be a means of exchange, a store of value, and a unit of account.
But Buffett calls it a “mirage.”
“It does not meet the test of a currency,” the billionaire said onCNBCin 2014. “It is not a durable means of exchange, it's not a store of value.”
He adds that it’s a very effective way of anonymously transmitting money. But: “a check is a way of transmitting money too,” he said. “Are checks worth a whole lot of money just because they can transmit money?”
Buffett became one of the most successful investors in history by sticking with stocks he understands.
"I get in enough trouble with things I think I know something about. Why in the world should I take a long or short position in something I don't know anything about?”
But people like to gamble, he toldCNBCafter a 2018 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, which is another problem with non-productive assets.
“If you don’t understand it, you get much more excited than if you understand it. You can have anything you want to imagine if you just look at something and say, ‘that’s magic.’”
The billionaire investor follows the value investing strategy — which focuses on buying undervalued stocks of strong companies and holding them for a long time.
Simple, right?
Berkshire Hathaway looks for companies with a good profit margin and those that provide products or services that can’t easily be substituted. Some of the largest holdings in Berkshire's portfolio include financial behemoth Bank of America, credit card leader American Express, and beverage giant Coca-Cola.
As Warren Buffett once said in a letter to his shareholders, “It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.”
But Buffett’s distaste for crypto stocks doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy Bitcoin. Even the billionaire has come around on sectors he previously spoke out against.
He notoriously avoided tech stocks, even at the height of the dotcom bubble, and now his company’s largest holding is Apple.
Bitcoin has made a lot of people rich along the way. But that doesn’t mean you’ve missed the boat on investing — just listen to Buffett’s words of wisdom and focus on assets thatproduce cold, hard cash.
For instance,some popular investing servicesmake it possible to lock in a steady rental income stream by investing in premium real estate properties — from commercial developments in LA to residential buildings in NYC.
You’ll gain exposure to high-end properties that big-time real estate moguls usually have access to, and you’llreceive regular payoutsin the form of quarterly dividend distributions.
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind. || Does Bitcoin's recent flash crash mean Warren Buffett is right to hate crypto?: The past month and a half has been bumpy for Bitcoin.
After a bully first quarter of 2021 that led to an all-time peak of $63,000 per unit in mid-April, the world's leading digital currency now hovers around $45,000, thanks in large part to a Tuesday flash crash of roughly 15%.
Holdout investors who only a couple of weeks ago may have thought they’d missed an opportunity of a lifetime are now sighing with relief; meanwhile, those who bought in at the peak are trying not to think about their losses.
And what about Warren Buffett? What would the world's most famous investor say to those who might be thinking of firing up their investment apps andbuying Bitcoin at a bargain price.
It’s “probably rat poison squared,” Buffett once said.
While Buffett chose not to comment on cryptocurrency during his company Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders meeting earlier this year, Berkshire vice-chairman Charlie Munger pulled no punches on the subject.
"I don’t welcome a currency that’s so useful to kidnappers and extortionists," Munger said during the meeting's much-watched Q&A session. "The whole damn development is disgusting and contrary to the interests of civilization."
Not to be outdone, Buffett has made his share of extremely cutting remarks about Bitcoin and cryptocurrency over the years: “I don't have any Bitcoin. I don't own any cryptocurrency, I never will,” he toldCNBCin 2020.
Here are three reasons Buffett won’t go near it.
The billionaire investor doesn’t like Bitcoin because he considers it an unproductive asset.
Buffett has a well-known preference for stocks of corporations whose value — and cash flow — come from producing things. But cryptocurrencies don’t have real value, Buffett said in aCNBCinterview in 2020.
“They don't reproduce, they can't mail you a check, they can't do anything, and what you hope is that somebody else comes along and pays you more money for them later on, but then that person's got the problem.”
Though Bitcoinisintended to provide real value as a payment system, that use is still pretty limited. As Buffett sees it, Bitcoin’s value comes from the optimism that someone else will be willing to pay more for it in the future than you’re paying today.
As a tradeable asset, Bitcoin boomed. But does it meet the three criteria of money? According to the most common definition, money is supposed to be a means of exchange, a store of value, and a unit of account.
But Buffett calls it a “mirage.”
“It does not meet the test of a currency,” the billionaire said onCNBCin 2014. “It is not a durable means of exchange, it's not a store of value.”
He adds that it’s a very effective way of anonymously transmitting money. But: “a check is a way of transmitting money too,” he said. “Are checks worth a whole lot of money just because they can transmit money?”
Buffett became one of the most successful investors in history by sticking with stocks he understands.
"I get in enough trouble with things I think I know something about. Why in the world should I take a long or short position in something I don't know anything about?”
But people like to gamble, he toldCNBCafter a 2018 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, which is another problem with non-productive assets.
“If you don’t understand it, you get much more excited than if you understand it. You can have anything you want to imagine if you just look at something and say, ‘that’s magic.’”
The billionaire investor follows the value investing strategy — which focuses on buying undervalued stocks of strong companies and holding them for a long time.
Simple, right?
Berkshire Hathaway looks for companies with a good profit margin and those that provide products or services that can’t easily be substituted. Some of the largest holdings in Berkshire's portfolio include financial behemoth Bank of America, credit card leader American Express, and beverage giant Coca-Cola.
As Warren Buffett once said in a letter to his shareholders, “It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.”
But Buffett’s distaste for crypto stocks doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy Bitcoin. Even the billionaire has come around on sectors he previously spoke out against.
He notoriously avoided tech stocks, even at the height of the dotcom bubble, and now his company’s largest holding is Apple.
Bitcoin has made a lot of people rich along the way. But that doesn’t mean you’ve missed the boat on investing — just listen to Buffett’s words of wisdom and focus on assets thatproduce cold, hard cash.
For instance,some popular investing servicesmake it possible to lock in a steady rental income stream by investing in premium real estate properties — from commercial developments in LA to residential buildings in NYC.
You’ll gain exposure to high-end properties that big-time real estate moguls usually have access to, and you’llreceive regular payoutsin the form of quarterly dividend distributions.
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind. || Does Bitcoin's recent flash crash mean Warren Buffett is right to hate crypto?: Does Bitcoin's recent flash crash mean Warren Buffett is right to hate crypto? The past month and a half has been bumpy for Bitcoin. After a bully first quarter of 2021 that led to an all-time peak of $63,000 per unit in mid-April, the world's leading digital currency now hovers around $45,000, thanks in large part to a Tuesday flash crash of roughly 15%. Holdout investors who only a couple of weeks ago may have thought they’d missed an opportunity of a lifetime are now sighing with relief; meanwhile, those who bought in at the peak are trying not to think about their losses. And what about Warren Buffett? What would the world's most famous investor say to those who might be thinking of firing up their investment apps and buying Bitcoin at a bargain price . It’s “probably rat poison squared,” Buffett once said. 'Contrary to the interests of civilization' IgorGolovniov / Shutterstock While Buffett chose not to comment on cryptocurrency during his company Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders meeting earlier this year, Berkshire vice-chairman Charlie Munger pulled no punches on the subject. "I don’t welcome a currency that’s so useful to kidnappers and extortionists," Munger said during the meeting's much-watched Q&A session. "The whole damn development is disgusting and contrary to the interests of civilization." Not to be outdone, Buffett has made his share of extremely cutting remarks about Bitcoin and cryptocurrency over the years: “I don't have any Bitcoin. I don't own any cryptocurrency, I never will,” he told CNBC in 2020. Here are three reasons Buffett won’t go near it. 1. It has ‘no unique value at all’ Larry W Smith/EPA/Shutterstock The billionaire investor doesn’t like Bitcoin because he considers it an unproductive asset. Buffett has a well-known preference for stocks of corporations whose value — and cash flow — come from producing things. But cryptocurrencies don’t have real value, Buffett said in a CNBC interview in 2020. “They don't reproduce, they can't mail you a check, they can't do anything, and what you hope is that somebody else comes along and pays you more money for them later on, but then that person's got the problem.” Story continues Though Bitcoin is intended to provide real value as a payment system, that use is still pretty limited. As Buffett sees it, Bitcoin’s value comes from the optimism that someone else will be willing to pay more for it in the future than you’re paying today. 2. He doesn’t think crypto counts as money stockphoto-graf / Shutterstock As a tradeable asset, Bitcoin boomed. But does it meet the three criteria of money? According to the most common definition, money is supposed to be a means of exchange, a store of value, and a unit of account. But Buffett calls it a “mirage.” “It does not meet the test of a currency,” the billionaire said on CNBC in 2014. “It is not a durable means of exchange, it's not a store of value.” He adds that it’s a very effective way of anonymously transmitting money. But: “a check is a way of transmitting money too,” he said. “Are checks worth a whole lot of money just because they can transmit money?” 3. He doesn’t understand it Larry W Smith/EPA/Shutterstock Buffett became one of the most successful investors in history by sticking with stocks he understands. "I get in enough trouble with things I think I know something about. Why in the world should I take a long or short position in something I don't know anything about?” But people like to gamble, he told CNBC after a 2018 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, which is another problem with non-productive assets. “If you don’t understand it, you get much more excited than if you understand it. You can have anything you want to imagine if you just look at something and say, ‘that’s magic.’” How does Buffett pick winning stocks? Laurent Gillieron/EPA/Shutterstock The billionaire investor follows the value investing strategy — which focuses on buying undervalued stocks of strong companies and holding them for a long time. Simple, right? Berkshire Hathaway looks for companies with a good profit margin and those that provide products or services that can’t easily be substituted. Some of the largest holdings in Berkshire's portfolio include financial behemoth Bank of America, credit card leader American Express, and beverage giant Coca-Cola. As Warren Buffett once said in a letter to his shareholders, “It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.” But Buffett’s distaste for crypto stocks doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy Bitcoin. Even the billionaire has come around on sectors he previously spoke out against. He notoriously avoided tech stocks, even at the height of the dotcom bubble, and now his company’s largest holding is Apple. Create an income stream instead fizkes / Shutterstock Bitcoin has made a lot of people rich along the way. But that doesn’t mean you’ve missed the boat on investing — just listen to Buffett’s words of wisdom and focus on assets that produce cold, hard cash . For instance, some popular investing services make it possible to lock in a steady rental income stream by investing in premium real estate properties — from commercial developments in LA to residential buildings in NYC. You’ll gain exposure to high-end properties that big-time real estate moguls usually have access to, and you’ll receive regular payouts in the form of quarterly dividend distributions. This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind. || UK Signs Deal to Offer Crypto Vouchers at Post Office: BeInCrypto – United Kingdom’s Post Office has signed a deal with a relatively unknown exchange called Swarm Markets. As part of the agreement , the Post Office will begin issuing and selling crypto ‘vouchers’ across its branches nationwide. These vouchers can later be redeemed for either Bitcoin or Ethereum on the Swarm Markets exchange. As part of this deal, customers must redeem their vouchers by completing KYC using a proprietary identity verification application developed by the Post Office called ‘EasyID’. This story was seen first on BeInCrypto Join our Telegram Group and get trading signals, a free trading course and more stories like this on BeInCrypto || UK Signs Deal to Offer Crypto Vouchers at Post Office: BeInCrypto –
United Kingdom’s Post Office has signed a deal with a relatively unknown exchange called Swarm Markets.
As part of theagreement, the Post Office will begin issuing and selling crypto ‘vouchers’ across its branches nationwide. These vouchers can later be redeemed for either Bitcoin or Ethereum on the Swarm Markets exchange.
As part of this deal, customers must redeem their vouchers by completing KYC using a proprietary identity verification application developed by the Post Office called ‘EasyID’.
This storywas seen first onBeInCryptoJoin our Telegram Groupand get trading signals, a free trading course and more stories likethisonBeInCrypto || BTC On-Chain Analysis: Investors Buy Dip as Supply Shock Intensifies: BeInCrypto – The positions of long-term Bitcoin investors have remained rock solid despite the sharp decline on 7 September. Furthermore, we continue to see a deepening supply shock as the amount of BTC on exchanges steadily decreases. The organic growth of the Bitcoin network is illustrated by the number of addresses holding different values of BTC, most of which increased during the recent decline. The on-chain data confirms that the recent large price move was mainly triggered by overleveraged derivatives traders. BTC price action Last week, Bitcoin reached a local peak at $52,956 just above the 0.618 Fib retracement level on September 7. On the same day, there was a flash crash that took the BTC price to a low at $42,900. One of the reasons for the 19% decline was the clearing of long leveraged positions, which experienced liquidations totaling $4 billion . This story was seen first on BeInCrypto Join our Telegram Group and get trading signals, a free trading course and more stories like this on BeInCrypto || BTC On-Chain Analysis: Investors Buy Dip as Supply Shock Intensifies: BeInCrypto – The positions of long-term Bitcoin investors have remained rock solid despite the sharp decline on 7 September. Furthermore, we continue to see a deepening supply shock as the amount of BTC on exchanges steadily decreases. The organic growth of the Bitcoin network is illustrated by the number of addresses holding different values of BTC, most of which increased during the recent decline. The on-chain data confirms that the recent large price move was mainly triggered by overleveraged derivatives traders. BTC price action Last week, Bitcoin reached a local peak at $52,956 just above the 0.618 Fib retracement level on September 7. On the same day, there was a flash crash that took the BTC price to a low at $42,900. One of the reasons for the 19% decline was the clearing of long leveraged positions, which experienced liquidations totaling $4 billion . This story was seen first on BeInCrypto Join our Telegram Group and get trading signals, a free trading course and more stories like this on BeInCrypto || BTC On-Chain Analysis: Investors Buy Dip as Supply Shock Intensifies: BeInCrypto – The positions of long-term Bitcoin investors have remained rock solid despite the sharp decline on 7 September. Furthermore, we continue to see a deepening supply shock as the amount of BTC on exchanges steadily decreases. The organic growth of the Bitcoin network is illustrated by the number of addresses holding different values of BTC, most of which increased during the recent decline. The on-chain data confirms that the recent large price move was mainly triggered by overleveraged derivatives traders. BTC price action Last week, Bitcoin reached a local peak at $52,956 just above the 0.618 Fib retracement level on September 7. On the same day, there was a flash crash that took the BTC price to a low at $42,900. One of the reasons for the 19% decline was the clearing of long leveraged positions, which experienced liquidations totaling $4 billion . This story was seen first on BeInCrypto Join our Telegram Group and get trading signals, a free trading course and more stories like this on BeInCrypto || Some early crypto enthusiasts have bailed on the sector, saying the movement has bought into hype without understanding the technology's limits: Bitcoin crypto currency physical banknote and coin imitations. OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images A recent Financial Times Magazine piece interviewed several early crypto superfans who have since become disillusioned. Perhaps the most high-profile display of a crypto backer turning on the space is dogecoin creator, Jackson Palmer. But the most vocal crypto proponents are not deterred. Twitter's Jack Dorsey says bitcoin will create "world peace." Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell . Crypto has plenty of detractors, but it is those who were once inside the tent that attract the most interest - and ire. That's the upshot of a recent Financial Times Magazine piece that interviewed several early crypto superfans who have since become disillusioned with the sector. The FT spoke with an unnamed figure dubbed "Neil," who in 2014, fresh out of college, joined Coinbase, then an obscure crypto startup. Neil, a computer science student, was first attracted to the idea of virtual money as a neat programming problem to solve. But he quickly became swept up in the revolutionary ethos of the early crypto scene, which promised to take on the bad, old financial system and replace it with something better. That spirit still lives on in some of today's most vocal crypto proponents. Take, for instance, Twitter's Jack Dorsey, who at a conference in July said the ultimate ambition of bitcoin is that it "creates world peace." Or take Michael Saylor of MicroStrategy, which owns more than $5 billion in bitcoin . At the Miami bitcoin conference in June now famous for the announcement El Salvador would officially adopt bitcoin, Saylor called the cryptocurrency "the apex property of the human race," saying it "fixes everything." In 2014, that degree of crypto hype was less mainstream. Yet for Neil, the relative obscurity of crypto brought a certain coolness, a feeling of operating from the underground. "I think nerdy types like me got fooled because bitcoin made us feel cool, like a Revenge of the Nerds type thing, so we were incentivized to not ask ourselves hard questions," Neil told the FT. "And then, the non-technical people got fooled because they didn't understand the technology." Story continues Chris DeRose, a computer consultant-turned-bitcoin evangelist, was likewise enchanted by early crypto culture. In 2013, he quit his job to become a crypto podcaster, telling the FT that he loved the culture of open discourse that fueled the bitcoin and crypto communities then. But as crypto rose to greater mainstream recognition, DeRose saw debate give way to dogma and uncritical hype. "If you look online at 'what is bitcoin,' what you'll see is a gigantic amount of literature and decontextualized media snippets that paint a beautiful picture," DeRose told the FT. "However, if you look at bitcoin off the screen, what you'll see is declining merchant uptake, zero evidence of blockchain deployment or efficiency, and mostly just a lot of promotional events offering cures to whatever ails you," he added. But perhaps the most high-profile display of a crypto backer turning on the space has to be Jackson Palmer, the dogecoin creator who in July tore into the crypto space in a Twitter thread . In the thread, Palmer called crypto an "inherently right-wing, hyper-capitalistic technology" that uses a "network of shady business connections" to "extract new money from the financially desperate and naive." He compared it to a cult and a get-rich-quick scheme, and said he was leaving the space. Still, despite these detractors, in many ways the crypto enthusiasts have won. Each passing day sees more and more big-ticket companies making inroads in crypto, shrugging off scams, hacks , and sharp volatility . Billionaire investor Leon Cooperman , who is 78, summed up the zeitgeist earlier this week in an interview. "I say that if you don't understand bitcoin, it means you're old." Read the original article on Business Insider || What Happens to Social Security When You Die?: Zinkevych / Getty Images/iStockphoto The end of a persons life doesnt necessarily mean the end of their social security payments. Depending on factors like income and dependents, social security checks will still be issued to someone else even after the original recipient passes away. See: The Biggest Problems Facing Social Security Find: Can You Afford To Die in Your State? According to the Social Security Administration website, if you work and pay into Social Security, part of those taxes go toward survivor benefits, which means your surviving spouse, children and even parents could be eligible for payments based on your earnings. Likewise, you and your family could be eligible for benefits based on the earnings of someone else who died as long as the deceased worked long enough to qualify for benefits. If you have no survivors or dependents, the payments simply cease. Whenever someone dies, the Social Security office should be notified immediately. This is usually handled by the funeral home, which sends in a form called Statement of Death by Funeral Director. If that doesnt happen, youll have to call the SSA you cannot report a death or apply for survivor benefits online. If you need to report a death or apply for survivor benefits, call 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. Youll need to provide the deceased persons social security number when applying. In the event of your death, your survivor will need to provide your social security number. The executor of the estate can also call Social Security, CNBC reported. Here are some things to remember for those getting benefits on a spouses or parents record, according to the SSA: Social Security will automatically change any monthly benefits received to survivors benefits after it receives the report of death. The agency might be able to pay a Special Lump-Sum Death Payment automatically. One thing to keep in mind is that no social security benefits are due for the month of a persons death. Story continues Any benefit thats paid after the month of the persons death needs to be refunded, Peggy Sherman, a certified financial planner and lead advisor at Briaud Financial Advisors in College Station, Texas, told CNBC. See: What Happens to Your Bitcoin When You Die? Find: Key Points COVID-19 Long-Haulers Need to Know About Applying for Social Security Meanwhile, if your spouse or qualifying dependent were already getting money based on your record, that benefit will auto-convert to survivors benefits when the government gets notice of your death. If the surviving spouse has already reached their own full retirement age, they can get their deceased spouses full benefit. You can apply for reduced benefits as early as age 60 or age 50 if disabled which is a couple of years earlier than the standard earliest claiming age of 62 . More From GOBankingRates Take Our Poll: Are You Actually Spending Your Child Tax Credit Payment? 5 Things Most Americans Dont Know About Social Security Heres How Much You Need To Earn To Be Rich in Every State 5 Cities Around the World Experiencing a Housing Market Boom This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : What Happens to Social Security When You Die? || What Happens to Social Security When You Die?: The end of a person’s life doesn’t necessarily mean the end of their social security payments. Depending on factors like income and dependents,social security checks will still be issuedto someone else even after the original recipient passes away.
See:The Biggest Problems Facing Social SecurityFind:Can You Afford To Die in Your State?
According to the Social Security Administration website, if you work and pay into Social Security, part of those taxes go toward survivor benefits, which means your surviving spouse, children and even parents could be eligible for payments based on your earnings.
Likewise, you and your family could be eligible for benefits based on the earnings of someone else who died — as long as the deceased worked long enough to qualify for benefits.
If you have no survivors or dependents, the payments simply cease.
Whenever someone dies, the Social Security office should be notified immediately. This is usually handled by the funeral home, which sends in a form called Statement of Death by Funeral Director.
If that doesn’t happen, you’ll have to call the SSA — you cannot report a death or apply for survivor benefits online. If you need to report a death or apply for survivor benefits, call 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.
You’ll need to provide the deceased person’s social security number when applying. In the event of your death, your survivor will need to provide your social security number. The executor of the estate can also call Social Security, CNBC reported.
Here are some things to remember for those getting benefits on a spouse’s or parent’s record, according to the SSA:
• Social Security will automatically change any monthly benefits received to survivors’ benefits after it receives the report of death.
• The agency might be able to pay a Special Lump-Sum Death Payment automatically.
• One thing to keep in mind is that no social security benefits are due for the month of a person’s death.
“Any benefit that’s paid after the month of the person’s death needs to be refunded,” Peggy Sherman, a certified financial planner and lead advisor at Briaud Financial Advisors in College Station, Texas, told CNBC.
See:What Happens to Your Bitcoin When You Die?Find:Key Points COVID-19 Long-Haulers Need to Know About Applying for Social Security
Meanwhile, if your spouse or qualifying dependent were already getting money based on your record, that benefit will auto-convert to survivors benefits when the government gets notice of your death.
If the surviving spouse has already reached their own full retirement age, they can get their deceased spouse’s full benefit. You can apply for reduced benefits as early as age 60 — or age 50 if disabled —which is a couple of years earlier than the standard earliest claiming age of 62.
More From GOBankingRates
• Take Our Poll: Are You Actually Spending Your Child Tax Credit Payment?
• 5 Things Most Americans Don’t Know About Social Security
• Here’s How Much You Need To Earn To Be ‘Rich’ in Every State
• 5 Cities Around the World Experiencing a Housing Market Boom
This article originally appeared onGOBankingRates.com:What Happens to Social Security When You Die?
[Social Media Buzz]
None available.
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44963.07, 47092.49, 48176.35, 47783.36, 47267.52, 48278.36, 47260.22, 42843.80, 40693.68, 43574.51
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 5750.80, 5904.83, 5780.90, 5753.09, 6153.85, 6130.53, 6468.40, 6767.31, 7078.50, 7207.76, 7379.95, 7407.41, 7022.76, 7144.38, 7459.69, 7143.58, 6618.14, 6357.60, 5950.07, 6559.49, 6635.75, 7315.54, 7871.69, 7708.99, 7790.15, 8036.49, 8200.64, 8071.26, 8253.55, 8038.77, 8253.69, 8790.92, 9330.55, 9818.35, 10058.80, 9888.61, 10233.60, 10975.60, 11074.60, 11323.20, 11657.20, 11916.70, 14291.50, 17899.70, 16569.40, 15178.20, 15455.40, 16936.80, 17415.40, 16408.20, 16564.00, 17706.90, 19497.40, 19140.80, 19114.20, 17776.70, 16624.60, 15802.90, 13831.80, 14699.20, 13925.80, 14026.60, 16099.80, 15838.50, 14606.50, 14656.20, 12952.20, 14156.40, 13657.20, 14982.10, 15201.00, 15599.20, 17429.50, 17527.00, 16477.60, 15170.10, 14595.40, 14973.30, 13405.80, 13980.60, 14360.20, 13772.00, 13819.80, 11490.50, 11188.60, 11474.90, 11607.40, 12899.20, 11600.10, 10931.40.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2018-01-22]
Volume: 10537400320, RSI (14-day): 37.99, 50-day EMA: 13312.75, 200-day EMA: 8746.82
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1330.90, Gold RSI: 66.55
Oil Price: 63.49, Oil RSI: 68.10
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
2U Inc.'s Biggest Growth Opportunities: Going to college doesn't mean you have to step foot on a campus anymore, even if you want a degree from the University of North Carolina, Harvard, or Berkeley.2U Inc.(NASDAQ: TWOU)makes the online programs from these schools a reality. The market for higher education is huge, and 2U is just getting started creating online degree programs and short courses for domestic and international markets and attracting students. Read on for more about how these opportunities have this company confidently projecting 30% growth through 2020 and beyond.
The largest revenue driver for 2U is creating online domestic graduate programs (DGPs). When it partners with a university to create a DGP, it provides the up-front capital, the technology platform, and its experience in creating49 online programswith 23 universities. The school provides the course content and its brand name.
Once built, 2U receives a revenue share in the low to mid 60% range for every student who enrolls. After the up-front development costs are recovered in the first three to five years, the company expects $15 million to $17 million in annual revenue and $5 million to $6 million inEBITDAfor each DGP.
Image source: 2U Inc.2016 Investor Day Presentation
2U is just getting started with the DGP opportunity. It plans to launch at least one domestic graduate program in 60 to 90 verticals with a long-term goal of roughly 200, which would provide steady-state revenue of $3 billion annually. Verticals are subjects or programs and 2U's current verticals include nursing, data science, legal studies, and social work. New programs are chosen by the company's proprietary selection algorithm, picking content that has the highest probability of success based on the university, degree vertical, and region.
The company is churning out DGPs at a furious pace and has consistentlybeaten its projectionsfor adding programs. The company had launched 24 DGPs by the end of 2016 and is looking to triple that number by the end of 2020, getting it near 40% of its goal.
Internationally, the market for higher education is significantly larger than in the U.S. In its most recent analyst day, the company indicated that the market for higher education in the U.S. is $550 billion, whereas globally, it is $1.9 trillion. With the company's 2016 revenue of $205.9 million, this is a huge untapped opportunity. The company expects to start its first international graduate program in 2019.
Image Source: Getty images.
In May 2017, 2U announced theacquisition of GetSmarter, an online short-course company based in South Africa. This partnership allows 2U to reach more students who are interested in professional certifications or just enhancing their knowledge of new technologies without having to enroll in a graduate program.
This acquisition brings together two similar cultures and platforms, but with a different student makeup. GetSmarter's courses are usually 8 to 12 weeks and cost less than $3,000, versus a commitment of two years or more and $70,000 for a graduate program offered through 2U's platform. Just recently, the company announced ablockchain strategy coursein partnership with Oxford "to prepare executives for the blockchain revolution." This is a great example of how a short 8- to 12-week course can be quickly brought online to meet an emerging trend.
While more courses and programs give the company opportunities for growth, having more students is the most profitable growth for the company. With a fixed cost to develop a course or program, having more students attend these classes makes the long-term profitability very favorable.
As of June 30, 2017, 2U had enrolled roughly 29,000 students. When the GetSmarter acquisition was announced in May 2017, the company noted that GetSmarter had served more than 50,000 students since its inception. GetSmarter set itself a "big hairy audacious goal" of having improved 1 million lives by 2030 via its short courses.
2U noted in its third-quarter investor presentation that it is seeing positive growth for its DGPs as more students complete programs, even after four or five years.
[{"": "Launch Date", "UNC": "Oct. 2011", "Syracuse": "Jan. 2015", "American": "Oct. 2015"}, {"": "First class size", "UNC": "19", "Syracuse": "98", "American": "60"}, {"": "2014", "UNC": "294", "Syracuse": "", "American": ""}, {"": "2015", "UNC": "340", "Syracuse": "474", "American": ""}, {"": "2016", "UNC": "479", "Syracuse": "578", "American": "286"}]
Data source: 2U.
These growth numbers show that the programs that 2U develops have staying power and a long runway to payoff for its initial investment.
2U is committed to seeing growth above 30% for its DGP business for the "foreseeable future." The company has projected 2018's growth to be 38% to 39% including its short-course revenue. Add in growth for its international graduate programs starting in 2019 and this company has tremendous opportunities to continue to delight shareholders with growth well into the future.
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Brian Withersowns shares of 2U. The Motley Fool recommends 2U. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || 2U Inc.'s Biggest Growth Opportunities: Going to college doesn't mean you have to step foot on a campus anymore, even if you want a degree from the University of North Carolina, Harvard, or Berkeley. 2U Inc. (NASDAQ: TWOU) makes the online programs from these schools a reality. The market for higher education is huge, and 2U is just getting started creating online degree programs and short courses for domestic and international markets and attracting students. Read on for more about how these opportunities have this company confidently projecting 30% growth through 2020 and beyond. Growth in online graduate programs The largest revenue driver for 2U is creating online domestic graduate programs (DGPs). When it partners with a university to create a DGP, it provides the up-front capital, the technology platform, and its experience in creating 49 online programs with 23 universities. The school provides the course content and its brand name. Once built, 2U receives a revenue share in the low to mid 60% range for every student who enrolls. After the up-front development costs are recovered in the first three to five years, the company expects $15 million to $17 million in annual revenue and $5 million to $6 million in EBITDA for each DGP. Graphic showing proforma of a typical domestic graduate program with expenses matching revenues for the first five years, then consistent EDIBTA growth from year 6 onward. Image source: 2U Inc. 2016 Investor Day Presentation 2U is just getting started with the DGP opportunity. It plans to launch at least one domestic graduate program in 60 to 90 verticals with a long-term goal of roughly 200, which would provide steady-state revenue of $3 billion annually. Verticals are subjects or programs and 2U's current verticals include nursing, data science, legal studies, and social work. New programs are chosen by the company's proprietary selection algorithm, picking content that has the highest probability of success based on the university, degree vertical, and region. The company is churning out DGPs at a furious pace and has consistently beaten its projections for adding programs. The company had launched 24 DGPs by the end of 2016 and is looking to triple that number by the end of 2020, getting it near 40% of its goal. Story continues Internationally, the market for higher education is significantly larger than in the U.S. In its most recent analyst day, the company indicated that the market for higher education in the U.S. is $550 billion, whereas globally, it is $1.9 trillion. With the company's 2016 revenue of $205.9 million, this is a huge untapped opportunity. The company expects to start its first international graduate program in 2019. Laptop with graphs, numbers, spaceships, and someone using a pen to point to the screen. Image Source: Getty images. Short Courses In May 2017, 2U announced the acquisition of GetSmarter , an online short-course company based in South Africa. This partnership allows 2U to reach more students who are interested in professional certifications or just enhancing their knowledge of new technologies without having to enroll in a graduate program. This acquisition brings together two similar cultures and platforms, but with a different student makeup. GetSmarter's courses are usually 8 to 12 weeks and cost less than $3,000, versus a commitment of two years or more and $70,000 for a graduate program offered through 2U's platform. Just recently, the company announced a blockchain strategy course in partnership with Oxford "to prepare executives for the blockchain revolution." This is a great example of how a short 8- to 12-week course can be quickly brought online to meet an emerging trend. More students While more courses and programs give the company opportunities for growth, having more students is the most profitable growth for the company. With a fixed cost to develop a course or program, having more students attend these classes makes the long-term profitability very favorable. As of June 30, 2017, 2U had enrolled roughly 29,000 students. When the GetSmarter acquisition was announced in May 2017, the company noted that GetSmarter had served more than 50,000 students since its inception. GetSmarter set itself a "big hairy audacious goal" of having improved 1 million lives by 2030 via its short courses. 2U noted in its third-quarter investor presentation that it is seeing positive growth for its DGPs as more students complete programs, even after four or five years. UNC Syracuse American Launch Date Oct. 2011 Jan. 2015 Oct. 2015 First class size 19 98 60 2014 294 2015 340 474 2016 479 578 286 Data source: 2U. These growth numbers show that the programs that 2U develops have staying power and a long runway to payoff for its initial investment. 2U is committed to seeing growth above 30% for its DGP business for the "foreseeable future." The company has projected 2018's growth to be 38% to 39% including its short-course revenue. Add in growth for its international graduate programs starting in 2019 and this company has tremendous opportunities to continue to delight shareholders with growth well into the future. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Brian Withers owns shares of 2U. The Motley Fool recommends 2U. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Apple Addresses Repatriation Issue, but Leaves Big Question Unanswered: There has beenmuch conjecture,including from me, over howApple Inc.(NASDAQ: AAPL)would use the windfall of cash produced by recent changes to U.S. tax code. As of the company's last financial report, it had $252 billion stashed overseas, in an effort to avoid the 35% tax rate on repatriated profits.
In a press release on Wednesday, the iPhone maker confirmed that it will pay $38 billion in taxes, in line with what many believed, saying the payment "would likely be the largest of its kind ever made."
Apple also spelled out a number of ways it plans to spend and invest the cash hoard. While the details weren't entirely comprehensive, they did provide investors with some indication of Apple's plans over the next five years.
Image source: Apple.
The company said its direct contribution to the U.S. economy will top $350 billion over the coming five years, which will be achieved through a combination of current spending and new investments.
Apple said it's planning investments "to build on its commitment to support the American economy," and plans to focus on three areas that it believes will have the greatest impact creating jobs: direct employment at Apple, investing and spending among the company's domestic manufacturers and suppliers, and driving further growth in what the company calls the "fast-growing app economy" that are the result of the iPhone and App Store.
Apple said it will make over $30 billion in capital expenditures in the country over the next five years and will hire over 20,000 employees. While some of these new hires will staff existing campuses, Apple said it plans to open a new facility, though the location has yet to be announced. Apple plans to reveal details for the new campus later this year.
Of the $30 billion investment, Apple said that more than one-third of that will be in data centers. The company broke ground this month on a new facility on Reno, which will support existing locations in Nevada. The new campus will be run exclusively by "green energy." Apple reported that all of the company's U.S. offices, data centers, and retail stores are "powered by 100 percent renewable energy sources like solar, wind and micro-hydro power."
Apple is investing in suppliers and partners. Image source: Apple.
Early last year, Apple established the $1 billion Advanced Manufacturing Fund to "support innovation among American manufacturers and help others establish a presence in the US." The company said it will increase that fund to $5 billion.
In 2017, Apple awarded $200 million toCorningto support the company's research and development, capital equipment needs, and state-of-the-art glass processing. The company produces the glass for Apple's iconic iPhone. Another recipient from last year wasFinisar, which received $390 million from the fund. The company produces the vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) that enable Apple's new Face ID feature, as well as Animoji and Portrait mode selfies. The funds will allow Finisar to exponentially increase its research and development spending and high-volume production of the components.
Apple also said it will support education programs in the areas of science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM), as well as specifically encouraging coding education. The company highlighted that there are more than 500,000 programming positions in the U.S. that lack qualified candidates, and that number is expected to rise to 1.4 million by 2020.
Apple developed what it called "a powerful yet easy-to-learn coding language called Swift, the free Swift Playgrounds app and a free curriculum, App Development with Swift," to address the skills gap. The company said these programs are available to anyone and plans to expand their reach to support teachers and target kids in "underserved communities."
Apple is investing in future coders. Image source: Apple.
While the company had lots to say about how it would spend its money, it's what the company didn't say that is likely of most interest to investors. Much of the conjecture regarding Apple's financial plans included returning a greater amount of capital to shareholders.
To be fair, the company has been generous over the past five years, doling out $61 billion in dividends and repurchasing $166 billion in stock, which reduced its share count by 20%. Many investors and analysts alike believe the company will boost its dividend and buyback program, but thus far the company has been silent on the issue.
As large as those numbers are, they don't tell the entire story. Apple's dividend yields a paltry 1.38% as of this writing, and the company is only paying out 26% of its profits, so there's still a lot of room to increase the dividend.
That said, I do expect an announcement when Apple reports its fiscal 2018 first-quarter results on Feb. 1. We'll just have to wait until then for the answer to the question on everyone's lips.
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Danny Venaowns shares of Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool recommends Corning. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Apple Addresses Repatriation Issue, but Leaves Big Question Unanswered: There has been much conjecture , including from me , over how Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) would use the windfall of cash produced by recent changes to U.S. tax code. As of the company's last financial report, it had $252 billion stashed overseas, in an effort to avoid the 35% tax rate on repatriated profits. In a press release on Wednesday, the iPhone maker confirmed that it will pay $38 billion in taxes, in line with what many believed, saying the payment "would likely be the largest of its kind ever made." Apple also spelled out a number of ways it plans to spend and invest the cash hoard. While the details weren't entirely comprehensive, they did provide investors with some indication of Apple's plans over the next five years. Apple CEO Tim Cook shakes hands with fans at an Apple store the day of the iPhone 8 launch Image source: Apple. The greatest impact The company said its direct contribution to the U.S. economy will top $350 billion over the coming five years, which will be achieved through a combination of current spending and new investments. Apple said it's planning investments "to build on its commitment to support the American economy," and plans to focus on three areas that it believes will have the greatest impact creating jobs: direct employment at Apple, investing and spending among the company's domestic manufacturers and suppliers, and driving further growth in what the company calls the "fast-growing app economy" that are the result of the iPhone and App Store. U.S. operations Apple said it will make over $30 billion in capital expenditures in the country over the next five years and will hire over 20,000 employees. While some of these new hires will staff existing campuses, Apple said it plans to open a new facility, though the location has yet to be announced. Apple plans to reveal details for the new campus later this year. Of the $30 billion investment, Apple said that more than one-third of that will be in data centers. The company broke ground this month on a new facility on Reno, which will support existing locations in Nevada. The new campus will be run exclusively by "green energy." Apple reported that all of the company's U.S. offices, data centers, and retail stores are "powered by 100 percent renewable energy sources like solar, wind and micro-hydro power." Story continues Workers in a factory clean room, wearing surgical-type scrubs. Apple is investing in suppliers and partners. Image source: Apple. Suppliers and partners Early last year, Apple established the $1 billion Advanced Manufacturing Fund to "support innovation among American manufacturers and help others establish a presence in the US." The company said it will increase that fund to $5 billion. In 2017, Apple awarded $200 million to Corning to support the company's research and development, capital equipment needs, and state-of-the-art glass processing. The company produces the glass for Apple's iconic iPhone. Another recipient from last year was Finisar , which received $390 million from the fund. The company produces the vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) that enable Apple's new Face ID feature, as well as Animoji and Portrait mode selfies. The funds will allow Finisar to exponentially increase its research and development spending and high-volume production of the components. Training future app creators Apple also said it will support education programs in the areas of science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM), as well as specifically encouraging coding education. The company highlighted that there are more than 500,000 programming positions in the U.S. that lack qualified candidates, and that number is expected to rise to 1.4 million by 2020. Apple developed what it called "a powerful yet easy-to-learn coding language called Swift, the free Swift Playgrounds app and a free curriculum, App Development with Swift," to address the skills gap. The company said these programs are available to anyone and plans to expand their reach to support teachers and target kids in "underserved communities." Students in a classroom smiling looking at Apple laptops. Apple is investing in future coders. Image source: Apple. What Apple didn't say While the company had lots to say about how it would spend its money, it's what the company didn't say that is likely of most interest to investors. Much of the conjecture regarding Apple's financial plans included returning a greater amount of capital to shareholders. To be fair, the company has been generous over the past five years, doling out $61 billion in dividends and repurchasing $166 billion in stock, which reduced its share count by 20%. Many investors and analysts alike believe the company will boost its dividend and buyback program, but thus far the company has been silent on the issue. As large as those numbers are, they don't tell the entire story. Apple's dividend yields a paltry 1.38% as of this writing, and the company is only paying out 26% of its profits, so there's still a lot of room to increase the dividend. That said, I do expect an announcement when Apple reports its fiscal 2018 first-quarter results on Feb. 1. We'll just have to wait until then for the answer to the question on everyone's lips. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Danny Vena owns shares of Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool recommends Corning. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || 3 Things You Can Do This Year to Increase Your Social Security Benefits: Social Security serves as a critical source of income for millions of retirees, but the benefits you wind up with aren't necessarily set in stone from the get-go. In fact, if you play your cards right this year, you could end up with a higher payout by the time you start collecting Social Security. Here are three moves in particular that might boost your benefits.
Your Social Security benefits themselves are based on how much you earned during your career, but the age at which you first start collecting them can cause that number to change. If you wait until yourfull retirement ageto take benefits, you'll get the exact monthly amount you're entitled to with no reduction or increase. For today's workers, full retirement age is 66, 67, or somewhere in between. However, you're allowed to claim benefits as early as age 62 and as late as age 70, which could impact your ultimate payout. (Technically, no one will force you to take your benefits at 70, but there's no reason not to.)
IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.
If you claim benefits before full retirement age, you'll face a reduction equal to roughly 6.67% per year for the first three years you file early, and then 5% for each year thereafter. This means that if your full retirement age is 67 and you take benefits at 62, you'll lower them by about 30%. On the other hand, if you hold off on filingpastfull retirement age, you'll snag an 8% boost in benefits for each year you delay, up until age 70.
Therefore, if you're 62 or older, and thereby eligible for benefits, holding off will result in a higher monthly payout -- for life. For example, if you're 65 with a full retirement age of 66, waiting another year will help you avoid a 6.67% reduction in benefits. If you're 66 and have reached full retirement age, holding off another year will boost your benefits by 8%. The only time itdoesn'tpay to hold off on Social Security is if you're 70, because at that pointdelayed retirement creditscease to accrue.
We just learned that Social Security benefits are earnings-based, which means the higher your salary, the more money you stand to collect down the line. That's whyfighting for a raiseis one of the smartest things you can do this year. Not only will it put more immediate cash in your pocket, but it'll set the stage for higher Social Security payments later on.
Of course, getting more money out of your employer is easier said than done, so the key is to approach it strategically. Compile a list of your successes on the job, and highlight the various ways they've saved your company money. Furthermore, come prepared with detailedsalary datato show that your earnings level isn't the highest within your industry. If you can prove to your manager that you're a strong performer who's relatively underpaid based on what you bring to the table, that's a pretty compelling argument right there.
Your Social Security benefits are based on your earnings history, which is a compilation of the salary information the agency has on file for you. That data is summarized in a neat little statement, which you're free to access online via the Social Security Administration website. And it pays to review that statement, because if you spot an error on your earnings record and manage to correct it, your benefits could go up as a result.
Imagine your earnings record shows that in 2010, you earned $56,000, when in reality, you made $65,000 that year. That's an error that could impact your benefits calculation, but if you correct it in time, you'll avoid losing out on money that should be yours.
Even if you're years away from signing up for Social Security, there are steps you can take today to increase your benefits down the line. And that's money that will no doubt come in handy once you're retired.
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The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || 3 Things You Can Do This Year to Increase Your Social Security Benefits: Social Security serves as a critical source of income for millions of retirees, but the benefits you wind up with aren't necessarily set in stone from the get-go. In fact, if you play your cards right this year, you could end up with a higher payout by the time you start collecting Social Security. Here are three moves in particular that might boost your benefits. 1. Hold off on filing if you're between 62 and 69 Your Social Security benefits themselves are based on how much you earned during your career, but the age at which you first start collecting them can cause that number to change. If you wait until your full retirement age to take benefits, you'll get the exact monthly amount you're entitled to with no reduction or increase. For today's workers, full retirement age is 66, 67, or somewhere in between. However, you're allowed to claim benefits as early as age 62 and as late as age 70, which could impact your ultimate payout. (Technically, no one will force you to take your benefits at 70, but there's no reason not to.) Senior man smiling slightly IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES. If you claim benefits before full retirement age, you'll face a reduction equal to roughly 6.67% per year for the first three years you file early, and then 5% for each year thereafter. This means that if your full retirement age is 67 and you take benefits at 62, you'll lower them by about 30%. On the other hand, if you hold off on filing past full retirement age, you'll snag an 8% boost in benefits for each year you delay, up until age 70. Therefore, if you're 62 or older, and thereby eligible for benefits, holding off will result in a higher monthly payout -- for life. For example, if you're 65 with a full retirement age of 66, waiting another year will help you avoid a 6.67% reduction in benefits. If you're 66 and have reached full retirement age, holding off another year will boost your benefits by 8%. The only time it doesn't pay to hold off on Social Security is if you're 70, because at that point delayed retirement credits cease to accrue. Story continues 2. Fight for a raise at your current job We just learned that Social Security benefits are earnings-based, which means the higher your salary, the more money you stand to collect down the line. That's why fighting for a raise is one of the smartest things you can do this year. Not only will it put more immediate cash in your pocket, but it'll set the stage for higher Social Security payments later on. Of course, getting more money out of your employer is easier said than done, so the key is to approach it strategically. Compile a list of your successes on the job, and highlight the various ways they've saved your company money. Furthermore, come prepared with detailed salary data to show that your earnings level isn't the highest within your industry. If you can prove to your manager that you're a strong performer who's relatively underpaid based on what you bring to the table, that's a pretty compelling argument right there. 3. Review your earnings record for errors Your Social Security benefits are based on your earnings history, which is a compilation of the salary information the agency has on file for you. That data is summarized in a neat little statement, which you're free to access online via the Social Security Administration website. And it pays to review that statement, because if you spot an error on your earnings record and manage to correct it, your benefits could go up as a result. Imagine your earnings record shows that in 2010, you earned $56,000, when in reality, you made $65,000 that year. That's an error that could impact your benefits calculation, but if you correct it in time, you'll avoid losing out on money that should be yours. Even if you're years away from signing up for Social Security, there are steps you can take today to increase your benefits down the line. And that's money that will no doubt come in handy once you're retired. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Bitcoin could lose 90% of its value, Wall Street veteran Peter Boockvar warns: Wall Street veteran Peter Boockvar predicts an epic crash will hit the cryptocurrency market.He isn't sure if it'll come to a grinding halt or be a slow and steady drop — but he says it's coming.Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group, is certain crypto is in a giant bubble, and the air is already coming out.
"When something goes parabolic like this has, it typically ends up to where that parabola began," he said on CNBC's "Futures Now."
Boockvar, a CNBC contributor, contends bitcoin (Exchange: @XBT.1.S) is in danger of dropping 90 percent from current levels. He calls it a classic bubble.
"I wouldn't be surprised if over the next year it's down to $1,000 to $3,000," he added.That's where bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency player, was trading less than 12 months ago. Friday afternoon it was trading above $11,000.Boockvar sees the collapse coming in tandem as interest rates rise around the globe. He blames central banks, including the Federal Reserve, for the cryptocurrency craze due to their easy money policies that were designed to ease the effects of the global financial crisis.
"You have to wonder if we never heard of quantitative easing, would there have been cryptocurrencies?" Boockvar asked rhetorically in Thursday's interview.
Once the cryptocurrency market cracks, he contends, investor attitudes toward risk assets will change. According to Boockvar, the stock market could see collateral damage, but it would all be based on psychology — not on anything that's fundamentally wrong with the economy.
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• A 'big money indicator' is pointing to more record highs for stocks || Bitcoin could lose 90% of its value, Wall Street veteran Peter Boockvar warns: Wall Street veteran Peter Boockvar predicts an epic crash will hit the cryptocurrency market.He isn't sure if it'll come to a grinding halt or be a slow and steady drop — but he says it's coming.Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group, is certain crypto is in a giant bubble, and the air is already coming out.
"When something goes parabolic like this has, it typically ends up to where that parabola began," he said on CNBC's "Futures Now."
Boockvar, a CNBC contributor, contends bitcoin (Exchange: @XBT.1.S) is in danger of dropping 90 percent from current levels. He calls it a classic bubble.
"I wouldn't be surprised if over the next year it's down to $1,000 to $3,000," he added.That's where bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency player, was trading less than 12 months ago. Friday afternoon it was trading above $11,000.Boockvar sees the collapse coming in tandem as interest rates rise around the globe. He blames central banks, including the Federal Reserve, for the cryptocurrency craze due to their easy money policies that were designed to ease the effects of the global financial crisis.
"You have to wonder if we never heard of quantitative easing, would there have been cryptocurrencies?" Boockvar asked rhetorically in Thursday's interview.
Once the cryptocurrency market cracks, he contends, investor attitudes toward risk assets will change. According to Boockvar, the stock market could see collateral damage, but it would all be based on psychology — not on anything that's fundamentally wrong with the economy.
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• A protracted cryptocurrency crash would 'spill over' into stocks: Wells Fargo
• Crude awakening: Why one prominent trader thinks cheap oil is over for now
• A 'big money indicator' is pointing to more record highs for stocks || Bitcoin could lose 90% of its value, Wall Street veteran Peter Boockvar warns: Wall Street veteran Peter Boockvar predicts an epic crash will hit the cryptocurrency market.He isn't sure if it'll come to a grinding halt or be a slow and steady drop but he says it's coming.Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group, is certain crypto is in a giant bubble, and the air is already coming out. "When something goes parabolic like this has, it typically ends up to where that parabola began," he said on CNBC's "Futures Now." Boockvar, a CNBC contributor, contends bitcoin (Exchange: @XBT.1.S) is in danger of dropping 90 percent from current levels. He calls it a classic bubble. "I wouldn't be surprised if over the next year it's down to $1,000 to $3,000," he added.That's where bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency player, was trading less than 12 months ago. Friday afternoon it was trading above $11,000.Boockvar sees the collapse coming in tandem as interest rates rise around the globe. He blames central banks, including the Federal Reserve, for the cryptocurrency craze due to their easy money policies that were designed to ease the effects of the global financial crisis. "You have to wonder if we never heard of quantitative easing, would there have been cryptocurrencies?" Boockvar asked rhetorically in Thursday's interview. Once the cryptocurrency market cracks, he contends, investor attitudes toward risk assets will change. According to Boockvar, the stock market could see collateral damage, but it would all be based on psychology not on anything that's fundamentally wrong with the economy. More From CNBC A protracted cryptocurrency crash would 'spill over' into stocks: Wells Fargo Crude awakening: Why one prominent trader thinks cheap oil is over for now A 'big money indicator' is pointing to more record highs for stocks || Better Stock: Procter & Gamble Co (PG) vs. Unilever NV (UN): The stock market is on a remarkable run, which has been great news for long-term investors that have had their skin in the game for the past eight years. But for investors putting new money in today things appear to be a bit dicey. The market is expensive, and no one wants to see their investment immediately plunge on the back of a market correction. While truly Foolish investors needn't worry about trying to time the market, investing in solid, dividend-paying stocks is a great way to keep your emotions -- and portfolio -- in check. Today's competitors -- Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) and Unilever (NYSE: UN) -- are two such companies. Woman staring at a wall with arrows pointing in opposite directions. Image source: Getty Images While we can never know with 100% certainty which stock will outperform over the long-run, we can get a better idea of what we're paying for by evaluating them through three different lenses. Sustainable competitive advantage If you're a long-term, buy-to-hold investor -- and we think you should be -- there's nothing more important for you to evaluate than the sustainable competitive advantage of the underlying company that you're buying. This advantage is often referred to as a "moat." The easiest way to define a moat is the "special something" that keeps customers coming back to you -- and not your competition -- year after year. For both Procter & Gamble and Unilever, the key moat is the power of their respective brands. Procter & Gamble is parent company to several billion-dollar brands, including Crest toothpaste, Gillette razors, and Pampers diapers. Gillette and Pampers both make the Top 100 of the Forbes annual list of the top brands in the world at 29th and 48th, respectively, with a total brand value between the two of $28 billion. Though it doesn't necessarily relate to the company's moat, Procter & Gamble's shareholders endured a somewhat tumultuous year. The company dealt with a hostile active investor, and sold off several non-core businesses. Story continues Unilever, on the other hand, owns both consumer packaged goods brands like Procter & Gamble and several brands in the food category. Dove soap, Axe deodorant, Lipton tea, and even Ben & Jerry's ice cream all call Unilever their parent company. After a failed merger attempt by a rival, Unilever had a solid 2017, with shares gaining 25% on the year. When all is said and done, each of these companies has as strong a moat as you can expect since it is provided by brand value. Winner = Tie Financial fortitude Dividends are foremost on the minds of most investors putting their cash behind these companies, so it makes sense that most would like to see excess cash being returned either via payouts or share buybacks. But there's something to be said for keeping a boring old pile of cash on hand. That's because every company, at some point or another, is going to endure difficult financial circumstances. If a company enters such a period with a robust war chest, it can actually emerge stronger by buying back shares on the cheap, acquiring rivals, or simply offering lower prices to bleed the competition out while gaining long-term market share. Keeping in mind that Procter & Gamble has a market capitalization 45% larger than Unilever's, here's how the two stack up. Company Cash Debt Free Cash Flow Procter & Gamble $16 billion $20 billion $10 billion Unilever $8 billion $18 billion $7 billion Data source: Yahoo! Finance. Cash represents cash, short- and long-term investments. Free cash flow presented on trailing-12-month basis. All figures rounded to nearest billion. Figures for Unilever converted from Euros at $1.23 per euro, are accurate as of June 30, 2017. Both companies have very strong free cash flows, which is what we'd expect from two globally scaled companies that enjoy the pricing power that these brands afford. Unilever, however, is using far more leverage than Procter & Gamble, which makes me believe that it is in a slightly more fragile state than its competitor should a recession hit. Winner = Procter & Gamble Valuation Finally, we have valuation. Unfortunately, there's no one metric that will tell us if a company's stock is cheap or expensive. Instead, I find it best to consult a number of data points to paint a more holistic picture. Company P/E P/FCF PEG Ratio Dividend FCF Payout Procter & Gamble 23 24 2.9 3.1% 76% Unilever 23 23 1.9 3% 66% Data source: Yahoo! Finance, E*Trade, Nasdaq.com, Unilever IR. P/E presented using non-GAAP EPS. Unilever figures calculated using conversion of $1.23 per Euro. Unilever figures accurate as of June 30, 2017. In terms of both ratios (P/E and P/FCF) and dividend data points, these two companies are virtually identical. When we bring growth prospects into the equation via the PEG ratio, however, Unilever emerges as the winner. It is trading at a 35% discount to Unilever, and so it wins this category. Winner = Unilever My winner is... So there you have it: we have a tie. When this is the case, I usually side with the company with the wider moat. Here again, however, we're stuck. And so, to declare a winner, I'm going to go with Unilever, for this reason: as consumer packaged goods become more personalizable and scale matters less, trust in brands that provide food will be more and more important. Unilever relies on foods for more of its sales, so it -- very slightly -- earns my nod. But to be honest, I'm not a huge fan of either stock. While they both offer outsized dividends, I'm not convinced they aren't already priced to perfection given their growth prospects, which is why I own neither, and refuse to give either a "green thumb" on my CAPS stock-picking profile. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Brian Stoffel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Better Stock: Procter & Gamble Co (PG) vs. Unilever NV (UN): The stock market is on a remarkable run, which has been great news for long-term investors that have had their skin in the game for the past eight years. But for investors putting new money in today things appear to be a bit dicey. The market is expensive, and no one wants to see their investment immediately plunge on the back of a market correction.
While truly Foolish investors needn't worry about trying to time the market, investing in solid, dividend-paying stocks is a great way to keep your emotions -- and portfolio -- in check. Today's competitors --Procter & Gamble(NYSE: PG)andUnilever(NYSE: UN)-- are two such companies.
Image source: Getty Images
While we can never know with 100% certainty which stock will outperform over the long-run, we can get a better idea of what we're paying for by evaluating them through three different lenses.
If you're a long-term, buy-to-hold investor -- and we think you should be -- there's nothing more important for you to evaluate than thesustainablecompetitive advantage of the underlying company that you're buying. This advantage is often referred to as a "moat."
The easiest way to define a moat is the "special something" that keeps customers coming back to you -- and not your competition -- year after year. For both Procter & Gamble and Unilever, the key moat is the power of their respective brands.
Procter & Gamble is parent company to several billion-dollar brands, including Crest toothpaste, Gillette razors, and Pampers diapers. Gillette and Pampers both make the Top 100 of theForbesannual list of the top brands in the world at 29th and 48th, respectively, with a total brand value between the two of $28 billion.
Though it doesn't necessarily relate to the company's moat, Procter & Gamble's shareholders endured a somewhattumultuous year.The company dealt with a hostile active investor, and sold off several non-core businesses.
Unilever, on the other hand, owns both consumer packaged goods brands like Procter & Gamble and several brands in the food category. Dove soap, Axe deodorant, Lipton tea, and even Ben & Jerry's ice cream all call Unilever their parent company. After afailed merger attemptby a rival, Unilever had a solid 2017, with shares gaining 25% on the year.
When all is said and done, each of these companies has as strong a moat as you can expect since it is provided by brand value.
Winner = Tie
Dividends are foremost on the minds of most investors putting their cash behind these companies, so it makes sense that most would like to see excess cash being returned either via payouts or share buybacks.
But there's something to be said for keeping a boring old pile of cash on hand. That's because every company, at some point or another, is going to endure difficult financial circumstances. If a company enters such a period with a robust war chest, it can actually emerge stronger by buying back shares on the cheap, acquiring rivals, or simply offering lower prices to bleed the competition out while gaining long-term market share.
Keeping in mind that Procter & Gamble has a market capitalization 45% larger than Unilever's, here's how the two stack up.
[{"Company": "Procter & Gamble", "Cash": "$16 billion", "Debt": "$20 billion", "Free Cash Flow": "$10 billion"}, {"Company": "Unilever", "Cash": "$8 billion", "Debt": "$18 billion", "Free Cash Flow": "$7 billion"}]
Data source: Yahoo! Finance. Cash represents cash, short- and long-term investments. Free cash flow presented on trailing-12-month basis. All figures rounded to nearest billion. Figures for Unilever converted from Euros at $1.23 per euro, are accurate as of June 30, 2017.
Both companies have very strong free cash flows, which is what we'd expect from two globally scaled companies that enjoy the pricing power that these brands afford. Unilever, however, is using far more leverage than Procter & Gamble, which makes me believe that it is in a slightly more fragile state than its competitor should a recession hit.
Winner = Procter & Gamble
Finally, we have valuation. Unfortunately, there's no one metric that will tell us if a company's stock is cheap or expensive. Instead, I find it best to consult a number of data points to paint a more holistic picture.
[{"Company": "Procter & Gamble", "P/E": "23", "P/FCF": "24", "PEG Ratio": "2.9", "Dividend": "3.1%", "FCF Payout": "76%"}, {"Company": "Unilever", "P/E": "23", "P/FCF": "23", "PEG Ratio": "1.9", "Dividend": "3%", "FCF Payout": "66%"}]
Data source: Yahoo! Finance, E*Trade, Nasdaq.com, Unilever IR. P/E presented using non-GAAP EPS. Unilever figures calculated using conversion of $1.23 per Euro. Unilever figures accurate as of June 30, 2017.
In terms of both ratios (P/E and P/FCF) and dividend data points, these two companies are virtually identical. When we bring growth prospects into the equation via the PEG ratio, however, Unilever emerges as the winner. It is trading at a 35% discount to Unilever, and so it wins this category.
Winner = Unilever
So there you have it: we have a tie. When this is the case, I usually side with the company with the wider moat. Here again, however, we're stuck.
And so, to declare a winner, I'm going to go with Unilever, for this reason: as consumer packaged goods become more personalizable and scale matters less, trust in brands that provide food will be more and more important. Unilever relies on foods for more of its sales, so it -- very slightly -- earns my nod.
But to be honest, I'm not a huge fan of either stock. While they both offer outsized dividends, I'm not convinced they aren't already priced to perfection given their growth prospects, which is why I own neither, and refuse to give either a "green thumb" on myCAPS stock-picking profile.
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Brian Stoffelhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Why the Apple Inc. iPhone X Isn't Doing as Well as Hoped in China: Respected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo with KGI Securities recently revised down hisApple(NASDAQ: AAPL)iPhone X shipment estimates. Kuo had originally expected Apple to ship around 80 million iPhone X smartphones during the current product cycle, but now he expects Apple to sell only 62 million units in that time -- a reduction of 18 million units.
If we assume a 50/50 split between the model with 64GB of storage and the one with 256GB of storage, the average revenue that Apple sees per iPhone X is $1,074. A shipment reduction of 18 million units should mean a revenue reduction of nearly $20 billion during the product cycle -- hardly chump change!
Image source: Apple.
This weakness, per Kuo, is due to the iPhone X selling worse than expected in China, which seems tocontradict recent reports of the iPhone X's success in the region. Kuo gives two reasons for the lower-than-expected iPhone X sales in the region that investors should pay close attention to.
The first reason, Kuo says, is that smartphone upgrade cycles in China have simply gotten longer. Apparently, in the fourth quarter of 2017, smartphone owners in China were willing to wait between 24 and 26 months to upgrade their devices -- a 10-month increase from the year-ago quarter.
If customers are willing to hang on to their existing devices longer, then over a given period of time, they're going to buy fewer smartphones. This leads to lower demand for smartphones overall and, unfortunately for Apple, an iPhone X is still just a smartphone (albeit a really nice one).
The iPhone X has a screen that takes up virtually the entire front of the phone. The only exception is the cutout at the top of the display that make room for the front-facing camera and other sensor technologies. Some call this cutout a "notch."
Here's MacRumors' paraphrasing of Kuo's note (emphasis mine):
The second big factor is said to be Chinese consumers' penchant for larger displays. According to Kuo,the notched design on the iPhone X isn't yet compatible with many popular Chinese apps, leading many customers to see it as offering less usable screen space than 5.5-inch iPhone Plus models. This confusion, coupled with the high price of iPhone X, is thought to have undercut replacement demand.
The bad news (at least for Apple) is that Kuo's reasoning around the notch makes sense: As long as apps aren't properly tuned to work on an iPhone X (or an iPhone X-style screen), then the usable screen area will, indeed, be lower on the iPhone X than on, say, the iPhone 8 Plus.
The good news is that the iPhone X is still popular enough that serious app developers will almost certainly update their apps to take advantage of an iPhone X-style display over the coming year, making the "notch" less of an issue in Apple's upcoming product cycle.
Additionally, since the price of the iPhone X appears to be an issue, things should get better on that front in the coming product cycle as well. The direct successor to the iPhone X is expected to be priced lower than the current model, and Apple is also reportedly preparing an even cheaper iPhone X-style device with acheaper liquid crystal display(LCD) instead of a more expensive organic light emitting diode (OLED) display like the ones that the higher-end iPhones will use.
Indeed, Kuo said he thinks that Apple is poised to gain market share in China in the coming product cycle once it releases new iPhones later this year. I can't help but agree.
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Ashraf Eassahas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Why the Apple Inc. iPhone X Isn't Doing as Well as Hoped in China: Respected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo with KGI Securities recently revised down his Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone X shipment estimates. Kuo had originally expected Apple to ship around 80 million iPhone X smartphones during the current product cycle, but now he expects Apple to sell only 62 million units in that time -- a reduction of 18 million units. If we assume a 50/50 split between the model with 64GB of storage and the one with 256GB of storage, the average revenue that Apple sees per iPhone X is $1,074. A shipment reduction of 18 million units should mean a revenue reduction of nearly $20 billion during the product cycle -- hardly chump change! The rear-facing camera on the Apple iPhone X. Image source: Apple. This weakness, per Kuo, is due to the iPhone X selling worse than expected in China, which seems to contradict recent reports of the iPhone X's success in the region . Kuo gives two reasons for the lower-than-expected iPhone X sales in the region that investors should pay close attention to. 1. Longer upgrade cycles The first reason, Kuo says, is that smartphone upgrade cycles in China have simply gotten longer. Apparently, in the fourth quarter of 2017, smartphone owners in China were willing to wait between 24 and 26 months to upgrade their devices -- a 10-month increase from the year-ago quarter. If customers are willing to hang on to their existing devices longer, then over a given period of time, they're going to buy fewer smartphones. This leads to lower demand for smartphones overall and, unfortunately for Apple, an iPhone X is still just a smartphone (albeit a really nice one). 2. The notch (and the price) The iPhone X has a screen that takes up virtually the entire front of the phone. The only exception is the cutout at the top of the display that make room for the front-facing camera and other sensor technologies. Some call this cutout a "notch." Here's MacRumors' paraphrasing of Kuo's note (emphasis mine): The second big factor is said to be Chinese consumers' penchant for larger displays. According to Kuo, the notched design on the iPhone X isn't yet compatible with many popular Chinese apps, leading many customers to see it as offering less usable screen space than 5.5-inch iPhone Plus models . This confusion, coupled with the high price of iPhone X, is thought to have undercut replacement demand. Story continues The bad news (at least for Apple) is that Kuo's reasoning around the notch makes sense: As long as apps aren't properly tuned to work on an iPhone X (or an iPhone X-style screen), then the usable screen area will, indeed, be lower on the iPhone X than on, say, the iPhone 8 Plus. The good news is that the iPhone X is still popular enough that serious app developers will almost certainly update their apps to take advantage of an iPhone X-style display over the coming year, making the "notch" less of an issue in Apple's upcoming product cycle. Additionally, since the price of the iPhone X appears to be an issue, things should get better on that front in the coming product cycle as well. The direct successor to the iPhone X is expected to be priced lower than the current model, and Apple is also reportedly preparing an even cheaper iPhone X-style device with a cheaper liquid crystal display (LCD) instead of a more expensive organic light emitting diode (OLED) display like the ones that the higher-end iPhones will use. Indeed, Kuo said he thinks that Apple is poised to gain market share in China in the coming product cycle once it releases new iPhones later this year. I can't help but agree. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Ashraf Eassa has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || 3 Signs You're Better Off Delaying Retirement: If you're on the brink of your planned retirement date, then now is a good time to step back, assess your situation, and see if you're really ready to take the final leap. After all, it's quite a challenge toun-retireif you later realize that you've made a mistake. If any of the below circumstances apply to you, then consider moving your retirement date forward a year or two until you've dealt with the problem -- even a brief delay may save you from financial disaster.
You can claim your Social Security benefits as early as age 62, but doing so comes at a price. Social Security's "full retirement age" is the metric the agency uses to determine when you're eligible for full Social Security benefits. It varies from 65 to 67 depending on the year you were born. If you claim your Social Security benefits before your full retirement age, your benefits will bepermanentlyreduced by as much as 30%. In other words, if your full retirement age is 67 and your full retirement benefit is $1,500 per month, then claiming your Social Security benefits at age 62 will reduce your retirement benefits to only $1,050 per month for the rest of your life.
In certain circumstances, it makes sense toclaim your Social Security benefits early. After all, while your benefit checks will be smaller, you'll receivemoreof them. So, for example, if your health is poor and you think your lifespan will be shorter than the actuaries predict, then claiming Social Security benefits early may result in a higher total lifetime benefit than waiting until full retirement age. Finally, if you've managed to come up with so much retirement income that your Social Security benefits are just gravy, you could retire early and wait to claim Social Security until a few years down the line -- or you may decide to file early and enjoy some extra "fun money" while you're relatively young.
However, for most retirees, it makes sense to wait at least until full retirement age to claim their benefits. In fact, for every year you wait to fileafterfull retirement age, your benefit increases by about 8% -- and a guaranteed 8% annual return is practically impossible to find elsewhere.
Image source: Getty Images.
Managing an enormous debt load is tough enough when you're earning a salary. Carrying debt after you retire and start living on a smaller, fixed income can completely crush your budget. This is particularly true of credit card debt, as the steep interest charges can make your debt grow over time instead of shrinking.
If you have lots of high-interest debt, consider delaying your retirement long enough to get thatdebt paid off. If you prioritize getting rid of your debts by sacrificing some of your discretionary expenses and perhaps taking on additional hours at work or a part-time job, you can wipe it out with remarkable speed.
And although taking on an additional part-time job may be exhausting, it does come with an additional perk for pre-retirees: When you retire from your full-time job, you can keep the part-time job going for a while to supplement your retirement income in the first year or two. Having a side job early in retirement not only boosts your income, but can make the transition easier for you psychologically; many retirees struggle to find purpose when they go straight from a full-time job to having no commitments at all.
It's never a happy moment when your retirement investments take a nosedive, but it's particularly dangerous when this happens right at the moment you plan to retire. A stock market crash 10 or 20 years before retirement gives your investments ample time to recover. However,when one happensjust a year or two before your planned retirement date, it's unlikely that your investments will recover their value by the time you retire. And because those investments are likely your primary source of retirement income, a badly timed crash can blow your retirement plans right out of the water.
For example, say your retirement investments are worth $700,000, but then a sudden market crash reduces them to $500,000. If your retirement plans require you to withdraw $30,000 per year from your retirement savings accounts, doing so from an account with $700,000 worth of investments in it only reduces the entire account balance by about 4.3%. However, if your investments are now worth only $500,000, then withdrawing $30,000 the first year will reduce your total balance by 6% -- an amount that's likely to exceed your portfolio's gains for the year once you factor ininflation. If you're taking so much from your retirement savings accounts that they're shrinking over time instead of growing or holding steady, then you're likely to run out of money -- a nightmare scenario for any retiree.
In some cases, delaying your retirement further simply isn't an option. If you lose your job and have no prospects for another one, or if your health is too poor to allow you to work any longer, then retiring as planned is likely your best option. However, if you face one of the above obstacles and can delay your retirement a bit to deal with it, then that would be the smart move. Yes, it means another year or two of work, but at least you'll have greatly improved your odds of a peaceful and well-funded retirement.
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The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || 3 Signs You're Better Off Delaying Retirement: If you're on the brink of your planned retirement date, then now is a good time to step back, assess your situation, and see if you're really ready to take the final leap. After all, it's quite a challenge to un-retire if you later realize that you've made a mistake. If any of the below circumstances apply to you, then consider moving your retirement date forward a year or two until you've dealt with the problem -- even a brief delay may save you from financial disaster. You're younger than "full retirement age" You can claim your Social Security benefits as early as age 62, but doing so comes at a price. Social Security's " full retirement age " is the metric the agency uses to determine when you're eligible for full Social Security benefits. It varies from 65 to 67 depending on the year you were born. If you claim your Social Security benefits before your full retirement age, your benefits will be permanently reduced by as much as 30%. In other words, if your full retirement age is 67 and your full retirement benefit is $1,500 per month, then claiming your Social Security benefits at age 62 will reduce your retirement benefits to only $1,050 per month for the rest of your life. In certain circumstances, it makes sense to claim your Social Security benefits early . After all, while your benefit checks will be smaller, you'll receive more of them. So, for example, if your health is poor and you think your lifespan will be shorter than the actuaries predict, then claiming Social Security benefits early may result in a higher total lifetime benefit than waiting until full retirement age. Finally, if you've managed to come up with so much retirement income that your Social Security benefits are just gravy, you could retire early and wait to claim Social Security until a few years down the line -- or you may decide to file early and enjoy some extra "fun money" while you're relatively young. Story continues However, for most retirees, it makes sense to wait at least until full retirement age to claim their benefits. In fact, for every year you wait to file after full retirement age, your benefit increases by about 8% -- and a guaranteed 8% annual return is practically impossible to find elsewhere. Man deciding whether to act now or later Image source: Getty Images. You have a ton of debt Managing an enormous debt load is tough enough when you're earning a salary. Carrying debt after you retire and start living on a smaller, fixed income can completely crush your budget. This is particularly true of credit card debt, as the steep interest charges can make your debt grow over time instead of shrinking. If you have lots of high-interest debt, consider delaying your retirement long enough to get that debt paid off . If you prioritize getting rid of your debts by sacrificing some of your discretionary expenses and perhaps taking on additional hours at work or a part-time job, you can wipe it out with remarkable speed. And although taking on an additional part-time job may be exhausting, it does come with an additional perk for pre-retirees: When you retire from your full-time job, you can keep the part-time job going for a while to supplement your retirement income in the first year or two. Having a side job early in retirement not only boosts your income, but can make the transition easier for you psychologically; many retirees struggle to find purpose when they go straight from a full-time job to having no commitments at all. The stock market just crashed It's never a happy moment when your retirement investments take a nosedive, but it's particularly dangerous when this happens right at the moment you plan to retire. A stock market crash 10 or 20 years before retirement gives your investments ample time to recover. However, when one happens just a year or two before your planned retirement date, it's unlikely that your investments will recover their value by the time you retire. And because those investments are likely your primary source of retirement income, a badly timed crash can blow your retirement plans right out of the water. For example, say your retirement investments are worth $700,000, but then a sudden market crash reduces them to $500,000. If your retirement plans require you to withdraw $30,000 per year from your retirement savings accounts, doing so from an account with $700,000 worth of investments in it only reduces the entire account balance by about 4.3%. However, if your investments are now worth only $500,000, then withdrawing $30,000 the first year will reduce your total balance by 6% -- an amount that's likely to exceed your portfolio's gains for the year once you factor in inflation . If you're taking so much from your retirement savings accounts that they're shrinking over time instead of growing or holding steady, then you're likely to run out of money -- a nightmare scenario for any retiree. In some cases, delaying your retirement further simply isn't an option. If you lose your job and have no prospects for another one, or if your health is too poor to allow you to work any longer, then retiring as planned is likely your best option. However, if you face one of the above obstacles and can delay your retirement a bit to deal with it, then that would be the smart move. Yes, it means another year or two of work, but at least you'll have greatly improved your odds of a peaceful and well-funded retirement. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Better Buy: Gilead Sciences, Inc. vs. Pfizer Inc.: Your time horizon makes a huge difference when choosing between which stocks to buy. For example, suppose it's January 2011, and you're trying to decide between buying Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) or Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) . If your focus was only a 12-month period, Pfizer turned out to be the better pick. However, if you had a longer time horizon such as five years, Gilead stock's performance was more than five times better than Pfizer's. Of course, we're now in January 2018, not January 2011. A longer-term focus still makes sense, though. Which is the better long-term pick between Gilead Sciences and Pfizer now? Here's how the two big drugmakers compare. Man facing wall with line between points A and B Image source: Getty Images. The case for Gilead Sciences It's easy to point out Gilead's problems. Sales are plunging for the biotech's hepatitis C virus (HCV) franchise. As a result, Gilead's overall revenue and earnings continue to fall. Many investors have thrown in the towel on the once-hot stock. However, there are still many reasons to like Gilead Sciences. Although the sales plunge for HCV drugs Harvoni and Sovaldi isn't over yet, newer HCV drugs Epclusa and Vosevi are enjoying strong momentum. Gilead CEO John Milligan even thinks that the entrance of AbbVie 's Mavyret on the market "sets the stage for smoothness to HCV sales for the future." Milligan went so far as to predict that 2018 could be "the beginning of a growth phase" for Gilead. Meanwhile, Gilead continues to absolutely dominate in the HIV market. Genvoya had the strongest launch ever for an HIV drug. The company expects to win FDA approval for its latest HIV treatment, a bictegravir/F/TAF combo, within a few weeks. This drug should be the biggest new launch of 2018 if all goes as planned. Sales for bictegravir/F/TAF are expected to top $5 billion by 2022. Thanks to its acquisition of Kite Pharma in 2017, Gilead now stands at the forefront of cell therapy. In October, Kite's Yescarta became only the second chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy to win FDA approval. There's a good chance that Gilead emerges as one of the top leaders in cancer drugs with Yescarta and other pipeline candidates picked up with the Kite acquisition. Story continues The big biotech is also aiming to move into a couple of new areas. Gilead has three drugs in its pipeline targeting treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), including late-stage ASK-1 inhibitor selonsertib. NASH could be an especially lucrative indication if the company is successful. Gilead also hopes to elbow its way into the autoimmune disease market with JAK1 inhibitor filgotinib, which is currently in late-stage studies for treating rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis. Even with HCV sales falling, the drugs, along with Gilead's HIV franchise, still generates enormous cash flow. Gilead has a large cash stockpile that it can and will use to reward shareholders. The company's dividend currently yields 2.59%. Expect dividend increases in the future. There's also a really good chance that Gilead will use some of its cash to make further acquisitions to drive growth. The case for Pfizer Since we started with Gilead's weaknesses, it's only fair to point out some drawbacks for Pfizer. The drugmaker's biggest challenge is its essential health business segment. Sales are slipping for many of Pfizer's older drugs that have lost patent exclusivity. Pfizer has also faced headwinds for its sterile injectables business picked up with the 2015 acquisition of Hospira. The company's other business segment, innovative health, also has a few weak spots, especially with declining sales for autoimmune disease drug Enbrel. With the dirty laundry out of the way, let's turn our attention to Pfizer's positives. I'd put cancer drug Ibrance at the top of the list. Market research firm EvaluatePharma projects that Ibrance will be one of the top five drugs in terms of sales growth in 2018. Pfizer is also enjoying strong sales momentum for smoking cessation product Chantix, anticoagulant Eliquis, and autoimmune-disease drug Xeljanz. Acquisitions have also given Pfizer promising drugs to add to its lineup. Pfizer bought Medivation in 2016, picking up prostate cancer drug Xtandi. The same year, the big drugmaker acquired Anacor Pharmaceuticals, gaining Eucrisa in the process. Both Xtandi and Eucrisa should become blockbusters. Pfizer's pipeline includes 28 late-stage programs. The company is hoping to secure additional indications for several already-approved drugs. Pfizer also has quite a few promising new candidates, with breast cancer drug talazoparib, diabetes drug ertugliflozin, and pain drug tanezumab especially standing out. In 2013, Pfizer spun off its animal health business into a separate entity, Zoetis , a move that benefited shareholders tremendously. The company is now evaluating either spinning off or selling its consumer healthcare business , which could also benefit investors. Like Gilead, Pfizer generates strong cash flow. The company also pays out one of the more attractive dividends around, with a current yield of 3.72%. In addition, Pfizer could be active soon on the acquisitions front, looking to boost its portfolio with assets that could fuel future growth. Better buy Pfizer has a couple of key advantages. First, it's increasing revenue and earnings, albeit relatively slowly because of the drag from its essential health segment. Second, the company has a more appealing dividend. However, Gilead has a couple of advantages of its own. The biotech is more attractively valued, with shares trading at less than 12 times expected earnings. Gilead also has, in my view, the better pipeline candidates with the bictegravir/F/TAF combo, Kite's CAR-T therapies, and its emerging NASH franchise. It's a tough decision. My gut instinct, though, is to go with Gilead. I think the stock has the potential to be a comeback story in the next couple of years. Over the long run, Gilead could become a dominant player in NASH and cell therapy. Still, I like both Gilead Sciences and Pfizer. In fact, I own both stocks. My take is that investors wouldn't go wrong with buying either of them. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Keith Speights owns shares of AbbVie, Gilead Sciences, and Pfizer. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Gilead Sciences. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || How Risky Is This Top Marijuana ETF?: Talk about getting off to a great start.
Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF(TSX: HMMJ)launched in April of last year. It generated a return of nearly 85% in 2017, much better than many ETFs that had the full year to rack up gains. So far in 2018, the marijuana ETF is up by a double-digit percentage. That means the Horizons marijuana ETFhas more than doubledsince inception. A great start indeed.
With any investment, though, the potential for high returns comes with high risks. That's true for Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF. But how risky is this top marijuana ETF?
Image source: Getty Images.
Currently, Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF (HMMJ) only trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). However, it has attracted plenty of interest from U.S. residents, who can buy shares if their broker can execute orders on the TSX.
HMMJ attempts to track the performance of the North American Marijuana Index. Expenses, which currently include a 0.75% annual management fee plus applicable sales tax, drag performance down a little from the index, though.
The North American Marijuana Index includes leading cannabis stocks operating in the United States and Canada. HMMJ, though, currently won't invest in any stock primarily focused on the medical or recreational marijuana market in the U.S., or the recreational marijuana market in Canada. The ETF can invest, however, in marijuana companies which derive a smaller portion of their total revenue from the marijuana industry in U.S. states where cannabis use has been legalized by state law, whether for medical or recreational use.
Assuming Canada legalizes recreational marijuana as expected later this year, the ETF is likely to open up its coffers for investing in stocks targeting that market. And, if the U.S. ever legalizes medical and/or recreational marijuana at the national level, you could expect HMMJ to invest significantly in stocks poised to benefit from such legalization.
One thing many investors like about ETFs, in general, is that they spread risk across a large number of individual stocks. It's important to know that HMMJ holds positions in only 30 stocks, much fewer than many ETFs.
Image source: Getty Images.
Also, HMMJ's risk is heavily concentrated in just a handful of marijuana stocks. Currently, the top four holdings --Canopy Growth(NASDAQOTH: TWMJF),Aurora Cannabis(NASDAQOTH: ACBFF),Aphria(NASDAQOTH: APHQF), andMedReleaf-- combine to make up over half of HMMJ's investments. Nearly 80% of HMMJ's investments are in just 10 stocks.
Practically speaking, this means HMMJ is more risky than many ETFs on the market simply because of its concentration of risk in so few stocks. However, there's also risk from the stocks themselves.
Roughly four-fifths of HMMJ's money is invested in the stocks of Canadian medical marijuana growers, including the top four holdings. The medical marijuana market has grown tremendously in recent years. However, companies like Canopy Growth and Aurora are anxiously awaiting the expected legalization of recreational marijuana in July of this year. Experts think the market size should be at least $4.2 billion annually andpotentially much higher.
There are a couple of key risks for these Canadian marijuana stocks, though, that translate to significant risk for HMMJ. One is that legalization of recreational marijuana could be delayed. Another is that the market won't be as great as anticipated. With the valuations of these stocks already at sky-high levels, any obstacles to the companies achieving the expected sales growth would be bad news for HMMJ.
Nearly 13% of the ETF's money is currently in biotechs focused on cannabinoid development, withGW Pharmaceuticals(NASDAQ: GWPH)at the top of the list. Of course, biotech stocks come with their own kinds of risks. GW Pharmaceuticals' market cap, for example, already factors in anticipated approval for the company's cannabidiol (CBD) product Epidiolex later this year. If Epidiolex doesn't win that approval, the stock would plunge. There's also the possibility that clinical study results for other programs aren't successful, which could weigh on the stock.
Is Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF too risky? That depends on the individual investor. For some, the marijuana ETF is definitely too risky. For others, the potential returns could justify the risks in buying HMMJ.
My guess is that most Canadian marijuana stocks will generate solid gains in 2018 assuming recreational marijuana legalization isn't derailed. As they go, so goes Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF. This top marijuana ETF is certainly risky, but there's also a huge potential for rewards.
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Keith Speightshas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || How Risky Is This Top Marijuana ETF?: Talk about getting off to a great start. Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF (TSX: HMMJ) launched in April of last year. It generated a return of nearly 85% in 2017, much better than many ETFs that had the full year to rack up gains. So far in 2018, the marijuana ETF is up by a double-digit percentage. That means the Horizons marijuana ETF has more than doubled since inception. A great start indeed. With any investment, though, the potential for high returns comes with high risks. That's true for Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF. But how risky is this top marijuana ETF? Measuring the word "risk" with calipers Image source: Getty Images. A little background Currently, Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF (HMMJ) only trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). However, it has attracted plenty of interest from U.S. residents, who can buy shares if their broker can execute orders on the TSX. HMMJ attempts to track the performance of the North American Marijuana Index. Expenses, which currently include a 0.75% annual management fee plus applicable sales tax, drag performance down a little from the index, though. The North American Marijuana Index includes leading cannabis stocks operating in the United States and Canada. HMMJ, though, currently won't invest in any stock primarily focused on the medical or recreational marijuana market in the U.S., or the recreational marijuana market in Canada. The ETF can invest, however, in marijuana companies which derive a smaller portion of their total revenue from the marijuana industry in U.S. states where cannabis use has been legalized by state law, whether for medical or recreational use. Assuming Canada legalizes recreational marijuana as expected later this year, the ETF is likely to open up its coffers for investing in stocks targeting that market. And, if the U.S. ever legalizes medical and/or recreational marijuana at the national level, you could expect HMMJ to invest significantly in stocks poised to benefit from such legalization. Identifying the risks One thing many investors like about ETFs, in general, is that they spread risk across a large number of individual stocks. It's important to know that HMMJ holds positions in only 30 stocks, much fewer than many ETFs. Marijuana buds on small Canadian flags Image source: Getty Images. Also, HMMJ's risk is heavily concentrated in just a handful of marijuana stocks. Currently, the top four holdings -- Canopy Growth (NASDAQOTH: TWMJF) , Aurora Cannabis (NASDAQOTH: ACBFF) , Aphria (NASDAQOTH: APHQF) , and MedReleaf -- combine to make up over half of HMMJ's investments. Nearly 80% of HMMJ's investments are in just 10 stocks. Story continues Practically speaking, this means HMMJ is more risky than many ETFs on the market simply because of its concentration of risk in so few stocks. However, there's also risk from the stocks themselves. Roughly four-fifths of HMMJ's money is invested in the stocks of Canadian medical marijuana growers, including the top four holdings. The medical marijuana market has grown tremendously in recent years. However, companies like Canopy Growth and Aurora are anxiously awaiting the expected legalization of recreational marijuana in July of this year. Experts think the market size should be at least $4.2 billion annually and potentially much higher . There are a couple of key risks for these Canadian marijuana stocks, though, that translate to significant risk for HMMJ. One is that legalization of recreational marijuana could be delayed. Another is that the market won't be as great as anticipated. With the valuations of these stocks already at sky-high levels, any obstacles to the companies achieving the expected sales growth would be bad news for HMMJ. Nearly 13% of the ETF's money is currently in biotechs focused on cannabinoid development, with GW Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: GWPH) at the top of the list. Of course, biotech stocks come with their own kinds of risks. GW Pharmaceuticals' market cap, for example, already factors in anticipated approval for the company's cannabidiol (CBD) product Epidiolex later this year. If Epidiolex doesn't win that approval, the stock would plunge. There's also the possibility that clinical study results for other programs aren't successful, which could weigh on the stock. Risk in the eye of the beholder Is Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF too risky? That depends on the individual investor. For some, the marijuana ETF is definitely too risky. For others, the potential returns could justify the risks in buying HMMJ. My guess is that most Canadian marijuana stocks will generate solid gains in 2018 assuming recreational marijuana legalization isn't derailed. As they go, so goes Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences Index ETF. This top marijuana ETF is certainly risky, but there's also a huge potential for rewards. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Keith Speights has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . View comments || Better Buy: Gilead Sciences, Inc. vs. Pfizer Inc.: Your time horizon makes a huge difference when choosing between which stocks to buy. For example, suppose it's January 2011, and you're trying to decide between buyingGilead Sciences, Inc.(NASDAQ: GILD)orPfizer Inc.(NYSE: PFE). If your focus was only a 12-month period, Pfizer turned out to be the better pick. However, if you had a longer time horizon such as five years, Gilead stock's performance was more than five times better than Pfizer's.
Of course, we're now in January 2018, not January 2011. A longer-term focus still makes sense, though. Which is the better long-term pick between Gilead Sciences and Pfizer now? Here's how the two big drugmakers compare.
Image source: Getty Images.
It's easy to point out Gilead's problems. Sales are plunging for the biotech's hepatitis C virus (HCV) franchise. As a result, Gilead's overall revenue and earnings continue to fall. Many investors have thrown in the towel on the once-hot stock.
However, there are still many reasons to like Gilead Sciences. Although the sales plunge for HCV drugs Harvoni and Sovaldi isn't over yet, newer HCV drugs Epclusa and Vosevi are enjoying strong momentum. Gilead CEO John Milligan even thinks that the entrance ofAbbVie's Mavyret on the market "sets the stage for smoothness to HCV sales for the future." Milligan went so far as topredict that 2018 could be "the beginning of a growth phase"for Gilead.
Meanwhile, Gilead continues to absolutely dominate in the HIV market. Genvoya had the strongest launch ever for an HIV drug. The company expects to win FDA approval for its latest HIV treatment, a bictegravir/F/TAF combo, within a few weeks. This drug should be thebiggest new launch of 2018if all goes as planned. Sales for bictegravir/F/TAF are expected to top $5 billion by 2022.
Thanks to its acquisition of Kite Pharma in 2017, Gilead now stands at the forefront of cell therapy. In October, Kite's Yescarta became only the second chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy to win FDA approval. There's a good chance that Gilead emerges as one of the top leaders in cancer drugs with Yescarta and other pipeline candidates picked up with the Kite acquisition.
The big biotech is also aiming to move into a couple of new areas. Gilead has three drugs in its pipeline targeting treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), including late-stage ASK-1 inhibitor selonsertib. NASH could be an especially lucrative indication if the company is successful. Gilead also hopes to elbow its way into the autoimmune disease market with JAK1 inhibitor filgotinib, which is currently in late-stage studies for treating rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis.
Even with HCV sales falling, the drugs, along with Gilead's HIV franchise, still generates enormous cash flow. Gilead has a large cash stockpile that it can and will use to reward shareholders. The company's dividend currently yields 2.59%. Expect dividend increases in the future. There's also a really good chance that Gilead will use some of its cash to make further acquisitions to drive growth.
Since we started with Gilead's weaknesses, it's only fair to point out some drawbacks for Pfizer. The drugmaker's biggest challenge is its essential health business segment. Sales are slipping for many of Pfizer's older drugs that have lost patent exclusivity. Pfizer has also faced headwinds for its sterile injectables business picked up with the 2015 acquisition of Hospira. The company's other business segment, innovative health, also has a few weak spots, especially with declining sales for autoimmune disease drug Enbrel.
With the dirty laundry out of the way, let's turn our attention to Pfizer's positives. I'd put cancer drug Ibrance at the top of the list. Market research firm EvaluatePharma projects that Ibrance will be one of the top five drugs in terms of sales growth in 2018. Pfizer is also enjoying strong sales momentum for smoking cessation product Chantix, anticoagulant Eliquis, and autoimmune-disease drug Xeljanz.
Acquisitions have also given Pfizer promising drugs to add to its lineup. Pfizer bought Medivation in 2016, picking up prostate cancer drug Xtandi. The same year, the big drugmaker acquired Anacor Pharmaceuticals, gaining Eucrisa in the process. Both Xtandi and Eucrisa should become blockbusters.
Pfizer's pipeline includes 28 late-stage programs. The company is hoping to secure additional indications for several already-approved drugs. Pfizer also has quite a few promising new candidates, with breast cancer drug talazoparib, diabetes drug ertugliflozin, and pain drug tanezumab especially standing out.
In 2013, Pfizer spun off its animal health business into a separate entity,Zoetis, a move that benefited shareholders tremendously. The company is now evaluatingeither spinning off or selling its consumer healthcare business, which could also benefit investors.
Like Gilead, Pfizer generates strong cash flow. The company also pays out one of the more attractive dividends around, with a current yield of 3.72%. In addition, Pfizer could be active soon on the acquisitions front, looking to boost its portfolio with assets that could fuel future growth.
Pfizer has a couple of key advantages. First, it's increasing revenue and earnings, albeit relatively slowly because of the drag from its essential health segment. Second, the company has a more appealing dividend.
However, Gilead has a couple of advantages of its own. The biotech is more attractively valued, with shares trading at less than 12 times expected earnings. Gilead also has, in my view, the better pipeline candidates with the bictegravir/F/TAF combo, Kite's CAR-T therapies, and its emerging NASH franchise.
It's a tough decision. My gut instinct, though, is to go with Gilead. I think the stock has the potential to be a comeback story in the next couple of years. Over the long run, Gilead could become a dominant player in NASH and cell therapy.
Still, I like both Gilead Sciences and Pfizer. In fact, I own both stocks. My take is that investors wouldn't go wrong with buying either of them.
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Keith Speightsowns shares of AbbVie, Gilead Sciences, and Pfizer. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Gilead Sciences. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Good News: More Than 75% of Americans Are Saving in Some Capacity: As a personal-finance writer, I often have to report on the negative stuff -- the fact that most Americans haveinadequate savingsand are misguided when it comes to retirement. So it's always a nice breath of fresh air when I get to deliver somegoodnews, and this time, it's that over 75% of U.S. adults are making an effort to save money in some shape or form. That's the latest from aDiscover study, which also found that millennials have the highest personal savings rate across all age groups.
Still, I'd be remiss if I didn't also highlight the fact that a large chunk of Americans continue to ignore their savings. Specifically, 19% of millennials aren't putting money away on the regular, and the same holds true for 26% of Gen Xers and 23% of baby boomers. And those are the folks who need to change their ways if they want a shot at financial stability in the near term, and the option to actually retire in the future.
IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.
First, let's talk near-term savings, because they should take priority over all else, including retirement. As a general rule, you should aim to have anywhere from three to six months' worth of living expenses available in an accessible savings account, no matter your age or income level.
Why that much? It's simple. No one is immune toemergencies. You never know when you might lose your job, fall ill, or come home to a busted heating system that costs several thousand dollars to repair. And if you don't have any money in the bank to cover the unexpected, you'll risk racking up costly credit card debt and the consequences that come with it.
A better bet? Establish that safety net, even if it means cutting expenses for a number of months to get there sooner. Another option? Work aside gig. That way, the extra money you take in can go directly into savings, since you shouldn't be counting on it to pay your living costs.
Now let's talk retirement savings, and the fact that you'll need some if you want to live comfortably as a senior. Many people assume they don't need to save for retirement because Social Security will be there to cover their costs. But that's nothow Social Security works.
In a best-case scenario, Social Security will replace about 40% of the typical senior's pre-retirement income. Most folks, however, need 80% of their former earnings to cover their costs in retirement, and these aren't the people who taking monthly cruises or spending their days on the golf course. Rather, they're the ones who simply need money to pay for their basic necessities, like housing,healthcare, clothing, and food.
So where will that money come from? You guessed it -- your savings, which is why you need to start socking money away as early as right now. The more time you give your nest egg to grow, the more income you'll have available when you really need it.
Remember, when you save for retirement in an IRA or 401(k), your cash doesn't just sit there doing nothing. Rather, you get the option to invest that money at what could be some pretty sizable returns.
Check out the following table, which shows how your nest egg might fare if you start contributing to it at various ages:
[{"25": "30", "$622,000": "$413,000"}, {"25": "35", "$622,000": "$272,000"}, {"25": "40", "$622,000": "$175,000"}, {"25": "45", "$622,000": "$110,000"}, {"25": "50", "$622,000": "$65,000"}]
TABLE AND CALCULATIONS BY AUTHOR.
Notice that these figures assume a mere $200 monthly contribution. That's nowhere close to what IRAs and 401(k)s allow for today. With the former, you can set aside up to $5,500 a year if you're under 50, and $6,500 a year if you're 50 or older. If you have access to a 401(k) through your job, you have an even greater opportunity to save, since the annual limits just climbed to $18,500 for workers under 50, and $24,500 for the 50-and-over set.
Now if you're able to max out either type of account throughout your career, you stand to retire with some pretty serious money. But if you can't max out, which is the case for most folks, do the best you can. As long as you contribute consistently, you stand to benefit from a respectable amount of growth.
While it's encouraging to see that so many Americans are making an effort to save money, there's still a good chunk of the population with work to do. So if you've been neglecting your near-term and long-term savings, it's time to get moving. And tell your friends to do the same, because if all goes well, come this time next year, I just might get to write a very different story.
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[Social Media Buzz]
#BTC Average: 11028.81$
#Bitfinex - 10817.00$
#Poloniex - 10800.00$
#Bitstamp - 10851.38$
#Coinbase - 10849.50$
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#Bitcoin #Exchanges #Price || #Cryptos:
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10868.40, 11359.40, 11259.40, 11171.40, 11440.70, 11786.30, 11296.40, 10106.30, 10221.10, 9170.54
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 3599.77, 3602.46, 3583.97, 3470.45, 3448.12, 3486.18, 3457.79, 3487.95, 3521.06, 3464.01, 3459.15, 3466.36, 3413.77, 3399.47, 3666.78, 3671.20, 3690.19, 3648.43, 3653.53, 3632.07, 3616.88, 3620.81, 3629.79, 3673.84, 3915.71, 3947.09, 3999.82, 3954.12, 4005.53, 4142.53, 3810.43, 3882.70, 3854.36, 3851.05, 3854.79, 3859.58, 3864.42, 3847.18, 3761.56, 3896.38, 3903.94, 3911.48, 3901.13, 3963.31, 3951.60, 3905.23, 3909.16, 3906.72, 3924.37, 3960.91, 4048.73, 4025.23, 4032.51, 4071.19, 4087.48, 4029.33, 4023.97, 4035.83, 4022.17, 3963.07, 3985.08, 4087.07, 4069.11, 4098.37, 4106.66, 4105.40, 4158.18, 4879.88, 4973.02, 4922.80, 5036.68, 5059.82, 5198.90, 5289.77, 5204.96, 5324.55, 5064.49, 5089.54, 5096.59, 5167.72, 5067.11, 5235.56, 5251.94, 5298.39, 5303.81, 5337.89, 5314.53, 5399.37, 5572.36, 5464.87.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2019-04-24]
Volume: 17048033399, RSI (14-day): 69.99, 50-day EMA: 4722.38, 200-day EMA: 4768.06
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1275.50, Gold RSI: 40.92
Oil Price: 65.89, Oil RSI: 70.39
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
John McAfee Vows to Unmask Crypto’s Satoshi Nakamoto, Then Backs Off: (Bloomberg) -- John McAfee, the eccentric antivirus pioneer known for his brushes with the law, said he has spoken with Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto and plans to reveal the person’s identity.
But the timing of the announcement is up in the air. After previously telling Bloomberg he would expose Nakamoto “within a week,” he backed off the plan. McAfee said Tuesday on Twitter the controversy could hurt his efforts to fight an extradition to the U.S.
The background of Nakamoto -- a pseudonym that is thought to refer to a person or group of people -- has been fiercely debated for years, with a long list of discredited theories fueling suspicion Bitcoin’s pioneer is probably dead. In recent days, McAfee has said that Nakamoto is a man living in the U.S.
“I’ve spoken with him, and he is not a happy camper about my attempt to out him,” McAfee said in a phone interview from the Bahamas.
McAfee’s antics and erratic behavior have overshadowed his past as a software pioneer, and it’s hard to know whether he’s finally tracked down the real Nakamoto -- a feat that many others have failed to pull off.
‘People Forget’
But McAfee said in the interview that he has spent a lifetime pursuing hackers, making him well-suited to this task.
“People forget that I am a technologist,” he said. “I am one of the best.”
In delaying the revelation, McAfee posted a letter from Mario Gray, his extradition lawyer, saying that exposing Nakamoto could make him the target of lawsuits -- forcing him to defend himself “on many fronts.”
“Releasing the identity of Satoshi at this time could influence the trial and risk my extradition,” he said in a tweet. “I cannot risk that. I’ll wait.”
The entrepreneur founded McAfee Associates in 1987, though the company has since passed through several hands. He was a person of interest in a murder in Belize, after which he returned to the U.S. In recent years, McAfee has been investing in digital coins, as well as promoting them -- for a fee -- in his own Twitter feed. He also is running for U.S. president.
If Nakamoto is indeed alive, that could throw a wrench into Bitcoin trading. Nakamoto -- possibly along with fellow pioneers of the crypto currency -- is believed to be one of the largest holders of Bitcoins. He may possess nearly 1 million of them, a huge chunk when you consider that entire circulating supply is about 17.6 million coins. The stake would be worth $5.6 billion at current prices.
Because these coins haven’t been moved in 10 years, most people have presumed Nakamoto was dead -- a theory supported by a lawsuit filed by the estate of a Florida man that claims he helped invent Bitcoin.
Pressure on Prices
Nakamoto wrote the white paper outlining Bitcoin in 2008, and then worked with a group of people to develop the currency, which debuted the following year, McAfee said.
If Nakamoto isn’t dead, then these coins could potentially enter the market. And their sale would put pressure on Bitcoin prices. Every time a trustee of the now-defunct exchange Mt. Gox sold Bitcoins to pay back creditors, the currency’s price dipped sharply.
Theories about Nakamoto have circulated for years. The New York Times and New Yorker have both tried to find the person or people behind the pseudonym. In a 2014 cover story, Newsweek identified the real Nakamoto as a California physicist, who denied the report. In a 2016 blog post and interviews with three media outlets, Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright had said that he is Nakamoto.
McAfee’s threat to out Nakamoto was prompted in part by a recent libel lawsuit that Wright filed against a podcaster who questioned if Wright is Nakamoto. Wright isn’t the man he found and spoke to, McAfee told Bloomberg.
“My entire life I’ve been tracking people who are the best in the world, and hiding their identity,” he said in the interview. “Finding Satoshi was a piece of cake for me.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Olga Kharif in Portland at [email protected]
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at [email protected], David Scheer
For more articles like this, please visit us atbloomberg.com
©2019 Bloomberg L.P. || John McAfee Vows to Unmask Cryptos Satoshi Nakamoto, Then Backs Off: (Bloomberg) -- John McAfee, the eccentric antivirus pioneer known for his brushes with the law, said he has spoken with Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto and plans to reveal the persons identity. But the timing of the announcement is up in the air. After previously telling Bloomberg he would expose Nakamoto within a week, he backed off the plan. McAfee said Tuesday on Twitter the controversy could hurt his efforts to fight an extradition to the U.S. The background of Nakamoto -- a pseudonym that is thought to refer to a person or group of people -- has been fiercely debated for years, with a long list of discredited theories fueling suspicion Bitcoins pioneer is probably dead. In recent days, McAfee has said that Nakamoto is a man living in the U.S. Ive spoken with him, and he is not a happy camper about my attempt to out him, McAfee said in a phone interview from the Bahamas. McAfees antics and erratic behavior have overshadowed his past as a software pioneer, and its hard to know whether hes finally tracked down the real Nakamoto -- a feat that many others have failed to pull off. People Forget But McAfee said in the interview that he has spent a lifetime pursuing hackers, making him well-suited to this task. People forget that I am a technologist, he said. I am one of the best. In delaying the revelation, McAfee posted a letter from Mario Gray, his extradition lawyer, saying that exposing Nakamoto could make him the target of lawsuits -- forcing him to defend himself on many fronts. Releasing the identity of Satoshi at this time could influence the trial and risk my extradition, he said in a tweet. I cannot risk that. Ill wait. The entrepreneur founded McAfee Associates in 1987, though the company has since passed through several hands. He was a person of interest in a murder in Belize, after which he returned to the U.S. In recent years, McAfee has been investing in digital coins, as well as promoting them -- for a fee -- in his own Twitter feed. He also is running for U.S. president. Story continues If Nakamoto is indeed alive, that could throw a wrench into Bitcoin trading. Nakamoto -- possibly along with fellow pioneers of the crypto currency -- is believed to be one of the largest holders of Bitcoins. He may possess nearly 1 million of them, a huge chunk when you consider that entire circulating supply is about 17.6 million coins. The stake would be worth $5.6 billion at current prices. Because these coins havent been moved in 10 years, most people have presumed Nakamoto was dead -- a theory supported by a lawsuit filed by the estate of a Florida man that claims he helped invent Bitcoin. Pressure on Prices Nakamoto wrote the white paper outlining Bitcoin in 2008, and then worked with a group of people to develop the currency, which debuted the following year, McAfee said. If Nakamoto isnt dead, then these coins could potentially enter the market. And their sale would put pressure on Bitcoin prices. Every time a trustee of the now-defunct exchange Mt. Gox sold Bitcoins to pay back creditors, the currencys price dipped sharply. Theories about Nakamoto have circulated for years. The New York Times and New Yorker have both tried to find the person or people behind the pseudonym. In a 2014 cover story, Newsweek identified the real Nakamoto as a California physicist, who denied the report. In a 2016 blog post and interviews with three media outlets, Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright had said that he is Nakamoto. McAfees threat to out Nakamoto was prompted in part by a recent libel lawsuit that Wright filed against a podcaster who questioned if Wright is Nakamoto. Wright isnt the man he found and spoke to, McAfee told Bloomberg. My entire life Ive been tracking people who are the best in the world, and hiding their identity, he said in the interview. Finding Satoshi was a piece of cake for me. To contact the reporter on this story: Olga Kharif in Portland at [email protected] To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at [email protected], David Scheer For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com ©2019 Bloomberg L.P. || Toronto and New York Based MLG Blockchain Accepts iCASH Loyalty Cards as Payment for Their Advisory Services: VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 23, 2019 / Toronto and New York based MLG Blockchain ("MLG") announced today that they would start accepting iCASH Loyalty Cards as a form of payment for their advisory consulting services. The iBankEX Loyalty Point Reward Card ("iCASH XPass") will be launched by iBankEX in the coming days. The iCASH Rewards XPass ("iCASH Rewards" or "iCASH XPass" or "iCASH") is the iBankEX Loyalty Point Reward Card, which will be tokenized on the Ethereum Blockchain Network powered by BlocPal Technology and Pundi X. iCASH coin will be the loyalty token of the iBankEX cryptocurrency exchange. iCASH tokens are expected to be traded with Bitcoin ("BTC") and Ethereum ("ETH") on iBankEX.io by July 2019. iCASH's primary usage was designed to allow it to be used as a form of payment for fees and services, which then results in lower transaction and exchange fees for trading, lending and various other services on the iBankEX platform. The iCASH Loyalty XPass also can be used for other transactions such as purchasing virtual gifts and consumer transactions with credit through iBank XPass, XWallet and throughout the XPOS ecosystem in more than 25 countries across the globe. "We are very excited about the opportunity of using iCASH as a form of payment both for our global blockchain and financial advisory services and as a payment for services across the entire iBankEX trading platform. We welcome new technologies that make transacting in cryptocurrencies more efficient, transparent and affordable to consumers throughout the world and are happy to be working in partnership with iBankEX to further expand on its development and adoption," said Michael Gord, Chairman and CEO of MLG Blockchain. iBankEX loyalty users also receive exclusive members-only invitations to participate in iBankEX sponsored special events, social events, projects and bounties. For further details, please visit www.ibankdigital.io/rewards. iBankEX previously had released its cryptocurrency mobile applications for both Apple and Android users on March 15, 2019 featuring cryptocurrency trading, OTC trading, margin trading, in-app identity verification, and with mobile 3DS security to all customers who verify their identities. Both Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) & Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android apps soared to the Top New Free and Top 100 Free Finance apps, respectively. Story continues About MLG Blockchain MLG Blockchain is a global consulting and development firm that builds solutions using blockchains and smart contract technology. They are headquartered in Toronto and New York City with a decentralized team that provides end-to-end solutions for startups, enterprise and government clients. MLG is a blockchain agnostic firm with expertise that covers all aspects of the ecosystem. Their years of industry experience and international network will accelerate your understanding and implementation of blockchain technology to stay competitive. www.mlgblockchain.com About iBankEX iBankEX, one of Vancouver's very first peer to peer (P2P) over the counter (OTC) crypto and margin trading platforms, supported by Huobi Cloud Technology, was officially launched on February 6, 2019 . The iBankEX platform was launched to ensure it is able to facilitate the buying and selling of crypto assets that has been supported by the Huobi Cloud. And from this, they have been able to lend through the very first global lending network within the open decentralized platforms. iBankEX have established an efficient and intuitive new trading platform that can be explored by their digital currency users spread across the globe. www.ibankex.io About iBank XPass The iBank XPass is a Bitcoin wallet provided by iBank Digital and supported by Pundi X technology. The iBank XPass can be used as crypto debit card and consumed in more than 25 countries and cities, including: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Netherlands, Nigeria, Colombia, Spain, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States and more. https://www.ibankdigital.io/ibankxpass About BlocPal International Inc. ("BlocPal") BlocPal believes in contributing to a financial world that is powered by everyone and open to everyone. The company has developed a digital financial platform to empower consumers, merchants, and enterprise customers to transact with any currency or asset in a simpler, faster and more secure way. At the core of BlocPal's service is its decentralized blockchain which has been designed to enable any currency or asset to be digitally signed and traded while complying with financial regulations. With its suite of applications, white label solutions, software development kit and integrations to financial networks, BlocPal's ecosystem supports multiple touchpoints in the transaction process. These touchpoints include point-of-sale terminals, e-commerce solutions and financial applications, thereby enabling any user, merchant and enterprise partner to easily and safely trade however they choose. www.blocpal.com Disclaimer: Readers are cautioned that actual results may differ substantially from the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, economic and political factors, product prices and changes in international and local markets, as well as the inherent risks of a FinTech related business. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. For further information, please contact: IBankEX Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ibankdigitalasset/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ibankdigital/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ibankdigitalasset/ Medium: https://medium.com/@iBank_Digital Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/iBankDigital Telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/AAAAAEX9MnpJwwyaOFf5_w Twitter: https://twitter.com/iBank_Digital Weibo: https://weibo.com/ibankdigital SOURCE: iBank Digital Asset LP View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/542791/Toronto-and-New-York-Based-MLG-Blockchain-Accepts-iCASH-Loyalty-Cards-as-Payment-for-Their-Advisory-Services || Toronto and New York Based MLG Blockchain Accepts iCASH Loyalty Cards as Payment for Their Advisory Services: VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 23, 2019 /Toronto and New York based MLG Blockchain ("MLG") announced today that they would start accepting iCASH Loyalty Cards as a form of payment for their advisory consulting services.
The iBankEX Loyalty Point Reward Card ("iCASH XPass") will be launched by iBankEX in the coming days. The iCASH Rewards XPass ("iCASH Rewards" or "iCASH XPass" or "iCASH") is the iBankEX Loyalty Point Reward Card, which will be tokenized on the Ethereum Blockchain Network powered by BlocPal Technology and Pundi X. iCASH coin will be the loyalty token of the iBankEX cryptocurrency exchange. iCASH tokens are expected to be traded with Bitcoin ("BTC") and Ethereum ("ETH") on iBankEX.io by July 2019. iCASH's primary usage was designed to allow it to be used as a form of payment for fees and services, which then results in lower transaction and exchange fees for trading, lending and various other services on the iBankEX platform. The iCASH Loyalty XPass also can be used for other transactions such as purchasing virtual gifts and consumer transactions with credit through iBank XPass, XWallet and throughout the XPOS ecosystem in more than 25 countries across the globe.
"We are very excited about the opportunity of using iCASH as a form of payment both for our global blockchain and financial advisory services and as a payment for services across the entire iBankEX trading platform. We welcome new technologies that make transacting in cryptocurrencies more efficient, transparent and affordable to consumers throughout the world and are happy to be working in partnership with iBankEX to further expand on its development and adoption," said Michael Gord, Chairman and CEO of MLG Blockchain.
iBankEX loyalty users also receive exclusive members-only invitations to participate in iBankEX sponsored special events, social events, projects and bounties. For further details, please visitwww.ibankdigital.io/rewards.
iBankEX previously had released its cryptocurrency mobile applications for both Apple and Android users on March 15, 2019 featuring cryptocurrency trading, OTC trading, margin trading, in-app identity verification, and with mobile 3DS security to all customers who verify their identities. Both Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) & Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android apps soared to the Top New Free and Top 100 Free Finance apps, respectively.
About MLG BlockchainMLG Blockchain is a global consulting and development firm that builds solutions using blockchains and smart contract technology. They are headquartered in Toronto and New York City with a decentralized team that provides end-to-end solutions for startups, enterprise and government clients. MLG is a blockchain agnostic firm with expertise that covers all aspects of the ecosystem. Their years of industry experience and international network will accelerate your understanding and implementation of blockchain technology to stay competitive.
www.mlgblockchain.com
About iBankEX
iBankEX, one of Vancouver's very first peer to peer (P2P) over the counter (OTC) crypto and margin trading platforms, supported by Huobi Cloud Technology, was officially launched on February 6, 2019 . The iBankEX platform was launched to ensure it is able to facilitate the buying and selling of crypto assets that has been supported by the Huobi Cloud. And from this, they have been able to lend through the very first global lending network within the open decentralized platforms. iBankEX have established an efficient and intuitive new trading platform that can be explored by their digital currency users spread across the globe.
www.ibankex.io
About iBank XPass
The iBank XPass is a Bitcoin wallet provided by iBank Digital and supported by Pundi X technology. The iBank XPass can be used as crypto debit card and consumed in more than 25 countries and cities, including: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Netherlands, Nigeria, Colombia, Spain, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States and more.
https://www.ibankdigital.io/ibankxpass
About BlocPal International Inc. ("BlocPal")
BlocPal believes in contributing to a financial world that is powered by everyone and open to everyone. The company has developed a digital financial platform to empower consumers, merchants, and enterprise customers to transact with any currency or asset in a simpler, faster and more secure way. At the core of BlocPal's service is its decentralized blockchain which has been designed to enable any currency or asset to be digitally signed and traded while complying with financial regulations. With its suite of applications, white label solutions, software development kit and integrations to financial networks, BlocPal's ecosystem supports multiple touchpoints in the transaction process. These touchpoints include point-of-sale terminals, e-commerce solutions and financial applications, thereby enabling any user, merchant and enterprise partner to easily and safely trade however they choose.www.blocpal.com
Disclaimer: Readers are cautioned that actual results may differ substantially from the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, economic and political factors, product prices and changes in international and local markets, as well as the inherent risks of a FinTech related business. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
For further information, please contact:
IBankEX
Email:[email protected]
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/ibankdigitalasset/
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/ibankdigital/
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/company/ibankdigitalasset/
Medium:https://medium.com/@iBank_Digital
Reddit:https://www.reddit.com/user/iBankDigital
Telegram:https://t.me/joinchat/AAAAAEX9MnpJwwyaOFf5_w
Twitter:https://twitter.com/iBank_Digital
Weibo:https://weibo.com/ibankdigital
SOURCE:iBank Digital Asset LP
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/542791/Toronto-and-New-York-Based-MLG-Blockchain-Accepts-iCASH-Loyalty-Cards-as-Payment-for-Their-Advisory-Services || Out of Testnet and Into Alpha: Lightning Labs Desktop Application Is Live: Lightning Lightning Labs just released an alpha version of its Lightning Network wallet. The desktop application is now compatible with Bitcoins mainnet and it leverages Neutrino ( the protocol , not the analytics company acquired by Coinbase ) to give users a lightweight option to control their own funds, as opposed to running a full node or trusting a third party to play custodian. This release required a diverse skill set of protocol engineering, product development and design thinking, Tankred Hase, a Lightning Labs application developer, told Bitcoin Magazine . Im lucky enough to work with such a talented team at Lightning Labs where we can bring all those perspectives together. Im hoping this release makes Bitcoin and Lightning more accessible to new types of users. The release, which Lightning Labs says in a blog post is still an early version targeted at testers, is immediately available for macOS, Windows and Linux, while smartphone applications for Android and iOS are coming very soon, Hase told us. Hase also said that the Android app is still in development internally and the iOS iteration is available publicly in pre-alpha in TestFlight. He added that the company needs to polish Lightning Network Daemon/Neutrino stability and performance before the full releases. For the desktop application, v0.5.0-alpha will launch on Bitcoins mainnet by default, while prior versions will now allow users to automatically update when they enter testnet (the testnet version will still be available, though it will likely be most useful for developers and engineers in light of this mainnet release). The update has introduced a slew of improvements, according to Lightning Labs. It sports a unified balance to help users keep track of how much bitcoin they have on-chain or in payment channels, with the latter demarcated by a percentage under the aggregate balance. Users will also be able to view how many satoshis are in each channel with the apps channel page. Story continues Autopilot a feature for the Lightning Network Daemon implementation that makes it easier to connect to nodes to set up channels now includes a scoring system to judge which nodes would be most effective at routing payments. This autopilot mechanism is a default feature now, though the application also lets its users manage their node connections and channels manually if they wish. Selecting which node to open a channel to is something we dont want our users to burden themselves with, the post reads. Selecting a set of initial channels is an important part of bootstrapping new users to the Lightning Network, and with this new system, well ensure that our users very first channels act as reliable gateways to the Lightning Network. Down the road, Lightning Labs will integrate Lightning Loop to give users the option to top up channel balances or empty them without closing the channels themselves. The above features are notable for user experience and interface improvements, but perhaps the most salient addition in the release is the wallets use of Neutrino. As the blog post succinctly spells out, Neutrino, which can be used for on-chain wallets but is especially useful for Lightning, is a light client specification that allows non-custodial Lightning wallets to verify Bitcoin transactions. Basically, it allows software clients (applications) to receive compressed blockchain data to verify transactions without having to download the full Bitcoin blockchain, which clocks in at an unwieldy 200 GB. This gives these clients a degree of the same privacy that full nodes enjoy, without sacrificing custody of funds to a third party (the typical trade-off for using a lightweight wallet). Without Neutrino, a non-custodial solution required using the command line interface, setting up your own Bitcoin + Lightning full node and the configuring of a third-party app to connect remotely to your node, Hase told Bitcoin Magazine . That process was very technical and required way too many steps for average users. Neutrino allows us to bundle everything up into one app that users can open with a double click. So if you use Lightning Labs wallet, even if youre not connected to your own node, you have complete custody of your funds. The post concludes by warning users that Lightning is still very early technology and theres a risk of losing all of your funds. It also calls for the community to help improve the application by reaching out to Lightning Labs and opening up requests on GitHub. As the technology is still risky and the Neutrino client is young Lightning Labs wont be resting on its laurels. As Hase told us in our correspondence, theres still plenty of work to do and much they can learn from this rollout as users begin tinkering. Its still the very first release and now is the time to iterate and start learning, he said. This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine . || Out of Testnet and Into Alpha: Lightning Labs’ Desktop Application Is Live: Lightning Labsjust released an alpha version of itsLightning Networkwallet. The desktop application is now compatible with Bitcoin’s mainnet and it leverages Neutrino (the protocol,notthe analytics company acquired by Coinbase) to give users a lightweight option to “control their own funds,” as opposed to running a full node or trusting a third party to play custodian.
“This release required a diverse skill set of protocol engineering, product development and design thinking,” Tankred Hase, a Lightning Labs application developer, toldBitcoin Magazine. “I’m lucky enough to work with such a talented team at Lightning Labs where we can bring all those perspectives together. I’m hoping this release makes Bitcoin and Lightning more accessible to new types of users.”
The release, which Lightning Labs says in ablog post“is still an early version targeted at testers,” is immediately available for macOS, Windows and Linux, while smartphone applications for Android and iOS “are coming very soon,” Hase told us.
Hase also said that the Android app is still in development internally and the iOS iteration is “available publicly in pre-alpha in TestFlight.” He added that the company needs to “polish Lightning Network Daemon/Neutrino stability and performance” before the full releases.
For the desktop application, v0.5.0-alpha will launch on Bitcoin’s mainnet by default, while prior versions will now allow users to automatically update when they enter testnet (the testnet version will still be available, though it will likely be most useful for developers and engineers in light of this mainnet release).
The update has introduced a slew of improvements, according to Lightning Labs. It sports a unified balance to help users keep track of how much bitcoin they have on-chain or in payment channels, with the latter demarcated by a percentage under the aggregate balance. Users will also be able to view how many satoshis are in each channel with the app’s channel page.
Autopilot — a feature for the Lightning Network Daemon implementation that makes it easier to connect to nodes to set up channels — now includes a scoring system to judge which nodes would be most effective at routing payments. This autopilot mechanism is a default feature now, though the application also lets its users manage their node connections and channels manually if they wish.
“Selecting which node to open a channel to is something we don’t want our users to burden themselves with,” the post reads. “Selecting a set of initial channels is an important part of bootstrapping new users to the Lightning Network, and with this new system, we’ll ensure that our users’ very first channels act as reliable gateways to the Lightning Network.”
Down the road, Lightning Labs will integrateLightning Loopto give users the option to top up channel balances or empty them without closing the channels themselves.
The above features are notable for user experience and interface improvements, but perhaps the most salient addition in the release is the wallet’s use of Neutrino. As the blog post succinctly spells out, Neutrino, which can be used for on-chain wallets but is especially useful for Lightning, “is a light client specification that allows non-custodial Lightning wallets to verify Bitcoin transactions.” Basically, it allows software clients (applications) to receive compressed blockchain data to verify transactions without having to download the full Bitcoin blockchain, which clocks in at an unwieldy 200 GB. This gives these clients a degree of the same privacy that full nodes enjoy, without sacrificing custody of funds to a third party (the typical trade-off for using a lightweight wallet).
“Without Neutrino, a non-custodial solution required using the command line interface, setting up your own Bitcoin + Lightning full node and the configuring of a third-party app to connect remotely to your node,” Hase toldBitcoin Magazine. “That process was very technical and required way too many steps for average users. Neutrino allows us to bundle everything up into one app that users can open with a double click.”
So if you use Lightning Labs’ wallet, even if you’re not connected to your own node, you have complete custody of your funds.
The post concludes by warning users that Lightning is “still very early technology and there’s a risk of losing all of your funds.” It also calls for the community to help improve the application by reaching out to Lightning Labs and opening up requests on GitHub.
As the technology is still risky — and the Neutrino client is young — Lightning Labs won’t be resting on its laurels. As Hase told us in our correspondence, there’s still plenty of work to do and much they can learn from this rollout as users begin tinkering.
“It’s still the very first release and now is the time to iterate and start learning,” he said.
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || Bitcoin’s Explosive Rally Targets $6,500 Next – Analyst Explains Why: ByCCN: Thebitcoin pricecould surge to $6,500 soon because it breached a key resistance level of $5,500 this week. That’s the assessment ofNaeem Aslam, the Chief Market Analyst at ThinkMarkets, a forex and derivatives broker.
Indeed, bitcoin has roared to a six-month high this week after flailing for much of 2018.
Analyst Naeem Aslam told CCN that there are several factors driving the rally, including optimism thatNasdaqis growing more confident about bitcoin futures.
Moreover, he says there’s a bullish trend forming with speculative bitcoin shorts that’s pushing the price higher.
“Technicals are fully supportive and the bulls are pushing the markets higher based on that. It’s likely that bitcoin’s price may move towards $6,000 or even touch $6,500.”
Crypto analyst Naeem Aslam of ThinkMarkets says the bitcoin bear market appears to be waning. | Source: ThinkMarkets UK
Read the full story on CCN.com. || Bitcoin’s Explosive Rally Targets $6,500 Next – Analyst Explains Why: ByCCN: Thebitcoin pricecould surge to $6,500 soon because it breached a key resistance level of $5,500 this week. That’s the assessment ofNaeem Aslam, the Chief Market Analyst at ThinkMarkets, a forex and derivatives broker.
Indeed, bitcoin has roared to a six-month high this week after flailing for much of 2018.
Analyst Naeem Aslam told CCN that there are several factors driving the rally, including optimism thatNasdaqis growing more confident about bitcoin futures.
Moreover, he says there’s a bullish trend forming with speculative bitcoin shorts that’s pushing the price higher.
“Technicals are fully supportive and the bulls are pushing the markets higher based on that. It’s likely that bitcoin’s price may move towards $6,000 or even touch $6,500.”
Crypto analyst Naeem Aslam of ThinkMarkets says the bitcoin bear market appears to be waning. | Source: ThinkMarkets UK
Read the full story on CCN.com. || Bitcoins Explosive Rally Targets $6,500 Next Analyst Explains Why: The bitcoin price will surge as high as $6,500 after breaching a key resistance level at $5,500 says cryptocurrency analyst Naeem Aslam of ThinkMarkets. | Source: Shutterstock By CCN : The bitcoin price could surge to $6,500 soon because it breached a key resistance level of $5,500 this week. Thats the assessment of Naeem Aslam , the Chief Market Analyst at ThinkMarkets, a forex and derivatives broker. Indeed, bitcoin has roared to a six-month high this week after flailing for much of 2018. Aslam: Nasdaq Is Warming Up to Bitcoin Futures Analyst Naeem Aslam told CCN that there are several factors driving the rally, including optimism that Nasdaq is growing more confident about bitcoin futures. Moreover, he says theres a bullish trend forming with speculative bitcoin shorts thats pushing the price higher. Technicals are fully supportive and the bulls are pushing the markets higher based on that. Its likely that bitcoins price may move towards $6,000 or even touch $6,500. We have Nasdaq, which is about to get serious about Bitcoin futures. Not to mention the speculative short positions, which are going to get squeezed out very soon (as per the CFTC data). bitcoin price chart Crypto analyst Naeem Aslam of ThinkMarkets says the bitcoin bear market appears to be waning. | Source: ThinkMarkets UK Read the full story on CCN.com . || E-cash inventor David Chaum on making a comeback, pre-empting bitcoin, and keeping Satoshi anonymous: David Chaum occupies a peculiar position in the peculiar world of crypto. He isn't one of the teen-genius cryptographers or a 20-something blockchain CEO. He moves among the upper echelons of "insiders," but also seems to remain staunchly on the periphery. He's an OG, but also a novelty. But regardless of the 63-year-old's status today, his place in crypto history is undisputed. Having founded DigiCash in 1989, the world's first electronic money system, he is known as the forethinker of digital currencies. He holds that crown tightly, with DigiCash having made him a temporary icon. "People recognised me in the 90's because of all the media attention ... I was clearly way ahead of anyone else doing it," he tells The Block in Paris. He's not exaggerating; Chaum's invention of a digital bearer instrument (DBI) offered individuals the right to transfer virtual assets without having to share personal information (as with physical cash; there are no records of whose hands it passes through). While DigiCash never gained traction with users - a victim of the pre-internet era - Chaum has now returned to the limelight with his own bitcoin competitor, Elixxir - a DBI-based blockchain. "I get this feeling like I really should have been more active in this space earlier. But the truth is, we built Elixxir privately and then only started talking about it once it was really working," he says. "I guess I’m a little bit old fashioned," a nod to the fact the crypto space has seen much preemptive hype. He describes Elixxir as 'WeChat with blockchain inside'; using the China-based payments & social media app as the central inspiration. Elixxir then brings the added benefits of offering secure dApps over normal apps "that are [] limited by their inability to keep secrets" and sell people's metadata; a powerful combination Chaum believes his peers have neglected. Story continues “It’s been essentially proven that in order to achieve [crypto adoption] you need a messaging system that allows payments...That's why all the major messaging platforms are fanatically trying to integrate payments," he says. But Elixxir wants to go further by offering privacy too. "Facebook raised the notion of metadata to a level where the public were aware of it... I think it’s struck a nerve with the general public.” The Elixxir blockchain is yet to launch, with no fixed timeline in sight beyond an upcoming BetaNet. It promises significantly fast and more energy-efficiency transactions, reducing the competition among nodes by treating them equally rather than a mining system . "We’ve found a superior way to do all the key things: consensus, integration of messaging and payments," he says, arguing modern blockchains' abandonment of DBI-enabled solutions is a "step backwards" for privacy and information-ownership . In fairness, he has a sizeable foot to stand on with his claims; academics who unearthed his 1982 dissertation at Berkeley found key similarities with Satoshi's Bitcoin 2009 whitepaper. "All the elements were anticipated in that [unpublished ] 1982 thesis, except proof of work." But there's a big difference - Chaum is a public figure of sorts, while Satoshi is not. His identity at least hasn't been confirmed (though several claim to be the brains behind the name). But Chaum says it's better to keep it that way. "I live in LA and the LA motto is it’s all about telling a good story. Satoshi - it’s part of the story. It’s helpful to galvanise people." "The whitepaper was responsible for creating a community," he said. Chaum also adds that the story is a long way from being complete, noting the extraordinary amount of work still to be done. And, he notes, Satoshi's vision is a long way off being realised, with Bitcoin having become more of a "store of value." "The instinct was right, the first ten words of creating a peer-to-peer consumer cash. But it didn't turn out that way." While we may never know who Satoshi is, there is something reassuring about being able to speak to his (or her) precursor. Chaum is a rarity among interviewees, delivering long, pensive pauses before answering, and openly admitting when he feels ill-equipped to answer a question outside of his expertise. For what it's worth, he also says he's still in the space out of "pure altruism", having endured personal sacrifice to commit his career to his the concept of a usable digital currency. He may be outside the main hub of crypto elite, but something seems to suggest that Chaum has chosen it that way; at least in part. || E-cash inventor David Chaum on making a comeback, pre-empting bitcoin, and keeping Satoshi anonymous: David Chaum occupies a peculiar position in the peculiar world of crypto. He isn't one of the teen-genius cryptographers or a 20-something blockchain CEO. He moves among the upper echelons of "insiders," but also seems to remain staunchly on the periphery. He's an OG, but also a novelty.
But regardless of the 63-year-old's status today, his place in crypto history is undisputed. Having founded DigiCash in 1989, the world's first electronic money system, he is known as the forethinker of digital currencies. He holds that crown tightly, withDigiCash having made him a temporary icon. "People recognised me in the 90's because of all the media attention ... I was clearly way ahead of anyone else doing it," he tells The Block in Paris.He's not exaggerating; Chaum's invention of adigital bearer instrument (DBI) offered individuals the right to transfer virtual assets without having to share personal information (as with physical cash; there are no records of whose hands it passes through).
While DigiCash never gained traction with users - a victim of the pre-internet era - Chaum has now returned to the limelight with his own bitcoin competitor, Elixxir - a DBI-based blockchain.
"I get this feeling like I really should have been more active in this space earlier. But the truth is, we built Elixxir privately and then only started talking about it once it was really working," he says. "I guess I’m a little bit old fashioned," a nod to the fact the crypto space has seen much preemptive hype.
He describes Elixxir as 'WeChat with blockchain inside'; using the China-based payments & social media app as the central inspiration. Elixxir then brings the added benefits of offering secure dApps over normal apps "that are [] limited by their inability to keep secrets" and sell people's metadata; a powerful combination Chaum believes his peers have neglected.
“It’s been essentially proven that in order to achieve [crypto adoption] you need a messaging system that allows payments...That's why all the major messaging platforms are fanatically trying to integrate payments," he says. But Elixxir wants to go further by offering privacy too. "Facebook raised the notion of metadata to a level where the public were aware of it... I think it’s struck a nerve with the general public.”
The Elixxir blockchain is yet to launch, with no fixed timeline in sight beyond an upcoming BetaNet. It promises significantly fast and more energy-efficiency transactions,reducing the competition among nodes by treating them equally rather than a mining system.
"We’ve found a superior way to do all the key things: consensus, integration of messaging and payments," he says, arguing modern blockchains' abandonment of DBI-enabled solutions is a "step backwards" for privacy andinformation-ownership.
In fairness, he has a sizeable foot to stand on with his claims; academics who unearthed his 1982 dissertation at Berkeley found key similarities with Satoshi's Bitcoin 2009 whitepaper. "All the elements were anticipated in that [unpublished] 1982 thesis, except proof of work."
But there's a big difference - Chaum is a public figure of sorts, while Satoshi is not. His identity at least hasn't been confirmed (though several claim to be the brains behind the name). But Chaum says it's better to keep it that way.
"I live in LA and the LA motto is it’s all about telling a good story. Satoshi - it’s part of the story. It’s helpful to galvanise people."
"The whitepaper was responsible for creating a community," he said.
Chaum also adds that the story is a long way from being complete, noting the extraordinary amount of work still to be done. And, he notes, Satoshi's vision is a long way off being realised, with Bitcoin having become more of a "store of value."
"The instinct was right, the first ten words of creating a peer-to-peer consumer cash. But it didn't turn out that way."
While we may never know who Satoshi is, there is something reassuring about being able to speak to his (or her) precursor. Chaum is a rarity among interviewees, delivering long, pensive pauses before answering, and openly admitting when he feels ill-equipped to answer a question outside of his expertise. For what it's worth, he also says he's still in the space out of "pure altruism", having endured personal sacrifice to commit his career to his the concept of a usable digital currency.
He may be outside the main hub of crypto elite, but something seems to suggest that Chaum has chosen it that way; at least in part. || Societe Generale Subsidiary Issues 100 Million Euro Bond on Ethereum Blockchain: French specialized credit institution Societe Generale SFH issued a 100 million euro ($112 million) bond as a security token on the Ethereum ( ETH ) blockchain . The company announced the development on its website on April 23. Societe Generale SFH which is a subsidiary of one of Europe's largest financial services groups, Societe Generale Group has rolled out its first pilot project developed in collaboration with Societe Generale FORGE. The latter is an internal startup launched through the Groups intrapreneurial program, the Internal Startup Call. The transactions goal was to investigate a more efficient way for bond issuance, which would potentially facilitate better transparency, and faster transferability and settlement. The company says in the announcement that the product proposes a new standard for issuances and secondary market bond trading and reduces cost and the number of intermediaries. Last September, Societe Generale became one of the major financial organizations that launched a joint venture dubbed komgo SA to oversee a new blockchain-based platform for financing the trading of commodities. The venture aims to digitize trade and commodities finance processes through a blockchain-based open platform, and was developed in partnership with the Ethereum-focused blockchain infrastructure and solutions group ConsenSys . Earlier in April, Private bank Kleinwort Hambros, which is owned by Societe Generale, launched an exchange-traded note made up of blockchain-related companies. The stocks reportedly included 20 companies, which are expected to profit from blockchain and distributed ledger technology adoption . As reported today, head of digital market assets at Credit Suisse, Emmanuel Aidoo, said that the desire among financiers to maintain the status quo is holding back the adoption of blockchain technology. Aidoo argued that banks unwillingness to adopt blockchain lies in the culture within banks, and has nothing to do with the technologys immaturity or a lack of potential use cases within financial organizations. Related Articles: VC Firm Ben Franklin Technology Partners Tokenizes Philadelphia Investment Fund Thailands Largest Commercial Bank and State Oil Company Trial Blockchain Payments 63% of Europeans Say That Crypto Will Exist in 10 Years, But Only 49% Believe in Bitcoin Report: Samsung Planning New Blockchain Mainnet Featuring Samsung Coin || Societe Generale Subsidiary Issues 100 Million Euro Bond on Ethereum Blockchain: French specialized credit institution Societe Generale SFH issued a 100 million euro ($112 million) bond as a security token on the Ethereum ( ETH ) blockchain . The company announced the development on its website on April 23. Societe Generale SFH which is a subsidiary of one of Europe's largest financial services groups, Societe Generale Group has rolled out its first pilot project developed in collaboration with Societe Generale FORGE. The latter is an internal startup launched through the Groups intrapreneurial program, the Internal Startup Call. The transactions goal was to investigate a more efficient way for bond issuance, which would potentially facilitate better transparency, and faster transferability and settlement. The company says in the announcement that the product proposes a new standard for issuances and secondary market bond trading and reduces cost and the number of intermediaries. Last September, Societe Generale became one of the major financial organizations that launched a joint venture dubbed komgo SA to oversee a new blockchain-based platform for financing the trading of commodities. The venture aims to digitize trade and commodities finance processes through a blockchain-based open platform, and was developed in partnership with the Ethereum-focused blockchain infrastructure and solutions group ConsenSys . Earlier in April, Private bank Kleinwort Hambros, which is owned by Societe Generale, launched an exchange-traded note made up of blockchain-related companies. The stocks reportedly included 20 companies, which are expected to profit from blockchain and distributed ledger technology adoption . As reported today, head of digital market assets at Credit Suisse, Emmanuel Aidoo, said that the desire among financiers to maintain the status quo is holding back the adoption of blockchain technology. Aidoo argued that banks unwillingness to adopt blockchain lies in the culture within banks, and has nothing to do with the technologys immaturity or a lack of potential use cases within financial organizations. Related Articles: VC Firm Ben Franklin Technology Partners Tokenizes Philadelphia Investment Fund Thailands Largest Commercial Bank and State Oil Company Trial Blockchain Payments 63% of Europeans Say That Crypto Will Exist in 10 Years, But Only 49% Believe in Bitcoin Report: Samsung Planning New Blockchain Mainnet Featuring Samsung Coin || Amazon with Lightning Network? Early Bitcoin Developer Isn’t Impressed: Moon is a Chrome extension that brings the Lightning Network to Amazon but it won't bring Grandpa into crypto. | Source: (i) Chamber of Digital Commerce/YouTube (ii) Shutterstock; Edited by CCN By CCN : You’ve likely heard the buzz about a new Chrome extension that will allow people to make purchases on Amazon using the Lightning Network, Moon. The buzz shouldn’t confuse you, hopefully: Amazon isn’t accepting any form of bitcoin, and they’re not integrating the Lightning Network . The extension does some ninja work in the background to get your crypto into fiat and then gives that to Amazon or other e-commerce sites. No, Amazon Isn’t Supporting Lightning Network Amazon, in particular, has long been a target of crypto-payment projects. A company called Purse.io has for years allowed people to turn their Prime memberships and Amazon Gift Cards into crypto – at a steep mark-up. Crypto users can spend money on Purse , selecting a discount, and then users on the other side can accept the offers. You can get up to 30% off this way, which is the incentive to spend crypto. There’s no similar incentive with apps like Moon, which is part of why they won’t be the “killer app” that leads to mass adoption. Former Bitcoin Core developer Jeff Garzik isn’t very impressed with the idea, saying that it probably won’t get Grandpa using crypto. #UIUX #crypto Apps or a website. Extensions reach a tiny percentage of a tiny audience. https://t.co/TNwL2VSoQu — Jeff Garzik (@jgarzik) April 22, 2019 Adoption is the Holy Grail of cryptocurrency expansion, and it’s one of the hardest nuts to crack. As we reported earlier today, people have had their crypto stolen without even doing anything wrong – an attacker has been able to guess private keys for years and drain it. The advent of quantum computing might push the limits of such attacks to the point of destabilizing unprepared blockchains. Story continues Crypto Is A Difficult Proposition for an Exotic Use Case But that’s only the existential problem of using crypto that could perhaps discourage adoption. In the end, it’s challenging to understand crypto right away. It’s not some paper notes or numbers in a bank account. It’s not the same as writing a check or handing over some bills. There are complex usability issues that organizations like The Foundation for Interwallet Operability are tackling . Eventually sending crypto might be as easy as sending an e-mail, and holding it securely might be as easy as flipping a switch. But will it be desirable? Until then, as Garzik points out, startups like Moon are swimming in a crowded sea of companies competing for a tiny portion of the population. Speculation has made these people monied, but there is a mentality in the bitcoin community which discourages the spending of funds anyway. For everyday transactions, some have even posited the notion that it makes a lot more sense to use credit cards . Read the full story on CCN.com . || Amazon with Lightning Network? Early Bitcoin Developer Isn’t Impressed: ByCCN: You’ve likely heard the buzz about a new Chrome extension that will allow people to make purchases on Amazon using the Lightning Network, Moon. The buzz shouldn’t confuse you, hopefully: Amazon isn’t accepting any form of bitcoin, and they’re not integrating theLightning Network. The extension does some ninja work in the background to get your crypto into fiat and then gives that to Amazon or other e-commerce sites.
Amazon, in particular, has long been a target of crypto-payment projects. A company called Purse.io has for years allowed people to turn their Prime memberships and Amazon Gift Cards into crypto – at a steep mark-up. Crypto users can spend money onPurse, selecting a discount, and then users on the other side can accept the offers. You can get up to 30% off this way, which is the incentive to spend crypto. There’s no similar incentive with apps like Moon, which is part of why they won’t be the “killer app” that leads to mass adoption.
Former Bitcoin Core developerJeff Garzikisn’t very impressed with the idea, saying that it probably won’t get Grandpa using crypto.
Adoption is the Holy Grail of cryptocurrency expansion, and it’s one of the hardest nuts to crack. As we reported earlier today, people have had their crypto stolen without even doing anything wrong – an attacker has been able to guess private keys for years and drain it. The advent of quantum computing might push the limits of such attacks to the point of destabilizing unprepared blockchains.
But that’s only the existential problem of using crypto that could perhaps discourage adoption. In the end, it’s challenging to understand crypto right away. It’s not some paper notes or numbers in a bank account. It’s not the same as writing a check or handing over some bills. There are complex usability issues that organizations like TheFoundation for Interwallet Operability are tackling.Eventually sending crypto might be as easy as sending an e-mail, and holding it securely might be as easy as flipping a switch. But will it be desirable?
Until then, as Garzik points out, startups like Moon are swimming in a crowded sea of companies competing for a tiny portion of the population. Speculation has made these people monied, but there is a mentality in the bitcoin community which discourages the spending of funds anyway. For everyday transactions, some have even posited the notion that itmakes a lot more sense to use credit cards.
Read the full story on CCN.com. || Amazon with Lightning Network? Early Bitcoin Developer Isn’t Impressed: ByCCN: You’ve likely heard the buzz about a new Chrome extension that will allow people to make purchases on Amazon using the Lightning Network, Moon. The buzz shouldn’t confuse you, hopefully: Amazon isn’t accepting any form of bitcoin, and they’re not integrating theLightning Network. The extension does some ninja work in the background to get your crypto into fiat and then gives that to Amazon or other e-commerce sites.
Amazon, in particular, has long been a target of crypto-payment projects. A company called Purse.io has for years allowed people to turn their Prime memberships and Amazon Gift Cards into crypto – at a steep mark-up. Crypto users can spend money onPurse, selecting a discount, and then users on the other side can accept the offers. You can get up to 30% off this way, which is the incentive to spend crypto. There’s no similar incentive with apps like Moon, which is part of why they won’t be the “killer app” that leads to mass adoption.
Former Bitcoin Core developerJeff Garzikisn’t very impressed with the idea, saying that it probably won’t get Grandpa using crypto.
Adoption is the Holy Grail of cryptocurrency expansion, and it’s one of the hardest nuts to crack. As we reported earlier today, people have had their crypto stolen without even doing anything wrong – an attacker has been able to guess private keys for years and drain it. The advent of quantum computing might push the limits of such attacks to the point of destabilizing unprepared blockchains.
But that’s only the existential problem of using crypto that could perhaps discourage adoption. In the end, it’s challenging to understand crypto right away. It’s not some paper notes or numbers in a bank account. It’s not the same as writing a check or handing over some bills. There are complex usability issues that organizations like TheFoundation for Interwallet Operability are tackling.Eventually sending crypto might be as easy as sending an e-mail, and holding it securely might be as easy as flipping a switch. But will it be desirable?
Until then, as Garzik points out, startups like Moon are swimming in a crowded sea of companies competing for a tiny portion of the population. Speculation has made these people monied, but there is a mentality in the bitcoin community which discourages the spending of funds anyway. For everyday transactions, some have even posited the notion that itmakes a lot more sense to use credit cards.
Read the full story on CCN.com. || Following Expansions, Japanese Regulator Investigates Local Crypto Exchanges: Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) is looking into two major cryptocurrency exchange platforms as part of an investigation.
According to areportpublished by Reuters Japan on April 23, 2019, the investigation by the financial watchdog is connected to the legal compliance and customer protection standards of trading platforms Fisco Digital Asset Group (FDAG) and Huobi Japan, the Japanese subsidiary of Huobi Global.
FDAG recentlyacquiredthe crypto exchange Zaif, which was hacked last year, from Tech Bureau for $44.7 million. Huobi Global, meanwhile,expanded into Japanthrough the acquisition of the regulated exchange BitTrade.
Citing anonymous sources close to the companies, the Reuters report claims that the FSA’s inspectors primarily examined the companies’ internal oversight while also suggesting that there are certain insufficiencies in “the management systems of the two companies and their efforts to protect customers.”
Earlier this year, Huobi Korea, the South Korean subsidiary of Huobi Global,announcedthat it would be strengthening its anti-money laundering protection standards.
The firm's focus was on its fiat-to-crypto oversight measures, as well as the processes for withdrawals and deposits on its platforms. It resolved that it will keep close tabs on all transactions that it deems suspicious. In addition, the exchange highlighted its commitment to provide periodic updates to its fraud-detection algorithms.
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || Following Expansions, Japanese Regulator Investigates Local Crypto Exchanges: News Bit Japan Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) is looking into two major cryptocurrency exchange platforms as part of an investigation. According to a report published by Reuters Japan on April 23, 2019, the investigation by the financial watchdog is connected to the legal compliance and customer protection standards of trading platforms Fisco Digital Asset Group (FDAG) and Huobi Japan, the Japanese subsidiary of Huobi Global. FDAG recently acquired the crypto exchange Zaif, which was hacked last year, from Tech Bureau for $44.7 million. Huobi Global, meanwhile, expanded into Japan through the acquisition of the regulated exchange BitTrade. Citing anonymous sources close to the companies, the Reuters report claims that the FSA’s inspectors primarily examined the companies’ internal oversight while also suggesting that there are certain insufficiencies in “the management systems of the two companies and their efforts to protect customers.” Earlier this year, Huobi Korea, the South Korean subsidiary of Huobi Global, announced that it would be strengthening its anti-money laundering protection standards. The firm's focus was on its fiat-to-crypto oversight measures, as well as the processes for withdrawals and deposits on its platforms. It resolved that it will keep close tabs on all transactions that it deems suspicious. In addition, the exchange highlighted its commitment to provide periodic updates to its fraud-detection algorithms. This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine . || Bitcoin Couple’s Seasteading Dreams Sunk by Thai Navy: ByCCN: The Thai Navy hasdismantledthe floating sea cabin of U.S.bitcoininvestor and seasteading advocate Chad Elwartowski. His Thai girlfriend Supranee Thepdet was living with him in the seastead. The Thai Navy boarded the boat over the weekend and returned its pieces to shore in three boats. The Thai government plans to use the dismantled floating home as evidence in a case against Elwartowsi and Thepdet.
The two areon the runand have engaged the U.S. embassy. The couple says that the Royal Thai Government is pressing to have them tried and killed for violating the Southeast Asian country’s national sovereignty. It’s a crime that carries the death penalty in Thailand. Luckily, when the authorities moved to seize the vessel, the two had fled; Elwartowski had spotted a surveillance plane flying overhead the day before.
Although the government of Thailand maintains the seasteaders violated its national sovereignty, the couple most certainly did not. They did not engage in sedition against the government. They did not attempt to overthrow it, nor did they encourage anyone to break its laws. They simply chose to peacefully withdraw from its territory.
In the style of history’s millions of homesteaders who left their countries and built something for themselves in unexplored and unsettled lands, this couple is a pair of explorers and pioneers. They are obviouslynot criminals.
In astatementreleased Monday, Patri Friedman, the chairman of the Seasteading Institute, “urged compassion” for the pair. Friedman insists “their actions were no threat to Thai sovereignty.”
Read the full story on CCN.com. || Bitcoin Couples Seasteading Dreams Sunk by Thai Navy: The whereabouts of the couple are unknown. | Source: YouTube Screenshot By CCN : The Thai Navy has dismantled the floating sea cabin of U.S. bitcoin investor and seasteading advocate Chad Elwartowski. His Thai girlfriend Supranee Thepdet was living with him in the seastead. The Thai Navy boarded the boat over the weekend and returned its pieces to shore in three boats. The Thai government plans to use the dismantled floating home as evidence in a case against Elwartowsi and Thepdet. The two are on the run and have engaged the U.S. embassy. The couple says that the Royal Thai Government is pressing to have them tried and killed for violating the Southeast Asian countrys national sovereignty. Its a crime that carries the death penalty in Thailand. Luckily, when the authorities moved to seize the vessel, the two had fled; Elwartowski had spotted a surveillance plane flying overhead the day before. Seasteading Is Not A Crime Although the government of Thailand maintains the seasteaders violated its national sovereignty, the couple most certainly did not. They did not engage in sedition against the government. They did not attempt to overthrow it, nor did they encourage anyone to break its laws. They simply chose to peacefully withdraw from its territory. In the style of historys millions of homesteaders who left their countries and built something for themselves in unexplored and unsettled lands, this couple is a pair of explorers and pioneers. They are obviously not criminals . In a statement released Monday, Patri Friedman, the chairman of the Seasteading Institute, urged compassion for the pair. Friedman insists their actions were no threat to Thai sovereignty. Read the full story on CCN.com .
[Social Media Buzz]
現在の1ビットコインあたりの値段は608,890.2797円です。値段の取得日時はApr 24, 2019 18:07:00 UTCです #bitcoin #ビットコイン || Apr 24, 2019 07:02:00 UTC | 5,603.70$ | 4,996.80€ | 4,332.10£ | #Bitcoin #btc pic.twitter.com/DdUFOi3MmH || 1 #BTC (#Bitcoin) quotes:
$5474.89/$5477.23 #Bitstamp
$5471.90/$5472.00 #Kraken
⇢$-5.33/$-2.89 || 現在の1ビットコインあたりの値段は623,612.7405円です。値段の取得日時はApr 24, 2019 04:07:00 UTCです #bitcoin #ビットコイン || ₿ #BTCUSD #Bitcoin = 5.434,78 #Dolar Güncelleme Saati : 00:00 || [http://CoinNess.com Market Surveillance April 24:...
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5210.52, 5279.35, 5268.29, 5285.14, 5247.35, 5350.73, 5402.70, 5505.28, 5768.29, 5831.17
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 4160.62, 4193.70, 4087.66, 4001.74, 4100.52, 4151.52, 4334.68, 4371.60, 4352.40, 4382.88, 4382.66, 4579.02, 4565.30, 4703.39, 4892.01, 4578.77, 4582.96, 4236.31, 4376.53, 4597.12, 4599.88, 4228.75, 4226.06, 4122.94, 4161.27, 4130.81, 3882.59, 3154.95, 3637.52, 3625.04, 3582.88, 4065.20, 3924.97, 3905.95, 3631.04, 3630.70, 3792.40, 3682.84, 3926.07, 3892.35, 4200.67, 4174.73, 4163.07, 4338.71, 4403.74, 4409.32, 4317.48, 4229.36, 4328.41, 4370.81, 4426.89, 4610.48, 4772.02, 4781.99, 4826.48, 5446.91, 5647.21, 5831.79, 5678.19, 5725.59, 5605.51, 5590.69, 5708.52, 6011.45, 6031.60, 6008.42, 5930.32, 5526.64, 5750.80, 5904.83, 5780.90, 5753.09, 6153.85, 6130.53, 6468.40, 6767.31, 7078.50, 7207.76, 7379.95, 7407.41, 7022.76, 7144.38, 7459.69, 7143.58, 6618.14, 6357.60, 5950.07, 6559.49, 6635.75, 7315.54.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2017-11-15]
Volume: 4200880128, RSI (14-day): 62.01, 50-day EMA: 5905.07, 200-day EMA: 3991.84
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1276.50, Gold RSI: 48.23
Oil Price: 55.33, Oil RSI: 58.21
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Retail and inflation — What you need to know on Wednesday: The retail sector is a major focus for investors this week and Wednesday will bring us perhaps the biggest news day on this front.
At 8:30 a.m. ET, the October reports on retail sales and consumer prices will both be released from the government, with earnings highlights also expected to include Target (TGT) and Victoria’s Secret parent company L Brands (LB).
Tech giant Cisco (CSCO) is also set to release earnings.
Expectations for the October retail sales report is that we’ll see a tempering of consumer buying with October sales set to be flat after September’s post-hurricane figures showed the biggest one-month gain since 2015.
The latest reading on consumer prices should also show that prices rose 0.1% over the prior month and 2% over last year. “Core” consumer prices — which excludes the more volatile costs of food and gas and is more closely-watched by economists — are expected to rise 1.7% over last year, below the Fed’s 2% inflation target.
Throughout 2017, the stock market’s relationship — or lack thereof — to Republican plans to cut taxes have been a major source of investor discussion.
Namely, how good will tax cuts be for stocks, or do stocks need tax reform to keep going higher, or is the market already pricing in tax cuts.
But an angle we’vediscussed a couple timesis whether right now is the best moment for tax cuts. On the heels of two straight quarters of 3% GDP growth, one could perhaps argue that the economy is starting to improve even without a boost from lawmakers. Another side of this line of thinking is whether now, after a big post-crisis rally in stocks and an economic recovering entering its ninth year, is really the best time to give corporate America what is essentially a handout.
Writing on hisblog Calculated Risk on Tuesday, economist Bill McBride notes that the current economic environment — low unemployment, cycle-high economic growth, strong financial markets — is a time to be cutting deficits, reducing regressive taxes like the payroll tax, and increasing income taxes on the highest earners. The current GOP plan, of course, is the opposite of this.
The estate tax, which disproportionately impacts the wealthiest familiesdespite claims that it’s really about helping farmers,has become a central point of contention in the tax reform debate. Most of thebenefits of a tax overhaul accrue to businessesand, by extension, the shareholder class. And both the Senate and House plans, as currently constructed, will add over $1.4 trillion to the deficit over ten years.
On Tuesday, analysts at Goldman Sachs updated their outlook for tax reform’s hopes, saying they now put an 80% chance on some package getting signed into law early next year. Though of course, there is still a long way to go on particulars.
Reports on Tuesday afternoonindicatedthat the Senate’s plan for overhauling the tax code will include a repeal of the Obamacare mandate that Americans must have health insurance. This will bring Congress’ biggest legislative headache this year — their efforts, and failure, to repeal and replace Obamacare — back into focus.
And don’t forget that industries ranging fromprivate equitytoventure capitalhave voiced their concerns over outlines of a tax plan that take away key elements of how they fund their operations.
All for the benefit of large corporations.
Yahoo Finance’s Rick Newmanframedthis as a tax cut that favors favors robots over workers, which is a way of saying that the tax plan favors capital over labor. Right at a point in the economic cycle when labor appeared ready to reassert its leverage against capital with the unemployment rate flirting with 4% and indications that wages are set to rise.
A final version of the tax plan mightlimit 401(k) contributions from older workers, or repeals a key part of Obamacare, or thatrepeals that state and local tax deductionused in high-tax, but largely blue, states like New York and California.
But any plan that gets through Congress within the next six months will have lower corporate taxes as its defining feature and its main source of revenue that need be recovered through other avenues. And the benefits to big business will accrue first to its shareholders. Then maybe, you and me.
—
Myles Udland is a writer at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter@MylesUdland
Read more from Myles here:
• Foreign investors might be the key to forecasting a U.S. recession
• It’s been 17 years since U.S. consumers felt this good about the economy
• TOM LEE: Bitcoin is an important asset for investors to own
• Wall Street can’t stop talking about Bitcoin
• Warren Buffett likes the stock market because of the bond market
• America’s shortage of workers is about to get ‘much worse’ || Stock market outlook, November 15: The retail sector is a major focus for investors this week and Wednesday will bring us perhaps the biggest news day on this front. At 8:30 a.m. ET, the October reports on retail sales and consumer prices will both be released from the government, with earnings highlights also expected to include Target ( TGT ) and Victoria’s Secret parent company L Brands ( LB ). Tech giant Cisco ( CSCO ) is also set to release earnings. Expectations for the October retail sales report is that we’ll see a tempering of consumer buying with October sales set to be flat after September’s post-hurricane figures showed the biggest one-month gain since 2015. The latest reading on consumer prices should also show that prices rose 0.1% over the prior month and 2% over last year. “Core” consumer prices — which excludes the more volatile costs of food and gas and is more closely-watched by economists — are expected to rise 1.7% over last year, below the Fed’s 2% inflation target. Hot air balloons participating in the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta float over Albuquerque, N.M., on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017. The annual fiesta attracts hundreds of balloon pilots and tens of thousands of spectators from around the world. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan) Tax reform and stocks Throughout 2017, the stock market’s relationship — or lack thereof — to Republican plans to cut taxes have been a major source of investor discussion. Namely, how good will tax cuts be for stocks, or do stocks need tax reform to keep going higher, or is the market already pricing in tax cuts. But an angle we’ve discussed a couple times is whether right now is the best moment for tax cuts. On the heels of two straight quarters of 3% GDP growth, one could perhaps argue that the economy is starting to improve even without a boost from lawmakers. Another side of this line of thinking is whether now, after a big post-crisis rally in stocks and an economic recovering entering its ninth year, is really the best time to give corporate America what is essentially a handout. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Ninoy-Aquino International Airport in Manila, Philippines, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017, to travel to Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii and then on to Washington. Trump is wrapping up a five country trip through Asia traveling to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) Writing on his blog Calculated Risk on Tuesday , economist Bill McBride notes that the current economic environment — low unemployment, cycle-high economic growth, strong financial markets — is a time to be cutting deficits, reducing regressive taxes like the payroll tax, and increasing income taxes on the highest earners. The current GOP plan, of course, is the opposite of this. Story continues The estate tax, which disproportionately impacts the wealthiest families despite claims that it’s really about helping farmers, has become a central point of contention in the tax reform debate. Most of the benefits of a tax overhaul accrue to businesses and, by extension, the shareholder class. And both the Senate and House plans, as currently constructed, will add over $1.4 trillion to the deficit over ten years. On Tuesday, analysts at Goldman Sachs updated their outlook for tax reform’s hopes, saying they now put an 80% chance on some package getting signed into law early next year. Though of course, there is still a long way to go on particulars. Reports on Tuesday afternoon indicated that the Senate’s plan for overhauling the tax code will include a repeal of the Obamacare mandate that Americans must have health insurance. This will bring Congress’ biggest legislative headache this year — their efforts, and failure, to repeal and replace Obamacare — back into focus. And don’t forget that industries ranging from private equity to venture capital have voiced their concerns over outlines of a tax plan that take away key elements of how they fund their operations. All for the benefit of large corporations. Yahoo Finance’s Rick Newman framed this as a tax cut that favors favors robots over workers, which is a way of saying that the tax plan favors capital over labor. Right at a point in the economic cycle when labor appeared ready to reassert its leverage against capital with the unemployment rate flirting with 4% and indications that wages are set to rise. A final version of the tax plan might limit 401(k) contributions from older workers , or repeals a key part of Obamacare, or that repeals that state and local tax deduction used in high-tax, but largely blue, states like New York and California. But any plan that gets through Congress within the next six months will have lower corporate taxes as its defining feature and its main source of revenue that need be recovered through other avenues. And the benefits to big business will accrue first to its shareholders. Then maybe, you and me. — Myles Udland is a writer at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @MylesUdland Read more from Myles here: Foreign investors might be the key to forecasting a U.S. recession It’s been 17 years since U.S. consumers felt this good about the economy TOM LEE: Bitcoin is an important asset for investors to own Wall Street can’t stop talking about Bitcoin Warren Buffett likes the stock market because of the bond market America’s shortage of workers is about to get ‘much worse’ || RBC: There are 3 things that will drive Apple's double-digit earnings growth (AAPL): Tim Cook Apple's stellar earnings for the fourth quarter has investors happy with the performance of the company. After reviewing Apple's 10K, an RBC Capital Markets analyst sees multiple upsides in the numbers for the company. To view Apple's stock price in real time, click here. Apple 's standout fourth quarter earnings report has boosted investor sentiment about stronger earnings growth in the next quarter. Amit Daryanani, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets, looked at Apple's 10-K and saw multiple tailwinds that could drive double-digit EPS growth in the next two years: The average selling price for the iPhone X, which can range from $999 to 1,149, should give the Silicon Valley company's profits a boost. Gross margins should benefit from Apple's service business, which Daryanani sees as growing at a faster-than-expected rate, and a better mix of its other higher-margin businesses. Lastly, Daryanani cites potential tax reform as a tailwind for the company. The tech giant derives about 62% of its revenues overseas, and has reportedly used tax havens to avoid paying taxes to the US. Lawmakers' plans to reduce the corporate tax rate and encourage repatriation of those foreign profits could fall in Apple's favor. Apple has floated around a $900 billion market cap since its earnings report. Wall Street has been bullish, keeping a careful eye on its success in its penetration into emerging markets and its enterprise, or business, markets. "We believe AAPL’s current stock price creates an attractive entry point for investors to benefit from its ability to generate revenue and EPS growth in FY18," Daryanani wrote in a note. Apple's stock is at $173.07 per share and is up 49.11% for the year. Find out how close Apple is to becoming the first $1 trillion company. Apple stock price Markets Insider NOW WATCH: $6 TRILLION INVESTMENT CHIEF: Bitcoin is a bubble See Also: The world's largest pyramid is not in Egypt We took a scientific look at whether weed or alcohol is worse for you — and there appears to be a winner Technology is dominating the stock market SEE ALSO: Apple is less than $20 a share away from being the first $1 trillion company || RBC: There are 3 things that will drive Apple's double-digit earnings growth (AAPL): • Apple's stellar earnings for the fourth quarter has investors happy with the performance of the company.
• After reviewing Apple's 10K, an RBC Capital Markets analyst sees multiple upsides in the numbers for the company.
• To view Apple's stock price in real time, click here.
Apple'sstandout fourth quarter earnings reporthas boostedinvestor sentimentabout stronger earnings growth in the next quarter.
Amit Daryanani, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets, looked at Apple's 10-K and saw multiple tailwinds that could drive double-digit EPS growth in the next two years:
• The average selling price for the iPhone X, which can range from $999 to 1,149, should give the Silicon Valley company's profits a boost.
• Gross margins should benefit from Apple's service business, which Daryanani sees as growing at a faster-than-expected rate, and a better mix of its other higher-margin businesses.
• Lastly, Daryanani cites potential tax reform as a tailwind for the company. The tech giant derives about 62% of its revenues overseas, and hasreportedly used tax havensto avoid paying taxes to the US. Lawmakers' plans to reduce the corporate tax rate and encourage repatriation of those foreign profits could fall in Apple's favor.
Apple has floated around a$900 billion market capsince its earnings report. Wall Street has been bullish, keeping a careful eye on its success in its penetration into emerging markets and its enterprise, or business, markets.
"We believe AAPL’s current stock price creates an attractive entry point for investors to benefit from its ability to generate revenue and EPS growth in FY18," Daryanani wrote in a note.
Apple's stock is at $173.07 per share and is up 49.11% for the year.
Markets Insider
NOW WATCH:$6 TRILLION INVESTMENT CHIEF: Bitcoin is a bubble
See Also:
• The world's largest pyramid is not in Egypt
• We took a scientific look at whether weed or alcohol is worse for you — and there appears to be a winner
• Technology is dominating the stock market
SEE ALSO:Apple is less than $20 a share away from being the first $1 trillion company || RBC: GE's turnaround won't happen fast enough (GE): GE CEO John Flannery Reuters/Alwyn Scott GE's turnaround plan was announced on Monday. For Deane Dray, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, the plan isn't enough, and won't happen fast enough. Dray downgraded the stock from a buy to a neutral on the news and lowered the price target by 20%. Watch GE stock trade in real time here. GE's new CEO John Flannery announced a rash of changes on Monday with the hopes of turning around the struggling company. After cutting the company's dividend and lowering forward-looking guidance, shares of GE fell about 7.49% on Monday . On Tuesday, the company continued to fall as analysts processed the potential impacts of all the changes. "We are downgrading GE from Outperform to Sector Perform based on our expectation that the company's turnaround will now be more protracted than previously anticipated," Deane Dray, analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said in a note to clients. "While the market was not expecting any quick fixes, we believe that CEO John Flannery’s highly anticipated plan fell short of expectations." On Monday, GE announced the highly-anticipated details of Flannery's plan to turnaround the company. GE announced a 50% cut in its dividend to $0.12 per share, a reduction in its total headcount, a lower than expected 2018 guidance and the sale of several underperforming units. Dray said the company's plan doesn't live up to the sweeping reset RBC had been hoping for. The company's dividend cut pointed to cashflow problems, particularly in the underperforming GE Capital business. GE's power business was also said to be struggling more than Dray had expected. Dray lowered his price target from $25 to $20 based on lower expected earnings per share in both 2018 and 2019. Dray lowered his 2018 expected EPS by 14% to $1.03. The company has fallen 19.51% in the last month, and Dray said more declines are ahead for GE. Dray also said that if the comeback takes long enough, GE's plans could be further stalled by a future economic slowdown. Story continues "Even with the shares having significantly underperformed this year, it is hard to see anything better than a Sector Perform return potential, and risk-reward looks balanced," Dray said. The silver lining, for Dray, was that the plan for the company's turnaround was finally public. Even if it's not exactly what was expected, the company is no longer in limbo. Read more about GE's turnaround plan here. ge stock price Markets Insider NOW WATCH: $6 TRILLION INVESTMENT CHIEF: Bitcoin is a bubble See Also: General Electric's turnaround plan has investors dumping the stock General Electric slashes its dividend by 50% General Electric just slashed its dividend — and that could save its stock from free fall SEE ALSO: GE is falling after announcing disappointing guidance || RBC: GE's turnaround won't happen fast enough (GE): GE CEO John Flannery Reuters/Alwyn Scott GE's turnaround plan was announced on Monday. For Deane Dray, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, the plan isn't enough, and won't happen fast enough. Dray downgraded the stock from a buy to a neutral on the news and lowered the price target by 20%. Watch GE stock trade in real time here. GE's new CEO John Flannery announced a rash of changes on Monday with the hopes of turning around the struggling company. After cutting the company's dividend and lowering forward-looking guidance, shares of GE fell about 7.49% on Monday . On Tuesday, the company continued to fall as analysts processed the potential impacts of all the changes. "We are downgrading GE from Outperform to Sector Perform based on our expectation that the company's turnaround will now be more protracted than previously anticipated," Deane Dray, analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said in a note to clients. "While the market was not expecting any quick fixes, we believe that CEO John Flannery’s highly anticipated plan fell short of expectations." On Monday, GE announced the highly-anticipated details of Flannery's plan to turnaround the company. GE announced a 50% cut in its dividend to $0.12 per share, a reduction in its total headcount, a lower than expected 2018 guidance and the sale of several underperforming units. Dray said the company's plan doesn't live up to the sweeping reset RBC had been hoping for. The company's dividend cut pointed to cashflow problems, particularly in the underperforming GE Capital business. GE's power business was also said to be struggling more than Dray had expected. Dray lowered his price target from $25 to $20 based on lower expected earnings per share in both 2018 and 2019. Dray lowered his 2018 expected EPS by 14% to $1.03. The company has fallen 19.51% in the last month, and Dray said more declines are ahead for GE. Dray also said that if the comeback takes long enough, GE's plans could be further stalled by a future economic slowdown. Story continues "Even with the shares having significantly underperformed this year, it is hard to see anything better than a Sector Perform return potential, and risk-reward looks balanced," Dray said. The silver lining, for Dray, was that the plan for the company's turnaround was finally public. Even if it's not exactly what was expected, the company is no longer in limbo. Read more about GE's turnaround plan here. ge stock price Markets Insider NOW WATCH: $6 TRILLION INVESTMENT CHIEF: Bitcoin is a bubble See Also: General Electric's turnaround plan has investors dumping the stock General Electric slashes its dividend by 50% General Electric just slashed its dividend — and that could save its stock from free fall SEE ALSO: GE is falling after announcing disappointing guidance || Bitcoin Price Stable, Bitcoin Cash Rises Again: The price of Bitcoin began to display signs of stability on Tuesday after a massive drop that erased 29%, or $38 billion, from Bitcoin’s total market value. The virtual currency began recovering yesterday as traders worried that the quick and sharp decline may have been an excessive response to the cancellation of a long-awaited technical Segwit2X upgrade.
Bitcoin was seen moving near $6,400 today after falling from $7,838 on Wednesday to $5,580 on Sunday. The price crash happened as investors rushed to move their capital to other rival virtual currencies. One such rival isBitcoin Cash, which split from the original Bitcoin back in August, has climbed about 19% since Friday.
The crash followed the cancellation of an upgrade that would have increased the size of each block on Bitcoin’s blockchain network. A bigger block size allows more transactions to be carried out at the same time, which reduces transaction fees and increases speed.
Get Into Bitcoin Trading Today
A similar upgrade has already been incorporated into Bitcoin Cash, which gave the alternative cryptocurrency popularity and strength following its lunch. Meanwhile, the upgrade to the Bitcoin network was called off after an important faction of the cryptocurrency community withdrew its support. The sudden upgrade cancellation resulted in strong volatility and extreme price movement even by Bitcoin’s standards.
Bitcoin investors now are left with two choices. The first choice is to stick to the original Bitcoin, which usesSegWit technologyto move unessential data off the underlying blockchain. The second choice is to move to Bitcoin Cash, which uses a block size that is eight times bigger than the original Bitcoin. The choice many investors appear to be making today is the first.
Top Five Cryptocurrencies Experts Talk about Bitcoin, Blockchain and ICO’s
Bitcoin’s pricewas quick to recover over 13%, or $10 billion, during yesterday’s trading. Bitcoin’s total market capitalization currently stands at $102 billion, which makes it hard for investors and fund managers to resist the digital asset. Demand for the currency remained high following regulatory moves and increased investment accessibility, likeCME Group’s recent plansto offer Bitcoin futures contracts.
BTC/USD is trading at 6398, down 1.26%. Bitcoin Cash is trading at 1331, up 15.15% as of 13:20 GMT today.
This post was originally published byEarnForex
The Best and Safest Way to Buy and Sell Bitcoins
For those who are looking to take advantage of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies price fluctuations,some brokersprovide traders with instant access to trade Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies. The process is fast and easy with convenient and advanced trading platform (desktop and mobile), low spreads and instant execution.Click here for more details.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM) Futures Analysis – November 14, 2017 Forecast
• Crude Oil Price Analysis for November 15, 2017
• The Euro Rises on Strong Economic Data, US Inflation Data in Focus
• E-mini NASDAQ-100 Index (NQ) Futures Technical Analysis – November 14, 2017 Forecast
• Dovish Central Banks and Solid Earnings Keep Stocks Buoyed
• Gold Price Futures (GC) Technical Analysis – November 14, 2017 Forecast || Bitcoin Price Stable, Bitcoin Cash Rises Again: The price of Bitcoin began to display signs of stability on Tuesday after a massive drop that erased 29%, or $38 billion, from Bitcoins total market value. The virtual currency began recovering yesterday as traders worried that the quick and sharp decline may have been an excessive response to the cancellation of a long-awaited technical Segwit2X upgrade. Bitcoin was seen moving near $6,400 today after falling from $7,838 on Wednesday to $5,580 on Sunday. The price crash happened as investors rushed to move their capital to other rival virtual currencies. One such rival is Bitcoin Cash , which split from the original Bitcoin back in August, has climbed about 19% since Friday. The crash followed the cancellation of an upgrade that would have increased the size of each block on Bitcoins blockchain network. A bigger block size allows more transactions to be carried out at the same time, which reduces transaction fees and increases speed. Get Into Bitcoin Trading Today A similar upgrade has already been incorporated into Bitcoin Cash, which gave the alternative cryptocurrency popularity and strength following its lunch. Meanwhile, the upgrade to the Bitcoin network was called off after an important faction of the cryptocurrency community withdrew its support. The sudden upgrade cancellation resulted in strong volatility and extreme price movement even by Bitcoins standards. Bitcoin investors now are left with two choices. The first choice is to stick to the original Bitcoin, which uses SegWit technology to move unessential data off the underlying blockchain. The second choice is to move to Bitcoin Cash, which uses a block size that is eight times bigger than the original Bitcoin. The choice many investors appear to be making today is the first. Top Five Cryptocurrencies Experts Talk about Bitcoin, Blockchain and ICOs Bitcoins price was quick to recover over 13%, or $10 billion, during yesterdays trading. Bitcoins total market capitalization currently stands at $102 billion, which makes it hard for investors and fund managers to resist the digital asset. Demand for the currency remained high following regulatory moves and increased investment accessibility, like CME Groups recent plans to offer Bitcoin futures contracts. Story continues BTC/USD is trading at 6398, down 1.26%. Bitcoin Cash is trading at 1331, up 15.15% as of 13:20 GMT today. This post was originally published by EarnForex The Best and Safest Way to Buy and Sell Bitcoins For those who are looking to take advantage of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies price fluctuations, some brokers provide traders with instant access to trade Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies. The process is fast and easy with convenient and advanced trading platform (desktop and mobile), low spreads and instant execution. Click here for more details . This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM) Futures Analysis November 14, 2017 Forecast Crude Oil Price Analysis for November 15, 2017 The Euro Rises on Strong Economic Data, US Inflation Data in Focus E-mini NASDAQ-100 Index (NQ) Futures Technical Analysis November 14, 2017 Forecast Dovish Central Banks and Solid Earnings Keep Stocks Buoyed Gold Price Futures (GC) Technical Analysis November 14, 2017 Forecast || Bitcoin Price Stable, Bitcoin Cash Rises Again: The price of Bitcoin began to display signs of stability on Tuesday after a massive drop that erased 29%, or $38 billion, from Bitcoin’s total market value. The virtual currency began recovering yesterday as traders worried that the quick and sharp decline may have been an excessive response to the cancellation of a long-awaited technical Segwit2X upgrade.
Bitcoin was seen moving near $6,400 today after falling from $7,838 on Wednesday to $5,580 on Sunday. The price crash happened as investors rushed to move their capital to other rival virtual currencies. One such rival isBitcoin Cash, which split from the original Bitcoin back in August, has climbed about 19% since Friday.
The crash followed the cancellation of an upgrade that would have increased the size of each block on Bitcoin’s blockchain network. A bigger block size allows more transactions to be carried out at the same time, which reduces transaction fees and increases speed.
Get Into Bitcoin Trading Today
A similar upgrade has already been incorporated into Bitcoin Cash, which gave the alternative cryptocurrency popularity and strength following its lunch. Meanwhile, the upgrade to the Bitcoin network was called off after an important faction of the cryptocurrency community withdrew its support. The sudden upgrade cancellation resulted in strong volatility and extreme price movement even by Bitcoin’s standards.
Bitcoin investors now are left with two choices. The first choice is to stick to the original Bitcoin, which usesSegWit technologyto move unessential data off the underlying blockchain. The second choice is to move to Bitcoin Cash, which uses a block size that is eight times bigger than the original Bitcoin. The choice many investors appear to be making today is the first.
Top Five Cryptocurrencies Experts Talk about Bitcoin, Blockchain and ICO’s
Bitcoin’s pricewas quick to recover over 13%, or $10 billion, during yesterday’s trading. Bitcoin’s total market capitalization currently stands at $102 billion, which makes it hard for investors and fund managers to resist the digital asset. Demand for the currency remained high following regulatory moves and increased investment accessibility, likeCME Group’s recent plansto offer Bitcoin futures contracts.
BTC/USD is trading at 6398, down 1.26%. Bitcoin Cash is trading at 1331, up 15.15% as of 13:20 GMT today.
This post was originally published byEarnForex
The Best and Safest Way to Buy and Sell Bitcoins
For those who are looking to take advantage of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies price fluctuations,some brokersprovide traders with instant access to trade Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies. The process is fast and easy with convenient and advanced trading platform (desktop and mobile), low spreads and instant execution.Click here for more details.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM) Futures Analysis – November 14, 2017 Forecast
• Crude Oil Price Analysis for November 15, 2017
• The Euro Rises on Strong Economic Data, US Inflation Data in Focus
• E-mini NASDAQ-100 Index (NQ) Futures Technical Analysis – November 14, 2017 Forecast
• Dovish Central Banks and Solid Earnings Keep Stocks Buoyed
• Gold Price Futures (GC) Technical Analysis – November 14, 2017 Forecast || Tech stocks once again look unstoppable: Reuters / Beck Diefenbach
• Tech stocks have been an invaluable part of broader stock market strength in 2017, returning more than double the benchmark S&P 500.
• Skeptics said for months that the air would have to come out of tech stocks, which they said had gotten overextended.
• Tech companies have responded by reporting some of the best earnings growth out of any sector in the S&P 500.
The tide was supposed to turn for scorching-hottech stocks.
To hear skeptics tell it, the group, which was so crucial as majorequity indexesripped past record highs for much of 2017, was getting overextended. And that was supposed to result in a sharp move lower not just in tech but for the whole market.
As recently as October, hedge funds and other large speculators were themost bearish in 16 monthson tech. Back in August, investorssold more than $1 billionof tech stocks in one week, the biggest offloading since January 2016. Uncertainty was high even back in mid-July, when the traders were paying theirbiggest premium since 2008for hedges against tech losses.
But tech has kept doing what it does best: expanding corporate earnings at a blistering pace. And that has alleviated concerns of a slowdown. After all, earnings growth has been proved time and time again to be the fuel that keeps the 8-1/2-year bull market running.
Tech companies in theS&P 500expanded profits by 22% in the third quarter, the second-most in the index, trailing only energy, according to Goldman Sachs data. The firm found that the stellar performance was driven by above-forecast 17% sales growth and margin expansion.
And as was the case earlier in the year, tech wielded outsize influence over the rest of the stock market. Earnings surprises in the sector contributed to almost 90% of the benchmark's overall profit beat, relative to consensus estimates, according to Goldman data.
Goldman Sachs
As of Monday's close, tech stocks in the S&P 500 had surged 37% in 2017, more than double the benchmark. That includes an 8.8% gain since the start of October.
Going forward, internationally exposed mega-cap tech companies are expected to benefit from President Donald Trump's proposed corporatetax cut, since they pay among the highest effective rates. Further, because so many large tech firms do so much business overseas, they're also among those best positioned to benefit from therepatriation tax holidayproposed by the GOP.
Here's a look at how market-wide earnings growth — driven by tech — is expected to fare in the coming quarters:
Goldman Sachs
NOW WATCH:$6 TRILLION INVESTMENT CHIEF: Bitcoin is a bubble
See Also:
• There's a new way to bet on scorching-hot FANG stocks
• A critical mistake cost traders betting against Snap huge profits
• Oprah Winfrey has now raked in $300 million from her Weight Watchers investment
SEE ALSO:General Electric just slashed its dividend — and that could save its stock from free fall || Tech stocks once again look unstoppable: mark zuckerberg happy handshake Reuters / Beck Diefenbach Tech stocks have been an invaluable part of broader stock market strength in 2017, returning more than double the benchmark S&P 500. Skeptics said for months that the air would have to come out of tech stocks, which they said had gotten overextended. Tech companies have responded by reporting some of the best earnings growth out of any sector in the S&P 500. The tide was supposed to turn for scorching-hot tech stocks . To hear skeptics tell it, the group, which was so crucial as major equity indexes ripped past record highs for much of 2017, was getting overextended. And that was supposed to result in a sharp move lower not just in tech but for the whole market. As recently as October, hedge funds and other large speculators were the most bearish in 16 months on tech. Back in August, investors sold more than $1 billion of tech stocks in one week, the biggest offloading since January 2016. Uncertainty was high even back in mid-July, when the traders were paying their biggest premium since 2008 for hedges against tech losses. But tech has kept doing what it does best: expanding corporate earnings at a blistering pace. And that has alleviated concerns of a slowdown. After all, earnings growth has been proved time and time again to be the fuel that keeps the 8-1/2-year bull market running. Tech companies in the S&P 500 expanded profits by 22% in the third quarter, the second-most in the index, trailing only energy, according to Goldman Sachs data. The firm found that the stellar performance was driven by above-forecast 17% sales growth and margin expansion. And as was the case earlier in the year, tech wielded outsize influence over the rest of the stock market. Earnings surprises in the sector contributed to almost 90% of the benchmark's overall profit beat, relative to consensus estimates, according to Goldman data. Screen Shot 2017 11 13 at 4.31.48 PM Goldman Sachs As of Monday's close, tech stocks in the S&P 500 had surged 37% in 2017, more than double the benchmark. That includes an 8.8% gain since the start of October. Story continues Going forward, internationally exposed mega-cap tech companies are expected to benefit from President Donald Trump's proposed corporate tax cut , since they pay among the highest effective rates. Further, because so many large tech firms do so much business overseas, they're also among those best positioned to benefit from the repatriation tax holiday proposed by the GOP. Here's a look at how market-wide earnings growth driven by tech is expected to fare in the coming quarters: Screen Shot 2017 11 13 at 3.14.10 PM Goldman Sachs NOW WATCH: $6 TRILLION INVESTMENT CHIEF: Bitcoin is a bubble See Also: There's a new way to bet on scorching-hot FANG stocks A critical mistake cost traders betting against Snap huge profits Oprah Winfrey has now raked in $300 million from her Weight Watchers investment SEE ALSO: General Electric just slashed its dividend and that could save its stock from free fall || Big money is coming to bitcoin: ex-Fortress executive Novogratz: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss, Lawrence Delevingne and Ross Kerber NEW YORK (Reuters) - Mike Novogratz, the former macro hedge fund manager at Fortress Investment Group who has joined the mad dash for crypto-currencies, said on Monday that mainstream institutional investors are about six to eight months from adopting bitcoin. Novogratz said he expects major financial firms will soon start to offer bitcoin or similar products as an investment option, one that could be easily purchased over the phone. A turning-point product from a big financial firm could arrive within six months, he said, though he declined to name a specific company. "When it's that easy, the price of bitcoin or ethereum is going to go much higher. And that is a lot closer than people think," said Novogratz, who spoke at the Reuters Global 2018 Investment Outlook Summit in New York. Novogratz is now chief executive of Galaxy Investment Partners, a firm that bets on cryptocurrencies and related businesses. "The institutionalization of this space is coming. It's coming pretty quick," he said. For the most part though, institutional investors have stayed away from bitcoin, the original and largest crypto-currency in terms of market capitalization, despite outperforming all the world's traditional currencies. Traditional investors still view bitcoin as opaque and highly speculative with potential to collapse even though so far this year bitcoin has soared nearly 580 percent. Bitcoin surged on Monday to $6,487, recovering more than $1,000 after losing almost a third of its value in less than four days as traders bought back into the volatile cryptocurrency. It hit a record peak last week just shy of $8,000. During the latest pullback over the weekend though, Novogratz said he bought $15 million to $20 million worth of bitcoins. Early enthusiasts for the crypto-currency were drawn to its revolutionary ideals of transparency and a lack of central or official control. The risks of dealing in bitcoin were laid bare in 2013 when Tokyo-based exchange Mt Gox collapsed after admitting it had lost the equivalent of hundreds of millions of dollars of investor funds. Story continues The currency's earlier ties to gambling and criminal websites did not endear it to traditional investors. But bitcoin has since overcome some of those challenges. "We're past that," he said. BIGGEST REGRET FOR 2017 Novogratz's biggest regret this year has been not buying more cryptocurrencies, such as ethereum, when prices fell, because he knew that they would keep going up. Ethereum is another public blockchain, essentially a shared database, similar to that of bitcoin. Ethereum's token is called ether. He felt that he made a psychological mistake, comparing the original price he paid to ethereums value over the summer. "When it was time to buy it back, I didn't buy enough back," he said. He sees bitcoin, for instance, hitting $10,000 by March. The former Fortress executive recently created his own crypto-hedge fund, putting in about $100 million of his own money. He hopes to raise about $500 million, making it the largest fund of its kind. Novogratz said Galaxy's largest investment is in bitcoin. It has a "very big" holding of ethereum and about 30-35 different tokens and companies. He declined to give the percentages of each holding, citing competitive reasons. One of those investments is in the token sale of Worldwide Asset Exchange, an online marketplace for so-called "skins," which are essentially virtual accessories of video game characters. The total market for "skins" is $50 billion. The skins don't have much application except to change how a character or a weapon looks. He is also an investor in FunFair, a decentralized gaming platform. FORTRESS EXIT Novogratz, a former Princeton University wrestler, U.S. Army helicopter pilot, and Goldman Sachs Group partner, is best known as a swaggering "macro" investor in the mold of George Soros who made big wagers on global economic movements. Novogratz worked at Fortress from 2002 to 2015, where he was a principal and ran its macro hedge funds. They grew to manage billions of dollars and made "Novo" a Wall Street star. But the funds were shut in 2015 following investment losses. Novogratz retired from the firm. "Very few people have graceful exits from Wall Street. Mine wasn't as graceful as I would have liked," he told Reuters. After Fortress, Novogratz planned to focus running his own money and avoid the complications of external investors. But he fell in love with the promise of blockchain technology after successfully investing in bitcoin, ethereum and other assets. He has quickly become one of the most prominent advocates of blockchain and has been working to convince larger, more conservative asset managers to get involved. "It's potentially wildly disruptive and revolutionary," Novogratz said. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss, Lawrence Delevingne, and Ross Kerber; editing by Lisa Shumaker and Cynthia Osterman) || Big money is coming to bitcoin: ex-Fortress executive Novogratz: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss, Lawrence Delevingne and Ross Kerber NEW YORK (Reuters) - Mike Novogratz, the former macro hedge fund manager at Fortress Investment Group who has joined the mad dash for crypto-currencies, said on Monday that mainstream institutional investors are about six to eight months from adopting bitcoin. Novogratz said he expects major financial firms will soon start to offer bitcoin or similar products as an investment option, one that could be easily purchased over the phone. A turning-point product from a big financial firm could arrive within six months, he said, though he declined to name a specific company. "When it's that easy, the price of bitcoin or ethereum is going to go much higher. And that is a lot closer than people think," said Novogratz, who spoke at the Reuters Global 2018 Investment Outlook Summit in New York. Novogratz is now chief executive of Galaxy Investment Partners, a firm that bets on cryptocurrencies and related businesses. "The institutionalization of this space is coming. It's coming pretty quick," he said. For the most part though, institutional investors have stayed away from bitcoin, the original and largest crypto-currency in terms of market capitalization, despite outperforming all the world's traditional currencies. Traditional investors still view bitcoin as opaque and highly speculative with potential to collapse even though so far this year bitcoin has soared nearly 580 percent. Bitcoin surged on Monday to $6,487, recovering more than $1,000 after losing almost a third of its value in less than four days as traders bought back into the volatile cryptocurrency. It hit a record peak last week just shy of $8,000. During the latest pullback over the weekend though, Novogratz said he bought $15 million to $20 million worth of bitcoins. Early enthusiasts for the crypto-currency were drawn to its revolutionary ideals of transparency and a lack of central or official control. The risks of dealing in bitcoin were laid bare in 2013 when Tokyo-based exchange Mt Gox collapsed after admitting it had lost the equivalent of hundreds of millions of dollars of investor funds. Story continues The currency's earlier ties to gambling and criminal websites did not endear it to traditional investors. But bitcoin has since overcome some of those challenges. "We're past that," he said. BIGGEST REGRET FOR 2017 Novogratz's biggest regret this year has been not buying more cryptocurrencies, such as ethereum, when prices fell, because he knew that they would keep going up. Ethereum is another public blockchain, essentially a shared database, similar to that of bitcoin. Ethereum's token is called ether. He felt that he made a psychological mistake, comparing the original price he paid to ethereums value over the summer. "When it was time to buy it back, I didn't buy enough back," he said. He sees bitcoin, for instance, hitting $10,000 by March. The former Fortress executive recently created his own crypto-hedge fund, putting in about $100 million of his own money. He hopes to raise about $500 million, making it the largest fund of its kind. Novogratz said Galaxy's largest investment is in bitcoin. It has a "very big" holding of ethereum and about 30-35 different tokens and companies. He declined to give the percentages of each holding, citing competitive reasons. One of those investments is in the token sale of Worldwide Asset Exchange, an online marketplace for so-called "skins," which are essentially virtual accessories of video game characters. The total market for "skins" is $50 billion. The skins don't have much application except to change how a character or a weapon looks. He is also an investor in FunFair, a decentralized gaming platform. FORTRESS EXIT Novogratz, a former Princeton University wrestler, U.S. Army helicopter pilot, and Goldman Sachs Group partner, is best known as a swaggering "macro" investor in the mold of George Soros who made big wagers on global economic movements. Novogratz worked at Fortress from 2002 to 2015, where he was a principal and ran its macro hedge funds. They grew to manage billions of dollars and made "Novo" a Wall Street star. But the funds were shut in 2015 following investment losses. Novogratz retired from the firm. "Very few people have graceful exits from Wall Street. Mine wasn't as graceful as I would have liked," he told Reuters. After Fortress, Novogratz planned to focus running his own money and avoid the complications of external investors. But he fell in love with the promise of blockchain technology after successfully investing in bitcoin, ethereum and other assets. He has quickly become one of the most prominent advocates of blockchain and has been working to convince larger, more conservative asset managers to get involved. "It's potentially wildly disruptive and revolutionary," Novogratz said. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss, Lawrence Delevingne, and Ross Kerber; editing by Lisa Shumaker and Cynthia Osterman) || Inflation Data & Central Bankers Panel Discussion in Focus: Equities on Wall Street put in tepid gains on Monday as investors continue to show caution due to the inability in Washington to produce clarity regarding a tax reform package. The ECB is conducting a policy discussion and global central bank leaders are attending.
Wall Street put in fractional gains on the three major Indexes on Monday, but the results were not exuberant. A Producer Price Index report will come from the States, but investors will also continue to keep an eye on the tax reform package which is facing obstacles. And the U.S Dollar has been softer in forex. Tomorrow the States will see a Consumer Price Index and Retail Sales figures.
The Nikkei Index has gained slightly this morning, after rather heavy selling yesterday. China Industrial Production figures this morning almost met its target head-on with a gain of 6.2 percent. Tomorrow Gross Domestic Product numbers will come from Japan.The Yenhas maintained a steady range against the U.S Dollar and is near 113.90.
The European Central Bank is conducting a policy panel discussion today which includes the leaders of major central banks. Mario Draghi, Mark Carney, and Janet Yellen will participate among others. And the U.K will release important inflation data early. The Euro and Pound have found some support this morning. The Euro is near 1.1670 against the U.S Dollar as it has put in slow but steady gains. Tomorrow the Average Earnings Index statistics will come from Britain.
Gold is near 1272.00 U.S Dollars an ounce this morning.Gold has been able to sustain its higher short-term rangeand traders may believe it is ready to test lower values. However, the past two weeks have been choppy for the precious metal, which still has investors uneasy.
Inflation Data from U.K and U.S, Central Bankers Discussion in Frankfurt
The U.K will release important Consumer Price Index data at 9:30 GMT, which will be examined by traders closely.
• 9:30 AM GMT U.K., Consumer Price Index
• 10:00 AM GMT E.U., European Central Bank Panel Discussion
• 13:30 PM GMT U.S., Producer Price Index
Yaron Mazor is a senior analyst atSuperTraderTV.
SuperTraderTV Academy is a leader in investing and stock trading education.Sign upfor a class today to learn proven strategies on how to trade smarter.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• Comex High Grade Copper Price Futures (HG) Technical Analysis – November 14, 2017 Forecast
• NZD/USD Broke Below Trend Line Support On 4-Hour Chart
• Natural Gas Price Fundamental Daily Forecast – Set-up For Pull-Back into $3.151 to $3.111
• Gold Daily Analysis – November 14, 2017
• The Euro Rises on Strong Economic Data, US Inflation Data in Focus
• Who Remembers 2013? Bitcoin’s First Amazing Bull Run || Inflation Data & Central Bankers Panel Discussion in Focus: Equities on Wall Street put in tepid gains on Monday as investors continue to show caution due to the inability in Washington to produce clarity regarding a tax reform package. The ECB is conducting a policy discussion and global central bank leaders are attending. Producer Price Index Today in U.S, Wall Street Not Exuberant Wall Street put in fractional gains on the three major Indexes on Monday, but the results were not exuberant. A Producer Price Index report will come from the States, but investors will also continue to keep an eye on the tax reform package which is facing obstacles. And the U.S Dollar has been softer in forex. Tomorrow the States will see a Consumer Price Index and Retail Sales figures. China Industrial Numbers Disappoint, Japanese Growth Data Tomorrow The Nikkei Index has gained slightly this morning, after rather heavy selling yesterday. China Industrial Production figures this morning almost met its target head-on with a gain of 6.2 percent. Tomorrow Gross Domestic Product numbers will come from Japan. The Yen has maintained a steady range against the U.S Dollar and is near 113.90. Draghi, Carney and Yellen Together, Euro Gains Early in Morning The European Central Bank is conducting a policy panel discussion today which includes the leaders of major central banks. Mario Draghi, Mark Carney, and Janet Yellen will participate among others. And the U.K will release important inflation data early. The Euro and Pound have found some support this morning. The Euro is near 1.1670 against the U.S Dollar as it has put in slow but steady gains. Tomorrow the Average Earnings Index statistics will come from Britain. Gold Sustains Short Term Range, Choppy Conditions and Uneasy Investors Gold is near 1272.00 U.S Dollars an ounce this morning. Gold has been able to sustain its higher short-term range and traders may believe it is ready to test lower values. However, the past two weeks have been choppy for the precious metal, which still has investors uneasy. Story continues Inflation Data from U.K and U.S, Central Bankers Discussion in Frankfurt The U.K will release important Consumer Price Index data at 9:30 GMT, which will be examined by traders closely. 9:30 AM GMT U.K., Consumer Price Index 10:00 AM GMT E.U., European Central Bank Panel Discussion 13:30 PM GMT U.S., Producer Price Index Yaron Mazor is a senior analyst at SuperTraderTV. SuperTraderTV Academy is a leader in investing and stock trading education. Sign up for a class today to learn proven strategies on how to trade smarter. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Comex High Grade Copper Price Futures (HG) Technical Analysis – November 14, 2017 Forecast NZD/USD Broke Below Trend Line Support On 4-Hour Chart Natural Gas Price Fundamental Daily Forecast – Set-up For Pull-Back into $3.151 to $3.111 Gold Daily Analysis – November 14, 2017 The Euro Rises on Strong Economic Data, US Inflation Data in Focus Who Remembers 2013? Bitcoin’s First Amazing Bull Run || Cryptocurrency trading volumes reached a record high over the weekend that beats some US stock exchanges: trader nyse REUTERS/Brendan McDermid Bitcoin , the red-hot digital currency known for its volatile price, was on a wild ride this weekend. Bitcoin crashed more than 25% from its all-time high of $7,721 set Wednesday to a low of $5,617 per coin on Sunday, according to data from cryptocurrency watcher CoinDesk. Bitcoin cash, on the other hand, propelled to a record-high of $2,500 early Sunday morning. Trading volumes on Sunday peaked at over $26 billion, according to cryptocurrency data site CoinMarketCap.com . That's higher than the 5-day average trading volume for some US equity exchanges. Bitcoin, the red-hot digital currency, had a wild weekend and that appears to have translated into record-breaking trading volumes across the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin crashed more than 25% from Wednesday's all-time high to a low of $5,617 Sunday. Bitcoin cash, the rival clone of bitcoin, witnessed an impressive rally that propelled the coin to a record-high of $2,500 early Sunday morning. The 24-hour trading volumes for cryptocurrencies reached a record high above $26 billion on Sunday, according to data site CoinMarketCap.com . To put that in perspective, that is higher than the 5-day average trading volumes for two US stock exchanges. Both IEX, the upstart exchange based in New York, and the Chicago Stock Exchange averaged less than $10 billion in trading each day for the last five days, according to data by Cboe Global Markets . IEX saw $7.8 billion worth of shares exchange on its venue, whereas CHX witness $3.1 billion in trading volumes. New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, on the other hand, saw more than $50 billion worth of shares exchange daily on average over the last 5 trading days. Still, the record cryptocurrency volumes over the weekend indicate the growing interest in the red-hot market, which until very recently has rarely witnessed daily trading volumes over $10 billion. In an October 16 note to clients, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said cryptocurrencies present a $1.6 billion opportunity for Wall Street . The figure was based on the assumption that cryptocurrency volumes end up at about 10% of current fiat currency trading volumes. Here's the bank: Story continues "The FX market is highly liquid. For example, spot FX volumes were $1.65tr as of the most recent BIT Triennial survey in April 2016. If these volumes were to materialize, with the same relationship between spot market and futures, and the same revenue per contract, the revenue pool would be about $1.6bn." Already, exchange giants Cboe and CME are looking to capitalize on the nascent space. They have both announced they are preparing to launch bitcoin futures products in the near term . Higher volumes, according to Bank of America, could help legitimize cryptocurrencies across Wall Street, which still remains widely skeptical of their credibility. Capture.PNG BAML Many top Wall Streeters have derided bitcoin, for instance, as a vehicle used mainly by criminals. In an interview with Bloomberg News , Larry Fink, the head of the largest investor in the world, BlackRock said the explosive growth of bitcoin points to "how much money laundering is being done in the world." And JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon once said bitcoin was only useful for murderers and drug dealers. NOW WATCH: Here are your chances of winning at popular casino games See Also: Bitcoin is climbing A small band of trading specialists are taking calls about $50 million bitcoin deals Economist Nouriel Roubini says Bitcoin is a 'gigantic speculative bubble' — here's how he thinks the crypto-craze will finally end || Cryptocurrency trading volumes reached a record high over the weekend that beats some US stock exchanges: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
• Bitcoin, the red-hot digital currency known for its volatile price, was on a wild ride this weekend.
• Bitcoin crashed more than 25% from its all-time high of $7,721 set Wednesday to a low of $5,617 per coin on Sunday, according to data from cryptocurrency watcher CoinDesk.
• Bitcoin cash, on the other hand, propelled to a record-high of $2,500 early Sunday morning.
• Trading volumes on Sunday peaked at over $26 billion, according to cryptocurrency data siteCoinMarketCap.com.
• That's higher than the 5-day average trading volume for some US equity exchanges.
Bitcoin, the red-hot digital currency, had a wild weekend and that appears to have translated into record-breaking trading volumes across the cryptocurrency market.
Bitcoin crashed more than 25% from Wednesday's all-time high to a low of $5,617 Sunday. Bitcoin cash, the rival clone of bitcoin, witnessed an impressive rally that propelled the coin to a record-high of $2,500 early Sunday morning.
The 24-hour trading volumes for cryptocurrencies reached a record high above $26 billion on Sunday, according to data siteCoinMarketCap.com.
To put that in perspective, that is higher than the 5-day average trading volumes for two US stock exchanges. Both IEX, the upstart exchange based in New York, and the Chicago Stock Exchange averaged less than $10 billion in trading each day for the last five days, according to data byCboe Global Markets.
IEX saw $7.8 billion worth of shares exchange on its venue, whereas CHX witness $3.1 billion in trading volumes.
New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, on the other hand, saw more than $50 billion worth of shares exchange daily on average over the last 5 trading days.
Still, the record cryptocurrency volumes over the weekend indicate the growing interest in the red-hot market, which until very recently has rarely witnessed daily trading volumes over $10 billion.
In an October 16 note to clients, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said cryptocurrencies presenta $1.6 billion opportunity for Wall Street. The figure was based on the assumption that cryptocurrency volumes end up at about 10% of current fiat currency trading volumes. Here's the bank:
"The FX market is highly liquid. For example, spot FX volumes were $1.65tr as of the most recent BIT Triennial survey in April 2016. If these volumes were to materialize, with the same relationship between spot market and futures, and the same revenue per contract, the revenue pool would be about $1.6bn."
Already, exchange giants Cboe and CME are looking to capitalize on the nascent space. They have both announced they are preparing tolaunch bitcoin futures products in the near term.
Higher volumes, according to Bank of America, could help legitimize cryptocurrencies across Wall Street, which still remains widely skeptical of their credibility.
BAMLMany top Wall Streeters have derided bitcoin, for instance, as a vehicle used mainly by criminals.
In an interview with Bloomberg News, Larry Fink, the head of the largest investor in the world, BlackRock said the explosive growth of bitcoin points to "how much money laundering is being done in the world."
And JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon once said bitcoin was only useful for murderers and drug dealers.
NOW WATCH:Here are your chances of winning at popular casino games
See Also:
• Bitcoin is climbing
• A small band of trading specialists are taking calls about $50 million bitcoin deals
• Economist Nouriel Roubini says Bitcoin is a 'gigantic speculative bubble' — here's how he thinks the crypto-craze will finally end || Stock market outlook, November 13: American small business and one of its biggest material suppliers will be in focus on Tuesday. Earnings out of Home Depot ( HD ) will serve as a corporate highlight with the home-improvement retailer expected to report earnings per share of $1.82 on revenue of $24.5 billion with same-store sales expected to rise 5.7%, according to data from Bloomberg. TJ Maxx parent company TJX ( TJX ) is also set to report earnings on Tuesday. Home Depot earnings will be a major highlight on Tuesday. The main economic highlight will be the NFIBs latest reading on small business optimism, which has been one of the strongest economic readings since President Donald Trumps surprise election win last November. Investors will also keep an eye on shares of Buffalo Wild Wings ( BWLD ) on Tuesday as the stock was trading higher by 28% in after hours action on Monday after The Wall Street Journal reported that private equity firm Roark Capital made a bid to buy the company for over $150 per share, or more than $2.3 billion. Buffalo Wild Wings shares closed at $117.25 on Monday. Blockbuster earnings for FAAMG One of the markets predominant themes this year has been the performance of big-cap tech companies. Since CNBCs Jim Cramer coined the moniker for the FANG stocks Facebook ( FB ), Amazon ( AMZN ), Netflix ( NFLX ), and Alphabet ( GOOGL ) back in 2015, these tech giants have been market leaders and the subject of investor fascination bordering on obsession. In 2017, these stocks have accounted for about a quarter of the S&Ps overall advance (the same percentage as these stocks have accounted for over the last three years). The FANG names have accounted for about a quarter of the S&P 500s gains this year. (Source: Bespoke Investment Group) Earlier this year, we noted that analysts at Goldman Sachs ( GS ) had re-branded the FANG stocks as the FAAMG stocks, swapping in Apple ( AAPL ) and Microsoft ( MSFT ), with these companies having between them over $3 trillion in market cap. With each of these companies having reported third quarter earnings, Goldmans David Kostin and the equity strategy team looked at the actual results these companies have turned in. And the results should, perhaps, calm investors who see the market as being overly invested in just a few big tech names. Kostin and his team note that the S&P 500s information technology sector, which houses all of the FAAMG names but Amazon (which is classified as a consumer discretionary stock), has contributed to almost 90% of the indexs overall earnings beats relative to consensus expectations. And the four-largest tech stocks Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Facebook accounted for 50% of this beat. In other words, good earnings have been all about tech names, and good tech earnings have been powered by these giants. Story continues Add in Amazon, and the FAAMG stocks have seen sales growth of 21% in the third quarter, the best year-on-year growth rate since the first quarter of 2012. And considering where each of these companies is in its life-cycle really only Facebook is anything like its developmental years this kind of sales growth indicates that as a whole, this groups performance is at a collective all-time high. Sales growth among the FAAMG stocks Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google is at a more than six-year high. (Source: Goldman Sachs) Goldman notes that recent conversations with clients have, focused on the sustainability of sales growth, the potential for government regulation, and valuations given the stocks 45% YTD rally. Investors, in short, are worried that something will go wrong in markets if something goes wrong with the FAAMNG stocks. Kostin notes that these stocks current trade at an enterprise value-to-sales ratio that is double that of the S&P at large, which is in-line with the 10-year average. Which means, basically, these names are about as richly valued relative to the rest of the market as theyve been over the last decade. So talking about FANG or FAAMG might seem like a gimmick, and it may seem that investors are getting themselves too worked up about just a few stocks. And this may be true. But that obsession, at least right now, does not appear to be leading to valuations outside of recent historical norms. Myles Udland is a writer at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @MylesUdland Read more from Myles here: Foreign investors might be the key to forecasting a U.S. recession Its been 17 years since U.S. consumers felt this good about the economy TOM LEE: Bitcoin is an important asset for investors to own Wall Street cant stop talking about Bitcoin Warren Buffett likes the stock market because of the bond market Americas shortage of workers is about to get much worse View comments || Home Depot and small business — What you need to know on Tuesday: American small business and one of its biggest material suppliers will be in focus on Tuesday.
Earnings out of Home Depot (HD) will serve as a corporate highlight with the home-improvement retailer expected to report earnings per share of $1.82 on revenue of $24.5 billion with same-store sales expected to rise 5.7%, according to data from Bloomberg.
TJ Maxx parent company TJX (TJX) is also set to report earnings on Tuesday.
The main economic highlight will be the NFIB’s latest reading on small business optimism, which has been one of the strongest economic readings since President Donald Trump’s surprise election win last November.
Investors will also keep an eye on shares of Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD) on Tuesday as the stock was trading higher by 28% in after hours action on Mondayafter The Wall Street Journal reportedthat private equity firm Roark Capital made a bid to buy the company for over $150 per share, or more than $2.3 billion.
Buffalo Wild Wings shares closed at $117.25 on Monday.
One of the market’s predominant themes this yearhas been the performanceof big-cap tech companies.
Since CNBC’s Jim Cramer coined the moniker for the FANG stocks — Facebook (FB), Amazon (AMZN), Netflix (NFLX), and Alphabet (GOOGL) — back in 2015, these tech giants have been market leaders and the subject of investor fascination bordering on obsession.
In 2017, these stocks have accounted for about a quarter of the S&P’s overall advance (the same percentage as these stocks have accounted for over the last three years).
Earlier this year,we notedthat analysts at Goldman Sachs (GS) had re-branded the FANG stocks as the FAAMG stocks, swapping in Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT), with these companies having between them over $3 trillion in market cap.
With each of these companies having reported third quarter earnings, Goldman’s David Kostin and the equity strategy team looked at the actual results these companies have turned in. And the results should, perhaps, calm investors who see the market as being overly invested in just a few big tech names.
Kostin and his team note that the S&P 500’s information technology sector, which houses all of the FAAMG names but Amazon (which is classified as a consumer discretionary stock), has contributed to almost 90% of the index’s overall earnings beats relative to consensus expectations. And the four-largest tech stocks — Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Facebook — accounted for 50% of this beat. In other words, good earnings have been all about tech names, and good tech earnings have been powered by these giants.
Add in Amazon, and the FAAMG stocks have seen sales growth of 21% in the third quarter, the best year-on-year growth rate since the first quarter of 2012. And considering where each of these companies is in its life-cycle — really only Facebook is anything like its developmental years — this kind of sales growth indicates that as a whole, this group’s performance is at a collective all-time high.
Goldman notes that recent conversations with clients have, “focused on the sustainability of sales growth, the potential for government regulation, and valuations given the stocks’ 45% YTD rally.” Investors, in short, are worried that something will go wrong in markets if something goes wrong with the FAAMNG stocks.
Kostin notes that these stocks current trade at an enterprise value-to-sales ratio that is double that of the S&P at large, which is in-line with the 10-year average. Which means, basically, these names are about as richly valued relative to the rest of the market as they’ve been over the last decade.
So talking about FANG or FAAMG might seem like a gimmick, and it may seem that investors are getting themselves too worked up about just a few stocks. And this may be true. But that obsession, at least right now, does not appear to be leading to valuations outside of recent historical norms.
—
Myles Udland is a writer at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter@MylesUdland
Read more from Myles here:
• Foreign investors might be the key to forecasting a U.S. recession
• It’s been 17 years since U.S. consumers felt this good about the economy
• TOM LEE: Bitcoin is an important asset for investors to own
• Wall Street can’t stop talking about Bitcoin
• Warren Buffett likes the stock market because of the bond market
• America’s shortage of workers is about to get ‘much worse’ || BlackRock's Fink says bitcoin thrives on its anonymity: By Jennifer Ablan and Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin, whose value has fluctuated significantly this month, remains a "speculative" investment that thrives because of the cryptocurrency's anonymous nature, BlackRock Inc <BLK.N> Chief Executive Larry Fink said on Monday. "The reason why it does so well is it is anonymous. It's anonymous, and it's cross-border," Fink, whose firm oversees nearly $6 trillion of assets, said at the Reuters Global Investment 2018 Outlook Summit. "If you legitimize it, you know who your counterparties are...the question is how many people will use it if you have to acknowledge you are a buyer or a seller." Fink called bitcoin a "very speculative instrument. More importantly, it is an instrument that people use for money laundering." The value of bitcoin plunged as much as 29 percent from its Nov. 8 record high of $7,888 following the cancellation of a planned technology upgrade and amid persistent concern of a bubble. Bitcoin recouped some of its losses on Monday. Investors who have held bitcoin for the long term have fared well. Even after the recent drop, its value has increased more than sixfold this year. Investors who held on longer have been rewarded even more: in 2011, bitcoin traded at below $3. Fink, however, said most investors with long-term horizons, and who are keeping "record amounts" on the sidelines, should be focused on traditional assets such as stocks and bonds. He said that for a 30-year-old person, "100 percent equities is the right investment strategy," at a time when the world's economies are enjoying "synchronized growth" for the first time since the financial crisis. Bitcoin "is tiny in the scheme of financial markets," Fink said. Overall, "there's too much focus on bitcoin," Fink said. "I don't know why it has so much fascination for the press." Follow Reuters Summits on Twitter @Reuters_Summits For other news from Reuters Global Investment 2018 Outlook Summit, click http://www.reuters.com/summit/investment18 (Reporting by Jennifer Ablan and Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Andrea Ricci) View comments
[Social Media Buzz]
1 BTC Price: BTC-e USD Bitstamp 7252.87 USD Coinbase 7270.00 USD #btc #bitcoin 2017-11-15 16:30 pic.twitter.com/S6VemBG0OG || 1hr Report : 12:00:53 UTC Top 10 Mentions
$BTC, $BCH, $ETH, $LTC, $NEO, $XRP, $ETC, $DASH, $ZEC, $LSKpic.twitter.com/h07dUJimYd || Current #bitcoin rate on #Coinsecure is INR 4,96,800.00 vs #coindesk rate of INR 4,74,496.3017 #bitcoinIndia #IndiaTracker #buyBitcoin #BTC || El valor actual del Bitcoin es de 6988.00$ https://goo.gl/zym7vL || BTC/USD: US$ 6.809,00 ▲ 3.03% ...
|
7871.69, 7708.99, 7790.15, 8036.49, 8200.64, 8071.26, 8253.55, 8038.77, 8253.69, 8790.92
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 5337.89, 5314.53, 5399.37, 5572.36, 5464.87, 5210.52, 5279.35, 5268.29, 5285.14, 5247.35, 5350.73, 5402.70, 5505.28, 5768.29, 5831.17, 5795.71, 5746.81, 5829.50, 5982.46, 6174.53, 6378.85, 7204.77, 6972.37, 7814.92, 7994.42, 8205.17, 7884.91, 7343.90, 7271.21, 8197.69, 7978.31, 7963.33, 7680.07, 7881.85, 7987.37, 8052.54, 8673.22, 8805.78, 8719.96, 8659.49, 8319.47, 8574.50, 8564.02, 8742.96, 8209.00, 7707.77, 7824.23, 7822.02, 8043.95, 7954.13, 7688.08, 8000.33, 7927.71, 8145.86, 8230.92, 8693.83, 8838.38, 8994.49, 9320.35, 9081.76, 9273.52, 9527.16, 10144.56, 10701.69, 10855.37, 11011.10, 11790.92, 13016.23, 11182.81, 12407.33, 11959.37, 10817.16, 10583.13, 10801.68, 11961.27, 11215.44, 10978.46, 11208.55, 11450.85, 12285.96, 12573.81, 12156.51, 11358.66, 11815.99, 11392.38, 10256.06, 10895.09, 9477.64, 9693.80, 10666.48.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2019-07-18]
Volume: 25187024648, RSI (14-day): 49.54, 50-day EMA: 10057.20, 200-day EMA: 7296.84
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1426.10, Gold RSI: 68.62
Oil Price: 55.30, Oil RSI: 40.91
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Sexual Misconduct Allegations Emerge Against Bitcoin Coder Peter Todd: The Takeaway:
• Former Bitcoin Core developer Peter Todd filed a defamation suit in April demanding the deletion of a tweet that accused him of sexual misconduct. In response, three people submitted statements to the court this week accusing Todd of such misconduct.
• One alleged victim, “Jane Doe,” stated she stopped contributing to bitcoin projects in order to avoid Todd.
• The incident is shaping up to be a first-of-its-kind in the bitcoin community, a public incident that could force conference providers and projects to be more active in responding to allegations of misconduct.
• Several conferences have received complaints about Todd, citing such allegations of sexual misconduct.
Publicly filed court documents have now revealed specific allegations of sexual misconduct involving former Bitcoin Core developer Peter Todd.
Todd sued transgender cryptographerIsis Agora Lovecruftfor defamation in a California court inApril, demanding they delete atweetcalling Todd a “rapist.” This week, Lovecruft moved to dismiss the complaint, and both Lovecruft and zcash co-founder Zooko Wilcox filed declarations in court describing Todd’s alleged behavior.
Related:LibertyX Surpasses 1,000 Bitcoin ATMs Across the US
In theirdeclaration, Lovecruft accused Todd of sexual harassment, including unwelcome and violent sexual statements during consulting work on a bitcoin project. According to Lovecruft’s filed declaration, Todd told Lovecruft in a San Francisco cafe, “I’m going to shove my cock in you so hard and beat you until you beg for more.”
Lovecruft also stated in their court filing that Todd grabbed their arm when his advances were rejected. Lovecruft’s declaration also included private Twitter messages with a third party describing Todd’s unwanted sexual advances, as well as private Signal messages from a woman who claimed Todd raped her, identified as Jane Doe.
Wilcox’scourt declaration(a copy of which he also published in aMedium blog poston Tuesday) detailed his experiences with Todd. (It should be noted that Todd has been particularlyoutspokenin his criticism of the zcash project, which Wilcox spearheads.) Dating back to 2012, Todd is one of thetop 25contributors to the Bitcoin Core code repository and remains an influential figure in the space.
In the court statement, Wilcox said one female friend asked him for help avoiding Todd’s unwelcome advances, and another female friend described being “pressured into sex” by Todd. According to their declaration, Lovecruft was referring to the second victim (called “Jane Doe” in the court filings) in the Feb. 20 tweet at issue in this case.
Related:Bitcoin Bounce Capped by $10K Price Resistance
Wilcox said in his court statement that Jane Doe told him “Mr. Todd had pressured her into sex while she was in a mentally compromised state due to a medical condition.”
In an interview with CoinDesk, Jane Doe said the incident drove her to stop participating in bitcoin projects.
“There are other areas of computer science, I just don’t want to see him ever again,” she said. “I just want him to leave me alone. And there’s no way to know that for sure. I’m past worrying about the broader crypto community. I just want to live my life. … The only thing I could think about in the days afterward is worrying that he’d contact me or retaliate.”
CoinDesk has reached out to Todd’s legal representation and will update the article if we hear back. Todd’s complaint denies that he has raped or sexually assaulted Lovecruft “or anybody else.”
CoinDesk has spoken with the two alleged victims mentioned by both Wilcox and Lovecruft in their court filings. During an interview with CoinDesk, Jane Doe described Todd’s alleged coercive sexual activity in explicit detail which was consistent with the court filings.
Doe said there were no third-party witnesses to the alleged assault.
The incidents described by both women took place within the bitcoin community, at professional events or in private meetings arranged to discuss topics related to computer science. Both women described their experiences as traumatic.
Doe expressed concerns about Todd’s “power” to influence the broader crypto community. Todd has long been one of the most active contributors to theBitcoin Coreproject and was also involved in the launch of zcash in 2016.
In interviews with CoinDesk, the alleged victims said the incidents impacted their ability to engage in public forums, both online and in-person, related to cryptocurrency development.
The alleged victim referred to in Wilcox’s declaration as “my friend” told CoinDesk she was told by a prospective business partner that people were reluctant to work with her because they were now “unsure about her character.” (She eventually got a job working with this business partner.)
Lovecruft’s declaration describes a theme that is common in allegations of workplace-related harassment or assault: Speaking up can lead to retaliation against the accuser.
A report from theU.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commissioncited a 2003 study finding that 75 percent of workers who spoke out against mistreatment “faced some form of retaliation.”
CoinDesk interviewed several other individuals who alleged they were subjected to sexual assault or harassment, not involving Todd, in various contexts related to their work in the blockchain industry. They all told CoinDesk they did not speak out publicly because they feared ostracism from the community.
Some who tried to speak up within the group ended up having to leave the projects they were contributing to. Several of the sources, including one of the alleged victims mentioned in the Todd court documents, told CoinDesk their private testimonies of misconduct were either dismissed or led to retaliation.
Given the open-source ethos of the bitcoin community, alleged victims said, requests for help led nowhere because no one was systematically responsible for such misconduct.
Todd has also faced backlash, but perhaps in a milder form. An anonymous complaint was submitted to the MIT Bitcoin Expo in March for allowing Todd to speak, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. (Todd went on to speak at the MIT event.)
The source also said Todd did not speak at the Monero Konferenco in June because of allegations of sexual misconduct.
Peter Todd image via CoinDesk archives
• The Case $7.5K Could Become Bitcoin’s New Price Support
• Bitcoin Price Looks South After Second-Largest 24-Hour Drop of 2019 || Sexual Misconduct Allegations Emerge Against Bitcoin Coder Peter Todd: The Takeaway:
• Former Bitcoin Core developer Peter Todd filed a defamation suit in April demanding the deletion of a tweet that accused him of sexual misconduct. In response, three people submitted statements to the court this week accusing Todd of such misconduct.
• One alleged victim, “Jane Doe,” stated she stopped contributing to bitcoin projects in order to avoid Todd.
• The incident is shaping up to be a first-of-its-kind in the bitcoin community, a public incident that could force conference providers and projects to be more active in responding to allegations of misconduct.
• Several conferences have received complaints about Todd, citing such allegations of sexual misconduct.
Publicly filed court documents have now revealed specific allegations of sexual misconduct involving former Bitcoin Core developer Peter Todd.
Todd sued transgender cryptographerIsis Agora Lovecruftfor defamation in a California court inApril, demanding they delete atweetcalling Todd a “rapist.” This week, Lovecruft moved to dismiss the complaint, and both Lovecruft and zcash co-founder Zooko Wilcox filed declarations in court describing Todd’s alleged behavior.
Related:LibertyX Surpasses 1,000 Bitcoin ATMs Across the US
In theirdeclaration, Lovecruft accused Todd of sexual harassment, including unwelcome and violent sexual statements during consulting work on a bitcoin project. According to Lovecruft’s filed declaration, Todd told Lovecruft in a San Francisco cafe, “I’m going to shove my cock in you so hard and beat you until you beg for more.”
Lovecruft also stated in their court filing that Todd grabbed their arm when his advances were rejected. Lovecruft’s declaration also included private Twitter messages with a third party describing Todd’s unwanted sexual advances, as well as private Signal messages from a woman who claimed Todd raped her, identified as Jane Doe.
Wilcox’scourt declaration(a copy of which he also published in aMedium blog poston Tuesday) detailed his experiences with Todd. (It should be noted that Todd has been particularlyoutspokenin his criticism of the zcash project, which Wilcox spearheads.) Dating back to 2012, Todd is one of thetop 25contributors to the Bitcoin Core code repository and remains an influential figure in the space.
In the court statement, Wilcox said one female friend asked him for help avoiding Todd’s unwelcome advances, and another female friend described being “pressured into sex” by Todd. According to their declaration, Lovecruft was referring to the second victim (called “Jane Doe” in the court filings) in the Feb. 20 tweet at issue in this case.
Related:Bitcoin Bounce Capped by $10K Price Resistance
Wilcox said in his court statement that Jane Doe told him “Mr. Todd had pressured her into sex while she was in a mentally compromised state due to a medical condition.”
In an interview with CoinDesk, Jane Doe said the incident drove her to stop participating in bitcoin projects.
“There are other areas of computer science, I just don’t want to see him ever again,” she said. “I just want him to leave me alone. And there’s no way to know that for sure. I’m past worrying about the broader crypto community. I just want to live my life. … The only thing I could think about in the days afterward is worrying that he’d contact me or retaliate.”
CoinDesk has reached out to Todd’s legal representation and will update the article if we hear back. Todd’s complaint denies that he has raped or sexually assaulted Lovecruft “or anybody else.”
CoinDesk has spoken with the two alleged victims mentioned by both Wilcox and Lovecruft in their court filings. During an interview with CoinDesk, Jane Doe described Todd’s alleged coercive sexual activity in explicit detail which was consistent with the court filings.
Doe said there were no third-party witnesses to the alleged assault.
The incidents described by both women took place within the bitcoin community, at professional events or in private meetings arranged to discuss topics related to computer science. Both women described their experiences as traumatic.
Doe expressed concerns about Todd’s “power” to influence the broader crypto community. Todd has long been one of the most active contributors to theBitcoin Coreproject and was also involved in the launch of zcash in 2016.
In interviews with CoinDesk, the alleged victims said the incidents impacted their ability to engage in public forums, both online and in-person, related to cryptocurrency development.
The alleged victim referred to in Wilcox’s declaration as “my friend” told CoinDesk she was told by a prospective business partner that people were reluctant to work with her because they were now “unsure about her character.” (She eventually got a job working with this business partner.)
Lovecruft’s declaration describes a theme that is common in allegations of workplace-related harassment or assault: Speaking up can lead to retaliation against the accuser.
A report from theU.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commissioncited a 2003 study finding that 75 percent of workers who spoke out against mistreatment “faced some form of retaliation.”
CoinDesk interviewed several other individuals who alleged they were subjected to sexual assault or harassment, not involving Todd, in various contexts related to their work in the blockchain industry. They all told CoinDesk they did not speak out publicly because they feared ostracism from the community.
Some who tried to speak up within the group ended up having to leave the projects they were contributing to. Several of the sources, including one of the alleged victims mentioned in the Todd court documents, told CoinDesk their private testimonies of misconduct were either dismissed or led to retaliation.
Given the open-source ethos of the bitcoin community, alleged victims said, requests for help led nowhere because no one was systematically responsible for such misconduct.
Todd has also faced backlash, but perhaps in a milder form. An anonymous complaint was submitted to the MIT Bitcoin Expo in March for allowing Todd to speak, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. (Todd went on to speak at the MIT event.)
The source also said Todd did not speak at the Monero Konferenco in June because of allegations of sexual misconduct.
Peter Todd image via CoinDesk archives
• The Case $7.5K Could Become Bitcoin’s New Price Support
• Bitcoin Price Looks South After Second-Largest 24-Hour Drop of 2019 || Sexual Misconduct Allegations Emerge Against Bitcoin Coder Peter Todd: The Takeaway: Former Bitcoin Core developer Peter Todd filed a defamation suit in April demanding the deletion of a tweet that accused him of sexual misconduct. In response, three people submitted statements to the court this week accusing Todd of such misconduct. One alleged victim, “Jane Doe,” stated she stopped contributing to bitcoin projects in order to avoid Todd. The incident is shaping up to be a first-of-its-kind in the bitcoin community, a public incident that could force conference providers and projects to be more active in responding to allegations of misconduct. Several conferences have received complaints about Todd, citing such allegations of sexual misconduct. Publicly filed court documents have now revealed specific allegations of sexual misconduct involving former Bitcoin Core developer Peter Todd. Todd sued transgender cryptographer Isis Agora Lovecruft for defamation in a California court in April , demanding they delete a tweet calling Todd a “rapist.” This week, Lovecruft moved to dismiss the complaint, and both Lovecruft and zcash co-founder Zooko Wilcox filed declarations in court describing Todd’s alleged behavior. Related: LibertyX Surpasses 1,000 Bitcoin ATMs Across the US In their declaration , Lovecruft accused Todd of sexual harassment, including unwelcome and violent sexual statements during consulting work on a bitcoin project. According to Lovecruft’s filed declaration, Todd told Lovecruft in a San Francisco cafe, “I’m going to shove my cock in you so hard and beat you until you beg for more.” Lovecruft also stated in their court filing that Todd grabbed their arm when his advances were rejected. Lovecruft’s declaration also included private Twitter messages with a third party describing Todd’s unwanted sexual advances, as well as private Signal messages from a woman who claimed Todd raped her, identified as Jane Doe. Wilcox’s court declaration (a copy of which he also published in a Medium blog post on Tuesday) detailed his experiences with Todd. (It should be noted that Todd has been particularly outspoken in his criticism of the zcash project, which Wilcox spearheads.) Dating back to 2012, Todd is one of the top 25 contributors to the Bitcoin Core code repository and remains an influential figure in the space. Story continues In the court statement, Wilcox said one female friend asked him for help avoiding Todd’s unwelcome advances, and another female friend described being “pressured into sex” by Todd. According to their declaration, Lovecruft was referring to the second victim (called “Jane Doe” in the court filings) in the Feb. 20 tweet at issue in this case. Related: Bitcoin Bounce Capped by $10K Price Resistance Wilcox said in his court statement that Jane Doe told him “Mr. Todd had pressured her into sex while she was in a mentally compromised state due to a medical condition.” In an interview with CoinDesk, Jane Doe said the incident drove her to stop participating in bitcoin projects. “There are other areas of computer science, I just don’t want to see him ever again,” she said. “I just want him to leave me alone. And there’s no way to know that for sure. I’m past worrying about the broader crypto community. I just want to live my life. … The only thing I could think about in the days afterward is worrying that he’d contact me or retaliate.” CoinDesk has reached out to Todd’s legal representation and will update the article if we hear back. Todd’s complaint denies that he has raped or sexually assaulted Lovecruft “or anybody else.” Repercussions CoinDesk has spoken with the two alleged victims mentioned by both Wilcox and Lovecruft in their court filings. During an interview with CoinDesk, Jane Doe described Todd’s alleged coercive sexual activity in explicit detail which was consistent with the court filings. Doe said there were no third-party witnesses to the alleged assault. The incidents described by both women took place within the bitcoin community, at professional events or in private meetings arranged to discuss topics related to computer science. Both women described their experiences as traumatic. Doe expressed concerns about Todd’s “power” to influence the broader crypto community. Todd has long been one of the most active contributors to the Bitcoin Core project and was also involved in the launch of zcash in 2016. In interviews with CoinDesk, the alleged victims said the incidents impacted their ability to engage in public forums, both online and in-person, related to cryptocurrency development. The alleged victim referred to in Wilcox’s declaration as “my friend” told CoinDesk she was told by a prospective business partner that people were reluctant to work with her because they were now “unsure about her character.” (She eventually got a job working with this business partner.) Not alone Lovecruft’s declaration describes a theme that is common in allegations of workplace-related harassment or assault: Speaking up can lead to retaliation against the accuser. A report from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission cited a 2003 study finding that 75 percent of workers who spoke out against mistreatment “faced some form of retaliation.” CoinDesk interviewed several other individuals who alleged they were subjected to sexual assault or harassment, not involving Todd, in various contexts related to their work in the blockchain industry. They all told CoinDesk they did not speak out publicly because they feared ostracism from the community. Some who tried to speak up within the group ended up having to leave the projects they were contributing to. Several of the sources, including one of the alleged victims mentioned in the Todd court documents, told CoinDesk their private testimonies of misconduct were either dismissed or led to retaliation. Given the open-source ethos of the bitcoin community, alleged victims said, requests for help led nowhere because no one was systematically responsible for such misconduct. Todd has also faced backlash, but perhaps in a milder form. An anonymous complaint was submitted to the MIT Bitcoin Expo in March for allowing Todd to speak, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. (Todd went on to speak at the MIT event.) The source also said Todd did not speak at the Monero Konferenco in June because of allegations of sexual misconduct. Peter Todd image via CoinDesk archives Related Stories The Case $7.5K Could Become Bitcoin’s New Price Support Bitcoin Price Looks South After Second-Largest 24-Hour Drop of 2019 || Swiss Crypto Broker Bitcoin Suisse Applies for Banking and Securities Licenses: Bitcoin Suisse, a crypto-broker and pioneer of Switzerland’s “Crypto Valley,” has taken anticipatory steps to comply with a “maturing” regulatory environment.
The firmannouncedon Tuesday that it has applied for a banking license with Swiss Financial Markets Supervision Authority (FINMA), as well as a security dealer’s license, mandated by the Stock Exchange and Securities Trading Act (SESTA). In the past, financial authorities at the SwissFederal Councilsaid blockchain and distributed ledger technology will be governed by existing regulatory schemes.
However, a Suisse company representative said:
Related:Think Tank Pushes for Creation of a National Cryptocurrency in Switzerland
In the announcement, the company said these preemptive licenses will expand the number of regulated services and products it can offer as “more and more crypto assets and services fall under securities and banking law.” At the moment, the company representative denied comment on specific assets, but offered, “A securities dealer license would enable us to trade crypto tokens that have been classified as securities by the financial regulator. This would include our own stable coin, the Swiss Crypto Franc.”
In May, SIX, the Swiss national stock exchange group announced it was developing theCHF Stable Coinpegged to the Swiss franc – to automate processes and potentially tokenize assets on the SIX Digital Exchange.
As part of Swiss banking guidelines, the company announced it has deposited CHF45 million – an equivalent amount in USD – as collateral for a default bank guarantee. It plans to increase this reserve by CHF10 million, past the mandatory limit. These holdings will help secure clients’ fiat and pooled crypto deposits.
Related:Swiss Watchmaker Franck Muller Launches ‘Functional’ Bitcoin Timepiece
This is not to say Swiss regulations are overly burdensome. “The regulatory industry in Switzerland is very crypto-friendly. The Federal Council as well as the FINMA are pursuing a very constructive approach that fosters innovation in the long-term,” a company representative said
Indeed, these applications come after the firm already extended its list of tradable assets to 125 cryptocurrencies, enabling more than 6,000 trading pairs, as well as the firm’s entrance into the collateralized lending and credit markets for institutional clients last year. Its expanded footprint also includes the firm’s subsidiary Swiss Crypto Vault AG which provides custodial crypto storage for businesses. As of June, the vault oversees $1 billion in assets.
Founded in 2013 as a brokerage, the firm has expanded to include prime brokerage, trading, storage, and lending services.
According to the announcement, Suisse’s net income this past year reached CHF25 million, from revenues of CHF44 million. It has also added 90 experts to its staff and expanded offices to Zug, Copenhagen and Vaduz.
Swiss army knifephoto via Shutterstock
• Switzerland’s SIX Stock Exchange Is Working on a Swiss Franc Stablecoin
• Russia’s Central Depository to Launch Security Token Blockchain Next Month || Swiss Crypto Broker Bitcoin Suisse Applies for Banking and Securities Licenses: Bitcoin Suisse, a crypto-broker and pioneer of Switzerland’s “Crypto Valley,” has taken anticipatory steps to comply with a “maturing” regulatory environment.
The firmannouncedon Tuesday that it has applied for a banking license with Swiss Financial Markets Supervision Authority (FINMA), as well as a security dealer’s license, mandated by the Stock Exchange and Securities Trading Act (SESTA). In the past, financial authorities at the SwissFederal Councilsaid blockchain and distributed ledger technology will be governed by existing regulatory schemes.
However, a Suisse company representative said:
Related:Think Tank Pushes for Creation of a National Cryptocurrency in Switzerland
In the announcement, the company said these preemptive licenses will expand the number of regulated services and products it can offer as “more and more crypto assets and services fall under securities and banking law.” At the moment, the company representative denied comment on specific assets, but offered, “A securities dealer license would enable us to trade crypto tokens that have been classified as securities by the financial regulator. This would include our own stable coin, the Swiss Crypto Franc.”
In May, SIX, the Swiss national stock exchange group announced it was developing theCHF Stable Coinpegged to the Swiss franc – to automate processes and potentially tokenize assets on the SIX Digital Exchange.
As part of Swiss banking guidelines, the company announced it has deposited CHF45 million – an equivalent amount in USD – as collateral for a default bank guarantee. It plans to increase this reserve by CHF10 million, past the mandatory limit. These holdings will help secure clients’ fiat and pooled crypto deposits.
Related:Swiss Watchmaker Franck Muller Launches ‘Functional’ Bitcoin Timepiece
This is not to say Swiss regulations are overly burdensome. “The regulatory industry in Switzerland is very crypto-friendly. The Federal Council as well as the FINMA are pursuing a very constructive approach that fosters innovation in the long-term,” a company representative said
Indeed, these applications come after the firm already extended its list of tradable assets to 125 cryptocurrencies, enabling more than 6,000 trading pairs, as well as the firm’s entrance into the collateralized lending and credit markets for institutional clients last year. Its expanded footprint also includes the firm’s subsidiary Swiss Crypto Vault AG which provides custodial crypto storage for businesses. As of June, the vault oversees $1 billion in assets.
Founded in 2013 as a brokerage, the firm has expanded to include prime brokerage, trading, storage, and lending services.
According to the announcement, Suisse’s net income this past year reached CHF25 million, from revenues of CHF44 million. It has also added 90 experts to its staff and expanded offices to Zug, Copenhagen and Vaduz.
Swiss army knifephoto via Shutterstock
• Switzerland’s SIX Stock Exchange Is Working on a Swiss Franc Stablecoin
• Russia’s Central Depository to Launch Security Token Blockchain Next Month || Swiss Crypto Broker Bitcoin Suisse Applies for Banking and Securities Licenses: Bitcoin Suisse, a crypto-broker and pioneer of Switzerland’s “Crypto Valley,” has taken anticipatory steps to comply with a “maturing” regulatory environment. The firm announced on Tuesday that it has applied for a banking license with Swiss Financial Markets Supervision Authority (FINMA), as well as a security dealer’s license, mandated by the Stock Exchange and Securities Trading Act (SESTA). In the past, financial authorities at the Swiss Federal Council said blockchain and distributed ledger technology will be governed by existing regulatory schemes. However, a Suisse company representative said: Related: Think Tank Pushes for Creation of a National Cryptocurrency in Switzerland “We believe that in the long-term, more regulation will follow, as soon as the legislation catches up with the technological developments of the space. We believe that within this new regulatory environment, companies without the necessary licenses will have a limited ability to serve clients with the full spectrum of high quality, innovative crypto-financial products and solutions.” In the announcement, the company said these preemptive licenses will expand the number of regulated services and products it can offer as “more and more crypto assets and services fall under securities and banking law.” At the moment, the company representative denied comment on specific assets, but offered, “A securities dealer license would enable us to trade crypto tokens that have been classified as securities by the financial regulator. This would include our own stable coin, the Swiss Crypto Franc.” In May, SIX, the Swiss national stock exchange group announced it was developing the CHF Stable Coin pegged to the Swiss franc – to automate processes and potentially tokenize assets on the SIX Digital Exchange. As part of Swiss banking guidelines, the company announced it has deposited CHF45 million – an equivalent amount in USD – as collateral for a default bank guarantee. It plans to increase this reserve by CHF10 million, past the mandatory limit. These holdings will help secure clients’ fiat and pooled crypto deposits. Story continues Related: Swiss Watchmaker Franck Muller Launches ‘Functional’ Bitcoin Timepiece This is not to say Swiss regulations are overly burdensome. “The regulatory industry in Switzerland is very crypto-friendly. The Federal Council as well as the FINMA are pursuing a very constructive approach that fosters innovation in the long-term,” a company representative said Indeed, these applications come after the firm already extended its list of tradable assets to 125 cryptocurrencies, enabling more than 6,000 trading pairs, as well as the firm’s entrance into the collateralized lending and credit markets for institutional clients last year. Its expanded footprint also includes the firm’s subsidiary Swiss Crypto Vault AG which provides custodial crypto storage for businesses. As of June, the vault oversees $1 billion in assets. Founded in 2013 as a brokerage, the firm has expanded to include prime brokerage, trading, storage, and lending services. According to the announcement, Suisse’s net income this past year reached CHF25 million, from revenues of CHF44 million. It has also added 90 experts to its staff and expanded offices to Zug, Copenhagen and Vaduz. Swiss army knife photo via Shutterstock Related Stories Switzerland’s SIX Stock Exchange Is Working on a Swiss Franc Stablecoin Russia’s Central Depository to Launch Security Token Blockchain Next Month || Bridgewater Tycoon’s Gold Shilling Is Insanely Bullish for Bitcoin: When billionaire investor and hedge fund manager Ray Dalio speaks, people listen. After all, Dalio is the founder of Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund firm with assets under management of $160 billion. So when Dalio said thatgoldwill become a top investmentduringa “paradigm shift” in global markets, the price of the yellow metal spiked. But he probably missed the fact that gold will have competition frombitcoin.
Dalio wrote in aLinkedIn postthat too many people have invested in stocks and equities, which is why this asset class runs the risk of witnessing a drop in returns. In order to balance out their portfolio, investors will turn to assets such as gold. He wrote:
“Additionally, for reasons I will explain in the near future, most investors are underweighted in such assets, meaning that if they just wanted to have a better balanced portfolio to reduce risk, they would have more of this sort of asset. For this reason, I believe that it would be both risk-reducing and return-enhancing to consider adding gold to one’s portfolio.”
So Dalio advocates that gold is the right way to go for anyone looking to diversify their portfolio at a time when most of the world seems to be invested in equities. But this is not the only reason why Dalio believes gold will witness a surge in inflows.
According to the hedge fund veteran, global conflicts and the depreciating value of money will force a flight to safety. Gold will be the asset of choice for investors looking to store their wealth at a time when central banks are busy keeping interest rates low.
Dalio’s comments would have made a lot of sense a decade ago when bitcoin was just born. After all, gold is universally considered to be a safe-haven asset that investors buy to protect their wealth in difficult times. But bitcoin is gaining the confidence ofinstitutional investors, and there are quite a few who believe that the cryptocurrency can replace gold as a safe-haven asset.
Read the full story on CCN.com. || Bridgewater Tycoons Gold Shilling Is Insanely Bullish for Bitcoin: Billionaire hedge fund ace Ray Dalio preferes gold over bitcoin in a When billionaire investor and hedge fund manager Ray Dalio speaks, people listen. After all, Dalio is the founder of Bridgewater Associates, the worlds largest hedge fund firm with assets under management of $160 billion. So when Dalio said that gold will become a top investment during a paradigm shift in global markets, the price of the yellow metal spiked. But he probably missed the fact that gold will have competition from bitcoin . Ray Dalio says gold will be a top investment during upcoming 'paradigm shift' for global markets https://t.co/1gpoxtRjdK CNBC (@CNBC) July 17, 2019 Ray Dalio Bets on Gold but Forgets Bitcoin Dalio wrote in a LinkedIn post that too many people have invested in stocks and equities, which is why this asset class runs the risk of witnessing a drop in returns. In order to balance out their portfolio, investors will turn to assets such as gold. He wrote: Additionally, for reasons I will explain in the near future, most investors are underweighted in such assets, meaning that if they just wanted to have a better balanced portfolio to reduce risk, they would have more of this sort of asset. For this reason, I believe that it would be both risk-reducing and return-enhancing to consider adding gold to ones portfolio. So Dalio advocates that gold is the right way to go for anyone looking to diversify their portfolio at a time when most of the world seems to be invested in equities. But this is not the only reason why Dalio believes gold will witness a surge in inflows. According to the hedge fund veteran, global conflicts and the depreciating value of money will force a flight to safety. Gold will be the asset of choice for investors looking to store their wealth at a time when central banks are busy keeping interest rates low. Dalios comments would have made a lot of sense a decade ago when bitcoin was just born. After all, gold is universally considered to be a safe-haven asset that investors buy to protect their wealth in difficult times. But bitcoin is gaining the confidence of institutional investors , and there are quite a few who believe that the cryptocurrency can replace gold as a safe-haven asset. Read the full story on CCN.com . || Bridgewater Tycoon’s Gold Shilling Is Insanely Bullish for Bitcoin: When billionaire investor and hedge fund manager Ray Dalio speaks, people listen. After all, Dalio is the founder of Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund firm with assets under management of $160 billion. So when Dalio said thatgoldwill become a top investmentduringa “paradigm shift” in global markets, the price of the yellow metal spiked. But he probably missed the fact that gold will have competition frombitcoin.
Dalio wrote in aLinkedIn postthat too many people have invested in stocks and equities, which is why this asset class runs the risk of witnessing a drop in returns. In order to balance out their portfolio, investors will turn to assets such as gold. He wrote:
“Additionally, for reasons I will explain in the near future, most investors are underweighted in such assets, meaning that if they just wanted to have a better balanced portfolio to reduce risk, they would have more of this sort of asset. For this reason, I believe that it would be both risk-reducing and return-enhancing to consider adding gold to one’s portfolio.”
So Dalio advocates that gold is the right way to go for anyone looking to diversify their portfolio at a time when most of the world seems to be invested in equities. But this is not the only reason why Dalio believes gold will witness a surge in inflows.
According to the hedge fund veteran, global conflicts and the depreciating value of money will force a flight to safety. Gold will be the asset of choice for investors looking to store their wealth at a time when central banks are busy keeping interest rates low.
Dalio’s comments would have made a lot of sense a decade ago when bitcoin was just born. After all, gold is universally considered to be a safe-haven asset that investors buy to protect their wealth in difficult times. But bitcoin is gaining the confidence ofinstitutional investors, and there are quite a few who believe that the cryptocurrency can replace gold as a safe-haven asset.
Read the full story on CCN.com. || Natural Gas Price Prediction – Prices Trade Sideways, Ahead of Inventory Report: Natural gas prices edge higher but traded sideways ahead of Thursday’s inventory report from the Energy Information Administration. Expectations are for stockpiles to rise by 66 Bcf compared to last weeks actual result of 81 Bcf. Warmer than normal weather has been covering most of the east coast putting upward pressure on New York and Mid-Atlantic prices. There are no current storms in the Atlantic that have a chance of becoming a tropical cyclone. Natural gas feedstocks to US LNG plants set a record last week.
Natural gas prices traded sideways and held above support term support which is an upward sloping moving average near 2.34. Resistance is seen near the 50-day moving average at 2.43. Medium term momentum is negative as the MACD (moving average convergence divergence) index generated a crossover sell signal. This occurs at the MACD line (the 12-day moving average minus the 26-day moving average) crosses below the MACD signal line (the 9-day moving average of the MACD line). The MACD histogram is printing in the red with a downward sloping trajectory which points to lower prices. The RSI (relative strength index) is printing a reading of 43, which is in the middle of the neutral range and reflects consolidation.
Natural gas feedstock deliveries to US liquefaction facilities set a new record last week, reaching 6.3 billion cubic feet per day on July 4 and July 7, 2019. They averaged 6.1 Bcf per day for the report week the highest weekly average to date according to the EIA. Flows to the newly commissioned Cameron Train 1 and Corpus Christi Train 2 increased, indicating that both trains have ramped up feedstock deliveries to full capacity.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• Silver Price Forecast – Silver markets signal eminent pull back
• Gold And Us Stock Mid Term Election And Decade Cycles
• Forex Daily Recap – AUD/USD Aroused, Shrugging over Downbeat Part-time Data
• Bitcoin Cash – ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis – 19/07/19
• Dangerous Distortions in the Markets due to Fed Softness
• Two Fed Nominations Every Gold Investor Should Be Aware Of || Natural Gas Price Prediction – Prices Trade Sideways, Ahead of Inventory Report: Natural gas prices edge higher but traded sideways ahead of Thursday’s inventory report from the Energy Information Administration. Expectations are for stockpiles to rise by 66 Bcf compared to last weeks actual result of 81 Bcf. Warmer than normal weather has been covering most of the east coast putting upward pressure on New York and Mid-Atlantic prices. There are no current storms in the Atlantic that have a chance of becoming a tropical cyclone. Natural gas feedstocks to US LNG plants set a record last week. Technical Analysis Natural gas prices traded sideways and held above support term support which is an upward sloping moving average near 2.34. Resistance is seen near the 50-day moving average at 2.43. Medium term momentum is negative as the MACD (moving average convergence divergence) index generated a crossover sell signal. This occurs at the MACD line (the 12-day moving average minus the 26-day moving average) crosses below the MACD signal line (the 9-day moving average of the MACD line). The MACD histogram is printing in the red with a downward sloping trajectory which points to lower prices. The RSI (relative strength index) is printing a reading of 43, which is in the middle of the neutral range and reflects consolidation. Natural gas feedstock deliveries to US liquefaction facilities set a new record last week, reaching 6.3 billion cubic feet per day on July 4 and July 7, 2019. They averaged 6.1 Bcf per day for the report week the highest weekly average to date according to the EIA. Flows to the newly commissioned Cameron Train 1 and Corpus Christi Train 2 increased, indicating that both trains have ramped up feedstock deliveries to full capacity. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Silver Price Forecast – Silver markets signal eminent pull back Gold And Us Stock Mid Term Election And Decade Cycles Forex Daily Recap – AUD/USD Aroused, Shrugging over Downbeat Part-time Data Bitcoin Cash – ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis – 19/07/19 Dangerous Distortions in the Markets due to Fed Softness Two Fed Nominations Every Gold Investor Should Be Aware Of || Grayscale hits $2.7 billion in crypto assets under management: More than $2.7 billion in crypto assets was under management by Grayscale Investments in Q2 of this year, according to a Q2 investment report published on Wednesday. The firm, which is spearheaded by Digital Currency Group CEO Barry Silbert, stated that 84% of demand is comprised of institutional investors. While the 2017 bull run for crypto was driven by retail investors intoxicated by hype, this years remarkable rally seems to be much more of an institutional-driven move. This was reiterated by Grayscale, who said: This quarter, institutional investors comprised the highest percentage of total demand for Grayscale products (84%) since we began publishing this report in July 2018. 7/16/19 UPDATE: Holdings per share, net assets under management and digital assets per share for our investment products. Total AUM: $2.5 billion $BTC $BCH $ETH $ETC $ZEN $LTC $XLM $XRP $ZEC pic.twitter.com/jt9vB9Y1hS Grayscale (@GrayscaleInvest) July 16, 2019 The firm added: Grayscale assets under management (AUM) nearly tripled: Grayscale AUM grew from $926 million at the end of Q1 2019 to $2.7 billion at the end of Q2, and all ten investment vehicles included in the Grayscale family of products generated positive performance, net of fees for the first time. Story continues In line with the flailing price of Bitcoin, the amount of assets currently under management stands at around $2.5 billion. Inflows nearly doubled quarter-over-quarter, from $42.7 to $84.8 million, demonstrating that the recent rally in digital asset prices is supported by fresh investment, and despite the fact that the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust was temporarily closed to new investment throughout May and June, the report continued. For more news, guides, and cryptocurrency analysis, click here . The post Grayscale hits $2.7 billion in crypto assets under management appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Grayscale hits $2.7 billion in crypto assets under management: More than $2.7 billion in crypto assets was under management by Grayscale Investments in Q2 of this year, according to a Q2 investment report published on Wednesday. The firm, which is spearheaded by Digital Currency Group CEO Barry Silbert, stated that 84% of demand is comprised of institutional investors. While the 2017 bull run for crypto was driven by retail investors intoxicated by hype, this years remarkable rally seems to be much more of an institutional-driven move. This was reiterated by Grayscale, who said: This quarter, institutional investors comprised the highest percentage of total demand for Grayscale products (84%) since we began publishing this report in July 2018. 7/16/19 UPDATE: Holdings per share, net assets under management and digital assets per share for our investment products. Total AUM: $2.5 billion $BTC $BCH $ETH $ETC $ZEN $LTC $XLM $XRP $ZEC pic.twitter.com/jt9vB9Y1hS Grayscale (@GrayscaleInvest) July 16, 2019 The firm added: Grayscale assets under management (AUM) nearly tripled: Grayscale AUM grew from $926 million at the end of Q1 2019 to $2.7 billion at the end of Q2, and all ten investment vehicles included in the Grayscale family of products generated positive performance, net of fees for the first time. Story continues In line with the flailing price of Bitcoin, the amount of assets currently under management stands at around $2.5 billion. Inflows nearly doubled quarter-over-quarter, from $42.7 to $84.8 million, demonstrating that the recent rally in digital asset prices is supported by fresh investment, and despite the fact that the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust was temporarily closed to new investment throughout May and June, the report continued. For more news, guides, and cryptocurrency analysis, click here . The post Grayscale hits $2.7 billion in crypto assets under management appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Lawmakers Amp Up Pressure on Facebook to Halt Libra Cryptocurrency Development: U.S. lawmakers repeatedly pressed Facebook’s top blockchain executive to halt development of the Libra cryptocurrency during a contentious hearing on the project Wednesday. They didn’t get far. David Marcus, the CEO of Facebook’s subsidiary Calibra, reiterated his promise that Libra would not launch until regulators’ concerns were fully addressed. But he stopped short of committing to freezing technical work on the project, much to the chagrin of House Financial Services Committee members. Related: JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon: Facebook’s Crypto Isn’t a Short-Term Concern The committee’s chairwoman, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), had previously called for a moratorium , and it was one of the first things she brought up in the hearing, asking the Facebook executive: “Will you stop dancing around this question and commit here in this committee … to a moratorium until Congress enacts an appropriate legal framework to ensure that Libra and Calibra do what you claim it will do?” Marcus responded with roughly the same talking point he’s been using for weeks. “I agree with you that this needs to be analyzed and understood before it can be launched … and this is my commitment to you. We will take the time to get this right,” he said. Related: Watch Today’s Facebook Libra Hearing at the House Financial Services Committee Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) raised the issue during her turn to question Marcus. He started to give a similar answer to what he said earlier, but before he could finish, she cut him off. “I take that as a no,” she said. Maloney then asked Marcus if he would at least promise to do a small pilot test of Libra, involving no more than 1 million users and overseen by the Federal Reserve and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), before fully launching the currency. Again, he demurred, saying only that he would commit to working with regulators. Not that a pilot would be her preferred outcome. “I don’t think you should launch a new currency at all,” Maloney said. Story continues De-platforming concerns Like the previous day’s Senate Banking Committee hearing , Wednesday’s panel was wide-ranging, with lawmakers grilling Marcus on everything from money laundering to financial stability to whether Libra should be regulated as an exchange-traded fund (ETF) or a bank. Rep. Brad Sherman (D.-Calif.), perhaps crypto’s loudest Congressional critic, suggested that Libra was somehow more dangerous to America than 9/11. Comparatively sober colleagues wondered if the project would become “systemically important,” Beltway-speak for “too big to fail.” The Republicans on the panel were less hostile but nevertheless asked pointed questions. Rep. Sean Duffy (R.-Wis.), for example, complimented Marcus for Facebook’s innovation but asked if Libra would ban controversial speakers like Milo Yiannopoulos or Louis Farrakhan from using the platform, as Facebook has done in its flagship social network. “Personally, I believe we shouldn’t be in the business of telling people what they can do with their money,” Marcus responded, adding a caveat that such policies would be up to the governing council of the Libra Association consortium. AOC weighs in Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), the young lawmaker known for her social media savvy and socialist economic positions, brought an interesting bit of monetary history into the discussion. She suggested that the Libra currency would be a digital version of scrip , a type of private money that corporations once used to pay employees. (Coal miners and loggers, for instance, were paid in scrip they could use to buy goods at the company store.) Marcus, a former president of PayPal, said he was not familiar with the term. Ocasio-Cortez also questioned the governance of this aspiring global currency. “Were the members of the association democratically elected? Who picked them?” she asked Marcus. He replied that the membership is open, subject to certain requirements. “So we’re discussing a currency governed by private corporations,” Ocasio-Cortez went on. “Do you believe the currency is a public good? Do you believe Libra should be a public good?” Marcus answered that “it’s not up to me to decide.” Inside the basket Marcus also provided more detail than before about the makeup of the basket of fiat currencies that would back Libra. He told the lawmakers (several of whom were concerned about Libra’s threat to U.S. financial dominance) that the reserve will “mainly” be backed by the U.S. dollar. The Facebook executive later specified that it would be 50 percent dollars, with euros, British pounds and the Japanese yen also included in the collateral. Regarding Libra’s collateral, Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) seized on another historical comparison: the wildcat banks of the early 19th century, which issued their own notes purportedly redeemable for gold and often failed to deliver on their promises to pay noteholders. “How is it fundamentally different from wildcat banking?” she asked Marcus. “A very important difference is the one-to-one reserve,” he said. Porter then asked what’s to stop the Libra Association from swapping out the reserve from 50 percent greenbacks to, say, 100 Venezuelan bolivares. Marcus answered that the Libra Association would be regulated. By whom, Porter asked. Marcus said it would be an oversight group of the Group of Seven (G7) nations that he’d mentioned Libra was working with several times before. The ‘s’ word After Marcus’ testimony, expert witnesses, including former Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chairman Gary Gensler, shared their perspectives with the lawmakers. All were skeptical of the project. All five raised their hands when Rep. Nydia Margarita Velázquez Serrano (D-N.Y.) asked who agreed Facebook should hold off on launching Libra until all the concerns were resolved. As expected, Gensler argued that Libra is a security and should be regulated as such. The sole crypto native on the panel, CoinShares Chief Strategy Officer Meltem Demirors , articulated the difference between bitcoin, the original cryptocurrency, and Libra. While the former is decentralized, the latter is “highly centralized,” she noted; while bitcoin itself is an asset (albeit a digital one), Libra is backed by other assets; and whereas anyone can download the bitcoin software and run a node, the Libra Association is, for the foreseeable future, an exclusive club. “Libra is not a cryptocurrency … I want to distinguish and draw a very clear line,” Demirors said. She also likened Libra to a mutual fund with two classes of shares, referring to the fact that in addition to the publicly available Libra currency, there will be a Libra investment token, reserved for accredited buyers, that captures all the interest income from the reserve’s government securities. Finally, in a historic moment for bitcoin culture, Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) uttered the word “shitcoin,” almost certainly the first time a lawmaker has done so in the halls of Congress. Davidson asked what differentiated bitcoin from low-quality knockoffs that carry the epithet. Demirors explained that as a truly decentralized currency with distributed infrastructure, bitcoin can’t be easily and quickly changed by a single party. It wasn’t the first time the word appeared in the Congressional record, however; crypto-skeptic Nouriel Roubini had used it when testifying in October. Watch the full hearing here: Nikhilesh De and Anna Baydakova contributed reporting. Maxine Waters image via House Financial Services Committee Related Stories Ex-CFTC Advisor: Facebook’s Libra Could Be Both Security and Commodity Bitcoin Noticeably Absent From Senate Hearing on Facebook’s Libra || Lawmakers Amp Up Pressure on Facebook to Halt Libra Cryptocurrency Development: U.S. lawmakers repeatedly pressed Facebook’s top blockchain executive to halt development of the Libra cryptocurrency during a contentious hearing on the project Wednesday.
They didn’t get far.
David Marcus, the CEO of Facebook’s subsidiary Calibra, reiterated his promise that Libra would not launch until regulators’ concerns were fully addressed. But he stopped short of committing to freezing technical work on the project, much to the chagrin of House Financial Services Committee members.
Related:JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon: Facebook’s Crypto Isn’t a Short-Term Concern
The committee’s chairwoman, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), had previouslycalled for a moratorium, and it was one of the first things she brought up in the hearing, asking the Facebook executive:
“Will you stop dancing around this question and commit here in this committee … to a moratorium until Congress enacts an appropriate legal framework to ensure that Libra and Calibra do what you claim it will do?”
Marcus responded with roughly the same talking point he’s been usingfor weeks.
“I agree with you that this needs to be analyzed and understood before it can be launched … and this is my commitment to you. We will take the time to get this right,” he said.
Related:Watch Today’s Facebook Libra Hearing at the House Financial Services Committee
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) raised the issue during her turn to question Marcus. He started to give a similar answer to what he said earlier, but before he could finish, she cut him off.
“I take that as a no,” she said.
Maloney then asked Marcus if he would at least promise to do a small pilot test of Libra, involving no more than 1 million users and overseen by the Federal Reserve and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), before fully launching the currency. Again, he demurred, saying only that he would commit to working with regulators.
Not that a pilot would be her preferred outcome. “I don’t think you should launch a new currency at all,” Maloney said.
Like the previous day’sSenate Banking Committee hearing, Wednesday’s panel was wide-ranging, with lawmakers grilling Marcus on everything from money laundering to financial stability to whether Libra should be regulated as an exchange-traded fund (ETF) or a bank.
Rep. Brad Sherman (D.-Calif.), perhaps crypto’s loudest Congressional critic, suggested that Libra was somehow more dangerous to America than 9/11.
Comparatively sober colleagues wondered if the project would become “systemically important,” Beltway-speak for “too big to fail.”
The Republicans on the panel were less hostile but nevertheless asked pointed questions.
Rep. Sean Duffy (R.-Wis.), for example, complimented Marcus for Facebook’s innovation but asked if Libra would ban controversial speakers like Milo Yiannopoulos or Louis Farrakhan from using the platform, as Facebook has done in its flagship social network.
“Personally, I believe we shouldn’t be in the business of telling people what they can do with their money,” Marcus responded, adding a caveat that such policies would be up to the governing council of the Libra Association consortium.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), the young lawmaker known for her social media savvy and socialist economic positions, brought an interesting bit of monetary history into the discussion.
She suggested that the Libra currency would be a digital version ofscrip, a type of private money that corporations once used to pay employees. (Coal miners and loggers, for instance, were paid in scrip they could use to buy goods at the company store.)
Marcus, a former president of PayPal, said he was not familiar with the term.
Ocasio-Cortez also questioned the governance of this aspiring global currency.“Were the members of the association democratically elected? Who picked them?” she asked Marcus.
He replied that the membership is open, subject to certain requirements.
“So we’re discussing a currency governed by private corporations,” Ocasio-Cortez went on. “Do you believe the currency is a public good? Do you believe Libra should be a public good?”
Marcus answered that “it’s not up to me to decide.”
Marcus also provided more detail than before about the makeup of the basket of fiat currencies that would back Libra.
He told the lawmakers (several of whom were concerned about Libra’s threat to U.S. financial dominance) that the reserve will “mainly” be backed by the U.S. dollar. The Facebook executive later specified that it would be 50 percent dollars, with euros, British pounds and the Japanese yen also included in the collateral.
Regarding Libra’s collateral, Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) seized on another historical comparison: the wildcat banks of the early 19th century, which issued their own notes purportedly redeemable for gold and often failed to deliver on their promises to pay noteholders.
“How is it fundamentally different from wildcat banking?” she asked Marcus.
“A very important difference is the one-to-one reserve,” he said.
Porter then asked what’s to stop the Libra Association from swapping out the reserve from 50 percent greenbacks to, say, 100 Venezuelan bolivares.
Marcus answered that the Libra Association would be regulated. By whom, Porter asked. Marcus said it would be an oversight group of the Group of Seven (G7) nations that he’d mentioned Libra was working with several times before.
After Marcus’ testimony, expert witnesses, including former Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chairman Gary Gensler, shared their perspectives with the lawmakers. All were skeptical of the project.
All five raised their hands when Rep. Nydia Margarita Velázquez Serrano (D-N.Y.) asked who agreed Facebook should hold off on launching Libra until all the concerns were resolved. As expected, Gensler argued thatLibra is a securityand should be regulated as such.
The sole crypto native on the panel, CoinShares Chief Strategy OfficerMeltem Demirors, articulated the difference between bitcoin, the original cryptocurrency, and Libra.
While the former is decentralized, the latter is “highly centralized,” she noted; while bitcoin itself is an asset (albeit a digital one), Libra is backed by other assets; and whereas anyone can download the bitcoin software and run a node, the Libra Association is, for the foreseeable future, an exclusive club.
“Libra is not a cryptocurrency … I want to distinguish and draw a very clear line,” Demirors said.
She also likened Libra to a mutual fund with two classes of shares, referring to the fact that in addition to the publicly available Libra currency, there will be a Libra investment token, reserved for accredited buyers, that captures all the interest income from the reserve’s government securities.
Finally, in a historic moment for bitcoin culture, Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) uttered the word “shitcoin,” almost certainly the first time a lawmaker has done so in the halls of Congress.
Davidson asked what differentiated bitcoin from low-quality knockoffs that carry the epithet. Demirors explained that as a truly decentralized currency with distributed infrastructure, bitcoin can’t be easily and quickly changed by a single party.
It wasn’t the first time the word appeared in the Congressional record, however; crypto-skeptic Nouriel Roubini had used it when testifying in October.
Watch the full hearing here:
Nikhilesh DeandAnna Baydakovacontributed reporting.
Maxine Waters image via House Financial Services Committee
• Ex-CFTC Advisor: Facebook’s Libra Could Be Both Security and Commodity
• Bitcoin Noticeably Absent From Senate Hearing on Facebook’s Libra || Smaller cryptocurrencies feel pain as criticism of Facebook's Libra grows: By Tom Wilson LONDON, July 17 (Reuters) - Bitcoin hasn't been the only casualty of the backlash by the world's major economic powers against Facebook's plans for a cryptocurrency, with smaller digital coins also feeling the burn. Bitcoin has slumped around 30% from 18-month highs of nearly $14,000 touched after Facebook's move, following a growing chorus of concern among regulators and politicians from the United States to Europe at the social media giant's plans. And the so-called altcoins have fared even worse. The second-biggest coin Ethereum has slumped by nearly half. The third largest, Ripple's XRP, is down by around 40%, while Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash have slumped by 40% and 42% respectively. On Wednesday, G7 finance chiefs cast a cloud over prospects for Facebook's Libra digital coin, insisting tough regulatory problems would have to be worked out first. The Bank of Japan governor said a G7 task force looking at cryptocurrencies like Libra would likely grow to include a broader range of regulators beyond the bloc. Facebook faced in the U.S. more questioning by lawmakers after a bruising first bout on Tuesday, when senators from both parties condemned the project. Where bitcoin goes, altcoins tend to follow. Price moves for smaller coins have been closely correlated with their bigger cousin through crypto's first decade, even as altcoins seek to gain prominence among investors and real-world usage. After Facebook unveiled its Libra cryptocurrency, bitcoin soared as much as 55% in just nine days as investors bet the social media giant's gambit would herald mass adoption of cryptocurrencies. The top four altcoins also soared, climbing between 10% and 33%. "When things are going up bitcoin tends to outperform and when crypto goes down the altcoins tend to take larger losses," said Mati Greenspan, an analyst at eToro. (Reporting by Tom Wilson; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne) || Smaller cryptocurrencies feel pain as criticism of Facebook's Libra grows: By Tom Wilson LONDON, July 17 (Reuters) - Bitcoin hasn't been the only casualty of the backlash by the world's major economic powers against Facebook's plans for a cryptocurrency, with smaller digital coins also feeling the burn. Bitcoin has slumped around 30% from 18-month highs of nearly $14,000 touched after Facebook's move, following a growing chorus of concern among regulators and politicians from the United States to Europe at the social media giant's plans. And the so-called altcoins have fared even worse. The second-biggest coin Ethereum has slumped by nearly half. The third largest, Ripple's XRP, is down by around 40%, while Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash have slumped by 40% and 42% respectively. On Wednesday, G7 finance chiefs cast a cloud over prospects for Facebook's Libra digital coin, insisting tough regulatory problems would have to be worked out first. The Bank of Japan governor said a G7 task force looking at cryptocurrencies like Libra would likely grow to include a broader range of regulators beyond the bloc. Facebook faced in the U.S. more questioning by lawmakers after a bruising first bout on Tuesday, when senators from both parties condemned the project. Where bitcoin goes, altcoins tend to follow. Price moves for smaller coins have been closely correlated with their bigger cousin through crypto's first decade, even as altcoins seek to gain prominence among investors and real-world usage. After Facebook unveiled its Libra cryptocurrency, bitcoin soared as much as 55% in just nine days as investors bet the social media giant's gambit would herald mass adoption of cryptocurrencies. The top four altcoins also soared, climbing between 10% and 33%. "When things are going up bitcoin tends to outperform and when crypto goes down the altcoins tend to take larger losses," said Mati Greenspan, an analyst at eToro. (Reporting by Tom Wilson; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne) || Bitcoin finally gets an A from Weiss Ratings: Weiss Crypto Ratings an offshoot of the long-established Weiss Ratings, an investment rating agencyhas elevated bitcoin to the top slot on its crypto ratings chart. In its latest release on the best cryptos to invest in, bitcoin was given an A-, pipping Ethereum as the out and out best choice to plow your fiat into. Which is unsurprising considering bitcoins price has quintupled since Decemberwhereas Ethereums has merely doubled. But bitcoin hasnt always been the apple of Weiss eye. In January 2018, when Weiss released its first rankings, it labeled bitcoin as fair with a C+, putting it outside the top 10. This naturally sent crypto Twitter into a tizzto put it mildlywith many questioning if Weiss had an alternative motive for its grueling assessment of the father of crypto. Cardano creator and Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson went so far to say Weiss had screws loose . But how things have changed. Decrypt Guide: The future of Bitcoin The agencys explanation for bitcoins rise, according to an interview with Martin D. Weiss, founder of Weiss Ratings, was a reduction in tech roadblocks and adoption of new features including SegWit and transaction batching. Among the five measures Weiss uses to assess each currencyoverall rating, adoption, technology, investment reward, investment riskbitcoin tops four. In the technology category, however, its not even in the top 10so its not that impressed. But despite Weiss low opinion of its tech roadmap, its the one to watch. Weiss ranking of bitcoin has been climbing steeply in the last month. On June 14, Weiss moved bitcoin from a B- to a B amid its journey back above $10,000. Other coins in the top five included Ethereum, EOS, Ripple and Litecoin, which tracks roughly in line with their respective market cap. Bitcoin Cash however, the fourth largest currency by value, has slid outside the top 20 ranked coins, which we assume, is the result of all those legal issues Craig Wright keeps having. Not all publicity is good publicity, eh Craig? || Bitcoin finally gets an ‘A’ from Weiss Ratings: Weiss Crypto Ratings–an offshoot of the long-established Weiss Ratings, an investment rating agency–has elevated bitcoin to the top slot on its crypto ratings chart.
In its latest release on the best cryptos to invest in,bitcoinwas given an A-, pipping Ethereum as the out and out best choice to plow your fiat into. Which is unsurprising considering bitcoin’s price has quintupled since December–whereas Ethereum’s has merely doubled. But bitcoin hasn’t always been the apple of Weiss’ eye.
In January 2018, when Weiss released its first rankings, it labeled bitcoin as “fair” with a C+, putting it outside the top 10. This naturally sent crypto Twitter into a tizz–to put it mildly–with many questioning if Weiss had an alternative motive for its grueling assessment of the father of crypto. Cardano creator and Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson went so far to say Weiss had “screws loose.” But how things have changed.
Decrypt Guide: The future of Bitcoin
The agency’s explanation for bitcoin’s rise, according to aninterviewwith Martin D. Weiss, founder of Weiss Ratings, was a reduction in tech roadblocks and adoption of new features including SegWit and transaction batching. Among the five measures Weiss uses to assess each currency–overall rating, adoption, technology, investment reward, investment risk–bitcoin tops four. In the technology category, however, it’s not even in the top 10–so it’s not that impressed. But despite Weiss’ low opinion of its tech roadmap, it’s the one to watch.
Weiss’ ranking of bitcoin has been climbing steeply in the last month. On June 14, Weiss moved bitcoin from a B- to a B amid its journeyback above $10,000.
Other coins in the top five included Ethereum, EOS, Ripple and Litecoin, which tracks roughly in line with their respective market cap.Bitcoin Cashhowever, the fourth largest currency by value, has slid outside the top 20 ranked coins, which we assume, is the result of all thoselegal issuesCraig Wright keeps having. Not all publicity is good publicity, eh Craig? || Bitcoin finally gets an ‘A’ from Weiss Ratings: Weiss Crypto Ratings–an offshoot of the long-established Weiss Ratings, an investment rating agency–has elevated bitcoin to the top slot on its crypto ratings chart.
In its latest release on the best cryptos to invest in,bitcoinwas given an A-, pipping Ethereum as the out and out best choice to plow your fiat into. Which is unsurprising considering bitcoin’s price has quintupled since December–whereas Ethereum’s has merely doubled. But bitcoin hasn’t always been the apple of Weiss’ eye.
In January 2018, when Weiss released its first rankings, it labeled bitcoin as “fair” with a C+, putting it outside the top 10. This naturally sent crypto Twitter into a tizz–to put it mildly–with many questioning if Weiss had an alternative motive for its grueling assessment of the father of crypto. Cardano creator and Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson went so far to say Weiss had “screws loose.” But how things have changed.
Decrypt Guide: The future of Bitcoin
The agency’s explanation for bitcoin’s rise, according to aninterviewwith Martin D. Weiss, founder of Weiss Ratings, was a reduction in tech roadblocks and adoption of new features including SegWit and transaction batching. Among the five measures Weiss uses to assess each currency–overall rating, adoption, technology, investment reward, investment risk–bitcoin tops four. In the technology category, however, it’s not even in the top 10–so it’s not that impressed. But despite Weiss’ low opinion of its tech roadmap, it’s the one to watch.
Weiss’ ranking of bitcoin has been climbing steeply in the last month. On June 14, Weiss moved bitcoin from a B- to a B amid its journeyback above $10,000.
Other coins in the top five included Ethereum, EOS, Ripple and Litecoin, which tracks roughly in line with their respective market cap.Bitcoin Cashhowever, the fourth largest currency by value, has slid outside the top 20 ranked coins, which we assume, is the result of all thoselegal issuesCraig Wright keeps having. Not all publicity is good publicity, eh Craig?
[Social Media Buzz]
@blockonomi more bitcoin with margin trading :) example; I'm using barginex || Wow 😮 talk about protecting THE IVORY TOWER with blinders on. Holy Crap. || “Bitcoin is an impenetrable fortress” image and quote credit given to @StopAndDecrypt Yes it is! https://t.co/JgP8BZXS8Z || Gr8 news @uhhuhthatkate || This is Why Bitcoin Price Will Hit US 20,000 Dollars Again Soon! https://t.co/T5sbSwQcEH https://t.co/UlbBIk7Pny || Well, it should come as no surprise that a Bitcoin puzzle is unsolved since ...
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10530.73, 10767.14, 10599.11, 10343.11, 9900.77, 9811.93, 9911.84, 9870.30, 9477.68, 9552.86
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 7909.73, 7911.43, 4970.79, 5563.71, 5200.37, 5392.31, 5014.48, 5225.63, 5238.44, 6191.19, 6198.78, 6185.07, 5830.25, 6416.31, 6734.80, 6681.06, 6716.44, 6469.80, 6242.19, 5922.04, 6429.84, 6438.64, 6606.78, 6793.62, 6733.39, 6867.53, 6791.13, 7271.78, 7176.41, 7334.10, 7302.09, 6865.49, 6859.08, 6971.09, 6845.04, 6842.43, 6642.11, 7116.80, 7096.18, 7257.67, 7189.42, 6881.96, 6880.32, 7117.21, 7429.72, 7550.90, 7569.94, 7679.87, 7795.60, 7807.06, 8801.04, 8658.55, 8864.77, 8988.60, 8897.47, 8912.65, 9003.07, 9268.76, 9951.52, 9842.67, 9593.90, 8756.43, 8601.80, 8804.48, 9269.99, 9733.72, 9328.20, 9377.01, 9670.74, 9726.58, 9729.04, 9522.98, 9081.76, 9182.58, 9209.29, 8790.37, 8906.93, 8835.05, 9181.02, 9525.75, 9439.12, 9700.41, 9461.06, 10167.27, 9529.80, 9656.72, 9800.64, 9665.53, 9653.68, 9758.85.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2020-06-07]
Volume: 25015250846, RSI (14-day): 56.55, 50-day EMA: 8975.89, 200-day EMA: 8370.91
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
The Revolution Will Be Retweeted: The Breakdown Weekly Recap: What if better behavior on blockchains could be encouraged with fun rather than value?
Josh Lee and Tony Yun ofChainapsisbuilt a staking demo at theCross-Chain Hackathonto increase network participation – essentially by distributing digital crayons. Lee and Yun createdAstroCanvas, a game that gave stakers the ability to draw tiny amounts on one large digital canvas. Stakers could receive different colors to use on the canvas if they spread their stakes across staking pools of different sizes.
“When you have a very little amount of entities controlling such a big amount of stake, it fundamentally reduces the robustness of a network,” Lee told CoinDesk.
AstroCanvas is an early experiment in encouraging active participation in crypto networks. When the hackathon came around, Lee and Yun wanted to come up with a way to encourage staking in a way that didn’t rely on fiduciary interests. Engendering lots of participation thwarts a long-standing concern with staking: large nodes can becometoo powerful.
More and more ways have been invented for people to be involved in blockchain networks and earn some kind of return. There have been a plethora of companies entering the staking space, such asStakedandvarious Tezos bakers. But the biggest moment in legitimizing staking may have been when Coinbase allowed exchange users toearn staking rewards on XTZwith just one click.
Read more:Staked Automates the Best DeFi Returns With Launch of Robo Advisor
When a giant exchange like Coinbase begins participating – it is now the world’slargest XTZ staker– it’s hard to see how a standalone operation could compete. Why not just stake in the same place where the user acquires the token? That low friction is tough to beat.
Related:A Digital Art Project Might Have an Answer to the Woes of Staking Centralization
AstroCanvas is a demo and not a live project and if Chainapsis were ever to take it live, Lee and Yun would wait until the Cosmos ecosystem is further along than it is today.
“The software is still undergoing active development,” Lee said of Cosmos. “We would like to hold off until a production-ready version has been deployed to the Cosmos Hub that has gone through thorough testing and security audits.”
So how can a network like Cosmos appeal to good-faith users to spread their delegation around in a way that doesn’t incentivize scammers?
That’s where AstroCanvas comes in, by appealing to a desire for expression and competition.
The idea takes nothing away from stakers. In fact, if anything, it should drive more business their way.
AstroCanvas took its inspiration fromthe Reddit project, /r/place, in which every redditor got the right to change the color of one pixel on a giant digital canvas once every five to 20 minutes. This led to an impressive amount of coordination among Reddit communities to stake out turf on the canvas and paint some relevant symbol on what became a gigantic work of online art.
It was laterimitated by Satoshi’s Place, a similar experiment, but this time one where each pixel costs one Satoshi, or 0.00000001 bitcoin, to change.
Read more:A Real-Time Battle Over Trashy Art Is Becoming a Big Deal for Bitcoin
So the idea behind AstroCanvas is this: Users could earn one pixel for some minimum amount of stake delegated. That pixel can be placed anywhere on the canvas, even one that’s already been taken. So let’s say you got one pixel for every ATOM token delegated on Cosmos; in that scenario, delegating 20 ATOM would earn a user 20 pixels.
But here’s the trick of AstroCanvas: each delegator only produces one color. If you need a few colors for whatever you want to draw, you’ll need to spread that stake out across a bunch of different validators.
So AstroCanvas had 16 different colors to play with. It would divide the delegation pools up into 16 tranches, based on their size, and give each tranche a color. If a user wanted several colors, she would have to delegate among pools at several different sizes to get them.
If AstroCanvas goes live, this reporter will be looking to paint 1980s Domino’s Pizza iconThe Noidon the canvas. I would welcome your support.
“All these attempts to address staking always approach it is as a financial incentive scheme,” Lee said. “Fundamentally when you’re working in a blockchain, none of these mechanisms are Sybil resistant. It’s so easy to skirt some of these financial incentive schemes.”
AstroCanvas would draw on people’s aesthetic or tribal impulses. In most cases, mid-size stakers should be roughly as good as larger stakers, so the risk of delegating to smaller validators should be minimal. Their underlying assets should not be at risk, though they could risk missing out on some rewards if a smaller staker made a mistake.
Under the hood, a wallet would get a token to spend for each stake. The token could be redeemed for changing the color of one pixel.
“Essentially, if you wanted to draw something of a different color, you would have to delegate to a specific validator,” Lee explained. “It forces you to spread out your staking across different kinds of validators.”
Chainapsis ran it in demo mode on a simulated blockchain that ran on the development firm’s own servers. If the game is ever deployed in production, it remains to be seen how popular the game would be to determine specific rules. For example, would pixel tokens replenish over time as the stake was left in place? How big would the canvas be? Could the canvas grow as the game grows?
The big threat Lee sees to the health of staking protocols is exchanges and their outsize role. Exchange wallets usually hold more tokens than almost any other wallets, and yet those coins are actually held in custody for their actual owners. Yet that didn’t stop Huobi and Binance from usingtheir STEEM tokensto support a contentious hard fork at the behest of a business ally.
“I’m very careful in seeing how much power has gone into the hands of exchanges,” Lee said. “Exchanges are just the custodians of someone else’s tokens. … The people who have been working hard are not getting financially compensated.”
Read more:Why Crypto Should Care About Justin Sun’s Steem Drama
In other words, many crypto holders already trust a lot of their tokens to exchanges. If they don’t plan to sell soon and a token offers a staking reward, it’s just easiest for the user to delegate to the exchange itself in order to earn returns on their holdings.
A product like AstroCanvas would give holders an incentive to move some of those holdings off of exchanges so they can get some different colors on their palettes. The esoteric beauty of AstroCanvas is that it doesn’t need to wipe out exchange staking (or even dramatically reduce it) to make a difference. As long as it helps to make it worthwhile for others to run validators, that’s enough to keep various chains robust.
And further, it gets more people involved in holding the token of a young network in order to produce a return. With lowertoken velocity(the speed at which a token gets sold after it is earned), that should foster more value for the underlying token, which increases the incentive for people to build on the network and increase its value further still. It’s a virtuous cycle.
“I’m a firm believer that staking is the next avenue for DeFi [decentralized finance],” Lee said. “It should be considered a part of DeFi.”
• Coinbase Extends Tezos Staking Rewards to 4 European Countries
• Staking Will Turn Ethereum Into a Functional Store of Value || The Revolution Will Be Retweeted: The Breakdown Weekly Recap: What if better behavior on blockchains could be encouraged with fun rather than value? Josh Lee and Tony Yun of Chainapsis built a staking demo at the Cross-Chain Hackathon to increase network participation – essentially by distributing digital crayons. Lee and Yun created AstroCanvas , a game that gave stakers the ability to draw tiny amounts on one large digital canvas. Stakers could receive different colors to use on the canvas if they spread their stakes across staking pools of different sizes. “When you have a very little amount of entities controlling such a big amount of stake, it fundamentally reduces the robustness of a network,” Lee told CoinDesk. AstroCanvas is an early experiment in encouraging active participation in crypto networks. When the hackathon came around, Lee and Yun wanted to come up with a way to encourage staking in a way that didn’t rely on fiduciary interests. Engendering lots of participation thwarts a long-standing concern with staking: large nodes can become too powerful . More and more ways have been invented for people to be involved in blockchain networks and earn some kind of return. There have been a plethora of companies entering the staking space, such as Staked and various Tezos bakers . But the biggest moment in legitimizing staking may have been when Coinbase allowed exchange users to earn staking rewards on XTZ with just one click. Read more: Staked Automates the Best DeFi Returns With Launch of Robo Advisor When a giant exchange like Coinbase begins participating – it is now the world’s largest XTZ staker – it’s hard to see how a standalone operation could compete. Why not just stake in the same place where the user acquires the token? That low friction is tough to beat. Related: A Digital Art Project Might Have an Answer to the Woes of Staking Centralization AstroCanvas is a demo and not a live project and if Chainapsis were ever to take it live, Lee and Yun would wait until the Cosmos ecosystem is further along than it is today. Story continues “The software is still undergoing active development,” Lee said of Cosmos. “We would like to hold off until a production-ready version has been deployed to the Cosmos Hub that has gone through thorough testing and security audits.” Art mining So how can a network like Cosmos appeal to good-faith users to spread their delegation around in a way that doesn’t incentivize scammers? That’s where AstroCanvas comes in, by appealing to a desire for expression and competition. The idea takes nothing away from stakers. In fact, if anything, it should drive more business their way. AstroCanvas took its inspiration from the Reddit project, /r/place , in which every redditor got the right to change the color of one pixel on a giant digital canvas once every five to 20 minutes. This led to an impressive amount of coordination among Reddit communities to stake out turf on the canvas and paint some relevant symbol on what became a gigantic work of online art. It was later imitated by Satoshi’s Place , a similar experiment, but this time one where each pixel costs one Satoshi, or 0.00000001 bitcoin, to change. Read more: A Real-Time Battle Over Trashy Art Is Becoming a Big Deal for Bitcoin So the idea behind AstroCanvas is this: Users could earn one pixel for some minimum amount of stake delegated. That pixel can be placed anywhere on the canvas, even one that’s already been taken. So let’s say you got one pixel for every ATOM token delegated on Cosmos; in that scenario, delegating 20 ATOM would earn a user 20 pixels. But here’s the trick of AstroCanvas: each delegator only produces one color. If you need a few colors for whatever you want to draw, you’ll need to spread that stake out across a bunch of different validators. So AstroCanvas had 16 different colors to play with. It would divide the delegation pools up into 16 tranches, based on their size, and give each tranche a color. If a user wanted several colors, she would have to delegate among pools at several different sizes to get them. If AstroCanvas goes live, this reporter will be looking to paint 1980s Domino’s Pizza icon The Noid on the canvas. I would welcome your support. It’s not all about the money “All these attempts to address staking always approach it is as a financial incentive scheme,” Lee said. “Fundamentally when you’re working in a blockchain, none of these mechanisms are Sybil resistant. It’s so easy to skirt some of these financial incentive schemes.” AstroCanvas would draw on people’s aesthetic or tribal impulses. In most cases, mid-size stakers should be roughly as good as larger stakers, so the risk of delegating to smaller validators should be minimal. Their underlying assets should not be at risk, though they could risk missing out on some rewards if a smaller staker made a mistake. Under the hood, a wallet would get a token to spend for each stake. The token could be redeemed for changing the color of one pixel. “Essentially, if you wanted to draw something of a different color, you would have to delegate to a specific validator,” Lee explained. “It forces you to spread out your staking across different kinds of validators.” Chainapsis ran it in demo mode on a simulated blockchain that ran on the development firm’s own servers. If the game is ever deployed in production, it remains to be seen how popular the game would be to determine specific rules. For example, would pixel tokens replenish over time as the stake was left in place? How big would the canvas be? Could the canvas grow as the game grows? Not your keys, not your colors The big threat Lee sees to the health of staking protocols is exchanges and their outsize role. Exchange wallets usually hold more tokens than almost any other wallets, and yet those coins are actually held in custody for their actual owners. Yet that didn’t stop Huobi and Binance from using their STEEM tokens to support a contentious hard fork at the behest of a business ally. “I’m very careful in seeing how much power has gone into the hands of exchanges,” Lee said. “Exchanges are just the custodians of someone else’s tokens. … The people who have been working hard are not getting financially compensated.” Read more: Why Crypto Should Care About Justin Sun’s Steem Drama In other words, many crypto holders already trust a lot of their tokens to exchanges. If they don’t plan to sell soon and a token offers a staking reward, it’s just easiest for the user to delegate to the exchange itself in order to earn returns on their holdings. A product like AstroCanvas would give holders an incentive to move some of those holdings off of exchanges so they can get some different colors on their palettes. The esoteric beauty of AstroCanvas is that it doesn’t need to wipe out exchange staking (or even dramatically reduce it) to make a difference. As long as it helps to make it worthwhile for others to run validators, that’s enough to keep various chains robust. And further, it gets more people involved in holding the token of a young network in order to produce a return. With lower token velocity (the speed at which a token gets sold after it is earned), that should foster more value for the underlying token, which increases the incentive for people to build on the network and increase its value further still. It’s a virtuous cycle. “I’m a firm believer that staking is the next avenue for DeFi [decentralized finance],” Lee said. “It should be considered a part of DeFi.” Related Stories Coinbase Extends Tezos Staking Rewards to 4 European Countries Staking Will Turn Ethereum Into a Functional Store of Value || A Digital Art Project Might Have an Answer to the Woes of Staking Centralization: Coinbase is getting in on the government blockchain analytics game. The behemoth cryptocurrency exchange has initiated procurement deals with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for a cryptocurrency investigations tool called Coinbase Analytics, according to publicly available documents. The Block first reported on the prospective deals Friday. Coinbase Analytics has close ties with Coinbases entire product ecosystem, as its Senior Product Manager collaborates with Coinbase Consumer, Coinbase Pro, and Coinbase Custody as well as Coinbases payments and crypto division, according to an undated but now closed job posting . In an emailed statement, Coinbase said its Analytics product does not and has never used any internal customer data. Coinbase Analytics data is fully sourced from online, publicly-available data, and does not include any personally-identifiable information for anyone, regardless of whether or not they use Coinbase, a spokesperson told CoinDesk. Coinbase joins a crowded field of cryptocurrency analytics companies Chainalysis, Elliptic, CipherTrace and others vying for a piece of the federal pie. Agencies from all corners of the U.S government regularly contract with crypto intel firms, inking deals for their tracing software worth millions, and sometimes stretching years. Read more: Inside Chainalysis Multimillion-Dollar Relationship With the US Government Related: Coinbase Offers US Feds New Crypto Surveillance Tools Apparently, Coinbase, who bought blockchain intelligence firm Neutrino in February 2019, is about to undercut the competition. This is the least expensive tool on the market and has the most features for the money, read a DEA May notice so heavily redacted that those features specifics are unclear. But they are unique, as the IRS notice , published in April, notes Coinbase Analytics has enhanced law enforcement sensitive capabilities that are not currently found in other tools on the market. Story continues Coinbase confirmed that it developed the Analytics product from Neutrino. It further stated that Analytics is available for financial institutions and law enforcement agencies alike, and is used in internal investigations. Its an important tool to meet our regulatory requirements and protect our customers funds, Coinbase said. The DEAs interest appears to stem in part from Coinbase Analytics pinpoint accuracy. It has some of the most conservative heuristics used in commercial blockchain tracing tools, a critical distinction in avoiding false positives, the DEA notice read. Neither the DEA or IRS disclosed the bottom-line value of their prospective deals, which federal contract websites indicate have not been finalized yet. Both agencies seek year-long contacts with Coinbase, and the DEA deal is not more than $250,000. The IRS has recently begun ramping up its activities in the cryptocurrency space, sending tax firms notices last month requesting proposals for auditing support . UPDATE: (June 6, 2020 1:58 UTC): This article has been updated to include comment from Coinbase. Related Stories Blockchain Bites: Google Validates Theta, Coinbase and BitGo Eye Crypto Prime Brokerage Bitcoin News Roundup for May 27, 2020 || A Digital Art Project Might Have an Answer to the Woes of Staking Centralization: Coinbase is getting in on the government blockchain analytics game.
The behemoth cryptocurrency exchange has initiated procurement deals with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for a cryptocurrency investigations tool called “Coinbase Analytics,” according to publicly available documents.The Block first reportedon the prospective deals Friday.
Coinbase Analytics has close ties with Coinbase’s entire product ecosystem, as its Senior Product Manager “collaborates” with “Coinbase Consumer, Coinbase Pro, and Coinbase Custody as well as” Coinbase’s payments and crypto division, according to an undated but now closed jobposting.
In an emailed statement, Coinbase said its Analytics product does not and has never used any internal customer data.
“Coinbase Analytics data is fully sourced from online, publicly-available data, and does not include any personally-identifiable information for anyone, regardless of whether or not they use Coinbase,” a spokesperson told CoinDesk.
Coinbase joins a crowded field of cryptocurrency analytics companies – Chainalysis, Elliptic, CipherTrace and others – vying for a piece of the federal pie. Agencies from all corners of the U.S government regularly contract with crypto intel firms, inking deals for their tracing software worth millions, and sometimes stretching years.
Read more:Inside Chainalysis’ Multimillion-Dollar Relationship With the US Government
Related:Coinbase Offers US Feds New Crypto Surveillance Tools
Apparently, Coinbase, whobought blockchain intelligence firm Neutrinoin February 2019, is about to undercut the competition.
“This is the least expensive tool on the market and has the most features for the money,” read aDEA May noticeso heavily redacted that those features’ specifics are unclear. But they are unique, as theIRS notice, published in April, notes Coinbase Analytics has “enhanced law enforcement sensitive capabilities that are not currently found in other tools on the market.”
Coinbase confirmed that it developed the Analytics product from Neutrino. It further stated that Analytics is available for financial institutions and law enforcement agencies alike, and is used in internal investigations.
“It’s an important tool to meet our regulatory requirements and protect our customers’ funds,” Coinbase said.
The DEA’s interest appears to stem in part from Coinbase Analytics’ pinpoint accuracy. It has “some of the most conservative heuristics used in commercial blockchain tracing tools,” a “critical” distinction in avoiding false positives, the DEA notice read.
Neither the DEA or IRS disclosed the bottom-line value of their prospective deals, which federal contract websites indicate have not been finalized yet. Both agencies seek year-long contacts with Coinbase, and the DEA deal is not more than $250,000.
The IRS has recently begun ramping up its activities in the cryptocurrency space, sending tax firms notices last month requesting proposals forauditing support.
UPDATE: (June 6, 2020 1:58 UTC):This article has been updated to include comment from Coinbase.
• Blockchain Bites: Google Validates Theta, Coinbase and BitGo Eye Crypto Prime Brokerage
• Bitcoin News Roundup for May 27, 2020 || The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers -06/06/20: Bitcoin fell by 1.74% on Friday. Reversing a 1.17% gain from Thursday, Bitcoin ended the day at $9,620.4. It was another mixed start to the day. Bitcoin rose to a late morning intraday high $9,865.8 before hitting reverse. Falling short of the first major resistance level at $9,961.53, Bitcoin slid to a late morning low $9,624.1. Steering clear of the major support levels, Bitcoin recovered to $9,700 levels before falling to a final hour intraday low $9,620.4. In spite of the late pullback, Bitcoin steered clear of the first major support level at $9,540.43. The near-term bullish trend remained intact, in spite of Friday’s pullback. For the bears, Bitcoin would need to slide through the 62% FIB of $6,400 to form a near-term bearish trend. The Rest of the Pack Across the rest of the majors, it was another mixed day for the majors on Friday. Binance Coin and EOS bucked the trend on the day, with gains of 0.97% and 3.43% respectively. It was a bearish day for the rest of the majors. Cardano’s ADA slid by 4.12% to lead the way down. Litecoin (-1.43%), Ethereum (-1.29%), Stellar’s Lumen (-2.75%), and Tezos (-2.10%) also struggled. Bitcoin Cash ABC (-0.07%), Bitcoin Cash SV (-0.44%), Monero’s XMR (-0.95%), Ripple’s XRP (-0.81%) saw relatively modest losses on the day. Through the current week, the crypto total market cap rose to a Monday high $285.71bn before sliding to a Tuesday low $255.98bn. At the time of writing, the total market cap stood at $268.23bn. At the start of the week, Bitcoin’s rose to a Monday high 67.13% before falling to a Thursday low 65.61%. At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s dominance stood at 65.77%. This Morning At the time of writing, Bitcoin was down by 0.24% to $9,597.0. A bearish start to the day saw Bitcoin fall from an early morning high $9,620.4 to a low $9,552.6. Bitcoin left the major support and resistance levels untested early on. Elsewhere, it was a mixed start to the day. Story continues Cardano’s ADA found early support, rising by 2.08%. EOS (+0.37%), Ethereum (+0.12%), and Ripple’s XRP (+0.17%) also saw green early on. It was a bearish start to the day for the rest of the majors, however. At the time of writing, Tron’s TRX was down by 1.10% to lead the way down. For the Bitcoin Day Ahead Bitcoin would need to move through to $9,700 levels to bring the first major resistance level at $9,784.0 into play. Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Bitcoin to break out from the morning high $9,620.4. Barring a broad-based crypto rally, the first major resistance level would likely limit any upside. In the event of an extended crypto rally, Bitcoin could eye the second major resistance level at $9,947.6 before any pullback. Failure to move through to $9,700 levels could see Bitcoin struggle on the day. A fall back through the morning low $9,552.6 would bring the first major support level at $9,538.6 into play. Barring an extended crypto sell-off, however, Bitcoin should steer clear of the second major support level at $9,456.8. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers -06/06/20 US Stock Market Overview – Stocks Rally Following Unexpected Jobs Gains Natural Gas Weekly Price Forecast – Natural Gas Markets Continue Sideways Action Silver Weekly Price Forecast – Silver Markets Pull Back From Major Level S&P 500 Earnings Preview – Next Week Entertainment and Retail Continue to Post Financial Results Gold Weekly Price Forecast – Gold Markets Continue to Digest Longer-Term Gains || The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers -06/06/20: Bitcoin fell by 1.74% on Friday. Reversing a 1.17% gain from Thursday, Bitcoin ended the day at $9,620.4. It was another mixed start to the day. Bitcoin rose to a late morning intraday high $9,865.8 before hitting reverse. Falling short of the first major resistance level at $9,961.53, Bitcoin slid to a late morning low $9,624.1. Steering clear of the major support levels, Bitcoin recovered to $9,700 levels before falling to a final hour intraday low $9,620.4. In spite of the late pullback, Bitcoin steered clear of the first major support level at $9,540.43. The near-term bullish trend remained intact, in spite of Friday’s pullback. For the bears, Bitcoin would need to slide through the 62% FIB of $6,400 to form a near-term bearish trend. The Rest of the Pack Across the rest of the majors, it was another mixed day for the majors on Friday. Binance Coin and EOS bucked the trend on the day, with gains of 0.97% and 3.43% respectively. It was a bearish day for the rest of the majors. Cardano’s ADA slid by 4.12% to lead the way down. Litecoin (-1.43%), Ethereum (-1.29%), Stellar’s Lumen (-2.75%), and Tezos (-2.10%) also struggled. Bitcoin Cash ABC (-0.07%), Bitcoin Cash SV (-0.44%), Monero’s XMR (-0.95%), Ripple’s XRP (-0.81%) saw relatively modest losses on the day. Through the current week, the crypto total market cap rose to a Monday high $285.71bn before sliding to a Tuesday low $255.98bn. At the time of writing, the total market cap stood at $268.23bn. At the start of the week, Bitcoin’s rose to a Monday high 67.13% before falling to a Thursday low 65.61%. At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s dominance stood at 65.77%. This Morning At the time of writing, Bitcoin was down by 0.24% to $9,597.0. A bearish start to the day saw Bitcoin fall from an early morning high $9,620.4 to a low $9,552.6. Bitcoin left the major support and resistance levels untested early on. Elsewhere, it was a mixed start to the day. Story continues Cardano’s ADA found early support, rising by 2.08%. EOS (+0.37%), Ethereum (+0.12%), and Ripple’s XRP (+0.17%) also saw green early on. It was a bearish start to the day for the rest of the majors, however. At the time of writing, Tron’s TRX was down by 1.10% to lead the way down. For the Bitcoin Day Ahead Bitcoin would need to move through to $9,700 levels to bring the first major resistance level at $9,784.0 into play. Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Bitcoin to break out from the morning high $9,620.4. Barring a broad-based crypto rally, the first major resistance level would likely limit any upside. In the event of an extended crypto rally, Bitcoin could eye the second major resistance level at $9,947.6 before any pullback. Failure to move through to $9,700 levels could see Bitcoin struggle on the day. A fall back through the morning low $9,552.6 would bring the first major support level at $9,538.6 into play. Barring an extended crypto sell-off, however, Bitcoin should steer clear of the second major support level at $9,456.8. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers -06/06/20 US Stock Market Overview – Stocks Rally Following Unexpected Jobs Gains Natural Gas Weekly Price Forecast – Natural Gas Markets Continue Sideways Action Silver Weekly Price Forecast – Silver Markets Pull Back From Major Level S&P 500 Earnings Preview – Next Week Entertainment and Retail Continue to Post Financial Results Gold Weekly Price Forecast – Gold Markets Continue to Digest Longer-Term Gains || Coinbase Offers US Feds New Crypto Surveillance Tools: While the market expects bitcoin to be calm over the next few days, attention is now on the economy, with the U.S. looking as if it turned a corner in May. However, some observers see fundamental problems ahead. Bitcoin (BTC) was trading around $9,735 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET), gaining 1% over the previous 24 hours. At 00:00 UTC on Friday (8:00 p.m. Thursday EDT), the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization was changing hands around $9,800 on spot exchanges like Coinbase. The price stayed around there until 10:00 UTC (6:00 a.m. EDT), when selling caused bitcoin to drop as low as $9,584. Bitcoin is now close to its 50-day and 10-day technical indicator moving averages, indicating sideways trading heading into the weekend. Read More: Bullishness Building in Bitcoin Options Market, Data Suggests The markets story of the day was the surging performance of stocks on Friday. Economic data released from the U.S. Labor Department showed May to have the largest one-month employment increase ever . That was after a record drop in April due to the coronavirus pandemic wreaking havoc on the global economy. As a result, Europe posted big gains in late trading, as the FTSE 100 of top public companies closed the day up 2.25%, thus making the week positive by 6.7% . In the United States, the S&P 500 index climbed 2.6%, closing the week in the green 5.2% . Yet the total employment number likely belies bigger economic problems ahead and the rally in equities might be short lived, said George Clayton, managing partner of Cryptanalysis Capital. Related: Market Wrap: Bitcoin Flat as Stocks Swell on Positive Jobs Report “Stocks are on Prozac,” Clayton said. “Unemployment came in better than forecast, but it’s still at 13.3%.” Some traders skeptical of traditional markets see crypto as the best investment during turbulent times. That likely has been one of the reasons for bitcoin’s continued outperformance relative to the S&P 500 year-to-date. Story continues “For the last two years, many have been anticipating a global economic crisis. 2008-2009 did not change anything in the fundamental faults of global debt, money printing and wealth distribution,” said Sweden-based over-the-counter crypto trader Henrik Kugelberg. Read More: Bloomberg’s Pie-in-the-Sky Bitcoin Call Looks Directionally Defensible Although equities appear to be turbocharged Friday, many forget the increasing role of the U.S. Federal Reserve in traditional markets in 2020. “There seems to be no stopping this market with the Fed liquidity pump, but they can’t hold it up forever,” said Rupert Douglas, head of institutional sales at digital asset brokerage Koine. “Bitcoin still looks good to me; I would much rather hold that than equities now,” he added. “Eventually, share prices are going to follow the economy and it is not headed in a good direction,” Cryptanalysis Capital’s Clayton said. “Meanwhile the crypto ecosystem marches forward; bitcoin mines another block. The money printing and every other macro trend sets crypto up for a rally.” Other markets Digital assets on CoinDesk’s big board are mixed Friday. The second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, ether (ETH), is trading around $242 and slipped less than a percent in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. EDT). Read More: Crypto Derivatives Exchange OKEx Launches Options on Ether Cryptocurrency winners on the day include lisk (LSK) in the green 13%, eos (EOS) climbing 5% and zcash (ZEC) up 1.6%. Cryptocurrency losers Friday include decred (DCR) down 4.6%, stellar (XLM) in the red 2%. and dogecoin (DOGE) in the doghouse 1.4%. All price changes were as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. EDT). Read More: The Free Market Will Determine Cardano’s Fate In commodities, oil is making big gains, UP 5% as a barrel of crude is priced at $39.17 as of press time. Gold dropped significantly in early trading Friday and while it recovered somewhat, it’s still in the red, down 1.8% for the day. Japan’s Nikkei 225 of top companies missed the equities party by ending the day flat in the green less than a percent although up 50% from March lows . U.S. Treasury bonds all climbed Friday. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were up most on the 10-year in the green 6.7%. Related Stories Bullishness Building in Bitcoin Options Market, Data Suggests Bitcoin Is a Way to Repair Economic Injustice: Author Isaiah Jackson || Coinbase Offers US Feds New Crypto Surveillance Tools: While the market expects bitcoin to be calm over the next few days, attention is now on the economy, with the U.S. looking as if it turned a corner in May. However, some observers see fundamental problems ahead.
Bitcoin(BTC) was trading around $9,735 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET), gaining 1% over the previous 24 hours.
At 00:00 UTC on Friday (8:00 p.m. Thursday EDT), the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization was changing hands around $9,800 on spot exchanges like Coinbase. The price stayed around there until 10:00 UTC (6:00 a.m. EDT), when selling caused bitcoin to drop as low as $9,584. Bitcoin is now close to its 50-day and 10-day technical indicator moving averages, indicating sideways trading heading into the weekend.
Read More:Bullishness Building in Bitcoin Options Market, Data Suggests
The markets story of the day was the surging performance of stocks on Friday. Economic data released from the U.S. Labor Department showed May to have thelargest one-month employment increase ever. That was after a record drop in April due to the coronavirus pandemic wreaking havoc on the global economy.
As a result, Europe posted big gains in late trading, as the FTSE 100 of top public companies closed the dayup 2.25%, thus making the week positive by 6.7%. In the United States, the S&P 500 indexclimbed 2.6%, closing the week in the green 5.2%.
Yet the total employment number likely belies bigger economic problems ahead and the rally in equities might be short lived, said George Clayton, managing partner of Cryptanalysis Capital.
Related:Market Wrap: Bitcoin Flat as Stocks Swell on Positive Jobs Report
“Stocks are on Prozac,” Clayton said. “Unemployment came in better than forecast, but it’s still at 13.3%.”
Some traders skeptical of traditional markets see crypto as the best investment during turbulent times. That likely has been one of the reasons for bitcoin’s continued outperformance relative to the S&P 500 year-to-date.
“For the last two years, many have been anticipating a global economic crisis. 2008-2009 did not change anything in the fundamental faults of global debt, money printing and wealth distribution,” said Sweden-based over-the-counter crypto trader Henrik Kugelberg.
Read More:Bloomberg’s Pie-in-the-Sky Bitcoin Call Looks Directionally Defensible
Although equities appear to be turbocharged Friday, many forget the increasing role of the U.S. Federal Reserve in traditional markets in 2020.
“There seems to be no stopping this market with the Fed liquidity pump, but they can’t hold it up forever,” said Rupert Douglas, head of institutional sales at digital asset brokerage Koine. “Bitcoin still looks good to me; I would much rather hold that than equities now,” he added.
“Eventually, share prices are going to follow the economy and it is not headed in a good direction,” Cryptanalysis Capital’s Clayton said. “Meanwhile the crypto ecosystem marches forward; bitcoin mines another block. The money printing and every other macro trend sets crypto up for a rally.”
Digital assets on CoinDesk’s big board are mixed Friday. The second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization,ether(ETH), is trading around $242 and slipped less than a percent in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. EDT).
Read More:Crypto Derivatives Exchange OKEx Launches Options on Ether
Cryptocurrency winners on the day includelisk(LSK) in the green 13%,eos(EOS) climbing 5% andzcash(ZEC) up 1.6%. Cryptocurrency losers Friday includedecred(DCR) down 4.6%,stellar(XLM) in the red 2%. anddogecoin(DOGE) in the doghouse 1.4%. All price changes were as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. EDT).
Read More:The Free Market Will Determine Cardano’s Fate
In commodities, oil is making big gains, UP 5% as a barrel of crude is priced at $39.17 as of press time. Gold dropped significantly in early trading Friday and while it recovered somewhat, it’s still in the red, down 1.8% for the day.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 of top companies missed the equities party by ending the day flat in the green less than a percentalthough up 50% from March lows.
U.S. Treasury bonds all climbed Friday. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were up most on the 10-year in the green 6.7%.
• Bullishness Building in Bitcoin Options Market, Data Suggests
• Bitcoin Is a Way to Repair Economic Injustice: Author Isaiah Jackson || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Flat as Stocks Swell on Positive Jobs Report: How one of the world’s most important geopolitical relationships came to be what it is in 2020. For more episodes and free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe with Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Pocketcasts , Google Podcasts , Castbox , Stitcher , RadioPublica , iHeartRadio or RSS . This episode is sponsored by Bitstamp and Ciphertrace . The U.S.-China relationship has an outsized impact on global economics and politics. As that relationship comes even more into focus in the wake of COVID-19, this episode provides a historical primer. See also: The Geopolitical Implications of a Too-Strong Dollar, Feat. Brent Johnson Graham Webster is editor-in-chief of the Stanford–New America DigiChina Project at the Stanford University Cyber Policy Center. He’s also a China digital economy fellow at the New America think tank. In this episode, Webster explains: Why the relationship with the U.S. has been at the forefront of Chinese policy since the People’s Republic of China was formed, but has flitted in and out of America’s focus. Why the first most significant period in the U.S.-China relationship came between the late 1960s and 1970s, as the U.S.-China relationship normalized. How Tiananmen Square undermined but didn’t destroy the relationship. Why George W. Bush came into office with an intention to focus on China but got distracted in the wake of 9/11. Why China has spent the last decade becoming increasingly illiberal. How the rise of social media contributed to the shift. Why China and U.S. policy is as much a reflection of domestic self-identity in both countries as it is a bilateral political question. Why China’s human rights abuses present such a challenge. How COVID-19 changes the relationship. Related: The Biggest Realignment in the US-China Relationship Since Nixon, Feat. Graham Webster Find our guest online: Twitter: gwbstr Website: DigiChina Related Stories Bitcoin News Roundup for June 4, 2020 5 Numbers That Tell the Story of Markets Right Now || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Flat as Stocks Swell on Positive Jobs Report: How one of the world’s most important geopolitical relationships came to be what it is in 2020. For more episodes and free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe with Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Pocketcasts , Google Podcasts , Castbox , Stitcher , RadioPublica , iHeartRadio or RSS . This episode is sponsored by Bitstamp and Ciphertrace . The U.S.-China relationship has an outsized impact on global economics and politics. As that relationship comes even more into focus in the wake of COVID-19, this episode provides a historical primer. See also: The Geopolitical Implications of a Too-Strong Dollar, Feat. Brent Johnson Graham Webster is editor-in-chief of the Stanford–New America DigiChina Project at the Stanford University Cyber Policy Center. He’s also a China digital economy fellow at the New America think tank. In this episode, Webster explains: Why the relationship with the U.S. has been at the forefront of Chinese policy since the People’s Republic of China was formed, but has flitted in and out of America’s focus. Why the first most significant period in the U.S.-China relationship came between the late 1960s and 1970s, as the U.S.-China relationship normalized. How Tiananmen Square undermined but didn’t destroy the relationship. Why George W. Bush came into office with an intention to focus on China but got distracted in the wake of 9/11. Why China has spent the last decade becoming increasingly illiberal. How the rise of social media contributed to the shift. Why China and U.S. policy is as much a reflection of domestic self-identity in both countries as it is a bilateral political question. Why China’s human rights abuses present such a challenge. How COVID-19 changes the relationship. Related: The Biggest Realignment in the US-China Relationship Since Nixon, Feat. Graham Webster Find our guest online: Twitter: gwbstr Website: DigiChina Related Stories Bitcoin News Roundup for June 4, 2020 5 Numbers That Tell the Story of Markets Right Now || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Flat as Stocks Swell on Positive Jobs Report: How one of the world’s most important geopolitical relationships came to be what it is in 2020. For more episodes and free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe with Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Pocketcasts , Google Podcasts , Castbox , Stitcher , RadioPublica , iHeartRadio or RSS . This episode is sponsored by Bitstamp and Ciphertrace . The U.S.-China relationship has an outsized impact on global economics and politics. As that relationship comes even more into focus in the wake of COVID-19, this episode provides a historical primer. See also: The Geopolitical Implications of a Too-Strong Dollar, Feat. Brent Johnson Graham Webster is editor-in-chief of the Stanford–New America DigiChina Project at the Stanford University Cyber Policy Center. He’s also a China digital economy fellow at the New America think tank. In this episode, Webster explains: Why the relationship with the U.S. has been at the forefront of Chinese policy since the People’s Republic of China was formed, but has flitted in and out of America’s focus. Why the first most significant period in the U.S.-China relationship came between the late 1960s and 1970s, as the U.S.-China relationship normalized. How Tiananmen Square undermined but didn’t destroy the relationship. Why George W. Bush came into office with an intention to focus on China but got distracted in the wake of 9/11. Why China has spent the last decade becoming increasingly illiberal. How the rise of social media contributed to the shift. Why China and U.S. policy is as much a reflection of domestic self-identity in both countries as it is a bilateral political question. Why China’s human rights abuses present such a challenge. How COVID-19 changes the relationship. Related: The Biggest Realignment in the US-China Relationship Since Nixon, Feat. Graham Webster Find our guest online: Twitter: gwbstr Website: DigiChina Related Stories Bitcoin News Roundup for June 4, 2020 5 Numbers That Tell the Story of Markets Right Now || Money Reimagined: The Ongoing Crisis Is Stirring a Crypto Awakening in Developing Nations: Regular readers of this column will know about the recent surge in African peer-to-peer bitcoin transactions, now atmore than $12 million a day, according to Useful Tulips.
I think this, and similar patterns across other emerging market regions during the COVID-19 pandemic, reflect the most important cryptocurrency trend of the moment. We are a long way from mass adoption, but the circumstances driving this nascent demand in the developing world, not only for bitcoin but also for stablecoins and other cryptocurrencies, bring the human benefits of this new form of money into stark relief.
You’re readingMoney Reimagined, a weekly look at the technological, economic and social events and trends that are redefining our relationship with money and transforming the global financial system. You can subscribe to this and all of CoinDesk’snewsletters here.
What’s driving this is a worldwide dollar shortage. For billions of non-Americans in places far from the United States’ now-unruly cities, the U.S. currency is a vital instrument in their daily lives. But it is now scarce. If you can’t get dollars and you don’t trust your local currency, bitcoin and stablecoins start to look attractive, either as a hedge against future inflation or as a payments or remittances solution.
Dollar shortages are the mirror image of the Fed’s“QE infinity”program and the reason it rapidlycreated swap lines with 16 central banks in industrialized countries in March. At that time, the pandemic had triggered a kind of global bank run into dollars. Debtors in European and Asian financial capitals who’d borrowed in dollars scrambled to buy them to cover margin calls on their collateral, which in turn sent investors racing to secure access to the same USD safe haven.As Jill Carlson wrote for CoinDesk, the Fed had no choice but to “turn on the taps” to feed the world’s demand.
Note some key words in that prior paragraph: “industrialized countries” and “financial capitals.” The Fed’s rescue mission might have stabilized global currency markets for now, but the Wall Street-centric structure of its policy implementation means the liquidity injections are far from evenly spread.
While quantitative easing has breathed life into U.S. stocks (see below), the shortages have persisted in many emerging markets, creating serious problems in their citizens’ lives. That’s especially so in many formally or informally“dollarized”countries, where mistrust of the local currency makes the dollar the preferred unit for business-to-business transactions, savings, and large-ticket consumer payments such as rent.
Related:Money Reimagined: The Ongoing Crisis Is Stirring a Crypto Awakening in Developing Nations
This is what’s happening in oil-exporting Nigeria, where the collapse in the price of crude has combined with the global dollar shortage to create a real USD crisis. It’s no wonder that Africa’s biggest economy is the biggest contributor to the pickup in the continent’s peer-to-peer bitcoin exchanges.
Consider also Venezuela. Nicolas Maduro’s dictatorship has unofficially abandoned constraints on dollar usage because an evaporation in the bolivar’s value has made it physically impossible for people to carry all the banknotes needed to buy groceries. Now, in the midst of the pandemic, home-bound Venezuelans can’t find the dollars they need. For some, bitcoin is offering a solution.
“USD bills are getting like a rare thing, like a collectible,” says journalist Javier Bastardo, who spoke to me from his electricity-challenged home in Caracas. “So, people are finding new ways to avoid the depreciation of the bolivar.”
One way, they are doing this, Bastardo said, is by “doing microtasks, connecting to a website where you can earn 10 satoshis (0.0000001 BTC) for doing different things.”
Yes, crowdsourced microtasking, by which companies get large numbers of people to collectively teach human intuition to machine-learning algorithms – think of those sign-on requests to identify traffic lights – is now a money-earner for people in the developing world. Developments in crypto technology have enabled this.
Previously, on-chain bitcoin fees – currently around $3 per transaction – were too high to sustain the kinds of micropayments made for these many small tasks. But advances in the layer twoLightning Network, which allows for secure off-chain transactions, now mean that sites such asStakcan affordably provide these money-earning services to their customers. Stak users in the Philippines and Argentina can earn enough satoshis to buy smartphones offered on the site.
Developing-country demand for bitcoin, however, still seems less based on its role as a payments vehicle than on its appeal as a gold-like speculative asset and store-of-value, an especially valuable proposition in places threatened by hyperinflation. What, though, of the challenge of day-to-day payments and remittances in dollar-scarce countries?
This is wherestablecoinscould be stepping up.
Latin American wallet provider Ripio offers evidence of that. CEO Sebastian Serrano says active user demand for the platforms’s stablecoin offerings,USDCandDai, grew tenfold in the first quarter.
The reason seems pretty clear: people want what they’re used to.
“What people want in Nigeria or in Venezuela isn’t really bitcoin but the U.S. dollar,” says Alejandro Machado, a colleague of Carlson’s at the Open Money Initiative. “So if you can have an asset that mimics or behaves like dollars perhaps we have a solution.”
For Machado, the solution doesn’t lie in Ethereum-based stablecoins like Tether, USDC or Dai, but in leveraging the liquidity that he says only bitcoin can provide. He co-founded Valiu for Venezuelans, which doesn’t create stability through a reserve model like Tether or USDC, or through a smart contract-based collateral system like Dai, but synthetically. Through a sophisticated strategy for trading and hedging bitcoin, Valiu offers access to a digitally executed contract whose value holds steady against the dollar.
These various solutions are landing in emerging markets that are, once again, reeling from problems that emanate from industrialized countries. Whether they’ll achieve mainstream usage rates remains to be seen. (The $8 million daily turnover for bitcoin trades in Nigeria, for example, although double that of two months ago, is a tiny drop within that country’s $420 billion economy.)
Still, there appears to be a clear and broad-based uptrend in demand. It speaks to what many of us have long argued: that the most obvious use cases for cryptocurrency lie in the developing world.
I think this, and similar patterns across other emerging market regions during the COVID-19 pandemic, reflect the most important cryptocurrency trend of the moment. We are a long way from mass adoption, but the circumstances driving this nascent demand in the developing world, not only for bitcoin but also for stablecoins and other cryptocurrencies, bring the human benefits of this new form of money into stark relief.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, with its specially tailored selection of 30 important companies’ stocks, was designed by its founders as a snapshot of the American economy. It’s one reason why the performance of “the Dow” is often used as a proxy measure of U.S. prosperity, a rather simplified encapsulation of the American Dream. So it’s worth asking: how has this most famous of Wall Street indicators done over the past two weeks?
Between May 25, the Memorial Day holiday on which Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd, and Thursday, June 4, the Dow gained 7.4%, marking the best 50-day performance for U.S. stocks ever. And now, after some surprisingly good unemployment numbers, they are up again as of Friday afternoon (by more than 930 points as of 5:48 p.m. UTC).
Let’s put this in context. Within the past nine trading days, millions swarmed into American cities to protest the unending injustice and racial inequality that this crime represented. There were violent responses from some members of the security forces and alarming acts of destruction and theft from some of the protesters. Meanwhile, as the nation’s political divisions were deepened by a President who seemed to want to fan the flames, the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 surpassed 100,000. Yet the stock market was up, CNBC pundits said, on hope of a stronger-than-expected economic recovery.
I have an alternative theory: investors know that the longer America is gripped by an existential crisis, the more money the Fed will pour into financial assets. I’m not sure how enriching hedge funds at this time will help overcome this country’s divisions. It will only underscore the failure of our financial system and the need for an alternative. It’s time for a new system.
KYCING OUR VIDEO CALLSThanks to COVID-19 lockdowns, the world now lives on Zoom. So it’s no wonder eyebrows were raised when company CEO Eric Yuan this week said non-paying customers wouldn’t get privacy-protecting end-to-end encryption. Citing a presentation to investors this past week,Bloomberg’s Nico Grant reportedYuan as saying, “Free users for sure we don’t want to give that because we also want to work together with the FBI, with local law enforcement, in case some people use Zoom for a bad purpose.” There were understandable privacy concerns among the crypto community, though Abra CEOBill Barhydt pointed outthat Zoom, which currently has no ad model or other means of monetizing free users, could never afford the expensive exercise of encrypting everybody. What struck me, though, was how the arrangement made this information platform’s customer relationship look like that of a bank. If you buy a Zoom subscription, it won’t be able to snoop on your calls, but it will know who you are. Sound familiar? Know-your-customer, or KYC, rules are the bedrock of how banks serve law enforcement’s efforts to catch money launderers. I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised: money is just a form of information anyway.
FORKING THE MEMEMemes can be one of the most entertaining things on the internet… until you become one, of course. What started as a footnote in the larger protests surrounding the killing of George Floyd – aphoto of a personwhom we can only conclude is a bitcoin bro, or at least aspires to be one, held up a sign with the slogan “Bitcoin will save us” – became a cautionary tale. The image predictably went viral, drawing the ire of people inside and outside of the crypto community for pushing crypto gospel at precisely the wrong time.
That would have been the end of it, except someone in that community photoshopped the face of bitcoin proponent Neeraj Agrawal – himself widely thought of as Crypto Twitter’s meme king – onto the head of the protester, giving the viral image a second, stronger life (not sharing or linking here to prevent further “infection”). For those in the know, it was a cleverly ironic visual twist, but with so many Twitter users with high follow counts liking, retweeting or commenting on the image, it inevitably veered over the edge ofcontext collapsewhen it reached a wider audience. AsAgrawal himself noted, the proliferation of the doctored image probably wasn’t good for him (or bitcoin) — a reminder that, on social media, with great influence comes great responsibility.–Pete Pachal
GOD, THAT’S GOOD … BUTI have to hand it to Frances Coppola. That was a superb biblical metaphor inher CoinDesk op-edabout why Libra caved in to regulators’ demands and ended its currency basket model. Citing the Tower of Babel story, the writer compared Facebook and its fellow Libra Association members to those “upstart humans [who] challenged God (aka government) by building something that would, by reaching to heaven, threaten his authority.” Taking the analogy further, Coppola said a currency is like a language – which it very much is. Just as God punished the humans by making them speak mutually incomprehensible languages, so too did the powers of government force Libra to break up its operation into multiple, independent stablecoins.
Here’s the thing: as per Jack Miles’ book“God: A Biography”about the shifting depiction of the Old Testament’s God as a character, it’s we humans who decide what God is like. (Humans made God in their likeness, not vice versa.) We do the same with our governments – with varying degrees of democratic participation. Just as we have sometimes made God a benevolent, loving figure, we’ve occasionally produced benign governments. But we’ve also allowed terrible, malevolent leaders to take power, much like the spiteful God that Miles documents in numerous parts of his wonderful deconstruction. Now’s a time when we humans should be rewriting the character of our government – or more specifically, thegovernanceof our financial system. And while Libra sure ‘aint perfect, and could allow its owners to exploit the people they’re supposed to serve, it has the potential to contribute to a better system. In fact, with those otherwise independent stablecoins built on Libra’s open-source, interoperable code base, they may well end up talking to each other.
God and governments will always be around. But there are times when we need to reimagine him/her/them. This is one of those times.
• Bullishness Building in Bitcoin Options Market, Data Suggests
• Bitcoin Is a Way to Repair Economic Injustice: Author Isaiah Jackson || Money Reimagined: The Ongoing Crisis Is Stirring a Crypto Awakening in Developing Nations: Regular readers of this column will know about the recent surge in African peer-to-peer bitcoin transactions, now at more than $12 million a day , according to Useful Tulips. I think this, and similar patterns across other emerging market regions during the COVID-19 pandemic, reflect the most important cryptocurrency trend of the moment. We are a long way from mass adoption, but the circumstances driving this nascent demand in the developing world, not only for bitcoin but also for stablecoins and other cryptocurrencies, bring the human benefits of this new form of money into stark relief. You’re reading Money Reimagined , a weekly look at the technological, economic and social events and trends that are redefining our relationship with money and transforming the global financial system. You can subscribe to this and all of CoinDesk’s newsletters here . What’s driving this is a worldwide dollar shortage. For billions of non-Americans in places far from the United States’ now-unruly cities, the U.S. currency is a vital instrument in their daily lives. But it is now scarce. If you can’t get dollars and you don’t trust your local currency, bitcoin and stablecoins start to look attractive, either as a hedge against future inflation or as a payments or remittances solution. Dollar shortages are the mirror image of the Fed’s “QE infinity” program and the reason it rapidly created swap lines with 16 central bank s in industrialized countries in March. At that time, the pandemic had triggered a kind of global bank run into dollars. Debtors in European and Asian financial capitals who’d borrowed in dollars scrambled to buy them to cover margin calls on their collateral, which in turn sent investors racing to secure access to the same USD safe haven. As Jill Carlson wrote for CoinDesk , the Fed had no choice but to “turn on the taps” to feed the world’s demand. Story continues Note some key words in that prior paragraph: “industrialized countries” and “financial capitals.” The Fed’s rescue mission might have stabilized global currency markets for now, but the Wall Street-centric structure of its policy implementation means the liquidity injections are far from evenly spread. While quantitative easing has breathed life into U.S. stocks (see below), the shortages have persisted in many emerging markets, creating serious problems in their citizens’ lives. That’s especially so in many formally or informally “dollarized” countries, where mistrust of the local currency makes the dollar the preferred unit for business-to-business transactions, savings, and large-ticket consumer payments such as rent. Related: Money Reimagined: The Ongoing Crisis Is Stirring a Crypto Awakening in Developing Nations This is what’s happening in oil-exporting Nigeria, where the collapse in the price of crude has combined with the global dollar shortage to create a real USD crisis. It’s no wonder that Africa’s biggest economy is the biggest contributor to the pickup in the continent’s peer-to-peer bitcoin exchanges. Microtasking to survive Consider also Venezuela. Nicolas Maduro’s dictatorship has unofficially abandoned constraints on dollar usage because an evaporation in the bolivar’s value has made it physically impossible for people to carry all the banknotes needed to buy groceries. Now, in the midst of the pandemic, home-bound Venezuelans can’t find the dollars they need. For some, bitcoin is offering a solution. “USD bills are getting like a rare thing, like a collectible,” says journalist Javier Bastardo, who spoke to me from his electricity-challenged home in Caracas. “So, people are finding new ways to avoid the depreciation of the bolivar.” One way, they are doing this, Bastardo said, is by “doing microtasks, connecting to a website where you can earn 10 satoshis (0.0000001 BTC) for doing different things.” Yes, crowdsourced microtasking, by which companies get large numbers of people to collectively teach human intuition to machine-learning algorithms – think of those sign-on requests to identify traffic lights – is now a money-earner for people in the developing world. Developments in crypto technology have enabled this. Previously, on-chain bitcoin fees – currently around $3 per transaction – were too high to sustain the kinds of micropayments made for these many small tasks. But advances in the layer two Lightning Network , which allows for secure off-chain transactions, now mean that sites such as Stak can affordably provide these money-earning services to their customers. Stak users in the Philippines and Argentina can earn enough satoshis to buy smartphones offered on the site. Stablecoins’ opening Developing-country demand for bitcoin, however, still seems less based on its role as a payments vehicle than on its appeal as a gold-like speculative asset and store-of-value, an especially valuable proposition in places threatened by hyperinflation. What, though, of the challenge of day-to-day payments and remittances in dollar-scarce countries? This is where stablecoins could be stepping up. Latin American wallet provider Ripio offers evidence of that. CEO Sebastian Serrano says active user demand for the platforms’s stablecoin offerings, USDC and Dai , grew tenfold in the first quarter. The reason seems pretty clear: people want what they’re used to. “What people want in Nigeria or in Venezuela isn’t really bitcoin but the U.S. dollar,” says Alejandro Machado, a colleague of Carlson’s at the Open Money Initiative. “So if you can have an asset that mimics or behaves like dollars perhaps we have a solution.” For Machado, the solution doesn’t lie in Ethereum-based stablecoins like Tether, USDC or Dai, but in leveraging the liquidity that he says only bitcoin can provide. He co-founded Valiu for Venezuelans, which doesn’t create stability through a reserve model like Tether or USDC, or through a smart contract-based collateral system like Dai, but synthetically. Through a sophisticated strategy for trading and hedging bitcoin, Valiu offers access to a digitally executed contract whose value holds steady against the dollar. These various solutions are landing in emerging markets that are, once again, reeling from problems that emanate from industrialized countries. Whether they’ll achieve mainstream usage rates remains to be seen. (The $8 million daily turnover for bitcoin trades in Nigeria, for example, although double that of two months ago, is a tiny drop within that country’s $420 billion economy.) Still, there appears to be a clear and broad-based uptrend in demand. It speaks to what many of us have long argued: that the most obvious use cases for cryptocurrency lie in the developing world. I think this, and similar patterns across other emerging market regions during the COVID-19 pandemic, reflect the most important cryptocurrency trend of the moment. We are a long way from mass adoption, but the circumstances driving this nascent demand in the developing world, not only for bitcoin but also for stablecoins and other cryptocurrencies, bring the human benefits of this new form of money into stark relief. A Bifurcated American Dream The Dow Jones Industrial Average, with its specially tailored selection of 30 important companies’ stocks, was designed by its founders as a snapshot of the American economy. It’s one reason why the performance of “the Dow” is often used as a proxy measure of U.S. prosperity, a rather simplified encapsulation of the American Dream. So it’s worth asking: how has this most famous of Wall Street indicators done over the past two weeks? Between May 25, the Memorial Day holiday on which Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd, and Thursday, June 4, the Dow gained 7.4%, marking the best 50-day performance for U.S. stocks ever. And now, after some surprisingly good unemployment numbers, they are up again as of Friday afternoon (by more than 930 points as of 5:48 p.m. UTC). Let’s put this in context. Within the past nine trading days, millions swarmed into American cities to protest the unending injustice and racial inequality that this crime represented. There were violent responses from some members of the security forces and alarming acts of destruction and theft from some of the protesters. Meanwhile, as the nation’s political divisions were deepened by a President who seemed to want to fan the flames, the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 surpassed 100,000. Yet the stock market was up, CNBC pundits said, on hope of a stronger-than-expected economic recovery. I have an alternative theory: investors know that the longer America is gripped by an existential crisis, the more money the Fed will pour into financial assets. I’m not sure how enriching hedge funds at this time will help overcome this country’s divisions. It will only underscore the failure of our financial system and the need for an alternative. It’s time for a new system. The Global Town Hall KYCING OUR VIDEO CALLS Thanks to COVID-19 lockdowns, the world now lives on Zoom. So it’s no wonder eyebrows were raised when company CEO Eric Yuan this week said non-paying customers wouldn’t get privacy-protecting end-to-end encryption. Citing a presentation to investors this past week, Bloomberg’s Nico Grant reported Yuan as saying, “Free users for sure we don’t want to give that because we also want to work together with the FBI, with local law enforcement, in case some people use Zoom for a bad purpose.” There were understandable privacy concerns among the crypto community, though Abra CEO Bill Barhydt pointed out that Zoom, which currently has no ad model or other means of monetizing free users, could never afford the expensive exercise of encrypting everybody. What struck me, though, was how the arrangement made this information platform’s customer relationship look like that of a bank. If you buy a Zoom subscription, it won’t be able to snoop on your calls, but it will know who you are. Sound familiar? Know-your-customer, or KYC, rules are the bedrock of how banks serve law enforcement’s efforts to catch money launderers. I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised: money is just a form of information anyway. FORKING THE MEME Memes can be one of the most entertaining things on the internet… until you become one, of course. What started as a footnote in the larger protests surrounding the killing of George Floyd – a photo of a person whom we can only conclude is a bitcoin bro, or at least aspires to be one, held up a sign with the slogan “Bitcoin will save us” – became a cautionary tale. The image predictably went viral, drawing the ire of people inside and outside of the crypto community for pushing crypto gospel at precisely the wrong time. That would have been the end of it, except someone in that community photoshopped the face of bitcoin proponent Neeraj Agrawal – himself widely thought of as Crypto Twitter’s meme king – onto the head of the protester, giving the viral image a second, stronger life (not sharing or linking here to prevent further “infection”). For those in the know, it was a cleverly ironic visual twist, but with so many Twitter users with high follow counts liking, retweeting or commenting on the image, it inevitably veered over the edge of context collapse when it reached a wider audience. As Agrawal himself noted , the proliferation of the doctored image probably wasn’t good for him (or bitcoin) — a reminder that, on social media, with great influence comes great responsibility. –Pete Pachal GOD, THAT’S GOOD … BUT I have to hand it to Frances Coppola. That was a superb biblical metaphor in her CoinDesk op-ed about why Libra caved in to regulators’ demands and ended its currency basket model. Citing the Tower of Babel story, the writer compared Facebook and its fellow Libra Association members to those “upstart humans [who] challenged God (aka government) by building something that would, by reaching to heaven, threaten his authority.” Taking the analogy further, Coppola said a currency is like a language – which it very much is. Just as God punished the humans by making them speak mutually incomprehensible languages, so too did the powers of government force Libra to break up its operation into multiple, independent stablecoins. Here’s the thing: as per Jack Miles’ book “God: A Biography” about the shifting depiction of the Old Testament’s God as a character, it’s we humans who decide what God is like. (Humans made God in their likeness, not vice versa.) We do the same with our governments – with varying degrees of democratic participation. Just as we have sometimes made God a benevolent, loving figure, we’ve occasionally produced benign governments. But we’ve also allowed terrible, malevolent leaders to take power, much like the spiteful God that Miles documents in numerous parts of his wonderful deconstruction. Now’s a time when we humans should be rewriting the character of our government – or more specifically, the governance of our financial system. And while Libra sure ‘aint perfect, and could allow its owners to exploit the people they’re supposed to serve, it has the potential to contribute to a better system. In fact, with those otherwise independent stablecoins built on Libra’s open-source, interoperable code base, they may well end up talking to each other. God and governments will always be around. But there are times when we need to reimagine him/her/them. This is one of those times. Related Stories Bullishness Building in Bitcoin Options Market, Data Suggests Bitcoin Is a Way to Repair Economic Injustice: Author Isaiah Jackson || The Biggest Realignment in the US-China Relationship Since Nixon, Feat. Graham Webster: It’s bulls on parade as analysts see upward momentum for bitcoin. Here’s CoinDesk’s Markets Daily Podcast.
This episode is sponsored byBitstampandCiphertrace
For early access before our regular noon Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublicaorRSS.
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Related:Bitcoin News Roundup for June 5, 2020
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• Bitcoin News Roundup for June 1, 2020
• Bitcoin News Roundup for May 29, 2020 || The Biggest Realignment in the US-China Relationship Since Nixon, Feat. Graham Webster: Its bulls on parade as analysts see upward momentum for bitcoin. Heres CoinDesks Markets Daily Podcast. This episode is sponsored by Bitstamp and Ciphertrace For early access before our regular noon Eastern time releases, subscribe with Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Pocketcasts , Google Podcasts , Castbox , Stitcher , RadioPublica or RSS . Bullishness Building in Bitcoin Options Market, Data Suggests Lawsuit Accuses Xapo, Indodax of Negligently Holding Stolen Bitcoin MakerDAO Weighs Accepting Real-World Assets as Crypto Loan Collateral New York, French Finance Watchdogs Open Doors for Each Others Fintech Startups Related: Bitcoin News Roundup for June 5, 2020 For early access before our regular noon Eastern time releases, subscribe with Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Pocketcasts , Google Podcasts , Castbox , Stitcher , RadioPublica or RSS . Related Stories Bitcoin News Roundup for June 1, 2020 Bitcoin News Roundup for May 29, 2020 || Bitcoin News Roundup for June 5, 2020: Malta-based cryptocurrency exchange OKEx rolled out option contracts on Ethereums ether ( ETH ) token on Thursday, ending the Panama-based Deribits virtual monopoly in the space. OKEx ETH Options Contracts will be settled in ETH. Each contracts face value of ETH/USD options is 1 ETH, Jay Hao, CEO of OKEx, told CoinDesk. Options are derivative contracts, which give the buyer the right, but not obligation to buy or sell the underlying asset at a predetermined price on or before a specific date. While a call option represents a right to buy, a put option gives the holder the right to sell. The mark prices of exchanges options are determined by the Black-Scholes model on a real-time basis, and the final settlement price will be generated via a time-weighted average of the underlying price over a period of time ahead of expiry. To avoid what OKEx calls a societal clawback , the exchange has already established an ETH/USD options insurance fund of 1,000 ETH, worth about $240,000 as of Friday. Clawbacks occur when the exchanges insurance fund lacks sufficient reserves to cover investors total margin call losses. Exchanges face such shortages and socialize losses by clawing back a portion of the gains of profitable traders when the market unexpectedly sees a big bullish or bearish move, leading to forced unwinding of long/short positions. Options would give traders more versatility and a great way to hedge their risk, said Hao. Ethers fortunes are closely tied with the use of Ethereum in decentralized applications (dApps). Hence, one may argue ether options are hedging instruments for dApps. Investor interest in the crypto derivatives market has exploded this year, with open interest in ether futures listed on major exchanges rising by 100%. Meanwhile, open interest in ether options listed on Deribit has skyrocketed by over 900%, according to the data provided by the crypto derivatives research firm Skew . Story continues Related: Crypto Derivatives Exchange OKEx Launches Options on Ether As of Thursday, OKEx was the largest ether futures exchange by open interest, accounting for 26% ($179 million) of the global tally of $672 million. Further, the exchange recently surpassed BitMEX to become the largest bitcoin (BTC) futures exchange by open interest. Adding ETH options is a logical next step for us, and also a market demand particularly as we pride ourselves on the wide variety of products and features that we offer traders, allowing them to keep their pricing strategies more flexible, said Hao. While OKEx dominates the futures product, the options segment is ruled by Deribit exchange. As of Thursday, Deribit accounted for more than 75% of the total open interest of $1.3 billion in BTC options and contributed almost the entire open interest of $144.35 million in ether options. Meanwhile, OKEx contributed only 4% of the total open interest in BTC options. OKEx, therefore, has plenty of ground to cover before threatening Deribits number one position in the options market. The exchange has traded $1 million worth of ether option contracts since inception and has $342,000 worth of open positions at press time. OKEx plans to launch options on EOS, the ninth largest cryptocurrency by trading volume, on June 18. Related Stories Crypto Derivative Volumes Hit Record $602B in May: Report Careless Users Are Ruining Ethereums Privacy: Paper || Bitcoin News Roundup for June 5, 2020: Malta-based cryptocurrency exchange OKEx rolled out option contracts on Ethereum’s ether (ETH) token on Thursday, ending the Panama-based Deribit’s virtual monopoly in the space.
“OKEx ETH Options Contracts will be settled in ETH. Each contract’s face value of ETH/USD options is 1 ETH,” Jay Hao, CEO of OKEx, told CoinDesk.
Options are derivative contracts, which give the buyer the right, but not obligation to buy or sell the underlying asset at a predetermined price on or before a specific date. While a call option represents a right to buy, a put option gives the holder the right to sell.
The mark prices of exchange’s optionsare determined bythe Black-Scholes model on a real-time basis, and the final settlement price will be generated via a time-weighted average of the underlying price over a period of time ahead of expiry.
To avoid what OKEx calls a “societal clawback”, the exchange has already established an ETH/USD options insurance fund of 1,000 ETH, worth about $240,000 as of Friday. Clawbacks occur when the exchange’s insurance fund lacks sufficient reserves to cover investors’ total margin call losses. Exchanges face such shortages and socialize losses by clawing back a portion of the gains of profitable traders when the market unexpectedly sees a big bullish or bearish move, leading to forced unwinding of long/short positions.
“Options would give traders more versatility and a great way to hedge their risk,” said Hao. Ether’s fortunes are closely tied with the use of Ethereum in decentralized applications (dApps). Hence, one may argue ether options are hedging instruments for dApps.
Investor interest in the crypto derivatives market has exploded this year, with open interest in ether futures listed on major exchanges rising by 100%. Meanwhile, open interest in ether options listed on Deribit has skyrocketed by over 900%, according to the data provided by the crypto derivatives research firmSkew.
Related:Crypto Derivatives Exchange OKEx Launches Options on Ether
As of Thursday, OKEx was the largest ether futures exchange by open interest, accounting for 26% ($179 million) of the global tally of $672 million. Further, the exchange recentlysurpassed BitMEXto become the largest bitcoin (BTC) futures exchange by open interest.
“Adding ETH options is a logical next step for us, and also a market demand particularly as we pride ourselves on the wide variety of products and features that we offer traders, allowing them to keep their pricing strategies more flexible,” said Hao.
While OKEx dominates the futures product, the options segment is ruled by Deribit exchange. As of Thursday, Deribit accounted for more than 75% of the total open interest of $1.3 billion in BTC options and contributed almost the entire open interest of $144.35 million in ether options. Meanwhile, OKEx contributed only 4% of the total open interest in BTC options.
OKEx, therefore, has plenty of ground to cover before threatening Deribit’s number one position in the options market. The exchange has traded $1 million worth of ether option contracts since inception and has $342,000 worth of open positions at press time.
OKExplans to launchoptions on EOS, the ninth largest cryptocurrency by trading volume, on June 18.
• Crypto Derivative Volumes Hit Record $602B in May: Report
• ‘Careless’ Users Are Ruining Ethereum’s Privacy: Paper || Bitcoin News Roundup for June 5, 2020: Malta-based cryptocurrency exchange OKEx rolled out option contracts on Ethereum’s ether (ETH) token on Thursday, ending the Panama-based Deribit’s virtual monopoly in the space.
“OKEx ETH Options Contracts will be settled in ETH. Each contract’s face value of ETH/USD options is 1 ETH,” Jay Hao, CEO of OKEx, told CoinDesk.
Options are derivative contracts, which give the buyer the right, but not obligation to buy or sell the underlying asset at a predetermined price on or before a specific date. While a call option represents a right to buy, a put option gives the holder the right to sell.
The mark prices of exchange’s optionsare determined bythe Black-Scholes model on a real-time basis, and the final settlement price will be generated via a time-weighted average of the underlying price over a period of time ahead of expiry.
To avoid what OKEx calls a “societal clawback”, the exchange has already established an ETH/USD options insurance fund of 1,000 ETH, worth about $240,000 as of Friday. Clawbacks occur when the exchange’s insurance fund lacks sufficient reserves to cover investors’ total margin call losses. Exchanges face such shortages and socialize losses by clawing back a portion of the gains of profitable traders when the market unexpectedly sees a big bullish or bearish move, leading to forced unwinding of long/short positions.
“Options would give traders more versatility and a great way to hedge their risk,” said Hao. Ether’s fortunes are closely tied with the use of Ethereum in decentralized applications (dApps). Hence, one may argue ether options are hedging instruments for dApps.
Investor interest in the crypto derivatives market has exploded this year, with open interest in ether futures listed on major exchanges rising by 100%. Meanwhile, open interest in ether options listed on Deribit has skyrocketed by over 900%, according to the data provided by the crypto derivatives research firmSkew.
Related:Crypto Derivatives Exchange OKEx Launches Options on Ether
As of Thursday, OKEx was the largest ether futures exchange by open interest, accounting for 26% ($179 million) of the global tally of $672 million. Further, the exchange recentlysurpassed BitMEXto become the largest bitcoin (BTC) futures exchange by open interest.
“Adding ETH options is a logical next step for us, and also a market demand particularly as we pride ourselves on the wide variety of products and features that we offer traders, allowing them to keep their pricing strategies more flexible,” said Hao.
While OKEx dominates the futures product, the options segment is ruled by Deribit exchange. As of Thursday, Deribit accounted for more than 75% of the total open interest of $1.3 billion in BTC options and contributed almost the entire open interest of $144.35 million in ether options. Meanwhile, OKEx contributed only 4% of the total open interest in BTC options.
OKEx, therefore, has plenty of ground to cover before threatening Deribit’s number one position in the options market. The exchange has traded $1 million worth of ether option contracts since inception and has $342,000 worth of open positions at press time.
OKExplans to launchoptions on EOS, the ninth largest cryptocurrency by trading volume, on June 18.
• Crypto Derivative Volumes Hit Record $602B in May: Report
• ‘Careless’ Users Are Ruining Ethereum’s Privacy: Paper || How Bitcoin Fits Into Lebanons Banking Crisis: Lebanons financial crisis has banks looking for alternative monetary policy and citizens scrambling for alternative banking services. The economic crisis has been raging for years, but political turmoil and the pandemic-induced global market downturn has raised fears of government defaults and the devaluation of the Lebanese pound. As a result, more Lebanese people are seeking information about bitcoin (BTC) , which is relatively cheap and accessible compared to the fractured banking system. The exchange rate for Lebanese pounds to dollars has skyrocketed from 1,500 pounds for every dollar to 4,200 pounds for every dollar, said Patrick Mardini, assistant professor of finance at the University of Balamand in Lebanon. That exchange rate also varies depending on the type of dollar. Dollars already inside the restricted Lebanese banking system trade for less than physical dollars from the local black market, which are easier to move around. This is why some people are using bitcoin to buy black-market dollars to pay off their bank loans cheaply, said bitcoin researcher Matt Ahlborg. Read more: Bitcoin in Emerging Markets: The Middle East Most LocalBitcoin traders get their bitcoin by using bank accounts outside of their country of residence and use the local listing as a type of advertisement. Some software developers and poker players, who earn bitcoin from foreign clients or online games, also bring their bitcoin to these over-the-counter (OTC) traders to liquidate for local currency. Likewise, attorney Charbel Choueh, partner at Choueh Law , said his firm is the first in Lebanon to accept both tether (USDT) and bitcoin from clients abroad. The bitcoin coming into the country is coming from the freelance market
plus a little bit from poker people and remittances, Ahlborg said, referring to how most newbies use social networks to find bitcoin veterans rather than rely on exchanges. Theres more demand due to the COVID-19 shutdown of traditional finance and supply chain businesses. Story continues Related: How Bitcoin Fits Into Lebanons Banking Crisis One anonymous OTC trader, who has been operating in Lebanon since 2013, estimated the Lebanese people trade between $1 million and $5 million a month using informal networks, which dwarfs the $54,916 worth of Lebanese bitcoin transactions tallied over the past year on Paxful and LocalBitcoins combined. He added the COVID-19 pandemic increased demand, and therefore the fees, of local hawala remittance networks. Now that hawala options are more expensive, by comparison, bitcoin is a cheaper and more attractive option, he said. Such traders primarily use sites like Paxful for advertising but conduct the trades using other mobile apps.Many bitcoin traders in emerging markets like Lebanon, even professional OTC traders that move assets at-scale, rely on WhatsApp as one of the top chat platforms for discussing deals. Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter are among the most important platforms in this scene. Social networks have essentially become grassroots financial networks without banking restrictions, relying on global currencies like dollars and bitcoin. In response to this, the government has banned exchange-rate apps showing the actual exchange rate for pounds to dollars. Bankers strike back Meanwhile, proposals from the government and bankers suggest the country is in reform, Mardini added. If the country can prove that it is rebuilding its fiscal infrastructure, it might be able to secure billions of dollars in financing from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) . IMF backing would encourage further investment from the international community, Mardini added. At the moment, the governments plan is to cut its debt by about 62% and wipe out $44 billion in foreign exchange losses at the Lebanese central bank. This plan would include wiping out the reserve capital at the central bank, the reserve capital at private banks, and a certain amount of deposits from the countrys wealthiest people. The result of both the government and central bank defaulting on debts would likely shrink the number of banks in the economy from 50 to 10, Mardini added. In a country thats already dealing with a central bank that struggles to prove its independence from political factions, Mardini said he worries that the restructuring of the banking system in Lebanon would create more distrust in banks. Read more: Despite Bitcoin Price Dips, Crypto Is a Safe Haven in the Middle East If you let the government do the restructuring, they would put their hand on the banking sector the crown jewel of the Lebanese economy, Mardini said. It would be an oligopoly of 10 banks controlling the market. Currently the Lebanese banks are asking the government to consider a counter-proposal that would include no government defaults. The first part of the plan would allow the government to purchase bonds with lower interest rates from private banks. The second part of the proposal looks similar to tokenization in the crypto space: Government assets like the telecommunications networks, waterfronts and real estate assets in Lebanon would be made into bonds and essentially be tradable shares. The banks argue that this would hypothetically decrease the governments debt by $40 billion, but the bonds would be wholly owned by the government. Youre just transferring it from one central government to another government entity in a fund, Mardini said. Mardini said hed prefer the government dissolve the central bank and replace it with a currency board that would ensure that the Lebanese pounds would be backed 100% by the U.S. dollar. Either they keep them in cash or put them in secure-asset American government bonds, which would allow a certain income and cover the costs of operations for currency board, Mardini said about his proposal. The quantity of money issued by the currency board into circulation would be determined by market conditions. Crypto vs. the pound Jon Gayfield, a U.S. Navy veteran who began mining crypto in 2013 and was an early trader on Mt. Gox, has been working with Professor Mardini on ways to introduce crypto to the Lebanese people after meeting Mardini through Gayfields sister who does humanitarian work in Lebanon. The ethos of economic freedom that undergirds the cryptocurrency community made Gayfield realize that bitcoin could be a humanitarian endeavor in addition to a business model, he said. I believe cryptocurrency is potentially the best anti-war idea ever devised, Gayfield said. If the citizens of a nation actually owned their currency/wealth and not the government, then the government must actually serve the people and cannot wage war without the consent of the governed for funding. Initially, Gayfield considered having Lebanese expats use bitcoin for remittances to get crypto flowing into the country. In an ideal case that is a necessary part of what were trying to do, Gayfield said. However, the way to get this working is not to use a really broad solution like that youre going to have to get a large portion of the population to learn how to use the technology. Read more: Lebanese Bitcoiners Show How to Talk About Crypto at Thanksgiving Currently, Gayfield is looking at having importers send crypto to a company that Gayfield and Mardini would headquarter in Malta, converting that crypto to fiat, and using that fiat to pay international suppliers and curtailing the banking system. We could get a couple of importers on board for our proof-of-concept and demonstrate that it works, Gayfield said. Then were driving the adoption where regular citizens could potentially pay the importer directly in crypto.
Expats are more likely to send crypto to the country if theres a demonstrable use case for crypto there. At first, Gayfield was thinking about using a stablecoin like tether for the project, so that Lebanese businesses would have something less volatile to move money, but theres the inevitable concern about influence from politics or sanctions, Gayfield said. Bitcoin being the most recognizable cryptocurrency, it seems to be the easiest to use in Lebanon, he added. Gayfield was supposed to fly to Lebanon to meet Mardini and network with businesses that might be interested in using crypto, but his flight was canceled after the U.S. banned flights to Europe as part of its pandemic response. Since most major exchanges dont operate in Lebanon, citizens have to work with local traders which makes scaling difficult. Users are also not allowed to buy bitcoin in Lebanon with a credit card, and banks have set limits on withdrawals. If all goes well, the project could have further implications than just Lebanons failing bank system. This isnt just a Lebanon project, Gayfield said. Theres no reason this couldnt work somewhere else
in any other country thats going through a financial crisis. Related Stories Bitcoin in Emerging Markets: The Middle East When Currencies Fail: A Primer on the Dollar Crisis in Lebanon || How Bitcoin Fits Into Lebanon’s Banking Crisis: Lebanon’s financial crisis has banks looking for alternative monetary policy and citizens scrambling for alternative banking services.
The economic crisis has been raging for years, but political turmoil and the pandemic-induced global market downturn has raised fears of government defaults and the devaluation of the Lebanese pound. As a result, more Lebanese people are seeking information aboutbitcoin (BTC), which is relatively cheap and accessible compared to the fractured banking system.
The exchange rate for Lebanese pounds to dollars has skyrocketed from 1,500 pounds for every dollar to 4,200 pounds for every dollar, said Patrick Mardini, assistant professor of finance at the University of Balamand in Lebanon. That exchange rate also varies depending on the type of dollar.
Dollars already inside the restricted Lebanese banking system trade for less than physical dollars from the local black market, which are easier to move around. This is why some people are using bitcoin to buy black-market dollars to pay off their bank loans cheaply, said bitcoin researcher Matt Ahlborg.
Read more:Bitcoin in Emerging Markets: The Middle East
Most LocalBitcoin traders get their bitcoin by using bank accounts outside of their country of residence and use the local listing as a type of advertisement. Some software developers and poker players, who earn bitcoin from foreign clients or online games, also bring their bitcoin to these over-the-counter (OTC) traders to liquidate for local currency. Likewise, attorney Charbel Choueh,partner at Choueh Law, said his firm is the first in Lebanon to accept both tether (USDT) and bitcoin from clients abroad.
“The bitcoin coming into the country is coming from the freelance market … plus a little bit from poker people and remittances,” Ahlborg said, referring to how most newbies use social networks to find bitcoin veterans rather than rely on exchanges. “There’s more demand due to the COVID-19 shutdown of traditional finance and supply chain businesses.”
Related:How Bitcoin Fits Into Lebanon’s Banking Crisis
One anonymous OTC trader, who has been operating in Lebanon since 2013, estimated the Lebanese people trade between $1 million and $5 million a month using informal networks, which dwarfs the$54,916worth of Lebanese bitcoin transactions tallied over the past year on Paxful andLocalBitcoinscombined. He added the COVID-19 pandemic increased demand, and therefore the fees, of localhawala remittancenetworks. Now that hawala options are more expensive, by comparison, bitcoin is a cheaper and more attractive option, he said.
Such traders primarily use sites like Paxful for advertising but conduct the trades using other mobile apps.Many bitcoin traders inemerging marketslike Lebanon, even professionalOTC tradersthat move assets at-scale, rely onWhatsAppas one of the top chat platforms for discussing deals. Telegram, WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter are among the most important platforms in this scene.
Social networks have essentially become grassroots financial networks without banking restrictions, relying on global currencies like dollars and bitcoin. In response to this, the governmenthas banned exchange-rate appsshowing the actual exchange rate for pounds to dollars.
Meanwhile, proposals from the government and bankers suggest the country is in reform, Mardini added.
If the country can prove that it is rebuilding its fiscal infrastructure, it might be able tosecure billions of dollars in financing from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). IMF backing would encourage further investment from the international community, Mardini added.
At the moment, the government’s plan is to cut its debt by about 62% and wipe out $44 billion in foreign exchange losses at the Lebanese central bank. This plan would include wiping out the reserve capital at the central bank, the reserve capital at private banks, and a certain amount of deposits from the country’s wealthiest people.
The result of both the government and central bank defaulting on debts would likely shrink the number of banks in the economy from 50 to 10, Mardini added. In a country that’s already dealing with a central bank that struggles to prove its independence from political factions, Mardini said he worries that the restructuring of the banking system in Lebanon would create more distrust in banks.
Read more:Despite Bitcoin Price Dips, Crypto Is a Safe Haven in the Middle East
“If you let the government do the restructuring, they would put their hand on the banking sector – the crown jewel of the Lebanese economy,” Mardini said. “It would be an oligopoly of 10 banks controlling the market.”
Currently the Lebanese banks are asking the government toconsider a counter-proposalthat would include no government defaults. The first part of the plan would allow the government to purchase bonds with lower interest rates from private banks. The second part of the proposal looks similar to tokenization in the crypto space: Government assets like the telecommunications networks, waterfronts and real estate assets in Lebanon would be made into bonds and essentially be tradable shares.
The banks argue that this would hypothetically decrease the government’s debt by $40 billion, but the bonds would be wholly owned by the government. “You’re just transferring it from one central government to another government entity in a fund,” Mardini said.
Mardini said he’d prefer the government dissolve the central bank and replace it with a currency board that would ensure that the Lebanese pounds would be backed 100% by the U.S. dollar.
“Either they keep them in cash or put them in secure-asset American government bonds, which would allow a certain income and cover the costs of operations for currency board,” Mardini said about his proposal. “The quantity of money issued by the currency board into circulation would be determined by market conditions.”
Jon Gayfield, a U.S. Navy veteran who began mining crypto in 2013 and was an early trader on Mt. Gox, has been working with Professor Mardini on ways to introduce crypto to the Lebanese people after meeting Mardini through Gayfield’s sister who does humanitarian work in Lebanon.
The ethos of economic freedom that undergirds the cryptocurrency community made Gayfield realize that bitcoin could be a humanitarian endeavor in addition to a business model, he said.
“I believe cryptocurrency is potentially the best anti-war idea ever devised,” Gayfield said. “If the citizens of a nation actually owned their currency/wealth and not the government, then the government must actually serve the people and cannot wage war without the consent of the governed for funding.”
Initially, Gayfield considered having Lebanese expats use bitcoin for remittances to get crypto flowing into the country.
“In an ideal case that is a necessary part of what we’re trying to do,” Gayfield said. “However, the way to get this working is not to use a really broad solution like that you’re going to have to get a large portion of the population to learn how to use the technology.”
Read more:Lebanese Bitcoiners Show How to Talk About Crypto at Thanksgiving
Currently, Gayfield is looking at having importers send crypto to a company that Gayfield and Mardini would headquarter in Malta, converting that crypto to fiat, and using that fiat to pay international suppliers and curtailing the banking system.
“We could get a couple of importers on board for our proof-of-concept and demonstrate that it works,” Gayfield said. “Then we’re driving the adoption where regular citizens could potentially pay the importer directly in crypto. … Expats are more likely to send crypto to the country if there’s a demonstrable use case for crypto there.”
At first, Gayfield was thinking about using a stablecoin like tether for the project, so that Lebanese businesses would have something less volatile to move money, but “there’s the inevitable concern about influence from politics or sanctions,” Gayfield said.
Bitcoin being the most recognizable cryptocurrency, it seems to be the easiest to use in Lebanon, he added. Gayfield was supposed to fly to Lebanon to meet Mardini and network with businesses that might be interested in using crypto, but his flight was canceled after the U.S. banned flights to Europe as part of its pandemic response.
Since most major exchanges don’t operate in Lebanon, citizens have to work with local traders which makes scaling difficult. Users are also not allowed to buy bitcoin in Lebanon with a credit card, and banks have set limits on withdrawals.
If all goes well, the project could have further implications than just Lebanon’s failing bank system.
“This isn’t just a Lebanon project,” Gayfield said. “There’s no reason this couldn’t work somewhere else … in any other country that’s going through a financial crisis.”
• Bitcoin in Emerging Markets: The Middle East
• When Currencies Fail: A Primer on the Dollar Crisis in Lebanon
[Social Media Buzz]
None available.
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9771.49, 9795.70, 9870.09, 9321.78, 9480.84, 9475.28, 9386.79, 9450.70, 9538.02, 9480.25
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 16716.11, 17645.41, 17804.01, 17817.09, 18621.31, 18642.23, 18370.00, 18364.12, 19107.46, 18732.12, 17150.62, 17108.40, 17717.41, 18177.48, 19625.84, 18803.00, 19201.09, 19445.40, 18699.77, 19154.23, 19345.12, 19191.63, 18321.14, 18553.92, 18264.99, 18058.90, 18803.66, 19142.38, 19246.64, 19417.08, 21310.60, 22805.16, 23137.96, 23869.83, 23477.29, 22803.08, 23783.03, 23241.35, 23735.95, 24664.79, 26437.04, 26272.29, 27084.81, 27362.44, 28840.95, 29001.72, 29374.15, 32127.27, 32782.02, 31971.91, 33992.43, 36824.36, 39371.04, 40797.61, 40254.55, 38356.44, 35566.66, 33922.96, 37316.36, 39187.33, 36825.37, 36178.14, 35791.28, 36630.07, 36069.80, 35547.75, 30825.70, 33005.76, 32067.64, 32289.38, 32366.39, 32569.85, 30432.55, 33466.10, 34316.39, 34269.52, 33114.36, 33537.18, 35510.29, 37472.09, 36926.07, 38144.31, 39266.01, 38903.44, 46196.46, 46481.11, 44918.18, 47909.33, 47504.85, 47105.52.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2021-02-13]
Volume: 70250456155, RSI (14-day): 71.07, 50-day EMA: 35274.18, 200-day EMA: 22733.70
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
5 Takeaways From Chia Networks New White Paper: It will take 21 years for the rest of the world to mine as much of the Chia (XCH) cryptocurrency as the company behind it will have on the day its mainnet launches next month. We believe that chia, a new digital currency built on our new blockchain with radically different features and security than other digital currencies, will ultimately deliver on the promises of magic internet money,' the company argues in its first version of a new business white paper released on Wednesday. The size of the pre-mine is one notable revelation from the paper, in which Chia also announced its mainnet will launch on March 17 or earlier. Farmers (the networks equivalent of bitcoin miners) will be able to begin farming immediately. The networks cache of pre-mined XCH, however, will be governed using a traditional format: Chia plans to take its company public. Related: The Mainstream Media Narrative Shifts as Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley Come to Bitcoin Chia was founded by Bram Cohen, the creator of BitTorrent , one of the most influential protocols on the internet. The company he founded was later sold to the Tron Foundation in 2018. Chia first announced its intention to go public via the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissions so-called mini-IPO in 2018 , but the decentralized web startup Blockstack won out as the pioneer there, raising $23 million under Regulation A+ in 2019. Last year, Chia raised a fresh round of $5 million in funding led by Slow Ventures. Plans have shifted slightly since then, with the company now planning to, one way or another, take its offering to a national stock exchange where it can be traded by the public and the company will be subject to the same transparency as any publicly traded company. One of Chias early backers was AngelList co-founder Naval Ravikant , who told CoinDesk in an email, I backed Chia because Ive known Bram for a long time and he is one of the greatest living protocol designers (BitTorrent), right up there with Satoshi and Vitalik. Story continues Related: MicroStrategy Begins Hiring for New Bitcoin Initiatives Chia has previously articulated its technical vision, a consensus model called Proof of Space and Time (PoST). This new paper articulates Chias vision for sustainability. Chias president and COO, Gene Hoffman, told CoinDesk that the public should control more XCH than the company much earlier than 21 years and that the token is not the critical component of the consensus model anyway. Unlike most projects, coin ownership has nothing to do with the protocol this is not Proof of Stake, Hoffman explained via email. The chart of ownership percentages of coins in the Whitepaper is a worst case as we expect to use shareholder distribution to migrate XCH out to a broad public shareholder base. CoinDesk went through the new Chia white paper with a fine-tooth comb. Here are five key takeaways from Chias new roadmap. 1. The blockchain is designed to make home mining feasible again PoST relies on loading up unused computer storage space with strings of digits that farmers (what Chia calls blockchain validators) allow to be loaded on their computers. The more space, the more strings, the greater their chance of winning a block. It is super simple. Just download the Mac or Windows version and double click, Hoffman told CoinDesk. Im pretty sure this will be the easiest cryptocurrency to validate for normal people ever. Other blockchains take a similar approach, such as Spacemesh . And Filecoin also seeks to capitalize on unused storage space. In its testnet phases, Chia has reached as many as 1,700 nodes already, which is very likely to indicate something about interest in running a node when mainnet launches next month. Its public chat channel on Keybase has almost 4,000 people in it. 2. Chia favors predictable, continuous inflation over a hard cap Bitcoin maxis fixate on the hard cap , but Chia argues that its not a fixed amount that matters so much as a predictable amount. Chia has no cap, but its also not going to surprise holders with unanticipated emissions . Being able to directly calculate a shared expectation of the total supply at any given time gives much the same financial and peace of mind benefit, the white paper argues. As noted, the company will start the mainnet with 21 million XCH, a nod to bitcoin, and farmers can start earning it right away. While it will take 21 years for the supply to double via farming, Hoffman knows that it will be very close in only six years. Then emissions will slow down considerably under the halving schedule. By then, its likely that the company will have sold or airdropped a considerable amount of XCH. 3. Plans to embrace regulators, particularly by leading with a company that has public reporting requirements We have seen the scams and farces that have come before our project in this space and we will instead embrace the regulators, the white paper states. It should not be controversial that investors deserve protection through public disclosure and certainly the public shouldnt be sold investments without that legally required transparency. By going with a public listing, Chia will essentially allow backers to treat its equity as an exchange-traded fund (ETF) for the XCH cryptocurrency. Thats because the companys chief asset will be a considerable pre-mine (or pre-farm, in Chia lingo) of 21 million XCH that will be held for the company and is slated to be used for advancing the network. Its owned by the company and subject to significant corporate controls that will only get more teeth as and when we go public, Hoffman said. The provisions the company is committed to require it to only use its stash of XCH in ways that benefit XCH holders. We can use the pre-farm to raise capital that only dilutes the shareholders and not the farmers, Hoffman noted. 4. The Chia blockchain has lots of native features that should make familiar crypto applications easier to trust and build Chia comes with a number of features built in from the get-go that may increase trust and safety for users. Here are a few described in the white paper that jumped out. Clawback escrow: Withdrawal clawback escrow adds a time period in which the sender can claw back the funds after the initial transfer moves onto the blockchain. Slow paper wallet: Slow paper wallets allow you to store a smart transaction thats capable of starting a time delayed process to recover your funds in your hot wallet but it is not a duplicate of your private key. Colored coins: Ethereums ERC-20 coins are what colored coins were back when they were still a concept. Chia coloured coins can be used to create ephemeral value and thus applications on the Chia blockchain dont generally require flash loans. This has been one of the achilles heels of DeFi on Ethereum. Flash loans have been the key to attacks on decentralized finance projects such as bZx , Harvest and Yearn Finance . 5. Chia is skeptical about proof-of-stakes security against nation-states and other threats Their assumptions are inferior as they tend to cause centralization and are not as robust as Nakamoto consensus under international geopolitical pressure, the white paper says of proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchains (after dismissing private, permissioned blockchains out of hand). The problem with proof-of-work (PoW), Chia contends, is that it burns too much energy. Nevertheless, Chia also writes in the new white paper that its technology complements bitcoin, the largest PoW network. But PoS, which Ethereum is moving toward , is another matter. Chia does not think the safety of this model is adequate. The white paper contends, A considerable amount of effort is being expended attempting to solve what we believe are intractable problems with Proof of Stake as an alternate strategy to use less electricity securing public blockchains. It cites three key issues: centralization, where tokens tend to concentrate among a few giant holders; long-range attacks , where the history of the chain can be revised more easily than in PoW because there is no, well, work (to speak of) in PoS; and the inability of PoS networks to recover from a 51% attack. It remains to be seen until there is real value on the line, but the hope is that PoST can lower the energy footprint of magic internet money without sacrificing the censorship resistance and decentralization that makes cryptocurrency so appealing to the cypherpunk-inclined and those dealing with unreliable nation-state currencies . Thats the long term. In the immediate term, Chia aims to scale whats worked about crypto so far and build on it in a way thats accessible for everyone. The white paper states: Someday we all might buy coffee in San Francisco with chia, but for now we think banks and governments and De-Fi collectives will use it to build new financial technology, solve cross border payments, and invent a new future that doesnt require trusting so many middle men. Related Stories 5 Takeaways From Chia Networks New White Paper 5 Takeaways From Chia Networks New White Paper || 5 Takeaways From Chia Network’s New White Paper: It will take 21 years for the rest of the world to mine as much of the Chia (XCH) cryptocurrency as the company behind it will have on the day its mainnet launches next month.
“We believe that chia, a new digital currency built on our new blockchain with radically different features and security than other digital currencies, will ultimately deliver on the promises of ‘magic internet money,'” the company argues in its first version ofa new business white paperreleased on Wednesday.
The size of the pre-mine is one notable revelation from the paper, in which Chia also announced its mainnet will launch on March 17 or earlier. Farmers (the network’s equivalent of bitcoin miners) will be able to begin farming immediately. The network’s cache of pre-mined XCH, however, will be governed using a traditional format: Chia plans to take its company public.
Related:The Mainstream Media Narrative Shifts as Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley Come to Bitcoin
Chia was founded by Bram Cohen, the creator ofBitTorrent, one of the most influential protocols on the internet. The company he founded was later soldto the Tron Foundationin 2018.
Chia first announced its intention to go public via the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s so-called mini-IPOin 2018, but the decentralized web startup Blockstack won out as the pioneer there,raising $23 millionunder Regulation A+ in 2019. Last year, Chia raised a fresh round of$5 million in fundingled by Slow Ventures.
Plans have shifted slightly since then, with the company now planning to, one way or another, take its offering to a national stock exchange where it can be traded by the public and the company will be subject to the same transparency as any publicly traded company.
One of Chia’s early backers was AngelList co-founderNaval Ravikant, who told CoinDesk in an email, “I backed Chia because I’ve known Bram for a long time and he is one of the greatest living protocol designers (BitTorrent), right up there with Satoshi and Vitalik.”
Related:MicroStrategy Begins Hiring for New Bitcoin Initiatives
Chia has previously articulated its technical vision, a consensus model called Proof of Space and Time (PoST). This new paper articulates Chia’s vision for sustainability.
Chia’s president and COO, Gene Hoffman, told CoinDesk that the public should control more XCH than the company much earlier than 21 years and that the token is not the critical component of the consensus model anyway.
“Unlike most projects, coin ownership has nothing to do with the protocol – this is not Proof of Stake,” Hoffman explained via email. “The chart of ownership percentages of coins in the Whitepaper is a worst case as we expect to use shareholder distribution to migrate XCH out to a broad public shareholder base.”
CoinDesk went through the new Chia white paper with a fine-tooth comb.
Here are five key takeaways from Chia’s new roadmap.
PoST relies on loading up unused computer storage space with strings of digits that farmers (what Chia calls blockchain validators) allow to be loaded on their computers. The more space, the more strings, the greater their chance of winning a block.
“It is super simple. Just download theMacorWindowsversion and double click,” Hoffman told CoinDesk. “I’m pretty sure this will be the easiest cryptocurrency to validate for normal people ever.”
Other blockchains take a similar approach,such as Spacemesh. AndFilecoin also seeksto capitalize on unused storage space.
In its testnet phases, Chia has reached as many as 1,700 nodes already, which is very likely to indicate something about interest in running a node when mainnet launches next month. Its public chat channelon Keybasehas almost 4,000 people in it.
Bitcoin maxis fixate onthe hard cap, but Chia argues that it’s not a fixed amount that matters so much as a predictable amount. Chia has no cap, but it’s also not going to surprise holders withunanticipated emissions.
“Being able to directly calculate a shared expectation of the total supply at any given time gives much the same financial and peace of mind benefit,” the white paper argues.
As noted, the company will start the mainnet with 21 million XCH, a nod to bitcoin, and farmers can start earning it right away. While it will take 21 years for the supply to double via farming, Hoffman knows that it will be very close in only six years. Then emissions will slow down considerably under the halving schedule.
By then, it’s likely that the company will have sold or airdropped a considerable amount of XCH.
“We have seen the scams and farces that have come before our project in this space and we will instead embrace the regulators,” the white paper states. “It should not be controversial that investors deserve protection through public disclosure and certainly the public shouldn’t be sold investments without that legally required transparency.”
By going with a public listing, Chia will essentially allow backers to treat its equity as an exchange-traded fund (ETF) for the XCH cryptocurrency. That’s because the company’s chief asset will be a considerable pre-mine (or pre-farm, in Chia lingo) of 21 million XCH that will be held for the company and is slated to be used for advancing the network.
“It’s owned by the company and subject to significant corporate controls that will only get more teeth as and when we go public,” Hoffman said. The provisions the company is committed to require it to only use its stash of XCH in ways that benefit XCH holders.
“We can use the pre-farm to raise capital that only dilutes the shareholders and not the farmers,” Hoffman noted.
Chia comes with a number of features built in from the get-go that may increase trust and safety for users.
Here are a few described in the white paper that jumped out.
• Clawback escrow:“Withdrawal clawback escrow adds a time period in which the sender can claw back the funds after the initial transfer moves onto the blockchain.”
• Slow paper wallet:“Slow paper wallets allow you to store a smart transaction that’s capable of starting a time delayed process to recover your funds in your hot wallet but it is not a duplicate of your private key.”
• Colored coins:Ethereum’s ERC-20 coins are what colored coins were back when they were still a concept. “Chia coloured coins can be used to create ephemeral value and thus applications on the Chia blockchain don’t generally require flash loans. This has been one of the achilles heels of DeFi on Ethereum.”
Flash loans have been the key to attacks on decentralized finance projects such asbZx,HarvestandYearn Finance.
“Their assumptions are inferior as they tend to cause centralization and are not as robust as Nakamoto consensus under international geopolitical pressure,” the white paper says of proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchains (after dismissingprivate, permissioned blockchainsout of hand).
The problem with proof-of-work (PoW), Chia contends, is that it burns too much energy. Nevertheless, Chia also writes in the new white paper that its technology complements bitcoin, the largest PoW network.
But PoS, whichEthereum is moving toward, is another matter. Chia does not think the safety of this model is adequate. The white paper contends, “A considerable amount of effort is being expended attempting to solve what we believe are intractable problems with Proof of Stake as an alternate strategy to use less electricity securing public blockchains.”
It cites three key issues: centralization, where tokens tend to concentrate among a few giant holders;long-range attacks, where the history of the chain can be revised more easily than in PoW because there is no, well, work (to speak of) in PoS; and the inability of PoS networks to recover from a 51% attack.
It remains to be seen until there is real value on the line, but the hope is that PoST can lower the energy footprint of “magic internet money” without sacrificing the censorship resistance and decentralization that makes cryptocurrency so appealing to thecypherpunk-inclinedand those dealing withunreliable nation-state currencies.
That’s the long term.
In the immediate term, Chia aims to scale what’s worked about crypto so far and build on it in a way that’s accessible for everyone. The white paper states:
“Someday we all might buy coffee in San Francisco with chia, but for now we think banks and governments and De-Fi collectives will use it to build new financial technology, solve cross border payments, and invent a new future that doesn’t require trusting so many middle men.”
• 5 Takeaways From Chia Network’s New White Paper
• 5 Takeaways From Chia Network’s New White Paper || ARK Invest Boosted Its GBTC Holdings by 2.14M Shares in Q4: Cathie Woods ARK Investment Management increased its holdings of the Grayscale Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC) by 2.14 million shares in the fourth quarter of 2020, bringing its holdings of the market-leading institutional bitcoin investment vehicle to 7.31 million shares. ARK, the actively managed exchange-traded fund run by legendary manager and early bitcoin investor Cathie Wood, made the disclosure in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. At press time, ARKs holdings of GBTC are worth $357.5 million. ARKs boosted stake is an increase from the 5.17 million GBTC shares it held on Oct. 31, 2020. Not only did ARKs holdings in GBTC rise in the fourth quarter, the value of GBTC shares took off as well, reflecting the meteoric rise in the price of bitcoin during that same time period. GBTC shares rose 222% in the fourth quarter and are up 39% so far this year. The price of bitcoin increased 177% in Q4 and is up 63.1% YTD. Grayscale is owned by CoinDesk parent company Digital Currency Group. Related Stories ARK Invest Boosted Its GBTC Holdings by 2.14M Shares in Q4 ARK Invest Boosted Its GBTC Holdings by 2.14M Shares in Q4 ARK Invest Boosted Its GBTC Holdings by 2.14M Shares in Q4 ARK Invest Boosted Its GBTC Holdings by 2.14M Shares in Q4 || ARK Invest Boosted Its GBTC Holdings by 2.14M Shares in Q4: Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management increased its holdings of the Grayscale Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC) by 2.14 million shares in the fourth quarter of 2020, bringing its holdings of the market-leading institutional bitcoin investment vehicle to 7.31 million shares.
• ARK, the actively managed exchange-traded fund run by legendary manager and early bitcoin investor Cathie Wood, made the disclosure in afilingwith the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
• At press time, ARK’s holdings of GBTC are worth $357.5 million.
• ARK’s boosted stake is an increase from the 5.17 million GBTC shares it held on Oct. 31, 2020.
• Not only did ARK’s holdings in GBTC rise in the fourth quarter, the value of GBTC shares took off as well, reflecting the meteoric rise in the price of bitcoin during that same time period.
• GBTC shares rose 222% in the fourth quarter and are up 39% so far this year. The price of bitcoin increased 177% in Q4 and is up 63.1% YTD.
• Grayscale is owned by CoinDesk parent company Digital Currency Group.
• ARK Invest Boosted Its GBTC Holdings by 2.14M Shares in Q4
• ARK Invest Boosted Its GBTC Holdings by 2.14M Shares in Q4
• ARK Invest Boosted Its GBTC Holdings by 2.14M Shares in Q4
• ARK Invest Boosted Its GBTC Holdings by 2.14M Shares in Q4 || MoneyLine Podcast: These Stocks Are the Future. Which Ones Should You Invest In?: It was quite the week. Investor holding pen pointed at on-screen stock chart. Source: Shutterstock Stocks hit new all-time highs. Bitcoin hit new all-time highs, too. And I remain as bullish as ever on both asset classes. That’s what I want to talk about on today’s new episode of MoneyLine . InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips We’ll discuss the market first. All four major indices are at or near record levels, which is an extremely bullish signal overall. Then there is the cryptocurrency market. Just wait until you hear what bitcoin milestone I believe will be the big headline over the weekend. But the even bigger news is that certain altcoins stand to easily outpace their larger counterpart over the long term. You can see that in my Ultimate Crypto portfolio . In just the 13 months since it was launched, our basket of 11 altcoins is up more than 600% … and we just achieved our first 25-bagger! Oh yes, you read that right. One stock is up 25X in 13 months. And I believe we are still in the very early stages on this upward trend as altcoins become a true, mainstream asset class. Elsewhere in the market, there were a lot of SPAC deals announced this week — everything from flying vehicles (oh yeah!) to dog sitters to a unique opportunity in the future of fitness. So of course, I had to include a SPAC Attack segment in the podcast . Remember, though. Not all SPAC deals are created equal. I’ll tell you which deals are a must for your watch list … and which ones should be tossed in the trash. I’ll also discuss the big announcement of 23andMe going public via Sir Richard Branson’s SPAC. You asked and I listened — don’t I always? I dive into six microcap stocks you asked about on Twitter. And boy is it a great list! There’s a new fintech firm in China, a cloud-based crypto mining company, a recent e-bike IPO, and a way to play solar and buildings. But six microcaps weren’t enough. I also share a list of even more microcaps that I came across in my daily screens. Five of the companies I touch on are valued at less than $500 million — and you do not want to miss them . I’m talking about a healthcare IT stock I’ve had my eye on for a long time, a natural food player, and even a company that helps artists sell their art online. Could it possibly be the next Etsy (NASDAQ: ETSY )? Story continues There is so much to talk about before we dive into the long weekend. Click here to watch the latest episode of MoneyLine now. On the date of publication, Matthew McCall did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. Matthew McCall left Wall Street to actually help investors — by getting them into the world’s biggest, most revolutionary trends BEFORE anyone else. Click here to see what Matt has up his sleeve now . More From InvestorPlace Why Everyone Is Investing in 5G All WRONG America’s #1 Stock Picker Reveals His Next 1,000% Winner Revolutionary Tech Behind 5G Rollout Is Being Pioneered By This 1 Company Radical New Battery Could Dismantle Oil Markets The post MoneyLine Podcast: These Stocks Are the Future. Which Ones Should You Invest In? appeared first on InvestorPlace . || MoneyLine Podcast: These Stocks Are the Future. Which Ones Should You Invest In?: It was quite the week. Investor holding pen pointed at on-screen stock chart. Source: Shutterstock Stocks hit new all-time highs. Bitcoin hit new all-time highs, too. And I remain as bullish as ever on both asset classes. That’s what I want to talk about on today’s new episode of MoneyLine . InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips We’ll discuss the market first. All four major indices are at or near record levels, which is an extremely bullish signal overall. Then there is the cryptocurrency market. Just wait until you hear what bitcoin milestone I believe will be the big headline over the weekend. But the even bigger news is that certain altcoins stand to easily outpace their larger counterpart over the long term. You can see that in my Ultimate Crypto portfolio . In just the 13 months since it was launched, our basket of 11 altcoins is up more than 600% … and we just achieved our first 25-bagger! Oh yes, you read that right. One stock is up 25X in 13 months. And I believe we are still in the very early stages on this upward trend as altcoins become a true, mainstream asset class. Elsewhere in the market, there were a lot of SPAC deals announced this week — everything from flying vehicles (oh yeah!) to dog sitters to a unique opportunity in the future of fitness. So of course, I had to include a SPAC Attack segment in the podcast . Remember, though. Not all SPAC deals are created equal. I’ll tell you which deals are a must for your watch list … and which ones should be tossed in the trash. I’ll also discuss the big announcement of 23andMe going public via Sir Richard Branson’s SPAC. You asked and I listened — don’t I always? I dive into six microcap stocks you asked about on Twitter. And boy is it a great list! There’s a new fintech firm in China, a cloud-based crypto mining company, a recent e-bike IPO, and a way to play solar and buildings. But six microcaps weren’t enough. I also share a list of even more microcaps that I came across in my daily screens. Five of the companies I touch on are valued at less than $500 million — and you do not want to miss them . I’m talking about a healthcare IT stock I’ve had my eye on for a long time, a natural food player, and even a company that helps artists sell their art online. Could it possibly be the next Etsy (NASDAQ: ETSY )? Story continues There is so much to talk about before we dive into the long weekend. Click here to watch the latest episode of MoneyLine now. On the date of publication, Matthew McCall did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. Matthew McCall left Wall Street to actually help investors — by getting them into the world’s biggest, most revolutionary trends BEFORE anyone else. Click here to see what Matt has up his sleeve now . More From InvestorPlace Why Everyone Is Investing in 5G All WRONG America’s #1 Stock Picker Reveals His Next 1,000% Winner Revolutionary Tech Behind 5G Rollout Is Being Pioneered By This 1 Company Radical New Battery Could Dismantle Oil Markets The post MoneyLine Podcast: These Stocks Are the Future. Which Ones Should You Invest In? appeared first on InvestorPlace . || GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks hit record highs; yields highest since March: * Wall Street gains for the week * Bitcoin dips after hitting record high * MSCI world equity index up for a 10th day(Updates with U.S. markets closing levels) By Caroline Valetkevitch NEW YORK, Feb 12 (Reuters) - MSCI's gauge of stocks acrossthe globe rose for a 10th straight session on Friday and hitanother record high as investors anticipated new fiscal aid fromWashington to help the U.S. economy recover, while benchmarkU.S. Treasury yields rose to their highest levels since March. On Wall Street, all three major indexes hit record closinghighs, with energy, financial and materials leading gains amongS&P sectors as investors snapped up cyclical and under-pricedvalue stocks. All three indexes also posted gainsfor the week. The Cboe Volatility Index, Wall Street's fear gauge,ended below 20 for the first time since February 2020, shortlybefore the coronavirus pandemic roiled U.S. stocks. "We're underestimating the lag effect of all the money inthe system as more and more vaccinations are delivered and asmore of the country reopens" from business shutdowns, saidThomas Hayes, chairman and managing member of hedge fund GreatHill Capital LLC in New York. "We are continuing this rotation that would be consistentwith the new business cycle, and as (bond) yields go up, valueand cyclicals will lead," Hayes said. U.S. President Joe Biden pushed for the first majorlegislative achievement of his term, turning to a bipartisangroup of local officials for help on his $1.9 trillioncoronavirus relief plan. The dollar was slightly higher, coming off its strongestlevel for the day, as risk appetite returned to the market,while Bitcoin was down 1.3% on the day at $47,356,after hitting a record high of $49,000. It posted gains ofroughly 20% in a milestone week marked by the endorsement ofmajor firms such as Elon Musk's Tesla. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 27.7 points, or0.09%, to 31,458.4, the S&P 500 gained 18.45 points, or0.47%, to 3,934.83 and the Nasdaq Composite added 69.70points, or 0.5%, to 14,095.47. Story continues The U.S. stock market will be closed on Monday because ofthe Presidents Day holiday. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.64% andMSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe gained0.37%. In the bond market, investors closed positions ahead of along U.S. weekend, while inflation expectations edged up to asix-year high. Benchmark 10-year yields rose to 1.203%, justpipping an 11-month high of 1.20% that was set on Monday. The dollar index rose 0.042%, with the eurodown 0.08% to $1.2118. Oil prices climbed more than 2%, hitting the highest levelsin more than a year on hopes a U.S. stimulus will boost theeconomy and fuel demand. Brent crude rose $1.29 to settle at $62.43 a barrelafter rising to a session high of $62.83, the highest since Jan.22, 2020. U.S. oil gained $1.23 to $59.47 after rising toa session high of $59.82, the highest since Jan. 9, 2020. Spot gold dropped 0.1% to $1,823.46 an ounce. (Additional reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru and HerbertLash and Karen Brettell in New York; Editing by Nick Zieminskiand David Gregorio) || GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks hit record highs; yields highest since March: * Wall Street gains for the week
* Bitcoin dips after hitting record high
* MSCI world equity index up for a 10th day(Updates with U.S. markets closing levels)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Feb 12 (Reuters) - MSCI's gauge of stocks acrossthe globe rose for a 10th straight session on Friday and hitanother record high as investors anticipated new fiscal aid fromWashington to help the U.S. economy recover, while benchmarkU.S. Treasury yields rose to their highest levels since March.
On Wall Street, all three major indexes hit record closinghighs, with energy, financial and materials leading gains amongS&P sectors as investors snapped up cyclical and under-pricedvalue stocks. All three indexes also posted gainsfor the week.
The Cboe Volatility Index, Wall Street's fear gauge,ended below 20 for the first time since February 2020, shortlybefore the coronavirus pandemic roiled U.S. stocks.
"We're underestimating the lag effect of all the money inthe system as more and more vaccinations are delivered and asmore of the country reopens" from business shutdowns, saidThomas Hayes, chairman and managing member of hedge fund GreatHill Capital LLC in New York.
"We are continuing this rotation that would be consistentwith the new business cycle, and as (bond) yields go up, valueand cyclicals will lead," Hayes said.
U.S. President Joe Biden pushed for the first majorlegislative achievement of his term, turning to a bipartisangroup of local officials for help on his $1.9 trillioncoronavirus relief plan.
The dollar was slightly higher, coming off its strongestlevel for the day, as risk appetite returned to the market,while Bitcoin was down 1.3% on the day at $47,356,after hitting a record high of $49,000. It posted gains ofroughly 20% in a milestone week marked by the endorsement ofmajor firms such as Elon Musk's Tesla.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 27.7 points, or0.09%, to 31,458.4, the S&P 500 gained 18.45 points, or0.47%, to 3,934.83 and the Nasdaq Composite added 69.70points, or 0.5%, to 14,095.47.
The U.S. stock market will be closed on Monday because ofthe Presidents Day holiday.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.64% andMSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe gained0.37%.
In the bond market, investors closed positions ahead of along U.S. weekend, while inflation expectations edged up to asix-year high.
Benchmark 10-year yields rose to 1.203%, justpipping an 11-month high of 1.20% that was set on Monday.
The dollar index rose 0.042%, with the eurodown 0.08% to $1.2118.
Oil prices climbed more than 2%, hitting the highest levelsin more than a year on hopes a U.S. stimulus will boost theeconomy and fuel demand.
Brent crude rose $1.29 to settle at $62.43 a barrelafter rising to a session high of $62.83, the highest since Jan.22, 2020. U.S. oil gained $1.23 to $59.47 after rising toa session high of $59.82, the highest since Jan. 9, 2020.
Spot gold dropped 0.1% to $1,823.46 an ounce.
(Additional reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru and HerbertLash and Karen Brettell in New York; Editing by Nick Zieminskiand David Gregorio) || Argo Blockchain’s 1500% Rise Comes with a Warning: Don’t Buy Me: Since December,Argo Blockchain(OTCMKTS:ARBKF) stock has ridden theBitcoin(CCC:BTC-USD) rocket ship to new heights. After listing on the OTC markets last year, the U.K.-listed blockchain mining company has seen shares rise from $0.17 to $2.72 — a stunning 1,500% return. The reason for the outsized returns is simple: cryptocurrency miners have incredibly high operating leverage. That means the doubling in Bitcoin prices since late last year will increase mining profitability by an even greater magnitude.
Source: Shutterstock
But dig deeper and another truth emerges: U.S. investors are so starved for suitable cryptocurrency investments that value has ceased to matter. As ARBKF stock continues to outrun its primary U.K. listing, smart traders will quickly realize the lunacy of the situation.
So, buyer beware. ARBKF’s latest rise is not what it seems.
InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips
Argo Blockchain runs a relatively simple business, operating around 18,000 cryptocurrency mining machines across Quebec, Canada. The company alsoowns a large chunk of Bitcoin. Beyond that, however, things start to get complicated.
• 8 Cheap Stocks Under $20 That Could Double
That’s because it has two different listings. Its ordinary shares list on theLondon Stock Exchange(LSE), generating about 70% of the firm’s trading volume. But it also has stock that trades over-the-counter in the United States. These grey-market shares make up the balance of the stock’s trading volume. Typically, shares on different exchanges should march in lockstep since they represent ownership in the same company. Arbitrage traders can eliminate any difference with long-short strategies, earning themselves virtually risk-free profits in the process.
But these are not regular times. On Friday, ARBKF jumped about 44% as investors digested news of Argo opening aTexas-based mining operation. The OTC listing now trades at an over 40% premium to its London-based counterpart, a spread that would make most arbitrage traders blink in disbelief.
Source: Data courtesy of Thompson Reuters
In practice, taking advantage of arbitrage opportunities is harder than it seems. ARBKF stock’s run came fifteen minutes after the London Exchange’s closing bell, so buyers would have needed access to an after-hours market. And on the U.S. side, most brokerages do not allow investors to short OTC stocks, making ARBFK far harder to sell.
The price difference, however, should serve as a clear warning to investors buying ARBKF stock. Though prices can act irrationally in the short-run, they eventually converge to fair value. A similar run sent the stock soaring to $0.75 on Dec. 28, a 200% premium to its underlying London shares. The two converged the following day, leaving U.S. investors nursing significant losses. When markets reopen next week, investors can expect the same story to eventually play out.
It’s easy to see the allure of cryptocurrency stocks like ARBKF stock. With significant companies — fromTesla(NASDAQ:TSLA) toMastercard(NYSE:MA) — starting to get into Bitcoin, any firm that provides the tools of the trade should profit. And mining companies fall in that bucket.
The mania, however, has also highlighted the flaws in cryptocurrency mining businesses. In January, Argo announced they hadbought 172.5 Bitcoin, joiningMarathon Patent Group(NASDAQ:MARA) in switching from mining the currency to buying it outright. That’s because cryptocurrency mining is a low-margin business — miners exist only to convert cash and electricity into cryptocurrency. Few of them have any special sauce of their own.
Instead, most mining firms wait for months to buy the latest Antminers (mining hardware), usually at a handsome premium to list prices. And by the time these firms receive the machines, a new generation of miners would have rendered the old ones halfway-obsolete. Instead, they rely on rising cryptocurrency prices to outweigh their massive energy costs.
The winners, meanwhile, are companies likeBitmainandMicroBTthat produce mining equipment. Some believe these firms are worthupwards of $50 billion.
As investors look for their next cryptocurrency investment, they should remember this: crypto miners are a leveraged play on Bitcoin prices. People looking for the same upside can buy Bitcoin options on theChicago Mercantile Exchange(CME). And as a bonus, call options have limited downside.
So, when it comes to companies like Argo Blockchain, investors might consider BTC options instead of ARBKF stock. Because when shares on a London exchange rise only slightly one day and the same stock on the OTC one goes up over 40%, something is amiss.
On the date of publication, Tom Yeung did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
Tom Yeung, CFA, is a registered investment advisor on a mission to bring simplicity to the world of investing.
• Why Everyone Is Investing in 5G All WRONG
• Top Stock Picker Reveals His Next Potential Winner
• It doesn’t matter if you have $500 in savings or $5 million. Do this now.
• #1 Play to Profit from Biden's Presidency
The postArgo Blockchain’s 1500% Rise Comes with a Warning: Don’t Buy Meappeared first onInvestorPlace. || Argo Blockchains 1500% Rise Comes with a Warning: Dont Buy Me: Since December, Argo Blockchain (OTCMKTS: ARBKF ) stock has ridden the Bitcoin (CCC: BTC-USD ) rocket ship to new heights. After listing on the OTC markets last year, the U.K.-listed blockchain mining company has seen shares rise from $0.17 to $2.72 a stunning 1,500% return. The reason for the outsized returns is simple: cryptocurrency miners have incredibly high operating leverage. That means the doubling in Bitcoin prices since late last year will increase mining profitability by an even greater magnitude. futuristic image of a hand with the words block chain floating above it. representing riot blockchain stocks Source: Shutterstock But dig deeper and another truth emerges: U.S. investors are so starved for suitable cryptocurrency investments that value has ceased to matter. As ARBKF stock continues to outrun its primary U.K. listing, smart traders will quickly realize the lunacy of the situation. So, buyer beware. ARBKFs latest rise is not what it seems. InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips ARBKF Stock: Detached from ARB Argo Blockchain runs a relatively simple business, operating around 18,000 cryptocurrency mining machines across Quebec, Canada. The company also owns a large chunk of Bitcoin . Beyond that, however, things start to get complicated. 8 Cheap Stocks Under $20 That Could Double Thats because it has two different listings. Its ordinary shares list on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), generating about 70% of the firms trading volume. But it also has stock that trades over-the-counter in the United States. These grey-market shares make up the balance of the stocks trading volume. Typically, shares on different exchanges should march in lockstep since they represent ownership in the same company. Arbitrage traders can eliminate any difference with long-short strategies, earning themselves virtually risk-free profits in the process. But these are not regular times. On Friday, ARBKF jumped about 44% as investors digested news of Argo opening a Texas-based mining operation . The OTC listing now trades at an over 40% premium to its London-based counterpart, a spread that would make most arbitrage traders blink in disbelief. Story continues Source: Data courtesy of Thompson Reuters Can Regular Investors Profit? In practice, taking advantage of arbitrage opportunities is harder than it seems. ARBKF stocks run came fifteen minutes after the London Exchanges closing bell, so buyers would have needed access to an after-hours market. And on the U.S. side, most brokerages do not allow investors to short OTC stocks, making ARBFK far harder to sell. The price difference, however, should serve as a clear warning to investors buying ARBKF stock. Though prices can act irrationally in the short-run, they eventually converge to fair value. A similar run sent the stock soaring to $0.75 on Dec. 28, a 200% premium to its underlying London shares. The two converged the following day, leaving U.S. investors nursing significant losses. When markets reopen next week, investors can expect the same story to eventually play out. Argo to Investors: Crypto Investing is Broken Its easy to see the allure of cryptocurrency stocks like ARBKF stock. With significant companies from Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA ) to Mastercard (NYSE: MA ) starting to get into Bitcoin, any firm that provides the tools of the trade should profit. And mining companies fall in that bucket. The mania, however, has also highlighted the flaws in cryptocurrency mining businesses. In January, Argo announced they had bought 172.5 Bitcoin , joining Marathon Patent Group (NASDAQ: MARA ) in switching from mining the currency to buying it outright. Thats because cryptocurrency mining is a low-margin business miners exist only to convert cash and electricity into cryptocurrency. Few of them have any special sauce of their own. Instead, most mining firms wait for months to buy the latest Antminers (mining hardware), usually at a handsome premium to list prices. And by the time these firms receive the machines, a new generation of miners would have rendered the old ones halfway-obsolete. Instead, they rely on rising cryptocurrency prices to outweigh their massive energy costs. The winners, meanwhile, are companies like Bitmain and MicroBT that produce mining equipment. Some believe these firms are worth upwards of $50 billion . What to Do with Argo Blockchain? As investors look for their next cryptocurrency investment, they should remember this: crypto miners are a leveraged play on Bitcoin prices. People looking for the same upside can buy Bitcoin options on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). And as a bonus, call options have limited downside. So, when it comes to companies like Argo Blockchain, investors might consider BTC options instead of ARBKF stock. Because when shares on a London exchange rise only slightly one day and the same stock on the OTC one goes up over 40%, something is amiss. On the date of publication, Tom Yeung did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. Tom Yeung, CFA, is a registered investment advisor on a mission to bring simplicity to the world of investing. More From InvestorPlace Why Everyone Is Investing in 5G All WRONG Top Stock Picker Reveals His Next Potential Winner It doesnt matter if you have $500 in savings or $5 million. Do this now. #1 Play to Profit from Biden's Presidency The post Argo Blockchains 1500% Rise Comes with a Warning: Dont Buy Me appeared first on InvestorPlace . || Why this bitcoin-owning senator wants Elon Musk to move to Wyoming: On Feb. 8 Tesla disclosed in an SEC filing that the company invested $1.5 billion in bitcoin ( BTC ) in January, and aims “to begin accepting bitcoin as a form of payment for our products in the near future.” Soon after Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R., Wyo.) tweeted an invitation to Tesla CEO Elon Musk inviting him to move to Wyoming, saying the state has the "best laws for digital assets in the U.S." "He's a great innovator and Wyoming is the perfect state for innovation," said Lummis in an interview with Yahoo Finance. "We want to make sure that we have a place for people who understand the benefits of Bitcoin to locate their business." Lummis pointed to Wyoming's low tax burden – no state income or corporate taxes – as selling points. She also said the state has been more open to cryptocurrencies than other states. "We have special depository financial institutions that were created specifically to transact business and hold deposits in bitcoin, and even passed laws to create a chancery court -- which will be an avenue to create case law, for the rest of the country that they can turn to as instructive to how to resolve commercial issues and transaction issues in Bitcoin," said Lummis. "We think we're the innovator." So far, the senator hasn't heard back from Musk. "I am just dying to have a dialogue with him," said Lummis. Musk announced late last year that he moved to Texas. 'I just don't want us to mess this up' Lummis is the first senator known to own bitcoin and told Yahoo Finance she has no plans to sell it. The new senator, who took office in January, is part of the Senate Banking Committee and says she'll make cryptocurrencies one of her priorities. "I just don't want us to mess this up, because I see it as so helpful in terms of being a store of value for everyday Americans going into the future," said Lummis. "I'd hate to see government that is accustomed -- because it has a fiat currency – to regulating, feel that it's going to be a better regulator than the innovators who created bitcoin and continue to nurture it." Story continues Lummis is launching a financial innovation caucus to focus on digital assets and emerging financial technologies, with the goal of educating senators about bitcoin as they consider future regulation. [READ MORE: How bitcoin narratives have evolved to fuel current price surge ] "Very little is known by policymakers here in the U.S. Senate about bitcoin. I don't think there's an appreciation for how important it's going to be going forward as we continue to debase the U.S. dollar by overspending, by having no plan to retire any of the debt that we're accruing," said Lummis. Gary Gensler, President Joe Biden's nominee for SEC Chair, is very familiar with the crypto world. He taught a course on cryptocurrencies at MIT and has testified before Congress on the subject. He has both acknowledged the potential and advocated for greater regulation in the space. "We have to allow it to innovate, but still have the ability to make sure it is very safe and secure...from fraud and criminal activity," said Lummis. Jessica Smith is chief political correspondent for Yahoo Finance, based in Washington, D.C. Follow her on Twitter at @JessicaASmith8 . Read more: Biden: US needs to 'step up' with infrastructure plan, or China will 'eat our lunch' Tax code should not be optional for billionaires: Senate Finance chairman Sen. Wyden: 'Absolutely unacceptable' not to have another stimulus bill before mid-March unemployment cliff CBO: $15 minimum wage hike would cost 1.4M jobs, lift 900K out of poverty Congresswoman warns of surprise tax bills for unemployed workers if Congress doesn't act || Why this bitcoin-owning senator wants Elon Musk to move to Wyoming: On Feb. 8 Tesladisclosed in an SEC filingthat thecompany invested $1.5 billionin bitcoin (BTC) in January, and aims “to begin accepting bitcoin as a form of payment for our products in the near future.”
Soon after Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R., Wyo.)tweetedan invitation toTesla CEO Elon Muskinviting him to move to Wyoming, saying the state has the "best laws for digital assets in the U.S."
"He's a great innovator and Wyoming is the perfect state for innovation," said Lummis in an interview with Yahoo Finance. "We want to make sure that we have a place for people who understand the benefits of Bitcoin to locate their business."
Lummis pointed to Wyoming's low tax burden – no state income or corporate taxes – as selling points. She also said the state has been more open to cryptocurrencies than other states.
"We have special depository financial institutions that were created specifically to transact business and hold deposits in bitcoin, and even passed laws to create achancery court-- which will be an avenue to create case law, for the rest of the country that they can turn to as instructive to how to resolve commercial issues and transaction issues in Bitcoin," said Lummis. "We think we're the innovator."
So far, the senator hasn't heard back from Musk.
"I am just dying to have a dialogue with him," said Lummis.
Muskannounced late last yearthat he moved to Texas.
Lummis is the first senator known to own bitcoin and told Yahoo Finance she has no plans to sell it. The new senator, who took office in January, is part of the Senate Banking Committee and says she'll make cryptocurrencies one of her priorities.
"I just don't want us to mess this up, because I see it as so helpful in terms of being a store of value for everyday Americans going into the future," said Lummis. "I'd hate to see government that is accustomed -- because it has a fiat currency – to regulating, feel that it's going to be a better regulator than the innovators who created bitcoin and continue to nurture it."
Lummis is launching a financial innovation caucus to focus on digital assets and emerging financial technologies, with the goal of educating senators about bitcoin as they consider future regulation.
[READ MORE:How bitcoin narratives have evolved to fuel current price surge]
"Very little is known by policymakers here in the U.S. Senate about bitcoin. I don't think there's an appreciation for how important it's going to be going forward as we continue to debase the U.S. dollar by overspending, by having no plan to retire any of the debt that we're accruing," said Lummis.
Gary Gensler, President Joe Biden's nominee for SEC Chair,is very familiarwith the crypto world. He taught a course on cryptocurrencies at MIT and has testified before Congress on the subject. He has both acknowledged the potential andadvocated for greater regulationin the space.
"We have to allow it to innovate, but still have the ability to make sure it is very safe and secure...from fraud and criminal activity," said Lummis.
Jessica Smith is chief political correspondent for Yahoo Finance, based in Washington, D.C. Follow her on Twitter at@JessicaASmith8.
Read more:
• Biden: US needs to 'step up' with infrastructure plan, or China will 'eat our lunch'
• Tax code should not be optional for billionaires: Senate Finance chairman
• Sen. Wyden: 'Absolutely unacceptable' not to have another stimulus bill before mid-March unemployment cliff
• CBO: $15 minimum wage hike would cost 1.4M jobs, lift 900K out of poverty
• Congresswoman warns of surprise tax bills for unemployed workers if Congress doesn't act || Market Wrap: Ether Sets New Highs as Bitcoin Stays Below $49K: The price of bitcoin struggled to regain $49,000 Friday, continuing to bounce between $48,000 and $46,000 heading into the weekend. As bitcoin contemplated which way to go, ether made a new all-time high above $1,850.
• Bitcoin(BTC) trading around $47,600 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Slipping less than 1% over the previous 24 hours.
• Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $46,286 to $48,925
Much of bitcoin’s choppy price action could be attributed to futures deleveraging as eager bulls piled into long trades expecting a swift breakout to $50,000 or higher. Funding rates for perpetual bitcoin futures have steadily increased through February, according to market data collected bySkew, with some funding rates reaching their highest levels in the past 12 months.
High positive funding rates signal an increase in long positions, whereas negative rates indicate a more bearish sentiment. The market tends to reset when traders, especially in overcrowded derivatives positions, become overly bearish or bullish.
Related:Institutions Not Worried About Bitcoin Dropping Below $40K, Options Data Shows
Read more:First North American Bitcoin ETF Approved by Canadian Securities Regulator
In the past 24 hours, over $330 million worth of bitcoin futures contracts were liquidated, according to market data fromBybt. Most of the liquidated positions were longs.
Despite the choppy price action, news over the past few days has been extraordinarily bullish for the leading cryptocurrency. In one week,Teslabought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin, Twitter’s CFOsaidthe company is considering investing in the cryptocurrency, BNY Mellonannouncedplans to custody bitcoin for its clients, and PayPalconfirmedits plans to add crypto to its Venmo product.
Ether(ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was up Friday trading around $1,850 and climbing 3% in 24 hours as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).
Related:New Emerging Markets Fund Targets Blockchain, DeFi Startups
As it set new record highs above $1,850, other decentralized finance-related (DeFi) cryptocurrencies followed suit, with some even outperforming ether. The DeFi sector in aggregate rallied over 5% in the past 24 hours, according toMessari, led by Uniswap, yearn.finance and others, which gained by double-digit percentages.
Read more:Ethereum 2.0 Deposit Contract Tops $5.5B in Staked Ether
Ether’s fresh highs come the same week the CME launched its ether futures market, which some traders anticipated would be a bearish catalyst for the market. The expectations were almost exclusively pinned to the ominous timing of bitcoin’s peak in 2017 near the launch of CME’s bitcoin futures market. Yet, so far the bearish thesis has not played out.
Since CME’s futureslaunch, ether has rallied over 12%. The product has had a quiet start, with less than $200 million worth of contracts traded this week. In contrast, Binance’s ether futures have traded nearly $40 billion worth this week.
Read more:Former Bitcoin Developer Mike Hearn Steps Down From Enterprise Blockchain Firm R3
Digital assets on theCoinDesk 20are mainly green Friday. Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• algorand(ALGO) + 40%
• tezos(XTZ) + 30%
• orchid(OXT) + 28%
Notable loser:
• cardano(ADA) – 4.5%
Equities:
• Asia’s Nikkei 225 closed the day down nearly 43 points at 29,520.
• The FTSE 100 in Europe gained over 1% heading into the weekend, up to 6,600.
• The S&P 500 in the United States closed the day up 0.5% to 3,934.
Read more:Crypto Payments Provider BitPay Adds Apple Pay Support
Commodities:
• Oil gained 3%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $59.50.
• Gold was in red less than 1% at $1,818 as of press time.
Treasuries:
• The 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield climbed Friday to 11.98, in the green 3.5%.
• Market Wrap: Ether Sets New Highs as Bitcoin Stays Below $49K
• Market Wrap: Ether Sets New Highs as Bitcoin Stays Below $49K || Market Wrap: Ether Sets New Highs as Bitcoin Stays Below $49K: The price of bitcoin struggled to regain $49,000 Friday, continuing to bounce between $48,000 and $46,000 heading into the weekend. As bitcoin contemplated which way to go, ether made a new all-time high above $1,850. Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $47,600 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Slipping less than 1% over the previous 24 hours. Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $46,286 to $48,925 Much of bitcoin’s choppy price action could be attributed to futures deleveraging as eager bulls piled into long trades expecting a swift breakout to $50,000 or higher. Funding rates for perpetual bitcoin futures have steadily increased through February, according to market data collected by Skew , with some funding rates reaching their highest levels in the past 12 months. High positive funding rates signal an increase in long positions, whereas negative rates indicate a more bearish sentiment. The market tends to reset when traders, especially in overcrowded derivatives positions, become overly bearish or bullish. Related: Institutions Not Worried About Bitcoin Dropping Below $40K, Options Data Shows Read more: First North American Bitcoin ETF Approved by Canadian Securities Regulator In the past 24 hours, over $330 million worth of bitcoin futures contracts were liquidated, according to market data from Bybt . Most of the liquidated positions were longs. Despite the choppy price action, news over the past few days has been extraordinarily bullish for the leading cryptocurrency. In one week, Tesla bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin, Twitter’s CFO said the company is considering investing in the cryptocurrency, BNY Mellon announced plans to custody bitcoin for its clients, and PayPal confirmed its plans to add crypto to its Venmo product. Ether leads the DeFi way Ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was up Friday trading around $1,850 and climbing 3% in 24 hours as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET). Related: New Emerging Markets Fund Targets Blockchain, DeFi Startups Story continues As it set new record highs above $1,850, other decentralized finance-related (DeFi) cryptocurrencies followed suit, with some even outperforming ether. The DeFi sector in aggregate rallied over 5% in the past 24 hours, according to Messari , led by Uniswap, yearn.finance and others, which gained by double-digit percentages. Read more: Ethereum 2.0 Deposit Contract Tops $5.5B in Staked Ether Ether’s fresh highs come the same week the CME launched its ether futures market, which some traders anticipated would be a bearish catalyst for the market. The expectations were almost exclusively pinned to the ominous timing of bitcoin’s peak in 2017 near the launch of CME’s bitcoin futures market. Yet, so far the bearish thesis has not played out. Since CME’s futures launch , ether has rallied over 12%. The product has had a quiet start, with less than $200 million worth of contracts traded this week. In contrast, Binance’s ether futures have traded nearly $40 billion worth this week. Read more: Former Bitcoin Developer Mike Hearn Steps Down From Enterprise Blockchain Firm R3 Other markets Digital assets on the CoinDesk 20 are mainly green Friday. Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET): algorand (ALGO) + 40% tezos (XTZ) + 30% orchid (OXT) + 28% Notable loser: cardano (ADA) – 4.5% Equities: Asia’s Nikkei 225 closed the day down nearly 43 points at 29,520. The FTSE 100 in Europe gained over 1% heading into the weekend, up to 6,600. The S&P 500 in the United States closed the day up 0.5% to 3,934. Read more: Crypto Payments Provider BitPay Adds Apple Pay Support Commodities: Oil gained 3%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $59.50. Gold was in red less than 1% at $1,818 as of press time. Treasuries: The 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield climbed Friday to 11.98, in the green 3.5%. Related Stories Market Wrap: Ether Sets New Highs as Bitcoin Stays Below $49K Market Wrap: Ether Sets New Highs as Bitcoin Stays Below $49K || Market Wrap: Ether Sets New Highs as Bitcoin Stays Below $49K: The price of bitcoin struggled to regain $49,000 Friday, continuing to bounce between $48,000 and $46,000 heading into the weekend. As bitcoin contemplated which way to go, ether made a new all-time high above $1,850.
• Bitcoin(BTC) trading around $47,600 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Slipping less than 1% over the previous 24 hours.
• Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $46,286 to $48,925
Much of bitcoin’s choppy price action could be attributed to futures deleveraging as eager bulls piled into long trades expecting a swift breakout to $50,000 or higher. Funding rates for perpetual bitcoin futures have steadily increased through February, according to market data collected bySkew, with some funding rates reaching their highest levels in the past 12 months.
High positive funding rates signal an increase in long positions, whereas negative rates indicate a more bearish sentiment. The market tends to reset when traders, especially in overcrowded derivatives positions, become overly bearish or bullish.
Related:Institutions Not Worried About Bitcoin Dropping Below $40K, Options Data Shows
Read more:First North American Bitcoin ETF Approved by Canadian Securities Regulator
In the past 24 hours, over $330 million worth of bitcoin futures contracts were liquidated, according to market data fromBybt. Most of the liquidated positions were longs.
Despite the choppy price action, news over the past few days has been extraordinarily bullish for the leading cryptocurrency. In one week,Teslabought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin, Twitter’s CFOsaidthe company is considering investing in the cryptocurrency, BNY Mellonannouncedplans to custody bitcoin for its clients, and PayPalconfirmedits plans to add crypto to its Venmo product.
Ether(ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was up Friday trading around $1,850 and climbing 3% in 24 hours as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).
Related:New Emerging Markets Fund Targets Blockchain, DeFi Startups
As it set new record highs above $1,850, other decentralized finance-related (DeFi) cryptocurrencies followed suit, with some even outperforming ether. The DeFi sector in aggregate rallied over 5% in the past 24 hours, according toMessari, led by Uniswap, yearn.finance and others, which gained by double-digit percentages.
Read more:Ethereum 2.0 Deposit Contract Tops $5.5B in Staked Ether
Ether’s fresh highs come the same week the CME launched its ether futures market, which some traders anticipated would be a bearish catalyst for the market. The expectations were almost exclusively pinned to the ominous timing of bitcoin’s peak in 2017 near the launch of CME’s bitcoin futures market. Yet, so far the bearish thesis has not played out.
Since CME’s futureslaunch, ether has rallied over 12%. The product has had a quiet start, with less than $200 million worth of contracts traded this week. In contrast, Binance’s ether futures have traded nearly $40 billion worth this week.
Read more:Former Bitcoin Developer Mike Hearn Steps Down From Enterprise Blockchain Firm R3
Digital assets on theCoinDesk 20are mainly green Friday. Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• algorand(ALGO) + 40%
• tezos(XTZ) + 30%
• orchid(OXT) + 28%
Notable loser:
• cardano(ADA) – 4.5%
Equities:
• Asia’s Nikkei 225 closed the day down nearly 43 points at 29,520.
• The FTSE 100 in Europe gained over 1% heading into the weekend, up to 6,600.
• The S&P 500 in the United States closed the day up 0.5% to 3,934.
Read more:Crypto Payments Provider BitPay Adds Apple Pay Support
Commodities:
• Oil gained 3%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $59.50.
• Gold was in red less than 1% at $1,818 as of press time.
Treasuries:
• The 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield climbed Friday to 11.98, in the green 3.5%.
• Market Wrap: Ether Sets New Highs as Bitcoin Stays Below $49K
• Market Wrap: Ether Sets New Highs as Bitcoin Stays Below $49K || Banks Might Treat Bitcoin Like Real Money These Experts Weigh the Pros and Cons: Susan Walsh/AP/Shutterstock / Susan Walsh/AP/Shutterstock As the cryptocurrency Bitcoin rallied again this week, opening Friday at $46,645.20 USD, Wall Street bank leaders have been discussing classifying Bitcoin as a legitimate asset class , CNBC reports. Does that mean it will function like so-called real money? See: Womens Savings Are Shockingly Low Inside the Gender Money Gap Made Worse by COVID-19 Find: Crypto Bubble Brings a Curious Problem for Investors In a town hall meeting last month, JPMorgan co-president Daniel Pinto discussed the future possibility of accepting Bitcoin as an asset class. If over time an asset class develops that is going to be used by different asset managers and investors, we will have to be involved, he told CNBC. The demand isnt there yet, but Im sure it will be at some point. Similarly, Goldman Sachs discussed digital assets last week with CEO and founder of the crypto firm Galaxy Digital, Mike Novogratz. Bitcoin is 44k. How many people still want to tell me it's a bubble or "not real money". Cesare Coscia (@Cesare_C) February 8, 2021 All this comes on the heels of Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announcing that Tesla had invested in $1.5 billion of Bitcoin and, perhaps more significantly, revealed plans to accept the cryptocurrency for Tesla electric vehicle purchases in the future. However, although smaller businesses already may accept crypto for purchases and it recently became possible to purchase not just Bitcoin but Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash through Paypal, embracing crypto as currency carries risks to both businesses and consumers. See: Tesla Buys $1.5 Billion in Bitcoin, Says It Will Soon Accept It as Form of Payment Find: PayPal Finally Welcomes Bitcoin, More Cryptocurrencies Purchasing Consumer Products with Crypto: Risks and Rewards The risk comes with the volatility of the Bitcoin market, says Daniel Polotsky, crypto expert and CEO of crypto ATM provider CoinFlip. If a business is trying to pinpoint exactly what theyre going to get for the product theyre selling, volatility is a problem there. Story continues He tells GoBankingRates that the volatility also presents a potential problem for consumers, especially for individuals who are trying to plan ahead for big-ticket purchases. If youre going to purchase a car for $50,000 and the next day your crypto is only worth $30,000, you cant necessarily time it right, so you could wind up short. Obviously, the way to mitigate that is to turn it into cash prior to making the purchase, he explains. In an act of pure alchemy unmatched even by Henry Ford, @elonmusk has driven up the price of bitcoin so much I can now afford to buy one of his cars. Rory Sutherland (@rorysutherland) February 10, 2021 Of course, then youre using Bitcoin as an investment rather than currency. Either way, youll need to factor in capital gains taxes and losses. Tax ramifications are one of the bigger challenges, Polotsky says. Every time you use Bitcoin, its technically a taxable event either you lost on the value of the currency, or you gained on the value of the Bitcoin you used to buy something and then you have to pay capital gains, much like stocks. See: Why Some Money Experts Believe In Bitcoin and Others Dont Find: The Most Googled Money Questions Answered Using Bitcoin as currency can also pose challenges for businesses and consumers who like to budget carefully. From a day-to-day standpoint, if someone absolutely needs a certain amount of dollars to pay their bills, it could be a bit scary, Polotny says. James Page, crypto technical writer for Crypto Head, agrees that there are tremendous risks to retailers and consumers alike. In an email interview, he told GoBankingRates, A car is a big investment that could make Bitcoin the best choice to pay for it, but Bitcoins crazy price fluctuations could pose a major danger to any retailer who wishes to adopt it. Likewise, he said, It might take a while until those who have made a profit trading in Bitcoin will use it to purchase a vehicle. At present, most people would not dare take the risk of such an expensive purchase. See: One Hashtag from Elon Musk Makes Bitcoin Spike in Minutes Find: What Are Digital Wallets? Ryan George, chief marketing officer at Docupace, a platform that helps digitize operations in the investment industry, takes a different perspective. Who says crypto is not yet viewed as currency? he ponders. Right now, people are using cryptocurrency to buy and sell everything from [Sony] Xbox game consoles to Teslas, he says, referencing private sellers rather than retailers. Crypto is a currency because those who sell things swap it with those who buy things, he says. See: These Red Flags on Your 2020 Tax Return Could Spark Interest from the IRS Find: Bitcoins Bull Run Is on a Rampage But How Long Will It Last? Bitcoin as an Investment Whether youre using Bitcoin on the private market to trade items with friends or viewing it as a buy and hold investment, its important to remember an important rule of investing: Diversification is key. I think Teslas acceptance of Bitcoin for purchases is part of the diversification strategy, Page says. This means that he sees as any other corporate buyer does. Tesla sees the merit of using Bitcoin. Its a high risk and high reward investment, and lately, its been more rewarding. Polotny recommends that small businesses and retail investors alike follow Teslas lead and put a small share of their holdings into Bitcoin. While Bitcoin is volatile day to day, it is the best performing asset of the last 10 years, he says. I think its more of a safe-haven asset than a currency today. See: Long-Term Investors Hold Most of the Bitcoin Supply Find: Mark Cuban Bitcoin is Exactly like the Dot Com Bubble The Bitcoin Revolution Page also mentions the advantages cryptocurrency provides for investors who want to diversify. The return properties of Bitcoin are somewhat different from the conventional asset classes, providing tremendous advantages of diversification, he says. If the popularity of Bitcoin or related digital currency greatly improves globally, it may affect customer and producer behavior and, as a result, actually change the nature of the monetary policy. This is where industry leaders and celebrities like Elon Musk investing in crypto and touting its benefits can make change. Although Musks recent tweets could (once again) land him in hot water with the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission, as reported by Forbes, it could also be the push crypto needs to gain widespread acceptance. Elon Musk takes calculated risks, Polotny says. He understands the financial revolution that is Bitcoin and understands how much this is going to help the world. By accepting it, hes bringing legitimacy to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency, which is something it definitely needs, being so new. This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : Banks Might Treat Bitcoin Like Real Money These Experts Weigh the Pros and Cons || Banks Might Treat Bitcoin Like ‘Real Money’ – These Experts Weigh the Pros and Cons: As the cryptocurrency Bitcoin rallied again this week, opening Friday at $46,645.20 USD,Wall Street bank leaders have been discussing classifying Bitcoin as a “legitimate asset class,” CNBC reports. Does that mean it will function like so-called “real” money?
See:Women’s Savings Are Shockingly Low – Inside the Gender Money Gap Made Worse by COVID-19Find:Crypto Bubble Brings a Curious Problem for Investors
In a town hall meeting last month, JPMorgan co-president Daniel Pinto discussed the future possibility of accepting Bitcoin as an asset class. “If over time an asset class develops that is going to be used by different asset managers and investors, we will have to be involved,” he told CNBC. “The demand isn’t there yet, but I’m sure it will be at some point.”
Similarly, Goldman Sachs discussed digital assets last week with CEO and founder of the crypto firm Galaxy Digital, Mike Novogratz.
All this comes on the heels of Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announcing that Tesla had invested in $1.5 billion of Bitcoin and, perhaps more significantly, revealed plans to accept the cryptocurrency for Tesla electric vehicle purchases in the future. However, although smaller businesses already may accept crypto for purchases and it recently became possible to purchase not just Bitcoin but Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash through Paypal, embracing crypto as currency carries risks to both businesses and consumers.
See:Tesla Buys $1.5 Billion in Bitcoin, Says It Will “Soon” Accept It as Form of PaymentFind:PayPal Finally Welcomes Bitcoin, More Cryptocurrencies
“The risk comes with the volatility of the Bitcoin market,” says Daniel Polotsky, crypto expert and CEO of crypto ATM provider CoinFlip. “If a business is trying to pinpoint exactly what they’re going to get for the product they’re selling, volatility is a problem there.”
He tells GoBankingRates that the volatility also presents a potential problem for consumers, especially for individuals who are trying to plan ahead for big-ticket purchases. “If you’re going to purchase a car for $50,000 and the next day your crypto is only worth $30,000, you can’t necessarily time it right, so you could wind up short. Obviously, the way to mitigate that is to turn it into cash prior to making the purchase,” he explains.
Of course, then you’re using Bitcoin as an investment rather than currency. Either way, you’ll need to factor in capital gains taxes and losses. “Tax ramifications are one of the bigger challenges,” Polotsky says. “Every time you use Bitcoin, it’s technically a taxable event — either you lost on the value of the currency, or you gained on the value of the Bitcoin you used to buy something and then you have to pay capital gains, much like stocks.”
See:Why Some Money Experts Believe In Bitcoin and Others Don’tFind:The Most Googled Money Questions — Answered
Using Bitcoin as currency can also pose challenges for businesses and consumers who like to budget carefully. “From a day-to-day standpoint, if someone absolutely needs a certain amount of dollars to pay their bills, it could be a bit scary,” Polotny says.
James Page, crypto technical writer for Crypto Head, agrees that there are tremendous risks to retailers and consumers alike. In an email interview, he told GoBankingRates, “A car is a big investment that could make Bitcoin the best choice to pay for it, but Bitcoin’s crazy price fluctuations could pose a major danger to any retailer who wishes to adopt it.”
Likewise, he said, “It might take a while until those who have made a profit trading in Bitcoin will use it to purchase a vehicle. At present, most people would not dare take the risk of such an expensive purchase.”
See:One Hashtag from Elon Musk Makes Bitcoin Spike in MinutesFind:What Are Digital Wallets?
Ryan George, chief marketing officer at Docupace, a platform that helps digitize operations in the investment industry, takes a different perspective. “Who says crypto is not yet viewed as currency?” he ponders.
“Right now, people are using cryptocurrency to buy and sell everything from [Sony] Xbox game consoles to Teslas,” he says, referencing private sellers rather than retailers. “Crypto is a currency because those who sell things swap it with those who buy things,” he says.
See:These Red Flags on Your 2020 Tax Return Could Spark Interest from the IRSFind:Bitcoin’s Bull Run Is on a Rampage — But How Long Will It Last?
Whether you’re using Bitcoin on the private market to trade items with friends or viewing it as a buy and hold investment, it’s important to remember an important rule of investing: Diversification is key.
“I think Tesla’s acceptance of Bitcoin for purchases is part of the diversification strategy,” Page says. “This means that he sees as any other corporate buyer does. Tesla sees the merit of using Bitcoin. It’s a high risk and high reward investment, and lately, it’s been more rewarding.”
Polotny recommends that small businesses and retail investors alike follow Tesla’s lead and put a small share of their holdings into Bitcoin. “While Bitcoin is volatile day to day, it is the best performing asset of the last 10 years,” he says. “I think it’s more of a safe-haven asset than a currency today.”
See:Long-Term Investors Hold Most of the Bitcoin SupplyFind:Mark Cuban – “Bitcoin is Exactly like the Dot Com Bubble”
Page also mentions the advantages cryptocurrency provides for investors who want to diversify. “The return properties of Bitcoin are somewhat different from the conventional asset classes, providing tremendous advantages of diversification,” he says. “If the popularity of Bitcoin or related digital currency greatly improves globally, it may affect customer and producer behavior and, as a result, actually change the nature of the monetary policy.”
This is where industry leaders and celebrities like Elon Musk investing in crypto and touting its benefits can make change. Although Musk’s recent tweets could (once again) land him in hot water with the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission, as reported by Forbes, it could also be the push crypto needs to gain widespread acceptance.
“Elon Musk takes calculated risks,” Polotny says. “He understands the financial revolution that is Bitcoin and understands how much this is going to help the world.By accepting it, he’s bringing legitimacy to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency, which is something it definitely needs, being so new.”
This article originally appeared onGOBankingRates.com:Banks Might Treat Bitcoin Like ‘Real Money’ – These Experts Weigh the Pros and Cons || Banks Might Treat Bitcoin Like ‘Real Money’ – These Experts Weigh the Pros and Cons: As the cryptocurrency Bitcoin rallied again this week, opening Friday at $46,645.20 USD,Wall Street bank leaders have been discussing classifying Bitcoin as a “legitimate asset class,” CNBC reports. Does that mean it will function like so-called “real” money?
See:Women’s Savings Are Shockingly Low – Inside the Gender Money Gap Made Worse by COVID-19Find:Crypto Bubble Brings a Curious Problem for Investors
In a town hall meeting last month, JPMorgan co-president Daniel Pinto discussed the future possibility of accepting Bitcoin as an asset class. “If over time an asset class develops that is going to be used by different asset managers and investors, we will have to be involved,” he told CNBC. “The demand isn’t there yet, but I’m sure it will be at some point.”
Similarly, Goldman Sachs discussed digital assets last week with CEO and founder of the crypto firm Galaxy Digital, Mike Novogratz.
All this comes on the heels of Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announcing that Tesla had invested in $1.5 billion of Bitcoin and, perhaps more significantly, revealed plans to accept the cryptocurrency for Tesla electric vehicle purchases in the future. However, although smaller businesses already may accept crypto for purchases and it recently became possible to purchase not just Bitcoin but Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash through Paypal, embracing crypto as currency carries risks to both businesses and consumers.
See:Tesla Buys $1.5 Billion in Bitcoin, Says It Will “Soon” Accept It as Form of PaymentFind:PayPal Finally Welcomes Bitcoin, More Cryptocurrencies
“The risk comes with the volatility of the Bitcoin market,” says Daniel Polotsky, crypto expert and CEO of crypto ATM provider CoinFlip. “If a business is trying to pinpoint exactly what they’re going to get for the product they’re selling, volatility is a problem there.”
He tells GoBankingRates that the volatility also presents a potential problem for consumers, especially for individuals who are trying to plan ahead for big-ticket purchases. “If you’re going to purchase a car for $50,000 and the next day your crypto is only worth $30,000, you can’t necessarily time it right, so you could wind up short. Obviously, the way to mitigate that is to turn it into cash prior to making the purchase,” he explains.
Of course, then you’re using Bitcoin as an investment rather than currency. Either way, you’ll need to factor in capital gains taxes and losses. “Tax ramifications are one of the bigger challenges,” Polotsky says. “Every time you use Bitcoin, it’s technically a taxable event — either you lost on the value of the currency, or you gained on the value of the Bitcoin you used to buy something and then you have to pay capital gains, much like stocks.”
See:Why Some Money Experts Believe In Bitcoin and Others Don’tFind:The Most Googled Money Questions — Answered
Using Bitcoin as currency can also pose challenges for businesses and consumers who like to budget carefully. “From a day-to-day standpoint, if someone absolutely needs a certain amount of dollars to pay their bills, it could be a bit scary,” Polotny says.
James Page, crypto technical writer for Crypto Head, agrees that there are tremendous risks to retailers and consumers alike. In an email interview, he told GoBankingRates, “A car is a big investment that could make Bitcoin the best choice to pay for it, but Bitcoin’s crazy price fluctuations could pose a major danger to any retailer who wishes to adopt it.”
Likewise, he said, “It might take a while until those who have made a profit trading in Bitcoin will use it to purchase a vehicle. At present, most people would not dare take the risk of such an expensive purchase.”
See:One Hashtag from Elon Musk Makes Bitcoin Spike in MinutesFind:What Are Digital Wallets?
Ryan George, chief marketing officer at Docupace, a platform that helps digitize operations in the investment industry, takes a different perspective. “Who says crypto is not yet viewed as currency?” he ponders.
“Right now, people are using cryptocurrency to buy and sell everything from [Sony] Xbox game consoles to Teslas,” he says, referencing private sellers rather than retailers. “Crypto is a currency because those who sell things swap it with those who buy things,” he says.
See:These Red Flags on Your 2020 Tax Return Could Spark Interest from the IRSFind:Bitcoin’s Bull Run Is on a Rampage — But How Long Will It Last?
Whether you’re using Bitcoin on the private market to trade items with friends or viewing it as a buy and hold investment, it’s important to remember an important rule of investing: Diversification is key.
“I think Tesla’s acceptance of Bitcoin for purchases is part of the diversification strategy,” Page says. “This means that he sees as any other corporate buyer does. Tesla sees the merit of using Bitcoin. It’s a high risk and high reward investment, and lately, it’s been more rewarding.”
Polotny recommends that small businesses and retail investors alike follow Tesla’s lead and put a small share of their holdings into Bitcoin. “While Bitcoin is volatile day to day, it is the best performing asset of the last 10 years,” he says. “I think it’s more of a safe-haven asset than a currency today.”
See:Long-Term Investors Hold Most of the Bitcoin SupplyFind:Mark Cuban – “Bitcoin is Exactly like the Dot Com Bubble”
Page also mentions the advantages cryptocurrency provides for investors who want to diversify. “The return properties of Bitcoin are somewhat different from the conventional asset classes, providing tremendous advantages of diversification,” he says. “If the popularity of Bitcoin or related digital currency greatly improves globally, it may affect customer and producer behavior and, as a result, actually change the nature of the monetary policy.”
This is where industry leaders and celebrities like Elon Musk investing in crypto and touting its benefits can make change. Although Musk’s recent tweets could (once again) land him in hot water with the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission, as reported by Forbes, it could also be the push crypto needs to gain widespread acceptance.
“Elon Musk takes calculated risks,” Polotny says. “He understands the financial revolution that is Bitcoin and understands how much this is going to help the world.By accepting it, he’s bringing legitimacy to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency, which is something it definitely needs, being so new.”
This article originally appeared onGOBankingRates.com:Banks Might Treat Bitcoin Like ‘Real Money’ – These Experts Weigh the Pros and Cons || FOREX-U.S. dollar inches up, but off highs; bitcoin retreats: * Dollar ends week with 0.5% loss * Bitcoin falls, but set for 20% weekly rise * Traders reassess pace of U.S. recovery on weak jobs data * Graphic: World FX rates https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E (Recasts, adds new comment, updates prices) By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK, Feb 12 (Reuters) - The dollar was slightly higher on Friday, coming off its strongest levelfor the day, as risk appetite returned to the market in the afternoon with U.S. equities recovering fromearly losses and Treasury yields extending their rise. Investors also consolidated gains made on other currencies at the expense of the dollar ahead of a longweekend in the United States. Financial markets are closed on Monday for Presidents Day. The outlook for the dollar remained lower, according to Marshall Gittler, head of investment research atBDSwiss Group. The dollar is "considered the safest of safe havens and tends to fall when people are not looking forsafe havens," Gittler said. "With markets rallying and the U.S. Fed on hold indefinitely, I expect thedollar to be widely used as a funding currency, pushing its value down." Bitcoin, meanwhile, was down 1.3% on the day at $47,356, after hitting a record high of$49,000. It posted gains of roughly 20% in a milestone week marked by the endorsement of major firms such asElon Musk's Tesla. The world's most popular cryptocurrency hit a record high overnight after U.S. banking group BNY Mellon said it had formed a unit to help clients hold, transfer and issue digital assets. In afternoon trading, the dollar index rose 0.1% to 90.494 after subdued volumes in Asia becauseof the Lunar New Year. On the week, the index fell 0.6%, its first losing week in three - in what INGanalysts described as a "consolidative mood" amid uncertainty about the pace of the U.S. economic recovery. Weaker-than-expected weekly U.S. jobless claims data on Thursday added to concerns the dollar's previousrally had priced in too fast an economic rebound. The dollar was up 0.2% against the yen at 104.97 yen. It fell 0.4% on the week, its steepestfall since mid-December. There has been a divergence in views among traders so far this year over how U.S. President Joe Biden'splanned $1.9 trillion fiscal stimulus package will affect the dollar. Some see it as bolstering the currency as it should speed a U.S. recovery relative to other countries,while others reckon it would feed a global reflation narrative that should lift riskier assets at thedollar's expense. The euro slipped 0.1% to $1.2116, but on the week, the single European currency rose 0.5%. The British pound rose 0.2% versus the dollar to $1.3848, despite data showing Britain'seconomy suffered a record slump in 2020, although it did grow in the final quarter. The Australian dollar, a proxy for risk appetite, rallied from lows to trade flat on the day atUS$0.7753. The New Zealand dollar likewise cut its losses against the greenback. ======================================================== Currency bid prices at 3:23PM (2023 GMT) Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid Previous Change Session Dollar index 90.4710 90.4120 +0.08% 0.545% +90.7410 +90.3780 Euro/Dollar $1.2114 $1.2133 -0.15% -0.85% +$1.2135 +$1.2082 Dollar/Yen 104.9650 104.7300 +0.19% +1.59% +105.1750 +104.7850 Euro/Yen 127.17 127.05 +0.09% +0.20% +127.3200 +126.9900 Dollar/Swiss 0.8921 0.8898 +0.27% +0.85% +0.8940 +0.8901 Sterling/Dollar $1.3848 $1.3816 +0.22% +1.35% +$1.3862 +$1.3776 Dollar/Canadian 1.2704 1.2703 +0.02% -0.23% +1.2762 +1.2677 Aussie/Dollar $0.7754 $0.7755 -0.01% +0.79% +$0.7764 +$0.7719 Euro/Swiss 1.0807 1.0794 +0.12% +0.00% +1.0809 +1.0788 Euro/Sterling 0.8746 0.8778 -0.36% -2.14% +0.8792 +0.8744 NZ $0.7217 $0.7227 -0.12% +0.52% +$0.7232 +$0.7178 Dollar/Dollar Dollar/Norway 8.4665 8.4790 -0.22% -1.47% +8.5140 +8.4515 Euro/Norway 10.2582 10.2840 -0.25% -1.99% +10.3140 +10.2469 Dollar/Sweden 8.3133 8.3238 -0.16% +1.43% +8.3462 +8.3008 Euro/Sweden 10.0714 10.0871 -0.16% -0.05% +10.1137 +10.0670 (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Sonya Hepinstall) || FOREX-U.S. dollar inches up, but off highs; bitcoin retreats: * Dollar ends week with 0.5% loss * Bitcoin falls, but set for 20% weekly rise * Traders reassess pace of U.S. recovery on weak jobs data * Graphic: World FX rates https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E (Recasts, adds new comment, updates prices) By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK, Feb 12 (Reuters) - The dollar was slightly higher on Friday, coming off its strongest levelfor the day, as risk appetite returned to the market in the afternoon with U.S. equities recovering fromearly losses and Treasury yields extending their rise. Investors also consolidated gains made on other currencies at the expense of the dollar ahead of a longweekend in the United States. Financial markets are closed on Monday for Presidents Day. The outlook for the dollar remained lower, according to Marshall Gittler, head of investment research atBDSwiss Group. The dollar is "considered the safest of safe havens and tends to fall when people are not looking forsafe havens," Gittler said. "With markets rallying and the U.S. Fed on hold indefinitely, I expect thedollar to be widely used as a funding currency, pushing its value down." Bitcoin, meanwhile, was down 1.3% on the day at $47,356, after hitting a record high of$49,000. It posted gains of roughly 20% in a milestone week marked by the endorsement of major firms such asElon Musk's Tesla. The world's most popular cryptocurrency hit a record high overnight after U.S. banking group BNY Mellon said it had formed a unit to help clients hold, transfer and issue digital assets. In afternoon trading, the dollar index rose 0.1% to 90.494 after subdued volumes in Asia becauseof the Lunar New Year. On the week, the index fell 0.6%, its first losing week in three - in what INGanalysts described as a "consolidative mood" amid uncertainty about the pace of the U.S. economic recovery. Weaker-than-expected weekly U.S. jobless claims data on Thursday added to concerns the dollar's previousrally had priced in too fast an economic rebound. The dollar was up 0.2% against the yen at 104.97 yen. It fell 0.4% on the week, its steepestfall since mid-December. There has been a divergence in views among traders so far this year over how U.S. President Joe Biden'splanned $1.9 trillion fiscal stimulus package will affect the dollar. Some see it as bolstering the currency as it should speed a U.S. recovery relative to other countries,while others reckon it would feed a global reflation narrative that should lift riskier assets at thedollar's expense. The euro slipped 0.1% to $1.2116, but on the week, the single European currency rose 0.5%. The British pound rose 0.2% versus the dollar to $1.3848, despite data showing Britain'seconomy suffered a record slump in 2020, although it did grow in the final quarter. The Australian dollar, a proxy for risk appetite, rallied from lows to trade flat on the day atUS$0.7753. The New Zealand dollar likewise cut its losses against the greenback. ======================================================== Currency bid prices at 3:23PM (2023 GMT) Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid Previous Change Session Dollar index 90.4710 90.4120 +0.08% 0.545% +90.7410 +90.3780 Euro/Dollar $1.2114 $1.2133 -0.15% -0.85% +$1.2135 +$1.2082 Dollar/Yen 104.9650 104.7300 +0.19% +1.59% +105.1750 +104.7850 Euro/Yen 127.17 127.05 +0.09% +0.20% +127.3200 +126.9900 Dollar/Swiss 0.8921 0.8898 +0.27% +0.85% +0.8940 +0.8901 Sterling/Dollar $1.3848 $1.3816 +0.22% +1.35% +$1.3862 +$1.3776 Dollar/Canadian 1.2704 1.2703 +0.02% -0.23% +1.2762 +1.2677 Aussie/Dollar $0.7754 $0.7755 -0.01% +0.79% +$0.7764 +$0.7719 Euro/Swiss 1.0807 1.0794 +0.12% +0.00% +1.0809 +1.0788 Euro/Sterling 0.8746 0.8778 -0.36% -2.14% +0.8792 +0.8744 NZ $0.7217 $0.7227 -0.12% +0.52% +$0.7232 +$0.7178 Dollar/Dollar Dollar/Norway 8.4665 8.4790 -0.22% -1.47% +8.5140 +8.4515 Euro/Norway 10.2582 10.2840 -0.25% -1.99% +10.3140 +10.2469 Dollar/Sweden 8.3133 8.3238 -0.16% +1.43% +8.3462 +8.3008 Euro/Sweden 10.0714 10.0871 -0.16% -0.05% +10.1137 +10.0670 (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Sonya Hepinstall)
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None available.
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48717.29, 47945.06, 49199.87, 52149.01, 51679.80, 55888.13, 56099.52, 57539.95, 54207.32, 48824.43
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 1249.61, 1187.81, 1100.23, 973.82, 1036.74, 1054.23, 1120.54, 1049.14, 1038.59, 937.52, 972.78, 966.72, 1045.77, 1047.15, 1039.97, 1026.43, 1071.79, 1080.50, 1102.17, 1143.81, 1133.25, 1124.78, 1182.68, 1176.90, 1175.95, 1187.87, 1187.13, 1205.01, 1200.37, 1169.28, 1167.54, 1172.52, 1182.94, 1193.91, 1211.67, 1210.29, 1229.08, 1222.05, 1231.71, 1207.21, 1250.15, 1265.49, 1281.08, 1317.73, 1316.48, 1321.79, 1347.89, 1421.60, 1452.82, 1490.09, 1537.67, 1555.45, 1578.80, 1596.71, 1723.35, 1755.36, 1787.13, 1848.57, 1724.24, 1804.91, 1808.91, 1738.43, 1734.45, 1839.09, 1888.65, 1987.71, 2084.73, 2041.20, 2173.40, 2320.42, 2443.64, 2304.98, 2202.42, 2038.87, 2155.80, 2255.61, 2175.47, 2286.41, 2407.88, 2488.55, 2515.35, 2511.81, 2686.81, 2863.20, 2732.16, 2805.62, 2823.81, 2947.71, 2958.11, 2659.63.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2017-06-12]
Volume: 2569530112, RSI (14-day): 59.22, 50-day EMA: 2121.80, 200-day EMA: 1397.35
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1266.10, Gold RSI: 51.70
Oil Price: 46.08, Oil RSI: 38.00
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Bitcoin Breaks $3,000, Continuing Epic Bull Run: The cryptocurrency bitcoin has continued its stunning run-up, briefly surpassing the $3,000 threshold early Saturday afternoon.
That’s according to theCoinDeskBitcoin Price Index, though competing index CoinMarketCap calculated the peak exchange rate at just a few cents short of $3,000 (bitcoin prices vary across exchanges, so different formulas can arrive at different exchange rates.)
The new peak continues a surge that began in earnest in early May, when a bitcoin was worth nearly $1,400. And it flies in the face of a widening consensus that the cryptocurrency market is in a bubble.
Get Data Sheet,Fortune’stechnology newsletter.
That was Mark Cuban’s takelast Tuesday, but the technology’s own central figures beat him to the punch by warning about overly inflated prices from the stage at the Consensus blockchain conference in May. And when he saw disgruntled attendees turned away from the overbooked Token Summit conference,Fortune’sRobert Hackettsaw bubble written all over the bitcoin market.
Most observers, including Cuban, have by now accepted that blockchain technology, a promising innovation in data security based on shared ledgers, has huge potential for tracking assets and information in fields from supply chain management to health records. But the price of bitcoin is currently based in large part on speculation about growing adoption and innovative future applications. That’s even more true for parallel cryptocurrencies and blockchain systems like Ethereum, Dash, and Litecoin, which are mostly rising in tandem with bitcoin.
But a speculation-driven market is also an emotionally fragile market. If sentiment swings, it may swing quickly, and cause a lot of bitcon’s value to evaporate. || Bitcoin Breaks $3,000, Continuing Epic Bull Run: The cryptocurrency bitcoin has continued its stunning run-up, briefly surpassing the $3,000 threshold early Saturday afternoon.
That’s according to theCoinDeskBitcoin Price Index, though competing index CoinMarketCap calculated the peak exchange rate at just a few cents short of $3,000 (bitcoin prices vary across exchanges, so different formulas can arrive at different exchange rates.)
The new peak continues a surge that began in earnest in early May, when a bitcoin was worth nearly $1,400. And it flies in the face of a widening consensus that the cryptocurrency market is in a bubble.
Get Data Sheet,Fortune’stechnology newsletter.
That was Mark Cuban’s takelast Tuesday, but the technology’s own central figures beat him to the punch by warning about overly inflated prices from the stage at the Consensus blockchain conference in May. And when he saw disgruntled attendees turned away from the overbooked Token Summit conference,Fortune’sRobert Hackettsaw bubble written all over the bitcoin market.
Most observers, including Cuban, have by now accepted that blockchain technology, a promising innovation in data security based on shared ledgers, has huge potential for tracking assets and information in fields from supply chain management to health records. But the price of bitcoin is currently based in large part on speculation about growing adoption and innovative future applications. That’s even more true for parallel cryptocurrencies and blockchain systems like Ethereum, Dash, and Litecoin, which are mostly rising in tandem with bitcoin.
But a speculation-driven market is also an emotionally fragile market. If sentiment swings, it may swing quickly, and cause a lot of bitcon’s value to evaporate. || Bitcoin Breaks $3,000, Continuing Epic Bull Run: The cryptocurrency bitcoin has continued its stunning run-up, briefly surpassing the $3,000 threshold early Saturday afternoon. Thats according to the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index, though competing index CoinMarketCap calculated the peak exchange rate at just a few cents short of $3,000 (bitcoin prices vary across exchanges, so different formulas can arrive at different exchange rates.) The new peak continues a surge that began in earnest in early May, when a bitcoin was worth nearly $1,400. And it flies in the face of a widening consensus that the cryptocurrency market is in a bubble. Get Data Sheet , Fortunes technology newsletter. That was Mark Cubans take last Tuesday , but the technologys own central figures beat him to the punch by warning about overly inflated prices from the stage at the Consensus blockchain conference in May. And when he saw disgruntled attendees turned away from the overbooked Token Summit conference, Fortunes Robert Hackett saw bubble written all over the bitcoin market . Most observers, including Cuban, have by now accepted that blockchain technology, a promising innovation in data security based on shared ledgers, has huge potential for tracking assets and information in fields from supply chain management to health records. But the price of bitcoin is currently based in large part on speculation about growing adoption and innovative future applications. Thats even more true for parallel cryptocurrencies and blockchain systems like Ethereum, Dash, and Litecoin, which are mostly rising in tandem with bitcoin. But a speculation-driven market is also an emotionally fragile market. If sentiment swings, it may swing quickly, and cause a lot of bitcons value to evaporate. || Bitcoin bulls runs wild as cryptocurrency surges above $3000: Bitcoin(Exchange: BTC=-USS)traded above $3,000 for the first time on Sunday, continuing this year's massive surge and helped by increased demand from Asia-based investors.
After trading in a range for the last week, bitcoin climbed to an all-time high Sunday of $3,012.05, according to CoinDesk.
On Chinese exchanges such as BTCC, the currency traded about $40 to $60 above that price. Last week, several major Chinese bitcoin exchanges allowed customers to resume withdrawals of the cryptocurrency, after haltingwithdrawals in early February amid scrutinyfrom the People's Bank of China.
Source: CoinDesk
The digital currency has had a stellar year, rising by more than 200 percent and easily outperforming stock market benchmarks like the S&P 500(INDEX: .SPX)Index and the Nasdaq composite(NASDAQ: .IXIC)in 2017. The cryptocurrency has now more than tripled in value since trading at $968 on Dec. 31, and has gained nearly 30 percent in June alone.
Bitcoin in 2017
Source: CoinDesk
Brian Kelly, CEO and founder of BKCM and a CNBC contributor, told CNBC this week that the cryptocurrency was "in the first years of what is likely to be a multi-year bull market. Of course there will be corrections and even crashes along the way, but bitcoin is here to stay."
A contributing factor to bitcoin's recent surge is growing demand from Asia. In addition to the China factor, Japanese interest has risen ever since the government approved bitcoin as a legal payment method in April.
Investors also plowed more money into the currency after Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari commented on the blockchain technology behind bitcoin, saying it "has more potential than bitcoin itself."
—CNBC's Fred Imbert contributed to this report.
More From CNBC
• If you're always running out of space on your iPhone, try these six tricks
• Big tech stocks likely to be under pressure again after Apple shares downgraded
• A tech investor heads home to run for Congress in rural California || Bitcoin bulls runs wild as cryptocurrency surges above $3000: Bitcoin(Exchange: BTC=-USS)traded above $3,000 for the first time on Sunday, continuing this year's massive surge and helped by increased demand from Asia-based investors.
After trading in a range for the last week, bitcoin climbed to an all-time high Sunday of $3,012.05, according to CoinDesk.
On Chinese exchanges such as BTCC, the currency traded about $40 to $60 above that price. Last week, several major Chinese bitcoin exchanges allowed customers to resume withdrawals of the cryptocurrency, after haltingwithdrawals in early February amid scrutinyfrom the People's Bank of China.
Source: CoinDesk
The digital currency has had a stellar year, rising by more than 200 percent and easily outperforming stock market benchmarks like the S&P 500(INDEX: .SPX)Index and the Nasdaq composite(NASDAQ: .IXIC)in 2017. The cryptocurrency has now more than tripled in value since trading at $968 on Dec. 31, and has gained nearly 30 percent in June alone.
Bitcoin in 2017
Source: CoinDesk
Brian Kelly, CEO and founder of BKCM and a CNBC contributor, told CNBC this week that the cryptocurrency was "in the first years of what is likely to be a multi-year bull market. Of course there will be corrections and even crashes along the way, but bitcoin is here to stay."
A contributing factor to bitcoin's recent surge is growing demand from Asia. In addition to the China factor, Japanese interest has risen ever since the government approved bitcoin as a legal payment method in April.
Investors also plowed more money into the currency after Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari commented on the blockchain technology behind bitcoin, saying it "has more potential than bitcoin itself."
—CNBC's Fred Imbert contributed to this report.
More From CNBC
• If you're always running out of space on your iPhone, try these six tricks
• Big tech stocks likely to be under pressure again after Apple shares downgraded
• A tech investor heads home to run for Congress in rural California || Bitcoin bulls runs wild as cryptocurrency surges above $3000: Bitcoin (Exchange: BTC=-USS) traded above $3,000 for the first time on Sunday, continuing this year's massive surge and helped by increased demand from Asia-based investors. After trading in a range for the last week, bitcoin climbed to an all-time high Sunday of $3,012.05, according to CoinDesk. On Chinese exchanges such as BTCC, the currency traded about $40 to $60 above that price. Last week, several major Chinese bitcoin exchanges allowed customers to resume withdrawals of the cryptocurrency, after halting withdrawals in early February amid scrutiny from the People's Bank of China. Source: CoinDesk The digital currency has had a stellar year, rising by more than 200 percent and easily outperforming stock market benchmarks like the S&P 500 (INDEX: .SPX) Index and the Nasdaq composite (NASDAQ: .IXIC) in 2017. The cryptocurrency has now more than tripled in value since trading at $968 on Dec. 31, and has gained nearly 30 percent in June alone. Bitcoin in 2017 Source: CoinDesk Brian Kelly, CEO and founder of BKCM and a CNBC contributor, told CNBC this week that the cryptocurrency was "in the first years of what is likely to be a multi-year bull market. Of course there will be corrections and even crashes along the way, but bitcoin is here to stay." A contributing factor to bitcoin's recent surge is growing demand from Asia. In addition to the China factor, Japanese interest has risen ever since the government approved bitcoin as a legal payment method in April. Investors also plowed more money into the currency after Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari commented on the blockchain technology behind bitcoin, saying it " has more potential than bitcoin itself ." CNBC's Fred Imbert contributed to this report. More From CNBC If you're always running out of space on your iPhone, try these six tricks Big tech stocks likely to be under pressure again after Apple shares downgraded A tech investor heads home to run for Congress in rural California || Kurzweil on bitcoin: 'I wouldn't put my money into it': Bob Pisani of CNBC (L) speaks to Ray Kurzweil, who beamed in from San Francisco. (Singularity University) On Friday, futurist Ray Kurzweil spoke at the Exponential Finance Summit, a New York City technology conference put on by Singularity University, a Silicon Valley think tank. Kurzweil, an author and inventor, is often called the “father of the singularity,” in reference to his own concept of the time when artificial intelligence will surpass human beings. He’s also written and lectured on transhumanism, nanotechnology, computer avatars, and how technology has changed and will change the global economy. So Yahoo Finance asked him for his thoughts on bitcoin, the cryptocurrency that is soaring in value right now, up 200% in 2017 to nearly $3,000 per coin. Bitcoin price in 2017 so far It sounds like Kurzweil is intrigued by the concept of non-fiat currency, and the possibilities of cryptocurrencies. But he is not bullish on bitcoin. “There’s no reason why currency should be associated with particular national economies and governments,” he said. “However, currencies like the dollar have provided reasonable stability. Bitcoin has not. And it’s not clear to me that the whole mining paradigm can provide that type of stability… We’ve seen tremendous instability with bitcoin, so I wouldn’t put my money into it. I certainly do think there could be alternatives to national currencies emerging in the future. Algorithmic ones are a possibility, I just don’t think we’ve arrived at the right algorithm yet.” Kurzweil is oversimplifying slightly when he says that bitcoin has not been stable. Its price often goes through major swings up or down on a day or in a week, but over longer periods of time it has consistently gained: up 60% in the past month, 260% in the past six months, and 1,100% in the past five years. With his current thinking, Kurzweil joins some other prominent names in the bitcoin skeptics club: Warren Buffett (who called it “a mirage “), Mark Cuban (he says bitcoin’s recent price hike is a bubble ), and Jamie Dimon (he’s called bitcoin “doomed” ), to name a few. Story continues What about blockchain, the decentralized ledger technology that underlies bitcoin , and now has Wall Street and financial institutions excited about blockchains for banking ? Kurzweil is more optimistic about blockchain. “I think the theory is sound,” he said. “People don’t yet have confidence in it; they’ve seen too many examples of supposedly secure systems being compromised in one way or another. I think once we can demonstrate confidence, then yes, a blockchain currency makes sense, and being able to document transactions securely, but there’s a lot to work out.” Along with bitcoin’s price rise, two other cryptocurrencies, litecoin and ether ( token of the Ethereum network ), are up 526% and 1,700%, respectively, in the last year. Disclosure: The author owns less than 1 bitcoin, purchased in 2015 for reporting purposes. — Daniel Roberts covers bitcoin and blockchain at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter at @ readDanwrite . Read more: Bitcoin is becoming the new gold Why Ethereum is the hottest new thing in digital currency ‘Bitcoin is dead’ says prominent fintech exec Expect more blockchain hype in 2017 || Ray Kurzweil on bitcoin: 'I wouldn't put my money into it': On Friday, futurist Ray Kurzweil spoke at the Exponential Finance Summit, a New York City technology conference put on by Singularity University, a Silicon Valley think tank.
Kurzweil, an author and inventor, is often called the “father of the singularity,” in reference to his own concept of the time when artificial intelligence will surpass human beings. He’s also written and lectured on transhumanism, nanotechnology, computer avatars, and how technology has changed and will change the global economy.
So Yahoo Finance asked him for his thoughts on bitcoin, the cryptocurrency that is soaring in value right now, up 200% in 2017 to nearly $3,000 per coin.
It sounds like Kurzweil is intrigued by the concept of non-fiat currency, and the possibilities of cryptocurrencies. But he is not bullish on bitcoin.
“There’s no reason why currency should be associated with particular national economies and governments,” he said. “However, currencies like the dollar have provided reasonable stability. Bitcoin has not. And it’s not clear to me that the whole mining paradigm can provide that type of stability… We’ve seen tremendous instability with bitcoin, so I wouldn’t put my money into it. I certainly do think there could be alternatives to national currencies emerging in the future. Algorithmic ones are a possibility, I just don’t think we’ve arrived at the right algorithm yet.”
Kurzweil is oversimplifying slightly when he says that bitcoin has not been stable. Its price often goes through major swings up or down on a day or in a week, but over longer periods of time it has consistently gained: up 60% in the past month, 260% in the past six months, and 1,100% in the past five years.
With his current thinking, Kurzweil joins some other prominent names in the bitcoin skeptics club: Warren Buffett (whocalled it “a mirage“), Mark Cuban (he saysbitcoin’s recent price hike is a bubble), and Jamie Dimon (he’scalled bitcoin “doomed”), to name a few.
What aboutblockchain, the decentralized ledger technology that underlies bitcoin, and now has Wall Street and financial institutions excited aboutblockchains for banking? Kurzweil is more optimistic about blockchain.
“I think the theory is sound,” he said. “People don’t yet have confidence in it; they’ve seen too many examples of supposedly secure systems being compromised in one way or another. I think once we can demonstrate confidence, then yes, a blockchain currency makes sense, and being able to document transactions securely, but there’s a lot to work out.”
Along with bitcoin’s price rise, two other cryptocurrencies, litecoin and ether (token of the Ethereum network), are up 526% and 1,700%, respectively, in the last year.
Disclosure: The author owns less than 1 bitcoin, purchased in 2015 for reporting purposes.
—
Daniel Roberts covers bitcoin and blockchain at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter at @readDanwrite.
Read more:
Bitcoin is becoming the new gold
Why Ethereum is the hottest new thing in digital currency
‘Bitcoin is dead’ says prominent fintech exec
Expect more blockchain hype in 2017 || Is Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) Stock on a Comeback?: InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips A few weeks ago, we said that it was “Do or Die Time” for Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD ). At that time, shares took a dive from earnings, rallied on rumors of a deal with Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC ) and fell when doubts came along. At that point, AMD stock was just above support and we weren’t sure if it would hold. AMD Stock: Is Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) Stock on a Comeback? Source: Matthew Rutledge via Flickr From our perspective, the bulls were still in control, but barely. If the $10 level were to fail, bears would seize control. That didn’t happen though, as AMD stock put together a more than 13% rally over the past three days . So what should investors do? We’ll get to the technical outlook in a moment, but first, let’s touch on the fundamentals. Inside Advanced Micro Devices Why did AMD stock get such a strong bounce in early June? Two reasons really drove it higher. The first, it became known that Advanced Micro Devices’ RX 500 graphic chips can be used to “mine” cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin . This product launched in April and is still sold out at many online retailers. This has investors optimistic that revenue will be strong and demand will continue once retailers are able to restock. Given Bitcoin’s bubble-like rise , the mania certainly looks set to continue for some time. Additionally, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL ) just held an enormous event, its WWDC conference. Aside from big announcements regarding the HomePod speaker, a new iOS and everything here , there was something else for AMD. Investors are cheering for AMD’s RX Vega GPU. Specifically, that the iMac Pro will use one of two types from the Vega lineup , the Radeon Pro Vega 56 or the Radeon Pro Vega 64. Both are quite powerful and will be the driving computing force in Apple’s new devices. The effort likely comes on Apple’s part of trying to boost its virtual reality capabilities. Advanced Micro Devices’ recent additions bode well for its business moving forward. Management is returning the company to profitability in 2017, which is a lot harder than it sounds. Over the past nine months, debt has fallen 37% and its valuation (compared to Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA ) and Intel) is attractive. Trading AMD Stock AMD stock, AMD, Advanced Micro Devices Click to Enlarge Source: Stockcharts.com So where does that leave AMD stock? I’m a levels-guy first, meaning I look for historic areas of support and resistance. I like to keep it simple. In Advanced Micro Devices’ case, that level comes into play around $12.25. On Tuesday, AMD made it to $12, but it was unclear if it would climb above it. On Wednesday, AMD stock flew past it, up to $13 at one point. Story continues AMD stock is now above the 50-day moving average too. And even though it gave up the bulk of its gains on Wednesday with that instant pullback from $13, it was a constructive move. Finally, there’s the relative strength index and the MACD. The RSI (blue circle) tells us if a stock is overbought when the reading is above 70. Fortunately, AMD stock is not in this territory yet. MACD tells us momentum. For AMD, momentum is positive, but appears to be nowhere near running out of gas. Both of these indicators are bullish. Why Facebook Inc (FB) Stock Is Heading to $170 So are there negatives? Yes, a few. Although not pictured, AMD has not gotten above its 100-day moving average. Additionally, the two red stars on the chart mark where AMD stock has struggled, failing to clear $13. Given the strong volume the past few days, it is more likely the stock trades higher rather than lower. A move below $12 and the 50-day moving average may change that. But like we said a few weeks ago, for now, AMD stock is still running with the bulls. Bret Kenwell is the manager and author of Future Blue Chips and is on Twitter @BretKenwell . As of this writing, Bret Kenwell held no position in any stocks mentioned. More From InvestorPlace 8 No-Brainer Retirement Stocks to Buy 10 Best Cheap Stocks to Buy Now Under $10 Citigroup Inc (C) Stock Is an Underappreciated Breakout Buy The post Is Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) Stock on a Comeback? appeared first on InvestorPlace . View comments || Is Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) Stock on a Comeback?: InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips
A few weeks ago,we said that it was “Do or Die Time” forAdvanced Micro Devices, Inc.(NASDAQ:AMD). At that time, shares took a dive from earnings, rallied on rumors of a deal withIntel Corporation(NASDAQ:INTC) and fell when doubts came along. At that point, AMD stock was just above support and we weren’t sure if it would hold.
Source:Matthew Rutledge via Flickr
From our perspective, the bulls were still in control, but barely. If the $10 level were to fail, bears would seize control. That didn’t happen though, as AMD stock put together amore than 13% rally over the past three days. So what should investors do?
We’ll get to the technical outlook in a moment, but first, let’s touch on the fundamentals.
Why did AMD stock get such a strong bounce in early June? Two reasons really drove it higher. The first, it became known that Advanced Micro Devices’ RX 500 graphic chips can beused to “mine” cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
This product launched in April and is still sold out at many online retailers. This has investors optimistic that revenue will be strong and demand will continue once retailers are able to restock.Given Bitcoin’s bubble-like rise, the mania certainly looks set to continue for some time.
Additionally,Apple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL) just held an enormous event, its WWDC conference. Aside from big announcements regarding the HomePod speaker, a new iOS andeverything here, there was something else for AMD.
Investors are cheering for AMD’s RX Vega GPU. Specifically, that the iMac Pro willuse one of two types from the Vega lineup, the Radeon Pro Vega 56 or the Radeon Pro Vega 64. Both are quite powerful and will be the driving computing force in Apple’s new devices.
The effort likely comes on Apple’s part of trying to boost its virtual reality capabilities.
Advanced Micro Devices’ recent additions bode well for its business moving forward. Management is returning the company to profitability in 2017, which is a lot harder than it sounds. Over the past nine months, debt has fallen 37% and its valuation (compared toNvidia Corporation(NASDAQ:NVDA) and Intel) is attractive.
Click to Enlarge
Source: Stockcharts.com
So where does that leave AMD stock? I’m a levels-guy first, meaning I look for historic areas of support and resistance. I like to keep it simple.
In Advanced Micro Devices’ case, that level comes into play around $12.25. On Tuesday, AMD made it to $12, but it was unclear if it would climb above it. On Wednesday, AMD stock flew past it, up to $13 at one point.
AMD stock is now above the 50-day moving average too. And even though it gave up the bulk of its gains on Wednesday with that instant pullback from $13, it was a constructive move.
Finally, there’s the relative strength index and the MACD. The RSI (blue circle) tells us if a stock is overbought when the reading is above 70. Fortunately, AMD stock is not in this territory yet. MACD tells us momentum. For AMD, momentum is positive, but appears to be nowhere near running out of gas. Both of these indicators are bullish.
• Why Facebook Inc (FB) Stock Is Heading to $170
So are there negatives? Yes, a few. Although not pictured, AMD has not gotten above its 100-day moving average. Additionally, the two red stars on the chart mark where AMD stock has struggled, failing to clear $13.
Given the strong volume the past few days, it is more likely the stock trades higher rather than lower. A move below $12 and the 50-day moving average may change that. But like we said a few weeks ago, for now, AMD stock is still running with the bulls.
Bret Kenwell is the manager and author ofFuture Blue Chipsand is on Twitter@BretKenwell. As of this writing, Bret Kenwell held no position in any stocks mentioned.
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The postIs Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) Stock on a Comeback?appeared first onInvestorPlace. || $Weed Coin Crowdsale ICO Launched In Exchange For $Gary Coin On Bitcoin Blockchain: VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 9, 2017 / FIRST BITCOIN CAPITAL CORP. (OTC PINK: BITCF) ("Company", "We", "Us" or "Our") launched its second Initial Coin Offering (ICO). The Company foresaw and announced a major shift coming that would overnight witness the emergences of altcoins surpassing Bitcoin in overall market cap which prediction quickly came to pass. In order to capitalize on the pending shift, the Company wasted no time in launching its first ICO choosing a name to capture the maximum exposure to this emerging trend calling it "Altcoin" bearing the symbol "ALT." In conjunction with its first ICO (also sometimes known as ITO for Initial Token Offering), the company launched in beta www.AltCoinMarketCap.com as a new, potential income source that allows up and down voting on all cryptocurrencies and has already launched www.AltCoinMarketCap.info as a secondary website where quotes can be compared against hundreds of crypto and fiat currency combinations. Many of the Crypto Coin speculators that acquired ALT using Tether (USDT) as the medium of exchange in that ICO have already banked substantial profits when selling in the secondary market. Early participants that automatically received approximately 1.25 ALT for each USDT sent to the company’s Omni wallet either already resold for profits as much as 1000% or are enjoying paper profits of similar magnitude. The purpose of our second ICO, the coin named WEED, is to provide a new cryptocurrency as a tool for the bourgeoning cannabis industries to have an alternative payment option to offer their clients. While several similarly named currencies have emerged, such as POTCOIN, we believe that WEED will soon supersede its competition in popularity. In order to purchase and support WEED anyone that sends 1 President Johnson coin ($GARY) to the Company's Omni Layer Bitcoin Wallet will receive 1 WEED coin into their Omni Wallet via 1FwADyEvdvaLNxjN1v3q6tNJCgHEBuABrS In order to insure receipt of the WEED coin upon transferring GARY to the company's address, be sure to use your own personal Omni Wallet address and not an exchange provided wallet as they may not be prepared to credit those WEED tokens to the sender's account. Upon 6 confirmations, the WEED coins will safely arrive in your personal Omni Wallet. This process is fully automated and requires no manual processing by the issuer of WEED. Story continues In order to participate, kindly see further details at: https://www.omniwallet.org/assets/details/191 There is an early bird bonus of 20% which reduces to 15% the second week, 10% the third week, 5% the fourth and final week, when the ICO closes. A bonus of 5% of all coins sold will belong to The Company while the 95% will be held by the public. It is rare to find an ICO that doesn't amass a greater percentage to the issuers and organizers. Management expects to have WEED coin listed on several exchanges in the immediate future, including its subsidiary, COINQX.com so that those unable to send GARY to acquire WEED may also participate and so that secondary trading may ensue. WEED coin utilizes the same Bitcoin Blockchain, Omni protocols as our recently launched ALTCOIN (ALT), which is now trading on 4 exchanges under the symbol ALT on OmniDEX, CoinQX , Cryptopia, and C-CEX exchange. We chose President (GARY) Johnson coin as a medium of exchange for speculators to acquire WEED since it is named after the highest government official to first call for legalization and enjoys a large market cap, trades on 3 exchanges, OMNIDEX, COINQX and C-CEX which also temporarily gives GARY (another coin that we issued) an additional new usage value. "WEED commemorates the global legalization of marijuana and is the next paradigm of money for all things cannabis" and additional information about it will be made available in the future via http://weedcurrency.com About the Company First Bitcoin Capital Corp is engaged in developing digital currencies, proprietary Blockchain technologies, and the digital currency exchange- www.CoinQX.com. We see this step as a tremendous opportunity to create further shareholder value by leveraging management's experience in developing and managing complex Blockchain technologies, developing new types of digital assets. Being the first publicly-traded cryptocurrency and blockchain-centered company (with shares both traded in the US OTC Markets as [BITCF] and as [BIT] in crypto exchanges) we want to provide our shareholders with diversified exposure to digital cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies. At this time the Company owns and operates more than the following digital assets under development: www.CoinQX.com cryptocurrency exchange, registered with FINCEN. www.strain.ID cannabis strains genetic information depository on decentralized Blockchain www.iCoiNEWS.com real time cryptocurrency and bitcoin news site. www.BITminer.cc providing mining pool management services. www.2016coin.org online daily election coverage and home page for $PRES, $HILL, $GARY& $BURN -commemorative presidential election coins. www.bitcannpay.com Open Loop merchant services for dispensaries. List of most Omni protocol coins issued on the Bitcoin Blockchain and owned by the Company: http://omnichest.info/lookupadd.aspx?address=1FwADyEvdvaLNxjN1v3q6tNJCgHEBuABrS Second Omni wallet owned by CoinQX reflecting our airline mileage tokens issued: http://omnichest.info/lookupadd.aspx?address=1VuF26AgLyQ4tBoGzYTWRqtDG9zCB7QXe Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors as may be disclosed in company's filings. In addition to these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may differ materially because of more general factors including (without limitation) general industry and market conditions and growth rates, economic conditions, and governmental and public policy changes. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of the press release. Such forward-looking statements are risks that are detailed in the Company's filings, which are on file at www.OTCMarkets.com . Contact us via: [email protected] or visit http://www.bitcoincapitalcorp.com SOURCE: First Bitcoin Capital Corp. || $Weed Coin Crowdsale ICO Launched In Exchange For $Gary Coin On Bitcoin Blockchain: VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 9, 2017 /FIRST BITCOIN CAPITAL CORP. (OTC PINK: BITCF) ("Company", "We", "Us" or "Our") launched its second Initial Coin Offering (ICO).
The Company foresaw and announced a major shift coming that would overnight witness the emergences of altcoins surpassing Bitcoin in overall market cap which prediction quickly came to pass.
In order to capitalize on the pending shift, the Company wasted no time in launching its first ICO choosing a name to capture the maximum exposure to this emerging trend calling it "Altcoin" bearing the symbol "ALT." In conjunction with its first ICO (also sometimes known as ITO for Initial Token Offering), the company launched in betawww.AltCoinMarketCap.comas a new, potential income source that allows up and down voting on all cryptocurrencies and has already launchedwww.AltCoinMarketCap.infoas a secondary website where quotes can be compared against hundreds of crypto and fiat currency combinations.
Many of the Crypto Coin speculators that acquired ALT using Tether (USDT) as the medium of exchange in that ICO have already banked substantial profits when selling in the secondary market. Early participants that automatically received approximately 1.25 ALT for each USDT sent to the company’s Omni wallet either already resold for profits as much as 1000% or are enjoying paper profits of similar magnitude.
The purpose of our second ICO, the coin named WEED, is to provide a new cryptocurrency as a tool for the bourgeoning cannabis industries to have an alternative payment option to offer their clients. While several similarly named currencies have emerged, such as POTCOIN, we believe that WEED will soon supersede its competition in popularity.
In order to purchase and support WEED anyone that sends 1 President Johnson coin ($GARY) to the Company's Omni Layer Bitcoin Wallet will receive 1 WEED coin into their Omni Wallet via 1FwADyEvdvaLNxjN1v3q6tNJCgHEBuABrS
In order to insure receipt of the WEED coin upon transferring GARY to the company's address, be sure to use your own personal Omni Wallet address and not an exchange provided wallet as they may not be prepared to credit those WEED tokens to the sender's account. Upon 6 confirmations, the WEED coins will safely arrive in your personal Omni Wallet. This process is fully automated and requires no manual processing by the issuer of WEED.
In order to participate, kindly see further details at:https://www.omniwallet.org/assets/details/191
There is an early bird bonus of 20% which reduces to 15% the second week, 10% the third week, 5% the fourth and final week, when the ICO closes. A bonus of 5% of all coins sold will belong to The Company while the 95% will be held by the public. It is rare to find an ICO that doesn't amass a greater percentage to the issuers and organizers.
Management expects to have WEED coin listed on several exchanges in the immediate future, including its subsidiary, COINQX.com so that those unable to send GARY to acquire WEED may also participate and so that secondary trading may ensue.
WEED coin utilizes the same Bitcoin Blockchain, Omni protocols as our recently launched ALTCOIN (ALT), which is now trading on 4 exchanges under the symbol ALT on OmniDEX, CoinQX , Cryptopia, and C-CEX exchange.
We chose President (GARY) Johnson coin as a medium of exchange for speculators to acquire WEED since it is named after the highest government official to first call for legalization and enjoys a large market cap, trades on 3 exchanges, OMNIDEX, COINQX and C-CEX which also temporarily gives GARY (another coin that we issued) an additional new usage value.
"WEED commemorates the global legalization of marijuana and is the next paradigm of money for all things cannabis" and additional information about it will be made available in the future viahttp://weedcurrency.com
About the Company
First Bitcoin Capital Corp is engaged in developing digital currencies, proprietary Blockchain technologies, and the digital currency exchange- www.CoinQX.com. We see this step as a tremendous opportunity to create further shareholder value by leveraging management's experience in developing and managing complex Blockchain technologies, developing new types of digital assets. Being the first publicly-traded cryptocurrency and blockchain-centered company (with shares both traded in the US OTC Markets as [BITCF] and as [BIT] in crypto exchanges) we want to provide our shareholders with diversified exposure to digital cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies. At this time the Company owns and operates more than the following digital assets under development:
www.CoinQX.comcryptocurrency exchange, registered with FINCEN.
www.strain.IDcannabis strains genetic information depository on decentralized Blockchain
www.iCoiNEWS.comreal time cryptocurrency and bitcoin news site.
www.BITminer.ccproviding mining pool management services.
www.2016coin.orgonline daily election coverage and home page for $PRES, $HILL, $GARY& $BURN -commemorative presidential election coins.
www.bitcannpay.comOpen Loop merchant services for dispensaries.
List of most Omni protocol coins issued on the Bitcoin Blockchain and owned by the Company:http://omnichest.info/lookupadd.aspx?address=1FwADyEvdvaLNxjN1v3q6tNJCgHEBuABrS
Second Omni wallet owned by CoinQX reflecting our airline mileage tokens issued:http://omnichest.info/lookupadd.aspx?address=1VuF26AgLyQ4tBoGzYTWRqtDG9zCB7QXe
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors as may be disclosed in company's filings. In addition to these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may differ materially because of more general factors including (without limitation) general industry and market conditions and growth rates, economic conditions, and governmental and public policy changes. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of the press release. Such forward-looking statements are risks that are detailed in the Company's filings, which are on file atwww.OTCMarkets.com.Contact us via:[email protected] visithttp://www.bitcoincapitalcorp.com
SOURCE:First Bitcoin Capital Corp. || $Weed Coin Crowdsale ICO Launched In Exchange For $Gary Coin On Bitcoin Blockchain: VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / June 9, 2017 /FIRST BITCOIN CAPITAL CORP. (OTC PINK: BITCF) ("Company", "We", "Us" or "Our") launched its second Initial Coin Offering (ICO).
The Company foresaw and announced a major shift coming that would overnight witness the emergences of altcoins surpassing Bitcoin in overall market cap which prediction quickly came to pass.
In order to capitalize on the pending shift, the Company wasted no time in launching its first ICO choosing a name to capture the maximum exposure to this emerging trend calling it "Altcoin" bearing the symbol "ALT." In conjunction with its first ICO (also sometimes known as ITO for Initial Token Offering), the company launched in betawww.AltCoinMarketCap.comas a new, potential income source that allows up and down voting on all cryptocurrencies and has already launchedwww.AltCoinMarketCap.infoas a secondary website where quotes can be compared against hundreds of crypto and fiat currency combinations.
Many of the Crypto Coin speculators that acquired ALT using Tether (USDT) as the medium of exchange in that ICO have already banked substantial profits when selling in the secondary market. Early participants that automatically received approximately 1.25 ALT for each USDT sent to the company’s Omni wallet either already resold for profits as much as 1000% or are enjoying paper profits of similar magnitude.
The purpose of our second ICO, the coin named WEED, is to provide a new cryptocurrency as a tool for the bourgeoning cannabis industries to have an alternative payment option to offer their clients. While several similarly named currencies have emerged, such as POTCOIN, we believe that WEED will soon supersede its competition in popularity.
In order to purchase and support WEED anyone that sends 1 President Johnson coin ($GARY) to the Company's Omni Layer Bitcoin Wallet will receive 1 WEED coin into their Omni Wallet via 1FwADyEvdvaLNxjN1v3q6tNJCgHEBuABrS
In order to insure receipt of the WEED coin upon transferring GARY to the company's address, be sure to use your own personal Omni Wallet address and not an exchange provided wallet as they may not be prepared to credit those WEED tokens to the sender's account. Upon 6 confirmations, the WEED coins will safely arrive in your personal Omni Wallet. This process is fully automated and requires no manual processing by the issuer of WEED.
In order to participate, kindly see further details at:https://www.omniwallet.org/assets/details/191
There is an early bird bonus of 20% which reduces to 15% the second week, 10% the third week, 5% the fourth and final week, when the ICO closes. A bonus of 5% of all coins sold will belong to The Company while the 95% will be held by the public. It is rare to find an ICO that doesn't amass a greater percentage to the issuers and organizers.
Management expects to have WEED coin listed on several exchanges in the immediate future, including its subsidiary, COINQX.com so that those unable to send GARY to acquire WEED may also participate and so that secondary trading may ensue.
WEED coin utilizes the same Bitcoin Blockchain, Omni protocols as our recently launched ALTCOIN (ALT), which is now trading on 4 exchanges under the symbol ALT on OmniDEX, CoinQX , Cryptopia, and C-CEX exchange.
We chose President (GARY) Johnson coin as a medium of exchange for speculators to acquire WEED since it is named after the highest government official to first call for legalization and enjoys a large market cap, trades on 3 exchanges, OMNIDEX, COINQX and C-CEX which also temporarily gives GARY (another coin that we issued) an additional new usage value.
"WEED commemorates the global legalization of marijuana and is the next paradigm of money for all things cannabis" and additional information about it will be made available in the future viahttp://weedcurrency.com
About the Company
First Bitcoin Capital Corp is engaged in developing digital currencies, proprietary Blockchain technologies, and the digital currency exchange- www.CoinQX.com. We see this step as a tremendous opportunity to create further shareholder value by leveraging management's experience in developing and managing complex Blockchain technologies, developing new types of digital assets. Being the first publicly-traded cryptocurrency and blockchain-centered company (with shares both traded in the US OTC Markets as [BITCF] and as [BIT] in crypto exchanges) we want to provide our shareholders with diversified exposure to digital cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies. At this time the Company owns and operates more than the following digital assets under development:
www.CoinQX.comcryptocurrency exchange, registered with FINCEN.
www.strain.IDcannabis strains genetic information depository on decentralized Blockchain
www.iCoiNEWS.comreal time cryptocurrency and bitcoin news site.
www.BITminer.ccproviding mining pool management services.
www.2016coin.orgonline daily election coverage and home page for $PRES, $HILL, $GARY& $BURN -commemorative presidential election coins.
www.bitcannpay.comOpen Loop merchant services for dispensaries.
List of most Omni protocol coins issued on the Bitcoin Blockchain and owned by the Company:http://omnichest.info/lookupadd.aspx?address=1FwADyEvdvaLNxjN1v3q6tNJCgHEBuABrS
Second Omni wallet owned by CoinQX reflecting our airline mileage tokens issued:http://omnichest.info/lookupadd.aspx?address=1VuF26AgLyQ4tBoGzYTWRqtDG9zCB7QXe
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors as may be disclosed in company's filings. In addition to these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may differ materially because of more general factors including (without limitation) general industry and market conditions and growth rates, economic conditions, and governmental and public policy changes. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of the press release. Such forward-looking statements are risks that are detailed in the Company's filings, which are on file atwww.OTCMarkets.com.Contact us via:[email protected] visithttp://www.bitcoincapitalcorp.com
SOURCE:First Bitcoin Capital Corp. || Cramer Remix: Why Apple is the best consumer products company in history: Before there was FANG, Jim Cramer's acronym for the stocks of Facebook(NASDAQ: FB), Amazon(NASDAQ: AMZN), Netflix(NASDAQ: NFLX), and Google, now Alphabet(NASDAQ: GOOGL), the "Mad Money" host hadanother group of growth stocksto watch: the CANDIES.
Those stocks — Chipotle(NYSE: CMG), Apple(NASDAQ: AAPL), Netflix, Deckers(NYSE: DECK), Intuitive Surgical(NASDAQ: ISRG), Express Scripts(NASDAQ: ESRX), and Salesforce.com(NYSE: CRM)— are up 281 percent on average since he formed the acronym in 2010, versus 121 percent for the S&P 500(INDEX: .SPX)index.
And while Deckers and Express Scripts turned out to be disappointing, Cramer said that Apple, which has run 312 percent since CANDIES formed, with a 34 percent rise in 2017 alone, gets too much heat from analysts for its alleged lack of innovation.
"I think Apple's innovated well beyond what anyone else has done in the consumer space and the quality has only improved with each new iteration [and] each new product," Cramer said. "Apple may not be the greatest tech company ever, but it's clearly the best consumer products manufacturer in history, by a long shot. What's wrong with that?"
Then, on a day where themajor averages inched up, seemingly unphased by the congressionalhearing of former FBI Director James Comey, Cramer found a different story worth noting.
"I think the story is much less about Director Comey versus President[Donald] Trumpthan it is about two stocks: Nvidia(NASDAQ: NVDA)versus Nordstrom(NYSE: JWN)," the "Mad Money" host said. "I know, I know. Only I could really boil down a constitutional crisis into two stocks, but that's alright. They're jumping. I can do it because as riveting as the Comey testimony was, to me it means only one thing: forget about Washington ... if you're looking for anything good."
While the hearing is bad for Trump's pro-business economic agenda, Wall Street was focused on these two other stories, which Cramer said representthe conflict of growth versus value.
Cramer also went off the tape and sat down with David Yeom, the co-founder and CEO of online bargain retailer Hollar, to see how the privately held dollar store is faring in the internet realm.
"We have been just pounding the pavement, working with amazing suppliers and sourcing just unbelievable products," Yeom told Cramer on Thursday, highlighting the company's ability to offer products like the fidget spinner at competitively low prices.
And as the company rides what Yeom called a "macro trend" of bargain buying in the otherwise bleak world of retail, the CEO said that Hollar is perfectly positioned to benefit from two of the struggling industry's most popular segments.
"There's really two things working in retail right now, and that's online and off-price, and we're doing both. And we're chasing after a consumer group, really Middle America millennials, that's really been under-served for a long time," Yeom said.
Although its stock has doubled over the past year and rallied over 64 percent in 2017, InterActive Corporation(NASDAQ: IAC)does not get enough love from the market, Jim Cramer says.
"It's because IAC is a confusing conglomerate of online businesses that people simply don't understand. They don't know how IAC is structured, and more importantly, they can't keep track of what IAC even owns," the "Mad Money" host said.
SoCramer broke down the businessto find the key to its soaring stock and how IAC has kept creating value over the years under the leadership of Chairman and Senior Executive Barry Diller.
Finally, Cramer sat down with Joseph Kim, the president and CEO of Inovio Pharmaceuticals(NASDAQ: INO), to hear more about the rise of the speculative biotechnology play that focuses on DNA-based therapies for cancer and other infectious diseases.
Kim told Cramer on Thursday that despite the company's relatively small market capitalization, it has managed to stay efficient in developing and testing their cutting-edge treatments.
"We're very focused and we're very good at what we do, but also, it's our technology platform," the CEO said. "It's a very innovative way of jump-charging a patient's own immune system, and we can do this very rapidly and effectively."
And although the company is small, it has partnered with pharmaceutical giants like AstraZeneca's(London Stock Exchange: AZN-GB)Medimmune, Regeneron(NASDAQ: REGN)and Roche's(Swiss Exchange: ROG-CH)Genentech to continue developing its medicines, Kim said, adding that his confidence about Inovio's future is not unfounded.
"The confidence isn't out of ignorance, it's really based on our data. We have about 1,000 patients' worth of strong and potent immune responses already recorded across our early trials," he told Cramer. "While we're still growing, this is a wonderful platform that's been validated with a lot of these data."
InCramer's lightning round, he flew through his take on some caller favorite stocks, including:
Anheuser-Busch InBev NV(Euronext Brussels: ABI-BE): "I like it, but I have to tell you, I'll see your Anheuser Busch InBev and I'll raise you a Constellation Brands(NYSE: STZ). By the way, I didn't that Molson Coors(NYSE: TAP)report yesterday at all."
BlackBerry(Toronto Stock Exchange: BB-CA): "No, it's already moved so much. Intellectual property can only get you so far. We missed that one. Let's find the next."
Questions for Cramer?Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC
Want to take a deep dive into Cramer's world? Hit him up!Mad Money Twitter-Jim Cramer Twitter-Facebook-Instagram-Vine
Questions, comments, suggestions for the "Mad Money" website? [email protected]
More From CNBC
• Cramer Remix: What the rise in stocks, gold & Bitcoin means for your money
• Cramer Remix: Here's what’s really killing retail
• Cramer Remix: How to know when market moves can be trusted || Cramer Remix: Why Apple is the best consumer products company in history: Before there was FANG, Jim Cramer's acronym for the stocks of Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) , Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) , Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) , and Google, now Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) , the " Mad Money " host had another group of growth stocks to watch: the CANDIES. Those stocks — Chipotle (NYSE: CMG) , Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) , Netflix, Deckers (NYSE: DECK) , Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG) , Express Scripts (NASDAQ: ESRX) , and Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) — are up 281 percent on average since he formed the acronym in 2010, versus 121 percent for the S&P 500 (INDEX: .SPX) index. And while Deckers and Express Scripts turned out to be disappointing, Cramer said that Apple, which has run 312 percent since CANDIES formed, with a 34 percent rise in 2017 alone, gets too much heat from analysts for its alleged lack of innovation. "I think Apple's innovated well beyond what anyone else has done in the consumer space and the quality has only improved with each new iteration [and] each new product," Cramer said. "Apple may not be the greatest tech company ever, but it's clearly the best consumer products manufacturer in history, by a long shot. What's wrong with that?" Then, on a day where the major averages inched up , seemingly unphased by the congressional hearing of former FBI Director James Comey , Cramer found a different story worth noting. "I think the story is much less about Director Comey versus President [Donald] Trump than it is about two stocks: Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) versus Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) ," the "Mad Money" host said. "I know, I know. Only I could really boil down a constitutional crisis into two stocks, but that's alright. They're jumping. I can do it because as riveting as the Comey testimony was, to me it means only one thing: forget about Washington ... if you're looking for anything good." While the hearing is bad for Trump's pro-business economic agenda, Wall Street was focused on these two other stories, which Cramer said represent the conflict of growth versus value . Story continues Cramer also went off the tape and sat down with David Yeom, the co-founder and CEO of online bargain retailer Hollar, to see how the privately held dollar store is faring in the internet realm. "We have been just pounding the pavement, working with amazing suppliers and sourcing just unbelievable products," Yeom told Cramer on Thursday, highlighting the company's ability to offer products like the fidget spinner at competitively low prices. And as the company rides what Yeom called a "macro trend" of bargain buying in the otherwise bleak world of retail, the CEO said that Hollar is perfectly positioned to benefit from two of the struggling industry's most popular segments. "There's really two things working in retail right now, and that's online and off-price, and we're doing both. And we're chasing after a consumer group, really Middle America millennials, that's really been under-served for a long time," Yeom said. Although its stock has doubled over the past year and rallied over 64 percent in 2017, InterActive Corporation (NASDAQ: IAC) does not get enough love from the market, Jim Cramer says. "It's because IAC is a confusing conglomerate of online businesses that people simply don't understand. They don't know how IAC is structured, and more importantly, they can't keep track of what IAC even owns," the " Mad Money " host said. So Cramer broke down the business to find the key to its soaring stock and how IAC has kept creating value over the years under the leadership of Chairman and Senior Executive Barry Diller. Inovio Pharmaceuticals: Confidence in DNA Finally, Cramer sat down with Joseph Kim, the president and CEO of Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: INO) , to hear more about the rise of the speculative biotechnology play that focuses on DNA-based therapies for cancer and other infectious diseases. Kim told Cramer on Thursday that despite the company's relatively small market capitalization, it has managed to stay efficient in developing and testing their cutting-edge treatments. "We're very focused and we're very good at what we do, but also, it's our technology platform," the CEO said. "It's a very innovative way of jump-charging a patient's own immune system, and we can do this very rapidly and effectively." And although the company is small, it has partnered with pharmaceutical giants like AstraZeneca's (London Stock Exchange: AZN-GB) Medimmune, Regeneron (NASDAQ: REGN) and Roche's (Swiss Exchange: ROG-CH) Genentech to continue developing its medicines, Kim said, adding that his confidence about Inovio's future is not unfounded. "The confidence isn't out of ignorance, it's really based on our data. We have about 1,000 patients' worth of strong and potent immune responses already recorded across our early trials," he told Cramer. "While we're still growing, this is a wonderful platform that's been validated with a lot of these data." Lightning Round: I See your Anheuser-Busch, and I Raise You... In Cramer's lightning round , he flew through his take on some caller favorite stocks, including: Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (Euronext Brussels: ABI-BE) : "I like it, but I have to tell you, I'll see your Anheuser Busch InBev and I'll raise you a Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ) . By the way, I didn't that Molson Coors (NYSE: TAP) report yesterday at all." BlackBerry (Toronto Stock Exchange: BB-CA) : "No, it's already moved so much. Intellectual property can only get you so far. We missed that one. Let's find the next." Questions for Cramer? Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC Want to take a deep dive into Cramer's world? Hit him up! Mad Money Twitter - Jim Cramer Twitter - Facebook - Instagram - Vine Questions, comments, suggestions for the "Mad Money" website? [email protected] More From CNBC Cramer Remix: What the rise in stocks, gold & Bitcoin means for your money Cramer Remix: Here's what’s really killing retail Cramer Remix: How to know when market moves can be trusted || How Ethereum became the platform of choice for ICOd digital assets: Jason Rowley Contributor Jason Rowley is a venture capital and technology reporter for Crunchbase News . More posts by this contributor Where are all the biotech startups raising? Ride-hailing, bike and scooter companies probably raised less money than you thought For most of the history of blockchain-based currencies and assets, the story has been all about Bitcoin. At a market capitalization of around $40 billion, it remains the most valuable cryptocurrency . But with the rise of a new chain on the -- ahem -- block, namely Ethereum , and new ways to fund the development of new crypto-platforms with ICOs, the narrative is shifting somewhat to the entire cryptographic asset class . Today, lets take a more in-depth look at some of the historical trends in the digital currency space, paying close attention to Ethereum and its role as the platform of choice for new cryptographic assets. The number of new digital assets is on the rise In roughly the past 12 months, the number of cryptocurrencies listed on CoinMarketCap.com , a main reference site for digital asset developers and speculators alike, has increased significantly. Below is a chart compiled from the count of cryptocurrencies listed on historic snapshots of the sites main table starting with the first snapshot on April 28, 2013 (featuring a whopping seven cryptocurrencies) and the most recent snapshot from June 4, 2017 . As of the June 4 snapshot, there were 809 cryptocurrencies and other digital assets listed on the main CoinMarketCap page. As of Monday, June 5, 2017, at around 6:00 PM Central time, there were 857 cryptocurrencies and assets listed on the site. Between January 3, 2016 -- the first snapshot of 2016 -- and June 5, 2017, the number of cryptographic assets listed on CoinMarketCap grew from 551 to 857, an increase of about 56 percent in almost exactly 18 months. As the chart shows, the pace of growth in the number of crypto-backed assets is itself growing. Based only on the listings on CoinMarketCap, 80 percent of the growth in the number of cryptographic assets over the past 18 months took place since January 1, 2017. Story continues The open-source nature of most cryptocurrency systems means that its trivially easy to make copies of the software (or fork its code, in developer parlance), make some modifications to the protocol and release it as a new, wholly separate system. As Bitcoins price began to increase rapidly in the latter half of 2013, the aspiring Satoshi Nakamotos of the world began forking various cryptocurrency protocols to establish their own coins. By 2013, most of the forks were off of Litecoin , which is based on Scrypt. With Bitcoins price spike at the end of 2013, it had become inefficient to mine Bitcoin on commodity hardware (like graphics cards) because the arms race in the Bitcoin ecosystem produced a new breed of specialized hardware . Scrypt, at the time, was still economical to hash on graphics cards, and as Litecoin and a few other Scrypt-based currencies began to appreciate in value, wholly separate cryptocurrencies were forked off of the original protocols to rise anew. Remember the goofy, meme-based Dogecoin ? That was a fork of Litecoin. And in case youre interested in looking at the family tree of cryptocurrencies, MapOfCoins.com produced some really interesting data visualizations. The goal was to create cryptocurrencies as valuable, or at least as lucrative, in the short-run, as Bitcoin. This somewhat haphazard approach of throwing cryptocurrencies against the proverbial wall and hoping that something sticks was certainly effective at expanding the scope of blockchain-based currency systems; however, that alone doesnt explain the appreciating value of the asset class as a whole. ICOs: The newest new thing If the forkable, derivative-by-design nature of cryptocurrencies explains the breadth of the ecosystem, what explains the growth in value? Part of it is surely market speculation, and another part of it is that cryptocurrencies and other blockchain-based assets do have real-world applications today. But another part comes from cryptocurrency entrepreneurs wising up to the fact that their little upstart protocols, in order to be valuable, needed to have an ecosystem built around them. That, of course, takes time and money. There are two ways of approaching this. Previously, its been common practice for cryptocurrency developers to pre-allocate a certain amount of their new cryptocurrency to self-fund development. Once their new cryptocurrency hit an exchange, and thus had a price, this private stash of coins would then have value, enough to sell for Bitcoin or fiat, which could then sustain a project until the ecosystem of wallets and services around their cryptocurrency became self-sustaining and community-driven. Today, though, the fundraising mechanism of choice appears to be the initial coin offering. As Alex Wilhelm explained in an article for TechCrunch : An ICO is a fundraising tool that trades future cryptocoins in exchange for cryptocurrencies of immediate, liquid value. You give the ICO bitcoin or ethereum, and you get some of Billys New Super Great Coin. This is how Ethereums development was funded, by way of a pre-sale of Ether for Bitcoin in July 2014. That pre-sale -- an ICO by another name -- raised some 31,591 BTC , valued at more than $18.4 million at the time. Although the mechanics of ICOs have been in practice for several years, the name and label for initial coin offering events has only gained some currency recently. And the ICO market has really hit a hockey-stick growth trajectory. Based on data obtained on June 2 from the ICO Calendar on TokenMarket.net , the total number of ICOs listed on the site increased sixfold between March and May of this year. But whats fueling this massive growth in ICOs? Chances are, its similar to what drove the massive growth in the number of cryptocurrencies in the market back in 2013. Back then, early speculators in Bitcoin, flush with newfound crypto-fortune, plunged their money back into emerging cryptocurrencies. This was done partially for fun (see Dogecoin and other novelties) but also to chase the same kind of returns they enjoyed from Bitcoin investments. A recent article from CryptoHustle suggests there might be a similar mechanism at play today, but its not Bitcoin millionaires fueling this ICO boom/bubble. Instead, CryptoHustle explains that [t]he ICO mania is likely due to early Ethereum adopters making serious returns after the last bull run. Its blockchains all the way down For now, that bull run has continued unabated. Last week was the first time that Ethereums market capitalization reached half that of Bitcoins, a massive milestone for the relatively new blockchain. What explains the price increase? Speculation and other factors are no doubt at play here too, but its likely the architecture behind Ethereums blockchain system that makes it uniquely valuable, or at least uniquely flexible and extensible. Bitcoin is a relatively bare-bones blockchain system that requires layers of protocols to be built on top of it to make it a usable platform for utilities like smart contracts. Platforms like Counterparty and Omni are both built on the Bitcoin blockchain and have sprouted their own collection of digital assets and services that ride on top of them. Ethereum, on the other hand, was launched with its own scripting language baked in, making it possible to build complex smart contracts, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), decentralized autonomous apps (DApps) and even other cryptocurrencies with relative ease. This ease of development, combined with the rising price of Ether and a desire by early stakeholders to re-invest in the Ethereum ecosystem, has made Ethereum the platform of choice for crypto-asset entrepreneurs -- at least for now. Based on the same data extracted from TokenMarket we looked at earlier, we charted the proportional share of Ethereum-based assets versus all other assets that have either ICOd already or soon will. From zero percent of the monthly asset offerings less than a year ago, to more than half of all the closed or announced ICO events tracked on that page, the growth of Ethereum is impressive. Ethereums flexible, extensible blockchain system makes it relatively easy for developers to build and launch their own DApps, DAOs and crypto-assets. But ease-of-use is not sufficient to explain Ethereums growing traction in the new digital assets space. Its where a disproportionate amount of the money is, too. For these final charts, we extracted the rows from CoinMarketCaps listing of digital assets . The table lists names, blockchain platforms, market capitalizations and prices of some 119 assets. Although roughly a third of the assets listed were built on Ethereum, just over three-quarters of the market value of all of these assets is tied up in assets built on top of the Ethereum platform. At the time of writing, theres approximately $3.4 billion in market value represented by the 119 crypto-assets listed on CoinMarketCaps digital assets page. Of that, around $2.6 billion is tied up in assets based on Ethereum. Just the top four Ethereum-based assets -- Golem , Augur , Basic Attention Tokens and Gnosis -- represent $1.27 billion in market value. This is roughly half of all the value attached to Ethereum-based assets and more than a third of all the market value of crypto-backed assets and tokens in general. The value of crypto-assets listed on CoinMarketCap is divided between those built on Omni and those built on Counterparty. Ethereum is the platform of choice because it offers a blockchain platform with a built-in abstraction layer, which serves to unify the ecosystem. Ethereum offers the tantalizing promise of one chain to rule them all, or at least one chain to act as the foundation. Ether traders, entrepreneurs and developers alike are keen to let a thousand tokens, DApps and DAOs bloom because, although each of these assets is distinct, their roots run deep and ultimately back to Ethereum. || How Ethereum became the platform of choice for ICO’d digital assets: Jason RowleyContributor
Jason Rowley is a venture capital and technology reporter forCrunchbase News.
More posts by this contributor
• Where are all the biotech startups raising?
• Ride-hailing, bike and scooter companies probably raised less money than you thought
For most of the history of blockchain-based currencies and assets, the story has been all about Bitcoin. At a market capitalization of around $40 billion, it remains themost valuable cryptocurrency.
But with the rise of a new ‘chain on the -- ahem -- block, namelyEthereum, and new ways to fund the development of new crypto-platforms with ICOs, the narrative is shifting somewhat to theentire cryptographic asset class.
Today, let’s take a more in-depth look at some of the historical trends in the digital currency space, paying close attention to Ethereum and its role as the platform of choice for new cryptographic assets.
In roughly the past 12 months, the number of cryptocurrencies listed onCoinMarketCap.com, a main reference site for digital asset developers and speculators alike, has increased significantly.
Below is a chart compiled from the count of cryptocurrencies listed on historic snapshots of the site’s main table starting with the first snapshoton April 28, 2013(featuring a whopping seven cryptocurrencies) and the most recent snapshotfrom June 4, 2017.
As of the June 4 snapshot, there were 809 cryptocurrencies and other digital assets listed on the main CoinMarketCap page. As of Monday, June 5, 2017, at around 6:00 PM Central time, there were 857 cryptocurrencies and assets listed on the site.
Between January 3, 2016 -- the first snapshot of 2016 -- and June 5, 2017, the number of cryptographic assets listed on CoinMarketCap grew from 551 to 857, an increase of about 56 percent in almost exactly 18 months.
As the chart shows, the pace of growth in the number of crypto-backed assets is itself growing. Based only on the listings on CoinMarketCap, 80 percent of the growth in the number of cryptographic assets over the past 18 months took place since January 1, 2017.
The open-source nature of most cryptocurrency systems means that it’s trivially easy to make copies of the software (or “fork” its code, in developer parlance), make some modifications to the protocol and release it as a new, wholly separate system.
As Bitcoin’s price began to increase rapidly in the latter half of 2013, the aspiringSatoshi Nakamotosof the world began forking various cryptocurrency protocols to establish their own coins. By 2013, most of the forks were off ofLitecoin, which is based on Scrypt.
With Bitcoin’s price spike at the end of 2013, it had become inefficient to mine Bitcoin on commodity hardware (like graphics cards) because the arms race in the Bitcoin ecosystem produceda new breed of specialized hardware.
Scrypt, at the time, was still economical to hash on graphics cards, and as Litecoin and a few other Scrypt-based currencies began to appreciate in value, wholly separate cryptocurrencies were forked off of the original protocols to rise anew. Remember the goofy, meme-basedDogecoin? That was a fork of Litecoin. And in case you’re interested in looking at the “family tree” of cryptocurrencies,MapOfCoins.comproduced some really interesting data visualizations.
The goal was to create cryptocurrencies as valuable, or at least as lucrative, in the short-run, as Bitcoin. This somewhat haphazard approach of throwing cryptocurrencies against the proverbial wall and hoping that something sticks was certainly effective at expanding the scope of blockchain-based currency systems; however, that alone doesn’t explain the appreciating value of the asset class as a whole.
If the forkable, derivative-by-design nature of cryptocurrencies explains the breadth of the ecosystem, what explains the growth in value?
Part of it is surely market speculation, and another part of it is that cryptocurrencies and other blockchain-based assets do have real-world applications today.
But another part comes from cryptocurrency entrepreneurs wising up to the fact that their little upstart protocols, in order to be valuable, needed to have an ecosystem built around them. That, of course, takes time and money.
There are two ways of approaching this. Previously, it’s been common practice for cryptocurrency developers to pre-allocate a certain amount of their new cryptocurrency to self-fund development. Once their new cryptocurrency hit an exchange, and thus had a price, this private stash of coins would then have value, enough to sell for Bitcoin or fiat, which could then sustain a project until the ecosystem of wallets and services around their cryptocurrency became self-sustaining and community-driven.
Today, though, the fundraising mechanism of choice appears to be the initial coin offering. AsAlex Wilhelmexplainedin an article for TechCrunch:
“An ICO is a fundraising tool that trades future cryptocoins in exchange for cryptocurrencies of immediate, liquid value. You give the ICO bitcoin or ethereum, and you get some of Billy’s New Super Great Coin.”
This is how Ethereum’s development was funded, by way of a pre-sale of Ether for Bitcoin in July 2014. That pre-sale -- an ICO by another name --raised some 31,591 BTC, valued at more than $18.4 million at the time.
Although the mechanics of ICOs have been in practice for several years, the name and label for initial coin offering events has only gained some currency recently. And the ICO market has really hit a hockey-stick growth trajectory.
Based on data obtained on June 2 fromthe ICO Calendar on TokenMarket.net, the total number of ICOs listed on the site increased sixfold between March and May of this year.
But what’s fueling this massive growth in ICOs? Chances are, it’s similar to what drove the massive growth in the number of cryptocurrencies in the market back in 2013.
Back then, early speculators in Bitcoin, flush with newfound crypto-fortune, plunged their money back into emerging cryptocurrencies. This was done partially for fun (see Dogecoin and other novelties) but also to chase the same kind of returns they enjoyed from Bitcoin investments.
A recent article from CryptoHustlesuggests there might be a similar mechanism at play today, but it’s not Bitcoin millionaires fueling this ICO boom/bubble. Instead, CryptoHustle explains that “[t]he ICO mania is likely due to early Ethereum adopters making serious returns after the last bull run.”
For now, that bull run has continued unabated. Last week was the first time thatEthereum’smarket capitalization reached half that of Bitcoin’s, a massive milestone for the relatively new blockchain.
What explains the price increase? Speculation and other factors are no doubt at play here too, but it’s likely the architecture behind Ethereum’s blockchain system that makes it uniquely valuable, or at least uniquely flexible and extensible.
Bitcoin is a relatively bare-bones blockchain system that requires layers of protocols to be built on top of it to make it a usable platform for utilities like smart contracts. Platforms likeCounterpartyandOmniare both built on the Bitcoin blockchain and have sprouted their own collection of digital assets and services that ride on top of them.
Ethereum, on the other hand, was launched with its own scripting language baked in, making it possible to build complex smart contracts, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), decentralized autonomous apps (DApps) and even other cryptocurrencies with relative ease.
This ease of development, combined with the rising price of Ether and a desire by early stakeholders to re-invest in the Ethereum ecosystem, has made Ethereum the platform of choice for crypto-asset entrepreneurs -- at least for now.
Based on the same data extracted from TokenMarket we looked at earlier, we charted the proportional share of Ethereum-based assets versus all other assets that have either ICO’d already or soon will.
From zero percent of the monthly asset offerings less than a year ago, to more than half of all the closed or announced ICO events tracked on that page, the growth of Ethereum is impressive.
Ethereum’s flexible, extensible blockchain system makes it relatively easy for developers to build and launch their own DApps, DAOs and crypto-assets. But ease-of-use is not sufficient to explain Ethereum’s growing traction in the new digital assets space. It’s where a disproportionate amount of the money is, too.
For these final charts, we extracted the rows fromCoinMarketCap’s listing of digital assets. The table lists names, blockchain platforms, market capitalizations and prices of some 119 assets.
Although roughly a third of the assets listed were built on Ethereum, just over three-quarters of the market value of all of these assets is tied up in assets built on top of the Ethereum platform.
At the time of writing, there’s approximately $3.4 billion in market value represented by the 119 crypto-assets listed on CoinMarketCap’s digital assets page. Of that, around $2.6 billion is tied up in assets based on Ethereum.
Just the top four Ethereum-based assets --Golem,Augur,Basic Attention TokensandGnosis-- represent $1.27 billion in market value. This is roughly half of all the value attached to Ethereum-based assets and more than a third of all the market value of crypto-backed assets and tokens in general.
The value of crypto-assets listed on CoinMarketCap is divided between those built on Omni and those built on Counterparty. Ethereum is the platform of choice because it offers a blockchain platform with a built-in abstraction layer, which serves to unify the ecosystem.
Ethereum offers the tantalizing promise of one chain to rule them all, or at least one chain to act as the foundation. Ether traders, entrepreneurs and developers alike are keen to let a thousand tokens, DApps and DAOs bloom because, although each of these assets is distinct, their roots run deep and ultimately back to Ethereum. || New Flow Kids App Delivers Anytime/Anywhere Content To Caribbean Children: MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - Jun 8, 2017) - Flow 's younger viewers now have a kid-friendly service that delivers children's content anytime, anywhere, on any device via the new " Flow Kids" app specially developed by Toon Goggles , the top kids' on-demand entertainment service. The Flow Kids app offers viewers approximately 1000 hours of high-definition children's content -- thousands of fun and educational cartoons for boys and girls, live action shows, comedy, engaging games for preschool to older age groups -- something for every child. "We're pleased to have partnered with Toon Goggles as we introduce an exciting new option for children's educational and entertainment programming to the region," said James Tooke, SVP Content & Media at Cable & Wireless , operator of Flow. "We've invested significantly to secure the world's best content for our audiences, and we of course wanted to ensure that the young ones weren't left out. With Flow Kids , children now have the ability to stream their favourite shows and play fun, interactive games any time of the day, keeping them entertained for hours on end. Plus, Flow Kids is not only jam-packed with fun games and entertainment -- it's also educational, intuitive, easy-to-use and a safe platform for kids of any age. We're confident Flow Kids will put a smile on every child's face." Aside from the diverse selection of content, Flow Kids offers other features to enhance the viewing experience for children and parents alike. For example, for those parents who'd like to ensure their children are watching content that's suitable for their age, Flow Kids has a built-in parental control switch to allow them control over what shows, music or games kids can access. The app also allows for access over 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi, and has the ability to store content, so kids can watch their favourite shows even when they're not connected to the Internet. Commenting on the innovative app and the cosmopolitan perspective it offers children, Stephen L. Hodge, C.E.O. of Toon Goggles said, "Growing up on the small Caribbean island of Anguilla, and as a father of three myself, I know first-hand how important it is for kids to gain a global perspective, and the fun and educational content on Flow Kids helps facilitate that. We feel that our partnership with Flow and Cable & Wireless meets both our companies' goals of increasing quality media options for kids everywhere." Story continues Flow Kids is available to Flow subscribers for free via the mobile app, once they have a Flow broadband package, mobile bundle or TV account and a Flow ID. A premium version will also be available for a fee, which will give users the ability to access content via their mobile and Flow's video-on-demand service on up to 5 devices, including smart TVs and set-top boxes. Flow Kids is available in twelve Flow markets: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and the Turks and Caicos Islands. About C&W Communications C&W is a full service communications and entertainment provider and delivers market-leading video, broadband, telephony and mobile services to consumers in 18 countries. Through its business division, C&W provides data center hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customized IT service solutions, utilizing cloud technology to serve business and government customers. C&W also operates a state-of-the-art submarine fiber network -- the most extensive in the region. Learn more at http://www.cwc.com/ , or follow C&W on LinkedIn , Facebook or Twitter . About Liberty Global Liberty Global is the world's largest international TV and broadband company, with operations in more than 30 countries across Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. We invest in the infrastructure that empowers our customers to make the most of the digital revolution. Our scale and commitment to innovation enable us to develop market-leading products delivered through next generation networks that connect our 25 million customers who subscribe to over 50 million television, broadband internet and telephony services. We also serve over 10 million mobile subscribers and offer WiFi service across 6 million access points. Liberty Global's businesses are comprised of two stocks: the Liberty Global Group ( NASDAQ : LBTYA ) ( NASDAQ : LBTYB ) ( NASDAQ : LBTYK ) for our European operations, and the LiLAC Group ( NASDAQ : LILA ) and ( NASDAQ : LILAK ) ( OTC PINK : LILAB ), which consists of our operations in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Liberty Global Group operates in 11 European countries under the consumer brands Virgin Media, Unitymedia, Telenet and UPC. The Liberty Global Group also owns 50% of VodafoneZiggo, a Dutch joint venture, which has 4 million customers, 10 million fixed-line subscribers and 5 million mobile subscribers. The LiLAC Group operates in over 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean under the consumer brands VTR, Flow, Liberty, Más Móvil and BTC. In addition, the LiLAC Group operates a sub-sea fiber network throughout the region in over 30 markets. For more information, please visit www.libertyglobal.com || New Flow Kids App Delivers Anytime/Anywhere Content To Caribbean Children: MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - Jun 8, 2017) -Flow's younger viewers now have a kid-friendly service that delivers children's content anytime, anywhere, on any device via the new "Flow Kids" appspecially developed byToon Goggles, the top kids' on-demand entertainment service.
The Flow Kids appoffers viewers approximately 1000 hours of high-definition children's content -- thousands of fun and educational cartoons for boys and girls, live action shows, comedy, engaging games for preschool to older age groups -- something for every child.
"We're pleased to have partnered with Toon Goggles as we introduce an exciting new option for children's educational and entertainment programming to the region," said James Tooke, SVP Content & Media atCable & Wireless, operator of Flow. "We've invested significantly to secure the world's best content for our audiences, and we of course wanted to ensure that the young ones weren't left out. WithFlow Kids, children now have the ability to stream their favourite shows and play fun, interactive games any time of the day, keeping them entertained for hours on end. Plus,Flow Kidsis not only jam-packed with fun games and entertainment -- it's also educational, intuitive, easy-to-use and a safe platform for kids of any age. We're confidentFlow Kidswill put a smile on every child's face."
Aside from the diverse selection of content,Flow Kidsoffers other features to enhance the viewing experience for children and parents alike. For example, for those parents who'd like to ensure their children are watching content that's suitable for their age,Flow Kidshas a built-in parental control switch to allow them control over what shows, music or games kids can access. The app also allows for access over 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi, and has the ability to store content, so kids can watch their favourite shows even when they're not connected to the Internet.
Commenting on the innovative app and the cosmopolitan perspective it offers children, Stephen L. Hodge, C.E.O. of Toon Goggles said, "Growing up on the small Caribbean island of Anguilla, and as a father of three myself, I know first-hand how important it is for kids to gain a global perspective, and the fun and educational content onFlow Kidshelps facilitate that. We feel that our partnership with Flow and Cable & Wireless meets both our companies' goals of increasing quality media options for kids everywhere."
Flow Kidsis available to Flow subscribers forfreevia the mobile app, once they have a Flow broadband package, mobile bundle or TV account and a Flow ID. A premium version will also be available for a fee, which will give users the ability to access content via their mobileandFlow's video-on-demand service on up to 5 devices, including smart TVs and set-top boxes.
Flow Kidsis available in twelve Flow markets: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
About C&W Communications
C&W is a full service communications and entertainment provider and delivers market-leading video, broadband, telephony and mobile services to consumers in 18 countries. Through its business division, C&W provides data center hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customized IT service solutions, utilizing cloud technology to serve business and government customers.
C&W also operates a state-of-the-art submarine fiber network -- the most extensive in the region.
Learn more athttp://www.cwc.com/, or follow C&W onLinkedIn,FacebookorTwitter.
About Liberty Global
Liberty Global is the world's largest international TV and broadband company, with operations in more than 30 countries across Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. We invest in the infrastructure that empowers our customers to make the most of the digital revolution. Our scale and commitment to innovation enable us to develop market-leading products delivered through next generation networks that connect our 25 million customers who subscribe to over 50 million television, broadband internet and telephony services. We also serve over 10 million mobile subscribers and offer WiFi service across 6 million access points.
Liberty Global's businesses are comprised of two stocks: the Liberty Global Group (NASDAQ:LBTYA) (NASDAQ:LBTYB) (NASDAQ:LBTYK) for our European operations, and the LiLAC Group (NASDAQ:LILA) and (NASDAQ:LILAK) (OTC PINK:LILAB), which consists of our operations in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Liberty Global Group operates in 11 European countries under the consumer brands Virgin Media, Unitymedia, Telenet and UPC. The Liberty Global Group also owns 50% of VodafoneZiggo, a Dutch joint venture, which has 4 million customers, 10 million fixed-line subscribers and 5 million mobile subscribers. The LiLAC Group operates in over 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean under the consumer brands VTR, Flow, Liberty, Más Móvil and BTC. In addition, the LiLAC Group operates a sub-sea fiber network throughout the region in over 30 markets.
For more information, please visitwww.libertyglobal.com || Top Analyst Boils Down NVIDIA Corporation’s (NVDA) Key Advantage Over Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) in Market Share Leadership: In a competition of chip makers, how do giants NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA ) and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD ) fare when sized up against each other? Top analyst Mitch Steves at RBC Capital recently conducted a cryptocurrency "thought experiment," evaluating the computing power of the giants in terms of Bitcoin and Ethereum mining technology. The verdict? Nvidia's last year model GPU "GTX 1070" in fact beats Advanced Micro Devices' newer "Radeon 580" on a performance playing ground. As such, the analyst reiterates an Outperform rating on shares of NVDA with a $150 price target, which represents a 1% downside from where the stock is currently trading. When considering transitioning to conditions for creating a full-fledged Data Center, the analyst places extra emphasis on electrical costs in terms of Bitcoin, giving older Nvidia GPUs the upper hand over AMD in a 12-month period. Recognizing higher demand for power efficiency, the analyst gives NVDA the leverage in the chip giant ring, noting that, "Choosing between Nvidia and AMD GPUs today is heavily dependent on price." Steves surmises, “Increasing workloads cause more demanding power consumption (data center vs. high performance desktop) which emphasizes the importance of long-term power efficiency. While small scale tasks such as mining Ethereum will decrease the importance of electrical costs, Data Center level workloads are less forgiving. Importantly, despite comparing an older Nvidia product (GTX 1070) to a newer AMD product (Radeon Rx 580) we found that Nvidia's product allows for more performance when adjusted for electrical costs. Overall, while the focus has been around the Cuda software and higher performance of Nvidia chips (on a like for like basis), we think the power consumption aspect acts as another material reason for Nvidia to maintain its market share leadership position." Mitch Steves has a very good TipRanks score with an 89% success rate and a high ranking of #71 out of 4,569 analysts. Steves garners 31.8% in his annual returns. When recommending NVDA, Steves realizes 68.7% in average profits on the stock. More recent articles about AMD: 4 Reasons Why NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) Is Poised for Explosion Wells Fargo Likes Booming Chip Odds on Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) and Micron Technology, Inc. (MU) 3 Reasons Why You Should Drop Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) Shares NVIDIA Corporation and Baidu Inc (ADR) Announce Partnership to Accelerate Artificial Intelligence Technology
[Social Media Buzz]
One Bitcoin now worth $2632.99@bitstamp. High $2980.00. Low $2480.03. Market Cap $43.144 Billion #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/sFqw9sl0UB || BTC: $2659.00, S: $17.04, G: $1266.49 | Act: 23,397 Open: 4419 BTC: 52,406.7 | Total: $139,360,337 http://goo.gl/U94Tki #bitcoin || #bitcoin #miner 2x Bitmain Antminer S9 13 TH/s Bitcoin miners - used, tested and ready to ship! $6000.00 http://ift.tt/2sWcpZp pic.twitter.com/0zG1rgsoCP || BTC Real Time Price: ThePriceOfBTC: $2838.97 #GDAX;
$2770.97 #bitstamp;
$2...
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2717.02, 2506.37, 2464.58, 2518.56, 2655.88, 2548.29, 2589.60, 2721.79, 2689.10, 2705.41
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 7973.21, 7988.56, 8222.08, 8243.72, 8078.20, 7514.67, 7493.49, 8660.70, 9244.97, 9551.71, 9256.15, 9427.69, 9205.73, 9199.58, 9261.10, 9324.72, 9235.35, 9412.61, 9342.53, 9360.88, 9267.56, 8804.88, 8813.58, 9055.53, 8757.79, 8815.66, 8808.26, 8708.09, 8491.99, 8550.76, 8577.98, 8309.29, 8206.15, 8027.27, 7642.75, 7296.58, 7397.80, 7047.92, 7146.13, 7218.37, 7531.66, 7463.11, 7761.24, 7569.63, 7424.29, 7321.99, 7320.15, 7252.03, 7448.31, 7547.00, 7556.24, 7564.35, 7400.90, 7278.12, 7217.43, 7243.13, 7269.68, 7124.67, 7152.30, 6932.48, 6640.52, 7276.80, 7202.84, 7218.82, 7191.16, 7511.59, 7355.63, 7322.53, 7275.16, 7238.97, 7290.09, 7317.99, 7422.65, 7293.00, 7193.60, 7200.17, 6985.47, 7344.88, 7410.66, 7411.32, 7769.22, 8163.69, 8079.86, 7879.07, 8166.55, 8037.54, 8192.49, 8144.19, 8827.76, 8807.01.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2020-01-15]
Volume: 40102834650, RSI (14-day): 71.30, 50-day EMA: 7764.08, 200-day EMA: 8190.16
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1552.10, Gold RSI: 65.37
Oil Price: 57.81, Oil RSI: 38.51
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Silvergate, Bitstamp link up to let institutions trade with leverage collateralized by bitcoin: Luxembourg-based crypto exchange Bitstamp has become a launch partner for Silvergate Bank’s new product, SEN Leverage.
Developed by California state-chartered Silvergate Bank, the Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN) enables real-time, around-the-clock deposits and withdrawal of U.S. dollars. Since launch, the network has on-boarded a series of big-name exchanges, including Kraken in November and Gemini in August.
SEN Leverage uses SENto fund loans and process repayment on a 24/7 basis, according to apress release. The product targets institutional clients and allows them to trade with leverage collateralized by bitcoin.
Founded in 2011, Bitstamp currently supportsfive cryptocurrencies for trading (BTC, ETH, LTC, XRP, BCH) andsaw an average daily trading volume ofaround$113 millionin 2019.
It worked with Silvergate Bank during SEN Leverage’s development phase and will now manage and provide custody for the bank’s bitcoin collateral, the press release said.
“We see growing demand from our institutional customers to access greater trading capital,” said Miha Grčar, head of business development at Bitstamp. “We already use SEN to enable withdrawals and deposits to Bitstamp accounts within minutes at any time and look forward to offering our clients additional flexibility to manage their bitcoin positions through SEN Leverage.”
Silvergate's existing presence in the crypto space is significant, based on the number of industry clients it maintains. Silvergate's Oct. 28filingwith the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) shows that as of Sept. 30, the bank is serving 756 cryptocurrency clients, a more than 15% increase over June. || Crypto consultant Mark Cheng claims he was kidnapped in Thailand: The South China Morning Post has reported that 33-year-old Singaporean businessman Mark Cheng was captured and held for ransom during a recent business trip to Thailand. The young cryptocurrency consultant was allegedly abducted by a Thai actor who was known to him. The individual blindfolded Cheng and took him away to a “deserted place”. Cheng was allegedly assaulted and his captors threatened to execute him, even after the ransom had been paid. Local police have apprehended the unknown actor, who according to other sources was the owner of the vehicle used in the kidnapping. The actor is currently being questioned, but Cheng states at least three more assailants remain at large. Cheng claims he was tortured by his captors and ordered to pay his ransom in Bitcoin. The kidnappers allegedly forced him to transfer $742,000 in BTC before he managed to escape on Friday night. However, Singaporean news outlet The New Post has reported that he paid just $60,000 to his captors. Cheng told the news outlet that his captors had firearms and began digging a grave for him. Allegedly, he used his knowledge of martial arts to fend off and flee his attackers. He managed to attract the attention of a passerby who took him to a local police station in the Nakhon Nayok Ongkharak district. With Cheng’s history of fraud, it is not being ruled out by authorities that the event may have been orchestrated for some unknown reason by Cheng or his close associates. Business disputes and fraud Thai police have speculated that the kidnapping may have been the result of an ongoing business dispute between the two men. Cheng is being investigated for misappropriating funds worth $300,000 from a group of investors he worked with in 2014, and at the time of his kidnapping was on bail for his role in the fraud. More recently, Cheng has been working as an advisor to Singaporean blockchain start-up ‘ X Infinity ’, which lists the young businessman as having nine years’ experience in venture capital and commercialisation. Story continues The New Post says that Cheng is “facing cheating charges” in Singapore, and it’s currently unknown whether he will be forced to return to Singapore for his court hearing on February 3. It’s unclear how much of Cheng’s story is true or accurate given his extraordinary circumstances and pending charges. Cheng will give evidence against his captors once the trial date is set. The post Crypto consultant Mark Cheng claims he was kidnapped in Thailand appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Crypto consultant Mark Cheng claims he was kidnapped in Thailand: The South China Morning Post has reported that 33-year-old Singaporean businessman Mark Cheng was captured and held for ransom during a recent business trip to Thailand. The young cryptocurrency consultant was allegedly abducted by a Thai actor who was known to him. The individual blindfolded Cheng and took him away to a “deserted place”. Cheng was allegedly assaulted and his captors threatened to execute him, even after the ransom had been paid. Local police have apprehended the unknown actor, who according to other sources was the owner of the vehicle used in the kidnapping. The actor is currently being questioned, but Cheng states at least three more assailants remain at large. Cheng claims he was tortured by his captors and ordered to pay his ransom in Bitcoin. The kidnappers allegedly forced him to transfer $742,000 in BTC before he managed to escape on Friday night. However, Singaporean news outlet The New Post has reported that he paid just $60,000 to his captors. Cheng told the news outlet that his captors had firearms and began digging a grave for him. Allegedly, he used his knowledge of martial arts to fend off and flee his attackers. He managed to attract the attention of a passerby who took him to a local police station in the Nakhon Nayok Ongkharak district. With Cheng’s history of fraud, it is not being ruled out by authorities that the event may have been orchestrated for some unknown reason by Cheng or his close associates. Business disputes and fraud Thai police have speculated that the kidnapping may have been the result of an ongoing business dispute between the two men. Cheng is being investigated for misappropriating funds worth $300,000 from a group of investors he worked with in 2014, and at the time of his kidnapping was on bail for his role in the fraud. More recently, Cheng has been working as an advisor to Singaporean blockchain start-up ‘ X Infinity ’, which lists the young businessman as having nine years’ experience in venture capital and commercialisation. Story continues The New Post says that Cheng is “facing cheating charges” in Singapore, and it’s currently unknown whether he will be forced to return to Singapore for his court hearing on February 3. It’s unclear how much of Cheng’s story is true or accurate given his extraordinary circumstances and pending charges. Cheng will give evidence against his captors once the trial date is set. The post Crypto consultant Mark Cheng claims he was kidnapped in Thailand appeared first on Coin Rivet . || The Repo Market Is So Broken That The Fed Wants To Change It: Illiquidity in the U.S. repo market spooked investors in the second half of 2019, and the U.S. Federal Reserve is considering a major policy change that could help remedy the situation. However, the potential changes could come with some major political fallout. What Is The Repo Market? The term “repo” is short for repurchase agreement. Repo loans are overnight loans taken out by small banks and hedge funds that are repaid the following day. These banks and hedge funds use low-risk securities, such as U.S. Treasury bonds, as collateral for the loans. Liquidity in the U.S. repo market dropped back in September, and the Fed was forced to step in for the first time since the financial crisis in 2008. The Potential Fix The Fed is reportedly considering completely overhauling the current repo market and instead begin allowing the repo market clearinghouse, the Fixed Income Clearing Corp. (FICC), to lend directly to small banks and hedge funds. This change would essentially eliminate the larger bank middlemen from the process and provide a direct source of overnight loans for small banks. In theory, this change would reduce uncertainty and risk and reduce the chances a freeze in the repo market could disrupt the financial system. However, providing wealthy hedge fund managers with a direct path to Fed lending via the FICC might not sit will with the average American. The prospect of a taxpayer-funded hedge fund bailout would likely trigger political backlash. Problems Ahead? While proponents of the potential changes argue it would add liquidity and transparency to the repo market, opponents are concerned the changes would be seen as the Fed giving the green light to hedge funds to increase their leverage and make risky bets. Earlier this month, the New York Fed injected another $56.7 billion into the repo market in an effort to keep fed funds interest rates in-line with the Fed’s target range of between 1.5% and 1.75%. The Fed also said its balance sheet grew from $3.8 trillion in September to $4.17 trillion by the end of 2019. Story continues “The big picture answer is that the repo market is broken,” James Bianco, founder of Bianco Research in Chicago, told MarketWatch back in December . “They are essentially medicating the market into submission...But this is not a long-term solution.” Benzinga’s Take Perhaps uneasiness about the Fed’s role in the repo market is one of the driving forces behind a recent rally in gold and bitcoin prices, investments many traders see as stores of value and inflation hedges. In the past month alone, the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD ) is up 4.5%, while the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (OTC: GBTC ) is up 13.8% overall. Do you agree or disagree with these predictions? Email [email protected] with your thoughts. Related Links: US Adds 145K Jobs In December, Wage And Labor Market Gains Consistent With Fed's Outlook Bernie Sanders Is The Biggest Market Risk Of 2020, Gundlach Says 0 See more from Benzinga Here's How Much Investing 0 In Citigroup Stock Back In 2010 Would Be Worth Today Here's How Much Investing 0 In Wells Fargo Stock Back In 2010 Would Be Worth Today Here's How Much Investing 0 In JPMorgan Stock Back In 2010 Would Be Worth Today © 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || The Repo Market Is So Broken That The Fed Wants To Change It: Illiquidity in the U.S. repo market spooked investors in the second half of 2019, and the U.S. Federal Reserve isconsidering a major policy changethat could help remedy the situation. However, the potential changes could come with some major political fallout.
What Is The Repo Market?
The term “repo” is short for repurchase agreement. Repo loans are overnight loans taken out by small banks and hedge funds that are repaid the following day. These banks and hedge funds use low-risk securities, such as U.S. Treasury bonds, as collateral for the loans.
Liquidity in the U.S. repo market dropped back in September, and the Fed was forced to step in for the first time since the financial crisis in 2008.
The Potential Fix
The Fed is reportedly considering completely overhauling the current repo market and instead begin allowing the repo market clearinghouse, the Fixed Income Clearing Corp. (FICC), to lend directly to small banks and hedge funds. This change would essentially eliminate the larger bank middlemen from the process and provide a direct source of overnight loans for small banks.
In theory, this change would reduce uncertainty and risk and reduce the chances a freeze in the repo market could disrupt the financial system. However, providing wealthy hedge fund managers with a direct path to Fed lending via the FICC might not sit will with the average American. The prospect of a taxpayer-funded hedge fund bailout would likely trigger political backlash.
Problems Ahead?
While proponents of the potential changes argue it would add liquidity and transparency to the repo market, opponents are concerned the changes would be seen as the Fed giving the green light to hedge funds to increase their leverage and make risky bets.
Earlier this month, the New York Fed injected another$56.7 billioninto the repo market in an effort to keep fed funds interest rates in-line with the Fed’s target range of between 1.5% and 1.75%. The Fed also said its balance sheet grew from $3.8 trillion in September to $4.17 trillion by the end of 2019.
“The big picture answer is that the repo market is broken,” James Bianco, founder of Bianco Research in Chicago,told MarketWatch back in December. “They are essentially medicating the market into submission...But this is not a long-term solution.”
Benzinga’s Take
Perhaps uneasiness about the Fed’s role in the repo market is one of the driving forces behind a recent rally in gold and bitcoin prices, investments many traders see as stores of value and inflation hedges. In the past month alone, theSPDR Gold Trust(NYSE:GLD) is up 4.5%, while theGrayscale Bitcoin Trust(OTC:GBTC) is up 13.8% overall.
Do you agree or disagree with these predictions? [email protected] your thoughts.
Related Links:
US Adds 145K Jobs In December, Wage And Labor Market Gains Consistent With Fed's Outlook
Bernie Sanders Is The Biggest Market Risk Of 2020, Gundlach Says
0
See more from Benzinga
• Here's How Much Investing 0 In Citigroup Stock Back In 2010 Would Be Worth Today
• Here's How Much Investing 0 In Wells Fargo Stock Back In 2010 Would Be Worth Today
• Here's How Much Investing 0 In JPMorgan Stock Back In 2010 Would Be Worth Today
© 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin SV spikes more than 95% to become fifth largest cryptocurrency: In the last few hours, Bitcoin SV (BSV) pumped to its all-time highest value, briefly reaching as high as $339.95 before cooling off somewhat to reach its current value of $320—still more than 30% higher than its previous all-time high.
The cryptocurrency has added a total of $2.5 billion to its market capitalization in the last 24 hours, after gaining over 95% in this time. With that said, BSV's price action appears to be rapidly changing, and a significant chunk of this growth was achieved in the last hour.
At its current value,Bitcoin SVis just inches away from knocking Bitcoin Cash (BCH) out of its slot as the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. Nonetheless, Bitcoin SV has already jumped several places today, and recently eclipsed Tether (USDT) to become the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap.
This recent development comes just a day after it was revealed that Craig Wright, a staunch supporter of Bitcoin SV, would be getting more time to provide evidence of his $10 billion bitcoin fortune. Now, Wright has until February 3, 2020, to produce the private keys necessary to settle the legal dispute with the Kleiman estate—which has dragged on for more than a year.
Should Craig Wright successfully provide the private keys to the Tulip Trust, this could add serious weight to his claim to be Bitcoin's infamous founder Satoshi Nakamoto—an accolade that could cost him half his fortune. || Bitcoin SV spikes more than 95% to become fifth largest cryptocurrency: In the last few hours, Bitcoin SV (BSV) pumped to its all-time highest value, briefly reaching as high as $339.95 before cooling off somewhat to reach its current value of $320—still more than 30% higher than its previous all-time high.
The cryptocurrency has added a total of $2.5 billion to its market capitalization in the last 24 hours, after gaining over 95% in this time. With that said, BSV's price action appears to be rapidly changing, and a significant chunk of this growth was achieved in the last hour.
At its current value,Bitcoin SVis just inches away from knocking Bitcoin Cash (BCH) out of its slot as the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. Nonetheless, Bitcoin SV has already jumped several places today, and recently eclipsed Tether (USDT) to become the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap.
This recent development comes just a day after it was revealed that Craig Wright, a staunch supporter of Bitcoin SV, would be getting more time to provide evidence of his $10 billion bitcoin fortune. Now, Wright has until February 3, 2020, to produce the private keys necessary to settle the legal dispute with the Kleiman estate—which has dragged on for more than a year.
Should Craig Wright successfully provide the private keys to the Tulip Trust, this could add serious weight to his claim to be Bitcoin's infamous founder Satoshi Nakamoto—an accolade that could cost him half his fortune. || Bitcoin SV spikes more than 95% to become fifth largest cryptocurrency: In the last few hours, Bitcoin SV (BSV) pumped to its all-time highest value, briefly reaching as high as $339.95 before cooling off somewhat to reach its current value of $320still more than 30% higher than its previous all-time high. The cryptocurrency has added a total of $2.5 billion to its market capitalization in the last 24 hours, after gaining over 95% in this time. With that said, BSV's price action appears to be rapidly changing, and a significant chunk of this growth was achieved in the last hour. At its current value, Bitcoin SV is just inches away from knocking Bitcoin Cash (BCH) out of its slot as the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. Nonetheless, Bitcoin SV has already jumped several places today, and recently eclipsed Tether (USDT) to become the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap. This recent development comes just a day after it was revealed that Craig Wright, a staunch supporter of Bitcoin SV, would be getting more time to provide evidence of his $10 billion bitcoin fortune. Now, Wright has until February 3, 2020, to produce the private keys necessary to settle the legal dispute with the Kleiman estatewhich has dragged on for more than a year. Should Craig Wright successfully provide the private keys to the Tulip Trust, this could add serious weight to his claim to be Bitcoin's infamous founder Satoshi Nakamoto a n accolade that could cost him half his fortune. || How does Bitcoin’s hash rate impact price?: Recently, cryptocurrency enthusiasts on Twitter have been debating whether the Bitcoin block reward halving event has already been priced in by miners and investors and the impact of a high hash rate on BTC price. When the halving event finally comes around in May, I see two major possibilities: A) BTC increases in price in order to accommodate miners at the current mining difficulty. B) BTC price stays more or less the same and we see miners capitulating as they become unprofitable. To better understand which scenario is most likely to happen, I believe two key data points need to be taken into consideration – namely the hash rate (and expected hash rate) and the behaviour of hodlers. Bitcoin’s hash rate has once again reached new all-time highs , but how does that relate to the amount of Bitcoins that haven’t moved? Will Bitcoin hodlers keep holding during a bull market? At what percentage levels have miners and hodlers sold the majority of their positions? And does the hash rate predict price swings or the behaviour of hodlers? Hopefully, I’ll be able to answer some of these questions below. Hash rate hits new all-time highs CM estimates have Bitcoin's Difficulty increasing by ~8% in 4 days time to reach a new ATH at ~15,000,000,000,000 This is due to the implied hash rate of Bitcoin maintaining ATH levels since Jan 1 pic.twitter.com/MfLOKTJNiK — CoinMetrics.io (@coinmetrics) January 10, 2020 As Bitcoin’s hash rate increases, mining difficulty also increases. That’s exactly what’s been happening with Bitcoin since the beginning of 2020. As estimated by CoinMetrics, a research firm specialising in the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty has been steadily increasing at a rate of 8% over the last four days. The analysis conducted by CoinMetrics shows that in the next four days, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty will reach a record value of approximately 15,000,000,000,000 TH/s. Just as the hash rate is a good measure for price prediction, the difficulty adjustment is also an important data point. Some believe it has some correlation with cryptocurrency price drops and spikes as miners enter and leave the market. The Bitcoin difficulty target adjusts every two weeks to ensure that blocks are added at regular intervals. Therefore, this data point is closely linked to the profit of the miners. Story continues Consequently, the link extends to miner capitulation and the general market price as well. As such, it seems there is a direct correlation between the difficulty adjustment and Bitcoin rallies. At what point do miners sell? Rien ne va plus #bitcoin 🚀 pic.twitter.com/epwODQ40cm — PlanB (@100trillionUSD) September 10, 2019 One of my favourite crypto analysts and the creator of the Bitcoin stock-to-flow model, PlanB, suggested the price of Bitcoin has a tendency to rally during mining difficulty downturns. The analyst revealed that since the creation of Bitcoin, there have been several cycles of difficulty adjustments, and for each new rally, the trend has been one of a declining magnitude. Therefore, I personally believe that during the next bull run, we could see miners and hodlers selling a great deal of their positions when Bitcoin’s price hits between 1,000% to 5,000% above the difficulty bottom. If you’re wondering about “when”, historically we have two periods of price appreciation and two periods of price downfall. Since 2018 and 2019 have been declining years compared to all-time highs, I believe Bitcoin will pump over 2020 and 2021. At what point do hodlers sell? Bitcoin UTXO age distribution Interestingly, for Bitcoin’s price to skyrocket, hodlers need to sell . The graph above, courtesy of Unchained Capital , shows the unspent transaction output (UTXO) of Bitcoin over time. The data shows that during moments of price appreciation, long-term Bitcoin hodlers have a tendency to sell. However, during periods of price decline, long-term hodlers buy BTC . The red, yellow, and orange bands represent the amount of BTC being exchanged. The green and blue bands show the amount of BTC that hasn’t moved for up to five years or more. As you can see, the blue band has been consistently increasing and now accounts for close to 25% of the total BTC supply. This means a great deal of hodlers have been increasing their stacks. While there was some sell-off pressure (the yellow and orange bands) during 2019, it seems buyers are now back in control. To conclude, what the above data shows is crucial to understand when price will most likely appreciate. In my opinion, only when we start to see the blue and green bands increasing between 10-20% will a proper bull run begin. When will that happen? Probably between the end of 2020 and start of 2021. Until the halving, I expect long-term hodlers to continue to accumulate as miners sell their coins to keep farms profitable. Safe trades. The post How does Bitcoin’s hash rate impact price? appeared first on Coin Rivet . View comments || How does Bitcoin’s hash rate impact price?: Recently, cryptocurrency enthusiasts on Twitter have been debating whether the Bitcoin block reward halving event has already been priced in by miners and investors and the impact of a high hash rate on BTC price. When the halving event finally comes around in May, I see two major possibilities: A) BTC increases in price in order to accommodate miners at the current mining difficulty. B) BTC price stays more or less the same and we see miners capitulating as they become unprofitable. To better understand which scenario is most likely to happen, I believe two key data points need to be taken into consideration – namely the hash rate (and expected hash rate) and the behaviour of hodlers. Bitcoin’s hash rate has once again reached new all-time highs , but how does that relate to the amount of Bitcoins that haven’t moved? Will Bitcoin hodlers keep holding during a bull market? At what percentage levels have miners and hodlers sold the majority of their positions? And does the hash rate predict price swings or the behaviour of hodlers? Hopefully, I’ll be able to answer some of these questions below. Hash rate hits new all-time highs CM estimates have Bitcoin's Difficulty increasing by ~8% in 4 days time to reach a new ATH at ~15,000,000,000,000 This is due to the implied hash rate of Bitcoin maintaining ATH levels since Jan 1 pic.twitter.com/MfLOKTJNiK — CoinMetrics.io (@coinmetrics) January 10, 2020 As Bitcoin’s hash rate increases, mining difficulty also increases. That’s exactly what’s been happening with Bitcoin since the beginning of 2020. As estimated by CoinMetrics, a research firm specialising in the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty has been steadily increasing at a rate of 8% over the last four days. The analysis conducted by CoinMetrics shows that in the next four days, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty will reach a record value of approximately 15,000,000,000,000 TH/s. Just as the hash rate is a good measure for price prediction, the difficulty adjustment is also an important data point. Some believe it has some correlation with cryptocurrency price drops and spikes as miners enter and leave the market. The Bitcoin difficulty target adjusts every two weeks to ensure that blocks are added at regular intervals. Therefore, this data point is closely linked to the profit of the miners. Story continues Consequently, the link extends to miner capitulation and the general market price as well. As such, it seems there is a direct correlation between the difficulty adjustment and Bitcoin rallies. At what point do miners sell? Rien ne va plus #bitcoin 🚀 pic.twitter.com/epwODQ40cm — PlanB (@100trillionUSD) September 10, 2019 One of my favourite crypto analysts and the creator of the Bitcoin stock-to-flow model, PlanB, suggested the price of Bitcoin has a tendency to rally during mining difficulty downturns. The analyst revealed that since the creation of Bitcoin, there have been several cycles of difficulty adjustments, and for each new rally, the trend has been one of a declining magnitude. Therefore, I personally believe that during the next bull run, we could see miners and hodlers selling a great deal of their positions when Bitcoin’s price hits between 1,000% to 5,000% above the difficulty bottom. If you’re wondering about “when”, historically we have two periods of price appreciation and two periods of price downfall. Since 2018 and 2019 have been declining years compared to all-time highs, I believe Bitcoin will pump over 2020 and 2021. At what point do hodlers sell? Bitcoin UTXO age distribution Interestingly, for Bitcoin’s price to skyrocket, hodlers need to sell . The graph above, courtesy of Unchained Capital , shows the unspent transaction output (UTXO) of Bitcoin over time. The data shows that during moments of price appreciation, long-term Bitcoin hodlers have a tendency to sell. However, during periods of price decline, long-term hodlers buy BTC . The red, yellow, and orange bands represent the amount of BTC being exchanged. The green and blue bands show the amount of BTC that hasn’t moved for up to five years or more. As you can see, the blue band has been consistently increasing and now accounts for close to 25% of the total BTC supply. This means a great deal of hodlers have been increasing their stacks. While there was some sell-off pressure (the yellow and orange bands) during 2019, it seems buyers are now back in control. To conclude, what the above data shows is crucial to understand when price will most likely appreciate. In my opinion, only when we start to see the blue and green bands increasing between 10-20% will a proper bull run begin. When will that happen? Probably between the end of 2020 and start of 2021. Until the halving, I expect long-term hodlers to continue to accumulate as miners sell their coins to keep farms profitable. Safe trades. The post How does Bitcoin’s hash rate impact price? appeared first on Coin Rivet . View comments || How does Bitcoin’s hash rate impact price?: Recently, cryptocurrency enthusiasts on Twitter have been debating whether the Bitcoin block reward halving event has already been priced in by miners and investors and the impact of a high hash rate on BTC price. When the halving event finally comes around in May, I see two major possibilities: A) BTC increases in price in order to accommodate miners at the current mining difficulty. B) BTC price stays more or less the same and we see miners capitulating as they become unprofitable. To better understand which scenario is most likely to happen, I believe two key data points need to be taken into consideration – namely the hash rate (and expected hash rate) and the behaviour of hodlers. Bitcoin’s hash rate has once again reached new all-time highs , but how does that relate to the amount of Bitcoins that haven’t moved? Will Bitcoin hodlers keep holding during a bull market? At what percentage levels have miners and hodlers sold the majority of their positions? And does the hash rate predict price swings or the behaviour of hodlers? Hopefully, I’ll be able to answer some of these questions below. Hash rate hits new all-time highs CM estimates have Bitcoin's Difficulty increasing by ~8% in 4 days time to reach a new ATH at ~15,000,000,000,000 This is due to the implied hash rate of Bitcoin maintaining ATH levels since Jan 1 pic.twitter.com/MfLOKTJNiK — CoinMetrics.io (@coinmetrics) January 10, 2020 As Bitcoin’s hash rate increases, mining difficulty also increases. That’s exactly what’s been happening with Bitcoin since the beginning of 2020. As estimated by CoinMetrics, a research firm specialising in the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty has been steadily increasing at a rate of 8% over the last four days. The analysis conducted by CoinMetrics shows that in the next four days, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty will reach a record value of approximately 15,000,000,000,000 TH/s. Just as the hash rate is a good measure for price prediction, the difficulty adjustment is also an important data point. Some believe it has some correlation with cryptocurrency price drops and spikes as miners enter and leave the market. The Bitcoin difficulty target adjusts every two weeks to ensure that blocks are added at regular intervals. Therefore, this data point is closely linked to the profit of the miners. Story continues Consequently, the link extends to miner capitulation and the general market price as well. As such, it seems there is a direct correlation between the difficulty adjustment and Bitcoin rallies. At what point do miners sell? Rien ne va plus #bitcoin 🚀 pic.twitter.com/epwODQ40cm — PlanB (@100trillionUSD) September 10, 2019 One of my favourite crypto analysts and the creator of the Bitcoin stock-to-flow model, PlanB, suggested the price of Bitcoin has a tendency to rally during mining difficulty downturns. The analyst revealed that since the creation of Bitcoin, there have been several cycles of difficulty adjustments, and for each new rally, the trend has been one of a declining magnitude. Therefore, I personally believe that during the next bull run, we could see miners and hodlers selling a great deal of their positions when Bitcoin’s price hits between 1,000% to 5,000% above the difficulty bottom. If you’re wondering about “when”, historically we have two periods of price appreciation and two periods of price downfall. Since 2018 and 2019 have been declining years compared to all-time highs, I believe Bitcoin will pump over 2020 and 2021. At what point do hodlers sell? Bitcoin UTXO age distribution Interestingly, for Bitcoin’s price to skyrocket, hodlers need to sell . The graph above, courtesy of Unchained Capital , shows the unspent transaction output (UTXO) of Bitcoin over time. The data shows that during moments of price appreciation, long-term Bitcoin hodlers have a tendency to sell. However, during periods of price decline, long-term hodlers buy BTC . The red, yellow, and orange bands represent the amount of BTC being exchanged. The green and blue bands show the amount of BTC that hasn’t moved for up to five years or more. As you can see, the blue band has been consistently increasing and now accounts for close to 25% of the total BTC supply. This means a great deal of hodlers have been increasing their stacks. While there was some sell-off pressure (the yellow and orange bands) during 2019, it seems buyers are now back in control. To conclude, what the above data shows is crucial to understand when price will most likely appreciate. In my opinion, only when we start to see the blue and green bands increasing between 10-20% will a proper bull run begin. When will that happen? Probably between the end of 2020 and start of 2021. Until the halving, I expect long-term hodlers to continue to accumulate as miners sell their coins to keep farms profitable. Safe trades. The post How does Bitcoin’s hash rate impact price? appeared first on Coin Rivet . View comments || Storming the Gates: How ‘Crypto Davos’ Became a Thing: This is part of aseriesof op-eds previewing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. CoinDesk will be on the ground in Davos from Jan. 20–24 chronicling all things crypto at the annual gathering of the world’s economic and political elite. Follow along by subscribing to our pop-up newsletter,CoinDesk Confidential: Davos.
Sandra Rois the CEOof the Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC), which is organizing thefour-dayBlockchainCentral Davosevent.
The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), renownedas a place where business executives, government officials, entrepreneurs andNGO leaders convene to create positive change, is days away.
Related:Over 40 Central Banks Are Considering Blockchain Applications: Davos Report
In recent years theWEF Meetinghas come under fire as a place where wealthy elites gather to discuss solutions to problems they helped create and perpetuate – problems many blockchain startups are working to solve. But the reality of Davos lies somewhere between these two extremes.
So why engage? Why do we keep going back?
2020 is special: It’s the 50th anniversary of the WEF, a non-profit foundation created in 1971 to engage society’s foremost political, business and cultural leaders to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
This year’s WEF theme is “Stakeholders for a Cohesive andSustainable World.”
Related:Davos Elites Still Don’t Get Blockchain
Some of the broad questions to be asked: What does “stakeholdercapitalism” mean? Is it tracking progress towards the Paris Agreement and the UnitedNations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? How does technology fit in?
“With the world at such critical crossroads, this year wemust develop a ‘Davos Manifesto 2020’ to reimagine the purpose and scorecardsfor companies and governments,” said Klaus Schwab, founder and executivechairman of the WEF.
If the world is at a crossroads, what is the role of cryptocurrencies,digital assets and blockchain? And who gets to shape and influence this future?
In short, should “Crypto Davos” collaborate with theestablished elites?
Crypto pioneers set up shop with Davos side events four orfive years ago. These were modest gatherings to discuss the future ofcryptocurrencies. Very few elites knew what this was, or paid it much attention.
Just as bitcoin and ethereum began as organic grassrootsinitiatives, Crypto Davos grew mainly by group chats and word of mouth.However, by 2018, Crypto Davos reached peak excess, coinciding with the boom ofICOs. This was followed by muted numbers in 2019 with the bust, and now, in2020, a mix of Crypto Davos stalwarts are returning alongside mainstreamcorporations that are ahead of the curve in embracing blockchain and,sometimes, cryptocurrency. (Unfortunately, the mantra of “blockchain good,crypto bad” lingers in certain corporate and government circles, though it isdissipating over time.)
What happens at WEF’s official gathering is important, butmost who have attended Davos previously know that “the Promenade” is a beehiveof activity around cryptocurrencies, blockchain, AI, cybersecurity and otheremerging technologies. Many crypto people who attend Davos never step footinside the main event and do not hold a coveted “white badge.” Instead, theyhang out on the Promenade and participate in a myriad of panels, networkingevents and meetings, mixed with late-night partying and bonding.
The Promenade blockchain events are in high demand andconsidered cutting edge, thereby attracting some high-profile leaders who mightseem out of place under normal, stodgier circumstances. Seeing rock stars,actors, CEOs, billionaires, social-impact entrepreneurs and developers togetheris not unusual at Crypto Davos.
Where else do you see both Jamie Dimon and Jamie Oliverwalking down the same block within meters of each other? Or Michael Douglaswalking into an MIT-hosted lunch on AI and blockchain? (Seriously, thathappened back in 2017.)
So why did a bunch of crypto people start coming to Davos inthe first place? Switzerland’s crypto-friendly environment partially explainsthe attraction.
But the secret sauce of Davos is not just about discussingimportant ideas.
Once you make it to this normally sleepy town, you arejumbled together with 30,000 influential people on a few blocks of a “mainstreet.” It makes for an intense and rewarding four days of networking anddeal-making, which sets the tone for the rest of the year.
Crypto Davos, despite its outsider status, has influenced andchanged the course of mainstream Davos.
Just look at 2020’s big thematic on “stakeholders in acohesive and sustainable world,” which covers everything from economics toclimate change to technology, and includes topics like digital identity,digital asset regulation and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
In 2020, many, if not most, corporations participating atDavos have internal blockchain projects and/or are members of digital assetgroups. Five years ago, the CEOs of these same corporations probably did notknow blockchain existed.
Crypto Davos has profoundly influenced the interest andgrowth of digital assets and blockchain technology among some of the most eliteinstitutions, governments and world leaders.
Not bad for a bunch of outsiders.
To the cynics and anti-establishment crowd, we debate everyyear why we pay exorbitant rates to put together an event at Davos. The high costs,occasionally not-so-subtle hostility from the mainstream, increasingly stricttown council rules and the general logistics nightmare are enough to determost.
However, we return, because our supporters love attending.Why? Because we have met some of the most awe-inspiring people at Davos, fromrocket scientists to world leaders to humanitarians.
With a combination of bright, motivated people, ideas turninto action here: from investments to business deals to project launches. Nomatter how great the tech, we are humans who make connections by meeting eachother, spending time with each other and, ultimately, collaborating with eachother.
The key for Crypto Davos is to keep influencing and building bridges with the establishment to yield the societal change we want. Blockchain works best when it’s collaborative. The same holds true at Davos: Crypto Davos can improve and scale with the resources of large institutions; Establishment Davos can reimagine business models and government services to create a more equitable and functional society.
This grand experiment works best if people collaborateacross geographies and disciplines.
Long live Crypto Davos (at least until the next better version comes along).
• Bitcoin Takes Davos Stage in Currency Panel Debate
• World Leaders Are Talking Crypto at Davos || Storming the Gates: How ‘Crypto Davos’ Became a Thing: This is part of a series of op-eds previewing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. CoinDesk will be on the ground in Davos from Jan. 20–24 chronicling all things crypto at the annual gathering of the world’s economic and political elite. Follow along by subscribing to our pop-up newsletter, CoinDesk Confidential: Davos . Sandra Ro is the CEOof the Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC), which is organizing thefour-day BlockchainCentral Davos event. The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), renownedas a place where business executives, government officials, entrepreneurs andNGO leaders convene to create positive change, is days away. Related: Over 40 Central Banks Are Considering Blockchain Applications: Davos Report In recent years the WEF Meeting has come under fire as a place where wealthy elites gather to discuss solutions to problems they helped create and perpetuate – problems many blockchain startups are working to solve. But the reality of Davos lies somewhere between these two extremes. So why engage? Why do we keep going back? WEF 2020 2020 is special: It’s the 50th anniversary of the WEF, a non-profit foundation created in 1971 to engage society’s foremost political, business and cultural leaders to shape global, regional and industry agendas. This year’s WEF theme is “Stakeholders for a Cohesive andSustainable World.” Related: Davos Elites Still Don’t Get Blockchain Some of the broad questions to be asked: What does “stakeholdercapitalism” mean? Is it tracking progress towards the Paris Agreement and the UnitedNations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? How does technology fit in? “With the world at such critical crossroads, this year wemust develop a ‘Davos Manifesto 2020’ to reimagine the purpose and scorecardsfor companies and governments,” said Klaus Schwab, founder and executivechairman of the WEF. If the world is at a crossroads, what is the role of cryptocurrencies,digital assets and blockchain? And who gets to shape and influence this future? Story continues In short, should “Crypto Davos” collaborate with theestablished elites? Crypto Davos, four+ years in the making Crypto pioneers set up shop with Davos side events four orfive years ago. These were modest gatherings to discuss the future ofcryptocurrencies. Very few elites knew what this was, or paid it much attention. Just as bitcoin and ethereum began as organic grassrootsinitiatives, Crypto Davos grew mainly by group chats and word of mouth.However, by 2018, Crypto Davos reached peak excess, coinciding with the boom ofICOs. This was followed by muted numbers in 2019 with the bust, and now, in2020, a mix of Crypto Davos stalwarts are returning alongside mainstreamcorporations that are ahead of the curve in embracing blockchain and,sometimes, cryptocurrency. (Unfortunately, the mantra of “blockchain good,crypto bad” lingers in certain corporate and government circles, though it isdissipating over time.) What happens at WEF’s official gathering is important, butmost who have attended Davos previously know that “the Promenade” is a beehiveof activity around cryptocurrencies, blockchain, AI, cybersecurity and otheremerging technologies. Many crypto people who attend Davos never step footinside the main event and do not hold a coveted “white badge.” Instead, theyhang out on the Promenade and participate in a myriad of panels, networkingevents and meetings, mixed with late-night partying and bonding. The Promenade blockchain events are in high demand andconsidered cutting edge, thereby attracting some high-profile leaders who mightseem out of place under normal, stodgier circumstances. Seeing rock stars,actors, CEOs, billionaires, social-impact entrepreneurs and developers togetheris not unusual at Crypto Davos. Where else do you see both Jamie Dimon and Jamie Oliverwalking down the same block within meters of each other? Or Michael Douglaswalking into an MIT-hosted lunch on AI and blockchain? (Seriously, thathappened back in 2017.) So why did a bunch of crypto people start coming to Davos inthe first place? Switzerland’s crypto-friendly environment partially explainsthe attraction. But the secret sauce of Davos is not just about discussingimportant ideas. Once you make it to this normally sleepy town, you arejumbled together with 30,000 influential people on a few blocks of a “mainstreet.” It makes for an intense and rewarding four days of networking anddeal-making, which sets the tone for the rest of the year. Crossover appeal Crypto Davos, despite its outsider status, has influenced andchanged the course of mainstream Davos. Just look at 2020’s big thematic on “stakeholders in acohesive and sustainable world,” which covers everything from economics toclimate change to technology, and includes topics like digital identity,digital asset regulation and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). In 2020, many, if not most, corporations participating atDavos have internal blockchain projects and/or are members of digital assetgroups. Five years ago, the CEOs of these same corporations probably did notknow blockchain existed. Crypto Davos has profoundly influenced the interest andgrowth of digital assets and blockchain technology among some of the most eliteinstitutions, governments and world leaders. Not bad for a bunch of outsiders. Selling out? To the cynics and anti-establishment crowd, we debate everyyear why we pay exorbitant rates to put together an event at Davos. The high costs,occasionally not-so-subtle hostility from the mainstream, increasingly stricttown council rules and the general logistics nightmare are enough to determost. However, we return, because our supporters love attending.Why? Because we have met some of the most awe-inspiring people at Davos, fromrocket scientists to world leaders to humanitarians. With a combination of bright, motivated people, ideas turninto action here: from investments to business deals to project launches. Nomatter how great the tech, we are humans who make connections by meeting eachother, spending time with each other and, ultimately, collaborating with eachother. The key for Crypto Davos is to keep influencing and building bridges with the establishment to yield the societal change we want. Blockchain works best when it’s collaborative. The same holds true at Davos: Crypto Davos can improve and scale with the resources of large institutions; Establishment Davos can reimagine business models and government services to create a more equitable and functional society. This grand experiment works best if people collaborateacross geographies and disciplines. Long live Crypto Davos (at least until the next better version comes along). Related Stories Bitcoin Takes Davos Stage in Currency Panel Debate World Leaders Are Talking Crypto at Davos || The continued growth of blockchain in Argentina: Despite an ongoing financial crisis, capital controls, and increasing measures to restrict access to foreign currencies, some industries in Argentina are doing well. Specifically, blockchain in Argentina is continuing to grow at a steady pace and, according to a recent survey, it is now leading the region. A closer look at blockchain in Argentina Last month, at the Labitcoinf 2019 held in neighbouring Uruguay, a spotlight was shone on cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. As the most important conference in the region, during the event, it was announced that blockchain companies in Argentina had grown by 10% during 2019. It also emerged that Argentina is way out in front in terms of quality projects, leading some to believe that while it is still very much in its infancy, blockchain in Argentina has a very promising future. The perfect storm for blockchain There are many factors that are increasing the speed of implementation of blockchain in Argentina over other developing countries. In recognition of its qualities and potential use in the finance field, blockchain is now one of the four main topics of the Central Bank of the Republic of Argentina’s (BCRA) remit. The financial crisis has a huge part to play in this. Unlike previous crises in Argentina, there are now new alternatives to traditional problems. Those accustomed to converting their national currency, the Argentine peso, into dollars now find their options increasingly limited . As such, many young Argentinians are now choosing alternatives such as Bitcoin instead. The country’s population is highly tech-savvy, and citizens even have the option to top up their Buenos Aires transport cards ( the SUBE ) with Bitcoin. Another factor that makes this country ripe for blockchain adoption is the cost and complexity of traditional banking. As much as 52% of Argentinians are unbanked and financially excluded. This means that more than half of the country’s population does not have a bank account. They also cannot obtain credit through traditional means or save through traditional vehicles. Story continues This exclusion is once again turning many people towards financial alternatives such as cryptocurrency. The continued growth of the technology The number of users registered on different cryptocurrency platforms has grown rapidly in Argentina. The Ripio cryptocurrency exchange , for example, started operations in 2013 and now has more than 240,000 users. Bitcoin trading on peer-to-peer trading platform LocalBitcoins also registered a new all-time high in December in terms of trading volume. Moreover, the Private Capital Investment Association in Latin America states that more than $6.5 million was invested in blockchain companies in Argentina between January 2018 and May 2019. Blockchain in Argentina has the potential to tackle many problems. By allowing for traceability, accountability, and the removal of intermediaries, the country’s complex financial system could be turned on its head. In fact, many companies are already seeing success with the technology. There are currently 55 blockchain or cryptocurrency companies registered in Argentina, and many are already showing a promising return on investment. Wrapping it up Blockchain in Argentina is showing steady growth despite unfavourable market conditions. Moreover, Argentina’s population is increasingly turning to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin as a means of shielding their wealth from rising inflation. As more and more use cases for blockchain emerge, it will be interesting to see how many of them come out of Argentina. The post The continued growth of blockchain in Argentina appeared first on Coin Rivet . || The continued growth of blockchain in Argentina: Despite an ongoing financial crisis, capital controls, and increasing measures to restrict access to foreign currencies, some industries in Argentina are doing well. Specifically, blockchain in Argentina is continuing to grow at a steady pace and, according to a recent survey, it is now leading the region. A closer look at blockchain in Argentina Last month, at the Labitcoinf 2019 held in neighbouring Uruguay, a spotlight was shone on cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. As the most important conference in the region, during the event, it was announced that blockchain companies in Argentina had grown by 10% during 2019. It also emerged that Argentina is way out in front in terms of quality projects, leading some to believe that while it is still very much in its infancy, blockchain in Argentina has a very promising future. The perfect storm for blockchain There are many factors that are increasing the speed of implementation of blockchain in Argentina over other developing countries. In recognition of its qualities and potential use in the finance field, blockchain is now one of the four main topics of the Central Bank of the Republic of Argentina’s (BCRA) remit. The financial crisis has a huge part to play in this. Unlike previous crises in Argentina, there are now new alternatives to traditional problems. Those accustomed to converting their national currency, the Argentine peso, into dollars now find their options increasingly limited . As such, many young Argentinians are now choosing alternatives such as Bitcoin instead. The country’s population is highly tech-savvy, and citizens even have the option to top up their Buenos Aires transport cards ( the SUBE ) with Bitcoin. Another factor that makes this country ripe for blockchain adoption is the cost and complexity of traditional banking. As much as 52% of Argentinians are unbanked and financially excluded. This means that more than half of the country’s population does not have a bank account. They also cannot obtain credit through traditional means or save through traditional vehicles. Story continues This exclusion is once again turning many people towards financial alternatives such as cryptocurrency. The continued growth of the technology The number of users registered on different cryptocurrency platforms has grown rapidly in Argentina. The Ripio cryptocurrency exchange , for example, started operations in 2013 and now has more than 240,000 users. Bitcoin trading on peer-to-peer trading platform LocalBitcoins also registered a new all-time high in December in terms of trading volume. Moreover, the Private Capital Investment Association in Latin America states that more than $6.5 million was invested in blockchain companies in Argentina between January 2018 and May 2019. Blockchain in Argentina has the potential to tackle many problems. By allowing for traceability, accountability, and the removal of intermediaries, the country’s complex financial system could be turned on its head. In fact, many companies are already seeing success with the technology. There are currently 55 blockchain or cryptocurrency companies registered in Argentina, and many are already showing a promising return on investment. Wrapping it up Blockchain in Argentina is showing steady growth despite unfavourable market conditions. Moreover, Argentina’s population is increasingly turning to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin as a means of shielding their wealth from rising inflation. As more and more use cases for blockchain emerge, it will be interesting to see how many of them come out of Argentina. The post The continued growth of blockchain in Argentina appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Fidelity Investments' crypto arm makes first push into Europe: By Tom Wilson and Simon Jessop LONDON (Reuters) - The cryptocurrency arm of Fidelity Investments, one of the world's largest investment managers, has launched its first foray into Europe, opening a new front in efforts to drag digital money into mainstream investing. Fidelity Digital Assets will act as a custodian for bitcoin held by London-based cryptocurrency investment firm Nickel Digital Asset Management, the two companies said on Tuesday. The lack of back-office services like custody offered by major financial firms has been one reason that large investors across the world have held back from involvement in the highly volatile but potentially lucrative emerging asset. Yet it remains to be whether the provision of such services alone by firms like Boston-based Fidelity, which has $7.8 trillion under management, will pave the way for an influx of mainstream money into cryptocurrencies. Big pension funds and asset managers remain highly sceptical of digital currencies because of their patchy regulation and reputation for hacks, heists and other crime, despite the large potential gains on offer. Bitcoin <BTC=BTSP> almost doubled in value last year, buoyed by expectations of growing mainstream use. Yet bitcoin markets are dysfunctional and plagued by double-digit price swings, opaque price discovery and patchy liquidity. Facebook's <FB.O> high-profile attempt to draw cryptocurrencies into the mainstream with its Libra coin has met with regulatory scepticism globally, with France and Germany pledging to block the currency from operating in Europe. Fidelity Digital Assets' Europe head, Chris Tyrer, said the hurdles to participation in cryptocurrency markets by institutional investors - regulation, as well as the quality of service providers and high volatility - were gradually becoming lower. "We see those three factors slowly resolving themselves, and as a result we are seeing a pick up in institutional investor interest," he told Reuters. Harmonised regulation in the European Union would be useful for service providers, he added. Story continues Tyrer said his firm was attracting interest from family offices, wealth managers and some cryptocurrency companies. He declined to say how much money it manages or how many clients it had. Launched in 2018, Fidelity Digital Assets offers cryptocurrency trading and custody services for financial firms and corporations. In November it was given the nod by New York's financial watchdog to offer its services to companies in the state. (Reporting by Tom Wilson and Simon Jessop; Editing by Pravin Char) || Fidelity Investments' crypto arm makes first push into Europe: By Tom Wilson and Simon Jessop
LONDON (Reuters) - The cryptocurrency arm of Fidelity Investments, one of the world's largest investment managers, has launched its first foray into Europe, opening a new front in efforts to drag digital money into mainstream investing.
Fidelity Digital Assets will act as a custodian for bitcoin held by London-based cryptocurrency investment firm Nickel Digital Asset Management, the two companies said on Tuesday.
The lack of back-office services like custody offered by major financial firms has been one reason that large investors across the world have held back from involvement in the highly volatile but potentially lucrative emerging asset.
Yet it remains to be whether the provision of such services alone by firms like Boston-based Fidelity, which has $7.8 trillion under management, will pave the way for an influx of mainstream money into cryptocurrencies.
Big pension funds and asset managers remain highly sceptical of digital currencies because of their patchy regulation and reputation for hacks, heists and other crime, despite the large potential gains on offer.
Bitcoin <BTC=BTSP> almost doubled in value last year, buoyed by expectations of growing mainstream use. Yet bitcoin markets are dysfunctional and plagued by double-digit price swings, opaque price discovery and patchy liquidity.
Facebook's <FB.O> high-profile attempt to draw cryptocurrencies into the mainstream with its Libra coin has met with regulatory scepticism globally, with France and Germany pledging to block the currency from operating in Europe.
Fidelity Digital Assets' Europe head, Chris Tyrer, said the hurdles to participation in cryptocurrency markets by institutional investors - regulation, as well as the quality of service providers and high volatility - were gradually becoming lower.
"We see those three factors slowly resolving themselves, and as a result we are seeing a pick up in institutional investor interest," he told Reuters. Harmonised regulation in the European Union would be useful for service providers, he added.
Tyrer said his firm was attracting interest from family offices, wealth managers and some cryptocurrency companies. He declined to say how much money it manages or how many clients it had.
Launched in 2018, Fidelity Digital Assets offers cryptocurrency trading and custody services for financial firms and corporations. In November it was given the nod by New York's financial watchdog to offer its services to companies in the state.
(Reporting by Tom Wilson and Simon Jessop; Editing by Pravin Char) || It’s ‘unclear’ whether XRP is security or commodity, says CFTC Chairman: Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Heath Tarbert has said that it is not clear yet whether XRP is a security or a commodity. “It’s unclear. Stay tuned I’d say,” Tarbert told news outlet Cheddar on Monday, adding: "Part of the issue is that our jurisdiction we share with the SEC [Securities and Exchange Commission]. If it’s a security, it falls under their jurisdiction. If it’s a commodity, it falls under ours.” The chairman added that the CFTC has been working closely with the SEC over the last year “to really think about which falls in what box." Bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH), on the other hand, are commodities and not securities, according to Tarbert, who reiterated his views in Monday’s interview. Last October, he said : “We’ve been very clear on bitcoin: bitcoin is a commodity. We haven’t said anything about ether – until now. It is my view as chairman of the CFTC that ether is a commodity.” The status of XRP, the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency, has been a topic of debate. In 2018, a group of XRP investors filed a lawsuit against Ripple and its executives, claiming that they violated state and federal securities laws. Later, the group filed an amended complaint. The case is still ongoing. Ripple, on its part, has maintained its position that XRP is not a security “because it is not an ‘investment contract.’” Elsewhere in Monday's interview, Tarbert said regulated cryptocurrency derivatives will drive confidence in the market. He added that the CFTC is helping create a regulated crypto futures market that investors would be able to "rely on" for better "price discovery, hedging and risk management." || It’s ‘unclear’ whether XRP is security or commodity, says CFTC Chairman: Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Heath Tarbert has said that it is not clear yet whether XRP is a security or a commodity.
“It’s unclear. Stay tuned I’d say,” Tarberttoldnews outlet Cheddar on Monday, adding: "Part of the issue is that our jurisdiction we share with the SEC [Securities and Exchange Commission]. If it’s a security, it falls under their jurisdiction. If it’s a commodity, it falls under ours.”
The chairman added that the CFTC has been working closely with the SEC over the last year “to really think about which falls in what box."
Bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH), on the other hand, are commodities and not securities, according to Tarbert, who reiterated his views in Monday’s interview. Last October, hesaid: “We’ve been very clear on bitcoin: bitcoin is a commodity. We haven’t said anything about ether – until now. It is my view as chairman of the CFTC that ether is a commodity.”
The status of XRP, the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency, has been a topic of debate. In 2018, a group of XRP investors filed a lawsuit against Ripple and its executives, claiming that they violated state and federal securities laws. Later, the groupfiledan amended complaint. The case is still ongoing. Ripple, on its part, has maintained its position that XRP is not a security “because it is not an ‘investment contract.’”Elsewhere in Monday's interview, Tarbert said regulated cryptocurrency derivatives will drive confidence in the market. He added that the CFTC is helping create a regulated crypto futures market that investors would be able to "rely on" for better "price discovery, hedging and risk management." || Bitcoin and Dash spike following Venezuela Internet shutdown: Bitcoin (BTC) is once again on the march, after the recording over 5% gains in the last 24 hours.
It isn't just Bitcoin that is seeing significant gains today, Dash is also experiencing meteoric growth. Dash is currently worth just north of $81, and is up more than 24% for the day, and more than 45% for the week. Meanwhile, practically all major crypto assets are also experiencing a strong bullish rally, with the average cryptocurrency now up more than 5% in the last day.
This recent price rally appears to coincide with an Internet shutdown in Venezuela, which beganyesterdaywith restrictions on social media ahead of a National Assembly leadership vote. The current situation in Venezuela is similar to events that occurred in January 2019—a time when state-run internet provider CANTV shut down access to popular social media sites during the 2019 protests, andseveral people were killed.
Beyond this, the country's national currency, the Venezuelan Bolívar currently suffers from rampant hyperinflation. This has contributed to a huge surge in cryptocurrency adoption in Venezuela, as residents lose faith in the national currency, and instead turn to assets that are economically unrelated. Bitcoin and Dash, in particular, are popular choices in Venezuela due to theirretail adoptionin the country.
[Social Media Buzz]
None available.
|
8723.79, 8929.04, 8942.81, 8706.25, 8657.64, 8745.89, 8680.88, 8406.52, 8445.43, 8367.85
|
Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 453.78, 454.62, 438.71, 442.68, 443.19, 439.32, 444.15, 445.98, 449.60, 453.38, 473.46, 530.04, 526.23, 533.86, 531.39, 536.92, 537.97, 569.19, 572.73, 574.98, 585.54, 576.60, 581.65, 574.63, 577.47, 606.73, 672.78, 704.38, 685.56, 694.47, 766.31, 748.91, 756.23, 763.78, 737.23, 666.65, 596.12, 623.98, 665.30, 665.12, 629.37, 655.28, 647.00, 639.89, 673.34, 676.30, 703.70, 658.66, 683.66, 670.63, 677.33, 640.56, 666.52, 650.96, 649.36, 647.66, 664.55, 654.47, 658.08, 663.26, 660.77, 679.46, 673.11, 672.86, 665.68, 665.01, 650.62, 655.56, 661.28, 654.10, 651.78, 654.35, 655.03, 656.99, 655.05, 624.68, 606.27, 547.47, 566.35, 578.29, 575.04, 587.78, 592.69, 591.05, 587.80, 592.10, 589.12, 587.56, 585.59, 570.47.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2016-08-14]
Volume: 60851100, RSI (14-day): 34.68, 50-day EMA: 615.70, 200-day EMA: 529.45
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Exchanges Propose New Unified Trading Rules: The country’s three major exchanges announced today they have agreed to work together for new common trading procedures when reopening after a trading halt. Bats Global Markets, owner of ETF.com, the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq said they will be filing a new set of exchange rules with the SEC that propose to unify how all three resume trading when a halt occurs with ETFs and stocks. This comes nearly a year after more than 1,000 ETFs and stocks were halted on Aug. 24, 2015, causing dozens of ETFs to be traded well below fair value . Currently the exchanges do not have the same procedures to resume trading after such a halt, which fueled the market swings and price dislocation on that day. Beyond the unified reopening procedures, the exchanges also propose to eliminate the time periods where securities could trade without the limit up/limit down (circuit breaker) bands in place, reduce the number of trading pauses, and remove the “Clearly Erroneous Execution” rules when the limit up/limit down bands are in place. Getting Ahead Of Regulators “Last year’s flash crash wasn’t necessarily ‘ caused’ by chaos between the exchanges, but it certainly was exacerbated by it,” said Dave Nadig, director of exchange-traded funds at FactSet and ETF trading expert. “It’s to the exchanges’ credit that in many ways they’re getting ahead of the regulators and trying to coordinate their disparate rule sets to minimize the chances of the same thing happening again. The work they’re doing about initial opening, limit up/limit down triggering and reopening is exactly what needs to happen.” Nadig added that while the details are just coming out, the proactive nature of the exchanges in making these proposals is admirable. “The devil can sometimes be in the details, so we’ll see the final suggestions in a few weeks, but overall, I’m enormously impressed at the way these competitors have pulled together to improve the system,” he added. Industry Call To Action In March In March, leaders of the ETF industry joined a group in writing a letter to the SEC ( Why This ‘Open Letter’ To SEC Matters ) petitioning for overhauls to the market microstructure to prevent further flash crashes in ETFs and stocks. Story continues At the heart of the matter on Aug. 24, 2015 were the inconsistencies between how different exchanges handled big swings in securities (the limit up/limit down circuit breakers) and how securities were reopened after those breakers were hit. The problem spoke to the fragmentation of exchanges and the difference in how each exchange resumed trading, resulting in price discovery problems. Today’s announcement aims to address those problems. Drew Voros can be reached at [email protected] . Recommended Stories Behind The Wait For The Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF The ETF As A Political Weapon Aug. 24, 2015 Flash Crash Part Of Wall St. History What The New Real Estate Sector Means For ETFs ETF Asset Growth In 2016 Par For The Course Permalink | © Copyright 2016 ETF.com. All rights reserved || Exchanges Propose New Unified Trading Rules: The country’s three major exchanges announced today they have agreed to work together for new common trading procedures when reopening after a trading halt.
Bats Global Markets, owner of ETF.com, the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq said they will be filing a new set of exchange rules with the SEC that propose to unify how all three resume trading when a halt occurs with ETFs and stocks. This comes nearly a year after more than 1,000 ETFs and stocks were halted on Aug. 24, 2015, causing dozens ofETFs to be traded well below fair value.
Currently the exchanges do not have the same procedures to resume trading after such a halt, which fueled the market swings and price dislocation on that day.
Beyond the unified reopening procedures, the exchanges also propose to eliminate the time periods where securities could trade without the limit up/limit down (circuit breaker) bands in place, reduce the number of trading pauses, and remove the “Clearly Erroneous Execution” rules when the limit up/limit down bands are in place.
Getting Ahead Of Regulators
“Last year’s flash crash wasn’t necessarily ‘caused’by chaos between the exchanges, but it certainly was exacerbated by it,” said Dave Nadig, director of exchange-traded funds at FactSet and ETF trading expert. “It’s to the exchanges’ credit that in many ways they’re getting ahead of the regulators and trying to coordinate their disparate rule sets to minimize the chances of the same thing happening again. The work they’re doing about initial opening, limit up/limit down triggering and reopening is exactly what needs to happen.”
Nadig added that while the details are just coming out, the proactive nature of the exchanges in making these proposals is admirable.
“The devil can sometimes be in the details, so we’ll see the final suggestions in a few weeks, but overall, I’m enormously impressed at the way these competitors have pulled together to improve the system,” he added.
Industry Call To Action In March
In March, leaders of the ETF industry joined a group in writing a letter to the SEC (Why This ‘Open Letter’ To SEC Matters) petitioning for overhauls to the market microstructure to prevent further flash crashes in ETFs and stocks.
At the heart of the matter on Aug. 24, 2015 were the inconsistencies between how different exchanges handled big swings in securities (the limit up/limit down circuit breakers) and how securities were reopened after those breakers were hit.
The problem spoke to the fragmentation of exchanges and the difference in how each exchange resumed trading, resulting in price discovery problems. Today’s announcement aims to address those problems.
Drew Voros can be reached [email protected].
Recommended Stories
• Behind The Wait For The Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF
• The ETF As A Political Weapon
• Aug. 24, 2015 Flash Crash Part Of Wall St. History
• What The New Real Estate Sector Means For ETFs
• ETF Asset Growth In 2016 Par For The Course
Permalink| © Copyright 2016ETF.com.All rights reserved || MJMI Moves Toward Blockchain Based Securities Offering System: HENDERSON, NV / ACCESSWIRE / August 10, 2016 / MarilynJean Media Interactive ( MJMI) is excited to announce it has begun taking steps toward the use of a system recently approved by the SEC to issue shares via the Bitcoin Blockchain. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently approved a plan by online retail giant Overstock.com to issue company stock via the internet. This signals a massive shift in the way financial securities will be distributed and traded in years to come. The SEC approved Overstock's Form S-3 heralding the beginning of the use of the Blockchain to distribute and track ownership of shares. The Blockchain is an enormous distributed database that runs across a global network of independent computers that are not controlled by any government. With Bitcoin, this ledger tracks the exchange of digital currency. The Blockchain can also track and independently verify the transfer of other forms of equity, including stocks, bonds and other securities. This technology has the potential to completely change the way equity markets function. It can literally replace the function of a stock exchange. MJMI intends to leverage its Bitcoin exchange expertise and use of the Blockchain to potentially conduct a securities offering via the Internet. If approved, the company could conceivably issue shares on behalf of third parties who had also obtained SEC approval. Peter Janosi, MJMI's president said: "We are excited to further expand our operations into Blockchain technology and its myriad uses, specifically within the financial sector. This technology could do for capital markets what the Internet did for consumers." About MJMI MJMI is in the business of providing safe and accessible services for the users of Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies. Crypto-currencies are a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure transactions and control the creation of new units. Bitcoin became the first decentralized crypto-currency in 2009. Crypto-currency is produced at a rate which is defined when the system is created and publicly known. By contrast, in centralized banking and economic systems, such as the Federal Reserve System, corporate boards or governments control the supply of currency by printing units or demanding additions to digital banking ledgers. However, neither companies nor governments can produce units of crypto-currency and as such the value of crypto-currencies are completely based on supply and demand, free from any governmental control. Many people believe crypto-currencies, and in particular bitcoin, hold the promise of being the most significant advancement in global finance in modern history. The advent of bitcoin creates a secure, easily accessible and transferable transnational currency that is completely liberated from political influence. Story continues MJMI is currently exploring partnerships in several verticals within the crypto-currency space, including the multi-billion dollar remittance market. Management believes that several industries, including both international remittances, the trading of futures and options contracts as well as online gambling are on the verge of being revolutionized by the use of Bitcoin to effect transactions. MarilynJean Media Interactive is among the first publicly traded companies focussed on bitcoin and the crypto-currency space. The company's trading symbol is MJMI.QB. Website: www.marilynjean.com Press Contact: [email protected] SOURCE: MarilynJean Media Interactive || MJMI Moves Toward Blockchain Based Securities Offering System: HENDERSON, NV / ACCESSWIRE / August 10, 2016 / MarilynJean Media Interactive (MJMI) is excited to announce it has begun taking steps toward the use of a system recently approved by the SEC to issue shares via the Bitcoin Blockchain. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently approved a plan by online retail giant Overstock.com to issue company stock via the internet. This signals a massive shift in the way financial securities will be distributed and traded in years to come. The SEC approved Overstock's Form S-3 heralding the beginning of the use of the Blockchain to distribute and track ownership of shares.
The Blockchain is an enormous distributed database that runs across a global network of independent computers that are not controlled by any government. With Bitcoin, this ledger tracks the exchange of digital currency. The Blockchain can also track and independently verify the transfer of other forms of equity, including stocks, bonds and other securities. This technology has the potential to completely change the way equity markets function. It can literally replace the function of a stock exchange.
MJMI intends to leverage its Bitcoin exchange expertise and use of the Blockchain to potentially conduct a securities offering via the Internet. If approved, the company could conceivably issue shares on behalf of third parties who had also obtained SEC approval.
Peter Janosi, MJMI's president said: "We are excited to further expand our operations into Blockchain technology and its myriad uses, specifically within the financial sector. This technology could do for capital markets what the Internet did for consumers."
About MJMI
MJMI is in the business of providing safe and accessible services for the users of Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies.
Crypto-currencies are a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure transactions and control the creation of new units. Bitcoin became the first decentralized crypto-currency in 2009. Crypto-currency is produced at a rate which is defined when the system is created and publicly known. By contrast, in centralized banking and economic systems, such as the Federal Reserve System, corporate boards or governments control the supply of currency by printing units or demanding additions to digital banking ledgers. However, neither companies nor governments can produce units of crypto-currency and as such the value of crypto-currencies are completely based on supply and demand, free from any governmental control. Many people believe crypto-currencies, and in particular bitcoin, hold the promise of being the most significant advancement in global finance in modern history. The advent of bitcoin creates a secure, easily accessible and transferable transnational currency that is completely liberated from political influence.
MJMI is currently exploring partnerships in several verticals within the crypto-currency space, including the multi-billion dollar remittance market. Management believes that several industries, including both international remittances, the trading of futures and options contracts as well as online gambling are on the verge of being revolutionized by the use of Bitcoin to effect transactions.
MarilynJean Media Interactive is among the first publicly traded companies focussed on bitcoin and the crypto-currency space. The company's trading symbol is MJMI.QB.
Website:www.marilynjean.com
Press Contact:[email protected]
SOURCE:MarilynJean Media Interactive || 'FlowRio2016Extra' App Among Top Downloads in the Region: MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - Aug 9, 2016) - The 'FlowRio2016Extra' App peaked at the #2 spot alongside the worldwide phenomenonPokemon Go, as Olympic fans in the Caribbean downloaded the latest feature from Flow, theOfficial Broadcast Partner of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. 'FlowRio2016Extra' App, which isfreeto all users, is trending on both iOS and Android and is part of Flow's commitment to transform the Olympic Games viewing experience across the Caribbean.
Customers are raving about the service; GregFF from Jamaica declared, "Flow has done something exceptional here. I have never been able to follow or experience the Olympic Games like this. Bravo @FLOWJamaica" - GregFF (Jamaica), Aug 06 2016 09:39 AM
Trinifido of Trinidad was elated and added, "Okay @FlowTT I have to rate you with this #FlowRioapp. It's awesome. #RioOlympics2016." Fellow Trinidadian, Lizimberlis reported being "...happy I have @Flowtt...Olympic coverage of basketball, cycling and even equestrian." Lizimberlis of Trinidad, Aug 06 2016 12:13 PM.
As news of the impressive ranking broke, Michele English, Acting President of Flow, stated, "This is a proud moment for us at Flow, considering this has come literally on the first day of the 2016 Olympic Games. To actually be in the trending category alone counts as a major accomplishment, to be second place to Pokemon Go which is also the #1 trending search foriOSis beyond impressive. Our goal is to continue to delight our customers with innovations such as the 'FlowRio2016Extra' Appand we are thrilled that they are responding to the investments to serve them better." According to English, "the downloads have so far exceeded our initial expectations, and as the Olympic Games progress and more of our Caribbean athletes spring into action, we anticipate even more activity, more searches and in effect more downloads." Downloads are free to everyone, however, Flow customers have the added benefit of watching the live streams.
For English, the rating has taken on additional significance for the brand in light of the mammoth task the company has undertaken to prioritize and transform the customer experience. "As we place the customer at the heart of everything we do, we aim to complement, empower and enhance the consumers' ever-evolving lifestyle," English also said.
Olympic fans have been gravitating to the 'FlowRio2016Extra' Appbecause of its ease, convenience and complete access to all things Olympics, wherever and whenever the consumer wants. The 'FlowRio2016Extra' App allows the user complete freedom to carry on with life as usual even while enjoying the Games and not be restricted to the confines of the living room sofa. The 'FlowRio2016Extra' Apphas amazing features including multiple camera angles, giving viewers a sense of actually being up front and center at all events across all 32 Olympic venues in Rio de Janeiro.
Download the Free app today!http://hyperurl.co/FlowRio2016Extra
NOTE TO EDITOR:To view ranking visit the Google app store -- it is indicated in the trending section of the store:https://play.google.com/store/apps/collection/topselling_free?hl=en
For iOS, it displays in the trendingsearches, which once again are based on algorithms similar to Android. These trending searches are also region specific.
The store displays by region -- and is updated on a regular basis based on a complex algorithms, usually based on high volume downloads and usage over a short period. A mobile consumer survey reveals that nearly half of all mobile app users identified browsing the app store charts and search results (the placement on either of which depends on rankings) as a preferred method for finding new apps in the app stores. Simply put, better rankings mean more downloads and easier discovery.
As of July 2016; Android users were able to choose between 2.2 million apps. Apple's App Store remained the second-largest app store with 2 million.
About C&W CommunicationsCWC is a full service communications and entertainment provider and delivers market-leading video, broadband, telephony and mobile services to consumers in 18 countries. Through its business division, CWC provides data center hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customized IT service solutions, utilizing cloud technology to serve business and government customers.
CWC also operates a state-of-the-art submarine fiber network -- the most extensive in the region -- in over 30 markets. Learn more atwww.cwc.com, or follow C&W onLinkedIn,FacebookorTwitter.
About Liberty GlobalLiberty Global is the world's largest international TV and broadband company, with operations in more than 30 countries across Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. We invest in the infrastructure that empowers our customers to make the most of the digital revolution. Our scale and commitment to innovation enables us to develop market-leading products delivered through next-generation networks that connect our 29 million customers who subscribe to over 59 million television, broadband internet and telephony services. We also serve 11 million mobile subscribers and offer WiFi service across seven million access points.
Liberty Global's businesses are comprised of two stocks: the Liberty Global Group (NASDAQ:LBTYA) (NASDAQ:LBTYB) (NASDAQ:LBTYK) for our European operations, and the LiLAC Group (NASDAQ:LILA) (NASDAQ:LILAK) (OTC PINK:LILAB), which consists of our operations in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Liberty Global Group operates in 12 European countries under the consumer brands Virgin Media, Ziggo, Unitymedia, Telenet and UPC. The LiLAC Group operates in over 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean under the consumer brands VTR, Flow, Liberty, Mas Movil and BTC. In addition, the LiLAC Group operates a subsea fiber network throughout the region in over 30 markets.
For more information, please visitwww.libertyglobal.com.
Image Available:http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3043152 || 'FlowRio2016Extra' App Among Top Downloads in the Region: MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - Aug 9, 2016) - The ' FlowRio2016Extra ' App peaked at the #2 spot alongside the worldwide phenomenon Pokemon Go , as Olympic fans in the Caribbean downloaded the latest feature from Flow, the Official Broadcast Partner of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games . ' FlowRio2016Extra ' App, which is free to all users, is trending on both iOS and Android and is part of Flow's commitment to transform the Olympic Games viewing experience across the Caribbean. Customers are raving about the service; GregFF from Jamaica declared, " Flow has done something exceptional here . I have never been able to follow or experience the Olympic Games like this. Bravo @FLOWJamaica" - GregFF (Jamaica), Aug 06 2016 09:39 AM Trinifido of Trinidad was elated and added, "Okay @FlowTT I have to rate you with this #FlowRioapp. It's awesome. #RioOlympics2016." Fellow Trinidadian, Lizimberlis reported being "...happy I have @Flowtt...Olympic coverage of basketball, cycling and even equestrian." Lizimberlis of Trinidad, Aug 06 2016 12:13 PM. As news of the impressive ranking broke, Michele English, Acting President of Flow, stated, "This is a proud moment for us at Flow, considering this has come literally on the first day of the 2016 Olympic Games. To actually be in the trending category alone counts as a major accomplishment, to be second place to Pokemon Go which is also the #1 trending search for i OS is beyond impressive. Our goal is to continue to delight our customers with innovations such as the ' FlowRio2016Extra' App and we are thrilled that they are responding to the investments to serve them better." According to English, "the downloads have so far exceeded our initial expectations, and as the Olympic Games progress and more of our Caribbean athletes spring into action, we anticipate even more activity, more searches and in effect more downloads." Downloads are free to everyone, however, Flow customers have the added benefit of watching the live streams. Story continues For English, the rating has taken on additional significance for the brand in light of the mammoth task the company has undertaken to prioritize and transform the customer experience. "As we place the customer at the heart of everything we do, we aim to complement, empower and enhance the consumers' ever-evolving lifestyle," English also said. Olympic fans have been gravitating to the ' FlowRio2016Extra' App because of its ease, convenience and complete access to all things Olympics, wherever and whenever the consumer wants. The ' FlowRio2016Extra ' App allows the user complete freedom to carry on with life as usual even while enjoying the Games and not be restricted to the confines of the living room sofa. The ' FlowRio2016Extra' App has amazing features including multiple camera angles, giving viewers a sense of actually being up front and center at all events across all 32 Olympic venues in Rio de Janeiro. Download the Free app today! http://hyperurl.co/FlowRio2016Extra NOTE TO EDITOR: To view ranking visit the G oogle app store -- it is indicated in the trending section of the store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/collection/topselling_free?hl=en For iOS, it displays in the trending searches , which once again are based on algorithms similar to Android. These trending searches are also region specific. The store displays by region -- and is updated on a regular basis based on a complex algorithms, usually based on high volume downloads and usage over a short period. A mobile consumer survey reveals that nearly half of all mobile app users identified browsing the app store charts and search results (the placement on either of which depends on rankings) as a preferred method for finding new apps in the app stores. Simply put, better rankings mean more downloads and easier discovery. As of July 2016; Android users were able to choose between 2.2 million apps. Apple's App Store remained the second-largest app store with 2 million. About C&W Communications CWC is a full service communications and entertainment provider and delivers market-leading video, broadband, telephony and mobile services to consumers in 18 countries. Through its business division, CWC provides data center hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customized IT service solutions, utilizing cloud technology to serve business and government customers. CWC also operates a state-of-the-art submarine fiber network -- the most extensive in the region -- in over 30 markets. Learn more at www.cwc.com , or follow C&W on LinkedIn , Facebook or Twitter . About Liberty Global Liberty Global is the world's largest international TV and broadband company, with operations in more than 30 countries across Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. We invest in the infrastructure that empowers our customers to make the most of the digital revolution. Our scale and commitment to innovation enables us to develop market-leading products delivered through next-generation networks that connect our 29 million customers who subscribe to over 59 million television, broadband internet and telephony services. We also serve 11 million mobile subscribers and offer WiFi service across seven million access points. Liberty Global's businesses are comprised of two stocks: the Liberty Global Group ( NASDAQ : LBTYA ) ( NASDAQ : LBTYB ) ( NASDAQ : LBTYK ) for our European operations, and the LiLAC Group ( NASDAQ : LILA ) ( NASDAQ : LILAK ) ( OTC PINK : LILAB ), which consists of our operations in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Liberty Global Group operates in 12 European countries under the consumer brands Virgin Media, Ziggo, Unitymedia, Telenet and UPC. The LiLAC Group operates in over 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean under the consumer brands VTR, Flow, Liberty, Mas Movil and BTC. In addition, the LiLAC Group operates a subsea fiber network throughout the region in over 30 markets. For more information, please visit www.libertyglobal.com . Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3043152 || Vitaxel Group Entered a Platform Agent Agreement with Bitspark to Launch Bitcoin Remittance Service in Malaysia: KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA / ACCESSWIRE / August 9, 2016 / Vitaxel Group Limited(VXEL) (the "Company" or "Vitaxel"), a multi-level marketing direct seller, with an emphasis on travel, entertainment and lifestyle products and services, today announced that the Company signed a Platform Agent Agreement with Bitspark Limited ("Bitspark") to launch BitSpark's bitcoin remittance service in Malaysia.
This agreement will allow Bitspark to add Malaysia and the Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) as a supported country and currency. As a result, the customers in Malaysia are offered access to Bitspark's full services at local money transfer outlets and provided an option for individuals to utilize mobile payments. Currently, Bitspark's market has reached to Philippine, Indonesia and Vietnam with over 100,000 cash pickup locations.
Vitaxel & Bitspark Signing aPlatform AgentAgreement
To view an enhanced version of this image, please visit:
[https://www.accesswire.com/uploads/Vitaxel1.jpg]
Bitspark's Chief Executive officer Mr. George Harrap stated, "Today we signed our final master agreement on bringing the Bitspark Remittance platform to Malaysia, both teams at Bitspark and Vitaxel have been working hard to make this happen and today we have reached an exciting new milestone. I think this signals the start of a working relationship that we can build on over time for new products and markets to meet the needs of our customers with our industry leading services in the financial space."
Vitaxel's Chief Executive Officer Mr. Ryan Leong, commented, "We believe that our collaboration with Bitspark, a 'game-changer' innovative fintech company, will move us closer to our corporate goals. We are commited to provide the most effective technology to deliver the best value to our current and future customers."
About Bitspark Limited
Founded in April 2014,Bitsparkspecializes in remittances services in the Asia Pacific region and is known for introducing the world's first brick-and-mortar bitcoin remittance vendor in Hong Kong. Bitspark provides the world first cash-in cash-out remittance platform for individuals and Money Transfer Operators to send money to emerging markets cheaper, quicker and to more destinations than ever before leveraging Bitcoin as the means of transmission with zero prior Bitcoin knowledge.
About Vitaxel Group Limited
Vitaxel Group Limited is a market leader in MLM and e-commerce space, has over 5,000 distributors in 16 countries in Asia. With three significant operating subsidiaries, Vitaxel SDN BHD (Vitaxel) and Vitaxel Online Mall SDN BHD (Vionmall), and the Vitaxel Singapore PTE. Ltd. ("Vitaxel Singapore"), Vitaxel is primarily engaged in the direct selling industry utilizing a multi-level marketing model with an emphasis on travel, entertainment and lifestyle products and services; Vionmall is engaged in the development of online shopping platforms geared to Vitaxel and its members and third party providers of products and services.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains certain statements that may include "forward-looking statements." All statements other than statements of historical fact included herein are "forward-looking statements." These forward-looking statements are often identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believes," "expects" or similar expressions, involving known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, they do involve assumptions, risks and uncertainties, and these expectations may prove to be incorrect. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors, including the risk factors discussed in the Company's periodic and other reports that are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on the SEC's website (http://www.sec.gov). All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these risk factors. Other than as required under the securities laws, the Company does not assume a duty to update these forward-looking statements.
Contacts:
Vitaxel Group LimitedEmail:[email protected]: 03-2143 2889
SOURCE:Vitaxel Group Limited || Vitaxel Group Entered a Platform Agent Agreement with Bitspark to Launch Bitcoin Remittance Service in Malaysia: KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA / ACCESSWIRE / August 9, 2016 / Vitaxel Group Limited(VXEL) (the "Company" or "Vitaxel"), a multi-level marketing direct seller, with an emphasis on travel, entertainment and lifestyle products and services, today announced that the Company signed a Platform Agent Agreement with Bitspark Limited ("Bitspark") to launch BitSpark's bitcoin remittance service in Malaysia.
This agreement will allow Bitspark to add Malaysia and the Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) as a supported country and currency. As a result, the customers in Malaysia are offered access to Bitspark's full services at local money transfer outlets and provided an option for individuals to utilize mobile payments. Currently, Bitspark's market has reached to Philippine, Indonesia and Vietnam with over 100,000 cash pickup locations.
Vitaxel & Bitspark Signing aPlatform AgentAgreement
To view an enhanced version of this image, please visit:
[https://www.accesswire.com/uploads/Vitaxel1.jpg]
Bitspark's Chief Executive officer Mr. George Harrap stated, "Today we signed our final master agreement on bringing the Bitspark Remittance platform to Malaysia, both teams at Bitspark and Vitaxel have been working hard to make this happen and today we have reached an exciting new milestone. I think this signals the start of a working relationship that we can build on over time for new products and markets to meet the needs of our customers with our industry leading services in the financial space."
Vitaxel's Chief Executive Officer Mr. Ryan Leong, commented, "We believe that our collaboration with Bitspark, a 'game-changer' innovative fintech company, will move us closer to our corporate goals. We are commited to provide the most effective technology to deliver the best value to our current and future customers."
About Bitspark Limited
Founded in April 2014,Bitsparkspecializes in remittances services in the Asia Pacific region and is known for introducing the world's first brick-and-mortar bitcoin remittance vendor in Hong Kong. Bitspark provides the world first cash-in cash-out remittance platform for individuals and Money Transfer Operators to send money to emerging markets cheaper, quicker and to more destinations than ever before leveraging Bitcoin as the means of transmission with zero prior Bitcoin knowledge.
About Vitaxel Group Limited
Vitaxel Group Limited is a market leader in MLM and e-commerce space, has over 5,000 distributors in 16 countries in Asia. With three significant operating subsidiaries, Vitaxel SDN BHD (Vitaxel) and Vitaxel Online Mall SDN BHD (Vionmall), and the Vitaxel Singapore PTE. Ltd. ("Vitaxel Singapore"), Vitaxel is primarily engaged in the direct selling industry utilizing a multi-level marketing model with an emphasis on travel, entertainment and lifestyle products and services; Vionmall is engaged in the development of online shopping platforms geared to Vitaxel and its members and third party providers of products and services.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains certain statements that may include "forward-looking statements." All statements other than statements of historical fact included herein are "forward-looking statements." These forward-looking statements are often identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believes," "expects" or similar expressions, involving known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, they do involve assumptions, risks and uncertainties, and these expectations may prove to be incorrect. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors, including the risk factors discussed in the Company's periodic and other reports that are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on the SEC's website (http://www.sec.gov). All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these risk factors. Other than as required under the securities laws, the Company does not assume a duty to update these forward-looking statements.
Contacts:
Vitaxel Group LimitedEmail:[email protected]: 03-2143 2889
SOURCE:Vitaxel Group Limited || MarilynJean Interactive (MJMI.QB) Expands Into Blockbuster New Crypto-Currency Ethereum: HENDERSON, NV / ACCESSWIRE / August 9, 2016 / MarilynJean Interactive (MJMI.QB) today announced it has expanded its business plan and acquisition target search into the blockbuster new crypto-currencyEthereum. Ethereum's market capitalization already exceeds $900 Million. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that with a rising market value and a roster of high profile patrons, Ethereum is the next hot thing in cryptocurrencies. Ethereum is an open software platform, comprising a currency called Ether, a public blockchain ledger for keeping track of transactions and tools for building smart contracts that automatically make payments when their terms are fulfilled. Anyone can develop new applications that make use of its code which allows for the creation of financial structures that can run themselves. Some of these applications include: The creation of multisignature escrow contracts. The construction of peer-to-peer gambling. Savings wallets where only a percentage of funds can be withdrawn, but turned off if jeopardized. A decentralized data feed where users can provide a value. The growth of predictive and decentralized marketplaces. Automating trade finance. Tracking loyalty points and gift cards. Ethereum takes the decentralized network that powers Bitcoin and repurposes it for much broader use.Ethereum can run entire futures and options markets. These are multi-billion dollar industries currently run by major stock exchanges around the world. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) gave the fledgling platform a big boost last October when it integratedEthereum into its Azure business-services product. Peter Janosi, MJMI's president said: "Ethereum is poised to change the way a huge range of contracts are fulfilled and executed. Imagine a world where options and futures contracts could be independently verified and executed, bypassing traditional stock exchanges. This technology has the potential to completely change the way billions of dollars of financial instruments and are traded and settled. We are excited to be expanding our plans to include this exciting new crypto-currency." Story continues About MJMI MJMI is in the business of providing safe and accessible services for the users of Bitcoin and othercrypto-currencies. Crypto-currencies are a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure transactions and control the creation of new units. Bitcoin became the first decentralized crypto-currency in 2009. Crypto-currency is produced at a rate which is defined when the system is created and publicly known. By contrast, in centralized banking and economic systems, such as the Federal Reserve System, corporate boards or governments control the supply of currency by printing units or demanding additions to digital banking ledgers. However, neither companies nor governments can produce units of crypto-currency and as such the value of crypto-currencies are completely based on supply and demand, free from any governmental control. Many people believe crypto-currencies, and in particular bitcoin, hold the promise of being the most significant advancement in global finance in modern history. The advent ofbitcoin creates a secure, easily accessible and transferable transnational currency that is completely liberated from political influence. MJMI is currently exploring partnerships in several verticals within the crypto-currency space, including the multi-billion dollar remittance market. Management believes that several industries, including both international remittances and online gambling are on the verge of being revolutionized by the use ofBitcoin to effect transactions. MarilynJean Media Interactive is among the first publicly traded companies focussed on bitcoin and thecrypto-currency space. The company's trading symbol is MJMI.QB. Website: www.marilynjean.com Press Contact: [email protected] SOURCE: MarilynJean Interactive || MarilynJean Interactive (MJMI.QB) Expands Into Blockbuster New Crypto-Currency Ethereum: HENDERSON, NV / ACCESSWIRE / August 9, 2016 / MarilynJean Interactive (MJMI.QB) today announced it has expanded its business plan and acquisition target search into the blockbuster new crypto-currencyEthereum. Ethereum's market capitalization already exceeds $900 Million. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that with a rising market value and a roster of high profile patrons, Ethereum is the next hot thing in cryptocurrencies. Ethereum is an open software platform, comprising a currency called Ether, a public blockchain ledger for keeping track of transactions and tools for building smart contracts that automatically make payments when their terms are fulfilled. Anyone can develop new applications that make use of its code which allows for the creation of financial structures that can run themselves. Some of these applications include: The creation of multisignature escrow contracts. The construction of peer-to-peer gambling. Savings wallets where only a percentage of funds can be withdrawn, but turned off if jeopardized. A decentralized data feed where users can provide a value. The growth of predictive and decentralized marketplaces. Automating trade finance. Tracking loyalty points and gift cards. Ethereum takes the decentralized network that powers Bitcoin and repurposes it for much broader use.Ethereum can run entire futures and options markets. These are multi-billion dollar industries currently run by major stock exchanges around the world. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) gave the fledgling platform a big boost last October when it integratedEthereum into its Azure business-services product. Peter Janosi, MJMI's president said: "Ethereum is poised to change the way a huge range of contracts are fulfilled and executed. Imagine a world where options and futures contracts could be independently verified and executed, bypassing traditional stock exchanges. This technology has the potential to completely change the way billions of dollars of financial instruments and are traded and settled. We are excited to be expanding our plans to include this exciting new crypto-currency." Story continues About MJMI MJMI is in the business of providing safe and accessible services for the users of Bitcoin and othercrypto-currencies. Crypto-currencies are a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure transactions and control the creation of new units. Bitcoin became the first decentralized crypto-currency in 2009. Crypto-currency is produced at a rate which is defined when the system is created and publicly known. By contrast, in centralized banking and economic systems, such as the Federal Reserve System, corporate boards or governments control the supply of currency by printing units or demanding additions to digital banking ledgers. However, neither companies nor governments can produce units of crypto-currency and as such the value of crypto-currencies are completely based on supply and demand, free from any governmental control. Many people believe crypto-currencies, and in particular bitcoin, hold the promise of being the most significant advancement in global finance in modern history. The advent ofbitcoin creates a secure, easily accessible and transferable transnational currency that is completely liberated from political influence. MJMI is currently exploring partnerships in several verticals within the crypto-currency space, including the multi-billion dollar remittance market. Management believes that several industries, including both international remittances and online gambling are on the verge of being revolutionized by the use ofBitcoin to effect transactions. MarilynJean Media Interactive is among the first publicly traded companies focussed on bitcoin and thecrypto-currency space. The company's trading symbol is MJMI.QB. Website: www.marilynjean.com Press Contact: [email protected] SOURCE: MarilynJean Interactive || Who’s Buying What ETF?: If there’s one question that ETF wonks like me get asked all the time, it’s “Who owns ETFs?” More specifically, “Who owns this particular ETF?” There are lots of reasons why a good answer to this question could be useful. If you’re an ETF issuer, you’d certainly like to know who’s been buying your products. If you’re a hedge fund, you might be looking for signals in the patterns of other investors' trades. If you’re an institutional investor, you might be trying to see if your allocations were representative or contrarian. As an individual investor or advisor, you might take comfort in seeing big endowments in a fund you’re interested in. Because ETFs are exchange-traded (it’s in the name, after all) and settle just like a stock, it can be very difficult to know with absolute certainty who has beneficial ownership of every share. Even the Depository Trust Company, which has the ownership records for all ETFs and stocks in the U.S., doesn’t actually know which funds an individual owns. Instead, it just knows that a certain number of shares are sitting at Charles Schwab or Etrade, and from there, it’s that custodian’s responsibility to maintain the individual ownership records. Digging Into Filings But there are ways of ferreting out some of this. Large institutional investors are generally required to make quarterly filings of what they own on SEC form 13F. Mutual funds must disclose their holdings at least once a quarter, and so on. It turns out that all those reports rolled together can explain more than half of the $2.2 trillion in the U.S.-listed ETFs. It shouldn’t be a surprise to see “Investment Advisor” and “Wealth Management” as the top categories here. Advisors—whether captive to a wirehouse like Morgan Stanley or independent—have been a huge growth engine for ETFs nearly since their introduction. What might be surprising to some investors is how small the allocations from hedge funds, endowments and pension funds are. While $67 billion across those groups is real money, it suggests that penetration into those markets still has room to grow. Story continues Digging under the hood, I think it’s interesting to see the kinds of funds these different groups use. For instance, the most-used funds by advisors and wealth managers probably aren’t a big surprise. These top 10 lists show some of the largest ETFs in the market, as you would expect—industry giants like the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) and the iShares Core US Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG) . But there are some quirks here. Notice the big positions in both growth and value—the iShares Russell 1000 Value ETF (IWD) and the iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF (IWF) —and the surprising popularity of the Vanguard REIT Index Fund (VNQ) fund with private banking clients. Style rotation is clearly alive and well in America’s biggest private banks. The other thing to notice is just how large these positions are relative to the size of the funds. Between private wealth and the advisory market, well over half of a fund like the iShares MSCI EAFE ETF (EFA) is accounted for. The advisor market is clearly of huge importance to ETF issuers, and the switch from one product to another can be punishing. Just notice what’s not on here: large positions in the iShares Emerging Markets ETF (EEM) . EEM lost the crown for most popular emerging market ETF with advisors to Vanguard over the past decade, which is why you see the Vanguard Emerging Markets ETF (VWO) here instead. Looking at brokers, it’s unsurprising to see both some of the most liquid—and most speculative—ETFs on the market. ETFs serve a slightly different purpose here, allowing for short-term positions in narrow sectors of the market. What about the “smart” money—hedge funds? With the caveat that not every hedge fund has to disclose its holdings, there are still a few interesting tidbits. Hedge funds are looking further afield than the average wealth manager, with big positions in gold, gold miners, high-yield bond funds and even China, all absent from the top 10 list of advisors. That’s not to say that advisors don’t own, say, the SPDR GLD Trust (GLD) —they just own it further down in their portfolios than the average hedge fund. It’s also the case that since we’re just looking at ETFs, we’re not capturing how ETFs compare to the other exposures inside hedge funds. Hedge funds are far more likely to be getting market exposure from individual stocks or derivatives, so what we’re seeing is a concentration on areas where it’s difficult for most firms to get exposure directly without an ETF: emerging markets, junk bonds and physical gold. The Point (And I Do Have One) While it’s fun to take a peek under the covers of different investor groups and compare them to how our own money is invested, I think the broader lesson here is simple: All ETFs are not created equal. Different kinds of investors have very different needs. Where a trader needs liquidity, a long-term asset allocator will focus on total costs and tax efficiency. The beauty of the ETF wrapper is that there’s something for everyone. As of this writing, the author held no positions in the securities mentioned. Dave Nadig is director of exchange-traded funds at FactSet. You can reach him at [email protected] , or on Twitter @DaveNadig. Recommended Stories Behind The Wait For The Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF The ETF As A Political Weapon Aug. 24, 2015 Flash Crash Part Of Wall St. History What The New Real Estate Sector Means For ETFs ETF Asset Growth In 2016 Par For The Course Permalink | © Copyright 2016 ETF.com. All rights reserved || Who’s Buying What ETF?: If there’s one question that ETF wonks like me get asked all the time, it’s “Who owns ETFs?” More specifically, “Who owns this particular ETF?”
There are lots of reasons why a good answer to this question could be useful. If you’re an ETF issuer, you’d certainly like to know who’s been buying your products. If you’re a hedge fund, you might be looking for signals in the patterns of other investors' trades. If you’re an institutional investor, you might be trying to see if your allocations were representative or contrarian. As an individual investor or advisor, you might take comfort in seeing big endowments in a fund you’re interested in.
Because ETFs are exchange-traded (it’s in the name, after all) and settle just like a stock, it can be very difficult to know with absolute certainty who has beneficial ownership of every share. Even the Depository Trust Company, which has the ownership records for all ETFs and stocks in the U.S., doesn’t actually know which funds an individual owns. Instead, it just knows that a certain number of shares are sitting at Charles Schwab or Etrade, and from there, it’s that custodian’s responsibility to maintain the individual ownership records.
Digging Into Filings
But there are ways of ferreting out some of this. Large institutional investors are generally required to make quarterly filings of what they own on SEC form 13F. Mutual funds must disclose their holdings at least once a quarter, and so on. It turns out that all those reports rolled together can explain more than half of the $2.2 trillion in the U.S.-listed ETFs.
It shouldn’t be a surprise to see “Investment Advisor” and “Wealth Management” as the top categories here. Advisors—whether captive to a wirehouse like Morgan Stanley or independent—have been a huge growth engine for ETFs nearly since their introduction. What might be surprising to some investors is how small the allocations from hedge funds, endowments and pension funds are. While $67 billion across those groups is real money, it suggests that penetration into those markets still has room to grow.
Digging under the hood, I think it’s interesting to see thekindsof funds these different groups use. For instance, the most-used funds by advisors and wealth managers probably aren’t a big surprise.
These top 10 lists show some of the largest ETFs in the market, as you would expect—industry giants like theSPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY)and theiShares Core US Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG). But there are some quirks here. Notice the big positions in both growth and value—theiShares Russell 1000 Value ETF (IWD)and theiShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF (IWF)—and the surprising popularity of theVanguard REIT Index Fund (VNQ)fund with private banking clients. Style rotation is clearly alive and well in America’s biggest private banks.
The other thing to notice is just how large these positions are relative to the size of the funds. Between private wealth and the advisory market, well over half of a fund like theiShares MSCI EAFE ETF (EFA)is accounted for. The advisor market is clearly of huge importance to ETF issuers, and the switch from one product to another can be punishing.
Just notice what’s not on here: large positions in theiShares Emerging Markets ETF (EEM). EEM lost the crown for most popularemerging market ETFwith advisors to Vanguard over the past decade, which is why you see theVanguard Emerging Markets ETF (VWO)here instead.
Looking at brokers, it’s unsurprising to see both some of the most liquid—and most speculative—ETFs on the market. ETFs serve a slightly different purpose here, allowing for short-term positions in narrow sectors of the market.
What about the “smart” money—hedge funds? With the caveat that not every hedge fund has to disclose its holdings, there are still a few interesting tidbits.
Hedge funds are looking further afield than the average wealth manager, with big positions in gold, gold miners, high-yield bond funds and even China, all absent from the top 10 list of advisors. That’s not to say that advisors don’t own, say, theSPDR GLD Trust (GLD)—they just own it further down in their portfolios than the average hedge fund.
It’s also the case that since we’re just looking at ETFs, we’re not capturing how ETFs compare to the other exposures inside hedge funds. Hedge funds are far more likely to be getting market exposure from individual stocks or derivatives, so what we’re seeing is a concentration on areas where it’s difficult for most firms to get exposure directly without an ETF: emerging markets, junk bonds and physical gold.
The Point (And I Do Have One)
While it’s fun to take a peek under the covers of different investor groups and compare them to how our own money is invested, I think the broader lesson here is simple: All ETFs are not created equal. Different kinds of investors have very different needs. Where a trader needs liquidity, a long-term asset allocator will focus on total costs and tax efficiency.
The beauty of the ETF wrapper is that there’s something for everyone.
As of this writing, the author held no positions in the securities mentioned. Dave Nadig is director of exchange-traded funds at FactSet. You can reach him [email protected], or on Twitter @DaveNadig.
Recommended Stories
• Behind The Wait For The Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF
• The ETF As A Political Weapon
• Aug. 24, 2015 Flash Crash Part Of Wall St. History
• What The New Real Estate Sector Means For ETFs
• ETF Asset Growth In 2016 Par For The Course
Permalink| © Copyright 2016ETF.com.All rights reserved || High Prices and Expensive Gifts Offered by PowerBTC to Bitcoin Sellers: NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Aug 8, 2016) - With the rise in popularity of Bitcoin commerce, many online firms are finding creative new ways to take advantage of this valuable virtual resource. However, none are more market-savvy than PowerBTC, an up-and-coming financial world star that is taking e-commerce by storm. PowerBTC LLC ( http://www.PowerBTC.com ), an already well known cryptocurrency trader on the virtual market, has its on-going offer of higher-than-the-market-price premiums on Bitcoin purchase. Their offer is time-limited but comes along with a bunch of benefits for 10+ or larger transactions. While their standard approach of Bitcoin sellers remains a bonus of 10% more than the market's official rate, the company has added few more additional premiums and gifts for volume business. While having listed all of them below, customers can be assisted and given additional information at any time. POWERBTC CURRENT PROMOTIONAL OFFERS: 10+ BTC (24-karat gold coin); 20+ BTC (24-karat gold coin +3 %); 30+ BTC (24-karat gold coin +5 %); 50+ BTC (24-karat gold coin +8 %) 24-karat gold coin worth of 450 USD based on the gold market price. Tom Clark, the CEO of PowerBTC, commented: "We are happy that with this promotional offer we will be able to help the Bitcoin community. By riding on this next wave of digital technology, we hope to become a major leader of the Bitcoin community, and offer exceptional deals for all Bitcoin purchases. It's about staying in-step with the times, and we know that Bitcoin is a wise investment and are confident that it can take us to the top." A visit to http://www.PowerBTC.com reveals a cleanly-designed website that is easy to use, making Bitcoin transactions quick and easy. Users only need to enter their email address, and bank or PayPal information and they will be ready to take advantage of this new promotional offer. While the offer may appear to be a bit chaotic for the regular seller, the mechanism behind it is based not only on the company's appetite for Bitcoin purchase, but also on the outcome of the Bitcoin PowerBTC is reinvesting, together with a sophisticated calculus and certain principles common within any financial services business. Rates are updated constantly, following current market trends, for the most accurate information. Combined with knowledgeable staff and a regularly updated news page, this gives PowerBTC the edge over competitors in the field by offering a depth of market knowledge that is unrivaled. PowerBTC is currently purchasing Bitcoins so any interested sellers should visit their website as soon as possible for the best deals. For more information, visit, http://www.PowerBTC.com . || High Prices and Expensive Gifts Offered by PowerBTC to Bitcoin Sellers: NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Aug 8, 2016) - With the rise in popularity of Bitcoin commerce, many online firms are finding creative new ways to take advantage of this valuable virtual resource. However, none are more market-savvy than PowerBTC, an up-and-coming financial world star that is taking e-commerce by storm.
PowerBTC LLC (http://www.PowerBTC.com), an already well known cryptocurrency trader on the virtual market, has its on-going offer of higher-than-the-market-price premiums on Bitcoin purchase. Their offer is time-limited but comes along with a bunch of benefits for 10+ or larger transactions. While their standard approach of Bitcoin sellers remains a bonus of 10% more than the market's official rate, the company has added few more additional premiums and gifts for volume business.
While having listed all of them below, customers can be assisted and given additional information at any time.
POWERBTC CURRENT PROMOTIONAL OFFERS:
10+ BTC (24-karat gold coin);20+ BTC (24-karat gold coin +3 %);30+ BTC (24-karat gold coin +5 %);50+ BTC (24-karat gold coin +8 %)
24-karat gold coin worth of 450 USD based on the gold market price.
Tom Clark, the CEO of PowerBTC, commented: "We are happy that with this promotional offer we will be able to help the Bitcoin community. By riding on this next wave of digital technology, we hope to become a major leader of the Bitcoin community, and offer exceptional deals for all Bitcoin purchases. It's about staying in-step with the times, and we know that Bitcoin is a wise investment and are confident that it can take us to the top."
A visit tohttp://www.PowerBTC.comreveals a cleanly-designed website that is easy to use, making Bitcoin transactions quick and easy. Users only need to enter their email address, and bank or PayPal information and they will be ready to take advantage of this new promotional offer.
While the offer may appear to be a bit chaotic for the regular seller, the mechanism behind it is based not only on the company's appetite for Bitcoin purchase, but also on the outcome of the Bitcoin PowerBTC is reinvesting, together with a sophisticated calculus and certain principles common within any financial services business.
Rates are updated constantly, following current market trends, for the most accurate information. Combined with knowledgeable staff and a regularly updated news page, this gives PowerBTC the edge over competitors in the field by offering a depth of market knowledge that is unrivaled.
PowerBTC is currently purchasing Bitcoins so any interested sellers should visit their website as soon as possible for the best deals. For more information, visit,http://www.PowerBTC.com. || High Prices and Expensive Gifts Offered by PowerBTC to Bitcoin Sellers: NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Aug 8, 2016) - With the rise in popularity of Bitcoin commerce, many online firms are finding creative new ways to take advantage of this valuable virtual resource. However, none are more market-savvy than PowerBTC, an up-and-coming financial world star that is taking e-commerce by storm.
PowerBTC LLC (http://www.PowerBTC.com), an already well known cryptocurrency trader on the virtual market, has its on-going offer of higher-than-the-market-price premiums on Bitcoin purchase. Their offer is time-limited but comes along with a bunch of benefits for 10+ or larger transactions. While their standard approach of Bitcoin sellers remains a bonus of 10% more than the market's official rate, the company has added few more additional premiums and gifts for volume business.
While having listed all of them below, customers can be assisted and given additional information at any time.
POWERBTC CURRENT PROMOTIONAL OFFERS:
10+ BTC (24-karat gold coin);20+ BTC (24-karat gold coin +3 %);30+ BTC (24-karat gold coin +5 %);50+ BTC (24-karat gold coin +8 %)
24-karat gold coin worth of 450 USD based on the gold market price.
Tom Clark, the CEO of PowerBTC, commented: "We are happy that with this promotional offer we will be able to help the Bitcoin community. By riding on this next wave of digital technology, we hope to become a major leader of the Bitcoin community, and offer exceptional deals for all Bitcoin purchases. It's about staying in-step with the times, and we know that Bitcoin is a wise investment and are confident that it can take us to the top."
A visit tohttp://www.PowerBTC.comreveals a cleanly-designed website that is easy to use, making Bitcoin transactions quick and easy. Users only need to enter their email address, and bank or PayPal information and they will be ready to take advantage of this new promotional offer.
While the offer may appear to be a bit chaotic for the regular seller, the mechanism behind it is based not only on the company's appetite for Bitcoin purchase, but also on the outcome of the Bitcoin PowerBTC is reinvesting, together with a sophisticated calculus and certain principles common within any financial services business.
Rates are updated constantly, following current market trends, for the most accurate information. Combined with knowledgeable staff and a regularly updated news page, this gives PowerBTC the edge over competitors in the field by offering a depth of market knowledge that is unrivaled.
PowerBTC is currently purchasing Bitcoins so any interested sellers should visit their website as soon as possible for the best deals. For more information, visit,http://www.PowerBTC.com. || Bitfinex users set to lose 36% of their holding in bitcoin hack: The digital currency exchange platform Bitfinex has taken more than a third off all accounts following last week's cybertheft of nearly 120,000 bitcoins . On Saturday, Bitfinex confirmed it had spread losses among all users of the platform , rather than just users who had lost bitcoins. These losses amount to 36.067 percent of each account, although Bitfinex has not yet explained how it calculated this figure. Bitfinex justified the decision by arguing that if the company was forced into liquidation, losses would have to be spread among all users. "After much thought, analysis, and consultation, we have arrived at the conclusion that losses must be generalized across all accounts and assets," the company said in a statement on its website. "This is the closest approximation to what would happen in a liquidation context." Bitfinex allows users to trade in several different digital currencies, including bitcoin, and deposit U.S. dollars in their account. A total of 119,756 bitcoins, worth $70.5 million at today's price (: BTC=) , were stolen as a result of a cybersecurity breach. Bitfinex's decision is likely to disappoint many of the site's users who held assets other than bitcoins, warned Charles Hayter, chief executive and founder of digital currency comparison website CryptoCompare. "What's disappointing is that the losses seem to be arbitrarily decided with larger operators being offered sweetners to keep them trading - and there is little clarity on BitFinex's company losses," Hayter told CNBC via email. To compensate users, BitFinex is crediting each account with a digital token that will record how much the customer has lost as a result of the hack. These tokens will either be redeemed in full by the company in the future or they can be exchanged for shares in BitFinex's parent company, iFinex Inc. The statement did not specify any timeframe for the redemption. "The convertible debt token is a way of kicking the can down the road and finding breathing space for the exchange - it opens up interesting trading possibilities with its junk status as well as a fair few legal ramifications," explained Hayter. Story continues Hayter criticised BitFinex's latest attempt to deal with the situation. "It's all been desperately scrambled together to give some form of closure - although a lot of their plan has not been fully fleshed out with details thin on the ground," he said. Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook . More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || Bitfinex users set to lose 36% of their holding in bitcoin hack: The digital currency exchange platform Bitfinex has taken more than a third off all accounts following last week's cybertheft of nearly 120,000bitcoins.
On Saturday, Bitfinexconfirmed it had spread losses among all users of the platform, rather than just users who had lost bitcoins. These losses amount to 36.067 percent of each account, although Bitfinex has not yet explained how it calculated this figure.
Bitfinex justified the decision by arguing that if the company was forced into liquidation, losses would have to be spread among all users.
"After much thought, analysis, and consultation, we have arrived at the conclusion that losses must be generalized across all accounts and assets," the company said in a statement on its website. "This is the closest approximation to what would happen in a liquidation context."
Bitfinex allows users to trade in several different digital currencies, including bitcoin, and deposit U.S. dollars in their account.
A total of 119,756 bitcoins, worth $70.5 million at today's price(: BTC=), were stolen as a result of a cybersecurity breach.
Bitfinex's decision is likely to disappoint many of the site's users who held assets other than bitcoins, warned Charles Hayter, chief executive and founder of digital currency comparison website CryptoCompare.
"What's disappointing is that the losses seem to be arbitrarily decided with larger operators being offered sweetners to keep them trading - and there is little clarity on BitFinex's company losses," Hayter told CNBC via email.
To compensate users, BitFinex is crediting each account with a digital token that will record how much the customer has lost as a result of the hack. These tokens will either be redeemed in full by the company in the future or they can be exchanged for shares in BitFinex's parent company, iFinex Inc. The statement did not specify any timeframe for the redemption.
"The convertible debt token is a way of kicking the can down the road and finding breathing space for the exchange - it opens up interesting trading possibilities with its junk status as well as a fair few legal ramifications," explained Hayter.
Hayter criticised BitFinex's latest attempt to deal with the situation.
"It's all been desperately scrambled together to give some form of closure - although a lot of their plan has not been fully fleshed out with details thin on the ground," he said.
Follow CNBC International onTwitterandFacebook.
More From CNBC
• Top News and Analysis
• Latest News Video
• Personal Finance || High Prices And Expensive Gifts offered by PowerBTC to Bitcoin Sellers: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / August 7, 2016 /With the rise in popularity of Bitcoin commerce, many online firms are finding creative new ways to take advantage of this valuable virtual resource. However, none are more market-savvy than PowerBTC, an up-and-coming financial world star that is taking e-commerce by storm.
PowerBTC LLC (http://www.PowerBTC.com), an already well known cryptocurrency trader on the virtual market, has its on-going offer of higher-than-the-market-price premiums on Bitcoin purchase. Their offer is time-limited but comes along with a bunch of benefits for 10+ or larger transactions. While their standard approach of Bitcoin sellers remains a bonus of 10% more than the market's official rate, the company has added few more additional premiums and gifts for volume business.
While having listed all of them below, customers can be assisted and given additional information at any time.
POWERBTC CURRENT PROMOTIONAL OFFERS:
10+ BTC (24-karat gold coin);20+ BTC (24-karat gold coin +3 %);30+ BTC (24-karat gold coin +5 %);50+ BTC (24-karat gold coin +8 %)
24-karat gold coin worth of 450 USD based on the gold market price.
Tom Clark, the CEO of PowerBTC, commented: "We are happy that with this promotional offer we will be able to help the Bitcoin community. By riding on this next wave of digital technology, we hope to become a major leader of the Bitcoin community, and offer exceptional deals for all Bitcoin purchases. It's about staying in-step with the times, and we know that Bitcoin is a wise investment and are confident that it can take us to the top."
A visit tohttp://www.PowerBTC.comreveals a cleanly-designed website that is easy to use, making Bitcoin transactions quick and easy. Users only need to enter their email address, and bank or PayPal information and they will be ready to take advantage of this new promotional offer.
While the offer may appear to be a bit chaotic for the regular seller, the mechanism behind it is based not only on the company's appetite for Bitcoin purchase, but also on the outcome of the Bitcoin PowerBTC is reinvesting, together with a sophisticated calculus and certain principles common within any financial services business.
Rates are updated constantly, following current market trends, for the most accurate information. Combined with knowledgeable staff and a regularly updated news page, this gives PowerBTC the edge over competitors in the field by offering a depth of market knowledge that is unrivaled.
PowerBTC is currently purchasing Bitcoins so any interested sellers should visit their website as soon as possible for the best deals. For more information, visit,http://www.PowerBTC.com.SOURCE:PowerBTC LLC || High Prices And Expensive Gifts offered by PowerBTC to Bitcoin Sellers: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / August 7, 2016 / With the rise in popularity of Bitcoin commerce, many online firms are finding creative new ways to take advantage of this valuable virtual resource. However, none are more market-savvy than PowerBTC, an up-and-coming financial world star that is taking e-commerce by storm. PowerBTC LLC ( http://www.PowerBTC.com ), an already well known cryptocurrency trader on the virtual market, has its on-going offer of higher-than-the-market-price premiums on Bitcoin purchase. Their offer is time-limited but comes along with a bunch of benefits for 10+ or larger transactions. While their standard approach of Bitcoin sellers remains a bonus of 10% more than the market's official rate, the company has added few more additional premiums and gifts for volume business. While having listed all of them below, customers can be assisted and given additional information at any time. POWERBTC CURRENT PROMOTIONAL OFFERS: 10+ BTC (24-karat gold coin); 20+ BTC (24-karat gold coin +3 %); 30+ BTC (24-karat gold coin +5 %); 50+ BTC (24-karat gold coin +8 %) 24-karat gold coin worth of 450 USD based on the gold market price. Tom Clark, the CEO of PowerBTC, commented: "We are happy that with this promotional offer we will be able to help the Bitcoin community. By riding on this next wave of digital technology, we hope to become a major leader of the Bitcoin community, and offer exceptional deals for all Bitcoin purchases. It's about staying in-step with the times, and we know that Bitcoin is a wise investment and are confident that it can take us to the top." A visit to http://www.PowerBTC.com reveals a cleanly-designed website that is easy to use, making Bitcoin transactions quick and easy. Users only need to enter their email address, and bank or PayPal information and they will be ready to take advantage of this new promotional offer. While the offer may appear to be a bit chaotic for the regular seller, the mechanism behind it is based not only on the company's appetite for Bitcoin purchase, but also on the outcome of the Bitcoin PowerBTC is reinvesting, together with a sophisticated calculus and certain principles common within any financial services business. Story continues Rates are updated constantly, following current market trends, for the most accurate information. Combined with knowledgeable staff and a regularly updated news page, this gives PowerBTC the edge over competitors in the field by offering a depth of market knowledge that is unrivaled. PowerBTC is currently purchasing Bitcoins so any interested sellers should visit their website as soon as possible for the best deals. For more information, visit, http://www.PowerBTC.com . SOURCE: PowerBTC LLC || High Prices And Expensive Gifts offered by PowerBTC to Bitcoin Sellers: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / August 7, 2016 /With the rise in popularity of Bitcoin commerce, many online firms are finding creative new ways to take advantage of this valuable virtual resource. However, none are more market-savvy than PowerBTC, an up-and-coming financial world star that is taking e-commerce by storm.
PowerBTC LLC (http://www.PowerBTC.com), an already well known cryptocurrency trader on the virtual market, has its on-going offer of higher-than-the-market-price premiums on Bitcoin purchase. Their offer is time-limited but comes along with a bunch of benefits for 10+ or larger transactions. While their standard approach of Bitcoin sellers remains a bonus of 10% more than the market's official rate, the company has added few more additional premiums and gifts for volume business.
While having listed all of them below, customers can be assisted and given additional information at any time.
POWERBTC CURRENT PROMOTIONAL OFFERS:
10+ BTC (24-karat gold coin);20+ BTC (24-karat gold coin +3 %);30+ BTC (24-karat gold coin +5 %);50+ BTC (24-karat gold coin +8 %)
24-karat gold coin worth of 450 USD based on the gold market price.
Tom Clark, the CEO of PowerBTC, commented: "We are happy that with this promotional offer we will be able to help the Bitcoin community. By riding on this next wave of digital technology, we hope to become a major leader of the Bitcoin community, and offer exceptional deals for all Bitcoin purchases. It's about staying in-step with the times, and we know that Bitcoin is a wise investment and are confident that it can take us to the top."
A visit tohttp://www.PowerBTC.comreveals a cleanly-designed website that is easy to use, making Bitcoin transactions quick and easy. Users only need to enter their email address, and bank or PayPal information and they will be ready to take advantage of this new promotional offer.
While the offer may appear to be a bit chaotic for the regular seller, the mechanism behind it is based not only on the company's appetite for Bitcoin purchase, but also on the outcome of the Bitcoin PowerBTC is reinvesting, together with a sophisticated calculus and certain principles common within any financial services business.
Rates are updated constantly, following current market trends, for the most accurate information. Combined with knowledgeable staff and a regularly updated news page, this gives PowerBTC the edge over competitors in the field by offering a depth of market knowledge that is unrivaled.
PowerBTC is currently purchasing Bitcoins so any interested sellers should visit their website as soon as possible for the best deals. For more information, visit,http://www.PowerBTC.com.SOURCE:PowerBTC LLC
[Social Media Buzz]
#Anoncoin/#ANC price now: $ 0.171881, that's 0.00 % change in 1hour. 3.90 % past day, and 6.58 % in the past week! #Bitcoin is $ 569.71 || Current price of Bitcoin is $567.00 #bitcoin || $572.02 #bitfinex;
$578.00 #itBit;
$564.80 #btce;
$575.01 #GDAX;
$567.89 #bitstamp;
$571.60 #OKCoin;
#bitcoin news: http://bit.ly/1VI6Yse || #bitcoin #miner Antminer S7 4.05TH/s ASIC Bitcoin Miner $330.00 http://ift.tt/2bqZ7vK pic.twitter.com/c67IAqIwD5 || LIVE: Profit = $45.30 (1.22 %). BUY B6.44 @ $574.99 (#...
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567.24, 577.44, 573.22, 574.32, 575.63, 581.70, 581.31, 586.75, 583.41, 580.18
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 1054.42, 1047.87, 1079.98, 1115.30, 1117.44, 1166.72, 1173.68, 1143.84, 1165.20, 1179.97, 1179.97, 1222.50, 1251.01, 1274.99, 1255.15, 1267.12, 1272.83, 1223.54, 1150.00, 1188.49, 1116.72, 1175.83, 1221.38, 1231.92, 1240.00, 1249.61, 1187.81, 1100.23, 973.82, 1036.74, 1054.23, 1120.54, 1049.14, 1038.59, 937.52, 972.78, 966.72, 1045.77, 1047.15, 1039.97, 1026.43, 1071.79, 1080.50, 1102.17, 1143.81, 1133.25, 1124.78, 1182.68, 1176.90, 1175.95, 1187.87, 1187.13, 1205.01, 1200.37, 1169.28, 1167.54, 1172.52, 1182.94, 1193.91, 1211.67, 1210.29, 1229.08, 1222.05, 1231.71, 1207.21, 1250.15, 1265.49, 1281.08, 1317.73, 1316.48, 1321.79, 1347.89, 1421.60, 1452.82, 1490.09, 1537.67, 1555.45, 1578.80, 1596.71, 1723.35, 1755.36, 1787.13, 1848.57, 1724.24, 1804.91, 1808.91, 1738.43, 1734.45, 1839.09, 1888.65.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2017-05-18]
Volume: 894321024, RSI (14-day): 75.10, 50-day EMA: 1451.81, 200-day EMA: 1097.20
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1251.70, Gold RSI: 54.00
Oil Price: 49.35, Oil RSI: 53.61
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
The Samsung Galaxy S8 Next Generation Smartphone Now Available to Flow Customers Across the Caribbean: MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - May 17, 2017) - A new galaxy of smartphones has just opened up for Flow customers as the Samsung S8 hits Flow retail stores around the region. "It's the smartphone every customer ever wanted," said James McElvanna - VP Products at Cable and Wireless , operator of Flow. "The Galaxy S8 is more than just a smart phone; it's the new wonder next-generation device that totally transforms user experience. It's great for social media, taking selfies, allowing access to the latest apps, playing games, whatever users desire, and above all it's perfect for work too. The Samsung Galaxy S8 does it all," McElvanna also said. With unmatched features the S8 is water and dust resistant , supports MicroSD cards up to 256 GB, and has an "always-on" display capability that comes with an advanced camera system. The S8 has an innovative "Infinity Display" continuous screen that has no edges, buttons or harsh angles, which makes for a wonderfully ergonomic and visually rich user experience. McElvanna added that, "Along with its built-in features, the S8 can also be paired with a bunch of additional Samsung devices, such as the Gear 360 camera or the Samsung DeX , which essentially transform your cell phone into a computer. Android lovers will go gaga for the S8." The Samsung Galaxy S8 comes in two sizes -- the 5.8-inch Galaxy S8 or the 6.2-inch Galaxy S8+ which come in two colours -- Orchid Gray and Midnight Black. All versions feature the durable and high-quality Corning® Gorilla® Glass 5 on both the front and back which makes for a more durable screen. Along with the new Galaxy S8, Flow offers a range of other Samsung devices too, including the S7, S7 Edge, J7, J2 Prime, the Galaxy A3, A5 and the Samsung J1 Ace. Editor's Note: Product Specifications - Samsung Galaxy S8: Galaxy S8 Galaxy S8+ OS Android 7.0 Red LTE Cat. 16 * * Can vary according to market and mobile operators Dimensions 148,9 x 68,1 x 8,0 mm, 152 g 159,5 x 73,4 x 8,1 mm, 173 g AP Octa core (2.3GHz Quad + 1.7GHz Quad), 64 bit, 10nm process Octa core (2.35GHz Quad + 1.9GHz Quad), 64 bit, 10nm process Memory 4GB RAM (LPDDR4), 64GB (UFS 2.1) Display 5.8" (146,5 mm) 1 Quad HD+ (2960x1440), (570ppi) 6.2" (158,1 mm) 1 Quad HD+ (2960x1440), (529ppi) 1 Screen measured diagonally as a complete rectangle, without considering rounded corners Camera Posterior: Dual Pixel 12MP OIS (F1.7), Frontal: 8MP AF (F1.7) Battery 3,000 mAh 3,500 mAh Fast charge with cable and wireless Wireless charge compatible with WPC and PMA Payment NFC, MST Connectivity Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5GHz), VHT80 MU-MIMO, 1024QAM Bluetooth ® v 5.0 (LE up to 2Mbps), ANT+, USB Type-C, NFC, Location (GPS, Galileo *, Glonass, BeiDou *) * Galileo and BeiDou coverage can be limited. Sensors Accelerometer, barometer, fingerprint sensor, gyroscopic sensor, Geomagnetic sensor, hall sensor, heart rate sensor, proximity sensor, RGB light sensor, iris sensor, pressure sensor Audio MP3, M4A, 3GA, AAC, OGG, OGA, WAV, WMA, AMR, AWB, FLAC, MID, MIDI, XMF, MXMF, IMY, RTTTL, RTX, OTA, DSF, DFF Video MP4, M4V, 3GP, 3G2, WMV, ASF, AVI, FLV, MKV, WEBM About C&W Communications C&W is a full service communications and entertainment provider and delivers market-leading video, broadband, telephony and mobile services to consumers in 18 countries. Through its business division, C&W provides data center hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customized IT service solutions, utilizing cloud technology to serve business and government customers. Story continues C&W also operates a state-of-the-art submarine fiber network -- the most extensive in the region. Learn more at http://www.cwc.com/ , or follow C&W on LinkedIn , Facebook or Twitter . About Liberty Global Liberty Global is the world's largest international TV and broadband company, with operations in more than 30 countries across Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. We invest in the infrastructure that empowers our customers to make the most of the digital revolution. Our scale and commitment to innovation enable us to develop market-leading products delivered through next generation networks that connect our 25 million customers who subscribe to over 50 million television, broadband internet and telephony services. We also serve over 10 million mobile subscribers and offer WiFi service across 6 million access points. Liberty Global's businesses are comprised of two stocks: the Liberty Global Group ( NASDAQ : LBTYA ) ( NASDAQ : LBTYB ) ( NASDAQ : LBTYK ) for our European operations, and the LiLAC Group ( NASDAQ : LILA ) and ( NASDAQ : LILAK ) ( OTC PINK : LILAB ), which consists of our operations in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Liberty Global Group operates in 11 European countries under the consumer brands Virgin Media, Unitymedia, Telenet and UPC. The Liberty Global Group also owns 50% of VodafoneZiggo, a Dutch joint venture, which has 4 million customers, 10 million fixed-line subscribers and 5 million mobile subscribers. The LiLAC Group operates in over 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean under the consumer brands VTR, Flow, Liberty, Más Móvil and BTC. In addition, the LiLAC Group operates a sub-sea fiber network throughout the region in over 30 markets. For more information, please visit www.libertyglobal.com View comments || The Samsung Galaxy S8 Next Generation Smartphone Now Available to Flow Customers Across the Caribbean: MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - May 17, 2017) - A new galaxy of smartphones has just opened up for Flow customers as the Samsung S8hitsFlowretail storesaround the region.
"It's the smartphone every customer ever wanted," said James McElvanna - VP Products atCable and Wireless, operator of Flow.
"The Galaxy S8 is more than just a smart phone; it's the new wonder next-generation device that totally transforms user experience. It's great for social media, taking selfies, allowing access to the latest apps, playing games, whatever users desire, and above all it's perfect for work too. The Samsung Galaxy S8 does it all," McElvanna also said.
With unmatched features the S8 iswater and dust resistant, supports MicroSD cards up to 256 GB, and has an "always-on" display capability that comes with an advanced camera system. The S8 has an innovative "Infinity Display" continuous screen that has no edges, buttons or harsh angles, which makes for a wonderfully ergonomic and visually rich user experience.
McElvanna added that, "Along with its built-in features, the S8 can also be paired with a bunch of additional Samsung devices, such as theGear 360camera or theSamsung DeX, which essentially transform your cell phone into a computer. Android lovers will go gaga for the S8."
The Samsung Galaxy S8 comes in two sizes -- the 5.8-inch Galaxy S8 or the 6.2-inch Galaxy S8+ which come in two colours -- Orchid Gray and Midnight Black. All versions feature the durable and high-quality Corning® Gorilla® Glass 5 on both the front and back which makes for a more durable screen.
Along with the new Galaxy S8,Flow offers a range of other Samsung devicestoo, including the S7, S7 Edge, J7, J2 Prime, the Galaxy A3, A5 and the Samsung J1 Ace.
Editor's Note:
Product Specifications - Samsung Galaxy S8:
[["", "", "", "", ""], ["", "", "Galaxy S8", "", "Galaxy S8+"], ["OS", "", "Android 7.0"], ["Red", "", "LTE Cat. 16** Can vary according to market and mobile operators"], ["Dimensions", "", "148,9 x 68,1 x 8,0 mm, 152 g", "", "159,5 x 73,4 x 8,1 mm, 173 g"], ["AP", "", "Octa core (2.3GHz Quad + 1.7GHz Quad), 64 bit, 10nm processOcta core (2.35GHz Quad + 1.9GHz Quad), 64 bit, 10nm process"], ["Memory", "", "4GB RAM (LPDDR4), 64GB (UFS 2.1)"], ["Display", "", "5.8\" (146,5 mm)1Quad HD+(2960x1440), (570ppi)", "", "6.2\" (158,1 mm)1Quad HD+(2960x1440), (529ppi)"], ["", "1Screen measured diagonally as a complete rectangle, without considering rounded corners"], ["Camera", "", "Posterior: Dual Pixel 12MP OIS (F1.7), Frontal: 8MP AF (F1.7)"], ["Battery", "", "3,000 mAh", "", "3,500 mAh"], ["", "Fast charge with cable and wirelessWireless charge compatible with WPC and PMA"], ["Payment", "", "NFC, MST"], ["Connectivity", "", "Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5GHz), VHT80 MU-MIMO, 1024QAMBluetooth\u00ae v 5.0 (LE up to 2Mbps), ANT+, USB Type-C, NFC,Location (GPS, Galileo *, Glonass, BeiDou *)* Galileo and BeiDou coverage can be limited."], ["Sensors", "", "Accelerometer, barometer, fingerprint sensor, gyroscopic sensor,Geomagnetic sensor, hall sensor, heart rate sensor, proximity sensor, RGB light sensor, iris sensor, pressure sensor"], ["Audio", "", "MP3, M4A, 3GA, AAC, OGG, OGA, WAV, WMA, AMR, AWB,FLAC, MID, MIDI, XMF, MXMF, IMY, RTTTL, RTX, OTA, DSF, DFF"], ["Video", "", "MP4, M4V, 3GP, 3G2, WMV, ASF, AVI, FLV, MKV, WEBM"], ["", "", ""]]
About C&W Communications
C&W is a full service communications and entertainment provider and delivers market-leading video, broadband, telephony and mobile services to consumers in 18 countries. Through its business division, C&W provides data center hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customized IT service solutions, utilizing cloud technology to serve business and government customers.
C&W also operates a state-of-the-art submarine fiber network -- the most extensive in the region.
Learn more athttp://www.cwc.com/, or follow C&W onLinkedIn,FacebookorTwitter.
About Liberty Global
Liberty Global is the world's largest international TV and broadband company, with operations in more than 30 countries across Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. We invest in the infrastructure that empowers our customers to make the most of the digital revolution. Our scale and commitment to innovation enable us to develop market-leading products delivered through next generation networks that connect our 25 million customers who subscribe to over 50 million television, broadband internet and telephony services. We also serve over 10 million mobile subscribers and offer WiFi service across 6 million access points.
Liberty Global's businesses are comprised of two stocks: the Liberty Global Group (NASDAQ:LBTYA) (NASDAQ:LBTYB) (NASDAQ:LBTYK) for our European operations, and the LiLAC Group (NASDAQ:LILA) and (NASDAQ:LILAK) (OTC PINK:LILAB), which consists of our operations in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Liberty Global Group operates in 11 European countries under the consumer brands Virgin Media, Unitymedia, Telenet and UPC. The Liberty Global Group also owns 50% of VodafoneZiggo, a Dutch joint venture, which has 4 million customers, 10 million fixed-line subscribers and 5 million mobile subscribers. The LiLAC Group operates in over 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean under the consumer brands VTR, Flow, Liberty, Más Móvil and BTC. In addition, the LiLAC Group operates a sub-sea fiber network throughout the region in over 30 markets.
For more information, please visitwww.libertyglobal.com || Hackers mint crypto-currency with technique in global 'ransomware' attack: By Joseph Menn SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A computer virus that exploits the same vulnerability as the global "ransomware" attack has latched on to more than 200,000 computers and begun manufacturing digital currency, experts said Tuesday. The development adds to the dangers exposed by the WannaCry ransomware and provides another piece of evidence that a North Korea-linked hacking group may be behind the attacks. WannaCry, developed in part with hacking techniques that were either stolen or leaked from the U.S. National Security Agency, has infected more than 300,000 computers since Friday, locking up their data and demanding a ransom payment to release it. Researchers at security firm Proofpoint said the related attack, which installs a currency miner that generates digital cash, began infecting machines in late April or early May but had not been previously discovered because it allows computers to operate while creating the digital cash in the background. Proofpoint executive Ryan Kalember said the authors may have earned more than $1 million, far more than has been generated by the WannaCry attack. Like WannaCry, the program attacks via a flaw in Microsoft Corp's Windows software. That hole has been patched in newer versions of Windows, though not all companies and individuals have installed the patches. Digital currencies based on a technology known as blockchain operate by enabling the creation of new currency in exchange for solving complex math problems. Digital "miners" run specially configured computers to solve the problems and generate currency, whose value ultimate fluctuates according to market demand. Bitcoin is by far the largest such currency, but the new mining program is not aimed at Bitcoin. Rather it targeted a newer digital currency, called Monero, that experts say has been pursued recently by North Korean-linked hackers. North Korea has attracted attention in the WannaCry case for a number of reasons, including the fact that early versions of the WannaCry code used some programming lines that had previously been spotted in attacks by Lazarus Group, a hacking group associated with North Korea. Security researchers and U.S. intelligence officials have cautioned that such evidence is not conclusive, and the investigation is in its early stages. In early April, security firm Kaspersky Lab said that a wing of Lazarus devoted to financial gain had installed software to mine Monero on a server in Europe. A new campaign to mine the same currency, using the same Windows weakness as WannaCry, could be coincidence, or it could suggest that North Korea was responsible for both the ransomware and the currency mining. Kalember said he believes the similarities in the European case, WannaCry and the miner were "more than coincidence." "It's a really strong overlap," he said. "It's not like you see Monero miners all over the world." The North Korean mission to the United Nations could not be reached for comment, while the FBI declined to comment. (Fixes spelling of digital currency in paragraphs 11 and 14 to Monero not Moreno.) (Reporting by Joseph Menn; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Cynthia Osterman) || Hackers mint crypto-currency with technique in global 'ransomware' attack: By Joseph Menn SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A computer virus that exploits the same vulnerability as the global "ransomware" attack has latched on to more than 200,000 computers and begun manufacturing digital currency, experts said Tuesday. The development adds to the dangers exposed by the WannaCry ransomware and provides another piece of evidence that a North Korea-linked hacking group may be behind the attacks. WannaCry, developed in part with hacking techniques that were either stolen or leaked from the U.S. National Security Agency, has infected more than 300,000 computers since Friday, locking up their data and demanding a ransom payment to release it. Researchers at security firm Proofpoint said the related attack, which installs a currency “miner” that generates digital cash, began infecting machines in late April or early May but had not been previously discovered because it allows computers to operate while creating the digital cash in the background. Proofpoint executive Ryan Kalember said the authors may have earned more than $1 million, far more than has been generated by the WannaCry attack. Like WannaCry, the program attacks via a flaw in Microsoft Corp's Windows software. That hole has been patched in newer versions of Windows, though not all companies and individuals have installed the patches. Digital currencies based on a technology known as blockchain operate by enabling the creation of new currency in exchange for solving complex math problems. Digital "miners" run specially configured computers to solve the problems and generate currency, whose value ultimate fluctuates according to market demand. Bitcoin is by far the largest such currency, but the new mining program is not aimed at Bitcoin. Rather it targeted a newer digital currency, called Monero, that experts say has been pursued recently by North Korean-linked hackers. North Korea has attracted attention in the WannaCry case for a number of reasons, including the fact that early versions of the WannaCry code used some programming lines that had previously been spotted in attacks by Lazarus Group, a hacking group associated with North Korea. Security researchers and U.S. intelligence officials have cautioned that such evidence is not conclusive, and the investigation is in its early stages. In early April, security firm Kaspersky Lab said that a wing of Lazarus devoted to financial gain had installed software to mine Monero on a server in Europe. A new campaign to mine the same currency, using the same Windows weakness as WannaCry, could be coincidence, or it could suggest that North Korea was responsible for both the ransomware and the currency mining. Kalember said he believes the similarities in the European case, WannaCry and the miner were "more than coincidence." "It's a really strong overlap," he said. "It's not like you see Monero miners all over the world." The North Korean mission to the United Nations could not be reached for comment, while the FBI declined to comment. (Fixes spelling of digital currency in paragraphs 11 and 14 to Monero not Moreno.) (Reporting by Joseph Menn; Editing by Jonathan Weber and Cynthia Osterman) || Why leaked NSA hacking tools are not like stolen Tomahawk missiles: Last week a malicious computer worm dubbed WannaCry 2.0 began attacking older, unpatched versions of Microsoft operating systems,infecting hundreds of thousands of systemswith ransomware that held user data hostage in exchange for Bitcoin payments.
The cyberattack used code from a powerful National Security Agency tool called EternalBlue, which a mysterious group of hackers known as The Shadow Brokers leaked earlier this year. Tech companies have been quick to blame the NSA for finding and exploiting vulnerabilities in commercial products like Windows, to say nothing of losing them.
On Sunday,Brad Smith, Microsoft’s(MSFT)president and chief legal officer,arguedthat an “equivalent scenario with conventional weapons would be the U.S. military having some of its Tomahawk missiles stolen.”
The next day, Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, speaking via video chat to the K(NO)W Identity Conference in Washington D.C. from an undisclosed location in Russia,repeatedSmith’s argument.
“An equivalent scenario to what we’re seeing happening today would be conventional weapons, produced and held by the U.S. military, being stolen, such as Tomahawk missiles,” Snowden said while describing Smith’s letter to a crowd less than a mile from the White House.
U.S. officials acknowledge that the NSA deserves scrutiny about protecting tools it develops to collect foreign intelligence. “They’ve absolutely got to do a better job protecting [the hacking tools],” General Keith Alexander, head of the NSA from 2005 to 2014,toldThe Washington Post. “You can’t argue against that.”
However, the Tomahawk analogy may be a stretch. Dave Aitel, a former NSA research scientist and CEO of the cybersecurity companyImmunity, explained why hacking tools are not like bombs.
“The very first thing is you can steal a Tomahawk missile from me, but you cannot steal it from me without me knowing you’ve stolen it,” Aitel said. “And of course, you can steal an exploit or other intellectual property from me and I may never find out. Another is that two people can have [the same exploit] at the same time.”
Aitel, who specializes in the offensive side of cybersecurity, added that “deep down, the biggest difference is that you have to learn a lot about exploits to protect yourself, and I don’t really have to learn a lot about Tomahawk missiles to protect myself from Tomahawk missiles.”
Nevertheless, the analogy has been relatively well received. Travis Jarae, CEO and Founder of One World Identity, which hosted the conference in Washington, andpaid a speakers bureauto digitally host Snowden, said that the Tomahawk analogy is “not wrong” given the contemporary threat environment.
“Warfare is digital,” explained Jarae, who was previously Global Head of Identity Verification at Google. “We spy on people digitally … I thought it was a little aggressive to compare it to a missile, but [government hacking] is very damaging.“
Aitelnoted that it makes sense why Smith and others in the tech business would make that argument.
“[Brad Smith’s] job is to create favorable economic conditions for Microsoft at a strategic level, and if he pressure governments to stop using exploits, then that helps him from a PR perspective,” Aitel said. “It doesn’t help the users because people are still going to have exploits. That’s always going to be true.”
Snowden also echoed Smith’s criticisms of the U.S. government’s decision to develop secret software exploits, telling the audience at the K(NO)W Identity Conference that secret government exploits are a problem, and the NSA should have voluntarily revealed the EternalBlue exploit long ago.
But other former NSA officials have pushed back against that idea,tellingthe Washington Post that EternalBlue netted an “unreal” foreign intelligence haul that was like “fishing with dynamite.”
“Edward Snowden knows full well the value of the signals intelligence program — and that includes the NSA’s hacking — to our national security,” Aitel said. “This is not for play. They’re not building exploits for fun. It’s not a hobby. It’s for distinct and important national security needs.
“So when he says ‘Give up your exploits,’ he essentially is saying, ‘We don’t need signals intelligence,’ which we do.”
Ultimately, according to Aitel, companies like Microsoft placing the blame on the NSA with crude analogies equating NSA hacking tools to U.S. cruise missiles only serves to muddy the larger debate.
“The bigger issue is Brad Smith and Microsoft, who continue to insist that everything fall their way in terms of how vulnerabilities are handled, which I don’t think helps the conversation around cybersecurity,” Aitel said. “There are a lot of very interesting things in cybersecurity that don’t involve Microsoft’s bottom line, and those are worth talking about.”
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‘Risk’ director discusses the ‘tragedy’ of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks || Why leaked NSA hacking tools are not like stolen Tomahawk missiles: The guided-missile destroyer USS Barry launches a Tomahawk cruise missile on March 29, 2011. (image: U.S. Navy) Last week a malicious computer worm dubbed WannaCry 2.0 began attacking older, unpatched versions of Microsoft operating systems, infecting hundreds of thousands of systems with ransomware that held user data hostage in exchange for Bitcoin payments. The cyberattack used code from a powerful National Security Agency tool called EternalBlue, which a mysterious group of hackers known as The Shadow Brokers leaked earlier this year. Tech companies have been quick to blame the NSA for finding and exploiting vulnerabilities in commercial products like Windows, to say nothing of losing them. On Sunday, Brad Smith , Microsoft’s (MSFT) president and chief legal officer, argued that an “equivalent scenario with conventional weapons would be the U.S. military having some of its Tomahawk missiles stolen.” The next day, Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, speaking via video chat to the K(NO)W Identity Conference in Washington D.C. from an undisclosed location in Russia, repeated Smith’s argument. “An equivalent scenario to what we’re seeing happening today would be conventional weapons, produced and held by the U.S. military, being stolen, such as Tomahawk missiles,” Snowden said while describing Smith’s letter to a crowd less than a mile from the White House. Edward Snowden speaking via video chat from Russia at the K(NO)W Identity Conference in Washington, D.C. on May 15. (image: One World Identity) U.S. officials acknowledge that the NSA deserves scrutiny about protecting tools it develops to collect foreign intelligence. “They’ve absolutely got to do a better job protecting [the hacking tools],” General Keith Alexander, head of the NSA from 2005 to 2014, told The Washington Post. “You can’t argue against that.” However, the Tomahawk analogy may be a stretch. Dave Aitel, a former NSA research scientist and CEO of the cybersecurity company Immunity , explained why hacking tools are not like bombs. “The very first thing is you can steal a Tomahawk missile from me, but you cannot steal it from me without me knowing you’ve stolen it,” Aitel said. “And of course, you can steal an exploit or other intellectual property from me and I may never find out. Another is that two people can have [the same exploit] at the same time.” Story continues Aitel, who specializes in the offensive side of cybersecurity, added that “deep down, the biggest difference is that you have to learn a lot about exploits to protect yourself, and I don’t really have to learn a lot about Tomahawk missiles to protect myself from Tomahawk missiles.” This is the screen you’ll see if your computer is infected with the WannaCry 2.0 ransomware. Nevertheless, the analogy has been relatively well received. Travis Jarae, CEO and Founder of One World Identity, which hosted the conference in Washington, and paid a speakers bureau to digitally host Snowden, said that the Tomahawk analogy is “not wrong” given the contemporary threat environment. “Warfare is digital,” explained Jarae, who was previously Global Head of Identity Verification at Google. “We spy on people digitally … I thought it was a little aggressive to compare it to a missile, but [government hacking] is very damaging.“ Aitel noted that it makes sense why Smith and others in the tech business would make that argument. “[Brad Smith’s] job is to create favorable economic conditions for Microsoft at a strategic level, and if he pressure governments to stop using exploits, then that helps him from a PR perspective,” Aitel said. “It doesn’t help the users because people are still going to have exploits. That’s always going to be true.” Microsoft president and chief legal officer Brad Smith speaks at a Microsoft tech gathering in Dublin, Ireland October 3, 2016. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne Snowden also echoed Smith’s criticisms of the U.S. government’s decision to develop secret software exploits, telling the audience at the K(NO)W Identity Conference that secret government exploits are a problem, and the NSA should have voluntarily revealed the EternalBlue exploit long ago. But other former NSA officials have pushed back against that idea, telling the Washington Post that EternalBlue netted an “unreal” foreign intelligence haul that was like “fishing with dynamite.” “Edward Snowden knows full well the value of the signals intelligence program — and that includes the NSA’s hacking — to our national security,” Aitel said. “This is not for play. They’re not building exploits for fun. It’s not a hobby. It’s for distinct and important national security needs. “So when he says ‘Give up your exploits,’ he essentially is saying, ‘We don’t need signals intelligence,’ which we do.” Ultimately, according to Aitel, companies like Microsoft placing the blame on the NSA with crude analogies equating NSA hacking tools to U.S. cruise missiles only serves to muddy the larger debate. “The bigger issue is Brad Smith and Microsoft, who continue to insist that everything fall their way in terms of how vulnerabilities are handled, which I don’t think helps the conversation around cybersecurity,” Aitel said. “There are a lot of very interesting things in cybersecurity that don’t involve Microsoft’s bottom line, and those are worth talking about.” READ MORE: The simple reason so many companies were hit by the WannaCry 2.0 ransomware As tensions rise with Russia, U.S. colleges still pay for Snowden speeches No, your Apple computer isn’t immune from ransomware ‘Risk’ director discusses the ‘tragedy’ of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks || SAP unveils blockchain service in the cloud: A new Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) product has been launched by SAP at its annual Sapphire event in Orlando, U.S. According to a statement released on Tuesday the "ready-to-use blockchain technology" will sit in the SAP Cloud. This means that any clients can access it remotely from anywhere, as you would with hotmail or similar cloud computing based services that are not reliant upon expensive to install 'on premise' technology or software owned by the end user. A fee is paid to access the cloud-based service run by a third party such as SAP. The offering is part of the new SAP Leonardo product line, also launched at this year's Sapphire end user conference. The blockchain element is based on the Hyperledger open source blockchain platform, using its standards and protocols. SAP joined Hyperledger as a premier member early in 2017. The vendor describes SAP Leonardo as a "comprehensive digital innovation system" because it includes the blockchain cloud service element alongside other emerging technologies such as machine learning, the internet of things (IoT) and so on – all of which are integrated into the "one ecosystem". This makes sense as to get the network benefit of automatically ordering new parts or consumables in a business supply chain a net-connected IoT system would, for example, need to use artificial intelligence (AI) inspired machine learning to automate procedures and the blockchain could be used to enact smart contract orders and/or pay for goods. The interconnectivity of the technologies aids their effectiveness if the people, process and technology are correctly aligned. What is the blockchain? The blockchain is sometimes referred to as distributed ledger technology (DLT) to differentiate it from the original Bitcoin crypto-currency 'chain'. In its simplest form it is a reliable record of who owns what, and who transacts what. It is effectively a digital modern version of a traditional ledger run by a bank or accountancy. Story continues Potential applications are in payments, supply chain deliveries, trade reconciliations on the financial markets and so forth where its ledger recording capabilities could be faster and cheaper operationally-speaking than existing legacy IT systems. Data regarding transactions, files, or information is shared across a peer-to-peer network. Every participant can see the data and verify or reject it using consensus algorithms. Approved data is entered into the ledger as a collection of 'blocks', stored in a chronological 'chain', which is secured through cryptography. Blockchains can include land titles, loans, trades, intellectual property, identities, votes – almost anything of value – and end uses for this experimental technology are not restricted to the banking industry alone. It could, for instance, for used to verify diamonds and prevent the trade in so-called blood diamonds. SAP is only one of many existing technology vendors looking to use the system. Banks themselves are exploring how to use the blockchain via the R3 consortium, their own IT initiatives, or by partnering with specialist vendors such as Ripple which uses the Interledger protocol and aims to displace the global correspondent banking payment and securities messaging network operated by SWIFT. Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook . More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || SAP unveils blockchain service in the cloud: A new Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) product has been launched by SAP at its annual Sapphire event in Orlando, U.S.
According to a statement released on Tuesday the "ready-to-use blockchain technology" will sit in the SAP Cloud. This means that any clients can access it remotely from anywhere, as you would with hotmail or similar cloud computing based services that are not reliant upon expensive to install 'on premise' technology or software owned by the end user. A fee is paid to access the cloud-based service run by a third party such as SAP.
The offering is part of the new SAP Leonardo product line, also launched at this year's Sapphire end user conference. The blockchain element is based on the Hyperledger open source blockchain platform, using its standards and protocols. SAP joined Hyperledger as a premier member early in 2017.
The vendor describes SAP Leonardo as a "comprehensive digital innovation system" because it includes the blockchain cloud service element alongside other emerging technologies such as machine learning, the internet of things (IoT) and so on – all of which are integrated into the "one ecosystem".
This makes sense as to get the network benefit of automatically ordering new parts or consumables in a business supply chain a net-connected IoT system would, for example, need to use artificial intelligence (AI) inspired machine learning to automate procedures and the blockchain could be used to enact smart contract orders and/or pay for goods. The interconnectivity of the technologies aids their effectiveness if the people, process and technology are correctly aligned.
What is the blockchain?
The blockchain is sometimes referred to as distributed ledger technology (DLT) to differentiate it from the original Bitcoin crypto-currency 'chain'. In its simplest form it is a reliable record of who owns what, and who transacts what. It is effectively a digital modern version of a traditional ledger run by a bank or accountancy.
Potential applications are in payments, supply chain deliveries, trade reconciliations on the financial markets and so forth where its ledger recording capabilities could be faster and cheaper operationally-speaking than existing legacy IT systems.
Data regarding transactions, files, or information is shared across a peer-to-peer network. Every participant can see the data and verify or reject it using consensus algorithms. Approved data is entered into the ledger as a collection of 'blocks', stored in a chronological 'chain', which is secured through cryptography. Blockchains can include land titles, loans, trades, intellectual property, identities, votes – almost anything of value – and end uses for this experimental technology are not restricted to the banking industry alone. It could, for instance, for used to verify diamonds and prevent the trade in so-called blood diamonds.
SAP is only one of many existing technology vendors looking to use the system. Banks themselves are exploring how to use the blockchain via the R3 consortium, their own IT initiatives, or by partnering with specialist vendors such as Ripple which uses the Interledger protocol and aims to displace the global correspondent banking payment and securities messaging network operated by SWIFT.
Follow CNBC International onTwitterandFacebook.
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• Personal Finance || Pirates 5 'stolen' from Disney and held for ransom: From Digital Spy A digital copy of Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge has allegedly been stolen from Disney and is being held for ransom. Walt Disney CEO Bog Iger told his employees at a staff meeting on Monday (May 15) that the company had been contacted by an alleged cyber-criminal claiming to have gained access to one of the studio's films. Photo credit: ABC/Image Group LA / Getty Images (Disney CEO Bob Iger in happier times) Although Iger would not confirm the title of the stolen movie at his staff meeting, reports have since pointed to the latest Pirates of the Caribbean sequel. Digital Spy has reached out to Disney for more information. This hacker has threatened to release the movie illegally on the internet in short segments unless Disney pays a ransom in Bitcoin. At present, Iger says that Disney is refusing to pay any money for the return of the film (via Deadline ). The film industry giant is apparently also working with US federal officials in hopes of identifying the person behind this theft and retrieving the film. Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge is currently slated to be officially released in the UK and the US next Friday (May 26). Photo credit: Disney Sony Pictures fell victim to a data breach from the North Korea-backed cyber-criminal ring known as Guardians of Peace back in 2014 in what eventually became an international incident. While no films were stolen in the Guardians of Peace attack, confidential details about upcoming Sony projects and embarrassing personal emails from executives were all illegally leaked on social media. Netflix also recently fell victim to hackers who stole the new season of Orange is the New Black . When the streaming giant refused to pay ransom in that instance, 10 episodes were leaked onto the web. Want up-to-the-minute entertainment news and features? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @digitalspy Twitter account and you're all set. You Might Also Like Neighbours: 19 new spoiler pictures as Sonya has a drunken meltdown and Finn manipulates Xanthe Home and Away: 16 new spoiler pictures as Morag returns, Roo gets a new man and VJ confronts Zac EastEnders: 26 new spoiler pictures as Louise's drink incident is investigated and Lauren's love triangle hots up || Pirates 5 'stolen' from Disney and held for ransom: From Digital Spy A digital copy of Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge has allegedly been stolen from Disney and is being held for ransom. Walt Disney CEO Bog Iger told his employees at a staff meeting on Monday (May 15) that the company had been contacted by an alleged cyber-criminal claiming to have gained access to one of the studio's films. Photo credit: ABC/Image Group LA / Getty Images (Disney CEO Bob Iger in happier times) Although Iger would not confirm the title of the stolen movie at his staff meeting, reports have since pointed to the latest Pirates of the Caribbean sequel. Digital Spy has reached out to Disney for more information. This hacker has threatened to release the movie illegally on the internet in short segments unless Disney pays a ransom in Bitcoin. At present, Iger says that Disney is refusing to pay any money for the return of the film (via Deadline ). The film industry giant is apparently also working with US federal officials in hopes of identifying the person behind this theft and retrieving the film. Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge is currently slated to be officially released in the UK and the US next Friday (May 26). Photo credit: Disney Sony Pictures fell victim to a data breach from the North Korea-backed cyber-criminal ring known as Guardians of Peace back in 2014 in what eventually became an international incident. While no films were stolen in the Guardians of Peace attack, confidential details about upcoming Sony projects and embarrassing personal emails from executives were all illegally leaked on social media. Netflix also recently fell victim to hackers who stole the new season of Orange is the New Black . When the streaming giant refused to pay ransom in that instance, 10 episodes were leaked onto the web. Want up-to-the-minute entertainment news and features? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @digitalspy Twitter account and you're all set. You Might Also Like Neighbours: 19 new spoiler pictures as Sonya has a drunken meltdown and Finn manipulates Xanthe Home and Away: 16 new spoiler pictures as Morag returns, Roo gets a new man and VJ confronts Zac EastEnders: 26 new spoiler pictures as Louise's drink incident is investigated and Lauren's love triangle hots up || 'Strong evidence' North Korea-linked group was behind NHS cyberattack: There is "strong" evidence to suggest a North Korea-linked group was behind last week's global cyberattack, security experts say.
Simon Choi, director of South Korean anti-virus firm Hauri, said the code used in the attack shared many similarities with previous hacks attributed to North Korea-linked Lazarus Group.
The same collective is believed to have been behind the 2014 hack of Sony Pictures and is also suspected of previous attacks on the global financial system.
Mr Choi said: "I saw signs last year that the North was preparing ransomware attacks or even already beginning to do so, targeting some South Korean companies."
He added that since 2013, hackers aligned to Pyongyang have been using malicious software to extort Bitcoin - the online currency demanded in last week's WannaCry cyberattack.
Israeli-based security firm Intezer Labs said there were "clear code connections" between Lazarus and WannaCry, adding that the evidence "strongly suggests that these hacking tools were written or modified by the same author".
Symantec and Kaspersky are investigating whether hackers from Lazarus Group were responsible for infecting an estimated 300,000 machines in 150 countries.
Their enquiries came as the White House said that paying ransom money to unlock files encrypted by the global cyberattack does not work.
Homeland security adviser Tom Bossett told reporters he is not aware of a case where transferring $300 (£232) in Bitcoin - the amount demanded from victims of last week's attack - has "led to any data recovery".
President Trump's administration estimates that less than $70,000 (£54,285) has been paid to the criminals behind the ransomware so far.
During a White House briefing, Mr Bossert said no federal systems in the US had been affected by the malicious software.
He added that his British counterparts said they now had a "feeling of control" after the attack struck 47 NHS organisations.
Russia has denied it had anything to do with what Europol called the "largest ransomware attack observed in history", and President Vladimir Putin described it as payback for the US intelligence services.
His remarks came after Microsoft's chief legal officer said the US National Security Agencyhad developed the original code used in the attack, which was later leaked in a document dump.
Mr Putin said: "A genie let out of a bottle of this kind, especially created by secret services, can then cause damage to its authors and creators."
Meanwhile, the 22-year old computer expert who discovered the WannaCry's hidden kill switch says he does not think of himself as a hero and was just "doing my bit to stop botnets".
British-born Marcus Hutchins, who is currently working in Los Angeles, stumbled on the solution by accident while analysing a sample of the malicious code, and then spent three days fighting the ransomware worm.
Mr Hutchins' manager at online security firm Kryptos Logic said he "not only saved the United States but also prevented further damage to the rest of the world".
Sky News has learned thathealth trusts in England were sent details of a security patch last monththat would have allowed them to protect themselves.
A spokesman for NHS Digital said: "Our understanding is that if that had been acted on it would have prevented (the malware attack)." || 'Strong evidence' North Korea-linked group was behind NHS cyberattack: There is "strong" evidence to suggest a North Korea-linked group was behind last week's global cyberattack, security experts say. Simon Choi, director of South Korean anti-virus firm Hauri, said the code used in the attack shared many similarities with previous hacks attributed to North Korea-linked Lazarus Group. The same collective is believed to have been behind the 2014 hack of Sony Pictures and is also suspected of previous attacks on the global financial system. Mr Choi said: "I saw signs last year that the North was preparing ransomware attacks or even already beginning to do so, targeting some South Korean companies." He added that since 2013, hackers aligned to Pyongyang have been using malicious software to extort Bitcoin - the online currency demanded in last week's WannaCry cyberattack. Israeli-based security firm Intezer Labs said there were "clear code connections" between Lazarus and WannaCry, adding that the evidence "strongly suggests that these hacking tools were written or modified by the same author". Symantec and Kaspersky are investigating whether hackers from Lazarus Group were responsible for infecting an estimated 300,000 machines in 150 countries. Their enquiries came as the White House said that paying ransom money to unlock files encrypted by the global cyberattack does not work. Homeland security adviser Tom Bossett told reporters he is not aware of a case where transferring $300 (£232) in Bitcoin - the amount demanded from victims of last week's attack - has "led to any data recovery". President Trump's administration estimates that less than $70,000 (£54,285) has been paid to the criminals behind the ransomware so far. During a White House briefing, Mr Bossert said no federal systems in the US had been affected by the malicious software. He added that his British counterparts said they now had a "feeling of control" after the attack struck 47 NHS organisations. Story continues Russia has denied it had anything to do with what Europol called the "largest ransomware attack observed in history", and President Vladimir Putin described it as payback for the US intelligence services. His remarks came after Microsoft's chief legal officer said the US National Security Agency had developed the original code used in the attack , which was later leaked in a document dump. Mr Putin said: "A genie let out of a bottle of this kind, especially created by secret services, can then cause damage to its authors and creators." Meanwhile, the 22-year old computer expert who discovered the WannaCry's hidden kill switch says he does not think of himself as a hero and was just "doing my bit to stop botnets". British-born Marcus Hutchins, who is currently working in Los Angeles, stumbled on the solution by accident while analysing a sample of the malicious code, and then spent three days fighting the ransomware worm. Mr Hutchins' manager at online security firm Kryptos Logic said he "not only saved the United States but also prevented further damage to the rest of the world". Sky News has learned that health trusts in England were sent details of a security patch last month that would have allowed them to protect themselves. A spokesman for NHS Digital said: "Our understanding is that if that had been acted on it would have prevented (the malware attack)." || Disney's Iger says hackers claim to have stolen upcoming movie - Hollywood Reporter: (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) Chief Executive Bob Iger has revealed that hackers claimed to have access to an unnamed upcoming movie and have demanded a ransom, the Hollywood Reporter said on Monday.
Iger made the comments during a town hall meeting with ABC employees in New York City, the Hollywood Reporter said, citing multiple sources.
The hackers have demanded that a huge sum be paid on Bitcoin, but Disney has refused to pay, the publication said.
Disney was not immediately available for comment.
(Reporting by Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila) || Disney's Iger says hackers claim to have stolen upcoming movie - Hollywood Reporter: (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) Chief Executive Bob Iger has revealed that hackers claimed to have access to an unnamed upcoming movie and have demanded a ransom, the Hollywood Reporter said on Monday. Iger made the comments during a town hall meeting with ABC employees in New York City, the Hollywood Reporter said, citing multiple sources. The hackers have demanded that a huge sum be paid on Bitcoin, but Disney has refused to pay, the publication said. Disney was not immediately available for comment. (Reporting by Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila) || Cybersecurity stocks jump after major 'WannaCry' attack: Cybersecurity stocks surged on Monday following a Friday cyberattack whichhit at least 150 countriesand affected computers in factories and hospitals.
Palo Alto Networks(NYSE: PANW)closed down more than 2 percent, while Symantec(NASDAQ: SYMC)closed about 3 percent lower. FireEye(NASDAQ: FEYE)closed up more than 7 percent. The PureFunds ISE Cyber Security ETF (HACK)(NYSE Arca: HACK)gained more than 3 percent by Monday's close.
Experts fear the WannaCry malwaremay worsen into this weekas people log back on to their computers Monday.
Even if the malware attack is contained, cybersecurity stocks may perform well in the coming week and month as companies beef up their defense systems against another hack.
CNBC analyzed the last 15 major cyberattacks using analytics tool Kensho. A week following the hacks, shares of Barracuda Networks(NYSE: CUDA), F5 Networks(NASDAQ: FFIV), and Fortinet(NASDAQ: FTNT)posted the biggest average gains.
A month after an attack, the major cybersecurity players did even better as demand for their services increased. Barracuda, FireEye, and Fortinet, along with Proofpoint(NASDAQ: PFPT), were big gainers, on average, a month out.
— CNBC's parent NBCUniversal is a minority investor in Kensho.
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• Bitcoin plunges $200 after cyber attackers demand ransom using it || Cybersecurity stocks jump after major 'WannaCry' attack: Cybersecurity stocks surged on Monday following a Friday cyberattack which hit at least 150 countries and affected computers in factories and hospitals. Palo Alto Networks (NYSE: PANW) closed down more than 2 percent, while Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC) closed about 3 percent lower. FireEye (NASDAQ: FEYE) closed up more than 7 percent. The PureFunds ISE Cyber Security ETF (HACK) (NYSE Arca: HACK) gained more than 3 percent by Monday's close. Experts fear the WannaCry malware may worsen into this week as people log back on to their computers Monday. Even if the malware attack is contained, cybersecurity stocks may perform well in the coming week and month as companies beef up their defense systems against another hack. CNBC analyzed the last 15 major cyberattacks using analytics tool Kensho. A week following the hacks, shares of Barracuda Networks (NYSE: CUDA) , F5 Networks (NASDAQ: FFIV) , and Fortinet (NASDAQ: FTNT) posted the biggest average gains. A month after an attack, the major cybersecurity players did even better as demand for their services increased. Barracuda, FireEye, and Fortinet, along with Proofpoint (NASDAQ: PFPT) , were big gainers, on average, a month out. CNBC's parent NBCUniversal is a minority investor in Kensho. More From CNBC Value investor Klarman just bought big stakes in two Apple suppliers Snap shares surge more than 8% after filings reveal big hedge funds bet on the stock Bitcoin plunges $200 after cyber attackers demand ransom using it || When and How To Use Niche ETFs: News of a massive worldwide cyberattack involving Windows pushed thePureFunds ISE Cyber Security ETF (HACK)and theFirst Trust Nasdaq Cybersecurity ETF (CIBR)sharply higher Monday. Both funds, which focus on cybersecurity firms, were on the frontline of action following the latest news.
That’s a great example of what niche investing is all about.
TheWannacrypt ransomware attacklate last week caused the appeal of cybersecurity ETFs soar this week. HACK and CIBR rallied some 3% on Monday, putting year-to-date gains at 16% and 13.5%, respectively.
Chart courtesy ofStockCharts.com
HACK and CIBR are considered “niche” funds because of their narrow focus on a specific corner of the market. But the definition of niche can vary from investor to investor.
Niche can be a small segment of the market, as narrow as a subsegment of a specific sector—cybersecurity or robotics as a subsector of technology, for instance. It can also be a thematic area of investment that goes across different sectors.
Another example is a fund like theGlobal X Millennials Thematic ETF (MILN), which is niche for its underlying theme that connects the companies it owns across various sectors—they all make money off of millennials’ spending habits.
Any way you define it, niche ETFs can be used in different ways.
For some, they are merely tactical, short-term tools to express a view on a pocket of the market. For others, a niche can be a long-term play that takes time to come to fruition—like millennials or, say, solar energy. As such, these ETFs would belong in the strategic bucket of the portfolio. There’s no one way to do it.
We talked to ETF strategist Grant Engelbart, who’s a portfolio manager at CLS Investments, for his road map to using niche effectively. Here’s what he had to say ...
Understand The Risks
Adding niche ETFs to a portfolio can help diversify it, working as a risk management tool. Better diversification should mean lower overall portfolio risk.
The flip side is that niche ETFs could also increase the risk of a portfolio if you end up adding too much exposure to single stocks. By design, niche ETFs are concentrated, narrower portfolios, and can carry a lot of weight in a handful of stocks. Any underperformance in one of the top holdings could drag your overall returns.
“If used as, say, adding floating rate securities to manage your interest rate risk in fixed income, these ETFs can help you manage portfolio risk,” Engelbart said. “But you could be adding more idiosyncratic risk to your portfolio, too, if you have ETFs that have 10-20% weighting in a single stock.”
Know Where Niche ETFs Fit Best
The best application of niche ETFs is the one that best suits your investment needs and goals. That said, consider these two broad possible applications. First, it’s harder to argue niche ETFs as strategic allocations rather than tactical.
“Satellite usage makes a ton of sense in niche ETFs,” Engelbart explained. “They’re great to pair with broader exposures.”
For example, you may own emerging market stocks. You may also be bullish on India’s demographics and want added exposure to India’s small-cap and infrastructure stocks. Adding niche ETFs tapping into those segments to your broader emerging markets ETF allocation makes sense, he says. This is one of the common ways CLS incorporates niche to the portfolio.
The same applies to cybersecurity, or robotics—adding narrower exposures to your broader-growthtechnology ETFs. Niche funds are great tactical overlays, Engelbart notes.
But that’s not the only use. The example of MILN, again, or theLong-Term Care ETF (OLD), shows that niche exposures can also play out in the longer term. Holding on to these funds in your broader equity bucket may make strategic sense.
Overlap Is OK
With niche ETFs, you might find you own the same stock twice in your portfolio—once in your broader ETF, the other in a niche fund.
“Overlap is OK. We’re far more concerned with correlation between two products,” said Engelbart. “When we’re choosing a niche ETF, we look for different valuations and low correlations between products. That’s more important than overlap.”
If you get funds that are highly correlated, diversification potential goes down. The idea of niche is to capture performance that’s different from your broader, vanilla ETF.
Value is another important factor in niche investing. “Make sure the securities in your niche ETF aren’t priced out of their normal range” (to the upside), because returns could be limited, he says.
Know Your Niche From A Hot Fad
Finally, there’s the issue of knowing when a niche is a viable investment idea as opposed to a quickly burning fad.
A lot of times, niche ETFs come to market as response to investor demand, but are they simply tapping into the latest “hot thing” that will soon pass. Unfortunately, there’s no easy way to tell one from the other. But you can discern a good investment based on valuations and on as much data as possible on the underlying securities, notes Engelbart.
“You want to make sure you’re buying something that’s trading within its normal price range,” he said. “Bitcoin is a great example—is it a fad? How do you value the underlying?”
“We want to be able to value what we’re buying, and if we can’t, we avoid it even if the ETF is ‘cool,’” Engelbart added. “Pay attention to total risk, to valuations and to index construction.”
You can find several other niche ETFs in ourTheme Investing Channel.
Contact Cinthia Murphy [email protected]
Recommended Stories
• When & How To Use Niche ETFs
• Some Thematic Tech ETFs Are Sticking
• A Response To Jim Cramer’s ‘Why I’m Against ETFs’
• HACK & ROBO Funds On A Technical Roll
• Why Israeli Tech Stocks Are ‘Underowned & Undiscovered’
Permalink| © Copyright 2017ETF.com.All rights reserved || When and How To Use Niche ETFs: News of a massive worldwide cyberattack involving Windows pushed the PureFunds ISE Cyber Security ETF (HACK) and the First Trust Nasdaq Cybersecurity ETF (CIBR) sharply higher Monday. Both funds, which focus on cybersecurity firms, were on the frontline of action following the latest news. That’s a great example of what niche investing is all about. The Wannacrypt ransomware attack late last week caused the appeal of cybersecurity ETFs soar this week. HACK and CIBR rallied some 3% on Monday, putting year-to-date gains at 16% and 13.5%, respectively. Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com HACK and CIBR are considered “niche” funds because of their narrow focus on a specific corner of the market. But the definition of niche can vary from investor to investor. Niche can be a small segment of the market, as narrow as a subsegment of a specific sector—cybersecurity or robotics as a subsector of technology, for instance. It can also be a thematic area of investment that goes across different sectors. Another example is a fund like the Global X Millennials Thematic ETF (MILN) , which is niche for its underlying theme that connects the companies it owns across various sectors—they all make money off of millennials’ spending habits. Any way you define it, niche ETFs can be used in different ways. For some, they are merely tactical, short-term tools to express a view on a pocket of the market. For others, a niche can be a long-term play that takes time to come to fruition—like millennials or, say, solar energy. As such, these ETFs would belong in the strategic bucket of the portfolio. There’s no one way to do it. We talked to ETF strategist Grant Engelbart, who’s a portfolio manager at CLS Investments, for his road map to using niche effectively. Here’s what he had to say ... Understand The Risks Adding niche ETFs to a portfolio can help diversify it, working as a risk management tool. Better diversification should mean lower overall portfolio risk. The flip side is that niche ETFs could also increase the risk of a portfolio if you end up adding too much exposure to single stocks. By design, niche ETFs are concentrated, narrower portfolios, and can carry a lot of weight in a handful of stocks. Any underperformance in one of the top holdings could drag your overall returns. “If used as, say, adding floating rate securities to manage your interest rate risk in fixed income, these ETFs can help you manage portfolio risk,” Engelbart said. “But you could be adding more idiosyncratic risk to your portfolio, too, if you have ETFs that have 10-20% weighting in a single stock.” Story continues Know Where Niche ETFs Fit Best The best application of niche ETFs is the one that best suits your investment needs and goals. That said, consider these two broad possible applications. First, it’s harder to argue niche ETFs as strategic allocations rather than tactical. “Satellite usage makes a ton of sense in niche ETFs,” Engelbart explained. “They’re great to pair with broader exposures.” For example, you may own emerging market stocks. You may also be bullish on India’s demographics and want added exposure to India’s small-cap and infrastructure stocks. Adding niche ETFs tapping into those segments to your broader emerging markets ETF allocation makes sense, he says. This is one of the common ways CLS incorporates niche to the portfolio. The same applies to cybersecurity, or robotics—adding narrower exposures to your broader-growth technology ETFs . Niche funds are great tactical overlays, Engelbart notes. But that’s not the only use. The example of MILN, again, or the Long-Term Care ETF (OLD) , shows that niche exposures can also play out in the longer term. Holding on to these funds in your broader equity bucket may make strategic sense. Overlap Is OK With niche ETFs, you might find you own the same stock twice in your portfolio—once in your broader ETF, the other in a niche fund. “Overlap is OK. We’re far more concerned with correlation between two products,” said Engelbart. “When we’re choosing a niche ETF, we look for different valuations and low correlations between products. That’s more important than overlap.” If you get funds that are highly correlated, diversification potential goes down. The idea of niche is to capture performance that’s different from your broader, vanilla ETF. Value is another important factor in niche investing. “Make sure the securities in your niche ETF aren’t priced out of their normal range” (to the upside), because returns could be limited, he says. Know Your Niche From A Hot Fad Finally, there’s the issue of knowing when a niche is a viable investment idea as opposed to a quickly burning fad. A lot of times, niche ETFs come to market as response to investor demand, but are they simply tapping into the latest “hot thing” that will soon pass. Unfortunately, there’s no easy way to tell one from the other. But you can discern a good investment based on valuations and on as much data as possible on the underlying securities, notes Engelbart. “You want to make sure you’re buying something that’s trading within its normal price range,” he said. “Bitcoin is a great example—is it a fad? How do you value the underlying?” “We want to be able to value what we’re buying, and if we can’t, we avoid it even if the ETF is ‘cool,’” Engelbart added. “Pay attention to total risk, to valuations and to index construction.” You can find several other niche ETFs in our Theme Investing Channel . Contact Cinthia Murphy at [email protected] Recommended Stories When & How To Use Niche ETFs Some Thematic Tech ETFs Are Sticking A Response To Jim Cramer’s ‘Why I’m Against ETFs’ HACK & ROBO Funds On A Technical Roll Why Israeli Tech Stocks Are ‘Underowned & Undiscovered’ Permalink | © Copyright 2017 ETF.com. All rights reserved View comments || Bitcoin plunges $200 after cyber attackers demand ransom using the digital currency: Bitcoinplunged from a record high hit last week to below $1,700 after cyber attackers locked up data in 200,000 computers Friday and demanded ransom in the digital currency.
"It's a big hit to sentiment," said Brian Kelly, CEO of BKCM. "This is some negative publicity for bitcoin."
Bitcoin fell more than $200 from an all-time high of $1,848.75 reached Thursday to a low of $1,644.64 Friday. The cryptocurrency steadied over the weekend and on Monday traded more than 5 percent lower on the day near $1,676.42.
One-month bitcoin performance
Source: CoinDesk
A virus called WannaCry hit 200,000 computers in at least 150 countries on Friday,according to the head of the EU police agency. The hackers demanded, for each computer, $300 in bitcoin within three days to unlock the files and threatened to double the fine after that, before permanently preventing access after seven days.
Cybersecurity firm Check Point(NASDAQ: CHKP)warned in ablog post Sunday not to send any fundsas no one who had paid had yet reported receiving their files back.
Relatively few have paid the ransom. CoinDesk Research Analyst Alex Sunnarborg said Monday that $51,300 in 193 transactions were sent to the three bitcoin addresses connected to the malware.
Pickup in Chinese trading volume
In addition to profit-taking on the hacking, Kelly attributed bitcoin's decline Monday to a drop in prices on the Hong Kong-based Bitfinex exchange, where prices had been artificially elevated due to withdrawal restrictions. Expectations that those restrictions will soon be lifted brought Bitfinex prices for bitcoin closer to the lower price of other exchanges.
"A little bit of a price support has been removed," Kelly said.
Chinese trading volume more than doubled its share,from 8.2 percent on May 1to 22.8 percent Monday, according to analysis from Sunnarborg.
Even with the decline of the last few days, the volatile cryptocurrency has nearly doubled in value since the end of March.
More From CNBC
• Dow jumps 100 points as Cisco leads; S&P and Nasdaq hit record highs
• This is how cybersecurity stocks trade after a big attack
• Early movers: SYMC, PANW, FEYE, PTHN & more || Bitcoin plunges $200 after cyber attackers demand ransom using the digital currency: Bitcoinplunged from a record high hit last week to below $1,700 after cyber attackers locked up data in 200,000 computers Friday and demanded ransom in the digital currency.
"It's a big hit to sentiment," said Brian Kelly, CEO of BKCM. "This is some negative publicity for bitcoin."
Bitcoin fell more than $200 from an all-time high of $1,848.75 reached Thursday to a low of $1,644.64 Friday. The cryptocurrency steadied over the weekend and on Monday traded more than 5 percent lower on the day near $1,676.42.
One-month bitcoin performance
Source: CoinDesk
A virus called WannaCry hit 200,000 computers in at least 150 countries on Friday,according to the head of the EU police agency. The hackers demanded, for each computer, $300 in bitcoin within three days to unlock the files and threatened to double the fine after that, before permanently preventing access after seven days.
Cybersecurity firm Check Point(NASDAQ: CHKP)warned in ablog post Sunday not to send any fundsas no one who had paid had yet reported receiving their files back.
Relatively few have paid the ransom. CoinDesk Research Analyst Alex Sunnarborg said Monday that $51,300 in 193 transactions were sent to the three bitcoin addresses connected to the malware.
Pickup in Chinese trading volume
In addition to profit-taking on the hacking, Kelly attributed bitcoin's decline Monday to a drop in prices on the Hong Kong-based Bitfinex exchange, where prices had been artificially elevated due to withdrawal restrictions. Expectations that those restrictions will soon be lifted brought Bitfinex prices for bitcoin closer to the lower price of other exchanges.
"A little bit of a price support has been removed," Kelly said.
Chinese trading volume more than doubled its share,from 8.2 percent on May 1to 22.8 percent Monday, according to analysis from Sunnarborg.
Even with the decline of the last few days, the volatile cryptocurrency has nearly doubled in value since the end of March.
More From CNBC
• Dow jumps 100 points as Cisco leads; S&P and Nasdaq hit record highs
• This is how cybersecurity stocks trade after a big attack
• Early movers: SYMC, PANW, FEYE, PTHN & more
[Social Media Buzz]
#Monacoin 29.2円↓[Zaif] 17.40円↓[もなとれ]
#NEM #XEM 20.1円↓[Zaif]
#Bitcoin 218,715円↓[Zaif]
05/18 18:00
口座開設はこちらで！ https://goo.gl/31dyoO || #DolarTrue BTC
18/05/2017 02:04 PM
BTC Venta Panama : 1872.98
BTC USA : 1861.00
BTC Compra VEF : 10,776,751
USD/VEF : 5772.26 || #Monacoin 29円↓[Zaif] 17.29円↓[もなとれ]
#NEM #XEM 19.7698円↓[Zaif]
#Bitcoin 217,210円↓[Zaif]
05/18 19:00
口座開設はこちらで！ https://goo.gl/31dyoO || #Monacoin 29.3円↑[Zaif] 17.38円↓[もなとれ]
#NEM #XEM 20.2998円↓[Zaif]
#Bitcoin 217,685円↑[Zaif]
05/18 21:00
口座...
|
1987.71, 2084.73, 2041.20, 2173.40, 2320.42, 2443.64, 2304.98, 2202.42, 2038.87, 2155.80
|
Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 9795.94, 9865.12, 10116.67, 9856.61, 10208.24, 10326.05, 10214.38, 10312.12, 9889.42, 9934.43, 9690.14, 10142.00, 9633.39, 9608.48, 9686.44, 9663.18, 9924.52, 9650.17, 9341.71, 8820.52, 8784.49, 8672.46, 8599.51, 8562.45, 8869.67, 8787.79, 8755.25, 9078.76, 9122.55, 8909.95, 8108.12, 7923.64, 7909.73, 7911.43, 4970.79, 5563.71, 5200.37, 5392.31, 5014.48, 5225.63, 5238.44, 6191.19, 6198.78, 6185.07, 5830.25, 6416.31, 6734.80, 6681.06, 6716.44, 6469.80, 6242.19, 5922.04, 6429.84, 6438.64, 6606.78, 6793.62, 6733.39, 6867.53, 6791.13, 7271.78, 7176.41, 7334.10, 7302.09, 6865.49, 6859.08, 6971.09, 6845.04, 6842.43, 6642.11, 7116.80, 7096.18, 7257.67, 7189.42, 6881.96, 6880.32, 7117.21, 7429.72, 7550.90, 7569.94, 7679.87, 7795.60, 7807.06, 8801.04, 8658.55, 8864.77, 8988.60, 8897.47, 8912.65, 9003.07, 9268.76.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2020-05-06]
Volume: 49371886931, RSI (14-day): 76.86, 50-day EMA: 7708.41, 200-day EMA: 7971.47
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1684.20, Gold RSI: 50.09
Oil Price: 23.99, Oil RSI: 53.48
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
The Employment Situation, AKA Monthly Jobs Report: The Top Dog Of Economic Reports?: You’ve probably heard people call it by different names—the employment report, jobs numbers, nonfarm payrolls—but they all refer to the same colossal report: the Employment Situation . Released monthly by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — a division of the Department of Labor—the Employment Situation is the nation’s largest and most detailed compilation of employment data available (minus farming jobs). Report name: Employment Situation Released by: Bureau of Labor Statistics Release date: Generally, the first Friday of the month Release time: 8:30 a.m. ET What the Employment Situation Report Tells You In a nutshell, the Employment Situation report aims to lay out a comprehensive picture of the previous month’s state of employment in the United States, namely: How many people are working now How many people are looking for work How much people are getting paid How many hours people are working The Employment Situation consists of two separate reports : an establishment survey that tracks approximately 697,000 work sites for nonfarm payroll, work hours, and wage data; and a survey of households of approximately 60,000, presenting data on unemployment and unincorporated self-employment. Now, imagine taking all of this information and breaking it down across multiple demographics. It’s a lot—perhaps too much — to digest. And that’s why many investors are content reading the summary that accompanies each report. But if you’re looking for industry-specific info, you can often find useful nuggets deep in the survey. It’s all there at bls.gov . What Makes the Employment Situation So Important? When it comes to economic reports that sometimes move markets, the Employment Situation arguably holds a lot of weight. Minus U.S. farming jobs (11%, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture), this report covers 89% of the jobs that drive the entire economy. In addition to providing recent data on employment across nearly all sectors of the U.S. economy, the report can also be used to forecast potential trends in other aspects of the economy. Story continues What to Look for in the Employment Situation Report The Employment Situation typically summarizes data according to five main categories: 1. Nonfarm Payrolls The nonfarm payrolls number presents the total number of full- and part-time workers in every U.S. sector and industry minus farming jobs. When private payrolls are highlighted, all government jobs are excluded; when manufacturing payrolls are highlighted, it refers only to manufacturing jobs. 2. Unemployment Rate The unemployment rate tells you the percentage of unemployed people in the labor force. Keep in mind: it counts only people who are actively looking for jobs . 3. Average Hourly Earnings The average hourly earnings tells you how much U.S. workers are getting paid. 4. Average Workweek The average workweek figure tells you the number of hours people worked over a period of a week. 5. Participation Rate The participation rate tells you the percentage of people who are either working or looking for work. Because it also presents the percentage of people who are not working , it can help you better understand the unemployment rate. Slicing and Dicing the Numbers Many traders surf the jobs report each month . They pay close attention to the numbers, waiting to see if the “actual” numbers miss or beat the “consensus” figures. But aside from trading major surprises in the employment figures, how might you use the jobs report to make longer-term portfolio decisions? According to Alex Coffey, senior specialist, trader group at TD Ameritrade, the jobs report can help you determine aggregate wage growth. “For example, market participants like to use average hourly earnings growth and the length of the average work week to gauge what the aggregate wage growth was for the month,” he said. “This is important because it can help forecast the health of the consumer—which drives roughly two-thirds of the U.S. economy.” Plus, some of the granular, job-category-specific data from the establishment survey can help investors analyze the health of certain sectors. For example, the survey tracks employment changes in residential and commercial building construction, mining, and several categories of retail employment, among others. “Specific sector data is used to help forecast the health of companies in an industry,” Coffey pointed out. He added that such data can also offer clues to other key economic indicators. “For example, the number of manufacturing jobs from the establishment survey is used to help forecast durable goods data.” It’s important to remember, though, that one month’s set of numbers doesn’t constitute a trend. It’s best to consider each data point in the context of trends across time periods to get a more complete picture. Bullish, Bearish, or Somewhere in Between? Suppose the Employment Situation data is about to be released and you’ve read up on the analyst consensus reports. How might the market react to a solid (or not-so-solid) set of numbers? Before we get into a basic bullish/bearish interpretation, first realize that the economy is not a washing machine. It’s cyclical but not mechanical, meaning it’s not always predictable. The Bullish Interpretation An expanding economy often coincides with a healthy labor market. Rising job numbers and a declining unemployment rate can mean there are more workers in the economy to spend money on goods and services. If the average workweek numbers trend up, it can indicate production gains, which, in turn, can signal the need for companies to hire more workers. If companies are able to ramp up their production, then they may increase wages without having to increase their product prices. There’s a flip side to all of this, of course, and you might see it in an expanding yet maturing economic cycle. The Not-So-Bullish Interpretation Although a healthy labor market indicates economic growth and supports corporate earnings, it can also mean that the economy is “overheating.” If employment grows too rapidly in a maturing economy, it can create a situation in which the production of goods may not be enough to keep up with consumer demand—a formula for inflation (more money chasing fewer goods). If wages rise while production slows (or can’t keep up with demand), then wage pressures may begin hurting companies’ profit margins, forcing them to increase product prices. If the prices of goods begin to rise too quickly, the Federal Reserve may counter these inflationary pressures by raising interest rates. This can potentially slow the economy, marking the end of a bull market and ushering in a recession. The Bearish Interpretation When the economy is in a recession, typically you’d see an increase in the unemployment rate (meaning a decrease in job growth), along with a decrease in average hourly workweek and possibly even wages. But at a certain point, these factors, particularly unemployment, may drive the Federal Reserve to begin slashing interest rates to boost the economy. A decrease in interest rates means that businesses can borrow money at a cheaper rate, allowing them to invest in infrastructure and begin hiring. On a larger scale, this can kick-start an economic expansion, beginning another bull market cycle. Bottom Line: Critical and Comprehensive, but Not Always Clear The monthly Employment Situation report provides a comprehensive overview of the nation’s labor market. It’s notable for its potential to move markets in the short and long term. As a forecasting tool, however, the meaning of the numbers and what they potentially indicate for the future of the markets may not always be clear. Remember, the economy isn’t a mechanical gadget. In general, employment trends from the monthly jobs report can help you strategically position your portfolio. Just remember that interpreting this report can sometimes be a blend of art and science. See more from Benzinga Investor Movement Index Summary: April 2020 Bitcoin Halving: What This Rare Event Could Mean for Futures Prices Investor Movement Index Summary: March 2020 © 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || The Employment Situation, AKA Monthly Jobs Report: The Top Dog Of Economic Reports?: You’ve probably heard people call it by different names—the employment report, jobs numbers, nonfarm payrolls—but they all refer to the same colossal report: theEmployment Situation.
Released monthly by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics—a division of the Department of Labor—the Employment Situation is the nation’s largest and most detailed compilation of employment data available (minus farming jobs).
Report name:Employment Situation
Released by:Bureau of Labor Statistics
Release date:Generally, the first Friday of the month
Release time:8:30 a.m. ET
What the Employment Situation Report Tells You
In a nutshell, the Employment Situation report aims to lay out a comprehensive picture of the previous month’s state of employment in the United States, namely:
• How many people are working now
• How many people are looking for work
• How much people are getting paid
• How many hours people are working
The Employment Situation consists oftwo separate reports: anestablishment surveythat tracks approximately 697,000 work sites for nonfarm payroll, work hours, and wage data; and asurvey of householdsof approximately 60,000, presenting data on unemployment and unincorporated self-employment.
Now, imagine taking all of this information and breaking it down across multiple demographics. It’s a lot—perhaps too much—to digest. And that’s why many investors are content reading thesummarythat accompanies each report. But if you’re looking for industry-specific info, you can often find useful nuggets deep in the survey. It’s all there atbls.gov.
What Makes the Employment Situation So Important?
When it comes to economic reports that sometimes move markets, the Employment Situation arguably holds a lot of weight. Minus U.S. farming jobs (11%, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture), this report covers 89% of the jobs that drive the entire economy. In addition to providing recent data on employment across nearly all sectors of the U.S. economy, the report can also be used toforecastpotential trends in other aspects of the economy.
What to Look for in the Employment Situation Report
The Employment Situation typically summarizes data according to five main categories:
1. Nonfarm Payrolls
The nonfarm payrolls number presents the total number of full- and part-time workers in every U.S. sector and industry minus farming jobs.
Whenprivate payrollsare highlighted, all government jobs are excluded; whenmanufacturing payrollsare highlighted, it refers only to manufacturing jobs.
2. Unemployment Rate
The unemployment rate tells you the percentage of unemployed people in the labor force. Keep in mind:it counts only people who are actively looking for jobs.
3. Average Hourly Earnings
The average hourly earnings tells you how much U.S. workers are getting paid.
4. Average Workweek
The average workweek figure tells you the number of hours people worked over a period of a week.
5. Participation Rate
The participation rate tells you the percentage of people who are either working or looking for work. Because it also presents the percentage of people who arenot working, it can help you better understand the unemployment rate.
Slicing and Dicing the Numbers
Manytraders surf the jobs report each month. They pay close attention to the numbers, waiting to see if the “actual” numbers miss or beat the “consensus” figures. But aside from trading major surprises in the employment figures, how might you use the jobs report to make longer-term portfolio decisions?
According to Alex Coffey, senior specialist, trader group at TD Ameritrade, the jobs report can help you determine aggregate wage growth. “For example, market participants like to use average hourly earnings growth and the length of the average work week to gauge what the aggregate wage growth was for the month,” he said. “This is important because it can help forecast the health of the consumer—which drives roughly two-thirds of the U.S. economy.”
Plus, some of the granular, job-category-specific data from the establishment survey can help investors analyze the health of certain sectors. For example, the survey tracks employment changes in residential and commercial building construction, mining, and several categories of retail employment, among others.
“Specific sector data is used to help forecast the health of companies in an industry,” Coffey pointed out. He added that such data can also offer clues to other key economic indicators. “For example, the number of manufacturing jobs from the establishment survey is used to help forecast durable goods data.”
It’s important to remember, though, that one month’s set of numbers doesn’t constitute a trend. It’s best to consider each data point in the context of trends across time periods to get a more complete picture.
Bullish, Bearish, or Somewhere in Between?
Suppose the Employment Situation data is about to be released and you’ve read up on the analyst consensus reports. How might the market react to a solid (or not-so-solid) set of numbers?
Before we get into a basic bullish/bearish interpretation, first realize that the economy is not a washing machine. It’s cyclical butnotmechanical, meaning it’s not always predictable.
The Bullish Interpretation
An expanding economy often coincides with a healthy labor market. Rising job numbers and a declining unemployment rate can mean there are more workers in the economy to spend money on goods and services. If the average workweek numbers trend up, it can indicate production gains, which, in turn, can signal the need for companies to hire more workers. If companies are able to ramp up their production, then they may increase wages without having to increase their product prices.
There’s a flip side to all of this, of course, and you might see it in an expanding yet maturing economic cycle.
The Not-So-Bullish Interpretation
Although a healthy labor market indicates economic growth and supports corporate earnings, it can also mean that the economy is “overheating.” If employment grows too rapidly in a maturing economy, it can create a situation in which the production of goods may not be enough to keep up with consumer demand—a formula for inflation (more money chasing fewer goods). If wages rise while production slows (or can’t keep up with demand), then wage pressures may begin hurting companies’ profit margins, forcing them to increase product prices. If the prices of goods begin to rise too quickly, the Federal Reserve may counter these inflationary pressures by raising interest rates. This can potentially slow the economy, marking the end of a bull market and ushering in a recession.
The Bearish Interpretation
When the economy is in a recession, typically you’d see an increase in the unemployment rate (meaning a decrease in job growth), along with a decrease in average hourly workweek and possibly even wages. But at a certain point, these factors, particularly unemployment, may drive the Federal Reserve to begin slashing interest rates to boost the economy. A decrease in interest rates means that businesses can borrow money at a cheaper rate, allowing them to invest in infrastructure and begin hiring. On a larger scale, this can kick-start an economic expansion, beginning another bull market cycle.
Bottom Line: Critical and Comprehensive, but Not Always Clear
The monthly Employment Situation report provides a comprehensive overview of the nation’s labor market. It’s notable for its potential to move markets in the short and long term.
As a forecasting tool, however, the meaning of the numbers and what they potentially indicate for the future of the markets may not always be clear. Remember, the economy isn’t a mechanical gadget. In general, employment trends from the monthly jobs report can help you strategically position your portfolio. Just remember that interpreting this report can sometimes be a blend of art and science.
See more from Benzinga
• Investor Movement Index Summary: April 2020
• Bitcoin Halving: What This Rare Event Could Mean for Futures Prices
• Investor Movement Index Summary: March 2020
© 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Crypto Forensics Firm TokenAnalyst Shuts Down, Some Employees Hired by Coinbase: Crypto intelligence firm TokenAnalyst has shut its doors, the company announced Tuesday. The group said in a Medium post it would stop supporting its platform and application programming interface (API), and a flashing note on the company’s website says, “The data on this site does not refresh anymore.” The blog post did not give a reason for the shutdown, though it did say some of the team’s members will be joining Coinbase, the San Francisco-based crypto exchange. “Our mission was to bring transparency to the decentralized world, and we believe we made significant progress towards this mission,” the post said. “We built a host of tools that made blockchains easier to understand for our users, and we hope you enjoyed using our data and services as much as we enjoyed building them.” Related: Coinbase Suffers Temporary Outage as Bitcoin Soars as High as $8,900 A Coinbase spokesperson confirmed several members of the TokenAnalyst team would be joining. “We remain committed and driven towards creating an open financial system for the world and we think that Coinbase is a fantastic place to do that,” the Medium post said. TokenAnalyst was founded in October 2017, just as the initial coin offering boom and crypto prices surged that year. It had a handful of employees – at least six, according to LinkedIn – including its founders, Jai Prasad and Sid Shekhar . Both joined Coinbase, according to their Twitter biographies. “It was truly invigorating to tweet/WhatsApp/Telegram/email/Signal 24/7 with crypto enthusiasts from all over the world. It was your incredible support, encouragement and passion that kept us going and motivated,” the blog post said. Related Stories Market Wrap: Bitcoin Steady at $7.5K as Short Sellers Back Off Coinbase Launches Price Oracle Aimed at Reducing Systemic Risk in the DeFi Space Coinbase Taps Ex-Barclays Markets Exec to Head Institutional Coverage || Crypto Forensics Firm TokenAnalyst Shuts Down, Some Employees Hired by Coinbase: Crypto intelligence firm TokenAnalyst has shut its doors, the company announced Tuesday.
The groupsaid in a Medium postit would stop supporting its platform and application programming interface (API), and a flashing note on the company’s website says, “The data on this site does not refresh anymore.” The blog post did not give a reason for the shutdown, though it did say some of the team’s members will be joining Coinbase, the San Francisco-based crypto exchange.
“Our mission was to bring transparency to the decentralized world, and we believe we made significant progress towards this mission,” the post said. “We built a host of tools that made blockchains easier to understand for our users, and we hope you enjoyed using our data and services as much as we enjoyed building them.”
Related:Coinbase Suffers Temporary Outage as Bitcoin Soars as High as $8,900
A Coinbase spokesperson confirmed several members of the TokenAnalyst team would be joining.
“We remain committed and driven towards creating an open financial system for the world and we think thatCoinbaseis a fantastic place to do that,” the Medium post said.
TokenAnalyst was founded in October 2017, just as the initial coin offering boom and crypto prices surged that year. It had a handful of employees – at least six, according toLinkedIn– including its founders,Jai PrasadandSid Shekhar. Both joined Coinbase, according to their Twitter biographies.
“It was truly invigorating to tweet/WhatsApp/Telegram/email/Signal 24/7 with crypto enthusiasts from all over the world. It was your incredible support, encouragement and passion that kept us going and motivated,” the blog post said.
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Steady at $7.5K as Short Sellers Back Off
• Coinbase Launches Price Oracle Aimed at Reducing Systemic Risk in the DeFi Space
• Coinbase Taps Ex-Barclays Markets Exec to Head Institutional Coverage || Here's Why Gold Prices Are Rising And Silver Prices Are Falling: This year has been a strange year in Wall Street no matter how you look at it. But at least one strange dynamic between the prices of gold and silver actually has a somewhat simple explanation. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY ) is down 10.8% year-to-date in 2020. So far this year, the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD ) has been a major market leader, gaining 11.6%. But at the same time, the iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV ) has been a significant laggard, dropping 16.9% on the year. In fact, the ratio of gold-to-silver prices is currently around 116, its highest level in history dating back to ancient times, according to DataTrek Research co-founder Nicholas Colas. History Lesson For hundreds of years, the ratio of gold-to-silver prices ranged from around 15 to around 20 up to the point the U.S. came off the gold standard in the 1970s. Since that time, the ratio has spiked significantly above 40 several times. Colas said these spikes have typically occurred during periods of economic and/or geopolitical instability. While it may seem strange for gold and silver prices to be heading in opposite directions, Colas said the key to the strange dynamic lies in the demand drivers for both metals. Industrial demand accounted for about 51% of silver demand in 2019 and only 9% of gold demand. At the same time, gold demand is driven much more by investors, who see the metal as a flight-to-safety trade during times of market turmoil and periods in which investors are fearful of inflation. Given industrial demand has plummeted due to coronavirus (COVID-19) shutdowns and investor demand for gold has jumped due to concerns about the global economy, Colas said it makes perfect sense why the prices of the two metals are heading in opposite directions. “Silver prices won’t recover until the global economy and industrial production do, so the gold/silver ratio at all-time highs makes sense,” he said. Benzinga’s Take Story continues For investors who believe the worst of the COVID-19 crisis is now passed and an economic recovery is imminent, the high gold-to-silver ratio could present an interesting pair trade opportunity. Traders who anticipate the gold-to-silver ratio will ultimately regress toward its long-term average could consider buying the SLV fund and shorting the GLD fund. Do you agree with this take? Email [email protected] with your thoughts. Related Links: 7 ETFs To Buy In A Recession 7 Ways To Invest In Gold Amid Coronavirus Fears Latest Ratings for GLD Apr 2013 Oracle Investment Research Initiates Coverage on Strong Buy Apr 2013 Oracle Investment Research Initiates Coverage on Strong Buy View More Analyst Ratings for GLD View the Latest Analyst Ratings See more from Benzinga 7 Best-Performing Stocks Of 2020: Buy, Sell Or Hold? Bitcoin Is Still Failing As A Flight To Safety Investment © 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Here's Why Gold Prices Are Rising And Silver Prices Are Falling: This year has been a strange year in Wall Street no matter how you look at it. But at least one strange dynamic between the prices of gold and silver actually has a somewhat simple explanation.
TheSPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust(NYSE:SPY) is down 10.8% year-to-date in 2020. So far this year, theSPDR Gold Trust(NYSE:GLD) has been a major market leader, gaining 11.6%. But at the same time, theiShares Silver Trust(NYSE:SLV) has been a significant laggard, dropping 16.9% on the year.
In fact, the ratio of gold-to-silver prices is currently around 116, its highest level in history dating back to ancient times, according to DataTrek Research co-founder Nicholas Colas.
History Lesson
For hundreds of years, the ratio of gold-to-silver prices ranged from around 15 to around 20 up to the point the U.S. came off the gold standard in the 1970s. Since that time, the ratio has spiked significantly above 40 several times. Colas said these spikes have typically occurred during periods of economic and/or geopolitical instability.
While it may seem strange for gold and silver prices to be heading in opposite directions, Colas said the key to the strange dynamic lies in the demand drivers for both metals. Industrial demand accounted for about 51% of silver demand in 2019 and only 9% of gold demand. At the same time, gold demand is driven much more by investors, who see the metal as a flight-to-safety trade during times of market turmoil and periods in which investors are fearful of inflation.
Given industrial demand has plummeted due to coronavirus (COVID-19) shutdowns and investor demand for gold has jumped due to concerns about the global economy, Colas said it makes perfect sense why the prices of the two metals are heading in opposite directions.
“Silver prices won’t recover until the global economy and industrial production do, so the gold/silver ratio at all-time highs makes sense,” he said.
Benzinga’s Take
For investors who believe the worst of the COVID-19 crisis is now passed and an economic recovery is imminent, the high gold-to-silver ratio could present an interesting pair trade opportunity.
Traders who anticipate the gold-to-silver ratio will ultimately regress toward its long-term average could consider buying the SLV fund and shorting the GLD fund.
Do you agree with this take? [email protected] your thoughts.
Related Links:
7 ETFs To Buy In A Recession
7 Ways To Invest In Gold Amid Coronavirus Fears
Latest Ratings for GLD
[{"Apr 2013": "Apr 2013", "Oracle Investment Research": "Oracle Investment Research", "Initiates Coverage on": "Initiates Coverage on", "": "", "Strong Buy": "Strong Buy"}]
View More Analyst Ratings for GLDView the Latest Analyst Ratings
See more from Benzinga
• 7 Best-Performing Stocks Of 2020: Buy, Sell Or Hold?
• Bitcoin Is Still Failing As A Flight To Safety Investment
© 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Blockchain Bites: Hyperledger Makes Inroads, Bitcoin Gets ‘Harder’ and Buffett’s Not ‘Halving’ It: There’s a lot of action happening in enterprise-grade blockchains.
Big Blue’s preferred chain, Hyperledger, is being tapped by three energy grid operators, a new consortium to establish digital identities for public and private organizations and has been shown to perform better than expected in a medical supply chain pilot.
You’re readingBlockchain Bites, the daily roundup of the most pivotal stories in blockchain and crypto news, and why they’re significant. You can subscribe to this and all of CoinDesk’snewsletters here.
Related:First Mover: US Arms of Binance, FTX Push Into Margin Trading, but Likely Not at 100x
Elsewhere in the crypto-verse, Bitcoin’s difficulty setting is increasing while Ethereum is seeing a burst in transactions. Though both may soon face a stiff competition following the launch of NEAR. Here’s the story:
Big Blue Goes Green With BlockchainIBM has created a new blockchain consortium with three of Europe’s electricity grid operators to helpsmooth the transition to renewable sourcesof energy. The Equigy platform will use Hyperledger Fabric to share charging data between consumers, aggregators and three energy providers in Northern and Southern Europe.
Digital Identities on HyperledgerThe ToIP Foundation is building a solution to theproblem of digital identityand how to maintain trust between various counterparties. A vast ecosystem of public bodies and private companies, including Mastercard, IBM and the Canadian Province of British Columbia, are working on establishing decentralized digital trust, which will live within the Linux Foundation.
Drug Blockchain Better Than ExpectedIBM, Merck, Walmart and KPMG’s drug-tracing blockchain pilot on Hyperledger Fabric hasexceeded the benchmarks outlined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration,the group announced Monday. In their final report to the FDA, the partners said, “This technology might be able to address the foundational requirement of track and trace for [the Drug Supply Chain Security Act] in addition to establishing trust between trading partners.”
Related:As Tether Supply Hits Record Highs, It Moves Away From Original Home
Reweighing Gram ReturnsTelegram won’trepay its investors in gram tokensafter all. After twice delaying the launch of its TON blockchain, the company is contractually obligated to pay investors back 72% of their investments immediately, but has offered to pay investors 110% of their investment in equity or gram tokens if they wait a year for the network to go live. Lawyers advised the firm “not to pursue an option involving grams or another cryptocurrency due to its uncertain reception from the relevant regulators.”
‘It’s Gravy,’ Turkish Authorities SaidiMiner, a Turkey-based company, has been granted a license to operate up to 6,000 mining rigs. The mining company has so far spent311 billion rials ($7.3 million) on setting up the biggest mining operationin the country to date.
Getting HarderBitcoin mining difficulty – a measure of how hard it is to compete for block rewards – hasneared an all-time highin the network’s last adjustmentbefore the halvingevent, roughly seven days away. This adjustment is the second time mining difficulty has topped the 16 trillion threshold and follows the second-largest decline in the network’s history in late-March.
Ethereum Killer?NEAR, a blockchain project that aims to compete with Ethereum, closed a$21.6 million token saleled by Andreessen Horowitz and joined by some 40 other investment firms including Pantera Capital, Libertus, Blockchange and Animal Ventures. The proof-of-stake blockchain launched on April 22.
Busy DaysMeanwhile, Ethereum’s network is experiencing itsbusiest days in 10 months amid increased issuance of stablecoinsand the runup to Ethereum 2.0. The seven-day moving average of the total number of confirmed transactions on Ethereum’s blockchain rose to 845,400 on April 30 to hit the highest level since July 1 , 2019, according to the data source Coin Metrics.
Milestone BlockEthereum has mined 10 million blocks in five years of existence. Ethereum’s protocol prints a new block every 20 seconds, compared to Bitcoin’s consensus mechanism, whichusuallywill create a new block of transactions every 10 minutes. (Decrypt)
New SuitPuerto Rico-based Bitcoin Manipulation Abatement filed alawsuit against Rippleand its CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, alleging they had violated securities laws when hosting its $1.1 billion XRP sale. Incorporated last year, BMA accuses Ripple of publicly promoting the sale to investors to drive up demand and maximize profits, without registering the sale with the relevant regulator.
Ongoing SuitThe long and tumultuous lawsuit between Craig Wright and the brother of his former business partner has a tentative trial date, July 6. The Kleiman estate is suing the self-declared inventor of Bitcoin for half of the suspected one million bitcoin trove Wright had mined with Dave Kleiman. (Decrypt)
Trade FunctionTrading messaging platform Paradigm will launch a trading feature that makes it easier to execute derivatives trades. (The Block)
Salty HackersA hacking group has installedcrypto mining malwareinto a company server through a weakness in Salt, a popular infrastructure tool used by the likes of IBM, LinkedIn and eBay. “The mining attempt spiked CPUs and quickly overloaded most of our systems, which alerted us to the issue immediately,” an incident report reads.
The Long ReadFintech guru David Birch wrote “The Currency Cold War: Cash and Cryptography, Hash Rates and Hegemony,” a book that seemingly foresaw the future. What was once a niche theory, that digital dollars could displace the sovereignty of money, is now front of mind for central bankers, regulators and the builders of new monetary systems.The world, it appears, is heading to a Cold Warbetween a competing set of programmatic currencies, all with their own designs and purposes. Birch sits down with Jeff Wilser to discuss the coming state of the world where we will have to choose between “between the Federal Reserve and Microsoft (between dollar bills and Bill’s dollars)? Between Facebook’s Libra and China’s Digital Currency/Electronic Payment (DCEP) system? Between spendable drawing rights (SDRs) and Kardashian kash?”
CoinDesk Live: Lockdown Editioncontinues its popular twice-weekly virtual chats via Zoom and Twitter, giving you a preview of what’s to come atConsensus: Distributed,our first fully virtual–and fully free–big-tent conference May 11-15.
Register to joinour sixth session Tuesday, May 5, with speakerAmy Davine Kim from the Chamber of Digital Commerceto discuss upcoming guidelines from the Financial Action Task Force, most notably the Travel Rule, hosted by Consensus organizer Aaron Stanley. Zoom participants can ask questions directly to our guests.
Investor Interest?Bitcoin failed to plant a flag above $9,000 early on Tuesday. Still,on-chain data suggests spiking investor interest.The seven-day average of the number of unique addresses active on the network rose to the highest level since June 29, 2019. “We have observed a significant increase in ‘new money’ entering the ecosystem,” said Matthew Dibb, co-founder of Stack.
Not for BuffettBillionaire investor Warren Buffett says he’s having a hard time finding attractive investments as the coronavirus ravages the global economy. Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency the 89-year-old Buffett described in February as having “no value,”is up 23% this year to about $8,870.The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index of large U.S. stocks, which Buffett routinely endorses for amateur investors, is down 12%. CoinDesk’sFirst Moverteam reports, shares of Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett’s insurance-to-utilities conglomerate, are down 21% in 2020.
Let Them Eat GoldOther institutional players, including hedge funds, are betting on gold as a refuge from “unfettered” currency printing. (Financial Times, paywalled)
The Oracle of OmahaIn the latest episode of The Breakdown, Nathaniel Whittermore unpacks the“Woodstock of Capitalism,” or the 4.5 hour virtual Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting,addressing why Warren Buffet is sitting on $137 billion in cash and is hesitant to invest.
Update (May 5, 21:14 UTC):A previous version of this article referred to NEAR’s imminent launch. The mainnet shipped on April 22.
• First Mover: Amid Economic Meltdown, Bitcoin Is Winning as ‘No Value’ Buffett Eats Crow
• IBM Teams With 3 European Power Grids to Build Green Energy Blockchain Platform || Blockchain Bites: Hyperledger Makes Inroads, Bitcoin Gets ‘Harder’ and Buffett’s Not ‘Halving’ It: There’s a lot of action happening in enterprise-grade blockchains.
Big Blue’s preferred chain, Hyperledger, is being tapped by three energy grid operators, a new consortium to establish digital identities for public and private organizations and has been shown to perform better than expected in a medical supply chain pilot.
You’re readingBlockchain Bites, the daily roundup of the most pivotal stories in blockchain and crypto news, and why they’re significant. You can subscribe to this and all of CoinDesk’snewsletters here.
Related:First Mover: US Arms of Binance, FTX Push Into Margin Trading, but Likely Not at 100x
Elsewhere in the crypto-verse, Bitcoin’s difficulty setting is increasing while Ethereum is seeing a burst in transactions. Though both may soon face a stiff competition following the launch of NEAR. Here’s the story:
Big Blue Goes Green With BlockchainIBM has created a new blockchain consortium with three of Europe’s electricity grid operators to helpsmooth the transition to renewable sourcesof energy. The Equigy platform will use Hyperledger Fabric to share charging data between consumers, aggregators and three energy providers in Northern and Southern Europe.
Digital Identities on HyperledgerThe ToIP Foundation is building a solution to theproblem of digital identityand how to maintain trust between various counterparties. A vast ecosystem of public bodies and private companies, including Mastercard, IBM and the Canadian Province of British Columbia, are working on establishing decentralized digital trust, which will live within the Linux Foundation.
Drug Blockchain Better Than ExpectedIBM, Merck, Walmart and KPMG’s drug-tracing blockchain pilot on Hyperledger Fabric hasexceeded the benchmarks outlined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration,the group announced Monday. In their final report to the FDA, the partners said, “This technology might be able to address the foundational requirement of track and trace for [the Drug Supply Chain Security Act] in addition to establishing trust between trading partners.”
Related:As Tether Supply Hits Record Highs, It Moves Away From Original Home
Reweighing Gram ReturnsTelegram won’trepay its investors in gram tokensafter all. After twice delaying the launch of its TON blockchain, the company is contractually obligated to pay investors back 72% of their investments immediately, but has offered to pay investors 110% of their investment in equity or gram tokens if they wait a year for the network to go live. Lawyers advised the firm “not to pursue an option involving grams or another cryptocurrency due to its uncertain reception from the relevant regulators.”
‘It’s Gravy,’ Turkish Authorities SaidiMiner, a Turkey-based company, has been granted a license to operate up to 6,000 mining rigs. The mining company has so far spent311 billion rials ($7.3 million) on setting up the biggest mining operationin the country to date.
Getting HarderBitcoin mining difficulty – a measure of how hard it is to compete for block rewards – hasneared an all-time highin the network’s last adjustmentbefore the halvingevent, roughly seven days away. This adjustment is the second time mining difficulty has topped the 16 trillion threshold and follows the second-largest decline in the network’s history in late-March.
Ethereum Killer?NEAR, a blockchain project that aims to compete with Ethereum, closed a$21.6 million token saleled by Andreessen Horowitz and joined by some 40 other investment firms including Pantera Capital, Libertus, Blockchange and Animal Ventures. The proof-of-stake blockchain launched on April 22.
Busy DaysMeanwhile, Ethereum’s network is experiencing itsbusiest days in 10 months amid increased issuance of stablecoinsand the runup to Ethereum 2.0. The seven-day moving average of the total number of confirmed transactions on Ethereum’s blockchain rose to 845,400 on April 30 to hit the highest level since July 1 , 2019, according to the data source Coin Metrics.
Milestone BlockEthereum has mined 10 million blocks in five years of existence. Ethereum’s protocol prints a new block every 20 seconds, compared to Bitcoin’s consensus mechanism, whichusuallywill create a new block of transactions every 10 minutes. (Decrypt)
New SuitPuerto Rico-based Bitcoin Manipulation Abatement filed alawsuit against Rippleand its CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, alleging they had violated securities laws when hosting its $1.1 billion XRP sale. Incorporated last year, BMA accuses Ripple of publicly promoting the sale to investors to drive up demand and maximize profits, without registering the sale with the relevant regulator.
Ongoing SuitThe long and tumultuous lawsuit between Craig Wright and the brother of his former business partner has a tentative trial date, July 6. The Kleiman estate is suing the self-declared inventor of Bitcoin for half of the suspected one million bitcoin trove Wright had mined with Dave Kleiman. (Decrypt)
Trade FunctionTrading messaging platform Paradigm will launch a trading feature that makes it easier to execute derivatives trades. (The Block)
Salty HackersA hacking group has installedcrypto mining malwareinto a company server through a weakness in Salt, a popular infrastructure tool used by the likes of IBM, LinkedIn and eBay. “The mining attempt spiked CPUs and quickly overloaded most of our systems, which alerted us to the issue immediately,” an incident report reads.
The Long ReadFintech guru David Birch wrote “The Currency Cold War: Cash and Cryptography, Hash Rates and Hegemony,” a book that seemingly foresaw the future. What was once a niche theory, that digital dollars could displace the sovereignty of money, is now front of mind for central bankers, regulators and the builders of new monetary systems.The world, it appears, is heading to a Cold Warbetween a competing set of programmatic currencies, all with their own designs and purposes. Birch sits down with Jeff Wilser to discuss the coming state of the world where we will have to choose between “between the Federal Reserve and Microsoft (between dollar bills and Bill’s dollars)? Between Facebook’s Libra and China’s Digital Currency/Electronic Payment (DCEP) system? Between spendable drawing rights (SDRs) and Kardashian kash?”
CoinDesk Live: Lockdown Editioncontinues its popular twice-weekly virtual chats via Zoom and Twitter, giving you a preview of what’s to come atConsensus: Distributed,our first fully virtual–and fully free–big-tent conference May 11-15.
Register to joinour sixth session Tuesday, May 5, with speakerAmy Davine Kim from the Chamber of Digital Commerceto discuss upcoming guidelines from the Financial Action Task Force, most notably the Travel Rule, hosted by Consensus organizer Aaron Stanley. Zoom participants can ask questions directly to our guests.
Investor Interest?Bitcoin failed to plant a flag above $9,000 early on Tuesday. Still,on-chain data suggests spiking investor interest.The seven-day average of the number of unique addresses active on the network rose to the highest level since June 29, 2019. “We have observed a significant increase in ‘new money’ entering the ecosystem,” said Matthew Dibb, co-founder of Stack.
Not for BuffettBillionaire investor Warren Buffett says he’s having a hard time finding attractive investments as the coronavirus ravages the global economy. Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency the 89-year-old Buffett described in February as having “no value,”is up 23% this year to about $8,870.The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index of large U.S. stocks, which Buffett routinely endorses for amateur investors, is down 12%. CoinDesk’sFirst Moverteam reports, shares of Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett’s insurance-to-utilities conglomerate, are down 21% in 2020.
Let Them Eat GoldOther institutional players, including hedge funds, are betting on gold as a refuge from “unfettered” currency printing. (Financial Times, paywalled)
The Oracle of OmahaIn the latest episode of The Breakdown, Nathaniel Whittermore unpacks the“Woodstock of Capitalism,” or the 4.5 hour virtual Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting,addressing why Warren Buffet is sitting on $137 billion in cash and is hesitant to invest.
Update (May 5, 21:14 UTC):A previous version of this article referred to NEAR’s imminent launch. The mainnet shipped on April 22.
• First Mover: Amid Economic Meltdown, Bitcoin Is Winning as ‘No Value’ Buffett Eats Crow
• IBM Teams With 3 European Power Grids to Build Green Energy Blockchain Platform || Blockchain Bites: Hyperledger Makes Inroads, Bitcoin Gets ‘Harder’ and Buffett’s Not ‘Halving’ It: There’s a lot of action happening in enterprise-grade blockchains. Big Blue’s preferred chain, Hyperledger, is being tapped by three energy grid operators, a new consortium to establish digital identities for public and private organizations and has been shown to perform better than expected in a medical supply chain pilot. You’re reading Blockchain Bites , the daily roundup of the most pivotal stories in blockchain and crypto news, and why they’re significant. You can subscribe to this and all of CoinDesk’s newsletters here . Related: First Mover: US Arms of Binance, FTX Push Into Margin Trading, but Likely Not at 100x Elsewhere in the crypto-verse, Bitcoin’s difficulty setting is increasing while Ethereum is seeing a burst in transactions. Though both may soon face a stiff competition following the launch of NEAR. Here’s the story: Top Shelf Big Blue Goes Green With Blockchain IBM has created a new blockchain consortium with three of Europe’s electricity grid operators to help smooth the transition to renewable sources of energy. The Equigy platform will use Hyperledger Fabric to share charging data between consumers, aggregators and three energy providers in Northern and Southern Europe. Digital Identities on Hyperledger The ToIP Foundation is building a solution to the problem of digital identity and how to maintain trust between various counterparties. A vast ecosystem of public bodies and private companies, including Mastercard, IBM and the Canadian Province of British Columbia, are working on establishing decentralized digital trust, which will live within the Linux Foundation. Drug Blockchain Better Than Expected IBM, Merck, Walmart and KPMG’s drug-tracing blockchain pilot on Hyperledger Fabric has exceeded the benchmarks outlined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the group announced Monday. In their final report to the FDA, the partners said, “This technology might be able to address the foundational requirement of track and trace for [the Drug Supply Chain Security Act] in addition to establishing trust between trading partners.” Story continues Related: As Tether Supply Hits Record Highs, It Moves Away From Original Home Reweighing Gram Returns Telegram won’t repay its investors in gram tokens after all. After twice delaying the launch of its TON blockchain, the company is contractually obligated to pay investors back 72% of their investments immediately, but has offered to pay investors 110% of their investment in equity or gram tokens if they wait a year for the network to go live. Lawyers advised the firm “not to pursue an option involving grams or another cryptocurrency due to its uncertain reception from the relevant regulators.” ‘It’s Gravy,’ Turkish Authorities Said iMiner, a Turkey-based company, has been granted a license to operate up to 6,000 mining rigs. The mining company has so far spent 311 billion rials ($7.3 million) on setting up the biggest mining operation in the country to date. Getting Harder Bitcoin mining difficulty – a measure of how hard it is to compete for block rewards – has neared an all-time high in the network’s last adjustment before the halving event, roughly seven days away. This adjustment is the second time mining difficulty has topped the 16 trillion threshold and follows the second-largest decline in the network’s history in late-March. Ethereum Killer? NEAR, a blockchain project that aims to compete with Ethereum, closed a $21.6 million token sale led by Andreessen Horowitz and joined by some 40 other investment firms including Pantera Capital, Libertus, Blockchange and Animal Ventures. The proof-of-stake blockchain launched on April 22. Busy Days Meanwhile, Ethereum’s network is experiencing its busiest days in 10 months amid increased issuance of stablecoins and the runup to Ethereum 2.0. The seven-day moving average of the total number of confirmed transactions on Ethereum’s blockchain rose to 845,400 on April 30 to hit the highest level since July 1 , 2019, according to the data source Coin Metrics. Milestone Block Ethereum has mined 10 million blocks in five years of existence. Ethereum’s protocol prints a new block every 20 seconds, compared to Bitcoin’s consensus mechanism, which usually will create a new block of transactions every 10 minutes. ( Decrypt ) New Suit Puerto Rico-based Bitcoin Manipulation Abatement filed a lawsuit against Ripple and its CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, alleging they had violated securities laws when hosting its $1.1 billion XRP sale. Incorporated last year, BMA accuses Ripple of publicly promoting the sale to investors to drive up demand and maximize profits, without registering the sale with the relevant regulator. Ongoing Suit The long and tumultuous lawsuit between Craig Wright and the brother of his former business partner has a tentative trial date, July 6. The Kleiman estate is suing the self-declared inventor of Bitcoin for half of the suspected one million bitcoin trove Wright had mined with Dave Kleiman. ( Decrypt ) Trade Function Trading messaging platform Paradigm will launch a trading feature that makes it easier to execute derivatives trades. ( The Block ) Salty Hackers A hacking group has installed crypto mining malware into a company server through a weakness in Salt, a popular infrastructure tool used by the likes of IBM, LinkedIn and eBay. “The mining attempt spiked CPUs and quickly overloaded most of our systems, which alerted us to the issue immediately,” an incident report reads. The Long Read Fintech guru David Birch wrote “The Currency Cold War: Cash and Cryptography, Hash Rates and Hegemony,” a book that seemingly foresaw the future. What was once a niche theory, that digital dollars could displace the sovereignty of money, is now front of mind for central bankers, regulators and the builders of new monetary systems. The world, it appears, is heading to a Cold War between a competing set of programmatic currencies, all with their own designs and purposes. Birch sits down with Jeff Wilser to discuss the coming state of the world where we will have to choose between “between the Federal Reserve and Microsoft (between dollar bills and Bill’s dollars)? Between Facebook’s Libra and China’s Digital Currency/Electronic Payment (DCEP) system? Between spendable drawing rights (SDRs) and Kardashian kash?” CoinDesk Live: Lockdown Edition CoinDesk Live: Lockdown Edition continues its popular twice-weekly virtual chats via Zoom and Twitter, giving you a preview of what’s to come at Consensus: Distributed, our first fully virtual – and fully free – big-tent conference May 11-15. Register to join our sixth session Tuesday, May 5, with speaker Amy Davine Kim from the Chamber of Digital Commerce to discuss upcoming guidelines from the Financial Action Task Force, most notably the Travel Rule, hosted by Consensus organizer Aaron Stanley. Zoom participants can ask questions directly to our guests. Market Intel Investor Interest? Bitcoin failed to plant a flag above $9,000 early on Tuesday. Still, on-chain data suggests spiking investor interest. The seven-day average of the number of unique addresses active on the network rose to the highest level since June 29, 2019. “We have observed a significant increase in ‘new money’ entering the ecosystem,” said Matthew Dibb, co-founder of Stack. Not for Buffett Billionaire investor Warren Buffett says he’s having a hard time finding attractive investments as the coronavirus ravages the global economy. Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency the 89-year-old Buffett described in February as having “no value,” is up 23% this year to about $8,870. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index of large U.S. stocks, which Buffett routinely endorses for amateur investors, is down 12%. CoinDesk’s First Mover team reports, shares of Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett’s insurance-to-utilities conglomerate, are down 21% in 2020. Let Them Eat Gold Other institutional players, including hedge funds, are betting on gold as a refuge from “unfettered” currency printing. ( Financial Times, paywalled ) CoinDesk Podcast Network The Oracle of Omaha In the latest episode of The Breakdown, Nathaniel Whittermore unpacks the “Woodstock of Capitalism,” or the 4.5 hour virtual Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting, addressing why Warren Buffet is sitting on $137 billion in cash and is hesitant to invest. Who Won #CryptoTwitter? Update (May 5, 21:14 UTC): A previous version of this article referred to NEAR’s imminent launch. The mainnet shipped on April 22. Related Stories First Mover: Amid Economic Meltdown, Bitcoin Is Winning as ‘No Value’ Buffett Eats Crow IBM Teams With 3 European Power Grids to Build Green Energy Blockchain Platform || Wanderport Corporation Brings Protective Masks to Market for Wholesale and Retail Distribution as America Prepares for Return to the Public Workplace: Santa Monica, California--(Newsfile Corp. - May 5, 2020) - Wanderport Corporation (OTC Pink: WDRP), a premier manufacturer and distributor of food, beverages and consumer products for the health and wellness markets, today announces the offering of face masks for consumers to help meet increasingly overwhelming demand. In an effort to address the necessity to reduce the spread of COVID-19 the Company is enhancing its line of wellness products with the addition of triple layer, quality face masks. Packaged in units of 3, these protective polyester and cotton fabric masks provide a soft covering to the nasal cavities, providing a comfortable layer of protection, at a time when growing national mask inclusive mandates continue evolving daily. Mask Banner To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6746/55405_71c2e20374295be8_001full.jpg The mask outer layer is water resistance polyester which also provides protection from UV and dust. The inner two layers are cotton blend and are anti-bacterial and anti-dust. They are washable and reusable thus reducing waste and more environmental friendly. The masks are available in different colors and sizes and can be purchased at www.wanderbrands.com . Purchases made on Wander Brands store will also earn customer reward points which can be redeemed as cash discounts or digital tokens in the future. Customers may also pay for purchases via Bitcoin via BitPay. The Company is also working to make the product available on other online marketplaces in the near future. Wholesale and private label masks are also available for companies and patrons seeking originality, and customization with corporate logos, slogans and other statement opportunities, strategically designed to impact corporate brand recognition and enhance familiarity. Although not intended for medical use the masks are well-constructed for the needs of the general public. Higher grade masks such as N95 and KN95 are also available for healthcare organizations, selected markets or consumers outside of the US. As the country gears up for an economic grand re-opening, protective new operating procedures are being implemented to uphold high level respiratory protection standards in the workplace. Starting May 4th, Costco is among the first requiring all shoppers to wear face masks while inside the popular warehouse club, an indicator of what can be expected as society approaches the threshold of a new, much more guarded environment. "We now know from recent studies that a significant portion of individuals with coronavirus lack symptoms ("asymptomatic"), and that even those who eventually develop symptoms ("pre-symptomatic") can transmit the virus to others before showing symptoms," according to the advisory published by the CDC. "This means that the virus can spread between people interacting in close proximity - for example, speaking, coughing, or sneezing - even if those people are not exhibiting symptoms." The report continued: "In light of this new evidence, CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies) especially in areas of significant community-based transmission," the advisory stated. Accordingly, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that he would start requiring people in New York to wear masks or face coverings in public whenever social distancing was not possible. "These restrictions that I have laid out must be followed throughout the state," Mr. Murphy, New Jersey Governor, said last week. "We are taking the step to protect both customers and essential workers." Story continues The mandates were the latest public safety measures from two states that are at the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States. New York and New Jersey have worked in tandem since the outbreak reached the region, shuttering nonessential businesses at the same time and recently forming a coalition with neighboring states to coordinate the reopening of their economies. "New workplace safety protocols are being established such as health screenings and face coverings. They are expected to remain in place for the foreseeable future. We are pleased to provide the high quality face masks to address this need and play a role in keeping everyone safe. Additional safety product offerings are also being considered as the markets and demands are identified," stated Miki Takeuchi, CEO. About Wanderport Corporation: Wanderport Corporation is a premier manufacturer and distributor of food, beverages and consumer products made with hemp. The Company operates an e-commerce platform, Wander Brands, that offers a wide range of health and wellness related products to support active and healthy lifestyles. For more information, please visit: Website: https://www.wanderbrands.com . Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WanderBrandsUS Twitter: @wanderbrandsus Instagram: wanderbrandsus Forward-Looking Statements: Statements made herein constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, potential volatility in the company's stock price, increased competition, customer acceptance of new products and services to be offered by the company, and uncertainty of future revenue and profitability and fluctuations in its quarterly operating efforts. Forward-looking statements are projections of events, revenues, income, future economics, research, development, reformulation, product performance or management's plans and objectives for future operations. While these forward-looking statements and any assumptions upon which they are based are made in good faith and reflect current judgment regarding the direction of the business operations of Wanderport Corporation, actual results will almost always vary, sometimes materially, from any estimates, predictions, projections, assumptions or other future performance suggested in this press release. Contact: Wanderport Corporation www.wanderbrands.com Investor Relations: Miki Takeuchi [email protected] (310) 526-8720 To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/55405 || Wanderport Corporation Brings Protective Masks to Market for Wholesale and Retail Distribution as America Prepares for Return to the Public Workplace: Santa Monica, California--(Newsfile Corp. - May 5, 2020) - Wanderport Corporation (OTC Pink: WDRP), a premier manufacturer and distributor of food, beverages and consumer products for the health and wellness markets, today announces the offering of face masks for consumers to help meet increasingly overwhelming demand.
In an effort to address the necessity to reduce the spread of COVID-19 the Company is enhancing its line of wellness products with the addition of triple layer, quality face masks. Packaged in units of 3, these protective polyester and cotton fabric masks provide a soft covering to the nasal cavities, providing a comfortable layer of protection, at a time when growing national mask inclusive mandates continue evolving daily.
Mask BannerTo view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6746/55405_71c2e20374295be8_001full.jpg
The mask outer layer is water resistance polyester which also provides protection from UV and dust. The inner two layers are cotton blend and are anti-bacterial and anti-dust. They are washable and reusable thus reducing waste and more environmental friendly.
The masks are available in different colors and sizes and can be purchased atwww.wanderbrands.com. Purchases made on Wander Brands store will also earn customer reward points which can be redeemed as cash discounts or digital tokens in the future. Customers may also pay for purchases via Bitcoin via BitPay. The Company is also working to make the product available on other online marketplaces in the near future.
Wholesale and private label masks are also available for companies and patrons seeking originality, and customization with corporate logos, slogans and other statement opportunities, strategically designed to impact corporate brand recognition and enhance familiarity.
Although not intended for medical use the masks are well-constructed for the needs of the general public. Higher grade masks such as N95 and KN95 are also available for healthcare organizations, selected markets or consumers outside of the US.As the country gears up for an economic grand re-opening, protective new operating procedures are being implemented to uphold high level respiratory protection standards in the workplace. Starting May 4th, Costco is among the first requiring all shoppers to wear face masks while inside the popular warehouse club, an indicator of what can be expected as society approaches the threshold of a new, much more guarded environment."We now know from recent studies that a significant portion of individuals with coronavirus lack symptoms ("asymptomatic"), and that even those who eventually develop symptoms ("pre-symptomatic") can transmit the virus to others before showing symptoms," according to the advisory published by the CDC. "This means that the virus can spread between people interacting in close proximity - for example, speaking, coughing, or sneezing - even if those people are not exhibiting symptoms."The report continued: "In light of this new evidence, CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies) especially in areas of significant community-based transmission," the advisory stated.Accordingly, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that he would start requiring people in New York to wear masks or face coverings in public whenever social distancing was not possible. "These restrictions that I have laid out must be followed throughout the state," Mr. Murphy, New Jersey Governor, said last week. "We are taking the step to protect both customers and essential workers."
The mandates were the latest public safety measures from two states that are at the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States. New York and New Jersey have worked in tandem since the outbreak reached the region, shuttering nonessential businesses at the same time and recently forming a coalition with neighboring states to coordinate the reopening of their economies.
"New workplace safety protocols are being established such as health screenings and face coverings. They are expected to remain in place for the foreseeable future. We are pleased to provide the high quality face masks to address this need and play a role in keeping everyone safe. Additional safety product offerings are also being considered as the markets and demands are identified," stated Miki Takeuchi, CEO.About Wanderport Corporation:
Wanderport Corporation is a premier manufacturer and distributor of food, beverages and consumer products made with hemp. The Company operates an e-commerce platform, Wander Brands, that offers a wide range of health and wellness related products to support active and healthy lifestyles. For more information, please visit:
Website:https://www.wanderbrands.com.Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/WanderBrandsUS
Twitter:@wanderbrandsusInstagram:wanderbrandsus
Forward-Looking Statements:
Statements made herein constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, potential volatility in the company's stock price, increased competition, customer acceptance of new products and services to be offered by the company, and uncertainty of future revenue and profitability and fluctuations in its quarterly operating efforts. Forward-looking statements are projections of events, revenues, income, future economics, research, development, reformulation, product performance or management's plans and objectives for future operations. While these forward-looking statements and any assumptions upon which they are based are made in good faith and reflect current judgment regarding the direction of the business operations of Wanderport Corporation, actual results will almost always vary, sometimes materially, from any estimates, predictions, projections, assumptions or other future performance suggested in this press release.
Contact:
Wanderport Corporationwww.wanderbrands.com
Investor Relations:
Miki [email protected](310) 526-8720
To view the source version of this press release, please visithttps://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/55405 || Cryptocurrency experts predict bullish impact of Bitcoin halving: The largest event in the cryptocurrency calendar is almost upon us, with the Bitcoin block reward halving being just one week away, here is what the experts have to say about its perceived impact on price action. According to Simon Peters, analyst at investment platform eToro, the halving could not only see the price of bitcoin rise, as it has done following previous halvings, but it could also result in a whole new brand of crypto investors. Peters explains: “During and after the first halving in 2012, the key investors were those already involved in the asset class. The bitcoin investor base was almost exclusively made up of those in the know; blockchain scientists and data programmers as well as libertarians interested in the idea of a monetary system outside of political influence and central bank control.” He then concludes that the halving will cause an increase in retail investors leaping into the world of Bitcoin as mainstream media will begin to focus on its potentially surging price, as it did in 2017. The CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Luno is also bullish, insisting that volatility will return to the market tomorrow as much of Asia is off today. Luno’s CEO Marcus Swanepoel said: “We ended last week on a bullish note with Bitcoin pushing above $9,000 only for the price to drop over the weekend. However, this morning we have seen BTC again push above $9,000. “This second move higher in a short period of time is positive and could be the first indication that we have now started the run into the halving. Parts of Asia are again off today, but when they return tomorrow we will be just a week away from the halving so can expect to see an increase in volatility.” But as previously stated in Coin Rivet’s daily technical analysis, a bullish breakout is far from certain as it still needs to trade above $9,600 to take out the diagonal trendline dating back to December 2017. It’s also worth noting that price fell by more than 30% following the previous Bitcoin halving in 2016 before beginning to rally months later, so the effects of this year’s halving may not be as immediate as many suggest. Story continues BlockFi co-founder and CEO, Zac Prince, believes the halving is “perfectly timed” as a result of macroeconomics having shifted as a result of the coronavirus. “Bitcoin has already bounced back from its losses stemming to pandemic market reaction.” He said. “It’s increasingly being seen as a safe haven investment to diversify portfolios and as more people see the value, on top of ongoing peripheral retail pressure, we believe we will see the price rise steadily, and at times rapidly, over the next few years.” To keep up-to-date with coverage on the upcoming Bitcoin halving, click here . || Cryptocurrency experts predict bullish impact of Bitcoin halving: The largest event in the cryptocurrency calendar is almost upon us, with the Bitcoin block reward halving being just one week away, here is what the experts have to say about its perceived impact on price action. According to Simon Peters, analyst at investment platform eToro, the halving could not only see the price of bitcoin rise, as it has done following previous halvings, but it could also result in a whole new brand of crypto investors. Peters explains: “During and after the first halving in 2012, the key investors were those already involved in the asset class. The bitcoin investor base was almost exclusively made up of those in the know; blockchain scientists and data programmers as well as libertarians interested in the idea of a monetary system outside of political influence and central bank control.” He then concludes that the halving will cause an increase in retail investors leaping into the world of Bitcoin as mainstream media will begin to focus on its potentially surging price, as it did in 2017. The CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Luno is also bullish, insisting that volatility will return to the market tomorrow as much of Asia is off today. Luno’s CEO Marcus Swanepoel said: “We ended last week on a bullish note with Bitcoin pushing above $9,000 only for the price to drop over the weekend. However, this morning we have seen BTC again push above $9,000. “This second move higher in a short period of time is positive and could be the first indication that we have now started the run into the halving. Parts of Asia are again off today, but when they return tomorrow we will be just a week away from the halving so can expect to see an increase in volatility.” But as previously stated in Coin Rivet’s daily technical analysis, a bullish breakout is far from certain as it still needs to trade above $9,600 to take out the diagonal trendline dating back to December 2017. It’s also worth noting that price fell by more than 30% following the previous Bitcoin halving in 2016 before beginning to rally months later, so the effects of this year’s halving may not be as immediate as many suggest. Story continues BlockFi co-founder and CEO, Zac Prince, believes the halving is “perfectly timed” as a result of macroeconomics having shifted as a result of the coronavirus. “Bitcoin has already bounced back from its losses stemming to pandemic market reaction.” He said. “It’s increasingly being seen as a safe haven investment to diversify portfolios and as more people see the value, on top of ongoing peripheral retail pressure, we believe we will see the price rise steadily, and at times rapidly, over the next few years.” To keep up-to-date with coverage on the upcoming Bitcoin halving, click here . || Cryptocurrency experts predict bullish impact of Bitcoin halving: The largest event in the cryptocurrency calendar is almost upon us, with the Bitcoin block reward halving being just one week away, here is what the experts have to say about its perceived impact on price action. According to Simon Peters, analyst at investment platform eToro, the halving could not only see the price of bitcoin rise, as it has done following previous halvings, but it could also result in a whole new brand of crypto investors. Peters explains: “During and after the first halving in 2012, the key investors were those already involved in the asset class. The bitcoin investor base was almost exclusively made up of those in the know; blockchain scientists and data programmers as well as libertarians interested in the idea of a monetary system outside of political influence and central bank control.” He then concludes that the halving will cause an increase in retail investors leaping into the world of Bitcoin as mainstream media will begin to focus on its potentially surging price, as it did in 2017. The CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Luno is also bullish, insisting that volatility will return to the market tomorrow as much of Asia is off today. Luno’s CEO Marcus Swanepoel said: “We ended last week on a bullish note with Bitcoin pushing above $9,000 only for the price to drop over the weekend. However, this morning we have seen BTC again push above $9,000. “This second move higher in a short period of time is positive and could be the first indication that we have now started the run into the halving. Parts of Asia are again off today, but when they return tomorrow we will be just a week away from the halving so can expect to see an increase in volatility.” But as previously stated in Coin Rivet’s daily technical analysis, a bullish breakout is far from certain as it still needs to trade above $9,600 to take out the diagonal trendline dating back to December 2017. It’s also worth noting that price fell by more than 30% following the previous Bitcoin halving in 2016 before beginning to rally months later, so the effects of this year’s halving may not be as immediate as many suggest. Story continues BlockFi co-founder and CEO, Zac Prince, believes the halving is “perfectly timed” as a result of macroeconomics having shifted as a result of the coronavirus. “Bitcoin has already bounced back from its losses stemming to pandemic market reaction.” He said. “It’s increasingly being seen as a safe haven investment to diversify portfolios and as more people see the value, on top of ongoing peripheral retail pressure, we believe we will see the price rise steadily, and at times rapidly, over the next few years.” To keep up-to-date with coverage on the upcoming Bitcoin halving, click here . || The Man Who Forecast a Currency Cold War: Many of the impacts of COVID-19 are easy to grasp. Every day we see the gutting news: the rising body count, the millions of unemployed, the makeshift morgues in public parks. We grieve for those we have lost. We worry about those who are vulnerable. We’re sick of staying at home. We miss restaurants and pubs.
And then there are the second-, third- and fourth-order impacts. These are tougher to spot. In the blizzard of news from the U.S. emergency stimulus package, for example, it was easy to overlook a fairly shocking proposal from the House of Representatives: that the COVID-19 relief money (aka the $1,200 checks) could be digitally zapped to Americans instead of going through traditional banks.
As CoinDesk’s own Michael Casey writes in the forward to “The Currency Cold War, “the “half-baked proposal was subsequently removed, but it marked a dramatic widening in the Overton window of what is open to discussion. A digital dollar is now on the table.” Meanwhile, in another corner of this emerging conflict, libra looms large. And China gets ready to launch its central bank digital currency (known as the DCEP).
Related:4 Ways COVID-19 Will Bring Banks and Regulators to Crypto
The upshot? COVID-19 could ignite something of a digital currency war.
See also:Money Reimagined: As Tech, Politics and COVID-19 Collide, a Global Reset Looms
Good thing someone just wrote a book about that exact possibility. Fintech guru David Birch, a consultant and prolific speaker on the blockchain conference circuit, wrote “The Currency Cold War: Cash and Cryptography, Hash Rates and Hegemony,” just in time for our global pandemic. He nailed the timing. For years Birch had his own pet theories about a clash of digital currencies. But “that was just me, just some guy talking about it,” he tells me in his British accent, which seems always on the verge of a sly joke. “And who cares, you know?”
Then came Jackson Hole.
Related:Marketing Ethereum 2.0 and Herding Cats With Hudson Jameson
In the fall of 2019, at a Jackson Hole, Wy., event Birch describes as a “Burning Man for people who run central banks,” the Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, said that perhaps it was time for some form of “synthetic hegemonic currency” to deal with what he called the “destabilizing dominance” of the U.S. dollar.
This comment seemed to galvanize Birch. “The Governor of the Bank of England is emphaticallynotjust some guy,” Birch says. He realized the Currency Cold War was not just his own pet theory – it was imminent. It might already be happening. And it has consequences. Which currency would society choose? Would it be one or many?
It’s crazy. What the f— are they doing mailing out checks to people?
“Which digital currency?” Birch writes in “The Currency Cold War.” “Will we really be choosing between the Federal Reserve and Microsoft (between dollar bills and Bill’s dollars)? Between Facebook’s Libra and China’s Digital Currency/Electronic Payment (DCEP) system? Between spendable drawing rights (SDRs) and Kardashian kash?”
Regular readers of CoinDesk, of course, already know cryptocurrencies could compete with traditional fiat. That idea is not new. Birch takes the next logical step by asking, effectively, what happens when the rubber hits the road? Let’s pretend we get a Facebook libra or a digital yuan. How would that change the world order? What would that mean to a farmer in Africa, or what would it mean for the United States’ ability to throw around its muscle?
In the book, Birch frames the hypothetical conflict of a digital yuan vs. Facebook libra as “Red vs. Blue,” in a cheeky nod to thecult videosinspired by Halo. (Birch even asked the publisher if they could call the book “Red vs. Blue,” and they politely told him he was crazy.)
Red vs. Blue? Crypto vs. Fiat? Public vs. Private? On a quarantine-Zoom call a few weeks before appearing atConsensus Distributedon May 11 at 9 a.m. ET, Birch explains why the currency Cold War matters, how it impacts global “soft power,” and why you might see things like IBM Money…or an Islamic Money that cannot be used to buy alcohol.
CoinDesk: Your book seems incredibly prescient. How does COVID-19 impact a potential digital currency war?
David Birch:I wouldn’t have wished it this way, obviously, but yeah, COVID-19 might have done me a bit of a favor. You must admit that to somebody outside of the U.S., the idea that government stimulus money will arrive in the form of checks beingmailed in the postto people seems odd.
This is like having an economic stimulus for the Little House on the F–ing Prairie. It’s crazy. What the f— are they doingmailing out checksto people? So the idea that the government could provide a stimulus just by sending money directly into people’s wallets — not even into their bank accounts, but directly into their wallets — that’s really interesting. That might well provide an incredible stimulus to digital currency that none of us saw coming.
See also:How a Flurry of ‘Digital Dollar’ Proposals Made It to Congress
In the book you consider the possibility of the U.S. dollar losing its dominance. What are the implications?
Birch:I think you need to divide it into two categories. So there’s what does it mean in financial terms? And of course, America’s ability to denominate its own debt translates into a tremendous fiscal advantage. So if America couldn’t do that, it couldn’t just print its way out of problems. This is what General [Charles] de Gaulle rather famously referred to as America’s “exorbitant privilege.” And that has implications for trade.
But I think what’s more interesting are the non-financial implications.
Such as?
Birch:America’s ability to exercise soft power. I stress that I’m not making a political point. But for example, do you remember a few months ago, America threatened to cut Turkey off? I can’t even remember what the dispute was about…
Who can? There were 17 crises between now and then! [Editor’s note: This would be the U.S.threatening to cut Turkeyfrom an F-35 stealth fighter jet program.]
Birch:Yeah, a lifetime of crises ago. But the point is that if I’m some country, and America says you have to do something I don’t particularly want to do, I have to do it because otherwise I can no longer buy imports and I get cut off from the global financial system. But what if there was something that was a bit like money but it just wasn’t run by the Americans?
Or let’s say you’re a country in Africa. You sell most of your oil to China, so you decide to price your oil in yuan. You sell your oil in digital yuan. The U.S. Treasury wants to sanction you for doing something, what do you care? You don’t use their stupid dollars anymore. None of your money goes through the New York money central banks, so what do you care? There are several countries, I’m sure, that actively would like that to happen.
How could this impact an average person?
Birch:Let’s say you’re a farmer in Africa. And you’re buying tractors and things from China, and you’re buying fertilizer from China, and you’re supplying food to Chinese companies that are building ports and whatever else things companies do.
You’ve got the choice between getting paid in your local currency, which you may not be too happy about because it may be a little volatile — it may be depreciating or it may have currency controls attached to it. Or you could get paid in U.S. dollars, except you’re not allowed to have a U.S. dollar bank account. And even if you did have a U.S. dollar bank account, when you decide to send some money to your cousin in Afghanistan you can’t, because it gets blocked by the U.S. Treasury.
Or maybe you have a wallet on your phone where you can store your Chinese digital currency. Given those choices, I can understand why a great many people, particularly along China’s emergingBelt and Road, I can see why some of those people would make that choice. I’m sure you can, too.
I personally feel that money is so important that it has to be under democratic control.
In the book you talk about “Red vs. Blue,” and I totally got the Halo reference, by the way.
Birch:It was Halo, yeah! [Laughs.] I thought it was hilarious but no one knew what I was talking about. I’m so old. It fell completely flat. I wanted to call the book “Red vs. Blue,” but my publisher, who knows a lot more about selling books than I do, said, “It’s absolutely meaningless. No one will know what you’re talking about.”
So whatdoesRed vs. Blue mean, outside of Halo?
Birch:It’s the difference between private and public. So if I take Facebucks, which is what I always call them… I think it’s a much better name [than libra]. How come I know more about marketing than Mark Zuckerberg? I don’t get it.
If I take Facebucks, I take Facebucks because I think other people are going to take Facebucks. That’s how money works. And there could be 2.5 billion people around the world who are perfectly happy to accept Facebucks. Zuckerberg said his vision was that sending money would be just as easy as sending a photo. Well, if that were true, if that vision was realized, that would be great, right?
I mean, everyone would use that, wouldn’t they? So is that a bad thing? Well, you know, if you run a government and you want to have some control over things, you’d probably think that was a bad thing, right?
I can see it argued either way…
Birch:Now, if I’m the government, actually, I might be okay with that as long as certain criteria are met, like [know-your-customer]. But I can’t help but feeling… even if Facebook did that, I mean, would you have your salary paid in Facebook money?
Right.
Birch:Or If you get chucked out of Facebook, who’s the ombudsman you call? You see people all the time get banned from Twitter and they can’t figure out why. What would happen with Facebucks? Like, what happens if you wake up one morning and, all of a sudden, Facebook won’t let you send money to anybody? What do you do about it?
Or would this give Facebook too much “soft power,” a consideration you raise in the book?
Birch:I personally feel that money is so important that it has to be under democratic control. Now, that’s not the same thing as saying that money has to be run by thegovernment, because I don’t think I agree with that. But I do think money should be under democratic control. I’m sure you must get into this argument all the time with the bitcoin maximalists.
Can you elaborate? Why is democratic control so important?
Birch:Well, why don’t you get one of the bitcoin guys to write an article which explains to me how you would respond to the COVID-19 pandemic? I mean, I’ve seen them on Twitter, and they’re like, “Well, it just means the people who didn’t save money will go to the wall.” This is teenage. It really is. It’s angry white male West Coast teenage pseudo-libertarianism.
In the book you talk about “very smart money,” which could involve not only cryptography but biometrics. How do you envision this?
Birch:So smart money is money that has apps, right? Very smart money is money that has coordinated apps that function to the benefit of all of the stakeholders. Here’s an example that I tried to use in the book. Suppose you have digital currency that’s effectively anonymous, right? Like with z-cash, it can be either anonymous or non-anonymous. So I can send money to you anonymously. But if I send money to you anonymously, then when you receive the money, there’s an automatic 20% withholding tax which goes to the government to compensate for criminality and money laundering, or that sort of thing.
See also:Chris Giancarlo – Don’t Rush Digital Dollar During COVID-19 Crisis
The libertarians would love that! What’s another example?
Birch:You could imagine money where, if both of us are behaving ourselves, then everything is anonymous. But if one of us does something wrong — like I steal your money and run away with it — then you can unblind the transactions. You can break the glass, basically.
Interesting.
Birch:I’ve always thought that the smart contract layer will be where the real innovation would come from, and I do still believe that. But now I’ve started to think, well, if those smart contracts were kind of coordinated and organized, then you could make money that’s really smart. Not money that just has simple triggers, simple little apps. What if I introduced an Islamic money? And the Islamic money can never be used buy alcohol, for example? A lot of people would prefer to use that kind of money, right?
Or a parent who gives an allowance to a kid that can’t be used to buy R-rated movies or whatever. That gets into money as censorship, and an Orwellian dark side pretty quickly…
Birch: If the tools are there, people who are much cleverer than me will come up with some amazing applications, I’m sure.
You’re a big proponent of having LOTS of currencies. What’s the benefit of this?
Birch:If you only have one currency, and something goes wrong with it — like inflation — then you’re stuck, right? But if there’s lots of currencies and those currencies are constantly competing to deliver what society wants, if one of them goes away, it doesn’t really matter.
It’s the old argument that goes back to the idea of the IBM dollar. If I want to send you IBM stock, it has to go through all sorts of intermediaries, clearings, settlements, T+3 [trade date plus three days] and everything else, right? But if I send you IBM money, the money goes from me to you, end of story. So it makes for a much cheaper infrastructure.
So instead of having one kind of money and using it to buy different kinds of securities, you’d have lots of different kinds of money. And people say, “Well, that would be really complicated to manage,” but that’s because they’re thinking of doing it themselves. In reality, you wouldn’t be doing it yourself because it’s very smart money. The AI in your phone will take care of it for you. Money that’s designed for devices can be much smarter than money designed for people.
What do you want people to take away from the book? What’s the core idea?
Birch:Three things, really. First of all, to stop thinking about digital currency as some kind of nerd cryptographer/bitcoin nutter thing. It’s a real thing and it needs to be taken seriously.
Two, to develop a strategy for digital currency. Obviously, my strategy would be for the Bank of England to create a fantastic digital currency. I’m sure Michael [Casey] and other people’s strategies might be for some private companies to create a fantastic digital currency. For other people, it might be for the U.S. to create a fantastic digital currency. I’m not smart enough to know which should be the best strategy, but I’m smart enough to know there should be a strategy.
And the third thing?
That they should pay me enormous sums of money to come and talk about it in conferences, should there ever be conferences again in the rest of my lifetime.
David Birch will be appearing at virtualConsensus DistributedMay 11 at 9 a.m. ET.
• Bitcoin in Emerging Markets: The Middle East
• Why the Dollar Has Never Been Stronger or More Set Up to Fail || The Man Who Forecast a Currency Cold War: Many of the impacts of COVID-19 are easy to grasp. Every day we see the gutting news: the rising body count, the millions of unemployed, the makeshift morgues in public parks. We grieve for those we have lost. We worry about those who are vulnerable. We’re sick of staying at home. We miss restaurants and pubs. And then there are the second-, third- and fourth-order impacts. These are tougher to spot. In the blizzard of news from the U.S. emergency stimulus package, for example, it was easy to overlook a fairly shocking proposal from the House of Representatives: that the COVID-19 relief money (aka the $1,200 checks) could be digitally zapped to Americans instead of going through traditional banks. As CoinDesk’s own Michael Casey writes in the forward to “ The Currency Cold War , “the “half-baked proposal was subsequently removed, but it marked a dramatic widening in the Overton window of what is open to discussion. A digital dollar is now on the table.” Meanwhile, in another corner of this emerging conflict, libra looms large. And China gets ready to launch its central bank digital currency (known as the DCEP). Related: 4 Ways COVID-19 Will Bring Banks and Regulators to Crypto The upshot? COVID-19 could ignite something of a digital currency war. See also: Money Reimagined: As Tech, Politics and COVID-19 Collide, a Global Reset Looms Good thing someone just wrote a book about that exact possibility. Fintech guru David Birch, a consultant and prolific speaker on the blockchain conference circuit, wrote “The Currency Cold War: Cash and Cryptography, Hash Rates and Hegemony,” just in time for our global pandemic. He nailed the timing. For years Birch had his own pet theories about a clash of digital currencies. But “that was just me, just some guy talking about it,” he tells me in his British accent, which seems always on the verge of a sly joke. “And who cares, you know?” Then came Jackson Hole. Related: Marketing Ethereum 2.0 and Herding Cats With Hudson Jameson Story continues In the fall of 2019, at a Jackson Hole, Wy., event Birch describes as a “Burning Man for people who run central banks,” the Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, said that perhaps it was time for some form of “synthetic hegemonic currency” to deal with what he called the “destabilizing dominance” of the U.S. dollar. This comment seemed to galvanize Birch. “The Governor of the Bank of England is emphatically not just some guy,” Birch says. He realized the Currency Cold War was not just his own pet theory – it was imminent. It might already be happening. And it has consequences. Which currency would society choose? Would it be one or many? It’s crazy. What the f— are they doing mailing out checks to people? “Which digital currency?” Birch writes in “The Currency Cold War.” “Will we really be choosing between the Federal Reserve and Microsoft (between dollar bills and Bill’s dollars)? Between Facebook’s Libra and China’s Digital Currency/Electronic Payment (DCEP) system? Between spendable drawing rights (SDRs) and Kardashian kash?” Regular readers of CoinDesk, of course, already know cryptocurrencies could compete with traditional fiat. That idea is not new. Birch takes the next logical step by asking, effectively, what happens when the rubber hits the road? Let’s pretend we get a Facebook libra or a digital yuan. How would that change the world order? What would that mean to a farmer in Africa, or what would it mean for the United States’ ability to throw around its muscle? In the book, Birch frames the hypothetical conflict of a digital yuan vs. Facebook libra as “Red vs. Blue,” in a cheeky nod to the cult videos inspired by Halo. (Birch even asked the publisher if they could call the book “Red vs. Blue,” and they politely told him he was crazy.) Red vs. Blue? Crypto vs. Fiat? Public vs. Private? On a quarantine-Zoom call a few weeks before appearing at Consensus Distributed on May 11 at 9 a.m. ET, Birch explains why the currency Cold War matters, how it impacts global “soft power,” and why you might see things like IBM Money…or an Islamic Money that cannot be used to buy alcohol. CoinDesk: Your book seems incredibly prescient. How does COVID-19 impact a potential digital currency war? David Birch: I wouldn’t have wished it this way, obviously, but yeah, COVID-19 might have done me a bit of a favor. You must admit that to somebody outside of the U.S., the idea that government stimulus money will arrive in the form of checks being mailed in the post to people seems odd. This is like having an economic stimulus for the Little House on the F–ing Prairie. It’s crazy. What the f— are they doing mailing out checks to people? So the idea that the government could provide a stimulus just by sending money directly into people’s wallets — not even into their bank accounts, but directly into their wallets — that’s really interesting. That might well provide an incredible stimulus to digital currency that none of us saw coming. See also: How a Flurry of ‘Digital Dollar’ Proposals Made It to Congress In the book you consider the possibility of the U.S. dollar losing its dominance. What are the implications? Birch: I think you need to divide it into two categories. So there’s what does it mean in financial terms? And of course, America’s ability to denominate its own debt translates into a tremendous fiscal advantage. So if America couldn’t do that, it couldn’t just print its way out of problems. This is what General [Charles] de Gaulle rather famously referred to as America’s “exorbitant privilege.” And that has implications for trade. But I think what’s more interesting are the non-financial implications. Such as? Birch: America’s ability to exercise soft power. I stress that I’m not making a political point. But for example, do you remember a few months ago, America threatened to cut Turkey off? I can’t even remember what the dispute was about… Who can? There were 17 crises between now and then! [Editor’s note: This would be the U.S. threatening to cut Turkey from an F-35 stealth fighter jet program.] Birch: Yeah, a lifetime of crises ago. But the point is that if I’m some country, and America says you have to do something I don’t particularly want to do, I have to do it because otherwise I can no longer buy imports and I get cut off from the global financial system. But what if there was something that was a bit like money but it just wasn’t run by the Americans? Or let’s say you’re a country in Africa. You sell most of your oil to China, so you decide to price your oil in yuan. You sell your oil in digital yuan. The U.S. Treasury wants to sanction you for doing something, what do you care? You don’t use their stupid dollars anymore. None of your money goes through the New York money central banks, so what do you care? There are several countries, I’m sure, that actively would like that to happen. How could this impact an average person? Birch: Let’s say you’re a farmer in Africa. And you’re buying tractors and things from China, and you’re buying fertilizer from China, and you’re supplying food to Chinese companies that are building ports and whatever else things companies do. You’ve got the choice between getting paid in your local currency, which you may not be too happy about because it may be a little volatile — it may be depreciating or it may have currency controls attached to it. Or you could get paid in U.S. dollars, except you’re not allowed to have a U.S. dollar bank account. And even if you did have a U.S. dollar bank account, when you decide to send some money to your cousin in Afghanistan you can’t, because it gets blocked by the U.S. Treasury. Or maybe you have a wallet on your phone where you can store your Chinese digital currency. Given those choices, I can understand why a great many people, particularly along China’s emerging Belt and Road , I can see why some of those people would make that choice. I’m sure you can, too. I personally feel that money is so important that it has to be under democratic control. In the book you talk about “Red vs. Blue,” and I totally got the Halo reference, by the way. Birch: It was Halo, yeah! [Laughs.] I thought it was hilarious but no one knew what I was talking about. I’m so old. It fell completely flat. I wanted to call the book “Red vs. Blue,” but my publisher, who knows a lot more about selling books than I do, said, “It’s absolutely meaningless. No one will know what you’re talking about.” So what does Red vs. Blue mean, outside of Halo? Birch: It’s the difference between private and public. So if I take Facebucks, which is what I always call them… I think it’s a much better name [than libra]. How come I know more about marketing than Mark Zuckerberg? I don’t get it. If I take Facebucks, I take Facebucks because I think other people are going to take Facebucks. That’s how money works. And there could be 2.5 billion people around the world who are perfectly happy to accept Facebucks. Zuckerberg said his vision was that sending money would be just as easy as sending a photo. Well, if that were true, if that vision was realized, that would be great, right? I mean, everyone would use that, wouldn’t they? So is that a bad thing? Well, you know, if you run a government and you want to have some control over things, you’d probably think that was a bad thing, right? I can see it argued either way… Birch: Now, if I’m the government, actually, I might be okay with that as long as certain criteria are met, like [know-your-customer]. But I can’t help but feeling… even if Facebook did that, I mean, would you have your salary paid in Facebook money? Right. Birch: Or If you get chucked out of Facebook, who’s the ombudsman you call? You see people all the time get banned from Twitter and they can’t figure out why. What would happen with Facebucks? Like, what happens if you wake up one morning and, all of a sudden, Facebook won’t let you send money to anybody? What do you do about it? Or would this give Facebook too much “soft power,” a consideration you raise in the book? Birch: I personally feel that money is so important that it has to be under democratic control. Now, that’s not the same thing as saying that money has to be run by the government , because I don’t think I agree with that. But I do think money should be under democratic control. I’m sure you must get into this argument all the time with the bitcoin maximalists. Can you elaborate? Why is democratic control so important? Birch: Well, why don’t you get one of the bitcoin guys to write an article which explains to me how you would respond to the COVID-19 pandemic? I mean, I’ve seen them on Twitter, and they’re like, “Well, it just means the people who didn’t save money will go to the wall.” This is teenage. It really is. It’s angry white male West Coast teenage pseudo-libertarianism. In the book you talk about “very smart money,” which could involve not only cryptography but biometrics. How do you envision this? Birch: So smart money is money that has apps, right? Very smart money is money that has coordinated apps that function to the benefit of all of the stakeholders. Here’s an example that I tried to use in the book. Suppose you have digital currency that’s effectively anonymous, right? Like with z-cash, it can be either anonymous or non-anonymous. So I can send money to you anonymously. But if I send money to you anonymously, then when you receive the money, there’s an automatic 20% withholding tax which goes to the government to compensate for criminality and money laundering, or that sort of thing. See also: Chris Giancarlo – Don’t Rush Digital Dollar During COVID-19 Crisis The libertarians would love that! What’s another example? Birch: You could imagine money where, if both of us are behaving ourselves, then everything is anonymous. But if one of us does something wrong — like I steal your money and run away with it — then you can unblind the transactions. You can break the glass, basically. Interesting. Birch: I’ve always thought that the smart contract layer will be where the real innovation would come from, and I do still believe that. But now I’ve started to think, well, if those smart contracts were kind of coordinated and organized, then you could make money that’s really smart. Not money that just has simple triggers, simple little apps. What if I introduced an Islamic money? And the Islamic money can never be used buy alcohol, for example? A lot of people would prefer to use that kind of money, right? Or a parent who gives an allowance to a kid that can’t be used to buy R-rated movies or whatever. That gets into money as censorship, and an Orwellian dark side pretty quickly… Birch : If the tools are there, people who are much cleverer than me will come up with some amazing applications, I’m sure. You’re a big proponent of having LOTS of currencies. What’s the benefit of this? Birch: If you only have one currency, and something goes wrong with it — like inflation — then you’re stuck, right? But if there’s lots of currencies and those currencies are constantly competing to deliver what society wants, if one of them goes away, it doesn’t really matter. It’s the old argument that goes back to the idea of the IBM dollar. If I want to send you IBM stock, it has to go through all sorts of intermediaries, clearings, settlements, T+3 [trade date plus three days] and everything else, right? But if I send you IBM money, the money goes from me to you, end of story. So it makes for a much cheaper infrastructure. So instead of having one kind of money and using it to buy different kinds of securities, you’d have lots of different kinds of money. And people say, “Well, that would be really complicated to manage,” but that’s because they’re thinking of doing it themselves. In reality, you wouldn’t be doing it yourself because it’s very smart money. The AI in your phone will take care of it for you. Money that’s designed for devices can be much smarter than money designed for people. What do you want people to take away from the book? What’s the core idea? Birch: Three things, really. First of all, to stop thinking about digital currency as some kind of nerd cryptographer/bitcoin nutter thing. It’s a real thing and it needs to be taken seriously. Two, to develop a strategy for digital currency. Obviously, my strategy would be for the Bank of England to create a fantastic digital currency. I’m sure Michael [Casey] and other people’s strategies might be for some private companies to create a fantastic digital currency. For other people, it might be for the U.S. to create a fantastic digital currency. I’m not smart enough to know which should be the best strategy, but I’m smart enough to know there should be a strategy. And the third thing? That they should pay me enormous sums of money to come and talk about it in conferences, should there ever be conferences again in the rest of my lifetime. David Birch will be appearing at virtual Consensus Distributed May 11 at 9 a.m. ET. Related Stories Bitcoin in Emerging Markets: The Middle East Why the Dollar Has Never Been Stronger or More Set Up to Fail || Bitcoin sell-off looms ahead of block reward halving: The highly-anticipated Bitcoin halving is just one week away leaving traders and investors undecided on whether it will break out above $10,000 or suffer a correction back down to around $5,900. The indecision has been reflected in the past week of price action with Bitcoin struggling to close daily candles above $9,000 while remaining firm consistently closing above $8,600. The Bitcoin halving is undeniably a bullish event. However, if you look at previous block reward halving events price always seems to correct in the months following the halving before picking itself back up later on in the year. In 2016 Bitcoin suffered a 30% sell-off after the halving before taking a year to begin its rally to a new all-time high. During an event like this it is important to factor in three variables; the fundamental impact of the halving on Bitcoins supply, the worryingly bullish sentiment and the technical aspect of Bitcoins chart. The former is common knowledge, if you cut the supply of any asset in half price will eventually rise if demand remains the same. The second point can be perceived in a few different ways, when investors are overly bullish and optimistic about an asset price action often goes the other way in order to cause the maximum amount of pain. But it can also have a positive impact on price action if the positive sentiment brings in more investors to a point where there are far more buyers than sellers, which would cause the price to rise. From a technical standpoint Bitcoin needs to break above $9,600 to confirm a bullish breakout, this would bring around initial targets of $10,300 and $10,550, although it could go far higher as the diagonal trendline would be broken for the first time since it began in 2017. However, if Bitcoin begins to sell off as it has done on each touch of $9,200 it could cause a cascade of sells and liquidations of long positions, which brings price targets of $7,800 and $5,900 into the frame. For more news, guides and cryptocurrency analysis, click here . || Bitcoin sell-off looms ahead of block reward halving: The highly-anticipated Bitcoin halving is just one week away leaving traders and investors undecided on whether it will break out above $10,000 or suffer a correction back down to around $5,900. The indecision has been reflected in the past week of price action with Bitcoin struggling to close daily candles above $9,000 while remaining firm consistently closing above $8,600. The Bitcoin halving is undeniably a bullish event. However, if you look at previous block reward halving events price always seems to correct in the months following the halving before picking itself back up later on in the year. In 2016 Bitcoin suffered a 30% sell-off after the halving before taking a year to begin its rally to a new all-time high. During an event like this it is important to factor in three variables; the fundamental impact of the halving on Bitcoins supply, the worryingly bullish sentiment and the technical aspect of Bitcoins chart. The former is common knowledge, if you cut the supply of any asset in half price will eventually rise if demand remains the same. The second point can be perceived in a few different ways, when investors are overly bullish and optimistic about an asset price action often goes the other way in order to cause the maximum amount of pain. But it can also have a positive impact on price action if the positive sentiment brings in more investors to a point where there are far more buyers than sellers, which would cause the price to rise. From a technical standpoint Bitcoin needs to break above $9,600 to confirm a bullish breakout, this would bring around initial targets of $10,300 and $10,550, although it could go far higher as the diagonal trendline would be broken for the first time since it began in 2017. However, if Bitcoin begins to sell off as it has done on each touch of $9,200 it could cause a cascade of sells and liquidations of long positions, which brings price targets of $7,800 and $5,900 into the frame. For more news, guides and cryptocurrency analysis, click here . || Bitcoin sell-off looms ahead of block reward halving: The highly-anticipated Bitcoin halving is just one week away leaving traders and investors undecided on whether it will break out above $10,000 or suffer a correction back down to around $5,900. The indecision has been reflected in the past week of price action with Bitcoin struggling to close daily candles above $9,000 while remaining firm consistently closing above $8,600. The Bitcoin halving is undeniably a bullish event. However, if you look at previous block reward halving events price always seems to correct in the months following the halving before picking itself back up later on in the year. In 2016 Bitcoin suffered a 30% sell-off after the halving before taking a year to begin its rally to a new all-time high. During an event like this it is important to factor in three variables; the fundamental impact of the halving on Bitcoins supply, the worryingly bullish sentiment and the technical aspect of Bitcoins chart. The former is common knowledge, if you cut the supply of any asset in half price will eventually rise if demand remains the same. The second point can be perceived in a few different ways, when investors are overly bullish and optimistic about an asset price action often goes the other way in order to cause the maximum amount of pain. But it can also have a positive impact on price action if the positive sentiment brings in more investors to a point where there are far more buyers than sellers, which would cause the price to rise. From a technical standpoint Bitcoin needs to break above $9,600 to confirm a bullish breakout, this would bring around initial targets of $10,300 and $10,550, although it could go far higher as the diagonal trendline would be broken for the first time since it began in 2017. However, if Bitcoin begins to sell off as it has done on each touch of $9,200 it could cause a cascade of sells and liquidations of long positions, which brings price targets of $7,800 and $5,900 into the frame. For more news, guides and cryptocurrency analysis, click here . || IBM Teams With 3 European Power Grids to Build Green Energy Blockchain Platform: IBM has created a blockchain consortium with three of Europe’s electricity grid operators to help smooth the transition to renewable sources of energy.
It’s an important step in the direction of decentralizing and democratizing the way power is consumed, which is essential if nations are toreach 2050 carbon-reduction goals.
The newEquigyplatform is backed by TenneT, a grid provider covering Netherlands and part of Germany; Terna covering Italy; and Swissgrid covering Switzerland. Blockchain tech is employed as an accounting system so that consumers charging their electric vehicles (EV) or using home batteries can interact with the three transmission system operators (TSOs).
Related:Blockchain Bites: Hyperledger Makes Inroads, Bitcoin Gets ‘Harder’ and Buffett’s Not ‘Halving’ It
Read more:Why Tech-Minded Climate Groups See COVID-19 as a Trial Run for Massive Change
Stepping back, one of the challenges with renewable energy sources like wind or solar is that power production is no longer as predictable as it is with coal- or gas-fired plants, which can be ramped up at will.
The problem of green energy fluctuation can be addressed by consumers, many of whom are steadily shifting their transportation needs onto the electricity grid (oil is becoming astranded assetin front of our very eyes). By opting to temporarily stop charging an EV, for instance, the efforts of individual users aggregated together can spare the grid megawatts of power.
A blockchain, in this case the Linux-affiliated Hyperledger Fabric protocol favored by Big Blue, operates as a trusted backbone to share charging data between consumers, aggregators and TSOs, which Equigy officials say will help create a unified system across borders.
Related:IBM, Mastercard Join Digital Identity Project Building ‘Ecosystems of Trust’
“We can make the cause of the problem, which are all these renewable assets and people using EVs, also the solution,” said Leo Dijkstra of IBM’s Energy, Environment & Utilities unit. “If they can scale together then it’s possible to participate in the market for flexible power.”
For example, 100 EVs charging at 10 kilowatts equals a megawatt of flexible power, which is typically the smallest increment traded on flexible power markets, said Dijkstra. By aggregating the steadily growing number of EVs on the road, it becomes possible to equal the impact of big players in that market.
“The flexible power market is typically where large companies play, either with power plants or large industrial installations, not somewhere you and I can participate with our own assets,” said Dijkstra. “But we saw the blockchain as a means to make the system trusted and democratized, so that domestic appliances can participate and be trusted by the TSO.”
Read more:Hyperledger Conference Shows Where Blockchain Can Fight Global Warming
Irene Adamski, co-chair of the energy working group at theInternational Association of Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA), said the Equigy initiative showed lots of “promising signs,” and that something like this proposal has been brewing in the energy space for the past three years.
Having powerhouses such as TenneT, Swissgrid and Terna is sensible when seeking to solve energy transition challenges for all of Europe, said Adamski, formerly of the Energy Web Foundation and currently a blockchain adviser to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
“Should the Equigy pilot project succeed, the heavily integrated area of Netherlands-Germany-Switzerland-Italy is an excellent jump-off point to expand across the continent,” she said. “The possible addition of Denmark, one of the countries with the largest amount of renewable energy in the mix, would make the entire thing rock solid.”
Electric-car makers are especially interested, said IBM’s Dijkstra, because consumers, by participating in such schemes, could see the total cost of EV ownership reduced.
Looking ahead, the next step is to enable EVs to discharge power into the grid. This will require cars and connection points to be enabled, but it’s all on the roadmap, said Dijkstra, pointing to Equigy case studies involvingBMWandNissan.
Read more:GM, BMW Back Blockchain Data Sharing for Self-Driving Cars
Francisco Carranza, managing director of Nissan Energy, said he was pleased to see this platform rapidly scaling across Europe through the TSO collaboration of TenneT, Swissgrid and Terna.
“Most importantly, the system ensures that the electric vehicle owners are in full control and manage their energy storage or utilization. This enables balance of the grid efficiently and in the most profitable way,” he said in a statement.
The Equigy pilot, which is the fruit of a number of proofs-of-concept, will run until the end of the year.
Dijkstra explained that since TSOs are responsible for facilitating regulated processes, the consortium is initiated by Terna, Swissgrid and TenneT, whereas other firms such as carmakers cooperate as project partners.
The big challenge with all this is getting pioneering technology to integrate with legacy systems and architecture, as opposed to merely showcasing standalone proofs-of-concept, said Adamski.
In her role as co-chair of INATBA’s energy group, Adamski saysincremental changes via sandboxes and blockchain projects are better suitedto addressing the problem than a single, heavily funded attempt at an overhaul.
“From the DLT ecosystem perspective, it will also be interesting to see what technological approach they [Equigy] intend to take and which code base they plan to use,” she said.
Another essential piece of the puzzle is getting regulators to collaborate in the decentralization of the existing system.
“A lot of the proposed market roles, data exchange mechanisms and liability questions are so new that the existing legal frameworks do not cover them sufficiently,” Adamski said.
• IBM, Merck Declare FDA-Backed Drug Tracing Blockchain a Success
• Enterprise Blockchains: Walled Off Yet Vulnerable
[Social Media Buzz]
None available.
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9951.52, 9842.67, 9593.90, 8756.43, 8601.80, 8804.48, 9269.99, 9733.72, 9328.20, 9377.01
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 278.98, 275.83, 277.22, 276.05, 288.28, 288.70, 292.69, 293.62, 294.43, 289.59, 287.72, 284.65, 281.60, 282.61, 281.23, 285.22, 281.88, 278.58, 279.58, 261.00, 265.08, 264.47, 270.39, 266.38, 264.08, 265.68, 261.55, 258.51, 257.98, 211.08, 226.68, 235.35, 232.57, 230.39, 228.17, 210.49, 221.61, 225.83, 224.77, 231.40, 229.78, 228.76, 230.06, 228.12, 229.28, 227.18, 230.30, 235.02, 239.84, 239.85, 243.61, 238.17, 238.48, 240.11, 235.23, 230.51, 230.64, 230.30, 229.09, 229.81, 232.98, 231.49, 231.21, 227.09, 230.62, 230.28, 234.53, 235.14, 234.34, 232.76, 239.14, 236.69, 236.06, 237.55, 237.29, 238.73, 238.26, 240.38, 246.06, 242.97, 242.30, 243.93, 244.94, 247.05, 245.31, 249.51, 251.99, 254.32, 262.87, 270.64.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2015-10-17]
Volume: 43199600, RSI (14-day): 80.99, 50-day EMA: 243.55, 200-day EMA: 250.67
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Is The Video Subscription Space Saturated?: The way consumers watch TV has changed drastically over the past few years as the popularity of Internet video sites like YouTube have skyrocketed. Dedicated streaming services like Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX ) and Hulu emerged and their warm reception from American viewers caused traditional broadcasters to rethink their own operations. Now, several big name networks have created their own online, subscription-based services in an effort to give customers more choices for web-based viewing. However, with so many fragmented viewing options out there, many are wondering if the space is starting to become crowded. The All Important Millennial The younger generation is increasingly switching to online viewing, a troublesome sign for traditional cable. Services like Netflix and Amazon offer a wide range of content geared toward that demographic and have become popular choices for Millennials who are cutting the cord. Related Link: Why Netflix's Initial Selloff Was "Correct" However, in an effort to maintain a youthful audience, firms like NBC Universal and CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS ) have launched their own subscription services with content aimed at younger viewers. Stiff Competition NBC Universal recently unveiled a new streaming offering called Seeso, which will focus on comedy programming. The firm has been working together with non-traditional media companies like BuzzFeed and Vox to attract younger viewers, but the firm will have to compete with a host of other networks that are all doing the same thing. Dish Network's Sling TV, CBS' All Access service and Time Warner's HBO Now are just some of the many online subscription services that Seeso will have to compete with. Cutting The Cord While online viewing is gaining popularity, most agree that at the present moment there is no good way to cut the cord completely. Subscribing to the many online services that have saturated the streaming space would typically cost more than paying a traditional cable bill, so most consumers are choosing one or two online services to enhance their programming. That makes it difficult for new entrants like Seeso as more established names like Netflix are often a top choice. Story continues Image Credit: By Taro the Shiba Inu [ CC BY 2.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons See more from Benzinga Virtual Reality Becomes An Actual Reality With New Oculus Headset Netflix Viewing Stats Reveal That All Shows Aren't Created Equally 21 Inc's Bitcoin Computer Seeks To Redefine The Internet © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Is The Video Subscription Space Saturated?: The way consumers watch TV has changed drastically over the past few years as the popularity of Internet video sites like YouTube have skyrocketed.
Dedicated streaming services likeNetflix, Inc.(NASDAQ:NFLX) and Hulu emerged and their warm reception from American viewers caused traditional broadcasters to rethink their own operations.
Now, several big name networks have created their own online, subscription-based services in an effort to give customers more choices for web-based viewing. However, with so many fragmented viewing options out there, many are wondering if the space is starting to become crowded.
The All Important Millennial
The younger generation is increasingly switching to online viewing, a troublesome sign for traditional cable. Services like Netflix and Amazon offer a wide range of content geared toward that demographic and have become popular choices for Millennials who are cutting the cord.
Related Link:Why Netflix's Initial Selloff Was "Correct"
However, in an effort to maintain a youthful audience, firms like NBC Universal andCBS Corporation(NYSE:CBS) have launched their own subscription services with content aimed at younger viewers.
Stiff Competition
NBC Universal recentlyunveileda new streaming offering called Seeso, which will focus on comedy programming. The firm has been working together with non-traditional media companies like BuzzFeed and Vox to attract younger viewers, but the firm will have to compete with a host of other networks that are all doing the same thing.
Dish Network's Sling TV, CBS' All Access service and Time Warner's HBO Now are just some of the many online subscription services that Seeso will have to compete with.
Cutting The Cord
While online viewing is gaining popularity, most agree that at the present moment there is no good way to cut the cord completely.
Subscribing to the many online services that have saturated the streaming space would typically cost more than paying a traditional cable bill, so most consumers are choosing one or two online services to enhance their programming. That makes it difficult for new entrants like Seeso as more established names like Netflix are often a top choice.
Image Credit: By Taro the Shiba Inu [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
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© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || October Treat: Junk Bonds and Gold ETFs Pop: The stock market rebound continued this week as the S&P 500 touched its highest level in nearly two months. TheSPDR S&P 500 (SPY | A-99)is now up 5.8 percent in October, a strong performance in a month that has historically been the second-worst of the year (after September).
Gold & Silver Miners Dominate Jump
On Monday, we highlighted thebest-performing exchange-traded funds of October. Those funds, comprising mostly copper and energy producers, are still doing well in the month.
However, a new group of ETFs have bullied their way into the top 10: gold and silver miners. In fact, precious-metals-related funds now make up six of the top 10 positions for October, as can be seen from the table below.
Top 10 ETF Of October
[{"Ticker": "SILJ", "Fund": "PureFunds ISE Junior Silver (Small Cap Miners/Explorers)", "Return (%)": "27.86"}, {"Ticker": "COPX", "Fund": "Global X Copper Miners", "Return (%)": "25.61"}, {"Ticker": "PLTM", "Fund": "First Trust ISE Global Platinum", "Return (%)": "25.30"}, {"Ticker": "CU", "Fund": "First Trust ISE Global Copper", "Return (%)": "25.23"}, {"Ticker": "SLVP", "Fund": "iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners", "Return (%)": "25.07"}, {"Ticker": "SGDM", "Fund": "Sprott Gold Miners", "Return (%)": "24.04"}, {"Ticker": "KWT", "Fund": "Market Vectors Solar Energy", "Return (%)": "23.29"}, {"Ticker": "RING", "Fund": "iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners", "Return (%)": "23.28"}, {"Ticker": "GDX", "Fund": "Market Vectors Gold Miners", "Return (%)": "22.60"}, {"Ticker": "SIL", "Fund": "Global X Silver Miners", "Return (%)": "22.41"}]
Considering the big jump in gold prices this month, the performance of these ETFs hasn't been surprising. The yellow metal hit the highest point since mid-June this week, leading theSPDR Gold Trust (GLD | A-100)to a gain of 5.7 percent in October.
Miners tend to be much more volatile than the underlying metal, which explains their significant outperformance. Yet even as these ETFs rally, investors haven't been too keen on buying into them.
None of the top 10 price performers saw significant inflows, and in fact, investors pulled out $429 million from theMarket Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX | C-79)during the first half of the month.
Investors Buying BondsWhile ETF investors haven't been too enthusiastic about miners, they did show interest in gold itself. So far this month, GLD has attracted $483 million in inflows, putting it just outside the top 10 inflows list for the month.
One salient theme that has emerged during October is the idea that the Federal Reserve will hold off on hiking interest rates this year due to global slowdown concerns and the recent string of weak U.S. economic data.
That's propelled gold higher, as well as bonds. In fact, bonds are the asset class that's attracted the most capital this month.
As can be seen from the table below, generated using theETF.com fund flows tool, a number of bond ETFs made the top 10 inflows list:
Source: ETF.com Fund Flows Tool
TheiShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF | A-51)was a big winner, with nearly $1 billion in inflows. To the extent that the Fed's overnight interest rate stays lower for longer, that puts pressure on the longer end of the yield curve as well (supporting bond prices).
Even more popular than IEF were corporate bond ETFs like the SPDR BarclaysHigh Yield Bond ETF (JNK | B-68)and theiShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD | A-77). In addition to support from low interest rates, corporate bonds benefited from speculation that defaults may not be as high as feared.
That's particularly true for the junk bond space, which was hammered in August and September, sending yields to their loftiest level since 2011. Investors may be seeing those yields as attractive now that the stock market has stabilized and the Fed looks to be on hold.
In addition to the bond ETFs, other funds that saw notable inflows were the tech-heavyPowerShares QQQ (QQQ | A-66)and the large-capiShares Russell 1000 Value (IWD | A-90).
In terms of sectors, investors liked theIndustrial Select SPDR (XLI | A-92)and theConsumer Discretionary Select SPDR (XLY | A-91).
Contact Sumit Roy [email protected].
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Permalink| © Copyright 2015ETF.com.All rights reserved || October Treat: Junk Bonds and Gold ETFs Pop: The stock market rebound continued this week as the S&P 500 touched its highest level in nearly two months. The SPDR S&P 500 (SPY | A-99) is now up 5.8 percent in October, a strong performance in a month that has historically been the second-worst of the year (after September). Gold & Silver Miners Dominate Jump On Monday, we highlighted the best-performing exchange-traded funds of October . Those funds, comprising mostly copper and energy producers, are still doing well in the month. However, a new group of ETFs have bullied their way into the top 10: gold and silver miners. In fact, precious-metals-related funds now make up six of the top 10 positions for October, as can be seen from the table below. Top 10 ETF Of October Ticker Fund Return (%) SILJ PureFunds ISE Junior Silver (Small Cap Miners/Explorers) 27.86 COPX Global X Copper Miners 25.61 PLTM First Trust ISE Global Platinum 25.30 CU First Trust ISE Global Copper 25.23 SLVP iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners 25.07 SGDM Sprott Gold Miners 24.04 KWT Market Vectors Solar Energy 23.29 RING iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners 23.28 GDX Market Vectors Gold Miners 22.60 SIL Global X Silver Miners 22.41 Considering the big jump in gold prices this month, the performance of these ETFs hasn't been surprising. The yellow metal hit the highest point since mid-June this week, leading the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD | A-100) to a gain of 5.7 percent in October. Miners tend to be much more volatile than the underlying metal, which explains their significant outperformance. Yet even as these ETFs rally, investors haven't been too keen on buying into them. None of the top 10 price performers saw significant inflows, and in fact, investors pulled out $429 million from the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX | C-79) during the first half of the month. Investors Buying Bonds While ETF investors haven't been too enthusiastic about miners, they did show interest in gold itself. So far this month, GLD has attracted $483 million in inflows, putting it just outside the top 10 inflows list for the month. Story continues One salient theme that has emerged during October is the idea that the Federal Reserve will hold off on hiking interest rates this year due to global slowdown concerns and the recent string of weak U.S. economic data. That's propelled gold higher, as well as bonds. In fact, bonds are the asset class that's attracted the most capital this month. As can be seen from the table below, generated using the ETF.com fund flows tool , a number of bond ETFs made the top 10 inflows list: Source: ETF.com Fund Flows Tool The iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF | A-51) was a big winner, with nearly $1 billion in inflows. To the extent that the Fed's overnight interest rate stays lower for longer, that puts pressure on the longer end of the yield curve as well (supporting bond prices). Even more popular than IEF were corporate bond ETFs like the SPDR Barclays High Yield Bond ETF (JNK | B-68) and the iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD | A-77) . In addition to support from low interest rates, corporate bonds benefited from speculation that defaults may not be as high as feared. That's particularly true for the junk bond space, which was hammered in August and September, sending yields to their loftiest level since 2011. Investors may be seeing those yields as attractive now that the stock market has stabilized and the Fed looks to be on hold. In addition to the bond ETFs, other funds that saw notable inflows were the tech-heavy PowerShares QQQ (QQQ | A-66) and the large-cap iShares Russell 1000 Value (IWD | A-90) . In terms of sectors, investors liked the Industrial Select SPDR (XLI | A-92) and the Consumer Discretionary Select SPDR (XLY | A-91) . Contact Sumit Roy at [email protected] . Recommended Stories Gundlach: Sell Junk Bonds, Buy India Bitcoin Rally Benefiting ETFs NatGas Investing Not For Faint Of Heart October Treat: Junk Bonds & Gold ETFs Pop Twitter Chatter Packed In New Index Permalink | © Copyright 2015 ETF.com. All rights reserved || Caribbean's Next Top Model Set for Season 2 Premiere: MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - Oct 15, 2015) - On October 19, young women from all over the Caribbean will begin chasing their dreams of success as career models, when the second season of Caribbean's Next Top Model (CNTM) makes its premiere on Flow TV. Cable and Wireless, which operates both the Flow and LIME brand, is the premium sponsor for the show's sophomore season, which will run for 11 episodes, starting on October 19.
The Caribbean reality show is based on the successful original production -- America's Next Top Model. This regional program follows the stories of young women seeking to launch a career in the competitive world of modelling, and is produced and presented by Wendy Fitzwilliam, a former Miss Universe, successful model and entrepreneur.
"We are extremely excited to be partnering with Wendy Fitzwilliam and her Caribbean's Next Top Model team," said John Reid, President of the C&W Communications, Consumer Group. "We are not just committed, but we are also proud to support Caribbean producers who generate quality local content for the region." Reid also noted that customers now have more options to access the exciting regional programme across multiple platforms, including their TV and other smart devices, where the mobile option was available. Customers in Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados, Cayman, and Curacao will also be able to access the show at their convenience using Flow's Video on Demand (VOD) feature. Aside from the many viewing options, Flow customers, will also be able to participate in other exciting promotions including weekly SMS competition to win a new iPad, tablet, or other great prizes.
Commenting on the partnership, Fitzwilliam said, "It is so refreshing when a corporate entity recognises the need for support and undertakes the responsibility of enabling the development of Caribbean talent and content -- Flow has definitely got it right. With Flow you get more -- CNTM's fans will get a wholesome entertainment experience, one that is as interactive and engaging as possible. With Flow's quad play technology, viewers can truly enjoy the upcoming season to the fullest extent."
Caribbean Next Top Model will be broadcast simultaneously on the Flow TV platform across the region on Monday nights from October 19 at 7:30 p.m. in Curacao, Jamaica, Cayman Islands and at 8:30 p.m. -- in Trinidad, Jamaica, Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, St. Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda and The Bahamas. As the season unfolds, each CNTM episode will first air on Flow TV and will then air on other stations, five days after the initial Flow airing.
Season Two of Caribbean's Next Top Model will premiere with a star-studded fashion event at the Betsy Hotel on South Beach, Miami on October 19.
About C&W Communications
Cable & Wireless Communications Plc (CWC) is a full service communications and entertainment provider, operating in the Caribbean and Latin America. With annual sales of over US$2.4 billion, it operates both mobile and fixed networks, supported by submarine and terrestrial optical fibre backhaul capacity. Through the acquisition of Columbus International Inc on 31 March 2015, C&W now delivers superior high-speed mobile data, broadband and TV/video services. It has leading market positions in Mobile, Fixed Line, Broadband and TV consumer offers.
Through its business division, C&W provides data centre hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customised IT service solutions, utilising cloud technology to serve business and government customers.
The company also operates a state-of-the-art subsea fibre optic cable network that spans more than 48,000 km -- the most extensive in the region -- as well as 38,000 km of terrestrial fibre providing wholesale and carrier backhaul capacity and a growing suite of wholesale managed services.
C&W has more than 7,500 employees serving over 6 million customers (Mobile 3.8m; Fixed Line 1.1m; Video 460k and Broadband 665k) as well as over 125k corporate clients and 225 wholesale customers across 42 countries. The Company's leading brands include: LIME and Flow in the Caribbean; BTC in The Bahamas; Mas Movil in Panama; C&W Business and C&W Networks. C&W is the market leader in most products offered and territories served. It is a major contributor to local communities through its corporate social responsibility programs.
Cable & Wireless Communications' shares are quoted on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker CWC. The company is headquartered in London with its operational hub located in Miami, within close proximity to the Caribbean and Latin America. For more information visit:www.cwc.com. || Caribbean's Next Top Model Set for Season 2 Premiere: MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - Oct 15, 2015) - On October 19, young women from all over the Caribbean will begin chasing their dreams of success as career models, when the second season of Caribbean's Next Top Model (CNTM) makes its premiere on Flow TV. Cable and Wireless, which operates both the Flow and LIME brand, is the premium sponsor for the show's sophomore season, which will run for 11 episodes, starting on October 19. The Caribbean reality show is based on the successful original production -- America's Next Top Model. This regional program follows the stories of young women seeking to launch a career in the competitive world of modelling, and is produced and presented by Wendy Fitzwilliam, a former Miss Universe, successful model and entrepreneur. "We are extremely excited to be partnering with Wendy Fitzwilliam and her Caribbean's Next Top Model team," said John Reid, President of the C&W Communications, Consumer Group. "We are not just committed, but we are also proud to support Caribbean producers who generate quality local content for the region." Reid also noted that customers now have more options to access the exciting regional programme across multiple platforms, including their TV and other smart devices, where the mobile option was available. Customers in Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados, Cayman, and Curacao will also be able to access the show at their convenience using Flow's Video on Demand (VOD) feature. Aside from the many viewing options, Flow customers, will also be able to participate in other exciting promotions including weekly SMS competition to win a new iPad, tablet, or other great prizes. Commenting on the partnership, Fitzwilliam said, "It is so refreshing when a corporate entity recognises the need for support and undertakes the responsibility of enabling the development of Caribbean talent and content -- Flow has definitely got it right. With Flow you get more -- CNTM's fans will get a wholesome entertainment experience, one that is as interactive and engaging as possible. With Flow's quad play technology, viewers can truly enjoy the upcoming season to the fullest extent." Story continues Caribbean Next Top Model will be broadcast simultaneously on the Flow TV platform across the region on Monday nights from October 19 at 7:30 p.m. in Curacao, Jamaica, Cayman Islands and at 8:30 p.m. -- in Trinidad, Jamaica, Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, St. Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda and The Bahamas. As the season unfolds, each CNTM episode will first air on Flow TV and will then air on other stations, five days after the initial Flow airing. Season Two of Caribbean's Next Top Model will premiere with a star-studded fashion event at the Betsy Hotel on South Beach, Miami on October 19. About C&W Communications Cable & Wireless Communications Plc (CWC) is a full service communications and entertainment provider, operating in the Caribbean and Latin America. With annual sales of over US$2.4 billion, it operates both mobile and fixed networks, supported by submarine and terrestrial optical fibre backhaul capacity. Through the acquisition of Columbus International Inc on 31 March 2015, C&W now delivers superior high-speed mobile data, broadband and TV/video services. It has leading market positions in Mobile, Fixed Line, Broadband and TV consumer offers. Through its business division, C&W provides data centre hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customised IT service solutions, utilising cloud technology to serve business and government customers. The company also operates a state-of-the-art subsea fibre optic cable network that spans more than 48,000 km -- the most extensive in the region -- as well as 38,000 km of terrestrial fibre providing wholesale and carrier backhaul capacity and a growing suite of wholesale managed services. C&W has more than 7,500 employees serving over 6 million customers (Mobile 3.8m; Fixed Line 1.1m; Video 460k and Broadband 665k) as well as over 125k corporate clients and 225 wholesale customers across 42 countries. The Company's leading brands include: LIME and Flow in the Caribbean; BTC in The Bahamas; Mas Movil in Panama; C&W Business and C&W Networks. C&W is the market leader in most products offered and territories served. It is a major contributor to local communities through its corporate social responsibility programs. Cable & Wireless Communications' shares are quoted on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker CWC. The company is headquartered in London with its operational hub located in Miami, within close proximity to the Caribbean and Latin America. For more information visit: www.cwc.com . || Barclays Partnership With Chainalysis Ushers In New Era For Fintech: On Wednesday, at the culmination of the Barclays Accelerator program, Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE: BCS ) announced a new partnership with startup Chainalysis. The partnership is seen as an opportunity with the potential to further open up the traditional finance sector to bitcoin firms. Bitcoin businesses have long found it difficult to engage with banks, as traditional finance has been wary of the risks that come with dealing in cryptocurrencies. However, with one of the UK's largest banks onboarding Chainalysis to its compliance department, many see a union between cryptocurrencies and traditional finance on the horizon. Mitigating Risks Barclays' partnership with Chainalysis is expected to help the bank better understand and cope with the risks of dealing with bitcoin firms. The startup is expected to work together with Barclays to find ways for firms within the cryptocurrency industry to meet traditional banks' strict compliance standards. Related Link: Blockstream To Launch Sidechain Worries about money laundering and illegal transactions have kept many banks from dealing with the industry, but Chainalysis says it has developed several products that make it easier for banks to perform checks on bitcoin customers. Mutual Benefit The partnership between Barclays and Chainalysis is a big step for both firms. For Barclays, working with Chainalysis gives the bank a leg up against competitors as the firm is able to stay on top of evolving trends in the finch space. Chainalysis has gained major exposure from the deal, and the company says it hopes other finance institutions will follow suit and use some of Chainalysis' products as the cryptocurrency space continues to grow. Image Credit: Public Domain See more from Benzinga AXA Interested In Bitcoin's Potential Barclays Becomes First Big U.K. Bank To Accept Bitcoin Emerging Market Shares Battered: Is It Time To Buy? © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Barclays Partnership With Chainalysis Ushers In New Era For Fintech: On Wednesday, at the culmination of the Barclays Accelerator program,Barclays PLC (ADR)(NYSE:BCS)announceda new partnership with startup Chainalysis.
The partnership is seen as an opportunity with the potential to further open up the traditional finance sector to bitcoin firms.
Bitcoin businesses have long found it difficult to engage with banks, as traditional finance has been wary of the risks that come with dealing in cryptocurrencies. However, with one of the UK's largest banks onboarding Chainalysis to its compliance department, many see a union between cryptocurrencies and traditional finance on the horizon.
Mitigating Risks
Barclays' partnership with Chainalysis is expected to help the bank better understand and cope with the risks of dealing with bitcoin firms.
The startup is expected to work together with Barclays to find ways for firms within the cryptocurrency industry to meet traditional banks' strict compliance standards.
Related Link:Blockstream To Launch Sidechain
Worries about money laundering and illegal transactions have kept many banks from dealing with the industry, but Chainalysis says it has developed several products that make it easier for banks to perform checks on bitcoin customers.
Mutual Benefit
The partnership between Barclays and Chainalysis is a big step for both firms. For Barclays, working with Chainalysis gives the bank a leg up against competitors as the firm is able to stay on top of evolving trends in the finch space.
Chainalysis has gained major exposure from the deal, and the company says it hopes other finance institutions will follow suit and use some of Chainalysis' products as the cryptocurrency space continues to grow.
Image Credit: Public Domain
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• AXA Interested In Bitcoin's Potential
• Barclays Becomes First Big U.K. Bank To Accept Bitcoin
• Emerging Market Shares Battered: Is It Time To Buy?
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Blockchain For Banks Could Be A Big Business: Cryptocurrencies have received a lot of attention over the past few years as more and more people took an interest in the technology. However, much of the buzz surrounding cryptocurrencies like bitcoin was negative after a spate of high profile scams and criminal cases involving the currency painted it as a tool for illicit activities. While bitcoin may never become a mainstream payment method, blockchain, the ledger-like technology that it runs on, has been touted as one of the most important developments of the decade. Related Link: Bitcoin May Be Flailing, But Blockchain Is On The Rise Banks On Board Traditional finance firms have been reluctant to embrace bitcoin as a currency, but blockchain is another story. Banks around the world including Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC ), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS ) and Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB ) have all taken an interest in blockchain , saying they could see the technology improving how they do business. Blockchain provides a secure way to facilitate transactions without involving a third party intermediary. Banks say this could be useful for everything from sending payments to setting up a smart contracts system. Implementing Blockchain While many banks are studying blockchain using task forces set up within their own company, several startups have emerged to help banks study the impact of blockchain on their operations. Blockstack, Eris Ltd and Coin Sciences are all private firms that offer companies blockchain solutions. They offer banks the ability to experiment with blockchain systems that meet their specific needs, rather than providing them with something that needs to be modified. See more from Benzinga Can Social Media Firms Compete With Amazon In The E-Commerce Space? Cyberweapons Replace Nuclear Threats In Global Arms Race Things Are Looking Brighter For Europe © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. View comments || Blockchain For Banks Could Be A Big Business: Cryptocurrencies have received a lot of attention over the past few years as more and more people took an interest in the technology. However, much of the buzz surrounding cryptocurrencies like bitcoin was negative after a spate of high profile scams and criminal cases involving the currency painted it as a tool for illicit activities.
While bitcoin may never become a mainstream payment method, blockchain, the ledger-like technology that it runs on, has been touted as one of the most important developments of the decade.
Related Link:Bitcoin May Be Flailing, But Blockchain Is On The Rise
Banks On Board
Traditional finance firms have been reluctant to embrace bitcoin as a currency, but blockchain is another story. Banks around the world includingBank of America Corp(NYSE:BAC),Morgan Stanley(NYSE:MS) andDeutsche Bank(NYSE:DB) have alltaken an interest in blockchain, saying they could see the technology improving how they do business. Blockchain provides a secure way to facilitate transactions without involving a third party intermediary. Banks say this could be useful for everything from sending payments to setting up a smart contracts system.
Implementing Blockchain
While many banks are studying blockchain using task forces set up within their own company, several startups have emerged to help banks study the impact of blockchain on their operations. Blockstack, Eris Ltd and Coin Sciences are all private firms that offer companies blockchain solutions. They offer banks the ability to experiment with blockchain systems that meet their specific needs, rather than providing them with something that needs to be modified.
See more from Benzinga
• Can Social Media Firms Compete With Amazon In The E-Commerce Space?
• Cyberweapons Replace Nuclear Threats In Global Arms Race
• Things Are Looking Brighter For Europe
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || MarilynJean Interactive (OTCQB: MJMI) Sets Its Sights on $24B Philippines Remittance Market: HENDERSON, NV / ACCESSWIRE / October 12, 2015 /MarilynJean Interactive (MJMI) today announced it has entered into advanced discussions with a provider of Bitcoin-based remittance services.
The potential remittance partner is a fully licensed money services business on the cutting edge of the remittance space, using Bitcoin to effect low cost transfers, primarily to the Philippines. With a well-established brand, multiple Bitcoin ATMs, solid financial partnerships in the Philippines, MJMI's management is excited about the potential synergies that could result from this relationship.
In 2014, according to Focus Economics, remittances to the Philippines hit a record high, exceeding USD 24 Billion, accounting for roughly 8.5% of that country's GDP. Those funds came primarily from overseas workers sending funds home to their families. Traditional remittance companies charge upwards of 8% fees on the total funds being sent, in addition to less than favorable exchange rates and taking up to 3 days to clear for pick up. Using Bitcoin, transfers can be effected in virtually real time at a fraction of the cost to the user. Funds can be sent directly to the recipient's bank account or made available for pick up at a partner location or even via a card-less ATM withdrawal.
In a Bitcoin based remittance transaction, an overseas worker would deliver funds to a remittance provider. This service provider would buy Bitcoin on behalf of the customer and then transfer the coins, paying less than 1% to do so, to the selling partner in the recipient country. The selling partner would then sell the Bitcoins and then transfer the funds to the final recipient. Because there is a price difference between the buying and selling of the Bitcoins, it is possible for the two transfer partners to profit sufficiently from the Bitcoin trade to offer the transfer service for a significantly lower fee than any traditional currency (known as FIAT) based remittance service.
Bitcoin therefore offers the potential to completely alter the landscape of worldwide money transfers.
The two companies share a vision on the massive opportunities in this space as well as on the future direction of expansion, namely servicing the remittance markets in Mexico and India. In addition, both companies agree that acquiring and operating a Bitcoin exchange would allow the partners to offer a seamless, end to end solution to customers. More sophisticated clients could eventually use their own Bitcoin wallets to move money through a jointly designed system, allowing them to effect transactions from their mobile phone through a licensed and trustworthy remittance system.
Peter Janosi, MJMI's president said: "We are very excited to be in advanced discussions with this potential remittance partner. They are at the forefront what we expect will be a massive shift in the way global remittances are effected. Their team shares our view that remittance fees are exorbitantly high and that current providers profit excessively by offering poor, often hidden, exchange rates. We believe that, in this area, Bitcoin has tremendous promise to disrupt a system that unfairly charges high rates to hard working people who have left their families to work overseas in hopes of providing them with a better life. We believe the growth potential in this sector is massive and that we are on the right track in terms of identifying the right partners who share our vision."
MJMI is in the business of providing safe and accessible services for the users of Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies.
MJMI is currently exploring partnerships with several existing Bitcoin and crypto-currency exchanges as well as manufacturers and operators of Bitcoin ATMs. Such a combination would place the company in an exciting position to offer an end to end solution for trading in various crypto-currencies and potentially capture a share of the lucrative markets of Bitcoin trading and remittance services, just as these markets appear poised to undergo massive growth.
About Bitcoin and Crypto-Currencies:
Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies are a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure transactions and control the creation of new units. Bitcoin became the first decentralized crypto-currency in 2009. Crypto-currency is produced at a rate which is defined when the system is created and publicly known. By contrast, in centralized banking and economic systems, such as the Federal Reserve System, corporate boards or governments control the supply of currency by printing units or demanding additions to digital banking ledgers. However, neither companies nor governments can produce units of crypto-currency and as such the value of crypto-currencies are completely based on supply and demand, free from any governmental control. Many people believe crypto-currencies, and in particular bitcoin, hold the promise of being the most significant advancement in global finance in modern history. The advent of bitcoin creates a secure, easily accessible and transferable transnational currency that is completely liberated from political influence.
Richard Branson, head of the Virgin Group, is quoted on his company's website as saying: "I have invested in Bitcoin because I believe in its potential, the capacity it has to transform global payments is very exciting."
Heavyweight investment bank Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), announced on April 30th 2015 that it had partnered with Chinese investment firm IDG Capital partners to invest $50 million in a Bitcoin start-up. Numerous high-profile firms have begun accepting Bitcoin as a payment method including: Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL), Dish Network Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH), Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE), and Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK).
MarilynJean Media Interactive is among the first publicly traded companies focused on bitcoin and the crypto-currency space. The company's trading symbol is (MJMI).
Website:http://www.marilynjean.com/
Press Contact:[email protected]
SOURCE:MarilynJean Interactive || MarilynJean Interactive (OTCQB: MJMI) Sets Its Sights on $24B Philippines Remittance Market: HENDERSON, NV / ACCESSWIRE / October 12, 2015 / MarilynJean Interactive ( MJMI ) today announced it has entered into advanced discussions with a provider of Bitcoin-based remittance services. The potential remittance partner is a fully licensed money services business on the cutting edge of the remittance space, using Bitcoin to effect low cost transfers, primarily to the Philippines. With a well-established brand, multiple Bitcoin ATMs, solid financial partnerships in the Philippines, MJMI's management is excited about the potential synergies that could result from this relationship. In 2014, according to Focus Economics, remittances to the Philippines hit a record high, exceeding USD 24 Billion, accounting for roughly 8.5% of that country's GDP. Those funds came primarily from overseas workers sending funds home to their families. Traditional remittance companies charge upwards of 8% fees on the total funds being sent, in addition to less than favorable exchange rates and taking up to 3 days to clear for pick up. Using Bitcoin, transfers can be effected in virtually real time at a fraction of the cost to the user. Funds can be sent directly to the recipient's bank account or made available for pick up at a partner location or even via a card-less ATM withdrawal. In a Bitcoin based remittance transaction, an overseas worker would deliver funds to a remittance provider. This service provider would buy Bitcoin on behalf of the customer and then transfer the coins, paying less than 1% to do so, to the selling partner in the recipient country. The selling partner would then sell the Bitcoins and then transfer the funds to the final recipient. Because there is a price difference between the buying and selling of the Bitcoins, it is possible for the two transfer partners to profit sufficiently from the Bitcoin trade to offer the transfer service for a significantly lower fee than any traditional currency (known as FIAT) based remittance service. Story continues Bitcoin therefore offers the potential to completely alter the landscape of worldwide money transfers. The two companies share a vision on the massive opportunities in this space as well as on the future direction of expansion, namely servicing the remittance markets in Mexico and India. In addition, both companies agree that acquiring and operating a Bitcoin exchange would allow the partners to offer a seamless, end to end solution to customers. More sophisticated clients could eventually use their own Bitcoin wallets to move money through a jointly designed system, allowing them to effect transactions from their mobile phone through a licensed and trustworthy remittance system. Peter Janosi, MJMI's president said: "We are very excited to be in advanced discussions with this potential remittance partner. They are at the forefront what we expect will be a massive shift in the way global remittances are effected. Their team shares our view that remittance fees are exorbitantly high and that current providers profit excessively by offering poor, often hidden, exchange rates. We believe that, in this area, Bitcoin has tremendous promise to disrupt a system that unfairly charges high rates to hard working people who have left their families to work overseas in hopes of providing them with a better life. We believe the growth potential in this sector is massive and that we are on the right track in terms of identifying the right partners who share our vision." MJMI is in the business of providing safe and accessible services for the users of Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies. MJMI is currently exploring partnerships with several existing Bitcoin and crypto-currency exchanges as well as manufacturers and operators of Bitcoin ATMs. Such a combination would place the company in an exciting position to offer an end to end solution for trading in various crypto-currencies and potentially capture a share of the lucrative markets of Bitcoin trading and remittance services, just as these markets appear poised to undergo massive growth. About Bitcoin and Crypto-Currencies: Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies are a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure transactions and control the creation of new units. Bitcoin became the first decentralized crypto-currency in 2009. Crypto-currency is produced at a rate which is defined when the system is created and publicly known. By contrast, in centralized banking and economic systems, such as the Federal Reserve System, corporate boards or governments control the supply of currency by printing units or demanding additions to digital banking ledgers. However, neither companies nor governments can produce units of crypto-currency and as such the value of crypto-currencies are completely based on supply and demand, free from any governmental control. Many people believe crypto-currencies, and in particular bitcoin, hold the promise of being the most significant advancement in global finance in modern history. The advent of bitcoin creates a secure, easily accessible and transferable transnational currency that is completely liberated from political influence. Richard Branson, head of the Virgin Group, is quoted on his company's website as saying: "I have invested in Bitcoin because I believe in its potential, the capacity it has to transform global payments is very exciting." Heavyweight investment bank Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), announced on April 30th 2015 that it had partnered with Chinese investment firm IDG Capital partners to invest $50 million in a Bitcoin start-up. Numerous high-profile firms have begun accepting Bitcoin as a payment method including: Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL), Dish Network Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH), Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE), and Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK). MarilynJean Media Interactive is among the first publicly traded companies focused on bitcoin and the crypto-currency space. The company's trading symbol is ( MJMI ). Website: http://www.marilynjean.com/ Press Contact: [email protected] SOURCE: MarilynJean Interactive
[Social Media Buzz]
In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 6 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $92.94 #bitcoin #btc || 1 #bitcoin = $4380.00 MXN | $266.68 USD #BitAPeso 1 USD = 16.42MXN http://www.bitapeso.com || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 12 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $153.41 #bitcoin #btc || One Bitcoin now worth $264.62@bitstamp. High $273.00. Low $259.31. Market Cap $ 0.000 Billion #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/e9H6Y5Vnem...
|
261.64, 263.44, 269.46, 266.27, 274.02, 276.50, 281.65, 283.68, 285.30, 293.79
|
Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 23783.03, 23241.35, 23735.95, 24664.79, 26437.04, 26272.29, 27084.81, 27362.44, 28840.95, 29001.72, 29374.15, 32127.27, 32782.02, 31971.91, 33992.43, 36824.36, 39371.04, 40797.61, 40254.55, 38356.44, 35566.66, 33922.96, 37316.36, 39187.33, 36825.37, 36178.14, 35791.28, 36630.07, 36069.80, 35547.75, 30825.70, 33005.76, 32067.64, 32289.38, 32366.39, 32569.85, 30432.55, 33466.10, 34316.39, 34269.52, 33114.36, 33537.18, 35510.29, 37472.09, 36926.07, 38144.31, 39266.01, 38903.44, 46196.46, 46481.11, 44918.18, 47909.33, 47504.85, 47105.52, 48717.29, 47945.06, 49199.87, 52149.01, 51679.80, 55888.13, 56099.52, 57539.95, 54207.32, 48824.43, 49705.33, 47093.85, 46339.76, 46188.45, 45137.77, 49631.24, 48378.99, 50538.24, 48561.17, 48927.30, 48912.38, 51206.69, 52246.52, 54824.12, 56008.55, 57805.12, 57332.09, 61243.09, 59302.32, 55907.20, 56804.90, 58870.89, 57858.92, 58346.65, 58313.64, 57523.42.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2021-03-21]
Volume: 51943414539, RSI (14-day): 58.88, 50-day EMA: 49674.65, 200-day EMA: 31949.34
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
They Aren’t Laughing at My Bold Cryptocurrency Prediction Anymore: I don’t know how closely you’ve followed bitcoin in recent months, but I’ve been all over it.
Source: Shutterstock
I’ve told anyone who will listen about it. I own it myself. And I’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching my cryptocurrency account balance go up … and up … and up.
One look at bitcoin’s price action over the last year tells you all you need to know.
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You can’t really top that, which brings me to the other reason I’ve been all over bitcoin’s spectacular run. It’s the old “I told you so.”
I first discussed bitcoin nearly seven years ago, and I did it on television. Everyone else on the show thought I was crazy.
And now? Not only is bitcoin up about9,500%since that day, but there are also more reasons than ever to own cryptocurrencies …
The date was July 1, 2014, and I remember it well. It was the first I discussed bitcoin’s explosive potential, and it was onFox Business.
I look a little younger then, but what the heck. Here’s the video if you want to see it …
I noted that “bitcoin is there for the taking … I’ve become a believer.”
The fact that it could become a global currency for the digital ageandact as a store of value — like digital gold — were the main reasons I saw big potential.
Those points are still true. But now, there are even more compelling reasons to own cryptocurrencies. The big money is flowing in from corporations and financial institutions. They are going mainstream. There are even bitcoin rewards credit cards.
And after the wholeGameStop(NYSE:GME) debacle in January, cryptos are also part of a financial revolution taking place. It’s a fascinating story, and one I will talk much more about in a special presentation calledThe Main Street Revolution EventnextWednesday, March 24, at 4 p.m. ET. (It’s free to attend … justclick here to register now.)
The key is the blockchain technology that cryptocurrencies are built on. It’s really the software of the 21st century. And even though the technology itself is complicated, the ongoing allure and massive potential in bitcoin and altcoins (smaller cryptocurrencies with even bigger potential) are really quite simple.
Blockchain is like a digital form of money that governments cannot control or debase … one we can transfer without a middleman, like a big bank, stepping in to take a cut or change the rules.
For those who don’t place much trust in government or big banks, bitcoin is a great idea.
Anyone who listened to me back in 2014 — when the price was still a mere $620 per coin — would have seen the value of their investment soar more than 9,000% to unthinkable highs.
Of course, there were sceptics back then trying to shoot down bitcoin’s massive potential. There still are today.
Back in late 2014, after I made my prediction onFox, Niall Ferguson, author of a book about the history of currency called “The Ascent of Money,” ignored his teenage son’s advice to buy bitcoin.
At the time, he later said that he believed there was no “… use for a form of currency based on blockchain technology.” Ferguson now considers that the worst investment decision he’s ever made.
The same year I made my prediction, American economist Nouriel Roubini called bitcoin a “Ponzi scheme” and a “conduit for criminal/illegal activities.”
In 2017, Jamie Dimon, CEO ofJPMorgan Chase(NYSE:JPM), famously called bitcoin a “fraud.” Then he reversed course. JPMorgan now has its own cryptocurrency called JPM Coin.
Over the last year, the top three cryptocurrencies by market cap —bitcoin, now worth over $1 trillion;Ethereum;andBinance Coin— have blown away the S&P 500. Bitcoin is up 947% in 12 months, while Ethereum has soared 1,492%. Binance Coin gained a massive 2,390%.
And I think things are about to get even bigger and better … which is exactly what I plan to talk about inThe Main Street Revolution Event.
Notice in just that short list how the two altcoins outperformed bitcoin. That’s true of other altcoins as well, and their potential moving forward is bigger than bitcoin’s.
I love bitcoin, but the real opportunity is in altcoins. They’re not really currenciesper se, but computer programs. As we’ll talk more about tomorrow, they are cutting-edge technologies that are beginning to disrupt major sectors of our financial system.
On the date of publication, Matthew McCall did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
Matthew McCall left Wall Street to actually help investors — by getting them into the world’s biggest, most revolutionary trends BEFORE anyone else.Click here to see what Matt has up his sleeve now.
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The postThey Arenât Laughing at My Bold Cryptocurrency Prediction Anymoreappeared first onInvestorPlace. || Coinbase Agrees To Pay $6.5M In Settlement With CFTC Over Deceptive Reporting, Wash Trading Charges: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Coinbase Inc. have come to a settlement over charges against the San Francisco-based digital currency exchange. What Happened : The commission on Friday ordered Coinbase to pay $6.5 million over charges of reckless false, misleading or inaccurate reporting, as well as wash trading by a former employee on Coinbase's GDAX platform. Coinbase agreed to the order in a settlement in which the company did not admit or deny wrongdoing, the CFTC said. The charges concerned practices that might have affected the appearance of liquidity in some cryptocurrencies. In the charge over misleading reporting, the commission singled out two automated trading programs run by Coinbase, Hedger and Replicator, saying the two "generated orders that at times matched with one another." Information published by Coinbase regarding these orders, used in price discovery, in turn may have given investors the wrong impression about the volume and level of liquidity of digital assets, including Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), the commission said. The orders were made between January 2015 and September 2018, the commission said. The commission said similar concerns were behind the other example it cited. The commission said a former Coinbase employee intentionally placed buy and sell orders for trades between Litecoin (CRYPTO: LTC) and Bitcoin on Coinbase's GDAX platform. This constituted wash trading and "created the misleading appearance of liquidity and trading interest in Litecoin," the CFTC said in a statement. Why It Matters : The action supports claims made by cryptocurrency-skeptics that wash trading and similar practices give an artificially inflated appearance of interest or activity in a given digital asset. The settlement also comes as the commission reportedly is investigating the major cryptocurrency exchange Binance. The CFTC has been wading into the crypto space because it considers cryptocurrencies to be commodities under its jurisdiction. Story continues Coinbase is planning to go public in an IPO that could see the company valued as much as $100 billion. See more from Benzinga Click here for options trades from Benzinga 3 Stocks To Go With Your National Corn Dog Day And March Madness Festivities Family Of Texas Roadhouse Founder And CEO Kent Taylor Says Death Was Result Of Suicide © 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Coinbase Agrees To Pay $6.5M In Settlement With CFTC Over Deceptive Reporting, Wash Trading Charges: The Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Coinbase Inc. have come to a settlement over charges against the San Francisco-based digital currency exchange.
What Happened: The commission on FridayorderedCoinbase to pay $6.5 million over charges of reckless false, misleading or inaccurate reporting, as well as wash trading by a former employee on Coinbase's GDAX platform.
Coinbase agreed to the order in a settlement in which the company did not admit or deny wrongdoing, the CFTC said.
The charges concerned practices that might have affected the appearance of liquidity in some cryptocurrencies.
In the charge over misleading reporting, the commission singled out two automated trading programs run by Coinbase, Hedger and Replicator, saying the two "generated orders that at times matched with one another." Information published by Coinbase regarding these orders, used in price discovery, in turn may have given investors the wrong impression about the volume and level of liquidity of digital assets, including Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), the commission said.
The orders were made between January 2015 and September 2018, the commission said.
The commission said similar concerns were behind the other example it cited. The commission said a former Coinbase employee intentionally placed buy and sell orders for trades between Litecoin (CRYPTO: LTC) and Bitcoin on Coinbase's GDAX platform.
This constituted wash trading and "created the misleading appearance of liquidity and trading interest in Litecoin," the CFTC said in a statement.
Why It Matters: The actionsupports claimsmade by cryptocurrency-skeptics that wash trading and similar practices give an artificially inflated appearance of interest or activity in a given digital asset.
The settlement also comes as the commissionreportedly is investigatingthe major cryptocurrency exchange Binance.
The CFTC has been wading into the crypto space because it considers cryptocurrencies to be commodities under its jurisdiction.
Coinbase isplanning to go publicin an IPO that could see the company valued as much as $100 billion.
See more from Benzinga
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© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Cathie Wood, Ark Funds Lay Out New $3,000 Price Target For Tesla Shares: What Investors Should Know: Ark Funds CEO and Co-Founder Cathie Wood joined Benzinga for the “ Raz Report” interview earlier this month. At that time, Wood promised a new price target was coming on Tesla from Ark. On Friday, it arrived. Ark Funds on Tesla: Ark Funds updated its price target for shares of Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA ) to $3,000 in the year 2025. Last year, Ark Funds listed a split adjusted price target on Tesla shares of $1,400 by the year 2024. Ark Funds uses a Monte Carlo model, based on a series of simulations to determine the probability of different outcomes with random variables. A total of 34 inputs and over 40,000 possible simulations were used to create the new price target. The bear case from Ark Funds is for shares of Tesla to hit $1,500 in 2025. The new bull case from Ark Funds is for Tesla shares to hit $4,000 in 2025. The price target from Ark Funds does not include Tesla’s energy storage or solar business in the models. The impact of the price of Bitcoin is also not included in the model from Ark Funds. See also: How to Invest in Tesla Stock Growth Ahead: Ark Funds said Tesla can sell between 5 million and 10 million vehicles in 2025 after new technology and production improvements. Tesla sold over 500,000 vehicles in 2020. The average sale price for Tesla’s electric vehicles was $50,000 in 2020. Ark calls for that figure to come in between $36,000 and $45,000 in the new price target model. For the first time, Ark Funds is including opportunities in insurance in its forecasting model. “Ark estimates that Tesla could achieve better than average margins on insurance thanks to the highly detailed driving data it collects from customer vehicles,” Ark says in the report. Tesla introduced its insurance product in 2019. It is currently only available in California. Ark believes in the next few years, Tesla could roll out insurance to other states, underwriting its own policies. Ark Funds updated its pricing model for Tesla to include assumptions on fully autonomous driving. Ark estimates the probability of delivering fully autonomous driving by 2025 at 50%. Ark previously listed a 30% chance by the year 2024. Story continues Related Link: Auto Companies That Catered To Shareholders Instead Of Future Growth Will Be Sorry: Cathie Wood Ark Funds and Tesla: Wood has been a notable Tesla bull for years. She famously gave a split adjusted price target of $800 that was criticized by many on Wall Street. Her prediction came right earlier this year. Tesla is the largest holding in the Ark Innovation ETF (NYSE: ARKK ) with over 3.7 million shares worth $2.4 billion. Tesla is also the largest holding in the Ark Next Generation Internet ETF (NYSE: ARKW ) with 1.1 million shares held worth $752.5 million. Tesla represents 10.5% of assets in both ARKK and ARKW. Price Action: Shares of Tesla closed at $654.87 on Friday. Tesla shares have traded between $82.10 and $900.40 over the last fifty-two weeks. Watch the full interview with Cathie Wood and Benzinga here . Latest Ratings for TSLA Mar 2021 Mizuho Initiates Coverage On Buy Mar 2021 New Street Upgrades Neutral Buy Feb 2021 Morgan Stanley Maintains Overweight View More Analyst Ratings for TSLA View the Latest Analyst Ratings See more from Benzinga Click here for options trades from Benzinga Why Kevin O'Leary Changed His Mind On Tesla, Keeps Allocation Capped At 5% Auto Companies That Catered To Shareholders Instead Of Future Growth Will Be Sorry: Cathie Wood © 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Cathie Wood, Ark Funds Lay Out New $3,000 Price Target For Tesla Shares: What Investors Should Know: Ark Funds CEO and Co-Founder Cathie Wood joined Benzinga for the “Raz Report” interviewearlier this month. At that time, Wood promised a new price target was coming on Tesla from Ark.
On Friday, it arrived.
Ark Funds on Tesla:Ark Fundsupdated its price targetfor shares ofTesla Inc(NASDAQ:TSLA) to $3,000 in the year 2025.
Last year, Ark Funds listed a split adjusted price target on Tesla shares of $1,400 by the year 2024.
Ark Funds uses a Monte Carlo model, based on a series of simulations to determine the probability of different outcomes with random variables. A total of 34 inputs and over 40,000 possible simulations were used to create the new price target.
The bear case from Ark Funds is for shares of Tesla to hit $1,500 in 2025. The new bull case from Ark Funds is for Tesla shares to hit $4,000 in 2025.
The price target from Ark Funds does not include Tesla’s energy storage or solar business in the models. The impact of the price ofBitcoinis also not included in the model from Ark Funds.
See also:How to Invest in Tesla Stock
Growth Ahead:Ark Funds said Tesla can sell between 5 million and 10 million vehicles in 2025 after new technology and production improvements. Tesla sold over 500,000 vehicles in 2020.
The average sale price for Tesla’s electric vehicles was $50,000 in 2020. Ark calls for that figure to come in between $36,000 and $45,000 in the new price target model.
For the first time, Ark Funds is including opportunities in insurance in its forecasting model.
“Ark estimates that Tesla could achieve better than average margins on insurance thanks to the highly detailed driving data it collects from customer vehicles,” Ark says in the report.
Tesla introduced its insurance product in 2019. It is currently only available in California. Ark believes in the next few years, Tesla could roll out insurance to other states, underwriting its own policies.
Ark Funds updated its pricing model for Tesla to include assumptions on fully autonomous driving. Ark estimates the probability of delivering fully autonomous driving by 2025 at 50%. Ark previously listed a 30% chance by the year 2024.
Related Link:Auto Companies That Catered To Shareholders Instead Of Future Growth Will Be Sorry: Cathie Wood
Ark Funds and Tesla:Wood has been a notable Tesla bull for years. She famously gave a split adjustedprice targetof $800 that was criticized by many on Wall Street. Her prediction came right earlier this year.
Tesla is the largestholdingin theArk Innovation ETF(NYSE:ARKK) with over 3.7 million shares worth $2.4 billion.
Tesla is also the largestholdingin theArk Next Generation Internet ETF(NYSE:ARKW) with 1.1 million shares held worth $752.5 million.
Tesla represents 10.5% of assets in both ARKK and ARKW.
Price Action:Shares of Tesla closed at $654.87 on Friday. Tesla shares have traded between $82.10 and $900.40 over the last fifty-two weeks.
Watch the full interview with Cathie Wood and Benzingahere.
Latest Ratings for TSLA
[{"Mar 2021": "Mar 2021", "Mizuho": "New Street", "Initiates Coverage On": "Upgrades", "": "Neutral", "Buy": "Buy"}, {"Mar 2021": "Feb 2021", "Mizuho": "Morgan Stanley", "Initiates Coverage On": "Maintains", "": "", "Buy": "Overweight"}]
View More Analyst Ratings for TSLAView the Latest Analyst Ratings
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© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Financial Watchdogs Have DeFi in Their Sights, Alter Wording Around NFTs: Innovative areas within cryptocurrency such as decentralized finance (DeFi) are firmly on the radar of global regulators, according to draft guidance released on Friday by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global anti-money laundering (AML) body. In addition to clarifying its wording on decentralized exchanges (DEXs), the mechanisms that power DeFi platforms and apps, the FATF made an oblique reference to non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which are exploding in popularity. NFTs and DeFi present additional challenges to the FATF, which is already struggling to graft money-laundering rules onto pseudonymous-by-design transactions in the flourishing cryptocurrency industry. Related: Danish Red Cross Backs $3M Blockchain Volcano Catastrophe Bond When it comes to DeFi platforms, the FATF said its standards may not apply to the underlying software or technology, but said entities involved with the “DApp,” such as owners or operators, may now be considered virtual asset service providers (VASPs) – regulator-speak for crypto entities that must meet the same anti-money-laundering requirements as traditional finance. That’s a clear shot across the bows of DeFi founders, investors and venture-capital firms. The FATF guidance also makes a careful change of terminology, which appears to be in a nod in the direction of NFTs. A specific reference to “assets that are fungible” – which has important implications in light of the current NFT craze – has been replaced by “assets that are convertible and interchangeable,” Siân Jones, senior partner at XReg Consulting, said. “NFTs that can be converted or exchanged for fiat currency or other virtual assets were always in scope, and remain so,” said Jones, the driving force behind the widely adopted AML data-sharing standard, IVMS101. “Some terms that were capable of being construed by stakeholders in ways that FATF had not originally intended have been replaced by language that more closely expresses the FATF’s intentions.” Story continues Related: 'Altcoin Season' Leaves Some Bitcoin Alternatives Frozen In a blog post summarizing the key points of the new guidance, blockchain analytics form CipherTrace concluded the only NFTs that can facilitate money laundering and terrorism financing are “virtual assets” in the eyes of the FATF. “Some non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that may not initially appear to constitute VAs may in fact be VAs due to secondary markets that enable the transfer or exchange of value or facilitate money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing,” CipherTrace said. Related Stories Financial Watchdogs Have DeFi in Their Sights, Alter Wording Around NFTs Financial Watchdogs Have DeFi in Their Sights, Alter Wording Around NFTs || Financial Watchdogs Have DeFi in Their Sights, Alter Wording Around NFTs: Innovative areas within cryptocurrency such asdecentralized finance(DeFi) are firmly on the radar of global regulators, according todraft guidancereleased on Friday by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global anti-money laundering (AML) body.
In addition to clarifying its wording on decentralized exchanges (DEXs), the mechanisms that power DeFi platforms and apps, the FATF made an oblique reference tonon-fungible tokens(NFTs), which are exploding in popularity.
NFTs and DeFi present additional challenges to the FATF, which is already struggling to graft money-laundering rules onto pseudonymous-by-design transactions in the flourishing cryptocurrency industry.
Related:Danish Red Cross Backs $3M Blockchain Volcano Catastrophe Bond
When it comes to DeFi platforms, the FATF said its standards may not apply to the underlying software or technology, but said entities involved with the “DApp,” such as owners or operators, may now be considered virtual asset service providers (VASPs) – regulator-speak for crypto entities that must meet the same anti-money-laundering requirements as traditional finance. That’s a clear shot across the bows of DeFi founders, investors and venture-capital firms.
The FATF guidance also makes a careful change of terminology, which appears to be in a nod in the direction of NFTs.
A specific reference to “assets that are fungible” – which has important implications in light of the current NFT craze – has been replaced by “assets that are convertible and interchangeable,” Siân Jones, senior partner at XReg Consulting, said.
“NFTs that can be converted or exchanged for fiat currency or other virtual assets were always in scope, and remain so,” said Jones, the driving force behind the widely adopted AML data-sharing standard, IVMS101. “Some terms that were capable of being construed by stakeholders in ways that FATF had not originally intended have been replaced by language that more closely expresses the FATF’s intentions.”
Related:'Altcoin Season' Leaves Some Bitcoin Alternatives Frozen
Ina blog postsummarizing the key points of the new guidance, blockchain analytics form CipherTrace concluded the only NFTs that can facilitate money laundering and terrorism financing are “virtual assets” in the eyes of the FATF.
“Some non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that may not initially appear to constitute VAs may in fact be VAs due to secondary markets that enable the transfer or exchange of value or facilitate money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing,” CipherTrace said.
• Financial Watchdogs Have DeFi in Their Sights, Alter Wording Around NFTs
• Financial Watchdogs Have DeFi in Their Sights, Alter Wording Around NFTs || Why Kevin O'Leary Is Bullish On Peloton And Zoom: Jason Raznick, the founder and CEO of BenzingainterviewedCNBC's Kevin O’Leary on the “Raz Report” this week. Among the topics discussed were the reasons why O’Leary owns certain stocks.
O’Leary on Peloton:O’Leary told Benzinga he starts every morning by getting on his bike fromPeloton InteractiveInc (NASDAQ:PTON).
O’Leary is able to get research done in the morning while riding the Peloton so he's ready for questions when he appears on CNBC later in the day.
“I tend to own positions in the products I use,” said the "Shark Tank" panelist, confirming he still owns a position in Peloton.
O’Leary said the strength of Peloton could continue even after the COVID-19 pandemic.
O’Leary doesn’t have to go to the gym anymore and can use his Peloton at home to save valuable time. O’Leary had the "Shark Tank" team install a Peloton inside his dressing room as well.
Related Link:Dirty Bitcoin Vs. Virgin Bitcoin: Why Kevin O’Leary Is Buying New Cryptocurrency
O’Leary on Zoom:Another stock that O’Leary owns isZoom Video Communication(NASDAQ:ZM).
“They blow away their numbers every quarter,” O’Leary said.
O’Leary called out those who say Zoom is overvalued and said the growth will keep coming, including from the company's push into the telephone business.
“What a joke,” O’Leary said to the people saying Zoom is overvalued.
Price Action:Peloton shares were up 5% to $108.31 on Friday.
Zoom shares were up 3% to $326.26 on Friday.
Benzinga file photo by Dustin Blitchok.
See more from Benzinga
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• Why Kevin O'Leary Changed His Mind On Tesla, Keeps Allocation Capped At 5%
© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Why Kevin O'Leary Is Bullish On Peloton And Zoom: Jason Raznick, the founder and CEO of Benzinga interviewed CNBC's Kevin O’Leary on the “ Raz Report ” this week. Among the topics discussed were the reasons why O’Leary owns certain stocks. O’Leary on Peloton: O’Leary told Benzinga he starts every morning by getting on his bike from Peloton Interactive Inc (NASDAQ: PTON ). O’Leary is able to get research done in the morning while riding the Peloton so he's ready for questions when he appears on CNBC later in the day. “I tend to own positions in the products I use,” said the "Shark Tank" panelist, confirming he still owns a position in Peloton. O’Leary said the strength of Peloton could continue even after the COVID-19 pandemic. O’Leary doesn’t have to go to the gym anymore and can use his Peloton at home to save valuable time. O’Leary had the "Shark Tank" team install a Peloton inside his dressing room as well. Related Link: Dirty Bitcoin Vs. Virgin Bitcoin: Why Kevin O’Leary Is Buying New Cryptocurrency O’Leary on Zoom: Another stock that O’Leary owns is Zoom Video Communication (NASDAQ: ZM ). “They blow away their numbers every quarter,” O’Leary said. O’Leary called out those who say Zoom is overvalued and said the growth will keep coming, including from the company's push into the telephone business. “What a joke,” O’Leary said to the people saying Zoom is overvalued. Price Action: Peloton shares were up 5% to $108.31 on Friday. Zoom shares were up 3% to $326.26 on Friday. Benzinga file photo by Dustin Blitchok. See more from Benzinga Click here for options trades from Benzinga Why Kevin O'Leary Changed His Mind On Tesla, Keeps Allocation Capped At 5% © 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Russian national pleads guilty in plot to steal Tesla’s company secrets for extortion: A Russian national admitted in federal court this week that he tried to recruit a Tesla employee to install a malicious software into the company’s computer network with the goal of extorting the electric car giant.
Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov, 27, repeatedly tried to persuade an employee at Tesla’s electric battery plant in Nevada to participate in the hacking scheme, offering to pay the worker $1 million in Bitcoin to transmit the malware, federal authorities said. Once the software was installed, Kriuchkov and his co-conspirators would use it to steal data from the Tesla’s network and then extort the company by threatening to disclose the data, according to prosecutors.
But the unidentified employee eventually reported the plot to company officials, who then contacted the FBI. The agency thwarted the scheme and arrested Kriuchkov last summer.
“The swift response of the company and the FBI prevented a major exfiltration of the victim company’s data and stopped the extortion scheme at its inception,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas McQuaid said in a statement. “This case highlights the importance of companies coming forward to law enforcement, and the positive results when they do so.”
Kriuchkov pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of conspiracy to intentionally cause damage to a protected computer and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 10. He faces no more than 10 months in prison under the terms of his plea agreement, The Associated Press reported Friday.
His attempts to hack Tesla’s network happened between July 15 and Aug. 22 last year after he traveled from Russia to California. He then visited Nevada multiple times during that period and met with the employee at least once, according to prosecutors.
Kriuchkov was arrested in late August while heading to an airport to flee the country.
“This case highlights our office’s commitment to protecting trade secrets and other confidential information belonging to U.S. businesses — which is becoming even more important each day as Nevada evolves into a center for technological innovation,” Nevada’s Acting U.S. Attorney Christopher Chiou said in a statement. “Along with our law enforcement partners, we will continue to prioritize stopping cybercriminals from harming American companies and consumers.”
——— || Russian national pleads guilty in plot to steal Teslas company secrets for extortion: A Russian national admitted in federal court this week that he tried to recruit a Tesla employee to install a malicious software into the companys computer network with the goal of extorting the electric car giant. Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov, 27, repeatedly tried to persuade an employee at Teslas electric battery plant in Nevada to participate in the hacking scheme, offering to pay the worker $1 million in Bitcoin to transmit the malware, federal authorities said. Once the software was installed, Kriuchkov and his co-conspirators would use it to steal data from the Teslas network and then extort the company by threatening to disclose the data, according to prosecutors. But the unidentified employee eventually reported the plot to company officials, who then contacted the FBI. The agency thwarted the scheme and arrested Kriuchkov last summer. The swift response of the company and the FBI prevented a major exfiltration of the victim companys data and stopped the extortion scheme at its inception, Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas McQuaid said in a statement. This case highlights the importance of companies coming forward to law enforcement, and the positive results when they do so. Kriuchkov pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of conspiracy to intentionally cause damage to a protected computer and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 10. He faces no more than 10 months in prison under the terms of his plea agreement, The Associated Press reported Friday. His attempts to hack Teslas network happened between July 15 and Aug. 22 last year after he traveled from Russia to California. He then visited Nevada multiple times during that period and met with the employee at least once, according to prosecutors. Kriuchkov was arrested in late August while heading to an airport to flee the country. This case highlights our offices commitment to protecting trade secrets and other confidential information belonging to U.S. businesses which is becoming even more important each day as Nevada evolves into a center for technological innovation, Nevadas Acting U.S. Attorney Christopher Chiou said in a statement. Along with our law enforcement partners, we will continue to prioritize stopping cybercriminals from harming American companies and consumers. || Forget GameStop, here’s how to make hay with U.S. farmland: Forget GameStop, here’s how to make hay with U.S. farmland Investors are always on the lookout for new opportunities promising better returns than standard stocks and bonds. But while cryptocurrency and memestocks are currently dominating that discussion, the same qualities that make them so exciting and newsworthy should give you pause. Take crypto: Incredible gains of up to 20 times in value are lost just as quickly. And even though digital currencies are supposed to be a medium of exchange, after more than a decade in circulation you’ll still struggle to buy a pizza with Bitcoin. As billionaire investor Warren Buffett points out, cryptocurrencies “don't reproduce, they can't mail you a check, they can't do anything, and what you hope is that somebody else comes along and pays you more money for them later on, but then that person's got the problem.” One economics professor recently commented that Bitcoin has less practical utility than tulips — and at least tulips don’t devastate the environment with energy-sucking mining operations. If you’re looking for something more real — something that does generate income on a steady, reliable basis, something that’s useful to humanity — consider investing in farmland . How do you invest in farmland? Zoran Zeremski / Shutterstock Farmland produces something that every person on the planet needs: food. Its intrinsic value offers a lot of stability but also impressive growth potential. “It’s a real asset, it’s tangible … it’s the oldest type of asset there is,” says David Perez, an investment associate at FarmTogether, an investment platform that allows qualified investors to purchase a stake in U.S. farmland without buying a whole farm. The company pursues attractive properties, then partners with experienced local farmland operators who manage the land. The goal, FarmTogether says, is to give more investors a chance to buy into these attractive but previously hard-to-get assets. The full-service platform provides the information you need to directly invest in specific properties. You can take a low-risk position and just get a cut of the lease, or you can explore revenue sharing, profit sharing or even the direct operation of a farm. Then, years down the line after the farm rises in value, you get a cut of the profits from the sale. Story continues Another option is to invest in a farmland real estate investment trust (REIT). Farmland REITs buy farmland and lease it to the farmers who work the land. Investing in a farmland REIT lets you hold interests in numerous farms across the country, for example, rather than purchasing a single farm in its entirety. It’s a way to take advantage of high returns without the hassle of actually owning or managing farmland. What are the benefits? Fotokostic / Shutterstock As an investment, farmland offers a ton of advantages. First and most importantly, it’s a proven source of higher returns than you get from more traditional portfolios. Between 1991 and 2019, U.S. farmland delivered more than 11% in returns to its investors, according to FarmTogether’s research. That’s better than traditional real estate, better than bonds and gold — it’s even better than the stock market, which over the same period grew by 9.6%. And whereas a traditional mix of stocks and bonds pays 8.15% in average annual returns, adding farmland to mix will jack that number up to 8.61%, FarmTogether says. Farmland is also a shield against volatility; it’s hard to find something more stable than the literal ground underfoot. Given the constant ups and downs in the stock market, Perez says it’s good to have investments in assets that, while still subject to fluctuations, are “more insulated” from the turmoil. Inflation? Farmland helps in that department, too. When consumer prices rise, the prices of commodities like food generally rise, too. That means the value of a portfolio with farmland is more likely to keep pace. And of course, since farmland is genuinely useful and productive — not just some hypothetical store of value — you get to see the immediate benefits of that productivity. You can get a cut from both the leasing fees and crop sales, providing you with a cash income , while the value of the asset increases. Getting back to the land andreonegin / Shutterstock If you’re looking for something different to diversify your portfolio and boost your returns, remember that crypto’s value is theoretical while its impact on the environment is very real. By investing in farmland through an easy-to-use app, you’re supporting rural communities and putting your money into one of the most humble yet vital human endeavors. While no investment is a sure thing, you can guarantee that regardless of what the economy is doing, people will always need to eat. || Forget GameStop, here’s how to make hay with U.S. farmland: Investors are always on the lookout for new opportunities promising better returns than standard stocks and bonds.
But while cryptocurrency and memestocks are currently dominating that discussion, the same qualities that make them so exciting and newsworthy should give you pause.
Take crypto: Incredible gains of up to 20 times in value are lost just as quickly. And even though digital currencies are supposed to be a medium of exchange, after more than a decade in circulation you’ll still struggle to buy a pizza with Bitcoin.
As billionaire investor Warren Buffett points out, cryptocurrencies “don't reproduce, they can't mail you a check, they can't do anything, and what you hope is that somebody else comes along and pays you more money for them later on, but then that person's got the problem.”
One economics professor recently commented that Bitcoin has less practical utility than tulips — and at least tulips don’t devastate the environment with energy-sucking mining operations.
If you’re looking for something morereal— something that does generate income on a steady, reliable basis, something that’s useful to humanity — considerinvesting in farmland.
Farmland produces something that every person on the planet needs: food. Its intrinsic value offers a lot of stability but also impressive growth potential.
“It’s a real asset, it’s tangible … it’s the oldest type of asset there is,” says David Perez, an investment associate at FarmTogether, an investment platform that allows qualified investors to purchase a stake in U.S. farmland without buying a whole farm.
The company pursues attractive properties, then partners with experienced local farmland operators who manage the land. The goal, FarmTogether says, is to give more investors a chance to buy into these attractive but previously hard-to-get assets.
The full-service platform provides the information you need to directly invest in specific properties. You can take a low-risk position and just get a cut of the lease, or you can explore revenue sharing, profit sharing or even the direct operation of a farm. Then, years down the line after the farm rises in value, you get a cut of the profits from the sale.
Another option is to invest in a farmland real estate investment trust (REIT). Farmland REITs buy farmland and lease it to the farmers who work the land.
Investing in a farmland REIT lets you hold interests in numerous farms across the country, for example, rather than purchasing a single farm in its entirety. It’s a way to take advantage of high returns without the hassle of actually owning or managing farmland.
As an investment, farmland offers a ton of advantages.
First and most importantly, it’s a proven source of higher returns than you get from more traditional portfolios. Between 1991 and 2019, U.S. farmland delivered more than 11% in returns to its investors, according to FarmTogether’s research.
That’s better than traditional real estate, better than bonds and gold — it’s even better than the stock market, which over the same period grew by 9.6%.
And whereas a traditional mix of stocks and bonds pays 8.15% in average annual returns, adding farmland to mix will jack that number up to 8.61%, FarmTogether says.
Farmland is also a shield against volatility; it’s hard to find something more stable than the literal ground underfoot. Given the constant ups and downs in the stock market, Perez says it’s good to have investments in assets that, while still subject to fluctuations, are “more insulated” from the turmoil.
Inflation? Farmland helps in that department, too. When consumer prices rise, the prices of commodities like food generally rise, too. That means the value of a portfolio with farmland is more likely to keep pace.
And of course, since farmland is genuinelyuseful and productive— not just some hypothetical store of value — you get to see the immediate benefits of that productivity. You can get a cut from both the leasing fees and crop sales,providing you with a cash income, while the value of the asset increases.
If you’re looking for something different to diversify your portfolio and boost your returns, remember that crypto’s value is theoretical while its impact on the environment is very real.
Byinvesting in farmlandthrough an easy-to-use app, you’re supporting rural communities and putting your money into one of the most humble yet vital human endeavors.
While no investment is a sure thing, you can guarantee that regardless of what the economy is doing, people will always need to eat. || Benzinga's Bulls And Bears Of The Week: Comcast, Disney, Nike, Starbucks, Tesla And More: Benzinga has examined the prospects for many investor favorite stocks over the past week. The past week's bullish calls included coffee, media and cybersecurity leaders. Electric vehicle, footwear and cable TV giants were among the bearish calls that were seen. It was another volatile week for the markets, which began near record highs but ended with the Dow Jones industrials, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all about 1% lower for the week. The Federal Reserve has taken a bullish stance, suggesting rates could remain unchanged until 2023. Yet, the wall of worry remained. Not only did Treasury yields concerns linger, but oil prices were falling, retail sales were disappointing, the specter of tax increases was on the table, and COVID-19 appeared to be flaring up again in Europe. In corporate news, the feud between two tech giants may be over, and another is making a huge investment in itself. The shift to electric vehicles continues, even as questions about their safety remain. Chip shortages are increasingly a problem for carmakers as well. Concerns have arisen over an approved COVID-19 vaccine . Meanwhile, an e-commerce giant announced that it will expand its health care footprint . Note that several states are suing the Biden administration over a canceled pipeline . And pent-up travel demand is beginning to show itself. Through it all, Benzinga continued to examine the prospects for many of the stocks most popular with investors. Here are a few of this past week's most bullish and bearish posts that are worth another look. Bulls Walt Disney Co (NYSE: DIS ) is poised to benefit from strong growth in video streaming and a recovery in travel. So says Priya Nigam's " A Bullish Disney Analyst On What COVID-19 Vaccines Mean For The House Of Mouse ." In Jayson Derrick's " Why This Starbucks Analyst Says Coffee Giant's 2021 Guidance Is Conservative ," see why Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX ) may be positioned to outperform this year and beyond. Story continues In " 2 Plug Power Analysts On Financial Restatements, Why They're Constructive On The Hydrogen Fuel Cell Stock ," Shanthi Rexaline focuses on why the pullback in Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ: PLUG ) shares is a buying opportunity. Rachit Vats' " Lyft 'On The Precipice Of A Demand Snapback:' Why Wedbush Sees Further Upside In 2021 " discusses why increased profitability is in the cards for Lyft Inc (NASDAQ: LYFT ). " Why CrowdStrike Is A Top Growth Stock Pick " by Wayne Duggan examines what impressive subscriber growth and multiple secular tailwinds mean for shares of cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: CRWD ). For additional bullish calls of the past week, have a look at the following: 10 SPACs Owned By Cathie Wood's Ark Funds What Does The Olive Garden Reveal About Dining Sector Recovery? More Than 50% Of Small Businesses Have Reopened: Survey Bears In Shanthi Rexaline's " Chinese Military Restrictions Show Tesla Caught In Middle Of US, China Relations: Wedbush " find out how Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA ) is between the proverbial rock and hard place. From a technical perspective, Nike Inc (NYSE: NKE ) stock has struggled lately, according to " PreMarket Prep Stock Of The Day: Nike " by Joel Elconin. Can shares of the footwear giant shake off a mixed earnings report, mount a rally and clear the all-time high? In " Sundial Analyst: Cannabis Stock In A 'Transition Phase' Due To M&A Potential, Cost-Cutting Efforts ," Anthony Noto looks at why better than expected sales did not boost Sundial Growers Inc (NASDAQ: SNDL ) stock. " Comcast Needs To Unlock Value, Should Consider Separating Cable Business: Analyst " by Jayson Derrick points out why Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA ) being a "collection of good businesses" is not enough. Wayne Duggan's " Why Tax Refunds And Stimulus Payments Are Bad News For Credit Card Stocks " shows why American Express Company (NYSE: AXP ) and others may not benefit as much from the reopening trade as expected. For additional bearish takes, be sure to check out these posts: Bank Of America Calls Bitcoin 'Impractical,' And Crypto Community Has A Lot To Say About That Lordstown Motors Debut Earnings Report Gets Clouded In SEC Inquiry Reveal At the time of this writing, the author had no position in the mentioned equities. Keep up with all the latest breaking news and trading ideas by following Benzinga on Twitter. See more from Benzinga Click here for options trades from Benzinga Barron's Latest Picks And Pans: Apple, Coupang, GameStop, Uber, Walker & Dunlop And More Last Week's Notable Insider Buys: News Corp, Microsoft, Snowflake, Walmart And More © 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Benzinga's Bulls And Bears Of The Week: Comcast, Disney, Nike, Starbucks, Tesla And More: • Benzinga has examined the prospects for many investorfavorite stocksover the past week.
• The past week's bullish calls included coffee, media and cybersecurity leaders.
• Electric vehicle, footwear and cable TV giants were among the bearish calls that were seen.
It was another volatile week for the markets, which begannear record highsbut ended with the Dow Jones industrials, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all about 1% lower for the week.
TheFederal Reservehas taken a bullish stance, suggesting rates could remain unchanged until 2023. Yet, the wall of worry remained. Not only didTreasury yieldsconcerns linger, but oil prices were falling,retail saleswere disappointing, the specter oftax increaseswas on the table, and COVID-19 appeared to be flaring up again in Europe.
In corporate news, thefeud between two tech giantsmay be over, and another is makinga huge investmentin itself.
Theshift to electric vehiclescontinues, even asquestions about their safetyremain.Chip shortagesare increasingly a problem for carmakers as well.
Concerns have arisen over an approvedCOVID-19 vaccine. Meanwhile, an e-commerce giant announced that it will expand itshealth care footprint.
Note that several states are suing the Biden administration over acanceled pipeline. Andpent-up travel demandis beginning to show itself.
Through it all, Benzinga continued to examine the prospects for many of the stocks most popular with investors. Here are a few of this past week's most bullish and bearish posts that are worth another look.
Bulls
Walt Disney Co(NYSE:DIS) is poised to benefit from strong growth in video streaming and a recovery in travel. So says Priya Nigam's "A Bullish Disney Analyst On What COVID-19 Vaccines Mean For The House Of Mouse."
In Jayson Derrick's "Why This Starbucks Analyst Says Coffee Giant's 2021 Guidance Is Conservative," see whyStarbucks Corporation(NASDAQ:SBUX) may be positioned to outperform this year and beyond.
In "2 Plug Power Analysts On Financial Restatements, Why They're Constructive On The Hydrogen Fuel Cell Stock," Shanthi Rexaline focuses on why the pullback inPlug Power Inc(NASDAQ:PLUG) shares is a buying opportunity.
Rachit Vats' "Lyft 'On The Precipice Of A Demand Snapback:' Why Wedbush Sees Further Upside In 2021" discusses why increased profitability is in the cards forLyft Inc(NASDAQ:LYFT).
"Why CrowdStrike Is A Top Growth Stock Pick" by Wayne Duggan examines what impressive subscriber growth and multiple secular tailwinds mean for shares of cybersecurity firmCrowdstrike Holdings Inc(NASDAQ:CRWD).
For additional bullish calls of the past week, have a look at the following:
• 10 SPACs Owned By Cathie Wood's Ark Funds
• What Does The Olive Garden Reveal About Dining Sector Recovery?
• More Than 50% Of Small Businesses Have Reopened: Survey
Bears
In Shanthi Rexaline's "Chinese Military Restrictions Show Tesla Caught In Middle Of US, China Relations: Wedbush" find out howTesla Inc(NASDAQ:TSLA) is between the proverbial rock and hard place.
From a technical perspective,Nike Inc(NYSE:NKE) stock has struggled lately, according to "PreMarket Prep Stock Of The Day: Nike" by Joel Elconin. Can shares of the footwear giant shake off a mixed earnings report, mount a rally and clear the all-time high?
In "Sundial Analyst: Cannabis Stock In A 'Transition Phase' Due To M&A Potential, Cost-Cutting Efforts," Anthony Noto looks at why better than expected sales did not boostSundial Growers Inc(NASDAQ:SNDL) stock.
"Comcast Needs To Unlock Value, Should Consider Separating Cable Business: Analyst" by Jayson Derrick points out whyComcast Corporation(NASDAQ:CMCSA) being a "collection of good businesses" is not enough.
Wayne Duggan's "Why Tax Refunds And Stimulus Payments Are Bad News For Credit Card Stocks" shows whyAmerican Express Company(NYSE:AXP) and others may not benefit as much from the reopening trade as expected.
For additional bearish takes, be sure to check out these posts:
• Bank Of America Calls Bitcoin 'Impractical,' And Crypto Community Has A Lot To Say About That
• Lordstown Motors Debut Earnings Report Gets Clouded In SEC Inquiry Reveal
At the time of this writing, the author had no position in the mentioned equities.
Keep up with all the latest breaking news and trading ideas by followingBenzingaon Twitter.
See more from Benzinga
• Click here for options trades from Benzinga
• Barron's Latest Picks And Pans: Apple, Coupang, GameStop, Uber, Walker & Dunlop And More
• Last Week's Notable Insider Buys: News Corp, Microsoft, Snowflake, Walmart And More
© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || The Morning After: A ransomware gang is demanding $50 million from Acer: On Friday night,The RecordandBleeping Computerreported that PC manufacturer Acer has been hit by a ransomware attack on its back-office network. According to information they’ve seen posted on the dark web, the REvil ransomware gangis demanding $50 million to decrypt its computers and delete stolen data instead of leaking it.
Acer has not publicly admitted that there is an attack going on, only that it has “reported recent abnormal situations” to law enforcement. If it needs an example of what to do next then CD Projekt Red may be an example, having publicly acknowledged a ransomware attack that impacted plans to release new patches forCyberpunk 2077. The game developer may be on its way to recovering from that, as it just posted a video showing off tweaksthat will be a part of the upcoming 1.2 patch.
While we wait to find out what happens next, don’t forget to take a minute and read throughKarissa Bell's look at the changes Twitter is making,15 years in. By pursuing new features that change the way people can make money on and off of its platform, Twitter is suddenly about “a lot more than just Tweets.”
— Richard Lawler
An Amazon that started over the weekend continued and saw prices slashed on the latest Echo, Echo Show 5 and Echo Dot, among others. Apple'sMacBook Pro M1fell to its lowest price yet thanks to coupons that accompanied sale prices, and the Apple Watch SE remains on sale for$259. And through Sunday,Best Buy has a limited-time saleon a bunch of gear, including the latest Samsung smartphones, Surface tablets and OLED TVs.
Here are all the best deals from the week that you can still snag today, and remember to follow@EngadgetDealson Twitter for more updates.Continue reading.
This week, Cherlynn and Devindra are joined by senior mobile editor Chris Velazco to try and make sense ofSamsung’s ‘Awesome Unpacked’ event. The company didn’t just unveilnew Galaxy A-series phones, but also tried excruciatingly hard to flex its ‘understanding’ of Gen Z lingo. We also take a look atGoogle’s new Nest Hub, which is a smart display that uses radar to tell when you’re asleep. Is that cool or creepy? Plus, updates from elsewhere PC hardware land with news from Intel, AMD and Alienware.
Stay tuned to the end of the episode for interviews withThe Walking Deadcreator Robert Kirkman on his upcoming Amazon animated series Invincible as well as Fede Alvarez, director of the upcoming Apple TV seriesCalls.
Listen onApple Podcasts,Google Podcasts,Spotify,Pocket CastsorStitcher.Continue reading.
In the midst of Tesla’s SEC filing, Elon Musk has apparently claimed a new title, the “Technoking of Tesla,” for some reason. The company’s CFO, Zach Kirkhorn, has a new position that’s right out ofGame of Thrones: Master of Coin. There’s also probably a nod there to the recent Bitcoin machinations of both Tesla and Musk himself. Last month, Tesla bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin to help “diversify and maximize” its returns. The news juiced the price of Bitcoin further, hitting an all-time high of over $44,000.
The filing notes: “Elon and Zach will also maintain their respective positions as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer.”Continue reading.
Intel has finally given us more information about its next family of desktop CPUs, codenamed Rocket Lake S. The fastest offering will be the Core i9-11900K, an 8-core chip that reaches up to 5.3GHz on a single core. Notably, that's two fewer cores than last year's 10900K. Devindra Hardawar explains what performance Intel has been able to wring out of its aging 14nm process, and how that compares to the competition from AMD for gamers and professionals.Continue reading.
Designed in collaboration with Lenovo, this Android device is powered by an octacore processor and has a 10.1-inch HD IPS display that's apparently been certified to be gentle on the eyes by lowering blue light. It also has 32GB of storage with the option to expand with a microSD card and can last up to 10 hours of web browsing on a single charge.
As you'd expect, the $130 slate has access to the Nook app for ebooks, newspapers and magazines, Google Play and Google Assistant.Continue reading.
Lenovo made a gaming chair with a built-in katana
Take a look back at Engadget's favorite Game Boy Advance games
President Biden picks former senator and one-time astronaut Bill Nelson to lead NASA
Dell's 40-inch ultrawide monitor is the best kind of excess
US charges CEO of company selling encrypted devices to drug traffickers
SpaceX posts a clearer look at the Starship SN10 test flight
Woman allegedly made deepfakes to kick rivals off daughter's cheerleading squad
Perseverance recording reveals what driving on Mars sounds like
Sony's new 4K TVs with 'cognitive' CPUs are rolling out, VRR will follow later
Fender Acoustasonic Jazzmaster hands-on
Bose Sleepbuds 2 review: How much is a good night's rest worth?
Intel's new PC ads bring back the 'I'm a Mac' guy out of desperation || The Morning After - Engadget: On Friday night, The Record and Bleeping Computer reported that PC manufacturer Acer has been hit by a ransomware attack on its back-office network. According to information theyve seen posted on the dark web, the REvil ransomware gang is demanding $50 million to decrypt its computers and delete stolen data instead of leaking it . Acer has not publicly admitted that there is an attack going on, only that it has reported recent abnormal situations to law enforcement. If it needs an example of what to do next then CD Projekt Red may be an example, having publicly acknowledged a ransomware attack that impacted plans to release new patches for Cyberpunk 207 7. The game developer may be on its way to recovering from that, as it just posted a video showing off tweaks that will be a part of the upcoming 1.2 patch . Cyberpunk 2077 While we wait to find out what happens next, dont forget to take a minute and read through Karissa Bell's look at the changes Twitter is making, 15 years in . By pursuing new features that change the way people can make money on and off of its platform, Twitter is suddenly about a lot more than just Tweets . Richard Lawler This weeks best tech deals: $40 off the Echo Show 5 and more DJIs Osmo Pocket gimbal camera dropped to $199. DJI Osmo (DJI) An Amazon that started over the weekend continued and saw prices slashed on the latest Echo, Echo Show 5 and Echo Dot, among others. Apple's MacBook Pro M1 fell to its lowest price yet thanks to coupons that accompanied sale prices, and the Apple Watch SE remains on sale for $259 . And through Sunday, Best Buy has a limited-time sale on a bunch of gear, including the latest Samsung smartphones, Surface tablets and OLED TVs. Here are all the best deals from the week that you can still snag today, and remember to follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for more updates. Continue reading. The Engadget Podcast Samsung's A-series event and Google's sleep-tracking display Engadget Podcast logo This week, Cherlynn and Devindra are joined by senior mobile editor Chris Velazco to try and make sense of Samsungs Awesome Unpacked event . The company didnt just unveil new Galaxy A-series phones , but also tried excruciatingly hard to flex its understanding of Gen Z lingo. We also take a look at Googles new Nest Hub , which is a smart display that uses radar to tell when youre asleep. Is that cool or creepy? Plus, updates from elsewhere PC hardware land with news from Intel, AMD and Alienware. Story continues Stay tuned to the end of the episode for interviews with The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman on his upcoming Amazon animated series Invincible as well as Fede Alvarez, director of the upcoming Apple TV series Calls . Listen on Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Spotify , Pocket Casts or Stitcher . Continue reading. Elon Musk changes job title to 'Technoking of Tesla' Youre a grown man, Elon. In the midst of Teslas SEC filing, Elon Musk has apparently claimed a new title, the Technoking of Tesla, for some reason. The companys CFO, Zach Kirkhorn, has a new position thats right out of Game of Thrones : Master of Coin. Theres also probably a nod there to the recent Bitcoin machinations of both Tesla and Musk himself. Last month, Tesla bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin to help diversify and maximize its returns. The news juiced the price of Bitcoin further, hitting an all-time high of over $44,000. The filing notes: Elon and Zach will also maintain their respective positions as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Continue reading. Intel's 11th-gen desktop CPUs could win gamers back from AMD This years flagship CPU is 14 percent faster while running Flight Simulator in 1080p. 11th Gen Intel Core desktop processors (code-named (Intel Corporation) Intel has finally given us more information about its next family of desktop CPUs, codenamed Rocket Lake S. The fastest offering will be the Core i9-11900K, an 8-core chip that reaches up to 5.3GHz on a single core. Notably, that's two fewer cores than last year's 10900K. Devindra Hardawar explains what performance Intel has been able to wring out of its aging 14nm process, and how that compares to the competition from AMD for gamers and professionals. Continue reading. Barnes & Noble unveils a new 10-inch Nook tablet A full-featured Lenovo Android tablet...with Nook at its heart. Nook tablet (Barnes & Noble) Designed in collaboration with Lenovo, this Android device is powered by an octacore processor and has a 10.1-inch HD IPS display that's apparently been certified to be gentle on the eyes by lowering blue light. It also has 32GB of storage with the option to expand with a microSD card and can last up to 10 hours of web browsing on a single charge. As you'd expect, the $130 slate has access to the Nook app for ebooks, newspapers and magazines, Google Play and Google Assistant. Continue reading. But wait, theres more... Lenovo made a gaming chair with a built-in katana Take a look back at Engadget's favorite Game Boy Advance games President Biden picks former senator and one-time astronaut Bill Nelson to lead NASA Dell's 40-inch ultrawide monitor is the best kind of excess US charges CEO of company selling encrypted devices to drug traffickers SpaceX posts a clearer look at the Starship SN10 test flight Woman allegedly made deepfakes to kick rivals off daughter's cheerleading squad Perseverance recording reveals what driving on Mars sounds like Sony's new 4K TVs with 'cognitive' CPUs are rolling out, VRR will follow later Fender Acoustasonic Jazzmaster hands-on Bose Sleepbuds 2 review: How much is a good night's rest worth? Intel's new PC ads bring back the 'I'm a Mac' guy out of desperation This article contains affiliate links; if you click such a link and make a purchase, we may earn a commission. || Putting the Grift in ESG: O n the whole, I would prefer to live in a society run by cynics rather than saints—cynics tend to be less intrusive. However, when cynics pretend to be saints, they are playing a dangerous game, as many of those on Wall Street now peddling “socially responsible” investment (SRI) may soon discover. To be clear, I have no doubt that some of those pushing for more SRI (or the closely related concept of stakeholder capitalism ) are true believers. Others, perhaps the smartest, are jockeying for positions of power — and the perks that come with it — under a corporatist regime (stakeholder capitalism is essentially an expression of corporatism). Still others are simply following the ancient Wall Street practice of repackaging nonsense and selling it at a profit. The idea that companies which are run not for their shareholders, but for a somewhat arbitrarily selected group of “stakeholders” and/or goals that someone, somewhere, has determined to be good for society will be more profitable (or less risky) than companies run with a keen eye on shareholder return is, on the face of it, absurd. Even if it were not absurd, the extra fillip that would come from doing well by doing good would be quickly reflected in the share prices of those supposedly virtuous companies, sharply reducing the potential upside for those who got into the game too late (which will likely be most investors). Nevertheless, turning to Jason Zweig’s The Devil’s Financial Dictionary (a recent, and entertaining purchase, from which I plan on quoting fairly frequently in the next few months), I see that the first line of Zweig’s definition of a stock market is this: A chaotic hive of millions of people who overpay for hope and underpay for value. Harsh, but often true. And so we come to the bubble in stocks that are considered to score highly against certain environmental (“E”), social (“S”) and, rather more rationally, governance (“G”) benchmarks. To be clear, this bubble, like all the most dangerous bubbles, has some logic behind it. There is no doubt that the actions of activists, governments and regulators can create an environment in which such stocks will do better than they would in a market without such distorting factors. And momentum, of course, helps. Jumping on a bandwagon can make sense, so long as you know when to jump off, but picking that moment is rather easier said than done. As the saying goes, no one rings a bell. Story continues Valuations can only go so far, and even the supply of “greater fools” is not infinite. Zweig: It might seem surprising that there could ever be a shortage of fools in this world, but if you count on always finding one just when you most need to, you will wake up one day to find that everyone else has suddenly smartened up and the greater fool is you. And so to the selling of ESG, and this piece by Michael Wursthorn in the Wall Street Journal : Sustainability has been good for Wall Street’s bottom line. Exchange-traded funds that explicitly focus on socially responsible investments have 43% higher fees than widely popular standard ETFs. The environmental, social, and governance funds’ average fee was 0.2% at the end of last year, while standard ETFs that invest in U.S. large-cap stocks had a 0.14% fee on average, according to data from FactSet. “ESG creates a fantastic revenue possibility for large firms,” said Dr. Wayne Winegarden, a senior fellow at the Pacific Research Institute. Asset managers are among the biggest cheerleaders for sustainable investing. Their efforts are all aimed at capturing some of the tidal wave of money that has flowed into funds that promote things like clean energy or diversity. As a broader fee war has narrowed profit margins for money managers over the last decade, firms are looking to wring more revenue from the surge. Even a seemingly small increase in fees can have a big impact at scale. A firm managing $1 billion in a typical ESG fund, for example, would garner $2 million in annual fees versus managing the standard ETF’s $1.4 million. “It’s fresh, feels good and new,” said Andrew Jamieson, global head of ETF product at Citigroup Inc., of ESG. “But it’s not any different than anything else. These things aren’t any more expensive to run.” Nearly $8 billion has flowed into a host of U.S. ESG-themed funds in just January and February, according to FactSet, putting the first two months of flows roughly on par with all of 2019 . . . Money managers launched a record 71 sustainable mutual funds and ETFs last year, according to Morningstar . Asset management giant BlackRock Inc. pulled $68 billion into its sustainable products last year, representing more than 60% annual growth, with more than two-thirds of that money going into its iShares ETF business. In many respects, Larry Fink, the chairman and CEO of BlackRock, has made himself the face of ESG, issuing increasingly imperious directives setting out what he expects from the companies in which BlackRock, the largest asset manager in the world, invests or might invest. Now’s not the time to go through his latest “letter to CEOs,” although I appreciated the customary, if perhaps debatably scientific, shout-out to the “mounting physical toll of climate change in fires, droughts, flooding and hurricanes” and Fink’s (professed, if implicit) faith in Xi, the Chinese dictator, someone who no one should trust. In 2020, the EU, China, Japan, and South Korea all made historic commitments to achieve net zero emissions. It is, of course, only a coincidence that BlackRock sees China as both a business and investment opportunity. Then there was this (my emphasis added): There is no company whose business model won’t be profoundly affected by the transition to a net zero economy – one that emits no more carbon dioxide than it removes from the atmosphere by 2050, the scientifically-established threshold necessary to keep global warming well below 2ºC. As the transition accelerates, companies with a well-articulated long-term strategy, and a clear plan to address the transition to net zero, will distinguish themselves with their stakeholders – with customers, policymakers, employees and shareholders – by inspiring confidence that they can navigate this global transformation. For the CEO of the largest asset manager in the world to include “policymakers” (in other words, the state) as one of the “stakeholders” in private companies is an indicator of how far and how fast the corporatist advance is proceeding, an advance that bodes ill for shareholders and, for that matter, democracy. But back to the Wall Street Journal : For sustainability-focused investors, long-term returns aren’t certain. Last year, three out of four sustainable funds beat the averages for their broader categories, Morningstar said in a research report in January. Much of that outsize performance owes to sustainable funds being populated with technology stocks, a general stock-market favorite in 2020 that outperformed nearly all other sectors. History suggests that performance may be more of an outlier than the start of a permanent trend. Technology stocks happen to have, on some measures, a light environmental footprint, but that’s not why they outperformed. Pacific Research Institute’s Mr. Winegarden crunched some numbers in 2019, finding that $10,000 in an ESG fund would be about 44% smaller compared with an investment in an S&P 500-tracking fund over a 10-year period. Oh. And a purely opportunistic embrace of ESG may well backfire. Not only does it help shift the parameters of debate in a direction that is unlikely to favor either shareholders or prosperity or free markets, but it also may well leave those who have embraced it open to some . . . embarrassment. Take this article , published in USA Today : The financial services industry is duping the American public with its pro-environment, sustainable investing practices. This multitrillion dollar arena of socially conscious investing is being presented as something it’s not. In essence, Wall Street is greenwashing the economic system . . . In many instances across the industry, existing mutual funds are cynically rebranded as “green” — with no discernible change to the fund itself or its underlying strategies — simply for the sake of appearances and marketing purposes . In other cases , ESG products contain irresponsible companies such as petroleum majors and other large polluters like “fast fashion” manufacturing to boost the fund’s performance. There are even portfolio managers who actively mine ESG data to bet against environmentally responsible companies in the name of profit, a short-selling strategy. In that last case, I can understand why, and not just because many of these companies are currently traded at bubble prices. A company that is making a great show of the emphasis that it puts on ESG is unlikely to be focusing as much as it should on delivering a return to shareholders. This is even more the case where management is financially rewarded for the progress it makes in delivering ESG-style objectives, something that is becoming increasingly popular in C-suites, both as a public gesture of piety and as a means of diluting the tougher discipline imposed by financial targets. Back to USA Today (my emphasis added): As disheartening as this reality is, claiming to be environmentally responsible is profitable. Last year alone, ESG mutual funds and exchange-traded funds nearly doubled . The investment community understandably reacted to this with cheers. But those cheers were only for fund managers and their bottom lines. No matter what they tout as green investing, portfolio managers are legally bound (as well as financially incentivized) to do nothing that compromises profits . To advance real change in the environment simply doesn’t yield the same return . . . Oh. In early March, my sentiments were echoed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which announced it was creating a Climate and ESG Task Force to “proactively identify ESG-related misconduct” such as inaccurate or incomplete disclosures by funds and companies — an unprecedented move that suggests there might be abuses that have gone unaddressed. That is a part of what has attracted the SEC’s attention, yes, and it may well cause some difficulties for companies that have either been mis-selling themselves or their investment products. But the SEC’s initiative is a part of a more far-reaching process. First the agency would like to bring some order into how E, S, and G are defined and measured. That makes some sense. Investors who wish to base their decisions, whether it’s to buy or to sell (including selling short), on these issues ought to know how much they can rely on claims of ESG compliance and on what those claims actually mean. Those who have been so loudly touting their ESG credentials will find any arguments made by the SEC to that effect extremely difficult to resist. Sadly, the SEC appears to have wider ambitions that that. Please note this comment: Proactively addressing emerging disclosure gaps that threaten investors and the market has always been core to the SEC’s mission. What that will come to mean is that every company, whatever its previous stance on, say, climate change, will be required to disclose what it is doing in this area, a disclosure that will be used by activists as a cudgel to bring miscreants into line. But the ratchet will not stop there. What will begin as mandate to disclose will end up as an obligation on all companies to achieve certain standards — and those standards will inevitably become tougher as the years go by. To repeat myself, that is not good for shareholders, free markets, or prosperity. That would not, I suspect, worry the author of the USA Today article overmuch: Imagine the planet is a cancer patient, and climate change is the cancer. Wall Street is prescribing wheatgrass: A well-marketed, profitable idea that has no chance of curing or even slowing down the cancer. In this scenario, wheatgrass is the deadly distraction, misleading the public and delaying lifesaving measures like chemotherapy. But like giving false hope to unproven cures in the midst of a pandemic, the consequences of such irresponsibility are all too obvious. And motivation for why the industry continues to greenwash is all too obvious. I believe we are doing irreversible harm by stalling and greenwashing. And all in the name of profits . . . We’re running out of time and need to accept the truth: To fix our system and curb a growing disaster, we need government to fix the rules. Once again, those who have been pushing ESG so hard (particularly where climate change is concerned) may find themselves on tricky ground if or when they dare to argue back. So, who wrote the USA Today piece? Well, his name is Tariq Fancy, and, in the article, he explains his background: As the former chief investment officer of Sustainable Investing at BlackRock, the largest asset manager in the world with $8.7 trillion in assets , I led the charge to incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) into our global investments. In fact, our messaging helped mainstream the concept that pursuing social good was also good for the bottom line. Sadly, that’s all it is, a hopeful idea. In truth, sustainable investing boils down to little more than marketing hype, PR spin and disingenuous promises from the investment community. BlackRock? Oh. The Capital Record We recently launched a new series of podcasts, the Capital Record. Follow the link to see how to subscribe (it’s free!). The Capital Record, which will appear weekly, is designed to make use of another medium to deliver Capital Matters’ defense of free markets. Financier and NRI trustee David L. Bahnsen hosts discussions on economics and finance in this National Review Capital Matters podcast, sponsored by National Review Institute. Episodes feature interviews with the nation’s top business leaders, entrepreneurs, investment professionals, and financial commentators. In the ninth episode, David Bahnsen interviews Father Robert Sirico, founder of the Acton Institute. The conversation goes deep and wide around economic history and is entitled Ayn Rand Meets Religion . And the Capital Matters week that was . . . Perhaps appropriately, given the assumption of regulatory creep contained in the first section of this Capital Letter, we began the week with the Manhattan Institute’s Randall Lutter noting the use that President Biden will make of regulation to push through his agenda. Lutter wonders who will regulate the regulators: The Biden administration, supported by thin Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, may soon begin issuing regulations to achieve its policy goals. A presidential memo from last month outlines the administration’s plan for modernizing the federal regulatory-development process within the executive branch. It calls for rulemaking-process improvements to promote goals such as public health and safety, economic growth, social welfare, racial justice, environmental stewardship, human dignity, and equity. But a close reading of Biden’s memo raises questions about whether the process improvements that it envisions will suffice to provide necessary transparency and accountability in rulemaking. In fact, Congress should consider taking additional steps in order to ensure transparency and accountability and to help make regulations authorized by existing statutes more efficient and cost-effective . . . In 2000, Congress authorized but did not fund an office of regulatory analysis that would have been housed in the General Accountability Office. Congress should now authorize and fund such a body, either as a part of the GAO or as a stand-alone organization. An independent office of regulatory analysis would surely not prevent all federal regulatory excesses, either those that go beyond existing statutory authority or those that are legally sound but burden families and small businesses and curtail innovation without commensurate benefits. But it would help protect the impartiality of estimates of the economic effects of federal regulation and thereby enhance serious deliberations about specific federal regulations and the regulatory process generally. And in a troubled world in which legislative action by our elected officials may be limited and new regulations abundant, this modest step is well worth taking. It is indeed, but I am not holding my breath. PERC’s Brian Yablonski argued that private landowners ought to have a role to play in Biden’s plan to conserve 30 percent of all U.S. lands and waters by 2030: There will be a push to use old, divisive tools on public lands to score easy gains, such as designating new monuments or banning fossil-fuel development. But conserving land does not necessarily require a heavy hand from the federal government. The administration should use this moment to explore newer, more-creative market-based solutions. Indeed, whatever its instincts to the contrary, this would be its best chance of success . . . Private landowners play a vital but often overlooked role in sustaining much of what many Americans want to conserve — abundant wildlife, clean water, and vast open spaces. Altogether, private lands are home to 75 percent of the nation’s wetlands and more than 80 percent of its grasslands. Two-thirds of all threatened and endangered species depend upon private lands for the majority of their habitat. But getting landowner buy-in for a federal initiative won’t be easy in our current “red-county–blue-county” political climate. A recent survey from Duke University found that only 25 percent of rural Americans believe that the federal government, rather than states, should “take the lead” on environmental issues. To address these concerns, the Biden administration should come out strongly against the use of regulations or restrictive designations on private lands to reach its target of 30 by 30. Even the progressive Center for American Progress — in an article published in 2019 that argued for protecting 30 percent by 2030 — said that such policies “need not and must not infringe upon private property rights.” Instead, innovation and incentives should take the lead. Private-land innovators are already harnessing markets for large-landscape conservation . . . It is fair to say that Daniel J. Pilla did not like the look of Elizabeth Warren’s tax plan, which has implications that go far beyond a wealth tax, bad enough as that would be: The merits of the tax itself have been discussed at length. What has not been discussed is the new IRS-enforcement scheme that the bill would create, which would include a staggering increase in the size of the IRS, a substantial expansion of the IRS’s already-oppressive information-reporting requirements, and many more audits and collection actions. Let’s examine these elements more carefully. The bill proposes to increase the IRS’s funding by $100 billion over the next ten years. To put this in perspective, the IRS’s FY 2021 budget is $11.92 billion, up by $409 million from FY 2020. Warren’s bill would nearly double the agency’s funding for FY 2022, and leave it nearly ten times bigger by 2031. What’s more, the bill stipulates that 70 percent of the new money must be used for tax-law enforcement, compared to just 10 percent allocated for “taxpayer services” such as pre-filing assistance and education, filing and account services, and taxpayer-advocacy services. Again, for perspective, the IRS’s FY 2021 budget allocates $2.556 billion for taxpayer services and $5.213 billion, or just about twice as much, for enforcement activities such as audits, collections, litigation, and criminal investigations. Warren’s bill would give the IRS seven times more money for enforcement than for taxpayer services . . . It gets worse. But then you knew that. Charlie Cooke meanwhile didn’t think that Joe Biden had been entirely straightforward about his tax plans. Then: Joe Biden will not raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000. Period. Now: Psaki says potential tax increase on those making $400,000 or more means that income threshold applies to “families.” One cannot square “any one ” and “families,” writes Charlie. Indeed. “Watch this space,” he adds. I think I know what will fill it. Phil Klein, meanwhile, the new editor of National Review Online (welcome!), disapproved of the fact that Chuck Schumer “is pushing Biden to remove the $10,000 cap on deducting state and local taxes from federal taxes (known as the SALT tax cap)”: The Tax Policy Center has found that were the cap lifted, a majority of the benefits would go to the top 1 percent of taxpayers, and 96 percent of would go to the top 20 percent of taxpayers. Virtually no middle-class taxpayers would benefit from the repeal, which would reduce revenues by about $327 billion over the next five years. One effect of the tax cap was that it allowed liberal states such as Schumer’s to hike taxes while minimizing the fallout from doing so. It’s no surprise that since the cap was put in place, people have been fleeing New York and California in droves for lower-tax jurisdictions — a trend that was accelerated by those states’ abysmal handling of COVID-19. I shall say nothing . (Don’t @ me.) Tax week continued with Kevin Hassett and Matthew Jensen adding up all the stimulus packages and then running some numbers . Brace yourselves: It is possible that lower spending will eventually offset the debt from all this stimulus, but what if, as the Biden team signaled this week, the stimulus bill is paid for with tax hikes? Just to make it personal, wouldn’t you like to know what your tax bill will be for all the stimulus packages, so you can, with your usual rational panache, save in order to finance your new liability just as Friedman suggested all rational people would do? To find out, we relied on a methodology that was developed by one of us (Jensen) and his coauthor Aspen Gorry in a 2011 article. The idea is that the current distribution of taxes paid is the result of a political process that has evolved in almost Darwinian fashion over time and thus is likely to persist. Tax hikes come and go, but the basic distribution of taxes paid varies much less than you might think, with the wealthiest paying the vast majority of taxes under both Republican and Democratic administrations. It is highly unlikely that a bill as high as $5.3 trillion will be distributed differently from today’s taxes. The richest of the rich simply don’t have that much money. Once we accept that assumption that the future tax hike will be distributed according to today’s distribution of taxes, we can estimate the tax bill for each income level. How are taxes distributed? According to calculations based on the Tax-Brain software available at PSLmodels.org we found that in 2020, individuals with incomes below $75,000 paid about 12 percent of total taxes, while those with incomes between $75,000 and $200,000 paid about 34 percent of taxes, and those with incomes above that paid the rest. Assuming that pattern holds . . . [we can see] how a future tax bill associated with COVID-19 relief would be distributed. Even with the high progressivity of the current tax code, the bills are extraordinary. For those with incomes between $30,000 and $40,000, the tax hike needed today to pay for the combined stimulus packages would be about $5,000. Those with incomes between $40,000 and $50,000 would pay about $9,000, while those earning between $50,000 and $75,000 would have to fork over $16,000. That rises to $27,000 for incomes between $75,000 and $100,000, and $51,000 for incomes between $100,000 and $200,000. For higher earners, the bills climb so fast that they jump off the chart. The average for Americans with incomes between $500,000 and $1 million is $304,000. A typical American family, with $88,000 of income, faces a bill near $27,000. And speaking of stimulus, Veronique de Rugy didn’t see too much of it coming out of the latest $1.9 trillion: Even if you are sympathetic to the idea that government spending can stimulate the economy, there is no way to justify the size of the American Rescue Plan, a plan that has little to do with rescuing us but is a first step toward a progressive paradise á la Bernie Sanders, at least with the tradition tools used by Keynesian or even neoliberal thinkers. That level of spending has nothing to do with the traditional justification of filling the economy’s output gap, the difference between actual economic activity and potential output in a normal economy, unless we are willing to recognize that the economic return on this government spending (the spending multiplier) is ridiculously small — much smaller than 1. Let’s do the math: The Congressional Budget Office projects that the output gap will be $700 billion through 2023, the period when most of the $1.9 trillion in spending will take place. It means that $1.9 trillion is two or three times more than needed to fill the gap. Unless one is willing to say that the multiplier is roughly 0.37. For each dollar the government spends (and takes from the real economy), it gets $0.37 in growth. Not too glorious . . . But $1.9 trillion isn’t the end of the binge. Robert VerBruggen warned that another $2–4 trillion might be on the way, this time largely on infrastructure. There might be some projects that justify additional federal spending — which, at about $100 billion per year, already covers about a quarter of American infrastructure costs — but most infrastructure improvements can and should just be left to state and local governments. These entities can decide for themselves whether to pony up, and with an overly generous handout from the COVID bill, they’re in good financial shape. Meanwhile, there is no guarantee that infrastructure will “pay for itself” any better than tax cuts do. One can find studies claiming that every dollar of infrastructure investment creates several dollars in economic growth, but as Duranton et al. explain, the overall literature is “mixed,” with results that are sensitive to the statistical techniques used. But free-market conservatives might not have a veto here. In that case, what should they do with what leverage they have? As much as they possibly can, they should seek to include reforms that bring prices down. Infrastructure is way too expensive in this country, and if conservatives can’t prevent trillions in new spending, they should at least try to make the spending more efficient . . . Philip Cross doubted whether higher minimum wages would reduce poverty: Most studies conclude that minimum-wage hikes result in job losses, especially among the younger generation, while doing little to reduce poverty. The failure of minimum-wage laws to achieve their intended goal of helping low-income families is not surprising. Minimum-wage laws are designed to use employers to achieve a social goal at minimal cost to the government, but they incentivize firms to lower total labor costs in ways that frustrate that goal. This is because minimum-wage laws have contradictory effects: They help a small number of full-time workers at the expense of others, especially those who lose job opportunities . . . Almost all the evidence for the impact of higher minimum wages on jobs is based on the relatively small increases that historically have been the norm. The Democratic proposal is more in line with the sizable increase made by Canadian provincial governments in Ontario (32 percent) and Alberta (36 percent) when, a few years ago, they boosted their minimum wage to $14 and $15 an hour, respectively. Economists expect these very large hikes eventually will result in disproportionately more job losses because outsized increases give employers more incentive to cut costs while unable to make the subtle adjustments to lower nonwage benefits or higher labor productivity that help firms control overall costs. One mitigating factor for the proposed U.S. federal minimum-wage increase is that it starts from a much lower initial wage rate than in either Ontario or Alberta. This also, however, magnifies the shock of moving to a $15 an hour wage. So far, the sharp hikes in the minimum wages for Alberta and Ontario in 2018 have had a negative impact on youth employment. The youth-employment rate fell by a full point in Ontario between late 2017 and early 2020 (before the pandemic began), while in Alberta it dropped by half a point over the same period. By comparison, the youth-employment rate in all of Canada rose by nearly 2 percentage points over the same period. Not having a job lowers the earnings profile of young people for years . . . The CEI’s Iain Murray argued that decentralizing social media was the way to approach the current conundrum over Big Tech and its control over speech: Before the “great de-platforming” following the events at the Capitol on January 6, defenders of a laissez-faire approach to social media were able to tell those unhappy with Big Tech’s content moderation decisions to simply switch platforms. But when Amazon Web Services removed Parler from its cloud hosting, making the app impossible to access, the case against a government crackdown became less convincing. But if given some time to innovate in an environment free from stifling regulation, the market may yet produce a solution in the form of decentralized social media. It seems everyone is concerned about “Big Tech” these days. The Left is worried about its role in spreading misinformation — both actual and perceived. The Right is worried about what they see as anti-conservative bias on the part of tech companies. Even libertarians, who regard these two concerns as misplaced, worry about cronyism and a disturbing tendency to cozy up to authoritarian regimes. And the Big Tech firms themselves say they need to be regulated — on their own terms. But compelling companies to quiet the “hate speech” du jour will displease conservatives and libertarians. Forcing companies to carry all speech will anger the Left and libertarians. And doing nothing will annoy the Left and Right alike. The good news is that we already have a possible path out of this impasse: disintermediation. In practical terms, that means replacing the current generation of social-media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and Parler, with decentralized social media — a different infrastructure where there is no central server. Instead of a company owning and controlling the site, the users themselves would control content moderation and other management of the network . . . Glenn Hubbard, a former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under President George W. Bush, asked how to “build back better”: Policy-makers are often impatient with the extended time it takes for bridges to make a difference. If a community is hurting because of imports or technology, why not just put in temporary tariffs or other protections (e.g., a wall)? Very simply, because to do so would be to postpone the inevitable work that all communities must do in order to participate in a dynamic economy. More important, walls are almost always inequitable. Tariffs on steel might temporarily help a few steelmaking towns, but they ultimately operate at the cost of many more manufacturing towns with falling revenue because of higher prices for a key input. Protections usually favor well-connected groups at the expense of underprivileged communities trying to make it the usual way. Adam Smith, the father of modern economics, understood this dynamic as well as anyone did. In his day, mercantilist thinkers thought that the wealth of nations consisted of stocks of gold or silver. They wanted to increase those stocks, the better to fund wars and explorations. They convinced kings to intervene in markets to limit competition at home and abroad for favored activities. Trade surpluses were good, trade deficits bad, and state-sanctioned monopolies generated more revenue for the crown. For Smith, the wealth of a nation lay in its potential for consumption by the great mass of ordinary people. He wanted to make the economic pie as large as possible. The consumer, not the crown or court, was Smith’s economic king. To expand this wealth, Smith promoted free markets and competition guided by the invisible hand. These forces reconciled self-interest with the expanding pie for everyone. He wanted everyone, even those without connections, to be able to compete, so he encouraged education and other kinds of preparation. Mass flourishing was his goal. Today’s economy is more complex and disruptive than that of Smith’s day, but we still need broad participation. That’s the only way to keep raising living standards for more people, and bring economic justice to formerly marginalized groups. Participation is also good for its own sake. Think of mass flourishing as being “in the groove” of the dynamic economy, akin to psychologists’ concept of flow. Like flow, flourishing requires individuals who can raise their game to keep up with wherever the economy goes. People feel a sense of belonging in the economy when they work in open markets. They don’t get that sense when we try to protect them with walls. Well-connected workers will get those protected jobs, while other people will remain stuck. It’s far better to let consumers’ tastes and incomes shape the opportunities for firms and the employment patterns that follow. And once you start a bit of tinkering in the economy, everyone wants favors, and pretty soon you’ve smothered the economy’s dynamism inside a series of well-intentioned walls . . . Jimmy Quinn described how the Beijing regime had used capital as one of the ways in which it reined in Hong Kong: Even in the earliest years of the period following the city’s 1997 handover from the U.K. to China, the Chinese regime’s willingness to use flex its financial muscle as a way of asserting control over the life of the city was already apparent. As a result of the 2003 Closer Economic Partnership Agreement, trade between Hong Kong and the mainland tripled over the ensuing decade. The growing influx of mainland cash degraded Hong Kong’s financial regulations, allowing Chinese firms to take charge of its capital markets. In 2004, mainland corporations accounted for 31 percent of Hong Kong’s stock market by market capitalization; by 2019, that figure had risen to about 71 percent. Naturally, Beijing turned its increasing control of Hong Kong capital flows into a political weapon with which it would eventually beat down the city’s pro-democracy opposition. The report notes that as the regime gained greater clout within Hong Kong-based multinational corporations, it installed party loyalists in key positions within them. And not coincidentally, during the protests against an extradition law proposed by the city’s chief executive in 2019, a number of businesses restricted the political speech of, and in some cases fired, employees for supporting the democracy movement, while banks, such as HSBC, closed accounts used to support the protesters . . . Steve Hanke and Robert Simon argued that : Bitcoin clearly falls short of meeting the four standard criteria to be designated as a currency. Accordingly, it should not be viewed as a currency but as a speculative asset with a fundamental value of zero. That being said, Bitcoin does have an objective market price. That price is determined by speculators operating in a whirlpool in which they are purchasing an asset with very little or no utility in the hope of selling it later at a higher price: greater fools and all that . . . Thanks to ease of entry and competition, inferior cryptocurrency products will struggle, in the end, to survive. Just look at Bitcoin. Although its market capitalization has skyrocketed, Bitcoin’s share of the total crypto market has fallen from 94 percent in April 2013 to 61 percent today. Eventually, Bitcoin’s current limited use value will likely be eclipsed by the offerings of superior challengers. So, just what might an effective competitor look like? It would be in the form of a private cryptocurrency board. A traditional currency board issues a currency that is freely convertible at an absolutely fixed exchange rate with a foreign anchor currency or gold. Therefore, under a currency-board arrangement, there are no capital controls. The currency issued by a currency board is backed 100 percent with anchor-currency reserves. So, with a currency board, its currency is simply a clone of its anchor currency. Currency boards have existed in about 70 countries, and none have failed — including the North Russian currency board installed on November 11, 1918, during the Russian Civil War. What all currency boards — past and present — have in common is that they are public institutions, but there is no requirement that currency boards be publicly owned. A private cryptocurrency board would be the ideal institutional arrangement for the crypto world. For example, its home offices and reserves could be located in Switzerland, a safe-haven financial center, and it could be governed under Swiss law. It could be operated with a small staff, as is the case with all traditional currency boards. As for its anchor, it could be a currency issued by a central bank, or gold, which is not issued by a sovereign. Furthermore, given its digital nature, the balance-sheet information of a private cryptocurrency board, including its reserves, could be publicly available and audited by independent auditors on a regular basis. With such a system, the crypto world would finally have a product that is more than just a speculative house of cards. Our chart guy, Joseph Sullivan, suggested that our understanding of the growth in international trade owed more than is understood to the growth in international borders : As empires crumble, new sovereign states with new national borders of their own are born, and trade across national borders increases accordingly. In 1920, the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires had recently collapsed in the wake of World War I. While the empires of Western European powers such as the United Kingdom and France would not start their collapse until the 1950s, the collapse of the USSR in the early 1990s triggered the most recent of the upward waves in national land border visible on the chart. All in all, miles of land border slightly more than tripled from 41,920 in 1920 to 132,940 in 2019, as international trade’s share of GDP slightly less than tripled from 21.7 percent in 1920 to 60.3 percent in 2019. The broad similarity in the size of their increase — both roughly tripled — suggests their rise together is no coincidence. But stability, once variation in the quantity of national land border is factored in, may be the most remarkable attribute of international trade’s role in the world economy. In the 100 years that span 1920 to 2019, international trade’s share of world GDP never dipped below 0.21 percent or above 0.51 percent. These upper and lower bounds have also been retraced with a regularity that suggests they may be more than coincidence. The border-adjusted low of 0.21 percent of world GDP per 1,000 miles of national land border was reached in the Great Depression of 1932 as well as at the height of the Cold War in 1967. The overall series high of 0.51 percent came in 1920, when far less national border existed than today. Since 2000, the quantity of border has stayed roughly stable, and international trade’s share of world GDP per thousand miles of national border has not budged above the 0.46 percent it registered in four separate years, including in 2019. Some today worry about this lack of new growth in international trade’s share of world GDP. If history is any guide, their best bets for unlocking that growth would be for secessionist movements in places like Catalonia or Scotland to succeed. But many proponents of deepening international trade are also opponents of new national borders. They may have, then, an internal contradiction to resolve: If you’re applauding the growth of international trade over the last 100 years, you have the birth of new national borders to thank. Jerry Bowyer pointed out that the Fed’s “no change” stance was really a change: The Fed is moving the goal posts, giving itself more permission to keep the game going. Gold, crypto, forex, and inflation-protected treasury bonds all were up in response, though there were reversals subsequently, especially on Thursday when markets reacted to other news, including an unexpectedly weak jobless-claims report and rising concerns about global supply chains. Markets sifted through the new data and sold off treasuries (raising yields) and stocks, particularly tech stocks that tend to be more interest-rate sensitive because of long time horizons. Perhaps investors are looking at both the Fed and the economy and realizing that there are limits to how much real economic good money creation can accomplish. I think that, in making their initial reflationary bet, the markets had things right and may even be underestimating the radical nature of the Fed’s policy agenda. The Fed made it clear last year that it intended to keep “inflation moderately above 2% for some time.” It also reiterated this week that it “will aim to achieve inflation moderately above 2 percent for some time so that inflation averages 2 percent over time.” In other words, the goal isn’t just to get PCE inflation above 2 percent, but also to raise the average above that level. That average includes the past two years of PCE inflation averaging only 1.3 percent, and only 1.5 percent since the end of the Great Recession. The math is pretty clear. If the Fed aims for four years of average PCE inflation of 2 percent, and the past two years averaged only 1.3 percent, then the next two years will have to average 2.7 percent. And to add fuel to the fire (or is it firewater to the punchbowl?), that target is a PCE target. But CPI inflation runs about one-third higher. So, if the Fed is giving itself permission for a PCE party of more than 2.7 percent, it is giving itself permission for a CPI party of more than 3 percent “for some time.” And all of that just includes the inflation it wants, not inflationary policies foisted upon it by the implications of yet more Biden spending, or, for that matter, possible minimum-wage-hike effects on unemployment that will force the Fed to adjust its policies to accommodate the NAIRU jacket in which it has now wrapped itself . . . Jon Hartley and Andy Puzder were more sanguine about the inflationary prospects: Inflation has begun increasing but, to this point, only nominally so. It is important to keep in mind that the Fed recently shifted its monetary framework to “flexible average inflation targeting” over the long run. Since we’ve seen drops in inflation over the past year, we think that the Fed’s current accommodative policies are the right framework to make sure inflation runs at an average of 2 percent over the long run. Recently, we have seen little increase in core inflation rates, which exclude gas and food prices. U.S. core CPI year-over-year inflation has been running at 1.3 percent through February compared with the 1.7 percent headline number, which includes oil prices. Rapidly rising oil prices (Brent crude-oil prices rose from about $50 per barrel at the beginning of the year to $70 per barrel as of this writing) are largely responsible for the nominal increase in headline inflation. Core year-over-year PCE inflation (the Fed’s preferred measure) has been running at 1.5 percent through January, still well below the Fed’s 2 percent long-run target. Expectations for future inflation also remain low. Real yields on ten-year Treasury Inflation-Protection Securities (Treasury bonds indexed to inflation to protect investors from the negative effects of rising prices) have risen by 0.4 percent since the beginning of the year, reflecting improved U.S. investment prospects while also suggesting that headline ten-year inflation expectations have increased by only 0.3 percent. The M2 money stock (a measure for the amount of currency in circulation) has increased by a meaningful 20 percent since the passage of the CARES Act, understandably raising inflation concerns. But, it has leveled off since , suggesting a one-time increase. A one-time increase shows up more meaningfully in five-year inflation expectations (which are up 0.6 percent since January 1) compared with ten-year inflation expectations (which have risen only 0.3 percent). This is not to downplay the potential for inflationary pressures down the road. With the passage of the Democrats’ recent $1.9 trillion so-called COVID-relief American Rescue Plan Act, there is certainly a risk that the economy could overheat. The fact is that the economy would have substantially improved this year — and may well have done so without dramatic inflationary pressure — if the Biden administration had done nothing. Unfortunately, it likely did too much in its effort to “ go big .” . . . Finally, we produced the Capital Note , our “daily” (well, Tuesday–Friday, anyway, though this week Friday Note mysteriously went missing). Topics covered included: China’s tech crackdown, Dalio’s dollar doom, Ashworth’s response, a look at China’s advantages in entrepreneurship , the FOMC meeting, tech stocks tumble, Treasurys climb, the risks of forward guidance , priorities, priorities, and Danone’s management change, priorities, priorities, genocide and climate change, earmarks, bubble watch, and price to story ratios . More from National Review Boom, then Bust? How Advocates of ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ Distort Shareholder Power ESG on a Tear, But No Boohoo (Maybe) || Putting the Grift in ESG: O n the whole, I would prefer to live in a society run by cynics rather than saints—cynics tend to be less intrusive. However, when cynics pretend to be saints, they are playing a dangerous game, as many of those on Wall Street now peddling “socially responsible” investment (SRI) may soon discover. To be clear, I have no doubt that some of those pushing for more SRI (or the closely related concept of stakeholder capitalism ) are true believers. Others, perhaps the smartest, are jockeying for positions of power — and the perks that come with it — under a corporatist regime (stakeholder capitalism is essentially an expression of corporatism). Still others are simply following the ancient Wall Street practice of repackaging nonsense and selling it at a profit. The idea that companies which are run not for their shareholders, but for a somewhat arbitrarily selected group of “stakeholders” and/or goals that someone, somewhere, has determined to be good for society will be more profitable (or less risky) than companies run with a keen eye on shareholder return is, on the face of it, absurd. Even if it were not absurd, the extra fillip that would come from doing well by doing good would be quickly reflected in the share prices of those supposedly virtuous companies, sharply reducing the potential upside for those who got into the game too late (which will likely be most investors). Nevertheless, turning to Jason Zweig’s The Devil’s Financial Dictionary (a recent, and entertaining purchase, from which I plan on quoting fairly frequently in the next few months), I see that the first line of Zweig’s definition of a stock market is this: A chaotic hive of millions of people who overpay for hope and underpay for value. Harsh, but often true. And so we come to the bubble in stocks that are considered to score highly against certain environmental (“E”), social (“S”) and, rather more rationally, governance (“G”) benchmarks. To be clear, this bubble, like all the most dangerous bubbles, has some logic behind it. There is no doubt that the actions of activists, governments and regulators can create an environment in which such stocks will do better than they would in a market without such distorting factors. And momentum, of course, helps. Jumping on a bandwagon can make sense, so long as you know when to jump off, but picking that moment is rather easier said than done. As the saying goes, no one rings a bell. Story continues Valuations can only go so far, and even the supply of “greater fools” is not infinite. Zweig: It might seem surprising that there could ever be a shortage of fools in this world, but if you count on always finding one just when you most need to, you will wake up one day to find that everyone else has suddenly smartened up and the greater fool is you. And so to the selling of ESG, and this piece by Michael Wursthorn in the Wall Street Journal : Sustainability has been good for Wall Street’s bottom line. Exchange-traded funds that explicitly focus on socially responsible investments have 43% higher fees than widely popular standard ETFs. The environmental, social, and governance funds’ average fee was 0.2% at the end of last year, while standard ETFs that invest in U.S. large-cap stocks had a 0.14% fee on average, according to data from FactSet. “ESG creates a fantastic revenue possibility for large firms,” said Dr. Wayne Winegarden, a senior fellow at the Pacific Research Institute. Asset managers are among the biggest cheerleaders for sustainable investing. Their efforts are all aimed at capturing some of the tidal wave of money that has flowed into funds that promote things like clean energy or diversity. As a broader fee war has narrowed profit margins for money managers over the last decade, firms are looking to wring more revenue from the surge. Even a seemingly small increase in fees can have a big impact at scale. A firm managing $1 billion in a typical ESG fund, for example, would garner $2 million in annual fees versus managing the standard ETF’s $1.4 million. “It’s fresh, feels good and new,” said Andrew Jamieson, global head of ETF product at Citigroup Inc., of ESG. “But it’s not any different than anything else. These things aren’t any more expensive to run.” Nearly $8 billion has flowed into a host of U.S. ESG-themed funds in just January and February, according to FactSet, putting the first two months of flows roughly on par with all of 2019 . . . Money managers launched a record 71 sustainable mutual funds and ETFs last year, according to Morningstar . Asset management giant BlackRock Inc. pulled $68 billion into its sustainable products last year, representing more than 60% annual growth, with more than two-thirds of that money going into its iShares ETF business. In many respects, Larry Fink, the chairman and CEO of BlackRock, has made himself the face of ESG, issuing increasingly imperious directives setting out what he expects from the companies in which BlackRock, the largest asset manager in the world, invests or might invest. Now’s not the time to go through his latest “letter to CEOs,” although I appreciated the customary, if perhaps debatably scientific, shout-out to the “mounting physical toll of climate change in fires, droughts, flooding and hurricanes” and Fink’s (professed, if implicit) faith in Xi, the Chinese dictator, someone who no one should trust. In 2020, the EU, China, Japan, and South Korea all made historic commitments to achieve net zero emissions. It is, of course, only a coincidence that BlackRock sees China as both a business and investment opportunity. Then there was this (my emphasis added): There is no company whose business model won’t be profoundly affected by the transition to a net zero economy – one that emits no more carbon dioxide than it removes from the atmosphere by 2050, the scientifically-established threshold necessary to keep global warming well below 2ºC. As the transition accelerates, companies with a well-articulated long-term strategy, and a clear plan to address the transition to net zero, will distinguish themselves with their stakeholders – with customers, policymakers, employees and shareholders – by inspiring confidence that they can navigate this global transformation. For the CEO of the largest asset manager in the world to include “policymakers” (in other words, the state) as one of the “stakeholders” in private companies is an indicator of how far and how fast the corporatist advance is proceeding, an advance that bodes ill for shareholders and, for that matter, democracy. But back to the Wall Street Journal : For sustainability-focused investors, long-term returns aren’t certain. Last year, three out of four sustainable funds beat the averages for their broader categories, Morningstar said in a research report in January. Much of that outsize performance owes to sustainable funds being populated with technology stocks, a general stock-market favorite in 2020 that outperformed nearly all other sectors. History suggests that performance may be more of an outlier than the start of a permanent trend. Technology stocks happen to have, on some measures, a light environmental footprint, but that’s not why they outperformed. Pacific Research Institute’s Mr. Winegarden crunched some numbers in 2019, finding that $10,000 in an ESG fund would be about 44% smaller compared with an investment in an S&P 500-tracking fund over a 10-year period. Oh. And a purely opportunistic embrace of ESG may well backfire. Not only does it help shift the parameters of debate in a direction that is unlikely to favor either shareholders or prosperity or free markets, but it also may well leave those who have embraced it open to some . . . embarrassment. Take this article , published in USA Today : The financial services industry is duping the American public with its pro-environment, sustainable investing practices. This multitrillion dollar arena of socially conscious investing is being presented as something it’s not. In essence, Wall Street is greenwashing the economic system . . . In many instances across the industry, existing mutual funds are cynically rebranded as “green” — with no discernible change to the fund itself or its underlying strategies — simply for the sake of appearances and marketing purposes . In other cases , ESG products contain irresponsible companies such as petroleum majors and other large polluters like “fast fashion” manufacturing to boost the fund’s performance. There are even portfolio managers who actively mine ESG data to bet against environmentally responsible companies in the name of profit, a short-selling strategy. In that last case, I can understand why, and not just because many of these companies are currently traded at bubble prices. A company that is making a great show of the emphasis that it puts on ESG is unlikely to be focusing as much as it should on delivering a return to shareholders. This is even more the case where management is financially rewarded for the progress it makes in delivering ESG-style objectives, something that is becoming increasingly popular in C-suites, both as a public gesture of piety and as a means of diluting the tougher discipline imposed by financial targets. Back to USA Today (my emphasis added): As disheartening as this reality is, claiming to be environmentally responsible is profitable. Last year alone, ESG mutual funds and exchange-traded funds nearly doubled . The investment community understandably reacted to this with cheers. But those cheers were only for fund managers and their bottom lines. No matter what they tout as green investing, portfolio managers are legally bound (as well as financially incentivized) to do nothing that compromises profits . To advance real change in the environment simply doesn’t yield the same return . . . Oh. In early March, my sentiments were echoed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which announced it was creating a Climate and ESG Task Force to “proactively identify ESG-related misconduct” such as inaccurate or incomplete disclosures by funds and companies — an unprecedented move that suggests there might be abuses that have gone unaddressed. That is a part of what has attracted the SEC’s attention, yes, and it may well cause some difficulties for companies that have either been mis-selling themselves or their investment products. But the SEC’s initiative is a part of a more far-reaching process. First the agency would like to bring some order into how E, S, and G are defined and measured. That makes some sense. Investors who wish to base their decisions, whether it’s to buy or to sell (including selling short), on these issues ought to know how much they can rely on claims of ESG compliance and on what those claims actually mean. Those who have been so loudly touting their ESG credentials will find any arguments made by the SEC to that effect extremely difficult to resist. Sadly, the SEC appears to have wider ambitions that that. Please note this comment: Proactively addressing emerging disclosure gaps that threaten investors and the market has always been core to the SEC’s mission. What that will come to mean is that every company, whatever its previous stance on, say, climate change, will be required to disclose what it is doing in this area, a disclosure that will be used by activists as a cudgel to bring miscreants into line. But the ratchet will not stop there. What will begin as mandate to disclose will end up as an obligation on all companies to achieve certain standards — and those standards will inevitably become tougher as the years go by. To repeat myself, that is not good for shareholders, free markets, or prosperity. That would not, I suspect, worry the author of the USA Today article overmuch: Imagine the planet is a cancer patient, and climate change is the cancer. Wall Street is prescribing wheatgrass: A well-marketed, profitable idea that has no chance of curing or even slowing down the cancer. In this scenario, wheatgrass is the deadly distraction, misleading the public and delaying lifesaving measures like chemotherapy. But like giving false hope to unproven cures in the midst of a pandemic, the consequences of such irresponsibility are all too obvious. And motivation for why the industry continues to greenwash is all too obvious. I believe we are doing irreversible harm by stalling and greenwashing. And all in the name of profits . . . We’re running out of time and need to accept the truth: To fix our system and curb a growing disaster, we need government to fix the rules. Once again, those who have been pushing ESG so hard (particularly where climate change is concerned) may find themselves on tricky ground if or when they dare to argue back. So, who wrote the USA Today piece? Well, his name is Tariq Fancy, and, in the article, he explains his background: As the former chief investment officer of Sustainable Investing at BlackRock, the largest asset manager in the world with $8.7 trillion in assets , I led the charge to incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) into our global investments. In fact, our messaging helped mainstream the concept that pursuing social good was also good for the bottom line. Sadly, that’s all it is, a hopeful idea. In truth, sustainable investing boils down to little more than marketing hype, PR spin and disingenuous promises from the investment community. BlackRock? Oh. The Capital Record We recently launched a new series of podcasts, the Capital Record. Follow the link to see how to subscribe (it’s free!). The Capital Record, which will appear weekly, is designed to make use of another medium to deliver Capital Matters’ defense of free markets. Financier and NRI trustee David L. Bahnsen hosts discussions on economics and finance in this National Review Capital Matters podcast, sponsored by National Review Institute. Episodes feature interviews with the nation’s top business leaders, entrepreneurs, investment professionals, and financial commentators. In the ninth episode, David Bahnsen interviews Father Robert Sirico, founder of the Acton Institute. The conversation goes deep and wide around economic history and is entitled Ayn Rand Meets Religion . And the Capital Matters week that was . . . Perhaps appropriately, given the assumption of regulatory creep contained in the first section of this Capital Letter, we began the week with the Manhattan Institute’s Randall Lutter noting the use that President Biden will make of regulation to push through his agenda. Lutter wonders who will regulate the regulators: The Biden administration, supported by thin Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, may soon begin issuing regulations to achieve its policy goals. A presidential memo from last month outlines the administration’s plan for modernizing the federal regulatory-development process within the executive branch. It calls for rulemaking-process improvements to promote goals such as public health and safety, economic growth, social welfare, racial justice, environmental stewardship, human dignity, and equity. But a close reading of Biden’s memo raises questions about whether the process improvements that it envisions will suffice to provide necessary transparency and accountability in rulemaking. In fact, Congress should consider taking additional steps in order to ensure transparency and accountability and to help make regulations authorized by existing statutes more efficient and cost-effective . . . In 2000, Congress authorized but did not fund an office of regulatory analysis that would have been housed in the General Accountability Office. Congress should now authorize and fund such a body, either as a part of the GAO or as a stand-alone organization. An independent office of regulatory analysis would surely not prevent all federal regulatory excesses, either those that go beyond existing statutory authority or those that are legally sound but burden families and small businesses and curtail innovation without commensurate benefits. But it would help protect the impartiality of estimates of the economic effects of federal regulation and thereby enhance serious deliberations about specific federal regulations and the regulatory process generally. And in a troubled world in which legislative action by our elected officials may be limited and new regulations abundant, this modest step is well worth taking. It is indeed, but I am not holding my breath. PERC’s Brian Yablonski argued that private landowners ought to have a role to play in Biden’s plan to conserve 30 percent of all U.S. lands and waters by 2030: There will be a push to use old, divisive tools on public lands to score easy gains, such as designating new monuments or banning fossil-fuel development. But conserving land does not necessarily require a heavy hand from the federal government. The administration should use this moment to explore newer, more-creative market-based solutions. Indeed, whatever its instincts to the contrary, this would be its best chance of success . . . Private landowners play a vital but often overlooked role in sustaining much of what many Americans want to conserve — abundant wildlife, clean water, and vast open spaces. Altogether, private lands are home to 75 percent of the nation’s wetlands and more than 80 percent of its grasslands. Two-thirds of all threatened and endangered species depend upon private lands for the majority of their habitat. But getting landowner buy-in for a federal initiative won’t be easy in our current “red-county–blue-county” political climate. A recent survey from Duke University found that only 25 percent of rural Americans believe that the federal government, rather than states, should “take the lead” on environmental issues. To address these concerns, the Biden administration should come out strongly against the use of regulations or restrictive designations on private lands to reach its target of 30 by 30. Even the progressive Center for American Progress — in an article published in 2019 that argued for protecting 30 percent by 2030 — said that such policies “need not and must not infringe upon private property rights.” Instead, innovation and incentives should take the lead. Private-land innovators are already harnessing markets for large-landscape conservation . . . It is fair to say that Daniel J. Pilla did not like the look of Elizabeth Warren’s tax plan, which has implications that go far beyond a wealth tax, bad enough as that would be: The merits of the tax itself have been discussed at length. What has not been discussed is the new IRS-enforcement scheme that the bill would create, which would include a staggering increase in the size of the IRS, a substantial expansion of the IRS’s already-oppressive information-reporting requirements, and many more audits and collection actions. Let’s examine these elements more carefully. The bill proposes to increase the IRS’s funding by $100 billion over the next ten years. To put this in perspective, the IRS’s FY 2021 budget is $11.92 billion, up by $409 million from FY 2020. Warren’s bill would nearly double the agency’s funding for FY 2022, and leave it nearly ten times bigger by 2031. What’s more, the bill stipulates that 70 percent of the new money must be used for tax-law enforcement, compared to just 10 percent allocated for “taxpayer services” such as pre-filing assistance and education, filing and account services, and taxpayer-advocacy services. Again, for perspective, the IRS’s FY 2021 budget allocates $2.556 billion for taxpayer services and $5.213 billion, or just about twice as much, for enforcement activities such as audits, collections, litigation, and criminal investigations. Warren’s bill would give the IRS seven times more money for enforcement than for taxpayer services . . . It gets worse. But then you knew that. Charlie Cooke meanwhile didn’t think that Joe Biden had been entirely straightforward about his tax plans. Then: Joe Biden will not raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000. Period. Now: Psaki says potential tax increase on those making $400,000 or more means that income threshold applies to “families.” One cannot square “any one ” and “families,” writes Charlie. Indeed. “Watch this space,” he adds. I think I know what will fill it. Phil Klein, meanwhile, the new editor of National Review Online (welcome!), disapproved of the fact that Chuck Schumer “is pushing Biden to remove the $10,000 cap on deducting state and local taxes from federal taxes (known as the SALT tax cap)”: The Tax Policy Center has found that were the cap lifted, a majority of the benefits would go to the top 1 percent of taxpayers, and 96 percent of would go to the top 20 percent of taxpayers. Virtually no middle-class taxpayers would benefit from the repeal, which would reduce revenues by about $327 billion over the next five years. One effect of the tax cap was that it allowed liberal states such as Schumer’s to hike taxes while minimizing the fallout from doing so. It’s no surprise that since the cap was put in place, people have been fleeing New York and California in droves for lower-tax jurisdictions — a trend that was accelerated by those states’ abysmal handling of COVID-19. I shall say nothing . (Don’t @ me.) Tax week continued with Kevin Hassett and Matthew Jensen adding up all the stimulus packages and then running some numbers . Brace yourselves: It is possible that lower spending will eventually offset the debt from all this stimulus, but what if, as the Biden team signaled this week, the stimulus bill is paid for with tax hikes? Just to make it personal, wouldn’t you like to know what your tax bill will be for all the stimulus packages, so you can, with your usual rational panache, save in order to finance your new liability just as Friedman suggested all rational people would do? To find out, we relied on a methodology that was developed by one of us (Jensen) and his coauthor Aspen Gorry in a 2011 article. The idea is that the current distribution of taxes paid is the result of a political process that has evolved in almost Darwinian fashion over time and thus is likely to persist. Tax hikes come and go, but the basic distribution of taxes paid varies much less than you might think, with the wealthiest paying the vast majority of taxes under both Republican and Democratic administrations. It is highly unlikely that a bill as high as $5.3 trillion will be distributed differently from today’s taxes. The richest of the rich simply don’t have that much money. Once we accept that assumption that the future tax hike will be distributed according to today’s distribution of taxes, we can estimate the tax bill for each income level. How are taxes distributed? According to calculations based on the Tax-Brain software available at PSLmodels.org we found that in 2020, individuals with incomes below $75,000 paid about 12 percent of total taxes, while those with incomes between $75,000 and $200,000 paid about 34 percent of taxes, and those with incomes above that paid the rest. Assuming that pattern holds . . . [we can see] how a future tax bill associated with COVID-19 relief would be distributed. Even with the high progressivity of the current tax code, the bills are extraordinary. For those with incomes between $30,000 and $40,000, the tax hike needed today to pay for the combined stimulus packages would be about $5,000. Those with incomes between $40,000 and $50,000 would pay about $9,000, while those earning between $50,000 and $75,000 would have to fork over $16,000. That rises to $27,000 for incomes between $75,000 and $100,000, and $51,000 for incomes between $100,000 and $200,000. For higher earners, the bills climb so fast that they jump off the chart. The average for Americans with incomes between $500,000 and $1 million is $304,000. A typical American family, with $88,000 of income, faces a bill near $27,000. And speaking of stimulus, Veronique de Rugy didn’t see too much of it coming out of the latest $1.9 trillion: Even if you are sympathetic to the idea that government spending can stimulate the economy, there is no way to justify the size of the American Rescue Plan, a plan that has little to do with rescuing us but is a first step toward a progressive paradise á la Bernie Sanders, at least with the tradition tools used by Keynesian or even neoliberal thinkers. That level of spending has nothing to do with the traditional justification of filling the economy’s output gap, the difference between actual economic activity and potential output in a normal economy, unless we are willing to recognize that the economic return on this government spending (the spending multiplier) is ridiculously small — much smaller than 1. Let’s do the math: The Congressional Budget Office projects that the output gap will be $700 billion through 2023, the period when most of the $1.9 trillion in spending will take place. It means that $1.9 trillion is two or three times more than needed to fill the gap. Unless one is willing to say that the multiplier is roughly 0.37. For each dollar the government spends (and takes from the real economy), it gets $0.37 in growth. Not too glorious . . . But $1.9 trillion isn’t the end of the binge. Robert VerBruggen warned that another $2–4 trillion might be on the way, this time largely on infrastructure. There might be some projects that justify additional federal spending — which, at about $100 billion per year, already covers about a quarter of American infrastructure costs — but most infrastructure improvements can and should just be left to state and local governments. These entities can decide for themselves whether to pony up, and with an overly generous handout from the COVID bill, they’re in good financial shape. Meanwhile, there is no guarantee that infrastructure will “pay for itself” any better than tax cuts do. One can find studies claiming that every dollar of infrastructure investment creates several dollars in economic growth, but as Duranton et al. explain, the overall literature is “mixed,” with results that are sensitive to the statistical techniques used. But free-market conservatives might not have a veto here. In that case, what should they do with what leverage they have? As much as they possibly can, they should seek to include reforms that bring prices down. Infrastructure is way too expensive in this country, and if conservatives can’t prevent trillions in new spending, they should at least try to make the spending more efficient . . . Philip Cross doubted whether higher minimum wages would reduce poverty: Most studies conclude that minimum-wage hikes result in job losses, especially among the younger generation, while doing little to reduce poverty. The failure of minimum-wage laws to achieve their intended goal of helping low-income families is not surprising. Minimum-wage laws are designed to use employers to achieve a social goal at minimal cost to the government, but they incentivize firms to lower total labor costs in ways that frustrate that goal. This is because minimum-wage laws have contradictory effects: They help a small number of full-time workers at the expense of others, especially those who lose job opportunities . . . Almost all the evidence for the impact of higher minimum wages on jobs is based on the relatively small increases that historically have been the norm. The Democratic proposal is more in line with the sizable increase made by Canadian provincial governments in Ontario (32 percent) and Alberta (36 percent) when, a few years ago, they boosted their minimum wage to $14 and $15 an hour, respectively. Economists expect these very large hikes eventually will result in disproportionately more job losses because outsized increases give employers more incentive to cut costs while unable to make the subtle adjustments to lower nonwage benefits or higher labor productivity that help firms control overall costs. One mitigating factor for the proposed U.S. federal minimum-wage increase is that it starts from a much lower initial wage rate than in either Ontario or Alberta. This also, however, magnifies the shock of moving to a $15 an hour wage. So far, the sharp hikes in the minimum wages for Alberta and Ontario in 2018 have had a negative impact on youth employment. The youth-employment rate fell by a full point in Ontario between late 2017 and early 2020 (before the pandemic began), while in Alberta it dropped by half a point over the same period. By comparison, the youth-employment rate in all of Canada rose by nearly 2 percentage points over the same period. Not having a job lowers the earnings profile of young people for years . . . The CEI’s Iain Murray argued that decentralizing social media was the way to approach the current conundrum over Big Tech and its control over speech: Before the “great de-platforming” following the events at the Capitol on January 6, defenders of a laissez-faire approach to social media were able to tell those unhappy with Big Tech’s content moderation decisions to simply switch platforms. But when Amazon Web Services removed Parler from its cloud hosting, making the app impossible to access, the case against a government crackdown became less convincing. But if given some time to innovate in an environment free from stifling regulation, the market may yet produce a solution in the form of decentralized social media. It seems everyone is concerned about “Big Tech” these days. The Left is worried about its role in spreading misinformation — both actual and perceived. The Right is worried about what they see as anti-conservative bias on the part of tech companies. Even libertarians, who regard these two concerns as misplaced, worry about cronyism and a disturbing tendency to cozy up to authoritarian regimes. And the Big Tech firms themselves say they need to be regulated — on their own terms. But compelling companies to quiet the “hate speech” du jour will displease conservatives and libertarians. Forcing companies to carry all speech will anger the Left and libertarians. And doing nothing will annoy the Left and Right alike. The good news is that we already have a possible path out of this impasse: disintermediation. In practical terms, that means replacing the current generation of social-media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and Parler, with decentralized social media — a different infrastructure where there is no central server. Instead of a company owning and controlling the site, the users themselves would control content moderation and other management of the network . . . Glenn Hubbard, a former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under President George W. Bush, asked how to “build back better”: Policy-makers are often impatient with the extended time it takes for bridges to make a difference. If a community is hurting because of imports or technology, why not just put in temporary tariffs or other protections (e.g., a wall)? Very simply, because to do so would be to postpone the inevitable work that all communities must do in order to participate in a dynamic economy. More important, walls are almost always inequitable. Tariffs on steel might temporarily help a few steelmaking towns, but they ultimately operate at the cost of many more manufacturing towns with falling revenue because of higher prices for a key input. Protections usually favor well-connected groups at the expense of underprivileged communities trying to make it the usual way. Adam Smith, the father of modern economics, understood this dynamic as well as anyone did. In his day, mercantilist thinkers thought that the wealth of nations consisted of stocks of gold or silver. They wanted to increase those stocks, the better to fund wars and explorations. They convinced kings to intervene in markets to limit competition at home and abroad for favored activities. Trade surpluses were good, trade deficits bad, and state-sanctioned monopolies generated more revenue for the crown. For Smith, the wealth of a nation lay in its potential for consumption by the great mass of ordinary people. He wanted to make the economic pie as large as possible. The consumer, not the crown or court, was Smith’s economic king. To expand this wealth, Smith promoted free markets and competition guided by the invisible hand. These forces reconciled self-interest with the expanding pie for everyone. He wanted everyone, even those without connections, to be able to compete, so he encouraged education and other kinds of preparation. Mass flourishing was his goal. Today’s economy is more complex and disruptive than that of Smith’s day, but we still need broad participation. That’s the only way to keep raising living standards for more people, and bring economic justice to formerly marginalized groups. Participation is also good for its own sake. Think of mass flourishing as being “in the groove” of the dynamic economy, akin to psychologists’ concept of flow. Like flow, flourishing requires individuals who can raise their game to keep up with wherever the economy goes. People feel a sense of belonging in the economy when they work in open markets. They don’t get that sense when we try to protect them with walls. Well-connected workers will get those protected jobs, while other people will remain stuck. It’s far better to let consumers’ tastes and incomes shape the opportunities for firms and the employment patterns that follow. And once you start a bit of tinkering in the economy, everyone wants favors, and pretty soon you’ve smothered the economy’s dynamism inside a series of well-intentioned walls . . . Jimmy Quinn described how the Beijing regime had used capital as one of the ways in which it reined in Hong Kong: Even in the earliest years of the period following the city’s 1997 handover from the U.K. to China, the Chinese regime’s willingness to use flex its financial muscle as a way of asserting control over the life of the city was already apparent. As a result of the 2003 Closer Economic Partnership Agreement, trade between Hong Kong and the mainland tripled over the ensuing decade. The growing influx of mainland cash degraded Hong Kong’s financial regulations, allowing Chinese firms to take charge of its capital markets. In 2004, mainland corporations accounted for 31 percent of Hong Kong’s stock market by market capitalization; by 2019, that figure had risen to about 71 percent. Naturally, Beijing turned its increasing control of Hong Kong capital flows into a political weapon with which it would eventually beat down the city’s pro-democracy opposition. The report notes that as the regime gained greater clout within Hong Kong-based multinational corporations, it installed party loyalists in key positions within them. And not coincidentally, during the protests against an extradition law proposed by the city’s chief executive in 2019, a number of businesses restricted the political speech of, and in some cases fired, employees for supporting the democracy movement, while banks, such as HSBC, closed accounts used to support the protesters . . . Steve Hanke and Robert Simon argued that : Bitcoin clearly falls short of meeting the four standard criteria to be designated as a currency. Accordingly, it should not be viewed as a currency but as a speculative asset with a fundamental value of zero. That being said, Bitcoin does have an objective market price. That price is determined by speculators operating in a whirlpool in which they are purchasing an asset with very little or no utility in the hope of selling it later at a higher price: greater fools and all that . . . Thanks to ease of entry and competition, inferior cryptocurrency products will struggle, in the end, to survive. Just look at Bitcoin. Although its market capitalization has skyrocketed, Bitcoin’s share of the total crypto market has fallen from 94 percent in April 2013 to 61 percent today. Eventually, Bitcoin’s current limited use value will likely be eclipsed by the offerings of superior challengers. So, just what might an effective competitor look like? It would be in the form of a private cryptocurrency board. A traditional currency board issues a currency that is freely convertible at an absolutely fixed exchange rate with a foreign anchor currency or gold. Therefore, under a currency-board arrangement, there are no capital controls. The currency issued by a currency board is backed 100 percent with anchor-currency reserves. So, with a currency board, its currency is simply a clone of its anchor currency. Currency boards have existed in about 70 countries, and none have failed — including the North Russian currency board installed on November 11, 1918, during the Russian Civil War. What all currency boards — past and present — have in common is that they are public institutions, but there is no requirement that currency boards be publicly owned. A private cryptocurrency board would be the ideal institutional arrangement for the crypto world. For example, its home offices and reserves could be located in Switzerland, a safe-haven financial center, and it could be governed under Swiss law. It could be operated with a small staff, as is the case with all traditional currency boards. As for its anchor, it could be a currency issued by a central bank, or gold, which is not issued by a sovereign. Furthermore, given its digital nature, the balance-sheet information of a private cryptocurrency board, including its reserves, could be publicly available and audited by independent auditors on a regular basis. With such a system, the crypto world would finally have a product that is more than just a speculative house of cards. Our chart guy, Joseph Sullivan, suggested that our understanding of the growth in international trade owed more than is understood to the growth in international borders : As empires crumble, new sovereign states with new national borders of their own are born, and trade across national borders increases accordingly. In 1920, the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires had recently collapsed in the wake of World War I. While the empires of Western European powers such as the United Kingdom and France would not start their collapse until the 1950s, the collapse of the USSR in the early 1990s triggered the most recent of the upward waves in national land border visible on the chart. All in all, miles of land border slightly more than tripled from 41,920 in 1920 to 132,940 in 2019, as international trade’s share of GDP slightly less than tripled from 21.7 percent in 1920 to 60.3 percent in 2019. The broad similarity in the size of their increase — both roughly tripled — suggests their rise together is no coincidence. But stability, once variation in the quantity of national land border is factored in, may be the most remarkable attribute of international trade’s role in the world economy. In the 100 years that span 1920 to 2019, international trade’s share of world GDP never dipped below 0.21 percent or above 0.51 percent. These upper and lower bounds have also been retraced with a regularity that suggests they may be more than coincidence. The border-adjusted low of 0.21 percent of world GDP per 1,000 miles of national land border was reached in the Great Depression of 1932 as well as at the height of the Cold War in 1967. The overall series high of 0.51 percent came in 1920, when far less national border existed than today. Since 2000, the quantity of border has stayed roughly stable, and international trade’s share of world GDP per thousand miles of national border has not budged above the 0.46 percent it registered in four separate years, including in 2019. Some today worry about this lack of new growth in international trade’s share of world GDP. If history is any guide, their best bets for unlocking that growth would be for secessionist movements in places like Catalonia or Scotland to succeed. But many proponents of deepening international trade are also opponents of new national borders. They may have, then, an internal contradiction to resolve: If you’re applauding the growth of international trade over the last 100 years, you have the birth of new national borders to thank. Jerry Bowyer pointed out that the Fed’s “no change” stance was really a change: The Fed is moving the goal posts, giving itself more permission to keep the game going. Gold, crypto, forex, and inflation-protected treasury bonds all were up in response, though there were reversals subsequently, especially on Thursday when markets reacted to other news, including an unexpectedly weak jobless-claims report and rising concerns about global supply chains. Markets sifted through the new data and sold off treasuries (raising yields) and stocks, particularly tech stocks that tend to be more interest-rate sensitive because of long time horizons. Perhaps investors are looking at both the Fed and the economy and realizing that there are limits to how much real economic good money creation can accomplish. I think that, in making their initial reflationary bet, the markets had things right and may even be underestimating the radical nature of the Fed’s policy agenda. The Fed made it clear last year that it intended to keep “inflation moderately above 2% for some time.” It also reiterated this week that it “will aim to achieve inflation moderately above 2 percent for some time so that inflation averages 2 percent over time.” In other words, the goal isn’t just to get PCE inflation above 2 percent, but also to raise the average above that level. That average includes the past two years of PCE inflation averaging only 1.3 percent, and only 1.5 percent since the end of the Great Recession. The math is pretty clear. If the Fed aims for four years of average PCE inflation of 2 percent, and the past two years averaged only 1.3 percent, then the next two years will have to average 2.7 percent. And to add fuel to the fire (or is it firewater to the punchbowl?), that target is a PCE target. But CPI inflation runs about one-third higher. So, if the Fed is giving itself permission for a PCE party of more than 2.7 percent, it is giving itself permission for a CPI party of more than 3 percent “for some time.” And all of that just includes the inflation it wants, not inflationary policies foisted upon it by the implications of yet more Biden spending, or, for that matter, possible minimum-wage-hike effects on unemployment that will force the Fed to adjust its policies to accommodate the NAIRU jacket in which it has now wrapped itself . . . Jon Hartley and Andy Puzder were more sanguine about the inflationary prospects: Inflation has begun increasing but, to this point, only nominally so. It is important to keep in mind that the Fed recently shifted its monetary framework to “flexible average inflation targeting” over the long run. Since we’ve seen drops in inflation over the past year, we think that the Fed’s current accommodative policies are the right framework to make sure inflation runs at an average of 2 percent over the long run. Recently, we have seen little increase in core inflation rates, which exclude gas and food prices. U.S. core CPI year-over-year inflation has been running at 1.3 percent through February compared with the 1.7 percent headline number, which includes oil prices. Rapidly rising oil prices (Brent crude-oil prices rose from about $50 per barrel at the beginning of the year to $70 per barrel as of this writing) are largely responsible for the nominal increase in headline inflation. Core year-over-year PCE inflation (the Fed’s preferred measure) has been running at 1.5 percent through January, still well below the Fed’s 2 percent long-run target. Expectations for future inflation also remain low. Real yields on ten-year Treasury Inflation-Protection Securities (Treasury bonds indexed to inflation to protect investors from the negative effects of rising prices) have risen by 0.4 percent since the beginning of the year, reflecting improved U.S. investment prospects while also suggesting that headline ten-year inflation expectations have increased by only 0.3 percent. The M2 money stock (a measure for the amount of currency in circulation) has increased by a meaningful 20 percent since the passage of the CARES Act, understandably raising inflation concerns. But, it has leveled off since , suggesting a one-time increase. A one-time increase shows up more meaningfully in five-year inflation expectations (which are up 0.6 percent since January 1) compared with ten-year inflation expectations (which have risen only 0.3 percent). This is not to downplay the potential for inflationary pressures down the road. With the passage of the Democrats’ recent $1.9 trillion so-called COVID-relief American Rescue Plan Act, there is certainly a risk that the economy could overheat. The fact is that the economy would have substantially improved this year — and may well have done so without dramatic inflationary pressure — if the Biden administration had done nothing. Unfortunately, it likely did too much in its effort to “ go big .” . . . Finally, we produced the Capital Note , our “daily” (well, Tuesday–Friday, anyway, though this week Friday Note mysteriously went missing). Topics covered included: China’s tech crackdown, Dalio’s dollar doom, Ashworth’s response, a look at China’s advantages in entrepreneurship , the FOMC meeting, tech stocks tumble, Treasurys climb, the risks of forward guidance , priorities, priorities, and Danone’s management change, priorities, priorities, genocide and climate change, earmarks, bubble watch, and price to story ratios . More from National Review Boom, then Bust? How Advocates of ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ Distort Shareholder Power ESG on a Tear, But No Boohoo (Maybe) || $69M Beeple NFT Mystery Buyer 'Metakovan' Reveals His Identity: The person behind the $69 million winning bid for Beeple’s NFT has now revealed his true identity.
What Happened:The buyer, known until now as “Metakovan,” introduced himself as Vignesh Sundaresan in ablogon Metapurse’s website, saying that the pseudonym was never intended to be a mask.
Sundaresan is a software engineer of Indian origin and appears to reside in Singapore. The investor says that he comes from humble beginnings and claims that when he first discovered cryptocurrency in 2013, he had no money.
Why It Matters:Sundaresan describes his “first leg-up” in the space to be the sale of the now-defunct cryptocurrency Coins-e in 2014. Many users were scammed out of their tokens while using the exchange, with most complaints unresolved, onlineforumshave suggested.
Sundaresan then went on to co-found BitAccess, a Y Combinator-backed project, and served as CTO to the Bitcoin ATM operator before participating in the Ethereum ICO (Initial Coin Offering).
“Unlike the startup world where the capital raise process is opaque and confined to a rarefied group, new ideas in crypto are funded by people like you and I. The Ethereum ICO allowed me, an unknown, to invest in it,” he said.
With the wealth generated from his early crypto investments, the investor went on to found Metapurse — a crypto-exclusive fund that invests in early-stage projects across blockchain infrastructure, finance, art and NFTs.
Metapurse offers investments in a bundle of “high-value NFTs,” including 20 single edition Beeple art pieces that it purchased at an open auction for $2.2 million.
Users can invest in this by purchasing B.20 tokens, offered by Metapurse, which represent ownership of this NFT bundle.
As previouslyreported, the final day of the Christie’s auction saw the value of B.20 tokens rise to $23 implying a 6200% rise in B.20 token value since they were offered for sale on Jan 23.
According to ablogfrom Metapurse, Sundaresan holds 59% of the token’s total supply, while the artist Beeple owns 2% of it.
See more from Benzinga
• Click here for options trades from Benzinga
• Bank Of America Calls Bitcoin 'Impractical,' And Crypto Community Has A Lot To Say About That
• Ethereum Could Overtake Bitcoin, Messari Analyst Says
© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
[Social Media Buzz]
None available.
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54529.14, 54738.95, 52774.27, 51704.16, 55137.31, 55973.51, 55950.75, 57750.20, 58917.69, 58918.83
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 11094.35, 10938.27, 10462.26, 10538.46, 10246.19, 10760.07, 10692.72, 10750.72, 10775.27, 10709.65, 10844.64, 10784.49, 10619.45, 10575.97, 10549.33, 10669.58, 10793.34, 10604.41, 10668.97, 10915.69, 11064.46, 11296.36, 11384.18, 11555.36, 11425.90, 11429.51, 11495.35, 11322.12, 11358.10, 11483.36, 11742.04, 11916.33, 12823.69, 12965.89, 12931.54, 13108.06, 13031.17, 13075.25, 13654.22, 13271.29, 13437.88, 13546.52, 13781.00, 13737.11, 13550.49, 13950.30, 14133.71, 15579.85, 15565.88, 14833.75, 15479.57, 15332.32, 15290.90, 15701.34, 16276.34, 16317.81, 16068.14, 15955.59, 16716.11, 17645.41, 17804.01, 17817.09, 18621.31, 18642.23, 18370.00, 18364.12, 19107.46, 18732.12, 17150.62, 17108.40, 17717.41, 18177.48, 19625.84, 18803.00, 19201.09, 19445.40, 18699.77, 19154.23, 19345.12, 19191.63, 18321.14, 18553.92, 18264.99, 18058.90, 18803.66, 19142.38, 19246.64, 19417.08, 21310.60, 22805.16.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2020-12-17]
Volume: 71378606374, RSI (14-day): 76.42, 50-day EMA: 17447.26, 200-day EMA: 13212.20
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1887.20, Gold RSI: 58.10
Oil Price: 48.36, Oil RSI: 73.08
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Daily Crunch: Facebook escalates Apple criticism: Facebooktakes aim atApple,Texas sues Google and we interview the CEO of Boston Dynamics. This is your Daily Crunch for December 16, 2020.
The big story: Facebook escalates Apple criticism
Facebooktook a big swingat Apple's upcoming app tracking restrictions today with full-page ads in the print editions of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post that argued the social networking giant is "standing up to Apple for small businesses everywhere."
In other words, while Facebook will obviously be affected by Apple's change (apps will have to ask users for permission before it can track their IDFA identifier, which will presumably lead to a steep drop in ad targeting), the company said that small businesses relying on targeted ad campaigns will be hurt even more.
And while the two campaigns are very different, it's worth noting that another initiative against Apple is also gaining steam, with major U.S. news publishersjoining the Coalition for App Fairness, a group fighting app store fees.
The tech giants
The latest multistate antitrust lawsuit targets Google’s ad business— Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is accusing Google of maintaining an illegal monopoly in online advertising.
Following Hyundai acquisition, Boston Dynamics’ CEO discusses the robotics pioneer’s future— Rob Playter discusses the company’s new corporate parent, the future of Handle and Spot’s job at the NYPD.
Amazon’s Project Kuiper will seek multiple launch providers to carry its satellites to space— Amazon's David Limp shared some new details about the company’s Project Kuiper broadband satellite constellation.
Startups, funding and venture capital
StockX raises $275M Series E, valuing the retailer at $2.8B— Headquartered in downtown Detroit, Michigan, the raise marks the largest VC funding round in Michigan history.
BigID keeps rolling with $70M Series D on $1B valuation— Salesforce Ventures and Tiger Global co-led the round.
New Wave is a new European seed fund headed up by ex-Accel VC Pia d’Iribarne— The firm's debut fund of $56 million was raised in just three months.
Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch
How to pick an investor in good or bad times— Quiq CEO Mike Myer says you should trust your instincts.
ClickUp CEO talks hiring, raising and scaling in the white-hot productivity space— The company, which makes business productivity tools for task management, goals and docs, has reached a valuation of $1 billion.
Dear Sophie: How did immigration change for startup founders in 2020?— Another edition of immigration lawyer Sophie Alcorn's advice column answering immigration-related questions about working at technology companies.
(Extra Crunch is our membership program, which aims to democratize information about startups.You can sign up here.)
Everything else
Bitcoin passes $20K and reaches all-time high— Bitcoin’s value has rapidly increased over the past two months.
Privacy is the new competitive battleground— New regulations give companies new opportunities to differentiate themselves.
The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch's roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you'd like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 3pm Pacific, you cansubscribe here. || Daily Crunch: Facebook escalates Apple criticism: Facebook takes aim at Apple, Texas sues Google and we interview the CEO of Boston Dynamics. This is your Daily Crunch for December 16, 2020. The big story: Facebook escalates Apple criticism Facebook took a big swing at Apple's upcoming app tracking restrictions today with full-page ads in the print editions of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post that argued the social networking giant is "standing up to Apple for small businesses everywhere." In other words, while Facebook will obviously be affected by Apple's change (apps will have to ask users for permission before it can track their IDFA identifier, which will presumably lead to a steep drop in ad targeting), the company said that small businesses relying on targeted ad campaigns will be hurt even more. And while the two campaigns are very different, it's worth noting that another initiative against Apple is also gaining steam, with major U.S. news publishers joining the Coalition for App Fairness , a group fighting app store fees. The tech giants The latest multistate antitrust lawsuit targets Google’s ad business — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is accusing Google of maintaining an illegal monopoly in online advertising. Following Hyundai acquisition, Boston Dynamics’ CEO discusses the robotics pioneer’s future — Rob Playter discusses the company’s new corporate parent, the future of Handle and Spot’s job at the NYPD. Amazon’s Project Kuiper will seek multiple launch providers to carry its satellites to space — Amazon's David Limp shared some new details about the company’s Project Kuiper broadband satellite constellation. Startups, funding and venture capital StockX raises $275M Series E, valuing the retailer at $2.8B — Headquartered in downtown Detroit, Michigan, the raise marks the largest VC funding round in Michigan history. BigID keeps rolling with $70M Series D on $1B valuation — Salesforce Ventures and Tiger Global co-led the round. Story continues New Wave is a new European seed fund headed up by ex-Accel VC Pia d’Iribarne — The firm's debut fund of $56 million was raised in just three months. Advice and analysis from Extra Crunch How to pick an investor in good or bad times — Quiq CEO Mike Myer says you should trust your instincts. ClickUp CEO talks hiring, raising and scaling in the white-hot productivity space — The company, which makes business productivity tools for task management, goals and docs, has reached a valuation of $1 billion. Dear Sophie: How did immigration change for startup founders in 2020? — Another edition of immigration lawyer Sophie Alcorn's advice column answering immigration-related questions about working at technology companies. (Extra Crunch is our membership program, which aims to democratize information about startups. You can sign up here .) Everything else Bitcoin passes $20K and reaches all-time high — Bitcoin’s value has rapidly increased over the past two months. Privacy is the new competitive battleground — New regulations give companies new opportunities to differentiate themselves. The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch's roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you'd like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 3pm Pacific, you can subscribe here . || What Is Proof-of-Work?: Proof-of-work is the algorithm that secures many cryptocurrencies, includingBitcoinandEthereum. Most digital currencies have a central entity or leader keeping track of every user and how much money they have. But there’s no such leader in charge of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Proof-of-work is needed to make the online currency work without a company or government running the show.
More specifically proof-of-work solves the “double-spending problem,” which is trickier to solve without a leader in charge. If users can double-spend their coins, this inflates the overall supply, debasing everyone else’s coins and making the currency unpredictable and worthless.
Double-spending is an issue for online transactions because digital actions are very easy to replicate, which is what makes it trivial to copy and paste a file or send an email to more than one person.
Related:First Mover: Geek-Fest Turns Relevant as Bitcoin Passes $21K, $22K, $23K
Proof-of-work makes doubling digital money very, very hard. It’s much what it sounds like: “proof” that someone has done a significant amount of computations.
Bitcoin is ablockchain, which is a shared ledger that contains a history of every Bitcoin transaction that ever took place. This blockchain, as the name suggests, is composed of blocks. Each block has the most recent transactions stored in it.
Proof-of-work is a necessary part of adding new blocks to the Bitcoin blockchain. Blocks are summoned to life byminers, the players in the ecosystem who execute proof-of-work.A new block is accepted by the network each time a miner comes up with a new winning proof-of-work, which happens roughly every 10 minutes.
Finding the winning proof-of-work is so difficult the only way to provide the work miners need to win bitcoin is with expensive, specialized computers. Miners will earn bitcoin if they guess a matching computation. The more computations they churn out, the more bitcoin they are likely to earn.
Related:US Bitcoin Mining Firm Core Scientific to Triple Capacity With Massive 59,000-Machine Order
What computations are the miners making exactly? In Bitcoin, miners spit out so-called “hash,” which turns an input into a random-looking string of letters and numbers.
The goal of the miners is to create a hash matching Bitcoin’s current “target.” They must create a hash with enough zeroes in front. The probability of getting several zeros in a row is very low. But miners across the world are making trillions of such computations a second, so it takes them about 10 minutes on average to hit this target.
Whoever reaches the goal first wins a batch of bitcoin cryptocurrency. Then the Bitcoin protocol creates a new value that miners must hash, and miners start the race for finding the winning proof-of-work all over again.
Miners earn bitcoin rewards for every block for which they find the solution. This is what drives them to mine in the first place.
This monetary reward also drives them to follow the rules – not double-spending their money, for instance. Say Alfred the Miner finds a winning hash for a block. If Alfred submits the solution with the block but breaks rules within the block – say, spends coins more than once – the rest of the Bitcoin network will reject Alfred’s block. Alfred will lose all the bitcoin he should have won. The threat of losing the bitcoin rewards keeps miners honest.
The goal of proof-of-work is to prevent users from printing extra coins they didn’t earn, or double-spending. If users were able to spend their coins more than once, it would effectively make the currency worthless.
In most digital currencies, this problem is easy to solve. The bank that is in charge of the system keeps track of how much money each person has. If Alice sends Bob $1, then the bank deducts $1 from Alice and gives $1 to Bob.
But in cryptocurrency there isn’t such an entity. Proof-of-work provides a solution.
Bitcoin creatorSatoshi Nakamotoinvented proof-of-work to get Bitcoin off the ground. No one knows who Nakamoto is, or whether the name is an alias.
There are at least a few problems with proof-of-work:
• High energy use: Bitcoin uses as much energyas all of Switzerlandbecause of proof-of-work. And its energy use is increasing as more miners join the hunt for bitcoins, though some of this is powered byrenewable energy.
• 51% attacks: If one mining entity is able to accumulate 51% of Bitcoin’s mining hashrate, it can then flout the rules temporarily, double-spending coins and blocking transactions.
• Mining centralization: Proof-of-work is all about creating a currency without one single entity in charge. That said, in practice the system is somewhat centralized, with just three mining pools controllingalmost 50%of Bitcoin’s computational power. Developers are attempting to at leastalleviate this issue, however.
The more computational power being poured into securing Bitcoin, the more resources a potential attacker needs to amass in order to successfully attack Bitcoin.
Most cryptocurrencies use proof-of-work, though some are experimenting with other ways of securing their networks.The most popular cryptocurrencies tapping proof-of-work include:
• Bitcoin
• Ethereum (though Ethereumrecently beganthe long process of transitioning to Ethereum 2.0, an upgrade that will shift the cryptocurrency to the potentially greener proof-of-stake instead.)
• Bitcoin Cash
• Litecoin
• Monero
• What Is Proof-of-Work?
• What Is Proof-of-Work? || What Is Proof-of-Work?: Proof-of-work is the algorithm that secures many cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum . Most digital currencies have a central entity or leader keeping track of every user and how much money they have. But there’s no such leader in charge of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Proof-of-work is needed to make the online currency work without a company or government running the show. More specifically proof-of-work solves the “double-spending problem,” which is trickier to solve without a leader in charge. If users can double-spend their coins, this inflates the overall supply, debasing everyone else’s coins and making the currency unpredictable and worthless. Double-spending is an issue for online transactions because digital actions are very easy to replicate, which is what makes it trivial to copy and paste a file or send an email to more than one person. Related: First Mover: Geek-Fest Turns Relevant as Bitcoin Passes $21K, $22K, $23K Proof-of-work makes doubling digital money very, very hard. It’s much what it sounds like: “proof” that someone has done a significant amount of computations. How proof-of-work works Bitcoin is a blockchain , which is a shared ledger that contains a history of every Bitcoin transaction that ever took place. This blockchain, as the name suggests, is composed of blocks. Each block has the most recent transactions stored in it. Proof-of-work is a necessary part of adding new blocks to the Bitcoin blockchain. Blocks are summoned to life by miners , the players in the ecosystem who execute proof-of-work . A new block is accepted by the network each time a miner comes up with a new winning proof-of-work, which happens roughly every 10 minutes. Finding the winning proof-of-work is so difficult the only way to provide the work miners need to win bitcoin is with expensive, specialized computers. Miners will earn bitcoin if they guess a matching computation. The more computations they churn out, the more bitcoin they are likely to earn. Story continues Related: US Bitcoin Mining Firm Core Scientific to Triple Capacity With Massive 59,000-Machine Order What computations are the miners making exactly? In Bitcoin, miners spit out so-called “hash,” which turns an input into a random-looking string of letters and numbers. The goal of the miners is to create a hash matching Bitcoin’s current “target.” They must create a hash with enough zeroes in front. The probability of getting several zeros in a row is very low. But miners across the world are making trillions of such computations a second, so it takes them about 10 minutes on average to hit this target. Whoever reaches the goal first wins a batch of bitcoin cryptocurrency. Then the Bitcoin protocol creates a new value that miners must hash, and miners start the race for finding the winning proof-of-work all over again. Proof-of-Work FAQ Why do miners follow the rules? Miners earn bitcoin rewards for every block for which they find the solution. This is what drives them to mine in the first place. This monetary reward also drives them to follow the rules – not double-spending their money, for instance. Say Alfred the Miner finds a winning hash for a block. If Alfred submits the solution with the block but breaks rules within the block – say, spends coins more than once – the rest of the Bitcoin network will reject Alfred’s block. Alfred will lose all the bitcoin he should have won. The threat of losing the bitcoin rewards keeps miners honest. Why is proof-of-work needed? The goal of proof-of-work is to prevent users from printing extra coins they didn’t earn, or double-spending. If users were able to spend their coins more than once, it would effectively make the currency worthless. In most digital currencies, this problem is easy to solve. The bank that is in charge of the system keeps track of how much money each person has. If Alice sends Bob $1, then the bank deducts $1 from Alice and gives $1 to Bob. But in cryptocurrency there isn’t such an entity. Proof-of-work provides a solution. Who invented proof-of-work? Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto invented proof-of-work to get Bitcoin off the ground. No one knows who Nakamoto is, or whether the name is an alias. What are the problems with proof-of-work? There are at least a few problems with proof-of-work: High energy use : Bitcoin uses as much energy as all of Switzerland because of proof-of-work. And its energy use is increasing as more miners join the hunt for bitcoins, though some of this is powered by renewable energy . 51% attacks : If one mining entity is able to accumulate 51% of Bitcoin’s mining hashrate, it can then flout the rules temporarily, double-spending coins and blocking transactions. Mining centralization : Proof-of-work is all about creating a currency without one single entity in charge. That said, in practice the system is somewhat centralized, with just three mining pools controlling almost 50% of Bitcoin’s computational power. Developers are attempting to at least alleviate this issue , however. Why does more mining power mean more security? The more computational power being poured into securing Bitcoin, the more resources a potential attacker needs to amass in order to successfully attack Bitcoin. Which cryptocurrencies use proof-of-work? Most cryptocurrencies use proof-of-work, though some are experimenting with other ways of securing their networks. The most popular cryptocurrencies tapping proof-of-work include: Bitcoin Ethereum (though Ethereum recently began the long process of transitioning to Ethereum 2.0, an upgrade that will shift the cryptocurrency to the potentially greener proof-of-stake instead.) Bitcoin Cash Litecoin Monero Related Stories What Is Proof-of-Work? What Is Proof-of-Work? || Bitcoin Era Review 2020 UPDATED (All Info) - By CCP Marketing: Do you want to read a Bitcoin Era review before you use it? If yes, find out whether Bitcoin Era is a legit crypto trading platform or no. Bitcoin Era Review Do you want to read a Bitcoin Era review before you use it? If yes, find out whether Bitcoin Era is a legit crypto trading platform or no. Do you want to read a Bitcoin Era review before you use it? If yes, find out whether Bitcoin Era is a legit crypto trading platform or no. London, UK, Dec. 16, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bitcoin Era Bitcoin Era is one of the many cryptocurrency trading platforms that you have probably come across online. But, you want to find out whether its legit or not before you make any move. This Bitcoin Era review explains everything you want to know about this trading robot. Just like most platforms, Bitcoin Era allows users to invest and trade in this cryptocurrency conveniently. A user deposits money into their account which is then converted into the Bitcoins that they use to trade. [Open a Free Account Here] What is Bitcoin Era? Bitcoin Era is an automated, cryptocurrency trading robot. It is an automated system that is designed to enable individuals to enter the cryptocurrency market and start trading or investing with ease. The Bitcoin Eras concept is pretty much the same as that of stock trading. Since its launch in 2019, Bitcoin Era has continued to attract new users. Both creators and users of the Bitcoin Era have claimed that the platform enables them to trade faster. And traders use this platform free of charge. The crypto trading platform is monitored by expert brokers that are experienced, compliant, and regulated. In addition to monitoring the transactions, they help Bitcoin investors complete them and achieve higher success rates. How Bitcoin Era Works This Bitcoin Era review will be incomplete if it does not explain how this system works. To use the Bitcoin Era as a crypto trading platform, you need to register or create an account first. The process of creating an account on this platform is free and easy. It only takes a few minutes to provide the required information. Story continues Once youve created an account, study the platform to know how it works. Bitcoin Era provides an instructions manual for its new users. The platform provides most of the information that you may need to understand how this platform works. For instance, the manual provides information about deposit options, broker assessment, profile settings, transaction activity, funds management, and customer support among others. You will also find different trading modes with demo versions that have Bitcoins that you can use to get more experience. Live modes require real money. Nevertheless, both demo and real money modes can help you know how the crypto market works, as well as, how to proceed with transactions. Here are the steps to follow when using Bitcoin Era to trade: Register: Create a free account by providing the requested information. The signup section is easy to access from the home page of the Bitcoin Eras website. Deposit Money: Once youve created an account, fund it with some money. The minimum amount that you can deposit on this platform is $250. Start Trading: You can start trading Bitcoin once youve completed the first two steps. The system is designed to facilitate crypto trading even for beginners and intermediate users. It features autonomous levels for control that can be used by traders with varying experience levels. [Start Trading Now] How It Feels To Use Bitcoin Era to Trade The major reason why you opted to read this Bitcoin Era review is to know how it feels to use this platform to trade. Well, many people have described their trading experience as smooth and profitable. Thats because most features of this platform work properly. Live crypto trading sessions are easily concluded and profits earned. Essentially, Bitcoin Era is a system that uses a smart trading robot. This robot has undergone programming by experienced software engineers. It scans the cryptocurrency market while detecting the best deals available. Activating a live trading session is easy. Once a great deal has been detected, this trading robot moves swiftly to secure and complete it. The generated profit is transferred to the account of the user. The balance of the user reflects on their account and trading is done using the capital amount. Pros and Cons of Bitcoin Era Every crypto trader wants to know why they should consider Bitcoin Era and not any other trading platform. Well, Bitcoin Era has its pros and cons that you should consider before you make your decision. Pros of Bitcoin Era Security: Bitcoin Era features SSL encryption on all pages. This ensures that all transactions are secure. Whats more, the system does not require a lot of information when registering for an account. That means you wont have much personal information at risk when trading on this platform. Innovation: This crypto trading platform uses a great technology. It has a great design that embodies the innovation principle. The interface is also impressive. Reliability: Crypto trading relies on factors that are mostly controlled by changes in the market. However, many traders say that this system has proven to be a reliable crypto trading information source. Many people say that this system performs the analytical role it was designed for well. Cons of Bitcoin Era No risk elimination: Crypto trading is a risky affair. Just like most crypto trading platforms, Bitcoin Era does not eliminate this risk. It only reduces it by providing some information that might help in your trading activity. Is Bitcoin Era Legit or not? From the information gathered while researching for and writing this Bitcoin Era review , this platform is legit. Many people have used the platform and their testimonials show that its among the legit crypto trading robots. However, crypto trading has its risks regardless of the chosen platform. Thats because cryptocurrencies can be very volatile at times. And this volatility cant be blamed on the trading platform. Nevertheless, Bitcoin Era seems to be a great trading platform for smart traders that know how to predict volatility, monitor the market, and act accordingly. Bitcoin Era Review : Final Verdict Based on the research done when writing this Bitcoin Era review , this trading software is legit and reliable. Its a platform that can be used to make money trading Bitcoin. The registration process is easy and fast. The withdrawal process is also quick and all features of this platform work well. However, using this platform does not eliminate the risk that cryptocurrency exchange carries. Therefore, do your homework when trading on Bitcoin Era and make wise moves to earn more profits. [Visit the Bitcoin Era Official Website] About Bitcoin Era Bitcoin Era is a bitcoin trading platform. The Bitcoin Era team consists of a group of people who were always in tune with the Bitcoin phenomenon. You could say that we are always looking for the next big thing, and cryptocurrency fit that bill many years ago. Even with all the developments and Bitcoin's increased popularity, we still believe that there is a long way to go. About CCP Marketing CCP Marketing offers a low-cost alternative by providing you with fully trained marketing professionals. This review is for informational purposes only. The information does not constitute advice or an offer to buy. Any purchase done from this story is done at your own risk. Any purchase done from this link is subject to the final terms and conditions of the website that is selling. The content on this release does not take any responsibility directly or indirectly. Contact CCP Marketing at [email protected] . Contact Email: [email protected] Website: bitcoineras.com Company: Bitcoin Era Phone: 0610099366 For inquiries for press releases, feel free to Contact KISS PR Sales and Support desk . This news has been published for the above source. CCP Marketing [ID=15805] Disclaimer: The pr is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind, express or implied: The content publisher provides the information without warranty of any kind. We also do not accept any responsibility or liability for the legal facts, content accuracy, photos, videos. if you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above. Attachment Bitcoin Era Review || Bitcoin Era Review – 2020 UPDATED (All Info) - By CCP Marketing: Do you want to read a Bitcoin Era review before you use it? If yes, find out whether Bitcoin Era is a legit crypto trading platform or no.
London, UK, Dec. 16, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --Bitcoin Era
Bitcoin Era is one of the many cryptocurrency trading platforms that you have probably come across online. But, you want to find out whether it’s legit or not before you make any move. ThisBitcoin Era reviewexplains everything you want to know about this trading robot.
Just like most platforms, Bitcoin Era allows users to invest and trade in this cryptocurrency conveniently. A user deposits money into their account which is then converted into the Bitcoins that they use to trade.
[Open a Free Account Here]
What is Bitcoin Era?
Bitcoin Erais an automated, cryptocurrency trading robot. It is an automated system that is designed to enable individuals to enter the cryptocurrency market and start trading or investing with ease. The Bitcoin Era’s concept is pretty much the same as that of stock trading.
Since its launch in 2019, Bitcoin Era has continued to attract new users. Both creators and users of the Bitcoin Era have claimed that the platform enables them to trade faster. And traders use this platform free of charge.
The crypto trading platform is monitored by expert brokers that are experienced, compliant, and regulated. In addition to monitoring the transactions, they help Bitcoin investors complete them and achieve higher success rates.
How Bitcoin Era Works
ThisBitcoin Era reviewwill be incomplete if it does not explain how this system works. To use the Bitcoin Era as a crypto trading platform, you need to register or create an account first. The process of creating an account on this platform is free and easy. It only takes a few minutes to provide the required information.
Once you’ve created an account, study the platform to know how it works. Bitcoin Era provides an instructions manual for its new users. The platform provides most of the information that you may need to understand how this platform works. For instance, the manual provides information about deposit options, broker assessment, profile settings, transaction activity, funds management, and customer support among others.
You will also find different trading modes with demo versions that have Bitcoins that you can use to get more experience. Live modes require real money. Nevertheless, both demo and real money modes can help you know how the crypto market works, as well as, how to proceed with transactions.
Here are the steps to follow when using Bitcoin Era to trade:
1. Register:Create a free account by providing the requested information. The signup section is easy to access from the home page of the Bitcoin Era’s website.
2. Deposit Money:Once you’ve created an account, fund it with some money. The minimum amount that you can deposit on this platform is $250.
3. Start Trading:You can start trading Bitcoin once you’ve completed the first two steps. The system is designed to facilitate crypto trading even for beginners and intermediate users. It features autonomous levels for control that can be used by traders with varying experience levels.
[Start Trading Now]
How It Feels To Use Bitcoin Era to Trade
The major reason why you opted to read thisBitcoin Era reviewis to know how it feels to use this platform to trade. Well, many people have described their trading experience as smooth and profitable. That’s because most features of this platform work properly. Live crypto trading sessions are easily concluded and profits earned.
Essentially, Bitcoin Era is a system that uses a smart trading robot. This robot has undergone programming by experienced software engineers. It scans the cryptocurrency market while detecting the best deals available. Activating a live trading session is easy.
Once a great deal has been detected, this trading robot moves swiftly to secure and complete it. The generated profit is transferred to the account of the user. The balance of the user reflects on their account and trading is done using the capital amount.
Pros and Cons of Bitcoin Era
Every crypto trader wants to know why they should consider Bitcoin Era and not any other trading platform. Well, Bitcoin Era has its pros and cons that you should consider before you make your decision.
Pros of Bitcoin Era
• Security: Bitcoin Era features SSL encryption on all pages. This ensures that all transactions are secure. What’s more, the system does not require a lot of information when registering for an account. That means you won’t have much personal information at risk when trading on this platform.
• Innovation: This crypto trading platform uses a great technology. It has a great design that embodies the innovation principle. The interface is also impressive.
• Reliability: Crypto trading relies on factors that are mostly controlled by changes in the market. However, many traders say that this system has proven to be a reliable crypto trading information source. Many people say that this system performs the analytical role it was designed for well.
Cons of Bitcoin Era
• No risk elimination: Crypto trading is a risky affair. Just like most crypto trading platforms, Bitcoin Era does not eliminate this risk. It only reduces it by providing some information that might help in your trading activity.
Is Bitcoin Era Legit or not?
From the information gathered while researching for and writing thisBitcoin Era review, this platform is legit. Many people have used the platform and their testimonials show that it’s among the legit crypto trading robots. However, crypto trading has its risks regardless of the chosen platform. That’s because cryptocurrencies can be very volatile at times. And this volatility can’t be blamed on the trading platform. Nevertheless, Bitcoin Era seems to be a great trading platform for smart traders that know how to predict volatility, monitor the market, and act accordingly.
Bitcoin Era Review: Final Verdict
Based on the research done when writing thisBitcoin Era review, this trading software is legit and reliable. It’s a platform that can be used to make money trading Bitcoin. The registration process is easy and fast. The withdrawal process is also quick and all features of this platform work well. However, using this platform does not eliminate the risk that cryptocurrency exchange carries. Therefore, do your homework when trading on Bitcoin Era and make wise moves to earn more profits.
[Visit the Bitcoin Era Official Website]
About Bitcoin Era
Bitcoin Era is a bitcoin trading platform.
The Bitcoin Era team consists of a group of people who were always in tune with the Bitcoin phenomenon. You could say that we are always looking for the next big thing, and cryptocurrency fit that bill many years ago. Even with all the developments and Bitcoin's increased popularity, we still believe that there is a long way to go.
About CCP Marketing
CCP Marketing offers a low-cost alternative by providing you with fully trained marketing professionals.
This review is for informational purposes only. The information does not constitute advice or an offer to buy. Any purchase done from this story is done at your own risk. Any purchase done from this link is subject to the final terms and conditions of the website that is selling. The content on this release does not take any responsibility directly or indirectly.
Contact CCP Marketing [email protected].
Contact
Email:[email protected]
Website:bitcoineras.com
Company:Bitcoin Era
Phone:0610099366
For inquiries for press releases, feel free toContact KISS PR Sales and Support desk.
This news has been published for the above source. CCP Marketing [ID=15805]
Disclaimer: The pr is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind, express or implied: The content publisher provides the information without warranty of any kind. We also do not accept any responsibility or liability for the legal facts, content accuracy, photos, videos. if you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.
Attachment
• Bitcoin Era Review || Bitcoin Era Review – 2020 UPDATED (All Info) - By CCP Marketing: Do you want to read a Bitcoin Era review before you use it? If yes, find out whether Bitcoin Era is a legit crypto trading platform or no.
London, UK, Dec. 16, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --Bitcoin Era
Bitcoin Era is one of the many cryptocurrency trading platforms that you have probably come across online. But, you want to find out whether it’s legit or not before you make any move. ThisBitcoin Era reviewexplains everything you want to know about this trading robot.
Just like most platforms, Bitcoin Era allows users to invest and trade in this cryptocurrency conveniently. A user deposits money into their account which is then converted into the Bitcoins that they use to trade.
[Open a Free Account Here]
What is Bitcoin Era?
Bitcoin Erais an automated, cryptocurrency trading robot. It is an automated system that is designed to enable individuals to enter the cryptocurrency market and start trading or investing with ease. The Bitcoin Era’s concept is pretty much the same as that of stock trading.
Since its launch in 2019, Bitcoin Era has continued to attract new users. Both creators and users of the Bitcoin Era have claimed that the platform enables them to trade faster. And traders use this platform free of charge.
The crypto trading platform is monitored by expert brokers that are experienced, compliant, and regulated. In addition to monitoring the transactions, they help Bitcoin investors complete them and achieve higher success rates.
How Bitcoin Era Works
ThisBitcoin Era reviewwill be incomplete if it does not explain how this system works. To use the Bitcoin Era as a crypto trading platform, you need to register or create an account first. The process of creating an account on this platform is free and easy. It only takes a few minutes to provide the required information.
Once you’ve created an account, study the platform to know how it works. Bitcoin Era provides an instructions manual for its new users. The platform provides most of the information that you may need to understand how this platform works. For instance, the manual provides information about deposit options, broker assessment, profile settings, transaction activity, funds management, and customer support among others.
You will also find different trading modes with demo versions that have Bitcoins that you can use to get more experience. Live modes require real money. Nevertheless, both demo and real money modes can help you know how the crypto market works, as well as, how to proceed with transactions.
Here are the steps to follow when using Bitcoin Era to trade:
1. Register:Create a free account by providing the requested information. The signup section is easy to access from the home page of the Bitcoin Era’s website.
2. Deposit Money:Once you’ve created an account, fund it with some money. The minimum amount that you can deposit on this platform is $250.
3. Start Trading:You can start trading Bitcoin once you’ve completed the first two steps. The system is designed to facilitate crypto trading even for beginners and intermediate users. It features autonomous levels for control that can be used by traders with varying experience levels.
[Start Trading Now]
How It Feels To Use Bitcoin Era to Trade
The major reason why you opted to read thisBitcoin Era reviewis to know how it feels to use this platform to trade. Well, many people have described their trading experience as smooth and profitable. That’s because most features of this platform work properly. Live crypto trading sessions are easily concluded and profits earned.
Essentially, Bitcoin Era is a system that uses a smart trading robot. This robot has undergone programming by experienced software engineers. It scans the cryptocurrency market while detecting the best deals available. Activating a live trading session is easy.
Once a great deal has been detected, this trading robot moves swiftly to secure and complete it. The generated profit is transferred to the account of the user. The balance of the user reflects on their account and trading is done using the capital amount.
Pros and Cons of Bitcoin Era
Every crypto trader wants to know why they should consider Bitcoin Era and not any other trading platform. Well, Bitcoin Era has its pros and cons that you should consider before you make your decision.
Pros of Bitcoin Era
• Security: Bitcoin Era features SSL encryption on all pages. This ensures that all transactions are secure. What’s more, the system does not require a lot of information when registering for an account. That means you won’t have much personal information at risk when trading on this platform.
• Innovation: This crypto trading platform uses a great technology. It has a great design that embodies the innovation principle. The interface is also impressive.
• Reliability: Crypto trading relies on factors that are mostly controlled by changes in the market. However, many traders say that this system has proven to be a reliable crypto trading information source. Many people say that this system performs the analytical role it was designed for well.
Cons of Bitcoin Era
• No risk elimination: Crypto trading is a risky affair. Just like most crypto trading platforms, Bitcoin Era does not eliminate this risk. It only reduces it by providing some information that might help in your trading activity.
Is Bitcoin Era Legit or not?
From the information gathered while researching for and writing thisBitcoin Era review, this platform is legit. Many people have used the platform and their testimonials show that it’s among the legit crypto trading robots. However, crypto trading has its risks regardless of the chosen platform. That’s because cryptocurrencies can be very volatile at times. And this volatility can’t be blamed on the trading platform. Nevertheless, Bitcoin Era seems to be a great trading platform for smart traders that know how to predict volatility, monitor the market, and act accordingly.
Bitcoin Era Review: Final Verdict
Based on the research done when writing thisBitcoin Era review, this trading software is legit and reliable. It’s a platform that can be used to make money trading Bitcoin. The registration process is easy and fast. The withdrawal process is also quick and all features of this platform work well. However, using this platform does not eliminate the risk that cryptocurrency exchange carries. Therefore, do your homework when trading on Bitcoin Era and make wise moves to earn more profits.
[Visit the Bitcoin Era Official Website]
About Bitcoin Era
Bitcoin Era is a bitcoin trading platform.
The Bitcoin Era team consists of a group of people who were always in tune with the Bitcoin phenomenon. You could say that we are always looking for the next big thing, and cryptocurrency fit that bill many years ago. Even with all the developments and Bitcoin's increased popularity, we still believe that there is a long way to go.
About CCP Marketing
CCP Marketing offers a low-cost alternative by providing you with fully trained marketing professionals.
This review is for informational purposes only. The information does not constitute advice or an offer to buy. Any purchase done from this story is done at your own risk. Any purchase done from this link is subject to the final terms and conditions of the website that is selling. The content on this release does not take any responsibility directly or indirectly.
Contact CCP Marketing [email protected].
Contact
Email:[email protected]
Website:bitcoineras.com
Company:Bitcoin Era
Phone:0610099366
For inquiries for press releases, feel free toContact KISS PR Sales and Support desk.
This news has been published for the above source. CCP Marketing [ID=15805]
Disclaimer: The pr is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind, express or implied: The content publisher provides the information without warranty of any kind. We also do not accept any responsibility or liability for the legal facts, content accuracy, photos, videos. if you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.
Attachment
• Bitcoin Era Review || Over $20K? Why Is Bitcoin Worth Anything at All?: Bitcoin’s price continues to climb, a consistent flow of BTC is leaving exchanges andbitcoin “whale” sightingsare becoming more frequent. But beyond the market frenzy, how does it all work?
Isbitcoinmoney or a technology? Is it a store of value like gold or does it emulate Milton Friedman’s “e-cash” idea?
And while the world struggles to come to terms with bitcoin – perhaps most clearly shown in the discrepancy between bitcoin’s current price and asset managerGuggenheim’s $400,000 figure– it’s helpful to revisit the digital asset’s fundamentals.
Related:First Mover: Geek-Fest Turns Relevant as Bitcoin Passes $21K, $22K, $23K
Bitcoin’s groundwork is laid out in the 2008white paperpublished by its pseudonymous founder, Satoshi Nakamoto. In the paper, Nakamoto describes their original intentions for the new money protocol, labeling Bitcoin as a proof-of-concept technology functioning as “a purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash.”
Nakamoto further describes the Bitcoin network as a decentralized payments system, meaning third-party financial intermediaries (i.e. banks or credit unions) are unnecessary when transferring value with Bitcoin.
The system is also designed to prevent government agencies – or anyone else – from affecting the Bitcoin network’s monetary supply.
“Bitcoin was designed to oppose the existing fiat paper money and central banking regime that has reigned now for a century over the global economy,” Mark Thornton, senior fellow at the libertarian-leaning Ludwig von Mises Institute, told CoinDesk in an email.
Related:Bitcoin Drops Nearly 7% After Setting New Record High of $23,770
Nakamoto goes on to describe Bitcoin’s network analogously to gold. The shiny metal has long been held as a store of value due to a few qualities, namely its natural scarcity and fungibility.
Read more:Bitcoin and Gold: Evaluating Hard-Cap Currencies in Times of Financial Crisis
In a similar manner Nakamoto wrote that Bitcoin miners expend “CPU time and electricity” to mimic gold miners smacking away at the Earth’s crust. In return, they receive a portion of bitcoin from the network itself while sending transactions on behalf of Bitcoin users.
Yet, Nakamoto’s argument by analogy of bitcoin to gold does not stand alone. Rather, it is on the shoulders of contributions from others, including academics, over many years. Indeed, Bitcoin’s features such as a hard supply cap and slow inflation rate lends itself naturally to a few select economic schools, particularly those focused on the free market. Valuing the bitcoin cryptocurrency is complementary to these ideologies.
Bitcoin has storied academic roots, regardless of its reputation for use in illicit markets. Two prominent economic schools of thought, theAustrian schooland theChicago school, are often cited by Bitcoiners as accomplices in the task to free money from government printers.
The Austrian school was founded by Viennese professor Carl Menger in the late 19th century. Even at the time, Menger was known for heterodox views and for sparring with the dominant economic thinking of the time (not much differently from many Bitcoin advocates today).
Arguably, Menger’s greatest contribution to Austrian economics was the development of thesubjective theory of value, a component of the study of human action known as praxeology. Menger argued the value of any good is derived from humans themselves; that is to say, no good or service holds intrinsic value.
Menger’s arguments were taken further by the next few generations of Austrian economists including Ludwig von Mises and F.A. Hayek in the mid-20th century. Mises, for one, crafted an argument demonstrating that the market created money, as opposed to the view that the government created money, known as Chartalism.
Hayek, winner of the 1974 Nobel Prize, would go on to advocate the creation of a money system outside of government in the later 20th century.
“I don’t believe we shall ever have a good money again before we take the thing out of the hands of government,” Hayek said in a1984 interview. “That is, we can’t take them violently out of the hands of government. All we can do is by some sly roundabout way introduce something that they can’t stop.”
Milton Friedman, the most well-known member of the Chicago school of economics,also called for the creation of a digital currency. Friedman believed an “e-cash” was not only a necessary component to the newly founded internet but also a logical tool for limiting government overreach.
“Friedman famously argued for a k-percent rule (growing the money supply by a set, pre-announced % every year, regardless of what happens in the country) and for having monetary policy set by a computer (where it could not be corrupted by humans),” Paul Sztorc, former statistician at the Yale Economics Department and creator ofBitcoinHivemind.com, told CoinDesk in a Telegram message.
“By the 2000s Friedman believed that the U.S. should just adopt a ‘fixed supply’ of base money, and declare that they would never change it. Bitcoin instantiates all of these principles.”
It’s important to note that Bitcoin is a technological product backed by, or even adopted by, a previous community. That, in itself, distinguishes it from other fringe monetary movements such as#MintTheCoin, which is a purely community-driven phenomenon.
The central tenet of Bitcoin is its 21 million BTC supply cap. The network’s rate of inflation is fixed similarly to how much gold can be mined from the Earth every year.
The issuance of Bitcoin decreases every four years in an event called a “halving.” These technical events decrease the supply of BTC created every 10 minutes by the network until no more BTC will be mined sometime in 2140.
Read more:Bitcoin Halving, Explained
The Bitcoin network’s last halving occurred two months into a global pandemic that spurred trillions of dollars of money printing by the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks. Indeed,Bitcoin miner F2Pool includeda New York Times headline in thelast block minedbefore the halving:
NYTimes 09/Apr/2020 With $2.3T Injection, Fed’s Plan Far Exceeds 2008 Rescue
Bitcoin’s supply schedule mimics gold, making it a “complete contrast to central bankers who can create money out of thin air,” Thornton said.
“As such, bitcoin has performed very well over the past several years as central banks seem to be hell-bent on destroying the value of their currencies. This would, of course, include the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan especially. They along with many other central banks have reduced their policy rates to near zero, or even negative rates,” Thornton said.
Bitcoin skeptics often decry a lack of intrinsic value, a lack of cash flows and a lack of historical precedent for the digital asset, among other points.
Indeed, a rise above $20,000 per bitcoin does not invalidate “bear” sentiments, CoinDesk Director of Research Noelle Acheson said. Bitcoin could crash down to Earth at any point. But that’s also what makes it interesting as an asset class, she said.
“One of the most fascinating things about bitcoin is that it doesn’t conform to standard valuation techniques. There’s no cash flow to discount and no physical assets that back it up,” she said.
Bitcoin and gold hold some correlations from a theoretical standpoint, but it depends on what point you focus on, Acheson said.
“Like gold, it is worth what someone else is willing to pay for it, and that is impacted by overall market sentiment, inflation expectations and technological trends. Unlike gold, though, bitcoin’s supply is not at all impacted by its price, which is one of the reasons it will always be more volatile: There will never be an increase of new supply to meet increased demand,” she said.
Eric Turner, director of research at market data provider Messari, said the $20,000 bitcoin price reached early Wednesday is “an important psychological milestone” for the digital asset as all investors stand in the green. Moreover, Turner said, bitcoin as digital gold “is really the big story of the year,” particularly against a backdrop of “macro concerns and poor monetary policy.”
“In my opinion this is just the start for this cycle, which is going to be dominated by larger and more established institutional investors adding allocations to BTC. The real tipping point is if pensions, endowments and sovereign wealth funds start to get in the game. Whether that is this time around or next cycle remains to be seen,” he said.
A successive all-time high valuation gives additional credence to bitcoin as a digital asset, Sztorc said. Yet, bitcoin remains “aspirational money,” he said.
“Given the sheer distance bitcoin has to travel (from being totally obscure in the beginning, to being one half of every trade in the future global economy), it is probably more accurate to think of BTC as an investment in a unicorn-style winner-take-all tech-company,” he said.
Still, a higher price per unit translates into not only additional attention to the asset but more throughput in U.S. dollars and a larger security budget protect itself against adversaries, he said.
Robert Catalanello, president and CEO of over-the-counter broker B2C2 USA, told CoinDesk in an email bitcoin’s price rise “supports our view that crypto in general, and BTC in particular, is increasingly being viewed as a store of value.”
The last few weeks of price action bouncing between a range of $18,000 and $19,600 were a contest of miners offloading mined BTC and “new entrants, including many traditional finance clients, and selling from miners,” Catalanello added.
“There was a tremendous amount of supply from the latter, and that makes the move today even more impressive as we doubt the demand would have been there even three to six months ago to satisfy the supply,” he said.
Thornton, on the other hand, contextualized bitcoin’s breakout within the global pandemic, Brexit and other macro events. An all-time high event does not preclude the possibility of another “shape retreat in 2021 like we saw in 2018,” although he said he would not be surprised by further price gains.
“Despite these reservations nothing has fundamentally changed that supports higher cyber currency prices in the future as well as ongoing attempts on the part of central bankers and governments to capture and control this new form of currency,” he said.
• Over $20K? Why Is Bitcoin Worth Anything at All?
• Over $20K? Why Is Bitcoin Worth Anything at All? || Over $20K? Why Is Bitcoin Worth Anything at All?: Bitcoin’s price continues to climb, a consistent flow of BTC is leaving exchanges andbitcoin “whale” sightingsare becoming more frequent. But beyond the market frenzy, how does it all work?
Isbitcoinmoney or a technology? Is it a store of value like gold or does it emulate Milton Friedman’s “e-cash” idea?
And while the world struggles to come to terms with bitcoin – perhaps most clearly shown in the discrepancy between bitcoin’s current price and asset managerGuggenheim’s $400,000 figure– it’s helpful to revisit the digital asset’s fundamentals.
Related:First Mover: Geek-Fest Turns Relevant as Bitcoin Passes $21K, $22K, $23K
Bitcoin’s groundwork is laid out in the 2008white paperpublished by its pseudonymous founder, Satoshi Nakamoto. In the paper, Nakamoto describes their original intentions for the new money protocol, labeling Bitcoin as a proof-of-concept technology functioning as “a purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash.”
Nakamoto further describes the Bitcoin network as a decentralized payments system, meaning third-party financial intermediaries (i.e. banks or credit unions) are unnecessary when transferring value with Bitcoin.
The system is also designed to prevent government agencies – or anyone else – from affecting the Bitcoin network’s monetary supply.
“Bitcoin was designed to oppose the existing fiat paper money and central banking regime that has reigned now for a century over the global economy,” Mark Thornton, senior fellow at the libertarian-leaning Ludwig von Mises Institute, told CoinDesk in an email.
Related:Bitcoin Drops Nearly 7% After Setting New Record High of $23,770
Nakamoto goes on to describe Bitcoin’s network analogously to gold. The shiny metal has long been held as a store of value due to a few qualities, namely its natural scarcity and fungibility.
Read more:Bitcoin and Gold: Evaluating Hard-Cap Currencies in Times of Financial Crisis
In a similar manner Nakamoto wrote that Bitcoin miners expend “CPU time and electricity” to mimic gold miners smacking away at the Earth’s crust. In return, they receive a portion of bitcoin from the network itself while sending transactions on behalf of Bitcoin users.
Yet, Nakamoto’s argument by analogy of bitcoin to gold does not stand alone. Rather, it is on the shoulders of contributions from others, including academics, over many years. Indeed, Bitcoin’s features such as a hard supply cap and slow inflation rate lends itself naturally to a few select economic schools, particularly those focused on the free market. Valuing the bitcoin cryptocurrency is complementary to these ideologies.
Bitcoin has storied academic roots, regardless of its reputation for use in illicit markets. Two prominent economic schools of thought, theAustrian schooland theChicago school, are often cited by Bitcoiners as accomplices in the task to free money from government printers.
The Austrian school was founded by Viennese professor Carl Menger in the late 19th century. Even at the time, Menger was known for heterodox views and for sparring with the dominant economic thinking of the time (not much differently from many Bitcoin advocates today).
Arguably, Menger’s greatest contribution to Austrian economics was the development of thesubjective theory of value, a component of the study of human action known as praxeology. Menger argued the value of any good is derived from humans themselves; that is to say, no good or service holds intrinsic value.
Menger’s arguments were taken further by the next few generations of Austrian economists including Ludwig von Mises and F.A. Hayek in the mid-20th century. Mises, for one, crafted an argument demonstrating that the market created money, as opposed to the view that the government created money, known as Chartalism.
Hayek, winner of the 1974 Nobel Prize, would go on to advocate the creation of a money system outside of government in the later 20th century.
“I don’t believe we shall ever have a good money again before we take the thing out of the hands of government,” Hayek said in a1984 interview. “That is, we can’t take them violently out of the hands of government. All we can do is by some sly roundabout way introduce something that they can’t stop.”
Milton Friedman, the most well-known member of the Chicago school of economics,also called for the creation of a digital currency. Friedman believed an “e-cash” was not only a necessary component to the newly founded internet but also a logical tool for limiting government overreach.
“Friedman famously argued for a k-percent rule (growing the money supply by a set, pre-announced % every year, regardless of what happens in the country) and for having monetary policy set by a computer (where it could not be corrupted by humans),” Paul Sztorc, former statistician at the Yale Economics Department and creator ofBitcoinHivemind.com, told CoinDesk in a Telegram message.
“By the 2000s Friedman believed that the U.S. should just adopt a ‘fixed supply’ of base money, and declare that they would never change it. Bitcoin instantiates all of these principles.”
It’s important to note that Bitcoin is a technological product backed by, or even adopted by, a previous community. That, in itself, distinguishes it from other fringe monetary movements such as#MintTheCoin, which is a purely community-driven phenomenon.
The central tenet of Bitcoin is its 21 million BTC supply cap. The network’s rate of inflation is fixed similarly to how much gold can be mined from the Earth every year.
The issuance of Bitcoin decreases every four years in an event called a “halving.” These technical events decrease the supply of BTC created every 10 minutes by the network until no more BTC will be mined sometime in 2140.
Read more:Bitcoin Halving, Explained
The Bitcoin network’s last halving occurred two months into a global pandemic that spurred trillions of dollars of money printing by the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks. Indeed,Bitcoin miner F2Pool includeda New York Times headline in thelast block minedbefore the halving:
NYTimes 09/Apr/2020 With $2.3T Injection, Fed’s Plan Far Exceeds 2008 Rescue
Bitcoin’s supply schedule mimics gold, making it a “complete contrast to central bankers who can create money out of thin air,” Thornton said.
“As such, bitcoin has performed very well over the past several years as central banks seem to be hell-bent on destroying the value of their currencies. This would, of course, include the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan especially. They along with many other central banks have reduced their policy rates to near zero, or even negative rates,” Thornton said.
Bitcoin skeptics often decry a lack of intrinsic value, a lack of cash flows and a lack of historical precedent for the digital asset, among other points.
Indeed, a rise above $20,000 per bitcoin does not invalidate “bear” sentiments, CoinDesk Director of Research Noelle Acheson said. Bitcoin could crash down to Earth at any point. But that’s also what makes it interesting as an asset class, she said.
“One of the most fascinating things about bitcoin is that it doesn’t conform to standard valuation techniques. There’s no cash flow to discount and no physical assets that back it up,” she said.
Bitcoin and gold hold some correlations from a theoretical standpoint, but it depends on what point you focus on, Acheson said.
“Like gold, it is worth what someone else is willing to pay for it, and that is impacted by overall market sentiment, inflation expectations and technological trends. Unlike gold, though, bitcoin’s supply is not at all impacted by its price, which is one of the reasons it will always be more volatile: There will never be an increase of new supply to meet increased demand,” she said.
Eric Turner, director of research at market data provider Messari, said the $20,000 bitcoin price reached early Wednesday is “an important psychological milestone” for the digital asset as all investors stand in the green. Moreover, Turner said, bitcoin as digital gold “is really the big story of the year,” particularly against a backdrop of “macro concerns and poor monetary policy.”
“In my opinion this is just the start for this cycle, which is going to be dominated by larger and more established institutional investors adding allocations to BTC. The real tipping point is if pensions, endowments and sovereign wealth funds start to get in the game. Whether that is this time around or next cycle remains to be seen,” he said.
A successive all-time high valuation gives additional credence to bitcoin as a digital asset, Sztorc said. Yet, bitcoin remains “aspirational money,” he said.
“Given the sheer distance bitcoin has to travel (from being totally obscure in the beginning, to being one half of every trade in the future global economy), it is probably more accurate to think of BTC as an investment in a unicorn-style winner-take-all tech-company,” he said.
Still, a higher price per unit translates into not only additional attention to the asset but more throughput in U.S. dollars and a larger security budget protect itself against adversaries, he said.
Robert Catalanello, president and CEO of over-the-counter broker B2C2 USA, told CoinDesk in an email bitcoin’s price rise “supports our view that crypto in general, and BTC in particular, is increasingly being viewed as a store of value.”
The last few weeks of price action bouncing between a range of $18,000 and $19,600 were a contest of miners offloading mined BTC and “new entrants, including many traditional finance clients, and selling from miners,” Catalanello added.
“There was a tremendous amount of supply from the latter, and that makes the move today even more impressive as we doubt the demand would have been there even three to six months ago to satisfy the supply,” he said.
Thornton, on the other hand, contextualized bitcoin’s breakout within the global pandemic, Brexit and other macro events. An all-time high event does not preclude the possibility of another “shape retreat in 2021 like we saw in 2018,” although he said he would not be surprised by further price gains.
“Despite these reservations nothing has fundamentally changed that supports higher cyber currency prices in the future as well as ongoing attempts on the part of central bankers and governments to capture and control this new form of currency,” he said.
• Over $20K? Why Is Bitcoin Worth Anything at All?
• Over $20K? Why Is Bitcoin Worth Anything at All? || Over $20K? Why Is Bitcoin Worth Anything at All?: Bitcoin’s price continues to climb, a consistent flow of BTC is leaving exchanges and bitcoin “whale” sightings are becoming more frequent. But beyond the market frenzy, how does it all work? Is bitcoin money or a technology? Is it a store of value like gold or does it emulate Milton Friedman’s “e-cash” idea? And while the world struggles to come to terms with bitcoin – perhaps most clearly shown in the discrepancy between bitcoin’s current price and asset manager Guggenheim’s $400,000 figure – it’s helpful to revisit the digital asset’s fundamentals. Bitcoin’s economic basis Related: First Mover: Geek-Fest Turns Relevant as Bitcoin Passes $21K, $22K, $23K Bitcoin’s groundwork is laid out in the 2008 white paper published by its pseudonymous founder, Satoshi Nakamoto. In the paper, Nakamoto describes their original intentions for the new money protocol, labeling Bitcoin as a proof-of-concept technology functioning as “a purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash.” Nakamoto further describes the Bitcoin network as a decentralized payments system, meaning third-party financial intermediaries (i.e. banks or credit unions) are unnecessary when transferring value with Bitcoin. The system is also designed to prevent government agencies – or anyone else – from affecting the Bitcoin network’s monetary supply. “Bitcoin was designed to oppose the existing fiat paper money and central banking regime that has reigned now for a century over the global economy,” Mark Thornton, senior fellow at the libertarian-leaning Ludwig von Mises Institute, told CoinDesk in an email. Related: Bitcoin Drops Nearly 7% After Setting New Record High of $23,770 Nakamoto goes on to describe Bitcoin’s network analogously to gold. The shiny metal has long been held as a store of value due to a few qualities, namely its natural scarcity and fungibility. Story continues Read more: Bitcoin and Gold: Evaluating Hard-Cap Currencies in Times of Financial Crisis In a similar manner Nakamoto wrote that Bitcoin miners expend “CPU time and electricity” to mimic gold miners smacking away at the Earth’s crust. In return, they receive a portion of bitcoin from the network itself while sending transactions on behalf of Bitcoin users. Yet, Nakamoto’s argument by analogy of bitcoin to gold does not stand alone. Rather, it is on the shoulders of contributions from others, including academics, over many years. Indeed, Bitcoin’s features such as a hard supply cap and slow inflation rate lends itself naturally to a few select economic schools, particularly those focused on the free market. Valuing the bitcoin cryptocurrency is complementary to these ideologies. ‘Free money’ economics Bitcoin has storied academic roots, regardless of its reputation for use in illicit markets. Two prominent economic schools of thought, the Austrian school and the Chicago school , are often cited by Bitcoiners as accomplices in the task to free money from government printers. The Austrian school was founded by Viennese professor Carl Menger in the late 19th century. Even at the time, Menger was known for heterodox views and for sparring with the dominant economic thinking of the time (not much differently from many Bitcoin advocates today). Arguably, Menger’s greatest contribution to Austrian economics was the development of the subjective theory of value , a component of the study of human action known as praxeology. Menger argued the value of any good is derived from humans themselves; that is to say, no good or service holds intrinsic value. Menger’s arguments were taken further by the next few generations of Austrian economists including Ludwig von Mises and F.A. Hayek in the mid-20th century. Mises, for one, crafted an argument demonstrating that the market created money, as opposed to the view that the government created money, known as Chartalism. Hayek, winner of the 1974 Nobel Prize, would go on to advocate the creation of a money system outside of government in the later 20th century. “I don’t believe we shall ever have a good money again before we take the thing out of the hands of government,” Hayek said in a 1984 interview . “That is, we can’t take them violently out of the hands of government. All we can do is by some sly roundabout way introduce something that they can’t stop.” Milton Friedman, the most well-known member of the Chicago school of economics, also called for the creation of a digital currency . Friedman believed an “ e-cash ” was not only a necessary component to the newly founded internet but also a logical tool for limiting government overreach. “Friedman famously argued for a k-percent rule (growing the money supply by a set, pre-announced % every year, regardless of what happens in the country) and for having monetary policy set by a computer (where it could not be corrupted by humans),” Paul Sztorc, former statistician at the Yale Economics Department and creator of BitcoinHivemind.com , told CoinDesk in a Telegram message. “By the 2000s Friedman believed that the U.S. should just adopt a ‘fixed supply’ of base money, and declare that they would never change it. Bitcoin instantiates all of these principles.” Bitcoin vs. inflationism It’s important to note that Bitcoin is a technological product backed by, or even adopted by, a previous community. That, in itself, distinguishes it from other fringe monetary movements such as #MintTheCoin , which is a purely community-driven phenomenon. The central tenet of Bitcoin is its 21 million BTC supply cap. The network’s rate of inflation is fixed similarly to how much gold can be mined from the Earth every year. The issuance of Bitcoin decreases every four years in an event called a “halving.” These technical events decrease the supply of BTC created every 10 minutes by the network until no more BTC will be mined sometime in 2140. Read more: Bitcoin Halving, Explained The Bitcoin network’s last halving occurred two months into a global pandemic that spurred trillions of dollars of money printing by the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks. Indeed, Bitcoin miner F2Pool included a New York Times headline in the last block mined before the halving: NYTimes 09/Apr/2020 With $2.3T Injection, Fed’s Plan Far Exceeds 2008 Rescue Bitcoin’s supply schedule mimics gold, making it a “complete contrast to central bankers who can create money out of thin air,” Thornton said. “As such, bitcoin has performed very well over the past several years as central banks seem to be hell-bent on destroying the value of their currencies. This would, of course, include the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan especially. They along with many other central banks have reduced their policy rates to near zero, or even negative rates,” Thornton said. Valuing bitcoin Bitcoin skeptics often decry a lack of intrinsic value, a lack of cash flows and a lack of historical precedent for the digital asset, among other points. Indeed, a rise above $20,000 per bitcoin does not invalidate “bear” sentiments, CoinDesk Director of Research Noelle Acheson said. Bitcoin could crash down to Earth at any point. But that’s also what makes it interesting as an asset class, she said. “One of the most fascinating things about bitcoin is that it doesn’t conform to standard valuation techniques. There’s no cash flow to discount and no physical assets that back it up,” she said. Bitcoin and gold hold some correlations from a theoretical standpoint, but it depends on what point you focus on, Acheson said. “Like gold, it is worth what someone else is willing to pay for it, and that is impacted by overall market sentiment, inflation expectations and technological trends. Unlike gold, though, bitcoin’s supply is not at all impacted by its price, which is one of the reasons it will always be more volatile: There will never be an increase of new supply to meet increased demand,” she said. Eric Turner, director of research at market data provider Messari, said the $20,000 bitcoin price reached early Wednesday is “an important psychological milestone” for the digital asset as all investors stand in the green. Moreover, Turner said, bitcoin as digital gold “is really the big story of the year,” particularly against a backdrop of “macro concerns and poor monetary policy.” “In my opinion this is just the start for this cycle, which is going to be dominated by larger and more established institutional investors adding allocations to BTC. The real tipping point is if pensions, endowments and sovereign wealth funds start to get in the game. Whether that is this time around or next cycle remains to be seen,” he said. Next stop? A successive all-time high valuation gives additional credence to bitcoin as a digital asset, Sztorc said. Yet, bitcoin remains “aspirational money,” he said. “Given the sheer distance bitcoin has to travel (from being totally obscure in the beginning, to being one half of every trade in the future global economy), it is probably more accurate to think of BTC as an investment in a unicorn-style winner-take-all tech-company,” he said. Still, a higher price per unit translates into not only additional attention to the asset but more throughput in U.S. dollars and a larger security budget protect itself against adversaries, he said. Robert Catalanello, president and CEO of over-the-counter broker B2C2 USA, told CoinDesk in an email bitcoin’s price rise “supports our view that crypto in general, and BTC in particular, is increasingly being viewed as a store of value.” The last few weeks of price action bouncing between a range of $18,000 and $19,600 were a contest of miners offloading mined BTC and “new entrants, including many traditional finance clients, and selling from miners,” Catalanello added. “There was a tremendous amount of supply from the latter, and that makes the move today even more impressive as we doubt the demand would have been there even three to six months ago to satisfy the supply,” he said. Thornton, on the other hand, contextualized bitcoin’s breakout within the global pandemic, Brexit and other macro events. An all-time high event does not preclude the possibility of another “shape retreat in 2021 like we saw in 2018,” although he said he would not be surprised by further price gains. “Despite these reservations nothing has fundamentally changed that supports higher cyber currency prices in the future as well as ongoing attempts on the part of central bankers and governments to capture and control this new form of currency,” he said. Related Stories Over $20K? Why Is Bitcoin Worth Anything at All? Over $20K? Why Is Bitcoin Worth Anything at All? || Stock Market Today: Nasdaq, Bitcoin Keep Rewriting the Record Books: The major stock market indices didn't move much on Wednesday. Neither did the Federal Reserve, which, in its final Federal Open Market Committee meeting of 2020, left ultra-low benchmark interest rates unchanged. "The Fed’s statement was largely in line with what they have done in the past: They will continue to buy $80 billion in treasuries and $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities," says Chris Zaccarelli, Chief Investment Officer for Independent Advisor Alliance. "However, they more explicitly tied the continuation of that policy until unemployment is much lower." SEE MORE The 21 Best Stocks to Buy for 2021 "The Fed has made it clear that downside risks to the economy still persist in the coming months despite what financial markets may be signaling," says Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist for Allianz Investment Management. "On the other hand, they did upgrade their view on the economy down the road." Meanwhile, Congress appears to be closing in on a COVID stimulus deal that could include a second round of stimulus checks, but the proposal to send only $600 to $700 to qualifying American taxpayers drew wide criticism and underwhelmed Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average waffled between small losses and small gains before finishing down 0.2% to 30,154. The S&P 500 (+0.2% to 3,701) closed just one point shy of its all-time high, but the Nasdaq Composite (+0.5% to 12,658) gained enough to set yet another record. Other action in the stock market today: The small-cap Russell 2000 pulled back 0.4% to 1,952. Gold futures finished slightly higher, up 0.2% to $1,859.10 per ounce. U.S. crude oil futures also improved, gaining 0.4% to $47.82 per barrel. A Big Day for Bitcoin, Too Also climbing the mountain was Bitcoin, which topped its 2017 peak in November and surged above $20,000 Wednesday to set a fresh record high. SEE MORE 12 Hot Upcoming IPOs to Watch For in 2020 and 2021 Story continues The cryptocurrency, like most of the rest of the market, has pitched an incredible recovery from its March lows, which saw Bitcoin prices plumb the $5,000 mark. "We expect that the market could see significant additional gains in Bitcoin prices over the course of 2021 if U.S. dollar inflationary pressures continue, and as both retail and institutional ownership levels of Bitcoin continue to rise," says Greg King, CEO of digital asset solutions firm Osprey Funds. Bitcoin remains a wildly volatile asset – albeit one that even conservative investors can harvest if handled with extreme care. And the cryptocurrency, which must be held in a digital wallet, remains elusive for those who prefer investing only in accounts such as 401(k)s and IRAs. But even if you have those limitations, you can still at least get a taste. These seven stock picks are tying their fortunes to Bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies and the underlying blockchain technology. They might not be "pure" plays, but for those without an appetite for extreme volatility, that might be for the best. SEE MORE The 21 Best ETFs to Buy for a Prosperous 2021 || Stock Market Today: Nasdaq, Bitcoin Keep Rewriting the Record Books: The major stock market indices didn't move much on Wednesday. Neither did the Federal Reserve, which, in its final Federal Open Market Committee meeting of 2020, left ultra-low benchmark interest rates unchanged. "The Fed’s statement was largely in line with what they have done in the past: They will continue to buy $80 billion in treasuries and $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities," says Chris Zaccarelli, Chief Investment Officer for Independent Advisor Alliance. "However, they more explicitly tied the continuation of that policy until unemployment is much lower." SEE MORE The 21 Best Stocks to Buy for 2021 "The Fed has made it clear that downside risks to the economy still persist in the coming months despite what financial markets may be signaling," says Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist for Allianz Investment Management. "On the other hand, they did upgrade their view on the economy down the road." Meanwhile, Congress appears to be closing in on a COVID stimulus deal that could include a second round of stimulus checks, but the proposal to send only $600 to $700 to qualifying American taxpayers drew wide criticism and underwhelmed Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average waffled between small losses and small gains before finishing down 0.2% to 30,154. The S&P 500 (+0.2% to 3,701) closed just one point shy of its all-time high, but the Nasdaq Composite (+0.5% to 12,658) gained enough to set yet another record. Other action in the stock market today: The small-cap Russell 2000 pulled back 0.4% to 1,952. Gold futures finished slightly higher, up 0.2% to $1,859.10 per ounce. U.S. crude oil futures also improved, gaining 0.4% to $47.82 per barrel. A Big Day for Bitcoin, Too Also climbing the mountain was Bitcoin, which topped its 2017 peak in November and surged above $20,000 Wednesday to set a fresh record high. SEE MORE 12 Hot Upcoming IPOs to Watch For in 2020 and 2021 Story continues The cryptocurrency, like most of the rest of the market, has pitched an incredible recovery from its March lows, which saw Bitcoin prices plumb the $5,000 mark. "We expect that the market could see significant additional gains in Bitcoin prices over the course of 2021 if U.S. dollar inflationary pressures continue, and as both retail and institutional ownership levels of Bitcoin continue to rise," says Greg King, CEO of digital asset solutions firm Osprey Funds. Bitcoin remains a wildly volatile asset – albeit one that even conservative investors can harvest if handled with extreme care. And the cryptocurrency, which must be held in a digital wallet, remains elusive for those who prefer investing only in accounts such as 401(k)s and IRAs. But even if you have those limitations, you can still at least get a taste. These seven stock picks are tying their fortunes to Bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies and the underlying blockchain technology. They might not be "pure" plays, but for those without an appetite for extreme volatility, that might be for the best. SEE MORE The 21 Best ETFs to Buy for a Prosperous 2021 || Stock Market Today: Nasdaq, Bitcoin Keep Rewriting the Record Books: The major stock market indices didn't move much on Wednesday. Neither did the Federal Reserve, which, in its final Federal Open Market Committee meeting of 2020, left ultra-low benchmark interest rates unchanged. "The Fed’s statement was largely in line with what they have done in the past: They will continue to buy $80 billion in treasuries and $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities," says Chris Zaccarelli, Chief Investment Officer for Independent Advisor Alliance. "However, they more explicitly tied the continuation of that policy until unemployment is much lower." SEE MORE The 21 Best Stocks to Buy for 2021 "The Fed has made it clear that downside risks to the economy still persist in the coming months despite what financial markets may be signaling," says Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist for Allianz Investment Management. "On the other hand, they did upgrade their view on the economy down the road." Meanwhile, Congress appears to be closing in on a COVID stimulus deal that could include a second round of stimulus checks, but the proposal to send only $600 to $700 to qualifying American taxpayers drew wide criticism and underwhelmed Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average waffled between small losses and small gains before finishing down 0.2% to 30,154. The S&P 500 (+0.2% to 3,701) closed just one point shy of its all-time high, but the Nasdaq Composite (+0.5% to 12,658) gained enough to set yet another record. Other action in the stock market today: The small-cap Russell 2000 pulled back 0.4% to 1,952. Gold futures finished slightly higher, up 0.2% to $1,859.10 per ounce. U.S. crude oil futures also improved, gaining 0.4% to $47.82 per barrel. A Big Day for Bitcoin, Too Also climbing the mountain was Bitcoin, which topped its 2017 peak in November and surged above $20,000 Wednesday to set a fresh record high. SEE MORE 12 Hot Upcoming IPOs to Watch For in 2020 and 2021 Story continues The cryptocurrency, like most of the rest of the market, has pitched an incredible recovery from its March lows, which saw Bitcoin prices plumb the $5,000 mark. "We expect that the market could see significant additional gains in Bitcoin prices over the course of 2021 if U.S. dollar inflationary pressures continue, and as both retail and institutional ownership levels of Bitcoin continue to rise," says Greg King, CEO of digital asset solutions firm Osprey Funds. Bitcoin remains a wildly volatile asset – albeit one that even conservative investors can harvest if handled with extreme care. And the cryptocurrency, which must be held in a digital wallet, remains elusive for those who prefer investing only in accounts such as 401(k)s and IRAs. But even if you have those limitations, you can still at least get a taste. These seven stock picks are tying their fortunes to Bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies and the underlying blockchain technology. They might not be "pure" plays, but for those without an appetite for extreme volatility, that might be for the best. SEE MORE The 21 Best ETFs to Buy for a Prosperous 2021 || New to Bitcoin? Stay Safe and Avoid These Common Scams: Bitcoin hit a new high Wednesday, topping $20,000, and is continuing to rise. Maybe today is the day that you finally are ready to take the plunge and buy your first few satoshis. Before you do, here are a few suggestions to avoid falling victim to some of the bitcoin scammers and hucksters who will try to take advantage of people who are still new to the wild world of cryptocurrencies.
The first step in the journey is to set up a wallet tostore your bitcoinsafely. There are plenty ofbitcoinwallets on the App Store and Google Play. Just be sure to read the reviews and research the wallets before you decide on one. You want to be confident you are depositing your newly acquired bitcoin funds into a legitimate wallet that will actually keep your crypto safe and not stolen from you.
Read more:How to Store Your Bitcoins
Related:First Mover: Geek-Fest Turns Relevant as Bitcoin Passes $21K, $22K, $23K
You’ll also need to decide on an exchange where you will be able to buy your first bitcoin. There are plenty of exchanges out there and come with varying degrees of security. Most will require some form of identity verification before you can set up an account, so be prepared.
When it comes to wallets and exchanges, be sure the site you visit is reputable before you send any money. A slick website is not necessarily the sign of a legitimate business. Similarly, just because a wallet app is listed in an app store, that doesn’t guarantee it’s safe. Even if they are legitimate, the cryptocurrency world has seen exchanges and wallets hacked time and time again.
Read more:How Can I Buy Bitcoin?
Check out how long an exchange or wallet company has been around. Look for reviews and feedback, review sites such as Reddit and read through a company’s social media history. Do a news search for whatever company you’re researching because most reliable exchanges and brokers have likely been covered by prominent media outlets.
Related:Bitcoin Drops Nearly 7% After Setting New Record High of $23,770
Bitcoin isn’t like your bank. There is no helpline you can call, no fraud department that might help you sort out a transaction and no way to block a “suspicious transaction.” The ethos of bitcoin is that it exists beyond the traditional financial system and gives ultimate control to the user.
Read more:How FinCEN Became a Honeypot for Sensitive Personal Data
On the one hand, this means you aren’t paying overdraft fees or having the government gainaccess to your personal datathrough your financial transactions. On the other hand, there is no centralized authority who is going to step in and save you if you share your keys and have your bitcoin stolen. In some ways, it’s the ultimate test of personal responsibility.
If you’re just entering the space, it’s worth embracing one of the core ideas of bitcoin – “not your keys, not your coins.”
A wallet generates two types of keys: a private key and a public key. The public key is used to create public addresses. These are the addresses that you will share with others to receive bitcoin.
A private key, however, should be kept absolutely private. This is the key you’ll need to encrypt and decrypt your wallet and is fundamental to making sure your bitcoin is secure. If you don’t control the private key to the wallet you’re storing your bitcoin in, then you really don’t control your bitcoin.
Once again, don’t ever share your private key with anyone, and definitely don’t do it online.
Furthermore, when you create a wallet you’re often provided with a seed phrase. Also known as a backup phrase or recovery phrase, this is a group of words generated once upon wallet creation, and you’re instructed to write them down and store them in a safe place. The reason you’re usually instructed to write them down is so they aren’t stored on your computer, where they’re vulnerable.
This seed phrase is used to recover bitcoin funds on-chain and, as such, is often another target of scammers.
There is a reason that “not your keys, not your coins” is a common refrain. If a scammer gets your keys or your seed phrase they can clean your wallet out.
So step one, keep your private key private and your seed phrase safe.
Always be on the lookout for phishing scams. Phishing attacks are a favorite among hackers and scammers. In a phishing attack, an attacker typically impersonates a service, company or individual by way of email or other text-based communication, or by hosting a fake website. The goal is to trick a victim into revealing his or her private keys or sending bitcoin to an address the scammer owns.
These emails often look like they’re legitimate. For example, scammers havesent out fake emailsthat look like CoinDesk newsletters. Users of the hardware wallet Ledger have seemingly gotten emails from the company encouraging them to download a security fix when in reality, it was fromscammers posing as company representatives.
These are just a couple of examples, but phishing attempts come in many forms, and not just email. You may get scammersimpersonating other people on social mediasending you links. You may get phone calls.
Read more:Scammers Are Forging CoinDesk Emails – Here’s How to Protect Yourself
Phishing scams come in many forms but the goal is to get you to give up data or information that could be used to compromise your digital security – and jack your bitcoin.
In any such unsolicited email, make sure you look at the sender’s address. A key clue in any phishing email is a slight misspelling of a real address or URL. For example, with the Ledger phishing scam, the email was from a “legder.com” URL, which is misspelled. An attacker will try to make the incoming email seem as real as possible, so always double-check. Another tip is to hover over any link to see where it is leading. Just because bitcoin.org is highlighted with a link does not mean it actually goes to bitcoin.org, for example.
A great habit to get into is to bookmark sites you regularly use to access your funds. Only visit those sites through your bookmarked addresses – not through an email link. That way you know you are only using legitimate URLs.
Read more:Social Engineering: A Plague on Crypto and Twitter, Unlikely to Stop
As Paul Walsh, CEO of the cybersecurity company MetaCert, told CoinDesk earlier this year, the vast majority of malware is delivered via email phishing and malicious URLs.
“Most security issues that involve dangerous URLs go undetected and, therefore, [are] not blocked,” he said.
In other words, Gmail’s spam filter isn’t going to catch everything, nor are those in more advanced security software.
Finally, take it slow and be cautious. There are more advanced hacking and scamming techniques out there. I’ve spoken with crypto users who have been scammed out of thousands of dollars by con men pretending to be investors in their companies, who carried out the scam over the course of months. I’ve seen cases where people gave “traders” their private keys so they could turn a profit, only to see their wallets slowly drained.
Earlier this year, for example,Twitter was hackedand prominent accounts from Elon Musk to Barack Obama to CoinDesk started tweeting, essentially, that if you sent them some bitcoin, they’d send you back more.
There are bitcoinscam ads out there on YouTubethat are featured on legitimate cryptocurrency shows, even though they advertise crypto giveaways and pyramid schemes.
See also:YouTube’s Whac-a-Mole Approach to Crypto Scam Ads Remains a Problem
Fake exchanges are sending messages on Discord and other communication channels, promising free bitcoin to people who open accounts and make minimum deposits. (Spoiler alert: You won’t get free bitcoin and you’ll never get your deposit back.)
And the list of creative ways that scammers will try to take advantage of you goes on.
While it might seem farfetched that people would fall for these sorts of bitcoin scams, the Twitter hackersnetted over $140,000 worth of bitcoinat the time, which is worth roughly $320,000 today. Overall, a report by blockchain analytics firm Crystal Blockchainfoundthat 113 security attacks and 23 fraudulent schemes resulted in the theft of approximately $7.6 billion worth of crypto assets since 2011.
This applies even if you think you might be too smart to be scammed. Fraudsters come in all shapes and sizes, often playing into your own psychology.
“We assume that only other people fall for cons and scams and it will never happen to us,”saidDr. Paul Seager, a professor of social and forensic psychology at the U.K.’s University of Central Lancashire. “That makes us feel a bit more secure about ourselves and bolsters our self-esteem. ‘We’re not stupid. We don’t fall for these kinds of things,’ but that self-serving bias lures us into complacency.”
So remember: Keep your private key secret, double-check every URL and if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.
• New to Bitcoin? Stay Safe and Avoid These Common Scams
• New to Bitcoin? Stay Safe and Avoid These Common Scams || New to Bitcoin? Stay Safe and Avoid These Common Scams: Bitcoin hit a new high Wednesday, topping $20,000, and is continuing to rise. Maybe today is the day that you finally are ready to take the plunge and buy your first few satoshis. Before you do, here are a few suggestions to avoid falling victim to some of the bitcoin scammers and hucksters who will try to take advantage of people who are still new to the wild world of cryptocurrencies. Do your research The first step in the journey is to set up a wallet to store your bitcoin safely. There are plenty of bitcoin wallets on the App Store and Google Play. Just be sure to read the reviews and research the wallets before you decide on one. You want to be confident you are depositing your newly acquired bitcoin funds into a legitimate wallet that will actually keep your crypto safe and not stolen from you. Read more: How to Store Your Bitcoins Related: First Mover: Geek-Fest Turns Relevant as Bitcoin Passes $21K, $22K, $23K Youll also need to decide on an exchange where you will be able to buy your first bitcoin. There are plenty of exchanges out there and come with varying degrees of security. Most will require some form of identity verification before you can set up an account, so be prepared. When it comes to wallets and exchanges, be sure the site you visit is reputable before you send any money. A slick website is not necessarily the sign of a legitimate business. Similarly, just because a wallet app is listed in an app store, that doesnt guarantee its safe. Even if they are legitimate, the cryptocurrency world has seen exchanges and wallets hacked time and time again. Read more: How Can I Buy Bitcoin? Check out how long an exchange or wallet company has been around. Look for reviews and feedback, review sites such as Reddit and read through a companys social media history. Do a news search for whatever company youre researching because most reliable exchanges and brokers have likely been covered by prominent media outlets. Story continues Protect your bitcoin keys Related: Bitcoin Drops Nearly 7% After Setting New Record High of $23,770 Bitcoin isnt like your bank. There is no helpline you can call, no fraud department that might help you sort out a transaction and no way to block a suspicious transaction. The ethos of bitcoin is that it exists beyond the traditional financial system and gives ultimate control to the user. Read more: How FinCEN Became a Honeypot for Sensitive Personal Data On the one hand, this means you arent paying overdraft fees or having the government gain access to your personal data through your financial transactions. On the other hand, there is no centralized authority who is going to step in and save you if you share your keys and have your bitcoin stolen. In some ways, its the ultimate test of personal responsibility. If youre just entering the space, its worth embracing one of the core ideas of bitcoin not your keys, not your coins. A wallet generates two types of keys: a private key and a public key. The public key is used to create public addresses. These are the addresses that you will share with others to receive bitcoin. A private key, however, should be kept absolutely private. This is the key youll need to encrypt and decrypt your wallet and is fundamental to making sure your bitcoin is secure. If you dont control the private key to the wallet youre storing your bitcoin in, then you really dont control your bitcoin. Sharing is not caring Once again, dont ever share your private key with anyone, and definitely dont do it online. Furthermore, when you create a wallet youre often provided with a seed phrase. Also known as a backup phrase or recovery phrase, this is a group of words generated once upon wallet creation, and youre instructed to write them down and store them in a safe place. The reason youre usually instructed to write them down is so they arent stored on your computer, where theyre vulnerable. This seed phrase is used to recover bitcoin funds on-chain and, as such, is often another target of scammers. There is a reason that not your keys, not your coins is a common refrain. If a scammer gets your keys or your seed phrase they can clean your wallet out. So step one, keep your private key private and your seed phrase safe. Phishing scams: Check your links Always be on the lookout for phishing scams. Phishing attacks are a favorite among hackers and scammers. In a phishing attack, an attacker typically impersonates a service, company or individual by way of email or other text-based communication, or by hosting a fake website. The goal is to trick a victim into revealing his or her private keys or sending bitcoin to an address the scammer owns. These emails often look like theyre legitimate. For example, scammers have sent out fake emails that look like CoinDesk newsletters. Users of the hardware wallet Ledger have seemingly gotten emails from the company encouraging them to download a security fix when in reality, it was from scammers posing as company representatives . These are just a couple of examples, but phishing attempts come in many forms, and not just email. You may get scammers impersonating other people on social media sending you links. You may get phone calls. Read more: Scammers Are Forging CoinDesk Emails Heres How to Protect Yourself Phishing scams come in many forms but the goal is to get you to give up data or information that could be used to compromise your digital security and jack your bitcoin. In any such unsolicited email, make sure you look at the senders address. A key clue in any phishing email is a slight misspelling of a real address or URL. For example, with the Ledger phishing scam, the email was from a legder.com URL, which is misspelled. An attacker will try to make the incoming email seem as real as possible, so always double-check. Another tip is to hover over any link to see where it is leading. Just because bitcoin.org is highlighted with a link does not mean it actually goes to bitcoin.org, for example. A great habit to get into is to bookmark sites you regularly use to access your funds. Only visit those sites through your bookmarked addresses not through an email link. That way you know you are only using legitimate URLs. Read more: Social Engineering: A Plague on Crypto and Twitter, Unlikely to Stop As Paul Walsh, CEO of the cybersecurity company MetaCert, told CoinDesk earlier this year, the vast majority of malware is delivered via email phishing and malicious URLs. Most security issues that involve dangerous URLs go undetected and, therefore, [are] not blocked, he said. In other words, Gmails spam filter isnt going to catch everything, nor are those in more advanced security software. No one is going to give you free bitcoin Finally, take it slow and be cautious. There are more advanced hacking and scamming techniques out there. Ive spoken with crypto users who have been scammed out of thousands of dollars by con men pretending to be investors in their companies, who carried out the scam over the course of months. Ive seen cases where people gave traders their private keys so they could turn a profit, only to see their wallets slowly drained. Earlier this year, for example, Twitter was hacked and prominent accounts from Elon Musk to Barack Obama to CoinDesk started tweeting, essentially, that if you sent them some bitcoin, theyd send you back more. There are bitcoin scam ads out there on YouTube that are featured on legitimate cryptocurrency shows, even though they advertise crypto giveaways and pyramid schemes. See also: YouTubes Whac-a-Mole Approach to Crypto Scam Ads Remains a Problem Fake exchanges are sending messages on Discord and other communication channels, promising free bitcoin to people who open accounts and make minimum deposits. (Spoiler alert: You wont get free bitcoin and youll never get your deposit back.) And the list of creative ways that scammers will try to take advantage of you goes on. While it might seem farfetched that people would fall for these sorts of bitcoin scams, the Twitter hackers netted over $140,000 worth of bitcoin at the time, which is worth roughly $320,000 today. Overall, a report by blockchain analytics firm Crystal Blockchain found that 113 security attacks and 23 fraudulent schemes resulted in the theft of approximately $7.6 billion worth of crypto assets since 2011. This applies even if you think you might be too smart to be scammed. Fraudsters come in all shapes and sizes, often playing into your own psychology. We assume that only other people fall for cons and scams and it will never happen to us, said Dr. Paul Seager, a professor of social and forensic psychology at the U.K.s University of Central Lancashire. That makes us feel a bit more secure about ourselves and bolsters our self-esteem. Were not stupid. We dont fall for these kinds of things, but that self-serving bias lures us into complacency. So remember: Keep your private key secret, double-check every URL and if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Related Stories New to Bitcoin? Stay Safe and Avoid These Common Scams New to Bitcoin? Stay Safe and Avoid These Common Scams || New to Bitcoin? Stay Safe and Avoid These Common Scams: Bitcoin hit a new high Wednesday, topping $20,000, and is continuing to rise. Maybe today is the day that you finally are ready to take the plunge and buy your first few satoshis. Before you do, here are a few suggestions to avoid falling victim to some of the bitcoin scammers and hucksters who will try to take advantage of people who are still new to the wild world of cryptocurrencies.
The first step in the journey is to set up a wallet tostore your bitcoinsafely. There are plenty ofbitcoinwallets on the App Store and Google Play. Just be sure to read the reviews and research the wallets before you decide on one. You want to be confident you are depositing your newly acquired bitcoin funds into a legitimate wallet that will actually keep your crypto safe and not stolen from you.
Read more:How to Store Your Bitcoins
Related:First Mover: Geek-Fest Turns Relevant as Bitcoin Passes $21K, $22K, $23K
You’ll also need to decide on an exchange where you will be able to buy your first bitcoin. There are plenty of exchanges out there and come with varying degrees of security. Most will require some form of identity verification before you can set up an account, so be prepared.
When it comes to wallets and exchanges, be sure the site you visit is reputable before you send any money. A slick website is not necessarily the sign of a legitimate business. Similarly, just because a wallet app is listed in an app store, that doesn’t guarantee it’s safe. Even if they are legitimate, the cryptocurrency world has seen exchanges and wallets hacked time and time again.
Read more:How Can I Buy Bitcoin?
Check out how long an exchange or wallet company has been around. Look for reviews and feedback, review sites such as Reddit and read through a company’s social media history. Do a news search for whatever company you’re researching because most reliable exchanges and brokers have likely been covered by prominent media outlets.
Related:Bitcoin Drops Nearly 7% After Setting New Record High of $23,770
Bitcoin isn’t like your bank. There is no helpline you can call, no fraud department that might help you sort out a transaction and no way to block a “suspicious transaction.” The ethos of bitcoin is that it exists beyond the traditional financial system and gives ultimate control to the user.
Read more:How FinCEN Became a Honeypot for Sensitive Personal Data
On the one hand, this means you aren’t paying overdraft fees or having the government gainaccess to your personal datathrough your financial transactions. On the other hand, there is no centralized authority who is going to step in and save you if you share your keys and have your bitcoin stolen. In some ways, it’s the ultimate test of personal responsibility.
If you’re just entering the space, it’s worth embracing one of the core ideas of bitcoin – “not your keys, not your coins.”
A wallet generates two types of keys: a private key and a public key. The public key is used to create public addresses. These are the addresses that you will share with others to receive bitcoin.
A private key, however, should be kept absolutely private. This is the key you’ll need to encrypt and decrypt your wallet and is fundamental to making sure your bitcoin is secure. If you don’t control the private key to the wallet you’re storing your bitcoin in, then you really don’t control your bitcoin.
Once again, don’t ever share your private key with anyone, and definitely don’t do it online.
Furthermore, when you create a wallet you’re often provided with a seed phrase. Also known as a backup phrase or recovery phrase, this is a group of words generated once upon wallet creation, and you’re instructed to write them down and store them in a safe place. The reason you’re usually instructed to write them down is so they aren’t stored on your computer, where they’re vulnerable.
This seed phrase is used to recover bitcoin funds on-chain and, as such, is often another target of scammers.
There is a reason that “not your keys, not your coins” is a common refrain. If a scammer gets your keys or your seed phrase they can clean your wallet out.
So step one, keep your private key private and your seed phrase safe.
Always be on the lookout for phishing scams. Phishing attacks are a favorite among hackers and scammers. In a phishing attack, an attacker typically impersonates a service, company or individual by way of email or other text-based communication, or by hosting a fake website. The goal is to trick a victim into revealing his or her private keys or sending bitcoin to an address the scammer owns.
These emails often look like they’re legitimate. For example, scammers havesent out fake emailsthat look like CoinDesk newsletters. Users of the hardware wallet Ledger have seemingly gotten emails from the company encouraging them to download a security fix when in reality, it was fromscammers posing as company representatives.
These are just a couple of examples, but phishing attempts come in many forms, and not just email. You may get scammersimpersonating other people on social mediasending you links. You may get phone calls.
Read more:Scammers Are Forging CoinDesk Emails – Here’s How to Protect Yourself
Phishing scams come in many forms but the goal is to get you to give up data or information that could be used to compromise your digital security – and jack your bitcoin.
In any such unsolicited email, make sure you look at the sender’s address. A key clue in any phishing email is a slight misspelling of a real address or URL. For example, with the Ledger phishing scam, the email was from a “legder.com” URL, which is misspelled. An attacker will try to make the incoming email seem as real as possible, so always double-check. Another tip is to hover over any link to see where it is leading. Just because bitcoin.org is highlighted with a link does not mean it actually goes to bitcoin.org, for example.
A great habit to get into is to bookmark sites you regularly use to access your funds. Only visit those sites through your bookmarked addresses – not through an email link. That way you know you are only using legitimate URLs.
Read more:Social Engineering: A Plague on Crypto and Twitter, Unlikely to Stop
As Paul Walsh, CEO of the cybersecurity company MetaCert, told CoinDesk earlier this year, the vast majority of malware is delivered via email phishing and malicious URLs.
“Most security issues that involve dangerous URLs go undetected and, therefore, [are] not blocked,” he said.
In other words, Gmail’s spam filter isn’t going to catch everything, nor are those in more advanced security software.
Finally, take it slow and be cautious. There are more advanced hacking and scamming techniques out there. I’ve spoken with crypto users who have been scammed out of thousands of dollars by con men pretending to be investors in their companies, who carried out the scam over the course of months. I’ve seen cases where people gave “traders” their private keys so they could turn a profit, only to see their wallets slowly drained.
Earlier this year, for example,Twitter was hackedand prominent accounts from Elon Musk to Barack Obama to CoinDesk started tweeting, essentially, that if you sent them some bitcoin, they’d send you back more.
There are bitcoinscam ads out there on YouTubethat are featured on legitimate cryptocurrency shows, even though they advertise crypto giveaways and pyramid schemes.
See also:YouTube’s Whac-a-Mole Approach to Crypto Scam Ads Remains a Problem
Fake exchanges are sending messages on Discord and other communication channels, promising free bitcoin to people who open accounts and make minimum deposits. (Spoiler alert: You won’t get free bitcoin and you’ll never get your deposit back.)
And the list of creative ways that scammers will try to take advantage of you goes on.
While it might seem farfetched that people would fall for these sorts of bitcoin scams, the Twitter hackersnetted over $140,000 worth of bitcoinat the time, which is worth roughly $320,000 today. Overall, a report by blockchain analytics firm Crystal Blockchainfoundthat 113 security attacks and 23 fraudulent schemes resulted in the theft of approximately $7.6 billion worth of crypto assets since 2011.
This applies even if you think you might be too smart to be scammed. Fraudsters come in all shapes and sizes, often playing into your own psychology.
“We assume that only other people fall for cons and scams and it will never happen to us,”saidDr. Paul Seager, a professor of social and forensic psychology at the U.K.’s University of Central Lancashire. “That makes us feel a bit more secure about ourselves and bolsters our self-esteem. ‘We’re not stupid. We don’t fall for these kinds of things,’ but that self-serving bias lures us into complacency.”
So remember: Keep your private key secret, double-check every URL and if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.
• New to Bitcoin? Stay Safe and Avoid These Common Scams
• New to Bitcoin? Stay Safe and Avoid These Common Scams || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Solidly Trades Above $20K; Ether Jumps on Positive BTC, CME’s New ETH Product: Bitcoin has continued trading higher Wednesday after breaking above the $20,000 level during early U.S. trading hours. Meanwhile, with a short supply of bitcoin and a surging demand, traders and analysts are optimistic the oldest cryptocurrency can keep its bull run going for a longer time.
• Bitcoin(BTC) trading around $20,808.28 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 6.70% over the previous 24 hours.
• Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $19,293.30-$20,890.11 (CoinDesk 20)
Bitcoin’s price continued higher after it hit the $20,000 threshold, and that is likely due to a combination of a rising demand and a shortage of supply.
Read More:Bitcoin Hits Record Above $20K as Analysts Remain Confident of Future
Related:First Mover: Geek-Fest Turns Relevant as Bitcoin Passes $21K, $22K, $23K
“This bull run has been evidently driven by traditional financial institutions [that] have been actively buying bitcoin dips of late as an investment and treasury product. They have a long-term strategy for these assets,” Jason Lau, chief operating officer at San Francisco-based exchange OKCoin, told CoinDesk. “So with increased demand, HODLing and fewer block rewards due to the recent halving, the price may have no limits.”
Moments before bitcoin’s price broke $20,000 earlier Wednesday, on-chain data provider CryptoQuant’s chart captured an unusual spike in the number of stablecoin inflow addresses moving to all exchanges.
Read More:Stampede of Bitcoin Buyers Pushed BTC Past $20K, Exchange Data Shows
The increase in stablecoins going to exchanges usually means there is a strong buying power, according to Ki Young Jun, chief executive of CryptoQuant.
Related:Above $100: Litecoin Hits Highest Price Since Summer 2019
The surging demand came around the time U.K.-based Ruffer Investment confirmed to CoinDesk it bought about $744 million worth of bitcoin last month.
Read More:Ruffer Investment Confirms Massive Bitcoin Buy of $744M
“We’re fast approaching a tipping point where more institutions make allocations as an inflation hedge,” Micah Erstling, a trader at GSR, said. “Each new big name instills further confidence in the market.”
Read More:Federal Reserve Keeps Rates Unchanged, Adds Qualitative Guidance on Pace of Money-Printing
Bitcoin’s trading volumes on the eight major exchanges tracked in the CoinDesk 20 were also strong on Wednesday, at $2,075,614,385 as of press time, the second-highest volume in December after Dec. 1.
With bitcoin surpassing its highest level since its 2017 high, if the breakout keeps going for the next two days new resistance at around $25,000 could be possible.
“Because there is no additional resistance and targeted levels have been exceeded,” said Katie Stockton, a technical analyst for Fairlead Strategies, “we can use round numbers like $25,000 as gauges of potential resistance.”
Bitcoin’s options market also supports the widespread optimism on prices, according to Denis Vinokourov, head of research at the London-based prime brokerage Bequant. He noted thatthe most open interest for bitcoin is at $36,000 expiring in January.
“Although a rally of such magnitude is unlikely to be beneficial for overall market health,” Vinokourov said, “it would make the most sense to instead see price action around $19,500-23,000, which will be far better for long-term prospects.”
The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization,ether(ETH) was Wednesday trading around $623.58 and climbing 5.47% in 24 hours as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).
Analysts expressed their bullish attitude towards ether after the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) announced it will launch a futures contract on ether in February 2021.
Read More:CME Announces Ether Futures Contracts
“Up until now, bitcoin has been the only crypto asset with publicly traded futures on a venue the caliber of the CME,” Vinokourov said. “With ether now also having this on-ramp, and having far more use cases than bitcoin, it would make sense for it to see exponentially higher growth than bitcoin.”
Although ether’s price is still less than half of its all-time high, the current rally could create a new resistance near $805, according to Stockton.
There were very few losers on theCoinDesk 20as of Wednesday. Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• litecoin(LTC) +8.75%
• xrp(XRP) + 8.07%
• cardano(ADA) + 5.91%
Notable losers:
• usdc(USDC) -0.12%
• kyber network(KNC) -0.12%
Equities:
• Asia’s Nikkei 225 ended the day up 0.26% afterinvestors showed increased optimism over the prospect of more stimulus.
• The FTSE 100 in Europe closed in the green 0.9% aspositive news came from the real estate market in the U.K. and about a possible post-Brexit trade deal.
• The S&P in the United States closed up 0.18%as more hopes grew an economic stimulus deal can be worked out in the Congress.
Commodities:
• Oil was up 0.48%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $47.58.
• Gold was in the green 0.63% and at $1864.80 as of press time.
Treasurys:
• The 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield climbed Wednesday to 0.92.
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Solidly Trades Above $20K; Ether Jumps on Positive BTC, CME’s New ETH Product
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Solidly Trades Above $20K; Ether Jumps on Positive BTC, CME’s New ETH Product || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Solidly Trades Above $20K; Ether Jumps on Positive BTC, CME’s New ETH Product: Bitcoin has continued trading higher Wednesday after breaking above the $20,000 level during early U.S. trading hours. Meanwhile, with a short supply of bitcoin and a surging demand, traders and analysts are optimistic the oldest cryptocurrency can keep its bull run going for a longer time. Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $20,808.28 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 6.70% over the previous 24 hours. Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $19,293.30-$20,890.11 (CoinDesk 20) Bitcoin’s price continued higher after it hit the $20,000 threshold, and that is likely due to a combination of a rising demand and a shortage of supply. Read More: Bit coin Hits Record Above $20K as Analysts Remain Confident of Future Related: First Mover: Geek-Fest Turns Relevant as Bitcoin Passes $21K, $22K, $23K “This bull run has been evidently driven by traditional financial institutions [that] have been actively buying bitcoin dips of late as an investment and treasury product. They have a long-term strategy for these assets,” Jason Lau, chief operating officer at San Francisco-based exchange OKCoin, told CoinDesk. “So with increased demand, HODLing and fewer block rewards due to the recent halving, the price may have no limits.” Moments before bitcoin’s price broke $20,000 earlier Wednesday, on-chain data provider CryptoQuant’s chart captured an unusual spike in the number of stablecoin inflow addresses moving to all exchanges. Read More: Stampede of Bitcoin Buyers Pushed BTC Past $20K, Exchange Data Shows The increase in stablecoins going to exchanges usually means there is a strong buying power, according to Ki Young Jun, chief executive of CryptoQuant. Related: Above $100: Litecoin Hits Highest Price Since Summer 2019 The surging demand came around the time U.K.-based Ruffer Investment confirmed to CoinDesk it bought about $744 million worth of bitcoin last month. Read More: Ruffer Investment Confirms Massive Bitcoin Buy of $744M Story continues “We’re fast approaching a tipping point where more institutions make allocations as an inflation hedge,” Micah Erstling, a trader at GSR, said. “Each new big name instills further confidence in the market.” Read More: Federal Reserve Keeps Rates Unchanged, Adds Qualitative Guidance on Pace of Money-Printing Bitcoin’s trading volumes on the eight major exchanges tracked in the CoinDesk 20 were also strong on Wednesday, at $2,075,614,385 as of press time, the second-highest volume in December after Dec. 1. With bitcoin surpassing its highest level since its 2017 high, if the breakout keeps going for the next two days new resistance at around $25,000 could be possible. “Because there is no additional resistance and targeted levels have been exceeded,” said Katie Stockton, a technical analyst for Fairlead Strategies, “we can use round numbers like $25,000 as gauges of potential resistance.” Bitcoin’s options market also supports the widespread optimism on prices, according to Denis Vinokourov, head of research at the London-based prime brokerage Bequant. He noted that the most open interest for bitcoin is at $36,000 expiring in January . “Although a rally of such magnitude is unlikely to be beneficial for overall market health,” Vinokourov said, “it would make the most sense to instead see price action around $19,500-23,000, which will be far better for long-term prospects.” Ether May OutPerform Bitcoin On CME’s New ETH Futures The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, ether (ETH) was Wednesday trading around $623.58 and climbing 5.47% in 24 hours as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET). Analysts expressed their bullish attitude towards ether after the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) announced it will launch a futures contract on ether in February 2021. Read More: CME Announces Ether Futures Contracts “Up until now, bitcoin has been the only crypto asset with publicly traded futures on a venue the caliber of the CME,” Vinokourov said. “With ether now also having this on-ramp, and having far more use cases than bitcoin, it would make sense for it to see exponentially higher growth than bitcoin.” Although ether’s price is still less than half of its all-time high, the current rally could create a new resistance near $805, according to Stockton. Other markets There were very few losers on the CoinDesk 20 as of Wednesday. Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET): litecoin (LTC) +8.75% xrp (XRP) + 8.07% cardano (ADA) + 5.91% Notable losers: usdc (USDC) -0.12% kyber network (KNC) -0.12% Equities: Asia’s Nikkei 225 ended the day up 0.26% after investors showed increased optimism over the prospect of more stimulus. The FTSE 100 in Europe closed in the green 0.9% as positive news came from the real estate market in the U.K. and about a possible post-Brexit trade deal. The S&P in the United States closed up 0.18% as more hopes grew an economic stimulus deal can be worked out in the Congress. Commodities: Oil was up 0.48%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $47.58. Gold was in the green 0.63% and at $1864.80 as of press time. Treasurys: The 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield climbed Wednesday to 0.92. Related Stories Market Wrap: Bitcoin Solidly Trades Above $20K; Ether Jumps on Positive BTC, CME’s New ETH Product Market Wrap: Bitcoin Solidly Trades Above $20K; Ether Jumps on Positive BTC, CME’s New ETH Product || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Solidly Trades Above $20K; Ether Jumps on Positive BTC, CME’s New ETH Product: Bitcoin has continued trading higher Wednesday after breaking above the $20,000 level during early U.S. trading hours. Meanwhile, with a short supply of bitcoin and a surging demand, traders and analysts are optimistic the oldest cryptocurrency can keep its bull run going for a longer time.
• Bitcoin(BTC) trading around $20,808.28 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 6.70% over the previous 24 hours.
• Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $19,293.30-$20,890.11 (CoinDesk 20)
Bitcoin’s price continued higher after it hit the $20,000 threshold, and that is likely due to a combination of a rising demand and a shortage of supply.
Read More:Bitcoin Hits Record Above $20K as Analysts Remain Confident of Future
Related:First Mover: Geek-Fest Turns Relevant as Bitcoin Passes $21K, $22K, $23K
“This bull run has been evidently driven by traditional financial institutions [that] have been actively buying bitcoin dips of late as an investment and treasury product. They have a long-term strategy for these assets,” Jason Lau, chief operating officer at San Francisco-based exchange OKCoin, told CoinDesk. “So with increased demand, HODLing and fewer block rewards due to the recent halving, the price may have no limits.”
Moments before bitcoin’s price broke $20,000 earlier Wednesday, on-chain data provider CryptoQuant’s chart captured an unusual spike in the number of stablecoin inflow addresses moving to all exchanges.
Read More:Stampede of Bitcoin Buyers Pushed BTC Past $20K, Exchange Data Shows
The increase in stablecoins going to exchanges usually means there is a strong buying power, according to Ki Young Jun, chief executive of CryptoQuant.
Related:Above $100: Litecoin Hits Highest Price Since Summer 2019
The surging demand came around the time U.K.-based Ruffer Investment confirmed to CoinDesk it bought about $744 million worth of bitcoin last month.
Read More:Ruffer Investment Confirms Massive Bitcoin Buy of $744M
“We’re fast approaching a tipping point where more institutions make allocations as an inflation hedge,” Micah Erstling, a trader at GSR, said. “Each new big name instills further confidence in the market.”
Read More:Federal Reserve Keeps Rates Unchanged, Adds Qualitative Guidance on Pace of Money-Printing
Bitcoin’s trading volumes on the eight major exchanges tracked in the CoinDesk 20 were also strong on Wednesday, at $2,075,614,385 as of press time, the second-highest volume in December after Dec. 1.
With bitcoin surpassing its highest level since its 2017 high, if the breakout keeps going for the next two days new resistance at around $25,000 could be possible.
“Because there is no additional resistance and targeted levels have been exceeded,” said Katie Stockton, a technical analyst for Fairlead Strategies, “we can use round numbers like $25,000 as gauges of potential resistance.”
Bitcoin’s options market also supports the widespread optimism on prices, according to Denis Vinokourov, head of research at the London-based prime brokerage Bequant. He noted thatthe most open interest for bitcoin is at $36,000 expiring in January.
“Although a rally of such magnitude is unlikely to be beneficial for overall market health,” Vinokourov said, “it would make the most sense to instead see price action around $19,500-23,000, which will be far better for long-term prospects.”
The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization,ether(ETH) was Wednesday trading around $623.58 and climbing 5.47% in 24 hours as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).
Analysts expressed their bullish attitude towards ether after the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) announced it will launch a futures contract on ether in February 2021.
Read More:CME Announces Ether Futures Contracts
“Up until now, bitcoin has been the only crypto asset with publicly traded futures on a venue the caliber of the CME,” Vinokourov said. “With ether now also having this on-ramp, and having far more use cases than bitcoin, it would make sense for it to see exponentially higher growth than bitcoin.”
Although ether’s price is still less than half of its all-time high, the current rally could create a new resistance near $805, according to Stockton.
There were very few losers on theCoinDesk 20as of Wednesday. Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• litecoin(LTC) +8.75%
• xrp(XRP) + 8.07%
• cardano(ADA) + 5.91%
Notable losers:
• usdc(USDC) -0.12%
• kyber network(KNC) -0.12%
Equities:
• Asia’s Nikkei 225 ended the day up 0.26% afterinvestors showed increased optimism over the prospect of more stimulus.
• The FTSE 100 in Europe closed in the green 0.9% aspositive news came from the real estate market in the U.K. and about a possible post-Brexit trade deal.
• The S&P in the United States closed up 0.18%as more hopes grew an economic stimulus deal can be worked out in the Congress.
Commodities:
• Oil was up 0.48%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $47.58.
• Gold was in the green 0.63% and at $1864.80 as of press time.
Treasurys:
• The 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield climbed Wednesday to 0.92.
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Solidly Trades Above $20K; Ether Jumps on Positive BTC, CME’s New ETH Product
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Solidly Trades Above $20K; Ether Jumps on Positive BTC, CME’s New ETH Product || GLOBAL MARKETS-Global Stocks hit record highs on stimulus hopes: (Updates prices) * Nasdaq closes at record high, up 0.5% * MSCI World Index hits record high, up 0.6% * S&P 500 up 0.2% * Fed vows to keep benchmark interest rate near zero * Dollar recovers some of earlier losses By Matt Scuffham NEW YORK, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Global stocks hit record highs on Wednesday as growing hopes of deals on U.S. fiscal stimulus and Brexit and the Federal Reserve's pledge to keep its benchmark interest rate near zero offset concerns over the economic impact of COVID-19. The U.S. central bank promised to keep funneling cash into financial markets further into the future to fight the recession. "It's a positive statement," said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial. "They've married a positive projection for next year with the intention to keep an accommodative and ultra-dovish stance until they are certain the economic recovery has taken hold." U.S. stocks gained after the Fed's statement. The Nasdaq Composite closed at a record high, adding 63.13 points, or 0.5%, to 12,658.19. The S&P 500 gained 6.55 points, or 0.18%, to 3,701.17. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 44.77 points, or 0.15%, to 30,154.54. "It likely reflects continued confidence on the part of investors who believe low rates for an extended period provides support to stock prices even at these elevated levels," said Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments in New Jersey. The dollar also recovered some losses, having earlier fallen to its lowest level since April 2018. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback versus a basket of six currencies, fell 0.213 point, or 0.24 percent, to 90.26. Weaker-than-expected retail sales data in the United States, however, added to growing signs of a slowdown in that economy's recovery from the pandemic recession, shining light on the need for a deal on coronavirus relief. U.S. congressional negotiators were "closing in on" a $900 billion COVID-19 aid bill that will include a new round of stimulus checks and extended unemployment benefits, lawmakers and congressional aides said. Story continues "Everyone knows that something needs to be done before the holiday," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA in New York. "The weaker retail sales report gave a strong indication that sentiment among U.S. consumers is waning." The MSCI world stock index hit a record high, up 0.6% on the day. The index has climbed 15% since the beginning of November, propelled by trillions of dollars worth of global stimulus. In Europe, markets were cheered by the possibility of a Brexit trade deal, better-than-expected euro zone PMI economic data and a European Central Bank decision to let euro zone banks start paying dividends again if they have enough capital. European stocks rose 0.8% with the UK's FTSE 100 index jumping 0.9%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 6.88 points, or 1.07%, to 647.19. SHOT IN THE ARM Progress on rolling out vaccines continued, after Moderna Inc's COVID-19 vaccine appeared set for regulatory authorization this week. The United States also expanded its rollout of the newly approved vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE . Positive soundings from the European Union on Brexit talks helped lift the British pound on Wednesday above $1.35 and to its highest level against the dollar since May 2018. Britain and the European Union have moved closer to sealing a new trade deal, but it was still unclear if they would succeed, the bloc's chief executive said. The euro rose above $1.22 for the first time since April 2018, and German government bond yields, which tend to rise on positive news on the economic outlook, hit a one-week high after data showed better-than-expected business activity in the bloc this month. A long-overdue U.S. Treasury report on the foreign exchange practices of U.S. trading partners labeled several countries, including Switzerland and Vietnam as currency manipulators and added others to a watchlist. The news helped Bitcoin smash through $20,000 for the first time. Spot gold prices rose $9.731, or 0.53%, to $1,863.19 an ounce. U.S. gold futures settled up 0.2% at $1,859.10. Brent crude settled up $0.32, or 0.63%, at $51.08 a barrel. U.S. crude settled up $0.20, or 0.42%, at $47.82 per barrel. (Reporting by Matt Scuffham; editing by Bernadette Baum and Jonathan Oatis)
[Social Media Buzz]
None available.
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23137.96, 23869.83, 23477.29, 22803.08, 23783.03, 23241.35, 23735.95, 24664.79, 26437.04, 26272.29
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 55950.75, 57750.20, 58917.69, 58918.83, 59095.81, 59384.31, 57603.89, 58758.55, 59057.88, 58192.36, 56048.94, 58323.95, 58245.00, 59793.23, 60204.96, 59893.45, 63503.46, 63109.70, 63314.01, 61572.79, 60683.82, 56216.18, 55724.27, 56473.03, 53906.09, 51762.27, 51093.65, 50050.87, 49004.25, 54021.75, 55033.12, 54824.70, 53555.11, 57750.18, 57828.05, 56631.08, 57200.29, 53333.54, 57424.01, 56396.52, 57356.40, 58803.78, 58232.32, 55859.80, 56704.57, 49150.54, 49716.19, 49880.54, 46760.19, 46456.06, 43537.51, 42909.40, 37002.44, 40782.74, 37304.69, 37536.63, 34770.58, 38705.98, 38402.22, 39294.20, 38436.97, 35697.61, 34616.07, 35678.13, 37332.86, 36684.93, 37575.18, 39208.77, 36894.41, 35551.96, 35862.38, 33560.71, 33472.63, 37345.12, 36702.60, 37334.40, 35552.52, 39097.86, 40218.48, 40406.27, 38347.06, 38053.50, 35787.25, 35615.87, 35698.30, 31676.69, 32505.66, 33723.03, 34662.44, 31637.78.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2021-06-25]
Volume: 40230904226, RSI (14-day): 37.62, 50-day EMA: 39893.53, 200-day EMA: 40382.10
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1776.60, Gold RSI: 32.96
Oil Price: 74.05, Oil RSI: 71.93
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
DOJ Charges Crypto Seller With Operating Unlicensed Money Transmitting Business: The U.S. Justice Department said Thursday it filed charges against a New Orleans man for allegedly operating an illegal money transmitting business.
Ina complaintfiled in the United States District Court for Louisiana’s Eastern District, the DOJ said that over nearly two years Michael Yusko III used bank accounts registered to a company he owned, Louisiana-based Nervous Light Capital, and other companies “to sellbitcoin,ethereumand other cyptocurrencies for profit.” The complaint also named Ready Demolition LLC, Patriot Concrete Pumping, Praetorian Energy and Hudson Oak Partners.
According to DOJ, Yusko did not comply with federal money transmitting business registration requirements while operating his business from about August 2017 to June 13, 2019.
Related:This Token Could Bridge the Incentive Gap Between Ethereum Miners and Ethereum Users
Money transmitting businesses must register with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which is part of the U.S. Treasury Department.
If found guilty he could be forced to pay the U.S. government any “property, real or personal, which constitutes or is derived from proceeds traceable to said offense,” according to the complaint.
• El Salvador’s Bitcoin Fee Problem (and Solutions)
• Bitcoin News Roundup for June 25, 2021
• Never Break the (Block) Chain: Advancing the Dream of Interoperability || DOJ Charges Crypto Seller With Operating Unlicensed Money Transmitting Business: The U.S. Justice Department said Thursday it filed charges against a New Orleans man for allegedly operating an illegal money transmitting business. In a complaint filed in the United States District Court for Louisiana’s Eastern District, the DOJ said that over nearly two years Michael Yusko III used bank accounts registered to a company he owned, Louisiana-based Nervous Light Capital, and other companies “to sell bitcoin , ethereum and other cyptocurrencies for profit.” The complaint also named Ready Demolition LLC, Patriot Concrete Pumping, Praetorian Energy and Hudson Oak Partners. According to DOJ, Yusko did not comply with federal money transmitting business registration requirements while operating his business from about August 2017 to June 13, 2019. Related: This Token Could Bridge the Incentive Gap Between Ethereum Miners and Ethereum Users Money transmitting businesses must register with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which is part of the U.S. Treasury Department. If found guilty he could be forced to pay the U.S. government any “property, real or personal, which constitutes or is derived from proceeds traceable to said offense,” according to the complaint. Related Stories El Salvador’s Bitcoin Fee Problem (and Solutions) Bitcoin News Roundup for June 25, 2021 Never Break the (Block) Chain: Advancing the Dream of Interoperability View comments || Bisq Review 2021: Fees, Services & More: Bisq Review 2021: Fees, Services & More Bisq, formerly known as Bitsquare, is a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange with servers located around the globe. Bisqs decentralization means it isnt headquartered in any one location or country, which gives it a number of advantages. You can use Bisq to trade cryptocurrency peer-to-peer instead of through a third party, and its decentralized nature makes it safer than other, more normal exchanges. If youre looking to invest in crypto through an exchange, you may want to consult with a financial advisor beforehand. Services and Features: What Does Bisq Offer? Bisq is an easy-to-use, decentralized, blockchain -based cryptocurrency exchange platform that allows users to securely buy and sell cryptocurrency. These transactions are completed between peers without the help of a third party. You can download the Bisq platform from its website or Github to use with Windows, Mac or Linux. Once you download and install Bisq, youll want to back up your profile and information. This step is particularly important due to Bisqs decentralized nature, as theres not a central entity to turn to if things go wrong. That being said, Bisq does have a process in place for dispute resolution that involves trader chat, mediation and arbitration. Once youve set yourself up with Bisq, youll want to go ahead and fund your account. If you want to buy cryptocurrency with fiat currency, youll need to fund your account through an outside entity. Supported third parties include Advanced Cash, Perfect Money, National Bank Transfer, SEPA, Western Union, Zelle and Face-to-Face (F2F). You can also use your existing cryptocurrency pool on Bisq. As soon as youve funded your Bisq account, you can start making trades . The platform takes a fee in Bitcoin for every transaction you take or make. More specifically, you can choose to accept a transaction that someone has put out or put a transaction out there for someone to accept. You must have certain amounts of Bitcoin in order to initiate a transaction from either side. Story continues Bisq supports dozens of cryptocurrencies. These include Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Dash and more. Pricing: How Much Does Bisq Cost? Bisq Review 2021: Fees, Services & More When picking a brokerage, trading fees are one of the most important factors to pay attention to. In Bisqs case, it charges fees differently than most other brokerages. As we state above, its trading fees are charged in Bitcoin. You can also pay them in BSQ, which is Bisqs colored Bitcoin that it used to govern and fund itself. Per one Bitcoin traded, each trade maker is charged 0.001 BTC and each trade taker is charged 0.007 BTC. In BSQ, those numbers are 8.74 BSQ and 61.21 BSQ, respectively. Trade takers and makers will also need to pay mining fees, though these rates fluctuate since its impossible to know what the mining fees will be at the time when a trade is processed. Bisq doesnt charge fees beyond the ones mentioned above. You may need to pay fees to your bank or financial institution when transferring or wiring money, but Bisq itself only charges for trades and mining. However, because the platform charges fees in Bitcoin, you could end up paying far more depending on when you trade, since Bitcoins value fluctuates significantly. Effectiveness: How Well Does Bisq Work? Bisq is definitely a platform for those who are comfortable with and knowledgeable about the cryptocurrency space. Other platforms, such as Coinbase , can be easier to use for beginners since they offer resources with trends and graphs that show historical prices. You should note that platforms and brokerages vary in terms of resources, offering similar or more comprehensive tools and data. Bisq users, however, tend to like the platform because of its security, decentralization and accessibility. With no third parties to coordinate with, you simply trade with other Bisq users. In this sense, its a very independent cryptocurrency trading platform and less of a brokerage service that helps people trade. Bottom Line Bisq Review 2021: Fees, Services & More Bisq is a useful platform for trading Bitcoin and many other types of cryptocurrency. The platforms decentralized nature makes its very secure, and you wont need to work through a third party to execute trades. Anyone on the platform can take or make trades for a small, Bitcoin-denominated fee. While Bisq is a good option for investors who are familiar with cryptocurrency and comfortable working on a decentralized platform, it may be limited for beginners and other cryptocurrency traders who prefer working with a brokerage. So tread lightly if youre new to the crypto game. Tips for Investing Cryptocurrency is perhaps the most unique investment currently on the market. A financial advisor , therefore, can be extremely helpful if you have questions about it. Luckily, SmartAssets free tool matches you with financial advisors in your area in just five minutes. If youre ready to be matched with local advisors, get started now . In these days, many people are interested in making cryptocurrency investments a part of their investment portfolios. If youre working through things on your own, try using SmartAssets free investment calculator . Photo credit: Bisq The post Bisq Review 2021: Fees, Services & More appeared first on SmartAsset Blog . || Bisq Review 2021: Fees, Services & More: Bisq, formerly known as Bitsquare, is a decentralizedcryptocurrencyexchange with servers located around the globe. Bisq’s decentralization means it isn’t headquartered in any one location or country, which gives it a number of advantages. You can use Bisq to trade cryptocurrency peer-to-peer instead of through a third party, and its decentralized nature makes it safer than other, more normal exchanges. If you’re looking to invest in crypto through an exchange, you may want to consult with afinancial advisorbeforehand.
Services and Features: What Does Bisq Offer?
Bisq is an easy-to-use, decentralized,blockchain-based cryptocurrency exchange platform that allows users to securely buy and sell cryptocurrency. These transactions are completed between peers without the help of a third party. You can download the Bisq platform from its website or Github to use with Windows, Mac or Linux.
Once you download and install Bisq, you’ll want to back up your profile and information. This step is particularly important due to Bisq’s decentralized nature, as there’s not a central entity to turn to if things go wrong. That being said, Bisq does have a process in place for dispute resolution that involves trader chat, mediation and arbitration.
Once you’ve set yourself up with Bisq, you’ll want to go ahead and fund your account. If you want to buy cryptocurrency with fiat currency, you’ll need to fund your account through an outside entity. Supported third parties include Advanced Cash, Perfect Money, National Bank Transfer, SEPA, Western Union, Zelle and Face-to-Face (F2F). You can also use your existing cryptocurrency pool on Bisq.
As soon as you’ve funded your Bisq account, you can startmaking trades. The platform takes a fee inBitcoinfor every transaction you take or make. More specifically, you can choose to accept a transaction that someone has put out or put a transaction out there for someone to accept. You must have certain amounts of Bitcoin in order to initiate a transaction from either side.
Bisq supports dozens of cryptocurrencies. These include Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Dash and more.
Pricing: How Much Does Bisq Cost?
When picking a brokerage, trading fees are one of the most important factors to pay attention to. In Bisq’s case, it charges fees differently than most other brokerages. As we state above, its trading fees are charged in Bitcoin. You can also pay them in BSQ, which is Bisq’s colored Bitcoin that it used to govern and fund itself.
Per one Bitcoin traded, each trade maker is charged 0.001 BTC and each trade taker is charged 0.007 BTC. In BSQ, those numbers are 8.74 BSQ and 61.21 BSQ, respectively. Trade takers and makers will also need to payminingfees, though these rates fluctuate since it’s impossible to know what the mining fees will be at the time when a trade is processed.
Bisq doesn’t charge fees beyond the ones mentioned above. You may need to pay fees to your bank or financial institution when transferring or wiring money, but Bisq itself only charges for trades and mining. However, because the platform charges fees in Bitcoin, you could end up paying far more depending on when you trade, since Bitcoin’s value fluctuates significantly.
Effectiveness: How Well Does Bisq Work?
Bisq is definitely a platform for those who are comfortable with and knowledgeable about the cryptocurrency space. Other platforms, such asCoinbase, can be easier to use for beginners since they offer resources with trends and graphs that show historical prices. You should note that platforms and brokerages vary in terms of resources, offering similar or more comprehensive tools and data.
Bisq users, however, tend to like the platform because of its security, decentralization and accessibility. With no third parties to coordinate with, you simply trade with other Bisq users. In this sense, it’s a very independent cryptocurrency trading platform and less of abrokerage servicethat helps people trade.
Bottom Line
Bisq is a useful platform for trading Bitcoin and many other types of cryptocurrency. The platform’s decentralized nature makes its very secure, and you won’t need to work through a third party to execute trades. Anyone on the platform can take or make trades for a small, Bitcoin-denominated fee.
While Bisq is a good option for investors who are familiar with cryptocurrency and comfortable working on a decentralized platform, it may be limited for beginners and other cryptocurrency traders who prefer working with a brokerage. So tread lightly if you’re new to the crypto game.
Tips for Investing
• Cryptocurrency is perhaps the most unique investment currently on the market. Afinancial advisor, therefore, can be extremely helpful if you have questions about it. Luckily,SmartAsset’s free toolmatches you with financial advisors in your area in just five minutes. If you’re ready to be matched with local advisors,get started now.
• In these days, many people are interested in making cryptocurrency investments a part of their investment portfolios. If you’re working through things on your own, try using SmartAsset’sfree investment calculator.
Photo credit: Bisq
The postBisq Review 2021: Fees, Services & Moreappeared first onSmartAsset Blog. || 10 of the Most Private Cryptocurrencies To Invest In: jpgfactory / Getty Images Cryptocurrency has been all the rage in 2021, no doubt in part to the incredible gains that some coins have posted over the past few years. Many investors that had never thought of buying cryptocurrency are now taking a closer look at the asset class. But whereas the financial press mainly focuses on the most popular coins, there are literally hundreds of alternative options in the cryptocurrency space. Learn: Bitcoin Cash (BCH): How’s It Differ From Bitcoin and What’s It Worth? Options: Dogecoin (DOGE): What It Is, What It's Worth and Should You Be Investing? Many of these coins have advantages over names like Ethereum in Bitcoin, particularly as it relates to privacy. Although the blockchain technology that coins like Bitcoin use are meant to be secure and anonymous, some coins manage to keep transactions even more private. Read on to see how some of these alternative coins achieve this level of security. Last updated: June 10, 2021 cryptocurrency blockchain mining Beam (BEAM) Coin price as of June 8: $0.61 A lot of the terms in the crypto world may seem unusual to the casual investor. Beam is a great example, as it uses the MimbleWimble and LelantusMW protocols which operate in the world of confidential Decentralized Finance. Beam is focused primarily on security, as transactions are private by default and addresses are not stored in the blockchain. Although Beam uses the same Unspent Transaction Output model as Bitcoin, Beam’s values are encrypted by so-called “blinding factors,” giving it an extra level of security. Read More: What Are Altcoins — and Are the Potential Rewards Worth the Risks? Grin (GRIN) Coin price as of June 8: $0.36 Grin uses the same MimbleWimble technology as Beam, and it is similarly focused on user and transaction privacy. To help ensure privacy, Grin doesn’t use amounts or addresses. To hide the origins of transactions, it first travels among a subset of peers before it is broadcasted. In other words, all transactions appear to be randomized to any outsiders looking in at the data. Grin leverages the cryptography of Mimblewimble to allow prior transaction data to be removed, which, according to its creators, prevents Grin from collapsing under the weight of too much data kept on its chain. In plain English, Grin’s network is compact, easy to download and verify, and is completely anonymous thanks to the removal of certain transaction information. Find Out: Breaking Down the Basics of Cryptocurrency Close-up photo of a woman buying cryptocurrency through a smart phone app that is also showing the growth graph. Verge Currency (XVG) Coin price as of June 8: $0.0321 Verge Currency was created in 2014 under the name DogeCoinDark. The goal of Verge Currency is to improve upon the original Bitcoin blockchain. Verge integrates TOR, or The Onion Router, which is an IP obfuscation service to help keep transactions secure. According to its creators, Verge is one of the few cryptocurrencies to have multi-algorithm support, using the Proof-of-Work mining principle. For the more technically oriented, Verge has five different hash functions: Scrypt, X17, Lyra2rev2, myr-groestl and blake2s. Story continues Read: Binance Coin (BNB): Why It’s So Interesting to the Cryptocurrency World guy trading stocks Monero (XMR) Coin price as of June 8: $249.99 Monero is a private digital currency that allows users to be their own bank. The Monero security protocols ensure that outsiders cannot see any individual user's balances or activity. This is in contrast to more well-known coins like Ethereum or Bitcoin, which have transparent blockchains. According to its creators, Monero is the only cryptocurrency where, by default, every user is anonymous. The amount of every transaction, in addition to the identity of the sender and receiver, is hidden through three specific technologies: Ring Signatures, RingCT and Stealth Addresses. As every transaction is private, Monero can't be traced. Read: What Is Chain Link and Why Is It Important in the World of Cryptocurrency? Hacker attack the server in the dark. Horizen (ZEN) Coin price as of June 8: $82.86 Zen is the native cryptocurrency of Horizen, which uses Zendoo technology to allow developers and/or businesses to create their own public or private blockchains. Zen is a Proof-of-Work, Equihash-based cryptocurrency that offers two different types of addresses: Z-Addresses and T-Addresses. Z-Addresses are completely private and anonymous and are known as shielded transactions. T-Addresses are public and transparent, used for making Bitcoin-like transactions on the blockchain. Users can choose which type of address they prefer if they want to control their privacy. Find Out: Where Does Cryptocurrency Come From? cryptocurrency-blockchain-bitcoin-ethereum-monero-litecoin-rippl DASH (DASH) Coin price as of June 8: $167.35 DASH is a payment cryptocurrency that, as the name suggests, is meant to be a nearly immediate form of transfer. DASH is what's known as a "fork" of the Bitcoin protocol, except it provides additional privacy features and has negligible transaction fees. DASH uses a two-tier blockchain network that includes both miners and masternodes. The purpose of the masternodes is to functionalities such as PrivateSend and InstantSend, which provide both untraceable and anonymous transactions. DASH, created in 2014, was the first private cryptocurrency. Check Out: Ethereum (ETH): What It Is, What It’s Worth and Should You Be Investing? bitcoin and US fiat currency ZCash (ZEC) Coin price as of June 8: $131.95 If you're an Edward Snowden fan when it comes to privacy, you might want to take a look at ZCash. In 2017, the infamous whistleblower came out in support of ZCash as "the most interesting alternative" to Bitcoin. As with some other coins, ZCash offers two types of transactions: shielded and transparent. ZCash offers enhanced privacy via "zk-SNARKS," which stands for "zero-knowledge succinct non-interactive arguments of knowledge." Although complicated, what matters to the average user is that ZCash tries to improve on the Bitcoin blockchain with enhanced security measures and supports fast block times, low fees and large block sizes. Read: 10 Best Cryptocurrencies To Invest in for 2021 Programmer working late in his office. ByteCoin (BCN) Coin price as of June 8: $0.000445 ByteCoin claims to be the "first private untraceable cryptocurrency." The coin is powered by CryptoNote Technology, which creates untraceable payments, unlinkable transactions and a scalable blockchain. The ByteCoin blockchain obscures all addresses, and it uses Ring signatures to blend different outputs into one transaction. This enhances security by making it nearly impossible to deduce the source of any money. Bytecoin also allows users to generate one-time addresses from a single set of keys, making transactions and addresses unlinkable. Find Out: Do You Invest Like These Millionaire Stars? izmir, Turkey - November 20, 2017 Studio shot of golden Bitcoin with a digital background. Firo (FIRO) Coin price as of June 8: $7.17 Firo, formerly known as ZCoin, uses Dandelion Technology to shuffle user IP addresses between nodes in a random number of steps. This helps protect user anonymity. Lelantus Technology allows Firo users to "burn" their coins in an anonymity set of over 65,000, from which receivers redeem coins. This breaks the link between the coin owner and all other prior transactions that were attached to it, ensuring privacy. This is in contrast to coins like Bitcoin, which have public blockchains and previous transaction histories. Tips: 13 Toxic Investments You Should Avoid Laptop with cryptocurrencies over dark floor. Super Zero Protocol (SERO) Coin price as of June 8: $0.22 SERO bills itself as "the world's first truly privacy protection platform for decentralized applications." SERO is also the world's first platform that allows anonymous digital assets issuance, which means developers can issue their own privacy coins and use them in DApps. Those that are more proficient in crypt development will appreciate that SERO built the world's first Zero-Knowledge Proof encryption library, known as "Super ZK," which is 20 times faster than the latest zk-SNARKS. More From GOBankingRates From New York to California: A Spotlight on Beloved Small Businesses Across All 50 States Read About the Best Small Businesses in Your State Small Businesses That Celebrities Love Monifi Review: Mobile Banking That Can Improve Your Budgeting This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : 10 of the Most Private Cryptocurrencies To Invest In View comments || 10 of the Most Private Cryptocurrencies To Invest In: Cryptocurrency has been all the rage in 2021, no doubt in part to the incredible gains that some coins have posted over the past few years. Many investors that had never thought ofbuying cryptocurrencyare now taking a closer look at the asset class. But whereas the financial press mainly focuses on the most popular coins, there are literally hundreds of alternative options in the cryptocurrency space.
Learn:Bitcoin Cash (BCH): How’s It Differ From Bitcoin and What’s It Worth?Options:Dogecoin (DOGE): What It Is, What It's Worth and Should You Be Investing?
Many of these coins have advantages over names like Ethereum in Bitcoin, particularly as it relates to privacy. Although the blockchain technology that coins like Bitcoin use are meant to be secure and anonymous, some coins manage to keep transactions even more private.Read on to see how some of these alternative coins achieve this level of security.
Last updated: June 10, 2021
• Coin price as of June 8:$0.61
A lot of the terms in the crypto world may seem unusual to the casual investor. Beam is a great example, as it uses the MimbleWimble and LelantusMW protocols which operate in the world of confidential Decentralized Finance. Beam is focused primarily on security, as transactions are private by default and addresses are not stored in the blockchain. Although Beam uses the same Unspent Transaction Output model as Bitcoin, Beam’s values are encrypted by so-called “blinding factors,” giving it an extra level of security.
Read More:What Are Altcoins — and Are the Potential Rewards Worth the Risks?
• Coin price as of June 8:$0.36
Grin uses the same MimbleWimble technology as Beam, and it is similarly focused on user and transaction privacy. To help ensure privacy, Grin doesn’t use amounts or addresses. To hide the origins of transactions, it first travels among a subset of peers before it is broadcasted. In other words, all transactions appear to be randomized to any outsiders looking in at the data. Grin leverages the cryptography of Mimblewimble to allow prior transaction data to be removed, which, according to its creators, prevents Grin from collapsing under the weight of too much data kept on its chain.In plain English, Grin’s network is compact, easy to download and verify, and is completely anonymous thanks to the removal of certain transaction information.
Find Out:Breaking Down the Basics of Cryptocurrency
• Coin price as of June 8:$0.0321
Verge Currency was created in 2014 under the name DogeCoinDark. The goal of Verge Currency is to improve upon the original Bitcoin blockchain. Verge integrates TOR, or The Onion Router, which is an IP obfuscation service to help keep transactions secure. According to its creators, Verge is one of the few cryptocurrencies to have multi-algorithm support, using the Proof-of-Work mining principle. For the more technically oriented, Verge has five different hash functions: Scrypt, X17, Lyra2rev2, myr-groestl and blake2s.
Read:Binance Coin (BNB): Why It’s So Interesting to the Cryptocurrency World
• Coin price as of June 8:$249.99
Monero is a private digital currency that allows users to be their own bank. The Monero security protocols ensure that outsiders cannot see any individual user's balances or activity. This is in contrast to more well-known coins like Ethereum or Bitcoin, which have transparent blockchains. According to its creators, Monero is the only cryptocurrency where, by default, every user is anonymous. The amount of every transaction, in addition to the identity of the sender and receiver, is hidden through three specific technologies: Ring Signatures, RingCT and Stealth Addresses. As every transaction is private, Monero can't be traced.
Read:What Is Chain Link and Why Is It Important in the World of Cryptocurrency?
• Coin price as of June 8:$82.86
Zen is the native cryptocurrency of Horizen, which uses Zendoo technology to allow developers and/or businesses to create their own public or private blockchains. Zen is a Proof-of-Work, Equihash-based cryptocurrency that offers two different types of addresses: Z-Addresses and T-Addresses. Z-Addresses are completely private and anonymous and are known as shielded transactions. T-Addresses are public and transparent, used for making Bitcoin-like transactions on the blockchain. Users can choose which type of address they prefer if they want to control their privacy.
Find Out:Where Does Cryptocurrency Come From?
• Coin price as of June 8:$167.35
DASH is a payment cryptocurrency that, as the name suggests, is meant to be a nearly immediate form of transfer. DASH is what's known as a "fork" of the Bitcoin protocol, except it provides additional privacy features and has negligible transaction fees. DASH uses a two-tier blockchain network that includes both miners and masternodes. The purpose of the masternodes is to functionalities such as PrivateSend and InstantSend, which provide both untraceable and anonymous transactions. DASH, created in 2014, was the first private cryptocurrency.
Check Out:Ethereum (ETH): What It Is, What It’s Worth and Should You Be Investing?
• Coin price as of June 8:$131.95
If you're an Edward Snowden fan when it comes to privacy, you might want to take a look at ZCash. In 2017, the infamous whistleblower came out in support of ZCash as "the most interesting alternative" to Bitcoin. As with some other coins, ZCash offers two types of transactions: shielded and transparent. ZCash offers enhanced privacy via "zk-SNARKS," which stands for "zero-knowledge succinct non-interactive arguments of knowledge." Although complicated, what matters to the average user is that ZCash tries to improve on the Bitcoin blockchain with enhanced security measures and supports fast block times, low fees and large block sizes.
Read:10 Best Cryptocurrencies To Invest in for 2021
• Coin price as of June 8:$0.000445
ByteCoin claims to be the "first private untraceable cryptocurrency." The coin is powered by CryptoNote Technology, which creates untraceable payments, unlinkable transactions and a scalable blockchain. The ByteCoin blockchain obscures all addresses, and it uses Ring signatures to blend different outputs into one transaction. This enhances security by making it nearly impossible to deduce the source of any money. Bytecoin also allows users to generate one-time addresses from a single set of keys, making transactions and addresses unlinkable.
Find Out:Do You Invest Like These Millionaire Stars?
• Coin price as of June 8:$7.17
Firo, formerly known as ZCoin, uses Dandelion Technology to shuffle user IP addresses between nodes in a random number of steps. This helps protect user anonymity. Lelantus Technology allows Firo users to "burn" their coins in an anonymity set of over 65,000, from which receivers redeem coins. This breaks the link between the coin owner and all other prior transactions that were attached to it, ensuring privacy. This is in contrast to coins like Bitcoin, which have public blockchains and previous transaction histories.
Tips:13 Toxic Investments You Should Avoid
• Coin price as of June 8:$0.22
SERO bills itself as "the world's first truly privacy protection platform for decentralized applications." SERO is also the world's first platform that allows anonymous digital assets issuance, which means developers can issue their own privacy coins and use them in DApps. Those that are more proficient in crypt development will appreciate that SERO built the world's first Zero-Knowledge Proof encryption library, known as "Super ZK," which is 20 times faster than the latest zk-SNARKS.
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This article originally appeared onGOBankingRates.com:10 of the Most Private Cryptocurrencies To Invest In || BlockFi Review 2021: Fees, Services & More: BlockFi Review 2021: Fees, Services & More BlockFi is designed to help you trade cryptocurrency and manage your money, all on the same platform. You can use BlockFi to open an interest account, take out crypto-backed loans and use traditional cryptocurrency trading services. This platform has been around since 2017, and while it’s independently owned, several financial giants like SoFi and Fidelity back it. If you’re looking into trading cryptocurrencies, a financial advisor can help you create a financial plan for your investing needs. Here’s what you need to know about BlockFi. Services and Features: What Does BlockFi Offer? BlockFi offers an interest account, crypto-backed loans and a trading platform . Users can choose to focus on any one part of the BlockFi platform, or they can use a combination of all three. Many users take out crypto-backed loans with the intention of investing them and achieving higher returns. BlockFi Interest Account With a BlockFi interest account, you’ll have access to high returns without having to trade or invest yourself. When you deposit your cryptocurrency in a BlockFi interest account, you’ll get an 8.6% APY on stablecoins and up to a 5% return on Bitcoin . This interest account is free to open and use, and there is no minimum. All you need to do is set up an account and fund it with the cryptocurrency of your choice, like Bitcoin, Ether or Stablecoin. BlockFi also has a calculator where you can see how much interest you’ll be projected to earn over a certain timeframe. BlockFi Trading Account BlockFi’s cryptocurrency trading account is one of the most robust on the market. It’s easy to set up and use, and you can even trade cryptocurrency that you hold in your interest account. To make a trade , you just select what you’d like to buy and how you’d like to pay for it. You can use other cryptocurrencies to do this, or you can fund your account with fiat currency. There are no fees, so the price you see when executing a trade is the price it’ll cost you. Story continues BlockFi Crypto-Backed Loans The third arm of the BlockFi platform is its crypto-backed loans. With these loans, you can borrow up to 50% of the value of the cryptocurrency you hold instead of just swapping it out for cash. Rates are as low as 4.5%, but your specific rate and collateral size requirement will depend upon how big of a loan you want and which cryptocurrency you’d like to be loaned. Pricing: How Much Does BlockFi Cost? BlockFi Review 2021: Fees, Services & More Another area in which BlockFi really stands out is its fee structure. The platform is virtually free to use, with no trading fees , commissions or account minimums. The only place you’ll encounter charges is when it comes to crypto-backed loans. These loans incur interest, but they’re free to take out and pay back. There are, however, a few exceptions to BlockFi’s fee-free model. If you want earnings on your interest account to be paid in a different cryptocurrency than the one in which the interest has been earned, BlockFi may take 1.5% of the total amount of interest you earn. This exact amount may fluctuate based upon the cryptocurrency and market conditions. You’ll also be charged for multiple withdrawals in the same month. Rates differ depending on the type of cryptocurrency that you’re withdrawing. For example, with Bitcoin , the price is 0.00075 BTC per extra withdrawal. You’re also limited to withdrawing 100 BTC per week. Effectiveness: How Well Does BlockFi Work? Simply put, BlockFi works well for its users across its three focal points. Whether you want a place to securely deposit your cryptocurrency, trade crypto or take out a crypto-backed loan, BlockFi can help you out. It’s a reputable company backed by major financial institutions, so you can likely be confident in it. Among other cryptocurrency trading platforms, BlockFi stands out for its versatility and accessibility, even for those who don’t have much background in cryptocurrency investing. The platform’s functionality and highly rated mobile apps also make it easy to manage your account on the go. However, you should note that other platforms like Coinbase offer tools, data and other informational resources that aren’t available on BlockFi. Bottom Line BlockFi Review 2021: Fees, Services & More Whether you’re just getting started in the world of cryptocurrency or have been investing in Bitcoin and other cryptos for years, BlockFi is a great option. With virtually free trades and access to interest accounts and loans, there are multiple ways in which users can use the platform to their benefit. While withdrawals at BlockFi are limited to a certain extent, you can still take out assets once a month, fee-free. With strong customer reviews, BlockFi is a top option for anyone looking for a cryptocurrency trading platform. Investing Tips Cryptocurrency investing can be tough, especially when combined with your other, more traditional investments. A financial advisor can offer you hands-on investing advice for your portfolio. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with financial advisors in your area in 5 minutes. If you’re ready to be matched with local advisors, get started now . Those who are taking personal charge of investing should take every step possible to stay on top of things. SmartAsset has you covered with a range of free online investment resources. For example, check out our free asset allocation calculator today. Photo credit: BlockFi, ©iStock.com/ipopba The post BlockFi Review 2021: Fees, Services & More appeared first on SmartAsset Blog . || BlockFi Review 2021: Fees, Services & More: BlockFi is designed to help you tradecryptocurrencyand manage your money, all on the same platform. You can use BlockFi to open an interest account, take out crypto-backedloansand use traditional cryptocurrency trading services. This platform has been around since 2017, and while it’s independently owned, several financial giants likeSoFiand Fidelity back it. If you’re looking into trading cryptocurrencies, afinancial advisorcan help you create a financial plan for your investing needs. Here’s what you need to know about BlockFi.
Services and Features: What Does BlockFi Offer?
BlockFi offers an interest account, crypto-backed loans and atrading platform. Users can choose to focus on any one part of the BlockFi platform, or they can use a combination of all three. Many users take out crypto-backed loans with the intention of investing them and achieving higher returns.
BlockFi Interest Account
With a BlockFi interest account, you’ll have access to high returns without having to trade or invest yourself. When you deposit your cryptocurrency in a BlockFi interest account, you’ll get an 8.6% APY on stablecoins and up to a 5% return onBitcoin.
Thisinterest accountis free to open and use, and there is no minimum. All you need to do is set up an account and fund it with the cryptocurrency of your choice, like Bitcoin, Ether or Stablecoin. BlockFi also has a calculator where you can see how much interest you’ll be projected to earn over a certain timeframe.
BlockFi Trading Account
BlockFi’s cryptocurrency trading account is one of the most robust on the market. It’s easy to set up and use, and you can even trade cryptocurrency that you hold in your interest account.
Tomake a trade, you just select what you’d like to buy and how you’d like to pay for it. You can use other cryptocurrencies to do this, or you can fund your account with fiat currency. There are no fees, so the price you see when executing a trade is the price it’ll cost you.
BlockFi Crypto-Backed Loans
The third arm of the BlockFi platform is its crypto-backed loans. With these loans, you can borrow up to 50% of the value of the cryptocurrency you hold instead of just swapping it out for cash. Rates are as low as 4.5%, but your specific rate and collateral size requirement will depend upon how big of a loan you want and which cryptocurrency you’d like to be loaned.
Pricing: How Much Does BlockFi Cost?
Another area in which BlockFi really stands out is its fee structure. The platform is virtually free to use, with notrading fees, commissions or account minimums. The only place you’ll encounter charges is when it comes to crypto-backed loans. These loans incur interest, but they’re free to take out and pay back.
There are, however, a few exceptions to BlockFi’s fee-free model. If you want earnings on your interest account to be paid in a different cryptocurrency than the one in which the interest has been earned, BlockFi may take 1.5% of the total amount of interest you earn. This exact amount may fluctuate based upon the cryptocurrency and market conditions.
You’ll also be charged for multiple withdrawals in the same month. Rates differ depending on the type of cryptocurrency that you’re withdrawing. For example, withBitcoin, the price is 0.00075 BTC per extra withdrawal. You’re also limited to withdrawing 100 BTC per week.
Effectiveness: How Well Does BlockFi Work?
Simply put, BlockFi works well for its users across its three focal points. Whether you want a place to securely deposit your cryptocurrency, trade crypto or take out a crypto-backed loan, BlockFi can help you out. It’s a reputable company backed by major financial institutions, so you can likely be confident in it.
Among other cryptocurrency trading platforms, BlockFi stands out for its versatility and accessibility, even for those who don’t have much background in cryptocurrency investing. The platform’s functionality and highly rated mobile apps also make it easy to manage your account on the go. However, you should note that other platforms likeCoinbaseoffer tools, data and other informational resources that aren’t available on BlockFi.
Bottom Line
Whether you’re just getting started in the world of cryptocurrency or have been investing in Bitcoin and other cryptos for years, BlockFi is a great option. With virtually free trades and access to interest accounts and loans, there are multiple ways in which users can use the platform to their benefit.
While withdrawals at BlockFi are limited to a certain extent, you can still take out assets once a month, fee-free. With strong customer reviews, BlockFi is a top option for anyone looking for a cryptocurrency trading platform.
Investing Tips
• Cryptocurrency investing can be tough, especially when combined with your other, more traditional investments. Afinancial advisorcan offer you hands-on investing advice for your portfolio.SmartAsset’s free toolmatches you with financial advisors in your area in 5 minutes. If you’re ready to be matched with local advisors,get started now.
• Those who are taking personal charge of investing should take every step possible to stay on top of things. SmartAsset has you covered with a range of free online investment resources. For example, check out our freeasset allocation calculatortoday.
Photo credit: BlockFi, ©iStock.com/ipopba
The postBlockFi Review 2021: Fees, Services & Moreappeared first onSmartAsset Blog. || Palestine’s Central Bank Reportedly Mulling a CBDC Launch: The Palestinian Monetary Authority, Palestine’s central bank, is looking into the development of a digital currency, according to areportfrom Bloomberg on Thursday.
Feras Milhem, the governor of the Palestinian Monetary Authority, told Bloomberg Television that two studies on cryptocurrencies are being done with the hope of eventually using digital currency for domestic and international payments.
Palestinians do not have an independent currency, and the Palestinian economy primarily relies on the Israeli shekel for day-to-day transactions, with the Jordanian dinar and U.S. dollar acting as stores of value.
Related:BIS Says Bitcoin Has Few Redeeming Attributes
Palestine’s consideration of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) puts it in league with other major geopolitical players, including China and Sweden, which have begun rolling out CBDCs.
However, regional economic analysts have expressed hesitation about the feasibility of a Palestinian digital curency.
“The macroeconomic conditions don’t exist to allow a Palestinian currency – digital or otherwise – to exist as a means of exchange,” Raja Khalidi, director of the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute, told Bloomberg.
The Palestinian Monetary Authority’s push to develop a digital currency is likely impacted by Palestine’s dire economic situation.
Related:Bank of Israel Has Already Tested a Digital Shekel
Israeli anti-money laundering laws have left Palestinian banks with an abundance of shekels. That plus limitations on how many shekels the banks can transfer back to Israel per month have combined to create an untenable financial situation for many.
UPDATE (JUNE 25 11:57 UTC): Clarifies that Palestinians have never had an independent currency.
• Banque de France Extends Wholesale CBDC Experiment
• European Central Bank Can Better Protect Digital Payment Privacy, Exec Board Member Says || Palestine’s Central Bank Reportedly Mulling a CBDC Launch: The Palestinian Monetary Authority, Palestine’s central bank, is looking into the development of a digital currency, according to a report from Bloomberg on Thursday. Feras Milhem, the governor of the Palestinian Monetary Authority, told Bloomberg Television that two studies on cryptocurrencies are being done with the hope of eventually using digital currency for domestic and international payments. Palestinians do not have an independent currency, and the Palestinian economy primarily relies on the Israeli shekel for day-to-day transactions, with the Jordanian dinar and U.S. dollar acting as stores of value. Related: BIS Says Bitcoin Has Few Redeeming Attributes Palestine’s consideration of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) puts it in league with other major geopolitical players, including China and Sweden, which have begun rolling out CBDCs. However, regional economic analysts have expressed hesitation about the feasibility of a Palestinian digital curency. “The macroeconomic conditions don’t exist to allow a Palestinian currency – digital or otherwise – to exist as a means of exchange,” Raja Khalidi, director of the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute, told Bloomberg. The Palestinian Monetary Authority’s push to develop a digital currency is likely impacted by Palestine’s dire economic situation. Related: Bank of Israel Has Already Tested a Digital Shekel Israeli anti-money laundering laws have left Palestinian banks with an abundance of shekels. That plus limitations on how many shekels the banks can transfer back to Israel per month have combined to create an untenable financial situation for many. UPDATE (JUNE 25 11:57 UTC) : Clarifies that Palestinians have never had an independent currency. Related Stories Banque de France Extends Wholesale CBDC Experiment European Central Bank Can Better Protect Digital Payment Privacy, Exec Board Member Says || Signs of a Market Bubble/Crash and What To Expect: Eva-Katalin / Getty Images Investing in the stock market can be a volatile experience over the short term . While day-to-day movements are rarely large, there are dramatic corrections or even crashes where the market falls by 10%, 20% or even more in a short period of time. In fact, these types of major selloffs occur with some level of regularity. On average, a 10% correction will hit the market averages about once per year, while a 20% or greater "crash" occurs about every three years. While long-term investors shouldn't be afraid of these setbacks, which have thus far always been temporary, there are some signs that indicate you should perhaps proceed with caution. Here's a look at some of the most common signs of a market bubble that may lead to a crash. Read: Financial Experts Warn of Imminent Market Crash How to Safeguard Your Portfolio See: 13 Ways To Invest That Dont Involve the Stock Market Last updated: June 24, 2021 Shot of an attractive young woman using her cellphone while out cycling through the city. Speculative Buying The very nature of the stock market always draws speculators looking to make a quick buck. However, speculation reaches a fever pitch during market bubbles. Signs of rampant speculation in the market include formerly "under-the-radar" stocks that have huge increases in volume and price, the rising popularity of so-called "penny stocks" and increased chatter from dubious sources like message boards and stock touts. Learn: Why Some Money Experts Believe In Bitcoin and Others Dont Middle Eastern woman tracking and trading stocks using laptop and desktop computer. Stocks Go Up Even on Bad News In a "normal" market setting, stocks rise when they release good news -- like upside earnings surprises -- and fall when they disappoint investors. However, when markets are in a bubble, investors tend to buy stocks no matter what type of news comes out. In this type of environment, investors tend to make excuses for any company shortfalls and instead remain optimistic about future performance. In other words, in a raging bull market that's a bubble, stocks tend to go up no matter what the news is. Story continues Find Out: 10 Stocks That Could Be Headed for a Dive Two young people trading cryptocurrencies on a computer together stock photo "Story" Stocks Abound A "story" stock is one that has no earnings and is priced at stratospheric levels based on the story that investors tell about future profitability. Typically, story stocks ride a wave of investor enthusiasm and hype based on hopes and dreams that never come true. Eventually, investors become disillusioned and a tremendous crash results. It's important to note, however, that some story stocks actually do work out over time when their potential is actually realized. Tesla is a great example of this. For years, the company was kept alive by investors hoping that the company would transform the automobile industry with its electric vehicles. While there's certainly still a lot of speculators in Tesla stock, there's no denying its success in reshaping the landscape of the automobile industry. Just remember that for every Tesla, there are likely 100 or more story stocks that fail. On-the-Money Oracle: 9 Times Warren Buffett Predicted the Stock Market Accurately Shot of a young man going over his finances at home. Pundits Say "It's Different This Time" One of the most often-quoted harbingers of doom in the stock market is the expression "it's different this time." It's human nature to think that as the market evolves, so do trading mechanisms, valuation standards and investment methods. While there are certainly technological advances and other changes that are introduced as the market ages, some time-tested principles never go away. Those who predict that things are different this time tend to help inflate market bubbles, and ultimately, most of those pundits are proven wrong. Discover: How the Stock Market Performed Under Each President Depressed frustrated trader tired of overwork or stressed by bankruptcy, sad shocked investor desperate about financial crisis or money loss, upset businessman having headache massaging nose bridge. Investors Dismiss Old-Time Market Wisdom A corollary of the "its different this time" bubble indicator occurs when investors reject "old-time" market wisdom and instead invest in a "new paradigm." Evidence of this sign is everywhere in today's market, as "meme stock" and message board mania hit all-time highs. These types of investors discount old-time valuation methods like P/E and instead focus on names they can drive higher through collective action. In addition to stocks like GameStop and AMC Entertainment, which have shot up to stratospheric levels in 2021, these investors have also been piling into cryptocurrencies that most people have never heard of. Certainly, many of these traders have earned staggering sums as these names have skyrocketed. However, a large number are also deep in the red, and some pundits say the true crash in these types of names and cryptos has yet to come. More: AMC, GameStop on Regulators Radar, as SEC Says It Is Monitoring Meme Stocks Young female entrepreneur using smart phone at modern working place. Valuations at Record-High Levels Stock valuation is always a tricky thing, as one person's idea of "overvalued" is another's bargain. Yet, there are many traditional valuation methods that you can use to see if the market overall may be getting ahead of itself. Many investors use measures like price-to-earnings ratio and price-to-sales ratio, while others are fond of the Shiller P/E ratio. Whatever valuation method you use, be sure to consider external factors that might affect valuation, such as interest rates. If all of your valuation measures are well above historical norms, you're likely looking at a market bubble. Check Out: 9 Safe Investments With the Highest Returns A young millennial married couple are doing their monthly budget at a kitchen dining room table in their home. High Levels of Margin Debt Margin debt is another tool that can drive stock speculation up to bubble levels. When investors trade on margin, they borrow money from a securities firm so they can buy additional shares. This leverage works both ways. When stocks are going higher, investors earn a higher-percentage return on their funds. However, when stocks turn lower, investors can be completely wiped out. High levels of margin debt add more dollars to the investment pool chasing stocks, which can accelerate their rise to bubble levels. Strategy: Bullish vs. Bearish Investors: Which Are You? businessman evaluating most expensive stock High Levels of Complacency Perhaps surprisingly, market crashes are more likely to occur when investors are happy and complacent with the market, rather than when they are fearful of a crash. When investors feel the market will continue to go higher, they tend to invest more of their money. While this drives prices higher initially, it ultimately leads to most money already being invested in the market, with nothing on the sidelines. If every market participant is fully invested, there is no money waiting on the sidelines any more to buy dips. This can exacerbate market selloffs. This is why seasoned investors get a bit cautious when there is a high level of bullishness in the market and the so-called "fear index" -- the VIX -- is low. Defined: What Is the VIX Index, aka Wall Streets Fear Gauge? Close-up photo of a woman using a smart phone app to track her financial portfolio. Easy Credit Another time-tested Wall Street axiom is that investors shouldn't "fight the Fed." What this means is that when the Federal Reserve Board is keeping rates low and taking other actions to increase the money supply and inflate asset prices, investors should ride the wave. However, these conditions are also ripe for creating market bubbles. With low-to-no-interest cash available for market participants, prices tend to rise to overinflated levels. At some point, the Fed has to take the punch bowl away by raising rates and taking other actions to combat rising inflation. This in turn oftentimes triggers market corrections or crashes. Some market pundits believe we're nearing the end of the easy money period shortly, as inflation has been on the rise. Economy Explained: What Does the Fed Do, Anyway? Businessman working and using Digital Tablet new business project finance investment at coffee cafe. How To Respond to Bubble Signatures In almost any type of market, there's at least one of these "bubble signatures," so you can't base your entire investment strategy around just a single indicator. However, if all of these traditional bubble signs are present, you might want to take more of a defensive stance with your portfolio -- particularly if you notice that you yourself are getting away from your own long-term investment strategy and becoming overly enamored with speculative positions. No one can time the market, and even if everyone can agree that it is overvalued, a crash may not happen for weeks, months or even years. But if you see all of these signs flashing red, you might consider consulting with your financial advisor about raising some more cash or switching to less speculative investments. More From GOBankingRates From New York to California: A Spotlight on Beloved Small Businesses Across All 50 States Read About the Best Small Businesses in Your State Small Businesses That Celebrities Love Big Personal Goals That You Should Put Your Money Toward This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : Signs of a Market Bubble/Crash and What To Expect || Signs of a Market Bubble/Crash and What To Expect: Investing in the stock market can be avolatile experience over the short term. While day-to-day movements are rarely large, there are dramatic corrections or even crashes where the market falls by 10%, 20% or even more in a short period of time. In fact, these types of major selloffs occur with some level of regularity. On average, a 10% correction will hit the market averages about once per year, while a 20% or greater "crash" occurs about every three years. While long-term investors shouldn't be afraid of these setbacks, which have thus far always been temporary, there are some signs that indicate you should perhaps proceed with caution.Here's a look at some of the most common signs of a market bubble that may lead to a crash.
Read:Financial Experts Warn of Imminent Market Crash — How to Safeguard Your PortfolioSee:13 Ways To Invest That Don’t Involve the Stock Market
Last updated: June 24, 2021
The very nature of the stock market always draws speculators looking to make a quick buck. However, speculation reaches a fever pitch during market bubbles. Signs of rampant speculation in the market include formerly "under-the-radar" stocks that have huge increases in volume and price, the rising popularity of so-called "penny stocks" and increased chatter from dubious sources like message boards and stock touts.
Learn:Why Some Money Experts Believe In Bitcoin and Others Don’t
In a "normal" market setting, stocks rise when they release good news -- like upside earnings surprises -- and fall when they disappoint investors. However, when markets are in a bubble, investors tend to buy stocks no matter what type of news comes out. In this type of environment, investors tend to make excuses for any company shortfalls and instead remain optimistic about future performance. In other words, in a raging bull market that's a bubble, stocks tend to go up no matter what the news is.
Find Out:10 Stocks That Could Be Headed for a Dive
A "story" stock is one that has no earnings and is priced at stratospheric levels based on the story that investors tell about future profitability. Typically, story stocks ride a wave of investor enthusiasm and hype based on hopes and dreams that never come true. Eventually, investors become disillusioned and a tremendous crash results.
It's important to note, however, that some story stocks actually do work out over time when their potential is actually realized. Tesla is a great example of this. For years, the company was kept alive by investors hoping that the company would transform the automobile industry with its electric vehicles. While there's certainly still a lot of speculators in Tesla stock, there's no denying its success in reshaping the landscape of the automobile industry. Just remember that for every Tesla, there are likely 100 or more story stocks that fail.
On-the-Money Oracle:9 Times Warren Buffett Predicted the Stock Market Accurately
One of the most often-quoted harbingers of doom in the stock market is the expression "it's different this time." It's human nature to think that as the market evolves, so do trading mechanisms, valuation standards and investment methods. While there are certainly technological advances and other changes that are introduced as the market ages, some time-tested principles never go away. Those who predict that things are different this time tend to help inflate market bubbles, and ultimately, most of those pundits are proven wrong.
Discover:How the Stock Market Performed Under Each President
A corollary of the "it’s different this time" bubble indicator occurs when investors reject "old-time" market wisdom and instead invest in a "new paradigm." Evidence of this sign is everywhere in today's market, as "meme stock" and message board mania hit all-time highs. These types of investors discount old-time valuation methods like P/E and instead focus on names they can drive higher through collective action.
In addition to stocks like GameStop and AMC Entertainment, which have shot up to stratospheric levels in 2021, these investors have also been piling into cryptocurrencies that most people have never heard of. Certainly, many of these traders have earned staggering sums as these names have skyrocketed. However, a large number are also deep in thered, and some pundits say the true crash in these types of names and cryptos has yet to come.
More:AMC, GameStop on Regulators’ Radar, as SEC Says It Is Monitoring Meme Stocks
Stock valuation is always a tricky thing, as one person's idea of "overvalued" is another's bargain. Yet, there are many traditional valuation methods that you can use to see if the market overall may be getting ahead of itself. Many investors use measures like price-to-earnings ratio and price-to-sales ratio, while others are fond of the Shiller P/E ratio. Whatever valuation method you use, be sure to consider external factors that might affect valuation, such as interest rates. If all of your valuation measures are well above historical norms, you're likely looking at a market bubble.
Check Out:9 Safe Investments With the Highest Returns
Margin debt is another tool that can drive stock speculation up to bubble levels. When investors trade on margin, they borrow money from a securities firm so they can buy additional shares. This leverage works both ways. When stocks are going higher, investors earn a higher-percentage return on their funds. However, when stocks turn lower, investors can be completely wiped out. High levels of margin debt add more dollars to the investment pool chasing stocks, which can accelerate their rise to bubble levels.
Strategy:Bullish vs. Bearish Investors: Which Are You?
Perhaps surprisingly, market crashes are more likely to occur when investors are happy and complacent with the market, rather than when they are fearful of a crash. When investors feel the market will continue to go higher, they tend to invest more of their money. While this drives prices higher initially, it ultimately leads to most money already being invested in the market, with nothing on the sidelines. If every market participant is fully invested, there is no money waiting on the sidelines any more to buy dips. This can exacerbate market selloffs. This is why seasoned investors get a bit cautious when there is a high level of bullishness in the market and the so-called "fear index" -- the VIX -- is low.
Defined:What Is the VIX Index, aka Wall Street’s ‘Fear Gauge’?
Another time-tested Wall Street axiom is that investors shouldn't "fight the Fed." What this means is that when the Federal Reserve Board is keeping rates low and taking other actions to increase the money supply and inflate asset prices, investors should ride the wave. However, these conditions are also ripe for creating market bubbles. With low-to-no-interest cash available for market participants, prices tend to rise to overinflated levels. At some point, the Fed has to take the punch bowl away by raising rates and taking other actions to combat rising inflation. This in turn oftentimes triggers market corrections or crashes. Some market pundits believe we're nearing the end of the easy money period shortly, as inflation has been on the rise.
Economy Explained:What Does the Fed Do, Anyway?
In almost any type of market, there's at least one of these "bubble signatures," so you can't base your entire investment strategy around just a single indicator. However, if all of these traditional bubble signs are present, you might want to take more of a defensive stance with your portfolio -- particularly if you notice that you yourself are getting away from your own long-term investment strategy and becoming overly enamored with speculative positions.
No one can time the market, and even if everyone can agree that it is overvalued, a crash may not happen for weeks, months or even years. But if you see all of these signs flashing red, you might consider consulting with your financial advisor about raising some more cash or switching to less speculative investments.
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This article originally appeared onGOBankingRates.com:Signs of a Market Bubble/Crash and What To Expect || It’s Time to Buy the ‘New Wave’ of Breakout EV Stocks: Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? Certainly not General Motors (NYSE: GM ), Ford (NYSE: F ), nor Volkswagen (OTCMKTS: VWAGY ). After years of getting their butts kicked by Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA ), these “old dogs” of the auto world are learning the “new tricks” of electric vehicles, and each are going all-in with EVs. InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips This is a broad market shift that could fundamentally reshape the $3 TRILLION transportation industry. First, it was Volkswagen in March. The world’s largest auto maker by volume basically said, at a widely watched investor event, that it plans to take over Tesla in electric vehicles. To wit, the German auto maker is calling for 450,000 EV deliveries this year alone, led by the ID.4. Looking further out, Volkswagen calls for more than half of its cars sold by 2030 to be fully electric and believes its investment and partnership with QuantumScape (NYSE: QS ) will yield game-changing benefits in battery development. Investors cheered the all-out assault into the EV space, and sent Volkswagen stock soaring. Then, it was Ford’s turn. Ford had its big EV event in late May, where it staged a similar all-out assault into the EV space. The “old hat” automobile company talked up new electric models, such as the Mustang Mach-E crossover, E-Transit, Bronco, and F-150 Lightning. Where, according to Ford, pre-orders for its F-150 Lightning stand at over 70,000 units . The Detroit automaker also announced that 40% of its cars sold will be fully electric by 2030 – versus 50% for Volkswagen – and upped its electrification spending forecast to over $30 billion by 2025. As was the case with Volkswagen stock, investors celebrated the Ford EV event, and in the wake of the event, have pushed Ford stock to its highest levels since 2015. And, most recently, it was GM’s turn. This month, GM boosted its EV spending plans by 30% to $35 billion by 2025, announced two new battery plants, and said that it wants to lead in electric vehicles. Guess what GM stock did in response? Yep. Like Volkswagen stock and Ford stock, it rallied. Do you see what’s going on here? The old guard of the auto industry has finally come to the understanding that EVs are the future, and they are now going all-in with all-electric cars. How successful they’ll be remains to be seen. But considering Volkswagen, GM, and Ford all have more cash on their balance sheet than Tesla, you can certainly bet that the old guard will – at the very least – put up a good fight . Story continues What’s the investment implication of all this? It’s probably time to start diversifying your EV investments , because the EV world itself is going to start getting diversified. Throughout the 2010s, there was really only one company making EVs at scale and one stock to buy to capitalize on the EV market – Tesla. That’s changing. In the 2020s, every auto maker in the planet is going to be making EVs at scale, and every auto stock will double as an EV stock. The upside thesis for these “new EV stocks”, of course, is that none of them command the near $600 billion valuation of Tesla – meaning Tesla is already priced for runaway success in EVs, while other auto makers are not. That’s why buying Ford stock… buying GM stock… and buying Volkswagen stock makes sense today. And it’s why a lot of folks are doing just that. But, to be frank, those stocks will give you simply good returns in the EV Revolution of the 2020s… not great returns. That’s because companies like Ford, GM, and Volkswagen have legacy auto businesses that will lose ground as their EV businesses gain ground. This will have a dilutive effect on their growth rates in coming years, and dilutive effect on their stock price returns. Whose growth rates won’t be diluted? Brand-new entrants into the auto market , that are designing new and exciting EVs and which don’t have any legacy cars with declining sales. I’m talking companies like Fisker (NYSE: FSR ), the new EV company that is employing a “platform-sharing” business model which essentially allows Fisker to focus on what its best at – designing awesome luxury cars – and outsource everything else. In outsourcing everything else, Fisker reduces its cost basis and can sell very high-quality cars, at very reasonable prices. I think this company will be a power player in the EV industry at scale. I’m also talking companies like ChargePoint (NYSE: CHPT ) – the world’s largest EV charging company, which will see enormous growth as gas stations globally are replaced by EV charging stations – and NIO (NYSE: NIO ) – China’s leading EV maker. Then there’s Lucid Motors (NYSE: CCIV ), the company that I think has what it takes from a talent, technology, branding, and resources perspective to be the next Tesla. Those are great companies… and great EV stocks to buy today… and they’re exactly the kind of stocks that I feature in my Innovation Investor subscription newsletter service . In that ultra-exclusive research advisory service, my team and I pick the biggest emerging megatrends and highlight the individual leaders within each theme. Each of these Next-Gen Mobility stocks could post early-Tesla-like returns, including a secret startup that’s spearheading the self-driving revolution and a company I consider my EV “sleeper” stock of the decade. To see my entire lineup of innovative next-generation EV stocks, you can subscribe to Innovation Investor today. That’s the good news. Here’s the better news: The party is just getting started. Over the next decade, the number of EVs sold in the world is going to grow by many multiples, and as it does, the stock prices of the best EV makers are going to soar. Ready to find your next 10X winner in the EV space? Click here to find out more . On the date of publication, Luke Lango did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. By uncovering early investments in hypergrowth industries, Luke Lango puts you on the ground-floor of world-changing megatrends. It’s the theme of his premiere technology-focused service, Innovation Investor . To see Luke’s entire lineup of innovative cutting-edge stocks, become a subscriber of Innovation Investor today . More From Hypergrowth Investing Silicon Valley Whiz Kid Reveals #1 Tech Stock in America Why $30 May Be the Floor for Plug Power Stock 7 Explosive Cryptocurrencies to Buy After the Bitcoin Halvening An Explosive LiDAR Tech Stock for the Self-Driving Revolution The post It’s Time to Buy the ‘New Wave’ of Breakout EV Stocks appeared first on InvestorPlace . View comments || It’s Time to Buy the ‘New Wave’ of Breakout EV Stocks: Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?
Certainly notGeneral Motors(NYSE:GM),Ford(NYSE:F), norVolkswagen(OTCMKTS:VWAGY).
After years of getting their butts kicked byTesla(NASDAQ:TSLA), these “old dogs” of the auto world are learning the “new tricks” of electric vehicles, and each are going all-in with EVs.
InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips
This is a broad market shift that could fundamentally reshape the $3 TRILLION transportation industry.
First, it was Volkswagen in March.
The world’s largest auto maker by volume basically said, at a widely watched investor event, that it plans to take over Tesla in electric vehicles. To wit, the German auto maker is calling for 450,000 EV deliveries this year alone, led by the ID.4.
Looking further out, Volkswagen calls for more than half of its cars sold by 2030 to be fully electric and believes its investment and partnership withQuantumScape(NYSE:QS) will yield game-changing benefits in battery development.
Investors cheered the all-out assault into the EV space, and sent Volkswagen stock soaring.
Then, it was Ford’s turn. Ford had its big EV event in late May, where it staged a similar all-out assault into the EV space. The “old hat” automobile company talked up new electric models, such as the Mustang Mach-E crossover, E-Transit, Bronco, and F-150 Lightning. Where, according to Ford, pre-orders for its F-150 Lightning stand atover 70,000 units.
The Detroit automaker also announced that 40% of its cars sold will be fully electric by 2030 – versus 50% for Volkswagen – and upped its electrification spending forecast to over $30 billion by 2025.
As was the case with Volkswagen stock, investors celebrated the Ford EV event, and in the wake of the event, have pushed Ford stock to its highest levels since 2015.
And, most recently, it was GM’s turn. This month, GM boosted its EV spending plans by 30% to $35 billion by 2025, announced two new battery plants, and said that it wants to lead in electric vehicles.
Guess what GM stock did in response? Yep. Like Volkswagen stock and Ford stock, it rallied.
Do you see what’s going on here?
The old guard of the auto industry has finally come to the understanding that EVs are the future, and they are now going all-in with all-electric cars.
How successful they’ll be remains to be seen. But considering Volkswagen, GM, and Ford all have more cash on their balance sheet than Tesla, you can certainly bet that the old guard will – at the very least – put up agood fight.
What’s the investment implication of all this?
It’s probably time to startdiversifying your EV investments, because the EV world itself is going to start getting diversified.
Throughout the 2010s, there was really only one company making EVs at scale and one stock to buy to capitalize on the EV market – Tesla.
That’s changing.
In the 2020s, every auto maker in the planet is going to be making EVs at scale, and every auto stock will double as an EV stock. The upside thesis for these “new EV stocks”, of course, is that none of them command the near $600 billion valuation of Tesla – meaning Tesla is already priced for runaway success in EVs, while other auto makers are not.
That’s why buying Ford stock… buying GM stock… and buying Volkswagen stock makes sense today. And it’s why a lot of folks are doing just that.
But, to be frank, those stocks will give you simply good returns in the EV Revolution of the 2020s… notgreatreturns.
That’s because companies like Ford, GM, and Volkswagen have legacy auto businesses that will lose ground as their EV businesses gain ground. This will have a dilutive effect on their growth rates in coming years, and dilutive effect on their stock price returns.
Whose growth rates won’t be diluted?
Brand-new entrants into the auto market, that are designingnewandexcitingEVs and whichdon’thave any legacy cars with declining sales.
I’m talking companies likeFisker(NYSE:FSR), the new EV company that is employing a “platform-sharing” business model which essentially allows Fisker to focus on what its best at – designing awesome luxury cars – and outsource everything else. In outsourcing everything else, Fisker reduces its cost basis and can sell very high-quality cars, at very reasonable prices. I think this company will be a power player in the EV industry at scale.
I’m also talking companies likeChargePoint(NYSE:CHPT) – the world’s largest EV charging company, which will see enormous growth as gas stations globally are replaced by EV charging stations – andNIO(NYSE:NIO) – China’s leading EV maker.
Then there’sLucid Motors(NYSE:CCIV), the company that I think has what it takes from a talent, technology, branding, and resources perspective to be the next Tesla.
Those are great companies… and great EV stocks to buy today… and they’re exactly the kind of stocks that I feature in myInnovation Investorsubscription newsletter service.
In that ultra-exclusive research advisory service, my team and I pick the biggest emerging megatrends and highlight the individual leaders within each theme.
Each of theseNext-Gen Mobilitystocks could post early-Tesla-like returns, including a secret startup that’s spearheading the self-driving revolution and a company I consider my EV “sleeper” stock of the decade.
To see my entire lineup of innovative next-generation EV stocks,you can subscribe toInnovation Investortoday.
That’s the good news. Here’s the better news: The party is just getting started.
Over the next decade, the number of EVs sold in the world is going to grow by many multiples, and as it does, the stock prices of the best EV makers are going to soar.
Ready to find your next 10X winner in the EV space?Click here to find out more.
On the date of publication, Luke Lango did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
By uncovering early investments in hypergrowth industries, Luke Lango puts you on the ground-floor of world-changing megatrends. It’s the theme of his premiere technology-focused service,Innovation Investor. To see Luke’s entire lineup of innovative cutting-edge stocks,become a subscriber of Innovation Investor today.
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• An Explosive LiDAR Tech Stock for the Self-Driving Revolution
The postIt’s Time to Buy the ‘New Wave’ of Breakout EV Stocksappeared first onInvestorPlace. || 10 Best Fintech Startups Investors are Flocking To: In this article, we discuss the 10 best fintech startups investors are flocking to. If you want to skip our detailed analysis of some of the major growth catalysts for these companies, and go directly to the 5 Best Fintech Startups Investors are Flocking To . The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the growth of financial technology companies that have been steadily gaining importance in the finance world over the past few years as digitization brings businesses online and a new generation of entrepreneurs, with an aversion towards traditional finance, take helm at major corporations. The rise of cashless societies and cryptocurrencies have also impacted the industry in innumerable ways. According to Market Data Forecast, the fintech market is expected to be worth $324 billion by 2026. This represents a compound annual growth rate of close to 25% for the industry. There are many startups vying for relevance in the fintech universe, some of which have been listed below. In addition to these startups, already established financial services companies like Visa Inc. (NYSE: V ), Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ ), and Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU ) are also uniquely placed to take advantage of the explosive growth potential of fintech. On June 2, Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) reported that global processed transactions in May had grown to 121% of 2019. Similarly, Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ), the digital payments company with over $400 million invested in crypto-related assets, has registered a record stock rally over the past year that saw share price climb to an all-time high of $283 in February before plummeting in tandem with other crypto stocks on the market. The company is also reportedly considering checking and savings accounts for customers in a move aimed towards expanding reach in the small and medium business world. The firm already offers industrial clients special services. In addition to Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ) and Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU), the California-based financial software firm, which beat market expectations on earnings per share and revenue at the height of the pandemic towards the end of the 2020 summer, has also been gaining recently. On May 25, the firm reported earnings results for the third fiscal quarter, posting earnings per share of $6.07 and a revenue of more than $4.7 billion, clocking above lowered guidance issued earlier. Story continues There is little doubt that the fintech industry has turned the finance world on its head. The electric vehicle industry has disrupted the auto sector at lighting speed, giving hope to other tech-enabled firms seeking to establish themselves in other markets. The entire hedge fund industry is feeling the reverberations of the changing financial landscape. Its reputation has been tarnished in the last decade, during which its hedged returns couldn’t keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. On the other hand, Insider Monkey’s research was able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the S&P 500 ETFs by more than 124 percentage points since March 2017. Between March 2017 and February 26th 2021 our monthly newsletter’s stock picks returned 197.2%, vs. 72.4% for the SPY. Our stock picks outperformed the market by more than 124 percentage points (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that significantly underperformed the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 and they lost 13% through November 16th. That’s why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to. You can subscribe to our free newsletter on our homepage to receive our stories in your inbox. Best Fintech Startups Investors are Flocking To Photo by Campaign Creators on Unsplash With this context in mind, here is our list of the 10 best fintech startups investors are flocking to. These startups were ranked keeping in mind the problems in the fintech space they aim to solve, the money they have raised so far, and the quality of the products or services they offer. Best Fintech Startups Investors Are Flocking To 10. Carta Carta is a technology company that provides equity management services. The firm markets capitalization table management and valuation software. The firm has so far raised close to $630 million in funding over seventeen rounds, with the latest round held in February. Some of the lead investors in the startup include Tribe Capital and Moonshots Capital. The company is valued at close to $7 billion but does not have plans to make its debut on the stock market anytime soon. The firm makes money by selling portfolio management software as well. Just as Carta is a giant of the fintech startup universe, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) is a leader of the financial services industry. On June 18, news platform CNBC reported that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) had started trading in Bitcoin with merchant bank Galaxy Digital as crypto-related investments soared in popularity. At the end of the first quarter of 2021, 77 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $5 billion in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS), up from 76 the preceding quarter worth $4.6 billion. Just like Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ), and Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU), The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) is one of the best fintech-related stocks investors are flocking to. In its Q1 2021 investor letter, Artisan Partners , an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS ) was one of them. Here is what the fund said: “Financial services firm Goldman Sachs is a best-in-class franchise with a premier brand that attracts top talent and sustains market share across its businesses. We believe this has helped Goldman weather recent market volatility. In addition to de-levering risk-weighted assets, Goldman is also growing its digital investment footprint through the expansion of features on its Marcus Invest platform. The company’s stability—and ability to grow its brand even in tough times—has kept us invested over the long term.” 9. Blend Blend is a fintech company that primarily markets a digital platform to offer different types of loans. It is placed ninth on our list of 10 best fintech startups investors are flocking to. The company sells consumer-centric banking services for mortgage and consumer loans. The firm has raised close to $670 million in funding so far over nine rounds, with the latest round held in January that brought in close to $300 million. Canapi Ventures is a leading investor in the startup that is valued at over $3.3 billion. A similar investment to Blend in the stock market is Rocket Companies, Inc. (NYSE: RKT), the technology-centered real estate, ecommerce, and mortgage business. On June 8, investment advisory Argus initiated coverage of Rocket Companies, Inc. (NYSE: RKT) stock with a Buy rating and a price target of $23. At the end of the first quarter of 2021, 21 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $208 million in Rocket Companies, Inc. (NYSE: RKT), up from 16 the preceding quarter worth $222 million. Just like Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ), and Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU), Rocket Companies, Inc. (NYSE: RKT) is one of the best fintech-related stocks investors are flocking to. In its Q1 2021 investor letter, Miller Value Partners , an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and Rocket Companies, Inc. (NYSE: RKT ) was one of them. Here is what the fund said: “We own Rocket Companies which we think is a great mortgage finance company with a successful history of innovation, growth, and cash generation. We think Rocket has several competitive advantages, including its technology and marketing platforms. One way this manifests is retention rates far superior to the rest of the industry (client and refinance retention rates of 80%+ versus less than 20% for the industry). Rocket went public last year amidst record low interest rates that led to record revenues, margins, and profits. Rising interest rate concerns have kept a lid on the stock. We bought it last year after doing work on what the longer term potential looked like, as well as what earnings might be in a more normalized environment. We think Rocket is a great example of “time arbitrage.” We are taking the long view when others focus on the coming quarters. The stock is in the $20s, and we believe it could be worth many multiples of that over the next decade. We intend to be longterm owners. This quarter, the price surged 70%+ in one day and more than doubled over 3 days. This brought it close to our estimate of its present value. Given our assessment of the risk (downside in scenarios of quickly increasing rates) relative to our upside, we exercised our “liquidity option,” so to speak, and sold 21% of our position during the surge. We don’t love to trade around our positions, but we do intend to capitalize on volatility to create value when we get the chance.” 8. Addepar Addepar is a digital wealth management platform that specializes in data analytics. It is ranked eighth on our list of 10 best fintech startups investors are flocking to. The startup has raised close to $500 million in funding so far over seven rounds, with the latest round earlier this month bringing in more than $150 million. Some of the lead investors in the startup include DI Capital Partners and Westap, among others. The company is valued at close to $2.2 billion but does not have plans to go public anytime soon. In the financial services space, Invesco Ltd. NYSE: (IVZ) is a good investment option along the lines of Addepar. Invesco Ltd. NYSE: (IVZ) is an investment manager based in Atlanta that pays a regular and healthy dividend. On June 2, the stock jumped after news publication The Wall Street Journal reported that Invesco Ltd. NYSE: (IVZ) was being tapped to manage the $400 billion social welfare fund of the Chinese government. At the end of the first quarter of 2021, 32 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $1.2 billion in Invesco Ltd. NYSE: (IVZ), down from 34 in the previous quarter worth $936 million. Just like Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ), and Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU), Invesco Ltd. NYSE: (IVZ) is one of the best fintech-related stocks investors are flocking to. 7. Wise Wise is a fintech company used by millions to make cross border transactions. It is placed seventh on our list of 10 best fintech startups investors are flocking to. The firm has raised more than $1.3 billion in funding so far over thirteen rounds. The latest round of funding, held in May, brought in $150 million for the startup. Some of the leading investors in the firm include Silicon Valley Bank UK and Lone Pine Capital, among others. Another great stock that has a similar business model to Wise is PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL), the payments solutions company that has hundreds of millions of users spread across mobile, web, and other platforms. On June 21, investment advisory Bank of American maintained a Buy rating on the stock with a price target of $323. At the end of the first quarter of 2021, 143 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $14.7 billion in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL), down from 147 in the previous quarter worth $15.9 billion. Just like Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ), and Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU), PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL) is one of the best fintech-related stocks investors are flocking to. In its Q4 2020 investor letter, Polen Capital Management , an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL ) was one of them. Here is what the fund said: “For the full year 2020, one of the top performers was PayPal, which we purchased in 2019, the company continues to take market share in digital payments and has seen an acceleration in user adoption and engagement, especially within their “silver tech” or older user demographic. We expect many more years of ongoing double-digit growth from their various business segments and new initiatives.” 6. Spring Labs Spring Labs is a Los Angeles-based data sharing, security and consumer privacy company, It is ranked sixth on our list of 10 best fintech startups investors are flocking to. The company raised close to $70 million in funding over three rounds, with the latest round held in April this year bringing in over $30 million for the firm. One of the lead investors in the company is TransUnion, a credit reporting agency. Spring Labs has been developing security solutions for blockchain systems as they gain in popularity. As security and privacy concerns on the internet grow, companies like CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD) are becoming central to the running of everyday business. CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD) markets cloud-based endpoint and workload protection services. The company recently beat market expectations on earnings per share and revenue for the first three months of 2021. At the end of the first quarter of 2021, 77 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $5.2 billion in CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD), down from 92 in the previous quarter worth $7.2 billion. Just like Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ), and Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU), CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD) is one of the best fintech-related stocks investors are flocking to. In its Q1 2021 investor letter, Carillon Tower Advisers , an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD ) was one of them. Here is what the fund said: “CrowdStrike provides cloud-based software used in the security of computers, servers, and mobile phones. The stock pulled back a bit during the quarter as investor sentiment shifted away from stocks with higher valuation multiples. We remain shareholders, as the protection of enterprise assets and cloud workloads from various forms of cyberattacks remains more important than ever for many enterprises, and we believe this will continue to result in a strong demand environment for CrowdStrike’s innovative products and services.” Click to continue reading and see 5 Best Fintech Startups Investors are Flocking To . Suggested Articles: 15 Most Valuable Alcohol Companies Chuck Akre’s Top 10 Stock Holdings Billionaire Julian Robertson’s Top 10 Stocks Disclose. None. 10 Best Fintech Startups Investors are Flocking To is originally published on Insider Monkey. || 10 Best Fintech Startups Investors are Flocking To: In this article, we discuss the 10 best fintech startups investors are flocking to. If you want to skip our detailed analysis of some of the major growth catalysts for these companies, and go directly to the5 Best Fintech Startups Investors are Flocking To.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the growth of financial technology companies that have been steadily gaining importance in the finance world over the past few years as digitization brings businesses online and a new generation of entrepreneurs, with an aversion towards traditional finance, take helm at major corporations. The rise of cashless societies and cryptocurrencies have also impacted the industry in innumerable ways. According to Market Data Forecast, the fintech market is expected to be worth $324 billion by 2026.
This represents a compound annual growth rate of close to 25% for the industry. There are many startups vying for relevance in the fintech universe, some of which have been listed below. In addition to these startups, already established financial services companies like Visa Inc. (NYSE:V), Square, Inc. (NYSE:SQ), and Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) are also uniquely placed to take advantage of the explosive growth potential of fintech. On June 2, Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) reported that global processed transactions in May had grown to 121% of 2019.
Similarly, Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ), the digital payments company with over $400 million invested in crypto-related assets, has registered a record stock rally over the past year that saw share priceclimb to an all-time high of $283 in February before plummeting in tandem with other crypto stocks on the market. The company is also reportedly considering checking and savings accounts for customers in a move aimed towards expanding reach in the small and medium business world. The firm already offers industrial clients special services.
In addition to Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ) and Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU), the California-based financial software firm, which beat market expectations on earnings per share and revenue at the height of the pandemic towards the end of the 2020 summer, has also been gaining recently. On May 25, the firm reported earnings results for the third fiscal quarter, posting earnings per share of $6.07 and a revenue of more than $4.7 billion, clocking above lowered guidance issued earlier.
There is little doubt that the fintech industry has turned the finance world on its head. The electric vehicle industry has disrupted the auto sector at lighting speed, giving hope to other tech-enabled firms seeking to establish themselves in other markets. The entire hedge fund industry is feeling the reverberations of the changing financial landscape. Its reputation has been tarnished in the last decade, during which its hedged returns couldn’t keep up with the unhedged returns of the market indices. On the other hand, Insider Monkey’s research was able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that outperformed the S&P 500 ETFs by more than 124 percentage points since March 2017. Between March 2017 and February 26th 2021 our monthly newsletter’s stock picks returned 197.2%, vs. 72.4% for the SPY. Our stock picks outperformed the market by more than 124 percentage points (see the details here). We were also able to identify in advance a select group of hedge fund holdings that significantly underperformed the market. We have been tracking and sharing the list of these stocks since February 2017 and they lost 13% through November 16th. That’s why we believe hedge fund sentiment is an extremely useful indicator that investors should pay attention to. You can subscribe to our free newsletter on our homepage to receive our stories in your inbox.
Photo byCampaign CreatorsonUnsplash
With this context in mind, here is our list of the 10 best fintech startups investors are flocking to. These startups were ranked keeping in mind the problems in the fintech space they aim to solve, the money they have raised so far, and the quality of the products or services they offer.
Carta is a technology company that provides equity management services. The firm markets capitalization table management and valuation software. The firm has so far raised close to $630 million in funding over seventeen rounds, with the latest round held in February. Some of the lead investors in the startup include Tribe Capital and Moonshots Capital. The company is valued at close to $7 billion but does not have plans to make its debut on the stock market anytime soon. The firm makes money by selling portfolio management software as well.
Just as Carta is a giant of the fintech startup universe, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) is a leader of the financial services industry. On June 18, news platform CNBC reported that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) had started trading in Bitcoin with merchant bank Galaxy Digital as crypto-related investments soared in popularity.
At the end of the first quarter of 2021, 77 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $5 billion in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS), up from 76 the preceding quarter worth $4.6 billion.
Just like Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ), and Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU), The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) is one of the best fintech-related stocks investors are flocking to.
In its Q1 2021 investor letter,Artisan Partners, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) was one of them.Hereis what the fund said:
“Financial services firm Goldman Sachs is a best-in-class franchise with a premier brand that attracts top talent and sustains market share across its businesses. We believe this has helped Goldman weather recent market volatility. In addition to de-levering risk-weighted assets, Goldman is also growing its digital investment footprint through the expansion of features on its Marcus Invest platform. The company’s stability—and ability to grow its brand even in tough times—has kept us invested over the long term.”
Blend is a fintech company that primarily markets a digital platform to offer different types of loans. It is placed ninth on our list of 10 best fintech startups investors are flocking to. The company sells consumer-centric banking services for mortgage and consumer loans. The firm has raised close to $670 million in funding so far over nine rounds, with the latest round held in January that brought in close to $300 million. Canapi Ventures is a leading investor in the startup that is valued at over $3.3 billion.
A similar investment to Blend in the stock market is Rocket Companies, Inc. (NYSE: RKT), the technology-centered real estate, ecommerce, and mortgage business. On June 8, investment advisory Argus initiated coverage of Rocket Companies, Inc. (NYSE: RKT) stock with a Buy rating and a price target of $23.
At the end of the first quarter of 2021, 21 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $208 million in Rocket Companies, Inc. (NYSE: RKT), up from 16 the preceding quarter worth $222 million.
Just like Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ), and Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU), Rocket Companies, Inc. (NYSE: RKT) is one of the best fintech-related stocks investors are flocking to.
In its Q1 2021 investor letter,Miller Value Partners, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and Rocket Companies, Inc. (NYSE:RKT) was one of them.Hereis what the fund said:
“We own Rocket Companies which we think is a great mortgage finance company with a successful history of innovation, growth, and cash generation. We think Rocket has several competitive advantages, including its technology and marketing platforms. One way this manifests is retention rates far superior to the rest of the industry (client and refinance retention rates of 80%+ versus less than 20% for the industry).
Addepar is a digital wealth management platform that specializes in data analytics. It is ranked eighth on our list of 10 best fintech startups investors are flocking to. The startup has raised close to $500 million in funding so far over seven rounds, with the latest round earlier this month bringing in more than $150 million. Some of the lead investors in the startup include DI Capital Partners and Westap, among others. The company is valued at close to $2.2 billion but does not have plans to go public anytime soon.
In the financial services space, Invesco Ltd. NYSE: (IVZ) is a good investment option along the lines of Addepar. Invesco Ltd. NYSE: (IVZ) is an investment manager based in Atlanta that pays a regular and healthy dividend. On June 2, the stock jumped after news publication The Wall Street Journal reported that Invesco Ltd. NYSE: (IVZ) was being tapped to manage the $400 billion social welfare fund of the Chinese government.
At the end of the first quarter of 2021, 32 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $1.2 billion in Invesco Ltd. NYSE: (IVZ), down from 34 in the previous quarter worth $936 million.
Just like Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ), and Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU), Invesco Ltd. NYSE: (IVZ) is one of the best fintech-related stocks investors are flocking to.
Wise is a fintech company used by millions to make cross border transactions. It is placed seventh on our list of 10 best fintech startups investors are flocking to. The firm has raised more than $1.3 billion in funding so far over thirteen rounds. The latest round of funding, held in May, brought in $150 million for the startup. Some of the leading investors in the firm include Silicon Valley Bank UK and Lone Pine Capital, among others.
Another great stock that has a similar business model to Wise is PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL), the payments solutions company that has hundreds of millions of users spread across mobile, web, and other platforms. On June 21, investment advisory Bank of American maintained a Buy rating on the stock with a price target of $323.
At the end of the first quarter of 2021, 143 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $14.7 billion in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL), down from 147 in the previous quarter worth $15.9 billion.
Just like Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ), and Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU), PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL) is one of the best fintech-related stocks investors are flocking to.
In its Q4 2020 investor letter,Polen Capital Management, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) was one of them.Hereis what the fund said:
“For the full year 2020, one of the top performers was PayPal, which we purchased in 2019, the company continues to take market share in digital payments and has seen an acceleration in user adoption and engagement, especially within their “silver tech” or older user demographic. We expect many more years of ongoing double-digit growth from their various business segments and new initiatives.”
Spring Labs is a Los Angeles-based data sharing, security and consumer privacy company, It is ranked sixth on our list of 10 best fintech startups investors are flocking to. The company raised close to $70 million in funding over three rounds, with the latest round held in April this year bringing in over $30 million for the firm. One of the lead investors in the company is TransUnion, a credit reporting agency. Spring Labs has been developing security solutions for blockchain systems as they gain in popularity.
As security and privacy concerns on the internet grow, companies like CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD) are becoming central to the running of everyday business. CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD) markets cloud-based endpoint and workload protection services. The company recently beat market expectations on earnings per share and revenue for the first three months of 2021.
At the end of the first quarter of 2021, 77 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $5.2 billion in CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD), down from 92 in the previous quarter worth $7.2 billion.
Just like Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ), and Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU), CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD) is one of the best fintech-related stocks investors are flocking to.
In its Q1 2021 investor letter,Carillon Tower Advisers, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) was one of them.Hereis what the fund said:
“CrowdStrike provides cloud-based software used in the security of computers, servers, and mobile phones. The stock pulled back a bit during the quarter as investor sentiment shifted away from stocks with higher valuation multiples. We remain shareholders, as the protection of enterprise assets and cloud workloads from various forms of cyberattacks remains more important than ever for many enterprises, and we believe this will continue to result in a strong demand environment for CrowdStrike’s innovative products and services.”
Click to continue reading and see5 Best Fintech Startups Investors are Flocking To.
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Disclose. None.10 Best Fintech Startups Investors are Flocking Tois originally published on Insider Monkey. || Innovative Research Firm Uses Rotation to Describe Stocks, Crypto and More: Photo by Martin Sanchez on Unsplash . When thinking about a stock chart, the most common image is of the classic line chart with the price measured on the Y (vertical) axis and time measured on the X (horizontal) axis. RRG Research is a company that offers a very different and innovative perspective. Partnered with big financial names like StockCharts.com, Bloomberg, Optuma, Refinitiv, and others, RRG has been providing its unique tools to advanced hedge funds and other top players and is now moving toward retail investors. By monitoring individual stocks, crypto assets, sectors and entire asset classes according to a stable benchmark, the RRG ® (Relative Rotation Graphs ® ) system is able to provide a deeper level of analysis and inference than could normally be made. Benzinga spoke to RRG Research Founders Julius de Kempenaer and Trevor Neil about RRG and the innovations coming from it in a recent interview. Ultimately, RRG is a way to analyze and interpret the trends and moves of the market. “RRG is a visualization tool that helps investors see and monitor rotation, sector rotation, asset class rotation of multiple securities against a benchmark and against each other,” explained de Kempenaer. RRG of sector rotation in the United States RRG for cryptocurrencies vs BTC as benchmark RRG Research is using its innovative methodologies in partnership with financial firm CMC Markets (LON: CMCX) to create logic-based groupings of stock. CMC and RRG have teamed up to use a financial instrument called a contract for differences (CFD) to create tradable “share baskets” based on the underlying logic within the RRG system called RRG Momentum+ . CFDs are a type of contract where the buyer never owns the underlying asset but gains or loses depending on the direction of the asset. “What we’re doing is taking what institutions do for their funds and making that into an accessible retail instrument basically using the logic, which is normally the exclusive domain of the institutions, and making it available to the public,” Neil stated. “I think it’s a big step forward to democratize these mathematical approaches and make them available, where you’d normally have to be big to be involved in this.” Story continues While CFD instruments like these are meant for experienced traders and are not yet available in some countries such as the United States, investors and traders anywhere might be able to gain valuable insight and information from tools like RRG, especially as it moves more into the retail investing sphere. See more from Benzinga Click here for options trades from Benzinga As Alfi (ALF) Stock Goes Parabolic, CEO Says "We're Swinging for the Fences" Up and Coming Bank Acquires Prestigious Legacy Brand, EF Hutton © 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Innovative Research Firm Uses Rotation to Describe Stocks, Crypto and More: Photo byMartin SanchezonUnsplash.
When thinking about a stock chart, the most common image is of the classic line chart with the price measured on the Y (vertical) axis and time measured on the X (horizontal) axis.RRG Researchis a company that offers a very different and innovative perspective. Partnered with big financial names likeStockCharts.com, Bloomberg, Optuma, Refinitiv,and others, RRG has been providing its unique tools to advanced hedge funds and other top players and is now moving toward retail investors.
By monitoring individual stocks, crypto assets, sectors and entire asset classes according to a stable benchmark, the RRG®(Relative Rotation Graphs®) system is able to provide a deeper level of analysis and inference than could normally be made. Benzinga spoke to RRG Research Founders Julius de Kempenaer and Trevor Neil about RRG and the innovations coming from it in a recent interview.
Ultimately, RRG is a way to analyze and interpret the trends and moves of the market. “RRG is a visualization tool that helps investors see and monitor rotation, sector rotation, asset class rotation of multiple securities against a benchmark and against each other,” explained de Kempenaer.
RRG of sector rotation in the United States
RRG for cryptocurrencies vs BTC as benchmark
RRG Research is using its innovative methodologies in partnership with financial firmCMC Markets(LON: CMCX) to create logic-based groupings of stock. CMC and RRG have teamed up to use a financial instrument called a contract for differences (CFD) to create tradable “share baskets” based on the underlying logic within the RRG system calledRRG Momentum+. CFDs are a type of contract where the buyer never owns the underlying asset but gains or loses depending on the direction of the asset.
“What we’re doing is taking what institutions do for their funds and making that into an accessible retail instrument basically using the logic, which is normally the exclusive domain of the institutions, and making it available to the public,” Neil stated. “I think it’s a big step forward to democratize these mathematical approaches and make them available, where you’d normally have to be big to be involved in this.”
While CFD instruments like these are meant for experienced traders and are not yet available in some countries such as the United States, investors and traders anywhere might be able to gain valuable insight and information from tools like RRG, especially as it moves more into the retail investing sphere.
See more from Benzinga
• Click here for options trades from Benzinga
• As Alfi (ALF) Stock Goes Parabolic, CEO Says "We're Swinging for the Fences"
• Up and Coming Bank Acquires Prestigious Legacy Brand, EF Hutton
© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Market Wrap: Bitcoin in Recovery Mode Ahead of Options Expiry: Bitcoin traded higher after holding support around $32,000 on Thursday. Bearish sentiment is starting to wane as buyers fuel a relief rally from Tuesday’sshakeoutlow of around $29,000. The cryptocurrency is up about 4% over the past 24 hours, but is still down about 8% over the past seven days.
Cryptocurrencies:
• Bitcoin(BTC) $34949, +6.51%
• Ether(ETH) $2,016, +5.48%
Traditional markets:
• S&P 500: 4266.39, +0.58%
• Gold: $1773.4, -0.31%
• 10-year Treasury yield closed at 1.492%, compared with 1.489% on Wednesday
Related:Bitcoin News Roundup for June 25, 2021
As June comes to a close, roughly 69,000 bitcoin is set to expire at a notional value of $2.37 billion, according to data sourceGenesis Volatility.
“Max pain levels are good to keep an eye on going into an options expiration like this,” wroteGreg Magadini, CEO of Genesis Volatility, in an email to CoinDesk. The max pain level for bitcoin implies a rally up to about $40,000, which is also the strike price with the most open interest.
At the current price, this will be the second smallest month-end options expiry of the year, compared to a notional value of about $6 billion in March.
This month’s options expiry will occur with lower volume and a tight trading range this month, suggesting weak demand from buyers.
Related:Never Break the (Block) Chain: Advancing the Dream of Interoperability
Ether’s market-capitalization relative to bitcoin is below 40%, according toSkew. A similar situation occurred in 2018, which preceded a period of underperformance in ETH vs. BTC.
The chart below shows ETH/BTC declining from resistance over the past month. There is short-term support at the 100-day moving average, although technicals suggest the ratio could see further downside.
Cryptocurrency is becoming increasingly mainstream, with Citigroupbeingthe latest megabank to roll out crypto services to at least some of its customers.
Citigroup’s wealth management division has formed a new unit called Digital Assets Group, which will be helmed by Alex Kriete and Greg Girasole of the bank’s Citi Global Wealth Investments (CGWI) arm. The unit will be “focusing on all aspects of this fast-growing space of blockchain enabled finance,” according to the bank.
Meanwhile, U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase isenteringthe Japanese market. The Nasdaq-listed exchange’s subsidiary registered with the Financial Services Agency (FSA), the country’s financial watchdog, on June 18.
• While bitcoin and most alternative cryptocurrencies are slowly recovering from the latest market sell-off, the price of the coin internet computer (ICP), which was once the star of the space,sankfrom $630 to $34 in less than two months. “With prices retreating across the industry, the most recently hyped projects have been among those hardest hit,” said Rick Delaney, senior analyst at OKEx Insights. “In ICP’s case, it seems the harder and faster it pumps, the more severe the dump.”
• Two of South Korea’s four largest exchanges, Upbit and Bithumb, have beendelistingaltcoins as they prepare for an upcoming regulatory overhaul. Delisting announcements have caused prices for many altcoins to plummet by 50% or more, causing considerable losses among retail investors.
• Goldman Sachs Taps JPMorgan’s Private Blockchain for Repo Trade: Report
• Crypto Sleuthing Firm Chainalysis Raises $100M, This Time at $4.2B Valuation
• Huobi’s New US Affiliate Set to Go Live Next Month
• Andreessen Horowitz Rakes In $2.2B for Third Crypto Venture Fund
• McAfee Found Dead in Spanish Prison as Extradition Loomed; Autopsy Planned
Almost all digital assets on the CoinDesk 20 ended up in green on Wednesday.
Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
cardano(ADA) +15.25%
xrp(XRP) +12.54%
algorand(ALGO) +11.32%
Notable loser:
USD coin(USDC) -0.01%
• US Crypto Giants Build First Version of FATF-Compliant ‘Travel Rule’ Tool
• Dorsey, Musk Hint at Bitcoin Debate || Market Wrap: Bitcoin in Recovery Mode Ahead of Options Expiry: Bitcoin traded higher after holding support around $32,000 on Thursday. Bearish sentiment is starting to wane as buyers fuel a relief rally from Tuesday’sshakeoutlow of around $29,000. The cryptocurrency is up about 4% over the past 24 hours, but is still down about 8% over the past seven days.
Cryptocurrencies:
• Bitcoin(BTC) $34949, +6.51%
• Ether(ETH) $2,016, +5.48%
Traditional markets:
• S&P 500: 4266.39, +0.58%
• Gold: $1773.4, -0.31%
• 10-year Treasury yield closed at 1.492%, compared with 1.489% on Wednesday
Related:Bitcoin News Roundup for June 25, 2021
As June comes to a close, roughly 69,000 bitcoin is set to expire at a notional value of $2.37 billion, according to data sourceGenesis Volatility.
“Max pain levels are good to keep an eye on going into an options expiration like this,” wroteGreg Magadini, CEO of Genesis Volatility, in an email to CoinDesk. The max pain level for bitcoin implies a rally up to about $40,000, which is also the strike price with the most open interest.
At the current price, this will be the second smallest month-end options expiry of the year, compared to a notional value of about $6 billion in March.
This month’s options expiry will occur with lower volume and a tight trading range this month, suggesting weak demand from buyers.
Related:Never Break the (Block) Chain: Advancing the Dream of Interoperability
Ether’s market-capitalization relative to bitcoin is below 40%, according toSkew. A similar situation occurred in 2018, which preceded a period of underperformance in ETH vs. BTC.
The chart below shows ETH/BTC declining from resistance over the past month. There is short-term support at the 100-day moving average, although technicals suggest the ratio could see further downside.
Cryptocurrency is becoming increasingly mainstream, with Citigroupbeingthe latest megabank to roll out crypto services to at least some of its customers.
Citigroup’s wealth management division has formed a new unit called Digital Assets Group, which will be helmed by Alex Kriete and Greg Girasole of the bank’s Citi Global Wealth Investments (CGWI) arm. The unit will be “focusing on all aspects of this fast-growing space of blockchain enabled finance,” according to the bank.
Meanwhile, U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase isenteringthe Japanese market. The Nasdaq-listed exchange’s subsidiary registered with the Financial Services Agency (FSA), the country’s financial watchdog, on June 18.
• While bitcoin and most alternative cryptocurrencies are slowly recovering from the latest market sell-off, the price of the coin internet computer (ICP), which was once the star of the space,sankfrom $630 to $34 in less than two months. “With prices retreating across the industry, the most recently hyped projects have been among those hardest hit,” said Rick Delaney, senior analyst at OKEx Insights. “In ICP’s case, it seems the harder and faster it pumps, the more severe the dump.”
• Two of South Korea’s four largest exchanges, Upbit and Bithumb, have beendelistingaltcoins as they prepare for an upcoming regulatory overhaul. Delisting announcements have caused prices for many altcoins to plummet by 50% or more, causing considerable losses among retail investors.
• Goldman Sachs Taps JPMorgan’s Private Blockchain for Repo Trade: Report
• Crypto Sleuthing Firm Chainalysis Raises $100M, This Time at $4.2B Valuation
• Huobi’s New US Affiliate Set to Go Live Next Month
• Andreessen Horowitz Rakes In $2.2B for Third Crypto Venture Fund
• McAfee Found Dead in Spanish Prison as Extradition Loomed; Autopsy Planned
Almost all digital assets on the CoinDesk 20 ended up in green on Wednesday.
Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
cardano(ADA) +15.25%
xrp(XRP) +12.54%
algorand(ALGO) +11.32%
Notable loser:
USD coin(USDC) -0.01%
• US Crypto Giants Build First Version of FATF-Compliant ‘Travel Rule’ Tool
• Dorsey, Musk Hint at Bitcoin Debate
[Social Media Buzz]
None available.
|
32186.28, 34649.64, 34434.34, 35867.78, 35040.84, 33572.12, 33897.05, 34668.55, 35287.78, 33746.00
|
Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 7321.99, 7320.15, 7252.03, 7448.31, 7547.00, 7556.24, 7564.35, 7400.90, 7278.12, 7217.43, 7243.13, 7269.68, 7124.67, 7152.30, 6932.48, 6640.52, 7276.80, 7202.84, 7218.82, 7191.16, 7511.59, 7355.63, 7322.53, 7275.16, 7238.97, 7290.09, 7317.99, 7422.65, 7293.00, 7193.60, 7200.17, 6985.47, 7344.88, 7410.66, 7411.32, 7769.22, 8163.69, 8079.86, 7879.07, 8166.55, 8037.54, 8192.49, 8144.19, 8827.76, 8807.01, 8723.79, 8929.04, 8942.81, 8706.25, 8657.64, 8745.89, 8680.88, 8406.52, 8445.43, 8367.85, 8596.83, 8909.82, 9358.59, 9316.63, 9508.99, 9350.53, 9392.88, 9344.37, 9293.52, 9180.96, 9613.42, 9729.80, 9795.94, 9865.12, 10116.67, 9856.61, 10208.24, 10326.05, 10214.38, 10312.12, 9889.42, 9934.43, 9690.14, 10142.00, 9633.39, 9608.48, 9686.44, 9663.18, 9924.52, 9650.17, 9341.71, 8820.52, 8784.49, 8672.46, 8599.51.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2020-02-29]
Volume: 35792392544, RSI (14-day): 34.94, 50-day EMA: 9160.60, 200-day EMA: 8623.16
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Crypto Firms Tout Dispersed Workforce as Coronavirus Contingency Plan: Companies are telling employees to stay home . Firms are debating when to shutter the office. Health officials are asking businesses to “ dust off ” the pandemic playbook. But for some, the coronavirus contingency plan is built in. A number of cryptocurrency exchanges have favored dispersed workforces since their launch. In an industry defined by the ideals of decentralization, companies like Binance and Kraken say they have been implementing this playbook for years: Most of their employees already work remotely. And while firms around the world scramble to develop protocols for what is increasingly likely to become a pandemic, and as capital markets plummet on global investors’ fears the worst of the coronavirus outbreak is yet to come, these exchanges say they are going about business as usual. Related: Bitcoin Rebounds as Coronavirus-Infected Stocks Get Jolt From Fed, BOJ They don’t need to shut their headquarters; they don’t have headquarters “The Binance team works in a decentralized way, with team members scattering in different countries and regions,” said Binance representative Cecilia Zhang. Her exchange is notably fluid when it comes to geography. It’s not always clear where Binance is based or if it even has a “headquarters,” in the office park sense. For the last few years Binance had claimed an HQ in Malta, but just last week the Maltese regulator declared that the so-called blockchain island never had a regulated or registered Binance exchange. Lacking a headquarters becomes an asset, however, when an inexplicable act-of-god-like event such as an epidemic comes to town. Binance’s Zhang claimed the exchange has “not been impacted by the coronavirus outbreak.” Its employees have been working remotely and in clusters for over two years. Related: The View From China: Crypto, Crisis and Digital Currencies Feat. Matthew Graham The Kraken exchange went a step further. It’s spinning coronavirus into a hiring and publicity opportunity, boasting on Twitter Thursday its decentralized workers are “thriving” despite rising international fears. Story continues “Kraken’s global collapse and pandemic survival strategy has been in place since our founding in 2011. Our remote-first, decentralized team of 800+ is thriving right now. Join us,” the firm said. At peer-to-peer bitcoin exchange Hodl Hodl, which says it has no head office, “we don’t prepare ourselves actually,” said CEO Max Keidun. “Since day one we’ve been fully distributed and remote.” High alert Not every crypto company has that option. Many remain tied to headquarters and have in recent days rushed to create policies around what could happen if and when coronavirus reaches them. Coinbase has become the highest-profile company to list a contingency plan , outlining a four-part process where it would shutter offices and have employees work remotely depending on if and how an outbreak might progress in areas where employees live and work. In China , where the outbreak began, exchanges and blockchain firms have had to cancel networking events, encourage employees to work remotely and delay tech upgrades. Global Currency Organization (GCO), based in California, is on high alert since a reported case of coronavirus in Sacramento, said David Steinrueck, a representative. The team, which is developing a stablecoin , or cryptocurrency backed by U.S. dollars, is ready to disperse as soon as coronavirus reaches the San Francisco area. “We are being cautious and actively preparing to move to work from home as soon as that becomes necessary. It certainly seems like it could get worse before it gets better, so we are trying to stay ahead of it and focus on our safety above all,” Steinrueck said. GCO has canceled all trips to the Asia-Pacific region “until further notice” and limited even domestic travel, he said. The blockchain sleuthing firm Chainalysis has similarly nixed all “non-essential” travel outside the U.S., according to spokesperson Maddie Kennedy. The firm has hubs in New York and London, but for the next four weeks, no employees working there will be traveling through the Asia-Pacific area, Europe, the U.K. or Ireland. Chainalysis already had a pandemic response plan, though. It’s in the process of updating it for COVID-19. “We’re keeping a close eye on it,” Kennedy said. Related Stories Bitcoin, Uncertainty and the Ultimate Narrative Coinbase Joins Japan’s Self-Regulatory Organization for Crypto Firms || Crypto Firms Tout Dispersed Workforce as Coronavirus Contingency Plan: Companies are telling employees to stay home . Firms are debating when to shutter the office. Health officials are asking businesses to “ dust off ” the pandemic playbook. But for some, the coronavirus contingency plan is built in. A number of cryptocurrency exchanges have favored dispersed workforces since their launch. In an industry defined by the ideals of decentralization, companies like Binance and Kraken say they have been implementing this playbook for years: Most of their employees already work remotely. And while firms around the world scramble to develop protocols for what is increasingly likely to become a pandemic, and as capital markets plummet on global investors’ fears the worst of the coronavirus outbreak is yet to come, these exchanges say they are going about business as usual. Related: Bitcoin Rebounds as Coronavirus-Infected Stocks Get Jolt From Fed, BOJ They don’t need to shut their headquarters; they don’t have headquarters “The Binance team works in a decentralized way, with team members scattering in different countries and regions,” said Binance representative Cecilia Zhang. Her exchange is notably fluid when it comes to geography. It’s not always clear where Binance is based or if it even has a “headquarters,” in the office park sense. For the last few years Binance had claimed an HQ in Malta, but just last week the Maltese regulator declared that the so-called blockchain island never had a regulated or registered Binance exchange. Lacking a headquarters becomes an asset, however, when an inexplicable act-of-god-like event such as an epidemic comes to town. Binance’s Zhang claimed the exchange has “not been impacted by the coronavirus outbreak.” Its employees have been working remotely and in clusters for over two years. Related: The View From China: Crypto, Crisis and Digital Currencies Feat. Matthew Graham The Kraken exchange went a step further. It’s spinning coronavirus into a hiring and publicity opportunity, boasting on Twitter Thursday its decentralized workers are “thriving” despite rising international fears. Story continues “Kraken’s global collapse and pandemic survival strategy has been in place since our founding in 2011. Our remote-first, decentralized team of 800+ is thriving right now. Join us,” the firm said. At peer-to-peer bitcoin exchange Hodl Hodl, which says it has no head office, “we don’t prepare ourselves actually,” said CEO Max Keidun. “Since day one we’ve been fully distributed and remote.” High alert Not every crypto company has that option. Many remain tied to headquarters and have in recent days rushed to create policies around what could happen if and when coronavirus reaches them. Coinbase has become the highest-profile company to list a contingency plan , outlining a four-part process where it would shutter offices and have employees work remotely depending on if and how an outbreak might progress in areas where employees live and work. In China , where the outbreak began, exchanges and blockchain firms have had to cancel networking events, encourage employees to work remotely and delay tech upgrades. Global Currency Organization (GCO), based in California, is on high alert since a reported case of coronavirus in Sacramento, said David Steinrueck, a representative. The team, which is developing a stablecoin , or cryptocurrency backed by U.S. dollars, is ready to disperse as soon as coronavirus reaches the San Francisco area. “We are being cautious and actively preparing to move to work from home as soon as that becomes necessary. It certainly seems like it could get worse before it gets better, so we are trying to stay ahead of it and focus on our safety above all,” Steinrueck said. GCO has canceled all trips to the Asia-Pacific region “until further notice” and limited even domestic travel, he said. The blockchain sleuthing firm Chainalysis has similarly nixed all “non-essential” travel outside the U.S., according to spokesperson Maddie Kennedy. The firm has hubs in New York and London, but for the next four weeks, no employees working there will be traveling through the Asia-Pacific area, Europe, the U.K. or Ireland. Chainalysis already had a pandemic response plan, though. It’s in the process of updating it for COVID-19. “We’re keeping a close eye on it,” Kennedy said. Related Stories Bitcoin, Uncertainty and the Ultimate Narrative Coinbase Joins Japan’s Self-Regulatory Organization for Crypto Firms || Chinese Crypto and Blockchain Firms Grapple With Coronavirus Outbreak: Chinese cryptocurrency exchanges and other blockchain companies are coping with a new reality as the coronavirus outbreak continues to disrupt their daily operations. While crypto trading, customer service and marketing remain largely intact, the outbreak has taken its toll on technical upgrades, product development, logistics and business travel, according to a dozen executives in China interviewed by CoinDesk. Following the outbreak, the Chinese government extended its Lunar New Year vacation by one week to Feb.10. Weeks later, a few major Chinese cities remain locked down, and many companies have asked their employees to work from home including blockchain businesses. Related: Bitcoin Rebounds as Coronavirus-Infected Stocks Get Jolt From Fed, BOJ We encourage our employees to work remotely after the vacation as there are so many people from every part of China coming back to work, said Aurora Wong, vice president at ZB Group. The coronavirus is not a regional epidemic, it has been spread across the country and even to other countries. The outbreak has caused psychological stress on people, Wong said. While many cities are not technically in lockdown, it is definitely not encouraged to come out for our own health and the whole society to get the epidemic under control. Founded in China in 2013, Switzerland-based ZB Group claims its crypto exchange now serves over 10 million users, with $3 billion in average daily trading volume. It has operations across the world including China, Singapore, South Korea and the U.S. According to Wong, the outbreak is likely to slow the exchanges technical upgrade to a new version. The upgrade could include front-end mobile apps for users as well as the back-end trading engine. Related: The View From China: Crypto, Crisis and Digital Currencies Feat. Matthew Graham Before the outbreak, we were very efficient and fast on upgrading our platform because people across different departments such as the engineering team, product development and marketing could meet and work together to carry out plans, Wong said. Story continues However, the outbreak has had only a limited impact on daily operations of ZBs trading platform since the firm keeps a schedule to rotate its staff to maintain the exchange, according to Wong. Contingency planning Estonia-based Bibox crypto exchange, which also originated from China, said it has a contingency plan to tackle the operational challenges due to the coronavirus outbreak. We might relocate our core engineering team to other Asian countries such as one of our Asian headquarters in Singapore or Vietnam where there are much fewer infected cases, said Aries Wang, co-founder of Bibox. According to Wang, Biboxs trading, marketing and customer service have not been affected much, but new product development and networking events with potential investors have been disrupted to a degree. We originally planned a meeting for Chinese crypto funds and private equity firms in London to pave the way for our potential initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange in March, Wang said. The meeting and IPO would probably be delayed to a later date. Further, when Bibox lists new tokens, the product development team needs to work very closely with the engineering team, creating custom services for clients and upgrading its own exchange platform. But this requires face-to-face meetings, which are for now rare. OKEx, one of the top three crypto exchanges by trading volume, said its staying vigilant now that it has resumed business after the vacation. We suggested our employees stay where they already are, avoid crowds as much as possible and reduce business trips, Jay Hao, the CEO of OKEx, said of its headquarters in Hong Kong. Our offices have been completely disinfected, and we have also prepared protective equipment such as surgical masks, liquid soap and alcohol-based sanitizer for all of our employees, Hao said. The firm has upgraded its IT systems, such as phone and video conference software, to streamline the process of working from home and ensure normal operations throughout its global offices, according to Hao. Working (and conferencing) remotely Outside of trading venues, other blockchain startups in the region say theyve been significantly affected by the outbreak. B-Labs, a blockchain incubation center co-founded by Canaan Blockchain, OK Group and Yangtze Delta Region Institute of Tsinghua University, has decided to reduce rents for some of the startups that use the space and open a platform for them to apply for subsidies. Conflux, a Beijing-based blockchain firm, is also coping with the outbreaks ramifications. Coronavirus has affected us in a way that we had to replan many offline events within the Asia Pacific region, Christian Oertal, chief marketing officer at Conflux, said. We had to pivot into organizing and participating in online events. As for office work, everyone at Conflux is working remotely from home. The health of everyone in the company should not be put into any risky situation in current times, he added. Another part of the blockchain industry which has been significantly affected by the outbreak is mining, the business of running expensive computers that race to solve math problems in order to record transactions and secure crypto networks. A spate of miner manufacturers, including Bitmian, MicroBT and Canaan, have expected some of their deliveries to be delayed due to slow logistics caused by the outbreak. Some of the mining farms are short of workers to maintain machines, while a few mining farms have been shut down by local governments as part of the measures to contain the epidemic. The growth rate of mining difficulty, an indicator of the level of competition among bitcoin miners, has been slowing since the coronavirus outbreak, signaling that miners have paused upgrading to newer, more powerful machines. In the most recent two-week cycle, from Feb. 11-25, this gauge declined for the first time since early December. Related Stories Bitcoin, Uncertainty and the Ultimate Narrative West Virginia Ditches Blockchain Voting App Provider Voatz || Chinese Crypto and Blockchain Firms Grapple With Coronavirus Outbreak: Chinese cryptocurrency exchanges and other blockchain companies are coping with a new reality as the coronavirus outbreak continues to disrupt their daily operations.
While crypto trading, customer service and marketing remain largely intact, the outbreak has taken its toll on technical upgrades, product development, logistics and business travel, according to a dozen executives in China interviewed by CoinDesk.
Following the outbreak, the Chinese government extended its Lunar New Year vacation by one week to Feb.10. Weeks later, a few major Chinese cities remain locked down, and many companies have asked their employees to work from home – including blockchain businesses.
Related:Bitcoin Rebounds as Coronavirus-Infected Stocks Get Jolt From Fed, BOJ
“We encourage our employees to work remotely after the vacation as there are so many people from every part of China coming back to work,” said Aurora Wong, vice president at ZB Group. “The coronavirus is not a regional epidemic, it has been spread across the country and even to other countries.”
The outbreak “has caused psychological stress on people,” Wong said. “While many cities are not technically in lockdown, it is definitely not encouraged to come out for our own health and the whole society to get the epidemic under control.”
Founded in China in 2013, Switzerland-based ZB Group claims its crypto exchange now serves over 10 million users, with $3 billion in average daily trading volume. It has operations across the world including China, Singapore, South Korea and the U.S.
According to Wong, the outbreak is likely to slow the exchange’s technical upgrade to a new version. The upgrade could include front-end mobile apps for users as well as the back-end trading engine.
Related:The View From China: Crypto, Crisis and Digital Currencies Feat. Matthew Graham
Before the outbreak, “we were very efficient and fast on upgrading our platform because people across different departments such as the engineering team, product development and marketing could meet and work together to carry out plans,” Wong said.
However, the outbreak has had only a limited impact on daily operations of ZB’s trading platform since the firm keeps a schedule to rotate its staff to maintain the exchange, according to Wong.
Estonia-based Bibox crypto exchange, which also originated from China, said it has a contingency plan to tackle the operational challenges due to the coronavirus outbreak.
“We might relocate our core engineering team to other Asian countries such as one of our Asian headquarters in Singapore or Vietnam where there are much fewer infected cases,” said Aries Wang, co-founder of Bibox.
According to Wang, Bibox’s trading, marketing and customer service have not been affected much, but new product development and networking events with potential investors have been disrupted to a degree.
“We originally planned a meeting for Chinese crypto funds and private equity firms in London to pave the way for our potential initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange in March,” Wang said. “The meeting and IPO would probably be delayed to a later date.”
Further, when Bibox lists new tokens, the product development team needs to work very closely with the engineering team, creating custom services for clients and upgrading its own exchange platform. But this requires face-to-face meetings, which are for now rare.
OKEx, one of the top three crypto exchanges by trading volume, said it’s staying vigilant now that it has resumed business after the vacation.
“We suggested our employees stay where they already are, avoid crowds as much as possible and reduce business trips,” Jay Hao, the CEO of OKEx, said of its headquarters in Hong Kong.
“Our offices have been completely disinfected, and we have also prepared protective equipment such as surgical masks, liquid soap and alcohol-based sanitizer for all of our employees,” Hao said.
The firm has upgraded its IT systems, such as phone and video conference software, to streamline the process of working from home and ensure normal operations throughout its global offices, according to Hao.
Outside of trading venues, other blockchain startups in the region say they’ve been significantly affected by the outbreak.
B-Labs, a blockchain incubation center co-founded by Canaan Blockchain, OK Group and Yangtze Delta Region Institute of Tsinghua University, has decided to reduce rents for some of the startups that use the space and open a platform for them to apply for subsidies.
Conflux, a Beijing-based blockchain firm, is also coping with the outbreak’s ramifications.
“Coronavirus has affected us in a way that we had to replan many offline events within the Asia Pacific region,” Christian Oertal, chief marketing officer at Conflux, said. “We had to pivot into organizing and participating in online events.”
“As for office work, everyone at Conflux is working remotely from home. The health of everyone in the company should not be put into any risky situation in current times,” he added.
Another part of the blockchain industry which has been significantly affected by the outbreak is mining, the business of running expensive computers that race to solve math problems in order to record transactions and secure crypto networks.
A spate of miner manufacturers, including Bitmian, MicroBT and Canaan, have expected some of their deliveries to be delayed due to slow logistics caused by the outbreak. Some of the mining farms are short of workers to maintain machines, while a few mining farms have beenshut downby local governments as part of the measures to contain the epidemic.
The growth rate of mining difficulty, an indicator of the level of competition among bitcoin miners, has been slowing since the coronavirus outbreak,signalingthat miners have paused upgrading to newer, more powerful machines.
In the most recent two-week cycle, from Feb. 11-25, this gauge declined for the first time since early December.
• Bitcoin, Uncertainty and the Ultimate Narrative
• West Virginia Ditches Blockchain Voting App Provider Voatz || Yemen’s Civil War Shows the Dangers of Crypto: The Takeaway:
• Yemen, home to what the United Nations calls the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis, is in a state of civil war.
• Half of the country is controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi militant group, which has developed its own cryptocurrency.
• People from Yemen are often wary of being associated with cryptocurrency, in part because of the Houthis’ crypto efforts.
• Despite the potential advantages of a trans-national, censorship-resistant cryptocurrency in the country, connectivity issues make it very hard to get bitcoin into this war zone.
• “It’s too soon for bitcoin,” one researcher said.
So far, it appears usingbitcoin(BTC) in a war zone may be riskier than cash, especially when illicit actors use cryptocurrency as well as civilians.
The ongoing civil war in Yemen highlights the contradictions underlying bitcoin adoption: It’s difficult for civilians to acquire cryptocurrency without heavily regulated infrastructure that makes them vulnerable to coercion and surveillance. Such is the case in Yemen, where the Iran-backed Houthi militia controls the northern half of the country and a failing government controls the central bank in the south.
Related:Bitcoin Rebounds as Coronavirus-Infected Stocks Get Jolt From Fed, BOJ
For most people in Yemen, purchasing bitcoin is nearly impossible. Most international companies avoid doing business in Yemen due to concerns overU.S. sanctions, which aren’t comprehensive like the sanctions against Iran but nonetheless raise compliance questions. This week theUnited Nations Security Councilapproved further sanctions against Yemen in an attempt to curtail arms trading between Iran and the Houthis. With the Houthis now functionally governing the northern half of the country, theTrump administrationmay reportedly suspend humanitarian aid.
“Everyone’s looking at a timeline of a month or two. … That’s the point at which different [donors] will start to suspend some of the programs,” a senior U.S. State Department official toldReuterson Tuesday.
Plus, peer-to-peer markets are hampered by both cash shortages and a lack of reliable communications infrastructure. Yemeni-American researcher Ibraham Qatabi at the Center for Constitutional Rights said telecom and electricity companies are owned bygovernments, both foreign anddomestic, depending on theregion. There’s no need for a warrant if Big Brother already owns the pipes. Plus, Qatabi said, most international money transfers are monitored by local authorities.
“Everything is monitored. They have everyone’s information,” Qatabi said. “If they want to go after somebody, they’ll have access to those files.”
Related:Bitcoin, Uncertainty and the Ultimate Narrative
Hamza Alshargabi, a doctor who worked in Yemen until 2012 and briefly minedether(ETH) after he immigrated to the U.S., agreed it’s “almost impossible” to get a safe and reliable internet or phone connection in most of Yemen. He said in big cities connectivity is “so expensive that it’s unusable,” so he can’t imagine his sister using bitcoin in Yemen. Although somedaymesh networksmay help bitcoiners transact without reliable internet, there’s hardly any bitcoin to trade on the ground.
Meanwhile, it appears the Houthis are promoting cryptocurrency adoption, just not censorship-resistant bitcoin.
According to a report from the Yemen-focusedSana’a Center for Strategic Studies (SCSS)in December 2019 the Houthi militia instructed civilians in northern Yemen to trade in the internationally recognized bills for “an equivalent amount of e-Rials,” a cryptocurrency developed by the militant group.
As such, some Yemeni civilians and expats are scared to be associated with cryptocurrency, including bitcoin. Ifprotests last yearin Iran and Lebanon offered a peek at bitcoin’s limitations, then Yemen is the full picture of bitcoin usage still relying on government infrastructure.
Cryptocurrency has itself become a weapon in Yemen’s civil war.
By issuing a digital currency, the Houthis strived to establish a circular economy with less dependence on banks hostile to their cause. The group evenbannedthe possession of new Yemeni rial bills.
“They are denying the government the most basic function, printing money,” Alshargabi said. “At least in Iran there is a lot of wealth and oil, commerce they can build around. … In Yemen, there’s nothing to sell.”
This isn’t the Houthi’sfirst crypto venture. The group has been mining decentralized cryptocurrenciessince 2017, according to the cybersecurity company Recorded Future, which declined to comment for this article. It is not clear which currencies the Houthis mined. However, someIranian military leadersare looking to create cryptocurrency tools in order to circumnavigate sanctions. And, according to theBrookings Institute, “Iran’s influence with the Houthis is growing.”
Perhaps this is, in part, why the Houthis tested a payments pilot inApril 2019, using the Houthi-run Yemen Petroleum Company and other public institutions, like the Yemeni Telecommunications Corporation. But the employees protested and refused to accept e-Rial salaries.
“Nine months on, the e-Rial can still only be used to pay limited expenses, such as water and electricity utility bills and mobile phone services,” the recent SCSSreportnoted. “There is currently no mechanism for using the e-Rial for normal daily economic activities.”
One SCSS researcher, who requested anonymity for safety, said the Houthis started these cryptocurrency experiments to deal with a local cash shortage. He added bitcoin may be caught in a paradigm where, socially, people mostly trust sources a friend or relative personally vouched for. Yet, talking about bitcoin on social media or local phone networks could get that person “targeted.”
(Note that all sources for this article commented from the Yemeni diaspora, due in part to what the SCSS researcher described as a “high level of scrutiny” through local telecommunications networks and “general concerns about monitoring financial activities in the area.”)
That’s why Alshargabi eventually stopped mining ether in the U.S., scared the American government would profile him for additional surveillance. Even if he has no connection to illicit crypto users in Yemen, Alshargabi isn’t confident the legal system would protect a foreign-born Muslim.
“How do I know I’m not going to get a knock on my door someday?” Alshargabi said.
So Alshargabi sends money to family in Yemen the old-fashioned way instead.
“You call your friend and say, ‘You give my mom $200 and I’ll give your mom over here $200.’ There are regular people in that type of business,” he said.
This same ad hoc system Alshargabi uses to send his family cash also works for the few civilians in Yemen who want to own bitcoin, not e-Rials.
Since most global cryptocurrency exchanges don’t accept credit cards or bank transfers from Yemen, small groups of crypto-curious Yemenites show personal relationships across the diaspora are the key to accessing bitcoin in times of crisis.
Such was the case for a small group of roughly eight friends around 2018, including computer science student Manal Ghanem. She didn’t buy any herself, just played with simulations and testnets. But a few of her friends with family abroad got bitcoin by using foreign bank accounts on global exchanges. One bitcoiner would shop online for foreign products, then sell it locally for cash, she said, because shipping was the least difficult part of the cumbersome process.
“I do believe with the collapsing financial institutions in Yemen, if people get a bit educated they can leverage bitcoin to their benefit,” she said. “They are eager to create new opportunities but it can be really dangerous to go online and gamble what little you have and then lose.”
Her friend Faissal Alshaabi said he struggled to use exchanges in Yemen because his internet connection was too weak to even load a website. Alshaabi turned to a cloud mining service instead, but American regulators shut it down and he lost his capital.
Despite all these challenges, Alshaabi said he still believes cryptocurrency could be useful inside Yemen.
“It’s a fast way to send money and with low fees, so I think people would use it as payment method,” he said.
In the meantime, the most important thing Yemenites can do is establish situations where they can acquire bitcoin without attracting the wrong type of attention. This education requires in-person meetings. Governments may not be able to confiscate your bitcoin, but they can take your life.
“In terms of increasing awareness, that would have to be verbally transmitted,” the researcher said. “It’s too soon for bitcoin.”
• Bitcoin’s Option Market Sees Low Chance of Post-Halving Rally
• Bitcoin Rallies After Biggest Weekly Drop Since November || Yemen’s Civil War Shows the Dangers of Crypto: The Takeaway: Yemen, home to what the United Nations calls the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis, is in a state of civil war. Half of the country is controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi militant group, which has developed its own cryptocurrency. People from Yemen are often wary of being associated with cryptocurrency, in part because of the Houthis’ crypto efforts. Despite the potential advantages of a trans-national, censorship-resistant cryptocurrency in the country, connectivity issues make it very hard to get bitcoin into this war zone. “It’s too soon for bitcoin,” one researcher said. So far, it appears using bitcoin (BTC) in a war zone may be riskier than cash, especially when illicit actors use cryptocurrency as well as civilians. The ongoing civil war in Yemen highlights the contradictions underlying bitcoin adoption: It’s difficult for civilians to acquire cryptocurrency without heavily regulated infrastructure that makes them vulnerable to coercion and surveillance. Such is the case in Yemen, where the Iran-backed Houthi militia controls the northern half of the country and a failing government controls the central bank in the south. Related: Bitcoin Rebounds as Coronavirus-Infected Stocks Get Jolt From Fed, BOJ For most people in Yemen, purchasing bitcoin is nearly impossible. Most international companies avoid doing business in Yemen due to concerns over U.S. sanctions , which aren’t comprehensive like the sanctions against Iran but nonetheless raise compliance questions. This week the United Nations Security Council approved further sanctions against Yemen in an attempt to curtail arms trading between Iran and the Houthis. With the Houthis now functionally governing the northern half of the country, the Trump administration may reportedly suspend humanitarian aid. “Everyone’s looking at a timeline of a month or two. … That’s the point at which different [donors] will start to suspend some of the programs,” a senior U.S. State Department official told Reuters on Tuesday. Story continues Plus, peer-to-peer markets are hampered by both cash shortages and a lack of reliable communications infrastructure. Yemeni-American researcher Ibraham Qatabi at the Center for Constitutional Rights said telecom and electricity companies are owned by governments , both foreign and domestic , depending on the region . There’s no need for a warrant if Big Brother already owns the pipes. Plus, Qatabi said, most international money transfers are monitored by local authorities. “Everything is monitored. They have everyone’s information,” Qatabi said. “If they want to go after somebody, they’ll have access to those files.” Related: Bitcoin, Uncertainty and the Ultimate Narrative Hamza Alshargabi, a doctor who worked in Yemen until 2012 and briefly mined ether (ETH) after he immigrated to the U.S., agreed it’s “almost impossible” to get a safe and reliable internet or phone connection in most of Yemen. He said in big cities connectivity is “so expensive that it’s unusable,” so he can’t imagine his sister using bitcoin in Yemen. Although someday mesh networks may help bitcoiners transact without reliable internet, there’s hardly any bitcoin to trade on the ground. Meanwhile, it appears the Houthis are promoting cryptocurrency adoption, just not censorship-resistant bitcoin. According to a report from the Yemen-focused Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies (SCSS) in December 2019 the Houthi militia instructed civilians in northern Yemen to trade in the internationally recognized bills for “an equivalent amount of e-Rials,” a cryptocurrency developed by the militant group. As such, some Yemeni civilians and expats are scared to be associated with cryptocurrency, including bitcoin. If protests last year in Iran and Lebanon offered a peek at bitcoin’s limitations, then Yemen is the full picture of bitcoin usage still relying on government infrastructure. Crypto wars Cryptocurrency has itself become a weapon in Yemen’s civil war. By issuing a digital currency, the Houthis strived to establish a circular economy with less dependence on banks hostile to their cause. The group even banned the possession of new Yemeni rial bills. “They are denying the government the most basic function, printing money,” Alshargabi said. “At least in Iran there is a lot of wealth and oil, commerce they can build around. … In Yemen, there’s nothing to sell.” This isn’t the Houthi’s first crypto venture . The group has been mining decentralized cryptocurrencies since 2017 , according to the cybersecurity company Recorded Future, which declined to comment for this article. It is not clear which currencies the Houthis mined. However, some Iranian military leaders are looking to create cryptocurrency tools in order to circumnavigate sanctions. And, according to the Brookings Institute , “Iran’s influence with the Houthis is growing.” Perhaps this is, in part, why the Houthis tested a payments pilot in April 2019 , using the Houthi-run Yemen Petroleum Company and other public institutions, like the Yemeni Telecommunications Corporation. But the employees protested and refused to accept e-Rial salaries. “Nine months on, the e-Rial can still only be used to pay limited expenses, such as water and electricity utility bills and mobile phone services,” the recent SCSS report noted. “There is currently no mechanism for using the e-Rial for normal daily economic activities.” One SCSS researcher, who requested anonymity for safety, said the Houthis started these cryptocurrency experiments to deal with a local cash shortage. He added bitcoin may be caught in a paradigm where, socially, people mostly trust sources a friend or relative personally vouched for. Yet, talking about bitcoin on social media or local phone networks could get that person “targeted.” (Note that all sources for this article commented from the Yemeni diaspora, due in part to what the SCSS researcher described as a “high level of scrutiny” through local telecommunications networks and “general concerns about monitoring financial activities in the area.”) That’s why Alshargabi eventually stopped mining ether in the U.S., scared the American government would profile him for additional surveillance. Even if he has no connection to illicit crypto users in Yemen, Alshargabi isn’t confident the legal system would protect a foreign-born Muslim. “How do I know I’m not going to get a knock on my door someday?” Alshargabi said. So Alshargabi sends money to family in Yemen the old-fashioned way instead. “You call your friend and say, ‘You give my mom $200 and I’ll give your mom over here $200.’ There are regular people in that type of business,” he said. Dangerous public ledgers This same ad hoc system Alshargabi uses to send his family cash also works for the few civilians in Yemen who want to own bitcoin, not e-Rials. Since most global cryptocurrency exchanges don’t accept credit cards or bank transfers from Yemen, small groups of crypto-curious Yemenites show personal relationships across the diaspora are the key to accessing bitcoin in times of crisis. Such was the case for a small group of roughly eight friends around 2018, including computer science student Manal Ghanem. She didn’t buy any herself, just played with simulations and testnets. But a few of her friends with family abroad got bitcoin by using foreign bank accounts on global exchanges. One bitcoiner would shop online for foreign products, then sell it locally for cash, she said, because shipping was the least difficult part of the cumbersome process. “I do believe with the collapsing financial institutions in Yemen, if people get a bit educated they can leverage bitcoin to their benefit,” she said. “They are eager to create new opportunities but it can be really dangerous to go online and gamble what little you have and then lose.” Her friend Faissal Alshaabi said he struggled to use exchanges in Yemen because his internet connection was too weak to even load a website. Alshaabi turned to a cloud mining service instead, but American regulators shut it down and he lost his capital. Despite all these challenges, Alshaabi said he still believes cryptocurrency could be useful inside Yemen. “It’s a fast way to send money and with low fees, so I think people would use it as payment method,” he said. In the meantime, the most important thing Yemenites can do is establish situations where they can acquire bitcoin without attracting the wrong type of attention. This education requires in-person meetings. Governments may not be able to confiscate your bitcoin, but they can take your life. “In terms of increasing awareness, that would have to be verbally transmitted,” the researcher said. “It’s too soon for bitcoin.” Related Stories Bitcoin’s Option Market Sees Low Chance of Post-Halving Rally Bitcoin Rallies After Biggest Weekly Drop Since November || As Fed Contemplates Coronavirus-Prompted Easing, Bitcoin Traders Bet on Halving: U.S. stockscontinue to reelover coronavirus-related fears, and investors are increasingly betting the Federal Reserve will slash interest rates to stabilize the economy and markets.
But whether those investors turn tobitcoin(BTC) as a crisis hedge remains to be seen.
Such action by the Fed could, in theory, help bitcoin prices since lower rates would likely reduce the appeal of income-yielding assets such as U.S. Treasury bonds, according to analysts tracking the 11-year-old cryptocurrency. So far, the Fed has not said whether it would cut rates, with Chair Jerome Powell taking a “wait and watch” attitude.
Related:The View From China: Crypto, Crisis and Digital Currencies Feat. Matthew Graham
Yields on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes slid by 0.15 percentage point to a new record low of 1.14 percent, indicating heightened demand; bond prices move in the opposite direction of yields. Rates also fell on government bonds from the U.K. Those from Germany and Japan fell further into negative territory.
“As interest rates decline, you’re more likely to tip the seesaw toward assets that don’t have yield, such as collectible assets like artwork or gold or bitcoin,” said Greg Cipolaro, co-founder of Digital Asset Research, a New York-based cryptocurrency analysis firm.
Bitcoin prices are down 14 percent since Sunday, on track for their worst weekly performance since mid-November. The cryptocurrency slid 2.9 percent on Friday to $8,573, the lowest in a month.
Analysts andtraders in the nascent market have debatedwhether bitcoin should trade as a hedge against malaise in traditional markets, or if it’s more vulnerable to a sell-off alongside riskier assets like stocks and emerging-market currencies when the global economic and market outlooks darken. Some investors say bitcoin is mostly uncorrelated with other asset categories, sometimes trading in sync with stocks and other times in opposition.
Related:Bitcoin, Uncertainty and the Ultimate Narrative
Bitcoin was launched by its pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto in early 2009, in the wake of the last financial crisis, so the cryptocurrency is largely untested in amarket meltdown like the coronavirus-triggered panicselling now roiling stocks.
As a feature of the currency’s original design, the pace of new supplies of bitcoin issued to the decentralized network gets cut in half every four years. The next such event — known as the halving — is expected to take place in May.
That automatic supply tightening, encoded in the software, differentiates bitcoin sharply from human-led monetary-policy easing by central banks such as the U.S. Federal Reserve. The cryptocurrency’s price jumped 94 percent last year, roughly triple the gains in U.S. stocks; despite this week’s pullback, bitcoin is still up about 19 percent so far in 2020.
For now, the bitcoin market might be too immature for large investors with diversified asset portfolios to use as a hedge against a financial crisis. Indeed, bitcoin’s price drop in recent days — gold has slid, too — might signal most investors are still scrambling into cash when there’s a big market sell-off.
“We see a lot of these global actions having some impact on bitcoin, but there’s also things that are happening in the bitcoin network, and that could have a larger impact than the Fed cutting interest rates,” says Joe DiPasquale, CEO of the cryptocurrency-focused hedge fund BitBull Capital in San Francisco. “I’m still bullish for bitcoin for the year, and a major reason is the halving.”
The World Health Organization raised its risk assessment of the coronavirus to “very high” from “high,” with Italy now expected to approve emergency measures and quarantines and event cancellations reported in Germany and Switzerland,according to Bloomberg News. Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney has warned of possible school closings in the U.S.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is down 12.5 percent over the past seven days, putting the gauge on track for its worst weekly performance since the 2008 crisis.
That’s why investors are betting the Federal Reserve will make a move to help stanch the red ink. According to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, futures contracts used to bet on the Fed’s benchmark interest rate have shifted in the past two days to incorporate thenear-certainty of a cutby the time of the central bank’s next regular monetary-policy meeting, scheduled for March 18. Just a week ago, most traders were expecting no change.
There’s also now a greater than 50 percent chance the Fed will cut rates by at least a full percentage point by December, from the current range of between 1.5 percent and 1.75 percent.
U.S. stocks pared losses on Friday afterFed Chair Jerome Powell saidin a mid-day statement the central bank was “closely monitoring developments” related to the coronavirus “and their implications for the economic outlook.”
“We will use our tools and act as appropriate to support the economy,” Powell said.
While rate cuts might ultimately prompt bigger allocations to bitcoin, investors in crypto and traditional markets could be so gripped right now by a crisis mentality that they’re indiscriminately selling all assets perceived as risky. Since cryptocurrencies are relatively new and their prices can be extremely volatile, bitcoin is still generally perceived as a risky asset, Cipolaro said.
“Usually in the early stages of a crisis, you’re worried about deflation, not inflation,” he said.
• Bitcoin’s Option Market Sees Low Chance of Post-Halving Rally
• Bitcoin Rallies After Biggest Weekly Drop Since November || As Fed Contemplates Coronavirus-Prompted Easing, Bitcoin Traders Bet on Halving: U.S. stockscontinue to reelover coronavirus-related fears, and investors are increasingly betting the Federal Reserve will slash interest rates to stabilize the economy and markets.
But whether those investors turn tobitcoin(BTC) as a crisis hedge remains to be seen.
Such action by the Fed could, in theory, help bitcoin prices since lower rates would likely reduce the appeal of income-yielding assets such as U.S. Treasury bonds, according to analysts tracking the 11-year-old cryptocurrency. So far, the Fed has not said whether it would cut rates, with Chair Jerome Powell taking a “wait and watch” attitude.
Related:The View From China: Crypto, Crisis and Digital Currencies Feat. Matthew Graham
Yields on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes slid by 0.15 percentage point to a new record low of 1.14 percent, indicating heightened demand; bond prices move in the opposite direction of yields. Rates also fell on government bonds from the U.K. Those from Germany and Japan fell further into negative territory.
“As interest rates decline, you’re more likely to tip the seesaw toward assets that don’t have yield, such as collectible assets like artwork or gold or bitcoin,” said Greg Cipolaro, co-founder of Digital Asset Research, a New York-based cryptocurrency analysis firm.
Bitcoin prices are down 14 percent since Sunday, on track for their worst weekly performance since mid-November. The cryptocurrency slid 2.9 percent on Friday to $8,573, the lowest in a month.
Analysts andtraders in the nascent market have debatedwhether bitcoin should trade as a hedge against malaise in traditional markets, or if it’s more vulnerable to a sell-off alongside riskier assets like stocks and emerging-market currencies when the global economic and market outlooks darken. Some investors say bitcoin is mostly uncorrelated with other asset categories, sometimes trading in sync with stocks and other times in opposition.
Related:Bitcoin, Uncertainty and the Ultimate Narrative
Bitcoin was launched by its pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto in early 2009, in the wake of the last financial crisis, so the cryptocurrency is largely untested in amarket meltdown like the coronavirus-triggered panicselling now roiling stocks.
As a feature of the currency’s original design, the pace of new supplies of bitcoin issued to the decentralized network gets cut in half every four years. The next such event — known as the halving — is expected to take place in May.
That automatic supply tightening, encoded in the software, differentiates bitcoin sharply from human-led monetary-policy easing by central banks such as the U.S. Federal Reserve. The cryptocurrency’s price jumped 94 percent last year, roughly triple the gains in U.S. stocks; despite this week’s pullback, bitcoin is still up about 19 percent so far in 2020.
For now, the bitcoin market might be too immature for large investors with diversified asset portfolios to use as a hedge against a financial crisis. Indeed, bitcoin’s price drop in recent days — gold has slid, too — might signal most investors are still scrambling into cash when there’s a big market sell-off.
“We see a lot of these global actions having some impact on bitcoin, but there’s also things that are happening in the bitcoin network, and that could have a larger impact than the Fed cutting interest rates,” says Joe DiPasquale, CEO of the cryptocurrency-focused hedge fund BitBull Capital in San Francisco. “I’m still bullish for bitcoin for the year, and a major reason is the halving.”
The World Health Organization raised its risk assessment of the coronavirus to “very high” from “high,” with Italy now expected to approve emergency measures and quarantines and event cancellations reported in Germany and Switzerland,according to Bloomberg News. Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney has warned of possible school closings in the U.S.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is down 12.5 percent over the past seven days, putting the gauge on track for its worst weekly performance since the 2008 crisis.
That’s why investors are betting the Federal Reserve will make a move to help stanch the red ink. According to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, futures contracts used to bet on the Fed’s benchmark interest rate have shifted in the past two days to incorporate thenear-certainty of a cutby the time of the central bank’s next regular monetary-policy meeting, scheduled for March 18. Just a week ago, most traders were expecting no change.
There’s also now a greater than 50 percent chance the Fed will cut rates by at least a full percentage point by December, from the current range of between 1.5 percent and 1.75 percent.
U.S. stocks pared losses on Friday afterFed Chair Jerome Powell saidin a mid-day statement the central bank was “closely monitoring developments” related to the coronavirus “and their implications for the economic outlook.”
“We will use our tools and act as appropriate to support the economy,” Powell said.
While rate cuts might ultimately prompt bigger allocations to bitcoin, investors in crypto and traditional markets could be so gripped right now by a crisis mentality that they’re indiscriminately selling all assets perceived as risky. Since cryptocurrencies are relatively new and their prices can be extremely volatile, bitcoin is still generally perceived as a risky asset, Cipolaro said.
“Usually in the early stages of a crisis, you’re worried about deflation, not inflation,” he said.
• Bitcoin’s Option Market Sees Low Chance of Post-Halving Rally
• Bitcoin Rallies After Biggest Weekly Drop Since November || As Fed Contemplates Coronavirus-Prompted Easing, Bitcoin Traders Bet on Halving: U.S. stocks continue to reel over coronavirus-related fears, and investors are increasingly betting the Federal Reserve will slash interest rates to stabilize the economy and markets. But whether those investors turn to bitcoin (BTC) as a crisis hedge remains to be seen. Such action by the Fed could, in theory, help bitcoin prices since lower rates would likely reduce the appeal of income-yielding assets such as U.S. Treasury bonds, according to analysts tracking the 11-year-old cryptocurrency. So far, the Fed has not said whether it would cut rates, with Chair Jerome Powell taking a “wait and watch” attitude. Related: The View From China: Crypto, Crisis and Digital Currencies Feat. Matthew Graham Yields on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes slid by 0.15 percentage point to a new record low of 1.14 percent, indicating heightened demand; bond prices move in the opposite direction of yields. Rates also fell on government bonds from the U.K. Those from Germany and Japan fell further into negative territory. “As interest rates decline, you’re more likely to tip the seesaw toward assets that don’t have yield, such as collectible assets like artwork or gold or bitcoin,” said Greg Cipolaro, co-founder of Digital Asset Research, a New York-based cryptocurrency analysis firm. Bitcoin prices are down 14 percent since Sunday, on track for their worst weekly performance since mid-November. The cryptocurrency slid 2.9 percent on Friday to $8,573, the lowest in a month. Analysts and traders in the nascent market have debated whether bitcoin should trade as a hedge against malaise in traditional markets, or if it’s more vulnerable to a sell-off alongside riskier assets like stocks and emerging-market currencies when the global economic and market outlooks darken. Some investors say bitcoin is mostly uncorrelated with other asset categories, sometimes trading in sync with stocks and other times in opposition. Related: Bitcoin, Uncertainty and the Ultimate Narrative Story continues Bitcoin was launched by its pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto in early 2009, in the wake of the last financial crisis, so the cryptocurrency is largely untested in a market meltdown like the coronavirus-triggered panic selling now roiling stocks. Haven Bet vs. Halving Bet As a feature of the currency’s original design, the pace of new supplies of bitcoin issued to the decentralized network gets cut in half every four years. The next such event — known as the halving — is expected to take place in May. That automatic supply tightening, encoded in the software, differentiates bitcoin sharply from human-led monetary-policy easing by central banks such as the U.S. Federal Reserve. The cryptocurrency’s price jumped 94 percent last year, roughly triple the gains in U.S. stocks; despite this week’s pullback, bitcoin is still up about 19 percent so far in 2020. For now, the bitcoin market might be too immature for large investors with diversified asset portfolios to use as a hedge against a financial crisis. Indeed, bitcoin’s price drop in recent days — gold has slid, too — might signal most investors are still scrambling into cash when there’s a big market sell-off. “We see a lot of these global actions having some impact on bitcoin, but there’s also things that are happening in the bitcoin network, and that could have a larger impact than the Fed cutting interest rates,” says Joe DiPasquale, CEO of the cryptocurrency-focused hedge fund BitBull Capital in San Francisco. “I’m still bullish for bitcoin for the year, and a major reason is the halving.” The Fed’s Next Move The World Health Organization raised its risk assessment of the coronavirus to “very high” from “high,” with Italy now expected to approve emergency measures and quarantines and event cancellations reported in Germany and Switzerland, according to Bloomberg News . Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney has warned of possible school closings in the U.S. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is down 12.5 percent over the past seven days, putting the gauge on track for its worst weekly performance since the 2008 crisis. That’s why investors are betting the Federal Reserve will make a move to help stanch the red ink. According to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, futures contracts used to bet on the Fed’s benchmark interest rate have shifted in the past two days to incorporate the near-certainty of a cut by the time of the central bank’s next regular monetary-policy meeting, scheduled for March 18. Just a week ago, most traders were expecting no change. There’s also now a greater than 50 percent chance the Fed will cut rates by at least a full percentage point by December, from the current range of between 1.5 percent and 1.75 percent. U.S. stocks pared losses on Friday after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in a mid-day statement the central bank was “closely monitoring developments” related to the coronavirus “and their implications for the economic outlook.” “We will use our tools and act as appropriate to support the economy,” Powell said. While rate cuts might ultimately prompt bigger allocations to bitcoin, investors in crypto and traditional markets could be so gripped right now by a crisis mentality that they’re indiscriminately selling all assets perceived as risky. Since cryptocurrencies are relatively new and their prices can be extremely volatile, bitcoin is still generally perceived as a risky asset, Cipolaro said. “Usually in the early stages of a crisis, you’re worried about deflation, not inflation,” he said. Related Stories Bitcoin’s Option Market Sees Low Chance of Post-Halving Rally Bitcoin Rallies After Biggest Weekly Drop Since November || Edison Investment Research Limited: Blockchain: The Second Coming is Nigh: • Security, scalability and regulation improvements are making Blockchain tech investible formainstream capital
• This second wave of interest is likely to deliver the once-hyped disruption predicted for Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)
• A new and significant asset class is set to emerge and will impact on the financial services industry
LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / February 28, 2020 /With the initial cryptocurrency hype cycle having burned itself out, Blockchain and DLT technology has dropped off many investors radar screens. However, a new sector report by Edison Investment Research highlights a concerted surge in investment by major players across many sectors, fuelled by improving security and scalability as well as evolving regulation. From 2020 onwards, Edison expects DLT adoption to accelerate. Which means the technology is likely to finally deliver against its early promise to disrupt the financial services industry.New asset classes are likely to emerge in relatively short timeframes.
Download the full report here
Blockchain supports a new asset class
As well as supporting the emergence of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, DLT can be used to tokeniseother assets - such as shares and real estate - as well as create new assets that are digital representations of traditional securities. Until now, investment in digital assets has been a mainly retail phenomenon.But with the introduction of new regulations and start-ups professionalising their operations, institutions are making their move.
Potential to disrupt existing processes
DLT has the potential to replace many processes in the financial sector, including clearance, settlement, trade finance and data management. Whilst it has the benefit of reducing back-office costs and improving transaction speeds, DLTmay also reduce income streams from intermediary roles. As a partial balance, Edison sees new opportunities for services which certify the accuracy of data before entering the blockchain - as well as subsequent monitoringto keep the real assets underlying the tokens safe.
Early-stage market; incumbents starting to enter
The tokenisation of assets remains at an early stage, with most projects taking the form of pilots orsmall-scale trials. However, traditional financial services businesses are starting to enter the market, alongside a plethora of start-ups. Edison now expects a gradual transition to the use of blockchain, starting with use cases that have the strongest commercial rationales.
Ultimately, we expect to see a shift towards asset tokenisation across a number of asset classes including non-listed equity, debt with small issue volumes and real estate. Strong interest from central banks in issuingdigital currencies further supports our belief that a tipping point has been reached in the institutional adoption of blockchain.
Longer term, blockchain will reshape the industry
At this early stage, we expect to see more partnerships between traditional financial institutions and digital asset specialists, and longer term we would expect to see incumbents acquiring the startups to access expertise and regulated businesses.
Milosz Papst author of the report, said:
"Blockchain technology is no longer just about cryptocurrency. As the sector surrounding the technology continues to evolve, new applications will continue to emerge. Investors can expect to see the financial services industry revolutionized as companies incorporate the technology into many parts of their operations. But this is still very much a new frontier, and only time will tell what the landscape will look like in a few decades time. If this were the internet's development, the year would be 1996."
For media enquiries, please contact:
EdisonGroupRichard Morgan Evans, Borja Miquel, Sam Du BoisE:[email protected]: +44 20 3195 3240
About Edison:
Edison is an investment research and advisory company, with offices in North America, Europe, the Middle-East and Asia-Pacific.The heart of Edison is its world renowned equity research platform and deep multi-sector expertise.At Edison Investment Research, the research is widely read by international investors, advisors and stakeholders.Edison Advisors leverages its core research platform to provide differentiated services including investor relations and strategic consulting.
For more information:www.edisongroup.com
Edison is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Dissemination of a CORPORATE NEWS, transmitted by EQS Group.
SOURCE:Edison Investment Research Limited
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/578407/Edison-Investment-Research-Limited-Blockchain-The-Second-Coming-is-Nigh || Edison Investment Research Limited: Blockchain: The Second Coming is Nigh: Security, scalability and regulation improvements are making Blockchain tech investible formainstream capital This second wave of interest is likely to deliver the once-hyped disruption predicted for Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) A new and significant asset class is set to emerge and will impact on the financial services industry LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / February 28, 2020 / With the initial cryptocurrency hype cycle having burned itself out, Blockchain and DLT technology has dropped off many investors radar screens. However, a new sector report by Edison Investment Research highlights a concerted surge in investment by major players across many sectors, fuelled by improving security and scalability as well as evolving regulation. From 2020 onwards, Edison expects DLT adoption to accelerate. Which means the technology is likely to finally deliver against its early promise to disrupt the financial services industry.New asset classes are likely to emerge in relatively short timeframes. Download the full report here Blockchain supports a new asset class As well as supporting the emergence of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, DLT can be used to tokeniseother assets - such as shares and real estate - as well as create new assets that are digital representations of traditional securities. Until now, investment in digital assets has been a mainly retail phenomenon.But with the introduction of new regulations and start-ups professionalising their operations, institutions are making their move. Potential to disrupt existing processes DLT has the potential to replace many processes in the financial sector, including clearance, settlement, trade finance and data management. Whilst it has the benefit of reducing back-office costs and improving transaction speeds, DLTmay also reduce income streams from intermediary roles. As a partial balance, Edison sees new opportunities for services which certify the accuracy of data before entering the blockchain - as well as subsequent monitoringto keep the real assets underlying the tokens safe. Story continues Early-stage market; incumbents starting to enter The tokenisation of assets remains at an early stage, with most projects taking the form of pilots orsmall-scale trials. However, traditional financial services businesses are starting to enter the market, alongside a plethora of start-ups. Edison now expects a gradual transition to the use of blockchain, starting with use cases that have the strongest commercial rationales. Ultimately, we expect to see a shift towards asset tokenisation across a number of asset classes including non-listed equity, debt with small issue volumes and real estate. Strong interest from central banks in issuingdigital currencies further supports our belief that a tipping point has been reached in the institutional adoption of blockchain. Longer term, blockchain will reshape the industry At this early stage, we expect to see more partnerships between traditional financial institutions and digital asset specialists, and longer term we would expect to see incumbents acquiring the startups to access expertise and regulated businesses. Milosz Papst author of the report, said: "Blockchain technology is no longer just about cryptocurrency. As the sector surrounding the technology continues to evolve, new applications will continue to emerge. Investors can expect to see the financial services industry revolutionized as companies incorporate the technology into many parts of their operations. But this is still very much a new frontier, and only time will tell what the landscape will look like in a few decades time. If this were the internet's development, the year would be 1996." For media enquiries, please contact: EdisonGroup Richard Morgan Evans, Borja Miquel, Sam Du Bois E: [email protected] P: +44 20 3195 3240 About Edison: Edison is an investment research and advisory company, with offices in North America, Europe, the Middle-East and Asia-Pacific.The heart of Edison is its world renowned equity research platform and deep multi-sector expertise.At Edison Investment Research, the research is widely read by international investors, advisors and stakeholders.Edison Advisors leverages its core research platform to provide differentiated services including investor relations and strategic consulting. For more information: www.edisongroup.com Edison is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Dissemination of a CORPORATE NEWS, transmitted by EQS Group. SOURCE: Edison Investment Research Limited View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/578407/Edison-Investment-Research-Limited-Blockchain-The-Second-Coming-is-Nigh || Coronavirus Is Changing How Crypto Markets Are Trading: Cryptocurrency traders are contending with volatile markets due to coronavirus. Since Feb. 25, the number of new COVID-19 cases reported in the rest of the world has surpassed new cases in China, according to the World Health Organization . Fear the virus’ spread will lead to a pandemic that could slow the global economy is dragging down stock prices; the S&P 500 index is in the red by 10 percent since the beginning of 2020. Bitcoin (BTC) has also taken a hit, with the cryptocurrency trading below $9,000 for the first time since January, although as of Feb, 28 it is still up 20 percent for the year to date. Meanwhile, cryptocurrency over-the-counter (OTC) trading volume has been on the rise since the virus became a constant part of the news cycle. “We have been seeing a significant uptick in volume over the last 60 days,” said Michael Leon, a trader at Chicago-based Althena Investor Services, which specializes in serving OTC clients. Upticks in week-over-week volume for cryptocurrency exchanges such as Coinbase and Kraken are also being seen, according to data from CoinGecko. Related: Coronavirus Impacts on Bitcoin (And the IRS’s Dumb Singularity) Globally, the virus’ impact has been varied. Australia, which is closer geographically to Asian economies highly affected by COVID-19, has not seen a significant drop in trading, at least according to one desk. “No noticeable effects here in Australia,” said Tilo Grieco, head of OTC desk at ORTUS, based in Sydney. One strategy some traders are contemplating to prepare for COVID-19 is not holding volatile cryptocurrency assets unless absolutely needed. That’s what Althena’s OTC desk is doing. “We manage inventory very tight and run a matched book, so the coronavirus hasn’t been a factor,” said Althena’s Leon. Inventory management for trading desks may be prudent, given the uncertainty that lies ahead, according to Rupert Douglas, head of business development and institutional sales at Koine, which provides settlement and custody for cryptocurrencies. Story continues “While alternative stores of value like gold and BTC have rallied since the start of the year, they haven’t fared so well over the last few days. The genie – as in volatility – is out of the bottle, with big swings ahead anticipated in all asset classes,” said Douglas. Related: Crypto Firms Tout Dispersed Workforce as Coronavirus Contingency Plan Paul Ciavardini, head of trading at ItBit/Paxos, observed that recent lows in bitcoin’s price are likely spilling over from trading decisions made in traditional markets. “My guess is that we are seeing some traditional institutions, that also have either a crypto side pocket or something like that, lighten up on overall risk with what is happening in the equity and bond market,” said Ciavardini. Related Stories Chinese Crypto and Blockchain Firms Grapple With Coronavirus Outbreak As Fed Contemplates Coronavirus-Prompted Easing, Bitcoin Traders Bet on Halving || Coronavirus Is Changing How Crypto Markets Are Trading: Cryptocurrency traders are contending with volatile markets due to coronavirus. Since Feb. 25, the number of new COVID-19 cases reported in the rest of the world has surpassed new cases in China,according to the World Health Organization.
Fear the virus’ spread will lead to a pandemic that could slow the global economy is dragging down stock prices; the S&P 500 index is in the red by 10 percent since the beginning of 2020.Bitcoin(BTC) has also taken a hit,with the cryptocurrency trading below $9,000for the first time since January, although as of Feb, 28 it is still up 20 percent for the year to date.
Meanwhile, cryptocurrency over-the-counter (OTC) trading volume has been on the rise since the virus became a constant part of the news cycle. “We have been seeing a significant uptick in volume over the last 60 days,” said Michael Leon, a trader at Chicago-based Althena Investor Services, which specializes in serving OTC clients. Upticks in week-over-week volume for cryptocurrency exchanges such as Coinbase and Kraken are also being seen, according to data from CoinGecko.
Related:Coronavirus Impacts on Bitcoin (And the IRS’s Dumb Singularity)
Globally, the virus’ impact has been varied. Australia, which is closer geographically to Asian economies highly affected by COVID-19, has not seen a significant drop in trading, at least according to one desk. “No noticeable effects here in Australia,” said Tilo Grieco, head of OTC desk at ORTUS, based in Sydney.
One strategy some traders are contemplating to prepare for COVID-19 is not holding volatile cryptocurrency assets unless absolutely needed. That’s what Althena’s OTC desk is doing. “We manage inventory very tight and run a matched book, so the coronavirus hasn’t been a factor,” said Althena’s Leon.
Inventory management for trading desks may be prudent, given the uncertainty that lies ahead, according to Rupert Douglas, head of business development and institutional sales at Koine, which provides settlement and custody for cryptocurrencies.
“While alternative stores of value like gold and BTC have rallied since the start of the year, they haven’t fared so well over the last few days. The genie – as in volatility – is out of the bottle, with big swings ahead anticipated in all asset classes,” said Douglas.
Related:Crypto Firms Tout Dispersed Workforce as Coronavirus Contingency Plan
Paul Ciavardini, head of trading at ItBit/Paxos, observed that recent lows in bitcoin’s price are likely spilling over from trading decisions made in traditional markets. “My guess is that we are seeing some traditional institutions, that also have either a crypto side pocket or something like that, lighten up on overall risk with what is happening in the equity and bond market,” said Ciavardini.
• Chinese Crypto and Blockchain Firms Grapple With Coronavirus Outbreak
• As Fed Contemplates Coronavirus-Prompted Easing, Bitcoin Traders Bet on Halving || Litecoin Falls 10% In Bearish Trade: Investing.com - Litecoin was trading at $58.567 by 12:16 (17:16 GMT) on the Investing.com Index on Friday, down 10.09% on the day. It was the largest one-day percentage loss since February 26. The move downwards pushed Litecoin's market cap down to $3.793B, or 1.50% of the total cryptocurrency market cap. At its highest, Litecoin's market cap was $14.099B. Litecoin had traded in a range of $56.953 to $63.302 in the previous twenty-four hours. Over the past seven days, Litecoin has seen a drop in value, as it lost 19.46%. The volume of Litecoin traded in the twenty-four hours to time of writing was $5.259B or 3.34% of the total volume of all cryptocurrencies. It has traded in a range of $56.9527 to $79.9201 in the past 7 days. At its current price, Litecoin is still down 86.06% from its all-time high of $420.00 set on December 12, 2017. Elsewhere in cryptocurrency trading Bitcoin was last at $8,580.6 on the Investing.com Index, down 4.17% on the day. Ethereum was trading at $221.91 on the Investing.com Index, a loss of 6.66%. Bitcoin's market cap was last at $157.527B or 62.49% of the total cryptocurrency market cap, while Ethereum's market cap totaled $24.571B or 9.75% of the total cryptocurrency market value. Related Articles Bitcoin Price Tests 150-Day Moving Average Support; Can it Bounce Back? Grammy-Nominated Artist Akon to Launch Cryptocurrency on Stellar Why Banks Aren’t Banking Your Crypto Startup || Litecoin Falls 10% In Bearish Trade: Investing.com - Litecoin was trading at $58.567 by 12:16 (17:16 GMT) on the Investing.com Index on Friday, down 10.09% on the day. It was the largest one-day percentage loss since February 26.
The move downwards pushed Litecoin's market cap down to $3.793B, or 1.50% of the total cryptocurrency market cap. At its highest, Litecoin's market cap was $14.099B.
Litecoin had traded in a range of $56.953 to $63.302 in the previous twenty-four hours.
Over the past seven days, Litecoin has seen a drop in value, as it lost 19.46%. The volume of Litecoin traded in the twenty-four hours to time of writing was $5.259B or 3.34% of the total volume of all cryptocurrencies. It has traded in a range of $56.9527 to $79.9201 in the past 7 days.
At its current price, Litecoin is still down 86.06% from its all-time high of $420.00 set on December 12, 2017.
Bitcoin was last at $8,580.6 on the Investing.com Index, down 4.17% on the day.
Ethereum was trading at $221.91 on the Investing.com Index, a loss of 6.66%.
Bitcoin's market cap was last at $157.527B or 62.49% of the total cryptocurrency market cap, while Ethereum's market cap totaled $24.571B or 9.75% of the total cryptocurrency market value.
Related Articles
Bitcoin Price Tests 150-Day Moving Average Support; Can it Bounce Back?
Grammy-Nominated Artist Akon to Launch Cryptocurrency on Stellar
Why Banks Aren’t Banking Your Crypto Startup || Why Is ADM (ADM) Down 17.9% Since Last Earnings Report?: It has been about a month since the last earnings report for Archer Daniels Midland (ADM). Shares have lost about 17.9% in that time frame, underperforming the S&P 500. Will the recent negative trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is ADM due for a breakout? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at its most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important drivers. Archer Daniels Q4 Earnings Beat, Nutrition Unit Aids Archer Daniels Midland Company reported better-than-expected earnings and sales results for fourth-quarter 2019. Adjusted earnings of $1.42 per share rose 61.4% from the year-ago quarter and outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 79 cents. On a reported basis, the company’s earnings were 90 cents per share, up 63.6% from the prior-year quarter. Earnings, on a reported and adjusted basis, benefited from the announcement of retroactive biodiesel tax credit (BTC) for 2018 and 2019, which provided subsidy for fuel made from cooking oil, soybean oil and animal fat. This led to incremental earnings of 61 cents per share in the fourth quarter. Additionally, strong Nutrition business, and robust global demand for biodiesel and food oils aided results. Revenues improved 2.4% year over year to $16,329 million and surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $15,080 million. The top line benefited from robust sales growth in the Nutrition segment. Operational Discussion Going by segments, revenues for Nutrition segment rose 57% year over year to $1,414 million. Meanwhile, revenues for Ag Services & Oilseeds, and Carbohydrate Solutions segments were $12,359 million and $2,477 million, respectively, reflecting a decline of 0.8% each. Revenues for the Other segment declined 12.2% to $79 million. Moreover, Archer Daniels reported adjusted segment operating profit of $1,028 million in fourth-quarter 2019, up 19.5% from the year-ago quarter. On a GAAP basis, the company’s segmental operating profits rose 18.8% year over year to $934 million. On a segmental adjusted basis, adjusted operating profit at Ag Services & Oilseeds improved 20.2% year over year to $739 million. Operating results gained from the passage of BTC. Operating results for the Ag Services business were slightly down year over year on softness in North America due to a delayed harvest in the United States. This led to lower exports and a consequent decline in margins. Meanwhile, improved margins, stemming from robust export demand and farmer selling, aided results in South America. The Crushing business witnessed strong margins, which was lower than the record levels seen last year. However, Crushing results remained soft year over year, owing to negative impacts of timing in the reported quarter. Operating results for Refined Products and Other improved substantially on gains from the passage of BTC. Additionally, the unit witnessed strong and substantial gains from robust global demand for biodiesel and food oils as well as the Algar Agro acquisition in Brazil. Meanwhile, Wilmar witnessed a slight improvement year over year. The Carbohydrate Solutions segment’s adjusted operating profit declined 11.7% to $174 million, owing to strong results from Starches and Sweeteners, offset by a decline in Bio-products. Lower manufacturing costs and higher income from co-products in North America primarily aided results for Starches and Sweeteners. This was partly offset by soft margins in EMEAI. Further, results gained from strong performance at global wheat milling. Meanwhile, results for Bio-products were principally hurt by unfavorable ethanol industry margins. At the Nutrition segment, adjusted operating profit of $102 million improved 64.5% from $62 million in the year-ago quarter, owing to significant gains in WFSI and Animal Nutrition units. Results for WFSI benefited from robust sales and margins for WILD in North America, EMEAI and APAC. The Specialty Ingredients unit gained from sustained margin growth in proteins, offset largely by soft sales volume and margins in emulsifiers as well as lower edible beans margins. Health & Wellness results were aided by new agreement for ADM fermentation capacity. In Animal Nutrition, results reflected positive contributions from Neovia, offset by persistent losses in lysine on weak global pricing environment. Other Financials Archer Daniels ended 2019 with cash and cash equivalents of $852 million, long-term debt — including current maturities — of $7,679 million, and shareholders’ equity of $19,225 million. In 2019, the company used $5,452 million in cash for operating activities. Additionally, it bought back shares of $150 million and paid out dividends of $789 million in 2019. Further, its average trailing four-quarter adjusted return on invested capital (ROIC) was 7.5%. Story continues How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then? It turns out, estimates review have trended downward during the past month. The consensus estimate has shifted -11.74% due to these changes. VGM Scores Currently, ADM has a subpar Growth Score of D, however its Momentum Score is doing a lot better with an A. Charting a somewhat similar path, the stock was allocated a grade of B on the value side, putting it in the top 40% for this investment strategy. Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of B. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in. Outlook Estimates have been broadly trending downward for the stock, and the magnitude of this revision indicates a downward shift. Notably, ADM has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research || Why Is ADM (ADM) Down 17.9% Since Last Earnings Report?: It has been about a month since the last earnings report for Archer Daniels Midland (ADM). Shares have lost about 17.9% in that time frame, underperforming the S&P 500.
Will the recent negative trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is ADM due for a breakout? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at its most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important drivers.
Archer Daniels Q4 Earnings Beat, Nutrition Unit AidsArcher Daniels Midland Company reported better-than-expected earnings and sales results for fourth-quarter 2019.Adjusted earnings of $1.42 per share rose 61.4% from the year-ago quarter and outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 79 cents. On a reported basis, the company’s earnings were 90 cents per share, up 63.6% from the prior-year quarter.Earnings, on a reported and adjusted basis, benefited from the announcement of retroactive biodiesel tax credit (BTC) for 2018 and 2019, which provided subsidy for fuel made from cooking oil, soybean oil and animal fat. This led to incremental earnings of 61 cents per share in the fourth quarter. Additionally, strong Nutrition business, and robust global demand for biodiesel and food oils aided results.Revenues improved 2.4% year over year to $16,329 million and surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $15,080 million. The top line benefited from robust sales growth in the Nutrition segment.Operational DiscussionGoing by segments, revenues for Nutrition segment rose 57% year over year to $1,414 million. Meanwhile, revenues for Ag Services & Oilseeds, and Carbohydrate Solutions segments were $12,359 million and $2,477 million, respectively, reflecting a decline of 0.8% each. Revenues for the Other segment declined 12.2% to $79 million.Moreover, Archer Daniels reported adjusted segment operating profit of $1,028 million in fourth-quarter 2019, up 19.5% from the year-ago quarter. On a GAAP basis, the company’s segmental operating profits rose 18.8% year over year to $934 million.On a segmental adjusted basis, adjusted operating profit at Ag Services & Oilseeds improved 20.2% year over year to $739 million. Operating results gained from the passage of BTC. Operating results for the Ag Services business were slightly down year over year on softness in North America due to a delayed harvest in the United States. This led to lower exports and a consequent decline in margins. Meanwhile, improved margins, stemming from robust export demand and farmer selling, aided results in South America.The Crushing business witnessed strong margins, which was lower than the record levels seen last year. However, Crushing results remained soft year over year, owing to negative impacts of timing in the reported quarter. Operating results for Refined Products and Other improved substantially on gains from the passage of BTC. Additionally, the unit witnessed strong and substantial gains from robust global demand for biodiesel and food oils as well as the Algar Agro acquisition in Brazil. Meanwhile, Wilmar witnessed a slight improvement year over year.The Carbohydrate Solutions segment’s adjusted operating profit declined 11.7% to $174 million, owing to strong results from Starches and Sweeteners, offset by a decline in Bio-products. Lower manufacturing costs and higher income from co-products in North America primarily aided results for Starches and Sweeteners. This was partly offset by soft margins in EMEAI. Further, results gained from strong performance at global wheat milling. Meanwhile, results for Bio-products were principally hurt by unfavorable ethanol industry margins.At the Nutrition segment, adjusted operating profit of $102 million improved 64.5% from $62 million in the year-ago quarter, owing to significant gains in WFSI and Animal Nutrition units. Results for WFSI benefited from robust sales and margins for WILD in North America, EMEAI and APAC. The Specialty Ingredients unit gained from sustained margin growth in proteins, offset largely by soft sales volume and margins in emulsifiers as well as lower edible beans margins. Health & Wellness results were aided by new agreement for ADM fermentation capacity. In Animal Nutrition, results reflected positive contributions from Neovia, offset by persistent losses in lysine on weak global pricing environment.Other FinancialsArcher Daniels ended 2019 with cash and cash equivalents of $852 million, long-term debt — including current maturities — of $7,679 million, and shareholders’ equity of $19,225 million.In 2019, the company used $5,452 million in cash for operating activities. Additionally, it bought back shares of $150 million and paid out dividends of $789 million in 2019. Further, its average trailing four-quarter adjusted return on invested capital (ROIC) was 7.5%.
How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then?
It turns out, estimates review have trended downward during the past month. The consensus estimate has shifted -11.74% due to these changes.
VGM Scores
Currently, ADM has a subpar Growth Score of D, however its Momentum Score is doing a lot better with an A. Charting a somewhat similar path, the stock was allocated a grade of B on the value side, putting it in the top 40% for this investment strategy.
Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of B. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in.
Outlook
Estimates have been broadly trending downward for the stock, and the magnitude of this revision indicates a downward shift. Notably, ADM has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportArcher Daniels Midland Company (ADM) : Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research || Microsoft Updates Edge Browser to Protect Against Illicit Crypto Miners: With malicious cryptocurrency miners having proliferated over the internet in the last two years, Microsoft has moved to protect users of its Edge web browser from the effects of the malicious software.
In ablog post on Thursday, the tech giant said it had enabled a feature that will spot and prevent the download of “potentially unwanted applications” (PUAs) such as cryptojackers or adware.
Cryptojackers utilize code hidden on websites or downloaded onto users’ devices to harness computer processing power to mine cryptocurrencies.
Related:Ex-Microsoft Engineer Used Bitcoin to Help Embezzle Millions From Tech Giant
Microsoft explained it added the feature after users complained that when downloading free software from the internet, they often had apps “with a poor reputation” being installed at the same time.
The new feature – available in Edge versions from 80.0.338.0 on – is off by default, but can be switched on in the Privacy and Services settings panel.
As Microsoft said, PUAs like miners can slow a user’s computer. They can also lead to excessive fan noise and overheating while they steal victim’s electricity to carry out mining tasks in the background.
While users complained of free software sites being laden with cryptojackers, they can find their way into apparently legitimate sources too. A year ago,eight Windows appson the Microsoft Store were discovered by Symantec to be hosting a version of Coinhive, a commonly deployed script for mining themonero(XMR) cryptocurrency. The apps were removed from the site after Microsoft was alerted.
Related:Microsoft Teams up With Enjin to Offer Crypto Collectible Rewards
A report from Skybox Security in 2018 said crypto mining malware hadovertaken ransomwareas the cybercriminal’s weapon of choice. The firm’s figures suggested cryptojacking comprised 32 percent of all cyberattacks at the time.
Referring to its new miner blocking feature, Microsoft said: “Our goal is to assist users in getting the apps they want, while empowering them to maintain control over their devices and experiences.”
• Microsoft, Intel Back Ethereum-Based Token to Reward Consortium Efforts
• Microsoft, Salesforce Join Hyperledger Enterprise Blockchain Consortium || Microsoft Updates Edge Browser to Protect Against Illicit Crypto Miners: With malicious cryptocurrency miners having proliferated over the internet in the last two years, Microsoft has moved to protect users of its Edge web browser from the effects of the malicious software. In a blog post on Thursday , the tech giant said it had enabled a feature that will spot and prevent the download of “potentially unwanted applications” (PUAs) such as cryptojackers or adware. Cryptojackers utilize code hidden on websites or downloaded onto users’ devices to harness computer processing power to mine cryptocurrencies. Related: Ex-Microsoft Engineer Used Bitcoin to Help Embezzle Millions From Tech Giant Microsoft explained it added the feature after users complained that when downloading free software from the internet, they often had apps “with a poor reputation” being installed at the same time. The new feature – available in Edge versions from 80.0.338.0 on – is off by default, but can be switched on in the Privacy and Services settings panel. As Microsoft said, PUAs like miners can slow a user’s computer. They can also lead to excessive fan noise and overheating while they steal victim’s electricity to carry out mining tasks in the background. While users complained of free software sites being laden with cryptojackers, they can find their way into apparently legitimate sources too. A year ago, eight Windows apps on the Microsoft Store were discovered by Symantec to be hosting a version of Coinhive, a commonly deployed script for mining the monero (XMR) cryptocurrency. The apps were removed from the site after Microsoft was alerted. Related: Microsoft Teams up With Enjin to Offer Crypto Collectible Rewards A report from Skybox Security in 2018 said crypto mining malware had overtaken ransomware as the cybercriminal’s weapon of choice. The firm’s figures suggested cryptojacking comprised 32 percent of all cyberattacks at the time. Referring to its new miner blocking feature, Microsoft said: “Our goal is to assist users in getting the apps they want, while empowering them to maintain control over their devices and experiences.” Related Stories Microsoft, Intel Back Ethereum-Based Token to Reward Consortium Efforts Microsoft, Salesforce Join Hyperledger Enterprise Blockchain Consortium View comments || Millennials to Drive Bitcoin Higher: 4 Stocks to Watch: U.S. stock markets fell for the sixth straight day on Thursday after the coronavirus epidemic sparked fears of a slowdown in the major economies of the world. Following this, investors rotated out of stocks to safer haven assets such as gold and U.S. Treasury bonds. Bitcoin prices rose 1.4% to $8,902. The world’s favorite cryptocurrency rose along with other popular cryptocurrencies such as ether. While some might argue, like they have in the past, that Bitcoin is all but a fad, millennials have a different take on it when it comes to investing. Approximately one-third of all the millennials in the country prefer to hold Bitcoin over shares. Further, a staggering 43% of U.S. millennials stated that they trusted cryptocurrency exchanges more than America’s stock exchanges. A report by Edelman stated that approximately 25% if the country’s millennials who earn at least $100,000 in individual or joint income or own $50,000 worth of investable assets, admitted to either holding or using cryptocurrencies. Further, the report also stated that another 31% expressed their interest in using them. Quite unsurprisingly, a shift toward alternative banking options such as PayPal PYPL and Square Cash have also popularized Bitcoins. Tech-savvy millennials who find the digital way of doing business efficient and normal choose to take this route. Bitcoin or ‘Digital Gold’? It is a norm to save up for the future by investing in gold and bonds, a lesson that has been passed down through generations. However, technology and money have revolutionized the way investing is done in today’s age. Millennials, who vouch for bitcoin democratization, also prefer the world’s numero uno cryptocurrency as a form of investment to save for the future. A survey revealed that millennials are five times more likely than baby boomers to say that Bitcoin is the best way to save for the future. Such sentiments have only cemented the cryptocurrency’s place as the digital gold of the modern world. Story continues Transfer of Wealth from Baby Boomers to Millennials Now that it has more or less been established that millennials prefer Bitcoins for long-term savings, an increase in millennials’ wealth should only prove to be a boon for Bitcoin. A generational shift of wealth from the baby boomers, currently the richest generation in America’s history, is set to take place through the 2020s. After living the American dream and enjoying a long period of economic prosperity, baby boomers are all set to pass on the baton of wealth to the largest generational cohort currently in America, the millennials. It is estimated that millennials would collectively receive approximately $7 trillion from their elders till 2030. This is going to shape up the cryptocurrency space over the next decade, not to mention technology. 4 Stocks to Watch Out For As with any revolutionary technology, the Lindy effect applies to Bitcoin as well. The Lindy effect is a theory, which states that the future life expectancy of certain non-perishable things such as technology or an idea is proportional to their current age. This means that for every additional period that the technology survives, it ensures a longer life expectancy. This only strengthens the argument that Bitcoins are the future. In this context, we have selected four stocks that are expected to gain from these factors. Microsoft Corporation MSFT became the first major cloud hosting provider to integrate blockchain into its Azure cloud last year. Furthermore, the company’s affinity for Bitcoin is a known fact. The tech giant, has in the past, also launched the decentralized identity system on Bitcoin. The company carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and is based out of Redmond, WA. It has an expected earnings growth rate of 18.72% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has improved 5.4% over the past 60 days. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here . International Business Machines Corporation IBM has been one of the early providers of the blockchain technology. Broad-based availability of the IBM Blockchain World Wire — a blockchain driven global payments network has driven the company’s performance in the past. The company carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and is based out of Armonk, NY. It has an expected earnings growth rate of 4.30% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has improved 1.2% over the past 60 days. PayPal Holdings, Inc. is another bitcoin-related stock that you must watch. The leader in digital payment process has done well recently to strike a deal with three major bitcoin payment processors, BitPay, GoCoin and Coinbase, to help PayPal merchants accept Bitcoin as a mode of payment. The company carries a Zacks Rank #3 and is based out of San Jose, CA. It has an expected earnings growth rate of 11.35% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has improved 1.4% over the past 60 days. Social media giant Facebook Inc. FB is another stock worth taking note of. Facebook currently has a Zacks Rank #3. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-quarter earnings has increased 2.7% over the past 60 days. It has an expected earnings growth rate of 44.79% for the current year. 5 Stocks Set to Double Each was hand-picked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2020. Each comes from a different sector and has unique qualities and catalysts that could fuel exceptional growth. Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor. Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >> Click to get this free report Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) : Free Stock Analysis Report International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) : Free Stock Analysis Report Facebook, Inc. (FB) : Free Stock Analysis Report PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research
[Social Media Buzz]
None available.
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8562.45, 8869.67, 8787.79, 8755.25, 9078.76, 9122.55, 8909.95, 8108.12, 7923.64, 7909.73
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 430.31, 364.33, 387.54, 382.30, 387.17, 380.15, 420.23, 410.26, 382.49, 387.49, 402.97, 391.73, 392.15, 394.97, 380.29, 379.47, 378.26, 368.77, 373.06, 374.45, 369.95, 389.59, 386.55, 376.52, 376.62, 373.45, 376.03, 381.65, 379.65, 384.26, 391.86, 407.23, 400.18, 407.49, 416.32, 422.37, 420.79, 437.16, 438.80, 437.75, 420.74, 424.95, 424.54, 432.15, 432.52, 433.50, 437.70, 435.12, 423.99, 421.65, 410.94, 400.57, 407.71, 414.32, 413.97, 414.86, 417.13, 421.69, 411.62, 414.07, 416.44, 416.83, 417.01, 420.62, 409.55, 410.44, 413.76, 413.31, 418.09, 418.04, 416.39, 417.18, 417.95, 426.77, 424.23, 416.52, 414.82, 416.73, 417.96, 420.87, 420.90, 421.44, 424.03, 423.41, 422.74, 420.35, 419.41, 421.56, 422.48, 425.19.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2016-04-12]
Volume: 70728800, RSI (14-day): 58.48, 50-day EMA: 417.24, 200-day EMA: 379.50
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1259.40, Gold RSI: 60.02
Oil Price: 42.17, Oil RSI: 65.90
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Your first trade for Tuesday: The "Fast Money" traders gave their final trades of the day.
Pete Najarian was a buyer of IBM.
Brian Kelly was a buyer of GDX.
Karen Finerman was a buyer of C.
Guy Adami was a buyer of CSCO.
Trader disclosure: On Monday, April 11 the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders:
PETE NAJARIAN is long AAPL, BAC, BMY, DIS, DISCA, GE, KMI, KMI.A, KO, LUX, MRK, PEP, PFE, SAVE, VIAB Long Calls: AAL, AMAT, AGN, AKS, AMJ, BAC, BAX, BBBY, CL, CRM, DAL, EBAY, ECA, EGO, ENER, GRPN, HAIN, IBM, KBH, KO, KSS, LC, MDLZ, MET, MSFT, NLNK, POT, RIG, SBUX, SCHW, SLV, SLW, SPG, TCK, UAL, WYNN, XOM, YHOO, ZIOP, EWZ, GDX. Long Puts: DB, HES, MS, PBR, RY, VLO
BRIAN KELLY is long BBRY, Bitcoin, GLD, SH, SLV, TLT, US Dollar, UUP, Yen; he is short Aussie Dollar, BLK, British Pound, CS, DB, Euro, EWA, EWH, FRC, Hong Kong Dollar, UBS, SPY, Yuan, 5-Year Note Futures
KAREN FINERMAN is long BAC, C, FL, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, LYV, KORS, M, SEDG, SPY puts, URI. Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, BOKF, C, C calls, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, JPM calls, KORS, LYV, M, MOH, NRF, PLCE, SPY puts, URI, her firm is short IWM, MDY. Karen Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International.
GUY ADAMI is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
More From CNBC
• Top News and Analysis
• Latest News Video
• Personal Finance || Your first trade for Tuesday: The " Fast Money " traders gave their final trades of the day. Pete Najarian was a buyer of IBM. Brian Kelly was a buyer of GDX. Karen Finerman was a buyer of C. Guy Adami was a buyer of CSCO. Trader disclosure: On Monday, April 11 the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders: PETE NAJARIAN is long AAPL, BAC, BMY, DIS, DISCA, GE, KMI, KMI.A, KO, LUX, MRK, PEP, PFE, SAVE, VIAB Long Calls: AAL, AMAT, AGN, AKS, AMJ, BAC, BAX, BBBY, CL, CRM, DAL, EBAY, ECA, EGO, ENER, GRPN, HAIN, IBM, KBH, KO, KSS, LC, MDLZ, MET, MSFT, NLNK, POT, RIG, SBUX, SCHW, SLV, SLW, SPG, TCK, UAL, WYNN, XOM, YHOO, ZIOP, EWZ, GDX. Long Puts: DB, HES, MS, PBR, RY, VLO BRIAN KELLY is long BBRY, Bitcoin, GLD, SH, SLV, TLT, US Dollar, UUP, Yen; he is short Aussie Dollar, BLK, British Pound, CS, DB, Euro, EWA, EWH, FRC, Hong Kong Dollar, UBS, SPY, Yuan, 5-Year Note Futures KAREN FINERMAN is long BAC, C, FL, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, LYV, KORS, M, SEDG, SPY puts, URI. Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, BOKF, C, C calls, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, JPM calls, KORS, LYV, M, MOH, NRF, PLCE, SPY puts, URI, her firm is short IWM, MDY. Karen Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International. GUY ADAMI is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck. More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || Microsoft Is on Board with Disruptive Blockchain Technology: Blockchain and BMW: Microsoft Is Making Big Strides
(Continued from Prior Part)
Blockchain technology
Previously in the series, we briefly discussed Microsoft’s (MSFT) partnership with R3CV to promote blockchain technology. Let’s look deeper into the technology to get an understanding of why it is being perceived as a hot commodity in the financial world.
Blockchain is the technology that is the foundation of Bitcoin, the world’s first decentralized digital currency, also known as cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency is an encrypted digital currency that works independently of any banks or regulatory authorities.
Blockchain applications are also referred to as “distributed ledger technology.” As they are decentralized, they eliminate the need for a centralized database.
Bitcoin’s popularity sparked the interest of the banking and finance sector in blockchain technology. Blockchains are online ledgers that are used to store and record transactions. However, they can store other types of records, which explains the increased interest. Globally, banks share the opinion that blockchain technology can be employed in areas ranging from remittances to securities exchanges. Barclays stated that the technology has “been abstracted to carry any sort of asset which can be represented digitally.”
The financial world’s interest in blockchain technology
Financial institutions believe that blockchain technology can eliminate inefficiencies currently present in the financial markets while providing enhanced liquidity, transparency, and security. Blockchain technology eliminates the requirement of the intermediary and thus mitigates the risk of human error with full automation.
Blockchain enables anyone to create and complete smart contracts permanently stored in the public ledger. Smart contracts are computer programs that can be cryptographed to perform a transaction once a particular set of conditions are met. Blockchain technology can help banks that must spend significant money, time, and resources on items like trade credit, which is highly paper driven and requires manual work.
JP Morgan (JPM), Goldman Sachs (GS), and Barclays (BCS) have made significant investments in this technology, as we will see in later parts of the series. Microsoft also agrees, which explains its partnership with R3CV.
You may want to consider investing in the PowerShares QQQ Trust, Series 1 ETF (QQQ) to gain exposure to Microsoft, which makes up 8.4% of QQQ. Investors who would like exposure to application software could also consider this ETF. Application software makes up ~28.4% of QQQ.
Continue to Next Part
Browse this series on Market Realist:
• Part 1 - Microsoft Azure Wins a High-Profile Customer in BMW
• Part 2 - How Microsoft’s Azure Is Giving Stiff Competition to Amazon’s AWS
• Part 3 - Why Microsoft’s Partnership with R3CV Is Making News || Microsoft Is on Board with Disruptive Blockchain Technology: Blockchain and BMW: Microsoft Is Making Big Strides ( Continued from Prior Part ) Blockchain technology Previously in the series, we briefly discussed Microsoft’s (MSFT) partnership with R3CV to promote blockchain technology. Let’s look deeper into the technology to get an understanding of why it is being perceived as a hot commodity in the financial world. Blockchain is the technology that is the foundation of Bitcoin, the world’s first decentralized digital currency, also known as cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency is an encrypted digital currency that works independently of any banks or regulatory authorities. Blockchain applications are also referred to as “distributed ledger technology.” As they are decentralized, they eliminate the need for a centralized database. Bitcoin’s popularity sparked the interest of the banking and finance sector in blockchain technology. Blockchains are online ledgers that are used to store and record transactions. However, they can store other types of records, which explains the increased interest. Globally, banks share the opinion that blockchain technology can be employed in areas ranging from remittances to securities exchanges. Barclays stated that the technology has “been abstracted to carry any sort of asset which can be represented digitally.” The financial world’s interest in blockchain technology Financial institutions believe that blockchain technology can eliminate inefficiencies currently present in the financial markets while providing enhanced liquidity, transparency, and security. Blockchain technology eliminates the requirement of the intermediary and thus mitigates the risk of human error with full automation. Blockchain enables anyone to create and complete smart contracts permanently stored in the public ledger. Smart contracts are computer programs that can be cryptographed to perform a transaction once a particular set of conditions are met. Blockchain technology can help banks that must spend significant money, time, and resources on items like trade credit, which is highly paper driven and requires manual work. Story continues JP Morgan (JPM), Goldman Sachs (GS), and Barclays (BCS) have made significant investments in this technology, as we will see in later parts of the series. Microsoft also agrees, which explains its partnership with R3CV. You may want to consider investing in the PowerShares QQQ Trust, Series 1 ETF (QQQ) to gain exposure to Microsoft, which makes up 8.4% of QQQ. Investors who would like exposure to application software could also consider this ETF. Application software makes up ~28.4% of QQQ. Continue to Next Part Browse this series on Market Realist: Part 1 - Microsoft Azure Wins a High-Profile Customer in BMW Part 2 - How Microsoft’s Azure Is Giving Stiff Competition to Amazon’s AWS Part 3 - Why Microsoft’s Partnership with R3CV Is Making News || Blockchain won’t kill banks: Bitcoin pioneer: Blockchain – the technology that underpins the cryptocurrency bitcoin – is unlikely to kill banks despite warnings from top industry executives, the chair of a bitcoin non-profit organization told CNBC on Monday.
Last week, Andrey Sharov, a vice president at Russia's Sberbank, said banks would disappear by 2026 due to the rising use of blockchain technology.
"In 10 years, there will be no banks, I'm afraid," according to a translation of Sharov's comments by the Coinfox bitcoin news website.
But Brock Pierce, the chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, said that while the adoption of blockchain will hit parts of a bank, it will ultimately create opportunity.
"There are certain aspects of their business that are going to be negatively impacted, but there are also going to be other business units that are going to be positively impacted and new business units that get created that might not even exist today," Pierce told CNBC in an interview on Monday.
"And the parts of the industry that are being most negatively impacted are the ones where the bank is not providing much in the way of value, where they are being a toll taker but not really a value creator."
Blockchain is the technology that underlies the cryptocurrency bitcoin. It works like a huge, decentralized ledger for bitcoin which records every transaction and stores this information on a global network so it cannot be tampered with.Banks feel blockchain technologycan be utilized in areas from remittances to securities exchanges to bring about efficiency.
The Bitcoin Foundation positions itself as an organization that is helping to advance the use of the cryptocurrency "through advocacy, education and support of adoption and core development", according to its website. While there is no centralized authority for bitcoin, the organization is trying to create common standards for its use.
Pierce has a varied history. He was a child film star who appeared in Disney's "The Mighty Ducks" film in the early 1990s. He has previously run internet companies and is a partner in Blockchain Capital, a venture capital firm that invests in companies in the space.
A number of major financial institutions have been speaking publically about blockchain and touting its potential. A firm called R3 has brought together a group of the world's biggest banks including JPMorgan and Citigroup and is dedicated to researching and delivering new financial technology. Another company called Digital Asset Holdings, founded by an ex-top JPMorgan executive, partnered with JPMorgan earlier this year to explore blockchain technology.
Speaking at the Money 2020 conference in Copenhagen last week, Digital Asset Holdings chief executive Blythe Masters, said blockchain technology will be "deployed in a commercial setting in less than a couple of years," butwidespread adoption would take longer, a point Pierce echoed.
"I think banks are going to take a while to integrate this … it's going to take them years of testing before they start to commercialize aspects of the technology … it's more likely to have an impact in other industries in the short term which are less-regulated and where the stakes are lower," Pierce told CNBC.
Pierce also explained that there would be "dozens of different versions of blockchains" deployed for different use cases.
The Bitcoin Foundation has had a checkered history. In December, Pierce declared in meeting minutes that the organization was "close to running out of money."
And bitcoin itself has had a bad reputation. The cryptocurrency is often linked to allowing people to purchase illegal items anonymously, while one of the world's largest bitcoin exchanges,Mt. Gox, collapsed in 2014.
While not referring to these specific incidents, Pierce did admit that bitcoin's reputation has suffered some bad publicity, and why the banks are focusing on the underlying technology of blockchain.
"Bitcoin's got a major PR (public relations) problem and that's why you hear major banks saying bitcoin bad, blockchain good," Pierce said.
"Emerging technologies and the earliest adopters often produce these types of messages. And bitcoin as the pioneer takes the arrows in the back…which is probably not warranted."
More From CNBC
• Top News and Analysis
• Latest News Video
• Personal Finance || Blockchain won’t kill banks: Bitcoin pioneer: Blockchain – the technology that underpins the cryptocurrency bitcoin – is unlikely to kill banks despite warnings from top industry executives, the chair of a bitcoin non-profit organization told CNBC on Monday.
Last week, Andrey Sharov, a vice president at Russia's Sberbank, said banks would disappear by 2026 due to the rising use of blockchain technology.
"In 10 years, there will be no banks, I'm afraid," according to a translation of Sharov's comments by the Coinfox bitcoin news website.
But Brock Pierce, the chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, said that while the adoption of blockchain will hit parts of a bank, it will ultimately create opportunity.
"There are certain aspects of their business that are going to be negatively impacted, but there are also going to be other business units that are going to be positively impacted and new business units that get created that might not even exist today," Pierce told CNBC in an interview on Monday.
"And the parts of the industry that are being most negatively impacted are the ones where the bank is not providing much in the way of value, where they are being a toll taker but not really a value creator."
Blockchain is the technology that underlies the cryptocurrency bitcoin. It works like a huge, decentralized ledger for bitcoin which records every transaction and stores this information on a global network so it cannot be tampered with.Banks feel blockchain technologycan be utilized in areas from remittances to securities exchanges to bring about efficiency.
The Bitcoin Foundation positions itself as an organization that is helping to advance the use of the cryptocurrency "through advocacy, education and support of adoption and core development", according to its website. While there is no centralized authority for bitcoin, the organization is trying to create common standards for its use.
Pierce has a varied history. He was a child film star who appeared in Disney's "The Mighty Ducks" film in the early 1990s. He has previously run internet companies and is a partner in Blockchain Capital, a venture capital firm that invests in companies in the space.
A number of major financial institutions have been speaking publically about blockchain and touting its potential. A firm called R3 has brought together a group of the world's biggest banks including JPMorgan and Citigroup and is dedicated to researching and delivering new financial technology. Another company called Digital Asset Holdings, founded by an ex-top JPMorgan executive, partnered with JPMorgan earlier this year to explore blockchain technology.
Speaking at the Money 2020 conference in Copenhagen last week, Digital Asset Holdings chief executive Blythe Masters, said blockchain technology will be "deployed in a commercial setting in less than a couple of years," butwidespread adoption would take longer, a point Pierce echoed.
"I think banks are going to take a while to integrate this … it's going to take them years of testing before they start to commercialize aspects of the technology … it's more likely to have an impact in other industries in the short term which are less-regulated and where the stakes are lower," Pierce told CNBC.
Pierce also explained that there would be "dozens of different versions of blockchains" deployed for different use cases.
The Bitcoin Foundation has had a checkered history. In December, Pierce declared in meeting minutes that the organization was "close to running out of money."
And bitcoin itself has had a bad reputation. The cryptocurrency is often linked to allowing people to purchase illegal items anonymously, while one of the world's largest bitcoin exchanges,Mt. Gox, collapsed in 2014.
While not referring to these specific incidents, Pierce did admit that bitcoin's reputation has suffered some bad publicity, and why the banks are focusing on the underlying technology of blockchain.
"Bitcoin's got a major PR (public relations) problem and that's why you hear major banks saying bitcoin bad, blockchain good," Pierce said.
"Emerging technologies and the earliest adopters often produce these types of messages. And bitcoin as the pioneer takes the arrows in the back…which is probably not warranted."
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• Personal Finance || Blockchain won’t kill banks: Bitcoin pioneer: Blockchain – the technology that underpins the cryptocurrency bitcoin – is unlikely to kill banks despite warnings from top industry executives, the chair of a bitcoin non-profit organization told CNBC on Monday. Last week, Andrey Sharov, a vice president at Russia's Sberbank, said banks would disappear by 2026 due to the rising use of blockchain technology. "In 10 years, there will be no banks, I'm afraid," according to a translation of Sharov's comments by the Coinfox bitcoin news website. But Brock Pierce, the chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, said that while the adoption of blockchain will hit parts of a bank, it will ultimately create opportunity. "There are certain aspects of their business that are going to be negatively impacted, but there are also going to be other business units that are going to be positively impacted and new business units that get created that might not even exist today," Pierce told CNBC in an interview on Monday. "And the parts of the industry that are being most negatively impacted are the ones where the bank is not providing much in the way of value, where they are being a toll taker but not really a value creator." Blockchain is the technology that underlies the cryptocurrency bitcoin. It works like a huge, decentralized ledger for bitcoin which records every transaction and stores this information on a global network so it cannot be tampered with. Banks feel blockchain technology can be utilized in areas from remittances to securities exchanges to bring about efficiency. The Bitcoin Foundation positions itself as an organization that is helping to advance the use of the cryptocurrency "through advocacy, education and support of adoption and core development", according to its website. While there is no centralized authority for bitcoin, the organization is trying to create common standards for its use. Pierce has a varied history. He was a child film star who appeared in Disney's "The Mighty Ducks" film in the early 1990s. He has previously run internet companies and is a partner in Blockchain Capital, a venture capital firm that invests in companies in the space. Story continues A number of major financial institutions have been speaking publically about blockchain and touting its potential. A firm called R3 has brought together a group of the world's biggest banks including JPMorgan and Citigroup and is dedicated to researching and delivering new financial technology. Another company called Digital Asset Holdings, founded by an ex-top JPMorgan executive, partnered with JPMorgan earlier this year to explore blockchain technology. Speaking at the Money 2020 conference in Copenhagen last week, Digital Asset Holdings chief executive Blythe Masters, said blockchain technology will be "deployed in a commercial setting in less than a couple of years," but widespread adoption would take longer , a point Pierce echoed. "I think banks are going to take a while to integrate this … it's going to take them years of testing before they start to commercialize aspects of the technology … it's more likely to have an impact in other industries in the short term which are less-regulated and where the stakes are lower," Pierce told CNBC. Pierce also explained that there would be "dozens of different versions of blockchains" deployed for different use cases. The Bitcoin Foundation has had a checkered history. In December, Pierce declared in meeting minutes that the organization was "close to running out of money." And bitcoin itself has had a bad reputation. The cryptocurrency is often linked to allowing people to purchase illegal items anonymously, while one of the world's largest bitcoin exchanges, Mt. Gox, collapsed in 2014 . While not referring to these specific incidents, Pierce did admit that bitcoin's reputation has suffered some bad publicity, and why the banks are focusing on the underlying technology of blockchain. "Bitcoin's got a major PR (public relations) problem and that's why you hear major banks saying bitcoin bad, blockchain good," Pierce said. "Emerging technologies and the earliest adopters often produce these types of messages. And bitcoin as the pioneer takes the arrows in the back…which is probably not warranted." More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || Newspaper giants threaten Brave over its ad-swapping browser: You remember how Brave's web browser pays you to see replacement ads (overriding a site's usual ads) when you don't pay to block promos outright? Yeah, publishers aren't very happy about that. A coalition of 17 news giants, including the New York Times and Dow Jones, has sent Brave a letter claiming that its ad-swapping business model is illegal. Allegedly, the approach is tantamount to copyright infringement. It's "indistinguishable" from stealing articles and posting them on another site, according to the publishers. The group also doesn't buy the argument that Bitcoin payments and revenue sharing will make up for the lack of native ads -- those methods "cannot begin to compensate" for the lost income. Not surprisingly, Brave isn't having any of it. CEO Brendan Eich says the browser isn't replacing publishers' own ads, including any first-party ads that aren't using third-party tracking. It's trying to create a better ad network that actually pays more than third-party options, he argues. Eich goes so far as to suggest that the publishers are being disingenuous (especially when sidestepping their own ad privacy concerns), and are really attacking any browser with an ad blocker add-on or ad-free reading mode . Brave says it's open to talking with the media group to argue its case, although it's hard to see those companies being very receptive when they not-so-subtly hint at possible legal action. Not that Brave is slowing down in the meantime. It just released a developer version of its browser with support for Chrome extensions, 1Password logins and blocks against everything from phishing scams to privacy-violating browser fingerprinting measures. In short, it's determined to fight privacy intrusions of all kinds, whether or not the perpetrators are in a position to object. || Newspaper giants threaten Brave over its ad-swapping browser: You remember how Brave's web browserpays you to see replacement ads(overriding a site's usual ads) when you don't pay to block promos outright? Yeah, publishers aren't very happy about that. A coalition of 17 news giants, including theNew York Timesand Dow Jones,has sentBrave a letter claiming that its ad-swapping business model is illegal. Allegedly, the approach is tantamount to copyright infringement. It's "indistinguishable" from stealing articles and posting them on another site, according to the publishers. The group also doesn't buy the argument thatBitcoin paymentsand revenue sharing will make up for the lack of native ads -- those methods "cannot begin to compensate" for the lost income.
Not surprisingly, Brave isn't having any of it. CEOBrendan Eichsays the browser isn't replacing publishers' own ads, including any first-party ads that aren't using third-party tracking. It's trying to create a better ad network that actually pays more than third-party options, he argues. Eich goes so far as to suggest that the publishers are being disingenuous (especially when sidestepping their own ad privacy concerns), and are really attacking any browser with an ad blocker add-on orad-free reading mode.
Brave says it's open to talking with the media group to argue its case, although it's hard to see those companies being very receptive when they not-so-subtly hint at possible legal action. Not that Brave is slowing down in the meantime. It justreleaseda developer version of its browser with support for Chrome extensions,1Passwordlogins and blocks against everything from phishing scams to privacy-violating browser fingerprinting measures. In short, it's determined to fight privacy intrusions of all kinds, whether or not the perpetrators are in a position to object. || Traders: These 4 stocks could take off: A SpaceX rocket launch Friday had "Fast Money" traders debating which stocks could soon blast off. Mechel Trader Tim Seymour believes Russian mining company Mechel (: NULL) has upside following a sustained slide in the prices of many commodities. Its U.S.-listed stock has climbed nearly 12 percent this year but has still plunged about 38 percent in the past 12 months. KB Home Trader Steve Grasso touted shares of KB Home (NYSE: KBH) , which have risen 17 percent this year. He owns the stock, which he said could be a merger or acquisition target. Grasso noted he would use a $14 stop for the stock, which closed at about $14.50 on Friday. Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF Trader Guy Adami contended the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE Arca: GDX) which has soared 56 percent this year could climb even more. The fund has rallied this year along with gold futures, which are up about 17 percent. Deutsche Bank Trader Brian Kelly, on the other hand, said he would sell a stock that has failed to get off the ground. He noted he would stay away from Deutsche Bank (XETRA: DBK-DE) , which has lagged the broader market. The bank's U.S.-listed shares have plunged 34 percent this year. Disclosures: Tim Seymour Tim Seymour is long AAPL, AVP, BAC, BBRY, DO, EDC, EWZ, F, FCX, GM, GOOGL, GRMN, GE, GLNCY, INTC, LQD, MPEL, NKE, RACE, RAI, SINA, T, TWTR, UA, VALE, VZ, XOM. Tim's firm is long BABA, BIDU, CLF, EWZ, F, HD, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, YHOO, short HYG, IWM, WYNN Steve Grasso Steve is Long AAPL, BA, BAC, CC, DD, DIS, DECK, EVGN, KBH, MJNA, MU, OLN, PFE, PHM, T, TWTR, GDX firm is long WYNN kids own EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY Brian Kelly Brian Kelly is long BBRY, Bitcoin, GLD, GLD puts, SH, SLV, TLT, US Dollar, UUP, Yen; he is short Aussie Dollar, BLK, British Pound, CS, DB, Euro, EWA, EWH, FRC, Hong Kong Dollar, UBS, SPY, Yuan, 5-Year Note Futures Guy Adami Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck. More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || Traders: These 4 stocks could take off: ASpaceX rocket launchFriday had "Fast Money" traders debating which stocks could soon blast off.
Mechel
Trader Tim Seymour believes Russian mining company Mechel(: NULL)has upside following a sustained slide in the prices of many commodities. Its U.S.-listed stock has climbed nearly 12 percent this year but has still plunged about 38 percent in the past 12 months.
KB Home
Trader Steve Grasso touted shares of KB Home(NYSE: KBH), which have risen 17 percent this year. He owns the stock, which he said could be a merger or acquisition target.
Grasso noted he would use a $14 stop for the stock, which closed at about $14.50 on Friday.
Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF
Trader Guy Adami contended the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF(NYSE Arca: GDX)— which has soared 56 percent this year — could climb even more. The fund has rallied this year along with gold futures, which are up about 17 percent.
Deutsche Bank
Trader Brian Kelly, on the other hand, said he would sell a stock that has failed to get off the ground. He noted he would stay away from Deutsche Bank(XETRA: DBK-DE), which has lagged the broader market.
The bank's U.S.-listed shares have plunged 34 percent this year.
Disclosures:
Tim Seymour
Tim Seymour is long AAPL, AVP, BAC, BBRY, DO, EDC, EWZ, F, FCX, GM, GOOGL, GRMN, GE, GLNCY, INTC, LQD, MPEL, NKE, RACE, RAI, SINA, T, TWTR, UA, VALE, VZ, XOM. Tim's firm is long BABA, BIDU, CLF, EWZ, F, HD, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, YHOO, short HYG, IWM, WYNN
Steve Grasso
Steve is Long AAPL, BA, BAC, CC, DD, DIS, DECK, EVGN, KBH, MJNA, MU, OLN, PFE, PHM, T, TWTR, GDX firm is long WYNN kids own EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY
Brian Kelly
Brian Kelly is long BBRY, Bitcoin, GLD, GLD puts, SH, SLV, TLT, US Dollar, UUP, Yen; he is short Aussie Dollar, BLK, British Pound, CS, DB, Euro, EWA, EWH, FRC, Hong Kong Dollar, UBS, SPY, Yuan, 5-Year Note Futures
Guy Adami
Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
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• Personal Finance || 'BLATANTLY ILLEGAL': 17 newspapers slam ex-Mozilla CEO's new ad-blocking browser: (Brave)Brendan Eich, CEO of Brave.
A group of the biggest US newspaper publishers — including Dow Jones, The Washington Post, and The New York Times Co. — have cosigned what they are calling a "cease and desist" letter (read it in full below) sent to the former Mozilla CEO's new browser company.
Brendan Eich's new browser, Brave,announced its launch early this year. The browser — available on iOS, Android, OS X, Windows, and Linux — has ad-blocking software baked into it, which blocks all ads by default and replaces them with its own ads that it says load quicker and"protect data sovereignty [and] anonymity"of users by blocking tracking pixels and cookies.
With Brave, publishers get around 55% of revenues: 15% go to Brave, 15% go to the partner that serves the ads, and 10% to 15% goes back to the user, who can choose to make bitcoin donations to their favorite publishers in order to get an ad-free experience on their websites,Eich told Business Insider in January.
But the 17 newspaper-publishing companies that cosigned the letter sent to Eich on Thursday say that this business model is "blatantly illegal" because they claim Brave is profiting from the "$5 billion" a year the industry spends on funding journalism.
The publishers argue that Brave's advertising-replacement plan would constitute copyright infringement, a violation of the publishers' terms of use, unfair competition, unauthorized access to their sites, and a breach of contract.
The letter compares Brave's business model to a company simply stealing their articles and pasting them on their own websites for profit.
Eich provided a lengthy statement in response to the letter (which you can read in full below.)
In it, he said: "The NAA sent a letter to Brave Software that is filled with false assertions. The NAA has fundamentally misunderstood Brave. Brave is the solution, not the enemy."
Not only do the publishers "expressly decline to participate in any way in Brave's supposed business model," but they threaten that they are "ready to enforce all legal rights" to protect their trademarks and copyrighted content.
The publishers, all of which are members of the Newspaper Association of America and together represent more than 1,200 newspapers in the US, threaten that they will seek damages of up to "$150,000 per work" that Brave monetizes.
This isn't the first time Brave has drawn ire from the media and advertising community.
In January, the CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, Randall Rothenberg, ripped into Brave and other ad blockers in a speech at the US internet-advertising trade body's annual leadership conference.
Of Brave, hesaid:
The latest ad-blocking company is a Web browser startup called “Brave.” It was launched by former Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich, whose last major investment was in banning gay marriage in California. His business model not only strips advertisements from publishers’ pages — it replaces them with his own for-profit ads.
THIS is the true face of ad blocking. It is the rich and self-righteous, who want to tell everyone else what they can and cannot read and watch and hear — self-proclaimed libertarians whose liberty involves denying freedom to everyone else.
The ad-block profiteers are building for-profit companies whose business models are premised on impeding the movement of commercial, political, and public-service communication between and among producers and consumers. They offer to lift their toll gates for those wealthy enough to pay them off, or who submit to their demands that they constrict their freedom of speech to fit the shackles of their revenue schemes.
They may attempt to dignify their practices with such politically correct phrases as “reasonable advertising,” “responsible advertising,” and “acceptable ads”; and they can claim as loudly as they want that they seek “constructive rapport” with other stakeholders. But in fact, they are engaged in the techniques of The Big Lie, declaring themselves the friends of those whose livelihoods they would destroy, and allies to those whose freedoms they would subvert.
A Medianomics survey of 42 "high traffic" websites in the US published earlier this monthfound that 48% of respondents were "somewhat likely" and 36% were "definitely/very likely" to support taking collective legal action against ad-blocking companies.
Dear Mr. Eich:
Brave Software, Inc. (“Brave”), a company you founded, has announced that it intends to launch a browser and mobile applications that will display publishers’ content but replace publishers’ advertising with advertising that Brave sells for its own profit. You are hereby notified that Brave’s plan to replace our clients’ paid advertising content with its own advertising violates the law, and the undersigned publishers intend to fully enforce their rights.
Your plan to use our content to sell your advertising is indistinguishable from a plan to steal our content to publish on your own website. Your public statements demonstrate clearly that you intend to harness and exploit the content of all the publishers on the Web to sell your own advertising. “We can provide access to all of the top publishers through a single channel with guaranteed ‘share of voice,’” Brave’s website claims. “This combination of better targeting and first-look access to all of the premium placements our users browse is something that no one else can provide.” There’s a simple reason “no one else” is purporting to “provide” all the content on the Web in one place for its own profit, without investing a penny in creating that content: everyone else has recognized that it would be blatantly illegal for one company to hijack all the content on the Web for its own benefit.
We publish some of the most highly valued and widely read sites on the Web. Our sites and mobile applications provide news reporting, photojournalism, video content and feature writing that is researched, reported, edited, and produced at extraordinary cost. Our industry spends more than $5 billion per year on reporting in the United States alone. We distribute that reporting online for free or at highly subsidized rates, in no small part due to revenue from online ads.
Your apparent plan to permit your customers to make Bitcoin “donations” to us, and for you to donate to us some unspecified percentage of revenue you receive from the sale of your ads on our sites, cannot begin to compensate us for the loss of our ability to fund our work by displaying our own advertising. We expressly decline to participate in any way in Brave’s supposed business model. We explicitly reject any compensation or consideration Brave plans to offer to us as part of its ad-blocking and ad-replacing scheme, and we refuse to accept any “site wallet” that you propose to create for our supposed benefit. In addition, you are not authorized to use our names, trademarks and logos in any way in connection with the promotion or operation of your business.
We stand ready to enforce all legal rights to protect our trademarks and copyrighted content and to prevent you from deceiving consumers and unlawfully appropriating our work in the service of your business. Unauthorized republication of our copyrighted content to support Brave’s illegal advertising model violates protected rights of publishers under the Copyright Act and other laws. We reserve the right to seek all remedies for this infringement, including but not limited to statutory damages of up to $150,000 per work pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 504. Brave’s use of publishers’ trademarks to sell its own advertising will confuse consumers, infringe upon publishers’ exclusive rights in their brands, and dilute our highly distinctive marks. We believe your planned activities will also constitute unfair competition and misappropriation under relevant federal, state and common law. Brave’s unauthorized activities involving our content and websites also violates our terms of use. By engaging in Brave’s plan of advertising replacement, Brave is liable for breach of contract, unauthorized access to our websites, unfair competition, and other causes of action.
Very truly yours,
ADVANCE LOCAL Vincent LaSpisa, Esq., Sabin, Bermant & Gould LLP, One World Trade Center, 44th Floor New York, New York 10007-2915
BH MEDIA GROUP Scott Searl, Esq., Senior Vice President and General Counsel, BH Media Group, 1314 Douglas Street, Suite 1500 Omaha, Nebraska 68102
CALKINS MEDIA INCORPORATED Sally A. Buckman, Esq., LermanSenter PLLC, 2001 L Street, N.W., Suite 400 Washington, D.C. 20036
DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Marshall W. Anstandig, Esq., Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Digital First Media, 4 North 2nd Street, Suite 800 San Jose, California 95113
DOW JONES & COMPANY, INC., Jason P. Conti, Esq., Senior Vice President and Interim General Counsel, Dow Jones & Company, Inc., 1211 Ave of the Americas New York, New York 10036
GANNETT CO., INC., Barbara W. Wall, Esq., Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, Gannett Co., Inc., 7950 Jones Branch Drive McLean, Virginia 22107
GATEHOUSE MEDIA/NEW MEDIA INVESTMENT GROUP, Polly Grunfeld Sack, Esq., Senior Vice President, General Counsel, GateHouse Media, 175 Sully’s Trail, 3rd Floor Pittsford, New York 14534
JOURNAL MEDIA GROUP, Hillary Ebach, Esq., Vice President and General Counsel, Journal Media Group, Inc., 333 W State Street Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53203
LANDMARK MEDIA ENTERPRISES, LLC, Guy R. Friddell, III, Esq., Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Landmark Media Enterprises, LLC, 150 Granby Street Norfolk, VA 23510
LEE ENTERPRISES INCORPORATED, Astrid Garcia, Esq., Lee Enterprises Incorporated, 201 N. Harrison St., Suite 600 Davenport, Iowa 52801
THE MCCLATCHY COMPANY, Juan Cornejo, Esq., Assistant General Counsel, The McClatchy Company, 2100 Q Street Sacramento, California 95816-6899
MORRIS PUBLISHING GROUP, LLC, J. Noel Schweers III, Esq., General Counsel, Morris Publishing Group, LLC, 725 Broad Street Augusta, Georgia 30901
THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY, Ken Richieri, Esq., Executive Vice President and General Counsel The New York Times Company, New York, New York 10018
NEWSDAY, LLC, Karen Au Claro, Esq., Senior Vice President, Law, Newsday, LLC, 235 Pinelawn Road Melville, New York 11747 
SCHURZ COMMUNICATIONS, INC., John Smarrella, Esq., Barnes & Thornburg, LLP, 100 North Michigan Street South Bend, Indiana 46601-1632
TRIBUNE PUBLISHING COMPANY, Karen Flax, Esq., Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Tribune Publishing Company, 435 North Michigan Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60611
THE WASHINGTON POST, Jay Kennedy, Esq., Vice President and General Counsel, The Washington Post, 1301 K Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20071
The NAA sent a letter to Brave Software that is filled with false assertions. The NAA has fundamentally misunderstood Brave. Brave is the solution, not the enemy.
The NAA's letter to Brave Software asserts that any browser that blocks and replaces ads on the browser user's device performs "unauthorized republication" of Web content. This is false on its face, since browsers do not "republish", serve, syndicate, or distribute content across the Internet or to any computer other than the one on which they run.
Browsers are the end-point for secure connections, the user agent that actually mediates and combines all the pieces of content, including third-party ads and first-party publisher news stories. Browsers can block, rearrange, mash-up and otherwise make use of any content from any source. If it were the case that Brave's browsers perform "republication", then so too does Safari's Reader mode, and the same goes for any ad-blocker-equipped browser, or the Links text-only browser, or screen readers for the visually impaired.
The NAA letter also falsely asserts that Brave will share an "unspecified percentage of revenue", when our revenue share pie chart has been public and fixed from ourfirst preview release in January.We give the lion's share (pun intended), up to 70% of ad revenue, to websites, keeping only 15% for ourselves and paying 15% to our users.
We sympathize with publishers concerned about the damage that pure ad blockers do to their ability to pay their bills via advertising revenue. However,this problem long pre-dates Brave. We categorically reject the claim that browsers perform "republication", and we repeat that Brave has a sound and systematic plan to financially reward publishers. We aim to outperform the invasive third-party ads that we block, with our better, fewer, and privacy-preserving ads.
Finally, we note that malvertisement has gotten onto the websites of the New York Times and the BBC recently through the ill-designed, unregulated, and poorly-delegated third-party advertising technology ecosystem. Truly, this tracker-based ad-tech ecosystem is what is damaging the brand value of content publishers and driving users to adopt ad-blocking software. Brave blocks and replaces only third-party ads and trackers. Our system thus actually repairs the damage that publishers have carelessly allowed their ad partners (and partners' partners, to the seventh degree of separation) do to their trademarked brands and names.
Make no mistake: this NAA letter is the first shot in a war on all ad-blockers, not just on Brave. Though theNAA never reached out to us, we would be happy to sit down with them for an opportunity to discuss how the Brave solution can be a win win. We will fight alongside all citizens of the Internet who deserve and demand a better deal than they are getting from today's increasingly abusive approach to Web advertising.
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• Another ad blocker claims Adblock Plus used a trademark complaint to force it offline
• A bunch of big US websites say they're likely to support legal action against ad blockers
• 1 in 10 people in the US uses an ad blocker || 'BLATANTLY ILLEGAL': 17 newspapers slam ex-Mozilla CEO's new ad-blocking browser: brendan eich ceo mozilla brave (Brave) Brendan Eich, CEO of Brave. A group of the biggest US newspaper publishers — including Dow Jones, The Washington Post, and The New York Times Co. — have cosigned what they are calling a "cease and desist" letter (read it in full below) sent to the former Mozilla CEO's new browser company. Brendan Eich's new browser, Brave, announced its launch early this year . The browser — available on iOS, Android, OS X, Windows, and Linux — has ad-blocking software baked into it, which blocks all ads by default and replaces them with its own ads that it says load quicker and "protect data sovereignty [and] anonymity" of users by blocking tracking pixels and cookies. With Brave, publishers get around 55% of revenues: 15% go to Brave, 15% go to the partner that serves the ads, and 10% to 15% goes back to the user, who can choose to make bitcoin donations to their favorite publishers in order to get an ad-free experience on their websites, Eich told Business Insider in January . 'Blatantly illegal' But the 17 newspaper-publishing companies that cosigned the letter sent to Eich on Thursday say that this business model is "blatantly illegal" because they claim Brave is profiting from the "$5 billion" a year the industry spends on funding journalism. The publishers argue that Brave's advertising-replacement plan would constitute copyright infringement, a violation of the publishers' terms of use, unfair competition, unauthorized access to their sites, and a breach of contract. The letter compares Brave's business model to a company simply stealing their articles and pasting them on their own websites for profit. Eich provided a lengthy statement in response to the letter (which you can read in full below.) In it, he said: "The NAA sent a letter to Brave Software that is filled with false assertions. The NAA has fundamentally misunderstood Brave. Brave is the solution, not the enemy." Seeking damages of up to $150,000 per work Not only do the publishers "expressly decline to participate in any way in Brave's supposed business model," but they threaten that they are "ready to enforce all legal rights" to protect their trademarks and copyrighted content. Story continues The publishers, all of which are members of the Newspaper Association of America and together represent more than 1,200 newspapers in the US, threaten that they will seek damages of up to "$150,000 per work" that Brave monetizes. This isn't the first time Brave has drawn ire from the media and advertising community. In January, the CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, Randall Rothenberg, ripped into Brave and other ad blockers in a speech at the US internet-advertising trade body's annual leadership conference. Of Brave, he said : The latest ad-blocking company is a Web browser startup called “Brave.” It was launched by former Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich, whose last major investment was in banning gay marriage in California. His business model not only strips advertisements from publishers’ pages — it replaces them with his own for-profit ads. THIS is the true face of ad blocking. It is the rich and self-righteous, who want to tell everyone else what they can and cannot read and watch and hear — self-proclaimed libertarians whose liberty involves denying freedom to everyone else. The ad-block profiteers are building for-profit companies whose business models are premised on impeding the movement of commercial, political, and public-service communication between and among producers and consumers. They offer to lift their toll gates for those wealthy enough to pay them off, or who submit to their demands that they constrict their freedom of speech to fit the shackles of their revenue schemes. They may attempt to dignify their practices with such politically correct phrases as “reasonable advertising,” “responsible advertising,” and “acceptable ads”; and they can claim as loudly as they want that they seek “constructive rapport” with other stakeholders. But in fact, they are engaged in the techniques of The Big Lie, declaring themselves the friends of those whose livelihoods they would destroy, and allies to those whose freedoms they would subvert. A Medianomics survey of 42 "high traffic" websites in the US published earlier this month found that 48% of respondents were "somewhat likely" and 36% were "definitely/very likely" to support taking collective legal action against ad-blocking companies. Here's the full letter sent to Brave — you can also download it by clicking here . Brave's response is below. Dear Mr. Eich: Brave Software, Inc. (“Brave”), a company you founded, has announced that it intends to launch a browser and mobile applications that will display publishers’ content but replace publishers’ advertising with advertising that Brave sells for its own profit. You are hereby notified that Brave’s plan to replace our clients’ paid advertising content with its own advertising violates the law, and the undersigned publishers intend to fully enforce their rights. Your plan to use our content to sell your advertising is indistinguishable from a plan to steal our content to publish on your own website. Your public statements demonstrate clearly that you intend to harness and exploit the content of all the publishers on the Web to sell your own advertising. “We can provide access to all of the top publishers through a single channel with guaranteed ‘share of voice,’” Brave’s website claims. “This combination of better targeting and first-look access to all of the premium placements our users browse is something that no one else can provide.” There’s a simple reason “no one else” is purporting to “provide” all the content on the Web in one place for its own profit, without investing a penny in creating that content: everyone else has recognized that it would be blatantly illegal for one company to hijack all the content on the Web for its own benefit. We publish some of the most highly valued and widely read sites on the Web. Our sites and mobile applications provide news reporting, photojournalism, video content and feature writing that is researched, reported, edited, and produced at extraordinary cost. Our industry spends more than $5 billion per year on reporting in the United States alone. We distribute that reporting online for free or at highly subsidized rates, in no small part due to revenue from online ads. Your apparent plan to permit your customers to make Bitcoin “donations” to us, and for you to donate to us some unspecified percentage of revenue you receive from the sale of your ads on our sites, cannot begin to compensate us for the loss of our ability to fund our work by displaying our own advertising. We expressly decline to participate in any way in Brave’s supposed business model. We explicitly reject any compensation or consideration Brave plans to offer to us as part of its ad-blocking and ad-replacing scheme, and we refuse to accept any “site wallet” that you propose to create for our supposed benefit. In addition, you are not authorized to use our names, trademarks and logos in any way in connection with the promotion or operation of your business. We stand ready to enforce all legal rights to protect our trademarks and copyrighted content and to prevent you from deceiving consumers and unlawfully appropriating our work in the service of your business. Unauthorized republication of our copyrighted content to support Brave’s illegal advertising model violates protected rights of publishers under the Copyright Act and other laws. We reserve the right to seek all remedies for this infringement, including but not limited to statutory damages of up to $150,000 per work pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 504. Brave’s use of publishers’ trademarks to sell its own advertising will confuse consumers, infringe upon publishers’ exclusive rights in their brands, and dilute our highly distinctive marks. We believe your planned activities will also constitute unfair competition and misappropriation under relevant federal, state and common law. Brave’s unauthorized activities involving our content and websites also violates our terms of use. By engaging in Brave’s plan of advertising replacement, Brave is liable for breach of contract, unauthorized access to our websites, unfair competition, and other causes of action. Very truly yours, ADVANCE LOCAL Vincent LaSpisa, Esq., Sabin, Bermant & Gould LLP, One World Trade Center, 44th Floor New York, New York 10007-2915 BH MEDIA GROUP Scott Searl, Esq., Senior Vice President and General Counsel, BH Media Group, 1314 Douglas Street, Suite 1500 Omaha, Nebraska 68102 CALKINS MEDIA INCORPORATED Sally A. Buckman, Esq., LermanSenter PLLC, 2001 L Street, N.W., Suite 400 Washington, D.C. 20036 DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Marshall W. Anstandig, Esq., Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Digital First Media, 4 North 2nd Street, Suite 800 San Jose, California 95113 DOW JONES & COMPANY, INC., Jason P. Conti, Esq., Senior Vice President and Interim General Counsel, Dow Jones & Company, Inc., 1211 Ave of the Americas New York, New York 10036 GANNETT CO., INC., Barbara W. Wall, Esq., Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, Gannett Co., Inc., 7950 Jones Branch Drive McLean, Virginia 22107 GATEHOUSE MEDIA/NEW MEDIA INVESTMENT GROUP, Polly Grunfeld Sack, Esq., Senior Vice President, General Counsel, GateHouse Media, 175 Sully’s Trail, 3rd Floor Pittsford, New York 14534 JOURNAL MEDIA GROUP, Hillary Ebach, Esq., Vice President and General Counsel, Journal Media Group, Inc., 333 W State Street Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53203 LANDMARK MEDIA ENTERPRISES, LLC, Guy R. Friddell, III, Esq., Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Landmark Media Enterprises, LLC, 150 Granby Street Norfolk, VA 23510 LEE ENTERPRISES INCORPORATED, Astrid Garcia, Esq., Lee Enterprises Incorporated, 201 N. Harrison St., Suite 600 Davenport, Iowa 52801 THE MCCLATCHY COMPANY, Juan Cornejo, Esq., Assistant General Counsel, The McClatchy Company, 2100 Q Street Sacramento, California 95816-6899 MORRIS PUBLISHING GROUP, LLC, J. Noel Schweers III, Esq., General Counsel, Morris Publishing Group, LLC, 725 Broad Street Augusta, Georgia 30901 THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY, Ken Richieri, Esq., Executive Vice President and General Counsel The New York Times Company, New York, New York 10018 NEWSDAY, LLC, Karen Au Claro, Esq., Senior Vice President, Law, Newsday, LLC, 235 Pinelawn Road Melville, New York 11747  SCHURZ COMMUNICATIONS, INC., John Smarrella, Esq., Barnes & Thornburg, LLP, 100 North Michigan Street South Bend, Indiana 46601-1632 TRIBUNE PUBLISHING COMPANY, Karen Flax, Esq., Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Tribune Publishing Company, 435 North Michigan Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60611 THE WASHINGTON POST, Jay Kennedy, Esq., Vice President and General Counsel, The Washington Post, 1301 K Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20071 Here is Brave's full response: The NAA sent a letter to Brave Software that is filled with false assertions. The NAA has fundamentally misunderstood Brave. Brave is the solution, not the enemy. The NAA's letter to Brave Software asserts that any browser that blocks and replaces ads on the browser user's device performs "unauthorized republication" of Web content. This is false on its face, since browsers do not "republish", serve, syndicate, or distribute content across the Internet or to any computer other than the one on which they run. Browsers are the end-point for secure connections, the user agent that actually mediates and combines all the pieces of content, including third-party ads and first-party publisher news stories. Browsers can block, rearrange, mash-up and otherwise make use of any content from any source. If it were the case that Brave's browsers perform "republication", then so too does Safari's Reader mode, and the same goes for any ad-blocker-equipped browser, or the Links text-only browser, or screen readers for the visually impaired. The NAA letter also falsely asserts that Brave will share an "unspecified percentage of revenue", when our revenue share pie chart has been public and fixed from our first preview release in January . We give the lion's share (pun intended), up to 70% of ad revenue, to websites, keeping only 15% for ourselves and paying 15% to our users. We sympathize with publishers concerned about the damage that pure ad blockers do to their ability to pay their bills via advertising revenue. However, this problem long pre-dates Brave. We categorically reject the claim that browsers perform "republication", and we repeat that Brave has a sound and systematic plan to financially reward publishers. We aim to outperform the invasive third-party ads that we block, with our better, fewer, and privacy-preserving ads. Finally, we note that malvertisement has gotten onto the websites of the New York Times and the BBC recently through the ill-designed, unregulated, and poorly-delegated third-party advertising technology ecosystem. Truly, this tracker-based ad-tech ecosystem is what is damaging the brand value of content publishers and driving users to adopt ad-blocking software. Brave blocks and replaces only third-party ads and trackers. Our system thus actually repairs the damage that publishers have carelessly allowed their ad partners (and partners' partners, to the seventh degree of separation) do to their trademarked brands and names. Make no mistake: this NAA letter is the first shot in a war on all ad-blockers, not just on Brave. Though the NAA never reached out to us, we would be happy to sit down with them for an opportunity to discuss how the Brave solution can be a win win. We will fight alongside all citizens of the Internet who deserve and demand a better deal than they are getting from today's increasingly abusive approach to Web advertising. More From Business Insider Another ad blocker claims Adblock Plus used a trademark complaint to force it offline A bunch of big US websites say they're likely to support legal action against ad blockers 1 in 10 people in the US uses an ad blocker || Bitcoin Investing Improved Last Quarter: While Bitcoin may not have ended 2015 on a strong note, things could be turning around for the cryptocurrency. For example, Q4 was "surprisingly anemic," but the first quarter has seen $160 million in investments, according to Mattermark , citing CoinDesk figures. "Bitcoin had its best fundraising quarter in a year," Mattermark's Alex Wilhelm said. "I'm not sure that the industry will ever beat the first quarter of 2015, when more than $200 million went into bitcoin firms, including huge sums into Coinbase and 21. Still, closing well north of the $100 million mark is a big step up from every other quarter recorded last year," Wilhelm commented. Related Link: 10 Of This Year's Hottest Financial Buzzwords "In fact, it appears that the first quarter of 2016 was the second most active period in terms of total dollars raised for bitcoin firms in at least the last two years." Looking Ahead Based upon the transaction volume over the last year and the improvement over last quarter, it's probable that bitcoin may be making its way back into investors' favor. "In the last year, transaction volume across bitcoin to pick a single metric has roughly doubled. That's not the same pace of growth that the cryptocurrency saw in its infancy, but it is material," Wilhelm explained. "Combine that statistic with an increasingly stable price and continued investment and bitcoin look just fine." See more from Benzinga Andrew Left Talked Mallinckrodt And Evergrande On Bloomberg This Morning Twitter's NFL Deal Not A Huge Shock To PacCrest Detroit News Auto Critic: Tesla Model 3 Is 'The Auto Story Of The 21st Century' © 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin Investing Improved Last Quarter: While Bitcoin may not have ended 2015 on a strong note, things could be turning around for the cryptocurrency.
For example, Q4 was "surprisingly anemic," but the first quarter has seen $160 million in investments, according toMattermark, citing CoinDesk figures.
"Bitcoin had its best fundraising quarter in a year," Mattermark's Alex Wilhelm said.
"I'm not sure that the industry will ever beat the first quarter of 2015, when more than $200 million went into bitcoin firms, including huge sums into Coinbase and 21. Still, closing well north of the $100 million mark is a big step up from every other quarter recorded last year," Wilhelm commented.
Related Link:10 Of This Year's Hottest Financial Buzzwords
"In fact, it appears that the first quarter of 2016 was the second most active period in terms of total dollars raised for bitcoin firms in at least the last two years."
Looking Ahead
Based upon the transaction volume over the last year and the improvement over last quarter, it's probable that bitcoin may be making its way back into investors' favor. "In the last year, transaction volume across bitcoin – to pick a single metric – has roughly doubled. That's not the same pace of growth that the cryptocurrency saw in its infancy, but it is material," Wilhelm explained.
"Combine that statistic with an increasingly stable price and continued investment and bitcoin look just fine."
See more from Benzinga
• Andrew Left Talked Mallinckrodt And Evergrande On Bloomberg This Morning
• Twitter's NFL Deal Not A Huge Shock To PacCrest
• Detroit News Auto Critic: Tesla Model 3 Is 'The Auto Story Of The 21st Century'
© 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin Investing Improved Last Quarter: While Bitcoin may not have ended 2015 on a strong note, things could be turning around for the cryptocurrency.
For example, Q4 was "surprisingly anemic," but the first quarter has seen $160 million in investments, according toMattermark, citing CoinDesk figures.
"Bitcoin had its best fundraising quarter in a year," Mattermark's Alex Wilhelm said.
"I'm not sure that the industry will ever beat the first quarter of 2015, when more than $200 million went into bitcoin firms, including huge sums into Coinbase and 21. Still, closing well north of the $100 million mark is a big step up from every other quarter recorded last year," Wilhelm commented.
Related Link:10 Of This Year's Hottest Financial Buzzwords
"In fact, it appears that the first quarter of 2016 was the second most active period in terms of total dollars raised for bitcoin firms in at least the last two years."
Looking Ahead
Based upon the transaction volume over the last year and the improvement over last quarter, it's probable that bitcoin may be making its way back into investors' favor. "In the last year, transaction volume across bitcoin – to pick a single metric – has roughly doubled. That's not the same pace of growth that the cryptocurrency saw in its infancy, but it is material," Wilhelm explained.
"Combine that statistic with an increasingly stable price and continued investment and bitcoin look just fine."
See more from Benzinga
• Andrew Left Talked Mallinckrodt And Evergrande On Bloomberg This Morning
• Twitter's NFL Deal Not A Huge Shock To PacCrest
• Detroit News Auto Critic: Tesla Model 3 Is 'The Auto Story Of The 21st Century'
© 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Barclays-Circle Partnership to Facilitate App Launch in UK: After obtaining an electronic money license from U.K.’s top financial regulator, Financial Conduct Authority, the social payment app Circle is all set to foray into the nation on Wednesday. The move will be further facilitated by the Boston-based start-up’s tie-up with London-basedBarclays PLCBCS, which is the first global bank to join hands with a Bitcoin company.The license granted by the U.K., another first for a virtual currency firm, indicates the government’s efforts to attract virtual currency start-ups and make London a hub for the development of financial technology or fintech."Circle's decision to launch in the UK, and the firm's new partnership with Barclays are major milestones," said Britain's Economic Secretary to the Treasury Harriett Baldwin in an email. "They prove our decision to introduce the most progressive, forward-looking regulatory regime is paying off and cements our status as the world's FinTech capital," he added.Founded in 2013, Circle uses Bitcoin, the virtual currency, to allow users to make payments to other customers using a mobile app. The process is termed as “social payments” by the company and its investors list includes The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. GS and IDG Capital Partners.Circle users can hold dollars and also pay any merchant that accepts Bitcoin anywhere in the world. Circle will instantly convert the dollars into Bitcoin at the time of payment and its users can accept Bitcoin payments, which will be immediately converted into dollars.The British license will enable Circle users in the U.K. to do the same. Consumers will be able to instantly transfer money between dollars and British pounds, thus facilitating domestic and international payments.“For the first time any consumer in the U.S. and the U.K. will be able to beam sterling and dollars back and forth, instantly for free,” said Jeremy Allaire, the co-founder of Circle. “That’s just never been possible.”Apart from money transfers, Circle users can also send emojis and animated "GIF" videos, along with written messages, at no charge, similar to China's WeChat Pay and AliPay.Moreover, Circle is expected to allow transfers in and out of euros soon, when it launches in the rest of Europe later this year.The affiliation with Barclays will provide Circle with the required infrastructure to enable transfers from any U.K. bank account. Further, Barclays Corporate Banking will provide the account needed by Circle to store sterling for consumers.While Bitcoin remains in a negative light owing to its standing as a black-market currency, the failure of a massive Bitcoin exchange and extreme price fluctuations, partnership with a global bank like Barclays will prove to be an accomplishment for Circle, which uses Bitcoin to transfer central bank currencies.Also, banks like Goldman, JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM and Credit Suisse Group AG CS have been increasingly showing interest in Blockchain, the “digital ledger” or the underlying technology behind Bitcoin, given its significant potential to revamp the extensive and complex network of bank payments as well as settlements.Currently, Barclays holds a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportJPMORGAN CHASE (JPM): Free Stock Analysis ReportCREDIT SUISSE (CS): Free Stock Analysis ReportBARCLAY PLC-ADR (BCS): Free Stock Analysis ReportGOLDMAN SACHS (GS): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research || Barclays-Circle Partnership to Facilitate App Launch in UK: After obtaining an electronic money license from U.K.’s top financial regulator, Financial Conduct Authority, the social payment app Circle is all set to foray into the nation on Wednesday. The move will be further facilitated by the Boston-based start-up’s tie-up with London-based Barclays PLC BCS, which is the first global bank to join hands with a Bitcoin company. The license granted by the U.K., another first for a virtual currency firm, indicates the government’s efforts to attract virtual currency start-ups and make London a hub for the development of financial technology or fintech. "Circle's decision to launch in the UK, and the firm's new partnership with Barclays are major milestones," said Britain's Economic Secretary to the Treasury Harriett Baldwin in an email. "They prove our decision to introduce the most progressive, forward-looking regulatory regime is paying off and cements our status as the world's FinTech capital," he added. Founded in 2013, Circle uses Bitcoin, the virtual currency, to allow users to make payments to other customers using a mobile app. The process is termed as “social payments” by the company and its investors list includes The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. GS and IDG Capital Partners. Circle users can hold dollars and also pay any merchant that accepts Bitcoin anywhere in the world. Circle will instantly convert the dollars into Bitcoin at the time of payment and its users can accept Bitcoin payments, which will be immediately converted into dollars. The British license will enable Circle users in the U.K. to do the same. Consumers will be able to instantly transfer money between dollars and British pounds, thus facilitating domestic and international payments. “For the first time any consumer in the U.S. and the U.K. will be able to beam sterling and dollars back and forth, instantly for free,” said Jeremy Allaire, the co-founder of Circle. “That’s just never been possible.” Apart from money transfers, Circle users can also send emojis and animated "GIF" videos, along with written messages, at no charge, similar to China's WeChat Pay and AliPay. Moreover, Circle is expected to allow transfers in and out of euros soon, when it launches in the rest of Europe later this year. The affiliation with Barclays will provide Circle with the required infrastructure to enable transfers from any U.K. bank account. Further, Barclays Corporate Banking will provide the account needed by Circle to store sterling for consumers. While Bitcoin remains in a negative light owing to its standing as a black-market currency, the failure of a massive Bitcoin exchange and extreme price fluctuations, partnership with a global bank like Barclays will prove to be an accomplishment for Circle, which uses Bitcoin to transfer central bank currencies. Also, banks like Goldman, JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM and Credit Suisse Group AG CS have been increasingly showing interest in Blockchain, the “digital ledger” or the underlying technology behind Bitcoin, given its significant potential to revamp the extensive and complex network of bank payments as well as settlements. Currently, Barclays holds a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell). Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days . Click to get this free report >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report JPMORGAN CHASE (JPM): Free Stock Analysis Report CREDIT SUISSE (CS): Free Stock Analysis Report BARCLAY PLC-ADR (BCS): Free Stock Analysis Report GOLDMAN SACHS (GS): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research
[Social Media Buzz]
$425.91 at 23:30 UTC [24h Range: $421.00 - $426.67 Volume: 6083 BTC] || #BTA Price: Bittrex 0.00002925 BTC YoBit 0.00002342 BTC Bleutrade 0.00003067 BTC #BTA 2016-04-12 05:00 pic.twitter.com/RujaeZnjcX || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 12 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $206.09 #bitcoin #btc || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 15 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $199.29 #bitcoin #btc || Bitstamp: $424.29...
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423.73, 424.28, 429.71, 430.57, 427.40, 428.59, 435.51, 441.39, 449.42, 445.74
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 38402.22, 39294.20, 38436.97, 35697.61, 34616.07, 35678.13, 37332.86, 36684.93, 37575.18, 39208.77, 36894.41, 35551.96, 35862.38, 33560.71, 33472.63, 37345.12, 36702.60, 37334.40, 35552.52, 39097.86, 40218.48, 40406.27, 38347.06, 38053.50, 35787.25, 35615.87, 35698.30, 31676.69, 32505.66, 33723.03, 34662.44, 31637.78, 32186.28, 34649.64, 34434.34, 35867.78, 35040.84, 33572.12, 33897.05, 34668.55, 35287.78, 33746.00, 34235.20, 33855.33, 32877.37, 33798.01, 33520.52, 34240.19, 33155.85, 32702.03, 32822.35, 31780.73, 31421.54, 31533.07, 31796.81, 30817.83, 29807.35, 32110.69, 32313.11, 33581.55, 34292.45, 35350.19, 37337.54, 39406.94, 39995.91, 40008.42, 42235.55, 41626.20, 39974.89, 39201.95, 38152.98, 39747.50, 40869.55, 42816.50, 44555.80, 43798.12, 46365.40, 45585.03, 45593.64, 44428.29, 47793.32, 47096.95, 47047.00, 46004.48, 44695.36, 44801.19, 46717.58, 49339.18, 48905.49, 49321.65.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2021-08-22]
Volume: 25370975378, RSI (14-day): 68.14, 50-day EMA: 41574.90, 200-day EMA: 39856.58
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
SHAREHOLDER ALERT: Pomerantz Law Firm Reminds Shareholders with Losses on their Investment in Coinbase Global, Inc., of Class Action Lawsuit and Upcoming Deadline COIN: NEW YORK, Aug. 21, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Coinbase Global, Inc. (Coinbase or the Company) (NASDAQ: COIN) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, and docketed under 21-cv-06049, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired Coinbase Class A common stock pursuant and/or traceable to the Companys registration statement and prospectus (collectively, the Offering Materials) for the resale of up to 114,850,769 shares of its Class A common stock, whereby Coinbase began trading as a public company on or around April 14, 2021 (the Offering). Plaintiff pursues claims against the Defendants under the Securities Act of 1933. If you are a shareholder who purchased or otherwise acquired Coinbase Class A common stock pursuant and/or traceable to the Companys registration statement and prospectus, you have until September 20, 2021 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com . To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased. [Click here for information about joining the class action] Coinbase powers the cryptoeconomy, offering a trusted platform for sending and receiving Bitcoin and other digital assets built using blockchain technology to approximately 43 million retail users, 7,000 institutions, and 115,000 ecosystem partners in over 100 countries. On April 14, 2021, Coinbase filed its prospectus on Form 424B4 with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which forms part of the Registration Statement. The Company registered for the resale of up to 114,850,769 shares of its Class A common stock by registered shareholders. According to the Registration Statement, the resale of the Companys stock was not underwritten by any investment bank and the registered stockholders would purportedly elect whether or not to sell their shares. Such sales, if any, would be brokerage transactions on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, and Coinbase would purportedly not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares of Class A common stock by the registered stockholders. Thus, Coinbases operations, including its liquidity and capital resources, would continue to be financed with cash flow from operating activities and net proceeds from the sale of convertible preferred stock. As of December 31, 2020, Coinbase had cash and cash equivalents of $1.1 billion, exclusive of restricted cash and customer custodial funds. Story continues The complaint alleges that, the Offering Materials were false and misleading and omitted to state that, at the time of the Offering: (1) the Company required a sizeable cash injection; (2) the Companys platform was susceptible to service-level disruptions, which were increasingly likely to occur as the Company scaled its services to a larger user base; and (3) as a result of the foregoing, Defendants positive statements about the Companys business, operations, and prospects, were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis. Only a month later, the high-flying promise of Coinbase came to a screaming halt, as Coinbase conceded the need to raise capital and revealed performance issues that prevented users ability to trade cryptocurrencies. On May 17, 2021, Coinbase announced its plans to raise about $1.25 billion via a convertible bond sale. Then, on May 19, 2021, Coinbase revealed technical problems, including delays . . . due to network congestion effecting those who want to get their money out. On this news, the Companys share price fell $23.44 per share, nearly 10% over two consecutive trading sessions, to close at $224.80 per share on May 19, 2021, thereby injuring investors. By the commencement of this action, Coinbase stock traded as low as $208.00 per share, a significant decline from its April 14, 2021 opening price of $381.00 per share. Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com . CONTACT: Robert S. Willoughby Pomerantz LLP [email protected] 888-476-6529 ext. 7980 || SHAREHOLDER ALERT: Pomerantz Law Firm Reminds Shareholders with Losses on their Investment in Coinbase Global, Inc., of Class Action Lawsuit and Upcoming Deadline – COIN: NEW YORK, Aug. 21, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Coinbase Global, Inc. (“Coinbase” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: COIN) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, and docketed under 21-cv-06049, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired Coinbase Class A common stock pursuant and/or traceable to the Company’s registration statement and prospectus (collectively, the “Offering Materials”) for the resale of up to 114,850,769 shares of its Class A common stock, whereby Coinbase began trading as a public company on or around April 14, 2021 (the “Offering”). Plaintiff pursues claims against the Defendants under the Securities Act of 1933.
If you are a shareholder who purchased or otherwise acquired Coinbase Class A common stock pursuant and/or traceable to the Company’s registration statement and prospectus, you have until September 20, 2021 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained atwww.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby [email protected] 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.
[Click here for information about joining the class action]
Coinbase “powers the cryptoeconomy,” offering a “trusted platform” for sending and receiving Bitcoin and other digital assets built using blockchain technology to approximately 43 million retail users, 7,000 institutions, and 115,000 ecosystem partners in over 100 countries.
On April 14, 2021, Coinbase filed its prospectus on Form 424B4 with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which forms part of the Registration Statement. The Company registered for the resale of up to 114,850,769 shares of its Class A common stock by registered shareholders. According to the Registration Statement, the resale of the Company’s stock was not underwritten by any investment bank and the registered stockholders would purportedly elect whether or not to sell their shares. Such sales, if any, would be brokerage transactions on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, and Coinbase would purportedly not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares of Class A common stock by the registered stockholders. Thus, Coinbase’s operations, including its liquidity and capital resources, would continue to be financed with cash flow from operating activities and net proceeds from the sale of convertible preferred stock. As of December 31, 2020, Coinbase had cash and cash equivalents of $1.1 billion, exclusive of restricted cash and customer custodial funds.
The complaint alleges that, the Offering Materials were false and misleading and omitted to state that, at the time of the Offering: (1) the Company required a sizeable cash injection; (2) the Company’s platform was susceptible to service-level disruptions, which were increasingly likely to occur as the Company scaled its services to a larger user base; and (3) as a result of the foregoing, Defendants’ positive statements about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects, were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.
Only a month later, the high-flying promise of Coinbase came to a screaming halt, as Coinbase conceded the need to raise capital and revealed performance issues that prevented users’ ability to trade cryptocurrencies. On May 17, 2021, Coinbase announced its plans to raise about $1.25 billion via a convertible bond sale. Then, on May 19, 2021, Coinbase revealed technical problems, including “delays . . . due to network congestion” effecting those who want to get their money out.
On this news, the Company’s share price fell $23.44 per share, nearly 10% over two consecutive trading sessions, to close at $224.80 per share on May 19, 2021, thereby injuring investors.
By the commencement of this action, Coinbase stock traded as low as $208.00 per share, a significant decline from its April 14, 2021 opening price of $381.00 per share.
Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. Seewww.pomlaw.com.
CONTACT:Robert S. WilloughbyPomerantz [email protected] ext. 7980 || COIN Reminder: Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP - Deadline Reminder for Coinbase Global Inc. Investors: RADNOR, PA / ACCESSWIRE / August 21, 2021 / The law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP reminds investors of Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) ("Coinbase") that a securities fraud class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of those who purchased or acquired Coinbase Class A common stock pursuant and/or traceable to the registration statement and prospectus (collectively, the "Offering Materials") for the resale of up to 114,850,769 shares of its Class A common stock, whereby Coinbase began trading as a public company on or around April 14, 2021 (the "Offering") . Deadline Reminder: Investors who purchased or acquired Coinbase Class A common stock pursuant and/or traceable to the Offering may, no later than September 20, 2021 , seek to be appointed as a lead plaintiff representative of the class. For additional information or to learn how to participate in this litigation please contact Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP: James Maro, Esq. (484) 270-1453; toll free at (844) 887-9500; via e-mail at [email protected] ; or click https://www.ktmc.com/coinbase-global-class-action-lawsuit?utm_source=PR&utm_medium=Link&utm_campaign=coinbase According to the complaint, Coinbase "powers the cryptoeconomy," offering a "trusted platform" for sending and receiving Bitcoin and other digital assets built using blockchain technology to approximately 43 million retail users, 7,000 institutions, and 115,000 ecosystem partners in over 100 countries. On April 14, 2021, Coinbase filed its prospectus on a Form 424B4, which forms part of the registration statement. Coinbase registered for the resale of up to 114,850,769 shares of its Class A common stock by registered shareholders. According to the registration statement, the resale of Coinbase's stock was not underwritten by any investment bank and the registered stockholders would purportedly elect whether or not to sell their shares. Such sales, if any, would be brokerage transactions on the NASDAQ, and Coinbase would purportedly not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares of Class A common stock by the registered stockholders. Thus, Coinbase's operations would continue to be financed with cash flow from operating activities and net proceeds from the sale of convertible preferred stock. As of December 31, 2020, Coinbase had cash and cash equivalents of $1.1 billion, exclusive of restricted cash and customer custodial funds. Story continues The complaint alleges that one month later, the high-flying promise of Coinbase came to a screaming halt, as Coinbase conceded the need to raise capital and revealed performance issues that prevented users' ability to trade cryptocurrencies. On May 17, 2021, Coinbase announced its plans to raise about $1.25 billion via a convertible bond sale. Then, on May 19, 2021, Coinbase revealed technical problems, including "delays . . . due to network congestion" affecting those who want to get their money out. Following this news, Coinbase's share price fell $23.44 per share, nearly 10%, over two consecutive trading sessions, to close at $224.80 per share on May 19, 2021. By the time the complaint was filed, Coinbase stock traded as low as $208.00 per share, a decline from its April 14, 2021 opening price of $381.00 per share. The complaint alleges that the Offering Materials were false and misleading and omitted to state that, at the time of the Offering: (1) Coinbase required a sizeable cash injection; (2) Coinbase's platform was susceptible to service-level disruptions, which were increasingly likely to occur as Coinbase scaled its services to a larger user base; and (3) as a result of the foregoing, the defendants' positive statements about Coinbase's business, operations, and prospects, were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis. Coinbase investors may, no later than September 20, 2021 , seek to be appointed as a lead plaintiff representative of the class through Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP or other counsel, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of all class members in directing the litigation. In order to be appointed as a lead plaintiff, the Court must determine that the class member's claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision of whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP prosecutes class actions in state and federal courts throughout the country involving securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duties and other violations of state and federal law. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP is a driving force behind corporate governance reform, and has recovered billions of dollars on behalf of institutional and individual investors from the United States and around the world. The firm represents investors, consumers and whistleblowers (private citizens who report fraudulent practices against the government and share in the recovery of government dollars). The complaint in this action was not filed by Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP. For more information about Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP please visit www.ktmc.com . CONTACT: Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP James Maro, Jr., Esq. 280 King of Prussia Road Radnor, PA 19087 (844) 887-9500 (toll free) [email protected] SOURCE: Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/660774/COIN-Reminder-Kessler-Topaz-Meltzer-Check-LLP--Deadline-Reminder-for-Coinbase-Global-Inc-Investors || COIN Reminder: Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP - Deadline Reminder for Coinbase Global Inc. Investors: RADNOR, PA / ACCESSWIRE / August 21, 2021 /The law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP reminds investors of Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) ("Coinbase") that a securities fraud class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of those who purchased or acquired CoinbaseClass A common stock pursuant and/or traceable to the registration statement and prospectus (collectively, the "Offering Materials") for the resale of up to 114,850,769 shares of its Class A common stock, whereby Coinbase began trading as a public company on or around April 14, 2021 (the "Offering").
Deadline Reminder: Investors who purchased or acquired Coinbase Class A common stockpursuant and/or traceable to the Offering may,no later than September 20, 2021, seek to be appointed as a lead plaintiff representative of the class. For additional information or to learn how to participate in this litigation please contact Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP: James Maro, Esq. (484) 270-1453; toll free at (844) 887-9500; via e-mail [email protected];orclickhttps://www.ktmc.com/coinbase-global-class-action-lawsuit?utm_source=PR&utm_medium=Link&utm_campaign=coinbase
According to the complaint, Coinbase "powers the cryptoeconomy," offering a "trusted platform" for sending and receiving Bitcoin and other digital assets built using blockchain technology to approximately 43 million retail users, 7,000 institutions, and 115,000 ecosystem partners in over 100 countries.
On April 14, 2021, Coinbase filed its prospectus on a Form 424B4, which forms part of the registration statement. Coinbase registered for the resale of up to 114,850,769 shares of its Class A common stock by registered shareholders. According to the registration statement, the resale of Coinbase's stock was not underwritten by any investment bank and the registered stockholders would purportedly elect whether or not to sell their shares. Such sales, if any, would be brokerage transactions on the NASDAQ, and Coinbase would purportedly not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares of Class A common stock by the registered stockholders. Thus, Coinbase's operations would continue to be financed with cash flow from operating activities and net proceeds from the sale of convertible preferred stock. As of December 31, 2020, Coinbase had cash and cash equivalents of $1.1 billion, exclusive of restricted cash and customer custodial funds.
The complaint alleges that one month later, the high-flying promise of Coinbase came to a screaming halt, as Coinbase conceded the need to raise capital and revealed performance issues that prevented users' ability to trade cryptocurrencies. On May 17, 2021, Coinbase announced its plans to raise about $1.25 billion via a convertible bond sale. Then, on May 19, 2021, Coinbase revealed technical problems, including "delays . . . due to network congestion" affecting those who want to get their money out.
Following this news, Coinbase's share price fell $23.44 per share, nearly 10%, over two consecutive trading sessions, to close at $224.80 per share on May 19, 2021. By the time the complaint was filed, Coinbase stock traded as low as $208.00 per share, a decline from its April 14, 2021 opening price of $381.00 per share.
The complaint alleges that the Offering Materials were false and misleading and omitted to state that, at the time of the Offering: (1) Coinbase required a sizeable cash injection; (2) Coinbase's platform was susceptible to service-level disruptions, which were increasingly likely to occur as Coinbase scaled its services to a larger user base; and (3) as a result of the foregoing, the defendants' positive statements about Coinbase's business, operations, and prospects, were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.
Coinbase investors may,no later than September 20, 2021, seek to be appointed as a lead plaintiff representative of the class through Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP or other counsel, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of all class members in directing the litigation. In order to be appointed as a lead plaintiff, the Court must determine that the class member's claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision of whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff.
Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP prosecutes class actions in state and federal courts throughout the country involving securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duties and other violations of state and federal law. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP is a driving force behind corporate governance reform, and has recovered billions of dollars on behalf of institutional and individual investors from the United States and around the world. The firm represents investors, consumers and whistleblowers (private citizens who report fraudulent practices against the government and share in the recovery of government dollars). The complaint in this action was not filed by Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP. For more information about Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP please visitwww.ktmc.com.
CONTACT:Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLPJames Maro, Jr., Esq.280 King of Prussia RoadRadnor, PA 19087(844) 887-9500 (toll free)[email protected]
SOURCE:Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/660774/COIN-Reminder-Kessler-Topaz-Meltzer-Check-LLP--Deadline-Reminder-for-Coinbase-Global-Inc-Investors || Bitcoin Testing $50,000 Resistance as Altcoins Climb on Weekend: BeInCrypto –
Bitcoin remains under $50,000 as it continues to test resistance, while altcoins have enjoyed gains over Saturday.
Bitcoin managed to reach $49,500 on Saturday. However, it has been unable to break through the $50,000 mark. August has been a strong month for bitcoin as the crypto has climbed 20% since the beginning of the month. The surge in price has been favorable to altcoins, which have also seen big gains during the month of August.
Source:TradingviewAltcoins surge
While bitcoin has struggled to climb over key resistance levels, altcoins enjoyed some decent gains over Friday and Saturday. Most notable was the top 25 project, Avalanche (AVAX). AVAX was up over 30% on Saturday. The move comes off the back of a prolonged one-month bullish run for the project that sees AVAX up nearly 400%. The project is now not far from it’s all-time high. The bullish price action from AVAX can be credited to the recentannouncementthat the project is set to offer liquidity mining for Curve (CRV) and Aave (AAVE). With $180 million in tokens to be provided for the program.
This storywas seen first onBeInCryptoJoin our Telegram Groupand get trading signals, a free trading course and more stories likethisonBeInCrypto || Bitcoin Testing $50,000 Resistance as Altcoins Climb on Weekend: BeInCrypto –
Bitcoin remains under $50,000 as it continues to test resistance, while altcoins have enjoyed gains over Saturday.
Bitcoin managed to reach $49,500 on Saturday. However, it has been unable to break through the $50,000 mark. August has been a strong month for bitcoin as the crypto has climbed 20% since the beginning of the month. The surge in price has been favorable to altcoins, which have also seen big gains during the month of August.
Source:TradingviewAltcoins surge
While bitcoin has struggled to climb over key resistance levels, altcoins enjoyed some decent gains over Friday and Saturday. Most notable was the top 25 project, Avalanche (AVAX). AVAX was up over 30% on Saturday. The move comes off the back of a prolonged one-month bullish run for the project that sees AVAX up nearly 400%. The project is now not far from it’s all-time high. The bullish price action from AVAX can be credited to the recentannouncementthat the project is set to offer liquidity mining for Curve (CRV) and Aave (AAVE). With $180 million in tokens to be provided for the program.
This storywas seen first onBeInCryptoJoin our Telegram Groupand get trading signals, a free trading course and more stories likethisonBeInCrypto || Bitcoin Testing $50,000 Resistance as Altcoins Climb on Weekend: BeInCrypto Bitcoin remains under $50,000 as it continues to test resistance, while altcoins have enjoyed gains over Saturday. Bitcoin managed to reach $49,500 on Saturday. However, it has been unable to break through the $50,000 mark. August has been a strong month for bitcoin as the crypto has climbed 20% since the beginning of the month. The surge in price has been favorable to altcoins, which have also seen big gains during the month of August. Source: Tradingview Altcoins surge While bitcoin has struggled to climb over key resistance levels, altcoins enjoyed some decent gains over Friday and Saturday. Most notable was the top 25 project, Avalanche (AVAX). AVAX was up over 30% on Saturday. The move comes off the back of a prolonged one-month bullish run for the project that sees AVAX up nearly 400%. The project is now not far from its all-time high. The bullish price action from AVAX can be credited to the recent announcement that the project is set to offer liquidity mining for Curve (CRV) and Aave (AAVE). With $180 million in tokens to be provided for the program. This story was seen first on BeInCrypto Join our Telegram Group and get trading signals, a free trading course and more stories like this on BeInCrypto || Liquid Exchange Hacker Covers Tracks by Sending $20M to ETH Mixer: Whoever hacked the Japanese crypto exchange Liquid for an estimated $90 million has been taking steps to cover their tracks, according to public blockchain data. However, three exchanges told CoinDesk they froze funds deposited from addresses believed to belong to the thieves. Liquid disclosed the breach Thursday in a tweet , pointing at several wallets that it said hackers used to siphon out bitcoin , ether , multiple ERC20 tokens, TRON and XRP . Related: Poly Network Hacker Releases Private Key for Remaining Looted $141M Later, Liquid tweeted more crypto addresses it identified as the hacker’s, said it halted crypto withdrawals and filed a suspicious transaction report with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country’s financial regulator. On Saturday, Liquid said it updated the exchange’s wallet infrastructure and had been migrating users’ funds “to the new secure vaults.” The hack is one of the largest of a crypto exchange in recent history, although smaller than the $146 million hack of Italian exchange BitGrail in 2020 and the more than $500 million hack of Tokyo-based Coincheck in 2018. Since blockchain data is public, everyone from sophisticated analytics vendors who contract for law enforcement to curiosity-seekers and autodidacts can trace the movement of the crypto – up to a point. According to a CoinDesk review of the Etherscan block explorer, a little over 6,000 ETH (or about $19.7 million) stolen from Liquid has been sent to Tornado.cash, a non-custodial mixer for ether and ERC20 tokens that allows users to obfuscate their transactions by commingling their crypto with the coins of others. Related: Liquid Exchange Attack: Can a Crypto Wallet Ever Be 100% Safe From Hacks? From there, the trail goes cold. Blockchain analysis to a certain extent relies on assumptions about the relationships of addresses to each other and to people in the real world. So on-chain data alone does not provide definitive answers as to who sent money to whom. However, combined with off-chain, real-world information, it can produce valuable insights about the ways crypto works. Deposited at DEXs…. Etherscan also shows that the hacker used Uniswap , a decentralized exchange (DEX), and other DEXs to liquidate ERC20 tokens, which run on top of the Ethereum network, over the past two days. Some 9,319 ETH, or $30 million worth of crypto, is still sitting in the hacker’s wallet, according to Etherscan . Elliptic released similar findings in a blog post Thursday. Over $97 million in crypto has been sent to the presumed thief’s wallets, the blockchain research firm wrote. Story continues “This includes $45 million in Ethereum tokens, which are currently being converted into ether using decentralised exchanges (DEXs) such as Uniswap and SushiSwap,” Elliptic said. According to Liquid’s Friday blog post , various issuers of ERC20 tokens have now frozen those stolen assets. Overall, 69 assets have been stolen from the exchange’s wallets “and sent to other exchanges or defi swapping venues,” Liquid said. Another ETH wallet controlled by the hacker, identified by Liquid in another tweet , hasn’t liquidated any funds yet and contains over 538 ETH worth $1.7 million. The bitcoin stolen from Liquid also remains in the hacker’s wallets and hasn’t moved to any exchange yet: According to data from Blockchain.com , all the 107.4 BTC ($4.8 million worth) sent to the address cited by Liquid is still there. …and CEXs A portion of the stolen TRON tokens worth about $1 million was sent in large batches to an address belonging to the centralized crypto exchange (CEX) Huobi , according to the Tronscan blockchain explorer. The funds reached Huobi in several hops via four interconnected wallets. Mark Lee, a spokesperson for Huobi, confirmed to CoinDesk that the address was indeed a Huobi user’s deposit address. “After Huobi was alerted of this incident, we quickly placed restrictions on the account, and are currently in the internal process of investigating both the transaction and the account,” Lee added. Another portion of the stolen TRON, about 3.5 million TRX (or $321,000), didn’t go to Huobi but ended up in a separate wallet . As for the XRP tokens, the wallet identified by Liquid as the hacker’s sent 11.5 million XRP, about $14.5 million worth, to centralized exchanges Binance, Huobi and Poloniex, according to data from XRPScan. Some of those XRP had been successfully swapped for bitcoin on one of the exchanges, Liquid tweeted , and the hacker also managed to withdraw the bitcoin to two addresses (link 1 , 2 ), which now together hold some 192 BTC. That exchange, it turned out, was Binance: spokesperson Jessica Jung confirmed to CoinDesk that Binance identified the XRP stolen from Liquid in its wallets. “We provided Liquid with relevant information, including the BTC withdrawal addresses,” Jung said. Binance has frozen “associated accounts,” she said. Poloniex spokesperson Gabriel Wang also confirmed to CoinDesk that the exchange blocked addresses related to the hack. KuCoin’s CEO Johnny Lyu tweeted Thursday that his crypto exchange has blacklisted the addresses Liquid pointed at as related to the hack. UPDATE (Aug. 21, 15:30 UTC): Adds detail about bitcoin wallet in 16th paragraph. UPDATE (Aug. 21, 17:19 UTC): Clarifies that it’s one of the largest hacks of a crypto exchange in recent history. UPDATE (Aug. 23, 2021, 10:50 UTC) : Adds comment from Poloniex that the exchange also blocked addresses related to the hack. UPDATE (Aug. 23, 13:50 UTC): Fixes typo in 19th paragraph. Related Stories Japan’s Liquid Global Exchange Hacked; $90M in Crypto Siphoned Off Binance Ordered by London High Court to Trace $2.6M Hackers View comments || Liquid Exchange Hacker Covers Tracks by Sending $20M to ETH Mixer: Whoeverhackedthe Japanese crypto exchange Liquid for an estimated $90 million has been taking steps to cover their tracks, according to public blockchain data.
However, three exchanges told CoinDesk they froze funds deposited from addresses believed to belong to the thieves.
Liquid disclosed the breach Thursday in atweet, pointing at several wallets that it said hackers used to siphon outbitcoin,ether, multiple ERC20 tokens,TRONandXRP.
Related:Poly Network Hacker Releases Private Key for Remaining Looted $141M
Later, Liquid tweeted more crypto addresses it identified as the hacker’s,saidit halted crypto withdrawals and filed a suspicious transaction report with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country’s financial regulator. On Saturday, Liquidsaidit updated the exchange’s wallet infrastructure and had been migrating users’ funds “to the new secure vaults.”
The hack is one of the largest of a crypto exchange in recent history, although smaller than the $146 million hack of Italian exchangeBitGrailin 2020 and the more than $500 million hack of Tokyo-basedCoincheckin 2018.
Since blockchain data is public, everyone from sophisticated analytics vendors who contract for law enforcement to curiosity-seekers and autodidacts can trace the movement of the crypto – up to a point.
According to a CoinDesk review of theEtherscanblock explorer, a little over 6,000 ETH (or about $19.7 million) stolen from Liquid has been sent to Tornado.cash, a non-custodial mixer for ether and ERC20 tokens that allows users to obfuscate their transactions by commingling their crypto with the coins of others.
Related:Liquid Exchange Attack: Can a Crypto Wallet Ever Be 100% Safe From Hacks?
From there, the trail goes cold.
Blockchain analysis to a certain extent relies on assumptions about the relationships of addresses to each other and to people in the real world. So on-chain data alone does not provide definitive answers as to who sent money to whom. However, combined with off-chain, real-world information, it can produce valuable insights about the ways crypto works.
Etherscan also shows that the hacker usedUniswap, a decentralized exchange (DEX), and other DEXs to liquidate ERC20 tokens, which run on top of the Ethereum network, over the past two days.
Some 9,319 ETH, or $30 million worth of crypto, is still sitting in the hacker’s wallet, according toEtherscan.
Elliptic released similar findings in ablog postThursday. Over $97 million in crypto has been sent to the presumed thief’s wallets, the blockchain research firm wrote.
“This includes $45 million in Ethereum tokens, which are currently being converted into ether using decentralised exchanges (DEXs) such as Uniswap and SushiSwap,” Elliptic said.
According to Liquid’s Fridayblog post, various issuers of ERC20 tokens have now frozen those stolen assets. Overall, 69 assets have been stolen from the exchange’s wallets “and sent to other exchanges or defi swapping venues,” Liquid said.
Another ETH walletcontrolled by the hacker, identified by Liquid inanother tweet, hasn’t liquidated any funds yet and contains over 538 ETH worth $1.7 million.
The bitcoin stolen from Liquid also remains in the hacker’s wallets and hasn’t moved to any exchange yet: According to data fromBlockchain.com, all the 107.4 BTC ($4.8 million worth) sent to the address cited by Liquid is still there.
A portion of the stolenTRON tokensworth about $1 million was sent in large batches to an address belonging to the centralized crypto exchange (CEX)Huobi, according to the Tronscan blockchain explorer. The funds reached Huobi in several hops via four interconnected wallets.
Mark Lee, a spokesperson for Huobi, confirmed to CoinDesk that the address was indeed a Huobi user’s deposit address.
“After Huobi was alerted of this incident, we quickly placed restrictions on the account, and are currently in the internal process of investigating both the transaction and the account,” Lee added.
Another portion of the stolen TRON, about 3.5 million TRX (or $321,000), didn’t go to Huobi but ended up in a separatewallet.
As for the XRP tokens, thewalletidentified by Liquid as the hacker’s sent 11.5 million XRP, about $14.5 million worth, to centralized exchanges Binance, Huobi and Poloniex, according to data from XRPScan.
Some of those XRP had been successfully swapped for bitcoin on one of the exchanges, Liquidtweeted, and the hacker also managed to withdraw the bitcoin to two addresses (link1,2), which now together hold some 192 BTC.
That exchange, it turned out, was Binance: spokesperson Jessica Jung confirmed to CoinDesk that Binance identified the XRP stolen from Liquid in its wallets. “We provided Liquid with relevant information, including the BTC withdrawal addresses,” Jung said. Binance has frozen “associated accounts,” she said.
Poloniex spokesperson Gabriel Wang also confirmed to CoinDesk that the exchange blocked addresses related to the hack.
KuCoin’s CEO Johnny LyutweetedThursday that his crypto exchange has blacklisted the addresses Liquid pointed at as related to the hack.
UPDATE (Aug. 21, 15:30 UTC):Adds detail about bitcoin wallet in 16th paragraph.UPDATE (Aug. 21, 17:19 UTC):Clarifies that it’s one of the largest hacks of a crypto exchange in recent history.UPDATE (Aug. 23, 2021, 10:50 UTC): Adds comment from Poloniex that the exchange also blocked addresses related to the hack.
UPDATE (Aug. 23, 13:50 UTC):Fixes typo in 19th paragraph.
• Japan’s Liquid Global Exchange Hacked; $90M in Crypto Siphoned Off
• Binance Ordered by London High Court to Trace $2.6M Hackers || Ethereum Classic Stops For Gas, Along With Bitcoin And Doge, On Bullish Moon Trip: On Saturday morning Ethereum Classic (CRYPTO: ETC), along with apex cryptocurrency Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and the ever-popular Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE), was consolidating Fridays bullish trek north. All three cryptos have recently had a relative strength index (RSI) of over 70% which puts them into overbought conditions for technical traders. A cryptocurrency , like a stock, always enters into a period of consolidation after either a large incline or decline. Ethereum Classic rose 137% between its June 22 low of $32.17 and its Aug. 15 high of $77.37. Although bulls would love to see the original Ethereum version moon it will need to stop for gas along the way. See Also: How to Buy Ethereum Classic The Ethereum Classic Chart: On Aug. 7 Ethereum Classic broke up from a descending trendline that had been holding the crypto down since June 3. After busting up through the trendline Ethereum Classic soared about 46% over the course of nine days. When the crypto reached its $77 high its relative strength index measured in at 79% which was a sell signal. The crypto then retraced about 22%, which cooled its RSI down to a much more comfortable 57%, before making another bullish move up. In its consolidation Ethereum Classic has created another descending trendline which it has now rejected on four separate trading days. For technical traders a trendline must demonstrate support or rejection at least three times to be valid. Ethereum Classic rejected from its new trendline on Aug. 15, 16 and 20 and on Saturday morning the crypto tried to jump over it but failed. As of 10:00 a.m. ET Ethereum Classics trading volume was about 143 million compared to its average 10-day volume of 547 million. When a crypto or stock trades down on low volume it is usually a bullish consolidation as opposed to a bear break. Ethereum Classic is trading over the eight-day and 21-day exponential moving averages (EMAs) with the eight-day EMA trending above the 21-day, both of which are bullish indicators. On Saturday morning the crypto tested the eight-day as support and held above it. Ethereum Classic is also trading above the 200-day simple moving average indicating overall sentiment is bullish. Story continues Bulls want to see big bullish volume come in and drive Ethereum Classic up over the descending trendline. If the crypto can clear the level it has resistance above at about $72 and $79. Bears want to see big bearish volume come in and drop the crypto down below support at the eight-day EMA. If Ethereum Classic loses the support level it could fall toward $65. Below that there is support near the $57 mark. etc_aug._21.png Photo by: ETC on Flickr See more from Benzinga Click here for options trades from Benzinga Rally Socks Help Keep Dogecoin Over Key Level: What's Next For The Cryptocurrency? You Ask, We Analyze: What's Next For Tesla's Stock? © 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Ethereum Classic Stops For Gas, Along With Bitcoin And Doge, On Bullish Moon Trip: On Saturday morningEthereum Classic(CRYPTO: ETC), along with apex cryptocurrencyBitcoin(CRYPTO: BTC) and the ever-popularDogecoin(CRYPTO: DOGE), was consolidating Friday’s bullish trek north. All three cryptos have recently had a relative strength index (RSI) of over 70% which puts them into overbought conditions for technical traders.
Acryptocurrency, like a stock, always enters into a period of consolidation after either a large incline or decline. Ethereum Classic rose 137% between its June 22 low of $32.17 and its Aug. 15 high of $77.37. Although bulls would love to see the original Ethereum version ‘moon’ it will need to stop for gas along the way.
See Also:How to Buy Ethereum Classic
TheEthereumClassic Chart:On Aug. 7 Ethereum Classic broke up from a descending trendline that had been holding the crypto down since June 3. After busting up through the trendline Ethereum Classic soared about 46% over the course of nine days.
When the crypto reached its $77 high its relative strength index measured in at 79% which was a sell signal. The crypto then retraced about 22%, which cooled its RSI down to a much more comfortable 57%, before making another bullish move up.
In its consolidationEthereumClassic has created another descending trendline which it has now rejected on four separate trading days. For technical traders a trendline must demonstrate support or rejection at least three times to be valid.Ethereum Classic rejected from its new trendline on Aug. 15, 16 and 20 and on Saturday morning the crypto tried to jump over it but failed.
As of 10:00 a.m. ET Ethereum Classic’s trading volume was about 143 million compared to its average 10-day volume of 547 million. When a crypto or stock trades down on low volume it is usually a bullish consolidation as opposed to a bear break.
Ethereum Classic is trading over the eight-day and 21-day exponential moving averages (EMAs) with the eight-day EMA trending above the 21-day, both of which are bullish indicators. On Saturday morning the crypto tested the eight-day as support and held above it. Ethereum Classic is also trading above the 200-day simple moving average indicating overall sentiment is bullish.
1. Bulls want to see big bullish volume come in and drive Ethereum Classic up over the descending trendline. If the crypto can clear the level it has resistance above at about $72 and $79.
2. Bears want to see big bearish volume come in and drop the crypto down below support at the eight-day EMA. If Ethereum Classic loses the support level it could fall toward $65. Below that there is support near the $57 mark.etc_aug._21.png
Photo by: ETC onFlickr
See more from Benzinga
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• You Ask, We Analyze: What's Next For Tesla's Stock?
© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Ethereum Classic Stops For Gas, Along With Bitcoin And Doge, On Bullish Moon Trip: On Saturday morningEthereum Classic(CRYPTO: ETC), along with apex cryptocurrencyBitcoin(CRYPTO: BTC) and the ever-popularDogecoin(CRYPTO: DOGE), was consolidating Friday’s bullish trek north. All three cryptos have recently had a relative strength index (RSI) of over 70% which puts them into overbought conditions for technical traders.
Acryptocurrency, like a stock, always enters into a period of consolidation after either a large incline or decline. Ethereum Classic rose 137% between its June 22 low of $32.17 and its Aug. 15 high of $77.37. Although bulls would love to see the original Ethereum version ‘moon’ it will need to stop for gas along the way.
See Also:How to Buy Ethereum Classic
TheEthereumClassic Chart:On Aug. 7 Ethereum Classic broke up from a descending trendline that had been holding the crypto down since June 3. After busting up through the trendline Ethereum Classic soared about 46% over the course of nine days.
When the crypto reached its $77 high its relative strength index measured in at 79% which was a sell signal. The crypto then retraced about 22%, which cooled its RSI down to a much more comfortable 57%, before making another bullish move up.
In its consolidationEthereumClassic has created another descending trendline which it has now rejected on four separate trading days. For technical traders a trendline must demonstrate support or rejection at least three times to be valid.Ethereum Classic rejected from its new trendline on Aug. 15, 16 and 20 and on Saturday morning the crypto tried to jump over it but failed.
As of 10:00 a.m. ET Ethereum Classic’s trading volume was about 143 million compared to its average 10-day volume of 547 million. When a crypto or stock trades down on low volume it is usually a bullish consolidation as opposed to a bear break.
Ethereum Classic is trading over the eight-day and 21-day exponential moving averages (EMAs) with the eight-day EMA trending above the 21-day, both of which are bullish indicators. On Saturday morning the crypto tested the eight-day as support and held above it. Ethereum Classic is also trading above the 200-day simple moving average indicating overall sentiment is bullish.
1. Bulls want to see big bullish volume come in and drive Ethereum Classic up over the descending trendline. If the crypto can clear the level it has resistance above at about $72 and $79.
2. Bears want to see big bearish volume come in and drop the crypto down below support at the eight-day EMA. If Ethereum Classic loses the support level it could fall toward $65. Below that there is support near the $57 mark.etc_aug._21.png
Photo by: ETC onFlickr
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© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Benzinga's Bulls And Bears Of The Week: Apple, Bitcoin, Microsoft, Robinhood, Walmart And More: • Benzinga has examined the prospects for many investorfavorite stocksover the past week.
• Last week's bullish calls included big tech stocks and a rare earth materials producer.
• Cryptocurrency and the leading electric vehicle maker were among the bearish calls seen.
The past week was another rough one on Wall Street, with the tumult in Afghanistan giving investors something new to worry about, in addition to the ongoing concerns about the Delta variant, China, inflation, Federal Reserve policy, and even gasoline prices and possible cryptocurrency regulation.
In fact,the Fed minutesrelease took some of the blame for the week's selling, though markets did not tumble far from all-time highs (thanks largely to big tech). No doubt, Fed Chair Powell will reveal more on intended policy changes in the coming week'sJackson Hole speech.
The markets ended the week in the red, led by the 1% or so retreat in the Dow Jones industrial average. We haven't yet seen the 10% correction that many think is overdue. With thestrong second-quarter earningsreports no longer helping support the markets, will Powell's speech signal the end of the buy-the-dip sentiment?
Benzinga continues to examine the prospects for many of the stocks most popular with investors. Here are a few of this past week's most bullish and bearish posts that are worth another look.
The Bulls
In "Why Apple Is A 'Top Tech Name' To Own Right Now," Shanthi Rexaline reveals why imminentApple Inc(NASDAQ:AAPL) hardware releases and less regulatory risk than its peers has one top analyst positive on the stock.
Also readApple iPhone Sales In China Picking Up Pace, Expect Continued Strength With iPhone 13 Launch, Says Analyst.
Microsoft Corporation(NASDAQ:MSFT) is not only a great stock, but a great market leader. So says Adam Eckert's "Why Microsoft Is 'One Of The Pillars Of The Market'." What gives the company its advantages?
"Largest US Pension Fund Trimmed Positions In Apple, Facebook, Google, Tesla In Q2 And Loaded Up Heavily On These 2 Stocks" by Rachit Vats examines why one huge investor prefersWalmart Inc(NYSE:WMT) to big tech and momentum stocks.
Walmart Earnings: Tough Comparisons Vs. 2020 As Focus Turns To E-Commerceoffers a close look at the retail giant's second-quarter results.
In Wayne Duggan's "Why Splunk Is A 'Top Pick'," discover whySplunk Inc(NASDAQ:SPLK) is still a top pick for one key analyst even though the stock has struggled over the past year. What bullish catalysts does it have before the end of the year?
Chris Katje's "MP Materials: Rare Earth Mining Company Is The Thing Behind The Thing For EVs, Other Sectors" discussesMP Materials Corp(NYSE:MP), the largest rare earth materials producer in the United States.
The Bears
"Putting Crypto In Your Retirement Account Might Be A Bad Idea, Analysts Think" by Adrian Zmudzinski explores why increasing mainstream recognition does not meanBitcoin(CRYPTO: BTC) is always an appropriate investment.
Be sure to check outIf Bitcoin Bulls Are Right, Environmental Damage Would Be Disastrous: Reportas well.
A famed short seller has bet againstTesla Inc(NASDAQ:TSLA) and one of its biggest bulls, ARK Invest, according to "Michael Burry Bets Heavily Against Tesla, Cathie Wood's Ark Funds In Latest Options" by Chris Katje.
For more on the EV maker, seeTesla Bull Vs. Tesla Bear: Tesla AI Day Key Takeaways From Analysts.
In "Why This Virgin Galactic Analyst Just Cut Their Price Target By Nearly 40%," Wayne Duggan looks at why meme stockVirgin Galactic Holdings Inc(NYSE:SPCE) is likely to continue to struggle in the near term.
Adam Eckert's "Jim Cramer Says Robinhood Has Become A 'Dogecoin Gateway'" shows what the CNBC stock investing guru took away from theRobinhood Markets Inc(NASDAQ:HOOD) second-quarter report.
In Tyler Bundy's "Is Snowflake's Stock Doomed After A Cross Below Support?," find out why theSnowflake Inc(NYSE:SNOW) chart indicates sentiment in the stock may be turning bearish on signs that growth is slowing.
At the time of this writing, the author had no position in the mentioned equities.
Keep up with all the latest breaking news and trading ideas by followingBenzingaon Twitter.
See more from Benzinga
• Click here for options trades from Benzinga
• Barron's Latest Picks And Pans: Activision, Boeing, Carvana, Moderna, Wendy's And More
• The Past Week's Notable Insider Buys: ConocoPhillips, Cricut, Energy Transfer And More
© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Benzinga's Bulls And Bears Of The Week: Apple, Bitcoin, Microsoft, Robinhood, Walmart And More: • Benzinga has examined the prospects for many investorfavorite stocksover the past week.
• Last week's bullish calls included big tech stocks and a rare earth materials producer.
• Cryptocurrency and the leading electric vehicle maker were among the bearish calls seen.
The past week was another rough one on Wall Street, with the tumult in Afghanistan giving investors something new to worry about, in addition to the ongoing concerns about the Delta variant, China, inflation, Federal Reserve policy, and even gasoline prices and possible cryptocurrency regulation.
In fact,the Fed minutesrelease took some of the blame for the week's selling, though markets did not tumble far from all-time highs (thanks largely to big tech). No doubt, Fed Chair Powell will reveal more on intended policy changes in the coming week'sJackson Hole speech.
The markets ended the week in the red, led by the 1% or so retreat in the Dow Jones industrial average. We haven't yet seen the 10% correction that many think is overdue. With thestrong second-quarter earningsreports no longer helping support the markets, will Powell's speech signal the end of the buy-the-dip sentiment?
Benzinga continues to examine the prospects for many of the stocks most popular with investors. Here are a few of this past week's most bullish and bearish posts that are worth another look.
The Bulls
In "Why Apple Is A 'Top Tech Name' To Own Right Now," Shanthi Rexaline reveals why imminentApple Inc(NASDAQ:AAPL) hardware releases and less regulatory risk than its peers has one top analyst positive on the stock.
Also readApple iPhone Sales In China Picking Up Pace, Expect Continued Strength With iPhone 13 Launch, Says Analyst.
Microsoft Corporation(NASDAQ:MSFT) is not only a great stock, but a great market leader. So says Adam Eckert's "Why Microsoft Is 'One Of The Pillars Of The Market'." What gives the company its advantages?
"Largest US Pension Fund Trimmed Positions In Apple, Facebook, Google, Tesla In Q2 And Loaded Up Heavily On These 2 Stocks" by Rachit Vats examines why one huge investor prefersWalmart Inc(NYSE:WMT) to big tech and momentum stocks.
Walmart Earnings: Tough Comparisons Vs. 2020 As Focus Turns To E-Commerceoffers a close look at the retail giant's second-quarter results.
In Wayne Duggan's "Why Splunk Is A 'Top Pick'," discover whySplunk Inc(NASDAQ:SPLK) is still a top pick for one key analyst even though the stock has struggled over the past year. What bullish catalysts does it have before the end of the year?
Chris Katje's "MP Materials: Rare Earth Mining Company Is The Thing Behind The Thing For EVs, Other Sectors" discussesMP Materials Corp(NYSE:MP), the largest rare earth materials producer in the United States.
The Bears
"Putting Crypto In Your Retirement Account Might Be A Bad Idea, Analysts Think" by Adrian Zmudzinski explores why increasing mainstream recognition does not meanBitcoin(CRYPTO: BTC) is always an appropriate investment.
Be sure to check outIf Bitcoin Bulls Are Right, Environmental Damage Would Be Disastrous: Reportas well.
A famed short seller has bet againstTesla Inc(NASDAQ:TSLA) and one of its biggest bulls, ARK Invest, according to "Michael Burry Bets Heavily Against Tesla, Cathie Wood's Ark Funds In Latest Options" by Chris Katje.
For more on the EV maker, seeTesla Bull Vs. Tesla Bear: Tesla AI Day Key Takeaways From Analysts.
In "Why This Virgin Galactic Analyst Just Cut Their Price Target By Nearly 40%," Wayne Duggan looks at why meme stockVirgin Galactic Holdings Inc(NYSE:SPCE) is likely to continue to struggle in the near term.
Adam Eckert's "Jim Cramer Says Robinhood Has Become A 'Dogecoin Gateway'" shows what the CNBC stock investing guru took away from theRobinhood Markets Inc(NASDAQ:HOOD) second-quarter report.
In Tyler Bundy's "Is Snowflake's Stock Doomed After A Cross Below Support?," find out why theSnowflake Inc(NYSE:SNOW) chart indicates sentiment in the stock may be turning bearish on signs that growth is slowing.
At the time of this writing, the author had no position in the mentioned equities.
Keep up with all the latest breaking news and trading ideas by followingBenzingaon Twitter.
See more from Benzinga
• Click here for options trades from Benzinga
• Barron's Latest Picks And Pans: Activision, Boeing, Carvana, Moderna, Wendy's And More
• The Past Week's Notable Insider Buys: ConocoPhillips, Cricut, Energy Transfer And More
© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Benzinga's Bulls And Bears Of The Week: Apple, Bitcoin, Microsoft, Robinhood, Walmart And More: Benzinga has examined the prospects for many investor favorite stocks over the past week. Last week's bullish calls included big tech stocks and a rare earth materials producer. Cryptocurrency and the leading electric vehicle maker were among the bearish calls seen. The past week was another rough one on Wall Street, with the tumult in Afghanistan giving investors something new to worry about, in addition to the ongoing concerns about the Delta variant, China, inflation, Federal Reserve policy, and even gasoline prices and possible cryptocurrency regulation. In fact, the Fed minutes release took some of the blame for the week's selling, though markets did not tumble far from all-time highs (thanks largely to big tech). No doubt, Fed Chair Powell will reveal more on intended policy changes in the coming week's Jackson Hole speech . The markets ended the week in the red, led by the 1% or so retreat in the Dow Jones industrial average. We haven't yet seen the 10% correction that many think is overdue. With the strong second-quarter earnings reports no longer helping support the markets, will Powell's speech signal the end of the buy-the-dip sentiment? Benzinga continues to examine the prospects for many of the stocks most popular with investors. Here are a few of this past week's most bullish and bearish posts that are worth another look. The Bulls In " Why Apple Is A 'Top Tech Name' To Own Right Now ," Shanthi Rexaline reveals why imminent Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL ) hardware releases and less regulatory risk than its peers has one top analyst positive on the stock. Also read Apple iPhone Sales In China Picking Up Pace, Expect Continued Strength With iPhone 13 Launch, Says Analyst . Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT ) is not only a great stock, but a great market leader. So says Adam Eckert's " Why Microsoft Is 'One Of The Pillars Of The Market' ." What gives the company its advantages? Story continues " Largest US Pension Fund Trimmed Positions In Apple, Facebook, Google, Tesla In Q2 And Loaded Up Heavily On These 2 Stocks " by Rachit Vats examines why one huge investor prefers Walmart Inc (NYSE: WMT ) to big tech and momentum stocks. Walmart Earnings: Tough Comparisons Vs. 2020 As Focus Turns To E-Commerce offers a close look at the retail giant's second-quarter results. In Wayne Duggan's " Why Splunk Is A 'Top Pick' ," discover why Splunk Inc (NASDAQ: SPLK ) is still a top pick for one key analyst even though the stock has struggled over the past year. What bullish catalysts does it have before the end of the year? Chris Katje's " MP Materials: Rare Earth Mining Company Is The Thing Behind The Thing For EVs, Other Sectors " discusses MP Materials Corp (NYSE: MP ), the largest rare earth materials producer in the United States. The Bears " Putting Crypto In Your Retirement Account Might Be A Bad Idea, Analysts Think " by Adrian Zmudzinski explores why increasing mainstream recognition does not mean Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is always an appropriate investment. Be sure to check out If Bitcoin Bulls Are Right, Environmental Damage Would Be Disastrous: Report as well. A famed short seller has bet against Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA ) and one of its biggest bulls, ARK Invest, according to " Michael Burry Bets Heavily Against Tesla, Cathie Wood's Ark Funds In Latest Options " by Chris Katje. For more on the EV maker, see Tesla Bull Vs. Tesla Bear: Tesla AI Day Key Takeaways From Analysts . In " Why This Virgin Galactic Analyst Just Cut Their Price Target By Nearly 40% ," Wayne Duggan looks at why meme stock Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc (NYSE: SPCE ) is likely to continue to struggle in the near term. Adam Eckert's " Jim Cramer Says Robinhood Has Become A 'Dogecoin Gateway' " shows what the CNBC stock investing guru took away from the Robinhood Markets Inc (NASDAQ: HOOD ) second-quarter report. In Tyler Bundy's " Is Snowflake's Stock Doomed After A Cross Below Support? ," find out why the Snowflake Inc (NYSE: SNOW ) chart indicates sentiment in the stock may be turning bearish on signs that growth is slowing. At the time of this writing, the author had no position in the mentioned equities. Keep up with all the latest breaking news and trading ideas by following Benzinga on Twitter. See more from Benzinga Click here for options trades from Benzinga Barron's Latest Picks And Pans: Activision, Boeing, Carvana, Moderna, Wendy's And More The Past Week's Notable Insider Buys: ConocoPhillips, Cricut, Energy Transfer And More © 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Decrypting Bitcoin and Gold: This article was originally published onETFTrends.com.
As I discussed in a Frank Talk last week, the Senate just approved a $1 trillion infrastructure bill that’s now the business of the House. Among the parts of the bill that I seriously hope lawmakers will consider amending is the part that creates new tax reporting requirements for the cryptocurrency industry.
Specifically, the bill would require crypto “brokers” to provide the names and addresses of their clients. At issue is the vague way in which the bill’s authors define a crypto broker, which would unintentionally include not just brokers such as Coinbase but also crypto miners, software developers and more. These types of companies do not keep track of who owns the Bitcoin, Ether or other cryptos they may have mined. Doing so, in fact, would be impossible.
This legislation is a prime example of what happens when lawmakers try to regulate something they don’t fully understand.
A video of Ted Cruz went viral on Reddit last week after the Texas senator made a full-throated defense of his amendment, which would strike all language related to cryptos from the bill. “There aren’t five senators within this body with any real understanding of how cryptocurrency operates,” Cruz said, and yet lawmakers were willing to “obliterate” this “new and exciting,” “fast moving” industry. We would be destroying billions of dollars in value and sending countless jobs overseas, he argued.
Cruz can be a polarizing figure, and I may not always agree with him or his methods, but here he’s 100% correct. I hope his words can convince House members to amend the bill’s language or remove it altogether.
That said, I believe most leaders in the crypto industry would invite some level of regulation, so long as it’s reasonable and drafted from a place of understanding.
You can watch Ted Cruz’s full speech byclicking here.
It’s not just lawmakers who aren’t fully versed in Bitcoin, of course. I’ve received many questions over the past few days regarding the differences between the crypto and gold. With that in mind, below are six reasons why both Bitcoin and gold can be considered money. But whereas gold is the fear trade, Bitcoin is the greed trade.
Ideally, money should be able to withstand basic wear and tear, one of the main reasons why many currencies have historically been made of metal, shells and other hardy materials. A few years ago, I shared with you why we can single gold out among the 118 elements as thebest possible candidate to be money.It’s chemically inert, for one, meaning it doesn’t rust or tarnish. You can bend it, break it and melt it down, but it’s virtually impossible to destroy. Since humans started mining the metal between 5,000 and 7,000 years ago, we’ve dug up close to 200,000 tonnes, nearly all of it still around in one form or another.
We can also call Bitcoin a durable asset, capable of withstanding the test of time. BTC exists only in digital space, on a highly encrypted, decentralized peer-to-peer network.
In order for money to be a convenient medium of exchange, it needs to be portable. This is why land, although inherently valuable and durable, cannot be considered money.
Granted, not every form of gold is “portable.” A bar of the stuff, for instance, weighs about 27.5 pounds, making it impractical to carry around with you during a shopping spree. Gold coins, on the other hand, can be carried in a pocket or purse. And remember that not too long ago, U.S. bank notes, which are light and can fit in a wallet, were fully backed by and convertible into gold.
BTC is extremely portable because, well, it has no physical form. So long as you have a smartphone with access to the internet, you can carry as many or as few bitcoins around with you.
Money must be divisible into smaller denominations; otherwise, you’re throwing a lot of it away if you don’t use exact change. Because of its softness and malleability, gold is easily divided into smaller denominations, including 1/2, 1/4, 1/10 and even 1/20 of an ounce.
As I write this, one bitcoin is valued at around $46,000. Fortunately for those who may not have that kind of cash on hand, BTC can be purchased in fractions. What’s more, the growing number of companies that accept BTC as a form of payment will provide change.
Gold maintains a reliable level of uniformity. Regardless of which country’s mint you might purchase a one-ounce gold coin from, it should have more or less the same value in markets all around the world.
It’s possible that, in the future, traders may be interested in paying a premium on bitcoins that were mined using only green energy, or on newly minted bitcoins that have no history of being used to launder money or finance illicit activities, but for now, one bitcoin equals one bitcoin.
Gold is attractive as money because its supply is limited. Indeed, we may very well have reachedpeak gold.Meanwhile, bank notes continue to be printed at a rapid rate, which has contributed to the higher-than-average inflation we’re witnessing right now.
Like gold, Bitcoin has a limited supply baked into it. Only 21 million coins will ever be mined. Supply growth is alsorestricted by halving events.After every 210,000 blocks are mined, the Bitcoin reward is cut in half.
click to enlarge
It’s difficult to call an asset money if not everyone agrees that it has value. Using this yardstick, gold is undeniably money. Nearly every central bank on earth holds the precious metal in its reserves, and some countries have used these holdings to pay down their debts.
Not all central banks are totally sold on Bitcoin, of course, and to date, only one country, El Salvador, hasadopted Bitcoin as legal tender.Interestingly, that’s one more country than those that use gold as legal tender. Also consider that Bitcoin can be sent anywhere in the world, from peer to peer, and it will still have value.
Originallypublishedby US Funds, 8/16/21
All opinions expressed and data provided are subject to change without notice. Some of these opinions may not be appropriate to every investor. By clicking the link(s) above, you will be directed to a third-party website(s). U.S. Global Investors does not endorse all information supplied by this/these website(s) and is not responsible for its/their content.
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READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || Decrypting Bitcoin and Gold: This article was originally published on ETFTrends.com. As I discussed in a Frank Talk last week, the Senate just approved a $1 trillion infrastructure bill that’s now the business of the House. Among the parts of the bill that I seriously hope lawmakers will consider amending is the part that creates new tax reporting requirements for the cryptocurrency industry. Specifically, the bill would require crypto “brokers” to provide the names and addresses of their clients. At issue is the vague way in which the bill’s authors define a crypto broker, which would unintentionally include not just brokers such as Coinbase but also crypto miners, software developers and more. These types of companies do not keep track of who owns the Bitcoin, Ether or other cryptos they may have mined. Doing so, in fact, would be impossible. This legislation is a prime example of what happens when lawmakers try to regulate something they don’t fully understand. A video of Ted Cruz went viral on Reddit last week after the Texas senator made a full-throated defense of his amendment, which would strike all language related to cryptos from the bill. “There aren’t five senators within this body with any real understanding of how cryptocurrency operates,” Cruz said, and yet lawmakers were willing to “obliterate” this “new and exciting,” “fast moving” industry. We would be destroying billions of dollars in value and sending countless jobs overseas, he argued. Cruz can be a polarizing figure, and I may not always agree with him or his methods, but here he’s 100% correct. I hope his words can convince House members to amend the bill’s language or remove it altogether. That said, I believe most leaders in the crypto industry would invite some level of regulation, so long as it’s reasonable and drafted from a place of understanding. You can watch Ted Cruz’s full speech by clicking here. Both Bitcoin and Gold Are Money It’s not just lawmakers who aren’t fully versed in Bitcoin, of course. I’ve received many questions over the past few days regarding the differences between the crypto and gold. With that in mind, below are six reasons why both Bitcoin and gold can be considered money. But whereas gold is the fear trade, Bitcoin is the greed trade. Story continues 1. Durability Ideally, money should be able to withstand basic wear and tear, one of the main reasons why many currencies have historically been made of metal, shells and other hardy materials. A few years ago, I shared with you why we can single gold out among the 118 elements as the best possible candidate to be money. It’s chemically inert, for one, meaning it doesn’t rust or tarnish. You can bend it, break it and melt it down, but it’s virtually impossible to destroy. Since humans started mining the metal between 5,000 and 7,000 years ago, we’ve dug up close to 200,000 tonnes, nearly all of it still around in one form or another. We can also call Bitcoin a durable asset, capable of withstanding the test of time. BTC exists only in digital space, on a highly encrypted, decentralized peer-to-peer network. 2. Portability A group of coins In order for money to be a convenient medium of exchange, it needs to be portable. This is why land, although inherently valuable and durable, cannot be considered money. Granted, not every form of gold is “portable.” A bar of the stuff, for instance, weighs about 27.5 pounds, making it impractical to carry around with you during a shopping spree. Gold coins, on the other hand, can be carried in a pocket or purse. And remember that not too long ago, U.S. bank notes, which are light and can fit in a wallet, were fully backed by and convertible into gold. BTC is extremely portable because, well, it has no physical form. So long as you have a smartphone with access to the internet, you can carry as many or as few bitcoins around with you. 3. Divisibility Money must be divisible into smaller denominations; otherwise, you’re throwing a lot of it away if you don’t use exact change. Because of its softness and malleability, gold is easily divided into smaller denominations, including 1/2, 1/4, 1/10 and even 1/20 of an ounce. As I write this, one bitcoin is valued at around $46,000. Fortunately for those who may not have that kind of cash on hand, BTC can be purchased in fractions. What’s more, the growing number of companies that accept BTC as a form of payment will provide change. 4. Uniformity Gold maintains a reliable level of uniformity. Regardless of which country’s mint you might purchase a one-ounce gold coin from, it should have more or less the same value in markets all around the world. It’s possible that, in the future, traders may be interested in paying a premium on bitcoins that were mined using only green energy, or on newly minted bitcoins that have no history of being used to launder money or finance illicit activities, but for now, one bitcoin equals one bitcoin. 5. Limited supply Gold is attractive as money because its supply is limited. Indeed, we may very well have reached peak gold. Meanwhile, bank notes continue to be printed at a rapid rate, which has contributed to the higher-than-average inflation we’re witnessing right now. Like gold, Bitcoin has a limited supply baked into it. Only 21 million coins will ever be mined. Supply growth is also restricted by halving events. After every 210,000 blocks are mined, the Bitcoin reward is cut in half. Bitcoin Mining Rewards click to enlarge 6. Acceptability It’s difficult to call an asset money if not everyone agrees that it has value. Using this yardstick, gold is undeniably money. Nearly every central bank on earth holds the precious metal in its reserves, and some countries have used these holdings to pay down their debts. Not all central banks are totally sold on Bitcoin, of course, and to date, only one country, El Salvador, has adopted Bitcoin as legal tender. Interestingly, that’s one more country than those that use gold as legal tender. Also consider that Bitcoin can be sent anywhere in the world, from peer to peer, and it will still have value. Originally published by US Funds, 8/16/21 All opinions expressed and data provided are subject to change without notice. Some of these opinions may not be appropriate to every investor. By clicking the link(s) above, you will be directed to a third-party website(s). U.S. Global Investors does not endorse all information supplied by this/these website(s) and is not responsible for its/their content. POPULAR ARTICLES AND RESOURCES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM SPY ETF Quote VOO ETF Quote QQQ ETF Quote VTI ETF Quote JNUG ETF Quote Top 34 Gold ETFs Top 34 Oil ETFs Top 57 Financials ETFs 10 Takeaways from My Chat with Michael Saylor Palantir Bought Gold Bars Decrypting Bitcoin and Gold How Joe Biden Helped Us Collect 180%+ Profits Airline Stocks Unafflicted by Summer Travel Chaos READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || Decrypting Bitcoin and Gold: This article was originally published onETFTrends.com.
As I discussed in a Frank Talk last week, the Senate just approved a $1 trillion infrastructure bill that’s now the business of the House. Among the parts of the bill that I seriously hope lawmakers will consider amending is the part that creates new tax reporting requirements for the cryptocurrency industry.
Specifically, the bill would require crypto “brokers” to provide the names and addresses of their clients. At issue is the vague way in which the bill’s authors define a crypto broker, which would unintentionally include not just brokers such as Coinbase but also crypto miners, software developers and more. These types of companies do not keep track of who owns the Bitcoin, Ether or other cryptos they may have mined. Doing so, in fact, would be impossible.
This legislation is a prime example of what happens when lawmakers try to regulate something they don’t fully understand.
A video of Ted Cruz went viral on Reddit last week after the Texas senator made a full-throated defense of his amendment, which would strike all language related to cryptos from the bill. “There aren’t five senators within this body with any real understanding of how cryptocurrency operates,” Cruz said, and yet lawmakers were willing to “obliterate” this “new and exciting,” “fast moving” industry. We would be destroying billions of dollars in value and sending countless jobs overseas, he argued.
Cruz can be a polarizing figure, and I may not always agree with him or his methods, but here he’s 100% correct. I hope his words can convince House members to amend the bill’s language or remove it altogether.
That said, I believe most leaders in the crypto industry would invite some level of regulation, so long as it’s reasonable and drafted from a place of understanding.
You can watch Ted Cruz’s full speech byclicking here.
It’s not just lawmakers who aren’t fully versed in Bitcoin, of course. I’ve received many questions over the past few days regarding the differences between the crypto and gold. With that in mind, below are six reasons why both Bitcoin and gold can be considered money. But whereas gold is the fear trade, Bitcoin is the greed trade.
Ideally, money should be able to withstand basic wear and tear, one of the main reasons why many currencies have historically been made of metal, shells and other hardy materials. A few years ago, I shared with you why we can single gold out among the 118 elements as thebest possible candidate to be money.It’s chemically inert, for one, meaning it doesn’t rust or tarnish. You can bend it, break it and melt it down, but it’s virtually impossible to destroy. Since humans started mining the metal between 5,000 and 7,000 years ago, we’ve dug up close to 200,000 tonnes, nearly all of it still around in one form or another.
We can also call Bitcoin a durable asset, capable of withstanding the test of time. BTC exists only in digital space, on a highly encrypted, decentralized peer-to-peer network.
In order for money to be a convenient medium of exchange, it needs to be portable. This is why land, although inherently valuable and durable, cannot be considered money.
Granted, not every form of gold is “portable.” A bar of the stuff, for instance, weighs about 27.5 pounds, making it impractical to carry around with you during a shopping spree. Gold coins, on the other hand, can be carried in a pocket or purse. And remember that not too long ago, U.S. bank notes, which are light and can fit in a wallet, were fully backed by and convertible into gold.
BTC is extremely portable because, well, it has no physical form. So long as you have a smartphone with access to the internet, you can carry as many or as few bitcoins around with you.
Money must be divisible into smaller denominations; otherwise, you’re throwing a lot of it away if you don’t use exact change. Because of its softness and malleability, gold is easily divided into smaller denominations, including 1/2, 1/4, 1/10 and even 1/20 of an ounce.
As I write this, one bitcoin is valued at around $46,000. Fortunately for those who may not have that kind of cash on hand, BTC can be purchased in fractions. What’s more, the growing number of companies that accept BTC as a form of payment will provide change.
Gold maintains a reliable level of uniformity. Regardless of which country’s mint you might purchase a one-ounce gold coin from, it should have more or less the same value in markets all around the world.
It’s possible that, in the future, traders may be interested in paying a premium on bitcoins that were mined using only green energy, or on newly minted bitcoins that have no history of being used to launder money or finance illicit activities, but for now, one bitcoin equals one bitcoin.
Gold is attractive as money because its supply is limited. Indeed, we may very well have reachedpeak gold.Meanwhile, bank notes continue to be printed at a rapid rate, which has contributed to the higher-than-average inflation we’re witnessing right now.
Like gold, Bitcoin has a limited supply baked into it. Only 21 million coins will ever be mined. Supply growth is alsorestricted by halving events.After every 210,000 blocks are mined, the Bitcoin reward is cut in half.
click to enlarge
It’s difficult to call an asset money if not everyone agrees that it has value. Using this yardstick, gold is undeniably money. Nearly every central bank on earth holds the precious metal in its reserves, and some countries have used these holdings to pay down their debts.
Not all central banks are totally sold on Bitcoin, of course, and to date, only one country, El Salvador, hasadopted Bitcoin as legal tender.Interestingly, that’s one more country than those that use gold as legal tender. Also consider that Bitcoin can be sent anywhere in the world, from peer to peer, and it will still have value.
Originallypublishedby US Funds, 8/16/21
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READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || AdvisorShares Submits Application for Bitcoin ETF: BeInCrypto –
Investment management company AdvisorShares has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a bitcoin (BTC) futures exchange traded fund (ETF).
The firm, based in Bethesda, Maryland, already offers a wide range of ETFs.
Ina prospectussubmitted to the SEC, Advisor Shares outlined that the ETF would seek to achieve its investment goals by “investing all or substantially all of its assets in (i) exchange-traded futures contracts on bitcoin (“Bitcoin Futures”) and (ii) short duration fixed income securities and cash or cash equivalent investments.”
This storywas seen first onBeInCryptoJoin our Telegram Groupand get trading signals, a free trading course and more stories likethisonBeInCrypto || AdvisorShares Submits Application for Bitcoin ETF: BeInCrypto – Investment management company AdvisorShares has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a bitcoin (BTC) futures exchange traded fund (ETF). The firm, based in Bethesda, Maryland, already offers a wide range of ETFs. In a prospectus submitted to the SEC, Advisor Shares outlined that the ETF would seek to achieve its investment goals by “investing all or substantially all of its assets in (i) exchange-traded futures contracts on bitcoin (“Bitcoin Futures”) and (ii) short duration fixed income securities and cash or cash equivalent investments.” This story was seen first on BeInCrypto Join our Telegram Group and get trading signals, a free trading course and more stories like this on BeInCrypto View comments
[Social Media Buzz]
None available.
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49546.15, 47706.12, 48960.79, 46942.22, 49058.67, 48902.40, 48829.83, 47054.98, 47166.69, 48847.03
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 420.74, 424.95, 424.54, 432.15, 432.52, 433.50, 437.70, 435.12, 423.99, 421.65, 410.94, 400.57, 407.71, 414.32, 413.97, 414.86, 417.13, 421.69, 411.62, 414.07, 416.44, 416.83, 417.01, 420.62, 409.55, 410.44, 413.76, 413.31, 418.09, 418.04, 416.39, 417.18, 417.95, 426.77, 424.23, 416.52, 414.82, 416.73, 417.96, 420.87, 420.90, 421.44, 424.03, 423.41, 422.74, 420.35, 419.41, 421.56, 422.48, 425.19, 423.73, 424.28, 429.71, 430.57, 427.40, 428.59, 435.51, 441.39, 449.42, 445.74, 450.28, 458.55, 461.43, 466.09, 444.69, 449.01, 455.10, 448.32, 451.88, 444.67, 450.30, 446.72, 447.98, 459.60, 458.54, 458.55, 460.48, 450.89, 452.73, 454.77, 455.67, 455.67, 457.57, 454.16, 453.78, 454.62, 438.71, 442.68, 443.19, 439.32.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2016-05-22]
Volume: 39657600, RSI (14-day): 41.42, 50-day EMA: 442.79, 200-day EMA: 402.12
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Bitcoin exchange Coinbase to add ether currency to trading platform: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin exchange Coinbase said on Thursday it will add digital currency ether on its trading platform next Tuesday. The addition of ether comes given the surge in interest in the digital asset among major financial institutions such as Barclays [BARCR.UL] and UBS [UBSAG.UL] as well as other enterprises worldwide like IBM (IBM.N), which are trying to explore the Ethereum network. Ether is the digital currency for the Ethereum platform, a blockchain, or public ledger that can create decentralized applications. Ethereum, which uses ether to execute peer-to-peer contracts automatically without the need for intermediaries, was co-founded and invented by 22-year old Russian Canadian programmer Vitalik Buterin. "We're very excited about Ethereum. There has been a tonne of progress made in the last six to nine months," said Adam White, vice president of business development at Coinbase in an interview with Reuters. "We have seen hundreds of emerging decentralized apps (applications) launched on Ethereum." He added that bitcoin cannot mirror Ethereum's "scripting language," so both bitcoin and ether can co-exist and will not necessarily compete with each other. Coinbase also plans to change the name of its platform to GDAX (Global Digital Asset Exchange), said White. The name Coinbase, however, will be retained for its retail service such as exchanging dollars for bitcoin or ether, he added. Coinbase, widely believed to be the largest bitcoin-focused company in terms of investment, will offer ether/dollar and ether/bitcoin currency pairs on GDAX. The name change was made because the company will add more digital assets for trading on its exchange, White said. According to coinmarketcap.com, ether is trading at $14.28 late on Thursday, with a market capitalisation of about $1.1 billion, the second largest behind bitcoin. Bitcoin currently has a market cap of $6.9 billion. Daily volume for ether is around $48 million, while average daily volume for bitcoin is $87.2 million. Story continues At the beginning of the year, ether traded at just $1 per token and it is the fastest-rising digital currency. White said ether will be available on GDAX in most states except New York because Coinbase is still in the process of applying for a licence in the state. Coinbase's move to add ether trading to its currency exchange platform came after New York approved the application of Gemini Trust Company, founded by investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, to trade ether on its exchange. "What's powerful about ethereum is that I can write self-executing contracts and I can run them on Ethereum and it's not on any central server or computer," said White. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Bernard Orr) || Bitcoin exchange Coinbase to add ether currency to trading platform: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin exchange Coinbase said on Thursday it will add digital currency ether on its trading platform next Tuesday. The addition of ether comes given the surge in interest in the digital asset among major financial institutions such as Barclays [BARCR.UL] and UBS [UBSAG.UL] as well as other enterprises worldwide like IBM (IBM.N), which are trying to explore the Ethereum network. Ether is the digital currency for the Ethereum platform, a blockchain, or public ledger that can create decentralized applications. Ethereum, which uses ether to execute peer-to-peer contracts automatically without the need for intermediaries, was co-founded and invented by 22-year old Russian Canadian programmer Vitalik Buterin. "We're very excited about Ethereum. There has been a tonne of progress made in the last six to nine months," said Adam White, vice president of business development at Coinbase in an interview with Reuters. "We have seen hundreds of emerging decentralized apps (applications) launched on Ethereum." He added that bitcoin cannot mirror Ethereum's "scripting language," so both bitcoin and ether can co-exist and will not necessarily compete with each other. Coinbase also plans to change the name of its platform to GDAX (Global Digital Asset Exchange), said White. The name Coinbase, however, will be retained for its retail service such as exchanging dollars for bitcoin or ether, he added. Coinbase, widely believed to be the largest bitcoin-focused company in terms of investment, will offer ether/dollar and ether/bitcoin currency pairs on GDAX. The name change was made because the company will add more digital assets for trading on its exchange, White said. According to coinmarketcap.com, ether is trading at $14.28 late on Thursday, with a market capitalisation of about $1.1 billion, the second largest behind bitcoin. Bitcoin currently has a market cap of $6.9 billion. Daily volume for ether is around $48 million, while average daily volume for bitcoin is $87.2 million. Story continues At the beginning of the year, ether traded at just $1 per token and it is the fastest-rising digital currency. White said ether will be available on GDAX in most states except New York because Coinbase is still in the process of applying for a licence in the state. Coinbase's move to add ether trading to its currency exchange platform came after New York approved the application of Gemini Trust Company, founded by investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, to trade ether on its exchange. "What's powerful about ethereum is that I can write self-executing contracts and I can run them on Ethereum and it's not on any central server or computer," said White. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Bernard Orr) || Bitcoin exchange Coinbase to add ether currency to trading platform: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin exchange Coinbase said on Thursday it will add digital currency ether on its trading platform next Tuesday. The addition of ether comes given the surge in interest in the digital asset among major financial institutions such as Barclays [BARCR.UL] and UBS [UBSAG.UL] as well as other enterprises worldwide like IBM (IBM.N), which are trying to explore the Ethereum network. Ether is the digital currency for the Ethereum platform, a blockchain, or public ledger that can create decentralized applications. Ethereum, which uses ether to execute peer-to-peer contracts automatically without the need for intermediaries, was co-founded and invented by 22-year old Russian Canadian programmer Vitalik Buterin. "We're very excited about Ethereum. There has been a tonne of progress made in the last six to nine months," said Adam White, vice president of business development at Coinbase in an interview with Reuters. "We have seen hundreds of emerging decentralized apps (applications) launched on Ethereum." He added that bitcoin cannot mirror Ethereum's "scripting language," so both bitcoin and ether can co-exist and will not necessarily compete with each other. Coinbase also plans to change the name of its platform to GDAX (Global Digital Asset Exchange), said White. The name Coinbase, however, will be retained for its retail service such as exchanging dollars for bitcoin or ether, he added. Coinbase, widely believed to be the largest bitcoin-focused company in terms of investment, will offer ether/dollar and ether/bitcoin currency pairs on GDAX. The name change was made because the company will add more digital assets for trading on its exchange, White said. According to coinmarketcap.com, ether is trading at $14.28 late on Thursday, with a market capitalisation of about $1.1 billion, the second largest behind bitcoin. Bitcoin currently has a market cap of $6.9 billion. Daily volume for ether is around $48 million, while average daily volume for bitcoin is $87.2 million. Story continues At the beginning of the year, ether traded at just $1 per token and it is the fastest-rising digital currency. White said ether will be available on GDAX in most states except New York because Coinbase is still in the process of applying for a licence in the state. Coinbase's move to add ether trading to its currency exchange platform came after New York approved the application of Gemini Trust Company, founded by investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, to trade ether on its exchange. "What's powerful about ethereum is that I can write self-executing contracts and I can run them on Ethereum and it's not on any central server or computer," said White. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Bernard Orr) || Bitcoin exchange Coinbase to add ether currency to trading platform: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin exchange Coinbase said on Thursday it will add digital currency ether on its trading platform next Tuesday. The addition of ether comes given the surge in interest in the digital asset among major financial institutions such as Barclays [BARCR.UL] and UBS [UBSAG.UL] as well as other enterprises worldwide like IBM, which are trying to explore the Ethereum network. Ether is the digital currency for the Ethereum platform, a blockchain, or public ledger that can create decentralized applications. Ethereum, which uses ether to execute peer-to-peer contracts automatically without the need for intermediaries, was co-founded and invented by 22-year old Russian Canadian programer Vitalik Buterin. "We're very excited about Ethereum. There has been a ton of progress made in the last six to nine months," said Adam White, vice president of business development at Coinbase in an interview with Reuters. "We have seen hundreds of emerging decentralized apps (applications) launched on Ethereum." He added that bitcoin cannot mirror Ethereum's "scripting language," so both bitcoin and ether can co-exist and will not necessarily compete with each other. Coinbase also plans to change the name of its platform to GDAX (Global Digital Asset Exchange), said White. The name Coinbase, however, will be retained for its retail service such as exchanging dollars for bitcoin or ether, he added. Coinbase, widely believed to be the largest bitcoin-focused company in terms of investment, will offer ether/dollar and ether/bitcoin currency pairs on GDAX. The name change was made because the company will add more digital assets for trading on its exchange, White said. According to coinmarketcap.com, ether is trading at $14.28 late on Thursday, with a market capitalization of about $1.1 billion, the second largest behind bitcoin. Bitcoin currently has a market cap of $6.9 billion. Daily volume for ether is around $48 million, while average daily volume for bitcoin is $87.2 million. Story continues At the beginning of the year, ether traded at just $1 per token and it is the fastest-rising digital currency. White said ether will be available on GDAX in most states except New York because Coinbase is still in the process of applying for a license in the state. Coinbase's move to add ether trading to its currency exchange platform came after New York approved the application of Gemini Trust Company, founded by investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, to trade ether on its exchange. "What's powerful about ethereum is that I can write self-executing contracts and I can run them on Ethereum and it's not on any central server or computer," said White. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Bernard Orr) || Bitcoin exchange Coinbase to add ether currency to trading platform: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin exchange Coinbase said on Thursday it will add digital currency ether on its trading platform next Tuesday. The addition of ether comes given the surge in interest in the digital asset among major financial institutions such as Barclays [BARCR.UL] and UBS [UBSAG.UL] as well as other enterprises worldwide like IBM, which are trying to explore the Ethereum network. Ether is the digital currency for the Ethereum platform, a blockchain, or public ledger that can create decentralized applications. Ethereum, which uses ether to execute peer-to-peer contracts automatically without the need for intermediaries, was co-founded and invented by 22-year old Russian Canadian programer Vitalik Buterin. "We're very excited about Ethereum. There has been a ton of progress made in the last six to nine months," said Adam White, vice president of business development at Coinbase in an interview with Reuters. "We have seen hundreds of emerging decentralized apps (applications) launched on Ethereum." He added that bitcoin cannot mirror Ethereum's "scripting language," so both bitcoin and ether can co-exist and will not necessarily compete with each other. Coinbase also plans to change the name of its platform to GDAX (Global Digital Asset Exchange), said White. The name Coinbase, however, will be retained for its retail service such as exchanging dollars for bitcoin or ether, he added. Coinbase, widely believed to be the largest bitcoin-focused company in terms of investment, will offer ether/dollar and ether/bitcoin currency pairs on GDAX. The name change was made because the company will add more digital assets for trading on its exchange, White said. According to coinmarketcap.com, ether is trading at $14.28 late on Thursday, with a market capitalization of about $1.1 billion, the second largest behind bitcoin. Bitcoin currently has a market cap of $6.9 billion. Daily volume for ether is around $48 million, while average daily volume for bitcoin is $87.2 million. At the beginning of the year, ether traded at just $1 per token and it is the fastest-rising digital currency. White said ether will be available on GDAX in most states except New York because Coinbase is still in the process of applying for a license in the state. Coinbase's move to add ether trading to its currency exchange platform came after New York approved the application of Gemini Trust Company, founded by investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, to trade ether on its exchange. "What's powerful about ethereum is that I can write self-executing contracts and I can run them on Ethereum and it's not on any central server or computer," said White. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Bernard Orr) View comments || Bitcoin exchange Coinbase to add ether currency to trading platform: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin exchange Coinbase said on Thursday it will add digital currency ether on its trading platform next Tuesday. The addition of ether comes given the surge in interest in the digital asset among major financial institutions such as Barclays [BARCR.UL] and UBS [UBSAG.UL] as well as other enterprises worldwide like IBM, which are trying to explore the Ethereum network. Ether is the digital currency for the Ethereum platform, a blockchain, or public ledger that can create decentralized applications. Ethereum, which uses ether to execute peer-to-peer contracts automatically without the need for intermediaries, was co-founded and invented by 22-year old Russian Canadian programer Vitalik Buterin. "We're very excited about Ethereum. There has been a ton of progress made in the last six to nine months," said Adam White, vice president of business development at Coinbase in an interview with Reuters. "We have seen hundreds of emerging decentralized apps (applications) launched on Ethereum." He added that bitcoin cannot mirror Ethereum's "scripting language," so both bitcoin and ether can co-exist and will not necessarily compete with each other. Coinbase also plans to change the name of its platform to GDAX (Global Digital Asset Exchange), said White. The name Coinbase, however, will be retained for its retail service such as exchanging dollars for bitcoin or ether, he added. Coinbase, widely believed to be the largest bitcoin-focused company in terms of investment, will offer ether/dollar and ether/bitcoin currency pairs on GDAX. The name change was made because the company will add more digital assets for trading on its exchange, White said. According to coinmarketcap.com, ether is trading at $14.28 late on Thursday, with a market capitalization of about $1.1 billion, the second largest behind bitcoin. Bitcoin currently has a market cap of $6.9 billion. Daily volume for ether is around $48 million, while average daily volume for bitcoin is $87.2 million. Story continues At the beginning of the year, ether traded at just $1 per token and it is the fastest-rising digital currency. White said ether will be available on GDAX in most states except New York because Coinbase is still in the process of applying for a license in the state. Coinbase's move to add ether trading to its currency exchange platform came after New York approved the application of Gemini Trust Company, founded by investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, to trade ether on its exchange. "What's powerful about ethereum is that I can write self-executing contracts and I can run them on Ethereum and it's not on any central server or computer," said White. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Bernard Orr) || Bitcoin exchange Coinbase to add ether currency to trading platform: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin exchange Coinbase said on Thursday it will add digital currency ether on its trading platform next Tuesday. The addition of ether comes given the surge in interest in the digital asset among major financial institutions such as Barclays [BARCR.UL] and UBS [UBSAG.UL] as well as other enterprises worldwide like IBM, which are trying to explore the Ethereum network. Ether is the digital currency for the Ethereum platform, a blockchain, or public ledger that can create decentralized applications. Ethereum, which uses ether to execute peer-to-peer contracts automatically without the need for intermediaries, was co-founded and invented by 22-year old Russian Canadian programer Vitalik Buterin. "We're very excited about Ethereum. There has been a ton of progress made in the last six to nine months," said Adam White, vice president of business development at Coinbase in an interview with Reuters. "We have seen hundreds of emerging decentralized apps (applications) launched on Ethereum." He added that bitcoin cannot mirror Ethereum's "scripting language," so both bitcoin and ether can co-exist and will not necessarily compete with each other. Coinbase also plans to change the name of its platform to GDAX (Global Digital Asset Exchange), said White. The name Coinbase, however, will be retained for its retail service such as exchanging dollars for bitcoin or ether, he added. Coinbase, widely believed to be the largest bitcoin-focused company in terms of investment, will offer ether/dollar and ether/bitcoin currency pairs on GDAX. The name change was made because the company will add more digital assets for trading on its exchange, White said. According to coinmarketcap.com, ether is trading at $14.28 late on Thursday, with a market capitalization of about $1.1 billion, the second largest behind bitcoin. Bitcoin currently has a market cap of $6.9 billion. Daily volume for ether is around $48 million, while average daily volume for bitcoin is $87.2 million. Story continues At the beginning of the year, ether traded at just $1 per token and it is the fastest-rising digital currency. White said ether will be available on GDAX in most states except New York because Coinbase is still in the process of applying for a license in the state. Coinbase's move to add ether trading to its currency exchange platform came after New York approved the application of Gemini Trust Company, founded by investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, to trade ether on its exchange. "What's powerful about ethereum is that I can write self-executing contracts and I can run them on Ethereum and it's not on any central server or computer," said White. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Bernard Orr) || Bitcoin exchange Coinbase to add ether currency to trading platform: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin exchange Coinbase said on Thursday it will add digital currency ether on its trading platform next Tuesday. The addition of ether comes given the surge in interest in the digital asset among major financial institutions such as Barclays [BARCR.UL] and UBS [UBSAG.UL] as well as other enterprises worldwide like IBM, which are trying to explore the Ethereum network. Ether is the digital currency for the Ethereum platform, a blockchain, or public ledger that can create decentralized applications. Ethereum, which uses ether to execute peer-to-peer contracts automatically without the need for intermediaries, was co-founded and invented by 22-year old Russian Canadian programer Vitalik Buterin. "We're very excited about Ethereum. There has been a ton of progress made in the last six to nine months," said Adam White, vice president of business development at Coinbase in an interview with Reuters. "We have seen hundreds of emerging decentralized apps (applications) launched on Ethereum." He added that bitcoin cannot mirror Ethereum's "scripting language," so both bitcoin and ether can co-exist and will not necessarily compete with each other. Coinbase also plans to change the name of its platform to GDAX (Global Digital Asset Exchange), said White. The name Coinbase, however, will be retained for its retail service such as exchanging dollars for bitcoin or ether, he added. Coinbase, widely believed to be the largest bitcoin-focused company in terms of investment, will offer ether/dollar and ether/bitcoin currency pairs on GDAX. The name change was made because the company will add more digital assets for trading on its exchange, White said. According to coinmarketcap.com, ether is trading at $14.28 late on Thursday, with a market capitalization of about $1.1 billion, the second largest behind bitcoin. Bitcoin currently has a market cap of $6.9 billion. Daily volume for ether is around $48 million, while average daily volume for bitcoin is $87.2 million. Story continues At the beginning of the year, ether traded at just $1 per token and it is the fastest-rising digital currency. White said ether will be available on GDAX in most states except New York because Coinbase is still in the process of applying for a license in the state. Coinbase's move to add ether trading to its currency exchange platform came after New York approved the application of Gemini Trust Company, founded by investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, to trade ether on its exchange. "What's powerful about ethereum is that I can write self-executing contracts and I can run them on Ethereum and it's not on any central server or computer," said White. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Bernard Orr) || Bitcoin exchange Coinbase to add ether currency to trading platform: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin exchange Coinbase said on Thursday it will add digital currency ether on its trading platform next Tuesday. The addition of ether comes given the surge in interest in the digital asset among major financial institutions such as Barclays [BARCR.UL] and UBS [UBSAG.UL] as well as other enterprises worldwide like IBM, which are trying to explore the Ethereum network. Ether is the digital currency for the Ethereum platform, a blockchain, or public ledger that can create decentralized applications. Ethereum, which uses ether to execute peer-to-peer contracts automatically without the need for intermediaries, was co-founded and invented by 22-year old Russian Canadian programer Vitalik Buterin. "We're very excited about Ethereum. There has been a ton of progress made in the last six to nine months," said Adam White, vice president of business development at Coinbase in an interview with Reuters. "We have seen hundreds of emerging decentralized apps (applications) launched on Ethereum." He added that bitcoin cannot mirror Ethereum's "scripting language," so both bitcoin and ether can co-exist and will not necessarily compete with each other. Coinbase also plans to change the name of its platform to GDAX (Global Digital Asset Exchange), said White. The name Coinbase, however, will be retained for its retail service such as exchanging dollars for bitcoin or ether, he added. Coinbase, widely believed to be the largest bitcoin-focused company in terms of investment, will offer ether/dollar and ether/bitcoin currency pairs on GDAX. The name change was made because the company will add more digital assets for trading on its exchange, White said. According to coinmarketcap.com, ether is trading at $14.28 late on Thursday, with a market capitalization of about $1.1 billion, the second largest behind bitcoin. Bitcoin currently has a market cap of $6.9 billion. Daily volume for ether is around $48 million, while average daily volume for bitcoin is $87.2 million. At the beginning of the year, ether traded at just $1 per token and it is the fastest-rising digital currency. White said ether will be available on GDAX in most states except New York because Coinbase is still in the process of applying for a license in the state. Coinbase's move to add ether trading to its currency exchange platform came after New York approved the application of Gemini Trust Company, founded by investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, to trade ether on its exchange. "What's powerful about ethereum is that I can write self-executing contracts and I can run them on Ethereum and it's not on any central server or computer," said White. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Bernard Orr) View comments || Bitcoin exchange Coinbase to add ether currency to trading platform: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin exchange Coinbase said on Thursday it will add digital currency ether on its trading platform next Tuesday.
The addition of ether comes given the surge in interest in the digital asset among major financial institutions such as Barclays [BARCR.UL] and UBS [UBSAG.UL] as well as other enterprises worldwide like IBM, which are trying to explore the Ethereum network.
Ether is the digital currency for the Ethereum platform, a blockchain, or public ledger that can create decentralized applications. Ethereum, which uses ether to execute peer-to-peer contracts automatically without the need for intermediaries, was co-founded and invented by 22-year old Russian Canadian programer Vitalik Buterin.
"We're very excited about Ethereum. There has been a ton of progress made in the last six to nine months," said Adam White, vice president of business development at Coinbase in an interview with Reuters. "We have seen hundreds of emerging decentralized apps (applications) launched on Ethereum."
He added that bitcoin cannot mirror Ethereum's "scripting language," so both bitcoin and ether can co-exist and will not necessarily compete with each other.
Coinbase also plans to change the name of its platform to GDAX (Global Digital Asset Exchange), said White. The name Coinbase, however, will be retained for its retail service such as exchanging dollars for bitcoin or ether, he added.
Coinbase, widely believed to be the largest bitcoin-focused company in terms of investment, will offer ether/dollar and ether/bitcoin currency pairs on GDAX. The name change was made because the company will add more digital assets for trading on its exchange, White said.
According to coinmarketcap.com, ether is trading at $14.28 late on Thursday, with a market capitalization of about $1.1 billion, the second largest behind bitcoin. Bitcoin currently has a market cap of $6.9 billion. Daily volume for ether is around $48 million, while average daily volume for bitcoin is $87.2 million.
At the beginning of the year, ether traded at just $1 per token and it is the fastest-rising digital currency.
White said ether will be available on GDAX in most states except New York because Coinbase is still in the process of applying for a license in the state.
Coinbase's move to add ether trading to its currency exchange platform came after New York approved the application of Gemini Trust Company, founded by investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, to trade ether on its exchange.
"What's powerful about ethereum is that I can write self-executing contracts and I can run them on Ethereum and it's not on any central server or computer," said White.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Bernard Orr) || Bitcoin exchange Coinbase to add ether currency to trading platform: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin exchange Coinbase said on Thursday it will add digital currency ether on its trading platform next Tuesday. The addition of ether comes given the surge in interest in the digital asset among major financial institutions such as Barclays [BARCR.UL] and UBS [UBSAG.UL] as well as other enterprises worldwide like IBM, which are trying to explore the Ethereum network. Ether is the digital currency for the Ethereum platform, a blockchain, or public ledger that can create decentralized applications. Ethereum, which uses ether to execute peer-to-peer contracts automatically without the need for intermediaries, was co-founded and invented by 22-year old Russian Canadian programer Vitalik Buterin. "We're very excited about Ethereum. There has been a ton of progress made in the last six to nine months," said Adam White, vice president of business development at Coinbase in an interview with Reuters. "We have seen hundreds of emerging decentralized apps (applications) launched on Ethereum." He added that bitcoin cannot mirror Ethereum's "scripting language," so both bitcoin and ether can co-exist and will not necessarily compete with each other. Coinbase also plans to change the name of its platform to GDAX (Global Digital Asset Exchange), said White. The name Coinbase, however, will be retained for its retail service such as exchanging dollars for bitcoin or ether, he added. Coinbase, widely believed to be the largest bitcoin-focused company in terms of investment, will offer ether/dollar and ether/bitcoin currency pairs on GDAX. The name change was made because the company will add more digital assets for trading on its exchange, White said. According to coinmarketcap.com, ether is trading at $14.28 late on Thursday, with a market capitalization of about $1.1 billion, the second largest behind bitcoin. Bitcoin currently has a market cap of $6.9 billion. Daily volume for ether is around $48 million, while average daily volume for bitcoin is $87.2 million. At the beginning of the year, ether traded at just $1 per token and it is the fastest-rising digital currency. White said ether will be available on GDAX in most states except New York because Coinbase is still in the process of applying for a license in the state. Coinbase's move to add ether trading to its currency exchange platform came after New York approved the application of Gemini Trust Company, founded by investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, to trade ether on its exchange. "What's powerful about ethereum is that I can write self-executing contracts and I can run them on Ethereum and it's not on any central server or computer," said White. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Bernard Orr) View comments || Bitcoin exchange Coinbase to add ether currency to trading platform: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin exchange Coinbase said on Thursday it will add digital currency ether on its trading platform next Tuesday.
The addition of ether comes given the surge in interest in the digital asset among major financial institutions such as Barclays [BARCR.UL] and UBS [UBSAG.UL] as well as other enterprises worldwide like IBM, which are trying to explore the Ethereum network.
Ether is the digital currency for the Ethereum platform, a blockchain, or public ledger that can create decentralized applications. Ethereum, which uses ether to execute peer-to-peer contracts automatically without the need for intermediaries, was co-founded and invented by 22-year old Russian Canadian programer Vitalik Buterin.
"We're very excited about Ethereum. There has been a ton of progress made in the last six to nine months," said Adam White, vice president of business development at Coinbase in an interview with Reuters. "We have seen hundreds of emerging decentralized apps (applications) launched on Ethereum."
He added that bitcoin cannot mirror Ethereum's "scripting language," so both bitcoin and ether can co-exist and will not necessarily compete with each other.
Coinbase also plans to change the name of its platform to GDAX (Global Digital Asset Exchange), said White. The name Coinbase, however, will be retained for its retail service such as exchanging dollars for bitcoin or ether, he added.
Coinbase, widely believed to be the largest bitcoin-focused company in terms of investment, will offer ether/dollar and ether/bitcoin currency pairs on GDAX. The name change was made because the company will add more digital assets for trading on its exchange, White said.
According to coinmarketcap.com, ether is trading at $14.28 late on Thursday, with a market capitalization of about $1.1 billion, the second largest behind bitcoin. Bitcoin currently has a market cap of $6.9 billion. Daily volume for ether is around $48 million, while average daily volume for bitcoin is $87.2 million.
At the beginning of the year, ether traded at just $1 per token and it is the fastest-rising digital currency.
White said ether will be available on GDAX in most states except New York because Coinbase is still in the process of applying for a license in the state.
Coinbase's move to add ether trading to its currency exchange platform came after New York approved the application of Gemini Trust Company, founded by investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, to trade ether on its exchange.
"What's powerful about ethereum is that I can write self-executing contracts and I can run them on Ethereum and it's not on any central server or computer," said White.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Bernard Orr) || Bitcoin exchange Coinbase to add ether currency to trading platform: (Adds quotes, details about ether, and byline) By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK, May 19 (Reuters) - Bitcoin exchange Coinbase said on Thursday it will add digital currency ether on its trading platform next Tuesday. The addition of ether comes given the surge in interest in the digital asset among major financial institutions such as Barclays and UBS as well as other enterprises worldwide like IBM, which are trying to explore the Ethereum network. Ether is the digital currency for the Ethereum platform, a blockchain, or public ledger that can create decentralized applications. Ethereum, which uses ether to execute peer-to-peer contracts automatically without the need for intermediaries, was co-founded and invented by 22-year old Russian Canadian programmer Vitalik Buterin. "We're very excited about Ethereum. There has been a ton of progress made in the last six to nine months," said Adam White, vice president of business development at Coinbase in an interview with Reuters. "We have seen hundreds of emerging decentralized apps (applications) launched on Ethereum." He added that bitcoin cannot mirror Ethereum's "scripting language," so both bitcoin and ether can co-exist and will not necessarily compete with each other. Coinbase also plans to change the name of its platform to GDAX (Global Digital Asset Exchange), said White. The name Coinbase, however, will be retained for its retail service such as exchanging dollars for bitcoin or ether, he added. Coinbase, widely believed to be the largest bitcoin-focused company in terms of investment, will offer ether/dollar and ether/bitcoin currency pairs on GDAX. The name change was made because the company will add more digital assets for trading on its exchange, White said. According to coinmarketcap.com, ether is trading at $14.28 late on Thursday, with a market capitalization of about $1.1 billion, the second largest behind bitcoin. Bitcoin currently has a market cap of $6.9 billion. Daily volume for ether is around $48 million, while average daily volume for bitcoin is $87.2 million. Story continues At the beginning of the year, ether traded at just $1 per token and it is the fastest-rising digital currency. White said ether will be available on GDAX in most states except New York because Coinbase is still in the process of applying for a license in the state. Coinbase's move to add ether trading to its currency exchange platform came after New York approved the application of Gemini Trust Company, founded by investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, to trade ether on its exchange. "What's powerful about ethereum is that I can write self-executing contracts and I can run them on Ethereum and it's not on any central server or computer," said White. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Bernard Orr) || Bitcoin exchange Coinbase to add ether currency to trading platform: (Adds quotes, details about ether, and byline)
By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK, May 19 (Reuters) - Bitcoin exchange Coinbase said on Thursday it will add digital currency ether on its trading platform next Tuesday.
The addition of ether comes given the surge in interest in the digital asset among major financial institutions such as Barclays and UBS as well as other enterprises worldwide like IBM, which are trying to explore the Ethereum network.
Ether is the digital currency for the Ethereum platform, a blockchain, or public ledger that can create decentralized applications. Ethereum, which uses ether to execute peer-to-peer contracts automatically without the need for intermediaries, was co-founded and invented by 22-year old Russian Canadian programmer Vitalik Buterin.
"We're very excited about Ethereum. There has been a ton of progress made in the last six to nine months," said Adam White, vice president of business development at Coinbase in an interview with Reuters. "We have seen hundreds of emerging decentralized apps (applications) launched on Ethereum."
He added that bitcoin cannot mirror Ethereum's "scripting language," so both bitcoin and ether can co-exist and will not necessarily compete with each other.
Coinbase also plans to change the name of its platform to GDAX (Global Digital Asset Exchange), said White. The name Coinbase, however, will be retained for its retail service such as exchanging dollars for bitcoin or ether, he added.
Coinbase, widely believed to be the largest bitcoin-focused company in terms of investment, will offer ether/dollar and ether/bitcoin currency pairs on GDAX. The name change was made because the company will add more digital assets for trading on its exchange, White said.
According to coinmarketcap.com, ether is trading at $14.28 late on Thursday, with a market capitalization of about $1.1 billion, the second largest behind bitcoin. Bitcoin currently has a market cap of $6.9 billion. Daily volume for ether is around $48 million, while average daily volume for bitcoin is $87.2 million.
At the beginning of the year, ether traded at just $1 per token and it is the fastest-rising digital currency.
White said ether will be available on GDAX in most states except New York because Coinbase is still in the process of applying for a license in the state.
Coinbase's move to add ether trading to its currency exchange platform came after New York approved the application of Gemini Trust Company, founded by investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, to trade ether on its exchange.
"What's powerful about ethereum is that I can write self-executing contracts and I can run them on Ethereum and it's not on any central server or computer," said White.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Bernard Orr) || Bitcoin exchange Coinbase to add ether currency to trading platform: (Adds quotes, details about ether, and byline)
By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK, May 19 (Reuters) - Bitcoin exchange Coinbase said on Thursday it will add digital currency ether on its trading platform next Tuesday.
The addition of ether comes given the surge in interest in the digital asset among major financial institutions such as Barclays and UBS as well as other enterprises worldwide like IBM, which are trying to explore the Ethereum network.
Ether is the digital currency for the Ethereum platform, a blockchain, or public ledger that can create decentralized applications. Ethereum, which uses ether to execute peer-to-peer contracts automatically without the need for intermediaries, was co-founded and invented by 22-year old Russian Canadian programmer Vitalik Buterin.
"We're very excited about Ethereum. There has been a ton of progress made in the last six to nine months," said Adam White, vice president of business development at Coinbase in an interview with Reuters. "We have seen hundreds of emerging decentralized apps (applications) launched on Ethereum."
He added that bitcoin cannot mirror Ethereum's "scripting language," so both bitcoin and ether can co-exist and will not necessarily compete with each other.
Coinbase also plans to change the name of its platform to GDAX (Global Digital Asset Exchange), said White. The name Coinbase, however, will be retained for its retail service such as exchanging dollars for bitcoin or ether, he added.
Coinbase, widely believed to be the largest bitcoin-focused company in terms of investment, will offer ether/dollar and ether/bitcoin currency pairs on GDAX. The name change was made because the company will add more digital assets for trading on its exchange, White said.
According to coinmarketcap.com, ether is trading at $14.28 late on Thursday, with a market capitalization of about $1.1 billion, the second largest behind bitcoin. Bitcoin currently has a market cap of $6.9 billion. Daily volume for ether is around $48 million, while average daily volume for bitcoin is $87.2 million.
At the beginning of the year, ether traded at just $1 per token and it is the fastest-rising digital currency.
White said ether will be available on GDAX in most states except New York because Coinbase is still in the process of applying for a license in the state.
Coinbase's move to add ether trading to its currency exchange platform came after New York approved the application of Gemini Trust Company, founded by investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, to trade ether on its exchange.
"What's powerful about ethereum is that I can write self-executing contracts and I can run them on Ethereum and it's not on any central server or computer," said White.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Bernard Orr) || Bitcoin exchange Coinbase to add ether currency to trading platform: NEW YORK, May 19 (Reuters) - Bitcoin exchange Coinbase said late Thursday it will add digital currency ether on its trading platform next Tuesday.
With the launch of ether trading next week, Coinbase is also changing the name of its platform to GDAX (Global Digital Asset Exchange), said Adam White, vice president of business development and head of GDAX.
Coinbase, widely believed to be the largest bitcoin-focused company in terms of investment, will offer ether/dollar and ether/bitcoin currency pairs.
Ether is the digital currency for the Ethereum platform, a blockchain, or public ledger that can create decentralized applications. Ethereum uses ether to execute peer-to-peer contracts automatically without the need for intermediaries.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Bernard Orr) || Bitcoin exchange Coinbase to add ether currency to trading platform: NEW YORK, May 19 (Reuters) - Bitcoin exchange Coinbase said late Thursday it will add digital currency ether on its trading platform next Tuesday. With the launch of ether trading next week, Coinbase is also changing the name of its platform to GDAX (Global Digital Asset Exchange), said Adam White, vice president of business development and head of GDAX. Coinbase, widely believed to be the largest bitcoin-focused company in terms of investment, will offer ether/dollar and ether/bitcoin currency pairs. Ether is the digital currency for the Ethereum platform, a blockchain, or public ledger that can create decentralized applications. Ethereum uses ether to execute peer-to-peer contracts automatically without the need for intermediaries. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Bernard Orr) || Bitcoin exchange Coinbase to add ether currency to trading platform: NEW YORK, May 19 (Reuters) - Bitcoin exchange Coinbase said late Thursday it will add digital currency ether on its trading platform next Tuesday.
With the launch of ether trading next week, Coinbase is also changing the name of its platform to GDAX (Global Digital Asset Exchange), said Adam White, vice president of business development and head of GDAX.
Coinbase, widely believed to be the largest bitcoin-focused company in terms of investment, will offer ether/dollar and ether/bitcoin currency pairs.
Ether is the digital currency for the Ethereum platform, a blockchain, or public ledger that can create decentralized applications. Ethereum uses ether to execute peer-to-peer contracts automatically without the need for intermediaries.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Bernard Orr) || The controversy over Satoshi Nakamoto’s true identity is jeopardizing Bitcoin’s future: A new kind of wallet. Earlier in May, Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright made headlines with the claim that he was in fact the mysterious creator of Bitcoin, known as “Satoshi Nakamoto.” While Wright has yet to offer concrete public evidence to back up his claim, some in the Bitcoin community have insisted that even if Wright is Nakamoto, it doesn’t matter . This is a classic engineer’s fallacy. I say this with love—I’m an engineer myself—but it exemplifies a blinkered worldview which is both wrong and dangerous. The identity of the Bitcoin creator matters because if he or she were to come forward, they might have a real shot at finally uniting a fractious community. At the very least, the creator could provide some clarity on a host of unresolved, fundamental questions that are damaging Bitcoin’s credibility with investors and potential users alike. 20 misused English words that make smart people look silly The network is not the project is not the network It is true that Satoshi’s true identity is irrelevant to the Bitcoin network. The network was (brilliantly) designed so that its transactions require no trust or central authority. This will remain true as long as no entity controls too much of the “mining” computational power—more than one quintillion computations per second—that secures Bitcoin’s revolutionary blockchain. More than the sum of its code, the Bitcoin project has been divided by bitter disagreements. (Blockchain, for the uninitiated, is a digital platform that verifies and creates a permanent record of online transactions.) Nakamoto is believed to control 7% of all extant bitcoin, worth roughly $450 million today. That’s enough to influence Bitcoin’s spot price, but not enough to control it. But the Bitcoin network is a living, changing thing, composed of constantly evolving software. More than the sum of its code, the ongoing Bitcoin project has been divided by very public, bitter disagreements. These have at best slowed progress, and at worst dragged Bitcoin into something like a civil war. Story continues Raghuram Rajan explains why corrupt politicians win elections in India How Bitcoin is governed Final decisions regarding what software runs on the Bitcoin network are made by Bitcoin’s miners. Armed with cheap electricity and custom hardware, miners secure the blockchain and are rewarded with newly minted bitcoin. But miners do not (currently) develop new Bitcoin software; they merely choose what to adopt. This can be a fraught process. If different miners run fundamentally incompatible versions of the Bitcoin software—a situation known as a “hard fork”—then the blockchain will split in two. In theory the chain supported by the most mining power will ultimately be triumphant, but the outcome could be quite costly for those who choose the wrong side or fail to upgrade quickly. Bitcoin software is open source. Anyone can copy it, build on it, or release their own version. (Most “ altcoins ,” such as Litecoin and Dogecoin, adapt the Bitcoin code.) But in practice, for seven years, Bitcoin software was built by a small, tight-knit group of engineers—including Satoshi Nakamoto, until 2010, when he/she/they retired and vanished—whose code was universally accepted by miners. Then came 2015 . A brief and civil war Last year, the increasing popularity of the Bitcoin network began to threaten its capacity limit of roughly 7 transactions per second, and Bitcoin’s engineers fragmented into factions. One group, now known as Bitcoin Classic, wanted to immediately promote a hard fork that would double the bandwidth of the Bitcoin network. Another faction, Bitcoin Core, believed that this was too risky, and promoted a different short-term solution to the looming capacity crisis. As it turned out, however, the scuffle over capacity was only a symptom of a larger debate. To oversimplify: Bitcoin Classic and its backers believe the Bitcoin network should quickly scale to handle the same volume of transactions as mainstream platforms like Visa, regardless of the consequences. Bitcoin Core believes that Bitcoin should remain maximally decentralized and trustless, while new, more scalable solutions are developed that can handle millions of transactions per second. These solutions would be separate networks that use Bitcoin only sporadically, to settle large numbers of small transactions all at once. As it turned out, however, the scuffle over capacity was only a symptom of a larger debate. The argument was vitriolic and often very personal. Accusations of conflict of interest were flung around on Reddit like confetti. Several Bitcoin Core members are cofounders of the startup Blockstream, which has raised more than $70 million in pursuit of its vision of Bitcoin’s future. The CEO of the equally well-funded startup Coinbase threw his weight behind the hard fork strategy espoused by the Bitcoin Classic factions. One well-known developer publicly abandoned the project entirely, claiming “it has failed because the community has failed.” In the end, the miners chose Bitcoin Core’s solution rather than risk a hard fork—at least for now. But it seems unlikely that the debate has entirely ended , and its consequences were decidedly negative. Venture capitalists and tech media who once trumpeted Bitcoin as the Next Big Thing now seem far more skeptical . Data from Y Combinator indicates that the incidence of Bitcoin-related startups has plummeted over the last year. In some ways, everybody lost. It cannot be measured, and yet it exists This will not be the last Bitcoin battle, or the last stain on its public image. But the public perception of Bitcoin would certainly take another hit if, for instance, Nakamoto is revealed as Wright, whose public behavior has been inconsistent and confusing. Public perception filters into industry perception, and the attitudes held by venture capitalists and entrepreneurs alike. Simply put, the identity of the Bitcoin creator matters. Nakamoto’s secret identity has in some ways been very helpful to the Bitcoin project. Its mystery is alluring, and for those who dig deeper, the elegant brilliance of Nakamoto’s code and prose continue to inspire by example. But in the current environment, mystery may not be as helpful as clarity. If he/she/they were to reveal themselves, they could help resolve disputes before they become civil wars. As Mark Zuckerberg, who knows a thing or two about the merits of the iconic founder, says : The social capital and moral authority that comes from being the founder and having built many of the company’s key products means that on balance people trust you more and give you the benefit of the doubt more when you make tough calls. Fewer people complain and take your time to manage. Fewer people quit and slow your execution. Everything is easier with social capital. Bitcoin is an open-source project, not a company, but the same truth applies. The engineer’s fallacy is to assume that things that cannot be measured do not matter. Social capital is hard to measure, but it is extremely powerful. The attitude that technical projects are somehow beyond such human considerations is common, wrong, and dangerous. In the end, if Bitcoin ultimately fails to achieve its potential, it will be because of human failures, not technical ones. Follow Jon on Twitter at @rezendi . We welcome your comments at [email protected] . Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief , our free daily newsletter with the world’s most important and interesting news. More stories from Quartz: The Bayer-Monsanto deal is a merger 4,000 years in the making Venmo is turning our friends into petty jerks || The controversy over Satoshi Nakamoto’s true identity is jeopardizing Bitcoin’s future: A new kind of wallet. Earlier in May, Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright made headlines with the claim that he was in fact the mysterious creator of Bitcoin, known as “Satoshi Nakamoto.” While Wright has yet to offer concrete public evidence to back up his claim, some in the Bitcoin community have insisted that even if Wright is Nakamoto, it doesn’t matter . This is a classic engineer’s fallacy. I say this with love—I’m an engineer myself—but it exemplifies a blinkered worldview which is both wrong and dangerous. The identity of the Bitcoin creator matters because if he or she were to come forward, they might have a real shot at finally uniting a fractious community. At the very least, the creator could provide some clarity on a host of unresolved, fundamental questions that are damaging Bitcoin’s credibility with investors and potential users alike. 20 misused English words that make smart people look silly The network is not the project is not the network It is true that Satoshi’s true identity is irrelevant to the Bitcoin network. The network was (brilliantly) designed so that its transactions require no trust or central authority. This will remain true as long as no entity controls too much of the “mining” computational power—more than one quintillion computations per second—that secures Bitcoin’s revolutionary blockchain. More than the sum of its code, the Bitcoin project has been divided by bitter disagreements. (Blockchain, for the uninitiated, is a digital platform that verifies and creates a permanent record of online transactions.) Nakamoto is believed to control 7% of all extant bitcoin, worth roughly $450 million today. That’s enough to influence Bitcoin’s spot price, but not enough to control it. But the Bitcoin network is a living, changing thing, composed of constantly evolving software. More than the sum of its code, the ongoing Bitcoin project has been divided by very public, bitter disagreements. These have at best slowed progress, and at worst dragged Bitcoin into something like a civil war. Story continues Raghuram Rajan explains why corrupt politicians win elections in India How Bitcoin is governed Final decisions regarding what software runs on the Bitcoin network are made by Bitcoin’s miners. Armed with cheap electricity and custom hardware, miners secure the blockchain and are rewarded with newly minted bitcoin. But miners do not (currently) develop new Bitcoin software; they merely choose what to adopt. This can be a fraught process. If different miners run fundamentally incompatible versions of the Bitcoin software—a situation known as a “hard fork”—then the blockchain will split in two. In theory the chain supported by the most mining power will ultimately be triumphant, but the outcome could be quite costly for those who choose the wrong side or fail to upgrade quickly. Bitcoin software is open source. Anyone can copy it, build on it, or release their own version. (Most “ altcoins ,” such as Litecoin and Dogecoin, adapt the Bitcoin code.) But in practice, for seven years, Bitcoin software was built by a small, tight-knit group of engineers—including Satoshi Nakamoto, until 2010, when he/she/they retired and vanished—whose code was universally accepted by miners. Then came 2015 . A brief and civil war Last year, the increasing popularity of the Bitcoin network began to threaten its capacity limit of roughly 7 transactions per second, and Bitcoin’s engineers fragmented into factions. One group, now known as Bitcoin Classic, wanted to immediately promote a hard fork that would double the bandwidth of the Bitcoin network. Another faction, Bitcoin Core, believed that this was too risky, and promoted a different short-term solution to the looming capacity crisis. As it turned out, however, the scuffle over capacity was only a symptom of a larger debate. To oversimplify: Bitcoin Classic and its backers believe the Bitcoin network should quickly scale to handle the same volume of transactions as mainstream platforms like Visa, regardless of the consequences. Bitcoin Core believes that Bitcoin should remain maximally decentralized and trustless, while new, more scalable solutions are developed that can handle millions of transactions per second. These solutions would be separate networks that use Bitcoin only sporadically, to settle large numbers of small transactions all at once. As it turned out, however, the scuffle over capacity was only a symptom of a larger debate. The argument was vitriolic and often very personal. Accusations of conflict of interest were flung around on Reddit like confetti. Several Bitcoin Core members are cofounders of the startup Blockstream, which has raised more than $70 million in pursuit of its vision of Bitcoin’s future. The CEO of the equally well-funded startup Coinbase threw his weight behind the hard fork strategy espoused by the Bitcoin Classic factions. One well-known developer publicly abandoned the project entirely, claiming “it has failed because the community has failed.” In the end, the miners chose Bitcoin Core’s solution rather than risk a hard fork—at least for now. But it seems unlikely that the debate has entirely ended , and its consequences were decidedly negative. Venture capitalists and tech media who once trumpeted Bitcoin as the Next Big Thing now seem far more skeptical . Data from Y Combinator indicates that the incidence of Bitcoin-related startups has plummeted over the last year. In some ways, everybody lost. It cannot be measured, and yet it exists This will not be the last Bitcoin battle, or the last stain on its public image. But the public perception of Bitcoin would certainly take another hit if, for instance, Nakamoto is revealed as Wright, whose public behavior has been inconsistent and confusing. Public perception filters into industry perception, and the attitudes held by venture capitalists and entrepreneurs alike. Simply put, the identity of the Bitcoin creator matters. Nakamoto’s secret identity has in some ways been very helpful to the Bitcoin project. Its mystery is alluring, and for those who dig deeper, the elegant brilliance of Nakamoto’s code and prose continue to inspire by example. But in the current environment, mystery may not be as helpful as clarity. If he/she/they were to reveal themselves, they could help resolve disputes before they become civil wars. As Mark Zuckerberg, who knows a thing or two about the merits of the iconic founder, says : The social capital and moral authority that comes from being the founder and having built many of the company’s key products means that on balance people trust you more and give you the benefit of the doubt more when you make tough calls. Fewer people complain and take your time to manage. Fewer people quit and slow your execution. Everything is easier with social capital. Bitcoin is an open-source project, not a company, but the same truth applies. The engineer’s fallacy is to assume that things that cannot be measured do not matter. Social capital is hard to measure, but it is extremely powerful. The attitude that technical projects are somehow beyond such human considerations is common, wrong, and dangerous. In the end, if Bitcoin ultimately fails to achieve its potential, it will be because of human failures, not technical ones. Follow Jon on Twitter at @rezendi . We welcome your comments at [email protected] . Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief , our free daily newsletter with the world’s most important and interesting news. More stories from Quartz: The Bayer-Monsanto deal is a merger 4,000 years in the making Venmo is turning our friends into petty jerks
[Social Media Buzz]
$446.00 #coinbase;
$442.29 #btce;
$442.26 #bitstamp;
$440.09 #bitfinex;
Prices & News: http://bit.ly/1VI6Yse
#bitcoin #btc || Current price of #Bitcoin is $442.00 @Chain || 1 KOBO = 0.00000716 BTC
= 0.0032 USD
= 0.6376 NGN
= 0.0500 ZAR
= 0.3227 KES
#Kobocoin 2016-05-22 10:00 pic.twitter.com/0EYl4u68dI || BTC Close: 441.48 USD ▼-4.92
High: 448.00 Low: 441.48
https://www.bitcoinsqueeze.com/
#bitcoin #btc #bitcoinsqueezepic.twitter.com/c1IIAQ5zGV || The Biggest Bitcoin Arbitrage...
|
444.15, 445.98, 449.60, 453.38, 473.46, 530.04, 526.23, 533.86, 531.39, 536.92
|
Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 10370.82, 10185.50, 9754.42, 9510.20, 9598.17, 9630.66, 9757.97, 10346.76, 10623.54, 10594.49, 10575.53, 10353.30, 10517.25, 10441.28, 10334.97, 10115.98, 10178.37, 10410.13, 10360.55, 10358.05, 10347.71, 10276.79, 10241.27, 10198.25, 10266.42, 10181.64, 10019.72, 10070.39, 9729.32, 8620.57, 8486.99, 8118.97, 8251.85, 8245.92, 8104.19, 8293.87, 8343.28, 8393.04, 8259.99, 8205.94, 8151.50, 7988.16, 8245.62, 8228.78, 8595.74, 8586.47, 8321.76, 8336.56, 8321.01, 8374.69, 8205.37, 8047.53, 8103.91, 7973.21, 7988.56, 8222.08, 8243.72, 8078.20, 7514.67, 7493.49, 8660.70, 9244.97, 9551.71, 9256.15, 9427.69, 9205.73, 9199.58, 9261.10, 9324.72, 9235.35, 9412.61, 9342.53, 9360.88, 9267.56, 8804.88, 8813.58, 9055.53, 8757.79, 8815.66, 8808.26, 8708.09, 8491.99, 8550.76, 8577.98, 8309.29, 8206.15, 8027.27, 7642.75, 7296.58, 7397.80.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2019-11-23]
Volume: 21008924418, RSI (14-day): 27.57, 50-day EMA: 8662.71, 200-day EMA: 8667.13
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Bitcoin threatens drop below $7K in another bad day: Bitcoin(BTC)—the world’s leading cryptocurrency by market capitalization—is having another bad day, as thecryptomarkets continue to tumble.
The price of Bitcoin today sank as low as $6,900 in the early morning hours, but has since recovered to around $7,300, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
Yesterday,Bitcoin was trading ata less-than-stellar $7,400 per coin. Today, the coin dropped a further five percent, shedding as much as $500 from that price before recovering slightly. The price of Bitcoin is even lower than where it stood following the dismalintroduction of Bakkt, the Bitcoin futures exchange for institutional investors, and the drop that the coin sustained just beforeMark Zuckerberg’s testimonyto Congress regarding Facebook’sLibra.
In fact, Bitcoin hasn’t seen these lows since May. At the time, Bitcoin was trading for a mere $3,500 per coin before going on a bull run throughout the summer.
But there’s something about the month of November that doesn’t sit well with Bitcoin. This is now the second year in a row that Bitcoin goes “on sale” right around Thanksgiving. Go figure.
Bitcoin, though, isn’t the only crypto suffering. Ethereum (ETH) dropped below $150 per token today, while Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is trading for just over $200. || Bitcoin threatens drop below $7K in another bad day: Bitcoin (BTC)the worlds leading cryptocurrency by market capitalizationis having another bad day, as the crypto markets continue to tumble. The price of Bitcoin today sank as low as $6,900 in the early morning hours, but has since recovered to around $7,300, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Yesterday, Bitcoin was trading at a less-than-stellar $7,400 per coin. Today, the coin dropped a further five percent, shedding as much as $500 from that price before recovering slightly. The price of Bitcoin is even lower than where it stood following the dismal introduction of Bakkt , the Bitcoin futures exchange for institutional investors, and the drop that the coin sustained just before Mark Zuckerbergs testimony to Congress regarding Facebooks Libra . Why did Bitcoin crash again today? Experts explain In fact, Bitcoin hasnt seen these lows since May. At the time, Bitcoin was trading for a mere $3,500 per coin before going on a bull run throughout the summer. But theres something about the month of November that doesnt sit well with Bitcoin. This is now the second year in a row that Bitcoin goes on sale right around Thanksgiving. Go figure. Bitcoin, though, isnt the only crypto suffering. Ethereum (ETH) dropped below $150 per token today, while Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is trading for just over $200. || Bitcoin threatens drop below $7K in another bad day: Bitcoin(BTC)—the world’s leading cryptocurrency by market capitalization—is having another bad day, as thecryptomarkets continue to tumble.
The price of Bitcoin today sank as low as $6,900 in the early morning hours, but has since recovered to around $7,300, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
Yesterday,Bitcoin was trading ata less-than-stellar $7,400 per coin. Today, the coin dropped a further five percent, shedding as much as $500 from that price before recovering slightly. The price of Bitcoin is even lower than where it stood following the dismalintroduction of Bakkt, the Bitcoin futures exchange for institutional investors, and the drop that the coin sustained just beforeMark Zuckerberg’s testimonyto Congress regarding Facebook’sLibra.
In fact, Bitcoin hasn’t seen these lows since May. At the time, Bitcoin was trading for a mere $3,500 per coin before going on a bull run throughout the summer.
But there’s something about the month of November that doesn’t sit well with Bitcoin. This is now the second year in a row that Bitcoin goes “on sale” right around Thanksgiving. Go figure.
Bitcoin, though, isn’t the only crypto suffering. Ethereum (ETH) dropped below $150 per token today, while Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is trading for just over $200. || Bitcoin drops below $6,800, hitting a six-month low: Bitcoin prices fell sharply this morning from $7,700 to below $6,800—an almost 12% drop— hitting a six-month low.
Data fromRektoshows that derivatives exchange BitMEX saw more than $388 million worth of XBT Perpetual Swap contracts liquidated over the past 24 hours, which means that the exchange system has automatically closed a large number of bitcoin levered positions. By publication time, Bitcoin prices have clawed their way back above $7,000.
According to a market brief provided to The Block by QCO, a crypto trading firm based in Singapore, BiMEX Open Interest (OI) has dropped below $700 million following rapid liquidations—an indicator of positioning extremes. The exchange is likely to observe a negative funding rate while futures remain in contango, the brief says.
Although it is possible for Bitcoin to approach the $6,000 level by year-end, the brief adds, right now it is more bullish than bearish. QCP also believes that Chinese retail traders will likely buy on dips if Bitcoin’s prices fell below $7,000. || Bitcoin drops below $6,800, hitting a six-month low: Bitcoin prices fell sharply this morning from $7,700 to below $6,800an almost 12% drop hitting a six-month low. Data from Rekto shows that derivatives exchange BitMEX saw more than $388 million worth of XBT Perpetual Swap contracts liquidated over the past 24 hours, which means that the exchange system has automatically closed a large number of bitcoin levered positions. By publication time, Bitcoin prices have clawed their way back above $7,000. According to a market brief provided to The Block by QCO, a crypto trading firm based in Singapore, BiMEX Open Interest (OI) has dropped below $700 million following rapid liquidationsan indicator of positioning extremes. The exchange is likely to observe a negative funding rate while futures remain in contango, the brief says. Although it is possible for Bitcoin to approach the $6,000 level by year-end, the brief adds, right now it is more bullish than bearish. QCP also believes that Chinese retail traders will likely buy on dips if Bitcoins prices fell below $7,000. || Bitcoin drops below $6,800, hitting a six-month low: Bitcoin prices fell sharply this morning from $7,700 to below $6,800—an almost 12% drop— hitting a six-month low.
Data fromRektoshows that derivatives exchange BitMEX saw more than $388 million worth of XBT Perpetual Swap contracts liquidated over the past 24 hours, which means that the exchange system has automatically closed a large number of bitcoin levered positions. By publication time, Bitcoin prices have clawed their way back above $7,000.
According to a market brief provided to The Block by QCO, a crypto trading firm based in Singapore, BiMEX Open Interest (OI) has dropped below $700 million following rapid liquidations—an indicator of positioning extremes. The exchange is likely to observe a negative funding rate while futures remain in contango, the brief says.
Although it is possible for Bitcoin to approach the $6,000 level by year-end, the brief adds, right now it is more bullish than bearish. QCP also believes that Chinese retail traders will likely buy on dips if Bitcoin’s prices fell below $7,000. || Chinese Regulatory Crackdown Sends Bitcoin Lower: Bitcoinwas falling by 10% Friday morning and traded below the $7,000 mark amid regulatory concerns from China, according to Reuters.
China Developing Its Own Crypto
Bitcoin traded at its lowest levels in six months in reaction to a new round of crackdowns on cryptocurrencies from China's central bank, Reuters said.
The People's Bank of China said it will investigate potential crimes involving digital currencies and added that exchanges could be "disposed of immediately," according to Cointelegraph.
The announcement could also be in part politically motivated, as China wants to develop its own digital currency. Chinese President Xi Jinping said in October that the government will accelerate ongoing developments of blockchain technology.
In the meantime, Chinese citizens are being cautioned "not to mix blockchain technology with virtual currency."
China's Strategy 'May Not Include Bitcoin'
It's unclear what China's digital currency and blockchain portfolio will look like.
Jamie Farquhar, a portfolio manager at crypto firm NKB Group, told Reuters it is now more evident that Bitcoin won't play a role.
"It's the realization that the positivity over Xi's blockchain announcement was exaggerated," he said. "It may not include Bitcoin at this point."
What's Next
Bitcoin's selling momentum could be sustained moving forward given a relative strength index (RSI) of 43, according to Coindesk. Any reading below 50 indicates bearish sentiments and stands at the lowest level since mid-March, the publication said.
Bitcoin was trading down 5.53% at $7,158.14 at the time of publication, according to Coindesk.
Related Links:
Bitcoin, Litecoin & Ripple - American Wrap: 11/21/19
China Has Three Times More Blockchain Patent Filings Than US
0
See more from Benzinga
• 3 Analysts Review Nordstrom's Q3 Earnings
• Taco Bell Spreads Wings Into The Fast-Food Chicken War
• Canned Tuna Maker Bumble Bee Foods Declares Bankruptcy
© 2019 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Chinese Regulatory Crackdown Sends Bitcoin Lower: Bitcoin was falling by 10% Friday morning and traded below the $7,000 mark amid regulatory concerns from China, according to Reuters. China Developing Its Own Crypto Bitcoin traded at its lowest levels in six months in reaction to a new round of crackdowns on cryptocurrencies from China's central bank, Reuters said. The People's Bank of China said it will investigate potential crimes involving digital currencies and added that exchanges could be "disposed of immediately," according to Cointelegraph. The announcement could also be in part politically motivated, as China wants to develop its own digital currency. Chinese President Xi Jinping said in October that the government will accelerate ongoing developments of blockchain technology. In the meantime, Chinese citizens are being cautioned "not to mix blockchain technology with virtual currency." China's Strategy 'May Not Include Bitcoin' It's unclear what China's digital currency and blockchain portfolio will look like. Jamie Farquhar, a portfolio manager at crypto firm NKB Group, told Reuters it is now more evident that Bitcoin won't play a role. "It's the realization that the positivity over Xi's blockchain announcement was exaggerated," he said. "It may not include Bitcoin at this point." What's Next Bitcoin's selling momentum could be sustained moving forward given a relative strength index (RSI) of 43, according to Coindesk. Any reading below 50 indicates bearish sentiments and stands at the lowest level since mid-March, the publication said. Bitcoin was trading down 5.53% at $7,158.14 at the time of publication, according to Coindesk. Related Links: Bitcoin, Litecoin & Ripple - American Wrap: 11/21/19 China Has Three Times More Blockchain Patent Filings Than US 0 See more from Benzinga 3 Analysts Review Nordstrom's Q3 Earnings Taco Bell Spreads Wings Into The Fast-Food Chicken War Canned Tuna Maker Bumble Bee Foods Declares Bankruptcy © 2019 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Chinese Regulatory Crackdown Sends Bitcoin Lower: Bitcoinwas falling by 10% Friday morning and traded below the $7,000 mark amid regulatory concerns from China, according to Reuters.
China Developing Its Own Crypto
Bitcoin traded at its lowest levels in six months in reaction to a new round of crackdowns on cryptocurrencies from China's central bank, Reuters said.
The People's Bank of China said it will investigate potential crimes involving digital currencies and added that exchanges could be "disposed of immediately," according to Cointelegraph.
The announcement could also be in part politically motivated, as China wants to develop its own digital currency. Chinese President Xi Jinping said in October that the government will accelerate ongoing developments of blockchain technology.
In the meantime, Chinese citizens are being cautioned "not to mix blockchain technology with virtual currency."
China's Strategy 'May Not Include Bitcoin'
It's unclear what China's digital currency and blockchain portfolio will look like.
Jamie Farquhar, a portfolio manager at crypto firm NKB Group, told Reuters it is now more evident that Bitcoin won't play a role.
"It's the realization that the positivity over Xi's blockchain announcement was exaggerated," he said. "It may not include Bitcoin at this point."
What's Next
Bitcoin's selling momentum could be sustained moving forward given a relative strength index (RSI) of 43, according to Coindesk. Any reading below 50 indicates bearish sentiments and stands at the lowest level since mid-March, the publication said.
Bitcoin was trading down 5.53% at $7,158.14 at the time of publication, according to Coindesk.
Related Links:
Bitcoin, Litecoin & Ripple - American Wrap: 11/21/19
China Has Three Times More Blockchain Patent Filings Than US
0
See more from Benzinga
• 3 Analysts Review Nordstrom's Q3 Earnings
• Taco Bell Spreads Wings Into The Fast-Food Chicken War
• Canned Tuna Maker Bumble Bee Foods Declares Bankruptcy
© 2019 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Blockchain research firm Messari claims Ripple is operating a ‘tax shelter’: Blockchain analysis firm Messari has launched a scathing attack on Rippleworks and its executives, claiming that Ripple used a $174 million donation to the foundation as a tax write-off. After examining Ripple’s ‘ Return of Private Foundation ’ form (Form 990), Ryan Selkis , the founder of blockchain analysis firm Messari Pro Research, alleged that Ripple executives were using the Ripple Foundation for Financial Innovation, or ‘Rippleworks’, as a “corporate and executive tax shelter” and had failed to dispense grants to charities. Discussing charitable donations made in the 2018 tax year by Rippleworks, Selkis wrote: “…the entity affiliated with Ripple and its co-founder Chris Larsen granted exactly $0 to other charities out of a staggering $1.2 billion AUM.” Rippleworks was established to promote financial inclusion and donate funds to impoverished communities. Instead, Selkis alleges that this money went to insiders at Ripple: “At the same time, the Ripple Foundation did pay its CEO a $665,000 salary, while investing $30 million in Michael Arrington’s XRP Capital. Arrington, of course, is a personal friend of Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse.” Selkis wrote that while he wasn’t suggesting Brad Garlinghouse was personally laundering $400 million for himself, the Ripple network was still “pound-for-pound shadier than Bitcoin”. Official response In a series of replies to Selkis via Twitter, co-founder and executive chairman of Ripple Chris Larsen outlined “several inaccuracies” in Messari’s report. Outlining the work the Rippleworks Foundation had been doing in economically disadvantaged areas, Larsen tweeted: After XRP’s growth in late 2017, RW reclassified as a non-operating foundation which has allowed us to distribute $25M+ in high-impact financial support to social ventures bringing people out of poverty across countries like Senegal, Kenya, Nigeria, and Myanmar. (3/4) — Chris Larsen (@chrislarsensf) November 22, 2019 Larsen claimed that the 990 form that Messari had scrutinised was for the fiscal year ending April 2018. As such, the figures Selkis cited were a result of a reclassification of Rippleworks which had taken place the previous year. The Rippleworks Foundation has since changed from a project-based program to directly providing financial support . The new figures from Ripple’s 2019 fiscal year, Larsen tweeted, will be made available in the coming weeks. Story continues Our 2019 fiscal year (which runs April 2018-April 2019) reflects this change in our resources and operations, and FYE 2019 990 will be publicly available in the coming weeks. (4/4) — Chris Larsen (@chrislarsensf) November 22, 2019 Responding, Selkis simply tweeted that he looks forward to publishing an update when the 2019 fiscal year 990 form becomes available. I will look forward to publishing an update once the new 990 is available. — Ryan Selkis (@twobitidiot) November 22, 2019 To read more about Rippleworks and its donations, click here . The post Blockchain research firm Messari claims Ripple is operating a ‘tax shelter’ appeared first on Coin Rivet . View comments || Blockchain research firm Messari claims Ripple is operating a ‘tax shelter’: Blockchain analysis firm Messari has launched a scathing attack on Rippleworks and its executives, claiming that Ripple used a $174 million donation to the foundation as a tax write-off. After examining Ripple’s ‘ Return of Private Foundation ’ form (Form 990), Ryan Selkis , the founder of blockchain analysis firm Messari Pro Research, alleged that Ripple executives were using the Ripple Foundation for Financial Innovation, or ‘Rippleworks’, as a “corporate and executive tax shelter” and had failed to dispense grants to charities. Discussing charitable donations made in the 2018 tax year by Rippleworks, Selkis wrote: “…the entity affiliated with Ripple and its co-founder Chris Larsen granted exactly $0 to other charities out of a staggering $1.2 billion AUM.” Rippleworks was established to promote financial inclusion and donate funds to impoverished communities. Instead, Selkis alleges that this money went to insiders at Ripple: “At the same time, the Ripple Foundation did pay its CEO a $665,000 salary, while investing $30 million in Michael Arrington’s XRP Capital. Arrington, of course, is a personal friend of Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse.” Selkis wrote that while he wasn’t suggesting Brad Garlinghouse was personally laundering $400 million for himself, the Ripple network was still “pound-for-pound shadier than Bitcoin”. Official response In a series of replies to Selkis via Twitter, co-founder and executive chairman of Ripple Chris Larsen outlined “several inaccuracies” in Messari’s report. Outlining the work the Rippleworks Foundation had been doing in economically disadvantaged areas, Larsen tweeted: After XRP’s growth in late 2017, RW reclassified as a non-operating foundation which has allowed us to distribute $25M+ in high-impact financial support to social ventures bringing people out of poverty across countries like Senegal, Kenya, Nigeria, and Myanmar. (3/4) — Chris Larsen (@chrislarsensf) November 22, 2019 Larsen claimed that the 990 form that Messari had scrutinised was for the fiscal year ending April 2018. As such, the figures Selkis cited were a result of a reclassification of Rippleworks which had taken place the previous year. The Rippleworks Foundation has since changed from a project-based program to directly providing financial support . The new figures from Ripple’s 2019 fiscal year, Larsen tweeted, will be made available in the coming weeks. Story continues Our 2019 fiscal year (which runs April 2018-April 2019) reflects this change in our resources and operations, and FYE 2019 990 will be publicly available in the coming weeks. (4/4) — Chris Larsen (@chrislarsensf) November 22, 2019 Responding, Selkis simply tweeted that he looks forward to publishing an update when the 2019 fiscal year 990 form becomes available. I will look forward to publishing an update once the new 990 is available. — Ryan Selkis (@twobitidiot) November 22, 2019 To read more about Rippleworks and its donations, click here . The post Blockchain research firm Messari claims Ripple is operating a ‘tax shelter’ appeared first on Coin Rivet . View comments || HODLers Are In the Money Despite Bitcoins Drop to Six-Month Lows: A majority of bitcoin holders are making money on their investments despite the cryptocurrencys drop to six-month lows. The top cryptocurrency fell to $6,968 during European trading hours Friday the lowest level in six months, according to CoinDesks Bitcoin Price Index . Currently, the cryptocurrency is changing hands around $7,100, a 48 percent drop from highs above $13,800 seen in June. Despite the sharp drop, 15.31 million or 54 percent of bitcoin addresses are still in the money, according to blockchain intelligence firm IntoTheBlock . Related: Bitcoin Price Dips to Six-Month Low of $7,000 An address is said to be in the money if the current price of bitcoin is higher than the average price at which coins were acquired or sent to an address. The on-chain metric, therefore, indicates the majority of holders have acquired coins below the current price of $7,100. A closer look at the chart above shared by IntoTheBlocks CTO Jesus Rodriguez shows most of the in-the-money addresses have purchased bitcoins in the range of $900 to $4,180. A significant number of addresses appear to have purchased at an average cost in the $4,180-$6,631 range. After all, BTC has traded above $10,000 for only nine months in its lifetime. Further, the cryptocurrency broke above $6,600 in October 2017 eight years after its creation. Related: Global Protests Reveal Bitcoins Limitations Hence, its no surprise that the majority of addresses are still able to sell at a gain. A few of them may have acquired coins during the fourth quarter of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019 when the cryptocurrency was trading in the range of $4,180-$6,631. The chart also shows that 1.03 million addresses have acquired bitcoins in the range of $6,631 to $7,354. With prices trading near $7,000, a few of them are already out of the money, meaning they would take a loss if they sold now. If the sell-off continues, these addresses may panic and attempt to liquidate their bitcoins, leading to a deeper drop. Story continues That said, BTC is currently far from capitulation the point of time when investors attempt to exit an investment or market so quickly that they are willing to surrender any and all gains to do so. The panic selling ends up exaggerating the price drop and is widely considered the final stage of a bear market. This is due to the fact that the average cost of most in-the-money addresses is below $4,100, as noted above. These addresses would become at-the-money and may start offering bitcoins in the event prices drop below $4,100 over the coming months. Related Stories Bitcoin Slips to One-Month Price Lows Below $8,000 Promoting a New Token? Satoshis Treasure Wants You to Gamify It || HODLers Are ‘In the Money’ Despite Bitcoin’s Drop to Six-Month Lows: A majority of bitcoin holders are making money on their investments despite the cryptocurrency’s drop to six-month lows.
The top cryptocurrency fell to $6,968 during European trading hours Friday – the lowest level in six months, according to CoinDesk’sBitcoin Price Index. Currently, the cryptocurrency is changing hands around $7,100, a 48 percent drop from highs above $13,800 seen in June.
Despite the sharp drop, 15.31 million or 54 percent of bitcoin addresses are still “in the money,”according toblockchain intelligence firmIntoTheBlock.
Related:Bitcoin Price Dips to Six-Month Low of $7,000
An address is said to be “in the money” if the current price of bitcoin is higher than the average price at which coins were acquired or sent to an address.
The on-chain metric, therefore, indicates the majority of holders have acquired coins below the current price of $7,100.
A closer look at the chart aboveshared byIntoTheBlock’s CTO Jesus Rodriguez shows most of the in-the-money addresses have purchased bitcoins in the range of $900 to $4,180. A significant number of addresses appear to have purchased at an average cost in the $4,180-$6,631 range.
After all, BTC has traded above $10,000 for only nine months in its lifetime. Further, the cryptocurrency broke above $6,600 in October 2017 – eight years after its creation.
Related:Global Protests Reveal Bitcoin’s Limitations
Hence, it’s no surprise that the majority of addresses are still able to sell at a gain. A few of them may have acquired coins during the fourth quarter of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019 when the cryptocurrency was trading in the range of $4,180-$6,631.
The chart also shows that 1.03 million addresses have acquired bitcoins in the range of $6,631 to $7,354. With prices trading near $7,000, a few of them are already out of the money, meaning they would take a loss if they sold now. If the sell-off continues, these addresses may panic and attempt to liquidate their bitcoins, leading to a deeper drop.
That said, BTC is currently far from capitulation – the point of time when investors attempt to exit an investment or market so quickly that they are willing to surrender any and all gains to do so. The panic selling ends up exaggerating the price drop and is widely considered the final stage of a bear market.
This is due to the fact that the average cost of most in-the-money addresses is below $4,100, as noted above. These addresses would become at-the-money and may start offering bitcoins in the event prices drop below $4,100 over the coming months.
• Bitcoin Slips to One-Month Price Lows Below $8,000
• Promoting a New Token? Satoshi’s Treasure Wants You to Gamify It || HODLers Are ‘In the Money’ Despite Bitcoin’s Drop to Six-Month Lows: A majority of bitcoin holders are making money on their investments despite the cryptocurrency’s drop to six-month lows.
The top cryptocurrency fell to $6,968 during European trading hours Friday – the lowest level in six months, according to CoinDesk’sBitcoin Price Index. Currently, the cryptocurrency is changing hands around $7,100, a 48 percent drop from highs above $13,800 seen in June.
Despite the sharp drop, 15.31 million or 54 percent of bitcoin addresses are still “in the money,”according toblockchain intelligence firmIntoTheBlock.
Related:Bitcoin Price Dips to Six-Month Low of $7,000
An address is said to be “in the money” if the current price of bitcoin is higher than the average price at which coins were acquired or sent to an address.
The on-chain metric, therefore, indicates the majority of holders have acquired coins below the current price of $7,100.
A closer look at the chart aboveshared byIntoTheBlock’s CTO Jesus Rodriguez shows most of the in-the-money addresses have purchased bitcoins in the range of $900 to $4,180. A significant number of addresses appear to have purchased at an average cost in the $4,180-$6,631 range.
After all, BTC has traded above $10,000 for only nine months in its lifetime. Further, the cryptocurrency broke above $6,600 in October 2017 – eight years after its creation.
Related:Global Protests Reveal Bitcoin’s Limitations
Hence, it’s no surprise that the majority of addresses are still able to sell at a gain. A few of them may have acquired coins during the fourth quarter of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019 when the cryptocurrency was trading in the range of $4,180-$6,631.
The chart also shows that 1.03 million addresses have acquired bitcoins in the range of $6,631 to $7,354. With prices trading near $7,000, a few of them are already out of the money, meaning they would take a loss if they sold now. If the sell-off continues, these addresses may panic and attempt to liquidate their bitcoins, leading to a deeper drop.
That said, BTC is currently far from capitulation – the point of time when investors attempt to exit an investment or market so quickly that they are willing to surrender any and all gains to do so. The panic selling ends up exaggerating the price drop and is widely considered the final stage of a bear market.
This is due to the fact that the average cost of most in-the-money addresses is below $4,100, as noted above. These addresses would become at-the-money and may start offering bitcoins in the event prices drop below $4,100 over the coming months.
• Bitcoin Slips to One-Month Price Lows Below $8,000
• Promoting a New Token? Satoshi’s Treasure Wants You to Gamify It || [SPONSORED] High capacity, low latency, institutional matching venue LMAX Digital completes 15 million trades since launch, with over $50 billion traded: Using proven, proprietary, LMAX Exchange FX trading technology with $50 billion traded to date, LMAX Digital continues its solid growth trajectory and its crucial role of bringing the major crypto currencies into wider institutional circulation and acceptance, supporting the normalization of value. LMAX Digital delivers complete transparency, open access and a level playing field for all institutional Crypto currency market participants - within a secure and trusted trading environment : Spot instruments: BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH, XRP Access: LMAX FIX 4.2 /4.4, API, ITCH, web GUI & mobile Connectivity: cross connect at a LD4 or over internet Trading hours: 24 hours, 7 days/week (except 17:00 - 17:05 daily EST/EDT) Min. trade size: 0.01 coins (BTC, ETH, BCH, LTC); 1 coin (XRP) For funds, banks, proprietary trading firms, brokerages and asset managers, LMAX Digital is the secure, liquid and trusted way to trade crypto currencies. Learn more . Regulated by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission. || [SPONSORED] High capacity, low latency, institutional matching venue LMAX Digital completes 15 million trades since launch, with over $50 billion traded: Using proven, proprietary, LMAX Exchange FXtrading technologywith $50 billion traded to date, LMAX Digital continues its solid growth trajectory and its crucial role of bringing the major crypto currencies into wider institutional circulation and acceptance, supporting the normalization of value.
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Regulated by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission. || Why is Bitcoin’s price crashing?: At the time of writing, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) is sliding dangerously down a slippery slope. BTC has dropped close to 20% in value since last week, causing more than $100 million worth of Bitcoin long positions to be liquidated on derivatives exchange BitMEX. So why is Bitcoin’s price falling so dramatically? By diving deeper into Bitcoin’s hash rate behaviour and taking a look at trends over the last year, I will look to answer questions such as: Has interest in Bitcoin dipped? Who has been buying BTC? Is Bitcoin’s hash rate linked to price? What is the long-term expectation for BTC? Interest in Bitcoin First, let’s take a look at the level of interest in BTC over the past year. The graph above (courtesy of Google Trends) shows the total number of people searching for Bitcoin on Google this year. We can clearly see that general Google searches peaked in July – coincidentally around the time Bitcoin reached its yearly high of $14,000. This trend matches the trend seen during the late 2017 crypto bull run. Peak interest in Bitcoin from the general population was unsurprisingly when BTC hit $20,000. How is general interest at the time of writing? It’s near yearly lows – a sign the market has been consolidating for the past few months. So who has been buying Bitcoin over the last year? Is it retail investors, institutions, individuals, or Bitcoin whales? Recent Bitcoin buyers One of the most important drivers for price appreciation, as discussed here , is the number of buyers being higher than the number of sellers. That seems pretty obvious, right? However, to achieve this outcome, we need large Bitcoin holders to feed the market as price rises. Therefore, one of the key metrics to look into is the number of Bitcoin addresses holding large sums of Bitcoin. At current prices, 1,000 BTC represents about $7,000,000. The graph above (courtesy of GlassNode ) shows that from late 2018 to today, about 600 addresses with over 1,000 BTC were created – or funded to be precise. Story continues Essentially, the amount of addresses with over 1,000 BTC more than doubled. Should we assume institutional investors and VCs are betting heavily on the king of cryptocurrencies? I suspect so. Miners, hash rate, and price behaviour To fully understand this graph (courtesy of Bitinfocharts ), we need to take into account what it represents. Hash rate shows how much electricity is being consumed by miners on average. This metric usually tells us if more miners are coming into the market or if the hardware is improving. From early 2019 up to last month, Bitcoin’s hash rate had been appreciating. Since no new game-changing ASIC miners (that I know of) have been released, what the above shows is that more people have been mining Bitcoin (or that more hardware has been added to the network). Essentially, money has poured into Bitcoin mining during 2019. However, price has not continued to appreciate. What we are seeing now is a minor capitulation of less profitable miners who cannot sustain operations at such low prices. When these miners sell, price tends to drop, destroying long-term bets and leading to further downwards pressure. Bitcoin’s hash rate is already down over 20% from its yearly high. Is the long-term price expectation that gloomy? Or will BTC rise from the ashes? Long-term price expectations Some people panicking about this -17% week. It's just normal #bitcoin behavior. Note we are still up 2x YTD. And yes, S2F model is just fine, nothing out of the ordinary. https://t.co/eTL0ITnn27 pic.twitter.com/iPAkYGAA4d — PlanB (@100trillionUSD) November 22, 2019 If you follow PlanB, one of my favourite cryptocurrency analysts and TA experts, you should already know about his stock-to-flow (SF) price model. In case you don’t, check out this article here . Essentially, Bitcoin has been following the SF model trend since 2011. Although there are a few shortcomings, the model takes into account Bitcoin’s halvings and the available supply to calculate an average price over time. What the SF model shows is that price has never substantially dropped after a halving. As such, I personally expect Bitcoin to be way over $10,000 by next year. Until then, safe trades! Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the author’s only. This article isn’t financial advice or promotional material; it represents my personal opinion and should not be attributed to Coin Rivet. The post Why is Bitcoin’s price crashing? appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Why is Bitcoin’s price crashing?: At the time of writing, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) is sliding dangerously down a slippery slope. BTC has dropped close to 20% in value since last week, causing more than $100 million worth of Bitcoin long positions to be liquidated on derivatives exchange BitMEX. So why is Bitcoin’s price falling so dramatically? By diving deeper into Bitcoin’s hash rate behaviour and taking a look at trends over the last year, I will look to answer questions such as: Has interest in Bitcoin dipped? Who has been buying BTC? Is Bitcoin’s hash rate linked to price? What is the long-term expectation for BTC? Interest in Bitcoin First, let’s take a look at the level of interest in BTC over the past year. The graph above (courtesy of Google Trends) shows the total number of people searching for Bitcoin on Google this year. We can clearly see that general Google searches peaked in July – coincidentally around the time Bitcoin reached its yearly high of $14,000. This trend matches the trend seen during the late 2017 crypto bull run. Peak interest in Bitcoin from the general population was unsurprisingly when BTC hit $20,000. How is general interest at the time of writing? It’s near yearly lows – a sign the market has been consolidating for the past few months. So who has been buying Bitcoin over the last year? Is it retail investors, institutions, individuals, or Bitcoin whales? Recent Bitcoin buyers One of the most important drivers for price appreciation, as discussed here , is the number of buyers being higher than the number of sellers. That seems pretty obvious, right? However, to achieve this outcome, we need large Bitcoin holders to feed the market as price rises. Therefore, one of the key metrics to look into is the number of Bitcoin addresses holding large sums of Bitcoin. At current prices, 1,000 BTC represents about $7,000,000. The graph above (courtesy of GlassNode ) shows that from late 2018 to today, about 600 addresses with over 1,000 BTC were created – or funded to be precise. Story continues Essentially, the amount of addresses with over 1,000 BTC more than doubled. Should we assume institutional investors and VCs are betting heavily on the king of cryptocurrencies? I suspect so. Miners, hash rate, and price behaviour To fully understand this graph (courtesy of Bitinfocharts ), we need to take into account what it represents. Hash rate shows how much electricity is being consumed by miners on average. This metric usually tells us if more miners are coming into the market or if the hardware is improving. From early 2019 up to last month, Bitcoin’s hash rate had been appreciating. Since no new game-changing ASIC miners (that I know of) have been released, what the above shows is that more people have been mining Bitcoin (or that more hardware has been added to the network). Essentially, money has poured into Bitcoin mining during 2019. However, price has not continued to appreciate. What we are seeing now is a minor capitulation of less profitable miners who cannot sustain operations at such low prices. When these miners sell, price tends to drop, destroying long-term bets and leading to further downwards pressure. Bitcoin’s hash rate is already down over 20% from its yearly high. Is the long-term price expectation that gloomy? Or will BTC rise from the ashes? Long-term price expectations Some people panicking about this -17% week. It's just normal #bitcoin behavior. Note we are still up 2x YTD. And yes, S2F model is just fine, nothing out of the ordinary. https://t.co/eTL0ITnn27 pic.twitter.com/iPAkYGAA4d — PlanB (@100trillionUSD) November 22, 2019 If you follow PlanB, one of my favourite cryptocurrency analysts and TA experts, you should already know about his stock-to-flow (SF) price model. In case you don’t, check out this article here . Essentially, Bitcoin has been following the SF model trend since 2011. Although there are a few shortcomings, the model takes into account Bitcoin’s halvings and the available supply to calculate an average price over time. What the SF model shows is that price has never substantially dropped after a halving. As such, I personally expect Bitcoin to be way over $10,000 by next year. Until then, safe trades! Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the author’s only. This article isn’t financial advice or promotional material; it represents my personal opinion and should not be attributed to Coin Rivet. The post Why is Bitcoin’s price crashing? appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Why is Bitcoin’s price crashing?: At the time of writing, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) is sliding dangerously down a slippery slope. BTC has dropped close to 20% in value since last week, causing more than $100 million worth of Bitcoin long positions to be liquidated on derivatives exchange BitMEX. So why is Bitcoin’s price falling so dramatically? By diving deeper into Bitcoin’s hash rate behaviour and taking a look at trends over the last year, I will look to answer questions such as: Has interest in Bitcoin dipped? Who has been buying BTC? Is Bitcoin’s hash rate linked to price? What is the long-term expectation for BTC? Interest in Bitcoin First, let’s take a look at the level of interest in BTC over the past year. The graph above (courtesy of Google Trends) shows the total number of people searching for Bitcoin on Google this year. We can clearly see that general Google searches peaked in July – coincidentally around the time Bitcoin reached its yearly high of $14,000. This trend matches the trend seen during the late 2017 crypto bull run. Peak interest in Bitcoin from the general population was unsurprisingly when BTC hit $20,000. How is general interest at the time of writing? It’s near yearly lows – a sign the market has been consolidating for the past few months. So who has been buying Bitcoin over the last year? Is it retail investors, institutions, individuals, or Bitcoin whales? Recent Bitcoin buyers One of the most important drivers for price appreciation, as discussed here , is the number of buyers being higher than the number of sellers. That seems pretty obvious, right? However, to achieve this outcome, we need large Bitcoin holders to feed the market as price rises. Therefore, one of the key metrics to look into is the number of Bitcoin addresses holding large sums of Bitcoin. At current prices, 1,000 BTC represents about $7,000,000. The graph above (courtesy of GlassNode ) shows that from late 2018 to today, about 600 addresses with over 1,000 BTC were created – or funded to be precise. Story continues Essentially, the amount of addresses with over 1,000 BTC more than doubled. Should we assume institutional investors and VCs are betting heavily on the king of cryptocurrencies? I suspect so. Miners, hash rate, and price behaviour To fully understand this graph (courtesy of Bitinfocharts ), we need to take into account what it represents. Hash rate shows how much electricity is being consumed by miners on average. This metric usually tells us if more miners are coming into the market or if the hardware is improving. From early 2019 up to last month, Bitcoin’s hash rate had been appreciating. Since no new game-changing ASIC miners (that I know of) have been released, what the above shows is that more people have been mining Bitcoin (or that more hardware has been added to the network). Essentially, money has poured into Bitcoin mining during 2019. However, price has not continued to appreciate. What we are seeing now is a minor capitulation of less profitable miners who cannot sustain operations at such low prices. When these miners sell, price tends to drop, destroying long-term bets and leading to further downwards pressure. Bitcoin’s hash rate is already down over 20% from its yearly high. Is the long-term price expectation that gloomy? Or will BTC rise from the ashes? Long-term price expectations Some people panicking about this -17% week. It's just normal #bitcoin behavior. Note we are still up 2x YTD. And yes, S2F model is just fine, nothing out of the ordinary. https://t.co/eTL0ITnn27 pic.twitter.com/iPAkYGAA4d — PlanB (@100trillionUSD) November 22, 2019 If you follow PlanB, one of my favourite cryptocurrency analysts and TA experts, you should already know about his stock-to-flow (SF) price model. In case you don’t, check out this article here . Essentially, Bitcoin has been following the SF model trend since 2011. Although there are a few shortcomings, the model takes into account Bitcoin’s halvings and the available supply to calculate an average price over time. What the SF model shows is that price has never substantially dropped after a halving. As such, I personally expect Bitcoin to be way over $10,000 by next year. Until then, safe trades! Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the author’s only. This article isn’t financial advice or promotional material; it represents my personal opinion and should not be attributed to Coin Rivet. The post Why is Bitcoin’s price crashing? appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Bitcoin plummets to a six-month low on China crackdown: By Tom Wilson LONDON (Reuters) - Bitcoin slumped to a six-month low on Friday after China's central bank launched a fresh crackdown on cryptocurrencies, warning of the risks entailed in issuing or trading them. Bitcoin <BTC=BTSP>, the world's biggest cryptocurrency, fell 9% to $6,929, its lowest since May, and was last down 7% at $7,107. The People's Bank of China's Shanghai headquarters said it would tackle growing cases of illegality involving virtual currencies. It also cautioned investors not to confuse crypto with blockchain technology, the digital ledger that underpins many cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. The move came a day after regulators in Shenzhen launched a similar campaign, and came as the PBOC prepares to launch its own digital currency. Chinese President Xi Jinping said last month that the world's second-biggest economy should accelerate the development of blockchain technology. Bitcoin, known for its wild price swings, soared over 40% in two days after Xi's remarks, with investors betting that Beijing's backing of blockchain and plans for a digital renminbi would accelerate the mainstream embrace of cryptocurrencies. But since late October bitcoin has slumped by nearly a third. Jamie Farquhar, portfolio manager at London-based crypto firm NKB Group, said the PBOC statement crystallized a growing sense among crypto investors that China's embrace of blockchain would be unlikely to include cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. "It's the realization that the positivity over Xi's blockchain announcement was exaggerated," he said. "It may not include bitcoin at this point." (Reporting by Tom Wilson; Editing by Saikat Chatterjee and Hugh Lawson)
[Social Media Buzz]
【仮想通貨₿損失救済】
仮想通貨案件で損失を出された方を対象にした救済案件のご案内をします。BTC等での損失が戻ってくるかも！まずはこちらをご覧下さい。(11/30まで)
テレグラム【https://t.co/DQ8s2b1bEj】
#仮想通貨 #暗号資産 #BTC #ビットコイン #投資 #FX #token #トークン #HYIP || そのまま一直線で落ちるわけもなく、BTC価格が垂直降下する可能性はかなり薄いです。
何度も90万円をトライしながら気がついたら総合時価総額は18.5兆円~16.66兆円付近まで落ち込んでくる可能性を見てます。
仕入れはうまく予測できていると見だ場合、あと数ヶ月から6ヶ月間待つ必要があります。 || 資産を増やしながら安全な場所へ逃がしたい方は必見！オプションで仮想通貨から法定通貨への換金、銀行送金、ATMカード複数発行まで可能。#ビットコイン #BTC #レンディング #財政破綻 #増税 #ドイツ銀行 #金 #株 #FX
https://t.co/iJTaYiHPy3 || New bitcoin report for block 60...
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7047.92, 7146.13, 7218.37, 7531.66, 7463.11, 7761.24, 7569.63, 7424.29, 7321.99, 7320.15
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 394.97, 380.29, 379.47, 378.26, 368.77, 373.06, 374.45, 369.95, 389.59, 386.55, 376.52, 376.62, 373.45, 376.03, 381.65, 379.65, 384.26, 391.86, 407.23, 400.18, 407.49, 416.32, 422.37, 420.79, 437.16, 438.80, 437.75, 420.74, 424.95, 424.54, 432.15, 432.52, 433.50, 437.70, 435.12, 423.99, 421.65, 410.94, 400.57, 407.71, 414.32, 413.97, 414.86, 417.13, 421.69, 411.62, 414.07, 416.44, 416.83, 417.01, 420.62, 409.55, 410.44, 413.76, 413.31, 418.09, 418.04, 416.39, 417.18, 417.95, 426.77, 424.23, 416.52, 414.82, 416.73, 417.96, 420.87, 420.90, 421.44, 424.03, 423.41, 422.74, 420.35, 419.41, 421.56, 422.48, 425.19, 423.73, 424.28, 429.71, 430.57, 427.40, 428.59, 435.51, 441.39, 449.42, 445.74, 450.28, 458.55, 461.43.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2016-04-25]
Volume: 87091800, RSI (14-day): 79.13, 50-day EMA: 426.79, 200-day EMA: 386.80
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1238.90, Gold RSI: 50.76
Oil Price: 42.64, Oil RSI: 61.24
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
What Awaits Overstock.com (OSTK) this Earnings Season?: Overstock.com Inc.OSTK is expected to report first quarter 2016 results on Apr 25. It is an online retailer that sells brand-name merchandise at deep discounts. Its offerings include bed-and-bath goods, kitchenware, watches, jewelry, electronics, sporting goods and designer accessories.
Let’s see how things are shaping up for this announcement.
Factors at Play
Overstock has been engaged in legal battles with several brokerage firms over issues of stock price manipulation, most recently with Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch. Merrill Lynch eventually settled by paying $20 million to Overstock.com and its co-plaintiffs. The Goldman Sachs case was dismissed by the court.
Overstocks’ continuous efforts to reduce illegal stock manipulation and reform capital markets is likely to boost its share price and results in the to-be-reported quarter.
Overstock has been a Bitcoin supporter for two years and has successfully leveraged the blockchain technology.
Bitcoin is a digital currency platform with no central regulating authority involved in the transactions. It is also called crypto currency because it utilizes military-grade cryptography to protect users against fraud. Bitcoin and other cryptocurencies operate on blockchain, which is a distributed public ledger.
The t0.com blockchain technology allows investors and buyers to track their purchases and ownership of crypto securities, ensuring complete transparency. Moreover, it facilitates same-day settlement of securities.
However, the company has not yet achieved the expected level of synergy between blockchain and cryptocurrency and may separate them in the near future.
Stocks to Consider
Here are some companies that can be considered as our model shows that they have the right combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a favorable Zacks Rank to post an earnings beat this quarter:
Equifax Inc. EFX with an Earnings ESP of +1.74% and a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
SkyWest Inc. SKYW has an Earnings ESP of +16.00% and a Zacks Rank #2.
Fidelity National Information Services, Inc.FIS with an Earnings ESP of +2.70% and a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free report >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportSKYWEST INC (SKYW): Free Stock Analysis ReportEQUIFAX INC (EFX): Free Stock Analysis ReportFIDELITY NAT IN (FIS): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research || What Awaits Overstock.com (OSTK) this Earnings Season?: Overstock.com Inc. OSTK is expected to report first quarter 2016 results on Apr 25. It is an online retailer that sells brand-name merchandise at deep discounts. Its offerings include bed-and-bath goods, kitchenware, watches, jewelry, electronics, sporting goods and designer accessories. Let’s see how things are shaping up for this announcement. Factors at Play Overstock has been engaged in legal battles with several brokerage firms over issues of stock price manipulation, most recently with Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch. Merrill Lynch eventually settled by paying $20 million to Overstock.com and its co-plaintiffs. The Goldman Sachs case was dismissed by the court. Overstocks’ continuous efforts to reduce illegal stock manipulation and reform capital markets is likely to boost its share price and results in the to-be-reported quarter. Overstock has been a Bitcoin supporter for two years and has successfully leveraged the blockchain technology. Bitcoin is a digital currency platform with no central regulating authority involved in the transactions. It is also called crypto currency because it utilizes military-grade cryptography to protect users against fraud. Bitcoin and other cryptocurencies operate on blockchain, which is a distributed public ledger. The t0.com blockchain technology allows investors and buyers to track their purchases and ownership of crypto securities, ensuring complete transparency. Moreover, it facilitates same-day settlement of securities. However, the company has not yet achieved the expected level of synergy between blockchain and cryptocurrency and may separate them in the near future. Stocks to Consider Here are some companies that can be considered as our model shows that they have the right combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a favorable Zacks Rank to post an earnings beat this quarter: Equifax Inc. EFX with an Earnings ESP of +1.74% and a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Story continues SkyWest Inc. SKYW has an Earnings ESP of +16.00% and a Zacks Rank #2. Fidelity National Information Services, Inc.FIS with an Earnings ESP of +2.70% and a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report SKYWEST INC (SKYW): Free Stock Analysis Report EQUIFAX INC (EFX): Free Stock Analysis Report FIDELITY NAT IN (FIS): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research || Earningspalooza: 6 trades to make right now: Several companies reported disappointing earnings after the bell Thursday. The "Fast Money" traders debated the names they would buy or sell on the news. Trader Brian Kelly said that Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) , which posted a miss on same-store sales, isn't exactly his favorite name, but he has a lot of respect for its CEO. "I would never, ever, ever bet against Howard Schultz . The guy's amazing. Look at what he's done with the company," Kelly said. "But what I would bet against in this space, based on this news, is Dunkin' Brands (NASDAQ: DNKN) , because it seems to me if you can translate that weak economy to the other places, Dunkin' Brands hasn't executed," Kelly said. Guy Adami also isn't convinced on Starbucks, though he said it's been a good stock to buy on dips. "Yes, the comps are concerning, but again on every pullback, the stock's been a buying opportunity. My sense is that this one is as well," he said. Another stock that did not perform well after hours Thursday was Visa (NYSE: V) , after the company amended the terms of its deal so that it would be required to pay, roughly, an additional $1.98 billion. Adami noted Visa is trading at close to 26 times forward earnings, which makes it expensive enough that anything less than stellar reports "get the stock whacked." While many of these stocks rallied ahead of earnings, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is dipping before it reports April 28. Adami thinks it's time to take money off the table with the online retail giant. Trader Karen Finerman agreed and thinks that in general the FANG stocks (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google), will also begin to show signs of weakness the way Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) -owner Alphabet did on Thursday. Disclosures: Guy Adami Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck. Karen Finerman Karen is long BAC, C, FB, FL, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, LYV, KORS, M, SEDG, SPY puts, URI. Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, BOKF, C, C calls, FB, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, JPM calls, KORS, LYV, M, MOH, NRF, PLCE, SPY puts, URI, her firm is short IWM, MDY. Karen Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International. Story continues Brian Kelly Brian Kelly is long BBRY, Bitcoin, GLD, SLV, TLT, US Dollar, UUP; he is short Aussie Dollar, BLK, CS, DB, Euro, EWA, EWH, FRC, Hong Kong Dollar, UBS, Yuan, 5-Year Note Futures Dan Nathan Dan is long XLF may/ sept put spread. Dan is long AAPL April Put Fly, long PFE, long TWTR, long GE May 28 puts, long JPM April puts, long INTC April puts , long QCOM April put spreads, long HYG June puts, long IWM May and September puts, long XHB June put spread, long XLE April/June put spread. QCOM long May put spread. FXI Long Aug Puts, SMH Long Aug puts More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || Earningspalooza: 6 trades to make right now: Several companies reported disappointing earnings after the bell Thursday. The "Fast Money" traders debated the names they would buy or sell on the news.
Trader Brian Kelly said that Starbucks(NASDAQ: SBUX), which posted a miss on same-store sales, isn't exactly his favorite name, but he has a lot of respect for its CEO.
"I would never, ever, ever bet againstHoward Schultz. The guy's amazing. Look at what he's done with the company," Kelly said.
"But what I would bet against in this space, based on this news, is Dunkin' Brands(NASDAQ: DNKN), because it seems to me if you can translate that weak economy to the other places, Dunkin' Brands hasn't executed," Kelly said.
Guy Adami also isn't convinced on Starbucks, though he said it's been a good stock to buy on dips.
"Yes, the comps are concerning, but again on every pullback, the stock's been a buying opportunity. My sense is that this one is as well," he said.
Another stock that did not perform well after hours Thursday was Visa(NYSE: V), after the company amended the terms of its deal so that it would be required to pay, roughly, an additional $1.98 billion.
Adami noted Visa is trading at close to 26 times forward earnings, which makes it expensive enough that anything less than stellar reports "get the stock whacked."
While many of these stocks rallied ahead of earnings, Amazon(NASDAQ: AMZN)is dipping before it reports April 28. Adami thinks it's time to take money off the table with the online retail giant. Trader Karen Finerman agreed and thinks that in general the FANG stocks (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google), will also begin to show signs of weakness the way Google(NASDAQ: GOOGL)-owner Alphabet did on Thursday.
Disclosures:
Guy Adami
Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
Karen Finerman
Karen is long BAC, C, FB, FL, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, LYV, KORS, M, SEDG, SPY puts, URI. Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, BOKF, C, C calls, FB, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, JPM calls, KORS, LYV, M, MOH, NRF, PLCE, SPY puts, URI, her firm is short IWM, MDY. Karen Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International.
Brian Kelly
Brian Kelly is long BBRY, Bitcoin, GLD, SLV, TLT, US Dollar, UUP; he is short Aussie Dollar, BLK, CS, DB, Euro, EWA, EWH, FRC, Hong Kong Dollar, UBS, Yuan, 5-Year Note Futures
Dan Nathan
Dan is long XLF may/ sept put spread. Dan is long AAPL April Put Fly, long PFE, long TWTR, long GE May 28 puts, long JPM April puts, long INTC April puts , long QCOM April put spreads, long HYG June puts, long IWM May and September puts, long XHB June put spread, long XLE April/June put spread. QCOM long May put spread. FXI Long Aug Puts, SMH Long Aug puts
More From CNBC
• Top News and Analysis
• Latest News Video
• Personal Finance || Murray Stahl Talks Investments Made Through FRMO: - By Bram de Haas Guru Murray Stahl ( Trades , Portfolio ) is the CEO and chairman of FRMO Corp. (FRMO). Together with CFO Steven Bregman, they report on the investments made through FRMO on a quarterly basis. There is no transcript available yet for the most recent call, but you can listen to the archived call. Warning! GuruFocus has detected — Warning Sign with WMT. Click here to check it out. FRMO –5-Year Financial Data The intrinsic value of FRMO Peter Lynch Chart of FRMO The call can be a little bit chaotic if you are a new shareholder, but they are absolutely worth listening too. Stahl and Bregman are full of valuable insights into the markets and readily share wisdom related to their unconventional approach to value investing. Balance sheet The call starts out with them commenting on the balance sheet. Equity went down by a meaningful amount and the duo got several questions from shareholders about why it went down and whether the decline would be permanent. A meaningful part of the reduction in book value is due to current assets decreasing by $–– million. A deferred tax liability was decreased and the securities sold, not yet purchased program was expanded a little bit. This is a post where they account for short positions in path dependent ETFs. The way I understand it, they had to take their gains in these positions, which triggered a tax. Afterward they initiated the positions again with a new cost basis. The HK multistrategy fund declined in value. Over the calendar year, the fund didn’t do so bad (-–—%), but throughout the reporting period the fund went down by —5%. There were also some redemptions, although they were quick to point out March had been a very good month. Digital Currency Group Stahl talked a little bit about a new investment in the Digital Currency Group. DCG is a corporation devoted to crypto currencies. Stahl expects cryptocurrencies will become a legitimate asset class. DCG owns various venture investments in technologies involved with digital currencies. They own equity in Coinbase (an exchange), Ripple (utilizes blockchain for cross-border transactions) and Grayscale (a money manager of crypto currencies). Governments around the world historically had the tendency to inflate asset prices or currency. Little by little you are purchasing power, a constant threat in history. Being on a metallic standard has historically also caused inflation.� Story continues The blockchain is a ledger and the coins can’t be counterfeited. If more transactions are done in a currency it raises its value. If Bitcoin were to become the new gold (Stahl doesn’t necessarily agree, but raises it as a possibility suggested by others), Bitcoin would appreciate by –………x in value. If it were to become currency for the world, you would make —…………x your money. Even though it is a very small investment, Stahl views it as a really important strategic investment. It's possible the stake would be expanded. Market outlook If oil went to $45 by end of the year, CPI would go to —.‘% and the Fed would have its hand forced and would need to raise rates. This would cause problems in the market. You have to diversify away from stocks. Over the last ‘5 years, interest rates came down and stocks were successful. FRMO is now operating on the premise that two guys picking stocks isn’t going to cut it going forward. The firm keeps a lot of cash on the balance sheet and views it as optionality. When the next crash (Stahl doesn’t actually use the word crash) comes, the firm will profit by having lots of liquidity. One of the reasons they like small exchanges so much is that the optionality embedded in them is huge. If big mergers go through like the one between the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Borsche, these players raise prices and clients are angry and want to move business. Meanwhile there are few licensed exchanges and the small ones are suddenly very well positioned. ETFs Stahl views it as very dangerous to be invested in big dominating companies. Big liquid companies pay out a little bit of dividend and throw the rest at buybacks. These companies have defined benefit pension plans, but the stock has to rise or the company has to put extra money into these plans. This means that when the flows into large cap liquid companies is starting to slow, the effect can be dramatic. Big liquid stocks make up huge allocations in focused ETFs. What’s wrong with that? You take a lot of individual security risk by buying this ETF. At some point an event will make that apparent to lots of people invested in these type of securities. Something else he doesn’t like is the typical dividend ETF. Earnings of the constituents of these products are ever so slightly declining. They have record margins right now, and can’t go up or down by much. These companies are currently saving a lot on the commodity side and not passing this on to the consumer. The risks in ETF land are exacerbated because ETF providers aren’t making money and can’t make a lot of money on these products because the fees are too low. This structure of the industry leads to only a few companies being a major part of all ETFs. An index was supposed to take out risk, and now you are taking on risk by buying into them. Everyone owns the same companies.� Indexation is not in the early innings, it’s in the late innings. It will possibly go into extra innings. This article first appeared on GuruFocus . Warning! GuruFocus has detected 2 Warning Sign with WMT. Click here to check it out. FRMO 15-Year Financial Data The intrinsic value of FRMO Peter Lynch Chart of FRMO || Murray Stahl Talks Investments Made Through FRMO: - By Bram de Haas
GuruMurray Stahl(Trades,Portfolio) is the CEO and chairman of FRMO Corp. (FRMO). Together with CFO Steven Bregman, they report on the investments made through FRMO on a quarterly basis. There is no transcript available yet for the most recent call, but you can listen to the archived call.
• Warning! GuruFocus has detected — Warning Sign with WMT. Click here to check it out.
• FRMO –5-Year Financial Data
• The intrinsic value of FRMO
• Peter Lynch Chart of FRMO
The call can be a little bit chaotic if you are a new shareholder, but they are absolutely worth listening too. Stahl and Bregman are full of valuable insights into the markets and readily share wisdom related to their unconventional approach to value investing.
Balance sheet
The call starts out with them commenting on the balance sheet. Equity went down by a meaningful amount and the duo got several questions from shareholders about why it went down and whether the decline would be permanent. A meaningful part of the reduction in book value is due to current assets decreasing by $–– million. A deferred tax liability was decreased and the securities sold, not yet purchased program was expanded a little bit. This is a post where they account for short positions in path dependent ETFs. The way I understand it, they had to take their gains in these positions, which triggered a tax. Afterward they initiated the positions again with a new cost basis.
The HK multistrategy fund declined in value. Over the calendar year, the fund didn’t do so bad (-–—%), but throughout the reporting period the fund went down by —5%. There were also some redemptions, although they were quick to point out March had been a very good month.
Digital Currency Group
Stahl talked a little bit about a new investment in the Digital Currency Group. DCG is a corporation devoted to crypto currencies. Stahl expects cryptocurrencies will become a legitimate asset class. DCG owns various venture investments in technologies involved with digital currencies. They own equity in Coinbase (an exchange), Ripple (utilizes blockchain for cross-border transactions) and Grayscale (a money manager of crypto currencies). Governments around the world historically had the tendency to inflate asset prices or currency. Little by little you are purchasing power, a constant threat in history. Being on a metallic standard has historically also caused inflation.�
The blockchain is a ledger and the coins can’t be counterfeited. If more transactions are done in a currency it raises its value.
If Bitcoin were to become the new gold (Stahl doesn’t necessarily agree, but raises it as a possibility suggested by others), Bitcoin would appreciate by –………x in value.
If it were to become currency for the world, you would make —…………x your money.
Even though it is a very small investment, Stahl views it as a really important strategic investment. It's possible the stake would be expanded.
Market outlook
If oil went to $45 by end of the year, CPI would go to —.‘% and the Fed would have its hand forced and would need to raise rates. This would cause problems in the market.
You have to diversify away from stocks. Over the last ‘5 years, interest rates came down and stocks were successful. FRMO is now operating on the premise that two guys picking stocks isn’t going to cut it going forward.
The firm keeps a lot of cash on the balance sheet and views it as optionality. When the next crash (Stahl doesn’t actually use the word crash) comes, the firm will profit by having lots of liquidity.
One of the reasons they like small exchanges so much is that the optionality embedded in them is huge. If big mergers go through like the one between the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Borsche, these players raise prices and clients are angry and want to move business. Meanwhile there are few licensed exchanges and the small ones are suddenly very well positioned.
ETFs
Stahl views it as very dangerous to be invested in big dominating companies. Big liquid companies pay out a little bit of dividend and throw the rest at buybacks. These companies have defined benefit pension plans, but the stock has to rise or the company has to put extra money into these plans. This means that when the flows into large cap liquid companies is starting to slow, the effect can be dramatic. Big liquid stocks make up huge allocations in focused ETFs. What’s wrong with that? You take a lot of individual security risk by buying this ETF. At some point an event will make that apparent to lots of people invested in these type of securities.
Something else he doesn’t like is the typical dividend ETF. Earnings of the constituents of these products are ever so slightly declining. They have record margins right now, and can’t go up or down by much. These companies are currently saving a lot on the commodity side and not passing this on to the consumer.
The risks in ETF land are exacerbated because ETF providers aren’t making money and can’t make a lot of money on these products because the fees are too low. This structure of the industry leads to only a few companies being a major part of all ETFs.
An index was supposed to take out risk, and now you are taking on risk by buying into them. Everyone owns the same companies.�
Indexation is not in the early innings, it’s in the late innings. It will possibly go into extra innings.
This article first appeared onGuruFocus.
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• FRMO 15-Year Financial Data
• The intrinsic value of FRMO
• Peter Lynch Chart of FRMO || Rocky Mountain Ayre Launches HempCoin: DOVER, DE--(Marketwired - Apr 21, 2016) - Rocky Mountain Ayre, Inc., a holding company ( OTC PINK : RMTN ), is pleased to announce that it has officially launched HempCoin, its Crypto-Currency, on two Crypto-Currency exchanges. President of RMTN, Tim Ayre, says, "We are extremely pleased to have started trading on two very well-known exchanges and we expect to trade on several more in the near future." The two exchanges trading HempCoins are C-Cex and Yobit . In addition, Ayre says, "We have completely remade our website, www.hempcoin.com . The website offers plenty of information for users looking to purchase or mine the coins. We wanted it to be sophisticated in scope yet still be user friendly and I believe we have succeeded there." Every 10 HempCoins are backed by 1 share of RMTN. About HempCoin HempCoin (HMP) runs on its own peer to peer blockchain like BitCoin (BTC) but at a faster rate because it is using the script technique like LiteCoin. So in addition to having the advantage of being able to move HMP around faster than BTC, HMP is backed by the marketable securities of RMTN. BTC is strictly a fiat currency like the US Dollar, however, BTC has the potential to go up in value against the Dollar because of supply and demand factors and HMP has this same built in advantage because unlike the Dollar, both BTC and HMP have a limited amount of coins in circulation, while the Dollar is ever increasing in supply. About Rocky Mountain Ayre, Inc. Rocky Mountain Ayre is a publicly traded company listed on the OTC markets under the "RMTN" trading symbol. It is a holding company increasing its asset and revenue base through acquisition and/or creation of operating entities. The Company currently has two entities in its portfolio and is focusing its efforts on its Crypto-Currency, HempCoin, at this time. Safe Harbor Statement This Press Release may contain certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company has tried, whenever possible, to identify these forward-looking statements using words such as "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "plans," "intends," "potential" and similar expressions. These statements reflect the Company's current beliefs and are based upon information currently available to it. Accordingly, such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by such statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or advise in the event of any change, addition or alteration to the information catered in this Press Release including such forward-looking statements. || Rocky Mountain Ayre Launches HempCoin: DOVER, DE--(Marketwired - Apr 21, 2016) - Rocky Mountain Ayre, Inc., a holding company (OTC PINK:RMTN), is pleased to announce that it has officially launched HempCoin, its Crypto-Currency, on two Crypto-Currency exchanges. President of RMTN, Tim Ayre, says, "We are extremely pleased to have started trading on two very well-known exchanges and we expect to trade on several more in the near future." The two exchanges trading HempCoins areC-CexandYobit. In addition, Ayre says, "We have completely remade our website,www.hempcoin.com. The website offers plenty of information for users looking to purchase or mine the coins. We wanted it to be sophisticated in scope yet still be user friendly and I believe we have succeeded there." Every 10 HempCoins are backed by 1 share of RMTN.
About HempCoin
HempCoin (HMP) runs on its own peer to peer blockchain like BitCoin (BTC) but at a faster rate because it is using the script technique like LiteCoin. So in addition to having the advantage of being able to move HMP around faster than BTC, HMP is backed by the marketable securities of RMTN. BTC is strictly a fiat currency like the US Dollar, however, BTC has the potential to go up in value against the Dollar because of supply and demand factors and HMP has this same built in advantage because unlike the Dollar, both BTC and HMP have a limited amount of coins in circulation, while the Dollar is ever increasing in supply.
About Rocky Mountain Ayre, Inc.
Rocky Mountain Ayre is a publicly traded company listed on the OTC markets under the "RMTN" trading symbol. It is a holding company increasing its asset and revenue base through acquisition and/or creation of operating entities. The Company currently has two entities in its portfolio and is focusing its efforts on its Crypto-Currency, HempCoin, at this time.
Safe Harbor Statement
This Press Release may contain certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company has tried, whenever possible, to identify these forward-looking statements using words such as "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "plans," "intends," "potential" and similar expressions. These statements reflect the Company's current beliefs and are based upon information currently available to it. Accordingly, such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by such statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or advise in the event of any change, addition or alteration to the information catered in this Press Release including such forward-looking statements. || What to Watch in the Day Ahead - Thursday, April 21: (The Day Ahead is an email and PDF publication that includes the day's major stories and events, analyses and other features. To receive The Day Ahead, Eikon users can register at . Thomson One users can register at RT/DAY/US. All times in ET/GMT) Alphabet Inc is expected to report a rise in first-quarter revenue that is likely to beat analysts average estimate, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine data. Investors will be looking for continued growth at Alphabet's Google unit, which has been driven by strong mobile advertising sales. Investors will also be keen to gather more information on the company's Other Bets business, which includes glucose-monitoring contact lenses and Internet balloons. Capital expenditures in the business are expected to increase this year, although no concrete details have been offered. Microsoft Corp is expected to post an increase in third-quarter revenue, which will also beat analysts consensus estimates, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine data. The company is expected to benefit from growing demand for its cloud products and services. Though Chief Executive Satya Nadella has focused on cloud services and mobile applications, to offset slower growth in its traditional software business, the company is still heavily reliant on PCs. Research firm IDC expects Microsoft's Windows business, which has 270 million active users eight months after launching, will improve later this year as companies that had delayed replacing machines before upgrading to Windows 10 make the switch. Analysts and investors will be looking whether the company has been able to sustain growth in its cloud business, and any impact from a stronger dollar. Visa Inc is expected to report a decline in first-quarter profit as a volatile global economy and the strong dollar cut into revenue from customers outside the United States. Consumers in some slowing economies around the world have been reining in spending. Some analysts say, however, that payment volumes are still likely to grow at Visa due to strong consumer spending in the United States. Story continues Schlumberger Ltd is expected to report a fall in first-quarter profit, hurt by weak drilling activity. The world's largest oilfield services provider, which recently closed its acquisition of Cameron International Corp, warned last month that its revenue would fall by about 15 percent from the fourth quarter. Verizon Communications Inc is expected to report first-quarter profit and revenue in line with analysts average expectations. The No.1 U.S. wireless phone service provider has benefited from heavy promotions as it counters rivals such as AT&T in a crowded U.S. wireless market. The focus will be on commentary around a possible bid for faded Internet pioneer Yahoo's core assets as well as any updates to financial guidance for the remainder of 2016. New applications for U.S. unemployment benefits likely rose last week, but remained well below a level associated with a buoyant labor market. Last week's claims covered the survey period for April nonfarm payrolls and will be dissected to see if there was any impact from the Verizon strike. While striking workers do not qualify for unemployment benefits, some have filed applications in the past. According to a Reuters survey of economists, initial claims for jobless benefits probably rose 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 263,000 for the week ending April 16. That would leave claims slightly above the March payrolls survey week. (0830/1230) Separately, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve business survey is expected to show manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region expanded in April for a second month. (0830/1230) Starbucks Corp will release its results for the second-quarter. Starbucks has the high-class problem of having to meet investors' outsized expectation that it will continue reporting industry-leading sales growth. Any stumble, real or perceived, will likely be punished. General Motors Co will announce first-quarter results. The company said on Friday it was recalling nearly 1.04 million newer pickup trucks for a seat belt flaw. The company said the recall in the United States includes 895,232 vehicles and a stop-sale of about 3,000 new 2014 and 2015 model year pickups still on dealer lots. The recall includes about 142,000 vehicles outside the United States. Union Pacific Corp and Norfolk Southern Corp, the No.1 and No.4 U.S. railroad operators, will post first-quarter results. With coal freight volumes still in freefall across the industry thanks to low natural gas prices and the strong dollar, analysts will be watching to see how the railroads are managing costs through furloughs, back office layoffs and mothballing locomotives. Biogen Inc is expected to report a largely in-line first-quarter as prescriptions written for its multiple sclerosis drug remain unchanged in the United States. Management previously noted that the uptick in scripts may not be seen until the second quarter. Investors will also look for more details on the Massachusetts-based drugmaker's hemophilia assets, which the company is said to be looking to sell. Travelers Companies Inc, the first big U.S. insurer to report quarterly results, is expected to report a decline in first-quarter profit due to weak underwriting gains and lower returns from its energy investments. Travelers, which competes with AIG for the title of biggest U.S. commercial property and casualty insurer, has felt a sting in recent quarters from a steep fall in oil prices as they drag on energy investments made through private equity funds. BB&T Corp, Fifth Third Bancorp and KeyCorp are likely to report a decline in first-quarter profit as they put aside more money for sour energy loans. Many lenders have ramped up reserves in recent months, concerned by the increasing number of energy companies that have gone bankrupt and defaulted on loans as oil prices stay stubbornly low. U.S. homebuilders including D.R. Horton Inc and PulteGroup Inc report their quarterly results. D.R. Horton and PulteGroup are expected to report a higher profit for the second and first quarter, respectively, helped by higher home sales. Johnson Controls Inc reports second-quarter earnings amid a pending merger with Ireland-based Tyco International Plc. The merger would save Johnson Controls $150 million a year in taxes. Sportswear maker Under Armour Inc is expected to report first-quarter profit below analysts' estimates, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine data. Under Armour's gross margin in the quarter is expected to have been hit by higher promotions to clear excess inventory and slowing apparel sales growth, the company's largest source of revenue. A fall in the average price of its running footwear and a shift in sales mix towards lower-margin footwear are also expected to hurt margins. Investors will look for an update to the forecast, inventories, and comments on the Sports Authority bankruptcy. Advanced Micro Devices Inc is expected to post first-quarter revenue below analysts average estimate, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine data. Investors will be looking for an update on its Polaris graphic processing units, which it plans to ship in the middle of this year. Mexican cement company Cemex SAB de CV reports first-quarter results. Investors will be looking at the impact of the peso depreciation on the company's debt load as well as any recovery in its U.S. business. European Central Bank (ECB) holds interest rate decision. Economists say lackluster demand, not inadequate credit, is holding the euro zone economy back. They say the ECB is unlikely to cut its deposit rate further from the current -0.40 percent. That too underscores the diminishing returns from monetary policy, especially since the ECB is well over a year into its trillion-plus euro stimulus program, has cut rates several times and pledged longterm loans to banks, with little pick-up in inflation so far. The U.S. government and Volkswagen AG face a court deadline to come up with a plan to address excess emissions from 580,000 diesel vehicles sold in the country. Despite robust talks, EPA officials have expressed skepticism if the sides would agree to a deal by the deadline set forth by U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer. A judge will read out the verdict in the bribery trial of Canadian Senator Mike Duffy, whose high-profile case helped reduce the popularity of former prime minister Stephen Harper and contributed to his defeat in an October 2015 election. The Liberals of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau used the case as an example of how they said the Conservatives had been corrupted during their near-decade run in office. Duffy was tried on 31 criminal charges related to activities after Harper appointed him to the Senate, the upper chamber of Parliament. LIVECHAT - BITCOIN'S FUTURE with Anatoliy Knyazev, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Exante brokerage company We talk about the outlook for Bitcoin and its potential role in combating money laundering and financial crime with Anatoliy Knyazev, executive director and co-founder of Exante, a next generation brokerage company that aims to give its clients access to a broad range of financial instruments and markets. (0503/0903) To join the discussion, click here http://bit.ly/1kTxdKD (Compiled by Sourav Bose in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza) || What to Watch in the Day Ahead - Thursday, April 21: (The Day Ahead is an email and PDF publication that includes the day's major stories and events, analyses and other features. To receive The Day Ahead, Eikon users can register at . Thomson One users can register at RT/DAY/US. All times in ET/GMT) Alphabet Inc is expected to report a rise in first-quarter revenue that is likely to beat analysts average estimate, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine data. Investors will be looking for continued growth at Alphabet's Google unit, which has been driven by strong mobile advertising sales. Investors will also be keen to gather more information on the company's Other Bets business, which includes glucose-monitoring contact lenses and Internet balloons. Capital expenditures in the business are expected to increase this year, although no concrete details have been offered.
Microsoft Corp is expected to post an increase in third-quarter revenue, which will also beat analysts consensus estimates, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine data. The company is expected to benefit from growing demand for its cloud products and services. Though Chief Executive Satya Nadella has focused on cloud services and mobile applications, to offset slower growth in its traditional software business, the company is still heavily reliant on PCs. Research firm IDC expects Microsoft's Windows business, which has 270 million active users eight months after launching, will improve later this year as companies that had delayed replacing machines before upgrading to Windows 10 make the switch. Analysts and investors will be looking whether the company has been able to sustain growth in its cloud business, and any impact from a stronger dollar.
Visa Inc is expected to report a decline in first-quarter profit as a volatile global economy and the strong dollar cut into revenue from customers outside the United States. Consumers in some slowing economies around the world have been reining in spending. Some analysts say, however, that payment volumes are still likely to grow at Visa due to strong consumer spending in the United States.
Schlumberger Ltd is expected to report a fall in first-quarter profit, hurt by weak drilling activity. The world's largest oilfield services provider, which recently closed its acquisition of Cameron International Corp, warned last month that its revenue would fall by about 15 percent from the fourth quarter.
Verizon Communications Inc is expected to report first-quarter profit and revenue in line with analysts average expectations. The No.1 U.S. wireless phone service provider has benefited from heavy promotions as it counters rivals such as AT&T in a crowded U.S. wireless market. The focus will be on commentary around a possible bid for faded Internet pioneer Yahoo's core assets as well as any updates to financial guidance for the remainder of 2016.
New applications for U.S. unemployment benefits likely rose last week, but remained well below a level associated with a buoyant labor market. Last week's claims covered the survey period for April nonfarm payrolls and will be dissected to see if there was any impact from the Verizon strike. While striking workers do not qualify for unemployment benefits, some have filed applications in the past. According to a Reuters survey of economists, initial claims for jobless benefits probably rose 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 263,000 for the week ending April 16. That would leave claims slightly above the March payrolls survey week. (0830/1230) Separately, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve business survey is expected to show manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region expanded in April for a second month. (0830/1230) Starbucks Corp will release its results for the second-quarter. Starbucks has the high-class problem of having to meet investors' outsized expectation that it will continue reporting industry-leading sales growth. Any stumble, real or perceived, will likely be punished.
General Motors Co will announce first-quarter results. The company said on Friday it was recalling nearly 1.04 million newer pickup trucks for a seat belt flaw. The company said the recall in the United States includes 895,232 vehicles and a stop-sale of about 3,000 new 2014 and 2015 model year pickups still on dealer lots. The recall includes about 142,000 vehicles outside the United States.
Union Pacific Corp and Norfolk Southern Corp, the No.1 and No.4 U.S. railroad operators, will post first-quarter results. With coal freight volumes still in freefall across the industry thanks to low natural gas prices and the strong dollar, analysts will be watching to see how the railroads are managing costs through furloughs, back office layoffs and mothballing locomotives.
Biogen Inc is expected to report a largely in-line first-quarter as prescriptions written for its multiple sclerosis drug remain unchanged in the United States. Management previously noted that the uptick in scripts may not be seen until the second quarter. Investors will also look for more details on the Massachusetts-based drugmaker's hemophilia assets, which the company is said to be looking to sell.
Travelers Companies Inc, the first big U.S. insurer to report quarterly results, is expected to report a decline in first-quarter profit due to weak underwriting gains and lower returns from its energy investments. Travelers, which competes with AIG for the title of biggest U.S. commercial property and casualty insurer, has felt a sting in recent quarters from a steep fall in oil prices as they drag on energy investments made through private equity funds.
BB&T Corp, Fifth Third Bancorp and KeyCorp are likely to report a decline in first-quarter profit as they put aside more money for sour energy loans. Many lenders have ramped up reserves in recent months, concerned by the increasing number of energy companies that have gone bankrupt and defaulted on loans as oil prices stay stubbornly low.
U.S. homebuilders including D.R. Horton Inc and PulteGroup Inc report their quarterly results. D.R. Horton and PulteGroup are expected to report a higher profit for the second and first quarter, respectively, helped by higher home sales.
Johnson Controls Inc reports second-quarter earnings amid a pending merger with Ireland-based Tyco International Plc. The merger would save Johnson Controls $150 million a year in taxes.
Sportswear maker Under Armour Inc is expected to report first-quarter profit below analysts' estimates, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine data. Under Armour's gross margin in the quarter is expected to have been hit by higher promotions to clear excess inventory and slowing apparel sales growth, the company's largest source of revenue. A fall in the average price of its running footwear and a shift in sales mix towards lower-margin footwear are also expected to hurt margins. Investors will look for an update to the forecast, inventories, and comments on the Sports Authority bankruptcy.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc is expected to post first-quarter revenue below analysts average estimate, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine data. Investors will be looking for an update on its Polaris graphic processing units, which it plans to ship in the middle of this year.
Mexican cement company Cemex SAB de CV reports first-quarter results. Investors will be looking at the impact of the peso depreciation on the company's debt load as well as any recovery in its U.S. business.
European Central Bank (ECB) holds interest rate decision. Economists say lackluster demand, not inadequate credit, is holding the euro zone economy back. They say the ECB is unlikely to cut its deposit rate further from the current -0.40 percent. That too underscores the diminishing returns from monetary policy, especially since the ECB is well over a year into its trillion-plus euro stimulus program, has cut rates several times and pledged longterm loans to banks, with little pick-up in inflation so far.
The U.S. government and Volkswagen AG face a court deadline to come up with a plan to address excess emissions from 580,000 diesel vehicles sold in the country. Despite robust talks, EPA officials have expressed skepticism if the sides would agree to a deal by the deadline set forth by U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer.
A judge will read out the verdict in the bribery trial of Canadian Senator Mike Duffy, whose high-profile case helped reduce the popularity of former prime minister Stephen Harper and contributed to his defeat in an October 2015 election. The Liberals of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau used the case as an example of how they said the Conservatives had been corrupted during their near-decade run in office. Duffy was tried on 31 criminal charges related to activities after Harper appointed him to the Senate, the upper chamber of Parliament.
LIVECHAT - BITCOIN'S FUTURE with Anatoliy Knyazev, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Exante brokerage company We talk about the outlook for Bitcoin and its potential role in combating money laundering and financial crime with Anatoliy Knyazev, executive director and co-founder of Exante, a next generation brokerage company that aims to give its clients access to a broad range of financial instruments and markets. (0503/0903) To join the discussion, click herehttp://bit.ly/1kTxdKD(Compiled by Sourav Bose in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza) || Benton Capital Acquires Lithium and Graphite Projects and Changes Name of Company: THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Apr 20, 2016) - Benton Capital Corp. (TSX VENTURE:BTC) ("Benton" or "the Company") is pleased to announce that the Board of Directors have unanimously agreed to refocus the Company's efforts toward a 100% green-energy exploration and development company. The main focus will be the acquisition and development of high quality Lithium and Graphite projects which the Company considers to be the necessary metals of the future as demand and growth continues worldwide driven by green technology. This includes lithium ion batteries used in electric cars, smart phones, tablets, and home and industrial power storage along with many other applications. Companies such as Tesla launched their home storage lithium-based Powerwall battery system which sold out in August 2015 and Tesla has said it will aim to source raw materials locally in North America where responsible mining laws are in effect which will reduce the environmental footprint.
Pursuant to this new direction and subject to regulatory approval, Benton will subsequently change its name to Alset Energy Corp. and in is the process of applying for a new trading symbol.
Given the Company's new focus it would also like to announce that it has acquired by staking a 100% interest in the Wisa Lake Lithium deposit located 80km east of Fort Frances, Ontario. The property is connected to Highway 11 (Trans Canada) located 65 kilometres north via an all weather paved road that crosses the centre of the project. The property is comprised of 2 claims totaling 30 units and covers the Wisa Lake deposit that is host to a historical resource of 330,000 tonnes grading 1.15% Li2O (Lexindin Gold Mines Ltd., Manager's Report, 1958; Ontario Geological Survey, Open File Report 6285, Report of Activities 2012). In 1956 Lexindin completed a total of 20 drill holes (packsack and AQ-sized core) over a strike length of 335m and to a depth of approximately 65m to outline the Wisa Lake lithium mineralization. The diamond drill log of the most easterly hole intersected 6.4m containing 20% of the lithium-bearing mineral spodumene suggesting the mineralization is open at depth and to the east. It should be noted that the historical resource estimate for the deposit was calculated prior to CIM National Instrument 43-101 guidelines and as such should only be considered from a historical point of view and not relied upon. A qualified person has not completed sufficient work to classify the historical estimates as current mineral resources. Further diamond drill programs are required to bring the mineralization into a proper NI 43-101 compliant category.
The Company has also agreed to acquire a 100% interest in the Champion Graphite project from Benton Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:BEX) (a company related by common directorships) for a payment of 1 million shares to Benton Resources Inc. and subject to a 2% NSR. Benton Capital will have the option to buy back 1% of the NSR for $500,000. The Champion Graphite project represents a non-core asset of Benton Resources Inc. and the related party directors of each of the respective companies abstained from voting to approve the acquisition. The retained NSR provides Benton Resources Inc. with the opportunity to participate in any future success of the project. The Champion Graphite project is located north of Kenora, Ontario and consists of 29 units in 2 claims. The ground covers a large concentration of airborne electromagnetic anomalies hosted in metasediments. The airborne survey was conducted by Dighem Surveys & Processing Inc in 1989 on behalf of Champion Bear Resources Ltd. Dighem describes the anomalous area as consisting of numerous sub-parallel bedrock conductors of variable strength associated with a highly complex magnetic unit (MNDM assessment files). A year prior to the airborne geophysical survey, historical trenching was conducted by Bellwether Resources Ltd. in 1988. The trenching uncovered graphite occurrences where channel samples returned weighted average grades of up to 1.76% carbon over 25.0m (MNDM assessment files).
Stephen Stares, Company President and CEO stated "we are excited to embark on this new strategic course aimed at providing shareholder value and growth. The importance of exploration and development of metals used in green technology cannot be understated and Benton looks forward to acquiring and developing quality assets in this space".
All of the above transactions are subject to TSX.V and regulatory approvals.
Benton Capital is well funded with approximately $1 million in cash.
Clinton Barr (P.Geo.), V.P. Exploration for Benton Capital Corp., is the qualified person responsible for this release and has reviewed and approved all scientific and technical data and disclosures in this release.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Benton Capital Corp,
Stephen Stares, President
THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements."
Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of prefeasibility and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to gold price and other commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations or projections. || Benton Capital Acquires Lithium and Graphite Projects and Changes Name of Company: THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Apr 20, 2016) - Benton Capital Corp. (TSX VENTURE:BTC) ("Benton" or "the Company") is pleased to announce that the Board of Directors have unanimously agreed to refocus the Company's efforts toward a 100% green-energy exploration and development company. The main focus will be the acquisition and development of high quality Lithium and Graphite projects which the Company considers to be the necessary metals of the future as demand and growth continues worldwide driven by green technology. This includes lithium ion batteries used in electric cars, smart phones, tablets, and home and industrial power storage along with many other applications. Companies such as Tesla launched their home storage lithium-based Powerwall battery system which sold out in August 2015 and Tesla has said it will aim to source raw materials locally in North America where responsible mining laws are in effect which will reduce the environmental footprint. Pursuant to this new direction and subject to regulatory approval, Benton will subsequently change its name to Alset Energy Corp. and in is the process of applying for a new trading symbol. Given the Company's new focus it would also like to announce that it has acquired by staking a 100% interest in the Wisa Lake Lithium deposit located 80km east of Fort Frances, Ontario. The property is connected to Highway 11 (Trans Canada) located 65 kilometres north via an all weather paved road that crosses the centre of the project. The property is comprised of 2 claims totaling 30 units and covers the Wisa Lake deposit that is host to a historical resource of 330,000 tonnes grading 1.15% Li 2 O (Lexindin Gold Mines Ltd., Manager's Report, 1958; Ontario Geological Survey, Open File Report 6285, Report of Activities 2012). In 1956 Lexindin completed a total of 20 drill holes (packsack and AQ-sized core) over a strike length of 335m and to a depth of approximately 65m to outline the Wisa Lake lithium mineralization. The diamond drill log of the most easterly hole intersected 6.4m containing 20% of the lithium-bearing mineral spodumene suggesting the mineralization is open at depth and to the east. It should be noted that the historical resource estimate for the deposit was calculated prior to CIM National Instrument 43-101 guidelines and as such should only be considered from a historical point of view and not relied upon. A qualified person has not completed sufficient work to classify the historical estimates as current mineral resources. Further diamond drill programs are required to bring the mineralization into a proper NI 43-101 compliant category. Story continues The Company has also agreed to acquire a 100% interest in the Champion Graphite project from Benton Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:BEX) (a company related by common directorships) for a payment of 1 million shares to Benton Resources Inc. and subject to a 2% NSR. Benton Capital will have the option to buy back 1% of the NSR for $500,000. The Champion Graphite project represents a non-core asset of Benton Resources Inc. and the related party directors of each of the respective companies abstained from voting to approve the acquisition. The retained NSR provides Benton Resources Inc. with the opportunity to participate in any future success of the project. The Champion Graphite project is located north of Kenora, Ontario and consists of 29 units in 2 claims. The ground covers a large concentration of airborne electromagnetic anomalies hosted in metasediments. The airborne survey was conducted by Dighem Surveys & Processing Inc in 1989 on behalf of Champion Bear Resources Ltd. Dighem describes the anomalous area as consisting of numerous sub-parallel bedrock conductors of variable strength associated with a highly complex magnetic unit (MNDM assessment files). A year prior to the airborne geophysical survey, historical trenching was conducted by Bellwether Resources Ltd. in 1988. The trenching uncovered graphite occurrences where channel samples returned weighted average grades of up to 1.76% carbon over 25.0m (MNDM assessment files). Stephen Stares, Company President and CEO stated "we are excited to embark on this new strategic course aimed at providing shareholder value and growth. The importance of exploration and development of metals used in green technology cannot be understated and Benton looks forward to acquiring and developing quality assets in this space". All of the above transactions are subject to TSX.V and regulatory approvals. Benton Capital is well funded with approximately $1 million in cash. Clinton Barr (P.Geo.), V.P. Exploration for Benton Capital Corp., is the qualified person responsible for this release and has reviewed and approved all scientific and technical data and disclosures in this release. On behalf of the Board of Directors of Benton Capital Corp, Stephen Stares, President THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of prefeasibility and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to gold price and other commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations or projections. || Bitcoin is dead, says prominent fintech exec: Exactly three months ago, a well-known bitcoin developer, Mike Hearn, wrote a post on Medium that rocked the community of people who believe in the future of the digital currency and its technology. Bitcoin, he wrote, has failed. It has failed because the community has failed
Worse still, the network is on the brink of technical collapse. The post led to screaming headlines about the end of bitcoin. And yet, the industry plugs along. The currency is trading at $430 USD. Transaction volume (the number of bitcoin transactions per day) is higher now than it was before Hearns post, according to a tracker at Blockchain.info . Just this week, the Wall Street Journal profiled a top ETF (exchange-traded fund) attorney who is advocating for a bitcoin ETF, the same effort that Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are pushing. Barry Silbert , CEO of the Digital Currency Group, reflected this week , Hearnado is over. @barrysilbert Close your eyes and click you heel 3 times..then keep saying to yourself, "Bitcoin is dead, bitcoin is dead, bitcoin is dead" Trev Daniel (@TrvDaniel) April 15, 2016 Maybe not. If you ask Taavet Hinrikus, CEO of international-payments app TransferWise, Bitcoin, I think we can say, is dead. There is no traction, no one is using bitcoin. The bitcoin experiment, I think we can say, is over. Hinrikus made the comments in an interview with Yahoo Finance, during a visit to discuss his companys service launching in Mexico this week . What really happened was a gold rush, he continued. People bought bitcoin because they thought it would be worth more tomorrow. And a lot of people got lucky. But were not seeing real people use bitcoin. And we dont know what problem it solves. Now, blockchain, I think, is a genius advancement in technology. But Im not sure were seeing yet where to apply it. Im pretty excited about R3 and Digital Asset Holdings . I think there are many areas where using blockchain is great, but its still early days. Story continues Hes not alone in either opinion: JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, for one, has also said that bitcoin is doomed, and has also drawn a distinction between the currency and its underlying ledger technology, the blockchain. His bank, along with more than 40 others, has signed on to a consortium to test blockchain technology for their transaction rails. Of course, TransferWise isnt a bitcoin company. But the companys proposition to customers is faster transfer times, and smaller transfer fees, on international remittances. Bitcoin, as a technology, has the same appeal (among many other uses): instant transfers and tiny fees, circumventing big, expensive, sluggish banks or wire services. Startups like TransferWise, and Dwolla, and a host of others that have nothing to do with bitcoin are nonetheless in the same general pool of financial technology, or more specifically, digital payments. The bold claim about bitcoins death would mean more, and be more alarming or divisive among the bitcoin community, coming from a bitcoin executive. (After all, one could make the case that bitcoin is a competitor to TransferWise, which deals in fiat currency.) But Hinrikus is no newcomer to fintech: TransferWise has raised nearly $100 million from huge names in tech investing like Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, and Richard Branson, and before co-founding TransferWise, Hinrikus was the first hire at Skype and worked there five years as its director of strategy. When asked about bitcoin, Hinrikus began by saying, Weve certainly paid lots of attention to bitcoin and blockchain. If tech entrepreneurs like Hinrikus feel they no longer need to keep paying attention, that could be a problem for the coin and its future viability. -- Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering sports business and technology. Read more: Bitcoin community disputes use of the term Internet of Money How big banks are paying lip service to the blockchain Heres how you can invest in the blockchain Bitcoin's biggest investor just bought its biggest news site || ‘Bitcoin is dead,’ says prominent fintech exec: Exactly three months ago, a well-known bitcoin developer, Mike Hearn, wrotea post on Mediumthat rocked the community of people who believe in the future of the digital currency and its technology. Bitcoin, he wrote, has failed. “It has failed because the community has failed… Worse still, the network is on the brink of technical collapse.” The post led to screaming headlines about the end of bitcoin.
And yet, the industry plugs along. The currency is trading at $430 USD. Transaction volume (the number of bitcoin transactions per day) is higher now than it was before Hearn’s post, according toa tracker at Blockchain.info. Just this week, theWall Street Journalprofiled a top ETF (exchange-traded fund) attorney who is advocating for a bitcoin ETF, the same effort that Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are pushing.
Barry Silbert, CEO of the Digital Currency Group,reflected this week, “Hearnado is over.”
Maybe not. If you ask Taavet Hinrikus, CEO of international-payments app TransferWise, “Bitcoin, I think we can say, is dead. There is no traction, no one is using bitcoin. The bitcoin experiment, I think we can say, is over.”
Hinrikus made the comments in an interview with Yahoo Finance, during a visit to discuss his company’s servicelaunching in Mexico this week. “What really happened was a gold rush,” he continued. “People bought bitcoin because they thought it would be worth more tomorrow. And a lot of people got lucky. But we’re not seeing real people use bitcoin. And we don’t know what problem it solves. Now, blockchain, I think, is a genius advancement in technology. But I’m not sure we’re seeing yet where to apply it. I’m pretty excited aboutR3 and Digital Asset Holdings. I think there are many areas where using blockchain is great, but it’s still early days.”
He’s not alone in either opinion: JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, for one,has also saidthat bitcoin is “doomed,” and has also drawn a distinction between the currency and its underlying ledger technology, the blockchain. His bank, along with more than 40 others, hassigned on to a consortiumto test blockchain technology for their transaction rails.
Of course, TransferWise isn’t a bitcoin company. But the company’s proposition to customers is faster transfer times, and smaller transfer fees, on international remittances. Bitcoin, as a technology, has the same appeal (among many other uses): instant transfers and tiny fees, circumventing big, expensive, sluggish banks or wire services. Startups like TransferWise, and Dwolla, and a host of others that have nothing to do with bitcoin are nonetheless in the same general pool of financial technology, or more specifically, digital payments.
The bold claim about bitcoin’s death would mean more, and be more alarming or divisive among the bitcoin community, coming from a bitcoin executive. (After all, one could make the case that bitcoin is a competitor to TransferWise, which deals in fiat currency.)But Hinrikus is no newcomer to fintech: TransferWise has raised nearly $100 million from huge names in tech investing like Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, and Richard Branson, and before co-founding TransferWise, Hinrikus was the first hire at Skype and worked there five years as its director of strategy.
When asked about bitcoin, Hinrikus began by saying, “We’ve certainly paid lots of attention to bitcoin and blockchain.” If tech entrepreneurs like Hinrikus feel they no longer need to keep paying attention, that could be a problem for the coin and its future viability.
--
Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering sports business and technology.
Read more:
Bitcoin community disputes use of the term ‘Internet of Money’
How big banks are paying lip service to the blockchain
Here’s how you can invest in the blockchain
Bitcoin's biggest investor just bought its biggest news site || ‘Bitcoin is dead,’ says prominent fintech exec: Exactly three months ago, a well-known bitcoin developer, Mike Hearn, wrotea post on Mediumthat rocked the community of people who believe in the future of the digital currency and its technology. Bitcoin, he wrote, has failed. “It has failed because the community has failed… Worse still, the network is on the brink of technical collapse.” The post led to screaming headlines about the end of bitcoin.
And yet, the industry plugs along. The currency is trading at $430 USD. Transaction volume (the number of bitcoin transactions per day) is higher now than it was before Hearn’s post, according toa tracker at Blockchain.info. Just this week, theWall Street Journalprofiled a top ETF (exchange-traded fund) attorney who is advocating for a bitcoin ETF, the same effort that Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are pushing.
Barry Silbert, CEO of the Digital Currency Group,reflected this week, “Hearnado is over.”
Maybe not. If you ask Taavet Hinrikus, CEO of international-payments app TransferWise, “Bitcoin, I think we can say, is dead. There is no traction, no one is using bitcoin. The bitcoin experiment, I think we can say, is over.”
Hinrikus made the comments in an interview with Yahoo Finance, during a visit to discuss his company’s servicelaunching in Mexico this week. “What really happened was a gold rush,” he continued. “People bought bitcoin because they thought it would be worth more tomorrow. And a lot of people got lucky. But we’re not seeing real people use bitcoin. And we don’t know what problem it solves. Now, blockchain, I think, is a genius advancement in technology. But I’m not sure we’re seeing yet where to apply it. I’m pretty excited aboutR3 and Digital Asset Holdings. I think there are many areas where using blockchain is great, but it’s still early days.”
He’s not alone in either opinion: JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, for one,has also saidthat bitcoin is “doomed,” and has also drawn a distinction between the currency and its underlying ledger technology, the blockchain. His bank, along with more than 40 others, hassigned on to a consortiumto test blockchain technology for their transaction rails.
Of course, TransferWise isn’t a bitcoin company. But the company’s proposition to customers is faster transfer times, and smaller transfer fees, on international remittances. Bitcoin, as a technology, has the same appeal (among many other uses): instant transfers and tiny fees, circumventing big, expensive, sluggish banks or wire services. Startups like TransferWise, and Dwolla, and a host of others that have nothing to do with bitcoin are nonetheless in the same general pool of financial technology, or more specifically, digital payments.
The bold claim about bitcoin’s death would mean more, and be more alarming or divisive among the bitcoin community, coming from a bitcoin executive. (After all, one could make the case that bitcoin is a competitor to TransferWise, which deals in fiat currency.)But Hinrikus is no newcomer to fintech: TransferWise has raised nearly $100 million from huge names in tech investing like Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, and Richard Branson, and before co-founding TransferWise, Hinrikus was the first hire at Skype and worked there five years as its director of strategy.
When asked about bitcoin, Hinrikus began by saying, “We’ve certainly paid lots of attention to bitcoin and blockchain.” If tech entrepreneurs like Hinrikus feel they no longer need to keep paying attention, that could be a problem for the coin and its future viability.
--
Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering sports business and technology.
Read more:
Bitcoin community disputes use of the term ‘Internet of Money’
How big banks are paying lip service to the blockchain
Here’s how you can invest in the blockchain
Bitcoin's biggest investor just bought its biggest news site || Penny Stocks To Buy: Four Trending Small Cap Stocks on Tuesday April 19: MIAMI, FL / ACCESSWIRE / April 19, 2016 / Daily Stock Reporter is issuing a report on four stocks to watch. AVRN, MNTR, CHZP, and AGHI have been added to our watch list today. Continue reading to find out why. - To get daily alerts on top stocks on the OTC, Nasdaq and NYSE subscribe to our newsletter at DailyStockReporter.com. Avra Inc. ( AVRN ) offers a range of solutions that streamline and modernize businesses & merchants by integrating Bitcoin payments & acceptance. As of 10AM EST on Tuesday April 19, the stock has seen well above average volume and increased price movement. From a previous close of $0.13 on Monday (4/18), shares of AVRN rose as much as 54% following early morning highs of $0.20 on Tuesday. Since the beginning of March the stock has increased in price by as much as 785%. Stay Informed and Up To Date On The Hottest Small Cap Nasdaq & OTC Plays . Get Them Here . Mentor Capital, Inc. ( MNTR ) announced earlier in April that it has acquired the international patent for the smokeless administration of THC, CBD and Cannabinoids, from its developer R.L. Larson through Larson Capital, LLC. "We started this patent related effort in 2012, before the cannabis boom, with an eye toward easier more discrete use by cancer patients and the elderly," says R.L. Larson. "As an inventor and cancer survivor with long public company leadership experience, and now as a Mentor shareholder, I am pleased to be working with Mentor Capital because of their medical bias in the cannabis space and solid approach to public company operation." As of 10AM EST the stock has seen early trading volume and intra day price movement of as much as 0.10 above its opening price of $0.54. Enjoy picks like this? Get These Alerts and More on top small cap Companies before They Rally, Text the phrase "StockAlerts" to 635-66 Chess Supersite Corp. ( CHZP ) whose primary business is the development and operation of the chess portal www.chesssupersite.com , announced on Tuesday April 19 that the Company has been selected to broadcast both US Men's and Woman's Championships held in the US capital of chess, St. Louis, Missouri. The U.S. Championship will culminate with the top three players competing in a special blitz round- robin format against legendary chess champion Garry Kasparov. The round- robin tournament will take place over two days upon the conclusion of the Championships. For a little over one week, shares of CHZP have begun to climb in price. On April 11 the stock opened at $0.20 and this morning (4/19) the stock has seen a high of $0.48 to mark a total move to this point of 140%. Volume has also begun to increase in comparison to previous weeks. Story continues Stay Informed and Up To Date On The Hottest Small Cap Stocks; Free To Join Now . Agora Holdings, Inc. (AGHI) announced earlier in April that the company had signed an engagement letter with an independent accounting and auditing firm, BF Borgers CPA PC. The signing of the engagement letter represents a significant step forward for Agora Holdings in becoming a fully reporting entity. Agora Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiary Geegle Media and affiliates, is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise with five business segments: media networks, TV, studio entertainment, consumer products and interactive media. During the last 3 months, shares of AGHI have seen price as high as $0.49 with the highest daily volume being 967.4K shares. Small Cap Stock Alerts: Get Them straight to your Cell Phone. To Receive Our Winning Small Cap Stock Alerts For Free, text "StockAlerts" to 63566. ABOUT US: www.DailyStockReporter.com monitors and scans the markets for stock related signals as well as any external factors that might bring trading opportunities. Through a vast network of IR professionals www.DailyStockReporter.com is often in the know of several large investor awareness campaigns being deployed. Timing is everything when trading Penny Stocks. You can subscribe to the www.DailyStockReporter.com newsletter and start receiving daily alerts. To subscribe by phone and receive messages directly to a mobile phone, text the phrase "StockAlerts" to 63566. Legal Disclaimer Except for the historical information presented herein, matters discussed in this article contain forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. A full disclaimer can be found at www.DailyStockReporter.com/disclaimer. EGM FIRM INC which owns www.DailyStockReporter.com, is not registered with any financial or securities regulatory authority, and does not provide nor claims to provide investment advice or recommendations to readers of this release. EGM FIRM INC, which owns www.DailyStockReporter.com, may from time to time have a position in the securities mentioned herein and may increase or decrease such positions without notice. For making specific investment decisions, readers should seek their own advice. EGM FIRM INC which owns www.DailyStockReporter.com, may be compensated for its services in the form of cash-based compensation or equity securities in the companies it writes about, or a combination of the two. CONTACT: Company: DailyStockReporter.com Contact Email: [email protected] SOURCE: DailyStockReporter.com || Penny Stocks To Buy: Four Trending Small Cap Stocks on Tuesday April 19: MIAMI, FL / ACCESSWIRE / April 19, 2016 /Daily Stock Reporter is issuing a report on four stocks to watch.AVRN, MNTR, CHZP,andAGHIhave been added to our watch list today. Continue reading to find out why. - To get daily alerts on top stocks on the OTC, Nasdaq and NYSE subscribe to our newsletter at DailyStockReporter.com.
Avra Inc. (AVRN)offers a range of solutions that streamline and modernize businesses & merchants by integrating Bitcoin payments & acceptance. As of 10AM EST on Tuesday April 19, the stock has seen well above average volume and increased price movement. From a previous close of $0.13 on Monday (4/18), shares of AVRN rose as much as 54% following early morning highs of $0.20 on Tuesday. Since the beginning of March the stock has increased in price by as much as 785%.
Stay Informed and Up To Date On The Hottest Small Cap Nasdaq & OTC Plays. Get Them Here.
Mentor Capital, Inc. (MNTR)announced earlier in April that it has acquired the international patent for the smokeless administration of THC, CBD and Cannabinoids, from its developer R.L. Larson through Larson Capital, LLC. "We started this patent related effort in 2012, before the cannabis boom, with an eye toward easier more discrete use by cancer patients and the elderly," says R.L. Larson. "As an inventor and cancer survivor with long public company leadership experience, and now as a Mentor shareholder, I am pleased to be working with Mentor Capital because of their medical bias in the cannabis space and solid approach to public company operation."
As of 10AM EST the stock has seen early trading volume and intra day price movement of as much as 0.10 above its opening price of $0.54.
Enjoy picks like this? Get These Alerts and More on top small cap Companies before They Rally, Text the phrase "StockAlerts" to 635-66
Chess Supersite Corp. (CHZP)whose primary business is the development and operation of the chess portalwww.chesssupersite.com, announced on Tuesday April 19 that the Company has been selected to broadcast both US Men's and Woman's Championships held in the US capital of chess, St. Louis, Missouri. The U.S. Championship will culminate with the top three players competing in a special blitz round- robin format against legendary chess champion Garry Kasparov. The round- robin tournament will take place over two days upon the conclusion of the Championships. For a little over one week, shares of CHZP have begun to climb in price. On April 11 the stock opened at $0.20 and this morning (4/19) the stock has seen a high of $0.48 to mark a total move to this point of 140%. Volume has also begun to increase in comparison to previous weeks.
Stay Informed and Up To Date On The Hottest Small Cap Stocks;Free To Join Now.
Agora Holdings, Inc. (AGHI)announced earlier in April that the companyhad signed an engagement letter with an independent accounting and auditing firm, BF Borgers CPA PC. The signing of the engagement letter represents a significant step forward for Agora Holdings in becoming a fully reporting entity. Agora Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiary Geegle Media and affiliates, is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise with five business segments: media networks, TV, studio entertainment, consumer products and interactive media. During the last 3 months, shares of AGHI have seen price as high as $0.49 with the highest daily volume being 967.4K shares.
Small Cap Stock Alerts: Get Them straight to your Cell Phone. To Receive Our Winning Small Cap Stock Alerts For Free, text "StockAlerts" to 63566.
ABOUT US:
www.DailyStockReporter.commonitors and scans the markets for stock related signals as well as any external factors that might bring trading opportunities. Through a vast network of IR professionals www.DailyStockReporter.com is often in the know of several large investor awareness campaigns being deployed.
Timing is everything when trading Penny Stocks. You can subscribe to the www.DailyStockReporter.com newsletter and start receiving daily alerts. To subscribe by phone and receive messages directly to a mobile phone, text the phrase "StockAlerts" to 63566.
Legal Disclaimer
Except for the historical information presented herein, matters discussed in this article contain forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. A full disclaimer can be found at www.DailyStockReporter.com/disclaimer.
EGM FIRM INC which owns www.DailyStockReporter.com, is not registered with any financial or securities regulatory authority, and does not provide nor claims to provide investment advice or recommendations to readers of this release.
EGM FIRM INC, which owns www.DailyStockReporter.com, may from time to time have a position in the securities mentioned herein and may increase or decrease such positions without notice. For making specific investment decisions, readers should seek their own advice.
EGM FIRM INC which owns www.DailyStockReporter.com, may be compensated for its services in the form of cash-based compensation or equity securities in the companies it writes about, or a combination of the two.
CONTACT:
Company: DailyStockReporter.comContact Email:[email protected]
SOURCE:DailyStockReporter.com
[Social Media Buzz]
1 KOBO = 0.00001100 BTC
= 0.0051 USD
= 1.0152 NGN
= 0.0739 ZAR
= 0.5163 KES
#Kobocoin 2016-04-25 21:00 pic.twitter.com/yABWy5mEbD || #Bitcoin last trade
@bitstamp $458.00
@coinbase $461.98
Set #crypto #price #alerts at http://AlertCo.in || Bittrex CCN/BTC Vol.:$ 242(100.00 %) || LIVE: Profit = $1,060.91 (13.18 %). BUY B19.49 @ $460.00 (#VirCurex). SELL @ $467.82 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || LIVE: Profit = $954.14 (11.86 %). BUY B19.49 @ $460.00 (#VirCur...
|
466.09, 444.69, 449.01, 455.10, 448.32, 451.88, 444.67, 450.30, 446.72, 447.98
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 3847.18, 3761.56, 3896.38, 3903.94, 3911.48, 3901.13, 3963.31, 3951.60, 3905.23, 3909.16, 3906.72, 3924.37, 3960.91, 4048.73, 4025.23, 4032.51, 4071.19, 4087.48, 4029.33, 4023.97, 4035.83, 4022.17, 3963.07, 3985.08, 4087.07, 4069.11, 4098.37, 4106.66, 4105.40, 4158.18, 4879.88, 4973.02, 4922.80, 5036.68, 5059.82, 5198.90, 5289.77, 5204.96, 5324.55, 5064.49, 5089.54, 5096.59, 5167.72, 5067.11, 5235.56, 5251.94, 5298.39, 5303.81, 5337.89, 5314.53, 5399.37, 5572.36, 5464.87, 5210.52, 5279.35, 5268.29, 5285.14, 5247.35, 5350.73, 5402.70, 5505.28, 5768.29, 5831.17, 5795.71, 5746.81, 5829.50, 5982.46, 6174.53, 6378.85, 7204.77, 6972.37, 7814.92, 7994.42, 8205.17, 7884.91, 7343.90, 7271.21, 8197.69, 7978.31, 7963.33, 7680.07, 7881.85, 7987.37, 8052.54, 8673.22, 8805.78, 8719.96, 8659.49, 8319.47, 8574.50.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2019-05-31]
Volume: 25365190957, RSI (14-day): 65.69, 50-day EMA: 6840.78, 200-day EMA: 5491.34
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1305.80, Gold RSI: 62.53
Oil Price: 53.50, Oil RSI: 23.42
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Wall Street’s Bitcoin King Defends Crypto Against CNBC FUD: ByCCN: CNBC in a recent interview shot a string of arrows seemingly to burst the so-calledbitcoin pricebubble. Nonetheless, the cryptocurrency emerged unharmed thanks to Bart Smith.
The digital asset head of Susquehanna International Group, a Pennsylvania-based trading firm, appeared on Squawk Box to discuss what possibly drovebitcoin up 145% year-to-date. While admitting that it was difficult to narrow down a price rally into specific factors, Smith hinted that the root of bitcoin’s exceptional performance in 2019 maximally lied in one thing: optimism. He said:
“There is a tremendous amount of optimism about US brokerages — particularly online brokerages offering bitcoin to retail customers in 2019. Noone has come out and said that openly; but there is a lot of talk about that, which is making people buy bitcoin ahead of that new investor demand.”
Smith’s explanation ventured into macroeconomic factors such as theU.S.-China trade war. He reminded the CNBC hosts that the escalating economic tensions between the superpowers had pushed the value of the Chinese yuan to its six-month low. The devaluation alone could have influenced Chinese investors to dump a capitally controlled yuan for bitcoin, which remains an open, decentralized asset to transfer value and ownership without needing governments or banks. Smith said:
“Much of the rise of bitcoin in 2017 came out of Asian countries like South Korea and China that have capital controls. Many people might be devaluing their currencies which makes bitcoin either a hedge or an outright way to get capital outside that country.”
Read the full story on CCN.com. || Wall Street’s Bitcoin King Defends Crypto Against CNBC FUD: CNBC shot a string of arrows seemingly to burst the so-called bitcoin price bubble, but the cryptocurrency came out unharmed thanks to Susquehanna's Bart Smith. | Source: Shutterstock By CCN : CNBC in a recent interview shot a string of arrows seemingly to burst the so-called bitcoin price bubble. Nonetheless, the cryptocurrency emerged unharmed thanks to Bart Smith. The digital asset head of Susquehanna International Group, a Pennsylvania-based trading firm, appeared on Squawk Box to discuss what possibly drove bitcoin up 145% year-to-date . While admitting that it was difficult to narrow down a price rally into specific factors, Smith hinted that the root of bitcoin’s exceptional performance in 2019 maximally lied in one thing: optimism. He said: “There is a tremendous amount of optimism about US brokerages — particularly online brokerages offering bitcoin to retail customers in 2019. Noone has come out and said that openly; but there is a lot of talk about that, which is making people buy bitcoin ahead of that new investor demand.” Geopolitical Factors Smith’s explanation ventured into macroeconomic factors such as the U.S.-China trade war . He reminded the CNBC hosts that the escalating economic tensions between the superpowers had pushed the value of the Chinese yuan to its six-month low. The devaluation alone could have influenced Chinese investors to dump a capitally controlled yuan for bitcoin, which remains an open, decentralized asset to transfer value and ownership without needing governments or banks. Smith said: “Much of the rise of bitcoin in 2017 came out of Asian countries like South Korea and China that have capital controls. Many people might be devaluing their currencies which makes bitcoin either a hedge or an outright way to get capital outside that country.” "China would love to make a deal with us. We had a deal, and they broke the deal. I think if they had it to do again, they wouldn't have done what they did," Trump said earlier today. https://t.co/4goj1qSCQa pic.twitter.com/dIrzJSKwQM — CNBC (@CNBC) May 30, 2019 Read the full story on CCN.com . || Wall Street’s Bitcoin King Defends Crypto Against CNBC FUD: ByCCN: CNBC in a recent interview shot a string of arrows seemingly to burst the so-calledbitcoin pricebubble. Nonetheless, the cryptocurrency emerged unharmed thanks to Bart Smith.
The digital asset head of Susquehanna International Group, a Pennsylvania-based trading firm, appeared on Squawk Box to discuss what possibly drovebitcoin up 145% year-to-date. While admitting that it was difficult to narrow down a price rally into specific factors, Smith hinted that the root of bitcoin’s exceptional performance in 2019 maximally lied in one thing: optimism. He said:
“There is a tremendous amount of optimism about US brokerages — particularly online brokerages offering bitcoin to retail customers in 2019. Noone has come out and said that openly; but there is a lot of talk about that, which is making people buy bitcoin ahead of that new investor demand.”
Smith’s explanation ventured into macroeconomic factors such as theU.S.-China trade war. He reminded the CNBC hosts that the escalating economic tensions between the superpowers had pushed the value of the Chinese yuan to its six-month low. The devaluation alone could have influenced Chinese investors to dump a capitally controlled yuan for bitcoin, which remains an open, decentralized asset to transfer value and ownership without needing governments or banks. Smith said:
“Much of the rise of bitcoin in 2017 came out of Asian countries like South Korea and China that have capital controls. Many people might be devaluing their currencies which makes bitcoin either a hedge or an outright way to get capital outside that country.”
Read the full story on CCN.com. || Cryptocurrency Broker Client Reportedly Aims to Acquire 25% of All Bitcoin Supply: Digital currency investment firm Dadiani Syndicate has reportedly been approached by a wealthy client to buy as close to 25% of the bitcoin ( BTC ) supply as possible, Forbes reported on May 30. The Dadiani Syndicate is a peer-to-peer network where people trade between each other with cryptocurrency . The firm made news last year when it put 49% of Andy Warhol’s 1980 work "14 Small Electric Chairs" up for sale for bitcoin and other digital currencies. The firm’s founder Eleesa Dadiani reportedly claimed: "One of our clients approached us and said they were interested in acquiring 25% of all bitcoin currently available. There are a number of entities who want to dominate the market." Dadiani said that acquiring a quarter of the current 17.7 million BTC supply — considering that many coins have been permanently lost — would not be possible without significantly affecting the market . EToro analyst Mati Greenspan stated, "A buyer of this size is going to push the price up to make this kind of accumulation even more expensive," continuing: "Yet even a greater number of coins are currently being held by hodlers who will not be willing to part with them for any price. Realistically speaking, there are probably less than five million coins actually circulating at the moment." Since January of this year, bitcoin has gained over 120% in its price, and broke the $9,000 price mark earlier today, soaring thus to its highest price point in over a year. At press time, the leading cryptocurrency is down by 4.68% on the day and is trading at around $8,269, according to CoinMarketCap . Related Articles: Crypto Markets Show Signs of Recovery, While Oil Prices Slump Crypto Markets Turning Green, Oil Prices Tumble NYMEX Trader: Bitcoin Soon to Move Back to $7,000, Markets to Consolidate Binance Charity Foundation Signs Memorandum of Understanding With Ugandan NGO || Cryptocurrency Broker Client Reportedly Aims to Acquire 25% of All Bitcoin Supply: Digital currency investment firm Dadiani Syndicate has reportedly been approached by a wealthy client to buy as close to 25% of the bitcoin ( BTC ) supply as possible, Forbes reported on May 30. The Dadiani Syndicate is a peer-to-peer network where people trade between each other with cryptocurrency . The firm made news last year when it put 49% of Andy Warhol’s 1980 work "14 Small Electric Chairs" up for sale for bitcoin and other digital currencies. The firm’s founder Eleesa Dadiani reportedly claimed: "One of our clients approached us and said they were interested in acquiring 25% of all bitcoin currently available. There are a number of entities who want to dominate the market." Dadiani said that acquiring a quarter of the current 17.7 million BTC supply — considering that many coins have been permanently lost — would not be possible without significantly affecting the market . EToro analyst Mati Greenspan stated, "A buyer of this size is going to push the price up to make this kind of accumulation even more expensive," continuing: "Yet even a greater number of coins are currently being held by hodlers who will not be willing to part with them for any price. Realistically speaking, there are probably less than five million coins actually circulating at the moment." Since January of this year, bitcoin has gained over 120% in its price, and broke the $9,000 price mark earlier today, soaring thus to its highest price point in over a year. At press time, the leading cryptocurrency is down by 4.68% on the day and is trading at around $8,269, according to CoinMarketCap . Related Articles: Crypto Markets Show Signs of Recovery, While Oil Prices Slump Crypto Markets Turning Green, Oil Prices Tumble NYMEX Trader: Bitcoin Soon to Move Back to $7,000, Markets to Consolidate Binance Charity Foundation Signs Memorandum of Understanding With Ugandan NGO || Cryptocurrency Broker Client Reportedly Aims to Acquire 25% of All Bitcoin Supply: Digital currency investment firm Dadiani Syndicate has reportedly been approached by a wealthy client to buy as close to 25% of the bitcoin ( BTC ) supply as possible, Forbes reported on May 30. The Dadiani Syndicate is a peer-to-peer network where people trade between each other with cryptocurrency . The firm made news last year when it put 49% of Andy Warhol’s 1980 work "14 Small Electric Chairs" up for sale for bitcoin and other digital currencies. The firm’s founder Eleesa Dadiani reportedly claimed: "One of our clients approached us and said they were interested in acquiring 25% of all bitcoin currently available. There are a number of entities who want to dominate the market." Dadiani said that acquiring a quarter of the current 17.7 million BTC supply — considering that many coins have been permanently lost — would not be possible without significantly affecting the market . EToro analyst Mati Greenspan stated, "A buyer of this size is going to push the price up to make this kind of accumulation even more expensive," continuing: "Yet even a greater number of coins are currently being held by hodlers who will not be willing to part with them for any price. Realistically speaking, there are probably less than five million coins actually circulating at the moment." Since January of this year, bitcoin has gained over 120% in its price, and broke the $9,000 price mark earlier today, soaring thus to its highest price point in over a year. At press time, the leading cryptocurrency is down by 4.68% on the day and is trading at around $8,269, according to CoinMarketCap . Related Articles: Crypto Markets Show Signs of Recovery, While Oil Prices Slump Crypto Markets Turning Green, Oil Prices Tumble NYMEX Trader: Bitcoin Soon to Move Back to $7,000, Markets to Consolidate Binance Charity Foundation Signs Memorandum of Understanding With Ugandan NGO || ADMA Biologics Is De-Risked and Ready to Rise: - By John Engle
After years of struggle, ADMA Biologics (ADMA) appears at last to be poised for bigger things. The Food and Drug Administration's recent approval of two of its intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) drug products, Asceniv and Bivigam, has put this stock back on the radar.
Combined with a timely capital raise, ADMA's two new products should set it up for an impressive breakout in the second half of 2019.
• Warning! GuruFocus has detected 4 Warning Signs with ADMA. Click here to check it out.
• ADMA 15-Year Financial Data
• The intrinsic value of ADMA
• Peter Lynch Chart of ADMA
High (and growing) demand
Polyvalent immune globulin (IG) has seen explosive growth as a therapeutic tool and has seen a growing market for more than 30 years straight. The power of IVIG therapies has been made clear across a range of indications , especially with regard to immunotherapies:
"IG is essentially a concentrate of the most critical portion of the humoral immune systems of not one but thousands of individual plasma donors. Unlike single molecular entities, IVIG and SCIG products contain many thousands of highly specific IgG antibodies with a diversity of incompletely understood immunoregulatory, anti-inflammatory and infectious disease-targeting functions."
Demand has certainly proven robust, increasing by a significant margin every year. The IVIG market now stands atabout $6 billionand, while there are many available offerings already on the market, demand has persistently outstripped supply. That dynamic is not likely to change anytime soon, given the projected growth in the IVIG market shows demand up nearly 50% from current levels by the end of 2024.
It is certainly unusual to see this sort of market dynamic play out with a pharmaceutical product, but IVIG has proven to be something of a special case. Expanding clinical utility, increasing reliance on aggressive high-dose IVIG therapies and rising global usage have all served - and are likely to continue to serve - as a strong tailwind to demand.
A pair of wins creates opportunity
This where ADMA comes in. Its two newly approved IVIG products, Asceniv and Bivigam, should be on the market by the second half of the year. Both drug products have been approved as therapies for the treatment of patients with primary humoral immunodeficiency disease (PI), which currently afflicts 250,000 Americans - and far more worldwide.
ADMA has a shot at a very lucrative piece of the growing, high-demand IVIG market, as CEO Adam Grossmanrecently discussed:
"We are pleased to re-introduce BIVIGAM into the market, where demand for IVIG therapy continues to outpace supply. The $6 billion U.S. market for IVIG continues to grow and the relaunch of BIVIGAM can help to alleviate a portion of the tight supply for this important patient population, where dependable and consistent supply of IVIG is critical to patients' well-being."
With significant inventory of Bivigam already stockpiled, the company's plan to scale commercial operations in the back-half of 2019 looks quite reasonable.
Enough cash to get the job done
The company has has also built up some crucial financial firepower in the form of a substantial equity offering, as well as considerable non-dilutive financing. In all, ADMA now has more than $100 million in cash that it can deploy to finance operations, expand production and sales and explore other potential clinical indications for its products.
Cash is king with all companies, but with developmental growth companies perhaps most of all. Cash fuels everything from research and development to sales commissions, so it is crucial to have enough firepower before trying to make a play in the market.
Currently, ADMA looks to be comfortably capitalized for more than a year of operations at its current burn rate, which ought to be more than enough for it to achieve breakeven with its fresh product lineup.
Verdict
Overall, ADMA appears to be a de-risked growth stock opportunity. It has two products that will serve a ready and growing market and has the cash necessary to launch a successful commercial rollout.
The company's story has changed fundamentally in recent months. Before May, it was a developmental biotech stock with a share price and valuation driven by speculation around binary approval events. With the key approvals achieved, it is now an execution story. The stock may take a while to adjust to this new reality.
As a consequence of ADMA's changing narrative, we expect to see some volatility over the next few months. If the company can show strong execution in its commercialization of Asceniv and Bivigam by the end of 2019, this stock could soar.
Disclosure: No positions.
Read more here:
• Roy Behren's Rules for Successful Merger Arbitrage
• Bitcoin: Take George Soros' Advice and Steer Clear
• 4 Lessons From a Master Market Operator
N ot a Premium Member of GuruFocus? Sign up for a free 7-day trial here .
This article first appeared onGuruFocus.
• Warning! GuruFocus has detected 4 Warning Signs with ADMA. Click here to check it out.
• ADMA 15-Year Financial Data
• The intrinsic value of ADMA
• Peter Lynch Chart of ADMA || ADMA Biologics Is De-Risked and Ready to Rise: - By John Engle After years of struggle, ADMA Biologics ( ADMA ) appears at last to be poised for bigger things. The Food and Drug Administration's recent approval of two of its intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) drug products, Asceniv and Bivigam, has put this stock back on the radar. Combined with a timely capital raise, ADMA's two new products should set it up for an impressive breakout in the second half of 2019. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 4 Warning Signs with ADMA. Click here to check it out. ADMA 15-Year Financial Data The intrinsic value of ADMA Peter Lynch Chart of ADMA High (and growing) demand Polyvalent immune globulin (IG) has seen explosive growth as a therapeutic tool and has seen a growing market for more than 30 years straight. The power of IVIG therapies has been made clear across a range of indications , especially with regard to immunotherapies: "IG is essentially a concentrate of the most critical portion of the humoral immune systems of not one but thousands of individual plasma donors. Unlike single molecular entities, IVIG and SCIG products contain many thousands of highly specific IgG antibodies with a diversity of incompletely understood immunoregulatory, anti-inflammatory and infectious disease-targeting functions." Demand has certainly proven robust, increasing by a significant margin every year. The IVIG market now stands at about $6 billion and, while there are many available offerings already on the market, demand has persistently outstripped supply. That dynamic is not likely to change anytime soon, given the projected growth in the IVIG market shows demand up nearly 50% from current levels by the end of 2024. It is certainly unusual to see this sort of market dynamic play out with a pharmaceutical product, but IVIG has proven to be something of a special case. Expanding clinical utility, increasing reliance on aggressive high-dose IVIG therapies and rising global usage have all served - and are likely to continue to serve - as a strong tailwind to demand. A pair of wins creates opportunity This where ADMA comes in. Its two newly approved IVIG products, Asceniv and Bivigam, should be on the market by the second half of the year. Both drug products have been approved as therapies for the treatment of patients with primary humoral immunodeficiency disease (PI), which currently afflicts 250,000 Americans - and far more worldwide. ADMA has a shot at a very lucrative piece of the growing, high-demand IVIG market, as CEO Adam Grossman recently discussed : "We are pleased to re-introduce BIVIGAM into the market, where demand for IVIG therapy continues to outpace supply. The $6 billion U.S. market for IVIG continues to grow and the relaunch of BIVIGAM can help to alleviate a portion of the tight supply for this important patient population, where dependable and consistent supply of IVIG is critical to patients' well-being." Story continues With significant inventory of Bivigam already stockpiled, the company's plan to scale commercial operations in the back-half of 2019 looks quite reasonable. Enough cash to get the job done The company has has also built up some crucial financial firepower in the form of a substantial equity offering, as well as considerable non-dilutive financing. In all, ADMA now has more than $100 million in cash that it can deploy to finance operations, expand production and sales and explore other potential clinical indications for its products. Cash is king with all companies, but with developmental growth companies perhaps most of all. Cash fuels everything from research and development to sales commissions, so it is crucial to have enough firepower before trying to make a play in the market. Currently, ADMA looks to be comfortably capitalized for more than a year of operations at its current burn rate, which ought to be more than enough for it to achieve breakeven with its fresh product lineup. Verdict Overall, ADMA appears to be a de-risked growth stock opportunity. It has two products that will serve a ready and growing market and has the cash necessary to launch a successful commercial rollout. The company's story has changed fundamentally in recent months. Before May, it was a developmental biotech stock with a share price and valuation driven by speculation around binary approval events. With the key approvals achieved, it is now an execution story. The stock may take a while to adjust to this new reality. As a consequence of ADMA's changing narrative, we expect to see some volatility over the next few months. If the company can show strong execution in its commercialization of Asceniv and Bivigam by the end of 2019, this stock could soar. Disclosure: No positions. Read more here: Roy Behren's Rules for Successful Merger Arbitrage Bitcoin: Take George Soros' Advice and Steer Clear 4 Lessons From a Master Market Operator N ot a Premium Member of GuruFocus? Sign up for a free 7-day trial here . This article first appeared on GuruFocus . Warning! GuruFocus has detected 4 Warning Signs with ADMA. Click here to check it out. ADMA 15-Year Financial Data The intrinsic value of ADMA Peter Lynch Chart of ADMA View comments || Russias Largest Bank Scraps Crypto Plans Even with Pro-Bitcoin CEO: Sberbank, the largest bank in Russia, scrapped its crypto plans, citing the anti-bitcoin sentiments of the Russian Central Bank and government regulators. | Source: Shutterstock By CCN : Sberbank, the largest bank in Russia, is scrapping its crypto plans, citing the anti-bitcoin sentiments of government regulators. Ironically, the CEO of Sberbank, Herman Gref, is a bitcoin proponent . However, others at Sberbank are not convinced of the merits of virtual currencies, so theyre suspending all cryptocurrency-related projects. Andrey Shemetov, the global markets head at Sberbank, made the announcement at a May 30 press conference, Tass reported. We waited for legislation that allows you to trade cryptocurrencies. Since the regulator is currently looking negatively [at bitcoin], we decided to suspend our cryptocurrency plans. Russia Delays Roll-Out of Regulations This news is not surprising considering that Russia postponed the roll-out of long-awaited crypto regulations last week. In February, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the government to adopt crypto regulations by July 1. However, those plans were abruptly suspended last week. At the time, a top official with the Russian State Duma warned that bitcoin can ruin governments by facilitating the offshoring of massive amounts of money. Bitcoin Can Wreak Havoc by Ruining Governments: Senior Russian Official https://t.co/7bViOHQ9Rm CCN.com (@CCNMarkets) May 21, 2019 Putin: Bitcoin Is a Magnet for Criminals The Russian Parliaments anti-bitcoin stance echoes the viewpoints espoused by both President Vladimir Putin and the Central Bank of Russia. Read the full story on CCN.com . View comments || Russia’s Largest Bank Scraps Crypto Plans Even with Pro-Bitcoin CEO: ByCCN: Sberbank, the largest bank in Russia, is scrapping its crypto plans, citing the anti-bitcoin sentiments of government regulators. Ironically, the CEO of Sberbank, Herman Gref, is abitcoin proponent.
However, others at Sberbank are not convinced of the merits of virtual currencies, so they’re suspending all cryptocurrency-related projects. Andrey Shemetov, the global markets head at Sberbank, made the announcement at a May 30 press conference,Tassreported.
“We waited for legislation that allows you to trade cryptocurrencies. Since the regulator is currently looking negatively [at bitcoin], we decided to suspend our cryptocurrency plans.”
This news is not surprising considering that Russia postponed the roll-out of long-awaited crypto regulations last week. In February, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the government to adopt crypto regulations by July 1.
However, those plans were abruptly suspended last week. At the time, a top official with the Russian State Duma warned thatbitcoin can “ruin governments”by facilitating the offshoring of massive amounts of money.
The Russian Parliament’s anti-bitcoin stance echoes the viewpoints espoused by both President Vladimir Putin and the Central Bank of Russia.
Read the full story on CCN.com. || Russia’s Largest Bank Scraps Crypto Plans Even with Pro-Bitcoin CEO: ByCCN: Sberbank, the largest bank in Russia, is scrapping its crypto plans, citing the anti-bitcoin sentiments of government regulators. Ironically, the CEO of Sberbank, Herman Gref, is abitcoin proponent.
However, others at Sberbank are not convinced of the merits of virtual currencies, so they’re suspending all cryptocurrency-related projects. Andrey Shemetov, the global markets head at Sberbank, made the announcement at a May 30 press conference,Tassreported.
“We waited for legislation that allows you to trade cryptocurrencies. Since the regulator is currently looking negatively [at bitcoin], we decided to suspend our cryptocurrency plans.”
This news is not surprising considering that Russia postponed the roll-out of long-awaited crypto regulations last week. In February, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the government to adopt crypto regulations by July 1.
However, those plans were abruptly suspended last week. At the time, a top official with the Russian State Duma warned thatbitcoin can “ruin governments”by facilitating the offshoring of massive amounts of money.
The Russian Parliament’s anti-bitcoin stance echoes the viewpoints espoused by both President Vladimir Putin and the Central Bank of Russia.
Read the full story on CCN.com. || Op Ed: Debunking Bitcoin Myths: The ‘Intrinsic Value’ Fallacy: A series of op eds by Kyle Torpey addressing some of the oft-repeated arguments against Bitcoin.
One of the earliest criticisms of Bitcoin was that the underlying token in the system had no intrinsic value. This point was an area of heavy debate among libertarians and Austrian economists who had become interested in bitcoin as a potential digital alternative to gold in the early stages of the crypto asset’s development.
Much of the debate revolved around Austrian school economist Ludwig Von Mises’regression theorem, which claims non-monetary use cases as a prerequisite for any good to become a money.
Like many others, I fell on the side of bitcoin lacking any sort of intrinsic value after first learning about the new digital asset, but this was largely due to my lack of understanding around bitcoin’s utility as a digital bearer asset at the time (around 2011 to 2012).
My view on bitcoin’s lack of intrinsic value changed once I realized that it was the only option in terms of a permissionless, censorship-resistant digital money.
One of the common arguments around the intrinsic value of fiat currencies, such as the U.S. dollar, is that the key underlying value proposition is that you have to pay your taxes with it. Bitcoin has a similar property where it must be used for censorship-resistant transactions online (yes, there are other options but bitcoin is the most liquid).
The continued existence of this point of view explains the thinking behind the creation of various altcoins focused on low-fee payments, such as bitcoin cash. Although,as Bitrefill CCO John Carvalho pointed outat the recent Understanding Bitcoin conference in Malta, many Bitcoin users have seen their thinking on this topic evolve further over the years.
This is not to say payments are not important (Bitcoin has its own secondary payments network known as theLightning Network), but rather, the security and stabilization of Bitcoin’s base layer is key to protecting bitcoin’s utility as a store of value.
These two differing views on why bitcoin is valuable was a core aspect of the scaling debate from 2015 to 2017 (I’ve written an in-depth exploration of this pointhere).
A number of altcoins have arguably made improvements over bitcoin in terms of adding additional payment features. For example, Monero is renowned for the increased levels of privacy it can offer (although bitcoin is now seeing privacy improvements of its own through software likeWasabi WalletandSamourai Wallet).
As Blockstream mathematician Andrew Poelstra hasexplained in the past, Bitcoin users simply prioritize security and stability over new, experimental payment features.
One of the key issues with these payment-focused altcoins is that they don’t have the same level of liquidity or network effects found with bitcoin, so bitcoin is still by far the most preferred money in the cryptocurrency space.
The view of bitcoin being a good as a store of value is helpful in terms of increasing the utility of that good as a medium of exchange. If more people are willing to hold a good, then they’re more likely to accept that good as payment.
Of course, having utility as a medium of exchange also assists the store of value proposition. But the key point to realize here is that a good acting as a medium of exchange is only possible if it first obtains some value. You can’t send value through a good if that good’s value is near zero (more on this from Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto later).
To be clear, it’s not the specific 21 million cap that enables bitcoin’s usefulness as a store of value. Instead,it’s the credibility of that monetary policy that mattersin that it can’t be changed on a whim by anyone (not even a collection of the largest companies in the ecosystem).
Bitcoin is generally much less volatile than altcoins, which harms their comparative utility as stores of value (and, therefore, mediums of exchange).
It should also be noted that altcoins tend to be more centralized in terms of influential nodes and less diverse user bases, which puts into question the level of censorship-resistance of these cryptocurrencies as payment networks (see Ethereum’s hard fork to bail out those who were negatively affected by the hacking of The DAO).
“Intrinsic value” is a weird term when applied to commodities like gold and currencies like the U.S. dollar. There is nothingintrinsicabout the value of anything. Value is subjective and comes from outside forces. For example, a gold bar isn’t very valuable to someone stranded on a deserted island alone.
In real terms, what makes bitcoin valuable is that it’s an apolitical digital money. The difficult-to-corrupt monetary policy is at the core of this value proposition, but other attributes and use cases are built on top of that base layer.
So, what about Mises’ regression theorem? Well, technically, bitcoin was valued as a collectible by cypherpunks before it was used as a payment system. Although it was extremely easy for cypherpunks to obtain some bitcoin at a low cost, that cost was not necessarily zero.
This early value as a collectible combined with a permissionless, censorship-resistant payment system illustrates bitcoin’s “intrinsic” utility.Satoshi wrote about this concepton the bitcointalk.org forum before he left the project.
“If [bitcoin] somehow acquired any value at all for whatever reason, then anyone wanting to transfer wealth over a long distance could buy some, transmit it, and have the recipient sell it,” wrote Satoshi. “Maybe it could get an initial value circularly as you've suggested, by people foreseeing its potential usefulness for exchange. (I would definitely want some)[.] Maybe collectors, any random reason could spark it.”
Many gold bugs (see Peter Schiff) still think there’s nothing valuable about bitcoin and perhaps they’ll never change their tune. But the same logic economists and financial experts use to argue for the intrinsic value of gold and fiat currencies applies to bitcoin too.
This is a guest post by Kyle Torpey. Opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Bitcoin Magazine or BTC Inc.
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || Op Ed: Debunking Bitcoin Myths: The ‘Intrinsic Value’ Fallacy: A series of op eds by Kyle Torpey addressing some of the oft-repeated arguments against Bitcoin.
One of the earliest criticisms of Bitcoin was that the underlying token in the system had no intrinsic value. This point was an area of heavy debate among libertarians and Austrian economists who had become interested in bitcoin as a potential digital alternative to gold in the early stages of the crypto asset’s development.
Much of the debate revolved around Austrian school economist Ludwig Von Mises’regression theorem, which claims non-monetary use cases as a prerequisite for any good to become a money.
Like many others, I fell on the side of bitcoin lacking any sort of intrinsic value after first learning about the new digital asset, but this was largely due to my lack of understanding around bitcoin’s utility as a digital bearer asset at the time (around 2011 to 2012).
My view on bitcoin’s lack of intrinsic value changed once I realized that it was the only option in terms of a permissionless, censorship-resistant digital money.
One of the common arguments around the intrinsic value of fiat currencies, such as the U.S. dollar, is that the key underlying value proposition is that you have to pay your taxes with it. Bitcoin has a similar property where it must be used for censorship-resistant transactions online (yes, there are other options but bitcoin is the most liquid).
The continued existence of this point of view explains the thinking behind the creation of various altcoins focused on low-fee payments, such as bitcoin cash. Although,as Bitrefill CCO John Carvalho pointed outat the recent Understanding Bitcoin conference in Malta, many Bitcoin users have seen their thinking on this topic evolve further over the years.
This is not to say payments are not important (Bitcoin has its own secondary payments network known as theLightning Network), but rather, the security and stabilization of Bitcoin’s base layer is key to protecting bitcoin’s utility as a store of value.
These two differing views on why bitcoin is valuable was a core aspect of the scaling debate from 2015 to 2017 (I’ve written an in-depth exploration of this pointhere).
A number of altcoins have arguably made improvements over bitcoin in terms of adding additional payment features. For example, Monero is renowned for the increased levels of privacy it can offer (although bitcoin is now seeing privacy improvements of its own through software likeWasabi WalletandSamourai Wallet).
As Blockstream mathematician Andrew Poelstra hasexplained in the past, Bitcoin users simply prioritize security and stability over new, experimental payment features.
One of the key issues with these payment-focused altcoins is that they don’t have the same level of liquidity or network effects found with bitcoin, so bitcoin is still by far the most preferred money in the cryptocurrency space.
The view of bitcoin being a good as a store of value is helpful in terms of increasing the utility of that good as a medium of exchange. If more people are willing to hold a good, then they’re more likely to accept that good as payment.
Of course, having utility as a medium of exchange also assists the store of value proposition. But the key point to realize here is that a good acting as a medium of exchange is only possible if it first obtains some value. You can’t send value through a good if that good’s value is near zero (more on this from Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto later).
To be clear, it’s not the specific 21 million cap that enables bitcoin’s usefulness as a store of value. Instead,it’s the credibility of that monetary policy that mattersin that it can’t be changed on a whim by anyone (not even a collection of the largest companies in the ecosystem).
Bitcoin is generally much less volatile than altcoins, which harms their comparative utility as stores of value (and, therefore, mediums of exchange).
It should also be noted that altcoins tend to be more centralized in terms of influential nodes and less diverse user bases, which puts into question the level of censorship-resistance of these cryptocurrencies as payment networks (see Ethereum’s hard fork to bail out those who were negatively affected by the hacking of The DAO).
“Intrinsic value” is a weird term when applied to commodities like gold and currencies like the U.S. dollar. There is nothingintrinsicabout the value of anything. Value is subjective and comes from outside forces. For example, a gold bar isn’t very valuable to someone stranded on a deserted island alone.
In real terms, what makes bitcoin valuable is that it’s an apolitical digital money. The difficult-to-corrupt monetary policy is at the core of this value proposition, but other attributes and use cases are built on top of that base layer.
So, what about Mises’ regression theorem? Well, technically, bitcoin was valued as a collectible by cypherpunks before it was used as a payment system. Although it was extremely easy for cypherpunks to obtain some bitcoin at a low cost, that cost was not necessarily zero.
This early value as a collectible combined with a permissionless, censorship-resistant payment system illustrates bitcoin’s “intrinsic” utility.Satoshi wrote about this concepton the bitcointalk.org forum before he left the project.
“If [bitcoin] somehow acquired any value at all for whatever reason, then anyone wanting to transfer wealth over a long distance could buy some, transmit it, and have the recipient sell it,” wrote Satoshi. “Maybe it could get an initial value circularly as you've suggested, by people foreseeing its potential usefulness for exchange. (I would definitely want some)[.] Maybe collectors, any random reason could spark it.”
Many gold bugs (see Peter Schiff) still think there’s nothing valuable about bitcoin and perhaps they’ll never change their tune. But the same logic economists and financial experts use to argue for the intrinsic value of gold and fiat currencies applies to bitcoin too.
This is a guest post by Kyle Torpey. Opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Bitcoin Magazine or BTC Inc.
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || Op Ed: Debunking Bitcoin Myths: The ‘Intrinsic Value’ Fallacy: Bitcoin Value A series of op eds by Kyle Torpey addressing some of the oft-repeated arguments against Bitcoin. One of the earliest criticisms of Bitcoin was that the underlying token in the system had no intrinsic value. This point was an area of heavy debate among libertarians and Austrian economists who had become interested in bitcoin as a potential digital alternative to gold in the early stages of the crypto asset’s development. Much of the debate revolved around Austrian school economist Ludwig Von Mises’ regression theorem , which claims non-monetary use cases as a prerequisite for any good to become a money. Like many others, I fell on the side of bitcoin lacking any sort of intrinsic value after first learning about the new digital asset, but this was largely due to my lack of understanding around bitcoin’s utility as a digital bearer asset at the time (around 2011 to 2012). Medium of Exchange vs. Store of Value My view on bitcoin’s lack of intrinsic value changed once I realized that it was the only option in terms of a permissionless, censorship-resistant digital money. One of the common arguments around the intrinsic value of fiat currencies, such as the U.S. dollar, is that the key underlying value proposition is that you have to pay your taxes with it. Bitcoin has a similar property where it must be used for censorship-resistant transactions online (yes, there are other options but bitcoin is the most liquid). The continued existence of this point of view explains the thinking behind the creation of various altcoins focused on low-fee payments, such as bitcoin cash. Although, as Bitrefill CCO John Carvalho pointed out at the recent Understanding Bitcoin conference in Malta, many Bitcoin users have seen their thinking on this topic evolve further over the years. This is not to say payments are not important (Bitcoin has its own secondary payments network known as the Lightning Network ), but rather, the security and stabilization of Bitcoin’s base layer is key to protecting bitcoin’s utility as a store of value. Story continues These two differing views on why bitcoin is valuable was a core aspect of the scaling debate from 2015 to 2017 (I’ve written an in-depth exploration of this point here ). A number of altcoins have arguably made improvements over bitcoin in terms of adding additional payment features. For example, Monero is renowned for the increased levels of privacy it can offer (although bitcoin is now seeing privacy improvements of its own through software like Wasabi Wallet and Samourai Wallet ). As Blockstream mathematician Andrew Poelstra has explained in the past , Bitcoin users simply prioritize security and stability over new, experimental payment features. One of the key issues with these payment-focused altcoins is that they don’t have the same level of liquidity or network effects found with bitcoin, so bitcoin is still by far the most preferred money in the cryptocurrency space. The view of bitcoin being a good as a store of value is helpful in terms of increasing the utility of that good as a medium of exchange. If more people are willing to hold a good, then they’re more likely to accept that good as payment. Of course, having utility as a medium of exchange also assists the store of value proposition. But the key point to realize here is that a good acting as a medium of exchange is only possible if it first obtains some value. You can’t send value through a good if that good’s value is near zero (more on this from Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto later). To be clear, it’s not the specific 21 million cap that enables bitcoin’s usefulness as a store of value. Instead, it’s the credibility of that monetary policy that matters in that it can’t be changed on a whim by anyone ( not even a collection of the largest companies in the ecosystem ). Bitcoin is generally much less volatile than altcoins , which harms their comparative utility as stores of value (and, therefore, mediums of exchange). It should also be noted that altcoins tend to be more centralized in terms of influential nodes and less diverse user bases, which puts into question the level of censorship-resistance of these cryptocurrencies as payment networks (see Ethereum’s hard fork to bail out those who were negatively affected by the hacking of The DAO). So What Is Bitcoin’s Intrinsic Value? “Intrinsic value” is a weird term when applied to commodities like gold and currencies like the U.S. dollar. There is nothing intrinsic about the value of anything. Value is subjective and comes from outside forces. For example, a gold bar isn’t very valuable to someone stranded on a deserted island alone. In real terms, what makes bitcoin valuable is that it’s an apolitical digital money. The difficult-to-corrupt monetary policy is at the core of this value proposition, but other attributes and use cases are built on top of that base layer. So, what about Mises’ regression theorem? Well, technically, bitcoin was valued as a collectible by cypherpunks before it was used as a payment system. Although it was extremely easy for cypherpunks to obtain some bitcoin at a low cost, that cost was not necessarily zero. This early value as a collectible combined with a permissionless, censorship-resistant payment system illustrates bitcoin’s “intrinsic” utility. Satoshi wrote about this concept on the bitcointalk.org forum before he left the project. “If [bitcoin] somehow acquired any value at all for whatever reason, then anyone wanting to transfer wealth over a long distance could buy some, transmit it, and have the recipient sell it,” wrote Satoshi. “Maybe it could get an initial value circularly as you've suggested, by people foreseeing its potential usefulness for exchange. (I would definitely want some)[.] Maybe collectors, any random reason could spark it.” Many gold bugs ( see Peter Schiff ) still think there’s nothing valuable about bitcoin and perhaps they’ll never change their tune. But the same logic economists and financial experts use to argue for the intrinsic value of gold and fiat currencies applies to bitcoin too. This is a guest post by Kyle Torpey. Opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Bitcoin Magazine or BTC Inc. This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine . || Roy Behren's Rules for Successful Merger Arbitrage: - By John Engle
Merger arbitrage specialists trade on the probability of merger deals happening (or falling through), seeking to extract a sliver of trading alpha from a supposedly efficient market. While Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A)(BRK-B) is out buying companies, arbitrageurs make the high-stakes bets on whether those buyouts will succeed.
• Warning! GuruFocus has detected 2 Warning Sign with BRK.A. Click here to check it out.
• BRK.A 15-Year Financial Data
• The intrinsic value of BRK.A
• Peter Lynch Chart of BRK.A
The high-intensity world of merger arbitrage attracts all sorts of interesting investment professionals, from a host of ersatz backgrounds. Roy Behren got his start in securities law enforcement, spending seven long years at the Securities and Exchange Commission's New York office, before bringing his sharpened legal and analytical skills to the private sector.
As a managing director of Westchester Capital Management, a merger specialist, Behren has been at center for many impressive arbitrage plays and has developed a number of principles that any would-be arbitrageur must take to heart.
Bet on home runs, not last-mile trades
Mergers happen all the time, but the opportunities for extracting trading alpha from such events do not. Behren is well aware of this fact and is especially eager to caution investors to avoid getting sucked into trades with limited upside :
" Nor will we play what we call 'Last Mile Trades,' which involve taking positions in deals that are almost certain to happen - ones with four or five days to closing that you can maybe make a nickel in. To us, the asymmetric optics of buying a position to make a nickel when - God forbid - something could go wrong and you'd lose $8."
It may seem like a surer thing to only bet on deals that are near completion since that tends to de-risk the trade. Unfortunately, such "last-mile trades" still carry considerable downside risk. Even a seemingly sure deal can fall apart at the last minute. Picking up small wins on sure bets can work for a while, but the gains from such a strategy can often be erased by a single bad trade.
According to Behren, the seemingly de-risked late-stage trades offer little long-term alpha. Instead, the key to success is to find deals that offer significant rewards, given the inherent risks to merger and arbitrage uncertainty. In other words, coming to terms with the risks inherent to merger arbitrage is a crucial prerequisite for success.
Deals will fall apart from time to time, but the upside from home run trades will make up the difference in a way safe base hitting never could.
Squeeze out directional exposure for absolute return
The world does not stop when a merger is announced or when deal terms are being negotiated. Stock prices fluctuate and the market keeps moving. That can be a problem for mergers, and can impact an arbitrageur's returns substantially if not dealt with appropriately. Behren's strategy is to always squeeze out directional exposure :
"The important thing for us is to squeeze out any directional exposure. Our goal in managing the merger-arbitrage portfolio is to create a market-neutral vehicle to provide absolute return for our investors."
That may sound a bit esoteric to the layman, and even to the traditional class of long-only investors (value-oriented or otherwise). Thankfully, Joseph G. Nicholas of the HFR Group has offered a straightforward explanation of how a market-neutral trade can be set up :
"Market-neutral investing refers to a group of investment strategies that seek to neutralize certain market risks by taking offsetting long and short positions in instruments with actual or theoretical relationships. These approaches seek to limit exposure to systemic changes in price caused by shifts in macroeconomic variables or market sentiment."
Westchester Capital, like most merger arbitrage shops, employs these sorts of tools regularly in order to make their trades market-neutral and lock in the absolute return. Anyone who wants to get into the arbitrage game needs to understand them intimately. They are not necessarily always ideal for maximum returns on a given opportunity, but they do effectively crowd out risks not directly associated with the merger itself. It has become the industry's best practice for a reason.
Diversify and pay attention to position sizing
While betting on potential arbitrage home runs will increase an investor's upside potential, it also exposes them to greater risk in the event disaster strikes. Behren's approach to dealing with this issue is rather straightforward:
"Inevitably there will be broken deals. There will be fraud at a company, there may be a natural disaster - anything can happen...We deal with that by limiting our position sizes and properly diversifying."
This is a universal principle that can and should be applied to every portfolio strategy. Investors should diversify their holdings across industries and asset classes in order to protect themselves from economic shocks, as well idiosyncratic risks unique to particular securities. Even the most dogmatic of value investors, who by and large have fewer-than-average stocks in their portfolios (thanks to their being carefully and deliberately chosen by the investor), usually accept that a certain level of diversification is good for overall financial health.
In many ways, this is Investing 101, yet it is a trap to which many investors fall prey. Inadequate risk mitigation through periodic resizing and thesis reappraisal can lead to portfolios facing inordinate levels of exposure to narrow, often idiosyncratic, risks. This is even truer of merger arbitrage opportunities, in which the downside risk can be as frightening as the upside benefit is enticing.
Investors would be wise to heed Behren's call for caution, especially when it comes to playing around with merger arbitrage. One bad trade can annihilate a successful track record and one spectacular failure can sink a portfolio. Investors must approach such opportunities with extreme caution and be prepared for occasional losses. These are inevitable, even for the best in the business.
Verdict
Only the sharpest minds and sturdiest nerves can win in this particular game, and Behren is rightly counted among the best. He has witnessed first-hand what it takes to succeed in the merger arbitrage game.
Any investors who seriously want to pursue merger trade opportunities should heed Behren's advice.
Disclosure: No positions.
Read more here:
• Bitcoin: Take George Soros' Advice and Steer Clear
• 4 Lessons From a Master Market Operator
• Apple Falls Prey to Trade War Escalation
N ot a Premium Member of GuruFocus? Sign up for a free 7-day trial here .
This article first appeared onGuruFocus.
• Warning! GuruFocus has detected 2 Warning Sign with BRK.A. Click here to check it out.
• BRK.A 15-Year Financial Data
• The intrinsic value of BRK.A
• Peter Lynch Chart of BRK.A || Roy Behren's Rules for Successful Merger Arbitrage: - By John Engle Merger arbitrage specialists trade on the probability of merger deals happening (or falling through), seeking to extract a sliver of trading alpha from a supposedly efficient market. While Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK-A )( BRK-B ) is out buying companies, arbitrageurs make the high-stakes bets on whether those buyouts will succeed. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 2 Warning Sign with BRK.A. Click here to check it out. BRK.A 15-Year Financial Data The intrinsic value of BRK.A Peter Lynch Chart of BRK.A The high-intensity world of merger arbitrage attracts all sorts of interesting investment professionals, from a host of ersatz backgrounds. Roy Behren got his start in securities law enforcement, spending seven long years at the Securities and Exchange Commission's New York office, before bringing his sharpened legal and analytical skills to the private sector. As a managing director of Westchester Capital Management, a merger specialist, Behren has been at center for many impressive arbitrage plays and has developed a number of principles that any would-be arbitrageur must take to heart. Bet on home runs, not last-mile trades Mergers happen all the time, but the opportunities for extracting trading alpha from such events do not. Behren is well aware of this fact and is especially eager to caution investors to avoid getting sucked into trades with limited upside : " Nor will we play what we call 'Last Mile Trades,' which involve taking positions in deals that are almost certain to happen - ones with four or five days to closing that you can maybe make a nickel in. To us, the asymmetric optics of buying a position to make a nickel when - God forbid - something could go wrong and you'd lose $8." It may seem like a surer thing to only bet on deals that are near completion since that tends to de-risk the trade. Unfortunately, such "last-mile trades" still carry considerable downside risk. Even a seemingly sure deal can fall apart at the last minute. Picking up small wins on sure bets can work for a while, but the gains from such a strategy can often be erased by a single bad trade. Story continues According to Behren, the seemingly de-risked late-stage trades offer little long-term alpha. Instead, the key to success is to find deals that offer significant rewards, given the inherent risks to merger and arbitrage uncertainty. In other words, coming to terms with the risks inherent to merger arbitrage is a crucial prerequisite for success. Deals will fall apart from time to time, but the upside from home run trades will make up the difference in a way safe base hitting never could. Squeeze out directional exposure for absolute return The world does not stop when a merger is announced or when deal terms are being negotiated. Stock prices fluctuate and the market keeps moving. That can be a problem for mergers, and can impact an arbitrageur's returns substantially if not dealt with appropriately. Behren's strategy is to always squeeze out directional exposure : "The important thing for us is to squeeze out any directional exposure. Our goal in managing the merger-arbitrage portfolio is to create a market-neutral vehicle to provide absolute return for our investors." That may sound a bit esoteric to the layman, and even to the traditional class of long-only investors (value-oriented or otherwise). Thankfully, Joseph G. Nicholas of the HFR Group has offered a straightforward explanation of how a market-neutral trade can be set up : "Market-neutral investing refers to a group of investment strategies that seek to neutralize certain market risks by taking offsetting long and short positions in instruments with actual or theoretical relationships. These approaches seek to limit exposure to systemic changes in price caused by shifts in macroeconomic variables or market sentiment." Westchester Capital, like most merger arbitrage shops, employs these sorts of tools regularly in order to make their trades market-neutral and lock in the absolute return. Anyone who wants to get into the arbitrage game needs to understand them intimately. They are not necessarily always ideal for maximum returns on a given opportunity, but they do effectively crowd out risks not directly associated with the merger itself. It has become the industry's best practice for a reason. Diversify and pay attention to position sizing While betting on potential arbitrage home runs will increase an investor's upside potential, it also exposes them to greater risk in the event disaster strikes. Behren's approach to dealing with this issue is rather straightforward: "Inevitably there will be broken deals. There will be fraud at a company, there may be a natural disaster - anything can happen...We deal with that by limiting our position sizes and properly diversifying." This is a universal principle that can and should be applied to every portfolio strategy. Investors should diversify their holdings across industries and asset classes in order to protect themselves from economic shocks, as well idiosyncratic risks unique to particular securities. Even the most dogmatic of value investors, who by and large have fewer-than-average stocks in their portfolios (thanks to their being carefully and deliberately chosen by the investor), usually accept that a certain level of diversification is good for overall financial health. In many ways, this is Investing 101, yet it is a trap to which many investors fall prey. Inadequate risk mitigation through periodic resizing and thesis reappraisal can lead to portfolios facing inordinate levels of exposure to narrow, often idiosyncratic, risks. This is even truer of merger arbitrage opportunities, in which the downside risk can be as frightening as the upside benefit is enticing. Investors would be wise to heed Behren's call for caution, especially when it comes to playing around with merger arbitrage. One bad trade can annihilate a successful track record and one spectacular failure can sink a portfolio. Investors must approach such opportunities with extreme caution and be prepared for occasional losses. These are inevitable, even for the best in the business. Verdict Only the sharpest minds and sturdiest nerves can win in this particular game, and Behren is rightly counted among the best. He has witnessed first-hand what it takes to succeed in the merger arbitrage game. Any investors who seriously want to pursue merger trade opportunities should heed Behren's advice. Disclosure: No positions. Read more here: Bitcoin: Take George Soros' Advice and Steer Clear 4 Lessons From a Master Market Operator Apple Falls Prey to Trade War Escalation N ot a Premium Member of GuruFocus? Sign up for a free 7-day trial here . This article first appeared on GuruFocus . Warning! GuruFocus has detected 2 Warning Sign with BRK.A. Click here to check it out. BRK.A 15-Year Financial Data The intrinsic value of BRK.A Peter Lynch Chart of BRK.A || The Next Tilray Stock Is Just Around the Corner: Less than one year ago, a small, unknown company namedTilray(NASDAQ:TLRY) went public on theNasdaq Compositestock exchange.
Source: Shutterstock
Tilray was the first “pure play” marijuana-focused company to IPO on a major U.S. exchange. It produces medical cannabis for research and public consumption.
To say Tilray stock’s debut was a success is a gross understatement …
InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips
In just the first month after going public and selling ownership stakes to individual investors, Tilray stock had climbed 60%.
It was a heck of a first month … and it got even better.
As investors grew more and more interested in the legalization of marijuana and the $100-plus billion market that it could create, Tilray stock gained another $277 per share after two months of trading. That included a stunning move in which the stock rallied 185%in just one week, bringing its return to an incredible 1,237% over its IPO price.
It’s one of the greatest short-term wealth creation events we’ve seen in the stock market over the past decade.
Although Tilray stock’s huge gain was easily one of the highest profile financial events of 2018, it wasn’t the only legal marijuana stock to create incredible wealth for its shareholders.
There is a historic boom taking place in the legal marijuana business … which in turn is creating a historic boom in legal marijuana stocks.
Last year, sales of legal marijuana in the United States hit $10.4 billion, which is nearly double the $5.4 billion in 2015. This year, sales should increase nearly 24% to $12.9 billion. And with the legalization trend proving to be nearly unstoppable, I expect this market will continue to grow significantly in the next 10 years.
The opportunity in legal weed is much like the opportunity internet stocks offered in 1994 … or that bitcoin offered in 2015. In fact, the legal marijuana business is set to grow so much over the next 10 years that it will turn out to be one of the three biggest investment opportunities of your entire life — no matter when you were born.
Within that opportunity there are various ways to make a lot of money. One of the most exciting is in newly-public, post-IPO legal marijuana stocks (like Tilray stock). Focusing on the best of these could help you make life-changing capital gains over the next five years.
You see, something extraordinary is happening right now …
All over the U.S. and the rest of the world, marijuana is being legalized on an unprecedented scale.
We’re literally witnessing the birth of a whole new industry.
It’s a rare time in history.
Like the beginning of the automobile … personal computer … and internet revolutions.
Weed is now the fastest-growing industry in America!
That means we are at the forefront of a massive tidal wave of new growth.
In the wave of legalization, the future billion-dollar leaders of this industry —the massively successful private companies that are fueling this surging market— are now taking their companies public on the stock market. Oftentimes, it’s for just pennies a share, or maybe a few dollars.
In other words, the businesses that are going to be the Amazons, Googles, Walmarts and Microsofts of this soon-to-be-massive industry can be owned for mere pocket change!
That means investors can get rich buying these tiny marijuana stocks right now — at the very beginning — if they know what they are doing. I’m here to make sure that’s you.
While investors focus on the hyped up — often overhyped — IPOs likeUber(NYSE:UBER),Lyft(NASDAQ:LYFT) andPinterest(NYSE:PINS), I recommendedElixinol Global Limited(OTCMKTS:ELLXF) to myInvestment Opportunitiesreaders last December. The stock had been trading for only three months at that time, and it has soared 124% in the six months since.
You’d take that, right?
And I expect more to come. I don’t recommend companies just to try to make money on a quick IPO pop. That’s trading … not long-term trend investing. And with IPOs in particular, you’ll lose at least as much as you win — and probably more.
You still need to focus on the right companies. With Elixinol, I saw a stock that was attractive on both growth and value, and it met the criteria I developed in my system for finding new marijuana stocks.
I call it theCannabis Cash Calendar. I designed it to let investors like you benefit from one of the best wealth-creating strategies throughout history:Buying early.
I am about to release my next marijuana stock pick on May 31.
Let me be clear. You never want to just buy any old IPO — even in a transformative industry like legal marijuana.
There’s lots of homework involved. You need in-depth research. You need comprehensive and smart analysis. And it’s crucial to get the timing right. If you miss on any of those, it can cost you.
Let me take care of that for you. You can get in on the action — and be ready for the new recommendation in marijuana stocks — by reviewing the details andsigning up here.
Matthew McCall is the founder and president of Penn Financial Group, an investment advisory firm, as well as the editor of Investment Opportunities and Early Stage Investor. He has dedicated his career to getting investors into the world’s biggest, most revolutionary trends BEFORE anyone else. The power of being “first” gave Matt’s readers the chance to bank +2,438% in Stamps.com (STMP), +1,523% in Ulta Beauty (ULTA), +1,044% in Tesla (TSLA), +611% in Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (LNGLY), +324% in Bitcoin Services (BTSC), just to name a few. If you’re interested in making triple-digit gains from the world’s biggest investment trends BEFORE anyone else,click here to learn more about Matt McCall and his investments strategy today.
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The postThe Next Tilray Stock Is Just Around the Cornerappeared first onInvestorPlace. || Bitcoin Is Weirdly Similar to an Oil Tanker – Expert Explains Why: ByCCN: Adamant Capital’sTuur Demeester, an outspoken crypto analyst and proponent ofBitcoin, said on Twitter that using the flagship cryptocurrency’s blockchain will eventually be as expensive – and rare – as chartering an oil tanker.
Even the simple act of opening aLightning Networkchannel will be cost-prohibitive and potentially slow once the network user base climbs into the billions.
Demeester then backed off his original statement a little and qualified it by saying he was talking about a situation where the majority of the world is using Bitcoin – which, of course, is what many bulls anticipate will happen.
In such a scenario, the demand for limited block space will skyrocket. On-chain scaling will eventually have to be considered, many assume. Even some “small blockers” admit that ultimately, the amount of transactions in each block has to increase. In other words, Bitcoin needs to become more efficient.
Read the full story on CCN.com. || Bitcoin Is Weirdly Similar to an Oil Tanker Expert Explains Why: Bitcoin bears a weird similarity to an oil tanker. Crypto economist and Adamant Capital founding partner Tuur Demeester explains why. | Source: Shutterstock By CCN : Adamant Capitals Tuur Demeester , an outspoken crypto analyst and proponent of Bitcoin , said on Twitter that using the flagship cryptocurrencys blockchain will eventually be as expensive and rare as chartering an oil tanker. Even the simple act of opening a Lightning Network channel will be cost-prohibitive and potentially slow once the network user base climbs into the billions. Bitcoins Blockchain Is Like an Oil Tanker You Wont Use Either of Them At full maturity, using the Bitcoin blockchain will be as rare and specialized as chartering an oil tanker. https://t.co/lu1ORzrTjF Tuur Demeester (@TuurDemeester) May 29, 2019 Demeester then backed off his original statement a little and qualified it by saying he was talking about a situation where the majority of the world is using Bitcoin which, of course, is what many bulls anticipate will happen. In such a scenario, the demand for limited block space will skyrocket. On-chain scaling will eventually have to be considered, many assume. Even some small blockers admit that ultimately, the amount of transactions in each block has to increase. In other words, Bitcoin needs to become more efficient. A few notes given the backlash. This statement assumed: Billions of Bitcoin users Ossification of Bitcoin Core, i.e. no further on-chain scaling As neither is a given, I should have said "may" instead of "will". https://t.co/HSsOEo0Ncl Tuur Demeester (@TuurDemeester) May 30, 2019 Even opening individual lightning channels would take years for 7b+ people. Bitcoin block chain is the reserve asset and ultimate settlement of a new finance system. Direct use will be ridiculously expensive and that is ok. Tamas Blummer (@TamasBlummer) May 29, 2019 Read the full story on CCN.com . || Bitcoin Is Weirdly Similar to an Oil Tanker – Expert Explains Why: ByCCN: Adamant Capital’sTuur Demeester, an outspoken crypto analyst and proponent ofBitcoin, said on Twitter that using the flagship cryptocurrency’s blockchain will eventually be as expensive – and rare – as chartering an oil tanker.
Even the simple act of opening aLightning Networkchannel will be cost-prohibitive and potentially slow once the network user base climbs into the billions.
Demeester then backed off his original statement a little and qualified it by saying he was talking about a situation where the majority of the world is using Bitcoin – which, of course, is what many bulls anticipate will happen.
In such a scenario, the demand for limited block space will skyrocket. On-chain scaling will eventually have to be considered, many assume. Even some “small blockers” admit that ultimately, the amount of transactions in each block has to increase. In other words, Bitcoin needs to become more efficient.
Read the full story on CCN.com.
[Social Media Buzz]
Many people have now run out of ammo/fiat/tether to buy the dips on bitcoin. That run was based on people coming back into crypto as opposed to fresh blood.
It is now incumbent on crypto whales to pump bitcoin back up for liquidity - it is a self serving act as this point. || Don’t trust people telling you to buy #Alts right now.
It’s a terrible decision.
$alts #btc $btc || Current Crypto Prices!
BTC: $8303.21 USD
ETH: $254.18 USD
LTC: $106.56 USD
BCH: $421.49 USD
XLM: $0.1283 USD
DOGE: $...
|
8564.02, 8742.96, 8209.00, 7707.77, 7824.23, 7822.02, 8043.95, 7954.13, 7688.08, 8000.33
|
Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 9395.01, 9337.55, 8866.00, 9578.63, 9205.12, 9194.85, 8269.81, 8300.86, 8338.35, 7916.88, 8223.68, 8630.65, 8913.47, 8929.28, 8728.47, 8879.62, 8668.12, 8495.78, 8209.40, 7833.04, 7954.48, 7165.70, 6890.52, 6973.53, 6844.23, 7083.80, 7456.11, 6853.84, 6811.47, 6636.32, 6911.09, 7023.52, 6770.73, 6834.76, 6968.32, 7889.25, 7895.96, 7986.24, 8329.11, 8058.67, 7902.09, 8163.42, 8294.31, 8845.83, 8895.58, 8802.46, 8930.88, 9697.50, 8845.74, 9281.51, 8987.05, 9348.48, 9419.08, 9240.55, 9119.01, 9235.92, 9743.86, 9700.76, 9858.15, 9654.80, 9373.01, 9234.82, 9325.18, 9043.94, 8441.49, 8504.89, 8723.94, 8716.79, 8510.38, 8368.83, 8094.32, 8250.97, 8247.18, 8513.25, 8418.99, 8041.78, 7557.82, 7587.34, 7480.14, 7355.88, 7368.22, 7135.99, 7472.59, 7406.52, 7494.17, 7541.45, 7643.45, 7720.25, 7514.47, 7633.76.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2018-06-05]
Volume: 4961739776, RSI (14-day): 43.56, 50-day EMA: 8181.55, 200-day EMA: 8641.21
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1297.50, Gold RSI: 44.40
Oil Price: 65.52, Oil RSI: 37.96
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Why Cypress Semiconductor Is Poised to Keep Its Growth Engine Humming: Hassane El-Khoury took over the reins of Cypress Semiconductor (NASDAQ: CY) in August 2016, and the new CEO didn't take long to establish his footprint on the way the company did business. In February 2017, El-Khoury unveiled Cypress 3.0, which was his vision of targeting markets growing at a faster pace than the overall semiconductor industry. Since then, the company has made impressive progress on its strategy of selling embedded chips into niches such as automotive, consumer, and industrial products, as evident from its first-quarter 2018 results , which showed a 9.5% year-over-year jump in unadjusted revenue. More importantly, it now gets almost two-thirds of its total revenue from two segments that could keep growing at a decent pace for a very long time. A processor on an integrated circuit. Image Source: Getty Images. Pulling the right strings IHS Markit estimates that the number of connected cars on roads will triple over the next six years, with sales expected to reach 72 million units by 2023. These connected cars are fitted with a bunch of advanced electronics features such as infotainment systems, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), and electronic instrument clusters. These electronics require fast read-and-write times so they can boot up quickly. Additionally, they also need to process data rapidly to enable time-critical functions such as a collision avoidance in connected cars. Such tasks can't be performed by traditional hard drives because they aren't as reliable and fast as flash memory, and this is where Cypress' NAND and NOR flash memory offerings come into play. Cypress' NAND and NOR flash memories can operate up to temperatures of 125 degrees Celsius (257 degrees Fahrenheit), meeting the qualification standards set by the Automotive Electronics Council. Not surprisingly, they are being used by companies engaged in the development of connected cars, and half of Cypress' NOR flash output is being consumed by automotive platforms. Story continues For instance, automotive component suppliers Bosch and Denso recently chose Cypress' automotive-grade NOR flash memories for developing next-gen ADAS solutions. The good part: Bosch and Denso are the top two automotive OEM (original equipment manufacturer) suppliers globally, so Cypress can ride their coattails and tap the fast-growing ADAS market that's expected to grow 24% annually through 2021. Cypress says it supplies its wireless connectivity chips to the top eight automotive OEMs . It is not surprising to see Cypress' automotive revenue increased 15% last quarter and now accounts for 34% of its overall revenue. By comparison, global car sales were up just 2.3% in 2017, which means that the Cypress 3.0 strategy is reaping rewards already. But automotive isn't the only key growth driver for Cypress. Its consumer business supplies 31% of the top line, and it has some nice catalysts -- including the transition to USB-C technology -- that could boost the business in the long run. The chipmaker is currently the leader in the USB-C market with a share of 38% thanks to its relationships with five of the top six PC makers. USB-C adoption is gathering impressive traction thanks to the technology's various advantages such as 50% faster charging over traditional ports. IHS Markit estimates that the number of devices with at least one USB-C port will touch 5 billion in 2021 as compared to 300 million a couple of years ago. Assuming that Cypress keeps control over even 30% of this market, its USB-C shipments could grow massively in the next four years. Cypress' foray into lucrative chip markets will bring more business, as the company claims that its design wins increased 23% year over year during the latest quarter. But more importantly, the chipmaker will grow profitably as its new ventures are proving to be margin-accretive. Stronger margins in the cards Cypress' gross margin shot up 660 basis points last quarter to 45.9%, helping the company post GAAP net income of $9.1 million as compared to a loss of $43 million in the prior-year period. Meanwhile, adjusted net income more than doubled to just over $100 million, and Cypress credited this to the "ramping of new products at attractive margins." The chipmaker believes that it can hit a 50% gross margin level, and it has been undertaking smart steps to achieve the same. One such strategy is to move into niches where it can gain a product lead over rivals and sell its chips at a higher price. For instance, Cypress is extremely focused on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth combo chips, as a majority of the market is now moving toward this platform. Cypress claims that it is currently leading this space and doesn't face any serious competitive threats. For instance, it is the only player in the market to provide a chip that enables multiple devices in a car to connect to the infotainment system and stream unique content to each device. This innovative product has helped Cypress land a premium customer in the form of German luxury carmaker Audi, which is already using its new automotive-grade Wi-Fi and Bluetooth combo chip in the 2018 A8 sedan. More importantly, Cypress plans to cross-sell its combo chips into broader Internet of Things verticals thanks to their low power consumption, long-lasting life, and long-range coverage. This will positively impact its margins, since it costs less to sell a product to an existing customer than to acquire a new one. Investors are getting a good deal Cypress has posted a GAAP loss over the trailing 12 months, so it doesn't have a trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio . But we saw earlier that it turned profitable last quarter, and it looks on track to expand its margins further. This is probably why Wall Street attributes a forward P/E ratio of 12 to Cypress, which is well below the industry's multiple of 27.7 times. At this valuation, Cypress Semiconductor should be an enticing bet for investors looking to take advantage of booming tech trends. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Harsh Chauhan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Cypress Semiconductor. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Why Cypress Semiconductor Is Poised to Keep Its Growth Engine Humming: Hassane El-Khoury took over the reins ofCypress Semiconductor(NASDAQ: CY)in August 2016, and the new CEO didn't take long to establish his footprint on the way the company did business. In February 2017, El-Khoury unveiled Cypress 3.0, which was his vision of targeting markets growing at a faster pace than the overall semiconductor industry.
Since then, the company has made impressive progress on its strategy of selling embedded chips into niches such as automotive, consumer, and industrial products, as evident from itsfirst-quarter 2018 results, which showed a 9.5% year-over-year jump in unadjusted revenue. More importantly, it now gets almost two-thirds of its total revenue from two segments that could keep growing at a decent pace for a very long time.
Image Source: Getty Images.
IHS Markit estimates that the number of connected cars on roads will triple over the next six years, with sales expected to reach 72 million units by 2023. These connected cars are fitted with a bunch of advanced electronics features such as infotainment systems, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), and electronic instrument clusters.
These electronics require fast read-and-write times so they can boot up quickly. Additionally, they also need to process data rapidly to enable time-critical functions such as a collision avoidance in connected cars. Such tasks can't be performed by traditional hard drives because they aren't as reliable and fast as flash memory, and this is where Cypress' NAND and NOR flash memory offerings come into play.
Cypress' NAND and NOR flash memories can operate up to temperatures of 125 degrees Celsius (257 degrees Fahrenheit), meeting the qualification standards set by the Automotive Electronics Council. Not surprisingly, they are being used by companies engaged in the development of connected cars, and half of Cypress' NOR flash output is being consumed by automotive platforms.
For instance, automotive component suppliers Bosch andDensorecently chose Cypress' automotive-grade NOR flash memories for developing next-gen ADAS solutions. The good part: Bosch and Denso are the top two automotive OEM (original equipment manufacturer) suppliers globally, so Cypress can ride their coattails and tap the fast-growing ADAS market that's expected to grow 24% annually through 2021.
Cypress says it supplies its wireless connectivity chips to thetop eight automotive OEMs. It is not surprising to see Cypress' automotive revenue increased 15% last quarter and now accounts for 34% of its overall revenue. By comparison, global car sales were up just 2.3% in 2017, which means that the Cypress 3.0 strategy is reaping rewards already.
But automotive isn't the only key growth driver for Cypress. Its consumer business supplies 31% of the top line, and it has some nice catalysts -- including the transition to USB-C technology -- that could boost the business in the long run.
The chipmaker is currently the leader in the USB-C market with a share of 38% thanks to its relationships with five of the top six PC makers. USB-C adoption is gathering impressive traction thanks to the technology's various advantages such as 50% faster charging over traditional ports.
IHS Markit estimates that the number of devices with at least one USB-C port will touch 5 billion in 2021 as compared to 300 million a couple of years ago. Assuming that Cypress keeps control over even 30% of this market, its USB-C shipments could grow massively in the next four years.
Cypress' foray into lucrative chip markets will bring more business, as the company claims that its design wins increased 23% year over year during the latest quarter. But more importantly, the chipmaker will grow profitably as its new ventures are proving to be margin-accretive.
Cypress' gross margin shot up 660 basis points last quarter to 45.9%, helping the company postGAAPnet income of $9.1 million as compared to a loss of $43 million in the prior-year period. Meanwhile, adjusted net income more than doubled to just over $100 million, and Cypress credited this to the "ramping of new products at attractive margins."
The chipmaker believes that it can hit a 50% gross margin level, and it has been undertaking smart steps to achieve the same. One such strategy is to move into niches where it can gain a product lead over rivals and sell its chips at a higher price. For instance, Cypress is extremely focused on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth combo chips, as a majority of the market is now moving toward this platform.
Cypress claims that it is currently leading this space and doesn't face any serious competitive threats. For instance, it is the only player in the market to provide a chip that enables multiple devices in a car to connect to the infotainment system and stream unique content to each device. This innovative product has helped Cypress land a premium customer in the form of German luxury carmaker Audi, which is already using its new automotive-grade Wi-Fi and Bluetooth combo chip in the 2018 A8 sedan.
More importantly, Cypress plans to cross-sell its combo chips into broader Internet of Things verticals thanks to their low power consumption, long-lasting life, and long-range coverage. This will positively impact its margins, since it costs less to sell a product to an existing customer than to acquire a new one.
Cypress has posted a GAAP loss over the trailing 12 months, so it doesn't have a trailingprice-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. But we saw earlier that it turned profitable last quarter, and it looks on track to expand its margins further. This is probably why Wall Street attributes a forward P/E ratio of 12 to Cypress, which is well below the industry's multiple of 27.7 times.
At this valuation, Cypress Semiconductor should be an enticing bet for investors looking to take advantage of booming tech trends.
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Harsh Chauhanhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Cypress Semiconductor. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Steve Wozniak Wants Bitcoin to Become the World’s Single Currency: Woz BTC Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has some very positive things to say about bitcoin. In a recent interview with CNBC , the computer mogul admitted that he hopes bitcoin will become a single global currency and that he shares the sentiment of Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey, who expressed his belief last March that bitcoin will become a unifying cryptocurrency for every nation within the next 10 years. “I buy into what Jack Dorsey says,” he explained, “not that I necessarily believe it’s going to happen, but because I want it to be that way.” Wozniak first bought bitcoin when it was priced at $700, roughly $6,700 less than where it currently stands. He has since sold almost his entire stash but for one coin, admitting that he never wanted to be an investor but was only intrigued by how the cryptocurrency worked. He also owns two ether (the cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain platform), which he has been very complimentary toward. At a recent conference in Vienna, Wozniak praised Ethereum and said it had the potential to become “the new Apple.” “Ethereum interests me because it can do things and because it’s a platform,” he affirmed. Wozniak now refers to bitcoin as “pure” and says it’s the true equivalent of digital gold. “Bitcoin is mathematically defined,” he explained, “there is a certain quantity of bitcoin, there’s a way it’s distributed … and it’s pure and there’s no human running it, there’s no company running it, and it’s just going and going, and growing and growing, and surviving. That, to me, says something that is natural, and nature is more important than all our human conventions.” This is not the first time Wozniak has been vocally positive about bitcoin. At a Money 20/20 event in Las Vegas last October, the Apple co-founder lauded the cryptocurrency and its blockchain technology as stronger and more financially sound than both gold and USD. He stated that traditional currencies are “kind of phony,” as they are widely vulnerable to inflation, and that the problem with gold is that there is no fixed supply. “There is a certain amount of bitcoin that can ever exist,” he continued. “Gold gets mined and mined and mined. Maybe there’s a finite amount of gold in the world, but cryptocurrency is even more mathematical and regulated, and nobody can change mathematics.” Wozniak also called for further regulation efforts , saying they were crucial to bitcoin’s survival. “Regulation is an essential element to the fintech transformation happening today,” he exclaimed. “Fairness, equality and truth is the foundation for good regulation and that will lay the groundwork for good development.” This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine . View comments || Steve Wozniak Wants Bitcoin to Become the World’s Single Currency: Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has some very positive things to say about bitcoin. Ina recent interview with CNBC, the computer mogul admitted that he hopes bitcoin will become a single global currency and that he shares the sentiment of Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey, who expressed his belief last March that bitcoinwill become a unifying cryptocurrencyfor every nation within the next 10 years.
“I buy into what Jack Dorsey says,” he explained, “not that I necessarily believe it’s going to happen, but because I want it to be that way.”
Wozniak first bought bitcoin when it was priced at $700, roughly $6,700 less than where it currently stands. He has since sold almost his entire stash but for one coin, admitting that he never wanted to be an investor but was only intrigued by how the cryptocurrency worked.
He also owns two ether (the cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain platform), which he has been very complimentary toward. At a recent conference in Vienna,Wozniak praised Ethereumand said it had the potential to become “the new Apple.”
“Ethereum interests me because it can do things and because it’s a platform,” he affirmed.
Wozniak now refers to bitcoin as “pure” and says it’s the true equivalent of digital gold.
“Bitcoin is mathematically defined,” he explained, “there is a certain quantity of bitcoin, there’s a way it’s distributed … and it’s pure and there’s no human running it, there’s no company running it, and it’s just going and going, and growing and growing, and surviving. That, to me, says something that is natural, and nature is more important than all our human conventions.”
This isnot the first time Wozniakhas been vocally positive about bitcoin. At a Money 20/20 event in Las Vegas last October, the Apple co-founder lauded the cryptocurrency and its blockchain technology as stronger and more financially sound than both gold and USD. He stated that traditional currencies are “kind of phony,” as they are widely vulnerable to inflation, and that the problem with gold is that there is no fixed supply.
“There is a certain amount of bitcoin that can ever exist,” he continued. “Gold gets mined and mined and mined. Maybe there’s a finite amount of gold in the world, but cryptocurrency is even more mathematical and regulated, and nobody can change mathematics.”
Wozniak alsocalled for further regulation efforts, saying they were crucial to bitcoin’s survival.
“Regulation is an essential element to the fintech transformation happening today,” he exclaimed. “Fairness, equality and truth is the foundation for good regulation and that will lay the groundwork for good development.”
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || Steve Wozniak Wants Bitcoin to Become the World’s Single Currency: Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has some very positive things to say about bitcoin. Ina recent interview with CNBC, the computer mogul admitted that he hopes bitcoin will become a single global currency and that he shares the sentiment of Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey, who expressed his belief last March that bitcoinwill become a unifying cryptocurrencyfor every nation within the next 10 years.
“I buy into what Jack Dorsey says,” he explained, “not that I necessarily believe it’s going to happen, but because I want it to be that way.”
Wozniak first bought bitcoin when it was priced at $700, roughly $6,700 less than where it currently stands. He has since sold almost his entire stash but for one coin, admitting that he never wanted to be an investor but was only intrigued by how the cryptocurrency worked.
He also owns two ether (the cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain platform), which he has been very complimentary toward. At a recent conference in Vienna,Wozniak praised Ethereumand said it had the potential to become “the new Apple.”
“Ethereum interests me because it can do things and because it’s a platform,” he affirmed.
Wozniak now refers to bitcoin as “pure” and says it’s the true equivalent of digital gold.
“Bitcoin is mathematically defined,” he explained, “there is a certain quantity of bitcoin, there’s a way it’s distributed … and it’s pure and there’s no human running it, there’s no company running it, and it’s just going and going, and growing and growing, and surviving. That, to me, says something that is natural, and nature is more important than all our human conventions.”
This isnot the first time Wozniakhas been vocally positive about bitcoin. At a Money 20/20 event in Las Vegas last October, the Apple co-founder lauded the cryptocurrency and its blockchain technology as stronger and more financially sound than both gold and USD. He stated that traditional currencies are “kind of phony,” as they are widely vulnerable to inflation, and that the problem with gold is that there is no fixed supply.
“There is a certain amount of bitcoin that can ever exist,” he continued. “Gold gets mined and mined and mined. Maybe there’s a finite amount of gold in the world, but cryptocurrency is even more mathematical and regulated, and nobody can change mathematics.”
Wozniak alsocalled for further regulation efforts, saying they were crucial to bitcoin’s survival.
“Regulation is an essential element to the fintech transformation happening today,” he exclaimed. “Fairness, equality and truth is the foundation for good regulation and that will lay the groundwork for good development.”
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || Everything Apple Just Announced at WWDC: Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) kicked off its annual Worldwide Developers Conference today, which included several major announcements in the opening keynote. In line with prior reports, there was no hardware news whatsoever . Instead, the company focused exclusively on software announcements for each of its four major platforms: iOS, MacOS, WatchOS, and TVOS. The company now has over 20 million registered developers and is preparing to surpass a momentous milestone: Its cumulative developer payout is about to top $100 billion. Here's everything the Mac maker announced today. Different personalized Memoji Memoji. Image source: Apple. Augmented reality Apple has been aggressively pushing augmented reality (AR), unveiling ARKit last year , a set of AR tools for developers to create AR apps and experiences. The next major upgrade to ARKit will include features like improved face tracking, realistic rendering, 3D object detection, and perhaps most importantly, shared AR experiences. That will enable things like multiplayer AR games, where two or more players can interact with an AR experience in real time. Person using augmented reality with Legos ARKit 2. Image source: Apple. The company is also creating a new file format just for AR called USDZ, which it developed in collaboration with Disney 's Pixar. Creating a file format is a significant step that will help accelerate the adoption of AR across platforms and devices. iOS 12 Apple is focusing on improving performance on older devices in iOS 12, which will be released later this year. The company's most important operating system will include new tools designed to address tech addiction, including more ways to manage and hide notifications and other refinements to the Do Not Disturb setting. Screen Time app Screen Time. Image source: Apple. Most importantly, there will be a new Screen Time app that provides users with weekly summaries of activities and how much time they're spending on their devices. That will include seeing how often you pick up your phone and what apps may be prompting you to pick up your phone. Users will then be able to set time limits for apps to better discipline themselves, with those limits applying across devices. This includes a robust set of parental controls, allowing parents to set "allowances" or set downtimes when kids can't use their devices. Apple is recognizing the real-world impacts of technology addiction and taking that responsibility seriously. Story continues Other changes in iOS 12 will include new Animoji, including a customizable Memoji that users can personalize to look like themselves. Memoji is essentially a carbon copy of Samsung 's AR Emoji, which are effectively animated versions of Snap 's Bitmoji. Group FaceTime is also coming, supporting up to 32 participants in video chats. Siri is also getting a new Shortcuts feature, which lets users create customized workflows using voice commands. MacOS Mojave Apple adopted California-themed names for MacOS releases a few years back, and the next one is called Mojave. MacOS Mojave will have a new optional dark mode throughout the system, dynamic desktop wallpapers, and stacks for organizing desktop clutter. Apple added several screenshot tools in iOS 11 last year, and many of these tools are coming to Mojave as well. Apple News running on a MacBook Apple News on Mojave. Image source: Apple. In a direct shot at data-hungry tech peers, the next version of Safari will further strengthen privacy controls to combat tracking. Apple pointed to a practice called "fingerprinting," where data companies use a wide range of techniques beyond cookies -- such as identifying font size, battery level, or other settings -- to covertly build profiles on users for tracking purposes (NPR has a good summary of fingerprinting here ). Safari will attempt to obfuscate this data, effectively making all Macs resemble each other as much as possible. WatchOS and TVOS In terms of the less important platforms, WatchOS 5 will get a handful of incremental improvements like automatic workout detection, more activities and goals, and a new walkie-talkie functionality. Apple had actually described a walkie-talkie feature back in 2014 when the original Apple Watch was unveiled, but never delivered it. A slimmed-down version of WebKit will be integrated into watchOS 5, allowing small snippets of specially formatted web content to be displayed on the device. After introducing Apple TV 4K last year, the business has grown by over 50% year over year, according to CEO Tim Cook. The main upgrades to TVOS are that Apple TV 4K will soon support Dolby Atmos, that company's newest and most immersive surround-sound technology. Bringing iOS apps to the Mac Reports have surfaced recently suggesting that Apple has been working on a type of universal software platform for all apps, an idea that Cook shot down in April . While software chief Craig Federighi reiterated again that iOS and MacOS will always remain separate platforms, he did at long last confirm that Apple is indeed working on a way for developers to port iOS apps to the Mac in what he described as a multiyear effort. Apple is taking some of the underlying frameworks from iOS and bringing them to MacOS, according to Federighi. Initially, Apple is bringing some of its first-party iOS apps to the Mac, such as Apple News, Stocks, and Home, before rolling them out more broadly to developers in 2019. This has significant implications for Apple's rumored effort to transition Macs to its own A-series chips . Investors are going to have to wait a few months for hardware announcements in the fall. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Evan Niu, CFA owns shares of Apple and DIS. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple and DIS. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Everything Apple Just Announced at WWDC: Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) kicked off its annual Worldwide Developers Conference today, which included several major announcements in the opening keynote. In line with prior reports, there was no hardware news whatsoever . Instead, the company focused exclusively on software announcements for each of its four major platforms: iOS, MacOS, WatchOS, and TVOS. The company now has over 20 million registered developers and is preparing to surpass a momentous milestone: Its cumulative developer payout is about to top $100 billion. Here's everything the Mac maker announced today. Different personalized Memoji Memoji. Image source: Apple. Augmented reality Apple has been aggressively pushing augmented reality (AR), unveiling ARKit last year , a set of AR tools for developers to create AR apps and experiences. The next major upgrade to ARKit will include features like improved face tracking, realistic rendering, 3D object detection, and perhaps most importantly, shared AR experiences. That will enable things like multiplayer AR games, where two or more players can interact with an AR experience in real time. Person using augmented reality with Legos ARKit 2. Image source: Apple. The company is also creating a new file format just for AR called USDZ, which it developed in collaboration with Disney 's Pixar. Creating a file format is a significant step that will help accelerate the adoption of AR across platforms and devices. iOS 12 Apple is focusing on improving performance on older devices in iOS 12, which will be released later this year. The company's most important operating system will include new tools designed to address tech addiction, including more ways to manage and hide notifications and other refinements to the Do Not Disturb setting. Screen Time app Screen Time. Image source: Apple. Most importantly, there will be a new Screen Time app that provides users with weekly summaries of activities and how much time they're spending on their devices. That will include seeing how often you pick up your phone and what apps may be prompting you to pick up your phone. Users will then be able to set time limits for apps to better discipline themselves, with those limits applying across devices. This includes a robust set of parental controls, allowing parents to set "allowances" or set downtimes when kids can't use their devices. Apple is recognizing the real-world impacts of technology addiction and taking that responsibility seriously. Story continues Other changes in iOS 12 will include new Animoji, including a customizable Memoji that users can personalize to look like themselves. Memoji is essentially a carbon copy of Samsung 's AR Emoji, which are effectively animated versions of Snap 's Bitmoji. Group FaceTime is also coming, supporting up to 32 participants in video chats. Siri is also getting a new Shortcuts feature, which lets users create customized workflows using voice commands. MacOS Mojave Apple adopted California-themed names for MacOS releases a few years back, and the next one is called Mojave. MacOS Mojave will have a new optional dark mode throughout the system, dynamic desktop wallpapers, and stacks for organizing desktop clutter. Apple added several screenshot tools in iOS 11 last year, and many of these tools are coming to Mojave as well. Apple News running on a MacBook Apple News on Mojave. Image source: Apple. In a direct shot at data-hungry tech peers, the next version of Safari will further strengthen privacy controls to combat tracking. Apple pointed to a practice called "fingerprinting," where data companies use a wide range of techniques beyond cookies -- such as identifying font size, battery level, or other settings -- to covertly build profiles on users for tracking purposes (NPR has a good summary of fingerprinting here ). Safari will attempt to obfuscate this data, effectively making all Macs resemble each other as much as possible. WatchOS and TVOS In terms of the less important platforms, WatchOS 5 will get a handful of incremental improvements like automatic workout detection, more activities and goals, and a new walkie-talkie functionality. Apple had actually described a walkie-talkie feature back in 2014 when the original Apple Watch was unveiled, but never delivered it. A slimmed-down version of WebKit will be integrated into watchOS 5, allowing small snippets of specially formatted web content to be displayed on the device. After introducing Apple TV 4K last year, the business has grown by over 50% year over year, according to CEO Tim Cook. The main upgrades to TVOS are that Apple TV 4K will soon support Dolby Atmos, that company's newest and most immersive surround-sound technology. Bringing iOS apps to the Mac Reports have surfaced recently suggesting that Apple has been working on a type of universal software platform for all apps, an idea that Cook shot down in April . While software chief Craig Federighi reiterated again that iOS and MacOS will always remain separate platforms, he did at long last confirm that Apple is indeed working on a way for developers to port iOS apps to the Mac in what he described as a multiyear effort. Apple is taking some of the underlying frameworks from iOS and bringing them to MacOS, according to Federighi. Initially, Apple is bringing some of its first-party iOS apps to the Mac, such as Apple News, Stocks, and Home, before rolling them out more broadly to developers in 2019. This has significant implications for Apple's rumored effort to transition Macs to its own A-series chips . Investors are going to have to wait a few months for hardware announcements in the fall. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Evan Niu, CFA owns shares of Apple and DIS. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple and DIS. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || What Happened in the Stock Market Today: Stocks climbed on the second trading day of June, extendingFriday's gainsas the market continued to celebrate last week's encouraging jobs report. When the closing bell rang, theDow Jones Industrial Average(DJINDICES: ^DJI)had climbed more than 0.7%, while theS&P; 500(SNPINDEX: ^GSPC)gained almost half a percent.
[{"Index": "Dow", "Percentage Change": "0.72%", "Point Change": "178.48"}, {"Index": "S&P 500", "Percentage Change": "0.45%", "Point Change": "12.25"}]
Data source: Yahoo! Finance.
Retail stocks led the charge, with theSPDR S&P Retail ETF(NYSEMKT: XRT)jumping 2.2%. Meanwhile, oil stocks pulled back hard on increasing expectations that OPEC will lift crude production limits at its meeting later this month, leaving theSPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF(NYSEMKT: XOP)down 2.3%.
As for individual stocks, fresh opinions from Wall Street analysts sent shares ofUnder Armour(NYSE: UAA)(NYSE: UA)andThe Trade Desk(NASDAQ: TTD)in different directions today.
Image source: Getty Images.
Class C shares of Under Armour jumped nearly 6% today after Stifel analyst Jim Duffy reiterated the firm's buy rating on the athletic apparel and footwear specialist. Duffy also raised his price target on Under Armour to $27, good for a roughly 32% premium from today's closing price.
"Recent discussions with Under Armour leave us highly encouraged by leadership commitments to profitability improvement," Duffy explained. "Evidence is building that leadership is walking the walk."
More specifically, he believes that Under Armour's current elevated inventory levels "will be appropriately matched to demand before year-end and margins will inflect and margin improvement can continue in 2019 and beyond."
To be sure, following a slowdown in the athletic apparel market last year amid multiple sporting goods retailer bankruptcies, Under Armour's profits have suffered as the companyimplements an ambitious restructuringin a bid to return to sustained, profitable growth. As CEO Kevin Planktold investorsat the company's recent annual shareholder meeting, that required essentially "slowing down to speed up."
If Duffy is correct that Under Armour's turnaround is about to yield more tangible fruit, today's gains could be just the beginning.
Meanwhile, Trade Desk stock dropped as much as 7.5% this afternoon, then partially recovered to close down 4% after Wells Fargo analyst Peter Stabler reduced his rating on the banking giant to market perform from outperform. Curiously, Stabler alsoincreasedhis price target on Trade Desk stock to $88 from $75 -- a roughly 6% premium from today's closing price at just above $83 per share.
Stabler elaborated that with Trade Desk stock up 89% year to date at the time of his note, he believes it has "fully captur[ed] the near-term opportunity."
Furthermore, he thinks that Trade Desk faces a number of risks including "high concentration of spending with a small number of agency holding companies" and lower overall spending on desktop banner ads.
To be fair, Trade Deskskyrocketed more than 70%over a period of just two weeks in May after the company's latest quarterly resultsabsolutely crushed Wall Street's expectations, with revenue climbing 61% to $85.7 million and adjusted earnings nearly doubling to $15.3 million, or $0.34 per share. So in the end, it's not entirely surprising that some of those same Wall Street analysts are tempering their view of the programmatic advertising leader today.
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Steve Symingtonowns shares of Under Armour (C Shares). The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends The Trade Desk, Under Armour (A Shares), and Under Armour (C Shares). The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || What Happened in the Stock Market Today: Stocks climbed on the second trading day of June, extending Friday's gains as the market continued to celebrate last week's encouraging jobs report. When the closing bell rang, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI) had climbed more than 0.7%, while the S&P; 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) gained almost half a percent. Today's stock market Index Percentage Change Point Change Dow 0.72% 178.48 S&P 500 0.45% 12.25 Data source: Yahoo! Finance. Retail stocks led the charge, with the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (NYSEMKT: XRT) jumping 2.2%. Meanwhile, oil stocks pulled back hard on increasing expectations that OPEC will lift crude production limits at its meeting later this month, leaving the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (NYSEMKT: XOP) down 2.3%. As for individual stocks, fresh opinions from Wall Street analysts sent shares of Under Armour (NYSE: UAA) (NYSE: UA) and The Trade Desk (NASDAQ: TTD) in different directions today. Positive stock market charts overlaying a digital world map Image source: Getty Images. Is Under Armour undervalued? Class C shares of Under Armour jumped nearly 6% today after Stifel analyst Jim Duffy reiterated the firm's buy rating on the athletic apparel and footwear specialist. Duffy also raised his price target on Under Armour to $27, good for a roughly 32% premium from today's closing price. "Recent discussions with Under Armour leave us highly encouraged by leadership commitments to profitability improvement," Duffy explained. "Evidence is building that leadership is walking the walk." More specifically, he believes that Under Armour's current elevated inventory levels "will be appropriately matched to demand before year-end and margins will inflect and margin improvement can continue in 2019 and beyond." To be sure, following a slowdown in the athletic apparel market last year amid multiple sporting goods retailer bankruptcies, Under Armour's profits have suffered as the company implements an ambitious restructuring in a bid to return to sustained, profitable growth. As CEO Kevin Plank told investors at the company's recent annual shareholder meeting, that required essentially "slowing down to speed up." Story continues If Duffy is correct that Under Armour's turnaround is about to yield more tangible fruit, today's gains could be just the beginning. Trade Desk takes a tumble Meanwhile, Trade Desk stock dropped as much as 7.5% this afternoon, then partially recovered to close down 4% after Wells Fargo analyst Peter Stabler reduced his rating on the banking giant to market perform from outperform. Curiously, Stabler also increased his price target on Trade Desk stock to $88 from $75 -- a roughly 6% premium from today's closing price at just above $83 per share. Stabler elaborated that with Trade Desk stock up 89% year to date at the time of his note, he believes it has "fully captur[ed] the near-term opportunity." Furthermore, he thinks that Trade Desk faces a number of risks including "high concentration of spending with a small number of agency holding companies" and lower overall spending on desktop banner ads. To be fair, Trade Desk skyrocketed more than 70% over a period of just two weeks in May after the company's latest quarterly results absolutely crushed Wall Street's expectations , with revenue climbing 61% to $85.7 million and adjusted earnings nearly doubling to $15.3 million, or $0.34 per share. So in the end, it's not entirely surprising that some of those same Wall Street analysts are tempering their view of the programmatic advertising leader today. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Steve Symington owns shares of Under Armour (C Shares). The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends The Trade Desk, Under Armour (A Shares), and Under Armour (C Shares). The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || John McAfee to run for president in 2020 on cryptocurrency platform: Controversial computer software pioneer John McAfee on Sunday said he has decided to run for president in 2020 in an effort to serve as a public advocate for the cryptocurrency community. In spite of past refusals, I have decided to again run for POTUS in 2020, McAfee wrote on Twitter. If asked again by the Libertarian party, I will run with them. If not, I will create my own party. I believe this will best serve the crypto community by providing the ultimate campaign platform for us. Best known as the founder of McAfee antivirus software, the off-beat tech titan previously ran an unsuccessful bid to represent the Libertarian Party in the 2016 presidential election. The 72-year-old is a prominent advocate for cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, which has experienced rapid growth in recent years while also demonstrating extreme volatility. Bitcoin is currently trading around the $7,500 level and made a run towards $20,000 in December 2017, according to Coindesk. McAfees tweet announcing his planned candidacy had received more than 200 retweets and 1,400 likes as of Monday afternoon. Dont think that I have a chance of winning. I do not, McAfee added. But what truly changes America is not the president, but the process of creating one. If my following is sufficient I get to stand the worlds largest stage and talk to the everyone [sic], as I did last time, to tell the truth. Aside from his background as a tech entrepreneur, McAfee drew scrutiny in recent years after he was named a person of interest in a murder case in Belize. Though never arrested or charged with a crime, McAfee left the country and relocated to the U.S. In 2010, Intel purchased McAfee for $7.6 billion. Prior to that, McAfee had reportedly sold the majority of his shares in the mid-90s. Related Articles Melania Trump appears at White House after kidney procedure, despite reports she's 'missing in action' Arizona law gives delivery robots same rights as pedestrians but they must abide by same rules Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz taking page out of Trumps policies: branding expert || John McAfee to run for president in 2020 on cryptocurrency platform: Controversial computer software pioneer John McAfee on Sunday said he has decided to run for president in 2020 in an effort to serve as a public advocate for the cryptocurrency community.
“In spite of past refusals, I have decided to again run for POTUS in 2020,” McAfee wrote on Twitter. “If asked again by the Libertarian party, I will run with them. If not, I will create my own party. I believe this will best serve the crypto community by providing the ultimate campaign platform for us.”
Best known as the founder of McAfee antivirus software, the off-beat tech titan previously ran an unsuccessful bid to represent the Libertarian Party in the 2016 presidential election. The 72-year-old is a prominent advocate for cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, which has experienced rapid growth in recent years while also demonstrating extreme volatility.
Bitcoin is currently trading around the $7,500 level and made a run towards $20,000 in December 2017, according toCoindesk.
McAfee’s tweet announcing his planned candidacy had received more than 200 retweets and 1,400 likes as of Monday afternoon.
“Don’t think that I have a chance of winning. I do not,” McAfee added. “But what truly changes America is not the president, but the process of creating one. If my following is sufficient I get to stand the world’s largest stage and talk to the everyone [sic], as I did last time, to tell the truth.”
Aside from his background as a tech entrepreneur, McAfee drew scrutiny in recent years after he was named a person of interest in a murder case in Belize. Though never arrested or charged with a crime, McAfee left the country and relocated to the U.S.
In 2010, Intel purchased McAfee for $7.6 billion. Prior to that, McAfee had reportedly sold the majority of his shares in the mid-90s.
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• Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz taking page out of Trump’s policies: branding expert || Why Canadian Solar, Nektar Therapeutics, and Gulfport Energy Slumped Today: Wall Street enjoyed a positive session on Monday, with highlights including strong gains for most major benchmarks. Investors found it easier to be optimistic about the prospects for continued economic growth than to be pessimistic about the potential negative outcomes of recent trade disputes between the U.S. and key allies. Even so, some companies had to deal with bad news that hurt them disproportionately and sent their shares lower.Canadian Solar(NASDAQ: CSIQ),Nektar Therapeutics(NASDAQ: NKTR), andGulfport Energy(NASDAQ: GPOR)were among the worst performers on the day. Here's why they did so poorly.
Shares of Canadian Solar dropped 14%after the Chinese government made changes to the way it subsidizes solar projects. China decided to stop providing subsidies on new regular solar projects this year, and even among those that are already in the process of getting built, the government will cut its incentives by 0.05 Chinese yuan per kilowatt-hour. Although there are some exceptions to the rules, most Chinese solar stocks fell on the news, and despite its name, Canadian Solar has ample enough exposure to China to feel many of the same pressures as its industry peers. With China having been a major part of expansion in the solar industry in recent years, any slowdown will have dramatic impacts across the spectrum.
Image source: Canadian Solar.
Nektar Therapeutics stock plunged 42%after the biotech company announced disappointing results for a key candidate treatment. New data on NKTR-214 presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting sparked debate about just how effective the treatment might be. In particular, after having produced exceptionally strong early results last year in its trial treating melanoma patients with a combination of NKTR-214 andBristol-Myers Squibb's Opdivo, Nektar's latest study results show slightly weaker overall response rates when you include newly enrolled patients. Industry analysts made extremely negative comments about the results, raising doubts among investors about whether recent optimism about Nektar's prospects was fully warranted.
Finally, shares of Gulfport Energy lost 9%. Today was another poor day for the energy markets overall, with crude prices falling more than 1% to drop past the key $65-per-barrel level. Gulfport in particular has seen relative strength recently, with itsfirst-quarter financial results signaling a good start to 2018. Yet even though forecasts for higher production looked good when oil prices were skyrocketing past the $70 mark, some shareholders appear nervous about the prospects for another pullback in the markets and the impact it could have on Gulfport. Investors need to prepare for continued volatility and look carefully at how Gulfport responds to any challenges that might come up in order to decide whether to maintain their confidence in the stock.
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Dan Caplingerhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Today In Cryptocurrency: Ripple Gives $50M To University Blockchain Projects, Estonia Denies Report Of A National Crytpo: The cryptocurrency market got off to another lackluster start to the week Monday, with most major cryptocurrencies trading lower by more than 2 percent. Here’s a look at some of the headlines that were moving the cryptocurrency market today — and which currencies were on the move.
Headlines
Estonianow saysit never planned to launch its own national cryptocurrency. A spokesperson for the Estonian government said Monday a Bloomberg report that the nation is “scaling down” plans for a national cryptocurrency is inaccurate and that Estonia has only discussed the potential use of crypto tokens as a part of its e-residency identification program.
Ripple has donated $50 million to several top universities as part ofan initiativeto encourage blockchain technology development. The University Blockchain Research Initiative will partner with 17 schools, including the University of North Carolina, the University of Pennsylvania and MIT, to develop technology related to blockchain, digital payments and cryptocurrency.
Apple, Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL) co-founder Steve Wozniak saidMondaythat he hopesTwitter, Inc.(NYSE:TWTR) CEO Jack Dorsey is right about bitcoin ultimately becoming the single global currency. Wozniak said he likes the idea of the purity of bitcoin, but that he doesn’t necessarily believe it will ultimately replace global currencies. Wozniak once purchased bitcoin for himself at a price of $700 per coin, but said he only wished to experiment with the currency and not invest.
Price Action
TheBitcoin Investment Trust(OTC:GBTC) traded at $11.99, down 0.9 percent.
Here’s how several top crypto investments fared Monday. Prices are as of 3:45 p.m. ET and reflect the previous 24 hours.
• Bitcoin declined 2.5 percent to $7,512;
• Ethereum declined 3.7 percent to $592;
• Ripple declined 1.1 percent to 65 cents;
• Bitcoin Cash declined 4.8 percent to $1,104;
• EOS declined 6.3 percent to $13.65.
The three cryptocurrencies with at least $1-million market caps that have made the biggest gains over the past 24 hours are:
• BunnyCoin: $2-million market cap, 54.7-percent gain.
• MagicCoin: $3.3-million market cap, 24.8-percent gain.
• Vsync: $2.1-million market cap, 24.6-percent gain.
The three cryptocurrencies hit hardest in the past 24 hours were:
• Sumokoin: $2.3-million market cap, 47.3-percent decline.
• Zeitcoin: $2.8-million market cap, 31.5-percent decline.
• Callisto Network: $12.7-million market cap, 22.7-percent decline.
Related Links:
Today In Cryptocurrency: New Billion Crypto Fund, Hedge Fund Manager Says Buy Bitcoin
Riot Blockchain's 10-Q Sheds Light On Crypto Mining Operation
See more from Benzinga
• Today In Cryptocurrency: New Billion Crypto Fund, Hedge Fund Manager Says Buy Bitcoin
• Today In Cryptocurrency: European Crypto Hubs, ASUS Launches Mining Motherboard
• Today In Cryptocurrency: '51 Percent Attacks' On The Rise, Hospital Offers Crypto Trading Addiction Treatment
© 2018 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Today In Cryptocurrency: Ripple Gives $50M To University Blockchain Projects, Estonia Denies Report Of A National Crytpo: The cryptocurrency market got off to another lackluster start to the week Monday, with most major cryptocurrencies trading lower by more than 2 percent. Here’s a look at some of the headlines that were moving the cryptocurrency market today — and which currencies were on the move. Headlines Estonia now says it never planned to launch its own national cryptocurrency. A spokesperson for the Estonian government said Monday a Bloomberg report that the nation is “scaling down” plans for a national cryptocurrency is inaccurate and that Estonia has only discussed the potential use of crypto tokens as a part of its e-residency identification program. Ripple has donated $50 million to several top universities as part of an initiative to encourage blockchain technology development. The University Blockchain Research Initiative will partner with 17 schools, including the University of North Carolina, the University of Pennsylvania and MIT, to develop technology related to blockchain, digital payments and cryptocurrency. Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL ) co-founder Steve Wozniak said Monday that he hopes Twitter, Inc. (NYSE: TWTR ) CEO Jack Dorsey is right about bitcoin ultimately becoming the single global currency. Wozniak said he likes the idea of the purity of bitcoin, but that he doesn’t necessarily believe it will ultimately replace global currencies. Wozniak once purchased bitcoin for himself at a price of $700 per coin, but said he only wished to experiment with the currency and not invest. Price Action The Bitcoin Investment Trust (OTC: GBTC ) traded at $11.99, down 0.9 percent. Here’s how several top crypto investments fared Monday. Prices are as of 3:45 p.m. ET and reflect the previous 24 hours. Bitcoin declined 2.5 percent to $7,512; Ethereum declined 3.7 percent to $592; Ripple declined 1.1 percent to 65 cents; Bitcoin Cash declined 4.8 percent to $1,104; EOS declined 6.3 percent to $13.65. The three cryptocurrencies with at least $1-million market caps that have made the biggest gains over the past 24 hours are: Story continues BunnyCoin: $2-million market cap, 54.7-percent gain. MagicCoin: $3.3-million market cap, 24.8-percent gain. Vsync: $2.1-million market cap, 24.6-percent gain. The three cryptocurrencies hit hardest in the past 24 hours were: Sumokoin: $2.3-million market cap, 47.3-percent decline. Zeitcoin: $2.8-million market cap, 31.5-percent decline. Callisto Network: $12.7-million market cap, 22.7-percent decline. Related Links: Today In Cryptocurrency: New Billion Crypto Fund, Hedge Fund Manager Says Buy Bitcoin Riot Blockchain's 10-Q Sheds Light On Crypto Mining Operation See more from Benzinga Today In Cryptocurrency: New Billion Crypto Fund, Hedge Fund Manager Says Buy Bitcoin Today In Cryptocurrency: European Crypto Hubs, ASUS Launches Mining Motherboard Today In Cryptocurrency: '51 Percent Attacks' On The Rise, Hospital Offers Crypto Trading Addiction Treatment © 2018 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Like Dividends? I Bet You'll Love These 3 Stocks: Investors have learned over the years that if they want income from their investment portfolios, dividend stocks are hard to beat. Stocks that pay dividends can pay off in two ways for investors: once through the income they provide, and a second time when fundamental business growth sends their share prices higher.
Long-term dividend investors can appreciate the stocks that have done the best job of rewarding them over the years. Among the best-known companies in the market,3M(NYSE: MMM),McDonald's(NYSE: MCD), andPepsiCo(NASDAQ: PEP)stand out as dividend stalwarts that have reliably paid dividends for decades.
Most people might know 3M best for its consumer products, including Post-it Notes and Scotch tape. But the company is one of the largest industrial corporations in the country, and its innovative prowess goes well beyond yellow stickies. The company makes a variety of products for the healthcare, energy, electronics, and industrial sectors, ranging from medical equipment to protective films and coatings. It's also been a dividend workhorse, having amassed a 60-year streak of raising its dividend payments to shareholders every year. The most recent jump came earlier this year, with a 16% boost to make its new quarterly dividend $1.36 per share. That's enough to give 3M a yield of 2.7%.
Image source: 3M.
After the company put in a strong 2017, some investors have worried about 3M recently. The conglomerate's first-quarter earnings report back in April includeddowngrades to 3M's full-year guidanceon a more than 50% plunge in net income. Yet extraordinary one-time items played a major role in the poor performance that 3M suffered. Although the electronics and energy markets have seen growth rates slow, 3M remains confident that its long-term prospects are sound and that investors can continue to rely on a lot more growth in the years to come.
McDonald's is also a mainstay among experienced investors, with its fast-food history dating well back into the 20th century. From a dividend perspective, McDonald's has helped satisfy a lot of investors' appetites. The company boasts a 42-year streak of raising its dividends each year, and its 7% boost late last year pushed its per-share quarterly payout above the $1 mark. That's enough to give the fast-food giant a 2.4% yield.
In the wake of strategic moves that have gotten its core customer base excited about its food offerings again,McDonald's has been firing on all cylinders lately. Moves like bringing out the all-day breakfast menu, offering various dollar value items, and looking for ways to appeal to a broader set of consumers across the globe have paid off with stronger comparable-restaurant sales and better traffic numbers. Competition remains fierce in fast food, but McDonald's has long shown an ability to appeal to generations of fans while offering an attractive value proposition to those who can't necessarily afford pricier dining options.
PepsiCo has a reputation for excellence in the snack and beverage industry, and offers a wider array of products than you might realize. In addition to its namesake cola product, the company also owns snack giant Frito-Lay, giving it a diversified presence and taking full advantage of its distribution prowess. Over the years, it's treated shareholders well, dealing out 46 straight years of rising payouts. When you take into account its 15% boost this month to $0.9275 per share on a quarterly basis, PepsiCo carries a yield of 3.7%.
It's also faced controversy because of its presence in the sugary beverage market, with some consumer advocates point to its products as contributing to rising rates of obesity and diabetes in the overall population. PepsiCo, though, has worked hard to promote healthier snacks and beverages, andstrategic moves recentlyhave only added to the company's investment in a healthier future. CEO Indra Nooyi and her "Performance with Purpose" vision has resonated with consumers, and that could continue to drive success in years to come.
No dividend stock is perfect, but these three companies have a lot of attractive attributes. If you need dividend income and like the stocks that provide it, odds are good that you'll end up loving PepsiCo, McDonald's, and 3M over the long haul.
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Dan Caplingerhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends 3M. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Like Dividends? I Bet You'll Love These 3 Stocks: Investors have learned over the years that if they want income from their investment portfolios, dividend stocks are hard to beat. Stocks that pay dividends can pay off in two ways for investors: once through the income they provide, and a second time when fundamental business growth sends their share prices higher. Long-term dividend investors can appreciate the stocks that have done the best job of rewarding them over the years. Among the best-known companies in the market, 3M (NYSE: MMM) , McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) , and PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP) stand out as dividend stalwarts that have reliably paid dividends for decades. Put a sticky on this stock Most people might know 3M best for its consumer products, including Post-it Notes and Scotch tape. But the company is one of the largest industrial corporations in the country, and its innovative prowess goes well beyond yellow stickies. The company makes a variety of products for the healthcare, energy, electronics, and industrial sectors, ranging from medical equipment to protective films and coatings. It's also been a dividend workhorse, having amassed a 60-year streak of raising its dividend payments to shareholders every year. The most recent jump came earlier this year, with a 16% boost to make its new quarterly dividend $1.36 per share. That's enough to give 3M a yield of 2.7%. Person in a lab measuring liquids, with advertising copy against a blue background. Image source: 3M. After the company put in a strong 2017, some investors have worried about 3M recently. The conglomerate's first-quarter earnings report back in April included downgrades to 3M's full-year guidance on a more than 50% plunge in net income. Yet extraordinary one-time items played a major role in the poor performance that 3M suffered. Although the electronics and energy markets have seen growth rates slow, 3M remains confident that its long-term prospects are sound and that investors can continue to rely on a lot more growth in the years to come. Mining the Golden Arches McDonald's is also a mainstay among experienced investors, with its fast-food history dating well back into the 20th century. From a dividend perspective, McDonald's has helped satisfy a lot of investors' appetites. The company boasts a 42-year streak of raising its dividends each year, and its 7% boost late last year pushed its per-share quarterly payout above the $1 mark. That's enough to give the fast-food giant a 2.4% yield. Story continues In the wake of strategic moves that have gotten its core customer base excited about its food offerings again, McDonald's has been firing on all cylinders lately . Moves like bringing out the all-day breakfast menu, offering various dollar value items, and looking for ways to appeal to a broader set of consumers across the globe have paid off with stronger comparable-restaurant sales and better traffic numbers. Competition remains fierce in fast food, but McDonald's has long shown an ability to appeal to generations of fans while offering an attractive value proposition to those who can't necessarily afford pricier dining options. Drink up the dividends PepsiCo has a reputation for excellence in the snack and beverage industry, and offers a wider array of products than you might realize. In addition to its namesake cola product, the company also owns snack giant Frito-Lay, giving it a diversified presence and taking full advantage of its distribution prowess. Over the years, it's treated shareholders well, dealing out 46 straight years of rising payouts. When you take into account its 15% boost this month to $0.9275 per share on a quarterly basis, PepsiCo carries a yield of 3.7%. It's also faced controversy because of its presence in the sugary beverage market, with some consumer advocates point to its products as contributing to rising rates of obesity and diabetes in the overall population. PepsiCo, though, has worked hard to promote healthier snacks and beverages, and strategic moves recently have only added to the company's investment in a healthier future. CEO Indra Nooyi and her "Performance with Purpose" vision has resonated with consumers, and that could continue to drive success in years to come. Get what you need No dividend stock is perfect, but these three companies have a lot of attractive attributes. If you need dividend income and like the stocks that provide it, odds are good that you'll end up loving PepsiCo, McDonald's, and 3M over the long haul. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Dan Caplinger has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends 3M. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Frank Amato, Former Executive Director for JPMorgan and Block5.io Co-Founder, Joins the Stakenet (XSN) Team: USA / ACCESSWIRE / June 4, 2018 /Frank Amato, Co-Founder of blockchain capital investment firm Block5, has joined the Stakenet team as an advisor in the lead up to the launch of Stakenet.io.
A former Executive Director for JPMorgan and Managing Director at Bear Sterns, Frank has an impressive career spanning over 18 years and placing him on 3 continents. He first became involved with Bitcoin in 2013, eventually buying into the US Marshals auction of Silk Road coins in early 2014. Since then, he has been successfully investing in start-ups both directly and via BlockChain Capitals Angellist syndicate.
Stakenet aims to create the world's first truly trustless decentralized economy and intends to create a suite of effective investment tools for retail and conventional investors. With the launch of Stakenet.io imminent, Frank is joining the team at an exciting time. He will be assisting Stakenet with bringing early adopter retail investors into the project as well as advising on the building of the DEX to create an optimal trading experience.
Frank says "I am excited and honoured to join the Stakenet team as an advisor, I believe there are great things to come in the near future. They have an amazing team, incredible tech and a dedicated community.'' PR Director of Stakenet, Wesley Forgione, added "We are delighted to welcome Frank to the team, I strongly believe his experience in the traditional banking sector will aid in the build-out of the trustless multi-currency wallet."
Stakenet.io, the front-end consumer interface, is set for release June 2018. The Stakenet blockchain is powered by its own native coin XSN and besides already implemented TPoS Feature, will develop the following key elements: Decentralized Exchange (DEX), Cross Chain Proof of Stake (CCPoS), Multi-Currency Wallet, Cold Exchanging from Hardware Wallets and XSN Hardware Wallet.
Company Information:
Stakenet Summary Document:https://xsncoin.io/Summary_of_Stakenet.pdfWhitepaper:https://xsncoin.io/Whitepaper_2.0.pdfOfficial Website:https://stakenet.io//https://xsncoin.io/Twitter:https://twitter.com/XSNofficial
Contact Details
Wesley ForgionePR DirectorStakenet XSNEmail:[email protected]
SOURCE:Stakenet || Frank Amato, Former Executive Director for JPMorgan and Block5.io Co-Founder, Joins the Stakenet (XSN) Team: USA / ACCESSWIRE / June 4, 2018 / Frank Amato, Co-Founder of blockchain capital investment firm Block5, has joined the Stakenet team as an advisor in the lead up to the launch of Stakenet.io. A former Executive Director for JPMorgan and Managing Director at Bear Sterns, Frank has an impressive career spanning over 18 years and placing him on 3 continents. He first became involved with Bitcoin in 2013, eventually buying into the US Marshals auction of Silk Road coins in early 2014. Since then, he has been successfully investing in start-ups both directly and via BlockChain Capitals Angellist syndicate. Stakenet aims to create the world's first truly trustless decentralized economy and intends to create a suite of effective investment tools for retail and conventional investors. With the launch of Stakenet.io imminent, Frank is joining the team at an exciting time. He will be assisting Stakenet with bringing early adopter retail investors into the project as well as advising on the building of the DEX to create an optimal trading experience. Frank says "I am excited and honoured to join the Stakenet team as an advisor, I believe there are great things to come in the near future. They have an amazing team, incredible tech and a dedicated community.'' PR Director of Stakenet, Wesley Forgione, added "We are delighted to welcome Frank to the team, I strongly believe his experience in the traditional banking sector will aid in the build-out of the trustless multi-currency wallet." Stakenet.io, the front-end consumer interface, is set for release June 2018. The Stakenet blockchain is powered by its own native coin XSN and besides already implemented TPoS Feature, will develop the following key elements: Decentralized Exchange (DEX), Cross Chain Proof of Stake (CCPoS), Multi-Currency Wallet, Cold Exchanging from Hardware Wallets and XSN Hardware Wallet. Company Information: Stakenet Summary Document: https://xsncoin.io/Summary_of_Stakenet.pdf Whitepaper: https://xsncoin.io/Whitepaper_2.0.pdf Official Website: https://stakenet.io/ / https://xsncoin.io/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/XSNofficial Story continues Contact Details Wesley Forgione PR Director Stakenet XSN Email: [email protected] SOURCE: Stakenet || ZenCash Latest Altcoin to Suffer 51 Percent Attack: Privacy-centric cryptocurrency ZenCash (ZEN) has become the latest altcoin to succumb to a 51 percent attack, the project’s developers confirmed over the weekend.
According to an officialstatement, a malicious miner successfully executed the attack — as well as at least three double spends — against the cryptocurrency’s network on June 2 at approximately 10:43 pm ET.
To deploy a51 percent attack, an attacker must acquire a majority of a cryptocurrency network’s total hashrate, which provides them with the ability to reorganize the blockchain and force it to accept fraudulent blocks.
Typically, an attacker will monetize a 51 percent attack through a double spend attack. This is accomplished by depositing coins at a cryptocurrency exchange while also signing a transaction that sends the same coins to a wallet in their control. Once the exchange credits their account with the funds, they launder them into bitcoin or another cryptocurrency and withdraw those funds to an external wallet.
Meanwhile, the attacker uses their majority hashpower to mine a fork of the main blockchain that quickly grows longer than the one accepted by the network. This allows them to reverse the transaction that first deposited their coins at the exchange and instead move the funds to another wallet in their control.
After laundering the funds, the attacker reorganizes the official blockchain by forcing it to accept the longer fork, which has more accumulated Proof-of-Work (PoW). This causes the funds to disappear from the exchange’s wallet and instead appear in the attacker’s wallet.
In this specific case, the attacker executed at least three double spends, including one that reorganized the blockchain by a full 38 blocks. Altogether, the attacker made off with more than 23,152 ZEN from these exploits, worth approximately $700,000 at the time of the attack.
As CCN reported, a litany of altcoins have been hit by 51 percent and other similar network attacks in recent weeks, includingBitcoin Gold,Monacoin, andVerge(at leasttwice). The cost to launch a 51 percent attack against many altcoin networks isshockingly low, especially since hashpower can easily be rented from so-called “cloud mining” firms.
Though similarly named, ZenCash — which has a circulating market cap of $106 million — should not be confused withZcash, the 25th-largest cryptocurrency with a market cap of about $950 million. However, the two projects come from the same family of cryptocurrencies, as ZenCash is a fork of ZClassic, which itself is a fork of Zcash.
Featured Image from Shutterstock
The postZenCash Latest Altcoin to Suffer 51 Percent Attackappeared first onCCN. || ZenCash Latest Altcoin to Suffer 51 Percent Attack: zencash Privacy-centric cryptocurrency ZenCash (ZEN) has become the latest altcoin to succumb to a 51 percent attack, the project’s developers confirmed over the weekend. According to an official statement , a malicious miner successfully executed the attack — as well as at least three double spends — against the cryptocurrency’s network on June 2 at approximately 10:43 pm ET. To deploy a 51 percent attack , an attacker must acquire a majority of a cryptocurrency network’s total hashrate, which provides them with the ability to reorganize the blockchain and force it to accept fraudulent blocks. Typically, an attacker will monetize a 51 percent attack through a double spend attack. This is accomplished by depositing coins at a cryptocurrency exchange while also signing a transaction that sends the same coins to a wallet in their control. Once the exchange credits their account with the funds, they launder them into bitcoin or another cryptocurrency and withdraw those funds to an external wallet. Meanwhile, the attacker uses their majority hashpower to mine a fork of the main blockchain that quickly grows longer than the one accepted by the network. This allows them to reverse the transaction that first deposited their coins at the exchange and instead move the funds to another wallet in their control. zencash After laundering the funds, the attacker reorganizes the official blockchain by forcing it to accept the longer fork, which has more accumulated Proof-of-Work (PoW). This causes the funds to disappear from the exchange’s wallet and instead appear in the attacker’s wallet. In this specific case, the attacker executed at least three double spends, including one that reorganized the blockchain by a full 38 blocks. Altogether, the attacker made off with more than 23,152 ZEN from these exploits, worth approximately $700,000 at the time of the attack. As CCN reported, a litany of altcoins have been hit by 51 percent and other similar network attacks in recent weeks, including Bitcoin Gold , Monacoin , and Verge (at least twice ). The cost to launch a 51 percent attack against many altcoin networks is shockingly low , especially since hashpower can easily be rented from so-called “cloud mining” firms. Story continues Though similarly named, ZenCash — which has a circulating market cap of $106 million — should not be confused with Zcash , the 25th-largest cryptocurrency with a market cap of about $950 million. However, the two projects come from the same family of cryptocurrencies, as ZenCash is a fork of ZClassic, which itself is a fork of Zcash. Featured Image from Shutterstock The post ZenCash Latest Altcoin to Suffer 51 Percent Attack appeared first on CCN .
[Social Media Buzz]
the btc spike was pure luck no one could have predicted that. anyone that puts all their eggs in one basket is dumb || South Korea’s Supreme Court: Bitcoin is an Asset http://cryptotalkalert.blogspot.com/2018/06/south-koreas-supreme-court-bitcoin-is.html … #cryptotalkalert http://cryptotalkalert.blogger.com || Argentina’s current economic troubles are likely to get worse before they get better. And with the second highest inflation rate in South America, behind Venezuela, the case for Bitcoin i...
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7653.98, 7678.24, 7624.92, 7531.98, 6786.02, 6906.92, 6582.36, 6349.90, 6675.35, 6456.58
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 3459.15, 3466.36, 3413.77, 3399.47, 3666.78, 3671.20, 3690.19, 3648.43, 3653.53, 3632.07, 3616.88, 3620.81, 3629.79, 3673.84, 3915.71, 3947.09, 3999.82, 3954.12, 4005.53, 4142.53, 3810.43, 3882.70, 3854.36, 3851.05, 3854.79, 3859.58, 3864.42, 3847.18, 3761.56, 3896.38, 3903.94, 3911.48, 3901.13, 3963.31, 3951.60, 3905.23, 3909.16, 3906.72, 3924.37, 3960.91, 4048.73, 4025.23, 4032.51, 4071.19, 4087.48, 4029.33, 4023.97, 4035.83, 4022.17, 3963.07, 3985.08, 4087.07, 4069.11, 4098.37, 4106.66, 4105.40, 4158.18, 4879.88, 4973.02, 4922.80, 5036.68, 5059.82, 5198.90, 5289.77, 5204.96, 5324.55, 5064.49, 5089.54, 5096.59, 5167.72, 5067.11, 5235.56, 5251.94, 5298.39, 5303.81, 5337.89, 5314.53, 5399.37, 5572.36, 5464.87, 5210.52, 5279.35, 5268.29, 5285.14, 5247.35, 5350.73, 5402.70, 5505.28, 5768.29, 5831.17.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2019-05-04]
Volume: 17567780766, RSI (14-day): 74.28, 50-day EMA: 4957.88, 200-day EMA: 4830.12
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Facebook’s Bitcoin rival might be used to power a massive online payment system: We’ve known for a while now that Facebook formed its own blockchain team, and several reports said the company was working on a Bitcoin-like cryptocurrency that could be used for money transfers over its chat apps, like WhatsApp and Messenger. But Facebook’s crypto plans might be a lot bigger than that. According to a new report, the company is looking to build a massive online payment system that could rival the one’s currently in place. Related stories Facebook's new 'Secret Crush' isn't cute, it's creepy Facebook to launch Messenger apps for Mac and Windows PC Facebook just announced its most significant site redesign in its history Facebook has been talking to “dozens of financial firms and online merchants,” The Wall Street Journal says, looking to kick-start its online payments system that would rely on a stablecoin type of cryptocurrency. Stablecoins, unlike most digital coins, are pegged to the US dollar, which means they should not see any fluctuations in value. We don’t have an official name for Facebook’s coin, and the company isn’t ready to make any announcements, but the Journal refers to the project as Project Libra. Facebook has been in talks with financial institutions including Visa, Mastercard and payment processor First Data as it seeks out some $1 billion in investments for the project. The company is negotiating with e-commerce companies and apps about accepting the unnamed digital currency, and these companies could also invest in Facebook’s project. Merchants would also benefit from adopting the new payment standard by not having to pay typical fees associated with credit card transactions. Facebook is said to be toying with the idea of awarding fractions of a coin to users when they view ads and interact with content on its platforms. One other idea that’s currently being considered is to allow users to pay for a product with Facebook tokens after clicking on an ad. The retailer could then use those tokens to pay for more ads on Facebook. Story continues Sign up for BGR's Newsletter . For the latest news, follow us on Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram . BGR Top Deals: Prime Day pricing came early for Amazon’s Echo Dot These multicolor smart LED bulbs are as good as Philips Hue, but they’re only $15 each Trending Right Now: This is Apple’s new iPhone 11 design, and we need it right now 7 paid iPhone apps you can download for free on May 3rd Here’s what the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe looks like after ‘Avengers: Endgame’ See the original version of this article on BGR.com || Facebook’s Bitcoin rival might be used to power a massive online payment system: We’ve known for a while now that Facebook formed its own blockchain team, and several reports said the company was working on a Bitcoin-like cryptocurrency that could be used for money transfers over its chat apps, like WhatsApp and Messenger. But Facebook’s crypto plans might be a lot bigger than that. According to a new report, the company is looking to build a massive online payment system that could rival the one’s currently in place. Related stories Facebook's new 'Secret Crush' isn't cute, it's creepy Facebook to launch Messenger apps for Mac and Windows PC Facebook just announced its most significant site redesign in its history Facebook has been talking to “dozens of financial firms and online merchants,” The Wall Street Journal says, looking to kick-start its online payments system that would rely on a stablecoin type of cryptocurrency. Stablecoins, unlike most digital coins, are pegged to the US dollar, which means they should not see any fluctuations in value. We don’t have an official name for Facebook’s coin, and the company isn’t ready to make any announcements, but the Journal refers to the project as Project Libra. Facebook has been in talks with financial institutions including Visa, Mastercard and payment processor First Data as it seeks out some $1 billion in investments for the project. The company is negotiating with e-commerce companies and apps about accepting the unnamed digital currency, and these companies could also invest in Facebook’s project. Merchants would also benefit from adopting the new payment standard by not having to pay typical fees associated with credit card transactions. Facebook is said to be toying with the idea of awarding fractions of a coin to users when they view ads and interact with content on its platforms. One other idea that’s currently being considered is to allow users to pay for a product with Facebook tokens after clicking on an ad. The retailer could then use those tokens to pay for more ads on Facebook. Story continues Sign up for BGR's Newsletter . For the latest news, follow us on Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram . BGR Top Deals: Prime Day pricing came early for Amazon’s Echo Dot These multicolor smart LED bulbs are as good as Philips Hue, but they’re only $15 each Trending Right Now: This is Apple’s new iPhone 11 design, and we need it right now 7 paid iPhone apps you can download for free on May 3rd Here’s what the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe looks like after ‘Avengers: Endgame’ See the original version of this article on BGR.com || Facebook’s Bitcoin rival might be used to power a massive online payment system: We’ve known for a while now that Facebook formed its own blockchain team, and several reports said the company was working on a Bitcoin-like cryptocurrency that could be used for money transfers over its chat apps, like WhatsApp and Messenger. But Facebook’s crypto plans might be a lot bigger than that. According to a new report, the company is looking to build a massive online payment system that could rival the one’s currently in place. Related stories Facebook's new 'Secret Crush' isn't cute, it's creepy Facebook to launch Messenger apps for Mac and Windows PC Facebook just announced its most significant site redesign in its history Facebook has been talking to “dozens of financial firms and online merchants,” The Wall Street Journal says, looking to kick-start its online payments system that would rely on a stablecoin type of cryptocurrency. Stablecoins, unlike most digital coins, are pegged to the US dollar, which means they should not see any fluctuations in value. We don’t have an official name for Facebook’s coin, and the company isn’t ready to make any announcements, but the Journal refers to the project as Project Libra. Facebook has been in talks with financial institutions including Visa, Mastercard and payment processor First Data as it seeks out some $1 billion in investments for the project. The company is negotiating with e-commerce companies and apps about accepting the unnamed digital currency, and these companies could also invest in Facebook’s project. Merchants would also benefit from adopting the new payment standard by not having to pay typical fees associated with credit card transactions. Facebook is said to be toying with the idea of awarding fractions of a coin to users when they view ads and interact with content on its platforms. One other idea that’s currently being considered is to allow users to pay for a product with Facebook tokens after clicking on an ad. The retailer could then use those tokens to pay for more ads on Facebook. Story continues Sign up for BGR's Newsletter . For the latest news, follow us on Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram . BGR Top Deals: Prime Day pricing came early for Amazon’s Echo Dot These multicolor smart LED bulbs are as good as Philips Hue, but they’re only $15 each Trending Right Now: This is Apple’s new iPhone 11 design, and we need it right now 7 paid iPhone apps you can download for free on May 3rd Here’s what the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe looks like after ‘Avengers: Endgame’ See the original version of this article on BGR.com || Four Leading US Drug Companies Join Blockchain Project to Manage Chargebacks: Pfizer Inc. and other leadingAmericanpharmaceutical companies have joined a project to build ablockchainnetwork for the health and pharmaceutical industry, according to apress releaseon May 2.
McKesson Corporation, AmerisourceBergen Corporation, Premier Inc. and Pfizer Inc. have joined the MediLedger Project Contracting and Chargebacks working group.
MediLedger — which is an initiative of San Francisco-based blockchain tech company Chronicled Inc. — is designed to reduce costs and make processes more efficient in data sharing by developing a common network. The solution will purportedly automate the contract reconciliation and chargeback processes.
Chargebacks — cancelled or disputed transactions — are a common occurrence along medialsupply chainsin theUnited States, where various actors includinggovernmentprograms and private insurers are involved in payment.
Per the release, the network has already succeeded in establishing a protocol for saleable return drug verification which is compliant with current 2019 Drug Supply Chain Security Act regulations. Participants’ data will purportedly be shared only with the trading partners they specifically choose, as the platform does not provide a central repository of all data.
Commenting on the cooperation, Chronicled CTO Maurizio Greco, said that "we can design [the blockchain system] so only the license holder can create records for its own products, for example. This may seem like a simple illustration, but it is revolutionary."
Blockchain has been gaining traction in thehealthcarespace. Recently, major health information technology provider for the U.S. government, HMS Technologies Inc. (HMS)revealedit will integrate Solve.Care's blockchain platform into their federal health information technology initiatives. The move is set to reduce government healthcare costs and improve interoperability and accessibility.
InSouth Korea, Gil Medical Centerenteredinto an agreement with medical data marketplace Longenesis to create a blockchain-based health data management solution. This will purportedly increase the efficiency of data collection, improve medical research processes and ensure transparent management of patient data.
• Major US Health IT Provider HMS Partners With Blockchain Startup Solve.Care
• 11% of Americans Own Bitcoin, Major Awareness Increased Since 2017
• Ohio State Legislature Introduces Bill to Allow Gov’t to Implement Blockchain Solutions
• South Korean Hospital to Create Blockchain Medical Data Management Platform || Four Leading US Drug Companies Join Blockchain Project to Manage Chargebacks: Pfizer Inc. and other leading American pharmaceutical companies have joined a project to build a blockchain network for the health and pharmaceutical industry, according to a press release on May 2. McKesson Corporation, AmerisourceBergen Corporation, Premier Inc. and Pfizer Inc. have joined the MediLedger Project Contracting and Chargebacks working group. MediLedger — which is an initiative of San Francisco-based blockchain tech company Chronicled Inc. — is designed to reduce costs and make processes more efficient in data sharing by developing a common network. The solution will purportedly automate the contract reconciliation and chargeback processes. Chargebacks — cancelled or disputed transactions — are a common occurrence along medial supply chains in the United States , where various actors including government programs and private insurers are involved in payment. Per the release, the network has already succeeded in establishing a protocol for saleable return drug verification which is compliant with current 2019 Drug Supply Chain Security Act regulations. Participants’ data will purportedly be shared only with the trading partners they specifically choose, as the platform does not provide a central repository of all data. Commenting on the cooperation, Chronicled CTO Maurizio Greco, said that "we can design [the blockchain system] so only the license holder can create records for its own products, for example. This may seem like a simple illustration, but it is revolutionary." Blockchain has been gaining traction in the healthcare space. Recently, major health information technology provider for the U.S. government, HMS Technologies Inc. (HMS) revealed it will integrate Solve.Care's blockchain platform into their federal health information technology initiatives. The move is set to reduce government healthcare costs and improve interoperability and accessibility. In South Korea , Gil Medical Center entered into an agreement with medical data marketplace Longenesis to create a blockchain-based health data management solution. This will purportedly increase the efficiency of data collection, improve medical research processes and ensure transparent management of patient data. Related Articles: Major US Health IT Provider HMS Partners With Blockchain Startup Solve.Care 11% of Americans Own Bitcoin, Major Awareness Increased Since 2017 Ohio State Legislature Introduces Bill to Allow Gov’t to Implement Blockchain Solutions South Korean Hospital to Create Blockchain Medical Data Management Platform || Disgusting Bitcoin Scam Swipes $1.6 Million from Jersey Victims Life Savings: A disgusting bitcoin scam swiped $1.6 million from an By CCN : A man from the English channel island of Jersey just wanted to buy bitcoin . In actuality, the unfortunate victim gave away an eye-popping $1.6 million in life savings to crypto scammers. The Jersey Evening Post reports the thieves promised the victim 1,500% returns on his investments. According to the Post, a spokesperson for the Jersey Financial Services Commission said: The victim was engaged for over an 18-month period and they were able to build trust prior to getting the victim to send the greater amounts. Detectives and other employees at the U.K. National Crime Agency say it is highly unlikely the islanders money will ever be recovered from their investigation. $1.6 Million Bitcoin Scam Victim Was an Experienced Investor in Cryptocurrencies bitcoin jersey Jersey police arent confident the victim will ever see the $1.6 million he thought he was investing in bitcoin again. | Source: Shutterstock Jersey Fraud Prevention Forum issued a report about the bitcoin scam . They urged islanders to stay vigilant. The forum has also been warning that islanders have been targeted by email scammers who say theyve taken control of the users webcam. The scammers demand payment or threaten to publish embarrassing videos of the victims. One thing that stood out about the Jersey Evening Posts report was its claim that the victim was an experienced investor in cryptocurrencies. For all that experience, he was swindled out of $1.6 million in an online scam. Read the full story on CCN.com . || Disgusting Bitcoin Scam Swipes $1.6 Million from Jersey Victim’s Life Savings: ByCCN: A man from the English channel island of Jersey just wanted to buybitcoin. In actuality, the unfortunate victim gave away an eye-popping $1.6 million in life savings to crypto scammers. The Jersey Evening Postreportsthe thieves promised the victim 1,500% returns on his investments.
According to the Post, a spokesperson for the Jersey Financial Services Commission said:
“The victim was engaged for over an 18-month period and they were able to build trust prior to getting the victim to send the greater amounts.”
Detectives and other employees at the U.K. National Crime Agency say it is highly unlikely the islander’s money will ever be recovered from their investigation.
Jersey police aren’t confident the victim will ever see the $1.6 million he thought he was investing in bitcoin again. | Source: Shutterstock
Jersey Fraud Prevention Forum issued a report about thebitcoin scam. They urged islanders to stay vigilant. The forum has also been warning that islanders have been targeted byemail scammerswho say they’ve taken control of the user’s webcam. The scammers demand payment or threaten to publish embarrassing videos of the victims.
One thing that stood out about the Jersey Evening Post’s report was its claim that the victim was “an experienced investor in cryptocurrencies.” For all that “experience,” he was swindled out of $1.6 million in an online scam.
Read the full story on CCN.com. || Disgusting Bitcoin Scam Swipes $1.6 Million from Jersey Victim’s Life Savings: ByCCN: A man from the English channel island of Jersey just wanted to buybitcoin. In actuality, the unfortunate victim gave away an eye-popping $1.6 million in life savings to crypto scammers. The Jersey Evening Postreportsthe thieves promised the victim 1,500% returns on his investments.
According to the Post, a spokesperson for the Jersey Financial Services Commission said:
“The victim was engaged for over an 18-month period and they were able to build trust prior to getting the victim to send the greater amounts.”
Detectives and other employees at the U.K. National Crime Agency say it is highly unlikely the islander’s money will ever be recovered from their investigation.
Jersey police aren’t confident the victim will ever see the $1.6 million he thought he was investing in bitcoin again. | Source: Shutterstock
Jersey Fraud Prevention Forum issued a report about thebitcoin scam. They urged islanders to stay vigilant. The forum has also been warning that islanders have been targeted byemail scammerswho say they’ve taken control of the user’s webcam. The scammers demand payment or threaten to publish embarrassing videos of the victims.
One thing that stood out about the Jersey Evening Post’s report was its claim that the victim was “an experienced investor in cryptocurrencies.” For all that “experience,” he was swindled out of $1.6 million in an online scam.
Read the full story on CCN.com. || Report: Craig Wright Serves Roger Ver with Libel Suit: Australian computer scientist Craig Wright has served Roger Ver, CEO of Bitcoin.com, with a libel suit at a London bitcoin cash meetup according to a report by Decrypt on May 2. According to the report, Ver called Wright “a fraud and a liar” in a YouTube video — which has since been stricken for violating YouTube community guidelines — that prompted Wright’s libel suit. Ver commented to Decrypt that he will be fighting the lawsuit. Wright has served legal suits to other figures in the crypto sector, who have denied that he is the mysterious inventor of bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto . As Cointelegraph previously reported in April, Wright also served a libel suit to crypto podcaster Peter McCormack, who said in a program that Wright is not the real Satoshi. The claim aims to “prevent McCormack from making further fraudulent claims that Wright is not the individual behind the Satoshi Nakamoto pseudonym.” While Ver does not condone this apparent campaign, Derypt also notes that he is not in favor of exchanges delisting bitcoin SV, which is backed by Wright, as a form of protest. Ver said on the topic: “I don’t think it was a good thing. If people want to trade it, I think people should be able to trade it. Free the market, free the world. If you want to trade bitcoin SV, go for it.” A $4 billion lawsuit was also brought against Wright, as Cointelegraph previously covered , in February 2017. This case was filed in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Florida by the family of David Kleiman, a recently-deceased computer scientist, which accused Wright of forging contracts in order to illegally pocket as much as 1.1 million in bitcoin. Related Articles: US District Attorney Seeks to Retain Defendant in Crypto Shadow Banking Case New York District Attorney Charges Two for Shadow Banking Crypto Companies US Court Orders Craig Wright to Provide Bitcoin Ownership Records German Police Seize Six Figures in Crypto From Suspects Involved in Dark Web Site || Report: Craig Wright Serves Roger Ver with Libel Suit: Australian computer scientistCraig Wrighthas served Roger Ver, CEO of Bitcoin.com, with a libel suit at a London bitcoin cash meetup according to areportby Decrypt on May 2.
According to the report, Ver called Wright “a fraud and a liar” in a YouTubevideo— which has since been stricken for violatingYouTubecommunity guidelines — that prompted Wright’s libel suit. Ver commented to Decrypt that he will be fighting the lawsuit.
Wright has served legal suits to other figures in the crypto sector, who have denied that he is the mysterious inventor of bitcoin,Satoshi Nakamoto.
As Cointelegraph previouslyreportedin April, Wright also served a libel suit to crypto podcaster Peter McCormack, who said in a program that Wright is not the real Satoshi. Theclaimaims to “prevent McCormack from making further fraudulent claims that Wright is not the individual behind the Satoshi Nakamoto pseudonym.”
While Ver does not condone this apparent campaign, Derypt also notes that he is not in favor of exchangesdelistingbitcoin SV, which is backed by Wright, as a form of protest. Ver said on the topic:
“I don’t think it was a good thing. If people want to trade it, I think people should be able to trade it. Free the market, free the world. If you want to trade bitcoin SV, go for it.”
A $4 billion lawsuit was also brought against Wright, as Cointelegraph previouslycovered, in February 2017. This case was filed in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Florida by the family of David Kleiman, a recently-deceased computer scientist, which accused Wright of forging contracts in order to illegally pocket as much as 1.1 million in bitcoin.
• US District Attorney Seeks to Retain Defendant in Crypto Shadow Banking Case
• New York District Attorney Charges Two for Shadow Banking Crypto Companies
• US Court Orders Craig Wright to Provide Bitcoin Ownership Records
• German Police Seize Six Figures in Crypto From Suspects Involved in Dark Web Site || 3 Reasons Bitcoin Will Race Toward a New Record High at $20,000: ByCCN: Thebitcoin pricesurged as much as 7.60-percent on Friday to establish a new 2019 peak at $5,796.93. The uptrend pushed bitcoin’s year-to-date rally to an impressive 54.08-percent. At the same time, it brought the asset’s total recovery to an astounding 82-percent and set the cryptocurrency well on its way to a fresh record high.
Here are three factors that indicate the bitcoin price has not only found a bottom but is also well on its way to smashing through the $20,000 peak it set in late 2017.
Yesterday, Factor Trading author Peter Brandtsuggestedthe bitcoin price could hit $19,800 in the future.
He backed his prediction using a weekly moving average indicator, noting that it was now trending below the bitcoin spot price.
The last time such a move took place was in November 2015 and preceded bitcoin’s triumphant march from $340 in 2015 to a whopping $19,800 in 2017.
Robert Sluymer, a technical strategist at Wall Street strategy firmFundstrat, also believes that bitcoin is pounding into a bull market.
Read the full story on CCN.com. || 3 Reasons Bitcoin Will Race Toward a New Record High at $20,000: ByCCN: Thebitcoin pricesurged as much as 7.60-percent on Friday to establish a new 2019 peak at $5,796.93. The uptrend pushed bitcoin’s year-to-date rally to an impressive 54.08-percent. At the same time, it brought the asset’s total recovery to an astounding 82-percent and set the cryptocurrency well on its way to a fresh record high.
Here are three factors that indicate the bitcoin price has not only found a bottom but is also well on its way to smashing through the $20,000 peak it set in late 2017.
Yesterday, Factor Trading author Peter Brandtsuggestedthe bitcoin price could hit $19,800 in the future.
He backed his prediction using a weekly moving average indicator, noting that it was now trending below the bitcoin spot price.
The last time such a move took place was in November 2015 and preceded bitcoin’s triumphant march from $340 in 2015 to a whopping $19,800 in 2017.
Robert Sluymer, a technical strategist at Wall Street strategy firmFundstrat, also believes that bitcoin is pounding into a bull market.
Read the full story on CCN.com. || 3 Reasons Bitcoin Will Race Toward a New Record High at $20,000: The bitcoin price's latest upside attempt brought the $6,000 resistance target closer. But can the asset extend its bullish momentum towards $20,000? | Source: Shutterstock By CCN : The bitcoin price surged as much as 7.60-percent on Friday to establish a new 2019 peak at $5,796.93. The uptrend pushed bitcoin’s year-to-date rally to an impressive 54.08-percent. At the same time, it brought the asset’s total recovery to an astounding 82-percent and set the cryptocurrency well on its way to a fresh record high. Here are three factors that indicate the bitcoin price has not only found a bottom but is also well on its way to smashing through the $20,000 peak it set in late 2017. Reason 1: Moving Averages Mimic Historical Pattern from 2015 Yesterday, Factor Trading author Peter Brandt suggested the bitcoin price could hit $19,800 in the future. He backed his prediction using a weekly moving average indicator, noting that it was now trending below the bitcoin spot price. The last time such a move took place was in November 2015 and preceded bitcoin’s triumphant march from $340 in 2015 to a whopping $19,800 in 2017. The last time Factor's benchmark weekly MA was in the current profile of turning from down to up was in Nov 2015 just as $BTC began its move from $340 to $19,800. pic.twitter.com/uFJSkV9NwM — Peter Brandt (@PeterLBrandt) May 2, 2019 Robert Sluymer, a technical strategist at Wall Street strategy firm Fundstrat , also believes that bitcoin is pounding into a bull market. Read the full story on CCN.com . || Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, EOS, Binance Coin, Stellar, Cardano, TRON: Price Analysis May 3: The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision. Market data is provided by the HitBTC exchange. Intercontinental Exchange Inc (ICE) has been loading up on digital assets for its cryptocurrency platform Bakkt, according to its chief executive officer Jeffrey Sprecher. This has helped ICE buy assets at a discount, which would not have happened if the markets were in a bull phase. Sprecher expects Bakkt to start operations later in 2019. Attention has been shifting to institutional investors since the bear phase started. Stronger hands with deeper pockets are needed to provide stability in crypto markets. In a survey of 411 United States institutional investors, Fidelity Investments found that 47% of the participants believe that digital assets have a place in their investment portfolios. The major attraction is the low correlation with other asset classes. Converesly, unclear regulation, lack of fundamentals, volatility, etc, were some of the hurdles in investing in digital assets. Along with institutional involvement, mass adoption of cryptocurrencies is another important activity that can boost prices. In this regard, the markets are watching the development of Facebooks rumored FB Coin. Sources have said the Wall Street Journal that Facebook is looking to raise $1 billion in investments for its cryptocurrency stablecoin. With Facebooks mass reach, it can bring cryptocurrencies to the mainstream at a faster pace. The recent recovery in Bitcoin has gathered pace and has pushed its market capitalization above $100 billion. Altcoins have also benefited from the bullish sentiment. After the rally, is it a good time to buy or to book profits? Lets find out. BTC/USD Bitcoin ( BTC ) has surged towards its overhead resistance of $5,900. We like the pickup in momentum. This suggests confidence among the bulls that the leading digital currency will extend its recovery. If the price scales above $5,900, it will be a major sentiment booster. There is a minor psychological resistance at $6,000 but we expect it to be crossed. The next level to watch is $6,480.54. We expect the zone between $6,000$6,480.54 to offer a stiff resistance. Hence, the traders can tighten their stops to protect their paper profits. Story continues BTC/USD Contrary to our bullish view, if the BTC/USD pair fails to sustain above $5,900, it can witness profit booking that can drag it to the 20-day EMA. The pair might also enter into a consolidation between $4,914.11 and $5,900 for a few days. The trend will turn negative on a breakdown of $4,914.11. Until then, the bulls will continue to buy the dips. Traders can trail the stops on the remaining long positions to $5,400. Currently, both the moving averages are sloping up and the RSI is also trying to break out of the negative divergence. This is a bullish sign. It shows that the path of least resistance is to the upside. ETH/USD Ethereum ( ETH ) has broken out of the downtrend line. It is currently facing resistance at the $180$190.54 zone. If the bulls scale this zone, the digital currency can rally to $225 and above it to $256. Traders can buy above $192 and keep an initial stop loss of $146. As the risk to reward ratio is not very attractive, the position size can be about 40% of usual. We will suggest to trail the stops higher at the first available opportunity. ETH/USD Our bullish view will be invalidated if the ETH/USD pair fails to ascend the overhead resistance zone and breaks below $148. Currently, the 20-day EMA is starting to turn up and the RSI has risen into positive territory. This suggests that the bulls have a minor advantage in the short term. The next couple of days are critical as it will set the stage for the next leg of the sustained move. XRP/USD While most major cryptocurrencies are on fire, Ripple ( XRP ) continues to lag behind. It is still trading below the 20-day EMA and close to the lower end of the range. This suggests a lack of interest among the bulls. XRP/USD The XRP/USD pair needs to break out of the moving averages and $0.33108 to signal some buying. If the follow up buying pushes the price above $0.37835, we expect the pair to pick up momentum. On the other hand, if the digital currency fails to move up, the bears will again try to break down of the critical support at $0.27795. We will wait for the breakout above $0.33108 to sustain before suggesting a long position. BCH/USD Bitcoin Cash ( BCH ) has broken out of the downtrend line, which is a positive sign. The 20-day EMA is gradually turning up and the RSI has risen into positive territory. This shows that the bulls have the upper hand. BCH/USD The BCH/USD pair can now move up to $335.62 and above it to $363.30. We expect this level to act as a stiff resistance. If the price turns down from one of these resistance levels, the pair will trade in a range for a few days. Our bullish view will be invalidated if the digital currency fails to sustain above the downtrend line and slips back to $255. The trend will turn negative on a breakdown of $225. LTC/USD Litecoin ( LTC ) has broken out of the 20-day EMA, which is a positive sign. It can now rally to $84.3439 and above it to $91. The digital currency has formed a cup and handle formation that will complete on a breakout and close (UTC time frame) above $91. This pattern has a target objective of $158.91. Traders can wait for the price to close above $91 to attempt this trade. The stop loss for this trade can be kept at $66 initially, which can be raised later. LTC/USD But if the LTC/USD pair fails to climb the overhead resistances, it might remain range bound for a few days. The 20-day EMA is flat and the RSI is just above the midpoint. This suggests range-bound trading action in the short term. The trend will turn bearish on a breakdown and close below the recent lows of $66.470. It is always better to wait for the pattern to complete to go long, instead of buying in anticipation. EOS/USD EOS has broken out of the downtrend line and the 20-day EMA. This suggests that the recent pullback is over and it will now march toward $6.0726 and above it $6.8299. The 20-day EMA is gradually turning up and the RSI has jumped into positive territory. This shows that the bulls have the advantage in the short term. EOS/USD Nonetheless, if the bulls fail to sustain the current levels, it will indicate profit booking that can drag the EOS/USD pair back to the 20-day EMA. A breakdown of the uptrend line will complete a rising wedge pattern and shift the advantage to the bears. Until then, any dip towards the 20-day EMA can be used as a buying opportunity. BNB/USD Binance Coin ( BNB ) rose above the previous intraday lifetime high of $26.4732350 and made a new high at $26.6428765. However, the bulls could not sustain the new high and the price has retreated back below it. BNB/USD This shows profit booking at higher levels, but if the bears fail to sink the BNB/USD pair below the 20-day EMA, we anticipate another attempt by the bulls to make a new high. Both the moving averages are trending up and the RSI is in positive territory. This suggests that the bulls are in command. However, if the price plunges below the 20-day EMA, it can drop to the 50-day SMA. A breakdown of this support will signal a deeper correction. We remain bullish and on the lookout for a reliable pattern that offers an attractive risk to reward ratio. XLM/USD Stellar ( XLM ) again broke below the uptrend line but found buyers at lower levels. While the repeated breach of a support line weakens it, the bears have not been able to sustain the price below the uptrend line. A breakdown of $0.09478125 can sink the digital currency to $0.08. XLM/USD But, if the XLM/USD pair breaks out of the moving averages, it can rise to $0.12039489 and above it to $0.13250273. Currently, both the moving averages are flat and the RSI is just below 50. This points to a possible consolidation in the short term. We do not find any reliable buy setup, hence, we are not suggesting a long position in it. ADA/USD Cardano ( ADA ) is trying to break out of the 20-day EMA and the downtrend line. If successful, it can move up to $0.082952 and above it to $0.094256. However, the flat 20-day EMA and the RSI close to the midpoint suggest that range-bound trading is probable. ADA/USD If the ADA/USD pair turns down from the current levels or from one of the overhead resistances, it can remain range bound for a few days. It will turn negative on a breakdown of $0.063230. The pair will complete a cup and handle formation if it closes (UTC time frame) above $0.094256. We will wait for the price to ascend $0.094256 before suggesting any long positions in it. TRX/USD Tron ( TRX ) has been attempting to break out of the moving averages. If the price sustains above it, it will move up to the next overhead resistance of $0.02815521. The bulls have broken out of this level previously, but have not been able to sustain the breakout. TRX/USD If the TRX/USD pair breaks out of the overhead resistance once again, it will offer an opportunity to go long. The pair has been consolidating for the past nine months, which indicates that the ensuing breakout will show a big move. Therefore, we retain the buy recommendation given in the previous analysis. Contrary to our assumption, if the cryptocurrency turns down from the current levels, it can correct to $0.02094452. A break of this level will sink it to the critical support of $0.01830. Market data is provided by the HitBTC exchange. Charts for analysis are provided by TradingView . Related Articles: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, EOS, Binance Coin, Stellar, Cardano, TRON: Price Analysis May 1 Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, EOS, Binance Coin, Stellar, Cardano, TRON: Price Analysis April 29 Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, EOS, Binance Coin, Stellar, Cardano, TRON: Price Analysis April 26 Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Litecoin, Binance Coin, Stellar, Cardano, TRON: Price Analysis April 24 || Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, EOS, Binance Coin, Stellar, Cardano, TRON: Price Analysis May 3: The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.
Market data is provided by theHitBTCexchange.
Intercontinental Exchange Inc (ICE) has been loading up on digital assets for its cryptocurrency platform Bakkt, according to its chief executive officer Jeffrey Sprecher. This has helped ICE buyassetsat a discount, which would not have happened if the markets were in a bull phase. Sprecher expects Bakkt to start operations later in 2019.
Attention has been shifting to institutional investors since the bear phase started. Stronger hands with deeper pockets are needed to provide stability in crypto markets. In asurveyof 411 United States institutional investors, Fidelity Investments found that 47% of the participants believe that digital assets have a place in their investment portfolios.
The major attraction is the low correlation with other asset classes. Converesly, unclear regulation, lack of fundamentals, volatility, etc, were some of the hurdles in investing in digital assets.
Along with institutional involvement, mass adoption of cryptocurrencies is another important activity that can boost prices. In this regard, the markets are watching the development ofFacebook’srumored “FB Coin.” Sources have said the Wall Street Journal that Facebook is looking to raise$1 billionin investments for its cryptocurrency stablecoin. With Facebook’s mass reach, it can bring cryptocurrencies to the mainstream at a faster pace.
The recent recovery in Bitcoin has gathered pace and has pushed its market capitalization above$100billion. Altcoins have also benefited from the bullish sentiment. After the rally, is it a good time to buy or to book profits? Let’s find out.
BTC/USD
Bitcoin (BTC) has surged towards its overhead resistance of $5,900. We like the pickup in momentum. This suggests confidence among the bulls that the leading digital currency will extend its recovery. If the price scales above $5,900, it will be a major sentiment booster. There is a minor psychological resistance at $6,000 but we expect it to be crossed. The next level to watch is $6,480.54. We expect the zone between $6,000–$6,480.54 to offer a stiff resistance. Hence, the traders can tighten their stops to protect their paper profits.
Contrary to our bullish view, if theBTC/USDpair fails to sustain above $5,900, it can witness profit booking that can drag it to the 20-day EMA. The pair might also enter into a consolidation between $4,914.11 and $5,900 for a few days. The trend will turn negative on a breakdown of $4,914.11. Until then, the bulls will continue to buy the dips. Traders can trail the stops on the remaininglongpositions to $5,400.
Currently, both the moving averages are sloping up and the RSI is also trying to break out of the negative divergence. This is a bullish sign. It shows that the path of least resistance is to the upside.
ETH/USD
Ethereum (ETH) has broken out of the downtrend line. It is currently facing resistance at the $180–$190.54 zone. If the bulls scale this zone, the digital currency can rally to $225 and above it to $256. Traders can buy above $192 and keep an initial stop loss of $146. As the risk to reward ratio is not very attractive, the position size can be about 40% of usual. We will suggest to trail the stops higher at the first available opportunity.
Our bullish view will be invalidated if theETH/USDpair fails to ascend the overhead resistance zone and breaks below $148. Currently, the 20-day EMA is starting to turn up and the RSI has risen into positive territory. This suggests that the bulls have a minor advantage in the short term. The next couple of days are critical as it will set the stage for the next leg of the sustained move.
XRP/USD
While most major cryptocurrencies are on fire, Ripple (XRP) continues to lag behind. It is still trading below the 20-day EMA and close to the lower end of the range. This suggests a lack of interest among the bulls.
TheXRP/USDpair needs to break out of the moving averages and $0.33108 to signal some buying. If the follow up buying pushes the price above $0.37835, we expect the pair to pick up momentum.
On the other hand, if the digital currency fails to move up, the bears will again try to break down of the critical support at $0.27795. We will wait for the breakout above $0.33108 to sustain before suggesting a long position.
BCH/USD
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) has broken out of the downtrend line, which is a positive sign. The 20-day EMA is gradually turning up and the RSI has risen into positive territory. This shows that the bulls have the upper hand.
TheBCH/USDpair can now move up to $335.62 and above it to $363.30. We expect this level to act as a stiff resistance. If the price turns down from one of these resistance levels, the pair will trade in a range for a few days.
Our bullish view will be invalidated if the digital currency fails to sustain above the downtrend line and slips back to $255. The trend will turn negative on a breakdown of $225.
LTC/USD
Litecoin (LTC) has broken out of the 20-day EMA, which is a positive sign. It can now rally to $84.3439 and above it to $91. The digital currency has formed a cup and handle formation that will complete on a breakout and close (UTC time frame) above $91. This pattern has a target objective of $158.91. Traders can wait for the price to close above $91 to attempt this trade. The stop loss for this trade can be kept at $66 initially, which can be raised later.
But if theLTC/USDpair fails to climb the overhead resistances, it might remain range bound for a few days. The 20-day EMA is flat and the RSI is just above the midpoint. This suggests range-bound trading action in the short term. The trend will turn bearish on a breakdown and close below the recent lows of $66.470. It is always better to wait for the pattern to complete to go long, instead of buying in anticipation.
EOS/USD
EOShas broken out of the downtrend line and the 20-day EMA. This suggests that the recent pullback is over and it will now march toward $6.0726 and above it $6.8299. The 20-day EMA is gradually turning up and the RSI has jumped into positive territory. This shows that the bulls have the advantage in the short term.
Nonetheless, if the bulls fail to sustain the current levels, it will indicate profit booking that can drag theEOS/USDpair back to the 20-day EMA. A breakdown of the uptrend line will complete a rising wedge pattern and shift the advantage to the bears. Until then, any dip towards the 20-day EMA can be used as a buying opportunity.
BNB/USD
Binance Coin (BNB) rose above the previous intraday lifetime high of $26.4732350 and made a new high at $26.6428765. However, the bulls could not sustain the new high and the price has retreated back below it.
This shows profit booking at higher levels, but if the bears fail to sink theBNB/USDpair below the 20-day EMA, we anticipate another attempt by the bulls to make a new high. Both the moving averages are trending up and the RSI is in positive territory. This suggests that the bulls are in command.
However, if the price plunges below the 20-day EMA, it can drop to the 50-day SMA. A breakdown of this support will signal a deeper correction. We remain bullish and on the lookout for a reliable pattern that offers an attractive risk to reward ratio.
XLM/USD
Stellar (XLM) again broke below the uptrend line but found buyers at lower levels. While the repeated breach of a support line weakens it, the bears have not been able to sustain the price below the uptrend line. A breakdown of $0.09478125 can sink the digital currency to $0.08.
But, if theXLM/USDpair breaks out of the moving averages, it can rise to $0.12039489 and above it to $0.13250273. Currently, both the moving averages are flat and the RSI is just below 50. This points to a possible consolidation in the short term. We do not find any reliable buy setup, hence, we are not suggesting a long position in it.
ADA/USD
Cardano (ADA) is trying to break out of the 20-day EMA and the downtrend line. If successful, it can move up to $0.082952 and above it to $0.094256. However, the flat 20-day EMA and the RSI close to the midpoint suggest that range-bound trading is probable.
If theADA/USDpair turns down from the current levels or from one of the overhead resistances, it can remain range bound for a few days. It will turn negative on a breakdown of $0.063230.
The pair will complete a cup and handle formation if it closes (UTC time frame) above $0.094256. We will wait for the price to ascend $0.094256 before suggesting any long positions in it.
TRX/USD
Tron (TRX) has been attempting to break out of the moving averages. If the price sustains above it, it will move up to the next overhead resistance of $0.02815521. The bulls have broken out of this level previously, but have not been able to sustain the breakout.
If theTRX/USDpair breaks out of the overhead resistance once again, it will offer an opportunity to go long. The pair has been consolidating for the past nine months, which indicates that the ensuing breakout will show a big move. Therefore, we retain the buy recommendation given in the previous analysis.
Contrary to our assumption, if the cryptocurrency turns down from the current levels, it can correct to $0.02094452. A break of this level will sink it to the critical support of $0.01830.
Market data is provided by theHitBTCexchange. Charts for analysis are provided byTradingView.
• Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, EOS, Binance Coin, Stellar, Cardano, TRON: Price Analysis May 1
• Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, EOS, Binance Coin, Stellar, Cardano, TRON: Price Analysis April 29
• Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, EOS, Binance Coin, Stellar, Cardano, TRON: Price Analysis April 26
• Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Litecoin, Binance Coin, Stellar, Cardano, TRON: Price Analysis April 24 || Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, EOS, Binance Coin, Stellar, Cardano, TRON: Price Analysis May 3: The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.
Market data is provided by theHitBTCexchange.
Intercontinental Exchange Inc (ICE) has been loading up on digital assets for its cryptocurrency platform Bakkt, according to its chief executive officer Jeffrey Sprecher. This has helped ICE buyassetsat a discount, which would not have happened if the markets were in a bull phase. Sprecher expects Bakkt to start operations later in 2019.
Attention has been shifting to institutional investors since the bear phase started. Stronger hands with deeper pockets are needed to provide stability in crypto markets. In asurveyof 411 United States institutional investors, Fidelity Investments found that 47% of the participants believe that digital assets have a place in their investment portfolios.
The major attraction is the low correlation with other asset classes. Converesly, unclear regulation, lack of fundamentals, volatility, etc, were some of the hurdles in investing in digital assets.
Along with institutional involvement, mass adoption of cryptocurrencies is another important activity that can boost prices. In this regard, the markets are watching the development ofFacebook’srumored “FB Coin.” Sources have said the Wall Street Journal that Facebook is looking to raise$1 billionin investments for its cryptocurrency stablecoin. With Facebook’s mass reach, it can bring cryptocurrencies to the mainstream at a faster pace.
The recent recovery in Bitcoin has gathered pace and has pushed its market capitalization above$100billion. Altcoins have also benefited from the bullish sentiment. After the rally, is it a good time to buy or to book profits? Let’s find out.
BTC/USD
Bitcoin (BTC) has surged towards its overhead resistance of $5,900. We like the pickup in momentum. This suggests confidence among the bulls that the leading digital currency will extend its recovery. If the price scales above $5,900, it will be a major sentiment booster. There is a minor psychological resistance at $6,000 but we expect it to be crossed. The next level to watch is $6,480.54. We expect the zone between $6,000–$6,480.54 to offer a stiff resistance. Hence, the traders can tighten their stops to protect their paper profits.
Contrary to our bullish view, if theBTC/USDpair fails to sustain above $5,900, it can witness profit booking that can drag it to the 20-day EMA. The pair might also enter into a consolidation between $4,914.11 and $5,900 for a few days. The trend will turn negative on a breakdown of $4,914.11. Until then, the bulls will continue to buy the dips. Traders can trail the stops on the remaininglongpositions to $5,400.
Currently, both the moving averages are sloping up and the RSI is also trying to break out of the negative divergence. This is a bullish sign. It shows that the path of least resistance is to the upside.
ETH/USD
Ethereum (ETH) has broken out of the downtrend line. It is currently facing resistance at the $180–$190.54 zone. If the bulls scale this zone, the digital currency can rally to $225 and above it to $256. Traders can buy above $192 and keep an initial stop loss of $146. As the risk to reward ratio is not very attractive, the position size can be about 40% of usual. We will suggest to trail the stops higher at the first available opportunity.
Our bullish view will be invalidated if theETH/USDpair fails to ascend the overhead resistance zone and breaks below $148. Currently, the 20-day EMA is starting to turn up and the RSI has risen into positive territory. This suggests that the bulls have a minor advantage in the short term. The next couple of days are critical as it will set the stage for the next leg of the sustained move.
XRP/USD
While most major cryptocurrencies are on fire, Ripple (XRP) continues to lag behind. It is still trading below the 20-day EMA and close to the lower end of the range. This suggests a lack of interest among the bulls.
TheXRP/USDpair needs to break out of the moving averages and $0.33108 to signal some buying. If the follow up buying pushes the price above $0.37835, we expect the pair to pick up momentum.
On the other hand, if the digital currency fails to move up, the bears will again try to break down of the critical support at $0.27795. We will wait for the breakout above $0.33108 to sustain before suggesting a long position.
BCH/USD
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) has broken out of the downtrend line, which is a positive sign. The 20-day EMA is gradually turning up and the RSI has risen into positive territory. This shows that the bulls have the upper hand.
TheBCH/USDpair can now move up to $335.62 and above it to $363.30. We expect this level to act as a stiff resistance. If the price turns down from one of these resistance levels, the pair will trade in a range for a few days.
Our bullish view will be invalidated if the digital currency fails to sustain above the downtrend line and slips back to $255. The trend will turn negative on a breakdown of $225.
LTC/USD
Litecoin (LTC) has broken out of the 20-day EMA, which is a positive sign. It can now rally to $84.3439 and above it to $91. The digital currency has formed a cup and handle formation that will complete on a breakout and close (UTC time frame) above $91. This pattern has a target objective of $158.91. Traders can wait for the price to close above $91 to attempt this trade. The stop loss for this trade can be kept at $66 initially, which can be raised later.
But if theLTC/USDpair fails to climb the overhead resistances, it might remain range bound for a few days. The 20-day EMA is flat and the RSI is just above the midpoint. This suggests range-bound trading action in the short term. The trend will turn bearish on a breakdown and close below the recent lows of $66.470. It is always better to wait for the pattern to complete to go long, instead of buying in anticipation.
EOS/USD
EOShas broken out of the downtrend line and the 20-day EMA. This suggests that the recent pullback is over and it will now march toward $6.0726 and above it $6.8299. The 20-day EMA is gradually turning up and the RSI has jumped into positive territory. This shows that the bulls have the advantage in the short term.
Nonetheless, if the bulls fail to sustain the current levels, it will indicate profit booking that can drag theEOS/USDpair back to the 20-day EMA. A breakdown of the uptrend line will complete a rising wedge pattern and shift the advantage to the bears. Until then, any dip towards the 20-day EMA can be used as a buying opportunity.
BNB/USD
Binance Coin (BNB) rose above the previous intraday lifetime high of $26.4732350 and made a new high at $26.6428765. However, the bulls could not sustain the new high and the price has retreated back below it.
This shows profit booking at higher levels, but if the bears fail to sink theBNB/USDpair below the 20-day EMA, we anticipate another attempt by the bulls to make a new high. Both the moving averages are trending up and the RSI is in positive territory. This suggests that the bulls are in command.
However, if the price plunges below the 20-day EMA, it can drop to the 50-day SMA. A breakdown of this support will signal a deeper correction. We remain bullish and on the lookout for a reliable pattern that offers an attractive risk to reward ratio.
XLM/USD
Stellar (XLM) again broke below the uptrend line but found buyers at lower levels. While the repeated breach of a support line weakens it, the bears have not been able to sustain the price below the uptrend line. A breakdown of $0.09478125 can sink the digital currency to $0.08.
But, if theXLM/USDpair breaks out of the moving averages, it can rise to $0.12039489 and above it to $0.13250273. Currently, both the moving averages are flat and the RSI is just below 50. This points to a possible consolidation in the short term. We do not find any reliable buy setup, hence, we are not suggesting a long position in it.
ADA/USD
Cardano (ADA) is trying to break out of the 20-day EMA and the downtrend line. If successful, it can move up to $0.082952 and above it to $0.094256. However, the flat 20-day EMA and the RSI close to the midpoint suggest that range-bound trading is probable.
If theADA/USDpair turns down from the current levels or from one of the overhead resistances, it can remain range bound for a few days. It will turn negative on a breakdown of $0.063230.
The pair will complete a cup and handle formation if it closes (UTC time frame) above $0.094256. We will wait for the price to ascend $0.094256 before suggesting any long positions in it.
TRX/USD
Tron (TRX) has been attempting to break out of the moving averages. If the price sustains above it, it will move up to the next overhead resistance of $0.02815521. The bulls have broken out of this level previously, but have not been able to sustain the breakout.
If theTRX/USDpair breaks out of the overhead resistance once again, it will offer an opportunity to go long. The pair has been consolidating for the past nine months, which indicates that the ensuing breakout will show a big move. Therefore, we retain the buy recommendation given in the previous analysis.
Contrary to our assumption, if the cryptocurrency turns down from the current levels, it can correct to $0.02094452. A break of this level will sink it to the critical support of $0.01830.
Market data is provided by theHitBTCexchange. Charts for analysis are provided byTradingView.
• Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, EOS, Binance Coin, Stellar, Cardano, TRON: Price Analysis May 1
• Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, EOS, Binance Coin, Stellar, Cardano, TRON: Price Analysis April 29
• Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, EOS, Binance Coin, Stellar, Cardano, TRON: Price Analysis April 26
• Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Litecoin, Binance Coin, Stellar, Cardano, TRON: Price Analysis April 24 || Major Darknet Marketplace Wall Street Market Shuttered by Law Enforcement: wallstreetmarketshutdown.jpg Wall Street Market, the second-largest darknet market in the world in recent months, has been shut down by international law enforcement agencies, including Europol as well as U.S., German, Dutch and Romanian law enforcement. Three suspected operators of the online marketplace for illegal goods and services have been arrested in Germany, while some of the highest-selling suppliers of narcotics were arrested in the United States. Darknet markets are the digital black markets only accessible through the anonymizing Tor browser; they use bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for payment. Since the pioneering Silk Road was shutdown in 2013, such markets have only grown in popularity. According to research by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis published in January 2019, darknet market activity almost doubled throughout 2018, surpassing a yearly volume of $600 million. Back in the days of Silk Road, the record yearly volume never topped $200 million, according to Chainalysis. One of Silk Road’s recent successors, Wall Street Market, offered a platform for selling illegal drugs as well as weapons, hacking software and stolen login credentials. According to Europol, over 1,150,000 user accounts were registered on Wall Street Market, and over 63,000 offers had been placed on the website by more than 5,400 seller accounts. This made Wall Street Market the second-most popular darknet market at the time of closure, Europol noted, presumably behind Dream Market. The website was ultimately shutdown by German Federal Criminal Police, under the authority of the German Public Prosecutor’s office, and three suspected operators were arrested. The German police were supported by the Dutch National Police, Europol, Eurojust and various U.S. government agencies including the DEA, FBI, IRS, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the U.S. Department of Justice. German authorities also seized €550,000 (approximately $615,500 USD) in cash and six-figure amounts worth of bitcoin and XMR (monero), as well as several vehicles and other evidence. Story continues Europol’s Executive Director Catherine De Bolle commented in a statement published on the Europol website: “These two investigations show the importance of law enforcement cooperation at an international level and demonstrate that illegal activity on the dark web is not as anonymous as criminals may think.” Darknet Disarray As reported by Bitcoin Magazine last week , Wall Street Market had been in a state of turmoil for several weeks. Following a presumed influx of new users from the also-defunct darknet market Dream Market, Wall Street Market operators started pulling an exit scam, reportedly stealing a total of $14 million to $30 million worth of bitcoin and XMR from user accounts. On top of that, some Wall Street Market users were being blackmailed , as one of the website’s moderators threatened to leak identifying information about the users to law enforcement, unless these users paid him 0.05 BTC. As reported by ZDNet, the same moderator went a step further only days later, as he published the IP address and his login credentials to the darknet market on darknet-focused forum Dread. This not only revealed the location of the Wall Street Market server, which was located in the Netherlands, but also allowed anyone access to the website’s administrative section to collect information about users and orders, which reportedly included deanonymizing details like home addresses. It’s likely that this is how law enforcement was able to shut down Wall Street Market and arrest suspects, but this has not been confirmed. The takedown further confirms that the recent “darknet market era,” with Dream Market and Wall Street Market as market leaders, is coming to and end. Wall Street Market is now officially offline, and Dream Market halted trading weeks ago with its future unclear. While a notice on Dream Market predicted it would shut down on April 30, 2019, the website is still up — though with trading still disabled. The Dream Market replacement website is not online either, as the onion address in the notice is unresponsive. On top of that, in the same press release, Interpol announced that Finnish authorities shut down yet another darknet market earlier this year. Valhalla, which was previously known under its Finnish name Silkkitie, was one of the oldest darknet markets online, though, according to Finnish customs, the site had been compromised by them since at least 2017. Still, according to Europol, Valhalla had its contents seized by Finnish Customs only this year, in close cooperation with the French National Police. This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine . || Major Darknet Marketplace Wall Street Market Shuttered by Law Enforcement: Wall Street Market, the second-largest darknet market in the world in recent months, has been shut down by international law enforcement agencies, including Europol as well as U.S., German, Dutch and Romanian law enforcement. Three suspected operators of the online marketplace for illegal goods and services have been arrested in Germany, while some of the highest-selling suppliers of narcotics were arrested in the United States.
Darknet markets are the digital black markets only accessible through the anonymizing Tor browser; they use bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for payment. Since the pioneering Silk Road was shutdown in 2013, such markets have only grown in popularity. According toresearchby blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis published in January 2019, darknet market activity almost doubled throughout 2018, surpassing a yearly volume of $600 million. Back in the days of Silk Road, the record yearly volume never topped $200 million, according to Chainalysis.
One of Silk Road’s recent successors, Wall Street Market, offered a platform for selling illegal drugs as well as weapons, hacking software and stolen login credentials. According to Europol, over 1,150,000 user accounts were registered on Wall Street Market, and over 63,000 offers had been placed on the website by more than 5,400 seller accounts. This made Wall Street Market the second-most popular darknet market at the time of closure, Europol noted, presumably behind Dream Market.
The website was ultimately shutdown by German Federal Criminal Police, under the authority of the German Public Prosecutor’s office, and three suspected operators were arrested. The German police were supported by the Dutch National Police, Europol, Eurojust and various U.S. government agencies including the DEA, FBI, IRS, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the U.S. Department of Justice. German authorities also seized €550,000 (approximately $615,500 USD) in cash and six-figure amounts worth of bitcoin and XMR (monero), as well as several vehicles and other evidence.
Europol’s Executive Director Catherine De Bolle commented in a statementpublishedon the Europol website:
“These two investigations show the importance of law enforcement cooperation at an international level and demonstrate that illegal activity on the dark web is not as anonymous as criminals may think.”
As reported byBitcoin Magazinelast week, Wall Street Market had been in a state of turmoil for several weeks. Following a presumed influx of new users from the also-defunct darknet market Dream Market, Wall Street Market operators started pulling an exit scam, reportedly stealing a total of $14 million to $30 million worth of bitcoin and XMR from user accounts. On top of that, some Wall Street Market users were beingblackmailed, as one of the website’s moderators threatened to leak identifying information about the users to law enforcement, unless these users paid him 0.05 BTC.
Asreportedby ZDNet, the same moderator went a step further only days later, as hepublishedthe IP address and his login credentials to the darknet market on darknet-focused forum Dread. This not only revealed the location of the Wall Street Market server, which was located in the Netherlands, but also allowed anyone access to the website’s administrative section to collect information about users and orders, which reportedly included deanonymizing details like home addresses. It’s likely that this is how law enforcement was able to shut down Wall Street Market and arrest suspects, but this has not been confirmed.
The takedown further confirms that the recent “darknet market era,” with Dream Market and Wall Street Market as market leaders, is coming to and end. Wall Street Market is now officially offline, and Dream Market halted trading weeks ago with its future unclear. While a notice on Dream Market predicted it would shut down on April 30, 2019, the website is still up — though with trading still disabled. The Dream Market replacement website is not online either, as the onion address in the notice is unresponsive.
On top of that, in the same press release, Interpol announced that Finnish authorities shut down yet another darknet market earlier this year. Valhalla, which was previously known under its Finnish name Silkkitie, was one of the oldest darknet markets online, though, according to Finnish customs,the sitehad been compromised by them since at least 2017. Still, according to Europol, Valhalla had its contents seized by Finnish Customs only this year, in close cooperation with the French National Police.
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || Craig Wright Rants About Why Satoshi ‘F*cking’ Abandoned Bitcoin: Craig Wright, who claims to have invented Bitcoin, said that he By CCN : Even as he sues his critics left, right, and center over their refusal to recognize him as Satoshi Nakamoto, self-declared Bitcoin creator Craig Wright continues to drop bombshells that ignite even more controversy. Speaking during a Bitcoin Wednesday event in Amsterdam, the Bitcoin SV figurehead indicated that the only reason he outed himself as Satoshi Nakamoto was to right what had gone wrong with his alleged creation: “Part of why I f*cking disappeared was to have things not controlled, and I have to come back to control things, to get it f*cking not controlled, that’s the freaking irony of this sh*t.” In Wright’s view, Bitcoin’s fundamental protocol changes – real or imagined – contributed to the risk of centralization. This is because protocol changes will require leadership. Inevitably, this means giving someone undue power, and this comes with its own risks. Craig Wright: I Abandoned Bitcoin in 2011 to Avoid Becoming a Target Per Wright, “when you put someone at the top, then you have a target.” He explained that the fear of becoming a target made Satoshi abandon the project in 2011. Said Wright: “I didn’t want that. I wanted not to be the target.” Read the full story on CCN.com . || Craig Wright Rants About Why Satoshi ‘F*cking’ Abandoned Bitcoin: ByCCN: Even as hesueshis critics left, right, and center over their refusal to recognize him as Satoshi Nakamoto, self-declared Bitcoin creator Craig Wright continues to drop bombshells that ignite even more controversy.
Speaking during aBitcoin Wednesdayevent in Amsterdam, the Bitcoin SV figurehead indicated that the only reason he outed himself as Satoshi Nakamoto was to right what had gone wrong with his alleged creation:
“Part of why I f*cking disappeared was to have things not controlled, and I have to come back to control things, to get it f*cking not controlled, that’s the freaking irony of this sh*t.”
In Wright’s view, Bitcoin’s fundamental protocol changes – real or imagined – contributed to the risk of centralization. This is because protocol changes will require leadership. Inevitably, this means giving someone undue power, and this comes with its own risks.
Per Wright, “when you put someone at the top, then you have a target.” He explained that the fear of becoming a target made Satoshi abandon the project in 2011. Said Wright:
“I didn’t want that. I wanted not to be the target.”
[Social Media Buzz]
🔥#videotowhatchtodaty 🔥
#Vimove, oggi, ti consiglia di dare un'occhiata a questo #video di @montemagno : " #Bitcoin ma che succede? Facciamo il punto." Buona visione! 😎
https://t.co/s0utB79BqK
#youtube #youtubeitalia #contentcreator https://t.co/uGj9n2F3o4 || USD: 111.090
EUR: 124.430
GBP: 146.383
AUD: 77.996
NZD: 73.808
CNY: 16.493
CHF: 109.265
BTC: 632,595
ETH: 18,070
Sat May 04 15:00 JST || This makes me more bullish Bitcoin. Stephen Moore, Herman Cain, and Mike Pence all make me bul...
|
5795.71, 5746.81, 5829.50, 5982.46, 6174.53, 6378.85, 7204.77, 6972.37, 7814.92, 7994.42
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 9164.23, 9374.89, 9525.36, 9581.07, 9536.89, 9677.11, 9905.17, 10990.87, 10912.82, 11100.47, 11111.21, 11323.47, 11759.59, 11053.61, 11246.35, 11205.89, 11747.02, 11779.77, 11601.47, 11754.05, 11675.74, 11878.11, 11410.53, 11584.93, 11784.14, 11768.87, 11865.70, 11892.80, 12254.40, 11991.23, 11758.28, 11878.37, 11592.49, 11681.83, 11664.85, 11774.60, 11366.13, 11488.36, 11323.40, 11542.50, 11506.87, 11711.51, 11680.82, 11970.48, 11414.03, 10245.30, 10511.81, 10169.57, 10280.35, 10369.56, 10131.52, 10242.35, 10363.14, 10400.92, 10442.17, 10323.76, 10680.84, 10796.95, 10974.91, 10948.99, 10944.59, 11094.35, 10938.27, 10462.26, 10538.46, 10246.19, 10760.07, 10692.72, 10750.72, 10775.27, 10709.65, 10844.64, 10784.49, 10619.45, 10575.97, 10549.33, 10669.58, 10793.34, 10604.41, 10668.97, 10915.69, 11064.46, 11296.36, 11384.18, 11555.36, 11425.90, 11429.51, 11495.35, 11322.12, 11358.10.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2020-10-17]
Volume: 19130430174, RSI (14-day): 59.17, 50-day EMA: 10947.89, 200-day EMA: 10065.16
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
At $550, Nvidia Is Just Way Too Costly to Justify: It has been a fantastic year for big capitalization tech stocks. And even among that distinguished group,Nvidia’s(NASDAQ:NVDA) results have been noteworthy. NVDA stock is 182% over the past year, and 97% over the past six months.
Source: Antonio Baccardi / Shutterstock.com
However, after a scorching run in recent years, it’s hard to see how the party can continue. Even with Nvidia doing everything right on a corporate level, the stock has simply gotten too far ahead of the underlying business.
It’s important to remember that a stock and a company are two distinct things. Regardless of how great the company is right now, NVDA stock has become a gamble due to its lofty valuation.
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Yes, I realize there’s excitement around a potential deal to acquire Arm Holdings, a leading semiconductor design firm. But even that wouldn’t change Nvidia’s outlook materially in the near-term. Here’s why.
The issue with the potential Arm acquisition deal is this: it’s just notbig enough.
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That may sound weird. After all, Nvidia isoffering $40 billion for Arm. But, put it in context. Nvidia now has a market capitalization of almost $350 billion. A $40 billion deal — while impressive — is only a fraction of NVDA’s current valuation. And Arm is not without its risks, either.
A clear leader within its industry, Arm’s focus on artificial intelligence is promising. It’s a natural fit with Nvidia’s own priorities, and the company could undoubtedly jump-start Arm’s business.
But Arm has also been struggling in recent years.Softbank(OTCMKTS:SFTBY) purchased Arm for a little under$32 billion back in 2016. Since then, it has floundered. The company has failed to turn its technical achievements into commercial success.
While Arm could be an incremental benefit, a floundering asset of this size won’t significantly change Nvidia’s fortunes.
Simply put, there are limits to growth. And NVDA stock is about to hit some of them — at least in the short run. The company already became one of the world’slargest semiconductor firmsearlier this year. From that high vantage point, it’s worth asking just how much farther the stock can realistically go.
Nvidia has returned to earnings and revenue growth this year. But it’s also worth remembering that Nvidia’s revenues for fiscal year ’20 (which ended early this year)dropped 7%and GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) earnings per diluted share dropped 32%.
Fiscal year 2021 will see a solid pick-up, with earnings of $9 per share, according to analyst estimates. However, growth will be moderate going forward, with a forecast in the 20% range for the next five years.
And that simply isn’t impressive enough for a stock that is already over $550. It’s one thing to grow exponentially when you’re a small company. But when you’re already the king of your sector, it gets harder to justify an inflated valuation.
Even with Nvidia’s incredible run over the past five years, it’s important not to forget the painful corrections along the way. Withthe Bitcoin crash in 2018, Nvidia’s graphic card sales slowed when the demand for cryptomining units slid. That loss of momentum came unexpectedly, and resulted in a crushing blow.
In a three-month period in late 2018, NVDA stock lost more than half its value from peak to trough. It took the company until early 2020 to reclaim the ground in lost in that frantic three-month sell-off.
I bring this up because it’s important to remember that — despite Nvidia operational success — it’s earnings are not impenetrable to hiccups. This always happens with growth companies, sooner or later.
And when you’re selling at 52 times forward earnings, and the stock price has more than doubled over the past 12 months, you’re not giving yourself much room for error. In Nvidia’s case, the stock was trading at $250 at the start of 2020. Now it’s at over $550. Would it be a shock if Nvidia’s shares fell back to $400? That’d still be a huge gain for the year. But for anyone buying shares today, it’d be a massive setback.
Nvidia is having a tremendous run, both in its stock price and its business fundamentals. However, the former has far outstripped the latter. Since 2016, Nvidia’s revenues are up a little more than 100%, operating profit has tripled, and earnings are up five-fold. That’s all incredible stuff.
However, NVDA stock is up about 1,700% over the same stretch. That’s simply way ahead of the company’s growth. Nvidia’s market cap has now swollen so much that even a $40 billion acquisition hardly moves the needle. If you are a long-term investor that intends to hold onto Nvidia forever, that’s one thing. But for traders, you’ll almost certainly see much lower NVDA prices over the next year or two.
On the date of publication, Ian Bezek did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
Ian Bezek has written more than 1,000 articles for InvestorPlace.com and Seeking Alpha. He also worked as a Junior Analyst for Kerrisdale Capital, a $300 million New York City-based hedge fund. You can reach him on Twitter at @irbezek.
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The postAt $550, Nvidia Is Just Way Too Costly to Justifyappeared first onInvestorPlace. || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Has Light Response to OKEx While Ether Options Traders Make Beacon Bets: Bitcoin rebounded from an OKEx-related drop; ether options traders may be beacon chain bearish. Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $11,327 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Slipping 2% over the previous 24 hours. Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $11,199-$11,623 BTC below its 10-day moving average but above the 50-day, a sideways signal for market technicians. Bitcoin’s price moved as high as $11,623 late Thursday/early Friday but trades at that height were short-lived. Spot traders punched the sell button around 04:00 UTC (12:00 a.m ET) on the news that Malta-based exchange OKEx suspended withdrawals due to an investigation of a key operations person . Bitcoin fell as low as $11,199 on spot exchanges such as Bitstamp before rebounding a bit, up to $11,327 at press time. Read More: Bitcoin Price Dips 3% on OKEx News, Analysts Aren’t Too Worried Related: 'Boring' Bitcoin Market Sends Miners' Fee Earnings to 3-Month Low Market analysts seem unfazed, saying OKEx’s situation will hardly affect crypto’s long-term fundamentals. Nonetheless, the circumstances seem a bit curious, according to George Clayton, managing partner of investment firm Cryptanalysis Capital. “Kind of weird that a major exchange can be incapacitated by one guy,” Clayton told CoinDesk. “One would have thought that there would be contingency plans in place with that much at stake.” William Purdy, an options trader and founder of analysis firm PurdyAlerts, noted the resilience of the market in the face of negative sentiment. “If this news occured in 2018, the market would have dropped 10%-15%,” he told CoinDesk. “However, now it is supported by the larger equity investors and traditional markets.” Indeed, despite the drop, the price per one bitcoin is still hovering around the $11,400-$11,500 range it has been in since Oct. 9. Related: Stellar CEO to Be Part of IMF Panel on Cross-Border Payments Yet, in the bitcoin options market, traders appear to be preparing for further fallout. Open interest in bitcoin options keeps trending upward, according to Purdy. Story continues Specifically, Purdy sees a trend with an increase in the put/call ratio on bitcoin options. “ High put/call here is bearish positioning by options traders who expect further downside,” he said. These two trends combined reflect the possibility of big market movements in the near-term by options traders. “Bitcoin options open interest keeps climbing as the put-to-call ratio is seen increasing,” said Purdy. “Given the continuous increase in open interest, we will see a large liquidation move in the coming weeks.” Lots of ether options expiring in December The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, ether (ETH), was down Friday trading around $366 and slipping 3.1% in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET). Read More: Will a Sharded Ethereum Be Flexible Enough for Decentralized Finance? Ether traders are loading up on options for a Dec. 25 expiration. As of press time, 439,813 ETH, worth $161,851,184 at current prices, are set to expire on Deribit, the largest options venue in the market. Greg Magadini, co-founder and CEO of data aggregator Genesis Volatility, said the large number of options, mostly positioned short, for December expiration has to do with Ethereum’s plan to upgrade its network. Ethereum 2.0’s initiation will begin with the “beacon chain” where investors will stake ether to help jump-start the network. A date has not yet been set for the beacon chain launch but is expected in 2020. “Ether options remain concentrated in December expiration,” Magadini told CoinDesk. ”Traders are net short in December far out of the money calls. This is most likely related to beacon chain launch positioning.” Other markets Digital assets on the CoinDesk 20 are mostly red Friday. Notable winners as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET): stellar (XLM) + 2.4% 0x (ZRX) + 1.6% chainlink (LINK) + 0.35% Notable losers as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET): monero (XMR) – 8.6% zcash (ZEC) – 7.4% bitcoin sv (BSV) – 5.2% Read More: Reginald Fowler May Reopen Plea Talks in Crypto Capital Case Equities: The Nikkei 225 in Asia closed in the red 0.41% as investors signal concerns about the rising number of coronavirus cases globally . The FTSE 100 ended the day climbing 1.5% as U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson signaled a potential no-deal with the European Union on Brexit . In the United States the S&P 500 gained 0.20%, boosted by positive September retail sales data released by the Commerce Department . Commodities: Oil was down 0.18%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $40.73. Gold was in the red 0.46% and at $1,899 as of press time. Treasurys: U.S. Treasury bond yields all climbed Friday. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were up most on the 10-year, jumping to 0.741 and in the green 0.91%. Related Stories Market Wrap: Bitcoin Has Light Response to OKEx While Ether Options Traders Make Beacon Bets Market Wrap: Bitcoin Has Light Response to OKEx While Ether Options Traders Make Beacon Bets || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Has Light Response to OKEx While Ether Options Traders Make Beacon Bets: Bitcoin rebounded from an OKEx-related drop; ether options traders may be beacon chain bearish. Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $11,327 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Slipping 2% over the previous 24 hours. Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $11,199-$11,623 BTC below its 10-day moving average but above the 50-day, a sideways signal for market technicians. Bitcoin’s price moved as high as $11,623 late Thursday/early Friday but trades at that height were short-lived. Spot traders punched the sell button around 04:00 UTC (12:00 a.m ET) on the news that Malta-based exchange OKEx suspended withdrawals due to an investigation of a key operations person . Bitcoin fell as low as $11,199 on spot exchanges such as Bitstamp before rebounding a bit, up to $11,327 at press time. Read More: Bitcoin Price Dips 3% on OKEx News, Analysts Aren’t Too Worried Related: 'Boring' Bitcoin Market Sends Miners' Fee Earnings to 3-Month Low Market analysts seem unfazed, saying OKEx’s situation will hardly affect crypto’s long-term fundamentals. Nonetheless, the circumstances seem a bit curious, according to George Clayton, managing partner of investment firm Cryptanalysis Capital. “Kind of weird that a major exchange can be incapacitated by one guy,” Clayton told CoinDesk. “One would have thought that there would be contingency plans in place with that much at stake.” William Purdy, an options trader and founder of analysis firm PurdyAlerts, noted the resilience of the market in the face of negative sentiment. “If this news occured in 2018, the market would have dropped 10%-15%,” he told CoinDesk. “However, now it is supported by the larger equity investors and traditional markets.” Indeed, despite the drop, the price per one bitcoin is still hovering around the $11,400-$11,500 range it has been in since Oct. 9. Related: Stellar CEO to Be Part of IMF Panel on Cross-Border Payments Yet, in the bitcoin options market, traders appear to be preparing for further fallout. Open interest in bitcoin options keeps trending upward, according to Purdy. Story continues Specifically, Purdy sees a trend with an increase in the put/call ratio on bitcoin options. “ High put/call here is bearish positioning by options traders who expect further downside,” he said. These two trends combined reflect the possibility of big market movements in the near-term by options traders. “Bitcoin options open interest keeps climbing as the put-to-call ratio is seen increasing,” said Purdy. “Given the continuous increase in open interest, we will see a large liquidation move in the coming weeks.” Lots of ether options expiring in December The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, ether (ETH), was down Friday trading around $366 and slipping 3.1% in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET). Read More: Will a Sharded Ethereum Be Flexible Enough for Decentralized Finance? Ether traders are loading up on options for a Dec. 25 expiration. As of press time, 439,813 ETH, worth $161,851,184 at current prices, are set to expire on Deribit, the largest options venue in the market. Greg Magadini, co-founder and CEO of data aggregator Genesis Volatility, said the large number of options, mostly positioned short, for December expiration has to do with Ethereum’s plan to upgrade its network. Ethereum 2.0’s initiation will begin with the “beacon chain” where investors will stake ether to help jump-start the network. A date has not yet been set for the beacon chain launch but is expected in 2020. “Ether options remain concentrated in December expiration,” Magadini told CoinDesk. ”Traders are net short in December far out of the money calls. This is most likely related to beacon chain launch positioning.” Other markets Digital assets on the CoinDesk 20 are mostly red Friday. Notable winners as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET): stellar (XLM) + 2.4% 0x (ZRX) + 1.6% chainlink (LINK) + 0.35% Notable losers as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET): monero (XMR) – 8.6% zcash (ZEC) – 7.4% bitcoin sv (BSV) – 5.2% Read More: Reginald Fowler May Reopen Plea Talks in Crypto Capital Case Equities: The Nikkei 225 in Asia closed in the red 0.41% as investors signal concerns about the rising number of coronavirus cases globally . The FTSE 100 ended the day climbing 1.5% as U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson signaled a potential no-deal with the European Union on Brexit . In the United States the S&P 500 gained 0.20%, boosted by positive September retail sales data released by the Commerce Department . Commodities: Oil was down 0.18%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $40.73. Gold was in the red 0.46% and at $1,899 as of press time. Treasurys: U.S. Treasury bond yields all climbed Friday. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were up most on the 10-year, jumping to 0.741 and in the green 0.91%. Related Stories Market Wrap: Bitcoin Has Light Response to OKEx While Ether Options Traders Make Beacon Bets Market Wrap: Bitcoin Has Light Response to OKEx While Ether Options Traders Make Beacon Bets || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Has Light Response to OKEx While Ether Options Traders Make Beacon Bets: Bitcoin rebounded from an OKEx-related drop; ether options traders may be beacon chain bearish. Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $11,327 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Slipping 2% over the previous 24 hours. Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $11,199-$11,623 BTC below its 10-day moving average but above the 50-day, a sideways signal for market technicians. Bitcoin’s price moved as high as $11,623 late Thursday/early Friday but trades at that height were short-lived. Spot traders punched the sell button around 04:00 UTC (12:00 a.m ET) on the news that Malta-based exchange OKEx suspended withdrawals due to an investigation of a key operations person . Bitcoin fell as low as $11,199 on spot exchanges such as Bitstamp before rebounding a bit, up to $11,327 at press time. Read More: Bitcoin Price Dips 3% on OKEx News, Analysts Aren’t Too Worried Related: 'Boring' Bitcoin Market Sends Miners' Fee Earnings to 3-Month Low Market analysts seem unfazed, saying OKEx’s situation will hardly affect crypto’s long-term fundamentals. Nonetheless, the circumstances seem a bit curious, according to George Clayton, managing partner of investment firm Cryptanalysis Capital. “Kind of weird that a major exchange can be incapacitated by one guy,” Clayton told CoinDesk. “One would have thought that there would be contingency plans in place with that much at stake.” William Purdy, an options trader and founder of analysis firm PurdyAlerts, noted the resilience of the market in the face of negative sentiment. “If this news occured in 2018, the market would have dropped 10%-15%,” he told CoinDesk. “However, now it is supported by the larger equity investors and traditional markets.” Indeed, despite the drop, the price per one bitcoin is still hovering around the $11,400-$11,500 range it has been in since Oct. 9. Related: Stellar CEO to Be Part of IMF Panel on Cross-Border Payments Yet, in the bitcoin options market, traders appear to be preparing for further fallout. Open interest in bitcoin options keeps trending upward, according to Purdy. Story continues Specifically, Purdy sees a trend with an increase in the put/call ratio on bitcoin options. “ High put/call here is bearish positioning by options traders who expect further downside,” he said. These two trends combined reflect the possibility of big market movements in the near-term by options traders. “Bitcoin options open interest keeps climbing as the put-to-call ratio is seen increasing,” said Purdy. “Given the continuous increase in open interest, we will see a large liquidation move in the coming weeks.” Lots of ether options expiring in December The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, ether (ETH), was down Friday trading around $366 and slipping 3.1% in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET). Read More: Will a Sharded Ethereum Be Flexible Enough for Decentralized Finance? Ether traders are loading up on options for a Dec. 25 expiration. As of press time, 439,813 ETH, worth $161,851,184 at current prices, are set to expire on Deribit, the largest options venue in the market. Greg Magadini, co-founder and CEO of data aggregator Genesis Volatility, said the large number of options, mostly positioned short, for December expiration has to do with Ethereum’s plan to upgrade its network. Ethereum 2.0’s initiation will begin with the “beacon chain” where investors will stake ether to help jump-start the network. A date has not yet been set for the beacon chain launch but is expected in 2020. “Ether options remain concentrated in December expiration,” Magadini told CoinDesk. ”Traders are net short in December far out of the money calls. This is most likely related to beacon chain launch positioning.” Other markets Digital assets on the CoinDesk 20 are mostly red Friday. Notable winners as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET): stellar (XLM) + 2.4% 0x (ZRX) + 1.6% chainlink (LINK) + 0.35% Notable losers as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET): monero (XMR) – 8.6% zcash (ZEC) – 7.4% bitcoin sv (BSV) – 5.2% Read More: Reginald Fowler May Reopen Plea Talks in Crypto Capital Case Equities: The Nikkei 225 in Asia closed in the red 0.41% as investors signal concerns about the rising number of coronavirus cases globally . The FTSE 100 ended the day climbing 1.5% as U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson signaled a potential no-deal with the European Union on Brexit . In the United States the S&P 500 gained 0.20%, boosted by positive September retail sales data released by the Commerce Department . Commodities: Oil was down 0.18%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $40.73. Gold was in the red 0.46% and at $1,899 as of press time. Treasurys: U.S. Treasury bond yields all climbed Friday. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were up most on the 10-year, jumping to 0.741 and in the green 0.91%. Related Stories Market Wrap: Bitcoin Has Light Response to OKEx While Ether Options Traders Make Beacon Bets Market Wrap: Bitcoin Has Light Response to OKEx While Ether Options Traders Make Beacon Bets || ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2020 /ALT 5 Sigma Inc. an emerging leader in blockchain powered financial platforms provides its daily digital instruments market summary for Bitcoin (BTC/USD), Ether (ETH/USD), Litecoin (LTC/USD).
Real-Time Market Data is available atwww.alt5pro.comand Real-Time Market Data feed is also available atwww.alt5sigma.com
ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH
About ALT 5 Sigma Inc.
ALT 5 is a fintech company specializing in the development and deployment of digital assets trading and exchange platforms. Alt 5 was founded by financial industry specialists out of the necessity to provide the digital asset economy with security, accessibility, transparency and compliance.
ALT 5 provides its clients the ability to buy, sell and hold digital assets in a safe and secure environment deployed with the best practices of the financial industry. ALT 5's products and services are available to Banks, Broker Dealers, Funds, Family Offices, Professional Traders, Retail Traders, Digital Asset Exchanges, Digital Asset Brokers, Blockchain Developers, and Financial Information Providers.
ALT 5's digital asset custodian services are secured by GardaWorld. GardaWorld is the world's largest privately-owned business solutions and security services company, offering cash management services.
For more information, visitwww.alt5sigma.com.
Contact:
Andre BeauchesneTel. [email protected]
For more information on ALT 5 Pay, visitwww.alt5pay.comFor more information on ALT 5 Pro, visitwww.alt5pro.com
SOURCE:ALT 5 Sigma Inc.
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/610858/ALT-5-Sigma-Digital-Instrument-Market-Summary-for-BTC-ETH-LTC-BCH || ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2020 /ALT 5 Sigma Inc. an emerging leader in blockchain powered financial platforms provides its daily digital instruments market summary for Bitcoin (BTC/USD), Ether (ETH/USD), Litecoin (LTC/USD).
Real-Time Market Data is available atwww.alt5pro.comand Real-Time Market Data feed is also available atwww.alt5sigma.com
ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH
About ALT 5 Sigma Inc.
ALT 5 is a fintech company specializing in the development and deployment of digital assets trading and exchange platforms. Alt 5 was founded by financial industry specialists out of the necessity to provide the digital asset economy with security, accessibility, transparency and compliance.
ALT 5 provides its clients the ability to buy, sell and hold digital assets in a safe and secure environment deployed with the best practices of the financial industry. ALT 5's products and services are available to Banks, Broker Dealers, Funds, Family Offices, Professional Traders, Retail Traders, Digital Asset Exchanges, Digital Asset Brokers, Blockchain Developers, and Financial Information Providers.
ALT 5's digital asset custodian services are secured by GardaWorld. GardaWorld is the world's largest privately-owned business solutions and security services company, offering cash management services.
For more information, visitwww.alt5sigma.com.
Contact:
Andre BeauchesneTel. [email protected]
For more information on ALT 5 Pay, visitwww.alt5pay.comFor more information on ALT 5 Pro, visitwww.alt5pro.com
SOURCE:ALT 5 Sigma Inc.
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/610858/ALT-5-Sigma-Digital-Instrument-Market-Summary-for-BTC-ETH-LTC-BCH || ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / October 16, 2020 / ALT 5 Sigma Inc. an emerging leader in blockchain powered financial platforms provides its daily digital instruments market summary for Bitcoin (BTC/USD), Ether (ETH/USD), Litecoin (LTC/USD). Real-Time Market Data is available at www.alt5pro.com and Real-Time Market Data feed is also available at www.alt5sigma.com ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH About ALT 5 Sigma Inc. ALT 5 is a fintech company specializing in the development and deployment of digital assets trading and exchange platforms. Alt 5 was founded by financial industry specialists out of the necessity to provide the digital asset economy with security, accessibility, transparency and compliance. ALT 5 provides its clients the ability to buy, sell and hold digital assets in a safe and secure environment deployed with the best practices of the financial industry. ALT 5's products and services are available to Banks, Broker Dealers, Funds, Family Offices, Professional Traders, Retail Traders, Digital Asset Exchanges, Digital Asset Brokers, Blockchain Developers, and Financial Information Providers. ALT 5's digital asset custodian services are secured by GardaWorld. GardaWorld is the world's largest privately-owned business solutions and security services company, offering cash management services. For more information, visit www.alt5sigma.com . Contact: Andre Beauchesne Tel. 1-800-204-6203 [email protected] For more information on ALT 5 Pay, visit www.alt5pay.com For more information on ALT 5 Pro, visit www.alt5pro.com SOURCE: ALT 5 Sigma Inc. View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/610858/ALT-5-Sigma-Digital-Instrument-Market-Summary-for-BTC-ETH-LTC-BCH View comments || Huobi Guarantees Normal Operations During OKEx’s Suspension of Crypto Withdrawals: The Huobi cryptocurrency exchange assured users its trading platform is “currently operating normally” after one of its biggest competitors, OKEx, announced it suspended all cryptocurrency withdrawals indefinitely. “Huobi’s cold wallet uses multi-signature and threshold signature technology to ensure the security of the private key signature process,” Ciara Sun, vice president of Huobi Global Markets, told CoinDesk in a Wechat message. “Multiple people and multiple backups ensure the availability of the private key.” While one would expect exchanges like Huobi would benefit from OKEx’s news – as in the BitMex case, where large bitcoin outflows from the exchange went to its competitors – that doesn’t appear to have happened because of growing concern about Huobi’s operations due to two exchanges’ large user base in China. Related: Filecoin Miners Go On Strike One Day After Mainnet Launch, Prompting Early Reward Release “Huobi’s platform is currently operating normally,” Sun said. Read more: Huobi and OKEx Battle for Supremacy in China There was speculation Huobi may have loaned assets to OKEx but, according to data provided by CryptoQuant, 997 BTC was transferred from Huobi to Binance at 10:21:30 UTC Friday, Oct. 16,. That transfer was also captured earlier by Twitter account @whale_alert, but was mistakenly said to have gone to OKEx. “This was a normal withdrawal behavior,” Sun told CoinDesk about the transfer. “It did not trigger risk control and did not involve illegal operations. We cannot disclose our user information.” Related: Crypto Long & Short: The OKEx Drama Exposes a Weakness in Crypto Market Infrastructure Huobi does not appear to be negatively affected by the situation at OKEx either. “At this time there’s no evidence to support that this could extend to Huobi as well,” Matthew Graham, chief executive officer of Beijing-based crypto consultancy Sino Capital, said in a direct message on Twitter with CoinDesk. “Our current understanding is that this is an issue that’s specific to OKEx.” Story continues Sun told CoinDesk that Huobi has “invested” in anti-money laundering and fraud prevention “for a long time.” Both Huobi and OKEx maintain close ties to the Chinese government despite moving offices out of the country after a crackdown on crypto trading in 2017. As regulators got tough on such things as initial coin offerings (ICO), representatives of BTCC, the first bitcoin cryptocurrency exchange in China, OKEx (OKCoin at the time) and Huobi met with officials from the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and were warned to follow laws and regulation requirements closely. In the aftermath of 2017, BTCC sold its entity to a Hong Kong-based blockchain investment fund while Huobi and OKEx essentially got a pass by moving their operations overseas. OKEx is headquartered in Hong Kong while being officially based in Malta. Huobi is based in Seychelles, the company’s PR representative told CoinDesk previously , and has offices in Singapore. According to people familiar with the matter, that is partly due to both exchanges having a closer relationship with the Chinese government. Read more: OKEx Suspends Withdrawals, Says Key Holder Not Available Due to Cooperation With Investigation Huobi has a branch in China that is part of a group working with the government to build perhaps one of the most influential blockchain infrastructure projects in the country. The world’s biggest crypto exchange by trading volume, Binance, which also started in China, did not immediately respond to CoinDesk’s requests for comment. Related Stories Huobi Guarantees Normal Operations During OKEx’s Suspension of Crypto Withdrawals Huobi Guarantees Normal Operations During OKEx’s Suspension of Crypto Withdrawals || Blockchain Bites: OKEx Freezes Withdrawals, DeFi Audits Queue, Nigeria Urges Crypto Adoption: OKEx has frozen withdrawals, audit firms are experiencing a backlog of DeFi projects and the Trump administration is examining DLT for national defense. Top shelf Audit (back)logs Crypto code audit firms say they are swamped with decentralized finance (DeFi) projects. Three of the most well-regarded auditors in the space – OpenZeppelin, Quantstamp and Trail of Bits – told CoinDesk’s William Foxley they are all booked until at least Q1 2021. For example, Quantstamp’s Juliano Martinez said the “high volume” of applicants has led to his company “rejecting lots of projects.” The months-long backlog comes amid a sharp pullback across the $11 billion DeFi market, with most tokens down 19% over the last 30 days, according to Messari. Bitcoin grants Coinbase is sponsoring at least two Bitcoin Core developers with its new Crypto Community Fund. The San Francisco-based exchange announced the grant program Thursday, after years of pushback from the crypto community that Coinbase was profiting from bitcoin’s open-source nature without paying in. Direct contributions to and review of Bitcoin Core, contributor tooling, Bitcoin libraries and testing improvements are all applicable to the grant program. Coinbase would not reveal the size of the fund but did say in an emailed statement that it hopes to increase the fund over time. Related: Money Reimagined: How Ethereum 2.0's 'Lockup' Will Drive DeFi Innovation DLT defense The Trump Administration has included “distributed ledger technologies” (DLT) in its strategy for preserving America’s technological supremacy over China and Russia. DLT is one of 20 focus areas on the National Security Council’s “critical and emerging technologies” shortlist, released Thursday. The NSC’s strategy calls for investing in, developing, adopting and promoting the priority technologies, which also include AI, data science, quantum computing and “space technologies,” weapons of mass destruction mitigation technologies, and others. Story continues Election 2020 The Associated Press has teamed up with Wikipedia alternative Everipedia to preserve the 2020 U.S. election results. More than 7,000 state and national election race calls will be recorded on Everipedia’s EOS -based platform. Once a race is called, that information is entered into another internal AP system. Everipedia will pull the final declaration from an API and record it on its own ledger, permanently storing what AP sees as the final result. That said, race calls themselves will be recorded on the Ethereum blockchain and Chainlink will serve as intermediary between the AP data and Everipedia. Digital Nigeria Nigeria’s federal government is reportedly developing an ambitious plan to facilitate national crypto adoption with the vision of creating a “Digital Nigeria.” According to an early draft of the strategy framework obtained by local publication Technology Times, the country’s Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) have partnered to develop a blueprint for national blockchain adoption. Nigeria’s mission is to drive adoption of the technology in public administration, leading to improved efficiency, transparency and accountability, according to the document. Quick bites Op-ed: Five Machine Learning Methods Crypto Traders Should Know About (Jesus Rodriguez/CoinDesk) Digital Yuan Rolls Out for Use in Shenzhen Gas Stations (Shaurya Malwa/Decrypt) Atari Seeks New Cachet With Crypto — And a Return to Hardware (Bloomberg) Tether volume hits $600B as it attempts to take on Bitcoin as crypto’s benchmark (Martin Young/CoinTelegraph) Op-ed: China’s Digital Yuan Blurs the Lines Between CBDCs and Crypto (Tanvi Ratna/CoinDesk) At stake Everything OK? Crypto’s reaction to news of one of the industry’s most active spot and derivatives exchanges, OKEx, pausing withdrawals has been decidedly muted. Related: First Mover: OKEx Private Key Snafu Sends Bitcoin Lower as China DeFi Rises Friday morning local time, the Hong Kong-headquartered (but Malta-based) trading platform announced it has suspended all cryptocurrency withdrawals indefinitely. One of the necessary signatories, OKEx co-founder Mingxing “Star” Xu, had been taken into police custody. Bitcoin dropped approximately 3% on the news. Most other large-cap cryptos also fell. OKEx CEO Jay Hao said over Weibo the key holder’s cooperation with officials was due to a “personal issue” and the investigation would not affect the business. The exchange clarified hours later, “funds are safe and all other functions on OKEx are unaffected.” Approximately 200,000 bitcoins – worth some $2.3 billion – are currently held in OKEx wallets, according to Glassnode. The company claims on its website to serve millions of customers in 100 countries. Star – taken into custody a week ago for unknown, though supposedly “personal” reasons – being out of touch prevented withdrawal authorization from being completed. “We will resume digital assets/cryptocurrencies withdrawals immediately once the concerned private key holder is able to authorize the transaction,” the exchange wrote. The incident draws parallels to last year’s collapse of QuadrigaX, a Canadian exchange that held its and customer assets in cold storage protected by a single key setup. That signatory has died under mysterious circumstances, leading to an ongoing effort to return assets to their owners. “Read between the lines – OKEx has a single point of failure in their key management architecture, and it’s currently failing,” Jameson Lopp , CTO of Casa, tweeted. He added later, “Either they have a distributed redundant setup as claimed on their security page OR there is a single key holder whose disappearance halts spending.” Others have noted OKEx previously boasted of its contingency plans put in place for such scenarios. In either case, with approximately 1.1% of the total circulating BTC supply currently frozen, market analysts remain cool-headed. “I don’t think BTC will necessarily dive from here; the fund flow may look for venues that are based in countries with clearer regulatory stance and policy outlook,” Denis Vinokourov, head of research at London-based prime brokerage Bequant, told CoinDesk’s Omkar Godbole. That said, larger macro forces are likely at play, including a devastating U.S. unemployment report Thursday, slipping stocks and whipsaw U.S. stimulus talks. Who won #CryptoTwitter? Related Stories Blockchain Bites: OKEx Freezes Withdrawals, DeFi Audits Queue, Nigeria Urges Crypto Adoption Blockchain Bites: OKEx Freezes Withdrawals, DeFi Audits Queue, Nigeria Urges Crypto Adoption || Blockchain Bites: OKEx Freezes Withdrawals, DeFi Audits Queue, Nigeria Urges Crypto Adoption: OKEx has frozen withdrawals, audit firms are experiencing a backlog of DeFi projects and the Trump administration is examining DLT for national defense.
Audit (back)logsCrypto codeaudit firms say they are swamped with decentralized finance (DeFi) projects.Three of the most well-regarded auditors in the space – OpenZeppelin, Quantstamp and Trail of Bits – told CoinDesk’s William Foxley they are all booked until at least Q1 2021. For example, Quantstamp’s Juliano Martinez said the “high volume” of applicants has led to his company “rejecting lots of projects.” The months-long backlog comes amid a sharp pullback across the $11 billion DeFi market, with most tokens down 19% over the last 30 days, according to Messari.
Bitcoin grantsCoinbase is sponsoringat least two Bitcoin Core developerswith its new Crypto Community Fund. The San Francisco-based exchange announced the grant program Thursday, after years of pushback from the crypto community that Coinbase was profiting frombitcoin’sopen-source nature without paying in. Direct contributions to and review of Bitcoin Core, contributor tooling, Bitcoin libraries and testing improvements are all applicable to the grant program. Coinbase would not reveal the size of the fund but did say in an emailed statement that it hopes to increase the fund over time.
Related:Money Reimagined: How Ethereum 2.0's 'Lockup' Will Drive DeFi Innovation
DLT defenseThe Trump Administration has included “distributed ledger technologies” (DLT) in itsstrategy for preserving America’s technological supremacyover China and Russia. DLT is one of 20 focus areas on the National Security Council’s “critical and emerging technologies” shortlist, released Thursday. The NSC’s strategy calls for investing in, developing, adopting and promoting the priority technologies, which also include AI, data science, quantum computing and “space technologies,” weapons of mass destruction mitigation technologies, and others.
Election 2020TheAssociated Press has teamed up with Wikipedia alternative Everipediato preserve the 2020 U.S. election results. More than 7,000 state and national election race calls will be recorded on Everipedia’sEOS-based platform. Once a race is called, that information is entered into another internal AP system. Everipedia will pull the final declaration from an API and record it on its own ledger, permanently storing what AP sees as the final result. That said, race calls themselves will be recorded on the Ethereum blockchain and Chainlink will serve as intermediary between the AP data and Everipedia.
Digital NigeriaNigeria’s federal government isreportedly developing an ambitious plan to facilitate national crypto adoptionwith the vision of creating a “Digital Nigeria.” According to an early draft of the strategy framework obtained by local publication Technology Times, the country’s Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) have partnered to develop a blueprint for national blockchain adoption. Nigeria’s mission is to drive adoption of the technology in public administration, leading to improved efficiency, transparency and accountability, according to the document.
• Op-ed: Five Machine Learning Methods Crypto Traders Should Know About(Jesus Rodriguez/CoinDesk)
• Digital Yuan Rolls Out for Use in Shenzhen Gas Stations(Shaurya Malwa/Decrypt)
• Atari Seeks New Cachet With Crypto — And a Return to Hardware(Bloomberg)
• Tether volume hits $600B as it attempts to take on Bitcoin as crypto’s benchmark(Martin Young/CoinTelegraph)
• Op-ed: China’s Digital Yuan Blurs the Lines Between CBDCs and Crypto(Tanvi Ratna/CoinDesk)
Everything OK?Crypto’s reaction to news of one of the industry’s most active spot and derivatives exchanges, OKEx,pausing withdrawalshas been decidedly muted.
Related:First Mover: OKEx Private Key Snafu Sends Bitcoin Lower as China DeFi Rises
Friday morning local time, the Hong Kong-headquartered (but Malta-based) trading platform announced it has suspended all cryptocurrency withdrawals indefinitely. One of the necessary signatories, OKEx co-founder Mingxing “Star” Xu, had been taken intopolice custody.
Bitcoin dropped approximately 3% on the news. Most other large-cap cryptos also fell.
OKEx CEO Jay Hao said over Weibo the key holder’s cooperation with officials was due to a “personal issue” and the investigation would not affect the business. The exchange clarified hours later, “funds are safe and all other functions on OKEx are unaffected.”
Approximately 200,000 bitcoins – worth some $2.3 billion – are currently held in OKEx wallets, according to Glassnode. The company claims on its website to serve millions of customers in 100 countries.
Star – taken into custody a week ago for unknown, thoughsupposedly “personal” reasons– being out of touch prevented withdrawal authorization from being completed. “We will resume digital assets/cryptocurrencies withdrawals immediately once the concerned private key holder is able to authorize the transaction,” the exchange wrote.
The incident draws parallels to last year’s collapse of QuadrigaX, a Canadian exchange that held its and customer assets in cold storage protected by a single key setup. That signatory has died under mysterious circumstances, leading to an ongoing effort to return assets to their owners.
“Read between the lines – OKEx has a single point of failure in their key management architecture, and it’s currently failing,”Jameson Lopp, CTO of Casa, tweeted. He added later, “Either they have a distributed redundant setup as claimed on their security page OR there is a single key holder whose disappearance halts spending.”
Others have noted OKEx previously boasted of its contingency plans put in place for such scenarios.
In either case, with approximately 1.1% of the total circulatingBTCsupply currently frozen,market analysts remain cool-headed.
“I don’t think BTC will necessarily dive from here; the fund flow may look for venues that are based in countries with clearer regulatory stance and policy outlook,” Denis Vinokourov, head of research at London-based prime brokerage Bequant, told CoinDesk’s Omkar Godbole.
That said, larger macro forces are likely at play, including a devastatingU.S. unemployment reportThursday, slipping stocks andwhipsaw U.S. stimulus talks.
• Blockchain Bites: OKEx Freezes Withdrawals, DeFi Audits Queue, Nigeria Urges Crypto Adoption
• Blockchain Bites: OKEx Freezes Withdrawals, DeFi Audits Queue, Nigeria Urges Crypto Adoption || eToro's Founder On Buying Bitcoin In 2011, US Expansion, How Dinner With Warren Buffett Changed His Life: Yoni Assia, the founder and CEO of eToro joined Benzingas PreMarket Prep this week. Israel-based eToro is a trading platform that became popular because it was an early adopter of cryptocurrency trading. Now the platform is expanding into the U.S. market and branching out into stock trading. Focusing On Crypto: Assia and eToro decided to start the platform by focusing primarily on cryptocurrency trading, and the company even invested in bitcoin at a price of around $5 back in 2011. Related Link: Bolton Says Trump Wanted Mnuchin To 'Go After Bitcoin' For Fraud: Report When I saw bitcoin for the first time in 2010 and I made a couple of transactions on the bitcoin protocol, I immediately fell in love with the fact that everything settles, reconciles and clears in real time," Assia told Benzinga. "When I made my first bitcoin transaction, I always say it was very similar to when I connected to the internet for the first time back in '95. It was like an "a-ha" moment, saying 'wow, you can actually move money online in real time, globally,' and I fell in love with the technology. Bitcoin Bubble: During the bitcoin bubble in 2017, eToro went from opening about 200 new funded accounts per day to opening 20,000 new accounts per day. We went 100x. We had to hire like crazy ... it was exciting because it really prepared us for what we saw this year. We always say theres two pivotal moments that weve seen we saw the crypto rally and we are seeing the corona rally, he said. The company originally focused on the European market before expanding to Asia and then launching cryptocurrency trading in the U.S. You can trade 15 of the top cryptocurrencies, which represent 90% of the market cap and volume [in the crypto markets]. You can copy top traders on the platform who generate significant returns and beat the crypto indices, Assia said of eToro. Story continues The platform plans to launch commission-free stock trading in the U.S. in 2021. Assia's Dinner With Buffett: Earlier this year, cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun paid $4.6 million as part of a charity auction to have dinner with legendary Wall Street investor and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-A ) (NYSE: BRK-B ) CEO Warren Buffett. Buffett has long been a critic of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and Assia was one of Suns guests at the charity dinner with Buffett. Assia, who is also a big fan of stock investing, asked Buffett if he thinks he could repeat his historical success of the past 50 years over the next 30 to 50 years. He tells me Id probably make more because I know more. Capital markets work. If you understand how capital markets work, if you invest in companies you believe in, if you analyze the financial results of these companies and understand their moat, you can and will generate double-digit returns in the next 30 to 50 years, Assia said. Bullish On Bitcoin: The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (Btc) (OTC: GBTC ) is up 52% in 2020, and Assia said he sees more upside ahead for bitcoin and ethereum. Im bullish around crypto markets. I think the long-term macro view of both BTC and ETH are very good ... I very much believe it should be a part of your portfolio. Watch to the full interview with Yoni Assia in the clip below, or listen to the podcast here PreMarket Prep is a daily trading show hosted by prop trader Dennis Dick and former floor trader Joel Elconin. You can watch PreMarket Prep live every day from 8-9 a.m. ET Benzinga's YouTube channel , and the podcast is on Spotify , iTunes , Google Play, Soundcloud, Stitcher and Tunein. See more from Benzinga Options Trades For This Crazy Market: Get Benzinga Options to Follow High-Conviction Trade Ideas Boeing 737 Max Cleared For Takeoff After 19-Month Grounding, European Regulator Says How The 'SIT Process' Can Ensure A Comfortable Retirement And Financial Freedom © 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || eToro's Founder On Buying Bitcoin In 2011, US Expansion, How Dinner With Warren Buffett Changed His Life: Yoni Assia, the founder and CEO of eToro joined Benzinga’sPreMarket Prepthis week.
Israel-based eToro is a trading platform that became popular because it was an early adopter of cryptocurrency trading. Now the platform is expanding into the U.S. market and branching out into stock trading.
Focusing On Crypto:Assia and eToro decided to start the platform by focusing primarily on cryptocurrency trading, and the company even invested in bitcoin at a price of around $5 back in 2011.
Related Link:Bolton Says Trump Wanted Mnuchin To 'Go After Bitcoin' For Fraud: Report
“When I saw bitcoin for the first time in 2010 and I made a couple of transactions on the bitcoin protocol, I immediately fell in love with the fact that everything settles, reconciles and clears in real time," Assia told Benzinga.
"When I made my first bitcoin transaction, I always say it was very similar to when I connected to the internet for the first time back in '95. It was like an "a-ha" moment, saying 'wow, you can actually move money online in real time, globally,' and I fell in love with the technology.”
Bitcoin Bubble:During the bitcoin bubble in 2017, eToro went from opening about 200 new funded accounts per day to opening 20,000 new accounts per day.
“We went 100x. We had to hire like crazy ... it was exciting because it really prepared us for what we saw this year. We always say there’s two pivotal moments that we’ve seen — we saw the crypto rally and we are seeing the corona rally,” he said.
The company originally focused on the European market before expanding to Asia and then launching cryptocurrency trading in the U.S.
“You can trade 15 of the top cryptocurrencies, which represent 90% of the market cap and volume [in the crypto markets]. You can copy top traders on the platform who generate significant returns and beat the crypto indices,” Assia said of eToro.
The platform plans to launch commission-free stock trading in the U.S. in 2021.
Assia's Dinner With Buffett:Earlier this year, cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun paid $4.6 million as part of a charity auction to have dinner with legendary Wall Street investor andBerkshire Hathaway Inc.(NYSE:BRK-A) (NYSE:BRK-B) CEO Warren Buffett.
Buffett has long been a critic of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and Assia was one of Sun’s guests at the charity dinner with Buffett.
Assia, who is also a big fan of stock investing, asked Buffett if he thinks he could repeat his historical success of the past 50 years over the next 30 to 50 years.
“He tells me I’d probably make more because I know more. Capital markets work. If you understand how capital markets work, if you invest in companies you believe in, if you analyze the financial results of these companies and understand their moat, you can and will generate double-digit returns in the next 30 to 50 years,” Assia said.
Bullish On Bitcoin:The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (Btc)(OTC:GBTC) is up 52% in 2020, and Assia said he sees more upside ahead for bitcoin and ethereum.
“I’m bullish around crypto markets. I think the long-term macro view of both BTC and ETH are very good ... I very much believe it should be a part of your portfolio.”
Watch to the full interview with Yoni Assia in the clip below, or listen to the podcasthere
PreMarket Prep is a daily trading show hosted by prop trader Dennis Dick and former floor trader Joel Elconin. You can watch PreMarket Prep live every day from 8-9 a.m. ETBenzinga's YouTube channel, and the podcast is onSpotify,iTunes, Google Play, Soundcloud, Stitcher and Tunein.
See more from Benzinga
• Options Trades For This Crazy Market: Get Benzinga Options to Follow High-Conviction Trade Ideas
• Boeing 737 Max Cleared For Takeoff After 19-Month Grounding, European Regulator Says
• How The 'SIT Process' Can Ensure A Comfortable Retirement And Financial Freedom
© 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || eToro's Founder On Buying Bitcoin In 2011, US Expansion, How Dinner With Warren Buffett Changed His Life: Yoni Assia, the founder and CEO of eToro joined Benzinga’sPreMarket Prepthis week.
Israel-based eToro is a trading platform that became popular because it was an early adopter of cryptocurrency trading. Now the platform is expanding into the U.S. market and branching out into stock trading.
Focusing On Crypto:Assia and eToro decided to start the platform by focusing primarily on cryptocurrency trading, and the company even invested in bitcoin at a price of around $5 back in 2011.
Related Link:Bolton Says Trump Wanted Mnuchin To 'Go After Bitcoin' For Fraud: Report
“When I saw bitcoin for the first time in 2010 and I made a couple of transactions on the bitcoin protocol, I immediately fell in love with the fact that everything settles, reconciles and clears in real time," Assia told Benzinga.
"When I made my first bitcoin transaction, I always say it was very similar to when I connected to the internet for the first time back in '95. It was like an "a-ha" moment, saying 'wow, you can actually move money online in real time, globally,' and I fell in love with the technology.”
Bitcoin Bubble:During the bitcoin bubble in 2017, eToro went from opening about 200 new funded accounts per day to opening 20,000 new accounts per day.
“We went 100x. We had to hire like crazy ... it was exciting because it really prepared us for what we saw this year. We always say there’s two pivotal moments that we’ve seen — we saw the crypto rally and we are seeing the corona rally,” he said.
The company originally focused on the European market before expanding to Asia and then launching cryptocurrency trading in the U.S.
“You can trade 15 of the top cryptocurrencies, which represent 90% of the market cap and volume [in the crypto markets]. You can copy top traders on the platform who generate significant returns and beat the crypto indices,” Assia said of eToro.
The platform plans to launch commission-free stock trading in the U.S. in 2021.
Assia's Dinner With Buffett:Earlier this year, cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun paid $4.6 million as part of a charity auction to have dinner with legendary Wall Street investor andBerkshire Hathaway Inc.(NYSE:BRK-A) (NYSE:BRK-B) CEO Warren Buffett.
Buffett has long been a critic of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and Assia was one of Sun’s guests at the charity dinner with Buffett.
Assia, who is also a big fan of stock investing, asked Buffett if he thinks he could repeat his historical success of the past 50 years over the next 30 to 50 years.
“He tells me I’d probably make more because I know more. Capital markets work. If you understand how capital markets work, if you invest in companies you believe in, if you analyze the financial results of these companies and understand their moat, you can and will generate double-digit returns in the next 30 to 50 years,” Assia said.
Bullish On Bitcoin:The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (Btc)(OTC:GBTC) is up 52% in 2020, and Assia said he sees more upside ahead for bitcoin and ethereum.
“I’m bullish around crypto markets. I think the long-term macro view of both BTC and ETH are very good ... I very much believe it should be a part of your portfolio.”
Watch to the full interview with Yoni Assia in the clip below, or listen to the podcasthere
PreMarket Prep is a daily trading show hosted by prop trader Dennis Dick and former floor trader Joel Elconin. You can watch PreMarket Prep live every day from 8-9 a.m. ETBenzinga's YouTube channel, and the podcast is onSpotify,iTunes, Google Play, Soundcloud, Stitcher and Tunein.
See more from Benzinga
• Options Trades For This Crazy Market: Get Benzinga Options to Follow High-Conviction Trade Ideas
• Boeing 737 Max Cleared For Takeoff After 19-Month Grounding, European Regulator Says
• How The 'SIT Process' Can Ensure A Comfortable Retirement And Financial Freedom
© 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Money Reimagined: How Ethereum 2.0’s ‘Lockup’ Will Drive DeFi Innovation: The “Summer of DeFi” might be over, but a looming event will give DeFi engineers a great incentive to crank up their “lego” innovation model and build more decentralized finance products: the Ethereum 2.0 upgrade. (See CoinDesk’s explainer here .) With thousands of Ethereum 2.0 validators expected to stash more than 500,000 ether in a restrictive multi-year lockup, there will be significant demand for a creative solution that unlocks the value of those funds without undermining the upgrade mission. DeFi innovators will be happy to oblige. It’s a process of demand and supply that’s similar to how Wall Street’s “engineers” respond with new financial instruments when rules imposed on traditional markets put constraints on investors. It matters not that the behavior-constraining rules are imposed by a government regulator or, in the Ethereum 2.0 case, by a protocol. Constraints create an incentive for financial creativity. Related: Decentralized Data Storage's Only Competition Is the Public Cloud Also, as with many Wall Street inventions, this one will create an interesting byproduct. As markets arise in the new instruments, their price signals will indicate how people think this massive Ethereum protocol change is performing. The lockup As discussed during CoinDesk’s invest: ethereum economy conference this past Wednesday, “phase 0” of Ethereum’s migration to a proof-of-stake blockchain involves having 16,384 validators each commit to place 32 ETH in a soon-to-be-announced deposit contract. Those tokens will then be “staked” to secure and govern a new parallel Ethereum blockchain known as Beacon , which will function as a live environment for testing the proof-of-stake system to which all of Ethereum will eventually migrate. The key point is that the locked ETH cannot be sent back to the original Ethereum blockchain and cannot be accessed until the two systems are merged and the duplicate ETH on the legacy chain destroyed. Story continues The current timeline for the lockup is 18 months, but given how long it has taken for this first phase of Ethereum 2.0 to start, it could well take much longer. This transition is going to be difficult, not just technically but also economically, with its biggest challenge being how to manage incentives so everyone else moves their ether out of the legacy proof-of-work chain into the new one. Related: How DeFi Can Avoid the Irrelevance of P2P Lending and Crowdfunding Those decisions can be affected by a host of unknown variables. It’s one reason why it’s hard to argue with Radix CEO Piers Ridyard, who talked during one panel discussion Wednesday, of “Ethereum 2.0’s epic complexity.” So, there’s much at stake (quite literally) for the validators involved in Beacon. And while the total amount locked, worth $198 million based on current ether prices, is less than half of a percent of Ethereum’s total $42 billion market capitalization, these particular funds matter. By definition, these are high-energy funds. They are held by true believers in the Ethereum mission, who are actively interested in how it evolves, not by casual ETH investors. They are precisely the kinds of people who’ll be open to innovative solutions on how to unlock their value. Given what we know about how DeFi innovators use oracles and smart contracts to create new assets like “wrapped” (or tokenized) bitcoin , taking value created in one chain and use it as collateral in another, it’s a solid bet that new tokenizing contracts will be used to bring liquidity to all that otherwise locked ether. They’ll be bought and sold as tokens but also used as collateral in DeFi lending markets. ETH 2.0 bonds The locked ether presents a contract that promises a set of contingent future cash flows, with properties akin to certain types of bonds. In fact, that is what DeFi-ers will create: tokenized ETH 2.0 bonds. By transferring a token created by a fully collateralized smart contract to a creditor, validators can receive funds in unlocked original ether and, in return, promise that when the blockchain merger happens and the lockup ends, the creditor will automatically receive the original 32 ETH plus the accumulated staking rewards. Based on staking reward projections built into the system’s monetary supply, these “bonds” would earn a 20% yield on an annualized basis and then fall according to a sliding scale, as the total amount of staked grows. What’s not known is the precise date at which the funds will be unlocked or the value of the ether in dollar terms at that time. Both are somewhat dependent on how well and how efficiently Ethereum developers progress toward the goal of a full integrated Ethereum 2.0 transition. But they are also dependent on whether, all things considered, the broader Ethereum community thinks the migration to the new proof-of-stake system is worth it. What we could see, then, is the market prices for tokenized locked ETH bonds becoming, in effect, an assessment of how well these pieces are coming together. Whether this creates a positive feedback loop that gives developers a real-time sentiment signal to help them gauge whether the market thinks they are on target to achieve their goals, or whether it creates misaligned incentives to rush through upgrades that aren’t yet ready, remains to be seen. What we could see, then, is the market prices for tokenized locked ETH bonds becoming, in effect, an assessment of how well these pieces are coming together. For the rest of us, this live market in “Ethereum 2.0 futures” will provide a great talking point and measuring stick. It’s not unlike products such as the CME Group’s “Federal Funds Futures,” which (before interest rates became anchored at near zero) functioned as a gauge of market expectations for the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decisions. Another is the TIPS breakeven-even inflation rate, whose correlations with bitcoin we discussed two weeks ago .That metric takes the differential between yields on regular Treasury bonds and those on Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS), whose payments are tied to the consumer price index, as a market-based measure of people’s expectations for inflation. In both cases, the financial engineering behind the product was initially meant to give investors protection against an event that’s contingent on a policy constraint, but the product evolved into a valuable economic indicator in its own right. This Ethereum 2.0 process is going to be fascinating. Betting on uncertainty We talk a lot about the case for bitcoin as an uncorrelated hedge against a future political meltdown in the global economic system. That story is enhanced by concerns that next month’s high-stakes U.S. presidential election could be fraught with tension. With long delays expected in a vote count skewed by mail-in ballots, and with President Trump continuing to suggest that he might contest the result, many are questioning whether democracy itself is on the ballot this year. And yet, for now at least, perhaps until there is an actual break in the prevailing system, it seems bitcoin won’t likely trade directly against election results, but rather track the election-driven performance of equities, with which it has been correlated over recent months. If you want to look at how investors are betting on the prospect of turmoil, look instead to the options market, where derivatives can pay out in the event markets become more volatile to the upside, downside or both. And there, as The Wall Street Journal reported last Friday , we are seeing “bets go beyond the Wall Street hedging that typically precedes an election.” One classic indicator found in the chart provided in that article, shows how futures contracts on the CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX – whose payout to investors is based on the extent of future swings in the S&P 500 index – are priced in terms of the month in which those contracts expire. What’s notable is not just the predictable spike in the November VIX contract’s price, but also how it takes some time for later-dated contracts to ease in price. Bumpy times lie ahead. Global town hall NERVOUS GERMANS. Speaking of election expectations, YouGov’s recent survey of European opinion is worth reflecting on. The world’s confidence in the U.S. has ramifications for the dollar’s sustainability as the world’s reserve currency, among other issues. And it produced some striking – nay, alarming – results. In a survey covering Germany, France, Britain, Sweden, Denmark, Italy and Spain, the percentage of respondents who said they believed U.S. elections would be “completely free and fair” ranged from 2% to 11%, while those who believed they would be “mostly free and fair” were spread in a 27%-37% range. No country, it seems, had more than 50% of respondents expressing confidence the election would respect the norms of democracy. In Germany, whose history naturally creates a wariness of power abuse, a meager 25% believed U.S. elections would be either completely or mostly free and fair. It’s well known that Europeans tend to hold an especially negative view of President Trump, which could skew the data away from a more dispassionate understanding of the workings of American democracy and whether to trust it. Even so, these numbers are a wake-up call, especially for people like us who are interested in the future of money. American currency hegemony is founded on the international faith in its leadership of the global capitalist system, which is founded in principles of market democracy. Within that, there is a basic understanding the U.S. political system will continue to enable a peaceful, trusted transfer of power as it has generally achieved throughout the 76 years in which the dollar has been the world’s reserve currency. Anytime I warn of the end of the dollar’s reign, I inevitably attract naysayers who point out there is no likely successor and, by extension, argue the current system will keep muddling along, regardless of whether the rest of the world trusts America or not. That might be true, but it assumes the only way forward is for the current monolithic system to be replaced by another monolithic system, as happened when the dollar replaced the British pound as the world’s reserve currency. But that need not be the case. A multi-currency world is quite possible, especially when you take into account how blockchain and digital asset technology is fostering a proliferation of new alternatives, whether issued by central banks (China’s digital yuan), companies (libra) or decentralized communities (bitcoin.) The more those alternatives mature, the more significant a breakdown in international trust in the U.S. matters as a potential catalyst for change. CANADA IN A HURRY. Reports from a Canadian virtual event on Thursday suggest the Bank of Canada wants to speed up its adoption of a digital currency. BOC Deputy Governor Timothy Lane believes COVID-19 will accelerate the release of a central bank digital currency. A “shift in spending habits” triggered the pandemic, “coupled with the speed of technological developments, has narrowed the window to deliver a digital currency issued by the central bank,” the CBC reported Lane as saying. It’s the latest in a palpable advance for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), with many central bankers and government officials now weighing in on this topic. The European Central Bank has upped its rhetoric and last week the U.S. Treasury Department sounded more interested in the idea. It wasn’t exactly a huge statement when Deputy Treasury Secretary Justin Muzinic told an Atlantic Council event last week a CBDC was “something we’re studying.” But it was a significant signal from a department that has been reluctant to show its hand on this issue. Is COVID-19 really the catalyst? Might it be that China is marching ahead at a pace that no one expected? (See “Relevant Reads” below.”) There’s nothing like competition and geopolitical challenges to stir governments into action. Expect all this talk to get louder in Western countries. And then action. Relevant reads Nearly 2 Million Sign Up for China’s Digital Yuan ‘Lottery’ . When China wants to run a live test of a new idea, it has the convenience of being able to sign up a massive number of people and still treat it as a small, low-risk portion of its 1.3 billion population. Even so, the huge “airdrop” of China’s new digital currency into Shenzhen, reported here by CoinDesk’s Sebastian Sinclair, is a major development. China’s Digital Currency Electronic Payments (DCEP) is live. Much will be learned from this – though it’s not clear how much of that information will be shared with the outside world. Trump’s Security Hawks Call Distributed Ledgers ‘Critical’ in US-China Tech Arms Race . Finally, it seems the U.S. government has noticed China is barrelling ahead with blockchain technology. In this report from CoinDesk’s Danny Nelson, we learn that President Trump’s National Security Council has included digital ledger technology in its “critical and emerging technologies” shortlist for the purposes of maintaining U.S. supremacy over China. Is a war using weaponized state-controlled private blockchains in the offing? Filecoin Launch Finally Brings $200M ICO to Fruition . The initial coin offering (ICO) boom is often derided for bringing worthless projects to market and enabling quick exits for scammy founders. But some of the ideas spawned were truly revolutionary. One of those is Filecoin, which is really just one piece of a far bigger project, the Interplanetary File System. IPFS, if it succeeds, will radically change the entire structure of the World Wide Web, shifting its file storage, website hosting and indexing system to a decentralized model without hosting services becoming single points of failure (or censorship targets.) Filecoins are its mechanism for incentivizing and governing storage providers across the network. Now, after a $200 million token offering in 2017, it has finally gone live (albeit with some constraints on token liquidity) amid fervent speculation on its value. Read Brady Dale and Sebastian Sinclair’s breakdown of the launch and what it means. First Mover: Privacy Is Litecoin’s Ace in the Hole as JPMorgan Touts Bitcoin . For some time during bitcoin’s early days, litecoin attracted a lot of attention as an altcoin. But in recent years it has fallen from view and its price has sagged relative to bigger digital assets such as ether, even though the cryptocurrency remains sufficiently sought-after to sit within the CoinDesk 20. Now, as CoinDesk’s Dan Cawrey reported in one of our daily First Mover newsletters this week, Litecoin is adding key privacy features to its cryptocurrency to protect users from surveillance. That could offer the currency a lift, given surging interest in privacy coins generally. Related Stories Money Reimagined: How Ethereum 2.0’s ‘Lockup’ Will Drive DeFi Innovation Money Reimagined: How Ethereum 2.0’s ‘Lockup’ Will Drive DeFi Innovation || Money Reimagined: How Ethereum 2.0’s ‘Lockup’ Will Drive DeFi Innovation: The “Summer of DeFi” might be over, but a looming event will give DeFi engineers a great incentive to crank up their“lego” innovationmodel and build more decentralized finance products: the Ethereum 2.0 upgrade. (See CoinDesk’s explainerhere.)
With thousands of Ethereum 2.0 validators expected to stash more than 500,000etherin a restrictive multi-year lockup, there will be significant demand for a creative solution that unlocks the value of those funds without undermining the upgrade mission. DeFi innovators will be happy to oblige.
It’s a process of demand and supply that’s similar to how Wall Street’s “engineers” respond with new financial instruments when rules imposed on traditional markets put constraints on investors. It matters not that the behavior-constraining rules are imposed by a government regulator or, in the Ethereum 2.0 case, by a protocol. Constraints create an incentive for financial creativity.
Related:Decentralized Data Storage's Only Competition Is the Public Cloud
Also, as with many Wall Street inventions, this one will create an interesting byproduct. As markets arise in the new instruments, their price signals will indicate how people think this massive Ethereum protocol change is performing.
As discussed duringCoinDesk’s invest: ethereum economyconference this past Wednesday, “phase 0” of Ethereum’s migration to aproof-of-stakeblockchain involves having 16,384 validators each commit to place 32 ETH in a soon-to-be-announced deposit contract. Those tokens will then be “staked” to secure and govern a new parallel Ethereum blockchain known asBeacon, which will function as a live environment for testing the proof-of-stake system to which all of Ethereum will eventually migrate.
The key point is that the locked ETH cannot be sent back to the original Ethereum blockchain and cannot be accessed until the two systems are merged and the duplicate ETH on the legacy chain destroyed.
The current timeline for the lockup is 18 months, but given how long it has taken for this first phase of Ethereum 2.0 to start, it could well take much longer. This transition is going to be difficult, not just technically but also economically, with its biggest challenge being how to manage incentives so everyone else moves their ether out of the legacy proof-of-work chain into the new one.
Related:How DeFi Can Avoid the Irrelevance of P2P Lending and Crowdfunding
Those decisions can be affected by a host of unknown variables. It’s one reason why it’s hard to argue with Radix CEO Piers Ridyard, who talked during one panel discussion Wednesday, of “Ethereum 2.0’s epic complexity.”
So, there’s much at stake (quite literally) for the validators involved in Beacon. And while the total amount locked, worth $198 million based on current ether prices, is less than half of a percent of Ethereum’s total $42 billion market capitalization, these particular funds matter.
By definition, these are high-energy funds. They are held by true believers in the Ethereum mission, who are actively interested in how it evolves, not by casual ETH investors. They are precisely the kinds of people who’ll be open to innovative solutions on how to unlock their value.
Given what we know about how DeFi innovators use oracles and smart contracts to create new assets like “wrapped” (or tokenized)bitcoin, taking value created in one chain and use it as collateral in another, it’s a solid bet that new tokenizing contracts will be used to bring liquidity to all that otherwise locked ether. They’ll be bought and sold as tokens but also used as collateral in DeFi lending markets.
The locked ether presents a contract that promises a set of contingent future cash flows, with properties akin to certain types of bonds. In fact, that is what DeFi-ers will create: tokenized ETH 2.0 bonds.
By transferring a token created by a fully collateralized smart contract to a creditor, validators can receive funds in unlocked original ether and, in return, promise that when the blockchain merger happens and the lockup ends, the creditor will automatically receive the original 32 ETH plus the accumulated staking rewards.
Based on staking reward projections built into the system’s monetary supply, these “bonds” would earn a 20% yield on an annualized basis and then fall according to a sliding scale, as the total amount of staked grows.
What’s not known is the precise date at which the funds will be unlocked or the value of the ether in dollar terms at that time. Both are somewhat dependent on how well and how efficiently Ethereum developers progress toward the goal of a full integrated Ethereum 2.0 transition. But they are also dependent on whether, all things considered, the broader Ethereum community thinks the migration to the new proof-of-stake system is worth it.
What we could see, then, is the market prices for tokenized locked ETH bonds becoming, in effect, an assessment of how well these pieces are coming together. Whether this creates a positive feedback loop that gives developers a real-time sentiment signal to help them gauge whether the market thinks they are on target to achieve their goals, or whether it creates misaligned incentives to rush through upgrades that aren’t yet ready, remains to be seen.
What we could see, then, is the market prices for tokenized locked ETH bonds becoming, in effect, an assessment of how well these pieces are coming together.
For the rest of us, this live market in “Ethereum 2.0 futures” will provide a great talking point and measuring stick.
It’s not unlike products such as the CME Group’s “Federal Funds Futures,” which (before interest rates became anchored at near zero) functioned as a gauge of market expectations for the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decisions.
Another is the TIPS breakeven-even inflation rate, whose correlations with bitcoin wediscussed two weeks ago.That metric takes the differential between yields on regular Treasury bonds and those on Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS), whose payments are tied to the consumer price index, as a market-based measure of people’s expectations for inflation.
In both cases, the financial engineering behind the product was initially meant to give investors protection against an event that’s contingent on a policy constraint, but the product evolved into a valuable economic indicator in its own right.
This Ethereum 2.0 process is going to be fascinating.
We talk a lot about the case for bitcoin as an uncorrelated hedge against a future political meltdown in the global economic system. That story is enhanced by concerns that next month’s high-stakes U.S. presidential election could be fraught with tension. With long delays expected in a vote count skewed by mail-in ballots, and with President Trump continuing to suggest that he might contest the result, many are questioning whether democracy itself is on the ballot this year.
And yet, for now at least, perhaps until there is an actual break in the prevailing system, it seems bitcoin won’t likely trade directly against election results, but rather track the election-driven performance of equities, with which it has been correlated over recent months.
If you want to look at how investors are betting on the prospect of turmoil, look instead to the options market, where derivatives can pay out in the event markets become more volatile to the upside, downside or both. And there, asThe Wall Street Journal reported last Friday, we are seeing “bets go beyond the Wall Street hedging that typically precedes an election.”
One classic indicator found in the chart provided in that article, shows how futures contracts on the CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX – whose payout to investors is based on the extent of future swings in the S&P 500 index – are priced in terms of the month in which those contracts expire. What’s notable is not just the predictable spike in the November VIX contract’s price, but also how it takes some time for later-dated contracts to ease in price. Bumpy times lie ahead.
NERVOUS GERMANS.Speaking of election expectations,YouGov’s recent survey of European opinionis worth reflecting on. The world’s confidence in the U.S. has ramifications for the dollar’s sustainability as the world’s reserve currency, among other issues. And it produced some striking – nay, alarming – results.
In a survey covering Germany, France, Britain, Sweden, Denmark, Italy and Spain, the percentage of respondents who said they believed U.S. elections would be “completely free and fair” ranged from 2% to 11%, while those who believed they would be “mostly free and fair” were spread in a 27%-37% range. No country, it seems, had more than 50% of respondents expressing confidence the election would respect the norms of democracy. In Germany, whose history naturally creates a wariness of power abuse, a meager 25% believed U.S. elections would be either completely or mostly free and fair.
It’s well known that Europeans tend to hold an especially negative view of President Trump, which could skew the data away from a more dispassionate understanding of the workings of American democracy and whether to trust it. Even so, these numbers are a wake-up call, especially for people like us who are interested in the future of money.
American currency hegemony is founded on the international faith in its leadership of the global capitalist system, which is founded in principles of market democracy. Within that, there is a basic understanding the U.S. political system will continue to enable a peaceful, trusted transfer of power as it has generally achieved throughout the 76 years in which the dollar has been the world’s reserve currency.
Anytime I warn of the end of the dollar’s reign, I inevitably attract naysayers who point out there is no likely successor and, by extension, argue the current system will keep muddling along, regardless of whether the rest of the world trusts America or not. That might be true, but it assumes the only way forward is for the current monolithic system to be replaced by another monolithic system, as happened when the dollar replaced the British pound as the world’s reserve currency.
But that need not be the case. A multi-currency world is quite possible, especially when you take into account how blockchain and digital asset technology is fostering a proliferation of new alternatives, whether issued by central banks (China’s digital yuan), companies (libra) or decentralized communities (bitcoin.) The more those alternatives mature, the more significant a breakdown in international trust in the U.S. matters as a potential catalyst for change.
CANADA IN A HURRY.Reports from a Canadianvirtual eventon Thursday suggest the Bank of Canada wants to speed up its adoption of a digital currency. BOC Deputy Governor Timothy Lane believes COVID-19 will accelerate the release of a central bank digital currency. A “shift in spending habits” triggered the pandemic, “coupled with the speed of technological developments, has narrowed the window to deliver a digital currency issued by the central bank,” the CBC reported Lane as saying.
It’s the latest in a palpable advance for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), with many central bankers and government officials now weighing in on this topic. The European Central Bank has upped its rhetoric and last week the U.S. Treasury Department sounded more interested in the idea. It wasn’t exactly a huge statement when Deputy Treasury Secretary Justin Muzinic told an Atlantic Council event last week a CBDC was “something we’re studying.” But it was a significant signal from a department that has been reluctant to show its hand on this issue.
Is COVID-19 really the catalyst? Might it be that China is marching ahead at a pace that no one expected? (See “Relevant Reads” below.”) There’s nothing like competition and geopolitical challenges to stir governments into action. Expect all this talk to get louder in Western countries. And then action.
Nearly 2 Million Sign Up for China’s Digital Yuan ‘Lottery’.When China wants to run a live test of a new idea, it has the convenience of being able to sign up a massive number of people and still treat it as a small, low-risk portion of its 1.3 billion population. Even so, the huge “airdrop” of China’s new digital currency into Shenzhen, reported here by CoinDesk’s Sebastian Sinclair, is a major development. China’s Digital Currency Electronic Payments (DCEP) is live. Much will be learned from this – though it’s not clear how much of that information will be shared with the outside world.
Trump’s Security Hawks Call Distributed Ledgers ‘Critical’ in US-China Tech Arms Race.Finally, it seems the U.S. government has noticed China is barrelling ahead with blockchain technology. In this report from CoinDesk’s Danny Nelson, we learn that President Trump’s National Security Council has included digital ledger technology in its “critical and emerging technologies” shortlist for the purposes of maintaining U.S. supremacy over China. Is a war using weaponized state-controlled private blockchains in the offing?
Filecoin Launch Finally Brings $200M ICO to Fruition.The initial coin offering (ICO) boom is often derided for bringing worthless projects to market and enabling quick exits for scammy founders. But some of the ideas spawned were truly revolutionary. One of those is Filecoin, which is really just one piece of a far bigger project, the Interplanetary File System. IPFS, if it succeeds, will radically change the entire structure of the World Wide Web, shifting its file storage, website hosting and indexing system to a decentralized model without hosting services becoming single points of failure (or censorship targets.) Filecoins are its mechanism for incentivizing and governing storage providers across the network. Now, after a $200 million token offering in 2017, it has finally gone live (albeit with some constraints on token liquidity) amid fervent speculation on its value. Read Brady Dale and Sebastian Sinclair’s breakdown of the launch and what it means.
First Mover: Privacy Is Litecoin’s Ace in the Hole as JPMorgan Touts Bitcoin.For some time during bitcoin’s early days,litecoinattracted a lot of attention as an altcoin. But in recent years it has fallen from view and its price has sagged relative to bigger digital assets such as ether, even though the cryptocurrency remains sufficiently sought-after to sit within the CoinDesk 20. Now, as CoinDesk’s Dan Cawrey reported in one of our daily First Mover newsletters this week, Litecoin is adding key privacy features to its cryptocurrency to protect users from surveillance. That could offer the currency a lift, given surging interest in privacy coins generally.
• Money Reimagined: How Ethereum 2.0’s ‘Lockup’ Will Drive DeFi Innovation
• Money Reimagined: How Ethereum 2.0’s ‘Lockup’ Will Drive DeFi Innovation || Nigerian Banks Shut Them Out, So These Activists Are Using Bitcoin to Battle Police Brutality: As protests surge through Nigeriain response to police brutality, one enclave of protestors has turned to bitcoin as a financial lifeline during turbulent times.
The Feminist Coalition’s bank account was shuttered this month after its involvement in the End SARS protests came to light, according to a person familiar but unaffiliated with the group who asked to be identified as Emma (a pseudonym). End SARS is a movement in Nigeria to abolish the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a subdivision of the police force with atrack recordof abusing and harassing citizens.
Read more:Unconfiscatable? Using Bitcoin to Resist Police Extortion in Nigeria
Related:Nigeria Is Developing Strategies for National Blockchain Adoption
Cast out of the traditional system, the Feminist Coalition is now raising donations in bitcoin.
The Feminist Coalition was founded in July with a mission to “champion equality for women in Nigerian society with core focuses of education, financial freedom, and representation in public office.”
With the outbreak of protests against police brutality this month, the group has concentrated on providing medical care, legal aid and even funeral funding for those participating in the peaceful demonstrations.
Since the protests surfaced in the beginning of October, 10 Nigerians have died at the hands of police,according to CNN.
Related:Bitcoin in Africa: FastBitcoins Partners With Flexepin to Expand Global Footprint
As of Oct. 16, the Feminist Coalitionhas collecteda total of 69,891,637.15 naira (a couple bucks shy of $185,000), 15,443,280.00 of which ($40,000) has been deployed to aid 128 protests across the country, according to thecoalition’s website.
All of this fundraising attracted the attention of authorities, though, and they were shut out ofFlutterwave, the payments platform and something of a virtual bank they used to process donations. (At press time, Flutterwave had not returned CoinDesk’s request for comment).
That’s when they turned to alternatives.
“Quite a few members of the group work in tech,” so they made the decision to use Bitcoin (BTC) as another payment option, said Emma.
They started by usingSendcash, a platform which converts bitcoin payments into naira and then deposits these funds into a recipient’s Nigerian bank account. The service is intuitive and highly useful, but it carries the risk that banks will almost certainly sniff out the source of the Feminist Coalition’s funds and shut down its accounts again.
The coalition no longer uses Sendcash because of this likely outcome. But they still accept bitcoin: Alex Gladstein, the Chief Strategy Officer of the Human Rights Organization, set them up with aBTCPay Server.Emma called the self-hosted payment process “a safer wallet” compared to other options.
Read more:Human Rights Foundation Funds Bitcoin Privacy Tools Despite ‘Coin Mixing’ Legal Stigma
Because it operates obliquely to the banking system, the censorship-resistant payment portal is an essential tool for the Feminist Coalition’s fundraising, Gladstein told CoinDesk.
“I would say BTCPay is important because it protects the privacy of donors and prevents the government from easily figuring out what service the protestors are using to cash out their bitcoin into naira,” he said.
Since adding the BTCPay bitcoin donation option on Oct. 14, the coalition has amassed roughly 3.14 BTC (~$36,000).
As CoinDesk has reported previously, Nigerians are no strangers to how Bitcoin lets them move money in the shadows of the legacy financial system.
Some Nigerian expats, for instance, use thePaxful exchange to send remittance fundsback home, while others use bitcointo trade directly with China.
More germane to the recent protests against police brutality, others have evenused Bitcoin as an unconfiscatible bank accountto avoid police shakedowns for cash. As though they see the writing on the wall, the Nigerian government is alsospinning up a digital version of the naira.
Still, Emma said that bitcoin is “not popular among the masses yet at all. There are large barriers mostly in terms of education. However a lot of young Nigerians are now starting to adopt cryptocurrency and it’s growing across the population.”
Further, the Feminist Coalition’s successful fundraising using bitcoin sheds “some positive light on cryptocurrency,” she says, andpromotional efforts by Binancein Nigeria are also softening Bitcoin stigma in the country.
Of course, Bitcoin is only one tool in Nigeria’s fight for civil rights – it is not a cure-all for its citizens. What’s really needed is concrete reform.
Read more:Nigerians Are Using Bitcoin to Bypass Trade Hurdles With China
Nigerians have been protesting as far back as 2016, Emma said, for SARS’ abolition and for police reform. It wasn’t until the most recent bout of unrest beginning in October that the government acquiesced to the protestors’ demands and formally disbanded SARS.
To many Nigerians, though, this is merely political theatre, and they expect SARS abuses to migrate to one of the new task forces that the government is forming to take its place. That’s why the protests haven’t stopped, Emma said, “because [Nigerians] want to see actual change in terms of police reform.”
With SARS now abolished, though, the protesters’ something-of-a-victory has left Emma hopeful. Not necessarily that things will immediately change, but that the Nigerian people, collectively, are beginning to “wake up” to the government’s abuses.
There’s more activity now than ever pressing for change, she said, and that’s something to be thankful for.
“We’re very tired of the lies and deceit, and there’s a widespread consciousness and awakening among young Nigerians right now that many are saying they’ve never seen before. I know I’ve never seen it before and I’m so relieved that it’s finally here.”
• Nigerian Banks Shut Them Out, So These Activists Are Using Bitcoin to Battle Police Brutality
• Nigerian Banks Shut Them Out, So These Activists Are Using Bitcoin to Battle Police Brutality || Nigerian Banks Shut Them Out, So These Activists Are Using Bitcoin to Battle Police Brutality: As protests surge through Nigeria in response to police brutality, one enclave of protestors has turned to bitcoin as a financial lifeline during turbulent times. The Feminist Coalition’s bank account was shuttered this month after its involvement in the End SARS protests came to light, according to a person familiar but unaffiliated with the group who asked to be identified as Emma (a pseudonym). End SARS is a movement in Nigeria to abolish the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a subdivision of the police force with a track record of abusing and harassing citizens. Read more: Unconfiscatable? Using Bitcoin to Resist Police Extortion in Nigeria Related: Nigeria Is Developing Strategies for National Blockchain Adoption Cast out of the traditional system, the Feminist Coalition is now raising donations in bitcoin. The #EndSARS protests The Feminist Coalition was founded in July with a mission to “champion equality for women in Nigerian society with core focuses of education, financial freedom, and representation in public office.” With the outbreak of protests against police brutality this month, the group has concentrated on providing medical care, legal aid and even funeral funding for those participating in the peaceful demonstrations. Since the protests surfaced in the beginning of October, 10 Nigerians have died at the hands of police, according to CNN . Related: Bitcoin in Africa: FastBitcoins Partners With Flexepin to Expand Global Footprint As of Oct. 16, the Feminist Coalition has collected a total of 69,891,637.15 naira (a couple bucks shy of $185,000), 15,443,280.00 of which ($40,000) has been deployed to aid 128 protests across the country, according to the coalition’s website. Bitcoin and censorship-resistant fundraising All of this fundraising attracted the attention of authorities, though, and they were shut out of Flutterwave , the payments platform and something of a virtual bank they used to process donations. (At press time, Flutterwave had not returned CoinDesk’s request for comment). Story continues That’s when they turned to alternatives. “Quite a few members of the group work in tech,” so they made the decision to use Bitcoin ( BTC ) as another payment option, said Emma. They started by using Sendcash , a platform which converts bitcoin payments into naira and then deposits these funds into a recipient’s Nigerian bank account. The service is intuitive and highly useful, but it carries the risk that banks will almost certainly sniff out the source of the Feminist Coalition’s funds and shut down its accounts again. The coalition no longer uses Sendcash because of this likely outcome. But they still accept bitcoin: Alex Gladstein, the Chief Strategy Officer of the Human Rights Organization, set them up with a BTCPay Server. Emma called the self-hosted payment process “a safer wallet” compared to other options. Read more: Human Rights Foundation Funds Bitcoin Privacy Tools Despite ‘Coin Mixing’ Legal Stigma Because it operates obliquely to the banking system, the censorship-resistant payment portal is an essential tool for the Feminist Coalition’s fundraising, Gladstein told CoinDesk. “I would say BTCPay is important because it protects the privacy of donors and prevents the government from easily figuring out what service the protestors are using to cash out their bitcoin into naira,” he said. Since adding the BTCPay bitcoin donation option on Oct. 14, the coalition has amassed roughly 3.14 BTC (~$36,000). Bigger than Bitcoin As CoinDesk has reported previously, Nigerians are no strangers to how Bitcoin lets them move money in the shadows of the legacy financial system. Some Nigerian expats, for instance, use the Paxful exchange to send remittance funds back home, while others use bitcoin to trade directly with China . More germane to the recent protests against police brutality, others have even used Bitcoin as an unconfiscatible bank account to avoid police shakedowns for cash. As though they see the writing on the wall, the Nigerian government is also spinning up a digital version of the naira . Still, Emma said that bitcoin is “not popular among the masses yet at all. There are large barriers mostly in terms of education. However a lot of young Nigerians are now starting to adopt cryptocurrency and it’s growing across the population.” Further, the Feminist Coalition’s successful fundraising using bitcoin sheds “some positive light on cryptocurrency,” she says, and promotional efforts by Binance in Nigeria are also softening Bitcoin stigma in the country. Of course, Bitcoin is only one tool in Nigeria’s fight for civil rights – it is not a cure-all for its citizens. What’s really needed is concrete reform. Read more: Nigerians Are Using Bitcoin to Bypass Trade Hurdles With China Nigerians have been protesting as far back as 2016, Emma said, for SARS’ abolition and for police reform. It wasn’t until the most recent bout of unrest beginning in October that the government acquiesced to the protestors’ demands and formally disbanded SARS. To many Nigerians, though, this is merely political theatre, and they expect SARS abuses to migrate to one of the new task forces that the government is forming to take its place. That’s why the protests haven’t stopped, Emma said, “because [Nigerians] want to see actual change in terms of police reform.” With SARS now abolished, though, the protesters’ something-of-a-victory has left Emma hopeful. Not necessarily that things will immediately change, but that the Nigerian people, collectively, are beginning to “wake up” to the government’s abuses. There’s more activity now than ever pressing for change, she said, and that’s something to be thankful for. “We’re very tired of the lies and deceit, and there’s a widespread consciousness and awakening among young Nigerians right now that many are saying they’ve never seen before. I know I’ve never seen it before and I’m so relieved that it’s finally here.” Related Stories Nigerian Banks Shut Them Out, So These Activists Are Using Bitcoin to Battle Police Brutality Nigerian Banks Shut Them Out, So These Activists Are Using Bitcoin to Battle Police Brutality || Nigerian Banks Shut Them Out, So These Activists Are Using Bitcoin to Battle Police Brutality: As protests surge through Nigeriain response to police brutality, one enclave of protestors has turned to bitcoin as a financial lifeline during turbulent times.
The Feminist Coalition’s bank account was shuttered this month after its involvement in the End SARS protests came to light, according to a person familiar but unaffiliated with the group who asked to be identified as Emma (a pseudonym). End SARS is a movement in Nigeria to abolish the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a subdivision of the police force with atrack recordof abusing and harassing citizens.
Read more:Unconfiscatable? Using Bitcoin to Resist Police Extortion in Nigeria
Related:Nigeria Is Developing Strategies for National Blockchain Adoption
Cast out of the traditional system, the Feminist Coalition is now raising donations in bitcoin.
The Feminist Coalition was founded in July with a mission to “champion equality for women in Nigerian society with core focuses of education, financial freedom, and representation in public office.”
With the outbreak of protests against police brutality this month, the group has concentrated on providing medical care, legal aid and even funeral funding for those participating in the peaceful demonstrations.
Since the protests surfaced in the beginning of October, 10 Nigerians have died at the hands of police,according to CNN.
Related:Bitcoin in Africa: FastBitcoins Partners With Flexepin to Expand Global Footprint
As of Oct. 16, the Feminist Coalitionhas collecteda total of 69,891,637.15 naira (a couple bucks shy of $185,000), 15,443,280.00 of which ($40,000) has been deployed to aid 128 protests across the country, according to thecoalition’s website.
All of this fundraising attracted the attention of authorities, though, and they were shut out ofFlutterwave, the payments platform and something of a virtual bank they used to process donations. (At press time, Flutterwave had not returned CoinDesk’s request for comment).
That’s when they turned to alternatives.
“Quite a few members of the group work in tech,” so they made the decision to use Bitcoin (BTC) as another payment option, said Emma.
They started by usingSendcash, a platform which converts bitcoin payments into naira and then deposits these funds into a recipient’s Nigerian bank account. The service is intuitive and highly useful, but it carries the risk that banks will almost certainly sniff out the source of the Feminist Coalition’s funds and shut down its accounts again.
The coalition no longer uses Sendcash because of this likely outcome. But they still accept bitcoin: Alex Gladstein, the Chief Strategy Officer of the Human Rights Organization, set them up with aBTCPay Server.Emma called the self-hosted payment process “a safer wallet” compared to other options.
Read more:Human Rights Foundation Funds Bitcoin Privacy Tools Despite ‘Coin Mixing’ Legal Stigma
Because it operates obliquely to the banking system, the censorship-resistant payment portal is an essential tool for the Feminist Coalition’s fundraising, Gladstein told CoinDesk.
“I would say BTCPay is important because it protects the privacy of donors and prevents the government from easily figuring out what service the protestors are using to cash out their bitcoin into naira,” he said.
Since adding the BTCPay bitcoin donation option on Oct. 14, the coalition has amassed roughly 3.14 BTC (~$36,000).
As CoinDesk has reported previously, Nigerians are no strangers to how Bitcoin lets them move money in the shadows of the legacy financial system.
Some Nigerian expats, for instance, use thePaxful exchange to send remittance fundsback home, while others use bitcointo trade directly with China.
More germane to the recent protests against police brutality, others have evenused Bitcoin as an unconfiscatible bank accountto avoid police shakedowns for cash. As though they see the writing on the wall, the Nigerian government is alsospinning up a digital version of the naira.
Still, Emma said that bitcoin is “not popular among the masses yet at all. There are large barriers mostly in terms of education. However a lot of young Nigerians are now starting to adopt cryptocurrency and it’s growing across the population.”
Further, the Feminist Coalition’s successful fundraising using bitcoin sheds “some positive light on cryptocurrency,” she says, andpromotional efforts by Binancein Nigeria are also softening Bitcoin stigma in the country.
Of course, Bitcoin is only one tool in Nigeria’s fight for civil rights – it is not a cure-all for its citizens. What’s really needed is concrete reform.
Read more:Nigerians Are Using Bitcoin to Bypass Trade Hurdles With China
Nigerians have been protesting as far back as 2016, Emma said, for SARS’ abolition and for police reform. It wasn’t until the most recent bout of unrest beginning in October that the government acquiesced to the protestors’ demands and formally disbanded SARS.
To many Nigerians, though, this is merely political theatre, and they expect SARS abuses to migrate to one of the new task forces that the government is forming to take its place. That’s why the protests haven’t stopped, Emma said, “because [Nigerians] want to see actual change in terms of police reform.”
With SARS now abolished, though, the protesters’ something-of-a-victory has left Emma hopeful. Not necessarily that things will immediately change, but that the Nigerian people, collectively, are beginning to “wake up” to the government’s abuses.
There’s more activity now than ever pressing for change, she said, and that’s something to be thankful for.
“We’re very tired of the lies and deceit, and there’s a widespread consciousness and awakening among young Nigerians right now that many are saying they’ve never seen before. I know I’ve never seen it before and I’m so relieved that it’s finally here.”
• Nigerian Banks Shut Them Out, So These Activists Are Using Bitcoin to Battle Police Brutality
• Nigerian Banks Shut Them Out, So These Activists Are Using Bitcoin to Battle Police Brutality || Latest Ethereum price and analysis (ETH to USD): Ethereum is moving into the typically low volume weekend having bounced from the four-hour 200 exponential moving average. Despite momentarily selling off to $361, Ethereum immediately recovered with a 2.01% surge to the upside on Friday morning. The bounce off the 200 EMA comes four days after a four-hour golden cross, which indicates a transition into a short-term bullish phase. However, $389.55 remains a key level of resistance and until that is broken Ethereum remains in a relatively tight trading range with $366.65 being a notable level of support. ETHUSD chart by TradingView Much of Ethereum’s upcoming price action will depend on the trajectory of two variables; the rise in popularity of DeFi and the increased institutional flow into Bitcoin. DeFi has shown signs of serious strength and innovation throughout 2020, with yield farming tokens like Yearn Finance (YFI) and C.vault Finance (CORE) rallying exponentially as users attempt to lock in high annual percentage yields (APYs). As most of DeFi protocols are based on Ethereum, continuation to the upside for the DeFi sector would have a subsequently positive impact on the price of Ethereum itself. Bitcoin, meanwhile, has reinforced its reputation as the leading cryptocurrency over the past two months with institutional investment flowing in from the likes of Square and MicroStrategy, which could well give the entire asset class a significant boost. For more news, guides and cryptocurrency analysis, click here . About Ethereum Ethereum was launched by Vitalik Buterin on July 30 2015. He was a researcher and programmer working on Bitcoin Magazine and he initially wrote a whitepaper in 2013 describing Ethereum. Buterin had proposed that Bitcoin needed a scripting language. He decided to develop a new platform with a more general scripting language when he couldn’t get buy-in to his proposal. More Ethereum news and information If you want to find out more information about Ethereum or cryptocurrencies in general, then use the search box at the top of this page. Please check the below article: Story continues https://coinrivet.com/ethereum-adopts-erc-1155-as-an-official-standard/ As with any investment, it pays to do some homework before you part with your money. The prices of cryptocurrencies are volatile and go up and down quickly. This page is not recommending a particular currency or whether you should invest or not. You may be interested in our range of cryptocurrency guides along with the latest cryptocurrency news . Disclaimer: This is not financial advice. || Latest Ethereum price and analysis (ETH to USD): Ethereum is moving into the typically low volume weekend having bounced from the four-hour 200 exponential moving average. Despite momentarily selling off to $361, Ethereum immediately recovered with a 2.01% surge to the upside on Friday morning. The bounce off the 200 EMA comes four days after a four-hour golden cross, which indicates a transition into a short-term bullish phase. However, $389.55 remains a key level of resistance and until that is broken Ethereum remains in a relatively tight trading range with $366.65 being a notable level of support. ETHUSD chart by TradingView Much of Ethereum’s upcoming price action will depend on the trajectory of two variables; the rise in popularity of DeFi and the increased institutional flow into Bitcoin. DeFi has shown signs of serious strength and innovation throughout 2020, with yield farming tokens like Yearn Finance (YFI) and C.vault Finance (CORE) rallying exponentially as users attempt to lock in high annual percentage yields (APYs). As most of DeFi protocols are based on Ethereum, continuation to the upside for the DeFi sector would have a subsequently positive impact on the price of Ethereum itself. Bitcoin, meanwhile, has reinforced its reputation as the leading cryptocurrency over the past two months with institutional investment flowing in from the likes of Square and MicroStrategy, which could well give the entire asset class a significant boost. For more news, guides and cryptocurrency analysis, click here . About Ethereum Ethereum was launched by Vitalik Buterin on July 30 2015. He was a researcher and programmer working on Bitcoin Magazine and he initially wrote a whitepaper in 2013 describing Ethereum. Buterin had proposed that Bitcoin needed a scripting language. He decided to develop a new platform with a more general scripting language when he couldn’t get buy-in to his proposal. More Ethereum news and information If you want to find out more information about Ethereum or cryptocurrencies in general, then use the search box at the top of this page. Please check the below article: Story continues https://coinrivet.com/ethereum-adopts-erc-1155-as-an-official-standard/ As with any investment, it pays to do some homework before you part with your money. The prices of cryptocurrencies are volatile and go up and down quickly. This page is not recommending a particular currency or whether you should invest or not. You may be interested in our range of cryptocurrency guides along with the latest cryptocurrency news . Disclaimer: This is not financial advice.
[Social Media Buzz]
None available.
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11483.36, 11742.04, 11916.33, 12823.69, 12965.89, 12931.54, 13108.06, 13031.17, 13075.25, 13654.22
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 10366.70, 10725.60, 10397.90, 10951.00, 11086.40, 11489.70, 11512.60, 11573.30, 10779.90, 9965.57, 9395.01, 9337.55, 8866.00, 9578.63, 9205.12, 9194.85, 8269.81, 8300.86, 8338.35, 7916.88, 8223.68, 8630.65, 8913.47, 8929.28, 8728.47, 8879.62, 8668.12, 8495.78, 8209.40, 7833.04, 7954.48, 7165.70, 6890.52, 6973.53, 6844.23, 7083.80, 7456.11, 6853.84, 6811.47, 6636.32, 6911.09, 7023.52, 6770.73, 6834.76, 6968.32, 7889.25, 7895.96, 7986.24, 8329.11, 8058.67, 7902.09, 8163.42, 8294.31, 8845.83, 8895.58, 8802.46, 8930.88, 9697.50, 8845.74, 9281.51, 8987.05, 9348.48, 9419.08, 9240.55, 9119.01, 9235.92, 9743.86, 9700.76, 9858.15, 9654.80, 9373.01, 9234.82, 9325.18, 9043.94, 8441.49, 8504.89, 8723.94, 8716.79, 8510.38, 8368.83, 8094.32, 8250.97, 8247.18, 8513.25, 8418.99, 8041.78, 7557.82, 7587.34, 7480.14, 7355.88.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2018-05-26]
Volume: 4051539968, RSI (14-day): 31.68, 50-day EMA: 8513.39, 200-day EMA: 8761.59
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
These Oil Stocks Fell 10% (or More) Today: Here's What You Need to Know: What happened Shares of a handful of small independent oil and gas producers, as well as a number of smaller oilfield service and equipment providers fell more than 10% on May 25. Profire Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ: PFIE) , which manufactures burner management systems for oil and gas companies, fell 14.5%, while offshore energy industry transportation specialist Bristow Group Inc (NYSE: BRS) fell 12.6%. Onshore drilling contractor Pioneer Energy Services Corp (NYSE: PES) and offshore oil and gas producer W&T Offshore, Inc. both fell 11.4%, while independent oil and gas producers California Resources Corp (NYSE: CRC) and Ultra Petroleum Corp (NASDAQ: UPL) fell 10.5% and 10%, respectively. The big downward catalyst was the same thing that sent oil prices down sharply on the day: word that Russia and OPEC -- primarily Saudi Arabia -- are on track to ramp up oil production in the second half of the year. It's expected that the OPEC/Russia alliance, which controls about 40% of global oil production , will add somewhere between 700,000 and 1.2 million barrels of oil per day in production in coming months. Oil pumpjack in operation. Image source: Getty Images. This news sent shocks through oil markets around the world. Brent crude futures -- a major global benchmark -- fell 3.3%, to $76.16, while West Texas Intermediate -- the main U.S. oil index -- fell 4.5%, to $67.50. Both hit multiyear highs only days before, with Brent closing at $79.80 on May 23 and briefly breaking $80 during intraday trading, while peaking at $72.24 on May 21. So what For producers like W&T, California Resources, and Ultra Petroleum, the drop in the price of oil futures will have a relatively clear result: lower prices will have a direct impact on their bottom lines. In addition, the market is getting ready for the next shoe to drop in the form of an official announcement for an increase in production from OPEC and Russia when they meet next month. As for Profire Energy, Bristow Group, and Pioneer Energy Services, which all make a living by selling goods or services that producers use in the oilfield, it's a little more nuanced. All three are indirectly affected by oil prices since their services are generally required no matter the price of oil. However, it gets a little more complicated, since oilfield activity is affected by oil prices, with producers generally taking more actions to cut expenses when prices are falling. That can include reducing activities that these companies support, as well as pushing for lower prices. Story continues As is often the case with oil-related stocks, today's big sell-off is almost entirely a product of fear based on expectations of what oil prices will do in the future. That shouldn't be unexpected, especially considering that oil prices have climbed steadily higher for more than two years. Since late January 2016, oil prices have increased almost 200%, driving almost all of the above stocks even higher: UPL Market Cap Chart UPL Market Cap data by YCharts. And today's big oil price scare is frightening some investors -- some of whom may have already seen 300% or better gains in the past two years -- out of these stocks. Now what Frankly, it's hard to say what investors should expect going forward. It's reasonable to say that oil prices have gotten a little ahead of the real supply/demand environment and a "correction" was due to happen. But at the same time, investments in the oil patch were only increased about 6% this year and still are well below levels from a few years ago. This has resulted in substantially less new oil being discovered than has been produced and used over the past two years. Furthermore, years of record-low spending on oilfield maintenance is on track to cause a significant decline in output from existing reserves, and it will take substantial investments to bring output back up in those oilfields. Yes, OPEC and Russia are on track to ramp up production later this year, and that could have some short-term effect on oil prices. But that won't address the reality that years of underspending on maintenance and exploration is likely to have a bigger long-term role on supply, and that could send oil prices higher over the longer term. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Jason Hall owns shares of Ultra Petroleum. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || These Oil Stocks Fell 10% (or More) Today: Here's What You Need to Know: Shares of a handful of small independent oil and gas producers, as well as a number of smaller oilfield service and equipment providers fell more than 10% on May 25.Profire Energy, Inc.(NASDAQ: PFIE), which manufactures burner management systems for oil and gas companies, fell 14.5%, while offshore energy industry transportation specialistBristow Group Inc(NYSE: BRS)fell 12.6%. Onshore drilling contractorPioneer Energy Services Corp(NYSE: PES)and offshore oil and gas producerW&T Offshore, Inc.both fell 11.4%, while independent oil and gas producersCalifornia Resources Corp(NYSE: CRC)andUltra Petroleum Corp(NASDAQ: UPL)fell 10.5% and 10%, respectively.
The big downward catalyst was the same thing that sent oil prices down sharply on the day: word that Russia and OPEC -- primarily Saudi Arabia -- are on track to ramp up oil production in the second half of the year. It's expected that the OPEC/Russia alliance, whichcontrols about 40% of global oil production, will add somewhere between 700,000 and 1.2 million barrels of oil per day in production in coming months.
Image source: Getty Images.
This news sent shocks through oil markets around the world. Brent crude futures -- a major global benchmark -- fell 3.3%, to $76.16, while West Texas Intermediate -- the main U.S. oil index -- fell 4.5%, to $67.50. Both hit multiyear highs only days before, with Brent closing at $79.80 on May 23 and briefly breaking $80 during intraday trading, while peaking at $72.24 on May 21.
For producers like W&T, California Resources, and Ultra Petroleum, the drop in the price of oil futures will have a relatively clear result: lower prices will have a direct impact on their bottom lines. In addition, the market is getting ready for the next shoe to drop in the form of an official announcement for an increase in production from OPEC and Russia when they meet next month.
As for Profire Energy, Bristow Group, and Pioneer Energy Services, which all make a living by selling goods or services that producers use in the oilfield, it's a little more nuanced. All three are indirectly affected by oil prices since their services are generally required no matter the price of oil. However, it gets a little more complicated, since oilfield activity is affected by oil prices, with producers generally taking more actions to cut expenses when prices are falling. That can include reducing activities that these companies support, as well as pushing for lower prices.
As is often the case with oil-related stocks, today's big sell-off is almost entirely a product of fear based on expectations of what oil prices will do in the future. That shouldn't be unexpected, especially considering that oil prices have climbed steadily higher for more than two years. Since late January 2016, oil prices have increased almost 200%, driving almost all of the above stocks even higher:
UPL Market Capdata byYCharts.
And today's big oil price scare is frightening some investors -- some of whom may have already seen 300% or better gains in the past two years -- out of these stocks.
Frankly, it's hard to say what investors should expect going forward. It's reasonable to say that oil prices have gotten a little ahead of the real supply/demand environment and a "correction" was due to happen. But at the same time, investments in the oil patch wereonly increased about 6%this year and still are well below levels from a few years ago. This has resulted in substantially less new oil being discovered than has been produced and used over the past two years.
Furthermore, years of record-low spending on oilfield maintenance is on track tocause a significant decline in outputfrom existing reserves, and it will take substantial investments to bring output back up in those oilfields.
Yes, OPEC and Russia are on track to ramp up production later this year, and that could have some short-term effect on oil prices. But that won't address the reality that years of underspending on maintenance and exploration is likely to have a bigger long-term role on supply, and thatcould send oil prices higherover the longer term.
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• 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices
• 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018
• 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing
• 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today
• The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss
• Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This
Jason Hallowns shares of Ultra Petroleum. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || How to Invest in Diabetes Stocks: Where there's a problem, there's an opportunity. Diabetes certainly presents a huge problem. It's the seventh-highest cause of death in the United States. It's also one of the fastest-growing diseases: At 29 million, the number of people in the U.S. with diabetes is nearly triple the number 20 years ago. And the problem isn't limited to the U.S.; diabetes is also the fastest-growing chronic disease in the world. Many publicly traded companies, both large and small, are developing new drugs and medical devices for diabetes care. The opportunities for investors lie in buying the stocks of the companies most likely to succeed in the growing diabetes market. Here's what you need to know about how to invest in diabetes stocks. Physician holding card with "diabetes" written on it Image source: Getty Images. What is diabetes? Before investing in diabetes stocks, it's important to understand exactly what diabetes is: a common disease that occurs when individuals' blood glucose ("blood sugar") levels become too high. Glucose enters the bloodstream from food. Normally, insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas, helps make sure the glucose moves from the blood to cells, to provide energy for those cells. But when the body doesn't make enough insulin -- or doesn't use it properly -- glucose stays in the blood rather than reaching the cells. If not managed, diabetes can lead to several serious health problems; these include eye problems, dental disease, foot problems, heart disease, kidney disease, nerve damage, and stroke. The A1C test is the most frequently used method of testing for diabetes. It's a blood test that measures the amount of hemoglobin -- a protein in blood that carries oxygen -- with attached glucose. The measurement reflects the patient's average blood glucose levels over the previous three months. A1C levels are reported as a percentage, with a higher percentage representing higher blood glucose levels. Individuals with diabetes have A1C levels of 6.5% or higher. Story continues How big is the diabetic population? More than 30 million Americans have diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Another 84 million have prediabetes -- where blood glucose levels are high (between 5.7% and 6.4%) but not high enough to be considered diabetes. Prediabetes is a risk factor for diabetes, and the higher the patient's A1C level is, the greater the risk. Types of diabetes There are three common types of diabetes, along with other less common types of the disease. Type 1 diabetes With type 1 diabetes, the body doesn't make insulin at all. Most frequently this is because the immune system attacks cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. Patients with this type of diabetes must take insulin every day to live. Around 1.25 million Americans have type 1 diabetes, with the disease typically diagnosed in children and young adults. Type 2 diabetes The most common form of diabetes is type 2 diabetes. With this type, the body either doesn't produce enough insulin, or doesn't use it very well. Type 2 diabetes can be caused by several factors, including lack of physical activity, being overweight, insulin resistance, and genetics. Around 28 million Americans have this form of the disease. Gestational diabetes Gestational diabetes occurs in 2% to 10% of pregnant women in the U.S. Changes during pregnancy, such as increased production of hormones and weight gain, cause the body to use insulin less effectively; as a result, the body can't make enough insulin. Around 50% of women with gestational diabetes go on to develop type 2 diabetes. Other types of diabetes Two other less common types of the disease are monogenic diabetes and cystic-fibrosis-related diabetes. "Monogenic" diabetes results from changes in a single gene (the more common forms are "polygenic"); this type accounts for 1% to 4% of all cases of diabetes. Cystic-fibrosis-related diabetes (CFRD) occurs when the thick, sticky mucus associated with cystic fibrosis (a genetic disease) causes scarring of the pancreas. This scarring results in the pancreas being unable to make enough insulin. More than 30,000 Americans have cystic fibrosis, with 20% of adolescents with the disease also suffering from CFRD and between 40% and 50% of the adults having CFRD. How is diabetes treated? Some cases of Type 2 diabetes can be managed through diet and exercise. However, type 1 diabetes and many cases of type 2 diabetes require more involved treatment. There are several components that can be part of managing and treating diabetes. Glucose monitoring Monitoring glucose levels is critical for both type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients. Individuals with type 1 diabetes typically must check their glucose levels four to 10 times per day, including prior to eating, before and after exercise, and before going to sleep. Some type 1 patients must also check their glucose levels during the night. Also, some people with type 1 diabetes use continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), devices with sensors beneath the skin that check blood glucose levels every few minutes. Type 2 diabetic patients usually must monitor their glucose levels at least twice each day -- before breakfast and dinner. Some individuals with type 2 diabetes must check their glucose levels before each meal and at bedtime. Insulin All type 1 diabetic patients and many type 2 diabetic patients must take insulin. There are four key types of insulin: Type How fast the insulin begins to work Period when the insulin is most effective How long the insulin works Rapid-acting 15 minutes after injection ~1 hour 2-4 hours Short-acting 30 minutes after injection 2-3 hours 3-6 hours Intermediate-acting 2-4 hours after injection 4-12 hours 12-18 hours Long-acting Up to 4 hours after injection Lowers glucose levels relatively evenly with minimal peak Up to 24 hours Data source: American Diabetes Association. Insulin can be administered using a variety of devices: Needle and syringe Insulin pen (an easy-to-use penlike device for self-injection) Insulin pump (a small device that delivers regular small doses, and higher doses when needed) Inhaler Injection port (a short tube inserted beneath the skin) Jet injector (a high-pressure insulin spray) Other medications Some type 2 diabetic patients also are prescribed non-insulin medications. Common types of diabetes medications include: Type of drug How the drugs work Examples Sulfonylureas Stimulate beta cells in the pancreas to produce more insulin Diabinese, Glucotrol, Micronase Biguanides Decrease the amount of glucose produced by the liver Metformin Meglitinides Stimulate beta cells in the pancreas to produce more insulin Prandin, Starlix Thiazolidinediones Make insulin more effective and decrease the amount of glucose produced by the liver Avandia, Actos DPP-4 inhibitors Prevent the breakdown of GLP-1, a peptide that reduces blood glucose levels Januvia, Onglyza, Tradjenta SGLT2 inhibitors Help the kidneys reabsorb glucose Invokana, Farxiga, Jardiance Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors Prevent the breakdown of starches, thereby reducing glucose levels Glyset, Precose Data source: American Diabetes Association. Factors driving the diabetes market By 2030, diabetes is projected to affect nearly 55 million Americans and 552 million people worldwide. In the U.S., total annual medical and societal costs related to diabetes are projected to increase by 53% to more than $622 billion. And the global total direct and indirect cost of diabetes is estimated to almost double by 2030 to $2.5 trillion. Several factors are driving growth in the diabetic patient population and increased spending on diabetes. 1. Aging populations One key trend that will likely increase the number of cases of diabetes is the growth in senior populations across the world. As people age, they're less likely to get enough exercise, which can result in added weight -- both of which are key factors that can contribute to type 2 diabetes. 2. Lower levels of physical activity in youth Not just the older part of the population is a cause for concern. Children and adolescents are also getting less physical activity, which has already led to a higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes in youth. Only one in three U.S. children is physically active every day, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Children spend more than seven and a half hours a day, on average, in front of a computer, smartphone, TV, or video game screen. 3. Developing nations adopting Western lifestyles Another driver of greater diabetes prevalence comes from developing countries. As the middle classes expand in these nations, their citizens are more likely to adopt lifestyles associated with the Western world, including unhealthy diets and less exercise. 4. New drugs and devices for managing diabetes Obviously, the increased numbers of patients diagnosed with diabetes will play a key role in higher costs. Ironically, better treatments for diabetes are also anticipated to contribute by prolonging the lives of patients with diabetes, which increases the costs over the long run of managing their related health problems. In addition, new drugs and devices for managing diabetes are more expensive than older products, driving costs up even more. Woman on couch testing her glucose levels Image source: Getty Images. Diabetes stocks Diabetes stocks fall into three broad categories: Drugmakers, medical-device makers, and companies that market medical supplies for diabetes. Below is a list of diabetes stocks with market caps of at least $200 million. Company Category Market Cap Forward P/E Dividend Yield Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) Drugs $109 billion 19.37 1.88% AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) Drugs $93 billion 19.70 3.97% Becton Dickinson and Co. (NYSE: BDX) Medical supplies $60 billion 17.74 1.29% DexCom (NASDAQ: DXCM) Medical devices $8 billion N/A N/A Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE: LLY) Drugs $85 billion 14.91 2.77% Insulet (NASDAQ: PODD) Medical devices $5 billion 273.03 N/A Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) Drugs, medical devices $325 billion 14.16 2.57% Lexicon Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: LXRX) Drugs $1 billion N/A N/A MannKind (NASDAQ: MNKD) Drugs $270 million N/A N/A Medtronic (NYSE: MDT) Medical devices $117 billion 15.36 2.14% Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) Drugs $159 billion 12.99 3.22% Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) Drugs $116 billion 18.29 2.61% Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) Drugs $209 billion 11.62 3.82% Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: REGN) Drugs $32 billion 13.95 N/A Sanofi (NYSE: SNY) Drugs $95 billion 10.75 4.64% Senseonics Holdings (NYSEMKT: SENS) Medical devices $447 million N/A N/A Tandem Diabetes Care (NASDAQ: TNDM) Medical devices $711 million N/A N/A Data source: Yahoo! Finance. P/E = price-to-earnings ratio; N/A = not applicable. Data as of May 25, 2018. Factors to consider in evaluating diabetes stocks What should you look for in a diabetes stock? Well, for starters, you'll want to evaluate the company just as you'd research any potential investment . Key factors to consider include: 1. Diabetes products' contribution to total revenue How significant is the diabetes market to the company? A company that makes most of its revenue in other ways won't benefit as much from the growth in the diabetes market. Pfizer, for example, co-markets new diabetes drugs Steglatro, Steglujan, and Segluromet with Merck. But those are the only diabetes drugs in Pfizer's lineup; although they're expected to become a blockbuster franchise for the two companies, diabetes will still represent only a small portion of Pfizer's overall revenue. If you are looking to put money behind the diabetes market specifically, investing in a stock like Pfizer might not be your best bet. Buying a pure-play stock like Senseonics gives you greater exposure to the diabetes market, but it's also riskier than a diversified company like Pfizer. If this market doesn't grow as quickly as projected, it would have a much greater negative impact on Senseonics than it would Pfizer. 2. Competitive advantages and risks Although the diabetes market is huge, it's still very competitive. Companies that enjoy competitive advantages stand a better chance of long-term success. However, even successful products face the risk of losing market share to a rival. When brand-name drugs lose patent exclusivity, other companies can launch cheaper generic versions of the drug. With a biologic drug -- one made from a living organism or its products -- rivals can launch knockoff biosimilars after it loses patent exclusivity. Of course, a drug doesn't have to have its patents expire to lose market share. New drugs can come on the scene that are more effective, safer, and/or less costly. 3. Development risks The drug development process is risky. This process begins with preclinical testing in animals. If that testing goes well, approval must be obtained from regulators to advance to testing in humans. There are usually three phases of clinical testing of a new drug in humans. Phase 1 typically involves only a few patients and focuses on assessing the safety of the drug. Phase 2 includes more patients and evaluates the efficacy of the drug in addition to safety. Phase 3 clinical studies are usually much larger and take more time -- often between one and four years. These phase 3 studies focus on efficacy and potential adverse reactions. If drugs are shown to be successful in clinical testing, drugmakers submit for regulatory approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and similar agencies in other countries. Each step in this process holds the potential for failure. For every 10 drug candidates that start in phase 1 clinical studies, on average only one will make it all the way to approval. The process for winning approval for new medical devices targeting diabetes care also requires several hurdles to be jumped. Companies must first test prototypes of the new medical devices in controlled settings that don't involve humans. The pathway to approval then depends on the risk that the device presents. Devices that hold significant risks for patients must go through clinical trials and FDA review similar to that for new drugs. There's no guarantee that a new medical device will be cleared for marketing by the FDA. So what should investors do about these development risks? Choosing stocks with pipeline candidates in late-stage development is less risky than picking stocks with early-stage drugs. Also, companies with more pipeline candidates have more "shots on goal," which improves the overall chances of success. 4. Reimbursement risks Once a drug or medical device wins regulatory approval, there's another challenge: securing reimbursement. In the U.S., pharmaceutical and medical-device companies must negotiate with health insurers to get their products covered for reimbursement. Drugmakers also have to negotiate with pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) -- third-party administrators of programs that attempt to control prescription drug costs for their customers. In Europe, where universal healthcare plans are paid for by national governments, companies must negotiate pricing on a country-by-country basis. It's possible that a new product can get a green light from regulatory agencies but not win favor with payers. Even if a product does secure reimbursement coverage, there's no guarantee that the desired price will be negotiated. Payers can also put additional obstacles in the way, such as mandating that patients obtain prior authorization before using a new product. All of this is to say that just because a new product is approved, that doesn't mean you can count on it succeeding commercially. Top diabetes stocks to consider So in light of these key factors and risks, what are the best diabetes stocks to consider? I think three especially stand out. Abbott Labs Although Abbott Labs doesn't currently detail how much of its revenue is generated from diabetes-care products, diabetes is becoming an increasingly important growth driver for the company. This new dynamic is primarily the result of FDA approval in September 2017 for Abbott's new flash glucose monitoring system FreeStyle Libre . It's important for many diabetic patients to continuously monitor their blood glucose levels. The drawback to most continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems is that they require patients to calibrate the systems by sticking their fingers several times per day to test blood glucose levels. FreeStyle Libre eliminates the need for those pesky finger sticks, and has a much lower cost than most CGM systems. As you might imagine, those are significant competitive advantages for Abbott. Dexcom recently launched its G6 CGM system that doesn't require finger sticks, but it's more expensive than the FreeStyle Libre. Abbott Labs is highly unlikely to need to raise any cash by issuing more stock: The company reported more than $4 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities at the end of the first quarter. Abbott also has one of the most stable dividends around, with the company paying a dividend every quarter since 1924 and increasing its dividend payout for 46 consecutive years -- making it a longtime member of the elite Dividend Aristocrats . Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Lexicon Pharmaceuticals is considerably more risky than Abbott Labs. The company only has one FDA-approved product right now -- Xermelo, for carcinoid syndrome diarrhea; the drug launched in the first quarter of 2017. Lexicon awaits regulatory approval for its first diabetes drug, sotagliflozin. So why consider buying Lexicon stock? Wall Street analysts think it could be one of the fastest-growing diabetes stocks on the market this year. That's for good reason: If approved, sotagliflozin will be the first combination SGLT1/SGLT2 inhibitor. SGLT2 (SGLT stands for "sodium-glucose linked transporter," and the numbers denote the type of cotransporter) is responsible for most of the glucose reabsorption performed by the kidneys. SGLT1 is responsible for glucose absorption in the gastrointestinal tract, and, to a lesser extent than SGLT2, glucose reabsorption in the kidneys. Sotagliflozin could be a huge winner because it's potentially more effective than SGLT2 inhibitors such as Invokana and Jardiance. As an added bonus, it treats both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Novo Nordisk Novo Nordisk ranks as one of the leaders in the diabetes drug market. The Danish drugmaker's insulin products Levemir, Tresiba, NovoMix, and NovoRapid are huge moneymakers. But the main reason I like Novo Nordisk is the company's newer products. The FDA granted approval to type 2 diabetes drug Ozempic in December. Market research firm EvaluatePharma thinks that Ozempic will be the second-biggest new drug launched in 2018 , with more than $2.7 billion in annual sales by 2022. I also like the prospects for Novo's obesity drug Saxenda, which I see as a great fit with the company's diabetes lineup. Don't forget Novo Nordisk's dividend, either. Over the last 10 years, investors received an additional 78% in total returns thanks to the drugmaker's dividend. And with a payout ratio of less than 50%, Novo has plenty of flexibility for dividend hikes in the future. Unmet opportunities There are also two unmet opportunities in diabetes that investors should be aware of. One is in new products that help prevent the disease. Type 2 diabetes is largely preventable through diet and exercise. New superfoods created by gene editing could be game-changers down the road, helping people avoid gaining extra weight that could make them more likely to develop diabetes. Another is in more convenient ways to monitor glucose levels. Abbott's FreeStyle Libre is a fantastic innovation on this front, but more advances could be on the way. For example, Alphabet 's Verily Life Sciences unit is working with Novartis to develop a smart contact lens that senses glucose levels in tears. These contact lenses would change color if diabetic patients' glucose levels aren't where they need to be. Such developments are likely years down the road, at best. But diabetes is such a huge problem that making these technologies become reality should be worth the effort. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Keith Speights owns shares of Alphabet (A shares) and Pfizer. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares) and Alphabet (C shares). The Motley Fool owns shares of Johnson & Johnson and Medtronic. The Motley Fool recommends Becton Dickinson, Insulet, and Novo Nordisk. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || How to Invest in Diabetes Stocks: Where there's a problem, there's an opportunity.
Diabetes certainly presents a huge problem. It's the seventh-highest cause of death in the United States. It's also one of the fastest-growing diseases: At 29 million, the number of people in the U.S. with diabetes is nearly triple the number 20 years ago. And the problem isn't limited to the U.S.; diabetes is also the fastest-growing chronic disease in the world.
Many publicly traded companies, both large and small, are developing new drugs and medical devices for diabetes care. The opportunities for investors lie in buying the stocks of the companies most likely to succeed in the growing diabetes market. Here's what you need to know about how to invest in diabetes stocks.
Image source: Getty Images.
Before investing in diabetes stocks, it's important to understand exactly what diabetes is: a common disease that occurs when individuals' blood glucose ("blood sugar") levels become too high.
Glucose enters the bloodstream from food. Normally, insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas, helps make sure the glucose moves from the blood to cells, to provide energy for those cells. But when the body doesn't make enough insulin -- or doesn't use it properly -- glucose stays in the blood rather than reaching the cells. If not managed, diabetes can lead to several serious health problems; these include eye problems, dental disease, foot problems, heart disease, kidney disease, nerve damage, and stroke.
The A1C test is the most frequently used method of testing for diabetes. It's a blood test that measures the amount of hemoglobin -- a protein in blood that carries oxygen -- with attached glucose. The measurement reflects the patient's average blood glucose levels over the previous three months. A1C levels are reported as a percentage, with a higher percentage representing higher blood glucose levels. Individuals with diabetes have A1C levels of 6.5% or higher.
More than 30 million Americans have diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Another 84 million have prediabetes -- where blood glucose levels are high (between 5.7% and 6.4%) but not high enough to be considered diabetes. Prediabetes is a risk factor for diabetes, and the higher the patient's A1C level is, the greater the risk.
There are three common types of diabetes, along with other less common types of the disease.
Type 1 diabetes
With type 1 diabetes, the body doesn't make insulin at all. Most frequently this is because the immune system attacks cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. Patients with this type of diabetes must take insulin every day to live. Around 1.25 million Americans have type 1 diabetes, with the disease typically diagnosed in children and young adults.
Type 2 diabetes
The most common form of diabetes is type 2 diabetes. With this type, the body either doesn't produce enough insulin, or doesn't use it very well. Type 2 diabetes can be caused by several factors, including lack of physical activity, being overweight, insulin resistance, and genetics. Around 28 million Americans have this form of the disease.
Gestational diabetes
Gestational diabetes occurs in 2% to 10% of pregnant women in the U.S. Changes during pregnancy, such as increased production of hormones and weight gain, cause the body to use insulin less effectively; as a result, the body can't make enough insulin. Around 50% of women with gestational diabetes go on to develop type 2 diabetes.
Other types of diabetes
Two other less common types of the disease are monogenic diabetes and cystic-fibrosis-related diabetes. "Monogenic" diabetes results from changes in a single gene (the more common forms are "polygenic"); this type accounts for 1% to 4% of all cases of diabetes.
Cystic-fibrosis-related diabetes (CFRD) occurs when the thick, sticky mucus associated with cystic fibrosis (a genetic disease) causes scarring of the pancreas. This scarring results in the pancreas being unable to make enough insulin. More than 30,000 Americans have cystic fibrosis, with 20% of adolescents with the disease also suffering from CFRD and between 40% and 50% of the adults having CFRD.
Some cases of Type 2 diabetes can be managed through diet and exercise. However, type 1 diabetes and many cases of type 2 diabetes require more involved treatment. There are several components that can be part of managing and treating diabetes.
Glucose monitoring
Monitoring glucose levels is critical for both type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients.
Individuals with type 1 diabetes typically must check their glucose levels four to 10 times per day, including prior to eating, before and after exercise, and before going to sleep. Some type 1 patients must also check their glucose levels during the night. Also, some people with type 1 diabetes use continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), devices with sensors beneath the skin that check blood glucose levels every few minutes.
Type 2 diabetic patients usually must monitor their glucose levels at least twice each day -- before breakfast and dinner. Some individuals with type 2 diabetes must check their glucose levels before each meal and at bedtime.
Insulin
All type 1 diabetic patients and many type 2 diabetic patients must take insulin. There are four key types of insulin:
[{"Type": "Rapid-acting", "How fast the insulin begins to work": "15 minutes after injection", "Period when the insulin is most effective": "~1 hour", "How long the insulin works": "2-4 hours"}, {"Type": "Short-acting", "How fast the insulin begins to work": "30 minutes after injection", "Period when the insulin is most effective": "2-3 hours", "How long the insulin works": "3-6 hours"}, {"Type": "Intermediate-acting", "How fast the insulin begins to work": "2-4 hours after injection", "Period when the insulin is most effective": "4-12 hours", "How long the insulin works": "12-18 hours"}, {"Type": "Long-acting", "How fast the insulin begins to work": "Up to 4 hours after injection", "Period when the insulin is most effective": "Lowers glucose levels relatively evenly with minimal peak", "How long the insulin works": "Up to 24 hours"}]
Data source: American Diabetes Association.
Insulin can be administered using a variety of devices:
• Needle and syringe
• Insulin pen (an easy-to-use penlike device for self-injection)
• Insulin pump (a small device that delivers regular small doses, and higher doses when needed)
• Inhaler
• Injection port (a short tube inserted beneath the skin)
• Jet injector (a high-pressure insulin spray)
Other medications
Some type 2 diabetic patients also are prescribed non-insulin medications. Common types of diabetes medications include:
[{"Type of drug": "Sulfonylureas", "How the drugs work": "Stimulate beta cells in the pancreas to produce more insulin", "Examples": "Diabinese, Glucotrol, Micronase"}, {"Type of drug": "Biguanides", "How the drugs work": "Decrease the amount of glucose produced by the liver", "Examples": "Metformin"}, {"Type of drug": "Meglitinides", "How the drugs work": "Stimulate beta cells in the pancreas to produce more insulin", "Examples": "Prandin, Starlix"}, {"Type of drug": "Thiazolidinediones", "How the drugs work": "Make insulin more effective and decrease the amount of glucose produced by the liver", "Examples": "Avandia, Actos"}, {"Type of drug": "DPP-4 inhibitors", "How the drugs work": "Prevent the breakdown of GLP-1, a peptide that reduces blood glucose levels", "Examples": "Januvia, Onglyza, Tradjenta"}, {"Type of drug": "SGLT2 inhibitors", "How the drugs work": "Help the kidneys reabsorb glucose", "Examples": "Invokana, Farxiga, Jardiance"}, {"Type of drug": "Alpha-glucosidase inhibitors", "How the drugs work": "Prevent the breakdown of starches, thereby reducing glucose levels", "Examples": "Glyset, Precose"}]
Data source: American Diabetes Association.
By 2030, diabetes is projected to affect nearly 55 million Americans and 552 million people worldwide. In the U.S., total annual medical and societal costs related to diabetes are projected to increase by 53% to more than $622 billion. And the global total direct and indirect cost of diabetes is estimated to almost double by 2030 to $2.5 trillion.
Several factors are driving growth in the diabetic patient population and increased spending on diabetes.
1. Aging populations
One key trend that will likely increase the number of cases of diabetes is the growth in senior populations across the world. As people age, they're less likely to get enough exercise, which can result in added weight -- both of which are key factors that can contribute to type 2 diabetes.
2. Lower levels of physical activity in youth
Not just the older part of the population is a cause for concern. Children and adolescents are also getting less physical activity, which has already led to a higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes in youth. Only one in three U.S. children is physically active every day, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Children spend more than seven and a half hours a day, on average, in front of a computer, smartphone, TV, or video game screen.
3. Developing nations adopting Western lifestyles
Another driver of greater diabetes prevalence comes from developing countries. As the middle classes expand in these nations, their citizens are more likely to adopt lifestyles associated with the Western world, including unhealthy diets and less exercise.
4. New drugs and devices for managing diabetes
Obviously, the increased numbers of patients diagnosed with diabetes will play a key role in higher costs. Ironically, better treatments for diabetes are also anticipated to contribute by prolonging the lives of patients with diabetes, which increases the costs over the long run of managing their related health problems. In addition, new drugs and devices for managing diabetes are more expensive than older products, driving costs up even more.
Image source: Getty Images.
Diabetes stocks fall into three broad categories: Drugmakers, medical-device makers, and companies that market medical supplies for diabetes. Below is a list of diabetes stocks with market caps of at least $200 million.
[{"Company": "Abbott Laboratories(NYSE: ABT)", "Category": "Drugs", "Market Cap": "$109 billion", "Forward P/E": "19.37", "Dividend Yield": "1.88%"}, {"Company": "AstraZeneca(NYSE: AZN)", "Category": "Drugs", "Market Cap": "$93 billion", "Forward P/E": "19.70", "Dividend Yield": "3.97%"}, {"Company": "Becton Dickinson and Co.(NYSE: BDX)", "Category": "Medical supplies", "Market Cap": "$60 billion", "Forward P/E": "17.74", "Dividend Yield": "1.29%"}, {"Company": "DexCom(NASDAQ: DXCM)", "Category": "Medical devices", "Market Cap": "$8 billion", "Forward P/E": "N/A", "Dividend Yield": "N/A"}, {"Company": "Eli Lilly and Co.(NYSE: LLY)", "Category": "Drugs", "Market Cap": "$85 billion", "Forward P/E": "14.91", "Dividend Yield": "2.77%"}, {"Company": "Insulet(NASDAQ: PODD)", "Category": "Medical devices", "Market Cap": "$5 billion", "Forward P/E": "273.03", "Dividend Yield": "N/A"}, {"Company": "Johnson & Johnson(NYSE: JNJ)", "Category": "Drugs, medical devices", "Market Cap": "$325 billion", "Forward P/E": "14.16", "Dividend Yield": "2.57%"}, {"Company": "Lexicon Pharmaceuticals(NASDAQ: LXRX)", "Category": "Drugs", "Market Cap": "$1 billion", "Forward P/E": "N/A", "Dividend Yield": "N/A"}, {"Company": "MannKind(NASDAQ: MNKD)", "Category": "Drugs", "Market Cap": "$270 million", "Forward P/E": "N/A", "Dividend Yield": "N/A"}, {"Company": "Medtronic(NYSE: MDT)", "Category": "Medical devices", "Market Cap": "$117 billion", "Forward P/E": "15.36", "Dividend Yield": "2.14%"}, {"Company": "Merck & Co.(NYSE: MRK)", "Category": "Drugs", "Market Cap": "$159 billion", "Forward P/E": "12.99", "Dividend Yield": "3.22%"}, {"Company": "Novo Nordisk(NYSE: NVO)", "Category": "Drugs", "Market Cap": "$116 billion", "Forward P/E": "18.29", "Dividend Yield": "2.61%"}, {"Company": "Pfizer(NYSE: PFE)", "Category": "Drugs", "Market Cap": "$209 billion", "Forward P/E": "11.62", "Dividend Yield": "3.82%"}, {"Company": "Regeneron Pharmaceuticals(NASDAQ: REGN)", "Category": "Drugs", "Market Cap": "$32 billion", "Forward P/E": "13.95", "Dividend Yield": "N/A"}, {"Company": "Sanofi(NYSE: SNY)", "Category": "Drugs", "Market Cap": "$95 billion", "Forward P/E": "10.75", "Dividend Yield": "4.64%"}, {"Company": "Senseonics Holdings(NYSEMKT: SENS)", "Category": "Medical devices", "Market Cap": "$447 million", "Forward P/E": "N/A", "Dividend Yield": "N/A"}, {"Company": "Tandem Diabetes Care(NASDAQ: TNDM)", "Category": "Medical devices", "Market Cap": "$711 million", "Forward P/E": "N/A", "Dividend Yield": "N/A"}]
Data source: Yahoo! Finance. P/E = price-to-earnings ratio; N/A = not applicable. Data as of May 25, 2018.
What should you look for in a diabetes stock? Well, for starters, you'll want to evaluate the company just as you'dresearch any potential investment. Key factors to consider include:
1. Diabetes products' contribution to total revenue
How significant is the diabetes market to the company? A company that makes most of its revenue in other ways won't benefit as much from the growth in the diabetes market.
Pfizer, for example, co-markets new diabetes drugs Steglatro, Steglujan, and Segluromet with Merck. But those are the only diabetes drugs in Pfizer's lineup; although they're expected to become ablockbusterfranchise for the two companies, diabetes will still represent only a small portion of Pfizer's overall revenue.
If you are looking to put money behind the diabetes market specifically, investing in a stock like Pfizer might not be your best bet. Buying a pure-play stock like Senseonics gives you greater exposure to the diabetes market, but it's also riskier than a diversified company like Pfizer. If this market doesn't grow as quickly as projected, it would have a much greater negative impact on Senseonics than it would Pfizer.
2. Competitive advantages and risks
Although the diabetes market is huge, it's still very competitive. Companies that enjoycompetitive advantagesstand a better chance of long-term success.
However, even successful products face the risk of losing market share to a rival. When brand-name drugs lose patent exclusivity, other companies can launch cheaper generic versions of the drug. With a biologic drug -- one made from a living organism or its products -- rivals can launch knockoffbiosimilarsafter it loses patent exclusivity.
Of course, a drug doesn't have to have its patents expire to lose market share. New drugs can come on the scene that are more effective, safer, and/or less costly.
3. Development risks
Thedrug development processis risky. This process begins with preclinical testing in animals. If that testing goes well, approval must be obtained from regulators to advance to testing in humans.
There are usually three phases of clinical testing of a new drug in humans.Phase 1typically involves only a few patients and focuses on assessing the safety of the drug.Phase 2includes more patients and evaluates the efficacy of the drug in addition to safety.Phase 3clinical studies are usually much larger and take more time -- often between one and four years. These phase 3 studies focus on efficacy and potential adverse reactions. If drugs are shown to be successful in clinical testing, drugmakers submit for regulatory approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and similar agencies in other countries.
Each step in this process holds the potential for failure. For every 10 drug candidates that start in phase 1 clinical studies, on average only one will make it all the way to approval.
The process for winning approval for new medical devices targeting diabetes care also requires several hurdles to be jumped. Companies must first test prototypes of the new medical devices in controlled settings that don't involve humans. The pathway to approval then depends on the risk that the device presents. Devices that hold significant risks for patients must go through clinical trials and FDA review similar to that for new drugs. There's no guarantee that a new medical device will be cleared for marketing by the FDA.
So what should investors do about these development risks? Choosing stocks with pipeline candidates in late-stage development is less risky than picking stocks with early-stage drugs. Also, companies with more pipeline candidates have more "shots on goal," which improves the overall chances of success.
4. Reimbursement risks
Once a drug or medical device wins regulatory approval, there's another challenge: securing reimbursement. In the U.S., pharmaceutical and medical-device companies must negotiate with health insurers to get their products covered for reimbursement. Drugmakers also have to negotiate withpharmacy benefits managers (PBMs)-- third-party administrators of programs that attempt to control prescription drug costs for their customers. In Europe, where universal healthcare plans are paid for by national governments, companies must negotiate pricing on a country-by-country basis.
It's possible that a new product can get a green light from regulatory agencies but not win favor with payers. Even if a product does secure reimbursement coverage, there's no guarantee that the desired price will be negotiated. Payers can also put additional obstacles in the way, such as mandating that patients obtain prior authorization before using a new product. All of this is to say that just because a new product is approved, that doesn't mean you can count on it succeeding commercially.
So in light of these key factors and risks, what are the best diabetes stocks to consider? I think three especially stand out.
Abbott Labs
Although Abbott Labs doesn't currently detail how much of its revenue is generated from diabetes-care products, diabetes is becoming an increasingly important growth driver for the company. This new dynamic is primarily the result of FDA approval in September 2017 forAbbott's new flash glucose monitoring system FreeStyle Libre.
It's important for many diabetic patients to continuously monitor their blood glucose levels. The drawback to most continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems is that they require patients to calibrate the systems by sticking their fingers several times per day to test blood glucose levels.
FreeStyle Libre eliminates the need for those pesky finger sticks, and has a much lower cost than most CGM systems. As you might imagine, those are significant competitive advantages for Abbott. Dexcom recently launched its G6 CGM system that doesn't require finger sticks, but it's more expensive than the FreeStyle Libre.
Abbott Labs is highly unlikely to need to raise any cash by issuing more stock: The company reported more than $4 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities at the end of the first quarter. Abbott also has one of the most stabledividendsaround, with the company paying a dividend every quarter since 1924 and increasing its dividend payout for 46 consecutive years -- making it a longtime member of the eliteDividend Aristocrats.
Lexicon Pharmaceuticals
Lexicon Pharmaceuticals is considerably more risky than Abbott Labs. The company only has one FDA-approved product right now -- Xermelo, for carcinoid syndrome diarrhea; the drug launched in the first quarter of 2017. Lexicon awaits regulatory approval for its first diabetes drug, sotagliflozin.
So why consider buying Lexicon stock? Wall Street analysts think it could be one of thefastest-growing diabetes stocks on the marketthis year. That's for good reason: If approved, sotagliflozin will be the first combination SGLT1/SGLT2 inhibitor.
SGLT2 (SGLT stands for "sodium-glucose linked transporter," and the numbers denote the type of cotransporter) is responsible for most of the glucose reabsorption performed by the kidneys. SGLT1 is responsible for glucose absorption in the gastrointestinal tract, and, to a lesser extent than SGLT2, glucose reabsorption in the kidneys. Sotagliflozin could be a huge winner because it's potentially more effective than SGLT2 inhibitors such as Invokana and Jardiance. As an added bonus, it treats both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
Novo Nordisk
Novo Nordisk ranks as one of the leaders in the diabetes drug market. The Danish drugmaker's insulin products Levemir, Tresiba, NovoMix, and NovoRapid are huge moneymakers. But the main reason I like Novo Nordisk is the company's newer products.
The FDA granted approval to type 2 diabetes drug Ozempic in December. Market research firm EvaluatePharma thinks that Ozempic will be thesecond-biggest new drug launched in 2018, with more than $2.7 billion in annual sales by 2022. I also like the prospects for Novo's obesity drug Saxenda, which I see as a great fit with the company's diabetes lineup.
Don't forget Novo Nordisk's dividend, either. Over the last 10 years, investors received an additional 78% in total returns thanks to the drugmaker's dividend. And with apayout ratioof less than 50%, Novo has plenty of flexibility for dividend hikes in the future.
There are also two unmet opportunities in diabetes that investors should be aware of.
One is in new products that help prevent the disease. Type 2 diabetes is largely preventable through diet and exercise.New superfoods created by gene editingcould be game-changers down the road, helping people avoid gaining extra weight that could make them more likely to develop diabetes.
Another is in more convenient ways to monitor glucose levels. Abbott's FreeStyle Libre is a fantastic innovation on this front, but more advances could be on the way. For example,Alphabet's Verily Life Sciences unit is working withNovartistodevelop a smart contact lens that senses glucose levelsin tears. These contact lenses would change color if diabetic patients' glucose levels aren't where they need to be.
Such developments are likely years down the road, at best. But diabetes is such a huge problem that making these technologies become reality should be worth the effort.
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Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors.Keith Speightsowns shares of Alphabet (A shares) and Pfizer. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares) and Alphabet (C shares). The Motley Fool owns shares of Johnson & Johnson and Medtronic. The Motley Fool recommends Becton Dickinson, Insulet, and Novo Nordisk. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || What Happened in the Stock Market Today: Stocks sold off due to geopolitical concerns and falling oil prices on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI) and the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) both had small losses. Today's stock market Index Percentage Change Point Change Dow (0.24%) 58.67 S&P 500 (0.24%) 6.43 Data source: Yahoo! Finance. Oil stocks tumbled on news that Saudi Arabia and Russia are near an agreement to increase production, pushing oil prices down over 4%. The SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (NYSEMKT: XOP) fell 3.2%. Homebuilders were a bright spot, with the iShares US Home Construction ETF (NYSEMKT: ITB) rising 1.5%. As for individual stocks, retail earnings reports continue to produce winners and losers in the market, with Foot Locker (NYSE: FL) rising higher on its profit outlook and The Gap, Inc. (NYSE: GPS) stumbling due to softening in its core brand. Falling stock graph. Image source: Getty Images. Foot Locker off to the races on strong profit Shares of specialty athletic retailer Foot Locker jumped 20.2% after the company reported first-quarter results that exceeded expectations and gave an upbeat outlook for the rest of the year. Revenue increased 1.2% to $2.03 billion, compared with analyst expectations for a 2% decline. Earnings per share grew by $0.02 to $1.38 while Wall Street was expecting $1.25. Comparable-store sales fell 2.8% from the period a year earlier and gross margin decreased from 34% to 32.9%. Selling, general, and administrative spending increased to 19% from 18.5% a year ago, due to higher investments in digital operations. Those may not sound like stellar results, but they were better than what the company was expecting. "The flow of premium product continues to improve, with increasing breadth and depth in the most sought after styles from our key vendors," said CEO Richard Johnson in the press release. "This led to first quarter results which were above our expectations. With the strength of our strategic vendor partnerships and our central position in youth culture, we continue to believe that we are poised to inflect to positive comparable-store sales growth as we progress through the year." Story continues In the conference call, the company said it expected strengthening sales performance during the year and double-digit growth in adjusted earnings per share over the $3.99 it earned last year. Foot Locker had a low bar to step over this quarter, but the upbeat outlook, along with a 7.1% decline in inventory as the company cleared out slow-moving products, had investors believing in the stock today. Gap brand stores drag down profit Shares of Gap plummeted 14.6% after the company reported higher-than-expected sales but missed profit estimates. Sales were up 10% to $3.78 billion and EPS increased 16.7% to $0.42. Analysts were expecting the company to earn $0.46 per share on revenue of $3.6 billion. Gap continues to struggle with its flagship stores, which had a comparable-sales decline of 4%, after flat performance in the previous quarter. Growth in its Old Navy stores slowed to a 3% comp gain, after growing 9% in Q4. Banana Republic was a bright spot, growing comparable sales 3%, up from 1% last quarter and a 4% decline in the year-ago period. Gross margin, excluding the effect of an accounting change, declined 120 basis points from last year, largely due to the Gap brand. Looking forward, Gap reaffirmed previous guidance for EPS between $2.55 and $2.70, which is 22.7% ahead of last year's number at the midpoint, and comparable sales flat to up slightly. In the conference call, Gap management said "operational missteps" led to high inventory in the Gap brand going into the quarter, which led to a decision to aggressively sell off the excess. CFO Teri List-Stoll said that the pressure will continue into Q2, but tried to reassure analysts that the cause was not an issue with product acceptance by customers. Investors weren't buying that today, though, believing that the Gap brand has longer-term issues. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Jim Crumly has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || What Happened in the Stock Market Today: Stocks sold off due to geopolitical concerns and falling oil prices on Friday. TheDow Jones Industrial Average(DJINDICES: ^DJI)and theS&P 500(SNPINDEX: ^GSPC)both had small losses.
[{"Index": "Dow", "Percentage Change": "(0.24%)", "Point Change": "58.67"}, {"Index": "S&P 500", "Percentage Change": "(0.24%)", "Point Change": "6.43"}]
Data source: Yahoo! Finance.
Oil stocks tumbled on news that Saudi Arabia and Russia are near an agreement to increase production, pushing oil prices down over 4%. TheSPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF(NYSEMKT: XOP)fell 3.2%. Homebuilders were a bright spot, with theiShares US Home Construction ETF(NYSEMKT: ITB)rising 1.5%.
As for individual stocks, retail earnings reports continue to produce winners and losers in the market, withFoot Locker(NYSE: FL)rising higher on its profit outlook andThe Gap, Inc.(NYSE: GPS)stumbling due to softening in its core brand.
Image source: Getty Images.
Shares of specialty athletic retailer Foot Locker jumped 20.2% after the company reportedfirst-quarter resultsthat exceeded expectations and gave an upbeat outlook for the rest of the year. Revenue increased 1.2% to $2.03 billion, compared with analyst expectations for a 2% decline. Earnings per share grew by $0.02 to $1.38 while Wall Street was expecting $1.25.
Comparable-store sales fell 2.8% from the period a year earlier and gross margin decreased from 34% to 32.9%. Selling, general, and administrative spending increased to 19% from 18.5% a year ago, due to higher investments in digital operations.
Those may not sound like stellar results, but they were better than what the company was expecting. "The flow of premium product continues to improve, with increasing breadth and depth in the most sought after styles from our key vendors," said CEO Richard Johnson in the press release. "This led to first quarter results which were above our expectations. With the strength of our strategic vendor partnerships and our central position in youth culture, we continue to believe that we are poised to inflect to positive comparable-store sales growth as we progress through the year."
In the conference call, the company said it expected strengthening sales performance during the year and double-digit growth in adjusted earnings per share over the $3.99 it earned last year.
Foot Locker had a low bar to step over this quarter, but the upbeat outlook, along with a 7.1% decline in inventory as the company cleared out slow-moving products, had investors believing in the stock today.
Shares of Gap plummeted 14.6% after the company reported higher-than-expected sales but missed profit estimates. Sales were up 10% to $3.78 billion and EPS increased 16.7% to $0.42. Analysts were expecting the company to earn $0.46 per share on revenue of $3.6 billion.
Gap continues to struggle with its flagship stores, which had a comparable-sales decline of 4%, after flat performance in the previous quarter. Growth in its Old Navy stores slowed to a 3% comp gain, after growing 9% in Q4. Banana Republic was a bright spot, growing comparable sales 3%, up from 1% last quarter and a 4% decline in the year-ago period. Gross margin, excluding the effect of an accounting change, declined 120 basis points from last year, largely due to the Gap brand.
Looking forward, Gap reaffirmed previous guidance for EPS between $2.55 and $2.70, which is 22.7% ahead of last year's number at the midpoint, and comparable sales flat to up slightly.
In the conference call, Gap management said "operational missteps" led to high inventory in the Gap brand going into the quarter, which led to a decision to aggressively sell off the excess. CFO Teri List-Stoll said that the pressure will continue into Q2, but tried to reassure analysts that the cause was not an issue with product acceptance by customers.
Investors weren't buying that today, though, believing thatthe Gap brandhas longer-term issues.
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Jim Crumlyhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Podcast Platform Castbox Launches Blockchain Project to Reward Creators: Castbox Award-winning global podcast platform Castbox has announced the release of ContentBox, a blockchain-based infrastructure for decentralized digital content. The project is backed by Bo Shen — the founder of Fenbushi Capital and an early adopter of Ethereum — who will serve as both a cornerstone investor and strategic advisor to the team. Shen said, “The nature of blockchain technology is to take a slice of the pie from vested interest groups, where you are bound to encounter resistance. To get your project off the ground, you must have vast industry and product resources. I invested in ContentBox because it has a strong technical team and a wealth of industry experience, and I believe it will become the first killer app for the digital content industry.” Founded two years ago by former Google manager Renee Wang, Castbox allows listeners to find, access and create spoken audio content in multiple languages through virtually any device. The company’s proprietary technology includes in-audio deep search so listeners can customize their audio experiences, and curated podcast recommendations powered by natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning. With over 16 million users in 175 countries, the company has raised roughly $30 million in funding from top venture capital firms like ZhenFund, SIG China and IDG. Since the days of Napster’s inception, audio content publishers and creators have fought over who should have control in how content is monetized and distributed. Speaking with Bitcoin Magazine , Wang said that the creation of ContentBox was inspired by the ongoing fight against copyright infringement and piracy in the digital content arena. “Independent creators and publishers are under attack from all sides,” she said. “Take YouTube as an example. There was once a time when the platform democratized the creation and distribution of user-generated videos. Creators that produced great content were rewarded accordingly, and YouTube quickly became a major player in the entertainment industry.” Story continues More than a decade later, smaller, independent creators are struggling to make a living, she noted. “They pour their hearts and souls into their work, but these big platforms have taken full control over the way content is handled, leaving the average creator with little to no income, and virtually no ownership over their content. This issue is rampant across all major content platforms. Publishers face the same challenge, as more and more of their content is shared and consumed on third-party channels like Facebook.” Wang says that the digital media industry was originally built on principles of inclusivity, but that it has also become too top heavy to support independent publishers and creators. In addition, most advertising revenue winds up in the hands of major studios instead of the creators, where it belongs. She says the blockchain can solve this problem by removing middlemen and high transaction fees, while also introducing new streams of revenue like activity-based income (i.e. creators are paid when someone listens to their content) and subscriptions. “The digital content industry has remained relatively opaque over the years regarding paid media, and advertisers typically rely on vanity metrics like impressions to determine returns on investments (ROIs),” said Wang. She suggested that the blockchain can allow advertisers to tap into shared statistics and pay via advertisement viewership automated by smart contracts. “By decentralizing the podcast industry with a shared content pool, a shared user pool and a unified payout system, this new project creates an open source community that can’t be controlled by a few industry giants.” This is where ContentBox comes in. The system provides listeners with an array of blockchain-based solutions that power a unified payout system for the digital content arena. Users can access content by paying with digital tokens through what’s known as BOX Payout, a secure and borderless payment transaction network. “The base asset of ContentBox are BOX tokens which are Ethereum-based and are standard ERC20,” said Wang. “There won't be an ICO but there will be an airdrop. BOX tokens are the only way to transact within the app but they will be listed on a couple crypto exchanges by early July, so users will be able to cash out to Ether if desired.” Users garner these tokens by sharing content with others, inviting friends and joining the company’s Telegram channel. They are also granted access to digital wallets that manage their rewards. “Consumers engage in a wide variety of value-creating activities vital to the growth of the podcast community, like helping to share and create content, but are never financially rewarded,” said Wang. “Blockchain allows listeners to become stakeholders that get rewarded for their contributions. In turn, they can directly reward their favorite podcasters with the tokens they earn, or unlock premium content.” This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine . || Podcast Platform Castbox Launches Blockchain Project to Reward Creators: Castbox Award-winning global podcast platform Castbox has announced the release of ContentBox, a blockchain-based infrastructure for decentralized digital content. The project is backed by Bo Shen — the founder of Fenbushi Capital and an early adopter of Ethereum — who will serve as both a cornerstone investor and strategic advisor to the team. Shen said, “The nature of blockchain technology is to take a slice of the pie from vested interest groups, where you are bound to encounter resistance. To get your project off the ground, you must have vast industry and product resources. I invested in ContentBox because it has a strong technical team and a wealth of industry experience, and I believe it will become the first killer app for the digital content industry.” Founded two years ago by former Google manager Renee Wang, Castbox allows listeners to find, access and create spoken audio content in multiple languages through virtually any device. The company’s proprietary technology includes in-audio deep search so listeners can customize their audio experiences, and curated podcast recommendations powered by natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning. With over 16 million users in 175 countries, the company has raised roughly $30 million in funding from top venture capital firms like ZhenFund, SIG China and IDG. Since the days of Napster’s inception, audio content publishers and creators have fought over who should have control in how content is monetized and distributed. Speaking with Bitcoin Magazine , Wang said that the creation of ContentBox was inspired by the ongoing fight against copyright infringement and piracy in the digital content arena. “Independent creators and publishers are under attack from all sides,” she said. “Take YouTube as an example. There was once a time when the platform democratized the creation and distribution of user-generated videos. Creators that produced great content were rewarded accordingly, and YouTube quickly became a major player in the entertainment industry.” Story continues More than a decade later, smaller, independent creators are struggling to make a living, she noted. “They pour their hearts and souls into their work, but these big platforms have taken full control over the way content is handled, leaving the average creator with little to no income, and virtually no ownership over their content. This issue is rampant across all major content platforms. Publishers face the same challenge, as more and more of their content is shared and consumed on third-party channels like Facebook.” Wang says that the digital media industry was originally built on principles of inclusivity, but that it has also become too top heavy to support independent publishers and creators. In addition, most advertising revenue winds up in the hands of major studios instead of the creators, where it belongs. She says the blockchain can solve this problem by removing middlemen and high transaction fees, while also introducing new streams of revenue like activity-based income (i.e. creators are paid when someone listens to their content) and subscriptions. “The digital content industry has remained relatively opaque over the years regarding paid media, and advertisers typically rely on vanity metrics like impressions to determine returns on investments (ROIs),” said Wang. She suggested that the blockchain can allow advertisers to tap into shared statistics and pay via advertisement viewership automated by smart contracts. “By decentralizing the podcast industry with a shared content pool, a shared user pool and a unified payout system, this new project creates an open source community that can’t be controlled by a few industry giants.” This is where ContentBox comes in. The system provides listeners with an array of blockchain-based solutions that power a unified payout system for the digital content arena. Users can access content by paying with digital tokens through what’s known as BOX Payout, a secure and borderless payment transaction network. “The base asset of ContentBox are BOX tokens which are Ethereum-based and are standard ERC20,” said Wang. “There won't be an ICO but there will be an airdrop. BOX tokens are the only way to transact within the app but they will be listed on a couple crypto exchanges by early July, so users will be able to cash out to Ether if desired.” Users garner these tokens by sharing content with others, inviting friends and joining the company’s Telegram channel. They are also granted access to digital wallets that manage their rewards. “Consumers engage in a wide variety of value-creating activities vital to the growth of the podcast community, like helping to share and create content, but are never financially rewarded,” said Wang. “Blockchain allows listeners to become stakeholders that get rewarded for their contributions. In turn, they can directly reward their favorite podcasters with the tokens they earn, or unlock premium content.” This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine . || Why Accuray, Cincinnati Bell, and Chesapeake Energy Slumped Today: Friday was mixed on Wall Street, with theNasdaq Compositeeking out minor gains even as most other major benchmarks finished down modestly. Market participants seemed largely content to see how things played out on the geopolitical front between the U.S. and North Korea, and key reversals in other financial markets helped send 10-year Treasury rates back below 3% and also resulted in a substantial drop in crude oil prices. Despite generally quiet conditions, bad news sent shares of certain companies lower.Accuray(NASDAQ: ARAY),Cincinnati Bell(NYSE: CBB), andChesapeake Energy(NYSE: CHK)were among the worst performers on the day. Here's why they did so poorly.
Shares of Accuray dropped 11%, continuing a downtrend that has persisted throughout much of 2018. Many investors have been excited about the prospects for robotic surgery generally, and products like theAccuray Cyberknifepromise to capture their fair share of interest in a highly competitive industry environment. Yet some investors have been nervous about Accuray's financial results, which included a wider loss than many had expected in its fiscal third-quarter report earlier this month. The company will keep needing to make strategic investments to bolster its long-term growth, but the corresponding downward pull on immediate profitability could keep a lid on share-price gains until accelerating sales gains become evident.
Image source: Accuray.
Cincinnati Bell stock plunged 21% after the regional telecom got negative reviews from analysts. Morgan Stanley cut its rating on the stock from equal weight to underweight, reducing its price target for the stock from $16 to $14 per share. The analyst company sees Cincinnati Bell as having made smart strategic decisions in emphasizing the need to build out an improved fiber network rather than relying on legacy businesses like wireline services, butCincinnati Bell's acquisition of Hawaiian Telcomis having a negative impact on the overall company's prospects. Unless it can be more successful in all of its markets, Cincinnati Bell could see further challenges ahead.
Finally, shares of Chesapeake Energy sank 5.5%. The energy company was a victim of poor conditions throughout the crude oil markets, with prices sinking $3 per barrel to finish below $68 per barrel. Chesapeake has done quite well recently, seeing its shares soar by 50% since the beginning of the month before today's decline. Even with oil prices becoming more volatile, it's a positive sign thatChesapeake is starting to use more disciplinein making decisions about capital investment in new wells, but it would clearly be beneficial for shareholders if crude can climb back above $70 and maximize Chesapeake's profit potential in the near term.
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Dan Caplingerhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Why Accuray, Cincinnati Bell, and Chesapeake Energy Slumped Today: Friday was mixed on Wall Street, with the Nasdaq Composite eking out minor gains even as most other major benchmarks finished down modestly. Market participants seemed largely content to see how things played out on the geopolitical front between the U.S. and North Korea, and key reversals in other financial markets helped send 10-year Treasury rates back below 3% and also resulted in a substantial drop in crude oil prices. Despite generally quiet conditions, bad news sent shares of certain companies lower. Accuray (NASDAQ: ARAY) , Cincinnati Bell (NYSE: CBB) , and Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) were among the worst performers on the day. Here's why they did so poorly. Accuray misses the cut Shares of Accuray dropped 11%, continuing a downtrend that has persisted throughout much of 2018. Many investors have been excited about the prospects for robotic surgery generally, and products like the Accuray Cyberknife promise to capture their fair share of interest in a highly competitive industry environment. Yet some investors have been nervous about Accuray's financial results, which included a wider loss than many had expected in its fiscal third-quarter report earlier this month. The company will keep needing to make strategic investments to bolster its long-term growth, but the corresponding downward pull on immediate profitability could keep a lid on share-price gains until accelerating sales gains become evident. White machine with flat surface for a person to lie and a hole for scans of a patient's head. Image source: Accuray. Analysts hang up on Cincinnati Bell Cincinnati Bell stock plunged 21% after the regional telecom got negative reviews from analysts. Morgan Stanley cut its rating on the stock from equal weight to underweight, reducing its price target for the stock from $16 to $14 per share. The analyst company sees Cincinnati Bell as having made smart strategic decisions in emphasizing the need to build out an improved fiber network rather than relying on legacy businesses like wireline services, but Cincinnati Bell's acquisition of Hawaiian Telcom is having a negative impact on the overall company's prospects. Unless it can be more successful in all of its markets, Cincinnati Bell could see further challenges ahead. Story continues Chesapeake deals with an energy reversal Finally, shares of Chesapeake Energy sank 5.5%. The energy company was a victim of poor conditions throughout the crude oil markets, with prices sinking $3 per barrel to finish below $68 per barrel. Chesapeake has done quite well recently, seeing its shares soar by 50% since the beginning of the month before today's decline. Even with oil prices becoming more volatile, it's a positive sign that Chesapeake is starting to use more discipline in making decisions about capital investment in new wells, but it would clearly be beneficial for shareholders if crude can climb back above $70 and maximize Chesapeake's profit potential in the near term. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Dan Caplinger has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || First Bitcoin Mining Conference Hashes Over the High Cost of Energy: Bitcoin mining uses as much electricity as Ireland, and by the end of 2018, the Bitcoin network will be using as much energy as Austria, according to a newreportby Alex de Vries of the Experience Center of PwC in the Netherlands.
Billed as the first serious, peer-reviewed study of energy use in crypto mining, the report has set off alarm bells, adding to current concerns about the impact of future mining energy consumption on environmental issues like climate change.
At the first-everconferencefor crypto mining, held on May 17, 2018, in New York City, an expert panel hashed out the implications of rapidly growing energy consumption among miners worldwide.
Amber D. Scott, CEO ofOutlier Solutions, moderated a panel of experts that spoke about the energy issue as part of a discussion on the topic of proof of work (PoW) vs. proof of stake (PoS).
Scott toldBitcoin Magazinethat there was a lot of discussion at the conference about the new energy report in part due to the attention it’s currently receiving in the press.
“This is an area where there is a spectacular amount of FUD [fear, uncertainty and doubt],” she noted. “This is in part because it’s a nuanced issue that can’t be summed up in simple statements about net energy consumption.
“I think that part of the reason that Bitcoin has been a ‘target’ in this respect is that there are relatively straightforward calculations in terms of power consumption in conjunction with the underlying value not being well understood or widely accepted. For instance, few people question the utility costs of a bank or ATM, and the energy consumption cannot be calculated in a straightforward way,” she added.
Scott Howard, CEO and co-founder of Toronto-basedePIC Blockchain Technologies, told the conference audience what many there were already saying: that the energy consumption issue is “fake news” and has been oversimplified to suit Bitcoin opponents.
Traditional banking and fiat creation have their own high energy costs, noted a number of conference panelists, including Alex Petrov, CIO ofBitfury; Jan Čapek, CEO ofSlush Pool; Samson Mow, CSO ofBlockstream; and Howard.
They talked about the high infrastructure costs, in terms of both energy and the environment, associated with traditional banking systems, including ATMs, security and servers.
“There are 3.6 million ATMs deployed in the U.S. Each of them are using 7 to 800 watts just in standby mode,” said Petrov. “This alone generates huge numbers of electricity usage, slightly higher than the Bitcoin network.
“If you add … internal banking systems, CTVs, communicating with other banks, additional protection … you get higher costs than the cost of Bitcoin,” he added.
“Gold mining consumes enormous energy. Portions of the electricity crypto mining consumes come from power generation and distribution originally built to supply ore and precious metals extraction or processing,” said Howard.
“Where traditional energy consumers like gold mines really fall down is all the other negative externalities of the ‘wealth’ they create. Gold mining during and after is one of the most toxic and destructive operations on the planet.”
Howard talked about the use of abandoned industrial sites for Bitcoin mining, like pulp and paper mills that had been closed due to dwindling forestry supplies and increased concerns about energy use and toxic waste pollution.
“Lots of crypto mines are sitting in old industrial sites with a 100-megawatt transformer sitting next to them,” he said.
By way of example, in the Q&A session that followed the panel, one conference participant talked about his mining operation in British Columbia in a partly abandoned manufacturing site where water is pumped through his mine for cooling and then recycled into a warm-water fish farm.
After the panel, Howard reiterated toBitcoin Magazinewhat other conference panelists had said: that large energy mega-projects like hydro dams produce electricity whether they’re used or not.
“To my knowledge, no one has built out any net-new power generation to supply a crypto mine. Power generation stations are major pieces of infrastructure that take years to put in place and in the range of a decade to pay off. Most power generation is done, certainly in the western world, by publicly owned and/or regulated utilities. Those stations run 24/7, 365 for decades. The energy goes onto the grid no matter what and, until we figure out storage, is a perishable commodity.
“Crypto mining takes full advantage of this, typically sucking up energy at very low prices. The prices are low because the energy can’t find more productive use, often taking over abandoned industrial sites far away from urban centers,” he added.
Čapek told the conference that “China has been overinvesting in hydro power and has large amounts of power that is not being used” as a result of overbuilding hydro dams in anticipation of industrial needs (principally aluminum manufacturing) that never materialized.
“Cheap hydro power has helped China dominate the world’s Bitcoin mining business, and this power would be generated with or without Bitcoin mining,” said Čapek, who recommended a recently releasedstudyon the energy costs of mining in China.
Čapek said a rough estimate of global Bitcoin mining energy use is 25 terawatt hours per year, only a fraction of the amount of energy used in manufacturing aluminum globally.
The panelists mostly agreed that proof of work’s higher energy use is necessary for real security and that proof of stake is not likely to happen soon. They noted that PoS would not give the Bitcoin network the security it needs, even if it was more energy efficient.
“The more energy that’s expended, the more security you have,” noted Mow. “The system has to be nuclear-proof.”
Petrov defended the possibility of a hybrid model of both PoW and PoS, saying, “Proof of stake may work for some specific purposes, not necessarily in the financial area but inside private blockchains.”
Mow responded that using both PoS and PoW “brings out the worst of both worlds,” while Howard noted that Dash is using a hybrid model with some success, though it’s very expensive to use.
Howard concluded: “It [Bitcoin mining] is a positive economic activity, typically in places where it is needed, as well as meaningful revenue to the utilities which are major employers and usually profit centers for governments. The ‘waste of energy’ argument, like most establishment arguments against blockchains, does not pass the test of science.”
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || First Bitcoin Mining Conference Hashes Over the High Cost of Energy: mining conference Bitcoin mining uses as much electricity as Ireland, and by the end of 2018, the Bitcoin network will be using as much energy as Austria, according to a new report by Alex de Vries of the Experience Center of PwC in the Netherlands. Billed as the first serious, peer-reviewed study of energy use in crypto mining, the report has set off alarm bells, adding to current concerns about the impact of future mining energy consumption on environmental issues like climate change. At the first-ever conference for crypto mining, held on May 17, 2018, in New York City, an expert panel hashed out the implications of rapidly growing energy consumption among miners worldwide. Amber D. Scott, CEO of Outlier Solutions , moderated a panel of experts that spoke about the energy issue as part of a discussion on the topic of proof of work (PoW) vs. proof of stake (PoS). Scott told Bitcoin Magazine that there was a lot of discussion at the conference about the new energy report in part due to the attention it’s currently receiving in the press. “This is an area where there is a spectacular amount of FUD [fear, uncertainty and doubt],” she noted. “This is in part because it’s a nuanced issue that can’t be summed up in simple statements about net energy consumption. “I think that part of the reason that Bitcoin has been a ‘target’ in this respect is that there are relatively straightforward calculations in terms of power consumption in conjunction with the underlying value not being well understood or widely accepted. For instance, few people question the utility costs of a bank or ATM, and the energy consumption cannot be calculated in a straightforward way,” she added. Scott Howard, CEO and co-founder of Toronto-based ePIC Blockchain Technologies , told the conference audience what many there were already saying: that the energy consumption issue is “fake news” and has been oversimplified to suit Bitcoin opponents. High Energy and Environmental Costs of Traditional Fiat and Banking Traditional banking and fiat creation have their own high energy costs, noted a number of conference panelists, including Alex Petrov, CIO of Bitfury ; Jan Čapek, CEO of Slush Pool ; Samson Mow, CSO of Blockstream ; and Howard. Story continues They talked about the high infrastructure costs, in terms of both energy and the environment, associated with traditional banking systems, including ATMs, security and servers. “There are 3.6 million ATMs deployed in the U.S. Each of them are using 7 to 800 watts just in standby mode,” said Petrov. “This alone generates huge numbers of electricity usage, slightly higher than the Bitcoin network. “If you add … internal banking systems, CTVs, communicating with other banks, additional protection … you get higher costs than the cost of Bitcoin,” he added. “Gold mining consumes enormous energy. Portions of the electricity crypto mining consumes come from power generation and distribution originally built to supply ore and precious metals extraction or processing,” said Howard. “Where traditional energy consumers like gold mines really fall down is all the other negative externalities of the ‘wealth’ they create. Gold mining during and after is one of the most toxic and destructive operations on the planet.” Howard talked about the use of abandoned industrial sites for Bitcoin mining, like pulp and paper mills that had been closed due to dwindling forestry supplies and increased concerns about energy use and toxic waste pollution. “Lots of crypto mines are sitting in old industrial sites with a 100-megawatt transformer sitting next to them,” he said. By way of example, in the Q&A session that followed the panel, one conference participant talked about his mining operation in British Columbia in a partly abandoned manufacturing site where water is pumped through his mine for cooling and then recycled into a warm-water fish farm. Mining Doesn’t Create New Hydro Infrastructure: Power Is Produced Even If Unused After the panel, Howard reiterated to Bitcoin Magazine what other conference panelists had said: that large energy mega-projects like hydro dams produce electricity whether they’re used or not. “To my knowledge, no one has built out any net-new power generation to supply a crypto mine. Power generation stations are major pieces of infrastructure that take years to put in place and in the range of a decade to pay off. Most power generation is done, certainly in the western world, by publicly owned and/or regulated utilities. Those stations run 24/7, 365 for decades. The energy goes onto the grid no matter what and, until we figure out storage, is a perishable commodity. “Crypto mining takes full advantage of this, typically sucking up energy at very low prices. The prices are low because the energy can’t find more productive use, often taking over abandoned industrial sites far away from urban centers,” he added. Čapek told the conference that “China has been overinvesting in hydro power and has large amounts of power that is not being used” as a result of overbuilding hydro dams in anticipation of industrial needs (principally aluminum manufacturing) that never materialized. “Cheap hydro power has helped China dominate the world’s Bitcoin mining business, and this power would be generated with or without Bitcoin mining,” said Čapek, who recommended a recently released study on the energy costs of mining in China. Čapek said a rough estimate of global Bitcoin mining energy use is 25 terawatt hours per year, only a fraction of the amount of energy used in manufacturing aluminum globally. PoW vs. PoS The panelists mostly agreed that proof of work’s higher energy use is necessary for real security and that proof of stake is not likely to happen soon. They noted that PoS would not give the Bitcoin network the security it needs, even if it was more energy efficient. “The more energy that’s expended, the more security you have,” noted Mow. “The system has to be nuclear-proof.” Petrov defended the possibility of a hybrid model of both PoW and PoS, saying, “Proof of stake may work for some specific purposes, not necessarily in the financial area but inside private blockchains.” Mow responded that using both PoS and PoW “brings out the worst of both worlds,” while Howard noted that Dash is using a hybrid model with some success, though it’s very expensive to use. Howard concluded: “It [Bitcoin mining] is a positive economic activity, typically in places where it is needed, as well as meaningful revenue to the utilities which are major employers and usually profit centers for governments. The ‘waste of energy’ argument, like most establishment arguments against blockchains, does not pass the test of science.” This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine . || First Bitcoin Mining Conference Hashes Over the High Cost of Energy: Bitcoin mining uses as much electricity as Ireland, and by the end of 2018, the Bitcoin network will be using as much energy as Austria, according to a newreportby Alex de Vries of the Experience Center of PwC in the Netherlands.
Billed as the first serious, peer-reviewed study of energy use in crypto mining, the report has set off alarm bells, adding to current concerns about the impact of future mining energy consumption on environmental issues like climate change.
At the first-everconferencefor crypto mining, held on May 17, 2018, in New York City, an expert panel hashed out the implications of rapidly growing energy consumption among miners worldwide.
Amber D. Scott, CEO ofOutlier Solutions, moderated a panel of experts that spoke about the energy issue as part of a discussion on the topic of proof of work (PoW) vs. proof of stake (PoS).
Scott toldBitcoin Magazinethat there was a lot of discussion at the conference about the new energy report in part due to the attention it’s currently receiving in the press.
“This is an area where there is a spectacular amount of FUD [fear, uncertainty and doubt],” she noted. “This is in part because it’s a nuanced issue that can’t be summed up in simple statements about net energy consumption.
“I think that part of the reason that Bitcoin has been a ‘target’ in this respect is that there are relatively straightforward calculations in terms of power consumption in conjunction with the underlying value not being well understood or widely accepted. For instance, few people question the utility costs of a bank or ATM, and the energy consumption cannot be calculated in a straightforward way,” she added.
Scott Howard, CEO and co-founder of Toronto-basedePIC Blockchain Technologies, told the conference audience what many there were already saying: that the energy consumption issue is “fake news” and has been oversimplified to suit Bitcoin opponents.
Traditional banking and fiat creation have their own high energy costs, noted a number of conference panelists, including Alex Petrov, CIO ofBitfury; Jan Čapek, CEO ofSlush Pool; Samson Mow, CSO ofBlockstream; and Howard.
They talked about the high infrastructure costs, in terms of both energy and the environment, associated with traditional banking systems, including ATMs, security and servers.
“There are 3.6 million ATMs deployed in the U.S. Each of them are using 7 to 800 watts just in standby mode,” said Petrov. “This alone generates huge numbers of electricity usage, slightly higher than the Bitcoin network.
“If you add … internal banking systems, CTVs, communicating with other banks, additional protection … you get higher costs than the cost of Bitcoin,” he added.
“Gold mining consumes enormous energy. Portions of the electricity crypto mining consumes come from power generation and distribution originally built to supply ore and precious metals extraction or processing,” said Howard.
“Where traditional energy consumers like gold mines really fall down is all the other negative externalities of the ‘wealth’ they create. Gold mining during and after is one of the most toxic and destructive operations on the planet.”
Howard talked about the use of abandoned industrial sites for Bitcoin mining, like pulp and paper mills that had been closed due to dwindling forestry supplies and increased concerns about energy use and toxic waste pollution.
“Lots of crypto mines are sitting in old industrial sites with a 100-megawatt transformer sitting next to them,” he said.
By way of example, in the Q&A session that followed the panel, one conference participant talked about his mining operation in British Columbia in a partly abandoned manufacturing site where water is pumped through his mine for cooling and then recycled into a warm-water fish farm.
After the panel, Howard reiterated toBitcoin Magazinewhat other conference panelists had said: that large energy mega-projects like hydro dams produce electricity whether they’re used or not.
“To my knowledge, no one has built out any net-new power generation to supply a crypto mine. Power generation stations are major pieces of infrastructure that take years to put in place and in the range of a decade to pay off. Most power generation is done, certainly in the western world, by publicly owned and/or regulated utilities. Those stations run 24/7, 365 for decades. The energy goes onto the grid no matter what and, until we figure out storage, is a perishable commodity.
“Crypto mining takes full advantage of this, typically sucking up energy at very low prices. The prices are low because the energy can’t find more productive use, often taking over abandoned industrial sites far away from urban centers,” he added.
Čapek told the conference that “China has been overinvesting in hydro power and has large amounts of power that is not being used” as a result of overbuilding hydro dams in anticipation of industrial needs (principally aluminum manufacturing) that never materialized.
“Cheap hydro power has helped China dominate the world’s Bitcoin mining business, and this power would be generated with or without Bitcoin mining,” said Čapek, who recommended a recently releasedstudyon the energy costs of mining in China.
Čapek said a rough estimate of global Bitcoin mining energy use is 25 terawatt hours per year, only a fraction of the amount of energy used in manufacturing aluminum globally.
The panelists mostly agreed that proof of work’s higher energy use is necessary for real security and that proof of stake is not likely to happen soon. They noted that PoS would not give the Bitcoin network the security it needs, even if it was more energy efficient.
“The more energy that’s expended, the more security you have,” noted Mow. “The system has to be nuclear-proof.”
Petrov defended the possibility of a hybrid model of both PoW and PoS, saying, “Proof of stake may work for some specific purposes, not necessarily in the financial area but inside private blockchains.”
Mow responded that using both PoS and PoW “brings out the worst of both worlds,” while Howard noted that Dash is using a hybrid model with some success, though it’s very expensive to use.
Howard concluded: “It [Bitcoin mining] is a positive economic activity, typically in places where it is needed, as well as meaningful revenue to the utilities which are major employers and usually profit centers for governments. The ‘waste of energy’ argument, like most establishment arguments against blockchains, does not pass the test of science.”
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || Apple's Next iPhone Chip Is Now in Mass Production: Arguably the most important component inside of a smartphone is the applications processor. This controls how quickly and efficiency apps run, how smoothly 3D games run, and the quality of the photos and videos that users take. Each year, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) makes substantial advances in the performance and capabilities of the chips that power its latest iPhones, which ultimately helps Apple build devices with new and exciting features to get people to buy its latest devices. According to a new report from Bloomberg , which generally provides accurate information about Apple products, Apple's contract chip manufacturing partner, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE: TSM) , has begun cranking out Apple's latest A12 processor using the former's new 7nm chip manufacturing technology . Apple's current A11 Bionic chip inside of the company's latest iPhones is manufactured using TSMC's 10nm technology. Apple's iPhone X. Image source: Apple. Since Apple likely intends to launch its latest iPhones in just three months (assuming a typical product announcement in September), it makes sense that TSMC would be cranking the A12 out now. Indeed, once those chips are manufactured, they need to be sent to Apple's contract manufacturers who will then assemble all of the required components into finished devices -- a process that can take a while. The Apple A12 will clearly allow Apple to market new levels of mobile performance and features, but a question that chip investors might be interested in is the following: What does the mass production of the A12 mean for TSMC? Let's dive in. 7nm will be huge for TSMC in 2018 On its most recent earnings conference call, TSMC said that it expects its revenue from 7nm product shipments to make up 10% of its total revenue for 2018. The current average analyst estimate for TSMC's 2018 sales is $35.6 billion, so this means that TSMC expects to sell about $3.5 billion worth of 7nm wafers to its customers. Story continues Now, Apple won't be the only company to use TSMC's 7nm technology this year -- Apple rival Huawei is likely to use it to manufacture its next-generation high-end mobile applications processor -- but it'll certainly be, by far, the largest buyer of 7nm wafers for the foreseeable future. TSMC's prediction that 7nm will make up 10% of overall revenue in 2018 when that figure was 0% for the first two quarters of 2018 means that TSMC is expecting Apple to buy a lot of 7nm chips in support of the next-generation iPhone ramp up. Keep in mind, though, that while Apple will be buying a lot of 7nm chips, it's in the process of ramping down its 10nm production volumes. In fact, on TSMC's most recent earnings call, CFO Lora Ho said that the company's inventory increased to 63 days of sales "due to an increase of raw wafer[s] and the 10nm wafer pre-build before the capacity is converted to 7-nanometer." In other words, TSMC is going to be dramatically reducing its 10nm production capacity and reusing much of the factory space and equipment that's used to build those chips to manufacture new 7nm chips. So, TSMC's 7nm ramp up for Apple isn't all upside for the company -- 7nm revenue should increase dramatically but much of that growth will be offset by a big reduction in 10nm chip sales. Investor takeaway Ultimately, TSMC beginning the production of Apple's A12 chip isn't groundbreaking news, but it's a sign that the development of both Apple's A12 chip as well as TSMC's 7nm technology went as expected to support Apple's upcoming iPhone launch. What'll matter to both TSMC and Apple investors shortly is how well Apple's new iPhones powered by the A12 chip will be received by consumers. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Ashraf Eassa has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Apple's Next iPhone Chip Is Now in Mass Production: Arguably the most important component inside of a smartphone is the applications processor. This controls how quickly and efficiency apps run, how smoothly 3D games run, and the quality of the photos and videos that users take. Each year,Apple(NASDAQ: AAPL)makes substantial advances in the performance and capabilities of the chips that power its latest iPhones, which ultimately helps Apple build devices with new and exciting features to get people to buy its latest devices.
According to a new report fromBloomberg, which generally provides accurate information about Apple products, Apple's contract chip manufacturing partner,Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company(NYSE: TSM), has begun cranking out Apple's latest A12 processor using the former'snew 7nm chip manufacturing technology. Apple's currentA11 Bionic chipinside of the company's latest iPhones is manufactured using TSMC's 10nm technology.
Image source: Apple.
Since Apple likely intends to launch its latest iPhones in just three months (assuming a typical product announcement in September), it makes sense that TSMC would be cranking the A12 out now. Indeed, once those chips are manufactured, they need to be sent to Apple's contract manufacturers who will then assemble all of the required components into finished devices -- a process that can take a while.
The Apple A12 will clearly allow Apple to market new levels of mobile performance and features, but a question that chip investors might be interested in is the following: What does the mass production of the A12 mean for TSMC?
Let's dive in.
On its most recent earnings conference call, TSMC said that it expects its revenue from 7nm product shipments to make up 10% of its total revenue for 2018. The current average analyst estimate for TSMC's 2018 sales is $35.6 billion, so this means that TSMC expects to sell about $3.5 billion worth of 7nm wafers to its customers.
Now, Apple won't be the only company to use TSMC's 7nm technology this year -- Apple rival Huawei is likely to use it to manufacture its next-generation high-end mobile applications processor -- but it'll certainly be, by far, the largest buyer of 7nm wafers for the foreseeable future. TSMC's prediction that 7nm will make up 10% of overall revenue in 2018 when that figure was 0% for the first two quarters of 2018 means that TSMC is expecting Apple to buy alotof 7nm chips in support of the next-generation iPhone ramp up.
Keep in mind, though, that while Apple will be buying a lot of 7nm chips, it's in the process of ramping down its 10nm production volumes. In fact, on TSMC's most recent earnings call, CFO Lora Ho said that the company's inventory increased to 63 days of sales "due to an increase of raw wafer[s] and the 10nm wafer pre-build before the capacity is converted to 7-nanometer."
In other words, TSMC is going to be dramatically reducing its 10nm production capacity and reusing much of the factory space and equipment that's used to build those chips to manufacture new 7nm chips. So, TSMC's 7nm ramp up for Apple isn't all upside for the company -- 7nm revenue should increase dramatically but much of that growth will be offset by a big reduction in 10nm chip sales.
Ultimately, TSMC beginning the production of Apple's A12 chip isn't groundbreaking news, but it's a sign that the development of both Apple's A12 chip as well as TSMC's 7nm technology went as expected to support Apple's upcoming iPhone launch. What'll matter to both TSMC and Apple investors shortly is how well Apple's new iPhones powered by the A12 chip will be received by consumers.
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Ashraf Eassahas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Could Skyworks Solutions Be a Millionaire-Maker Stock?: Best known for supplying connectivity chips for smartphones,Skyworks Solutions(NASDAQ: SWKS)has been leveraging its success into new markets. However, even after doubling many times over in the last decade, the stock could still have plenty left in the tank to make investors money.
Though making chips for various smartphone manufacturers likeAppleis still Skyworks' bread-and-butter, the world is quickly moving to a new mobile era whereeverything is connected to the internet. That is creating widespread demand for the company's connectivity chips and helping it find new sales outlets beyond phones.
Image source: Getty Images.
For example, during the last earnings call, management mentioned several new deals that helped propel growth. Skyworks partnered with a leading auto manufacturer to connect its global fleet to the internet. Production was increased forAlphabet's Nest connected security cameras, as well as for other smart home "mesh network" devices that don't need a central hub for connectivity. Skyworks also provided parts for upcoming high-end all-in-one notebooks.
All of that led to year-over-year revenue growth of 7%. That's a slowdown from times past, and that has led to earnings per share contracting 28% so far during the current fiscal year. Part of that is due to increased research and development expense, as well as some one-time tax expenses related to U.S. corporate tax reform passed at the end of 2017. On an adjusted basis, earnings are up 19% for the fiscal year.
Data byYCharts.
Skyworks expansion into new markets could be just beginning. In the U.S. and other developed countries, 4G mobile networks are old news, but for a large portion of the world 4G hasn't yet arrived. Skyworks continues to develop technology to get emerging markets caught up to the latest in mobile capabilities, providing a solid foundation for its smartphone business.
In addition to that, 2018 will go down as the year that5G networks arrived. The next-gen mobile platform is faster, has lower latency, and thus will help power the billions of devices that are expected to get hooked up to the internet over the next decade. To that end, Skyworks recently unveiled its Sky5 line of products enabling 5G connections.
Management has been positive in its outlook, but it backed that up with a new $1 billion share repurchase plan through January 2020. That's a big number considering Skyworks' entire current market cap is $18 billion and nicely complements the current dividend yield of 1.3%. Share repurchase plans are another way to return extra cash the business generates to shareholders, but it's also a vote of confidence from management that its own stock is a good use of money.
It is worth noting that, due to the smartphone industry slowing and worries over a protracted trade war between the U.S. and China, revenues are expected to come in slightly down to flat in thenext quarter. However, sales growth is expected to pick up once again late in 2018, and earnings are expected to continue climbing even during the sales slowdown due to better profit margins on products, a lower tax rate, and that previously mentioned share repurchase plan.
Though Skyworks has already provided huge returns to early buyers of the stock, there is potential for new owners to be richly rewarded. The chipmaker is still relatively small, and the fast-growing number of connected things around the world is helping diversify revenue beyond just smartphones. The stock looks like its worth owning for the long term.
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Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors.Nicholas Rossolilloand his clients own shares of Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Apple, and Skyworks Solutions. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Apple, and Skyworks Solutions. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Could Skyworks Solutions Be a Millionaire-Maker Stock?: Best known for supplying connectivity chips for smartphones, Skyworks Solutions (NASDAQ: SWKS) has been leveraging its success into new markets. However, even after doubling many times over in the last decade, the stock could still have plenty left in the tank to make investors money. What is Skyworks Solutions? Though making chips for various smartphone manufacturers like Apple is still Skyworks' bread-and-butter, the world is quickly moving to a new mobile era where everything is connected to the internet . That is creating widespread demand for the company's connectivity chips and helping it find new sales outlets beyond phones. An artist's illustration of the Internet of Things, various common devices and objects getting connected to the internet. Image source: Getty Images. For example, during the last earnings call, management mentioned several new deals that helped propel growth. Skyworks partnered with a leading auto manufacturer to connect its global fleet to the internet. Production was increased for Alphabet 's Nest connected security cameras, as well as for other smart home "mesh network" devices that don't need a central hub for connectivity. Skyworks also provided parts for upcoming high-end all-in-one notebooks. All of that led to year-over-year revenue growth of 7%. That's a slowdown from times past, and that has led to earnings per share contracting 28% so far during the current fiscal year. Part of that is due to increased research and development expense, as well as some one-time tax expenses related to U.S. corporate tax reform passed at the end of 2017. On an adjusted basis, earnings are up 19% for the fiscal year. SWKS Chart Data by YCharts. Why is now the right time for the stock? Skyworks expansion into new markets could be just beginning. In the U.S. and other developed countries, 4G mobile networks are old news, but for a large portion of the world 4G hasn't yet arrived. Skyworks continues to develop technology to get emerging markets caught up to the latest in mobile capabilities, providing a solid foundation for its smartphone business. Story continues In addition to that, 2018 will go down as the year that 5G networks arrived . The next-gen mobile platform is faster, has lower latency, and thus will help power the billions of devices that are expected to get hooked up to the internet over the next decade. To that end, Skyworks recently unveiled its Sky5 line of products enabling 5G connections. Management has been positive in its outlook, but it backed that up with a new $1 billion share repurchase plan through January 2020. That's a big number considering Skyworks' entire current market cap is $18 billion and nicely complements the current dividend yield of 1.3%. Share repurchase plans are another way to return extra cash the business generates to shareholders, but it's also a vote of confidence from management that its own stock is a good use of money. It is worth noting that, due to the smartphone industry slowing and worries over a protracted trade war between the U.S. and China, revenues are expected to come in slightly down to flat in the next quarter . However, sales growth is expected to pick up once again late in 2018, and earnings are expected to continue climbing even during the sales slowdown due to better profit margins on products, a lower tax rate, and that previously mentioned share repurchase plan. Though Skyworks has already provided huge returns to early buyers of the stock, there is potential for new owners to be richly rewarded. The chipmaker is still relatively small, and the fast-growing number of connected things around the world is helping diversify revenue beyond just smartphones. The stock looks like its worth owning for the long term. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Nicholas Rossolillo and his clients own shares of Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Apple, and Skyworks Solutions. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Apple, and Skyworks Solutions. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || The Obamas Will Drive Another Growth Surge at Netflix: It's official. The Obamas are coming to a stream near you.
Months after rumors broke that the presidential couple could team up withNetflix(NASDAQ: NFLX), the world's leading streamer confirmed the news earlier this week. Netflix said that the former President and First Lady "have entered into a multi-year agreement to produce films and series with Netflix." The couple will "produce a diverse mix of content, including the potential for scripted series, unscripted series, docu-series, documentaries and features."
Shareholders applauded the move as the stock rose both when the initial rumors came out and when the news was confirmed. It's unclear specifically what kind of content the Obamas will air, but the pair said they intend to use their newfound platform to "promote empathy and understanding" across different peoples and cultures in the world. Netflix's global reach, with 125 million subscribers around the world, should give them an excellent vehicle for doing so.
Image source: Barack Obama Twitter account.
Netflix loves talking about its popular content. Each quarter, the company dutifully touts its hit shows and other top programming, and as it's ramped its original content, those hits have only become more frequent. When it had its biggest quarter ever in Q4 2017, adding more than 8.3 million subscribers, the company credited features likeStranger Things 2, Bright,The Crown,and13 Reasons Why.
Increasingly, Netflix sees a connection between its original programming and subscriber growth, and the popularity of such shows are a big reason the company has consistently beat its own forecast and analysts' estimates in recent quarters. The company saidBright, for example, drove a notable lift in subscriber acquisition. Similarly, the company credited the premiere ofStranger Thingswith a rise in subscriber growth.
That's why Netflix is plowing even more money into content, promising to spend $7.5 billion to $8 billion this year, much more than any of its competitors. While the company has taken on billions in debt to fund that strategy, projectingnegative free cash flowof -$3 billion to -$4 billion, management is confident that those moves will pay off as it will fuel new subscriber growth, and the Obama deal is a perfect example of how it will do so.
The Obamas are among the most respected and well-known public figures in the world. President Obama received more votes than any other presidential candidate in U.S. history in 2008, tallying nearly 70 million votes. Michelle Obama, meanwhile, was a widely admired first lady, and finished two terms in the White House with a favorable rating of 64%.
On Twitter, they also reach a huge audience. Barack Obama has 103 million followers, and his tweets are often among the most favorited and retweeted on the platform. Michelle Obama, meanwhile, counts nearly 11 million followers of her own.
Considering the level of fame and respect the Obamas enjoy, it seems like a safe bet that the content they produce for Netflix will drive another surge in users to the leading streamer. While about half of American households already subscribe to the service, it's likely that many of the holdouts are among the former president's fans, and the Obamas also have a sizable fan base internationally. Kenyans, for instance, rejoiced when Obama was elected president due to his Kenyan ancestry, and he is also popular in Europe, especially at a time when President Trump is seen by many on the continent as turning his back on international norms.
It's not clear yet whether the Obamas will be in front of camera or how involved they will be in creating the content they're producing, but the breadth of the deal, which includes scripted and unscripted content such as documentaries and features signals that the partnership will be enduring and will bear ample fruit for Netflix and its viewers.
Score another win for the leading streamer as the Obama deal is more evidence of the power of Netflix's unique platform. We don't yet know when the family's content will first hit the streams, but you can expect a jump in subscriber growth when it does.
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Jeremy Bowmanowns shares of Netflix. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Netflix. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || The Obamas Will Drive Another Growth Surge at Netflix: It's official. The Obamas are coming to a stream near you. Months after rumors broke that the presidential couple could team up with Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) , the world's leading streamer confirmed the news earlier this week. Netflix said that the former President and First Lady "have entered into a multi-year agreement to produce films and series with Netflix." The couple will "produce a diverse mix of content, including the potential for scripted series, unscripted series, docu-series, documentaries and features." Shareholders applauded the move as the stock rose both when the initial rumors came out and when the news was confirmed. It's unclear specifically what kind of content the Obamas will air, but the pair said they intend to use their newfound platform to "promote empathy and understanding" across different peoples and cultures in the world. Netflix's global reach, with 125 million subscribers around the world, should give them an excellent vehicle for doing so. The Obama family Image source: Barack Obama Twitter account. Another reason for Netflix to toot its horn Netflix loves talking about its popular content. Each quarter, the company dutifully touts its hit shows and other top programming, and as it's ramped its original content, those hits have only become more frequent. When it had its biggest quarter ever in Q4 2017, adding more than 8.3 million subscribers, the company credited features like Stranger Things 2, Bright , The Crown, and 13 Reasons Why. Increasingly, Netflix sees a connection between its original programming and subscriber growth, and the popularity of such shows are a big reason the company has consistently beat its own forecast and analysts' estimates in recent quarters. The company said Bright , for example, drove a notable lift in subscriber acquisition. Similarly, the company credited the premiere of Stranger Things with a rise in subscriber growth. That's why Netflix is plowing even more money into content, promising to spend $7.5 billion to $8 billion this year, much more than any of its competitors. While the company has taken on billions in debt to fund that strategy, projecting negative free cash flow of -$3 billion to -$4 billion, management is confident that those moves will pay off as it will fuel new subscriber growth, and the Obama deal is a perfect example of how it will do so. Story continues Coming attractions The Obamas are among the most respected and well-known public figures in the world. President Obama received more votes than any other presidential candidate in U.S. history in 2008, tallying nearly 70 million votes. Michelle Obama, meanwhile, was a widely admired first lady, and finished two terms in the White House with a favorable rating of 64%. On Twitter, they also reach a huge audience. Barack Obama has 103 million followers, and his tweets are often among the most favorited and retweeted on the platform. Michelle Obama, meanwhile, counts nearly 11 million followers of her own. Considering the level of fame and respect the Obamas enjoy, it seems like a safe bet that the content they produce for Netflix will drive another surge in users to the leading streamer. While about half of American households already subscribe to the service, it's likely that many of the holdouts are among the former president's fans, and the Obamas also have a sizable fan base internationally. Kenyans, for instance, rejoiced when Obama was elected president due to his Kenyan ancestry, and he is also popular in Europe, especially at a time when President Trump is seen by many on the continent as turning his back on international norms. It's not clear yet whether the Obamas will be in front of camera or how involved they will be in creating the content they're producing, but the breadth of the deal, which includes scripted and unscripted content such as documentaries and features signals that the partnership will be enduring and will bear ample fruit for Netflix and its viewers. Score another win for the leading streamer as the Obama deal is more evidence of the power of Netflix's unique platform. We don't yet know when the family's content will first hit the streams, but you can expect a jump in subscriber growth when it does. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Jeremy Bowman owns shares of Netflix. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Netflix. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Analyst: Additional Model 3 Production Shutdowns Would Be Negative For Tesla Stock: Tesla Inc.(NASDAQ:TSLA) is shutting down Model 3 production starting Saturday in an effort to make changes to improve its production process and alleviate the bottlenecks that have caused the company to miss their production targets in recent quarters. The planned event is part of the 10 days of shutdowns Tesla previously announced for the quarter, and one analyst said in a Friday note that it had better be the last.
The Analyst
GBH Insights head of technology researchDaniel Ivesreiterated an Attractive rating on Tesla with a $320 price target.
The Thesis
Tesla is on track to hit its near-term production target of 5,000 Model 3s per week by early July, Ives said in the note. (See the analyst's track recordhere.)
Tesla has taken a lot of heat for repeatedly missing its Model 3 production targets, but the company is still in a good spot if it can get on track in the near future, the analyst said.
On the other hand, Ives said investors may not have the patience for any further delays.
“Any further shutdowns and bottlenecks could be the straw that broke the camel’s back toward hitting the 5,000 target, which remains the key risk to the story along with the cash burn situation [and] potentially raising capital in 2019,” Ives said.
The coming months are pivotal for Tesla stock, as the company either proves it can push past its temporary production problems or demonstrates its execution issues are here to stay, Ives said.
Price Action
Tesla stock was down 0.32 percent at the time of publication Friday and is now down 21.3 percent in the past three months.
Related Links:
Some Familiar Names Among Short Sellers' Top Stocks
3 Stocks To Play California's Solar Panel Mandate
Photo courtesy of Tesla.
Latest Ratings for TSLA
[{"Apr 2018": "Apr 2018", "Morgan Stanley": "Vertical Group", "Maintains": "Initiates Coverage On", "Equal-Weight": "Sell"}, {"Apr 2018": "Apr 2018", "Morgan Stanley": "Jefferies", "Maintains": "Upgrades", "Equal-Weight": "Hold"}]
View More Analyst Ratings for TSLAView the Latest Analyst Ratings
See more from Benzinga
• Some Familiar Names Among Short Sellers' Top Stocks
• 3 Stocks To Play California's Solar Panel Mandate
• Today In Cryptocurrency: Bitcoin Cash Booms, Investor Compares Bitcoin To The Internet
© 2018 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
[Social Media Buzz]
The current price of 1 $BTC on May 26, 2018 at 03:00AM is $7420.00. || May 26, 2018 11:00:00 UTC | 7,541.50$ | 6,469.80€ | 5,667.30£ | #Bitcoin #btc pic.twitter.com/sQJsWl12pb || ツイート数の多かった仮想通貨
1位 $BTC 937 Tweets
2位 $PURA 203 Tweets
3位 $TRX 185 Tweets
4位 $XRP 104 Tweets
5位 $XVG 86 Tweets
2018-05-27 00:00 ～ 2018-05-27 00:59
COINTREND いまTwitterで話題の仮想通貨を探せ！
https://cointrend.jp/ || Current price of Bitcoin is $7420.00 #Bitcoin #Bithound || EMA Cross Alert $NULS $BTC
Symbol Pair: NULSBTC - Binanc...
|
7368.22, 7135.99, 7472.59, 7406.52, 7494.17, 7541.45, 7643.45, 7720.25, 7514.47, 7633.76
|
Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 6601.96, 6625.56, 6589.62, 6556.10, 6502.59, 6576.69, 6622.48, 6588.31, 6602.95, 6652.23, 6642.64, 6585.53, 6256.24, 6274.58, 6285.99, 6290.93, 6596.54, 6596.11, 6544.43, 6476.71, 6465.41, 6489.19, 6482.35, 6487.16, 6475.74, 6495.84, 6476.29, 6474.75, 6480.38, 6486.39, 6332.63, 6334.27, 6317.61, 6377.78, 6388.44, 6361.26, 6376.13, 6419.66, 6461.01, 6530.14, 6453.72, 6385.62, 6409.22, 6411.27, 6371.27, 6359.49, 5738.35, 5648.03, 5575.55, 5554.33, 5623.54, 4871.49, 4451.87, 4602.17, 4365.94, 4347.11, 3880.76, 4009.97, 3779.13, 3820.72, 4257.42, 4278.85, 4017.27, 4214.67, 4139.88, 3894.13, 3956.89, 3753.99, 3521.10, 3419.94, 3476.11, 3614.23, 3502.66, 3424.59, 3486.95, 3313.68, 3242.48, 3236.76, 3252.84, 3545.86, 3696.06, 3745.95, 4134.44, 3896.54, 4014.18, 3998.98, 4078.60, 3815.49, 3857.30, 3654.83.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2018-12-27]
Volume: 5130222366, RSI (14-day): 43.28, 50-day EMA: 4324.53, 200-day EMA: 5950.19
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1277.30, Gold RSI: 70.35
Oil Price: 44.61, Oil RSI: 34.35
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Bitcoin Price Finds Bears Near $4,200, At Last Leg Before Breakdown: Bitcoin priceon Wednesday traded inside a narrow session range as the market assessed the bearish correction of the previous day.
TheBitcoin/Dollar ratestarted the trading session with a jump towards $3,850 but rejected extended upside targets in a pullback action that stretched to as low as $3,686. Before the European session matured, the pair had already bounced back from the said support to pursue another attempt to break $3,850. As of now, it is hanging midway between the two levels, trading at $3,791.
The Bitcoin market is noticing a moderatelyhigh selling sentiment near $4,100-4,200 zone, which makes it difficult for the market to establish a sustainable bullish bias. Earlier in November, the price had faced similar difficulties while establishing a breakout target above $4,400. After that, the price had fallen towards $3,127-3,130 zone, which is now considered the interim bottom area.
The uptrend, however, is still intact. The Bitcoin/Dollar rate is fluctuating up and down inside the parameters defined by a rising wedge channel. The pair is now at the last of its legs before attempting a clear breakdown action towards the next nearest downside target. At the same time, the area could see the accumulation of long targets towards the channel resistance, which would bring it close to testing the 50-period moving average as well.
Meanwhile, the RSI momentum indicator is finding it difficult to break above 60 to establish a clear near-term bullish bias. It has now reversed again from the 55-58 neutral area.
The slow action on Wednesday has restricted our trading parameters. Today, we have $3,850 acting as our interim resistance and $3,686 to the downside as interim support. Like always, our priority is to stick to our intrarange strategy which means opening a long order towards resistance whenever bitcoin bounces back from support and opening a short position towards support on every pull back action from resistance.
We will switch to our breakout strategy the moment we see bitcoin breaking above the resistance level, or breaking down the support level. That said, a break above $3,850 will have us put a long position towards $4,055, our primary upside target. As we place this order, we will also maintain a stop loss position just 1-pip below our entry level, to exit the market on a small loss should the bias reverse.
Looking to the south, a break below $3,686 would confirm a breakdown scenario and we will immediately open a short position towards the next downside target near $3,439. A stop loss just 1 pip above the entry point will meanwhile define our risk management strategy for the day.
Trade safe!
Featured image from Shutterstock.
The postBitcoin Price Finds Bears Near $4,200, At Last Leg Before Breakdownappeared first onCCN. || Bitcoin Price Finds Bears Near $4,200, At Last Leg Before Breakdown: Bitcoin Price Finds Bears Near $4,200, At Last Leg Before Breakdown Bitcoin price on Wednesday traded inside a narrow session range as the market assessed the bearish correction of the previous day. The Bitcoin/Dollar rate started the trading session with a jump towards $3,850 but rejected extended upside targets in a pullback action that stretched to as low as $3,686. Before the European session matured, the pair had already bounced back from the said support to pursue another attempt to break $3,850. As of now, it is hanging midway between the two levels, trading at $3,791. The Bitcoin market is noticing a moderately high selling sentiment near $4,100-4,200 zone , which makes it difficult for the market to establish a sustainable bullish bias. Earlier in November, the price had faced similar difficulties while establishing a breakout target above $4,400. After that, the price had fallen towards $3,127-3,130 zone, which is now considered the interim bottom area. The uptrend, however, is still intact. The Bitcoin/Dollar rate is fluctuating up and down inside the parameters defined by a rising wedge channel. The pair is now at the last of its legs before attempting a clear breakdown action towards the next nearest downside target. At the same time, the area could see the accumulation of long targets towards the channel resistance, which would bring it close to testing the 50-period moving average as well. Meanwhile, the RSI momentum indicator is finding it difficult to break above 60 to establish a clear near-term bullish bias. It has now reversed again from the 55-58 neutral area. Bitcoin/Dollar Intraday Targets The slow action on Wednesday has restricted our trading parameters. Today, we have $3,850 acting as our interim resistance and $3,686 to the downside as interim support. Like always, our priority is to stick to our intrarange strategy which means opening a long order towards resistance whenever bitcoin bounces back from support and opening a short position towards support on every pull back action from resistance. Story continues BITCOIN/DOLLAR 1H CHART | SOURCE: COINBASE, TRADINGVIEW.COM We will switch to our breakout strategy the moment we see bitcoin breaking above the resistance level, or breaking down the support level. That said, a break above $3,850 will have us put a long position towards $4,055, our primary upside target. As we place this order, we will also maintain a stop loss position just 1-pip below our entry level, to exit the market on a small loss should the bias reverse. Looking to the south, a break below $3,686 would confirm a breakdown scenario and we will immediately open a short position towards the next downside target near $3,439. A stop loss just 1 pip above the entry point will meanwhile define our risk management strategy for the day. Trade safe! Featured image from Shutterstock. The post Bitcoin Price Finds Bears Near $4,200, At Last Leg Before Breakdown appeared first on CCN . || Bitcoin Price Finds Bears Near $4,200, At Last Leg Before Breakdown: Bitcoin priceon Wednesday traded inside a narrow session range as the market assessed the bearish correction of the previous day.
TheBitcoin/Dollar ratestarted the trading session with a jump towards $3,850 but rejected extended upside targets in a pullback action that stretched to as low as $3,686. Before the European session matured, the pair had already bounced back from the said support to pursue another attempt to break $3,850. As of now, it is hanging midway between the two levels, trading at $3,791.
The Bitcoin market is noticing a moderatelyhigh selling sentiment near $4,100-4,200 zone, which makes it difficult for the market to establish a sustainable bullish bias. Earlier in November, the price had faced similar difficulties while establishing a breakout target above $4,400. After that, the price had fallen towards $3,127-3,130 zone, which is now considered the interim bottom area.
The uptrend, however, is still intact. The Bitcoin/Dollar rate is fluctuating up and down inside the parameters defined by a rising wedge channel. The pair is now at the last of its legs before attempting a clear breakdown action towards the next nearest downside target. At the same time, the area could see the accumulation of long targets towards the channel resistance, which would bring it close to testing the 50-period moving average as well.
Meanwhile, the RSI momentum indicator is finding it difficult to break above 60 to establish a clear near-term bullish bias. It has now reversed again from the 55-58 neutral area.
The slow action on Wednesday has restricted our trading parameters. Today, we have $3,850 acting as our interim resistance and $3,686 to the downside as interim support. Like always, our priority is to stick to our intrarange strategy which means opening a long order towards resistance whenever bitcoin bounces back from support and opening a short position towards support on every pull back action from resistance.
We will switch to our breakout strategy the moment we see bitcoin breaking above the resistance level, or breaking down the support level. That said, a break above $3,850 will have us put a long position towards $4,055, our primary upside target. As we place this order, we will also maintain a stop loss position just 1-pip below our entry level, to exit the market on a small loss should the bias reverse.
Looking to the south, a break below $3,686 would confirm a breakdown scenario and we will immediately open a short position towards the next downside target near $3,439. A stop loss just 1 pip above the entry point will meanwhile define our risk management strategy for the day.
Trade safe!
Featured image from Shutterstock.
The postBitcoin Price Finds Bears Near $4,200, At Last Leg Before Breakdownappeared first onCCN. || Stock Investors: How to Prepare for a Recession in 2019: • (0:30) - Will There Be A Recession?
• (3:45) - What Warnings Signs Will We See?
• (14:30) - Have Buy Backs And Tax Cuts Postponed The Recession?
• (20:35) - How Should You Be Preparing For 2019?
• (26:50) - Tracey and John's Stocks To Watch
• (34:40) - Is Bitcoin A Dying Investment?
• (40:30) - Are The FANG Stocks Where You Still Want To Be?
• (43:15) - Episode Roundup:FB, AAPL, AMZN, NFLX, GOOGL, QCOM, CC, JPM, MU
• [email protected]
Welcome to Episode #160 of the Zacks Market Edge Podcast.
Every week, host and Zacks stock strategist, Tracey Ryniec, will be joined by guests to discuss the hottest investing topics in stocks, bonds and ETFs and how it impacts your life.
In this episode, Tracey is joined by Zacks Chief Equity Strategist John Blank to discuss the outlook for 2019.
In past episodes, the two have discussed whether or not a recession was coming in the following year. Starting in 2016, there were many predictions of an impending recession, none of which have panned out.
Remember, the technical definition of a recession is two or more quarters in a row of negative GDP growth.
Will 2019 finally be the year that a recession happens?
And if so, what do you want to be invested in?
From Reflation to Financial Deflation
Since the Great Recession, the world’s central banks have gone to great pains to reflate the global economy but we could be approaching an era of deflation, as the banks withdraw their support.
What stocks do you want to be in when borrowing becomes more expensive?
The high growth stocks that often don’t have earnings might not be the place.
Look for blue chips with share buyback programs, dividends and solid cash flows likeMicron MUandQualcomm QCOM.
What about FAANG?
Some of the FAANG stocks pay a dividend and are doing share buybacks likeApple AAPLbut others likeAmazon AMZNaren’t doing either and still have big spending budgets.
Other growth names are also devoid of shareholder friendly programs such asTwitter TWTR.
Will value return to the spotlight as investors seek out security and fundamentals?
Is growth’s dominance coming to an end?
Find out the answer to all of these questions and more on this week’s final 2018 podcast.
Today's Stocks from Zacks' Hottest StrategiesIt's hard to believe, even for us at Zacks. But while the market gained +21.9% in 2017, our top stock-picking screens have returned +115.0%, +109.3%, +104.9%, +98.6%, and +67.1%.And this outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. Over the years it has been remarkably consistent. From 2000 - 2017, the composite yearly average gain for these strategies has beaten the market more than 19X over. Maybe even more remarkable is the fact that we're willing to share their latest stocks with you without cost or obligation.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportAmazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) : Free Stock Analysis ReportTwitter, Inc. (TWTR) : Free Stock Analysis ReportQUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM) : Free Stock Analysis ReportApple Inc. (AAPL) : Free Stock Analysis ReportMicron Technology, Inc. (MU) : Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research || Stock Investors: How to Prepare for a Recession in 2019: (0:30) - Will There Be A Recession? (3:45) - What Warnings Signs Will We See? (14:30) - Have Buy Backs And Tax Cuts Postponed The Recession? (20:35) - How Should You Be Preparing For 2019? (26:50) - Tracey and John's Stocks To Watch (34:40) - Is Bitcoin A Dying Investment? (40:30) - Are The FANG Stocks Where You Still Want To Be? (43:15) - Episode Roundup: FB, AAPL, AMZN, NFLX, GOOGL, QCOM, CC, JPM, MU [email protected] Welcome to Episode #160 of the Zacks Market Edge Podcast. Every week, host and Zacks stock strategist, Tracey Ryniec, will be joined by guests to discuss the hottest investing topics in stocks, bonds and ETFs and how it impacts your life. In this episode, Tracey is joined by Zacks Chief Equity Strategist John Blank to discuss the outlook for 2019. In past episodes, the two have discussed whether or not a recession was coming in the following year. Starting in 2016, there were many predictions of an impending recession, none of which have panned out. Remember, the technical definition of a recession is two or more quarters in a row of negative GDP growth. Will 2019 finally be the year that a recession happens? And if so, what do you want to be invested in? From Reflation to Financial Deflation Since the Great Recession, the world’s central banks have gone to great pains to reflate the global economy but we could be approaching an era of deflation, as the banks withdraw their support. What stocks do you want to be in when borrowing becomes more expensive? The high growth stocks that often don’t have earnings might not be the place. Look for blue chips with share buyback programs, dividends and solid cash flows like Micron MU and Qualcomm QCOM . What about FAANG? Some of the FAANG stocks pay a dividend and are doing share buybacks like Apple AAPL but others like Amazon AMZN aren’t doing either and still have big spending budgets. Other growth names are also devoid of shareholder friendly programs such as Twitter TWTR . Story continues Will value return to the spotlight as investors seek out security and fundamentals? Is growth’s dominance coming to an end? Find out the answer to all of these questions and more on this week’s final 2018 podcast. Today's Stocks from Zacks' Hottest Strategies It's hard to believe, even for us at Zacks. But while the market gained +21.9% in 2017, our top stock-picking screens have returned +115.0%, +109.3%, +104.9%, +98.6%, and +67.1%. And this outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. Over the years it has been remarkably consistent. From 2000 - 2017, the composite yearly average gain for these strategies has beaten the market more than 19X over. Maybe even more remarkable is the fact that we're willing to share their latest stocks with you without cost or obligation. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Twitter, Inc. (TWTR) : Free Stock Analysis Report QUALCOMM Incorporated (QCOM) : Free Stock Analysis Report Apple Inc. (AAPL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Micron Technology, Inc. (MU) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research || Scientists Turn Copper into ‘Gold’ — Will Bitcoin Replace as Store of Value?: According to a new paper published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, researchers in China have made a groundbreaking discovery that could profoundly impact the face of the precious metals landscape — and provide bitcoin with an opportunity to shine.
PerSCMP, a team of scientists at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Liaoning have developed a method to turn cheap, plentiful copper into a substance that is “almost identical” togold, accomplishing what alchemists have for hundreds of years believed could be a gateway to endless riches.
Lest anyone protest that this sounds like something out of the National Enquirer or one of the more fantastical medieval travel narratives, the study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances, and the methodology relies on chemical reactions rather than secret incantations.
To create the pseudo-gold, the scientists shot a payload of hot, electrically-charged argon gas at a target made out of copper. The ionized gas particles dislodged copper atoms from the target, and these atoms fell onto a collecting device where they cooled off into a pile of microscopic sand — each grain just a few nanometers in size.
The scientists then tested the properties of these copper particles by using them as a catalyst in a chemical reaction to turn coal into alcohol. Confirming their research, they found that the nanoparticles “achieved catalytic performance extremely similar to that of gold or silver,” Sun and the other researchers wrote, explaining that it can resist high temperatures, oxidization, and erosion much better than standard copper.
This scientific development raises the question of whether the gold standard of economic hedging could soon lose its luster, forcing gold bugs and other stock market bears to turn to alternative assets. Could this give bitcoin an opening to become a mainstream store of value?
Though proponents frequently cite bitcoin’s utility as asuccessor to the yellow metal, the answer remains no, at least for the foreseeable future.
Sun and the other researchers explained that, at least in its current incarnation, the process could not practically be used to create counterfeit gold coins or bars since its density remains the same as normal copper.
Nevertheless, anticipating future improvements in the methodology, ordinary retail investors who purchase precious metals for speculative purposes could be taken in by this pseudo-gold if significant quantities ever exit the industrial sector and are repurposed by counterfeiters. This would exacerbate a longstanding problem in precious metals investing, potentially weakening consumer trust in bullion as a store of value.
Moreover, even the production of this pseudo-gold for its intended purpose — industrial applications — could have a significant impact on the value of the true yellow metal. While the vast majority of gold demand is speculative, the material also plays an important role in the production of electronic devices, a fact that crypto skeptics often cite when objecting to the thesis that bitcoin is “digital gold.”
At the very least, the material’s replacement in industrial manufacturing should place equivalent downward pressure on the gold price, though it’s likely that psychological factors would further weaken investor confidence and steepen the asset’s decline.
Consequently, this and other new threats to gold demand, coupled with future improvements incryptocurrency adoptionandtechnological development, could over the long term provide a gateway toward bitcoin finally becoming a real store of value rather than just a moonshot purchase.
Featured Image from Shutterstock. Charts fromTradingView.
The postScientists Turn Copper into ‘Gold’ — Will Bitcoin Replace as Store of Value?appeared first onCCN. || Scientists Turn Copper into ‘Gold’ — Will Bitcoin Replace as Store of Value?: According to a new paper published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, researchers in China have made a groundbreaking discovery that could profoundly impact the face of the precious metals landscape — and provide bitcoin with an opportunity to shine.
PerSCMP, a team of scientists at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Liaoning have developed a method to turn cheap, plentiful copper into a substance that is “almost identical” togold, accomplishing what alchemists have for hundreds of years believed could be a gateway to endless riches.
Lest anyone protest that this sounds like something out of the National Enquirer or one of the more fantastical medieval travel narratives, the study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances, and the methodology relies on chemical reactions rather than secret incantations.
To create the pseudo-gold, the scientists shot a payload of hot, electrically-charged argon gas at a target made out of copper. The ionized gas particles dislodged copper atoms from the target, and these atoms fell onto a collecting device where they cooled off into a pile of microscopic sand — each grain just a few nanometers in size.
The scientists then tested the properties of these copper particles by using them as a catalyst in a chemical reaction to turn coal into alcohol. Confirming their research, they found that the nanoparticles “achieved catalytic performance extremely similar to that of gold or silver,” Sun and the other researchers wrote, explaining that it can resist high temperatures, oxidization, and erosion much better than standard copper.
This scientific development raises the question of whether the gold standard of economic hedging could soon lose its luster, forcing gold bugs and other stock market bears to turn to alternative assets. Could this give bitcoin an opening to become a mainstream store of value?
Though proponents frequently cite bitcoin’s utility as asuccessor to the yellow metal, the answer remains no, at least for the foreseeable future.
Sun and the other researchers explained that, at least in its current incarnation, the process could not practically be used to create counterfeit gold coins or bars since its density remains the same as normal copper.
Nevertheless, anticipating future improvements in the methodology, ordinary retail investors who purchase precious metals for speculative purposes could be taken in by this pseudo-gold if significant quantities ever exit the industrial sector and are repurposed by counterfeiters. This would exacerbate a longstanding problem in precious metals investing, potentially weakening consumer trust in bullion as a store of value.
Moreover, even the production of this pseudo-gold for its intended purpose — industrial applications — could have a significant impact on the value of the true yellow metal. While the vast majority of gold demand is speculative, the material also plays an important role in the production of electronic devices, a fact that crypto skeptics often cite when objecting to the thesis that bitcoin is “digital gold.”
At the very least, the material’s replacement in industrial manufacturing should place equivalent downward pressure on the gold price, though it’s likely that psychological factors would further weaken investor confidence and steepen the asset’s decline.
Consequently, this and other new threats to gold demand, coupled with future improvements incryptocurrency adoptionandtechnological development, could over the long term provide a gateway toward bitcoin finally becoming a real store of value rather than just a moonshot purchase.
Featured Image from Shutterstock. Charts fromTradingView.
The postScientists Turn Copper into ‘Gold’ — Will Bitcoin Replace as Store of Value?appeared first onCCN. || Scientists Turn Copper into Gold Will Bitcoin Replace as Store of Value?: bitcoin gold copper alchemy According to a new paper published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, researchers in China have made a groundbreaking discovery that could profoundly impact the face of the precious metals landscape and provide bitcoin with an opportunity to shine. Scientists Turn Copper into Substance Almost Identical to Gold Per SCMP , a team of scientists at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Liaoning have developed a method to turn cheap, plentiful copper into a substance that is almost identical to gold , accomplishing what alchemists have for hundreds of years believed could be a gateway to endless riches. Lest anyone protest that this sounds like something out of the National Enquirer or one of the more fantastical medieval travel narratives, the study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances, and the methodology relies on chemical reactions rather than secret incantations. To create the pseudo-gold, the scientists shot a payload of hot, electrically-charged argon gas at a target made out of copper. The ionized gas particles dislodged copper atoms from the target, and these atoms fell onto a collecting device where they cooled off into a pile of microscopic sand each grain just a few nanometers in size. The scientists then tested the properties of these copper particles by using them as a catalyst in a chemical reaction to turn coal into alcohol. Confirming their research, they found that the nanoparticles achieved catalytic performance extremely similar to that of gold or silver, Sun and the other researchers wrote, explaining that it can resist high temperatures, oxidization, and erosion much better than standard copper. Will Bitcoin Replace Gold as Store of Value? bitcoin price gold price This scientific development raises the question of whether the gold standard of economic hedging could soon lose its luster, forcing gold bugs and other stock market bears to turn to alternative assets. Could this give bitcoin an opening to become a mainstream store of value? Story continues Though proponents frequently cite bitcoins utility as a successor to the yellow metal , the answer remains no, at least for the foreseeable future. Sun and the other researchers explained that, at least in its current incarnation, the process could not practically be used to create counterfeit gold coins or bars since its density remains the same as normal copper. Nevertheless, anticipating future improvements in the methodology, ordinary retail investors who purchase precious metals for speculative purposes could be taken in by this pseudo-gold if significant quantities ever exit the industrial sector and are repurposed by counterfeiters. This would exacerbate a longstanding problem in precious metals investing, potentially weakening consumer trust in bullion as a store of value. Moreover, even the production of this pseudo-gold for its intended purpose industrial applications could have a significant impact on the value of the true yellow metal. While the vast majority of gold demand is speculative, the material also plays an important role in the production of electronic devices, a fact that crypto skeptics often cite when objecting to the thesis that bitcoin is digital gold. At the very least, the materials replacement in industrial manufacturing should place equivalent downward pressure on the gold price, though its likely that psychological factors would further weaken investor confidence and steepen the assets decline. Consequently, this and other new threats to gold demand, coupled with future improvements in cryptocurrency adoption and technological development , could over the long term provide a gateway toward bitcoin finally becoming a real store of value rather than just a moonshot purchase. Featured Image from Shutterstock. Charts from TradingView . The post Scientists Turn Copper into Gold Will Bitcoin Replace as Store of Value? appeared first on CCN . || Newsflash: Dow Climbs 1,050 Points in Largest-Ever Rally While Bitcoin Slumps: The US stock market may be in dire straits relative to its early-year performance, but don’t call it a recession yet. Bolstered by strong showings from the retail and energy sectors, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 each posted stellar post-Christmas rallies, even as the bitcoin price slumped several percentage points to headline a generally-sluggish day for the cryptocurrency market.
Both theDowandS&P 500had waded into the red earlier in the day, but the two stock market indices roared back to life heading into the afternoon, breaking away from theirrecent bearish trends. As of the time of writing, the Dow had rallied by 1,086 points for the day — its largest single-day gain ever — while the S&P 500 gained 4.95 percent after Mastercard SpendingPulse releaseddatashowing that retailers had experienced their best holiday spending season in six years.
On the crypto front, however, investors were much less enthusiastic. The bitcoin price traded down approximately 0.32 percent to a composite average of $3,819 over the previous 24 hours, and most other top 10-cryptocurrency assets posted minor pullbacks as well. Outside of the large-cap index, however,ethereum classic— ranked 17th by market cap — headlined with a 10.31 percent rally to $5.15.
Featured Image from Shutterstock. Charts fromTradingView.
The postNewsflash: Dow Climbs 1,050 Points in Largest-Ever Rally While Bitcoin Slumpsappeared first onCCN. || Newsflash: Dow Climbs 1,050 Points in Largest-Ever Rally While Bitcoin Slumps: The US stock market may be in dire straits relative to its early-year performance, but don’t call it a recession yet. Bolstered by strong showings from the retail and energy sectors, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 each posted stellar post-Christmas rallies, even as the bitcoin price slumped several percentage points to headline a generally-sluggish day for the cryptocurrency market.
Both theDowandS&P 500had waded into the red earlier in the day, but the two stock market indices roared back to life heading into the afternoon, breaking away from theirrecent bearish trends. As of the time of writing, the Dow had rallied by 1,086 points for the day — its largest single-day gain ever — while the S&P 500 gained 4.95 percent after Mastercard SpendingPulse releaseddatashowing that retailers had experienced their best holiday spending season in six years.
On the crypto front, however, investors were much less enthusiastic. The bitcoin price traded down approximately 0.32 percent to a composite average of $3,819 over the previous 24 hours, and most other top 10-cryptocurrency assets posted minor pullbacks as well. Outside of the large-cap index, however,ethereum classic— ranked 17th by market cap — headlined with a 10.31 percent rally to $5.15.
Featured Image from Shutterstock. Charts fromTradingView.
The postNewsflash: Dow Climbs 1,050 Points in Largest-Ever Rally While Bitcoin Slumpsappeared first onCCN. || Can the OTC Market Actually Have a Significant Impact on the Bitcoin Price?: bitcoin price target The over-the-counter (OTC) market has long been considered to be bigger in size and volume than the crypto exchange market, having a bigger impact on the Bitcoin price . Large institutional investors and high profile retail traders often rely on the OTC market for orders that typically exceed $1 million to ensure the market has enough liquidity to facilitate the settlement. Why OTC Market is Better Than Bitcoin Exchanges On major fiat-to-crypto exchanges like Coinbase , Skew, a cryptocurrency options market data provider, said that purchasing over $4 million in Bitcoin could cost an investor a 10 percent premium. The inefficiency of placing large orders on cryptocurrency exchanges naturally lead investors into the OTC market, as large premiums result in substantially higher rates. The Skew research team wrote : Buying 1,000 BTC at market today on Coinbase would cost you $4,400 per coin, almost 10% of premium to spot for only a $ million trade. Not good. Like in FX, the liquidity for physical bitcoin is fragmented across exchanges so market makers will usually put together the various order books – ‘aggregated order books’ – and execute across venues. Still, the liquidity for physical bitcoin is not great. Throughout the past several months, several major cryptocurrency exchanges in the likes of Coinbase have established custodial solutions to help institutions invest in the digital asset market with high liquidity. The minimum investment threshold on Coinbase Custody is $5 million, which if bought on cryptocurrency exchanges could easily result in a 10 to 15 percent premium rate. bitcoin price chart In July, TABB Group, an international research company, reported that the OTC market is estimated to be two to three times larger than the cryptocurrency exchange market. The cryptocurrency exchange market processes around $4 billion worth of Bitcoin trades on a daily basis. Based on the findings of Tabb Group, the OTC market could be processing nearly $8 billion per day and up to $12 billion. Story continues At the time, Monica Summerville, a senior FinTech analyst at Tabb Group, responded to inquiries on the lack of movement of large transfers on the Bitcoin blockchain by stating that in many cases, Bitcoin holders pass on the wallets and the private keys to the wallets to the buyers and as such, not all transactions are broadcasted to the public blockchain. “Our reports are based on interviews and with participants in markets, cover more than BTC and keep in mind that not all transactions show up on public blockchains as many venues omnibus accounts so only net changes to their positions will be written to public blockchain,” she said. Custody Will Increase the Volume In the fourth quarter of 2018, Fidelity , the fourth largest asset manager in the world, debuted Fidelity Digital Assets to provide cryptocurrency custody targeted at institutional investors. The trend in several major markets including Japan , South Korea , and the United States is shifting from the development of infrastructure focused on individual traders to custodial solutions and strictly regulated investment vehicles, which may allow the OTC market to have even a larger impact on the price trend of Bitcoin in the long-term. Featured Image from Shutterstock. Charts from TradingView . The post Can the OTC Market Actually Have a Significant Impact on the Bitcoin Price? appeared first on CCN . || Can the OTC Market Actually Have a Significant Impact on the Bitcoin Price?: The over-the-counter (OTC) market has long been considered to be bigger in size and volume than the crypto exchange market, having a bigger impact on theBitcoin price.
Large institutional investors and high profile retail traders often rely on the OTC market for orders that typically exceed $1 million to ensure the market has enough liquidity to facilitate the settlement.
On major fiat-to-crypto exchanges likeCoinbase, Skew, a cryptocurrency options market data provider, said that purchasing over $4 million in Bitcoin could cost an investor a 10 percent premium.
The inefficiency of placing large orders on cryptocurrency exchanges naturally lead investors into the OTC market, as large premiums result in substantially higher rates.
The Skew research teamwrote:
Buying 1,000 BTC at market today on Coinbase would cost you $4,400 per coin, almost 10% of premium to spot for only a $ million trade. Not good. Like in FX, the liquidity for physical bitcoin is fragmented across exchanges so market makers will usually put together the various order books – ‘aggregated order books’ – and execute across venues. Still, the liquidity for physical bitcoin is not great.
Throughout the past several months, several major cryptocurrency exchanges in the likes of Coinbase have established custodial solutions to help institutions invest in the digital asset market with high liquidity.
The minimum investment threshold on Coinbase Custody is $5 million, which if bought on cryptocurrency exchanges could easily result in a 10 to 15 percent premium rate.
In July, TABB Group, an international research company, reported that the OTC market is estimated to be two to three times larger than the cryptocurrency exchange market.
Thecryptocurrency exchange marketprocesses around $4 billion worth of Bitcoin trades on a daily basis. Based on the findings of Tabb Group, the OTC market could be processing nearly $8 billion per day and up to $12 billion.
At the time, Monica Summerville, a senior FinTech analyst at Tabb Group, responded to inquiries on the lack of movement oflarge transferson the Bitcoin blockchain by stating that in many cases, Bitcoin holders pass on the wallets and the private keys to the wallets to the buyers and as such, not all transactions are broadcasted to the public blockchain.
“Our reports are based on interviews and with participants in markets, cover more than BTC and keep in mind that not all transactions show up on public blockchains as many venues omnibus accounts so only net changes to their positions will be written to public blockchain,” she said.
In the fourth quarter of 2018,Fidelity, the fourth largest asset manager in the world, debuted Fidelity Digital Assets to provide cryptocurrency custody targeted at institutional investors.
The trend in several major markets includingJapan,South Korea, and theUnited Statesis shifting from the development of infrastructure focused on individual traders to custodial solutions and strictly regulated investment vehicles, which may allow the OTC market to have even a larger impact on the price trend of Bitcoin in the long-term.
Featured Image from Shutterstock. Charts fromTradingView.
The postCan the OTC Market Actually Have a Significant Impact on the Bitcoin Price?appeared first onCCN. || Can the OTC Market Actually Have a Significant Impact on the Bitcoin Price?: The over-the-counter (OTC) market has long been considered to be bigger in size and volume than the crypto exchange market, having a bigger impact on theBitcoin price.
Large institutional investors and high profile retail traders often rely on the OTC market for orders that typically exceed $1 million to ensure the market has enough liquidity to facilitate the settlement.
On major fiat-to-crypto exchanges likeCoinbase, Skew, a cryptocurrency options market data provider, said that purchasing over $4 million in Bitcoin could cost an investor a 10 percent premium.
The inefficiency of placing large orders on cryptocurrency exchanges naturally lead investors into the OTC market, as large premiums result in substantially higher rates.
The Skew research teamwrote:
Buying 1,000 BTC at market today on Coinbase would cost you $4,400 per coin, almost 10% of premium to spot for only a $ million trade. Not good. Like in FX, the liquidity for physical bitcoin is fragmented across exchanges so market makers will usually put together the various order books – ‘aggregated order books’ – and execute across venues. Still, the liquidity for physical bitcoin is not great.
Throughout the past several months, several major cryptocurrency exchanges in the likes of Coinbase have established custodial solutions to help institutions invest in the digital asset market with high liquidity.
The minimum investment threshold on Coinbase Custody is $5 million, which if bought on cryptocurrency exchanges could easily result in a 10 to 15 percent premium rate.
In July, TABB Group, an international research company, reported that the OTC market is estimated to be two to three times larger than the cryptocurrency exchange market.
Thecryptocurrency exchange marketprocesses around $4 billion worth of Bitcoin trades on a daily basis. Based on the findings of Tabb Group, the OTC market could be processing nearly $8 billion per day and up to $12 billion.
At the time, Monica Summerville, a senior FinTech analyst at Tabb Group, responded to inquiries on the lack of movement oflarge transferson the Bitcoin blockchain by stating that in many cases, Bitcoin holders pass on the wallets and the private keys to the wallets to the buyers and as such, not all transactions are broadcasted to the public blockchain.
“Our reports are based on interviews and with participants in markets, cover more than BTC and keep in mind that not all transactions show up on public blockchains as many venues omnibus accounts so only net changes to their positions will be written to public blockchain,” she said.
In the fourth quarter of 2018,Fidelity, the fourth largest asset manager in the world, debuted Fidelity Digital Assets to provide cryptocurrency custody targeted at institutional investors.
The trend in several major markets includingJapan,South Korea, and theUnited Statesis shifting from the development of infrastructure focused on individual traders to custodial solutions and strictly regulated investment vehicles, which may allow the OTC market to have even a larger impact on the price trend of Bitcoin in the long-term.
Featured Image from Shutterstock. Charts fromTradingView.
The postCan the OTC Market Actually Have a Significant Impact on the Bitcoin Price?appeared first onCCN. || ‘Extremely Bearish’: Crypto VC Says Bitmain Layoffs Could Spell Doom for Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin: bitmain bitcoin jihan wu Ongoing layoffs at cryptocurrency mega-firm Bitmain could start a fresh wave of selling in Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin markets, according to prominent crypto investor Kyle Samani. The cryptocurrency-focused venture capitalist said in a tweet that the Bitcoin mining giant is — if rumors are true — running out of money to continue its operations across mining and blockchain development. The financial scarcity has led the Chinese firm to downsize its workforce, reportedly by 50 percent or more. And to further meet its ends, Samani said Bitmain would likely dump its crypto stockpile, which includes a massive number of Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash tokens. This is extremely bearish for BCH and LTC The only reason to make cuts this drastic are because you're about to run out of cash Meanwhile, they still have 1 BCH and 1M LTC on their balance sheet. Those are going to be liquidated soon to keep the lights on https://t.co/kneSRcK2li — Kyle Samani (@KyleSamani) December 26, 2018 A Leaked Financial Report Samani’s bearish theory is based on Bitmain’s alleged financial report which was leaked in August this year. If genuine, it revealed that the company was holding close to 931,000 Litecoin (LTC) and 1 million Bitcoin Cash (BCH). According to the current rates, Bitmain must be holding circa $28.6 million in LTC and a whopping $177 million in BCH. The company, up to the time of this writing, has not verified the leaked financial document. The leaked document also shows Bitcoin , Dash , and Ethereum as a part of Bitmain’s portfolio, with holdings close to $84 million, $26 million, and $142,000, respectively. Combined, Bitmain has $316 million worth of cryptocurrency reserves, providing the company hasn’t dumped even the slightest portion from it since August. Story continues Bitcoin Cash Under Spotlight Bitmain, according to reports, has fired the entire Copernicus team which was working on the development of a new Bitcoin Cash client. The move comes after the mining giant backed the Roger Ver-allied Bitcoin Cash ABC to fight an expensive hash war against its forked cousin, Bitcoin SV. Though not confirmed by Bitmain, allocating vast amounts of computing power to assist the BCH network could have led the company to face millions of dollars worth of monetary damages. On top of that, the per token value of Bitcoin Cash also dropped by more than 60% since the beginning of the hash war November. BCTKING555, a Twitter account which mainly posts negative reports and rumors about Bitmain, claimed that the company had privately reported $740 million worth of losses in Q3 which doesn’t even include the damages incurred during the Bitcoin Cash fork. Citing publicly-available data, BitMEX Research also estimated that Bitmain likely posted significant losses in Q2 following a wildly-successful first quarter. We got leak of Bitmain Q3 numbers! COMPLETE DISASTER. The company lost $740 Million including losses on inventory and bitcoin cash! And this is not accounting for hash war costs! #bitmainipo @HKEXGroup — BTCKING555 (@btcking555) December 4, 2018 The events could put Bitcoin Cash under the bearish spotlight, hinting that retail investors would be less likely to find the project stable. Whither the Bitmain IPO? The Bitmain layoffs could stabilize its outflows against the reported losses in the near-term. Also, the company has sought approval to hold a historic IPO in Hong Kong. However, recent reports indicate that HKEX regulators are not satisfied with the state of the crypto industry. Thus, some believe HKEX might reject the IPO for backing a product which they believe is too nascent. With all the doors closed, the next step for Bitmain could be to reach out to venture capitalists for additional funds or, as Samani predicted, sell some portion of their digital assets. The company still maintains more than 60% of the overall crypto mining market. Featured Image from CoinGeek/YouTube The post ‘Extremely Bearish’: Crypto VC Says Bitmain Layoffs Could Spell Doom for Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin appeared first on CCN . || ‘Extremely Bearish’: Crypto VC Says Bitmain Layoffs Could Spell Doom for Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin: Ongoing layoffs at cryptocurrency mega-firm Bitmain could start a fresh wave of selling in Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin markets, according to prominent crypto investor Kyle Samani.
The cryptocurrency-focused venture capitalist said in a tweet that the Bitcoin mining giant is —if rumors are true— running out of money to continue its operations across mining and blockchain development. The financial scarcity has led the Chinese firm to downsize its workforce, reportedly by 50 percent or more. And to further meet its ends, Samani said Bitmain would likely dump its crypto stockpile, which includes a massive number of Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash tokens.
Samani’s bearish theory is based on Bitmain’salleged financial reportwhich was leaked in August this year. If genuine, it revealed that the company was holding close to 931,000Litecoin(LTC) and 1 millionBitcoin Cash(BCH). According to the current rates, Bitmain must be holding circa $28.6 million in LTC and a whopping $177 million in BCH. The company, up to the time of this writing, has not verified the leaked financial document.
The leaked document also showsBitcoin,Dash, andEthereumas a part of Bitmain’s portfolio, with holdings close to $84 million, $26 million, and $142,000, respectively. Combined, Bitmain has $316 million worth of cryptocurrency reserves, providing the company hasn’t dumped even the slightest portion from it since August.
Bitmain, according to reports,has fired the entire Copernicus teamwhich was working on the development of a new Bitcoin Cash client. The move comes after the mining giant backed the Roger Ver-allied Bitcoin Cash ABC to fight anexpensive hash waragainst its forked cousin, Bitcoin SV. Though not confirmed by Bitmain, allocating vast amounts of computing power to assist the BCH network could have led the company to face millions of dollars worth of monetary damages. On top of that, the per token value of Bitcoin Cash alsodroppedby more than 60% since the beginning of the hash war November.
BCTKING555, a Twitter account which mainly posts negative reports and rumors about Bitmain, claimed that the company had privately reported $740 million worth of losses in Q3 which doesn’t even include the damages incurred during the Bitcoin Cash fork. Citing publicly-available data, BitMEX Research alsoestimatedthat Bitmain likely posted significant losses in Q2 following a wildly-successful first quarter.
The events could put Bitcoin Cash under the bearish spotlight, hinting that retail investors would be less likely to find the project stable.
The Bitmain layoffs could stabilize its outflows against the reported losses in the near-term. Also, the company has sought approval to holda historic IPOin Hong Kong. However,recent reportsindicate that HKEX regulators are not satisfied with the state of the crypto industry. Thus, some believe HKEX might reject the IPO for backing a product which they believe is too nascent.
With all the doors closed, the next step for Bitmain could be to reach out to venture capitalists for additional funds or, as Samani predicted, sell some portion of their digital assets. The company still maintains more than 60% of the overall crypto mining market.
Featured Image from CoinGeek/YouTube
The post‘Extremely Bearish’: Crypto VC Says Bitmain Layoffs Could Spell Doom for Bitcoin Cash and Litecoinappeared first onCCN. || ‘Extremely Bearish’: Crypto VC Says Bitmain Layoffs Could Spell Doom for Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin: Ongoing layoffs at cryptocurrency mega-firm Bitmain could start a fresh wave of selling in Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin markets, according to prominent crypto investor Kyle Samani.
The cryptocurrency-focused venture capitalist said in a tweet that the Bitcoin mining giant is —if rumors are true— running out of money to continue its operations across mining and blockchain development. The financial scarcity has led the Chinese firm to downsize its workforce, reportedly by 50 percent or more. And to further meet its ends, Samani said Bitmain would likely dump its crypto stockpile, which includes a massive number of Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash tokens.
Samani’s bearish theory is based on Bitmain’salleged financial reportwhich was leaked in August this year. If genuine, it revealed that the company was holding close to 931,000Litecoin(LTC) and 1 millionBitcoin Cash(BCH). According to the current rates, Bitmain must be holding circa $28.6 million in LTC and a whopping $177 million in BCH. The company, up to the time of this writing, has not verified the leaked financial document.
The leaked document also showsBitcoin,Dash, andEthereumas a part of Bitmain’s portfolio, with holdings close to $84 million, $26 million, and $142,000, respectively. Combined, Bitmain has $316 million worth of cryptocurrency reserves, providing the company hasn’t dumped even the slightest portion from it since August.
Bitmain, according to reports,has fired the entire Copernicus teamwhich was working on the development of a new Bitcoin Cash client. The move comes after the mining giant backed the Roger Ver-allied Bitcoin Cash ABC to fight anexpensive hash waragainst its forked cousin, Bitcoin SV. Though not confirmed by Bitmain, allocating vast amounts of computing power to assist the BCH network could have led the company to face millions of dollars worth of monetary damages. On top of that, the per token value of Bitcoin Cash alsodroppedby more than 60% since the beginning of the hash war November.
BCTKING555, a Twitter account which mainly posts negative reports and rumors about Bitmain, claimed that the company had privately reported $740 million worth of losses in Q3 which doesn’t even include the damages incurred during the Bitcoin Cash fork. Citing publicly-available data, BitMEX Research alsoestimatedthat Bitmain likely posted significant losses in Q2 following a wildly-successful first quarter.
The events could put Bitcoin Cash under the bearish spotlight, hinting that retail investors would be less likely to find the project stable.
The Bitmain layoffs could stabilize its outflows against the reported losses in the near-term. Also, the company has sought approval to holda historic IPOin Hong Kong. However,recent reportsindicate that HKEX regulators are not satisfied with the state of the crypto industry. Thus, some believe HKEX might reject the IPO for backing a product which they believe is too nascent.
With all the doors closed, the next step for Bitmain could be to reach out to venture capitalists for additional funds or, as Samani predicted, sell some portion of their digital assets. The company still maintains more than 60% of the overall crypto mining market.
Featured Image from CoinGeek/YouTube
The post‘Extremely Bearish’: Crypto VC Says Bitmain Layoffs Could Spell Doom for Bitcoin Cash and Litecoinappeared first onCCN. || Silver Price Forecast – Silver markets break out: Silverrallied a bit during trading on Wednesday, breaking above the $15 level. The $15 level of course is psychologically important, and structurally as well. Silver has been lagging the gold market which has of course broken out already. Looking at the consolidation we just got out of, it is $1.00 think, meaning that we should go looking towards the $16 level next. Ultimately, I think that we break above there and go to the $17 level as well.
Ultimately, I do think that it makes sense that we rally based upon the fact that the Federal Reserve has stepped away from all but guaranteeing three interest rate hikes next year, and the first signs of fragility of course put pressure on the US dollar. I think that given enough time, it makes sense that we would rally not only based upon US dollar weakness, but also based upon a bit of a rush to safety. Ultimately, this technical breakout looks rather good and I like buying dips going forward. I believe the 50 day EMA is now offering dynamic support, and therefore it’s not until we break down below there that I could consider selling silver, which I have liked for a long time. Now that we are above the $15 level, I am okay with buying levered instruments as we have certainly made a statement over the last 24 hours. That doesn’t mean that it’s going to be easy to go higher, but it certainly seems as if we are going in that direction.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• Bitcoin And Ethereum Daily Price Forecast – Santa Rally Seems To Have Hit A Snag
• S&P 500 Price Forecast – stock markets choppy on Wednesday
• AUD/USD Price Forecast – Australian dollar continues to hang around low levels
• Gold Shines Brightly on Risk Aversion
• Global Markets Mixed In Thin Holiday Trading, Eu Bourses Closed, Traders Eye Politics And Bear Market Conditions
• USD/JPY Bearish Bias Continues as Long as the Price is Below 111.70 || Silver Price Forecast Silver markets break out: Silver rallied a bit during trading on Wednesday, breaking above the $15 level. The $15 level of course is psychologically important, and structurally as well. Silver has been lagging the gold market which has of course broken out already. Looking at the consolidation we just got out of, it is $1.00 think, meaning that we should go looking towards the $16 level next. Ultimately, I think that we break above there and go to the $17 level as well. SILVER Video 27.12.18 Ultimately, I do think that it makes sense that we rally based upon the fact that the Federal Reserve has stepped away from all but guaranteeing three interest rate hikes next year, and the first signs of fragility of course put pressure on the US dollar. I think that given enough time, it makes sense that we would rally not only based upon US dollar weakness, but also based upon a bit of a rush to safety. Ultimately, this technical breakout looks rather good and I like buying dips going forward. I believe the 50 day EMA is now offering dynamic support, and therefore its not until we break down below there that I could consider selling silver, which I have liked for a long time. Now that we are above the $15 level, I am okay with buying levered instruments as we have certainly made a statement over the last 24 hours. That doesnt mean that its going to be easy to go higher, but it certainly seems as if we are going in that direction. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Bitcoin And Ethereum Daily Price Forecast Santa Rally Seems To Have Hit A Snag S&P 500 Price Forecast stock markets choppy on Wednesday AUD/USD Price Forecast Australian dollar continues to hang around low levels Gold Shines Brightly on Risk Aversion Global Markets Mixed In Thin Holiday Trading, Eu Bourses Closed, Traders Eye Politics And Bear Market Conditions USD/JPY Bearish Bias Continues as Long as the Price is Below 111.70 || GBP/JPY Price Forecast – British pound testing major support: The British poundtry to rally during the day on Wednesday as traders came back from holiday, but at the end of the session it looks as if we are struggling to keep gains. This makes sense, because there are a lot of issues around the world that could affect how risk appetite is perceived. I believe at this point, the ¥140 level is massive support, so if we break down through there significantly, I think it opens the door to the ¥138 level.
This is a market that could rally again, but quite frankly that should offer nice selling opportunity as we are decidedly in a downtrend, and we have a lot of order flow above that should keep this market down. I think that the ¥145 level is now the “ceiling” of the market, but quite frankly I would be surprised to see this pair break the ¥142.50 level. I think that with all of the concern out there, it makes a lot of sense to continue to fade rallies as they occur, because they will be short-lived at best.
The British pound of course will have its issues due to the Brexit, but beyond that the Japanese yen is set to become one of the stronger currencies in 2019 according to most analysts, and I tend to agree with this. I think there are far too many potential landmines out there to think that the yen won’t be attractive to a lot of traders. I have been looking to build a large position to the downside.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• GBP/USD Price Forecast – British pound continues to struggle
• USD/JPY Bearish Bias Continues as Long as the Price is Below 111.70
• AUD/USD Price Forecast – Australian dollar continues to hang around low levels
• Bitcoin And Ethereum Daily Price Forecast – Santa Rally Seems To Have Hit A Snag
• Silver Price Forecast – Silver markets break out
• USD/JPY Price Forecast – US dollar bounces slightly || GMO Had a Plan to Take Down Bitmain; Now It’s Bidding Bitcoin Mining Goodbye: More than a year after launching an in-house mining business, Japanese internet conglomerateGMO Internethas announced that it will no longer, develop, manufacture, or sell cryptocurrency mining equipment.
In astatement, the Japanese tech firm disclosed that the decision was prompted bychallenging business conditionswhich resulted in an “extraordinary” consolidated quarterly loss totaling 35.5 billion JPY (approximately US$320 million).
According to GMO Internet, the firm’s mining business has been made untenable by the fall in cryptocurrency prices which consequently led to a drop in demand for the mining rigs. In an increasingly competitive environment, the Japanese tech firm was forced to cut the selling prices of the mining machines, a move that resulted in reduced profitability.
However, the reduced prices did not spur more sales, and GMO Internet’s mining share failed to rise as expected as a result of an increase in the global hash rate:
After taking into consideration changes in the current business environment, the Company expects that it is difficult to recover the cryptocurrency-mining-business-related assets through selling mining machines, so the Company has decided to stop the development, manufacture, and sales of mining machines, thereby recording an extraordinary loss.
GMO Internet initially announced its foray into the cryptocurrency mining business last year in September, as CCNreported. The firm’s CEO later boasted that it wouldsupplantBitmain, the world’s largest cryptocurrency mining firm.
While GMO Internet will cease developing and manufacturing cryptocurrency mining rigs, it will continue with the in-house mining business. With electricity compromising a majority of the operating expenses, the Japanese internet conglomerate will move the mining operation to a locality with cheaper power supply. GMO Internet’s in-house mining business also recorded an impairment loss of 11.5 billion Japanese yen (approximately US$104 million).
Another manufacturer of mining rigs who has been negatively impacted by the downturn in cryptocurrency prices is the Jihan Wu-led Bitmain. As CCN reported earlier this week, the bitcoin mining giant intends tolay off nearly 50% of its employees. Preliminary reports indicated that the employees who will be laid off had been served with a one-week notice.
Earlier this month, Bitmain also reportedlyshut down a development centerit had established in Israel known as Bitmaintech. Estimated to be 23, none of the employees at the center including the head, Gadi Glikberg, were spared from the layoffs.
As noted by CCN, the decision by Bitmain to cut costs by scaling back could have been prompted by the losses it suffered after the “hash wars” it engaged in as part of the Bitcoin ABC camp against the Bitcoin Cash Satoshi Vision (SV) Camp led byCraig Wrightand Calvin Ayre.
Featured Image from Shutterstock
The postGMO Had a Plan to Take Down Bitmain; Now It’s Bidding Bitcoin Mining Goodbyeappeared first onCCN.
[Social Media Buzz]
USD: 110.950
EUR: 126.280
GBP: 140.441
AUD: 78.331
NZD: 74.592
CNY: 16.098
CHF: 111.755
BTC: 415,455
ETH: 14,100
Thu Dec 27 13:00 JST || Aurora (AOA) 21.67% this hour (8.00% today)
$0.012484 | 0.000003 BTC | 0.000097 ETH
#Aurora #AOAhttps://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/aurora … || 最もBTC/JPYのスプレッドが狭いのは？(2018-12-27 18:00:08 現在)
Liquid 85.6
bitbank 179.0
bitFlyer 275.0
BITPoint 290.6
coincheck 322.0
Zaif 550.0 || USD: 110.780
EUR: 126.220
GBP: 139.937
AUD: 77.945...
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3923.92, 3820.41, 3865.95, 3742.70, 3843.52, 3943.41, 3836.74, 3857.72, 3845.19, 4076.63
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 272.72, 276.26, 274.35, 289.61, 291.76, 296.38, 294.35, 285.34, 281.89, 286.39, 290.59, 285.51, 256.30, 260.93, 261.75, 260.02, 267.96, 266.74, 245.60, 246.20, 248.53, 247.03, 252.80, 242.71, 247.53, 244.22, 247.27, 253.01, 254.32, 253.70, 260.60, 255.49, 253.18, 245.02, 243.68, 236.07, 236.55, 236.15, 224.59, 219.16, 223.83, 228.57, 222.88, 223.36, 222.60, 224.63, 235.27, 234.18, 236.46, 231.27, 226.39, 219.43, 229.29, 225.85, 225.81, 236.15, 232.08, 234.93, 240.36, 239.02, 236.12, 229.78, 237.33, 243.86, 241.83, 240.30, 242.16, 241.11, 236.38, 236.93, 237.60, 236.15, 236.80, 233.13, 231.95, 234.02, 235.34, 240.35, 238.87, 240.95, 237.11, 237.12, 237.28, 237.41, 237.10, 233.35, 230.19, 222.93, 225.80, 225.87.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2015-06-03]
Volume: 17752400, RSI (14-day): 37.89, 50-day EMA: 236.42, 200-day EMA: 257.70
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1184.70, Gold RSI: 43.78
Oil Price: 59.64, Oil RSI: 54.00
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Why financial firms are investigating bitcoin tech: The technological innovation behind bitcoin(:BTC=)has the potential to empower the existing financial world, not just disrupt banks out of existence as some have foretold, according to a former Wall Street exec.
"The blockchain is the financial challenge of our time," said Blythe Masters, CEO of Digital Asset Holdings, on Tuesday at theExponential Finance Conferencehosted by CNBC and Singularity University. "It is going to change the way that our financial world operates."
Arguing that bitcoin's underlying technology has the opportunity to improve settlement latency and system security for firms, Masters said the market for financial blockchain applications will ultimately be "measured in the trillions."
Read MoreWhy is it called the 'blockchain?'
While promoting her own firm-which she said bridges the gap between the blockchain development world and financial services-Masters said that major financial firms "have all begun to dedicate a significant amount of time and effort" to learning about the technology. She previously served as an executive at JPMorgan Chase.
In the past six months, "everybody realized that bitcoin's more than a currency," saidBrian Kelly of Brian Kelly Capital. "Everybody had their 'aha' moment, and investors with many millions of dollars to spend are starting to see how it can be used."
CNBC reported six months agothat investors and technologists increasingly think the technology underpinning bitcoin-called "blockchain"-could ultimately be more revolutionary than the currency.
Now, more than a dozen big banks and tech firms have dived into the field, including Seagate(STX), Nasdaq(NDAQ), Overstock(OSTK), IBM(IBM), Samsung(: 593'A-KR), UBS(Swiss Exchange: UBSG-CH), Barclays(London Stock Exchange: BARC-GB), Banco Santander(Mercado Continuo: SAN-ES)and Intel(INTC)-to name a few.
Blockchain is what makes bitcoin tick: It serves as an unalterable record of all bitcoin transactions. To instill faith that no one can double-spend their currency (one of the chief concerns about a digital token as opposed to physical bills) this ledger needs to be completely secure from tampering. It achieves this feat-and has so far proven unhackable-by regularly syncing with servers across the globe.
It is that unalterable-and transparent-record-keeping function that makes blockchain the potential foundation of any number of other technologies.
Levels of commitment vary among firms. Seagate invested in Ripple Labs to become an "active participant" in the blockchain space,a firm executive told CoinDesk. Ina proof-of-concept paper, IBM and Samsung said blockchain technology could add an important level of security to devices in the emerging "Internet-of-Things" space, for example "smart" appliances.
On the finance side of the equation, Nasdaq launched an"enterprise-wide initiative"to leverage the blockchain. This is expected to begin later this year by using the technology to build out the equity management ledger on the Nasdaq Private Market platform, the company said.
Read MoreBitcoin's golden moment: BIT gets FINRA approval
Nasdaq CEO Robert Greifeldtold theFinancial Timeshe wants his company to be a leader in the field. But there will be competition, as several finance firms have all sought exposure to the blockchain.
The financial community was slow to come around to this technology-which promises to provide security for money and information transfers without a trusted middleman-but they are beginning to embrace it as a cost-saving tool, Kelly said.
The blockchain tech has even attracted the attention of Virgin's Richard Branson, who last week hostedthe Blockchain Summiton his private island in the British Virgin Islands. Jeff Garzik, one of five bitcoin core developers who have taken over maintenance of the technology from mysterious creator Satoshi Nakamoto, spoke with CNBC from that event.
"Even as far along as we are, it's still the early days," Garzik said. "It's still the pre-web, pre-1990 Internet."
Here are some of the big firms looking for a piece of the blockchain:
Garzik, who now works full-time atDunvegan Space Systems, predicted the myriad applications of the blockchain will eventually help form the infrastructure for a spate of new technologies, much like Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)-the basic communication language of the Internet-does now.
"You don't have a conversation today about TCP/IP: This is the lowest layer of a money network," he said. "You're not going to say 'Let's adopt bitcoin,' you're going to say 'Let's use this money layer infrastructure.' You'll talk about the money web, or something of that nature, you won't talk about the blockchain itself."
Will bitcoin survive?
It's a common refrain among a portion of the business community that they love blockchain, but not bitcoin-implying the notoriously volatile currency is an unsound investment at the same time its technology could change the world. Bitcoin enthusiasts, however, emphasize that you cannot have one without the other.
Although that's technically untrue-a new blockchain could be based on a new currency-nearly every conception of the technology requires some sort of token to function. And bitcoin is unlikely to be overtaken: Its mass adoption and comparatively lengthy history mean it would be several orders of magnitude more secure than any upstart coin.
Read MoreForget currency, bitcoin tech could disrupt massively
Separate blockchains have already popped up for various applications, but most periodically tie back to the bitcoin data chain in order to increase their own security.
And for its part as a currency, bitcoin is maturing: Firms are working to popularize derivatives, and abitcoin-tied investment vehiclebegan trading on the over the counter OTCQX marketplace.
More From CNBC
• Top News and Analysis
• Latest News Video
• Personal Finance || Why financial firms are investigating bitcoin tech: The technological innovation behind bitcoin (:BTC=) has the potential to empower the existing financial world, not just disrupt banks out of existence as some have foretold, according to a former Wall Street exec. "The blockchain is the financial challenge of our time," said Blythe Masters, CEO of Digital Asset Holdings, on Tuesday at the Exponential Finance Conference hosted by CNBC and Singularity University. "It is going to change the way that our financial world operates." Arguing that bitcoin's underlying technology has the opportunity to improve settlement latency and system security for firms, Masters said the market for financial blockchain applications will ultimately be "measured in the trillions." Read More Why is it called the 'blockchain?' While promoting her own firm -which she said bridges the gap between the blockchain development world and financial services-Masters said that major financial firms "have all begun to dedicate a significant amount of time and effort" to learning about the technology. She previously served as an executive at JPMorgan Chase. In the past six months, "everybody realized that bitcoin's more than a currency," said Brian Kelly of Brian Kelly Capital . "Everybody had their 'aha' moment, and investors with many millions of dollars to spend are starting to see how it can be used." CNBC reported six months ago that investors and technologists increasingly think the technology underpinning bitcoin-called "blockchain"-could ultimately be more revolutionary than the currency. Now, more than a dozen big banks and tech firms have dived into the field, including Seagate ( STX ) , Nasdaq ( NDAQ ) , Overstock ( OSTK ) , IBM ( IBM ) , Samsung (: 593'A-KR) , UBS (Swiss Exchange: UBSG-CH) , Barclays (London Stock Exchange: BARC-GB) , Banco Santander (Mercado Continuo: SAN-ES) and Intel ( INTC ) -to name a few. Blockchain is what makes bitcoin tick: It serves as an unalterable record of all bitcoin transactions. To instill faith that no one can double-spend their currency (one of the chief concerns about a digital token as opposed to physical bills) this ledger needs to be completely secure from tampering. It achieves this feat-and has so far proven unhackable-by regularly syncing with servers across the globe. Story continues It is that unalterable-and transparent-record-keeping function that makes blockchain the potential foundation of any number of other technologies. Levels of commitment vary among firms. Seagate invested in Ripple Labs to become an "active participant" in the blockchain space, a firm executive told CoinDesk . In a proof-of-concept paper , IBM and Samsung said blockchain technology could add an important level of security to devices in the emerging "Internet-of-Things" space, for example "smart" appliances. On the finance side of the equation, Nasdaq launched an "enterprise-wide initiative" to leverage the blockchain. This is expected to begin later this year by using the technology to build out the equity management ledger on the Nasdaq Private Market platform, the company said. Read More Bitcoin's golden moment: BIT gets FINRA approval Nasdaq CEO Robert Greifeld told the Financial Times he wants his company to be a leader in the field. But there will be competition, as several finance firms have all sought exposure to the blockchain. The financial community was slow to come around to this technology-which promises to provide security for money and information transfers without a trusted middleman-but they are beginning to embrace it as a cost-saving tool, Kelly said. The blockchain tech has even attracted the attention of Virgin's Richard Branson, who last week hosted the Blockchain Summit on his private island in the British Virgin Islands. Jeff Garzik, one of five bitcoin core developers who have taken over maintenance of the technology from mysterious creator Satoshi Nakamoto, spoke with CNBC from that event. "Even as far along as we are, it's still the early days," Garzik said. "It's still the pre-web, pre-1990 Internet." Here are some of the big firms looking for a piece of the blockchain: Garzik, who now works full-time at Dunvegan Space Systems , predicted the myriad applications of the blockchain will eventually help form the infrastructure for a spate of new technologies, much like Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)-the basic communication language of the Internet-does now. "You don't have a conversation today about TCP/IP: This is the lowest layer of a money network," he said. "You're not going to say 'Let's adopt bitcoin,' you're going to say 'Let's use this money layer infrastructure.' You'll talk about the money web, or something of that nature, you won't talk about the blockchain itself." Will bitcoin survive? It's a common refrain among a portion of the business community that they love blockchain, but not bitcoin-implying the notoriously volatile currency is an unsound investment at the same time its technology could change the world. Bitcoin enthusiasts, however, emphasize that you cannot have one without the other. Although that's technically untrue-a new blockchain could be based on a new currency-nearly every conception of the technology requires some sort of token to function. And bitcoin is unlikely to be overtaken: Its mass adoption and comparatively lengthy history mean it would be several orders of magnitude more secure than any upstart coin. Read More Forget currency, bitcoin tech could disrupt massively Separate blockchains have already popped up for various applications, but most periodically tie back to the bitcoin data chain in order to increase their own security. And for its part as a currency, bitcoin is maturing: Firms are working to popularize derivatives, and a bitcoin-tied investment vehicle began trading on the over the counter OTCQX marketplace. More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || UK Lebanon Tech Hub Up And Running: The UK Lebanon Tech Hub was finally unveiled in Lebanon at the Beirut Digital Park, after British Ambassador to Lebanon Thomas Fletcher announced the program at the Banque du Liban Accelerate startup conference back in November 2014. Ambassador Fletcher said that he hopes that UK Lebanon Tech Hub could provide a “launch pad” for emerging tech startups , given the limited tech infrastructure available. The launch event, which featured speeches by Ambassador Fletcher and Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh, was met with an overwhelmingly positive response. Governor Salameh’s talk was incredibly promising for Lebanese entrepreneurs , given that the Central Bank pledged to play a major role in boosting local startups with their Circular 331 initiative. Some of Lebanon’s most promising tech startups now have the opportunity to take their endeavors to a global level with help from Britain’s top-notch infrastructure and training personnel. Prior to the official launch, some of Lebanon’s tech startups presented their businesses for the press, including Bitcoin-powered e-commerce payment platform Yellow payments, and mobile videogame developers Game Cooks. While some of Lebanon’s best up-and-coming startups will enjoy the boost that they deserve through this program, we could only hope that bringing out the potential in some of the country’s most talented entrepreneurs could finally make way for better tech infrastructure and facilities British Ambassador to Lebanon Thomas Fletcher and Governor of the Banque du Liban- Lebanon's Central Bank- Riad Salameh Source: UK Lebanon Tech Hub || UK Lebanon Tech Hub Up And Running: TheUK Lebanon Tech Hubwas finally unveiled in Lebanon at the Beirut Digital Park, after British Ambassador to Lebanon Thomas Fletcher announced the program at the Banque du Liban Accelerate startup conference back in November 2014. Ambassador Fletcher said that he hopes that UK Lebanon Tech Hub could provide a “launch pad” for emergingtech startups, given the limited tech infrastructure available. The launch event, which featured speeches by Ambassador Fletcher and Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh, was met with an overwhelmingly positive response. Governor Salameh’s talk was incredibly promising forLebanese entrepreneurs, given that the Central Bank pledged to play a major role in boosting local startups with their Circular 331 initiative. Some of Lebanon’s most promising tech startups now have the opportunity to take their endeavors to a global level with help from Britain’s top-notch infrastructure and training personnel. Prior to the official launch, some of Lebanon’s tech startups presented their businesses for the press, including Bitcoin-powerede-commerce payment platformYellow payments, and mobile videogame developers Game Cooks. While some of Lebanon’s best up-and-coming startups will enjoy the boost that they deserve through this program, we could only hope that bringing out the potential in some of the country’s most talented entrepreneurs could finally make way for better tech infrastructure and facilities
British Ambassador to Lebanon Thomas Fletcher and Governor of the Banque du Liban- Lebanon's Central Bank- Riad Salameh Source: UK Lebanon Tech Hub || Microelectronics Plans Expansion Through Reduced Electrical Expense: MONARCH BAY, CA / ACCESSWIRE / May 29, 2015 / Microelectronics Technology Company ( MELY ) announces pending planned expansion in its Bitcoin server mining operation. The Company is moving forward in the next phase of its planned expansion of its Bitcoin mining operation, as it has entered into a letter of intent to acquire electricity at the lowest price available to a bitcoin mining operation in the United States. The letter of intent outlines up to 10 Mega Watts of electrical power dedicated specifically to the needs of Microelectronics Technology Company. The electrical rate for this power averages 2 cents per kilowatt, the lowest rate in the Country. The electrical provider rates reliability of the electrical power at 99.99%. "With this amount of electrical power available to the Company we can now move forward with our expansion plans of a site designed and constructed with a bitcoin mining operation in mind," stated Brett Everett, President of the Company. "With the new chip technology coming to the market, this also increases the amount of Hash Rate the Company can run with 10 Mega Watts of electrical power, providing us with some very unique options." The timing for finalization for delivery of the contract for the power is June 16, 2015 in accordance with the terms outlined in the Letter of Intent. https://www.facebook.com/btcpoolparty Additional photos and videos can be viewed at the company's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MELYPK . Forward-Looking Statements: This news release includes forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. While these statements are made to convey Company progress, business opportunities and growth prospects, readers are cautioned that such forward-looking statements represent management's opinion. Whereas management believes such representations to be true and accurate based on information and data available to the Company at this time, actual results may differ materially and are subject to risk and uncertainties. Factors that may cause actual results to differ include without limitation: dependence on key personnel and suppliers; MELY's ability to commercialize its technology; ability to defend intellectual property; material and component costs; competition; economic conditions; consumer demand and product acceptance, and availability of growth capital. Story continues Additional considerations and risk factors are set forth-in reports filed on Form 8-K and 10-K with the SEC and other filings. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon these forward-looking statements; historical information is not an indicator of future performance. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements. CONTACT: For further Information: Microelectronics Technology Company President: Mr. Brett Everett 888-681-9777 ext. 5 [email protected] www.melypk.com SOURCE: Microelectronics Technology Company || Microelectronics Plans Expansion Through Reduced Electrical Expense: MONARCH BAY, CA / ACCESSWIRE / May 29, 2015 / Microelectronics Technology Company ( MELY ) announces pending planned expansion in its Bitcoin server mining operation. The Company is moving forward in the next phase of its planned expansion of its Bitcoin mining operation, as it has entered into a letter of intent to acquire electricity at the lowest price available to a bitcoin mining operation in the United States. The letter of intent outlines up to 10 Mega Watts of electrical power dedicated specifically to the needs of Microelectronics Technology Company. The electrical rate for this power averages 2 cents per kilowatt, the lowest rate in the Country. The electrical provider rates reliability of the electrical power at 99.99%. "With this amount of electrical power available to the Company we can now move forward with our expansion plans of a site designed and constructed with a bitcoin mining operation in mind," stated Brett Everett, President of the Company. "With the new chip technology coming to the market, this also increases the amount of Hash Rate the Company can run with 10 Mega Watts of electrical power, providing us with some very unique options." The timing for finalization for delivery of the contract for the power is June 16, 2015 in accordance with the terms outlined in the Letter of Intent. https://www.facebook.com/btcpoolparty Additional photos and videos can be viewed at the company's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MELYPK . Forward-Looking Statements: This news release includes forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. While these statements are made to convey Company progress, business opportunities and growth prospects, readers are cautioned that such forward-looking statements represent management's opinion. Whereas management believes such representations to be true and accurate based on information and data available to the Company at this time, actual results may differ materially and are subject to risk and uncertainties. Factors that may cause actual results to differ include without limitation: dependence on key personnel and suppliers; MELY's ability to commercialize its technology; ability to defend intellectual property; material and component costs; competition; economic conditions; consumer demand and product acceptance, and availability of growth capital. Story continues Additional considerations and risk factors are set forth-in reports filed on Form 8-K and 10-K with the SEC and other filings. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon these forward-looking statements; historical information is not an indicator of future performance. The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements. CONTACT: For further Information: Microelectronics Technology Company President: Mr. Brett Everett 888-681-9777 ext. 5 [email protected] www.melypk.com SOURCE: Microelectronics Technology Company || The 21st Century Cures Act Gets A Mixed Reception: Last week, the House Energy and Commerce Committeeunanimously passedthe 21st Century Cures Act, a new bill that will help fund medical research and relax regulations related to the discovery, development and delivery of new drugs.
While some consider the new bill as a major step forward for the industry where the cost of developing new drugs has skyrocketed, others say the bill puts the public in danger as it doesn't require the meticulous testing that has been necessary in the past.
Funding Change
The bill offers incentives for scientists working on drugs that are important to the industry as a whole. The act dedicates government dollars to researchers working to develop precision medicine drugs and antibiotics that combat resistant strains.
The legislation also supports the creation of a massive genomic database that will use large volumes of genetic data in order to help in the push toward developing precision drugs that target a specific gene.
Related Link:Bio Applauds Approval Of 21st Century Cures Act
Safety Questions
Public safety groups have questioned the safety of such a bill, saying that allowing drugs to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration without full clinical testing creates a risk for patients. If passed, the bill would allow high-risk medical devices like pacemakers to gain approval without a full clinical study, something many say could create a dangerous precedent.
Biotechs On Board?
Biotech companies initially saw the bill as good for the industry as an initial draft extended market exclusivity rules for new drugs. However, those offers were dropped in the final version of the bill, leaving the biotech industry with little reason to back the bill.
The Energy and Commerce Committee recentlyrequestedfinancial support for the bill from the Biotechnology Industry Organization, something the group is unlikely to offer without any benefits.
Image Credit: Public Domain
See more from Benzinga
• Despite Warnings About A Grexit, Investors Remain Calm
• Should The UK Regulate Bitcoin Wallets?
• Federal Government Reminds Workers That Marijuana Is Still Off Limits
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || The 21st Century Cures Act Gets A Mixed Reception: Last week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously passed the 21st Century Cures Act, a new bill that will help fund medical research and relax regulations related to the discovery, development and delivery of new drugs. While some consider the new bill as a major step forward for the industry where the cost of developing new drugs has skyrocketed, others say the bill puts the public in danger as it doesn't require the meticulous testing that has been necessary in the past. Funding Change The bill offers incentives for scientists working on drugs that are important to the industry as a whole. The act dedicates government dollars to researchers working to develop precision medicine drugs and antibiotics that combat resistant strains. The legislation also supports the creation of a massive genomic database that will use large volumes of genetic data in order to help in the push toward developing precision drugs that target a specific gene. Related Link: Bio Applauds Approval Of 21st Century Cures Act Safety Questions Public safety groups have questioned the safety of such a bill, saying that allowing drugs to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration without full clinical testing creates a risk for patients. If passed, the bill would allow high-risk medical devices like pacemakers to gain approval without a full clinical study, something many say could create a dangerous precedent. Biotechs On Board? Biotech companies initially saw the bill as good for the industry as an initial draft extended market exclusivity rules for new drugs. However, those offers were dropped in the final version of the bill, leaving the biotech industry with little reason to back the bill. The Energy and Commerce Committee recently requested financial support for the bill from the Biotechnology Industry Organization, something the group is unlikely to offer without any benefits. Image Credit: Public Domain See more from Benzinga Despite Warnings About A Grexit, Investors Remain Calm Should The UK Regulate Bitcoin Wallets? Federal Government Reminds Workers That Marijuana Is Still Off Limits © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. View comments || Despite Warnings About A Grexit, Investors Remain Calm: With Greece and its EU creditors still trying to work out the details of an agreement to release the nation's bailout funds just days before Athens is due to make loan repayments, policymakers in other parts of the world are beginning to worry that aGreek exitfrom the eurozone is becoming a real possibility.
However, warnings from the U.S. and Canada have done little to upset investors, who appear to firmly believe that the two sides will reach a deal in the 11th hour.
Concern Abroad
On Wednesday, US Treasury Chief Jacob LewwarnedEU lawmakers that a Greek exit from the currency union would be devastating to global financial markets.
Lew appeared worried that European policy makers were complacent now that stability has returned to the region, and he cautioned that a crisis in Greece would almost certainly upset the balance in the region.
Related Link:Will Spain Become The Next Greece?
Canadian Finance Minister Joe Oliver reiterated Lew's remarks, saying that Greece may be small, but the ripple effect of a Greek crisis would be massive.
Lew and Oliver are heading to a Group of Seven meeting in Germany on Thursday, where Greek financial troubles will undoubtedly be a part of the discussion.
Investors Believe Resolution Is In Sight
Despite the tension surrounding Greek debt talks, investors have kept their calm. A Sentix survey of 1,000 investors showed that only 41 percent believe a Grexit is imminent.
That figure, though still high, marks a decline from the 49 percent who saw Greece leaving the euro in April. Although the debt talks have dragged on longer than anticipated, rhetoric from both sides suggest that there is a commitment to keeping Greece inside the eurozone, which has given investors confidence that the deal will be completed before Athens defaults.
Image Credit: Public Domain
See more from Benzinga
• Should The UK Regulate Bitcoin Wallets?
• Federal Government Reminds Workers That Marijuana Is Still Off Limits
• Entrepreneurs Got Their Groove Back In 2014
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Despite Warnings About A Grexit, Investors Remain Calm: With Greece and its EU creditors still trying to work out the details of an agreement to release the nation's bailout funds just days before Athens is due to make loan repayments, policymakers in other parts of the world are beginning to worry that a Greek exit from the eurozone is becoming a real possibility. However, warnings from the U.S. and Canada have done little to upset investors, who appear to firmly believe that the two sides will reach a deal in the 11th hour. Concern Abroad On Wednesday, US Treasury Chief Jacob Lew warned EU lawmakers that a Greek exit from the currency union would be devastating to global financial markets. Lew appeared worried that European policy makers were complacent now that stability has returned to the region, and he cautioned that a crisis in Greece would almost certainly upset the balance in the region. Related Link: Will Spain Become The Next Greece? Canadian Finance Minister Joe Oliver reiterated Lew's remarks, saying that Greece may be small, but the ripple effect of a Greek crisis would be massive. Lew and Oliver are heading to a Group of Seven meeting in Germany on Thursday, where Greek financial troubles will undoubtedly be a part of the discussion. Investors Believe Resolution Is In Sight Despite the tension surrounding Greek debt talks, investors have kept their calm. A Sentix survey of 1,000 investors showed that only 41 percent believe a Grexit is imminent. That figure, though still high, marks a decline from the 49 percent who saw Greece leaving the euro in April. Although the debt talks have dragged on longer than anticipated, rhetoric from both sides suggest that there is a commitment to keeping Greece inside the eurozone, which has given investors confidence that the deal will be completed before Athens defaults. Image Credit: Public Domain See more from Benzinga Should The UK Regulate Bitcoin Wallets? Federal Government Reminds Workers That Marijuana Is Still Off Limits Entrepreneurs Got Their Groove Back In 2014 © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. View comments || President of Bit-X Financial Corp. (OTCQB: BITXF) Talks About Pending Launch of Company's Bitcoin Exchange and How Bitcoin Is Gaining Recognition in Major Financial Circles: POINT ROBERTS, WA and NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - May 28, 2015) - Investorideas.com, a global news source covering leading sectors including Bitcoin and payment technology issues an exclusive interview with Mr. Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial Corp. ( OTCQB : BITXF ). Brad shares insight on the history of his company, the pending launch of the company's Bitcoin exchange and recent developments in the Bitcoin sector that have legitimized Bitcoin in the financial community, making some predict that it may replace traditional currency in the future. As one of the few publicly traded companies in the space, Brad talks about the future of Bitcoin as a digital currency and how his company is posturing to be part of the evolution of currency. Interview: Q: investorideas.com Brad, can you start by giving us a brief history of your company and why you decided to participate in the Bitcoin market? A: Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial After several years of evaluating various technology start-up opportunities, in 2012 I became aware of Bitcoin and the Blockchain. It was exactly what I wanted to get involved with; a new decentralized technology that combined finance, currency, trading and the ability to transfer a store of value (money) between end users instantly, with no intermediaries, at a very low cost. This was also a brand new segment of innovation that is positioned for massive growth, unlike other stagnant industry sectors like traditional banking. This seemed like a really good idea -- world changing potential -- and I became fascinated with the technology and its potential, whereby anyone could become their own bank. Q: investorideas.com For investors unfamiliar with the technology behind Bitcoin can you explain what Blockchain is and how significant it is? I have heard quotes that it is considered "as important of an opportunity as the creation of the Internet itself." A: Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial The Blockchain (created 2009) is very powerful invention and could become as big as the internet itself. It is a public ledger of all Bitcoin transactions that have ever been executed. It is constantly growing as "completed" blocks are added to it with a new set of recordings. The blocks are added to the Blockchain in a linear, chronological order. Bitcoin is the financial application of the Blockchain and the most important. Story continues Q: investorideas.com The New York Stock Exchange launched a Bitcoin index last week. Nasdaq Stock Exchange, Goldman Sachs, Richard Branson and other big names in the financial markets are all getting on board with Bitcoin. What does that mean for a company like yours and the industry overall? A: Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial Many of these large institutions including the Nasdaq, NYSE and Goldman provide awareness about Bitcoin to the masses. It validates the technology and says to the market, "pay attention, there is something special here." A start-up such as Bit-X Financial stands to gain tremendously from these endorsements and large-scale investments into the Bitcoin ecosystem, as it can lead to price increases in Bitcoin and overall consumer awareness. BITXF is a digital exchange whereby users can buy & sell Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies. Blue chip participants will become a catalyst for BITXF to launch successfully and become universally acceptable. Q: investorideas.com You are about to launch your Bitcoin exchange in June. What can users expect to see once it's live in terms of service features? A: Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial Some of the service features of the proprietary trading and matching engine have been pioneered from the ground up, leveraging the skills of experienced developers with respected and long-standing careers working for low latency software development firms. It is designed to manage high volume, high throughput, and low latency trading and was modeled on the same LMAX pattern now also leveraged by the world's largest Investment Banks. This investment grade trading platform has a simple and user-friendly UI for users to buy and sell all major crypto currencies. It also features one consolidated shared order book for blended multi-currency settlement in addition to real time FX pricing and risk management. The order engine delivers pre-scan indicative pricing and users can choose to either fix the quantity of Bitcoins or fix the price paid for every order. Lock in a guaranteed execution or alternatively lock in the ultimate price you're prepared to pay for your order; the choice remains yours. And this all relies on an order engine that achieves low latency performance along with the reliability of an exchange that has been verified in supporting millions of daily transactions. At the start, our platform will offer trading in Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Stellar and Ripple. As we grow, we will earn listing fees to other crypto-assets who are seeking access to a trading platform and liquidity. Q: investorideas.com For any users concerned about security, how is your exchange addressing this issue? A: Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial BITXF takes security very seriously. Security is the cornerstone of the platform which is the most secure on the market today. We provide a 3-level login verification that includes a 2-step process to login, 3 levels of verification for withdrawals. This provides our users extra protection to prevent accounts from unauthorized access. Other than your regular password, you will be asked to enter a real-time password generated by Google Authenticator. To provide you an extra level of security, when you withdraw, you will need to activate a link on the verification email to complete the request. SSL ENCRYPTION We use 128-bit encryption to encrypt all communication between you and our website. This is the highest encryption available and is used as the gold standard for all secure communication on the net. DDOS PROTECTION We leverage one of the world's strongest forms of protection against Distributed Denial of Service attacks. We do not pretend to do this by ourselves and partner with multiple third-parties who have proven to mitigate some of the largest DDOS attacks in Internet history. PASSWORDS We do not use MD5 hashing to encrypt your password. To avoid common weaknesses, our proprietary procedures are designed to provide you, our valued clients, with the peace of mind that comes from our Next Level security implementation. DB SECURITY Our databases are encrypted and protected against SQL injection attacks. We also do hourly backups where we send the backups off-site to multiple locations. STATE OF THE ART INFRASTRUCTURE The platform is hosted in Tier 3+ ISO 27001/9001 compliant data centers. Digital currencies are not stored with cloud providers. MULTI-FIREWALL PROTECTION We closely monitor all incoming and outgoing traffic in a very stringent manner to ensure we prevent our network from malicious attack and injection as well as data threats. BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLANNING We have process and controls in place to deal with outages or attacks. Emails will be sent out to notify you of alternative ways to get back into our site. Our site and funds are totally segregated so you can be assured your funds are safe with us. REGULAR STRESS & SOAK TESTING Our technology is immediately scalable. Our regular stress testing has proven it achieves low latency processing and we've soak-tested to over 10 million transactions within a 24 hour period. Translation: our engine and underlying infrastructure can handle load, and lots of it. COMPLIANCE FRAMEWORK We insist on a comprehensive and thorough KYC (Know-Your-Customer) and AML (Anti Money Laundering) compliance framework. This includes the monitoring of suspicious transactions and obligatory reporting to local regulators and other compliance bodies. Our AML and KYC policies differ depending on the country of origin of which our clients are located, and furthermore recorded through the BITXF registration process. Our specific policies are detailed within our Terms of Use and which you must accept as per the new user registration process. Our robust compliance framework ensures that regulatory requirements are being adhered to at both a local and global level, providing the highest levels of trust and ensuring the Site continues to operate reliably for the long term. Q: investorideas.com Can you tell us about the significance of your Exclusive Bitcoin Exchange and Services Agreement with Hong Kong based ANX, announced in April? Will the coin exchange be called Bit-X Financial or will there be a different trade name and branding concept? A: Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial Partnering with ANX, a Bitcoin Exchange industry leader, will provide BITXF and our shareholders a turn-key solution to gain immediate exposure to Bitcoin while leveraging the ANX technical and support assets as we prepare to go live. Among the many initiatives occurring with our Company at the moment we have yet to announce what the exchange trade name and branding will be. We want to be original and come up with something unique, something that has not been done before and we plan to release that in the upcoming weeks prior to our go-live date. The public company (BITXF) will be the parent company that owns 100% of the newly branded exchange. Q: investorideas.com In closing what are your goals following the launch and roll out of the site in June and how do you see your company playing an integral role in the future of Bitcoin? A: Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial Our go-live date is on track and we fully expect to launch our world-class proprietary trading platform and provide our users a simple efficient way to trade Bitcoin. Our goals following the launch will be to provide our users a safe, secure and fully compliant Bitcoin exchange experience at a low cost. We are a customer service orientated company and we expect to be the best when it comes to customer support responses and solutions. We are also in the planning and development stage of a new Blockchain technology concept that may see BITXF become the first public company to offer such a technology and offer it to third parties worldwide. More details regarding this excited new concept will be provided as they materialize. About BIT-X: ( OTCQB : BITXF ) Bit-X Financial Corp is a Vancouver; British Columbia based Company listed on the OTCQB under the trading symbol BITXF. Bit-X Financial Corp is a reporting issuer in the Province of British Columbia, Canada with the British Columbia Securities Commission "BCSC" and in the United States with the Securities Exchange Commission "SEC." www.bitxfin.com About Investorideas.com InvestorIdeas.com newswire is a global investor news source covering multiple sectors including Bitcoin and payment technology. Follow Investorideas.com on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/Investorideas Follow Investorideas.com on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/Investorideas Sign up for free news alerts at Investorideas.com http://www.investorideas.com/Resources/Newsletter.asp Disclaimer/ Disclosure: The Investorideas.com newswire is a third party publisher of news and research as well as creates original content as a news source. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Investorideas is a news source on Google news syndication partners. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investment involves risk and possible loss of investment. This site is currently compensated by featured companies, news submissions, content marketing and online advertising. Contact each company directly for press release questions. Disclosure is posted on each release if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and is published for the sole interest of our readers. Disclosure: BITXF is a PR client of Investorideas.com and compensates us for news publication, PR and media.( two thousand five hundred per month and 144 shares ) More info: http://www.investorideas.com/About/News/Clientspecifics.asp and http://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp BC Residents and Investor Disclaimer : Effective September 15 2008 -- all BC investors should review all OTC and Pink sheet listed companies for adherence in new disclosure filings and filing appropriate documents with Sedar. Read for more info: http://www.bcsc.bc.ca/release.aspx?id=6894 . Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. || President of Bit-X Financial Corp. (OTCQB: BITXF) Talks About Pending Launch of Company's Bitcoin Exchange and How Bitcoin Is Gaining Recognition in Major Financial Circles: POINT ROBERTS, WA and NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - May 28, 2015) - Investorideas.com, a global news source covering leading sectors including Bitcoin and payment technology issues an exclusive interview with Mr. Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial Corp. ( OTCQB : BITXF ). Brad shares insight on the history of his company, the pending launch of the company's Bitcoin exchange and recent developments in the Bitcoin sector that have legitimized Bitcoin in the financial community, making some predict that it may replace traditional currency in the future. As one of the few publicly traded companies in the space, Brad talks about the future of Bitcoin as a digital currency and how his company is posturing to be part of the evolution of currency. Interview: Q: investorideas.com Brad, can you start by giving us a brief history of your company and why you decided to participate in the Bitcoin market? A: Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial After several years of evaluating various technology start-up opportunities, in 2012 I became aware of Bitcoin and the Blockchain. It was exactly what I wanted to get involved with; a new decentralized technology that combined finance, currency, trading and the ability to transfer a store of value (money) between end users instantly, with no intermediaries, at a very low cost. This was also a brand new segment of innovation that is positioned for massive growth, unlike other stagnant industry sectors like traditional banking. This seemed like a really good idea -- world changing potential -- and I became fascinated with the technology and its potential, whereby anyone could become their own bank. Q: investorideas.com For investors unfamiliar with the technology behind Bitcoin can you explain what Blockchain is and how significant it is? I have heard quotes that it is considered "as important of an opportunity as the creation of the Internet itself." A: Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial The Blockchain (created 2009) is very powerful invention and could become as big as the internet itself. It is a public ledger of all Bitcoin transactions that have ever been executed. It is constantly growing as "completed" blocks are added to it with a new set of recordings. The blocks are added to the Blockchain in a linear, chronological order. Bitcoin is the financial application of the Blockchain and the most important. Story continues Q: investorideas.com The New York Stock Exchange launched a Bitcoin index last week. Nasdaq Stock Exchange, Goldman Sachs, Richard Branson and other big names in the financial markets are all getting on board with Bitcoin. What does that mean for a company like yours and the industry overall? A: Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial Many of these large institutions including the Nasdaq, NYSE and Goldman provide awareness about Bitcoin to the masses. It validates the technology and says to the market, "pay attention, there is something special here." A start-up such as Bit-X Financial stands to gain tremendously from these endorsements and large-scale investments into the Bitcoin ecosystem, as it can lead to price increases in Bitcoin and overall consumer awareness. BITXF is a digital exchange whereby users can buy & sell Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies. Blue chip participants will become a catalyst for BITXF to launch successfully and become universally acceptable. Q: investorideas.com You are about to launch your Bitcoin exchange in June. What can users expect to see once it's live in terms of service features? A: Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial Some of the service features of the proprietary trading and matching engine have been pioneered from the ground up, leveraging the skills of experienced developers with respected and long-standing careers working for low latency software development firms. It is designed to manage high volume, high throughput, and low latency trading and was modeled on the same LMAX pattern now also leveraged by the world's largest Investment Banks. This investment grade trading platform has a simple and user-friendly UI for users to buy and sell all major crypto currencies. It also features one consolidated shared order book for blended multi-currency settlement in addition to real time FX pricing and risk management. The order engine delivers pre-scan indicative pricing and users can choose to either fix the quantity of Bitcoins or fix the price paid for every order. Lock in a guaranteed execution or alternatively lock in the ultimate price you're prepared to pay for your order; the choice remains yours. And this all relies on an order engine that achieves low latency performance along with the reliability of an exchange that has been verified in supporting millions of daily transactions. At the start, our platform will offer trading in Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Stellar and Ripple. As we grow, we will earn listing fees to other crypto-assets who are seeking access to a trading platform and liquidity. Q: investorideas.com For any users concerned about security, how is your exchange addressing this issue? A: Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial BITXF takes security very seriously. Security is the cornerstone of the platform which is the most secure on the market today. We provide a 3-level login verification that includes a 2-step process to login, 3 levels of verification for withdrawals. This provides our users extra protection to prevent accounts from unauthorized access. Other than your regular password, you will be asked to enter a real-time password generated by Google Authenticator. To provide you an extra level of security, when you withdraw, you will need to activate a link on the verification email to complete the request. SSL ENCRYPTION We use 128-bit encryption to encrypt all communication between you and our website. This is the highest encryption available and is used as the gold standard for all secure communication on the net. DDOS PROTECTION We leverage one of the world's strongest forms of protection against Distributed Denial of Service attacks. We do not pretend to do this by ourselves and partner with multiple third-parties who have proven to mitigate some of the largest DDOS attacks in Internet history. PASSWORDS We do not use MD5 hashing to encrypt your password. To avoid common weaknesses, our proprietary procedures are designed to provide you, our valued clients, with the peace of mind that comes from our Next Level security implementation. DB SECURITY Our databases are encrypted and protected against SQL injection attacks. We also do hourly backups where we send the backups off-site to multiple locations. STATE OF THE ART INFRASTRUCTURE The platform is hosted in Tier 3+ ISO 27001/9001 compliant data centers. Digital currencies are not stored with cloud providers. MULTI-FIREWALL PROTECTION We closely monitor all incoming and outgoing traffic in a very stringent manner to ensure we prevent our network from malicious attack and injection as well as data threats. BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLANNING We have process and controls in place to deal with outages or attacks. Emails will be sent out to notify you of alternative ways to get back into our site. Our site and funds are totally segregated so you can be assured your funds are safe with us. REGULAR STRESS & SOAK TESTING Our technology is immediately scalable. Our regular stress testing has proven it achieves low latency processing and we've soak-tested to over 10 million transactions within a 24 hour period. Translation: our engine and underlying infrastructure can handle load, and lots of it. COMPLIANCE FRAMEWORK We insist on a comprehensive and thorough KYC (Know-Your-Customer) and AML (Anti Money Laundering) compliance framework. This includes the monitoring of suspicious transactions and obligatory reporting to local regulators and other compliance bodies. Our AML and KYC policies differ depending on the country of origin of which our clients are located, and furthermore recorded through the BITXF registration process. Our specific policies are detailed within our Terms of Use and which you must accept as per the new user registration process. Our robust compliance framework ensures that regulatory requirements are being adhered to at both a local and global level, providing the highest levels of trust and ensuring the Site continues to operate reliably for the long term. Q: investorideas.com Can you tell us about the significance of your Exclusive Bitcoin Exchange and Services Agreement with Hong Kong based ANX, announced in April? Will the coin exchange be called Bit-X Financial or will there be a different trade name and branding concept? A: Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial Partnering with ANX, a Bitcoin Exchange industry leader, will provide BITXF and our shareholders a turn-key solution to gain immediate exposure to Bitcoin while leveraging the ANX technical and support assets as we prepare to go live. Among the many initiatives occurring with our Company at the moment we have yet to announce what the exchange trade name and branding will be. We want to be original and come up with something unique, something that has not been done before and we plan to release that in the upcoming weeks prior to our go-live date. The public company (BITXF) will be the parent company that owns 100% of the newly branded exchange. Q: investorideas.com In closing what are your goals following the launch and roll out of the site in June and how do you see your company playing an integral role in the future of Bitcoin? A: Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial Our go-live date is on track and we fully expect to launch our world-class proprietary trading platform and provide our users a simple efficient way to trade Bitcoin. Our goals following the launch will be to provide our users a safe, secure and fully compliant Bitcoin exchange experience at a low cost. We are a customer service orientated company and we expect to be the best when it comes to customer support responses and solutions. We are also in the planning and development stage of a new Blockchain technology concept that may see BITXF become the first public company to offer such a technology and offer it to third parties worldwide. More details regarding this excited new concept will be provided as they materialize. About BIT-X: ( OTCQB : BITXF ) Bit-X Financial Corp is a Vancouver; British Columbia based Company listed on the OTCQB under the trading symbol BITXF. Bit-X Financial Corp is a reporting issuer in the Province of British Columbia, Canada with the British Columbia Securities Commission "BCSC" and in the United States with the Securities Exchange Commission "SEC." www.bitxfin.com About Investorideas.com InvestorIdeas.com newswire is a global investor news source covering multiple sectors including Bitcoin and payment technology. Follow Investorideas.com on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/Investorideas Follow Investorideas.com on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/Investorideas Sign up for free news alerts at Investorideas.com http://www.investorideas.com/Resources/Newsletter.asp Disclaimer/ Disclosure: The Investorideas.com newswire is a third party publisher of news and research as well as creates original content as a news source. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Investorideas is a news source on Google news syndication partners. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investment involves risk and possible loss of investment. This site is currently compensated by featured companies, news submissions, content marketing and online advertising. Contact each company directly for press release questions. Disclosure is posted on each release if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and is published for the sole interest of our readers. Disclosure: BITXF is a PR client of Investorideas.com and compensates us for news publication, PR and media.( two thousand five hundred per month and 144 shares ) More info: http://www.investorideas.com/About/News/Clientspecifics.asp and http://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp BC Residents and Investor Disclaimer : Effective September 15 2008 -- all BC investors should review all OTC and Pink sheet listed companies for adherence in new disclosure filings and filing appropriate documents with Sedar. Read for more info: http://www.bcsc.bc.ca/release.aspx?id=6894 . Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. || President of Bit-X Financial Corp. (OTCQB: BITXF) Talks About Pending Launch of Company's Bitcoin Exchange and How Bitcoin Is Gaining Recognition in Major Financial Circles: POINT ROBERTS, WA and NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - May 28, 2015) - Investorideas.com, a global news source covering leading sectors including Bitcoin and payment technology issues an exclusive interview with Mr. Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial Corp. ( OTCQB : BITXF ). Brad shares insight on the history of his company, the pending launch of the company's Bitcoin exchange and recent developments in the Bitcoin sector that have legitimized Bitcoin in the financial community, making some predict that it may replace traditional currency in the future. As one of the few publicly traded companies in the space, Brad talks about the future of Bitcoin as a digital currency and how his company is posturing to be part of the evolution of currency. Interview: Q: investorideas.com Brad, can you start by giving us a brief history of your company and why you decided to participate in the Bitcoin market? A: Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial After several years of evaluating various technology start-up opportunities, in 2012 I became aware of Bitcoin and the Blockchain. It was exactly what I wanted to get involved with; a new decentralized technology that combined finance, currency, trading and the ability to transfer a store of value (money) between end users instantly, with no intermediaries, at a very low cost. This was also a brand new segment of innovation that is positioned for massive growth, unlike other stagnant industry sectors like traditional banking. This seemed like a really good idea -- world changing potential -- and I became fascinated with the technology and its potential, whereby anyone could become their own bank. Q: investorideas.com For investors unfamiliar with the technology behind Bitcoin can you explain what Blockchain is and how significant it is? I have heard quotes that it is considered "as important of an opportunity as the creation of the Internet itself." A: Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial The Blockchain (created 2009) is very powerful invention and could become as big as the internet itself. It is a public ledger of all Bitcoin transactions that have ever been executed. It is constantly growing as "completed" blocks are added to it with a new set of recordings. The blocks are added to the Blockchain in a linear, chronological order. Bitcoin is the financial application of the Blockchain and the most important. Story continues Q: investorideas.com The New York Stock Exchange launched a Bitcoin index last week. Nasdaq Stock Exchange, Goldman Sachs, Richard Branson and other big names in the financial markets are all getting on board with Bitcoin. What does that mean for a company like yours and the industry overall? A: Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial Many of these large institutions including the Nasdaq, NYSE and Goldman provide awareness about Bitcoin to the masses. It validates the technology and says to the market, "pay attention, there is something special here." A start-up such as Bit-X Financial stands to gain tremendously from these endorsements and large-scale investments into the Bitcoin ecosystem, as it can lead to price increases in Bitcoin and overall consumer awareness. BITXF is a digital exchange whereby users can buy & sell Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies. Blue chip participants will become a catalyst for BITXF to launch successfully and become universally acceptable. Q: investorideas.com You are about to launch your Bitcoin exchange in June. What can users expect to see once it's live in terms of service features? A: Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial Some of the service features of the proprietary trading and matching engine have been pioneered from the ground up, leveraging the skills of experienced developers with respected and long-standing careers working for low latency software development firms. It is designed to manage high volume, high throughput, and low latency trading and was modeled on the same LMAX pattern now also leveraged by the world's largest Investment Banks. This investment grade trading platform has a simple and user-friendly UI for users to buy and sell all major crypto currencies. It also features one consolidated shared order book for blended multi-currency settlement in addition to real time FX pricing and risk management. The order engine delivers pre-scan indicative pricing and users can choose to either fix the quantity of Bitcoins or fix the price paid for every order. Lock in a guaranteed execution or alternatively lock in the ultimate price you're prepared to pay for your order; the choice remains yours. And this all relies on an order engine that achieves low latency performance along with the reliability of an exchange that has been verified in supporting millions of daily transactions. At the start, our platform will offer trading in Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Stellar and Ripple. As we grow, we will earn listing fees to other crypto-assets who are seeking access to a trading platform and liquidity. Q: investorideas.com For any users concerned about security, how is your exchange addressing this issue? A: Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial BITXF takes security very seriously. Security is the cornerstone of the platform which is the most secure on the market today. We provide a 3-level login verification that includes a 2-step process to login, 3 levels of verification for withdrawals. This provides our users extra protection to prevent accounts from unauthorized access. Other than your regular password, you will be asked to enter a real-time password generated by Google Authenticator. To provide you an extra level of security, when you withdraw, you will need to activate a link on the verification email to complete the request. SSL ENCRYPTION We use 128-bit encryption to encrypt all communication between you and our website. This is the highest encryption available and is used as the gold standard for all secure communication on the net. DDOS PROTECTION We leverage one of the world's strongest forms of protection against Distributed Denial of Service attacks. We do not pretend to do this by ourselves and partner with multiple third-parties who have proven to mitigate some of the largest DDOS attacks in Internet history. PASSWORDS We do not use MD5 hashing to encrypt your password. To avoid common weaknesses, our proprietary procedures are designed to provide you, our valued clients, with the peace of mind that comes from our Next Level security implementation. DB SECURITY Our databases are encrypted and protected against SQL injection attacks. We also do hourly backups where we send the backups off-site to multiple locations. STATE OF THE ART INFRASTRUCTURE The platform is hosted in Tier 3+ ISO 27001/9001 compliant data centers. Digital currencies are not stored with cloud providers. MULTI-FIREWALL PROTECTION We closely monitor all incoming and outgoing traffic in a very stringent manner to ensure we prevent our network from malicious attack and injection as well as data threats. BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLANNING We have process and controls in place to deal with outages or attacks. Emails will be sent out to notify you of alternative ways to get back into our site. Our site and funds are totally segregated so you can be assured your funds are safe with us. REGULAR STRESS & SOAK TESTING Our technology is immediately scalable. Our regular stress testing has proven it achieves low latency processing and we've soak-tested to over 10 million transactions within a 24 hour period. Translation: our engine and underlying infrastructure can handle load, and lots of it. COMPLIANCE FRAMEWORK We insist on a comprehensive and thorough KYC (Know-Your-Customer) and AML (Anti Money Laundering) compliance framework. This includes the monitoring of suspicious transactions and obligatory reporting to local regulators and other compliance bodies. Our AML and KYC policies differ depending on the country of origin of which our clients are located, and furthermore recorded through the BITXF registration process. Our specific policies are detailed within our Terms of Use and which you must accept as per the new user registration process. Our robust compliance framework ensures that regulatory requirements are being adhered to at both a local and global level, providing the highest levels of trust and ensuring the Site continues to operate reliably for the long term. Q: investorideas.com Can you tell us about the significance of your Exclusive Bitcoin Exchange and Services Agreement with Hong Kong based ANX, announced in April? Will the coin exchange be called Bit-X Financial or will there be a different trade name and branding concept? A: Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial Partnering with ANX, a Bitcoin Exchange industry leader, will provide BITXF and our shareholders a turn-key solution to gain immediate exposure to Bitcoin while leveraging the ANX technical and support assets as we prepare to go live. Among the many initiatives occurring with our Company at the moment we have yet to announce what the exchange trade name and branding will be. We want to be original and come up with something unique, something that has not been done before and we plan to release that in the upcoming weeks prior to our go-live date. The public company (BITXF) will be the parent company that owns 100% of the newly branded exchange. Q: investorideas.com In closing what are your goals following the launch and roll out of the site in June and how do you see your company playing an integral role in the future of Bitcoin? A: Brad Moynes, President of Bit-X Financial Our go-live date is on track and we fully expect to launch our world-class proprietary trading platform and provide our users a simple efficient way to trade Bitcoin. Our goals following the launch will be to provide our users a safe, secure and fully compliant Bitcoin exchange experience at a low cost. We are a customer service orientated company and we expect to be the best when it comes to customer support responses and solutions. We are also in the planning and development stage of a new Blockchain technology concept that may see BITXF become the first public company to offer such a technology and offer it to third parties worldwide. More details regarding this excited new concept will be provided as they materialize. About BIT-X: ( OTCQB : BITXF ) Bit-X Financial Corp is a Vancouver; British Columbia based Company listed on the OTCQB under the trading symbol BITXF. Bit-X Financial Corp is a reporting issuer in the Province of British Columbia, Canada with the British Columbia Securities Commission "BCSC" and in the United States with the Securities Exchange Commission "SEC." www.bitxfin.com About Investorideas.com InvestorIdeas.com newswire is a global investor news source covering multiple sectors including Bitcoin and payment technology. Follow Investorideas.com on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/Investorideas Follow Investorideas.com on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/Investorideas Sign up for free news alerts at Investorideas.com http://www.investorideas.com/Resources/Newsletter.asp Disclaimer/ Disclosure: The Investorideas.com newswire is a third party publisher of news and research as well as creates original content as a news source. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Investorideas is a news source on Google news syndication partners. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investment involves risk and possible loss of investment. This site is currently compensated by featured companies, news submissions, content marketing and online advertising. Contact each company directly for press release questions. Disclosure is posted on each release if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and is published for the sole interest of our readers. Disclosure: BITXF is a PR client of Investorideas.com and compensates us for news publication, PR and media.( two thousand five hundred per month and 144 shares ) More info: http://www.investorideas.com/About/News/Clientspecifics.asp and http://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp BC Residents and Investor Disclaimer : Effective September 15 2008 -- all BC investors should review all OTC and Pink sheet listed companies for adherence in new disclosure filings and filing appropriate documents with Sedar. Read for more info: http://www.bcsc.bc.ca/release.aspx?id=6894 . Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country.
[Social Media Buzz]
buysellbitco.in #bitcoin price in INR, Buy : 14552.00 INR Sell : 14106.00 INR. Buy and sell bitcoin in #India using #buysellbitcoin || Current price: 207.17€ $BTCEUR $btc #bitcoin 2015-06-03 08:00:04 CEST || Bitcoin traded at $228.42 USD on BTC-e at 01:00 PM Pacific Time || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 14 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $2,345.49 #bitcoin #btc || #RDD / #BTC on the exchanges:
Cryptsy: 0.00000005
Bittrex: 0.00000006
Average $1.1E-...
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224.32, 224.95, 225.62, 222.88, 228.49, 229.05, 228.80, 229.71, 229.98, 232.40
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 11774.60, 11366.13, 11488.36, 11323.40, 11542.50, 11506.87, 11711.51, 11680.82, 11970.48, 11414.03, 10245.30, 10511.81, 10169.57, 10280.35, 10369.56, 10131.52, 10242.35, 10363.14, 10400.92, 10442.17, 10323.76, 10680.84, 10796.95, 10974.91, 10948.99, 10944.59, 11094.35, 10938.27, 10462.26, 10538.46, 10246.19, 10760.07, 10692.72, 10750.72, 10775.27, 10709.65, 10844.64, 10784.49, 10619.45, 10575.97, 10549.33, 10669.58, 10793.34, 10604.41, 10668.97, 10915.69, 11064.46, 11296.36, 11384.18, 11555.36, 11425.90, 11429.51, 11495.35, 11322.12, 11358.10, 11483.36, 11742.04, 11916.33, 12823.69, 12965.89, 12931.54, 13108.06, 13031.17, 13075.25, 13654.22, 13271.29, 13437.88, 13546.52, 13781.00, 13737.11, 13550.49, 13950.30, 14133.71, 15579.85, 15565.88, 14833.75, 15479.57, 15332.32, 15290.90, 15701.34, 16276.34, 16317.81, 16068.14, 15955.59, 16716.11, 17645.41, 17804.01, 17817.09, 18621.31, 18642.23.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2020-11-21]
Volume: 39650210707, RSI (14-day): 83.93, 50-day EMA: 14367.78, 200-day EMA: 11500.74
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Bitcoin Miner Riot Blockchain Ends Week Up 50% After Tapping 2-Year Highs: As bitcoin continues surging toward record highs, bitcoin mining companies ride its coattails. Shares of the publicly traded bitcoin mining company Riot Blockchain rose 50% this week, trading hands just below $6.00 at weeks end. Bitcoin gained nearly 17% over the same period. Riot shares surged even higher in early hours Friday, reaching $6.60, a level not seen since early September 2018. Related: Majority of Bitcoin Hashrate Signals Support for Taproot Scaling, Privacy Upgrade CoinDesk reported that the Castle Rock, Colo.-based firm posted its lowest per share loss in Q3 since the company fully deployed its cryptocurrency mining infrastructure, over two years ago. Public mining companies like Riot that emphasize their bitcoin reserves have seen strongly positive reactions from the market, said Ethan Vera, co-founder of Seattle-based mining company Luxor Technology. Companies that liquidate to fiat every day didnt see as strong of gains, he said. Riot continues to outperform bitcoin through 2020, with investors enjoying a 390% year-to-date return compared to bitcoins 168% gain. The firm plans to continue expanding its already aggressively growing mining capacity through 2021 and beyond, reporting a 450% increase in hash power for Q3 over the same period in 2019, reaching 556 petahash per second (PH/s). Related: OKEx Mining Pool Flatlines After 99.5% Hash Power Drop as Withdrawal Suspensions Spook Clients With the current market momentum many of the mining companies who have never broken a profit will likely report positive EBITDA heading into 2021, Vera said. Related Stories Bitcoin Miner Riot Blockchain Ends Week Up 50% After Tapping 2-Year Highs Bitcoin Miner Riot Blockchain Ends Week Up 50% After Tapping 2-Year Highs || Bitcoin Miner Riot Blockchain Ends Week Up 50% After Tapping 2-Year Highs: As bitcoin continues surging toward record highs, bitcoin mining companies ride its coattails.
Shares of the publicly tradedbitcoinmining companyRiot Blockchainrose 50% this week, trading hands just below $6.00 at week’s end. Bitcoin gained nearly 17% over the same period.
Riot shares surged even higher in early hours Friday, reaching $6.60, a level not seen since early September 2018.
Related:Majority of Bitcoin Hashrate Signals Support for Taproot Scaling, Privacy Upgrade
CoinDeskreportedthat the Castle Rock, Colo.-based firm posted its lowest per share loss in Q3 since the company fully deployed its cryptocurrency mining infrastructure, over two years ago.
Public mining companies like Riot that emphasize their bitcoin reserves have seen strongly positive reactions from the market, said Ethan Vera, co-founder of Seattle-based mining company Luxor Technology. “Companies that liquidate to fiat every day didn’t see as strong of gains,” he said.
Riotcontinues to outperform bitcointhrough 2020, with investors enjoying a 390% year-to-date return compared to bitcoin’s 168% gain.
The firm plans to continue expanding its already aggressively growing mining capacity through 2021 and beyond, reporting a 450% increase in hash power for Q3 over the same period in 2019, reaching 556 petahash per second (PH/s).
Related:OKEx Mining Pool Flatlines After 99.5% Hash Power Drop as Withdrawal Suspensions Spook Clients
“With the current market momentum many of the mining companies who have never broken a profit will likely report positive EBITDA heading into 2021,” Vera said.
• Bitcoin Miner Riot Blockchain Ends Week Up 50% After Tapping 2-Year Highs
• Bitcoin Miner Riot Blockchain Ends Week Up 50% After Tapping 2-Year Highs || Bitcoin Miner Riot Blockchain Ends Week Up 50% After Tapping 2-Year Highs: As bitcoin continues surging toward record highs, bitcoin mining companies ride its coattails.
Shares of the publicly tradedbitcoinmining companyRiot Blockchainrose 50% this week, trading hands just below $6.00 at week’s end. Bitcoin gained nearly 17% over the same period.
Riot shares surged even higher in early hours Friday, reaching $6.60, a level not seen since early September 2018.
Related:Majority of Bitcoin Hashrate Signals Support for Taproot Scaling, Privacy Upgrade
CoinDeskreportedthat the Castle Rock, Colo.-based firm posted its lowest per share loss in Q3 since the company fully deployed its cryptocurrency mining infrastructure, over two years ago.
Public mining companies like Riot that emphasize their bitcoin reserves have seen strongly positive reactions from the market, said Ethan Vera, co-founder of Seattle-based mining company Luxor Technology. “Companies that liquidate to fiat every day didn’t see as strong of gains,” he said.
Riotcontinues to outperform bitcointhrough 2020, with investors enjoying a 390% year-to-date return compared to bitcoin’s 168% gain.
The firm plans to continue expanding its already aggressively growing mining capacity through 2021 and beyond, reporting a 450% increase in hash power for Q3 over the same period in 2019, reaching 556 petahash per second (PH/s).
Related:OKEx Mining Pool Flatlines After 99.5% Hash Power Drop as Withdrawal Suspensions Spook Clients
“With the current market momentum many of the mining companies who have never broken a profit will likely report positive EBITDA heading into 2021,” Vera said.
• Bitcoin Miner Riot Blockchain Ends Week Up 50% After Tapping 2-Year Highs
• Bitcoin Miner Riot Blockchain Ends Week Up 50% After Tapping 2-Year Highs || Bitcoin To $500,000? Fund Manager Cathie Wood Thinks It Could Happen: Ark Investment CEO Cathie Wood appeared at the virtual investing in tech seminar put on byBarron'swhere she discussed the rise ofBitcoin.
What Happened:Wood told viewers the 160% year-to-date increase for the price of Bitcoin could be just the beginning.
Wood said the decision by the Fed to keep interest rates low, Bitcoin being a digital alternative to gold and an insurance policy against inflation as reasons why Bitcoin has increased in price.
The increase in institutional investors getting involved in Bitcoin is where Wood sees the price increasing further.
Wood said it reminds her of the early days of institutions beginning to make small allocations to real estate and emerging markets. She said the allocations started at 0.5% and then rose to 5%.
If institutions allocated mid-single-digit amounts to Bitcoin, it would take the price to a range of $400,000 to $500,000.
There will only be a supply of 21 million Bitcoin, with 18.5 million currently in existence.
Related Link:3 Small-Cap Bitcoin Stocks That Could Benefit From Square’s Purchase
Why It’s Important:The rise in the price of Bitcoin would make it the 16th most valuable company by market capitalization. Bitcoin passedMastercard Incorporated(NYSE:MA) Friday with a market cap of $335 billion.
Bitcoin had already passedBank of America Corporation(NYSE:BAC) andPaypal Holdings(NASDAQ:PYPL) on the list.
The rise in Bitcoin price and demand has also helped theGrayscale Bitcoin Trust(OTC:GBTC) rise 145% year-to-date.
Wood is the manager of four of the best performing ETFs in 2020 with the Ark ETFs.
Price Action:Bitcoin traded at $18,619.50 at time of publication Friday.
See more from Benzinga
• Click here for options trades from Benzinga
• Will The Real Elon Musk Please Stand Up: Another Twitter Bitcoin Scam
© 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin To $500,000? Fund Manager Cathie Wood Thinks It Could Happen: Ark Investment CEO Cathie Wood appeared at the virtual investing in tech seminar put on byBarron'swhere she discussed the rise ofBitcoin.
What Happened:Wood told viewers the 160% year-to-date increase for the price of Bitcoin could be just the beginning.
Wood said the decision by the Fed to keep interest rates low, Bitcoin being a digital alternative to gold and an insurance policy against inflation as reasons why Bitcoin has increased in price.
The increase in institutional investors getting involved in Bitcoin is where Wood sees the price increasing further.
Wood said it reminds her of the early days of institutions beginning to make small allocations to real estate and emerging markets. She said the allocations started at 0.5% and then rose to 5%.
If institutions allocated mid-single-digit amounts to Bitcoin, it would take the price to a range of $400,000 to $500,000.
There will only be a supply of 21 million Bitcoin, with 18.5 million currently in existence.
Related Link:3 Small-Cap Bitcoin Stocks That Could Benefit From Square’s Purchase
Why It’s Important:The rise in the price of Bitcoin would make it the 16th most valuable company by market capitalization. Bitcoin passedMastercard Incorporated(NYSE:MA) Friday with a market cap of $335 billion.
Bitcoin had already passedBank of America Corporation(NYSE:BAC) andPaypal Holdings(NASDAQ:PYPL) on the list.
The rise in Bitcoin price and demand has also helped theGrayscale Bitcoin Trust(OTC:GBTC) rise 145% year-to-date.
Wood is the manager of four of the best performing ETFs in 2020 with the Ark ETFs.
Price Action:Bitcoin traded at $18,619.50 at time of publication Friday.
See more from Benzinga
• Click here for options trades from Benzinga
• Will The Real Elon Musk Please Stand Up: Another Twitter Bitcoin Scam
© 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin To $500,000? Fund Manager Cathie Wood Thinks It Could Happen: Ark Investment CEO Cathie Wood appeared at the virtual investing in tech seminar put on by Barron's where she discussed the rise of Bitcoin . What Happened: Wood told viewers the 160% year-to-date increase for the price of Bitcoin could be just the beginning. Wood said the decision by the Fed to keep interest rates low, Bitcoin being a digital alternative to gold and an insurance policy against inflation as reasons why Bitcoin has increased in price. The increase in institutional investors getting involved in Bitcoin is where Wood sees the price increasing further. Wood said it reminds her of the early days of institutions beginning to make small allocations to real estate and emerging markets. She said the allocations started at 0.5% and then rose to 5%. If institutions allocated mid-single-digit amounts to Bitcoin, it would take the price to a range of $400,000 to $500,000. There will only be a supply of 21 million Bitcoin, with 18.5 million currently in existence. Related Link: 3 Small-Cap Bitcoin Stocks That Could Benefit From Squares Purchase Why Its Important: The rise in the price of Bitcoin would make it the 16th most valuable company by market capitalization. Bitcoin passed Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA ) Friday with a market cap of $335 billion. Bitcoin had already passed Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC ) and Paypal Holdings (NASDAQ: PYPL ) on the list. The rise in Bitcoin price and demand has also helped the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (OTC: GBTC ) rise 145% year-to-date. Wood is the manager of four of the best performing ETFs in 2020 with the Ark ETFs. Price Action: Bitcoin traded at $18,619.50 at time of publication Friday. See more from Benzinga Click here for options trades from Benzinga Will The Real Elon Musk Please Stand Up: Another Twitter Bitcoin Scam © 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. View comments || ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / November 20, 2020 /ALT 5 Sigma Inc. an emerging leader in blockchain powered financial platforms provides its daily digital instruments market summary for Bitcoin (BTC/USD), Ether (ETH/USD), Litecoin (LTC/USD).
Real-Time Market Data is available atwww.alt5pro.comand Real-Time Market Data feed is also available atwww.alt5sigma.comALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH
[["Digital Asset", "Pair", "Price", "24hr Chg", "7d Chg", "24/hr Volume", "MarketCap"], ["Bitcoin", "BTC/USD", "$18,583.80", "$0.04", "$0.14", "$36,669 M", "$344,714 M"], ["Ethereum", "ETH/USD", "$508.01", "$0.07", "$0.08", "$16,400 M", "$57,663 M"], ["XRP", "XRP/USD", "$0.32", "$0.07", "$0.22", "$5,963 M", "$14,577 M"], ["Litecoin", "LTC/USD", "$83.21", "$0.01", "$0.28", "$6,363 M", "$5,486 M"], ["Bitcoin Cash", "BCH/USD", "$255.46", "$0.03", "-$0.01", "$1,721 M", "$4,746 M"], ["Bitcoin SV", "BSV/USD", "$165.81", "$0.02", "$0.03", "$469 M", "$3,080 M"], ["EOS", "EOS/USD", "$2.79", "$0.06", "$0.08", "$2,649 M", "$2,621 M"], ["Monero", "XMR/USD", "$121.99", "$0.02", "$0.08", "$843 M", "$2,167 M"], ["Stellar", "XLM/USD", "$0.09", "$0.02", "$0.06", "$167 M", "$1,818 M"], ["Dash", "DASH/USD", "$83.33", "$0.00", "$0.08", "$382 M", "$819 M"]]
About ALT 5 Sigma Inc.
ALT 5 is a fintech company specializing in the development and deployment of digital assets trading and exchange platforms. Alt 5 was founded by financial industry specialists out of the necessity to provide the digital asset economy with security, accessibility, transparency and compliance.
ALT 5 provides its clients the ability to buy, sell and hold digital assets in a safe and secure environment deployed with the best practices of the financial industry. ALT 5's products and services are available to Banks, Broker Dealers, Funds, Family Offices, Professional Traders, Retail Traders, Digital Asset Exchanges, Digital Asset Brokers, Blockchain Developers, and Financial Information Providers.
ALT 5's digital asset custodian services are secured by GardaWorld. GardaWorld is the world's largest privately-owned business solutions and security services company, offering cash management services.
For more information, visitwww.alt5sigma.com.
Contact:
Andre BeauchesneTel. [email protected]
For more information on ALT 5 Pay, visitwww.alt5pay.comFor more information on ALT 5 Pro, visitwww.alt5pro.com
SOURCE:ALT 5 Sigma Inc.
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/617800/ALT-5-Sigma-Digital-Instrument-Market-Summary-for-BTC-ETH-LTC-BCH || ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / November 20, 2020 /ALT 5 Sigma Inc. an emerging leader in blockchain powered financial platforms provides its daily digital instruments market summary for Bitcoin (BTC/USD), Ether (ETH/USD), Litecoin (LTC/USD).
Real-Time Market Data is available atwww.alt5pro.comand Real-Time Market Data feed is also available atwww.alt5sigma.comALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH
[["Digital Asset", "Pair", "Price", "24hr Chg", "7d Chg", "24/hr Volume", "MarketCap"], ["Bitcoin", "BTC/USD", "$18,583.80", "$0.04", "$0.14", "$36,669 M", "$344,714 M"], ["Ethereum", "ETH/USD", "$508.01", "$0.07", "$0.08", "$16,400 M", "$57,663 M"], ["XRP", "XRP/USD", "$0.32", "$0.07", "$0.22", "$5,963 M", "$14,577 M"], ["Litecoin", "LTC/USD", "$83.21", "$0.01", "$0.28", "$6,363 M", "$5,486 M"], ["Bitcoin Cash", "BCH/USD", "$255.46", "$0.03", "-$0.01", "$1,721 M", "$4,746 M"], ["Bitcoin SV", "BSV/USD", "$165.81", "$0.02", "$0.03", "$469 M", "$3,080 M"], ["EOS", "EOS/USD", "$2.79", "$0.06", "$0.08", "$2,649 M", "$2,621 M"], ["Monero", "XMR/USD", "$121.99", "$0.02", "$0.08", "$843 M", "$2,167 M"], ["Stellar", "XLM/USD", "$0.09", "$0.02", "$0.06", "$167 M", "$1,818 M"], ["Dash", "DASH/USD", "$83.33", "$0.00", "$0.08", "$382 M", "$819 M"]]
About ALT 5 Sigma Inc.
ALT 5 is a fintech company specializing in the development and deployment of digital assets trading and exchange platforms. Alt 5 was founded by financial industry specialists out of the necessity to provide the digital asset economy with security, accessibility, transparency and compliance.
ALT 5 provides its clients the ability to buy, sell and hold digital assets in a safe and secure environment deployed with the best practices of the financial industry. ALT 5's products and services are available to Banks, Broker Dealers, Funds, Family Offices, Professional Traders, Retail Traders, Digital Asset Exchanges, Digital Asset Brokers, Blockchain Developers, and Financial Information Providers.
ALT 5's digital asset custodian services are secured by GardaWorld. GardaWorld is the world's largest privately-owned business solutions and security services company, offering cash management services.
For more information, visitwww.alt5sigma.com.
Contact:
Andre BeauchesneTel. [email protected]
For more information on ALT 5 Pay, visitwww.alt5pay.comFor more information on ALT 5 Pro, visitwww.alt5pro.com
SOURCE:ALT 5 Sigma Inc.
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/617800/ALT-5-Sigma-Digital-Instrument-Market-Summary-for-BTC-ETH-LTC-BCH || ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / November 20, 2020 / ALT 5 Sigma Inc. an emerging leader in blockchain powered financial platforms provides its daily digital instruments market summary for Bitcoin (BTC/USD), Ether (ETH/USD), Litecoin (LTC/USD). Real-Time Market Data is available at www.alt5pro.com and Real-Time Market Data feed is also available at www.alt5sigma.com ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH Market Summary Friday, November 20 2020 at 4:17:10 PM Digital Asset Pair Price 24hr Chg 7d Chg 24/hr Volume MarketCap Bitcoin BTC/USD $18,583.80 $0.04 $0.14 $36,669 M $344,714 M Ethereum ETH/USD $508.01 $0.07 $0.08 $16,400 M $57,663 M XRP XRP/USD $0.32 $0.07 $0.22 $5,963 M $14,577 M Litecoin LTC/USD $83.21 $0.01 $0.28 $6,363 M $5,486 M Bitcoin Cash BCH/USD $255.46 $0.03 -$0.01 $1,721 M $4,746 M Bitcoin SV BSV/USD $165.81 $0.02 $0.03 $469 M $3,080 M EOS EOS/USD $2.79 $0.06 $0.08 $2,649 M $2,621 M Monero XMR/USD $121.99 $0.02 $0.08 $843 M $2,167 M Stellar XLM/USD $0.09 $0.02 $0.06 $167 M $1,818 M Dash DASH/USD $83.33 $0.00 $0.08 $382 M $819 M About ALT 5 Sigma Inc. ALT 5 is a fintech company specializing in the development and deployment of digital assets trading and exchange platforms. Alt 5 was founded by financial industry specialists out of the necessity to provide the digital asset economy with security, accessibility, transparency and compliance. ALT 5 provides its clients the ability to buy, sell and hold digital assets in a safe and secure environment deployed with the best practices of the financial industry. ALT 5's products and services are available to Banks, Broker Dealers, Funds, Family Offices, Professional Traders, Retail Traders, Digital Asset Exchanges, Digital Asset Brokers, Blockchain Developers, and Financial Information Providers. ALT 5's digital asset custodian services are secured by GardaWorld. GardaWorld is the world's largest privately-owned business solutions and security services company, offering cash management services. For more information, visit www.alt5sigma.com . Contact: Andre Beauchesne Tel. 1-800-204-6203 [email protected] For more information on ALT 5 Pay, visit www.alt5pay.com For more information on ALT 5 Pro, visit www.alt5pro.com SOURCE: ALT 5 Sigma Inc. View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/617800/ALT-5-Sigma-Digital-Instrument-Market-Summary-for-BTC-ETH-LTC-BCH View comments || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Hits $18.8K as Total Crypto Locked in DeFi Passes $14B: The price of bitcoin hit new 2020 highs as the “alternative to gold” narrative increases. Meanwhile, smaller crypto tokens might be helping push DeFi to new heights.
• Bitcoin(BTC) trading around $18,638 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 3.5% over the previous 24 hours.
• Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $17,723-$18,813 (CoinDesk 20)
• BTC above its 10-day and 50-day moving averages, a bullish signal for market technicians.
Bitcoin’s price made gains Friday, going as high as $18,813, according to CoinDesk 20 data. The world’s oldest cryptocurrency then dropped a bit, to $18,638 as of press time. The last time bitcoin traded at the $18,800 level was back on Dec. 19, 2017, when the price went as high as $18,984.
Some analysts see $19,000 as certainly within reach, but bitcoin won’t shoot straight up getting there, noted John Kramer, a trader at crypto firm GSR. “It feels more and more like we’re hitting a bitcoin tipping point,” Kramer told CoinDesk. “That’s not to say that the price will rocket past $19,000; in fact, a cooldown is to be expected.”
Related:John Lennon's Son Says Bitcoin ‘Empowers’ People Like Never Before
Read More:BlackRock’s Chief Investment Officer Says Bitcoin Could Replace Gold
Despite any cooldown that may occur, bitcoin is certainly hotter than gold so far in 2020, with bitcoin up 147% year to date versus the yellow metal’s 22% performance.
“I expect a lot more media coverage and reinforcement of the narrative around bitcoin being a better alternative to gold in the near future as more and more prominent Wall Street investors like BlackRock are openly sharing their positive views,” said Jason Lau, chief operating officer for San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange OKCoin.
Read More:Y Combinator, Pantera Backs $3M in New Crypto Derivatives Exchange
Related:Bitcoin Shortage? Pantera Thinks Market Rally Driven by PayPal Buys
Lau was referring to an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” by Rick Rieder, fixed income CIO at BlackRock, the $7 trillion assert manager. “Do I think it’s a durable mechanism that … could take the place of gold to a large extent? Yeah, I do, because it’s so much more functional than passing a bar of gold around,” Rieder said of bitcoin during the program.
In the derivatives market, options traders are betting on some bitcoin uncertainty for December expiration. Traders expect a 54% chance of bitcoin staying over $18,000, a 44% chance of $19,000 per 1 BTC and a 35% chance of $20,000.
Denis Vinokourov, head of research at digital asset prime broker Bequant, said many are dismissing the impactethercould have on the derivatives market heading into 2021.
“If one goes by the notion that bitcoin will become a more commonly held asset in traditional space, then there is little that would prevent [ether] in following suit,” Vinokourov told CoinDesk. “Expect the CME to launch ether futures and options in due course, as the current market positioning and flow clearly show growing demand.”
Ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was up Friday, trading around $510 and climbing 7.5% in 24 hours as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).
The total amount of cryptocurrency “locked” (TVL) in decentralized finance, or DeFi, has passed $14 billion for the first time, at $14.1 billion as of press time.
However, the amount of ETH locked has been declining, perhaps becausesome stakers are moving the asset over to Ethereum 2.0 contract.
In addition, the amount of bitcoin locked is also dipping in DeFi.
It seems that smaller tokens are seeing major gains along with BTC and ETH, likely contributing to TVL gains, although as of press time DeFi Pulse did not respond to a request for comment on how it accounts for those tokens in its metrics.
“The substantial recent price run-up in ETH and BTC have caused in nominal dollar terms the TVL to balloon as the smaller absolute number of tokens of each is still representing a much larger dollar amount,” noted John Willock, chief executive officer of crypto custody provider Tritium.
Digital assets on theCoinDesk 20are mostly green Friday. Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• omg network(OMG) + 10%
• cardano(ADA) + 8.6%
• xrp(XRP) + 6.6%
Notable losers:
• ethereum classic(ETC) – 1.3%
• kyber network(KNC) – 0.37%
• tezos(XTZ) – 0.15%
Read More:US Firm Launches Company-Sponsored Bitcoin Retirement Plans
Equities:
• The Nikkei 225 ended the day in the red 0.42% as arecord number of coronavirus cases in Japan had investors concerned about economic prospects.
• The FTSE 100 in Europe closed in the green 0.27% asBrexit talks continue with optimism a deal can be made within the next two days.
• In the United States the S&P slipped 0.50% asinvestors signaled concern for the overall economy as coronavirus cases surge.
Commodities:
• Oil was up 1.6%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $42.40.
• Gold was in the green 0.43% and at $1,873 as of press time.
Treasurys:
• The 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield fell Friday dipping to 0.826 and in the red 0.19%.
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Hits $18.8K as Total Crypto Locked in DeFi Passes $14B
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Hits $18.8K as Total Crypto Locked in DeFi Passes $14B || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Hits $18.8K as Total Crypto Locked in DeFi Passes $14B: The price of bitcoin hit new 2020 highs as the “alternative to gold” narrative increases. Meanwhile, smaller crypto tokens might be helping push DeFi to new heights.
• Bitcoin(BTC) trading around $18,638 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 3.5% over the previous 24 hours.
• Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $17,723-$18,813 (CoinDesk 20)
• BTC above its 10-day and 50-day moving averages, a bullish signal for market technicians.
Bitcoin’s price made gains Friday, going as high as $18,813, according to CoinDesk 20 data. The world’s oldest cryptocurrency then dropped a bit, to $18,638 as of press time. The last time bitcoin traded at the $18,800 level was back on Dec. 19, 2017, when the price went as high as $18,984.
Some analysts see $19,000 as certainly within reach, but bitcoin won’t shoot straight up getting there, noted John Kramer, a trader at crypto firm GSR. “It feels more and more like we’re hitting a bitcoin tipping point,” Kramer told CoinDesk. “That’s not to say that the price will rocket past $19,000; in fact, a cooldown is to be expected.”
Related:John Lennon's Son Says Bitcoin ‘Empowers’ People Like Never Before
Read More:BlackRock’s Chief Investment Officer Says Bitcoin Could Replace Gold
Despite any cooldown that may occur, bitcoin is certainly hotter than gold so far in 2020, with bitcoin up 147% year to date versus the yellow metal’s 22% performance.
“I expect a lot more media coverage and reinforcement of the narrative around bitcoin being a better alternative to gold in the near future as more and more prominent Wall Street investors like BlackRock are openly sharing their positive views,” said Jason Lau, chief operating officer for San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange OKCoin.
Read More:Y Combinator, Pantera Backs $3M in New Crypto Derivatives Exchange
Related:Bitcoin Shortage? Pantera Thinks Market Rally Driven by PayPal Buys
Lau was referring to an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” by Rick Rieder, fixed income CIO at BlackRock, the $7 trillion assert manager. “Do I think it’s a durable mechanism that … could take the place of gold to a large extent? Yeah, I do, because it’s so much more functional than passing a bar of gold around,” Rieder said of bitcoin during the program.
In the derivatives market, options traders are betting on some bitcoin uncertainty for December expiration. Traders expect a 54% chance of bitcoin staying over $18,000, a 44% chance of $19,000 per 1 BTC and a 35% chance of $20,000.
Denis Vinokourov, head of research at digital asset prime broker Bequant, said many are dismissing the impactethercould have on the derivatives market heading into 2021.
“If one goes by the notion that bitcoin will become a more commonly held asset in traditional space, then there is little that would prevent [ether] in following suit,” Vinokourov told CoinDesk. “Expect the CME to launch ether futures and options in due course, as the current market positioning and flow clearly show growing demand.”
Ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was up Friday, trading around $510 and climbing 7.5% in 24 hours as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).
The total amount of cryptocurrency “locked” (TVL) in decentralized finance, or DeFi, has passed $14 billion for the first time, at $14.1 billion as of press time.
However, the amount of ETH locked has been declining, perhaps becausesome stakers are moving the asset over to Ethereum 2.0 contract.
In addition, the amount of bitcoin locked is also dipping in DeFi.
It seems that smaller tokens are seeing major gains along with BTC and ETH, likely contributing to TVL gains, although as of press time DeFi Pulse did not respond to a request for comment on how it accounts for those tokens in its metrics.
“The substantial recent price run-up in ETH and BTC have caused in nominal dollar terms the TVL to balloon as the smaller absolute number of tokens of each is still representing a much larger dollar amount,” noted John Willock, chief executive officer of crypto custody provider Tritium.
Digital assets on theCoinDesk 20are mostly green Friday. Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• omg network(OMG) + 10%
• cardano(ADA) + 8.6%
• xrp(XRP) + 6.6%
Notable losers:
• ethereum classic(ETC) – 1.3%
• kyber network(KNC) – 0.37%
• tezos(XTZ) – 0.15%
Read More:US Firm Launches Company-Sponsored Bitcoin Retirement Plans
Equities:
• The Nikkei 225 ended the day in the red 0.42% as arecord number of coronavirus cases in Japan had investors concerned about economic prospects.
• The FTSE 100 in Europe closed in the green 0.27% asBrexit talks continue with optimism a deal can be made within the next two days.
• In the United States the S&P slipped 0.50% asinvestors signaled concern for the overall economy as coronavirus cases surge.
Commodities:
• Oil was up 1.6%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $42.40.
• Gold was in the green 0.43% and at $1,873 as of press time.
Treasurys:
• The 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield fell Friday dipping to 0.826 and in the red 0.19%.
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Hits $18.8K as Total Crypto Locked in DeFi Passes $14B
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Hits $18.8K as Total Crypto Locked in DeFi Passes $14B || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Hits $18.8K as Total Crypto Locked in DeFi Passes $14B: The price of bitcoin hit new 2020 highs as the “alternative to gold” narrative increases. Meanwhile, smaller crypto tokens might be helping push DeFi to new heights. Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $18,638 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 3.5% over the previous 24 hours. Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $17,723-$18,813 (CoinDesk 20) BTC above its 10-day and 50-day moving averages, a bullish signal for market technicians. Bitcoin’s price made gains Friday, going as high as $18,813, according to CoinDesk 20 data. The world’s oldest cryptocurrency then dropped a bit, to $18,638 as of press time. The last time bitcoin traded at the $18,800 level was back on Dec. 19, 2017, when the price went as high as $18,984. Some analysts see $19,000 as certainly within reach, but bitcoin won’t shoot straight up getting there, noted John Kramer, a trader at crypto firm GSR. “It feels more and more like we’re hitting a bitcoin tipping point,” Kramer told CoinDesk. “That’s not to say that the price will rocket past $19,000; in fact, a cooldown is to be expected.” Related: John Lennon's Son Says Bitcoin ‘Empowers’ People Like Never Before Read More: BlackRock’s Chief Investment Officer Says Bitcoin Could Replace Gold Despite any cooldown that may occur, bitcoin is certainly hotter than gold so far in 2020, with bitcoin up 147% year to date versus the yellow metal’s 22% performance. “I expect a lot more media coverage and reinforcement of the narrative around bitcoin being a better alternative to gold in the near future as more and more prominent Wall Street investors like BlackRock are openly sharing their positive views,” said Jason Lau, chief operating officer for San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange OKCoin. Read More: Y Combinator, Pantera Backs $3M in New Crypto Derivatives Exchange Related: Bitcoin Shortage? Pantera Thinks Market Rally Driven by PayPal Buys Story continues Lau was referring to an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” by Rick Rieder, fixed income CIO at BlackRock, the $7 trillion assert manager. “Do I think it’s a durable mechanism that … could take the place of gold to a large extent? Yeah, I do, because it’s so much more functional than passing a bar of gold around,” Rieder said of bitcoin during the program. In the derivatives market, options traders are betting on some bitcoin uncertainty for December expiration. Traders expect a 54% chance of bitcoin staying over $18,000, a 44% chance of $19,000 per 1 BTC and a 35% chance of $20,000. Denis Vinokourov, head of research at digital asset prime broker Bequant, said many are dismissing the impact ether could have on the derivatives market heading into 2021. “If one goes by the notion that bitcoin will become a more commonly held asset in traditional space, then there is little that would prevent [ether] in following suit,” Vinokourov told CoinDesk. “Expect the CME to launch ether futures and options in due course, as the current market positioning and flow clearly show growing demand.” TVL in DeFi going up, but not from BTC, ETH Ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was up Friday, trading around $510 and climbing 7.5% in 24 hours as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET). The total amount of cryptocurrency “locked” (TVL) in decentralized finance, or DeFi, has passed $14 billion for the first time, at $14.1 billion as of press time. However, the amount of ETH locked has been declining, perhaps because some stakers are moving the asset over to Ethereum 2.0 contract . In addition, the amount of bitcoin locked is also dipping in DeFi. It seems that smaller tokens are seeing major gains along with BTC and ETH, likely contributing to TVL gains, although as of press time DeFi Pulse did not respond to a request for comment on how it accounts for those tokens in its metrics. “The substantial recent price run-up in ETH and BTC have caused in nominal dollar terms the TVL to balloon as the smaller absolute number of tokens of each is still representing a much larger dollar amount,” noted John Willock, chief executive officer of crypto custody provider Tritium. Other markets Digital assets on the CoinDesk 20 are mostly green Friday. Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET): omg network (OMG) + 10% cardano (ADA) + 8.6% xrp (XRP) + 6.6% Notable losers: ethereum classic (ETC) – 1.3% kyber network (KNC) – 0.37% tezos (XTZ) – 0.15% Read More: US Firm Launches Company-Sponsored Bitcoin Retirement Plans Equities: The Nikkei 225 ended the day in the red 0.42% as a record number of coronavirus cases in Japan had investors concerned about economic prospects. The FTSE 100 in Europe closed in the green 0.27% as Brexit talks continue with optimism a deal can be made within the next two days . In the United States the S&P slipped 0.50% as investors signaled concern for the overall economy as coronavirus cases surge . Commodities: Oil was up 1.6%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $42.40. Gold was in the green 0.43% and at $1,873 as of press time. Treasurys: The 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield fell Friday dipping to 0.826 and in the red 0.19%. Related Stories Market Wrap: Bitcoin Hits $18.8K as Total Crypto Locked in DeFi Passes $14B Market Wrap: Bitcoin Hits $18.8K as Total Crypto Locked in DeFi Passes $14B || Top Stock Reports for UnitedHealth, salesforce & GlaxoSmithKline: Friday, November 20, 2020 The Zacks Research Daily presents the best research output of our analyst team. Today's Research Daily features new research reports on 16 major stocks, including UnitedHealth Group ( UNH ), salesforce.com ( CRM ) and GlaxoSmithKline ( GSK ). These research reports have been hand-picked from the roughly 70 reports published by our analyst team today. You can see all of today’s research reports here >>> UnitedHealth shares have outperformed the Zacks Medical Insurance industry in the year to date period (+13.4% vs. +5.5%). The Zacks analyst believes that the company’s top line is bolstered by new deals, renewed agreements and expansion of service offerings. Its numerous acquisitions bode well for its inorganic growth profile. Expansion of the company’s health services segment provides significant diversification benefits. UnitedHealth remains well poised to benefit from its government business, comprising both Medicaid and Medicare Advantage. A solid balance sheet and consistent cash flow generation not only encourage investments in business but also add shareholder value. The raising of 2020 earnings guidance instills investor confidence. However, the company is witnessing a slowdown in its international operations. Increased joblessness stemming from the COVID-19 induced volatilities might hurt Commercial membership. (You can read the full research report on UnitedHealth here >>> ) Shares of salesforce.com have gained +62.1% over the past year against the Zacks Computer Software industry’s rise of +33.9%. The Zacks analyst believes that salesforce is benefiting from a robust demand environment as customers are undergoing a major digital transformation. The rapid adoption of its cloud-based solutions is driving demand for its products. salesforce’s sustained focus on introducing more aligned products as per customer needs is driving its top-line. Continued deal wins in the international market is another growth driver. Story continues Furthermore, the recent acquisition of Tableau positions the company to be a leader in business analytics for actionable results in everything from operations to HR. However, stiff competition from Oracle and Microsoft is a concern. Besides, unfavorable currency fluctuations along with increasing investments in international expansions and data centers are an overhang on near-term profitability. (You can read the full research report on salesforce.com here >>> ) Glaxo ’s shares have lost -9.7% over the past six months against the Zacks Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry’s rise of +1.2%. The Zacks analyst believes that several new drug/line extension approvals that are expected in 2021 would boost the company’s top line in the long term. Glaxo’s new and specialty products like Nucala, Trelegy Ellipta, Shingrix and Juluca, are delivering a strong performance, making up for a decline in Established Pharmaceuticals due to generic erosion. Glaxo has made significant progress in its oncology pipeline and doubled its assets in development since 2018. However, pricing pressure and competitive dynamics due to generic competition for key drug, Advair, are hampering sales of Glaxo’s respiratory products. Competitive pressure on HIV drugs has risen. Slowdown in vaccination rates hurt sales of its key vaccines, mainly Shingrix, in 2020. (You can read the full research report on Glaxo here >>> ) Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Square ( SQ ), Blackstone Group ( BX ) and American Electric Power ( AEP ). 5 Stocks Set to Double Each was hand-picked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2020. Each comes from a different sector and has unique qualities and catalysts that could fuel exceptional growth. Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor. Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >> Mark Vickery Senior Editor Note: Sheraz Mian heads the Zacks Equity Research department and is a well-regarded expert of aggregate earnings. He is frequently quoted in the print and electronic media and publishes the weekly Earnings Trends and Earnings Preview reports. If you want an email notification each time Sheraz publishes a new article, please click here>>> Today's Must Read Solid Top Line & Strong Cash Flows Drive UnitedHealth (UNH) Digital Transformation and Acquisitions Aid salesforce (CRM) Glaxo's (GSK) Cancer Pipeline Grows Amid Rising Competition Featured Reports Square (SQ) Banks on Solid Cash App Adoption, Bitcoin Growth Per the Zacks analyst, Square is benefiting from strong Cash App engagement and its growing active customer base. Investments Aid American Electric (AEP), Sales Decline Ails Per the Zacks analyst, steady investments in its transmission and distribution business boost American Electric's customer reliability. Fund-Raising Ability Aids Blackstone (BX), High Costs Ails Per the Zacks analyst, Blackstone's fund raising capability and asset inflows will likely aid profitability. However, elevated costs and low dividend sustainability are major concerns. General Mills (GIS) Gains From Coronavirus-Led Demand Per the Zacks analyst, General Mills (GIS) is gaining from high demand due to coronavirus-led elevated at-home consumption. Investments & Expanding Customer Base Aid Xcel Energy (XEL) Per the Zacks analyst, Xcel's investment of $22.6 billion in the next five years to fortify infrastructure, while rising electric and natural gas customer base will boost demand and profitability. Restructuring Aids Ameriprise (AMP), Asset Outflows a Woe Per the Zacks analyst, Ameriprise's efforts to restructure the business and modify product offerings will support revenue growth. Diversified Business to Aid Nordson (NDSN), Industrial Weakness Ail Per a Zacks analyst, Nordson (NDSN) is poised to benefit from a diversified business structure, with exposure in various industries like packaging, electronics, non-wovens, and others. New Upgrades Dow (DOW) Gains from Cost Actions, Project Investment According to the Zacks analyst, Dow is well placed to benefit from cost synergy savings and productivity initiatives and its investment in high-return growth projects. Robust EHR and EMR Platforms Continues to Aid Cerner (CERN) Per the Zacks analyst, sustained strength in the lucrative EHR (Electronic Health Record) and EMR (Electronic Medical Record) platforms continue to boost Cerner's growth prospects. Selective Insurance (SIGI) Premiums Aid, Cat Loss Woes Persist Per the Zacks analyst, Selective Insurance gains from improved pricing and new business growth that in turn has been driving premiums. However, exposure to cat loss inducing earnings volatility ails. New Downgrades SYNNEX (SNX) Benefits From Rising Remote Working Tool Demand Per the Zacks analyst, SYNNEX is benefiting from the COVID-19 pandemic-led work-from-home and online-learning wave, which is spurring demand for offsite-working, and learning hardware and software. Asset Sales, Low Retail Rent Receipts Concern Vornado (VNO) Per the Zacks analyst, Vornado's aggressive asset sales might have a near-term dilutive impact on earnings. Also, amid the ongoing retail real estate blues, rent collection woes are likely to linger. Dull Mineral Nutrition Arm & Forex Woes Ail Phibro (PAHC) The Zacks analyst is worried about the persistently falling Mineral Nutrition arm's product sales. Unfavorable currency movements are an added headwind. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH) : Free Stock Analysis Report Square, Inc. (SQ) : Free Stock Analysis Report GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) : Free Stock Analysis Report salesforce.com, inc. (CRM) : Free Stock Analysis Report Blackstone Group IncThe (BX) : Free Stock Analysis Report American Electric Power Company, Inc. (AEP) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research || Top Stock Reports for UnitedHealth, salesforce & GlaxoSmithKline: The Zacks Research Daily presents the best research output of our analyst team. Today's Research Daily features new research reports on 16 major stocks, including UnitedHealth Group (UNH), salesforce.com (CRM) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). These research reports have been hand-picked from the roughly 70 reports published by our analyst team today.
You can seeall oftoday’s research reports here >>>
UnitedHealthshares have outperformed the Zacks Medical Insurance industry in the year to date period (+13.4% vs. +5.5%). The Zacks analyst believes that the company’s top line is bolstered by new deals, renewed agreements and expansion of service offerings. Its numerous acquisitions bode well for its inorganic growth profile.
Expansion of the company’s health services segment provides significant diversification benefits. UnitedHealth remains well poised to benefit from its government business, comprising both Medicaid and Medicare Advantage. A solid balance sheet and consistent cash flow generation not only encourage investments in business but also add shareholder value.
The raising of 2020 earnings guidance instills investor confidence. However, the company is witnessing a slowdown in its international operations. Increased joblessness stemming from the COVID-19 induced volatilities might hurt Commercial membership.
(You canread the full research report on UnitedHealth here >>>)
Shares ofsalesforce.comhave gained +62.1% over the past year against the Zacks Computer Software industry’s rise of +33.9%. The Zacks analyst believes that salesforce is benefiting from a robust demand environment as customers are undergoing a major digital transformation.
The rapid adoption of its cloud-based solutions is driving demand for its products. salesforce’s sustained focus on introducing more aligned products as per customer needs is driving its top-line. Continued deal wins in the international market is another growth driver.
Furthermore, the recent acquisition of Tableau positions the company to be a leader in business analytics for actionable results in everything from operations to HR. However, stiff competition from Oracle and Microsoft is a concern. Besides, unfavorable currency fluctuations along with increasing investments in international expansions and data centers are an overhang on near-term profitability.
(You canread the full research report on salesforce.com here >>>)
Glaxo’s shares have lost -9.7% over the past six months against the Zacks Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry’s rise of +1.2%. The Zacks analyst believes that several new drug/line extension approvals that are expected in 2021 would boost the company’s top line in the long term.
Glaxo’s new and specialty products like Nucala, Trelegy Ellipta, Shingrix and Juluca, are delivering a strong performance, making up for a decline in Established Pharmaceuticals due to generic erosion. Glaxo has made significant progress in its oncology pipeline and doubled its assets in development since 2018.
However, pricing pressure and competitive dynamics due to generic competition for key drug, Advair, are hampering sales of Glaxo’s respiratory products. Competitive pressure on HIV drugs has risen. Slowdown in vaccination rates hurt sales of its key vaccines, mainly Shingrix, in 2020.
(You canread the full research report on Glaxo here >>>)
Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Square (SQ), Blackstone Group (BX) and American Electric Power (AEP).
Each was hand-picked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2020. Each comes from a different sector and has unique qualities and catalysts that could fuel exceptional growth.
Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.
Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>
Mark VickerySenior Editor
Note: Sheraz Mian heads the Zacks Equity Research department and is a well-regarded expert of aggregate earnings. He is frequently quoted in the print and electronic media and publishes the weeklyEarnings TrendsandEarnings Previewreports. If you want an email notification each time Sheraz publishes a new article, pleaseclick here>>>
Solid Top Line & Strong Cash Flows Drive UnitedHealth (UNH)
Digital Transformation and Acquisitions Aid salesforce (CRM)
Glaxo's (GSK) Cancer Pipeline Grows Amid Rising Competition
Square (SQ) Banks on Solid Cash App Adoption, Bitcoin Growth
Per the Zacks analyst, Square is benefiting from strong Cash App engagement and its growing active customer base.
Investments Aid American Electric (AEP), Sales Decline Ails
Per the Zacks analyst, steady investments in its transmission and distribution business boost American Electric's customer reliability.
Fund-Raising Ability Aids Blackstone (BX), High Costs Ails
Per the Zacks analyst, Blackstone's fund raising capability and asset inflows will likely aid profitability. However, elevated costs and low dividend sustainability are major concerns.
General Mills (GIS) Gains From Coronavirus-Led Demand
Per the Zacks analyst, General Mills (GIS) is gaining from high demand due to coronavirus-led elevated at-home consumption.
Investments & Expanding Customer Base Aid Xcel Energy (XEL)
Per the Zacks analyst, Xcel's investment of $22.6 billion in the next five years to fortify infrastructure, while rising electric and natural gas customer base will boost demand and profitability.
Restructuring Aids Ameriprise (AMP), Asset Outflows a Woe
Per the Zacks analyst, Ameriprise's efforts to restructure the business and modify product offerings will support revenue growth.
Diversified Business to Aid Nordson (NDSN), Industrial Weakness Ail
Per a Zacks analyst, Nordson (NDSN) is poised to benefit from a diversified business structure, with exposure in various industries like packaging, electronics, non-wovens, and others.
Dow (DOW) Gains from Cost Actions, Project Investment
According to the Zacks analyst, Dow is well placed to benefit from cost synergy savings and productivity initiatives and its investment in high-return growth projects.
Robust EHR and EMR Platforms Continues to Aid Cerner (CERN)
Per the Zacks analyst, sustained strength in the lucrative EHR (Electronic Health Record) and EMR (Electronic Medical Record) platforms continue to boost Cerner's growth prospects.
Selective Insurance (SIGI) Premiums Aid, Cat Loss Woes Persist
Per the Zacks analyst, Selective Insurance gains from improved pricing and new business growth that in turn has been driving premiums. However, exposure to cat loss inducing earnings volatility ails.
SYNNEX (SNX) Benefits From Rising Remote Working Tool Demand
Per the Zacks analyst, SYNNEX is benefiting from the COVID-19 pandemic-led work-from-home and online-learning wave, which is spurring demand for offsite-working, and learning hardware and software.
Asset Sales, Low Retail Rent Receipts Concern Vornado (VNO)
Per the Zacks analyst, Vornado's aggressive asset sales might have a near-term dilutive impact on earnings. Also, amid the ongoing retail real estate blues, rent collection woes are likely to linger.
Dull Mineral Nutrition Arm & Forex Woes Ail Phibro (PAHC)
The Zacks analyst is worried about the persistently falling Mineral Nutrition arm's product sales. Unfavorable currency movements are an added headwind.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportUnitedHealth Group Incorporated (UNH) : Free Stock Analysis ReportSquare, Inc. (SQ) : Free Stock Analysis ReportGlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) : Free Stock Analysis Reportsalesforce.com, inc. (CRM) : Free Stock Analysis ReportBlackstone Group IncThe (BX) : Free Stock Analysis ReportAmerican Electric Power Company, Inc. (AEP) : Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research || 10 Metrics Where Bitcoin Has Already Hit New All-Time Highs: While we haven’t achieved the elusive $20,000 spot price all-time high yet, these other metrics show where bitcoin has grown far beyond previous peaks.
Formore episodesand free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublica,iHeartRadioorRSS.
This episode is sponsored byCrypto.comandNexo.io.
Related:John Lennon's Son Says Bitcoin ‘Empowers’ People Like Never Before
Earlier this week, investor Nic Carter published a piece called “Nine Bitcoin Charts Already at All-Time Highs” showing just how farbitcoinhad come and how fundamentally bullish this quiet run-up was.
In this piece, NLW goes over those metrics that have achieved all-time highs, and adds one more that happened after Nic published his piece. The metrics include:
• Addresses with a balance of $10 or more
• Open interest on CME bitcoin futures
• Realized capitalization
• Bitcoin options open interest
• Bitcoin priced in Turkish lira
• Bitcoin held by Grayscale
• Stablecoin free float
• Silvergate’s settlement network
• Growth of crypto-native credit
• Market Capitalization
See also:Vijay Boyapati’s Four Mental Models for Valuing Bitcoin
Formore episodesand free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublica,iHeartRadioorRSS.
• 10 Metrics Where Bitcoin Has Already Hit New All-Time Highs
• 10 Metrics Where Bitcoin Has Already Hit New All-Time Highs
• 10 Metrics Where Bitcoin Has Already Hit New All-Time Highs || 10 Metrics Where Bitcoin Has Already Hit New All-Time Highs: While we haven’t achieved the elusive $20,000 spot price all-time high yet, these other metrics show where bitcoin has grown far beyond previous peaks. For more episodes and free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe with Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Pocketcasts , Google Podcasts , Castbox , Stitcher , RadioPublica , iHeartRadio or RSS . This episode is sponsored by Crypto.com and Nexo.io . Related: John Lennon's Son Says Bitcoin ‘Empowers’ People Like Never Before Earlier this week, investor Nic Carter published a piece called “ Nine Bitcoin Charts Already at All-Time Highs ” showing just how far bitcoin had come and how fundamentally bullish this quiet run-up was. In this piece, NLW goes over those metrics that have achieved all-time highs, and adds one more that happened after Nic published his piece. The metrics include: Addresses with a balance of $10 or more Open interest on CME bitcoin futures Realized capitalization Bitcoin options open interest Bitcoin priced in Turkish lira Bitcoin held by Grayscale Stablecoin free float Silvergate’s settlement network Growth of crypto-native credit Market Capitalization See also: Vijay Boyapati’s Four Mental Models for Valuing Bitcoin For more episodes and free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe with Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Pocketcasts , Google Podcasts , Castbox , Stitcher , RadioPublica , iHeartRadio or RSS . Related Stories 10 Metrics Where Bitcoin Has Already Hit New All-Time Highs 10 Metrics Where Bitcoin Has Already Hit New All-Time Highs 10 Metrics Where Bitcoin Has Already Hit New All-Time Highs || 10 Metrics Where Bitcoin Has Already Hit New All-Time Highs: While we haven’t achieved the elusive $20,000 spot price all-time high yet, these other metrics show where bitcoin has grown far beyond previous peaks.
Formore episodesand free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublica,iHeartRadioorRSS.
This episode is sponsored byCrypto.comandNexo.io.
Related:John Lennon's Son Says Bitcoin ‘Empowers’ People Like Never Before
Earlier this week, investor Nic Carter published a piece called “Nine Bitcoin Charts Already at All-Time Highs” showing just how farbitcoinhad come and how fundamentally bullish this quiet run-up was.
In this piece, NLW goes over those metrics that have achieved all-time highs, and adds one more that happened after Nic published his piece. The metrics include:
• Addresses with a balance of $10 or more
• Open interest on CME bitcoin futures
• Realized capitalization
• Bitcoin options open interest
• Bitcoin priced in Turkish lira
• Bitcoin held by Grayscale
• Stablecoin free float
• Silvergate’s settlement network
• Growth of crypto-native credit
• Market Capitalization
See also:Vijay Boyapati’s Four Mental Models for Valuing Bitcoin
Formore episodesand free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublica,iHeartRadioorRSS.
• 10 Metrics Where Bitcoin Has Already Hit New All-Time Highs
• 10 Metrics Where Bitcoin Has Already Hit New All-Time Highs
• 10 Metrics Where Bitcoin Has Already Hit New All-Time Highs || US Government Enlists USDC for ‘Global Foreign Policy Objective’ in Venezuela: Circle CEO: Payments startup Circle is getting political.
The stablecoin issuer is working with the U.S. government to bypass Nicolás Maduro and support the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela led by Juan Guaidó.
Circle is usingUSDC, the dollar-pegged stablecoin it issues with Coinbase, to distribute relief funds to medical workers and other Venezuelan locals,it announced Friday.
Related:Venezuela's Bitcoin Story Puts It in a Category of One
CEO Jeremy Allaire told CoinDesk this was his company’s first government partnership.
“The partnership, obviously, is with the exiled government,” Allaire said in an interview. “The history here is many countries, including the United States, recognize President-elect Juan Guaidó as the president of Venezuela. Maduro did not accept the results of an election and maintained power.”
Maduro was declared an “usurper” by Venezuela’s national assembly, which named Guaidó the interim president in January 2019,according to BBC News.
“As that happened and sanctions were imposed, funds that belonged to the government were seized,” Allaire said.
Related:USDC Is Coming to Solana Blockchain in Potential Boost for Non-Ethereum DeFi
The U.S. Treasury Department has been trying to send these funds directly to Venezuelan residents, but this task has been made difficult after Maduro tried blocking the distribution of these funds. Peer-to-peer payments startup Airtm has been working to solve this issue,with limited resultsso far.
Allaire declined to identify which part of the U.S. government is working with Circle and Airtm, but said Circle had been licensed to distribute funds using USDC.
According to the company’sblog post, the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve deposit funds seized by the U.S. into a bank account in the U.S. tied to the Guaidó government, which converts the funds into USDC that Circle then sends to Airtm.
Airtm has a business account with Circle under the terms of the arrangement. Funds flow through Circle to Airtm, which can then distribute USDC to any of its mobile digital wallet users. Airtm currently has “half a million users in Venezuela,” Allaire said.
“This is, in a sense, a way to bypass the state-controlled banking system and just directly distribute to people,” Allaire said, adding:
“This, I believe, marks really a first where the U.S. is effectively executing a global foreign policy objective with stablecoins for foreign aid because the existing dollar banking system can’t do the job.”
By using USDC, these Venezuelans can spend in dollars, which are currently far more stable than Venezuela’s native bolivar, he said. The bolivar has seen2,358.5% inflationin 2020 alone.
Read more:Here in Venezuela, Doctors Struggle to Access Aid From Crypto Platform
Like with Airtm’s previous efforts, all local residents need to receive the stablecoins is a mobile phone and some way of accessing the internet.
“In this case, because it’s a dictatorship, you also have a VPN and you have digital currency. You can go over the top of the internet and bypass those controls,” Allaire said.
A representative for the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela did not return a request for comment by press time.
• US Government Enlists USDC for ‘Global Foreign Policy Objective’ in Venezuela: Circle CEO
• US Government Enlists USDC for ‘Global Foreign Policy Objective’ in Venezuela: Circle CEO || US Government Enlists USDC for ‘Global Foreign Policy Objective’ in Venezuela: Circle CEO: Payments startup Circle is getting political. The stablecoin issuer is working with the U.S. government to bypass Nicolás Maduro and support the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela led by Juan Guaidó. Circle is using USDC , the dollar-pegged stablecoin it issues with Coinbase, to distribute relief funds to medical workers and other Venezuelan locals, it announced Friday . Related: Venezuela's Bitcoin Story Puts It in a Category of One CEO Jeremy Allaire told CoinDesk this was his company’s first government partnership. “The partnership, obviously, is with the exiled government,” Allaire said in an interview. “The history here is many countries, including the United States, recognize President-elect Juan Guaidó as the president of Venezuela. Maduro did not accept the results of an election and maintained power.” Maduro was declared an “usurper” by Venezuela’s national assembly, which named Guaidó the interim president in January 2019, according to BBC News . “As that happened and sanctions were imposed, funds that belonged to the government were seized,” Allaire said. Related: USDC Is Coming to Solana Blockchain in Potential Boost for Non-Ethereum DeFi The U.S. Treasury Department has been trying to send these funds directly to Venezuelan residents, but this task has been made difficult after Maduro tried blocking the distribution of these funds. Peer-to-peer payments startup Airtm has been working to solve this issue, with limited results so far. Allaire declined to identify which part of the U.S. government is working with Circle and Airtm, but said Circle had been licensed to distribute funds using USDC. According to the company’s blog post , the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve deposit funds seized by the U.S. into a bank account in the U.S. tied to the Guaidó government, which converts the funds into USDC that Circle then sends to Airtm. Story continues How it works Airtm has a business account with Circle under the terms of the arrangement. Funds flow through Circle to Airtm, which can then distribute USDC to any of its mobile digital wallet users. Airtm currently has “half a million users in Venezuela,” Allaire said. “This is, in a sense, a way to bypass the state-controlled banking system and just directly distribute to people,” Allaire said, adding: “This, I believe, marks really a first where the U.S. is effectively executing a global foreign policy objective with stablecoins for foreign aid because the existing dollar banking system can’t do the job.” By using USDC, these Venezuelans can spend in dollars, which are currently far more stable than Venezuela’s native bolivar, he said. The bolivar has seen 2,358.5% inflation in 2020 alone. Read more: Here in Venezuela, Doctors Struggle to Access Aid From Crypto Platform Like with Airtm’s previous efforts, all local residents need to receive the stablecoins is a mobile phone and some way of accessing the internet. “In this case, because it’s a dictatorship, you also have a VPN and you have digital currency. You can go over the top of the internet and bypass those controls,” Allaire said. A representative for the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela did not return a request for comment by press time. Related Stories US Government Enlists USDC for ‘Global Foreign Policy Objective’ in Venezuela: Circle CEO US Government Enlists USDC for ‘Global Foreign Policy Objective’ in Venezuela: Circle CEO || MicroStrategy Wants to Be in the Bitcoin Business, Not Just an Investor: MicroStrategy executives are on the hunt for blockchain experts who could help the publicly traded firm build a suite of bitcoin data services.
Exactly what those services might be, when they would come online and how they would be monetized are still open questions. But in a Nov. 16 conference call, Chief Executive Michael Saylor, who spearheaded MicroStrategy’s nine-figurebitcoinallocations this summer, told investors his firm is eager to “leverage” its business intelligence experience in the bitcoin data space.
“There’s an entire exploding universe of intelligence opportunities all wrapped around this kind of unique bitcoin intelligence coming off the blockchain,” he said. “And we’ll explore it all.”
Related:Bitcoin Shortage? Pantera Thinks Market Rally Driven by PayPal Buys
As first reported byThe Block, the comments mark a potential expansion by one of the single largest participants in bitcoin’s current bull run: from pure bitcoin investor (and node runner) to a firm also in the business of bitcoin.
To be sure, “we don’t have any one thing that we’re sure makes sense to commercialize yet,” Saylor told investors.
But the company is putting feelers out for new hires nonetheless.
“We’re actively looking to source and recruit some talented folk that have expertise in blockchain that would like to join us on this journey,” said Chief Technology Officer Tim Lang.
• MicroStrategy Wants to Be in the Bitcoin Business, Not Just an Investor
• MicroStrategy Wants to Be in the Bitcoin Business, Not Just an Investor
• MicroStrategy Wants to Be in the Bitcoin Business, Not Just an Investor
[Social Media Buzz]
None available.
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18370.00, 18364.12, 19107.46, 18732.12, 17150.62, 17108.40, 17717.41, 18177.48, 19625.84, 18803.00
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 8209.40, 7833.04, 7954.48, 7165.70, 6890.52, 6973.53, 6844.23, 7083.80, 7456.11, 6853.84, 6811.47, 6636.32, 6911.09, 7023.52, 6770.73, 6834.76, 6968.32, 7889.25, 7895.96, 7986.24, 8329.11, 8058.67, 7902.09, 8163.42, 8294.31, 8845.83, 8895.58, 8802.46, 8930.88, 9697.50, 8845.74, 9281.51, 8987.05, 9348.48, 9419.08, 9240.55, 9119.01, 9235.92, 9743.86, 9700.76, 9858.15, 9654.80, 9373.01, 9234.82, 9325.18, 9043.94, 8441.49, 8504.89, 8723.94, 8716.79, 8510.38, 8368.83, 8094.32, 8250.97, 8247.18, 8513.25, 8418.99, 8041.78, 7557.82, 7587.34, 7480.14, 7355.88, 7368.22, 7135.99, 7472.59, 7406.52, 7494.17, 7541.45, 7643.45, 7720.25, 7514.47, 7633.76, 7653.98, 7678.24, 7624.92, 7531.98, 6786.02, 6906.92, 6582.36, 6349.90, 6675.35, 6456.58, 6550.16, 6499.27, 6734.82, 6769.94, 6776.55, 6729.74, 6083.69, 6162.48.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2018-06-23]
Volume: 3431360000, RSI (14-day): 32.29, 50-day EMA: 7438.30, 200-day EMA: 8336.11
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Weakening Industrial Sector ETF Could Foreshadow Tough Times Ahead: This article was originally published on ETFTrends.com. The widening underperformance between the industrials sector and related industrial ETFs to the rest of the S&P 500 could signal further market troubles ahead. The Industrial Select Sector SPDR ( XLI ) , the largest ETF tracking industrial stocks, declined 5.0% over the past month while the S&P 500 gained 0.8%. Year-to-date, XLI fell 3.6%, compared to the 3.1% rise in the S&P 500. Matt Maley, an equity strategist at Miller and Tabak & Co., pointed out that XLI historically has been “ridiculously, highly correlated” to the moves of the broader market, reports Olivia Schaber for Bloomberg. Related: 8 ETFs to Hedge Fallout if Trade Wars Escalate The fund has acted as a broad economic gauge. XLI's top 10 largest holdings include many market leaders, such as Boeing Co. 8.3%, Caterpillar Inc. 3.8% and General Motors Co. 5.0%. The industrial ETF includes a large 27.9% tilt toward the aerospace and defense sub-sector, along with 16.4% industrial conglomerates, 15.% machinery, 10.5% road and rail, 7.4% air freight and logistics, 5.25 electrical equipment, 4.8% airlines, 3.1% commercial services and supplies, and 3.1% professional services. “If history is any guide, and the XLI breaks below its May lows anytime soon, it won’t be long before the S&P follows,” Maley warned. “Everyone talks about what’s going on in the tech stocks, but we’ve also seen if you look at the industrial names, they’ve played a bigger role in the leadership in the market that most people realize.” Traders could also hedge against further risk in the industrials sector through bearish ETF plays like the ProShares UltraShort Industrials ( SIJ ) , which tracks the inverse 2x or -200% daily performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Industrials Index. SIJ jumped 6.6% over the past week as XLI dipped 3.9%. For more information on the industrials sector, visit our industrials category . POPULAR ARTICLES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM The Financial Advice Suitability Standard Does Not Mean What You Think Facebook Algorithm Changes: What Content Marketers Need to Know Disney Raises Fox Offer to $71.3B, Outbids Comcast’s $66B Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein: Bitcoin ‘Not for Me’ Waning Bitcoin Volatility Could be a Good Thing READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || Weakening Industrial Sector ETF Could Foreshadow Tough Times Ahead: This article was originally published on ETFTrends.com. The widening underperformance between the industrials sector and related industrial ETFs to the rest of the S&P 500 could signal further market troubles ahead. The Industrial Select Sector SPDR ( XLI ) , the largest ETF tracking industrial stocks, declined 5.0% over the past month while the S&P 500 gained 0.8%. Year-to-date, XLI fell 3.6%, compared to the 3.1% rise in the S&P 500. Matt Maley, an equity strategist at Miller and Tabak & Co., pointed out that XLI historically has been “ridiculously, highly correlated” to the moves of the broader market, reports Olivia Schaber for Bloomberg. Related: 8 ETFs to Hedge Fallout if Trade Wars Escalate The fund has acted as a broad economic gauge. XLI's top 10 largest holdings include many market leaders, such as Boeing Co. 8.3%, Caterpillar Inc. 3.8% and General Motors Co. 5.0%. The industrial ETF includes a large 27.9% tilt toward the aerospace and defense sub-sector, along with 16.4% industrial conglomerates, 15.% machinery, 10.5% road and rail, 7.4% air freight and logistics, 5.25 electrical equipment, 4.8% airlines, 3.1% commercial services and supplies, and 3.1% professional services. “If history is any guide, and the XLI breaks below its May lows anytime soon, it won’t be long before the S&P follows,” Maley warned. “Everyone talks about what’s going on in the tech stocks, but we’ve also seen if you look at the industrial names, they’ve played a bigger role in the leadership in the market that most people realize.” Traders could also hedge against further risk in the industrials sector through bearish ETF plays like the ProShares UltraShort Industrials ( SIJ ) , which tracks the inverse 2x or -200% daily performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Industrials Index. SIJ jumped 6.6% over the past week as XLI dipped 3.9%. For more information on the industrials sector, visit our industrials category . POPULAR ARTICLES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM The Financial Advice Suitability Standard Does Not Mean What You Think Facebook Algorithm Changes: What Content Marketers Need to Know Disney Raises Fox Offer to $71.3B, Outbids Comcast’s $66B Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein: Bitcoin ‘Not for Me’ Waning Bitcoin Volatility Could be a Good Thing READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || Qualcomm Isn't Quitting Data Centers (Yet): Qualcomm(NASDAQ: QCOM)President Cristiano Amon recently denied rumors that the chipmaker would either sell or shutter its fledgling server chip unit. Speaking to Reuters, Amon said: "We are not looking at strategic options. We are not selling. We are still focused on it."
Amon said that Qualcomm would instead roll its server chip business into its CDMA Technologies unit, which designs and sells mobile chipsets, to cut costs. Amon noted that the restructured unit would focus on selling chips to large cloud computing players, particularly Chinese tech giants likeBaidu,Alibaba, andTencent.
Image source: Getty Images.
Cutting costs makes sense since server chips aren't a core business for Qualcomm. But it also raises eyebrows, since Qualcomm should probably increase its investments in the server unit if it wants to dentIntel's(NASDAQ: INTC)99% share of the market. While Qualcomm isn't ready to give up on data centers yet, investors shouldn't get too excited about its future in server chips.
Qualcomm generates most of its revenue from sales of mobile chipsets, and most of its profits from licensing fees for its wireless technologies. Its mobile chipset business faces tough competition from cheaper rivals likeMediaTekand first-party chipsets from OEMs likeHuawei. Its licensing business, meanwhile, is besieged by OEMs and regulators that argue that its licensing fees (up to 5% of the wholesale price of each phone) are too high.
To diversify its business away from the mobile market, Qualcomm launched chipsets for adjacent markets, including Internet of Things (IoT) devices, connected cars, and data centers. In the data center market, many major tech companies are seeking cheaper alternatives to Intel's flagship Xeon chips as the growth of cloud services, streaming media, and other online services bolster demand for more powerful servers.
ARM-based chips, which marginalized Intel's x86 chips in the mobile market, have long been considered a power-efficient alternative to Intel's Xeons in data centers. Yet many earlier ARM-based server chips, likeAMD's(NASDAQ: AMD)A-Series Opteron processors, fell short in head-to-head comparisons against Xeons. Most applications were also optimized for x86 processors instead of ARM processors.
Image source: Getty Images.
That's why Qualcomm focused heavily on horsepower with its Centriq 2400-series data center chips. Qualcomm claimed that the 48-core Centriq 2460 offered a four-fold boost in performance per dollar against Intel's Xeon Platinum 8180, and several major tech companies -- includingSamsung,Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, and Alibaba -- started testing out Qualcomm's chips. Qualcomm also worked withMicrosoftto port Windows Server to ARM chips.
Unfortunately, many companies are probably reluctant to buy Centriq chips for two reasons. First, larger companies would still need to customize their internal software for ARM-based chips, which could be a costly and buggy transition. Smaller companies, which mostly use off-the-shelf software designed for x86 chips, would need to install ARM-based software instead.
Second,AMD's(NASDAQ: AMD)Epyc server chipsare more attractive alternatives to Intel's Xeons than Qualcomm's Centriqs. Epyc chips are built on the same x86 architecture as Xeons, which cause less software headaches for data center administrators, while providing faster performance in memory-intensive applications. AMD also recently announced its second-generation Epyc chips, which will officially launch next year.
Intel realizes that it will lose market share in data centers to AMD in the near future. Then-CEOBrian Krzanichrecently told Instinet analyst Roman Shah that Intel's job was to merely prevent AMD from capturing a 15% to 20% share of the data center market, rather than preserve its near-monopoly. Therefore, investors looking for a viable underdog in the data center market should focus on AMD instead of Qualcomm.
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Leo Sunowns shares of Baidu and Tencent Holdings. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Baidu and Tencent Holdings. The Motley Fool owns shares of Qualcomm. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Qualcomm Isn't Quitting Data Centers (Yet): Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) President Cristiano Amon recently denied rumors that the chipmaker would either sell or shutter its fledgling server chip unit. Speaking to Reuters, Amon said: "We are not looking at strategic options. We are not selling. We are still focused on it." Amon said that Qualcomm would instead roll its server chip business into its CDMA Technologies unit, which designs and sells mobile chipsets, to cut costs. Amon noted that the restructured unit would focus on selling chips to large cloud computing players, particularly Chinese tech giants like Baidu , Alibaba , and Tencent . Servers in a data center. Image source: Getty Images. Cutting costs makes sense since server chips aren't a core business for Qualcomm. But it also raises eyebrows, since Qualcomm should probably increase its investments in the server unit if it wants to dent Intel 's (NASDAQ: INTC) 99% share of the market. While Qualcomm isn't ready to give up on data centers yet, investors shouldn't get too excited about its future in server chips. Why did Qualcomm enter the data center market? Qualcomm generates most of its revenue from sales of mobile chipsets, and most of its profits from licensing fees for its wireless technologies. Its mobile chipset business faces tough competition from cheaper rivals like MediaTek and first-party chipsets from OEMs like Huawei . Its licensing business, meanwhile, is besieged by OEMs and regulators that argue that its licensing fees (up to 5% of the wholesale price of each phone) are too high. To diversify its business away from the mobile market, Qualcomm launched chipsets for adjacent markets, including Internet of Things (IoT) devices, connected cars, and data centers. In the data center market, many major tech companies are seeking cheaper alternatives to Intel's flagship Xeon chips as the growth of cloud services, streaming media, and other online services bolster demand for more powerful servers. ARM-based chips, which marginalized Intel's x86 chips in the mobile market, have long been considered a power-efficient alternative to Intel's Xeons in data centers. Yet many earlier ARM-based server chips, like AMD 's (NASDAQ: AMD) A-Series Opteron processors, fell short in head-to-head comparisons against Xeons. Most applications were also optimized for x86 processors instead of ARM processors. Two people walk through a data center. Image source: Getty Images. That's why Qualcomm focused heavily on horsepower with its Centriq 2400-series data center chips. Qualcomm claimed that the 48-core Centriq 2460 offered a four-fold boost in performance per dollar against Intel's Xeon Platinum 8180, and several major tech companies -- including Samsung , Hewlett-Packard Enterprise , and Alibaba -- started testing out Qualcomm's chips. Qualcomm also worked with Microsoft to port Windows Server to ARM chips. Story continues Why Qualcomm faces an uphill battle Unfortunately, many companies are probably reluctant to buy Centriq chips for two reasons. First, larger companies would still need to customize their internal software for ARM-based chips, which could be a costly and buggy transition. Smaller companies, which mostly use off-the-shelf software designed for x86 chips, would need to install ARM-based software instead. Second, AMD 's (NASDAQ: AMD) Epyc server chips are more attractive alternatives to Intel's Xeons than Qualcomm's Centriqs. Epyc chips are built on the same x86 architecture as Xeons, which cause less software headaches for data center administrators, while providing faster performance in memory-intensive applications. AMD also recently announced its second-generation Epyc chips, which will officially launch next year. Intel realizes that it will lose market share in data centers to AMD in the near future. Then-CEO Brian Krzanich recently told Instinet analyst Roman Shah that Intel's job was to merely prevent AMD from capturing a 15% to 20% share of the data center market, rather than preserve its near-monopoly. Therefore, investors looking for a viable underdog in the data center market should focus on AMD instead of Qualcomm. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Leo Sun owns shares of Baidu and Tencent Holdings. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Baidu and Tencent Holdings. The Motley Fool owns shares of Qualcomm. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . View comments || What Happened in the Stock Market Today: Stocks ended a losing week on a positive note Friday, with theDow Jones Industrial Average(DJINDICES: ^DJI)snapping an eight-day losing streak and theS&P 500(SNPINDEX: ^GSPC)closing with a small gain.
[{"Index": "Dow", "Percentage Change": "0.49%", "Point Change": "119.19"}, {"Index": "S&P 500", "Percentage Change": "0.19%", "Point Change": "5.12"}]
Data source: Yahoo! Finance.
Energy led the market, with theEnergy Select Sector SPDR ETF(NYSEMKT: XLE)rising 2%. Banks were laggards today; theSPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF(NYSEMKT: KRE)lost 1%.
As for individual stocks,CarMax(NYSE: KMX)popped after beating earnings expectations, andRed Hat(NYSE: RHT)tanked following weak guidance for the current quarter.
Image source: Getty Images.
Used-car dealer CarMax reportedfiscal first-quarterrevenue and earnings that exceeded expectations and shares jumped 12.9%. Revenue increased 5.5% to $4.79 billion, well above the analyst consensus estimate of $4.61 billion. Net earnings per share jumped 17.7% to $1.33, compared with expectations for 9.7% growth.
Comparable-store unit sales fell 2.3% from the period a year earlier, which is an improvement from the 8% decline last quarter. The average selling price of used vehicles increased 3% and the number of stores grew 10%, resulting in a net 4.6% increase in used vehicle sales on 1.6% more units. Wholesale unit sales jumped 9.6% and income from CarMax Auto Finance grew 5.7%.
A decrease in the company's tax rate to 25.3% from 37.4% accounted for almost the entire 12.7% gain in net income, but the growth in EPS also was helped by a 4% decrease in the shares outstanding, thanks to the company's aggressive buyback program.
CarMax is still dealing with decreased traffic and a slowdown in the used vehicle market that is creating tough comparisons with strong performance last year. Investors today were impressed that the company is managing togenerate growthdespite the challenges.
Shares of Red Hatsank 14.2%today after the cloud software provider reported fiscal first-quarter results that beat expectations, but followed with disappointing guidance for the current quarter. Revenue increased 20% to $814 million and adjusted earnings per share popped 24% to $0.72. Analysts were expecting EPS of $0.69 on revenue of $808 million. Causing consternation among investors was the company's guidance for Q2 revenue between $822 million and $830 million, compared with the analyst consensus of $854 million, and adjusted EPS of $0.81, well below the expected $0.89.
Subscription revenue from infrastructure-related software, the company's largest segment, grew 11% in constant currency to $522 million and subscription revenue from application development and other emerging technology offerings for the quarter grew 32% excluding currency effects. Both subscription growth numbers represented slowdowns from last quarter. On theconference call, Red Hat admitted that its core middleware business "has slowed a bit."
Cash flow remains strong, though, with operating cash flow growing 34% from the period a year earlier. The company announced a new authorization for $1 billion in share buybacks.
Despite the disappointing forecast for the next quarter, Red Hat raised its full-year guidance for adjusted EPS by 1.9%, while cutting revenue guidance by $50 million, "solely to account for the change in FX rates," according to CFO Eric Shander.
Red Hat investors have high expectations for growth from the provider of open-source tools to help companies migrate systems to the cloud, and those expectations for the very near term may have gotten a bit ahead of reality.
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Jim Crumlyowns shares of Red Hat. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends CarMax. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Why BlackBerry, J.C. Penney, and Splunk Slumped Today: Friday was generally favorable on Wall Street, although pockets of weakness in the tech and small-cap area held back theNasdaq CompositeandRussell 2000indexes even as theDowandS&P 500climbed. Trade remained a major issue for investors to consider, but the coming second-quarter earnings season also promises to introduce volatility. Despite big gains in the energy market, some companies suffered bad news that sent their shares sharply lower.BlackBerry(NYSE: BB),J.C. Penney(NYSE: JCP), andSplunk(NASDAQ: SPLK)were among the worst performers on the day. Here's why they did so poorly.
Shares of BlackBerry fell close to 9%after the mobile device pioneer reported its fiscal first-quarter financial results. Investors reacted negatively to news that the company's growth rate will slow substantially, reflecting BlackBerry's decision to move toward a subscription-based model that will result in a one-time disruption to its top-line results. Most investors have gotten used to the idea that BlackBerry now wants to concentrate on higher-growth areas like automotive software in the budding Enterprise of Things space. Yet today's drop makes it clear that some shareholders are still coming to terms with exactly what BlackBerry's transformation will mean, at least in the short run.
Image source: BlackBerry.
J.C. Penney stock sank 5%, falling despite what a former executive called good news for the department store retailer. On Thursday, the Supreme Court overturned its previous decision and will now allow states to impose sales tax on online retailers. That arguably puts brick-and-mortar retailers like J.C. Penney on an even footing with their internet counterparts, and former J.C. Penney CEO Allen Questrom was positive about what impact the high court decision will have on the industry. Yet even if the company can win back incremental business from online retailers that had been able to claim a modest pricing advantage based on sales tax disparities, it willstill have to compete hardagainst its department store peers in order to return to its former footing.
Finally, shares of Splunk dropped 7%. The data analytics company likely felt pressure frompoor performance from open-source software specialistRed Hat, which warned that results in the current quarter could deteriorate from previous growth rates. Also contributing to the declines was simply the fact that the stock had seen such dramatic gains recently, having roughly doubled between mid-2017 and earlier this month. Splunk isn't yet profitable, but its top-line growth rates are strong enough that positive earnings aren't too far away at this point. Given the utility of its services, Splunk has plenty of opportunities to grow even if Red Hat and some other companies in the space end up falling behind.
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Dan Caplingerhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Splunk. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Why BlackBerry, J.C. Penney, and Splunk Slumped Today: Friday was generally favorable on Wall Street, although pockets of weakness in the tech and small-cap area held back the Nasdaq Composite and Russell 2000 indexes even as the Dow and S&P 500 climbed. Trade remained a major issue for investors to consider, but the coming second-quarter earnings season also promises to introduce volatility. Despite big gains in the energy market, some companies suffered bad news that sent their shares sharply lower. BlackBerry (NYSE: BB) , J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP) , and Splunk (NASDAQ: SPLK) were among the worst performers on the day. Here's why they did so poorly. BlackBerry sours Shares of BlackBerry fell close to 9% after the mobile device pioneer reported its fiscal first-quarter financial results. Investors reacted negatively to news that the company's growth rate will slow substantially, reflecting BlackBerry's decision to move toward a subscription-based model that will result in a one-time disruption to its top-line results. Most investors have gotten used to the idea that BlackBerry now wants to concentrate on higher-growth areas like automotive software in the budding Enterprise of Things space. Yet today's drop makes it clear that some shareholders are still coming to terms with exactly what BlackBerry's transformation will mean, at least in the short run. BlackBerry mobile device against a black background. Image source: BlackBerry. Penney gets tarnished J.C. Penney stock sank 5%, falling despite what a former executive called good news for the department store retailer. On Thursday, the Supreme Court overturned its previous decision and will now allow states to impose sales tax on online retailers. That arguably puts brick-and-mortar retailers like J.C. Penney on an even footing with their internet counterparts, and former J.C. Penney CEO Allen Questrom was positive about what impact the high court decision will have on the industry. Yet even if the company can win back incremental business from online retailers that had been able to claim a modest pricing advantage based on sales tax disparities, it will still have to compete hard against its department store peers in order to return to its former footing. Story continues Splunk goes plunk Finally, shares of Splunk dropped 7%. The data analytics company likely felt pressure from poor performance from open-source software specialist Red Hat , which warned that results in the current quarter could deteriorate from previous growth rates. Also contributing to the declines was simply the fact that the stock had seen such dramatic gains recently, having roughly doubled between mid-2017 and earlier this month. Splunk isn't yet profitable, but its top-line growth rates are strong enough that positive earnings aren't too far away at this point. Given the utility of its services, Splunk has plenty of opportunities to grow even if Red Hat and some other companies in the space end up falling behind. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Dan Caplinger has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Splunk. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Asia ETFs Join Worst Losers in Trade War Selloff: This article was originally published on ETFTrends.com. As the global markets reeled in response to heightened trade tensions, Asian markets and Asia ETFs were among the worst off. Over three-fourths of the $2.1 trillion lost in stock values worldwide was associated with Asian markets, reports Cecile Vannucci for Bloomberg. The selling in Chinese markets, in particular, saw values decline by $746 billion as the Shanghai Composite Index neared a bear market. The iShares China Large-Cap ETF ( FXI ) , the largest China-related ETF, declined 9.7% over the past three months and was down 4.2% year-to-date. Meanwhile, the Xtrackers Harvest CSI 300 China A ETF ( ASHR ) , the largest China A-shares related ETF, decreased 14.3% over the past three months and dropped 11.9% so far this year. Fueling the selloff, strategists from Goldman Sachs Group and Morgan Stanley cut forecasts for Asian markets this week. Asia ETF Woes Among the worst off, the Philippine benchmark equity index joined Vietnam in a bear market, and gauges that covered Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand and Indonesia are down more than 10% from their highs. Over the past three months, the iShares MSCI Malaysia ETF ( EWM ) fell 10.9%, iShares MSCI Philippines ETF ( EPHE ) plunged 14.0%, VanEck Vectors V ietnam ETF ( VNM ) declined 18.6%, iShares MSCI Hong Kong ETF ( EWH ) dropped 4.4% and iShares MSCI Thailand Capped ETF ( THD ) retreated 15.2%. Indian markets, though, stood out among the Asian group as it held up relatively well in face of the selling. Minutes from the recent RBI policy meeting revealed the central bank was less hawkish than some market participants expected. The iShares MSCI India ETF (CBOE:INDA) , the largest India country-specific ETF, gained 2.1% over the past month but was down 2.1% over the past three months. For more information on the Asian markets, visit our Asia category . POPULAR ARTICLES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM The Financial Advice Suitability Standard Does Not Mean What You Think Facebook Algorithm Changes: What Content Marketers Need to Know Disney Raises Fox Offer to $71.3B, Outbids Comcast’s $66B Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein: Bitcoin ‘Not for Me’ Waning Bitcoin Volatility Could be a Good Thing READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || Asia ETFs Join Worst Losers in Trade War Selloff: This article was originally published on ETFTrends.com. As the global markets reeled in response to heightened trade tensions, Asian markets and Asia ETFs were among the worst off. Over three-fourths of the $2.1 trillion lost in stock values worldwide was associated with Asian markets, reports Cecile Vannucci for Bloomberg. The selling in Chinese markets, in particular, saw values decline by $746 billion as the Shanghai Composite Index neared a bear market. The iShares China Large-Cap ETF ( FXI ) , the largest China-related ETF, declined 9.7% over the past three months and was down 4.2% year-to-date. Meanwhile, the Xtrackers Harvest CSI 300 China A ETF ( ASHR ) , the largest China A-shares related ETF, decreased 14.3% over the past three months and dropped 11.9% so far this year. Fueling the selloff, strategists from Goldman Sachs Group and Morgan Stanley cut forecasts for Asian markets this week. Asia ETF Woes Among the worst off, the Philippine benchmark equity index joined Vietnam in a bear market, and gauges that covered Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand and Indonesia are down more than 10% from their highs. Over the past three months, the iShares MSCI Malaysia ETF ( EWM ) fell 10.9%, iShares MSCI Philippines ETF ( EPHE ) plunged 14.0%, VanEck Vectors V ietnam ETF ( VNM ) declined 18.6%, iShares MSCI Hong Kong ETF ( EWH ) dropped 4.4% and iShares MSCI Thailand Capped ETF ( THD ) retreated 15.2%. Indian markets, though, stood out among the Asian group as it held up relatively well in face of the selling. Minutes from the recent RBI policy meeting revealed the central bank was less hawkish than some market participants expected. The iShares MSCI India ETF (CBOE:INDA) , the largest India country-specific ETF, gained 2.1% over the past month but was down 2.1% over the past three months. For more information on the Asian markets, visit our Asia category . POPULAR ARTICLES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM The Financial Advice Suitability Standard Does Not Mean What You Think Facebook Algorithm Changes: What Content Marketers Need to Know Disney Raises Fox Offer to $71.3B, Outbids Comcast’s $66B Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein: Bitcoin ‘Not for Me’ Waning Bitcoin Volatility Could be a Good Thing READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || Should Investors Give BitAuto a Chance?: Shares ofBitAuto Holdings(NYSE: BITA)jumped nearly 12% on June 13 after the online services provider for the Chinese automotive industry posted its first-quarter numbers. Its revenue rose 52% annually to $346.1 million, topping expectations by nearly $38 million.
Its non-GAAP net income fell 76% to $5.9 million, or $0.13 per diluted ADS, but that still beat estimates by $0.21. However, Bitauto remains unprofitable on a GAAP basis, and its losses widened from $8 million to $46 million.
Image source: Getty Images.
Investors were likely concerned about those losses, and Bitauto's initial rally quickly faded. The stock ended the day up less than 2%, and remains down 14% for the year. Should investors give Bitauto a chance at these levels, or does it face too many headwinds to make a sustained recovery?
Bitauto's top-line growth looks solid. Its transaction values more than doubled to $180 million during the quarter, its advertising and subscription revenues climbed 16% to $123 million, and its digital marketing solutions revenues grew 28% to $33 million.
Bitauto is also backed by Chinese tech giantsTencent(NASDAQOTH: TCEHY)andJD.com(NASDAQ: JD). Tencentowns WeChat, the top mobile messaging app in China, while JD.com is the country'ssecond largeste-commerce player afterAlibaba.
Tencent's and JD's investments in Bitauto, which date back over three years, allow the two companies to expand their ecosystems into the online automotive market. By tethering itself to Tencent's WeChat and JD's online marketplace, Bitauto widens its moat againstAutohome(NYSE: ATHM), its primary rival.
Bitauto is also posting stronger top-line growth than Autohome. Wall Street expects Bitauto's revenue to rise 24% to $1.7 billion this year, while Autohome's revenue is expected to climb just 13% to $1.1 billion. Yet Bitauto trades at 1.1 times this year's sales, while Autohome has a much higher ratio of 12.2. Bitauto also trades at less than 19 times this year's earnings, while Autohome trades at 33 times forward earnings.
Image source: Getty Images.
Bitauto is expanding its ecosystem. Yixin, its transaction services subsidiary, recently partnered with used car transaction provider Yusheng through a strategic investment. It expects that partnership -- along with its integrations with Tencent and JD -- to strengthen its presence across China's used car market.
Despite those strengths, Bitauto still faces formidable macro and micro challenges. On a macro level, China's auto sales have been slowing down over the past few years, while new U.S. tariffs could disrupt sales of American vehicles in China.
On a micro level, Bitauto remains at a disadvantage against Autohome, since the latter is more profitable. Autohome's non-GAAP net income rose 42% annually to $81 million last quarter, while analysts anticipate 20% earnings growth for the full year.
Bitauto attributed most of its GAAP loss last quarter to "increased expenses" related to its "marketing efforts and a provision for credit losses." Simply put, Bitauto's expenses will keep climbing as it tries to counter Autohome. Autohome's expansion of a cloud-based SaaS (software as a service) platform for over 35,000 used car dealers could also counter Bitauto's deal with Yusheng.
Lastly, Bitauto's top-line growth is decelerating. It expects just 24%-26% revenue growth during the second quarter on an ASC 606 accounting basis (or 23%-25% growth on a gross basis). That slowdown, combined with tough competition and rising costs, won't bode well for its bottom-line growth.
Bitauto has clear strengths, but it remains a risky investment. Its losses could widen as it ramps up its efforts to counter Autohome, and macro concerns about auto sales or trade tensions could easily sink both stocks. For now, I'd stick with better-diversified online players like Tencent and JD instead of smaller players like Bitauto.
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Leo Sunowns shares of JD.com and Tencent Holdings. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends JD.com and Tencent Holdings. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Should Investors Give BitAuto a Chance?: Shares of BitAuto Holdings (NYSE: BITA) jumped nearly 12% on June 13 after the online services provider for the Chinese automotive industry posted its first-quarter numbers. Its revenue rose 52% annually to $346.1 million, topping expectations by nearly $38 million. Its non-GAAP net income fell 76% to $5.9 million, or $0.13 per diluted ADS, but that still beat estimates by $0.21. However, Bitauto remains unprofitable on a GAAP basis, and its losses widened from $8 million to $46 million. Aerial view of cars on a lot. Image source: Getty Images. Investors were likely concerned about those losses, and Bitauto's initial rally quickly faded. The stock ended the day up less than 2%, and remains down 14% for the year. Should investors give Bitauto a chance at these levels, or does it face too many headwinds to make a sustained recovery? The bull case for Bitauto Bitauto's top-line growth looks solid. Its transaction values more than doubled to $180 million during the quarter, its advertising and subscription revenues climbed 16% to $123 million, and its digital marketing solutions revenues grew 28% to $33 million. Bitauto is also backed by Chinese tech giants Tencent (NASDAQOTH: TCEHY) and JD.com (NASDAQ: JD) . Tencent owns WeChat , the top mobile messaging app in China, while JD.com is the country's second largest e-commerce player after Alibaba . Tencent's and JD's investments in Bitauto, which date back over three years, allow the two companies to expand their ecosystems into the online automotive market. By tethering itself to Tencent's WeChat and JD's online marketplace, Bitauto widens its moat against Autohome (NYSE: ATHM) , its primary rival. Bitauto is also posting stronger top-line growth than Autohome. Wall Street expects Bitauto's revenue to rise 24% to $1.7 billion this year, while Autohome's revenue is expected to climb just 13% to $1.1 billion. Yet Bitauto trades at 1.1 times this year's sales, while Autohome has a much higher ratio of 12.2. Bitauto also trades at less than 19 times this year's earnings, while Autohome trades at 33 times forward earnings. Story continues A car dealer makes a sale. Image source: Getty Images. Bitauto is expanding its ecosystem. Yixin, its transaction services subsidiary, recently partnered with used car transaction provider Yusheng through a strategic investment. It expects that partnership -- along with its integrations with Tencent and JD -- to strengthen its presence across China's used car market. The bear case against Bitauto Despite those strengths, Bitauto still faces formidable macro and micro challenges. On a macro level, China's auto sales have been slowing down over the past few years, while new U.S. tariffs could disrupt sales of American vehicles in China. On a micro level, Bitauto remains at a disadvantage against Autohome, since the latter is more profitable. Autohome's non-GAAP net income rose 42% annually to $81 million last quarter, while analysts anticipate 20% earnings growth for the full year. Bitauto attributed most of its GAAP loss last quarter to "increased expenses" related to its "marketing efforts and a provision for credit losses." Simply put, Bitauto's expenses will keep climbing as it tries to counter Autohome. Autohome's expansion of a cloud-based SaaS (software as a service) platform for over 35,000 used car dealers could also counter Bitauto's deal with Yusheng. Lastly, Bitauto's top-line growth is decelerating. It expects just 24%-26% revenue growth during the second quarter on an ASC 606 accounting basis (or 23%-25% growth on a gross basis). That slowdown, combined with tough competition and rising costs, won't bode well for its bottom-line growth. The verdict: Avoid Bitauto for now Bitauto has clear strengths, but it remains a risky investment. Its losses could widen as it ramps up its efforts to counter Autohome, and macro concerns about auto sales or trade tensions could easily sink both stocks. For now, I'd stick with better-diversified online players like Tencent and JD instead of smaller players like Bitauto. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Leo Sun owns shares of JD.com and Tencent Holdings. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends JD.com and Tencent Holdings. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || 8 ETFs to Hedge Fallout if Trade Wars Escalate: This article was originally published onETFTrends.com.
As the trade war rhetoric intensifies, some investors are concerned that the tensions could push the U.S. economy into a recession. However, investors can turn to a number of ETF strategies that can help a portfolio hedge against the risks.
"Our calculations suggest that a major trade war would lead to a significant reduction in growth," Michelle Meyer, U.S. economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, said in a note, according toCNBC. "A decline in confidence and supply chain disruptions could amplify the trade shock, leading to an outright recession. We continue to believe that the probability of a full blown trade war is low but the risks are rising and it remains a key uncertainty to our outlook."
Concerns over a full blown trade war comes as President Donald Trump threatens more stringent tariffs aimed at both China and the European Union. On the same day the Bank of Merrill Lynch revealed its concerns, Trump warned that the U.S. could hit European auto imports with a 20% tariff unless the E.U. curbs duties on American cars.
Will U.S. Growth Weaken?
Observers are concerned that the duties on imports could cause a reciprocal actions that would spiral out of control and potentially fuel inflation and weaken U.S. growth. The retaliatory actions between global economies in the trade spate would also dampen consumer and business confidence.
"The good news is that we are still many steps away from a full blown global trade war," Meyer said. "The bad news is that the tail risks are rising and our work and the literature suggest a major global trade confrontation would likely push the US and the rest of the world to the brink of a recession."
Consequently, investors who are concerned about the potential risks ahead may consider CBOE Volatility Index or VIX-related exchange traded products that track VIX futures, which allow traders to profit during rising volatility or hedge against short-term turns.
8 ETFs to Hedge Fallout
For instance, the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures ETN (VXX) and ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (VIXY) track short-term VIX futures. Potential traders should be aware that these VIX exchange traded products track the futures market and not the spot price of the VIX.
More aggressive traders have turned to the leveraged ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures (UVXY) , which provides the 2x or 200% daily performance of the S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Index.
Additionally, there are a number of bearish or inverse ETF options with varying levels of leveraged exposure to capitalize off a weakening S&P 500 as well. The ProShares Short S&P500 (SH) or the Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bear 1x Shares ETF (SPDN) take a simple inverse or -100% daily performance of the S&P 500 index.
Alternatively, for the more aggressive trader, leveraged options include the ProShares UltraShort S&P500 ETF (SDS) , which tries to reflect the -2x or -200% daily performance of the S&P 500, the Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bear 3x Shares (SPXS) , which takes the -3x or -300% daily performance of the S&P 500, and ProShares UltraPro Short S&P 500 ETF (SPXU) , which also takes the -300% daily performance of the S&P 500.
For more information on the markets, visit ourcurrent affairs category.
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READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || 8 ETFs to Hedge Fallout if Trade Wars Escalate: This article was originally published on ETFTrends.com. As the trade war rhetoric intensifies, some investors are concerned that the tensions could push the U.S. economy into a recession. However, investors can turn to a number of ETF strategies that can help a portfolio hedge against the risks. "Our calculations suggest that a major trade war would lead to a significant reduction in growth," Michelle Meyer, U.S. economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, said in a note, according to CNBC . "A decline in confidence and supply chain disruptions could amplify the trade shock, leading to an outright recession. We continue to believe that the probability of a full blown trade war is low but the risks are rising and it remains a key uncertainty to our outlook." Concerns over a full blown trade war comes as President Donald Trump threatens more stringent tariffs aimed at both China and the European Union. On the same day the Bank of Merrill Lynch revealed its concerns, Trump warned that the U.S. could hit European auto imports with a 20% tariff unless the E.U. curbs duties on American cars. Will U.S. Growth Weaken? Observers are concerned that the duties on imports could cause a reciprocal actions that would spiral out of control and potentially fuel inflation and weaken U.S. growth. The retaliatory actions between global economies in the trade spate would also dampen consumer and business confidence. "The good news is that we are still many steps away from a full blown global trade war," Meyer said. "The bad news is that the tail risks are rising and our work and the literature suggest a major global trade confrontation would likely push the US and the rest of the world to the brink of a recession." Consequently, investors who are concerned about the potential risks ahead may consider CBOE Volatility Index or VIX-related exchange traded products that track VIX futures, which allow traders to profit during rising volatility or hedge against short-term turns. 8 ETFs to Hedge Fallout For instance, the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures ETN ( VXX ) and ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures ETF ( VIXY ) track short-term VIX futures. Potential traders should be aware that these VIX exchange traded products track the futures market and not the spot price of the VIX. More aggressive traders have turned to the leveraged ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures ( UVXY ) , which provides the 2x or 200% daily performance of the S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Index. Additionally, there are a number of bearish or inverse ETF options with varying levels of leveraged exposure to capitalize off a weakening S&P 500 as well. The ProShares Short S&P500 ( SH ) or the Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bear 1x Shares ETF ( SPDN ) take a simple inverse or -100% daily performance of the S&P 500 index. Story continues Alternatively, for the more aggressive trader, leveraged options include the ProShares UltraShort S&P500 ETF ( SDS ) , which tries to reflect the -2x or -200% daily performance of the S&P 500, the Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bear 3x Shares ( SPXS ) , which takes the -3x or -300% daily performance of the S&P 500, and ProShares UltraPro Short S&P 500 ETF ( SPXU ) , which also takes the -300% daily performance of the S&P 500. For more information on the markets, visit our current affairs category . POPULAR ARTICLES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM The Financial Advice Suitability Standard Does Not Mean What You Think Facebook Algorithm Changes: What Content Marketers Need to Know Disney Raises Fox Offer to $71.3B, Outbids Comcast’s $66B Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein: Bitcoin ‘Not for Me’ Waning Bitcoin Volatility Could be a Good Thing READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > View comments || 5 Top Stock Trades for Monday Morning: While the recent selloff hasn’t been that brutal — like February’s 10% beatdown in 10 days — it was nice to see stocksfinallyclimb higher on Friday. TheDow Jonessnapped an eight-session losing streak, but the losses have broken a lot of setups. In that regard, here are the top stock trades we found for Monday.
On Friday before the open,BlackBerry(NYSE:BB)delivered a top and bottom line earnings beat. In pre-market trading, this pushed shares higher by more than 4%. In the regular session though, shares tumbled more than 10% at one point.
InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips
The move plunged BB stock below key support. Downtrend resistance began in January, and it took until June for BB to break over it. It was retesting the backside of that level (usually exactly what we want!) but ultimately failed as investors dumped the stock on earnings.
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Now what? We’ll have to see whether $10 holds as support and whether BB can push through this downtrend of resistance again.
Tesla(NASDAQ:TSLA) isn’t going into the weekend making bulls feel very confident. After short-squeezing its way from $275 to $375 in just a few weeks, shares are teetering on a vital level.
Breaking over this $330 to $340 level fueled a big run over $360. This was an important level, but it couldn’t hold as support after such a big run and given the weakness in the overall market.
Now bulls need to see this $335-ish level hold up. If not, the $300 to $310 level is back in play. While it’s positive for Tesla to have all three of its major moving averages below it, the stock tends to trade very technically. That’s why investors should pay attention to the charts and it’s why $330 to $340 needs to hold up.
WhileRed Hat(NYSE:RHT)beat on earningsand revenue expectations, guidance came up short. Wall Street reacted by dropping the stock 12% Friday and nailing a number of other cloud stocks too.
Remember our strategy onAdobe(NASDAQ:ADBE)as well as our plan forSalesforce(NASDAQ:CRM) — two cloud-king leaders.
In any regard, RHT was smashed on Friday and blew right through its 50-day and 100-day moving averages. RHT had been in a very solid uptrend over the past 18 months, so Friday’s selloff is noteworthy.
Is the uptrend over or is this a silver-spoon buying opportunity? That much — unfortunately — isn’t clear. At least from a trading perspective. Aggressive bulls can buy near $145 and use Friday’s low as their stop-loss. Others may consider waiting to see if RHT tests its 200-day moving average and buying there.
Some may simply prefer to buy the stocks that aren’t getting creamed and waiting for better setups in them, like CRM and ADBE.
The Dow’s been under a ton of pressure andCaterpillar(NYSE:CAT) hasn’t helped matters.
The chart here is pretty simple: $140 needs to hold for bulls or CAT could be in trouble. Those looking to take a position may want to do so here, though.
It’s a low-risk/high-reward setup. Meaning that, on a notable close below $140, investors can cut their minimal losses and move on. Should it rebound, it could work its way back up to $160 or higher.
Note that all three major moving averages sit above CAT presently, which could make upside more of a slow grind than a quick pop.
The red-hot Chinese stocks have been hammered over the past few trading sessions andHuya(NYSE:HUYA) is no exception. We outlined the plan foriQiyi(NASDAQ:IQ) earlier this week andit’s been playing out well. So what’s the plan on Huya?
The companyreported a pretty impressive earnings resultearlier this month, part of which has fueled its massive run over the past few weeks.
Since IQ, HUYA and some of these other stocks are recent IPOs, we don’t have many trend lines to go off of. But we can use Fibonacci levels to help. Like IQ, HUYA tends to rally, consolidate and rally again. That can be seen (in thin black lines) on the chart above.
Currently, shares are pulling back to the most recent consolidation point and its first retracement level (38.2%). Let’s see how it handles this level or whether more downside comes into play. If so, look for possible support near the 50% and 61.8% retracement levels, respectively.
Bret Kenwell is the manager and author ofFuture Blue Chipsand is on Twitter@BretKenwell. As of this writing, Bret Kenwell was long CRM.
Louis Navellier — the investor theNew York Timescalled an “icon” — just helped investors make 487% in the booming Chinese stock market … 408% in the medical device sector … 150% in Netflix … all in less than 2 years!
Now, Louis is urging investors to get in on what may be the opportunity of a lifetime. By using a unique investment strategy called “The Master Key,” you could make hundreds of percent returns over the next few years.Click hereto learn aboutthe #1 stock recommendationfrom one of America’s top investors.
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The post5 Top Stock Trades for Monday Morningappeared first onInvestorPlace. || 5 Top Stock Trades for Monday Morning: While the recent selloff hasnt been that brutal like Februarys 10% beatdown in 10 days it was nice to see stocks finally climb higher on Friday. The Dow Jones snapped an eight-session losing streak, but the losses have broken a lot of setups. In that regard, here are the top stock trades we found for Monday. Top Stock Trades for Monday#1: BlackBerry (BB) top stock trades for Monday On Friday before the open, BlackBerry (NYSE: BB ) delivered a top and bottom line earnings beat . In pre-market trading, this pushed shares higher by more than 4%. In the regular session though, shares tumbled more than 10% at one point. InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips The move plunged BB stock below key support. Downtrend resistance began in January, and it took until June for BB to break over it. It was retesting the backside of that level (usually exactly what we want!) but ultimately failed as investors dumped the stock on earnings. The 4 Best Bitcoin Stocks to Consider (Even If You Hate Bitcoin) Now what? Well have to see whether $10 holds as support and whether BB can push through this downtrend of resistance again. Top Stock Trades for Monday #2: Tesla (TSLA) top stock trades for TSLA Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA ) isnt going into the weekend making bulls feel very confident. After short-squeezing its way from $275 to $375 in just a few weeks, shares are teetering on a vital level. Breaking over this $330 to $340 level fueled a big run over $360. This was an important level, but it couldnt hold as support after such a big run and given the weakness in the overall market. Now bulls need to see this $335-ish level hold up. If not, the $300 to $310 level is back in play. While its positive for Tesla to have all three of its major moving averages below it, the stock tends to trade very technically. Thats why investors should pay attention to the charts and its why $330 to $340 needs to hold up. Top Stock Trades for Monday #3: Red Hat (RHT) top stock trades for this week While Red Hat (NYSE: RHT ) beat on earnings and revenue expectations, guidance came up short. Wall Street reacted by dropping the stock 12% Friday and nailing a number of other cloud stocks too. Story continues Remember our strategy on Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE ) as well as our plan for Salesforce (NASDAQ: CRM ) two cloud-king leaders. In any regard, RHT was smashed on Friday and blew right through its 50-day and 100-day moving averages. RHT had been in a very solid uptrend over the past 18 months, so Fridays selloff is noteworthy. Is the uptrend over or is this a silver-spoon buying opportunity? That much unfortunately isnt clear. At least from a trading perspective. Aggressive bulls can buy near $145 and use Fridays low as their stop-loss. Others may consider waiting to see if RHT tests its 200-day moving average and buying there. Some may simply prefer to buy the stocks that arent getting creamed and waiting for better setups in them, like CRM and ADBE. Top Stock Trades for Tomorrow #4: Caterpillar (CAT) top stock trades for June The Dows been under a ton of pressure and Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT ) hasnt helped matters. The chart here is pretty simple: $140 needs to hold for bulls or CAT could be in trouble. Those looking to take a position may want to do so here, though. Its a low-risk/high-reward setup. Meaning that, on a notable close below $140, investors can cut their minimal losses and move on. Should it rebound, it could work its way back up to $160 or higher. Note that all three major moving averages sit above CAT presently, which could make upside more of a slow grind than a quick pop. Top Stock Trades for Tomorrow #5: Huya (HUYA) top stock trades for HUYA The red-hot Chinese stocks have been hammered over the past few trading sessions and Huya (NYSE: HUYA ) is no exception. We outlined the plan for iQiyi (NASDAQ: IQ ) earlier this week and its been playing out well . So whats the plan on Huya? The company reported a pretty impressive earnings result earlier this month, part of which has fueled its massive run over the past few weeks. Since IQ, HUYA and some of these other stocks are recent IPOs, we dont have many trend lines to go off of. But we can use Fibonacci levels to help. Like IQ, HUYA tends to rally, consolidate and rally again. That can be seen (in thin black lines) on the chart above. Currently, shares are pulling back to the most recent consolidation point and its first retracement level (38.2%). Lets see how it handles this level or whether more downside comes into play. If so, look for possible support near the 50% and 61.8% retracement levels, respectively. Bret Kenwell is the manager and author of Future Blue Chips and is on Twitter @BretKenwell . As of this writing, Bret Kenwell was long CRM. Legendary Investor Louis Navelliers #1 Stock to Buy NOW Louis Navellier the investor the New York Times called an icon just helped investors make 487% in the booming Chinese stock market
408% in the medical device sector
150% in Netflix
all in less than 2 years! Now, Louis is urging investors to get in on what may be the opportunity of a lifetime. By using a unique investment strategy called The Master Key, you could make hundreds of percent returns over the next few years. Click here to learn about the #1 stock recommendation from one of Americas top investors. More From InvestorPlace 3 Bank Stocks to Buy After the Feds Stress Tests 7 Stocks That Could Take a Trade-War Hit 3 More Fintech Stocks to Put On Your Wish List 3 Cheap Stocks Under $3 to Consider Now Compare Brokers The post 5 Top Stock Trades for Monday Morning appeared first on InvestorPlace . || Kevin O’Leary: 10 Rules of Success to Pick ETFs: This article was originally published onETFTrends.com.
Businessman, author and TV personality Kevin O'Leary is no stranger to ETFs with hisO'Shares ETF Investmentsthat incorporate his investment philosophies.
In a video with snippets compiled by YouTuber Evan Carmichael, O'Leary outlined 10 rules for success that can be applied to picking ETFs.
1. You Have to Sacrifice A Lot
Though it might be easy to simply follow the advice of a financial advisor or a hot tip from a friend or colleague, the best investments can come from an investor doing his or her own market research. It's easy for an investor to get caught up in the ebbs and flows of life, which limits time to do things, such as looking up an ETF's expense ratio, fund focus, performance, or chart analysis. However, sacrificing time for other things to do market research can help an investor unearth their own investment ideas and discover trends that market leaders have not been quick to recognize.
2. Trust Your Gut
An investor can look at all the stocks held in an ETF's basket with all the fundamental and technical analysis showing that it's a solid investment. However, there could a be a lingering notion that prevents the investor from actually pulling the trigger--his or her own intuition--it might be the most often overlooked indicator and investors should take their intuition into account even if their analysis tells them otherwise.
3. Have Diversification
ETFs offer the luxury of investing in a basket of stocks rather than shares of one particular stock, but even concentrating on one particular ETF that zeroes in on one specific market sector could open up an investor's portfolio to unmitigated risk. Diversifying an ETF portfolio with concentrations from various sectors could help alleviate any unforeseen market disruptions in one particular sector.
Related:Why Investors Should Diversify with a Real Asset ETF
4. Have a Backup Plan
If an investor is looking to own one particular ETF, such as the SPDR 500 ETF (SPY) and the entry price is not to his or her liking, especially during a high volatility market, it's easy to simply wait, but this could lead to missing out on future profits should prices continue to rise. Even if market prices settle, the entry price might still not be attractive, so it's best to have a backup plan. For example, rather than wait for the right entry price of SPY, an investor can also look at another ETF that tracks the S&P 500, such as the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) as a backup plan. Other backup options include using an inverse or bear ETF as a hedge to a bullish purchase going in the unintended direction.
5. Be a Leader
The old market adage of the "trend is your friend" is hard to dismiss, particularly when there's a flock of investors vying for the same hot ETF. This buying frenzy could fuel an inflated price that misaligns with the true market value of a security, which could quickly lead to ETF buyer's remorse. Instead, rather than hopping on the bandwagon, an investor could take the lead and explore other uncharted markets that could also derive profitable ETF investments.
6. Admit Your Weakness
Holding on to losing investments can have ramifications to an investor's pride aside from the balance in his or her portfolio. If an ETF investment idea goes awry, sometimes it's better to cut losses short than to continue riding a losing investment into the ground. As such, investors on the losing end of an investment should know when to swallow their pride and admit their mistakes.
7. Buy Stocks with Dividends
While profitable ETF investments can certainly be had without dividends, it's difficult to deny the attractiveness of those that promise guaranteed money back on an investment. As such, an investor can include ETFs that focus on securities that offer dividend payments, such as the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) , Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (NYSEArca; VYG) or Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM) .
8. Differentiate Between Family, Friends and Money
Friends and family may offer their investment advice, but it's best for an investor to keep his or her ETF investment capital in check and do their own market research before relying on somebody else's tip. This way, relationships won't be sullied due to an investment experiencing a massive downturn.
9. Get Outside of North America
In certain countries outside of North America, emerging markets are outpacing the growth of economic superpowers. As such, an investor should look into ETF investment opportunities that exist in other parts of the world, such as through the Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO) , iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG) or the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM) .
Related:Tilt Toward Trending Emerging Markets Idea
10. Go With Simple Ideas
Legendary value investor Warren Buffettadvises investorsto "Never invest in a business you cannot understand." It's simple advice and a plea to stick to simple ideas based on an individual investor's own knowledge base. If an investor is privy to the market fluctuations of real estate, but dismisses homebuilder ETFs in lieu of purchasing cryptocurrency ETFs, but does not understand the business model for cryptocurrencies, he or she may be setting themselves up for failure. If an investor does not want to take the time to understand the core business of the stocks found in a focused ETF through research, it might be best to invest in industries they already know.
For more ETF investment trends,click here.
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READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || Kevin O’Leary: 10 Rules of Success to Pick ETFs: This article was originally published on ETFTrends.com. Businessman, author and TV personality Kevin O'Leary is no stranger to ETFs with his O'Shares ETF Investments that incorporate his investment philosophies. In a video with snippets compiled by YouTuber Evan Carmichael, O'Leary outlined 10 rules for success that can be applied to picking ETFs. 1. You Have to Sacrifice A Lot Though it might be easy to simply follow the advice of a financial advisor or a hot tip from a friend or colleague, the best investments can come from an investor doing his or her own market research. It's easy for an investor to get caught up in the ebbs and flows of life, which limits time to do things, such as looking up an ETF's expense ratio, fund focus, performance, or chart analysis. However, sacrificing time for other things to do market research can help an investor unearth their own investment ideas and discover trends that market leaders have not been quick to recognize. 2. Trust Your Gut An investor can look at all the stocks held in an ETF's basket with all the fundamental and technical analysis showing that it's a solid investment. However, there could a be a lingering notion that prevents the investor from actually pulling the trigger--his or her own intuition--it might be the most often overlooked indicator and investors should take their intuition into account even if their analysis tells them otherwise. 3. Have Diversification ETFs offer the luxury of investing in a basket of stocks rather than shares of one particular stock, but even concentrating on one particular ETF that zeroes in on one specific market sector could open up an investor's portfolio to unmitigated risk. Diversifying an ETF portfolio with concentrations from various sectors could help alleviate any unforeseen market disruptions in one particular sector. Related: Why Investors Should Diversify with a Real Asset ETF 4. Have a Backup Plan If an investor is looking to own one particular ETF, such as the SPDR 500 ETF ( SPY ) and the entry price is not to his or her liking, especially during a high volatility market, it's easy to simply wait, but this could lead to missing out on future profits should prices continue to rise. Even if market prices settle, the entry price might still not be attractive, so it's best to have a backup plan. For example, rather than wait for the right entry price of SPY, an investor can also look at another ETF that tracks the S&P 500, such as the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) as a backup plan. Other backup options include using an inverse or bear ETF as a hedge to a bullish purchase going in the unintended direction. Story continues 5. Be a Leader The old market adage of the "trend is your friend" is hard to dismiss, particularly when there's a flock of investors vying for the same hot ETF. This buying frenzy could fuel an inflated price that misaligns with the true market value of a security, which could quickly lead to ETF buyer's remorse. Instead, rather than hopping on the bandwagon, an investor could take the lead and explore other uncharted markets that could also derive profitable ETF investments. 6. Admit Your Weakness Holding on to losing investments can have ramifications to an investor's pride aside from the balance in his or her portfolio. If an ETF investment idea goes awry, sometimes it's better to cut losses short than to continue riding a losing investment into the ground. As such, investors on the losing end of an investment should know when to swallow their pride and admit their mistakes. 7. Buy Stocks with Dividends While profitable ETF investments can certainly be had without dividends, it's difficult to deny the attractiveness of those that promise guaranteed money back on an investment. As such, an investor can include ETFs that focus on securities that offer dividend payments, such as the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF ( VTI ) , Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (NYSEArca; VYG) or Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF ( VYM ) . 8. Differentiate Between Family, Friends and Money Friends and family may offer their investment advice, but it's best for an investor to keep his or her ETF investment capital in check and do their own market research before relying on somebody else's tip. This way, relationships won't be sullied due to an investment experiencing a massive downturn. 9. Get Outside of North America In certain countries outside of North America, emerging markets are outpacing the growth of economic superpowers. As such, an investor should look into ETF investment opportunities that exist in other parts of the world, such as through the Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF ( VWO ) , iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF ( IEMG ) or the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF ( EEM ) . Related: Tilt Toward Trending Emerging Markets Idea 10. Go With Simple Ideas Legendary value investor Warren Buffett advises investors to "Never invest in a business you cannot understand." It's simple advice and a plea to stick to simple ideas based on an individual investor's own knowledge base. If an investor is privy to the market fluctuations of real estate, but dismisses homebuilder ETFs in lieu of purchasing cryptocurrency ETFs, but does not understand the business model for cryptocurrencies, he or she may be setting themselves up for failure. If an investor does not want to take the time to understand the core business of the stocks found in a focused ETF through research, it might be best to invest in industries they already know. For more ETF investment trends, click here . POPULAR ARTICLES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM The Financial Advice Suitability Standard Does Not Mean What You Think Facebook Algorithm Changes: What Content Marketers Need to Know Disney Raises Fox Offer to $71.3B, Outbids Comcast’s $66B Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein: Bitcoin ‘Not for Me’ Waning Bitcoin Volatility Could be a Good Thing READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || Bitcoin falls to four-month low in persistent bearish trend: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin dropped to a more than four-month low on Friday, continuing a downtrend after more negative headlines such as Japan's financial regulator ordering six digital currency exchanges to make improvements on their anti-money laundering systems. The original virtual currency fell as low as $6,085.59 (£4,589) (BTC=BTSP) on Bitstamp, the lowest since early February and not far from this year's trough of just below $6,000. It was last down more than 8 percent at $6,177.45. So far in 2018, bitcoin has fallen nearly 56 percent, after soaring more than 1,300 percent last year. The order from Japan's Financial Services Agency on Friday includes bitFlyer, Inc, one of the country's largest cryptocurrency exchanges. Early this week, the cryptocurrency world was racked by news South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb was hacked of 35 billion won ($31.5 million) worth of virtual coins. The Bithumb attack was preceded earlier this month by a "cyber intrusion" at Coinrail, a relatively small cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea, causing a loss of about 30 percent of the coins traded on the exchange. "Often swings in prices are blamed on events like hacks of crypto exchanges, or news from regulators," said Chris Tse, founding director of the Cardstack project in New York, which is leading efforts to create a new blockchain-based internet. Blockchain, the system powering cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, is a shared database that is maintained by a network of computers connected to the internet. Tse noted that bitcoin, even before these recent events, has been in a bearish momentum. "If the crypto market were a NASCAR race - there would be a yellow caution flag waving right now. There was massive exuberance, then a massive crash, and now we're cleaning up the debris and figuring out what's going on," Tse said. Other digital currencies also declined in sympathy with bitcoin on Friday. Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value, was down nearly 10 percent at $472.99 (ETH=BTSP). Story continues The third-largest, Ripple, lost 7 percent to $0.49 according to cryptocurrency price tracker coinmarketcap.com. In a recent report explaining the slowdown in the market, Fundstrat Global Advisors managing partner Thomas Lee said there have not been sufficient inflows into the cryptocurrency space this year. "Incremental retail and institutional demand was expected to materialise in 2018, but regulatory actions by the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) have impaired progress," Lee said. "The SEC has taken needed steps in 2018, targeting ICO (initial coin offerings) scams, but the uncertainty around which projects are securities versus commodities has created substantial uncertainty," he added. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Frances Kerry) || Bitcoin falls to four-month low in persistent bearish trend: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin dropped to a more than four-month low on Friday, continuing a downtrend after more negative headlines such as Japan's financial regulator ordering six digital currency exchanges to make improvements on their anti-money laundering systems. The original virtual currency fell as low as $6,085.59 (£4,589) (BTC=BTSP) on Bitstamp, the lowest since early February and not far from this year's trough of just below $6,000. It was last down more than 8 percent at $6,177.45. So far in 2018, bitcoin has fallen nearly 56 percent, after soaring more than 1,300 percent last year. The order from Japan's Financial Services Agency on Friday includes bitFlyer, Inc, one of the country's largest cryptocurrency exchanges. Early this week, the cryptocurrency world was racked by news South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb was hacked of 35 billion won ($31.5 million) worth of virtual coins. The Bithumb attack was preceded earlier this month by a "cyber intrusion" at Coinrail, a relatively small cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea, causing a loss of about 30 percent of the coins traded on the exchange. "Often swings in prices are blamed on events like hacks of crypto exchanges, or news from regulators," said Chris Tse, founding director of the Cardstack project in New York, which is leading efforts to create a new blockchain-based internet. Blockchain, the system powering cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, is a shared database that is maintained by a network of computers connected to the internet. Tse noted that bitcoin, even before these recent events, has been in a bearish momentum. "If the crypto market were a NASCAR race - there would be a yellow caution flag waving right now. There was massive exuberance, then a massive crash, and now we're cleaning up the debris and figuring out what's going on," Tse said. Other digital currencies also declined in sympathy with bitcoin on Friday. Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value, was down nearly 10 percent at $472.99 (ETH=BTSP). Story continues The third-largest, Ripple, lost 7 percent to $0.49 according to cryptocurrency price tracker coinmarketcap.com. In a recent report explaining the slowdown in the market, Fundstrat Global Advisors managing partner Thomas Lee said there have not been sufficient inflows into the cryptocurrency space this year. "Incremental retail and institutional demand was expected to materialise in 2018, but regulatory actions by the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) have impaired progress," Lee said. "The SEC has taken needed steps in 2018, targeting ICO (initial coin offerings) scams, but the uncertainty around which projects are securities versus commodities has created substantial uncertainty," he added. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Frances Kerry) || Bitcoin falls to four-month low in persistent bearish trend: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin dropped to a more than four-month low on Friday, continuing a downtrend after more negative headlines such as Japan's financial regulator ordering six digital currency exchanges to make improvements on their anti-money laundering systems. The original virtual currency fell as low as $6,085.59 (£4,589) (BTC=BTSP) on Bitstamp, the lowest since early February and not far from this year's trough of just below $6,000. It was last down more than 8 percent at $6,177.45. So far in 2018, bitcoin has fallen nearly 56 percent, after soaring more than 1,300 percent last year. The order from Japan's Financial Services Agency on Friday includes bitFlyer, Inc, one of the country's largest cryptocurrency exchanges. Early this week, the cryptocurrency world was racked by news South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb was hacked of 35 billion won ($31.5 million) worth of virtual coins. The Bithumb attack was preceded earlier this month by a "cyber intrusion" at Coinrail, a relatively small cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea, causing a loss of about 30 percent of the coins traded on the exchange. "Often swings in prices are blamed on events like hacks of crypto exchanges, or news from regulators," said Chris Tse, founding director of the Cardstack project in New York, which is leading efforts to create a new blockchain-based internet. Blockchain, the system powering cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, is a shared database that is maintained by a network of computers connected to the internet. Tse noted that bitcoin, even before these recent events, has been in a bearish momentum. "If the crypto market were a NASCAR race - there would be a yellow caution flag waving right now. There was massive exuberance, then a massive crash, and now we're cleaning up the debris and figuring out what's going on," Tse said. Other digital currencies also declined in sympathy with bitcoin on Friday. Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value, was down nearly 10 percent at $472.99 (ETH=BTSP). Story continues The third-largest, Ripple, lost 7 percent to $0.49 according to cryptocurrency price tracker coinmarketcap.com. In a recent report explaining the slowdown in the market, Fundstrat Global Advisors managing partner Thomas Lee said there have not been sufficient inflows into the cryptocurrency space this year. "Incremental retail and institutional demand was expected to materialise in 2018, but regulatory actions by the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) have impaired progress," Lee said. "The SEC has taken needed steps in 2018, targeting ICO (initial coin offerings) scams, but the uncertainty around which projects are securities versus commodities has created substantial uncertainty," he added. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Frances Kerry)
[Social Media Buzz]
Jun 23, 2018 02:00:00 UTC | 6,141.80$ | 5,264.50€ | 4,630.40£ | #Bitcoin #btc pic.twitter.com/M7kPWmXwF4 || Price: $6,151.27
1h: 0.01%
24h: -3.6%
7d: -5.22%
Market Cap: $105,249,306,172.00
#Bitcoin #BTC || The #BitcoinPizza would be worth US$61,421,100.00 right now (down -1.12% in the last 24 hours): #Bitcoin || Bitcoin - BTC
Price: $6,118.95
Change in 1h: -0.74%
Market cap: $104,704,792,300.00
Ranking: 1
#Bitcoin #BTC || 1 BTC = 23897.99993000 BRL em 22/06/2018 ás 23:00:02. #bitcoin #bitcoin...
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6173.23, 6249.18, 6093.67, 6157.13, 5903.44, 6218.30, 6404.00, 6385.82, 6614.18, 6529.59
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 458.54, 458.55, 460.48, 450.89, 452.73, 454.77, 455.67, 455.67, 457.57, 454.16, 453.78, 454.62, 438.71, 442.68, 443.19, 439.32, 444.15, 445.98, 449.60, 453.38, 473.46, 530.04, 526.23, 533.86, 531.39, 536.92, 537.97, 569.19, 572.73, 574.98, 585.54, 576.60, 581.65, 574.63, 577.47, 606.73, 672.78, 704.38, 685.56, 694.47, 766.31, 748.91, 756.23, 763.78, 737.23, 666.65, 596.12, 623.98, 665.30, 665.12, 629.37, 655.28, 647.00, 639.89, 673.34, 676.30, 703.70, 658.66, 683.66, 670.63, 677.33, 640.56, 666.52, 650.96, 649.36, 647.66, 664.55, 654.47, 658.08, 663.26, 660.77, 679.46, 673.11, 672.86, 665.68, 665.01, 650.62, 655.56, 661.28, 654.10, 651.78, 654.35, 655.03, 656.99, 655.05, 624.68, 606.27, 547.47, 566.35, 578.29.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2016-08-04]
Volume: 125292000, RSI (14-day): 34.99, 50-day EMA: 630.45, 200-day EMA: 523.52
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1358.80, Gold RSI: 63.32
Oil Price: 41.93, Oil RSI: 41.86
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Bitcoin value plummets after Hong Kong exchange hack: There has been another big bitcoin hack, and it looks like the biggest one since the infamous hack of Mount Gox back in 2011. This time, $65 million worth of bitcoins were stolen from the exchange Bitfinex. The price of bitcoin fell more than 8% after the hack. Here’s exactly what happened. || Bitcoin value plummets after Hong Kong exchange hack: There has been another big bitcoin hack, and it looks like the biggest one since the infamous hack of Mount Gox back in 2011. This time, $65 million worth of bitcoins were stolen from the exchange Bitfinex. The price of bitcoin fell more than 8% after the hack. Here’s exactly what happened. || Bitcoin value plummets after Hong Kong exchange hack: There has been another big bitcoin hack, and it looks like the biggest one since the infamous hack of Mount Gox back in 2011. This time, $65 million worth of bitcoins were stolen from the exchange Bitfinex. The price of bitcoin fell more than 8% after the hack. Heres exactly what happened. || Biggest bitcoin hack since Mt. Gox revolves around “cold storage”: You might have seen themanyscreamingheadlinesabout the digital currency bitcoin “plunging” or “plummeting” after a major exchange was hacked. Indeed, the price of bitcoin fell as much as 16% on Tuesday, hitting a low of $512, but it has since rebounded back up to $590. The bitcoin exchange that was hacked, Bitfinex, may not be as lucky.
Hackers stole nearly 120,000 bitcoins from Bitfinex, which is based in Hong Kong and is the largest bitcoin exchange in the world by USD volume. (The nextlargest bitcoin exchangesare itBit,Coinbase, and btc-e.) The coins amounted to about $65 million at the time of theft. Bitfinex had seen just over $400 million worth of trading volume in the past 30 days, putting it first among the many bitcoin exchanges out there now.
Bitfinex halted all trading and said in a statement that it is “continuing to investigate the hack and cooperating with authorities and the top blockchain analytic companies in the space to track the stolen bitcoins.” But it’s unlikely it can ever get the stolen coins back; the problem with a bitcoin transaction is that it’s irreversible. Oneuser on Reddit posted after the hack, “My entire life savings for last 12 years are/were in btc balance on bitfinex… Looks like I could be financially ruined.”
Ironically, the hack potentially could have been avoided if Bitfinex had been securing customer coins using “cold storage.” It is ironic because the currency’s entireraison d’etreis to be digital money, and yet it is most securely protected using the physical, offline world.
To explain: Bitcoin transactions have to be made using multiple private “keys.” A key is simply a string of numbers and letters that are specific to one user. When you want to buy or sell bitcoins, you typically need to type in more than one of your keys to authenticate the transaction. “Cold storage” does not actually refer to literally storing your bitcoins offline (you can’t store them anywhere, since they are not tangible) but to keeping one or more of your “keys” offline, written somewhere not connected to the Web in any way.
Not so long ago, if someone wanted to go rob a bank, they had to go into the bank in person. But as Darin Stanchfield, CEO of bitcoin hardware wallet maker KeepKey, says, “These systems are all online now. So it’s not just bitcoin, every system has these vulnerabilities.”
In the case of bitcoin, you can choose how many different keys you have, and if an attacker can hack into a connected computer, then it doesn’t matter if you have two keys or six. Put simply, the hacked machine is already communicating with the other machines that have keys, so a hacker can easily see where else to attack to get the other keys. Unless you have a key saved or written somewhere off the grid, in “cold storage,” which simply means stored somewhere in the physical world, somewhere the Internet can’t see it.
KeepKey sells a simple $99 fob that communicates with the Internet, receiving a private key when you’d like to make a transaction. It’s the same concept as companies that issue fobs to access work e-mail remotely. Without the physical fob, the transaction won’t go through.
KeepKey says that in the last 24 hours after the Bitfinex hack, it sold more than double its daily sales average in cold-storage fobs.
Alternate forms of cold storage for a bitcoin key could be: on a notepad in your apartment; on a piece of paper in your wallet (a “paper bitcoin wallet”); written on some other physical item; on a USB drive (though those have their own security issues and can be dirty with viruses); or online, but in some other encrypted format where the encryption key is saved offline.
Bitfinex did originally use the cold storage method. But after the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) charged it with facilitating illegal off-exchange commodities trading,Bitfinex settled in June and paid a $75,000 fine. As part of the settlement, Bitfinex switched its security system to “segregated multi-sig” (multi-signature, where keys are divided up among multiple owners to mitigate risk) wallets protected by an outside security provider, BitGo. Lo and behold, two months later, it got hacked.
Under the new Bitfinex security system, BitGo held one key for every account, and Bitfinex held the other two. When hackers withdrew the stolen funds from Bitfinex, BitGo auto-approved the withdrawal of the 120,000 coins. That shouldn’t have happened, but Bitfinex has taken blame for the hack and insisted BitGo was not at fault. BitGo also cleared itself on Twitter, butone Reddit user charged that BitGo, “is selling a false sense of security.”
BitGo sent Yahoo Finance this statement about its involvement: “The protection of our customers’ systems is our top priority. We are working with Bitfinex and law enforcement to investigate and swiftly resolve this matter. Based on the investigation thus far, there is no indication that BitGo servers have been compromised. We will maintain close contact with our customers and provide updates as appropriate.”
Many in the bitcoin community have blamed the CFTC for the hack—a narrative that appeals to bitcoin people for obvious reasons, because many are ideologically anti-regulation, and the idea that U.S. regulation, enforced by people who may not understand the digital currency world so well, actuallycauseda hack, helps the notion that regulation is hurting this industry.
In a blog post, the folks at the nonprofit advocacy group Coin Center say thatthe CFTC is not to blame for the Bitfinex hack. It also says multi-sig, the method Bitfinex switched to from cold storage, isn’t to blame either. “Cold storage and multi-sig are just different security models. The relative security of one or the other is entirely dependent on how they are implemented,” writes Coin Center’s head of research Peter Van Valkenburgh. “I could put keys to a pooled wallet on a USB drive and hide it in my five-year-old niece’s dollhouse. That storage is cold (the dollhouse doesn’t have Wi-Fi) but it’s also a terrible idea. Also, I could create a multi-sig wallet and hand all of the multi-sig keys to my niece. This is also a really lousy plan, but neither scenario tells us about the relative safety of one security technology vs the other—only the implementation.”
That all may be true, but it doesn’t mean Bitfinex’s implementation was strong.
It’s still being hotly debated who exactly is to blame—the CFTC, BitGo, Bitfinex, or some combination. But after a hack of this magnitude, it’s hard to understand why any bitcoin exchange site would use any other security method than cold storage.
This was hardly the first bitcoin hack in a long time.Attacks and hacks happen in the bitcoin world every few monthson varying scales. Last year, bitcoin exchangesCryptsy, Kraken, and OkCoin were all hitby distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. In June, the decentralizedDAO network, which runs on the Ethereum blockchain, was hacked, losing $50 million worth of ether coin. In July, the Slovenian exchange Bitstamp was hacked for $5 million.
But the Bitfinex hack represented the largest loss of coins since Mt. Gox.
Bitfinex may not get the chance to fix up its security. After a theft of $460 million in 2014, the leading bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox shut down for good.
Bitfinex might be able to stay in business, but the challenge could be more about retaining customer confidence than logistical. “There’s no way those funds are recoverable unless they actually catch the attacker, so they might have to shut down,” says Stanchfield. “I think you’ll see Bitfinex users disperse, and even out among the other exchanges, and that’ll be a good thing. Because you have to avoid the Too Big to Fail problem.”
—
Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering sports business and technology. Follow him on Twitter at @readDanwrite.
Read more:
I got six parking tickets in NYC in one week– and beat them all
Meet the Reddit-like social network that rewards bloggers in bitcoin
Why Ethereum is the hottest new thing in digital currency
Here’s why 21 Inc. is the most exciting bitcoin company right now || Biggest bitcoin hack since Mt. Gox revolves around cold storage: You might have seen the many screaming headlines about the digital currency bitcoin plunging or plummeting after a major exchange was hacked. Indeed, the price of bitcoin fell as much as 16% on Tuesday, hitting a low of $512, but it has since rebounded back up to $590. The bitcoin exchange that was hacked, Bitfinex, may not be as lucky. Hackers stole nearly 120,000 bitcoins from Bitfinex, which is based in Hong Kong and is the largest bitcoin exchange in the world by USD volume. (The next largest bitcoin exchanges are itBit, Coinbase , and btc-e.) The coins amounted to about $65 million at the time of theft. Bitfinex had seen just over $400 million worth of trading volume in the past 30 days, putting it first among the many bitcoin exchanges out there now. Bitfinex halted all trading and said in a statement that it is continuing to investigate the hack and cooperating with authorities and the top blockchain analytic companies in the space to track the stolen bitcoins. But its unlikely it can ever get the stolen coins back; the problem with a bitcoin transaction is that its irreversible. One user on Reddit posted after the hack , My entire life savings for last 12 years are/were in btc balance on bitfinex
Looks like I could be financially ruined. Price of bitcoin in August Ironically, the hack potentially could have been avoided if Bitfinex had been securing customer coins using cold storage. It is ironic because the currencys entire raison detre is to be digital money, and yet it is most securely protected using the physical, offline world. To explain: Bitcoin transactions have to be made using multiple private keys. A key is simply a string of numbers and letters that are specific to one user. When you want to buy or sell bitcoins, you typically need to type in more than one of your keys to authenticate the transaction. Cold storage does not actually refer to literally storing your bitcoins offline (you cant store them anywhere, since they are not tangible) but to keeping one or more of your keys offline, written somewhere not connected to the Web in any way. Not so long ago, if someone wanted to go rob a bank, they had to go into the bank in person. But as Darin Stanchfield, CEO of bitcoin hardware wallet maker KeepKey, says, These systems are all online now. So its not just bitcoin, every system has these vulnerabilities. In the case of bitcoin, you can choose how many different keys you have, and if an attacker can hack into a connected computer, then it doesnt matter if you have two keys or six. Put simply, the hacked machine is already communicating with the other machines that have keys, so a hacker can easily see where else to attack to get the other keys. Unless you have a key saved or written somewhere off the grid, in cold storage, which simply means stored somewhere in the physical world, somewhere the Internet cant see it. Story continues KeepKey sells a simple $99 fob that communicates with the Internet, receiving a private key when youd like to make a transaction. Its the same concept as companies that issue fobs to access work e-mail remotely. Without the physical fob, the transaction wont go through. KeepKey says that in the last 24 hours after the Bitfinex hack, it sold more than double its daily sales average in cold-storage fobs. Alternate forms of cold storage for a bitcoin key could be: on a notepad in your apartment; on a piece of paper in your wallet (a paper bitcoin wallet); written on some other physical item; on a USB drive (though those have their own security issues and can be dirty with viruses); or online, but in some other encrypted format where the encryption key is saved offline. Bitfinex did originally use the cold storage method. But after the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) charged it with facilitating illegal off-exchange commodities trading, Bitfinex settled in June and paid a $75,000 fine . As part of the settlement, Bitfinex switched its security system to segregated multi-sig (multi-signature, where keys are divided up among multiple owners to mitigate risk) wallets protected by an outside security provider, BitGo. Lo and behold, two months later, it got hacked. Under the new Bitfinex security system, BitGo held one key for every account, and Bitfinex held the other two. When hackers withdrew the stolen funds from Bitfinex, BitGo auto-approved the withdrawal of the 120,000 coins. That shouldnt have happened, but Bitfinex has taken blame for the hack and insisted BitGo was not at fault. BitGo also cleared itself on Twitter, but one Reddit user charged that BitGo , is selling a false sense of security. BitGo sent Yahoo Finance this statement about its involvement: The protection of our customers systems is our top priority. We are working with Bitfinex and law enforcement to investigate and swiftly resolve this matter. Based on the investigation thus far, there is no indication that BitGo servers have been compromised. We will maintain close contact with our customers and provide updates as appropriate. As we directly notified our customers earlier today, our investigation has found no evidence of a breach to any BitGo servers. BitGo (@BitGo) August 2, 2016 Many in the bitcoin community have blamed the CFTC for the hacka narrative that appeals to bitcoin people for obvious reasons, because many are ideologically anti-regulation, and the idea that U.S. regulation, enforced by people who may not understand the digital currency world so well, actually caused a hack, helps the notion that regulation is hurting this industry. In a blog post, the folks at the nonprofit advocacy group Coin Center say that the CFTC is not to blame for the Bitfinex hack . It also says multi-sig, the method Bitfinex switched to from cold storage, isnt to blame either. Cold storage and multi-sig are just different security models. The relative security of one or the other is entirely dependent on how they are implemented, writes Coin Centers head of research Peter Van Valkenburgh. I could put keys to a pooled wallet on a USB drive and hide it in my five-year-old nieces dollhouse. That storage is cold (the dollhouse doesnt have Wi-Fi) but its also a terrible idea. Also, I could create a multi-sig wallet and hand all of the multi-sig keys to my niece. This is also a really lousy plan, but neither scenario tells us about the relative safety of one security technology vs the otheronly the implementation. That all may be true, but it doesnt mean Bitfinexs implementation was strong. Its still being hotly debated who exactly is to blamethe CFTC, BitGo, Bitfinex, or some combination. But after a hack of this magnitude, its hard to understand why any bitcoin exchange site would use any other security method than cold storage. This was hardly the first bitcoin hack in a long time. Attacks and hacks happen in the bitcoin world every few months on varying scales. Last year, bitcoin exchanges Cryptsy, Kraken, and OkCoin were all hit by distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. In June, the decentralized DAO network, which runs on the Ethereum blockchain , was hacked, losing $50 million worth of ether coin. In July, the Slovenian exchange Bitstamp was hacked for $5 million. But the Bitfinex hack represented the largest loss of coins since Mt. Gox. Bitfinex may not get the chance to fix up its security. After a theft of $460 million in 2014, the leading bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox shut down for good. Bitfinex might be able to stay in business, but the challenge could be more about retaining customer confidence than logistical. Theres no way those funds are recoverable unless they actually catch the attacker, so they might have to shut down, says Stanchfield. I think youll see Bitfinex users disperse, and even out among the other exchanges, and thatll be a good thing. Because you have to avoid the Too Big to Fail problem. Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering sports business and technology. Follow him on Twitter at @ readDanwrite . Read more: I got six parking tickets in NYC in one week and beat them all Meet the Reddit-like social network that rewards bloggers in bitcoin Why Ethereum is the hottest new thing in digital currency Heres why 21 Inc. is the most exciting bitcoin company right now View comments || Explaining Bitcoin and Crypto Currency: On Tuesday, Hong Kong-based exchange Bitfinex reported that it had halted all trade activity due to a security breach. Specifically, hackers took 119,756 bitcoins or about $72 million worth (at the time of attack). In response to the news, value of the crypto currency dropped 20% before recovering its losses. A crypto currency is a digital currency that is encrypted, or secured in a way that allows it to operate independently of a central bank. Bitcoin (BTC) is considered the first crypto currency, although some form of the concept did exist before its inception. It is however the first decentralized digital currency. There are still many who do not fully understand bitcoins or virtual currency, so let’s get to the bottom of it. What is Bitcoin? As previously mentioned, bitcoin is a crypto currency. It exists only virtually, and a growing number of institutions accept it as payment. Bitcoin was invented by Satoshi Nakamoto, who published a paper on the invention on October 31 st of 2008. Many believe that Nakamoto is a pseudonym for multiple people. It was released in January of 2009, and has since gained recognition and acceptance around the world. Bitcoin was released as open source code, meaning anyone could figure out how it was created. As a result, other crypto currencies started to emerge from 2011 onwards. Bitcoin is known as an anonymous currency due to the fact that it is possible to send and receive the currency without revealing any personal information. Transactions are tied to a bitcoin address, a series of numbers and letters. All transactions are stored in the so-called blockchain, which records and verifies transactions. The blockchain ensures that a unit of bitcoin is not spent more than once, and is operated by a network of bitcoin “miners,” who use computers to make the calculations to validate each transaction. As a reward, these miners receive newly issued bitcoin. Bitcoin is still both controversial and volatile. Towards the end of 2013, China’s central bank prohibited financial institutions from using bitcoins, which dropped its value significantly. Bitcoin hacks such as the one announced on Tuesday have also occurred before, and negatively impact price. Story continues Bitcoin can be purchased both online and offline. Online, transactions occur through buy and sell bids that occur on an exchange. Offline, they can be purchased from an individual or a bitcoin ATM. Bitcoin Alternatives As I mentioned, the rise of bitcoin also saw the rise of dozens of alternative crypto currencies as well. These include litecoin, peercoin, primecoin, namecoin, ripple, quark and many others. Each of these trade at different prices and attract different audiences. Furthermore, they boast certain features that bitcoin does not have. For example, litecoin trades faster than bitcoin, and claims to operate in a way that does not reward miners who have specialized software, aiming to level the playing field. Bottom Line Both bitcoin and the idea of crypto currency are still very much in their fledgling state. Although a growing number of institutions now accept them, it still has some ways to go before hitting the mainstream. Still, the concept of a peer-to-peer currency network that bypasses the need for big banks and governments is enticing to many, and could potentially gain further traction, even if it is not through bitcoin but rather another currency. Welcome to the joys of the 21 st century. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days . Click to get this free report >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research || Explaining Bitcoin and Crypto Currency: On Tuesday, Hong Kong-based exchange Bitfinex reported that it had halted all trade activity due to a security breach. Specifically, hackers took 119,756 bitcoins or about $72 million worth (at the time of attack). In response to the news, value of the crypto currency dropped 20% before recovering its losses.
A crypto currency is a digital currency that is encrypted, or secured in a way that allows it to operate independently of a central bank. Bitcoin (BTC) is considered the first crypto currency, although some form of the concept did exist before its inception. It is however the first decentralized digital currency.
There are still many who do not fully understand bitcoins or virtual currency, so let’s get to the bottom of it.
What is Bitcoin?
As previously mentioned, bitcoin is a crypto currency. It exists only virtually, and a growing number of institutions accept it as payment. Bitcoin was invented by Satoshi Nakamoto, who published a paper on the invention on October 31stof 2008. Many believe that Nakamoto is a pseudonym for multiple people.
It was released in January of 2009, and has since gained recognition and acceptance around the world. Bitcoin was released as open source code, meaning anyone could figure out how it was created. As a result, other crypto currencies started to emerge from 2011 onwards.
Bitcoin is known as an anonymous currency due to the fact that it is possible to send and receive the currency without revealing any personal information. Transactions are tied to a bitcoin address, a series of numbers and letters. All transactions are stored in the so-called blockchain, which records and verifies transactions.
The blockchain ensures that a unit of bitcoin is not spent more than once, and is operated by a network of bitcoin “miners,” who use computers to make the calculations to validate each transaction. As a reward, these miners receive newly issued bitcoin.
Bitcoin is still both controversial and volatile. Towards the end of 2013, China’s central bank prohibited financial institutions from using bitcoins, which dropped its value significantly. Bitcoin hacks such as the one announced on Tuesday have also occurred before, and negatively impact price.
Bitcoin can be purchased both online and offline. Online, transactions occur through buy and sell bids that occur on an exchange. Offline, they can be purchased from an individual or a bitcoin ATM.
Bitcoin Alternatives
As I mentioned, the rise of bitcoin also saw the rise of dozens of alternative crypto currencies as well. These include litecoin, peercoin, primecoin, namecoin, ripple, quark and many others.
Each of these trade at different prices and attract different audiences. Furthermore, they boast certain features that bitcoin does not have. For example, litecoin trades faster than bitcoin, and claims to operate in a way that does not reward miners who have specialized software, aiming to level the playing field.
Bottom Line
Both bitcoin and the idea of crypto currency are still very much in their fledgling state. Although a growing number of institutions now accept them, it still has some ways to go before hitting the mainstream.
Still, the concept of a peer-to-peer currency network that bypasses the need for big banks and governments is enticing to many, and could potentially gain further traction, even if it is not through bitcoin but rather another currency.
Welcome to the joys of the 21stcentury.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free report >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research || Explaining Bitcoin and Crypto Currency: On Tuesday, Hong Kong-based exchange Bitfinex reported that it had halted all trade activity due to a security breach. Specifically, hackers took 119,756 bitcoins or about $72 million worth (at the time of attack). In response to the news, value of the crypto currency dropped 20% before recovering its losses.
A crypto currency is a digital currency that is encrypted, or secured in a way that allows it to operate independently of a central bank. Bitcoin (BTC) is considered the first crypto currency, although some form of the concept did exist before its inception. It is however the first decentralized digital currency.
There are still many who do not fully understand bitcoins or virtual currency, so let’s get to the bottom of it.
What is Bitcoin?
As previously mentioned, bitcoin is a crypto currency. It exists only virtually, and a growing number of institutions accept it as payment. Bitcoin was invented by Satoshi Nakamoto, who published a paper on the invention on October 31stof 2008. Many believe that Nakamoto is a pseudonym for multiple people.
It was released in January of 2009, and has since gained recognition and acceptance around the world. Bitcoin was released as open source code, meaning anyone could figure out how it was created. As a result, other crypto currencies started to emerge from 2011 onwards.
Bitcoin is known as an anonymous currency due to the fact that it is possible to send and receive the currency without revealing any personal information. Transactions are tied to a bitcoin address, a series of numbers and letters. All transactions are stored in the so-called blockchain, which records and verifies transactions.
The blockchain ensures that a unit of bitcoin is not spent more than once, and is operated by a network of bitcoin “miners,” who use computers to make the calculations to validate each transaction. As a reward, these miners receive newly issued bitcoin.
Bitcoin is still both controversial and volatile. Towards the end of 2013, China’s central bank prohibited financial institutions from using bitcoins, which dropped its value significantly. Bitcoin hacks such as the one announced on Tuesday have also occurred before, and negatively impact price.
Bitcoin can be purchased both online and offline. Online, transactions occur through buy and sell bids that occur on an exchange. Offline, they can be purchased from an individual or a bitcoin ATM.
Bitcoin Alternatives
As I mentioned, the rise of bitcoin also saw the rise of dozens of alternative crypto currencies as well. These include litecoin, peercoin, primecoin, namecoin, ripple, quark and many others.
Each of these trade at different prices and attract different audiences. Furthermore, they boast certain features that bitcoin does not have. For example, litecoin trades faster than bitcoin, and claims to operate in a way that does not reward miners who have specialized software, aiming to level the playing field.
Bottom Line
Both bitcoin and the idea of crypto currency are still very much in their fledgling state. Although a growing number of institutions now accept them, it still has some ways to go before hitting the mainstream.
Still, the concept of a peer-to-peer currency network that bypasses the need for big banks and governments is enticing to many, and could potentially gain further traction, even if it is not through bitcoin but rather another currency.
Welcome to the joys of the 21stcentury.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free report >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research || REUTERS AMERICA NEWS PLAN FOR WEDNESDAY AUGUST 3: REUTERS AMERICA AFTERNOON NEWS PLAN FOR WEDNESDAY AUGUST 3
LATEST AND PLANNED U.S. NEWS COVERAGE (ALL TIMES ET)
Top stories as of 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
For latest stories search by Slug or Headline Keyword in your CMS or Advanced Search in Media Express.
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TOP STORIES
Trump's refusal to back House speaker angers Republican Party chief
WASHINGTON - Donald Trump's White House campaign was in turmoil on Wednesday after he angered senior Republican Party leaders with his criticism of a dead soldier's family and his refusal to back the re-election campaign of House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan. (USA-ELECTION/ (UPDATE 4, PIX, TV, GRAPHIC), moved, by Doina Chiacu and Steve Holland, 884 words)
Muslim families of fallen U.S. soldiers driven to oppose Trump
NEW YORK - Nazar Naqvi has faithfully voted Republican for more than three decades. After Donald Trump's feud with Muslim parents who lost a son in battle for the United States, he has vowed not a single Republican will get his vote. (USA-ELECTION/GOLDSTAR-MUSLIM (PIX), moved at 10 a.m., 695 words)
Turkey sees swift overhaul of intelligence agency, gendarmerie after coup
ISTANBUL - Turkey will soon complete an overhaul of its intelligence agency and make new appointments to its gendarmerie as it tries to rid its security apparatus of the followers of a U.S.-based cleric blamed for an attempted coup, officials said on Wednesday. (TURKEY-SECURITY/SCIENCE (UPDATE 3), moved, 748 words). See also: TURKEY-SECURITY/APP, moved, 779 words
Florida to begin aerial spraying of insecticides to control Zika
CHICAGO Florida will conduct an aerial insecticide spraying campaign at dawn on Wednesday in an effort to kill mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus, officials in Miami-Dade County said. (HEALTH-ZIKA/INSECTICIDE, moved at 9:50 a.m., by Julie Steenhuysen, 394 words) See also: HEALTH-ZIKA/OXITEC, moved at 11:11 a.m., by Kate Kelland, 346 words
Washington D.C. police officer charged with helping Islamic State
WASHINGTON - A Metro transit police officer in Washington, D.C. was arrested on Wednesday morning on charges he attempted to provide material support to Islamic State, according to the U.S. Justice Department. (USA-JUSTICE/OFFICER (UPDATE 2), moved at 1:08 p.m., by Julia Harte, 218 words)
Brazil to deploy military to tourist sites, stadium security lax
RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazil says it is deploying the military to patrol emblematic tourist sites in Rio de Janeiro to guard against the "minimal" chance of an attack, though security at the Olympic stadium appeared slack three days before the Games. (OLYMPICS-RIO/SECURITY-STADIUM (PIX), moved, by Pedro Fonseca and Rodrigo Viga Gaier, 454 words). See also: OLYMPICS-RIO/POLICE, moved, 293 words; OLYMPICS-RIO/COUNTERFEITS (PIX, TV), moved, by Paulo Prada, 747 words and OLYMPICS-POPE/ (PIX, TV), moved, 250 words
CAMPAIGN
Tea Party Republican Huelskamp loses re-election bid for U.S. House
WASHINGTON - Representative Tim Huelskamp of Kansas, a Tea Party favorite who often feuded with Republican leaders in the U.S. House, lost his bid for re-election in the party's primary contest, unofficial state results showed on Wednesday. (USA-ELECTION/KANSAS (UPDATE 1), moved 10:34 a.m., 306 words)
Clinton campaign studying alternative to U.S. ethanol mandate
WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO - Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign has solicited advice from California regulators on how to revamp a federal regulation requiring biofuels like corn-based ethanol be blended into the nation's gasoline supply, according to campaign and state officials. (USA-ELECTION/CLINTON-ETHANOL (PIX, GRAPHIC), moved at 10:23 a.m., by Valerie Volcovici and Rory Carroll, 681 words)
WASHINGTON
Fed's Evans says one rate hike may be 'appropriate' this year
Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans on Wednesday offered a lukewarm endorsement of an interest rate increase later this year, despite his worry that inflation is still undershooting the U.S. central bank's 2 percent target. (USA-FED/EVANS (INTERVIEW, PIX), moved at 1 p.m., by Ann Saphir, 430 words)
OTHER U.S. NEWS
Gunman in deadly Austin, Texas shooting arrested in Atlanta
AUSTIN - A man suspected of killing one person and wounding four others when he fired shots from a handgun into a crowd on the streets of a nightclub area of Austin early Sunday was arrested without incident in Atlanta on Wednesday, the U.S. Marshals Service said. (TEXAS-SHOOTING/, moved at 1:12 p.m., by Jon Herskovitz, 216 words)
Pokemon no-go: New Jersey resident sues over trespassing players
NEW YORK - A New Jersey man has a message for the millions of players obsessed with the mobile game Pokemon Go: "Get off my lawn!" (NINTENDO-POKEMON/LAWSUIT, moved, 300 words)
Ex-NFL player Rucker gets nearly 2 years for embezzling from charities
CLEVELAND - Former National Football League wide receiver Reggie Rucker was sentenced on Wednesday to nearly two years in prison for embezzling more than $110,000 from anti-violence charities for personal use and to pay gambling debts. (NFL-RUCKER/, moved ta 12:24 p.m., by Kim Palmer, 355 words)
California wildfires likely to worsen as season peaks -forecaster
Drought conditions in California risk stoking new and ongoing wildfires as the season enters its peak, a forecaster said on Wednesday after several blazes already killed at least six people and charred thousands of acres so far this year. (CALIFORNIA-FIRE/, moved at 6:39 a.m. (TV, PIX), moved, 378 words)
'Massive' breach exposes hundreds of new SAT questions
BOSTON - Shortly after David Coleman took over as CEO in 2012, the College Board began redesigning its signature product, the SAT college entrance exam. The testing company also hired a consultancy to identify the risks associated with the monumental undertaking. (COLLEGE-SAT/SECURITY (SPECIAL REPORT), moved at 1:44 p.m., by Renee Dudley, 1923 words)
Famed flamingo Pinky dead in Florida after man attacks it
TAMPA - A Chilean flamingo named Pinky which was known for its dancing was euthanized at a Florida theme park after being badly injured by a man who reached into its pen and threw it to the ground, Tampa police said on Wednesday. (FLORIDA-FLAMINGO/ (PIX, TV), moved at 12:06 p.m., 205 words)
Man convicted in deadly Alabama church bombing denied parole
An 86-year-old white man convicted in the infamous 1963 Birmingham, Alabama church bombing that killed four young black girls during Sunday morning service was denied parole on Wednesday, prosecutors said. (ALABAMA-CHURCH/, 350 words, expect by 1:30 p.m.)
MIDDLE EAST
Hezbollah sees no immediate end to Syria war, partition in Iraq and Syria a possible outcome
BEIRUT - Lebanon's Hezbollah said the partition of Iraq and Syria was a possible outcome of sectarian fighting across the region and there was no prospect of any end to the war in Syria until after November's U.S. presidential election. (MIDEAST-CRISIS/SYRIA-HEZBOLLAH (INTERVIEW, PIX), moved at 12:01 p.m., by Samia Nakhoul, Laila Bassam and Suleiman Al-Khalidi, 937 words)
WORLD
North Korea missile lands near Japanese waters
SEOUL - North Korea launches a ballistic missile that lands in or near Japanese-controlled waters for the first time, the latest in a series of launches by the isolated country in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions. (NORTHKOREA-MISSILE/ (UPDATE 5), moved, 510 words)
Regional tensions test Japan's new defence minister on first day
TOKYO - Tomomi Inada will have precious little time to settle into her new job as Japan's defence minister, as events on her first day in the office underlined. (JAPAN-POLITICS/CABINET-DEFENCE (PIX, GRAPHIC), moved at 11:17 a.m., by Tim Kelly and Kiyoshi Takenaka, 676 words)
Recession ahead in Britain? Factories slow, business confidence tumbles
LONDON - British manufacturing shrinks at its fastest pace in more than three years in July and business confidence tumbles following the Brexit vote, according to surveys that show an increased chance of a recession ahead. (BRITAIN-EU/ECONOMY (UPDATE 1, PIX), moved, by Ana Nicolaci da Costa, 600 words)
South African vote tests ANC hold on cities, Zuma in focus
JOHANNESBURG/PRETORIA - South Africans vote in local elections that could see the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and its scandal-hit leader lose control of the capital and other key cities for the first time since the end of apartheid. (SAFRICA-ELECTION/ (UPDATE 3, PIX, TV), moved, by Nqobile Dludla, 700 words)
Fire guts Emirates jet after hard landing; one firefighter dies
DUBAI - An Emirates jetliner arriving from India caught fire after slumping onto the runway in Dubai on Wednesday, killing one firefighter in an intense blaze and bringing the world's busiest international airport to a halt for several hours. (EMIRATES-AIRPLANE/CRASH (UPDATE 6, TV, PIX), moved, by Noah Browning, 733 words)
Russian mayor who took on Kremlin party jailed before elections
MOSCOW - A Russian court sentenced a former mayor and vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin's allies to 12 1/2 years in jail on Wednesday in a graft case the liberal opposition said was trumped up to end its fledgling success in the regions. (RUSSIA-MAYOR/PRISON (PIX), moved at 11:12 a.m., by Andrew Osborn, 448 words)
Portugal's Guterres eyed ahead of 2nd poll for next U.N. chief
UNITED NATIONS - Former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres could cement himself as the ninth United Nations Secretary-General when the Security Council holds its second secret ballot on Friday, some diplomats said. (UN-ELECTION/ (PIX, GRAPHICS), moved at 12:24 p.m., by Michelle Nichols, 590 words)
Canada launches inquiry into missing, murdered indigenous women
OTTAWA - Canada launched a national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women on Wednesday, a long-awaited look into the causes of decades of violence that have resulted in over a thousand murdered women. (CANADA-ABORIGINAL/, moved at 10:57 a.m., 312 words)
Venezuelan women seek sterilizations as crisis sours child-rearing
CARACAS - Venezuela's food shortages, inflation and crumbling medical sector have become such a source of anguish that growing number of young women are reluctantly opting for sterilizations rather than face hardship of pregnancy and child-rearing. (VENEZUELA-STERILIZATIONS/ (WIDER IMAGE, PIX), moved, by Alexandra Ulmer, 1130 words)
Venezuela names general accused of drug crimes by U.S. as minister
CARACAS - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro names a general accused of drug crimes by the United States as his new interior minister and removes from the cabinet his top economic official, who was viewed as a potential reformer. (VENEZUELA-POLITICS/ (UPDATE 2, PIX, TV), moved, by Andrew Cawthorne, 388 words)
Tropical Storm Earl strengthens as it churns toward Belize
MEXICO CITY - Tropical Storm Earl bears down on Central America's Caribbean coastline, strengthening as it was forecast to strike land as a hurricane, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) says. (STORM-EARL/ (UPDATE 2), moved, 251 words)
Bitcoin exchange confirms second-biggest heist in U.S. dollar terms
HONG KONG - Nearly 120,000 bitcoin worth about US$72 million has been stolen from the exchange platform Bitfinex in Hong Kong, making it the second-biggest security breach ever of such an exchange. (BITFINEX-HACKED/HONGKONG (UPDATE 2) moved, by Clare Baldwin, 300 words)
HEALTH AND SCIENCE
For pregnant women, Zika outbreak hits home in Florida
In recent days, Karla Maguire has avoided taking her toddler son to a south Florida playground where mosquitoes may be biting. She walks the dogs less frequently and rigorously applies bug repellant when she must go outside. (HEALTH-ZIKA/WOMEN, moving shortly, by Letitia Stein and Jilian Mincer, 840 words). See also: (HEALTH-ZIKA/USA-MILITARY (UPDATE 1), moved, 128 words and HEALTH-ZIKA/FRAUD (UPDATE 2, TV, PIX), moved at 12:18 p.m., by Jessica Dye, 308 words
Memory may someday benefit from electric therapy
It may someday be possible to send weak currents of electricity through the scalp during sleep to help improve memory for motor tasks, researchers say. (HEALTH-BRAIN/STIMULATION-SLEEP, moved at 11:50 a.m., by Kathryn Doyle, 402 words)
ENTERTAINMENT AND LIFESTYLE
Harry Potter casts spell again with "Cursed Child" UK sales
LONDON - "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," the script for a new London play telling the eighth story in the hugely popular boy-wizard series, has sold more than 680,000 print copies in the UK in three days, publisher Little, Brown said on Wednesday. (BOOKS-HARRYPOTTER/ (TV), moved at 10:20 a.m., 350 words)
Second 'Fantastic Beasts' movie coming in Nov 2018, studio says
The second movie in the Harry Potter spin-off series "Fantastic Beasts" will be released in November 2018, Hollywood movie studio Warner Bros said on Wednesday, promising "much more on the horizon" from the boy-wizard franchise. (FILM-FANTASTICBEASTS/, moved at 10:35 a.m., 252 words)
Denver Broncos to acquire naming rights to Mile High Stadium
NEW YORK/WILMINGTON - The Denver Broncos professional football team will acquire the naming rights to its Mile High Stadium from Sports Authority after the bankrupt U.S. sporting goods retailer failed to find a new sponsor for the venue, according to a Tuesday court filing. (SPORTSAUTHORITY-BANKRUPTCY/BRONCOS (UPDATE 1), moved at 12:21 p.m., by Jessica DiNapoli and Tom Hals, 367 words)
BUSINESS AND MARKETS
Gains in energy, financial stocks boost Wall Street
Wall Street was higher on Wednesday after a sharp rise in oil prices boosted energy shares, while robust jobs data helped financial stocks. (USA-STOCKS/ (UPDATE 4), will be updated till close, 397 words)See also: Stocks slip for third day, dollar recovers ground (GLOBAL-MARKETS/ (WRAPUP 6), by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed, 501 words)
U.S. private sector added 179,000 jobs in July -ADP
NEW YORK - U.S. private employers added 179,000 jobs in July, above economists' expectations, a report by payrolls processor ADP shows. (USA ECONOMY/ADP, moved, 190 words)
Humana profit plunges on higher provisions for Obamacare business
Humana Inc reports a 28 percent drop in quarterly profit after setting aside more money to cover losses in its Obamacare business, and the company says next year it will discontinue most of these plans sold on public exchanges. (HUMANA-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 2), moved, by Amruthi Penumudi, 310 words)
Time Warner takes stake in Hulu, lifts profit forecast
Time Warner Inc disclosed a 10 percent stake in video streaming site Hulu on Wednesday, setting its sights on the web TV market, and it raised its 2016 forecast on expectations of sustained growth in its traditional media business. (TIME WARNER-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 5, PIX), moved at 1:37 p.m., by Malathi Nayak and Rishika Sadam, 358 words)
TIAA in advanced talks to acquire EverBank - sources
TIAA, the 98-year-old financial services firm seeking to expand in internet banking, has been in exclusive negotiations to acquire U.S. online lender EverBank Financial Corp Inc for $2.5 billion, people familiar with the matter said. (EVERBANK-M&A/TIAADIRECT (EXCLUSIVE), moved at 10:52 a.m., by Lauren Hirsch and Olivia Oran, 379 words)
U.S. frackers surprise themselves as tweaks keep adding barrels
HOUSTON - Nimble U.S. shale oil producers continue to show an uncanny ability to squeeze more and more crude from new wells, allowing them to do more with less as they try to weather another dip in oil prices to $40 a barrel. (USA-FRACKING/, moved at 1:24 p.m., by Terry Wade and Ernest Scheyder, 576 words)
Fed penalizes Goldman Sachs for use of confidential data
NEW YORK - The U.S. Federal Reserve Board said on Wednesday it had ordered Goldman Sachs Group Inc to pay a $36.3 million civil penalty for the unauthorized use and disclosure of confidential information. (GOLDMAN SACHS-FED/ (UPDATE 1), moved at 12:12 p.m., by David Ingram, 254 words) *****************
For story queries, please contact us.general- [email protected]
For photo queries use [email protected]) ***************** || REUTERS AMERICA NEWS PLAN FOR WEDNESDAY AUGUST 3: REUTERS AMERICA AFTERNOON NEWS PLAN FOR WEDNESDAY AUGUST 3 LATEST AND PLANNED U.S. NEWS COVERAGE (ALL TIMES ET) Top stories as of 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday. For latest stories search by Slug or Headline Keyword in your CMS or Advanced Search in Media Express. For story queries, please contact [email protected] For photo queries use [email protected] TOP STORIES Trump's refusal to back House speaker angers Republican Party chief WASHINGTON - Donald Trump's White House campaign was in turmoil on Wednesday after he angered senior Republican Party leaders with his criticism of a dead soldier's family and his refusal to back the re-election campaign of House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan. (USA-ELECTION/ (UPDATE 4, PIX, TV, GRAPHIC), moved, by Doina Chiacu and Steve Holland, 884 words) Muslim families of fallen U.S. soldiers driven to oppose Trump NEW YORK - Nazar Naqvi has faithfully voted Republican for more than three decades. After Donald Trump's feud with Muslim parents who lost a son in battle for the United States, he has vowed not a single Republican will get his vote. (USA-ELECTION/GOLDSTAR-MUSLIM (PIX), moved at 10 a.m., 695 words) Turkey sees swift overhaul of intelligence agency, gendarmerie after coup ISTANBUL - Turkey will soon complete an overhaul of its intelligence agency and make new appointments to its gendarmerie as it tries to rid its security apparatus of the followers of a U.S.-based cleric blamed for an attempted coup, officials said on Wednesday. (TURKEY-SECURITY/SCIENCE (UPDATE 3), moved, 748 words). See also: TURKEY-SECURITY/APP, moved, 779 words Florida to begin aerial spraying of insecticides to control Zika CHICAGO Florida will conduct an aerial insecticide spraying campaign at dawn on Wednesday in an effort to kill mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus, officials in Miami-Dade County said. (HEALTH-ZIKA/INSECTICIDE, moved at 9:50 a.m., by Julie Steenhuysen, 394 words) See also: HEALTH-ZIKA/OXITEC, moved at 11:11 a.m., by Kate Kelland, 346 words Story continues Washington D.C. police officer charged with helping Islamic State WASHINGTON - A Metro transit police officer in Washington, D.C. was arrested on Wednesday morning on charges he attempted to provide material support to Islamic State, according to the U.S. Justice Department. (USA-JUSTICE/OFFICER (UPDATE 2), moved at 1:08 p.m., by Julia Harte, 218 words) Brazil to deploy military to tourist sites, stadium security lax RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazil says it is deploying the military to patrol emblematic tourist sites in Rio de Janeiro to guard against the "minimal" chance of an attack, though security at the Olympic stadium appeared slack three days before the Games. (OLYMPICS-RIO/SECURITY-STADIUM (PIX), moved, by Pedro Fonseca and Rodrigo Viga Gaier, 454 words). See also: OLYMPICS-RIO/POLICE, moved, 293 words; OLYMPICS-RIO/COUNTERFEITS (PIX, TV), moved, by Paulo Prada, 747 words and OLYMPICS-POPE/ (PIX, TV), moved, 250 words CAMPAIGN Tea Party Republican Huelskamp loses re-election bid for U.S. House WASHINGTON - Representative Tim Huelskamp of Kansas, a Tea Party favorite who often feuded with Republican leaders in the U.S. House, lost his bid for re-election in the party's primary contest, unofficial state results showed on Wednesday. (USA-ELECTION/KANSAS (UPDATE 1), moved 10:34 a.m., 306 words) Clinton campaign studying alternative to U.S. ethanol mandate WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO - Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign has solicited advice from California regulators on how to revamp a federal regulation requiring biofuels like corn-based ethanol be blended into the nation's gasoline supply, according to campaign and state officials. (USA-ELECTION/CLINTON-ETHANOL (PIX, GRAPHIC), moved at 10:23 a.m., by Valerie Volcovici and Rory Carroll, 681 words) WASHINGTON Fed's Evans says one rate hike may be 'appropriate' this year Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans on Wednesday offered a lukewarm endorsement of an interest rate increase later this year, despite his worry that inflation is still undershooting the U.S. central bank's 2 percent target. (USA-FED/EVANS (INTERVIEW, PIX), moved at 1 p.m., by Ann Saphir, 430 words) OTHER U.S. NEWS Gunman in deadly Austin, Texas shooting arrested in Atlanta AUSTIN - A man suspected of killing one person and wounding four others when he fired shots from a handgun into a crowd on the streets of a nightclub area of Austin early Sunday was arrested without incident in Atlanta on Wednesday, the U.S. Marshals Service said. (TEXAS-SHOOTING/, moved at 1:12 p.m., by Jon Herskovitz, 216 words) Pokemon no-go: New Jersey resident sues over trespassing players NEW YORK - A New Jersey man has a message for the millions of players obsessed with the mobile game Pokemon Go: "Get off my lawn!" (NINTENDO-POKEMON/LAWSUIT, moved, 300 words) Ex-NFL player Rucker gets nearly 2 years for embezzling from charities CLEVELAND - Former National Football League wide receiver Reggie Rucker was sentenced on Wednesday to nearly two years in prison for embezzling more than $110,000 from anti-violence charities for personal use and to pay gambling debts. (NFL-RUCKER/, moved ta 12:24 p.m., by Kim Palmer, 355 words) California wildfires likely to worsen as season peaks -forecaster Drought conditions in California risk stoking new and ongoing wildfires as the season enters its peak, a forecaster said on Wednesday after several blazes already killed at least six people and charred thousands of acres so far this year. (CALIFORNIA-FIRE/, moved at 6:39 a.m. (TV, PIX), moved, 378 words) 'Massive' breach exposes hundreds of new SAT questions BOSTON - Shortly after David Coleman took over as CEO in 2012, the College Board began redesigning its signature product, the SAT college entrance exam. The testing company also hired a consultancy to identify the risks associated with the monumental undertaking. (COLLEGE-SAT/SECURITY (SPECIAL REPORT), moved at 1:44 p.m., by Renee Dudley, 1923 words) Famed flamingo Pinky dead in Florida after man attacks it TAMPA - A Chilean flamingo named Pinky which was known for its dancing was euthanized at a Florida theme park after being badly injured by a man who reached into its pen and threw it to the ground, Tampa police said on Wednesday. (FLORIDA-FLAMINGO/ (PIX, TV), moved at 12:06 p.m., 205 words) Man convicted in deadly Alabama church bombing denied parole An 86-year-old white man convicted in the infamous 1963 Birmingham, Alabama church bombing that killed four young black girls during Sunday morning service was denied parole on Wednesday, prosecutors said. (ALABAMA-CHURCH/, 350 words, expect by 1:30 p.m.) MIDDLE EAST Hezbollah sees no immediate end to Syria war, partition in Iraq and Syria a possible outcome BEIRUT - Lebanon's Hezbollah said the partition of Iraq and Syria was a possible outcome of sectarian fighting across the region and there was no prospect of any end to the war in Syria until after November's U.S. presidential election. (MIDEAST-CRISIS/SYRIA-HEZBOLLAH (INTERVIEW, PIX), moved at 12:01 p.m., by Samia Nakhoul, Laila Bassam and Suleiman Al-Khalidi, 937 words) WORLD North Korea missile lands near Japanese waters SEOUL - North Korea launches a ballistic missile that lands in or near Japanese-controlled waters for the first time, the latest in a series of launches by the isolated country in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions. (NORTHKOREA-MISSILE/ (UPDATE 5), moved, 510 words) Regional tensions test Japan's new defence minister on first day TOKYO - Tomomi Inada will have precious little time to settle into her new job as Japan's defence minister, as events on her first day in the office underlined. (JAPAN-POLITICS/CABINET-DEFENCE (PIX, GRAPHIC), moved at 11:17 a.m., by Tim Kelly and Kiyoshi Takenaka, 676 words) Recession ahead in Britain? Factories slow, business confidence tumbles LONDON - British manufacturing shrinks at its fastest pace in more than three years in July and business confidence tumbles following the Brexit vote, according to surveys that show an increased chance of a recession ahead. (BRITAIN-EU/ECONOMY (UPDATE 1, PIX), moved, by Ana Nicolaci da Costa, 600 words) South African vote tests ANC hold on cities, Zuma in focus JOHANNESBURG/PRETORIA - South Africans vote in local elections that could see the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and its scandal-hit leader lose control of the capital and other key cities for the first time since the end of apartheid. (SAFRICA-ELECTION/ (UPDATE 3, PIX, TV), moved, by Nqobile Dludla, 700 words) Fire guts Emirates jet after hard landing; one firefighter dies DUBAI - An Emirates jetliner arriving from India caught fire after slumping onto the runway in Dubai on Wednesday, killing one firefighter in an intense blaze and bringing the world's busiest international airport to a halt for several hours. (EMIRATES-AIRPLANE/CRASH (UPDATE 6, TV, PIX), moved, by Noah Browning, 733 words) Russian mayor who took on Kremlin party jailed before elections MOSCOW - A Russian court sentenced a former mayor and vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin's allies to 12 1/2 years in jail on Wednesday in a graft case the liberal opposition said was trumped up to end its fledgling success in the regions. (RUSSIA-MAYOR/PRISON (PIX), moved at 11:12 a.m., by Andrew Osborn, 448 words) Portugal's Guterres eyed ahead of 2nd poll for next U.N. chief UNITED NATIONS - Former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres could cement himself as the ninth United Nations Secretary-General when the Security Council holds its second secret ballot on Friday, some diplomats said. (UN-ELECTION/ (PIX, GRAPHICS), moved at 12:24 p.m., by Michelle Nichols, 590 words) Canada launches inquiry into missing, murdered indigenous women OTTAWA - Canada launched a national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women on Wednesday, a long-awaited look into the causes of decades of violence that have resulted in over a thousand murdered women. (CANADA-ABORIGINAL/, moved at 10:57 a.m., 312 words) Venezuelan women seek sterilizations as crisis sours child-rearing CARACAS - Venezuela's food shortages, inflation and crumbling medical sector have become such a source of anguish that growing number of young women are reluctantly opting for sterilizations rather than face hardship of pregnancy and child-rearing. (VENEZUELA-STERILIZATIONS/ (WIDER IMAGE, PIX), moved, by Alexandra Ulmer, 1130 words) Venezuela names general accused of drug crimes by U.S. as minister CARACAS - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro names a general accused of drug crimes by the United States as his new interior minister and removes from the cabinet his top economic official, who was viewed as a potential reformer. (VENEZUELA-POLITICS/ (UPDATE 2, PIX, TV), moved, by Andrew Cawthorne, 388 words) Tropical Storm Earl strengthens as it churns toward Belize MEXICO CITY - Tropical Storm Earl bears down on Central America's Caribbean coastline, strengthening as it was forecast to strike land as a hurricane, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) says. (STORM-EARL/ (UPDATE 2), moved, 251 words) Bitcoin exchange confirms second-biggest heist in U.S. dollar terms HONG KONG - Nearly 120,000 bitcoin worth about US$72 million has been stolen from the exchange platform Bitfinex in Hong Kong, making it the second-biggest security breach ever of such an exchange. (BITFINEX-HACKED/HONGKONG (UPDATE 2) moved, by Clare Baldwin, 300 words) HEALTH AND SCIENCE For pregnant women, Zika outbreak hits home in Florida In recent days, Karla Maguire has avoided taking her toddler son to a south Florida playground where mosquitoes may be biting. She walks the dogs less frequently and rigorously applies bug repellant when she must go outside. (HEALTH-ZIKA/WOMEN, moving shortly, by Letitia Stein and Jilian Mincer, 840 words). See also: (HEALTH-ZIKA/USA-MILITARY (UPDATE 1), moved, 128 words and HEALTH-ZIKA/FRAUD (UPDATE 2, TV, PIX), moved at 12:18 p.m., by Jessica Dye, 308 words Memory may someday benefit from electric therapy It may someday be possible to send weak currents of electricity through the scalp during sleep to help improve memory for motor tasks, researchers say. (HEALTH-BRAIN/STIMULATION-SLEEP, moved at 11:50 a.m., by Kathryn Doyle, 402 words) ENTERTAINMENT AND LIFESTYLE Harry Potter casts spell again with "Cursed Child" UK sales LONDON - "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," the script for a new London play telling the eighth story in the hugely popular boy-wizard series, has sold more than 680,000 print copies in the UK in three days, publisher Little, Brown said on Wednesday. (BOOKS-HARRYPOTTER/ (TV), moved at 10:20 a.m., 350 words) Second 'Fantastic Beasts' movie coming in Nov 2018, studio says The second movie in the Harry Potter spin-off series "Fantastic Beasts" will be released in November 2018, Hollywood movie studio Warner Bros said on Wednesday, promising "much more on the horizon" from the boy-wizard franchise. (FILM-FANTASTICBEASTS/, moved at 10:35 a.m., 252 words) Denver Broncos to acquire naming rights to Mile High Stadium NEW YORK/WILMINGTON - The Denver Broncos professional football team will acquire the naming rights to its Mile High Stadium from Sports Authority after the bankrupt U.S. sporting goods retailer failed to find a new sponsor for the venue, according to a Tuesday court filing. (SPORTSAUTHORITY-BANKRUPTCY/BRONCOS (UPDATE 1), moved at 12:21 p.m., by Jessica DiNapoli and Tom Hals, 367 words) BUSINESS AND MARKETS Gains in energy, financial stocks boost Wall Street Wall Street was higher on Wednesday after a sharp rise in oil prices boosted energy shares, while robust jobs data helped financial stocks. (USA-STOCKS/ (UPDATE 4), will be updated till close, 397 words)See also: Stocks slip for third day, dollar recovers ground (GLOBAL-MARKETS/ (WRAPUP 6), by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed, 501 words) U.S. private sector added 179,000 jobs in July -ADP NEW YORK - U.S. private employers added 179,000 jobs in July, above economists' expectations, a report by payrolls processor ADP shows. (USA ECONOMY/ADP, moved, 190 words) Humana profit plunges on higher provisions for Obamacare business Humana Inc reports a 28 percent drop in quarterly profit after setting aside more money to cover losses in its Obamacare business, and the company says next year it will discontinue most of these plans sold on public exchanges. (HUMANA-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 2), moved, by Amruthi Penumudi, 310 words) Time Warner takes stake in Hulu, lifts profit forecast Time Warner Inc disclosed a 10 percent stake in video streaming site Hulu on Wednesday, setting its sights on the web TV market, and it raised its 2016 forecast on expectations of sustained growth in its traditional media business. (TIME WARNER-RESULTS/ (UPDATE 5, PIX), moved at 1:37 p.m., by Malathi Nayak and Rishika Sadam, 358 words) TIAA in advanced talks to acquire EverBank - sources TIAA, the 98-year-old financial services firm seeking to expand in internet banking, has been in exclusive negotiations to acquire U.S. online lender EverBank Financial Corp Inc for $2.5 billion, people familiar with the matter said. (EVERBANK-M&A/TIAADIRECT (EXCLUSIVE), moved at 10:52 a.m., by Lauren Hirsch and Olivia Oran, 379 words) U.S. frackers surprise themselves as tweaks keep adding barrels HOUSTON - Nimble U.S. shale oil producers continue to show an uncanny ability to squeeze more and more crude from new wells, allowing them to do more with less as they try to weather another dip in oil prices to $40 a barrel. (USA-FRACKING/, moved at 1:24 p.m., by Terry Wade and Ernest Scheyder, 576 words) Fed penalizes Goldman Sachs for use of confidential data NEW YORK - The U.S. Federal Reserve Board said on Wednesday it had ordered Goldman Sachs Group Inc to pay a $36.3 million civil penalty for the unauthorized use and disclosure of confidential information. (GOLDMAN SACHS-FED/ (UPDATE 1), moved at 12:12 p.m., by David Ingram, 254 words) ***************** For story queries, please contact us.general- [email protected] For photo queries use [email protected]) ***************** || MarilynJean Interactive (MJMI.QB) Eyes Q4 Partnership: HENDERSON, NV / ACCESSWIRE / August 3, 2016 /MarilynJean Interactive (MJMI.QB) today announced it has made significant advancements in pursuing a partnership with an established operator in the Bitcoin ATM and currency exchange space.
The potential partner has requested and been provided by MJMI with a draft Letter of Intent. MJMI plans to acquire an equity position with an owner / operator of Bitcoin ATMs that is also involved in digital currency to hard currency exchange space.
This strategic partnership will not only allow MarilynJean to offer users a faster and less expensive way to buy and sell Bitcoin but also opens the door to the multi-billion dollar international currency exchange and remittance market.
In recent months, the value of Bitcoin has skyrocketed over 40% from less than $450 to over $650. This price jump along with the increased adoption of the underlying blockchain technology by financial institutions continues to draw capital and investors to the space.
MarilynJean constantly monitors the Bitcoin market and is excited that usage of daily bitcoin transactions continues to increase dramatically. According to blockchain.info, the average daily transaction volume has increased approximately 300% since August of 2015, hitting a high of over $430 million in a single day in June of this year.
Peter Janosi, MJMI's president said: "The fact that a potential acquisition target has pursued us and requested an LOI further validates our activities in this space. We are working with our partners to build networks that can handle transactions involving all currencies and other financial instruments."
MJMI is current with its SEC filings and listed on the OTC:QB.
About MJMI
MJMI is in the business of providing safe and accessible services for the users of Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies.
Crypto-currencies are a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure transactions and control the creation of new units. Bitcoin became the first decentralized crypto-currency in 2009. Crypto-currency is produced at a rate which is defined when the system is created and publicly known. By contrast, in centralized banking and economic systems, such as the Federal Reserve System, corporate boards or governments control the supply of currency by printing units or demanding additions to digital banking ledgers. However, neither companies nor governments can produce units of crypto-currency and as such the value of crypto-currencies are completely based on supply and demand, free from any governmental control. Many people believe crypto-currencies, and in particular bitcoin, hold the promise of being the most significant advancement in global finance in modern history. The advent of bitcoin creates a secure, easily accessible and transferable transnational currency that is completely liberated from political influence.
MJMI is currently exploring partnerships in several verticals within the crypto-currency space, including the multi-billion dollar remittance market. Management believes that several industries, including both international remittances and online gambling are on the verge of being revolutionized by the use of Bitcoin to effect transactions.
MarilynJean Media Interactive is among the first publicly traded companies focussed on bitcoin and the crypto-currency space. The company's trading symbol is MJMI.QB.
Website:www.marilynjean.com
Press Contact:[email protected]
SOURCE:MarilynJean Media Interactive || MarilynJean Interactive (MJMI.QB) Eyes Q4 Partnership: HENDERSON, NV / ACCESSWIRE / August 3, 2016 / MarilynJean Interactive (MJMI.QB) today announced it has made significant advancements in pursuing a partnership with an established operator in the Bitcoin ATM and currency exchange space. The potential partner has requested and been provided by MJMI with a draft Letter of Intent. MJMI plans to acquire an equity position with an owner / operator of Bitcoin ATMs that is also involved in digital currency to hard currency exchange space. This strategic partnership will not only allow MarilynJean to offer users a faster and less expensive way to buy and sell Bitcoin but also opens the door to the multi-billion dollar international currency exchange and remittance market. In recent months, the value of Bitcoin has skyrocketed over 40% from less than $450 to over $650. This price jump along with the increased adoption of the underlying blockchain technology by financial institutions continues to draw capital and investors to the space. MarilynJean constantly monitors the Bitcoin market and is excited that usage of daily bitcoin transactions continues to increase dramatically. According to blockchain.info, the average daily transaction volume has increased approximately 300% since August of 2015, hitting a high of over $430 million in a single day in June of this year. Peter Janosi, MJMI's president said: "The fact that a potential acquisition target has pursued us and requested an LOI further validates our activities in this space. We are working with our partners to build networks that can handle transactions involving all currencies and other financial instruments." MJMI is current with its SEC filings and listed on the OTC:QB. About MJMI MJMI is in the business of providing safe and accessible services for the users of Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies. Crypto-currencies are a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure transactions and control the creation of new units. Bitcoin became the first decentralized crypto-currency in 2009. Crypto-currency is produced at a rate which is defined when the system is created and publicly known. By contrast, in centralized banking and economic systems, such as the Federal Reserve System, corporate boards or governments control the supply of currency by printing units or demanding additions to digital banking ledgers. However, neither companies nor governments can produce units of crypto-currency and as such the value of crypto-currencies are completely based on supply and demand, free from any governmental control. Many people believe crypto-currencies, and in particular bitcoin, hold the promise of being the most significant advancement in global finance in modern history. The advent of bitcoin creates a secure, easily accessible and transferable transnational currency that is completely liberated from political influence. Story continues MJMI is currently exploring partnerships in several verticals within the crypto-currency space, including the multi-billion dollar remittance market. Management believes that several industries, including both international remittances and online gambling are on the verge of being revolutionized by the use of Bitcoin to effect transactions. MarilynJean Media Interactive is among the first publicly traded companies focussed on bitcoin and the crypto-currency space. The company's trading symbol is MJMI.QB. Website: www.marilynjean.com Press Contact: [email protected] SOURCE: MarilynJean Media Interactive || Hackers steal $63.7 million from Bitcoin exchange: A Hong Kong-based Bitcoin exchange has suspended all transactions after hackers stole a significant sum of the cryptocurrency.Bloombergis reporting that 119,756 BTC, currently valued at $63.7 million, has been taken from Bitfinex. The news has helped to contribute to a drop in Bitcoin's value, and over the last two days it has fallen by around 13 percent.
For its part, Bitfinex has already revealed that it is investigating the breach and is working with local law enforcement agencies. While the exchange actually deals in other cryptocurrencies beyond Bitcoin, the hack itself did not take anything beyond BTC. The company also directly contactedBloombergto confirm that deposits made in US dollars were not affected by the breach.
Admittedly, incidents like this won't irreparably harm Bitcoin, but the regularity of these incidents must be concerning for outside investors. When you look at the controversies that have become associated with the currency over the last few years, it's hard to see how its reputation could get worse. From a high-profileponzi scheme, throughthe FBIandSilk Roadcases, all the way through to the fraud at the heart ofMt.Gox's collapse.
2016 has also seen prominent Bitcoin developerMike Hearn quitafter suggesting that the currency's structural failings can't be remedied. In addition, thereward for mining each coinhas fallen, and while that's a well-known feature of the system, has forced a few businesses -- likeKnCMiner-- to shut down. That's before we get toCraig Wright's announcement that he was Satoshi Nakamoto, but refusing to provide proof to support his claim. || Hackers steal $63.7 million from Bitcoin exchange: A Hong Kong-based Bitcoin exchange has suspended all transactions after hackers stole a significant sum of the cryptocurrency.Bloombergis reporting that 119,756 BTC, currently valued at $63.7 million, has been taken from Bitfinex. The news has helped to contribute to a drop in Bitcoin's value, and over the last two days it has fallen by around 13 percent.
For its part, Bitfinex has already revealed that it is investigating the breach and is working with local law enforcement agencies. While the exchange actually deals in other cryptocurrencies beyond Bitcoin, the hack itself did not take anything beyond BTC. The company also directly contactedBloombergto confirm that deposits made in US dollars were not affected by the breach.
Admittedly, incidents like this won't irreparably harm Bitcoin, but the regularity of these incidents must be concerning for outside investors. When you look at the controversies that have become associated with the currency over the last few years, it's hard to see how its reputation could get worse. From a high-profileponzi scheme, throughthe FBIandSilk Roadcases, all the way through to the fraud at the heart ofMt.Gox's collapse.
2016 has also seen prominent Bitcoin developerMike Hearn quitafter suggesting that the currency's structural failings can't be remedied. In addition, thereward for mining each coinhas fallen, and while that's a well-known feature of the system, has forced a few businesses -- likeKnCMiner-- to shut down. That's before we get toCraig Wright's announcement that he was Satoshi Nakamoto, but refusing to provide proof to support his claim. || Hackers steal $63.7 million from Bitcoin exchange: A Hong Kong-based Bitcoin exchange has suspended all transactions after hackers stole a significant sum of the cryptocurrency. Bloomberg is reporting that 119,756 BTC, currently valued at $63.7 million, has been taken from Bitfinex. The news has helped to contribute to a drop in Bitcoin's value, and over the last two days it has fallen by around 13 percent. For its part, Bitfinex has already revealed that it is investigating the breach and is working with local law enforcement agencies. While the exchange actually deals in other cryptocurrencies beyond Bitcoin, the hack itself did not take anything beyond BTC. The company also directly contacted Bloomberg to confirm that deposits made in US dollars were not affected by the breach. Admittedly, incidents like this won't irreparably harm Bitcoin, but the regularity of these incidents must be concerning for outside investors. When you look at the controversies that have become associated with the currency over the last few years, it's hard to see how its reputation could get worse. From a high-profile ponzi scheme , through the FBI and Silk Road cases, all the way through to the fraud at the heart of Mt.Gox's collapse . 2016 has also seen prominent Bitcoin developer Mike Hearn quit after suggesting that the currency's structural failings can't be remedied. In addition, the reward for mining each coin has fallen, and while that's a well-known feature of the system, has forced a few businesses -- like KnCMiner -- to shut down. That's before we get to Craig Wright's announcement that he was Satoshi Nakamoto , but refusing to provide proof to support his claim. || Your first trade for Wednesday, August 3: The "Fast Money" traders shared their first moves for the market open.
Tim Seymour was a buyer of Exxon Mobil(NYSE: XOM).
Karen Finerman was a buyer of Facebook(NASDAQ: FB).
Brian Kelly was a seller of AutoNation(NYSE: AN).
Guy Adami was a buyer of the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF(NASDAQ: IBB).
Trader disclosure: On August 2, 2016, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders:Tim Seymour is long APC, AVP, BAC, BBRY, CLF, DO, DVYE, EDC, EWZ, F, FB, FCX, FXI, GM, GOOGL, GRMN, GE, INTC, LQD, M, MCD, MPEL, NKE, RACE, RAI, RH, RL, SINA, T, TWTR, UA, VALE, VZ, XOM. short: SPY, XRT; Tim's firm is long ABX, BABA, BIDU, CLF, EWZ, F, HD, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, YHOO, short HYG, IWM. Karen Finerman is long AAL, BAC, C, DAL, DRII, DRII calls, FB, FL, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, LYV, KORS, KORS, KORS puts, M, MA, SEDG, SPY puts, UAL, URI, WIFI long call spreads. Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, C, C calls, DRII, DRII calls, FB, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, JPM calls, KORS, LYV, M, MOH, PLCE, SPY puts, URI, WIFI, her firm is short IWM, MDY. Karen Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International. Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, DXJ, GLD, SLV, US Dollar UUP; he is short CHF=, EUR=, JPY=. Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
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• Personal Finance || Your first trade for Wednesday, August 3: The " Fast Money " traders shared their first moves for the market open. Tim Seymour was a buyer of Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) . Karen Finerman was a buyer of Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) . Brian Kelly was a seller of AutoNation (NYSE: AN) . Guy Adami was a buyer of the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (NASDAQ: IBB) . Trader disclosure: On August 2, 2016, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders: Tim Seymour is long APC, AVP, BAC, BBRY, CLF, DO, DVYE, EDC, EWZ, F, FB, FCX, FXI, GM, GOOGL, GRMN, GE, INTC, LQD, M, MCD, MPEL, NKE, RACE, RAI, RH, RL, SINA, T, TWTR, UA, VALE, VZ, XOM. short: SPY, XRT; Tim's firm is long ABX, BABA, BIDU, CLF, EWZ, F, HD, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, YHOO, short HYG, IWM. Karen Finerman is long AAL, BAC, C, DAL, DRII, DRII calls, FB, FL, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, LYV, KORS, KORS, KORS puts, M, MA, SEDG, SPY puts, UAL, URI, WIFI long call spreads. Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, C, C calls, DRII, DRII calls, FB, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, JPM calls, KORS, LYV, M, MOH, PLCE, SPY puts, URI, WIFI, her firm is short IWM, MDY. Karen Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International. Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, DXJ, GLD, SLV, US Dollar UUP; he is short CHF=, EUR=, JPY=. Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck. More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || Does Tesla have enough juice?: Wall Street is in a bit of a funk. Stocks ( ^DJI , ^GSPC , ^IXIC ) started the day little changed as investors dissect the latest round of corporate results and keep close tabs on oil prices ( CL=F ). Meanwhile, private sector employment came in better than economists expected last month. Employers added 179,000 jobs in July. However, all the hiring was in the service sector, according to ADP and Moody’s Analytics. Time Warner invests in Hulu Time Warner ( TWX ) shares were sharply higher in early trading. The media giant is buying a 10% stake in Hulu and signed an agreement for all of its Turner networks to be carried on Hulu’s live-streaming services. The company also announced second-quarter earnings that beat expectations. However, revenue fell short of forecasts due to slow growth in its HBO and Warner Brothers businesses. Earnings watch list Tesla ( TSLA ) results are on tap after the market close. Analysts expect sales to be over $1.6 billion for the quarter. Tesla has dealt with a lot of bad news recently, including how the autopilot feature played a role in one fatal crash. Fitbit ( FIT ) shares soared in early trading. The maker of fitness-tracking wristbands delivered better than expected earnings and revenue for the second quarter. Sales soared nearly 47% from a year ago. Profit fell as operating expenses more than doubled with new investment on research and development of new products and marketing. Etsy ( ETSY ) got a nice pop this morning. The online crafts marketplace raised its outlook for the year after revenue topped estimates for the second quarter. Sales jumped 39% thanks to strong growth in seller services and users. Electronic Arts ( EA ), the video game publisher behind titles including “FIFA” and “Star Wars Battlefront,” swung to a profit last quarter. Revenue also beat estimates as players downloaded more digital versions of its games. However, the company’s revenue forecast for the current quarter was a tad less than what analysts were expecting. Story continues HP CEO backs Clinton Meg Whitman may be a Republican, but she’s backing Hillary Clinton. On LinkedIn, Whitman wrote, “Donald Trump’s demagoguery has undermined the fabric of our national character.” Meanwhile, the Hewlett Packard Enterprise ( HPE ) CEO praised Clinton for her temperament and global experience, which she says are major characteristics needed for a president. Bitcoin robbery Investigators are trying to find out who’s responsible for a major bitcoin heist. Almost 120,000 units of bitcoin were stolen from the Bitfinex exchange platform in Hong Kong. The Bitcoins are worth about $72 million. || Does Tesla have enough juice?: Wall Street is in a bit of a funk. Stocks ( ^DJI , ^GSPC , ^IXIC ) started the day little changed as investors dissect the latest round of corporate results and keep close tabs on oil prices ( CL=F ). Meanwhile, private sector employment came in better than economists expected last month. Employers added 179,000 jobs in July. However, all the hiring was in the service sector, according to ADP and Moody’s Analytics. Time Warner invests in Hulu Time Warner ( TWX ) shares were sharply higher in early trading. The media giant is buying a 10% stake in Hulu and signed an agreement for all of its Turner networks to be carried on Hulu’s live-streaming services. The company also announced second-quarter earnings that beat expectations. However, revenue fell short of forecasts due to slow growth in its HBO and Warner Brothers businesses. Earnings watch list Tesla ( TSLA ) results are on tap after the market close. Analysts expect sales to be over $1.6 billion for the quarter. Tesla has dealt with a lot of bad news recently, including how the autopilot feature played a role in one fatal crash. Fitbit ( FIT ) shares soared in early trading. The maker of fitness-tracking wristbands delivered better than expected earnings and revenue for the second quarter. Sales soared nearly 47% from a year ago. Profit fell as operating expenses more than doubled with new investment on research and development of new products and marketing. Etsy ( ETSY ) got a nice pop this morning. The online crafts marketplace raised its outlook for the year after revenue topped estimates for the second quarter. Sales jumped 39% thanks to strong growth in seller services and users. Electronic Arts ( EA ), the video game publisher behind titles including “FIFA” and “Star Wars Battlefront,” swung to a profit last quarter. Revenue also beat estimates as players downloaded more digital versions of its games. However, the company’s revenue forecast for the current quarter was a tad less than what analysts were expecting. Story continues HP CEO backs Clinton Meg Whitman may be a Republican, but she’s backing Hillary Clinton. On LinkedIn, Whitman wrote, “Donald Trump’s demagoguery has undermined the fabric of our national character.” Meanwhile, the Hewlett Packard Enterprise ( HPE ) CEO praised Clinton for her temperament and global experience, which she says are major characteristics needed for a president. Bitcoin robbery Investigators are trying to find out who’s responsible for a major bitcoin heist. Almost 120,000 units of bitcoin were stolen from the Bitfinex exchange platform in Hong Kong. The Bitcoins are worth about $72 million. || FOREX-Dollar struggles near 6-week lows, labour market data eyed: * Unconvincing data dims U.S. rate hike prospects, hurts dollar * ADP labour market data eyed * Dollar/yen seen heading towards break of 100 yen threshold * Bitcoin slides after Hong Kong exchange hack By Jemima Kelly LONDON, Aug 3 (Reuters) - The dollar struggled to break away from six-week lows against a basket of currencies on Wednesday, kept under pressure by the view that the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates later rather than sooner. The greenback had been on its best run of weekly gains in 1-1/2 years until last week, when expectations that the Fed would clearly signal a near-term rate hike were disappointed, and U.S. growth data came in much weaker than expected. The dollar index inched up 0.2 percent on Wednesday but at 95.284 remained close to Tuesday's low of 95.003 and was down 2 percent compared with a week ago, before the Fed's policy statement. U.S. labour market data from ADP due at 1215 GMT will be watched by currency traders ahead of the all-important non-farm payrolls report on Friday. "The ADP report today should indicate continued labour market strength, and ease concerns over the health of the U.S. economy," said Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UJF macro strategist Derek Halpenny, in London. UBS Wealth Management currency strategist Geoffrey Yu said the dollar had been boosted by a risk-off mood in U.S. trading on Tuesday, when indexes suffered their worst day in a month on lower oil prices and lacklustre inflation data. But he said any gains on risk-aversion would be capped. "We're caught in this kind of trap where every time we get nervous about something, the dollar rallies, but then the next thing to think about is: is the Fed going to react to that by pushing out their rate views?" Yu said. "And then you can't afford to be long dollars that aggressively any more. So that's why we have these turns, quite rapidly." The dollar was up 0.2 percent at 101.08 yen. It slid 1.5 percent the previous day when it fell to a three-week trough of 100.680, amid some disappointment that a meeting between Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso and Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda did not result in steps to weaken the yen. Story continues Junichi Ishikawa, currency analyst at IG Securities in Tokyo, said it was a matter of time before the dollar breaks below 100 yen. The dollar briefly slipped below the watershed level in the stormy markets that followed Britain's vote to leave the European Union in June, but it has managed to stay above ever since. "The break below 100 yen after Brexit was an irregular move. But this time, the yen is gaining steadily on fundamental factors like Japan's improving current account balance and the fading impact of BOJ's multi-dimensional easing," Ishikawa said. The Japanese central bank eased monetary policy on Friday by upping the amount of its exchange-traded fund purchases, but underwhelmed the markets by holding off from increasing the amount of government bonds its buys every month. Bitcoin steadied at around $545 after sliding by as much as 25 percent in early trading on Wednesday after a Hong Kong digital currency exchange said it had suspended trading on its exchange after almost 120,000 bitcoin - worth almost $65 million at the current rate - was stolen. For Reuters new Live Markets blog on European and UK stock markets see reuters://realtime/verb=Open/url= http://emea1.apps.cp.extranet.thomsonreuters.biz/cms/?pageId=livemarkets (Additional reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro in Tokyo; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
[Social Media Buzz]
$ 0.004349 (1.51 %) 0.00000759 BTC (0.00 %) #WHIPPED #FETISH #BDSM || $577.96 #GDAX;
$570.00 #bitstamp;
$562.00 #OKCoin;
$571.00 #btce;
$572.52 #itBit;
$580.03 #kraken;
#bitcoin news: http://bit.ly/1VI6Yse || #MARYJ 0.00000305 BTC(-6.11 %) | Market Cap 158 BTC | Volume(24h) 0.00 BTC | Available Supply 51,887,896 MARYJ || #UFOCoin #UFO $ 0.000011 (2.04 %) 0.00000002 BTC (-0.00 %) || #bitcoin #miner Bitmain Antminer S5 Bitcoin BTC ASIC Miner $90.00 http://ift.tt/2avS1UG pic.twitter.com/qH93LNcz...
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575.04, 587.78, 592.69, 591.05, 587.80, 592.10, 589.12, 587.56, 585.59, 570.47
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 364.33, 387.54, 382.30, 387.17, 380.15, 420.23, 410.26, 382.49, 387.49, 402.97, 391.73, 392.15, 394.97, 380.29, 379.47, 378.26, 368.77, 373.06, 374.45, 369.95, 389.59, 386.55, 376.52, 376.62, 373.45, 376.03, 381.65, 379.65, 384.26, 391.86, 407.23, 400.18, 407.49, 416.32, 422.37, 420.79, 437.16, 438.80, 437.75, 420.74, 424.95, 424.54, 432.15, 432.52, 433.50, 437.70, 435.12, 423.99, 421.65, 410.94, 400.57, 407.71, 414.32, 413.97, 414.86, 417.13, 421.69, 411.62, 414.07, 416.44, 416.83, 417.01, 420.62, 409.55, 410.44, 413.76, 413.31, 418.09, 418.04, 416.39, 417.18, 417.95, 426.77, 424.23, 416.52, 414.82, 416.73, 417.96, 420.87, 420.90, 421.44, 424.03, 423.41, 422.74, 420.35, 419.41, 421.56, 422.48, 425.19, 423.73.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2016-04-13]
Volume: 69060400, RSI (14-day): 55.90, 50-day EMA: 417.50, 200-day EMA: 379.94
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1246.80, Gold RSI: 54.68
Oil Price: 41.76, Oil RSI: 64.01
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
After hospital ransomware attack, time for some blunt talk about cybersecurity: Your standard medical drama is supposed to end with a “how it happened” scene, in which doctors explain what really went wrong with the patient and how they solved it. But it doesn’t look like therecent ransomware episodeatMedStar Healthwill get that traditional resolution.
We know fromwell-sourced reportsthat the mid-Atlantic hospital chain got hit with a strain of ransomware that locked up some of its files. (In such attacks, miscreants encrypt a victim’s files and demand payment — often in the form of Bitcoin — for the decryption key.) We know that containing the problemknocked many of the hospital’s computer systems offlineandforced doctors and nurses to communicate via paper and fax.
But we don’t know how the attack happened or what MedStar did to fix it. And the Columbia, Md., company doesn’t plan to tell us.
“Based on the advice of IT, cybersecurity and law enforcement experts, MedStar will not be elaborating further on additional aspects of this malware event,” reads astatement posted on its site last week.“This is not only for the protection and security of MedStar Health, its patients and associates, but is also for the benefit of other healthcare organizations and companies.”
MedStar’s case is not unique, and neither is its subsequent silence.
In February, Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angelessuffered its own ransomware attack. The hospitalacknowledged that it was ransomwareand even specified the sum demanded (40 bitcoin, or about $17,000). But itprovided no hint as to how it got hackedor what it has done to thwart future attacks.
Cybersecurity experts know this secure-it-and-shut-up routine well.
“The industry status quo is not to reveal the cause of breaches,” emailedKatie Moussouris, a Washington-based security consultant. “Disclosure often only happens when action must be taken externally to apply the defense” — that is, somebody outside the organization has to change a password, patch a server, or take a system offline.
“I can’t think of any company that’s been transparent about it,” said Ars Technica’s veteran security reporterSean Gallagherin a Twitter direct message.
It’s not that corporate leaders don’t realize the importance of working with their peers: They do, but still would rather not reveal the ugly details of attacks. A recent survey of 700-plus C-suite executives by IBM Security found that while 55 percent favored more industry collaboration,68 percent were reluctant to share incident informationoutside their own firms.
Meanwhile, attackers have fewer hang-ups about talking about their tactics. “The bad guys are always better at sharing than the good guys,” emailedJeremy Epstein, a security scientist with SRI International.
Other industries aren’t as opaque in documenting their mishaps. For a particularly dramatic contrast, you could look to commercial aviation.
Any serious accident spurs an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, and even something as relatively minor asa flight attendant breaking a passenger’s foot with a beverage cartwarrants an NTSB writeup. The idea is to publicly identify what went wrong so nobody ever does it again — and it’s made flying an incredibly safe way to travel.
Epstein noted that this culture of safety owes something to government influence: “Airlines have more regulatory requirements to disclose.” In other business sectors, that influence is less pronounced.
But, he added, airlines themselves can still clam up about cybersecurity issues that don’t directly affect flight safety. He cited a run of flight cancellations last year that wereapparently the result of fake flight plans that pilots immediately flagged, but which airlines later vaguely labeled as “unanticipated technical problems.”
Companies and organizations are supposed to be able to share confidential information, including details of unpatched vulnerabilities, in private forums such as industry-specificInformation Sharing and Analysis Centers. For instance, airlines can team up at theAviation ISAC, while medical facilities can collaborate privately atHealthcare Ready.
So is MedStar at least documenting what went wrong in that health care forum? The hospital won’t even say that. Said spokeswoman Ann Nickels in a text message: “I have nothing further to add.”
The immediate benefit of disclosure — after you’ve patched your shop and helped peers with equally sensitive systems secure their own — is education for everybody else who might not be in the same line of work but who might be running software with the same vulnerability.
“The best way to educate the public on how to not make the same mistakes is to publicly disclose the cause of a breach,” Moussouris said. But organizations don’t have much motivation to take that first step.
And until more of them do, hopelessly vague cybersecurity storylines imply that hacks just happen — they don’t — and that we must blindly trust large corporations to fix these apparently inevitable problems. That leaves us not just unaware of security flaws that might be lurking on our own computers, but generally powerless in the entire cybersecurity debate.
Moussouris, who has helped organize such collaborative vulnerability-research initiatives asthe Defense Department’s “Hack the Pentagon” project, suggested it would take either regulation — “which can be more damaging than helpful in some cases” — or pressure from customers.
But if I or somebody in my family needs urgent care, and the closest hospital is a MedStar facility, am I going to complain about their infosec? Absolutely not. So this problem isn’t going away anytime soon.
[email protected]; follow him on Twitter at@robpegoraro. || After hospital ransomware attack, time for some blunt talk about cybersecurity: Your standard medical drama is supposed to end with a “how it happened” scene, in which doctors explain what really went wrong with the patient and how they solved it. But it doesn’t look like the recent ransomware episode at MedStar Health will get that traditional resolution. We know from well-sourced reports that the mid-Atlantic hospital chain got hit with a strain of ransomware that locked up some of its files. (In such attacks, miscreants encrypt a victim’s files and demand payment — often in the form of Bitcoin — for the decryption key.) We know that containing the problem knocked many of the hospital’s computer systems offline and forced doctors and nurses to communicate via paper and fax . But we don’t know how the attack happened or what MedStar did to fix it. And the Columbia, Md., company doesn’t plan to tell us. “Based on the advice of IT, cybersecurity and law enforcement experts, MedStar will not be elaborating further on additional aspects of this malware event,” reads a statement posted on its site last week. “This is not only for the protection and security of MedStar Health, its patients and associates, but is also for the benefit of other healthcare organizations and companies.” The sound of cybersecurity silence MedStar’s case is not unique, and neither is its subsequent silence. In February, Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles suffered its own ransomware attack . The hospital acknowledged that it was ransomware and even specified the sum demanded (40 bitcoin, or about $17,000). But it provided no hint as to how it got hacked or what it has done to thwart future attacks. Cybersecurity experts know this secure-it-and-shut-up routine well. “The industry status quo is not to reveal the cause of breaches,” emailed Katie Moussouris , a Washington-based security consultant. “Disclosure often only happens when action must be taken externally to apply the defense” — that is, somebody outside the organization has to change a password, patch a server, or take a system offline. Story continues “I can’t think of any company that’s been transparent about it,” said Ars Technica’s veteran security reporter Sean Gallagher in a Twitter direct message. It’s not that corporate leaders don’t realize the importance of working with their peers: They do, but still would rather not reveal the ugly details of attacks. A recent survey of 700-plus C-suite executives by IBM Security found that while 55 percent favored more industry collaboration, 68 percent were reluctant to share incident information outside their own firms. Meanwhile, attackers have fewer hang-ups about talking about their tactics. “The bad guys are always better at sharing than the good guys,” emailed Jeremy Epstein , a security scientist with SRI International. Different ways to disclose Other industries aren’t as opaque in documenting their mishaps. For a particularly dramatic contrast, you could look to commercial aviation. Any serious accident spurs an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, and even something as relatively minor as a flight attendant breaking a passenger’s foot with a beverage cart warrants an NTSB writeup. The idea is to publicly identify what went wrong so nobody ever does it again — and it’s made flying an incredibly safe way to travel. Epstein noted that this culture of safety owes something to government influence: “Airlines have more regulatory requirements to disclose.” In other business sectors, that influence is less pronounced. But, he added, airlines themselves can still clam up about cybersecurity issues that don’t directly affect flight safety. He cited a run of flight cancellations last year that were apparently the result of fake flight plans that pilots immediately flagged , but which airlines later vaguely labeled as “unanticipated technical problems.” Companies and organizations are supposed to be able to share confidential information, including details of unpatched vulnerabilities, in private forums such as industry-specific Information Sharing and Analysis Centers . For instance, airlines can team up at the Aviation ISAC , while medical facilities can collaborate privately at Healthcare Ready . So is MedStar at least documenting what went wrong in that health care forum? The hospital won’t even say that. Said spokeswoman Ann Nickels in a text message: “I have nothing further to add.” What silence really says The immediate benefit of disclosure — after you’ve patched your shop and helped peers with equally sensitive systems secure their own — is education for everybody else who might not be in the same line of work but who might be running software with the same vulnerability. “The best way to educate the public on how to not make the same mistakes is to publicly disclose the cause of a breach,” Moussouris said. But organizations don’t have much motivation to take that first step. And until more of them do, hopelessly vague cybersecurity storylines imply that hacks just happen — they don’t — and that we must blindly trust large corporations to fix these apparently inevitable problems. That leaves us not just unaware of security flaws that might be lurking on our own computers, but generally powerless in the entire cybersecurity debate. Moussouris, who has helped organize such collaborative vulnerability-research initiatives as the Defense Department’s “Hack the Pentagon” project , suggested it would take either regulation — “which can be more damaging than helpful in some cases” — or pressure from customers. But if I or somebody in my family needs urgent care, and the closest hospital is a MedStar facility, am I going to complain about their infosec? Absolutely not. So this problem isn’t going away anytime soon. Email Rob at [email protected] ; follow him on Twitter at @robpegoraro . || Microsoft Goes Deeper into Blockchain Technology with R3CV Deal: Blockchain and BMW: Microsoft Is Making Big Strides
(Continued from Prior Part)
Microsoft took its BaaS service a notch higher with R3CV partnership
Previously in this series, we discussed Microsoft (MSFT), which true to its partnership strategy in the past has partnered with R3CV to push itself ahead of its peers in the blockchain technology space.
Since late 2014, Microsoft has tested and accepted bitcoin and its foundation technology, blockchain. In late 2015, Microsoft partnered with ConsenSys and offered EBaaS (Ethereum blockchain-as-a-service) on MS Azure. This BaaS offering is designed to allow partners to interact with different technologies in a relatively low-risk environment such as smart contracts, social networking, and tax reporting services.
ConsenSys is a blockchain startup focused on Ethereum technology, which offers an alternative platform to Bitcoin. Unlike bitcoin, which was primarily designed as an exchange of digital currency, Ethereum provides a broader vision to businesses. Anything that can be digitized—including cryptocurrencies, derivatives trading, securities trading, and settlement—will be a service on Ethereum.
Primary factors driving the adoption of blockchain technology
According to McKinsey and Accenture (ACN) and as the above chart shows, the financial crisis and the increasing preference toward cryptocurrencies are the key factors that could be instrumental in the increased adoption of blockchain technology.
This explains Microsoft’s increased initiatives to cement its place in the blockchain technology space, which is bound to see increased adoption. Partnering with R3CV, as well as offering third-party blockchain offerings on Azure, could lead to Microsoft winning business from the world’s leading banks.
According to Gil Luria, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, “Microsoft continues to take a leadership position in integrating blockchain technology into its product roadmap.” Luria added, “The relationship with R3 provides Microsoft access to R3’s high-quality collection of the largest banks in the world, which is the most likely group to make early investments in implementing blockchain technology.”
Later in this series, we will discuss how blockchain technology has attracted Microsoft’s peers RedHat (RHT) and IBM (IBM).
Investors who wish to gain exposure to Microsoft could consider investing in the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK). While XLK invests ~10.6% of its holdings in Microsoft, it also has an exposure of ~38% to application software.
Continue to Next Part
Browse this series on Market Realist:
• Part 1 - Microsoft Azure Wins a High-Profile Customer in BMW
• Part 2 - How Microsoft’s Azure Is Giving Stiff Competition to Amazon’s AWS
• Part 3 - Why Microsoft’s Partnership with R3CV Is Making News || Microsoft Goes Deeper into Blockchain Technology with R3CV Deal: Blockchain and BMW: Microsoft Is Making Big Strides ( Continued from Prior Part ) Microsoft took its BaaS service a notch higher with R3CV partnership Previously in this series, we discussed Microsoft (MSFT), which true to its partnership strategy in the past has partnered with R3CV to push itself ahead of its peers in the blockchain technology space. Since late 2014, Microsoft has tested and accepted bitcoin and its foundation technology, blockchain. In late 2015, Microsoft partnered with ConsenSys and offered EBaaS (Ethereum blockchain-as-a-service) on MS Azure. This BaaS offering is designed to allow partners to interact with different technologies in a relatively low-risk environment such as smart contracts, social networking, and tax reporting services. ConsenSys is a blockchain startup focused on Ethereum technology, which offers an alternative platform to Bitcoin. Unlike bitcoin, which was primarily designed as an exchange of digital currency, Ethereum provides a broader vision to businesses. Anything that can be digitized—including cryptocurrencies, derivatives trading, securities trading, and settlement—will be a service on Ethereum. Primary factors driving the adoption of blockchain technology According to McKinsey and Accenture (ACN) and as the above chart shows, the financial crisis and the increasing preference toward cryptocurrencies are the key factors that could be instrumental in the increased adoption of blockchain technology. This explains Microsoft’s increased initiatives to cement its place in the blockchain technology space, which is bound to see increased adoption. Partnering with R3CV, as well as offering third-party blockchain offerings on Azure, could lead to Microsoft winning business from the world’s leading banks. According to Gil Luria, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, “Microsoft continues to take a leadership position in integrating blockchain technology into its product roadmap.” Luria added, “The relationship with R3 provides Microsoft access to R3’s high-quality collection of the largest banks in the world, which is the most likely group to make early investments in implementing blockchain technology.” Story continues Later in this series, we will discuss how blockchain technology has attracted Microsoft’s peers RedHat (RHT) and IBM (IBM). Investors who wish to gain exposure to Microsoft could consider investing in the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK). While XLK invests ~10.6% of its holdings in Microsoft, it also has an exposure of ~38% to application software. Continue to Next Part Browse this series on Market Realist: Part 1 - Microsoft Azure Wins a High-Profile Customer in BMW Part 2 - How Microsoft’s Azure Is Giving Stiff Competition to Amazon’s AWS Part 3 - Why Microsoft’s Partnership with R3CV Is Making News || Your first trade for Tuesday: The "Fast Money" traders gave their final trades of the day.
Pete Najarian was a buyer of IBM.
Brian Kelly was a buyer of GDX.
Karen Finerman was a buyer of C.
Guy Adami was a buyer of CSCO.
Trader disclosure: On Monday, April 11 the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders:
PETE NAJARIAN is long AAPL, BAC, BMY, DIS, DISCA, GE, KMI, KMI.A, KO, LUX, MRK, PEP, PFE, SAVE, VIAB Long Calls: AAL, AMAT, AGN, AKS, AMJ, BAC, BAX, BBBY, CL, CRM, DAL, EBAY, ECA, EGO, ENER, GRPN, HAIN, IBM, KBH, KO, KSS, LC, MDLZ, MET, MSFT, NLNK, POT, RIG, SBUX, SCHW, SLV, SLW, SPG, TCK, UAL, WYNN, XOM, YHOO, ZIOP, EWZ, GDX. Long Puts: DB, HES, MS, PBR, RY, VLO
BRIAN KELLY is long BBRY, Bitcoin, GLD, SH, SLV, TLT, US Dollar, UUP, Yen; he is short Aussie Dollar, BLK, British Pound, CS, DB, Euro, EWA, EWH, FRC, Hong Kong Dollar, UBS, SPY, Yuan, 5-Year Note Futures
KAREN FINERMAN is long BAC, C, FL, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, LYV, KORS, M, SEDG, SPY puts, URI. Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, BOKF, C, C calls, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, JPM calls, KORS, LYV, M, MOH, NRF, PLCE, SPY puts, URI, her firm is short IWM, MDY. Karen Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International.
GUY ADAMI is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
More From CNBC
• Top News and Analysis
• Latest News Video
• Personal Finance || Your first trade for Tuesday: The " Fast Money " traders gave their final trades of the day. Pete Najarian was a buyer of IBM. Brian Kelly was a buyer of GDX. Karen Finerman was a buyer of C. Guy Adami was a buyer of CSCO. Trader disclosure: On Monday, April 11 the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders: PETE NAJARIAN is long AAPL, BAC, BMY, DIS, DISCA, GE, KMI, KMI.A, KO, LUX, MRK, PEP, PFE, SAVE, VIAB Long Calls: AAL, AMAT, AGN, AKS, AMJ, BAC, BAX, BBBY, CL, CRM, DAL, EBAY, ECA, EGO, ENER, GRPN, HAIN, IBM, KBH, KO, KSS, LC, MDLZ, MET, MSFT, NLNK, POT, RIG, SBUX, SCHW, SLV, SLW, SPG, TCK, UAL, WYNN, XOM, YHOO, ZIOP, EWZ, GDX. Long Puts: DB, HES, MS, PBR, RY, VLO BRIAN KELLY is long BBRY, Bitcoin, GLD, SH, SLV, TLT, US Dollar, UUP, Yen; he is short Aussie Dollar, BLK, British Pound, CS, DB, Euro, EWA, EWH, FRC, Hong Kong Dollar, UBS, SPY, Yuan, 5-Year Note Futures KAREN FINERMAN is long BAC, C, FL, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, LYV, KORS, M, SEDG, SPY puts, URI. Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, BOKF, C, C calls, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, JPM calls, KORS, LYV, M, MOH, NRF, PLCE, SPY puts, URI, her firm is short IWM, MDY. Karen Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International. GUY ADAMI is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck. More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || Microsoft Is on Board with Disruptive Blockchain Technology: Blockchain and BMW: Microsoft Is Making Big Strides
(Continued from Prior Part)
Blockchain technology
Previously in the series, we briefly discussed Microsoft’s (MSFT) partnership with R3CV to promote blockchain technology. Let’s look deeper into the technology to get an understanding of why it is being perceived as a hot commodity in the financial world.
Blockchain is the technology that is the foundation of Bitcoin, the world’s first decentralized digital currency, also known as cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency is an encrypted digital currency that works independently of any banks or regulatory authorities.
Blockchain applications are also referred to as “distributed ledger technology.” As they are decentralized, they eliminate the need for a centralized database.
Bitcoin’s popularity sparked the interest of the banking and finance sector in blockchain technology. Blockchains are online ledgers that are used to store and record transactions. However, they can store other types of records, which explains the increased interest. Globally, banks share the opinion that blockchain technology can be employed in areas ranging from remittances to securities exchanges. Barclays stated that the technology has “been abstracted to carry any sort of asset which can be represented digitally.”
The financial world’s interest in blockchain technology
Financial institutions believe that blockchain technology can eliminate inefficiencies currently present in the financial markets while providing enhanced liquidity, transparency, and security. Blockchain technology eliminates the requirement of the intermediary and thus mitigates the risk of human error with full automation.
Blockchain enables anyone to create and complete smart contracts permanently stored in the public ledger. Smart contracts are computer programs that can be cryptographed to perform a transaction once a particular set of conditions are met. Blockchain technology can help banks that must spend significant money, time, and resources on items like trade credit, which is highly paper driven and requires manual work.
JP Morgan (JPM), Goldman Sachs (GS), and Barclays (BCS) have made significant investments in this technology, as we will see in later parts of the series. Microsoft also agrees, which explains its partnership with R3CV.
You may want to consider investing in the PowerShares QQQ Trust, Series 1 ETF (QQQ) to gain exposure to Microsoft, which makes up 8.4% of QQQ. Investors who would like exposure to application software could also consider this ETF. Application software makes up ~28.4% of QQQ.
Continue to Next Part
Browse this series on Market Realist:
• Part 1 - Microsoft Azure Wins a High-Profile Customer in BMW
• Part 2 - How Microsoft’s Azure Is Giving Stiff Competition to Amazon’s AWS
• Part 3 - Why Microsoft’s Partnership with R3CV Is Making News || Microsoft Is on Board with Disruptive Blockchain Technology: Blockchain and BMW: Microsoft Is Making Big Strides ( Continued from Prior Part ) Blockchain technology Previously in the series, we briefly discussed Microsoft’s (MSFT) partnership with R3CV to promote blockchain technology. Let’s look deeper into the technology to get an understanding of why it is being perceived as a hot commodity in the financial world. Blockchain is the technology that is the foundation of Bitcoin, the world’s first decentralized digital currency, also known as cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency is an encrypted digital currency that works independently of any banks or regulatory authorities. Blockchain applications are also referred to as “distributed ledger technology.” As they are decentralized, they eliminate the need for a centralized database. Bitcoin’s popularity sparked the interest of the banking and finance sector in blockchain technology. Blockchains are online ledgers that are used to store and record transactions. However, they can store other types of records, which explains the increased interest. Globally, banks share the opinion that blockchain technology can be employed in areas ranging from remittances to securities exchanges. Barclays stated that the technology has “been abstracted to carry any sort of asset which can be represented digitally.” The financial world’s interest in blockchain technology Financial institutions believe that blockchain technology can eliminate inefficiencies currently present in the financial markets while providing enhanced liquidity, transparency, and security. Blockchain technology eliminates the requirement of the intermediary and thus mitigates the risk of human error with full automation. Blockchain enables anyone to create and complete smart contracts permanently stored in the public ledger. Smart contracts are computer programs that can be cryptographed to perform a transaction once a particular set of conditions are met. Blockchain technology can help banks that must spend significant money, time, and resources on items like trade credit, which is highly paper driven and requires manual work. Story continues JP Morgan (JPM), Goldman Sachs (GS), and Barclays (BCS) have made significant investments in this technology, as we will see in later parts of the series. Microsoft also agrees, which explains its partnership with R3CV. You may want to consider investing in the PowerShares QQQ Trust, Series 1 ETF (QQQ) to gain exposure to Microsoft, which makes up 8.4% of QQQ. Investors who would like exposure to application software could also consider this ETF. Application software makes up ~28.4% of QQQ. Continue to Next Part Browse this series on Market Realist: Part 1 - Microsoft Azure Wins a High-Profile Customer in BMW Part 2 - How Microsoft’s Azure Is Giving Stiff Competition to Amazon’s AWS Part 3 - Why Microsoft’s Partnership with R3CV Is Making News || Blockchain won’t kill banks: Bitcoin pioneer: Blockchain – the technology that underpins the cryptocurrency bitcoin – is unlikely to kill banks despite warnings from top industry executives, the chair of a bitcoin non-profit organization told CNBC on Monday.
Last week, Andrey Sharov, a vice president at Russia's Sberbank, said banks would disappear by 2026 due to the rising use of blockchain technology.
"In 10 years, there will be no banks, I'm afraid," according to a translation of Sharov's comments by the Coinfox bitcoin news website.
But Brock Pierce, the chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, said that while the adoption of blockchain will hit parts of a bank, it will ultimately create opportunity.
"There are certain aspects of their business that are going to be negatively impacted, but there are also going to be other business units that are going to be positively impacted and new business units that get created that might not even exist today," Pierce told CNBC in an interview on Monday.
"And the parts of the industry that are being most negatively impacted are the ones where the bank is not providing much in the way of value, where they are being a toll taker but not really a value creator."
Blockchain is the technology that underlies the cryptocurrency bitcoin. It works like a huge, decentralized ledger for bitcoin which records every transaction and stores this information on a global network so it cannot be tampered with.Banks feel blockchain technologycan be utilized in areas from remittances to securities exchanges to bring about efficiency.
The Bitcoin Foundation positions itself as an organization that is helping to advance the use of the cryptocurrency "through advocacy, education and support of adoption and core development", according to its website. While there is no centralized authority for bitcoin, the organization is trying to create common standards for its use.
Pierce has a varied history. He was a child film star who appeared in Disney's "The Mighty Ducks" film in the early 1990s. He has previously run internet companies and is a partner in Blockchain Capital, a venture capital firm that invests in companies in the space.
A number of major financial institutions have been speaking publically about blockchain and touting its potential. A firm called R3 has brought together a group of the world's biggest banks including JPMorgan and Citigroup and is dedicated to researching and delivering new financial technology. Another company called Digital Asset Holdings, founded by an ex-top JPMorgan executive, partnered with JPMorgan earlier this year to explore blockchain technology.
Speaking at the Money 2020 conference in Copenhagen last week, Digital Asset Holdings chief executive Blythe Masters, said blockchain technology will be "deployed in a commercial setting in less than a couple of years," butwidespread adoption would take longer, a point Pierce echoed.
"I think banks are going to take a while to integrate this … it's going to take them years of testing before they start to commercialize aspects of the technology … it's more likely to have an impact in other industries in the short term which are less-regulated and where the stakes are lower," Pierce told CNBC.
Pierce also explained that there would be "dozens of different versions of blockchains" deployed for different use cases.
The Bitcoin Foundation has had a checkered history. In December, Pierce declared in meeting minutes that the organization was "close to running out of money."
And bitcoin itself has had a bad reputation. The cryptocurrency is often linked to allowing people to purchase illegal items anonymously, while one of the world's largest bitcoin exchanges,Mt. Gox, collapsed in 2014.
While not referring to these specific incidents, Pierce did admit that bitcoin's reputation has suffered some bad publicity, and why the banks are focusing on the underlying technology of blockchain.
"Bitcoin's got a major PR (public relations) problem and that's why you hear major banks saying bitcoin bad, blockchain good," Pierce said.
"Emerging technologies and the earliest adopters often produce these types of messages. And bitcoin as the pioneer takes the arrows in the back…which is probably not warranted."
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• Personal Finance || Blockchain won’t kill banks: Bitcoin pioneer: Blockchain – the technology that underpins the cryptocurrency bitcoin – is unlikely to kill banks despite warnings from top industry executives, the chair of a bitcoin non-profit organization told CNBC on Monday.
Last week, Andrey Sharov, a vice president at Russia's Sberbank, said banks would disappear by 2026 due to the rising use of blockchain technology.
"In 10 years, there will be no banks, I'm afraid," according to a translation of Sharov's comments by the Coinfox bitcoin news website.
But Brock Pierce, the chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, said that while the adoption of blockchain will hit parts of a bank, it will ultimately create opportunity.
"There are certain aspects of their business that are going to be negatively impacted, but there are also going to be other business units that are going to be positively impacted and new business units that get created that might not even exist today," Pierce told CNBC in an interview on Monday.
"And the parts of the industry that are being most negatively impacted are the ones where the bank is not providing much in the way of value, where they are being a toll taker but not really a value creator."
Blockchain is the technology that underlies the cryptocurrency bitcoin. It works like a huge, decentralized ledger for bitcoin which records every transaction and stores this information on a global network so it cannot be tampered with.Banks feel blockchain technologycan be utilized in areas from remittances to securities exchanges to bring about efficiency.
The Bitcoin Foundation positions itself as an organization that is helping to advance the use of the cryptocurrency "through advocacy, education and support of adoption and core development", according to its website. While there is no centralized authority for bitcoin, the organization is trying to create common standards for its use.
Pierce has a varied history. He was a child film star who appeared in Disney's "The Mighty Ducks" film in the early 1990s. He has previously run internet companies and is a partner in Blockchain Capital, a venture capital firm that invests in companies in the space.
A number of major financial institutions have been speaking publically about blockchain and touting its potential. A firm called R3 has brought together a group of the world's biggest banks including JPMorgan and Citigroup and is dedicated to researching and delivering new financial technology. Another company called Digital Asset Holdings, founded by an ex-top JPMorgan executive, partnered with JPMorgan earlier this year to explore blockchain technology.
Speaking at the Money 2020 conference in Copenhagen last week, Digital Asset Holdings chief executive Blythe Masters, said blockchain technology will be "deployed in a commercial setting in less than a couple of years," butwidespread adoption would take longer, a point Pierce echoed.
"I think banks are going to take a while to integrate this … it's going to take them years of testing before they start to commercialize aspects of the technology … it's more likely to have an impact in other industries in the short term which are less-regulated and where the stakes are lower," Pierce told CNBC.
Pierce also explained that there would be "dozens of different versions of blockchains" deployed for different use cases.
The Bitcoin Foundation has had a checkered history. In December, Pierce declared in meeting minutes that the organization was "close to running out of money."
And bitcoin itself has had a bad reputation. The cryptocurrency is often linked to allowing people to purchase illegal items anonymously, while one of the world's largest bitcoin exchanges,Mt. Gox, collapsed in 2014.
While not referring to these specific incidents, Pierce did admit that bitcoin's reputation has suffered some bad publicity, and why the banks are focusing on the underlying technology of blockchain.
"Bitcoin's got a major PR (public relations) problem and that's why you hear major banks saying bitcoin bad, blockchain good," Pierce said.
"Emerging technologies and the earliest adopters often produce these types of messages. And bitcoin as the pioneer takes the arrows in the back…which is probably not warranted."
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• Latest News Video
• Personal Finance || Blockchain won’t kill banks: Bitcoin pioneer: Blockchain – the technology that underpins the cryptocurrency bitcoin – is unlikely to kill banks despite warnings from top industry executives, the chair of a bitcoin non-profit organization told CNBC on Monday. Last week, Andrey Sharov, a vice president at Russia's Sberbank, said banks would disappear by 2026 due to the rising use of blockchain technology. "In 10 years, there will be no banks, I'm afraid," according to a translation of Sharov's comments by the Coinfox bitcoin news website. But Brock Pierce, the chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, said that while the adoption of blockchain will hit parts of a bank, it will ultimately create opportunity. "There are certain aspects of their business that are going to be negatively impacted, but there are also going to be other business units that are going to be positively impacted and new business units that get created that might not even exist today," Pierce told CNBC in an interview on Monday. "And the parts of the industry that are being most negatively impacted are the ones where the bank is not providing much in the way of value, where they are being a toll taker but not really a value creator." Blockchain is the technology that underlies the cryptocurrency bitcoin. It works like a huge, decentralized ledger for bitcoin which records every transaction and stores this information on a global network so it cannot be tampered with. Banks feel blockchain technology can be utilized in areas from remittances to securities exchanges to bring about efficiency. The Bitcoin Foundation positions itself as an organization that is helping to advance the use of the cryptocurrency "through advocacy, education and support of adoption and core development", according to its website. While there is no centralized authority for bitcoin, the organization is trying to create common standards for its use. Pierce has a varied history. He was a child film star who appeared in Disney's "The Mighty Ducks" film in the early 1990s. He has previously run internet companies and is a partner in Blockchain Capital, a venture capital firm that invests in companies in the space. Story continues A number of major financial institutions have been speaking publically about blockchain and touting its potential. A firm called R3 has brought together a group of the world's biggest banks including JPMorgan and Citigroup and is dedicated to researching and delivering new financial technology. Another company called Digital Asset Holdings, founded by an ex-top JPMorgan executive, partnered with JPMorgan earlier this year to explore blockchain technology. Speaking at the Money 2020 conference in Copenhagen last week, Digital Asset Holdings chief executive Blythe Masters, said blockchain technology will be "deployed in a commercial setting in less than a couple of years," but widespread adoption would take longer , a point Pierce echoed. "I think banks are going to take a while to integrate this … it's going to take them years of testing before they start to commercialize aspects of the technology … it's more likely to have an impact in other industries in the short term which are less-regulated and where the stakes are lower," Pierce told CNBC. Pierce also explained that there would be "dozens of different versions of blockchains" deployed for different use cases. The Bitcoin Foundation has had a checkered history. In December, Pierce declared in meeting minutes that the organization was "close to running out of money." And bitcoin itself has had a bad reputation. The cryptocurrency is often linked to allowing people to purchase illegal items anonymously, while one of the world's largest bitcoin exchanges, Mt. Gox, collapsed in 2014 . While not referring to these specific incidents, Pierce did admit that bitcoin's reputation has suffered some bad publicity, and why the banks are focusing on the underlying technology of blockchain. "Bitcoin's got a major PR (public relations) problem and that's why you hear major banks saying bitcoin bad, blockchain good," Pierce said. "Emerging technologies and the earliest adopters often produce these types of messages. And bitcoin as the pioneer takes the arrows in the back…which is probably not warranted." More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || Newspaper giants threaten Brave over its ad-swapping browser: You remember how Brave's web browser pays you to see replacement ads (overriding a site's usual ads) when you don't pay to block promos outright? Yeah, publishers aren't very happy about that. A coalition of 17 news giants, including the New York Times and Dow Jones, has sent Brave a letter claiming that its ad-swapping business model is illegal. Allegedly, the approach is tantamount to copyright infringement. It's "indistinguishable" from stealing articles and posting them on another site, according to the publishers. The group also doesn't buy the argument that Bitcoin payments and revenue sharing will make up for the lack of native ads -- those methods "cannot begin to compensate" for the lost income. Not surprisingly, Brave isn't having any of it. CEO Brendan Eich says the browser isn't replacing publishers' own ads, including any first-party ads that aren't using third-party tracking. It's trying to create a better ad network that actually pays more than third-party options, he argues. Eich goes so far as to suggest that the publishers are being disingenuous (especially when sidestepping their own ad privacy concerns), and are really attacking any browser with an ad blocker add-on or ad-free reading mode . Brave says it's open to talking with the media group to argue its case, although it's hard to see those companies being very receptive when they not-so-subtly hint at possible legal action. Not that Brave is slowing down in the meantime. It just released a developer version of its browser with support for Chrome extensions, 1Password logins and blocks against everything from phishing scams to privacy-violating browser fingerprinting measures. In short, it's determined to fight privacy intrusions of all kinds, whether or not the perpetrators are in a position to object. || Newspaper giants threaten Brave over its ad-swapping browser: You remember how Brave's web browserpays you to see replacement ads(overriding a site's usual ads) when you don't pay to block promos outright? Yeah, publishers aren't very happy about that. A coalition of 17 news giants, including theNew York Timesand Dow Jones,has sentBrave a letter claiming that its ad-swapping business model is illegal. Allegedly, the approach is tantamount to copyright infringement. It's "indistinguishable" from stealing articles and posting them on another site, according to the publishers. The group also doesn't buy the argument thatBitcoin paymentsand revenue sharing will make up for the lack of native ads -- those methods "cannot begin to compensate" for the lost income.
Not surprisingly, Brave isn't having any of it. CEOBrendan Eichsays the browser isn't replacing publishers' own ads, including any first-party ads that aren't using third-party tracking. It's trying to create a better ad network that actually pays more than third-party options, he argues. Eich goes so far as to suggest that the publishers are being disingenuous (especially when sidestepping their own ad privacy concerns), and are really attacking any browser with an ad blocker add-on orad-free reading mode.
Brave says it's open to talking with the media group to argue its case, although it's hard to see those companies being very receptive when they not-so-subtly hint at possible legal action. Not that Brave is slowing down in the meantime. It justreleaseda developer version of its browser with support for Chrome extensions,1Passwordlogins and blocks against everything from phishing scams to privacy-violating browser fingerprinting measures. In short, it's determined to fight privacy intrusions of all kinds, whether or not the perpetrators are in a position to object. || Traders: These 4 stocks could take off: A SpaceX rocket launch Friday had "Fast Money" traders debating which stocks could soon blast off. Mechel Trader Tim Seymour believes Russian mining company Mechel (: NULL) has upside following a sustained slide in the prices of many commodities. Its U.S.-listed stock has climbed nearly 12 percent this year but has still plunged about 38 percent in the past 12 months. KB Home Trader Steve Grasso touted shares of KB Home (NYSE: KBH) , which have risen 17 percent this year. He owns the stock, which he said could be a merger or acquisition target. Grasso noted he would use a $14 stop for the stock, which closed at about $14.50 on Friday. Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF Trader Guy Adami contended the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE Arca: GDX) which has soared 56 percent this year could climb even more. The fund has rallied this year along with gold futures, which are up about 17 percent. Deutsche Bank Trader Brian Kelly, on the other hand, said he would sell a stock that has failed to get off the ground. He noted he would stay away from Deutsche Bank (XETRA: DBK-DE) , which has lagged the broader market. The bank's U.S.-listed shares have plunged 34 percent this year. Disclosures: Tim Seymour Tim Seymour is long AAPL, AVP, BAC, BBRY, DO, EDC, EWZ, F, FCX, GM, GOOGL, GRMN, GE, GLNCY, INTC, LQD, MPEL, NKE, RACE, RAI, SINA, T, TWTR, UA, VALE, VZ, XOM. Tim's firm is long BABA, BIDU, CLF, EWZ, F, HD, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, YHOO, short HYG, IWM, WYNN Steve Grasso Steve is Long AAPL, BA, BAC, CC, DD, DIS, DECK, EVGN, KBH, MJNA, MU, OLN, PFE, PHM, T, TWTR, GDX firm is long WYNN kids own EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY Brian Kelly Brian Kelly is long BBRY, Bitcoin, GLD, GLD puts, SH, SLV, TLT, US Dollar, UUP, Yen; he is short Aussie Dollar, BLK, British Pound, CS, DB, Euro, EWA, EWH, FRC, Hong Kong Dollar, UBS, SPY, Yuan, 5-Year Note Futures Guy Adami Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck. More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || Traders: These 4 stocks could take off: ASpaceX rocket launchFriday had "Fast Money" traders debating which stocks could soon blast off.
Mechel
Trader Tim Seymour believes Russian mining company Mechel(: NULL)has upside following a sustained slide in the prices of many commodities. Its U.S.-listed stock has climbed nearly 12 percent this year but has still plunged about 38 percent in the past 12 months.
KB Home
Trader Steve Grasso touted shares of KB Home(NYSE: KBH), which have risen 17 percent this year. He owns the stock, which he said could be a merger or acquisition target.
Grasso noted he would use a $14 stop for the stock, which closed at about $14.50 on Friday.
Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF
Trader Guy Adami contended the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF(NYSE Arca: GDX)— which has soared 56 percent this year — could climb even more. The fund has rallied this year along with gold futures, which are up about 17 percent.
Deutsche Bank
Trader Brian Kelly, on the other hand, said he would sell a stock that has failed to get off the ground. He noted he would stay away from Deutsche Bank(XETRA: DBK-DE), which has lagged the broader market.
The bank's U.S.-listed shares have plunged 34 percent this year.
Disclosures:
Tim Seymour
Tim Seymour is long AAPL, AVP, BAC, BBRY, DO, EDC, EWZ, F, FCX, GM, GOOGL, GRMN, GE, GLNCY, INTC, LQD, MPEL, NKE, RACE, RAI, SINA, T, TWTR, UA, VALE, VZ, XOM. Tim's firm is long BABA, BIDU, CLF, EWZ, F, HD, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, YHOO, short HYG, IWM, WYNN
Steve Grasso
Steve is Long AAPL, BA, BAC, CC, DD, DIS, DECK, EVGN, KBH, MJNA, MU, OLN, PFE, PHM, T, TWTR, GDX firm is long WYNN kids own EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY
Brian Kelly
Brian Kelly is long BBRY, Bitcoin, GLD, GLD puts, SH, SLV, TLT, US Dollar, UUP, Yen; he is short Aussie Dollar, BLK, British Pound, CS, DB, Euro, EWA, EWH, FRC, Hong Kong Dollar, UBS, SPY, Yuan, 5-Year Note Futures
Guy Adami
Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
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• Personal Finance || 'BLATANTLY ILLEGAL': 17 newspapers slam ex-Mozilla CEO's new ad-blocking browser: (Brave)Brendan Eich, CEO of Brave.
A group of the biggest US newspaper publishers — including Dow Jones, The Washington Post, and The New York Times Co. — have cosigned what they are calling a "cease and desist" letter (read it in full below) sent to the former Mozilla CEO's new browser company.
Brendan Eich's new browser, Brave,announced its launch early this year. The browser — available on iOS, Android, OS X, Windows, and Linux — has ad-blocking software baked into it, which blocks all ads by default and replaces them with its own ads that it says load quicker and"protect data sovereignty [and] anonymity"of users by blocking tracking pixels and cookies.
With Brave, publishers get around 55% of revenues: 15% go to Brave, 15% go to the partner that serves the ads, and 10% to 15% goes back to the user, who can choose to make bitcoin donations to their favorite publishers in order to get an ad-free experience on their websites,Eich told Business Insider in January.
But the 17 newspaper-publishing companies that cosigned the letter sent to Eich on Thursday say that this business model is "blatantly illegal" because they claim Brave is profiting from the "$5 billion" a year the industry spends on funding journalism.
The publishers argue that Brave's advertising-replacement plan would constitute copyright infringement, a violation of the publishers' terms of use, unfair competition, unauthorized access to their sites, and a breach of contract.
The letter compares Brave's business model to a company simply stealing their articles and pasting them on their own websites for profit.
Eich provided a lengthy statement in response to the letter (which you can read in full below.)
In it, he said: "The NAA sent a letter to Brave Software that is filled with false assertions. The NAA has fundamentally misunderstood Brave. Brave is the solution, not the enemy."
Not only do the publishers "expressly decline to participate in any way in Brave's supposed business model," but they threaten that they are "ready to enforce all legal rights" to protect their trademarks and copyrighted content.
The publishers, all of which are members of the Newspaper Association of America and together represent more than 1,200 newspapers in the US, threaten that they will seek damages of up to "$150,000 per work" that Brave monetizes.
This isn't the first time Brave has drawn ire from the media and advertising community.
In January, the CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, Randall Rothenberg, ripped into Brave and other ad blockers in a speech at the US internet-advertising trade body's annual leadership conference.
Of Brave, hesaid:
The latest ad-blocking company is a Web browser startup called “Brave.” It was launched by former Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich, whose last major investment was in banning gay marriage in California. His business model not only strips advertisements from publishers’ pages — it replaces them with his own for-profit ads.
THIS is the true face of ad blocking. It is the rich and self-righteous, who want to tell everyone else what they can and cannot read and watch and hear — self-proclaimed libertarians whose liberty involves denying freedom to everyone else.
The ad-block profiteers are building for-profit companies whose business models are premised on impeding the movement of commercial, political, and public-service communication between and among producers and consumers. They offer to lift their toll gates for those wealthy enough to pay them off, or who submit to their demands that they constrict their freedom of speech to fit the shackles of their revenue schemes.
They may attempt to dignify their practices with such politically correct phrases as “reasonable advertising,” “responsible advertising,” and “acceptable ads”; and they can claim as loudly as they want that they seek “constructive rapport” with other stakeholders. But in fact, they are engaged in the techniques of The Big Lie, declaring themselves the friends of those whose livelihoods they would destroy, and allies to those whose freedoms they would subvert.
A Medianomics survey of 42 "high traffic" websites in the US published earlier this monthfound that 48% of respondents were "somewhat likely" and 36% were "definitely/very likely" to support taking collective legal action against ad-blocking companies.
Dear Mr. Eich:
Brave Software, Inc. (“Brave”), a company you founded, has announced that it intends to launch a browser and mobile applications that will display publishers’ content but replace publishers’ advertising with advertising that Brave sells for its own profit. You are hereby notified that Brave’s plan to replace our clients’ paid advertising content with its own advertising violates the law, and the undersigned publishers intend to fully enforce their rights.
Your plan to use our content to sell your advertising is indistinguishable from a plan to steal our content to publish on your own website. Your public statements demonstrate clearly that you intend to harness and exploit the content of all the publishers on the Web to sell your own advertising. “We can provide access to all of the top publishers through a single channel with guaranteed ‘share of voice,’” Brave’s website claims. “This combination of better targeting and first-look access to all of the premium placements our users browse is something that no one else can provide.” There’s a simple reason “no one else” is purporting to “provide” all the content on the Web in one place for its own profit, without investing a penny in creating that content: everyone else has recognized that it would be blatantly illegal for one company to hijack all the content on the Web for its own benefit.
We publish some of the most highly valued and widely read sites on the Web. Our sites and mobile applications provide news reporting, photojournalism, video content and feature writing that is researched, reported, edited, and produced at extraordinary cost. Our industry spends more than $5 billion per year on reporting in the United States alone. We distribute that reporting online for free or at highly subsidized rates, in no small part due to revenue from online ads.
Your apparent plan to permit your customers to make Bitcoin “donations” to us, and for you to donate to us some unspecified percentage of revenue you receive from the sale of your ads on our sites, cannot begin to compensate us for the loss of our ability to fund our work by displaying our own advertising. We expressly decline to participate in any way in Brave’s supposed business model. We explicitly reject any compensation or consideration Brave plans to offer to us as part of its ad-blocking and ad-replacing scheme, and we refuse to accept any “site wallet” that you propose to create for our supposed benefit. In addition, you are not authorized to use our names, trademarks and logos in any way in connection with the promotion or operation of your business.
We stand ready to enforce all legal rights to protect our trademarks and copyrighted content and to prevent you from deceiving consumers and unlawfully appropriating our work in the service of your business. Unauthorized republication of our copyrighted content to support Brave’s illegal advertising model violates protected rights of publishers under the Copyright Act and other laws. We reserve the right to seek all remedies for this infringement, including but not limited to statutory damages of up to $150,000 per work pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 504. Brave’s use of publishers’ trademarks to sell its own advertising will confuse consumers, infringe upon publishers’ exclusive rights in their brands, and dilute our highly distinctive marks. We believe your planned activities will also constitute unfair competition and misappropriation under relevant federal, state and common law. Brave’s unauthorized activities involving our content and websites also violates our terms of use. By engaging in Brave’s plan of advertising replacement, Brave is liable for breach of contract, unauthorized access to our websites, unfair competition, and other causes of action.
Very truly yours,
ADVANCE LOCAL Vincent LaSpisa, Esq., Sabin, Bermant & Gould LLP, One World Trade Center, 44th Floor New York, New York 10007-2915
BH MEDIA GROUP Scott Searl, Esq., Senior Vice President and General Counsel, BH Media Group, 1314 Douglas Street, Suite 1500 Omaha, Nebraska 68102
CALKINS MEDIA INCORPORATED Sally A. Buckman, Esq., LermanSenter PLLC, 2001 L Street, N.W., Suite 400 Washington, D.C. 20036
DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Marshall W. Anstandig, Esq., Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Digital First Media, 4 North 2nd Street, Suite 800 San Jose, California 95113
DOW JONES & COMPANY, INC., Jason P. Conti, Esq., Senior Vice President and Interim General Counsel, Dow Jones & Company, Inc., 1211 Ave of the Americas New York, New York 10036
GANNETT CO., INC., Barbara W. Wall, Esq., Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, Gannett Co., Inc., 7950 Jones Branch Drive McLean, Virginia 22107
GATEHOUSE MEDIA/NEW MEDIA INVESTMENT GROUP, Polly Grunfeld Sack, Esq., Senior Vice President, General Counsel, GateHouse Media, 175 Sully’s Trail, 3rd Floor Pittsford, New York 14534
JOURNAL MEDIA GROUP, Hillary Ebach, Esq., Vice President and General Counsel, Journal Media Group, Inc., 333 W State Street Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53203
LANDMARK MEDIA ENTERPRISES, LLC, Guy R. Friddell, III, Esq., Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Landmark Media Enterprises, LLC, 150 Granby Street Norfolk, VA 23510
LEE ENTERPRISES INCORPORATED, Astrid Garcia, Esq., Lee Enterprises Incorporated, 201 N. Harrison St., Suite 600 Davenport, Iowa 52801
THE MCCLATCHY COMPANY, Juan Cornejo, Esq., Assistant General Counsel, The McClatchy Company, 2100 Q Street Sacramento, California 95816-6899
MORRIS PUBLISHING GROUP, LLC, J. Noel Schweers III, Esq., General Counsel, Morris Publishing Group, LLC, 725 Broad Street Augusta, Georgia 30901
THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY, Ken Richieri, Esq., Executive Vice President and General Counsel The New York Times Company, New York, New York 10018
NEWSDAY, LLC, Karen Au Claro, Esq., Senior Vice President, Law, Newsday, LLC, 235 Pinelawn Road Melville, New York 11747 
SCHURZ COMMUNICATIONS, INC., John Smarrella, Esq., Barnes & Thornburg, LLP, 100 North Michigan Street South Bend, Indiana 46601-1632
TRIBUNE PUBLISHING COMPANY, Karen Flax, Esq., Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Tribune Publishing Company, 435 North Michigan Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60611
THE WASHINGTON POST, Jay Kennedy, Esq., Vice President and General Counsel, The Washington Post, 1301 K Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20071
The NAA sent a letter to Brave Software that is filled with false assertions. The NAA has fundamentally misunderstood Brave. Brave is the solution, not the enemy.
The NAA's letter to Brave Software asserts that any browser that blocks and replaces ads on the browser user's device performs "unauthorized republication" of Web content. This is false on its face, since browsers do not "republish", serve, syndicate, or distribute content across the Internet or to any computer other than the one on which they run.
Browsers are the end-point for secure connections, the user agent that actually mediates and combines all the pieces of content, including third-party ads and first-party publisher news stories. Browsers can block, rearrange, mash-up and otherwise make use of any content from any source. If it were the case that Brave's browsers perform "republication", then so too does Safari's Reader mode, and the same goes for any ad-blocker-equipped browser, or the Links text-only browser, or screen readers for the visually impaired.
The NAA letter also falsely asserts that Brave will share an "unspecified percentage of revenue", when our revenue share pie chart has been public and fixed from ourfirst preview release in January.We give the lion's share (pun intended), up to 70% of ad revenue, to websites, keeping only 15% for ourselves and paying 15% to our users.
We sympathize with publishers concerned about the damage that pure ad blockers do to their ability to pay their bills via advertising revenue. However,this problem long pre-dates Brave. We categorically reject the claim that browsers perform "republication", and we repeat that Brave has a sound and systematic plan to financially reward publishers. We aim to outperform the invasive third-party ads that we block, with our better, fewer, and privacy-preserving ads.
Finally, we note that malvertisement has gotten onto the websites of the New York Times and the BBC recently through the ill-designed, unregulated, and poorly-delegated third-party advertising technology ecosystem. Truly, this tracker-based ad-tech ecosystem is what is damaging the brand value of content publishers and driving users to adopt ad-blocking software. Brave blocks and replaces only third-party ads and trackers. Our system thus actually repairs the damage that publishers have carelessly allowed their ad partners (and partners' partners, to the seventh degree of separation) do to their trademarked brands and names.
Make no mistake: this NAA letter is the first shot in a war on all ad-blockers, not just on Brave. Though theNAA never reached out to us, we would be happy to sit down with them for an opportunity to discuss how the Brave solution can be a win win. We will fight alongside all citizens of the Internet who deserve and demand a better deal than they are getting from today's increasingly abusive approach to Web advertising.
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• Another ad blocker claims Adblock Plus used a trademark complaint to force it offline
• A bunch of big US websites say they're likely to support legal action against ad blockers
• 1 in 10 people in the US uses an ad blocker || 'BLATANTLY ILLEGAL': 17 newspapers slam ex-Mozilla CEO's new ad-blocking browser: brendan eich ceo mozilla brave (Brave) Brendan Eich, CEO of Brave. A group of the biggest US newspaper publishers — including Dow Jones, The Washington Post, and The New York Times Co. — have cosigned what they are calling a "cease and desist" letter (read it in full below) sent to the former Mozilla CEO's new browser company. Brendan Eich's new browser, Brave, announced its launch early this year . The browser — available on iOS, Android, OS X, Windows, and Linux — has ad-blocking software baked into it, which blocks all ads by default and replaces them with its own ads that it says load quicker and "protect data sovereignty [and] anonymity" of users by blocking tracking pixels and cookies. With Brave, publishers get around 55% of revenues: 15% go to Brave, 15% go to the partner that serves the ads, and 10% to 15% goes back to the user, who can choose to make bitcoin donations to their favorite publishers in order to get an ad-free experience on their websites, Eich told Business Insider in January . 'Blatantly illegal' But the 17 newspaper-publishing companies that cosigned the letter sent to Eich on Thursday say that this business model is "blatantly illegal" because they claim Brave is profiting from the "$5 billion" a year the industry spends on funding journalism. The publishers argue that Brave's advertising-replacement plan would constitute copyright infringement, a violation of the publishers' terms of use, unfair competition, unauthorized access to their sites, and a breach of contract. The letter compares Brave's business model to a company simply stealing their articles and pasting them on their own websites for profit. Eich provided a lengthy statement in response to the letter (which you can read in full below.) In it, he said: "The NAA sent a letter to Brave Software that is filled with false assertions. The NAA has fundamentally misunderstood Brave. Brave is the solution, not the enemy." Seeking damages of up to $150,000 per work Not only do the publishers "expressly decline to participate in any way in Brave's supposed business model," but they threaten that they are "ready to enforce all legal rights" to protect their trademarks and copyrighted content. Story continues The publishers, all of which are members of the Newspaper Association of America and together represent more than 1,200 newspapers in the US, threaten that they will seek damages of up to "$150,000 per work" that Brave monetizes. This isn't the first time Brave has drawn ire from the media and advertising community. In January, the CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, Randall Rothenberg, ripped into Brave and other ad blockers in a speech at the US internet-advertising trade body's annual leadership conference. Of Brave, he said : The latest ad-blocking company is a Web browser startup called “Brave.” It was launched by former Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich, whose last major investment was in banning gay marriage in California. His business model not only strips advertisements from publishers’ pages — it replaces them with his own for-profit ads. THIS is the true face of ad blocking. It is the rich and self-righteous, who want to tell everyone else what they can and cannot read and watch and hear — self-proclaimed libertarians whose liberty involves denying freedom to everyone else. The ad-block profiteers are building for-profit companies whose business models are premised on impeding the movement of commercial, political, and public-service communication between and among producers and consumers. They offer to lift their toll gates for those wealthy enough to pay them off, or who submit to their demands that they constrict their freedom of speech to fit the shackles of their revenue schemes. They may attempt to dignify their practices with such politically correct phrases as “reasonable advertising,” “responsible advertising,” and “acceptable ads”; and they can claim as loudly as they want that they seek “constructive rapport” with other stakeholders. But in fact, they are engaged in the techniques of The Big Lie, declaring themselves the friends of those whose livelihoods they would destroy, and allies to those whose freedoms they would subvert. A Medianomics survey of 42 "high traffic" websites in the US published earlier this month found that 48% of respondents were "somewhat likely" and 36% were "definitely/very likely" to support taking collective legal action against ad-blocking companies. Here's the full letter sent to Brave — you can also download it by clicking here . Brave's response is below. Dear Mr. Eich: Brave Software, Inc. (“Brave”), a company you founded, has announced that it intends to launch a browser and mobile applications that will display publishers’ content but replace publishers’ advertising with advertising that Brave sells for its own profit. You are hereby notified that Brave’s plan to replace our clients’ paid advertising content with its own advertising violates the law, and the undersigned publishers intend to fully enforce their rights. Your plan to use our content to sell your advertising is indistinguishable from a plan to steal our content to publish on your own website. Your public statements demonstrate clearly that you intend to harness and exploit the content of all the publishers on the Web to sell your own advertising. “We can provide access to all of the top publishers through a single channel with guaranteed ‘share of voice,’” Brave’s website claims. “This combination of better targeting and first-look access to all of the premium placements our users browse is something that no one else can provide.” There’s a simple reason “no one else” is purporting to “provide” all the content on the Web in one place for its own profit, without investing a penny in creating that content: everyone else has recognized that it would be blatantly illegal for one company to hijack all the content on the Web for its own benefit. We publish some of the most highly valued and widely read sites on the Web. Our sites and mobile applications provide news reporting, photojournalism, video content and feature writing that is researched, reported, edited, and produced at extraordinary cost. Our industry spends more than $5 billion per year on reporting in the United States alone. We distribute that reporting online for free or at highly subsidized rates, in no small part due to revenue from online ads. Your apparent plan to permit your customers to make Bitcoin “donations” to us, and for you to donate to us some unspecified percentage of revenue you receive from the sale of your ads on our sites, cannot begin to compensate us for the loss of our ability to fund our work by displaying our own advertising. We expressly decline to participate in any way in Brave’s supposed business model. We explicitly reject any compensation or consideration Brave plans to offer to us as part of its ad-blocking and ad-replacing scheme, and we refuse to accept any “site wallet” that you propose to create for our supposed benefit. In addition, you are not authorized to use our names, trademarks and logos in any way in connection with the promotion or operation of your business. We stand ready to enforce all legal rights to protect our trademarks and copyrighted content and to prevent you from deceiving consumers and unlawfully appropriating our work in the service of your business. Unauthorized republication of our copyrighted content to support Brave’s illegal advertising model violates protected rights of publishers under the Copyright Act and other laws. We reserve the right to seek all remedies for this infringement, including but not limited to statutory damages of up to $150,000 per work pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 504. Brave’s use of publishers’ trademarks to sell its own advertising will confuse consumers, infringe upon publishers’ exclusive rights in their brands, and dilute our highly distinctive marks. We believe your planned activities will also constitute unfair competition and misappropriation under relevant federal, state and common law. Brave’s unauthorized activities involving our content and websites also violates our terms of use. By engaging in Brave’s plan of advertising replacement, Brave is liable for breach of contract, unauthorized access to our websites, unfair competition, and other causes of action. Very truly yours, ADVANCE LOCAL Vincent LaSpisa, Esq., Sabin, Bermant & Gould LLP, One World Trade Center, 44th Floor New York, New York 10007-2915 BH MEDIA GROUP Scott Searl, Esq., Senior Vice President and General Counsel, BH Media Group, 1314 Douglas Street, Suite 1500 Omaha, Nebraska 68102 CALKINS MEDIA INCORPORATED Sally A. Buckman, Esq., LermanSenter PLLC, 2001 L Street, N.W., Suite 400 Washington, D.C. 20036 DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA Marshall W. Anstandig, Esq., Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Digital First Media, 4 North 2nd Street, Suite 800 San Jose, California 95113 DOW JONES & COMPANY, INC., Jason P. Conti, Esq., Senior Vice President and Interim General Counsel, Dow Jones & Company, Inc., 1211 Ave of the Americas New York, New York 10036 GANNETT CO., INC., Barbara W. Wall, Esq., Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, Gannett Co., Inc., 7950 Jones Branch Drive McLean, Virginia 22107 GATEHOUSE MEDIA/NEW MEDIA INVESTMENT GROUP, Polly Grunfeld Sack, Esq., Senior Vice President, General Counsel, GateHouse Media, 175 Sully’s Trail, 3rd Floor Pittsford, New York 14534 JOURNAL MEDIA GROUP, Hillary Ebach, Esq., Vice President and General Counsel, Journal Media Group, Inc., 333 W State Street Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53203 LANDMARK MEDIA ENTERPRISES, LLC, Guy R. Friddell, III, Esq., Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Landmark Media Enterprises, LLC, 150 Granby Street Norfolk, VA 23510 LEE ENTERPRISES INCORPORATED, Astrid Garcia, Esq., Lee Enterprises Incorporated, 201 N. Harrison St., Suite 600 Davenport, Iowa 52801 THE MCCLATCHY COMPANY, Juan Cornejo, Esq., Assistant General Counsel, The McClatchy Company, 2100 Q Street Sacramento, California 95816-6899 MORRIS PUBLISHING GROUP, LLC, J. Noel Schweers III, Esq., General Counsel, Morris Publishing Group, LLC, 725 Broad Street Augusta, Georgia 30901 THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY, Ken Richieri, Esq., Executive Vice President and General Counsel The New York Times Company, New York, New York 10018 NEWSDAY, LLC, Karen Au Claro, Esq., Senior Vice President, Law, Newsday, LLC, 235 Pinelawn Road Melville, New York 11747  SCHURZ COMMUNICATIONS, INC., John Smarrella, Esq., Barnes & Thornburg, LLP, 100 North Michigan Street South Bend, Indiana 46601-1632 TRIBUNE PUBLISHING COMPANY, Karen Flax, Esq., Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Tribune Publishing Company, 435 North Michigan Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60611 THE WASHINGTON POST, Jay Kennedy, Esq., Vice President and General Counsel, The Washington Post, 1301 K Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20071 Here is Brave's full response: The NAA sent a letter to Brave Software that is filled with false assertions. The NAA has fundamentally misunderstood Brave. Brave is the solution, not the enemy. The NAA's letter to Brave Software asserts that any browser that blocks and replaces ads on the browser user's device performs "unauthorized republication" of Web content. This is false on its face, since browsers do not "republish", serve, syndicate, or distribute content across the Internet or to any computer other than the one on which they run. Browsers are the end-point for secure connections, the user agent that actually mediates and combines all the pieces of content, including third-party ads and first-party publisher news stories. Browsers can block, rearrange, mash-up and otherwise make use of any content from any source. If it were the case that Brave's browsers perform "republication", then so too does Safari's Reader mode, and the same goes for any ad-blocker-equipped browser, or the Links text-only browser, or screen readers for the visually impaired. The NAA letter also falsely asserts that Brave will share an "unspecified percentage of revenue", when our revenue share pie chart has been public and fixed from our first preview release in January . We give the lion's share (pun intended), up to 70% of ad revenue, to websites, keeping only 15% for ourselves and paying 15% to our users. We sympathize with publishers concerned about the damage that pure ad blockers do to their ability to pay their bills via advertising revenue. However, this problem long pre-dates Brave. We categorically reject the claim that browsers perform "republication", and we repeat that Brave has a sound and systematic plan to financially reward publishers. We aim to outperform the invasive third-party ads that we block, with our better, fewer, and privacy-preserving ads. Finally, we note that malvertisement has gotten onto the websites of the New York Times and the BBC recently through the ill-designed, unregulated, and poorly-delegated third-party advertising technology ecosystem. Truly, this tracker-based ad-tech ecosystem is what is damaging the brand value of content publishers and driving users to adopt ad-blocking software. Brave blocks and replaces only third-party ads and trackers. Our system thus actually repairs the damage that publishers have carelessly allowed their ad partners (and partners' partners, to the seventh degree of separation) do to their trademarked brands and names. Make no mistake: this NAA letter is the first shot in a war on all ad-blockers, not just on Brave. Though the NAA never reached out to us, we would be happy to sit down with them for an opportunity to discuss how the Brave solution can be a win win. We will fight alongside all citizens of the Internet who deserve and demand a better deal than they are getting from today's increasingly abusive approach to Web advertising. More From Business Insider Another ad blocker claims Adblock Plus used a trademark complaint to force it offline A bunch of big US websites say they're likely to support legal action against ad blockers 1 in 10 people in the US uses an ad blocker || Bitcoin Investing Improved Last Quarter: While Bitcoin may not have ended 2015 on a strong note, things could be turning around for the cryptocurrency. For example, Q4 was "surprisingly anemic," but the first quarter has seen $160 million in investments, according to Mattermark , citing CoinDesk figures. "Bitcoin had its best fundraising quarter in a year," Mattermark's Alex Wilhelm said. "I'm not sure that the industry will ever beat the first quarter of 2015, when more than $200 million went into bitcoin firms, including huge sums into Coinbase and 21. Still, closing well north of the $100 million mark is a big step up from every other quarter recorded last year," Wilhelm commented. Related Link: 10 Of This Year's Hottest Financial Buzzwords "In fact, it appears that the first quarter of 2016 was the second most active period in terms of total dollars raised for bitcoin firms in at least the last two years." Looking Ahead Based upon the transaction volume over the last year and the improvement over last quarter, it's probable that bitcoin may be making its way back into investors' favor. "In the last year, transaction volume across bitcoin to pick a single metric has roughly doubled. That's not the same pace of growth that the cryptocurrency saw in its infancy, but it is material," Wilhelm explained. "Combine that statistic with an increasingly stable price and continued investment and bitcoin look just fine." See more from Benzinga Andrew Left Talked Mallinckrodt And Evergrande On Bloomberg This Morning Twitter's NFL Deal Not A Huge Shock To PacCrest Detroit News Auto Critic: Tesla Model 3 Is 'The Auto Story Of The 21st Century' © 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin Investing Improved Last Quarter: While Bitcoin may not have ended 2015 on a strong note, things could be turning around for the cryptocurrency.
For example, Q4 was "surprisingly anemic," but the first quarter has seen $160 million in investments, according toMattermark, citing CoinDesk figures.
"Bitcoin had its best fundraising quarter in a year," Mattermark's Alex Wilhelm said.
"I'm not sure that the industry will ever beat the first quarter of 2015, when more than $200 million went into bitcoin firms, including huge sums into Coinbase and 21. Still, closing well north of the $100 million mark is a big step up from every other quarter recorded last year," Wilhelm commented.
Related Link:10 Of This Year's Hottest Financial Buzzwords
"In fact, it appears that the first quarter of 2016 was the second most active period in terms of total dollars raised for bitcoin firms in at least the last two years."
Looking Ahead
Based upon the transaction volume over the last year and the improvement over last quarter, it's probable that bitcoin may be making its way back into investors' favor. "In the last year, transaction volume across bitcoin – to pick a single metric – has roughly doubled. That's not the same pace of growth that the cryptocurrency saw in its infancy, but it is material," Wilhelm explained.
"Combine that statistic with an increasingly stable price and continued investment and bitcoin look just fine."
See more from Benzinga
• Andrew Left Talked Mallinckrodt And Evergrande On Bloomberg This Morning
• Twitter's NFL Deal Not A Huge Shock To PacCrest
• Detroit News Auto Critic: Tesla Model 3 Is 'The Auto Story Of The 21st Century'
© 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin Investing Improved Last Quarter: While Bitcoin may not have ended 2015 on a strong note, things could be turning around for the cryptocurrency.
For example, Q4 was "surprisingly anemic," but the first quarter has seen $160 million in investments, according toMattermark, citing CoinDesk figures.
"Bitcoin had its best fundraising quarter in a year," Mattermark's Alex Wilhelm said.
"I'm not sure that the industry will ever beat the first quarter of 2015, when more than $200 million went into bitcoin firms, including huge sums into Coinbase and 21. Still, closing well north of the $100 million mark is a big step up from every other quarter recorded last year," Wilhelm commented.
Related Link:10 Of This Year's Hottest Financial Buzzwords
"In fact, it appears that the first quarter of 2016 was the second most active period in terms of total dollars raised for bitcoin firms in at least the last two years."
Looking Ahead
Based upon the transaction volume over the last year and the improvement over last quarter, it's probable that bitcoin may be making its way back into investors' favor. "In the last year, transaction volume across bitcoin – to pick a single metric – has roughly doubled. That's not the same pace of growth that the cryptocurrency saw in its infancy, but it is material," Wilhelm explained.
"Combine that statistic with an increasingly stable price and continued investment and bitcoin look just fine."
See more from Benzinga
• Andrew Left Talked Mallinckrodt And Evergrande On Bloomberg This Morning
• Twitter's NFL Deal Not A Huge Shock To PacCrest
• Detroit News Auto Critic: Tesla Model 3 Is 'The Auto Story Of The 21st Century'
© 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
[Social Media Buzz]
$429.14 #coinbase;
$427.05 #bitfinex;
$426.00 #bitstamp;
$421.00 #btce;
#bitcoin #btc || LIVE: Profit = $222.34 (2.76 %). BUY B19.53 @ $420.00 (#VirCurex). SELL @ $424.51 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 15 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $382.94 #bitcoin #btc || LIVE: Profit = $351.00 (0.17 %). BUY B488.03 @ $421.00 (#BTCe). SELL @ $423.65 (#Bitfinex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectc...
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424.28, 429.71, 430.57, 427.40, 428.59, 435.51, 441.39, 449.42, 445.74, 450.28
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 47105.52, 48717.29, 47945.06, 49199.87, 52149.01, 51679.80, 55888.13, 56099.52, 57539.95, 54207.32, 48824.43, 49705.33, 47093.85, 46339.76, 46188.45, 45137.77, 49631.24, 48378.99, 50538.24, 48561.17, 48927.30, 48912.38, 51206.69, 52246.52, 54824.12, 56008.55, 57805.12, 57332.09, 61243.09, 59302.32, 55907.20, 56804.90, 58870.89, 57858.92, 58346.65, 58313.64, 57523.42, 54529.14, 54738.95, 52774.27, 51704.16, 55137.31, 55973.51, 55950.75, 57750.20, 58917.69, 58918.83, 59095.81, 59384.31, 57603.89, 58758.55, 59057.88, 58192.36, 56048.94, 58323.95, 58245.00, 59793.23, 60204.96, 59893.45, 63503.46, 63109.70, 63314.01, 61572.79, 60683.82, 56216.18, 55724.27, 56473.03, 53906.09, 51762.27, 51093.65, 50050.87, 49004.25, 54021.75, 55033.12, 54824.70, 53555.11, 57750.18, 57828.05, 56631.08, 57200.29, 53333.54, 57424.01, 56396.52, 57356.40, 58803.78, 58232.32, 55859.80, 56704.57, 49150.54, 49716.19.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2021-05-13]
Volume: 96721152926, RSI (14-day): 38.46, 50-day EMA: 55212.88, 200-day EMA: 42018.22
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1823.80, Gold RSI: 63.21
Oil Price: 63.82, Oil RSI: 51.42
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Dogecoin to Get DevOps Support for Commercial Apps Via DogeLabs.IO, AppSwarm: Mobile apps development firm AppSwarm Corp and blockchain research lab and startup accelerator DogeLabs.Io plan to build out a global Dogecoin development team that will focus on building applications on top of the memecoin’s blockchain. DogeLabs.io, a company focused on developing commercial apps around the Dogecoin protocol, said the newly formed DevOps teams would share ideas and support Dogecoin-based apps. AppSwarm is a publicly traded, over-the-counter company that develops mobile-based apps for business enterprise, e-commerce and retail, and the gaming industry. It filed to sell securities in the U.S. in September 2019, but the Securities and Exchange Commission apparently did not allow the effort to proceed. The research lab is still in the hiring process but it plans to set up its DogeLabs DevOps teams in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and South America. It will be responsible for expanding the projects related to the Shiba Inu-themed DOGE . Related: Crypto App ‘Alice’ Raises $2M for US-Centric Terra DeFi Portal Dogecoin’s blockchain development has been more sporadic than those for other top coins. Over the last six years very little has been done with the base layer code. Prior to the recent Dogecoin Core 1.14.3 release on Feb. 28, the last major development was posted on Nov. 8, 2019. There have been notable gaps between Nov. 10, 2015, and Feb. 4, 2018, where no updates were published at all. DogeLabs said it would also be building out a support program for new developers who wish to get involved in building on top of the Dogecoin blockchain with Github labs, developer docs, open Discord discussions and Slack development teams. There is no mention in the company statement, however, of supporting developers who will help maintain and build the actual Dogecoin blockchain. “While we build out our own development teams here in New York City and [Tulsa, Okla.] the plan is to also bring together developers from around the world who wish to build off the Doge blockchain,” said Tom Bustamante, CEO of DogeLabs. Story continues The meme-based cryptocurrency was co-created and launched on Dec. 3, 2013, by Jackson Palmer as a joke. Dogecoin is based on Bitcoin’s codebase and was forked from Litecoin. Related: The Node: Too Musk Power for One Man “From the Dallas Mavericks to SpaceX DOGE-1 Moon project, doge is quickly going from a joke MEME coin to an actual form of currency payment with real organizations. DogeLabs’ goal is to encourage new use cases around the Doge protocol, which could include DeFi (decentralized finance) applications,” said Bustamante. DogeLabs said it is also seeking investment partners across the globe. Related Stories LoserSwap’s LOWB Is Badge of Honor for Self-Deprecating Chinese Crypto Traders DOGE Imitators Help Send Ethereum Transaction Fees to All-Time Highs || Dogecoin to Get DevOps Support for Commercial Apps Via DogeLabs.IO, AppSwarm: Mobile apps development firm AppSwarm Corp and blockchain research lab and startup accelerator DogeLabs.Io plan to build out a global Dogecoin development team that will focus on building applications on top of the memecoin’s blockchain. DogeLabs.io, a company focused on developing commercial apps around the Dogecoin protocol, said the newly formed DevOps teams would share ideas and support Dogecoin-based apps. AppSwarm is a publicly traded, over-the-counter company that develops mobile-based apps for business enterprise, e-commerce and retail, and the gaming industry. It filed to sell securities in the U.S. in September 2019, but the Securities and Exchange Commission apparently did not allow the effort to proceed. The research lab is still in the hiring process but it plans to set up its DogeLabs DevOps teams in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and South America. It will be responsible for expanding the projects related to the Shiba Inu-themed DOGE . Related: Crypto App ‘Alice’ Raises $2M for US-Centric Terra DeFi Portal Dogecoin’s blockchain development has been more sporadic than those for other top coins. Over the last six years very little has been done with the base layer code. Prior to the recent Dogecoin Core 1.14.3 release on Feb. 28, the last major development was posted on Nov. 8, 2019. There have been notable gaps between Nov. 10, 2015, and Feb. 4, 2018, where no updates were published at all. DogeLabs said it would also be building out a support program for new developers who wish to get involved in building on top of the Dogecoin blockchain with Github labs, developer docs, open Discord discussions and Slack development teams. There is no mention in the company statement, however, of supporting developers who will help maintain and build the actual Dogecoin blockchain. “While we build out our own development teams here in New York City and [Tulsa, Okla.] the plan is to also bring together developers from around the world who wish to build off the Doge blockchain,” said Tom Bustamante, CEO of DogeLabs. Story continues The meme-based cryptocurrency was co-created and launched on Dec. 3, 2013, by Jackson Palmer as a joke. Dogecoin is based on Bitcoin’s codebase and was forked from Litecoin. Related: The Node: Too Musk Power for One Man “From the Dallas Mavericks to SpaceX DOGE-1 Moon project, doge is quickly going from a joke MEME coin to an actual form of currency payment with real organizations. DogeLabs’ goal is to encourage new use cases around the Doge protocol, which could include DeFi (decentralized finance) applications,” said Bustamante. DogeLabs said it is also seeking investment partners across the globe. Related Stories LoserSwap’s LOWB Is Badge of Honor for Self-Deprecating Chinese Crypto Traders DOGE Imitators Help Send Ethereum Transaction Fees to All-Time Highs || Elon Musk, Technoking of Tesla, orders a halt to bitcoin car payments: Tesla CEO and self-dubbed Technoking is back-pedaling on the company's stance about bitcoin and has suspended purchases of its electric vehicles with the cryptocurrency. The change of stance, which was delivered via tweet, comes just weeks after Tesla CFO and dubbed "Master of Coin" Zach Kirkhorn said the company believes in the longevity of bitcoin, despite its volatility. The tweet from Musk sent the price of bitcoin down more than 4% (and falling). The price of bitcoin is down more than 7% for the day, although some of that decrease occurred prior to Musk's tweet: Tesla has suspended vehicle purchases using Bitcoin. We are concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel. Cryptocurrency is a good idea on many levels and we believe it has a promising future, but this cannot come at a great cost to the environment. Tesla will not be selling any Bitcoin and we intend to use it for transactions as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy. We are also looking at other cryptocurrencies that use <1% of Bitcoin's energy/transaction. Tesla & Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/YSswJmVZhP Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 12, 2021 Tesla invested $1.5 billion in bitcoin this quarter and then trimmed its position by 10%, Kirkhorn said during the company's quarterly earnings call in April. That sale made a $101 million "positive impact" to the company's profitability in the first quarter. Kirkhorn said Tesla turned to bitcoin as a place to store cash and still access it immediately, all while providing a better return on investment than more traditional central bank-backed safe havens. Of course, the higher yields provided by the volatile digital currency comes with higher risk. Story continues Elon Musk declares you can now buy a Tesla with bitcoin in the US If you're getting whiplash from this announcement, you're not alone. Tesla originally announced in March that it would accept bitcoin as a form of payment in the United States. But Elon Musk, the Technoking of Tesla, is known for drastically affecting the crypto market with just a mere tweeting of his thumbs. Every time the man tweets an image of a Shiba Inu , the joke coin called Dogecoin sores in the stocks. In anticipation for Musk's appearance on Saturday Night Live, many anticipated that the coin would reach $1, but when the "Dogefather" admitted (as a joke) to the currency being a hustle , the price of the coin crashed 30%. Energy sucker When it first became public that Tesla had purchased $1.5 billion in Bitcoin, investors, analysts and money managers at some of the country's largest banks noted that it presented risks for the company. Others noted it could damage its reputation. What is up with Teslas value? Bitcoin functions using what is known as a Proof of Work consensus, which means the network relies on mining to continue operating. The bulk of bitcoin mining is conducted in Russia and China. Until the energy grid decarbonizes, as TechCrunch noted back in February, mining bitcoin will remain a dirty business, though plenty of mining operations today do use renewable energies, in part. One investor told TechCrunch that the cost per transaction from an energy intensity standpoint has only gotten more intense. Musk hinted that other cryptocurrencies are on the table. Those will likely be ones that use Proof of Stake consensus mechanisms, which networks like Ethereum have committed to transition to due to their energy efficiencies. || Elon Musk, Technoking of Tesla, orders a halt to bitcoin car payments: Tesla CEO andself-dubbed Technoking is back-pedaling on the company's stance about bitcoin and has suspended purchases of its electric vehicles with the cryptocurrency.
The change of stance, which was delivered via tweet, comes just weeks after Tesla CFO and dubbed "Master of Coin" Zach Kirkhorn said the company believes in the longevity of bitcoin, despite its volatility. The tweet from Musk sent the price of bitcoin down more than 4% (and falling). The price of bitcoin is down more than 7% for the day, although some of that decrease occurred prior to Musk's tweet:
Tesla has suspended vehicle purchases using Bitcoin. We are concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel.
Tesla invested $1.5 billion in bitcoin this quarter and then trimmed its position by 10%, Kirkhorn said during the company's quarterly earnings call in April. That sale made a $101 million "positive impact" to the company's profitability in the first quarter.
Kirkhorn said Tesla turned to bitcoin as a place to store cash and still access it immediately, all while providing a better return on investment than more traditional central bank-backed safe havens. Of course, the higher yields provided by the volatile digital currency comes with higher risk.
Elon Musk declares you can now buy a Tesla with bitcoin in the US
If you're getting whiplash from this announcement, you're not alone. Tesla originally announced in March that it wouldaccept bitcoin as a form of paymentin the United States. But Elon Musk, the Technoking of Tesla, is known for drastically affecting the crypto market with just a mere tweeting of his thumbs. Every time the man tweets animage of a Shiba Inu, the joke coin called Dogecoin sores in the stocks.
In anticipation for Musk's appearance on Saturday Night Live, many anticipated that the coin would reach $1, but when the "Dogefather" admitted (as a joke) to the currencybeing a hustle, the price of the coin crashed 30%.
When it first became public that Tesla had purchased $1.5 billion in Bitcoin, investors, analysts and money managers at some of the country's largest banks noted that it presented risks for the company. Others noted it could damage its reputation.
What is up with Tesla’s value?
Bitcoin functions using what is known as a “Proof of Work” consensus, which means the network relies on mining to continue operating. The bulk of bitcoin mining is conducted in Russia and China. Until the energy grid decarbonizes, asTechCrunch noted back in February,mining bitcoin will remain a dirty business, though plenty of mining operations today do use renewable energies, in part. One investor told TechCrunch that the cost per transaction from an energy intensity standpoint has only gotten more intense.
Musk hinted that other cryptocurrencies are on the table. Those will likely be ones that use “Proof of Stake” consensus mechanisms, which networks like Ethereum have committed to transition to due to their energy efficiencies. || UPDATE 6-Tesla's Musk halts use of bitcoin for car purchases: * Decision comes just weeks after Tesla began accepting bitcoin * Tesla will retain bitcoin holdings * Musk reiterates faith in cryptocurrencies * Bitcoin "mining" under environmental spotlight (Adds fresh analyst comments in paragraphs 11-17) By Hyunjoo Jin and Kanishka Singh May 12 (Reuters) - Tesla Inc will no longer accept bitcoin for car purchases, Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Wednesday, citing long-brewing environmental concerns for a swift reversal in the company's position on the cryptocurrency. Bitcoin fell more than 10% after Musk tweeted his decision to suspend its use, less than two months after Tesla began accepting the world's biggest digital currency for payment. Other cryptocurrencies, including ethereum, also fell before regaining some ground in Asia trade. The use of bitcoin to buy Tesla's electric vehicles had highlighted a dichotomy between Musk's reputation as an environmentalist and the use of his popularity and stature as one of the world's richest people to back cryptocurrencies. Some Tesla investors, along with environmentalists, have been increasingly critical about the way bitcoin is "mined" using vast amounts of electricity generated with fossil fuels. Musk said on Wednesday he backed that concern, especially the use of "coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel." "Cryptocurrency is a good idea on many levels and we believe it has a promising future, but this cannot come at great cost to the environment," he tweeted. Tesla shares fell 1.25% after hours. Tesla revealed in February it had bought $1.5 billion of bitcoin, before accepting it as payment for cars in March, driving a roughly 20% surge in the cryptocurrency. Tesla would retain its bitcoin holdings with the plan to use the cryptocurrency as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy sources, Musk said. Bitcoin is created when high-powered computers compete against other machines to solve complex mathematical puzzles, an energy-intensive process that currently often relies on electricity generated with fossil fuels, particularly coal. At current rates, such bitcoin “mining” devours about the same amount of energy annually as the Netherlands did in 2019, the latest available data from the University of Cambridge and the International Energy Agency shows. Analysts said Musk's about-face was inevitable. "The environmental impact from mining bitcoins was one of the biggest risks for the entire crypto market," said Edward Moya, a senior market analyst at currency trading firm OANDA. Story continues Meltem Demirors, chief strategy officer at digital asset manager CoinShares Group, said Tesla was unlikely to have sold many, if any, cars using bitcoin and the backflip generated positive publicity while simplifying payment processes. "Elon was getting a lot of questions and criticisms and this statement allows him to appease critics while still keeping bitcoin on his balance sheet," Demirors said. Mark Humphery-Jenner, an associate professor of finance at the University of New South Wales, said he was more concerned about Tesla management's "very hasty and precipitous" decision-making. Musk did not say in his Twitter comments whether any vehicles had been purchased with bitcoin and Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. CRYPTOCURRENCY SUPPORT Some bitcoin proponents note that the existing financial system - with its millions of employees and computers in air-conditioned offices - uses large amounts of energy too. Musk reiterated he remained a strong believer in cryptocurrencies. "We are also looking at other cryptocurrencies that use <1% of bitcoin's energy/transaction," he tweeted on Wednesday. Just a day earlier, Musk had polled Twitter users on whether Tesla should accept dogecoin, a currency he has helped turn from a joke into a valuable commodity. He announced on Sunday that his commercial rocket company SpaceX will accept dogecoin as payment to launch a lunar mission next year - just hours after he sent the cryptocurrency spiraling downward when he called it a "a hustle" during a guest-host spot on the "Saturday Night Live" comedy sketch TV show. CHINA DOMINANCE The dominance of Chinese bitcoin miners and lack of motivation to swap cheap fossil fuels for more expensive renewables could mean there are few quick fixes to the cryptocurrency's emissions problem. Chinese miners account for about 70% of bitcoin production, data from the University of Cambridge's Centre for Alternative Finance shows. They tend to use renewable energy - mostly hydropower - during the rainy summer months, but fossil fuels - primarily coal - for the rest of the year. Officials in Beijing are conducting a check on data centres involved in cryptocurrency mining to better understand their impact on energy consumption, sources told Reuters last month. In theory, blockchain analysis firms say, it is possible to track the source of bitcoin, raising the possibility that a premium could be charged for green bitcoin. (Reporting by Ankur Banerjee and Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru, Anna Irrera and Tom Wilson in London, Megan Davies in New York, Kevin Buckland in Tokyo and Hyunjoo Jin in Berkeley; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Peter Henderson, Edward Tobin and Jane Wardell) View comments || UPDATE 6-Tesla's Musk halts use of bitcoin for car purchases: * Decision comes just weeks after Tesla began accepting bitcoin
* Tesla will retain bitcoin holdings
* Musk reiterates faith in cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin "mining" under environmental spotlight (Adds fresh analyst comments in paragraphs 11-17)
By Hyunjoo Jin and Kanishka Singh
May 12 (Reuters) - Tesla Inc will no longer accept bitcoin for car purchases, Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Wednesday, citing long-brewing environmental concerns for a swift reversal in the company's position on the cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin fell more than 10% after Musk tweeted his decision to suspend its use, less than two months after Tesla began accepting the world's biggest digital currency for payment. Other cryptocurrencies, including ethereum, also fell before regaining some ground in Asia trade.
The use of bitcoin to buy Tesla's electric vehicles had highlighted a dichotomy between Musk's reputation as an environmentalist and the use of his popularity and stature as one of the world's richest people to back cryptocurrencies.
Some Tesla investors, along with environmentalists, have been increasingly critical about the way bitcoin is "mined" using vast amounts of electricity generated with fossil fuels.
Musk said on Wednesday he backed that concern, especially the use of "coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel."
"Cryptocurrency is a good idea on many levels and we believe it has a promising future, but this cannot come at great cost to the environment," he tweeted. Tesla shares fell 1.25% after hours.
Tesla revealed in February it had bought $1.5 billion of bitcoin, before accepting it as payment for cars in March, driving a roughly 20% surge in the cryptocurrency.
Tesla would retain its bitcoin holdings with the plan to use the cryptocurrency as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy sources, Musk said.
Bitcoin is created when high-powered computers compete against other machines to solve complex mathematical puzzles, an energy-intensive process that currently often relies on electricity generated with fossil fuels, particularly coal.
At current rates, such bitcoin “mining” devours about the same amount of energy annually as the Netherlands did in 2019, the latest available data from the University of Cambridge and the International Energy Agency shows.
Analysts said Musk's about-face was inevitable.
"The environmental impact from mining bitcoins was one of the biggest risks for the entire crypto market," said Edward Moya, a senior market analyst at currency trading firm OANDA.
Meltem Demirors, chief strategy officer at digital asset manager CoinShares Group, said Tesla was unlikely to have sold many, if any, cars using bitcoin and the backflip generated positive publicity while simplifying payment processes.
"Elon was getting a lot of questions and criticisms and this statement allows him to appease critics while still keeping bitcoin on his balance sheet," Demirors said.
Mark Humphery-Jenner, an associate professor of finance at the University of New South Wales, said he was more concerned about Tesla management's "very hasty and precipitous" decision-making.
Musk did not say in his Twitter comments whether any vehicles had been purchased with bitcoin and Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
CRYPTOCURRENCY SUPPORT
Some bitcoin proponents note that the existing financial system - with its millions of employees and computers in air-conditioned offices - uses large amounts of energy too.
Musk reiterated he remained a strong believer in cryptocurrencies.
"We are also looking at other cryptocurrencies that use <1% of bitcoin's energy/transaction," he tweeted on Wednesday.
Just a day earlier, Musk had polled Twitter users on whether Tesla should accept dogecoin, a currency he has helped turn from a joke into a valuable commodity.
He announced on Sunday that his commercial rocket company SpaceX will accept dogecoin as payment to launch a lunar mission next year - just hours after he sent the cryptocurrency spiraling downward when he called it a "a hustle" during a guest-host spot on the "Saturday Night Live" comedy sketch TV show.
CHINA DOMINANCE
The dominance of Chinese bitcoin miners and lack of motivation to swap cheap fossil fuels for more expensive renewables could mean there are few quick fixes to the cryptocurrency's emissions problem.
Chinese miners account for about 70% of bitcoin production, data from the University of Cambridge's Centre for Alternative Finance shows. They tend to use renewable energy - mostly hydropower - during the rainy summer months, but fossil fuels - primarily coal - for the rest of the year.
Officials in Beijing are conducting a check on data centres involved in cryptocurrency mining to better understand their impact on energy consumption, sources told Reuters last month.
In theory, blockchain analysis firms say, it is possible to track the source of bitcoin, raising the possibility that a premium could be charged for green bitcoin.
(Reporting by Ankur Banerjee and Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru, Anna Irrera and Tom Wilson in London, Megan Davies in New York, Kevin Buckland in Tokyo and Hyunjoo Jin in Berkeley; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Peter Henderson, Edward Tobin and Jane Wardell) || Tesla's Musk halts use of bitcoin for car purchases: By Hyunjoo Jin and Kanishka Singh (Reuters) -Tesla Inc will no longer accept bitcoin for car purchases, Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Wednesday, citing long-brewing environmental concerns for a swift reversal in the company's position on the cryptocurrency. Bitcoin fell more than 10% after Musk tweeted his decision to suspend its use, less than two months after Tesla began accepting the world's biggest digital currency for payment. Other cryptocurrencies, including ethereum, also fell before regaining some ground in Asia trade. The use of bitcoin to buy Tesla's electric vehicles had highlighted a dichotomy between Musk's reputation as an environmentalist and the use of his popularity and stature as one of the world's richest people to back cryptocurrencies. Some Tesla investors, along with environmentalists, have been increasingly critical about the way bitcoin is "mined" using vast amounts of electricity generated with fossil fuels. Musk said on Wednesday he backed that concern, especially the use of "coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel." "Cryptocurrency is a good idea on many levels and we believe it has a promising future, but this cannot come at great cost to the environment," he tweeted. Tesla shares fell 1.25% after hours. Tesla revealed in February it had bought $1.5 billion of bitcoin, before accepting it as payment for cars in March, driving a roughly 20% surge in the cryptocurrency. Tesla would retain its bitcoin holdings with the plan to use the cryptocurrency as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy sources, Musk said. Bitcoin is created when high-powered computers compete against other machines to solve complex mathematical puzzles, an energy-intensive process that currently often relies on electricity generated with fossil fuels, particularly coal. At current rates, such bitcoin mining devours about the same amount of energy annually as the Netherlands did in 2019, the latest available data from the University of Cambridge and the International Energy Agency shows. Analysts said Musk's about-face was inevitable. "The environmental impact from mining bitcoins was one of the biggest risks for the entire crypto market," said Edward Moya, a senior market analyst at currency trading firm OANDA. Meltem Demirors, chief strategy officer at digital asset manager CoinShares Group, said Tesla was unlikely to have sold many, if any, cars using bitcoin and the backflip generated positive publicity while simplifying payment processes. Story continues "Elon was getting a lot of questions and criticisms and this statement allows him to appease critics while still keeping bitcoin on his balance sheet," Demirors said. Mark Humphery-Jenner, an associate professor of finance at the University of New South Wales, said he was more concerned about Tesla management's "very hasty and precipitous" decision-making. Musk did not say in his Twitter comments whether any vehicles had been purchased with bitcoin and Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. CRYPTOCURRENCY SUPPORT Some bitcoin proponents note that the existing financial system - with its millions of employees and computers in air-conditioned offices - uses large amounts of energy too. Musk reiterated he remained a strong believer in cryptocurrencies. "We are also looking at other cryptocurrencies that use <1% of bitcoin's energy/transaction," he tweeted on Wednesday. Just a day earlier, Musk had polled Twitter users on whether Tesla should accept dogecoin, a currency he has helped turn from a joke into a valuable commodity. He announced on Sunday that his commercial rocket company SpaceX will accept dogecoin as payment to launch a lunar mission next year - just hours after he sent the cryptocurrency spiraling downward when he called it a "a hustle" during a guest-host spot on the "Saturday Night Live" comedy sketch TV show. CHINA DOMINANCE The dominance of Chinese bitcoin miners and lack of motivation to swap cheap fossil fuels for more expensive renewables could mean there are few quick fixes to the cryptocurrency's emissions problem. Chinese miners account for about 70% of bitcoin production, data from the University of Cambridge's Centre for Alternative Finance shows. They tend to use renewable energy - mostly hydropower - during the rainy summer months, but fossil fuels - primarily coal - for the rest of the year. Officials in Beijing are conducting a check on data centres involved in cryptocurrency mining to better understand their impact on energy consumption, sources told Reuters last month. In theory, blockchain analysis firms say, it is possible to track the source of bitcoin, raising the possibility that a premium could be charged for green bitcoin. (Reporting by Ankur Banerjee and Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru, Anna Irrera and Tom Wilson in London, Megan Davies in New York, Kevin Buckland in Tokyo and Hyunjoo Jin in Berkeley; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Peter Henderson, Edward Tobin and Jane Wardell) View comments || Tesla's Musk halts use of bitcoin for car purchases: By Hyunjoo Jin and Kanishka Singh (Reuters) -Tesla Inc will no longer accept bitcoin for car purchases, Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Wednesday, citing long-brewing environmental concerns for a swift reversal in the company's position on the cryptocurrency. Bitcoin fell more than 10% after Musk tweeted his decision to suspend its use, less than two months after Tesla began accepting the world's biggest digital currency for payment. Other cryptocurrencies, including ethereum, also fell before regaining some ground in Asia trade. The use of bitcoin to buy Tesla's electric vehicles had highlighted a dichotomy between Musk's reputation as an environmentalist and the use of his popularity and stature as one of the world's richest people to back cryptocurrencies. Some Tesla investors, along with environmentalists, have been increasingly critical about the way bitcoin is "mined" using vast amounts of electricity generated with fossil fuels. Musk said on Wednesday he backed that concern, especially the use of "coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel." "Cryptocurrency is a good idea on many levels and we believe it has a promising future, but this cannot come at great cost to the environment," he tweeted. Tesla shares fell 1.25% after hours. Tesla revealed in February it had bought $1.5 billion of bitcoin, before accepting it as payment for cars in March, driving a roughly 20% surge in the cryptocurrency. Tesla would retain its bitcoin holdings with the plan to use the cryptocurrency as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy sources, Musk said. Bitcoin is created when high-powered computers compete against other machines to solve complex mathematical puzzles, an energy-intensive process that currently often relies on electricity generated with fossil fuels, particularly coal. At current rates, such bitcoin mining devours about the same amount of energy annually as the Netherlands did in 2019, the latest available data from the University of Cambridge and the International Energy Agency shows. Story continues Analysts said Musk's about-face was inevitable. "The environmental impact from mining bitcoins was one of the biggest risks for the entire crypto market," said Edward Moya, a senior market analyst at currency trading firm OANDA. Meltem Demirors, chief strategy officer at digital asset manager CoinShares Group, said Tesla was unlikely to have sold many, if any, cars using bitcoin and the backflip generated positive publicity while simplifying payment processes. "Elon was getting a lot of questions and criticisms and this statement allows him to appease critics while still keeping bitcoin on his balance sheet," Demirors said. Mark Humphery-Jenner, an associate professor of finance at the University of New South Wales, said he was more concerned about Tesla management's "very hasty and precipitous" decision-making. Musk did not say in his Twitter comments whether any vehicles had been purchased with bitcoin and Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. CRYPTOCURRENCY SUPPORT Some bitcoin proponents note that the existing financial system - with its millions of employees and computers in air-conditioned offices - uses large amounts of energy too. Musk reiterated he remained a strong believer in cryptocurrencies. "We are also looking at other cryptocurrencies that use <1% of bitcoin's energy/transaction," he tweeted on Wednesday. Just a day earlier, Musk had polled Twitter users on whether Tesla should accept dogecoin, a currency he has helped turn from a joke into a valuable commodity. He announced on Sunday that his commercial rocket company SpaceX will accept dogecoin as payment to launch a lunar mission next year - just hours after he sent the cryptocurrency spiraling downward when he called it a "a hustle" during a guest-host spot on the "Saturday Night Live" comedy sketch TV show. CHINA DOMINANCE The dominance of Chinese bitcoin miners and lack of motivation to swap cheap fossil fuels for more expensive renewables could mean there are few quick fixes to the cryptocurrency's emissions problem. Chinese miners account for about 70% of bitcoin production, data from the University of Cambridge's Centre for Alternative Finance shows. They tend to use renewable energy - mostly hydropower - during the rainy summer months, but fossil fuels - primarily coal - for the rest of the year. Officials in Beijing are conducting a check on data centres involved in cryptocurrency mining to better understand their impact on energy consumption, sources told Reuters last month. In theory, blockchain analysis firms say, it is possible to track the source of bitcoin, raising the possibility that a premium could be charged for green bitcoin. (Reporting by Ankur Banerjee and Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru, Anna Irrera and Tom Wilson in London, Megan Davies in New York, Kevin Buckland in Tokyo and Hyunjoo Jin in Berkeley; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Peter Henderson, Edward Tobin and Jane Wardell) || Tesla's Musk halts use of bitcoin for car purchases: By Hyunjoo Jin and Kanishka Singh
(Reuters) -Tesla Inc will no longer accept bitcoin for car purchases, Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Wednesday, citing long-brewing environmental concerns for a swift reversal in the company's position on the cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin fell more than 10% after Musk tweeted his decision to suspend its use, less than two months after Tesla began accepting the world's biggest digital currency for payment. Other cryptocurrencies, including ethereum, also fell before regaining some ground in Asia trade.
The use of bitcoin to buy Tesla's electric vehicles had highlighted a dichotomy between Musk's reputation as an environmentalist and the use of his popularity and stature as one of the world's richest people to back cryptocurrencies.
Some Tesla investors, along with environmentalists, have been increasingly critical about the way bitcoin is "mined" using vast amounts of electricity generated with fossil fuels.
Musk said on Wednesday he backed that concern, especially the use of "coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel."
"Cryptocurrency is a good idea on many levels and we believe it has a promising future, but this cannot come at great cost to the environment," he tweeted. Tesla shares fell 1.25% after hours.
Tesla revealed in February it had bought $1.5 billion of bitcoin, before accepting it as payment for cars in March, driving a roughly 20% surge in the cryptocurrency.
Tesla would retain its bitcoin holdings with the plan to use the cryptocurrency as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy sources, Musk said.
Bitcoin is created when high-powered computers compete against other machines to solve complex mathematical puzzles, an energy-intensive process that currently often relies on electricity generated with fossil fuels, particularly coal.
At current rates, such bitcoin “mining” devours about the same amount of energy annually as the Netherlands did in 2019, the latest available data from the University of Cambridge and the International Energy Agency shows.
Analysts said Musk's about-face was inevitable.
"The environmental impact from mining bitcoins was one of the biggest risks for the entire crypto market," said Edward Moya, a senior market analyst at currency trading firm OANDA.
Meltem Demirors, chief strategy officer at digital asset manager CoinShares Group, said Tesla was unlikely to have sold many, if any, cars using bitcoin and the backflip generated positive publicity while simplifying payment processes.
"Elon was getting a lot of questions and criticisms and this statement allows him to appease critics while still keeping bitcoin on his balance sheet," Demirors said.
Mark Humphery-Jenner, an associate professor of finance at the University of New South Wales, said he was more concerned about Tesla management's "very hasty and precipitous" decision-making.
Musk did not say in his Twitter comments whether any vehicles had been purchased with bitcoin and Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
CRYPTOCURRENCY SUPPORT
Some bitcoin proponents note that the existing financial system - with its millions of employees and computers in air-conditioned offices - uses large amounts of energy too.
Musk reiterated he remained a strong believer in cryptocurrencies.
"We are also looking at other cryptocurrencies that use <1% of bitcoin's energy/transaction," he tweeted on Wednesday.
Just a day earlier, Musk had polled Twitter users on whether Tesla should accept dogecoin, a currency he has helped turn from a joke into a valuable commodity.
He announced on Sunday that his commercial rocket company SpaceX will accept dogecoin as payment to launch a lunar mission next year - just hours after he sent the cryptocurrency spiraling downward when he called it a "a hustle" during a guest-host spot on the "Saturday Night Live" comedy sketch TV show.
CHINA DOMINANCE
The dominance of Chinese bitcoin miners and lack of motivation to swap cheap fossil fuels for more expensive renewables could mean there are few quick fixes to the cryptocurrency's emissions problem.
Chinese miners account for about 70% of bitcoin production, data from the University of Cambridge's Centre for Alternative Finance shows. They tend to use renewable energy - mostly hydropower - during the rainy summer months, but fossil fuels - primarily coal - for the rest of the year.
Officials in Beijing are conducting a check on data centres involved in cryptocurrency mining to better understand their impact on energy consumption, sources told Reuters last month.
In theory, blockchain analysis firms say, it is possible to track the source of bitcoin, raising the possibility that a premium could be charged for green bitcoin.
(Reporting by Ankur Banerjee and Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru, Anna Irrera and Tom Wilson in London, Megan Davies in New York, Kevin Buckland in Tokyo and Hyunjoo Jin in Berkeley; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Peter Henderson, Edward Tobin and Jane Wardell) || Tesla's Musk halts use of bitcoin for car purchases: By Hyunjoo Jin and Kanishka Singh
(Reuters) -Tesla Inc will no longer accept bitcoin for car purchases, Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Wednesday, citing long-brewing environmental concerns for a swift reversal in the company's position on the cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin fell more than 10% after Musk tweeted his decision to suspend its use, less than two months after Tesla began accepting the world's biggest digital currency for payment. Other cryptocurrencies, including ethereum, also fell before regaining some ground in Asia trade.
The use of bitcoin to buy Tesla's electric vehicles had highlighted a dichotomy between Musk's reputation as an environmentalist and the use of his popularity and stature as one of the world's richest people to back cryptocurrencies.
Some Tesla investors, along with environmentalists, have been increasingly critical about the way bitcoin is "mined" using vast amounts of electricity generated with fossil fuels.
Musk said on Wednesday he backed that concern, especially the use of "coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel."
"Cryptocurrency is a good idea on many levels and we believe it has a promising future, but this cannot come at great cost to the environment," he tweeted. Tesla shares fell 1.25% after hours.
Tesla revealed in February it had bought $1.5 billion of bitcoin, before accepting it as payment for cars in March, driving a roughly 20% surge in the cryptocurrency.
Tesla would retain its bitcoin holdings with the plan to use the cryptocurrency as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy sources, Musk said.
Bitcoin is created when high-powered computers compete against other machines to solve complex mathematical puzzles, an energy-intensive process that currently often relies on electricity generated with fossil fuels, particularly coal.
At current rates, such bitcoin “mining” devours about the same amount of energy annually as the Netherlands did in 2019, the latest available data from the University of Cambridge and the International Energy Agency shows.
Analysts said Musk's about-face was inevitable.
"The environmental impact from mining bitcoins was one of the biggest risks for the entire crypto market," said Edward Moya, a senior market analyst at currency trading firm OANDA.
Meltem Demirors, chief strategy officer at digital asset manager CoinShares Group, said Tesla was unlikely to have sold many, if any, cars using bitcoin and the backflip generated positive publicity while simplifying payment processes.
"Elon was getting a lot of questions and criticisms and this statement allows him to appease critics while still keeping bitcoin on his balance sheet," Demirors said.
Mark Humphery-Jenner, an associate professor of finance at the University of New South Wales, said he was more concerned about Tesla management's "very hasty and precipitous" decision-making.
Musk did not say in his Twitter comments whether any vehicles had been purchased with bitcoin and Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
CRYPTOCURRENCY SUPPORT
Some bitcoin proponents note that the existing financial system - with its millions of employees and computers in air-conditioned offices - uses large amounts of energy too.
Musk reiterated he remained a strong believer in cryptocurrencies.
"We are also looking at other cryptocurrencies that use <1% of bitcoin's energy/transaction," he tweeted on Wednesday.
Just a day earlier, Musk had polled Twitter users on whether Tesla should accept dogecoin, a currency he has helped turn from a joke into a valuable commodity.
He announced on Sunday that his commercial rocket company SpaceX will accept dogecoin as payment to launch a lunar mission next year - just hours after he sent the cryptocurrency spiraling downward when he called it a "a hustle" during a guest-host spot on the "Saturday Night Live" comedy sketch TV show.
CHINA DOMINANCE
The dominance of Chinese bitcoin miners and lack of motivation to swap cheap fossil fuels for more expensive renewables could mean there are few quick fixes to the cryptocurrency's emissions problem.
Chinese miners account for about 70% of bitcoin production, data from the University of Cambridge's Centre for Alternative Finance shows. They tend to use renewable energy - mostly hydropower - during the rainy summer months, but fossil fuels - primarily coal - for the rest of the year.
Officials in Beijing are conducting a check on data centres involved in cryptocurrency mining to better understand their impact on energy consumption, sources told Reuters last month.
In theory, blockchain analysis firms say, it is possible to track the source of bitcoin, raising the possibility that a premium could be charged for green bitcoin.
(Reporting by Ankur Banerjee and Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru, Anna Irrera and Tom Wilson in London, Megan Davies in New York, Kevin Buckland in Tokyo and Hyunjoo Jin in Berkeley; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Peter Henderson, Edward Tobin and Jane Wardell) || Tesla's Musk halts use of bitcoin for car purchases: By Hyunjoo Jin and Kanishka Singh (Reuters) -Tesla Inc will no longer accept bitcoin for car purchases, Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Wednesday, citing long-brewing environmental concerns for a swift reversal in the company's position on the cryptocurrency. Bitcoin fell more than 10% after Musk tweeted his decision to suspend its use, less than two months after Tesla began accepting the world's biggest digital currency for payment. Other cryptocurrencies, including ethereum, also fell before regaining some ground in Asia trade. The use of bitcoin to buy Tesla's electric vehicles had highlighted a dichotomy between Musk's reputation as an environmentalist and the use of his popularity and stature as one of the world's richest people to back cryptocurrencies. Some Tesla investors, along with environmentalists, have been increasingly critical about the way bitcoin is "mined" using vast amounts of electricity generated with fossil fuels. Musk said on Wednesday he backed that concern, especially the use of "coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel." "Cryptocurrency is a good idea on many levels and we believe it has a promising future, but this cannot come at great cost to the environment," he tweeted. Tesla shares fell 1.25% after hours. Tesla revealed in February it had bought $1.5 billion of bitcoin, before accepting it as payment for cars in March, driving a roughly 20% surge in the cryptocurrency. Tesla would retain its bitcoin holdings with the plan to use the cryptocurrency as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy sources, Musk said. Bitcoin is created when high-powered computers compete against other machines to solve complex mathematical puzzles, an energy-intensive process that currently often relies on electricity generated with fossil fuels, particularly coal. At current rates, such bitcoin mining devours about the same amount of energy annually as the Netherlands did in 2019, the latest available data from the University of Cambridge and the International Energy Agency shows. Story continues Analysts said Musk's about-face was inevitable. "The environmental impact from mining bitcoins was one of the biggest risks for the entire crypto market," said Edward Moya, a senior market analyst at currency trading firm OANDA. Meltem Demirors, chief strategy officer at digital asset manager CoinShares Group, said Tesla was unlikely to have sold many, if any, cars using bitcoin and the backflip generated positive publicity while simplifying payment processes. "Elon was getting a lot of questions and criticisms and this statement allows him to appease critics while still keeping bitcoin on his balance sheet," Demirors said. Mark Humphery-Jenner, an associate professor of finance at the University of New South Wales, said he was more concerned about Tesla management's "very hasty and precipitous" decision-making. Musk did not say in his Twitter comments whether any vehicles had been purchased with bitcoin and Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. CRYPTOCURRENCY SUPPORT Some bitcoin proponents note that the existing financial system - with its millions of employees and computers in air-conditioned offices - uses large amounts of energy too. Musk reiterated he remained a strong believer in cryptocurrencies. "We are also looking at other cryptocurrencies that use <1% of bitcoin's energy/transaction," he tweeted on Wednesday. Just a day earlier, Musk had polled Twitter users on whether Tesla should accept dogecoin, a currency he has helped turn from a joke into a valuable commodity. He announced on Sunday that his commercial rocket company SpaceX will accept dogecoin as payment to launch a lunar mission next year - just hours after he sent the cryptocurrency spiraling downward when he called it a "a hustle" during a guest-host spot on the "Saturday Night Live" comedy sketch TV show. CHINA DOMINANCE The dominance of Chinese bitcoin miners and lack of motivation to swap cheap fossil fuels for more expensive renewables could mean there are few quick fixes to the cryptocurrency's emissions problem. Chinese miners account for about 70% of bitcoin production, data from the University of Cambridge's Centre for Alternative Finance shows. They tend to use renewable energy - mostly hydropower - during the rainy summer months, but fossil fuels - primarily coal - for the rest of the year. Officials in Beijing are conducting a check on data centres involved in cryptocurrency mining to better understand their impact on energy consumption, sources told Reuters last month. In theory, blockchain analysis firms say, it is possible to track the source of bitcoin, raising the possibility that a premium could be charged for green bitcoin. (Reporting by Ankur Banerjee and Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru, Anna Irrera and Tom Wilson in London, Megan Davies in New York, Kevin Buckland in Tokyo and Hyunjoo Jin in Berkeley; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Peter Henderson, Edward Tobin and Jane Wardell) || Tesla's Musk halts use of bitcoin for car purchases: By Hyunjoo Jin and Kanishka Singh (Reuters) -Tesla Inc will no longer accept bitcoin for car purchases, Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Wednesday, citing long-brewing environmental concerns for a swift reversal in the company's position on the cryptocurrency. Bitcoin fell more than 10% after Musk tweeted his decision to suspend its use, less than two months after Tesla began accepting the world's biggest digital currency for payment. Other cryptocurrencies, including ethereum, also fell before regaining some ground in Asia trade. The use of bitcoin to buy Tesla's electric vehicles had highlighted a dichotomy between Musk's reputation as an environmentalist and the use of his popularity and stature as one of the world's richest people to back cryptocurrencies. Some Tesla investors, along with environmentalists, have been increasingly critical about the way bitcoin is "mined" using vast amounts of electricity generated with fossil fuels. Musk said on Wednesday he backed that concern, especially the use of "coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel." "Cryptocurrency is a good idea on many levels and we believe it has a promising future, but this cannot come at great cost to the environment," he tweeted. Tesla shares fell 1.25% after hours. Tesla revealed in February it had bought $1.5 billion of bitcoin, before accepting it as payment for cars in March, driving a roughly 20% surge in the cryptocurrency. Tesla would retain its bitcoin holdings with the plan to use the cryptocurrency as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy sources, Musk said. Bitcoin is created when high-powered computers compete against other machines to solve complex mathematical puzzles, an energy-intensive process that currently often relies on electricity generated with fossil fuels, particularly coal. At current rates, such bitcoin mining devours about the same amount of energy annually as the Netherlands did in 2019, the latest available data from the University of Cambridge and the International Energy Agency shows. Story continues Analysts said Musk's about-face was inevitable. "The environmental impact from mining bitcoins was one of the biggest risks for the entire crypto market," said Edward Moya, a senior market analyst at currency trading firm OANDA. Meltem Demirors, chief strategy officer at digital asset manager CoinShares Group, said Tesla was unlikely to have sold many, if any, cars using bitcoin and the backflip generated positive publicity while simplifying payment processes. "Elon was getting a lot of questions and criticisms and this statement allows him to appease critics while still keeping bitcoin on his balance sheet," Demirors said. Mark Humphery-Jenner, an associate professor of finance at the University of New South Wales, said he was more concerned about Tesla management's "very hasty and precipitous" decision-making. Musk did not say in his Twitter comments whether any vehicles had been purchased with bitcoin and Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. CRYPTOCURRENCY SUPPORT Some bitcoin proponents note that the existing financial system - with its millions of employees and computers in air-conditioned offices - uses large amounts of energy too. Musk reiterated he remained a strong believer in cryptocurrencies. "We are also looking at other cryptocurrencies that use <1% of bitcoin's energy/transaction," he tweeted on Wednesday. Just a day earlier, Musk had polled Twitter users on whether Tesla should accept dogecoin, a currency he has helped turn from a joke into a valuable commodity. He announced on Sunday that his commercial rocket company SpaceX will accept dogecoin as payment to launch a lunar mission next year - just hours after he sent the cryptocurrency spiraling downward when he called it a "a hustle" during a guest-host spot on the "Saturday Night Live" comedy sketch TV show. CHINA DOMINANCE The dominance of Chinese bitcoin miners and lack of motivation to swap cheap fossil fuels for more expensive renewables could mean there are few quick fixes to the cryptocurrency's emissions problem. Chinese miners account for about 70% of bitcoin production, data from the University of Cambridge's Centre for Alternative Finance shows. They tend to use renewable energy - mostly hydropower - during the rainy summer months, but fossil fuels - primarily coal - for the rest of the year. Officials in Beijing are conducting a check on data centres involved in cryptocurrency mining to better understand their impact on energy consumption, sources told Reuters last month. In theory, blockchain analysis firms say, it is possible to track the source of bitcoin, raising the possibility that a premium could be charged for green bitcoin. (Reporting by Ankur Banerjee and Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru, Anna Irrera and Tom Wilson in London, Megan Davies in New York, Kevin Buckland in Tokyo and Hyunjoo Jin in Berkeley; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Peter Henderson, Edward Tobin and Jane Wardell) || Tesla suspends Bitcoin car purchases citing environmental impact: Just weeks after Teslastarted accepting Bitcoinas currency for cars, Elon Musk revealed in a tweet that it will "suspend" the effort. According to the release (Tesla does not appear to have a functioning press office), the company is "concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions."
A study last yearestimatedbitcoin mining used 7.46 GW of electricity on average, and the same study puts the numberright nowat 16.71 GW. That would represent 147.79 TWh on an annual basis.
Tesla went on to say that it "will not be selling any Bitcoin" (how much it may have already sold of thecoins it purchased earlier this year for $1.5 billion is unclear) and said that it will use those holdings for transactions whenever mining "transitions to more sustainable energy." It's also unclear why Tesla hadn't taken these factors into account before announcing its use of Bitcoin, as they were already well-known.
Without specifying a particular cryptocurrency, the company is looking at other options that it says use less than one percent of Bitcoin's energy per transaction, likely by using proof of stake blockchain technology instead of proof of work. This would rule outDogecoin, although it's unclear if this policy will impactSpaceX's crypto plans. Ethereum is a possibility as miners have discussed moving to a more energy efficient system, and predictably prices of the cryptocurrency have risen by over $200 in the last hour, while the value of Bitcoin has dropped by $2,000 or so to $52,795.53, according to Coinbase.
Elon Musk:
Tesla has suspended vehicle purchases using Bitcoin. We are concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel.
Cryptocurrency is a good idea on many levels and we believe it has a promising future, but this cannot come at great cost to the environment.
Tesla will not be selling any Bitcoin and we intend to use it for transactions as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy. We are also looking at other cryptocurrencies that use <1% of Bitcoin’s energy/transaction. || Tesla suspends Bitcoin car purchases citing environmental impact: Just weeks after Tesla started accepting Bitcoin as currency for cars, Elon Musk revealed in a tweet that it will "suspend" the effort. According to the release (Tesla does not appear to have a functioning press office), the company is "concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions." A study last year estimated bitcoin mining used 7.46 GW of electricity on average, and the same study puts the number right now at 16.71 GW. That would represent 147.79 TWh on an annual basis. Tesla & Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/YSswJmVZhP Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 12, 2021 Tesla went on to say that it "will not be selling any Bitcoin" (how much it may have already sold of the coins it purchased earlier this year for $1.5 billion is unclear ) and said that it will use those holdings for transactions whenever mining "transitions to more sustainable energy." It's also unclear why Tesla hadn't taken these factors into account before announcing its use of Bitcoin, as they were already well-known. Without specifying a particular cryptocurrency, the company is looking at other options that it says use less than one percent of Bitcoin's energy per transaction, likely by using proof of stake blockchain technology instead of proof of work. This would rule out Dogecoin , although it's unclear if this policy will impact SpaceX's crypto plans . Ethereum is a possibility as miners have discussed moving to a more energy efficient system, and predictably prices of the cryptocurrency have risen by over $200 in the last hour, while the value of Bitcoin has dropped by $2,000 or so to $52,795.53, according to Coinbase. Elon Musk: Tesla has suspended vehicle purchases using Bitcoin. We are concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel. Cryptocurrency is a good idea on many levels and we believe it has a promising future, but this cannot come at great cost to the environment. Tesla will not be selling any Bitcoin and we intend to use it for transactions as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy. We are also looking at other cryptocurrencies that use <1% of Bitcoins energy/transaction. || Tesla suspends Bitcoin car purchases citing environmental impact: Just weeks after Teslastarted accepting Bitcoinas currency for cars, Elon Musk revealed in a tweet that it will "suspend" the effort. According to the release (Tesla does not appear to have a functioning press office), the company is "concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions."
A study last yearestimatedbitcoin mining used 7.46 GW of electricity on average, and the same study puts the numberright nowat 16.71 GW. That would represent 147.79 TWh on an annual basis.
Tesla went on to say that it "will not be selling any Bitcoin" (how much it may have already sold of thecoins it purchased earlier this year for $1.5 billion is unclear) and said that it will use those holdings for transactions whenever mining "transitions to more sustainable energy." It's also unclear why Tesla hadn't taken these factors into account before announcing its use of Bitcoin, as they were already well-known.
Without specifying a particular cryptocurrency, the company is looking at other options that it says use less than one percent of Bitcoin's energy per transaction, likely by using proof of stake blockchain technology instead of proof of work. This would rule outDogecoin, although it's unclear if this policy will impactSpaceX's crypto plans. Ethereum is a possibility as miners have discussed moving to a more energy efficient system, and predictably prices of the cryptocurrency have risen by over $200 in the last hour, while the value of Bitcoin has dropped by $2,000 or so to $52,795.53, according to Coinbase.
Elon Musk:
Tesla has suspended vehicle purchases using Bitcoin. We are concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel.
Cryptocurrency is a good idea on many levels and we believe it has a promising future, but this cannot come at great cost to the environment.
Tesla will not be selling any Bitcoin and we intend to use it for transactions as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy. We are also looking at other cryptocurrencies that use <1% of Bitcoin’s energy/transaction. || Elon Musk Says Tesla Is Suspending Bitcoin Payments Over Environmental Concerns: In a tweet Wednesday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the electric-car company is discontinuingbitcoinpayments.
Tesla had announced it was accepting BTC for car payments starting inFebruary. The announcement came in concert with a $1.5 billion investment in bitcoin as a treasury asset.
Musk has since continued his championship ofDOGE, the meme currency currently boasting a market cap of $58 billion, according to CoinDesk data.
Related:MicroStrategy Keeps Buying Bitcoin, Adds Another $15M
Cryptocurrency “cannot come at great cost to the environment,” the electric carmaker said in a statement tweeted by Musk. The statement was hedged, but only slightly, with praise for crypto’s “promising future” and a promise to investigate less energy-hungry networks than Bitcoin’s.
Bitcoin, a proof-of-work (PoW) blockchain reliant on energy-intensive mining units, has come under fire from environmental groups as its price has surged to all-time highs. The second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap,ether, also relies on PoW but is in the process of switching to proof-of-stake.
Tesla’s pledge turns up the heat on the race to move bitcoin away from fossil fuels. The company’s decision to accept bitcoin was a watershed moment for corporate bitcoin adoption. Tesla’s turnabout on environmental matters will likely give fuel to the social and even political moment clamoring for change to the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market cap.
The sudden freeze of Tesla’s bitcoin payments hands a decisive win to bitcoin’s energy critics. But it does not spell doom for Tesla’s remaining bitcoin investment nor its crypto experiment. “Tesla will not be selling any bitcoin,” the statement read. “We intend to use it for transactions as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy.”
Related:Bitcoin Sell-Off Could Stabilize Around $42K Support
No such plans are publicly known. The most reputable report on the matter saysnearly 40%of bitcoin’s energy consumption was carbon-neutral.
Tesla did test the liquidity of the bitcoin market with a$272 million sellannounced during its most recent earnings call.
Bitcoin’s price is now down nearly 6% over the past 24 hours, though it fell about $2,000 after Musk’s tweet.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
• Bitcoin Makes Weak Bounce After Tesla Blow But Pullback May Not Be Over: Analyst
• Bitcoin’s Mining Difficulty Hits New High; Taproot Begins Its Second Signaling Attempt || Elon Musk Says Tesla Is Suspending Bitcoin Payments Over Environmental Concerns: In a tweet Wednesday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the electric-car company is discontinuing bitcoin payments. Tesla had announced it was accepting BTC for car payments starting in February . The announcement came in concert with a $1.5 billion investment in bitcoin as a treasury asset. Musk has since continued his championship of DOGE , the meme currency currently boasting a market cap of $58 billion, according to CoinDesk data. Related: MicroStrategy Keeps Buying Bitcoin, Adds Another $15M Cryptocurrency cannot come at great cost to the environment, the electric carmaker said in a statement tweeted by Musk. The statement was hedged, but only slightly, with praise for cryptos promising future and a promise to investigate less energy-hungry networks than Bitcoins. Bitcoin, a proof-of-work (PoW) blockchain reliant on energy-intensive mining units, has come under fire from environmental groups as its price has surged to all-time highs. The second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, ether , also relies on PoW but is in the process of switching to proof-of-stake. Teslas pledge turns up the heat on the race to move bitcoin away from fossil fuels. The companys decision to accept bitcoin was a watershed moment for corporate bitcoin adoption. Teslas turnabout on environmental matters will likely give fuel to the social and even political moment clamoring for change to the worlds largest cryptocurrency by market cap. The sudden freeze of Teslas bitcoin payments hands a decisive win to bitcoins energy critics. But it does not spell doom for Teslas remaining bitcoin investment nor its crypto experiment. Tesla will not be selling any bitcoin, the statement read. We intend to use it for transactions as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy. Related: Bitcoin Sell-Off Could Stabilize Around $42K Support No such plans are publicly known. The most reputable report on the matter says nearly 40% of bitcoins energy consumption was carbon-neutral. Story continues Tesla did test the liquidity of the bitcoin market with a $272 million sell announced during its most recent earnings call. Bitcoins price is now down nearly 6% over the past 24 hours, though it fell about $2,000 after Musks tweet. This is a developing story and will be updated. Related Stories Bitcoin Makes Weak Bounce After Tesla Blow But Pullback May Not Be Over: Analyst Bitcoins Mining Difficulty Hits New High; Taproot Begins Its Second Signaling Attempt || Elon Musk Says Tesla Is Suspending Bitcoin Payments Over Environmental Concerns: In a tweet Wednesday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the electric-car company is discontinuingbitcoinpayments.
Tesla had announced it was accepting BTC for car payments starting inFebruary. The announcement came in concert with a $1.5 billion investment in bitcoin as a treasury asset.
Musk has since continued his championship ofDOGE, the meme currency currently boasting a market cap of $58 billion, according to CoinDesk data.
Related:MicroStrategy Keeps Buying Bitcoin, Adds Another $15M
Cryptocurrency “cannot come at great cost to the environment,” the electric carmaker said in a statement tweeted by Musk. The statement was hedged, but only slightly, with praise for crypto’s “promising future” and a promise to investigate less energy-hungry networks than Bitcoin’s.
Bitcoin, a proof-of-work (PoW) blockchain reliant on energy-intensive mining units, has come under fire from environmental groups as its price has surged to all-time highs. The second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap,ether, also relies on PoW but is in the process of switching to proof-of-stake.
Tesla’s pledge turns up the heat on the race to move bitcoin away from fossil fuels. The company’s decision to accept bitcoin was a watershed moment for corporate bitcoin adoption. Tesla’s turnabout on environmental matters will likely give fuel to the social and even political moment clamoring for change to the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market cap.
The sudden freeze of Tesla’s bitcoin payments hands a decisive win to bitcoin’s energy critics. But it does not spell doom for Tesla’s remaining bitcoin investment nor its crypto experiment. “Tesla will not be selling any bitcoin,” the statement read. “We intend to use it for transactions as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy.”
Related:Bitcoin Sell-Off Could Stabilize Around $42K Support
No such plans are publicly known. The most reputable report on the matter saysnearly 40%of bitcoin’s energy consumption was carbon-neutral.
Tesla did test the liquidity of the bitcoin market with a$272 million sellannounced during its most recent earnings call.
Bitcoin’s price is now down nearly 6% over the past 24 hours, though it fell about $2,000 after Musk’s tweet.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
• Bitcoin Makes Weak Bounce After Tesla Blow But Pullback May Not Be Over: Analyst
• Bitcoin’s Mining Difficulty Hits New High; Taproot Begins Its Second Signaling Attempt || Ethereum Miners Now Record Higher Daily Revenue Than Bitcoin Miners: MiningEthereum(CRYPTO: ETH) has turned even more profitable after the second-largest cryptocurrency gained support above $4,000.
What Happened:According to data fromThe Block, Ethereum miners recorded $77.36 million in daily revenue on Monday, while Bitcoin miners recorded $67.17 million.
The data, which is measured over an average of the past seven days, indicates the start of a short-term trend wherein Ethereum miners have earned more thanBitcoin(CRYPTO: BTC) miners.
Why It Matters:These high revenues from mining Ethereum are caused in part by the network's record high transaction costs and also by the price of the cryptocurrency itself.
In April alone, transaction fees represented more than 40% of Ethereum miner’s revenue, but this is likely to change after the implementation of EIP-1559 in July.
See also:How to Buy Ethereum (ETH)
EIP-1559 brings important changes to the network’s fee structure to reduce transaction costs for users.
The changes will see the base fee “burned” and miners receiving only an inclusion fee, which may likely lead to a drop in the rewards earned from mining Ethereum.
What Else:At press time, Ethereum was trading at $4,125, slightly down from an all-time high of $4,360 set earlier today.
Even though the digital asset has returned over 100% over the past one month and 480% year-to-date, its strongest supporters believe that there is much more left in its rally.
According to analysts fromFundStrat, Ethereum’s price could even reach $10,500.
Comparatively, Bitcoin’s price has slowed in momentum and remained around $54,528 for the better part of a week.
See more from Benzinga
• Click here for options trades from Benzinga
• eBay Becomes First E-commerce Company To Embrace NFT Sales On Its Platform
• Blockchain Review Token Revain (REV) Surges 274% In A Day: What You Need To Know
© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Ethereum Miners Now Record Higher Daily Revenue Than Bitcoin Miners: Mining Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) has turned even more profitable after the second-largest cryptocurrency gained support above $4,000. What Happened: According to data from The Block , Ethereum miners recorded $77.36 million in daily revenue on Monday, while Bitcoin miners recorded $67.17 million. The data, which is measured over an average of the past seven days, indicates the start of a short-term trend wherein Ethereum miners have earned more than Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) miners. Why It Matters: These high revenues from mining Ethereum are caused in part by the network's record high transaction costs and also by the price of the cryptocurrency itself. In April alone, transaction fees represented more than 40% of Ethereum miners revenue, but this is likely to change after the implementation of EIP-1559 in July. See also: How to Buy Ethereum (ETH) EIP-1559 brings important changes to the networks fee structure to reduce transaction costs for users. The changes will see the base fee burned and miners receiving only an inclusion fee, which may likely lead to a drop in the rewards earned from mining Ethereum. What Else: At press time, Ethereum was trading at $4,125, slightly down from an all-time high of $4,360 set earlier today. Even though the digital asset has returned over 100% over the past one month and 480% year-to-date, its strongest supporters believe that there is much more left in its rally. According to analysts from FundStrat , Ethereums price could even reach $10,500. Comparatively, Bitcoins price has slowed in momentum and remained around $54,528 for the better part of a week. See more from Benzinga Click here for options trades from Benzinga eBay Becomes First E-commerce Company To Embrace NFT Sales On Its Platform Blockchain Review Token Revain (REV) Surges 274% In A Day: What You Need To Know © 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
[Social Media Buzz]
None available.
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49880.54, 46760.19, 46456.06, 43537.51, 42909.40, 37002.44, 40782.74, 37304.69, 37536.63, 34770.58
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 1011.80, 1029.91, 1042.90, 1027.34, 1038.15, 1061.35, 1063.07, 994.38, 988.67, 1004.45, 999.18, 990.64, 1004.55, 1007.48, 1027.44, 1046.21, 1054.42, 1047.87, 1079.98, 1115.30, 1117.44, 1166.72, 1173.68, 1143.84, 1165.20, 1179.97, 1179.97, 1222.50, 1251.01, 1274.99, 1255.15, 1267.12, 1272.83, 1223.54, 1150.00, 1188.49, 1116.72, 1175.83, 1221.38, 1231.92, 1240.00, 1249.61, 1187.81, 1100.23, 973.82, 1036.74, 1054.23, 1120.54, 1049.14, 1038.59, 937.52, 972.78, 966.72, 1045.77, 1047.15, 1039.97, 1026.43, 1071.79, 1080.50, 1102.17, 1143.81, 1133.25, 1124.78, 1182.68, 1176.90, 1175.95, 1187.87, 1187.13, 1205.01, 1200.37, 1169.28, 1167.54, 1172.52, 1182.94, 1193.91, 1211.67, 1210.29, 1229.08, 1222.05, 1231.71, 1207.21, 1250.15, 1265.49, 1281.08, 1317.73, 1316.48, 1321.79, 1347.89, 1421.60, 1452.82.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2017-05-02]
Volume: 477337984, RSI (14-day): 82.93, 50-day EMA: 1200.97, 200-day EMA: 989.49
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1255.10, Gold RSI: 46.24
Oil Price: 47.66, Oil RSI: 32.23
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
10 things you need to know before the opening bell: North Korea missile launch (People watch a TV broadcasting of a news report on North Korea's missile launch, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea.Reuters/Kim Hong-Ji) Here is what you need to know. Congress has a budget deal . The deal, which has bi-partisan support, will fund the government through September 30, Reuters says. It must still be approved by both the House and the Senate. China's manufacturing slows . China's manufacturing PMI slowed to 51.2 in April, its weakest in six months, Reuters says, citing data from the National Bureau of Statistics. The latest French election poll shows Macron with a comfortable lead . Centrist Emmanuel Macron holds a 61% to 39% lead over far-right candidate Marine Le Len, according to a tweet by Bloomberg Paris Bureau Chief Geraldine Amiel, citing an Opinionway poll released on Monday. Macau gaming revenue jumps . Revenue jumped 16.3% to 20.2 billion patacas ($2.52 billion), coming in at the upper range of the 13% to 17% growth that analysts were expecting, Reuters says. Bitcoin soars to an all-time high. The cryptocurrency hit an all-time high of $1,422.68 a coin early Monday. Currently, it's up $49, or 3.8%, near $1,354 a coin. Bloomberg and Twitter are teaming up for a streaming news . The two companies have hammered out a deal for a 24 hours a day, seven days a week, streaming news service that will be broadcast on Twitter, the Wall Street Journal reports. 21st Century Fox and Blackstone are reportedly trying to team up to buy Tribune . Details of the attempted bid, which was first reported by the Financial Times, are unknown. Stock markets around much of the world are closed for Labor Day . The S&P 500 is set to open down 0.2% near 2,384. Earnings reports flow. Dish and Loews report ahead of the opening bell while AMD and Texas Roadhouse are among the names releasing their quarterly results after market close. US economic data is moderate. Personal income and spending will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET before Markit US manufacturing and ISM manufacturing cross the wires at 9:45 a.m. ET and 10 a.m. ET, respectively. The US 10-year yield is up 2 basis points at 2.30%. More From Business Insider Tesla just delayed the roll-out of its solar roof — here's everything we know about the project so far Montel Williams reveals how smoking marijuana every day for 17 years changed his life Verizon and AT&T both launched misleading services this week — and it points to a larger problem View comments || 10 things you need to know before the opening bell: (People watch a TV broadcasting of a news report on North Korea's missile launch, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea.Reuters/Kim Hong-Ji)
Here is what you need to know.
Congress has a budget deal.The deal, which has bi-partisan support, will fund the government through September 30, Reuters says. It must still be approved by both the House and the Senate.
China's manufacturing slows.China's manufacturing PMI slowed to 51.2 in April, its weakest in six months, Reuters says, citing data from the National Bureau of Statistics.
The latest French election poll shows Macron with a comfortable lead.Centrist Emmanuel Macron holds a 61% to 39% lead over far-right candidate Marine Le Len, according to a tweet by Bloomberg Paris Bureau Chief Geraldine Amiel, citing an Opinionway poll released on Monday.
Macau gaming revenue jumps.Revenue jumped 16.3% to20.2 billion patacas ($2.52 billion), coming in at the upper range of the 13% to 17% growth that analysts were expecting, Reuters says.
Bitcoin soars to an all-time high.The cryptocurrency hit an all-time high of $1,422.68 a coin early Monday. Currently, it's up $49, or 3.8%, near $1,354 a coin.
Bloomberg and Twitter are teaming up for a streaming news.The two companies have hammered out a deal for a24 hours a day, seven days a week, streaming news service that will be broadcast on Twitter, the Wall Street Journal reports.
21st Century Fox and Blackstone are reportedly trying to team up to buy Tribune.Details of the attempted bid, which was first reported by the Financial Times, are unknown.
Stock markets around much of the world are closed for Labor Day.The S&P 500 is set to open down 0.2% near 2,384.
Earnings reports flow.Dish and Loews report ahead of the opening bell while AMD and Texas Roadhouse are among the names releasing their quarterly results after market close.
US economic data is moderate.Personal income and spending will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET before Markit US manufacturing and ISM manufacturing cross the wires at 9:45 a.m. ET and 10 a.m. ET, respectively. The US 10-year yield is up 2 basis points at 2.30%.
More From Business Insider
• Tesla just delayed the roll-out of its solar roof — here's everything we know about the project so far
• Montel Williams reveals how smoking marijuana every day for 17 years changed his life
• Verizon and AT&T both launched misleading services this week — and it points to a larger problem || Bitcoin Hits New All-Time High: A year ago, one Bitcoin could be had for about $450. On Thursday, the cryptocurrency peaked at just over $1,340, as measured by theCoindesk price index, before retrenching slightly to $1318 by this morning. That’s still a return of nearly 200%.
Bitcoin has seen a remarkably steady rise since early 2016, fueled by globalregulatory normalization, broad interest in the technology fromenterprises and banks, and rising transaction volumes. Cryptocurrency analysts, according to Coindesk, think the trendwill continue, citing among other factors that most Bitcoin investors are long-term bulls who will take profits conservatively.
Get Data Sheet,Fortune’stechnology newsletter.
But the very transaction volume that is Bitcoin’s key fundamental also presents a serious medium-term threat, as the system has struggled to keep up. Transaction speeds have become impractical for merchant payments, and fees have risen, making the system less competitive with conventional payment systems such as credit cards. Struggles over how to fix the problem have raisedthe spectre of a network split-though that could, at least theoretically, give holders additional value in a manner akin to a stock split.
Bitcoin had a notable previous peak of around $979 way back in November of 2013 (Coindesk’s number seems conservative here-Coinmarketcaprecords a 2013 peak of $1149). That push was fueled by a wave of mainstream media attention, but prices slumped through 2015 on the realization that the tech’s promise would take some time to fulfill, dipping as low as $204 that August.
This article was originally published on FORTUNE.com || Bitcoin Hits New All-Time High: A year ago, one Bitcoin could be had for about $450. On Thursday, the cryptocurrency peaked at just over $1,340, as measured by theCoindesk price index, before retrenching slightly to $1318 by this morning. That’s still a return of nearly 200%.
Bitcoin has seen a remarkably steady rise since early 2016, fueled by globalregulatory normalization, broad interest in the technology fromenterprises and banks, and rising transaction volumes. Cryptocurrency analysts, according to Coindesk, think the trendwill continue, citing among other factors that most Bitcoin investors are long-term bulls who will take profits conservatively.
Get Data Sheet,Fortune’stechnology newsletter.
But the very transaction volume that is Bitcoin’s key fundamental also presents a serious medium-term threat, as the system has struggled to keep up. Transaction speeds have become impractical for merchant payments, and fees have risen, making the system less competitive with conventional payment systems such as credit cards. Struggles over how to fix the problem have raisedthe spectre of a network split-though that could, at least theoretically, give holders additional value in a manner akin to a stock split.
Bitcoin had a notable previous peak of around $979 way back in November of 2013 (Coindesk’s number seems conservative here-Coinmarketcaprecords a 2013 peak of $1149). That push was fueled by a wave of mainstream media attention, but prices slumped through 2015 on the realization that the tech’s promise would take some time to fulfill, dipping as low as $204 that August.
This article was originally published on FORTUNE.com || Bitcoin Hits New All-Time High: A year ago, one Bitcoin could be had for about $450. On Thursday, the cryptocurrency peaked at just over $1,340, as measured by the Coindesk price index , before retrenching slightly to $1318 by this morning. Thats still a return of nearly 200%. Bitcoin has seen a remarkably steady rise since early 2016, fueled by global regulatory normalization , broad interest in the technology from enterprises and banks , and rising transaction volumes. Cryptocurrency analysts, according to Coindesk, think the trend will continue , citing among other factors that most Bitcoin investors are long-term bulls who will take profits conservatively. Get Data Sheet , Fortune s technology newsletter. But the very transaction volume that is Bitcoins key fundamental also presents a serious medium-term threat, as the system has struggled to keep up. Transaction speeds have become impractical for merchant payments, and fees have risen, making the system less competitive with conventional payment systems such as credit cards. Struggles over how to fix the problem have raised the spectre of a network split -though that could, at least theoretically, give holders additional value in a manner akin to a stock split. Bitcoin had a notable previous peak of around $979 way back in November of 2013 (Coindesks number seems conservative here- Coinmarketcap records a 2013 peak of $1149). That push was fueled by a wave of mainstream media attention, but prices slumped through 2015 on the realization that the techs promise would take some time to fulfill, dipping as low as $204 that August. This article was originally published on FORTUNE.com || Inside the world's greatest scavenger hunt, Part 3: GISHWHES stands for theGreatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen. Teams of 15 have one week to complete a list of 200 difficult, charitable, or hilarious tasks. They prove they’ve completed each item by submitting a photo or video of it; their $20 entry fees go to a charity, and the winning team gets a trip to an exotic location.
This is Part 3 of our five-part report on the hunt.
Part 1•Part 2• Part 3 •Part 4•Part 5
Each August, as the world’s largest scavenger hunt is under way, the general public is usually unaware—except when teams perform their tasks in public places. Recent tasks have included:
• Hug someone you love, motionless, in a very crowded location, for 20 minutes without moving—and time-lapse it.
• Stand in a crowded public place. Ask people to sign a petition to Save The Endangered Unicorns.
• Get everyone on a subway, bus, or train car to sing “Over the River and Through the Woods.” There must be at least 8 passengers (random commuters, not your friends).
But each year, the list also includes challenges to perform acts of kindness. For example:
• Write and mail a thank-you letter to a teacher or mentor from your past that you never sufficiently thanked.
• Have a tea party with a special-needs child or pediatric cancer patient, dressed as a character from “Alice in Wonderland.”
• More than 10% of veterans returning from war suffer post-traumatic stress syndrome. Post an image of you next to an armed serviceman, with you holding up a sign with a message of gratitude to them and soldiers worldwide.
But for hunt creator Misha Collins (a star of the WB series “Supernatural”), neither GISHWHES nor acting were part of his life’s original master plan.
“[After college,] my objective was to go to law school and somehow try to make a positive impact on the world,” he says. “I thought probably the best way to do that was to go into politics. This was, you know, my 20-year-old brain.
“I was interning at the White House, but I just didn’t love the machine that I saw. I was very naive. I was exposed to this weird environment of, like, nepotism and yea-saying that I wasn’t inspired by.”
So he switched paths.
“I had this great get-rich-quick/make-an-impact scheme: ‘I’ll just go to Hollywood and I’ll become an actor and I’ll get famous enough that I can then leverage that celebrity into doing things.’”
Off he went to Los Angeles. “I thought, like, I’d be the next Leonardo DiCaprio in a couple of months. It took me 10 years to get on a TV show.
“And once I’d achieved a certain modicum of, you know, C-list celebrity, that desire to try to use my celebrity for some other purpose resurfaced.”
GISHWHES was born: a list littered with acts of kindness that tens of thousands of players attempt to fulfill every August.
In the most recent hunt, item 175 is a perfect example:
“#175.According to the United Nations, 4.8 million people have fled Syria since the civil war began in 2011. Many of these families are living in tent cities with few resources and difficult lives. Let’s change the lives of one family that’s in particularly dire circumstances. The GISHWHES Item is to create a fundraising page for your team, where family, friends and others can donate.”
“We identified one particular family with a heartbreaking story. The mom had been shot in the spine tending to her garden. She was paralyzed, she’s been in a bed in this tent for two years. And we said, let’s just change this one family’s circumstances,” Collins says. “Let’s get them a house, and let’s get her medical care, and let’s pay for the kids’ school. And I woke up the next morning to see, oh my god!”
By week’s end, GISHWHES teams had raised close to $250,000.
“So we added another family, and another and another—by the end of the hunt, we materially changed the lives of four different families. We’ve been getting photos from these families, like them moving into their apartments that we just paid for. It’s just such a lovely thing to be a part of.”
For Team Raised From Perdition, though, there are 174 other items to complete if they hope to win.
My daughter, Tia, also participated in GISHWHES. Several days have passed sinceshe launched a weather balloon into space, bearing a child’s note to the universe. It came down into a nearly inaccessible Connecticut forest; she’s unable to retrieve it even after hours of searching. Item 175 is worth more points than anything else in the hunt; for her team, it will have to be marked “incomplete.”
But teammate Christine has no intention of giving up on the balloon’s precious footage. She tells Tia that she’ll just drive over to the forest to help look for it.
From Chicago.
Fifteen hours later, she, her husband Vince, and their children arrive, laden with gear. After hours of shaking, throwing things at, and yanking at trees, Christine’s 13-year-old son Josh climbs the tree. After an hour and a half, he dislodges the balloon. Item 175 is in the can!
Not everything on the GISHWHES list is as exasperating as lost space balloons. Item 15, for example, sounds like fun:
#15. This is the final showdown between the Haves and the Have-nots. Show up at Dolores Park in San Francisco, dressed either as executives or in blue-collar apparel. At exactly 12:10 PM, the ultimate water balloon battle will ensue.
Nearly a thousand Gishers show up. They stand in two long lines, facing off across the park. They’ve taken the day off from work, driven for hours, even flown to San Francisco for this battle.
At the stroke of noon, GISHWHES volunteer Tone Rawlings raises her megaphone, ready to announce the open-fire.
But at that moment, a San Francisco park ranger runs onto the field.
Ranger: “Hold on! Hold on! You can’t do this! Not without a permit! Anytime you have X amount of people in a park, you have to have a permit.”
“This is like a 10-minute situation for charity,” Tone pleads. “It’s a flash-mob type situation.”
“Yeah, you guys can’t do it without a permit.” (A CBS News camera picked up the audio.)
The two armies can’t hear this, but they see that there’s a problem. It’s not the first time that GISHWHES stunts have tested the patience of society’s overseers.
Will they be deprived of their balloon battle because of paperwork?
Suddenly, a second park manager arrives.
Incredibly, he’s persuaded. “Here’s the thing,” he says. “You have enough people to get this cleaned up?”
“I will personally guarantee it,” Tone says.
“You should have a permit. But if you can make an announcement like that, and get everyone to agree, then OK.”
Tone lifts her megaphone.
“I know and you know that you guys are going to be responsible for these pieces of balloon when this fight is over! Is that right?”
The crowd roars in agreement.
“This can’t happen…unless you guys repeat after me: I solemnly pledge to pick up every last piece of balloony plastic thing on the ground! And I will throw it all away in the proper receptacles!”
The crowd roars.
“Haves and Have-Nots… Commence the water-balloon melee!”
The battle is on.
This time, at least, the forces of merry mayhem win the day.
Part 1•Part 2• Part 3 •Part 4•Part 5
More from David Pogue:
Inside the World’s Greatest Scavenger Hunt: Part I
Inside the World’s Greatest Scavenger Hunt: Part 2
The David Pogue Review: Windows 10 Creators Update
Now I get it: Bitcoin
David Pogue tested 47 pill-reminder apps to find the best one
David Pogue’s search for the world’s best air-travel app
The little-known iPhone feature that lets blind people see with their fingers
David Pogue, tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, welcomes nontoxic comments in the comments section below. On the web, he’sdavidpogue.com. On Twitter, he’s@pogue. On email, he’s [email protected]. You canread all his articles here, or you can sign up toget his columns by email. || Inside the world's greatest scavenger hunt, Part 3: GISHWHES stands for the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen . Teams of 15 have one week to complete a list of 200 difficult, charitable, or hilarious tasks. They prove they’ve completed each item by submitting a photo or video of it; their $20 entry fees go to a charity, and the winning team gets a trip to an exotic location. This is Part 3 of our five-part report on the hunt. Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3 • Part 4 • Part 5 Part 3: GISHWHES for Good Each August, as the world’s largest scavenger hunt is under way, the general public is usually unaware—except when teams perform their tasks in public places. Recent tasks have included: Hug someone you love, motionless, in a very crowded location, for 20 minutes without moving—and time-lapse it. Stand in a crowded public place. Ask people to sign a petition to Save The Endangered Unicorns. Get everyone on a subway, bus, or train car to sing “Over the River and Through the Woods.” There must be at least 8 passengers (random commuters, not your friends). But each year, the list also includes challenges to perform acts of kindness. For example: Write and mail a thank-you letter to a teacher or mentor from your past that you never sufficiently thanked. Have a tea party with a special-needs child or pediatric cancer patient, dressed as a character from “Alice in Wonderland.” More than 10% of veterans returning from war suffer post-traumatic stress syndrome. Post an image of you next to an armed serviceman, with you holding up a sign with a message of gratitude to them and soldiers worldwide. But for hunt creator Misha Collins (a star of the WB series “Supernatural”), neither GISHWHES nor acting were part of his life’s original master plan. “[After college,] my objective was to go to law school and somehow try to make a positive impact on the world,” he says. “I thought probably the best way to do that was to go into politics. This was, you know, my 20-year-old brain. “I was interning at the White House, but I just didn’t love the machine that I saw. I was very naive. I was exposed to this weird environment of, like, nepotism and yea-saying that I wasn’t inspired by.” Story continues So he switched paths. “I had this great get-rich-quick/make-an-impact scheme: ‘I’ll just go to Hollywood and I’ll become an actor and I’ll get famous enough that I can then leverage that celebrity into doing things.’” Off he went to Los Angeles. “I thought, like, I’d be the next Leonardo DiCaprio in a couple of months. It took me 10 years to get on a TV show. “ And once I’d achieved a certain modicum of, you know, C-list celebrity, that desire to try to use my celebrity for some other purpose resurfaced.” GISHWHES was born: a list littered with acts of kindness that tens of thousands of players attempt to fulfill every August. Crowdsourcing for refugees In the most recent hunt, item 175 is a perfect example: “#175. According to the United Nations, 4.8 million people have fled Syria since the civil war began in 2011. Many of these families are living in tent cities with few resources and difficult lives. Let’s change the lives of one family that’s in particularly dire circumstances. The GISHWHES Item is to create a fundraising page for your team, where family, friends and others can donate.” “We identified one particular family with a heartbreaking story. The mom had been shot in the spine tending to her garden. She was paralyzed, she’s been in a bed in this tent for two years. And we said, let’s just change this one family’s circumstances,” Collins says. “Let’s get them a house, and let’s get her medical care, and let’s pay for the kids’ school. And I woke up the next morning to see, oh my god!” By week’s end, GISHWHES teams had raised close to $250,000. “So we added another family, and another and another—by the end of the hunt, we materially changed the lives of four different families. We’ve been getting photos from these families, like them moving into their apartments that we just paid for. It’s just such a lovely thing to be a part of.” The space balloon, continued For Team Raised From Perdition, though, there are 174 other items to complete if they hope to win. My daughter, Tia, also participated in GISHWHES. Several days have passed since she launched a weather balloon into space , bearing a child’s note to the universe. It came down into a nearly inaccessible Connecticut forest; she’s unable to retrieve it even after hours of searching. Item 175 is worth more points than anything else in the hunt; for her team, it will have to be marked “incomplete.” But teammate Christine has no intention of giving up on the balloon’s precious footage. She tells Tia that she’ll just drive over to the forest to help look for it. From Chicago. Fifteen hours later, she, her husband Vince, and their children arrive, laden with gear. After hours of shaking, throwing things at, and yanking at trees, Christine’s 13-year-old son Josh climbs the tree. After an hour and a half, he dislodges the balloon. Item 175 is in the can! The Haves and the Have-Nots Not everything on the GISHWHES list is as exasperating as lost space balloons. Item 15, for example, sounds like fun: #15. This is the final showdown between the Haves and the Have-nots. Show up at Dolores Park in San Francisco, dressed either as executives or in blue-collar apparel. At exactly 12:10 PM, the ultimate water balloon battle will ensue. Nearly a thousand Gishers show up. They stand in two long lines, facing off across the park. They’ve taken the day off from work, driven for hours, even flown to San Francisco for this battle. At the stroke of noon, GISHWHES volunteer Tone Rawlings raises her megaphone, ready to announce the open-fire. But at that moment, a San Francisco park ranger runs onto the field. Ranger: “Hold on! Hold on! You can’t do this! Not without a permit! Anytime you have X amount of people in a park, you have to have a permit.” “This is like a 10-minute situation for charity,” Tone pleads. “It’s a flash-mob type situation.” “Yeah, you guys can’t do it without a permit.” (A CBS News camera picked up the audio.) The two armies can’t hear this, but they see that there’s a problem. It’s not the first time that GISHWHES stunts have tested the patience of society’s overseers. Will they be deprived of their balloon battle because of paperwork? Suddenly, a second park manager arrives. Incredibly, he’s persuaded. “Here’s the thing,” he says. “You have enough people to get this cleaned up?” “I will personally guarantee it,” Tone says. “You should have a permit. But if you can make an announcement like that, and get everyone to agree, then OK.” Tone lifts her megaphone. “I know and you know that you guys are going to be responsible for these pieces of balloon when this fight is over! Is that right?” The crowd roars in agreement. “This can’t happen…unless you guys repeat after me: I solemnly pledge to pick up every last piece of balloony plastic thing on the ground! And I will throw it all away in the proper receptacles!” The crowd roars. “Haves and Have-Nots… Commence the water-balloon melee!” The battle is on. This time, at least, the forces of merry mayhem win the day. Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3 • Part 4 • Part 5 More from David Pogue: Inside the World’s Greatest Scavenger Hunt: Part I Inside the World’s Greatest Scavenger Hunt: Part 2 The David Pogue Review: Windows 10 Creators Update Now I get it: Bitcoin David Pogue tested 47 pill-reminder apps to find the best one David Pogue’s search for the world’s best air-travel app The little-known iPhone feature that lets blind people see with their fingers David Pogue, tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, welcomes nontoxic comments in the comments section below. On the web, he’s davidpogue.com . On Twitter, he’s @pogue . On email, he’s [email protected]. You can read all his articles here , or you can sign up to get his columns by email . || PayPal's strategic risks pay off: Paypal Active Customers (BI Intelligence) This story was delivered to BI Intelligence " Payments Briefing " subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, please click here . PayPal beat analyst expectations and grew its revenue to just under $3 billion, up 19% year-over-year (YoY) in Q1 2017. Those results, which were announced in the firm’s earnings presentation, position PayPal on a strong upward trajectory, particularly as it stretches into new technologies and segments of the financial ecosystem in a move to become an omnipresent player in its users’ lives. The firm is growing, but still managing to increase engagement. PayPal added customers while growing its volume. PayPal added 6 million new customers in Q1, bringing its total to 203 million active users. That’s up from the 4.5 million that it added in the same quarter last year, and puts it on track to add 20 million or more in 2017. The firm also managed to hit $99 billion in total payment volume (TPV), relatively flat sequentially but up from $81 billion last year, marking 25% growth. The firm is growing organically, rather than simply by scale. Customer growth is still outpacing TPV gains, albeit slightly. But customer engagement is growing — average quarterly interactions grew to 32 from 28 last year in Q1 — customers are using PayPal on a more regular basis, gains that could magnify over time. These are strong indicators for PayPal’s health down the line. Since last summer, PayPal has been focusing on scale, rather than on revenue. As an example, the firm has been entering strategic partnerships with issuers, card networks, and other mobile payments players. These partnerships have allowed PayPal to introduce choice for customers and offer more flexibility for users to opt to pay with a credit/debit card, rather than bank accounts, which funded the lion’s share of accounts in the past. That could be more expensive for PayPal, since card-based transactions have higher fees than bank-based transactions. But it’s pleasing and convenient to customers, which could bring its own gains. So far, that risk is paying off. Choice is increasing customer adds while driving up average spend per consumer, while the impact on margins falls safely within expectations. As PayPal continues to build partnerships that help it scale, customer and spend adds could outweigh revenue drags. And that impact could be magnified as the firm expands into new areas, like bill pay, better monetizes services like Venmo, and invests in up-and-coming mobile technology. Story continues Peer-to-peer (P2P) payments, defined as informal payments made from one person to another, have long been a prominent feature of the payments industry. That’s because individuals transfer funds to each other on a regular basis, whether it's to make a recurring payment, reimburse a friend, or split a dinner bill. Cash and checks have historically dominated the P2P ecosystem, and they’re still a popular tool. But as smartphones become a primary computing device, top digital platforms, like Venmo and Google Wallet, have enabled customers to turn away from cash and make those payments digitally with ease. Over the next few years, though overall P2P spend will remain constant, a shift to mobile payments across the board and increased spending power from the digital-savvy younger generation will cause the mobile P2P industry to skyrocket. That poses a problem for firms providing these services, though. Historically, most of these players have taken on mobile P2P at a loss because it’s a low-friction way to onboard users and won’t catch on unless it’s free, or largely free, to consumers. But as it becomes more popular and starts to eat into these firms’ traditional streams of revenue, finding ways to monetize is increasingly important. That could mean moving P2P functionality into more profitable environments, leveraging existing networks of friends to encourage spending, or offering value-added services at a nominal fee. Jaime Toplin, research analyst for BI Intelligence , Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on mobile P2P payments that examines what’s driving this shift to mobile P2P and explains why companies need to find a way to capitalize on it quickly. It discusses how firms can use the tools they have to gain in the P2P space, details several cases, and evaluates which strategies might be the most effective in monetizing these platforms. Here are some key takeaways from the report: Consumers still want mobile P2P services, and they’re turning to them. Individuals pay their peers on a regular basis, and as smartphones are increasingly used as computing devices, these consumers look to such services for fast and easy ways to pay. Monetizing P2P is more important than ever. Initially, P2P was a valuable onboarding tool for companies, and when it was still a small segment, taking it on at little value or a loss didn’t have major implications. But as volume grows and user bases scale fast, finding ways to monetize quickly should be a priority for firms looking to stay ahead. New technology could put some apps ahead of their peers. P2P continues to rely on networks, especially for informal, social transactions. But rather than having a large network, it’s becoming important for firms to understand their user bases and the networks within them. This means that chat apps, and leveraging bot and AI technology, may offer a distinct advantage. In full, the report: Forecasts the growth of the P2P market, and what portion of that will come from mobile channels, through 2021. Explains the factors driving that growth and details why it will come from increased usage, not increased spend per user. Evaluates why mobile P2P isn’t profitable for companies, and details several cases of attempts to monetize. Assesses which of these strategies could be most successful, and what companies need to leverage to succeed in the space. Provides context from other markets to explain shifting trends. Interested in getting the full report? Here are two ways to access it: Subscribe to an All-Access pass to BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report and over 100 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >> START A MEMBERSHIP Purchase & download the full report from our research store. >> BUY THE REPORT More From Business Insider Fintech could be bigger than ATMs, PayPal, and Bitcoin combined PayPal One Touch hits 50 million users THE MOBILE PAYMENTS REPORT: Market forecasts, consumer trends, and the barriers and benefits that will influence adoption || PayPal's strategic risks pay off: (BI Intelligence)
This story was delivered to BI Intelligence "Payments Briefing" subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, pleaseclick here.
PayPal beat analyst expectations and grew its revenue to just under $3 billion, up 19% year-over-year (YoY) in Q1 2017. Those results, which were announced in the firm’s earnings presentation, position PayPal on a strong upward trajectory, particularly as it stretches into new technologies and segments of the financial ecosystem in a move to become an omnipresent player in its users’ lives.
The firm is growing, but still managing to increase engagement.
• PayPal added customers while growing its volume. PayPal added 6 million new customers in Q1, bringing its total to 203 million active users. That’s up from the 4.5 million that it added in the same quarter last year, and puts it on track to add 20 million or more in 2017. The firm also managed to hit $99 billion in total payment volume (TPV), relatively flat sequentially but up from $81 billion last year, marking 25% growth.
• The firm is growing organically, rather than simply by scale. Customer growth is still outpacing TPV gains, albeit slightly. But customer engagement is growing — average quarterly interactions grew to 32 from 28 last year in Q1 — customers are using PayPal on a more regular basis, gains that could magnify over time.
These are strong indicators for PayPal’s health down the line.
• Since last summer, PayPal has been focusing on scale, rather than on revenue. As an example, the firm has been entering strategic partnerships with issuers, card networks, and other mobile payments players. These partnerships have allowed PayPal to introduce choice for customers and offer more flexibility for users to opt to pay with a credit/debit card, rather than bank accounts, which funded the lion’s share of accounts in the past. That could be more expensive for PayPal, since card-based transactions have higher fees than bank-based transactions. But it’s pleasing and convenient to customers, which could bring its own gains.
• So far, that risk is paying off. Choice is increasing customer adds while driving up average spend per consumer, while the impact on margins falls safely within expectations. As PayPal continues to build partnerships that help it scale, customer and spend adds could outweigh revenue drags. And that impact could be magnified as the firm expands into new areas, like bill pay, better monetizes services like Venmo, and invests in up-and-coming mobile technology.
Peer-to-peer (P2P) payments, defined as informal payments made from one person to another, have long been a prominent feature of the payments industry.
That’s because individuals transfer funds to each other on a regular basis, whether it's to make a recurring payment, reimburse a friend, or split a dinner bill.
Cash and checks have historically dominated the P2P ecosystem, and they’re still a popular tool. But as smartphones become a primary computing device, top digital platforms, like Venmo and Google Wallet, have enabled customers to turn away from cash and make those payments digitally with ease. Over the next few years, though overall P2P spend will remain constant, a shift to mobile payments across the board and increased spending power from the digital-savvy younger generation will cause the mobile P2P industry to skyrocket.
That poses a problem for firms providing these services, though. Historically, most of these players have taken on mobile P2P at a loss because it’s a low-friction way to onboard users and won’t catch on unless it’s free, or largely free, to consumers. But as it becomes more popular and starts to eat into these firms’ traditional streams of revenue, finding ways to monetize is increasingly important. That could mean moving P2P functionality into more profitable environments, leveraging existing networks of friends to encourage spending, or offering value-added services at a nominal fee.
Jaime Toplin, research analyst forBI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compileda detailed report on mobile P2P paymentsthat examines what’s driving this shift to mobile P2P and explains why companies need to find a way to capitalize on it quickly. It discusses how firms can use the tools they have to gain in the P2P space, details several cases, and evaluates which strategies might be the most effective in monetizing these platforms.
Here are some key takeaways from the report:
• Consumers still want mobile P2P services, and they’re turning to them. Individuals pay their peers on a regular basis, and as smartphones are increasingly used as computing devices, these consumers look to such services for fast and easy ways to pay.
• Monetizing P2P is more important than ever. Initially, P2P was a valuable onboarding tool for companies, and when it was still a small segment, taking it on at little value or a loss didn’t have major implications. But as volume grows and user bases scale fast, finding ways to monetize quickly should be a priority for firms looking to stay ahead.
• New technology could put some apps ahead of their peers. P2P continues to rely on networks, especially for informal, social transactions. But rather than having a large network, it’s becoming important for firms to understand their user bases and the networks within them. This means that chat apps, and leveraging bot and AI technology, may offer a distinct advantage.
In full, the report:
• Forecasts the growth of the P2P market, and what portion of that will come from mobile channels, through 2021.
• Explains the factors driving that growth and details why it will come from increased usage, not increased spend per user.
• Evaluates why mobile P2P isn’t profitable for companies, and details several cases of attempts to monetize.
• Assesses which of these strategies could be most successful, and what companies need to leverage to succeed in the space.
• Provides context from other markets to explain shifting trends.
Interested in getting the full report? Here are two ways to access it:
1. Subscribe to anAll-Accesspass to BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report and over 100 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >>START A MEMBERSHIP
2. Purchase & download the full report from our research store. >>BUY THE REPORT
More From Business Insider
• Fintech could be bigger than ATMs, PayPal, and Bitcoin combined
• PayPal One Touch hits 50 million users
• THE MOBILE PAYMENTS REPORT: Market forecasts, consumer trends, and the barriers and benefits that will influence adoption || GrubHub shares spike 19% after company reports a surge in active diners: Shares of GrubHub (NYSE: GRUB) spiked as much as 19 percent after it reported a surge in "active diners," a measurement of the food-ordering service's ability to attract new customers. The company recorded a 26 percent jump in active diners for the first quarter, to 8.75 million from 6.97 million a year ago. GrubHub also reported first-quarter profits of 29 cents per share, on revenue of $156.1 million. They both beat analysts' expectations of 24 cents a share on sales of $153 million, according to Thomson Reuters. GrubHub, which also owns the delivery brands Seamless and Allmenus, connects diners and restaurants through online platforms and apps. Users order food through GrubHub and have it delivered directly by the restaurant. "More new diners tried Grubhub than ever before in the first quarter," said CEO Matt Maloney in a statement. Active diner growth indicates GrubHub's ability to bring on new users, said equity analyst Brian Nowak in a January CNBC report . The company competes against Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) 's Prime Now service, Yelp's (NYSE: YELP) Eat24, and Uber's UberEATS. The stock closed up 22 percent on Thursday. GrubHub shares 1-day performance More From CNBC Bitcoin jumps to a new all-time high above $1,300 Trumps tax plan may reignite one of the most popular trades of the bull market This chart reveals economists may be overestimating the 'Trump bump' || GrubHub shares spike 19% after company reports a surge in active diners: Shares of GrubHub(NYSE: GRUB)spiked as much as 19 percent after it reported a surge in "active diners," a measurement of the food-ordering service's ability to attract new customers.
The company recorded a 26 percent jump in active diners for the first quarter, to 8.75 million from 6.97 million a year ago.
GrubHub also reported first-quarter profits of 29 cents per share, on revenue of $156.1 million. They both beat analysts' expectations of 24 cents a share on sales of $153 million, according to Thomson Reuters.
GrubHub, which also owns the delivery brands Seamless and Allmenus, connects diners and restaurants through online platforms and apps. Users order food through GrubHub and have it delivered directly by the restaurant.
"More new diners tried Grubhub than ever before in the first quarter," said CEO Matt Maloney in a statement. Active diner growth indicates GrubHub's ability to bring on new users, said equity analyst Brian Nowakin a January CNBC report.
The company competes against Amazon.com(NASDAQ: AMZN)'s Prime Now service, Yelp's(NYSE: YELP)Eat24, and Uber's UberEATS.
The stock closed up 22 percent on Thursday.
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• This chart reveals economists may be overestimating the 'Trump bump' || Is This Tiny European Nation a Preview of Our Tech Future?: On a Spring afternoon, I’m gazing out the window of an office building on the outskirts of Estonia’s capital, Tallinn, watching people stroll below, when a cream-colored plastic container mounted on black wheels rounds the corner and begins maneuvering its way among the pedestrians. The device looks like a kid’s toy. But in reality it’s a high-tech delivery robot called Starship and potentially the next mega-profitable invention to spring from this snowy, miniature country on the northern edge of Europe-one of the more unexpected launching pads on the planet. “If you look at sci-fi movies set 20 years from now, you don’t see people carrying their groceries. Robots just arrive at their homes,” says Ahti Heinla, cofounder and CEO of Starship Technologies. Reality, he says, has caught up to sci-fi. “About two years ago we realized it was possible to create this part of the future right now.” For a snapshot of how we might all be living tomorrow, there are few better places to visit than this picturesque city of 400,000, whose winding medieval alleyways offer an elegant contrast to its digital present. Creating the future now, as Heinla puts it, is Estonia’s driving project, and increasingly it is its core business too. Fortune Magazine Most Americans or even Europeans would be unable to find this pinprick on a map, squeezed between its small Baltic Sea neighbor Latvia and mammoth Russia. Its population, just 1.3 million, is about the same as Dallas or the Bronx borough of New York City. But its modest size and remoteness belies its clout. It is here that a group of friends, including Heinla, invented the hugely popular Internet calling platform Skype. Given Estonia’s history, the invention of Skype in this country was ironic. While Americans were buying their first cell phones, about a quarter-century ago, Estonians were shut off from the world as an outpost of the Soviet Union. You could easily wait 10 years to be assigned a landline phone. By the time the Soviet Union imploded in 1991, the country was in a time warp. “We did not have anything,” says Gen. Riho Terras, the commander of Estonia’s armed forces, who had been a student activist at the time. The country had to reboot from zero. Terras says each citizen was given the equivalent of 10 euros, or $10.60. “That was it,” he says, laughing. “We started from 10 euros each.” Story continues One generation on, Estonia is a time warp of another kind: a fast-forward example of extreme digital living. For the rest of us, Estonia offers a glimpse into what happens when a country abandons old analog systems and opts to run completely online instead. That notion is not fanciful. In various forms, governments across the world, including those in Singapore, Japan, and India, are trying to determine how dramatically they can transform themselves into digital entities in order to cut budgets and streamline services (and for some, keep closer tabs on citizens). Estonia claims its online systems add 2% a year to its GDP. Starship Technologies CEO Ahti Heinla shows off one of his company’s delivery robots. Heinla was part of the team that created Skype, founded in Estonia in 2003.Photograph by Piotr Malecki-Panos Pictures for Fortune The moment I land in Tallinn, my phone pings with the city’s free Wi-Fi network, which rolled out more than 15 years ago. But the extreme-digital life of regular Estonians is far less visible. At birth, every person is assigned a unique string of 11 digits, a digital identifier that from then on is key to operating almost every aspect of that person’s life-the 21st-century version of a Social Security number. The all-digital habits begin young: Estonian children learn computer programming at school, many beginning in kindergarten. In 2000, Estonia became the first country in the world to declare Internet access a basic human right-much like food and shelter. That same year it passed a law giving digital signatures equal weight to handwritten ones. That single move created an entire paperless system. Since no one was required to sign with a pen, there was no need for paper documents to pay taxes, open a bank account, obtain a mortgage, pick up a prescription, or perform most of life’s other tasks, other than marrying and divorcing. “I established my company in about 20 minutes, without going anywhere,” says Kaidi Ruusalepp, 41, CEO of Funderbeam, an investment trading platform for early-stage, non-IPO startups, which she founded in 2013. “We never visited the tax board, the Social Security agency, anything,” she says. “Everything is online.” Kaidi Ruusalepp, founder and CEO of startup Funderbeam, at her company’s offices in Tallinn.Photograph by Piotr Malecki-Panos Pictures for Fortune So, too, are Estonians’ taxes. Almost all Estonians file taxes online-within minutes. Since public registries are all linked in one system, Estonians can log in to prefilled tax declarations showing their income, property, number of children, and so on. They make necessary tweaks and hit the send button. (Outside the U.S., this type of approach is increasingly common.) Last year thenPrime Minister Taavi Rõivas earned loud cheers on The Daily Show when he described to host Trevor Noah how he had filed his taxes on his iPad during a few idle minutes in the Luxembourg Airport. When I visit Rõivas, 37, in his office in the Estonian Parliament, it’s weirdly devoid of paper. He says during nearly three years as Prime Minister the only time he signed his name in ink was in ceremonial guest books. Theoretically, he says, the government could issue an online order to send troops into battle. “I never signed any law physically,” he says. “Never.” Estonians were also first to be able to vote online in elections, back in 2005. When I ask Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid where she voted in last November’s elections, which brought her to power, she responds as if my question is dumb: “From my computer at home.” Kaljulaid was speaking to me while we were on a boat to Tallinn from Helsinki, in neighboring Finland, where she had just signed a deal allowing the countries to recognize each other’s digital ID cards. Now, for example, Finns and Estonians can visit doctors in the other country and automatically call up their medical records-all stored online. “We have been using digital identifiers for 17 years,” she says. “People have learned to trust the system.” Estonians might take all this tech wizardry for granted now, but the country was on its knees economically after the Soviet collapse. It had one huge advantage: It was starting from scratch. “People were paid in cash,” says Martin Ruubel, 41, president of Guardtime, a 10-year-old software security company that developed the country’s blockchain system (more on that in a moment), sitting in his Tallinn office on the grounds of a converted former military barrack. Since no Estonian had ever had a checkbook, once the Soviets were gone the country simply skipped past pen and paper and issued bank cards. It was a money saver, but had another benefit: It pushed Estonians to get online fast. Martin Ruubel, president of blockchain services company Guardtime, in his company’s offices in Tallinn.Photograph by Piotr Malecki-Panos Pictures for Fortune Scrambling to piece together a country, the new leaders, young and inexperienced, also rapidly privatized the telecom industry. “It was highly successful,” says Mart Laar, 57, who became the first post-Soviet Prime Minister, at age 32, and is now chairman of the board of supervisors for the Bank of Estonia. Since so few people had even landline phones, many simply bought mobile handsets instead. Laar, a historian, says he knew nothing about computers but believed they needed to start with the latest technology. When Finland offered to donate its analog telephone exchange to its poorer neighbor for free, Estonia turned it down. The government recruited Ruusalepp, now Funderbeam’s CEO, as the new country’s first IT lawyer when she was just 20 and still a student. “I had no law degree and no understanding of technology,” she says. Her first task was to create a law for digital signatures, years ahead of many countries. “We wanted to change the country. We had brains, and we just had to shoot,” she says. Those early decisions set the stage for today’s thriving tech scene in Estonia. Skype, founded in Tallinn in 2003, spawned a generation of techies and would-be entrepreneurs. “People thought, If Estonian guys could do something like Skype, I can do it also,” says Andrus Oks of Terra Venture Partners, an investment fund in Tallinn. And when Microsoft bought Skype in 2011 for $8.5 billion, ex-Skypers plowed money into new startups in Tallinn, further attracting U.S. investments. Skype’s founding developers, including Starship’s Heinla, also launched a venture capital fund, called Ambient Sound. “The Skype effect has been enormous,” says Heinla, who started Starship with Skype cofounder Janus Friis; major investors include Daimler A.G., as well as Silicon Valley firms Shasta Ventures and Matrix Partners. Click to enlarge. Now, if you order Chinese takeout through platforms DoorDash or Postmates in Redwood City, Calif., or Washington, D.C., your food might arrive as a Starship test run, with a ping on your mobile phone letting you know your delivery robot is at the door. Starship is also doing test deliveries in Bern, Switzerland, and London, and Domino’s Pizza plans to test some deliveries by Starship soon in Hamburg. The Skype effect does not end there. In 2011, Skype’s first employee, Taavet Hinrikus, cofounded TransferWise, an online money-transfer company, which now occupies four floors of a Tallinn building and handles about $1 billion a month in exchanges around the world. Investors include Andreessen Horowitz and Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures. A worker scoots through the headquarters of TransferWise, an Estonian online money-transfer company co-founded by Skype’s first employee. TransferWise handles about $1 billion a month in exchanges and its investors include Andreessen Horowitz.Photograph by Piotr Malecki-Panos Pictures for Fortune With hindsight, it seems inevitable that Russia would sooner or later collide with its pint-size former territory, which, aside from becoming a major tech hub, had rushed to join both NATO and the EU after the Soviet collapse. Russia’s payback finally came in 2007-and it would markedly change Estonia. It happened when Estonia’s government decided to move a World War II memorial statue of a Soviet soldier from central Tallinn to a nearby war cemetery. Pro-Russian demonstrators burned barricades and looted stores in days of rioting. Then Estonia’s banks, its Parliament, and several public services suddenly went off-line, in one of the biggest-ever distributed denial-of-service attacks to hit a country. The 2007 cyberattack still haunts Estonia. “We were already really, really dependent on online. We had no paper originals for a lot of things,” says Guardtime’s Ruubel. Estonia believes Russia was behind the attack. Shortly after, the only NATO-accredited cyberdefense center opened in Tallinn. And this year Estonia will open the world’s first “data embassy” in Luxembourg-a storage building to house an entire backup of Estonia’s data that will enjoy the same sovereign rights as a regular embassy but be able to reboot the country remotely, in case of another attack. “It was quite clear after 2007 that we knew how to fight against external attacks,” Ruubel says. “The worry was, What if there was an attack from inside the system, with someone tampering with the data?” Street art on an office building in a Soviet-era industrial section of Tallinn.Photograph by Piotr Malecki-Panos Pictures for Fortune The answer to that concern came in the form of the technology that now underpins crucial parts of Estonia’s system, as well as some of its most successful startups, and that, in the years ahead, could help power the country’s future growth: the blockchain. Essentially a distributed database, a blockchain-the system that also underpins the cryptocurrency Bitcoin-serves as a public ledger that can never be erased or rewritten. The technology allows Estonia’s engineers to strengthen its encrypted data and lets Estonians verify at any time that their information has not been tampered with. Estonians are also required to use two-step verification for many online tasks. These and other security measures, say Estonians, make their system as close to unbreakable as possible. (The U.S. State Department said last year that cybercrime “does not represent a major threat” in Estonia.) They contrast it, for example, to Edward Snowden’s hacking into the NSA, which he continued over 18 months. “No Snowden can crack this system,” boasts President Kaljulaid. Outside the country, however, there are some doubts as to whether the Estonians’ technology is as secure as they claim. In 2014-seven years after the suspected Russian hack-engineers at the University of Michigan studied Estonia’s online-voting system and concluded that determined hackers-such as Russian operatives-could feasibly penetrate it, creating fake votes or altering the totals in order to rig elections “quite possibly without a trace,” they wrote in their report. “Estonia’s system places extreme trust in election servers and voters’ computers-all easy targets for a foreign power,” they said. Estonia disputed the claims, saying that it had worked flawlessly in six elections and that it had “a level of security greater than was possible with paper ballots.” To Estonians, the potential of extreme-digital systems for both governments and businesses is dizzying-and with the blockchain, it has only just begun. Guardtime, which has 150 employees and estimates about $23 million in revenues in 2015, is now among the world’s biggest blockchain companies, with clients around the world, including Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Department of Defense. Funderbeam uses so-called colored coin technology, based on the public Bitcoin blockchain, to keep track of transactions and investments. That eliminates the need for brokers and clearing agents. Children in a coding class in an elementary school in Tallinn.Photograph by Piotr Malecki-Panos Pictures for Fortune Ruusalepp, whose early backers at Funderbeam included the Silicon Valley venture capital investor Tim Draper, says she regularly hears Americans argue that paper records are more secure. Estonians, by contrast, would be aghast to have their medical records in paper folders in doctors’ offices, she says. “You can never see who has looked at your data,” she says. “Blockchain solves the issue of trust.” Those who created Estonia’s system say they believe the arguments raging in the U.S. over data privacy are largely misplaced. The focus should instead be to give people control over who accesses their data, by using blockchain technology. “The real issue is data integrity,” says Toomas Hendrik Ilves, an Estonian-American from Leonia, N.J., who served as Estonia’s President from 2006 until last November, and is now a senior fellow at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation and sits on the World Economic Council’s Future of Blockchain group. He says it could take many years for the U.S.’s sprawling agencies to create an Estonian-type blockchain architecture. “I’m smack in the middle of Silicon Valley, at Stanford, and the amount of creativity is amazing,” Ilves says. “But the public sector is lagging way, way, way behind.” Having built perhaps the world’s most seamless digital system, Estonia still faces a major limitation: its size. With just 1.3 million Estonians, it runs like a well-oiled machine. But engineers claim there is vast spare capacity. Built right, the system could work with huge numbers. (The U.S. could in theory reengineer its databases from scratch, say Estonian technologists, and serve 300 million Americans just as well.) To more fully leverage its technological advantage and boost economic growth, Estonia needs more market participants. Taavi Kotka, a software engineer and entrepreneur, dreamed up the concept of virtual “e-residency' after becoming the Estonian government’s chief information officer in 2013.Photograph by Piotr Malecki-Panos Pictures for Fortune Since Estonia had little means for attracting masses of immigrants to its icy Northern European landscape, it came up with a quirky idea-another of its firsts in the world: offering people virtual residency. Taavi Kotka, 38, a software engineer and entrepreneur, dreamed up the concept after becoming the government’s chief information officer in 2013. Kotka wrote a policy paper arguing that the population needed to grow fast, and proposed a target of 10 million people by 2025. Since Estonian women were not about to have 10 babies each, the alternative was to figure out what kind of product the country could offer to the rest of the world. Somewhat like Delaware-based corporations in the U.S., e-residents of Estonia can now run their European operations remotely and do business in euros. “We want to be the office for micro and small companies, because that is basically what our country is,” say Kotka, who now works as a consultant to Estonian startups. “You cannot grow without customers.” Estonia’s first e-residency cards rolled out in December 2014. The microchips inside them are identical to Estonians’ digital ID cards but come without citizens’ rights, like voting or public pensions, and there is no obligation to pay taxes in Estonia. This is no tax haven: Estonia requires that e-residents pay their taxes to whatever country they owe them. But for a fee of 145 euros (about $154) e-residents can register companies in Estonia, no matter where they live, gaining automatic access to the EU’s giant common market-about 440 million once Britain leaves the union. Of about 18,000 e-residents so far, about 1,400 have formed companies in Estonia. On average, each of those companies spends roughly 55 euros (about $58) a month on accounting and office administration in Estonia. Click to enlarge. This year the government doubled its budget for the program and intends on doubling it again in 2018, saying it’s determined to ramp up e-residency numbers quickly. As numbers grow, so too will the business services Estonia offers. Officials have traveled to Tallinn from around the world to examine how to start their own e-residency programs. Kaspar Korjus, managing director of the e-residency program, says his office hosts about 500 delegations a year. “So far the only revenue model for countries is taxes,” he says. “But if we get 10 million e-residents paying $100 a month each, maybe we would not need taxes.” The possibilities do not end there. With its government running on the blockchain, Estonia could in theory begin marketing other inventions as they unfold-creating huge new business. Rõivas, the former Prime Minister, says Estonia is working on developing “precision medicine” that would tap into the genome data of its 1.3 million citizens in order to better diagnose illnesses, treat people, and design personalized drugs. “We can use blockchain to make sure that the data exchanged is able to be traced,” he says. It’s possible to imagine Estonia’s idea becoming a multibillion-dollar business in the years ahead-turning the whole view of government as a bureaucracy offering public services into an entity generating profits. The capital of Estonia is Tallinn, a picturesque city of 400,000 whose winding medieval alleyways offer an elegant contrast to its digital present.Photograph by Piotr Malecki-Panos Pictures for Fortune Perhaps only a place that started over from scratch in 1991 could reimagine the idea of a country. As I watch the Starship robots maneuver across the company’s office in Tallinn, CEO Heinla says he believes Estonians, after decades of living under Soviet rule, were uniquely suited to creating new ways of doing things, including how to run a government. “People grow up and see an establishment they cannot break into,” he says, so Estonians simply built something new, and more efficient. Older, more set in its ways-and more skeptical-the rest of the world has yet to catch up. Just don’t expect Estonia to wait for us. A version of this article appears in the May 1, 2017 issue of Fortune with the headline “Welcome to Tomorrow Land.” This article was originally published on FORTUNE.com || Is This Tiny European Nation a Preview of Our Tech Future?: On a Spring afternoon, I’m gazing out the window of an office building on the outskirts of Estonia’s capital, Tallinn, watching people stroll below, when a cream-colored plastic container mounted on black wheels rounds the corner and begins maneuvering its way among the pedestrians. The device looks like a kid’s toy. But in reality it’s a high-tech delivery robot called Starship and potentially the next mega-profitable invention to spring from this snowy, miniature country on the northern edge of Europe-one of the more unexpected launching pads on the planet. “If you look at sci-fi movies set 20 years from now, you don’t see people carrying their groceries. Robots just arrive at their homes,” says Ahti Heinla, cofounder and CEO of Starship Technologies. Reality, he says, has caught up to sci-fi. “About two years ago we realized it was possible to create this part of the future right now.”
For a snapshot of how we might all be living tomorrow, there are few better places to visit than this picturesque city of 400,000, whose winding medieval alleyways offer an elegant contrast to its digital present. Creating the future now, as Heinla puts it, is Estonia’s driving project, and increasingly it is its core business too.
Most Americans or even Europeans would be unable to find this pinprick on a map, squeezed between its small Baltic Sea neighbor Latvia and mammoth Russia. Its population, just 1.3 million, is about the same as Dallas or the Bronx borough of New York City. But its modest size and remoteness belies its clout. It is here that a group of friends, including Heinla, invented the hugely popular Internet calling platform Skype.
Given Estonia’s history, the invention of Skype in this country was ironic. While Americans were buying their first cell phones, about a quarter-century ago, Estonians were shut off from the world as an outpost of the Soviet Union. You could easily wait 10 years to be assigned a landline phone. By the time the Soviet Union imploded in 1991, the country was in a time warp. “We did not have anything,” says Gen. Riho Terras, the commander of Estonia’s armed forces, who had been a student activist at the time. The country had to reboot from zero. Terras says each citizen was given the equivalent of 10 euros, or $10.60. “That was it,” he says, laughing. “We started from 10 euros each.”
One generation on, Estonia is a time warp of another kind: a fast-forward example of extreme digital living. For the rest of us, Estonia offers a glimpse into what happens when a country abandons old analog systems and opts to run completely online instead. That notion is not fanciful. In various forms, governments across the world, including those in Singapore, Japan, and India, are trying to determine how dramatically they can transform themselves into digital entities in order to cut budgets and streamline services (and for some, keep closer tabs on citizens). Estonia claims its online systems add 2% a year to its GDP.
The moment I land in Tallinn, my phone pings with the city’s free Wi-Fi network, which rolled out more than 15 years ago. But the extreme-digital life of regular Estonians is far less visible. At birth, every person is assigned a unique string of 11 digits, a digital identifier that from then on is key to operating almost every aspect of that person’s life-the 21st-century version of a Social Security number. The all-digital habits begin young: Estonian children learn computer programming at school, many beginning in kindergarten.
In 2000, Estonia became the first country in the world to declare Internet access a basic human right-much like food and shelter. That same year it passed a law giving digital signatures equal weight to handwritten ones. That single move created an entire paperless system. Since no one was required to sign with a pen, there was no need for paper documents to pay taxes, open a bank account, obtain a mortgage, pick up a prescription, or perform most of life’s other tasks, other than marrying and divorcing. “I established my company in about 20 minutes, without going anywhere,” says Kaidi Ruusalepp, 41, CEO of Funderbeam, an investment trading platform for early-stage, non-IPO startups, which she founded in 2013. “We never visited the tax board, the Social Security agency, anything,” she says. “Everything is online.”
So, too, are Estonians’ taxes. Almost all Estonians file taxes online-within minutes. Since public registries are all linked in one system, Estonians can log in to prefilled tax declarations showing their income, property, number of children, and so on. They make necessary tweaks and hit the send button. (Outside the U.S., this type of approach is increasingly common.) Last year thenPrime Minister Taavi Rõivas earned loud cheers onThe Daily Showwhen he described to host Trevor Noah how he had filed his taxes on his iPad during a few idle minutes in the Luxembourg Airport.
When I visit Rõivas, 37, in his office in the Estonian Parliament, it’s weirdly devoid of paper. He says during nearly three years as Prime Minister the only time he signed his name in ink was in ceremonial guest books. Theoretically, he says, the government could issue an online order to send troops into battle. “I never signed any law physically,” he says. “Never.”
Estonians were also first to be able to vote online in elections, back in 2005. When I ask Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid where she voted in last November’s elections, which brought her to power, she responds as if my question is dumb: “From my computer at home.” Kaljulaid was speaking to me while we were on a boat to Tallinn from Helsinki, in neighboring Finland, where she had just signed a deal allowing the countries to recognize each other’s digital ID cards. Now, for example, Finns and Estonians can visit doctors in the other country and automatically call up their medical records-all stored online. “We have been using digital identifiers for 17 years,” she says. “People have learned to trust the system.”
Estonians might take all this tech wizardry for granted now, but the country was on its knees economically after the Soviet collapse. It had one huge advantage: It was starting from scratch. “People were paid in cash,” says Martin Ruubel, 41, president of Guardtime, a 10-year-old software security company that developed the country’s blockchain system (more on that in a moment), sitting in his Tallinn office on the grounds of a converted former military barrack. Since no Estonian had ever had a checkbook, once the Soviets were gone the country simply skipped past pen and paper and issued bank cards. It was a money saver, but had another benefit: It pushed Estonians to get online fast.
Scrambling to piece together a country, the new leaders, young and inexperienced, also rapidly privatized the telecom industry. “It was highly successful,” says Mart Laar, 57, who became the first post-Soviet Prime Minister, at age 32, and is now chairman of the board of supervisors for the Bank of Estonia. Since so few people had even landline phones, many simply bought mobile handsets instead. Laar, a historian, says he knew nothing about computers but believed they needed to start with the latest technology. When Finland offered to donate its analog telephone exchange to its poorer neighbor for free, Estonia turned it down.
The government recruited Ruusalepp, now Funderbeam’s CEO, as the new country’s first IT lawyer when she was just 20 and still a student. “I had no law degree and no understanding of technology,” she says. Her first task was to create a law for digital signatures, years ahead of many countries. “We wanted to change the country. We had brains, and we just had to shoot,” she says.
Those early decisions set the stage for today’s thriving tech scene in Estonia. Skype, founded in Tallinn in 2003, spawned a generation of techies and would-be entrepreneurs. “People thought, If Estonian guys could do something like Skype, I can do it also,” says Andrus Oks of Terra Venture Partners, an investment fund in Tallinn. And whenMicrosoftbought Skype in 2011 for $8.5 billion, ex-Skypers plowed money into new startups in Tallinn, further attracting U.S. investments. Skype’s founding developers, including Starship’s Heinla, also launched a venture capital fund, called Ambient Sound. “The Skype effect has been enormous,” says Heinla, who started Starship with Skype cofounder Janus Friis; major investors include Daimler A.G., as well as Silicon Valley firms Shasta Ventures and Matrix Partners.
Now, if you order Chinese takeout through platforms DoorDash or Postmates in Redwood City, Calif., or Washington, D.C., your food might arrive as a Starship test run, with a ping on your mobile phone letting you know your delivery robot is at the door. Starship is also doing test deliveries in Bern, Switzerland, and London, and Domino’s Pizza plans to test some deliveries by Starship soon in Hamburg.
The Skype effect does not end there. In 2011, Skype’s first employee, Taavet Hinrikus, cofounded TransferWise, an online money-transfer company, which now occupies four floors of a Tallinn building and handles about $1 billion a month in exchanges around the world. Investors include Andreessen Horowitz and Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures.
With hindsight, it seems inevitable that Russia would sooner or later collide with its pint-size former territory, which, aside from becoming a major tech hub, had rushed to join both NATO and the EU after the Soviet collapse.
Russia’s payback finally came in 2007-and it would markedly change Estonia. It happened when Estonia’s government decided to move a World War II memorial statue of a Soviet soldier from central Tallinn to a nearby war cemetery. Pro-Russian demonstrators burned barricades and looted stores in days of rioting. Then Estonia’s banks, its Parliament, and several public services suddenly went off-line, in one of the biggest-ever distributed denial-of-service attacks to hit a country. The 2007 cyberattack still haunts Estonia. “We were already really, really dependent on online. We had no paper originals for a lot of things,” says Guardtime’s Ruubel. Estonia believes Russia was behind the attack.
Shortly after, the only NATO-accredited cyberdefense center opened in Tallinn. And this year Estonia will open the world’s first “data embassy” in Luxembourg-a storage building to house an entire backup of Estonia’s data that will enjoy the same sovereign rights as a regular embassy but be able to reboot the country remotely, in case of another attack. “It was quite clear after 2007 that we knew how to fight against external attacks,” Ruubel says. “The worry was, What if there was an attack from inside the system, with someone tampering with the data?”
The answer to that concern came in the form of the technology that now underpins crucial parts of Estonia’s system, as well as some of its most successful startups, and that, in the years ahead, could help power the country’s future growth: the blockchain.
Essentially a distributed database, a blockchain-the system that also underpins the cryptocurrency Bitcoin-serves as a public ledger that can never be erased or rewritten. The technology allows Estonia’s engineers to strengthen its encrypted data and lets Estonians verify at any time that their information has not been tampered with. Estonians are also required to use two-step verification for many online tasks. These and other security measures, say Estonians, make their system as close to unbreakable as possible. (The U.S. State Department said last year that cybercrime “does not represent a major threat” in Estonia.) They contrast it, for example, to Edward Snowden’s hacking into the NSA, which he continued over 18 months. “No Snowden can crack this system,” boasts President Kaljulaid.
Outside the country, however, there are some doubts as to whether the Estonians’ technology is as secure as they claim. In 2014-seven years after the suspected Russian hack-engineers at the University of Michigan studied Estonia’s online-voting system and concluded that determined hackers-such as Russian operatives-could feasibly penetrate it, creating fake votes or altering the totals in order to rig elections “quite possibly without a trace,” they wrote in their report. “Estonia’s system places extreme trust in election servers and voters’ computers-all easy targets for a foreign power,” they said. Estonia disputed the claims, saying that it had worked flawlessly in six elections and that it had “a level of security greater than was possible with paper ballots.”
To Estonians, the potential of extreme-digital systems for both governments and businesses is dizzying-and with the blockchain, it has only just begun. Guardtime, which has 150 employees and estimates about $23 million in revenues in 2015, is now among the world’s biggest blockchain companies, with clients around the world, includingLockheed Martinand the U.S. Department of Defense. Funderbeam uses so-called colored coin technology, based on the public Bitcoin blockchain, to keep track of transactions and investments. That eliminates the need for brokers and clearing agents.
Ruusalepp, whose early backers at Funderbeam included the Silicon Valley venture capital investor Tim Draper, says she regularly hears Americans argue that paper records are more secure. Estonians, by contrast, would be aghast to have their medical records in paper folders in doctors’ offices, she says. “You can never see who has looked at your data,” she says. “Blockchain solves the issue of trust.”
Those who created Estonia’s system say they believe the arguments raging in the U.S. over data privacy are largely misplaced. The focus should instead be to give people control over who accesses their data, by using blockchain technology. “The real issue is data integrity,” says Toomas Hendrik Ilves, an Estonian-American from Leonia, N.J., who served as Estonia’s President from 2006 until last November, and is now a senior fellow at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation and sits on the World Economic Council’s Future of Blockchain group. He says it could take many years for the U.S.’s sprawling agencies to create an Estonian-type blockchain architecture. “I’m smack in the middle of Silicon Valley, at Stanford, and the amount of creativity is amazing,” Ilves says. “But the public sector is lagging way, way, way behind.”
Having built perhaps the world’s most seamless digital system, Estonia still faces a major limitation: its size. With just 1.3 million Estonians, it runs like a well-oiled machine. But engineers claim there is vast spare capacity. Built right, the system could work with huge numbers. (The U.S. could in theory reengineer its databases from scratch, say Estonian technologists, and serve 300 million Americans just as well.) To more fully leverage its technological advantage and boost economic growth, Estonia needs more market participants.
Since Estonia had little means for attracting masses of immigrants to its icy Northern European landscape, it came up with a quirky idea-another of its firsts in the world: offering people virtual residency. Taavi Kotka, 38, a software engineer and entrepreneur, dreamed up the concept after becoming the government’s chief information officer in 2013. Kotka wrote a policy paper arguing that the population needed to grow fast, and proposed a target of 10 million people by 2025. Since Estonian women were not about to have 10 babies each, the alternative was to figure out what kind of product the country could offer to the rest of the world. Somewhat like Delaware-based corporations in the U.S., e-residents of Estonia can now run their European operations remotely and do business in euros. “We want to be the office for micro and small companies, because that is basically what our country is,” say Kotka, who now works as a consultant to Estonian startups. “You cannot grow without customers.”
Estonia’s first e-residency cards rolled out in December 2014. The microchips inside them are identical to Estonians’ digital ID cards but come without citizens’ rights, like voting or public pensions, and there is no obligation to pay taxes in Estonia. This is no tax haven: Estonia requires that e-residents pay their taxes to whatever country they owe them. But for a fee of 145 euros (about $154) e-residents can register companies in Estonia, no matter where they live, gaining automatic access to the EU’s giant common market-about 440 million once Britain leaves the union. Of about 18,000 e-residents so far, about 1,400 have formed companies in Estonia. On average, each of those companies spends roughly 55 euros (about $58) a month on accounting and office administration in Estonia.
This year the government doubled its budget for the program and intends on doubling it again in 2018, saying it’s determined to ramp up e-residency numbers quickly. As numbers grow, so too will the business services Estonia offers. Officials have traveled to Tallinn from around the world to examine how to start their own e-residency programs. Kaspar Korjus, managing director of the e-residency program, says his office hosts about 500 delegations a year. “So far the only revenue model for countries is taxes,” he says. “But if we get 10 million e-residents paying $100 a month each, maybe we would not need taxes.”
The possibilities do not end there. With its government running on the blockchain, Estonia could in theory begin marketing other inventions as they unfold-creating huge new business. Rõivas, the former Prime Minister, says Estonia is working on developing “precision medicine” that would tap into the genome data of its 1.3 million citizens in order to better diagnose illnesses, treat people, and design personalized drugs. “We can use blockchain to make sure that the data exchanged is able to be traced,” he says.
It’s possible to imagine Estonia’s idea becoming a multibillion-dollar business in the years ahead-turning the whole view of government as a bureaucracy offering public services into an entity generating profits.
Perhaps only a place that started over from scratch in 1991 could reimagine the idea of a country. As I watch the Starship robots maneuver across the company’s office in Tallinn, CEO Heinla says he believes Estonians, after decades of living under Soviet rule, were uniquely suited to creating new ways of doing things, including how to run a government. “People grow up and see an establishment they cannot break into,” he says, so Estonians simply built something new, and more efficient. Older, more set in its ways-and more skeptical-the rest of the world has yet to catch up. Just don’t expect Estonia to wait for us.
A version of this article appears in the May 1, 2017 issue of Fortune with the headline “Welcome to Tomorrow Land.”
This article was originally published on FORTUNE.com || 10 things you need to know before the opening bell: (Volunteers, members of a primary care response team, huddle together during clashes with security forces at a rally against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela.Reuters/Carlos Garcia Rawlins)Trump's tax plan is out.
Key details from the plan include lowering the corporate tax rate to 15% and reducing the number of personal income tax brackets from seven to three with rates of 35%, 25%, and 10%, respectively.
Trump won't 'terminate' NAFTA.A statement from the White House said President Donald Trump told the leaders of Mexico and Canada that he won't "terminate" NAFTA, but that he is looking to renegotiate the trade deal, Reuters says.
The Bank of Japan cuts its inflation forecast.The BOJ kept policy on hold, but said it sees inflation of 1.4% in 2017, down from its previous estimate of 1.5% and below its 2% target. The Japanese yen is weaker by 0.3% at 111.35 per dollar.
The ECB meets.The European Central Bank is expected to keep policy on hold as the second round of France's presidential election looms on May 7. Traders will be on the lookout for any clues as to when the central bank might taper its bond-buying program. Ahead of the decision, the euro is little changed at 1.0895 against the dollar.
Bitcoin is threatening all-time highs.The cryptocurrency trades up 0.9% at $1306 a coin, holding just below its all-time high of $1327.19, which was set on March 10, the day the US Securities and Exchange Commission rejected the Winklevoss ETF.
Samsung posts its best quarterly profit in 3 years.The electronics giant shrugged off the Galaxy Note 7 debacle and posted an operating profit of9.9 trillion won ($8.75 billion), its best in more than 3 years, Reuters says.
Weight Watchers has a new CEO.Mindy Grossman, current chief executive of HSN, has been named CEO, Reuters says. Shares of Weight Watchers spiked as much as 13% in after-hours trade on Wednesday following the announcement.
Stock markets around the world are mixed.Hong Kong's Hang Seng (+0.5%) paced the gains in Asia and Britain's FTSE (-0.6%) lags in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open down 0.1% at 2,385.
Earnings reporting is heavy.American Air, Domino's Pizza, Ford, and UPS are among the companies reporting ahead of the opening bell while Alphabet, Amazon, and GoPro highlight the names releasing their quarterly results after markets close.
US economic data is moderate.Durable orders and initial claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET before pending home sales crosses the wires at 10 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is little changed at 2.30%.
NOW WATCH:People are outraged by a Pepsi ad starring Kendall Jenner — here's how the company responded
More From Business Insider
• UNVEILED: TRUMP'S TAX PLAN
• ESPN is laying off 100 employees, including some of its biggest names
• A coffee expert shares the 6 things every coffee drinker should have || 10 things you need to know before the opening bell: Venezuela protests (Volunteers, members of a primary care response team, huddle together during clashes with security forces at a rally against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela.Reuters/Carlos Garcia Rawlins) Trump's tax plan is out. Key details from the plan include lowering the corporate tax rate to 15% and reducing the number of personal income tax brackets from seven to three with rates of 35%, 25%, and 10%, respectively. Trump won't 'terminate' NAFTA . A statement from the White House said President Donald Trump told the leaders of Mexico and Canada that he won't "terminate" NAFTA, but that he is looking to renegotiate the trade deal, Reuters says. The Bank of Japan cuts its inflation forecast . The BOJ kept policy on hold, but said it sees inflation of 1.4% in 2017, down from its previous estimate of 1.5% and below its 2% target. The Japanese yen is weaker by 0.3% at 111.35 per dollar. The ECB meets. The European Central Bank is expected to keep policy on hold as the second round of France's presidential election looms on May 7. Traders will be on the lookout for any clues as to when the central bank might taper its bond-buying program. Ahead of the decision, the euro is little changed at 1.0895 against the dollar. Bitcoin is threatening all-time highs. The cryptocurrency trades up 0.9% at $1306 a coin, holding just below its all-time high of $1327.19, which was set on March 10, the day the US Securities and Exchange Commission rejected the Winklevoss ETF. Samsung posts its best quarterly profit in 3 years . The electronics giant shrugged off the Galaxy Note 7 debacle and posted an operating profit of 9.9 trillion won ($8.75 billion), its best in more than 3 years, Reuters says. Weight Watchers has a new CEO . Mindy Grossman, current chief executive of HSN, has been named CEO, Reuters says. Shares of Weight Watchers spiked as much as 13% in after-hours trade on Wednesday following the announcement. Stock markets around the world are mixed . Hong Kong's Hang Seng (+0.5%) paced the gains in Asia and Britain's FTSE (-0.6%) lags in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open down 0.1% at 2,385. Story continues Earnings reporting is heavy. American Air, Domino's Pizza, Ford, and UPS are among the companies reporting ahead of the opening bell while Alphabet, Amazon, and GoPro highlight the names releasing their quarterly results after markets close. US economic data is moderate. Durable orders and initial claims will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET before pending home sales crosses the wires at 10 a.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is little changed at 2.30%. NOW WATCH: People are outraged by a Pepsi ad starring Kendall Jenner — here's how the company responded More From Business Insider UNVEILED: TRUMP'S TAX PLAN ESPN is laying off 100 employees, including some of its biggest names A coffee expert shares the 6 things every coffee drinker should have || More than 75 banks are now on Ripple's blockchain network: The concept of ablockchainoriginated in 2009 with the digital currency bitcoin, but now Wall Street institutions are interested in blockchain technology without bitcoin.
RippleNet is a blockchain-like protocol for faster settlement of international payments. It launched in 2012 butits concept predates bitcoin.And it has added 75 banking clients already.
Ripple Labs announced on Wednesday it has signed 10 new banks from all over the world, including BBVA in Spain; MUFG in Japan; Akbank in Turkey; SEB in Sweden; and Axis Bank and Yes Bank, both in India. Add those 10 to the 47-bank consortium in Japan that implementedRipple in March. And add those 57 to existing big-name clients like Bank of America, RBC, Standard Chartered and UBS, and RippleNet starts to look like it’s gaining traction very quickly.
“Our pace [of signing new clients] has dramatically increased,” says Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse. “I also think people are getting more comfortable with blockchain technologies. It’s no longer a science experiment. It’s not theory, it’s very real.”
Thebitcoin blockchain is a decentralized, public, permissionless ledgerthat records every transaction and trade done in bitcoin. But now all manner of companies, from “blockchain as a service” startups like Rippleand Chainto established tech giants like IBM, are developing all manner of distributed ledgers forareas like food shipment tracking, smart contracts, and agriculture.
In many cases these applications of blockchain are closed and permissioned, which is a very different proposition than the spirit of the anonymized, open-to-all bitcoin blockchain. In banking, for now, the main appeal is toimprove the efficiency of their transaction processing.
Ripple’s value proposition to banking clients is cheaper rates and faster transfer times for international payments. The bank’s customers don’t have to know or care that they’re using Ripple (it isn’t like you’d tell your bank, “I want to send this money using Ripple”), but would certainly notice the faster transaction time than they’re used to.
Garlinghouse gives the pitch to banks this way: “If your customer wants to send yen to Japan, you are captive to the correspondent banking network and your customer has a bad experience and you, as a bank, have to endure cost to transmit that money.”
Ripple’s Consensus Ledger can process 1,000 transactions per second, and settles an international payment in three seconds on average. (He compares that to the bitcoin blockchain, which has slowed recently to two hours per transaction, creating a debate over block size; to be fair, both speeds are much faster than sending money with a traditional clearinghouse like Western Union.)
Ripple can also be used for in-country payments; many of the banks in Japan are using Ripple for domestic payments due to the sluggishness of the local payments network there. But for the most part, Ripple is focusing on cross-border payments because that’s the biggest pain point for banks and banking customers.
Santander added a function to its mobile app that lets customerssend money abroad over the Ripple network.While Ripple is hardly the only blockchain-for-banking startup out there, Garlinghouse boasts, “We are the only company in the space with real customers.” Competitors, Garlinghouse says, “are still playing in the sandbox. And proof of concepts are not a business model.”
That’s tough talk, and true only to an extent. Chain has partnered with heavy-hitters like Visa, Citi, and Nasdaq, but for now the results have been experiments, trial runs,or “previews” like Visa B2B Connect.
All the experimentation has led critics to say that the Wall Street interest in blockchain is all just talk, or as IBM blockchain exec Jerry Cuomo puts it, “blockchain tourism.” Ripple CTO Stefan Thomas acknowledges that the term itself has become a “classic technology buzzword.”
But Garlinghouse is confident that distributed ledger technology and its many applications will bring about the “Internet of value.” Many have applied that phrase to bitcoin (causing some contention over who owns the phrase), but Garlinghouse says it hasn’t lived up to that promise.
“We feel like to enable an Internet of value, you have to connect through repositories of value, and those are the banks,” he says. “Where many in the bitcoin community have espoused a view of, ‘Down with the banks, down with fiat currency,’ Ripple has taken the opposite: we think the banks are critical to the future of an Internet of value.”
Bitcoin has risen 178% in value in the past year(it’s now around $1,300), but critics now doubt that the coin can become more than a speculative investment.
“We might end up finding that bitcoin is the Napster of digital assets,” Garlinghouse says. “Napster lived in a world devoid of trademark law, and royalties, andtried to live outside of the rules, and you could say the same about bitcoin. I’m not predicting that bitcoin will go the way of Napster, but I would point out that bitcoin has demonstrated some very cool capabilities that, in the end, bitcoin may not be the best tool for.”
Ripple has its own digital token, XRP, and it is often billed by tech press as a bitcoin competitor, but that’s not quite right. Ripple uses it as a settlement token, and banking clients don’t have to use it or touch it at all. It is more of an institutional digital asset than a public investment vehicle like bitcoin, though anyone could buy some XRP if they wish. (Its value has risen 345% in the past year, but in dollars it is worth just 3 cents; again, its trading price is not the point.)
Ripple’s XRP coin is “about reducing the cost for banks to fund liquidity around the world,” says Garlinghouse. That can double as a statement of Ripple’s purpose, too. And if its banking clients, over time, decide that Ripple’s rail has reduced friction and made customers happier, expect Ripple to continue adding banks and financial clients, who are itching to show their innovativeness by saying they’re in the blockchain tech space.
—
Daniel Roberts covers bitcoin and blockchain tech at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter at@readDanwrite.
Read more:
America’s big banks are staffing up—for blockchain
Why 21 Inc is the most exciting bitcoin company right now
Coinbase is more bullish on bitcoin than ever
How big banks are paying lip service to the blockchain
Bitcoin’s biggest investor just bought its biggest news site || Ripple has attracted more than 75 banks: The concept of a blockchain originated in 2009 with the digital currency bitcoin, but now Wall Street institutions are interested in blockchain technology without bitcoin. RippleNet is a blockchain-like protocol for faster settlement of international payments. It launched in 2012 but its concept predates bitcoin. And it has added 75 banking clients already. Ripple Labs announced on Wednesday it has signed 10 new banks from all over the world, including BBVA in Spain; MUFG in Japan; Akbank in Turkey; SEB in Sweden; and Axis Bank and Yes Bank, both in India. Add those 10 to the 47-bank consortium in Japan that implemented Ripple in March. And add those 57 to existing big-name clients like Bank of America, RBC, Standard Chartered and UBS, and RippleNet starts to look like it’s gaining traction very quickly. “Our pace [of signing new clients] has dramatically increased,” says Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse. “I also think people are getting more comfortable with blockchain technologies. It’s no longer a science experiment. It’s not theory, it’s very real.” The bitcoin blockchain is a decentralized, public, permissionless ledger that records every transaction and trade done in bitcoin. But now all manner of companies, from “blockchain as a service” startups like Ripple and Chain to established tech giants like IBM, are developing all manner of distributed ledgers for areas like food shipment tracking , smart contracts, and agriculture. In many cases these applications of blockchain are closed and permissioned, which is a very different proposition than the spirit of the anonymized, open-to-all bitcoin blockchain. In banking, for now, the main appeal is to improve the efficiency of their transaction processing . From the Ripple web site Why banks are gravitating to Ripple Ripple’s value proposition to banking clients is cheaper rates and faster transfer times for international payments. The bank’s customers don’t have to know or care that they’re using Ripple (it isn’t like you’d tell your bank, “I want to send this money using Ripple”), but would certainly notice the faster transaction time than they’re used to. Garlinghouse gives the pitch to banks this way: “If your customer wants to send yen to Japan, you are captive to the correspondent banking network and your customer has a bad experience and you, as a bank, have to endure cost to transmit that money.” Ripple’s Consensus Ledger can process 1,000 transactions per second, and settles an international payment in three seconds on average. (He compares that to the bitcoin blockchain, which has slowed recently to two hours per transaction, creating a debate over block size; to be fair, both speeds are much faster than sending money with a traditional clearinghouse like Western Union.) Story continues Ripple can also be used for in-country payments; many of the banks in Japan are using Ripple for domestic payments due to the sluggishness of the local payments network there. But for the most part, Ripple is focusing on cross-border payments because that’s the biggest pain point for banks and banking customers. Santander added a function to its mobile app that lets customers send money abroad over the Ripple network . While Ripple is hardly the only blockchain-for-banking startup out there, Garlinghouse boasts, “We are the only company in the space with real customers.” Competitors, Garlinghouse says, “are still playing in the sandbox. And proof of concepts are not a business model.” That’s tough talk, and true only to an extent. Chain has partnered with heavy-hitters like Visa, Citi, and Nasdaq, but for now the results have been experiments, trial runs, or “previews” like Visa B2B Connect . All the experimentation has led critics to say that the Wall Street interest in blockchain is all just talk, or as IBM blockchain exec Jerry Cuomo puts it, “ blockchain tourism .” Ripple CTO Stefan Thomas acknowledges that the term itself has become a “classic technology buzzword.” But Garlinghouse is confident that distributed ledger technology and its many applications will bring about the “Internet of value.” Many have applied that phrase to bitcoin ( causing some contention over who owns the phrase ), but Garlinghouse says it hasn’t lived up to that promise. “We feel like to enable an Internet of value, you have to connect through repositories of value, and those are the banks,” he says. “Where many in the bitcoin community have espoused a view of, ‘Down with the banks, down with fiat currency,’ Ripple has taken the opposite: we think the banks are critical to the future of an Internet of value.” What about bitcoin? Bitcoin has risen 178% in value in the past year (it’s now around $1,300), but critics now doubt that the coin can become more than a speculative investment. “We might end up finding that bitcoin is the Napster of digital assets,” Garlinghouse says. “Napster lived in a world devoid of trademark law, and royalties, and tried to live outside of the rules , and you could say the same about bitcoin. I’m not predicting that bitcoin will go the way of Napster, but I would point out that bitcoin has demonstrated some very cool capabilities that, in the end, bitcoin may not be the best tool for.” Ripple’s digital currency, XRP Ripple price over the past 3 months (via CoinMarketCap) Ripple has its own digital token, XRP, and it is often billed by tech press as a bitcoin competitor, but that’s not quite right. Ripple uses it as a settlement token, and banking clients don’t have to use it or touch it at all. It is more of an institutional digital asset than a public investment vehicle like bitcoin, though anyone could buy some XRP if they wish. (Its value has risen 345% in the past year, but in dollars it is worth just 3 cents; again, its trading price is not the point.) Ripple’s XRP coin is “about reducing the cost for banks to fund liquidity around the world,” says Garlinghouse. That can double as a statement of Ripple’s purpose, too. And if its banking clients, over time, decide that Ripple’s rail has reduced friction and made customers happier, expect Ripple to continue adding banks and financial clients, who are itching to show their innovativeness by saying they’re in the blockchain tech space. — Daniel Roberts covers bitcoin and blockchain tech at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter at @readDanwrite . Read more: America’s big banks are staffing up—for blockchain Why 21 Inc is the most exciting bitcoin company right now Coinbase is more bullish on bitcoin than ever How big banks are paying lip service to the blockchain Bitcoin’s biggest investor just bought its biggest news site View comments || Your first trade for Wednesday, April 26: The " Fast Money " traders shared their first moves for the market open. Tim Seymour was a buyer of the iShares MSCI Europe Financials ETF (NASDAQ: EUFN) . Brian Kelly was a buyer of Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) . Steve Grasso was a buyer of Square (NYSE: SQ) . Guy Adami was a buyer of Juno Therapeutics (NASDAQ: JUNO) . Trader disclosure: On April 25, 2017, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders: Tim Seymour is long ABX, AAPL, APC, AVP, BAC, BBRY, C, CLF, CVX, DO, DVYE, EDC, EWN, EWZ, F, FB, FCX, FXI, GM, GOOGL, GE, INTC, LQD, MOS, MCD, MUR, OIH, PG, RACE, RAI, RH, RL, SINA, SQ,T, TWTR, VALE, VZ, XOM. short: EEM, SPY, XRT; Tim's firm is long ABX, BABA, BIDU, CBD, CLF, EEM, EWZ, F, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, TCEHY, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, X, YHOO, short EWG, HYG, IWM. Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, FCX, GE, GDX, HLF, IWM, TLT, TSLA, WMT. Steve Grasso's firm is long stock AON, BX, CUBA, DIA, F, HES, ICE, KDUS, MAT, MFIN, MJNA, MSFT, NE, RIG, SNAP, SPY, SQBG, TITXF, UA, WDR, WPX, ZNGA. Grasso is long stock BABA, CHK, EEM, EVGN, GDX, KBH, MJNA, MO, MON, OLN, PHM, SQ, T, TWTR, VRX. Grasso's kids own EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY. No Shorts. Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck. More From CNBC Which stocks to buy as earnings season heats up Your first trade for Tuesday, April 25 Traders discuss strategy as US equities rally after French elections || Your first trade for Wednesday, April 26: The "Fast Money" traders shared their first moves for the market open.
Tim Seymour was a buyer of the iShares MSCI Europe Financials ETF(NASDAQ: EUFN).
Brian Kelly was a buyer of Freeport-McMoRan(NYSE: FCX).
Steve Grasso was a buyer of Square(NYSE: SQ).
Guy Adami was a buyer of Juno Therapeutics(NASDAQ: JUNO).
Trader disclosure: On April 25, 2017, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders: Tim Seymour is long ABX, AAPL, APC, AVP, BAC, BBRY, C, CLF, CVX, DO, DVYE, EDC, EWN, EWZ, F, FB, FCX, FXI, GM, GOOGL, GE, INTC, LQD, MOS, MCD, MUR, OIH, PG, RACE, RAI, RH, RL, SINA, SQ,T, TWTR, VALE, VZ, XOM. short: EEM, SPY, XRT; Tim's firm is long ABX, BABA, BIDU, CBD, CLF, EEM, EWZ, F, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, TCEHY, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, X, YHOO, short EWG, HYG, IWM. Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, FCX, GE, GDX, HLF, IWM, TLT, TSLA, WMT. Steve Grasso's firm is long stock AON, BX, CUBA, DIA, F, HES, ICE, KDUS, MAT, MFIN, MJNA, MSFT, NE, RIG, SNAP, SPY, SQBG, TITXF, UA, WDR, WPX, ZNGA. Grasso is long stock BABA, CHK, EEM, EVGN, GDX, KBH, MJNA, MO, MON, OLN, PHM, SQ, T, TWTR, VRX. Grasso's kids own EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY. No Shorts. Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
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• Your first trade for Tuesday, April 25
• Traders discuss strategy as US equities rally after French elections || Record-Breaking Performances at Flow CARIFTA Games 2017: WILLEMSTAD, CURACAO--(Marketwired - Apr 25, 2017) - Caribbean sports fans had a front row seat at the recently concludedFlow CARIFTA Games 2017as they witnessed record breaking performances by rising Caribbean star athletes via Flow's world class coverage of the Games on Flow Sports Premier.
Ten athletic records were set over the three day event including the stellar performance of hometown hero and Austin Sealy Award winner,Glenn Kunstwho established a new meet record of 4.65 metres in the boys' pole vault. Other records set at the 2017 Flow CARIFTA Games include: Jamaica'sRoje Stonain the boys Under-20 discus (66.41m),Fiona Richardsin the girls Under-20 discus (54.19m),Britany Andersonin the girls Under-18 100m hurdles (13.16 seconds),Sanique Walkerin the girls Under-18 400m (58.95 seconds),Daniel Copein the boys Under-18 shot put (18.17m) and discus (61.25m), Trinidad and Tobago'sTyrique Horsfordin the boys Under-18 javelin (76.50m) andJermaine Francisof St. Kitts & Nevis in the boys Under-20 high jump (2.22m).Jamaica's Under-18 boysdipped below the 40-second mark for the first time in CARIFTA Games history in the 4x100m relay for a new record of 39.97 seconds.
Organisers of theFlow CARIFTA Games 2017, including International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) and the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC), have described the Games as "a big win for Caribbean sports fans, and a new standard for excellence in sports broadcasting across the region." More than 500,000 viewers in the Caribbean caught over 15 hours of high-definition coverage live from the Ergilio Hato Stadion, in Willemstad, Curacao. In addition, through partnership with US sports networkEleven Sportsand online sports websiteFlotrack.org, more than 70 million households across North America had access to the Games. To reach an even wider global audience, Flow also partnered withwww.dailymotion.com, who reported that more than fourteen thousand (14K) hours of live CARIFTA games coverage was viewed via the site over the three days.
"A huge success is how the 2017 Flow CARIFTA Games will be remembered and because of Flow the world now has the chance to see the future of Caribbean athletics like they have never seen," said Victor Lopez, President of NACAC.
"It is the first time that Curacao has hosted a sporting event of this size and the organisers and broadcasters did a fantastic job. All the feedback I've received is that people are pleased with what they saw. NACAC is especially proud of the invaluable partnership with Flow and Flow Sports for the sponsorship and broadcast of the Flow CARIFTA Games throughout the Caribbean and the world."
Lord Sebastian Coe, President of the IAAF, also heaped praise on Flow for its coverage of the Games. "There is no Caribbean athlete that has graduated to the very highest level of sport that cannot look to the opportunities that the Flow CARIFTA Games has afforded them, and I want to congratulate NACAC for establishing its relationship with Flow," he said during a press conference on the opening day of the Games.
"It is very important there is now a relationship that allows the Flow CARIFTA Games to be seen not just around the region, but across the globe on a number of platforms. This is the future of our sport."
About C&W Communications
C&W is a full service communications and entertainment provider and delivers market-leading video, broadband, telephony and mobile services to consumers in 18 countries. Through its business division, C&W provides data center hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customized IT service solutions, utilizing cloud technology to serve business and government customers.
C&W also operates a state-of-the-art submarine fiber network - the most extensive in the region.
Learn more atwww.cwc.com, or follow C&W onLinkedIn,FacebookorTwitter.
About Liberty Global
Liberty Global is the world's largest international TV and broadband company, with operations in more than 30 countries across Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. We invest in the infrastructure that empowers our customers to make the most of the digital revolution. Our scale and commitment to innovation enable us to develop market-leading products delivered through next generation networks that connect our 25 million customers who subscribe to over 50 million television, broadband internet and telephony services. We also serve over 10 million mobile subscribers and offer WiFi service across 5 million access points.
Liberty Global's businesses are comprised of two stocks: the Liberty Global Group (NASDAQ:LBTYA) (NASDAQ:LBTYB) (NASDAQ:LBTYK) for our European operations, and the LiLAC Group (NASDAQ:LILA) and (NASDAQ:LILAK) (OTC PINK:LILAB), which consists of our operations in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Liberty Global Group operates in 11 European countries under the consumer brands Virgin Media, Unitymedia, Telenet and UPC. The Liberty Global Group also owns 50% of VodafoneZiggo, a Dutch joint venture, which has 4 million customers, 10 million fixed-line subscribers and 5 million mobile subscribers. The LiLAC Group operates in over 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean under the consumer brands VTR, Flow, Liberty, Más Móvil and BTC. In addition, the LiLAC Group operates a sub-sea fiber network throughout the region in over 30 markets.
For more information, please visitwww.libertyglobal.com.
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[Social Media Buzz]
#bitcoin #miner Antminer S7 Bitcoin Miner - Used $310.00 http://ift.tt/2qoLOWJ pic.twitter.com/51Rgp9nJ8O || MAC / BTC Trading:
Ask: 0.00000502 BTC
Bid: 0.00000482 BTC
Buy/Sell #Machinecoin at
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Altın ons= 1.256,43
btc'de 150+...
|
1490.09, 1537.67, 1555.45, 1578.80, 1596.71, 1723.35, 1755.36, 1787.13, 1848.57, 1724.24
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 59302.32, 55907.20, 56804.90, 58870.89, 57858.92, 58346.65, 58313.64, 57523.42, 54529.14, 54738.95, 52774.27, 51704.16, 55137.31, 55973.51, 55950.75, 57750.20, 58917.69, 58918.83, 59095.81, 59384.31, 57603.89, 58758.55, 59057.88, 58192.36, 56048.94, 58323.95, 58245.00, 59793.23, 60204.96, 59893.45, 63503.46, 63109.70, 63314.01, 61572.79, 60683.82, 56216.18, 55724.27, 56473.03, 53906.09, 51762.27, 51093.65, 50050.87, 49004.25, 54021.75, 55033.12, 54824.70, 53555.11, 57750.18, 57828.05, 56631.08, 57200.29, 53333.54, 57424.01, 56396.52, 57356.40, 58803.78, 58232.32, 55859.80, 56704.57, 49150.54, 49716.19, 49880.54, 46760.19, 46456.06, 43537.51, 42909.40, 37002.44, 40782.74, 37304.69, 37536.63, 34770.58, 38705.98, 38402.22, 39294.20, 38436.97, 35697.61, 34616.07, 35678.13, 37332.86, 36684.93, 37575.18, 39208.77, 36894.41, 35551.96, 35862.38, 33560.71, 33472.63, 37345.12, 36702.60, 37334.40.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2021-06-11]
Volume: 38699736985, RSI (14-day): 45.32, 50-day EMA: 43145.89, 200-day EMA: 41065.22
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1877.40, Gold RSI: 54.70
Oil Price: 70.91, Oil RSI: 69.24
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Texas State Regulator Greenlights Banks to Custody Crypto: State-chartered banks in Texas have been given the green light to custody crypto assets on behalf of their customers, a state regulator announced Thursday. The guidance is not representative of new law, but an affirmation that state-chartered banks are allowed to provide crypto custody services as long as there are adequate protocols in place and the banks are complying with existing legal frameworks, according to a June 10 notice posted on the Texas Department of Bankings website. According to the notice, the types of custody services offered by state-chartered banks may differ depending on each banks expertise, risk appetite and business model. Banks may offer either fiduciary and non-fiduciary custody services, which could range from safely storing copies of a customers private keys to directly controlling crypto assets, including holding private keys, on behalf of its customers. Related: South Africa’s Financial Watchdog to Bring Crypto Exchanges Into Regulatory Oversight The Texas Department of Bankings notice comes amid a booming presence from the crypto industry in Texas. Miners and crypto startups have been moving to Texas in record numbers to take advantage of the states relatively cheap energy and crypto-friendly regulatory environment. Texas lawmakers, including Governor Greg Abbot , now must provide legal clarity to crypto companies and investors in the state. The regulators notice looks much like the guidance published for federal banks by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency last July. However, according to Marcus Adams, assistant general counsel at the Texas Department of Banking, the state is not taking its crypto guidance from the federal government, but making decisions based on the growing popularity of crypto in Texas. Both at the state and federal regulatory agencies, were seeing a rise in the virtual currency industry as it continues to evolve, Marcus said. We expect our banks to start seeing demand from their customers and we want them to be prepared for that. Story continues Related: State Street Bank Launches Cryptocurrency Division The point of the notice is to make it clear to banks that under the existing law, they can provide these services, Marcus said. How soon we see Texas state-chartered banks actually start offering these and get these products and services in place is really dependent on the individual banks and what kind of resources they have available. Related Stories Indian Government Poised to Loosen Tough Stance on Crypto: Report Basel Committee Proposes Banks Set Aside Capital to Cover Bitcoin Exposure || Texas State Regulator Greenlights Banks to Custody Crypto: State-chartered banks in Texas have been given the green light to custody crypto assets on behalf of their customers, a state regulator announced Thursday.
The guidance is not representative of new law, but an affirmation that state-chartered banks are allowed to provide crypto custody services as long as there are adequate protocols in place and the banks are complying with existing legal frameworks, according to a June 10noticeposted on the Texas Department of Banking’s website.
According to the notice, the types of custody services offered by state-chartered banks may differ depending on each bank’s expertise, risk appetite and business model. Banks may offer either fiduciary and non-fiduciary custody services, which could range from safely storing copies of a customer’s private keys to directly controlling crypto assets, including holding private keys, on behalf of its customers.
Related:South Africa’s Financial Watchdog to Bring Crypto Exchanges Into Regulatory Oversight
The Texas Department of Banking’s notice comes amid a booming presence from the crypto industry in Texas.Minersandcrypto startupshave been moving to Texas in record numbers to take advantage of the state’s relatively cheap energy and crypto-friendly regulatory environment.
Texas lawmakers, including GovernorGreg Abbot, now must provide legal clarity to crypto companies and investors in the state.
The regulator’s notice looks much like theguidancepublished for federal banks by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency last July. However, according to Marcus Adams, assistant general counsel at the Texas Department of Banking, the state is not taking its crypto guidance from the federal government, but making decisions based on the growing popularity of crypto in Texas.
“Both at the state and federal regulatory agencies, we’re seeing a rise in the virtual currency industry as it continues to evolve,” Marcus said. “We expect our banks to start seeing demand from their customers and we want them to be prepared for that.”
Related:State Street Bank Launches Cryptocurrency Division
”The point of the notice is to make it clear to banks that under the existing law, they can provide these services,” Marcus said. “How soon we see Texas state-chartered banks actually start offering these and get these products and services in place is really dependent on the individual banks and what kind of resources they have available.”
• Indian Government Poised to Loosen Tough Stance on Crypto: Report
• Basel Committee Proposes Banks Set Aside Capital to Cover Bitcoin Exposure || SEC Again Warns Investors Against Bitcoin Futures Funds: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reiterated the risks of investing in bitcoin futures-focused funds with a staff note on Thursday that underscores the uphill battle U.S. bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) face. In an emailed investor bulletin obtained by CoinDesk, staffers “urge investors considering a fund with exposure to the bitcoin futures market to weigh carefully the potential risks and benefits of the investment,” the note said, warning investors that the cryptocurrency as an investment is “highly speculative.” This is the second recent warning the SEC has sent out in regards to bitcoin’s risk. Last month, it sent out a note to investors highlighting that it may not be safe yet to support an exchange-traded fund under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 because of Bitcoin’s volatility. Related: Bitcoin at $200K by Year’s End? Some Crypto Options Traders Make That Bet Most bitcoin ETF applications are filed under a different law, the Securities Act of 1933, due to differences in how these laws treat such applications. The SEC has long warned against filing bitcoin products under the 1940 Act. This warning comes at a time when large traditional banks and investment funds increasingly announce their interest in cryptocurrencies, both personal and corporate. In March, investment bank Morgan Stanley started offering clients access to bitcoin funds and in May Wells Fargo announced it would introduce a cryptocurrency fund. Just yesterday, CoinDesk reported that investment banker Ken Moelis started looking into the crypto space as a potential business opportunity. Related Stories Making Bitcoin Legal Tender in El Salvador an ‘Interesting Experiment,’ Central Banking Official Says Bitcoin Holds Short-Term Support, Faces Resistance at $40K Bitcoin’s Steep Price Discount Seems Similar to March 2020 Bottom || SEC Again Warns Investors Against Bitcoin Futures Funds: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reiterated the risks of investing inbitcoinfutures-focused funds with a staff note on Thursday that underscores the uphill battle U.S. bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) face.
In an emailed investor bulletin obtained by CoinDesk, staffers “urge investors considering a fund with exposure to the bitcoin futures market to weigh carefully the potential risks and benefits of the investment,” the note said, warning investors that the cryptocurrency as an investment is “highly speculative.”
This is the second recent warning the SEC has sent out in regards to bitcoin’s risk. Last month, it sent out anote to investorshighlighting that it may not be safe yet to support an exchange-traded fund under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 because of Bitcoin’s volatility.
Related:Bitcoin at $200K by Year’s End? Some Crypto Options Traders Make That Bet
Most bitcoin ETF applications are filed under a different law, the Securities Act of 1933, due to differences in how these laws treat such applications. The SEC has long warned against filing bitcoin products under the 1940 Act.
This warning comes at a time when large traditional banks and investment funds increasingly announce their interest in cryptocurrencies, both personal and corporate. In March,investment bank Morgan Stanleystarted offering clients access to bitcoin funds and in MayWells Fargoannounced it would introduce a cryptocurrency fund.
Just yesterday, CoinDesk reported that investment bankerKen Moelisstarted looking into the crypto space as a potential business opportunity.
• Making Bitcoin Legal Tender in El Salvador an ‘Interesting Experiment,’ Central Banking Official Says
• Bitcoin Holds Short-Term Support, Faces Resistance at $40K
• Bitcoin’s Steep Price Discount Seems Similar to March 2020 Bottom || SEC Again Warns Investors Against Bitcoin Futures Funds: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reiterated the risks of investing inbitcoinfutures-focused funds with a staff note on Thursday that underscores the uphill battle U.S. bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) face.
In an emailed investor bulletin obtained by CoinDesk, staffers “urge investors considering a fund with exposure to the bitcoin futures market to weigh carefully the potential risks and benefits of the investment,” the note said, warning investors that the cryptocurrency as an investment is “highly speculative.”
This is the second recent warning the SEC has sent out in regards to bitcoin’s risk. Last month, it sent out anote to investorshighlighting that it may not be safe yet to support an exchange-traded fund under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 because of Bitcoin’s volatility.
Related:Bitcoin at $200K by Year’s End? Some Crypto Options Traders Make That Bet
Most bitcoin ETF applications are filed under a different law, the Securities Act of 1933, due to differences in how these laws treat such applications. The SEC has long warned against filing bitcoin products under the 1940 Act.
This warning comes at a time when large traditional banks and investment funds increasingly announce their interest in cryptocurrencies, both personal and corporate. In March,investment bank Morgan Stanleystarted offering clients access to bitcoin funds and in MayWells Fargoannounced it would introduce a cryptocurrency fund.
Just yesterday, CoinDesk reported that investment bankerKen Moelisstarted looking into the crypto space as a potential business opportunity.
• Making Bitcoin Legal Tender in El Salvador an ‘Interesting Experiment,’ Central Banking Official Says
• Bitcoin Holds Short-Term Support, Faces Resistance at $40K
• Bitcoin’s Steep Price Discount Seems Similar to March 2020 Bottom || Silvergate Bank to Discontinue Binance USD Deposits, Withdrawals: Silvergate Bank, one of the few financial institutions serving cryptocurrency firms, will stop processing U.S. dollar deposits and withdrawals for exchange giant Binance, people familiar with the situation confirmed.
• According to an email from Binance being circulated Thursday on Twitter andReddit, starting Friday any USD deposits and withdrawals through La Jolla, Calif.-based Silvergate Bank will be discontinued.
• The email, whose authenticity CoinDesk’s sources confirmed, goes on to say, “Rest assured, we are working hard to provide an alternative USD solution.” In the meantime, users have other options.
• Binance declined to comment on the post. “We don’t have anything to add at this time,” said a spokesperson, who did not respond to a followup email.
• Silvergate and Binance.US, the global exchange’s stateside affiliate, were unavailable for comment at press time. Another source said the U.S. division was unaffected.
• Indeed, the bank went so far as totweetlate Thursday afternoon that Binance.US “is a customer in good standing and an active participant on the Silvergate Exchange Network,” without mentioning the mothership.
• The Silvergate funding option was introduced for Binance users in December. As of late afternoon New York time Thursday, the FAQ page for the service wasstill up.
• It is unclear what prompted Silvergate to end the service. Bloomberg recently reported that Binance wasunder investigationby the U.S. Department of Justice, Internal Revenue Serviceand the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). No wrongdoing has been alleged in any of these reported investigations.
Read more:Binance’s Chief Finance Exec Has Abruptly Left the Company
Omkar Godbolecontributed reporting.
Related:Binance’s WazirX Issued With Show Cause Notice by India’s Enforcement Directorate
UPDATE (22:41 UTC):Added sentence about Silvergate confirming Binance.US remains in good standing.
• Binance’s Chief Finance Exec Has Abruptly Left the Company
• Chinese Internet Services Are Censoring Binance, Huobi and OKEx-Related Keywords
• Hamas Tapped Binance to Launder Bitcoin Donations, Blockchain Data Suggests || Silvergate Bank to Discontinue Binance USD Deposits, Withdrawals: Silvergate Bank, one of the few financial institutions serving cryptocurrency firms, will stop processing U.S. dollar deposits and withdrawals for exchange giant Binance, people familiar with the situation confirmed. According to an email from Binance being circulated Thursday on Twitter and Reddit , starting Friday any USD deposits and withdrawals through La Jolla, Calif.-based Silvergate Bank will be discontinued. The email, whose authenticity CoinDesks sources confirmed, goes on to say, Rest assured, we are working hard to provide an alternative USD solution. In the meantime, users have other options. Binance declined to comment on the post. We dont have anything to add at this time, said a spokesperson, who did not respond to a followup email. Silvergate and Binance.US, the global exchanges stateside affiliate, were unavailable for comment at press time. Another source said the U.S. division was unaffected. Indeed, the bank went so far as to tweet late Thursday afternoon that Binance.US is a customer in good standing and an active participant on the Silvergate Exchange Network, without mentioning the mothership. The Silvergate funding option was introduced for Binance users in December. As of late afternoon New York time Thursday, the FAQ page for the service was still up. It is unclear what prompted Silvergate to end the service. Bloomberg recently reported that Binance was under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, Internal Revenue Service and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) . No wrongdoing has been alleged in any of these reported investigations. Read more: Binances Chief Finance Exec Has Abruptly Left the Company Omkar Godbole contributed reporting. Related: Binance’s WazirX Issued With Show Cause Notice by Indias Enforcement Directorate UPDATE (22:41 UTC): Added sentence about Silvergate confirming Binance.US remains in good standing. Related Stories Binances Chief Finance Exec Has Abruptly Left the Company Chinese Internet Services Are Censoring Binance, Huobi and OKEx-Related Keywords Hamas Tapped Binance to Launder Bitcoin Donations, Blockchain Data Suggests || Fintech Focus For June 11, 2021: Fintech Header Quote To Start The Day: "As my knowledge of things grew I felt more and more the delight of the world I was in.” Source: Helen Keller One Big Thing In Fintech: The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision on Thursday recommended the highest possible risk weighting — 1,250% — be applied to a bank's exposure to Bitcoin and some other cryptocurrencies. Under that suggestion, a bank would need to hold a dollar in capital for each dollar worth of Bitcoin, based on an 8% minimum capital requirement. Source: Banking Dive Other Key Fintech Developments: LemonEdge adding $2.5M round. Silvergate cuts ties with Binance. Money Minx to build finance tech. Regions agrees to buy EnerBank. BoA expanding digital payments. Stripe has added Stripe Tax tech. Messenger adds Venmo-like QR. State Street sets up a crypto unit. Webull is considering $400M IPO. Texas greenlights crypto custody. French, Swiss will run CBDC trial. Nude launches home buying app. Sunwest launches a new platform. Small Exchange intros pot futures. TreasurySpring has raised $10M. Ledger landed a $380M Series C. Unpacked : The fintech endgame. Warren looks for crypto regulation. Remitly has filed IPO paperwork. Clip secures $250M in new round. Fundbox partners up with Indeed. Arrington launches a $100M fund. CrossTower partners with Khalsa. Klarna has secured $639M round. Coinbase struck crypto 401K deal. Amex and Synchrony bid Amazon. Pacer ETFs passed $7B in AUM. Analysis : LATAM cryptocurrencies. Unbound Finance adds financing. Watch Out For This: In the end, in running a successful company, egos must be removed. That’s according to JR Rahn, who said MindMed requires leaders better equipped to pursue late-stage clinical trials and solve regulatory hurdles. “It’s about removing oneself from necessarily what your ego tells you to do,” he said in a conversation on his commitment to making minds and bodies healthier. “The biggest thing I can do for MindMed, right now, is to realize that it needs a different type of leader, for the long haul. It is really for the best of the mission that is so deeply important to me.” Story continues Source: Benzinga Interesting Reads: Charge is investing in EV charging. AMC seeing a new path to stability. Fuel Ventures launches a VC fund. JPM sees a new BTC bear market. SEC freshens up market structure. Analysis : Global minimum tax hike. JPM: Inflation is not a threat today. Market Moving Headline: Prices paid by U.S. consumers rose in May by more than forecast, extending a months-long buildup in inflation that risks becoming more established as the economy strengthens. Source: Bloomberg See more from Benzinga Click here for options trades from Benzinga EXCLUSIVE: Psychedelics Pioneer J.R. Rahn Unpacks Decision To Leave MindMed As CEO Fintech Focus For June 10, 2021 © 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Fintech Focus For June 11, 2021: Quote To Start The Day:"As my knowledge of things grew I felt more and more the delight of the world I was in.”Source:Helen Keller
One Big Thing In Fintech:The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision on Thursday recommended the highest possible risk weighting — 1,250% — be applied to a bank's exposure to Bitcoin and some other cryptocurrencies. Under that suggestion, a bank would need to hold a dollar in capital for each dollar worth of Bitcoin, based on an 8% minimum capital requirement.
Source:Banking Dive
Other Key Fintech Developments:
• LemonEdgeadding$2.5M round.
• Silvergatecutsties with Binance.
• Money Minx tobuildfinance tech.
• Regionsagreesto buy EnerBank.
• BoAexpandingdigital payments.
• Stripe hasaddedStripe Tax tech.
• MessengeraddsVenmo-like QR.
• State Streetsetsup a crypto unit.
• Webull isconsidering$400M IPO.
• Texasgreenlightscrypto custody.
• French, Swiss willrunCBDC trial.
• Nudelauncheshome buying app.
• Sunwestlaunchesa new platform.
• Small Exchangeintrospot futures.
• TreasurySpring hasraised$10M.
• Ledgerlandeda $380M Series C.
• Unpacked: The fintech endgame.
• Warrenlooksfor crypto regulation.
• Remitly hasfiledIPO paperwork.
• Clipsecures$250M in new round.
• Fundboxpartnersup with Indeed.
• Arringtonlaunchesa $100M fund.
• CrossTowerpartnerswith Khalsa.
• Klarna hassecured$639M round.
• Coinbasestruckcrypto 401K deal.
• Amex and SynchronybidAmazon.
• Pacer ETFspassed$7B in AUM.
• Analysis: LATAM cryptocurrencies.
• Unbound Financeaddsfinancing.
Watch Out For This:In the end, in running a successful company, egos must be removed.
That’s according to JR Rahn, who said MindMed requires leaders better equipped to pursue late-stage clinical trials and solve regulatory hurdles.
“It’s about removing oneself from necessarily what your ego tells you to do,” he said in a conversation on his commitment to making minds and bodies healthier. “The biggest thing I can do for MindMed, right now, is to realize that it needs a different type of leader, for the long haul. It is really for the best of the mission that is so deeply important to me.”
Source:Benzinga
Interesting Reads:
• Charge isinvestingin EV charging.
• AMCseeinga new path to stability.
• Fuel Ventureslaunchesa VC fund.
• JPMseesa new BTC bear market.
• SECfreshensup market structure.
• Analysis: Global minimum tax hike.
• JPM: Inflation is not athreattoday.
Market Moving Headline:Prices paid by U.S. consumers rose in May by more than forecast, extending a months-long buildup in inflation that risks becoming more established as the economy strengthens.
Source:Bloomberg
See more from Benzinga
• Click here for options trades from Benzinga
• EXCLUSIVE: Psychedelics Pioneer J.R. Rahn Unpacks Decision To Leave MindMed As CEO
• Fintech Focus For June 10, 2021
© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin and crypto go mainstream with new 401(k) retirement offering: Some 401(k) savers soon can plunk a portion of their nest eggs into cryptocurrency.
Starting in July, ForUsAll Inc., a 401(k) provider, will let workers in retirement plans it administers to invest up to 5% of their contributions in the leading cryptocurrencies through Coinbase. The news was first reported by theWall Street Journal.
Read more:Bitcoin and crypto: 14 terms you should know
"When we created our institutional platform, our initial focus was making cryptocurrency accessible to institutional investors and high net worth individuals,” Brett Tejpaul, head of institutional sales, trading, and prime at Coinbase, said in a statement to Yahoo Money. “The next evolution is to broaden our reach and we are thrilled to be working with ForUsAll to expand access to cryptocurrency through 401(k)s.”
This is only the beginning of mainstream crypto investment as a retirement strategy, according to David Ramirez, co-founder and chief investment officer of ForUsAll.
“There has been an absolute sea change in the investment world in the last few years with institutional professional investors making increasing use of alternatives, and more recently digital assets,” Ramirez told Yahoo Money. “Most individual investors don't have access to the same opportunities, nor the means to make good use of them. We're changing that.”
It may be too early to tell whether this is an industry-wide turning point or one-off phenomenon. ForUsAll manages 401(k) plans for just 400 employer clients, representing $1.7 billion in retirement-plan assets. That’s a small slice of the $22 trillion market.
The bigger players haven't jumped into crypto fully. Vanguard doesn’t allow customers to directly hold crypto through a Vanguard account, a spokesperson told Yahoo Money. Fidelity also doesn't allow direct investing in digital assets on its retail brokerage platform.
No employers using Charles Schwab’s 401(k) platform provide crypto investments in their core investment menus “at this time,” a company spokesperson said.
But some companies can offer a self-directed brokerage account in their Schwab 401(k) plan that allows investors to invest in over-the-counter cryptocurrency coin trusts such as Grayscale’s Ethereum and Bitcoin Trust products.
“Likewise, Schwab offers IRA clients the opportunity to buy/sell Grayscale products in their IRAs," the spokesperson said.
Among financial planners who help clients formulate a retirement savings plan, crypto is slowly gaining steam.
About 14% of certified financial planners currently use or recommend cryptocurrency, up from less than 1% in both 2019 and 2020, according to a survey of 529 professionals by the Financial Planning Association.
Read more:Here's how to incorporate Bitcoin into your retirement investments
More than a quarter of advisers said they plan to increase their use or recommendation of cryptocurrencies over the next 12 months. And almost half of advisers said their clients had asked them about crypto in the last six months, up from 17% in 2020.
“Clients have definitely asked about crypto a lot lately,” said Christopher Lyman, a certified financial planner with Newtown, Pennsylvania-based Allied Financial Advisors, noting it’s mostly younger clients with fewer assets who are inquiring. “I always try to get them to disconnect from the headlines and astronomical numbers they see and try to remember the basics.”
Scott Hammel, a financial planner in Dallas for Apeiron Planning Partners, has a different take.
“If a client is accessing crypto, they are adding it as a very small portion of their portfolio in a side account, like Robinhood, and considering it volatile play money,” he said. “It hasn't been a mainstream addition to their long-term portfolio.”
Read more:Experts: Here's what you should consider if you want to get into bitcoin now
ForUsAll also isn’t trying to mask the asset’s volatility and attempts to curb risky behavior by limiting investments to 5% in contributions and alerting investors when their crypto investments exceed 5% of their account balance. Investors also must acknowledge reading disclosures explaining crypto’s volatility.
We “cannot change the fundamental nature of cryptocurrency,” Ramirez said. But the firm can educate investors “on the common pitfalls and mistakes that people often fall prey to when investing.”
Stephanie is a reporter for Yahoo Money andCashay, a new personal finance website. Follow her on Twitter@SJAsymkos.
• Here are the companies requiring employees to get vaccinated
• 'What’s really important?' Pandemic spurs quest for change for some workers
• Retirement expert: Here's a 'neat thing you can do' if you take Social Security early
• Here are the worst summer destinations for car rental shortages
• Click here for more personal finance tips, guides and news
Follow Yahoo Finance onTwitter,Facebook,Instagram,Flipboard,SmartNews,LinkedIn,YouTube, andreddit. || Bitcoin and crypto go mainstream with new 401(k) retirement offering: Some 401(k) savers soon can plunk a portion of their nest eggs into cryptocurrency. Starting in July, ForUsAll Inc., a 401(k) provider, will let workers in retirement plans it administers to invest up to 5% of their contributions in the leading cryptocurrencies through Coinbase. The news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal . Read more: Bitcoin and crypto: 14 terms you should know "When we created our institutional platform, our initial focus was making cryptocurrency accessible to institutional investors and high net worth individuals,” Brett Tejpaul, head of institutional sales, trading, and prime at Coinbase, said in a statement to Yahoo Money. “The next evolution is to broaden our reach and we are thrilled to be working with ForUsAll to expand access to cryptocurrency through 401(k)s.” Representations of the Bitcoin and Dogecoin cryptocurrencies are seen in this picture illustration taken June 7, 2021. REUTERS/Edgar Su/Illustration (Edgar Su / reuters) This is only the beginning of mainstream crypto investment as a retirement strategy, according to David Ramirez, co-founder and chief investment officer of ForUsAll. “There has been an absolute sea change in the investment world in the last few years with institutional professional investors making increasing use of alternatives, and more recently digital assets,” Ramirez told Yahoo Money. “Most individual investors don't have access to the same opportunities, nor the means to make good use of them. We're changing that.” It may be too early to tell whether this is an industry-wide turning point or one-off phenomenon. ForUsAll manages 401(k) plans for just 400 employer clients, representing $1.7 billion in retirement-plan assets. That’s a small slice of the $22 trillion market. YF Plus The bigger players haven't jumped into crypto fully. Vanguard doesn’t allow customers to directly hold crypto through a Vanguard account, a spokesperson told Yahoo Money. Fidelity also doesn't allow direct investing in digital assets on its retail brokerage platform. No employers using Charles Schwab’s 401(k) platform provide crypto investments in their core investment menus “at this time,” a company spokesperson said. Story continues But some companies can offer a self-directed brokerage account in their Schwab 401(k) plan that allows investors to invest in over-the-counter cryptocurrency coin trusts such as Grayscale’s Ethereum and Bitcoin Trust products. “Likewise, Schwab offers IRA clients the opportunity to buy/sell Grayscale products in their IRAs," the spokesperson said. BRAZIL - 2021/02/12: In this photo illustration the Litecoin logo seen displayed on a smartphone screen. (Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) (SOPA Images via Getty Images) Among financial planners who help clients formulate a retirement savings plan, crypto is slowly gaining steam. About 14% of certified financial planners currently use or recommend cryptocurrency, up from less than 1% in both 2019 and 2020, according to a survey of 529 professionals by the Financial Planning Association. Read more: Here's how to incorporate Bitcoin into your retirement investments More than a quarter of advisers said they plan to increase their use or recommendation of cryptocurrencies over the next 12 months. And almost half of advisers said their clients had asked them about crypto in the last six months, up from 17% in 2020. “Clients have definitely asked about crypto a lot lately,” said Christopher Lyman, a certified financial planner with Newtown, Pennsylvania-based Allied Financial Advisors, noting it’s mostly younger clients with fewer assets who are inquiring. “I always try to get them to disconnect from the headlines and astronomical numbers they see and try to remember the basics.” Representation of Bitcoin, Ripple, Litecoin and Ethereum cryptocurrencies is seen in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on June 6, 2021. (Photo Illustration by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images) (NurPhoto via Getty Images) Scott Hammel, a financial planner in Dallas for Apeiron Planning Partners, has a different take. “If a client is accessing crypto, they are adding it as a very small portion of their portfolio in a side account, like Robinhood, and considering it volatile play money,” he said. “It hasn't been a mainstream addition to their long-term portfolio.” Read more: Experts: Here's what you should consider if you want to get into bitcoin now ForUsAll also isn’t trying to mask the asset’s volatility and attempts to curb risky behavior by limiting investments to 5% in contributions and alerting investors when their crypto investments exceed 5% of their account balance. Investors also must acknowledge reading disclosures explaining crypto’s volatility. We “cannot change the fundamental nature of cryptocurrency,” Ramirez said. But the firm can educate investors “on the common pitfalls and mistakes that people often fall prey to when investing.” Yahoo Money sister site Cashay has a weekly newsletter. Stephanie is a reporter for Yahoo Money and Cashay , a new personal finance website. Follow her on Twitter @SJAsymkos . Here are the companies requiring employees to get vaccinated 'What’s really important?' Pandemic spurs quest for change for some workers Retirement expert: Here's a 'neat thing you can do' if you take Social Security early Here are the worst summer destinations for car rental shortages Click here for more personal finance tips, guides and news Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter , Facebook , Instagram , Flipboard , SmartNews , LinkedIn , YouTube , and reddit . || Bitcoin and crypto go mainstream with new 401(k) retirement offering: Some 401(k) savers soon can plunk a portion of their nest eggs into cryptocurrency.
Starting in July, ForUsAll Inc., a 401(k) provider, will let workers in retirement plans it administers to invest up to 5% of their contributions in the leading cryptocurrencies through Coinbase. The news was first reported by theWall Street Journal.
Read more:Bitcoin and crypto: 14 terms you should know
"When we created our institutional platform, our initial focus was making cryptocurrency accessible to institutional investors and high net worth individuals,” Brett Tejpaul, head of institutional sales, trading, and prime at Coinbase, said in a statement to Yahoo Money. “The next evolution is to broaden our reach and we are thrilled to be working with ForUsAll to expand access to cryptocurrency through 401(k)s.”
This is only the beginning of mainstream crypto investment as a retirement strategy, according to David Ramirez, co-founder and chief investment officer of ForUsAll.
“There has been an absolute sea change in the investment world in the last few years with institutional professional investors making increasing use of alternatives, and more recently digital assets,” Ramirez told Yahoo Money. “Most individual investors don't have access to the same opportunities, nor the means to make good use of them. We're changing that.”
It may be too early to tell whether this is an industry-wide turning point or one-off phenomenon. ForUsAll manages 401(k) plans for just 400 employer clients, representing $1.7 billion in retirement-plan assets. That’s a small slice of the $22 trillion market.
The bigger players haven't jumped into crypto fully. Vanguard doesn’t allow customers to directly hold crypto through a Vanguard account, a spokesperson told Yahoo Money. Fidelity also doesn't allow direct investing in digital assets on its retail brokerage platform.
No employers using Charles Schwab’s 401(k) platform provide crypto investments in their core investment menus “at this time,” a company spokesperson said.
But some companies can offer a self-directed brokerage account in their Schwab 401(k) plan that allows investors to invest in over-the-counter cryptocurrency coin trusts such as Grayscale’s Ethereum and Bitcoin Trust products.
“Likewise, Schwab offers IRA clients the opportunity to buy/sell Grayscale products in their IRAs," the spokesperson said.
Among financial planners who help clients formulate a retirement savings plan, crypto is slowly gaining steam.
About 14% of certified financial planners currently use or recommend cryptocurrency, up from less than 1% in both 2019 and 2020, according to a survey of 529 professionals by the Financial Planning Association.
Read more:Here's how to incorporate Bitcoin into your retirement investments
More than a quarter of advisers said they plan to increase their use or recommendation of cryptocurrencies over the next 12 months. And almost half of advisers said their clients had asked them about crypto in the last six months, up from 17% in 2020.
“Clients have definitely asked about crypto a lot lately,” said Christopher Lyman, a certified financial planner with Newtown, Pennsylvania-based Allied Financial Advisors, noting it’s mostly younger clients with fewer assets who are inquiring. “I always try to get them to disconnect from the headlines and astronomical numbers they see and try to remember the basics.”
Scott Hammel, a financial planner in Dallas for Apeiron Planning Partners, has a different take.
“If a client is accessing crypto, they are adding it as a very small portion of their portfolio in a side account, like Robinhood, and considering it volatile play money,” he said. “It hasn't been a mainstream addition to their long-term portfolio.”
Read more:Experts: Here's what you should consider if you want to get into bitcoin now
ForUsAll also isn’t trying to mask the asset’s volatility and attempts to curb risky behavior by limiting investments to 5% in contributions and alerting investors when their crypto investments exceed 5% of their account balance. Investors also must acknowledge reading disclosures explaining crypto’s volatility.
We “cannot change the fundamental nature of cryptocurrency,” Ramirez said. But the firm can educate investors “on the common pitfalls and mistakes that people often fall prey to when investing.”
Stephanie is a reporter for Yahoo Money andCashay, a new personal finance website. Follow her on Twitter@SJAsymkos.
• Here are the companies requiring employees to get vaccinated
• 'What’s really important?' Pandemic spurs quest for change for some workers
• Retirement expert: Here's a 'neat thing you can do' if you take Social Security early
• Here are the worst summer destinations for car rental shortages
• Click here for more personal finance tips, guides and news
Follow Yahoo Finance onTwitter,Facebook,Instagram,Flipboard,SmartNews,LinkedIn,YouTube, andreddit. || 2 Tech Stocks to Buy Now at Big Discounts for Long-Term Growth: The Nasdaq continued its recent climb on Thursday, while the S&P 500 jumped to new records. The positivity came despite May’s 5% jump in consumer prices that marked the highest annual inflation rate in almost 13 years. CPI jumped 5% last month to top April’s 4.2% rise that brought about increased inflation worries and a wave of selling. Yet Wall Street has shrugged off those fears in the last month as bulls push the benchmark to new highs and the tech-heavy index within striking distance of its records. The positivity might mean investors are betting the Fed won’t be forced to end its easy-money policies to tamp down rising prices. The central bank has stuck with its transitory line as it points out that prices are up against last year’s coronavirus lows and being impacted by supply chain setbacks, pent-up demand, government checks, and more. Clearly, rising prices are a concern and must be monitored closely. But even if the Fed starts reversing course, interest rates will likely remain historically low, leaving Wall Street and a new crop of retail investors left to keep chasing returns in stocks. Plus, the continually improving earnings picture, coupled with the grand U.S. economic reopening might keep the bullish sentiment alive much longer, despite legitimate overheating worries (also read: Looking Ahead to Q2 FY21 Earnings Season). Taking this backdrop into account, investors with longer-term horizons might want to buy strong growth-focused stocks prepared to thrive for years to come in the digital age. And why not look for ones that are still trading well below their records even as the indexes return to their highs… Zacks Investment Research Image Source: Zacks Investment Research ServiceNow NOW ServiceNow provides cloud-based services and solutions to nearly 7,000 enterprise customers, including around 80% of the Fortune 500. The digital workflow firm that was added to the S&P 500 index in November 2019 has expanded its partnership with Microsoft MSFT to help it sell to highly regulated industries and house its full SaaS offerings on MSFT’s popular Azure cloud. Story continues NOW has expanded its revenue by over 30% every year since it went public in 2012, including 31% growth last year. The company then topped our Q1 FY21 estimates at the end of April, with sales up 30%. ServiceNow also closed the quarter with 1,146 customers with more than $1 million in annual contract value, up 23%. ServiceNow will benefit from the constant wave of technological innovation that forces businesses from all industries to adapt and spend to keep up. And the company announced in late March its plans to acquire robotic process automation firm, Intellibot, to help extend its “core workflow capabilities by helping customers automate repetitive tasks for intelligent, end-to-end automation.” Zacks estimates call for NOW’s full-year revenue to climb 27% to $5.7 billion, with FY22 set to jump another 25% higher to reach $7.2 billion. Meanwhile, its adjusted earnings are expected to jump 19% and 28%, respectively. NOW has consistently and easily topped our bottom-line estimates, including a 16% average beat in the trailing four quarters. And ServiceNow executives said last quarter that “we have strong momentum on our way to becoming a $10 billion revenue company.” Zacks Investment Research Image Source: Zacks Investment Research NOW has skyrocketed 560% in the past five years to blow away the Zacks tech sector’s 200% climb. Luckily for those who might have missed out, its shares have cooled off, lagging its tech peers in 2021, down 12%. The stock tumbled after its Q1 report on the back of lackluster guidance. But NOW popped 5% Thursday after Goldman Sachs put ServiceNow on its conviction buy list. ServiceNow sits about 20% below its February records and hovers near neutral RSI levels as it attempts to climb back near its 50-day moving average. The stock is trading 15% below its own year-long median at 14.4X forward sales. And NOW lands a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) given its stagnant EPS revisions. Wall Street remains high on NOW, with 18 of the 23 brokerage recommendations Zacks has coming in at “Strong Buys,” with two more “Buys,” and none below a “Hold.” Therefore, investors might want to consider NOW as a growth-focused software play that’s prepared to benefit from the subscription model and the booming SaaS space alongside Salesforce CRM and countless others. Roku ROKU The streaming TV age is here and within a crowded space that includes Netflix NFLX, Disney DIS, Amazon AMZN, and Apple AAPL there’s only one pure-play streaming TV player poised to benefit from the growth of the entire industry: Roku. The firm became famous for its small plug-in devices that enable users to watch streaming content. The comapny's tech is also built into smart TVs and Roku was the No. 1 smart TV OS sold in the U.S. in 2020, grabbing nearly 40% market share. Roku also sells wireless sound systems that compete against Sonos SONO and others. These segments are important, but Roku’s bread and butter is its ad-heavy Platform unit that should propel growth for years. Roku makes money by selling ad space across its marketplace, as well as taking a share of streaming service’s subscription revenue and ad inventory. Roku allows marketers to buy targeted ads, promote their streaming movies or platforms, and more. Meanwhile, the Roku Channel allows users to watch free, ad-supported streaming movies and TV shows. The firm bolstered its own offering through its January purchase of the streaming rights to all the shows from the now-defunct Quibi. And Roku’s Platform business has soared as advertisers follow consumers as they dump legacy media. Digital ad spending in the U.S. surpassed traditional outlets in 2019 and this trend is only going in one direction. The company has also continued to boost its ad capabilities. This includes its April acquisition of Nielsen's Advanced Video Advertising business and it “entered into a long-term strategic partnership” with the historic marketing research firm and media data giant to further boost its advertising bona fides. Zacks Investment Research Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Roku provides access to an audience that marketers crave. The company said that in the first quarter “over 85% of the adult 18-49 audience reach delivered on The Roku Channel was unduplicated with traditional TV.” Roku topped our Q1 FY21 estimates in early May, with revenue up 79%—its best since it went public in 2017. The top-line expansion was driven by a 101% surge in its ad-heavy Platform sales that accounted for roughly 80% of total revenue, after its monetized video ad impressions more than double year-over-year. Plus, it added 2.4 million incremental active accounts to hit 53.6 million, with its average revenue per user up 32%. And it posted positive adjusted earnings for the third quarter in a row to blow away our estimates that called for a loss. Zacks estimates call for Roku’s FY21 revenue to soar 54% from $1.8 billion to $2.7 billion, with FY22 set to climb another 40% higher to reach $3.8 billion. These estimates extend its streak of 40% or stronger sales growth to five straight years. Plus, it’s projected to swing from an adjusted loss of -$0.14 a share last year to +$0.37 in FY21 and then skyrocketed to +$0.97 a share in 2022. Like NOW, Roku has tumbled since it hit records in February, as Wall Street sold high-flyers. Despite the pullback, the stock is still up 200% in the last year and 740% in the past three. Roku popped Thursday as part of a nice run since mid-May. At around $350 it trades roughly 28% below its records. The stock also trades 40% under its year-long highs at 14.1X forward 12-month sales and it sits underneath overbought RSI (70) levels at 55. Roku just popped above its 50-day moving average, which could mean it’s ready to regain some momentum. The stock currently lands a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) but its FY21 and FY22 consensus estimates have soared since its first quarter release. On top of that, 15 of the 18 brokerage recommendations Zacks has are “Strong Buys.” Therefore, investors might want to buy Roku as a long-term bet on streaming TV and the digital ad space. Bitcoin, Like the Internet Itself, Could Change Everything Blockchain and cryptocurrency has sparked one of the most exciting discussion topics of a generation. Some call it the “Internet of Money” and predict it could change the way money works forever. If true, it could do to banks what Netflix did to Blockbuster and Amazon did to Sears. Experts agree we’re still in the early stages of this technology, and as it grows, it will create several investing opportunities. Zacks’ has just revealed 3 companies that can help investors capitalize on the explosive profit potential of Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies with significantly less volatility than buying them directly. See 3 crypto-related stocks now >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Apple Inc. (AAPL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) : Free Stock Analysis Report salesforce.com, inc. (CRM) : Free Stock Analysis Report Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) : Free Stock Analysis Report The Walt Disney Company (DIS) : Free Stock Analysis Report Sonos, Inc. (SONO) : Free Stock Analysis Report ServiceNow, Inc. (NOW) : Free Stock Analysis Report Roku, Inc. (ROKU) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research || 2 Tech Stocks to Buy Now at Big Discounts for Long-Term Growth: The Nasdaq continued its recent climb on Thursday, while the S&P 500 jumped to new records. The positivity came despite May’s 5% jump in consumer prices that marked the highest annual inflation rate in almost 13 years.
CPI jumped 5% last month to top April’s 4.2% rise that brought about increased inflation worries and a wave of selling. Yet Wall Street has shrugged off those fears in the last month as bulls push the benchmark to new highs and the tech-heavy index within striking distance of its records.
The positivity might mean investors are betting the Fed won’t be forced to end its easy-money policies to tamp down rising prices. The central bank has stuck with its transitory line as it points out that prices are up against last year’s coronavirus lows and being impacted by supply chain setbacks, pent-up demand, government checks, and more.
Clearly, rising prices are a concern and must be monitored closely. But even if the Fed starts reversing course, interest rates will likely remain historically low, leaving Wall Street and a new crop of retail investors left to keep chasing returns in stocks.
Plus, the continually improving earnings picture, coupled with the grand U.S. economic reopening might keep the bullish sentiment alive much longer, despite legitimate overheating worries (also read: Looking Ahead to Q2 FY21 Earnings Season).
Taking this backdrop into account, investors with longer-term horizons might want to buy strong growth-focused stocks prepared to thrive for years to come in the digital age. And why not look for ones that are still trading well below their records even as the indexes return to their highs…
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
ServiceNow NOW
ServiceNow provides cloud-based services and solutions to nearly 7,000 enterprise customers, including around 80% of the Fortune 500. The digital workflow firm that was added to the S&P 500 index in November 2019 has expanded its partnership with Microsoft MSFT to help it sell to highly regulated industries and house its full SaaS offerings on MSFT’s popular Azure cloud.
NOW has expanded its revenue by over 30% every year since it went public in 2012, including 31% growth last year. The company then topped our Q1 FY21 estimates at the end of April, with sales up 30%. ServiceNow also closed the quarter with 1,146 customers with more than $1 million in annual contract value, up 23%.
ServiceNow will benefit from the constant wave of technological innovation that forces businesses from all industries to adapt and spend to keep up. And the company announced in late March its plans to acquire robotic process automation firm, Intellibot, to help extend its “core workflow capabilities by helping customers automate repetitive tasks for intelligent, end-to-end automation.”
Zacks estimates call for NOW’s full-year revenue to climb 27% to $5.7 billion, with FY22 set to jump another 25% higher to reach $7.2 billion. Meanwhile, its adjusted earnings are expected to jump 19% and 28%, respectively.
NOW has consistently and easily topped our bottom-line estimates, including a 16% average beat in the trailing four quarters. And ServiceNow executives said last quarter that “we have strong momentum on our way to becoming a $10 billion revenue company.”
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
NOW has skyrocketed 560% in the past five years to blow away the Zacks tech sector’s 200% climb. Luckily for those who might have missed out, its shares have cooled off, lagging its tech peers in 2021, down 12%. The stock tumbled after its Q1 report on the back of lackluster guidance. But NOW popped 5% Thursday after Goldman Sachs put ServiceNow on its conviction buy list.
ServiceNow sits about 20% below its February records and hovers near neutral RSI levels as it attempts to climb back near its 50-day moving average. The stock is trading 15% below its own year-long median at 14.4X forward sales. And NOW lands a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) given its stagnant EPS revisions.
Wall Street remains high on NOW, with 18 of the 23 brokerage recommendations Zacks has coming in at “Strong Buys,” with two more “Buys,” and none below a “Hold.” Therefore, investors might want to consider NOW as a growth-focused software play that’s prepared to benefit from the subscription model and the booming SaaS space alongside Salesforce CRM and countless others.
Roku ROKU
The streaming TV age is here and within a crowded space that includes Netflix NFLX, Disney DIS, Amazon AMZN, and Apple AAPL there’s only one pure-play streaming TV player poised to benefit from the growth of the entire industry: Roku. The firm became famous for its small plug-in devices that enable users to watch streaming content.
The comapny's tech is also built into smart TVs and Roku was the No. 1 smart TV OS sold in the U.S. in 2020, grabbing nearly 40% market share. Roku also sells wireless sound systems that compete against Sonos SONO and others.
These segments are important, but Roku’s bread and butter is its ad-heavy Platform unit that should propel growth for years. Roku makes money by selling ad space across its marketplace, as well as taking a share of streaming service’s subscription revenue and ad inventory. Roku allows marketers to buy targeted ads, promote their streaming movies or platforms, and more.
Meanwhile, the Roku Channel allows users to watch free, ad-supported streaming movies and TV shows. The firm bolstered its own offering through its January purchase of the streaming rights to all the shows from the now-defunct Quibi. And Roku’s Platform business has soared as advertisers follow consumers as they dump legacy media. Digital ad spending in the U.S. surpassed traditional outlets in 2019 and this trend is only going in one direction.
The company has also continued to boost its ad capabilities. This includes its April acquisition of Nielsen's Advanced Video Advertising business and it “entered into a long-term strategic partnership” with the historic marketing research firm and media data giant to further boost its advertising bona fides.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Roku provides access to an audience that marketers crave. The company said that in the first quarter “over 85% of the adult 18-49 audience reach delivered on The Roku Channel was unduplicated with traditional TV.”
Roku topped our Q1 FY21 estimates in early May, with revenue up 79%—its best since it went public in 2017. The top-line expansion was driven by a 101% surge in its ad-heavy Platform sales that accounted for roughly 80% of total revenue, after its monetized video ad impressions more than double year-over-year.
Plus, it added 2.4 million incremental active accounts to hit 53.6 million, with its average revenue per user up 32%. And it posted positive adjusted earnings for the third quarter in a row to blow away our estimates that called for a loss.
Zacks estimates call for Roku’s FY21 revenue to soar 54% from $1.8 billion to $2.7 billion, with FY22 set to climb another 40% higher to reach $3.8 billion. These estimates extend its streak of 40% or stronger sales growth to five straight years. Plus, it’s projected to swing from an adjusted loss of -$0.14 a share last year to +$0.37 in FY21 and then skyrocketed to +$0.97 a share in 2022.
Like NOW, Roku has tumbled since it hit records in February, as Wall Street sold high-flyers. Despite the pullback, the stock is still up 200% in the last year and 740% in the past three. Roku popped Thursday as part of a nice run since mid-May. At around $350 it trades roughly 28% below its records. The stock also trades 40% under its year-long highs at 14.1X forward 12-month sales and it sits underneath overbought RSI (70) levels at 55.
Roku just popped above its 50-day moving average, which could mean it’s ready to regain some momentum. The stock currently lands a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) but its FY21 and FY22 consensus estimates have soared since its first quarter release.
On top of that, 15 of the 18 brokerage recommendations Zacks has are “Strong Buys.” Therefore, investors might want to buy Roku as a long-term bet on streaming TV and the digital ad space.
Bitcoin, Like the Internet Itself, Could Change EverythingBlockchain and cryptocurrency has sparked one of the most exciting discussion topics of a generation. Some call it the “Internet of Money” and predict it could change the way money works forever. If true, it could do to banks what Netflix did to Blockbuster and Amazon did to Sears. Experts agree we’re still in the early stages of this technology, and as it grows, it will create several investing opportunities.Zacks’ has just revealed 3 companies that can help investors capitalize on the explosive profit potential of Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies with significantly less volatility than buying them directly.See 3 crypto-related stocks now >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportAmazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) : Free Stock Analysis ReportApple Inc. (AAPL) : Free Stock Analysis ReportMicrosoft Corporation (MSFT) : Free Stock Analysis Reportsalesforce.com, inc. (CRM) : Free Stock Analysis ReportNetflix, Inc. (NFLX) : Free Stock Analysis ReportThe Walt Disney Company (DIS) : Free Stock Analysis ReportSonos, Inc. (SONO) : Free Stock Analysis ReportServiceNow, Inc. (NOW) : Free Stock Analysis ReportRoku, Inc. (ROKU) : Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research || Crypto exchange Kraken rethinks how it will go public after Coinbase stock listing: Jesse Powell is having second thoughts about unleashing the Kraken directly on public markets.
Powell is the chief executive officer ofKraken, one of the most richly valued cryptocurrency startups. He previously toldCNBCthat his exchange is considering a public debutvia direct listing in 2022as the soaring price of Bitcoin and its ilk led to record trading volumes over the course of the pandemic.
Subscribe to The Ledgerfor expert weekly analysis on fintech’s big stories, delivered free to your inbox.
But Powell is having second thoughts about that approach. After seeing the tumultuous performance rival crypto trading platform,Coinbase, after it wentpublic via direct listingin April, Powell toldFortune'sBalancing The Ledgershowthat he is taking a harder look at a more traditional initial public offering.
Founded in 2012, Coinbase was the first major cryptocurrency company to test the public's appetite with its stock market sale. The move cemented Coinbase's position as a bellwether for many other crypto businesses also looking for capital tomatch their rapid growth. So far, Coinbase's performance has been choppy: Valued as $68.1 billion shortly following its direct listing, the largest U.S. exchange by volume now sits at about $47 billion.
In conversation withFortune'shosts Robert Hackett and Anne Sraders, Powell ascribed much of Coinbase's choppiness to the peculiarities of direct listing. Unlike an IPO, in which bankers have greater control over the pricing process, a direct listing allows more of the pricediscoveryto happen organically by the market. In a direct listing, existing shareholders also aren't barred from selling their shares at debut, unlike in typical IPOs. That often means a larger supply of shares go on sale, which can push the price downward.
"An IPO is looking a little more attractive in light of the direct listing's performance," Powell said on the episode released Thursday. "I would say we're looking at it more seriously now having the benefit of seeing how the direct public offering played out for Coinbase."
The CEO reiterated that he hopes to make a public debut in the second half of 2022.
By then, "hopefully we'll have more analyst coverage out, and there's just more of a track record of growth for the industry that people feel like they can rely on," he said. A more experienced market could create better conditions for other crypto businesses looking to make debuts.
Powell's consideration of a more typical IPO instead of a direct listing is especially striking because it would presumably include more input from the usual Wall Street bankers in its road to a public debut. Crypto proponents have been among the most acerbic critics of financial institutions. As Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong toldCNBCin April, the direct listing process is in many ways "more true to the ethos of crypto."
But as the crypto movement has ballooned, the upstarts and older banks have had to becomestrange bedfellowsin some cases, with the former finding benefits in the resources that the banks have built up and the latter scared to lose out on future innovations. Still, that hasn't stopped crypto advocates from calling out Wall Street for being slow on the uptake.
"I think [Wall Street is] just so tied up in the legacy way of doing things," Powell said when asked about Coinbase's spotty stock performance. The incumbents have "a lot to lose from the success of this space. I think you might be seeing people facing this cognitive dissonance of becoming increasingly aware of the impending doom of the legacy financial system."
While Powell didn't rule out either a direct listing or an IPO, he did cross out a major investment banking breadwinner of the pandemic: aspecial purpose acquisition company. "It might have been possible a few years ago, but today, I think we're too big to consider doing a SPAC," he said.
Clarification(6/11; 5:50 P.M. ET): Powell previously said Kraken may go public in the second half of 2022. An earlier version of this article suggested he had only said the company would seek a 2022 IPO in past interviews. The headline has also been adjusted for clarity.
• Hot cryptocurrencies set offa stampedefor their unlikely mascot: Shiba Inu dogs
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• Ally’s move to eliminate overdraft feesputs more pressure on big banksto lose a big revenue source
• Why inflationcould end the truceat Europe’s central bank over Fed-style money printing
• Reddit’s WallStreetBets communityturns its focus to Clover Health
This story was originally featured onFortune.com || Crypto exchange Kraken rethinks how it will go public after Coinbase stock listing: Jesse Powell is having second thoughts about unleashing the Kraken directly on public markets. Powell is the chief executive officer of Kraken , one of the most richly valued cryptocurrency startups. He previously told CNBC that his exchange is considering a public debut via direct listing in 2022 as the soaring price of Bitcoin and its ilk led to record trading volumes over the course of the pandemic. Subscribe to The Ledger for expert weekly analysis on fintech’s big stories, delivered free to your inbox. But Powell is having second thoughts about that approach. After seeing the tumultuous performance rival crypto trading platform, Coinbase , after it went public via direct listing in April, Powell told Fortune's Balancing The Ledger show that he is taking a harder look at a more traditional initial public offering. Founded in 2012, Coinbase was the first major cryptocurrency company to test the public's appetite with its stock market sale. The move cemented Coinbase's position as a bellwether for many other crypto businesses also looking for capital to match their rapid growth . So far, Coinbase's performance has been choppy: Valued as $68.1 billion shortly following its direct listing, the largest U.S. exchange by volume now sits at about $47 billion. In conversation with Fortune's hosts Robert Hackett and Anne Sraders, Powell ascribed much of Coinbase's choppiness to the peculiarities of direct listing. Unlike an IPO, in which bankers have greater control over the pricing process, a direct listing allows more of the price discovery to happen organically by the market. In a direct listing, existing shareholders also aren't barred from selling their shares at debut, unlike in typical IPOs. That often means a larger supply of shares go on sale, which can push the price downward. "An IPO is looking a little more attractive in light of the direct listing's performance," Powell said on the episode released Thursday. "I would say we're looking at it more seriously now having the benefit of seeing how the direct public offering played out for Coinbase." Story continues The CEO reiterated that he hopes to make a public debut in the second half of 2022. By then, "hopefully we'll have more analyst coverage out, and there's just more of a track record of growth for the industry that people feel like they can rely on," he said. A more experienced market could create better conditions for other crypto businesses looking to make debuts. Powell's consideration of a more typical IPO instead of a direct listing is especially striking because it would presumably include more input from the usual Wall Street bankers in its road to a public debut. Crypto proponents have been among the most acerbic critics of financial institutions. As Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong told CNBC in April, the direct listing process is in many ways "more true to the ethos of crypto." But as the crypto movement has ballooned, the upstarts and older banks have had to become strange bedfellows in some cases, with the former finding benefits in the resources that the banks have built up and the latter scared to lose out on future innovations. Still, that hasn't stopped crypto advocates from calling out Wall Street for being slow on the uptake. "I think [Wall Street is] just so tied up in the legacy way of doing things," Powell said when asked about Coinbase's spotty stock performance. The incumbents have "a lot to lose from the success of this space. I think you might be seeing people facing this cognitive dissonance of becoming increasingly aware of the impending doom of the legacy financial system." While Powell didn't rule out either a direct listing or an IPO, he did cross out a major investment banking breadwinner of the pandemic: a special purpose acquisition company . "It might have been possible a few years ago, but today, I think we're too big to consider doing a SPAC," he said. Clarification (6/11; 5:50 P.M. ET): Powell previously said Kraken may go public in the second half of 2022. An earlier version of this article suggested he had only said the company would seek a 2022 IPO in past interviews. The headline has also been adjusted for clarity. More must-read finance coverage from Fortune : Hot cryptocurrencies set off a stampede for their unlikely mascot: Shiba Inu dogs Trivago’s CFO emerges from a "long and very difficult winter" Ally’s move to eliminate overdraft fees puts more pressure on big banks to lose a big revenue source Why inflation could end the truce at Europe’s central bank over Fed-style money printing Reddit’s WallStreetBets community turns its focus to Clover Health This story was originally featured on Fortune.com || Lenders offer big credit card bonuses and rewards to 'get a piece' of spending explosion: Vaccinated and flush with cash, many Americans are ready to spend to make up for lost time. And credit card companies are dangling big-time sign-up bonuses and rewards to seize that pent-up demand. “We’re going to see an extremely competitive time in the coming six months to a year as people get back to spending on credit cards,” Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree, told Yahoo Money. “There's been this discussion of a giant explosion of spending after the pandemic and reopening, and lenders want to get a piece of that.” Last week, Chase upped its sign-on bonus to 100,000 points on its Sapphire Preferred card, after increasing incentives last month for its co-branded cards with Southwest and IHG. This week, Wells Fargo introduced a new card with unlimited 2% cash rewards and no annual fee — plus a small bonus — while Citi on Thursday came out with a new no-fee card of its own with 5% cash back on up to $500 a month in spending. Both American Express and Capital One have also bumped up their rewards or bonuses recently. People wear face masks inside of a shopping mall in Manhattan on May 13, 2021 in New York City. The CDC announced that people who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 do not need to wear masks or practice social distancing indoors or outdoors any longer with the exception of exception of special circumstances. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) (Spencer Platt via Getty Images) The rewards arms race comes as vaccinations ramp up, the economy reopens, and many Americans are well-positioned to spend. The savings rate during the pandemic has been historically high, with government support and limited spending options bolstering Americans’ coffers. At the same time, consumers have paid down their credit card debt in record fashion, improving their balance sheet. Household wealth has also hit a new high. “A lot of people are in way better financial shape today than they expected to be a year ago and people may have more cash in their pockets,” Schulz said. “They may feel more secure about their jobs and that gives them the confidence to spend and that gives lenders the confidence to lend more.” YF Plus Last year, credit card companies didn’t know how to react to the unprecedented economic landscape that saw 20.5 million jobs lost in April 2020 alone. Many issuers slashed credit lines or closed card accounts altogether to reduce their exposure to defaults. They originated 25% fewer accounts versus 2019, while the credit limits of those new accounts were 37% lower year-over-year, according to Equifax. Story continues “Credit card issuers were very cautious in 2020. We didn’t see many newsworthy card launches,” said Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at CreditCards.com, in an email. “As we approach the midpoint of 2021, we’re seeing more signs of recovery, including heightened marketing spending, increased consumer card usage, and elevated sign-up bonuses.” People walked and shopped along S. Catalina Avenue in the Riviera Village shopping area of Redondo Beach, CA, a day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) loosened guidelines for vaccinated people, with masks no longer being necessary when outdoors or in most indoor situations, Friday, May 14, 2021. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) (Jay L. Clendenin via Getty Images) Borrowers still should remain savvy and understand what is required to get these sign-up incentives. Typically, a card holder must spend a minimum amount in a specific timeframe to get awarded the bonus, and these thresholds can vary widely from card to card. Spending to just get a bonus is one good way to start digging back into credit card debt, an outcome that Schulz expects to happen as the year and spending enthusiasm wear on. In fact, four in 10 U.S. adults said that they're willing to take on debt to “treat themselves,” according to a recent CreditCards.com poll . “People will go overboard and credit card debt will definitely rise,” Schulz said, “in part because that's what Americans do.” Yahoo Money sister site Cashay has a weekly newsletter. Janna is an editor for Yahoo Money and Cashay . Follow her on Twitter @JannaHerron . Read more: 'He has to take his lumps': Behind a Rhode Island real estate deal involving 160,000 dogecoins Buying a house with crypto 'can take you down a rabbit hole' Bitcoin and housing market collide as home sellers increasingly accept crypto Read more personal finance information, news, and tips on Cashay || Lenders offer big credit card bonuses and rewards to 'get a piece' of spending explosion: Vaccinated and flush with cash, many Americans are ready to spend to make up for lost time. And credit card companies are dangling big-time sign-up bonuses and rewards to seize that pent-up demand.
“We’re going to see an extremely competitive time in the coming six months to a year as people get back to spending on credit cards,” Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree, told Yahoo Money. “There's been this discussion of a giant explosion of spending after the pandemic and reopening, and lenders want to get a piece of that.”
Last week, Chase upped its sign-on bonus to 100,000 points on its Sapphire Preferred card, after increasing incentives last month for its co-branded cards with Southwest and IHG. This week, Wells Fargo introduced a new card with unlimited 2% cash rewards and no annual fee — plus a small bonus — while Citi on Thursday came out with a new no-fee card of its own with 5% cash back on up to $500 a month in spending. Both American Express and Capital One have also bumped up their rewards or bonuses recently.
The rewards arms race comes as vaccinations ramp up, the economy reopens, and many Americans are well-positioned to spend.
The savings rate during the pandemic has been historically high, with government support and limited spending options bolstering Americans’ coffers. At the same time, consumers have paid down their credit card debt in record fashion, improving their balance sheet. Household wealth has also hit a new high.
“A lot of people are in way better financial shape today than they expected to be a year ago and people may have more cash in their pockets,” Schulz said. “They may feel more secure about their jobs and that gives them the confidence to spend and that gives lenders the confidence to lend more.”
Last year, credit card companies didn’t know how to react to the unprecedented economic landscape that saw 20.5 million jobs lost in April 2020 alone.
Many issuersslashed credit lines or closed card accountsaltogether to reduce their exposure to defaults. They originated 25% fewer accounts versus 2019, while the credit limits of those new accounts were 37% lower year-over-year, according to Equifax.
“Credit card issuers were very cautious in 2020. We didn’t see many newsworthy card launches,” said Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at CreditCards.com, in an email. “As we approach the midpoint of 2021, we’re seeing more signs of recovery, including heightened marketing spending, increased consumer card usage, and elevated sign-up bonuses.”
Borrowers still should remain savvy and understand what is required to get these sign-up incentives. Typically, a card holder must spend a minimum amount in a specific timeframe to get awarded the bonus, and these thresholds can vary widely from card to card.
Spending to just get a bonus is one good way to start digging back into credit card debt, an outcome that Schulz expects to happen as the year and spending enthusiasm wear on. In fact, four in 10 U.S. adults said that they're willing to take on debt to “treat themselves,” according to a recentCreditCards.com poll.
“People will go overboard and credit card debt will definitely rise,” Schulz said, “in part because that's what Americans do.”
Janna is an editor for Yahoo Money andCashay. Follow her on Twitter@JannaHerron.
Read more:
• 'He has to take his lumps': Behind a Rhode Island real estate deal involving 160,000 dogecoins
• Buying a house with crypto 'can take you down a rabbit hole'
• Bitcoin and housing market collide as home sellers increasingly accept crypto
Read more personal finance information, news, and tips on Cashay || Nigeria’s Central Bank May Launch a Digital Currency Pilot in 2021: Nigeria may launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC) by the end of 2021, according to a central bank official.
Speaking at an online news briefing on Thursday,Rakiya Mohammed, an information technology specialist at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), said that the entity had been exploring a possible CBDC for over two years, according to local media reports.
“Before the end of the year, the central bank will be making [a] special announcement and possibly launching a pilot scheme in order to be able to provide this kind of currency to the populace,” Mohammed wasquotedin Today, a local news outlet.
Related:Brazil’s Central Bank Pushes Back Target Date on CBDC by Two Years
Nigerian authorities have been debating how to regulate the use of private cryptocurrencies in the country. Earlier this year, the CBNorderedall local banks to seek and shut down accounts tied to crypto platforms, although the governor of the bank laterclarifiedthat crypto trading is not banned in the country.
Meanwhile, cryptocurrency usage as astore of value and remittance toolis soaring in Nigeria, with Ray Youssef, the CEO of peer-to-peer lending platform Paxfulsayinglast week that the African nation is its biggest market.
Mohammed said one reason for a CBDC would be to make it easier to transfer remittances into the country. Before the pandemic hit and caused a dip in remittances worldwide, Nigeriareceivedmore than $5 billion in remittances quarterly. Earlier this year, Nigeria set up a temporaryrewards programto encourage international transfers to Nigeria.
The specialist also said that CBN will explore different technology options, engage various industry players and test the digital currency.
Related:Stablecoins, CBDCs Don’t Present Inherent Risk to Financial Stability: Bank of England Executive Says
Mohammed reportedly said that the CBDC would complement cash, and that the CBN has looked at the architecture, accessibility and privacy issues of a digital currency, according to Today.
• Bank of France, Swiss National Bank Begin Cross-Border CBDC Experiment
• Elizabeth Warren, US Lawmakers Put Bitcoin on Trial in Senate CBDC Hearing || Nigeria’s Central Bank May Launch a Digital Currency Pilot in 2021: Nigeria may launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC) by the end of 2021, according to a central bank official. Speaking at an online news briefing on Thursday, Rakiya Mohammed , an information technology specialist at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), said that the entity had been exploring a possible CBDC for over two years, according to local media reports. “Before the end of the year, the central bank will be making [a] special announcement and possibly launching a pilot scheme in order to be able to provide this kind of currency to the populace,” Mohammed was quoted in Today, a local news outlet. Related: Brazil’s Central Bank Pushes Back Target Date on CBDC by Two Years Nigerian authorities have been debating how to regulate the use of private cryptocurrencies in the country. Earlier this year, the CBN ordered all local banks to seek and shut down accounts tied to crypto platforms, although the governor of the bank later clarified that crypto trading is not banned in the country. Meanwhile, cryptocurrency usage as a store of value and remittance tool is soaring in Nigeria, with Ray Youssef, the CEO of peer-to-peer lending platform Paxful saying last week that the African nation is its biggest market. Mohammed said one reason for a CBDC would be to make it easier to transfer remittances into the country. Before the pandemic hit and caused a dip in remittances worldwide, Nigeria received more than $5 billion in remittances quarterly. Earlier this year, Nigeria set up a temporary rewards program to encourage international transfers to Nigeria. The specialist also said that CBN will explore different technology options, engage various industry players and test the digital currency. Related: Stablecoins, CBDCs Don’t Present Inherent Risk to Financial Stability: Bank of England Executive Says Mohammed reportedly said that the CBDC would complement cash, and that the CBN has looked at the architecture, accessibility and privacy issues of a digital currency, according to Today. Related Stories Bank of France, Swiss National Bank Begin Cross-Border CBDC Experiment Elizabeth Warren, US Lawmakers Put Bitcoin on Trial in Senate CBDC Hearing
[Social Media Buzz]
None available.
|
35552.52, 39097.86, 40218.48, 40406.27, 38347.06, 38053.50, 35787.25, 35615.87, 35698.30, 31676.69
|
Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 1251.01, 1274.99, 1255.15, 1267.12, 1272.83, 1223.54, 1150.00, 1188.49, 1116.72, 1175.83, 1221.38, 1231.92, 1240.00, 1249.61, 1187.81, 1100.23, 973.82, 1036.74, 1054.23, 1120.54, 1049.14, 1038.59, 937.52, 972.78, 966.72, 1045.77, 1047.15, 1039.97, 1026.43, 1071.79, 1080.50, 1102.17, 1143.81, 1133.25, 1124.78, 1182.68, 1176.90, 1175.95, 1187.87, 1187.13, 1205.01, 1200.37, 1169.28, 1167.54, 1172.52, 1182.94, 1193.91, 1211.67, 1210.29, 1229.08, 1222.05, 1231.71, 1207.21, 1250.15, 1265.49, 1281.08, 1317.73, 1316.48, 1321.79, 1347.89, 1421.60, 1452.82, 1490.09, 1537.67, 1555.45, 1578.80, 1596.71, 1723.35, 1755.36, 1787.13, 1848.57, 1724.24, 1804.91, 1808.91, 1738.43, 1734.45, 1839.09, 1888.65, 1987.71, 2084.73, 2041.20, 2173.40, 2320.42, 2443.64, 2304.98, 2202.42, 2038.87, 2155.80, 2255.61, 2175.47.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2017-05-30]
Volume: 1443970048, RSI (14-day): 60.42, 50-day EMA: 1732.03, 200-day EMA: 1220.02
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1262.10, Gold RSI: 57.17
Oil Price: 49.66, Oil RSI: 51.52
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Japanese family life is falling apart — and the reasons why go back to World War II: (mrhayata/Flickr)
Japan is in the midst of a fertility crisis, and it's 65 years in the making.
Saddled with long work hours and rising expenses, young Japanese couples are opting not to have kids. Even if they have the energy to start a family, many simply don't have the time.
As a result, spending shrinks on the small scale and the Japanese economy contracts on the large scale. Japan has seen trillions in lost GDP over the past years, in combination with a population decline of 1 million people. Harvard sociologist Mary Brinton puts it bluntly:"This is death to the family," she tells Business Insider.
Japan's case isn't just extreme in scale; it's also extreme in how far the ripples of the past have extended into the present. Policies implemented in the early 1950s, in the aftermath of World War II, still shape the lives of many Japanese young people in 2017.
During the early 1950s, Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida made it his top priority to rebuild Japan's economy. Much of the country had just been decimated in some form — if not by the two atomic bombs, then by the resulting effects on business and daily life.
Yoshida's plan involved a pact made between businesses and their employees. He called on companies to offer lifetime employment to their workers, asking that those workers devote the whole of their beings to those jobs.
The pact worked. Japan's economy emerged from the rubble as one of the strongest in the world. Japan became a manufacturing and technological hub, and almost none of the work came from outside the country's borders, save for trace populations of Chinese immigrants.
Ultimately, Japan's economy ended up becoming the third-strongest in the world. Its present-day GDP stands at $4.3 trillion.
But there was a high cost to that initial pact: Family life began to deteriorate. As more people began staying later at the office, and women began entering the workforce en masse, Japan's fertility rate started to plunge because its corporate structure wasn't built to accommodate both.
What started as a healthy 2.75 children per woman in the 1950sfell to 2.08by 1960. Today, more than 50 years later, Japan's fertility rate sits at 1.41.
Yoshida's plan worked, and yet Japan still clings to its intense work culture. Frances Rosenbluth, a Yale University political scientist, says the early competition between firms to attract top talent for life has cemented Japan's corporate structure.
"You are promoted gradually with your class," she tells Business Insider. "You're sort of on this escalator of very steady, slow promotion. And if you leave your job you have to start over somewhere else. It's not a fluid labor market where you can pick up a job at another place with the assets you've accumulated in human capital."
This has led to many Japanese couples having almost no free time. Men work16-hour days at times, while their wives may work similarly long hours. Some couples achieve a work-life balance by becoming entrepreneurs, allowing them to set their own schedules. But many fall victim to a system that dictates the roles men and women should play.
"Despite that there's an equal opportunity employment law, firms will find ways to avoid hiring and promoting women just for the economic reason," which is that women may leave to have kids, Rosenbluth says. "We call it statistical discrimination."
Rosenbluth says Japanese family life can't repair itself until companies make it easier to balance the demands of a job and home life. And since many firms don't see any incentive to do that, the government has a duty to offer tax breaks to those offer balance, Rosenbluth says.
Brinton takes a similar stance.
"No matter what you say, what you hear out of Prime Minister Abe's mouth, it's not about gender equality," she says. "It's about productivity of the economy and addressing the fact that Japan is one of the most rapidly aging societies in the world and they're going to run out of labor unless women have more babies."
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For morenews videosvisitYahoo View, available oniOSandAndroid.
NOW WATCH:This automatic shopping basket could revolutionize the way you buy groceries
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• The 15 fastest-growing cities in the US
• Bitcoin is going wild — here's what the cryptocurrency is all about
• A historian's TED talk on basic income got a standing ovation — here's what he said || Japanese family life is falling apart — and the reasons why go back to World War II: japanese family (mrhayata/Flickr) Japan is in the midst of a fertility crisis, and it's 65 years in the making. Saddled with long work hours and rising expenses, young Japanese couples are opting not to have kids. Even if they have the energy to start a family, many simply don't have the time. As a result, spending shrinks on the small scale and the Japanese economy contracts on the large scale. Japan has seen trillions in lost GDP over the past years, in combination with a population decline of 1 million people. Harvard sociologist Mary Brinton puts it bluntly: "This is death to the family," she tells Business Insider. Japan's case isn't just extreme in scale; it's also extreme in how far the ripples of the past have extended into the present. Policies implemented in the early 1950s, in the aftermath of World War II, still shape the lives of many Japanese young people in 2017. During the early 1950s, Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida made it his top priority to rebuild Japan's economy. Much of the country had just been decimated in some form — if not by the two atomic bombs, then by the resulting effects on business and daily life. Yoshida's plan involved a pact made between businesses and their employees. He called on companies to offer lifetime employment to their workers, asking that those workers devote the whole of their beings to those jobs. The pact worked. Japan's economy emerged from the rubble as one of the strongest in the world. Japan became a manufacturing and technological hub, and almost none of the work came from outside the country's borders, save for trace populations of Chinese immigrants. Ultimately, Japan's economy ended up becoming the third-strongest in the world. Its present-day GDP stands at $4.3 trillion. But there was a high cost to that initial pact: Family life began to deteriorate. As more people began staying later at the office, and women began entering the workforce en masse, Japan's fertility rate started to plunge because its corporate structure wasn't built to accommodate both. Story continues What started as a healthy 2.75 children per woman in the 1950s fell to 2.08 by 1960. Today, more than 50 years later, Japan's fertility rate sits at 1.41. Yoshida's plan worked, and yet Japan still clings to its intense work culture. Frances Rosenbluth, a Yale University political scientist, says the early competition between firms to attract top talent for life has cemented Japan's corporate structure. "You are promoted gradually with your class," she tells Business Insider. "You're sort of on this escalator of very steady, slow promotion. And if you leave your job you have to start over somewhere else. It's not a fluid labor market where you can pick up a job at another place with the assets you've accumulated in human capital." This has led to many Japanese couples having almost no free time. Men work 16-hour days at times , while their wives may work similarly long hours. Some couples achieve a work-life balance by becoming entrepreneurs, allowing them to set their own schedules. But many fall victim to a system that dictates the roles men and women should play. "Despite that there's an equal opportunity employment law, firms will find ways to avoid hiring and promoting women just for the economic reason," which is that women may leave to have kids, Rosenbluth says. "We call it statistical discrimination." Rosenbluth says Japanese family life can't repair itself until companies make it easier to balance the demands of a job and home life. And since many firms don't see any incentive to do that, the government has a duty to offer tax breaks to those offer balance, Rosenbluth says. Brinton takes a similar stance. "No matter what you say, what you hear out of Prime Minister Abe's mouth, it's not about gender equality," she says. "It's about productivity of the economy and addressing the fact that Japan is one of the most rapidly aging societies in the world and they're going to run out of labor unless women have more babies." Related Video: For more news videos visit Yahoo View , available on iOS and Android . NOW WATCH: This automatic shopping basket could revolutionize the way you buy groceries More From Business Insider The 15 fastest-growing cities in the US Bitcoin is going wild — here's what the cryptocurrency is all about A historian's TED talk on basic income got a standing ovation — here's what he said || We went inside an Amazon Prime Now hub to learn how Amazon does 2-hour delivery: Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is quietly expanding Prime Now, its free 2-hour delivery service. After originally launching in one zip code in New York City back in 2014, it's now available in more than 45 cities in eight countries. This year alone, it's added 14 more cities. But don't feel bad if you haven't heard about it yet. Amazon may be keeping it under wraps as it ramps up its offerings and perfects its fastest delivery method yet. After all, you won't find the service on the Amazon mobile app — you'll have to give up some screen real estate for its "Prime Now" app. We headed inside one of Amazon's Prime Now hubs in the company's hometown, Seattle, to see for ourselves what free 2-hour delivery looks like. What we found was surprising efficiency, a whole lot of randomness and some hints as to what Seattle consumers are shopping for. And, possibility, Amazon's vision for the future of ecommerce and retail. The Prime Now service offers a smaller selection of mostly household items available on Amazon.com to Prime members with a free 2-hour delivery window. It's no small feat considering there are tens of thousands of products available, as well as selections from local restaurants and stores. There's even ice cream and chilled wine on offer. Unlike Amazon.com's fulfillment centers, which are over a million square feet and house millions of items, Prime Now hubs are closer to city centers and about 30 to 50 square feet on average. Humans — not robots — manually pick out the items in an order from rows of shelving and bins, using internal Amazon systems that have cataloged where every item is stored. Amazon can also tells a "picker" the most efficient route to getting all those items as quickly as possible. When we visited the hub, around noon, there were only a few orders to fill and everything seemed to run smoothly. We didn't get to see how the hub handled a rush of orders or bottlenecks, which typically happen around 6 or 7pm when customers order items or groceries to arrive as they get home. More From CNBC Gianforte win means two of Montana's three congressional reps have Oracle ties Facebook is making a big push this summer to sell ads to drugmakers Bitcoin rival Ripple is sitting on many billions of dollars worth of currency || We went inside an Amazon Prime Now hub to learn how Amazon does 2-hour delivery: Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is quietly expanding Prime Now, its free 2-hour delivery service. After originally launching in one zip code in New York City back in 2014, it's now available in more than 45 cities in eight countries. This year alone, it's added 14 more cities. But don't feel bad if you haven't heard about it yet. Amazon may be keeping it under wraps as it ramps up its offerings and perfects its fastest delivery method yet. After all, you won't find the service on the Amazon mobile app — you'll have to give up some screen real estate for its "Prime Now" app. We headed inside one of Amazon's Prime Now hubs in the company's hometown, Seattle, to see for ourselves what free 2-hour delivery looks like. What we found was surprising efficiency, a whole lot of randomness and some hints as to what Seattle consumers are shopping for. And, possibility, Amazon's vision for the future of ecommerce and retail. The Prime Now service offers a smaller selection of mostly household items available on Amazon.com to Prime members with a free 2-hour delivery window. It's no small feat considering there are tens of thousands of products available, as well as selections from local restaurants and stores. There's even ice cream and chilled wine on offer. Unlike Amazon.com's fulfillment centers, which are over a million square feet and house millions of items, Prime Now hubs are closer to city centers and about 30 to 50 square feet on average. Humans — not robots — manually pick out the items in an order from rows of shelving and bins, using internal Amazon systems that have cataloged where every item is stored. Amazon can also tells a "picker" the most efficient route to getting all those items as quickly as possible. When we visited the hub, around noon, there were only a few orders to fill and everything seemed to run smoothly. We didn't get to see how the hub handled a rush of orders or bottlenecks, which typically happen around 6 or 7pm when customers order items or groceries to arrive as they get home. More From CNBC Gianforte win means two of Montana's three congressional reps have Oracle ties Facebook is making a big push this summer to sell ads to drugmakers Bitcoin rival Ripple is sitting on many billions of dollars worth of currency || Google co-founder Sergey Brin is reportedly building a gigantic $100 million blimp: Google co-founder Sergey Brin is spending $100 million to $150 million to build a blimp that will be the world's biggest aircraft when it's finished, according to The Guardian . The blimp, as first reported by Bloomberg , is under construction at a giant hangar in the NASA Ames airfield near Google headquarters in Mountain View, California. Google signed a 60-year lease for $1.1 billion in 2014, through a subsidiary called Planetary Ventures, and is working with engineer Alan Weston, who is employed by a company known as LTA ("lighter than air") Research and Exploration. The company, controlled by Brin's family, was listed in Google's 2017 proxy as a lessor of part of the Ames hangar. The blimp will be almost 656 feet (200 meters) long, The Guardian reports, and will go on humanitarian missions to remote locations as well as serving as an "air yacht" for Brin and his family. Read the full Guardian report here. More From CNBC Bitcoin is outperforming major assets but hedge funds are still staying away Lyft ditches pink mustache ornament in favor of a useful piece of hardware Bitcoin correction sees nearly $4 billion wiped off value of the cryptocurrency || Google co-founder Sergey Brin is reportedly building a gigantic $100 million blimp: Google co-founder Sergey Brin is spending $100 million to $150 million to build a blimp that will be the world's biggest aircraft when it's finished, according toThe Guardian.
The blimp, as first reported byBloomberg, is under construction at a giant hangar in the NASA Ames airfield near Google headquarters in Mountain View, California. Google signed a 60-year lease for $1.1 billion in 2014, through a subsidiary called Planetary Ventures, and is working with engineer Alan Weston, who is employed by a company known as LTA ("lighter than air") Research and Exploration. The company, controlled by Brin's family, was listed in Google's2017 proxyas a lessor of part of the Ames hangar.
The blimp will be almost 656 feet (200 meters) long, The Guardian reports, and will go on humanitarian missions to remote locations as well as serving as an "air yacht" for Brin and his family.
Read the full Guardian report here.
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• Bitcoin correction sees nearly $4 billion wiped off value of the cryptocurrency || Sergey Brin's secret blimp will be a luxury 'air yacht' and be used to deliver humanitarian aid, report says: (Sergey BrinYudhi Mahatma/Antara Foto/Reuters)
More details are leaking about Google co-founderSergey Brin's secret quest to build a giant airship.
Bloomberg broke the newslast month that Brin was working on a secret blimp project at Moffett Field.Business Insider subsequently reportedthat Brin's company was called LTA Research & Exploration and that it has been leasing space from Google parent company Alphabet.
Now anonymous sources tell The Guardian that the ship is being personally funded by Brin at an estimated cost of over $100 million. The blimp is expected to be massive in both scale and grandeur — something like 200 meters long. That's not as big as the famously unfortunate Hindenburg,which was 245 meters. But some say it would be among the biggest aircraft flying the skies today, and possibly the biggest.
These sources expect that Brin plans to use it to bring humanitarian food and supplies to the far corners of the world. And they also expect him to use it as luxurious "air yacht" for the billionaire and his family and friends to enjoy, according to the report.
Brin declined common on the original Bloomberg story, nor did he comment on the Guardian story and Alphabet declined comment to Business Insider as well.
(Raytheon)Brin is said to be fascinated with air travel. The unit he oversees at Google's parent company Alphabet is working on all kinds of aircraft, including balloon type crafts. Brin is the executive champion of the unit formerly called Google X, now calling itself simply X.
Earlier this week, the unit gave updates on several of its projects includingProject Loon, which delivers internet connectivity to remote regions using balloons.Loon is beingused by tens of thousands of people in flood-affected zones in Peru, X says. That's the first time that balloon-powered internet has been used to connect so many people.
X also has a project called Makani that's trying to generate electricity from an energy kite.Earlier this month, it had a successful prototype test of the kite, which X says is the largest ever of its kind at 600 kilowatts.
And then there's Project Wing, the unit's drone delivery project. Although we've reported on this project's troubles and set-backs, it was also called out as a project to watch by Alphabet CEO Larry Page in his annualletter to shareholders in April.
As we previously reported,Brin is actively involved at X and even has his own desk installed in some of the projects, like Wing. So, when it comes to objects that fly, Brin just can't seem to get enough.
NOW WATCH:HENRY BLODGET: Bitcoin could go to $1 million (or fall to $0)
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• Here's who would win if Russia, China, and America all went to war right now
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• This deal brings Sony’s best noise-cancelling headphones down to their lowest price ever || Sergey Brin's secret blimp will be a luxury 'air yacht' and be used to deliver humanitarian aid, report says: Sergey Brin (Sergey BrinYudhi Mahatma/Antara Foto/Reuters) More details are leaking about Google co-founder Sergey Brin's secret quest to build a giant airship. Bloomberg broke the news last month that Brin was working on a secret blimp project at Moffett Field. Business Insider subsequently reported that Brin's company was called LTA Research & Exploration and that it has been leasing space from Google parent company Alphabet. Now anonymous sources tell The Guardian that the ship is being personally funded by Brin at an estimated cost of over $100 million. The blimp is expected to be massive in both scale and grandeur — something like 200 meters long. That's not as big as the famously unfortunate Hindenburg, which was 245 meters . But some say it would be among the biggest aircraft flying the skies today, and possibly the biggest. These sources expect that Brin plans to use it to bring humanitarian food and supplies to the far corners of the world. And they also expect him to use it as luxurious "air yacht" for the billionaire and his family and friends to enjoy, according to the report. Brin declined common on the original Bloomberg story, nor did he comment on the Guardian story and Alphabet declined comment to Business Insider as well. raytheon jlens blimp security (Raytheon) Brin is said to be fascinated with air travel. The unit he oversees at Google's parent company Alphabet is working on all kinds of aircraft, including balloon type crafts. Brin is the executive champion of the unit formerly called Google X, now calling itself simply X. Earlier this week, the unit gave updates on several of its projects including Project Loon, which delivers internet connectivity to remote regions using balloons. Loon is being used by tens of thousands of people in flood-affected zones in Peru, X says. That's the first time that balloon-powered internet has been used to connect so many people. X also has a project called Makani that's trying to generate electricity from an energy kite. Earlier this month , it had a successful prototype test of the kite, which X says is the largest ever of its kind at 600 kilowatts. Story continues And then there's Project Wing, the unit's drone delivery project. Although we've reported on this project's troubles and set-backs, it was also called out as a project to watch by Alphabet CEO Larry Page in his annual letter to shareholders in April. As we previously reported, Brin is actively involved at X and even has his own desk installed in some of the projects, like Wing. So, when it comes to objects that fly, Brin just can't seem to get enough. NOW WATCH: HENRY BLODGET: Bitcoin could go to $1 million (or fall to $0) More From Business Insider Here's who would win if Russia, China, and America all went to war right now These are the 22 victims of the Manchester bombing This deal brings Sony’s best noise-cancelling headphones down to their lowest price ever || Bitcoin Is Twice as Valuable as Gold Right Now: A single bitcoin is now roughly twice as valuable as an ounce of gold. The most recent flurry of buying helped send the price of bitcoin up over $2,600 in trading Friday, while the value of gold has stayed at about $1,267 per ounce. Bitcoins value has since pared its gains, and traded at about $2,433 midday Friday. Just two months ago, bitcoin only just inched above the value of gold . The surge comes as the cryptocurrency gains legitimacy in countries such as Japan, and Chinese regulators look to be growing more tolerant of bitcoin . Despite bitcoins volatility, some investors have also come to see the currency as a good place to store funds in times of geopolitical uncertainty. Gold, too, is known to be a safe haven asset -- investors buy the precious metal when turmoil looks just around the bend. But while gold has risen 10% this year, bitcoin has risen 153%. See original article on Fortune.com More from Fortune.com This Banking Giant Says Take Hold of Gold in 2017 Gold Hits Highest Level of Trump Presidency The 5 Best Gold and Energy Stocks for 2017 The Stock Market Just Voted for Hillary Clinton for President This 18-Karat Gold Toilet Is Now Open For Public Use || Bitcoin Is Twice as Valuable as Gold Right Now: A single bitcoin is now roughly twice as valuable as an ounce of gold.
The most recent flurry of buying helped send the price of bitcoin up over $2,600 in trading Friday, while the value of gold has stayed at about $1,267 per ounce. Bitcoin’s value has since pared its gains, and traded at about $2,433 midday Friday.
Just two months ago, bitcoinonly just inched above the value of gold.
The surge comes as thecryptocurrency gainslegitimacy in countries such as Japan, and Chinese regulators look to be growingmore tolerant of bitcoin. Despite bitcoin’s volatility, some investors have also come to see the currency as a good place to store funds in times of geopolitical uncertainty.
Gold, too, is known to be a “safe haven” asset -- investors buy the precious metal when turmoil looks just around the bend. But while gold has risen 10% this year, bitcoin has risen 153%.
See original article on Fortune.com
More from Fortune.com
• This Banking Giant Says Take Hold of Gold in 2017
• Gold Hits Highest Level of Trump Presidency
• The 5 Best Gold and Energy Stocks for 2017
• The Stock Market Just Voted for Hillary Clinton for President
• This 18-Karat Gold Toilet Is Now Open For Public Use || Bitcoin Is Twice as Valuable as Gold Right Now: A single bitcoin is now roughly twice as valuable as an ounce of gold.
The most recent flurry of buying helped send the price of bitcoin up over $2,600 in trading Friday, while the value of gold has stayed at about $1,267 per ounce. Bitcoin’s value has since pared its gains, and traded at about $2,433 midday Friday.
Just two months ago, bitcoinonly just inched above the value of gold.
The surge comes as thecryptocurrency gainslegitimacy in countries such as Japan, and Chinese regulators look to be growingmore tolerant of bitcoin. Despite bitcoin’s volatility, some investors have also come to see the currency as a good place to store funds in times of geopolitical uncertainty.
Gold, too, is known to be a “safe haven” asset -- investors buy the precious metal when turmoil looks just around the bend. But while gold has risen 10% this year, bitcoin has risen 153%.
See original article on Fortune.com
More from Fortune.com
• This Banking Giant Says Take Hold of Gold in 2017
• Gold Hits Highest Level of Trump Presidency
• The 5 Best Gold and Energy Stocks for 2017
• The Stock Market Just Voted for Hillary Clinton for President
• This 18-Karat Gold Toilet Is Now Open For Public Use || Chinese fighter jets pulled an 'unsafe' close pass near a US Navy plane over the South China Sea: (J-10s fly in formation at an air show.Xinhuanet)
Chinese fighter jets have once again engaged in "unsafe and unprofessional" behavior around a US Navy plane flying over the contested South China Sea,ABC News reports.
The US Navy plane was reportedly a P-3 Orion, which is used for maritime surveillance.
China has built and militarized artificial islands in the South China Sea and frequently asserts its sovereignty over the land features despite an international court ruling against its claims.
Recently, the USS Dewey, a guided-missile destroyer,contested China's claimsin the South China Sea by sailing past the Mischief Reef, one of China's militarized islands.
The US intends to bring this incident up with Chinese authorities at the next opportunity, according to ABC.
This incident is similar toanother occurrenceearlier in May, when a Chinese jet reportedly flipped over and flew upside down about 150 feet above a US Air Force WC-135.
(Reuters)
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• Here's who would win if Russia, China, and America all went to war right now
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• South Korea requires all males to serve in the military — here's what it's like || Chinese fighter jets pulled an 'unsafe' close pass near a US Navy plane over the South China Sea: china air force air show j-10 (J-10s fly in formation at an air show.Xinhuanet) Chinese fighter jets have once again engaged in "unsafe and unprofessional" behavior around a US Navy plane flying over the contested South China Sea, ABC News reports . The US Navy plane was reportedly a P-3 Orion, which is used for maritime surveillance. China has built and militarized artificial islands in the South China Sea and frequently asserts its sovereignty over the land features despite an international court ruling against its claims. Recently, the USS Dewey, a guided-missile destroyer, contested China's claims in the South China Sea by sailing past the Mischief Reef, one of China's militarized islands. The US intends to bring this incident up with Chinese authorities at the next opportunity, according to ABC. This incident is similar to another occurrence earlier in May, when a Chinese jet reportedly flipped over and flew upside down about 150 feet above a US Air Force WC-135. map south china sea (Reuters) NOW WATCH: The US's most advanced missile system is operational in South Korea and it has China and Russia alarmed More From Business Insider Here's who would win if Russia, China, and America all went to war right now Bitcoin blew past its record and soared to $2,800 in just a few hours and now it's plunging South Korea requires all males to serve in the military here's what it's like || Microsoft's new Surface products face long odds against Apple's record for reliability and support: Microsoft's new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop products are about to hit the market next month, but they're going to be up against Apple's latest, too, which have historically gained high praise from consumers for reliability and support. In Consumer Reports' latest survey of 83,000 computer owners, the magazine found that Apple's notebook computers had the lowest "broken or not working as well" percentage (17 percent), according to ZDNet . ASUS came in dead last with 33 percent of laptops purchased between 2012 and 2016 falling into that same category. Samsung trailed Apple in second place (27 percent broken or not working) while Dell came in third (29 percent) followed by HP (NYSE: HPQ) (30 percent) and Lenovo (31 percent.) The survey was published several months ago but Consumer Reports spokesperson Doug Love told CNBC on Friday: "I can tell you that Apple regularly performs at the top of Consumer Reports' reliability surveys." Consumers in the survey said just 15 percent of Apple's desktop computers were broken or not working well, again giving Apple the crown in that category. The survey also covered technical support and awarded Apple a score of 82, which meant readers were "very satisfied" with Apple support on average. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) was the nearest with a rating of 68, meaning readers were "fairly well-satisfied ." Microsoft will need to step up its game to keep new Surface owners pleased, especially in the tech support department. While Apple may be the winner among computers in that survey, a separate survey from J.D. Power published in April said the Microsoft Surface topped its tablet satisfaction study. Correction: This story was revised to clarify that the Consumer Reports survey on Apple was published several months ago. More From CNBC Bitcoin rival Ripple is sitting on many billions of dollars worth of currency GameStop shares tank despite earnings beat Bitcoin rival ethereum is headed for a 38% correction, analyst says || Microsoft's new Surface products face long odds against Apple's record for reliability and support: Microsoft's new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop products are about to hit the market next month, but they're going to be up against Apple's latest, too, which have historically gained high praise from consumers for reliability and support.
In Consumer Reports' latest survey of 83,000 computer owners, the magazine found that Apple's notebook computers had the lowest "broken or not working as well" percentage (17 percent), according toZDNet.
ASUS came in dead last with 33 percent of laptops purchased between 2012 and 2016 falling into that same category. Samsung trailed Apple in second place (27 percent broken or not working) while Dell came in third (29 percent) followed by HP(NYSE: HPQ)(30 percent) and Lenovo (31 percent.)
The survey was published several months ago but Consumer Reports spokesperson Doug Love told CNBC on Friday: "I can tell you that Apple regularly performs at the top of Consumer Reports' reliability surveys."
Consumers in the survey said just 15 percent of Apple's desktop computers were broken or not working well, again giving Apple the crown in that category.
The survey also covered technical support and awarded Apple a score of 82, which meant readers were "very satisfied" with Apple support on average. Microsoft(NASDAQ: MSFT)was the nearest with a rating of 68, meaning readers were "fairly well-satisfied ." Microsoft will need to step up its game to keep new Surface owners pleased, especially in the tech support department.
While Apple may be the winner among computers in that survey, a separate survey fromJ.D. Power published in Aprilsaid the Microsoft Surface topped its tablet satisfaction study.
Correction: This story was revised to clarify that the Consumer Reports survey on Apple was published several months ago.
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• Bitcoin rival ethereum is headed for a 38% correction, analyst says || Controversial Tanium CEO explains why he and his dad have total control of their $4 billion startup: Orion Tanium (Tanium cofounder CEO Orion HindawiCourtesy of Tanium) Don't ask Tanium CEO Orion Hindawi to apologize for the hard-edged internal company culture or his family's iron grip on the business, all of which have generated a slew of negative headlines recently. "Great things are not cuddly," Hindawi told Business Insider in an interview this week. Tanium's business of providing cyber-security services is a very "demanding, stressful thing," he said. And he refuses to pamper employees with the over-the-top perks that some of his Silicon Valley peers do. But those who don't like the way Orion Hindawi, and his father David Hindawi, who is the Tanium cofounder and Executive Chairman, run the business, will now have a way to get out. Tanium announced on Thursday that it will allow employees to cash out of $50 million worth of their stock to a suite of investors. The deal is part of a $100 million fund raising round. Tanium will use the money to buy employee shares. David Hindawi will also be cashing out $50 million dollars worth of stock in the deal, selling to the same group of investors. Business Insider caught up with Tanium cofounder CEO Orion Hindawi to discuss the deal, as well as the scathing exposé by Bloomberg that characterized the security startup as a stressful place to work, and Hindawi as a brutish leader. Hindawi talked openly with us about the culture of his company, the stock sale, the iron-clad hold over ownership he and his father have on the company, and the controversial accusations over why he was firing people. Tight grip Tanium is the second startup founded by this father-and-son team. The father-and-son team had worked for about 18 years at the previous company David Hindawi founded, BigFix, which sold to IBM in 2010 for a reported $400 million. While the deal is good for employees, investors are buying existing common stock, not preferred, so it does not change the founders' ironclad grip on the company, Hindawi tells us. Story continues "We want to let employees buy the houses, cars or whatever they've been dreaming about and not feel quite as much pressure on the IPO as we otherwise might," he said, adding that he still fully intends to take the company public at some point. Tanium has allowed employees to cash out of their stock in secondary sales before. They were, for instance, able to sell shares in March, 2015, as part of an overall $64 million investment into the firm that did include the company selling equity to investors , the company tells us. This round values the company at $3.75 billion. That's a slight increase from 2015, which was the last time the company offered a new stake to investors. Then, Tanium was valued at $3.71 billion, according to PitchBook, a database that tracks such info. It is one of most highly-valued security startups in the industry. Tanium has raised about $307 million total, not including this $100 million secondary offering. A-list VC Andreessen Horowitz put Tanium on the map in 2014 when it put $90 million into the company and another $52 million as part of a $120 million round in 2015, led by TPG Capital, T. Rowe Price and Institutional Venture Partners. Andreessen Horowitz's big stake was done at the urging of one of its advisers, former Microsoft executive Steven Sinofsky, who called Tanium's technology "magic." But the company didn't sell any equity to raise any operating funds for itself. Hindawi, the son, also said he's not cashing out any of his shares, nor is he buying more shares. "I own 25% of the company and I think that's more than enough for me. Between David and me, we are still above 50% of the company," he said. He refers to his dad by his first name at the office. On top of that, the company uses a "multi-class structure," for shares he said. That refers to dividing shares up into those that have more voting rights than others. It's an increasingly common move for startups, and sometimes even public tech companies (like Alphabet). This allows founders to retain control of the company, even if they don't control a majority of shares. Tanium CEO David Hindawi (Tanium's David HindawiTanium) And he's unabashed that he's locked down control away from investors, very much on purpose, thanks to lessons earned from their earlier startup. "One of the things that drove us to found this company was that at BigFix, our last company, we had a real challenge corralling the investors to do anything actually. They had the majority of the company so a lot of it was really difficult, frankly, Hindawi said. With control of Tanium firmly in the family, he says making decisions is far easier. Yes, I've fired people Hindawi just faced a slew of bad press when he was accused of firing people immediately before their options vested, according to that story by Bloomberg. The implication was that if too much stock wound up in the hands of employees, his controlling stake and authoritative power over the company would be diminished. Hindawi admitted he's fired people, but denied he was motivated by their stock options. He calls that accusation " very obviously, provably not true," he said and says that he had all sorts of reasons why there have been " a lot of people who left Tanium, not of their own volition." He said some people were asked to leave because they were hired when the company was smaller but as it grew to 550 employees, "they were not the right people for their roles." He said in other cases executives had "health issues" and "could not do the job anymore" and characterizes the way they left the company as "respectful." He says others were fired for "ethics issues." At the same time, he can understand why former employees might have lashed out. "When you've got executives or people that leave a company, sometimes they don't like it," he said. "Sometimes they don't think they were fairly treated. "They may be right in some cases," he added. "We could have done some things differently." As for accusations that he has mocked people or insulted them. "Very obviously I don't agree with the description," he told us. On the other hand, he also fully admits that the company's culture is rather hard-edged. "Our business is not easy," Hindawi said. "We're securing the biggest companies in the world, and it's a very big, demanding, stressful thing." He added: "I want to treat my people with respect and decency. But at the same time, I want them to be in an environment where they can achieve great things, and it turns out great things are not cuddly. They're not easy. It's a lot of hard work. He believes that part of the reason Tanium gets a bad rap is because it's not a perk-filled, employee-pampering Valley-style startup, he said. But with this new secondary offering, the implication is, those who want to cash-out and leave can do so. So can those who want to cash out and stay. NOW WATCH: HBO just released a new 'Game of Thrones' trailer — the dragons are back More From Business Insider Here's who would win if Russia, China, and America all went to war right now Bitcoin blew past its record and soared to $2,800 in just a few hours — and now it's plunging Here's why the US would have to be insane to attack North Korea || Controversial Tanium CEO explains why he and his dad have total control of their $4 billion startup: (Tanium cofounder CEO Orion HindawiCourtesy of Tanium)
Don't askTanium CEO Orion Hindawi to apologize for the hard-edged internal company culture or his family's iron grip on the business, all of which have generated a slew of negative headlines recently.
"Great things are not cuddly," Hindawi told Business Insider in an interview this week.
Tanium's business of providing cyber-security services is a very "demanding, stressful thing," he said. And he refuses to pamper employees with the over-the-top perks that some of his Silicon Valley peers do.
But those who don't like the way Orion Hindawi, and his father David Hindawi, who is the Tanium cofounder and Executive Chairman, run the business, will now have a way to get out.
Tanium announced on Thursday that it will allow employees to cash out of $50 million worth of their stock to a suite of investors. The deal is part of a $100 million fund raising round. Tanium will use the money to buy employee shares.David Hindawi will also be cashing out $50 million dollars worth of stock in the deal, selling to the same group of investors.
Business Insider caught up with Tanium cofounder CEO Orion Hindawi to discuss the deal, as well as thescathing exposéby Bloomberg that characterized the security startup as a stressful place to work, and Hindawi as a brutish leader.
Hindawi talked openly with us about the culture of his company, the stock sale, the iron-clad hold over ownership he and his father have on the company, and the controversial accusations over why he was firing people.
Tanium is the second startup founded by this father-and-son team. The father-and-son team had worked for about 18 years at the previous company David Hindawi founded, BigFix, which sold to IBM in 2010for a reported $400 million.
While the deal is good for employees, investors are buying existing common stock, not preferred, so it does not change the founders' ironclad grip on the company, Hindawi tells us.
"We want to let employees buy the houses, cars or whatever they've been dreaming about and not feel quite as much pressure on the IPO as we otherwise might," he said, adding that he still fully intends to take the company public at some point.
Tanium has allowed employees to cash out of their stock in secondary sales before. They were, for instance, able to sell shares in March, 2015, as part of an overall $64 million investment into the firm that did include the company selling equity to investors, the company tells us.
This round values the company at $3.75 billion. That's a slight increase from 2015, which was the last time the company offered a new stake to investors. Then,Tanium was valued at $3.71 billion,according to PitchBook,a database that tracks such info. It is one of most highly-valued security startups in the industry.
Tanium has raised about $307 million total, not including this $100 million secondary offering.A-list VC Andreessen Horowitz put Tanium on the map in 2014 when it put $90 million into the company and another $52 million as part of a $120 million round in 2015, led by TPG Capital, T. Rowe Price and Institutional Venture Partners.Andreessen Horowitz's big stake was doneat the urging of one of its advisers, former Microsoft executive Steven Sinofsky,who called Tanium's technology "magic."
But the company didn't sell any equity to raise any operating funds for itself.Hindawi, the son, also said he's not cashing out any of his shares, nor is he buying more shares.
"I own 25% of the company and I think that's more than enough for me. Between David and me, we are still above 50% of the company," he said. He refers to his dad by his first name at the office.
On top of that, the company uses a "multi-class structure," for shares he said. That refers to dividing shares up into those that have more voting rights than others. It's an increasingly common move for startups, and sometimes even public tech companies (like Alphabet). This allows founders to retain control of the company, even if they don't control a majority of shares.
(Tanium's David HindawiTanium)
And he's unabashed that he's locked down control away from investors, very much on purpose, thanks to lessons earned from their earlier startup.
"One of the things that drove us to found this company was that at BigFix, our last company, we had a real challenge corralling the investors to do anything actually. They had the majority of the company so a lot of it was really difficult, frankly, Hindawi said. With control of Tanium firmly in the family, he says making decisions is far easier.
Hindawi just faced a slew of bad press whenhe was accused of firing people immediately before their options vested,according to that story by Bloomberg.
The implication was that if too much stock wound up in the hands of employees, his controlling stake and authoritative power over the company would be diminished.
Hindawi admitted he's fired people, but denied he was motivated by their stock options. He calls that accusation "very obviously, provably not true," he said and says that he had all sorts of reasons why there have been "a lot of people who left Tanium, not of their own volition." He said some people were asked to leave because they were hired when the company was smaller but as it grew to 550 employees, "they were not the right people for their roles."
He said in other cases executives had "health issues" and "could not do the job anymore" and characterizes the way they left the company as "respectful." He says others were fired for "ethics issues."
At the same time, he can understand why former employees might have lashed out.
"When you've got executives or people that leave a company, sometimes they don't like it," he said. "Sometimes they don't think they were fairly treated.
"They may be right in some cases," he added. "We could have done some things differently."
As for accusations that he has mocked people or insulted them.
"Very obviously I don't agree with the description," he told us.
On the other hand, he also fully admits that the company's culture is rather hard-edged.
"Our business is not easy," Hindawi said. "We're securing the biggest companies in the world, and it's a very big, demanding, stressful thing."
He added: "I want to treat my people with respect and decency. But at the same time, I want them to be in an environment where they can achieve great things, and it turns out great things are not cuddly. They're not easy. It's a lot of hard work.
He believes that part of the reason Tanium gets a bad rap is because it's not a perk-filled, employee-pampering Valley-style startup, he said.
But with this new secondary offering, the implication is, those who want to cash-out and leave can do so. So can those who want to cash out and stay.
NOW WATCH:HBO just released a new 'Game of Thrones' trailer — the dragons are back
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• Here's why the US would have to be insane to attack North Korea || Tesla could be the next Amazon, says Gene Munster: Tesla(NASDAQ: TSLA)could be the next Amazon(NASDAQ: AMZN), Gene Munster, co-founder and managing partner of Loup Ventures, told CNBC on Friday. The former Piper Jaffray tech analyst turned venture capitalist is best known for his accurate predictions on Apple(NASDAQ: AAPL).
DespiteAmazon shares nearing the $1,000 milestone, a record high for the company, the investor says he likes Tesla better. "Tesla is a controversial story," Munster said on "Squawk on the Street." "People don't understand what this company's mission statement is," he said. Much like Amazon in its early days when the company was 'just' selling books, he said.
"Most people think of [Tesla] as an electric car company, but their mission statement is to accelerate the globe's transformation to renewable energy, " he said. "When you start thinking about that you can see them grabbing market cap from energy companies which are some of the largest market-cap companies," said Munster.
Tesla's market capitalization was about $53 billion on Friday morning while Amazon's was nearly $475 billion. In the energy sector Exxon Mobil(NYSE: XOM)'s market cap was more than $345 billion. AMZN shares have risen by nearly 39 percent over the last year while TSLA has climbed by about 43 percent and XOM has dropped more than 9 percent.
Elon Musk's vision for Tesla will require a lot of capital but Munster says he thinks the company will get there. And while Amazon is the tech stock of the moment, there are limitations to its growth, he said. One of those limitations is maintaining market share.
"I think obviously somebody buying the stock at $1,000, they're hoping it goes to $2,000 so I think the opportunity again is the market share in online, that's an increase and it would put Amazon at $1 trillion in revenue if they get to that," said Munster.
In the cloud space Amazon Web Services is faced with increased competition which poses a real risk to the cloud portion of Amazon's business, he said. "The specific reason is Azure from Microsoft(NASDAQ: MSFT)is gaining share, and Google is making a big push within that ... so that's an area that Amazon had an early lead on but is not maintaining the same market share they had in retail," said Munster.
Tesla on the other hand has few challengesand more opportunities, he said. "I'll give you one quick example, this race for batteries. There's a problem about just the elements of the copper and the nickel to build the batteries and they have procured some of that," said Munster. "If someone wants to build the batteries, they need financing to get there. I think the markets will give him that leverage to build this future," he said.
"I would, pun intended here, buckle up. This is going to be a bumpy but positive ride for Tesla in the years to come."
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• Bitcoin rival ethereum is headed for a 38% correction, analyst says || Tesla could be the next Amazon, says Gene Munster: Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) could be the next Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) , Gene Munster, co-founder and managing partner of Loup Ventures, told CNBC on Friday. The former Piper Jaffray tech analyst turned venture capitalist is best known for his accurate predictions on Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) . Despite Amazon shares nearing the $1,000 milestone , a record high for the company, the investor says he likes Tesla better. "Tesla is a controversial story," Munster said on " Squawk on the Street ." "People don't understand what this company's mission statement is," he said. Much like Amazon in its early days when the company was 'just' selling books, he said. "Most people think of [Tesla] as an electric car company, but their mission statement is to accelerate the globe's transformation to renewable energy, " he said. "When you start thinking about that you can see them grabbing market cap from energy companies which are some of the largest market-cap companies," said Munster. Tesla's market capitalization was about $53 billion on Friday morning while Amazon's was nearly $475 billion. In the energy sector Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) 's market cap was more than $345 billion. AMZN shares have risen by nearly 39 percent over the last year while TSLA has climbed by about 43 percent and XOM has dropped more than 9 percent. Elon Musk 's vision for Tesla will require a lot of capital but Munster says he thinks the company will get there. And while Amazon is the tech stock of the moment, there are limitations to its growth, he said. One of those limitations is maintaining market share. "I think obviously somebody buying the stock at $1,000, they're hoping it goes to $2,000 so I think the opportunity again is the market share in online, that's an increase and it would put Amazon at $1 trillion in revenue if they get to that," said Munster. In the cloud space Amazon Web Services is faced with increased competition which poses a real risk to the cloud portion of Amazon's business, he said. "The specific reason is Azure from Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is gaining share, and Google is making a big push within that ... so that's an area that Amazon had an early lead on but is not maintaining the same market share they had in retail," said Munster. Story continues Tesla on the other hand has few challenges and more opportunities, he said. "I'll give you one quick example, this race for batteries. There's a problem about just the elements of the copper and the nickel to build the batteries and they have procured some of that," said Munster. "If someone wants to build the batteries, they need financing to get there. I think the markets will give him that leverage to build this future," he said. "I would, pun intended here, buckle up. This is going to be a bumpy but positive ride for Tesla in the years to come." More From CNBC Bitcoin rival Ripple is sitting on many billions of dollars worth of currency GameStop shares tank despite earnings beat Bitcoin rival ethereum is headed for a 38% correction, analyst says || Bitcoin is making a big comeback: Bitcoinis making a big comeback, trading up by 9.8% at $2,563 a coin on Friday.
Friday's gain follows awild day Thursday, which saw the cryptocurrency ultimately put in its 27th gain in the past 30 sessions. Bitcoin climbed above $2,500 and ultimately put in a record high of $2,799. But then the bottom dropped out, and bitcoin plunged to a low of $2,200 before recouping some of those losses and finishing the day with a small gain.
The cryptocurrency climbed had climbed by much as 26% following Wednesday's announcement that the Digital Currency Group, representing 56 companies in 21 countries, reached ascaling agreementat the Consensus 2017 conference in New York.
It has been on fire in the past two months, gaining nearly 140% since the beginning of April, when Japan announced bitcoin had become alegal payment methodin the country. Trade has also been boosted by news that Russia's largest online retailer,Ulmart, had begun accepting bitcoindespite Russia's saying it wouldn't consider the use of the cryptocurrency until 2018.
But the market is still waiting on a ruling by the US Securities and Exchange Commission on whether it will overturn itsdecision on the Winklevoss twins' bitcoin-exchange-traded fund. The SEC was accepting public comment on that decision until May 15, but it hasn't announced whether it will overturn its rejection of the ETF.
Bitcoin is up 169% this year.
(Investing.com)
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2286.41, 2407.88, 2488.55, 2515.35, 2511.81, 2686.81, 2863.20, 2732.16, 2805.62, 2823.81
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 17415.40, 16408.20, 16564.00, 17706.90, 19497.40, 19140.80, 19114.20, 17776.70, 16624.60, 15802.90, 13831.80, 14699.20, 13925.80, 14026.60, 16099.80, 15838.50, 14606.50, 14656.20, 12952.20, 14156.40, 13657.20, 14982.10, 15201.00, 15599.20, 17429.50, 17527.00, 16477.60, 15170.10, 14595.40, 14973.30, 13405.80, 13980.60, 14360.20, 13772.00, 13819.80, 11490.50, 11188.60, 11474.90, 11607.40, 12899.20, 11600.10, 10931.40, 10868.40, 11359.40, 11259.40, 11171.40, 11440.70, 11786.30, 11296.40, 10106.30, 10221.10, 9170.54, 8830.75, 9174.91, 8277.01, 6955.27, 7754.00, 7621.30, 8265.59, 8736.98, 8621.90, 8129.97, 8926.57, 8598.31, 9494.63, 10166.40, 10233.90, 11112.70, 10551.80, 11225.30, 11403.70, 10690.40, 10005.00, 10301.10, 9813.07, 9664.73, 10366.70, 10725.60, 10397.90, 10951.00, 11086.40, 11489.70, 11512.60, 11573.30, 10779.90, 9965.57, 9395.01, 9337.55, 8866.00, 9578.63.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2018-03-11]
Volume: 6296370176, RSI (14-day): 44.74, 50-day EMA: 10547.73, 200-day EMA: 9225.63
[Wider Market Context]
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[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Can Aldi Really Help Kohl's Grow Sales?: Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) can't fully use all of the space its stores offer, so in January, it unveiled a plan to divvy up space and rent out the underutilized square footage to grocery stores. During its fourth-quarter earnings call with analysts earlier this month, it was revealed that discount supermarket chain Aldi would be the first tenant under this new plan. Kohl's might be excited about its "big idea," but I'm not sure this tenant choice is the best one. A two-for-one deal There is some merit to Kohl's plan in that not only can the retailer recoup some money from the leases, but the tenants might also bring in new customers, too, as supermarkets tend to be high-traffic stores. Yet unlike shopping at Target or Walmart , where you can pick up groceries at the same time you're buying clothes and household items, Kohl's is walling off its stores from the supermarkets, giving them a separate entrance to use, meaning a customer will have to go through the checkout process twice, arguably customers' least favorite aspect of shopping. And by partnering with Aldi, Kohl's may be missing an opportunity. Shopping cart in supermarket Image source: Getty Images. The discount grocer will be piloting a five- or ten-store test to see if the program has merit. Kohl's certainly thinks it does, because although it originally said it envisioned 300 stores being shrunk down, it now sees 500 stores being downsized by the end of the year. The problem with choosing Aldi as a partner is that the customers of the two companies don't really line up as well as they might appear at first glance. Two different customers There's no doubt Aldi's is a fast-growing chain. Last summer, the discount grocer said it would invest $3.4 billion to expand its U.S. store base to 2,500 by 2022, some 900 more than it had at the time, an expansion plan that would make it the third-largest supermarket chain behind Walmart and Kroger . On the surface, that could be a big draw for Kohl's, as Aldi says it's looking to service 100 million customers a month. Story continues According to Kantar Retail's ShopperScape, the household earnings of the average Kohl's shopper is $69,442 annually, slightly more than that of Target customers, and almost 30% of them live in households with annual incomes of $100,000 or more. This average customer also happens to be mostly between the age of 35 to 54. Aldi also can appeal to those types of customers -- it is, after all, the parent of Trader Joe's, the upscale-though-affordable grocery store chain -- and in the U.K., it's estimated 31% of Aldi shoppers are from upper or middle income. But Kantar finds that in the U.S., the store's primary customer is someone earning $50,000 or less. The grocery store customer shopping at Aldi is someone concerned predominantly with price, perhaps even more so than the consumer who shops at Walmart. The Aldi customer is willing to accept a limited range of products and selection and doesn't care about brand or service since they have to bag their own groceries at checkout. Aldi's shoppers can be millennials, but it also has the largest share of seniors who shop its stores, whereas Kohl's has substantially fewer. The wrong kind of tenant Supermarkets also might not be the best tenants for Kohl's. Like the retail industry generally, supermarkets are overstored. The Wall Street Journal cites data from CoStar Group showing the U.S. has 30 times more retail food space per person than it did in 1950, even though grocery shopping is continuously moving online. The Food Marketing Institute and Nielsen forecast that within five to seven years, 70% of consumers will be shopping for food online. To its credit, Kohl's has said that although it is starting with supermarkets, the carving up of its stores won't be limited to only that type of business. That's a good thing, because Aldi's may not be able to help Kohl's grow. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Rich Duprey has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool is short shares of Kroger. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Can Aldi Really Help Kohl's Grow Sales?: Kohl's(NYSE: KSS)can't fully use all of the space its stores offer, so in January, it unveiled a plan todivvy up spaceand rent out the underutilized square footage to grocery stores. During its fourth-quarter earnings call with analysts earlier this month, it was revealed that discount supermarket chain Aldi would be the first tenant under this new plan. Kohl's might be excited about its "big idea," but I'm not sure this tenant choice is the best one.
There is some merit to Kohl's plan in that not only can the retailer recoup some money from the leases, but the tenants might also bring in new customers, too, as supermarkets tend to be high-traffic stores. Yet unlike shopping atTargetorWalmart, where you can pick up groceries at the same time you're buying clothes and household items, Kohl's is walling off its stores from the supermarkets, giving them a separate entrance to use, meaning a customer will have to go through the checkout process twice, arguably customers' least favorite aspect of shopping. And by partnering with Aldi, Kohl's may be missing an opportunity.
Image source: Getty Images.
The discount grocer will be piloting a five- or ten-store test to see if the program has merit. Kohl's certainly thinks it does, because although it originally said it envisioned 300 stores being shrunk down, it now sees 500 stores being downsized by the end of the year.
The problem with choosing Aldi as a partner is that the customers of the two companies don't really line up as well as they might appear at first glance.
There's no doubt Aldi's is a fast-growing chain. Last summer, the discount grocer said it would invest $3.4 billion to expand its U.S. store base to 2,500 by 2022, some 900 more than it had at the time, an expansion plan that would make it the third-largest supermarket chain behind Walmart andKroger.
On the surface, that could be a big draw for Kohl's, as Aldi says it's looking to service 100 million customers a month.
According to Kantar Retail's ShopperScape, the household earnings of the average Kohl's shopper is $69,442 annually, slightly more than that of Target customers, and almost 30% of them live in households with annual incomes of $100,000 or more. This average customer also happens to be mostly between the age of 35 to 54.
Aldi also can appeal to those types of customers -- it is, after all, the parent of Trader Joe's, the upscale-though-affordable grocery store chain -- and in the U.K., it's estimated 31% of Aldi shoppers are from upper or middle income. But Kantar finds that in the U.S., the store's primary customer is someone earning $50,000 or less.
The grocery store customer shopping at Aldi is someone concerned predominantly with price, perhaps even more so than the consumer who shops at Walmart. The Aldi customer is willing to accept a limited range of products and selection and doesn't care about brand or service since they have to bag their own groceries at checkout. Aldi's shoppers can be millennials, but it also has the largest share of seniors who shop its stores, whereas Kohl's has substantially fewer.
Supermarkets also might not be the best tenants for Kohl's. Like the retail industry generally, supermarkets are overstored.The Wall Street Journalcites data from CoStar Group showing the U.S. has 30 times more retail food space per person than it did in 1950, even though grocery shopping is continuously moving online. The Food Marketing Institute andNielsenforecast that within five to seven years, 70% of consumers will be shopping for food online.
To its credit, Kohl's has said that although it is starting with supermarkets, the carving up of its stores won't be limited to only that type of business. That's a good thing, because Aldi's may not be able to help Kohl's grow.
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Rich Dupreyhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool is short shares of Kroger. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Should Investors Bail Out of Supermarket Stocks?: The supermarket business model is old, but it's becoming an increasingly diverse industry.
Many traditional companies suffer from a lack of real competitive advantages, which means the addition of digital disruption -- with retail giantAmazon.com(NASDAQ: AMZN)leading the charge -- results in some serious grief for supermarket investors. For some businesses, a rebound might be on the horizon, but it may be time to bail out on others.
Image source: Getty Images.
Even before Amazon began its foray into the space with Amazon Fresh and now with its recent introduction of free two-hour delivery from Whole Foods for Prime members, big-box stores such asWalmart(NYSE: WMT)and wholesale clubs such asCostco(NASDAQ: COST)created some serious competition for the traditional supermarket.
Three of the country's more prominent grocers --Kroger(NYSE: KR),SUPERVALU(NYSE: SVU), andSprouts Farmers Markets(NASDAQ: SFM)-- have taken different approaches to fighting back.
Kroger, the largest grocery retailer in the U.S., has moved toward diversification over the years, operating under different regional grocery store names across the country. It also has fuel, jewelry, pharmacy, and food production operations. The broad nature of its business has helped stave off much trouble, but revenue and profits have begun to slow the past few years. Kroger reported comps of 1.5% (without counting fuel) for the fourth quarter of 2017 and issued tepid guidance of 1.5%-2% growth in comps for this year -- indicating that it doesn't expect the competition to lessen any time soon.
Kroger began offering online ordering and pickup services a few years ago, and now it's doubling down on its digital transformation. Through its "Restock Kroger" plan, more emphasis will be placed on digital sales and convenience, competitive pricing, artificial intelligence and robotics, and growing alternative revenue streams such as advertising.
SUPERVALU, on the other hand, has decided totransitionto a wholesale-based model instead of a retail one. It has been offloading stores, most notably when it sold its Save-A-Lot chain to private equity firm Onex Corp. at the end of 2016. Other cost savings initiatives around its retail business have been pursued, but its wholesale business now make up three-quarters of revenue.
While sales have begun to improve through the change, profitability continues to head in the opposite direction. SUPERVALU's fiscal year-to-date earnings per share were down 77% from last year.
Though its stock performance has left much to be desired, Sprouts Farmers Markets has postedsteady business growthsince making its public debut in 2013. The chain operates in the organic grocery segment, and shares had a volatile 2017 as investors mulled the reality of having Amazon, via its purchase of Whole Foods, become a direct competitor. But seeing business results continue to go in the right direction helped assuage fears.
Sprouts is still a small grocer, with only 300 stores in 15 states as of the end of 2017. It has a lot of room to build, but it could also have the most to lose as Amazon expands its grocery offerings and better-established chains adapt to the new digital business reality. Despite the odds, Sprouts' revenue and profit grew 15% and 22%, respectively, in 2017.
Old supermarket businesses are finally taking digital disruption seriously, but with mixed results. They may survive in some form, but the uncertainty should give investors pause. When competing against a force that has momentum propelling it forward, having to rethink the business model is an unenviable position to be in. Remember what Walmart did to retail during the last century?
If I were to keep one supermarket stock, it would be Sprouts, since it's been defying the odds and has the trend toward higher-quality food going for it. As for the others, I'd consider long and hard whether they even belong in a long-term portfolio.
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John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors.Nicholas Rossolillohas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon. The Motley Fool recommends Costco Wholesale. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Should Investors Bail Out of Supermarket Stocks?: The supermarket business model is old, but it's becoming an increasingly diverse industry. Many traditional companies suffer from a lack of real competitive advantages, which means the addition of digital disruption -- with retail giant Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) leading the charge -- results in some serious grief for supermarket investors. For some businesses, a rebound might be on the horizon, but it may be time to bail out on others. A grocery store aisle as viewed from inside a grocery cart. Image source: Getty Images. Different approaches to evolution Even before Amazon began its foray into the space with Amazon Fresh and now with its recent introduction of free two-hour delivery from Whole Foods for Prime members, big-box stores such as Walmart (NYSE: WMT) and wholesale clubs such as Costco (NASDAQ: COST) created some serious competition for the traditional supermarket. Three of the country's more prominent grocers -- Kroger (NYSE: KR) , SUPERVALU (NYSE: SVU) , and Sprouts Farmers Markets (NASDAQ: SFM) -- have taken different approaches to fighting back. Kroger, the largest grocery retailer in the U.S., has moved toward diversification over the years, operating under different regional grocery store names across the country. It also has fuel, jewelry, pharmacy, and food production operations. The broad nature of its business has helped stave off much trouble, but revenue and profits have begun to slow the past few years. Kroger reported comps of 1.5% (without counting fuel) for the fourth quarter of 2017 and issued tepid guidance of 1.5%-2% growth in comps for this year -- indicating that it doesn't expect the competition to lessen any time soon. Kroger began offering online ordering and pickup services a few years ago, and now it's doubling down on its digital transformation. Through its "Restock Kroger" plan, more emphasis will be placed on digital sales and convenience, competitive pricing, artificial intelligence and robotics, and growing alternative revenue streams such as advertising. Story continues SUPERVALU, on the other hand, has decided to transition to a wholesale-based model instead of a retail one. It has been offloading stores, most notably when it sold its Save-A-Lot chain to private equity firm Onex Corp. at the end of 2016. Other cost savings initiatives around its retail business have been pursued, but its wholesale business now make up three-quarters of revenue. While sales have begun to improve through the change, profitability continues to head in the opposite direction. SUPERVALU's fiscal year-to-date earnings per share were down 77% from last year. Though its stock performance has left much to be desired, Sprouts Farmers Markets has posted steady business growth since making its public debut in 2013. The chain operates in the organic grocery segment, and shares had a volatile 2017 as investors mulled the reality of having Amazon, via its purchase of Whole Foods, become a direct competitor. But seeing business results continue to go in the right direction helped assuage fears. Sprouts is still a small grocer, with only 300 stores in 15 states as of the end of 2017. It has a lot of room to build, but it could also have the most to lose as Amazon expands its grocery offerings and better-established chains adapt to the new digital business reality. Despite the odds, Sprouts' revenue and profit grew 15% and 22%, respectively, in 2017. Momentum is hard to beat Old supermarket businesses are finally taking digital disruption seriously, but with mixed results. They may survive in some form, but the uncertainty should give investors pause. When competing against a force that has momentum propelling it forward, having to rethink the business model is an unenviable position to be in. Remember what Walmart did to retail during the last century? If I were to keep one supermarket stock, it would be Sprouts, since it's been defying the odds and has the trend toward higher-quality food going for it. As for the others, I'd consider long and hard whether they even belong in a long-term portfolio. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Nicholas Rossolillo has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon. The Motley Fool recommends Costco Wholesale. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Cryptocurrency Market Rebounds by $40 Billion, But Bitcoin and Ethereum Remain Volatile: The cryptocurrency market rebounded after dropping below $344 billion, losing over $100 billion within the past week. Although major cryptocurrencies like Ethereum have recorded gains over the past 24 hours, most cryptocurrencies have started to fall again.
On March 10, bitcoin, Ethereum, and other major cryptocurrencies recorded over 10 percent in daily gains, triggering enthusiasm within the global cryptocurrency market. Ethereum in particular along with tokens increased by nearly 13 percent, while bitcoin recovered back to the $9000 region.
But, in the past several hours, bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies have started to decline again, as the market continued to be volatile. Bitcoin has dropped below the $9,000 mark after reaching $9,500. In fact, within the past 3 hours, bitcoin has dropped $500, despite the momentum it gained throughout the past 24 hours.
Within a span of four days, bitcoin went from $11,600 to $8,300, increased to $9,400, and declined to $8,950. Bitcoin’s extreme volatility is reflected by the market, which has followed the volatile trend of bitcoin throughout this week.
Many analysts have attributed the decline in the price of bitcoin and the volatility of the market to the sell off of bitcoin by the Mt. Gox trustee. According to the official document released by the trustee, over $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin are yet to be sold.
The issue with the sell off is that the Mt. Gox trustee intends to sell the remaining bitcoin on cryptocurrency exchanges, rather than in the over-the-counter market. Massive sell orders can drastically impact the cryptocurrency market especially in a recovery period like this, when volumes are relatively low on most cryptocurrency exchanges.
There are optimistic developments being pursued in Japan, South Korea, and other regions that could significantly improve the adoption of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and Japan in the mid to long-term. Today, CCN reported that South Korea’s largest internet conglomerate Kakao, which operates KakaoTalk, KakaoPay, KakaoTaxi, KakaoStory, Dunamoo (UpBit), and many other applications, plans to integrate cryptocurrencies by the end of 2018.
But, in the short-term, despite the innovative developments in the cryptocurrency sector, most cryptocurrencies including bitcoin will likely remain extremely volatile in the range of $9,000 to $11,000, until a major break occurs and the cryptocurrency market moves in an upward manner at a similar rate as December 2017.
Analysts are divided on the future trend of Ethereum and its performance against Ethereum. Some have claimed that bitcoin will likely remain as the best performing cryptocurrency as newcomers come into the market and invest in the dominant cryptocurrency first, before moving to other cryptocurrencies.
Some state that the performance of tokens could push the price of Ethereum up in the short-term, especially in a period in which all tokens are down about 50 percent from their all-time highs.
While it is difficult to predict the trend of cryptocurrencies in a highly volatile period, it is important to acknowledge the factors behind the decline and reasons as to why the cryptocurrency market is struggling, to evaluate the future trend of the market.
The postCryptocurrency Market Rebounds by $40 Billion, But Bitcoin and Ethereum Remain Volatileappeared first onCCN. || Cryptocurrency Market Rebounds by $40 Billion, But Bitcoin and Ethereum Remain Volatile: bitcoin price The cryptocurrency market rebounded after dropping below $344 billion, losing over $100 billion within the past week. Although major cryptocurrencies like Ethereum have recorded gains over the past 24 hours, most cryptocurrencies have started to fall again. Bitcoin’s Volatility On March 10, bitcoin, Ethereum, and other major cryptocurrencies recorded over 10 percent in daily gains, triggering enthusiasm within the global cryptocurrency market. Ethereum in particular along with tokens increased by nearly 13 percent, while bitcoin recovered back to the $9000 region. But, in the past several hours, bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies have started to decline again, as the market continued to be volatile. Bitcoin has dropped below the $9,000 mark after reaching $9,500. In fact, within the past 3 hours, bitcoin has dropped $500, despite the momentum it gained throughout the past 24 hours. Within a span of four days, bitcoin went from $11,600 to $8,300, increased to $9,400, and declined to $8,950. Bitcoin’s extreme volatility is reflected by the market, which has followed the volatile trend of bitcoin throughout this week. Many analysts have attributed the decline in the price of bitcoin and the volatility of the market to the sell off of bitcoin by the Mt. Gox trustee. According to the official document released by the trustee, over $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin are yet to be sold. The issue with the sell off is that the Mt. Gox trustee intends to sell the remaining bitcoin on cryptocurrency exchanges, rather than in the over-the-counter market. Massive sell orders can drastically impact the cryptocurrency market especially in a recovery period like this, when volumes are relatively low on most cryptocurrency exchanges. There are optimistic developments being pursued in Japan, South Korea, and other regions that could significantly improve the adoption of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and Japan in the mid to long-term. Today, CCN reported that South Korea’s largest internet conglomerate Kakao, which operates KakaoTalk, KakaoPay, KakaoTaxi, KakaoStory, Dunamoo (UpBit), and many other applications, plans to integrate cryptocurrencies by the end of 2018. Story continues But, in the short-term, despite the innovative developments in the cryptocurrency sector, most cryptocurrencies including bitcoin will likely remain extremely volatile in the range of $9,000 to $11,000, until a major break occurs and the cryptocurrency market moves in an upward manner at a similar rate as December 2017. Ethereum and Alternative Cryptocurrencies Analysts are divided on the future trend of Ethereum and its performance against Ethereum. Some have claimed that bitcoin will likely remain as the best performing cryptocurrency as newcomers come into the market and invest in the dominant cryptocurrency first, before moving to other cryptocurrencies. Some state that the performance of tokens could push the price of Ethereum up in the short-term, especially in a period in which all tokens are down about 50 percent from their all-time highs. While it is difficult to predict the trend of cryptocurrencies in a highly volatile period, it is important to acknowledge the factors behind the decline and reasons as to why the cryptocurrency market is struggling, to evaluate the future trend of the market. The post Cryptocurrency Market Rebounds by $40 Billion, But Bitcoin and Ethereum Remain Volatile appeared first on CCN . || Cryptocurrency Market Rebounds by $40 Billion, But Bitcoin and Ethereum Remain Volatile: The cryptocurrency market rebounded after dropping below $344 billion, losing over $100 billion within the past week. Although major cryptocurrencies like Ethereum have recorded gains over the past 24 hours, most cryptocurrencies have started to fall again.
On March 10, bitcoin, Ethereum, and other major cryptocurrencies recorded over 10 percent in daily gains, triggering enthusiasm within the global cryptocurrency market. Ethereum in particular along with tokens increased by nearly 13 percent, while bitcoin recovered back to the $9000 region.
But, in the past several hours, bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies have started to decline again, as the market continued to be volatile. Bitcoin has dropped below the $9,000 mark after reaching $9,500. In fact, within the past 3 hours, bitcoin has dropped $500, despite the momentum it gained throughout the past 24 hours.
Within a span of four days, bitcoin went from $11,600 to $8,300, increased to $9,400, and declined to $8,950. Bitcoin’s extreme volatility is reflected by the market, which has followed the volatile trend of bitcoin throughout this week.
Many analysts have attributed the decline in the price of bitcoin and the volatility of the market to the sell off of bitcoin by the Mt. Gox trustee. According to the official document released by the trustee, over $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin are yet to be sold.
The issue with the sell off is that the Mt. Gox trustee intends to sell the remaining bitcoin on cryptocurrency exchanges, rather than in the over-the-counter market. Massive sell orders can drastically impact the cryptocurrency market especially in a recovery period like this, when volumes are relatively low on most cryptocurrency exchanges.
There are optimistic developments being pursued in Japan, South Korea, and other regions that could significantly improve the adoption of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and Japan in the mid to long-term. Today, CCN reported that South Korea’s largest internet conglomerate Kakao, which operates KakaoTalk, KakaoPay, KakaoTaxi, KakaoStory, Dunamoo (UpBit), and many other applications, plans to integrate cryptocurrencies by the end of 2018.
But, in the short-term, despite the innovative developments in the cryptocurrency sector, most cryptocurrencies including bitcoin will likely remain extremely volatile in the range of $9,000 to $11,000, until a major break occurs and the cryptocurrency market moves in an upward manner at a similar rate as December 2017.
Analysts are divided on the future trend of Ethereum and its performance against Ethereum. Some have claimed that bitcoin will likely remain as the best performing cryptocurrency as newcomers come into the market and invest in the dominant cryptocurrency first, before moving to other cryptocurrencies.
Some state that the performance of tokens could push the price of Ethereum up in the short-term, especially in a period in which all tokens are down about 50 percent from their all-time highs.
While it is difficult to predict the trend of cryptocurrencies in a highly volatile period, it is important to acknowledge the factors behind the decline and reasons as to why the cryptocurrency market is struggling, to evaluate the future trend of the market.
The postCryptocurrency Market Rebounds by $40 Billion, But Bitcoin and Ethereum Remain Volatileappeared first onCCN. || Waymo's Next Goal for Self-Driving Cars: Convince the Public They're Safe: These are exciting times in the world of technology, and perhaps nerve-racking times if you drive a cab or for Uber. Leading executives are increasingly saying that the world of self-driving cars is upon us, and they may be coming soon to a town near you, courtesy of first-mover Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) . Alphabet recently announced it was launching a Waymo ridesharing app this year, and recently ordered thousands of Fiat-Chrysler (NYSE: FCAU) Pacifica minivans, which Waymo will retrofit with its proprietary LiDAR technology, which uses lasers to measure distance and identify objects. The company has been conducting an early rider program in Phoenix, where non-employees ride along with Waymo supervisors, and Waymo plans to expand the program to transporting passengers without any employees behind the wheel. There's just one small problem: People are still wary of handing over their keys to a robot. A man in a suit puts his hands on his head while standing in front of a car that crashed into a guardrail. Waymo needs to convince customers this won't happen. Image source: Getty Images. A screeching halt? While self-driving technology has backing from many state governments due to its potential to actually increase safety and reduce crashes caused by human error, recent numbers show Americans are still on the fence. Maybe that's because they've watched nightmarish spoofs of self-driving cars on TV like this one from HBO's Silicon Valley . In a recent Gallup poll, 54% of Americans said they were unlikely to use self-driving cars, with 59% saying they would be uncomfortable riding in one. The poll, which was conducted last September and October, surveyed 3,297 people. While these are still very early days for self-driving technology, it's clear companies have some work to do educating -- and reassuring -- the public. Safety first Alphabet and Waymo's top management likely saw the hesitancy coming. That's why Waymo CEO John Krafcik has claimed Waymo's mission is not to build self-driving cars, but rather "the world's most experienced driver." Story continues On Alphabet's most recent earnings call, CFO Ruth Porat said: We're really pleased after years of work on technology where it was really about safety, safety, safety , and developing the technology and the platform. And now we're in a position where we have this opportunity to let people use and benefit from what we've developed. I think that safety has been a key driver, and the opportunity for cities has been really exciting what it means about optimizing resources space that they have. In a recent blog post, Waymo touted its best-in-class disengagement rate of 0.18 times per thousand miles driven in California last year. (The disengagement rate is the amount of times a human has to intervene and take control of a self-driving car.) Those numbers are well ahead of General Motors ' (NYSE: GM) next-best 0.8 times disengagement rate, and Waymo drove roughly three times the amount of miles GM did in that time. In 2017, Waymo drove a total of 2 million miles in the "real world," on top of 2.7 billion miles in simulation. Not just lip service Beyond management's words and statistics, Waymo recently released a new video that's part safety public-service announcement, part tutorial on Waymo technology. The video takes place inside a self-driving car that is navigating city streets (which look like they could be in Phoenix), with a narrator discussing exactly how the car is detecting objects via a mix of LiDAR, radar, and video cameras. Inside a Waymo-furnished Chrysler there are even more features for customers geared toward reassuring passengers, including: A panel on the ceiling in the back that passengers can use to call Waymo support, lock and unlock the doors, or order the car to pull over. A screen on the back of the front-row seats that shows passengers what the van is seeing around it in real time. One reporter described it as like looking at a more detailed GPS. Can Waymo go way mainstream? Waymo leadership has been adamant that the company will make its technology mainstream sooner rather than later, ever since Waymo was spun off as a separate entity in late 2016. The company has the early lead in miles driven and safety statistics, and looks poised to capitalize on that first-mover advantage. But from the recent Gallup numbers, it seems its biggest task may not be on the technological side, but rather in the art of persuasion. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Billy Duberstein owns shares of Alphabet (C shares) and General Motors. His clients may own some of the companies mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares) and Alphabet (C shares). The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Waymo's Next Goal for Self-Driving Cars: Convince the Public They're Safe: These are exciting times in the world of technology, and perhaps nerve-racking times if you drive a cab or for Uber. Leading executives are increasingly saying that the world of self-driving cars is upon us, and they may be coming soon to a town near you, courtesy of first-mover Waymo, a subsidiary ofAlphabet(NASDAQ: GOOG)(NASDAQ: GOOGL).
Alphabetrecently announcedit was launching a Waymo ridesharing app this year, and recently ordered thousands ofFiat-Chrysler(NYSE: FCAU)Pacifica minivans, which Waymo will retrofit with its proprietaryLiDARtechnology, which uses lasers to measure distance and identify objects. The company has been conducting anearly riderprogram in Phoenix, where non-employees ride along with Waymo supervisors, and Waymo plans to expand the program to transporting passengers without any employees behind the wheel.
There's just one small problem: People are still wary of handing over their keys to a robot.
Waymo needs to convince customers this won't happen. Image source: Getty Images.
While self-driving technology has backing from many state governments due to its potential to actually increase safety and reduce crashes caused by human error, recent numbers show Americans are still on the fence. Maybe that's because they've watched nightmarish spoofs of self-driving cars on TV likethis onefrom HBO'sSilicon Valley.
In a recent Gallup poll, 54% of Americans said they were unlikely to use self-driving cars, with 59% saying they would be uncomfortable riding in one. The poll, which was conducted last September and October, surveyed 3,297 people.
While these are still very early days for self-driving technology, it's clear companies have some work to do educating -- and reassuring -- the public.
Alphabet and Waymo's top management likely saw the hesitancy coming. That's why Waymo CEO John Krafcik has claimed Waymo's mission is not to build self-driving cars, but rather "the world's most experienced driver."
On Alphabet's most recent earnings call, CFO Ruth Porat said:
We're really pleased after years of work on technology where it was really aboutsafety, safety, safety, and developing the technology and the platform. And now we're in a position where we have this opportunity to let people use and benefit from what we've developed. I think that safety has been a key driver, and the opportunity for cities has been really exciting what it means about optimizing resources space that they have.
In a recent blog post, Waymo touted its best-in-class disengagement rate of 0.18 times per thousand miles driven in California last year. (The disengagement rate is the amount of times a human has to intervene and take control of a self-driving car.)
Those numbers are well ahead ofGeneral Motors'(NYSE: GM)next-best 0.8 times disengagement rate, and Waymo drove roughly three times the amount of miles GM did in that time. In 2017, Waymo drove a total of 2 million miles in the "real world," on top of 2.7 billion miles in simulation.
Beyond management's words and statistics, Waymo recently released anew videothat's part safety public-service announcement, part tutorial on Waymo technology. The video takes place inside a self-driving car that is navigating city streets (which look like they could be in Phoenix), with a narrator discussing exactly how the car is detecting objects via a mix of LiDAR, radar, and video cameras.
Inside a Waymo-furnished Chrysler there are even more features for customers geared toward reassuring passengers, including:
• A panel on the ceiling in the back that passengers can use to call Waymo support, lock and unlock the doors, or order the car to pull over.
• A screen on the back of the front-row seats that shows passengers what the van is seeing around it in real time. One reporter described it as like looking at a more detailed GPS.
Waymo leadership has been adamant that the company will make its technology mainstream sooner rather than later, ever since Waymo was spun off as a separate entity in late 2016. The company has the early lead in miles driven and safety statistics, and looks poised to capitalize on that first-mover advantage. But from the recent Gallup numbers, it seems its biggest task may not be on the technological side, but rather in the art of persuasion.
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Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors.Billy Dubersteinowns shares of Alphabet (C shares) and General Motors. His clients may own some of the companies mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares) and Alphabet (C shares). The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || 3 Ways Disney World Can Still Win in 2018: It's going to be a challenging summer for Central Florida's theme parks. Tourists may already be looking ahead to 2019, whenDisney(NYSE: DIS)opens Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Disney World and Universal Orlando counters with a yet unnamed Harry Potter-themed roller coaster.
The big draw to the area this summer will be Toy Story Land at Disney's Hollywood Studios, and the theme park giant surprised the market by recently announcing a June 30 grand opening date. The date comes five weeks later than last year's critically acclaimed Pandora - The World of Avatar addition that opened in time for last year's Memorial Day holiday weekend and the first few weeks of area schools letting out for summer vacation.
Throw in thehigher ticket pricesthat were announced last month -- something that Disney has done for 30 years in a row, but always a hot topic when it's holding back on new experiences -- and you have a potentially weak outlook for the telltale travel season. Things don't have to play out that way. Let's go over a few things that may help Disney, Comcast, and perhaps even SeaWorld Orlando grow their turnstile clicks this summer.
Image source: Disney.
Attendance has been sluggish at Disney World for the past two years, but there was noticeable improvement in the media behemoth's latest quarter. Disney's domestic parks entertained 6% more guests than they did during the prior year's fiscal first quarter, and with guests spending more in admissions and in-park spending, the segment experienceddouble-digit percentage gainsin revenue and operating income.
There were a couple of factors leading to the 6% increase in attendance, Disney's strongest year-over-year gain in years. Hurricane Matthew's arrival in 2016 resulted in park closures and travel cancellations during the prior-year period. The opening of theAvatar-themed expansion last year continues to drive traffic, though the comparisons will get harder once we hit Memorial Day weekend this time around.
Political jockeying for bragging rights aside, the economy is in pretty decent shape. The Consumer Confidence Index is at its highest level since 2000, and if folks feel secure about their financial well-being, they're that much more likely to spring for a Disney vacation. Regional amusement park operators arehoping they strike it rich, too.
There's more to Disney's business than just drawing stateside families to its gated attractions. Disney needs foreign visitors to hit up the House of Mouse, and while geopolitical tensions will come and go, it's a good thing for Disney that many see the euro strengthening against the dollar. It makes a Disney World vacation more cost-effective when Europeans can get more bang for their currency.
Disney offered some encouraging insight during last month's earnings call, pointing out that reservations booked so far during this quarter were pacing 3% ahead of the prior year despite a reduced room inventory due to conversions and refurbishments at some of Disney World's resorts. The even juicier nugget is that booked rates were trading 13% higher.
Some of the gains may be the result of the earlier Easter holiday this year, falling in late March instead of mid-April. The current quarter is going to be strong between the timing of the Easter holiday and that tail-end of the rookie season for Pandora - The World of Avatar.
The real test will come during Disney's potent summer period, its fiscal fourth quarter that ends in September. Maybe Toy Story Land setting an opening date at the very start of that quarter isn't a case of bad timing after all.
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Rick Munarrizowns shares of Walt Disney. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Walt Disney. The Motley Fool is short shares of SeaWorld Entertainment. The Motley Fool recommends Comcast. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Kroger's Guidance Not Looking Too Fresh: In this episode of Market Foolery , host Mac Greer talks with Motley Fool contributors Ron Gross from Total Income and Jason Moser from Million Dollar Portfolio about today's biggest stories in the market. The healthcare space got a little smaller after Cigna (NYSE: CI) snapped up pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts (NASDAQ: ESRX) for a whopping $67 billion. How likely is the merger to get through without the antitrust boot stomping it out? Meanwhile, Costco 's (NASDAQ: COST) numbers looked pretty good, but the stock went down a bit following the report. Kroger (NYSE: KR) is selling off something big after releasing disheartening 2018 guidance, and the grocery space is getting even more difficult to compete in with Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) shaking things up. Tune in to find out more. A full transcript follows the video. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This This video was recorded on March 8, 2018. Mac Greer: It's Thursday, March 8. Welcome to Market Foolery ! I'm Mac Greer, and I'm joined by Jason Moser from Motley Fool Million Dollar Portfolio and Ron Gross from The Motley Fool's Total Income . Gentlemen, welcome! I got choked up there on Total Income , I'm just so touched by you being here. Ron Gross: You love income. Greer: I do love income. Don't we all? Jason Moser: Total Income , it's not just partial income. This is the whole kit and caboodle. Gross: We go all out for you. the member. Greer: I don't think partial income ever quite worked for you. I think you're much better on Total Income . OK, on today's show, we're going to talk some Costco, one of my favorite subjects, as you know. We'll talk some Kroger. You're going to have to help me with that. I'm not sure I'm seeing it for the future of Kroger. And we'll get into some Amazon and Whole Foods. Story continues Guys, let's begin with the big deal of the day, Cigna buying Express Scripts in a $67 billion cash and stock deal. Jason, Cigna is a health insurance company. Express Scripts is the largest pharmacy benefits manager in the U.S., which means it negotiates drug benefits for insurance plans and employers. When you look at this deal, two very different reactions playing out right now. Cigna's share price, down around 9% right now. Express Scripts, up around 11%. What gives? Moser: We see, often times, when acquisitions are announced, the acquirer's stock typically takes a little bit of a hit. The stock of the company being acquired is boosted because of the premium on the deal. I think a lot of that boils down to, the market is telling the acquirer, "The burden of proof is on you to make sense of this deal and show us that it's going to work out." I think it's going to work out in this case, probably, because I think we're in an almost full-on panic mode at this point in the healthcare industry where consolidation is being seen as really the only way to fully compete in what is a very fast changing but very, very big market space. I think these companies are also, in the back of their minds, trying to figure out exactly how they stave off Amazon from jumping in there and competing in one way or another. For Express Scripts holders, I think this is probably a lifesaver right here. The stock had not really done a whole heck of a lot over the last five years. The top line has been stuck in limbo. Being a part of Cigna and something bigger probably benefits both companies. Gross: I agree with everything you said, Jason. Moser: Well, thank you! Gross: Consolidation is definitely the name of the game here. But antitrust scrutiny is really a part of this as well, with Cigna and Anthem being blocked, Aetna and Humana being blocked. So, it's not a given as we consolidate and roll up this industry. But, these deals will get done over time, and consolidation will continue. The trifecta of Amazon, Berkshire and JPMorgan kind of better figure out where they want to play here, because it's going to be slim pickings out there in terms of if you want to buy something vs. just build it. I'm sure there's lots of vigorous discussion going on about where they want to go, but a lot of the good, most obvious acquisitions are being made already. Greer: Let's talk about that trifecta, Jason. We have this recently announced venture between Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett, JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon. And, as Ron just mentioned, this kind of changes the game a bit. Does this make that venture less attractive? Where do you think this leaves them? Moser: I don't think so. I think, from the perspective of those three leaders and what they want to do, it's less about figuring out how to fix the current state of our healthcare industry, and more about starting brand-new and building something from the ground up. I don't know that they're going to really look at this sort of landscape today as playing too much into what they're going to try to figure out. They've talked before already, they're going to try to find a CEO first and foremost for this company, for this healthcare venture. Then, from there, it's going to be a lot of trial and error. I don't think they're really letting the current landscape play into it, because the current landscape, any which way you cut it, is kind of broken. And Ron's point about antitrust is spot-on. The one thing I will say in regard to this deal, I think it probably goes through because this hearkens back to UnitedHealth Group 's deal where they bought Catamaran a few years ago. That was a big insurer bringing a PBM into their network, just like this deal is as well. Now, it's also worth noting that Express Scripts is a bigger company than Catamaran was at the time. Either way, I think the deal probably makes sense because there's not a lot of overlap, it's a very complimentary joining of two businesses there. But, regardless of what the landscape looks like there, I think the big three are looking to build something from the ground up, not really worried about today's state. Gross: We should maybe explain that the Department of Justice gets involved from an antitrust perspective when they think a merger and acquisition is going to harm the consumer, when consolidation is going to harm the consumer. If an acquisition or a merger is what we call vertical, where it's a complimentary business, adding on to a business that somewhat similar but not exact, that typically goes through and is OK. When it's more horizontal, where you have similar businesses combining, and that could potentially hurt prices and hurt consumers, that's where the Department of Justice gets nervous. Greer: We will keep an eye on it. Guys, let's move on to Costco, one of my favorite subjects. Costco reporting earnings on Wednesday. Ron, when I look at these numbers, same-store sales up 8.4% for the quarter. That seems pretty strong. Online sales up more than 28%. Renewal rates up to 91%. That's a 1% gain. People aren't leaving Costco. Moser: I think we know what's going on at the dinnertime conversation at Mac's house. Greer: So, I hear all that and I'm like, certainly this stock is up big today. And yet, shares are down. And when I sift through all this earnings coverage, seems to be a lot of concern still about Amazon and competition. Gross: Yeah. I will answer your question, if there was a question in there, after you tell me, what percent of your current outfit is Kirkland brand? Be honest. Greer: OK, I will be honest. I'm disappointing myself, because I'm wearing a Brooks Brothers shirt. Gross: Oh, they look just like your Kirkland shirts. Greer: I know. It's still blue. But I've moved away from that. Moser: High cotton. They're paying you too much. Greer: Today is unusual, because I'm wearing Levi's jeans, which is really cutting edge -- Gross: We'll have to cut this part out of the show. Greer: I know. So, only my socks today. Only my socks. Gross: All right, a little bit. At least it's something. So, to your question, it's a great report. It's one of those times where I say, step back from the stock and just look at the business. As you mentioned, the metrics are really strong. If you owned 100% of this company and it was just your baby, you'd be very pleased with how this quarter went, with sales up almost 11% and net income excluding a tax benefit of 22%, e-commerce, which is very, very important in this world of Amazon, which you mentioned, up 28.5%. It's interesting to note that Costco had to bring prices down to compete with Amazon, and that can usually can take a smack out of margins, take a whack out of margins. But, in this case, Costco has such power to negotiate with suppliers that they were able to mitigate any kind of margin damage there, and you see that showing up in the net profit increase. Greer: So, why the Wall Street reaction, then? Gross: It's one of those short-term vs. long-term things. They actually did miss estimates for profit and same-store sales. They missed what analysts thought was going to happen. So, when that happens, you miss expectations, the analysts come out and say, "They didn't do as well as I expected, therefore the stock isn't worth what I thought, because the metrics don't match up with what my guess was for the year." It's a very short-term way of looking at things, but a very normal Wall Street way of looking at things. Not a Foolish way. We go for the long ball here. I'm not pretending there isn't competition here. For a while, even in the last year, we've been a little bit worried about Costco. But good for them. They continue to put up solid numbers. Moser: I think, maybe, you want to look at, we always talk about Amazon being that competitor to Costco. I think Costco is a very well-run business, it holds irrelevant place in the market today. I think, though, that the market is looking at this from simply the perspective of two membership programs. You have Amazon Prime and you have Costco. Which membership do you think is going to be the more powerful and productive one over the course of the next 10, 15, 20 years? Probably, most people are going to say it's Prime. And it's not really to knock Costco's membership at all, because it's a good one. But, historically, that relationship was really focused on rock bottom prices. We're going to bring you in there and we're going to have everything you want, and we're going to give it to you for the lowest price possible. And what Amazon has done so well is training the consumer to not care as much about rock bottom prices as perhaps we once did. Greer: I disagree. I think Costco is more about value. Yes, they're competing on price, but I trust Costco. That's why I will pay a premium, even for Kirkland, for their signature brand. At the end of the day, maybe it's not a rock bottom price, but I trust them. Moser: So, you think Costco has been able to steer away from that, we're going to give it to you at the lowest price possible? Greer: I think in some cases, they can. I mean, you can go in and buy high ticket items at Costco. But what you're doing, especially with their Kirkland stuff, but, with their other products, as you're saying, I trust them enough, I will buy Kirkland branded stuff, and I will pay more for it than name branded stuff. Moser: And I think that's good. I think that's something that Costco needs to do. What we've seen Amazon do over the course of its time and growing out that Prime relationship, it's taken the conversation away from being the lowest-priced provider and more about giving you fairly competitive prices, but a really great value in the form of time. We're saving you from having to go out to wherever to get this stuff. Greer: Convenience. Moser: Exactly. Gross: Costco is all about having you trust them that they will get the best value in there, because they need you to keep renewing and paying that annual membership fee, because the vast bulk of their profits come from that membership fee. Amazon is more, in my opinion, about the convenience one gets from continuing to be a Prime member, which is obviously very important to them as well. Those recurring subscription revenues are essential. But, I think they're promising a different thing to the consumer. You'll get fine prices at Amazon, but you won't necessarily get the rock bottom, but oh my gosh the convenience is unbelievable. Having said that, in this world, Amazon is probably the bigger winner. But I don't think it's a winner-take-all dynamic. I still think there's a place for folks like Costco in the world. The question then becomes, what are you going to pay for the stock in a world where they are perhaps not the winner, but still somewhat relevant? And at 14 times EBITDA right now, maybe close to 30 times earnings, I would be a little bit cautious with Costco. Greer: OK, that plays into my next question. Over the next five to 10 years, is there room for both Amazon and Costco to be market-beating stocks? Moser: I would bet against Costco being a market-beater. Greer: That hurts me a little. Moser: I just have a hard time seeing the younger generation of consumers finding the value in that subscription. I think what we're going to have to really do is look at, 10 years going forward, how is Costco going to be up to grow that membership base? And, are they going to be able to grow their membership base like Amazon is able to grow theirs? And I just don't think they can for a number of different reasons. We just saw where Amazon is now offering that discounted Prime membership to citizens who are on Medicare or Medicaid. They're figuring out all sorts of different levers to pull with that Prime relationship, but there's still a big global opportunity out there. Costco has the global market, not quite as far reaching as Amazon's, but if you're looking at it over the course of the next 10 years, it strikes me that Prime is going to be the easier winner. Gross: It pains me to say that Jason is probably right, because I, too, am a big fan of Costco, and I've been a shareholder for a very, very long time, and I will remain one. It might not be a market-beater right now at the entry point where one would be starting from. As I mentioned earlier, the stock is kind of fairly, if not richly, priced. To be a market-beater from this point forward is not the easiest thing to do. If you saw a pull-back of 15%-20% in the stock for whatever reason, whether it was a stock market correction or something specific to the industry, and you were able to get in at that entry point, I would feel much better about it. Greer: Back to Jason's point, what gets and keeps millennials shopping at Costco? Right now, I'm an Amazon shareholder and I'm a Costco shareholder. I love both of them. If I had to pick between memberships, and it pains me to admit this, I would go Amazon Prime all day long, and I would let Costco go. But I don't have to pick. But, for millennials, what's going to get them into the Costco door, and what's going to keep them? Because I love the treasure hunt, but I get the sense that maybe millennials value convenience over this treasure hunt thing. Gross: Yep. Millennials also don't always have a ton of money, so value proposition could play in there. Maybe the job market will have to weaken a little bit for value to come back into vogue where millennials will start trying to save a buck rather than just go for the convenience. But, your question is really the answer in that it's not an easy battle for them. Moser: I think also, it's just the shopping experience alone. I think when you look at the two, Amazon, obviously, you're shopping on your phone often times or your desktop, whereas Costco you're going to the stores. I think from the very beginning, on the behavior side of it, millennial consumers and generations to come are going to be more in line with shopping via mobile devices or with their laptops or whatever, vs. driving to the store to go find something. So, I think right there from the very beginning, it's a big, tall hurdle to clear. Greer: I'm going to give you two words for Costco: free samples. That may be the answer. I'm not sure. Still working on it. Gross: [laughs] Duly noted. Greer: OK, guy., Kroger. Gross: Woof. As you say, woof. Greer: Shares of Kroger falling on Thursday after the company reporting fourth quarter earnings. Jason, Kroger is issuing a disappointing profit outlook for 2018. Shares of Kroger down around 12% at the time of our taping here. Is there any hope? Moser: [laughs] You sound so dire! Gross: There's always hope, Mac. Greer: We should point out, when we're talking Kroger, we're also talking Harris Teeter. Kroger owns Harris Teeter. Moser: It can't come as a shock that guidance for 2018 is going to be somewhat challenged. The grocery space is evolving very quickly, and now we have the competitor there in Amazon/ Whole Foods. Is there hope? I mean, I think you're asking the question, why would I invest in Kroger? Maybe there's hope, maybe there's not. I think the reason why you would invest in Kroger is because this is such a big market. In 2016, supermarket sales came in around $670 billion. Data from the Food Marketing Institute shows on the other side of the coin there that it's not a very profitable industry. You're looking at net margins of around 1%-1.1%. Greer: Tell me more! [laughs] Gross: [laughs] Where do I write the check? Moser: So, it's very difficult to paint this picture of why you need to be investing in Kroger. But, I think one reason might be because of its scale. It's one of the bigger grocery concepts out there. It does own Harris Teeter. There are some positives there, but yeah, absolutely, the outlook has the market spooked. Gross: I'm a Harris Teeter guy. Jason, you and I both know our way around the kitchen a little bit. And I think Harris Teeter does a great job in terms of offering good produce, good meats, relatively good value. They're beefing up their organic space to compete with those other folks. But, as you said, it's such a tight margin business. It's brutal out there. I will continue, week after week, to buy Harris Teeter. Moser: It's very brutal. You also have to look at, the No. 1 grocer in the space is Wal-Mart. Greer: I've heard of them. Moser: [laughs] Wal-Mart is the leader in the space here. And they're doing a heck of a lot in the grocery side as well, certainly with the meal plans and e-commerce and whatnot. It's just a very competitive space that's not very profitable. Greer: And let's talk about the competitive space a little bit more. This week, Jason, we learned from Amazon's annual report that Amazon has committed to roughly $22 billion in future food purchases as it really tries to bulk up Whole Foods. The fancy term here is unconditional purchase obligations. You know. UPOs. Moser: Yes. You're on the hook. Greer: So, what does that mean? Moser: Normally, this was a line item in Amazon's 10K that accounted for its digital media. What we've seen here is, that number has gone up exponentially thanks to the Whole Foods acquisition. It just means they're on the hook for buying a lot of stuff for the grocery segment, and it means they're investing a lot in that presence, and they see some potential growth there. That's not a big surprise. Amazon bought Whole Foods because they wanted to get a presence in the grocery segment. But, what I do think is going to be more interesting, at least to me, is that at the end of trading today, United Natural Foods is going to release their earnings for the quarter, and I'm going to be very interested to see how they respond to this news. United Natural Foods, 35% of their sales come from that relationship with Whole Foods, and they are signed on to be a provider to Whole Foods I think through 2025 now. So, it could be one of those situations where, you have this great partner, and you know that Amazon is going to be spending a lot of money with you in volume, but they're going to be asking a little bit on pricing, as well. Which can certainly play out on the profitability side. It's kind of like those chip companies that are suppliers to Apple . It's great having Apple as your partner, you're going to sell a lot of chips, but Apple is going to command pricing, which really dings those margins. So, we'll have to get their take on the call here after the market closes today. Gross: If you're someone like Kroger, it's so hard to compete against a company that, in any given short period of time, really doesn't care if it's profitable or not and will do whatever it needs to do to take control of that space. That's brutal to fight against. Greer: That's tough. OK, guys, as we wrap up, we get to play my favorite game. It's the completely arbitrary desert island question. I think I know how this is going to end up, so we're going to tweak it a bit. For the next five years, you're on a desert island. We have four stocks. We have Cigna, Costco, Amazon, Kroger. I want you to start kicking them off one at a time. What's the first stock you're kicking off? You have to hold one for these five years. What are you getting rid of first? Moser: What am I getting rid of first? Greer: Yeah, you don't like it, you don't want it. Moser: Cigna, Costco... ? Greer: Cigna, Costco, Amazon, Kroger. Moser: Well, I'm kicking Kroger off first. Greer: Kroger. Ron? Gross: I have to do it, I agree. I don't want to agree, but I do. Greer: OK. Now we're down to Cigna, Costco and Amazon. Where are you going? Gross: I'm going to kick off Cigna. Moser: Oh, I'd boot Costco. Greer: Interesting. Gross: That's fair, though, it was close. Greer: OK. Ron? What are you keeping? Gross: I have to keep Amazon. Greer: You have to keep Amazon. Gross: I mean, I'm traditionally thought of as a value investor around here, but I've owned Amazon, I will continue to own Amazon. They're dominant in so many fields, probably some we haven't even thought of yet. Greer: Even if they relocate, even if they choose for their second location for the headquarters your front yard? Gross: No, I'm out then. Greer: Because it's pretty close to your house, right? Gross: The proposed site in Maryland is very close to my home, and yes, that would be dicey. But as far as the stock goes, I'm in. Greer: OK. Jason? Moser: I love the healthcare market. I think Cigna is going to do very well. But I have to agree with Ron. You need Amazon. This is just the most relevant company of our time. Greer: OK, we will leave it there. I should mention that all of next week, Market Foolery will be coming to you from South by Southwest in my great state of Texas. Gross: Nice! Greer: So, if you're in the Austin area, we're going to have a listener meet up on Monday, March 12. Chris Hill and company will be there. Just email [email protected] and we'll send you all the details. That's a listener meet up, Monday, March 12, Austin, Texas, South by Southwest. Jason, Ron, thanks for joining me! Moser: Thank you! Gross: Thanks, Mac! Greer: As always, people on the show may have interests in the stocks they talk about, and The Motley Fool may have recommendations for or against, so don't buy or sell stocks based solely on what you hear. That's it for this edition of Market Foolery . The show is mixed by Dan Boyd. I'm Mac Greer. Thanks for listening! We'll see you tomorrow! John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Jason Moser owns shares of Apple and Berkshire Hathaway (B shares). Mac Greer owns shares of Amazon, Apple, and Costco Wholesale. Ron Gross owns shares of Amazon, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), and Costco Wholesale. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon, Apple, and Berkshire Hathaway (B shares). The Motley Fool is short shares of Kroger and has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool recommends Costco Wholesale and UnitedHealth Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || 3 Ways Disney World Can Still Win in 2018: It's going to be a challenging summer for Central Florida's theme parks. Tourists may already be looking ahead to 2019, when Disney (NYSE: DIS) opens Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Disney World and Universal Orlando counters with a yet unnamed Harry Potter-themed roller coaster. The big draw to the area this summer will be Toy Story Land at Disney's Hollywood Studios, and the theme park giant surprised the market by recently announcing a June 30 grand opening date. The date comes five weeks later than last year's critically acclaimed Pandora - The World of Avatar addition that opened in time for last year's Memorial Day holiday weekend and the first few weeks of area schools letting out for summer vacation. Throw in the higher ticket prices that were announced last month -- something that Disney has done for 30 years in a row, but always a hot topic when it's holding back on new experiences -- and you have a potentially weak outlook for the telltale travel season. Things don't have to play out that way. Let's go over a few things that may help Disney, Comcast, and perhaps even SeaWorld Orlando grow their turnstile clicks this summer. Slinky Dog Dash ride Image source: Disney. 1. Momentum is on Disney's side Attendance has been sluggish at Disney World for the past two years, but there was noticeable improvement in the media behemoth's latest quarter. Disney's domestic parks entertained 6% more guests than they did during the prior year's fiscal first quarter, and with guests spending more in admissions and in-park spending, the segment experienced double-digit percentage gains in revenue and operating income. There were a couple of factors leading to the 6% increase in attendance, Disney's strongest year-over-year gain in years. Hurricane Matthew's arrival in 2016 resulted in park closures and travel cancellations during the prior-year period. The opening of the Avatar -themed expansion last year continues to drive traffic, though the comparisons will get harder once we hit Memorial Day weekend this time around. Story continues 2. The economy is holding up Political jockeying for bragging rights aside, the economy is in pretty decent shape. The Consumer Confidence Index is at its highest level since 2000, and if folks feel secure about their financial well-being, they're that much more likely to spring for a Disney vacation. Regional amusement park operators are hoping they strike it rich , too. There's more to Disney's business than just drawing stateside families to its gated attractions. Disney needs foreign visitors to hit up the House of Mouse, and while geopolitical tensions will come and go, it's a good thing for Disney that many see the euro strengthening against the dollar. It makes a Disney World vacation more cost-effective when Europeans can get more bang for their currency. 3. Bookings started strong in 2018 Disney offered some encouraging insight during last month's earnings call, pointing out that reservations booked so far during this quarter were pacing 3% ahead of the prior year despite a reduced room inventory due to conversions and refurbishments at some of Disney World's resorts. The even juicier nugget is that booked rates were trading 13% higher. Some of the gains may be the result of the earlier Easter holiday this year, falling in late March instead of mid-April. The current quarter is going to be strong between the timing of the Easter holiday and that tail-end of the rookie season for Pandora - The World of Avatar. The real test will come during Disney's potent summer period, its fiscal fourth quarter that ends in September. Maybe Toy Story Land setting an opening date at the very start of that quarter isn't a case of bad timing after all. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Rick Munarriz owns shares of Walt Disney. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Walt Disney. The Motley Fool is short shares of SeaWorld Entertainment. The Motley Fool recommends Comcast. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Kroger's Guidance Not Looking Too Fresh: In this episode ofMarket Foolery, host Mac Greer talks with Motley Fool contributors Ron Gross fromTotal Incomeand Jason Moser fromMillion Dollar Portfolioabout today's biggest stories in the market. The healthcare space got a little smaller afterCigna(NYSE: CI)snapped up pharmacy benefits managerExpress Scripts(NASDAQ: ESRX)for a whopping $67 billion. How likely is the merger to get through without the antitrust boot stomping it out?
Meanwhile,Costco's(NASDAQ: COST)numbers looked pretty good, but the stock went down a bit following the report.Kroger(NYSE: KR)is selling off something big after releasing disheartening 2018 guidance, and the grocery space is getting even more difficult to compete in withAmazon.com(NASDAQ: AMZN)shaking things up. Tune in to find out more.
A full transcript follows the video.
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This video was recorded on March 8, 2018.
Mac Greer:It's Thursday, March 8. Welcome toMarket Foolery! I'm Mac Greer, and I'm joined by Jason Moser fromMotley Fool Million Dollar Portfolioand Ron Gross from The Motley Fool'sTotal Income. Gentlemen, welcome! I got choked up there onTotal Income, I'm just so touched by you being here.
Ron Gross:You love income.
Greer:I do love income. Don't we all?
Jason Moser:Total Income, it's not just partial income. This is the whole kit and caboodle.
Gross:We go all out for you. the member.
Greer:I don't think partial income ever quite worked for you. I think you're much better onTotal Income. OK, on today's show, we're going to talk some Costco, one of my favorite subjects, as you know. We'll talk some Kroger. You're going to have to help me with that. I'm not sure I'm seeing it for the future of Kroger. And we'll get into some Amazon and Whole Foods.
Guys, let's begin with the big deal of the day, Cigna buying Express Scripts in a $67 billion cash and stock deal. Jason, Cigna is a health insurance company. Express Scripts is the largest pharmacy benefits manager in the U.S., which means it negotiates drug benefits for insurance plans and employers. When you look at this deal, two very different reactions playing out right now. Cigna's share price, down around 9% right now. Express Scripts, up around 11%. What gives?
Moser:We see, often times, when acquisitions are announced, the acquirer's stock typically takes a little bit of a hit. The stock of the company being acquired is boosted because of the premium on the deal. I think a lot of that boils down to, the market is telling the acquirer, "The burden of proof is on you to make sense of this deal and show us that it's going to work out." I think it's going to work out in this case, probably, because I think we're in an almost full-on panic mode at this point in the healthcare industry where consolidation is being seen as really the only way to fully compete in what is a very fast changing but very, very big market space. I think these companies are also, in the back of their minds, trying to figure out exactly how they stave off Amazon from jumping in there and competing in one way or another. For Express Scripts holders, I think this is probably a lifesaver right here. The stock had not really done a whole heck of a lot over the last five years. The top line has been stuck in limbo. Being a part of Cigna and something bigger probably benefits both companies.
Gross:I agree with everything you said, Jason.
Moser:Well, thank you!
Gross:Consolidation is definitely the name of the game here. But antitrust scrutiny is really a part of this as well, with Cigna andAnthembeing blocked,AetnaandHumanabeing blocked. So, it's not a given as we consolidate and roll up this industry. But, these deals will get done over time, and consolidation will continue. The trifecta of Amazon,BerkshireandJPMorgankind of better figure out where they want to play here, because it's going to be slim pickings out there in terms of if you want to buy something vs. just build it. I'm sure there's lots of vigorous discussion going on about where they want to go, but a lot of the good, most obvious acquisitions are being made already.
Greer:Let's talk about that trifecta, Jason. We have this recently announced venture between Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett, JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon. And, as Ron just mentioned, this kind of changes the game a bit. Does this make that venture less attractive? Where do you think this leaves them?
Moser:I don't think so. I think, from the perspective of those three leaders and what they want to do, it's less about figuring out how to fix the current state of our healthcare industry, and more about starting brand-new and building something from the ground up. I don't know that they're going to really look at this sort of landscape today as playing too much into what they're going to try to figure out. They've talked before already, they're going to try to find a CEO first and foremost for this company, for this healthcare venture. Then, from there, it's going to be a lot of trial and error. I don't think they're really letting the current landscape play into it, because the current landscape, any which way you cut it, is kind of broken. And Ron's point about antitrust is spot-on.
The one thing I will say in regard to this deal, I think it probably goes through because this hearkens back toUnitedHealth Group's deal where they bought Catamaran a few years ago. That was a big insurer bringing a PBM into their network, just like this deal is as well. Now, it's also worth noting that Express Scripts is a bigger company than Catamaran was at the time. Either way, I think the deal probably makes sense because there's not a lot of overlap, it's a very complimentary joining of two businesses there. But, regardless of what the landscape looks like there, I think the big three are looking to build something from the ground up, not really worried about today's state.
Gross:We should maybe explain that the Department of Justice gets involved from an antitrust perspective when they think a merger and acquisition is going to harm the consumer, when consolidation is going to harm the consumer. If an acquisition or a merger is what we call vertical, where it's a complimentary business, adding on to a business that somewhat similar but not exact, that typically goes through and is OK. When it's more horizontal, where you have similar businesses combining, and that could potentially hurt prices and hurt consumers, that's where the Department of Justice gets nervous.
Greer:We will keep an eye on it. Guys, let's move on to Costco, one of my favorite subjects. Costco reporting earnings on Wednesday. Ron, when I look at these numbers, same-store sales up 8.4% for the quarter. That seems pretty strong. Online sales up more than 28%. Renewal rates up to 91%. That's a 1% gain. People aren't leaving Costco.
Moser:I think we know what's going on at the dinnertime conversation at Mac's house.
Greer:So, I hear all that and I'm like, certainly this stock is up big today. And yet, shares are down. And when I sift through all this earnings coverage, seems to be a lot of concern still about Amazon and competition.
Gross:Yeah. I will answer your question, if there was a question in there, after you tell me, what percent of your current outfit is Kirkland brand? Be honest.
Greer:OK, I will be honest. I'm disappointing myself, because I'm wearing a Brooks Brothers shirt.
Gross:Oh, they look just like your Kirkland shirts.
Greer:I know. It's still blue. But I've moved away from that.
Moser:High cotton. They're paying you too much.
Greer:Today is unusual, because I'm wearing Levi's jeans, which is really cutting edge --
Gross:We'll have to cut this part out of the show.
Greer:I know. So, only my socks today. Only my socks.
Gross:All right, a little bit. At least it's something. So, to your question, it's a great report. It's one of those times where I say, step back from the stock and just look at the business. As you mentioned, the metrics are really strong. If you owned 100% of this company and it was just your baby, you'd be very pleased with how this quarter went, with sales up almost 11% and net income excluding a tax benefit of 22%, e-commerce, which is very, very important in this world of Amazon, which you mentioned, up 28.5%. It's interesting to note that Costco had to bring prices down to compete with Amazon, and that can usually can take a smack out of margins, take a whack out of margins. But, in this case, Costco has such power to negotiate with suppliers that they were able to mitigate any kind of margin damage there, and you see that showing up in the net profit increase.
Greer:So, why the Wall Street reaction, then?
Gross:It's one of those short-term vs. long-term things. They actually did miss estimates for profit and same-store sales. They missed what analysts thought was going to happen. So, when that happens, you miss expectations, the analysts come out and say, "They didn't do as well as I expected, therefore the stock isn't worth what I thought, because the metrics don't match up with what my guess was for the year." It's a very short-term way of looking at things, but a very normal Wall Street way of looking at things. Not a Foolish way. We go for the long ball here. I'm not pretending there isn't competition here. For a while, even in the last year, we've been a little bit worried about Costco. But good for them. They continue to put up solid numbers.
Moser:I think, maybe, you want to look at, we always talk about Amazon being that competitor to Costco. I think Costco is a very well-run business, it holds irrelevant place in the market today. I think, though, that the market is looking at this from simply the perspective of two membership programs. You have Amazon Prime and you have Costco. Which membership do you think is going to be the more powerful and productive one over the course of the next 10, 15, 20 years? Probably, most people are going to say it's Prime. And it's not really to knock Costco's membership at all, because it's a good one. But, historically, that relationship was really focused on rock bottom prices. We're going to bring you in there and we're going to have everything you want, and we're going to give it to you for the lowest price possible. And what Amazon has done so well is training the consumer to not care as much about rock bottom prices as perhaps we once did.
Greer:I disagree. I think Costco is more about value. Yes, they're competing on price, but I trust Costco. That's why I will pay a premium, even for Kirkland, for their signature brand. At the end of the day, maybe it's not a rock bottom price, but I trust them.
Moser:So, you think Costco has been able to steer away from that, we're going to give it to you at the lowest price possible?
Greer:I think in some cases, they can. I mean, you can go in and buy high ticket items at Costco. But what you're doing, especially with their Kirkland stuff, but, with their other products, as you're saying, I trust them enough, I will buy Kirkland branded stuff, and I will pay more for it than name branded stuff.
Moser:And I think that's good. I think that's something that Costco needs to do. What we've seen Amazon do over the course of its time and growing out that Prime relationship, it's taken the conversation away from being the lowest-priced provider and more about giving you fairly competitive prices, but a really great value in the form of time. We're saving you from having to go out to wherever to get this stuff.
Greer:Convenience.
Moser:Exactly.
Gross:Costco is all about having you trust them that they will get the best value in there, because they need you to keep renewing and paying that annual membership fee, because the vast bulk of their profits come from that membership fee. Amazon is more, in my opinion, about the convenience one gets from continuing to be a Prime member, which is obviously very important to them as well. Those recurring subscription revenues are essential. But, I think they're promising a different thing to the consumer. You'll get fine prices at Amazon, but you won't necessarily get the rock bottom, but oh my gosh the convenience is unbelievable.
Having said that, in this world, Amazon is probably the bigger winner. But I don't think it's a winner-take-all dynamic. I still think there's a place for folks like Costco in the world. The question then becomes, what are you going to pay for the stock in a world where they are perhaps not the winner, but still somewhat relevant? And at 14 times EBITDA right now, maybe close to 30 times earnings, I would be a little bit cautious with Costco.
Greer:OK, that plays into my next question. Over the next five to 10 years, is there room for both Amazon and Costco to be market-beating stocks?
Moser:I would bet against Costco being a market-beater.
Greer:That hurts me a little.
Moser:I just have a hard time seeing the younger generation of consumers finding the value in that subscription. I think what we're going to have to really do is look at, 10 years going forward, how is Costco going to be up to grow that membership base? And, are they going to be able to grow their membership base like Amazon is able to grow theirs? And I just don't think they can for a number of different reasons. We just saw where Amazon is now offering that discounted Prime membership to citizens who are on Medicare or Medicaid. They're figuring out all sorts of different levers to pull with that Prime relationship, but there's still a big global opportunity out there. Costco has the global market, not quite as far reaching as Amazon's, but if you're looking at it over the course of the next 10 years, it strikes me that Prime is going to be the easier winner.
Gross:It pains me to say that Jason is probably right, because I, too, am a big fan of Costco, and I've been a shareholder for a very, very long time, and I will remain one. It might not be a market-beater right now at the entry point where one would be starting from. As I mentioned earlier, the stock is kind of fairly, if not richly, priced. To be a market-beater from this point forward is not the easiest thing to do. If you saw a pull-back of 15%-20% in the stock for whatever reason, whether it was a stock market correction or something specific to the industry, and you were able to get in at that entry point, I would feel much better about it.
Greer:Back to Jason's point, what gets and keeps millennials shopping at Costco? Right now, I'm an Amazon shareholder and I'm a Costco shareholder. I love both of them. If I had to pick between memberships, and it pains me to admit this, I would go Amazon Prime all day long, and I would let Costco go. But I don't have to pick. But, for millennials, what's going to get them into the Costco door, and what's going to keep them? Because I love the treasure hunt, but I get the sense that maybe millennials value convenience over this treasure hunt thing.
Gross:Yep. Millennials also don't always have a ton of money, so value proposition could play in there. Maybe the job market will have to weaken a little bit for value to come back into vogue where millennials will start trying to save a buck rather than just go for the convenience. But, your question is really the answer in that it's not an easy battle for them.
Moser:I think also, it's just the shopping experience alone. I think when you look at the two, Amazon, obviously, you're shopping on your phone often times or your desktop, whereas Costco you're going to the stores. I think from the very beginning, on the behavior side of it, millennial consumers and generations to come are going to be more in line with shopping via mobile devices or with their laptops or whatever, vs. driving to the store to go find something. So, I think right there from the very beginning, it's a big, tall hurdle to clear.
Greer:I'm going to give you two words for Costco: free samples. That may be the answer. I'm not sure. Still working on it.
Gross:[laughs] Duly noted.
Greer:OK, guy., Kroger.
Gross:Woof. As you say, woof.
Greer:Shares of Kroger falling on Thursday after the company reporting fourth quarter earnings. Jason, Kroger is issuing a disappointing profit outlook for 2018. Shares of Kroger down around 12% at the time of our taping here. Is there any hope?
Moser:[laughs] You sound so dire!
Gross:There's always hope, Mac.
Greer:We should point out, when we're talking Kroger, we're also talking Harris Teeter. Kroger owns Harris Teeter.
Moser:It can't come as a shock that guidance for 2018 is going to be somewhat challenged. The grocery space is evolving very quickly, and now we have the competitor there in Amazon/ Whole Foods. Is there hope? I mean, I think you're asking the question, why would I invest in Kroger? Maybe there's hope, maybe there's not. I think the reason why you would invest in Kroger is because this is such a big market. In 2016, supermarket sales came in around $670 billion. Data from the Food Marketing Institute shows on the other side of the coin there that it's not a very profitable industry. You're looking at net margins of around 1%-1.1%.
Greer:Tell me more! [laughs]
Gross:[laughs] Where do I write the check?
Moser:So, it's very difficult to paint this picture of why you need to be investing in Kroger. But, I think one reason might be because of its scale. It's one of the bigger grocery concepts out there. It does own Harris Teeter. There are some positives there, but yeah, absolutely, the outlook has the market spooked.
Gross:I'm a Harris Teeter guy. Jason, you and I both know our way around the kitchen a little bit. And I think Harris Teeter does a great job in terms of offering good produce, good meats, relatively good value. They're beefing up their organic space to compete with those other folks. But, as you said, it's such a tight margin business. It's brutal out there. I will continue, week after week, to buy Harris Teeter.
Moser:It's very brutal. You also have to look at, the No. 1 grocer in the space isWal-Mart.
Greer:I've heard of them.
Moser:[laughs] Wal-Mart is the leader in the space here. And they're doing a heck of a lot in the grocery side as well, certainly with the meal plans and e-commerce and whatnot. It's just a very competitive space that's not very profitable.
Greer:And let's talk about the competitive space a little bit more. This week, Jason, we learned from Amazon's annual report that Amazon has committed to roughly $22 billion in future food purchases as it really tries to bulk up Whole Foods. The fancy term here is unconditional purchase obligations. You know. UPOs.
Moser:Yes. You're on the hook.
Greer:So, what does that mean?
Moser:Normally, this was a line item in Amazon's 10K that accounted for its digital media. What we've seen here is, that number has gone up exponentially thanks to the Whole Foods acquisition. It just means they're on the hook for buying a lot of stuff for the grocery segment, and it means they're investing a lot in that presence, and they see some potential growth there. That's not a big surprise. Amazon bought Whole Foods because they wanted to get a presence in the grocery segment.
But, what I do think is going to be more interesting, at least to me, is that at the end of trading today,United Natural Foodsis going to release their earnings for the quarter, and I'm going to be very interested to see how they respond to this news. United Natural Foods, 35% of their sales come from that relationship with Whole Foods, and they are signed on to be a provider to Whole Foods I think through 2025 now. So, it could be one of those situations where, you have this great partner, and you know that Amazon is going to be spending a lot of money with you in volume, but they're going to be asking a little bit on pricing, as well. Which can certainly play out on the profitability side. It's kind of like those chip companies that are suppliers toApple. It's great having Apple as your partner, you're going to sell a lot of chips, but Apple is going to command pricing, which really dings those margins. So, we'll have to get their take on the call here after the market closes today.
Gross:If you're someone like Kroger, it's so hard to compete against a company that, in any given short period of time, really doesn't care if it's profitable or not and will do whatever it needs to do to take control of that space. That's brutal to fight against.
Greer:That's tough. OK, guys, as we wrap up, we get to play my favorite game. It's the completely arbitrary desert island question. I think I know how this is going to end up, so we're going to tweak it a bit. For the next five years, you're on a desert island. We have four stocks. We have Cigna, Costco, Amazon, Kroger. I want you to start kicking them off one at a time. What's the first stock you're kicking off? You have to hold one for these five years. What are you getting rid of first?
Moser:What am I getting rid of first?
Greer:Yeah, you don't like it, you don't want it.
Moser:Cigna, Costco... ?
Greer:Cigna, Costco, Amazon, Kroger.
Moser:Well, I'm kicking Kroger off first.
Greer:Kroger. Ron?
Gross:I have to do it, I agree. I don't want to agree, but I do.
Greer:OK. Now we're down to Cigna, Costco and Amazon. Where are you going?
Gross:I'm going to kick off Cigna.
Moser:Oh, I'd boot Costco.
Greer:Interesting.
Gross:That's fair, though, it was close.
Greer:OK. Ron? What are you keeping?
Gross:I have to keep Amazon.
Greer:You have to keep Amazon.
Gross:I mean, I'm traditionally thought of as a value investor around here, but I've owned Amazon, I will continue to own Amazon. They're dominant in so many fields, probably some we haven't even thought of yet.
Greer:Even if they relocate, even if they choose for their second location for the headquarters your front yard?
Gross:No, I'm out then.
Greer:Because it's pretty close to your house, right?
Gross:The proposed site in Maryland is very close to my home, and yes, that would be dicey. But as far as the stock goes, I'm in.
Greer:OK. Jason?
Moser:I love the healthcare market. I think Cigna is going to do very well. But I have to agree with Ron. You need Amazon. This is just the most relevant company of our time.
Greer:OK, we will leave it there. I should mention that all of next week,Market Foolerywill be coming to you from South by Southwest in my great state of Texas.
Gross:Nice!
Greer:So, if you're in the Austin area, we're going to have a listener meet up on Monday, March 12. Chris Hill and company will be there. Just [email protected] we'll send you all the details. That's a listener meet up, Monday, March 12, Austin, Texas, South by Southwest. Jason, Ron, thanks for joining me!
Moser:Thank you!
Gross:Thanks, Mac!
Greer:As always, people on the show may have interests in the stocks they talk about, and The Motley Fool may have recommendations for or against, so don't buy or sell stocks based solely on what you hear. That's it for this edition ofMarket Foolery. The show is mixed by Dan Boyd. I'm Mac Greer. Thanks for listening! We'll see you tomorrow!
John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors.Jason Moserowns shares of Apple and Berkshire Hathaway (B shares).Mac Greerowns shares of Amazon, Apple, and Costco Wholesale.Ron Grossowns shares of Amazon, Apple, Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), and Costco Wholesale. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon, Apple, and Berkshire Hathaway (B shares). The Motley Fool is short shares of Kroger and has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool recommends Costco Wholesale and UnitedHealth Group. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Better Buy: Altria Group vs. Coca-Cola: Among companies with a global brand presence,Altria Group(NYSE: MO)andCoca-Cola(NYSE: KO)are among the most important in the world. Altria's Marlboro Man is known across the globe, and Coca-Cola's ubiquitous red Coke cans have become a U.S. cultural beacon throughout the dozens of nations where you can find the beverage.
Yet Coca-Cola and Altria also have another thing in common: Their products have come under fire for health reasons. Whether it's the impact of smoking on health or the effect of sugary carbonated beverages in contributing to obesity, the consumer-goods giants have had to deal with adverse criticism while still delivering the growth that investors want to see. Below, we'll look at how each of these companies has done lately, and see whether Altria or Coca-Cola is the smarter pick for investors right now.
Image source: Coca-Cola.
Both Altria and Coca-Cola have gone through struggles lately, but Coca-Cola has done better. Its stock price is up 3% in the past 12 months, compared to Altria's 15% loss since March 2017:
KOdata byYCharts.
When you try to compare the two companies in terms of valuations, you run into some temporary obstacles in getting clear readings. On a trailing basis, Altria looks a lot cheaper than Coca-Cola, with the tobacco giant having a trailing earnings multiple of 12 compared to the beverage maker's triple-digit showing. Yet the problem is that one-time issues like tax reform and corporate restructuring have distortedGAAPearnings enough to make trailing price-to-earnings ratios not comparable.
If you incorporate future expectations on the earnings front, it makes things a little easier. Coca-Cola trades at almost 20 times forward earnings estimates, while Altria weighs in with a much cheaper forward multiple of 14. Altria's share-price decline has made its current valuation more attractive than Coca-Cola's.
Both Altria Group and Coca-Cola have been solid dividend stocks for income investors, with long track records of paying ample dividends to shareholders. In terms of yield, Altria has the edge right now, with a 4.5% dividend yield topping Coca-Cola's figure by almost a full percentage point.
For those who value dividend growth, both stocks have done an excellent job.Altria just made a 6% boostto its dividend earlier this month, delivering its 52nd payout increase in the past 49 years. Coca-Cola similarly just announced its latest dividend increase of 5%, extending its streak to 56 consecutive years. It's hard to choose between two such distinguished stocks on the basis of dividends, although Altria's higher yield will make it more valuable for those seeking to maximize immediate income.
Growth is tough for large, mature consumer-goods stocks, but both Coca-Cola and Altria are working hard to stay on their game.Coca-Cola has gone through a massive shiftby divesting itself of its bottling operations over the past couple of years. Investors have had to get used to a big drop in revenue in recent quarters, but the net result should be a much more capital-light business model that can grow earnings at a faster pace. That will put the onus on Coca-Cola to market its products more effectively, choosing beverages that can gain traction with changing consumer trends, and avoiding drinks that generate controversy among consumers and health advocacy groups. Moves like cutting sugar in its classic cola lineup are important, but the company will also have to look at innovations like optimizing package sizes and adapting existing brands to new markets worldwide. Coca-Cola has plenty of potential for success, but it also faces competition from global beverage players looking to make their own mark on the industry.
Altria hasn't changed things upto the same extent, but the tobacco giant still sees writing on the wall that could demand a more aggressive response. Cigarette shipment volumes continue to fall dramatically, showing the shift in behavior among smokers either toward quitting or toward using alternative products like electronic cigarettes. Altria itself has pursued the e-cigarette market, with its MarkTen product line gaining traction across the U.S. Yet the company will soon go through a leadership transition, and it'll be interesting to see whether incoming CEO Howard Willard will follow the same course that current chief executive Marty Barrington has taken during his years leading the tobacco giant.
Right now Altria Group and Coca-Cola have similar challenges and opportunities. Coca-Cola appears to have a better idea of where it ultimately wants to go strategically, and that could help bolster growth. Yet with advantages both in valuation and in dividend yield, Altria will have broad appeal to income and value investors who see a brighter future in alternative products for the tobacco giant.
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Dan Caplingerhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Better Buy: Altria Group vs. Coca-Cola: Among companies with a global brand presence, Altria Group (NYSE: MO) and Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) are among the most important in the world. Altria's Marlboro Man is known across the globe, and Coca-Cola's ubiquitous red Coke cans have become a U.S. cultural beacon throughout the dozens of nations where you can find the beverage. Yet Coca-Cola and Altria also have another thing in common: Their products have come under fire for health reasons. Whether it's the impact of smoking on health or the effect of sugary carbonated beverages in contributing to obesity, the consumer-goods giants have had to deal with adverse criticism while still delivering the growth that investors want to see. Below, we'll look at how each of these companies has done lately, and see whether Altria or Coca-Cola is the smarter pick for investors right now. Five Coca-Cola bottles with varying amounts of liquid in them Image source: Coca-Cola. Stock performance and valuation Both Altria and Coca-Cola have gone through struggles lately, but Coca-Cola has done better. Its stock price is up 3% in the past 12 months, compared to Altria's 15% loss since March 2017: KO Chart KO data by YCharts . When you try to compare the two companies in terms of valuations, you run into some temporary obstacles in getting clear readings. On a trailing basis, Altria looks a lot cheaper than Coca-Cola, with the tobacco giant having a trailing earnings multiple of 12 compared to the beverage maker's triple-digit showing. Yet the problem is that one-time issues like tax reform and corporate restructuring have distorted GAAP earnings enough to make trailing price-to-earnings ratios not comparable. If you incorporate future expectations on the earnings front, it makes things a little easier. Coca-Cola trades at almost 20 times forward earnings estimates, while Altria weighs in with a much cheaper forward multiple of 14. Altria's share-price decline has made its current valuation more attractive than Coca-Cola's. Dividends Both Altria Group and Coca-Cola have been solid dividend stocks for income investors, with long track records of paying ample dividends to shareholders. In terms of yield, Altria has the edge right now, with a 4.5% dividend yield topping Coca-Cola's figure by almost a full percentage point. Story continues For those who value dividend growth, both stocks have done an excellent job. Altria just made a 6% boost to its dividend earlier this month, delivering its 52nd payout increase in the past 49 years. Coca-Cola similarly just announced its latest dividend increase of 5%, extending its streak to 56 consecutive years. It's hard to choose between two such distinguished stocks on the basis of dividends, although Altria's higher yield will make it more valuable for those seeking to maximize immediate income. Growth prospects and risks Growth is tough for large, mature consumer-goods stocks, but both Coca-Cola and Altria are working hard to stay on their game. Coca-Cola has gone through a massive shift by divesting itself of its bottling operations over the past couple of years. Investors have had to get used to a big drop in revenue in recent quarters, but the net result should be a much more capital-light business model that can grow earnings at a faster pace. That will put the onus on Coca-Cola to market its products more effectively, choosing beverages that can gain traction with changing consumer trends, and avoiding drinks that generate controversy among consumers and health advocacy groups. Moves like cutting sugar in its classic cola lineup are important, but the company will also have to look at innovations like optimizing package sizes and adapting existing brands to new markets worldwide. Coca-Cola has plenty of potential for success, but it also faces competition from global beverage players looking to make their own mark on the industry. Altria hasn't changed things up to the same extent, but the tobacco giant still sees writing on the wall that could demand a more aggressive response. Cigarette shipment volumes continue to fall dramatically, showing the shift in behavior among smokers either toward quitting or toward using alternative products like electronic cigarettes. Altria itself has pursued the e-cigarette market, with its MarkTen product line gaining traction across the U.S. Yet the company will soon go through a leadership transition, and it'll be interesting to see whether incoming CEO Howard Willard will follow the same course that current chief executive Marty Barrington has taken during his years leading the tobacco giant. Right now Altria Group and Coca-Cola have similar challenges and opportunities. Coca-Cola appears to have a better idea of where it ultimately wants to go strategically, and that could help bolster growth. Yet with advantages both in valuation and in dividend yield, Altria will have broad appeal to income and value investors who see a brighter future in alternative products for the tobacco giant. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Dan Caplinger has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Chipmaker Soap Opera, Equifax Credit Freezes, Blockchain Definitions: Good morning, Cyber Saturday readers.
What’s happening in the chip industry is more sensational than a soap opera.
This week the U.S. Treasuryasked Qualcomm to postponeby 30 days an annual shareholder meeting that could have resulted in the company’s hostile takeover by Broadcom, a Singapore-based rival. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States is now investigating whether Broadcom’s $117 billion conquest attempt could have national security consequences, given Qualcomm’s sensitive government work and the role it plays in developing technology behind next-generation 5G telecom infrastructure. Should the U.S. allow a foreign force to snap up a domestic concern so seemingly vital to its future?
The situation gets more complicated. The U.S. committee is less concerned about the firms’ geographies and more about their investment strategies. (Broadcom, formerly headquartered in the U.S., is already seeking to repatriate.) The big issue for the committee is Broadcom’s “private equity”-style approach to management which, the regulatory bodysaid in a letter, could mean reduced R&D investments in favor of “short term profitability.” Broadcom has attempted to assuage concerns bypromising to fund innovation.
Broadcom’s case is not helped, however, by its LBO-like raiding tactics. The firm, which has vied for months to consummate its proposed deal, is leading an effort to replace six members of Qualcomm’s 11-person board of directors—a move that, if successful, may as well seal the tie-up. They are, one could argue, acting like barbarians at the logic gate.
Qualcomm’s management team, meanwhile, prefers to maintain its independence and pursue a $44 billion purchase of NXP Semiconductors, a Dutch chipmaker. AndIntel, the big chip kahuna, isn’t sitting idly by either. Threatened by the prospect of a combined Broad-Qual, the company is said to bewaiting in the wings, ready to swoop in and make a bid for Broadcom if the Qualcomm coup looks likely to succeed. This is the stuff that corporate sagas are made of.
The subtext of all this is the U.S.’s fear of ceding power to China. The deal-reviewing committee has warned that foreign titans like Huawei and ZTE Corp. are poised to take the lead in 5G unless the U.S. takes steps to defend its silicon might. What may seem like arcane corporate infighting has the gravest implications for nation’s fortunes.
Tune in next time for more melodrama. Till then, have a great weekend.
Robert Hackett
@rhhackett
[email protected]
Welcome to the Cyber Saturday edition of Data Sheet,Fortune’sdaily tech newsletter.Fortunereporter Robert Hackett here. You may reach Robert Hackett viaTwitter,Cryptocat,Jabber(see OTR fingerprint on myabout.me), PGP encrypted email (see public key on myKeybase.io),Wickr,Signal, or however you (securely) prefer.Feedback welcome.
Freeing up freezes.The U.S. Senate is set next month to approve a banking bill that includes a bipartisan measure arising from last year’s massive Equifax data breach:free credit freezes. The legislative move would eliminate a source of revenue for the big three credit bureaus, and make it easier for consumers to lock down their lines of credit, helping prevent identity theft. Some consumer advocates argue that the policy doesn’t go far enough to limit the operations of the bureaus, which maintain vast stores of personal information without people’s consent.
Have fake news, will travel.A new study that examines the flow of information on Twitter has found that people are predisposed toboost the signal of lies. “False news travels faster, farther and deeper through the social network than true news,” writes Steve Lohr atThe New York Times. Relatedly, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey says the service wants to lets all usersverify their identities. The move could help counter the rise of propaganda bots and other scams.
Heroes and villains.Marcus Hutchins became an instant celebrity last year after stopping WannaCry, a global, business-crippling ransomware attack widely attributed to North Korea. His life turned upside down soon after when U.S. law enforcement arrested him for allegedly creating password-stealing malware.New York Magazinehas acompelling profileof the hacker, whose is now living on bail in Los Angeles.
Dark web takedown.In this piece,Wiredgoes inside last year’s internationalraid on dark web marketplaces. Once Dutch police found the servers of a popular market, Hansa, they plotted to take control of the operation. In coordination with the FBI, which shut down another such market, AlphaBay, the Dutch police seized and ran Hansa for a month, ensnaring its buyers and sellers in a surveillance dragnet. The team is still making arrests based on the trove of data it amassed.
I guess that’s why they call itseaweed.
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Blockchain (noun| block·chain | ?bläk-?ch?n): “a digital database containing information (such as records of financial transactions) that can be simultaneously used and shared within a large decentralized, publicly accessible network; also:the technology used to create such a database”
—Merriam-Webster has just added “blockchain” to itsdictionary, along with “cryptocurrency,” “initial coin offering,” and 847 other new words. If you’re looking for a more in-depth explanation of blockchain tech, I might be so bold as to recommendFortune’s“Blockchain Mania!” cover story from September 2017, whichthis weekearned an honorfrom the “Best in Business” journalism awards, administered by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers.
A Look at the Books of Billion-Dollar Tech Company Tanium, by Robert Hackett
Apple ID Logins on the Dark Web: Here’s How Much They Cost, by Don Reisinger
Elon Musk Blasts Steven Pinker Over Artificial Intelligence Comments, by David Z. Morris
Iceland’s ‘Big Bitcoin Heist’ Leads to 11 Arrests, by David Meyer
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman Acknowledges Users Shared Russia Propaganda, by Jonathan Vanian
Ripple’s XRP Could Improve Cross Border Money Exchanges, by Adam Lashinsky
Bitcoin: Coinbase Seeking M&A Deals With LinkedIn Hire, by Jen Wieczner
Astana, we have a problem.An urban explorer broke into a Kazak spaceport tophotograph Soviet shuttlesleft for scrap. The photos are magnificent, capturing the abandoned craft in all their dusty, derelict beauty. (The facility still serves as a launchpad for rockets bound for the International Space Station.) The trespasser says that Russian agents have been on his or her tail since. As they say, don’t try this at home, kids. || Chipmaker Soap Opera, Equifax Credit Freezes, Blockchain Definitions: Good morning, Cyber Saturday readers. Whats happening in the chip industry is more sensational than a soap opera. This week the U.S. Treasury asked Qualcomm to postpone by 30 days an annual shareholder meeting that could have resulted in the companys hostile takeover by Broadcom, a Singapore-based rival. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States is now investigating whether Broadcoms $117 billion conquest attempt could have national security consequences, given Qualcomms sensitive government work and the role it plays in developing technology behind next-generation 5G telecom infrastructure. Should the U.S. allow a foreign force to snap up a domestic concern so seemingly vital to its future? The situation gets more complicated. The U.S. committee is less concerned about the firms geographies and more about their investment strategies. (Broadcom, formerly headquartered in the U.S., is already seeking to repatriate.) The big issue for the committee is Broadcoms private equity-style approach to management which, the regulatory body said in a letter , could mean reduced R&D investments in favor of short term profitability. Broadcom has attempted to assuage concerns by promising to fund innovation . Broadcoms case is not helped, however, by its LBO-like raiding tactics. The firm, which has vied for months to consummate its proposed deal, is leading an effort to replace six members of Qualcomms 11-person board of directorsa move that, if successful, may as well seal the tie-up. They are, one could argue, acting like barbarians at the logic gate. Qualcomms management team, meanwhile, prefers to maintain its independence and pursue a $44 billion purchase of NXP Semiconductors, a Dutch chipmaker. And Intel , the big chip kahuna, isnt sitting idly by either. Threatened by the prospect of a combined Broad-Qual, the company is said to be waiting in the wings , ready to swoop in and make a bid for Broadcom if the Qualcomm coup looks likely to succeed. This is the stuff that corporate sagas are made of. Story continues The subtext of all this is the U.S.s fear of ceding power to China. The deal-reviewing committee has warned that foreign titans like Huawei and ZTE Corp. are poised to take the lead in 5G unless the U.S. takes steps to defend its silicon might. What may seem like arcane corporate infighting has the gravest implications for nations fortunes. Tune in next time for more melodrama. Till then, have a great weekend. Robert Hackett @rhhackett [email protected] Welcome to the Cyber Saturday edition of Data Sheet, Fortune s daily tech newsletter. Fortune reporter Robert Hackett here. You may reach Robert Hackett via Twitter , Cryptocat , Jabber (see OTR fingerprint on my about.me ), PGP encrypted email (see public key on my Keybase.io ), Wickr , Signal , or however you (securely) prefer. Feedback welcome. THREATS Freeing up freezes. The U.S. Senate is set next month to approve a banking bill that includes a bipartisan measure arising from last years massive Equifax data breach: free credit freezes . The legislative move would eliminate a source of revenue for the big three credit bureaus, and make it easier for consumers to lock down their lines of credit, helping prevent identity theft. Some consumer advocates argue that the policy doesnt go far enough to limit the operations of the bureaus, which maintain vast stores of personal information without peoples consent. Have fake news, will travel. A new study that examines the flow of information on Twitter has found that people are predisposed to boost the signal of lies . False news travels faster, farther and deeper through the social network than true news, writes Steve Lohr at The New York Times . Relatedly, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey says the service wants to lets all users verify their identities . The move could help counter the rise of propaganda bots and other scams. Heroes and villains. Marcus Hutchins became an instant celebrity last year after stopping WannaCry, a global, business-crippling ransomware attack widely attributed to North Korea. His life turned upside down soon after when U.S. law enforcement arrested him for allegedly creating password-stealing malware. New York Magazine has a compelling profile of the hacker, whose is now living on bail in Los Angeles. Dark web takedown. In this piece, Wired goes inside last years international raid on dark web marketplaces . Once Dutch police found the servers of a popular market, Hansa, they plotted to take control of the operation. In coordination with the FBI, which shut down another such market, AlphaBay, the Dutch police seized and ran Hansa for a month, ensnaring its buyers and sellers in a surveillance dragnet. The team is still making arrests based on the trove of data it amassed. I guess thats why they call it seaweed . Share todays Data Sheet with a friend: http://fortune.com/newsletter/datasheet/ Looking for previous Data Sheets? Click here . ACCESS GRANTED Blockchain ( noun | block·chain | ?bläk-?ch?n): a digital database containing information (such as records of financial transactions) that can be simultaneously used and shared within a large decentralized, publicly accessible network; also : the technology used to create such a database Merriam-Webster has just added blockchain to its dictionary , along with cryptocurrency , initial coin offering , and 847 other new words. If youre looking for a more in-depth explanation of blockchain tech, I might be so bold as to recommend Fortunes Blockchain Mania! cover story from September 2017, which this week earned an honor from the Best in Business journalism awards, administered by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers. FORTUNE RECON A Look at the Books of Billion-Dollar Tech Company Tanium , by Robert Hackett Apple ID Logins on the Dark Web: Heres How Much They Cost , by Don Reisinger Elon Musk Blasts Steven Pinker Over Artificial Intelligence Comments , by David Z. Morris Icelands Big Bitcoin Heist Leads to 11 Arrests , by David Meyer Reddit CEO Steve Huffman Acknowledges Users Shared Russia Propaganda , by Jonathan Vanian Ripples XRP Could Improve Cross Border Money Exchanges , by Adam Lashinsky Bitcoin: Coinbase Seeking M&A Deals With LinkedIn Hire , by Jen Wieczner ONE MORE THING Astana, we have a problem. An urban explorer broke into a Kazak spaceport to photograph Soviet shuttles left for scrap. The photos are magnificent, capturing the abandoned craft in all their dusty, derelict beauty. (The facility still serves as a launchpad for rockets bound for the International Space Station.) The trespasser says that Russian agents have been on his or her tail since. As they say, dont try this at home, kids. || Tech Stocks This Week: Qualcomm Boosts Dividend, Netflix Stock Soars, and More: Among the headlines for tech investors this week, three stories stood out. Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) crushed the S&P 500's return of more than 3% since Monday. Meanwhile, Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) served investors a nice 9% dividend increase, and rumors surfaced Friday evening that Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) is considering buying Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO) . Netflix stock soars As if Netflix stock wasn't already rising rapidly enough since it reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results , the stock has been on a tear this week, rising about 10%. This puts Netflix stock up 136% in the past 12 months and 72% year to date. The run-up comes on the heels of lots of positive news, including Netflix's first Academy Award for a feature-length film, a deal with Sky TV in Europe that will bundle Netflix into a subscription pack, and various analyst upgrades for Netflix stock . A group of young people watching TV Image source: Getty Images. On Thursday, GBH Insights analyst Daniel Ives raised his price target for Netflix stock from $310 to $375, noting the company's recent growth is "showing no signs of slowing down." Also on Thursday, The New York Times reported that former President Barack Obama "is in advanced negotiations with Netflix to produce a series of high-profile shows that will provide him a global platform after his departure from the White House," citing "people familiar with the discussions." Qualcomm's dividend increase On Thursday, mobile chip giant Qualcomm shifted some attention away from Broadcom's takeover attempt for the company and Qualcomm's own efforts to acquire NXP Semiconductors (NYSE: NXP) -- at least for a day. Qualcomm updated its tender offer for all outstanding shares of NXP on Friday. Qualcomm announced a 9% dividend, increasing its quarterly cash dividend from $0.57 to $0.62. This brings Qualcomm's annual payout to $2.48, or a forward dividend yield of 3.9%. Qualcomm used the press release to offer a subtle reminder of its efforts to complete the deal with NXP. "We look forward to closing the pending acquisition of NXP and expect the strong combined cash profile of Qualcomm and NXP to further strengthen our foundation for future capital returns for our stockholders," said Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf. Intel is considering bidding to buy Broadcom Just when it seemed like this merger and acquisition frenzy couldn't get any more complex, leading chipmaker Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) is now eyeing Broadcom as a potential acquisition Citing "people familiar with the matter," WSJ said Intel worries that if Broadcom acquires Qualcomm, it would "pose a serious competitive threat." If Broadcom's attempt to takeover Qualcomm begins to look like it will succeed, Intel may make an offer for Broadcom, WSJ 's sources said. Story continues Broadcom investors seemed to like the news, as shares climbed 3.4% in after-hours trading -- and that's on top of a 2.8% rise during the trading day. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Daniel Sparks has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Netflix. The Motley Fool owns shares of Qualcomm. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom Ltd and Intel. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . View comments || Tech Stocks This Week: Qualcomm Boosts Dividend, Netflix Stock Soars, and More: Among the headlines for tech investors this week, three stories stood out.Netflix(NASDAQ: NFLX)crushed the S&P 500's return of more than 3% since Monday. Meanwhile,Qualcomm(NASDAQ: QCOM)served investors a nice 9% dividend increase, and rumors surfaced Friday evening thatIntel(NASDAQ: INTC)is considering buyingBroadcom(NASDAQ: AVGO).
As if Netflix stock wasn't already rising rapidly enough since it reportedbetter-than-expected fourth-quarter results, the stock has been on a tear this week, rising about 10%. This puts Netflix stock up 136% in the past 12 months and 72% year to date.
The run-up comes on the heels of lots of positive news, including Netflix's first Academy Award for a feature-length film, a deal with Sky TV in Europe that will bundle Netflix into a subscription pack, andvarious analyst upgrades for Netflix stock.
Image source: Getty Images.
On Thursday, GBH Insights analyst Daniel Ives raised his price target for Netflix stock from $310 to $375, noting the company's recent growth is "showing no signs of slowing down." Also on Thursday,The New York Timesreportedthat former President Barack Obama "is in advanced negotiations with Netflix to produce a series of high-profile shows that will provide him a global platform after his departure from the White House," citing "people familiar with the discussions."
On Thursday, mobile chip giant Qualcomm shifted some attention away from Broadcom's takeover attempt for the company and Qualcomm's own efforts to acquireNXP Semiconductors(NYSE: NXP)-- at least for a day. Qualcommupdated its tender offerfor all outstanding shares of NXP on Friday.
Qualcomm announced a 9% dividend, increasing its quarterly cash dividend from $0.57 to $0.62. This brings Qualcomm's annual payout to $2.48, or a forward dividend yield of 3.9%.
Qualcomm used the press release to offer a subtle reminder of its efforts to complete the deal with NXP. "We look forward to closing the pending acquisition of NXP and expect the strong combined cash profile of Qualcomm and NXP to further strengthen our foundation for future capital returns for our stockholders," said Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf.
Just when it seemed like this merger and acquisition frenzy couldn't get any more complex, leading chipmakerIntel(NASDAQ: INTC)is now eyeing Broadcom as a potential acquisition
Citing "people familiar with the matter,"WSJsaid Intel worries that if Broadcom acquires Qualcomm, it would "pose a serious competitive threat." If Broadcom's attempt to takeover Qualcomm begins to look like it will succeed, Intel may make an offer for Broadcom,WSJ's sources said.
Broadcom investors seemed to like the news, as shares climbed 3.4% in after-hours trading -- and that's on top of a 2.8% rise during the trading day.
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• 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices
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Daniel Sparkshas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Netflix. The Motley Fool owns shares of Qualcomm. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom Ltd and Intel. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || GE's Recent Tumble Could Be a Step in the Right Direction: In this week's episode ofIndustry Focus: Energy, host Sarah Priestley talks with Motley Fool Canada Premium analyst Taylor Muckerman about a flurry of news in the sector this week.General Electric's(NYSE: GE)stock has tanked lately, but the company is straightening itself out for the long term -- and this week's disclosure about new, more transparent accounting standards is just one of many concrete steps in that direction.
Hyundaiis shaking up the electric vehicle game with their new Kona Electric crossover SUV, which could have massive market potential. The International Energy Agency forecasts that the U.S. will dominate the oil industry for the next five years. Tune in to find out more.
A full transcript follows the video.
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This video was recorded on March 8, 2018.
Sarah Priestley:Welcome toIndustry Focus, the show that dives into a different sector of the stock market every day. Today, we're talkingEnergy and Industrials. It's Thursday, the 8th of March, and we're going to be discussing all kinds of things in the news and energy and industrials. I'm your host, Sarah Priestley, and joining me in the studio is the marvelous Motley Fool Canada Premium analyst -- did you like that introduction?
Taylor Muckerman:Yeah, marvelously premium. [laughs]
Priestley:So, are you into March Madness? Because it's taking over my household.
Muckerman:It actually caught up with me. I had really no idea. I saw some of the ACC tournament on TV upstairs yesterday in The Fool cafe. I have to get my game back.
Priestley:Yeah, we work in a nice place that allows us to play the games. My husband, who is super, super into it, he's a UNC Tarheels fan, does not have the pleasure. I think he has to surreptitiously look on his phone.
Muckerman:Yeah. At least during March Madness, a lot of the networks have the boss button, where you can click it and it'll switch windows really quick for you.
Priestley:[laughs] So, first thing I wanted to touch on was, we got a great listener question from Brendan around the likelihood of Baker-Schultz carbon tax. If you don't know what that is, you are not alone. [laughs] I'll go into it.
Muckerman:Yeah, I'm very much in that boat.
Priestley:The Baker-Schultz carbon tax was devised by the Climate Leadership Council and released in February 2017. It was created by a group of Republicans headed by Reagan's Secretary of State, George Shultz and George W. Bush's Secretary of State, James Baker. It's called "The Conservative Case for Carbon Dividends," and you can read it online. The proposal aims to tax CO2 emissions from the use of fossil fuels at a rate of $40 per ton.
A crucial aspect of this proposal is that it would return the revenues from this in dividends to Americans -- every American, child, adult. I'm paraphrasing the report, but it says these dividends would be distributed on an equal monthly basis via dividend checks or as contributions to an individual's retirement account. They give an example in which a family of four would receive $2,000 in carbon dividends payments the first year, and that would grow over time as the carbon tax rate increases. This is direct quote. They say, "This would create a positive feedback loop. The more the climate is protected, the greater the individual dividend payments to all Americans." So, that's the premise of this.
That was a very, very high-level overview. If you want to learn more about it, just google Baker-Schultz carbon tax, or shoot me an email and I can send it to you,[email protected]. I find it really hard to say Baker-Schultz without sayingBaker Hughes.
Muckerman:Yeah, I'm so used to that. We might talk about that later in the show.
Priestley:So, Brendan's question was, how likely is it to come into effect? Well, it seems very unlikely for the next few years. I talked to Eugene Mulero, who was on the show last week. He's the Capitol Hill reporter for Transport Topics. He said the proposal has barely reached discussion level so far, which is unsurprising because it's pretty new. It was only released last year. So, it's not part of the President's tax overhaul. Although there's an outside chance it could be brought into the reform debate, it doesn't look likely at the minute. But, it takes a long time to communicate these things and educate people on what it would actually mean before these things even get put forward.
However, it does have some ground level support with what you might term the next generation of politicians. Which is terrifying. [laughs]
Muckerman:Yeah, but that seems like it's probably a pretty small subset of overall politicians on Capitol Hill.
Priestley:Yeah. So, Brendan, in answer to your question, and thank you very much for sending it in, it seems quite unlikely in the next few years, but it's certainly something to keep an eye on. Thank you, as always, to people writing into the show. We always appreciate hearing from listeners.
Taylor, after that boring soliloquy ... [laughs]
Muckerman:No, I was excited, I was pretty interested. Like I said, I didn't know too much about it. I think it's probably going to take a change in the administration, or at least a rollover on Capitol Hill before anything dramatic happens in terms of environmental protection.
Priestley:Yeah, it's a very interesting proposal. I think it's more academic at this point. And I always love reading stuff like that. But, yes.
Another interesting report, the International Energy Agency, IEA, has forecast that the U.S. will dominate the oil industry for the next five years, and it will become the world's largest oil exporter. That's quite the turnaround from being the world's largest importer at one point.
Muckerman:Yeah. Much to OPEC's demise.
Priestley:It anticipates the states will be able to export five million barrels a day around the world by 2023. We currently export two million barrels a day. This probably didn't come as much of a surprise to you, did it, Taylor?
Muckerman:No. This has been under way for a few years now. It's the reason why prices of oil collapsed down in the $30 range and are now oscillating in the $50-$60 range over the last few months. That's pretty astounding. The first time we've produced over 10 million barrels per day in over 40 years, looking at 11 million barrels per day next year. And as you alluded to, 17 million barrels per day by 2023. So, overtaking Saudi Arabia, Russia, and really putting the screws to OPEC and those countries that have said that they're going to continue to cut production for at least the rest of the year.
But, if they do decide to bring production back online, what's that going to do to prices? You can imagine that the U.S. producers are still going to want to keep the pedal to the metal, as they have. Although, when you think about out a few more years as spending on capital expenditures really fell off the same cliff that oil prices did in the last few years, people are expecting some kind of a shortfall in the next five years because these long-tail projects do take multiple years to bring online. We're talking big, unconventional oil fields and offshore oil that's lost everyone's attention. So, shale has very steep decline curves. You're looking at needing to replace, I think they say, roughly about 3 million barrels per day of oil each year are lost, so, you have to replace that. And if spending hasn't been following suit, maybe OPEC will finally have some salvation if that oil supply isn't there. Maybe holding back will be the smart play in the long run.
Priestley:Absolutely. You've obviously mentioned this, historically low investment, those rates in the report. OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo also mirrored these concerns. Investments have fallen by 25% in both 2015 and 2016, haven't seen 2017 figures yet.
Muckerman:I'm sure a little bit came back, but yeah, for the most part, still down.
Priestley:And you've mentioned this, it matches up with the period where we had oil over $100 a barrel in 2015. And they fell to below $30 at one point in 2016. It is a concern, like you said. This isn't something that you can just switch on. It's a lot of infrastructure that you have to build, testing, permitting. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out.
Muckerman:Yeah. And like you mentioned, we were at one point a very large importer. We're down to just four million barrels per day of importation. We were at 12.5 million barrels per day in 2005, so cut that in a third in just 13 years, which is pretty impressive. It's kind of ironic that, when you're talking about our exports, with all this tariff talk going on, that China is actually the largest importer of U.S. oil. Kind of interesting to see that dynamic play out.
Priestley:Over the next five years, demand is supposed to increase by 7%. Half of that is meant to come from China. And obviously some of that is the burgeoning middle class, so you have a lot of people wanting plastics and chemicals to make the stuff that you want when you're in the middle class. Then, some of that is also, they brought a lot of refining capability online. Is that right? So, they're importing a lot more crude?
Muckerman:Yeah. So, they can obviously distill that and make the fuels and the petrochemicals, fractionate all of that out into the ability to make, like you said, plastics and pretty much everything you touch on a daily basis, outside of anything that says organic on it. [laughs] Even though, I guess it's technically organic, because it came out of ground. But, yeah, very interesting. And, the LNG export trade that we're getting into in the United States with additional facilities expected to come online this year and over the next several years, in addition to theCheniere EnergySabine Pass that's already been exporting LNG for some time now.
Priestley:And you've already mentioned what has sparked all of this, which is shale. For anybody listening who doesn't know what shale, can you explain the difference between that and conventional extraction?
Muckerman:Very briefly, we can go into that. Conventional oil is, you find these huge basins that are in the ground and you basically just have to tap it, and the oil is naturally pressurized. Because it's a large basin, you don't need to open up any fissures, it's just basically a pool of oil down there. Shale is oil that's more or less trapped in layers of rock and shale and sediment over time. You're drilling down through all these layers. And in total, there's a lot of oil down there. But it's not as easy to access as just basically sticking a straw in the ground.
So, they'll drill down and basically send a canister down -- it's much more technical than this -- but, they send a canister down into the ground filled with proppants, and they'll basically light the fuse, explode it, which sends fissure through the shale. Then, they flood it with water, different chemicals, and sand to A, add pressure, and the sand will then keep the fissures open, allowing basically a maze-like structure for oil to flow out of the singular hole being the well. So, they're able to do that, drilling down several miles and horizontally several miles.
And that's all increased over time, therefore giving us access to more oil and natural gas that was once thought to be unattainable. Even still, we're leaving more than 50% of that in the ground. The pipe dream there, no pun intended, is to be able to extract more of that. They're slowly doing that over time, but because of the nature of it, the decline curve is so much steeper than conventional oil. The initial spurt is insane, but you lose a lot of that daily production over the first few months and certainly the first year. It's a much faster replacement cycle with shale vs. the conventional oil that you're seeing offshore and that you're seeing in the Middle East.
Priestley:Absolutely. And that's definitely a consideration, like you were talking about. These don't have the life cycle that we're used to. This really revolutionized the industry, and what furthered that was the ongoing efficiency. That lower cost per barrel, or lower price per barrel, has led to people really concentrating on lowering the cost per barrel. And that enforced discipline on the industry.
Muckerman:Yeah, it did. Originally, it was just a huge land grab. Everyone went out and spent a ton of money. They tried to do it secretly, acquiring land rights at the courts without trying to draw a bunch of attention, but quickly people caught on to the best basins. You've seen energy companies and high production numbers leapfrog from basin to basin to basin. Marcellus and Utica in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio, still very prolific for natural gas. That really hasn't changed. At one point, you were hearing a lot about the Bakken up in North Dakota withContinental Resourcesand Harold Hamm. Then, everyone was all in on the Eagle Ford. Now everyone's all in on the Permian. You're extracting the low-hanging fruit. And once that starts to run dry, you start to worry about low oil prices preventing people from making money on this.
But, like you mentioned, efficiencies. You have pad drilling. Basically, instead of having to deconstruct a drilling rig every time you want to drill a new well, which takes time and money, they have what they call pad drilling, which is basically putting a rig on, basically, if you imagine a bulldozer with tractor wheels and the track, is I guess what they call it, you can move these drilling rigs around without having to deconstruct it and then rebuild it. So, you're drilling these wells much faster within a certain parameter of land, and it's making it easier and cheaper. Multi-stage fracking, which is basically just extending that line out underground, and using multiple canisters, drawing the line wire backwards, fracking further out, then fracking closer and closer and closer so that you continue to hit more and more pockets oil. Definitely more efficient. We've talked about people drilling for under $30 a barrel, break even cost. That's the best drillers in the U.S., doing that.
Priestley:Yes. Hopefully that background was helpful to anybody who's been reading any transcripts of conference calls and kind of doesn't understand what any of that stuff means. It was very helpful for me.
Muckerman:And they use seismic data, they can directionally drill with a joystick directly at where they need to be. It's very, very precise these days. But,EOG's former CEO came out recently saying that he's a little nervous that these projections for shale are a little outlandish because of the declines in shale and because he thinks the prime acreage is all but taken. Some people say he's busy talking his own book, because obviously if that's the case, oil prices are likely to rise, and he is the CEO of a small company that has prime acreage in the Permian now. So, only time will tell if that's correct or not, but the pace we're on right now certainly doesn't hint that that's the case.
Priestley:Absolutely. Coming up, we're going to be talking about the stock that everybody seems to love to hate right now, which is GE, and news of Hyundai's new electric contender. I believe that the British say Hyundai differently to how it's said here.
Muckerman:Yeah. I've heard it both ways. I didn't know it was a regional thing. I just think it's people like, "How the heck do you pronounce that name?" [laughs]
Priestley:We need to get some company spokesman to come and set us both right. Just to recap the tragedy that has been GE recently --
Muckerman:That's a good word for it.
Priestley:-- the stock has fallen 50% since last June. It's now trading at its lowest levels for seven years. And it seems like the bad news just doesn't stop coming. Most recently, they filed a full disclosure which recognizes the impact of their new accounting standards. For background on this, there was an SEC investigation. It's been known for many years that they do not have the most transparent accounting. If you look at their free cash flow, for instance, under Bornstein, their former CFO, it's not done the same way as any other industrial company.
They've implemented these new accounting standards or revenue recognition rules to try and become more transparent, more accessible for investors. They've recognized this. They also recognized the effects of tax reform. They're revising back to 2016, which, under the new rules, results in a non-cash charge of retained earnings at $4.2 billion. They also lowered earnings per share for both 2016 and 2017 by $0.13 and $0.16 respectively. Now, the issue here is that this was misrepresented by a lot of the financial journalists and even some analysts, that it was a correction of a misstatement.
Muckerman:Yeah, that's not the case.
Priestley:No, that's absolutely not the case. The company is trying to become more and more transparent. I, as a shareholder, really appreciate that.
Muckerman:Yeah. It's tough, with a company this big.
Priestley:It is, yes.
Muckerman:So diverse. Maybe not the size, but the diversity is definitely a hurdle to get over.
Priestley:Yeah, absolutely. And GE Capital is really the devil on their back right now.
Muckerman:Yeah, it's that thorn in your boot you just can't get out.
Priestley:Yeah. And they have Power, which is underperforming, but Aviation and Healthcare are doing really well. So, it's kind of this mixed bag, and they're trying to parse it all out for people. Then, to top it all off, their CFO Jamie Miller said of earnings estimates, I think you should expect it's at the low end of guidance. Wall Street did not like that.
Muckerman:No. Bad news continues. But, if you think about the way that they report things, maybe they're trying to address that moving forward with a new board member that they're bringing on, Leslie Seidman, a former chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board. So, maybe there will be a little more oversight into how they're going to represent their numbers moving forward. And a couple of other new board members that I think are going to bring a lot of diversity and experience to the board. And, they're shrinking it from 18 to 12, which is still a pretty big board.
Priestley:It is a big board. I personally really like the shakeup. I think the one thing that this whole ordeal for GE shareholders has revealed is the mismanagement, essentially, of the company. It's easy for people to say that as commentators, but I would say objectively, there's been mismanagement. So, I like the fresh faces on the board. From my perspective, this is almost over-transparency. However, if you're going to air your dirty laundry, you might as well get it all done in a six-month period.
Muckerman:Spring cleaning, yeah, for sure.
Priestley:I'm praying that it's over.
Muckerman:One other one, Thomas Horton, former chairman and CEO ofAmerican Airlines. So, some good insight into one of the largest sector customers, the airline industry. So, that and the former CEO ofDanaher, which is a competitor of GE in several lineups.
Priestley:Yeah, very smart moves. Fourth quarter earnings weaker than expected, as we mentioned, due to the Power unit. They didn't revise those estimates before they released earnings, which I think a lot of analysts were perturbed by. The reason that they gave was that they thought the strength of Aviation and Healthcare would offset. That's kind of the ongoing story.Siemensalso released earnings, and they performed slightly better. They were showing a bit of more strengthening in pricing, services taking a bit of an uptick, which is something that we haven't seen in that segment before. It's oversubscribed, for want of a better word. So, possibly, there's light at the end of the tunnel there.
Muckerman:And speaking of Siemens, I just saw an announcement today that GE is going to be getting into the battery storage game for solar and wind. So, maybe that'll help out a little bit.
Priestley:I feel that's very sensible. Some stuff to watch out for if you're interested in this stock -- we've had asset sales promised by the CEO, the new CEO, John Flannery. Improvement in operating performance with regard to cost cutting measures. And we're starting to see that somewhat already. Cutting the board. Presumably, the new people will not be cheap, but, cutting boards, cutting exec-level. There's been a lot of layoffs. Obviously awful for the people impacted, but in the next two years or so you're going to start to see that have an effect on the bottom line.
Muckerman:And the ever-growing storm cloud of the pension shortfall is narrowing from 67% funded to 71% funded now, and they say that rising interest rates will only help to close that gap.
Priestley:Yeah, absolutely. I wish I could remember this, I saw something somewhere and it was saying a 0.1% rise in interest rates would almost pay off for that.
Muckerman:Yeah, they're supremely levered to even the most micro increase in interest rates, for sure.
Priestley:So, one good thing to look out for with rising interest rates. They're also looking for a margin recovery. We just discussed GE Power. A lot of that will come from the Services side, which is the high-margin aspect of the business. They almost give away the turbines, having worked in that industry. They also want a trouble-free resolution of the SEC investigation. The revisions that they've made and the new board members suggests to me that that should be within sight.
Muckerman:I agree.
Priestley:So, yeah, we're hoping. We're hoping this is it. Who knows. The next thing I wanted to talk to you about is Hyundai's new SUV. The Korean auto manufacturer has created what our senior auto specialist John Rosevear describes as a potentially world-beating new product, an all-electric small SUV with nearly 300 miles of range. They're calling it the Kona Electric crossover SUV. It's clear this could provide some real competition to the current frontrunner,General Motors' Chevy Bolt. The Bolt is currently America's best-selling electric vehicle. It's sold more than all ofTesla's(NASDAQ: TSLA)models, I believe. The big point of interest essentially is the range available. We don't know if that's going to be a long-range version and then there'll be a shorter-range version. But, 300 miles is very good.
Muckerman:Yeah, for sure.
Priestley:What I wanted to get your opinion on is, as somebody else who follows the industry, Elon Musk trumpeted from the beginning that this was all part of his plan. He wanted to encourage traditional automakers to take electric seriously. I guess this is an indication that that's happening. What do you make of this?
Muckerman:It certainly is. And they went straight at Elon with a couple of Billboards that they've placed around, I don't know exactly where, but I assume it's more in Elon Musk's neighborhood, with the lineup of the Hyundai cars, and it just says, "Your turn, Elon." Interesting, because he's already the first mover in this category for the most part, in terms of broad scale electric vehicle sales. He was the first to make the move. Maybe it should have said, "Your second turn," or, "Your third turn, Elon."
But, it's geared toward the mass market, which, maybe the Model 3 is for Tesla. But still, it's not really stepping on his toes in terms of their SUV, because the Model Y is definitely geared more toward the luxury market, and more of a status symbol than anything else. But, great to see more cars coming out with this electric capability. Yeah, 300 miles is impressive. Getting ahead of a lot of other companies for Hyundai. Definitely good to see. I don't necessarily think this is a shot over Tesla's bow, just because I think they're tracking different markets.
Priestley:Absolutely. The one thing that I do think it's interesting is, it's not a zero-sum game, because the more people who want to buy electric vehicles, the more people are going to be incentivized to establish the infrastructure necessary for electric vehicles. Right now, that's probably the biggest prohibitor for anything long-range.
So, it's all very interesting. We're not sure if it's going to be available in the U.S. I presume that some model or some version will be available in the U.S. But, absolutely, it's an indication that the master plan is taking effect. It's interesting that electric is being chosen when you had all of these alternative energy sources touted when all of this was going off. You had fusion technology, hydrogen fuel cells --
Muckerman:Compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas.
Priestley:Exactly. And electrics seem to be the choicedu jour.
Muckerman:It sure does. And they're not just attacking people buying new cars. Their addressable market is everyone who has a car. As your car gets older and you retire it, or maybe you want a new one, it makes sense to at least consider electric vehicles. The competition there is so much smaller than all petrochemical vehicles that I don't think new entrance is really as big of a threat to even other players in this market as some people make it out to be. You're addressing a smaller pool of competitors. There's thousands of petrol cars vs. a handful of electric vehicles. I think there's a much bigger opportunity there than people are giving everyone credit for, not just Tesla.
Priestley:This plays into our previous discussion about GE's latest investment. I think a lot of people don't understand that an electric vehicle has a huge battery on it. This is kind of a huge cell made of lots of conventional batteries, essentially. So, any investment that you're seeing right now in that area is already sold up, it's already been bought up. But, it's sensible.
Muckerman:And, if you know anything about batteries, they die. There's going to be a replacement cycle on that, as well, not just the car itself. Tesla, far ahead of the game with their Gigafactory, in terms of lithium battery production.
Priestley:Thank you so much for being on the show --
Muckerman:Absolutely.
Priestley:-- and talking about all these different things with me. We hope the listeners enjoyed it. That's it from us today, but if you would like to get in touch, please feel free to email us [email protected], or tweet us on Twitter @MFIndustryFocus. As always, people on the program may own companies discussed on the show, and The Motley Fool may have formal recommendations for or against stocks mentioned, so don't buy or sell anything based solely on what you hear. Thank you to Steve for mixing the show today. For Taylor, I'm Sarah Priestley. Thanks for listening and Fool on!
Sarah Priestleyowns shares of General Electric.Taylor Muckermanowns shares of General Electric and Tesla. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Tesla. The Motley Fool is short shares of General Electric. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.
[Social Media Buzz]
ツイート数の多かった通貨
1. $BTC - 285 Tweets
2. $ETH - 172 Tweets
3. $LTC - 154 Tweets
2018年03月11日 11:00 ~ 11:59
https://hot-coins.net?type=tweethot-coins.net/?type=tweet pic.twitter.com/ml93trwder || Hermosos , precio 160.00 mil pesos , recibo bitcoin, te los enviamos a tu casa pic.twitter.com/qLxDYmeRhE || 【12：00】
ビットコイン（Bitcoin）価格・相場・チャート
https://bitflyer.jp/ja-jp/bitcoin-chart …
ビットコイン取引量No1!
【bitFlyer】
https://goo.gl/LwcoRC || BTC Price: 8658.50$,
BTC Today High : 8832.00$,
BTC All Time High : 19...
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9205.12, 9194.85, 8269.81, 8300.86, 8338.35, 7916.88, 8223.68, 8630.65, 8913.47, 8929.28
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 2155.80, 2255.61, 2175.47, 2286.41, 2407.88, 2488.55, 2515.35, 2511.81, 2686.81, 2863.20, 2732.16, 2805.62, 2823.81, 2947.71, 2958.11, 2659.63, 2717.02, 2506.37, 2464.58, 2518.56, 2655.88, 2548.29, 2589.60, 2721.79, 2689.10, 2705.41, 2744.91, 2608.72, 2589.41, 2478.45, 2552.45, 2574.79, 2539.32, 2480.84, 2434.55, 2506.47, 2564.06, 2601.64, 2601.99, 2608.56, 2518.66, 2571.34, 2518.44, 2372.56, 2337.79, 2398.84, 2357.90, 2233.34, 1998.86, 1929.82, 2228.41, 2318.88, 2273.43, 2817.60, 2667.76, 2810.12, 2730.40, 2754.86, 2576.48, 2529.45, 2671.78, 2809.01, 2726.45, 2757.18, 2875.34, 2718.26, 2710.67, 2804.73, 2895.89, 3252.91, 3213.94, 3378.94, 3419.94, 3342.47, 3381.28, 3650.62, 3884.71, 4073.26, 4325.13, 4181.93, 4376.63, 4331.69, 4160.62, 4193.70, 4087.66, 4001.74, 4100.52, 4151.52, 4334.68, 4371.60.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2017-08-25]
Volume: 1727970048, RSI (14-day): 70.24, 50-day EMA: 3366.77, 200-day EMA: 2269.27
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1292.50, Gold RSI: 64.28
Oil Price: 47.87, Oil RSI: 50.24
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
People who owned the Galaxy Note 7 are excited for the Note 8 — despite last year's battery debacle: Owners of the Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 had the phone taken out of their hands thanks to a worldwide recall. Despite that, they're the consumers most excited about the device's successor. Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Note 8 on Wednesday, less than a year after it was forced to discontinue and recall the device's predecessor due to exploding batteries. Samsung's reputation took a big hit with the Note 7, and the new phone, which is due in stores on September 15 and will start at $960, is tasked with winning back consumers. As indicated by this chart from Statista — which is based on a recent survey of US consumers conducted by Creative Strategies and SurveyMonkey — it's already heading in the right direction. Although most consumers surveyed are skeptical of the new phone, Note 7 owners — i.e., the ones most affected by the recall — appear more than willing to forgive Samsung. Chart of the day 8/24 (Mike Nudelman/Business Insider) NOW WATCH: Everything you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 More From Business Insider Here's your first look at the new Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Oreo may be the latest flavor of Android, but most users are still stuck with Marshmallow or something older Bitcoin is more valuable than gold — but nowhere near as stable || People who owned the Galaxy Note 7 are excited for the Note 8 — despite last year's battery debacle: Owners of the Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 had the phone taken out of their hands thanks to a worldwide recall. Despite that, they're the consumers most excited about the device's successor.
Samsung unveiled theGalaxy Note 8on Wednesday, less than a year after it was forced to discontinue and recall the device's predecessor due to exploding batteries. Samsung's reputation took a big hit with the Note 7, and the new phone, which is due in stores on September 15 and will start at $960, is tasked with winning back consumers.
As indicated by this chart fromStatista— which is based on a recent survey of US consumers conducted byCreative StrategiesandSurveyMonkey— it's already heading in the right direction. Although most consumers surveyed are skeptical of the new phone, Note 7 owners — i.e., the ones most affected by the recall — appear more than willing to forgive Samsung.
(Mike Nudelman/Business Insider)
NOW WATCH:Everything you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy Note 8
More From Business Insider
• Here's your first look at the new Samsung Galaxy Note 8
• Oreo may be the latest flavor of Android, but most users are still stuck with Marshmallow or something older
• Bitcoin is more valuable than gold — but nowhere near as stable || David Pogue on the solar eclipse: I’ve always thought eclipse chasers—these people who spend thousands of dollars flying around the world to spend two minutes looking at a solar eclipse—were a little nutty. I mean, that’s a little extreme, right? If you want to see what a solar eclipse looks like, type solar eclipse into Google, right? Of course, I get that an eclipse is supposed to be better experienced live, in the same way that seeing a band perform live is more exciting than listening to a recording. But the way these people talk? “Life-changing?” “Addicting?” “Spiritual?” That, I’ve always thought, was a little much. A total eclipse of the sun is when the earth, moon, and sun are all lined up perfectly, so that the moon precisely blocks the sun for couple of minutes. (How come its silhouette is exactly the right size to block the more distant sun? Pure coincidence.) That’s the moment of totality — where the moon is positioned fully between you and the sun, so that all you see of the sun is a ring of fire around a jet-black circle. It supposedly looks like this: Here’s the kind of eclipse photo we usually see. It’s not accurate. (nasa.gov) Getting to see a total eclipse is relatively hard. There were just 62 total eclipses during the 20th century. Even then, the moon’s shadow carves out a narrow path, only 70 miles wide, where you can experience totality. (Outside that band, you see a partial eclipse, where you see the sun with a rounded bite taken out of it—kind of like the Apple logo.) So to experience totality, you have to be in the right place in the right time—and have the right weather. Experts were raving about how rare and special this week’s eclipse would be. They called it the “Great American Eclipse,” because (a) its path would cross the entire continental USA, for the first time in 99 years, and (b) the total eclipse would be visible only from this country. Totality would pass through 14 states, passing over the homes of 12.2 million Americans. The “path of totality” during this week’s solar eclipse crossed the entire United States. (NASA.gov) It would also fall during the final days of school summer vacation. In other words, all the planets were aligned for me to make my own first trip to see a total solar eclipse. Story continues Not for my benefit. For my kids. Obviously. Where to go NASA’s websites featured some great tools for planning a visit. Almost every state in the U.S. would be able to see some of the eclipse. But we wanted to experience totality if we could. NASA’s interactive map made it clear that, for us, the closest spot would be South Carolina. So I booked a plane, a car, and a cheap hotel, and started getting my kids excited. Three days before the eclipse, though, it became clear that South Carolina was not the place to be this time; almost the entire state would be covered by clouds on the big day! Of course, a total solar eclipse is very cool even if it’s cloudy. You still feel a crazy rapid temperature drop, see the day rapidly turning into temporary night, and hear animals and bugs going crazy. But you miss the grand prize: Looking into the sky and seeing the eclipse itself. Well, dangit. Now what? Well, I’d come this far. I bit the bullet and canceled our reservations. The next closest spot on the eclipse’s path of totality seemed to be Nashville, Tennessee—a great place for a family trip even without an eclipse. Better yet, the weather was supposed to be clear! Nashville was hosting all kinds of special events. At their science museum, for example, there would be talks and booths and exhibits. At the baseball stadium, the mayor was hosting a massive viewing party. All the flights to Nashville were sold out. So we flew to Memphis instead, and drove the 3.5 hours to Nashville. The night before, in our hotel room, my sons (ages 20 and 12) and I planned our strategy. Nashville would experience 1 minute, 55 seconds of totality; but smaller towns 30 miles away were closer to the eclipse’s center line. Gallatin, Tennessee, for example, would have 2 minutes, 40 seconds of totality. Jeffrey, my seventh grader, insisted that we skip the festivities of Nashville and go for the longer eclipse experience. The closer to the center line, the longer the moment of totality. Gallatin was looking good. (greatamericaneclipse.com) “You realize that, with all the traffic, we’ll have to sit in the car for two extra hours to get to Gallatin—for 45 seconds more eclipse?” said Kell, his older brother. But Jeffrey was adamant. The big morning We arrived at Triple Creek Park in Gallatin two hours before the start of the eclipse. This is a vast public park—acres and acres of soccer fields, baseball fields, field fields. There were lots of people there for the eclipse, but the park wasn’t what you’d call crowded in any sense; finding places to park our car and ourselves was easy. Here and there, we saw people with telescopes or huge telephoto camera lenses. Everyone was incredibly friendly; there was a sense of shared excitement. The day was blistering hot, so most people found shady trees for waiting. It was a hot August day in Tennessee, so most of us waited under the trees until the big moment. The eclipse began at 11:28 a.m. For an hour, it was OK. You could wear your cardboard eclipse glasses, look up at the sun, and see the growing rounded bite taken out of its side. “It’s a Pac-Man,” said almost everyone. Interesting, but slow. But then, as 12:29 p.m. approached, things began to get wild. We could feel the heat ease off fast, as more and more of the sun got blocked. The cicadas that had produced a loud, steady background rattle all morning suddenly went quiet. My sons and I, moments before the totality that blew us away. And then, with a minute to go, the magic began. The whole world began to dim. But here’s the thing—it wasn’t dark like nightfall. This darkness had a silvery-grey tint to it. It was as though someone had put a giant Instagram dimming filter on everything you could see. Completely otherworldly and strange and beautiful. And then, suddenly, the eclipse hit totality: The sun was completely blocked by the moon. All around us, we could hear people crying out. These weren’t crowd noises like you’d hear at a circus, baseball game, or theater—it was gasps of awe and emotion, a collective sound I’d never heard from a crowd before. My eclipse app’s guide voice announced that it was now safe to remove our glasses and look directly up at the sun. Oh, my, god. While we’d had the glasses on, all we could see was the bright yellow crescent of the sun—and around it, blankness. No color, no detail. But with the glasses off…!! Where there should have been the sun, there was a jet-black perfect circle, sharp and laser-cut. Around it was the corona—a blazing intense spill of the sun’s atmosphere. All of it was suspended against a deep blue sky . That’s what I remember: Intense black circle, intense ring of white, intense glowing blue. Yes, there is color in an eclipse—vivid, iridescent, alien. Almost every solar-eclipse photo lies . All of those Google image searches? They’re baloney. They show a black ball against a black sky, and that is not what it looks like. I’ve tried to Photoshop the right color scheme into this photo: This is my Photoshop hack trying to show the blue sky. We could see some stars—against blue, not black. Here’s another reason why no photo can ever represent a total eclipse: Because a photo can show the corona only as bright as your screen (or piece of paper)! You don’t get any sense of how stunningly bright and pure and intense that fire is. It’s hundreds of times brighter than your screen. Our eyes can detect a much greater dynamic range (the scale of brights and darks) than any camera can. What I learned that day is that a total solar eclipse is almost alone among the things we experience, in that you can’t photograph it. To see what it looks like, you have to be there. When I looked around us, I saw a strange, gorgeous fake twilight. There was what looked like a 360-degrees “sunrise” around the entire horizon, and the sky ranged from dusky blue to deep violet. When I looked up, though, my heart raced. The intensity, the dazzling colors, the freakishness of that sight—a jet-black hole where the sun should be! I’m not a touchy-feely person by any stretch, but this was a spiritual experience; I was so moved, and I could tell that my sons were, too. I could easily see why ancient civilizations assumed that some god or mystic force was responsible for total eclipses. (I love this description by retired NASA astrophysicist Fred Espenak, who’s witnessed 27 solar eclipses: “You feel something in the pit of your stomach like something is wrong in the day, something is not right,” he told Time . “As totality begins, and the shadow sweeps over you, the hairs on the back of your neck and arms stand up.”) I’d been warned not to try to take pictures of my first eclipse; the last thing you want is to miss the magic while you’re futzing with your gear. So during the 160 seconds of totality, I allowed myself about 10 seconds to snap pictures (Sony a6000 SLR, solar filter, 210mm lens). They’re not great pictures—you really need much more zoom—but here’s the idea: Even my SLR with a solar filter captured only the roughest idea of the eclipse. Remember: The sky was deep blue, not black. As the moon began to edge out of the sun’s way, we were treated to a moment of the “diamond ring” effect as the sun breaks past the right edge of the moon: The “diamond ring” moment, where the sun begins to peek out again as the moon moves on. And again: Imagine the sky deep blue, not black. (abcnews.com) And then, as quickly as it had begun, the process reversed itself. Daylight returned, and the world’s colors faded back in. The temperature shot back up. The crowd cheered. People ran to check their cameras, or babble with their families, or wipe tears from their eyes. The first-timers, in particular, had been somehow changed. We’d all seen something freakish, rare, beautiful, shocking, historic—and much, much bigger than ourselves. I had set up a GoPro on a tripod to film the whole scene, hoping to capture the fading light and the sounds of the event. Unfortunately, I was too wrapped up in the event to notice that another guy set up his camera and tripod right in front of mine, partially blocking the shot. Sorry about that, but you still get the idea—you can see the light fall, and hear the crowds and the confused cicadas—in this time-lapse video: The modern-age eclipse Actually, this wasn’t my first solar eclipse. I can still remember my parents showing me one in the backyard in Cleveland when I was 7 years old—and using a stack of color film negatives to protect my eyes! (A little research reveals that, first of all, that’s not a safe way to view an eclipse—and second, we weren’t in the path of totality. But I remember everybody being pretty excited anyway.) What’s different, of course, is time and technology. The internet made planning our eclipse trip a snap—we could see the path of totality and observe the weather. Phone apps guided us through the experience. Those cheap cardboard eclipse glasses made it safe to look up with confidence. Social media made it possible to share the experience around the world in real time—both the exhilaration of seeing the eclipse, and, for some, the heartbreak of being thwarted by unexpected clouds (as Nashville viewers ultimately were). The next total eclipse will come to the Earth in July 2019, but most of it will be wasted on empty ocean. (You’ll be able to see it in Chile and Argentina, but it’ll be winter time, and therefore possibly cloudy.) The next one to come to the U.S. will occur in April, 2024—seven years from now. It’ll fly up from Texas to Maine, like this: nasa.gov Take it from a guy with a changed attitude: You should try to be there. I’ll be joining you. More from David Pogue: Samsung’s Bixby voice assistant is ambitious, powerful, and half-baked Is through-the-air charging a hoax? Electrify your existing bike in 2 minutes with these ingenious wheels Marty Cooper, inventor of the cellphone: The next step is implantables The David Pogue Review: Windows 10 Creators Update Now I get it: Bitcoin David Pogue’s search for the world’s best air-travel app The little-known iPhone feature that lets blind people see with their fingers David Pogue, tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, welcomes nontoxic comments in the comments section below. On the web, he’s davidpogue.com . On Twitter, he’s @pogue . On email, he’s [email protected]. You can read all his articles here , or you can sign up to get his columns by email . || David Pogue on the solar eclipse: I’ve always thought eclipse chasers—these people who spend thousands of dollars flying around the world to spend two minutes looking at a solar eclipse—were a little nutty. I mean, that’s a little extreme, right? If you want to see what a solar eclipse looks like, type solar eclipse into Google, right? Of course, I get that an eclipse is supposed to be better experienced live, in the same way that seeing a band perform live is more exciting than listening to a recording. But the way these people talk? “Life-changing?” “Addicting?” “Spiritual?” That, I’ve always thought, was a little much. A total eclipse of the sun is when the earth, moon, and sun are all lined up perfectly, so that the moon precisely blocks the sun for couple of minutes. (How come its silhouette is exactly the right size to block the more distant sun? Pure coincidence.) That’s the moment of totality — where the moon is positioned fully between you and the sun, so that all you see of the sun is a ring of fire around a jet-black circle. It supposedly looks like this: Here’s the kind of eclipse photo we usually see. It’s not accurate. (nasa.gov) Getting to see a total eclipse is relatively hard. There were just 62 total eclipses during the 20th century. Even then, the moon’s shadow carves out a narrow path, only 70 miles wide, where you can experience totality. (Outside that band, you see a partial eclipse, where you see the sun with a rounded bite taken out of it—kind of like the Apple logo.) So to experience totality, you have to be in the right place in the right time—and have the right weather. Experts were raving about how rare and special this week’s eclipse would be. They called it the “Great American Eclipse,” because (a) its path would cross the entire continental USA, for the first time in 99 years, and (b) the total eclipse would be visible only from this country. Totality would pass through 14 states, passing over the homes of 12.2 million Americans. The “path of totality” during this week’s solar eclipse crossed the entire United States. (NASA.gov) It would also fall during the final days of school summer vacation. In other words, all the planets were aligned for me to make my own first trip to see a total solar eclipse. Story continues Not for my benefit. For my kids. Obviously. Where to go NASA’s websites featured some great tools for planning a visit. Almost every state in the U.S. would be able to see some of the eclipse. But we wanted to experience totality if we could. NASA’s interactive map made it clear that, for us, the closest spot would be South Carolina. So I booked a plane, a car, and a cheap hotel, and started getting my kids excited. Three days before the eclipse, though, it became clear that South Carolina was not the place to be this time; almost the entire state would be covered by clouds on the big day! Of course, a total solar eclipse is very cool even if it’s cloudy. You still feel a crazy rapid temperature drop, see the day rapidly turning into temporary night, and hear animals and bugs going crazy. But you miss the grand prize: Looking into the sky and seeing the eclipse itself. Well, dangit. Now what? Well, I’d come this far. I bit the bullet and canceled our reservations. The next closest spot on the eclipse’s path of totality seemed to be Nashville, Tennessee—a great place for a family trip even without an eclipse. Better yet, the weather was supposed to be clear! Nashville was hosting all kinds of special events. At their science museum, for example, there would be talks and booths and exhibits. At the baseball stadium, the mayor was hosting a massive viewing party. All the flights to Nashville were sold out. So we flew to Memphis instead, and drove the 3.5 hours to Nashville. The night before, in our hotel room, my sons (ages 20 and 12) and I planned our strategy. Nashville would experience 1 minute, 55 seconds of totality; but smaller towns 30 miles away were closer to the eclipse’s center line. Gallatin, Tennessee, for example, would have 2 minutes, 40 seconds of totality. Jeffrey, my seventh grader, insisted that we skip the festivities of Nashville and go for the longer eclipse experience. The closer to the center line, the longer the moment of totality. Gallatin was looking good. (greatamericaneclipse.com) “You realize that, with all the traffic, we’ll have to sit in the car for two extra hours to get to Gallatin—for 45 seconds more eclipse?” said Kell, his older brother. But Jeffrey was adamant. The big morning We arrived at Triple Creek Park in Gallatin two hours before the start of the eclipse. This is a vast public park—acres and acres of soccer fields, baseball fields, field fields. There were lots of people there for the eclipse, but the park wasn’t what you’d call crowded in any sense; finding places to park our car and ourselves was easy. Here and there, we saw people with telescopes or huge telephoto camera lenses. Everyone was incredibly friendly; there was a sense of shared excitement. The day was blistering hot, so most people found shady trees for waiting. It was a hot August day in Tennessee, so most of us waited under the trees until the big moment. The eclipse began at 11:28 a.m. For an hour, it was OK. You could wear your cardboard eclipse glasses, look up at the sun, and see the growing rounded bite taken out of its side. “It’s a Pac-Man,” said almost everyone. Interesting, but slow. But then, as 12:29 p.m. approached, things began to get wild. We could feel the heat ease off fast, as more and more of the sun got blocked. The cicadas that had produced a loud, steady background rattle all morning suddenly went quiet. My sons and I, moments before the totality that blew us away. And then, with a minute to go, the magic began. The whole world began to dim. But here’s the thing—it wasn’t dark like nightfall. This darkness had a silvery-grey tint to it. It was as though someone had put a giant Instagram dimming filter on everything you could see. Completely otherworldly and strange and beautiful. And then, suddenly, the eclipse hit totality: The sun was completely blocked by the moon. All around us, we could hear people crying out. These weren’t crowd noises like you’d hear at a circus, baseball game, or theater—it was gasps of awe and emotion, a collective sound I’d never heard from a crowd before. My eclipse app’s guide voice announced that it was now safe to remove our glasses and look directly up at the sun. Oh, my, god. While we’d had the glasses on, all we could see was the bright yellow crescent of the sun—and around it, blankness. No color, no detail. But with the glasses off…!! Where there should have been the sun, there was a jet-black perfect circle, sharp and laser-cut. Around it was the corona—a blazing intense spill of the sun’s atmosphere. All of it was suspended against a deep blue sky . That’s what I remember: Intense black circle, intense ring of white, intense glowing blue. Yes, there is color in an eclipse—vivid, iridescent, alien. Almost every solar-eclipse photo lies . All of those Google image searches? They’re baloney. They show a black ball against a black sky, and that is not what it looks like. I’ve tried to Photoshop the right color scheme into this photo: This is my Photoshop hack trying to show the blue sky. We could see some stars—against blue, not black. Here’s another reason why no photo can ever represent a total eclipse: Because a photo can show the corona only as bright as your screen (or piece of paper)! You don’t get any sense of how stunningly bright and pure and intense that fire is. It’s hundreds of times brighter than your screen. Our eyes can detect a much greater dynamic range (the scale of brights and darks) than any camera can. What I learned that day is that a total solar eclipse is almost alone among the things we experience, in that you can’t photograph it. To see what it looks like, you have to be there. When I looked around us, I saw a strange, gorgeous fake twilight. There was what looked like a 360-degrees “sunrise” around the entire horizon, and the sky ranged from dusky blue to deep violet. When I looked up, though, my heart raced. The intensity, the dazzling colors, the freakishness of that sight—a jet-black hole where the sun should be! I’m not a touchy-feely person by any stretch, but this was a spiritual experience; I was so moved, and I could tell that my sons were, too. I could easily see why ancient civilizations assumed that some god or mystic force was responsible for total eclipses. (I love this description by retired NASA astrophysicist Fred Espenak, who’s witnessed 27 solar eclipses: “You feel something in the pit of your stomach like something is wrong in the day, something is not right,” he told Time . “As totality begins, and the shadow sweeps over you, the hairs on the back of your neck and arms stand up.”) I’d been warned not to try to take pictures of my first eclipse; the last thing you want is to miss the magic while you’re futzing with your gear. So during the 160 seconds of totality, I allowed myself about 10 seconds to snap pictures (Sony a6000 SLR, solar filter, 210mm lens). They’re not great pictures—you really need much more zoom—but here’s the idea: Even my SLR with a solar filter captured only the roughest idea of the eclipse. Remember: The sky was deep blue, not black. As the moon began to edge out of the sun’s way, we were treated to a moment of the “diamond ring” effect as the sun breaks past the right edge of the moon: The “diamond ring” moment, where the sun begins to peek out again as the moon moves on. And again: Imagine the sky deep blue, not black. (abcnews.com) And then, as quickly as it had begun, the process reversed itself. Daylight returned, and the world’s colors faded back in. The temperature shot back up. The crowd cheered. People ran to check their cameras, or babble with their families, or wipe tears from their eyes. The first-timers, in particular, had been somehow changed. We’d all seen something freakish, rare, beautiful, shocking, historic—and much, much bigger than ourselves. I had set up a GoPro on a tripod to film the whole scene, hoping to capture the fading light and the sounds of the event. Unfortunately, I was too wrapped up in the event to notice that another guy set up his camera and tripod right in front of mine, partially blocking the shot. Sorry about that, but you still get the idea—you can see the light fall, and hear the crowds and the confused cicadas—in this time-lapse video: The modern-age eclipse Actually, this wasn’t my first solar eclipse. I can still remember my parents showing me one in the backyard in Cleveland when I was 7 years old—and using a stack of color film negatives to protect my eyes! (A little research reveals that, first of all, that’s not a safe way to view an eclipse—and second, we weren’t in the path of totality. But I remember everybody being pretty excited anyway.) What’s different, of course, is time and technology. The internet made planning our eclipse trip a snap—we could see the path of totality and observe the weather. Phone apps guided us through the experience. Those cheap cardboard eclipse glasses made it safe to look up with confidence. Social media made it possible to share the experience around the world in real time—both the exhilaration of seeing the eclipse, and, for some, the heartbreak of being thwarted by unexpected clouds (as Nashville viewers ultimately were). The next total eclipse will come to the Earth in July 2019, but most of it will be wasted on empty ocean. (You’ll be able to see it in Chile and Argentina, but it’ll be winter time, and therefore possibly cloudy.) The next one to come to the U.S. will occur in April, 2024—seven years from now. It’ll fly up from Texas to Maine, like this: nasa.gov Take it from a guy with a changed attitude: You should try to be there. I’ll be joining you. More from David Pogue: Samsung’s Bixby voice assistant is ambitious, powerful, and half-baked Is through-the-air charging a hoax? Electrify your existing bike in 2 minutes with these ingenious wheels Marty Cooper, inventor of the cellphone: The next step is implantables The David Pogue Review: Windows 10 Creators Update Now I get it: Bitcoin David Pogue’s search for the world’s best air-travel app The little-known iPhone feature that lets blind people see with their fingers David Pogue, tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, welcomes nontoxic comments in the comments section below. On the web, he’s davidpogue.com . On Twitter, he’s @pogue . On email, he’s [email protected]. You can read all his articles here , or you can sign up to get his columns by email . || Every county in the U.S. now has an Obamacare insurer for 2018: At some point this year, 80 counties across the country were in danger of not complying with the ACA, or Obamacare, in 2018. Today, it was announced that the final county without an insurer in the U.S. — Paulding in Ohio — will have a plan forits 334 residentsin 2018. Nonprofit managed care companyCareSource will sell the health plans.
“This is showing that the ACA is stubbornly failing to fail,” the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Cynthia Cox told Yahoo Finance. Cox said that insurers have struggled in the past to make money, but analysis from Kaiser and many others has found that insurers are on a profitable path this year. “Despite the political uncertainty, insurers seem to be interested in participating in this market,” she said.
Last week, Centene (CNC) filled the gap left after Anthem (ANTM) and other major insurers withdrew from some Nevada counties. Wisconsin’s sole uninsured county, also left bare after an Anthem departure, found coverage, though the insurer is not currently known. This follows previously uninsured counties in Missouri, Tennessee and Indiana finding solutions for 2018.
All of this contradicts President Donald Trump’s repeated assertion that the Affordable Care Act is failing. “Obamacare isn’t failing. It’s failed. Done,”Trump said in July.“We’ll let Obamacare fail.”
In some instances, a single insurer like Centene has come to fill the void left by insurance companies. But often times, said Cox, the process is complex and involves piecing together a solution. This is what happened in Ohio.
Following Anthem’s exit, the state stitched together a patchwork of multiple insurers to cover 20 counties. “The state has been working hard to get insurers to cover all these areas,” said Cox.
These solutions aren’t seamless, but Cox said there are incentives for companies to swoop into uninsured markets. Many insurers have provider networks in various counties, making it logistically easy to set up shop, and being the only network is tantamount to a monopoly. “[These insurers] can charge higher premiums without competitors,” said Cox.
There are other reasons why Centene may be able to deal with areas Anthem is unwilling to handle. Centene has been a Medicaid Managed Plan provider that’s been successful on exchange markets, said Cox. This may enable it to leverage those provider networks, which may be narrower and cheaper with lower reimbursement rates — something that would translate to lower premiums and more competitiveness. “It’s a business decision for all these companies at the end of the day,” said Cox.
On top of that, coming in as the only insurer in town can earn goodwill from the public and from local governments. “State insurance departments are under pressure to get [counties] covered,” said Cox. “They also grant Medicaid Managed Care contracts, so there may be some incentive for these companies.”
This means that Medicaid might be partly to thank for the ACA’s success in these counties, though it’s impossible to know. “Negotiations are between state and insurer,” said Cox. “But that may be part of what’s going on here.”
Much of the Obamacare void in counties was because of Anthem’s departure. In many counties, the insurer was the sole shingle hanging on the exchanges. But instead of citing losses, Anthem instead pointed to the uncertainty of a shrinking market and the cost sharing reduction payments (CSR) being paid by the Trump administration that helps subsidize insurance for low-income individuals.
“This problem has come up at least in part because of the cost sharing subsidy payments,” said Cox. “It’s hard to say how much of it might have happened without [the uncertainty].”
The decision to continue to keep making these CSR payments is up to Trump,giving him massive control over the future state of the ACA, which he continues to contend it is failing. Even though it’s unknown whether CSR payments will continue, the individual insurance market has still managed to cover all but one county, disproving his assertion and highlighting that Trump cannot simply “let it fail.”
Update 8/24:This post was updated to reflect the last U.S. county not covered under Obamacare, Paulding, Ohio, will have health plans in 2018.
Ethan Wolff-Mannis a writer at Yahoo Finance focusing on consumer issues, tech, and personal finance. Follow him on Twitter@ewolffmann. Got a tip? Send it [email protected].
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How ringless spam voicemails became a partisan issue || Every county in the U.S. has an Obamacare insurer for 2018: President Donald Trump calls his predecessor Barack Obama’s signature health care policy “failing,” but Obamacare has managed to endure despite an administration opposed to it. (Reuters) At some point this year, 80 counties across the country were in danger of not complying with the ACA, or Obamacare, in 2018. Today, it was announced that the final county without an insurer in the U.S. — Paulding in Ohio — will have a plan for its 334 residents in 2018. Nonprofit managed care company CareSource will sell the health plans . “This is showing that the ACA is stubbornly failing to fail,” the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Cynthia Cox told Yahoo Finance. Cox said that insurers have struggled in the past to make money, but analysis from Kaiser and many others has found that insurers are on a profitable path this year. “Despite the political uncertainty, insurers seem to be interested in participating in this market,” she said. Last week, Centene ( CNC ) filled the gap left after Anthem ( ANTM ) and other major insurers withdrew from some Nevada counties. Wisconsin’s sole uninsured county, also left bare after an Anthem departure, found coverage, though the insurer is not currently known. This follows previously uninsured counties in Missouri, Tennessee and Indiana finding solutions for 2018. All of this contradicts President Donald Trump’s repeated assertion that the Affordable Care Act is failing. “Obamacare isn’t failing. It’s failed. Done,” Trump said in July. “We’ll let Obamacare fail.” How and why the void got filled In some instances, a single insurer like Centene has come to fill the void left by insurance companies. But often times, said Cox, the process is complex and involves piecing together a solution. This is what happened in Ohio. Following Anthem’s exit, the state stitched together a patchwork of multiple insurers to cover 20 counties. “The state has been working hard to get insurers to cover all these areas,” said Cox. These solutions aren’t seamless, but Cox said there are incentives for companies to swoop into uninsured markets. Many insurers have provider networks in various counties, making it logistically easy to set up shop, and being the only network is tantamount to a monopoly. “[These insurers] can charge higher premiums without competitors,” said Cox. Story continues There are other reasons why Centene may be able to deal with areas Anthem is unwilling to handle. Centene has been a Medicaid Managed Plan provider that’s been successful on exchange markets, said Cox. This may enable it to leverage those provider networks, which may be narrower and cheaper with lower reimbursement rates — something that would translate to lower premiums and more competitiveness. “It’s a business decision for all these companies at the end of the day,” said Cox. On top of that, coming in as the only insurer in town can earn goodwill from the public and from local governments. “State insurance departments are under pressure to get [counties] covered,” said Cox. “They also grant Medicaid Managed Care contracts, so there may be some incentive for these companies.” This means that Medicaid might be partly to thank for the ACA’s success in these counties, though it’s impossible to know. “Negotiations are between state and insurer,” said Cox. “But that may be part of what’s going on here.” Trump administration’s insurance subsidies haven’t helped Much of the Obamacare void in counties was because of Anthem’s departure. In many counties, the insurer was the sole shingle hanging on the exchanges. But instead of citing losses, Anthem instead pointed to the uncertainty of a shrinking market and the cost sharing reduction payments (CSR) being paid by the Trump administration that helps subsidize insurance for low-income individuals. “This problem has come up at least in part because of the cost sharing subsidy payments,” said Cox. “It’s hard to say how much of it might have happened without [the uncertainty].” The decision to continue to keep making these CSR payments is up to Trump, giving him massive control over the future state of the ACA , which he continues to contend it is failing. Even though it’s unknown whether CSR payments will continue, the individual insurance market has still managed to cover all but one county, disproving his assertion and highlighting that Trump cannot simply “let it fail.” Update 8/24: This post was updated to reflect the last U.S. county not covered under Obamacare, Paulding, Ohio, will have health plans in 2018. Ethan Wolff-Mann is a writer at Yahoo Finance focusing on consumer issues, tech, and personal finance. Follow him on Twitter @ewolffmann . Got a tip? Send it to [email protected] . Read More: What Bitcoin needs to do to become real currency Trump weighs slashing one of the most popular tax deductions Big banks are going after Venmo and Venmo is winning 73% of Android users are less likely to switch to iPhone due to headphone jack ‘Market FOMO’ has millennials putting cash into the stock market Sometimes fake holidays like ‘National Ice Cream Day’ actually work A robot lawyer can fight your parking tickets and much more Consumer watchdog is making it easier for consumers to sue banks How ringless spam voicemails became a partisan issue || Dollar holds steady after U.S. jobless claims report: Dollar little changed vs. rivals despite positive U.S. data Investing.com - The dollar held steady against the other major currencies on Thursday, despite the release of upbeat U.S. jobless clains data, as U.S. political tensions continued to weigh and and as investors eyed the Jackson Hole summit set to begin later in the day. The U.S. Labor Department said the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance last week rose less than expected . But sentiment on the greenback remained fragile after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he would be willing to shut down the government in order to get the funding needed for his proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump also warned that he might terminate the NAFTA trade treaty with Canada and Mexico. Investors were also cautious ahead to this week's annual meeting of top central bankers and economists in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where the heads of the U.S. and European central banks will be making keynote speeches. EUR/USD eased 0.09% to 1.1796, as investors were looking ahead to a speech by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi in Jackson Hole on Friday. Draghi was not widely expected to deliver any new policy message in his speech, despite speculation over how soon the central bank plans to start scaling back its stimulus program. The yen remained lower, with USD/JPY up 0.32% at 109.37, while USD/CHF slipped 0.12 % to 0.9637. Elsewhere, GBP/USD rose 0.22% to trade at 1.2827, off a two-month low of 1.2774 hit overnight, after data showed that U.K. economic growth was unrevised in the second quarter. The Australian and New Zealand dollars remained weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.14% at 0.7893 and with NZD/USD shedding 0.19% to 0.7213. Meanwhile, USD/CAD fell 0.18 % to 1.2529. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 93.18 by 08:40 a.m. ET (12:40 GMT). Related Articles Bitcoin ticks higher in rangebound trade Forex - Sterling stages mini-recovery after UK GDP data Forex - Dollar holds onto modest gains, Jackson Hole on tap || Dollar holds steady after U.S. jobless claims report: Investing.com - The dollar held steady against the other major currencies on Thursday, despite the release of upbeat U.S. jobless clains data, as U.S. political tensions continued to weigh and and as investors eyed the Jackson Hole summit set to begin later in the day.
The U.S. Labor Department said the number of people who filed for unemployment assistance last weekrose less than expected.
But sentiment on the greenback remained fragile after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he would bewilling to shut down the governmentin order to get the funding needed for his proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Trump also warned that he mightterminate the NAFTA trade treatywith Canada and Mexico.
Investors were also cautious ahead to this week's annual meeting of top central bankers and economists in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where the heads of the U.S. and European central banks will be making keynote speeches.
EUR/USD eased 0.09% to 1.1796, as investors were looking ahead to a speech by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi in Jackson Hole on Friday.
Draghi was not widely expected to deliver any new policy message in his speech, despite speculation over how soon the central bank plans to start scaling back its stimulus program.
The yen remained lower, with USD/JPY up 0.32% at 109.37, while USD/CHF slipped 0.12 % to 0.9637.
Elsewhere, GBP/USD rose 0.22% to trade at 1.2827, off a two-month low of 1.2774 hit overnight, after data showed that U.K. economic growth was unrevised in the second quarter.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars remained weaker, with AUD/USD down 0.14% at 0.7893 and with NZD/USD shedding 0.19% to 0.7213.
Meanwhile, USD/CAD fell 0.18 % to 1.2529.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was steady at 93.18 by 08:40 a.m. ET (12:40 GMT).
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Forex - Dollar holds onto modest gains, Jackson Hole on tap || How to Buy Bitcoin Cash?: Buy and Sell Bitcoin Cash Bitcoin Cash Trading The Bitcoin Fork What is Bitcoin Cash? How to Buy Bitcoin Cash? Bitcoin Cash Exchanges What are the Benefits of Bitcoin Cash compare to Bitcoin? What’s Gonna Happen with Bitcoin Network? Buy and Sell Bitcoin Cash Since August 1st, Bitcoin cash has become a popular cryptocurrency that attracts attention due to its technological improvements. Currently, not all exchanges provide the opportunity to trade Bitcoin cash, however CEX.IO allows traders and investors to buy and sell Bitcoin cash easily. Basically, sign in to CEX.IO , deposit funds via bank transfer or credit card and you can trade Bitcoin cash either from your desktop or mobile app. Plus500 also provides traders the opportunity to buy and sell Bitcoin cash via an advanced trading platform, low spreads, and fast execution. You can sign in to CEX.IO from here . Bitcoin Cash Trading For those who are looking to take advantage of Bitcoin cash and other cryptocurrencies price fluctuations, Plus500 provide traders with instant access to trade Bitcoin cash, bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies. The process is fast and easy with convenient and advanced trading platform (desktop and mobile), low spreads and instant execution. Click here for more details . The Bitcoin Fork In the beginning of August, the Bitcoin industry underwent a major change in what came to be known as the Bitcoin fork . Rather than going into too much of the technical stuff involved, which has proved to be a challenge to even the best of the technical mind going around, what it essentially meant for the traders was that the bitcoins got divided into two, one of which continued to be called as Bitcoin while the other part was called as the Bitcoin cash. This split had caused a lot of tension for traders and the technologists alike on how exactly this split would happen and what would be the impact of this split in the bitcoin market , in terms of prices, technology, numbers etc. What is Bitcoin Cash? The good news is that so far, the split has been managed pretty well and no major problems have been reported in the bitcoin network so far. This has led to the creation of a new cryptocurrency called Bitcoin cash . It began with a total volume of around 20% to that of Bitcoin and also with a price that was roughly 20% to that of bitcoin but it has since fallen to a large extent in terms of price and market cap as well. This split also saw many miners shifting from bitcoin to bitcoin cash and it is this exodus that was the major concern of the bitcoin industry but so far, the exodus towards Bitcoin cash has been pretty minimal and has not raised much concern as yet. The idea behind the split was to make number of transactions possible in the Bitcoin market and this has been more or less largely achieved. Story continues Get Into Bitcoin Trading Today How to Buy Bitcoin Cash? Now that the fork is complete, next comes the question of where and how to buy the bitcoin cash. The simplest method, especially if you had held some bitcoin in your wallet at the time of the split, is that you would have received an equivalent amount of Bitcoin cash in your wallet. If this is not the case, then you have to request your broker or exchange for the same and get the Bitcoin cash into your wallet. Some exchanges give an equivalent number of Bitcoin cash while some give slightly less for a variety of reasons but this is something that you have to clarify with your exchange. The problem with such free credit of Bitcoin cash is that you would not be able to easily withdraw them as yet. Many of the exchanges are still facing a lot of technical challenges on how to handle this Bitcoin split and Bitcoin cash in particular and it may even take several months before the exchanges begin to allow this Bitcoin cash to be withdrawn. Yet, with the increasing popularity of cryptocurrencies and the attractiveness of Bitcoin cash, many exchanges such as CEO.IX , Kraken , and Bithumb provide good service in order to buy and sell the new digital currency. Bitcoin Cash Exchanges The next method, if you don’t hold Bitcoin cash, is to go to an exchange and buy it. Some of the major Bitcoin exchanges like CEO.IX , Kraken and Bittrex have already started trading in Bitcoin cash and are witnessing surging volumes in them. So, all that you need to do is to visit these exchange sites, take a look at demand and supply and the price and go and get them. Though Kraken had begun trading in Bitcoin cash in the last few days, it is only today that they started accepting deposits and withdrawals in Bitcoin cash, which is a sign of the growing use of this cryptocurrency in the recent days. Once you have received your Bitcoin cash, either from the exchange or by buying it from the exchange, you can use it any way you want, just like how you would spend any other altcoin for that matter. You could also convert it into Bitcoin again and use the bitcoins as well. It’s as simple as that. But there are a few things to keep in mind though. The addresses are identical for both bitcoin and bitcoin cash and hence, if you reveal one, it means that you automatically reveal the other as well and this is quite risky in terms of security and privacy. Also, you reveal your public key and not your private key which would, in turn, mean that you are losing out on a specific layer of security that is inbuilt into the cryptocurrency industry. These are just a couple of things that you need to keep in mind before you start using Bitcoin cash. One of the ideas to overcome this problem would be to move the bitcoin or bitcoin cash to an entirely new address so that you can ensure the safety and the security of the other part. What are the Benefits of Bitcoin Cash compare to Bitcoin? The start for the Bitcoin cash market has been bright as it started off with a large market cap and it also started with a large price tag. Due to the split, Bitcoin cash is no longer associated in any manner with Bitcoin and has to survive on its own. How it survives will be known in the coming days as we wait for more and more miners to jump on to the Bitcoin cash market and begin mining. Just like any other cryptocurrency , it is very important that Bitcoin cash gets enough processing power (hashrate) from the miners to keep building the blockchain , else it will slowly wither away and die. It is important for the Bitcoin cash industry to build itself a good ecosystem around it so that it would be able to keep those who invest into it satisfies. Those will be important parameters for such instruments to succeed. Bitcoin cash has to develop its own market and show itself to be different and more useful than Bitcoin. So far, the pick up in Bitcoin cash, in the transactions market, has been slow but it is expected to pick up speed and strength in the coming days as more and more traders and investors begin to realize that it is here to stay. One of the major advantages it already has is the fact that anyone who owned Bitcoin on August 1 will automatically get an equal number of Bitcoin cash and with the proliferation of wallets and with exchanges accepting them, bitcoin cash is likely to do well. Another major advantage of Bitcoin cash is its larger block limit. This was one of the major drawbacks of the Bitcoin market and this was the reason why the supporters of Bitcoin cash wanted a split in the first place. Now, with the higher limit, they would be able to perform a much larger number of transactions which would help the Bitcoin cash to propel the next stage of this technology. What’s Gonna Happen with Bitcoin Network? What this means for the Bitcoin network is to set up the stage for the growth of technology and also a stance that the technology would keep everyone in mind as it grows. What this split has done is that it has shown the market that the technology is willing to listen to the market and its needs and adapt itself accordingly. Once the Bitcoin cash market begins to thrive, it will also show that this technology split does not necessarily mean one is better than the other or that one has to die to make the other survive but rather that both can survive and help in the growth of the network and the technology. This could also result in lower transaction fees for both bitcoin and bitcoin cash which would, in turn, mean that investors and traders are more likely to pick up more bitcoins and bitcoin cash. This reduction in fees can be achieved due to the fact that Bitcoin cash has helped to expand the size of the network which would mean that there is less congestion now. Such advantages are likely to drive more and more of Bitcoin’s traders and miners towards Bitcoin cash and this would help this market to thrive, grow technologically and also to mature to be an example for other cryptocurrencies. The recent split phenomenon will boost confidence in such instruments which would, in turn, lead to more countries beginning to adopt such technology. Already, the Bitcoin market has begun to show its approval as the demand has grown and prices have shot through the $3000 mark to head towards the $3500 mark as of this writing. This shows that the Bitcoin network is alive and thriving as well, which is likely to help Bitcoin cash achieve the same effect. Get Into Bitcoin Trading Today This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: AUD/USD and NZD/USD Fundamental Daily Forecast – Focus on Durable Goods Early, Yellen, Draghi Later NZD/USD Forecast August 25, 2017, Technical Analysis AUD/USD Forecast August 25, 2017, Technical Analysis Demand on the Cable Finally Woke Up AUD/USD Forex Technical Analysis – August 24, 2017 Forecast EUR/USD, AUD/USD, GBP/USD and USD/JPY Daily Outlook – August 24, 2017 View comments || How to Buy Bitcoin Cash?: • Buy and Sell Bitcoin Cash
• Bitcoin Cash Trading
• The Bitcoin Fork
• What is Bitcoin Cash?
• How to Buy Bitcoin Cash?
• Bitcoin Cash Exchanges
• What are the Benefits of Bitcoin Cash compare to Bitcoin?
• What’s Gonna Happen with Bitcoin Network?
Since August 1st, Bitcoin cash has become a popular cryptocurrency that attracts attention due to its technological improvements. Currently, not all exchanges provide the opportunity to trade Bitcoin cash, howeverCEX.IOallows traders and investors to buy and sell Bitcoin cash easily. Basically,sign in to CEX.IO, deposit funds via bank transfer or credit card and you can trade Bitcoin cash either from your desktop or mobile app.Plus500also provides traders the opportunity to buy and sell Bitcoin cash via an advanced trading platform, low spreads, and fast execution.
You cansign in to CEX.IO from here.
For those who are looking to take advantage of Bitcoin cash and other cryptocurrencies price fluctuations,Plus500provide traders with instant access to trade Bitcoin cash, bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies. The process is fast and easy with convenient and advanced trading platform (desktop and mobile), low spreads and instant execution.Click here for more details.
In the beginning of August, the Bitcoin industry underwent a major change in what came to be known asthe Bitcoin fork. Rather than going into too much of the technical stuff involved, which has proved to be a challenge to even the best of the technical mind going around, what it essentially meant for the traders was that the bitcoins got divided into two, one of which continued to be called asBitcoinwhile the other part was called as the Bitcoin cash. This split had caused a lot of tension for traders and the technologists alike on how exactly this split would happen and what would be the impact of this split in thebitcoin market, in terms of prices, technology, numbers etc.
The good news is that so far, the split has been managed pretty well and no major problems have been reported in the bitcoin network so far. This has led to the creation of a new cryptocurrency calledBitcoin cash. It began with a total volume of around 20% to that of Bitcoin and also with a price that was roughly 20% to that of bitcoin but it has since fallen to a large extent in terms of price and market cap as well. This split also saw many miners shifting from bitcoin to bitcoin cash and it is this exodus that was the major concern of the bitcoin industry but so far, the exodus towards Bitcoin cash has been pretty minimal and has not raised much concern as yet. The idea behind the split was to make number of transactions possible in the Bitcoin market and this has been more or less largely achieved.
Get Into Bitcoin Trading Today
Now that the fork is complete, next comes the question of where and how to buy the bitcoin cash. The simplest method, especially if you had held some bitcoin in your wallet at the time of the split, is that you would have received an equivalent amount of Bitcoin cash in your wallet. If this is not the case, then you have to request your broker or exchange for the same and get the Bitcoin cash into your wallet. Some exchanges give an equivalent number of Bitcoin cash while some give slightly less for a variety of reasons but this is something that you have to clarify with your exchange.
The problem with such free credit of Bitcoin cash is that you would not be able to easily withdraw them as yet. Many of the exchanges are still facing a lot of technical challenges on how to handle this Bitcoin split and Bitcoin cash in particular and it may even take several months before the exchanges begin to allow this Bitcoin cash to be withdrawn.
Yet, with the increasing popularity of cryptocurrencies and the attractiveness of Bitcoin cash, many exchanges such asCEO.IX,Kraken, andBithumbprovide good service in order to buy and sell the new digital currency.
The next method, if you don’t hold Bitcoin cash, is to go to an exchange and buy it. Some of the major Bitcoin exchanges likeCEO.IX,KrakenandBittrexhave already started trading in Bitcoin cash and are witnessing surging volumes in them. So, all that you need to do is to visit these exchange sites, take a look at demand and supply and the price and go and get them. Though Kraken had begun trading in Bitcoin cash in the last few days, it is only today that they started accepting deposits and withdrawals in Bitcoin cash, which is a sign of the growing use of this cryptocurrency in the recent days.
Once you have received your Bitcoin cash, either from the exchange or by buying it from the exchange, you can use it any way you want, just like how you would spend any other altcoin for that matter. You could also convert it into Bitcoin again and use the bitcoins as well. It’s as simple as that.
But there are a few things to keep in mind though. The addresses are identical for both bitcoin and bitcoin cash and hence, if you reveal one, it means that you automatically reveal the other as well and this is quite risky in terms of security and privacy. Also, you reveal your public key and not your private key which would, in turn, mean that you are losing out on a specific layer of security that is inbuilt into the cryptocurrency industry. These are just a couple of things that you need to keep in mind before you start using Bitcoin cash. One of the ideas to overcome this problem would be to move the bitcoin or bitcoin cash to an entirely new address so that you can ensure the safety and the security of the other part.
The start for the Bitcoin cash market has been bright as it started off with a large market cap and it also started with a large price tag. Due to the split, Bitcoin cash is no longer associated in any manner with Bitcoin and has to survive on its own. How it survives will be known in the coming days as we wait for more and more miners to jump on to the Bitcoin cash market and begin mining. Just like any othercryptocurrency, it is very important that Bitcoin cash gets enoughprocessing power (hashrate)from the miners to keep building theblockchain, else it will slowly wither away and die. It is important for the Bitcoin cash industry to build itself a good ecosystem around it so that it would be able to keep those who invest into it satisfies. Those will be important parameters for such instruments to succeed.
Bitcoin cashhas to develop its own market and show itself to be different and more useful than Bitcoin. So far, the pick up in Bitcoin cash, in the transactions market, has been slow but it is expected to pick up speed and strength in the coming days as more and more traders and investors begin to realize that it is here to stay. One of the major advantages it already has is the fact that anyone who owned Bitcoin on August 1 will automatically get an equal number of Bitcoin cash and with the proliferation of wallets and with exchanges accepting them, bitcoin cash is likely to do well.
Another major advantage of Bitcoin cash is its larger block limit. This was one of the major drawbacks of the Bitcoin market and this was the reason why the supporters of Bitcoin cash wanted a split in the first place. Now, with the higher limit, they would be able to perform a much larger number of transactions which would help the Bitcoin cash to propel the next stage of this technology.
What this means for the Bitcoin network is to set up the stage for the growth of technology and also a stance that the technology would keep everyone in mind as it grows. What this split has done is that it has shown the market that the technology is willing to listen to the market and its needs and adapt itself accordingly. Once the Bitcoin cash market begins to thrive, it will also show that this technology split does not necessarily mean one is better than the other or that one has to die to make the other survive but rather that both can survive and help in the growth of the network and the technology.
This could also result in lower transaction fees for both bitcoin and bitcoin cash which would, in turn, mean that investors and traders are more likely to pick up more bitcoins and bitcoin cash. This reduction in fees can be achieved due to the fact that Bitcoin cash has helped to expand the size of the network which would mean that there is less congestion now. Such advantages are likely to drive more and more of Bitcoin’s traders and miners towards Bitcoin cash and this would help this market to thrive, grow technologically and also to mature to be an example for other cryptocurrencies. The recent split phenomenon will boost confidence in such instruments which would, in turn, lead to more countries beginning to adopt such technology.
Already, the Bitcoin market has begun to show its approval as the demand has grown and prices have shot through the $3000 mark to head towards the $3500 mark as of this writing. This shows that the Bitcoin network is alive and thriving as well, which is likely to help Bitcoin cash achieve the same effect.
Get Into Bitcoin Trading Today
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• AUD/USD and NZD/USD Fundamental Daily Forecast – Focus on Durable Goods Early, Yellen, Draghi Later
• NZD/USD Forecast August 25, 2017, Technical Analysis
• AUD/USD Forecast August 25, 2017, Technical Analysis
• Demand on the Cable Finally Woke Up
• AUD/USD Forex Technical Analysis – August 24, 2017 Forecast
• EUR/USD, AUD/USD, GBP/USD and USD/JPY Daily Outlook – August 24, 2017 || How to Buy Bitcoin Cash?: • Buy and Sell Bitcoin Cash
• Bitcoin Cash Trading
• The Bitcoin Fork
• What is Bitcoin Cash?
• How to Buy Bitcoin Cash?
• Bitcoin Cash Exchanges
• What are the Benefits of Bitcoin Cash compare to Bitcoin?
• What’s Gonna Happen with Bitcoin Network?
Since August 1st, Bitcoin cash has become a popular cryptocurrency that attracts attention due to its technological improvements. Currently, not all exchanges provide the opportunity to trade Bitcoin cash, howeverCEX.IOallows traders and investors to buy and sell Bitcoin cash easily. Basically,sign in to CEX.IO, deposit funds via bank transfer or credit card and you can trade Bitcoin cash either from your desktop or mobile app.Plus500also provides traders the opportunity to buy and sell Bitcoin cash via an advanced trading platform, low spreads, and fast execution.
You cansign in to CEX.IO from here.
For those who are looking to take advantage of Bitcoin cash and other cryptocurrencies price fluctuations,Plus500provide traders with instant access to trade Bitcoin cash, bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies. The process is fast and easy with convenient and advanced trading platform (desktop and mobile), low spreads and instant execution.Click here for more details.
In the beginning of August, the Bitcoin industry underwent a major change in what came to be known asthe Bitcoin fork. Rather than going into too much of the technical stuff involved, which has proved to be a challenge to even the best of the technical mind going around, what it essentially meant for the traders was that the bitcoins got divided into two, one of which continued to be called asBitcoinwhile the other part was called as the Bitcoin cash. This split had caused a lot of tension for traders and the technologists alike on how exactly this split would happen and what would be the impact of this split in thebitcoin market, in terms of prices, technology, numbers etc.
The good news is that so far, the split has been managed pretty well and no major problems have been reported in the bitcoin network so far. This has led to the creation of a new cryptocurrency calledBitcoin cash. It began with a total volume of around 20% to that of Bitcoin and also with a price that was roughly 20% to that of bitcoin but it has since fallen to a large extent in terms of price and market cap as well. This split also saw many miners shifting from bitcoin to bitcoin cash and it is this exodus that was the major concern of the bitcoin industry but so far, the exodus towards Bitcoin cash has been pretty minimal and has not raised much concern as yet. The idea behind the split was to make number of transactions possible in the Bitcoin market and this has been more or less largely achieved.
Get Into Bitcoin Trading Today
Now that the fork is complete, next comes the question of where and how to buy the bitcoin cash. The simplest method, especially if you had held some bitcoin in your wallet at the time of the split, is that you would have received an equivalent amount of Bitcoin cash in your wallet. If this is not the case, then you have to request your broker or exchange for the same and get the Bitcoin cash into your wallet. Some exchanges give an equivalent number of Bitcoin cash while some give slightly less for a variety of reasons but this is something that you have to clarify with your exchange.
The problem with such free credit of Bitcoin cash is that you would not be able to easily withdraw them as yet. Many of the exchanges are still facing a lot of technical challenges on how to handle this Bitcoin split and Bitcoin cash in particular and it may even take several months before the exchanges begin to allow this Bitcoin cash to be withdrawn.
Yet, with the increasing popularity of cryptocurrencies and the attractiveness of Bitcoin cash, many exchanges such asCEO.IX,Kraken, andBithumbprovide good service in order to buy and sell the new digital currency.
The next method, if you don’t hold Bitcoin cash, is to go to an exchange and buy it. Some of the major Bitcoin exchanges likeCEO.IX,KrakenandBittrexhave already started trading in Bitcoin cash and are witnessing surging volumes in them. So, all that you need to do is to visit these exchange sites, take a look at demand and supply and the price and go and get them. Though Kraken had begun trading in Bitcoin cash in the last few days, it is only today that they started accepting deposits and withdrawals in Bitcoin cash, which is a sign of the growing use of this cryptocurrency in the recent days.
Once you have received your Bitcoin cash, either from the exchange or by buying it from the exchange, you can use it any way you want, just like how you would spend any other altcoin for that matter. You could also convert it into Bitcoin again and use the bitcoins as well. It’s as simple as that.
But there are a few things to keep in mind though. The addresses are identical for both bitcoin and bitcoin cash and hence, if you reveal one, it means that you automatically reveal the other as well and this is quite risky in terms of security and privacy. Also, you reveal your public key and not your private key which would, in turn, mean that you are losing out on a specific layer of security that is inbuilt into the cryptocurrency industry. These are just a couple of things that you need to keep in mind before you start using Bitcoin cash. One of the ideas to overcome this problem would be to move the bitcoin or bitcoin cash to an entirely new address so that you can ensure the safety and the security of the other part.
The start for the Bitcoin cash market has been bright as it started off with a large market cap and it also started with a large price tag. Due to the split, Bitcoin cash is no longer associated in any manner with Bitcoin and has to survive on its own. How it survives will be known in the coming days as we wait for more and more miners to jump on to the Bitcoin cash market and begin mining. Just like any othercryptocurrency, it is very important that Bitcoin cash gets enoughprocessing power (hashrate)from the miners to keep building theblockchain, else it will slowly wither away and die. It is important for the Bitcoin cash industry to build itself a good ecosystem around it so that it would be able to keep those who invest into it satisfies. Those will be important parameters for such instruments to succeed.
Bitcoin cashhas to develop its own market and show itself to be different and more useful than Bitcoin. So far, the pick up in Bitcoin cash, in the transactions market, has been slow but it is expected to pick up speed and strength in the coming days as more and more traders and investors begin to realize that it is here to stay. One of the major advantages it already has is the fact that anyone who owned Bitcoin on August 1 will automatically get an equal number of Bitcoin cash and with the proliferation of wallets and with exchanges accepting them, bitcoin cash is likely to do well.
Another major advantage of Bitcoin cash is its larger block limit. This was one of the major drawbacks of the Bitcoin market and this was the reason why the supporters of Bitcoin cash wanted a split in the first place. Now, with the higher limit, they would be able to perform a much larger number of transactions which would help the Bitcoin cash to propel the next stage of this technology.
What this means for the Bitcoin network is to set up the stage for the growth of technology and also a stance that the technology would keep everyone in mind as it grows. What this split has done is that it has shown the market that the technology is willing to listen to the market and its needs and adapt itself accordingly. Once the Bitcoin cash market begins to thrive, it will also show that this technology split does not necessarily mean one is better than the other or that one has to die to make the other survive but rather that both can survive and help in the growth of the network and the technology.
This could also result in lower transaction fees for both bitcoin and bitcoin cash which would, in turn, mean that investors and traders are more likely to pick up more bitcoins and bitcoin cash. This reduction in fees can be achieved due to the fact that Bitcoin cash has helped to expand the size of the network which would mean that there is less congestion now. Such advantages are likely to drive more and more of Bitcoin’s traders and miners towards Bitcoin cash and this would help this market to thrive, grow technologically and also to mature to be an example for other cryptocurrencies. The recent split phenomenon will boost confidence in such instruments which would, in turn, lead to more countries beginning to adopt such technology.
Already, the Bitcoin market has begun to show its approval as the demand has grown and prices have shot through the $3000 mark to head towards the $3500 mark as of this writing. This shows that the Bitcoin network is alive and thriving as well, which is likely to help Bitcoin cash achieve the same effect.
Get Into Bitcoin Trading Today
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• AUD/USD and NZD/USD Fundamental Daily Forecast – Focus on Durable Goods Early, Yellen, Draghi Later
• NZD/USD Forecast August 25, 2017, Technical Analysis
• AUD/USD Forecast August 25, 2017, Technical Analysis
• Demand on the Cable Finally Woke Up
• AUD/USD Forex Technical Analysis – August 24, 2017 Forecast
• EUR/USD, AUD/USD, GBP/USD and USD/JPY Daily Outlook – August 24, 2017 || Bitcoin is exploding in Venezuela — but not for the reason you think: AsVenezuelasuffers its worst meltdown in history, with inflation skyrocketing and basic necessities running in short supply, many have taken to bitcoin mining in a bid to survive,according to a reportin the current issue of the Atlantic.
The reason? Electricity is now cheaper and more affordable in the crisis-hit country than most basic goods. That's because under PresidentNicolás Maduro, electric power is heavily subsidized to the point that it's essentially free, the Atlantic said.
Bitcoin mining works like this: Miners use computer hardware to perform complex computations that ultimately create each new link in the bitcoin blockchain — the massive, decentralized ledger technology that underpins the cryptocurrency. In return, they are rewarded with bitcoin. One of the key requirements to mine bitcoin is to have a large supply of power.
The Atlantic explained that a Venezuelan user who can run several bitcoin mining devices can clear about $500 a month — that is considered a small fortune enough to feed a family of four and purchase vital goods such as baby diapers or insulin from overseas.
But authorities have begun cracking down on mining operations, according to the Atlantic. The report explained that because the country does not have cryptocurrency laws, police are arresting miners on "spurious" charges. That move has driven miners deeper underground and some are reportedly moving into ethereum for higher profits.
Reading the full story about the rise of bitcoin mining in Venezuela here.
More From CNBC
• Tech investors use a Tinder-like app to score meetings with hot companies
• There is now a Google test for depression and mental ill health
• This is the new iPhone App Store coming in September || Bitcoin is exploding in Venezuela — but not for the reason you think: AsVenezuelasuffers its worst meltdown in history, with inflation skyrocketing and basic necessities running in short supply, many have taken to bitcoin mining in a bid to survive,according to a reportin the current issue of the Atlantic.
The reason? Electricity is now cheaper and more affordable in the crisis-hit country than most basic goods. That's because under PresidentNicolás Maduro, electric power is heavily subsidized to the point that it's essentially free, the Atlantic said.
Bitcoin mining works like this: Miners use computer hardware to perform complex computations that ultimately create each new link in the bitcoin blockchain — the massive, decentralized ledger technology that underpins the cryptocurrency. In return, they are rewarded with bitcoin. One of the key requirements to mine bitcoin is to have a large supply of power.
The Atlantic explained that a Venezuelan user who can run several bitcoin mining devices can clear about $500 a month — that is considered a small fortune enough to feed a family of four and purchase vital goods such as baby diapers or insulin from overseas.
But authorities have begun cracking down on mining operations, according to the Atlantic. The report explained that because the country does not have cryptocurrency laws, police are arresting miners on "spurious" charges. That move has driven miners deeper underground and some are reportedly moving into ethereum for higher profits.
Reading the full story about the rise of bitcoin mining in Venezuela here.
More From CNBC
• Tech investors use a Tinder-like app to score meetings with hot companies
• There is now a Google test for depression and mental ill health
• This is the new iPhone App Store coming in September || Bitcoin is exploding in Venezuela but not for the reason you think: As Venezuela suffers its worst meltdown in history, with inflation skyrocketing and basic necessities running in short supply, many have taken to bitcoin mining in a bid to survive, according to a report in the current issue of the Atlantic. The reason? Electricity is now cheaper and more affordable in the crisis-hit country than most basic goods. That's because under President Nicolás Maduro , electric power is heavily subsidized to the point that it's essentially free, the Atlantic said. Bitcoin mining works like this : Miners use computer hardware to perform complex computations that ultimately create each new link in the bitcoin blockchain the massive, decentralized ledger technology that underpins the cryptocurrency. In return, they are rewarded with bitcoin. One of the key requirements to mine bitcoin is to have a large supply of power. The Atlantic explained that a Venezuelan user who can run several bitcoin mining devices can clear about $500 a month that is considered a small fortune enough to feed a family of four and purchase vital goods such as baby diapers or insulin from overseas. But authorities have begun cracking down on mining operations, according to the Atlantic. The report explained that because the country does not have cryptocurrency laws, police are arresting miners on "spurious" charges. That move has driven miners deeper underground and some are reportedly moving into ethereum for higher profits. Reading the full story about the rise of bitcoin mining in Venezuela here. WATCH: Should you invest in a cryptocurrency? More From CNBC Tech investors use a Tinder-like app to score meetings with hot companies There is now a Google test for depression and mental ill health This is the new iPhone App Store coming in September || Dollar eases in early Asia as Jackson Hole conclave ahead: Investing.com - The dollar lost ground against the yen in early Asian trade on Thursday with the start of meeting of central bankers inJackson Hole, Wyoming, later in the day coming to the forefront market attention.
USD/JPY fell 0.07% to 108.94, while AUD/USD traded up 0.03% to 0.7906. TheJackson Hole conclaveis expected to shed further light on the path of interest rate hikes in the U.S. this year and on unwinding stimulus efforts by central banks globally, with a particular focus on the European Central Bank.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was last quoted down 0.30% to 93.14.
In New Zealand, the trade balance for July showed a surplus of NZD85 millionon monthfor a narrowerannual deficitof NZD3.210 billion. NZD/USD traded at 0.7232, up 0.07%.
Overnight, the dollar fell against a basket of global currencies on Wednesday amid renewed political uncertainty in Washington, following President Donald Trump’s threat of a government shutdown.
A day after it appeared the Trump administration’s economic agenda was back on track, the dollar fell to session lows, as traders mulled over President Trump’s threats to shut down the government if he does not get funding for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
"If we have to close down our government, we're building that wall," President Trump said. "We're going to have our wall. The American people voted for immigration control. We're going to get that wall."
Trump’s threat of a government shutdown, stoked U.S. political uncertainty, prompting an uptick in demand for safe-haven currencies like the yen and Swiss Franc.
The rise in safe-haven demand comes ahead of speeches by European Central Bank president Mario Draghi and Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen at a two-day symposium of global central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which gets underway on Thursday.
Draghi, however, is expected to remain tightlipped on future monetary policy action to avert a bullish reaction in the euro amid the central bank concerns over the sharp rise in the single currency.
Also weighing on sentiment on the greenback was a rise in the euro, following a pair of euro zone economic reports on manufacturing and services that topped expectations.
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Dollar down as Trump threatens to 'close government'
Forex - Dollar turns lower after downbeat U.S. data || Dollar eases in early Asia as Jackson Hole conclave ahead: Dollar dips in Asia Investing.com - The dollar lost ground against the yen in early Asian trade on Thursday with the start of meeting of central bankers in Jackson Hole , Wyoming, later in the day coming to the forefront market attention. USD/JPY fell 0.07% to 108.94, while AUD/USD traded up 0.03% to 0.7906. The Jackson Hole conclave is expected to shed further light on the path of interest rate hikes in the U.S. this year and on unwinding stimulus efforts by central banks globally, with a particular focus on the European Central Bank. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was last quoted down 0.30% to 93.14. In New Zealand, the trade balance for July showed a surplus of NZD85 million on month for a narrower annual deficit of NZD3.210 billion. NZD/USD traded at 0.7232, up 0.07%. Overnight, the dollar fell against a basket of global currencies on Wednesday amid renewed political uncertainty in Washington, following President Donald Trump’s threat of a government shutdown. A day after it appeared the Trump administration’s economic agenda was back on track, the dollar fell to session lows, as traders mulled over President Trump’s threats to shut down the government if he does not get funding for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. "If we have to close down our government, we're building that wall," President Trump said. "We're going to have our wall. The American people voted for immigration control. We're going to get that wall." Trump’s threat of a government shutdown, stoked U.S. political uncertainty, prompting an uptick in demand for safe-haven currencies like the yen and Swiss Franc. The rise in safe-haven demand comes ahead of speeches by European Central Bank president Mario Draghi and Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen at a two-day symposium of global central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which gets underway on Thursday. Draghi, however, is expected to remain tightlipped on future monetary policy action to avert a bullish reaction in the euro amid the central bank concerns over the sharp rise in the single currency. Story continues Also weighing on sentiment on the greenback was a rise in the euro, following a pair of euro zone economic reports on manufacturing and services that topped expectations. Related Articles Bitcoin eases from highs; Bitcoin Cash struggles to pare losses Dollar down as Trump threatens to 'close government' Forex - Dollar turns lower after downbeat U.S. data || Base Metal ETFs Buck Commodity Swoon: There's a bewildering rally taking place within the commodities markets, and few on Wall Street are buying it. Base metals, a group that includes everything from copper to zinc to aluminum, have shot higher in 2017 despite a relatively dismal year for the broader commodity market.
ThePowerShares DB Base Metals Fund (DBB), which holds an equal-weighted basket of all three metals, has jumped 20.8% year-to-date, handily outperforming the 6.9% loss for the broadPowerShares DB Commodity Index Tracking Fund (DBC), the 13.3% swoon for thePowerShares DB Energy Fund (DBE)and the 7.4% decline for thePowerShares DB Agriculture Fund (DBA).
YTD Returns For DBB, DBC, DBE, DBA
Factors Driving Rally
Analysts attribute the base metals rally to a few factors, including rebounding growth in China and a weaker U.S. dollar.
GDP in China expanded by 6.9% during the first half of 2017, outpacing the government's target of 6.5% and even last year’s 6.7% growth rate. Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar Index has slid 8.7% so far this year.
But those bullish factors aren't unique to base metals. Other commodities would seemingly benefit from a stronger Chinese economy and sliding greenback, but they haven't. That means it may be the supply side that's really powering metals higher.
"Our view is that there are several separate factors at play accelerating the metals' price boom. Demand conditions within China are supportive and the dollar has weakened,” said Dane Davis, commodities research analyst for Barclays. “That helps, but it’s not enough. What’s turbo-charging some metals are supply disruptions and tightness. Copper, for example, has seen disruptions ranging from weather to strikes, cutting 612 kt [612,000 metric tons] of production so far in 2017."
‘Tightening Environmental Controls’
Robin Bhar, head of metals research for Societe Generale, also sees the industry as getting a supply-side lift from environmental reforms in China.
"Supply-side reforms in China are a key factor" driving the rally, he noted, adding: "Tightening environmental controls/monitoring of mines and smelters (mainly aluminum and zinc) are constraining output. In aluminum, smelting capacity is being forced to close if it doesn’t have the necessary licenses from the central government."
While analysts largely agree on what's driving metals higher, they're split over whether the rally will continue. Most agree with Barclays’ Davis, who noted that "something seems off about this recent rally" and that he remains "skeptical of its strength and duration."
Keep An Eye On Iron Ore
Davis is especially wary of iron ore, a key ingredient in making steel. The steel market is running very hot at the moment in China, but that will likely change relatively soon, he says.
"While demand conditions are supportive in the short term, they’re running up against long-term head winds, including a China that is facing demographic pressures of a slowdown," Davis predicted.
Meanwhile, Bernard Dahdah and Alomgir Miah, analysts at Natixis, also believe the rally will run out of steam soon.
"Although in the long run we are bullish on copper and aluminium, we believe in the short to medium term they have overshot where they should be fundamentally due to the excitement of better- than-expected demand indicators in China," they said. "We expect prices for both metals to fall in Q4'17 after the end of leadership elections in China."
On the other hand, Societe Generale's Bhar believes there is ample support for a continued rally in base metals.
Though nickel in particular looks overvalued, "base metals overall from a supply/demand perspective are in better balance and inventories are falling," he said.
In Bhar's view, the base metals uptrend is sustainable through the end of the year, but the situation gets murkier in 2018 when he anticipates China's economy will slow.
Contact Sumit Roy [email protected].
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Permalink| © Copyright 2017ETF.com.All rights reserved || Base Metal ETFs Buck Commodity Swoon: There's a bewildering rally taking place within the commodities markets, and few on Wall Street are buying it. Base metals, a group that includes everything from copper to zinc to aluminum, have shot higher in 2017 despite a relatively dismal year for the broader commodity market. The PowerShares DB Base Metals Fund (DBB) , which holds an equal-weighted basket of all three metals, has jumped 20.8% year-to-date, handily outperforming the 6.9% loss for the broad PowerShares DB Commodity Index Tracking Fund (DBC) , the 13.3% swoon for the PowerShares DB Energy Fund (DBE) and the 7.4% decline for the PowerShares DB Agriculture Fund (DBA) . YTD Returns For DBB, DBC, DBE, DBA Factors Driving Rally Analysts attribute the base metals rally to a few factors, including rebounding growth in China and a weaker U.S. dollar. GDP in China expanded by 6.9% during the first half of 2017, outpacing the government's target of 6.5% and even last year’s 6.7% growth rate. Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar Index has slid 8.7% so far this year. But those bullish factors aren't unique to base metals. Other commodities would seemingly benefit from a stronger Chinese economy and sliding greenback, but they haven't. That means it may be the supply side that's really powering metals higher. "Our view is that there are several separate factors at play accelerating the metals' price boom. Demand conditions within China are supportive and the dollar has weakened,” said Dane Davis, commodities research analyst for Barclays. “That helps, but it’s not enough. What’s turbo-charging some metals are supply disruptions and tightness. Copper, for example, has seen disruptions ranging from weather to strikes, cutting 612 kt [612,000 metric tons] of production so far in 2017." ‘Tightening Environmental Controls’ Robin Bhar, head of metals research for Societe Generale, also sees the industry as getting a supply-side lift from environmental reforms in China. "Supply-side reforms in China are a key factor" driving the rally, he noted, adding: "Tightening environmental controls/monitoring of mines and smelters (mainly aluminum and zinc) are constraining output. In aluminum, smelting capacity is being forced to close if it doesn’t have the necessary licenses from the central government." While analysts largely agree on what's driving metals higher, they're split over whether the rally will continue. Most agree with Barclays’ Davis, who noted that "something seems off about this recent rally" and that he remains "skeptical of its strength and duration." Story continues Keep An Eye On Iron Ore Davis is especially wary of iron ore, a key ingredient in making steel. The steel market is running very hot at the moment in China, but that will likely change relatively soon, he says. "While demand conditions are supportive in the short term, they’re running up against long-term head winds, including a China that is facing demographic pressures of a slowdown," Davis predicted. Meanwhile, Bernard Dahdah and Alomgir Miah, analysts at Natixis, also believe the rally will run out of steam soon. "Although in the long run we are bullish on copper and aluminium, we believe in the short to medium term they have overshot where they should be fundamentally due to the excitement of better- than-expected demand indicators in China," they said. "We expect prices for both metals to fall in Q4'17 after the end of leadership elections in China." On the other hand, Societe Generale's Bhar believes there is ample support for a continued rally in base metals. Though nickel in particular looks overvalued, "base metals overall from a supply/demand perspective are in better balance and inventories are falling," he said. In Bhar's view, the base metals uptrend is sustainable through the end of the year, but the situation gets murkier in 2018 when he anticipates China's economy will slow. Contact Sumit Roy at [email protected] . Recommended Stories Why The Lithium ETF Is Up 58% This Year Bitcoin Vs Gold Debate Barclays' Cohen On Oil Topping $60 Hurricane Fuels Refinery ETFs More Than Oil Base Metal ETFs Buck Commodity Swoon Permalink | © Copyright 2017 ETF.com. All rights reserved View comments || Bitcoin price rises again above $4,000 - but will it hit a new all-time high?: Bitcoin price: Will it hit a new all-time high? - Bloomberg News Bitcoin s value has once again risen above $4,000 per coin - but will we see the bubble burst any time soon? The price of the virtual currency, which hit a record high of $4,500 (£3,492) last week , has jumped up to $4,276 to recover from yesterdays seven-day low . Bitcoins value has soared over the past 12 months, with its record-breaking rally coming after its recent split into two separate cryptocurrencies . But what next for the volatile cryptocurrency? Analysts remain divided about what we can expect over the next few months. FAQ | Bitcoin Wall Street strategist Tom Lee believes the price of Bitcoin, which surpassed gold for the first time in March , could eventually rise by another 40 per cent. He believes the price will continue to rise should the first bitcoin exchange-traded fund receive US regulatory approval. Lee said in a recent note to clients that it implies significant rise [in] institutional holdings of Bitcoin in next 6-8 months given recent approvals. No doubt, this will lead to an increase in overall transaction volumes for bitcoin. He added: We see bitcoin as gaining from institutional sponsorship, improving transaction platforms and ultimately, greater public adoption. Could bitcoin replace gold? Credit: Getty Lee predicts cryptocurrencies could eventually replace gold, although warned investors about a highly volatile market in the short-term. We believe one of the drivers [of bitcoin] is cryptocurrencies are cannibalizing demand for gold, he said. Based on this premise, we take a stab at establishing valuation framework for bitcoin. Based on our model, we estimate that bitcoins value per unit could be $20,000 to $55,000 by 2022. Bitcoins price has increased so much that £2,000 invested five years ago would make you a millionaire today. November will be a crucial month for bitcoin, when a new technology called Segwit2x moves some of bitcoins transaction data outside of the block and on to a parallel track to allow more transactions to take place . || Bitcoin price rises again above $4,000 - but will it hit a new all-time high?: Bitcoin price: Will it hit a new all-time high? - Bloomberg News Bitcoin s value has once again risen above $4,000 per coin - but will we see the bubble burst any time soon? The price of the virtual currency, which hit a record high of $4,500 (£3,492) last week , has jumped up to $4,276 to recover from yesterdays seven-day low . Bitcoins value has soared over the past 12 months, with its record-breaking rally coming after its recent split into two separate cryptocurrencies . But what next for the volatile cryptocurrency? Analysts remain divided about what we can expect over the next few months. FAQ | Bitcoin Wall Street strategist Tom Lee believes the price of Bitcoin, which surpassed gold for the first time in March , could eventually rise by another 40 per cent. He believes the price will continue to rise should the first bitcoin exchange-traded fund receive US regulatory approval. Lee said in a recent note to clients that it implies significant rise [in] institutional holdings of Bitcoin in next 6-8 months given recent approvals. No doubt, this will lead to an increase in overall transaction volumes for bitcoin. He added: We see bitcoin as gaining from institutional sponsorship, improving transaction platforms and ultimately, greater public adoption. Could bitcoin replace gold? Credit: Getty Lee predicts cryptocurrencies could eventually replace gold, although warned investors about a highly volatile market in the short-term. We believe one of the drivers [of bitcoin] is cryptocurrencies are cannibalizing demand for gold, he said. Based on this premise, we take a stab at establishing valuation framework for bitcoin. Based on our model, we estimate that bitcoins value per unit could be $20,000 to $55,000 by 2022. Bitcoins price has increased so much that £2,000 invested five years ago would make you a millionaire today. November will be a crucial month for bitcoin, when a new technology called Segwit2x moves some of bitcoins transaction data outside of the block and on to a parallel track to allow more transactions to take place .
[Social Media Buzz]
@LedgerHQ what is bitcoin test chain and how come my balance is now 0.00? All my bitcoin was there last night || Bitcoin - BTC
Price: $4,429.63
Change in 1h: +1.13%
Market cap: $73,198,581,498.00
Ranking: 1
#Bitcoin #BTC || 1hr Report : 13:00:57 UTC Top 10 Mentions
$BTC, $ETH, $NEO, $LTC, $XRP, $BCH, $DASH, $LGD, $OMG, $ETCpic.twitter.com/jGRhwZnQs4 || BlockChannel:The latest Bitcoin Price Index is 4,403.00 USD http://www.coindesk.com/price/ pic.twitter.com/znXIQYYOAj || 2017-08-25 00:00
1 BTC ...
|
4352.40, 4382.88, 4382.66, 4579.02, 4565.30, 4703.39, 4892.01, 4578.77, 4582.96, 4236.31
|
Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 363.18, 388.95, 388.78, 395.54, 415.56, 417.56, 415.48, 451.94, 435.00, 433.76, 444.18, 465.32, 454.93, 456.08, 463.62, 462.32, 442.68, 438.64, 436.57, 442.40, 454.98, 455.65, 417.27, 422.82, 422.28, 432.98, 426.62, 430.57, 434.33, 433.44, 430.01, 433.09, 431.96, 429.11, 458.05, 453.23, 447.61, 447.99, 448.43, 435.69, 432.37, 430.31, 364.33, 387.54, 382.30, 387.17, 380.15, 420.23, 410.26, 382.49, 387.49, 402.97, 391.73, 392.15, 394.97, 380.29, 379.47, 378.26, 368.77, 373.06, 374.45, 369.95, 389.59, 386.55, 376.52, 376.62, 373.45, 376.03, 381.65, 379.65, 384.26, 391.86, 407.23, 400.18, 407.49, 416.32, 422.37, 420.79, 437.16, 438.80, 437.75, 420.74, 424.95, 424.54, 432.15, 432.52, 433.50, 437.70, 435.12, 423.99.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2016-03-02]
Volume: 74955296, RSI (14-day): 54.26, 50-day EMA: 410.28, 200-day EMA: 360.08
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1241.10, Gold RSI: 65.31
Oil Price: 34.66, Oil RSI: 60.74
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Your first trade for Tuesday: The "Fast Money" traders delivered their final trades of the day.
Tim Seymour was a seller of the iShares MSCI Brazil Capped ETF(NYSE Arca: EWZ).
Brian Kelly was a buyer of the iShares Silver Trust(NYSE Arca: SLV).
Karen Finerman was a buyer of Golar LNG(GMLP).
Guy Adami was a buyer of Marathon Oil(MRO).
Trader disclosure: On February 29, 2016, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders:Tim Seymour is long AAPL, BAC, BBRY, DO, F, FCX, GM, GOOGL, INTC, JCP, NKE, SINA, T, TWTR, VZ, XOM. Tim's firm is long BABA, BIDU, CLF, KO, MCD, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, VALE, WMT,YHOO, short HYG, IWM. Brian Kelly is long BBRY, Bitcoin, GLD, SLV, TLT, US Dollar, Yen; he is short Aussie Dollar, BLK, British Pound, CS, DB, Euro, EWH, FRC, Hong Kong Dollar, UBS, SPY, Yuan, 5-Year Note Futures. Karen Finerman is long BAC, C, FL, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, LYV, KORS, M, SEDG, SPY calls, URI, she is short SPY. Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, C, C calls, FINL, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, JPM calls, KORS, LYV, M, MOH, NRF, PLCE, URI, her firm is short IWM, MDY, SPY. Karen Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International. Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
More From CNBC
• Top News and Analysis
• Latest News Video
• Personal Finance || Your first trade for Tuesday: The " Fast Money " traders delivered their final trades of the day. Tim Seymour was a seller of the iShares MSCI Brazil Capped ETF (NYSE Arca: EWZ) . Brian Kelly was a buyer of the iShares Silver Trust (NYSE Arca: SLV) . Karen Finerman was a buyer of Golar LNG ( GMLP ) . Guy Adami was a buyer of Marathon Oil ( MRO ) . Trader disclosure: On February 29, 2016, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders: Tim Seymour is long AAPL, BAC, BBRY, DO, F, FCX, GM, GOOGL, INTC, JCP, NKE, SINA, T, TWTR, VZ, XOM. Tim's firm is long BABA, BIDU, CLF, KO, MCD, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, VALE, WMT,YHOO, short HYG, IWM. Brian Kelly is long BBRY, Bitcoin, GLD, SLV, TLT, US Dollar, Yen; he is short Aussie Dollar, BLK, British Pound, CS, DB, Euro, EWH, FRC, Hong Kong Dollar, UBS, SPY, Yuan, 5-Year Note Futures. Karen Finerman is long BAC, C, FL, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, LYV, KORS, M, SEDG, SPY calls, URI, she is short SPY. Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, C, C calls, FINL, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, JPM calls, KORS, LYV, M, MOH, NRF, PLCE, URI, her firm is short IWM, MDY, SPY. Karen Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International. Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck. More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || University of California Berkeley notifies 80,000 of cyber attack: SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Officials at the University of California Berkeley said on Friday that they were alerting 80,000 people, including current and former students, faculty and vendors of a cyber attack on a system that stores social security and bank account numbers. The news comes just more than a week after a Southern California hospital paid hackers $17,000 in the digital currency Bitcoin to regain control of their computer systems after a so-called "ransomware" attack. The San Francisco Bay Area university said there was no evidence that attackers actually took any personal information, but that it was still alerting the 80,000 individuals to be on the lookout for misuse of their information. The school said a hacker or hackers gained access to its financial management software in late December due to a security flaw present when the system is updating. Officials have notified law enforcement, including the FBI, and hired a private computer investigation company. The university said among the potentially affected are 57,000 current and former students; about 18,800 former and current employees; and 10,300 vendors who work with the school. Those figures come out to about half of the school's current students and two-thirds of its active employees. Large, high-profile organizations and businesses routinely come under cyber attack, and the school said it frequently identifies similar hacking attempts. "The security and privacy of the personal information provided to the university is of great importance to us," Paul Rivers, UC Berkeley's chief information security officer, said in a statement. "We regret that this occurred and have taken additional measures to better safeguard that information." The school said it was providing credit protection service free of charge to those potentially impacted. (Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Sharon Bernstein) || University of California Berkeley notifies 80,000 of cyber attack: SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Officials at the University of California Berkeley said on Friday that they were alerting 80,000 people, including current and former students, faculty and vendors of a cyber attack on a system that stores social security and bank account numbers.
The news comes just more than a week after a Southern California hospital paid hackers $17,000 in the digital currency Bitcoin to regain control of their computer systems after a so-called "ransomware" attack.
The San Francisco Bay Area university said there was no evidence that attackers actually took any personal information, but that it was still alerting the 80,000 individuals to be on the lookout for misuse of their information.
The school said a hacker or hackers gained access to its financial management software in late December due to a security flaw present when the system is updating. Officials have notified law enforcement, including the FBI, and hired a private computer investigation company.
The university said among the potentially affected are 57,000 current and former students; about 18,800 former and current employees; and 10,300 vendors who work with the school. Those figures come out to about half of the school's current students and two-thirds of its active employees.
Large, high-profile organizations and businesses routinely come under cyber attack, and the school said it frequently identifies similar hacking attempts.
"The security and privacy of the personal information provided to the university is of great importance to us," Paul Rivers, UC Berkeley's chief information security officer, said in a statement. "We regret that this occurred and have taken additional measures to better safeguard that information."
The school said it was providing credit protection service free of charge to those potentially impacted.
(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Sharon Bernstein) || University of California Berkeley notifies 80,000 of cyber attack: SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Officials at the University of California Berkeley said on Friday that they were alerting 80,000 people, including current and former students, faculty and vendors of a cyber attack on a system that stores social security and bank account numbers. The news comes just more than a week after a Southern California hospital paid hackers $17,000 in the digital currency Bitcoin to regain control of their computer systems after a so-called "ransomware" attack. The San Francisco Bay Area university said there was no evidence that attackers actually took any personal information, but that it was still alerting the 80,000 individuals to be on the lookout for misuse of their information. The school said a hacker or hackers gained access to its financial management software in late December due to a security flaw present when the system is updating. Officials have notified law enforcement, including the FBI, and hired a private computer investigation company. The university said among the potentially affected are 57,000 current and former students; about 18,800 former and current employees; and 10,300 vendors who work with the school. Those figures come out to about half of the school's current students and two-thirds of its active employees. Large, high-profile organizations and businesses routinely come under cyber attack, and the school said it frequently identifies similar hacking attempts. "The security and privacy of the personal information provided to the university is of great importance to us," Paul Rivers, UC Berkeley's chief information security officer, said in a statement. "We regret that this occurred and have taken additional measures to better safeguard that information." The school said it was providing credit protection service free of charge to those potentially impacted. (Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Sharon Bernstein) || University of California Berkeley notifies 80,000 of cyber attack: SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Officials at the University of California Berkeley said on Friday that they were alerting 80,000 people, including current and former students, faculty and vendors of a cyber attack on a system that stores social security and bank account numbers. The news comes just more than a week after a Southern California hospital paid hackers $17,000 in the digital currency Bitcoin to regain control of their computer systems after a so-called "ransomware" attack. The San Francisco Bay Area university said there was no evidence that attackers actually took any personal information, but that it was still alerting the 80,000 individuals to be on the lookout for misuse of their information. The school said a hacker or hackers gained access to its financial management software in late December due to a security flaw present when the system is updating. Officials have notified law enforcement, including the FBI, and hired a private computer investigation company. The university said among the potentially affected are 57,000 current and former students; about 18,800 former and current employees; and 10,300 vendors who work with the school. Those figures come out to about half of the school's current students and two-thirds of its active employees. Large, high-profile organizations and businesses routinely come under cyber attack, and the school said it frequently identifies similar hacking attempts. "The security and privacy of the personal information provided to the university is of great importance to us," Paul Rivers, UC Berkeley's chief information security officer, said in a statement. "We regret that this occurred and have taken additional measures to better safeguard that information." The school said it was providing credit protection service free of charge to those potentially impacted. (Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Sharon Bernstein) || University of California notifies 80,000 of cyber attack: SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Officials at the University of California Berkeley said on Friday that they were alerting 80,000 people, including current and former students, faculty and vendors of a cyber attack on a system that stores social security and bank account numbers. The news comes just more than a week after a Southern California hospital paid hackers $17,000 in the digital currency Bitcoin to regain control of their computer systems after a so-called "ransomware" attack. The San Francisco Bay Area university said there was no evidence that attackers actually took any personal information, but that it was still alerting the 80,000 individuals to be on the lookout for misuse of their information. The school said a hacker or hackers gained access to its financial management software in late December due to a security flaw present when the system is updating. Officials have notified law enforcement, including the FBI, and hired a private computer investigation company. The university said among the potentially affected are 57,000 current and former students; about 18,800 former and current employees; and 10,300 vendors who work with the school. Those figures come out to about half of the school's current students and two-thirds of its active employees. Large, high-profile organizations and businesses routinely come under cyber attack, and the school said it frequently identifies similar hacking attempts. "The security and privacy of the personal information provided to the university is of great importance to us," Paul Rivers, UC Berkeley's chief information security officer, said in a statement. "We regret that this occurred and have taken additional measures to better safeguard that information." The school said it was providing credit protection service free of charge to those potentially impacted. (Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Sharon Bernstein) || University of California notifies 80,000 of cyber attack: SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Officials at the University of California Berkeley said on Friday that they were alerting 80,000 people, including current and former students, faculty and vendors of a cyber attack on a system that stores social security and bank account numbers. The news comes just more than a week after a Southern California hospital paid hackers $17,000 in the digital currency Bitcoin to regain control of their computer systems after a so-called "ransomware" attack. The San Francisco Bay Area university said there was no evidence that attackers actually took any personal information, but that it was still alerting the 80,000 individuals to be on the lookout for misuse of their information. The school said a hacker or hackers gained access to its financial management software in late December due to a security flaw present when the system is updating. Officials have notified law enforcement, including the FBI, and hired a private computer investigation company. The university said among the potentially affected are 57,000 current and former students; about 18,800 former and current employees; and 10,300 vendors who work with the school. Those figures come out to about half of the school's current students and two-thirds of its active employees. Large, high-profile organizations and businesses routinely come under cyber attack, and the school said it frequently identifies similar hacking attempts. "The security and privacy of the personal information provided to the university is of great importance to us," Paul Rivers, UC Berkeley's chief information security officer, said in a statement. "We regret that this occurred and have taken additional measures to better safeguard that information." The school said it was providing credit protection service free of charge to those potentially impacted. (Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Sharon Bernstein) || University of California notifies 80,000 of cyber attack: SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Officials at the University of California Berkeley said on Friday that they were alerting 80,000 people, including current and former students, faculty and vendors of a cyber attack on a system that stores social security and bank account numbers. The news comes just more than a week after a Southern California hospital paid hackers $17,000 in the digital currency Bitcoin to regain control of their computer systems after a so-called "ransomware" attack. The San Francisco Bay Area university said there was no evidence that attackers actually took any personal information, but that it was still alerting the 80,000 individuals to be on the lookout for misuse of their information. The school said a hacker or hackers gained access to its financial management software in late December due to a security flaw present when the system is updating. Officials have notified law enforcement, including the FBI, and hired a private computer investigation company. The university said among the potentially affected are 57,000 current and former students; about 18,800 former and current employees; and 10,300 vendors who work with the school. Those figures come out to about half of the school's current students and two-thirds of its active employees. Large, high-profile organizations and businesses routinely come under cyber attack, and the school said it frequently identifies similar hacking attempts. "The security and privacy of the personal information provided to the university is of great importance to us," Paul Rivers, UC Berkeley's chief information security officer, said in a statement. "We regret that this occurred and have taken additional measures to better safeguard that information." The school said it was providing credit protection service free of charge to those potentially impacted. (Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Sharon Bernstein) || University of California notifies 80,000 of cyber attack: SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Officials at the University of California Berkeley said on Friday that they were alerting 80,000 people, including current and former students, faculty and vendors of a cyber attack on a system that stores social security and bank account numbers. The news comes just more than a week after a Southern California hospital paid hackers $17,000 in the digital currency Bitcoin to regain control of their computer systems after a so-called "ransomware" attack. The San Francisco Bay Area university said there was no evidence that attackers actually took any personal information, but that it was still alerting the 80,000 individuals to be on the lookout for misuse of their information. The school said a hacker or hackers gained access to its financial management software in late December due to a security flaw present when the system is updating. Officials have notified law enforcement, including the FBI, and hired a private computer investigation company. The university said among the potentially affected are 57,000 current and former students; about 18,800 former and current employees; and 10,300 vendors who work with the school. Those figures come out to about half of the school's current students and two-thirds of its active employees. Large, high-profile organizations and businesses routinely come under cyber attack, and the school said it frequently identifies similar hacking attempts. "The security and privacy of the personal information provided to the university is of great importance to us," Paul Rivers, UC Berkeley's chief information security officer, said in a statement. "We regret that this occurred and have taken additional measures to better safeguard that information." The school said it was providing credit protection service free of charge to those potentially impacted. (Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Sharon Bernstein) || The IT industry is launching new markets worth more than $2 trillion, IBM CEO says: IBM CEO Ginni Rometty (Business Insider) IBM CEO Ginni Rometty It's fashionable these days to beat up on IBM and its CEO, Ginni Rometty. It's easy to point to a struggling share price, shrinking revenues across just about all of its traditional core businesses, a downright addiction to share buy-backs to prop-up share price and earnings-per-share ($4.5 billion worth of buybacks last year alone, a $125 billion worth in the decade prior.) Plus there's the never-ending layoffs handled with an almost paranoid sense of secrecy . But an extremely cheerful Rometty opened the company annual investor's day on Thursday to explain, again, where's she's leading the company and offer update on the progress. "I've been looking forward to this day," she told them with a big smile. This is in sharp contrast to the grin-and-bear-it mood of last year's investor meeting, when Rometty had just failed to meet her predecessor's promise of hitting $20 earnings per share in 2015. She says IBM is on track to meet her promise to investors, made last year, of hitting $40 billion worth of revenue in a bunch of new and more profitable markets by 2018. These include big data/analytics, cloud computing, security, social and mobile. The company has already hit $29 billion in these "strategic imperative" areas, and they are now 36% of IBM's $82 billion of revenue, she said. These new markets, which IBM calls "decision support" represent a $2 trillion market. Plus IBM sees a bunch of other growth markets. 1. Machine learning (which IBM calls 'cognitive computing") is at the heart of the $2 trillion market IBM sees developing by 2025 . This is where smart computers that can learn, can understand all kinds of data (even audio, photos, videos), reason, talk, make decisions and learn. Companies will use this to make all of their important decisions she believes. And it will be used to solve other problems like managing and curing illness. Watson is already being used by medical device manufacturer Medtronic to help patients predict dangerous low-blood sugar events up to two hours before they occur. Story continues Decision support will create $2 trillion worth of IT spending beyond the $1 trillion companies already spend on software, services and hardware. IBM Decision Support market (IBM) IBM sees a $2 trillion "decision support" market beyond the traditional software, services and hardware market where it already competes. 2. Hybrid computing will become a $400 billion market. This is a revamp of the traditional $1 trillion market. It's where companies maintain their own data centers while also using the cloud. Rometty didn't offer a time frame when this market will be worth that much. Some market researchers say it will be an $88 billion market in 2019. But she insists that most companies will adopt this model forever and that it's "not a transition phase" on the way for companies to go "all-in" on the cloud and unplug their data centers. In other words, she believes that IBM will continue to sell its hardware and software to companies forever, in addition to selling its cloud services. IBM investor briefing, Ginni Rometty (Business Insider) IBM CEO Ginni Rometty That's in contrast to the message being told by happy Amazon cloud customers. Amazon, the cloud computing leader, doesn't sell hardware or software and has an increasing roster of huge customers that are unplugging their data centers completely to use Amazon's cloud exclusively. Rometty offers as proof that hybrid is the future: In 2015 IBM's consulting unit signed 70 contracts "greater than $100 million" and "7 out of 10 of them were about hybrid cloud," she says. 3. Internet of Things will be a $400 billion market by 2019 . That's where all kinds of objects get sensors, apps and join the internet. All of the apps that run all of those objects will live on somebody's cloud. Every big IT company is going after this market. Cisco has said that IoT will be much bigger, a $19 trillion market in a decade. 4. Blockchain will eventually be worth "hundreds of billions of opportunity," Rometty says. Blockchain is the tech that underlines the online currency called Bitcoin. But Rometty says that it's much bigger than Bitcoin. It's a technology that can secure all kinds of important data, financial and otherwise. She says that IBM is already using it internally and IBM has already introduced a blockchain cloud computing service. She's not alone in thinking Blockchain will be huge. VC Marc Andreessen has been touting it, and investing in it . And the nonprofit Linux Foundation has launched a consortium to develop blockchain. IBM is a member, as is a who's who roster of tech and financial services companies. NOW WATCH: We tried Shake Shack and In-N-Out side by side, and it's clear which one is better More From Business Insider This man grew his company from $30 million to $100 million in one year, mostly thanks to Amazon Bill Gates offered the best advice on how to not feel overwhelmed when taking on huge projects Sexism almost ended the career of one of the most powerful women in the Valley and her new startup is fighting back || The IT industry is launching new markets worth more than $2 trillion, IBM CEO says: IBM CEO Ginni Rometty (Business Insider) IBM CEO Ginni Rometty It's fashionable these days to beat up on IBM and its CEO, Ginni Rometty. It's easy to point to a struggling share price, shrinking revenues across just about all of its traditional core businesses, a downright addiction to share buy-backs to prop-up share price and earnings-per-share ($4.5 billion worth of buybacks last year alone, a $125 billion worth in the decade prior.) Plus there's the never-ending layoffs handled with an almost paranoid sense of secrecy . But an extremely cheerful Rometty opened the company annual investor's day on Thursday to explain, again, where's she's leading the company and offer update on the progress. "I've been looking forward to this day," she told them with a big smile. This is in sharp contrast to the grin-and-bear-it mood of last year's investor meeting, when Rometty had just failed to meet her predecessor's promise of hitting $20 earnings per share in 2015. She says IBM is on track to meet her promise to investors, made last year, of hitting $40 billion worth of revenue in a bunch of new and more profitable markets by 2018. These include big data/analytics, cloud computing, security, social and mobile. The company has already hit $29 billion in these "strategic imperative" areas, and they are now 36% of IBM's $82 billion of revenue, she said. These new markets, which IBM calls "decision support" represent a $2 trillion market. Plus IBM sees a bunch of other growth markets. 1. Machine learning (which IBM calls 'cognitive computing") is at the heart of the $2 trillion market IBM sees developing by 2025 . This is where smart computers that can learn, can understand all kinds of data (even audio, photos, videos), reason, talk, make decisions and learn. Companies will use this to make all of their important decisions she believes. And it will be used to solve other problems like managing and curing illness. Watson is already being used by medical device manufacturer Medtronic to help patients predict dangerous low-blood sugar events up to two hours before they occur. Story continues Decision support will create $2 trillion worth of IT spending beyond the $1 trillion companies already spend on software, services and hardware. IBM Decision Support market (IBM) IBM sees a $2 trillion "decision support" market beyond the traditional software, services and hardware market where it already competes. 2. Hybrid computing will become a $400 billion market. This is a revamp of the traditional $1 trillion market. It's where companies maintain their own data centers while also using the cloud. Rometty didn't offer a time frame when this market will be worth that much. Some market researchers say it will be an $88 billion market in 2019. But she insists that most companies will adopt this model forever and that it's "not a transition phase" on the way for companies to go "all-in" on the cloud and unplug their data centers. In other words, she believes that IBM will continue to sell its hardware and software to companies forever, in addition to selling its cloud services. IBM investor briefing, Ginni Rometty (Business Insider) IBM CEO Ginni Rometty That's in contrast to the message being told by happy Amazon cloud customers. Amazon, the cloud computing leader, doesn't sell hardware or software and has an increasing roster of huge customers that are unplugging their data centers completely to use Amazon's cloud exclusively. Rometty offers as proof that hybrid is the future: In 2015 IBM's consulting unit signed 70 contracts "greater than $100 million" and "7 out of 10 of them were about hybrid cloud," she says. 3. Internet of Things will be a $400 billion market by 2019 . That's where all kinds of objects get sensors, apps and join the internet. All of the apps that run all of those objects will live on somebody's cloud. Every big IT company is going after this market. Cisco has said that IoT will be much bigger, a $19 trillion market in a decade. 4. Blockchain will eventually be worth "hundreds of billions of opportunity," Rometty says. Blockchain is the tech that underlines the online currency called Bitcoin. But Rometty says that it's much bigger than Bitcoin. It's a technology that can secure all kinds of important data, financial and otherwise. She says that IBM is already using it internally and IBM has already introduced a blockchain cloud computing service. She's not alone in thinking Blockchain will be huge. VC Marc Andreessen has been touting it, and investing in it . And the nonprofit Linux Foundation has launched a consortium to develop blockchain. IBM is a member, as is a who's who roster of tech and financial services companies. NOW WATCH: We tried Shake Shack and In-N-Out side by side, and it's clear which one is better More From Business Insider This man grew his company from $30 million to $100 million in one year, mostly thanks to Amazon Bill Gates offered the best advice on how to not feel overwhelmed when taking on huge projects Sexism almost ended the career of one of the most powerful women in the Valley and her new startup is fighting back || Digatrade Executes Bitcoin Debit Card Development Contract: Digatrade Bitcoin Debit Card Set to Launch VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / February 25, 2016 / BITX FINANCIAL CORP ( BITXF ) and its 100% owned and operated digital asset-currency exchange DIGATRADE ( digatrade.com ) today announced the execution of a technology development agreement with ANX Technologies. Under terms of the agreement Digatrade will have a bitcoin debit card developed by ANX Technologies, one of the world's first financial technology companies to have developed a bitcoin debit card and one of the largest distributors of debit cards in the market offering customers as well as businesses a fast and reliable payment solution. The Digatrade debit card will provide a gateway between digital assets and traditional payments processing. The reloadable debit card can be used to make purchases in any retail, point-of-sale devices or withdraw cash from ATMs that support the global payment network. Digatrade customers will be able to add funds to their debit card via the Digatrade exchange platform and will empower digital assets to be accepted worldwide. More information will be made available as it materializes. ABOUT DIGATRADE: DIGATRADE is a global digital asset-currency exchange located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The Company is owned and operated 100% by Bit-X Financial Corp which is publically listed on the OTC.QB under the trading symbol BITXF. BITXF is a reporting issuer in the Province of British Columbia, Canada with the British Columbia Securities Commission "BCSC" and in the United States with the Securities Exchange Commission "SEC". Digatrade has now become a global platform offering its customers instant card-based transactions worldwide. CORPORATE CONTACT INFORMATION: Brad Moynes, CEO Bit-X Financial Corp DigaTrade.com 838 West Hastings Street, Suite 300 Vancouver, BC V6C-0A6 Canada Tel: +1(604) 200-0071 Fax: +1(604) 200-0072 www.digatrade.com Media inquiries: [email protected] Forward-Looking Information This press release contains certain "forward-looking information". All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or development that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future constitute forward-looking information. This forward-looking information reflects the current expectations or beliefs of the company based on information currently available to the Company. Forward-looking information is subject to a number of significant risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking information, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on the Company. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to, the possibility of unanticipated costs and expenses. Any forward-looking information speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking information are reasonable, forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such information due to the inherent uncertainty therein. SOURCE: Bit-X Financial Corp || Digatrade Executes Bitcoin Debit Card Development Contract: Digatrade Bitcoin Debit Card Set to Launch
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / February 25, 2016 /BITX FINANCIAL CORP (BITXF) and its 100% owned and operated digital asset-currency exchange DIGATRADE™ (digatrade.com) today announced the execution of a technology development agreement with ANX Technologies. Under terms of the agreement Digatrade will have a bitcoin debit card developed by ANX Technologies, one of the world's first financial technology companies to have developed a bitcoin debit card and one of the largest distributors of debit cards in the market offering customers as well as businesses a fast and reliable payment solution.
The Digatrade debit card will provide a gateway between digital assets and traditional payments processing. The reloadable debit card can be used to make purchases in any retail, point-of-sale devices or withdraw cash from ATMs that support the global payment network. Digatrade customers will be able to add funds to their debit card via the Digatrade exchange platform and will empower digital assets to be accepted worldwide.
More information will be made available as it materializes.
ABOUT DIGATRADE:
DIGATRADE is a global digital asset-currency exchange located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The Company is owned and operated 100% by Bit-X Financial Corp which is publically listed on the OTC.QB under the trading symbol BITXF. BITXF is a reporting issuer in the Province of British Columbia, Canada with the British Columbia Securities Commission "BCSC" and in the United States with the Securities Exchange Commission "SEC". Digatrade has now become a global platform offering its customers instant card-based transactions worldwide.
CORPORATE CONTACT INFORMATION:
Brad Moynes, CEOBit-X Financial CorpDigaTrade.com838 West Hastings Street, Suite 300Vancouver, BC V6C-0A6CanadaTel: +1(604) 200-0071Fax: +1(604) 200-0072www.digatrade.com
Media inquiries:
[email protected]
Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains certain "forward-looking information". All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or development that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future constitute forward-looking information. This forward-looking information reflects the current expectations or beliefs of the company based on information currently available to the Company. Forward-looking information is subject to a number of significant risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking information, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on the Company. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to, the possibility of unanticipated costs and expenses. Any forward-looking information speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking information are reasonable, forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such information due to the inherent uncertainty therein.
SOURCE:Bit-X Financial Corp || Digatrade Executes Bitcoin Debit Card Development Contract: Digatrade Bitcoin Debit Card Set to Launch
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / February 25, 2016 /BITX FINANCIAL CORP (BITXF) and its 100% owned and operated digital asset-currency exchange DIGATRADE™ (digatrade.com) today announced the execution of a technology development agreement with ANX Technologies. Under terms of the agreement Digatrade will have a bitcoin debit card developed by ANX Technologies, one of the world's first financial technology companies to have developed a bitcoin debit card and one of the largest distributors of debit cards in the market offering customers as well as businesses a fast and reliable payment solution.
The Digatrade debit card will provide a gateway between digital assets and traditional payments processing. The reloadable debit card can be used to make purchases in any retail, point-of-sale devices or withdraw cash from ATMs that support the global payment network. Digatrade customers will be able to add funds to their debit card via the Digatrade exchange platform and will empower digital assets to be accepted worldwide.
More information will be made available as it materializes.
ABOUT DIGATRADE:
DIGATRADE is a global digital asset-currency exchange located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The Company is owned and operated 100% by Bit-X Financial Corp which is publically listed on the OTC.QB under the trading symbol BITXF. BITXF is a reporting issuer in the Province of British Columbia, Canada with the British Columbia Securities Commission "BCSC" and in the United States with the Securities Exchange Commission "SEC". Digatrade has now become a global platform offering its customers instant card-based transactions worldwide.
CORPORATE CONTACT INFORMATION:
Brad Moynes, CEOBit-X Financial CorpDigaTrade.com838 West Hastings Street, Suite 300Vancouver, BC V6C-0A6CanadaTel: +1(604) 200-0071Fax: +1(604) 200-0072www.digatrade.com
Media inquiries:
[email protected]
Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains certain "forward-looking information". All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or development that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future constitute forward-looking information. This forward-looking information reflects the current expectations or beliefs of the company based on information currently available to the Company. Forward-looking information is subject to a number of significant risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking information, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on the Company. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to, the possibility of unanticipated costs and expenses. Any forward-looking information speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking information are reasonable, forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such information due to the inherent uncertainty therein.
SOURCE:Bit-X Financial Corp || Safe Cash Speeds up Blockchain to 25,000 Transactions per Second: SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Feb 24, 2016) - Safe Cash (www.safe.cash), a digital payment technology for banks, merchants, and consumers, has announced that it is able to handle up to 25,000 transactions per second on its blockchain -- more than 3,000 times as many as Bitcoin. The time to complete and final settlement is under five seconds. This makes Safe Cash the fastest private blockchain, orders of magnitude ahead of competing private blockchains that are simple forks of bitcoin or litecoin.
"Because of its slow consensus time, uncertain governance, and price volatility, Bitcoin is not a reasonable solution for banks, and it's not built to scale for massive adoption of instant e-commerce," said Chris Kitze, founder and CEO of Safe Cash Payment Technologies. "No open-source software can touch this performance. Our development team worked for the past eighteen months to solve a number of critical technical problems. It is not trivial. We also have a clear technical path to increase this speed to 100,000 transactions per second later this year, well in advance of that kind of global demand."
In an era of permissioned blockchains gaining favor with financial institutions over decentralized, freely trading cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Ripple, Safe Cash is one of the first blockchains to be commercially viable that can meet the transaction processing speed and throughput requirements of today's market. Safe Cash employs instant settlement in under five seconds, improved security, and controlled consensus that does not rely on miners or any intermediary coin that must be purchased. It allows banks to wean themselves off the high-priced, inefficient SWIFT network that can take days to transfer money. Banks can have their own "white label" blockchain that they control and manage. Inter-bank settlement can be achieved with multi-currency wallets, a separate bank settlement blockchain, or a combination thereof, depending on bank requirements and legal compliance.
A demonstration of this technology is freely available athttps://safe.cash, where the public is invited to get a free account to test out Safe Cash's loyalty token. Banks are invited to internally proof-of-concept test Safe Cash.
About Safe Cash Payment Technologies, Inc.Founded in 2015, Safe Cash is the first payment system to allow cash to be used as a digital asset, with member banks storing the USD and providing tokens that are redeemable for cash. The system is designed to work globally and on most phones.
All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners. || Safe Cash Speeds up Blockchain to 25,000 Transactions per Second: SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Feb 24, 2016) - Safe Cash ( www.safe.cash ), a digital payment technology for banks, merchants, and consumers, has announced that it is able to handle up to 25,000 transactions per second on its blockchain -- more than 3,000 times as many as Bitcoin. The time to complete and final settlement is under five seconds. This makes Safe Cash the fastest private blockchain, orders of magnitude ahead of competing private blockchains that are simple forks of bitcoin or litecoin. "Because of its slow consensus time, uncertain governance, and price volatility, Bitcoin is not a reasonable solution for banks, and it's not built to scale for massive adoption of instant e-commerce," said Chris Kitze, founder and CEO of Safe Cash Payment Technologies. "No open-source software can touch this performance. Our development team worked for the past eighteen months to solve a number of critical technical problems. It is not trivial. We also have a clear technical path to increase this speed to 100,000 transactions per second later this year, well in advance of that kind of global demand." In an era of permissioned blockchains gaining favor with financial institutions over decentralized, freely trading cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Ripple, Safe Cash is one of the first blockchains to be commercially viable that can meet the transaction processing speed and throughput requirements of today's market. Safe Cash employs instant settlement in under five seconds, improved security, and controlled consensus that does not rely on miners or any intermediary coin that must be purchased. It allows banks to wean themselves off the high-priced, inefficient SWIFT network that can take days to transfer money. Banks can have their own "white label" blockchain that they control and manage. Inter-bank settlement can be achieved with multi-currency wallets, a separate bank settlement blockchain, or a combination thereof, depending on bank requirements and legal compliance. Story continues A demonstration of this technology is freely available at https://safe.cash , where the public is invited to get a free account to test out Safe Cash's loyalty token. Banks are invited to internally proof-of-concept test Safe Cash. About Safe Cash Payment Technologies, Inc. Founded in 2015, Safe Cash is the first payment system to allow cash to be used as a digital asset, with member banks storing the USD and providing tokens that are redeemable for cash. The system is designed to work globally and on most phones. All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners.
[Social Media Buzz]
#RDD / #BTC on the exchanges:
Cryptsy: Error
Bittrex: 0.00000006
Average $2.6E-5 per #reddcoin
02:00:02 || 1 EGC Price: Bittrex 0.00000299 BTC YoBit 0.00000297 BTC #egc #evergreencoin 2016-03-02 08:00 pic.twitter.com/NOl9EqTGvs || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 12 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $289.44 #bitcoin #btc || 1 INFX Price: Bittrex 0.00001391 BTC #infx #infxprice 2016-03-02 12:00 pic.twitter.com/cG0MXnKqZw || 1 #BTC (#Bitcoin) quotes:
$42...
|
421.65, 410.94, 400.57, 407.71, 414.32, 413.97, 414.86, 417.13, 421.69, 411.62
|
Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 36684.93, 37575.18, 39208.77, 36894.41, 35551.96, 35862.38, 33560.71, 33472.63, 37345.12, 36702.60, 37334.40, 35552.52, 39097.86, 40218.48, 40406.27, 38347.06, 38053.50, 35787.25, 35615.87, 35698.30, 31676.69, 32505.66, 33723.03, 34662.44, 31637.78, 32186.28, 34649.64, 34434.34, 35867.78, 35040.84, 33572.12, 33897.05, 34668.55, 35287.78, 33746.00, 34235.20, 33855.33, 32877.37, 33798.01, 33520.52, 34240.19, 33155.85, 32702.03, 32822.35, 31780.73, 31421.54, 31533.07, 31796.81, 30817.83, 29807.35, 32110.69, 32313.11, 33581.55, 34292.45, 35350.19, 37337.54, 39406.94, 39995.91, 40008.42, 42235.55, 41626.20, 39974.89, 39201.95, 38152.98, 39747.50, 40869.55, 42816.50, 44555.80, 43798.12, 46365.40, 45585.03, 45593.64, 44428.29, 47793.32, 47096.95, 47047.00, 46004.48, 44695.36, 44801.19, 46717.58, 49339.18, 48905.49, 49321.65, 49546.15, 47706.12, 48960.79, 46942.22, 49058.67, 48902.40, 48829.83.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2021-08-29]
Volume: 25889650240, RSI (14-day): 60.47, 50-day EMA: 43282.64, 200-day EMA: 40445.28
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
What Happens to Social Security When You Die?: Zinkevych / Getty Images/iStockphoto The end of a persons life doesnt necessarily mean the end of their social security payments. Depending on factors like income and dependents, social security checks will still be issued to someone else even after the original recipient passes away. See: The Biggest Problems Facing Social Security Find: Can You Afford To Die in Your State? According to the Social Security Administration website, if you work and pay into Social Security, part of those taxes go toward survivor benefits, which means your surviving spouse, children and even parents could be eligible for payments based on your earnings. Likewise, you and your family could be eligible for benefits based on the earnings of someone else who died as long as the deceased worked long enough to qualify for benefits. If you have no survivors or dependents, the payments simply cease. Whenever someone dies, the Social Security office should be notified immediately. This is usually handled by the funeral home, which sends in a form called Statement of Death by Funeral Director. If that doesnt happen, youll have to call the SSA you cannot report a death or apply for survivor benefits online. If you need to report a death or apply for survivor benefits, call 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. Youll need to provide the deceased persons social security number when applying. In the event of your death, your survivor will need to provide your social security number. The executor of the estate can also call Social Security, CNBC reported. Here are some things to remember for those getting benefits on a spouses or parents record, according to the SSA: Social Security will automatically change any monthly benefits received to survivors benefits after it receives the report of death. The agency might be able to pay a Special Lump-Sum Death Payment automatically. One thing to keep in mind is that no social security benefits are due for the month of a persons death. Story continues Any benefit thats paid after the month of the persons death needs to be refunded, Peggy Sherman, a certified financial planner and lead advisor at Briaud Financial Advisors in College Station, Texas, told CNBC. See: What Happens to Your Bitcoin When You Die? Find: Key Points COVID-19 Long-Haulers Need to Know About Applying for Social Security Meanwhile, if your spouse or qualifying dependent were already getting money based on your record, that benefit will auto-convert to survivors benefits when the government gets notice of your death. If the surviving spouse has already reached their own full retirement age, they can get their deceased spouses full benefit. You can apply for reduced benefits as early as age 60 or age 50 if disabled which is a couple of years earlier than the standard earliest claiming age of 62 . More From GOBankingRates Take Our Poll: Are You Actually Spending Your Child Tax Credit Payment? 5 Things Most Americans Dont Know About Social Security Heres How Much You Need To Earn To Be Rich in Every State 5 Cities Around the World Experiencing a Housing Market Boom This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : What Happens to Social Security When You Die? || What Happens to Social Security When You Die?: The end of a person’s life doesn’t necessarily mean the end of their social security payments. Depending on factors like income and dependents,social security checks will still be issuedto someone else even after the original recipient passes away.
See:The Biggest Problems Facing Social SecurityFind:Can You Afford To Die in Your State?
According to the Social Security Administration website, if you work and pay into Social Security, part of those taxes go toward survivor benefits, which means your surviving spouse, children and even parents could be eligible for payments based on your earnings.
Likewise, you and your family could be eligible for benefits based on the earnings of someone else who died — as long as the deceased worked long enough to qualify for benefits.
If you have no survivors or dependents, the payments simply cease.
Whenever someone dies, the Social Security office should be notified immediately. This is usually handled by the funeral home, which sends in a form called Statement of Death by Funeral Director.
If that doesn’t happen, you’ll have to call the SSA — you cannot report a death or apply for survivor benefits online. If you need to report a death or apply for survivor benefits, call 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.
You’ll need to provide the deceased person’s social security number when applying. In the event of your death, your survivor will need to provide your social security number. The executor of the estate can also call Social Security, CNBC reported.
Here are some things to remember for those getting benefits on a spouse’s or parent’s record, according to the SSA:
• Social Security will automatically change any monthly benefits received to survivors’ benefits after it receives the report of death.
• The agency might be able to pay a Special Lump-Sum Death Payment automatically.
• One thing to keep in mind is that no social security benefits are due for the month of a person’s death.
“Any benefit that’s paid after the month of the person’s death needs to be refunded,” Peggy Sherman, a certified financial planner and lead advisor at Briaud Financial Advisors in College Station, Texas, told CNBC.
See:What Happens to Your Bitcoin When You Die?Find:Key Points COVID-19 Long-Haulers Need to Know About Applying for Social Security
Meanwhile, if your spouse or qualifying dependent were already getting money based on your record, that benefit will auto-convert to survivors benefits when the government gets notice of your death.
If the surviving spouse has already reached their own full retirement age, they can get their deceased spouse’s full benefit. You can apply for reduced benefits as early as age 60 — or age 50 if disabled —which is a couple of years earlier than the standard earliest claiming age of 62.
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This article originally appeared onGOBankingRates.com:What Happens to Social Security When You Die? || Clearer Picture Revealed for Dorsey’s Decentralized BTC Exchange: BeInCrypto –
Twitter founder Jack Dorsey has confirmed that the direction for his bitcoin (BTC) business, TBD, has been determined.
The CEO called out to his followerson Twitteron August 27, asking for help in building “an open platform to create a decentralized exchange for #Bitcoin…”
This tweet came in response to a lengthy thread that Mike Brock issued around the same time. Brock, who leads Strategic Development for Square’s Cash App, is also a leading figure with TBD. He took to Twitter to reveal developments with the project.
This storywas seen first onBeInCryptoJoin our Telegram Groupand get trading signals, a free trading course and more stories likethisonBeInCrypto || Clearer Picture Revealed for Dorsey’s Decentralized BTC Exchange: BeInCrypto – Twitter founder Jack Dorsey has confirmed that the direction for his bitcoin (BTC) business, TBD, has been determined. The CEO called out to his followers on Twitter on August 27, asking for help in building “an open platform to create a decentralized exchange for #Bitcoin…” This tweet came in response to a lengthy thread that Mike Brock issued around the same time. Brock, who leads Strategic Development for Square’s Cash App, is also a leading figure with TBD. He took to Twitter to reveal developments with the project. This story was seen first on BeInCrypto Join our Telegram Group and get trading signals, a free trading course and more stories like this on BeInCrypto || Clearer Picture Revealed for Dorsey’s Decentralized BTC Exchange: BeInCrypto –
Twitter founder Jack Dorsey has confirmed that the direction for his bitcoin (BTC) business, TBD, has been determined.
The CEO called out to his followerson Twitteron August 27, asking for help in building “an open platform to create a decentralized exchange for #Bitcoin…”
This tweet came in response to a lengthy thread that Mike Brock issued around the same time. Brock, who leads Strategic Development for Square’s Cash App, is also a leading figure with TBD. He took to Twitter to reveal developments with the project.
This storywas seen first onBeInCryptoJoin our Telegram Groupand get trading signals, a free trading course and more stories likethisonBeInCrypto || Shiba Inu Crisis: Breeders worried by Dogecoin abuse surge: As Elon Musk, Doge memes, Shib coin and Dogecoin (DOGE) drive popularity of the Shiba Inu, experts warn of a silent shiba inu abuse crisis The whimsical Shiba Inu has thoroughly charmed internet users world-wide, with Dogecoin sat comfortably as the worlds seventh largest cryptocurrency and the infamous Doge NFT selling for an astonishing $4m both a testament to the breeds popularity. But there is a darker side to this story, as an internet meme quickly materialised into a digital asset carrying a whopping $35bn market cap. While the doge fad has become a source of fun and love for many, the internet spotlight has driven a hidden crisis of poor ownership for the shiba inu. South African entrepreneur and influencer Elon Musk has even got in on the action helping to increase the Shibas profile as part of his ongoing affiliation with the Dogecoin project. My Shiba Inu will be named Floki Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 25, 2021 Demand for shibas skyrockets Many people claim to love the Shiba Inu, but few truly embody the devotion to this breed as much as Jeri Burnside. Jeri has worked with the Shiba for almost 35 years, the impressive woman is a prominent member on the Board of Directors of the National Shiba Club of America , and co-founded both the Shiba Club of Southern California and the Shiba Rescue of Southern California . Shes also the loving owner of two American Kennel Club Champion Shiba Inus. Following the explosion of interest in the breed following its success, first as an internet meme and now as the worlds 7th largest cryptocurrency, Jeri has witnessed a surge of enquiries about the intelligent fox-like Shiba. All my breeder friends are being inundated with puppy requests and have waiting lists miles long. She said. Ethical breeders who raise Shibas to preserve and improve the breed (and this is true for ethical preservation breeders of any breed) are NEVER happy to see a breed skyrocket in popularity like this. Story continues Negative consequences of a breed becoming a fad are many, and all of which result from indiscriminate volume breeding by backyard breeders and puppy mills. Amongst the consequences Jeri described are no screening of new dog buyers to ensure puppies are going to good homes, a lack of health screening for litters bred in backyard puppy farms, and next to no temperament screening as unethical breeders race to meet surging demand. This is made worse, Jeri argued, by the breeds primal characteristics developed for Japanese game hunting using wolf genetics. Most Shibas will NEVER be 100% trustworthy off-leash; they will likely NOT ever be safe to take to the dog park where they must play nicely with other dogs; they will likely KILL your small pocket pets, she explained. They are NOT a breed for everyone, and when you take on a Shiba you are making a lifetime commitment (and that equates to about 14-16 years for most Shibas). These are not the cuddly little stuffed animals they appear to be; they are an intelligent, cunning, self-reliant predator in a small, cute package. The breed also suffers a myriad of health issues if bred poorly, most notably eye-sight issues with the Shiba liable to develop glaucoma leading to blindness, some ethical breeders have established a research fund aimed at curing this persistent health issue. Shiba Inus in crisis The massive desire for shiba inus by charmed but inexperienced owners unaware of the breeds temperamental characteristics has led to an absolute crisis in mistreatment, abuse, and abandonment and Jeri highlights it has fallen to volunteers to help rehome these poor shibas. Shiba Rescue organisations are being overwhelmed with poorly bred, unsocialised, untrained Shibas that are given up by their owners who were never prepared to deal with the demands of Shiba ownership, she revealed. Rescue volunteers are just that volunteers they are not paid for the essential work they do and when a breed goes fad, the rescues resources are quickly exhausted. Sadly, those most responsible for the burden on the rescues (the puppy-millers) are the ones who NEVER EVER donate to that cause. In her work running the Shiba Rescue of Southern California , Jeri has come across many dogs abandoned for bad temperament that she explained were simply shibas being shibas, with the breed inhabiting a rough-and-tumble inquisitive natural state-of-being. I took in many Shibas who were simply being Shibas, and through no fault of their own, were given up by owners who were unprepared or unwilling to learn about how to work with a Shiba, she explained. Nine times out of ten, a Shiba surrendered for temperament issues was perfectly normal! It was the temperament of the owner that was unsuitable for the dog, not the other way round. Now, with the meme causing the popularity of the breed to expand exponentially, this problem is simply getting worse. Shiba Inu: not just for Christmas With Shiba Inus facing a widespread crisis on the tailend of the internets love affair with the doge meme, many are looking at the famously philanthropic DOGE community for a solution whilst Jeri and Shiba Rescue of Southern California dont currently accept Dogecoin donations (they do accept USD!) others in the industry have begun adopting so-called dogenations. PAWS Chicago , a leading no-kill policy animal shelter and one of the largest in the United States, have adopted a new system for dogenations enabling supporters to make donations to the charity using Dogecoin (DOGE). The 25-year old project has played a big role in bringing no-kill policies to American animal shelters, taking credibility for the 91% decrease in kill policy shelters. The move is aimed at partnering with the famously charitable DOGE community, CEO Susanna Homan also attested that the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies drove the decision. We are a solutions-based, forward-thinking organisation, which is why we are eager to connect with the growing cryptocurrency community, which can help sustain the future of animal welfare in Chicago and save animals lives. She said. DOGE price action The past week has seen some exciting price action for Doge coin which now rests with strong support at a comfortable $0.27 at the time of writing a 42% increase this month. Over the course of the past week the cryptocurrency ranged upwards to resistance at $0.33 and now seemingly awaits upwards price pressure with support holding within reasonable volatility range. August has seen impressive growth from a low of $0.19 to a high of $0.34 this month, representing a 78% explosion as investors flock to stack the shiba inu-inspired coin. This comes following bullish news from the RobinHood Q2 report which revealed Doge coin comprised 62% of the crypto retail revenues. Investor support remains strong, and the latest adoption move could well see DOGE push back up towards its all time high of $0.72 in May. The coin remains up 6,650% this year outperforming almost all other investments available. More crypto news and information If you want to find out more information about Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies in general, then use the search box at the top of this page. Heres an article to get you started. As with any investment, it pays to do some homework before you part with your money. The prices of cryptocurrencies are volatile and go up and down quickly. This page is not recommending a particular currency or whether you should invest or not. || Shiba Inu Crisis: Breeders worried by Dogecoin abuse surge: As Elon Musk, Doge memes, Shib coin and Dogecoin (DOGE) drive popularity of the Shiba Inu, experts warn of a silent shiba inu abuse crisis The whimsical Shiba Inu has thoroughly charmed internet users world-wide, with Dogecoin sat comfortably as the worlds seventh largest cryptocurrency and the infamous Doge NFT selling for an astonishing $4m both a testament to the breeds popularity. But there is a darker side to this story, as an internet meme quickly materialised into a digital asset carrying a whopping $35bn market cap. While the doge fad has become a source of fun and love for many, the internet spotlight has driven a hidden crisis of poor ownership for the shiba inu. South African entrepreneur and influencer Elon Musk has even got in on the action helping to increase the Shibas profile as part of his ongoing affiliation with the Dogecoin project. My Shiba Inu will be named Floki Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 25, 2021 Demand for shibas skyrockets Many people claim to love the Shiba Inu, but few truly embody the devotion to this breed as much as Jeri Burnside. Jeri has worked with the Shiba for almost 35 years, the impressive woman is a prominent member on the Board of Directors of the National Shiba Club of America , and co-founded both the Shiba Club of Southern California and the Shiba Rescue of Southern California . Shes also the loving owner of two American Kennel Club Champion Shiba Inus. Following the explosion of interest in the breed following its success, first as an internet meme and now as the worlds 7th largest cryptocurrency, Jeri has witnessed a surge of enquiries about the intelligent fox-like Shiba. All my breeder friends are being inundated with puppy requests and have waiting lists miles long. She said. Ethical breeders who raise Shibas to preserve and improve the breed (and this is true for ethical preservation breeders of any breed) are NEVER happy to see a breed skyrocket in popularity like this. Story continues Negative consequences of a breed becoming a fad are many, and all of which result from indiscriminate volume breeding by backyard breeders and puppy mills. Amongst the consequences Jeri described are no screening of new dog buyers to ensure puppies are going to good homes, a lack of health screening for litters bred in backyard puppy farms, and next to no temperament screening as unethical breeders race to meet surging demand. This is made worse, Jeri argued, by the breeds primal characteristics developed for Japanese game hunting using wolf genetics. Most Shibas will NEVER be 100% trustworthy off-leash; they will likely NOT ever be safe to take to the dog park where they must play nicely with other dogs; they will likely KILL your small pocket pets, she explained. They are NOT a breed for everyone, and when you take on a Shiba you are making a lifetime commitment (and that equates to about 14-16 years for most Shibas). These are not the cuddly little stuffed animals they appear to be; they are an intelligent, cunning, self-reliant predator in a small, cute package. The breed also suffers a myriad of health issues if bred poorly, most notably eye-sight issues with the Shiba liable to develop glaucoma leading to blindness, some ethical breeders have established a research fund aimed at curing this persistent health issue. Shiba Inus in crisis The massive desire for shiba inus by charmed but inexperienced owners unaware of the breeds temperamental characteristics has led to an absolute crisis in mistreatment, abuse, and abandonment and Jeri highlights it has fallen to volunteers to help rehome these poor shibas. Shiba Rescue organisations are being overwhelmed with poorly bred, unsocialised, untrained Shibas that are given up by their owners who were never prepared to deal with the demands of Shiba ownership, she revealed. Rescue volunteers are just that volunteers they are not paid for the essential work they do and when a breed goes fad, the rescues resources are quickly exhausted. Sadly, those most responsible for the burden on the rescues (the puppy-millers) are the ones who NEVER EVER donate to that cause. In her work running the Shiba Rescue of Southern California , Jeri has come across many dogs abandoned for bad temperament that she explained were simply shibas being shibas, with the breed inhabiting a rough-and-tumble inquisitive natural state-of-being. I took in many Shibas who were simply being Shibas, and through no fault of their own, were given up by owners who were unprepared or unwilling to learn about how to work with a Shiba, she explained. Nine times out of ten, a Shiba surrendered for temperament issues was perfectly normal! It was the temperament of the owner that was unsuitable for the dog, not the other way round. Now, with the meme causing the popularity of the breed to expand exponentially, this problem is simply getting worse. Shiba Inu: not just for Christmas With Shiba Inus facing a widespread crisis on the tailend of the internets love affair with the doge meme, many are looking at the famously philanthropic DOGE community for a solution whilst Jeri and Shiba Rescue of Southern California dont currently accept Dogecoin donations (they do accept USD!) others in the industry have begun adopting so-called dogenations. PAWS Chicago , a leading no-kill policy animal shelter and one of the largest in the United States, have adopted a new system for dogenations enabling supporters to make donations to the charity using Dogecoin (DOGE). The 25-year old project has played a big role in bringing no-kill policies to American animal shelters, taking credibility for the 91% decrease in kill policy shelters. The move is aimed at partnering with the famously charitable DOGE community, CEO Susanna Homan also attested that the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies drove the decision. We are a solutions-based, forward-thinking organisation, which is why we are eager to connect with the growing cryptocurrency community, which can help sustain the future of animal welfare in Chicago and save animals lives. She said. DOGE price action The past week has seen some exciting price action for Doge coin which now rests with strong support at a comfortable $0.27 at the time of writing a 42% increase this month. Over the course of the past week the cryptocurrency ranged upwards to resistance at $0.33 and now seemingly awaits upwards price pressure with support holding within reasonable volatility range. August has seen impressive growth from a low of $0.19 to a high of $0.34 this month, representing a 78% explosion as investors flock to stack the shiba inu-inspired coin. This comes following bullish news from the RobinHood Q2 report which revealed Doge coin comprised 62% of the crypto retail revenues. Investor support remains strong, and the latest adoption move could well see DOGE push back up towards its all time high of $0.72 in May. The coin remains up 6,650% this year outperforming almost all other investments available. More crypto news and information If you want to find out more information about Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies in general, then use the search box at the top of this page. Heres an article to get you started. As with any investment, it pays to do some homework before you part with your money. The prices of cryptocurrencies are volatile and go up and down quickly. This page is not recommending a particular currency or whether you should invest or not. || BICs Video News Show: Robinhood IPO: BeInCrypto In this episode of the BeInCrypto video news show, host Jessica Walker takes a look at Robinhood. The company just had an IPO and experienced spectacular growth in terms of new users and revenue. They definitely made the most of the meme stock phenomenon and the hype around Dogecoin and Bitcoin. But what are they more focused on, democratizing access to the stock market and meme stocks, or crypto, where theyll do battle with Coinbase and Binance? Crypto windfall Robinhoods second-quarter earnings report late Wednesday revealed its reliance on cryptocurrency trades. This highlights the benefits and potential pitfalls of dealing in this emerging asset class. The trading platforms cryptocurrency-related revenues exploded during the quarter. The company logged $233 million in such revenue, compared to just $5 million a year ago. This story was seen first on BeInCrypto Join our Telegram Group and get trading signals, a free trading course and more stories like this on BeInCrypto || BIC’s Video News Show: Robinhood IPO: BeInCrypto –
In this episode of the BeInCrypto video news show, host Jessica Walker takes a look at Robinhood.
The company just had anIPOand experienced spectacular growth in terms of new users and revenue. They definitely made the most of the meme stock phenomenon and the hype around Dogecoin and Bitcoin. But what are they more focused on, democratizing access to the stock market and meme stocks, or crypto, where they’ll do battle with Coinbase and Binance?
Crypto windfall
Robinhood’s second-quarterearnings reportlate Wednesday revealed its reliance on cryptocurrency trades. This highlights the benefits and potential pitfalls of dealing in this emerging asset class. The trading platform’s cryptocurrency-related revenues exploded during the quarter. The company logged $233 million in such revenue, compared to just $5 million a year ago.
This storywas seen first onBeInCryptoJoin our Telegram Groupand get trading signals, a free trading course and more stories likethisonBeInCrypto || UK Bitcoin Entrepreneur Taps into Spare Canadian Hydro Power to Launch Vancouver Venture with £500k Investment: Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 27, 2021) - Alex Lineton, CEO of Mine One Blockchain Inc, has ambitions of floating his Canadian firm on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
UK Bitcoin entrepreneur taps into spare Canadian hydro power to launch Vancouver venture with £500k investment
Alex Lineton, CEO of Mine One Blockchain Inc, has ambitions of floating his Canadian firm on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Alex Lineton, CEO of Mine One Blockchain Inc, has ambitions of floating his Canadian firm on the Toronto Stock Exchange.To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8274/94770_alex_lineton_29.jpg
A UK based entrepreneur has ambitions of floating a Bitcoin business on the Toronto Stock Exchange after investing £500,000 in a Canadian mining venture.
Alex Lineton is the UK CEO of Vancouver-based Mine One Blockchain Inc, which has invested a quarter of a million sterling in infrastructure, equipment and hydro power.
Bitcoin mining, which is growing hugely in the US, is performed by high-powered computers that solve complex computational math problems, with miners using increasingly complex machinery to speed up mining operations and 'mint' Bitcoins.
But there's a worldwide shortage of Bitcoin miners after China shut down mining operations earlier this year.
Canada - which is the world's fourth-highest producer of hydro power - currently has 8% spare hydro energy capacity.
And with Bitcoin mining demanding huge amounts of energy, Mr. Lineton has acquired spare, carbon neutral hydro capacity in Canada to run a sophisticated Bitcoin mining operation.
He explained: "Mine One Blockchain Inc. is a blockchain infrastructure company, with the aim of demonstrating that cryptocurrency mining can be done at scale in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way.
"Canada is producing all this hydro power, the world has a problem with Chinese miners being shut down, and we need to keep Bitcoin transactions going,
"So we're taking Bitcoin mining, which is in huge global demand, to somewhere that has a lot of spare power capacity, to create a carbon neutral hydro electric mining development in Canada to provide the infrastructure for Bitcoin.
"By using only renewable and carbon neutral energy sources, in association with next generation mining rigs, the company has huge potential and is already rapidly scaling."
With two recent increases in its value jumping from the level of $29,000 on July 20 to a high of nearly $48,000 on August 16, Mr. Lineton says the combination of Canada's spare power capacity together with the growing price of Bitcoin convinced him to target Vancouver.
"There's a fascination with Bitcoin. It's new but it's incredibly valuable," said Mr. Lineton.
Alex Lineton, CEO of Mine One Blockchain Inc, has ambitions of floating his Canadian firm on the Toronto Stock Exchange.To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8274/94770_alex_lineton_47.jpg
"Everyone saw the headlines a few years back and everyone thought Bitcoin had it's day. But it has now stabilised, with its value growing rapidly in recent months, and what many people don't realise is that Bitcoin will probably be the currency of the future.
"By market value, Bitcoin is one of the top 10 global asset classes. Morgan Stanley, a tier one US bank, allows their clients to trade in Bitcoin, and it is being adopted by El Salvador as a trading currency.
"We think we'll see a worldwide adoption of Bitcoin over the next five-to-ten years."
Mr. Lineton says his confidence in the future success of Mine One Blockchain Inc. is underlined by his significant investment.
"I know an opportunity when I see one," he added. "Bitcoin is going to be huge, but the world needs to produce more of it.
"US entrepreneurs are currently flocking to Texas to take advantage of its cheap wind power. But we think Vancouver's hydro power capabilities will be the perfect breeding ground for Bitcoin mining."
Contact:[email protected]
To view the source version of this press release, please visithttps://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/94770 || UK Bitcoin Entrepreneur Taps into Spare Canadian Hydro Power to Launch Vancouver Venture with £500k Investment: Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 27, 2021) - Alex Lineton, CEO of Mine One Blockchain Inc, has ambitions of floating his Canadian firm on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
UK Bitcoin entrepreneur taps into spare Canadian hydro power to launch Vancouver venture with £500k investment
Alex Lineton, CEO of Mine One Blockchain Inc, has ambitions of floating his Canadian firm on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Alex Lineton, CEO of Mine One Blockchain Inc, has ambitions of floating his Canadian firm on the Toronto Stock Exchange.To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8274/94770_alex_lineton_29.jpg
A UK based entrepreneur has ambitions of floating a Bitcoin business on the Toronto Stock Exchange after investing £500,000 in a Canadian mining venture.
Alex Lineton is the UK CEO of Vancouver-based Mine One Blockchain Inc, which has invested a quarter of a million sterling in infrastructure, equipment and hydro power.
Bitcoin mining, which is growing hugely in the US, is performed by high-powered computers that solve complex computational math problems, with miners using increasingly complex machinery to speed up mining operations and 'mint' Bitcoins.
But there's a worldwide shortage of Bitcoin miners after China shut down mining operations earlier this year.
Canada - which is the world's fourth-highest producer of hydro power - currently has 8% spare hydro energy capacity.
And with Bitcoin mining demanding huge amounts of energy, Mr. Lineton has acquired spare, carbon neutral hydro capacity in Canada to run a sophisticated Bitcoin mining operation.
He explained: "Mine One Blockchain Inc. is a blockchain infrastructure company, with the aim of demonstrating that cryptocurrency mining can be done at scale in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way.
"Canada is producing all this hydro power, the world has a problem with Chinese miners being shut down, and we need to keep Bitcoin transactions going,
"So we're taking Bitcoin mining, which is in huge global demand, to somewhere that has a lot of spare power capacity, to create a carbon neutral hydro electric mining development in Canada to provide the infrastructure for Bitcoin.
"By using only renewable and carbon neutral energy sources, in association with next generation mining rigs, the company has huge potential and is already rapidly scaling."
With two recent increases in its value jumping from the level of $29,000 on July 20 to a high of nearly $48,000 on August 16, Mr. Lineton says the combination of Canada's spare power capacity together with the growing price of Bitcoin convinced him to target Vancouver.
"There's a fascination with Bitcoin. It's new but it's incredibly valuable," said Mr. Lineton.
Alex Lineton, CEO of Mine One Blockchain Inc, has ambitions of floating his Canadian firm on the Toronto Stock Exchange.To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8274/94770_alex_lineton_47.jpg
"Everyone saw the headlines a few years back and everyone thought Bitcoin had it's day. But it has now stabilised, with its value growing rapidly in recent months, and what many people don't realise is that Bitcoin will probably be the currency of the future.
"By market value, Bitcoin is one of the top 10 global asset classes. Morgan Stanley, a tier one US bank, allows their clients to trade in Bitcoin, and it is being adopted by El Salvador as a trading currency.
"We think we'll see a worldwide adoption of Bitcoin over the next five-to-ten years."
Mr. Lineton says his confidence in the future success of Mine One Blockchain Inc. is underlined by his significant investment.
"I know an opportunity when I see one," he added. "Bitcoin is going to be huge, but the world needs to produce more of it.
"US entrepreneurs are currently flocking to Texas to take advantage of its cheap wind power. But we think Vancouver's hydro power capabilities will be the perfect breeding ground for Bitcoin mining."
Contact:[email protected]
To view the source version of this press release, please visithttps://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/94770 || UK Bitcoin Entrepreneur Taps into Spare Canadian Hydro Power to Launch Vancouver Venture with £500k Investment: Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 27, 2021) - Alex Lineton, CEO of Mine One Blockchain Inc, has ambitions of floating his Canadian firm on the Toronto Stock Exchange. UK Bitcoin entrepreneur taps into spare Canadian hydro power to launch Vancouver venture with £500k investment Alex Lineton, CEO of Mine One Blockchain Inc, has ambitions of floating his Canadian firm on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Alex Lineton, CEO of Mine One Blockchain Inc, has ambitions of floating his Canadian firm on the Toronto Stock Exchange. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8274/94770_alex_lineton_29.jpg A UK based entrepreneur has ambitions of floating a Bitcoin business on the Toronto Stock Exchange after investing £500,000 in a Canadian mining venture. Alex Lineton is the UK CEO of Vancouver-based Mine One Blockchain Inc, which has invested a quarter of a million sterling in infrastructure, equipment and hydro power. Bitcoin mining, which is growing hugely in the US, is performed by high-powered computers that solve complex computational math problems, with miners using increasingly complex machinery to speed up mining operations and 'mint' Bitcoins. But there's a worldwide shortage of Bitcoin miners after China shut down mining operations earlier this year. Canada - which is the world's fourth-highest producer of hydro power - currently has 8% spare hydro energy capacity. And with Bitcoin mining demanding huge amounts of energy, Mr. Lineton has acquired spare, carbon neutral hydro capacity in Canada to run a sophisticated Bitcoin mining operation. He explained: "Mine One Blockchain Inc. is a blockchain infrastructure company, with the aim of demonstrating that cryptocurrency mining can be done at scale in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way. "Canada is producing all this hydro power, the world has a problem with Chinese miners being shut down, and we need to keep Bitcoin transactions going, "So we're taking Bitcoin mining, which is in huge global demand, to somewhere that has a lot of spare power capacity, to create a carbon neutral hydro electric mining development in Canada to provide the infrastructure for Bitcoin. "By using only renewable and carbon neutral energy sources, in association with next generation mining rigs, the company has huge potential and is already rapidly scaling." With two recent increases in its value jumping from the level of $29,000 on July 20 to a high of nearly $48,000 on August 16, Mr. Lineton says the combination of Canada's spare power capacity together with the growing price of Bitcoin convinced him to target Vancouver. Story continues "There's a fascination with Bitcoin. It's new but it's incredibly valuable," said Mr. Lineton. Alex Lineton, CEO of Mine One Blockchain Inc, has ambitions of floating his Canadian firm on the Toronto Stock Exchange. To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8274/94770_alex_lineton_47.jpg "Everyone saw the headlines a few years back and everyone thought Bitcoin had it's day. But it has now stabilised, with its value growing rapidly in recent months, and what many people don't realise is that Bitcoin will probably be the currency of the future. "By market value, Bitcoin is one of the top 10 global asset classes. Morgan Stanley, a tier one US bank, allows their clients to trade in Bitcoin, and it is being adopted by El Salvador as a trading currency. "We think we'll see a worldwide adoption of Bitcoin over the next five-to-ten years." Mr. Lineton says his confidence in the future success of Mine One Blockchain Inc. is underlined by his significant investment. "I know an opportunity when I see one," he added. "Bitcoin is going to be huge, but the world needs to produce more of it. "US entrepreneurs are currently flocking to Texas to take advantage of its cheap wind power. But we think Vancouver's hydro power capabilities will be the perfect breeding ground for Bitcoin mining." Contact: [email protected] To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/94770 View comments || Capricorn Business Acquisitions Inc. Announces Proposed Closing Date of Its Qualifying Transaction and Filing of Its Filing Statement: Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - August 27, 2021) - Capricorn Business Acquisitions Inc. (TSXV: CAK.H) (the " Company " or " Capricorn ") is pleased to announce that it expects that its previously announced qualifying transaction (the " Transaction ") with Canada Computational Unlimited Inc. (" CCU.ai ") will close on or about September 7, 2021 and in connection with such closing the Company has filed its filing statement which contains details regarding the Transaction, CCU.ai, Capricorn and the resulting issuer under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com . About CCU.ai CCU.ai was incorporated pursuant to the Business Corporations Act (Québec) on November 16, 2017. Since its creation, CCU.ai operates a high-density computation center built for high-grade cryptocurrency mining, AI data processing and fintech infrastructure located in the city of Joliette in the Province of Québec. In 2018, CCU.ai contracted with Hydro-Joliette to purchase up to 20 MW of hydro-electrical power to be used for crypto mining. 7.5 MW are currently used by CCU.ai to produce the equivalent of around 200 PH/s of Bitcoin mining power (hashrate) and 6 GH/s of Ethereum mining power. CCU.ai has mined 421 Bitcoin since its creation. In May and June 2021, CCU.ai entered into agreements to rent a portion of its mining space to a third party for a monthly fee of up to $260,000. The capacity to use the remaining 12.5 MW is set to be built in the coming months. CCU.ai is led and managed by technology entrepreneurs, electricity and ventilation experts and network specialists. Since its inception, CCU.ai has pursued a vision of environmental stewardship and increased performance throughout the digital assets mining process. The availability of energy from renewable sources in the province of Québec has made this endeavor feasible and a great base for future growth. Filing Statement Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the filing statement, any information released or received with respect to the Transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of a capital pool company should be considered highly speculative. Story continues The TSXV has in no way passed upon the merits of the Transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. NEITHER THE TSXV NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSXV) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in any jurisdiction. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information This news release contains certain forward-looking statements, including statements relating to the Transaction and the timing of the closing thereof and other statements that are not historical facts. Wherever possible, words such as "may", "will", "should", "could", "expect", "plan", "intend", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "predict" or "potential" or the negative or other variations of these words, or similar words or phrases, have been used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on information currently available to management as at the date hereof. Forward-looking statements involve significant risk, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results discussed or implied in the forward-looking statements. As a result, the Company cannot guarantee that the Transaction will be completed on the timing set forth herein or at all. These factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon what management believes to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure readers that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release, and the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law. For additional information, please connect to www.ccu.ai or contact : Romain Nouzareth, Chief Executive Officer of Canada Computational Unlimited Inc. at [email protected] or Yvan Routhier, Chief Executive Officer, President and Director of Capricorn Business Acquisition Inc. at [email protected] or (514) 249-0714. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/94767 || Capricorn Business Acquisitions Inc. Announces Proposed Closing Date of Its Qualifying Transaction and Filing of Its Filing Statement: Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - August 27, 2021) - Capricorn Business Acquisitions Inc. (TSXV: CAK.H) (the "Company" or "Capricorn") is pleased to announce that it expects that its previously announced qualifying transaction (the "Transaction") with Canada Computational Unlimited Inc. ("CCU.ai") will close on or about September 7, 2021 and in connection with such closing the Company has filed its filing statement which contains details regarding the Transaction, CCU.ai, Capricorn and the resulting issuer under the Company's profile onwww.sedar.com.
About CCU.ai
CCU.ai was incorporated pursuant to theBusiness Corporations Act(Québec) on November 16, 2017. Since its creation, CCU.ai operates a high-density computation center built for high-grade cryptocurrency mining, AI data processing and fintech infrastructure located in the city of Joliette in the Province of Québec. In 2018, CCU.ai contracted with Hydro-Joliette to purchase up to 20 MW of hydro-electrical power to be used for crypto mining. 7.5 MW are currently used by CCU.ai to produce the equivalent of around 200 PH/s of Bitcoin mining power (hashrate) and 6 GH/s of Ethereum mining power. CCU.ai has mined 421 Bitcoin since its creation. In May and June 2021, CCU.ai entered into agreements to rent a portion of its mining space to a third party for a monthly fee of up to $260,000. The capacity to use the remaining 12.5 MW is set to be built in the coming months. CCU.ai is led and managed by technology entrepreneurs, electricity and ventilation experts and network specialists. Since its inception, CCU.ai has pursued a vision of environmental stewardship and increased performance throughout the digital assets mining process. The availability of energy from renewable sources in the province of Québec has made this endeavor feasible and a great base for future growth.
Filing Statement
Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the filing statement, any information released or received with respect to the Transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of a capital pool company should be considered highly speculative.
The TSXV has in no way passed upon the merits of the Transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.
NEITHER THE TSXV NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSXV) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in any jurisdiction.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains certain forward-looking statements, including statements relating to the Transaction and the timing of the closing thereof and other statements that are not historical facts. Wherever possible, words such as "may", "will", "should", "could", "expect", "plan", "intend", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "predict" or "potential" or the negative or other variations of these words, or similar words or phrases, have been used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on information currently available to management as at the date hereof.
Forward-looking statements involve significant risk, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results discussed or implied in the forward-looking statements. As a result, the Company cannot guarantee that the Transaction will be completed on the timing set forth herein or at all. These factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon what management believes to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure readers that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release, and the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law.
For additional information, please connect towww.ccu.aior contact:Romain Nouzareth, Chief Executive Officer of Canada Computational Unlimited Inc. [email protected] Yvan Routhier, Chief Executive Officer, President and Director of Capricorn Business Acquisition Inc. [email protected] (514) 249-0714.
To view the source version of this press release, please visithttps://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/94767 || The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers – August 28th, 2021: Bitcoin , BTC to USD, rallied by 4.79% on Friday. Reversing a 4.39% slide from Thursday, Bitcoin ended the day at $49,079.0. A mixed start to the day saw Bitcoin fall to an early morning intraday low $46,363.0 before making a move. Steering clear of the first major support level at $45,638, Bitcoin rallied to a late intraday high $49,159.0. Bitcoin broke through the first major resistance level at $48,713 to end the day at $49,000 levels. The near-term bullish trend remained intact, supported by the latest return to $50,000 levels. For the bears, Bitcoin would need a sustained fall through the 62% FIB of $27,237 to form a near-term bearish trend. The Rest of the Pack Across the rest of the majors, it was a bullish day on Thursday. Cardano’s ADA jumped by 16.48% to lead the way, with Ripple’s XRP rallying by 11.15%. Bitcoin Cash SV (+4.79%), Chainlink (+6.82%), Ethereum (+5.88%), Litecoin (+5.13%), and Polkadot (+5.95%) also found strong support. Binance Coin (+3.46%) and Crypto.com Coin (+2.22%) and trailed the front runners, however. In the current week, the crypto total market rose to a Monday high $2,169bn before falling to a Thursday low $1,933bn. At the time of writing, the total market cap stood at $2,083bn. Bitcoin’s dominance fell to a Tuesday low 43.64% before rising to a Thursday high 44.98%. At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s dominance stood at 44.12%. This Morning At the time of writing, Bitcoin was down by 0.30% to $48,932.0. A mixed start to the day saw Bitcoin rise to an early morning high $49,227.0 before falling to a low $48,936.5. Bitcoin left the major support and resistance levels untested early on. Elsewhere, it was a mixed start to the day. Bitcoin Cash SV (+1.55%) and Crypto.com Coin (+1.82%) bucked the early trend. It was a bearish start for the rest of the majors, however. At the time of writing, Cardano’s ADA was down by 2.19% to lead the way down. For the Bitcoin Day Ahead Bitcoin would need to avoid the $48,200 pivot to bring the first major resistance level at $50,038 into play. Story continues Support from the broader market would be needed for Bitcoin to break out from $49,500 levels. Barring a broad-based crypto rally, the first major resistance level and resistance at $50,000 would likely cap any upside. In the event of an extended crypto rally, Bitcoin could test the second major resistance level at $50,996. Bitcoin would need plenty of support, however, to breakout from the 23.6% FIB of $50,473. A fall through the $48,200 pivot would bring the first major support level at $47,242 into play. Barring another extended sell-off on the day, Bitcoin should steer clear of sub-$46,000 levels. The second major support level sits at $45,404. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Silver Weekly Price Forecast – Silver Markets Recover E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM) Futures Technical Analysis – Buyers Targeting 35445 for Next Breakout The Weekly Wrap – Economic Data and FED Chair Powell Delivered Commodity Currencies a Boost The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers – August 28th, 2021 Silver Price Prediction – Prices Rise on Dovish Fed European Equities: A Week in Review – 20/08/21 || The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers – August 28th, 2021: Bitcoin , BTC to USD, rallied by 4.79% on Friday. Reversing a 4.39% slide from Thursday, Bitcoin ended the day at $49,079.0. A mixed start to the day saw Bitcoin fall to an early morning intraday low $46,363.0 before making a move. Steering clear of the first major support level at $45,638, Bitcoin rallied to a late intraday high $49,159.0. Bitcoin broke through the first major resistance level at $48,713 to end the day at $49,000 levels. The near-term bullish trend remained intact, supported by the latest return to $50,000 levels. For the bears, Bitcoin would need a sustained fall through the 62% FIB of $27,237 to form a near-term bearish trend. The Rest of the Pack Across the rest of the majors, it was a bullish day on Thursday. Cardano’s ADA jumped by 16.48% to lead the way, with Ripple’s XRP rallying by 11.15%. Bitcoin Cash SV (+4.79%), Chainlink (+6.82%), Ethereum (+5.88%), Litecoin (+5.13%), and Polkadot (+5.95%) also found strong support. Binance Coin (+3.46%) and Crypto.com Coin (+2.22%) and trailed the front runners, however. In the current week, the crypto total market rose to a Monday high $2,169bn before falling to a Thursday low $1,933bn. At the time of writing, the total market cap stood at $2,083bn. Bitcoin’s dominance fell to a Tuesday low 43.64% before rising to a Thursday high 44.98%. At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s dominance stood at 44.12%. This Morning At the time of writing, Bitcoin was down by 0.30% to $48,932.0. A mixed start to the day saw Bitcoin rise to an early morning high $49,227.0 before falling to a low $48,936.5. Bitcoin left the major support and resistance levels untested early on. Elsewhere, it was a mixed start to the day. Bitcoin Cash SV (+1.55%) and Crypto.com Coin (+1.82%) bucked the early trend. It was a bearish start for the rest of the majors, however. At the time of writing, Cardano’s ADA was down by 2.19% to lead the way down. For the Bitcoin Day Ahead Bitcoin would need to avoid the $48,200 pivot to bring the first major resistance level at $50,038 into play. Story continues Support from the broader market would be needed for Bitcoin to break out from $49,500 levels. Barring a broad-based crypto rally, the first major resistance level and resistance at $50,000 would likely cap any upside. In the event of an extended crypto rally, Bitcoin could test the second major resistance level at $50,996. Bitcoin would need plenty of support, however, to breakout from the 23.6% FIB of $50,473. A fall through the $48,200 pivot would bring the first major support level at $47,242 into play. Barring another extended sell-off on the day, Bitcoin should steer clear of sub-$46,000 levels. The second major support level sits at $45,404. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Silver Weekly Price Forecast – Silver Markets Recover E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM) Futures Technical Analysis – Buyers Targeting 35445 for Next Breakout The Weekly Wrap – Economic Data and FED Chair Powell Delivered Commodity Currencies a Boost The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers – August 28th, 2021 Silver Price Prediction – Prices Rise on Dovish Fed European Equities: A Week in Review – 20/08/21 || Japanese Brokerage Nomura Lets Users Trade Crypto Tokens For Pizza And Pasta: Report: Japanese financial services giantNomura Holdings Inc(OTCMKTS: NRSCF) is facilitating the use of blockchain-based security tokens to buy and trade luxurious Italian dishes as their value fluctuates.
What Happened:According to a report fromThe Japan Times, an affiliate of Nomura Holdings began selling these security tokens for four high-end food parcels a year from award-winning Japanese chef Masayuki Okuda.
Okuda’s curated menu includes pumpkin ravioli, corn and chicken tortellini, and asparagus pizza.
Subscriptions for the service cost 60,000 yen or a little over $540 dollars. Those that own these security tokens will be able to trade them and purchase the exclusive items on the menu beginning next year.
Nomura said it expects the market for security tokens to grow after these blockchain-based assets become more widely accepted globally.
What Else:Last year, Nomura introduced Japan’s first bond offering leveraging blockchain technology through its “ibet” platform.
The offering comprised two bonds: a digital asset bond and a digital bond. The digital asset bond was sold directly to investors by NRI, while Nomura Securities underwrote the digital bond.
“On the investor side, since return on bond investments has been limited to money in the past, having a wider range of return options may serve as an incentive for them to hold bonds for a long period,” saidHiroshi Yamadafrom Nomura’s capital markets department.
“For issuers, depending on the nature of the return, it is possible to reduce funding costs. This will encourage investors to hold bonds for a longer period of time and lead to more stable corporate bond prices in the secondary market,” he added.
Read next:Cuba Reportedly Looks Into Recognizing Crypto On National Level
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© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Japanese Brokerage Nomura Lets Users Trade Crypto Tokens For Pizza And Pasta: Report: Japanese financial services giant Nomura Holdings Inc (OTCMKTS: NRSCF) is facilitating the use of blockchain-based security tokens to buy and trade luxurious Italian dishes as their value fluctuates. What Happened: According to a report from The Japan Times , an affiliate of Nomura Holdings began selling these security tokens for four high-end food parcels a year from award-winning Japanese chef Masayuki Okuda. Okuda’s curated menu includes pumpkin ravioli, corn and chicken tortellini, and asparagus pizza. Subscriptions for the service cost 60,000 yen or a little over $540 dollars. Those that own these security tokens will be able to trade them and purchase the exclusive items on the menu beginning next year. Nomura said it expects the market for security tokens to grow after these blockchain-based assets become more widely accepted globally. What Else: Last year, Nomura introduced Japan’s first bond offering leveraging blockchain technology through its “ibet” platform. The offering comprised two bonds: a digital asset bond and a digital bond. The digital asset bond was sold directly to investors by NRI, while Nomura Securities underwrote the digital bond. “On the investor side, since return on bond investments has been limited to money in the past, having a wider range of return options may serve as an incentive for them to hold bonds for a long period,” said Hiroshi Yamada from Nomura’s capital markets department. “For issuers, depending on the nature of the return, it is possible to reduce funding costs. This will encourage investors to hold bonds for a longer period of time and lead to more stable corporate bond prices in the secondary market,” he added. Read next: Cuba Reportedly Looks Into Recognizing Crypto On National Level See more from Benzinga Click here for options trades from Benzinga Morgan Stanley Bought 0M Shares Of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust Cuba Reportedly Looks Into Recognizing Crypto On National Level © 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || COIN Deadline Alert: Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP Reminds Investors of September 20, 2021 Deadline in Securities Fraud Class Action Lawsuit: RADNOR, PA / ACCESSWIRE / August 27, 2021 / The law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP reminds Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) ("Coinbase") shareholders that a securities fraud class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of those who purchased or acquired Coinbase Class A common stock pursuant and/or traceable to the registration statement and prospectus (collectively, the "Offering Materials") for the resale of up to 114,850,769 shares of its Class A common stock, whereby Coinbase began trading as a public company on or around April 14, 2021 (the "Offering") . Lead Plaintiff Deadline: September 20, 2021 Website: https://www.ktmc.com/coinbase-global-class-action-lawsuit?utm_source=PR&utm_medium=Link&utm_campaign=coinbase Contact: James Maro, Esq. (484) 270-1453 Toll free (844) 887-9500 According to the complaint, Coinbase "powers the cryptoeconomy," offering a "trusted platform" for sending and receiving Bitcoin and other digital assets built using blockchain technology to approximately 43 million retail users, 7,000 institutions, and 115,000 ecosystem partners in over 100 countries. On April 14, 2021, Coinbase filed its prospectus on a Form 424B4, which forms part of the registration statement. Coinbase registered for the resale of up to 114,850,769 shares of its Class A common stock by registered shareholders. The complaint alleges that the Offering Materials were false and misleading and omitted to state that, at the time of the Offering: (1) Coinbase required a sizeable cash injection; (2) Coinbase's platform was susceptible to service-level disruptions, which were increasingly likely to occur as Coinbase scaled its services to a larger user base; and (3) as a result of the foregoing, the defendants' positive statements about Coinbase's business, operations, and prospects, were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis. Coinbase investors may, no later than September 20, 2021 , seek to be appointed as a lead plaintiff representative of the class through Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP, or other counsel, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of all class members in directing the litigation. In order to be appointed as a lead plaintiff, the Court must determine that the class member's claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class. Communicating with any counsel is not necessary to participate or share in any recovery achieved in this case. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision of whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. Story continues Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP prosecutes class actions in state and federal courts throughout the country involving securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duties and other violations of state and federal law. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP is a driving force behind corporate governance reform, and has recovered billions of dollars on behalf of institutional and individual investors from the United States and around the world. The firm represents investors, consumers and whistleblowers (private citizens who report fraudulent practices against the government and share in the recovery of government dollars). The complaint in this action was not filed by Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP. For more information about Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP please visit www.ktmc.com . CONTACT: Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP James Maro, Jr., Esq. 280 King of Prussia Road Radnor, PA 19087 (844) 887-9500 (toll free) [email protected] SOURCE: Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/661772/COIN-Deadline-Alert-Kessler-Topaz-Meltzer-Check-LLP-Reminds-Investors-of-September-20-2021-Deadline-in-Securities-Fraud-Class-Action-Lawsuit || COIN Deadline Alert: Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP Reminds Investors of September 20, 2021 Deadline in Securities Fraud Class Action Lawsuit: RADNOR, PA / ACCESSWIRE / August 27, 2021 /The law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP reminds Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) ("Coinbase") shareholders that a securities fraud class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of those who purchased or acquired CoinbaseClass A common stock pursuant and/or traceable to the registration statement and prospectus (collectively, the "Offering Materials") for the resale of up to 114,850,769 shares of its Class A common stock, whereby Coinbase began trading as a public company on or around April 14, 2021 (the "Offering").
Lead Plaintiff Deadline:September 20, 2021
Website:https://www.ktmc.com/coinbase-global-class-action-lawsuit?utm_source=PR&utm_medium=Link&utm_campaign=coinbase
Contact:James Maro, Esq. (484) 270-1453
Toll free (844) 887-9500
According to the complaint, Coinbase "powers the cryptoeconomy," offering a "trusted platform" for sending and receiving Bitcoin and other digital assets built using blockchain technology to approximately 43 million retail users, 7,000 institutions, and 115,000 ecosystem partners in over 100 countries.
On April 14, 2021, Coinbase filed its prospectus on a Form 424B4, which forms part of the registration statement. Coinbase registered for the resale of up to 114,850,769 shares of its Class A common stock by registered shareholders.
The complaint alleges that the Offering Materials were false and misleading and omitted to state that, at the time of the Offering: (1) Coinbase required a sizeable cash injection; (2) Coinbase's platform was susceptible to service-level disruptions, which were increasingly likely to occur as Coinbase scaled its services to a larger user base; and (3) as a result of the foregoing, the defendants' positive statements about Coinbase's business, operations, and prospects, were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.
Coinbase investors may,no later than September 20, 2021, seek to be appointed as a lead plaintiff representative of the class through Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP, or other counsel, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of all class members in directing the litigation. In order to be appointed as a lead plaintiff, the Court must determine that the class member's claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class. Communicating with any counsel is not necessary to participate or share in any recovery achieved in this case. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision of whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff.
Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP prosecutes class actions in state and federal courts throughout the country involving securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duties and other violations of state and federal law. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP is a driving force behind corporate governance reform, and has recovered billions of dollars on behalf of institutional and individual investors from the United States and around the world. The firm represents investors, consumers and whistleblowers (private citizens who report fraudulent practices against the government and share in the recovery of government dollars). The complaint in this action was not filed by Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP. For more information about Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP please visitwww.ktmc.com.
CONTACT:
Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLPJames Maro, Jr., Esq.280 King of Prussia RoadRadnor, PA 19087(844) 887-9500 (toll free)[email protected]
SOURCE:Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/661772/COIN-Deadline-Alert-Kessler-Topaz-Meltzer-Check-LLP-Reminds-Investors-of-September-20-2021-Deadline-in-Securities-Fraud-Class-Action-Lawsuit
[Social Media Buzz]
None available.
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47054.98, 47166.69, 48847.03, 49327.72, 50025.38, 49944.62, 51753.41, 52633.54, 46811.13, 46091.39
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 5647.21, 5831.79, 5678.19, 5725.59, 5605.51, 5590.69, 5708.52, 6011.45, 6031.60, 6008.42, 5930.32, 5526.64, 5750.80, 5904.83, 5780.90, 5753.09, 6153.85, 6130.53, 6468.40, 6767.31, 7078.50, 7207.76, 7379.95, 7407.41, 7022.76, 7144.38, 7459.69, 7143.58, 6618.14, 6357.60, 5950.07, 6559.49, 6635.75, 7315.54, 7871.69, 7708.99, 7790.15, 8036.49, 8200.64, 8071.26, 8253.55, 8038.77, 8253.69, 8790.92, 9330.55, 9818.35, 10058.80, 9888.61, 10233.60, 10975.60, 11074.60, 11323.20, 11657.20, 11916.70, 14291.50, 17899.70, 16569.40, 15178.20, 15455.40, 16936.80, 17415.40, 16408.20, 16564.00, 17706.90, 19497.40, 19140.80, 19114.20, 17776.70, 16624.60, 15802.90, 13831.80, 14699.20, 13925.80, 14026.60, 16099.80, 15838.50, 14606.50, 14656.20, 12952.20, 14156.40, 13657.20, 14982.10, 15201.00, 15599.20, 17429.50, 17527.00, 16477.60, 15170.10, 14595.40, 14973.30.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2018-01-10]
Volume: 18500800512, RSI (14-day): 49.36, 50-day EMA: 13864.44, 200-day EMA: 8266.74
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1317.40, Gold RSI: 68.48
Oil Price: 63.57, Oil RSI: 76.47
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
T-Mobile Crushed It With Subscriber Additions in 2017: T-Mobile(NASDAQ: TMUS)had a pretty great 2017, adding 5.7 million total net customers last year. That total includes 3.6 million net additions in the important postpaid segment, of which 2.8 million were postpaid phone net adds (the rest being other connected devices like tablets).
During the fourth quarter alone, T-Mobile enjoyed 1.9 million total net adds, continuing its string of customer growth as the company poaches customers from its larger rivals. CEO John Legere pointed out that this was the 19th quarter in a row that T-Mobile has added over a million net customers, while 2017 was the fourth year that the company added over 5 million net customers.
T-Mobile CEO John Legere. Image source: T-Mobile.
T-Mobile exited 2017 with a total of 72.6 million customers. That's pretty impressive considering the fact that the Un-carrier had 55 million customers just three years ago. Perhaps more importantly, those have all been organic customer additions, in contrast to customers added through acquisitions like the 2012 purchase of MetroPCS. That deal added about 9 million customers to T-Mobile's roster. Instead, T-Mobile's additions in recent years have been largely defecting from rivals, as ongoing initiatives continue to resonate with consumers.
Specifically within postpaid customers, T-Mobile was quick to point out that this is the 16th quarter where it has led in branded postpaid phone net adds. The company's guidance had called for full-year branded postpaid net adds of 3.3 million to 3.6 million, so it was able to hit the high end of that forecast.
Churn also improved by about 10 basis points year over year and 5 basis points on a sequential basis, and came in at 1.18% for the fourth quarter.
It's been just over a month since T-Mobile officially approved its$1.5 billion share repurchase program, and the carrier has wasted no time whatsoever in buying back its stock. In December, T-Mobile bought back 7 million shares at an average price of $63.34 for a total of $444 million -- nearly a third of the authorization in less than a month.
The number of shares is a drop in the bucket compared to T-Mobile's total 832 million shares outstanding (less than 1%), so shareholders shouldn't expect a whole lot in the way of earnings accretion quite yet, but it should be pretty clear that this is just the beginning of T-Mobile's capital return strategy. Buybacks also provide T-Mobile the luxury of flexibility as opposed to dividends, which income investors expect to pay out consistently over time and ideally with annual increases. Management has full discretion over the timing and amount of share repurchases.
The announcements go to show that T-Mobile decidedly did not need theSprintmerger that officially died last year. The telecom is crushing it going alone.
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Evan Niu, CFAhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends T-Mobile US. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || T-Mobile Crushed It With Subscriber Additions in 2017: T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) had a pretty great 2017, adding 5.7 million total net customers last year. That total includes 3.6 million net additions in the important postpaid segment, of which 2.8 million were postpaid phone net adds (the rest being other connected devices like tablets). During the fourth quarter alone, T-Mobile enjoyed 1.9 million total net adds, continuing its string of customer growth as the company poaches customers from its larger rivals. CEO John Legere pointed out that this was the 19th quarter in a row that T-Mobile has added over a million net customers, while 2017 was the fourth year that the company added over 5 million net customers. John Legere holding his hand out while speaking on stage T-Mobile CEO John Legere. Image source: T-Mobile. Hitting the high end of guidance T-Mobile exited 2017 with a total of 72.6 million customers. That's pretty impressive considering the fact that the Un-carrier had 55 million customers just three years ago. Perhaps more importantly, those have all been organic customer additions, in contrast to customers added through acquisitions like the 2012 purchase of MetroPCS. That deal added about 9 million customers to T-Mobile's roster. Instead, T-Mobile's additions in recent years have been largely defecting from rivals, as ongoing initiatives continue to resonate with consumers. Specifically within postpaid customers, T-Mobile was quick to point out that this is the 16th quarter where it has led in branded postpaid phone net adds. The company's guidance had called for full-year branded postpaid net adds of 3.3 million to 3.6 million, so it was able to hit the high end of that forecast. Churn also improved by about 10 basis points year over year and 5 basis points on a sequential basis, and came in at 1.18% for the fourth quarter. That was fast It's been just over a month since T-Mobile officially approved its $1.5 billion share repurchase program , and the carrier has wasted no time whatsoever in buying back its stock. In December, T-Mobile bought back 7 million shares at an average price of $63.34 for a total of $444 million -- nearly a third of the authorization in less than a month. Story continues The number of shares is a drop in the bucket compared to T-Mobile's total 832 million shares outstanding (less than 1%), so shareholders shouldn't expect a whole lot in the way of earnings accretion quite yet, but it should be pretty clear that this is just the beginning of T-Mobile's capital return strategy. Buybacks also provide T-Mobile the luxury of flexibility as opposed to dividends, which income investors expect to pay out consistently over time and ideally with annual increases. Management has full discretion over the timing and amount of share repurchases. The announcements go to show that T-Mobile decidedly did not need the Sprint merger that officially died last year. The telecom is crushing it going alone. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Evan Niu, CFA has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends T-Mobile US. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || 3 Dividend Stocks That Are Perfect for Retirement: Every retiree's stock portfolio needs a few high-quality dividend stocks. That means looking beyond the plain dividend yields to consider factors such as payout growth, cash-backed dividend policies, and a high-quality business that will support generous dividend payments for many years to come. In search of exactly that kind of all-round cash machine, we asked a handful of your fellow investors here at The Motley Fool to share their best postretirement income stock ideas. Read on to see how they came up with International Business Machines (NYSE: IBM) , NextEra Energy Partners (NYSE: NEP) , and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) . Three piles of gold coins, resting on a spiral-bound calendar Image source: Getty Images. An energy dividend you can count on Travis Hoium (NextEra Energy Partners): Investing in retirement should not require a lot of risk-taking or thought. That's why I think NextEra Energy Partners is a perfect stock for retirees . NextEra Energy Partners is a yieldco, a company that owns renewable energy assets that pay dividends from the ongoing cash flow generated by the assets. It owns 3.7 gigawatts of wind and solar assets with contracts to sell energy to utilities for, on average, the next 18 years . That ensures cash flow that will fund the existing dividend yield of 3.8% for nearly two decades, but there are growth opportunities as well. Yieldcos buy new renewable energy assets either by using excess cash from operations or through issuing new debt and equity. In the latter case, having a low dividend means a yieldco's cost of capital is low, and projects acquired will be accretive to the dividend. NextEra Energy Partners' 3.8% yield is low by yieldco standards, and that makes it easy to buy projects and grow the dividend long-term. Management has already said it will be able to grow the dividend 12% to 15% through 2022, which means it will rise to as high as $3.26 per share -- a 7.8% yield at today's stock price -- by the end of 2020. If a stable, growing dividend is what you're looking for in retirement, this is the perfect stock for you. Story continues Big Blue won't let you down Anders Bylund (IBM): Big Blue has been around for more than a century, and is setting itself up for several more decades of serious business. And I don't think you'll find a company more committed to the idea of direct shareholder cash returns than IBM. The dividend payouts have seen uninterrupted increases since 1995, creating an unbroken 22-year streak of annual boosts. The payout per share has grown a heart-stopping 1,400% larger in the last 20 years. Over the same period, IBM spent more than $115 billion on share buybacks -- another method of shoveling cash flows directly into investors' pockets. Those cash contributions are making a big difference for IBM's shareholders. Over the last two decades, IBM's market cap has grown just 48% larger. But thanks to the generous buybacks, stockholders saw share prices triple. And if you reinvested the dividends into more IBM stock along the way, you'd have a 320% return instead -- more than quadrupling your money: IBM Chart IBM data by YCharts . The buybacks and dividend increases keep coming through thick and thin. Big Blue has been known to take on more debt in order to finance these policies when cash flows run low. That's not an issue today, since IBM's trailing free cash flows stand at $11 billion. In the last four quarters, 30% of that cash went to share buybacks, while 50% was earmarked for dividend checks. All told, IBM's dividend yield has soared to 3.7% recently, a level not seen since the mid-1990s (and even then, only temporarily). This is the kind of ironclad dividend policy you want to see when collecting income from your retirement nest egg. On top of that, IBM is a just-plain-good investment right now , set to increase in value after a few lean years. Might as well lock in those juicy yields while share prices are low. A bulletproof healthcare stock Jeremy Bowman (Johnson & Johnson): Retirees want safety and security in their investments, and when I think of a stock that will deliver in any kind of market environment, I think of Johnson & Johnson. The diversified healthcare giant has been around since 1886, and since it operates in the healthcare sector, it isn't subject to the whims of the cyclical economy -- people get sick no matter what the unemployment rate is. Though the company does compete in pharmaceuticals, it also makes medical devices and consumer products like Tylenol and Band-Aids, so it's not as sensitive to the "patent cliff" that can make pure-play pharma companies like Pfizer or Merck risky. J&J is one of only two companies ( Microsoft is the other) with the highest AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor's, another testament to its rock-solid balance sheet. As a dividend payer, the conglomerate is no slouch either. Johnson & Johnson is a Dividend Aristocrat , having hiked its dividend payout for a whopping 55 years in a row. Today, it offers a dividend yield of 2.4%, and a modest payout ratio of 46%, meaning it has plenty of room to continue raising its dividends. The company has lifted the payout by 5% or more for at least the last 25 years, and is due for another hike in the coming months. Considering the projected growth in the health sector as baby boomers reach retirement age, the company's strength in medical devices, and the stock's defensive position as a dividend-paying healthcare specialist, Johnson & Johnson should continue to be a rewarding dividend stock for retirees to own. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Teresa Kersten is an employee of LinkedIn and is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors; LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft. Anders Bylund owns shares of IBM. Jeremy Bowman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Travis Hoium owns shares of Johnson & Johnson and NextEra Energy Partners. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Johnson & Johnson. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || 3 Dividend Stocks That Are Perfect for Retirement: Every retiree's stock portfolio needs a few high-quality dividend stocks. That means looking beyond the plain dividend yields to consider factors such as payout growth, cash-backed dividend policies, and a high-quality business that will support generous dividend payments for many years to come.
In search of exactly that kind of all-round cash machine, we asked a handful of your fellow investors here at The Motley Fool to share their best postretirement income stock ideas. Read on to see how they came up withInternational Business Machines(NYSE: IBM),NextEra Energy Partners(NYSE: NEP), andJohnson & Johnson(NYSE: JNJ).
Image source: Getty Images.
Travis Hoium(NextEra Energy Partners):Investing in retirement should not require a lot of risk-taking or thought. That's why I think NextEra Energy Partners is aperfect stock for retirees.
NextEra Energy Partners is a yieldco, a company that owns renewable energy assets that pay dividends from the ongoing cash flow generated by the assets. It owns 3.7 gigawatts of wind and solar assets with contracts to sell energy to utilities for, on average,the next 18 years. That ensures cash flow that will fund the existing dividend yield of 3.8% for nearly two decades, but there are growth opportunities as well.
Yieldcos buy new renewable energy assets either by using excess cash from operations or through issuing new debt and equity. In the latter case, having a low dividend means a yieldco's cost of capital is low, and projects acquired will be accretive to the dividend. NextEra Energy Partners' 3.8% yield is low by yieldco standards, and that makes it easy to buy projects and grow the dividend long-term.
Management has already said it will be able to grow the dividend 12% to 15% through 2022, which means it will rise to as high as $3.26 per share -- a 7.8% yield at today's stock price -- by the end of 2020. If a stable, growing dividend is what you're looking for in retirement, this is the perfect stock for you.
Anders Bylund(IBM):Big Blue has been around for more than a century, and is setting itself up for several more decades of serious business. And I don't think you'll find a company more committed to the idea of direct shareholder cash returns than IBM.
The dividend payouts have seen uninterrupted increases since 1995, creating an unbroken 22-year streak of annual boosts. The payout per share has grown a heart-stopping 1,400% larger in the last 20 years. Over the same period, IBM spent more than $115 billion on share buybacks -- another method of shoveling cash flows directly into investors' pockets.
Those cash contributions are making a big difference for IBM's shareholders. Over the last two decades, IBM's market cap has grown just 48% larger. But thanks to the generous buybacks, stockholders saw share prices triple. And if you reinvested the dividends into more IBM stock along the way, you'd have a 320% return instead -- more than quadrupling your money:
IBMdata byYCharts.
The buybacks and dividend increases keep coming through thick and thin. Big Blue has been known to take on more debt in order to finance these policies when cash flows run low. That's not an issue today, since IBM's trailing free cash flows stand at $11 billion. In the last four quarters, 30% of that cash went to share buybacks, while 50% was earmarked for dividend checks.
All told, IBM's dividend yield has soared to 3.7% recently, a level not seen since the mid-1990s (and even then, only temporarily).
This is the kind of ironclad dividend policy you want to see when collecting income from your retirement nest egg. On top of that,IBM is a just-plain-good investment right now, set to increase in value after a few lean years. Might as well lock in those juicy yields while share prices are low.
Jeremy Bowman(Johnson & Johnson):Retirees want safety and security in their investments, and when I think of a stock that will deliver in any kind of market environment, I think of Johnson & Johnson. The diversified healthcare giant has been around since 1886, and since it operates in the healthcare sector, it isn't subject to the whims of the cyclical economy -- people get sick no matter what the unemployment rate is.
Though the company does compete in pharmaceuticals, it also makes medical devices and consumer products like Tylenol and Band-Aids, so it's not as sensitive to the "patent cliff" that can make pure-play pharma companies likePfizerorMerckrisky.
J&J is one of only two companies (Microsoftis the other) with the highest AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor's, another testament to its rock-solid balance sheet. As a dividend payer, the conglomerate is no slouch either. Johnson & Johnson is aDividend Aristocrat, having hiked its dividend payout for a whopping 55 years in a row.
Today, it offers a dividend yield of 2.4%, and a modestpayout ratioof 46%, meaning it has plenty of room to continue raising its dividends. The company has lifted the payout by 5% or more for at least the last 25 years, and is due for another hike in the coming months.
Considering the projected growth in the health sector as baby boomers reach retirement age, the company's strength in medical devices, and the stock's defensive position as a dividend-paying healthcare specialist, Johnson & Johnson should continue to be a rewarding dividend stock for retirees to own.
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Teresa Kersten is an employee of LinkedIn and is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors; LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft.Anders Bylundowns shares of IBM.Jeremy Bowmanhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned.Travis Hoiumowns shares of Johnson & Johnson and NextEra Energy Partners. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Johnson & Johnson. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || 3 Dividend Stocks That Cut Bigger Checks Than McDonald's: McDonald's Corp.(NYSE: MCD)shares have nearly doubled over the past five years. That would count as a win for those who held the stock over the period; however, the run up means that income-focused buyers today would only reap a dividend yield of 2.2%. So, if you're looking to add a solid dividend stock to your portfolio, you might instead want to consider buyingPfizer Inc.(NYSE: PFE),Intel Corp.(NASDAQ: INTC), orDSW Inc.(NYSE: DSW). Three of our Fools think their dividend yields make them top stocks to buy now.
Todd Campbell(Pfizer):The 10 highest-yielding Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks every year are called the Dogs of the Dow -- based on the fact that those strong yields reflect punished share prices -- and often, buying them produces impressive gains. This year'sDogs of the Dow listincludes a number of interesting stocks, but my favorite among them is Pfizer.
IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.
Pfizer is a global drug powerhouse that's on the cusp of becoming a growth stock again. Though it has launched fast-growing drugs including Ibrance and Eliquis in recent years, its top line has been shrinking because its megablockbuster cholesterol drug, Lipitor, lost patent protection in 2011, causing sales to slip.
The Lipitor-related headwinds, however, are easing as it becomes a much smaller contributor to the company's top line. That means 2018 could be the year revenue finally begins to increase meaningfully again.
We're already seeing signs that sales are gaining traction. In Q3, Pfizer's cancer drug revenue increased 46% to $1.62 billion, and as a result,operationalgrowth inched up 1% year over year. The growth of cancer drug sales was driven by a 60% jump in sales of the company's breast cancer drug, Ibrance, and a 34% increase in sales of its chronic myeloid leukemia drug, Bosulif. Companywide revenue also benefited from growing sales of Eliquis, an anticoagulant that delivered $644 million in Q3 sales, up 43% year over year.
The Q3 figures led management to predict that full-year sales would be between $52.4 to $53.1 billion. The high end of that guidance range would eclipse the $52.8 billion in sales recorded in 2016. Pfizer has increased its dividend by about 42% since 2010; currently, shares are yielding 3.5%, and a return to top-line growth could support even friendlier payouts.
Despite the increase in the company's dividend payout and sliding sales, thecash dividend payout ratio(cash flow minus capital expenditures and preferred dividend payments) is only 57%. That suggests there's plenty of room for future dividend increases. By comparison, consider that McDonald's cash dividend payout ratio is 91%.
Danny Vena(Intel):Intel soared to prominence with the advent of the personal computer, but the PC market has slowly, if not steadily, declined due to the rise of mobile computing. People now use smartphones and tablets to do many of the tasks that once required a PC. Intel is increasingly focused on the coming technological trends, such as artificial intelligence, with several acquisitions focused on different aspects of AI.
Startup Nervana brought chips that Intel believes will compete with GPUs for training AI systems. Its purchase of Altera was a big bet on field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), which can be customized for specific purposes after manufacturing. Mobileye, its largest acquisition, embedded the company squarely in the middle of the self-driving cars space. Intel recently revealed that it was supplying chips toAlphabet Inc.'s(NASDAQ: GOOGL)(NASDAQ: GOOG)Waymo autonomous car division to process data from the vehicles' sensors.
These investments appear to be bearing fruit. Intel's programmable solutions group only accounts for 3% of the company's revenue, but recently grew 10% over the prior-year quarter. Revenues from the Internet of Things group, which includes chips used for self-driving systems, grew 23% year over year, and now account for 5.3% of sales. The company still has a tight grip on the market for data center processors: Sales grew 7% year over year and make up 30% of Intel's revenue.
Intel currently sports a 2.36% dividend yield, while only paying out only 36% of its profits. Given its enormous growth potential in nascent markets and that solid dividend, you should have "Intel Inside" your portfolio.
Rich Duprey(DSW):Although 2017 was a rocky year for footwear retailer DSW , it looks like it's beginning to find traction again.
Comparable-store sales remained negative -- it reported a 0.4% decline last quarter and said comps were down 1% year to date. But they're moving in the right direction; in the prior year period, comps were off 1.8% and 1.5%, respectively.
Similarly, revenues in its affiliated business group segment, which wholesales footwear to other retailers, were down 14% year over year, but that was largely due to the bankruptcy of Gordman's, a small department store chain. DSW was able to improve merchandise and gross margins for the segment, and turn a 5% comparable sales decline into a 1% gain.
While DSW's dividend of $0.20 per quarter is about two-thirds less than what McDonald's pays out, its yield of 3.8% is more appetizing than the fast-food chain's 2.3%. And despite the troubles the footwear company has experienced over the past few years, it has held its payout firm. Now, with an improving business and a better outlook, it may also have opportunities to increase that dividend.
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Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors.Danny Venaowns shares of Alphabet (A shares) and has the following options: long January 2018 $25 calls on Intel.Rich Dupreyhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned.Todd Campbellowns shares of Pfizer. His clients may have positions in the companies mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares) and Alphabet (C shares). The Motley Fool recommends DSW and Intel. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || 3 Dividend Stocks That Cut Bigger Checks Than McDonald's: McDonald's Corp. (NYSE: MCD) shares have nearly doubled over the past five years. That would count as a win for those who held the stock over the period; however, the run up means that income-focused buyers today would only reap a dividend yield of 2.2%. So, if you're looking to add a solid dividend stock to your portfolio, you might instead want to consider buying Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) , Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) , or DSW Inc. (NYSE: DSW) . Three of our Fools think their dividend yields make them top stocks to buy now. My favorite "Dow Dog" Todd Campbell (Pfizer): The 10 highest-yielding Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks every year are called the Dogs of the Dow -- based on the fact that those strong yields reflect punished share prices -- and often, buying them produces impressive gains. This year's Dogs of the Dow list includes a number of interesting stocks, but my favorite among them is Pfizer. A black dog wearing glasses and a tie holding a piggy bank in one paw and paper money in the other paw. IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES. Pfizer is a global drug powerhouse that's on the cusp of becoming a growth stock again. Though it has launched fast-growing drugs including Ibrance and Eliquis in recent years, its top line has been shrinking because its megablockbuster cholesterol drug, Lipitor, lost patent protection in 2011, causing sales to slip. The Lipitor-related headwinds, however, are easing as it becomes a much smaller contributor to the company's top line. That means 2018 could be the year revenue finally begins to increase meaningfully again. We're already seeing signs that sales are gaining traction. In Q3, Pfizer's cancer drug revenue increased 46% to $1.62 billion, and as a result, operational growth inched up 1% year over year. The growth of cancer drug sales was driven by a 60% jump in sales of the company's breast cancer drug, Ibrance, and a 34% increase in sales of its chronic myeloid leukemia drug, Bosulif. Companywide revenue also benefited from growing sales of Eliquis, an anticoagulant that delivered $644 million in Q3 sales, up 43% year over year. Story continues The Q3 figures led management to predict that full-year sales would be between $52.4 to $53.1 billion. The high end of that guidance range would eclipse the $52.8 billion in sales recorded in 2016. Pfizer has increased its dividend by about 42% since 2010; currently, shares are yielding 3.5%, and a return to top-line growth could support even friendlier payouts. Despite the increase in the company's dividend payout and sliding sales, the cash dividend payout ratio (cash flow minus capital expenditures and preferred dividend payments) is only 57%. That suggests there's plenty of room for future dividend increases. By comparison, consider that McDonald's cash dividend payout ratio is 91%. AI inside Danny Vena (Intel): Intel soared to prominence with the advent of the personal computer, but the PC market has slowly, if not steadily, declined due to the rise of mobile computing. People now use smartphones and tablets to do many of the tasks that once required a PC. Intel is increasingly focused on the coming technological trends, such as artificial intelligence, with several acquisitions focused on different aspects of AI. Startup Nervana brought chips that Intel believes will compete with GPUs for training AI systems. Its purchase of Altera was a big bet on field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), which can be customized for specific purposes after manufacturing. Mobileye, its largest acquisition, embedded the company squarely in the middle of the self-driving cars space. Intel recently revealed that it was supplying chips to Alphabet Inc. 's (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) Waymo autonomous car division to process data from the vehicles' sensors. These investments appear to be bearing fruit. Intel's programmable solutions group only accounts for 3% of the company's revenue, but recently grew 10% over the prior-year quarter. Revenues from the Internet of Things group, which includes chips used for self-driving systems, grew 23% year over year, and now account for 5.3% of sales. The company still has a tight grip on the market for data center processors: Sales grew 7% year over year and make up 30% of Intel's revenue. Intel currently sports a 2.36% dividend yield, while only paying out only 36% of its profits. Given its enormous growth potential in nascent markets and that solid dividend, you should have "Intel Inside" your portfolio. Kicking into growth again Rich Duprey (DSW): Although 2017 was a rocky year for footwear retailer DSW , it looks like it's beginning to find traction again. Comparable-store sales remained negative -- it reported a 0.4% decline last quarter and said comps were down 1% year to date. But they're moving in the right direction; in the prior year period, comps were off 1.8% and 1.5%, respectively. Similarly, revenues in its affiliated business group segment, which wholesales footwear to other retailers, were down 14% year over year, but that was largely due to the bankruptcy of Gordman's, a small department store chain. DSW was able to improve merchandise and gross margins for the segment, and turn a 5% comparable sales decline into a 1% gain. While DSW's dividend of $0.20 per quarter is about two-thirds less than what McDonald's pays out, its yield of 3.8% is more appetizing than the fast-food chain's 2.3%. And despite the troubles the footwear company has experienced over the past few years, it has held its payout firm. Now, with an improving business and a better outlook, it may also have opportunities to increase that dividend. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Danny Vena owns shares of Alphabet (A shares) and has the following options: long January 2018 $25 calls on Intel. Rich Duprey has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Todd Campbell owns shares of Pfizer. His clients may have positions in the companies mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares) and Alphabet (C shares). The Motley Fool recommends DSW and Intel. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Analysis - Road to bitcoin ETF paved with red tape: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Trevor Hunnicutt NEW YORK (Reuters) - The going is getting tough for U.S. companies hoping to win the race to bring a bitcoin exchange-traded fund to market. Bitcoin's 1,500 percent surge last year has stoked investor demand for any product with exposure to the red-hot asset. A host of companies are jostling to launch exchange-traded funds which would open up the cryptocurrency to a broad retail market. But regulators are asking tough questions, and five fund managers this week shelved plans to launch ETFs based on bitcoin futures, citing concerns from the U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission. "We can expect the SEC to be increasingly watchful over any companies involved in bitcoin activity," said Marc Butler, a director at compliance management firm Intelligize. "Investors should be warned. If it's too good to be true, then it probably is." The SEC has pending applications for at least 14 different bitcoin ETFs or related products, regulatory filings show. A handful of funds have been knocked back. The SEC in March denied a request to list an ETF from investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, owners of the Gemini bitcoin exchange. The Winklevoss fund is seeking to invest in bitcoin directly. Other fund firms staked their hopes on recently launched U.S.-listed bitcoin futures contracts, which promised a more stable base for ETFs than the largely unregulated virtual currency spot market. But on Monday, Rafferty Asset Management LLC, which manages the Direxion brand and hopes to list leveraged funds that would double bitcoin's daily price moves, disclosed that the SEC was concerned about the "liquidity and valuation" of bitcoin futures contracts. It said the regulator told it to withdraw its application until it could address those issues. On Tuesday, ProShare Capital Management LLC, Van Eck Associates Corp and First Trust Advisors LP said in filings that SEC staff asked them to shelve plans for bitcoin ETFs. Direxion, ProShares, VanEck and the SEC declined to comment. First Trust did not immediately respond to an email. Bitcoin (BTC=BTSP) was last down 1.5 percent at $14,779 on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange. ENTHUSIASM UNCURBED The race to launch bitcoin funds is still likely to charge forward, analysts said, as fund managers rush to address the SEC's concerns and redesign their funds to placate the regulator. "This is being driven by retail demand," said Axel Merk, founder and chief investment officer of Merk Investments, which launched a physically backed gold ETF in 2014. "If people are enthusiastic about bitcoin, then people are going to try to market a bitcoin ETF." Story continues Merk said he knows of several funds that have examined the criticisms of the past filings and are determined to push through with their bitcoin ETF launches. Some are also attempting indirect approaches that could provide bitcoin exposure via more traditional assets. Five fund managers, for instance, have filed proposals for funds that would invest primarily in stocks with exposure to bitcoin or blockchain, the technology used to record bitcoin transactions. Thorny questions remain for funds that seek to trade in bitcoin futures, including the level of margin required to trade futures and the potential for bitcoin futures to trade at dramatically different prices than the cryptocurrency itself, according to two people who did not want to be identified revealing discussions they had with the SEC. Regulatory concerns did not stop the market from opening up by way of futures, though scrutiny of digital currency contracts now appears to be ramping up. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission last month allowed CME Group Inc (CME.O) and CBOE Global Markets Inc (CBOE.O) to list bitcoin futures contracts, but recently sought to review its process for listing digital currency futures. Still, some think that, head-spinning volatility of bitcoin aside, U.S. capital markets risk missing out on a burgeoning technology if they are too cautious. "If the SEC doesn't start allowing products, the capital markets here in the United States will get left behind by those in Europe and Asia. That's always a concern," said Trace Schmeltz, a partner at Barnes & Thornburg in Chicago. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Trevor Hunnicutt; Additional reporting by Jemima Kelly in London; Editing by Megan Davies and Meredith Mazzilli) View comments || Analysis - Road to bitcoin ETF paved with red tape: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Trevor Hunnicutt NEW YORK (Reuters) - The going is getting tough for U.S. companies hoping to win the race to bring a bitcoin exchange-traded fund to market. Bitcoin's 1,500 percent surge last year has stoked investor demand for any product with exposure to the red-hot asset. A host of companies are jostling to launch exchange-traded funds which would open up the cryptocurrency to a broad retail market. But regulators are asking tough questions, and five fund managers this week shelved plans to launch ETFs based on bitcoin futures, citing concerns from the U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission. "We can expect the SEC to be increasingly watchful over any companies involved in bitcoin activity," said Marc Butler, a director at compliance management firm Intelligize. "Investors should be warned. If it's too good to be true, then it probably is." The SEC has pending applications for at least 14 different bitcoin ETFs or related products, regulatory filings show. A handful of funds have been knocked back. The SEC in March denied a request to list an ETF from investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, owners of the Gemini bitcoin exchange. The Winklevoss fund is seeking to invest in bitcoin directly. Other fund firms staked their hopes on recently launched U.S.-listed bitcoin futures contracts, which promised a more stable base for ETFs than the largely unregulated virtual currency spot market. But on Monday, Rafferty Asset Management LLC, which manages the Direxion brand and hopes to list leveraged funds that would double bitcoin's daily price moves, disclosed that the SEC was concerned about the "liquidity and valuation" of bitcoin futures contracts. It said the regulator told it to withdraw its application until it could address those issues. On Tuesday, ProShare Capital Management LLC, Van Eck Associates Corp and First Trust Advisors LP said in filings that SEC staff asked them to shelve plans for bitcoin ETFs. Direxion, ProShares, VanEck and the SEC declined to comment. First Trust did not immediately respond to an email. Bitcoin (BTC=BTSP) was last down 1.5 percent at $14,779 on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange. ENTHUSIASM UNCURBED The race to launch bitcoin funds is still likely to charge forward, analysts said, as fund managers rush to address the SEC's concerns and redesign their funds to placate the regulator. "This is being driven by retail demand," said Axel Merk, founder and chief investment officer of Merk Investments, which launched a physically backed gold ETF in 2014. "If people are enthusiastic about bitcoin, then people are going to try to market a bitcoin ETF." Story continues Merk said he knows of several funds that have examined the criticisms of the past filings and are determined to push through with their bitcoin ETF launches. Some are also attempting indirect approaches that could provide bitcoin exposure via more traditional assets. Five fund managers, for instance, have filed proposals for funds that would invest primarily in stocks with exposure to bitcoin or blockchain, the technology used to record bitcoin transactions. Thorny questions remain for funds that seek to trade in bitcoin futures, including the level of margin required to trade futures and the potential for bitcoin futures to trade at dramatically different prices than the cryptocurrency itself, according to two people who did not want to be identified revealing discussions they had with the SEC. Regulatory concerns did not stop the market from opening up by way of futures, though scrutiny of digital currency contracts now appears to be ramping up. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission last month allowed CME Group Inc (CME.O) and CBOE Global Markets Inc (CBOE.O) to list bitcoin futures contracts, but recently sought to review its process for listing digital currency futures. Still, some think that, head-spinning volatility of bitcoin aside, U.S. capital markets risk missing out on a burgeoning technology if they are too cautious. "If the SEC doesn't start allowing products, the capital markets here in the United States will get left behind by those in Europe and Asia. That's always a concern," said Trace Schmeltz, a partner at Barnes & Thornburg in Chicago. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Trevor Hunnicutt; Additional reporting by Jemima Kelly in London; Editing by Megan Davies and Meredith Mazzilli) View comments || How Xunlei Ltd. Stock Quadrupled in 2017: Shares of China-based cloud computing expertXunlei(NASDAQ: XNET)gained 289.7% in 2017,according to data from S&P; Global Market Intelligence. The soaring gains started when the company announced a new business plan built aroundblockchain technologies.
Image source: Getty Images.
Xunlei's shares traded roughly in line with the broader market until the middle of August. That's where Xunlei launched a new file sharing platform dubbed OneCloud, where data is transferred and managed using blockchain technologies, and users are paid for their participation in a form of cryptocurrency.
Since then, Xunlei's shares have gone absolutely bananas. Blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies have been red-hot lately, with leading crypto-coin bitcoin's prices rising 15-fold in 2017. Xunlei's OneCoin is a different animal, but the company is using all of the right keywords to tap into the cryptocurrency craze in a big way.
XNETdata byYCharts.
More recently, the Chinese government has announced several rounds of crackdowns on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. These moves also brought Xunlei's share prices down several notches, despite management's protestations that OneCoin isn't a fraud-like cryptocurrency but a totally legit blockchain tool.
You win some, you lose some. As long as blockchain and cryptocurrencies remain controversial (which may or may not be forever), you should expect this stock to continue postingwildswingsboth up and down.
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Anders Bylundhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || How Xunlei Ltd. Stock Quadrupled in 2017: What happened Shares of China-based cloud computing expert Xunlei (NASDAQ: XNET) gained 289.7% in 2017, according to data from S&P; Global Market Intelligence . The soaring gains started when the company announced a new business plan built around blockchain technologies . A man studies a wall-size graphic of basic blockchain concepts. Image source: Getty Images. So what Xunlei's shares traded roughly in line with the broader market until the middle of August. That's where Xunlei launched a new file sharing platform dubbed OneCloud, where data is transferred and managed using blockchain technologies, and users are paid for their participation in a form of cryptocurrency. Since then, Xunlei's shares have gone absolutely bananas. Blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies have been red-hot lately, with leading crypto-coin bitcoin's prices rising 15-fold in 2017. Xunlei's OneCoin is a different animal, but the company is using all of the right keywords to tap into the cryptocurrency craze in a big way. XNET Chart XNET data by YCharts . Now what More recently, the Chinese government has announced several rounds of crackdowns on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. These moves also brought Xunlei's share prices down several notches, despite management's protestations that OneCoin isn't a fraud-like cryptocurrency but a totally legit blockchain tool. You win some, you lose some. As long as blockchain and cryptocurrencies remain controversial (which may or may not be forever), you should expect this stock to continue posting wild swings both up and down. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Anders Bylund has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Why Bitauto Holdings Limted Stock Gained 67.9% in 2017: Bitauto Holdings Limited(NYSE: BITA)stock climbed 67.9% in 2017, according to data fromS&P; Global Market Intelligence. The Chinese online auto specialist recorded strong sales growth across the stretch, solid performance for itsYixinsubsidiary in the lead-up to its initial public offering (IPO), and a string of generally favorable ratings coverage from analysts.
Bitauto's strong fiscal performance, promising outlook for its main business and Yixin offshoot, and a bullish market for Chinese technology stocks combined to power shares to nearly 140% gains through the first 10 months of the year. The stock hit a 52-week high in October in anticipation of Yixin's IPO.
Image source: Getty Images.
Shares of Bitauto sold off as Yixin's post-IPO stock performance lagged some investor expectations, but the the company still posted strong gains on the year and has big growth opportunities ahead. Bitauto retains a roughly 47% stake in Yixin, and the offshoot auto-financing business has the potential to be a major positive catalyst for the parent company's stock.
Bitauto stock is priced at roughly 19 times forward earnings and 1.7 times forward sales -- levels that still leave room for substantial capital appreciation. The company's September-ended quarter saw it post a 54% year-over-year increases for both sales and gross profit, and impressive adoption for some of its growth businesses and the fact that Chinese internet penetration still has a room for substantial expansion bode well for the business.
While growth for the company's auto advertising segment appears to be slowing down, its transactions service is still growing rapidly -- with revenue up 145.7% year over year in its most recent quarter. With big growth opportunities thanks to a leading position in its market niche and the expansion of the Chinese middle class and internet availability, Bitauto stock looks like a compelling investment opportunity at current prices.
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Keith Noonanhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Why Bitauto Holdings Limted Stock Gained 67.9% in 2017: What happened Bitauto Holdings Limited (NYSE: BITA) stock climbed 67.9% in 2017, according to data from S&P; Global Market Intelligence . The Chinese online auto specialist recorded strong sales growth across the stretch, solid performance for its Yixin subsidiary in the lead-up to its initial public offering (IPO), and a string of generally favorable ratings coverage from analysts. So what Bitauto's strong fiscal performance, promising outlook for its main business and Yixin offshoot, and a bullish market for Chinese technology stocks combined to power shares to nearly 140% gains through the first 10 months of the year. The stock hit a 52-week high in October in anticipation of Yixin's IPO. A person touching a car icon. Image source: Getty Images. Shares of Bitauto sold off as Yixin's post-IPO stock performance lagged some investor expectations, but the the company still posted strong gains on the year and has big growth opportunities ahead. Bitauto retains a roughly 47% stake in Yixin, and the offshoot auto-financing business has the potential to be a major positive catalyst for the parent company's stock. Now what Bitauto stock is priced at roughly 19 times forward earnings and 1.7 times forward sales -- levels that still leave room for substantial capital appreciation. The company's September-ended quarter saw it post a 54% year-over-year increases for both sales and gross profit, and impressive adoption for some of its growth businesses and the fact that Chinese internet penetration still has a room for substantial expansion bode well for the business. While growth for the company's auto advertising segment appears to be slowing down, its transactions service is still growing rapidly -- with revenue up 145.7% year over year in its most recent quarter. With big growth opportunities thanks to a leading position in its market niche and the expansion of the Chinese middle class and internet availability, Bitauto stock looks like a compelling investment opportunity at current prices. Story continues More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Why PPG Industries Stock Outperformed in 2017: Shares of dividend aristocratPPG Industries, Inc.(NYSE: PPG)rose 23.3% in 2017, a few points ahead of theS&P 500. It marks a return to form for the paintings and coatings company after a disappointing 2016, when the stock fell 4%.
PPG Industries provides durable coatings for wind turbines. Image source: Getty Images.
The rise in stock price in 2017 was welcome, but it was unusual in that the company's year didn't entirely go as planned. For example, PPG wasultimately unsuccessfulin its bid to buy coatings specialistAkzo Nobel(NASDAQOTH: AKZOY)-- a deal intended to bolster growth and further PPG's aim of expanding its coatings activities. Moreover, strong rises in raw material costs increased PPG's cost of sales as a percentage of revenue and, therefore,reduced the gross marginin the first nine months.
No matter. The market discounted the bad news and focused on some of the positive aspects. For example, cost-cutting measures have reduced sales, general, and administrative costs on an absolute and relative basis. Throw in an improving outlook for the industrial economy -- PPG claims to be the global leading player in aerospace and automotive (original equipment and aftermarket), and the No. 2 in packaging, architectural, and general industrial coatings -- and PPG looks set for volume growth, which could help offset any further margin pressure.
There's no guarantee that PPG will increase its revenue growth rate; CEO Michael McGarry only expects "modest" growth in volumes in 2018, and raw material costs look set to rise further. For example, CEO Mark Vergnano ofThe Chemours Company(NYSE: CC), the world's largest producer of premium titanium dioxide (a key raw material in the coatings industry), claimed the company's titanium dioxide facilities were "highly utilized" and talked of "global supply tightness" on the last earnings call.
On a more positive note, if PPG can pass on any price increases (and improving end markets will certainly help), then the cost-cutting measures should lead to increased profits. Moreover, despite the setback with Akzo Nobel, the company remains on the acquisition trail within an industry that is in aperiod of consolidation; PPG has already announced an agreement to acquire an architectural paint and coatings wholesaler in the Netherlands.
What now
Looking ahead, titanium dioxide pricing will obviously be a big focus for PPG investors, but probably the biggest variable in 2018 will be its acquisition strategy. Having decided to focus on coatings, PPG needs growth -- and that's likely to come from purchasing new businesses.
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Lee Samahahas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Why PPG Industries Stock Outperformed in 2017: What happened Shares of dividend aristocrat PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE: PPG) rose 23.3% in 2017, a few points ahead of the S&P 500 . It marks a return to form for the paintings and coatings company after a disappointing 2016, when the stock fell 4%. offshore wind turbines PPG Industries provides durable coatings for wind turbines. Image source: Getty Images. The rise in stock price in 2017 was welcome, but it was unusual in that the company's year didn't entirely go as planned. For example, PPG was ultimately unsuccessful in its bid to buy coatings specialist Akzo Nobel (NASDAQOTH: AKZOY) -- a deal intended to bolster growth and further PPG's aim of expanding its coatings activities. Moreover, strong rises in raw material costs increased PPG's cost of sales as a percentage of revenue and, therefore, reduced the gross margin in the first nine months. No matter. The market discounted the bad news and focused on some of the positive aspects. For example, cost-cutting measures have reduced sales, general, and administrative costs on an absolute and relative basis. Throw in an improving outlook for the industrial economy -- PPG claims to be the global leading player in aerospace and automotive (original equipment and aftermarket), and the No. 2 in packaging, architectural, and general industrial coatings -- and PPG looks set for volume growth, which could help offset any further margin pressure. So what There's no guarantee that PPG will increase its revenue growth rate; CEO Michael McGarry only expects "modest" growth in volumes in 2018, and raw material costs look set to rise further. For example, CEO Mark Vergnano of The Chemours Company (NYSE: CC) , the world's largest producer of premium titanium dioxide (a key raw material in the coatings industry), claimed the company's titanium dioxide facilities were "highly utilized" and talked of "global supply tightness" on the last earnings call. On a more positive note, if PPG can pass on any price increases (and improving end markets will certainly help), then the cost-cutting measures should lead to increased profits. Moreover, despite the setback with Akzo Nobel, the company remains on the acquisition trail within an industry that is in a period of consolidation ; PPG has already announced an agreement to acquire an architectural paint and coatings wholesaler in the Netherlands. Story continues What now Looking ahead, titanium dioxide pricing will obviously be a big focus for PPG investors, but probably the biggest variable in 2018 will be its acquisition strategy. Having decided to focus on coatings, PPG needs growth -- and that's likely to come from purchasing new businesses. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Lee Samaha has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Road to bitcoin ETF paved with red tape: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Trevor Hunnicutt NEW YORK (Reuters) - The going is getting tough for U.S. companies hoping to win the race to bring a bitcoin exchange-traded fund to market. Bitcoin's 1,500 percent surge last year has stoked investor demand for any product with exposure to the red-hot asset. A host of companies are jostling to launch exchange-traded funds which would open up the cryptocurrency to a broad retail market. But regulators are asking tough questions, and five fund managers this week shelved plans to launch ETFs based on bitcoin futures, citing concerns from the U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission. "We can expect the SEC to be increasingly watchful over any companies involved in bitcoin activity," said Marc Butler, a director at compliance management firm Intelligize. "Investors should be warned. If it's too good to be true, then it probably is." The SEC has pending applications for at least 14 different bitcoin ETFs or related products, regulatory filings show. A handful of funds have been knocked back. The SEC in March denied a request to list an ETF from investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, owners of the Gemini bitcoin exchange. The Winklevoss fund is seeking to invest in bitcoin directly. Other fund firms staked their hopes on recently launched U.S.-listed bitcoin futures contracts, which promised a more stable base for ETFs than the largely unregulated virtual currency spot market. But on Monday, Rafferty Asset Management LLC, which manages the Direxion brand and hopes to list leveraged funds that would double bitcoin's daily price moves, disclosed that the SEC was concerned about the "liquidity and valuation" of bitcoin futures contracts. It said the regulator told it to withdraw its application until it could address those issues. On Tuesday, ProShare Capital Management LLC, Van Eck Associates Corp and First Trust Advisors LP said in filings that SEC staff asked them to shelve plans for bitcoin ETFs. Direxion, ProShares, VanEck and the SEC declined to comment. First Trust did not immediately respond to an email. Bitcoin was last down 1.5 percent at $14,779 on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange. ENTHUSIASM UNCURBED The race to launch bitcoin funds is still likely to charge forward, analysts said, as fund managers rush to address the SEC's concerns and redesign their funds to placate the regulator. "This is being driven by retail demand," said Axel Merk, founder and chief investment officer of Merk Investments, which launched a physically backed gold ETF in 2014. "If people are enthusiastic about bitcoin, then people are going to try to market a bitcoin ETF." Merk said he knows of several funds that have examined the criticisms of the past filings and are determined to push through with their bitcoin ETF launches. Some are also attempting indirect approaches that could provide bitcoin exposure via more traditional assets. Five fund managers, for instance, have filed proposals for funds that would invest primarily in stocks with exposure to bitcoin or blockchain, the technology used to record bitcoin transactions. Thorny questions remain for funds that seek to trade in bitcoin futures, including the level of margin required to trade futures and the potential for bitcoin futures to trade at dramatically different prices than the cryptocurrency itself, according to two people who did not want to be identified revealing discussions they had with the SEC. Regulatory concerns did not stop the market from opening up by way of futures, though scrutiny of digital currency contracts now appears to be ramping up. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission last month allowed CME Group Inc and CBOE Global Markets Inc to list bitcoin futures contracts, but recently sought to review its process for listing digital currency futures. Still, some think that, head-spinning volatility of bitcoin aside, U.S. capital markets risk missing out on a burgeoning technology if they are too cautious. "If the SEC doesn't start allowing products, the capital markets here in the United States will get left behind by those in Europe and Asia. That's always a concern," said Trace Schmeltz, a partner at Barnes & Thornburg in Chicago. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Trevor Hunnicutt; Additional reporting by Jemima Kelly in London; Editing by Megan Davies and Meredith Mazzilli) || Road to bitcoin ETF paved with red tape: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Trevor Hunnicutt NEW YORK (Reuters) - The going is getting tough for U.S. companies hoping to win the race to bring a bitcoin exchange-traded fund to market. Bitcoin's 1,500 percent surge last year has stoked investor demand for any product with exposure to the red-hot asset. A host of companies are jostling to launch exchange-traded funds which would open up the cryptocurrency to a broad retail market. But regulators are asking tough questions, and five fund managers this week shelved plans to launch ETFs based on bitcoin futures, citing concerns from the U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission. "We can expect the SEC to be increasingly watchful over any companies involved in bitcoin activity," said Marc Butler, a director at compliance management firm Intelligize. "Investors should be warned. If it's too good to be true, then it probably is." The SEC has pending applications for at least 14 different bitcoin ETFs or related products, regulatory filings show. A handful of funds have been knocked back. The SEC in March denied a request to list an ETF from investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, owners of the Gemini bitcoin exchange. The Winklevoss fund is seeking to invest in bitcoin directly. Other fund firms staked their hopes on recently launched U.S.-listed bitcoin futures contracts, which promised a more stable base for ETFs than the largely unregulated virtual currency spot market. But on Monday, Rafferty Asset Management LLC, which manages the Direxion brand and hopes to list leveraged funds that would double bitcoin's daily price moves, disclosed that the SEC was concerned about the "liquidity and valuation" of bitcoin futures contracts. It said the regulator told it to withdraw its application until it could address those issues. On Tuesday, ProShare Capital Management LLC, Van Eck Associates Corp and First Trust Advisors LP said in filings that SEC staff asked them to shelve plans for bitcoin ETFs. Story continues Direxion, ProShares, VanEck and the SEC declined to comment. First Trust did not immediately respond to an email. Bitcoin (BTC=BTSP) was last down 1.5 percent at $14,779 on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange. ENTHUSIASM UNCURBED The race to launch bitcoin funds is still likely to charge forward, analysts said, as fund managers rush to address the SEC's concerns and redesign their funds to placate the regulator. "This is being driven by retail demand," said Axel Merk, founder and chief investment officer of Merk Investments, which launched a physically backed gold ETF in 2014. "If people are enthusiastic about bitcoin, then people are going to try to market a bitcoin ETF." Merk said he knows of several funds that have examined the criticisms of the past filings and are determined to push through with their bitcoin ETF launches. Some are also attempting indirect approaches that could provide bitcoin exposure via more traditional assets. Five fund managers, for instance, have filed proposals for funds that would invest primarily in stocks with exposure to bitcoin or blockchain, the technology used to record bitcoin transactions. Thorny questions remain for funds that seek to trade in bitcoin futures, including the level of margin required to trade futures and the potential for bitcoin futures to trade at dramatically different prices than the cryptocurrency itself, according to two people who did not want to be identified revealing discussions they had with the SEC. Regulatory concerns did not stop the market from opening up by way of futures, though scrutiny of digital currency contracts now appears to be ramping up. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission last month allowed CME Group Inc (CME.O) and CBOE Global Markets Inc (CBOE.O) to list bitcoin futures contracts, but recently sought to review its process for listing digital currency futures. Still, some think that, head-spinning volatility of bitcoin aside, U.S. capital markets risk missing out on a burgeoning technology if they are too cautious. "If the SEC doesn't start allowing products, the capital markets here in the United States will get left behind by those in Europe and Asia. That's always a concern," said Trace Schmeltz, a partner at Barnes & Thornburg in Chicago. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Trevor Hunnicutt; Additional reporting by Jemima Kelly in London; Editing by Megan Davies and Meredith Mazzilli) || Road to bitcoin ETF paved with red tape: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Trevor Hunnicutt
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The going is getting tough for U.S. companies hoping to win the race to bring a bitcoin exchange-traded fund to market.
Bitcoin's 1,500 percent surge last year has stoked investor demand for any product with exposure to the red-hot asset. A host of companies are jostling to launch exchange-traded funds which would open up the cryptocurrency to a broad retail market.
But regulators are asking tough questions, and five fund managers this week shelved plans to launch ETFs based on bitcoin futures, citing concerns from the U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission.
"We can expect the SEC to be increasingly watchful over any companies involved in bitcoin activity," said Marc Butler, a director at compliance management firm Intelligize. "Investors should be warned. If it's too good to be true, then it probably is."
The SEC has pending applications for at least 14 different bitcoin ETFs or related products, regulatory filings show.
A handful of funds have been knocked back. The SEC in March denied a request to list an ETF from investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, owners of the Gemini bitcoin exchange.
The Winklevoss fund is seeking to invest in bitcoin directly. Other fund firms staked their hopes on recently launched U.S.-listed bitcoin futures contracts, which promised a more stable base for ETFs than the largely unregulated virtual currency spot market.
But on Monday, Rafferty Asset Management LLC, which manages the Direxion brand and hopes to list leveraged funds that would double bitcoin's daily price moves, disclosed that the SEC was concerned about the "liquidity and valuation" of bitcoin futures contracts. It said the regulator told it to withdraw its application until it could address those issues.
On Tuesday, ProShare Capital Management LLC, Van Eck Associates Corp and First Trust Advisors LP said in filings that SEC staff asked them to shelve plans for bitcoin ETFs.
Direxion, ProShares, VanEck and the SEC declined to comment. First Trust did not immediately respond to an email.
Bitcoin (BTC=BTSP) was last down 1.5 percent at $14,779 on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange.
ENTHUSIASM UNCURBED
The race to launch bitcoin funds is still likely to charge forward, analysts said, as fund managers rush to address the SEC's concerns and redesign their funds to placate the regulator.
"This is being driven by retail demand," said Axel Merk, founder and chief investment officer of Merk Investments, which launched a physically backed gold ETF in 2014. "If people are enthusiastic about bitcoin, then people are going to try to market a bitcoin ETF."
Merk said he knows of several funds that have examined the criticisms of the past filings and are determined to push through with their bitcoin ETF launches.
Some are also attempting indirect approaches that could provide bitcoin exposure via more traditional assets.
Five fund managers, for instance, have filed proposals for funds that would invest primarily in stocks with exposure to bitcoin or blockchain, the technology used to record bitcoin transactions.
Thorny questions remain for funds that seek to trade in bitcoin futures, including the level of margin required to trade futures and the potential for bitcoin futures to trade at dramatically different prices than the cryptocurrency itself, according to two people who did not want to be identified revealing discussions they had with the SEC.
Regulatory concerns did not stop the market from opening up by way of futures, though scrutiny of digital currency contracts now appears to be ramping up.
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission last month allowed CME Group Inc (CME.O) and CBOE Global Markets Inc (CBOE.O) to list bitcoin futures contracts, but recently sought to review its process for listing digital currency futures.
Still, some think that, head-spinning volatility of bitcoin aside, U.S. capital markets risk missing out on a burgeoning technology if they are too cautious.
"If the SEC doesn't start allowing products, the capital markets here in the United States will get left behind by those in Europe and Asia. That's always a concern," said Trace Schmeltz, a partner at Barnes & Thornburg in Chicago.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Trevor Hunnicutt; Additional reporting by Jemima Kelly in London; Editing by Megan Davies and Meredith Mazzilli) || Road to bitcoin ETF paved with red tape: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Trevor Hunnicutt NEW YORK (Reuters) - The going is getting tough for U.S. companies hoping to win the race to bring a bitcoin exchange-traded fund to market. Bitcoin's 1,500 percent surge last year has stoked investor demand for any product with exposure to the red-hot asset. A host of companies are jostling to launch exchange-traded funds which would open up the cryptocurrency to a broad retail market. But regulators are asking tough questions, and five fund managers this week shelved plans to launch ETFs based on bitcoin futures, citing concerns from the U.S. Securities and Exchanges Commission. "We can expect the SEC to be increasingly watchful over any companies involved in bitcoin activity," said Marc Butler, a director at compliance management firm Intelligize. "Investors should be warned. If it's too good to be true, then it probably is." The SEC has pending applications for at least 14 different bitcoin ETFs or related products, regulatory filings show. A handful of funds have been knocked back. The SEC in March denied a request to list an ETF from investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, owners of the Gemini bitcoin exchange. The Winklevoss fund is seeking to invest in bitcoin directly. Other fund firms staked their hopes on recently launched U.S.-listed bitcoin futures contracts, which promised a more stable base for ETFs than the largely unregulated virtual currency spot market. But on Monday, Rafferty Asset Management LLC, which manages the Direxion brand and hopes to list leveraged funds that would double bitcoin's daily price moves, disclosed that the SEC was concerned about the "liquidity and valuation" of bitcoin futures contracts. It said the regulator told it to withdraw its application until it could address those issues. On Tuesday, ProShare Capital Management LLC, Van Eck Associates Corp and First Trust Advisors LP said in filings that SEC staff asked them to shelve plans for bitcoin ETFs. Direxion, ProShares, VanEck and the SEC declined to comment. First Trust did not immediately respond to an email. Bitcoin was last down 1.5 percent at $14,779 on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange. ENTHUSIASM UNCURBED The race to launch bitcoin funds is still likely to charge forward, analysts said, as fund managers rush to address the SEC's concerns and redesign their funds to placate the regulator. "This is being driven by retail demand," said Axel Merk, founder and chief investment officer of Merk Investments, which launched a physically backed gold ETF in 2014. "If people are enthusiastic about bitcoin, then people are going to try to market a bitcoin ETF." Merk said he knows of several funds that have examined the criticisms of the past filings and are determined to push through with their bitcoin ETF launches. Some are also attempting indirect approaches that could provide bitcoin exposure via more traditional assets. Five fund managers, for instance, have filed proposals for funds that would invest primarily in stocks with exposure to bitcoin or blockchain, the technology used to record bitcoin transactions. Thorny questions remain for funds that seek to trade in bitcoin futures, including the level of margin required to trade futures and the potential for bitcoin futures to trade at dramatically different prices than the cryptocurrency itself, according to two people who did not want to be identified revealing discussions they had with the SEC. Regulatory concerns did not stop the market from opening up by way of futures, though scrutiny of digital currency contracts now appears to be ramping up. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission last month allowed CME Group Inc and CBOE Global Markets Inc to list bitcoin futures contracts, but recently sought to review its process for listing digital currency futures. Still, some think that, head-spinning volatility of bitcoin aside, U.S. capital markets risk missing out on a burgeoning technology if they are too cautious. "If the SEC doesn't start allowing products, the capital markets here in the United States will get left behind by those in Europe and Asia. That's always a concern," said Trace Schmeltz, a partner at Barnes & Thornburg in Chicago. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Trevor Hunnicutt; Additional reporting by Jemima Kelly in London; Editing by Megan Davies and Meredith Mazzilli) || Why Honeywell International Surged in 2017 and Beat Out Its Peers: What happened Shares in Honeywell International (NYSE: HON) rose 32% in 2017 as the industrial conglomerate significantly outperformed peers such as United Technologies and General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) . While the former still needs to convince the market it's on track with its long-term objectives -- not least with the production of its geared turbofan engine and completion of its Rockwell Collins acquisition -- and GE battles with a possible structural problem at its power segment, Honeywell has had a solid year of execution. I have three key points to note: Earnings per share (EPS) looks set to come in at the high end of original guidance for 2017, with stronger-than-expected sales growth more than offsetting weaker-than-expected operating margin. Management has executed well and is on track to significantly increase cash flow generation in the future. The market has rewarded industrial conglomerates when they restructure and focus on their core activities -- a good example coming from the Danaher/ Fortive split -- and Honeywell's plan to spin off its homes and global distribution and transportation (turbochargers) businesses in 2018 is a welcome development. All told, it was a good first year for Adamczyk. So what Honeywell's execution -- in particular improving performance in its aerospace and performance materials and technologies segments -- and restructuring suggest it's well placed for 2018. In contrast to GE , Honeywell's spin-offs will take place after a period of earnings strength, and that means investors are likely to receive full value for the assets that management is selling for them. Moreover, the spin-offs should enable Adamczyk to be more aggressive with acquisitions in order to improve Honeywell's growth rate -- something in line with his objectives . A Honeywell International flight deck Image source: Honeywell International. Now what? Investors will be looking forward to another year of good execution, with the big intangible coming from potential acquisition activity as Adamczyk reshapes the company. Moreover, the U.S. industrial economy is set for stronger growth in 2018. This matters to Honeywell in particular because it's a company generating 60% of its earnings from hard-to-predict short-cycle businesses. In other words, it could be set for some positive earnings estimate revisions if growth is stronger than expected. Story continues More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Lee Samaha owns shares of United Technologies. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Why Honeywell International Surged in 2017 and Beat Out Its Peers: Shares inHoneywell International(NYSE: HON)rose 32% in 2017 as the industrial conglomerate significantly outperformed peers such asUnited TechnologiesandGeneral Electric Company(NYSE: GE). While the former still needs to convince the market it's on track with itslong-term objectives-- not least with the production of its geared turbofan engine and completion of itsRockwell Collinsacquisition -- and GE battles with a possiblestructural problemat its power segment, Honeywell has had a solid year of execution. I have three key points to note:
• Earnings per share (EPS) looks set to come in at the high end of original guidance for 2017, withstronger-than-expected sales growthmore than offsetting weaker-than-expected operating margin.
• Management has executed well and is on track to significantlyincrease cash flow generationin the future.
• The market has rewarded industrial conglomerates when they restructure and focus on their core activities -- a good example coming from theDanaher/Fortivesplit-- and Honeywell's plan to spin off its homes and global distribution and transportation (turbochargers) businesses in 2018 is a welcome development.
All told, it was a good first year for Adamczyk.
Honeywell's execution -- in particular improving performance in its aerospace and performance materials and technologies segments -- and restructuring suggest it's well placed for 2018. Incontrast to GE, Honeywell's spin-offs will take place after a period of earnings strength, and that means investors are likely to receive full value for the assets that management is selling for them.
Moreover, the spin-offs should enable Adamczyk to be more aggressive with acquisitions in order to improve Honeywell's growth rate -- something in line withhis objectives.
Image source: Honeywell International.
Investors will be looking forward to another year of good execution, with the big intangible coming from potential acquisition activity as Adamczyk reshapes the company. Moreover, the U.S. industrial economy is set for stronger growth in 2018. This matters to Honeywell in particular because it's a company generating 60% of its earnings from hard-to-predict short-cycle businesses. In other words, it could be set for some positive earnings estimate revisions if growth is stronger than expected.
More From The Motley Fool
• 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices
• 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018
• 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing
• 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today
• The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss
• Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This
Lee Samahaowns shares of United Technologies. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.
[Social Media Buzz]
#BTC Average: 14881.63$
#Bitfinex - 14455.00$
#Poloniex - 14432.00$
#Bitstamp - 14471.77$
#Coinbase - 14450.00$
#Binance - 14500.00$
#CEXio - 15828.87$
#Kraken - API DOWN!$
#Cryptopia - 14388.71$
#Bittrex - 14458.36$
#GateCoin - 16950.00$
#Bitcoin #Exchanges #Price || #CryptoMarkets top 10 price update 1h
$BTC $14116.30 -0.72%
$ETH $1349.25 -0.45%
$XRP $1.88 -3.27%
$BCH $2500.00 0.31%
$ADA $0.72 -2.9%
$LTC $240.75 -0.66%
$XEM $1.44 0.31%
$MIOTA $3.39 -1.92%
$XLM $0.53 -2.39%
$DASH $1075.77 ...
|
13405.80, 13980.60, 14360.20, 13772.00, 13819.80, 11490.50, 11188.60, 11474.90, 11607.40, 12899.20
|
Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 6218.30, 6404.00, 6385.82, 6614.18, 6529.59, 6597.55, 6639.14, 6673.50, 6856.93, 6773.88, 6741.75, 6329.95, 6394.71, 6228.81, 6238.05, 6276.12, 6359.64, 6741.75, 7321.04, 7370.78, 7466.86, 7354.13, 7419.29, 7418.49, 7711.11, 8424.27, 8181.39, 7951.58, 8165.01, 8192.15, 8218.46, 8180.48, 7780.44, 7624.91, 7567.15, 7434.39, 7032.85, 7068.48, 6951.80, 6753.12, 6305.80, 6568.23, 6184.71, 6295.73, 6322.69, 6297.57, 6199.71, 6308.52, 6334.73, 6580.63, 6423.76, 6506.07, 6308.53, 6488.76, 6376.71, 6534.88, 6719.96, 6763.19, 6707.26, 6884.64, 7096.28, 7047.16, 6978.23, 7037.58, 7193.25, 7272.72, 7260.06, 7361.66, 6792.83, 6529.17, 6467.07, 6225.98, 6300.86, 6329.70, 6321.20, 6351.80, 6517.31, 6512.71, 6543.20, 6517.18, 6281.20, 6371.30, 6398.54, 6519.67, 6734.95, 6721.98, 6710.63, 6595.41, 6446.47, 6495.00.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2018-09-26]
Volume: 4437300000, RSI (14-day): 46.51, 50-day EMA: 6676.84, 200-day EMA: 7368.75
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1194.00, Gold RSI: 44.72
Oil Price: 71.57, Oil RSI: 60.21
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Household Name: New Scrabble Dictionary Includes ‘Bitcoin’ as Playable Word: The newly-published sixth edition of Merriam-Webster’s Scrabble Dictionary released Mondayincludes”bitcoin” as a playable word for the first time.
Whilebitcoin was addedto Merriam-Webster’s unabridged dictionary in 2016, the Scrabble dictionary is updated less often and includes fewer words. The last update released four years ago, in contrast to the annual updates in standard dictionaries. So it is fitting to finally include the nearly universally understood bitcoin to the popular game’s “Official Scrabble Players Dictionary.”
The other words added are much less universally understood, such as “shizzle”and “cakehole,” among the over 300 new additions. Such millennial-speak has crept into the lexicon more and more, which Merriam-Webster is quick to pick up on. Over its long history, the Merriam-Webster dictionary has drawncriticismfor being too prescriptivist, meaning they are too quick to add new words that appear in everyday language. Even the most recent words added to the Scrabble Dictionary attest to this allegation.
And if you thought there wasn’t any oversight into how these words were added to the rule book for the most die-hard Scrabble Players, don’t worry — the dictionary sought counsel from the North American Scrabble Players Association. Yes, there is an actual association for Scrabble players, according to theAssociated Press.
However, bitcoin has perhaps been one of the least controversial additions to the dictionary.
In addition to bitcoin’s debut in the Scrabble dictionary, the latest release of the Merriam-Webster dictionary — the kind you had to use in high school — includes additional cryptocurrency-related words. “Fintech,” for example, is one of the “new technological terms [that] are more focused on the future than the present.”
As Merriam-Webster’sblog postexplains:
“It’s important to remember that new words are added to the dictionary only when they have already been used by many people—often initially by specialists or subcultures. Then, gradually, a word’s use spreads to the rest of us. Every word moves at its own pace; there is no average speed for a word’s acceptance into the language, the culture, and the dictionary. The dictionary’s job is to report that usage as it enters the general vocabulary.”
Interestingly, it is possible to track how cryptocurrency’sadoption and growthpropels more of the “insider” lexicon into official English.
Featured Image from Shutterstock
The postHousehold Name: New Scrabble Dictionary Includes ‘Bitcoin’ as Playable Wordappeared first onCCN. || Household Name: New Scrabble Dictionary Includes ‘Bitcoin’ as Playable Word: The newly-published sixth edition of Merriam-Webster’s Scrabble Dictionary released Mondayincludes”bitcoin” as a playable word for the first time.
Whilebitcoin was addedto Merriam-Webster’s unabridged dictionary in 2016, the Scrabble dictionary is updated less often and includes fewer words. The last update released four years ago, in contrast to the annual updates in standard dictionaries. So it is fitting to finally include the nearly universally understood bitcoin to the popular game’s “Official Scrabble Players Dictionary.”
The other words added are much less universally understood, such as “shizzle”and “cakehole,” among the over 300 new additions. Such millennial-speak has crept into the lexicon more and more, which Merriam-Webster is quick to pick up on. Over its long history, the Merriam-Webster dictionary has drawncriticismfor being too prescriptivist, meaning they are too quick to add new words that appear in everyday language. Even the most recent words added to the Scrabble Dictionary attest to this allegation.
And if you thought there wasn’t any oversight into how these words were added to the rule book for the most die-hard Scrabble Players, don’t worry — the dictionary sought counsel from the North American Scrabble Players Association. Yes, there is an actual association for Scrabble players, according to theAssociated Press.
However, bitcoin has perhaps been one of the least controversial additions to the dictionary.
In addition to bitcoin’s debut in the Scrabble dictionary, the latest release of the Merriam-Webster dictionary — the kind you had to use in high school — includes additional cryptocurrency-related words. “Fintech,” for example, is one of the “new technological terms [that] are more focused on the future than the present.”
As Merriam-Webster’sblog postexplains:
“It’s important to remember that new words are added to the dictionary only when they have already been used by many people—often initially by specialists or subcultures. Then, gradually, a word’s use spreads to the rest of us. Every word moves at its own pace; there is no average speed for a word’s acceptance into the language, the culture, and the dictionary. The dictionary’s job is to report that usage as it enters the general vocabulary.”
Interestingly, it is possible to track how cryptocurrency’sadoption and growthpropels more of the “insider” lexicon into official English.
Featured Image from Shutterstock
The postHousehold Name: New Scrabble Dictionary Includes ‘Bitcoin’ as Playable Wordappeared first onCCN. || Household Name: New Scrabble Dictionary Includes Bitcoin as Playable Word: Bitcoin Scrabble The newly-published sixth edition of Merriam-Websters Scrabble Dictionary released Monday includes bitcoin as a playable word for the first time. Bitcoin Finds Its Way into Scrabble Lexicon While bitcoin was added to Merriam-Websters unabridged dictionary in 2016, the Scrabble dictionary is updated less often and includes fewer words. The last update released four years ago, in contrast to the annual updates in standard dictionaries. So it is fitting to finally include the nearly universally understood bitcoin to the popular games Official Scrabble Players Dictionary. The other words added are much less universally understood, such as shizzleand cakehole, among the over 300 new additions. Such millennial-speak has crept into the lexicon more and more, which Merriam-Webster is quick to pick up on. Over its long history, the Merriam-Webster dictionary has drawn criticism for being too prescriptivist, meaning they are too quick to add new words that appear in everyday language. Even the most recent words added to the Scrabble Dictionary attest to this allegation. And if you thought there wasnt any oversight into how these words were added to the rule book for the most die-hard Scrabble Players, dont worry the dictionary sought counsel from the North American Scrabble Players Association. Yes, there is an actual association for Scrabble players, according to the Associated Press . However, bitcoin has perhaps been one of the least controversial additions to the dictionary. Additional Crypto Buzzwords Added In addition to bitcoins debut in the Scrabble dictionary, the latest release of the Merriam-Webster dictionary the kind you had to use in high school includes additional cryptocurrency-related words. Fintech, for example, is one of the new technological terms [that] are more focused on the future than the present. Story continues As Merriam-Websters blog post explains: Its important to remember that new words are added to the dictionary only when they have already been used by many peopleoften initially by specialists or subcultures. Then, gradually, a words use spreads to the rest of us. Every word moves at its own pace; there is no average speed for a words acceptance into the language, the culture, and the dictionary. The dictionarys job is to report that usage as it enters the general vocabulary. Interestingly, it is possible to track how cryptocurrencys adoption and growth propels more of the insider lexicon into official English. Featured Image from Shutterstock The post Household Name: New Scrabble Dictionary Includes Bitcoin as Playable Word appeared first on CCN . || Coinbase will add cryptocurrencies more rapidly, with ratings and reviews: Coinbaseannouncedon Tuesday a new policy for adding assets, and it constitutes a major change for America’s biggest cryptocurrency brokerage.
The site will now allow the developer teams behind cryptocurrencies to fill out an application form for their token to be listed on Coinbase. Of course,Coinbase will also consider adding assets based on its own evaluation, as it has in the past.
And Coinbase will announce new assets differently. “Because listing announcements will become more frequent,” the company says, “we expect to publicly announce the addition of new assets only at or near the time of public launch.”
This is significant: Coinbase will no longer give an advance heads-up to say it will soon add a new token; instead it will make a single announcement at the time it adds a token or right before.
Coinbase currently offers trading of bitcoin (BTC), litecoin (LTC), ether (ETH), bitcoin cash (BCH), and ethereum classic (ETC).
The goal of the new policy, Coinbase says in a press release: “to rapidly list all assets that meet our quality criteria and are compliant with local law.”The policy comes with additional caveats and asterisks, some of which may raise eyebrows.
Since crypto regulation varies by country and state-by-state, Coinbase says it may begin offering certain tokens only outside the U.S., “in a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction manner.”
And finally, applications for listing may eventually carry a fee, “to defray the legal and operational costs associated with evaluating and listing new assets,” Coinbase says. There will not be fees at launch of the new policy.
If and when Coinbase does implement application fees, that is likely to prompt criticism for taking money to list new coins. Critics may also see the new application option as a warning sign that Coinbase is about to get far less choosy, especially if it adds a raft of lesser-known “altcoins.”
All of this is happening nearly one year after Coinbase came under heavy fire when the price of bitcoin cash soared in the hours before Coinbase publicly announced it was adding the asset. Critics speculated thatCoinbase insiderswho knew the site would be adding bitcoin cash told their friends, who bought up the asset ahead of time.
In the aftermath of the scandal, Coinbase changed its policy toannounce ahead of timewhen it is considering adding a new token, so as to avoid any whiff of impropriety. (It also said it implemented stricter employee trading restrictions.) In that spirit, Coinbase announced in March itsintention to add ERC20tokens — new assets created using the smart contract blockchain Ethereum.
As Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasantold Yahoo Finance in June, “Our new policy basically pre-announces assets to avoid exactly that kind of issue [that happened when it added bitcoin cash]. We announce the intent, then we go and list it. We’re really just trying to be extremely above-board with everything that we’re doing.”
Now the listing policy is already changing again. Why so soon?
“This is an evolution of the current process,” Srinivasan tells Yahoo Finance. “We looked at what was working and what wasn’t and found that having multiple announcements wasn’t in the best interests of our customers.”
In addition to adding more assets to Coinbase, and adding them more rapidly, Coinbase will “augment our quality control by adding star ratings, rankings, and reviews to help users learn about assets.” (Rival exchangeBinancedoes this.)
Some may see the ratings and reviews as the biggest news here, from a consumer-facing standpoint. After all, Coinbase says its mission is, “to give anyone — no matter where they live — trustworthy and secure access to a more open, blockchain-based financial system.” In other words: get everyone into crypto.
Many Americans have stayed away from the crypto craze, turned off bynegative headlinesabout crime or hacks or exchange outages. If Coinbase really builds out its library of reviews and ratings of cryptocurrencies as it adds more of them, the site could also become a Yelp-like platform for crypto education.
—
Daniel Roberts covers bitcoin and blockchain at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter at @readDanwrite.
Read more:
Coinbase exec: ‘Adding more assets is a very big priority for us’
Blockchain CEO on ‘Just Hodl’ bitcoin mantra: ‘I don’t believe in that’
Chain CEO: Public and private blockchains will soon converge
Warren Buffett on buying bitcoin: ‘That is not investing’
Lightning Labs CEO: We are back to a ‘bitcoin, not blockchain’ world
The 11 biggest names in crypto right now || Coinbase: 'Listing announcements will become more frequent': Coinbase announced on Tuesday a new policy for adding assets, and it constitutes a major change for America’s biggest cryptocurrency brokerage. The site will now allow the developer teams behind cryptocurrencies to fill out an application form for their token to be listed on Coinbase. Of course, Coinbase will also consider adding assets based on its own evaluation, as it has in the past. And Coinbase will announce new assets differently. “Because listing announcements will become more frequent,” the company says, “ we expect to publicly announce the addition of new assets only at or near the time of public launch.” This is significant: Coinbase will no longer give an advance heads-up to say it will soon add a new token; instead it will make a single announcement at the time it adds a token or right before. Coinbase currently offers trading of bitcoin (BTC), litecoin (LTC), ether (ETH), bitcoin cash (BCH), and ethereum classic (ETC). The goal of the new policy, Coinbase says in a press release: “to rapidly list all assets that meet our quality criteria and are compliant with local law.” The policy comes with additional caveats and asterisks, some of which may raise eyebrows. Since crypto regulation varies by country and state-by-state, Coinbase says it may begin offering certain tokens only outside the U.S., “i n a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction manner.” And finally, applications for listing may eventually carry a fee, “to defray the legal and operational costs associated with evaluating and listing new assets,” Coinbase says. There will not be fees at launch of the new policy. If and when Coinbase does implement application fees, that is likely to prompt criticism for taking money to list new coins. Critics may also see the new application option as a warning sign that Coinbase is about to get far less choosy, especially if it adds a raft of lesser-known “altcoins.” Coinbase M&A chief Emilie Choi (L) and Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan at the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit: Crypto in San Francisco on June 14, 2018. All of this is happening nearly one year after Coinbase came under heavy fire when the price of bitcoin cash soared in the hours before Coinbase publicly announced it was adding the asset. Critics speculated that Coinbase insiders who knew the site would be adding bitcoin cash told their friends, who bought up the asset ahead of time. Story continues In the aftermath of the scandal, Coinbase changed its policy to announce ahead of time when it is considering adding a new token, so as to avoid any whiff of impropriety. (It also said it implemented stricter employee trading restrictions.) In that spirit, Coinbase announced in March its intention to add ERC20 tokens — new assets created using the smart contract blockchain Ethereum. As Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan told Yahoo Finance in June , “ Our new policy basically pre-announces assets to avoid exactly that kind of issue [that happened when it added bitcoin cash]. We announce the intent, then we go and list it. We’re really just trying to be extremely above-board with everything that we’re doing.” Now the listing policy is already changing again. Why so soon? “This is an evolution of the current process,” Srinivasan tells Yahoo Finance. “We looked at what was working and what wasn’t and found that having multiple announcements wasn’t in the best interests of our customers.” In addition to adding more assets to Coinbase, and adding them more rapidly, Coinbase will “augment our quality control by adding star ratings, rankings, and reviews to help users learn about assets.” (Rival exchange Binance does this.) Some may see the ratings and reviews as the biggest news here, from a consumer-facing standpoint. After all, Coinbase says its mission is, “ to give anyone — no matter where they live — trustworthy and secure access to a more open, blockchain-based financial system.” In other words: get everyone into crypto. Many Americans have stayed away from the crypto craze, turned off by negative headlines about crime or hacks or exchange outages. If Coinbase really builds out its library of reviews and ratings of cryptocurrencies as it adds more of them, the site could also become a Yelp-like platform for crypto education. — Daniel Roberts covers bitcoin and blockchain at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter at @ readDanwrite . Read more: Coinbase exec: ‘Adding more assets is a very big priority for us’ Blockchain CEO on ‘Just Hodl’ bitcoin mantra: ‘I don’t believe in that’ Chain CEO: Public and private blockchains will soon converge Warren Buffett on buying bitcoin: ‘That is not investing’ Lightning Labs CEO: We are back to a ‘bitcoin, not blockchain’ world The 11 biggest names in crypto right now || Coinbase set to bring customers closer to regulated cryptocurrency assets: A growing number of assets in the crypto market will be filtered according to legitimacy across different jurisdictions. - Anadolu Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is set to bring people in the UK closer to the digital currency market by listing crypto assets that are compliant with local laws. Coinbase, a start-up based in San Francisco, has introduced a new feature that will see it list a growing number of digital assets alongside Bitcoin, such as Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Litecoin, that align with regulations in different countries, boosting consumer confidence in their legitimacy. The company was founded in 2012 to give people secure access to a financial system based on the blockchain, the decentralised ledger that facilitates cryptocurrency transactions. The digital currencies have gained increasing attention over the past year after a rally that saw their total market capitalisation soar to approximately $830bn in January before crashing to the current value of $200bn. Coinbase currently operates in 32 different countries and has established recognition from traditional finance players in the UK after Barclays bank opened an account for the exchange earlier this year. Zeeshan Feroz, UK chief executive of Coinbase, believes the new feature will give people outside the US a clearer, more transparent way of navigating the thousands of assets that continue to appear in the digital currency sector. “Coinbase supports about five assets and clearly the market is much bigger than the five we support,” he said. “We’ve been trying to figure out for a while what the best way is to support more assets in the currency market. We’ve taken a thoughtful and deliberate approach in terms of how we’ve done that in the past, but what we’re trying to do is upscale that.” The listing process requires issuers to go through a ten page online form to provide detail around the assets they want to submit for consideration in a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction manner. The increasing diversification of crypto assets comes at a time when regulators debate how digital currencies and their associated assets should be monitored. Story continues Earlier this month, finance ministers across the European Union met to discuss a potential framework for the regulation of cryptocurrencies, while the Financial Conduct Authority, the UK’s financial watchdog, is working with global institutions to better understand the industry. Coinbase admits that its new listing process means that in practice, some assets will only be available to customers outside the US “for a period of time”. But according to Mr Feroz, it ensures only “high-quality assets” will be associated with Coinbase’s platform, and an ongoing dialogue with regulators will be critical to ensure clearer information is provided to potential new cryptocurrency consumers. “Education in general is one of the top responsibilities that a crypto business has today,” said Mr Feroz. “We are taking steps to address this. We started a listing page for the top 50 assets recently that will start to serve as a filter for actual information from all the noise you may get around assets, and allows ultimately for customers and regulators to make better quality decisions.” || Coinbase set to bring customers closer to regulated cryptocurrency assets: A growing number of assets in the crypto market will be filtered according to legitimacy across different jurisdictions. - Anadolu Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is set to bring people in the UK closer to the digital currency market by listing crypto assets that are compliant with local laws. Coinbase, a start-up based in San Francisco, has introduced a new feature that will see it list a growing number of digital assets alongside Bitcoin, such as Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Litecoin, that align with regulations in different countries, boosting consumer confidence in their legitimacy. The company was founded in 2012 to give people secure access to a financial system based on the blockchain, the decentralised ledger that facilitates cryptocurrency transactions. The digital currencies have gained increasing attention over the past year after a rally that saw their total market capitalisation soar to approximately $830bn in January before crashing to the current value of $200bn. Coinbase currently operates in 32 different countries and has established recognition from traditional finance players in the UK after Barclays bank opened an account for the exchange earlier this year. Zeeshan Feroz, UK chief executive of Coinbase, believes the new feature will give people outside the US a clearer, more transparent way of navigating the thousands of assets that continue to appear in the digital currency sector. “Coinbase supports about five assets and clearly the market is much bigger than the five we support,” he said. “We’ve been trying to figure out for a while what the best way is to support more assets in the currency market. We’ve taken a thoughtful and deliberate approach in terms of how we’ve done that in the past, but what we’re trying to do is upscale that.” The listing process requires issuers to go through a ten page online form to provide detail around the assets they want to submit for consideration in a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction manner. The increasing diversification of crypto assets comes at a time when regulators debate how digital currencies and their associated assets should be monitored. Story continues Earlier this month, finance ministers across the European Union met to discuss a potential framework for the regulation of cryptocurrencies, while the Financial Conduct Authority, the UK’s financial watchdog, is working with global institutions to better understand the industry. Coinbase admits that its new listing process means that in practice, some assets will only be available to customers outside the US “for a period of time”. But according to Mr Feroz, it ensures only “high-quality assets” will be associated with Coinbase’s platform, and an ongoing dialogue with regulators will be critical to ensure clearer information is provided to potential new cryptocurrency consumers. “Education in general is one of the top responsibilities that a crypto business has today,” said Mr Feroz. “We are taking steps to address this. We started a listing page for the top 50 assets recently that will start to serve as a filter for actual information from all the noise you may get around assets, and allows ultimately for customers and regulators to make better quality decisions.” || Monero Devs Patch Bug Allowing Attackers to ‘Burn’ Cryptocurrency Exchange Deposits: The developers of privacy-centric cryptocurrencymonerohave patched a bug that would have allowed an attacker to cause significant damage to cryptocurrency exchanges and XMR-friendly merchants.
Addressed through a software patch privately distributed to exchanges and merchant and later publicly disclosed through apost-mortemon the project’s website, the bug would have allowed a user to deliberately “burn” XMR by sending multiple payments to the same stealth address. While the recipient would have been able to spend one output (the wallet automatically uses the largest output first), funds sent through subsequent transactions would have been rendered unspendable since these transactions would have resulted in duplicate key images that would would have been rejected by the network as suspected double spend attacks.
A determined attacker could have exploited this bug by sending a series of payments to a single stealth address belonging to a cryptocurrency exchange or merchant. Specifically, the bug was found in the monero wallet software, which did not screen for this particular abnormality. Consequently, the receiving wallet would not have flagged these transactions as problematic and would have credited the deposit or marked the invoice as paid.
In the case of an exploit executed against an exchange, the attacker would have been able to trade the full deposit for other cryptocurrencies and withdraw them to an external wallet. However, when the exchange operator attempted to include the deposited funds in a future transaction they would only have been able to spend the largest output. And though the attacker would not have received a direct material benefit, they could have — for the price of network transactions fees — been able to cause the exchange, and by extension traders holding funds on the platform, to lose a massive amount of funds.
If deployed on a large enough scale, the exploit could have indirectly benefited the attacker by reducing the effective monero supply, i.e. the amount of spendable XMR, thereby theoretically increasing the value of each spendable coin relative to the cryptocurrency’s market cap.
Notably, the basic structure of the exploit had been known for quite some time. However, it was only recently that, spurred by a discussion on the XMR subreddit, developers identified that the bug could be meaningfully exploited to the detriment of cryptocurrency exchanges, merchants, and other organizations.
Disclosure of the bug has not had a noticeable effect on themonero price. Currently trading at $114, XMR is down 3 percent for the day while most other large-cap altcoins are down at least 5 percent.
Reflecting on the process used to disclose the bug and privately circulate the patch to vulnerable organizations, community moderator dEBRUYNE acknowledged that the methods used were less than ideal but noted that the community has not yet implemented a better vulnerability reporting protocol.
From the post:
“I (and others) privately notified as many exchanges, services, and merchants as possible with the (private) patch that had to be applied on top of the v0.12.3.0 release branch. To reiterate (from the previous post mortem blog), this is clearly not the preferred method, as it (i) invariably excludes organizations that I (and others) personally do not have contact with, but are an essential part of the Monero ecosystem and (ii) may invoke a view of preferential treatment. However, there had only been limited time to improve the vulnerability report process.”
Later in the post, dEBRUYNE called for more developers to participate in XMR code review to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future, adding that “this event is again an effective reminder that cryptocurrency and the corresponding software are still in its infancy and thus quite prone to (critical) bugs.”
Indeed, not even bitcoin is immune from such incidents. As CCNreported, BTC developers recently patched a vulnerability that, if exploited, would have allowed miners to effectively print new coins, artificially inflating the cryptocurrency’s supply.
Images from Shutterstock
The postMonero Devs Patch Bug Allowing Attackers to ‘Burn’ Cryptocurrency Exchange Depositsappeared first onCCN. || Monero Devs Patch Bug Allowing Attackers to ‘Burn’ Cryptocurrency Exchange Deposits: burn money monero bug cryptocurrency The developers of privacy-centric cryptocurrency monero have patched a bug that would have allowed an attacker to cause significant damage to cryptocurrency exchanges and XMR-friendly merchants. Now-Patched Monero Bug Put Cryptocurrency Exchanges, Merchants at Risk Addressed through a software patch privately distributed to exchanges and merchant and later publicly disclosed through a post-mortem on the project’s website, the bug would have allowed a user to deliberately “burn” XMR by sending multiple payments to the same stealth address. While the recipient would have been able to spend one output (the wallet automatically uses the largest output first), funds sent through subsequent transactions would have been rendered unspendable since these transactions would have resulted in duplicate key images that would would have been rejected by the network as suspected double spend attacks. A determined attacker could have exploited this bug by sending a series of payments to a single stealth address belonging to a cryptocurrency exchange or merchant. Specifically, the bug was found in the monero wallet software, which did not screen for this particular abnormality. Consequently, the receiving wallet would not have flagged these transactions as problematic and would have credited the deposit or marked the invoice as paid. Monero bug In the case of an exploit executed against an exchange, the attacker would have been able to trade the full deposit for other cryptocurrencies and withdraw them to an external wallet. However, when the exchange operator attempted to include the deposited funds in a future transaction they would only have been able to spend the largest output. And though the attacker would not have received a direct material benefit, they could have — for the price of network transactions fees — been able to cause the exchange, and by extension traders holding funds on the platform, to lose a massive amount of funds. Story continues If deployed on a large enough scale, the exploit could have indirectly benefited the attacker by reducing the effective monero supply, i.e. the amount of spendable XMR, thereby theoretically increasing the value of each spendable coin relative to the cryptocurrency’s market cap. Notably, the basic structure of the exploit had been known for quite some time. However, it was only recently that, spurred by a discussion on the XMR subreddit, developers identified that the bug could be meaningfully exploited to the detriment of cryptocurrency exchanges, merchants, and other organizations. Disclosure of the bug has not had a noticeable effect on the monero price . Currently trading at $114, XMR is down 3 percent for the day while most other large-cap altcoins are down at least 5 percent. More Code Review Needed in Cryptocurrency Ecosystem Note that compiling v0.13.0.0-RC1 will result in the blockchain being 'converted' to a new version. Alternatively, you can compile the release-v0.12 branch, which also includes the patch and ensures the blockchain is not (yet) converted. — Monero || #xmr (@monero) September 25, 2018 Reflecting on the process used to disclose the bug and privately circulate the patch to vulnerable organizations, community moderator dEBRUYNE acknowledged that the methods used were less than ideal but noted that the community has not yet implemented a better vulnerability reporting protocol. From the post: “I (and others) privately notified as many exchanges, services, and merchants as possible with the (private) patch that had to be applied on top of the v0.12.3.0 release branch. To reiterate (from the previous post mortem blog), this is clearly not the preferred method, as it (i) invariably excludes organizations that I (and others) personally do not have contact with, but are an essential part of the Monero ecosystem and (ii) may invoke a view of preferential treatment. However, there had only been limited time to improve the vulnerability report process.” Later in the post, dEBRUYNE called for more developers to participate in XMR code review to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future, adding that “this event is again an effective reminder that cryptocurrency and the corresponding software are still in its infancy and thus quite prone to (critical) bugs.” Indeed, not even bitcoin is immune from such incidents. As CCN reported , BTC developers recently patched a vulnerability that, if exploited, would have allowed miners to effectively print new coins, artificially inflating the cryptocurrency’s supply. Images from Shutterstock The post Monero Devs Patch Bug Allowing Attackers to ‘Burn’ Cryptocurrency Exchange Deposits appeared first on CCN . || Cryptocurrency That Works Without Internet, mCoin Launches In Africa: mCoin London-based ONEm Communications has announced the launch of its mCoin program across Africa. Designed to be a hybrid currency, mCoin is a digital currency that can be transferred over text or through the smartphone app. Africa is a continent with millions of people who have access to mobile phones but little to no internet connectivity. ONEm wants to bring the benefit of cryptocurrency to millions of the unbanked in Africa through the mCoin program. ONEm Communications is a tech startup that develops advanced platforms supporting an ecosystem of services. The ecosystem is a set of interactive services that seeks to transform the way people communicate and access information on mobile. In an interview with Bitcoin Magazine , ONEm Co-Founder & CEO Christopher Richardson said the reception for the mCoin in Africa has been “tremendous.” He believes the blockchain can be combined with mobile technology to connect the unbanked in Africa. "We believe when combined with informational and community-based services; this can leverage their happiness by giving them simple and effective tools that extend their capabilities. Africa is just the beginning; we will be launching in many countries all over the world to allow everyone to enjoy cryptocurrency on ordinary mobiles." Crypto Wallet The ONEm Wallet is a digital wallet that allows users to send mCoin to others in the community, by means of a wallet address in the form of a username. Users can also send mCoin from an offline SMS wallet to the digital wallet. Richardson, who has experience in the telecommunications sector, says the SMS wallet is secure as it's not connected to the internet. The SMS wallet was created to mirror a cold storage wallet. The SMS wallet works with a set of shortcodes that provides options to the user, such as sending mCoin and viewing the wallet address. According to the company, users can send mCoin to another SMS wallet or to a digital ONEm Wallet using the shortcodes. Story continues While Richardson believes the funds in the offline SMS wallet are secure, there is still a high risk of losing tokens if the registered phone falls into the wrong hands. Also, unlike hot wallets, the SMS wallet doesn't have the capability to enable two-factor authentication, which acts as an extra layer of security for wallets. Earning and Trading mCoin For now, users can only earn the token by participating in a “Pseudo-Mining” program — a form of mining activity that rewards users for their activities on the platform with points (mPoints), which are then converted into mCoin. The company plans to add an option for users to purchase mCoin with their phone credit in the future. Richardson says the users will be able to trade their mCoin on both local and global exchanges, but he refused to mention any names. mCoin has a growing community of over 80,000 users, and it currently operates in seven African countries. mCoin is not to be confused with M-Coin , the mobile payment solution for web and mobile devices. You can learn more about mCoin here. This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine . || Cryptocurrency That Works Without Internet, mCoin Launches In Africa: mCoin London-based ONEm Communications has announced the launch of its mCoin program across Africa. Designed to be a hybrid currency, mCoin is a digital currency that can be transferred over text or through the smartphone app. Africa is a continent with millions of people who have access to mobile phones but little to no internet connectivity. ONEm wants to bring the benefit of cryptocurrency to millions of the unbanked in Africa through the mCoin program. ONEm Communications is a tech startup that develops advanced platforms supporting an ecosystem of services. The ecosystem is a set of interactive services that seeks to transform the way people communicate and access information on mobile. In an interview with Bitcoin Magazine , ONEm Co-Founder & CEO Christopher Richardson said the reception for the mCoin in Africa has been “tremendous.” He believes the blockchain can be combined with mobile technology to connect the unbanked in Africa. "We believe when combined with informational and community-based services; this can leverage their happiness by giving them simple and effective tools that extend their capabilities. Africa is just the beginning; we will be launching in many countries all over the world to allow everyone to enjoy cryptocurrency on ordinary mobiles." Crypto Wallet The ONEm Wallet is a digital wallet that allows users to send mCoin to others in the community, by means of a wallet address in the form of a username. Users can also send mCoin from an offline SMS wallet to the digital wallet. Richardson, who has experience in the telecommunications sector, says the SMS wallet is secure as it's not connected to the internet. The SMS wallet was created to mirror a cold storage wallet. The SMS wallet works with a set of shortcodes that provides options to the user, such as sending mCoin and viewing the wallet address. According to the company, users can send mCoin to another SMS wallet or to a digital ONEm Wallet using the shortcodes. Story continues While Richardson believes the funds in the offline SMS wallet are secure, there is still a high risk of losing tokens if the registered phone falls into the wrong hands. Also, unlike hot wallets, the SMS wallet doesn't have the capability to enable two-factor authentication, which acts as an extra layer of security for wallets. Earning and Trading mCoin For now, users can only earn the token by participating in a “Pseudo-Mining” program — a form of mining activity that rewards users for their activities on the platform with points (mPoints), which are then converted into mCoin. The company plans to add an option for users to purchase mCoin with their phone credit in the future. Richardson says the users will be able to trade their mCoin on both local and global exchanges, but he refused to mention any names. mCoin has a growing community of over 80,000 users, and it currently operates in seven African countries. mCoin is not to be confused with M-Coin , the mobile payment solution for web and mobile devices. You can learn more about mCoin here. This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine . || Did the Mt. Gox Trustee Bitcoin Sell-Off Cause the Crypto Market to Crash?: On September 25, the Mt. Gox trustee released a document entitled “Announcement on Measures to Secure Interests of Bankruptcy Creditors,” disclosing the sale of over $230 million worth of crypto including Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash.
While it still remains unsure whether the decline in the price of BTC and the valuation of the crypto market was triggered by the sell-off of Bitcoin and bitcoin Cash by the Mt. Gox trustee, the recent correction of the market coincided with the release of the document.
Since March, within a period of six months, 25.98 billion yen ($230 million) of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash were sold by the Mt. Gox trustee in the cryptocurrency exchange market.
The daily volume of Bitcoin is estimated to be around $4 billion, which increases to mid-$5 billion in rallies and corrections. Tens of millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin can be easily liquidated and absorbed by the cryptocurrency market without demonstrating unexpected price movements.
But, if $250 million worth of Bitcoin is dumped on the cryptocurrency exchange market in several big chunks, it is possible to trigger a domino effect across major trading platforms and cause the price of BTC to drop.
If the BTC price dropped by 3 percent due to the Mt. Gox trustee and its sell-off of $230 million in BTC, then the Mt. Gox either sold a large chunk of its holdings throughout the past week or decided to dump the entire $250 million on exchanges several days before drop in the valuation of the market.
Hence, while it is possible that the Mt. Gox trustee had an impact on the downtrend of Bitcoin, it is not realistic to solely attribute the wipeout of $22 billion from the market to the sell-off of the Mt. Gox trustee.
Rather, as seen in the rapid decline in the price of XRP, the native cryptocurrency of Ripple, which fell by more than 15 percent in a 24-hour period, it is more likely that the sell-off of Ripple led the crypto market to fall, affecting both Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Jed McCaleb, a co-founder of Ripple, who is estimated to have more than $2 billion in XRP, has started to accelerate the sell-off of XRP.
“A founder’s increasing sale of XRP could be a negative for the token’s value, just as it would be if a CEO of a publicly traded company suddenly started dumping shares in the company’s stock,”the WSJ reported.
More to that, if the Mt. Gox trustee caused the valuation of the crypto market to drop, once the document was released, it should have led the market to initiate a short-term recovery. However, the crypto market is still showing no signs of recovery from its fall on September 25.
The corrective rally of the crypto market in the last seven days demonstrated strong momentum and volume. But, as it is possible for Ripple to record a three-fold increase in price, it is possible for the market to record a 20 percent decline in a 24-hour period.
In the upcoming months, depending on the performance of BTC, the crypto market may initiate a corrective rally after stabilizing in the low $200 billion region.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
The postDid the Mt. Gox Trustee Bitcoin Sell-Off Cause the Crypto Market to Crash?appeared first onCCN. || Did the Mt. Gox Trustee Bitcoin Sell-Off Cause the Crypto Market to Crash?: On September 25, the Mt. Gox trustee released a document entitled “Announcement on Measures to Secure Interests of Bankruptcy Creditors,” disclosing the sale of over $230 million worth of crypto including Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash.
While it still remains unsure whether the decline in the price of BTC and the valuation of the crypto market was triggered by the sell-off of Bitcoin and bitcoin Cash by the Mt. Gox trustee, the recent correction of the market coincided with the release of the document.
Since March, within a period of six months, 25.98 billion yen ($230 million) of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash were sold by the Mt. Gox trustee in the cryptocurrency exchange market.
The daily volume of Bitcoin is estimated to be around $4 billion, which increases to mid-$5 billion in rallies and corrections. Tens of millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin can be easily liquidated and absorbed by the cryptocurrency market without demonstrating unexpected price movements.
But, if $250 million worth of Bitcoin is dumped on the cryptocurrency exchange market in several big chunks, it is possible to trigger a domino effect across major trading platforms and cause the price of BTC to drop.
If the BTC price dropped by 3 percent due to the Mt. Gox trustee and its sell-off of $230 million in BTC, then the Mt. Gox either sold a large chunk of its holdings throughout the past week or decided to dump the entire $250 million on exchanges several days before drop in the valuation of the market.
Hence, while it is possible that the Mt. Gox trustee had an impact on the downtrend of Bitcoin, it is not realistic to solely attribute the wipeout of $22 billion from the market to the sell-off of the Mt. Gox trustee.
Rather, as seen in the rapid decline in the price of XRP, the native cryptocurrency of Ripple, which fell by more than 15 percent in a 24-hour period, it is more likely that the sell-off of Ripple led the crypto market to fall, affecting both Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Jed McCaleb, a co-founder of Ripple, who is estimated to have more than $2 billion in XRP, has started to accelerate the sell-off of XRP.
“A founder’s increasing sale of XRP could be a negative for the token’s value, just as it would be if a CEO of a publicly traded company suddenly started dumping shares in the company’s stock,”the WSJ reported.
More to that, if the Mt. Gox trustee caused the valuation of the crypto market to drop, once the document was released, it should have led the market to initiate a short-term recovery. However, the crypto market is still showing no signs of recovery from its fall on September 25.
The corrective rally of the crypto market in the last seven days demonstrated strong momentum and volume. But, as it is possible for Ripple to record a three-fold increase in price, it is possible for the market to record a 20 percent decline in a 24-hour period.
In the upcoming months, depending on the performance of BTC, the crypto market may initiate a corrective rally after stabilizing in the low $200 billion region.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
The postDid the Mt. Gox Trustee Bitcoin Sell-Off Cause the Crypto Market to Crash?appeared first onCCN. || Did the Mt. Gox Trustee Bitcoin Sell-Off Cause the Crypto Market to Crash?: On September 25, the Mt. Gox trustee released a document entitled Announcement on Measures to Secure Interests of Bankruptcy Creditors, disclosing the sale of over $230 million worth of crypto including Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash. While it still remains unsure whether the decline in the price of BTC and the valuation of the crypto market was triggered by the sell-off of Bitcoin and bitcoin Cash by the Mt. Gox trustee, the recent correction of the market coincided with the release of the document. Since March, within a period of six months, 25.98 billion yen ($230 million) of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash were sold by the Mt. Gox trustee in the cryptocurrency exchange market. Impact on the Market The daily volume of Bitcoin is estimated to be around $4 billion, which increases to mid-$5 billion in rallies and corrections. Tens of millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin can be easily liquidated and absorbed by the cryptocurrency market without demonstrating unexpected price movements. But, if $250 million worth of Bitcoin is dumped on the cryptocurrency exchange market in several big chunks, it is possible to trigger a domino effect across major trading platforms and cause the price of BTC to drop. If the BTC price dropped by 3 percent due to the Mt. Gox trustee and its sell-off of $230 million in BTC, then the Mt. Gox either sold a large chunk of its holdings throughout the past week or decided to dump the entire $250 million on exchanges several days before drop in the valuation of the market. Hence, while it is possible that the Mt. Gox trustee had an impact on the downtrend of Bitcoin, it is not realistic to solely attribute the wipeout of $22 billion from the market to the sell-off of the Mt. Gox trustee. Rather, as seen in the rapid decline in the price of XRP, the native cryptocurrency of Ripple, which fell by more than 15 percent in a 24-hour period, it is more likely that the sell-off of Ripple led the crypto market to fall, affecting both Bitcoin and Ethereum. Story continues Jed McCaleb, a co-founder of Ripple, who is estimated to have more than $2 billion in XRP, has started to accelerate the sell-off of XRP. A founders increasing sale of XRP could be a negative for the tokens value, just as it would be if a CEO of a publicly traded company suddenly started dumping shares in the companys stock, the WSJ reported. More to that, if the Mt. Gox trustee caused the valuation of the crypto market to drop, once the document was released, it should have led the market to initiate a short-term recovery. However, the crypto market is still showing no signs of recovery from its fall on September 25. Markets Future The corrective rally of the crypto market in the last seven days demonstrated strong momentum and volume. But, as it is possible for Ripple to record a three-fold increase in price, it is possible for the market to record a 20 percent decline in a 24-hour period. In the upcoming months, depending on the performance of BTC, the crypto market may initiate a corrective rally after stabilizing in the low $200 billion region. Featured image from Shutterstock. The post Did the Mt. Gox Trustee Bitcoin Sell-Off Cause the Crypto Market to Crash? appeared first on CCN . || Mt. Gox Trustee Confirms He Sold off $230 Million in Cryptocurrency: A man known as “Tokyo Whale,” for the enormous amount of bitcoin he controls, confirms he unloaded another big chunk of it earlier this year.
Nobuaki Kobayashi, the trustee of now-defunct Tokyo exchange Mt. Gox, liquidated 24,658 bitcoin and 25,331 bitcoin cash between the creditors’ meeting on March 7, 2018, and the start ofcivil rehabilitation proceedingson June 22, 2018, according to anannouncementposted on theMt. Goxwebsite on September 25, 2018.
As a result, the estate hauled in about 26 billion yen ($230 million) in cash. According to Bloombergestimates, the latest sale received an average of $8,100 per bitcoin and $1,190 per bitcoin cash. Current values of the coins sit at $6,420 and $438, respectively.
This is not the first time Kobayashi has offloaded a huge chunk of crypto. Over a period that correlated with a decline in market prices after December 2017, the trustee sold more than $400 million worth of bitcoin and bitcoin cash. Some accused him of collapsing the markets by selling on spot markets, rather than going through auction or an over-the-counter platform, which is how most big players unload heaps of cryptocurrency.
While not specifying how the coins were sold, Kobayashi has denied those claims. In adocumentposted on June 2018, he stated that “upon consultation with cryptocurrency transaction experts, Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash were sold in a manner that had no effect on market price and not by ordinary sale on an exchange, while ensuring the security of the transaction to the extent possible.”
Mt. Gox was forced into criminal bankruptcy in 2014, after more than 850,000 bitcoin vanished. The losses, which amounted to $473 million at the time, would be worth roughly $5 billion today. Since then, Mt. Gox creditors have been waiting to get some of that money back.
Meanwhile, bitcoin has risen significantly in price. Also, a code fork last year resulted in a second cryptocurrency, bitcoin cash, which any bitcoin holder at the time was entitled to.
Some wanted the coins, not the cash. In June 2018, creditorswon a victoryafter the Tokyo District Court moved the exchange from bankruptcy to a civil rehabilitation process. This opened up the possibility that creditors could get back their bitcoin (and bitcoin cash), as opposed to a cash payout equal to the value of their holdings when the exchange collapsed.
Ascriptthat monitors the cold wallets associated with Mt. Gox indicates the estate still has 137,891 bitcoin and bitcoin cash, worth about $945 million. Whether any more of these funds will be sold off in the future is unclear. In June 2018, Kobayashi said that “nothing has been determined.”
Mt. Gox traders who lost funds still have until October 22, 2018, to file claims. A court still has to approve the rehabilitation plan.
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || Mt. Gox Trustee Confirms He Sold off $230 Million in Cryptocurrency: MTGox sale of btc A man known as Tokyo Whale, for the enormous amount of bitcoin he controls, confirms he unloaded another big chunk of it earlier this year. Nobuaki Kobayashi, the trustee of now-defunct Tokyo exchange Mt. Gox, liquidated 24,658 bitcoin and 25,331 bitcoin cash between the creditors meeting on March 7, 2018, and the start of civil rehabilitation proceedings on June 22, 2018, according to an announcement posted on the Mt. Gox website on September 25, 2018. As a result, the estate hauled in about 26 billion yen ($230 million) in cash. According to Bloomberg estimates , the latest sale received an average of $8,100 per bitcoin and $1,190 per bitcoin cash. Current values of the coins sit at $6,420 and $438, respectively. This is not the first time Kobayashi has offloaded a huge chunk of crypto. Over a period that correlated with a decline in market prices after December 2017, the trustee sold more than $400 million worth of bitcoin and bitcoin cash. Some accused him of collapsing the markets by selling on spot markets, rather than going through auction or an over-the-counter platform, which is how most big players unload heaps of cryptocurrency. While not specifying how the coins were sold, Kobayashi has denied those claims. In a document posted on June 2018, he stated that upon consultation with cryptocurrency transaction experts, Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash were sold in a manner that had no effect on market price and not by ordinary sale on an exchange, while ensuring the security of the transaction to the extent possible. Mt. Gox was forced into criminal bankruptcy in 2014, after more than 850,000 bitcoin vanished. The losses, which amounted to $473 million at the time, would be worth roughly $5 billion today. Since then, Mt. Gox creditors have been waiting to get some of that money back. Meanwhile, bitcoin has risen significantly in price. Also, a code fork last year resulted in a second cryptocurrency, bitcoin cash, which any bitcoin holder at the time was entitled to. Story continues Some wanted the coins, not the cash. In June 2018, creditors won a victory after the Tokyo District Court moved the exchange from bankruptcy to a civil rehabilitation process. This opened up the possibility that creditors could get back their bitcoin (and bitcoin cash), as opposed to a cash payout equal to the value of their holdings when the exchange collapsed. A script that monitors the cold wallets associated with Mt. Gox indicates the estate still has 137,891 bitcoin and bitcoin cash, worth about $945 million. Whether any more of these funds will be sold off in the future is unclear. In June 2018, Kobayashi said that nothing has been determined. Mt. Gox traders who lost funds still have until October 22, 2018, to file claims. A court still has to approve the rehabilitation plan. This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine . || Google to allow certain cryptocurrency ads in U.S., Japan: (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's <GOOGL.O> Google said on Tuesday it would allow certain regulated cryptocurrency exchanges to advertise in the United States and Japan, easing an earlier ban on all cryptocurrency ads. The changes will take place in October and advertisers will need to be certified with Google for the country where the ads will appear, the search engine giant said in a blog https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/9142422 post. The company said in March it would ban advertisements for cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings, starting June. Google's action follows a similar move by Facebook Inc <FB.O>. The social media giant has allowed certain ads promoting cryptocurrency and related content from pre-approved advertisers, while banning those tied to binary options and initial coin offerings. Google's move to ban such ads in March had sent the price of the best-known cryptocurrency, bitcoin <BTC=BTSP>, down more than 10 percent. (Reporting by Sonam Rai in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick Graham and Sriraj Kalluvila) || Google to allow certain cryptocurrency ads in U.S., Japan: (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's <GOOGL.O> Google said on Tuesday it would allow certain regulated cryptocurrency exchanges to advertise in the United States and Japan, easing an earlier ban on all cryptocurrency ads.
The changes will take place in October and advertisers will need to be certified with Google for the country where the ads will appear, the search engine giant said in a blog https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/9142422 post.
The company said in March it would ban advertisements for cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings, starting June.
Google's action follows a similar move by Facebook Inc <FB.O>. The social media giant has allowed certain ads promoting cryptocurrency and related content from pre-approved advertisers, while banning those tied to binary options and initial coin offerings.
Google's move to ban such ads in March had sent the price of the best-known cryptocurrency, bitcoin <BTC=BTSP>, down more than 10 percent.
(Reporting by Sonam Rai in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick Graham and Sriraj Kalluvila) || Forget Tilray, These 2 Biotech Stocks Have Far More Upside: Canada'sTilray(NASDAQ: TLRY), a marijuana cultivator and distributor, has given early investors the ride of their lives since going public last June. Last week, for instance, the company's stock peaked at exactly $300 per share, representing a jaw-dropping 856% gain for the brave souls that bought this speculative IPO right off the bat.
Even though Tilray's shares have pulled back in a big way since reaching this gravity-defying peak a few days ago, the pot grower's valuation remainswildly disconnectedfrom its near-term growth prospects. Put simply, growth investors should probably start to look elsewhere for more compelling opportunities moving forward.
Image source: Getty Images.
Amarin Corporation(NASDAQ: AMRN)andViking Therapeutics(NASDAQ: VKTX), for example, are two biotech stocks that offer considerably more upside potential than Tilray does right now. Read on to find out more.
Yesterday, Amarinreportedthat its highly refined fish oil pill Vascepa provided a significant cardiovascular benefit in patients with elevated triglyceride levels, despite being on statin therapy. Leading up to this top-line data readout, however, almost no one outside the company thought that Vascepa had a realistic shot at producing such a pronounced clinical benefit in this landmark cardiovascular outcomes trial. As a result, the biotech's shares more than tripled in value during yesterday's session.
Wall Street, though, thinks Amarin is still incredibly undervalued. Citi's analysts, for instance, immediately came out with a staggering upgrade, suggesting that the stock could hit $50 a share over the next 12 months. That price target implies a whopping 300% upside potential from current levels. Citi's awe-inspiring price target is arguably well-founded, however.
In short, Vascepa's sales are now forecast to reach a noteworthy $2.7 billion at peak -- that is, if the Food and Drug Administration agrees to grant a label expansion for this far larger target market that presently stands at around 70 million eligible patients in just the United States. A $50 price target, therefore, isn't exactly a blue-sky prediction. But one that may prove to be rather conservative when everything is said and done. Amarin, after all, is probably going to start fielding tender offers from a host of suitors soon.
Like Amarin, Viking also reported major clinical trial news this month, sending its shares soaring as well. Specifically, the drugmakerreported outstanding mid-stage resultsfor its fatty liver disease candidate, VK2809, earlier this month -- catapulting the company into the upper tier of contenders vying to be the first to market for a severe form of fatty liver disease known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Although Viking is far from alone in the race to break into this potentially $35 billion a year marketplace, VK2809 stands out from the crowd for a couple of reasons.
First off, the drug was able to dramatically lower liver fat content across all doses after a mere 12 weeks. Viking also reported that VK2809 was well tolerated, with no serious adverse events occurring during the trial. The take home point is that VK2809 has a real shot at claiming the best-in-class prize in a rather crowded field.
The catch is that Viking may not be ready to push VK2809 into a pivotal-stage trial right now. Instead, the company is floating the idea of commencing a combined Phase 2/3 trial in order to assess the drug on a NASH approvable endpoint. That could put Viking another year or so behind the leaders in the field.
Even so, Viking should still be able to grab a nice chunk of this vast market with one of the most potent and safest options in its arsenal -- even if VK2809 ends up being the third or fourth drug approved. And that's the core reason why the Street's current 12-month price target on this stock implies a handsome 65% upside potential from here.
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George Budwellowns shares of Viking Therapeutics. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Forget Tilray, These 2 Biotech Stocks Have Far More Upside: Canada's Tilray (NASDAQ: TLRY) , a marijuana cultivator and distributor, has given early investors the ride of their lives since going public last June. Last week, for instance, the company's stock peaked at exactly $300 per share, representing a jaw-dropping 856% gain for the brave souls that bought this speculative IPO right off the bat. Even though Tilray's shares have pulled back in a big way since reaching this gravity-defying peak a few days ago, the pot grower's valuation remains wildly disconnected from its near-term growth prospects. Put simply, growth investors should probably start to look elsewhere for more compelling opportunities moving forward. A person pressing a buy now button on a keyboard. Image source: Getty Images. Amarin Corporation (NASDAQ: AMRN) and Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ: VKTX) , for example, are two biotech stocks that offer considerably more upside potential than Tilray does right now. Read on to find out more. An unprecedented win for fish oil Yesterday, Amarin reported that its highly refined fish oil pill Vascepa provided a significant cardiovascular benefit in patients with elevated triglyceride levels, despite being on statin therapy. Leading up to this top-line data readout, however, almost no one outside the company thought that Vascepa had a realistic shot at producing such a pronounced clinical benefit in this landmark cardiovascular outcomes trial. As a result, the biotech's shares more than tripled in value during yesterday's session. Wall Street, though, thinks Amarin is still incredibly undervalued. Citi's analysts, for instance, immediately came out with a staggering upgrade, suggesting that the stock could hit $50 a share over the next 12 months. That price target implies a whopping 300% upside potential from current levels. Citi's awe-inspiring price target is arguably well-founded, however. In short, Vascepa's sales are now forecast to reach a noteworthy $2.7 billion at peak -- that is, if the Food and Drug Administration agrees to grant a label expansion for this far larger target market that presently stands at around 70 million eligible patients in just the United States. A $50 price target, therefore, isn't exactly a blue-sky prediction. But one that may prove to be rather conservative when everything is said and done. Amarin, after all, is probably going to start fielding tender offers from a host of suitors soon. Story continues The start of something special Like Amarin, Viking also reported major clinical trial news this month, sending its shares soaring as well. Specifically, the drugmaker reported outstanding mid-stage results for its fatty liver disease candidate, VK2809, earlier this month -- catapulting the company into the upper tier of contenders vying to be the first to market for a severe form of fatty liver disease known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Although Viking is far from alone in the race to break into this potentially $35 billion a year marketplace, VK2809 stands out from the crowd for a couple of reasons. First off, the drug was able to dramatically lower liver fat content across all doses after a mere 12 weeks. Viking also reported that VK2809 was well tolerated, with no serious adverse events occurring during the trial. The take home point is that VK2809 has a real shot at claiming the best-in-class prize in a rather crowded field. The catch is that Viking may not be ready to push VK2809 into a pivotal-stage trial right now. Instead, the company is floating the idea of commencing a combined Phase 2/3 trial in order to assess the drug on a NASH approvable endpoint. That could put Viking another year or so behind the leaders in the field. Even so, Viking should still be able to grab a nice chunk of this vast market with one of the most potent and safest options in its arsenal -- even if VK2809 ends up being the third or fourth drug approved. And that's the core reason why the Street's current 12-month price target on this stock implies a handsome 65% upside potential from here. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This George Budwell owns shares of Viking Therapeutics. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .
[Social Media Buzz]
Top 5 #cryptocurrencies
Alert Time: 2018-09-26 11:00:38
#Bitcoin: $6,469.731
#Ethereum: $214.323
#XRP: $0.531
#BitcoinCash: $444.044
#EOS: $5.386
#instabitcoin #instavenezuela #altcoins #binance #ltc
https://livecryptoinformation.com || 2018-09-26 07:00:05 UTC
BTC: $6432.69
BCH: $442.75
ETH: $213.38
ZEC: $131.18
LTC: $57.35
ETC: $10.93
XRP: $0.5181 || Bitcoin price awaits the break – Analysis - 26-09-2018: Bitcoin price fluctuates around 6400.00 since yesterday, falling under the negative pr...
|
6676.75, 6644.13, 6601.96, 6625.56, 6589.62, 6556.10, 6502.59, 6576.69, 6622.48, 6588.31
|
Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 416.73, 417.96, 420.87, 420.90, 421.44, 424.03, 423.41, 422.74, 420.35, 419.41, 421.56, 422.48, 425.19, 423.73, 424.28, 429.71, 430.57, 427.40, 428.59, 435.51, 441.39, 449.42, 445.74, 450.28, 458.55, 461.43, 466.09, 444.69, 449.01, 455.10, 448.32, 451.88, 444.67, 450.30, 446.72, 447.98, 459.60, 458.54, 458.55, 460.48, 450.89, 452.73, 454.77, 455.67, 455.67, 457.57, 454.16, 453.78, 454.62, 438.71, 442.68, 443.19, 439.32, 444.15, 445.98, 449.60, 453.38, 473.46, 530.04, 526.23, 533.86, 531.39, 536.92, 537.97, 569.19, 572.73, 574.98, 585.54, 576.60, 581.65, 574.63, 577.47, 606.73, 672.78, 704.38, 685.56, 694.47, 766.31, 748.91, 756.23, 763.78, 737.23, 666.65, 596.12, 623.98, 665.30, 665.12, 629.37, 655.28, 647.00.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2016-06-28]
Volume: 138384992, RSI (14-day): 51.94, 50-day EMA: 589.06, 200-day EMA: 467.06
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1315.30, Gold RSI: 65.29
Oil Price: 47.85, Oil RSI: 49.20
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
WRIT Media Group Launches Bitcoin Alternative, Pelecoin: LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwired - Jun 27, 2016) - WRIT Media Group, Inc. (OTCQB:WRIT) today announces the formal launch of Pelecoin -- a unique digital currency and the first product in a family of unprecedented cryptocurrency and Blockchain technology solutions, acquired through the previously announced Pandora Venture Capital transaction.
"We are pleased to introduce to market our unique Pelecoin technology, and look forward to the potential it creates not only for WRIT Media and company shareholders, but for the broader digital currency space as well," said president and CEO Eric Mitchell. "There are several advantageous ways Pelecoin differs from other digital currencies on the market, and we're excited to be part of the many advances taking place in cryptocurrency."
What is PELECOIN and why is it different?
Pelecoin is a cryptocurrency platform that provides secure digital currency products and services -- including wallets, exchanges, loyalty rewards, and merchant integration -- to consumers and businesses around the globe. The online platform allows users to send money to any Pelecoin wallet; send and receive Pelecoins; shop online; and to store Pelecoins. The platform also enables merchants and payment platforms to accept Pelecoin digital currency.
In the current digital currency landscape, "rules of emission" prevent existing digital currencies from becoming more widely distributed and used. All known systems generate new coins (emission) in a manner that disregards the currency's market value. For example, Bitcoin generates 5 coins per minute while Litecoin generates 25 coins per minute, on a permanent basis without regard to the current value of the currency.
Additionally, new coins are distributed between active users (miners) whose computers participate in the generation process. This model obligates the users to have not only a very deep knowledge of software programming, but also expensive computer equipment. As time passes, the process becomes more sophisticated and expensive, and less accessible to new miners.
Pelecoin's emission system differs in that it is based on a simple proprietary algorithm, making it accessible to all and clear to its users. The system generates Pelecoins based upon a set of rules and events that increase the currency's worth, such as: new user registration; acceptance of Pelecoin for real goods or services; and trade between Pelecoins and real currencies (USD, Euro, etc.).
The initial distribution of newly generated coins is based on user's participation in an event. The emission and distribution of coins follow simple rules, allowing unexperienced users to actively participate in the process and to earn significant amounts of coin in a short period of time. Instead of complicated searches for crypto configurations demanded by other crypto currency systems, Pelecoin automatically increases your account based upon your participation in a simple "value" event.
How Does PELECOIN Work?
New users can register online for Pelecoin, as well as fund their wallet and gain access to the platform's services, by completing a simple new user registration here:Pelecoin Registration(http://www.pelecoin.com/join.aspx?ref=bb3b24dd-dd9f-44d9-838d-0bcd5e902c33). The main dashboard includes terms of service, emission rules, frequently asked questions, and the user's Pelecoin account balance. The dashboard will also provide users with their own account ID, and describe ways to facilitate "value" events to increase their account balance. Each new user will receive 1,000 Pelecoins to get started.
About Writ Media Group
WRIT Media Group, Inc. (OTCQB:WRIT) is a diversified media and software company whose operations include content production and distribution; video game distribution via mobile platforms; and digital currency software development, including trading platforms and Blockchain solutions.
The Company's portfolio of wholly owned businesses includes:
• Front Row Networks, a content creation company which produces, acquires and distributes live event programming for worldwide digital broadcast into digitally enabled movie theaters and online streaming;
• Amiga Games, a software company resurrecting the Amiga brand by publishing retro video games on smartphones, tablets and consoles;
• Retro Infinity, Inc., a video game distribution portal which publishes video games from Amiga, Atari and other "retro" brands on today's smartphones, tablets and consoles; and
• Pandora Venture Capital, a software developer with a focus on digital currency technologies, including; a cryptocurrency trading platform, a new generation of cryptocurrency, and Blockchain technology solutions.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking StatementsExcept for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted by such forward-looking statements.Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those discussed in WRIT Media Group's latest 10-Q filed December 31, 2015. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Pandora Venture Capital Corp., Pelecoin and its related trademarks and names are the property of WRIT Media Group, Inc. and are registered and/or used in the U.S. and countries around the world. All rights reserved. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners. || WRIT Media Group Launches Bitcoin Alternative, Pelecoin: LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwired - Jun 27, 2016) - WRIT Media Group, Inc. ( OTCQB : WRIT ) today announces the formal launch of Pelecoin -- a unique digital currency and the first product in a family of unprecedented cryptocurrency and Blockchain technology solutions, acquired through the previously announced Pandora Venture Capital transaction. "We are pleased to introduce to market our unique Pelecoin technology, and look forward to the potential it creates not only for WRIT Media and company shareholders, but for the broader digital currency space as well," said president and CEO Eric Mitchell. "There are several advantageous ways Pelecoin differs from other digital currencies on the market, and we're excited to be part of the many advances taking place in cryptocurrency." What is PELECOIN and why is it different? Pelecoin is a cryptocurrency platform that provides secure digital currency products and services -- including wallets, exchanges, loyalty rewards, and merchant integration -- to consumers and businesses around the globe. The online platform allows users to send money to any Pelecoin wallet; send and receive Pelecoins; shop online; and to store Pelecoins. The platform also enables merchants and payment platforms to accept Pelecoin digital currency. In the current digital currency landscape, "rules of emission" prevent existing digital currencies from becoming more widely distributed and used. All known systems generate new coins (emission) in a manner that disregards the currency's market value. For example, Bitcoin generates 5 coins per minute while Litecoin generates 25 coins per minute, on a permanent basis without regard to the current value of the currency. Additionally, new coins are distributed between active users (miners) whose computers participate in the generation process. This model obligates the users to have not only a very deep knowledge of software programming, but also expensive computer equipment. As time passes, the process becomes more sophisticated and expensive, and less accessible to new miners. Story continues Pelecoin's emission system differs in that it is based on a simple proprietary algorithm, making it accessible to all and clear to its users. The system generates Pelecoins based upon a set of rules and events that increase the currency's worth, such as: new user registration; acceptance of Pelecoin for real goods or services; and trade between Pelecoins and real currencies (USD, Euro, etc.). The initial distribution of newly generated coins is based on user's participation in an event. The emission and distribution of coins follow simple rules, allowing unexperienced users to actively participate in the process and to earn significant amounts of coin in a short period of time. Instead of complicated searches for crypto configurations demanded by other crypto currency systems, Pelecoin automatically increases your account based upon your participation in a simple "value" event. How Does PELECOIN Work? New users can register online for Pelecoin, as well as fund their wallet and gain access to the platform's services, by completing a simple new user registration here: Pelecoin Registration ( http://www.pelecoin.com/join.aspx?ref=bb3b24dd-dd9f-44d9-838d-0bcd5e902c33 ). The main dashboard includes terms of service, emission rules, frequently asked questions, and the user's Pelecoin account balance. The dashboard will also provide users with their own account ID, and describe ways to facilitate "value" events to increase their account balance. Each new user will receive 1,000 Pelecoins to get started. About Writ Media Group WRIT Media Group, Inc. ( OTCQB : WRIT ) is a diversified media and software company whose operations include content production and distribution; video game distribution via mobile platforms; and digital currency software development, including trading platforms and Blockchain solutions. The Company's portfolio of wholly owned businesses includes: Front Row Networks, a content creation company which produces, acquires and distributes live event programming for worldwide digital broadcast into digitally enabled movie theaters and online streaming; Amiga Games, a software company resurrecting the Amiga brand by publishing retro video games on smartphones, tablets and consoles; Retro Infinity, Inc., a video game distribution portal which publishes video games from Amiga, Atari and other "retro" brands on today's smartphones, tablets and consoles; and Pandora Venture Capital, a software developer with a focus on digital currency technologies, including; a cryptocurrency trading platform, a new generation of cryptocurrency, and Blockchain technology solutions. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted by such forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those discussed in WRIT Media Group's latest 10-Q filed December 31, 2015. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Pandora Venture Capital Corp., Pelecoin and its related trademarks and names are the property of WRIT Media Group, Inc. and are registered and/or used in the U.S. and countries around the world. All rights reserved. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners. || WRIT Media Group Launches Bitcoin Alternative, Pelecoin: LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwired - Jun 27, 2016) - WRIT Media Group, Inc. (OTCQB:WRIT) today announces the formal launch of Pelecoin -- a unique digital currency and the first product in a family of unprecedented cryptocurrency and Blockchain technology solutions, acquired through the previously announced Pandora Venture Capital transaction.
"We are pleased to introduce to market our unique Pelecoin technology, and look forward to the potential it creates not only for WRIT Media and company shareholders, but for the broader digital currency space as well," said president and CEO Eric Mitchell. "There are several advantageous ways Pelecoin differs from other digital currencies on the market, and we're excited to be part of the many advances taking place in cryptocurrency."
What is PELECOIN and why is it different?
Pelecoin is a cryptocurrency platform that provides secure digital currency products and services -- including wallets, exchanges, loyalty rewards, and merchant integration -- to consumers and businesses around the globe. The online platform allows users to send money to any Pelecoin wallet; send and receive Pelecoins; shop online; and to store Pelecoins. The platform also enables merchants and payment platforms to accept Pelecoin digital currency.
In the current digital currency landscape, "rules of emission" prevent existing digital currencies from becoming more widely distributed and used. All known systems generate new coins (emission) in a manner that disregards the currency's market value. For example, Bitcoin generates 5 coins per minute while Litecoin generates 25 coins per minute, on a permanent basis without regard to the current value of the currency.
Additionally, new coins are distributed between active users (miners) whose computers participate in the generation process. This model obligates the users to have not only a very deep knowledge of software programming, but also expensive computer equipment. As time passes, the process becomes more sophisticated and expensive, and less accessible to new miners.
Pelecoin's emission system differs in that it is based on a simple proprietary algorithm, making it accessible to all and clear to its users. The system generates Pelecoins based upon a set of rules and events that increase the currency's worth, such as: new user registration; acceptance of Pelecoin for real goods or services; and trade between Pelecoins and real currencies (USD, Euro, etc.).
The initial distribution of newly generated coins is based on user's participation in an event. The emission and distribution of coins follow simple rules, allowing unexperienced users to actively participate in the process and to earn significant amounts of coin in a short period of time. Instead of complicated searches for crypto configurations demanded by other crypto currency systems, Pelecoin automatically increases your account based upon your participation in a simple "value" event.
How Does PELECOIN Work?
New users can register online for Pelecoin, as well as fund their wallet and gain access to the platform's services, by completing a simple new user registration here:Pelecoin Registration(http://www.pelecoin.com/join.aspx?ref=bb3b24dd-dd9f-44d9-838d-0bcd5e902c33). The main dashboard includes terms of service, emission rules, frequently asked questions, and the user's Pelecoin account balance. The dashboard will also provide users with their own account ID, and describe ways to facilitate "value" events to increase their account balance. Each new user will receive 1,000 Pelecoins to get started.
About Writ Media Group
WRIT Media Group, Inc. (OTCQB:WRIT) is a diversified media and software company whose operations include content production and distribution; video game distribution via mobile platforms; and digital currency software development, including trading platforms and Blockchain solutions.
The Company's portfolio of wholly owned businesses includes:
• Front Row Networks, a content creation company which produces, acquires and distributes live event programming for worldwide digital broadcast into digitally enabled movie theaters and online streaming;
• Amiga Games, a software company resurrecting the Amiga brand by publishing retro video games on smartphones, tablets and consoles;
• Retro Infinity, Inc., a video game distribution portal which publishes video games from Amiga, Atari and other "retro" brands on today's smartphones, tablets and consoles; and
• Pandora Venture Capital, a software developer with a focus on digital currency technologies, including; a cryptocurrency trading platform, a new generation of cryptocurrency, and Blockchain technology solutions.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking StatementsExcept for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted by such forward-looking statements.Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those discussed in WRIT Media Group's latest 10-Q filed December 31, 2015. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Pandora Venture Capital Corp., Pelecoin and its related trademarks and names are the property of WRIT Media Group, Inc. and are registered and/or used in the U.S. and countries around the world. All rights reserved. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners. || What the Brexit means for your retirement: Brexit and the chaos it unleashed in financial markets are no reason for investors with a sound financial plan to panic. That’s the word from Ric Edelman, who runs one of America’s top financial advisory firms. Stocks ( ^DJI , ^IXIC , ^GSPC ) tanked on Friday, with all three major indexes plunging three to four percent. Investors turned to classic safe havens, sending gold prices ( GCN16.CMX ) soaring and bond yields ( ^TNX ) sharply lower. U.S. stocks are pointing to a slightly lower open Monday after mixed results in Europe and Asia overnight. “This is a classic knee-jerk reaction from Wall Street traders,” Edelman tells Yahoo Finance about the Brexit selloff in stocks . “Our clients are focused on their long-term goals. There will be no sustained impact five years from now. They can ignore it, or if anything, capitalize.” Edelman Financial Services manages $16 billion for more than 30,000 clients. Edelman says given Brexit, the US presidential election and other worries, investors should expect market volatility for a while. In response to wild market swings, his strong advice is “do not change your long-term investment strategy.” Edelman says his clients will take advantage of the volatility to rebalance their portfolios, selling assets that have appreciated in value and adding assets like stocks that have suffered declines. “This represents investment opportunity,” he said. Unfortunately, Edelman says, many investors will do exactly the opposite and dump stocks when they’re falling. “Nobody knows how low is low, and nobody knows what the market is going to do to. Trying to time the market is a fool’s bet , and that’s precisely what a lot of people try to do.” That said, Edelman says events like the Brexit vote and the market’s reaction are a good time for people who need to get their financial houses in order to take action and to avoid making mistakes. “If you don’t have a long term strategy, if you’re not properly diversified, this is the time to get effective financial advice,” Edelman says. “Investors could act on impulse and do the very wrong thing at the very wrong time.” Story continues More from Yahoo Finance The Brexit vote could bring uncertainty to America's scotch imports The big question looming over the markets after the Brexit bombshell The newest Bitcoin price surge isn’t just about Brexit || What the Brexit means for your retirement: Brexit and the chaos it unleashed in financial markets are no reason for investors with a sound financial plan to panic. That’s the word from Ric Edelman, who runs one of America’s top financial advisory firms.
Stocks (^DJI,^IXIC,^GSPC) tanked on Friday, with all three major indexes plunging three to four percent. Investors turned to classic safe havens, sending gold prices (GCN16.CMX) soaring and bond yields (^TNX) sharply lower. U.S. stocks are pointing to a slightly lower open Monday after mixed results in Europe and Asia overnight.
“This is a classic knee-jerk reaction from Wall Street traders,” Edelman tells Yahoo Finance about theBrexit selloff in stocks. “Our clients are focused on their long-term goals. There will be no sustained impact five years from now. They can ignore it, or if anything, capitalize.”
Edelman Financial Services manages $16 billion for more than 30,000 clients.
Edelman says given Brexit, theUS presidential electionand other worries, investors should expect market volatility for a while. In response to wild market swings, his strong advice is “do not change your long-term investment strategy.”
Edelman says his clients will take advantage of the volatility to rebalance their portfolios, selling assets that have appreciated in value and adding assets like stocks that have suffered declines. “This represents investment opportunity,” he said.
Unfortunately, Edelman says, many investors will do exactly the opposite and dump stocks when they’re falling. “Nobody knows how low is low, and nobody knows what the market is going to do to.Trying to time the market is a fool’s bet, and that’s precisely what a lot of people try to do.”
That said, Edelman says events like the Brexit vote and the market’s reaction are a good time for people who need to get their financial houses in order to take action and to avoid making mistakes.
“If you don’t have a long term strategy, if you’re not properly diversified, this is the time to get effective financial advice,” Edelman says. “Investors could act on impulse and do the very wrong thing at the very wrong time.”
More from Yahoo Finance
The Brexit vote could bring uncertainty to America's scotch imports
The big question looming over the markets after the Brexit bombshell
The newest Bitcoin price surge isn’t just about Brexit || Chinas Cyber Spying on the U.S. Has Drastically Changed: Last year United States President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping entered into a dubious agreement during Xis first state visit: No more hacking one anothers businesses. Military and political espionage? Fair game. Industry? Hands off. Hackers allegedly sponsored by China had been ransacking U.S. companies for economic advantage for years, as any computer forensics pro who has helped clean up one of these data breaches will tell you. The hackers goal: Intellectual property theft. With the recent truce, the heads of state agreed that their countries could break into one anothers computer networks for traditional state on state espionage, but no more hacking for profit. For skeptics, heres the shocker: The parties appear to be keeping their word--for the most part. Cybersecurity firm FireEye released a report earlier this week that found that the number of breaches by China-based groups on U.S. businesses has dropped off a cliff. The number of network compromises has not fallen to zero, but it has plummeted 90% in the past two years . Get Data Sheet , Fortune 's technology newsletter. Fortune spoke to Laura Galante, director of the threat intelligence at FireEye , as well as Kevin Mandia, the companys recently appointed CEO, about the reports findings. (Mandia makes his appearance at question 12.) Among the topics discussed: How the threat of economic espionage has changed, what this means for U.S. businesses, and whether everyone may now breathe a sigh of relief. (Spoiler: The answer is no.) Heres what the two said, edited and condensed for clarity. Fortune: This report seems to be a follow-up to Mandiants original report on Chinese economic cyberespionage from a few years ago. [Editors note: FireEye purchased Mandiant, Mandias computer forensics firm, for about $1 billion in 2014.] What does the new report find? Laura Galante: We've tracked all of these groups for years before the APT1 report that you probably remember from back in 2013. Here we found the percentage of incidents and number of incidents we've seen over time from groups that are based in China, and how thats changed. We came up with a pretty deep understanding of how we've seen President Xi undertake reforms in the military and also in the party since he came to power. We have some analysis around how he is probably centralizing and refocusing some of the cyber operations that China sponsored. We also think that widespread exposure from private sector disclosures was another impetus that really changed how Beijing was thinking about cyber operations. Finally the punitive measures--the indictments of several military officers back in 2014, and then the threat of sanctions right on the eve of President Xi coming over to the U.S--these were all factors that, in the aggregate, have really changed the way we've seen intellectual property theft conducted from China based groups. Story continues Fortune: It seemed like the key line in the report was that the attacks are less voluminous, but more focused. Galante: Thats what we're seeing. When we do see compromises--and we have seen compromises since last year--we're seeing the groups conduct a variety of different activity at different targets, not just in the U.S., but also in Japan and abroad in Europe. We're seeing compromises of networks still. What we aren't seeing is data theft at such a volume as before--back in 2013, even 2014. We're seeing that they'll go in and they'll package up data, which is something that we typically see right before they would steal it, but we haven't observed instances of data theft, per se, in 2015 and 2016. Fortune: You're still seeing intrusions and breaches, but not the actual exfiltration of data. Is that accurate? Galante: That's right. What that doesn't necessarily mean is that it's not happening. We're not seeing the actual data theft in the recent examples that we've had here, but we're still seeing the compromise. If you're able to compromise the network, get in, move laterally to different parts of the network, and see the files that you want, that's still a very effective way to get at the information you want without the level of risk and evidence left behind of actually transferring the data out of a network. Fortune: So its a shift from smashing-and-grabbing to quietly and passively surveilling? Galante: That's a way to characterize what we've seen. And I think that fits too with what's definitely a higher cost of doing business that has risen in the last three and a half years. The risk of exposure from security firms, from security researchers, which is happening left and right, and the measures that the U.S. government has taken, paint a very different picture of risk when groups are operating--whether they be sponsored by the government, by a military entity, by an intelligence agency, or simply by opportunistic entrepreneurial groups who are looking for a way into a network to find something valuable to sell. We think that the scene in China really runs the gamut in terms of different types of sponsorship. Fortune: In the report you discuss how it's hard to make out the difference between these groups. Do you have any speculation as to whom--which groups--might be the ones remaining? Is it a mix? Does it weight toward government, or toward the enterprising hacker? What is the breakdown here--is there any way to know? Galante: It's hard to give a percentage. We have examples where we've seen what we call patriotic hackers, people who are aligned with state interests, but not necessarily on the payroll. We've seen everything form the patriotic hacker to the cybercriminal to groups that act in a very regimented 9-to-5 way. We see their tools built on a schedule that parallels Chinese federal holidays. We've seen really disciplined groups that operate in a way that's hard to not see that there has to be a ton of resourcing behind it, and probably a government entity. Another aspect that we've traced for years is how long we've seen groups operate. With some groups out of China, especially the ones that have been conducting the more traditional political espionage, we've seen those groups operate for over a decade with almost the same tools and infrastructure, too. Fortune: Part of this deal between Obama and Xi was that China would stop its attacks on U.S. enterprises. Obviously there are still attacks going on, as your report says, but is there any way to know whether, in fact, the state sponsored attacks are down? Galante: It's hard to say. The network visibility that we have just shows us what's compromised. What we don't know is when data is taken. In our cases, we haven't seen data theft. But when data has been taken in the past--to know that the data has been used and given to an entity, to an industry, or to a company in an industry that can then use it to put a product on the market--that would start to fulfill the definition of what theyre getting at with this economic espionage agreement. From our side were reluctant to say that this equates to economic espionage, because we simply see one part of a much longer chain of what would equate to economic espionage. What we can say is that we're still seeing compromises into corporate networks. Fortune: You mentioned that you're not seeing the same levels of data theft now. Is that because it's not happening, or because they're eluding detection in some way? Or perhaps FireEye doesn't have the visibility to see that? Galante: I think it's a couple factors. To set the premise though, it's very rare that you see data theft happening. When we're called in to do investigations, we're frequently looking into network logs and into network activity that, on average, happened almost 200 days before. [Editors note: the average breach takes 201 days to detect, according to a recent IBM study .] When you're investigating what happened previously, you have to consider, How well does the company keep logs? How do we go back and look at that activity and see what happened outside the network? There are a variety of factors that hamper understanding when the actual data was stolen, or if it was stolen. There are other cases where we've thwarted the detected compromise before the group could go any deeper into the network. So there are a couple of different wonky factors that keep the data theft from eluding our ability to have seen it when it happened. Now one thing were seeing is these groups go in and hack data and look for specific items. With the semiconductor firms, we were seeing attackers get into the files that had the manufacturing data about semiconductors and the chemical components used in the production. They're not just getting into a network, they're able to get in and navigate to data that would be useful. So that says a little bit more about their intent. If you're able to go in and locate a project that you need, that says a little bit more about what you're interested in. Fortune: Are there any cases that seem more grey in terms of what the hackers were going after? Galante: The navigational projects were interesting. This is a grey area. GPS navigation is right in that area of not knowing if it's for military or for civilian use. Traditionally, something for military use would fall into political espionage or military espionage, something that states have done since the beginning of time, versus something like the blueprints of a green energy or a coal cleaning plant, which we've seen before. When those are taken, that's a situation where it's pretty hard to see the military application of it. In the cases that we have here, in the cases that we've seen recently, we see semiconductors, we see high-tech corporations, we've seen an aerospace company, and a logistics company. These are all arguably targets and data that could fit either a military or a civilian use. So, tough to say whether that would trend more toward economic espionage versus political. Fortune: Have you been sending this report around government quarters? Galante: We frequently give a variety of government partners a heads up when we're able to do that before a report goes live. Fortune: What has been their reaction to this? Galante: This tracks fairly well with the visibility that they've had as well. Fortune: Last year a cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike issued a report saying there had been continued intrusions on U.S. companies after the China-U.S. deal . How does the FireEye report differ? Galante: That report came out in early October. It was really a first sense that activity still continued. But there's a ton of ways to look at activity. What we're very careful to parse here is that we wanted to know when a corporate network has been entered remotely, not just when the malware or the commands to the malware in a network has been live, which was one of the main indications used in that report from October to say that activity continued. We wanted to see that a group actively went into a network, and that was the bar that we used when we made the chart that you see, and also the graph. [Editors note: See, for example, page 11 of the report .] Fortune: So whereas CrowdStrike was asking--is there malware active on the network?--your report was asking, is there remote access happening? Galante: Is there an actual compromise of a network, yes. There is always remote access happening--so, is there a remote compromise happening of a corporate network. I think we're being more specific about how we want to define a piece of this, whereas CrowdStrike was looking just generally for any sort of beaconing or indication that infrastructure or malware were still living. We wanted to see something that reasonably made us conclude that an operator is still sitting there with fingers on keyboard, sending a command and entering networks. Kevin Mandia: Robert, this is Kevin Mandia. I've actually been on the line for the past 10 minutes and just staying quiet because Laura is crushing it. I don't know what CrowdStrikes criteria is for saying compromise or not compromise. I do know that we at FireEye have over 350 incident responders, we have nearly 350 iSight intel analysts [Editors note: FireEye acquired the threat intelligence firm iSight Partners for $200 million earlier this year], and we have well over 3,000 customers where we have appliances deployed. Those are the sources for where we find these compromises. We've had our threat database in existence since 2006, so thats the scale and scope at which we operate. When I look at the all the investigations we've done and all the intel we get from iSight, that's the data were reporting on. From the observables we have here at FireEye, the activity and counterespionage intrusions from China have gone down. Fortune: Because the attacks have dropped off precipitously, it seems, does this mean U.S. companies should breathe a sigh of relief? Mandia: Well, you've still got a bunch of other threats to worry about. So the answer is you still have to safeguard yourself from rogue states, which may be less responsible than China. I've always said this: the Chinese were the most polite hackers in cyberspace. They would break in, but I don't think they had exceptionally great counter forensics, they weren't destructive, they didn't go public with the data they stole. In many ways, if you were hacked, and you knew it, and it was the Chinese that did it, you breathed a sigh of relief. If it was some other group, you had to worry about public disclosure, about extortion, about a ton of other things. So the polite hackers have narrowed their targeting. That's how I look into this. I wouldn't breathe a sigh of relief. What I do see is that public exposure of Chinese cyber espionage by the private sector as well as by government officials--potentially the indictments and all the things Laura has put in the report--all of these factors did have an impact on the scale and scope of Chinese cyber espionage against the U.S.A. I see that as a positive thing. The unfortunate reality is that you still have to build your moat of defend against the other threats that are still out there. Fortune: During one recent quarter, Dave DeWalt, who was then FireEyes CEO, said that attacks by China on U.S. companies had been decreasing. A bunch of people took issue with the statement . They said that attacks are still going on. Where does FireEye stand on that? Because it seems the report is saying that, yes, the number of attacks has decreased a lot. Mandia: Yup, we just stand by exactly what were publishing. Based on our observables, that's what we see. This isn't like the TTPs [Editors note: TTPs is cyberspeak for tools, tactics, and procedures--the idiosyncrasies of hacking methods] of Chinese cyber espionage changed over night. When we do see them, the TTPs are largely the same. There are going to be those naysayers out there who say, well, maybe FireEye is just missing it. I've been locked onto these guys virtually my whole career. I'm not convinced anyone has been responding to Chinese cyber espionage breaches longer than I have--and if there is somebody I'd like to find them. We dealt with this back when I was in the military in the '90s, and we're locked on still. The TTPs will change, but they're not surreptitious. We're not missing it. That's my opinion. Fortune: How do you persuade companies to continue to invest in cybersecurity when it seems that maybe the threats are not as drastic or immediately pressing as they might have been? Galante: I would say at this point you're taking a roll of the dice if you're a corporate entity or a government entity with strong intellectual property. Especially something that could be dual-use. Particularly, if you're in one of the many industries that's producing cutting edge R&D, you're now rolling the dice and have been for a long time, on whether you're going to be compromised. Were seeing a maturation of China's military and political means to use cyber operations. To think that the decline in activity that we're seeing now is endemic of the future would be a misread. I think what we're seeing is a period of recalculating how to go with a precision force and a focus to get exactly the access that is needed, whether for political or military gains. Fortune: What prompted this report? Mandia: We went public in 2013 with the APT1 report. The government indicts soldiers in 2014. The president and the heads of state meet and they have discussions, and what does it lead to? What we hoped it would lead to--a reduction in the targeting of the private sector. I think that's a positive result. And that's why we're really doing this--to report on a positive result. Fortune: How have things changed for you since becoming CEO? Congrats on the promotion, by the way. Mandia: Thanks, it doesn't change much at the end of the day. PR person: Lets keep off that for now. Fortune: Okay, what else is interesting--is North Korea behind the SWIFT bank hacks? Mandia: First thing I would say as a general citizen--and I don't have the data to opine one way or another--but boy, wouldn't you want to know who stole $81 million dollars from the bank of Bangladesh? Fortune: Oh yeah. Mandia: I mean if we can't pierce anonymity behind that as an international community, both behind the hack and behind the laundering of the money, don't we have a challenge here? $81 million is gone and we don't know who did it? That's not a good indicator for whether were going to catch who hacks a utility in Mississippi and shuts it down. We've got to get attribution right. If we can't get it right for Ashley Madison, fine, I get that. But if we can't get it right for stealing $81 million--that's not a good indicator. I think that's the interesting story right now. Can the international community can the pierce anonymity behind folks who steal $81 million, and if they can't, what else can they not do? Fortune: Indeed. Thanks for your time. Mandia: Take care, Robert. Fortune: You too. See original article on Fortune.com More from Fortune.com Everything You Need to Know About North Korea's Suspected Bank Blitzkrieg Senate Rejects Proposal to Expand FBI Spying Power This Ad Firm That Tracked Kids Got Smacked With a $4 Million Fine Why the Senate Will Likely Give the FBI More Spying Power After Orlando Winklevoss Brothers Expand Their Bitcoin Exchange to the U.K. || China’s Cyber Spying on the U.S. Has Drastically Changed: Last year United States President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping entered into a dubious agreement during Xi’s first state visit: No more hacking one another’s businesses. Military and political espionage? Fair game. Industry? Hands off.
Hackers allegedly sponsored by China had been ransacking U.S. companies for economic advantage for years, as any computer forensics pro who has helped clean up one of these data breaches will tell you. The hackers’ goal: Intellectual property theft. With the recent truce, the heads of state agreed that their countries could break into one another’s computer networks for traditional state on state espionage, but no more hacking for profit.
For skeptics, here’s the shocker: The parties appear to be keeping their word--for the most part. Cybersecurity firm FireEyereleased a reportearlier this week that found that the number of breaches by China-based groups on U.S. businesses has dropped off a cliff. The number of network compromises has not fallen to zero, but it hasplummeted 90% in the past two years.
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Fortunespoke to Laura Galante, director of the threat intelligence at FireEye , as well as Kevin Mandia, the company’s recently appointed CEO, about the report’s findings. (Mandia makes his appearance at question 12.) Among the topics discussed: How the threat of economic espionage has changed, what this means for U.S. businesses, and whether everyone may now breathe a sigh of relief. (Spoiler: The answer is no.)
Here’s what the two said, edited and condensed for clarity.
Fortune: This report seems to be a follow-up toMandiant’s original reporton Chinese economic cyberespionage from a few years ago. [Editors note: FireEyepurchasedMandiant, Mandia’s computer forensics firm, for about $1 billion in 2014.] What does the new report find?
Laura Galante: We've tracked all of these groups for years before the APT1 report that you probably remember from back in 2013. Here we found the percentage of incidents and number of incidents we've seen over time from groups that are based in China, and how that’s changed. We came up with a pretty deep understanding of how we've seen President Xi undertake reforms in the military and also in the party since he came to power. We have some analysis around how he is probably centralizing and refocusing some of the cyber operations that China sponsored. We also think that widespread exposure from private sector disclosures was another impetus that really changed how Beijing was thinking about cyber operations. Finally the punitive measures--theindictments of several military officersback in 2014, and then thethreat of sanctionsright on the eve of President Xi coming over to the U.S--these were all factors that, in the aggregate, have really changed the way we've seen intellectual property theft conducted from China based groups.
Fortune: It seemed like the key line in the report was that the attacks are less voluminous, but more focused.
Galante: That’s what we're seeing. When we do see compromises--and we have seen compromises since last year--we're seeing the groups conduct a variety of different activity at different targets, not just in the U.S., but also in Japan and abroad in Europe. We're seeing compromises of networks still. What wearen'tseeing is data theft at such a volume as before--back in 2013, even 2014. We're seeing that they'll go in and they'll package up data, which is something that we typically see right before they would steal it, but we haven't observed instances of data theft, per se, in 2015 and 2016.
Fortune: You're still seeing intrusions and breaches, but not the actual exfiltration of data. Is that accurate?
Galante: That's right. What that doesn't necessarily mean is that it's not happening. We're not seeing the actual data theft in the recent examples that we've had here, but we're still seeing the compromise. If you're able to compromise the network, get in, move laterally to different parts of the network, and see the files that you want, that's still a very effective way to get at the information you want without the level of risk and evidence left behind of actually transferring the data out of a network.
Fortune: So it’s a shift from smashing-and-grabbing to quietly and passively surveilling?
Galante: That's a way to characterize what we've seen. And I think that fits too with what's definitely a higher cost of doing business that has risen in the last three and a half years. The risk of exposure from security firms, from security researchers, which is happening left and right, and the measures that the U.S. government has taken, paint a very different picture of risk when groups are operating--whether they be sponsored by the government, by a military entity, by an intelligence agency, or simply by opportunistic entrepreneurial groups who are looking for a way into a network to find something valuable to sell. We think that the scene in China really runs the gamut in terms of different types of sponsorship.
Fortune: In the report you discuss how it's hard to make out the difference between these groups. Do you have any speculation as to whom--which groups--might be the ones remaining? Is it a mix? Does it weight toward government, or toward the enterprising hacker? What is the breakdown here--is there any way to know?
Galante: It's hard to give a percentage. We have examples where we've seen what we call patriotic hackers, people who are aligned with state interests, but not necessarily on the payroll. We've seen everything form the patriotic hacker to the cybercriminal to groups that act in a very regimented 9-to-5 way. We see their tools built on a schedule that parallels Chinese federal holidays. We've seen really disciplined groups that operate in a way that's hard to not see that there has to be a ton of resourcing behind it, and probably a government entity. Another aspect that we've traced for years is how long we've seen groups operate. With some groups out of China, especially the ones that have been conducting the more traditional political espionage, we've seen those groups operate for over a decade with almost the same tools and infrastructure, too.
Fortune: Part of this deal between Obama and Xi was that China would stop its attacks on U.S. enterprises. Obviously there are still attacks going on, as your report says, but is there any way to know whether, in fact, the state sponsored attacks are down?
Galante: It's hard to say. The network visibility that we have just shows us what's compromised. What we don't know is when data is taken. In our cases, we haven't seen data theft. But when data has been taken in the past--to know that the data has been used and given to an entity, to an industry, or to a company in an industry that can then use it to put a product on the market--that would start to fulfill the definition of what they’re getting at with this economic espionage agreement. From our side we’re reluctant to say that this equates to economic espionage, because we simply see one part of a much longer chain of what would equate to economic espionage. What we can say is that we're still seeing compromises into corporate networks.
Fortune: You mentioned that you're not seeing the same levels of data theft now. Is that because it's not happening, or because they're eluding detection in some way? Or perhaps FireEye doesn't have the visibility to see that?
Galante: I think it's a couple factors. To set the premise though, it's very rare that you see data theft happening. When we're called in to do investigations, we're frequently looking into network logs and into network activity that, on average, happened almost 200 days before.[Editor’s note: the average breach takes 201 days to detect, according to arecent IBM study.]When you're investigating what happened previously, you have to consider, How well does the company keep logs? How do we go back and look at that activity and see what happened outside the network? There are a variety of factors that hamper understanding when the actual data was stolen, or if it was stolen. There are other cases where we've thwarted the detected compromise before the group could go any deeper into the network. So there are a couple of different wonky factors that keep the data theft from eluding our ability to have seen it when it happened.
Now one thing we’re seeing is these groups go in and hack data and look for specific items. With the semiconductor firms, we were seeing attackers get into the files that had the manufacturing data about semiconductors and the chemical components used in the production. They're not just getting into a network, they're able to get in and navigate to data that would be useful. So that says a little bit more about their intent. If you're able to go in and locate a project that you need, that says a little bit more about what you're interested in.
Fortune: Are there any cases that seem more grey in terms of what the hackers were going after?
Galante: The navigational projects were interesting. This is a grey area. GPS navigation is right in that area of not knowing if it's for military or for civilian use. Traditionally, something for military use would fall into political espionage or military espionage, something that states have done since the beginning of time, versus something like the blueprints of a green energy or a coal cleaning plant, which we've seen before. When those are taken, that's a situation where it's pretty hard to see the military application of it. In the cases that we have here, in the cases that we've seen recently, we see semiconductors, we see high-tech corporations, we've seen an aerospace company, and a logistics company. These are all arguably targets and data that could fit either a military or a civilian use. So, tough to say whether that would trend more toward economic espionage versus political.
Fortune: Have you been sending this report around government quarters?
Galante: We frequently give a variety of government partners a heads up when we're able to do that before a report goes live.
Fortune: What has been their reaction to this?
Galante: This tracks fairly well with the visibility that they've had as well.
Fortune: Last year a cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike issued a report saying there had been continued intrusions on U.S. companiesafter the China-U.S. deal. How does the FireEye report differ?
Galante: That report came out in early October. It was really a first sense that activity still continued. But there's a ton of ways to look at activity. What we're very careful to parse here is that we wanted to know when a corporate network has been entered remotely, not just when the malware or the commands to the malware in a network has been live, which was one of the main indications used in that report from October to say that activity continued. We wanted to see that a group actively went into a network, and that was the bar that we used when we made the chart that you see, and also the graph.[Editor’s note:See, for example, page 11 of the report.]
Fortune: So whereas CrowdStrike was asking--is there malware active on the network?--your report was asking, is there remote access happening?
Galante: Is there an actual compromise of a network, yes. There is always remote access happening--so, is there a remote compromise happening of a corporate network. I think we're being more specific about how we want to define a piece of this, whereas CrowdStrike was looking just generally for any sort of beaconing or indication that infrastructure or malware were still living. We wanted to see something that reasonably made us conclude that an operator is still sitting there with fingers on keyboard, sending a command and entering networks.
Kevin Mandia: Robert, this is Kevin Mandia. I've actually been on the line for the past 10 minutes and just staying quiet because Laura is crushing it. I don't know what CrowdStrike’s criteria is for saying compromise or not compromise. I do know that we at FireEye have over 350 incident responders, we have nearly 350 iSight intel analysts[Editor’s note:FireEye acquired the threat intelligence firm iSight Partnersfor $200 million earlier this year],and we have well over 3,000 customers where we have appliances deployed. Those are the sources for where we find these compromises. We've had our threat database in existence since 2006, so that’s the scale and scope at which we operate. When I look at the all the investigations we've done and all the intel we get from iSight, that's the data we’re reporting on. From the observables we have here at FireEye, the activity and counterespionage intrusions from China have gone down.
Fortune: Because the attacks have dropped off precipitously, it seems, does this mean U.S. companies should breathe a sigh of relief?
Mandia: Well, you've still got a bunch of other threats to worry about. So the answer is you still have to safeguard yourself from rogue states, which may be less responsible than China. I've always said this: the Chinese were the most polite hackers in cyberspace. They would break in, but I don't think they had exceptionally great counter forensics, they weren't destructive, they didn't go public with the data they stole. In many ways, if you were hacked, and you knew it, and it was the Chinese that did it, you breathed a sigh of relief. If it was some other group, you had to worry about public disclosure, about extortion, about a ton of other things. So the polite hackers have narrowed their targeting. That's how I look into this.
I wouldn't breathe a sigh of relief. What I do see is that public exposure of Chinese cyber espionage by the private sector as well as by government officials--potentially the indictments and all the things Laura has put in the report--all of these factors did have an impact on the scale and scope of Chinese cyber espionage against the U.S.A. I see that as a positive thing. The unfortunate reality is that you still have to build your moat of defend against the other threats that are still out there.
Fortune: During one recent quarter, Dave DeWalt, who was then FireEye’s CEO, said that attacks by China on U.S. companies had been decreasing. A bunch of peopletook issue with the statement. They said that attacks are still going on. Where does FireEye stand on that? Because it seems the report is saying that, yes, the number of attacks has decreased a lot.
Mandia: Yup, we just stand by exactly what were publishing. Based on our observables, that's what we see. This isn't like the TTPs[Editor’s note: TTPs is cyberspeak for “tools, tactics, and procedures”--the idiosyncrasies of hacking methods]of Chinese cyber espionage changed over night. When we do see them, the TTPs are largely the same. There are going to be those naysayers out there who say, well, maybe FireEye is just missing it. I've been locked onto these guys virtually my whole career. I'm not convinced anyone has been responding to Chinese cyber espionage breaches longer than I have--and if there is somebody I'd like to find them. We dealt with this back when I was in the military in the '90s, and we're locked on still. The TTPs will change, but they're not surreptitious. We're not missing it. That's my opinion.
Fortune: How do you persuade companies to continue to invest in cybersecurity when it seems that maybe the threats are not as drastic or immediately pressing as they might have been?
Galante: I would say at this point you're taking a roll of the dice if you're a corporate entity or a government entity with strong intellectual property. Especially something that could be dual-use. Particularly, if you're in one of the many industries that's producing cutting edge R&D, you're now rolling the dice and have been for a long time, on whether you're going to be compromised. We’re seeing a maturation of China's military and political means to use cyber operations. To think that the decline in activity that we're seeing now is endemic of the future would be a misread. I think what we're seeing is a period of recalculating how to go with a precision force and a focus to get exactly the access that is needed, whether for political or military gains.
Fortune: What prompted this report?
Mandia: We went public in 2013 with the APT1 report. The government indicts soldiers in 2014. The president and the heads of state meet and they have discussions, and what does it lead to? What we hoped it would lead to--a reduction in the targeting of the private sector. I think that's a positive result. And that's why we're really doing this--to report on a positive result.
Fortune: How have things changed for you since becoming CEO? Congrats on the promotion, by the way.
Mandia: Thanks, it doesn't change much at the end of the day.
PR person: Let’s keep off that for now.
Fortune: Okay, what else is interesting--is North Korea behind the SWIFT bank hacks?
Mandia: First thing I would say as a general citizen--and I don't have the data to opine one way or another--but boy, wouldn't you want to know who stole $81 million dollars from the bank of Bangladesh?
Fortune: Oh yeah.
Mandia: I mean if we can't pierce anonymity behind that as an international community, both behind the hack and behind the laundering of the money, don't we have a challenge here? $81 million is gone and we don't know who did it? That's not a good indicator for whether we’re going to catch who hacks a utility in Mississippi and shuts it down. We've got to get attribution right. If we can't get it right for Ashley Madison, fine, I get that. But if we can't get it right for stealing $81 million--that's not a good indicator. I think that's the interesting story right now. Can the international community can the pierce anonymity behind folks who steal $81 million, and if they can't, what else can they not do?
Fortune: Indeed. Thanks for your time.
Mandia: Take care, Robert.
Fortune: You too.
See original article on Fortune.com
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• Winklevoss Brothers Expand Their Bitcoin Exchange to the U.K. || Looking For Safe Havens? Buy Gold! Buy Treasuries! Buy...Bitcoin?: The usual safe-haven trades are the only silver linings in an ugly Friday trading session. The iShares Barclays 20+ Yr Treas.Bond (ETF) (NASDAQ: TLT ) is up 2.7 percent and the SPDR Gold Trust (ETF) (NYSE: GLD ) is up 4.6 percent. However, another investment alternative may be emerging as the safe haven of the future. The cryptocurrency bitcoin has also surged above $650 on Friday as investors pour money in. It’s strange to think of a currency known for such extreme volatility as a safe haven, but with the pound and other European currencies taking a Brexit pounding, bitcoin buyers are probably more concerned with long-term value preservation than short-term price swings. “I don’t think it is a traditional safe-haven trade but a strategy to avoid official manipulation,” Swissquote Bank analyst Peter Rosenstreich explained. Bitcoin offers investors a unique new alternative to all traditional investment classes. Therefore, bad news for global financial markets may start to consistently be good news for bitcoin. Related Link: Baidu Among Companies Working Together To Use Bitcoin Technology To Create Global Bank Bitcoin investors endured some volatile trading earlier this week when rival cryptocurrency Ethereum suffered a major hack that resulted in $50 million in stolen currency. While bitcoin likely has a way to go before its price action is stable enough for the cryptocurrency to be considered “digital gold,” bitcoin already seems to be establishing a reputation among traders as a viable option during times of market uncertainty. Disclosure: The author holds no position in the stocks mentioned. See more from Benzinga What Analysts Think Central Banks Will Do Following Brexit What Goldman Sachs Thinks Of The Brexit This Treasury Bond ETF Is On Verge Of Bearish Chart Formation © 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. View comments || Looking For Safe Havens? Buy Gold! Buy Treasuries! Buy...Bitcoin?: The usual safe-haven trades are the only silver linings in an ugly Friday trading session. TheiShares Barclays 20+ Yr Treas.Bond(ETF)(NASDAQ:TLT) is up 2.7 percent and theSPDR Gold Trust (ETF)(NYSE:GLD) is up 4.6 percent.
However, another investment alternative may be emerging as the safe haven of the future. The cryptocurrency bitcoin has also surged above $650 on Friday as investors pour money in. It’s strange to think of a currency known for such extreme volatility as a safe haven, but with the pound and other European currencies taking a Brexit pounding, bitcoin buyers are probably more concerned with long-term value preservation than short-term price swings.
“I don’t think it is a traditional safe-haven trade but a strategy to avoid official manipulation,”Swissquote Bankanalyst Peter Rosenstreich explained.
Bitcoin offers investors a unique new alternative to all traditional investment classes. Therefore, bad news for global financial markets may start to consistently be good news for bitcoin.
Related Link:Baidu Among Companies Working Together To Use Bitcoin Technology To Create Global Bank
Bitcoin investors endured some volatile trading earlier this week when rival cryptocurrency Ethereum suffered a major hack that resulted in $50 million in stolen currency.
While bitcoin likely has a way to go before its price action is stable enough for the cryptocurrency to be considered “digital gold,” bitcoin already seems to be establishing a reputation among traders as a viable option during times of market uncertainty.
Disclosure: The author holds no position in the stocks mentioned.
See more from Benzinga
• What Analysts Think Central Banks Will Do Following Brexit
• What Goldman Sachs Thinks Of The Brexit
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© 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Looking For Safe Havens? Buy Gold! Buy Treasuries! Buy...Bitcoin?: The usual safe-haven trades are the only silver linings in an ugly Friday trading session. TheiShares Barclays 20+ Yr Treas.Bond(ETF)(NASDAQ:TLT) is up 2.7 percent and theSPDR Gold Trust (ETF)(NYSE:GLD) is up 4.6 percent.
However, another investment alternative may be emerging as the safe haven of the future. The cryptocurrency bitcoin has also surged above $650 on Friday as investors pour money in. It’s strange to think of a currency known for such extreme volatility as a safe haven, but with the pound and other European currencies taking a Brexit pounding, bitcoin buyers are probably more concerned with long-term value preservation than short-term price swings.
“I don’t think it is a traditional safe-haven trade but a strategy to avoid official manipulation,”Swissquote Bankanalyst Peter Rosenstreich explained.
Bitcoin offers investors a unique new alternative to all traditional investment classes. Therefore, bad news for global financial markets may start to consistently be good news for bitcoin.
Related Link:Baidu Among Companies Working Together To Use Bitcoin Technology To Create Global Bank
Bitcoin investors endured some volatile trading earlier this week when rival cryptocurrency Ethereum suffered a major hack that resulted in $50 million in stolen currency.
While bitcoin likely has a way to go before its price action is stable enough for the cryptocurrency to be considered “digital gold,” bitcoin already seems to be establishing a reputation among traders as a viable option during times of market uncertainty.
Disclosure: The author holds no position in the stocks mentioned.
See more from Benzinga
• What Analysts Think Central Banks Will Do Following Brexit
• What Goldman Sachs Thinks Of The Brexit
• This Treasury Bond ETF Is On Verge Of Bearish Chart Formation
© 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Clinton, Trump Weigh In On The Brexit: With one major source of market uncertainty ending up a worst-case scenario for global investors on Friday, the markets are now looking to the U.S. presidential election as the next major unknown. Now that the Brexit vote is official, both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have weighed in on the decision.
“This time of uncertainty only underscores the need for calm, steady, experienced leadership in the White House to protect Americans’ pocketbooks and livelihoods, to support our friends and allies, to stand up to our adversaries, and to defend our interest,” Clinton said ina statement.
Clinton had spoken out in opposition to a Brexit vote in recent weeks.
Related Link:Baidu Among Companies Working Together To Use Bitcoin Technology To Create Global Bank
Trump, on the other hand, had been in favor of a Brexit and praised the decision to leave the EU.
“They’re angry over borders. They’re angry over people coming into the country and taking over. Nobody even knows who they are,” Trump said in a news conference on Friday. “They’re angry about many, many things. They took back control of their country. It’s a great thing.”
The populist spirit underlying the Brexit campaign in the U.K. is the same type of enthusiasm that Trump is trying to drum up in American voters in November.
See more from Benzinga
• What Analysts Think Central Banks Will Do Following Brexit
• The Fed Is 'Carefully Monitoring' Global Markets
• What Goldman Sachs Thinks Of The Brexit
© 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Clinton, Trump Weigh In On The Brexit: With one major source of market uncertainty ending up a worst-case scenario for global investors on Friday, the markets are now looking to the U.S. presidential election as the next major unknown. Now that the Brexit vote is official, both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have weighed in on the decision. “This time of uncertainty only underscores the need for calm, steady, experienced leadership in the White House to protect Americans’ pocketbooks and livelihoods, to support our friends and allies, to stand up to our adversaries, and to defend our interest,” Clinton said in a statement . Clinton had spoken out in opposition to a Brexit vote in recent weeks. Related Link: Baidu Among Companies Working Together To Use Bitcoin Technology To Create Global Bank Trump, on the other hand, had been in favor of a Brexit and praised the decision to leave the EU. “They’re angry over borders. They’re angry over people coming into the country and taking over. Nobody even knows who they are,” Trump said in a news conference on Friday. “They’re angry about many, many things. They took back control of their country. It’s a great thing.” The populist spirit underlying the Brexit campaign in the U.K. is the same type of enthusiasm that Trump is trying to drum up in American voters in November. See more from Benzinga What Analysts Think Central Banks Will Do Following Brexit The Fed Is 'Carefully Monitoring' Global Markets What Goldman Sachs Thinks Of The Brexit © 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || The newest Bitcoin price surge isn’t just about Brexit: The price of the digital currency bitcoin is up 15% in the past 24 hours, and you might reasonably think it has something to do with the massive global economic event that took place on Thursday. And you’d be right.
But that isn’t the whole story.
Headlines are shouting that bitcoin is up because ofBritain’s vote to leave the European Union, which has sent its own currency,the pound, plummeting to a 31-year low. Yes, Brexit may be helping bitcoin, but as with every bitcoin spike, there are many other factors at play.
“I’d say Brexit is just one sub-item of one of those factors,” says Gil Luria, a Wedbush Securities analyst who has a pretty good track record on the bitcoin price. In July 2015, when the price was around $250, heprojected it would reach $400in one year. In October, herevised the projection to $600. The coin is currently trading at $650.
So, what are the factors that cause occasional bitcoin spikes?
The first, and typically biggest, is China. It’s the biggest country for bitcoin trading activity and speculation (if not for bitcoin startup headquarters) and bitcoin is increasingly the vehicle of choice for capital exits from the yuan. The yuan is sinking as well at the moment, approaching a six-year low at the time of writing, and it is possible some tech-savvy Chinese investors are turning to bitcoin.
Second, The Great Bitcoin Halving approaches. Huh? Here’s a quick-and-dirty summary: All bitcoin transactions are recorded onthe bitcoin blockchain, a public, decentralized, permissionless ledger. The transactions are recorded in bundles, called “blocks,” by “miners” who receive a small award in bitcoin for mining. Beginning in July, the reward that miners receive per block is being cut in half, for the second time in bitcoin’s history. The result of the halving will reduce the creation of new bitcoins from 9% down to about 4% per year, and while the effect of this on the price is up for debate, many believe the anticipation of the change is bringing up the price."People are excited" about the halving, Luria says.
Third, general uncertainty and fear help bitcoin. Brexit is just the latest example of this. Bitcoin rose when the Greek debt crisis came to a head. It typically rises whenever a major country’s economy roils. That’s because bitcoin is an “uncorrelated asset” much like gold. “Bonds, stocks, home prices always go in the same direction,” Luria says. “But bitcoin is a place to hide in times of uncertainty. I’d rather have the volatility of bitcoin with the knowledge that my currency is going to get depreciated by 30% in the next few months. Bitcoin has its own drivers, its own value, and it’s not going to go up and down because of the actions of central banks.”
It's important to note that bitcoin has already been on an absolute tear this summer.
One month ago, the price was in the $400 range. Last week, it nearly hit $800. It’s up 57% in the past three months and 170% in the past year. It has been on a ride that briefly reversed earlier this week, when the price began falling again. Now it's been buoyed back up on the Brexit news. But it is possible, perhaps likely, that the price would have risen again this week, or next, even without the news from England.
Nonetheless, bitcoin people are excited.
"The pound has crashed; the Euro is in trouble, the dollar turbulent. Maybe it’s time the world looks at a more global solution," said Mihir Magudia of digital currency LEOcoin, in an e-mailed comment. Barry Silbert, whoseDigital Currency Group has invested in a lion’s share of the hottest bitcoin startups, tweeted a bit of a grand statement on Thursday night about the price hike.
Before anyone goes ditching all their fiat currency for bitcoin, it’s worth keeping some perspective: the market cap of all the bitcoin in the world is only around $10 billion. That’s half an Under Armour.
The best piece of wisdom to remember whenever anyone analyzes the price of bitcoin is that no one really knows anything. It’s a volatile commodity, with fluctuations influenced by a whole host of factors and elusive sentiment.
--
Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering technology and sports business. Follow him on Twitter at@readDanwrite.
Read more:
Here's where big banks stand on blockchain
Why 21.co is the most exciting bitcoin company right now
Coinbase is more bullish on bitcoin than ever || The newest Bitcoin price surge isn’t just about Brexit: The price of the digital currency bitcoin is up 15% in the past 24 hours, and you might reasonably think it has something to do with the massive global economic event that took place on Thursday. And you’d be right.
But that isn’t the whole story.
Headlines are shouting that bitcoin is up because ofBritain’s vote to leave the European Union, which has sent its own currency,the pound, plummeting to a 31-year low. Yes, Brexit may be helping bitcoin, but as with every bitcoin spike, there are many other factors at play.
“I’d say Brexit is just one sub-item of one of those factors,” says Gil Luria, a Wedbush Securities analyst who has a pretty good track record on the bitcoin price. In July 2015, when the price was around $250, heprojected it would reach $400in one year. In October, herevised the projection to $600. The coin is currently trading at $650.
So, what are the factors that cause occasional bitcoin spikes?
The first, and typically biggest, is China. It’s the biggest country for bitcoin trading activity and speculation (if not for bitcoin startup headquarters) and bitcoin is increasingly the vehicle of choice for capital exits from the yuan. The yuan is sinking as well at the moment, approaching a six-year low at the time of writing, and it is possible some tech-savvy Chinese investors are turning to bitcoin.
Second, The Great Bitcoin Halving approaches. Huh? Here’s a quick-and-dirty summary: All bitcoin transactions are recorded onthe bitcoin blockchain, a public, decentralized, permissionless ledger. The transactions are recorded in bundles, called “blocks,” by “miners” who receive a small award in bitcoin for mining. Beginning in July, the reward that miners receive per block is being cut in half, for the second time in bitcoin’s history. The result of the halving will reduce the creation of new bitcoins from 9% down to about 4% per year, and while the effect of this on the price is up for debate, many believe the anticipation of the change is bringing up the price."People are excited" about the halving, Luria says.
Third, general uncertainty and fear help bitcoin. Brexit is just the latest example of this. Bitcoin rose when the Greek debt crisis came to a head. It typically rises whenever a major country’s economy roils. That’s because bitcoin is an “uncorrelated asset” much like gold. “Bonds, stocks, home prices always go in the same direction,” Luria says. “But bitcoin is a place to hide in times of uncertainty. I’d rather have the volatility of bitcoin with the knowledge that my currency is going to get depreciated by 30% in the next few months. Bitcoin has its own drivers, its own value, and it’s not going to go up and down because of the actions of central banks.”
It's important to note that bitcoin has already been on an absolute tear this summer.
One month ago, the price was in the $400 range. Last week, it nearly hit $800. It’s up 57% in the past three months and 170% in the past year. It has been on a ride that briefly reversed earlier this week, when the price began falling again. Now it's been buoyed back up on the Brexit news. But it is possible, perhaps likely, that the price would have risen again this week, or next, even without the news from England.
Nonetheless, bitcoin people are excited.
"The pound has crashed; the Euro is in trouble, the dollar turbulent. Maybe it’s time the world looks at a more global solution," said Mihir Magudia of digital currency LEOcoin, in an e-mailed comment. Barry Silbert, whoseDigital Currency Group has invested in a lion’s share of the hottest bitcoin startups, tweeted a bit of a grand statement on Thursday night about the price hike.
Before anyone goes ditching all their fiat currency for bitcoin, it’s worth keeping some perspective: the market cap of all the bitcoin in the world is only around $10 billion. That’s half an Under Armour.
The best piece of wisdom to remember whenever anyone analyzes the price of bitcoin is that no one really knows anything. It’s a volatile commodity, with fluctuations influenced by a whole host of factors and elusive sentiment.
--
Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering technology and sports business. Follow him on Twitter at@readDanwrite.
Read more:
Here's where big banks stand on blockchain
Why 21.co is the most exciting bitcoin company right now
Coinbase is more bullish on bitcoin than ever || The newest Bitcoin price surge isnt just about Brexit: Bitcoin price over the past 24 hours, via WinkDex. The price of the digital currency bitcoin is up 15% in the past 24 hours, and you might reasonably think it has something to do with the massive global economic event that took place on Thursday. And youd be right. But that isnt the whole story. Headlines are shouting that bitcoin is up because of Britains vote to leave the European Union , which has sent its own currency, the pound, plummeting to a 31-year low . Yes, Brexit may be helping bitcoin, but as with every bitcoin spike, there are many other factors at play. Id say Brexit is just one sub-item of one of those factors, says Gil Luria, a Wedbush Securities analyst who has a pretty good track record on the bitcoin price. In July 2015, when the price was around $250, he projected it would reach $400 in one year. In October, he revised the projection to $600 . The coin is currently trading at $650. So, what are the factors that cause occasional bitcoin spikes? The first, and typically biggest, is China. Its the biggest country for bitcoin trading activity and speculation (if not for bitcoin startup headquarters) and bitcoin is increasingly the vehicle of choice for capital exits from the yuan. The yuan is sinking as well at the moment, approaching a six-year low at the time of writing, and it is possible some tech-savvy Chinese investors are turning to bitcoin. Second, The Great Bitcoin Halving approaches. Huh? Heres a quick-and-dirty summary: All bitcoin transactions are recorded on the bitcoin blockchain, a public, decentralized, permissionless ledger . The transactions are recorded in bundles, called blocks, by miners who receive a small award in bitcoin for mining. Beginning in July, the reward that miners receive per block is being cut in half, for the second time in bitcoins history. The result of the halving will reduce the creation of new bitcoins from 9% down to about 4% per year, and while the effect of this on the price is up for debate, many believe the anticipation of the change is bringing up the price. "People are excited" about the halving, Luria says. Story continues Third, general uncertainty and fear help bitcoin. Brexit is just the latest example of this. Bitcoin rose when the Greek debt crisis came to a head. It typically rises whenever a major countrys economy roils. Thats because bitcoin is an uncorrelated asset much like gold. Bonds, stocks, home prices always go in the same direction, Luria says. But bitcoin is a place to hide in times of uncertainty. Id rather have the volatility of bitcoin with the knowledge that my currency is going to get depreciated by 30% in the next few months. Bitcoin has its own drivers, its own value, and its not going to go up and down because of the actions of central banks. It's important to note that bitcoin has already been on an absolute tear this summer. Bitcoin over the past 3 months, via WinkDex, which shows a blended price from the leading price indices. One month ago, the price was in the $400 range. Last week, it nearly hit $800. Its up 57% in the past three months and 170% in the past year. It has been on a ride that briefly reversed earlier this week, when the price began falling again. Now it's been buoyed back up on the Brexit news. But it is possible, perhaps likely, that the price would have risen again this week, or next, even without the news from England. Nonetheless, bitcoin people are excited. "The pound has crashed; the Euro is in trouble, the dollar turbulent. Maybe its time the world looks at a more global solution," said Mihir Magudia of digital currency LEOcoin, in an e-mailed comment. Barry Silbert, whose Digital Currency Group has invested in a lions share of the hottest bitcoin startups , tweeted a bit of a grand statement on Thursday night about the price hike. This is bitcoin's coming out party as a global safe haven investment. Amazing Barry Silbert (@barrysilbert) June 24, 2016 Before anyone goes ditching all their fiat currency for bitcoin, its worth keeping some perspective: the market cap of all the bitcoin in the world is only around $10 billion. Thats half an Under Armour. The best piece of wisdom to remember whenever anyone analyzes the price of bitcoin is that no one really knows anything. Its a volatile commodity, with fluctuations influenced by a whole host of factors and elusive sentiment. -- Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering technology and sports business. Follow him on Twitter at @readDanwrite . Read more: Here's where big banks stand on blockchain Why 21.co is the most exciting bitcoin company right now Coinbase is more bullish on bitcoin than ever || The Fed Is 'Carefully Monitoring' Global Markets: The surprise British vote to leave the Eurozone sent European markets into chaos on Friday. While European central banks scramble to maintain order, they at least know that they can count on help from across the Atlantic. The U.S. Federal Reserve released a concise statement on Friday assuring the European Union that it is willing provide liquidity if needed: “The Federal Reserve is carefully monitoring developments in global financial markets, in cooperation with other central banks, following the results of the U.K. referendum on membership in the European Union. The Federal Reserve is prepared to provide dollar liquidity through its existing swap lines with central banks, as necessary, to address pressured in global funding markets, which could have adverse implications for the U.S. economy.” Related Link: Baidu Among Companies Working Together To Use Bitcoin Technology To Create Global Bank President Obama also released a statement on the Brexit. "The special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom is enduring, and the United Kingdom’s membership in NATO remains a vital cornerstone of U.S. foreign, security, and economic policy. The United Kingdom and the European Union will remain indispensable partners of the United States even as they begin negotiating their ongoing relationship to ensure continued stability, security, and prosperity for Europe, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the world," the statement reads. Obama had spoken out in opposition to a Brexit in the weeks leading up to the referendum. Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has already released an official statement on the Brexit. “The UK and the EU are important strategic partners for Canada with whom we enjoy deep historical ties and common values,” the statement reads. “We will continue to build relations with both parties as they forge a new relationship.” So far in Friday trading, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY )’s 2.1 percent loss is relatively modest compared to the 8.8 percent drop in the iShares Trust (NYSE: EWU ). Story continues Disclosure: the author holds no position in the stocks mentioned. See more from Benzinga What Goldman Sachs Thinks Of The Brexit Social Data Provides Real-Time Brexit Sentiment Everything You Need To Know About The Brexit © 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || The Fed Is 'Carefully Monitoring' Global Markets: The surprise British vote to leave the Eurozone sent European markets into chaos on Friday. While European central banks scramble to maintain order, they at least know that they can count on help from across the Atlantic.
The U.S. Federal Reserve released aconcise statementon Friday assuring the European Union that it is willing provide liquidity if needed:
“The Federal Reserve is carefully monitoring developments in global financial markets, in cooperation with other central banks, following the results of the U.K. referendum on membership in the European Union. The Federal Reserve is prepared to provide dollar liquidity through its existing swap lines with central banks, as necessary, to address pressured in global funding markets, which could have adverse implications for the U.S. economy.”
Related Link:Baidu Among Companies Working Together To Use Bitcoin Technology To Create Global Bank
President Obama also releaseda statementon the Brexit.
"The special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom is enduring, and the United Kingdom’s membership in NATO remains a vital cornerstone of U.S. foreign, security, and economic policy. The United Kingdom and the European Union will remain indispensable partners of the United States even as they begin negotiating their ongoing relationship to ensure continued stability, security, and prosperity for Europe, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the world," the statement reads.
Obama had spoken out in opposition to a Brexit in the weeks leading up to the referendum.
Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has already released an official statement on the Brexit.
“The UK and the EU are important strategic partners for Canada with whom we enjoy deep historical ties and common values,” the statement reads. “We will continue to build relations with both parties as they forge a new relationship.”
So far in Friday trading, theSPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust(NYSE:SPY)’s 2.1 percent loss is relatively modest compared to the 8.8 percent drop in theiShares Trust(NYSE:EWU).
Disclosure: the author holds no position in the stocks mentioned.
See more from Benzinga
• What Goldman Sachs Thinks Of The Brexit
• Social Data Provides Real-Time Brexit Sentiment
• Everything You Need To Know About The Brexit
© 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin spikes as yuan hits five-and-a-half year low on Brexit: The price of global cryptocurrencybitcoin (: BTC=) spiked on Friday as the yuan dipped after Britain voted to leave the European Union. Bitcoin moves are often counter-linked to the yuan because the majority of trade in the cryptocurrency comes from China. The yuan hit a five-and-a-half-year low on Friday, while the price of bitcoin jumped around 8.7 percent from the day's opening price, hitting highs of around $680.19, according to Coindesk which tracks the price of the cryptocurrency. "We are seeing trading volumes almost $100 million traded in the past 24 hours, it's two or three times compared to a slow day," Bobbly Lee, chief executive of BTCC, one of the largest bitcoin exchanges in the world based in China, told CNBC by phone on Friday. The value of bitcoin continues to be volatile. On Thursday, it plunged 25 percent since hitting a two-and-a-half year high on June 17 of $774.94. It is still not back at that level. But it's important to note that Brexit is just one among several factors that have affected the bitcoin price in recent times. Sentiment was dampened when earlier this week, Hong Kong-based bitcoin exchange Bitfinex was closed for a few hours because of "networking issues" in the company's data center, it said on Twitter. The issues were fixed on the same day. "The correction from a day or two ago had more to do with a technical correction that it did with Brexit," Lee said. More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || Bitcoin spikes as yuan hits five-and-a-half year low on Brexit: The price of global cryptocurrencybitcoin(: BTC=)spiked on Friday as the yuan dipped after Britain voted to leave the European Union.
Bitcoin moves are often counter-linked to the yuan because the majority of trade in the cryptocurrency comes from China. The yuan hit a five-and-a-half-year low on Friday, while the price of bitcoin jumped around 8.7 percent from the day's opening price, hitting highs of around $680.19, according to Coindesk which tracks the price of the cryptocurrency.
"We are seeing trading volumes almost $100 million traded in the past 24 hours, it's two or three times compared to a slow day," Bobbly Lee, chief executive of BTCC, one of the largest bitcoin exchanges in the world based in China, told CNBC by phone on Friday.
The value of bitcoin continues to be volatile. On Thursday, itplunged 25 percentsince hitting a two-and-a-half year high on June 17 of $774.94. It is still not back at that level.
But it's important to note that Brexit is just oneamong several factorsthat have affected the bitcoin price in recent times. Sentiment was dampened when earlier this week, Hong Kong-based bitcoin exchange Bitfinex was closed for a few hours because of "networking issues" in the company's data center, it said on Twitter. The issues were fixed on the same day.
"The correction from a day or two ago had more to do with a technical correction that it did with Brexit," Lee said.
More From CNBC
• Top News and Analysis
• Latest News Video
• Personal Finance || Bitcoin spikes as yuan hits five-and-a-half year low on Brexit: The price of global cryptocurrencybitcoin(: BTC=)spiked on Friday as the yuan dipped after Britain voted to leave the European Union.
Bitcoin moves are often counter-linked to the yuan because the majority of trade in the cryptocurrency comes from China. The yuan hit a five-and-a-half-year low on Friday, while the price of bitcoin jumped around 8.7 percent from the day's opening price, hitting highs of around $680.19, according to Coindesk which tracks the price of the cryptocurrency.
"We are seeing trading volumes almost $100 million traded in the past 24 hours, it's two or three times compared to a slow day," Bobbly Lee, chief executive of BTCC, one of the largest bitcoin exchanges in the world based in China, told CNBC by phone on Friday.
The value of bitcoin continues to be volatile. On Thursday, itplunged 25 percentsince hitting a two-and-a-half year high on June 17 of $774.94. It is still not back at that level.
But it's important to note that Brexit is just oneamong several factorsthat have affected the bitcoin price in recent times. Sentiment was dampened when earlier this week, Hong Kong-based bitcoin exchange Bitfinex was closed for a few hours because of "networking issues" in the company's data center, it said on Twitter. The issues were fixed on the same day.
"The correction from a day or two ago had more to do with a technical correction that it did with Brexit," Lee said.
More From CNBC
• Top News and Analysis
• Latest News Video
• Personal Finance
[Social Media Buzz]
#569 BatCoin BTC:฿0.00 USD:$0.00000004 Market Cap:$ 267.125196766 Supply:6,481,010,000 BAT http://dlvr.it/LgHpd5 || 1 #bitcoin 1911 TL, 629.88 $, 584.707 €, GBP, 39353.00 RUR, 66983 ¥, CNH, CAD #btc || 1 KOBO = 0.00001497 BTC
= 0.0096 USD
= 2.7120 NGN
= 0.1466 ZAR
= 0.9724 KES
#Kobocoin 2016-06-28 15:00 pic.twitter.com/TH3QYOLlJn || BTCTurk 1903.0 TL BTCe 625.988 $ CampBx $ BitStamp 642.17 $ Cavirtex $ CEXIO 653.36 $ Bitcoin.de 595.00 € #Bitcoin #btc || 1 #bitcoin 1929.95 TL, 635...
|
639.89, 673.34, 676.30, 703.70, 658.66, 683.66, 670.63, 677.33, 640.56, 666.52
|
Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 966.72, 1045.77, 1047.15, 1039.97, 1026.43, 1071.79, 1080.50, 1102.17, 1143.81, 1133.25, 1124.78, 1182.68, 1176.90, 1175.95, 1187.87, 1187.13, 1205.01, 1200.37, 1169.28, 1167.54, 1172.52, 1182.94, 1193.91, 1211.67, 1210.29, 1229.08, 1222.05, 1231.71, 1207.21, 1250.15, 1265.49, 1281.08, 1317.73, 1316.48, 1321.79, 1347.89, 1421.60, 1452.82, 1490.09, 1537.67, 1555.45, 1578.80, 1596.71, 1723.35, 1755.36, 1787.13, 1848.57, 1724.24, 1804.91, 1808.91, 1738.43, 1734.45, 1839.09, 1888.65, 1987.71, 2084.73, 2041.20, 2173.40, 2320.42, 2443.64, 2304.98, 2202.42, 2038.87, 2155.80, 2255.61, 2175.47, 2286.41, 2407.88, 2488.55, 2515.35, 2511.81, 2686.81, 2863.20, 2732.16, 2805.62, 2823.81, 2947.71, 2958.11, 2659.63, 2717.02, 2506.37, 2464.58, 2518.56, 2655.88, 2548.29, 2589.60, 2721.79, 2689.10, 2705.41, 2744.91.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2017-06-23]
Volume: 961318976, RSI (14-day): 59.20, 50-day EMA: 2303.12, 200-day EMA: 1525.29
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1256.20, Gold RSI: 49.19
Oil Price: 43.01, Oil RSI: 31.09
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
The Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) Stock Rally Needs a Break: InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.(NASDAQ:AMD) has been one of the more interesting — and more volatile — names in tech for the last 18 months. AMD stock gained nearly 300% in 2016 alone, climbing from $2 a share in early 2016 to more than $15 in a little more than a year. Then, a rough stretch in May, fueled by a disappointing Q1 earnings report, trimmed about 35% off the advance.
Source: Shutterstock
The volatility in Advanced Micro continues.
Shares are flipping between positive and negative territory Thursday, following a roughly 18% run in five days. That includes a double-digit pop Wednesday.
Bulls point tosold-out graphics cardsused for cryptocurrency mining, as well as the newEpyc server chips. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachsreiterated its “Sell” ratingon the shares. Now, about six weeks later, AMD stock has bounced from $10 to near $13, all with very little news from the company itself.
Iturned more cautiouson AMD after a difficult May, and the current volatility leads me to maintain that skepticism.
To be sure, Advanced Micro isn’t necessarily heading back to the single digits; the volatility will ease a bit. But the big bull case and projections of $15-plus, or even $20-plus per share, strike me as too optimistic at this point. The stock deserves most, if not all, of its gains so far.
But the drivers for another leg up in the AMD rally simply don’t look strong enough.
The clear driver of much of the ~300% run in AMD stock was optimism about its new Ryzen line of processors. And with good reason.
• THE OTHER SIDE: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) Wages Epyc War on Intel
Most notably, Ryzen made AMD a legitimate competitor to larger rivalIntel Corporation(NASDAQ:INTC) for the first time in a long time. With PC sales finally stabilizing somewhat after years of decline, market share gains would mean revenue growth. That revenue growth in turn would allow the company to reverse years of losses. Indeed, analysts are estimating a full-year (albeit non-GAAP) profit for Advanced Micro Devices in 2017.
But “profitable” alone isn’t enough to support a $10 billion-plus market cap. And it sure looks like much of the Ryzen optimism is priced into AMD stock.
Advanced Micro Devices reportedly iscutting Ryzen prices, just months after its debut. The share price decline following the Q1 report was driven largely by disappointment in Q2 gross margin guidance — possibly a result of those lower prices.
The new Ryzen-based “Threadripper” is drawing some coverage, but its place in the high-end gaming market seems limited. Again, AMD stock has a $10 billion-plus market capitalization. Ryzen is helping profits — but it’s already added billions of dollars in value. Intel remains the market leader, and PC sales very well may have another leg down. Ryzen alone doesn’t seem like enough to prolong the rally.
The stock gained 15% over three days of trading coinciding with reports about the role of Advanced Micro Devices GPU in mining cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ethereum. But at least one analyst has pointed out that GPUs from AMD and rivalNvidia Corporation(NASDAQ:NVDA)are for Ethereum only, not Bitcoin.
It hardly seems a coincidence that AMD’s sharp gains matched the peak of what looked like Ethereum hysteria. That currency has seen a substantial correction and, unsurprisingly, AMD stock has followed.
It’s true that, as CNBC reported, many AMD graphics cardsare sold out. But the company saw a similar spike in 2013 — and it was short-lived. The idea that Ethereum, in particular, can be a consistent, long-term driver for Advanced Micro Devices’ GPU business seems optimistic, to say the least.
And if it isn’t, then buying Ethereum itself seems like a better option than a small derivative play like AMD stock.
The argument around Advanced Micro Devices near $13 isn’t whether Ryzen will take share from Intel, or whether Ethereum should trade at $340 or $34, or whether its new Epyc server processors — built on its Zen architecture, featuring up to 64 threads and boasting outstanding power — will unseat INTC and its Xeon product.
It boils down to whether Advanced Micro Devices finally can drive consistent earnings — and how much.
• Apple Inc. (AAPL) iPhone Becomes Virgin Mobile's Exclusive Offering
From that standpoint, optimism about cryptocurrency mining, Epyc or Threadripper is outweighed by the company’s own guidance. When the company guided for target earnings of 75 cents per share by 2020, the bull case for AMD stock took a big hit. Assuming a 20x earnings multiple, AMD would be worth roughly $15 by then. That, in turn, implies a current value, discounted back at 8%, of about $12.
But a 20x earnings multiple might be aggressive. Nvidia has soared, and trades at a hefty multiple. But most chip stocks, including Intel,Micron Technology, Inc.(NASDAQ:MU), andQualcomm, Inc.(NASDAQ:QCOM) trade well below 20x earnings. For AMD, which still will be heavily exposed to a flat-at-best PC business, 20x may be too much at that point.
The bull case for AMD stock is that “this time is different” and investors have been given of lot of evidence to support that. The problem is that at this point, the bull case has to be different, too. It has to be based on the idea that the company finally can generate consistent earnings — and enough to support a higher share price.
Some of the recent news swirling around Advanced Micro Devices supports the idea that it can be profitable. But after the huge gains, that alone simply isn’t enough.
As of this writing, Vince Martin did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
• Tesla Inc (TSLA) Stock Is About to Pop Again
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The postThe Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) Stock Rally Needs a Breakappeared first onInvestorPlace. || The Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) Stock Rally Needs a Break: InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMD ) has been one of the more interesting — and more volatile — names in tech for the last 18 months. AMD stock gained nearly 300% in 2016 alone, climbing from $2 a share in early 2016 to more than $15 in a little more than a year. Then, a rough stretch in May, fueled by a disappointing Q1 earnings report, trimmed about 35% off the advance. Source: Shutterstock The volatility in Advanced Micro continues. Shares are flipping between positive and negative territory Thursday, following a roughly 18% run in five days. That includes a double-digit pop Wednesday. Bulls point to sold-out graphics cards used for cryptocurrency mining, as well as the new Epyc server chips . Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs reiterated its “Sell” rating on the shares. Now, about six weeks later, AMD stock has bounced from $10 to near $13, all with very little news from the company itself. I turned more cautious on AMD after a difficult May, and the current volatility leads me to maintain that skepticism. To be sure, Advanced Micro isn’t necessarily heading back to the single digits; the volatility will ease a bit. But the big bull case and projections of $15-plus, or even $20-plus per share, strike me as too optimistic at this point. The stock deserves most, if not all, of its gains so far. But the drivers for another leg up in the AMD rally simply don’t look strong enough. Can Ryzen Push AMD Higher? The clear driver of much of the ~300% run in AMD stock was optimism about its new Ryzen line of processors. And with good reason. THE OTHER SIDE: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) Wages Epyc War on Intel Most notably, Ryzen made AMD a legitimate competitor to larger rival Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC ) for the first time in a long time. With PC sales finally stabilizing somewhat after years of decline, market share gains would mean revenue growth. That revenue growth in turn would allow the company to reverse years of losses. Indeed, analysts are estimating a full-year (albeit non-GAAP) profit for Advanced Micro Devices in 2017. Story continues But “profitable” alone isn’t enough to support a $10 billion-plus market cap. And it sure looks like much of the Ryzen optimism is priced into AMD stock. Advanced Micro Devices reportedly is cutting Ryzen prices , just months after its debut. The share price decline following the Q1 report was driven largely by disappointment in Q2 gross margin guidance — possibly a result of those lower prices. The new Ryzen-based “Threadripper” is drawing some coverage, but its place in the high-end gaming market seems limited. Again, AMD stock has a $10 billion-plus market capitalization. Ryzen is helping profits — but it’s already added billions of dollars in value. Intel remains the market leader, and PC sales very well may have another leg down. Ryzen alone doesn’t seem like enough to prolong the rally. Advanced Micro Devices and Cryptocurrency The stock gained 15% over three days of trading coinciding with reports about the role of Advanced Micro Devices GPU in mining cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ethereum. But at least one analyst has pointed out that GPUs from AMD and rival Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA ) are for Ethereum only , not Bitcoin. It hardly seems a coincidence that AMD’s sharp gains matched the peak of what looked like Ethereum hysteria. That currency has seen a substantial correction and, unsurprisingly, AMD stock has followed. It’s true that, as CNBC reported, many AMD graphics cards are sold out . But the company saw a similar spike in 2013 — and it was short-lived. The idea that Ethereum, in particular, can be a consistent, long-term driver for Advanced Micro Devices’ GPU business seems optimistic, to say the least. And if it isn’t, then buying Ethereum itself seems like a better option than a small derivative play like AMD stock. Earnings Have to Drive AMD Stock The argument around Advanced Micro Devices near $13 isn’t whether Ryzen will take share from Intel, or whether Ethereum should trade at $340 or $34, or whether its new Epyc server processors — built on its Zen architecture, featuring up to 64 threads and boasting outstanding power — will unseat INTC and its Xeon product. It boils down to whether Advanced Micro Devices finally can drive consistent earnings — and how much. Apple Inc. (AAPL) iPhone Becomes Virgin Mobile's Exclusive Offering From that standpoint, optimism about cryptocurrency mining, Epyc or Threadripper is outweighed by the company’s own guidance. When the company guided for target earnings of 75 cents per share by 2020, the bull case for AMD stock took a big hit. Assuming a 20x earnings multiple, AMD would be worth roughly $15 by then. That, in turn, implies a current value, discounted back at 8%, of about $12. But a 20x earnings multiple might be aggressive. Nvidia has soared, and trades at a hefty multiple. But most chip stocks, including Intel, Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: MU ), and Qualcomm, Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM ) trade well below 20x earnings. For AMD, which still will be heavily exposed to a flat-at-best PC business, 20x may be too much at that point. The bull case for AMD stock is that “this time is different” and investors have been given of lot of evidence to support that. The problem is that at this point, the bull case has to be different, too. It has to be based on the idea that the company finally can generate consistent earnings — and enough to support a higher share price. Some of the recent news swirling around Advanced Micro Devices supports the idea that it can be profitable. But after the huge gains, that alone simply isn’t enough. As of this writing, Vince Martin did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. More From InvestorPlace Tesla Inc (TSLA) Stock Is About to Pop Again 10 Great Stocks to Buy You Didn't Know Existed 10 Stocks to Buy Before They Finally Join the Rally The post The Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) Stock Rally Needs a Break appeared first on InvestorPlace . || This digital currency briefly crashed from $319 to 10 cents in seconds on one exchange after multimillion dollar trade: The price of ethereum crashed as low as 10 cents from around $319 in about a second on the GDAX cryptocurrency exchange on Wednesday, a move that is being blamed on a "multimillion dollar market sell" order. Ethereum is an alternative digital currency to bitcoin and had been trading as high as $352 on Wednesday. It has since rebounded from its flash-crash lows to trade to about $325 on the GDAX exchange. According to industry and price tracking website Coinmarketcap, which takes into account the price on several exchanges, ethereum was trading around $338. Adam White, the vice president of GDAX which is run by U.S. firm Coinbase, posted on the exchange's blog, outlining what took place at around 12:30 p.m. PT on Wednesday. According to White, the multimillion dollar market sell order resulted in a number of orders being filled from $317.81 to $224.48. As the price continued to fall, another 800 stop loss orders and margin funding liquidations caused ethereum to trade as low as 10 cents. A stop loss order is a trade that is executed automatically once a security in this case ethereum hits a particular price. Margin funding is essentially trading with borrowed funds. Liquidation is when these positions are closed automatically in order to prevent further losses. The knock-on selling effect caused the flash crash on GDAX . The chart below is a screenshot of the GDAX price showing the high and low price. Many on social media criticized GDAX and alleged there was some sort of illegal activity taking place. GDAX denied this. "Our initial investigations show no indication of wrongdoing or account takeovers. We understand this event can be frustrating for our customers. Our matching engine operated as intended throughout this event and trading with advanced features like margin always carries inherent risk," White said in a blog post . "We are continuing to conduct a thorough investigation and will keep customers updated with any resulting actions." Story continues White also noted that these trades are final and will not be reversed. The exchange temporarily halted trading of ethereum on Wednesday before restoring the system shortly after. As well as the issues on GDAX, investor demand at the funding launch for an ethereum-based messaging app called Status clogged the ethereum network, an industry insider told CNBC . User makes $1 million off $380? Ethereum traders were outraged by the crash blaming GDAX for not having proper controls, and even accusing whoever put the sell order in of market manipulation. TWEET And it was a painful experience for many. On the social forum Reddit, users complained of losing large sums of money from $3,000 to $9,000. But it also seemed to be a large money making event for some too. On the trading forum StockTwits, user John DeMasie posted a screenshot of trade history around the time of the flash crash. It showed one person had an order in for just over 3,800 ethereum if the price fell to 10 cents on the GDAX exchange. Theoretically this person would have spent $380 to buy these coins, and when the price shot up above $300 again, the trader would be sitting on over $1 million. CNBC has been unable to verify the screenshot posted by DeMasie. Cryptocurrency excitement The ethereum crash comes amid rising interest in the broader cryptocurrency space. Both bitcoin (Exchange: BTC=-USS) and ethereum have hit record highs recently, and have both seen pullbacks . Ethereum in particular has been talked up because of the blockchain technology that underpins it. Whereas bitcoin and its blockchain is seen as a payment network, ethereum has been designed to support so-called smart contract applications. A smart contract is a computer program that can automatically execute the terms of a contract when certain conditions are met. The ethereum blockchain has also got backing from a number of large firms such as Microsoft , which has helped to drive the price higher. Ethereum is up around 4,100 percent year-to-date, based on the price it was trading at on Thursday morning, according to Coinmarketcap. WATCH: Here's what sets Ethereum apart from its rival Bitcoin More From CNBC India's digital payments giant Paytm to offer credit card and lending services Bitcoin start-up Blockchain raises $40 million from Google, Richard Branson Uber IPO prospects remain extremely good despite CEO resigning, Deutsche Bank says || This digital currency briefly crashed from $319 to 10 cents in seconds on one exchange after ‘multimillion dollar’ trade: The price of ethereum crashed as low as 10 cents from around $319 in about a second on the GDAX cryptocurrency exchange on Wednesday, a move that is being blamed on a "multimillion dollar market sell" order.
Ethereum is an alternative digital currency to bitcoin and had been trading as high as $352 on Wednesday. It has since rebounded from its flash-crash lows to trade to about $325 on the GDAX exchange. According to industry and price tracking website Coinmarketcap, which takes into account the price on several exchanges, ethereum was trading around $338.
Adam White, the vice president of GDAX which is run by U.S. firm Coinbase, posted on the exchange's blog, outlining what took place at around 12:30 p.m. PT on Wednesday. According to White, the multimillion dollar market sell order resulted in a number of orders being filled from $317.81 to $224.48.
As the price continued to fall, another 800 stop loss orders and margin funding liquidations caused ethereum to trade as low as 10 cents.
A stop loss order is a trade that is executed automatically once a security — in this case ethereum — hits a particular price. Margin funding is essentially trading with borrowed funds. Liquidation is when these positions are closed automatically in order to prevent further losses. The knock-on selling effect caused theflash crash on GDAX.
The chart below is a screenshot of the GDAX price showing the high and low price.
Many on social media criticized GDAX and alleged there was some sort of illegal activity taking place. GDAX denied this.
"Our initial investigations show no indication of wrongdoing or account takeovers. We understand this event can be frustrating for our customers. Our matching engine operated as intended throughout this event and trading with advanced features like margin always carries inherent risk,"White said in a blog post.
"We are continuing to conduct a thorough investigation and will keep customers updated with any resulting actions."
White also noted that these trades are final and will not be reversed. The exchange temporarily halted trading of ethereum on Wednesday before restoring the system shortly after.
As well as the issues on GDAX, investor demand at the funding launch for an ethereum-based messaging app called Status clogged the ethereum network,an industry insider told CNBC.
Ethereum traders were outraged by the crash blaming GDAX for not having proper controls, and even accusing whoever put the sell order in of market manipulation.
And it was a painful experience for many. On the social forum Reddit, users complained oflosing large sums of moneyfrom $3,000 to $9,000.
But it also seemed to be a large money making event for some too. On the trading forum StockTwits, user John DeMasieposted a screenshot of trade historyaround the time of the flash crash. It showed one person had an order in for just over 3,800 ethereum if the price fell to 10 cents on the GDAX exchange. Theoretically this person would have spent $380 to buy these coins, and when the price shot up above $300 again, the trader would be sitting on over $1 million. CNBC has been unable to verify the screenshot posted by DeMasie.
The ethereum crash comes amid rising interest in the broader cryptocurrency space. Both bitcoin(Exchange: BTC=-USS)and ethereum have hit record highs recently, andhave both seen pullbacks.
Ethereum in particular has been talked up because of the blockchain technology that underpins it. Whereas bitcoin and its blockchain is seen as a payment network, ethereum has been designed to support so-called smart contract applications. A smart contract is a computer program that can automatically execute the terms of a contract when certain conditions are met.
The ethereum blockchain has also got backing from a number oflarge firms such as Microsoft, which has helped to drive the price higher.
Ethereum is up around 4,100 percent year-to-date, based on the price it was trading at on Thursday morning, according to Coinmarketcap.
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• Uber IPO prospects remain ‘extremely good’ despite CEO resigning, Deutsche Bank says || Should You Jump On The Bitcoin Bandwagon?: You’ve likely been hearing a lot about digital currencies lately, and more specifically, bitcoin, which is one of the more dominant (and successful) currencies in a growing field that initially emerged in the 1980s.But what is bitcoin, exactly, and why is there now so much hype?Here are a few things you should know about this decentralized, peer-to-peer currency that has been around since 2009 and is quickly gaining momentum as it quietly dodges its association with illegal activity (Think: drug dealers, tax evaders, and hackers demanding ransom):It’s accessible to the massesWhile most of the people buying biotin are individual investors, anyone can get in, and one of the easiest places to do this is on a trusted exchange likecoinbase.com. “It’s one of the more popular, exchanges for everyday mom and pop investors who are becoming more interested,” saysChris Dunn,Bitcoin trader, investor andtrainer. “You set up an account there, link it directly to your checking account, and work out a few technicals. You buy and sell bitcoin with U.S. dollars. It’s kind of like electronic trading of stocks, except there’s no broker involved.”There’s no minimum investmentCurrently one bitcoin costs $2760, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend $2760. “You can buy small fractions of bitcoin, down to 8 decimal places, so technically if you wanted to invest $.01 worth of bitcoin, you could,” says Brian Kelly, Founder and Managing Member,Brian Kelly Capital LLC, portfolio manager,BKCM Digital Asset Fund, and author ofThe Bitcoin Big Bang– How Alternative Currencies are About to Change the World.Just expect volatility. “Although I’m expecting one big push to the upside to maybe $4000-$5000 with all the new money coming in (Speculation is the primary driver of price.), you have to be ok with the price going down by 80% or 90% so don’t invest money you can’t afford to lose.”Kelly suggests investing no more than 1% of your net worth in digital currency. “This is revolutionary technology akin to the internet. You have to remember that for every Amazon and Google started during the 1990s internet boom, there is a Pets.com that failed.”Risk comes with the territoryBitcoin exchanges are vulnerable to hacking, and if an exchange loses its money, good luck getting your money back, says Kelly. “Most exchanges are essentially unregulated banks.”Practical? Not exactly…While a growing number of e-commerce sites, including Overstock, Expedia, and numerous others (as well as some bricks and mortars), it’s not like you can use bitcoin, which is still considered ‘experimental,’ for your everyday purchases. Nor should you, says Dunn. “More people are using bitcoin and that’s led to higher transaction fees. On $100 worth of purchases, the transaction fee might be 5%.”The Bubble Boils?Things move very quickly in the world of cryptocurrency, and while this has many talking “bubbles,” consider this: “Bitcoin has already been through at least six bubbles and price has always exceeded the prior high,” says Dunn. “This may not be the case forever, but it’s attracting mainstream money now, and most people should own at least a little bitcoin to they can familiarize themselves with how cryptocurrencies work because digital currency is here to stay and the technology will only grow in scale and opportunity.”Vera Gibbons is the founder and editor ofnonpoliticalnews.com, a free, by- subscription newsletter that covers and curates the news in Consumer/Personal Finance; Health & Wellness, Fashion/Beauty; Fitness/Diet.A former analyst with MSNBC who appeared regularly on the “Today Show,” Gibbons was previously a Financial Contributor with CBS News. || Should You Jump On The Bitcoin Bandwagon?: You’ve likely been hearing a lot about digital currencies lately, and more specifically, bitcoin, which is one of the more dominant (and successful) currencies in a growing field that initially emerged in the 1980s.But what is bitcoin, exactly, and why is there now so much hype?Here are a few things you should know about this decentralized, peer-to-peer currency that has been around since 2009 and is quickly gaining momentum as it quietly dodges its association with illegal activity (Think: drug dealers, tax evaders, and hackers demanding ransom):It’s accessible to the massesWhile most of the people buying biotin are individual investors, anyone can get in, and one of the easiest places to do this is on a trusted exchange likecoinbase.com. “It’s one of the more popular, exchanges for everyday mom and pop investors who are becoming more interested,” saysChris Dunn,Bitcoin trader, investor andtrainer. “You set up an account there, link it directly to your checking account, and work out a few technicals. You buy and sell bitcoin with U.S. dollars. It’s kind of like electronic trading of stocks, except there’s no broker involved.”There’s no minimum investmentCurrently one bitcoin costs $2760, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend $2760. “You can buy small fractions of bitcoin, down to 8 decimal places, so technically if you wanted to invest $.01 worth of bitcoin, you could,” says Brian Kelly, Founder and Managing Member,Brian Kelly Capital LLC, portfolio manager,BKCM Digital Asset Fund, and author ofThe Bitcoin Big Bang– How Alternative Currencies are About to Change the World.Just expect volatility. “Although I’m expecting one big push to the upside to maybe $4000-$5000 with all the new money coming in (Speculation is the primary driver of price.), you have to be ok with the price going down by 80% or 90% so don’t invest money you can’t afford to lose.”Kelly suggests investing no more than 1% of your net worth in digital currency. “This is revolutionary technology akin to the internet. You have to remember that for every Amazon and Google started during the 1990s internet boom, there is a Pets.com that failed.”Risk comes with the territoryBitcoin exchanges are vulnerable to hacking, and if an exchange loses its money, good luck getting your money back, says Kelly. “Most exchanges are essentially unregulated banks.”Practical? Not exactly…While a growing number of e-commerce sites, including Overstock, Expedia, and numerous others (as well as some bricks and mortars), it’s not like you can use bitcoin, which is still considered ‘experimental,’ for your everyday purchases. Nor should you, says Dunn. “More people are using bitcoin and that’s led to higher transaction fees. On $100 worth of purchases, the transaction fee might be 5%.”The Bubble Boils?Things move very quickly in the world of cryptocurrency, and while this has many talking “bubbles,” consider this: “Bitcoin has already been through at least six bubbles and price has always exceeded the prior high,” says Dunn. “This may not be the case forever, but it’s attracting mainstream money now, and most people should own at least a little bitcoin to they can familiarize themselves with how cryptocurrencies work because digital currency is here to stay and the technology will only grow in scale and opportunity.”Vera Gibbons is the founder and editor ofnonpoliticalnews.com, a free, by- subscription newsletter that covers and curates the news in Consumer/Personal Finance; Health & Wellness, Fashion/Beauty; Fitness/Diet.A former analyst with MSNBC who appeared regularly on the “Today Show,” Gibbons was previously a Financial Contributor with CBS News. || Should You Jump On The Bitcoin Bandwagon?: Youve likely been hearing a lot about digital currencies lately, and more specifically, bitcoin, which is one of the more dominant (and successful) currencies in a growing field that initially emerged in the 1980s. But what is bitcoin, exactly, and why is there now so much hype? Here are a few things you should know about this decentralized, peer-to-peer currency that has been around since 2009 and is quickly gaining momentum as it quietly dodges its association with illegal activity (Think: drug dealers, tax evaders, and hackers demanding ransom): Its accessible to the masses While most of the people buying biotin are individual investors, anyone can get in, and one of the easiest places to do this is on a trusted exchange like coinbase.com . Its one of the more popular, exchanges for everyday mom and pop investors who are becoming more interested, says Chris Dunn, Bitcoin trader, investor and trainer . You set up an account there, link it directly to your checking account, and work out a few technicals. You buy and sell bitcoin with U.S. dollars. Its kind of like electronic trading of stocks, except theres no broker involved. Theres no minimum investment Currently one bitcoin costs $2760, but that doesnt mean you have to spend $2760. You can buy small fractions of bitcoin, down to 8 decimal places, so technically if you wanted to invest $.01 worth of bitcoin, you could, says Brian Kelly, Founder and Managing Member, Brian Kelly Capital LLC , portfolio manager, BKCM Digital Asset Fund , and author of The Bitcoin Big Bang How Alternative Currencies are About to Change the World. Just expect volatility. Although Im expecting one big push to the upside to maybe $4000-$5000 with all the new money coming in (Speculation is the primary driver of price.), you have to be ok with the price going down by 80% or 90% so dont invest money you cant afford to lose. Kelly suggests investing no more than 1% of your net worth in digital currency. This is revolutionary technology akin to the internet. You have to remember that for every Amazon and Google started during the 1990s internet boom, there is a Pets.com that failed. Risk comes with the territory Bitcoin exchanges are vulnerable to hacking, and if an exchange loses its money, good luck getting your money back, says Kelly. Most exchanges are essentially unregulated banks. Practical? Not exactly
While a growing number of e-commerce sites, including Overstock, Expedia, and numerous others (as well as some bricks and mortars), its not like you can use bitcoin, which is still considered experimental, for your everyday purchases. Nor should you, says Dunn. More people are using bitcoin and thats led to higher transaction fees. On $100 worth of purchases, the transaction fee might be 5%. The Bubble Boils? Things move very quickly in the world of cryptocurrency, and while this has many talking bubbles, consider this: Bitcoin has already been through at least six bubbles and price has always exceeded the prior high, says Dunn. This may not be the case forever, but its attracting mainstream money now, and most people should own at least a little bitcoin to they can familiarize themselves with how cryptocurrencies work because digital currency is here to stay and the technology will only grow in scale and opportunity. Vera Gibbons is the founder and editor of nonpoliticalnews.com , a free, by- subscription newsletter that covers and curates the news in Consumer/Personal Finance; Health & Wellness, Fashion/Beauty; Fitness/Diet. A former analyst with MSNBC who appeared regularly on the Today Show, Gibbons was previously a Financial Contributor with CBS News. View comments || Hackers Leaked Orange Is the New Black Despite Receiving $50,000 Ransom: A hacking group known as The Dark Overlord that has been terrorizing Hollywood in recent months reportedly received $50,000 in ransom money before leaking the latest season of the popular series Orange Is the New Black in May. Variety is reporting that the hacking collective confirmed that it demanded and received that ransom money from executives at Larson Studios, a Los Angeles-based studio that specializes in post-production audio work on Hollywood films and TV shows. The Dark Overlord has claimed that it stole dozens of film and TV titles from major studios such as Netflix, , and by hacking into a computer at Larson Studios. Varietys latest issue features an exclusive interview with executives at Larson Studios, who speak at length about how they discovered that they had been hacked and the steps they took to try to prevent any of their clients productions from being illegally leaked online. Studio vice president Jill Larson told Variety that the studio decided to comply with The Dark Overlords ransom request of 50 Bitcoin--the electronic currency would have been worth roughly $50,000 at the time--to ensure that the group did not leak the stolen programming. Get Data Sheet , Fortune s technology newsletter. However, while Variety says that The Dark Overlord confirms it received the ransom, the hackers reportedly still went ahead and leaked the fifth season of Netflixs Orange Is the New Black online last month because they claim that Larson Studios violated their agreement by involving the FBI. Larson Studios employees say they contacted the FBI immediately after receiving the groups threats and ransom demands in December. The studio also says it did not initially tell its clients that their intellectual property had been stolen, simply because The Dark Overlord had warned them not to tell the big studios. But, the studios eventually found out about the hack after the collective began contacting them separately and demanding additional ransoms. Story continues In addition to the Orange Is the New Black leak, the hacker group has claimed responsibility for the online leak of unreleased episodes of ABCs new competition reality series Funderdome , which is hosted by comedian Steve Harvey. Episodes of that show appeared on the media-sharing website Pirate Bay earlier this month before the series premiered on June 11. At the time, The Dark Overlord wrote in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter that Hollywood is under attack and that the group would continue to release stolen programming. At one point in May, the hackers claimed to have an unreleased Walt Disney feature film--supposedly the May release Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales --but Larson Studios never worked on that movie and Disney CEO Bob Iger denied that the film had been stolen. See original article on Fortune.com More from Fortune.com Facebook Won't Reveal Data About Political Campaign Ads Amazon and Former Exec Settle Non-Compete Dispute Spotify and Facebook Make It Easier to Create Group Playlists A Computer Designed Stanley Black & Decker's New Tool Oracle's Shares Soar On Strong Sales || Hackers Leaked ‘Orange Is the New Black’ Despite Receiving $50,000 Ransom: A hacking group known asThe Dark Overlordthat has been terrorizing Hollywood in recent months reportedly received $50,000 in ransom money before leaking the latest season of the popular seriesOrange Is the New Blackin May.
Varietyis reportingthat the hacking collective confirmed that it demanded and received that ransom money from executives at Larson Studios, a Los Angeles-based studio that specializes in post-production audio work on Hollywood films and TV shows. The Dark Overlord hasclaimedthat it stole dozens of film and TV titles from major studios such as Netflix, , and by hacking into a computer at Larson Studios.
Variety’slatest issue features anexclusive interviewwith executives at Larson Studios, who speak at length about how they discovered that they had been hacked and the steps they took to try to prevent any of their clients’ productions from being illegally leaked online. Studio vice president Jill Larson toldVarietythat the studio decided to comply with The Dark Overlord’s ransom request of 50 Bitcoin--the electronic currency would have been worth roughly $50,000 at the time--to ensure that the group did not leak the stolen programming.
GetData Sheet,Fortune‘s technology newsletter.
However, whileVarietysays that The Dark Overlord confirms it received the ransom, the hackers reportedly still went ahead and leaked the fifth season of Netflix’sOrange Is the New Blackonlinelast monthbecause they claim that Larson Studios violated their agreement by involving the FBI. Larson Studios’ employees say they contacted the FBI immediately after receiving the group’s threats and ransom demands in December. The studio also says it did not initially tell its clients that their intellectual property had been stolen, simply because The Dark Overlord had warned them not to tell the big studios. But, the studios eventually found out about the hack after the collective began contacting them separately and demanding additional ransoms.
In addition to theOrange Is the New Blackleak, the hacker group has claimed responsibility for the online leak of unreleased episodes of ABC’s new competitionreality seriesFunderdome, which is hosted by comedian Steve Harvey. Episodes of that show appeared on the media-sharing website Pirate Bay earlier this month before the series premiered on June 11. At the time, The Dark Overlord wrote in astatementtoThe Hollywood Reporterthat “Hollywood is under attack” and that the group would continue to release stolen programming.
At one point in May, the hackersclaimedto have an unreleased Walt Disney feature film--supposedly the May releasePirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales--but Larson Studios never worked on that movie and Disney CEO Bob Igerdeniedthat the film had been stolen.
See original article on Fortune.com
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• Oracle's Shares Soar On Strong Sales || Nike is reportedly close to making a huge move that should terrify Dick's, Foot Locker, and Under Armour: Nike (Nike may finally break through online by selling on Amazon.Facebook/Nike) The world's largest sportswear maker and the world's largest online retailer might finally work together. In its tooth-and-nail fight to staunch ebbing sales, Nike may finally embrace Amazon soon and sell directly on Amazon.com, according to analysts at Goldman Sachs. "Our channel checks indicate [Nike] could be close to commencing a direct relationship selling product on Amazon.com," the Goldman Sachs analyst note reads. For Nike, there are tangible benefits from selling directly on Amazon. The company's shoes, apparel, and accessories are already sold on Amazon, but from third-party sellers and unlicensed dealers that purchased the product wholesale from Nike. Selling directly on the site eliminates a layer between Nike and the consumer, allowing the company to better control pricing and presentation. It's not quite direct to consumer, but it's a lot closer. Goldman sees it as a deal worth potentially up to $500 million of revenue yearly — an additional 1% of global sales for the Nike. Nike's biggest competitors — Adidas and Under Armour — already sell directly on Amazon, and they both have fancy splash pages that highlight the the newest and best product the companies have to offer. Nike currently has no such thing, giving both competitors have an advantage on the site. Offering directly on Amazon also gives Nike's direct-to-consumer business even better access to younger consumers — millennials — who shop more often on Amazon than other groups. Selling on Amazon may also serve to replace physical sports retailers that have gone bankrupt in recent years, like Sports Authority. Dick's Sporting Goods and Foot Locker, some of Nike's biggest retailers, were both down in early market trading on the news of the increasing competition. Dick's neared an 18 month low, while Foot Locker fell below a three-year-low, according to Reuters . NOW WATCH: HENRY BLODGET: Bitcoin could go to $1 million (or fall to $0) More From Business Insider Whole Foods keeps signaling the death of the brand as we know it Amazon's rivals 'will do anything' to make the company pay more for Whole Foods WHOLE FOODS CEO: We focused on employees at the 'expense of our customers' || Nike is reportedly close to making a huge move that should terrify Dick's, Foot Locker, and Under Armour: (Nike may finally break through online by selling on Amazon.Facebook/Nike)
The world's largest sportswear maker and the world's largest online retailer might finally work together.
In its tooth-and-nail fight to staunch ebbing sales,Nikemay finally embraceAmazonsoon and sell directly on Amazon.com, according to analysts at Goldman Sachs.
"Our channel checks indicate [Nike] could be close to commencing a direct relationship selling product on Amazon.com," the Goldman Sachs analyst note reads.
For Nike, there are tangible benefits from selling directly on Amazon. The company's shoes, apparel, and accessories are already sold on Amazon, but from third-party sellers and unlicensed dealers that purchased the product wholesale from Nike. Selling directly on the site eliminates a layer between Nike and the consumer, allowing the company to better control pricing and presentation. It's not quite direct to consumer, but it's a lot closer.
Goldman sees it as a deal worth potentially up to $500 million of revenue yearly — an additional 1% of global sales for the Nike.
Nike's biggest competitors — Adidas and Under Armour — already sell directly on Amazon, and they both have fancy splash pages that highlight the the newest and best product the companies have to offer. Nike currently has no such thing, giving both competitors have an advantage on the site.
Offering directly on Amazon also gives Nike's direct-to-consumer business even better access to younger consumers — millennials — who shop more often on Amazon than other groups.
Selling on Amazon may also serve to replace physical sports retailers that have gone bankrupt in recent years, like Sports Authority.
Dick's Sporting Goods and Foot Locker, some of Nike's biggest retailers, were both down in early market trading on the news of the increasing competition. Dick's neared an 18 month low, while Foot Locker fell below a three-year-low,according to Reuters.
NOW WATCH:HENRY BLODGET: Bitcoin could go to $1 million (or fall to $0)
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• WHOLE FOODS CEO: We focused on employees at the 'expense of our customers' || Nvidia is getting a huge boost from a red-hot cryptocurrency: The logo of Nvidia Corporation is seen during the annual Computex computer exhibition in Taipei, Taiwan May 30, 2017. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu (The logo of Nvidia Corporation is seen during the annual Computex computer exhibition in TaipeiThomson Reuters) Graphic processing units are used to power games, but that's not what is driving Nvidia's stock skyward right now. Cryptocurrency mining is one of the biggest drivers to the GPU maker's shares in recent weeks. In just 11 days, about $100 million worth of GPUs were added to the Ethereum network, according to a new note from RBC Capital Markets. Nvidia's stock has climbed about 5% over that time. "While the company is shifting its business toward Automotive and Gaming specific revenue, we note that the combined GPU business represents the majority of NVIDIAs revenue," RBC said. Etherum is a red-hot cryptocurrency. Its value has ballooned 4,056% this year. The value of one Ether was worth $8.07 on January 1, 2017, and is now worth around $336.41, according to ethereumprice.org. The currency is worth $31.14 billion in total, which places it somewhere between the market cap of 21st Century Fox and Dish Network, for reference. Because the cryptocurrency has risen so quickly, miners are eager to get in on the action. To obtain Ether, you can either pay for it as with any other currency exchange or set up a computer to help verify payments and maintain the network. Those who help maintain the networks are known as miners, and those miners have spent millions of dollars on GPUs in the past few days to help speed up their computers and get more Ether. To figure out the number of GPUs that were added to the cryptocurrency network, RBC looked at the speed at which payments of ether are being verified by miners, and divided the recent increase in speed by the average speed of a single GPU. RBC measured an approximately 10 million megahash per second increase in speed over 11 days, and divided that by an average GPU speed of 30 megahashes per second to get an estimated 333,333 new GPUs. RBC estimated each of these new GPUs would sell for about $275, meaning $91.7 million has been spent on GPUs recently. Story continues Nvidia was a more attractive GPU manufacturer to many miners because the price of its GPUs on the secondhand market was lower than those of competitor AMD. However, that has changed with the recent increase in demand, according to RBC. Other cryptocurrencies, like Zcash and Monero, have also seen increases in mining speed on their networks, which RBC thinks is a net increase in GPUs on the network, rather than miners switching between networks. RBC has a price target of $175 for Nvidia which is 10.4% higher than the current price. "Importantly, we think FY18 results (within Data Center and Gaming specifically) will be above expectations which could cause our forward numbers to increase in a material fashion," the firm wrote. Nvidia's share price has surged 55.74% this year. Click here to watch Nvidia's stock price in real time. Nvidia stock price (Markets Insider) NOW WATCH: An economist explains what could happen if Trump pulls the US out of NAFTA More From Business Insider 20 must-have tech accessories under $20 Bitcoin storms back Bitcoin is tumbling || Nvidia is getting a huge boost from a red-hot cryptocurrency: (The logo of Nvidia Corporation is seen during the annual Computex computer exhibition in TaipeiThomson Reuters)
Graphic processing units are used to power games, but that's not what is drivingNvidia's stockskyward right now.
Cryptocurrency mining is one of the biggest drivers to the GPU maker's shares in recent weeks. In just 11 days, about $100 million worth of GPUs were added to the Ethereum network, according to a new note from RBC Capital Markets. Nvidia's stock has climbed about 5% over that time.
"While the company is shifting its business toward Automotive and Gaming specific revenue, we note that the combined GPU business represents the majority of NVIDIA’s revenue," RBC said.
Etherum is a red-hot cryptocurrency. Its value has ballooned 4,056% this year. The value of one Ether was worth $8.07 on January 1, 2017, and is now worth around $336.41, according toethereumprice.org.The currency is worth $31.14 billion in total, which places it somewhere betweenthe market cap of 21st Century Fox and Dish Network, for reference.
Because the cryptocurrency has risen so quickly, miners are eager to get in on the action. To obtain Ether, you can either pay for it as with any other currency exchange or set up a computer to help verify payments and maintain the network. Those who help maintain the networks are known as miners, and those miners have spent millions of dollars on GPUs in the past few days to help speed up their computers and get more Ether.
To figure out the number of GPUs that were added to the cryptocurrency network, RBC looked at the speed at which payments of ether are being verified by miners, and divided the recent increase in speed by the average speed of a single GPU.
RBC measured an approximately 10 million megahash per second increase in speed over 11 days, and divided that by an average GPU speed of 30 megahashes per second to get an estimated 333,333 new GPUs. RBC estimated each of these new GPUs would sell for about $275, meaning $91.7 million has been spent on GPUs recently.
Nvidia was a more attractive GPU manufacturer to many miners because the price of its GPUs on the secondhand market was lower than those of competitor AMD. However, that has changed with the recent increase in demand, according to RBC.
Other cryptocurrencies, like Zcash and Monero, have also seen increases in mining speed on their networks, which RBC thinks is a net increase in GPUs on the network, rather than miners switching between networks.
RBC has a price target of $175 for Nvidia which is 10.4% higher than the current price. "Importantly, we think FY18 results (within Data Center and Gaming specifically) will be above expectations which could cause our forward numbers to increase in a material fashion," the firm wrote.
Nvidia's share price has surged 55.74% this year.
(Markets Insider)
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• Bitcoin is tumbling || PayPal has a new weapon in the P2P payments battle: (BI Intelligence)
This story was delivered to BI Intelligence "Payments Briefing" subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, pleaseclick here.
PayPal began piloting an instant cash-out offering for its peer-to-peer (P2P) payment offerings, including Venmo, according toTechCrunch.
The service, which is currently in a limited beta, will allow the majority of Visa or MasterCard debit cardholders to opt to cash out their wallet balance to their bank account via their debit card in real time, ranging from a few minutes to a half hour, for a 25-cent fee. Currently, transfers are free, but take up to 24 hours. The service should be arriving to all users, who can choose between the free or paid option, in the “coming weeks and months.”
This provides two core benefits to PayPal.
• Monetization: P2P services are some of PayPal’s fastest growing segments — Venmo grew by 114% annually in Q1 2017, compared with just 25% for PayPal overall. But they’re tough to monetize, because PayPal must pay banks or issuers a fee that they can’t pass onto consumers, meaning that the firm takes the service at a loss. As P2P continues to comprise a larger share of overall volume, losses will magnify, making monetization a key priority, and one the firm is already working on through initiatives like Venmo’s buy button. The trade-off between the nominal fee and the benefits instant transfer could provide might prove popular among consumers that value convenience above all for P2P payments.
• Competitive positioning: Venmo likely is the market leader in the P2P space, where competition is heating up — a network of banks recently launched the Zelle network, which will serve up to 86 million consumers and might attract or convert a subset of users based on convenience and security. Bank-based Zelle offers free instant cash-out, and so PayPal launching a feature across its properties could help it stay up to par with what might be its largest competitor moving forward, ultimately helping it maintain its current stance.
Jaime Toplin, research analyst forBI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compileda detailed report on mobile P2P paymentsthat:
• Forecasts the growth of the P2P market, and what portion of that will come from mobile channels, through 2021.
• Explains the factors driving that growth and details why it will come from increased usage, not increased spend per user.
• Evaluates why mobile P2P isn’t profitable for companies, and details several cases of attempts to monetize.
• Assesses which of these strategies could be most successful, and what companies need to leverage to succeed in the space.
• Provides context from other markets to explain shifting trends.
To get the full report, subscribe to anAll-Accesspass to BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report and more than 250 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >>Learn More Now
You can also purchase and download the full report from our research store. >>BUY THE REPORT
More From Business Insider
• Venmo makes moves to monetize
• Venmo's monetization will be worth watching
• Fintech could be bigger than ATMs, PayPal, and Bitcoin combined || PayPal has a new weapon in the P2P payments battle: Venmo's Share of Paypal (BI Intelligence) This story was delivered to BI Intelligence " Payments Briefing " subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, please click here . PayPal began piloting an instant cash-out offering for its peer-to-peer (P2P) payment offerings, including Venmo, according to TechCrunch . The service, which is currently in a limited beta, will allow the majority of Visa or MasterCard debit cardholders to opt to cash out their wallet balance to their bank account via their debit card in real time, ranging from a few minutes to a half hour, for a 25-cent fee. Currently, transfers are free, but take up to 24 hours. The service should be arriving to all users, who can choose between the free or paid option, in the “coming weeks and months.” This provides two core benefits to PayPal. Monetization: P2P services are some of PayPal’s fastest growing segments — Venmo grew by 114% annually in Q1 2017, compared with just 25% for PayPal overall. But they’re tough to monetize, because PayPal must pay banks or issuers a fee that they can’t pass onto consumers, meaning that the firm takes the service at a loss. As P2P continues to comprise a larger share of overall volume, losses will magnify, making monetization a key priority, and one the firm is already working on through initiatives like Venmo’s buy button. The trade-off between the nominal fee and the benefits instant transfer could provide might prove popular among consumers that value convenience above all for P2P payments. Competitive positioning: Venmo likely is the market leader in the P2P space, where competition is heating up — a network of banks recently launched the Zelle network, which will serve up to 86 million consumers and might attract or convert a subset of users based on convenience and security. Bank-based Zelle offers free instant cash-out, and so PayPal launching a feature across its properties could help it stay up to par with what might be its largest competitor moving forward, ultimately helping it maintain its current stance. Story continues Jaime Toplin, research analyst for BI Intelligence , Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on mobile P2P payments that: Forecasts the growth of the P2P market, and what portion of that will come from mobile channels, through 2021. Explains the factors driving that growth and details why it will come from increased usage, not increased spend per user. Evaluates why mobile P2P isn’t profitable for companies, and details several cases of attempts to monetize. Assesses which of these strategies could be most successful, and what companies need to leverage to succeed in the space. Provides context from other markets to explain shifting trends. To get the full report, subscribe to an All-Access pass to BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report and more than 250 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >> Learn More Now You can also purchase and download the full report from our research store. >> BUY THE REPORT More From Business Insider Venmo makes moves to monetize Venmo's monetization will be worth watching Fintech could be bigger than ATMs, PayPal, and Bitcoin combined || Bitcoin eyes return to $3,000 as Ether edges lower: Investing.com Bitcoin renewed its swing higher on Tuesday, as investor appetite for the digital currency returned while Ethereum struggled to hold onto gains. On the U.S.-based GDAX exchange, BTC/USD rose to $2,746.6 up 7.29%. Bitcoin continued its march higher to $3000, the level achieved last week, as investors piled back into the digital currency, after it fell to $2,409, a level that some analysts suggested could be attractive for reentry. Bitcoin is up nearly 180% year-to-date far outpacing traditional the gains achieved by traditional U.S. benchmarks such as the Nasdaq and the S&P 500, which are up about 15% and 10%, respectively. Whereas, Ether, a currency transacted through the Ethereum platform, has risen 4,500% since the beginning of the year, backed by big corporate names like JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT). Ether failed, however, to mirror bitcoins move higher in the session, with eth/usd down 1.20% to $250.73. Ether has made up significant ground against bitcoin in short space of time, reaching a market cap of about $33 billion not far off bitcoins $44 billion. If recent trends continue, then the value of Ethereums currency could usurp Bitcoins in the coming weeks a phenomenon referred to as the flippeninig. Related Articles Forex - Yen points higher in early Asia ahead of BoJ minutes Dollar remains close to session highs as sterling slide continues Forex - Dollar gains amid Fed remarks and sterling weakness || Bitcoin eyes return to $3,000 as Ether edges lower: Investing.com – Bitcoin renewed its swing higher on Tuesday, as investor appetite for the digital currency returned while Ethereum struggled to hold onto gains.
On the U.S.-based GDAX exchange, BTC/USD rose to $2,746.6 up 7.29%.
Bitcoin continued its march higher to $3000, the level achieved last week, as investors piled back into the digital currency, after it fell to $2,409, a level that some analysts suggested could be attractive for reentry.
Bitcoin is up nearly 180% year-to-date far outpacing traditional the gains achieved by traditional U.S. benchmarks such as the Nasdaq and the S&P 500, which are up about 15% and 10%, respectively.
Whereas, Ether, a currency transacted through the Ethereum platform, has risen 4,500% since the beginning of the year, backed by big corporate names like JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT).
Ether failed, however, to mirror bitcoin’s move higher in the session, with eth/usd down 1.20% to $250.73.
Ether has made up significant ground against bitcoin in short space of time, reaching a market cap of about $33 billion not far off bitcoin’s $44 billion.
If recent trends continue, then the value of Ethereum’s currency could usurp Bitcoin’s in the coming weeks – a phenomenon referred to as the “flippeninig.”
Related Articles
Forex - Yen points higher in early Asia ahead of BoJ minutes
Dollar remains close to session highs as sterling slide continues
Forex - Dollar gains amid Fed remarks and sterling weakness || Bitcoin eyes return to $3,000 as Ether edges lower: Investing.com – Bitcoin renewed its swing higher on Tuesday, as investor appetite for the digital currency returned while Ethereum struggled to hold onto gains.
On the U.S.-based GDAX exchange, BTC/USD rose to $2,746.6 up 7.29%.
Bitcoin continued its march higher to $3000, the level achieved last week, as investors piled back into the digital currency, after it fell to $2,409, a level that some analysts suggested could be attractive for reentry.
Bitcoin is up nearly 180% year-to-date far outpacing traditional the gains achieved by traditional U.S. benchmarks such as the Nasdaq and the S&P 500, which are up about 15% and 10%, respectively.
Whereas, Ether, a currency transacted through the Ethereum platform, has risen 4,500% since the beginning of the year, backed by big corporate names like JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT).
Ether failed, however, to mirror bitcoin’s move higher in the session, with eth/usd down 1.20% to $250.73.
Ether has made up significant ground against bitcoin in short space of time, reaching a market cap of about $33 billion not far off bitcoin’s $44 billion.
If recent trends continue, then the value of Ethereum’s currency could usurp Bitcoin’s in the coming weeks – a phenomenon referred to as the “flippeninig.”
Related Articles
Forex - Yen points higher in early Asia ahead of BoJ minutes
Dollar remains close to session highs as sterling slide continues
Forex - Dollar gains amid Fed remarks and sterling weakness || Explaining Bitcoin Investment Trust’s (GBTC) Premium Over NAV: The Bitcoin Investment Trust (OTCMKTS: GBTC ) is the first publicly traded security designed to track the performance of Bitcoin, and it does so for a 2% annual fee. The trust holds a little over $230 in Bitcoin per share while trading for $450-550 per share. Shares of GBTC trade for a significant premium over the value of the Bitcoin they represent, annoying many observers. However, the negativity surrounding GBTC's premium is based on a misunderstanding of market efficiency and should not deter investors from this excellent opportunity. Often, analysts and investors mistakenly assume a large premium is a sign of market inefficiency or irrationality when it is actually a normal and healthy part of an investment's value. This article will explain why GBTC's premium over the spot price of Bitcoin is actually a good thing. Like most rule of thumb beliefs, the idea that a premium over NAV is bad feels intuitive. After all, you wouldn't want to buy an apple for double the price of an apple. But this surface-level example doesn't fully capture why premiums over NAV became such an anathema to the investment community. Most investment trusts hold bonds and other income generating securities that pay a fixed amount based on their face value. If an investor buys $100 worth of 10% coupon bonds for $200 - not only is his income reduced to 5% but when the bonds mature or get called, the investor will only receive $100 when he paid $200 to buy the bond. Most of the bond's yield was just return of capital. And that 5% was in practice only 1% or 2% if not negative when considering inflation. That sounds awful - but only in perception, not reality. Investments can only be evaluated on a risk-adjusted basis. And if abond trades for such a high premium that its yield becomes minuscule, that simply means the bond was incorrectly priced at face value and the market compensated for this through a premium that reduced its yield. Premiums and discounts to NAV are the market's way of ensuring an equilibrium between risk and reward. The Risk Premium GBTC's premium exists because of the significant risks averted by investing in GBTC instead of the traditional methods of transacting in Bitcoin. To be clear, GBTC's premium is not about convenience, it is about actual value. Cryptocurrency exchanges are generally not secure. Digital currencies lack central accountability or authority and there is little recourse for theft. Many of the largest exchanges have been hacked. In 2014, a Bitcoin exchange called Mt. Gox handled around 70% of global transactions before being hacked for what was worth $450 million at the time. Last year, Bitfinex was hacked for $71 million, causing users to lose 36% of their deposits. Story continues Because of the threat of hacking, cryptocurrency users generally recommend holding Bitcoin in what is called "cold storage" - a secure offline environment where it cannot be hacked. But there is a problem here. And whenever there is a problem there is an opportunity for value to be created through a security that solves the problem. By holding Bitcoin in cold storage, an investor sacrifices liquidity - the ability to quickly buy and sell his Bitcoin. However, if the investor holds the asset online, he increases the risk of total loss from hacking. GBTC solves this dilemma. The Bitcoin Investment Trust stores its Bitcoin in "Xapo, Inc., in deep cold storage vaults. Bitcoin stored in the Xapo Vaults reside on multi signature-addresses, the private keys for which are protected by intense cryptographic, physical and process security." By storing its Bitcoin in offline cold storage, GBTC solves the problem of security without sacrificing the liquidity. By solving this problem, GBTC has created value and it is literally worth more than the liquidation price of its assets. But it doesn't end there, GBTC provides many more advantages. For example, Coinbase, the most popular Bitcoin exchange, imposes limits on the amount of Bitcoin that can be bought at a time. On top of this, bank transfers take 3-5 days to process. Bitcoin purchases transacted through a bank account are locked-in and cannot be sold until up to a week after purchase. The price of Bitcoin can change significantly over this period, but the investor will be unable to sell or cancel the order. On the other hand, GBTC allows investors to buy and sell freely. Conclusion The Bitcoin Investment Trust creates value by providing a solution to the tradeoff between security and liquidity in traditional Bitcoin investments. The trust's premium over the value of its assets is a reflection of the risks investors avoid by investing in GBTC instead of actual Bitcoin. This is not simply a premium for convince, but rather a premium for safety. And as investor awareness and interest in cryptocurrency grows, GBTC's premium is likely to increase, making the security a good way to invest in Bitcoin. With all that said, Investors must also consider the possibility of a new Bitcoin-based fund or ETF reducing demand for GBTC and removing its premium. More recent articles about GBTC: Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC): Moving Back to the Upside View comments || Explaining Bitcoin Investment Trust’s (GBTC) Premium Over NAV: The Bitcoin Investment Trust (OTCMKTS:GBTC) is the first publicly traded security designed to track the performance of Bitcoin, and it does so for a 2% annual fee. The trust holds a little over $230 in Bitcoin per share while trading for $450-550 per share. Shares of GBTC trade for a significant premium over the value of the Bitcoin they represent, annoying many observers.
However, the negativity surrounding GBTC's premium is based on a misunderstanding of market efficiency and should not deter investors from this excellent opportunity. Often, analysts and investors mistakenly assume a large premium is a sign of market inefficiency or irrationality when it is actually a normal and healthy part of an investment's value. This article will explain why GBTC's premium over the spot price of Bitcoin is actually a good thing.
Like most rule of thumb beliefs, the idea that a premium over NAV is bad feels intuitive. After all, you wouldn't want to buy an apple for double the price of an apple. But this surface-level example doesn't fully capture why premiums over NAV became such an anathema to the investment community.
Most investment trusts hold bonds and other income generating securities that pay a fixed amount based on their face value. If an investor buys $100 worth of 10% coupon bonds for $200 - not only is his income reduced to 5% but when the bonds mature or get called, the investor will only receive $100 when he paid $200 to buy the bond. Most of the bond's yield was just return of capital. And that 5% was in practice only 1% or 2% if not negative when considering inflation. That sounds awful - but only in perception, not reality.
Investments can only be evaluated on a risk-adjusted basis. And if abond trades for such a high premium that its yield becomes minuscule, that simply means the bond was incorrectly priced at face value and the market compensated for this through a premium that reduced its yield. Premiums and discounts to NAV are the market's way of ensuring an equilibrium between risk and reward.
The Risk Premium
GBTC's premium exists because of the significant risks averted by investing in GBTC instead of the traditional methods of transacting in Bitcoin. To be clear, GBTC's premium is not about convenience, it is about actual value. Cryptocurrency exchanges are generally not secure. Digital currencies lack central accountability or authority and there is little recourse for theft. Many of the largest exchanges have been hacked. In 2014, a Bitcoin exchange called Mt. Gox handled around 70% of global transactions beforebeing hackedfor what was worth $450 million at the time. Last year, Bitfinex was hacked for $71 million, causing users to lose 36% of their deposits.
Because of the threat of hacking, cryptocurrency users generally recommend holding Bitcoin in what is called "cold storage" - a secure offline environment where it cannot be hacked. But there is a problem here. And whenever there is a problem there is an opportunity for value to be created through a security that solves the problem. By holding Bitcoin in cold storage, an investor sacrifices liquidity - the ability to quickly buy and sell his Bitcoin. However, if the investor holds the asset online, he increases the risk of total loss from hacking. GBTC solves this dilemma.
The Bitcoin Investment Truststores its Bitcoinin "Xapo, Inc., in deep cold storage vaults. Bitcoin stored in the Xapo Vaults reside on multi signature-addresses, the private keys for which are protected by intense cryptographic, physical and process security." By storing its Bitcoin in offline cold storage, GBTC solves the problem of security without sacrificing the liquidity. By solving this problem, GBTC has created value and it is literally worth more than the liquidation price of its assets.
But it doesn't end there, GBTC provides many more advantages. For example, Coinbase, the most popular Bitcoin exchange, imposes limits on the amount of Bitcoin that can be bought at a time. On top of this, bank transfers take 3-5 days to process. Bitcoin purchases transacted through a bank account are locked-in and cannot be sold until up to a week after purchase. The price of Bitcoin can change significantly over this period, but the investor will be unable to sell or cancel the order. On the other hand, GBTC allows investors to buy and sell freely.
Conclusion
The Bitcoin Investment Trust creates value by providing a solution to the tradeoff between security and liquidity in traditional Bitcoin investments. The trust's premium over the value of its assets is a reflection of the risks investors avoid by investing in GBTC instead of actual Bitcoin. This is not simply a premium for convince, but rather a premium for safety. And as investor awareness and interest in cryptocurrency grows, GBTC's premium is likely to increase, making the security a good way to invest in Bitcoin. With all that said, Investors must also consider the possibility of a new Bitcoin-based fund or ETF reducing demand for GBTC and removing its premium.
• Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC): Moving Back to the Upside
[Social Media Buzz]
#BTC 24hr Summary:
Last: $2676.61
High: $2743.00
Low: $2623.02
Change: 1.77% | $46.63
Volume: $ 13142.81
$BTC… https://twitter.com/i/web/status/878176093362049025 … || #Bitcoin 0.19%
Ultima: R$ 9461.93 Alta: R$ 9495.00 Baixa: R$ 9307.00
Fonte: Foxbit || $2724.94 at 03:45 UTC [24h Range: $2594.61 - $2740.00 Volume: 10448 BTC] || $2736.50 at 02:15 UTC [24h Range: $2594.61 - $2740.00 Volume: 10465 BTC] || #Monacoin 73.9円↓[Zaif] -円→[もなとれ]
#NEM #XEM 21.9236円↑[Zaif]
#Bitcoin 306,830円↑[Zaif]
06/24 ...
|
2608.72, 2589.41, 2478.45, 2552.45, 2574.79, 2539.32, 2480.84, 2434.55, 2506.47, 2564.06
|
Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 56396.52, 57356.40, 58803.78, 58232.32, 55859.80, 56704.57, 49150.54, 49716.19, 49880.54, 46760.19, 46456.06, 43537.51, 42909.40, 37002.44, 40782.74, 37304.69, 37536.63, 34770.58, 38705.98, 38402.22, 39294.20, 38436.97, 35697.61, 34616.07, 35678.13, 37332.86, 36684.93, 37575.18, 39208.77, 36894.41, 35551.96, 35862.38, 33560.71, 33472.63, 37345.12, 36702.60, 37334.40, 35552.52, 39097.86, 40218.48, 40406.27, 38347.06, 38053.50, 35787.25, 35615.87, 35698.30, 31676.69, 32505.66, 33723.03, 34662.44, 31637.78, 32186.28, 34649.64, 34434.34, 35867.78, 35040.84, 33572.12, 33897.05, 34668.55, 35287.78, 33746.00, 34235.20, 33855.33, 32877.37, 33798.01, 33520.52, 34240.19, 33155.85, 32702.03, 32822.35, 31780.73, 31421.54, 31533.07, 31796.81, 30817.83, 29807.35, 32110.69, 32313.11, 33581.55, 34292.45, 35350.19, 37337.54, 39406.94, 39995.91, 40008.42, 42235.55, 41626.20, 39974.89, 39201.95, 38152.98.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2021-08-03]
Volume: 26189830450, RSI (14-day): 56.10, 50-day EMA: 36548.75, 200-day EMA: 38641.42
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1810.10, Gold RSI: 49.96
Oil Price: 70.56, Oil RSI: 46.03
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Bitcoin mining difficulty rate increases after 8 weeks of decline: Bitcoins mining difficulty rate a measure of how hard it is for a miner to successfully hash a BTC has increased by 6%, marking the first difficulty hike in eight weeks. The incremental increase, which automatically came into effect on July 31, signals that mining competition is intensifying as many exiled Chinese miners resume operations following Chinas crackdown on crypto mining in June. Importantly, Bitcoin mining is still 48% easier than it was before Beijings moves. A continuous eight week drop in mining difficult rates across four intervals is largely unprecedented. This upturn is mathematically tied to the slowly climbing BTC SHA256 hash rate (effectively a measure of how many miners are actively mining), which has now recovered to 114 EH/s levels not seen since November. The Chinese mining exodus which accounted for around 65% of the Bitcoin mining industry saw the hash rate drop below 100 for the first-time since May 2020. A recovering hash rate can be interpreted as a bullish signal, however, a 2020 Russian study of BTC price and hash rates revealed that price impacts on hash rate more than vice versa. Understanding difficulty rate The difficulty rate automatically adjusts on a fortnightly basis to maintain consistent block times of around 10 minutes per block; this ensures blocks are added at regular intervals into Bitcoins blockchain. This is a critical data point for miners as its closely linked to their profit margins; effectively acting as the grim reaper of miner capitulation. The difficulty rate also informs miners on their decisions to sell, so needless to say, all eyes are on the adjustment later this week. Over the past few years miners have wrestled with the volatility of the Bitcoin price, and this has seen a series of rise and falls in the BTC hash rate especially during 2018. In March 2020 there was a shock decline of 29% in the hash rate in anticipation of 2020s Bitcoin block reward halving event (which saw miners rewards reduce from 12.5BTC to 6.25BTC). Story continues With the January 2021 bull run prompting an all-time high in the mining difficulty rate (a 21.5% increase), it is worth considering the hash rate has remained above 100 EH/s for the best part of the past year, so the move to 114 EH/s is a healthy recovery. More crypto news and information If you want to find out more information about Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies in general, then use the search box at the top of this page. Heres an article to get you started. As with any investment, it pays to do some homework before you part with your money. The prices of cryptocurrencies are volatile and go up and down quickly. This page is not recommending a particular currency or whether you should invest or not. Disclaimer: The views and opinions are expressed by the author || Bitcoin mining difficulty rate increases after 8 weeks of decline: Bitcoins mining difficulty rate a measure of how hard it is for a miner to successfully hash a BTC has increased by 6%, marking the first difficulty hike in eight weeks. The incremental increase, which automatically came into effect on July 31, signals that mining competition is intensifying as many exiled Chinese miners resume operations following Chinas crackdown on crypto mining in June. Importantly, Bitcoin mining is still 48% easier than it was before Beijings moves. A continuous eight week drop in mining difficult rates across four intervals is largely unprecedented. This upturn is mathematically tied to the slowly climbing BTC SHA256 hash rate (effectively a measure of how many miners are actively mining), which has now recovered to 114 EH/s levels not seen since November. The Chinese mining exodus which accounted for around 65% of the Bitcoin mining industry saw the hash rate drop below 100 for the first-time since May 2020. A recovering hash rate can be interpreted as a bullish signal, however, a 2020 Russian study of BTC price and hash rates revealed that price impacts on hash rate more than vice versa. Understanding difficulty rate The difficulty rate automatically adjusts on a fortnightly basis to maintain consistent block times of around 10 minutes per block; this ensures blocks are added at regular intervals into Bitcoins blockchain. This is a critical data point for miners as its closely linked to their profit margins; effectively acting as the grim reaper of miner capitulation. The difficulty rate also informs miners on their decisions to sell, so needless to say, all eyes are on the adjustment later this week. Over the past few years miners have wrestled with the volatility of the Bitcoin price, and this has seen a series of rise and falls in the BTC hash rate especially during 2018. In March 2020 there was a shock decline of 29% in the hash rate in anticipation of 2020s Bitcoin block reward halving event (which saw miners rewards reduce from 12.5BTC to 6.25BTC). Story continues With the January 2021 bull run prompting an all-time high in the mining difficulty rate (a 21.5% increase), it is worth considering the hash rate has remained above 100 EH/s for the best part of the past year, so the move to 114 EH/s is a healthy recovery. More crypto news and information If you want to find out more information about Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies in general, then use the search box at the top of this page. Heres an article to get you started. As with any investment, it pays to do some homework before you part with your money. The prices of cryptocurrencies are volatile and go up and down quickly. This page is not recommending a particular currency or whether you should invest or not. Disclaimer: The views and opinions are expressed by the author || Bitcoin mining difficulty rate increases after 8 weeks of decline: Bitcoins mining difficulty rate a measure of how hard it is for a miner to successfully hash a BTC has increased by 6%, marking the first difficulty hike in eight weeks. The incremental increase, which automatically came into effect on July 31, signals that mining competition is intensifying as many exiled Chinese miners resume operations following Chinas crackdown on crypto mining in June. Importantly, Bitcoin mining is still 48% easier than it was before Beijings moves. A continuous eight week drop in mining difficult rates across four intervals is largely unprecedented. This upturn is mathematically tied to the slowly climbing BTC SHA256 hash rate (effectively a measure of how many miners are actively mining), which has now recovered to 114 EH/s levels not seen since November. The Chinese mining exodus which accounted for around 65% of the Bitcoin mining industry saw the hash rate drop below 100 for the first-time since May 2020. A recovering hash rate can be interpreted as a bullish signal, however, a 2020 Russian study of BTC price and hash rates revealed that price impacts on hash rate more than vice versa. Understanding difficulty rate The difficulty rate automatically adjusts on a fortnightly basis to maintain consistent block times of around 10 minutes per block; this ensures blocks are added at regular intervals into Bitcoins blockchain. This is a critical data point for miners as its closely linked to their profit margins; effectively acting as the grim reaper of miner capitulation. The difficulty rate also informs miners on their decisions to sell, so needless to say, all eyes are on the adjustment later this week. Over the past few years miners have wrestled with the volatility of the Bitcoin price, and this has seen a series of rise and falls in the BTC hash rate especially during 2018. In March 2020 there was a shock decline of 29% in the hash rate in anticipation of 2020s Bitcoin block reward halving event (which saw miners rewards reduce from 12.5BTC to 6.25BTC). Story continues With the January 2021 bull run prompting an all-time high in the mining difficulty rate (a 21.5% increase), it is worth considering the hash rate has remained above 100 EH/s for the best part of the past year, so the move to 114 EH/s is a healthy recovery. More crypto news and information If you want to find out more information about Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies in general, then use the search box at the top of this page. Heres an article to get you started. As with any investment, it pays to do some homework before you part with your money. The prices of cryptocurrencies are volatile and go up and down quickly. This page is not recommending a particular currency or whether you should invest or not. Disclaimer: The views and opinions are expressed by the author || Senator Toomey Calls Text of Current Crypto Tax Proposal ‘Unworkable’: Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) on Monday called the bipartisan infrastructure bill’s proposed crypto tax reporting clauses “unworkable” and pledged to amend them. The text’s definition of a broker is too broad, according to Toomey, and affects non-financial services parties, like bitcoin miners, that he said should be exempt. Plus, non-custodial services would struggle to properly file identification forms with the Internal Revenue Service, he said. “Congress should not rush forward with this hastily-designed tax reporting regime for cryptocurrency, especially without a full understanding of the consequences,” he said in a press statement. Related: ‘Cautiously Optimistic’: Crypto Brings Lobbying Muscle to Infrastructure Debate Toomey promised to amend the bill. He is now looking for a Democrat senator as co-sponsor, according to a source familiar with the matter. The statement by the Senate Banking Committee’s top Republican member highlights the rocky road ahead for the $1 trillion infrastructure bill. The Biden administration signature push calls for $550 million in new congressional spending, some $28 billion of which would come from a crypto tax. Related Stories State of Crypto: Infrastructure Bill Shows Congress Sees Crypto as Here to Stay How Controversial Crypto Tax Found Its Way Into US Infrastructure Bill Market Wrap: Bitcoin Underperforms Ether; Crypto Tax Ahead? || Senator Toomey Calls Text of Current Crypto Tax Proposal ‘Unworkable’: Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) on Monday called the bipartisan infrastructure bill’s proposed crypto tax reporting clauses “unworkable” and pledged to amend them.
The text’s definition of a broker is too broad, according to Toomey, and affects non-financial services parties, likebitcoinminers, that he said should be exempt. Plus, non-custodial services would struggle to properly file identification forms with the Internal Revenue Service, he said.
“Congress should not rush forward with this hastily-designed tax reporting regime for cryptocurrency, especially without a full understanding of the consequences,” he said in a press statement.
Related:‘Cautiously Optimistic’: Crypto Brings Lobbying Muscle to Infrastructure Debate
Toomey promised to amend the bill. He is now looking for a Democrat senator as co-sponsor, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The statement by the Senate Banking Committee’s top Republican member highlights the rocky road ahead for the $1 trillion infrastructure bill. The Biden administration signature push calls for $550 million in new congressional spending, some $28 billion of which would come from a crypto tax.
• State of Crypto: Infrastructure Bill Shows Congress Sees Crypto as Here to Stay
• How Controversial Crypto Tax Found Its Way Into US Infrastructure Bill
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Underperforms Ether; Crypto Tax Ahead? || USD/CAD Exchange Rate Prediction – The USD/CAD Rallies on Manufacturing Survey Miss: The USD/CAD moved higher on Monday after closing the week lower. Weaker than expected U.S. ISM Manufacturing data weighed on U.S. yields, which generated headwinds for the greenback. Faster than expected inflation data released in the U.S. at the end of last week, seemed to buoy the dollar. Prices paid by manufacturers declined in the latest week which means that inflation in the U.S. could actually be easing. Technical analysis The USD/CAD rallied for a second consecutive trading session. Support is seen near the 100-day moving average at 1.2365. Resistance on the currency pair is seen near the 10-day moving average at 1.2529. The exchange has rebounded from oversold territory and has generated a crossover sell signal. This is reflected by the crossover by the fast stochastic. The current reading on the fast stochastic is 22 up from 5. Medium-term momentum has turned negative as the MACD (moving average convergence divergence) index generated a crossover sell signal. This occurs as the MACD line (the 12-day moving average minus the 26-day moving average) crosses below the MACD signal line. Prices Ease Slightly According to a report on Monday by the Institute of Supply Management (ISM), manufacturing activity declined in July. The 59.5 ISM manufacturing survey in July was down from the 60.6 reading in June. Expectations were for the manufacturing index to come in at 60.9. Forward-looking new orders slipped to a reading of 64.9 last month from 66.0 in June. There was some encouraging news on inflation. The ISM survey’s measure of prices paid by manufacturers fell to a reading of 85.7 last month from a record 92.1 in June. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers – August 2nd, 2021 NCR Makes Crypto Push With Key Bitcoin ATM Deal USD/CAD Daily Forecast – Test Of Resistance At 1.2500 Silver Price Prediction – Prices Consolidate as U.S. New Orders Slide Google To Ditch Qualcomm And Develop Its Own Smartphone Processors This Year Natural Gas Price Prediction – Prices Move Higher on Warm Weather Forecast || USD/CAD Exchange Rate Prediction – The USD/CAD Rallies on Manufacturing Survey Miss: The USD/CAD moved higher on Monday after closing the week lower. Weaker than expected U.S. ISM Manufacturing data weighed on U.S. yields, which generated headwinds for the greenback. Faster than expected inflation data released in the U.S. at the end of last week, seemed to buoy the dollar. Prices paid by manufacturers declined in the latest week which means that inflation in the U.S. could actually be easing.
The USD/CAD rallied for a second consecutive trading session. Support is seen near the 100-day moving average at 1.2365. Resistance on the currency pair is seen near the 10-day moving average at 1.2529. The exchange has rebounded from oversold territory and has generated a crossover sell signal. This is reflected by the crossover by the fast stochastic. The current reading on the fast stochastic is 22 up from 5. Medium-term momentum has turned negative as the MACD (moving average convergence divergence) index generated a crossover sell signal. This occurs as the MACD line (the 12-day moving average minus the 26-day moving average) crosses below the MACD signal line.
According to a report on Monday by the Institute of Supply Management (ISM), manufacturing activity declined in July. The 59.5 ISM manufacturing survey in July was down from the 60.6 reading in June. Expectations were for the manufacturing index to come in at 60.9. Forward-looking new orders slipped to a reading of 64.9 last month from 66.0 in June. There was some encouraging news on inflation. The ISM survey’s measure of prices paid by manufacturers fell to a reading of 85.7 last month from a record 92.1 in June.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers – August 2nd, 2021
• NCR Makes Crypto Push With Key Bitcoin ATM Deal
• USD/CAD Daily Forecast – Test Of Resistance At 1.2500
• Silver Price Prediction – Prices Consolidate as U.S. New Orders Slide
• Google To Ditch Qualcomm And Develop Its Own Smartphone Processors This Year
• Natural Gas Price Prediction – Prices Move Higher on Warm Weather Forecast || Fintech Focus For August 3, 2021: Quote To Start The Day:"We are our choices. Build yourself a great story.”
Source:Jeff Bezos
One Big Thing In Fintech:Fintechs keep transforming the financial services ecosystem. Banks and credit unions can no longer afford to view them as a threat. But partnerships can flop, so it's important for institutions to take steps to ensure these collaborations pay over the long term.
Source:Financial Brand
Other Key Fintech Developments:
• Element Venturesadded$130M.
• Santander’s PagoNxtexpanding.
• NasdaqaddedLevel ATS stake.
• Kudasecured$55M in Series B.
• Why SquareacquiredAfterpay?
• Money app Snoopaddedround.
• M1 Financelaunchescredit card.
• Credit Suisseaddsfintech leader.
• LibertyX will beacquiredby NCR.
• BroadridgeboughtAlpha Omega.
• VoyagerboughtCoinify platform.
• Fintechbuildingbank for creators.
• iCapitalreceivesa $4B valuation.
• Revoluthonescross-border offer.
• InsideJPM’s digital bank project.
• Kahuna DLT ecosystem tolaunch.
• Monzowarnsas losses mounting.
• FTXcreatesNFT-focused market.
• Prepaid2CashsecuredSeries A.
• Squarenets$55M in BTC profits.
• Wells Fargoaddedfintech leader.
Watch Out For This:It’s called the Great Resignation.
That’s according to Alex Simmons, co-founder and CEO at Boon Health, who says employee retention is a serious but largely avoidable problem.
“There are stats out there suggesting 30% of the workforce is going to be quitting their jobs in the next six months,” he explained. “Retention is the biggest problem we’re seeing.”
In unpacking how employers can retain, engage and maintain the mental well-being of their workforce, Simmons gave Benzinga a look into Boon Health.
Source:Benzinga
Interesting Reads:
• Trade size and stock pricematter.
• Debt tiderecedes, counters taper.
• Analysis: Infrastructure bill impact.
• List of crypto tastemakers tofollow.
• Big techleadingvaccine mandate.
Market Moving Headline:Even if it seems as if tapering is still not around the corner, if we take Powell at face value, it is getting clearer for each week that the Fed is preparing for tapering. Bullard from the FOMC even hints of QT, while the ECB is stuck in dove-land.
Source:Nordea
See more from Benzinga
• Click here for options trades from Benzinga
• How Boon Health Can Help You Retain Employees, Improve Workplace Morale
• Fintech Focus For August 2, 2021
© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Fintech Focus For August 3, 2021: Fintech Header Quote To Start The Day: "We are our choices. Build yourself a great story.” Source: Jeff Bezos One Big Thing In Fintech: Fintechs keep transforming the financial services ecosystem. Banks and credit unions can no longer afford to view them as a threat. But partnerships can flop, so it's important for institutions to take steps to ensure these collaborations pay over the long term. Source: Financial Brand Other Key Fintech Developments: Element Ventures added $130M. Santander’s PagoNxt expanding . Nasdaq added Level ATS stake. Kuda secured $55M in Series B. Why Square acquired Afterpay? Money app Snoop added round. M1 Finance launches credit card. Credit Suisse adds fintech leader. LibertyX will be acquired by NCR. Broadridge bought Alpha Omega. Voyager bought Coinify platform. Fintech building bank for creators. iCapital receives a $4B valuation. Revolut hones cross-border offer. Inside JPM’s digital bank project. Kahuna DLT ecosystem to launch . Monzo warns as losses mounting. FTX creates NFT-focused market. Prepaid2Cash secured Series A. Square nets $55M in BTC profits. Wells Fargo added fintech leader. Watch Out For This: It’s called the Great Resignation. That’s according to Alex Simmons, co-founder and CEO at Boon Health, who says employee retention is a serious but largely avoidable problem. “There are stats out there suggesting 30% of the workforce is going to be quitting their jobs in the next six months,” he explained. “Retention is the biggest problem we’re seeing.” In unpacking how employers can retain, engage and maintain the mental well-being of their workforce, Simmons gave Benzinga a look into Boon Health. Source: Benzinga Interesting Reads: Trade size and stock price matter . Debt tide recedes , counters taper. Analysis : Infrastructure bill impact. List of crypto tastemakers to follow . Big tech leading vaccine mandate. Market Moving Headline: Even if it seems as if tapering is still not around the corner, if we take Powell at face value, it is getting clearer for each week that the Fed is preparing for tapering. Bullard from the FOMC even hints of QT, while the ECB is stuck in dove-land. Story continues Source: Nordea See more from Benzinga Click here for options trades from Benzinga How Boon Health Can Help You Retain Employees, Improve Workplace Morale Fintech Focus For August 2, 2021 © 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Former Monero Maintainer ‘Fluffypony’ Arrested and to Be Extradited for Non-Crypto Crimes: Riccardo Spagni, the former maintainer of privacy coin monero , was arrested in Nashville, Tenn. on July 20 and will be extradited to South Africa to face fraud charges for crimes unrelated to crypto. Spagni, known online as “Fluffypony,” is accused of stealing approximately $100,000 from his former employer, Cape Cookies, by generating false invoices from fictional entities and routing payment to his personal bank accounts between 2009-2011. Spagni was previously charged with fraud and related charges in a regional court in Cape Town, but pleaded not guilty and failed to appear in court. According to court documents, South African authorities could not find Spagni at his home address in South Africa. After speaking with Spagni’s friends and family they learned Spagni had fled South Africa. Related: Bug Found in Decoy Algorithm for Privacy Coin Monero South African police issued a warrant for Spagni’s arrest in April. Spagni’s wife, Sashka Spagni, tweeted a message on her husband’s behalf on Monday in which he said, “Unfortunately, due to a misunderstanding with regards to the setting of court dates in an old matter, which I have continuously been trying to resolve since 2011, I have been held in contempt of court and currently awaiting extradition.” Spagni added that he was hoping to resolve the issue soon and that “in the meantime my business affairs will continue under the leadership of my partners.” Though Spagni stepped down from his day-to-day leadership role in 2019 after five years with the privacy-focused project, he was still a public representative of Monero and often took responsibility for coordinating Monero’s press and public-facing information. Related: ¿Qué es el hashrate y por qué importa? Spagni was arrested in Nashville when a private charter jet he was using for a trip from New York to Los Cabos, Mexico, stopped for fuel. According to the arrest warrant, Spagni is currently in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and will be held without bail until his extradition. Story continues Spagni is believed to have “significant cryptocurrency assets that would enable him to flee” as well as a “watch valued at $800,000,” according to the warrant. UPDATE (August 2, 21:48 UTC): Updated with Spagni’s response as tweeted by his wife. Related Stories Further 8,000 MTI Bitcoin Traced as Firm Is Put Into Final Liquidation: Report South Africa to Accelerate Crypto Regulation in Wake of Scams: Report || Former Monero Maintainer ‘Fluffypony’ Arrested and to Be Extradited for Non-Crypto Crimes: Riccardo Spagni, the former maintainer of privacy coinmonero, was arrested in Nashville, Tenn. on July 20 and will be extradited to South Africa to face fraud charges for crimes unrelated to crypto.
Spagni, known online as “Fluffypony,” isaccusedof stealing approximately $100,000 from his former employer, Cape Cookies, by generating false invoices from fictional entities and routing payment to his personal bank accounts between 2009-2011.
Spagni was previously charged with fraud and related charges in a regional court in Cape Town, but pleaded not guilty and failed to appear in court. According to court documents, South African authorities could not find Spagni at his home address in South Africa. After speaking with Spagni’s friends and family they learned Spagni had fled South Africa.
Related:Bug Found in Decoy Algorithm for Privacy Coin Monero
South African police issued awarrantfor Spagni’s arrest in April.
Spagni’s wife, Sashka Spagni,tweeteda message on her husband’s behalf on Monday in which he said, “Unfortunately, due to a misunderstanding with regards to the setting of court dates in an old matter, which I have continuously been trying to resolve since 2011, I have been held in contempt of court and currently awaiting extradition.”
Spagni added that he was hoping to resolve the issue soon and that “in the meantime my business affairs will continue under the leadership of my partners.”
Though Spagni steppeddownfrom his day-to-day leadership role in 2019 after five years with the privacy-focused project, he was still a public representative of Monero and often took responsibility for coordinating Monero’s press and public-facing information.
Related:¿Qué es el hashrate y por qué importa?
Spagni was arrested in Nashville when a private charter jet he was using for a trip from New York to Los Cabos, Mexico, stopped for fuel.
According to the arrest warrant, Spagni is currently in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and will be held without bail until his extradition.
Spagni is believed to have “significant cryptocurrency assets that would enable him to flee” as well as a “watch valued at $800,000,” according to the warrant.
UPDATE (August 2, 21:48 UTC):Updated with Spagni’s response as tweeted by his wife.
• Further 8,000 MTI Bitcoin Traced as Firm Is Put Into Final Liquidation: Report
• South Africa to Accelerate Crypto Regulation in Wake of Scams: Report || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Underperforms Ether; Crypto Tax Ahead?: Cryptocurrencies were mostly higher on Monday as bullish sentiment continues into August. Bitcoin underperformed other major cryptocurrencies and is down about 3% over the past 24 hours compared to a 2% rise in ether over the same period. Buyers remain active despite ongoing regulatory crackdowns in China. On Sunday, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) said it will keep applying high regulatory pressure on crypto trading, mostly due to concerns about financial risk. Traders are also digesting the 58-page “ Digital Asset Market Structure and Investor Protection Act , proposed by Rep. Don Beyer’s (D-Va.), seeking to create an exhaustive regulatory regime for digital assets. The U.S. Senate is also advancing a $1 trillion infrastructure bill with a crypto tax provision , which could be a source of market anxiety. Related: Bitcoin Approaching Short-Term Support at $34K-$36K For now, a breakdown on intraday charts “suggests that bitcoin may fall back to the mid-range at around $36,000, or lower, before the rally continues,” wrote Marcus Sotiriou, trader at the U.K.-based digital asset broker GlobalBlock , in an email to CoinDesk Latest prices Cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin (BTC) $39,164.5, -5.06% Ether (ETH) $2,604.8, -2.05% Traditional markets: S&P 500: 4387.15, -0.18% Gold: $1812.9, +1.44% 10-year Treasury yield closed 1.173%, compared with 1.236% on Friday. Meme stock rotation Over the past month, popular “ meme stocks ” have sold off as bitcoin rallied. This inverse relationship was noted in The Daily Shot newsletter a few months ago, and indicates a pattern of buying and selling across high yielding traditional and crypto markets. Related: Bitwise Launches Crypto Funds for Aave and Uniswap It is possible that traders will flock to meme stocks if bitcoin pulls back from overbought levels. Bitcoin call buying The bitcoin options market has been heavily skewed towards call buying over the past month, which could signal the return of bullish sentiment. Story continues “Now that the large spot price sell-off already occurred in May, there aren’t as many gains to be protected via put buying,” wrote Gregoire Magadini, co-founder and CEO of Genesis Volatility , in a Telegram chat. “Combine the lower spot prices with lingering high-ish implied volatility, and bitcoin puts start to look very unattractive,” Magadini wrote. “It makes more sense to buy the dip with call structures than to position oneself using puts.” The chart below shows the bitcoin put/call ratio at the lowest level since January, which preceded a brief 25% pullback in the bitcoin spot price. Crypto fund outflows continue Digital-asset investment products had their fourth straight week of net outflows, even as cryptocurrency markets staged their biggest rally since early this year. Net outflows across all digital-asset funds totaled $19.5 million, according to a report Monday by CoinShares. Bitcoin-focused funds had outflows totaling $19.7 million, partly offset by net inflows to funds focused on other categories, including multi-asset funds, wrote CoinDesk’s Lyllah Ledesma. July crypto comeback Cryptocurrencies rebounded in July after a sluggish May and June. AAVE, an open-source and non-custodial protocol that runs on the Ethereum blockchain, outperformed major crypto currencies with a 33% gain in July. Bitcoin was not far behind with a 20% gain compared to a 12% gain in ether. Ether developments Ether looks to extend its record daily winning streak in the run-up to a planned upgrade on Ethereum’s blockchain that could significantly reduce the cryptocurrency’s supply growth. Aside from bitcoin’s price recovery from $30,000, ether may have received a boost from Ethereum’s upcoming 11th backward-incompatible upgrade, or hard fork, slated to happen on Aug. 4, CoinDesk’s Omkar Godbole reports. The so-called London hard fork contains four Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIP), of which EIP-1559 will activate a mechanism that would burn a portion of fees paid to miners. Once it takes effect, increased network usage will result in a higher amount of ETH being burned, thereby curbing the cryptocurrency’s supply growth over time. Meanwhile, 27 of 40, or 68%, of crypto experts surveyed by Finder believe that ether will one day overtake bitcoin as the largest cryptocurrency by market cap; 58% of the panelists believe that the “flippening” could happen within the next five years. The price of ether is expected to reach $4,596 per ETH by the end of this year, according to the average forecast from 27 experts on Finder’s panel who gave their price predictions. Relevant news: What Does Last Week’s Steep Drop in Bitcoin’s Balance on Exchanges Really Mean? PBoC Says It Will Keep High Pressure on Crypto Trading NFT Markets Post Record-Breaking Week Updated US Infrastructure Bill Narrows Crypto Reporting Requirement Moody’s Lowers El Salvador Rating, Maintains Negative Outlook Partly Due to Bitcoin Law Other markets Most digital assets on CoinDesk 20 ended lower on Monday. Notable winners of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET): tezos (XTZ) +3.1% chainlink (LINK) +0.59% Notable losers: polkadot (DOT) -6.91% the graph (GRT) -6.04% stellar (XLM) -5.24% Related Stories Bullish Flows Push Bitcoin’s Put-Call Ratio to 2021 Low Senator Toomey Calls Text of Current Crypto Tax Proposal ‘Unworkable’ || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Underperforms Ether; Crypto Tax Ahead?: Cryptocurrencies were mostly higher on Monday as bullish sentiment continues into August. Bitcoin underperformed other major cryptocurrencies and is down about 3% over the past 24 hours compared to a 2% rise in ether over the same period.
Buyers remain active despite ongoing regulatory crackdowns in China. On Sunday, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC)saidit will keep applying high regulatory pressure on crypto trading, mostly due to concerns about financial risk.
Traders are also digesting the 58-page “Digital Asset Market Structure and Investor Protection Act, proposed by Rep. Don Beyer’s (D-Va.), seeking to create an exhaustive regulatory regime for digital assets. The U.S. Senate is also advancing a $1 trillion infrastructure bill with acrypto tax provision, which could be a source of market anxiety.
Related:Bitcoin Approaching Short-Term Support at $34K-$36K
For now, a breakdown on intraday charts “suggests that bitcoin may fall back to the mid-range at around $36,000, or lower, before the rally continues,” wrote Marcus Sotiriou, trader at the U.K.-based digital asset brokerGlobalBlock, in an email to CoinDesk
Cryptocurrencies:
• Bitcoin(BTC) $39,164.5, -5.06%
• Ether(ETH) $2,604.8, -2.05%
Traditional markets:
• S&P 500: 4387.15, -0.18%
• Gold: $1812.9, +1.44%
• 10-year Treasury yield closed 1.173%, compared with 1.236% on Friday.
Over the past month, popular “meme stocks” have sold off as bitcoin rallied. This inverse relationship was noted inThe Daily Shotnewsletter a few months ago, and indicates a pattern of buying and selling across high yielding traditional and crypto markets.
Related:Bitwise Launches Crypto Funds for Aave and Uniswap
It is possible that traders will flock to meme stocks if bitcoin pulls back from overbought levels.
The bitcoin options market has been heavily skewed towards call buying over the past month, which could signal the return of bullish sentiment.
“Now that the large spot price sell-off already occurred in May, there aren’t as many gains to be protected via put buying,” wrote Gregoire Magadini, co-founder and CEO ofGenesis Volatility, in a Telegram chat.
“Combine the lower spot prices with lingering high-ish implied volatility, and bitcoin puts start to look very unattractive,” Magadini wrote. “It makes more sense to buy the dip with call structures than to position oneself using puts.”
The chart below shows the bitcoin put/call ratio at the lowest level since January, which preceded a brief 25% pullback in the bitcoin spot price.
Digital-asset investment products had their fourth straight week of net outflows, even as cryptocurrency markets staged their biggest rally since early this year.
Net outflows across all digital-asset funds totaled $19.5 million, according to areportMonday by CoinShares.
Bitcoin-focused funds had outflows totaling $19.7 million, partly offset by net inflows to funds focused on other categories, including multi-asset funds,wroteCoinDesk’s Lyllah Ledesma.
Cryptocurrencies rebounded in July after a sluggish May and June. AAVE, an open-source and non-custodial protocol that runs on the Ethereum blockchain, outperformed major crypto currencies with a 33% gain in July. Bitcoin was not far behind with a 20% gain compared to a 12% gain in ether.
Etherlooks to extendits record daily winning streak in the run-up to a planned upgrade on Ethereum’s blockchain that could significantly reduce the cryptocurrency’s supply growth.
Aside from bitcoin’s price recovery from $30,000, ether may have received a boost from Ethereum’s upcoming 11th backward-incompatible upgrade, or hard fork, slated to happen on Aug. 4, CoinDesk’s Omkar Godbole reports.
The so-called London hard fork contains four Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIP), of which EIP-1559 will activate a mechanism that would burn a portion of fees paid to miners. Once it takes effect, increased network usage will result in a higher amount of ETH being burned, thereby curbing the cryptocurrency’s supply growth over time.
Meanwhile, 27 of 40, or 68%, of crypto experts surveyed by Finderbelievethat ether will one day overtake bitcoin as the largest cryptocurrency by market cap; 58% of the panelists believe that the “flippening” could happen within the next five years.
The price of ether is expected to reach $4,596 per ETH by the end of this year, according to the average forecast from 27 experts on Finder’s panel who gave their price predictions.
• What Does Last Week’s Steep Drop in Bitcoin’s Balance on Exchanges Really Mean?
• PBoC Says It Will Keep High Pressure on Crypto Trading
• NFT Markets Post Record-Breaking Week
• Updated US Infrastructure Bill Narrows Crypto Reporting Requirement
• Moody’s Lowers El Salvador Rating, Maintains Negative Outlook Partly Due to Bitcoin Law
Most digital assets on CoinDesk 20 ended lower on Monday.
Notable winners of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
tezos(XTZ) +3.1%
chainlink(LINK) +0.59%
Notable losers:
polkadot(DOT) -6.91%
the graph(GRT) -6.04%
stellar(XLM) -5.24%
• Bullish Flows Push Bitcoin’s Put-Call Ratio to 2021 Low
• Senator Toomey Calls Text of Current Crypto Tax Proposal ‘Unworkable’ || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Underperforms Ether; Crypto Tax Ahead?: Cryptocurrencies were mostly higher on Monday as bullish sentiment continues into August. Bitcoin underperformed other major cryptocurrencies and is down about 3% over the past 24 hours compared to a 2% rise in ether over the same period.
Buyers remain active despite ongoing regulatory crackdowns in China. On Sunday, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC)saidit will keep applying high regulatory pressure on crypto trading, mostly due to concerns about financial risk.
Traders are also digesting the 58-page “Digital Asset Market Structure and Investor Protection Act, proposed by Rep. Don Beyer’s (D-Va.), seeking to create an exhaustive regulatory regime for digital assets. The U.S. Senate is also advancing a $1 trillion infrastructure bill with acrypto tax provision, which could be a source of market anxiety.
Related:Bitcoin Approaching Short-Term Support at $34K-$36K
For now, a breakdown on intraday charts “suggests that bitcoin may fall back to the mid-range at around $36,000, or lower, before the rally continues,” wrote Marcus Sotiriou, trader at the U.K.-based digital asset brokerGlobalBlock, in an email to CoinDesk
Cryptocurrencies:
• Bitcoin(BTC) $39,164.5, -5.06%
• Ether(ETH) $2,604.8, -2.05%
Traditional markets:
• S&P 500: 4387.15, -0.18%
• Gold: $1812.9, +1.44%
• 10-year Treasury yield closed 1.173%, compared with 1.236% on Friday.
Over the past month, popular “meme stocks” have sold off as bitcoin rallied. This inverse relationship was noted inThe Daily Shotnewsletter a few months ago, and indicates a pattern of buying and selling across high yielding traditional and crypto markets.
Related:Bitwise Launches Crypto Funds for Aave and Uniswap
It is possible that traders will flock to meme stocks if bitcoin pulls back from overbought levels.
The bitcoin options market has been heavily skewed towards call buying over the past month, which could signal the return of bullish sentiment.
“Now that the large spot price sell-off already occurred in May, there aren’t as many gains to be protected via put buying,” wrote Gregoire Magadini, co-founder and CEO ofGenesis Volatility, in a Telegram chat.
“Combine the lower spot prices with lingering high-ish implied volatility, and bitcoin puts start to look very unattractive,” Magadini wrote. “It makes more sense to buy the dip with call structures than to position oneself using puts.”
The chart below shows the bitcoin put/call ratio at the lowest level since January, which preceded a brief 25% pullback in the bitcoin spot price.
Digital-asset investment products had their fourth straight week of net outflows, even as cryptocurrency markets staged their biggest rally since early this year.
Net outflows across all digital-asset funds totaled $19.5 million, according to areportMonday by CoinShares.
Bitcoin-focused funds had outflows totaling $19.7 million, partly offset by net inflows to funds focused on other categories, including multi-asset funds,wroteCoinDesk’s Lyllah Ledesma.
Cryptocurrencies rebounded in July after a sluggish May and June. AAVE, an open-source and non-custodial protocol that runs on the Ethereum blockchain, outperformed major crypto currencies with a 33% gain in July. Bitcoin was not far behind with a 20% gain compared to a 12% gain in ether.
Etherlooks to extendits record daily winning streak in the run-up to a planned upgrade on Ethereum’s blockchain that could significantly reduce the cryptocurrency’s supply growth.
Aside from bitcoin’s price recovery from $30,000, ether may have received a boost from Ethereum’s upcoming 11th backward-incompatible upgrade, or hard fork, slated to happen on Aug. 4, CoinDesk’s Omkar Godbole reports.
The so-called London hard fork contains four Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIP), of which EIP-1559 will activate a mechanism that would burn a portion of fees paid to miners. Once it takes effect, increased network usage will result in a higher amount of ETH being burned, thereby curbing the cryptocurrency’s supply growth over time.
Meanwhile, 27 of 40, or 68%, of crypto experts surveyed by Finderbelievethat ether will one day overtake bitcoin as the largest cryptocurrency by market cap; 58% of the panelists believe that the “flippening” could happen within the next five years.
The price of ether is expected to reach $4,596 per ETH by the end of this year, according to the average forecast from 27 experts on Finder’s panel who gave their price predictions.
• What Does Last Week’s Steep Drop in Bitcoin’s Balance on Exchanges Really Mean?
• PBoC Says It Will Keep High Pressure on Crypto Trading
• NFT Markets Post Record-Breaking Week
• Updated US Infrastructure Bill Narrows Crypto Reporting Requirement
• Moody’s Lowers El Salvador Rating, Maintains Negative Outlook Partly Due to Bitcoin Law
Most digital assets on CoinDesk 20 ended lower on Monday.
Notable winners of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
tezos(XTZ) +3.1%
chainlink(LINK) +0.59%
Notable losers:
polkadot(DOT) -6.91%
the graph(GRT) -6.04%
stellar(XLM) -5.24%
• Bullish Flows Push Bitcoin’s Put-Call Ratio to 2021 Low
• Senator Toomey Calls Text of Current Crypto Tax Proposal ‘Unworkable’ || Crypto sector sees outflows for fourth week in a row, CoinShares data shows: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency investment products and funds posted outflows for a fourth consecutive week, the bulk of which came from bitcoin products, which also experienced its fourth straight weekly outflow, data from digital asset manager CoinShares showed on Monday.
Crypto outflows hit $19.5 million in the week ended July 30, with bitcoin reaching $19.7 million in outflows. Other crypto and digital investment products such as Ripple and Polka Dot, however, did show minor inflows for the week.
Bitcoin outflows occurred despite a recent recovery in price, "suggesting investors were using recent strength to take profits," said James Butterfill, investment strategist at CoinShares.
The outflows, prompted by negative price action in mid-May, have totaled $295 million, representing 1% of total assets under management, the report said. Still, bitcoin inflows so far this year remain at a robust $4.1 billion.
Bitcoin rallied about 12.5% last week, hitting a high of just under $43,000. It was last down 0.5% at $39,654.
Blockchain data provider Glassnode, in its latest note on Monday, provided a not-so-upbeat outlook on bitcoin. It said it had seen last week a notable spike in younger coins, or those less than one-week old, being sold in what "resembles a capitulation bottom."
Glassnode also noted that bitcoin supply at exchanges has fallen, with an "extremely large volume of coins" flowing out of exchanges, comparable to the peak outflows seen in November 2020.
Ether, the token used in the Ethereum blockchain, also saw outflows of nearly $10 million last week, its second straight week of outflows, data showed. Year-to-date inflows into ether products still showed a healthy $957 million.
A major technical upgrade looms on the Ethereum blockchain this week that could sharply lift its price. On Monday, ether was last up 3% at $2,633.
Grayscale is still the largest crypto asset manager, with $34.2 billion in assets under management, up from $28.5 billion in the previous week.
Assets under management of CoinShares, the second biggest digital asset manager, were at $3.7 billion in the latest week, up slightly from $3.2 billion previously.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Paul Simao) || Crypto sector sees outflows for fourth week in a row, CoinShares data shows: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency investment products and funds posted outflows for a fourth consecutive week, the bulk of which came from bitcoin products, which also experienced its fourth straight weekly outflow, data from digital asset manager CoinShares showed on Monday. Crypto outflows hit $19.5 million in the week ended July 30, with bitcoin reaching $19.7 million in outflows. Other crypto and digital investment products such as Ripple and Polka Dot, however, did show minor inflows for the week. Bitcoin outflows occurred despite a recent recovery in price, "suggesting investors were using recent strength to take profits," said James Butterfill, investment strategist at CoinShares. The outflows, prompted by negative price action in mid-May, have totaled $295 million, representing 1% of total assets under management, the report said. Still, bitcoin inflows so far this year remain at a robust $4.1 billion. Bitcoin rallied about 12.5% last week, hitting a high of just under $43,000. It was last down 0.5% at $39,654. Blockchain data provider Glassnode, in its latest note on Monday, provided a not-so-upbeat outlook on bitcoin. It said it had seen last week a notable spike in younger coins, or those less than one-week old, being sold in what "resembles a capitulation bottom." Glassnode also noted that bitcoin supply at exchanges has fallen, with an "extremely large volume of coins" flowing out of exchanges, comparable to the peak outflows seen in November 2020. Ether, the token used in the Ethereum blockchain, also saw outflows of nearly $10 million last week, its second straight week of outflows, data showed. Year-to-date inflows into ether products still showed a healthy $957 million. A major technical upgrade looms on the Ethereum blockchain this week that could sharply lift its price. On Monday, ether was last up 3% at $2,633. Grayscale is still the largest crypto asset manager, with $34.2 billion in assets under management, up from $28.5 billion in the previous week. Assets under management of CoinShares, the second biggest digital asset manager, were at $3.7 billion in the latest week, up slightly from $3.2 billion previously. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Paul Simao) || Dogecoin: What it is, and how to buy it: Dogecoin (DOGE-USD) is a cryptocurrency which started largely as a joke in 2013, butskyrocketed in popularitythis year thanks to the likes of Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk and Wall Street Bets.
Dogecoin (pronounced with a long "o" and a soft "g") is known as a meme crypto. It was inspired by the Shiba Inu dog inthe “doge” internet meme.
The coin can be used for payments similar to Bitcoin (BTC-USD), however its value is fractional in comparison. At the beginning of 2021, the coin was worth less than $0.005 (less than 1 penny). By May of this year, it rose to a high of 63 cents, and its all time high is a little more than 73 cents.
And while old-school financial professionals are still dismissive of the currency, Doge currently holds a market cap of around $26 Billion.
Part of the massive buzz around the coin stems from Reddit's Wall Street Bets forum, known for pumping stocks like GameStop (GME) and AMC (AMC).
In January 2021, the coin spiked more than 800% after Reddit users focused on the cryptocurrency. Shortly afterwards, billionaire Elon Musk began tweeting about doge frequently.
In February Musk posted a picture of Doge on the moon, with the caption: “literally.” The coin rose 20% immediately following the tweet.
For a while, WSB members loved Musk's commentary around the coin - like the time he tweeted he bought Dogecoin for his son. However, the billionaire's appearance on "Saturday Night Live" was the turning point for the rally — and soon after, Musk's controversial walking back of his support for bitcoinhelped light the fuse on a broad-based cryptorout that dragged on for weeks.
Meanwhile, dogecoin's soaring popularity hasadded to the already scorching demand for dogsduring COVID-19.
The meme coin "brought something to the forefront," Sandie Rolenaitis, a Shiba Inu breeder, told Yahoo Finance in an interview last month. She noted the dog breed was "best kept secret" and the breed "raised in popularity a lot" because of the interest in the meme coin.
Who accepts Dogecoin?As for right now, not too many places. However, Burger King Braziljust announcedit would take 3 Doge for one of its dog treats called Dogpper. It may be more for publicity than a trend.
Ines covers the U.S. stock market. Follow her on Twitter at@ines_ferre
• Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
• Read the latest cryptocurrency and bitcoin news from Yahoo Finance
Follow Yahoo Finance onTwitter,Facebook,Instagram,Flipboard,LinkedIn,YouTube, andreddit || Dogecoin: What it is, and how to buy it: Dogecoin ( DOGE-USD ) is a cryptocurrency which started largely as a joke in 2013, but skyrocketed in popularity this year thanks to the likes of Tesla ( TSLA ) CEO Elon Musk and Wall Street Bets. Dogecoin (pronounced with a long "o" and a soft "g") is known as a meme crypto. It was inspired by the Shiba Inu dog in the “doge” internet meme . The coin can be used for payments similar to Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ), however its value is fractional in comparison. At the beginning of 2021, the coin was worth less than $0.005 (less than 1 penny). By May of this year, it rose to a high of 63 cents, and its all time high is a little more than 73 cents. And while old-school financial professionals are still dismissive of the currency, Doge currently holds a market cap of around $26 Billion. Part of the massive buzz around the coin stems from Reddit's Wall Street Bets forum, known for pumping stocks like GameStop ( GME ) and AMC ( AMC ). In January 2021, the coin spiked more than 800% after Reddit users focused on the cryptocurrency. Shortly afterwards, billionaire Elon Musk began tweeting about doge frequently. In February Musk posted a picture of Doge on the moon, with the caption: “literally.” The coin rose 20% immediately following the tweet. For a while, WSB members loved Musk's commentary around the coin - like the time he tweeted he bought Dogecoin for his son. However, the billionaire's appearance on "Saturday Night Live" was the turning point for the rally — and soon after, Musk's controversial walking back of his support for bitcoin helped light the fuse on a broad-based crypto rout that dragged on for weeks. Meanwhile, dogecoin's soaring popularity has added to the already scorching demand for dogs during COVID-19. The meme coin "brought something to the forefront," Sandie Rolenaitis, a Shiba Inu breeder, told Yahoo Finance in an interview last month. She noted the dog breed was "best kept secret" and the breed "raised in popularity a lot" because of the interest in the meme coin. Story continues Who accepts Dogecoin? As for right now, not too many places. However, Burger King Brazil just announced it would take 3 Doge for one of its dog treats called Dogpper. It may be more for publicity than a trend. Ines covers the U.S. stock market. Follow her on Twitter at @ines_ferre Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance Read the latest cryptocurrency and bitcoin news from Yahoo Finance Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter , Facebook , Instagram , Flipboard , LinkedIn , YouTube , and reddit || Natural Gas Price Prediction – Prices Move Higher on Warm Weather Forecast: Natural gas prices moved higher on Monday after bouncing from its lows on Friday. The weather is expected to be warmer than average throughout the North East for the next 6-10days and than moderate but remains warmer than normal throughout most of the country. There is one disturbance with a 10% chance to become tropical cyclones in the Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico over the next 48-hours. Technical Analysis Natural gas prices were higher on Monday rising after dropping sharply on Friday Support is seen near the 10-day moving average near 3.95. Resistance is seen near the July highs at 4.19. Short-term momentum has turned positive as the fast stochastic generated a crossover buy signal. Medium-term positive momentum is negative as the MACD (moving average convergence divergence) generated a crossover sell signal. This occurs when the MACD line (the 12-day moving average minus the 26-day moving average) crosses below the MACD signal line (the 9-day moving average of the MACD line. Natural Gas Storage Rises but Trajectory is Sideways The net injections into storage totaled 36 Bcf for the week ending July 23, compared with the five-year average net injections of 28 Bcf and last year’s net injections of 27 Bcf during the same week. Working natural gas stocks totaled 2,714 Bcf, which is 168 Bcf lower than the five-year average and 523 Bcf lower than last year at this time. The trajectory of the movements of inventory injections is sideways as opposed to rising into the beginning of the withdrawal season. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Natural Gas Price Forecast – Natural Gas Continues to Shuffle Around Big Figure USD/CAD Exchange Rate Prediction – The USD/CAD Rallies on Manufacturing Survey Miss USD/CAD Daily Forecast – Test Of Resistance At 1.2500 NCR Makes Crypto Push With Key Bitcoin ATM Deal The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers – August 2nd, 2021 Why Pfizer Stock Is Testing New Highs Today || Natural Gas Price Prediction – Prices Move Higher on Warm Weather Forecast: Natural gas prices moved higher on Monday after bouncing from its lows on Friday. The weather is expected to be warmer than average throughout the North East for the next 6-10days and than moderate but remains warmer than normal throughout most of the country. There is one disturbance with a 10% chance to become tropical cyclones in the Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico over the next 48-hours. Technical Analysis Natural gas prices were higher on Monday rising after dropping sharply on Friday Support is seen near the 10-day moving average near 3.95. Resistance is seen near the July highs at 4.19. Short-term momentum has turned positive as the fast stochastic generated a crossover buy signal. Medium-term positive momentum is negative as the MACD (moving average convergence divergence) generated a crossover sell signal. This occurs when the MACD line (the 12-day moving average minus the 26-day moving average) crosses below the MACD signal line (the 9-day moving average of the MACD line. Natural Gas Storage Rises but Trajectory is Sideways The net injections into storage totaled 36 Bcf for the week ending July 23, compared with the five-year average net injections of 28 Bcf and last year’s net injections of 27 Bcf during the same week. Working natural gas stocks totaled 2,714 Bcf, which is 168 Bcf lower than the five-year average and 523 Bcf lower than last year at this time. The trajectory of the movements of inventory injections is sideways as opposed to rising into the beginning of the withdrawal season. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Natural Gas Price Forecast – Natural Gas Continues to Shuffle Around Big Figure USD/CAD Exchange Rate Prediction – The USD/CAD Rallies on Manufacturing Survey Miss USD/CAD Daily Forecast – Test Of Resistance At 1.2500 NCR Makes Crypto Push With Key Bitcoin ATM Deal The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers – August 2nd, 2021 Why Pfizer Stock Is Testing New Highs Today
[Social Media Buzz]
None available.
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39747.50, 40869.55, 42816.50, 44555.80, 43798.12, 46365.40, 45585.03, 45593.64, 44428.29, 47793.32
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 3630.70, 3792.40, 3682.84, 3926.07, 3892.35, 4200.67, 4174.73, 4163.07, 4338.71, 4403.74, 4409.32, 4317.48, 4229.36, 4328.41, 4370.81, 4426.89, 4610.48, 4772.02, 4781.99, 4826.48, 5446.91, 5647.21, 5831.79, 5678.19, 5725.59, 5605.51, 5590.69, 5708.52, 6011.45, 6031.60, 6008.42, 5930.32, 5526.64, 5750.80, 5904.83, 5780.90, 5753.09, 6153.85, 6130.53, 6468.40, 6767.31, 7078.50, 7207.76, 7379.95, 7407.41, 7022.76, 7144.38, 7459.69, 7143.58, 6618.14, 6357.60, 5950.07, 6559.49, 6635.75, 7315.54, 7871.69, 7708.99, 7790.15, 8036.49, 8200.64, 8071.26, 8253.55, 8038.77, 8253.69, 8790.92, 9330.55, 9818.35, 10058.80, 9888.61, 10233.60, 10975.60, 11074.60, 11323.20, 11657.20, 11916.70, 14291.50, 17899.70, 16569.40, 15178.20, 15455.40, 16936.80, 17415.40, 16408.20, 16564.00, 17706.90, 19497.40, 19140.80, 19114.20, 17776.70, 16624.60.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2017-12-20]
Volume: 22149699584, RSI (14-day): 59.22, 50-day EMA: 12166.72, 200-day EMA: 6674.26
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1266.10, Gold RSI: 50.31
Oil Price: 58.09, Oil RSI: 58.58
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Stock market outlook, Wednesday December 20: Tax reform is getting there. Slowly. On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed the unified tax bill drafted by Republican lawmakers. And then around 5:00 p.m. ET, reports indicated that the House would have re-vote on the measure after hitting a procedural snag, with the Senate changing what Bloomberg called “relatively minor” aspects of the bill that didn’t meet Senate budget standards. Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., left, and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., leave a closed-door Republican Conference meeting as Congress prepares to vote on the biggest reshaping of the U.S. tax code in three decades, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017. After passing the measure on Tuesday afternoon, House members will have to re-vote on Wednesday before sending the bill to the Senate. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Markets, which have rallied in recent weeks as investors begin to price in some of the benefits corporations could enjoy with lower tax rates, were lower but little-changed on Tuesday following the news. On Wednesday, investors will have a slower calendar of economic data and corporate earnings to contend with, as General Mills ( GIS ) earnings will be the headliner and existing home sales the most notable report on the economic calendar. Other earnings set for release Wednesday include results from Herman Miller ( MLHR ) and Winnebago Industries ( WGO ). And while stock markets may have been muted on Tuesday, there was certainly some action in the bond markets as yields pushed higher for longer-dated U.S. Treasuries, with the 10-year settling near 2.47% and the 30-year moving to 2.82%. The most crowded trade in the world It’s bitcoin ( BTC-USD ). According to Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s latest fund manager survey — which polls over 200 fund managers controlling about $560 billion in assets — bitcoin is the most crowded trade in the world, with 32% of respondents pointing to the digital currency as the market’s most overheated trade. Notably, this is the second time in four months that bitcoin has been flagged by this group as the world’s most crowded trade. In September, the first time fund managers said bitcoin was too crowded, bitcoin traded at about $4,000 a coin; on Tuesday, prices were hovering near $18,000. Bank of America’s most crowded trade in the world right now is bitcoin, according to fund managers. (Source: Bank of America Merrill Lynch) So given that the price of bitcoin has quadrupled since the first time Wall Street saw the trade as too crowded, there a few different reads one could have on this data. Story continues Some could argue that there is a kind of bitterness towards bitcoin being expressed by the mainstream investment community that is trying to generate outsized returns amid an environment of low interest rates and near-record stock valuations and yet is barred from investing in an asset that seems to go up every day. A more likely explanation comes from seeing the characterization of “crowded trade” as euphemism for a trade full of investors who don’t understand what they’re buying. And given the disparaging commentary about bitcoin that has come from many high-ranking members of the Wall Street community, it’s safe to say that many investors don’t know what they don’t know about bitcoin. It is, in that sense, a total mystery. And yet clients, one imagines, are calling to ask about bitcoin all the time. And with inquiries flooding into the office about bitcoin it would then seem the only reasonable response to a question about which trade is most crowded would be to pick the one you keep getting asked about even when you have nothing to say about it. — Myles Udland is a writer at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @MylesUdland Read more from Myles here: Evidence shows corporate tax cuts don’t work Walmart’s strong quarter shows why Amazon had to buy Whole Foods Foreign investors might be the key to forecasting a U.S. recession It’s been 17 years since U.S. consumers felt this good about the economy TOM LEE: Bitcoin is an important asset for investors to own || Taxes, cereal, housing — What you need to know on Wednesday: Tax reform is getting there.
Slowly.
On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed the unified tax bill drafted by Republican lawmakers. And then around 5:00 p.m. ET,reportsindicated that the House would have re-vote on the measure after hitting a procedural snag, with the Senate changing what Bloomberg called “relatively minor” aspects of the bill that didn’t meet Senate budget standards.
Markets, which have rallied in recent weeks as investors begin to price in some of the benefits corporations could enjoy with lower tax rates, were lower but little-changed on Tuesday following the news.
On Wednesday, investors will have a slower calendar of economic data and corporate earnings to contend with, as General Mills (GIS) earnings will be the headliner and existing home sales the most notable report on the economic calendar. Other earnings set for release Wednesday include results from Herman Miller (MLHR) and Winnebago Industries (WGO).
And while stock markets may have been muted on Tuesday, there was certainly some action in the bond markets as yields pushed higher for longer-dated U.S. Treasuries, with the 10-year settling near 2.47% and the 30-year moving to 2.82%.
It’s bitcoin (BTC-USD).
According to Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s latest fund manager survey — which polls over 200 fund managers controlling about $560 billion in assets — bitcoin is the most crowded trade in the world, with 32% of respondents pointing to the digital currency as the market’s most overheated trade.
Notably, this is the second time in four months that bitcoin has been flagged by this group as the world’s most crowded trade.
In September, the first time fund managers said bitcoin was too crowded, bitcoin traded at about $4,000 a coin; on Tuesday, prices were hovering near $18,000.
So given that the price of bitcoin has quadrupled since the first time Wall Street saw the trade as too crowded, there a few different reads one could have on this data.
Some could argue that there is a kind of bitterness towards bitcoin being expressed by the mainstream investment community that is trying to generate outsized returns amid an environment of low interest rates andnear-record stock valuationsand yet is barred from investing in an asset that seems to go up every day.
A more likely explanation comes from seeing the characterization of “crowded trade” as euphemism for a trade full of investors who don’t understand what they’re buying. And given the disparaging commentary about bitcoin that has come from many high-ranking members of the Wall Street community, it’s safe to say that many investors don’t know what they don’t know about bitcoin.
It is, in that sense, a total mystery. And yet clients, one imagines, are calling to ask about bitcoin all the time. And with inquiries flooding into the office about bitcoin it would then seem the only reasonable response to a question about which trade is most crowded would be to pick the one you keep getting asked about even when you have nothing to say about it.
—
Myles Udland is a writer at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter@MylesUdland
Read more from Myles here:
• Evidence shows corporate tax cuts don’t work
• Walmart’s strong quarter shows why Amazon had to buy Whole Foods
• Foreign investors might be the key to forecasting a U.S. recession
• It’s been 17 years since U.S. consumers felt this good about the economy
• TOM LEE: Bitcoin is an important asset for investors to own || Investors bought stocks because of tax reform and will now 'sell the news': Wharton's Siegel: Longtime market bull Jeremy Siegel says the two-month market rally has been fueled by investors buying on the hope of tax reform and that is nearing its end. "I'm very positive on the tax plan but it's buy on the anticipation, sell on the news," he said Tuesday on CNBC's " Closing Bell ." "All the good things about the corporate tax plan have been built into the rally we have seen for the last two months and I'm not sure how much else there is really going to be." The Wharton School finance professor said earlier this year that the U.S. stock market had another 10 percent to run because of tax reform. That overhaul is indeed getting closer to reality, with both chambers of Congress hoping to finalize their votes and get the bill to President Donald Trump 's desk this week. The Dow Jones industrial average (Dow Jones Global Indexes: .DJI) is currently approaching the 25,000 mark and trades at a multiple of 20. Siegel said a 20 price-earnings ratio is "the new normal," but he said political challenges for Republicans are going to weigh on markets. Last month, Siegel told CNBC that the market was nearing a top and that returns next year could be lower than 10 percent. Vanguard Group, the giant asset manager, has also predicted medium-term returns of 4 to 6 percent. Longtime market bull Jeremy Siegel says the two-month market rally has been fueled by investors buying on the hope of tax reform and that is nearing its end. "I'm very positive on the tax plan but it's buy on the anticipation, sell on the news," he said Tuesday on CNBC's " Closing Bell ." "All the good things about the corporate tax plan have been built into the rally we have seen for the last two months and I'm not sure how much else there is really going to be." The Wharton School finance professor said earlier this year that the U.S. stock market had another 10 percent to run because of tax reform. That overhaul is indeed getting closer to reality, with both chambers of Congress hoping to finalize their votes and get the bill to President Donald Trump 's desk this week. The Dow Jones industrial average (Dow Jones Global Indexes: .DJI) is currently approaching the 25,000 mark and trades at a multiple of 20. Siegel said a 20 price-earnings ratio is "the new normal," but he said political challenges for Republicans are going to weigh on markets. Last month, Siegel told CNBC that the market was nearing a top and that returns next year could be lower than 10 percent. Vanguard Group, the giant asset manager, has also predicted medium-term returns of 4 to 6 percent. More From CNBC After-hours buzz: FDX, SFIX & more Rates post one of biggest 2-day moves of year as tax bill moves closer to law Bitcoin fever is drawing investors into stock market, Birinyi says || Investors bought stocks because of tax reform and will now 'sell the news': Wharton's Siegel: Longtime market bull Jeremy Siegel says the two-month market rally has been fueled by investors buying on the hope of tax reform and that is nearing its end. "I'm very positive on the tax plan but it's buy on the anticipation, sell on the news," he said Tuesday on CNBC's " Closing Bell ." "All the good things about the corporate tax plan have been built into the rally we have seen for the last two months and I'm not sure how much else there is really going to be." The Wharton School finance professor said earlier this year that the U.S. stock market had another 10 percent to run because of tax reform. That overhaul is indeed getting closer to reality, with both chambers of Congress hoping to finalize their votes and get the bill to President Donald Trump 's desk this week. The Dow Jones industrial average (Dow Jones Global Indexes: .DJI) is currently approaching the 25,000 mark and trades at a multiple of 20. Siegel said a 20 price-earnings ratio is "the new normal," but he said political challenges for Republicans are going to weigh on markets. Last month, Siegel told CNBC that the market was nearing a top and that returns next year could be lower than 10 percent. Vanguard Group, the giant asset manager, has also predicted medium-term returns of 4 to 6 percent. Longtime market bull Jeremy Siegel says the two-month market rally has been fueled by investors buying on the hope of tax reform and that is nearing its end. "I'm very positive on the tax plan but it's buy on the anticipation, sell on the news," he said Tuesday on CNBC's " Closing Bell ." "All the good things about the corporate tax plan have been built into the rally we have seen for the last two months and I'm not sure how much else there is really going to be." The Wharton School finance professor said earlier this year that the U.S. stock market had another 10 percent to run because of tax reform. That overhaul is indeed getting closer to reality, with both chambers of Congress hoping to finalize their votes and get the bill to President Donald Trump 's desk this week. The Dow Jones industrial average (Dow Jones Global Indexes: .DJI) is currently approaching the 25,000 mark and trades at a multiple of 20. Siegel said a 20 price-earnings ratio is "the new normal," but he said political challenges for Republicans are going to weigh on markets. Last month, Siegel told CNBC that the market was nearing a top and that returns next year could be lower than 10 percent. Vanguard Group, the giant asset manager, has also predicted medium-term returns of 4 to 6 percent.More From CNBC
• After-hours buzz: FDX, SFIX & more
• Rates post one of biggest 2-day moves of year as tax bill moves closer to law
• Bitcoin fever is drawing investors into stock market, Birinyi says || Bitcoin plunges $1,000 in less than an hour: Bitcoin (Exchange: BTC.CB=) plunged more than $1,000 in less than an hour Tuesday. The digital currency fell from $17,929 to a low of $16,912 between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m. ET, according to Coinbase, the leading U.S. platform for buying and selling major cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin had traded near $19,800 on Sunday.The slump came just around the close of the U.S. stock market. Tuesday was a wild day for stock traders focused on cryptocurrencies as signs emerged bitcoin mania is getting a bit out of control. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission temporarily suspended trading in shares of The Crypto Company (: NULL) , partly on concerns of stock manipulation , while a tiny company called Future FinTech with no apparent connection to cryptocurrencies briefly soared more than 200 percent. Bitcoin performance Tuesday afternoonSource: Coinbase The CME bitcoin futures (CME:Chicago Mercantile Exchange: @BTC.1) expiring in January settled 4.7 percent lower at $18,200 in their second day of trading ever. The Cboe bitcoin futures (CBOE Futures Exchange: @XBT.1) contract settled 7.9 percent lower at $17,555. Trading volume on both exchanges was roughly the same. Bitcoin's rival offshoot, bitcoin cash, surged for a second day, up 24.5 percent to a record high of $2,735.58, according to CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin cash traded about 20 percent higher, near $2,625 as of 4:35 p.m. ET.Bitcoin cash split off from bitcoin in August in a debate over how best to improve the digital currency's transaction efficiency.The gains in bitcoin cash followed news in the last few days that bitcoin payments processor BitPay and major cryptocurrency storage company Blockchain added support for bitcoin cash. Coinbase is set to add support for bitcoin cash by January.With Tuesday's price moves, bitcoin had roughly 48 percent of the total market cap of all cryptocurrencies, while bitcoin cash had about 7 percent, according to CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin (Exchange: BTC.CB=) plunged more than $1,000 in less than an hour Tuesday. The digital currency fell from $17,929 to a low of $16,912 between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m. ET, according to Coinbase, the leading U.S. platform for buying and selling major cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin had traded near $19,800 on Sunday. The slump came just around the close of the U.S. stock market. Tuesday was a wild day for stock traders focused on cryptocurrencies as signs emerged bitcoin mania is getting a bit out of control. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission temporarily suspended trading in shares of The Crypto Company (: NULL) , partly on concerns of stock manipulation , while a tiny company called Future FinTech with no apparent connection to cryptocurrencies briefly soared more than 200 percent. Bitcoin performance Tuesday afternoon Source: Coinbase The CME bitcoin futures (CME:Chicago Mercantile Exchange: @BTC.1) expiring in January settled 4.7 percent lower at $18,200 in their second day of trading ever. The Cboe bitcoin futures (CBOE Futures Exchange: @XBT.1) contract settled 7.9 percent lower at $17,555. Trading volume on both exchanges was roughly the same. Bitcoin's rival offshoot, bitcoin cash, surged for a second day, up 24.5 percent to a record high of $2,735.58, according to CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin cash traded about 20 percent higher, near $2,625 as of 4:35 p.m. ET. Bitcoin cash split off from bitcoin in August in a debate over how best to improve the digital currency's transaction efficiency. The gains in bitcoin cash followed news in the last few days that bitcoin payments processor BitPay and major cryptocurrency storage company Blockchain added support for bitcoin cash. Coinbase is set to add support for bitcoin cash by January. With Tuesday's price moves, bitcoin had roughly 48 percent of the total market cap of all cryptocurrencies, while bitcoin cash had about 7 percent, according to CoinMarketCap.More From CNBC
• Rates post one of biggest 2-day moves of year as tax bill moves closer to law
• Bitcoin fever is drawing investors into stock market, Birinyi says
• Tax bill includes incentive for companies to invest in foreign manufacturing || Bitcoin plunges $1,000 in less than an hour: Bitcoin (Exchange: BTC.CB=) plunged more than $1,000 in less than an hour Tuesday. The digital currency fell from $17,929 to a low of $16,912 between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m. ET, according to Coinbase, the leading U.S. platform for buying and selling major cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin had traded near $19,800 on Sunday.The slump came just around the close of the U.S. stock market. Tuesday was a wild day for stock traders focused on cryptocurrencies as signs emerged bitcoin mania is getting a bit out of control. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission temporarily suspended trading in shares of The Crypto Company (: NULL) , partly on concerns of stock manipulation , while a tiny company called Future FinTech with no apparent connection to cryptocurrencies briefly soared more than 200 percent. Bitcoin performance Tuesday afternoonSource: Coinbase The CME bitcoin futures (CME:Chicago Mercantile Exchange: @BTC.1) expiring in January settled 4.7 percent lower at $18,200 in their second day of trading ever. The Cboe bitcoin futures (CBOE Futures Exchange: @XBT.1) contract settled 7.9 percent lower at $17,555. Trading volume on both exchanges was roughly the same. Bitcoin's rival offshoot, bitcoin cash, surged for a second day, up 24.5 percent to a record high of $2,735.58, according to CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin cash traded about 20 percent higher, near $2,625 as of 4:35 p.m. ET.Bitcoin cash split off from bitcoin in August in a debate over how best to improve the digital currency's transaction efficiency.The gains in bitcoin cash followed news in the last few days that bitcoin payments processor BitPay and major cryptocurrency storage company Blockchain added support for bitcoin cash. Coinbase is set to add support for bitcoin cash by January.With Tuesday's price moves, bitcoin had roughly 48 percent of the total market cap of all cryptocurrencies, while bitcoin cash had about 7 percent, according to CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin (Exchange: BTC.CB=) plunged more than $1,000 in less than an hour Tuesday. The digital currency fell from $17,929 to a low of $16,912 between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m. ET, according to Coinbase, the leading U.S. platform for buying and selling major cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin had traded near $19,800 on Sunday. The slump came just around the close of the U.S. stock market. Tuesday was a wild day for stock traders focused on cryptocurrencies as signs emerged bitcoin mania is getting a bit out of control. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission temporarily suspended trading in shares of The Crypto Company (: NULL) , partly on concerns of stock manipulation , while a tiny company called Future FinTech with no apparent connection to cryptocurrencies briefly soared more than 200 percent. Bitcoin performance Tuesday afternoon Source: Coinbase The CME bitcoin futures (CME:Chicago Mercantile Exchange: @BTC.1) expiring in January settled 4.7 percent lower at $18,200 in their second day of trading ever. The Cboe bitcoin futures (CBOE Futures Exchange: @XBT.1) contract settled 7.9 percent lower at $17,555. Trading volume on both exchanges was roughly the same. Bitcoin's rival offshoot, bitcoin cash, surged for a second day, up 24.5 percent to a record high of $2,735.58, according to CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin cash traded about 20 percent higher, near $2,625 as of 4:35 p.m. ET. Bitcoin cash split off from bitcoin in August in a debate over how best to improve the digital currency's transaction efficiency. The gains in bitcoin cash followed news in the last few days that bitcoin payments processor BitPay and major cryptocurrency storage company Blockchain added support for bitcoin cash. Coinbase is set to add support for bitcoin cash by January. With Tuesday's price moves, bitcoin had roughly 48 percent of the total market cap of all cryptocurrencies, while bitcoin cash had about 7 percent, according to CoinMarketCap. More From CNBC Rates post one of biggest 2-day moves of year as tax bill moves closer to law Bitcoin fever is drawing investors into stock market, Birinyi says Tax bill includes incentive for companies to invest in foreign manufacturing || Bitcoin plunges $1,000 in less than an hour: Bitcoin (Exchange: BTC.CB=) plunged more than $1,000 in less than an hour Tuesday. The digital currency fell from $17,929 to a low of $16,912 between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m. ET, according to Coinbase, the leading U.S. platform for buying and selling major cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin had traded near $19,800 on Sunday.The slump came just around the close of the U.S. stock market. Tuesday was a wild day for stock traders focused on cryptocurrencies as signs emerged bitcoin mania is getting a bit out of control. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission temporarily suspended trading in shares of The Crypto Company (: NULL) , partly on concerns of stock manipulation , while a tiny company called Future FinTech with no apparent connection to cryptocurrencies briefly soared more than 200 percent. Bitcoin performance Tuesday afternoonSource: Coinbase The CME bitcoin futures (CME:Chicago Mercantile Exchange: @BTC.1) expiring in January settled 4.7 percent lower at $18,200 in their second day of trading ever. The Cboe bitcoin futures (CBOE Futures Exchange: @XBT.1) contract settled 7.9 percent lower at $17,555. Trading volume on both exchanges was roughly the same. Bitcoin's rival offshoot, bitcoin cash, surged for a second day, up 24.5 percent to a record high of $2,735.58, according to CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin cash traded about 20 percent higher, near $2,625 as of 4:35 p.m. ET.Bitcoin cash split off from bitcoin in August in a debate over how best to improve the digital currency's transaction efficiency.The gains in bitcoin cash followed news in the last few days that bitcoin payments processor BitPay and major cryptocurrency storage company Blockchain added support for bitcoin cash. Coinbase is set to add support for bitcoin cash by January.With Tuesday's price moves, bitcoin had roughly 48 percent of the total market cap of all cryptocurrencies, while bitcoin cash had about 7 percent, according to CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin (Exchange: BTC.CB=) plunged more than $1,000 in less than an hour Tuesday. The digital currency fell from $17,929 to a low of $16,912 between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m. ET, according to Coinbase, the leading U.S. platform for buying and selling major cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin had traded near $19,800 on Sunday. The slump came just around the close of the U.S. stock market. Tuesday was a wild day for stock traders focused on cryptocurrencies as signs emerged bitcoin mania is getting a bit out of control. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission temporarily suspended trading in shares of The Crypto Company (: NULL) , partly on concerns of stock manipulation , while a tiny company called Future FinTech with no apparent connection to cryptocurrencies briefly soared more than 200 percent. Bitcoin performance Tuesday afternoon Source: Coinbase The CME bitcoin futures (CME:Chicago Mercantile Exchange: @BTC.1) expiring in January settled 4.7 percent lower at $18,200 in their second day of trading ever. The Cboe bitcoin futures (CBOE Futures Exchange: @XBT.1) contract settled 7.9 percent lower at $17,555. Trading volume on both exchanges was roughly the same. Bitcoin's rival offshoot, bitcoin cash, surged for a second day, up 24.5 percent to a record high of $2,735.58, according to CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin cash traded about 20 percent higher, near $2,625 as of 4:35 p.m. ET. Bitcoin cash split off from bitcoin in August in a debate over how best to improve the digital currency's transaction efficiency. The gains in bitcoin cash followed news in the last few days that bitcoin payments processor BitPay and major cryptocurrency storage company Blockchain added support for bitcoin cash. Coinbase is set to add support for bitcoin cash by January. With Tuesday's price moves, bitcoin had roughly 48 percent of the total market cap of all cryptocurrencies, while bitcoin cash had about 7 percent, according to CoinMarketCap.More From CNBC
• Rates post one of biggest 2-day moves of year as tax bill moves closer to law
• Bitcoin fever is drawing investors into stock market, Birinyi says
• Tax bill includes incentive for companies to invest in foreign manufacturing || Bitcoin Is Down, but Ethereum and Other Cryptocurrencies Are Rising: Bitcoin (BTC), by far the most widely held and closely followed digital currency, or cryptocurrency, is down by more than 7% over the past day. However, most other cryptocurrencies are continuing their move upward. Here's a rundown of the latest price action in the major cryptocurrencies, as well as other top news from the industry.
Here's how the five largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization stack up, and how much each has changed over the past day:
[{"Cryptocurrency Name (Code)": "Bitcoin (BTC)", "Price in U.S. Dollars": "$17,548", "Day's Change": "(7.2%)"}, {"Cryptocurrency Name (Code)": "Ethereum (ETH)", "Price in U.S. Dollars": "$823.00", "Day's Change": "4.9%"}, {"Cryptocurrency Name (Code)": "Bitcoin Cash (BCH)", "Price in U.S. Dollars": "$2,510", "Day's Change": "17.2%"}, {"Cryptocurrency Name (Code)": "Ripple (XRP)", "Price in U.S. Dollars": "$0.76", "Day's Change": "0.2%"}, {"Cryptocurrency Name (Code)": "Litecoin (LTC)", "Price in U.S. Dollars": "$356.25", "Day's Change": "(0.9%)"}]
Data source:www.investing.com. Prices and daily changes as of Dec. 19 at 3:15 p.m. EST; prices are rounded to the nearest cent, where applicable.
As you can see,bitcoinhas been falling today by quite a bit, which is the opposite of what most other major cryptocurrencies are doing.
Manyalternative cryptocurrencies, or "alt-coins," have surged in popularity recently. There are a few potential reasons for this, such as these other coins' relatively low price. If you're new to cryptocurrencies and have, say, $1,000 to invest, it can seem more attractive to buy more than 1,200 Ripple than less than 6% of one bitcoin.
Image source: Getty Images.
Furthermore, some of these alt-coins solve major problems that people are having with bitcoin. For example, bitcoin transaction costs have gotten much higher, and transactions are taking hours to complete due to high network traffic. Conversely, both Ripple and Litecoin cost just pennies per transaction and can complete transactions in a small fraction of the time.
In fact, most people are surprised to learn that bitcoin makes up less than half of the cryptocurrency market. The value of all bitcoins currently in circulation is about $304.7 billion, while the entire cryptocurrency market is worth $624.1 billion.
As a final thought, keep in mind that the daily performance doesn't tell the full story on cryptocurrency volatility. In fact, a day when bitcoin moves byonly3% in either direction is a relatively quiet day.
With that in mind, let's take a look at the performance of the largest cryptocurrencies over some longer time periods, and see how investors should interpret this information.
[{"Cryptocurrency": "Bitcoin (BTC)", "1-Week Change": "3.9%", "1-Month Change": "122%", "6-Month Change": "569%", "1-Year Change": "2044%"}, {"Cryptocurrency": "Ethereum (ETH)", "1-Week Change": "37.1%", "1-Month Change": "130%", "6-Month Change": "128%", "1-Year Change": "10,767%"}, {"Cryptocurrency": "Bitcoin Cash (BCH)", "1-Week Change": "55.6%", "1-Month Change": "110%", "6-Month Change": "N/A", "1-Year Change": "N/A"}, {"Cryptocurrency": "Ripple (XRP)", "1-Week Change": "135%", "1-Month Change": "228%", "6-Month Change": "159%", "1-Year Change": "133%"}, {"Cryptocurrency": "Litecoin (LTC)", "1-Week Change": "(2.7%)", "1-Month Change": "406%", "6-Month Change": "656%", "1-Year Change": "9,736%"}]
Data source:www.investing.com. Price changes as of Dec. 19 at 3:15 p.m. EST.
As you can see, bitcoin is actually on the lower end, as far as cryptocurrency volatility goes. Ethereum has increased more than 100-fold over the past year, while Ripple has more than doubled within the past week alone.
Here are the key takeaways. First, it's important to realize that some of these performance figures are simply not sustainable. For example, if Ethereum were to rise another 10,767% over the next year, the digital currency would have a $8.9trillionmarket cap. In other words, don't buy any digital currencies and expect the same performance going forward.
Most importantly, any asset that can double, triple, or more in such short periods of time is aspeculativeasset, not an investment. Put another way, if it can double in a week, it could also get cut in half in a week just as easily. Given cryptocurrencies' current volatility, they are far closer to lottery tickets than to stocks and bonds on the risk spectrum.
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The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Bitcoin Is Down, but Ethereum and Other Cryptocurrencies Are Rising: Bitcoin (BTC), by far the most widely held and closely followed digital currency, or cryptocurrency, is down by more than 7% over the past day. However, most other cryptocurrencies are continuing their move upward. Here's a rundown of the latest price action in the major cryptocurrencies, as well as other top news from the industry. Today's cryptocurrency prices Here's how the five largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization stack up, and how much each has changed over the past day: Cryptocurrency Name (Code) Price in U.S. Dollars Day's Change Bitcoin (BTC) $17,548 (7.2%) Ethereum (ETH) $823.00 4.9% Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $2,510 17.2% Ripple (XRP) $0.76 0.2% Litecoin (LTC) $356.25 (0.9%) Data source: www.investing.com . Prices and daily changes as of Dec. 19 at 3:15 p.m. EST; prices are rounded to the nearest cent, where applicable. Bitcoin is falling while other cryptocurrencies continue to surge As you can see, bitcoin has been falling today by quite a bit, which is the opposite of what most other major cryptocurrencies are doing. Many alternative cryptocurrencies , or "alt-coins," have surged in popularity recently. There are a few potential reasons for this, such as these other coins' relatively low price. If you're new to cryptocurrencies and have, say, $1,000 to invest, it can seem more attractive to buy more than 1,200 Ripple than less than 6% of one bitcoin. Hand holding a golden coin with bitcoin logo. Image source: Getty Images. Furthermore, some of these alt-coins solve major problems that people are having with bitcoin. For example, bitcoin transaction costs have gotten much higher, and transactions are taking hours to complete due to high network traffic. Conversely, both Ripple and Litecoin cost just pennies per transaction and can complete transactions in a small fraction of the time. In fact, most people are surprised to learn that bitcoin makes up less than half of the cryptocurrency market. The value of all bitcoins currently in circulation is about $304.7 billion, while the entire cryptocurrency market is worth $624.1 billion. Story continues Don't confuse speculating with investing As a final thought, keep in mind that the daily performance doesn't tell the full story on cryptocurrency volatility. In fact, a day when bitcoin moves by only 3% in either direction is a relatively quiet day. With that in mind, let's take a look at the performance of the largest cryptocurrencies over some longer time periods, and see how investors should interpret this information. Cryptocurrency 1-Week Change 1-Month Change 6-Month Change 1-Year Change Bitcoin (BTC) 3.9% 122% 569% 2044% Ethereum (ETH) 37.1% 130% 128% 10,767% Bitcoin Cash (BCH) 55.6% 110% N/A N/A Ripple (XRP) 135% 228% 159% 133% Litecoin (LTC) (2.7%) 406% 656% 9,736% Data source: www.investing.com . Price changes as of Dec. 19 at 3:15 p.m. EST. As you can see, bitcoin is actually on the lower end, as far as cryptocurrency volatility goes. Ethereum has increased more than 100-fold over the past year, while Ripple has more than doubled within the past week alone. Here are the key takeaways. First, it's important to realize that some of these performance figures are simply not sustainable. For example, if Ethereum were to rise another 10,767% over the next year, the digital currency would have a $8.9 trillion market cap. In other words, don't buy any digital currencies and expect the same performance going forward. Most importantly, any asset that can double, triple, or more in such short periods of time is a speculative asset, not an investment. Put another way, if it can double in a week, it could also get cut in half in a week just as easily. Given cryptocurrencies' current volatility, they are far closer to lottery tickets than to stocks and bonds on the risk spectrum. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Why You're Smart to Buy Shopify Inc. (US) -- Despite Citron's Report The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Bitcoin Is Down, but Ethereum and Other Cryptocurrencies Are Rising: Bitcoin (BTC), by far the most widely held and closely followed digital currency, or cryptocurrency, is down by more than 7% over the past day. However, most other cryptocurrencies are continuing their move upward. Here's a rundown of the latest price action in the major cryptocurrencies, as well as other top news from the industry.
Here's how the five largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization stack up, and how much each has changed over the past day:
[{"Cryptocurrency Name (Code)": "Bitcoin (BTC)", "Price in U.S. Dollars": "$17,548", "Day's Change": "(7.2%)"}, {"Cryptocurrency Name (Code)": "Ethereum (ETH)", "Price in U.S. Dollars": "$823.00", "Day's Change": "4.9%"}, {"Cryptocurrency Name (Code)": "Bitcoin Cash (BCH)", "Price in U.S. Dollars": "$2,510", "Day's Change": "17.2%"}, {"Cryptocurrency Name (Code)": "Ripple (XRP)", "Price in U.S. Dollars": "$0.76", "Day's Change": "0.2%"}, {"Cryptocurrency Name (Code)": "Litecoin (LTC)", "Price in U.S. Dollars": "$356.25", "Day's Change": "(0.9%)"}]
Data source:www.investing.com. Prices and daily changes as of Dec. 19 at 3:15 p.m. EST; prices are rounded to the nearest cent, where applicable.
As you can see,bitcoinhas been falling today by quite a bit, which is the opposite of what most other major cryptocurrencies are doing.
Manyalternative cryptocurrencies, or "alt-coins," have surged in popularity recently. There are a few potential reasons for this, such as these other coins' relatively low price. If you're new to cryptocurrencies and have, say, $1,000 to invest, it can seem more attractive to buy more than 1,200 Ripple than less than 6% of one bitcoin.
Image source: Getty Images.
Furthermore, some of these alt-coins solve major problems that people are having with bitcoin. For example, bitcoin transaction costs have gotten much higher, and transactions are taking hours to complete due to high network traffic. Conversely, both Ripple and Litecoin cost just pennies per transaction and can complete transactions in a small fraction of the time.
In fact, most people are surprised to learn that bitcoin makes up less than half of the cryptocurrency market. The value of all bitcoins currently in circulation is about $304.7 billion, while the entire cryptocurrency market is worth $624.1 billion.
As a final thought, keep in mind that the daily performance doesn't tell the full story on cryptocurrency volatility. In fact, a day when bitcoin moves byonly3% in either direction is a relatively quiet day.
With that in mind, let's take a look at the performance of the largest cryptocurrencies over some longer time periods, and see how investors should interpret this information.
[{"Cryptocurrency": "Bitcoin (BTC)", "1-Week Change": "3.9%", "1-Month Change": "122%", "6-Month Change": "569%", "1-Year Change": "2044%"}, {"Cryptocurrency": "Ethereum (ETH)", "1-Week Change": "37.1%", "1-Month Change": "130%", "6-Month Change": "128%", "1-Year Change": "10,767%"}, {"Cryptocurrency": "Bitcoin Cash (BCH)", "1-Week Change": "55.6%", "1-Month Change": "110%", "6-Month Change": "N/A", "1-Year Change": "N/A"}, {"Cryptocurrency": "Ripple (XRP)", "1-Week Change": "135%", "1-Month Change": "228%", "6-Month Change": "159%", "1-Year Change": "133%"}, {"Cryptocurrency": "Litecoin (LTC)", "1-Week Change": "(2.7%)", "1-Month Change": "406%", "6-Month Change": "656%", "1-Year Change": "9,736%"}]
Data source:www.investing.com. Price changes as of Dec. 19 at 3:15 p.m. EST.
As you can see, bitcoin is actually on the lower end, as far as cryptocurrency volatility goes. Ethereum has increased more than 100-fold over the past year, while Ripple has more than doubled within the past week alone.
Here are the key takeaways. First, it's important to realize that some of these performance figures are simply not sustainable. For example, if Ethereum were to rise another 10,767% over the next year, the digital currency would have a $8.9trillionmarket cap. In other words, don't buy any digital currencies and expect the same performance going forward.
Most importantly, any asset that can double, triple, or more in such short periods of time is aspeculativeasset, not an investment. Put another way, if it can double in a week, it could also get cut in half in a week just as easily. Given cryptocurrencies' current volatility, they are far closer to lottery tickets than to stocks and bonds on the risk spectrum.
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• 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing
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The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Stocks slightly lower on tech as full U.S. tax plan vote looms: By Laila Kearney NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street and other global stock markets fell slightly on Tuesday, with investors taking profits after recent highs in the tech sector before U.S. Republican lawmakers reach their goal of passing tax legislation. U.S. stocks have hit successive highs ahead of the tax overhaul bill, but modest selling has crept into the market as most traders see the positive impact of cuts to corporate taxes already priced into the market. The U.S. dollar regained some footing after early losses, aided by upbeat U.S. housing data. The U.S. House of Representatives will vote in the afternoon and a Senate decision could come Tuesday night on what would be the biggest U.S. tax overhaul in more than 30 years. The plan includes slashing the corporate tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent, which analysts say would likely increase profits, buybacks and dividend payouts. Despite growing optimism about the tax bill's passage, a slump in technology stocks, led by Apple Inc (AAPL.O), helped to drag markets down in afternoon trading. Some investors said they were pausing to see the voting results. "There is high confidence that it will get passed, but there is a very narrow margin for error, within the Senate especially. So there's a little bit of a pause to see what's going to happen," said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer of Independent Advisor Alliance in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 12.6 points, or 0.05 percent, to 24,779.6, the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 4.11 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,686.05 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) dropped 25.76 points, or 0.37 percent, to 6,969.00. Apple shares fell 0.9 percent after broker Instinet downgraded the stock to "neutral" from "buy" on doubts about iPhone X sales. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index (.FTEU3) lost 0.51 percent and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.13 percent. The U.S. dollar, which slipped on tax plan doubts on Monday, began to flatten on data that showed domestic home construction rose to a 13-month peak in November, with single-family home construction hitting a 10-year high. Story continues Still, the dollar index (.DXY) fell 0.24 percent by midday. The euro (EUR=) was up 0.52 percent to $1.1842. "We think FX markets are less fazed by the bill. Whether it will induce a material shift in investment and the balance of payments remains unclear," said Mazen Issa, senior FX strategist at TD Securities in New York. U.S. Treasury yields also rose and prices fell on the unexpectedly strong domestic housing data. Benchmark 10-year notes last fell 21/32 in price to yield 2.468 percent, from 2.392 percent. The 30-year bond last fell 1-20/32 in price to yield 2.8246 percent, from 2.744 percent. Gold, which strengthens on the dollar's weakening, held firm above $1,260 an ounce. Still, the precious metal is on track to post its narrowest trading range of any quarter in a decade in the last three months of the year. Spot gold (XAU=) percent to $1,260.80 an ounce. U.S. gold futures (GCcv1) fell 0.13 percent to $1,263.80. Copper (CMCU3) rose 0.46 percent to $6,937.00 a tonne. Oil was up slightly towards $64 a barrel, aided by an ongoing North Sea pipeline outage, supply cuts and expectations that U.S. crude inventories had fallen for a fifth week. U.S. crude (CLcv1) also rose 0.58 percent to $57.55 per barrel and Brent (LCOcv1) was last at $63.66, up 0.39 percent Cryptocurrency bitcoin meanwhile was 4 percent lower at $18,110 on the Bitstamp exchange (BTC=BTSP) having roared to its latest record high over the weekend. (Additional reporting by Marc Jones in London; Editing by Nick Zieminski and James Dalgleish) || Stocks slightly lower on tech as full U.S. tax plan vote looms: By Laila Kearney NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street and other global stock markets fell slightly on Tuesday, with investors taking profits after recent highs in the tech sector before U.S. Republican lawmakers reach their goal of passing tax legislation. U.S. stocks have hit successive highs ahead of the tax overhaul bill, but modest selling has crept into the market as most traders see the positive impact of cuts to corporate taxes already priced into the market. The U.S. dollar regained some footing after early losses, aided by upbeat U.S. housing data. The U.S. House of Representatives will vote in the afternoon and a Senate decision could come Tuesday night on what would be the biggest U.S. tax overhaul in more than 30 years. The plan includes slashing the corporate tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent, which analysts say would likely increase profits, buybacks and dividend payouts. Despite growing optimism about the tax bill's passage, a slump in technology stocks, led by Apple Inc <AAPL.O>, helped to drag markets down in afternoon trading. Some investors said they were pausing to see the voting results. "There is high confidence that it will get passed, but there is a very narrow margin for error, within the Senate especially. So there's a little bit of a pause to see what's going to happen," said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer of Independent Advisor Alliance in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> fell 12.6 points, or 0.05 percent, to 24,779.6, the S&P 500 <.SPX> lost 4.11 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,686.05 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> dropped 25.76 points, or 0.37 percent, to 6,969.00. Apple shares fell 0.9 percent after broker Instinet downgraded the stock to "neutral" from "buy" on doubts about iPhone X sales. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index <.FTEU3> lost 0.51 percent and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe <.MIWD00000PUS> shed 0.13 percent. Story continues The U.S. dollar, which slipped on tax plan doubts on Monday, began to flatten on data that showed domestic home construction rose to a 13-month peak in November, with single-family home construction hitting a 10-year high. Still, the dollar index <.DXY> fell 0.24 percent by midday. The euro <EUR=> was up 0.52 percent to $1.1842. "We think FX markets are less fazed by the bill. Whether it will induce a material shift in investment and the balance of payments remains unclear," said Mazen Issa, senior FX strategist at TD Securities in New York. U.S. Treasury yields also rose and prices fell on the unexpectedly strong domestic housing data. Benchmark 10-year notes <US10YT=RR> last fell 21/32 in price to yield 2.468 percent, from 2.392 percent. The 30-year bond <US30YT=RR> last fell 1-20/32 in price to yield 2.8246 percent, from 2.744 percent. Gold, which strengthens on the dollar's weakening, held firm above $1,260 an ounce. Still, the precious metal is on track to post its narrowest trading range of any quarter in a decade in the last three months of the year. Spot gold <XAU=> percent to $1,260.80 an ounce. U.S. gold futures <GCcv1> fell 0.13 percent to $1,263.80. Copper <CMCU3> rose 0.46 percent to $6,937.00 a tonne. Oil was up slightly towards $64 a barrel, aided by an ongoing North Sea pipeline outage, supply cuts and expectations that U.S. crude inventories had fallen for a fifth week. U.S. crude <CLcv1> also rose 0.58 percent to $57.55 per barrel and Brent <LCOcv1> was last at $63.66, up 0.39 percent Cryptocurrency bitcoin meanwhile was 4 percent lower at $18,110 on the Bitstamp exchange <BTC=BTSP> having roared to its latest record high over the weekend. (Additional reporting by Marc Jones in London; Editing by Nick Zieminski and James Dalgleish) || Stocks slightly lower on tech as full U.S. tax plan vote looms: By Laila Kearney
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street and other global stock markets fell slightly on Tuesday, with investors taking profits after recent highs in the tech sector before U.S. Republican lawmakers reach their goal of passing tax legislation.
U.S. stocks have hit successive highs ahead of the tax overhaul bill, but modest selling has crept into the market as most traders see the positive impact of cuts to corporate taxes already priced into the market.
The U.S. dollar regained some footing after early losses, aided by upbeat U.S. housing data.
The U.S. House of Representatives will vote in the afternoon and a Senate decision could come Tuesday night on what would be the biggest U.S. tax overhaul in more than 30 years.
The plan includes slashing the corporate tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent, which analysts say would likely increase profits, buybacks and dividend payouts.
Despite growing optimism about the tax bill's passage, a slump in technology stocks, led by Apple Inc <AAPL.O>, helped to drag markets down in afternoon trading. Some investors said they were pausing to see the voting results.
"There is high confidence that it will get passed, but there is a very narrow margin for error, within the Senate especially. So there's a little bit of a pause to see what's going to happen," said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer of Independent Advisor Alliance in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> fell 12.6 points, or 0.05 percent, to 24,779.6, the S&P 500 <.SPX> lost 4.11 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,686.05 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> dropped 25.76 points, or 0.37 percent, to 6,969.00.
Apple shares fell 0.9 percent after broker Instinet downgraded the stock to "neutral" from "buy" on doubts about iPhone X sales.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index <.FTEU3> lost 0.51 percent and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe <.MIWD00000PUS> shed 0.13 percent.
The U.S. dollar, which slipped on tax plan doubts on Monday, began to flatten on data that showed domestic home construction rose to a 13-month peak in November, with single-family home construction hitting a 10-year high.
Still, the dollar index <.DXY> fell 0.24 percent by midday. The euro <EUR=> was up 0.52 percent to $1.1842.
"We think FX markets are less fazed by the bill. Whether it will induce a material shift in investment and the balance of payments remains unclear," said Mazen Issa, senior FX strategist at TD Securities in New York.
U.S. Treasury yields also rose and prices fell on the unexpectedly strong domestic housing data.
Benchmark 10-year notes <US10YT=RR> last fell 21/32 in price to yield 2.468 percent, from 2.392 percent.
The 30-year bond <US30YT=RR> last fell 1-20/32 in price to yield 2.8246 percent, from 2.744 percent.
Gold, which strengthens on the dollar's weakening, held firm above $1,260 an ounce. Still, the precious metal is on track to post its narrowest trading range of any quarter in a decade in the last three months of the year.
Spot gold <XAU=> percent to $1,260.80 an ounce. U.S. gold futures <GCcv1> fell 0.13 percent to $1,263.80.
Copper <CMCU3> rose 0.46 percent to $6,937.00 a tonne.
Oil was up slightly towards $64 a barrel, aided by an ongoing North Sea pipeline outage, supply cuts and expectations that U.S. crude inventories had fallen for a fifth week.
U.S. crude <CLcv1> also rose 0.58 percent to $57.55 per barrel and Brent <LCOcv1> was last at $63.66, up 0.39 percent
Cryptocurrency bitcoin meanwhile was 4 percent lower at $18,110 on the Bitstamp exchange <BTC=BTSP> having roared to its latest record high over the weekend.
(Additional reporting by Marc Jones in London; Editing by Nick Zieminski and James Dalgleish) || Stocks slightly lower on tech as full U.S. tax plan vote looms: By Laila Kearney NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street and other global stock markets fell slightly on Tuesday, with investors taking profits after recent highs in the tech sector before U.S. Republican lawmakers reach their goal of passing tax legislation. U.S. stocks have hit successive highs ahead of the tax overhaul bill, but modest selling has crept into the market as most traders see the positive impact of cuts to corporate taxes already priced into the market. The U.S. dollar regained some footing after early losses, aided by upbeat U.S. housing data. The U.S. House of Representatives will vote in the afternoon and a Senate decision could come Tuesday night on what would be the biggest U.S. tax overhaul in more than 30 years. The plan includes slashing the corporate tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent, which analysts say would likely increase profits, buybacks and dividend payouts. Despite growing optimism about the tax bill's passage, a slump in technology stocks, led by Apple Inc (AAPL.O), helped to drag markets down in afternoon trading. Some investors said they were pausing to see the voting results. "There is high confidence that it will get passed, but there is a very narrow margin for error, within the Senate especially. So there's a little bit of a pause to see what's going to happen," said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer of Independent Advisor Alliance in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 12.6 points, or 0.05 percent, to 24,779.6, the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 4.11 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,686.05 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) dropped 25.76 points, or 0.37 percent, to 6,969.00. Apple shares fell 0.9 percent after broker Instinet downgraded the stock to "neutral" from "buy" on doubts about iPhone X sales. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index (.FTEU3) lost 0.51 percent and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.13 percent. The U.S. dollar, which slipped on tax plan doubts on Monday, began to flatten on data that showed domestic home construction rose to a 13-month peak in November, with single-family home construction hitting a 10-year high. Story continues Still, the dollar index (.DXY) fell 0.24 percent by midday. The euro (EUR=) was up 0.52 percent to $1.1842. "We think FX markets are less fazed by the bill. Whether it will induce a material shift in investment and the balance of payments remains unclear," said Mazen Issa, senior FX strategist at TD Securities in New York. U.S. Treasury yields also rose and prices fell on the unexpectedly strong domestic housing data. Benchmark 10-year notes last fell 21/32 in price to yield 2.468 percent, from 2.392 percent. The 30-year bond last fell 1-20/32 in price to yield 2.8246 percent, from 2.744 percent. Gold, which strengthens on the dollar's weakening, held firm above $1,260 an ounce. Still, the precious metal is on track to post its narrowest trading range of any quarter in a decade in the last three months of the year. Spot gold (XAU=) percent to $1,260.80 an ounce. U.S. gold futures (GCcv1) fell 0.13 percent to $1,263.80. Copper (CMCU3) rose 0.46 percent to $6,937.00 a tonne. Oil was up slightly towards $64 a barrel, aided by an ongoing North Sea pipeline outage, supply cuts and expectations that U.S. crude inventories had fallen for a fifth week. U.S. crude (CLcv1) also rose 0.58 percent to $57.55 per barrel and Brent (LCOcv1) was last at $63.66, up 0.39 percent Cryptocurrency bitcoin meanwhile was 4 percent lower at $18,110 on the Bitstamp exchange (BTC=BTSP) having roared to its latest record high over the weekend. (Additional reporting by Marc Jones in London; Editing by Nick Zieminski and James Dalgleish) || 9 Small-Cap Stocks to Buy for 2018: When was the last time that small-cap stocks outperformed the S&P 500 Index ? Take a guess? Any guess? It wasnt as long ago as you might think. The answer is 2016. According to Morningstar, the iShares Russell 2000 Index (ETF) (NYSEARCA: IWM ) had an annual total return of 22% last year, almost double the 12% total return of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA: SPY ). So far this year, the SPY is beating the proxy for small-cap stocks by almost 800 basis points. Over the past decade, however, IWM bested SPY on six occasions, suggesting good things do come in small packages. InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips Should the Trump tax plan get passed, small-cap stocks should benefit significantly from the fact they generate a significant portion of their revenue domestically where theyll be taxed at 20% instead of the old rate of 35%. 10 Can't-Miss Dividend Growth Stocks for 2018 Large-cap stocks might have gotten an edge up in 2017, but the coming year is looking good for smaller companies. Here are my nine small-cap stocks to own in 2018. Small-Cap Stocks to Buy in 2018: RMR Group (RMR) Source: Shutterstock RMR Group Inc (NASDAQ: RMR ) is an alternative asset manager based in Newton, Massachusetts, that primarily handles the day-to-day operations of four REITs: Hospitality Properties Trust (NASDAQ: HPT ), Senior Housing Properties Trust (NASDAQ: SNH ), Select Income REIT (NASDAQ: SIR ) and Government Properties Income Trust (NASDAQ: GOV ). These four REITs have no employees and are managed by RMR. No matter what happens to REITs due to higher interest rates, etc., short of bankruptcy, RMR gets paid to manage $28 billion of commercial real estate assets. In April 2016, I called GOV one of the five best REITs to own that broke the mold by being unconventional. In the case of GOV, it was owning and managing government office space. At the time of my article, it owned 10.7 million square feet of office space over 71 properties with 93% of the space rented to government agencies. Story continues As a result of its October 2017 acquisition of First Potomac Realty Trust, GOV now owns 24.9 million square feet of office space. Also, it owns 28% of SIR, one of the other REITs managed by RMR. Its a little incestuous, Ill grant you, but its a great way to separate fee-generating revenue from income-generating revenue. Small-Cap Stocks to Buy in 2018: Callaway Golf (ELY) Callaway Golf Co (NYSE:ELY) Source: Shutterstock Call me crazy, but I believe golf is ready for a mini-comeback given the NFL appears to be slowly imploding due to multiple factors including an ownership base that seems oblivious to the fact Roger Goodell is highly overpaid . It might be hard to believe, but Callaway Golf Co (NYSE: ELY ) is finishing off a third consecutive year with ELY stock in positive territory for the year, up 32% year to date through Dec. 11. The companys been making under-the-radar acquisitions in 2017 that will position it for future growth. In January, it paid $76 million for Ogio International Inc., a golf-bag manufacturer. Then in August, it acquired TravisMathew, a high-end lifestyle apparel brand that it can extend beyond the golf course, for $126 million . At the end of October, Callaway announced healthy third-quarter 2017 results that included much stronger profits and revenue growth across all segments and regions. 10 Strong Buy Stocks That Are Better Than Bitcoin I see a fourth consecutive year of strong returns for ELY stock. Small-Cap Stocks to Buy in 2018: Fox Factory (FOXF) Source: Shutterstock Whether youre a motocross rider or someone who just enjoys offroading with your ATV, the shocks you put on your vehicle can make all the difference in the comfort and quality of your ride. Fox Factory Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: FOXF ) has been manufacturing shock absorbers for powered and non-powered vehicles since 1974 . FOXF went public in August 2013 at $15 a share. FOXF stock started off slowly after its IPO, never getting more than two or three dollars above $15 until July 2016 when investors started to take notice. Since then, its more than doubled in price and is up 43% year to date through Dec. 11. On Dec. 1, Fox Factory announced that it was buying 80% of the Tuscany Motor Company for $53.4 million and the option to acquire the remaining 20% in the future. While Tuscany only adds $41 million in revenue, it gives the company a new platform on which to expand its aftermarket business. If you want a dressed up F-150 truck, Tuscany can help you out. Small-Cap Stocks to Buy in 2018: Buckle (BKE) There are stock recommendations and then there are gut feels. Putting Buckle Inc (NYSE: BKE ) on this list of small-cap stocks, it fits under the latter category. I was once a big believer in its stock recommending it as recently as January 2016. However, in that article, I did admit it wasnt performing too well and would require a patient investor to ride out the downturn. Somewhere along the way, Buckle fell out of favor with shoppers, and its financial situation went from great to just good. On Dec. 5, Buckle announced it would pay a $1.75 special cash dividend to shareholders of record as of Jan. 12, 2018, in addition to the regular 25-cent dividend. Thats $7.47 in special cash dividends the companys paid out over the past five years. Of course, considering its stock is down 5% annually over the same period, it only cushions the blow. 10 More Losers That Will Be Stocks to Buy in 2018 With comps still in negative territory but margins improving, Im going to go out on a limb here and say 2018 is the year this small-cap stock delivers the goods. Small-Cap Stocks to Buy in 2018: Viad (VVI) Source: Shutterstock In September, I recommended Viad Corp (NYSE: VVI ) as one of two stocks to buy whose market cap was lower than GoPro Inc (NASDAQ: GPRO ). Since then, VVI is down 2% versus a 24% decline for GPRO. While VVI has yet to come to life, I have reason to believe 2018 will be a good year for its stock. First, in November, Viads travel experience business announced that it would expand its FlyOver virtual flight concept that began with FlyOver Canada by acquiring 55% of Icelands Esja Attractions. Iceland continues to be one of the worlds greatest tourism destinations; this new attraction will drive further growth in its Pursuit segment. Secondly, acquisitions its GES exhibition business made in 2017, have yet to deliver upon the synergies and cost savings originally expected. However, CEO Steve Moster did say in the Q3 2017 earnings release that the addition of higher-margin services to its offerings is driving top- and bottom-line profits. VVI stock has done well the past six years with not a single year of declines. With all that its doing to grow the travel side of its business, I see that streak continuing in 2018. Small-Cap Stocks to Buy in 2018: PetMed Express (PETS) It seems that controversy seems to follow PetMed Express Inc (NASDAQ: PETS ), Americas largest pet pharmacy. In the summer, PETS faced troubling allegations from short sellers that it was marketing painkillers meant for animals to humans. Its stock tanked down to the mid-$30s before recovering in the fall on strong earnings. This isnt the first time the companys faced controversy. In the past, its had a rocky relationship with the veterinary community who believe PetMed Express is trying to undermine their businesses through lower prices and misleading advertising. I dont think PETS will ever escape the focus of investors because once youre targeted as a good short, you can never scare them away except by delivering strong results as it did in Q2 2017. 10 Hot IPOs That You Could Buy in 2018 Historically, PETS has delivered strong returns, and as long as it continues to boost the order value per customer $85 in Q2 2017, $3 more than a year earlier I dont see why it cant produce another year of appreciation. Small-Cap Stocks to Buy in 2018: iRobot (IRBT) Source: Shutterstock iRobot Corporation (NASDAQ: IRBT ) owns an impressive 64% of the global robotic vacuum cleaner market. Recently, I saw an ad for the Shark ION ROBOT vacuum, an indication that although the competition is mounting, it also legitimizes the entire robotic vacuum industry. I can remember when investors were hypercritical of iRobot because it wasnt expanding its business further into the military arena. You want to talk about competitive, just try getting a contract with the federal government. It takes deep pockets and even deeper patience. In May, I called IRBT on of the best growth stocks to buy , in part because it had fully recovered from its troubles stemming from its defense-related business which it dumped in 2016. The fact is, iRobots become a fan of short sellers, and thats made its stock seriously volatile. And thats a good thing when it comes to small-cap stocks. In July, IRBT stock was trading over $105; today, its around $70. I believe it will continue to grow its main product at a reasonable pace while it figures out the next great thing to diversify its revenue streams. In the meantime, you might want to continue to buy on weakness. In 2018, given its strong robotic patents, iRobot could be a good acquisition candidate. Small-Cap Stocks to Buy in 2018: WisdomTree Investments (WETF) WisdomTree Dont look now but WisdomTree Investments, Inc. (NASDAQ: WETF ) is shaking up upper management. Probably the biggest news from the organizational changes WETF is making is that board member Jarrett Lilien is stepping down to join day-to-day operations as Executive Vice President in charge of Emerging Technologies. Lilien was COO of E*Trade Financial Corp (NASDAQ: ETFC ) between 2003 and 2008. The ETF asset manager is probably best known for its WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund (NYSEARCA: DXJ ) which is the second-largest Japan-focused ETF in the U.S. with $9.5 billion in assets. Although DXJ is its highest-profile ETF, it has 12 ETFs with more than $1 billion in assets and considerably more with $100 million or more, making it the seventh-largest ETF provider in the U.S. While its had a tough time grabbing market share in the Canadian ETF market, which it entered in July 2016, its partnership with Canadian online broker Questrade should help make a dent. The companys aware that it needs to go global and the organizational changes are meant to address this need. 10 Super Safe Growth Stocks to Buy for Long-Lasting Dividends I see its stock above $20 by the end of 2018, 2019 at the latest. Small-Cap Stocks to Buy in 2018: Oxford Industries (OXM) Source: Shutterstock The apparel manufacturer and retailers bounced back nicely after a down year in 2016. Oxford Industries Inc (NYSE: OXM ) owns a trio of apparel brands: Tommy Bahama, Lily Pulitzer and Southern Tide, which it acquired in April 2016 for $85 million . If youre not familiar with Southern Tide, it has a nice big fish as its logo, doing its best to keep up with polo players and crocodiles. On Dec. 5, OXM announced its Q3 2017 results and they were solid. Furthermore, it expects fiscal 2017 earnings on an adjusted basis to be as high as $3.38 a share on $1.1 billion in sales. Highlights in 2017 include Lily Pulitzer delivering solid operating margins through the first nine months 22.7% versus 6.6% for Tommy Bahama, its biggest brand by sales and its latest acquisition becoming profitable on the year. With the help of Southern Tide growth over the next 2-3 years, I could see OXM stock hitting $100 in 2018. As of this writing, Will Ashworth did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Compare Brokers The post 9 Small-Cap Stocks to Buy for 2018 appeared first on InvestorPlace . || 9 Small-Cap Stocks to Buy for 2018: When was the last time that small-cap stocks outperformed theS&P 500 Index? Take a guess? Any guess? It wasn’t as long ago as you might think. The answer is 2016.
According to Morningstar, theiShares Russell 2000 Index (ETF)(NYSEARCA:IWM) had an annual total return of 22% last year, almost double the 12% total return of theSPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust(NYSEARCA:SPY).
So far this year, the SPY is beating the proxy for small-cap stocks by almost 800 basis points. Over the past decade, however, IWM bested SPY on six occasions, suggesting good things do come in small packages.
InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips
Should the Trump tax plan get passed, small-cap stocks should benefit significantly from the fact they generate a significant portion of their revenue domestically where they’ll be taxed at 20% instead of the old rate of 35%.
• 10 Can't-Miss Dividend Growth Stocks for 2018
Large-cap stocks might have gotten an edge up in 2017, but the coming year is looking good for smaller companies. Here are my nine small-cap stocks to own in 2018.
Source: Shutterstock
RMR Group Inc(NASDAQ:RMR) is an alternative asset manager based in Newton, Massachusetts, that primarily handles theday-to-day operationsof four REITs:Hospitality Properties Trust(NASDAQ:HPT),Senior Housing Properties Trust(NASDAQ:SNH),Select Income REIT(NASDAQ:SIR) andGovernment Properties Income Trust(NASDAQ:GOV).
These four REITs have no employees and are managed by RMR. No matter what happens to REITs due to higher interest rates, etc., short of bankruptcy, RMR gets paid to manage $28 billion of commercial real estate assets.
In April 2016, I called GOV one ofthe five best REITs to ownthat broke the mold by being unconventional. In the case of GOV, it was owning and managing government office space. At the time of my article, it owned 10.7 million square feet of office space over 71 properties with 93% of the space rented to government agencies.
As a result of its October 2017acquisitionof First Potomac Realty Trust, GOV now owns24.9 millionsquare feet of office space.
Also, it owns 28% of SIR, one of the other REITs managed by RMR. It’s a little incestuous, I’ll grant you, but it’s a great way to separate fee-generating revenue from income-generating revenue.
Source: Shutterstock
Call me crazy, but I believe golf is ready for a mini-comeback given the NFL appears to be slowly imploding due to multiple factors including an ownership base that seems oblivious to the factRoger Goodell is highly overpaid.
It might be hard to believe, butCallaway Golf Co(NYSE:ELY) is finishing off a third consecutive year with ELY stock in positive territory for the year, up 32% year to date through Dec. 11. The company’s been making under-the-radar acquisitions in 2017 that will position it for future growth.
In January, it paid$76 millionfor Ogio International Inc., a golf-bag manufacturer. Then in August, it acquired TravisMathew, a high-end lifestyle apparel brand that it can extend beyond the golf course, for$126 million.
At the end of October, Callaway announced healthy third-quarter 2017 results that included much stronger profits and revenue growth across all segments and regions.
• 10 Strong Buy Stocks That Are Better Than Bitcoin
I see a fourth consecutive year of strong returns for ELY stock.
Source: Shutterstock
Whether you’re a motocross rider or someone who just enjoys offroading with your ATV, the shocks you put on your vehicle can make all the difference in the comfort and quality of your ride.
Fox Factory Holding Corp.(NASDAQ:FOXF) has been manufacturing shock absorbers for powered and non-powered vehicles since1974. FOXF went public in August 2013 at $15 a share.
FOXF stock started off slowly after its IPO, never getting more than two or three dollars above $15 until July 2016 when investors started to take notice. Since then, it’s more than doubled in price and is up 43% year to date through Dec. 11.
On Dec. 1, Fox Factory announced that it was buying80%of the Tuscany Motor Company for $53.4 million and the option to acquire the remaining 20% in the future. While Tuscany only adds $41 million in revenue, it gives the company a new platform on which to expand its aftermarket business.
If you want a dressed upF-150truck, Tuscany can help you out.
There are stock recommendations and then there are gut feels. PuttingBuckle Inc(NYSE:BKE) on this list of small-cap stocks, it fits under the latter category.
I was once a big believer in its stockrecommendingit as recently as January 2016. However, in that article, I did admit it wasn’t performing too well and would require a patient investor to ride out the downturn. Somewhere along the way, Buckle fell out of favor with shoppers, and its financial situation went from great to just good.
On Dec. 5, Buckle announced it would pay a$1.75special cash dividend to shareholders of record as of Jan. 12, 2018, in addition to the regular 25-cent dividend. That’s$7.47in special cash dividends the company’s paid out over the past five years. Of course, considering its stock is down 5% annually over the same period, it only cushions the blow.
• 10 More Losers That Will Be Stocks to Buy in 2018
With comps still in negative territory but margins improving, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say 2018 is the year this small-cap stock delivers the goods.
Source: Shutterstock
In September, IrecommendedViad Corp(NYSE:VVI) as one of two stocks to buy whose market cap was lower thanGoPro Inc(NASDAQ:GPRO). Since then, VVI is down 2% versus a 24% decline for GPRO.
While VVI has yet to come to life, I have reason to believe 2018 will be a good year for its stock.
First, in November, Viad’s travel experience businessannouncedthat it would expand its FlyOver virtual flight concept that began with FlyOver Canada by acquiring 55% of Iceland’s Esja Attractions. Iceland continues to be one of the world’s greatest tourism destinations; this new attraction will drive further growth in its Pursuit segment.
Secondly, acquisitions its GES exhibition business made in 2017, have yet to deliver upon the synergies and cost savings originally expected. However, CEO Steve Moster did say in theQ3 2017earnings release that the addition of higher-margin services to its offerings is driving top- and bottom-line profits.
VVI stock has done well the past six years with not a single year of declines. With all that it’s doing to grow the travel side of its business, I see that streak continuing in 2018.
It seems that controversy seems to followPetMed Express Inc(NASDAQ:PETS), America’s largest pet pharmacy.
In the summer, PETS faced troubling allegations from short sellers that it was marketingpainkillersmeant for animals to humans. Its stock tanked down to the mid-$30s before recovering in the fall on strong earnings.
This isn’t the first time the company’s faced controversy. In the past, it’s had a rockyrelationshipwith the veterinary community who believe PetMed Express is trying to undermine their businesses through lower prices and misleading advertising.
I don’t think PETS will ever escape the focus of investors because once you’re targeted as a good short, you can never scare them away except by delivering strong results as it did in Q2 2017.
• 10 Hot IPOs That You Could Buy in 2018
Historically, PETS has delivered strong returns, and as long as it continues to boost the order value per customer —$85in Q2 2017, $3 more than a year earlier — I don’t see why it can’t produce another year of appreciation.
Source: Shutterstock
iRobot Corporation(NASDAQ:IRBT) owns an impressive64%of the global robotic vacuum cleaner market. Recently, I saw an ad for the Shark ION ROBOT vacuum, an indication that although the competition is mounting, it also legitimizes the entire robotic vacuum industry.
I can remember when investors were hypercritical of iRobot because it wasn’t expanding its business further into the military arena. You want to talk about competitive, just try getting a contract with the federal government. It takes deep pockets and even deeper patience.
In May, I called IRBT on ofthe best growth stocks to buy, in part because it had fully recovered from its troubles stemming from its defense-related business which it dumped in 2016. The fact is, iRobot’s become a fan of short sellers, and that’s made its stock seriously volatile. And that’s a good thing when it comes to small-cap stocks.
In July, IRBT stock was trading over $105; today, it’s around $70. I believe it will continue to grow its main product at a reasonable pace while it figures out the next great thing to diversify its revenue streams.
In the meantime, you might want to continue to buy on weakness. In 2018, given its strong robotic patents, iRobot could be a good acquisition candidate.
Don’t look now butWisdomTree Investments, Inc.(NASDAQ:WETF) is shaking up upper management.
Probably the biggest news from theorganizational changesWETF is making is that board member Jarrett Lilien is stepping down to join day-to-day operations as Executive Vice President in charge of Emerging Technologies. Lilien was COO ofE*Trade Financial Corp(NASDAQ:ETFC) between 2003 and 2008.
The ETF asset manager is probably best known for itsWisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund(NYSEARCA:DXJ) which is the second-largest Japan-focused ETF in the U.S. with$9.5 billionin assets.
Although DXJ is its highest-profile ETF, it has 12 ETFs with more than $1 billion in assets and considerably more with $100 million or more, making it the seventh-largest ETF provider in the U.S.
While it’s had a tough time grabbing market share in the Canadian ETF market, which it entered in July 2016, itspartnershipwith Canadian online broker Questrade should help make a dent. The company’s aware that it needs to go global and the organizational changes are meant to address this need.
• 10 Super Safe Growth Stocks to Buy for Long-Lasting Dividends
I see its stock above $20 by the end of 2018, 2019 at the latest.
Source: Shutterstock
The apparel manufacturer and retailer’s bounced back nicely after a down year in 2016.
Oxford Industries Inc(NYSE:OXM) owns a trio of apparel brands: Tommy Bahama, Lily Pulitzer and Southern Tide, which it acquired in April 2016 for$85 million.
If you’re not familiar with Southern Tide, it has a nice big fish as its logo, doing its best to keep up with polo players and crocodiles.
On Dec. 5, OXM announced its Q3 2017 results and they were solid. Furthermore, it expects fiscal 2017 earnings on an adjusted basis to be as high as$3.38a share on $1.1 billion in sales.
Highlights in 2017 include Lily Pulitzer delivering solid operating margins through the first nine months —22.7%versus 6.6% for Tommy Bahama, its biggest brand by sales — and its latest acquisition becoming profitable on the year.
With the help of Southern Tide growth over the next 2-3 years, I could see OXM stock hitting $100 in 2018.
As of this writing, Will Ashworth did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
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The post9 Small-Cap Stocks to Buy for 2018appeared first onInvestorPlace. || Here's Why Bitcoin Cash Soared Today: The price of Bitcoin Cash, a so-called hard fork of Bitcoin, soared on Tuesday after Bitcoin.com co-founder and CTO Emil Oldenburg said that he has sold all of his original Bitcoins and replaced them with the rising altcoin. An investment in Bitcoin right now I would say is the most risky investment one can make. It is extremely high-risk. Ive actually sold all of my Bitcoins recently and switched to Bitcoin Cash, Oldenburg told Swedish tech site Breakit . Oldenburg also cited increased transaction fees and slow confirmation times as two reasons for his departure from Bitcoin. These issues, which have been caused by skyrocketing interest in the original cryptocurrency, were the primary catalysts for the creation of Bitcoin Cash. Launched in August, Bitcoin Cash is hard fork of Bitcoins. A hard fork in the cryptocurrency world refers to a change in the rules of the blockchain infrastructure that is not recognized as valid by the older software. In some ways, hard forks are similar to stock splits in that they are designed, in part, to alleviate barriers to entry for new users. Oldenburg explained that his company, which serves as a popular Bitcoin wallet, has started to move away from Bitcoin and will begin focusing more on Bitcoin Cash. Weve actually stopped developing new services for the old Bitcoin network now and are focusing mostly on Bitcoin Cash, he said. In the wake of Oldenburgs comments, the price of Bitcoin slipped more than 3.5% on Tuesday morning, while the price of several notable altcoinsincluding Bitcoin Cashsoared to new highs. In overnight trading, Bitcoin Cash soared more than 20% to a new peak of $2,400. Bitcoin Cash could also be benefitting from the news that Thomson Reuters added the altcoin to its Eikon platform, making it the third cryptocurrencyafter Bitcoin and Ethereumto be included on the service. Eikon is a set of financial analysis software products that are used by hundreds of thousands of financial professionals. Story continues Want more stock market analysis from this author? Make sure to follow @Ryan_McQueeney on Twitter! Zacks Editor-in-Chief Goes "All In" on This Stock Full disclosure, Kevin Matras now has more of his own money in one particular stock than in any other. He believes in its short-term profit potential and also in its prospects to more than double by 2019. Today he reveals and explains his surprising move in a new Special Report. Download it free >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report BITCOIN INVT TR (GBTC): ETF Research Reports To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research || Here's Why Bitcoin Cash Soared Today: The price of Bitcoin Cash, a so-called “hard fork” of Bitcoin, soared on Tuesday after Bitcoin.com co-founder and CTO Emil Oldenburg said that he has sold all of his original Bitcoins and replaced them with the rising altcoin.
“An investment in Bitcoin right now I would say is the most risky investment one can make. It is extremely high-risk. I’ve actually sold all of my Bitcoins recently and switched to Bitcoin Cash,” Oldenburg told Swedish tech siteBreakit.
Oldenburg also cited increased transaction fees and slow confirmation times as two reasons for his departure from Bitcoin. These issues, which have been caused by skyrocketing interest in the original cryptocurrency, were the primary catalysts for the creation of Bitcoin Cash.
Launched in August, Bitcoin Cash is hard fork of Bitcoins. A hard fork in the cryptocurrency world refers to a change in the rules of the blockchain infrastructure that is not recognized as valid by the older software. In some ways, hard forks are similar to stock splits in that they are designed, in part, to alleviate barriers to entry for new users.
Oldenburg explained that his company, which serves as a popular Bitcoin wallet, has started to move away from Bitcoin and will begin focusing more on Bitcoin Cash.
“We’ve actually stopped developing new services for the old Bitcoin network now and are focusing mostly on Bitcoin Cash,” he said.
In the wake of Oldenburg’s comments, the price of Bitcoin slipped more than 3.5% on Tuesday morning, while the price of several notable altcoins—including Bitcoin Cash—soared to new highs. In overnight trading, Bitcoin Cash soared more than 20% to a new peak of $2,400.
Bitcoin Cash could also be benefitting from the news thatThomson Reutersadded the altcoin to its Eikon platform, making it the third cryptocurrency—after Bitcoin and Ethereum—to be included on the service. Eikon is a set of financial analysis software products that are used by hundreds of thousands of financial professionals.
Want more stock market analysis from this author? Make sure to follow @Ryan_McQueeney on Twitter!
Zacks Editor-in-Chief Goes "All In" on This Stock
Full disclosure, Kevin Matras now has more of his own money in one particular stock than in any other. He believes in its short-term profit potential and also in its prospects to more than double by 2019. Today he reveals and explains his surprising move in a new Special Report.
Download it free >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportBITCOIN INVT TR (GBTC): ETF Research ReportsTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research || Here's Why Bitcoin Cash Soared Today: The price of Bitcoin Cash, a so-called “hard fork” of Bitcoin, soared on Tuesday after Bitcoin.com co-founder and CTO Emil Oldenburg said that he has sold all of his original Bitcoins and replaced them with the rising altcoin.
“An investment in Bitcoin right now I would say is the most risky investment one can make. It is extremely high-risk. I’ve actually sold all of my Bitcoins recently and switched to Bitcoin Cash,” Oldenburg told Swedish tech siteBreakit.
Oldenburg also cited increased transaction fees and slow confirmation times as two reasons for his departure from Bitcoin. These issues, which have been caused by skyrocketing interest in the original cryptocurrency, were the primary catalysts for the creation of Bitcoin Cash.
Launched in August, Bitcoin Cash is hard fork of Bitcoins. A hard fork in the cryptocurrency world refers to a change in the rules of the blockchain infrastructure that is not recognized as valid by the older software. In some ways, hard forks are similar to stock splits in that they are designed, in part, to alleviate barriers to entry for new users.
Oldenburg explained that his company, which serves as a popular Bitcoin wallet, has started to move away from Bitcoin and will begin focusing more on Bitcoin Cash.
“We’ve actually stopped developing new services for the old Bitcoin network now and are focusing mostly on Bitcoin Cash,” he said.
In the wake of Oldenburg’s comments, the price of Bitcoin slipped more than 3.5% on Tuesday morning, while the price of several notable altcoins—including Bitcoin Cash—soared to new highs. In overnight trading, Bitcoin Cash soared more than 20% to a new peak of $2,400.
Bitcoin Cash could also be benefitting from the news thatThomson Reutersadded the altcoin to its Eikon platform, making it the third cryptocurrency—after Bitcoin and Ethereum—to be included on the service. Eikon is a set of financial analysis software products that are used by hundreds of thousands of financial professionals.
Want more stock market analysis from this author? Make sure to follow @Ryan_McQueeney on Twitter!
Zacks Editor-in-Chief Goes "All In" on This Stock
Full disclosure, Kevin Matras now has more of his own money in one particular stock than in any other. He believes in its short-term profit potential and also in its prospects to more than double by 2019. Today he reveals and explains his surprising move in a new Special Report.
Download it free >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportBITCOIN INVT TR (GBTC): ETF Research ReportsTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research || What is litecoin? How is it different from bitcoin?: The value of litecoin was up 8,000% in 2017 as of Dec. 19. It has risen nearly eight times as much as bitcoin has. So, you may be wondering: What is litecoin? How is it different from bitcoin? How can I buy some? Here are your answers. What is litecoin, who created it? Litecoin is an alternative cryptocurrency (people often call these “altcoins”) to bitcoin, created in 2011 by Charlie Lee . It is the No. 5 cryptocurrency by market cap (see our handy Yahoo Finance crypto screener ) and third-oldest cryptocurrency that still exists. Litecoin is also one of the four coins you can currently buy through Coinbase, the most popular mainstream brokerage for buying cryptocurrency , along with bitcoin and ether. So if you’re a crypto newbie looking to buy litecoin, your easiest option is Coinbase . (But we are not dispensing investment advice. Cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile.) Litecoin is from bitcoin’s source code, and like bitcoin, it operates on a blockchain. Charlie Lee has said in the past he intended litecoin to be the silver to bitcoin’s gold. But there are some key technical differences that have made litecoin appealing recently. For starters, litecoin’s network is faster than the bitcoin blockchain: mining a “block” of litecoin transactions takes an average 2.5 minutes compared to bitcoin’s 10 minutes. Litecoin transaction fees are also lower: sometimes close to zero. (Bitcoin transaction fees vary based on network activity and can get very high on places like Coinbase .) And Litecoin has a supply cap of 84 million coins, compared to bitcoin’s 21 million. Litecoin also uses a different proof-of-work algorithm, called Scrypt, than bitcoin, which uses SHA-256. As Coindesk explained in 2014 , “The consequences of using scrypt mean that there has not been as much of an ‘arms race’ in litecoin (and other scrypt currencies), because there is (so far) no ASIC technology available for this algorithm.” All that you need to understand about that: mining litecoin was friendlier, and cheaper, than mining bitcoin. But three years later, there are now ASIC machines for mining litecoin. Unlike bitcoin, created in 2009 by someone (or someones) using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of litecoin is very public, and popular on social media. Lee was an engineer at Google in 2011 when he created litecoin. He joined Coinbase in 2013 as one of the company’s very first hires, and was director of engineering there until he left this year to focus on litecoin full-time. Using the handle SatoshiLite (get it?) on Twitter, Lee opines on the crypto market, makes jokes, and even issued a word of caution about his coin: “Sorry to spoil the party,” he tweeted, “but I need to reign in the excitement a bit… Buying LTC is extremely risky. I expect us to have a multi-year bear market like the one we just had where LTC dropped 90% in value ($48 to $4). So if you can’t handle LTC dropping to $20, don’t buy!” Story continues Ok, sorry to spoil the party, but I need to reign in the excitement a bit… Buying LTC is extremely risky. I expect us to have a multi-year bear market like the one we just had where LTC dropped 90% in value ($48 to $4). So if you can't handle LTC dropping to $20, don't buy! — Charlie Lee [LTC] (@SatoshiLite) December 11, 2017 And on Dec. 19, Lee announced that he has sold off all his litecoin to avoid any accusations of pumping the coin for his own financial gain. “Whenever I tweet about Litecoin price or even just good or bad news, I get accused of doing it for personal benefit,” he wrote. “Some people even think I short LTC! So in a sense, it is conflict of interest for me to hold LTC and tweet about it because I have so much influence… For this reason, in the past days, I have sold and donated all my LTC.” Why has litecoin risen so much this year? Price of litecoin in 2017 through Dec 19. Like all the different coins, there are a number of possible explanations. It could be crypto insiders seeing the appeal of litecoin’s faster, cheaper network for payments. Or the bump could be thanks to litecoin successfully implementing Segregated Witness (SegWit) this year , a change to the software that, without getting too technical, allows more transaction records to be included in each block of transactions, thereby speeding up the network. Or it could be investors who fear they missed out on bitcoin’s biggest gains, so they’re flocking to what they see as the potential next best thing. But it’s worth noting Lee’s own warning about the price hike. Although bitcoin’s market cap is $300 billion to litecoin’s $20 billion, The Motley Fool writes that bitcoin’s biggest competition is litecoin. That’s contrarian to the popular thinking that ethereum will be bitcoin’s biggest challenger . — Daniel Roberts covers bitcoin and blockchain at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter at @ readDanwrite . Read more: What is bitcoin? What is ripple? How to buy bitcoin Bought bitcoin? You must practice ‘cold storage’ What exactly is the blockchain? Why bitcoin matters The 11 biggest names in crypto right now Square’s bitcoin trial is a big deal View comments
[Social Media Buzz]
Current price of #Bitcoin is $17050.00 || @KyleSamani @ForbesCrypto You think BTC is guaranteed to continue its run? And I'm not sure what the rest of your reply has to do with anything. But regardless, the idea that a lead in liquidity so dramatically overshadows every other consideration doesn't seem reasonable to me. || I bought some butter for $16,580.00! #bitcoin || BTC Average: 17133.91$
Bitfinex - 16569.00$
Poloniex - 16580.00$
Bitstamp - 16686.60$
Coinbase - 16899.42$
C-Cex - 19201.23$
...
|
15802.90, 13831.80, 14699.20, 13925.80, 14026.60, 16099.80, 15838.50, 14606.50, 14656.20, 12952.20
|
Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 9800.64, 9665.53, 9653.68, 9758.85, 9771.49, 9795.70, 9870.09, 9321.78, 9480.84, 9475.28, 9386.79, 9450.70, 9538.02, 9480.25, 9411.84, 9288.02, 9332.34, 9303.63, 9648.72, 9629.66, 9313.61, 9264.81, 9162.92, 9045.39, 9143.58, 9190.85, 9137.99, 9228.33, 9123.41, 9087.30, 9132.49, 9073.94, 9375.47, 9252.28, 9428.33, 9277.97, 9278.81, 9240.35, 9276.50, 9243.61, 9243.21, 9192.84, 9132.23, 9151.39, 9159.04, 9185.82, 9164.23, 9374.89, 9525.36, 9581.07, 9536.89, 9677.11, 9905.17, 10990.87, 10912.82, 11100.47, 11111.21, 11323.47, 11759.59, 11053.61, 11246.35, 11205.89, 11747.02, 11779.77, 11601.47, 11754.05, 11675.74, 11878.11, 11410.53, 11584.93, 11784.14, 11768.87, 11865.70, 11892.80, 12254.40, 11991.23, 11758.28, 11878.37, 11592.49, 11681.83, 11664.85, 11774.60, 11366.13, 11488.36, 11323.40, 11542.50, 11506.87, 11711.51, 11680.82, 11970.48.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2020-09-01]
Volume: 27311555343, RSI (14-day): 60.05, 50-day EMA: 11102.32, 200-day EMA: 9630.84
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1968.20, Gold RSI: 56.10
Oil Price: 42.76, Oil RSI: 56.19
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Fintech Focus For September 1, 2020: Fintech Header Quote Of The Day: Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined. - Henry David Thoreau Fintech Movers: If it were to continue compounding at that rate, bitcoin’s daily volume would exceed that of the US equity market in fewer than 4 years. - Ark Trading 212 eyes innovation, growth. USAA, Google Cloud refine claims. Detroit Venture Partners eye fintech. LPL adds YCharts to buoy research. Huobi, OKEx battle over China lead. Klarna, Affirm, and Brex top unicorns. JPM to launch new Mastercard offer. OfferUp, letgo integrated technology. Wealthbox and SSG intro partnership. PayPal intros interest free offerings. Chase, Mastercard partner on a card. UnionPay unveiled a digital bankcard. CME is live with Micro E-mini options. Benzinga Global Fintech Awards Spotlight: Every year Benzinga, a leading news and data platform, holds the Global Fintech Awards, a day of dealmaking, networking, and recognition in the fintech space. Ahead of the November 10, 2020 event, this newsletter highlights disruptive innovators working to create positive and diverse change in financial services. Today's disruptive innovator is Tellimer , a provider of expert insights on emerging markets. For a chance to make your mark on the future of innovation and be featured in this newsletter, check out our Global Fintech Awards! Watch For This: Mark Zuckerberg Says Facebook's Decision to Not Take Down Kenosha Militia Page Was a Mistake. - Time Startup names are getting less silly. Citadel internship bubble was a blast. Mick Mulvaney launches hedge fund. Oregon state police come to Portland. World’s money, markets visualized. Malaysia prepares for political circus. The ultimate mobile banking guide. Youngsters key in on profit, purpose. Tesla and Apple slow TD, Robinhood. ARK Invest Bitcoin Newsletter Graph 2 Market Moving Headline: We expect volatility to rise further driven by seasonality, upcoming analyst days and election risk. - Goldman Sachs Biden said he wouldn’t ban fracking. United bids farewell to change fees. Relative P/E suggests tech is cheap. US dollar’s woes are only beginning. Argentina deal defuses default crisis. JC Penney sale talks grind to a halt. Amazon receives drone approvals. Nasdaq breakout may reach 12,475. Canada signs deal with Novax, JNJ. Story continues See more from Benzinga Fintech Focus For August 31, 2020 'A Clear Break With Prevailing Policy': Stock Market Update For The Week Ahead © 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || HIVE Blockchain Increases Next Generation Bitcoin Mining Power at Green Energy-Powered Operation in Quebec; Announces Updated Timing for Filing of Financial Statements: Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 31, 2020) - HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd. (TSXV: HIVE) (OTCQX: HVBTF) (FSE: HBF) (the "Company" or "HIVE") is pleased to announce that it has installed 1,000 MicroBT WhatsMiner M30S miners with an aggregate operating hashpower of 93 Petahash per second (PH/s) as it continues to scale up next generation mining power at its green energy-powered bitcoin mining operation in Quebec. The Company also announces that it expects to file its audited financial statements, related management discussion and analysis and certifications of financial statements for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020 on or about September 10, 2020 rather than the scheduled due date of July 29, 2020, as it relies on the Canadian regulatory pronouncement due to the COVID-19 global pandemic that all public companies are provided a 45-day extension period.
New Miners
Following the installation of the 1,000 MicroBT WhatsMiner M30S miners, HIVE's aggregate operating hash rate specifically from next generation mining equipment at its Quebec facility is now approximately 217 PH/s, utilizing approximately 9.1 megawatts (MW) power, equating to approximately 23.8 PH/MW of power, which HIVE believes is one of the most energy efficient bitcoin mining operations in Canada.
The new equipment consists of 600 M30S 90 terahashes per second (TH/s) units, 300 M30S 88 TH/s units, and 100 M30S 86 TH/s units. The cost is approximately $1,935 per unit, or just under $2M. The equipment will initially be hosted by HIVE on behalf of an institutional client. However, it is anticipated that HIVE will enter into a subsequent financing agreement with this client in which HIVE will assume ownership of the equipment with payment made through cash on hand and through a loan provided by this client and secured against the miners.
As previously announced last month, HIVE also ordered 200 additional Bitmain Antminer S17e miners, with an aggregate operating hashpower of 12 PH/s. With the production and delivery delays that are being experienced at Bitmain, the timing of the delivery and installation of this new mining equipment is uncertain.
Financial Statements
As previously announced, due to circumstances created by the COVID-19 global pandemic, the Company is relying on the 45-day extension period for the filing of its financial statements and related materials provided to issuers by Canadian regulators, as enacted in Instrument 51-517 - Temporary Exemption from Certain Corporate Finance Requirements with Deadlines during the Period from June 2 to August 31, 2020 by the British Columbia Securities Commission ("BCSC") ("BC Instrument 51-517").
As required by BC Instrument 51-517, the Company discloses the following:
The Company now expects to file its audited financial statements, related management discussion and analysis and certifications of financial statements for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020 on or about September 10, 2020 and the quarterly report for the first quarter ended June 30, 2020 along with the related management discussion and analysis on or about October 13, 2020.
In the interim, the Company's management and other insiders are subject to a trading black-out policy that reflects the principles in Section 9 of National Policy 11-207 - Failure-to-File Cease Trade Orders.
The Company confirms that since the filing of its financial statements and related management discussion and analysis for the period ended December 31st, 2019, there have been no material business developments other than those disclosed through news releases.
HIVE Shares Sales by Cryptologic Corp.
The Company's management has been made aware of the recent divestiture of HIVE common shares held by Cryptologic Corp. pursuant to an orderly sales process outlined in the agreement. Cryptologic had received 15 million HIVE shares in April 2020 as part of the purchase price for HIVE's acquisition of Cryptologic's 30-MW capacity bitcoin mining operation in Quebec. The shares were subject to a four-month lock-up agreement, which has now expired.
About HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd.
HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd. is a growth oriented, TSX.V-listed company building a bridge from the blockchain sector to traditional capital markets. HIVE owns state-of-the-art digital currency mining facilities in Canada, Sweden, and Iceland which produce newly minted digital currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum continuously. Our deployments provide shareholders with exposure to the operating margins of digital currency mining as well as a growing portfolio of crypto-coins.
For more information and to register to HIVE's mailing list, please visitwww.HIVEblockchain.com. Follow@HIVEblockchain on Twitterand subscribe toHIVE's YouTube channel.
On Behalf of HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd.
"Frank Holmes"
Interim Executive Chairman
Investor Relations:
Frank HolmesTel: (604) 664-1078
[email protected]
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
Forward-Looking Information
Except for the statements of historical fact, this news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation that is based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. The information in this news release that is forward-looking information, include: statements about anticipated financing arrangements for the 1,000 MicroBT WhatsMiner M30S miners; scaling up next generation mining power at the Company's green energy-powered bitcoin mining operation in Quebec; estimates of operating hash rate from next generation mining equipment at the Company's Quebec facility; increase of mining efficiency; timing of delivery and installation of 200 additional Bitmain Antminer S17e miners previously ordered; information about Cryptologic and the sale of the Company's shares; positive gross mining margins post the recent halving of Bitcoin rewards; the anticipated filing date for the Company's annual and interim financial statements, MD&A and related filings; and the intentions, plans and future actions of the Company. This forward-looking information is based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Company at the time it was made, and involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others: delivery and installation of ordered miners may not occur as currently anticipated, or at all;increase in power usage efficiency and lower operating costs may not occur as currently anticipated, or at all; the Company may never realize more efficient operations, a lower cost structure, or greater flexibility in operation; the Company may not file its annual and interim financial statements, MD&A and related filings in the timeframe contemplated; and other related risks as more fully set out in the Company's continuous disclosure record filed atwww.sedar.com. The Company has also assumed that no significant events occur outside of the Company's normal course of business. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking information other than as required by law.
To view the source version of this press release, please visithttps://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/62931 || HIVE Blockchain Increases Next Generation Bitcoin Mining Power at Green Energy-Powered Operation in Quebec; Announces Updated Timing for Filing of Financial Statements: Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 31, 2020) - HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd. (TSXV: HIVE) (OTCQX: HVBTF) (FSE: HBF) (the "Company" or "HIVE") is pleased to announce that it has installed 1,000 MicroBT WhatsMiner M30S miners with an aggregate operating hashpower of 93 Petahash per second (PH/s) as it continues to scale up next generation mining power at its green energy-powered bitcoin mining operation in Quebec. The Company also announces that it expects to file its audited financial statements, related management discussion and analysis and certifications of financial statements for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020 on or about September 10, 2020 rather than the scheduled due date of July 29, 2020, as it relies on the Canadian regulatory pronouncement due to the COVID-19 global pandemic that all public companies are provided a 45-day extension period.
New Miners
Following the installation of the 1,000 MicroBT WhatsMiner M30S miners, HIVE's aggregate operating hash rate specifically from next generation mining equipment at its Quebec facility is now approximately 217 PH/s, utilizing approximately 9.1 megawatts (MW) power, equating to approximately 23.8 PH/MW of power, which HIVE believes is one of the most energy efficient bitcoin mining operations in Canada.
The new equipment consists of 600 M30S 90 terahashes per second (TH/s) units, 300 M30S 88 TH/s units, and 100 M30S 86 TH/s units. The cost is approximately $1,935 per unit, or just under $2M. The equipment will initially be hosted by HIVE on behalf of an institutional client. However, it is anticipated that HIVE will enter into a subsequent financing agreement with this client in which HIVE will assume ownership of the equipment with payment made through cash on hand and through a loan provided by this client and secured against the miners.
As previously announced last month, HIVE also ordered 200 additional Bitmain Antminer S17e miners, with an aggregate operating hashpower of 12 PH/s. With the production and delivery delays that are being experienced at Bitmain, the timing of the delivery and installation of this new mining equipment is uncertain.
Financial Statements
As previously announced, due to circumstances created by the COVID-19 global pandemic, the Company is relying on the 45-day extension period for the filing of its financial statements and related materials provided to issuers by Canadian regulators, as enacted in Instrument 51-517 - Temporary Exemption from Certain Corporate Finance Requirements with Deadlines during the Period from June 2 to August 31, 2020 by the British Columbia Securities Commission ("BCSC") ("BC Instrument 51-517").
As required by BC Instrument 51-517, the Company discloses the following:
The Company now expects to file its audited financial statements, related management discussion and analysis and certifications of financial statements for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020 on or about September 10, 2020 and the quarterly report for the first quarter ended June 30, 2020 along with the related management discussion and analysis on or about October 13, 2020.
In the interim, the Company's management and other insiders are subject to a trading black-out policy that reflects the principles in Section 9 of National Policy 11-207 - Failure-to-File Cease Trade Orders.
The Company confirms that since the filing of its financial statements and related management discussion and analysis for the period ended December 31st, 2019, there have been no material business developments other than those disclosed through news releases.
HIVE Shares Sales by Cryptologic Corp.
The Company's management has been made aware of the recent divestiture of HIVE common shares held by Cryptologic Corp. pursuant to an orderly sales process outlined in the agreement. Cryptologic had received 15 million HIVE shares in April 2020 as part of the purchase price for HIVE's acquisition of Cryptologic's 30-MW capacity bitcoin mining operation in Quebec. The shares were subject to a four-month lock-up agreement, which has now expired.
About HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd.
HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd. is a growth oriented, TSX.V-listed company building a bridge from the blockchain sector to traditional capital markets. HIVE owns state-of-the-art digital currency mining facilities in Canada, Sweden, and Iceland which produce newly minted digital currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum continuously. Our deployments provide shareholders with exposure to the operating margins of digital currency mining as well as a growing portfolio of crypto-coins.
For more information and to register to HIVE's mailing list, please visitwww.HIVEblockchain.com. Follow@HIVEblockchain on Twitterand subscribe toHIVE's YouTube channel.
On Behalf of HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd.
"Frank Holmes"
Interim Executive Chairman
Investor Relations:
Frank HolmesTel: (604) 664-1078
[email protected]
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
Forward-Looking Information
Except for the statements of historical fact, this news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation that is based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. The information in this news release that is forward-looking information, include: statements about anticipated financing arrangements for the 1,000 MicroBT WhatsMiner M30S miners; scaling up next generation mining power at the Company's green energy-powered bitcoin mining operation in Quebec; estimates of operating hash rate from next generation mining equipment at the Company's Quebec facility; increase of mining efficiency; timing of delivery and installation of 200 additional Bitmain Antminer S17e miners previously ordered; information about Cryptologic and the sale of the Company's shares; positive gross mining margins post the recent halving of Bitcoin rewards; the anticipated filing date for the Company's annual and interim financial statements, MD&A and related filings; and the intentions, plans and future actions of the Company. This forward-looking information is based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Company at the time it was made, and involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others: delivery and installation of ordered miners may not occur as currently anticipated, or at all;increase in power usage efficiency and lower operating costs may not occur as currently anticipated, or at all; the Company may never realize more efficient operations, a lower cost structure, or greater flexibility in operation; the Company may not file its annual and interim financial statements, MD&A and related filings in the timeframe contemplated; and other related risks as more fully set out in the Company's continuous disclosure record filed atwww.sedar.com. The Company has also assumed that no significant events occur outside of the Company's normal course of business. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking information other than as required by law.
To view the source version of this press release, please visithttps://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/62931 || HIVE Blockchain Increases Next Generation Bitcoin Mining Power at Green Energy-Powered Operation in Quebec; Announces Updated Timing for Filing of Financial Statements: Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - August 31, 2020) - HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd. (TSXV: HIVE) (OTCQX: HVBTF) (FSE: HBF) (the "Company" or "HIVE") is pleased to announce that it has installed 1,000 MicroBT WhatsMiner M30S miners with an aggregate operating hashpower of 93 Petahash per second (PH/s) as it continues to scale up next generation mining power at its green energy-powered bitcoin mining operation in Quebec. The Company also announces that it expects to file its audited financial statements, related management discussion and analysis and certifications of financial statements for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020 on or about September 10, 2020 rather than the scheduled due date of July 29, 2020, as it relies on the Canadian regulatory pronouncement due to the COVID-19 global pandemic that all public companies are provided a 45-day extension period. New Miners Following the installation of the 1,000 MicroBT WhatsMiner M30S miners, HIVE's aggregate operating hash rate specifically from next generation mining equipment at its Quebec facility is now approximately 217 PH/s, utilizing approximately 9.1 megawatts (MW) power, equating to approximately 23.8 PH/MW of power, which HIVE believes is one of the most energy efficient bitcoin mining operations in Canada. The new equipment consists of 600 M30S 90 terahashes per second (TH/s) units, 300 M30S 88 TH/s units, and 100 M30S 86 TH/s units. The cost is approximately $1,935 per unit, or just under $2M. The equipment will initially be hosted by HIVE on behalf of an institutional client. However, it is anticipated that HIVE will enter into a subsequent financing agreement with this client in which HIVE will assume ownership of the equipment with payment made through cash on hand and through a loan provided by this client and secured against the miners. As previously announced last month, HIVE also ordered 200 additional Bitmain Antminer S17e miners, with an aggregate operating hashpower of 12 PH/s. With the production and delivery delays that are being experienced at Bitmain, the timing of the delivery and installation of this new mining equipment is uncertain. Story continues Financial Statements As previously announced, due to circumstances created by the COVID-19 global pandemic, the Company is relying on the 45-day extension period for the filing of its financial statements and related materials provided to issuers by Canadian regulators, as enacted in Instrument 51-517 - Temporary Exemption from Certain Corporate Finance Requirements with Deadlines during the Period from June 2 to August 31, 2020 by the British Columbia Securities Commission ("BCSC") ("BC Instrument 51-517"). As required by BC Instrument 51-517, the Company discloses the following: The Company now expects to file its audited financial statements, related management discussion and analysis and certifications of financial statements for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020 on or about September 10, 2020 and the quarterly report for the first quarter ended June 30, 2020 along with the related management discussion and analysis on or about October 13, 2020. In the interim, the Company's management and other insiders are subject to a trading black-out policy that reflects the principles in Section 9 of National Policy 11-207 - Failure-to-File Cease Trade Orders. The Company confirms that since the filing of its financial statements and related management discussion and analysis for the period ended December 31st, 2019, there have been no material business developments other than those disclosed through news releases. HIVE Shares Sales by Cryptologic Corp. The Company's management has been made aware of the recent divestiture of HIVE common shares held by Cryptologic Corp. pursuant to an orderly sales process outlined in the agreement. Cryptologic had received 15 million HIVE shares in April 2020 as part of the purchase price for HIVE's acquisition of Cryptologic's 30-MW capacity bitcoin mining operation in Quebec. The shares were subject to a four-month lock-up agreement, which has now expired. About HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd. HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd. is a growth oriented, TSX.V-listed company building a bridge from the blockchain sector to traditional capital markets. HIVE owns state-of-the-art digital currency mining facilities in Canada, Sweden, and Iceland which produce newly minted digital currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum continuously. Our deployments provide shareholders with exposure to the operating margins of digital currency mining as well as a growing portfolio of crypto-coins. For more information and to register to HIVE's mailing list, please visit www.HIVEblockchain.com . Follow @HIVEblockchain on Twitter and subscribe to HIVE's YouTube channel . On Behalf of HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd. "Frank Holmes" Interim Executive Chairman Investor Relations: Frank Holmes Tel: (604) 664-1078 [email protected] Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Forward-Looking Information Except for the statements of historical fact, this news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation that is based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. The information in this news release that is forward-looking information, include: statements about anticipated financing arrangements for the 1,000 MicroBT WhatsMiner M30S miners; scaling up next generation mining power at the Company's green energy-powered bitcoin mining operation in Quebec; estimates of operating hash rate from next generation mining equipment at the Company's Quebec facility; increase of mining efficiency; timing of delivery and installation of 200 additional Bitmain Antminer S17e miners previously ordered; information about Cryptologic and the sale of the Company's shares; positive gross mining margins post the recent halving of Bitcoin rewards; the anticipated filing date for the Company's annual and interim financial statements, MD&A and related filings; and the intentions, plans and future actions of the Company. This forward-looking information is based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Company at the time it was made, and involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others: delivery and installation of ordered miners may not occur as currently anticipated, or at all; increase in power usage efficiency and lower operating costs may not occur as currently anticipated, or at all; the Company may never realize more efficient operations, a lower cost structure, or greater flexibility in operation; the Company may not file its annual and interim financial statements, MD&A and related filings in the timeframe contemplated; and other related risks as more fully set out in the Company's continuous disclosure record filed at www.sedar.com . The Company has also assumed that no significant events occur outside of the Company's normal course of business. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking information other than as required by law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/62931 || ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / August 31, 2020 /ALT 5 Sigma Inc. an emerging leader in blockchain powered financial platforms provides its daily digital instruments market summary for Bitcoin (BTC/USD), Ether (ETH/USD), Litecoin (LTC/USD).
Real-Time Market Data is available atwww.alt5pro.comand Real-Time Market Data feed is also available atwww.alt5sigma.com.ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH
About ALT 5 Sigma Inc.
ALT 5 is a tech company specializing in the development and deployment of digital assets trading and exchange platforms. Alt 5 was founded by financial industry specialists out of the necessity to provide the digital asset economy with security, accessibility, transparency and compliance.
ALT 5 provides its clients the ability to buy, sell and hold digital assets in a safe and secure environment deployed with the best practices of the financial industry. ALT 5's products and services are available to Banks, Broker Dealers, Funds, Family Offices, Professional Traders, Retail Traders, Digital Asset Exchanges, Digital Asset Brokers, Blockchain Developers, and Financial Information Providers.
ALT 5's digital asset custodian services are secured by GardaWorld. GardaWorld is the world's largest privately-owned business solutions and security services company, offering cash management services.
For more information, visitwww.alt5sigma.com.
Contact:
Andre BeauchesneTel. [email protected]
For more information on ALT 5 Pay, visitwww.alt5pay.comFor more information on ALT 5 Pro, visitwww.alt5pro.com
SOURCE:ALT 5 Sigma Inc.
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/604156/ALT-5-Sigma-Digital-Instrument-Market-Summary-for-BTC-ETH-LTC-BCH || ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / August 31, 2020 / ALT 5 Sigma Inc. an emerging leader in blockchain powered financial platforms provides its daily digital instruments market summary for Bitcoin (BTC/USD), Ether (ETH/USD), Litecoin (LTC/USD). Real-Time Market Data is available at www.alt5pro.com and Real-Time Market Data feed is also available at www.alt5sigma.com . ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH About ALT 5 Sigma Inc. ALT 5 is a tech company specializing in the development and deployment of digital assets trading and exchange platforms. Alt 5 was founded by financial industry specialists out of the necessity to provide the digital asset economy with security, accessibility, transparency and compliance. ALT 5 provides its clients the ability to buy, sell and hold digital assets in a safe and secure environment deployed with the best practices of the financial industry. ALT 5's products and services are available to Banks, Broker Dealers, Funds, Family Offices, Professional Traders, Retail Traders, Digital Asset Exchanges, Digital Asset Brokers, Blockchain Developers, and Financial Information Providers. ALT 5's digital asset custodian services are secured by GardaWorld. GardaWorld is the world's largest privately-owned business solutions and security services company, offering cash management services. For more information, visit www.alt5sigma.com . Contact: Andre Beauchesne Tel. 1-800-204-6203 [email protected] For more information on ALT 5 Pay, visit www.alt5pay.com For more information on ALT 5 Pro, visit www.alt5pro.com SOURCE: ALT 5 Sigma Inc. View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/604156/ALT-5-Sigma-Digital-Instrument-Market-Summary-for-BTC-ETH-LTC-BCH || ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / August 31, 2020 /ALT 5 Sigma Inc. an emerging leader in blockchain powered financial platforms provides its daily digital instruments market summary for Bitcoin (BTC/USD), Ether (ETH/USD), Litecoin (LTC/USD).
Real-Time Market Data is available atwww.alt5pro.comand Real-Time Market Data feed is also available atwww.alt5sigma.com.ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH
About ALT 5 Sigma Inc.
ALT 5 is a tech company specializing in the development and deployment of digital assets trading and exchange platforms. Alt 5 was founded by financial industry specialists out of the necessity to provide the digital asset economy with security, accessibility, transparency and compliance.
ALT 5 provides its clients the ability to buy, sell and hold digital assets in a safe and secure environment deployed with the best practices of the financial industry. ALT 5's products and services are available to Banks, Broker Dealers, Funds, Family Offices, Professional Traders, Retail Traders, Digital Asset Exchanges, Digital Asset Brokers, Blockchain Developers, and Financial Information Providers.
ALT 5's digital asset custodian services are secured by GardaWorld. GardaWorld is the world's largest privately-owned business solutions and security services company, offering cash management services.
For more information, visitwww.alt5sigma.com.
Contact:
Andre BeauchesneTel. [email protected]
For more information on ALT 5 Pay, visitwww.alt5pay.comFor more information on ALT 5 Pro, visitwww.alt5pro.com
SOURCE:ALT 5 Sigma Inc.
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/604156/ALT-5-Sigma-Digital-Instrument-Market-Summary-for-BTC-ETH-LTC-BCH || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Over $11.7K; Uniswap Passes $500M in Daily Volume: Bitcoin is trending upward and volume on decentralized exchange Uniswap is soaring to an astounding new high.
• Bitcoin(BTC) trading around $11,724 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 0.61% over the previous 24 hours.
• Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $11,575-$11,784
• BTC above its 10-day and 50-day moving averages, a bullish signal for market technicians.
Read More:Huobi and OKEx Battle for Supremacy in China
Bitcoin jumped as high as $11,784 on spot exchanges like Coinbase on Monday. Adding fuel to the fire was the derivatives market; short sellers were liquidated on BitMEX during bitcoin’s rise Monday. In one hour, $6.6 million in buy positions were automatically triggered, the crypto equivalent of a margin call for traders going short.
Related:Decentralized Exchange Volume Rose 160% in August to $11.6B, Setting Third Straight Record
The Federal Reserve’s decision to let inflation run while keeping interest rates low is helping boost crypto, Darius Sit, managing partner of QCP Capital, told CoinDesk.
“The market was looking to thePowell speechto see if there’d be any hawkish indications – clear plans to end liquidity injection and cheap money,” Sit said. “There was no sign of hawkishness so the party has resumed.”Sit noted the continued decline of the U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of global currencies. The index continues to drop, down 0.12% Monday and hitting fresh lows for 2020.
Crypto stakeholders are watching the equities market. Rather than a hedge, some still consider bitcoin a “risk-off” asset whereby traders will unload BTC if the broader stock market dumps.
Read More:US Stocks Closing on Bigger August Gain Than Bitcoin
Related:First Mover: Rookie YFI Token Jumped 8-Fold in August as DeFi Dominated
“The S&P has been up almost 8% in the month of August so it will be interesting to see what bitcoin does when the market pulls back,” said Michael Rabkin, head of institutional sales at crypto liquidity provider DV Chain. “With bitcoin still being a fairly newer asset, there is a risk that it can sell off when the market does,“ he said.
Read More:Someone Lost $16M in Bitcoin by Using a Malicious Install of Electrum Wallet
Traders continue to have a plethora of opportunities in the crypto market, and decentralized finance, or DeFi, continues to captivate many, said John Willock, CEO of digital asset liquidity firm Tritum.
“The big run over the weekend was highly concentrated in DeFI assets built on top of the Ethereum network, such as YFI and COMP,” Willock said. “This looks like a perfect storm of high optimism for these protocols and recent innovations introduced that are proving they have long-term value.”
Ether(ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was up Monday, trading around $437 and climbing 3% in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).
Read More:DeFi Is a ‘Complete Scam,’ Says Controversial Entrepreneur Craig Wright
The daily volume of decentralized exchange Uniswap hit $560 million Sunday. Uniswap’s daily trading volume is surpassing centralized exchanges such as Coinbase, which had $433 million the past 24 hours. Uniswap has over $10 billion total volume traded, according to Dune Analytics.
“I think there is no denying that DeFi is a thing,” said George Clayton, managing partner at Cryptanalysis Capital. “Traders are spending over $400,000 per day in gas fees on Uniswap alone,” he added.
However, there continues to be a caveat with all of this DeFi frenzy, added Clayton – the Ethereum network needs to scale in order to successfully meet this increasing demand. “Maybe centralized exchanges’ days really are numbered,” he said. “But not until the scaling issue is solved. Maybe Cosmos can do it with an Ethereum bridge.”
Read More:Ethereum Classic Hit by Third 51% Attack in a Month
Digital assets on theCoinDesk 20are mixed on Monday. Notable winners as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• cardano(ADA) + 7.6%
• tron(TRX) + 5.4%
• nem(XEM) + 4.8%
Read More:Five CoinMarketCap Executives Depart Binance in Mass Exodus
Notable losers as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• zcash(ZEC) – 5%
• chainlink(LINK) – 3.8%
• tezos(XTZ) – 2.6%
Read More:Coinbase Adds Marc Andreessen as Board Observer, Replacing Chris Dixon
Equities:
• In Asia the Nikkei 225 ended the day up 1.1% asWarren Buffett announced Berkshire Hathaway purchased 5% of each of the top five Japanese conglomerates.
• In Europe, U.K. trading was on holiday. Germany’s DAX index closed in the red 0.61% asinvestors were cautious due to coronavirus surpassing 25 million cases globally.
• The United States’ S&P 500 lost 0.22% asbank stocks dragged the index lower due to lower yields in the Treasury market.
Read More:What Changes at the Fed and the SEC Mean for Crypto
Commodities:
• Oil is down 0.26%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $42.80.
• Gold was in the green 0.28% and at $1,969 as of press time.
Read More:Someone Lost $16M in Bitcoin by Using a Malicious Install of Electrum Wallet
Treasurys:
• U.S. Treasury bond yields slipped Monday. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were down most on the two-year, in the red 3%.
Read More:Cryptocurrency Earned From Microtasks Is Taxable, Says IRS Memo
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Over $11.7K; Uniswap Passes $500M in Daily Volume
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Over $11.7K; Uniswap Passes $500M in Daily Volume || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Over $11.7K; Uniswap Passes $500M in Daily Volume: Bitcoin is trending upward and volume on decentralized exchange Uniswap is soaring to an astounding new high. Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $11,724 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 0.61% over the previous 24 hours. Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $11,575-$11,784 BTC above its 10-day and 50-day moving averages, a bullish signal for market technicians. Read More: Huobi and OKEx Battle for Supremacy in China Bitcoin jumped as high as $11,784 on spot exchanges like Coinbase on Monday. Adding fuel to the fire was the derivatives market; short sellers were liquidated on BitMEX during bitcoin’s rise Monday. In one hour, $6.6 million in buy positions were automatically triggered, the crypto equivalent of a margin call for traders going short. Related: Decentralized Exchange Volume Rose 160% in August to $11.6B, Setting Third Straight Record The Federal Reserve’s decision to let inflation run while keeping interest rates low is helping boost crypto, Darius Sit, managing partner of QCP Capital, told CoinDesk. “The market was looking to the Powell speech to see if there’d be any hawkish indications – clear plans to end liquidity injection and cheap money,” Sit said. “There was no sign of hawkishness so the party has resumed.” Sit noted the continued decline of the U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of global currencies. The index continues to drop, down 0.12% Monday and hitting fresh lows for 2020. Crypto stakeholders are watching the equities market. Rather than a hedge, some still consider bitcoin a “risk-off” asset whereby traders will unload BTC if the broader stock market dumps. Read More: US Stocks Closing on Bigger August Gain Than Bitcoin Related: First Mover: Rookie YFI Token Jumped 8-Fold in August as DeFi Dominated “The S&P has been up almost 8% in the month of August so it will be interesting to see what bitcoin does when the market pulls back,” said Michael Rabkin, head of institutional sales at crypto liquidity provider DV Chain. “With bitcoin still being a fairly newer asset, there is a risk that it can sell off when the market does,“ he said. Story continues Read More: Someone Lost $16M in Bitcoin by Using a Malicious Install of Electrum Wallet Traders continue to have a plethora of opportunities in the crypto market, and decentralized finance, or DeFi, continues to captivate many, said John Willock, CEO of digital asset liquidity firm Tritum. “The big run over the weekend was highly concentrated in DeFI assets built on top of the Ethereum network, such as YFI and COMP,” Willock said. “This looks like a perfect storm of high optimism for these protocols and recent innovations introduced that are proving they have long-term value.” Uniswap crosses $500M in daily trading Ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was up Monday, trading around $437 and climbing 3% in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET). Read More: DeFi Is a ‘Complete Scam,’ Says Controversial Entrepreneur Craig Wright The daily volume of decentralized exchange Uniswap hit $560 million Sunday. Uniswap’s daily trading volume is surpassing centralized exchanges such as Coinbase, which had $433 million the past 24 hours. Uniswap has over $10 billion total volume traded, according to Dune Analytics. “I think there is no denying that DeFi is a thing,” said George Clayton, managing partner at Cryptanalysis Capital. “Traders are spending over $400,000 per day in gas fees on Uniswap alone,” he added. However, there continues to be a caveat with all of this DeFi frenzy, added Clayton – the Ethereum network needs to scale in order to successfully meet this increasing demand. “Maybe centralized exchanges’ days really are numbered,” he said. “But not until the scaling issue is solved. Maybe Cosmos can do it with an Ethereum bridge.” Read More: Ethereum Classic Hit by Third 51% Attack in a Month Other markets Digital assets on the CoinDesk 20 are mixed on Monday. Notable winners as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET): cardano (ADA) + 7.6% tron (TRX) + 5.4% nem (XEM) + 4.8% Read More: Five CoinMarketCap Executives Depart Binance in Mass Exodus Notable losers as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET): zcash (ZEC) – 5% chainlink (LINK) – 3.8% tezos (XTZ) – 2.6% Read More: Coinbase Adds Marc Andreessen as Board Observer, Replacing Chris Dixon Equities: In Asia the Nikkei 225 ended the day up 1.1% as Warren Buffett announced Berkshire Hathaway purchased 5% of each of the top five Japanese conglomerates . In Europe, U.K. trading was on holiday. Germany’s DAX index closed in the red 0.61% as investors were cautious due to coronavirus surpassing 25 million cases globally . The United States’ S&P 500 lost 0.22% as bank stocks dragged the index lower due to lower yields in the Treasury market . Read More: What Changes at the Fed and the SEC Mean for Crypto Commodities: Oil is down 0.26%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $42.80. Gold was in the green 0.28% and at $1,969 as of press time. Read More: Someone Lost $16M in Bitcoin by Using a Malicious Install of Electrum Wallet Treasurys: U.S. Treasury bond yields slipped Monday. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were down most on the two-year, in the red 3%. Read More: Cryptocurrency Earned From Microtasks Is Taxable, Says IRS Memo Related Stories Market Wrap: Bitcoin Over $11.7K; Uniswap Passes $500M in Daily Volume Market Wrap: Bitcoin Over $11.7K; Uniswap Passes $500M in Daily Volume || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Over $11.7K; Uniswap Passes $500M in Daily Volume: Bitcoin is trending upward and volume on decentralized exchange Uniswap is soaring to an astounding new high.
• Bitcoin(BTC) trading around $11,724 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 0.61% over the previous 24 hours.
• Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $11,575-$11,784
• BTC above its 10-day and 50-day moving averages, a bullish signal for market technicians.
Read More:Huobi and OKEx Battle for Supremacy in China
Bitcoin jumped as high as $11,784 on spot exchanges like Coinbase on Monday. Adding fuel to the fire was the derivatives market; short sellers were liquidated on BitMEX during bitcoin’s rise Monday. In one hour, $6.6 million in buy positions were automatically triggered, the crypto equivalent of a margin call for traders going short.
Related:Decentralized Exchange Volume Rose 160% in August to $11.6B, Setting Third Straight Record
The Federal Reserve’s decision to let inflation run while keeping interest rates low is helping boost crypto, Darius Sit, managing partner of QCP Capital, told CoinDesk.
“The market was looking to thePowell speechto see if there’d be any hawkish indications – clear plans to end liquidity injection and cheap money,” Sit said. “There was no sign of hawkishness so the party has resumed.”Sit noted the continued decline of the U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of global currencies. The index continues to drop, down 0.12% Monday and hitting fresh lows for 2020.
Crypto stakeholders are watching the equities market. Rather than a hedge, some still consider bitcoin a “risk-off” asset whereby traders will unload BTC if the broader stock market dumps.
Read More:US Stocks Closing on Bigger August Gain Than Bitcoin
Related:First Mover: Rookie YFI Token Jumped 8-Fold in August as DeFi Dominated
“The S&P has been up almost 8% in the month of August so it will be interesting to see what bitcoin does when the market pulls back,” said Michael Rabkin, head of institutional sales at crypto liquidity provider DV Chain. “With bitcoin still being a fairly newer asset, there is a risk that it can sell off when the market does,“ he said.
Read More:Someone Lost $16M in Bitcoin by Using a Malicious Install of Electrum Wallet
Traders continue to have a plethora of opportunities in the crypto market, and decentralized finance, or DeFi, continues to captivate many, said John Willock, CEO of digital asset liquidity firm Tritum.
“The big run over the weekend was highly concentrated in DeFI assets built on top of the Ethereum network, such as YFI and COMP,” Willock said. “This looks like a perfect storm of high optimism for these protocols and recent innovations introduced that are proving they have long-term value.”
Ether(ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was up Monday, trading around $437 and climbing 3% in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).
Read More:DeFi Is a ‘Complete Scam,’ Says Controversial Entrepreneur Craig Wright
The daily volume of decentralized exchange Uniswap hit $560 million Sunday. Uniswap’s daily trading volume is surpassing centralized exchanges such as Coinbase, which had $433 million the past 24 hours. Uniswap has over $10 billion total volume traded, according to Dune Analytics.
“I think there is no denying that DeFi is a thing,” said George Clayton, managing partner at Cryptanalysis Capital. “Traders are spending over $400,000 per day in gas fees on Uniswap alone,” he added.
However, there continues to be a caveat with all of this DeFi frenzy, added Clayton – the Ethereum network needs to scale in order to successfully meet this increasing demand. “Maybe centralized exchanges’ days really are numbered,” he said. “But not until the scaling issue is solved. Maybe Cosmos can do it with an Ethereum bridge.”
Read More:Ethereum Classic Hit by Third 51% Attack in a Month
Digital assets on theCoinDesk 20are mixed on Monday. Notable winners as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• cardano(ADA) + 7.6%
• tron(TRX) + 5.4%
• nem(XEM) + 4.8%
Read More:Five CoinMarketCap Executives Depart Binance in Mass Exodus
Notable losers as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• zcash(ZEC) – 5%
• chainlink(LINK) – 3.8%
• tezos(XTZ) – 2.6%
Read More:Coinbase Adds Marc Andreessen as Board Observer, Replacing Chris Dixon
Equities:
• In Asia the Nikkei 225 ended the day up 1.1% asWarren Buffett announced Berkshire Hathaway purchased 5% of each of the top five Japanese conglomerates.
• In Europe, U.K. trading was on holiday. Germany’s DAX index closed in the red 0.61% asinvestors were cautious due to coronavirus surpassing 25 million cases globally.
• The United States’ S&P 500 lost 0.22% asbank stocks dragged the index lower due to lower yields in the Treasury market.
Read More:What Changes at the Fed and the SEC Mean for Crypto
Commodities:
• Oil is down 0.26%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $42.80.
• Gold was in the green 0.28% and at $1,969 as of press time.
Read More:Someone Lost $16M in Bitcoin by Using a Malicious Install of Electrum Wallet
Treasurys:
• U.S. Treasury bond yields slipped Monday. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were down most on the two-year, in the red 3%.
Read More:Cryptocurrency Earned From Microtasks Is Taxable, Says IRS Memo
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Over $11.7K; Uniswap Passes $500M in Daily Volume
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Over $11.7K; Uniswap Passes $500M in Daily Volume || Venezuelans Look to Crypto Dollars for Financial Security: Alejandro Machado is a co-founder of the Open Money Initiative, a non-profit research organization working to guarantee the right to a free and open financial system. He heads research efforts at Valiu, a crypto startup that serves Venezuelans.
Venezuela is dollarizing: About64% of transactionsin the country take place in U.S. dollars now. The majority of these are cash transactions, as local banks don’t offer dollar checking or savings accounts for the masses. As a result, Venezuelans have to handle two kinds of suboptimal money: digital bolivars that quickly lose their value, and physical dollars that are dangerous to store in one of the world’s most crime-ridden countries.
In theory, crypto-dollars should fill this space, and dollar-stable assets that anyone can holdhave seen a demand spike in the last few months, even if so far the global trend is only beginning to take hold in Venezuela.
Related:What the Fed's New Inflation Policy Means for Stablecoins
See also:Chainalysis Report Shows Healthy Crypto Usage in Venezuela
Bitcoinday traders don’t want to be exposed to the asset’s overnight volatility, so they convert their working capital totether, the leading stablecoin. Forex traders with bank accounts in Panama or the U.S. are beginning to trade dollars in the banking systems of those countries for USDC (another stablecoin) in private WhatsApp groups. And platforms like Binance P2P have just added support for the bolivar, allowing people to trade them for BUSD directly.
Cryptocurrency startups have mostly attracted two kinds of users: traders and technology enthusiasts, but no company has yet made a convincing case for regular people – neither traders nor the especially tech-savvy – to use these assets as money. Given Venezuela’s unique circumstances, the stage is set for this to change.
What makes crypto-dollarization so powerful? Inclusion.
Related:Mr. Powell, If You Want Higher Inflation, Give People Money
Valiu, the company where I work as Head of Research, offers a mobile app where any Venezuelan can hold a digital dollar balance that can be converted, with one tap, to bolivars, leveraging the growing trading ecosystem without showing this complexity to the user.
Little do most people know, and little do they care, that these dollar balances are crypto dollars: assets backed by bitcoin and derivatives that are liquid enough to be readily converted to assets that people already recognize as money.
What makes crypto dollarization so powerful? Inclusion. It isestimatedsome 20% of dollar transactions in Venezuela go through platforms such as Zelle that require a U.S. bank account to sign up and that in turn require a passport, a visa, a flight ticket and an arbitrary approval by a bank officer.
See also:A Rare Glimpse Into How Crypto Is Really Used in Venezuela
Most U.S. banks don’t need Venezuelan customers to thrive, so they have beenshutting down their accounts. This places an artificial limit to the growth, and even the maintenance, of digital dollar accounts that depend on traditional financial institutions. Accounts that are powered by cryptocurrency, and that are supported by dedicated firms, can be made to have much fewer user-facing requirements. A smartphone may be the only physical equipment a person needs to get an account.
As an industry, we need to target specific populations and get to the point where the technology changes lives. Through our research at the Open Money Initiative and Valiu, we have learned a few insights specific to the region that we want to serve.
First, people trust mobile apps more than web sites for their finances (and many, many people aren’t even aware their phone has a browser – their whole digital world is the Google Play Store).
See also: Nic Carter –Policymakers Shouldn’t Fear Digital Money: So Far It’s Maintaining the Dollar’s Status
Second, it’s important to prioritize support for low-end devices and reliability under low connectivity. This is how WhatsApp won over the world’s communication, and this is how the world’s most inclusive financial app will win, too.
And third, regular people do want to trust a branded entity with their money. Unfortunately, bitcoin is currently not the best brand. Many associate it with thepetro– the unpopular Maduro-issued cryptocurrency – after countless state TV mentions. Most don’t wanttrustless systems. They want greater choice as to whom they trust.
Most important: Only assets and technology that don’t need to be explained can really earn the trust needed for mass adoption. If you have to explain it, it’s not money.
• Venezuelans Look to Crypto Dollars for Financial Security
• Venezuelans Look to Crypto Dollars for Financial Security || Venezuelans Look to Crypto Dollars for Financial Security: Alejandro Machado is a co-founder of the Open Money Initiative, a non-profit research organization working to guarantee the right to a free and open financial system. He heads research efforts at Valiu, a crypto startup that serves Venezuelans. Venezuela is dollarizing: About 64% of transactions in the country take place in U.S. dollars now. The majority of these are cash transactions, as local banks dont offer dollar checking or savings accounts for the masses. As a result, Venezuelans have to handle two kinds of suboptimal money: digital bolivars that quickly lose their value, and physical dollars that are dangerous to store in one of the worlds most crime-ridden countries. In theory, crypto-dollars should fill this space, and dollar-stable assets that anyone can hold have seen a demand spike in the last few months , even if so far the global trend is only beginning to take hold in Venezuela. Related: What the Fed's New Inflation Policy Means for Stablecoins See also: Chainalysis Report Shows Healthy Crypto Usage in Venezuela Bitcoin day traders dont want to be exposed to the assets overnight volatility, so they convert their working capital to tether , the leading stablecoin. Forex traders with bank accounts in Panama or the U.S. are beginning to trade dollars in the banking systems of those countries for USDC (another stablecoin) in private WhatsApp groups. And platforms like Binance P2P have just added support for the bolivar, allowing people to trade them for BUSD directly. Cryptocurrency startups have mostly attracted two kinds of users: traders and technology enthusiasts, but no company has yet made a convincing case for regular people neither traders nor the especially tech-savvy to use these assets as money. Given Venezuelas unique circumstances, the stage is set for this to change. What makes crypto-dollarization so powerful? Inclusion. Related: Mr. Powell, If You Want Higher Inflation, Give People Money Story continues Valiu , the company where I work as Head of Research, offers a mobile app where any Venezuelan can hold a digital dollar balance that can be converted, with one tap, to bolivars, leveraging the growing trading ecosystem without showing this complexity to the user. Little do most people know, and little do they care, that these dollar balances are crypto dollars: assets backed by bitcoin and derivatives that are liquid enough to be readily converted to assets that people already recognize as money. What makes crypto dollarization so powerful? Inclusion. It is estimated some 20% of dollar transactions in Venezuela go through platforms such as Zelle that require a U.S. bank account to sign up and that in turn require a passport, a visa, a flight ticket and an arbitrary approval by a bank officer. See also: A Rare Glimpse Into How Crypto Is Really Used in Venezuela Most U.S. banks dont need Venezuelan customers to thrive, so they have been shutting down their accounts . This places an artificial limit to the growth, and even the maintenance, of digital dollar accounts that depend on traditional financial institutions. Accounts that are powered by cryptocurrency, and that are supported by dedicated firms, can be made to have much fewer user-facing requirements. A smartphone may be the only physical equipment a person needs to get an account. As an industry, we need to target specific populations and get to the point where the technology changes lives. Through our research at the Open Money Initiative and Valiu, we have learned a few insights specific to the region that we want to serve. First, people trust mobile apps more than web sites for their finances (and many, many people arent even aware their phone has a browser their whole digital world is the Google Play Store). See also: Nic Carter Policymakers Shouldnt Fear Digital Money: So Far Its Maintaining the Dollars Status Second, its important to prioritize support for low-end devices and reliability under low connectivity. This is how WhatsApp won over the worlds communication, and this is how the worlds most inclusive financial app will win, too. And third, regular people do want to trust a branded entity with their money. Unfortunately, bitcoin is currently not the best brand. Many associate it with the petro the unpopular Maduro-issued cryptocurrency after countless state TV mentions. Most dont want trustless systems . They want greater choice as to whom they trust. Most important: Only assets and technology that dont need to be explained can really earn the trust needed for mass adoption. If you have to explain it, its not money. Related Stories Venezuelans Look to Crypto Dollars for Financial Security Venezuelans Look to Crypto Dollars for Financial Security || Blockchain Bites: Ethereum Classic Attacked, Electrum Wallet Drained and Taxable Microtasks: Signature Bank gave out dozens more small business PPP loans to crypto firms than previously known, Ethereum Classic has suffered another 51% attack and a digital yuan wallet went live and disappeared this weekend. You’re reading Blockchain Bites , the daily roundup of the most pivotal stories in blockchain and crypto news, and why they’re significant. You can subscribe to this and all of CoinDesk’s newsletters here . Top shelf Third attack The Ethereum Classic blockchain suffered its third, and worst, 51% attack in a month Saturday evening. Spotted by mining company Bitfly, the attack reorganized over 7,000 blocks, or two days’ worth of mining, compared to 3,693 and 4,000 blocks in the first two attacks, CoinDesk Zack Voell reports. ETC Cooperative, a foundation supporting the network’s development, said it was “aware” of the attack and “working with others to test and evaluate proposed solutions as quickly as possible.” FTX will reconsider its ETC perpetual futures contracts, CEO Sam Bankman-Fried told CoinDesk, following actions earlier this month by OKex and Coinbase to consider delisting ETC and extending confirmation times for the cryptocurrency, respectively. ETC Labs, recently announced it would implement additional security features. Related: First Mover: Huobi Takes On OKEx in Futures, Opening New Front in ‘Chinese’ Rivalry Crypto loans Signature Bank extended about $20 million to roughly 40 firms in the digital asset space under the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), dozens more than was previously reported. CEO Joseph DePaolo would not name nor confirm the number of firms receiving PPP loans, though he said the bank’s crypto PPP loan volume was due to other banks serving crypto not having the resources to offer the same kind of program. Previously, CoinDesk reported that at least $30 million had been extended to crypto companies by several banks including JPMorgan Chase, Silicon Valley Bank, Cross River Bank and others. Signature loaned a total $1.9 billion, roughly .55% of the entire $350 billion that was disbursed, through the emergency relief program. Story continues Backdoor hack An Electrum wallet user claims to have lost 1,400 bitcoin (~$16.2 million) after installing an older version of the software from a malicious source, CoinDesk’s Sebastian Sinclair reports. In a Sunday Github post, pseudonymous user “1400BitcoinStolen” said they downloaded a version of the wallet and installed a security update pop-up that triggered a transfer of the user’s entire BTC balance to an address in the possession of a hacker. Electrum allows anyone to “run their own servers or use servers that they trust,” according to another Github user seemingly associated with Electrum. If users download a version from a different source than Electrum and don’t check signatures, they may “install a backdoor.” Yuan wallet? A public version of a digital yuan wallet quickly went live and was disabled this weekend, CoinDesk’s Wolfie Zhou reports. Around noon on Saturday local time, users of China Construction Bank (CCB), one of the big-four state-owned commercial banks, had access to a DCEP (digital currency, electronic payment) wallet feature via the bank’s mobile app. The wallet was registered with a phone number associated with their bank accounts and could be linked with their bank funds. It is unclear when CCB opened up the service, but news of the feature quickly spread Saturday among the Chinese cryptocurrency community and media, before being disabled. In app searches for “digital currency” now display: “This function is not yet officially available to the public. Please wait patiently.” Micro taxes? Crypto microtransactions worth less than $1 are taxable events, according to a U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) memo. Responding to a request for clarification from the tax agent’s own Small Business/Self Employed Division, the IRS senior technician Ronald Goldstein said cryptocurrency “acts as a substitute for real currency” and considered property for federal income tax purposes. One might imagine it’s like reporting cash tips. Examples of microtransactions include crypto rewards earned from downloading an app and leaving a positive review; downloading games and reaching particular milestones; completing online quizzes; or registering accounts with various online services. Quick bites DeFi Is a ‘Complete Scam,’ Says Controversial Entrepreneur Craig Wright (Sebastian Sinclair/CoinDesk) Rep. Davidson: DeFi ‘gets at the heart’ of debate on financial regulation (Michael McSweeney/The Block) Maria Bustillos on Tokenizing Journalism, the Death of Civil and Rise of Brick House (Daniel Kuhn/CoinDesk) Money Reimagined: From COVID Generation to Crypto Generation (Michael Casey/CoinDesk) Chainlink Acquires Blockchain Oracle Solution From Cornell University (Will Foxley/CoinDesk) At stake Related: Blockchain Bites: Winklevoss' Wild Prediction, Bitcoin Miners' Horde, Ethereum's 'Critical Bug' Warring exchanges OKEx and Huobi are caught in a battle for supremacy in the crypto derivatives market, as well as a Chinese market said not to exist, CoinDesk’s Muyao Shen reports. The battle began in 2018, when then-OKEx CEO Chris Lee defected to Huobi to become vice president of global business development. “There’s a natural friction between OKEx and Huobi,” Matthew Graham, chief executive officer of Beijing-based crypto consultancy Sino Global Capital, said. “While they have both pushed to enlarge their international footprints, they still prioritize their Chinese user base.” A regional turf war takes place in the context of crypto’s illegality. Officially, Huobi doesn’t acknowledge the Chinese cryptocurrency market exists: “There is not a market in China. That is not legal,” a representative said, though Huobi appears to be getting nearly a third of its website traffic from Chinese visitors, versus 14% for OKEx, according to a website tracker. However, other competitive fields are easier to quantify. OKEx is the world’s biggest crypto derivatives exchange, with outstanding contracts valued at $1.26 billion. Huobi trails with $1.25 billion in outstanding contracts. The close competition has led to novel derivative products from both exchanges – though some see the real prize as winning a favored position with the Chinese government. Last year, President Xi announced China would “seize the opportunity” of blockchain, spurring increased testing of a digital yuan, the establishment of an open blockchain-based services network and other digital infrastructure development. On that count, Huobi might be one move ahead of OKEx: The Chinese branch of Huobi has joined the Blockchain-Based Service Network (BSN) Development Alliance, which aims to be one of the most influential infrastructure services providers in the country. Market intel August’s end Bitcoin is eyeing an August gain for the first time in three years, but is lagging behind U.S. stocks for the month. The cryptocurrency is trading near $11,610 at press time, representing a 2.27% gain on a month-to-date basis, according to CoinDesk’s Bitcoin Price Index, while the S&P 500 is on track for a 7.25% gain this August. Bitcoin faced rejection at highs above 12,400 on Aug. 17 and has been restricted largely to a range of $11,100 to $11,800 ever since, CoinDesk’s markets reporter Omkar Godbole said. Tech pod Web3 wallet? Private key management specialist Torus unveiled a one-click Chrome and Brave browser extension to provide Web3 experiences. Called tKey, the product is a custom version of two-factor authentication (2FA), that enables single login for their wallet and could be used to secure other devices – like a mobile phone. At a high level, Torus splits and distributes sensitive data needed to construct a user’s private key between the user and nodes on the Torus network, which includes Binance, Ethereum Name Service (ENS), Etherscan, Matic Network, Ontology, Skale, Tendermint Core and Zilliqa, CoinDesk’s Ian Allison reports. Op-ed Profound shift Last week, Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Jerome Powell announced the central bank will allow inflation to run higher than its longstanding 2% target, without raising interest rates. CoinDesk’s Head of Research Noelle Acheson sees this as a profound shift in the role of the central bank, which might have repercussions for the crypto industry. “If 2020 teaches us one thing, it has to be that assumptions don’t last, and that we all need to be flexible. In a world where everything is undergoing a transformation, barriers come down faster. And, as uncomfortable as it may be, change is always an opportunity, especially when it comes from unexpected areas. In our industry, it’s what we’ve been hoping for,” she writes. Inflation solution Frances Coppola, a CoinDesk columnist and author of “The Case for People’s Quantitative Easing,” thinks one way to increase inflation, which has consistently fallen below a targeted 2%, is to just give people money . “From beyond the grave, [John Maynard] Keynes sends a powerful message to today’s leaders. If you want inflation to rise, Mr. Powell, you need to get people spending. Announcing that you will permit prices to rise more quickly won’t achieve this. And neither will increasing the money supply, unless that money goes to people who are likely to spend it,” she writes. Who won #CryptoTwitter? Related Stories Blockchain Bites: Ethereum Classic Attacked, Electrum Wallet Drained and Taxable Microtasks Blockchain Bites: Ethereum Classic Attacked, Electrum Wallet Drained and Taxable Microtasks || Blockchain Bites: Ethereum Classic Attacked, Electrum Wallet Drained and Taxable Microtasks: Signature Bank gave out dozens more small business PPP loans to crypto firms than previously known, Ethereum Classic has suffered another 51% attack and a digital yuan wallet went live and disappeared this weekend.
You’re readingBlockchain Bites, the daily roundup of the most pivotal stories in blockchain and crypto news, and why they’re significant. You can subscribe to this and all of CoinDesk’snewsletters here.
Third attackTheEthereum Classic blockchain suffered its third, and worst, 51% attack in a monthSaturday evening. Spotted by mining company Bitfly, the attack reorganized over 7,000 blocks, or two days’ worth of mining, compared to 3,693 and 4,000 blocks in the first two attacks, CoinDesk Zack Voell reports. ETC Cooperative, a foundation supporting the network’s development, said it was “aware” of the attack and “working with others to test and evaluate proposed solutions as quickly as possible.” FTX will reconsider itsETCperpetual futures contracts, CEO Sam Bankman-Fried told CoinDesk, following actions earlier this month by OKex and Coinbase to consider delisting ETC and extending confirmation times for the cryptocurrency, respectively. ETC Labs, recently announced it would implement additional security features.
Related:First Mover: Huobi Takes On OKEx in Futures, Opening New Front in ‘Chinese’ Rivalry
Crypto loansSignature Bank extended about$20 million to roughly 40 firms in the digital asset space under the federal Paycheck Protection Program(PPP), dozens more than was previously reported. CEO Joseph DePaolo would not name nor confirm the number of firms receiving PPP loans, though he said the bank’s crypto PPP loan volume was due to other banks serving crypto not having the resources to offer the same kind of program. Previously, CoinDesk reported that at least $30 million had been extended to crypto companies by several banks including JPMorgan Chase, Silicon Valley Bank, Cross River Bank and others. Signature loaned a total $1.9 billion, roughly .55% of the entire $350 billion that was disbursed, through the emergency relief program.
Backdoor hackAnElectrum wallet user claims to have lost 1,400 bitcoin(~$16.2 million) after installing an older version of the software from a malicious source, CoinDesk’s Sebastian Sinclair reports. In a Sunday Github post, pseudonymous user “1400BitcoinStolen” said they downloaded a version of the wallet and installed a security update pop-up that triggered a transfer of the user’s entireBTCbalance to an address in the possession of a hacker. Electrum allows anyone to “run their own servers or use servers that they trust,” according to another Github user seemingly associated with Electrum. If users download a version from a different source than Electrum and don’t check signatures, they may “install a backdoor.”
Yuan wallet?Apublic version of a digital yuan wallet quickly went live and was disabledthis weekend, CoinDesk’s Wolfie Zhou reports. Around noon on Saturday local time, users of China Construction Bank (CCB), one of the big-four state-owned commercial banks, had access to a DCEP (digital currency, electronic payment) wallet feature via the bank’s mobile app. The wallet was registered with a phone number associated with their bank accounts and could be linked with their bank funds. It is unclear when CCB opened up the service, but news of the feature quickly spread Saturday among the Chinese cryptocurrency community and media, before being disabled. In app searches for “digital currency” now display: “This function is not yet officially available to the public. Please wait patiently.”
Micro taxes?Cryptomicrotransactions worth less than $1 are taxable events, according to a U.S. Internal Revenue Service(IRS) memo. Responding to a request for clarification from the tax agent’s own Small Business/Self Employed Division, the IRS senior technician Ronald Goldstein said cryptocurrency “acts as a substitute for real currency” and considered property for federal income tax purposes. One might imagine it’s like reporting cash tips. Examples of microtransactions include crypto rewards earned from downloading an app and leaving a positive review; downloading games and reaching particular milestones; completing online quizzes; or registering accounts with various online services.
• DeFi Is a ‘Complete Scam,’ Says Controversial EntrepreneurCraig Wright(Sebastian Sinclair/CoinDesk)
• Rep. Davidson: DeFi ‘gets at the heart’ of debate on financialregulation(Michael McSweeney/The Block)
• Maria Bustillos on Tokenizing Journalism, theDeath of Civil and Rise of Brick House(Daniel Kuhn/CoinDesk)
• Money Reimagined: From COVID Generation toCrypto Generation(Michael Casey/CoinDesk)
• Chainlink Acquires BlockchainOracle Solution From Cornell University(Will Foxley/CoinDesk)
Related:Blockchain Bites: Winklevoss' Wild Prediction, Bitcoin Miners' Horde, Ethereum's 'Critical Bug'
Warring exchangesOKEx and Huobi are caught in abattle for supremacy in the crypto derivatives market, as well as a Chinese marketsaid not to exist, CoinDesk’s Muyao Shen reports.
The battle began in 2018, when then-OKEx CEO Chris Lee defected to Huobi to become vice president of global business development.
“There’s a natural friction between OKEx and Huobi,” Matthew Graham, chief executive officer of Beijing-based crypto consultancy Sino Global Capital, said. “While they have both pushed to enlarge their international footprints, they still prioritize their Chinese user base.”
A regional turf war takes place in the context of crypto’s illegality. Officially, Huobi doesn’t acknowledge the Chinese cryptocurrency market exists: “There is not a market in China. That is not legal,” a representative said, though Huobi appears to be getting nearly a third of its website traffic from Chinese visitors, versus 14% for OKEx, according to a website tracker.
However, other competitive fields are easier to quantify. OKEx is the world’s biggest crypto derivatives exchange, with outstanding contracts valued at $1.26 billion. Huobi trails with $1.25 billion in outstanding contracts.
The close competition has led to novel derivative products from both exchanges – though some see the real prize as winning a favored position with the Chinese government.
Last year, President Xi announced China would “seize the opportunity” of blockchain, spurring increased testing of a digital yuan, the establishment of an open blockchain-based services network and other digital infrastructure development.
On that count, Huobi might be one move ahead of OKEx: The Chinese branch of Huobi has joined the Blockchain-Based Service Network (BSN) Development Alliance, which aims to be one of the most influential infrastructure services providers in the country.
August’s endBitcoin is eyeingan August gain for the first time in three years, but is lagging behind U.S. stocksfor the month. The cryptocurrency is trading near $11,610 at press time, representing a 2.27% gain on a month-to-date basis, according to CoinDesk’s Bitcoin Price Index, while the S&P 500 is on track for a 7.25% gain this August. Bitcoin faced rejection at highs above 12,400 on Aug. 17 and has been restricted largely to a range of $11,100 to $11,800 ever since, CoinDesk’s markets reporter Omkar Godbole said.
Web3 wallet?Private key management specialistTorus unveiled a one-click Chrome and Brave browser extension to provide Web3 experiences.Called tKey, the product is a custom version of two-factor authentication (2FA), that enables single login for their wallet and could be used to secure other devices – like a mobile phone. At a high level, Torus splits and distributes sensitive data needed to construct a user’s private key between the user and nodes on the Torus network, which includes Binance, Ethereum Name Service (ENS), Etherscan, Matic Network, Ontology, Skale, Tendermint Core and Zilliqa, CoinDesk’s Ian Allison reports.
Profound shiftLast week, Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Jerome Powell announced the central bank will allow inflation to run higher than its longstanding 2% target, without raising interest rates. CoinDesk’s Head of Research Noelle Achesonsees this as a profound shift in the role of the central bank, which might have repercussions for the crypto industry.“If 2020 teaches us one thing, it has to be that assumptions don’t last, and that we all need to be flexible. In a world where everything is undergoing a transformation, barriers come down faster. And, as uncomfortable as it may be, change is always an opportunity, especially when it comes from unexpected areas. In our industry, it’s what we’ve been hoping for,” she writes.
Inflation solutionFrances Coppola, a CoinDesk columnist and author of “The Case for People’s Quantitative Easing,” thinks one way to increase inflation, which has consistently fallen below a targeted 2%, is tojust give people money. “From beyond the grave, [John Maynard] Keynes sends a powerful message to today’s leaders. If you want inflation to rise, Mr. Powell, you need to get people spending. Announcing that you will permit prices to rise more quickly won’t achieve this. And neither will increasing the money supply, unless that money goes to people who are likely to spend it,” she writes.
• Blockchain Bites: Ethereum Classic Attacked, Electrum Wallet Drained and Taxable Microtasks
• Blockchain Bites: Ethereum Classic Attacked, Electrum Wallet Drained and Taxable Microtasks || Klever and Cred Announce Partnership to Allow Crypto Interest Earning in Klever App: SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / August 31, 2020 /Klever, the newly launched 4th generation crypto wallet ecosystem with over 250,000 daily active users, has officially partnered with Cred, the industry leading crypto-backed lending and borrowing platform with customers in over 190 countries. Klever and Cred will jointly offer seamless in-app staking and interest to Klever's global user base.
The partnership allows Klever App wallet users to lend their Bitcoin (BTC), TRON (TRX), Ethereum (ETH) and other top cryptocurrencies directly inside the Klever App, in return for interest payments on their coins.
The developer teams of both Klever and Cred have worked closely together over recent months to enable a seamless user experience. This goal has been achieved, as Klever users will soon be able to easily and quickly earn interest with Cred by sending funds directly from their Klever wallet to Cred's staking program of their choice, all done inside Klever's built-in browser.
The partnership enables Cred's platform services to be fully integrated into the Klever App, offering Klever users the ability to receive monthly interest payments, with the option to roll over pledged assets for additional periods. No minimum amount of funds of BTC, TRX or ETH are required and the interest can be paid in both stablecoin and cryptocurrencies of the user's choice.
"Klever was made to enhance the financial freedom of our more than 800k users globally by putting the keys to their funds in their hands and empowering them to become smarter investors. Our partnership with such a well-established and reputable fintech firm like Cred further advances these goals," stated Dio Iankiara, CEO and Co-Founder ofKlever.io. "We are proud to have worked closely with the Cred team to develop a joint product in which our users can feel safe to put their crypto and earn high interest without ever leaving the Klever App, while being in full compliance with both US and other domestic regulation." - Dio Iankiara, CEO of Klever
The Klever ecosystem has over 250k daily active users (DAU), 580k monthly active users (MAU), and more than 800k total users and downloads worldwide. The Klever wallet has been developed and optimized over the course of 3 years, and runs on top of its own Klever OS, an underlying technology that ensures unmatched security through military-grade encryption, the simplest of user experience and an ability for any developer to plug-in a whitelabeled Klever wallet into their application through an SDK.
The partnership between Klever and Cred will also enable Klever users to soon be able to Swap Cred's LBA utility token inside the Klever App, as LBA will be added to the Klever Swap tool with 5 direct trading pairs in BTC, KLV, TRX, ETH and USDT. Users can reduce the Swap fees by using or holding KLV in their wallet, while the benefit of holding LBA is that the user will enjoy premium interest rates when joining and signing up for Cred's programs for lending.
Klever currently supports the three most active blockchains in the world, namely Bitcoin, Ethereum and TRON blockchains, including all the thousands of ERC20, TRC10 and TRC20 tokens running on top of those chains. Klever will be adding the world's top blockchains consecutively directly after launch, with emphasis on educating Klever users on the properties, benefits and staking opportunities of those blockchains. Many of the cryptocurrencies supporting these public chains will be available for lending and staking with Cred.
"Cred is fortunate to work with highly popular wallets like Klever, a valuable member of the blockchain community," said Dan Schatt, CEO and Co-Founder of Cred. "Our mission is to provide fair, inclusive and equitable financial services and we look forward to continuing our strong collaboration with the Klever team." - Dan Schatt, CEO of Cred.
About Klever
Klever App is a simple, secure & decentralized p2p crypto wallet for Bitcoin (BTC), TRON (TRX), Ethereum (ETH) and other top coins, tokens and cryptocurrency assets. With over 800k downloads from 193 countries worldwide, the Klever ecosystem caters to a global audience of blockchain enthusiasts and cryptocurrency holders. The wallet is available in 30 different languages. Klever App is built on top of Klever OS, which uses advanced security mechanisms that completely protects the user's private keys, and makes private keys and sensitive data available only on the user's specific device, utilizing the latest military-grade technology for encryption. For more information and to download the Klever App for iOS or Android, visitwww.klever.io.
About Cred
Cred is a global lending and borrowing platform serving customers in 190 countries. Founded on the belief of fairness, Cred's mission is to harness the power of blockchain to allow everyone to benefit from superior financial services. The San Francisco-based company brings together a diverse team of financial technology veterans, entrepreneurial leaders, machine learning, and the power of blockchain technology. For more information, visitwww.mycred.io.
Contact:
Dan [email protected]+972-545-464-238
SOURCE:Cred
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/604074/Klever-and-Cred-Announce-Partnership-to-Allow-Crypto-Interest-Earning-in-Klever-App || Russias Crypto Mining Farms Would Have to Report to Government Under Proposed Bill: The Russian government wants to know what the countrys data centers are up to, and that includes cryptocurrency mining farms. The Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media has published a proposed bill for public feedback, which firstly provides a definition of precisely what counts as a data center. The bill, if passed, would also obliges data centers within the nation to report their operations to the ministrys supervising agency, the internet censor Roskomnadzor. Related: DCG to Invest $100M in Bitcoin Mining Venture According to the draft document, published on the government portal Friday, a data center is defined as an object with its own infrastructure for hosting hardware providing storage, processing and access to data, with guaranteed levels of accessibility, security and management. An operator of a data center must provide the agency with information about the computing capacity of such a facility, how the data is stored, which services the center provides and at what cost. In addition, the regulators wants to know about the land and buildings in which the data center is housed, even down to how many shelves it has and to what extent the shelves are filled, how its connected to the electricity grid and how its certified. They know already Igor Runets, CEO of Bitriver, one of the largest mining farms in Russia located in Siberia, believes the new rules will apply to miners and that, most likely, they will have to file a report every quarter. Related: Russia Is Blocking Bitcoin-Related Websites Again The government needs this data to monitor the digital economy development. Right now, nobody is gathering information about data centers. On the other hand, including commercial information into such reports seems redundant, Runets said. The government already knows all the larger mining operators anyway, he said, as any farm consuming more than one or two megawatts of power can be detected by the electric grid operator. See also: Putin Signs Russian Crypto Bill Into Law Artem Kozlyuk, founder of RosKomSvoboda, a non-profit monitoring online censorship and surveillance practices in Russia, says that gathering such a massive amount of information about all the data centers in one place can potentially open them up to security threats. It can attract attention of people from the [foreign] intelligence services to criminal actors, Kozlyuk said. The parameters for data storage, which are on the list to be reported, include sensitive information like hardware manufacturer, technical settings and software updates, he added. Story continues We all know how easily the data has been leaked from the government agencies over the recent years. Centralization of the sensitive information like this is an opening for illegal access, Kozlyuk said. Related Stories Russias Crypto Mining Farms Would Have to Report to Government Under Proposed Bill Russias Crypto Mining Farms Would Have to Report to Government Under Proposed Bill View comments || Russia’s Crypto Mining Farms Would Have to Report to Government Under Proposed Bill: The Russian government wants to know what the country’s data centers are up to, and that includes cryptocurrency mining farms.
The Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media has published a proposed bill for public feedback, which firstly provides a definition of precisely what counts as a data center.
The bill, if passed, would also obliges data centers within the nation to report their operations to the ministry’s supervising agency, the internet censor Roskomnadzor.
Related:DCG to Invest $100M in Bitcoin Mining Venture
According to the draft document,publishedon the government portal Friday, a data center is defined as an “object with its own infrastructure for hosting hardware providing storage, processing and access to data, with guaranteed levels of accessibility, security and management.”
An operator of a data center must provide the agency with information about the computing capacity of such a facility, how the data is stored, which services the center provides and at what cost.
In addition, the regulators wants to know about the land and buildings in which the data center is housed, even down to how many shelves it has and to what extent the shelves are filled, how it’s connected to the electricity grid and how it’s certified.
Igor Runets, CEO of Bitriver, one of the largest mining farms in Russia located in Siberia, believes the new rules will apply to miners and that, most likely, they will have to file a report every quarter.
Related:Russia Is Blocking Bitcoin-Related Websites Again
“The government needs this data to monitor the digital economy development. Right now, nobody is gathering information about data centers. On the other hand, including commercial information into such reports seems redundant,” Runets said.
The government already knows all the larger mining operators anyway, he said, as any farm consuming more than one or two megawatts of power can be detected by the electric grid operator.
See also:Putin Signs Russian Crypto Bill Into Law
Artem Kozlyuk, founder of RosKomSvoboda, a non-profit monitoring online censorship and surveillance practices in Russia, says that gathering such a massive amount of information about all the data centers in one place can potentially open them up to security threats.
“It can attract attention of people from the [foreign] intelligence services to criminal actors,” Kozlyuk said. The parameters for data storage, which are on the list to be reported, include sensitive information like hardware manufacturer, technical settings and software updates, he added.
“We all know how easily the data has been leaked from the government agencies over the recent years. Centralization of the sensitive information like this is an opening for illegal access,” Kozlyuk said.
• Russia’s Crypto Mining Farms Would Have to Report to Government Under Proposed Bill
• Russia’s Crypto Mining Farms Would Have to Report to Government Under Proposed Bill || IOV Labs Integrates Chainlink Decentralized Oracles Into the RSK Ecosystem: GIBRALTAR / ACCESSWIRE / August 31, 2020 / IOV Labs has integrated Chainlink's decentralized oracles into the RSK and RIF ecosystems. This allows RSK developers to access critical price feeds and data resources generated outside the blockchain and use them as inputs to trigger RSK's Bitcoin-based smart contracts. RSK and RIF's technical teams are working hard to integrate Chainlink's protocol at the infrastructure level to ensure developers can use Chainlink oracles without any external dependencies on other blockchains. The integration is already live on testnet and was completed in only a few weeks due to the high modularity of the Chainlink protocol. As the market-leading oracle protocol, Chainlink's technology is utilized by many leading smart contract development teams and large enterprises within the blockchain and tech space. It powers the majority of blockchain platforms and DeFi applications that are reliant on oracles to connect with accurate off-chain data, delivered trustlessly in near real-time. "Chainlink is as synonymous with oracles as RSK is with Bitcoin smart contracts," said Julian Rodriguez, Head of RIF Gateways. "By combining the two, developers can capitalize on a smart contract network that's anchored to the strongest Proof of Work blockchain, and connected to the best decentralized oracle solution on the market. The synergies between Chainlink and IOV Labs are extensive, and we look forward to exploring ways to enhance the utility of RSK and RIF by building upon Chainlink's best-in-class oracle service." RIF Gateways, one of the core components of RIF, aims to provide a simplified and unified experience for developers to access any oracle or data service that brings information into the blockchain from the external world. Thus, the integration will use RIF Gateways to make Chainlink oracle network easily accessible to RSK developers. The integration also extends the capabilities of Chainlink, opening its network of node operators to the most valuable and decentralized blockchain in the world - Bitcoin, which anchors RSK. The integration further demonstrates the feasibility of implementing technology protocols that can spawn across multiple blockchains, building bridges between existing platforms and teams. Story continues Daniel Kochis, Head of Chainlink Business Development, commented on the integration, stating: "The blockchain space has long wanted to build smart contracts anchored to the security of the Bitcoin blockchain. We're excited to collaborate with the IOV Labs team making that a reality by providing RSK with secure and reliable oracles to empower more useful smart contract applications that fully integrate with widely used data resources and systems." Developers can view the GitHub here: https://github.com/smartcontractkit/chainlink-RSK About IOVlabs IOVlabs develops the blockchain technologies needed for a new global financial ecosystem; one that fosters opportunity, transparency, and trust. The organization currently develops the RSK Smart Contract Network , RSK Infrastructure Framework (RIF) , and Taringa! Platforms. The RSK Network is one of the more secure smart contract platforms in the world, designed to leverage Bitcoin's unparalleled hash power while extending its capabilities. RSK Infrastructure Framework (RIF) is a suite of open and decentralized infrastructure protocols that enable faster, easier and scalable development of distributed applications (dApps) within a unified environment. Taringa is Latin America's largest Spanish speaking social network with 30 million users and 1,000 active online communities. About Chainlink Chainlink is a decentralized oracle network that helps resolve connectivity issues with smart contracts, enabling users to build blockchain-based smart contracts that securely access off-chain data feeds, web APIs, and traditional bank payments. By doing so, Chainlink transforms the role that smart contracts can play in a vast number of sectors, including financial services, insurance, and supply chain. Chainlink provides highly secure and reliable oracles to large enterprises (Google, Oracle, and SWIFT) and leading smart contract development teams such as Polkadot/Substrate, Synthetix, Loopring, Aave, OpenLaw, Conflux, and many others. Learn more by visiting the Chainlink website . Contact: Dan Edelstein [email protected] SOURCE: IOV Labs View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/604037/IOV-Labs-Integrates-Chainlink-Decentralized-Oracles-Into-the-RSK-Ecosystem || Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund Announces Resumption of Private Placement: New York, Aug. 31, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --Grayscale Investments, the world’s largest digital currency asset manager and manager ofGrayscale® Digital Large Cap Fund(OTCQX: GDLC) (the Fund), today announced that the Fund will resume the private placement of its shares. The Fund’s private placement is offered on a periodic basis throughout the year and is currently available to accredited investors for daily subscription.*The Fund enables investors to gain exposure to a market-cap weighted portfolio of large-cap digital currencies through a singular investment vehicle without the challenges of buying, storing, and safekeeping digital currencies directly.** Through a rules-based portfolio construction methodology, the Fund targets coverage of the upper 70% of the digital currency market and is re-evaluated each quarter; however, the weightings of each Fund Component change daily and are published around 4:00pm NY-time.***The Fund’s investment objective is for its shares (based on Fund Components per share) to reflect the value of Fund Components held by the Fund, less its expenses and other liabilities. To date, the Fund has not met its investment objective and the shares quoted on OTCQX have not reflected the value of Fund Components held by the Fund less, the Fund’s expenses and other liabilities, but have instead traded at a substantial premium over such value.Following a one-year holding period, shareholders who invest in the private placement may elect to sell their shares at prices dictated by the market under the symbol: GDLC.The Fund is an investment vehicle with shares titled in the investor’s name, providing a familiar structure for financial and tax advisors and easy transferability to beneficiaries under estate laws. Additionally, shares are eligible to be held in certain IRA, Roth IRA, and other brokerage and investor accounts.The private placement shares have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") or any state securities laws, and the shares are being offered pursuant to an exemption from registration provided by Rule 506(c) of Regulation D under the Securities Act and in reliance on similar exemptions under applicable state laws. An investment in the shares of the Fund is suitable only for sophisticated, well-informed investors, and investors will be required to represent that they are accredited investors as such term is defined in Rule 501(a) of Regulation D under the Securities Act.As a result, the shares are restricted shares and are subject to a one-year holding period in accordance with Rule 144 under the Securities Act. Because of the one-year holding period and the lack of an ongoing redemption program, shares should not be purchased by any investor who is not willing and able to bear the risk of investment and lack of liquidity for at least one year. No assurances are given that after the one-year holding period, there will be any market for the resale of shares, or, if there is such a market, as to the price at which such shares may be sold into such a market. Qualified investors should refer to the Fund’s private placement memorandum, which is available from Grayscale [email protected], for a discussion of these and other risks.Grayscale's investment products are available to institutional and accredited investors through their respective periodic and ongoing private placements. In addition to the Fund, Grayscale’s single-asset investment products provide exposure to Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Horizen (ZEN), Litecoin (LTC), Stellar Lumens (XLM), XRP, and Zcash (ZEC). All 10 of its products are also currently available for daily subscription by accredited investors.For more information, please visit:https://grayscale.co/investors/.For real time visibility into the daily performance and composition of the Fund, please refer to the TradeBlock Grayscale Digital Large Cap Index (DLCX):https://tradeblock.com/markets/dlcx.*The Fund offers a private placement to accredited investors. The Fund does not currently operate a redemption program.**As of August 28, 2020, the Fund Components were a basket of 77.4% Bitcoin (BTC), 15.3% Ethereum (ETH), 4.2% XRP, 1.8% Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and 1.3% Litecoin (LTC) and each share represented 0.00047719 Bitcoin (BTC), 0.00275870 Ethereum (ETH), 1.10542512 XRP, 0.00048016 Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and 0.00155926 Litecoin (LTC). The Fund will not generate any income and regularly distributes Fund Components to pay for its ongoing expenses. Therefore, the amount of Fund Components represented by each share gradually decreases over time.***The composition of the Fund is evaluated on a quarterly basis to remove existing Fund Components or to include new Fund Components in its portfolio, in accordance with the Fund's construction criteria established by Grayscale.This press release is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security in any jurisdiction where such an offer or solicitation would be illegal, nor shall there be any sale of any security in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of that jurisdiction.About Grayscale Investments®Grayscale Investments is the world’s largest digital currency asset manager, with more than $5.9B in assets under management as of August 28, 2020. Through its family of 10 investment products, Grayscale provides access and exposure to the digital currency asset class in the form of a security without the challenges of buying, storing, and safekeeping digital currencies directly. With a proven track record and unrivaled experience, Grayscale’s products operate within existing regulatory frameworks, creating secure and compliant exposure for investors. For more information, please visitwww.grayscale.coand follow@Grayscale.
CONTACT: Marissa Arnold [email protected] [email protected] || Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund Announces Resumption of Private Placement: New York, Aug. 31, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Grayscale Investments , the worlds largest digital currency asset manager and manager of Grayscale® Digital Large Cap Fund ( OTCQX: GDLC ) (the Fund), today announced that the Fund will resume the private placement of its shares. The Funds private placement is offered on a periodic basis throughout the year and is currently available to accredited investors for daily subscription.* The Fund enables investors to gain exposure to a market-cap weighted portfolio of large-cap digital currencies through a singular investment vehicle without the challenges of buying, storing, and safekeeping digital currencies directly.** Through a rules-based portfolio construction methodology, the Fund targets coverage of the upper 70% of the digital currency market and is re-evaluated each quarter; however, the weightings of each Fund Component change daily and are published around 4:00pm NY-time.*** The Funds investment objective is for its shares (based on Fund Components per share) to reflect the value of Fund Components held by the Fund, less its expenses and other liabilities. To date, the Fund has not met its investment objective and the shares quoted on OTCQX have not reflected the value of Fund Components held by the Fund less, the Funds expenses and other liabilities, but have instead traded at a substantial premium over such value. Following a one-year holding period, shareholders who invest in the private placement may elect to sell their shares at prices dictated by the market under the symbol: GDLC. The Fund is an investment vehicle with shares titled in the investors name, providing a familiar structure for financial and tax advisors and easy transferability to beneficiaries under estate laws. Additionally, shares are eligible to be held in certain IRA, Roth IRA, and other brokerage and investor accounts. The private placement shares have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") or any state securities laws, and the shares are being offered pursuant to an exemption from registration provided by Rule 506(c) of Regulation D under the Securities Act and in reliance on similar exemptions under applicable state laws. An investment in the shares of the Fund is suitable only for sophisticated, well-informed investors, and investors will be required to represent that they are accredited investors as such term is defined in Rule 501(a) of Regulation D under the Securities Act. As a result, the shares are restricted shares and are subject to a one-year holding period in accordance with Rule 144 under the Securities Act. Because of the one-year holding period and the lack of an ongoing redemption program, shares should not be purchased by any investor who is not willing and able to bear the risk of investment and lack of liquidity for at least one year. No assurances are given that after the one-year holding period, there will be any market for the resale of shares, or, if there is such a market, as to the price at which such shares may be sold into such a market. Qualified investors should refer to the Funds private placement memorandum, which is available from Grayscale at [email protected] , for a discussion of these and other risks. Grayscale's investment products are available to institutional and accredited investors through their respective periodic and ongoing private placements. In addition to the Fund, Grayscales single-asset investment products provide exposure to Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Horizen (ZEN), Litecoin (LTC), Stellar Lumens (XLM), XRP, and Zcash (ZEC). All 10 of its products are also currently available for daily subscription by accredited investors. For more information, please visit: https://grayscale.co/investors/ . For real time visibility into the daily performance and composition of the Fund, please refer to the TradeBlock Grayscale Digital Large Cap Index (DLCX): https://tradeblock.com/markets/dlcx . *The Fund offers a private placement to accredited investors. The Fund does not currently operate a redemption program. **As of August 28, 2020, the Fund Components were a basket of 77.4% Bitcoin (BTC), 15.3% Ethereum (ETH), 4.2% XRP, 1.8% Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and 1.3% Litecoin (LTC) and each share represented 0.00047719 Bitcoin (BTC), 0.00275870 Ethereum (ETH), 1.10542512 XRP, 0.00048016 Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and 0.00155926 Litecoin (LTC). The Fund will not generate any income and regularly distributes Fund Components to pay for its ongoing expenses. Therefore, the amount of Fund Components represented by each share gradually decreases over time. ***The composition of the Fund is evaluated on a quarterly basis to remove existing Fund Components or to include new Fund Components in its portfolio, in accordance with the Fund's construction criteria established by Grayscale. This press release is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security in any jurisdiction where such an offer or solicitation would be illegal, nor shall there be any sale of any security in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of that jurisdiction. About Grayscale Investments® Grayscale Investments is the worlds largest digital currency asset manager, with more than $5.9B in assets under management as of August 28, 2020. Through its family of 10 investment products, Grayscale provides access and exposure to the digital currency asset class in the form of a security without the challenges of buying, storing, and safekeeping digital currencies directly. With a proven track record and unrivaled experience, Grayscales products operate within existing regulatory frameworks, creating secure and compliant exposure for investors. For more information, please visit www.grayscale.co and follow @Grayscale . Story continues CONTACT: Marissa Arnold [email protected] [email protected]
[Social Media Buzz]
None available.
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11414.03, 10245.30, 10511.81, 10169.57, 10280.35, 10369.56, 10131.52, 10242.35, 10363.14, 10400.92
|
Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 275.83, 277.22, 276.05, 288.28, 288.70, 292.69, 293.62, 294.43, 289.59, 287.72, 284.65, 281.60, 282.61, 281.23, 285.22, 281.88, 278.58, 279.58, 261.00, 265.08, 264.47, 270.39, 266.38, 264.08, 265.68, 261.55, 258.51, 257.98, 211.08, 226.68, 235.35, 232.57, 230.39, 228.17, 210.49, 221.61, 225.83, 224.77, 231.40, 229.78, 228.76, 230.06, 228.12, 229.28, 227.18, 230.30, 235.02, 239.84, 239.85, 243.61, 238.17, 238.48, 240.11, 235.23, 230.51, 230.64, 230.30, 229.09, 229.81, 232.98, 231.49, 231.21, 227.09, 230.62, 230.28, 234.53, 235.14, 234.34, 232.76, 239.14, 236.69, 236.06, 237.55, 237.29, 238.73, 238.26, 240.38, 246.06, 242.97, 242.30, 243.93, 244.94, 247.05, 245.31, 249.51, 251.99, 254.32, 262.87, 270.64, 261.64.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2015-10-18]
Volume: 22434300, RSI (14-day): 66.32, 50-day EMA: 244.26, 200-day EMA: 250.78
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Is The Video Subscription Space Saturated?: The way consumers watch TV has changed drastically over the past few years as the popularity of Internet video sites like YouTube have skyrocketed. Dedicated streaming services like Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX ) and Hulu emerged and their warm reception from American viewers caused traditional broadcasters to rethink their own operations. Now, several big name networks have created their own online, subscription-based services in an effort to give customers more choices for web-based viewing. However, with so many fragmented viewing options out there, many are wondering if the space is starting to become crowded. The All Important Millennial The younger generation is increasingly switching to online viewing, a troublesome sign for traditional cable. Services like Netflix and Amazon offer a wide range of content geared toward that demographic and have become popular choices for Millennials who are cutting the cord. Related Link: Why Netflix's Initial Selloff Was "Correct" However, in an effort to maintain a youthful audience, firms like NBC Universal and CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS ) have launched their own subscription services with content aimed at younger viewers. Stiff Competition NBC Universal recently unveiled a new streaming offering called Seeso, which will focus on comedy programming. The firm has been working together with non-traditional media companies like BuzzFeed and Vox to attract younger viewers, but the firm will have to compete with a host of other networks that are all doing the same thing. Dish Network's Sling TV, CBS' All Access service and Time Warner's HBO Now are just some of the many online subscription services that Seeso will have to compete with. Cutting The Cord While online viewing is gaining popularity, most agree that at the present moment there is no good way to cut the cord completely. Subscribing to the many online services that have saturated the streaming space would typically cost more than paying a traditional cable bill, so most consumers are choosing one or two online services to enhance their programming. That makes it difficult for new entrants like Seeso as more established names like Netflix are often a top choice. Story continues Image Credit: By Taro the Shiba Inu [ CC BY 2.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons See more from Benzinga Virtual Reality Becomes An Actual Reality With New Oculus Headset Netflix Viewing Stats Reveal That All Shows Aren't Created Equally 21 Inc's Bitcoin Computer Seeks To Redefine The Internet © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Is The Video Subscription Space Saturated?: The way consumers watch TV has changed drastically over the past few years as the popularity of Internet video sites like YouTube have skyrocketed.
Dedicated streaming services likeNetflix, Inc.(NASDAQ:NFLX) and Hulu emerged and their warm reception from American viewers caused traditional broadcasters to rethink their own operations.
Now, several big name networks have created their own online, subscription-based services in an effort to give customers more choices for web-based viewing. However, with so many fragmented viewing options out there, many are wondering if the space is starting to become crowded.
The All Important Millennial
The younger generation is increasingly switching to online viewing, a troublesome sign for traditional cable. Services like Netflix and Amazon offer a wide range of content geared toward that demographic and have become popular choices for Millennials who are cutting the cord.
Related Link:Why Netflix's Initial Selloff Was "Correct"
However, in an effort to maintain a youthful audience, firms like NBC Universal andCBS Corporation(NYSE:CBS) have launched their own subscription services with content aimed at younger viewers.
Stiff Competition
NBC Universal recentlyunveileda new streaming offering called Seeso, which will focus on comedy programming. The firm has been working together with non-traditional media companies like BuzzFeed and Vox to attract younger viewers, but the firm will have to compete with a host of other networks that are all doing the same thing.
Dish Network's Sling TV, CBS' All Access service and Time Warner's HBO Now are just some of the many online subscription services that Seeso will have to compete with.
Cutting The Cord
While online viewing is gaining popularity, most agree that at the present moment there is no good way to cut the cord completely.
Subscribing to the many online services that have saturated the streaming space would typically cost more than paying a traditional cable bill, so most consumers are choosing one or two online services to enhance their programming. That makes it difficult for new entrants like Seeso as more established names like Netflix are often a top choice.
Image Credit: By Taro the Shiba Inu [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
See more from Benzinga
• Virtual Reality Becomes An Actual Reality With New Oculus Headset
• Netflix Viewing Stats Reveal That All Shows Aren't Created Equally
• 21 Inc's Bitcoin Computer Seeks To Redefine The Internet
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || October Treat: Junk Bonds and Gold ETFs Pop: The stock market rebound continued this week as the S&P 500 touched its highest level in nearly two months. TheSPDR S&P 500 (SPY | A-99)is now up 5.8 percent in October, a strong performance in a month that has historically been the second-worst of the year (after September).
Gold & Silver Miners Dominate Jump
On Monday, we highlighted thebest-performing exchange-traded funds of October. Those funds, comprising mostly copper and energy producers, are still doing well in the month.
However, a new group of ETFs have bullied their way into the top 10: gold and silver miners. In fact, precious-metals-related funds now make up six of the top 10 positions for October, as can be seen from the table below.
Top 10 ETF Of October
[{"Ticker": "SILJ", "Fund": "PureFunds ISE Junior Silver (Small Cap Miners/Explorers)", "Return (%)": "27.86"}, {"Ticker": "COPX", "Fund": "Global X Copper Miners", "Return (%)": "25.61"}, {"Ticker": "PLTM", "Fund": "First Trust ISE Global Platinum", "Return (%)": "25.30"}, {"Ticker": "CU", "Fund": "First Trust ISE Global Copper", "Return (%)": "25.23"}, {"Ticker": "SLVP", "Fund": "iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners", "Return (%)": "25.07"}, {"Ticker": "SGDM", "Fund": "Sprott Gold Miners", "Return (%)": "24.04"}, {"Ticker": "KWT", "Fund": "Market Vectors Solar Energy", "Return (%)": "23.29"}, {"Ticker": "RING", "Fund": "iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners", "Return (%)": "23.28"}, {"Ticker": "GDX", "Fund": "Market Vectors Gold Miners", "Return (%)": "22.60"}, {"Ticker": "SIL", "Fund": "Global X Silver Miners", "Return (%)": "22.41"}]
Considering the big jump in gold prices this month, the performance of these ETFs hasn't been surprising. The yellow metal hit the highest point since mid-June this week, leading theSPDR Gold Trust (GLD | A-100)to a gain of 5.7 percent in October.
Miners tend to be much more volatile than the underlying metal, which explains their significant outperformance. Yet even as these ETFs rally, investors haven't been too keen on buying into them.
None of the top 10 price performers saw significant inflows, and in fact, investors pulled out $429 million from theMarket Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX | C-79)during the first half of the month.
Investors Buying BondsWhile ETF investors haven't been too enthusiastic about miners, they did show interest in gold itself. So far this month, GLD has attracted $483 million in inflows, putting it just outside the top 10 inflows list for the month.
One salient theme that has emerged during October is the idea that the Federal Reserve will hold off on hiking interest rates this year due to global slowdown concerns and the recent string of weak U.S. economic data.
That's propelled gold higher, as well as bonds. In fact, bonds are the asset class that's attracted the most capital this month.
As can be seen from the table below, generated using theETF.com fund flows tool, a number of bond ETFs made the top 10 inflows list:
Source: ETF.com Fund Flows Tool
TheiShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF | A-51)was a big winner, with nearly $1 billion in inflows. To the extent that the Fed's overnight interest rate stays lower for longer, that puts pressure on the longer end of the yield curve as well (supporting bond prices).
Even more popular than IEF were corporate bond ETFs like the SPDR BarclaysHigh Yield Bond ETF (JNK | B-68)and theiShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD | A-77). In addition to support from low interest rates, corporate bonds benefited from speculation that defaults may not be as high as feared.
That's particularly true for the junk bond space, which was hammered in August and September, sending yields to their loftiest level since 2011. Investors may be seeing those yields as attractive now that the stock market has stabilized and the Fed looks to be on hold.
In addition to the bond ETFs, other funds that saw notable inflows were the tech-heavyPowerShares QQQ (QQQ | A-66)and the large-capiShares Russell 1000 Value (IWD | A-90).
In terms of sectors, investors liked theIndustrial Select SPDR (XLI | A-92)and theConsumer Discretionary Select SPDR (XLY | A-91).
Contact Sumit Roy [email protected].
Recommended Stories
• Gundlach: Sell Junk Bonds, Buy India
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• NatGas Investing Not For Faint Of Heart
• October Treat: Junk Bonds & Gold ETFs Pop
• Twitter Chatter Packed In New Index
Permalink| © Copyright 2015ETF.com.All rights reserved || October Treat: Junk Bonds and Gold ETFs Pop: The stock market rebound continued this week as the S&P 500 touched its highest level in nearly two months. The SPDR S&P 500 (SPY | A-99) is now up 5.8 percent in October, a strong performance in a month that has historically been the second-worst of the year (after September). Gold & Silver Miners Dominate Jump On Monday, we highlighted the best-performing exchange-traded funds of October . Those funds, comprising mostly copper and energy producers, are still doing well in the month. However, a new group of ETFs have bullied their way into the top 10: gold and silver miners. In fact, precious-metals-related funds now make up six of the top 10 positions for October, as can be seen from the table below. Top 10 ETF Of October Ticker Fund Return (%) SILJ PureFunds ISE Junior Silver (Small Cap Miners/Explorers) 27.86 COPX Global X Copper Miners 25.61 PLTM First Trust ISE Global Platinum 25.30 CU First Trust ISE Global Copper 25.23 SLVP iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners 25.07 SGDM Sprott Gold Miners 24.04 KWT Market Vectors Solar Energy 23.29 RING iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners 23.28 GDX Market Vectors Gold Miners 22.60 SIL Global X Silver Miners 22.41 Considering the big jump in gold prices this month, the performance of these ETFs hasn't been surprising. The yellow metal hit the highest point since mid-June this week, leading the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD | A-100) to a gain of 5.7 percent in October. Miners tend to be much more volatile than the underlying metal, which explains their significant outperformance. Yet even as these ETFs rally, investors haven't been too keen on buying into them. None of the top 10 price performers saw significant inflows, and in fact, investors pulled out $429 million from the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX | C-79) during the first half of the month. Investors Buying Bonds While ETF investors haven't been too enthusiastic about miners, they did show interest in gold itself. So far this month, GLD has attracted $483 million in inflows, putting it just outside the top 10 inflows list for the month. Story continues One salient theme that has emerged during October is the idea that the Federal Reserve will hold off on hiking interest rates this year due to global slowdown concerns and the recent string of weak U.S. economic data. That's propelled gold higher, as well as bonds. In fact, bonds are the asset class that's attracted the most capital this month. As can be seen from the table below, generated using the ETF.com fund flows tool , a number of bond ETFs made the top 10 inflows list: Source: ETF.com Fund Flows Tool The iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF | A-51) was a big winner, with nearly $1 billion in inflows. To the extent that the Fed's overnight interest rate stays lower for longer, that puts pressure on the longer end of the yield curve as well (supporting bond prices). Even more popular than IEF were corporate bond ETFs like the SPDR Barclays High Yield Bond ETF (JNK | B-68) and the iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD | A-77) . In addition to support from low interest rates, corporate bonds benefited from speculation that defaults may not be as high as feared. That's particularly true for the junk bond space, which was hammered in August and September, sending yields to their loftiest level since 2011. Investors may be seeing those yields as attractive now that the stock market has stabilized and the Fed looks to be on hold. In addition to the bond ETFs, other funds that saw notable inflows were the tech-heavy PowerShares QQQ (QQQ | A-66) and the large-cap iShares Russell 1000 Value (IWD | A-90) . In terms of sectors, investors liked the Industrial Select SPDR (XLI | A-92) and the Consumer Discretionary Select SPDR (XLY | A-91) . Contact Sumit Roy at [email protected] . Recommended Stories Gundlach: Sell Junk Bonds, Buy India Bitcoin Rally Benefiting ETFs NatGas Investing Not For Faint Of Heart October Treat: Junk Bonds & Gold ETFs Pop Twitter Chatter Packed In New Index Permalink | © Copyright 2015 ETF.com. All rights reserved || Caribbean's Next Top Model Set for Season 2 Premiere: MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - Oct 15, 2015) - On October 19, young women from all over the Caribbean will begin chasing their dreams of success as career models, when the second season of Caribbean's Next Top Model (CNTM) makes its premiere on Flow TV. Cable and Wireless, which operates both the Flow and LIME brand, is the premium sponsor for the show's sophomore season, which will run for 11 episodes, starting on October 19.
The Caribbean reality show is based on the successful original production -- America's Next Top Model. This regional program follows the stories of young women seeking to launch a career in the competitive world of modelling, and is produced and presented by Wendy Fitzwilliam, a former Miss Universe, successful model and entrepreneur.
"We are extremely excited to be partnering with Wendy Fitzwilliam and her Caribbean's Next Top Model team," said John Reid, President of the C&W Communications, Consumer Group. "We are not just committed, but we are also proud to support Caribbean producers who generate quality local content for the region." Reid also noted that customers now have more options to access the exciting regional programme across multiple platforms, including their TV and other smart devices, where the mobile option was available. Customers in Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados, Cayman, and Curacao will also be able to access the show at their convenience using Flow's Video on Demand (VOD) feature. Aside from the many viewing options, Flow customers, will also be able to participate in other exciting promotions including weekly SMS competition to win a new iPad, tablet, or other great prizes.
Commenting on the partnership, Fitzwilliam said, "It is so refreshing when a corporate entity recognises the need for support and undertakes the responsibility of enabling the development of Caribbean talent and content -- Flow has definitely got it right. With Flow you get more -- CNTM's fans will get a wholesome entertainment experience, one that is as interactive and engaging as possible. With Flow's quad play technology, viewers can truly enjoy the upcoming season to the fullest extent."
Caribbean Next Top Model will be broadcast simultaneously on the Flow TV platform across the region on Monday nights from October 19 at 7:30 p.m. in Curacao, Jamaica, Cayman Islands and at 8:30 p.m. -- in Trinidad, Jamaica, Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, St. Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda and The Bahamas. As the season unfolds, each CNTM episode will first air on Flow TV and will then air on other stations, five days after the initial Flow airing.
Season Two of Caribbean's Next Top Model will premiere with a star-studded fashion event at the Betsy Hotel on South Beach, Miami on October 19.
About C&W Communications
Cable & Wireless Communications Plc (CWC) is a full service communications and entertainment provider, operating in the Caribbean and Latin America. With annual sales of over US$2.4 billion, it operates both mobile and fixed networks, supported by submarine and terrestrial optical fibre backhaul capacity. Through the acquisition of Columbus International Inc on 31 March 2015, C&W now delivers superior high-speed mobile data, broadband and TV/video services. It has leading market positions in Mobile, Fixed Line, Broadband and TV consumer offers.
Through its business division, C&W provides data centre hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customised IT service solutions, utilising cloud technology to serve business and government customers.
The company also operates a state-of-the-art subsea fibre optic cable network that spans more than 48,000 km -- the most extensive in the region -- as well as 38,000 km of terrestrial fibre providing wholesale and carrier backhaul capacity and a growing suite of wholesale managed services.
C&W has more than 7,500 employees serving over 6 million customers (Mobile 3.8m; Fixed Line 1.1m; Video 460k and Broadband 665k) as well as over 125k corporate clients and 225 wholesale customers across 42 countries. The Company's leading brands include: LIME and Flow in the Caribbean; BTC in The Bahamas; Mas Movil in Panama; C&W Business and C&W Networks. C&W is the market leader in most products offered and territories served. It is a major contributor to local communities through its corporate social responsibility programs.
Cable & Wireless Communications' shares are quoted on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker CWC. The company is headquartered in London with its operational hub located in Miami, within close proximity to the Caribbean and Latin America. For more information visit:www.cwc.com. || Caribbean's Next Top Model Set for Season 2 Premiere: MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - Oct 15, 2015) - On October 19, young women from all over the Caribbean will begin chasing their dreams of success as career models, when the second season of Caribbean's Next Top Model (CNTM) makes its premiere on Flow TV. Cable and Wireless, which operates both the Flow and LIME brand, is the premium sponsor for the show's sophomore season, which will run for 11 episodes, starting on October 19. The Caribbean reality show is based on the successful original production -- America's Next Top Model. This regional program follows the stories of young women seeking to launch a career in the competitive world of modelling, and is produced and presented by Wendy Fitzwilliam, a former Miss Universe, successful model and entrepreneur. "We are extremely excited to be partnering with Wendy Fitzwilliam and her Caribbean's Next Top Model team," said John Reid, President of the C&W Communications, Consumer Group. "We are not just committed, but we are also proud to support Caribbean producers who generate quality local content for the region." Reid also noted that customers now have more options to access the exciting regional programme across multiple platforms, including their TV and other smart devices, where the mobile option was available. Customers in Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados, Cayman, and Curacao will also be able to access the show at their convenience using Flow's Video on Demand (VOD) feature. Aside from the many viewing options, Flow customers, will also be able to participate in other exciting promotions including weekly SMS competition to win a new iPad, tablet, or other great prizes. Commenting on the partnership, Fitzwilliam said, "It is so refreshing when a corporate entity recognises the need for support and undertakes the responsibility of enabling the development of Caribbean talent and content -- Flow has definitely got it right. With Flow you get more -- CNTM's fans will get a wholesome entertainment experience, one that is as interactive and engaging as possible. With Flow's quad play technology, viewers can truly enjoy the upcoming season to the fullest extent." Story continues Caribbean Next Top Model will be broadcast simultaneously on the Flow TV platform across the region on Monday nights from October 19 at 7:30 p.m. in Curacao, Jamaica, Cayman Islands and at 8:30 p.m. -- in Trinidad, Jamaica, Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, St. Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda and The Bahamas. As the season unfolds, each CNTM episode will first air on Flow TV and will then air on other stations, five days after the initial Flow airing. Season Two of Caribbean's Next Top Model will premiere with a star-studded fashion event at the Betsy Hotel on South Beach, Miami on October 19. About C&W Communications Cable & Wireless Communications Plc (CWC) is a full service communications and entertainment provider, operating in the Caribbean and Latin America. With annual sales of over US$2.4 billion, it operates both mobile and fixed networks, supported by submarine and terrestrial optical fibre backhaul capacity. Through the acquisition of Columbus International Inc on 31 March 2015, C&W now delivers superior high-speed mobile data, broadband and TV/video services. It has leading market positions in Mobile, Fixed Line, Broadband and TV consumer offers. Through its business division, C&W provides data centre hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customised IT service solutions, utilising cloud technology to serve business and government customers. The company also operates a state-of-the-art subsea fibre optic cable network that spans more than 48,000 km -- the most extensive in the region -- as well as 38,000 km of terrestrial fibre providing wholesale and carrier backhaul capacity and a growing suite of wholesale managed services. C&W has more than 7,500 employees serving over 6 million customers (Mobile 3.8m; Fixed Line 1.1m; Video 460k and Broadband 665k) as well as over 125k corporate clients and 225 wholesale customers across 42 countries. The Company's leading brands include: LIME and Flow in the Caribbean; BTC in The Bahamas; Mas Movil in Panama; C&W Business and C&W Networks. C&W is the market leader in most products offered and territories served. It is a major contributor to local communities through its corporate social responsibility programs. Cable & Wireless Communications' shares are quoted on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker CWC. The company is headquartered in London with its operational hub located in Miami, within close proximity to the Caribbean and Latin America. For more information visit: www.cwc.com . || Barclays Partnership With Chainalysis Ushers In New Era For Fintech: On Wednesday, at the culmination of the Barclays Accelerator program, Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE: BCS ) announced a new partnership with startup Chainalysis. The partnership is seen as an opportunity with the potential to further open up the traditional finance sector to bitcoin firms. Bitcoin businesses have long found it difficult to engage with banks, as traditional finance has been wary of the risks that come with dealing in cryptocurrencies. However, with one of the UK's largest banks onboarding Chainalysis to its compliance department, many see a union between cryptocurrencies and traditional finance on the horizon. Mitigating Risks Barclays' partnership with Chainalysis is expected to help the bank better understand and cope with the risks of dealing with bitcoin firms. The startup is expected to work together with Barclays to find ways for firms within the cryptocurrency industry to meet traditional banks' strict compliance standards. Related Link: Blockstream To Launch Sidechain Worries about money laundering and illegal transactions have kept many banks from dealing with the industry, but Chainalysis says it has developed several products that make it easier for banks to perform checks on bitcoin customers. Mutual Benefit The partnership between Barclays and Chainalysis is a big step for both firms. For Barclays, working with Chainalysis gives the bank a leg up against competitors as the firm is able to stay on top of evolving trends in the finch space. Chainalysis has gained major exposure from the deal, and the company says it hopes other finance institutions will follow suit and use some of Chainalysis' products as the cryptocurrency space continues to grow. Image Credit: Public Domain See more from Benzinga AXA Interested In Bitcoin's Potential Barclays Becomes First Big U.K. Bank To Accept Bitcoin Emerging Market Shares Battered: Is It Time To Buy? © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Barclays Partnership With Chainalysis Ushers In New Era For Fintech: On Wednesday, at the culmination of the Barclays Accelerator program,Barclays PLC (ADR)(NYSE:BCS)announceda new partnership with startup Chainalysis.
The partnership is seen as an opportunity with the potential to further open up the traditional finance sector to bitcoin firms.
Bitcoin businesses have long found it difficult to engage with banks, as traditional finance has been wary of the risks that come with dealing in cryptocurrencies. However, with one of the UK's largest banks onboarding Chainalysis to its compliance department, many see a union between cryptocurrencies and traditional finance on the horizon.
Mitigating Risks
Barclays' partnership with Chainalysis is expected to help the bank better understand and cope with the risks of dealing with bitcoin firms.
The startup is expected to work together with Barclays to find ways for firms within the cryptocurrency industry to meet traditional banks' strict compliance standards.
Related Link:Blockstream To Launch Sidechain
Worries about money laundering and illegal transactions have kept many banks from dealing with the industry, but Chainalysis says it has developed several products that make it easier for banks to perform checks on bitcoin customers.
Mutual Benefit
The partnership between Barclays and Chainalysis is a big step for both firms. For Barclays, working with Chainalysis gives the bank a leg up against competitors as the firm is able to stay on top of evolving trends in the finch space.
Chainalysis has gained major exposure from the deal, and the company says it hopes other finance institutions will follow suit and use some of Chainalysis' products as the cryptocurrency space continues to grow.
Image Credit: Public Domain
See more from Benzinga
• AXA Interested In Bitcoin's Potential
• Barclays Becomes First Big U.K. Bank To Accept Bitcoin
• Emerging Market Shares Battered: Is It Time To Buy?
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Blockchain For Banks Could Be A Big Business: Cryptocurrencies have received a lot of attention over the past few years as more and more people took an interest in the technology. However, much of the buzz surrounding cryptocurrencies like bitcoin was negative after a spate of high profile scams and criminal cases involving the currency painted it as a tool for illicit activities. While bitcoin may never become a mainstream payment method, blockchain, the ledger-like technology that it runs on, has been touted as one of the most important developments of the decade. Related Link: Bitcoin May Be Flailing, But Blockchain Is On The Rise Banks On Board Traditional finance firms have been reluctant to embrace bitcoin as a currency, but blockchain is another story. Banks around the world including Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC ), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS ) and Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB ) have all taken an interest in blockchain , saying they could see the technology improving how they do business. Blockchain provides a secure way to facilitate transactions without involving a third party intermediary. Banks say this could be useful for everything from sending payments to setting up a smart contracts system. Implementing Blockchain While many banks are studying blockchain using task forces set up within their own company, several startups have emerged to help banks study the impact of blockchain on their operations. Blockstack, Eris Ltd and Coin Sciences are all private firms that offer companies blockchain solutions. They offer banks the ability to experiment with blockchain systems that meet their specific needs, rather than providing them with something that needs to be modified. See more from Benzinga Can Social Media Firms Compete With Amazon In The E-Commerce Space? Cyberweapons Replace Nuclear Threats In Global Arms Race Things Are Looking Brighter For Europe © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. View comments || Blockchain For Banks Could Be A Big Business: Cryptocurrencies have received a lot of attention over the past few years as more and more people took an interest in the technology. However, much of the buzz surrounding cryptocurrencies like bitcoin was negative after a spate of high profile scams and criminal cases involving the currency painted it as a tool for illicit activities.
While bitcoin may never become a mainstream payment method, blockchain, the ledger-like technology that it runs on, has been touted as one of the most important developments of the decade.
Related Link:Bitcoin May Be Flailing, But Blockchain Is On The Rise
Banks On Board
Traditional finance firms have been reluctant to embrace bitcoin as a currency, but blockchain is another story. Banks around the world includingBank of America Corp(NYSE:BAC),Morgan Stanley(NYSE:MS) andDeutsche Bank(NYSE:DB) have alltaken an interest in blockchain, saying they could see the technology improving how they do business. Blockchain provides a secure way to facilitate transactions without involving a third party intermediary. Banks say this could be useful for everything from sending payments to setting up a smart contracts system.
Implementing Blockchain
While many banks are studying blockchain using task forces set up within their own company, several startups have emerged to help banks study the impact of blockchain on their operations. Blockstack, Eris Ltd and Coin Sciences are all private firms that offer companies blockchain solutions. They offer banks the ability to experiment with blockchain systems that meet their specific needs, rather than providing them with something that needs to be modified.
See more from Benzinga
• Can Social Media Firms Compete With Amazon In The E-Commerce Space?
• Cyberweapons Replace Nuclear Threats In Global Arms Race
• Things Are Looking Brighter For Europe
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || MarilynJean Interactive (OTCQB: MJMI) Sets Its Sights on $24B Philippines Remittance Market: HENDERSON, NV / ACCESSWIRE / October 12, 2015 /MarilynJean Interactive (MJMI) today announced it has entered into advanced discussions with a provider of Bitcoin-based remittance services.
The potential remittance partner is a fully licensed money services business on the cutting edge of the remittance space, using Bitcoin to effect low cost transfers, primarily to the Philippines. With a well-established brand, multiple Bitcoin ATMs, solid financial partnerships in the Philippines, MJMI's management is excited about the potential synergies that could result from this relationship.
In 2014, according to Focus Economics, remittances to the Philippines hit a record high, exceeding USD 24 Billion, accounting for roughly 8.5% of that country's GDP. Those funds came primarily from overseas workers sending funds home to their families. Traditional remittance companies charge upwards of 8% fees on the total funds being sent, in addition to less than favorable exchange rates and taking up to 3 days to clear for pick up. Using Bitcoin, transfers can be effected in virtually real time at a fraction of the cost to the user. Funds can be sent directly to the recipient's bank account or made available for pick up at a partner location or even via a card-less ATM withdrawal.
In a Bitcoin based remittance transaction, an overseas worker would deliver funds to a remittance provider. This service provider would buy Bitcoin on behalf of the customer and then transfer the coins, paying less than 1% to do so, to the selling partner in the recipient country. The selling partner would then sell the Bitcoins and then transfer the funds to the final recipient. Because there is a price difference between the buying and selling of the Bitcoins, it is possible for the two transfer partners to profit sufficiently from the Bitcoin trade to offer the transfer service for a significantly lower fee than any traditional currency (known as FIAT) based remittance service.
Bitcoin therefore offers the potential to completely alter the landscape of worldwide money transfers.
The two companies share a vision on the massive opportunities in this space as well as on the future direction of expansion, namely servicing the remittance markets in Mexico and India. In addition, both companies agree that acquiring and operating a Bitcoin exchange would allow the partners to offer a seamless, end to end solution to customers. More sophisticated clients could eventually use their own Bitcoin wallets to move money through a jointly designed system, allowing them to effect transactions from their mobile phone through a licensed and trustworthy remittance system.
Peter Janosi, MJMI's president said: "We are very excited to be in advanced discussions with this potential remittance partner. They are at the forefront what we expect will be a massive shift in the way global remittances are effected. Their team shares our view that remittance fees are exorbitantly high and that current providers profit excessively by offering poor, often hidden, exchange rates. We believe that, in this area, Bitcoin has tremendous promise to disrupt a system that unfairly charges high rates to hard working people who have left their families to work overseas in hopes of providing them with a better life. We believe the growth potential in this sector is massive and that we are on the right track in terms of identifying the right partners who share our vision."
MJMI is in the business of providing safe and accessible services for the users of Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies.
MJMI is currently exploring partnerships with several existing Bitcoin and crypto-currency exchanges as well as manufacturers and operators of Bitcoin ATMs. Such a combination would place the company in an exciting position to offer an end to end solution for trading in various crypto-currencies and potentially capture a share of the lucrative markets of Bitcoin trading and remittance services, just as these markets appear poised to undergo massive growth.
About Bitcoin and Crypto-Currencies:
Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies are a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure transactions and control the creation of new units. Bitcoin became the first decentralized crypto-currency in 2009. Crypto-currency is produced at a rate which is defined when the system is created and publicly known. By contrast, in centralized banking and economic systems, such as the Federal Reserve System, corporate boards or governments control the supply of currency by printing units or demanding additions to digital banking ledgers. However, neither companies nor governments can produce units of crypto-currency and as such the value of crypto-currencies are completely based on supply and demand, free from any governmental control. Many people believe crypto-currencies, and in particular bitcoin, hold the promise of being the most significant advancement in global finance in modern history. The advent of bitcoin creates a secure, easily accessible and transferable transnational currency that is completely liberated from political influence.
Richard Branson, head of the Virgin Group, is quoted on his company's website as saying: "I have invested in Bitcoin because I believe in its potential, the capacity it has to transform global payments is very exciting."
Heavyweight investment bank Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), announced on April 30th 2015 that it had partnered with Chinese investment firm IDG Capital partners to invest $50 million in a Bitcoin start-up. Numerous high-profile firms have begun accepting Bitcoin as a payment method including: Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL), Dish Network Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH), Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE), and Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK).
MarilynJean Media Interactive is among the first publicly traded companies focused on bitcoin and the crypto-currency space. The company's trading symbol is (MJMI).
Website:http://www.marilynjean.com/
Press Contact:[email protected]
SOURCE:MarilynJean Interactive || MarilynJean Interactive (OTCQB: MJMI) Sets Its Sights on $24B Philippines Remittance Market: HENDERSON, NV / ACCESSWIRE / October 12, 2015 / MarilynJean Interactive ( MJMI ) today announced it has entered into advanced discussions with a provider of Bitcoin-based remittance services. The potential remittance partner is a fully licensed money services business on the cutting edge of the remittance space, using Bitcoin to effect low cost transfers, primarily to the Philippines. With a well-established brand, multiple Bitcoin ATMs, solid financial partnerships in the Philippines, MJMI's management is excited about the potential synergies that could result from this relationship. In 2014, according to Focus Economics, remittances to the Philippines hit a record high, exceeding USD 24 Billion, accounting for roughly 8.5% of that country's GDP. Those funds came primarily from overseas workers sending funds home to their families. Traditional remittance companies charge upwards of 8% fees on the total funds being sent, in addition to less than favorable exchange rates and taking up to 3 days to clear for pick up. Using Bitcoin, transfers can be effected in virtually real time at a fraction of the cost to the user. Funds can be sent directly to the recipient's bank account or made available for pick up at a partner location or even via a card-less ATM withdrawal. In a Bitcoin based remittance transaction, an overseas worker would deliver funds to a remittance provider. This service provider would buy Bitcoin on behalf of the customer and then transfer the coins, paying less than 1% to do so, to the selling partner in the recipient country. The selling partner would then sell the Bitcoins and then transfer the funds to the final recipient. Because there is a price difference between the buying and selling of the Bitcoins, it is possible for the two transfer partners to profit sufficiently from the Bitcoin trade to offer the transfer service for a significantly lower fee than any traditional currency (known as FIAT) based remittance service. Story continues Bitcoin therefore offers the potential to completely alter the landscape of worldwide money transfers. The two companies share a vision on the massive opportunities in this space as well as on the future direction of expansion, namely servicing the remittance markets in Mexico and India. In addition, both companies agree that acquiring and operating a Bitcoin exchange would allow the partners to offer a seamless, end to end solution to customers. More sophisticated clients could eventually use their own Bitcoin wallets to move money through a jointly designed system, allowing them to effect transactions from their mobile phone through a licensed and trustworthy remittance system. Peter Janosi, MJMI's president said: "We are very excited to be in advanced discussions with this potential remittance partner. They are at the forefront what we expect will be a massive shift in the way global remittances are effected. Their team shares our view that remittance fees are exorbitantly high and that current providers profit excessively by offering poor, often hidden, exchange rates. We believe that, in this area, Bitcoin has tremendous promise to disrupt a system that unfairly charges high rates to hard working people who have left their families to work overseas in hopes of providing them with a better life. We believe the growth potential in this sector is massive and that we are on the right track in terms of identifying the right partners who share our vision." MJMI is in the business of providing safe and accessible services for the users of Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies. MJMI is currently exploring partnerships with several existing Bitcoin and crypto-currency exchanges as well as manufacturers and operators of Bitcoin ATMs. Such a combination would place the company in an exciting position to offer an end to end solution for trading in various crypto-currencies and potentially capture a share of the lucrative markets of Bitcoin trading and remittance services, just as these markets appear poised to undergo massive growth. About Bitcoin and Crypto-Currencies: Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies are a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure transactions and control the creation of new units. Bitcoin became the first decentralized crypto-currency in 2009. Crypto-currency is produced at a rate which is defined when the system is created and publicly known. By contrast, in centralized banking and economic systems, such as the Federal Reserve System, corporate boards or governments control the supply of currency by printing units or demanding additions to digital banking ledgers. However, neither companies nor governments can produce units of crypto-currency and as such the value of crypto-currencies are completely based on supply and demand, free from any governmental control. Many people believe crypto-currencies, and in particular bitcoin, hold the promise of being the most significant advancement in global finance in modern history. The advent of bitcoin creates a secure, easily accessible and transferable transnational currency that is completely liberated from political influence. Richard Branson, head of the Virgin Group, is quoted on his company's website as saying: "I have invested in Bitcoin because I believe in its potential, the capacity it has to transform global payments is very exciting." Heavyweight investment bank Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), announced on April 30th 2015 that it had partnered with Chinese investment firm IDG Capital partners to invest $50 million in a Bitcoin start-up. Numerous high-profile firms have begun accepting Bitcoin as a payment method including: Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL), Dish Network Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH), Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE), and Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK). MarilynJean Media Interactive is among the first publicly traded companies focused on bitcoin and the crypto-currency space. The company's trading symbol is ( MJMI ). Website: http://www.marilynjean.com/ Press Contact: [email protected] SOURCE: MarilynJean Interactive
[Social Media Buzz]
[Bitcoin] Bitcoin and United States Dollar: 0.0100 BTC = 2.68 USD
1.00 USD = 0.0037 BTCConverter #YAF || 1 #bitcoin = $4380.00 MXN | $266.68 USD #BitAPeso 1 USD = 16.42MXN http://www.bitapeso.com || #RDD / #BTC on the exchanges:
Cryptsy: 0.00000003
Bittrex: 0.00000004
Average $8.0E-6 per #reddcoin
15:00:03 || Current price: 268$ $BTCUSD $btc #bitcoin 2015-10-18 02:00:03 EDT || BTC: $262.00, S: $16.18, G: $1177.95 | Act: 24,213 Open: 3559 BTC: 54,877.7 | Total: $14,388,465 http://goo.gl/U94Tki ...
|
263.44, 269.46, 266.27, 274.02, 276.50, 281.65, 283.68, 285.30, 293.79, 304.62
|
Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 229.71, 229.98, 232.40, 233.54, 236.82, 250.90, 249.28, 249.01, 244.61, 245.21, 243.94, 246.99, 244.30, 240.51, 242.80, 243.59, 250.99, 249.01, 257.06, 263.07, 258.62, 255.41, 256.34, 260.89, 271.91, 269.03, 266.21, 270.79, 269.23, 284.89, 293.11, 310.87, 292.05, 287.46, 285.83, 278.09, 279.47, 274.90, 273.61, 278.98, 275.83, 277.22, 276.05, 288.28, 288.70, 292.69, 293.62, 294.43, 289.59, 287.72, 284.65, 281.60, 282.61, 281.23, 285.22, 281.88, 278.58, 279.58, 261.00, 265.08, 264.47, 270.39, 266.38, 264.08, 265.68, 261.55, 258.51, 257.98, 211.08, 226.68, 235.35, 232.57, 230.39, 228.17, 210.49, 221.61, 225.83, 224.77, 231.40, 229.78, 228.76, 230.06, 228.12, 229.28, 227.18, 230.30, 235.02, 239.84, 239.85, 243.61.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2015-09-08]
Volume: 26879200, RSI (14-day): 53.84, 50-day EMA: 246.64, 200-day EMA: 255.74
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1120.40, Gold RSI: 46.74
Oil Price: 45.94, Oil RSI: 52.57
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
May the force be with you: 2 Star Wars trades: Disney's(NYSE: DIS)stock may have had a rough time recently, but "Fast Money" traders see an opportunity.
Trader Guy Adami said that with the stock down more than 20 percent in the last couple of weeks, the valuation is reasonable. He also has faith the CEOBob Igerwill "figure it out."
"I understand the problems they are having on the cable sides of things, but I also think he's one of the best managers out there. You've got to give him the benefit of the doubt. If the market stabilizes in any way, it goes to $110," he said on Friday.
Trader Steve Grasso is long Disney. "I do believe it's going to work its way up and I do believe they [Disney] are the king of content."
He also said that Netflix(NASDAQ: NFLX)too could benefit from its deal with Disney. "The Netflix deal with Disney kicks in 2016, so they're going to get Star Wars, Marvel and superheroes. There's a lot of content that is going to save both stocks," he said.
Read MoreWhy it might not be time to dump Disney shares
Trader Brian Kelley said that Disney is a place to buy when the market gets stronger. "You have a great risk-to-reward ratio. You could get it up to $115. Disney is where you look when the market starts to rip," he said.
Disclosures:
STEVE GRASSO
Steve is long AAPL, BA, BAC, CC, DD, DIS, DECK, EVGN, FIT, KBH, MJNA, MU, PFE, PHM, T, TWTR, GDX, firm is long MAT, MCD His kids own EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY.
BRIAN KELLY
Brian Kelly is long BBRY, TWTR calls, Bitcoin, U.S. Dollar; he is short British Pound, Euro, Ruble, Yen, Yuan, US Treasuries.
GUY ADAMI
Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
More From CNBC
• Top News and Analysis
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• Personal Finance || May the force be with you: 2 Star Wars trades: Disney's (NYSE: DIS) stock may have had a rough time recently, but " Fast Money " traders see an opportunity. Trader Guy Adami said that with the stock down more than 20 percent in the last couple of weeks, the valuation is reasonable. He also has faith the CEO Bob Iger will "figure it out." "I understand the problems they are having on the cable sides of things, but I also think he's one of the best managers out there. You've got to give him the benefit of the doubt. If the market stabilizes in any way, it goes to $110," he said on Friday. Trader Steve Grasso is long Disney. "I do believe it's going to work its way up and I do believe they [Disney] are the king of content." He also said that Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) too could benefit from its deal with Disney. "The Netflix deal with Disney kicks in 2016, so they're going to get Star Wars, Marvel and superheroes. There's a lot of content that is going to save both stocks," he said. Read More Why it might not be time to dump Disney shares Trader Brian Kelley said that Disney is a place to buy when the market gets stronger. "You have a great risk-to-reward ratio. You could get it up to $115. Disney is where you look when the market starts to rip," he said. Disclosures: STEVE GRASSO Steve is long AAPL, BA, BAC, CC, DD, DIS, DECK, EVGN, FIT, KBH, MJNA, MU, PFE, PHM, T, TWTR, GDX, firm is long MAT, MCD His kids own EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY. BRIAN KELLY Brian Kelly is long BBRY, TWTR calls, Bitcoin, U.S. Dollar; he is short British Pound, Euro, Ruble, Yen, Yuan, US Treasuries. GUY ADAMI Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck. More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance View comments || Buying the dip? Consider these 5 stocks: Amid increased market volatility, investors looking for value should keep their eyes on five stocks trading at a discount, CNBC's "Fast Money" pros said.
Microsoft(NASDAQ: MSFT)has traded between $40 and $50 a share over the last year. "I think you probably buy it at $40 and sell it at $50," Dan Nathan said.
"There's been a premium built in to Microsoft over the last year since Nadella took over," he said. Nathan noted that there's a lot to be optimistic about, but urged investors to be mindful that it is tied to the turbulent PC market.
Tim Seymour said he sees upside potential in the aerospace products manufacture United Technologies(NYSE: UTX). "Granted China could get worse... but I think these guys are turning the ship after what was a selloff that was even kind of pre-China," he said.
But if you really want to know when the China-driven selloff is over, keep an eye on Apple(NASDAQ: AAPL).
Once investors start pilling in on Apple, it means they "fundamentally believe that maybe iPhones are going to surprise," to the upside because everyone has factored in that China, where the iPhone gets most of its profit from, is really hitting a wall, Steve Grasso said.
"Maybe they will surprise us. Maybe it's not the watch, maybe it's Apple T.V. as people are suspecting. ... But if the story has fundamentally changed than you just gotta sell Apple and I don't think we're there yet," he added.
Brian Kelly is betting on Goldman Sachs(NYSE: GS)to weather the current market storm because "they are gonna be the ones to benefit from this market volatility. "On this list, Goldman Sachs is the way to do it, at least, for the next couple of months," he said.
Cisco(NASDAQ: CSCO)is a Dow stock that you buy at a discount, while it's near 52-week lows, Brian Kelly said.
"Here is a Dow stock that trades at 10.5 times next year's expected earnings [with a] 3.25 percent dividend yield [and] half that market cap is in cash here," Kelly said, citing the company's recent management changes as additional tailwinds.
Disclosures:
Tim Seymour
Tim Seymour is long AAPL, T, BAC, DIS, F, GE, GM, GOOGL, INTC, JPM, TWTR, Tim's firm is long BABA, BIDU, MCD, NKE, NOK, SBUX, YHOO.
Dan Nathan
Dan is long QQQ Oct put spread, XBI sept put spread, TWTR, PG.
Brian Kelly
Brian Kelly is long BBRY, TWTR calls, Bitcoin, U.S. Dollar; he is short British Pound, Euro, Ruble, Yen, Yuan, US Treasurys.
Steve Grasso
Steve is long AAPL, BA, BAC, CC, DD, DIS, DECK, EVGN, FIT, KBH, MJNA, MU, PFE, PHM, T, TWTR, GDX, firm is long BP, COP, CVX, FCX, OXY, RIG, AMZN, MAT His kids own EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY.
More From CNBC
• Top News and Analysis
• Latest News Video
• Personal Finance || Buying the dip? Consider these 5 stocks: Amid increased market volatility, investors looking for value should keep their eyes on five stocks trading at a discount, CNBC's "Fast Money" pros said. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has traded between $40 and $50 a share over the last year. "I think you probably buy it at $40 and sell it at $50," Dan Nathan said. "There's been a premium built in to Microsoft over the last year since Nadella took over," he said. Nathan noted that there's a lot to be optimistic about, but urged investors to be mindful that it is tied to the turbulent PC market. Tim Seymour said he sees upside potential in the aerospace products manufacture United Technologies (NYSE: UTX) . "Granted China could get worse... but I think these guys are turning the ship after what was a selloff that was even kind of pre-China," he said. But if you really want to know when the China-driven selloff is over, keep an eye on Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) . Once investors start pilling in on Apple, it means they "fundamentally believe that maybe iPhones are going to surprise," to the upside because everyone has factored in that China, where the iPhone gets most of its profit from, is really hitting a wall, Steve Grasso said. "Maybe they will surprise us. Maybe it's not the watch, maybe it's Apple T.V. as people are suspecting. ... But if the story has fundamentally changed than you just gotta sell Apple and I don't think we're there yet," he added. Brian Kelly is betting on Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) to weather the current market storm because "they are gonna be the ones to benefit from this market volatility. "On this list, Goldman Sachs is the way to do it, at least, for the next couple of months," he said. Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is a Dow stock that you buy at a discount, while it's near 52-week lows, Brian Kelly said. "Here is a Dow stock that trades at 10.5 times next year's expected earnings [with a] 3.25 percent dividend yield [and] half that market cap is in cash here," Kelly said, citing the company's recent management changes as additional tailwinds. Story continues Disclosures: Tim Seymour Tim Seymour is long AAPL, T, BAC, DIS, F, GE, GM, GOOGL, INTC, JPM, TWTR, Tim's firm is long BABA, BIDU, MCD, NKE, NOK, SBUX, YHOO. Dan Nathan Dan is long QQQ Oct put spread, XBI sept put spread, TWTR, PG. Brian Kelly Brian Kelly is long BBRY, TWTR calls, Bitcoin, U.S. Dollar; he is short British Pound, Euro, Ruble, Yen, Yuan, US Treasurys. Steve Grasso Steve is long AAPL, BA, BAC, CC, DD, DIS, DECK, EVGN, FIT, KBH, MJNA, MU, PFE, PHM, T, TWTR, GDX, firm is long BP, COP, CVX, FCX, OXY, RIG, AMZN, MAT His kids own EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY. More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || itBit hires former NY financial regulator's general counsel: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin exchange itBit has hired Daniel Alter as the company's new general counsel and chief compliance officer, the firm announced on Wednesday. Alter, who spent three years as general counsel to the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS), said there was no impropriety in his employment at itBit. "The New York State Public Officers law requires that I have a two-year recusal before I can appear before the New York Department of Financial Services on behalf of the company," said Alter, who left the DFS in mid-February and joined itBit last week. "And it will certainly apply to itBit. I will not step near or have any communications with the New York Department of Financial Services. Those will be handled by outside counsel or qualified compliance people within the company," added Alter, who is also an adjunct professor of law at New York University School of Law. In June, Benjamin Lawsky, former superintendent of the New York DFS also left the agency to form his own consulting firm that will advise companies on regulation and other matters. Lawsky was widely criticized by the bitcoin community that he may have generated consulting work for himself by issuing controversial regulations for virtual currency firms before he left his post. itBit also announced the appointment of Kim Petry as the company's chief financial officer. Petry joins itBit from her post as CFO of global operations and technology at Broadridge Financial. Prior to Broadridge, Petry served as the CFO and vice president of global commercial/corporate card payment at American Express Co. itBit's new appointments are the latest in a series of high-profile additions to the company's leadership team. Sheila Bair, former chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Company, Senator Bill Bradley, and Robert Herz, former chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, joined itBit's Board of Directors in May this year. The New York-based exchange was recently granted a trust charter by the DFS. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Diane Craft) || itBit hires former NY financial regulator's general counsel: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin exchange itBit has hired Daniel Alter as the company's new general counsel and chief compliance officer, the firm announced on Wednesday. Alter, who spent three years as general counsel to the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS), said there was no impropriety in his employment at itBit. "The New York State Public Officers law requires that I have a two-year recusal before I can appear before the New York Department of Financial Services on behalf of the company," said Alter, who left the DFS in mid-February and joined itBit last week. "And it will certainly apply to itBit. I will not step near or have any communications with the New York Department of Financial Services. Those will be handled by outside counsel or qualified compliance people within the company," added Alter, who is also an adjunct professor of law at New York University School of Law. In June, Benjamin Lawsky, former superintendent of the New York DFS also left the agency to form his own consulting firm that will advise companies on regulation and other matters. Lawsky was widely criticized by the bitcoin community that he may have generated consulting work for himself by issuing controversial regulations for virtual currency firms before he left his post. itBit also announced the appointment of Kim Petry as the company's chief financial officer. Petry joins itBit from her post as CFO of global operations and technology at Broadridge Financial. Prior to Broadridge, Petry served as the CFO and vice president of global commercial/corporate card payment at American Express Co. itBit's new appointments are the latest in a series of high-profile additions to the company's leadership team. Sheila Bair, former chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Company, Senator Bill Bradley, and Robert Herz, former chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, joined itBit's Board of Directors in May this year. The New York-based exchange was recently granted a trust charter by the DFS. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Diane Craft) || Bitcoin Driven HashingSpace Launches HashScanner to Maximize Bitcoin Payouts: HashingSpace Corporation (HSHS) Announced Today That It Has Launched a New Service, HashScanner, to Maximize Bitcoin Mining Capabilities. HashingSpace's Mission Is to Build out Key Infrastructure for the Global Adoption of Bitcoin and Blockchain Services with Hosted ASIC Mining
WENATCHEE, WA / ACCESSWIRE /September 1, 2015 /HashingSpace Corporation (OTCQB: HSHS), a Bitcoin ASIC mining and hosting company, announced today that the company has made available HashScanner, a proprietary service to maximize Bitcoin payouts for HashingSpace miners.
The new service allows miners to scan P2Pools to see which has the lowest latency. It also shows pools score, efficiencies, uptime, location, fees, hash rate and version number. This free service shows how HASHPOOL ranks with HashingSpace's 13 nodes located across the world. Our HashPool.com mining pools are GEO-IP load balanced through DNS to allow mining pools one address, which load balances and fails over for all of our the nodes. We also allow for individual node access.
"We are excited to bring to the Bitcoin marketplace this free HashScanner service. We feel it is well designed and user friendly. It is a definitive source for the highest paying p2pool mining pools. This allows our customers to maximize their mining capabilities and increase their profits and shows how HashPool ranks among the P2Pools," stated Timothy Roberts, CEO of HashingSpace Corporation. "This completes another goal of ours to provide intuitive, convenient, robust and secure bitcoin solutions to the Bitcoin community."
HashScanner can be accessed atwww.hashscanner.comand also through the HashingSpace mining portal atwww.hashpool.com.
HashingSpace Corporation's business will provide a wide range of services to include:
FORTRESS ONE HOSTING:Tier 3+ Enterprise Class, Green High Intensity Hosting for Blockchain
CRYPTOHASH HOSTING:Tier 1 Green High Intensity Hosting for Crypto Currency ASIC Mining
CLOUDHASH:Cloud mining servers that can be rented with full hashing power
HASHMINING:Our own Mining Farm
HASHATM:Owner and operator of Bitcoin ATM machines
HASHWALLET:Bitcoin consumer wallet for bitcoin banking and transactions
HASHPOOL:Public Stratum and P2Pool (Web/IOS/Droid)
HASHTICKER:Free Ticker for tracking Bitcoin Value (Screen Saver/Web/IOS/Droid)
HASHVAR:A wholesaler of Bitcoin servers and Bitcoin ATM machines
All company information, including stock trading, filings, and market data related to the company, is reported under the ticker symbol, HSHS.
About HashingSpace Corporation
HashingSpace Corporation is a Bitcoin ASIC mining company, hosting provider, and service provider of blockchain transactional services. HashingSpace's high density datacenters are designed to meet the demanding power and cooling needs of client hosted Bitcoin mining gear with unparalleled pricing, cooling and green energy. The Corporation is continuing to expand its datacenters to satisfy the shortage of low cost hosting facilities catering to the Bitcoin and blockchain mining and transactional verification services industry specifically.
HashingSpace Corporation manages HashWallet, a Bitcoin wallet; HashPool, a Bitcoin mining pool; and HashATM, the owner and operator of Bitcoin ATM machines. The company is a wholesaler of Bitcoin mining servers and Bitcoin ATM machines. Bitcoin businesses interested in reselling HashingSpace products and services are invited to reach out to HashingSpace Corporation for more information.
HashingSpace Corporation is headquartered in Wenatchee, Washington. For more information, visitwww.hashingspace.com.
Any unreleased services or features referenced in this or other press releases or public statements may not be currently available and may not be delivered on time or at all. Customers who purchase HashingSpace services should make their purchase decisions based upon features currently available. For more information please visithttp://www.hashingspace.comor call 1-855-HASHING (427-4464).
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements are based on the current plans and expectations of management and are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks that could significantly affect the Company's current plans and expectations, as well as future results of operations and financial condition. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Company Contact:
HashingSpace Corporation5042 Wilshire Blvd. #26900Los Angeles, CA, 90036855-HASHING (427-4464)Investor Relations:[email protected]
SOURCE:HashingSpace Corporation || Bitcoin Driven HashingSpace Launches HashScanner to Maximize Bitcoin Payouts: HashingSpace Corporation (HSHS) Announced Today That It Has Launched a New Service, HashScanner, to Maximize Bitcoin Mining Capabilities. HashingSpace's Mission Is to Build out Key Infrastructure for the Global Adoption of Bitcoin and Blockchain Services with Hosted ASIC Mining
WENATCHEE, WA / ACCESSWIRE /September 1, 2015 /HashingSpace Corporation (OTCQB: HSHS), a Bitcoin ASIC mining and hosting company, announced today that the company has made available HashScanner, a proprietary service to maximize Bitcoin payouts for HashingSpace miners.
The new service allows miners to scan P2Pools to see which has the lowest latency. It also shows pools score, efficiencies, uptime, location, fees, hash rate and version number. This free service shows how HASHPOOL ranks with HashingSpace's 13 nodes located across the world. Our HashPool.com mining pools are GEO-IP load balanced through DNS to allow mining pools one address, which load balances and fails over for all of our the nodes. We also allow for individual node access.
"We are excited to bring to the Bitcoin marketplace this free HashScanner service. We feel it is well designed and user friendly. It is a definitive source for the highest paying p2pool mining pools. This allows our customers to maximize their mining capabilities and increase their profits and shows how HashPool ranks among the P2Pools," stated Timothy Roberts, CEO of HashingSpace Corporation. "This completes another goal of ours to provide intuitive, convenient, robust and secure bitcoin solutions to the Bitcoin community."
HashScanner can be accessed atwww.hashscanner.comand also through the HashingSpace mining portal atwww.hashpool.com.
HashingSpace Corporation's business will provide a wide range of services to include:
FORTRESS ONE HOSTING:Tier 3+ Enterprise Class, Green High Intensity Hosting for Blockchain
CRYPTOHASH HOSTING:Tier 1 Green High Intensity Hosting for Crypto Currency ASIC Mining
CLOUDHASH:Cloud mining servers that can be rented with full hashing power
HASHMINING:Our own Mining Farm
HASHATM:Owner and operator of Bitcoin ATM machines
HASHWALLET:Bitcoin consumer wallet for bitcoin banking and transactions
HASHPOOL:Public Stratum and P2Pool (Web/IOS/Droid)
HASHTICKER:Free Ticker for tracking Bitcoin Value (Screen Saver/Web/IOS/Droid)
HASHVAR:A wholesaler of Bitcoin servers and Bitcoin ATM machines
All company information, including stock trading, filings, and market data related to the company, is reported under the ticker symbol, HSHS.
About HashingSpace Corporation
HashingSpace Corporation is a Bitcoin ASIC mining company, hosting provider, and service provider of blockchain transactional services. HashingSpace's high density datacenters are designed to meet the demanding power and cooling needs of client hosted Bitcoin mining gear with unparalleled pricing, cooling and green energy. The Corporation is continuing to expand its datacenters to satisfy the shortage of low cost hosting facilities catering to the Bitcoin and blockchain mining and transactional verification services industry specifically.
HashingSpace Corporation manages HashWallet, a Bitcoin wallet; HashPool, a Bitcoin mining pool; and HashATM, the owner and operator of Bitcoin ATM machines. The company is a wholesaler of Bitcoin mining servers and Bitcoin ATM machines. Bitcoin businesses interested in reselling HashingSpace products and services are invited to reach out to HashingSpace Corporation for more information.
HashingSpace Corporation is headquartered in Wenatchee, Washington. For more information, visitwww.hashingspace.com.
Any unreleased services or features referenced in this or other press releases or public statements may not be currently available and may not be delivered on time or at all. Customers who purchase HashingSpace services should make their purchase decisions based upon features currently available. For more information please visithttp://www.hashingspace.comor call 1-855-HASHING (427-4464).
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements are based on the current plans and expectations of management and are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks that could significantly affect the Company's current plans and expectations, as well as future results of operations and financial condition. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Company Contact:
HashingSpace Corporation5042 Wilshire Blvd. #26900Los Angeles, CA, 90036855-HASHING (427-4464)Investor Relations:[email protected]
SOURCE:HashingSpace Corporation || Bitcoin Driven HashingSpace Launches HashScanner to Maximize Bitcoin Payouts: HashingSpace Corporation ( HSHS ) Announced Today That It Has Launched a New Service, HashScanner, to Maximize Bitcoin Mining Capabilities. HashingSpace's Mission Is to Build out Key Infrastructure for the Global Adoption of Bitcoin and Blockchain Services with Hosted ASIC Mining WENATCHEE, WA / ACCESSWIRE / September 1, 2015 / HashingSpace Corporation ( OTCQB: HSHS ), a Bitcoin ASIC mining and hosting company, announced today that the company has made available HashScanner, a proprietary service to maximize Bitcoin payouts for HashingSpace miners. The new service allows miners to scan P2Pools to see which has the lowest latency. It also shows pools score, efficiencies, uptime, location, fees, hash rate and version number. This free service shows how HASHPOOL ranks with HashingSpace's 13 nodes located across the world. Our HashPool.com mining pools are GEO-IP load balanced through DNS to allow mining pools one address, which load balances and fails over for all of our the nodes. We also allow for individual node access. "We are excited to bring to the Bitcoin marketplace this free HashScanner service. We feel it is well designed and user friendly. It is a definitive source for the highest paying p2pool mining pools. This allows our customers to maximize their mining capabilities and increase their profits and shows how HashPool ranks among the P2Pools," stated Timothy Roberts, CEO of HashingSpace Corporation. "This completes another goal of ours to provide intuitive, convenient, robust and secure bitcoin solutions to the Bitcoin community." HashScanner can be accessed at www.hashscanner.com and also through the HashingSpace mining portal at www.hashpool.com . HashingSpace Corporation's business will provide a wide range of services to include: FORTRESS ONE HOSTING: Tier 3+ Enterprise Class, Green High Intensity Hosting for Blockchain CRYPTOHASH HOSTING: Tier 1 Green High Intensity Hosting for Crypto Currency ASIC Mining CLOUDHASH: Cloud mining servers that can be rented with full hashing power Story continues HASHMINING: Our own Mining Farm HASHATM: Owner and operator of Bitcoin ATM machines HASHWALLET: Bitcoin consumer wallet for bitcoin banking and transactions HASHPOOL: Public Stratum and P2Pool (Web/IOS/Droid) HASHTICKER: Free Ticker for tracking Bitcoin Value (Screen Saver/Web/IOS/Droid) HASHVAR: A wholesaler of Bitcoin servers and Bitcoin ATM machines All company information, including stock trading, filings, and market data related to the company, is reported under the ticker symbol, HSHS. About HashingSpace Corporation HashingSpace Corporation is a Bitcoin ASIC mining company, hosting provider, and service provider of blockchain transactional services. HashingSpace's high density datacenters are designed to meet the demanding power and cooling needs of client hosted Bitcoin mining gear with unparalleled pricing, cooling and green energy. The Corporation is continuing to expand its datacenters to satisfy the shortage of low cost hosting facilities catering to the Bitcoin and blockchain mining and transactional verification services industry specifically. HashingSpace Corporation manages HashWallet, a Bitcoin wallet; HashPool, a Bitcoin mining pool; and HashATM, the owner and operator of Bitcoin ATM machines. The company is a wholesaler of Bitcoin mining servers and Bitcoin ATM machines. Bitcoin businesses interested in reselling HashingSpace products and services are invited to reach out to HashingSpace Corporation for more information. HashingSpace Corporation is headquartered in Wenatchee, Washington. For more information, visit www.hashingspace.com . Any unreleased services or features referenced in this or other press releases or public statements may not be currently available and may not be delivered on time or at all. Customers who purchase HashingSpace services should make their purchase decisions based upon features currently available. For more information please visit http://www.hashingspace.com or call 1-855-HASHING (427-4464). Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements are based on the current plans and expectations of management and are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks that could significantly affect the Company's current plans and expectations, as well as future results of operations and financial condition. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Company Contact: HashingSpace Corporation 5042 Wilshire Blvd. #26900 Los Angeles, CA, 90036 855-HASHING (427-4464) Investor Relations: [email protected] SOURCE: HashingSpace Corporation || Organic Food Goes Mainstream: Consumer preferences have shifted significantly over the past few years as more and more people opt for all-natural, healthy food options. Healthy food used to make up just a small isle of little known brands in the supermarket, but the niche has made its way into popular culture and now even big brands are hopping on the organic food bandwagon. Supermarkets Whole Foods Market (NASDAQ: WFM ) is a heavy-hitter when it comes to the natural foods space. The company has grown into a well known brand where health nuts pay a premium for the best ingredients and most natural foods. However, as interest in health foods grew, so did the number of competitors. Other specialty grocers like Sprouts (NASDAQ: SFM ) and Natural Grocers (NYSE: NGVC ) are expanding quickly and looking to increase their slice of the organic pie. New Entrants While new entrants in the organic foods business used to be mom and pop businesses that were working their way up, today's natural foods isle is filled with products backed by big name companies who are shifting their approach in order to attract health-conscious consumers. Tyson Foods (NYSE: TSN ) promised to stop using chicken that had been treated with antibiotics and Kraft Foods (NASDAQ: KRFT ) has removed artificial dyes from its well-known Mac & Cheese in an effort to appeal to the organic-obsessed public. Bigger Not Always Better However, the big brands aren't always able to appeal to health nuts the way smaller brands are. After Kellogg Company (NYSE: K ) acquired the Kashi brand in 2000, the healthy cereal maker went steadily downhill. Customers discovered that Kellogg was using genetically modified ingredients and a social media campaign against the brand ensued. Now, Kellogg is working to restore Kashi's image with innovative new cereals and a new marketing approach, but it is likely to be a rocky road back into consumers' good graces. See more from Benzinga Is NASDAQ Going Green? Cybersecurity Becomes An Even Bigger Problem For U.S. Firms New Dictionary Entries Suggest Bitcoin Is Going Mainstream © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Organic Food Goes Mainstream: Consumer preferences have shifted significantly over the past few years as more and more people opt for all-natural, healthy food options.
Healthy food used to make up just a small isle of little known brands in the supermarket, but the niche has made its way into popular culture and now even big brands are hopping on the organic food bandwagon.
Supermarkets
Whole Foods Market(NASDAQ:WFM) is a heavy-hitter when it comes to the natural foods space. The company has grown into a well known brand where health nuts pay a premium for the best ingredients and most natural foods. However, as interest in health foods grew, so did the number of competitors.
Other specialty grocers likeSprouts(NASDAQ:SFM) andNatural Grocers(NYSE:NGVC) are expanding quickly and looking to increase their slice of the organic pie.
New Entrants
While new entrants in the organic foods business used to be mom and pop businesses that were working their way up, today's natural foods isle is filled with products backed by big name companies who are shifting their approach in order to attract health-conscious consumers.
Tyson Foods(NYSE:TSN) promised to stop using chicken that had been treated with antibiotics andKraft Foods(NASDAQ:KRFT) has removed artificial dyes from its well-known Mac & Cheese in an effort to appeal to the organic-obsessed public.
Bigger Not Always Better
However, the big brands aren't always able to appeal to health nuts the way smaller brands are. AfterKellogg Company(NYSE:K) acquired the Kashi brand in 2000, the healthy cereal maker went steadily downhill.
Customers discovered that Kellogg was using genetically modified ingredients and a social media campaign against the brand ensued. Now, Kellogg isworking to restoreKashi's image with innovative new cereals and a new marketing approach, but it is likely to be a rocky road back into consumers' good graces.
See more from Benzinga
• Is NASDAQ Going Green?
• Cybersecurity Becomes An Even Bigger Problem For U.S. Firms
• New Dictionary Entries Suggest Bitcoin Is Going Mainstream
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Is NASDAQ Going Green?: On Monday, the marijuana-themed networking company MassRoots Inc (OTC: MSRT ) announced its plans to become the first cannabis-based company to be listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market. The company has been listed OTC since April 2015, but if it is accepted by Nasdaq, it will mark a major milestone for the company's growth. Marijuana Network MassRoots is a social networking app that connects marijuana users to industry participants like dispensaries and pot-themed companies. As the app itself doesn't handle any marijuana or facilitate sales directly, it can be used throughout the U.S., even in states where marijuana use is still illegal. Big Opportunity MassRoots Chief Executive Officer Isaac Dietrich said that the company's move onto a major market like the NASDAQ will likely help attract new investors and mark a huge step forward for both the company and the marijuana industry as a whole. In order to comply with NASDAQ's requirements MassRoots is planning to strengthen its corporate governance and take other steps in order to ensure it meets all of the criteria. However, even if the company is able to fulfill the requirements, there is no guarantee that the its application will be accepted. Investors Interested In Pot? It remains unknown how well MassRoots would be received by investors. On one hand, MassRoots would be the first company whose operations are directly linked to recreational marijuana use. While companies like GW Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: GWPH ) are already listed on the exchange, their research explores using elements from cannabis to create new medical treatments. MassRoots, appeals to recreational users and gives investors a chance to invest in technology which may grow alongside the industry. However, some could be wary of marijuana-linked investments as the industry's future is still uncertain as conflicting federal and state laws allow for the marijuana market to be shut down at any time. See more from Benzinga Cybersecurity Becomes An Even Bigger Problem For U.S. Firms New Dictionary Entries Suggest Bitcoin Is Going Mainstream Where Is The Market Headed? © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Is NASDAQ Going Green?: On Monday, the marijuana-themed networking companyMassRoots Inc(OTC:MSRT) announced its plans to become thefirst cannabis-based companyto be listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market.
The company has been listed OTC since April 2015, but if it is accepted by Nasdaq, it will mark a major milestone for the company's growth.
Marijuana Network
MassRoots is a social networking app that connects marijuana users to industry participants like dispensaries and pot-themed companies. As the app itself doesn't handle any marijuana or facilitate sales directly, it can be used throughout the U.S., even in states where marijuana use is still illegal.
Big Opportunity
MassRoots Chief Executive Officer Isaac Dietrich said that the company's move onto a major market like the NASDAQ will likely help attract new investors and mark a huge step forward for both the company and the marijuana industry as a whole.
In order to comply with NASDAQ's requirements MassRoots is planning to strengthen its corporate governance and take other steps in order to ensure it meets all of the criteria.
However, even if the company is able to fulfill the requirements, there is no guarantee that the its application will be accepted.
Investors Interested In Pot?
It remains unknown how well MassRoots would be received by investors. On one hand, MassRoots would be the first company whose operations are directly linked to recreational marijuana use.
While companies likeGW Pharmaceuticals(NASDAQ:GWPH) are already listed on the exchange, their research explores using elements from cannabis to create new medical treatments. MassRoots, appeals to recreational users and gives investors a chance to invest in technology which may grow alongside the industry.
However, some could be wary of marijuana-linked investments as the industry's future is still uncertain as conflicting federal and state laws allow for the marijuana market to be shut down at any time.
See more from Benzinga
• Cybersecurity Becomes An Even Bigger Problem For U.S. Firms
• New Dictionary Entries Suggest Bitcoin Is Going Mainstream
• Where Is The Market Headed?
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
[Social Media Buzz]
1 #bitcoin = $4150.00 MXN | $245.612996774 USD #BitAPeso | 1 USD = 16.8965MXN http://www.bitapeso.com || Current price: 219.28€ $BTCEUR $btc #bitcoin 2015-09-08 23:00:02 CEST || USD $:
BTC_e:6.80
Hitbtc:255.49
Kraken:242.56
ANX:243.07
Bitcoin_de:220.00
ItBit:242.58
Local:427.02
TheRock:242.77 || Current price: 159.27£ $BTCGBP $btc #bitcoin 2015-09-08 18:00:03 BST || #RDD / #BTC on the exchanges:
Cryptsy: Error
Bittrex: 0.00000005
Average $1.2E-5 per #reddcoin
02:00:03 || USD $:
BTC_e:6.80
Hitbt...
|
238.17, 238.48, 240.11, 235.23, 230.51, 230.64, 230.30, 229.09, 229.81, 232.98
|
Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 5247.35, 5350.73, 5402.70, 5505.28, 5768.29, 5831.17, 5795.71, 5746.81, 5829.50, 5982.46, 6174.53, 6378.85, 7204.77, 6972.37, 7814.92, 7994.42, 8205.17, 7884.91, 7343.90, 7271.21, 8197.69, 7978.31, 7963.33, 7680.07, 7881.85, 7987.37, 8052.54, 8673.22, 8805.78, 8719.96, 8659.49, 8319.47, 8574.50, 8564.02, 8742.96, 8209.00, 7707.77, 7824.23, 7822.02, 8043.95, 7954.13, 7688.08, 8000.33, 7927.71, 8145.86, 8230.92, 8693.83, 8838.38, 8994.49, 9320.35, 9081.76, 9273.52, 9527.16, 10144.56, 10701.69, 10855.37, 11011.10, 11790.92, 13016.23, 11182.81, 12407.33, 11959.37, 10817.16, 10583.13, 10801.68, 11961.27, 11215.44, 10978.46, 11208.55, 11450.85, 12285.96, 12573.81, 12156.51, 11358.66, 11815.99, 11392.38, 10256.06, 10895.09, 9477.64, 9693.80, 10666.48, 10530.73, 10767.14, 10599.11, 10343.11, 9900.77, 9811.93, 9911.84, 9870.30, 9477.68.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2019-07-27]
Volume: 16817809536, RSI (14-day): 41.48, 50-day EMA: 10068.83, 200-day EMA: 7540.25
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Bill Miller's Hedge Fund Soars 46% -- His Largest Holdings: Bill Miller, who once beat the S&P 500 index for 15 consecutive years, has seen his hedge fund soar 46% in the first half, Bloomberg reported this week. The hedge fund he founded about three years ago made most of the returns on investments in bitcoin (BTC). The cryptocurrency surged about 205% in the first half of the year. Miller, a bitcoin enthusiast, is also the founder and chief investment officer of Acunari, an international investment company focused on the currency, which it calls "digital gold." The hedge fund's other largest positions were Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), ADT (NYSE:ADT) and Avon Products (NYSE:AVP), Bloomberg reported. In addition to his hedge fund, Miller manages mutual funds at his firm, Miller Value Partners ( Trades , Portfolio ), which he founded after leaving Legg Mason Capital Management in 2016. The contrarian firm seeks mispriced stocks and holds for the long term. In early July, Miller alluded to Warren Buffett ( Trades , Portfolio )'s comments at the Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A)(NYSE:BRK.B) when he said "stocks are very cheap compared to bonds." "The best reaction to Fed rate cuts would be a steadily rising 10-year yield which would signal both expectations of faster growth but also inflation that was headed in the direction of the Fed's long-held target of 2%. A steepening yield curve would be quite bullish for equities," he wrote in a second-quarter letter. "The path of least resistance for stocks remains higher." Year-to-date, 12 out of Miller Value Partner's 13 largest positions have positive returns. The best performer, sixth-largest position Avon Products Inc. (NYSE:AVP), soared 152.6%. His five largest positions are: Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Bausch Health Companies Inc. (NYSE:BHC), OneMain Holdings Inc. (NYSE:OMF), RH (NYSE:RH) and Brighthouse Financial Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF). Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) Year to date, Amazon.com Inc. has gained 31.4%. Miller Value Partners ( Trades , Portfolio ) held 76,736 shares of Amazon.com Inc., giving it 5.45% equity portfolio weight. He incrementally reduced the position over most quarters since the second of 2017. Amazon.com Inc. has a market cap of $956.63 billion; its shares were traded around $1,943.05 Friday with a price-earnings ratio of 81.11 and price-sales ratio of 4.01. Amazon.com Inc. had an annual average earnings growth of 33.8% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Amazon.com Inc. the business predictability rank of 4-star. Bausch Health Companies Inc. (NYSE:BHC) Formerly Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Bausch Health Companies returned 27.3% year to date. At first quarter-end, Miller Value Partners (Trades, Portfolio) held 4,773,149 shares of the company after trimming the position by about 3% over the past two quarters. The holding represents 4.7% of the equity portfolio. Story continues Bausch Health Companies Inc. has a market cap of $8.4 billion; its shares were traded around $23.81 Friday with and price-sales ratio of 1.02. Bausch Health Companies Inc. had an annual average earnings growth of 17.5% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Bausch Health Companies Inc. the business predictability rank of 3.5-star. OneMain Holdings Inc. (NYSE:OMF) Year to date, OneMain Holdings Inc. rose 47.2%. At first quarter-end, Miller Value Partners (Trades, Portfolio) held 3,176,760 shares of the company after reducing it by 0.31% during the quarter. The holding represents 4.02% of the equity portfolio. OneMain Holdings Inc. has a market cap of $4.9 billion; its shares were traded around $35.98 Friday with a price-earnings ratio of 10.26 and price-sales ratio of 1.34. The trailing 12-month dividend yield of OneMain Holdings Inc. is 1.40%. The forward dividend yield of OneMain Holdings Inc. is 2.84%. RH (NYSE:RH) Shares of RH rose 6.7% year to date. At first quarter-end, Miller Value Partners (Trades, Portfolio) held 922,210 shares of the company after reducing the position every quarter since the second of 2017. The holding represents 3.79% of the equity portfolio. RH has a market cap of $2.4 billion; its shares were traded around $130.78 Friday with a price-earnings ratio of 21.85 and price-sales ratio of 1.37. RH had an annual average earnings growth of 26% over the past five years. Brighthouse Financial Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF) Brighthouse Financial shares gained 26.5% year to date. Miller Value Partners (Trades, Portfolio) held 2,286,555 shares of the company after more than doubling the holding since the third quarter of 2018. The holding represents 3.31% of the equity portfolio. Brighthouse Financial Inc. has a market cap of $4.55 billion; its shares were traded around $39.30 Friday with a price-earnings ratio of 25.28 and price-sales ratio of 0.60. See Bill Miller's Miller Value Partners (Trades, Portfolio) portfolio here. Read more here: Buffett's Amazon Drops on Missed Earnings Carl Icahn Says Buffett Took Occidental 'To the Cleaners' With Deal Hedge Fund Assets Hit Record in 2nd Quarter Not a Premium Member of GuruFocus? Sign up for a free 7-day trial here. This article first appeared on GuruFocus . Warning! GuruFocus has detected 5 Warning Signs with FGEN. Click here to check it out. BTC 15-Year Financial Data The intrinsic value of BTC Peter Lynch Chart of BTC View comments || Bill Miller's Hedge Fund Soars 46% -- His Largest Holdings: Bill Miller, who once beat the S&P 500 index for 15 consecutive years, has seen his hedge fund soar 46% in the first half, Bloomberg reported this week.
The hedge fund he founded about three years ago made most of the returns on investments in bitcoin (BTC). The cryptocurrency surged about 205% in the first half of the year. Miller, a bitcoin enthusiast, is also the founder and chief investment officer of Acunari, an international investment company focused on the currency, which it calls "digital gold."
The hedge fund's other largest positions were Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), ADT (NYSE:ADT) and Avon Products (NYSE:AVP), Bloomberg reported.
In addition to his hedge fund, Miller manages mutual funds at his firm, MillerValue Partners(Trades,Portfolio), which he founded after leaving Legg Mason Capital Management in 2016. The contrarian firm seeks mispriced stocks and holds for the long term.
In early July, Miller alluded toWarren Buffett(Trades,Portfolio)'s comments at the Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A)(NYSE:BRK.B) when he said "stocks are very cheap compared to bonds."
"The best reaction to Fed rate cuts would be a steadily rising 10-year yield which would signal both expectations of faster growth but also inflation that was headed in the direction of the Fed's long-held target of 2%. A steepening yield curve would be quite bullish for equities," he wrote in a second-quarter letter. "The path of least resistance for stocks remains higher."
Year-to-date, 12 out of Miller Value Partner's 13 largest positions have positive returns. The best performer, sixth-largest position Avon Products Inc. (NYSE:AVP), soared 152.6%. His five largest positions are: Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Bausch Health Companies Inc. (NYSE:BHC), OneMain Holdings Inc. (NYSE:OMF), RH (NYSE:RH) and Brighthouse Financial Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF).
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Year to date, Amazon.com Inc. has gained 31.4%. MillerValue Partners(Trades,Portfolio) held 76,736 shares of Amazon.com Inc., giving it 5.45% equity portfolio weight. He incrementally reduced the position over most quarters since the second of 2017.
Amazon.com Inc. has a market cap of $956.63 billion; its shares were traded around $1,943.05 Friday with a price-earnings ratio of 81.11 and price-sales ratio of 4.01. Amazon.com Inc. had an annual average earnings growth of 33.8% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Amazon.com Inc. the business predictability rank of 4-star.
Bausch Health Companies Inc. (NYSE:BHC)
Formerly Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Bausch Health Companies returned 27.3% year to date. At first quarter-end, Miller Value Partners (Trades, Portfolio) held 4,773,149 shares of the company after trimming the position by about 3% over the past two quarters. The holding represents 4.7% of the equity portfolio.
Bausch Health Companies Inc. has a market cap of $8.4 billion; its shares were traded around $23.81 Friday with and price-sales ratio of 1.02. Bausch Health Companies Inc. had an annual average earnings growth of 17.5% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Bausch Health Companies Inc. the business predictability rank of 3.5-star.
OneMain Holdings Inc. (NYSE:OMF)
Year to date, OneMain Holdings Inc. rose 47.2%. At first quarter-end, Miller Value Partners (Trades, Portfolio) held 3,176,760 shares of the company after reducing it by 0.31% during the quarter. The holding represents 4.02% of the equity portfolio.
OneMain Holdings Inc. has a market cap of $4.9 billion; its shares were traded around $35.98 Friday with a price-earnings ratio of 10.26 and price-sales ratio of 1.34. The trailing 12-month dividend yield of OneMain Holdings Inc. is 1.40%. The forward dividend yield of OneMain Holdings Inc. is 2.84%.
RH (NYSE:RH)
Shares of RH rose 6.7% year to date. At first quarter-end, Miller Value Partners (Trades, Portfolio) held 922,210 shares of the company after reducing the position every quarter since the second of 2017. The holding represents 3.79% of the equity portfolio.
RH has a market cap of $2.4 billion; its shares were traded around $130.78 Friday with a price-earnings ratio of 21.85 and price-sales ratio of 1.37. RH had an annual average earnings growth of 26% over the past five years.
Brighthouse Financial Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF)
Brighthouse Financial shares gained 26.5% year to date. Miller Value Partners (Trades, Portfolio) held 2,286,555 shares of the company after more than doubling the holding since the third quarter of 2018. The holding represents 3.31% of the equity portfolio.
Brighthouse Financial Inc. has a market cap of $4.55 billion; its shares were traded around $39.30 Friday with a price-earnings ratio of 25.28 and price-sales ratio of 0.60.
See Bill Miller's Miller Value Partners (Trades, Portfolio) portfolio here.
Read more here:
Buffett's Amazon Drops on Missed Earnings
Carl Icahn Says Buffett Took Occidental 'To the Cleaners' With Deal
Hedge Fund Assets Hit Record in 2nd Quarter
Not a Premium Member of GuruFocus? Sign up for a free 7-day trial here.
This article first appeared onGuruFocus.
• Warning! GuruFocus has detected 5 Warning Signs with FGEN. Click here to check it out.
• BTC 15-Year Financial Data
• The intrinsic value of BTC
• Peter Lynch Chart of BTC || Bitcoin’s Pummeling Ethereum – Here’s Why ETH Will Get Revenge: Ethereum, like most altcoins, has been clobbered bybitcoinin 2019, losing more than 39% against the flagship cryptocurrency.
ETH recently broke below its historical support of 0.025 BTC and printed a fresh all-time low of 0.020138 BTC on Binance on July 16. With no support to keep its head above water, bears warn that the ethereum price could plunge indefinitely.
Nevertheless, two contrarian crypto traders believe thatETH/BTC’s outlook is far from bleak. In fact, they predict that the ethereum price could be on the verge of a major pump.
Technical analysis is the study of historical price action. History tends –but does not always– repeat itself, which is why fractals appear in the charts of many assets.
Ethereum has historically followed a relatively predictable trajectory against bitcoin. That’s according to a pseudonymous Twitter account namedPanama B. On July 25, the analyst demonstrated how the ETH/BTC market followed the exact same pattern during its two previous cycles.
Looking at the chart, the resemblance between the two market cycles is undeniable. It appears that the ETH/BTC pair follows five distinct stages:
Read the full story on CCN.com. || Bitcoin’s Pummeling Ethereum – Here’s Why ETH Will Get Revenge: Ethereum, like most altcoins, has been clobbered bybitcoinin 2019, losing more than 39% against the flagship cryptocurrency.
ETH recently broke below its historical support of 0.025 BTC and printed a fresh all-time low of 0.020138 BTC on Binance on July 16. With no support to keep its head above water, bears warn that the ethereum price could plunge indefinitely.
Nevertheless, two contrarian crypto traders believe thatETH/BTC’s outlook is far from bleak. In fact, they predict that the ethereum price could be on the verge of a major pump.
Technical analysis is the study of historical price action. History tends –but does not always– repeat itself, which is why fractals appear in the charts of many assets.
Ethereum has historically followed a relatively predictable trajectory against bitcoin. That’s according to a pseudonymous Twitter account namedPanama B. On July 25, the analyst demonstrated how the ETH/BTC market followed the exact same pattern during its two previous cycles.
Looking at the chart, the resemblance between the two market cycles is undeniable. It appears that the ETH/BTC pair follows five distinct stages:
Read the full story on CCN.com. || Prosecutors File Formal Complaint Against Infamous BTC-e Crypto Exchange: According to acourt documentfiled on July 25 in the Northern District of California, BTC-e and its executive Alexander Vinnik have been indicted for the alleged crimes of conspiracy, money laundering, unlawful monetary transactions, and operating an unlicensed exchange. The now-defunct exchange and Vinnik face civil penalties of $88.6 million and $12 million, plus interest and costs, respectively, amounts initiallydeterminedby the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in July 2017.
In all, Vinnik has been indicted for 17 counts of money laundering and two counts of engaging in unlawful monetary transactions. While BTC-e and Vinnik were also charged with one count of operating an unlawful money services business and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Related:South Korea Estimates 2-Year Losses From Crypto Crimes at $2.3 Billion
Brought on behalf of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the action paints a story of a firm’s blatant disregard for the law. The government alleges BTC-e and Vinnik were more than willing to launder and hold funds for some of the most nefarious organizations involved in the cryptocurrency industry, so long as its owners profited.
This includes funds received from the computer ‘hack’ that brought down prominent exchange Mt. Gox.
Unlike many legitimate crypto exchanges, the Cyprus and Seychelles-based BTC-e billed itself as an anonymous way to buy, sell, and transact in bitcoin and other digital currencies. Anyone, anywhere was allowed to operate on its platform without “even the most basic identifying information.”
Attorneys David Anderson, Sara Winslow, and Kirsten Ault allege this willfully substandard record keeping “contributed to its customers’ willingness to accept BTC-e’s unfavorable exchange rates compared to other legitimate” exchanges.
Related:Ex-CEO of Crypto Exchange WEX Arrested In Italy
Over its 6 year history, BTC-e served approximately 700,000 users who traded over $296 million over more than 21,000 bitcoin transactions, not to mention the other coins. While not all of BTC-e’s clients were criminals, the investigators write:
“A significant portion of BTC-e’s business was derived from suspected criminal activity.”
Indeed, the firm’s lax approach to collecting user information, hosting of unmonitored open forums where users discussed ways to purchase illicit goods, and refusal to implicate the known criminals on its platform had attracted some of the industry’s worst players, and eventually the government’s attention.
The firm allegedly cultivated its identity as a safe-haven for the criminal element.
In its chatroom, people “under monikers suggestive of criminality, including user names such as ‘ISIS,’ ‘CocaineCowboys,’ ‘blackhathackers,’ ‘dzkillerhacker,’ and ‘hacker4hire,’” would publicly discuss buying or accessing illicit materials on the dark-web.
Furthermore, the attorneys allege:
“On some occasions, customers contacted BTCe’s administration directly with questions regarding how to process and access proceeds obtained from the sale of illegal drugs and from transactions on known “darknet” illegal markets, including Silk Road.”
At no point did BTC-e ring the alarm, and money kept flowing in.
The attorneys singled out the business relationship forged between BTC-e and Costa Rica-based Liberty Reserve. Allegedly, the firms shared customers and even had a program were “BTC-e code” was redeemable for Liberty’s digital currency.
After Liberty Reserve was shuttered for laundering $6 billion in illicit funds – in an action where U.S. authorities seized the firm’s website and arrested its six principal operators – BTC-e failed to disclose the alliance and smuggled fund’s concealed on its platform.
That case was not an outlier. According to the attorneys, another unregistered and now-shuttered crypto exchange, Coin.MX, performed nearly 1,000 transactions on BTC-e’s platform. Coin.MX, too, was closed on money laundering and conspiracy charges following a Federal investigation. Yet, again, BTC-e failed to disclose this relationship in a Suspicious Activity Report mandated under the Bank Secrecy Act.
While all possible criminal connections cannot be listed here, according to the attorneys the firm harbored funds earned by malicious botnets, scams, and computer hijackings. They took money from identity thieves, and public officials who embezzled funds. And yet, “despite the rampant evidence of illegal activity on its platform, BTC-e did not file a single SAR.”
Instead of speaking out, BTC-e allegedly concealed this sort of illicit activity by instructing their clients to wire money to “front” companies, nominally distinct from the exchange. Furthermore, it is said, BTC-e never recorded or asked for identifying information when receiving wires.
BTC-e would further obscure and anonymize the funds by processing transactions through a layer of temporary addresses called a bitcoin “mixer,” a way to protect both sides of the deal.
What ultimately brought the firm down was its failure to register as a money transmitter.
In May 2016, a grand jury in California’s Northern District “returned a two-count indictment charging BTC-e and Vinnik with operation of an Unlicensed Money Services Business.”
Six months later, a grand jury pushed forward a twenty-one count superseding indictment against Vinnik and his firm. They alleged at no point had anti-money laundering policies set in place, “let alone an effective program for detecting and preventing suspicious transactions.”
Among the suspicious transactions were those from operator Vinnik, who allegedly skimmed money from clients and used the platform as a personal bank.
While Vinnik hasdenied the chargesagainst him, even denying he was an executive of the firm, the attorney’s office is attempting to prove he “operated several administrative, financial, operational, and support accounts at BTC-e.”
Vinnik, a Russian national arrested while vacationing in Greece in July 2017, has previously asked forextraditionto Russia. He faces a maximum 55 years in prison.
Lady justice via Shutterstock
US vs BTC-e/VinnikbyCoinDeskon Scribd
• UK Announces ‘Dirty Money’ Crackdown, Including Tougher Crypto Regime
• US Lawmakers Question Terrorist Use of Facebook Cryptocurrency || Prosecutors File Formal Complaint Against Infamous BTC-e Crypto Exchange: According to acourt documentfiled on July 25 in the Northern District of California, BTC-e and its executive Alexander Vinnik have been indicted for the alleged crimes of conspiracy, money laundering, unlawful monetary transactions, and operating an unlicensed exchange. The now-defunct exchange and Vinnik face civil penalties of $88.6 million and $12 million, plus interest and costs, respectively, amounts initiallydeterminedby the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in July 2017.
In all, Vinnik has been indicted for 17 counts of money laundering and two counts of engaging in unlawful monetary transactions. While BTC-e and Vinnik were also charged with one count of operating an unlawful money services business and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Related:South Korea Estimates 2-Year Losses From Crypto Crimes at $2.3 Billion
Brought on behalf of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the action paints a story of a firm’s blatant disregard for the law. The government alleges BTC-e and Vinnik were more than willing to launder and hold funds for some of the most nefarious organizations involved in the cryptocurrency industry, so long as its owners profited.
This includes funds received from the computer ‘hack’ that brought down prominent exchange Mt. Gox.
Unlike many legitimate crypto exchanges, the Cyprus and Seychelles-based BTC-e billed itself as an anonymous way to buy, sell, and transact in bitcoin and other digital currencies. Anyone, anywhere was allowed to operate on its platform without “even the most basic identifying information.”
Attorneys David Anderson, Sara Winslow, and Kirsten Ault allege this willfully substandard record keeping “contributed to its customers’ willingness to accept BTC-e’s unfavorable exchange rates compared to other legitimate” exchanges.
Related:Ex-CEO of Crypto Exchange WEX Arrested In Italy
Over its 6 year history, BTC-e served approximately 700,000 users who traded over $296 million over more than 21,000 bitcoin transactions, not to mention the other coins. While not all of BTC-e’s clients were criminals, the investigators write:
“A significant portion of BTC-e’s business was derived from suspected criminal activity.”
Indeed, the firm’s lax approach to collecting user information, hosting of unmonitored open forums where users discussed ways to purchase illicit goods, and refusal to implicate the known criminals on its platform had attracted some of the industry’s worst players, and eventually the government’s attention.
The firm allegedly cultivated its identity as a safe-haven for the criminal element.
In its chatroom, people “under monikers suggestive of criminality, including user names such as ‘ISIS,’ ‘CocaineCowboys,’ ‘blackhathackers,’ ‘dzkillerhacker,’ and ‘hacker4hire,’” would publicly discuss buying or accessing illicit materials on the dark-web.
Furthermore, the attorneys allege:
“On some occasions, customers contacted BTCe’s administration directly with questions regarding how to process and access proceeds obtained from the sale of illegal drugs and from transactions on known “darknet” illegal markets, including Silk Road.”
At no point did BTC-e ring the alarm, and money kept flowing in.
The attorneys singled out the business relationship forged between BTC-e and Costa Rica-based Liberty Reserve. Allegedly, the firms shared customers and even had a program were “BTC-e code” was redeemable for Liberty’s digital currency.
After Liberty Reserve was shuttered for laundering $6 billion in illicit funds – in an action where U.S. authorities seized the firm’s website and arrested its six principal operators – BTC-e failed to disclose the alliance and smuggled fund’s concealed on its platform.
That case was not an outlier. According to the attorneys, another unregistered and now-shuttered crypto exchange, Coin.MX, performed nearly 1,000 transactions on BTC-e’s platform. Coin.MX, too, was closed on money laundering and conspiracy charges following a Federal investigation. Yet, again, BTC-e failed to disclose this relationship in a Suspicious Activity Report mandated under the Bank Secrecy Act.
While all possible criminal connections cannot be listed here, according to the attorneys the firm harbored funds earned by malicious botnets, scams, and computer hijackings. They took money from identity thieves, and public officials who embezzled funds. And yet, “despite the rampant evidence of illegal activity on its platform, BTC-e did not file a single SAR.”
Instead of speaking out, BTC-e allegedly concealed this sort of illicit activity by instructing their clients to wire money to “front” companies, nominally distinct from the exchange. Furthermore, it is said, BTC-e never recorded or asked for identifying information when receiving wires.
BTC-e would further obscure and anonymize the funds by processing transactions through a layer of temporary addresses called a bitcoin “mixer,” a way to protect both sides of the deal.
What ultimately brought the firm down was its failure to register as a money transmitter.
In May 2016, a grand jury in California’s Northern District “returned a two-count indictment charging BTC-e and Vinnik with operation of an Unlicensed Money Services Business.”
Six months later, a grand jury pushed forward a twenty-one count superseding indictment against Vinnik and his firm. They alleged at no point had anti-money laundering policies set in place, “let alone an effective program for detecting and preventing suspicious transactions.”
Among the suspicious transactions were those from operator Vinnik, who allegedly skimmed money from clients and used the platform as a personal bank.
While Vinnik hasdenied the chargesagainst him, even denying he was an executive of the firm, the attorney’s office is attempting to prove he “operated several administrative, financial, operational, and support accounts at BTC-e.”
Vinnik, a Russian national arrested while vacationing in Greece in July 2017, has previously asked forextraditionto Russia. He faces a maximum 55 years in prison.
Lady justice via Shutterstock
US vs BTC-e/VinnikbyCoinDeskon Scribd
• UK Announces ‘Dirty Money’ Crackdown, Including Tougher Crypto Regime
• US Lawmakers Question Terrorist Use of Facebook Cryptocurrency || Prosecutors File Formal Complaint Against Infamous BTC-e Crypto Exchange: According to a court document filed on July 25 in the Northern District of California, BTC-e and its executive Alexander Vinnik have been indicted for the alleged crimes of conspiracy, money laundering, unlawful monetary transactions, and operating an unlicensed exchange. The now-defunct exchange and Vinnik face civil penalties of $88.6 million and $12 million, plus interest and costs, respectively, amounts initially determined by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in July 2017. In all, Vinnik has been indicted for 17 counts of money laundering and two counts of engaging in unlawful monetary transactions. While BTC-e and Vinnik were also charged with one count of operating an unlawful money services business and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Related: South Korea Estimates 2-Year Losses From Crypto Crimes at $2.3 Billion Brought on behalf of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the action paints a story of a firm’s blatant disregard for the law. The government alleges BTC-e and Vinnik were more than willing to launder and hold funds for some of the most nefarious organizations involved in the cryptocurrency industry, so long as its owners profited. This includes funds received from the computer ‘hack’ that brought down prominent exchange Mt. Gox. Unlike many legitimate crypto exchanges, the Cyprus and Seychelles-based BTC-e billed itself as an anonymous way to buy, sell, and transact in bitcoin and other digital currencies. Anyone, anywhere was allowed to operate on its platform without “even the most basic identifying information.” Attorneys David Anderson, Sara Winslow, and Kirsten Ault allege this willfully substandard record keeping “contributed to its customers’ willingness to accept BTC-e’s unfavorable exchange rates compared to other legitimate” exchanges. Related: Ex-CEO of Crypto Exchange WEX Arrested In Italy Over its 6 year history, BTC-e served approximately 700,000 users who traded over $296 million over more than 21,000 bitcoin transactions, not to mention the other coins. While not all of BTC-e’s clients were criminals, the investigators write: Story continues “A significant portion of BTC-e’s business was derived from suspected criminal activity.” Indeed, the firm’s lax approach to collecting user information, hosting of unmonitored open forums where users discussed ways to purchase illicit goods, and refusal to implicate the known criminals on its platform had attracted some of the industry’s worst players, and eventually the government’s attention. Cultivated crime The firm allegedly cultivated its identity as a safe-haven for the criminal element. In its chatroom, people “under monikers suggestive of criminality, including user names such as ‘ISIS,’ ‘CocaineCowboys,’ ‘blackhathackers,’ ‘dzkillerhacker,’ and ‘hacker4hire,’” would publicly discuss buying or accessing illicit materials on the dark-web. Furthermore, the attorneys allege: “On some occasions, customers contacted BTCe’s administration directly with questions regarding how to process and access proceeds obtained from the sale of illegal drugs and from transactions on known “darknet” illegal markets, including Silk Road.” At no point did BTC-e ring the alarm, and money kept flowing in. The attorneys singled out the business relationship forged between BTC-e and Costa Rica-based Liberty Reserve. Allegedly, the firms shared customers and even had a program were “BTC-e code” was redeemable for Liberty’s digital currency. After Liberty Reserve was shuttered for laundering $6 billion in illicit funds – in an action where U.S. authorities seized the firm’s website and arrested its six principal operators – BTC-e failed to disclose the alliance and smuggled fund’s concealed on its platform. That case was not an outlier. According to the attorneys, another unregistered and now-shuttered crypto exchange, Coin.MX, performed nearly 1,000 transactions on BTC-e’s platform. Coin.MX, too, was closed on money laundering and conspiracy charges following a Federal investigation. Yet, again, BTC-e failed to disclose this relationship in a Suspicious Activity Report mandated under the Bank Secrecy Act. While all possible criminal connections cannot be listed here, according to the attorneys the firm harbored funds earned by malicious botnets, scams, and computer hijackings. They took money from identity thieves, and public officials who embezzled funds. And yet, “despite the rampant evidence of illegal activity on its platform, BTC-e did not file a single SAR.” SAR silence Instead of speaking out, BTC-e allegedly concealed this sort of illicit activity by instructing their clients to wire money to “front” companies, nominally distinct from the exchange. Furthermore, it is said, BTC-e never recorded or asked for identifying information when receiving wires. BTC-e would further obscure and anonymize the funds by processing transactions through a layer of temporary addresses called a bitcoin “mixer,” a way to protect both sides of the deal. What ultimately brought the firm down was its failure to register as a money transmitter. In May 2016, a grand jury in California’s Northern District “returned a two-count indictment charging BTC-e and Vinnik with operation of an Unlicensed Money Services Business.” Six months later, a grand jury pushed forward a twenty-one count superseding indictment against Vinnik and his firm. They alleged at no point had anti-money laundering policies set in place, “let alone an effective program for detecting and preventing suspicious transactions.” Among the suspicious transactions were those from operator Vinnik, who allegedly skimmed money from clients and used the platform as a personal bank. While Vinnik has denied the charges against him, even denying he was an executive of the firm, the attorney’s office is attempting to prove he “operated several administrative, financial, operational, and support accounts at BTC-e.” Vinnik, a Russian national arrested while vacationing in Greece in July 2017, has previously asked for extradition to Russia. He faces a maximum 55 years in prison. Lady justice via Shutterstock US vs BTC-e/Vinnik by CoinDesk on Scribd Related Stories UK Announces ‘Dirty Money’ Crackdown, Including Tougher Crypto Regime US Lawmakers Question Terrorist Use of Facebook Cryptocurrency || After Hours Action: Alphabet Rises on Earnings Beat, Amazon Stuggles After Earnings Miss: U.S. equity markets were quite busy after the cash market close on Thursday following the release of earnings reports from Google parent company Alphabet and Amazon. The mixed results helped soften the blow from yesterdays sharp sell-off in the major U.S. stock indexes that was fueled by a jump in global yields after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi told reporters at a press conference the chances of a recession in the Euro Zone is still pretty low. Alphabet Announces Earnings Beat, Share Repurchase Shares of Google parent company Alphabet initially rose more than 9% after the company reported second-quarter earnings that beat estimates Thursday. Additionally, the companys board of directors approved a repurchase of up to an additional $25 billion of its Class C capital stock. On a call with analysts, CFO Ruth Porat said the capital would be used to support growth and acquisitions and investments. Here are the highlights: Earnings per share: $14.21 per share, ex-items, vs $11.30 per share expected, per Refinitiv survey of analysts. Revenue: $38.94 billion, vs. $38.15 billion expected, per Refinitiv Traffic acquisition costs: $7.24 billion, vs. $7.27 billion, according to StreetAccount Paid clicks on Google properties from Q2 2018 to Q2 2019: +28% Cost-per-click on Google properties from Q2 2018 to Q2 2019: -11% Amazon Beat on Sales, Missed on Earnings Amazon shares fell 2% after the close after reporting mixed results in its second-quarter earnings release on Thursday. The numbers failed to meet profit expectations while exceeding revenue forecasts. The good news for investors is Amazons renewed investments into the company are paying off, driving sales growth at the expense of lower profit margins. On the negative side, the company gave third-quarter profit guidance that fell well-below street estimates. Here are the highlights: Earnings per share: $5.22 vs. $5.57, according to analysts surveyed by Refinitiv Revenue: $63.4 billion vs. $62.5 billion, according to Refinitiv Story continues Amazon Web Service: $8.38 billion vs $8.5 billion, according to analysts surveyed by FactSet Amazons revenue jumped 20% from the year-ago period, a rebound from 16.8% in the first quarter, which was the slowest in four years. After-Hours Performance At 03:52 GMT, Alphabet Inc. Class A shares are trading $1225.00, up $89.06 or +7.84% and Amazon.com, Inc. shares are trading $1941.15, down $32.67 or -1.66%. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Asian Shares Follow U.S. Markets Lower Bitcoin Cash ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis 26/07/19 GBP/USD Daily Forecast Sterling at Weekly Lows Ahead of US GDP Rate Swings Fuel Whip-Saw Action Across Several Asset Classes Despite the anticipated Central Bank Policy Panacea equity Investors are getting increasingly Uncomfortable U.S. Dollar Index Futures (DX) Technical Analysis July 26, 2019 Forecast || After Hours Action: Alphabet Rises on Earnings Beat, Amazon Stuggles After Earnings Miss: U.S. equity markets were quite busy after the cash market close on Thursday following the release of earnings reports from Google parent company Alphabet and Amazon. The mixed results helped soften the blow from yesterday’s sharp sell-off in the major U.S. stock indexes that was fueled by a jump in global yields after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi told reporters at a press conference the chances of a recession in the Euro Zone is still “pretty low.”
Shares of Google parent company Alphabet initially rose more than 9% after the company reported second-quarter earnings that beat estimates Thursday.
Additionally, the company’s board of directors approved a repurchase of up to an additional $25 billion of its Class C capital stock. On a call with analysts, CFO Ruth Porat said the capital would be used to support growth and acquisitions and investments.
Earnings per share: $14.21 per share, ex-items, vs $11.30 per share expected, per Refinitiv survey of analysts.
Revenue: $38.94 billion, vs. $38.15 billion expected, per Refinitiv
Traffic acquisition costs: $7.24 billion, vs. $7.27 billion, according to StreetAccount
Paid clicks on Google properties from Q2 2018 to Q2 2019: +28%
Cost-per-click on Google properties from Q2 2018 to Q2 2019: -11%
Amazon shares fell 2% after the close after reporting mixed results in its second-quarter earnings release on Thursday. The numbers failed to meet profit expectations while exceeding revenue forecasts.
The good news for investors is Amazon’s renewed investments into the company are paying off, driving sales growth at the expense of lower profit margins. On the negative side, the company gave third-quarter profit guidance that fell well-below street estimates.
Earnings per share: $5.22 vs. $5.57, according to analysts surveyed by Refinitiv
Revenue: $63.4 billion vs. $62.5 billion, according to Refinitiv
Amazon Web Service: $8.38 billion vs $8.5 billion, according to analysts surveyed by FactSet
Amazon’s revenue jumped 20% from the year-ago period, a rebound from 16.8% in the first quarter, which was the slowest in four years.
At 03:52 GMT, Alphabet Inc. Class A shares are trading $1225.00, up $89.06 or +7.84% and Amazon.com, Inc. shares are trading $1941.15, down $32.67 or -1.66%.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• Asian Shares Follow U.S. Markets Lower
• Bitcoin Cash – ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis – 26/07/19
• GBP/USD Daily Forecast – Sterling at Weekly Lows Ahead of US GDP
• Rate Swings Fuel Whip-Saw Action Across Several Asset Classes
• Despite the anticipated Central Bank Policy Panacea equity Investors are getting increasingly Uncomfortable
• U.S. Dollar Index Futures (DX) Technical Analysis – July 26, 2019 Forecast || Curate Breaks into the Fashion Industry With Its Blockchain Platform: LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / July 27, 2019 / As the blockchain technology is gaining momentum in transforming industries across the globe, a culture to implement this technology in all walks of life is gradually taking shape. By far, the finance industry has been the most influenced by the potential of the technology. The fashion industry is one that was left unexplored by this disruptive technology, but of course, that wouldnt have been the case for long. It is rather exciting to experience the moment when glamour meets tech. Blockchain has the potential to provide solutions for the flaws inherent in the fashion industry. For instance, it can help protect the intellectual property of brand owners or designers against infringement, counterfeits or tampered products. Blockchain provides a sense of authenticity for the products as they can be easily tracked and verified by consumers, retailers, and designers. In todays world where the internet provides convenience to masses and makes it easier to search for anything and everything, it also feels like a vast ocean which makes it all the more difficult for users while searching for unique content. Moreover, the product feedback on various platforms may be deceptive and manipulated, therefore the users cannot trust the genuineness of the products. Therefore, these flaws create an opportunity for blockchain to address the concerns and enhance transparency and security of such platforms in the fashion or retail industry. Curate Leveraging Blockchain Technology Curate is a platform based on blockchain technology and ERC-20 token smart contracts, which rewards users with digital tokens such as BTC, ETH, and its native utility token CUR8, in return for curating fashion styles. Essentially, it is a style discovery decentralized app (DApp). It provides a trustless platform to its users to provide their feedback on a curated collection of fashion styles that the community can trust. The crypto-asset based fashion platform offers users a unique collection of brands and designer wear that they can purchase, provide their feedback or upvote. In fact, it rewards the users with digital tokens for engaging and contributing to the platform. With the help of blockchain technology and Artificial Intelligence, the platform eliminates fake reviews or defaming comments and allows only trustworthy reviews through the verification of user ID. Story continues How Curate Works? The first step involves signing up on the platform after which one can access the dashboard which is a DApp. Users can then create content to sell their brand items. With the help of a unique remote frequency identification (RFID), users can scan the product they wish to purchase to confirm its authenticity and obtain information on the source of fabric. Therefore, it will not be possible for individuals to sell fake brands. Buyers and other users can upvote or provide feedback on the products based on which both the buyer and the seller will receive rewards and the item with the majority of upvotes would trend. Curate will charge a minimal transaction fee for all the transactions on the platform. How Will Retailers, Brands and Customers Leverage the Platform? Retailers and other designer brands can showcase their fashion items on the single discovery platform. In exchange for curating styles, the curators can earn rewards in BTC, ETH or CUR8. Retailers and small businesses can leverage the opportunity of increased brand awareness, conversions, and sales through access to 50,000 users on the platform. The platform provides assurance of legal transactions and no chargebacks through KYC verified users. Customers can easily find unique quality content and trust the genuineness of trending items. Customers have access to genuine products and are rewarded to upvote and provide reviews. Users can track the source of the product including the history of the material and the nature of the fabric. The project is soon to launch its IEO on exchanges such as P2PB2B, WHitebit, Livecoin, CoinExchange and ExMarkets with its CUR8 token based on Ethereum Blockchain ERC-20 wallet. Join the Curate IEO on 9th of August at P2PB2B. URL: https://p2pb2b.io/token-sale/CUR8/1 Media Contact: Name: James Hakim Email: [email protected] Contact No: +44 7584066458 Website: https://curate.style/ TG Group: https://t.me/curate SOURCE: CURATE View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/553364/Curate-Breaks-into-the-Fashion-Industry-With-Its-Blockchain-Platform || Curate Breaks into the Fashion Industry With Its Blockchain Platform: LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / July 27, 2019 /As the blockchain technology is gaining momentum in transforming industries across the globe, a culture to implement this technology in all walks of life is gradually taking shape. By far, the finance industry has been the most influenced by the potential of the technology. The fashion industry is one that was left unexplored by this disruptive technology, but of course, that wouldn’t have been the case for long.
It is rather exciting to experience the moment when glamour meets tech. Blockchain has the potential to provide solutions for the flaws inherent in the fashion industry. For instance, it can help protect the intellectual property of brand owners or designers against infringement, counterfeits or tampered products. Blockchain provides a sense of authenticity for the products as they can be easily tracked and verified by consumers, retailers, and designers.
In today’s world where the internet provides convenience to masses and makes it easier to search for anything and everything, it also feels like a vast ocean which makes it all the more difficult for users while searching for unique content. Moreover, the product feedback on various platforms may be deceptive and manipulated, therefore the users cannot trust the genuineness of the products. Therefore, these flaws create an opportunity for blockchain to address the concerns and enhance transparency and security of such platforms in the fashion or retail industry.
Curate Leveraging Blockchain Technology
Curateis a platform based on blockchain technology and ERC-20 token smart contracts, which rewards users with digital tokens such as BTC, ETH, and its native utility token CUR8, in return for curating fashion styles. Essentially, it is a style discovery decentralized app (DApp). It provides a trustless platform to its users to provide their feedback on a curated collection of fashion styles that the community can trust.The crypto-asset based fashion platform offers users a unique collection of brands and designer wear that they can purchase, provide their feedback or upvote. In fact, it rewards the users with digital tokens for engaging and contributing to the platform. With the help of blockchain technology and Artificial Intelligence, the platform eliminates fake reviews or defaming comments and allows only trustworthy reviews through the verification of user ID.
How Curate Works?
• The first step involves signing up on the platform after which one can access the dashboard which is a DApp.
• Users can then create content to sell their brand items.
• With the help of a unique remote frequency identification (RFID), users can scan the product they wish to purchase to confirm its authenticity and obtain information on the source of fabric. Therefore, it will not be possible for individuals to sell fake brands.
• Buyers and other users can upvote or provide feedback on the products based on which both the buyer and the seller will receive rewards and the item with the majority of upvotes would trend.
• Curatewill charge a minimal transaction fee for all the transactions on the platform.
How Will Retailers, Brands and Customers Leverage the Platform?
• Retailers and other designer brands can showcase their fashion items on the single discovery platform.
• In exchange for curating styles, the curators can earn rewards in BTC, ETH or CUR8.
• Retailers and small businesses can leverage the opportunity of increased brand awareness, conversions, and sales through access to 50,000 users on the platform.
• The platform provides assurance of legal transactions and no chargebacks through KYC verified users.
• Customers can easily find unique quality content and trust the genuineness of trending items.
• Customers have access to genuine products and are rewarded to upvote and provide reviews.
• Users can track the source of the product including the history of the material and the nature of the fabric.
The project is soon to launch its IEO on exchanges such as P2PB2B, WHitebit, Livecoin, CoinExchange and ExMarkets with its CUR8 token based on Ethereum Blockchain ERC-20 wallet.
Join the Curate IEO on 9th of August at P2PB2B.URL:https://p2pb2b.io/token-sale/CUR8/1
Media Contact:Name: James HakimEmail:[email protected] No: +44 7584066458Website:https://curate.style/TG Group:https://t.me/curate
SOURCE:CURATE
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/553364/Curate-Breaks-into-the-Fashion-Industry-With-Its-Blockchain-Platform || PSA: The IRS Knows All About Your Secret Bitcoin Trades: The only thing that’s certain in life is death and taxes. For buyers ofBitcoinand other cryptos, the latter has come, as the IRS is now pumping out an avalanche of notices to more than 10,000 cryptocurrency investors whoprobably haven’t been upfrontabout their trades. The source of this isCoinbase, which submitted reports for 13,000 accounts under compulsion from a federal court order.
There are probably going to be a lot of worried Bitcoin fans waiting by their mailbox, but the reality is perhaps less severe. According to an article onForbes, the mail campaign has all the hallmarks of a “scattergun” approach, suggesting that the taxman is not necessarily interested in following up with every individual they reach out to.
Perhaps due to Bitcoin’s relatively unknown status for the majority of its existence, crypto largely escaped the taxman’s watchful eye for several years. That changed after the mammoth 2017 bull run.
The IRS ismost interestedin any Coinbase accounts whose transaction history exceeds $20,000.
There is a silver lining to this issue, and that is perhaps the government willeventuallysee the benefit of having an asset run on a blockchain.
Every transaction is viewable and verified, a situation which in theory wouldmake the IRS’s Bitcoin tracking considerably easier. This is just one of the factors that have always made the allegation that BTC is a haven for money laundering largely unfair, as cash is far less traceable than Bitcoin.
Read the full story on CCN.com. || PSA: The IRS Knows All About Your Secret Bitcoin Trades: The only thing that’s certain in life is death and taxes. For buyers ofBitcoinand other cryptos, the latter has come, as the IRS is now pumping out an avalanche of notices to more than 10,000 cryptocurrency investors whoprobably haven’t been upfrontabout their trades. The source of this isCoinbase, which submitted reports for 13,000 accounts under compulsion from a federal court order.
There are probably going to be a lot of worried Bitcoin fans waiting by their mailbox, but the reality is perhaps less severe. According to an article onForbes, the mail campaign has all the hallmarks of a “scattergun” approach, suggesting that the taxman is not necessarily interested in following up with every individual they reach out to.
Perhaps due to Bitcoin’s relatively unknown status for the majority of its existence, crypto largely escaped the taxman’s watchful eye for several years. That changed after the mammoth 2017 bull run.
The IRS ismost interestedin any Coinbase accounts whose transaction history exceeds $20,000.
There is a silver lining to this issue, and that is perhaps the government willeventuallysee the benefit of having an asset run on a blockchain.
Every transaction is viewable and verified, a situation which in theory wouldmake the IRS’s Bitcoin tracking considerably easier. This is just one of the factors that have always made the allegation that BTC is a haven for money laundering largely unfair, as cash is far less traceable than Bitcoin.
Read the full story on CCN.com. || Apollo Cryptocurrency Brings You Database Sharing: Apollo (APL), a cryptocurrency backed by the Apollo Foundation, said Friday it successfully implemented database sharding to reduce blockchain bloat. With the release of sharding, Apollo has officially become the fastest, most feature-rich and most sustainable cryptocurrency available, said Steve McCullah, Apollo's director of Business Development. Blockchain bloat occurs with scaling and data accumulation; transaction speeds slow with increasing levels of use and data aggregation. Apollo aims to pair this development with additions like adaptive forging, which eliminates wasteful block creation; blocks are made and forged only when transactions take place, lowering data use and storage. Sharding and adaptive forging make Apollo the most sustainable blockchain on Earth, McCullah said in the press release. The team behind Apollo believes these additions will assist in efforts to scale use of its blockchain technology. Related Links: 7 Things To Know Before Investing In Bitcoin SmartBotCoin Unveils 'World's Most Advanced' Cryptocurrency Trading Platform See more from Benzinga 7 Concepts Entrepreneurs Pitched At Chase's Advancing Black Pathways Event In Detroit SmartBotCoin Unveils 'World's Most Advanced' Cryptocurrency Trading Platform Need A Robo-Advisor? Bambu Can Build You One © 2019 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Apollo Cryptocurrency Brings You Database Sharing: Apollo (APL), a cryptocurrency backed by the Apollo Foundation,said Fridayit successfully implemented database sharding to reduce blockchain bloat.
“With the release of sharding, Apollo has officially become the fastest, most feature-rich and most sustainable cryptocurrency available,” said Steve McCullah, Apollo's director of Business Development.
Blockchain bloat occurs with scaling and data accumulation; transaction speeds slow with increasing levels of use and data aggregation.
Apollo aims to pair this development with additions like adaptive forging, which eliminates wasteful block creation; blocks are made and forged only when transactions take place, lowering data use and storage.
“Sharding and adaptive forging make Apollo the most sustainable blockchain on Earth,” McCullah said in the press release.
The team behind Apollo believes these additions will assist in efforts to scale use of its blockchain technology.
Related Links:
7 Things To Know Before Investing In Bitcoin
SmartBotCoin Unveils 'World's Most Advanced' Cryptocurrency Trading Platform
See more from Benzinga
• 7 Concepts Entrepreneurs Pitched At Chase's Advancing Black Pathways Event In Detroit
• SmartBotCoin Unveils 'World's Most Advanced' Cryptocurrency Trading Platform
• Need A Robo-Advisor? Bambu Can Build You One
© 2019 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Huawei CEO Calls on China to Create a Rival to Facebook’s Libra Crypto: Telecommunications giant Huawei’s chief executive has said that the time is ripe for China’s government to preempt Facebook’s Libra. Speaking in an interview with Italian media outlet L’economia , CEO Ren Zhengfei remarked that China has the capability to pursue such an undertaking. He was asked a question about U.S. global hegemony and Facebook’s issuance of an international currency specifically. Ren was quoted as saying (according to a translation): Related: Coincheck-Owner Monex Group Moves to Join Facebook Libra “Even China is able to issue such currencies, why wait for Libra? The strength of a state is greater than that of an Internet company.” Ren was not necessarily looking to take his company toe-to-toe with the social media giant. Though his firm has made significant inroads in the blockchain space – including joining the Hyperledger consortium and releasing a blockchain-backed cloud service – he instead pointed to the advancements in blockchain technology made by the Chinese nation-state. In May, the People’s Bank of China hired blockchain experts in a move to widen its distributed network investments, useful for “large scale transactions,” bank representatives said at the time. Additionally, while some members of China’s central bank have said that Libra’s deployment could negatively impact the country’ economy, Wang Xin, head of the research bureau at the People’s Bank of China, said the competition could propel the country to issue its own national cryptocurrency. Related: MIT Fellow Says Facebook ‘Lifted’ His Ideas for Libra Cryptocurrency In fact, a few weeks after Libra was announced, searches on the China’s web search giant Weibo skyrocketed. This is in spite of the fact that Facebook has been banned in the country since 2009. Ren’s statements were translated from Italian. Image Credit: astudio / Shutterstock.com Related Stories ‘However Long It Takes’: Zuckerberg Vows to Win Over Libra Regulators People in US Trust Bitcoin More Than Facebook’s Libra: Report View comments || Huawei CEO Calls on China to Create a Rival to Facebook’s Libra Crypto: Telecommunications giant Huawei’s chief executive has said that the time is ripe for China’s government to preempt Facebook’s Libra.
Speaking in an interview with Italian media outletL’economia, CEO Ren Zhengfei remarked that China has the capability to pursue such an undertaking. He was asked a question about U.S. global hegemony and Facebook’s issuance of an international currency specifically.
Ren was quoted as saying (according to a translation):
Related:Coincheck-Owner Monex Group Moves to Join Facebook Libra
Ren was not necessarily looking to take his company toe-to-toe with the social media giant. Though his firm has made significant inroads in the blockchain space – including joining the Hyperledger consortium and releasing a blockchain-backed cloud service – he insteadpointed to the advancements in blockchain technology made by the Chinese nation-state.
In May, the People’s Bank of Chinahiredblockchain experts in a move to widen its distributed network investments, useful for “large scale transactions,” bank representatives said at the time.
Additionally, while some members of China’s central bank have said that Libra’s deployment could negatively impact the country’ economy, Wang Xin, head of the research bureau at the People’s Bank of China, said the competition could propel the country to issue its own national cryptocurrency.
Related:MIT Fellow Says Facebook ‘Lifted’ His Ideas for Libra Cryptocurrency
In fact, a few weeks after Libra was announced,searcheson the China’s web search giant Weibo skyrocketed. This is in spite of the fact that Facebook has been banned in the country since 2009.
Ren’s statements were translated from Italian.
Image Credit:astudio / Shutterstock.com
• ‘However Long It Takes’: Zuckerberg Vows to Win Over Libra Regulators
• People in US Trust Bitcoin More Than Facebook’s Libra: Report || Safeway supermarket to give US customers cashback in Bitcoin: In yet another huge push for mass adoption of cryptocurrencies, US supermarket chain Safeway has partnered with Lolli to reward customers with 3.5% cashback in Bitcoin. The partnership will reward customers who purchase their groceries via Safeway’s online website. Cashback in Bitcoin will be offered in 894 locations across 17 American states. In an official announcement, CEO and co-founder of Lolli, Alex Adelman, said: “I’m extremely proud to partner with Safeway, one of the most well-recognised food retailers in the United States. Americans are already shopping for groceries at least once a week – why not earn some Bitcoin off those frequent purchases?” He continued: “I’m excited to now offer Safeway, a top food retailer, as another option for our users to earn Bitcoin. Hopefully this will give people the ability to get involved in holding and owning Bitcoin — perhaps for the first time.” Customers must be signed up on Lolli.com to be eligible to receive the offer. Once signed up, users can earn more Bitcoin by referring friends and family, with a $10 affiliate program also being launched. Aside from Safeway, Lolli offers cashback with more than 750 merchants online in a movement that “attempts to make Bitcoin a part of people’s everyday life”. Some of the participating merchants include Walmart, Groupon, Macy’s, Old Navy, and Sephora. For more news, guides, and cryptocurrency analysis, click here . The post Safeway supermarket to give US customers cashback in Bitcoin appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Safeway supermarket to give US customers cashback in Bitcoin: In yet another huge push for mass adoption of cryptocurrencies, US supermarket chain Safeway has partnered with Lolli to reward customers with 3.5% cashback in Bitcoin. The partnership will reward customers who purchase their groceries via Safeway’s online website. Cashback in Bitcoin will be offered in 894 locations across 17 American states. In an official announcement, CEO and co-founder of Lolli, Alex Adelman, said: “I’m extremely proud to partner with Safeway, one of the most well-recognised food retailers in the United States. Americans are already shopping for groceries at least once a week – why not earn some Bitcoin off those frequent purchases?” He continued: “I’m excited to now offer Safeway, a top food retailer, as another option for our users to earn Bitcoin. Hopefully this will give people the ability to get involved in holding and owning Bitcoin — perhaps for the first time.” Customers must be signed up on Lolli.com to be eligible to receive the offer. Once signed up, users can earn more Bitcoin by referring friends and family, with a $10 affiliate program also being launched. Aside from Safeway, Lolli offers cashback with more than 750 merchants online in a movement that “attempts to make Bitcoin a part of people’s everyday life”. Some of the participating merchants include Walmart, Groupon, Macy’s, Old Navy, and Sephora. For more news, guides, and cryptocurrency analysis, click here . The post Safeway supermarket to give US customers cashback in Bitcoin appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Safeway supermarket to give US customers cashback in Bitcoin: In yet another huge push for mass adoption of cryptocurrencies, US supermarket chain Safeway has partnered with Lolli to reward customers with 3.5% cashback in Bitcoin. The partnership will reward customers who purchase their groceries via Safeway’s online website. Cashback in Bitcoin will be offered in 894 locations across 17 American states. In an official announcement, CEO and co-founder of Lolli, Alex Adelman, said: “I’m extremely proud to partner with Safeway, one of the most well-recognised food retailers in the United States. Americans are already shopping for groceries at least once a week – why not earn some Bitcoin off those frequent purchases?” He continued: “I’m excited to now offer Safeway, a top food retailer, as another option for our users to earn Bitcoin. Hopefully this will give people the ability to get involved in holding and owning Bitcoin — perhaps for the first time.” Customers must be signed up on Lolli.com to be eligible to receive the offer. Once signed up, users can earn more Bitcoin by referring friends and family, with a $10 affiliate program also being launched. Aside from Safeway, Lolli offers cashback with more than 750 merchants online in a movement that “attempts to make Bitcoin a part of people’s everyday life”. Some of the participating merchants include Walmart, Groupon, Macy’s, Old Navy, and Sephora. For more news, guides, and cryptocurrency analysis, click here . The post Safeway supermarket to give US customers cashback in Bitcoin appeared first on Coin Rivet .
[Social Media Buzz]
Earn 300,000 #satoshi a month for free with instant withdrawals to your #Bitcoin address. Maximize your #earnings with no investment required! LINK: https://t.co/0S6pzM5is0 #bitcoins #btc #cryptocurrency July 27, 2019 at 10:00AM || Why is the new $DIG mgmt. approaching RM?
This is very graceful of the new mgmt.
Now legally shut him down.
That’s what RM is trying to do w/ $DIG as he is being investigated by FL AG.
$DIG #BTC #Bitcoin #cryptocurrency #crypto #Ethereum #eth #alts #WealthManagem...
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9552.86, 9519.15, 9607.42, 10085.63, 10399.67, 10518.17, 10821.73, 10970.18, 11805.65, 11478.17
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 771.16, 773.87, 758.70, 764.22, 768.13, 770.81, 772.79, 774.65, 769.73, 780.09, 780.56, 781.48, 778.09, 784.91, 790.83, 790.53, 792.71, 800.88, 834.28, 864.54, 921.98, 898.82, 896.18, 907.61, 933.20, 975.92, 973.50, 961.24, 963.74, 998.33, 1021.75, 1043.84, 1154.73, 1013.38, 902.20, 908.59, 911.20, 902.83, 907.68, 777.76, 804.83, 823.98, 818.41, 821.80, 831.53, 907.94, 886.62, 899.07, 895.03, 921.79, 924.67, 921.01, 892.69, 901.54, 917.59, 919.75, 921.59, 919.50, 920.38, 970.40, 989.02, 1011.80, 1029.91, 1042.90, 1027.34, 1038.15, 1061.35, 1063.07, 994.38, 988.67, 1004.45, 999.18, 990.64, 1004.55, 1007.48, 1027.44, 1046.21, 1054.42, 1047.87, 1079.98, 1115.30, 1117.44, 1166.72, 1173.68, 1143.84, 1165.20, 1179.97, 1179.97, 1222.50, 1251.01.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2017-03-02]
Volume: 368275008, RSI (14-day): 79.84, 50-day EMA: 1032.31, 200-day EMA: 827.09
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1231.90, Gold RSI: 51.86
Oil Price: 52.61, Oil RSI: 45.08
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Labor Dept. Seeks 60 Day Delay For New Fiduciary Rule: Washington (Reuters) – The U.S. Labor Department has taken a first step toward possible derailment or dilution of its controversial rule on retirement advice as it begins to re-examine it at the directive of President Donald Trump, according to a notice made public on Wednesday.
The department proposed a 60-day delay of the fiduciary rule, which requires retirement advisers to put the interests of clients ahead of their own. It was slated to take effect on April 10, but Trump asked the department to review the rule one more time for its impact on investors.
Industry analysts and consumer groups agreed it could be the first of multiple delays as the department begins a comprehensive review of the Obama-era regulation, after Trump in February issued an executive order directing the department to review the rule.
‘String Of Delays’ Possible
"A 60-day delay is relatively short to undertake the type of economic and legal analysis that they're contemplating, which suggests to me that this isn't just going to be a 60-day delay, It's likely going to be a string of delays," said Micah Hauptman, with the Consumer Federation of America.
The proposed delay should have a "calming" effect on the marketplace, which had been "hanging in limbo" ahead of the April 10 effective date, said Denise Valentine, a senior analyst with Aite Group, which advises the financial services industry on regulatory issues.
"All along we've kind of known that the rule is very likely to be amended. I don’t think it will be killed," Valentine said.
The public will have 15 days from the publication of the proposed delay in the Federal Register on Thursday to comment on the delay itself before the Labor Department can formalize it. There will also be a 45-day window to submit comments or information related to other aspects of Trump's memorandum.
US Chamber Of Commerce Praises Delay
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has sued to kill the rule, on Wednesday praised the proposed delay.
When former President Barack Obama's administration finalized the rule last year, it said it was a move to help Americans saving for their retirement.
But critics in the financial services industry say the rule would limit the ability of advisers to service clients who cannot afford to pay for financial advice and must use products that carry commissions or other indirect costs.
When Trump issued the executive order, White House spokesman Sean Spicer called the rule "a solution in search of the problem" at a briefing ahead of the signing.
The move drew fire from Democrats and other critics, who said it showed the Republican White House was aligned with Wall Street, not middle-income Americans.
Industry groups, however, praised the delay proposed on Wednesday. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association said it would "allow the new administration an opportunity to review the rule’s impact on investors and the market."
UBS Wealth Management Americas, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo declined to comment. Bank of America did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Permalink| © Copyright 2017ETF.com.All rights reserved || Labor Dept. Seeks 60 Day Delay For New Fiduciary Rule: Washington (Reuters) – The U.S. Labor Department has taken a first step toward possible derailment or dilution of its controversial rule on retirement advice as it begins to re-examine it at the directive of President Donald Trump, according to a notice made public on Wednesday. The department proposed a 60-day delay of the fiduciary rule, which requires retirement advisers to put the interests of clients ahead of their own. It was slated to take effect on April 10, but Trump asked the department to review the rule one more time for its impact on investors. Industry analysts and consumer groups agreed it could be the first of multiple delays as the department begins a comprehensive review of the Obama-era regulation, after Trump in February issued an executive order directing the department to review the rule. ‘String Of Delays’ Possible "A 60-day delay is relatively short to undertake the type of economic and legal analysis that they're contemplating, which suggests to me that this isn't just going to be a 60-day delay, It's likely going to be a string of delays," said Micah Hauptman, with the Consumer Federation of America. The proposed delay should have a "calming" effect on the marketplace, which had been "hanging in limbo" ahead of the April 10 effective date, said Denise Valentine, a senior analyst with Aite Group, which advises the financial services industry on regulatory issues. "All along we've kind of known that the rule is very likely to be amended. I don’t think it will be killed," Valentine said. The public will have 15 days from the publication of the proposed delay in the Federal Register on Thursday to comment on the delay itself before the Labor Department can formalize it. There will also be a 45-day window to submit comments or information related to other aspects of Trump's memorandum. US Chamber Of Commerce Praises Delay The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has sued to kill the rule, on Wednesday praised the proposed delay. Story continues When former President Barack Obama's administration finalized the rule last year, it said it was a move to help Americans saving for their retirement. But critics in the financial services industry say the rule would limit the ability of advisers to service clients who cannot afford to pay for financial advice and must use products that carry commissions or other indirect costs. When Trump issued the executive order, White House spokesman Sean Spicer called the rule "a solution in search of the problem" at a briefing ahead of the signing. The move drew fire from Democrats and other critics, who said it showed the Republican White House was aligned with Wall Street, not middle-income Americans. Industry groups, however, praised the delay proposed on Wednesday. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association said it would "allow the new administration an opportunity to review the rule’s impact on investors and the market." UBS Wealth Management Americas, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo declined to comment. Bank of America did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Recommended Stories Tuesday Hot Reads: Dividends Pile Up With This High Yield ETF Monday Hot Reads: The Future Of ETFs SEC Rejects Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF Big Bitcoin ETF Decision Coming Today, Or Maybe Not This Fallen Angel ETF Really A Rising Star Permalink | © Copyright 2017 ETF.com. All rights reserved || Feb. ETF Inflows Push 2017's Record Start To $88B: Total ETF inflows for February were $46 billion, bringing the year-to-date total to a record-breaking $87.9 billion, a record start to any year for new assets. U.S. equity pulled in more than any other asset class, at $20.4 billion. U.S. fixed income and international equity were neck-and-neck, with inflows of $10.2 billion and $10.5 billion, respectively. Only currency saw outflows, losing $59.8 million. The top gainer for the month out of the entire field of U.S.-listed ETFs was the iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG) , which pulled in $2.5 billion. The iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD) was in second place, pulling in just $20 million less than IEMG during the month. A Story Of Costs IEMG’s inflows capture a rather fascinating development in the ETF space—the inexorable tide of low-cost victories. With an expense ratio of 0.14%, the fund is basically a broader, lower-cost version of its older brother, the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM) , which comes with an expense ratio of 0.72%. While IEMG was among the top gainers in February, the more expensive EEM actually saw zero inflows for the month and is down $33 million for the year. IEMG also holds the top spot for year-to-date inflows, pulling in a total of $4.2 billion in the first two months of the year, almost 22% of its total assets under management. LQD is again in second place, with $3.7 billion in inflows year-to-date. The No. 3 spot for February inflows was claimed by the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) , which pulled in some $1.7 billion, a notable reversal from its outflows of $866 million in January. Commodities as a whole pulled in $2 billion during the month, after more than $600 million in outflows in January, boosted no doubt in part by the upswing in the yellow metal. Outflows The ETFs with the biggest outflows included the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) , which saw its assets fall by $1.6 billion during the month, or more than 4% of its assets under management. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) was the second-biggest loser, with outflows of $986.2 million, a reduction in AUM of just 0.42%. Story continues However, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) was hot on its heels, with outflows of $981.1 million, or nearly 6% of its AUM. SPY and IWM were also the two biggest losers year-to-date, with outflows of $2.6 billion and $2.3 billion, respectively. Top Gainers (February 2017) Ticker Name Issuer Net Flows ($,mm) AUM ($M) % of AUM YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M) IEMG iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF BlackRock 2,485.09 23,824.90 11.65% 4,226.25 LQD iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF BlackRock 2,465.40 31,078.62 8.62% 3,706.91 GLD SPDR Gold Trust State Street Global Advisors 1,664.66 33,990.50 5.15% 798.19 XLV Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund State Street Global Advisors 1,438.89 16,038.75 9.86% 1,266.81 IJH iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF BlackRock 1,385.37 39,375.52 3.65% 2,719.32 IVV iShares Core S&P 500 ETF BlackRock 1,303.89 98,093.81 1.35% 1,836.45 VEA Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF Vanguard 1,279.82 44,338.13 2.97% 2,191.94 XLF Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund State Street Global Advisors 1,252.81 25,097.97 5.25% 1,356.12 VCSH Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond Index Fund Vanguard 1,076.98 17,426.28 6.18% 1,505.68 VOO Vanguard S&P 500 Index Fund Vanguard 1,046.41 63,313.08 1.65% 3204.42 Top Gainers (Year-to-Date) Ticker Name Issuer Net Flows ($,mm) AUM ($M) % of AUM February 2017 Net Flows($,M) IEMG iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF BlackRock 4,226.25 23,824.90 21.56% 2,485.09 LQD iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF BlackRock 3,706.91 31,078.62 13.54% 2,465.40 VOO Vanguard S&P 500 Index Fund Vanguard 3,204.42 63,313.08 5.06% 1,078.92 IJR iShares Core S&P Small Cap ETF BlackRock 2,959.25 30,138.29 10.89% 995.93 IJH iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF BlackRock 2,719.32 39,375.52 7.42% 1,385.37 VEA Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF Vanguard 2,191.94 44,338.13 5.20% 1,279.82 BSV Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund Vanguard 2,164.93 21,815.36 11.02% 700.83 IEFA iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF BlackRock 2,136.43 18,639.54 12.95% 387.53 VCIT Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond Index Fund Vanguard 2,127.69 12,576.56 20.36% 524.11 VTI Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Vanguard 2,054.91 75,952.49 2.80% 1,058.11 Biggest Losers (February 2017) Ticker Name Issuer Net Flows ($,mm) AUM ($M) % of AUM YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M) IWM iShares Russell 2000 ETF BlackRock -1,585.66 37,422.69 -4.06% -2,325.13 SPY SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust State Street Global Advisors -986.21 235,826.66 -0.42% -2,619.20 DIA SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust State Street Global Advisors -981.15 16,281.10 -5.68% 673.31 SPHD PowerShares S&P 500 High Dividend Low Volatility Portfolio Invesco PowerShares -557.35 3,088.85 -15.29% 165.39 HYG iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF BlackRock -399.83 18,573.36 -2.11% -688.22 EWJ iShares MSCI Japan ETF BlackRock -346.94 16,292.41 -2.09% 358.70 ACWV iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Global ETF BlackRock -309.61 2,954.38 -9.49% -338.99 USMV iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol USA ETF BlackRock -284.32 12,365.36 -2.25% -702.94 MUB iShares National Muni Bond ETF BlackRock -238.66 7,893.11 -2.93% -327.02 EWW iShares MSCI Mexico Capped ETF BlackRock -236.60 1,667.35 -14.19% -240.35 Biggest Losers (Year-to-Date) Ticker Name Issuer Net Flows ($,mm) AUM ($M) % of AUM February 2017 Net Flows($,M) SPY SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust State Street Global Advisors -2,619.20 235,826.66 -1.10% -986.21 IWM iShares Russell 2000 ETF BlackRock -2,325.13 37,422.69 -5.85% -1,585.66 IWF iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF BlackRock -1,244.82 33,669.24 -3.57% 229.67 USMV iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol USA ETF BlackRock -702.94 12,365.36 -5.38% -284.32 HYG iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF BlackRock -688.22 18,573.36 -3.57% -399.83 SCPB SPDR Bloomberg Barclays Short Term Corporate Bond ETF State Street Global Advisors -559.13 2,966.49 -15.86% -88.64 HEDJ WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity Fund WisdomTree -518.06 9,030.54 -5.43% -191.09 IEF iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF BlackRock -504.70 7,099.91 -7.11% -293.71 QQQ PowerShares QQQ Trust PowerShares -481.54 45,443.80 -1.06% 967.66 XLU Utilities Sector SPDR Fund SSGA -396.38 6,943.23 -5.71% 324.44 Asset Classes (February 2017) Net Flows ($, mm) AUM ($, mm) % of AUM U.S. Equity 20,371.81 1,601,910.98 1.27% International Equity 10,581.49 562,765.18 1.83% U.S. Fixed Income 10,211.31 437,402.33 2.38% International Fixed Income 1,880.84 43,560.34 4.20% Commodities 1,991.80 65,610.03 3.04% Currency -59.82 3,052.32 -1.96% Leveraged 116.42 25,933.54 0.49% Inverse 641.13 17,008.62 3.73% Asset Allocation 64.72 6,681.04 0.90% Alternatives 200.43 4,090.25 4.86% Total: 46,000.02 2,768,014.63 1.62% Asset Classes (Year-to-Date) Net Flows ($, mm) AUM ($, mm) % of AUM U.S. Equity 36,498.38 1,601,910.98 2.28% International Equity 23,089.67 562,765.18 4.30% U.S. Fixed Income 23,422.48 437,402.33 5.35% International Fixed Income 2,796.38 43,560.34 6.31% Commodities 1,322.83 65,610.03 1.80% Currency -25.10 3,052.32 -3.34% Leveraged -29.83 25,933.54 -0.12% Inverse 847.96 17,008.62 4.99% Asset Allocation -346.80 6,681.04 -5.19% Alternatives 453.19 4,090.25 11.08% Total: 87,910.92 2,768,014.63 3.18% February 2017 League Table Issuer Net Flows ($,M) AUM ($,M) % of AUM YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M) BlackRock 15,618.06 1,059,680.52 1.47% 30,356.60 Vanguard 12,589.60 669,923.53 1.88% 27,186.12 State Street Global Advisors 6,977.44 537,381.47 1.30% 8,309.33 Invesco PowerShares 656.29 120,079.65 0.55% 2,043.32 Charles Schwab 2,249.63 67,119.66 3.35% 4,405.53 First Trust 687.12 44,800.01 1.53% 1,478.78 WisdomTree 174.60 41,915.35 0.42% 404.40 VanEck 1,511.88 34,758.08 4.35% 2,889.57 Guggenheim 363.49 34,304.06 1.06% 1,339.46 ProShares 377.18 26,888.91 1.40% 789.83 ALPS 571.39 14,389.27 3.97% 1,009.97 Deutsche Bank -14.83 14,160.27 -0.10% 162.25 Northern Trust 516.48 13,077.98 3.95% 873.73 PIMCO 260.78 12,878.40 2.02% 160.65 Direxion 179.48 11,186.53 1.60% -128.99 Barclays Capital 243.49 7,134.14 3.41% 529.31 UBS -17.21 6,977.94 -0.25% -16.76 Fidelity 356.05 5,984.57 5.95% 503.64 JPMorgan 80.54 5,214.85 1.54% 159.07 Global X 244.20 4,521.77 5.40% 537.66 US Commodity Funds 45.82 4,251.90 1.08% -134.01 Credit Suisse 346.62 3,497.50 9.91% 507.68 Goldman Sachs 24.76 3,181.04 0.78% 155.71 Exchange Traded Concepts 73.12 2,488.80 2.94% 159.75 ETF Securities 47.65 2,468.74 1.93% 66.31 IndexIQ -2.98 2,255.02 -0.13% -42.01 OppenheimerFunds 167.31 1,979.78 8.45% 316.60 ETF Managers Group 101.46 1,172.38 8.65% 114.60 Victory Capital Management 81.29 1,131.86 7.18% 181.87 AdvisorShares 16.60 1,098.32 1.51% 10.49 Millington Securities Inc -22.93 1,040.81 -2.20% -26.53 Columbia -9.30 1,000.29 -0.93% -9.83 Pacer Financial 18.51 828.38 2.23% 47.83 Virtus 19.88 787.28 2.52% 143.06 John Hancock 34.71 742.61 4.67% 45.23 CitiGroup 62.09 626.95 9.90% 154.55 Franklin ETF Trust 44.99 605.92 7.43% 50.41 The Principal Financial Group 0.00 565.63 0.00% 2.04 Highland Capital Management -9.43 485.43 -1.94% 7.49 FQF Trust -8.02 450.38 -1.78% -4.42 Swedish Export Credit 2.01 395.25 0.51% 0.42 Cambria 24.47 383.36 6.38% 35.92 KraneShares 9.98 289.38 3.45% 10.49 Janus 6.59 181.35 3.63% 36.08 Northern Lights 18.91 179.58 10.53% 18.91 Alpha Architect 1.26 168.73 0.75% 25.93 Elkhorn 1.52 165.71 0.92% 27.41 Teucrium 0.82 159.51 0.51% 0.21 Legg Mason -2.81 148.25 -1.90% 6.94 Merk 2.44 130.42 1.87% 7.18 Hartford 1.70 116.62 1.46% 6.47 Arrow Investment Advisors -1.19 112.61 -1.06% -1.19 Morgan Stanley 0.00 97.25 0.00% 0.00 Nuveen 0.00 93.30 0.00% 3.79 ARK 5.90 86.52 6.82% 12.88 Recon Capital 2.00 86.51 2.31% 5.42 Montage Managers 6.09 68.95 8.84% 10.92 US Global Investors -1.39 65.63 -2.11% -2.80 Davis 14.34 61.17 23.44% 14.34 Reality Shares 0.65 57.19 1.13% 8.30 Academy Funds 0.00 37.89 0.00% 0.00 Aptus Capital Advisors 1.35 29.80 4.52% 2.67 AlphaMark Advisors 0.00 26.39 0.00% 0.00 Validea Capital Management 0.00 22.90 0.00% 0.00 OSI ETF Trust 11.33 22.02 51.45% 18.92 Diamond Hill 1.33 19.30 6.90% 1.33 ACSI Funds 2.76 16.88 16.35% 4.12 Amplify 2.73 16.77 16.30% 5.38 Renaissance Capital 0.00 15.60 0.00% 0.00 Natixis 0.00 14.05 0.00% 0.00 TrimTabs Asset Management 0.70 11.36 6.19% 4.79 Strategy Shares 0.00 10.91 0.00% 0.00 LocalShares 0.00 8.83 0.01% -0.00 CSOP 0.00 8.35 0.00% -0.67 Premise Capital 1.34 8.03 16.64% 2.63 USCF Advisers 0.00 5.70 0.00% 0.00 AlphaClone 0.00 2.09 0.00% -0.99 BMO 0.00 0.00 0.00% 0.00 Royal Bank of Canada 0.00 0.00 0.00% 0.00 Disclaimer: All data as of 6 a.m. Eastern time the date the article is published. Data is believed to be accurate; however, transient market data is often subject to subsequent revision and correction by the exchanges. Recommended Stories SEC Rejects Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF Swedroe: Political Biases Can Impact Your Investing Big Bitcoin ETF Decision Coming Today, Or Maybe Not This Fallen Angel ETF Really A Rising Star What Snap’s Pop & Drop IPO Means For ETFs Permalink | © Copyright 2017 ETF.com. All rights reserved || Feb. ETF Inflows Push 2017's Record Start To $88B: Total ETF inflows for February were $46 billion, bringing the year-to-date total to a record-breaking $87.9 billion, a record start to any year for new assets.
U.S. equity pulled in more than any other asset class, at $20.4 billion. U.S. fixed income and international equity were neck-and-neck, with inflows of $10.2 billion and $10.5 billion, respectively. Only currency saw outflows, losing $59.8 million.
The top gainer for the month out of the entire field of U.S.-listed ETFs was theiShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG), which pulled in $2.5 billion. TheiShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD)was in second place, pulling in just $20 million less than IEMG during the month.
A Story Of CostsIEMG’s inflows capture a rather fascinating development in the ETF space—the inexorable tide of low-cost victories. With an expense ratio of 0.14%, the fund is basically a broader, lower-cost version of its older brother, theiShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM), which comes with an expense ratio of 0.72%.
While IEMG was among the top gainers in February, the more expensive EEM actually saw zero inflows for the month and is down $33 million for the year. IEMG also holds the top spot for year-to-date inflows, pulling in a total of $4.2 billion in the first two months of the year, almost 22% of its total assets under management. LQD is again in second place, with $3.7 billion in inflows year-to-date.
The No. 3 spot for February inflows was claimed by theSPDR Gold Trust (GLD), which pulled in some $1.7 billion, a notable reversal from its outflows of $866 million in January. Commodities as a whole pulled in $2 billion during the month, after more than $600 million in outflows in January, boosted no doubt in part by the upswing in the yellow metal.
OutflowsThe ETFs with the biggest outflows included theiShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM), which saw its assets fall by $1.6 billion during the month, or more than 4% of its assets under management. TheSPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)was the second-biggest loser, with outflows of $986.2 million, a reduction in AUM of just 0.42%.
However, theSPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA)was hot on its heels, with outflows of $981.1 million, or nearly 6% of its AUM. SPY and IWM were also the two biggest losers year-to-date, with outflows of $2.6 billion and $2.3 billion, respectively.
Top Gainers (February 2017)
[{"Ticker": "IEMG", "Name": "iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF", "Issuer": "BlackRock", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "2,485.09", "AUM ($M)": "23,824.90", "% of AUM": "11.65%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "4,226.25"}, {"Ticker": "LQD", "Name": "iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF", "Issuer": "BlackRock", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "2,465.40", "AUM ($M)": "31,078.62", "% of AUM": "8.62%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "3,706.91"}, {"Ticker": "GLD", "Name": "SPDR Gold Trust", "Issuer": "State Street Global Advisors", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "1,664.66", "AUM ($M)": "33,990.50", "% of AUM": "5.15%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "798.19"}, {"Ticker": "XLV", "Name": "Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund", "Issuer": "State Street Global Advisors", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "1,438.89", "AUM ($M)": "16,038.75", "% of AUM": "9.86%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "1,266.81"}, {"Ticker": "IJH", "Name": "iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF", "Issuer": "BlackRock", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "1,385.37", "AUM ($M)": "39,375.52", "% of AUM": "3.65%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "2,719.32"}, {"Ticker": "IVV", "Name": "iShares Core S&P 500 ETF", "Issuer": "BlackRock", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "1,303.89", "AUM ($M)": "98,093.81", "% of AUM": "1.35%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "1,836.45"}, {"Ticker": "VEA", "Name": "Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF", "Issuer": "Vanguard", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "1,279.82", "AUM ($M)": "44,338.13", "% of AUM": "2.97%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "2,191.94"}, {"Ticker": "XLF", "Name": "Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund", "Issuer": "State Street Global Advisors", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "1,252.81", "AUM ($M)": "25,097.97", "% of AUM": "5.25%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "1,356.12"}, {"Ticker": "VCSH", "Name": "Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond Index Fund", "Issuer": "Vanguard", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "1,076.98", "AUM ($M)": "17,426.28", "% of AUM": "6.18%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "1,505.68"}, {"Ticker": "VOO", "Name": "Vanguard S&P 500 Index Fund", "Issuer": "Vanguard", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "1,046.41", "AUM ($M)": "63,313.08", "% of AUM": "1.65%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "3204.42"}]
Top Gainers (Year-to-Date)
[{"Ticker": "IEMG", "Name": "iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF", "Issuer": "BlackRock", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "4,226.25", "AUM ($M)": "23,824.90", "% of AUM": "21.56%", "February 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "2,485.09"}, {"Ticker": "LQD", "Name": "iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF", "Issuer": "BlackRock", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "3,706.91", "AUM ($M)": "31,078.62", "% of AUM": "13.54%", "February 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "2,465.40"}, {"Ticker": "VOO", "Name": "Vanguard S&P 500 Index Fund", "Issuer": "Vanguard", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "3,204.42", "AUM ($M)": "63,313.08", "% of AUM": "5.06%", "February 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "1,078.92"}, {"Ticker": "IJR", "Name": "iShares Core S&P Small Cap ETF", "Issuer": "BlackRock", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "2,959.25", "AUM ($M)": "30,138.29", "% of AUM": "10.89%", "February 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "995.93"}, {"Ticker": "IJH", "Name": "iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF", "Issuer": "BlackRock", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "2,719.32", "AUM ($M)": "39,375.52", "% of AUM": "7.42%", "February 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "1,385.37"}, {"Ticker": "VEA", "Name": "Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF", "Issuer": "Vanguard", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "2,191.94", "AUM ($M)": "44,338.13", "% of AUM": "5.20%", "February 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "1,279.82"}, {"Ticker": "BSV", "Name": "Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund", "Issuer": "Vanguard", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "2,164.93", "AUM ($M)": "21,815.36", "% of AUM": "11.02%", "February 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "700.83"}, {"Ticker": "IEFA", "Name": "iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF", "Issuer": "BlackRock", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "2,136.43", "AUM ($M)": "18,639.54", "% of AUM": "12.95%", "February 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "387.53"}, {"Ticker": "VCIT", "Name": "Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond Index Fund", "Issuer": "Vanguard", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "2,127.69", "AUM ($M)": "12,576.56", "% of AUM": "20.36%", "February 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "524.11"}, {"Ticker": "VTI", "Name": "Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund", "Issuer": "Vanguard", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "2,054.91", "AUM ($M)": "75,952.49", "% of AUM": "2.80%", "February 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "1,058.11"}]
Biggest Losers (February 2017)
[{"Ticker": "IWM", "Name": "iShares Russell 2000 ETF", "Issuer": "BlackRock", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "-1,585.66", "AUM ($M)": "37,422.69", "% of AUM": "-4.06%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "-2,325.13"}, {"Ticker": "SPY", "Name": "SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust", "Issuer": "State Street Global Advisors", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "-986.21", "AUM ($M)": "235,826.66", "% of AUM": "-0.42%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "-2,619.20"}, {"Ticker": "DIA", "Name": "SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust", "Issuer": "State Street Global Advisors", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "-981.15", "AUM ($M)": "16,281.10", "% of AUM": "-5.68%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "673.31"}, {"Ticker": "SPHD", "Name": "PowerShares S&P 500 High Dividend Low Volatility Portfolio", "Issuer": "Invesco PowerShares", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "-557.35", "AUM ($M)": "3,088.85", "% of AUM": "-15.29%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "165.39"}, {"Ticker": "HYG", "Name": "iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF", "Issuer": "BlackRock", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "-399.83", "AUM ($M)": "18,573.36", "% of AUM": "-2.11%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "-688.22"}, {"Ticker": "EWJ", "Name": "iShares MSCI Japan ETF", "Issuer": "BlackRock", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "-346.94", "AUM ($M)": "16,292.41", "% of AUM": "-2.09%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "358.70"}, {"Ticker": "ACWV", "Name": "iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Global ETF", "Issuer": "BlackRock", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "-309.61", "AUM ($M)": "2,954.38", "% of AUM": "-9.49%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "-338.99"}, {"Ticker": "USMV", "Name": "iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol USA ETF", "Issuer": "BlackRock", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "-284.32", "AUM ($M)": "12,365.36", "% of AUM": "-2.25%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "-702.94"}, {"Ticker": "MUB", "Name": "iShares National Muni Bond ETF", "Issuer": "BlackRock", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "-238.66", "AUM ($M)": "7,893.11", "% of AUM": "-2.93%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "-327.02"}, {"Ticker": "EWW", "Name": "iShares MSCI Mexico Capped ETF", "Issuer": "BlackRock", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "-236.60", "AUM ($M)": "1,667.35", "% of AUM": "-14.19%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "-240.35"}]
Biggest Losers (Year-to-Date)
[{"Ticker": "SPY", "Name": "SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust", "Issuer": "State Street Global Advisors", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "-2,619.20", "AUM ($M)": "235,826.66", "% of AUM": "-1.10%", "February 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "-986.21"}, {"Ticker": "IWM", "Name": "iShares Russell 2000 ETF", "Issuer": "BlackRock", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "-2,325.13", "AUM ($M)": "37,422.69", "% of AUM": "-5.85%", "February 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "-1,585.66"}, {"Ticker": "IWF", "Name": "iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF", "Issuer": "BlackRock", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "-1,244.82", "AUM ($M)": "33,669.24", "% of AUM": "-3.57%", "February 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "229.67"}, {"Ticker": "USMV", "Name": "iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol USA ETF", "Issuer": "BlackRock", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "-702.94", "AUM ($M)": "12,365.36", "% of AUM": "-5.38%", "February 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "-284.32"}, {"Ticker": "HYG", "Name": "iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF", "Issuer": "BlackRock", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "-688.22", "AUM ($M)": "18,573.36", "% of AUM": "-3.57%", "February 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "-399.83"}, {"Ticker": "SCPB", "Name": "SPDR Bloomberg Barclays Short Term Corporate Bond ETF", "Issuer": "State Street Global Advisors", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "-559.13", "AUM ($M)": "2,966.49", "% of AUM": "-15.86%", "February 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "-88.64"}, {"Ticker": "HEDJ", "Name": "WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity Fund", "Issuer": "WisdomTree", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "-518.06", "AUM ($M)": "9,030.54", "% of AUM": "-5.43%", "February 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "-191.09"}, {"Ticker": "IEF", "Name": "iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF", "Issuer": "BlackRock", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "-504.70", "AUM ($M)": "7,099.91", "% of AUM": "-7.11%", "February 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "-293.71"}, {"Ticker": "QQQ", "Name": "PowerShares QQQ Trust", "Issuer": "PowerShares", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "-481.54", "AUM ($M)": "45,443.80", "% of AUM": "-1.06%", "February 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "967.66"}, {"Ticker": "XLU", "Name": "Utilities Sector SPDR Fund", "Issuer": "SSGA", "Net Flows ($,mm)": "-396.38", "AUM ($M)": "6,943.23", "% of AUM": "-5.71%", "February 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "324.44"}]
Asset Classes (February 2017)
[{"": "U.S. Equity", "Net Flows ($, mm)": "20,371.81", "AUM ($, mm)": "1,601,910.98", "% of AUM": "1.27%"}, {"": "International Equity", "Net Flows ($, mm)": "10,581.49", "AUM ($, mm)": "562,765.18", "% of AUM": "1.83%"}, {"": "U.S. Fixed Income", "Net Flows ($, mm)": "10,211.31", "AUM ($, mm)": "437,402.33", "% of AUM": "2.38%"}, {"": "International Fixed Income", "Net Flows ($, mm)": "1,880.84", "AUM ($, mm)": "43,560.34", "% of AUM": "4.20%"}, {"": "Commodities", "Net Flows ($, mm)": "1,991.80", "AUM ($, mm)": "65,610.03", "% of AUM": "3.04%"}, {"": "Currency", "Net Flows ($, mm)": "-59.82", "AUM ($, mm)": "3,052.32", "% of AUM": "-1.96%"}, {"": "Leveraged", "Net Flows ($, mm)": "116.42", "AUM ($, mm)": "25,933.54", "% of AUM": "0.49%"}, {"": "Inverse", "Net Flows ($, mm)": "641.13", "AUM ($, mm)": "17,008.62", "% of AUM": "3.73%"}, {"": "Asset Allocation", "Net Flows ($, mm)": "64.72", "AUM ($, mm)": "6,681.04", "% of AUM": "0.90%"}, {"": "Alternatives", "Net Flows ($, mm)": "200.43", "AUM ($, mm)": "4,090.25", "% of AUM": "4.86%"}, {"": "Total:", "Net Flows ($, mm)": "46,000.02", "AUM ($, mm)": "2,768,014.63", "% of AUM": "1.62%"}]
Asset Classes (Year-to-Date)
[{"": "U.S. Equity", "Net Flows ($, mm)": "36,498.38", "AUM ($, mm)": "1,601,910.98", "% of AUM": "2.28%"}, {"": "International Equity", "Net Flows ($, mm)": "23,089.67", "AUM ($, mm)": "562,765.18", "% of AUM": "4.30%"}, {"": "U.S. Fixed Income", "Net Flows ($, mm)": "23,422.48", "AUM ($, mm)": "437,402.33", "% of AUM": "5.35%"}, {"": "International Fixed Income", "Net Flows ($, mm)": "2,796.38", "AUM ($, mm)": "43,560.34", "% of AUM": "6.31%"}, {"": "Commodities", "Net Flows ($, mm)": "1,322.83", "AUM ($, mm)": "65,610.03", "% of AUM": "1.80%"}, {"": "Currency", "Net Flows ($, mm)": "-25.10", "AUM ($, mm)": "3,052.32", "% of AUM": "-3.34%"}, {"": "Leveraged", "Net Flows ($, mm)": "-29.83", "AUM ($, mm)": "25,933.54", "% of AUM": "-0.12%"}, {"": "Inverse", "Net Flows ($, mm)": "847.96", "AUM ($, mm)": "17,008.62", "% of AUM": "4.99%"}, {"": "Asset Allocation", "Net Flows ($, mm)": "-346.80", "AUM ($, mm)": "6,681.04", "% of AUM": "-5.19%"}, {"": "Alternatives", "Net Flows ($, mm)": "453.19", "AUM ($, mm)": "4,090.25", "% of AUM": "11.08%"}, {"": "Total:", "Net Flows ($, mm)": "87,910.92", "AUM ($, mm)": "2,768,014.63", "% of AUM": "3.18%"}]
February 2017 League Table
[{"Issuer": "BlackRock", "Net Flows ($,M)": "15,618.06", "AUM ($,M)": "1,059,680.52", "% of AUM": "1.47%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "30,356.60"}, {"Issuer": "Vanguard", "Net Flows ($,M)": "12,589.60", "AUM ($,M)": "669,923.53", "% of AUM": "1.88%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "27,186.12"}, {"Issuer": "State Street Global Advisors", "Net Flows ($,M)": "6,977.44", "AUM ($,M)": "537,381.47", "% of AUM": "1.30%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "8,309.33"}, {"Issuer": "Invesco PowerShares", "Net Flows ($,M)": "656.29", "AUM ($,M)": "120,079.65", "% of AUM": "0.55%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "2,043.32"}, {"Issuer": "Charles Schwab", "Net Flows ($,M)": "2,249.63", "AUM ($,M)": "67,119.66", "% of AUM": "3.35%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "4,405.53"}, {"Issuer": "First Trust", "Net Flows ($,M)": "687.12", "AUM ($,M)": "44,800.01", "% of AUM": "1.53%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "1,478.78"}, {"Issuer": "WisdomTree", "Net Flows ($,M)": "174.60", "AUM ($,M)": "41,915.35", "% of AUM": "0.42%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "404.40"}, {"Issuer": "VanEck", "Net Flows ($,M)": "1,511.88", "AUM ($,M)": "34,758.08", "% of AUM": "4.35%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "2,889.57"}, {"Issuer": "Guggenheim", "Net Flows ($,M)": "363.49", "AUM ($,M)": "34,304.06", "% of AUM": "1.06%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "1,339.46"}, {"Issuer": "ProShares", "Net Flows ($,M)": "377.18", "AUM ($,M)": "26,888.91", "% of AUM": "1.40%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "789.83"}, {"Issuer": "ALPS", "Net Flows ($,M)": "571.39", "AUM ($,M)": "14,389.27", "% of AUM": "3.97%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "1,009.97"}, {"Issuer": "Deutsche Bank", "Net Flows ($,M)": "-14.83", "AUM ($,M)": "14,160.27", "% of AUM": "-0.10%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "162.25"}, {"Issuer": "Northern Trust", "Net Flows ($,M)": "516.48", "AUM ($,M)": "13,077.98", "% of AUM": "3.95%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "873.73"}, {"Issuer": "PIMCO", "Net Flows ($,M)": "260.78", "AUM ($,M)": "12,878.40", "% of AUM": "2.02%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "160.65"}, {"Issuer": "Direxion", "Net Flows ($,M)": "179.48", "AUM ($,M)": "11,186.53", "% of AUM": "1.60%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "-128.99"}, {"Issuer": "Barclays Capital", "Net Flows ($,M)": "243.49", "AUM ($,M)": "7,134.14", "% of AUM": "3.41%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "529.31"}, {"Issuer": "UBS", "Net Flows ($,M)": "-17.21", "AUM ($,M)": "6,977.94", "% of AUM": "-0.25%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "-16.76"}, {"Issuer": "Fidelity", "Net Flows ($,M)": "356.05", "AUM ($,M)": "5,984.57", "% of AUM": "5.95%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "503.64"}, {"Issuer": "JPMorgan", "Net Flows ($,M)": "80.54", "AUM ($,M)": "5,214.85", "% of AUM": "1.54%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "159.07"}, {"Issuer": "Global X", "Net Flows ($,M)": "244.20", "AUM ($,M)": "4,521.77", "% of AUM": "5.40%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "537.66"}, {"Issuer": "US Commodity Funds", "Net Flows ($,M)": "45.82", "AUM ($,M)": "4,251.90", "% of AUM": "1.08%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "-134.01"}, {"Issuer": "Credit Suisse", "Net Flows ($,M)": "346.62", "AUM ($,M)": "3,497.50", "% of AUM": "9.91%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "507.68"}, {"Issuer": "Goldman Sachs", "Net Flows ($,M)": "24.76", "AUM ($,M)": "3,181.04", "% of AUM": "0.78%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "155.71"}, {"Issuer": "Exchange Traded Concepts", "Net Flows ($,M)": "73.12", "AUM ($,M)": "2,488.80", "% of AUM": "2.94%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "159.75"}, {"Issuer": "ETF Securities", "Net Flows ($,M)": "47.65", "AUM ($,M)": "2,468.74", "% of AUM": "1.93%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "66.31"}, {"Issuer": "IndexIQ", "Net Flows ($,M)": "-2.98", "AUM ($,M)": "2,255.02", "% of AUM": "-0.13%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "-42.01"}, {"Issuer": "OppenheimerFunds", "Net Flows ($,M)": "167.31", "AUM ($,M)": "1,979.78", "% of AUM": "8.45%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "316.60"}, {"Issuer": "ETF Managers Group", "Net Flows ($,M)": "101.46", "AUM ($,M)": "1,172.38", "% of AUM": "8.65%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "114.60"}, {"Issuer": "Victory Capital Management", "Net Flows ($,M)": "81.29", "AUM ($,M)": "1,131.86", "% of AUM": "7.18%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "181.87"}, {"Issuer": "AdvisorShares", "Net Flows ($,M)": "16.60", "AUM ($,M)": "1,098.32", "% of AUM": "1.51%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "10.49"}, {"Issuer": "Millington Securities Inc", "Net Flows ($,M)": "-22.93", "AUM ($,M)": "1,040.81", "% of AUM": "-2.20%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "-26.53"}, {"Issuer": "Columbia", "Net Flows ($,M)": "-9.30", "AUM ($,M)": "1,000.29", "% of AUM": "-0.93%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "-9.83"}, {"Issuer": "Pacer Financial", "Net Flows ($,M)": "18.51", "AUM ($,M)": "828.38", "% of AUM": "2.23%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "47.83"}, {"Issuer": "Virtus", "Net Flows ($,M)": "19.88", "AUM ($,M)": "787.28", "% of AUM": "2.52%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "143.06"}, {"Issuer": "John Hancock", "Net Flows ($,M)": "34.71", "AUM ($,M)": "742.61", "% of AUM": "4.67%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "45.23"}, {"Issuer": "CitiGroup", "Net Flows ($,M)": "62.09", "AUM ($,M)": "626.95", "% of AUM": "9.90%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "154.55"}, {"Issuer": "Franklin ETF Trust", "Net Flows ($,M)": "44.99", "AUM ($,M)": "605.92", "% of AUM": "7.43%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "50.41"}, {"Issuer": "The Principal Financial Group", "Net Flows ($,M)": "0.00", "AUM ($,M)": "565.63", "% of AUM": "0.00%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "2.04"}, {"Issuer": "Highland Capital Management", "Net Flows ($,M)": "-9.43", "AUM ($,M)": "485.43", "% of AUM": "-1.94%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "7.49"}, {"Issuer": "FQF Trust", "Net Flows ($,M)": "-8.02", "AUM ($,M)": "450.38", "% of AUM": "-1.78%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "-4.42"}, {"Issuer": "Swedish Export Credit", "Net Flows ($,M)": "2.01", "AUM ($,M)": "395.25", "% of AUM": "0.51%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "0.42"}, {"Issuer": "Cambria", "Net Flows ($,M)": "24.47", "AUM ($,M)": "383.36", "% of AUM": "6.38%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "35.92"}, {"Issuer": "KraneShares", "Net Flows ($,M)": "9.98", "AUM ($,M)": "289.38", "% of AUM": "3.45%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "10.49"}, {"Issuer": "Janus", "Net Flows ($,M)": "6.59", "AUM ($,M)": "181.35", "% of AUM": "3.63%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "36.08"}, {"Issuer": "Northern Lights", "Net Flows ($,M)": "18.91", "AUM ($,M)": "179.58", "% of AUM": "10.53%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "18.91"}, {"Issuer": "Alpha Architect", "Net Flows ($,M)": "1.26", "AUM ($,M)": "168.73", "% of AUM": "0.75%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "25.93"}, {"Issuer": "Elkhorn", "Net Flows ($,M)": "1.52", "AUM ($,M)": "165.71", "% of AUM": "0.92%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "27.41"}, {"Issuer": "Teucrium", "Net Flows ($,M)": "0.82", "AUM ($,M)": "159.51", "% of AUM": "0.51%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "0.21"}, {"Issuer": "Legg Mason", "Net Flows ($,M)": "-2.81", "AUM ($,M)": "148.25", "% of AUM": "-1.90%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "6.94"}, {"Issuer": "Merk", "Net Flows ($,M)": "2.44", "AUM ($,M)": "130.42", "% of AUM": "1.87%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "7.18"}, {"Issuer": "Hartford", "Net Flows ($,M)": "1.70", "AUM ($,M)": "116.62", "% of AUM": "1.46%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "6.47"}, {"Issuer": "Arrow Investment Advisors", "Net Flows ($,M)": "-1.19", "AUM ($,M)": "112.61", "% of AUM": "-1.06%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "-1.19"}, {"Issuer": "Morgan Stanley", "Net Flows ($,M)": "0.00", "AUM ($,M)": "97.25", "% of AUM": "0.00%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "0.00"}, {"Issuer": "Nuveen", "Net Flows ($,M)": "0.00", "AUM ($,M)": "93.30", "% of AUM": "0.00%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "3.79"}, {"Issuer": "ARK", "Net Flows ($,M)": "5.90", "AUM ($,M)": "86.52", "% of AUM": "6.82%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "12.88"}, {"Issuer": "Recon Capital", "Net Flows ($,M)": "2.00", "AUM ($,M)": "86.51", "% of AUM": "2.31%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "5.42"}, {"Issuer": "Montage Managers", "Net Flows ($,M)": "6.09", "AUM ($,M)": "68.95", "% of AUM": "8.84%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "10.92"}, {"Issuer": "US Global Investors", "Net Flows ($,M)": "-1.39", "AUM ($,M)": "65.63", "% of AUM": "-2.11%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "-2.80"}, {"Issuer": "Davis", "Net Flows ($,M)": "14.34", "AUM ($,M)": "61.17", "% of AUM": "23.44%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "14.34"}, {"Issuer": "Reality Shares", "Net Flows ($,M)": "0.65", "AUM ($,M)": "57.19", "% of AUM": "1.13%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "8.30"}, {"Issuer": "Academy Funds", "Net Flows ($,M)": "0.00", "AUM ($,M)": "37.89", "% of AUM": "0.00%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "0.00"}, {"Issuer": "Aptus Capital Advisors", "Net Flows ($,M)": "1.35", "AUM ($,M)": "29.80", "% of AUM": "4.52%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "2.67"}, {"Issuer": "AlphaMark Advisors", "Net Flows ($,M)": "0.00", "AUM ($,M)": "26.39", "% of AUM": "0.00%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "0.00"}, {"Issuer": "Validea Capital Management", "Net Flows ($,M)": "0.00", "AUM ($,M)": "22.90", "% of AUM": "0.00%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "0.00"}, {"Issuer": "OSI ETF Trust", "Net Flows ($,M)": "11.33", "AUM ($,M)": "22.02", "% of AUM": "51.45%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "18.92"}, {"Issuer": "Diamond Hill", "Net Flows ($,M)": "1.33", "AUM ($,M)": "19.30", "% of AUM": "6.90%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "1.33"}, {"Issuer": "ACSI Funds", "Net Flows ($,M)": "2.76", "AUM ($,M)": "16.88", "% of AUM": "16.35%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "4.12"}, {"Issuer": "Amplify", "Net Flows ($,M)": "2.73", "AUM ($,M)": "16.77", "% of AUM": "16.30%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "5.38"}, {"Issuer": "Renaissance Capital", "Net Flows ($,M)": "0.00", "AUM ($,M)": "15.60", "% of AUM": "0.00%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "0.00"}, {"Issuer": "Natixis", "Net Flows ($,M)": "0.00", "AUM ($,M)": "14.05", "% of AUM": "0.00%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "0.00"}, {"Issuer": "TrimTabs Asset Management", "Net Flows ($,M)": "0.70", "AUM ($,M)": "11.36", "% of AUM": "6.19%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "4.79"}, {"Issuer": "Strategy Shares", "Net Flows ($,M)": "0.00", "AUM ($,M)": "10.91", "% of AUM": "0.00%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "0.00"}, {"Issuer": "LocalShares", "Net Flows ($,M)": "0.00", "AUM ($,M)": "8.83", "% of AUM": "0.01%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "-0.00"}, {"Issuer": "CSOP", "Net Flows ($,M)": "0.00", "AUM ($,M)": "8.35", "% of AUM": "0.00%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "-0.67"}, {"Issuer": "Premise Capital", "Net Flows ($,M)": "1.34", "AUM ($,M)": "8.03", "% of AUM": "16.64%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "2.63"}, {"Issuer": "USCF Advisers", "Net Flows ($,M)": "0.00", "AUM ($,M)": "5.70", "% of AUM": "0.00%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "0.00"}, {"Issuer": "AlphaClone", "Net Flows ($,M)": "0.00", "AUM ($,M)": "2.09", "% of AUM": "0.00%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "-0.99"}, {"Issuer": "BMO", "Net Flows ($,M)": "0.00", "AUM ($,M)": "0.00", "% of AUM": "0.00%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "0.00"}, {"Issuer": "Royal Bank of Canada", "Net Flows ($,M)": "0.00", "AUM ($,M)": "0.00", "% of AUM": "0.00%", "YTD 2017 Net Flows($,M)": "0.00"}]
Disclaimer: All data as of 6 a.m. Eastern time the date the article is published. Data is believed to be accurate; however, transient market data is often subject to subsequent revision and correction by the exchanges.
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Permalink| © Copyright 2017ETF.com.All rights reserved || Bitcoin site CoinDesk poaches Bloomberg exec as new CEO: CoinDesk, the leading trade publication covering bitcoin and blockchain news, has a new CEO, its first: Kevin Worth, former CFO of Bloomberg Digital Media.
While digital currency may be a non-traditional coverage area, the job otherwise looks like an obvious fit with Worth’s background in managing digital content businesses.
In the late 90s, Worth worked in corporate strategic planning at the New York Times. Then he was founding CEO of The Deal, the financial data and news site funded by investment banker Bruce Wasserstein. Worth stayed on for a year after The Deal sold to The Street. He spent the past couple of years as CFO of Bloomberg’s digital and television businesses.
Just over 12 months ago, in January 2016,CoinDesk sold to Digital Currency Group, the biggest investment firm in bitcoin and blockchain startups (withinvestments in over 90), led by Barry Silbert, the founder of SecondMarket. DCG placed its own Ryan Selkis in charge of CoinDesk on the business side, but pledged that Selkis and DCG would have no involvement in editorial decisions at the site.
Selkis was never CoinDesk’s CEO; Worth is its first. He will run business and editorial, the way that a typical magazine publisher would; the site’s editor is Pete Rizzo.
CoinDesk has 13 full-time employees.Last month, the site made its first acquisition:the bitcoin data app Lawnmower. Lawnmower’s historical price data and charts, as well as its staff, got folded into CoinDesk’s in-house research arm (which produces reports such as a new one on blockchains for insurance), a sign it is serious about the information-selling side of its business.
DCG’s main interest in CoinDesk was always for Consensus, its live bitcoin conference in May, first held in 2015. Last year, the event attracted 1,5000 attendees. Worth, from his time at Bloomberg, has seen the growth of live events as a money-maker for publishers. These days, live programming is a vital arm of the business for news organizations like Time Inc, Business Insider, and Re/code.
Under Worth, expect CoinDesk to place further emphasis on two pillars: live events like Consensus, and research reports for a fee. “To me, if you look at where the value in the content marketplace is being created,” Worth says, “it’s live events and business information products. I see an opportunity for CoinDesk to gain a pole position in becoming the must-have, go-to resource for the industry.”
Worth sounds more fired up about events and information than the news side, which is what CoinDesk is for many of its readers: a vital news outlet. He confirms that Consensus, for now, is his “main focus.”
So, moving forward, will CoinDesk look more like a data resource, or a news blog?
“I think it’s a little all-of-the-above,” Worth says. “I can tell you that the playbooks I have had in the past think about having many different audiences, and how to serve all of them. What got me so excited about coming is that it’s pretty much a whiteboard.”
In terms of news coverage, it sounds like CoinDesk may soon see itself less as a mainstream news site covering bitcoin and blockchain news for the masses. When asked if other business news outlets that cover bitcoin news are competitors, Worth says, “If they are serving a broad, general interest community, then no. We are keeping our eye on serving industry professionals.”
Just a few months ago, Worth knew very little about the digital currency bitcoin, and the blockchain technology that underpins it. (What exactly is blockchain?Watch this video.) After Barry Silbert called, “I did a lot of research and started to learn a lot more, and I drank the kool-aid, if you will,” says Worth.
He hasn’t bought any bitcoin as an investment just yet.
Digital currency, Worth says, “feels a little bit to me like when the first Internet hype came. There is a tremendous need to understand all the potential implications, people trying to understand it and make sense of it. From my time at Bloomberg I’m close to the world of institutional finance, and that’s an industry that hasn’t really had the amount of transformation that has gone on in, say, the media business. So, let’s see where the opportunity is for those businesses to transform, which are much more fundamental to the global economy.”
As the interest in blockchain technology (especially from banks) has grown, CoinDesk has grown and expanded its purview from bitcoin, to additional digital assets like Litecoin, Ripple, and Ethereum, to blockchain news. In the near future, Worth sees the challenge and competition coming from data providers, not necessarily media outlets.
“I see this as a wide open field,” he says. “What I’m focused on, to be honest with you, it’s not other media or content companies that are the competition, but other information providers who might move into the space, whether that’s consulting firms or other information providers. But we ought to be smarter than them, because they may just have two or three people looking at it and we have a whole team.”
Other information providers that might move into the bitcoin and blockchain space? That sounds like it could include… Bloomberg, his old employer. And that’s fine for Worth, who says he learned a great deal while there. “I understand what their business model is about. It’s really the only company I can think of where they have scale but it’s still dominated by the owner, who is still the CEO and it’s his capital and you follow his lead,” Worth says. After his years there, he’s ready for something “entrepreneurial.”
And that’s why Silbert tapped Worth, he says: corporate experience that can help turn a modest-sized blog into a full-scale information seller.
“I believe digital currency is a transformational asset class that will attract meaningful amounts of capital over time,” Silbert says. (It’s a sound bite he likes to repeat.) “And then there’s a lot of interest in blockchain, and distributed ledger technology, to make processes more efficient… We’re obviously super bullish on bitcoin, blockchain technology, and all the applications that are going to come. All we needed was an experienced operator like Kevin to come in and help scale the business.”
CoinDesk expects to become profitable this year.
—
Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering technology and media. Follow him on Twitter at@readDanwrite.
Read more:
Bitcoin is becoming the new gold
Expect more blockchain hype in 2017
Here’s where big banks stand on blockchain
Why 21.co is the most exciting bitcoin company right now || Bitcoin site CoinDesk poaches Bloomberg exec as new CEO: Bitcoin price over the last 3 months, via CoinDesk price index CoinDesk, the leading trade publication covering bitcoin and blockchain news, has a new CEO, its first: Kevin Worth, former CFO of Bloomberg Digital Media. While digital currency may be a non-traditional coverage area, the job otherwise looks like an obvious fit with Worths background in managing digital content businesses. In the late 90s, Worth worked in corporate strategic planning at the New York Times. Then he was founding CEO of The Deal, the financial data and news site funded by investment banker Bruce Wasserstein. Worth stayed on for a year after The Deal sold to The Street. He spent the past couple of years as CFO of Bloombergs digital and television businesses. Many recent changes at CoinDesk Just over 12 months ago, in January 2016, CoinDesk sold to Digital Currency Group , the biggest investment firm in bitcoin and blockchain startups (with investments in over 90 ), led by Barry Silbert, the founder of SecondMarket. DCG placed its own Ryan Selkis in charge of CoinDesk on the business side, but pledged that Selkis and DCG would have no involvement in editorial decisions at the site. Selkis was never CoinDesks CEO; Worth is its first. He will run business and editorial, the way that a typical magazine publisher would; the sites editor is Pete Rizzo. Kevin Worth, new CEO of CoinDesk CoinDesk has 13 full-time employees. Last month, the site made its first acquisition: the bitcoin data app Lawnmower . Lawnmowers historical price data and charts, as well as its staff, got folded into CoinDesks in-house research arm (which produces reports such as a new one on blockchains for insurance), a sign it is serious about the information-selling side of its business. DCGs main interest in CoinDesk was always for Consensus, its live bitcoin conference in May, first held in 2015. Last year, the event attracted 1,5000 attendees. Worth, from his time at Bloomberg, has seen the growth of live events as a money-maker for publishers. These days, live programming is a vital arm of the business for news organizations like Time Inc, Business Insider, and Re/code. Story continues Under Worth, expect CoinDesk to place further emphasis on two pillars: live events like Consensus, and research reports for a fee. To me, if you look at where the value in the content marketplace is being created, Worth says, its live events and business information products. I see an opportunity for CoinDesk to gain a pole position in becoming the must-have, go-to resource for the industry. Worth sounds more fired up about events and information than the news side, which is what CoinDesk is for many of its readers: a vital news outlet. He confirms that Consensus, for now, is his main focus. So, moving forward, will CoinDesk look more like a data resource, or a news blog? I think its a little all-of-the-above, Worth says. I can tell you that the playbooks I have had in the past think about having many different audiences, and how to serve all of them. What got me so excited about coming is that its pretty much a whiteboard. A look at CoinDesks homepage on Feb. 28, 2017 In terms of news coverage, it sounds like CoinDesk may soon see itself less as a mainstream news site covering bitcoin and blockchain news for the masses. When asked if other business news outlets that cover bitcoin news are competitors, Worth says, If they are serving a broad, general interest community, then no. We are keeping our eye on serving industry professionals. New to bitcoin Just a few months ago, Worth knew very little about the digital currency bitcoin, and the blockchain technology that underpins it. (What exactly is blockchain? Watch this video .) After Barry Silbert called, I did a lot of research and started to learn a lot more, and I drank the kool-aid, if you will, says Worth. He hasnt bought any bitcoin as an investment just yet. Digital currency, Worth says, feels a little bit to me like when the first Internet hype came. There is a tremendous need to understand all the potential implications, people trying to understand it and make sense of it. From my time at Bloomberg Im close to the world of institutional finance, and thats an industry that hasnt really had the amount of transformation that has gone on in, say, the media business. So, lets see where the opportunity is for those businesses to transform, which are much more fundamental to the global economy. As the interest in blockchain technology ( especially from banks ) has grown, CoinDesk has grown and expanded its purview from bitcoin, to additional digital assets like Litecoin, Ripple, and Ethereum, to blockchain news. In the near future, Worth sees the challenge and competition coming from data providers, not necessarily media outlets. I see this as a wide open field, he says. What Im focused on, to be honest with you, its not other media or content companies that are the competition, but other information providers who might move into the space, whether thats consulting firms or other information providers. But we ought to be smarter than them, because they may just have two or three people looking at it and we have a whole team. Other information providers that might move into the bitcoin and blockchain space? That sounds like it could include
Bloomberg, his old employer. And thats fine for Worth, who says he learned a great deal while there. I understand what their business model is about. Its really the only company I can think of where they have scale but its still dominated by the owner, who is still the CEO and its his capital and you follow his lead, Worth says. After his years there, hes ready for something entrepreneurial. And thats why Silbert tapped Worth, he says: corporate experience that can help turn a modest-sized blog into a full-scale information seller. I believe digital currency is a transformational asset class that will attract meaningful amounts of capital over time, Silbert says. (Its a sound bite he likes to repeat.) And then theres a lot of interest in blockchain, and distributed ledger technology, to make processes more efficient
Were obviously super bullish on bitcoin, blockchain technology, and all the applications that are going to come. All we needed was an experienced operator like Kevin to come in and help scale the business. CoinDesk expects to become profitable this year. Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering technology and media. Follow him on Twitter at @readDanwrite . Read more: Bitcoin is becoming the new gold Expect more blockchain hype in 2017 Heres where big banks stand on blockchain Why 21.co is the most exciting bitcoin company right now || Bitcoin site CoinDesk poaches Bloomberg exec as new CEO: CoinDesk, the leading trade publication covering bitcoin and blockchain news, has a new CEO, its first: Kevin Worth, former CFO of Bloomberg Digital Media.
While digital currency may be a non-traditional coverage area, the job otherwise looks like an obvious fit with Worth’s background in managing digital content businesses.
In the late 90s, Worth worked in corporate strategic planning at the New York Times. Then he was founding CEO of The Deal, the financial data and news site funded by investment banker Bruce Wasserstein. Worth stayed on for a year after The Deal sold to The Street. He spent the past couple of years as CFO of Bloomberg’s digital and television businesses.
Just over 12 months ago, in January 2016,CoinDesk sold to Digital Currency Group, the biggest investment firm in bitcoin and blockchain startups (withinvestments in over 90), led by Barry Silbert, the founder of SecondMarket. DCG placed its own Ryan Selkis in charge of CoinDesk on the business side, but pledged that Selkis and DCG would have no involvement in editorial decisions at the site.
Selkis was never CoinDesk’s CEO; Worth is its first. He will run business and editorial, the way that a typical magazine publisher would; the site’s editor is Pete Rizzo.
CoinDesk has 13 full-time employees.Last month, the site made its first acquisition:the bitcoin data app Lawnmower. Lawnmower’s historical price data and charts, as well as its staff, got folded into CoinDesk’s in-house research arm (which produces reports such as a new one on blockchains for insurance), a sign it is serious about the information-selling side of its business.
DCG’s main interest in CoinDesk was always for Consensus, its live bitcoin conference in May, first held in 2015. Last year, the event attracted 1,5000 attendees. Worth, from his time at Bloomberg, has seen the growth of live events as a money-maker for publishers. These days, live programming is a vital arm of the business for news organizations like Time Inc, Business Insider, and Re/code.
Under Worth, expect CoinDesk to place further emphasis on two pillars: live events like Consensus, and research reports for a fee. “To me, if you look at where the value in the content marketplace is being created,” Worth says, “it’s live events and business information products. I see an opportunity for CoinDesk to gain a pole position in becoming the must-have, go-to resource for the industry.”
Worth sounds more fired up about events and information than the news side, which is what CoinDesk is for many of its readers: a vital news outlet. He confirms that Consensus, for now, is his “main focus.”
So, moving forward, will CoinDesk look more like a data resource, or a news blog?
“I think it’s a little all-of-the-above,” Worth says. “I can tell you that the playbooks I have had in the past think about having many different audiences, and how to serve all of them. What got me so excited about coming is that it’s pretty much a whiteboard.”
In terms of news coverage, it sounds like CoinDesk may soon see itself less as a mainstream news site covering bitcoin and blockchain news for the masses. When asked if other business news outlets that cover bitcoin news are competitors, Worth says, “If they are serving a broad, general interest community, then no. We are keeping our eye on serving industry professionals.”
Just a few months ago, Worth knew very little about the digital currency bitcoin, and the blockchain technology that underpins it. (What exactly is blockchain?Watch this video.) After Barry Silbert called, “I did a lot of research and started to learn a lot more, and I drank the kool-aid, if you will,” says Worth.
He hasn’t bought any bitcoin as an investment just yet.
Digital currency, Worth says, “feels a little bit to me like when the first Internet hype came. There is a tremendous need to understand all the potential implications, people trying to understand it and make sense of it. From my time at Bloomberg I’m close to the world of institutional finance, and that’s an industry that hasn’t really had the amount of transformation that has gone on in, say, the media business. So, let’s see where the opportunity is for those businesses to transform, which are much more fundamental to the global economy.”
As the interest in blockchain technology (especially from banks) has grown, CoinDesk has grown and expanded its purview from bitcoin, to additional digital assets like Litecoin, Ripple, and Ethereum, to blockchain news. In the near future, Worth sees the challenge and competition coming from data providers, not necessarily media outlets.
“I see this as a wide open field,” he says. “What I’m focused on, to be honest with you, it’s not other media or content companies that are the competition, but other information providers who might move into the space, whether that’s consulting firms or other information providers. But we ought to be smarter than them, because they may just have two or three people looking at it and we have a whole team.”
Other information providers that might move into the bitcoin and blockchain space? That sounds like it could include… Bloomberg, his old employer. And that’s fine for Worth, who says he learned a great deal while there. “I understand what their business model is about. It’s really the only company I can think of where they have scale but it’s still dominated by the owner, who is still the CEO and it’s his capital and you follow his lead,” Worth says. After his years there, he’s ready for something “entrepreneurial.”
And that’s why Silbert tapped Worth, he says: corporate experience that can help turn a modest-sized blog into a full-scale information seller.
“I believe digital currency is a transformational asset class that will attract meaningful amounts of capital over time,” Silbert says. (It’s a sound bite he likes to repeat.) “And then there’s a lot of interest in blockchain, and distributed ledger technology, to make processes more efficient… We’re obviously super bullish on bitcoin, blockchain technology, and all the applications that are going to come. All we needed was an experienced operator like Kevin to come in and help scale the business.”
CoinDesk expects to become profitable this year.
—
Daniel Roberts is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering technology and media. Follow him on Twitter at@readDanwrite.
Read more:
Bitcoin is becoming the new gold
Expect more blockchain hype in 2017
Here’s where big banks stand on blockchain
Why 21.co is the most exciting bitcoin company right now || Maple syrup water tapped from trees is the next coconut water: (Melia Robinson/Business Insider)
In 2016, coconut water generated$2.3 billionin sales worldwide.
The makers of a new designer brew — a subtly sweet water tapped from maple trees — want to ride the coattails of coconut water's success all the way to the bank.
Maple water has captured a modest following since it debuted in 2013. While coconut water still commands98%of the global "alternative waters" market (which includes water harvested from bamboo,cactus, and artichokes),maple water has made gains. A recentreport from food and drink market researcher Zenithpredicts the maple water market will triple in size by 2020. It's unclear how much revenue the category currently drives.
"It's not coconut water, yet, from a category-size. We all like to hope that it gets to be that big at some point in time," Mike Roberts, vice president of sales atSap on Tap, tells Business Insider. The company, founded in 2015, sources water tapped from maple trees on farms across the Northeast.
Arbeau, a luxury line of maple waters available in tap and sparkling, launched in 2016 in Canada. The brand's creator, Leanne Pawluk, likens the product to wine. Each batch will take on a slightly different flavor profile, just as wines change season to season.
("We wanted it to be the champagne of waters," Leanne Pawluk, creator of Arbeau, told Business Insider.Melia Robinson/Business Insider)
When I first tried maple water, I expected to taste a sugary syrup similar to what I pour over pancakes. Instead, sipping from a Dixie cup of Sap on Tap water was refreshing. The clear liquid tasted like normal water with a spot of honey — sweet, but not as sugary as a Coca Cola.
Each spring, maple tree farmers tap their trees to catch the maple water, which is also known as sap. That liquid —made up of about 98% water and 2% sugar— gets boiled down until it becomes the sticky-sweet staple of breakfast foods, according toMichael Farrell, a maple specialist at Cornell University.It takes 40 gallons of sap to yield one gallon of maple syrup.
Maple water may be a more sustainable commercial product than syrup. The trees only give about three gallons of sap per year, and farmers could stretch that supply further in its raw form. In order to be sold, the sap must be filtered to separate out bugs and bacteria. Most products have a shelf life of less than one year.
(A Parker's Maple Barn employee pours maple tree sap into a larger bucket in Brookline, New Hampshire.Elise Amendola/AP)
The future of maple water is ambiguous, however, asclimate change threatens sap production. Some predict that fewer freeze-thaw cycles during the late winter and early spring could throw the brakes on sap production. Others worry maple trees will die out due to climate change.
Farrell, who directs amaple syrup research station in Lake Placid, New York, has a more optimistic view. In his book, "The Sugarmaker's Companion," he outlines several workarounds, including moving up the harvest as temperatures rise and relocating the industry to mid-Atlantic states.
And if a warm winter leads to a low sap yield, the product becomes more exclusive.
"It's sustainable, it's renewable," Pawluk says. "And it's super cool because it's water from a tree."
NOW WATCH:Here's why maple syrup jugs have teeny tiny handles
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• Bitcoin just hit an all-time high — here's how you buy and sell it || Maple syrup water tapped from trees is the next coconut water: san francisco fancy food show 2186 (Melia Robinson/Business Insider) In 2016, coconut water generated $2.3 billion in sales worldwide. The makers of a new designer brew — a subtly sweet water tapped from maple trees — want to ride the coattails of coconut water's success all the way to the bank. Maple water has captured a modest following since it debuted in 2013. While coconut water still commands 98% of the global "alternative waters" market (which includes water harvested from bamboo, cactus, and artichokes) , maple water has made gains. A recent report from food and drink market researcher Zenith predicts the maple water market will triple in size by 2020. It's unclear how much revenue the category currently drives. "It's not coconut water, yet, from a category-size. We all like to hope that it gets to be that big at some point in time," Mike Roberts, vice president of sales at Sap on Tap , tells Business Insider. The company, founded in 2015, sources water tapped from maple trees on farms across the Northeast. Arbeau , a luxury line of maple waters available in tap and sparkling, launched in 2016 in Canada. The brand's creator, Leanne Pawluk, likens the product to wine. Each batch will take on a slightly different flavor profile, just as wines change season to season. san francisco fancy food show 2197 ("We wanted it to be the champagne of waters," Leanne Pawluk, creator of Arbeau, told Business Insider.Melia Robinson/Business Insider) When I first tried maple water, I expected to taste a sugary syrup similar to what I pour over pancakes. Instead, sipping from a Dixie cup of Sap on Tap water was refreshing. The clear liquid tasted like normal water with a spot of honey — sweet, but not as sugary as a Coca Cola. Each spring, maple tree farmers tap their trees to catch the maple water, which is also known as sap. That liquid — made up of about 98% water and 2% sugar — gets boiled down until it becomes the sticky-sweet staple of breakfast foods, according to Michael Farrell, a maple specialist at Cornell University. It takes 40 gallons of sap to yield one gallon of maple syrup. Maple water may be a more sustainable commercial product than syrup. The trees only give about three gallons of sap per year, and farmers could stretch that supply further in its raw form. In order to be sold, the sap must be filtered to separate out bugs and bacteria. Most products have a shelf life of less than one year. Maple tree sap syrup barn new hampshire (A Parker's Maple Barn employee pours maple tree sap into a larger bucket in Brookline, New Hampshire.Elise Amendola/AP) The future of maple water is ambiguous, however, as climate change threatens sap production . Some predict that fewer freeze-thaw cycles during the late winter and early spring could throw the brakes on sap production. Others worry maple trees will die out due to climate change. Story continues Farrell, who directs a maple syrup research station in Lake Placid, New York, has a more optimistic view. In his book, " The Sugarmaker's Companion ," he outlines several workarounds, including moving up the harvest as temperatures rise and relocating the industry to mid-Atlantic states. And if a warm winter leads to a low sap yield, the product becomes more exclusive. "It's sustainable, it's renewable," Pawluk says. "And it's super cool because it's water from a tree." NOW WATCH: Here's why maple syrup jugs have teeny tiny handles More From Business Insider A Swedish town could give employees paid time off to have sex CEOs love the corner office, but research says it's overrated Bitcoin just hit an all-time high — here's how you buy and sell it View comments || The Fintech World Series: Canada: By: Kurtosys Harvest Exchange February 28, 2017 The Fintech World Series: Canada Canada featured image Fintech is exploding. It is a global industry, striving to change the future of finance. …And the future is now. At Kurtosys, we’ve set out to cover exactly what’s happening in the financial industry the world over, one country at a time. With so many places contributing to the advancement of our digital world, each deserves their own time in the spotlight. This time, heading away from Europe, we’re travelling to Canada . Whilst neighbouring the fintech giant that is the United States, this North American behemoth is steadily boosting its reputation of having one of the most secure banking systems in the world. Read on to discover how this affects their up-and-coming fintech landscape. With a country boasting such incredible musical talent as Justin Bieber, Nickelback and Avril Lavigne, it was naturally going to be on our fintech radar, eh? But seriously, Alexisonfire are awesome, and Canada was actually named by accident, when French Explorer Jacques Cartier mistook a native term for village – ‘kanata’ – for the country’s name as we see it today. It is a land that has birthed such funny people as Jim Carrey, Mike Myers and Leslie Nielsen, and big-time serious actors such as Malin Åkerman and Ryan Gosling*, with the latter achieving early stardom in Canadian cult-classic TV show Goosebumps . The less said about that the better. More should be said, however, about Canada’s rise to fintech prominence. <html><body><img alt="Canada fintech infographic" class="alignnone wp-image-50082 size-full" height="1000" sizes="(max-width: 1424px) 100vw, 1424px" src="http://hvst.co/2lutK7T" srcset="http://hvst.co/2lutK7T 1424w, http://hvst.co/2luyvhF 300w, http://hvst.co/2luESRW 768w, http://hvst.co/2mp0pzB 1024w, http://hvst.co/2luD7nP 225w" width="1424"/></body></html> Story continues According to a post in the Canadian publication The Globe and Mail, outside the technology life-blood of Silicon Valley, Canada’s province of Ontario (home to cities including Toronto, Ottawa and Hamilton) has among the highest concentrations of technological firms. The reason for this being its low costs, and the universities in the Toronto and Waterloo area being abound with graduate engineers and developers. Deloitte awarded Canada a global financial centre rank of 21 in 2016. There has recently been investment from both the financial and technological industries. Of note, Goldman Sachs invested in Financeit (based in Toronto, offering businesses a platform for customer payment plans) in 2015, as well as nanoPay in 2016, a “frictionless payments” service, also based in Toronto. Elsewhere, one of Japan’s world leading tech services companies NTT Data Corp has announced a partnership with MaRS Innovation lab (more about them later on), promising to support Canadian startups whose technologies can be used by NTT. Two notable startups from Canada that have achieved success are Shopify – a cloud-based e-commerce company that designs software for online stores for SMEs, founded in 2004 – and Hootsuite, a social media management platform used by over 15 million people, founded in 2008 in Vancouver, which similarly has a thriving fintech ecosystem like the cities in the East. Benevolent Banking Despite the global financial crisis of 2007/08, Canadian banks remained unscathed according to the Canadian Bankers Association; none were in danger of failure or were bailed out. In fact, Canada’s banks have been rated amongst the soundest in the world for the past 10 years, rated highly due to them being well capitalised, managed and regulated. Should a similar crash occur in the future, each bank has developed “recovery and resolution plans” already – ahead of the curve. Plus, the development of regulatory frameworks for banks and insurers is being handled by both domestic and global organisations, so Canadians are clearly remaining resolute to keep their well-earned ‘sound banking’ tag. The largest banks in Canada are referred to as the ‘Big Six’ by a report from PWC, and are as follows: Bank of Montreal (BMO) Scotiabank Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) National Bank of Canada (NBC) Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) As well as these established financial institutions, there is also the presence of online disruptor banks, which include Tangerine, PC Financial and Canadian Tire Bank. However, in 2014 it is noted that these banks only accounted for 3% of Canadians’ total deposits. Are digital financial companies still very much in the shadow of major banks, who retain brand recognition and consumer trust? Peter Aceto, CEO of Tangerine, believes that there is a social revolution occurring within the financial industry, with consumers losing trust in major banks and “expecting experiences that simplify their lives, that makes things easy”. Tangerine was the original disruptor bank that launched its first branchless bank in Canada. Truly, banks are responding to this revolution that Aceto outlines, and it turns out that many are making heavy investments in technology to “transform their customer experience, automate processes, comply with regulatory demands and enhance digital capabilities”, with many beginning the enablement and implementation of APIs. Despite the regulators’ tendency to aim for stability (thus halting market innovation), Canadian fintech is still pushing to gain momentum. There are already more than 80 fintech firms in Canada, with the GTA (Greater Toronto Area)-Waterloo and Vancouver areas being the sites for a concentrated ecosystem of major banks, universities and tech startups. Whilst pension plans have recently attracted the most significant fintech investments, more is needed from the government, private investors and banks. To put things into perspective, since 2010 the Canadian fintech community attracted C$1 billion in capital since 2010. In 2014 alone, US fintech had US$9 billion. One Canadian dollar is roughly equivalent to 70 cents. Canada-Moose Friend or Foe? There is evidence from the Digital Finance Institute that Canadian banks are developing their own fintech solutions in-house. The Royal Bank of Canada is one example, but it also works externally as part of the US-based R3CEV-blockchain tech consortium. Additionally, the Big Six are in fact co-operating with fintech startups, accelerators and incubators to further their digital re-invention. Here are the most prolific examples of internal and external fintech stories: BMO In 1996, it launched Mbanx, the first direct-to-customer bank. On January 16 2016, it launched SmartFolio, a digital portfolio management service, competing with traditional players and robo-advisers, built in-house with assets of $20 billion. It introduced Touch ID log-in (fingerprint recognition) to its BMO mobile banking app in Canada and the US. In the US, Mobile Cash was made available, allowing the withdrawal of money via smartphone. The BMO Banking and InvestorLine portal makes BMO the first Canadian bank to give customers access to personal banking and investments accounts in one place. BMO DepositEdge in Canada allows businesses to deposit cheques remotely. BMO Spend Dynamics gives corporate card clients access to transaction data. Scotiabank Invested in Kabbage, a US-based online small business lender. Has an internal Digital Factory focused on tech and mobile banking. Supposedly looking to partner with more external fintech startups. CIBC Partnered with MaRS in 2015. Partnered with Thinking Capital, another online small business lender. NBC Developed a new marketing model, with segmented marketing campaigns with more personalised offerings, supported by data analytics teams, tech and tools to enhance tailored services for sales teams. Developed an Android and iPad tablet app, the latter ranking #1 in the financial services category. Planning to develop optimised tools for access to products and services and to implement a customer relationship management platform. RBC Partnering with Nymi Wristband Technologies. Partnered with mobile-app-giant Uber for loyalty rewards. TD Established an innovation lab at Communitech. Partnered with Moven, a mobile personal financial management platform. Looking to collaborate on a tech solution for improved customer and employee experience in Cisco’s Toronto Innovation Centre. Gosling-painting To Vancouver & Beyond In the Digital Finance Institute (DFI) report, there is a further stress on fintech development in the province of British Columbia, so much so call that it is hashtag-worthy (much like in Estonia) – #BCTECH. The city of Vancouver is the main focus, as it houses some of the leading tech companies (Microsoft, EA, Amazon), as well as important fintechs, including Samsung Pay and SAP. Unsurprisingly, it is also the home of the DFI, which organises workshops, conferences and institutional education to bring Canadian fintech to the world, is a think tank for fintech and AI, encourages investment and partners for balanced regulation of digital payments and remittances. Vancouver was actually home to the world’s first Bitcoin ATM in 2013, and by June 15 2015, there were 60 Bitcoin ATMs across the whole of Canada. What else? Vancouver-based Central 1 Credit Union provides fintech services to financial institutions such as payments and mobile banking services. The DFI notes that “the geographical position of Vancouver gives it an unparalleled advantage for trade and importantly, for FinTech to scale and exit not only to Asia but increasingly, to the Middle East.” In British Columbia as a whole, the tech industry generated over $23 billion in revenue in 2013 and the Government of British Columbia recently launched the #BCTECH Strategy, investing $100m as part of a BC Tech Fund for early tech startups, and a Knowledge Development Fund to enable research projects. As a whole, the FinServ industry in Canada only represents 27% of the Internet of Everything market, but 60% of Canadians are prepared to move money to access one or more IoE capabilities. All Canadian provinces have adopted regulations to facilitate e-commerce and protect e-payments, with the Bank of Canada having “responsibility for regulatory oversight of clearing, settling and recording of financial transactions.” Additionally, the Large Value Transfer System and Automated Clearing Settlement System are national systems for clearing and settlement of payments, operated by Payments Canada, based in Ottawa. This, and the DFI, have launched national startup challenges. “The FinTech Cup”, for example, awards its winners with a $25,000 prize, and are provided a national startup platform to support their development. The private sector launched the annual Fintech Awards in 2015 to recognise key fintechs, innovators, advisors, and stakeholders that have contributed to the fintech ecosystem. In 2016, the Fintech Association of Canada was launched to engage the government with fintech to attract further investment and innovation. Vancouver To get an idea of just how expansive Canada’s fintech ecosystem is, here’s a comprehensive list for your viewing pleasure: Investors & Accelerators Business Development of Canada (BDC) – Offers financing advisory services and venture capital, dubbing itself the “only financial institution dedicated exclusively to entrepreneurs”. Omers Ventures – Omers is one of Canada’s leading pension funds with $65billion + in net assets. It provides resources and expertise to tech, media and telecommunications startups. Power Financial Corporation – A management and holding company. MaRS Innovation lab – Based in Toronto, it supports over 1700 startups, with 300 being fintech-based. It has raised over $700m in venture capital funding. Communitech – Based in the Waterloo area, it is an industry-led innovation centre and a private-public partnership, founded in 1997. Ryerson DMZ – In Toronto, this is the top university business incubator, with entrepreneurs-in-residence, industry mentors, and 250+ startups and industry connections. OneEleven – A Toronto-based, data-driven tech startup scale-up hub, founded in 2013. Thinkubator – A collaboration between Ryerson University and Tangerine, it is an incubation space for fintech startups, founded in 2016. Startups Wealth management solutions & Robo-advisors Nest Wealth – Founded in Toronto in 2014, it is Canada’s first online wealth manager. Smart Money Invest – Also founded in 2014, it offers portfolio management services in equity and bond ETFs. Wealthsimple – An online investment startup, which expects over a billion dollars in AUM this year. It has 15,000 clients in Canada. It also offers “an affordable, millennial-focused, automated investing service”. Power Financial Corporation invested $10m in Wealthsimple. ModernAdvisor – an online financial advisor. If you would like to read more about Canadian robo-advisors, you can read our interview with ModernAdvisor’s Krysten Merriman here. Payments In 2014, 21% of Canadians made at least one online payment in the past six months (compared to 83% in China and 33% in the US). In 2015, the Canadian mobile payment transaction market grew 210%. Moneris – Founded in 2000 in Toronto, it offers payment solutions and processes credit and debit card transactions (more than 3 billion a year). VersaPay – With its HQ in Vancouver and founded in 2006, it is a cloud-based payment processing service. TIO Networks – Founded 1997 in Vancouver, it was acquired by PayPal very recently in Feb 17. It offers a bill payment service. Payfirma – Based in Vancouver, and founded in 2011, it is a multi-channel payment platform (mobile, in-store, online and e-commerce). Investment & Asset Management Voleo – A social trading app, allowing the user to build an investment team with peers and collaboratively manage a portfolio. FrontFundr – Founded in Vancouver in 2013, it is a registered financial services firm which connects investors and entrepreneurs Here are Canadian startups that made it into the KPMG Fintech100 2016… #36 – League – Toronto-based, founded in 2014, it lets employers enable employees with health spending accounts and group insurance plans on a mobile app platform, plus you can find health professionals. It uses a digital wallet for payments. #42 – SecureKey – Founded 2008 in Toronto, it is an identity and authentication platform for online consumer services. …And the ‘Emerging stars’: Grow – Founded in 2014, it is a “complete fintech toolkit” for financial institutions, mainly focused on consumer and SME lending. North Side Inc. – A financial AI solution, letting you talk directly to your financial institution, a “personalised virtual telephone banker”. Overbond – Founded in 2015, this Toronto-based startup brings bond market participants together, making bond issuance secure and transparent. You’ve made it – a list as extensive as Canada itself (did you know that it spans 6 time zones? Crazy). Seemingly, if Canadian banks and financial institution are willing to allow for innovation besides their stringent (albeit successful) regulations, then the pre-existing fintech ecosystems in the GTA and British Columbia combined will be able to move ahead with full force. A fintech revolution to match the size of its home. *Credit to a good friend of mine for the incredible painting of Ryan. If you have any thoughts about Canadian fintech, let us know in the comments below, or you can tweet us. Check back soon for more instalments of The Fintech World Series! The post The Fintech World Series: Canada appeared first on Kurtosys Blog. http://hvst.co/2luINyh Originally Published at: The Fintech World Series: Canada || The Fintech World Series: Canada: By:KurtosysHarvest ExchangeFebruary 28, 2017
Fintech is exploding.
It is a global industry, striving to change the future of finance.
…And the future is now. At Kurtosys, we’ve set out to cover exactly what’s happening in the financial industry the world over, one country at a time. With so many places contributing to the advancement of our digital world, each deserves their own time in the spotlight.
This time, heading away from Europe, we’re travelling toCanada. Whilst neighbouring the fintech giant that is the United States, this North American behemoth is steadily boosting its reputation of having one of the most secure banking systems in the world. Read on to discover how this affects their up-and-coming fintech landscape.
With a country boasting such incredible musical talent as Justin Bieber, Nickelback and Avril Lavigne, it was naturally going to be on our fintech radar, eh? But seriously, Alexisonfire are awesome, and Canada was actually named by accident, when French Explorer Jacques Cartier mistook a native term for village – ‘kanata’ – for the country’s name as we see it today. It is a land that has birthed such funny people as Jim Carrey, Mike Myers and Leslie Nielsen, and big-time serious actors such as Malin Åkerman and Ryan Gosling*, with the latter achieving early stardom in Canadian cult-classic TV showGoosebumps. The less said about that the better. More should be said, however, about Canada’s rise to fintech prominence.
<html><body><img alt="Canada fintech infographic" class="alignnone wp-image-50082 size-full" height="1000" sizes="(max-width: 1424px) 100vw, 1424px" src="http://hvst.co/2lutK7T" srcset="http://hvst.co/2lutK7T 1424w, http://hvst.co/2luyvhF 300w, http://hvst.co/2luESRW 768w, http://hvst.co/2mp0pzB 1024w, http://hvst.co/2luD7nP 225w" width="1424"/></body></html>
According to a post in the Canadian publication The Globe and Mail, outside the technology life-blood of Silicon Valley, Canada’s province of Ontario (home to cities including Toronto, Ottawa and Hamilton) has among the highest concentrations of technological firms. The reason for this being its low costs, and the universities in the Toronto and Waterloo area being abound with graduate engineers and developers. Deloitte awarded Canada a global financial centre rank of 21 in 2016.
There has recently been investment from both the financial and technological industries. Of note, Goldman Sachs invested in Financeit (based in Toronto, offering businesses a platform for customer payment plans) in 2015, as well as nanoPay in 2016, a “frictionless payments” service, also based in Toronto. Elsewhere, one of Japan’s world leading tech services companies NTT Data Corp has announced a partnership with MaRS Innovation lab (more about them later on), promising to support Canadian startups whose technologies can be used by NTT. Two notable startups from Canada that have achieved success are Shopify – a cloud-based e-commerce company that designs software for online stores for SMEs, founded in 2004 – and Hootsuite, a social media management platform used by over 15 million people, founded in 2008 in Vancouver, which similarly has a thriving fintech ecosystem like the cities in the East.
Despite the global financial crisis of 2007/08, Canadian banks remained unscathed according to the Canadian Bankers Association; none were in danger of failure or were bailed out. In fact, Canada’s banks have been rated amongst the soundest in the world for the past 10 years, rated highly due to them being well capitalised, managed and regulated. Should a similar crash occur in the future, each bank has developed “recovery and resolution plans” already – ahead of the curve. Plus, the development of regulatory frameworks for banks and insurers is being handled by both domestic and global organisations, so Canadians are clearly remaining resolute to keep their well-earned ‘sound banking’ tag.
The largest banks in Canada are referred to as the ‘Big Six’ by a report from PWC, and are as follows:
• Bank of Montreal (BMO)
• Scotiabank
• Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC)
• National Bank of Canada (NBC)
• Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)
• Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD)
As well as these established financial institutions, there is also the presence of online disruptor banks, which include Tangerine, PC Financial and Canadian Tire Bank. However, in 2014 it is noted that these banks only accounted for 3% of Canadians’ total deposits. Are digital financial companies still very much in the shadow of major banks, who retain brand recognition and consumer trust? Peter Aceto, CEO of Tangerine, believes that there is a social revolution occurring within the financial industry, with consumers losing trust in major banks and “expecting experiences that simplify their lives, that makes things easy”. Tangerine was the original disruptor bank that launched its first branchless bank in Canada. Truly, banks are responding to this revolution that Aceto outlines, and it turns out that many are making heavy investments in technology to “transform their customer experience, automate processes, comply with regulatory demands and enhance digital capabilities”, with many beginning the enablement and implementation of APIs.
Despite the regulators’ tendency to aim for stability (thus halting market innovation), Canadian fintech is still pushing to gain momentum. There are already more than 80 fintech firms in Canada, with the GTA (Greater Toronto Area)-Waterloo and Vancouver areas being the sites for a concentrated ecosystem of major banks, universities and tech startups. Whilst pension plans have recently attracted the most significant fintech investments, more is needed from the government, private investors and banks. To put things into perspective, since 2010 the Canadian fintech community attracted C$1 billion in capital since 2010. In 2014 alone, US fintech had US$9 billion. One Canadian dollar is roughly equivalent to 70 cents.
There is evidence from the Digital Finance Institute that Canadian banks are developing their own fintech solutions in-house. The Royal Bank of Canada is one example, but it also works externally as part of the US-based R3CEV-blockchain tech consortium. Additionally, the Big Six are in fact co-operating with fintech startups, accelerators and incubators to further their digital re-invention. Here are the most prolific examples of internal and external fintech stories:
• In 1996, it launched Mbanx, the first direct-to-customer bank.
• On January 16 2016, it launched SmartFolio, a digital portfolio management service, competing with traditional players and robo-advisers, built in-house with assets of $20 billion.
• It introduced Touch ID log-in (fingerprint recognition) to its BMO mobile banking app in Canada and the US.
• In the US, Mobile Cash was made available, allowing the withdrawal of money via smartphone.
• The BMO Banking and InvestorLine portal makes BMO the first Canadian bank to give customers access to personal banking and investments accounts in one place.
• BMO DepositEdge in Canada allows businesses to deposit cheques remotely.
• BMO Spend Dynamics gives corporate card clients access to transaction data.
• Invested in Kabbage, a US-based online small business lender.
• Has an internal Digital Factory focused on tech and mobile banking.
• Supposedly looking to partner with more external fintech startups.
• Partnered with MaRS in 2015.
• Partnered with Thinking Capital, another online small business lender.
• Developed a new marketing model, with segmented marketing campaigns with more personalised offerings, supported by data analytics teams, tech and tools to enhance tailored services for sales teams.
• Developed an Android and iPad tablet app, the latter ranking #1 in the financial services category.
• Planning to develop optimised tools for access to products and services and to implement a customer relationship management platform.
• Partnering with Nymi Wristband Technologies.
• Partnered with mobile-app-giant Uber for loyalty rewards.
• Established an innovation lab at Communitech.
• Partnered with Moven, a mobile personal financial management platform.
• Looking to collaborate on a tech solution for improved customerandemployee experience in Cisco’s Toronto Innovation Centre.
In the Digital Finance Institute (DFI) report, there is a further stress on fintech development in the province of British Columbia, so much so call that it is hashtag-worthy (much like in Estonia) – #BCTECH. The city of Vancouver is the main focus, as it houses some of the leading tech companies (Microsoft, EA, Amazon), as well as important fintechs, including Samsung Pay and SAP. Unsurprisingly, it is also the home of the DFI, which organises workshops, conferences and institutional education to bring Canadian fintech to the world, is a think tank for fintech and AI, encourages investment and partners for balanced regulation of digital payments and remittances.
Vancouver was actually home to the world’s first Bitcoin ATM in 2013, and by June 15 2015, there were 60 Bitcoin ATMs across the whole of Canada. What else? Vancouver-based Central 1 Credit Union provides fintech services to financial institutions such as payments and mobile banking services. The DFI notes that “the geographical position of Vancouver gives it an unparalleled advantage for trade and importantly, for FinTech to scale and exit not only to Asia but increasingly, to the Middle East.”
In British Columbia as a whole, the tech industry generated over $23 billion in revenue in 2013 and the Government of British Columbia recently launched the #BCTECH Strategy, investing $100m as part of a BC Tech Fund for early tech startups, and a Knowledge Development Fund to enable research projects.
As a whole, the FinServ industry in Canada only represents 27% of the Internet of Everything market, but 60% of Canadians are prepared to move money to access one or more IoE capabilities. All Canadian provinces have adopted regulations to facilitate e-commerce and protect e-payments, with the Bank of Canada having “responsibility for regulatory oversight of clearing, settling and recording of financial transactions.” Additionally, the Large Value Transfer System and Automated Clearing Settlement System are national systems for clearing and settlement of payments, operated by Payments Canada, based in Ottawa.
This, and the DFI, have launched national startup challenges. “The FinTech Cup”, for example, awards its winners with a $25,000 prize, and are provided a national startup platform to support their development. The private sector launched the annual Fintech Awards in 2015 to recognise key fintechs, innovators, advisors, and stakeholders that have contributed to the fintech ecosystem. In 2016, the Fintech Association of Canada was launched to engage the government with fintech to attract further investment and innovation.
To get an idea of just how expansive Canada’s fintech ecosystem is, here’s a comprehensive list for your viewing pleasure:
• Business Development of Canada (BDC) – Offers financing advisory services and venture capital, dubbing itself the “only financial institution dedicated exclusively to entrepreneurs”.
• Omers Ventures – Omers is one of Canada’s leading pension funds with $65billion + in net assets. It provides resources and expertise to tech, media and telecommunications startups.
• Power Financial Corporation – A management and holding company.
• MaRS Innovation lab – Based in Toronto, it supports over 1700 startups, with 300 being fintech-based. It has raised over $700m in venture capital funding.
• Communitech – Based in the Waterloo area, it is an industry-led innovation centre and a private-public partnership, founded in 1997.
• Ryerson DMZ – In Toronto, this is the top university business incubator, with entrepreneurs-in-residence, industry mentors, and 250+ startups and industry connections.
• OneEleven – A Toronto-based, data-driven tech startup scale-up hub, founded in 2013.
• Thinkubator – A collaboration between Ryerson University and Tangerine, it is an incubation space for fintech startups, founded in 2016.
Wealth management solutions & Robo-advisors
• Nest Wealth – Founded in Toronto in 2014, it is Canada’s first online wealth manager.
• Smart Money Invest – Also founded in 2014, it offers portfolio management services in equity and bond ETFs.
• Wealthsimple – An online investment startup, which expects over a billion dollars in AUM this year. It has 15,000 clients in Canada. It also offers “an affordable, millennial-focused, automated investing service”. Power Financial Corporation invested $10m in Wealthsimple.
• ModernAdvisor – an online financial advisor. If you would like to read more about Canadian robo-advisors, you can read our interview with ModernAdvisor’s Krysten Merriman here.
Payments
In 2014, 21% of Canadians made at least one online payment in the past six months (compared to 83% in China and 33% in the US). In 2015, the Canadian mobile payment transaction market grew 210%.
• Moneris – Founded in 2000 in Toronto, it offers payment solutions and processes credit and debit card transactions (more than 3 billion a year).
• VersaPay – With its HQ in Vancouver and founded in 2006, it is a cloud-based payment processing service.
• TIO Networks – Founded 1997 in Vancouver, it was acquired by PayPal very recently in Feb 17. It offers a bill payment service.
• Payfirma – Based in Vancouver, and founded in 2011, it is a multi-channel payment platform (mobile, in-store, online and e-commerce).
Investment & Asset Management
• Voleo – A social trading app, allowing the user to build an investment team with peers and collaboratively manage a portfolio.
• FrontFundr – Founded in Vancouver in 2013, it is a registered financial services firm which connects investors and entrepreneurs
Here are Canadian startups that made it into the KPMG Fintech100 2016…
#36 – League – Toronto-based, founded in 2014, it lets employers enable employees with health spending accounts and group insurance plans on a mobile app platform, plus you can find health professionals. It uses a digital wallet for payments.
#42 – SecureKey – Founded 2008 in Toronto, it is an identity and authentication platform for online consumer services.
…And the ‘Emerging stars’:
• Grow – Founded in 2014, it is a “complete fintech toolkit” for financial institutions, mainly focused on consumer and SME lending.
• North Side Inc. – A financial AI solution, letting you talk directly to your financial institution, a “personalised virtual telephone banker”.
• Overbond – Founded in 2015, this Toronto-based startup brings bond market participants together, making bond issuance secure and transparent.
You’ve made it – a list as extensive as Canada itself (did you know that it spans 6 time zones? Crazy). Seemingly, if Canadian banks and financial institution are willing to allow for innovation besides their stringent (albeit successful) regulations, then the pre-existing fintech ecosystems in the GTA and British Columbia combined will be able to move ahead with full force. A fintech revolution to match the size of its home.
*Credit to a good friend of mine for the incredible painting of Ryan.
If you have any thoughts about Canadian fintech, let us know in the comments below, or you can tweet us.
Check back soon for more instalments of The Fintech World Series!
The post The Fintech World Series: Canada appeared first on Kurtosys Blog.
http://hvst.co/2luINyhOriginally Published at:The Fintech World Series: Canada || Sony launches phone with world's first 4K HDR screen and superfast download speeds: Sony (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 6758.T-JP) launched a smartphone with the world's first 4K high dynamic range (HDR) screen, improved camera, and the ability to download large files at super-fast speeds, as it looks to stabilise profits in its once-struggling mobile division. The Xperia XZ Premium was unveiled on Monday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and marks Sony's continued bid to play in the premium end of the market against the likes of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) , Samsung (Korea Stock Exchange: 593-KR) and Huawei. Key features include: The world's first 4K resolution high dynamic range (HDR) screen. This means the resolution is four times better than high definition displays. HDR is a way of making the blacks blacker and whites whiter on screens to create an image with more depth Capable of downloading at 1 gigabit per second. This means films can be downloaded in a matter of seconds Broadcast-quality camera allowing for super slow motion video at 960 frames per second 5.5 inch display 19 megapixel rear camera and 13 megapixel front-facing selfie camera Mirror finish in a range of colors The Xperia XZ focuses on Sony's strengths including display technology and camera in a bid to boost profits. Sony has been on a path to stabilize the loss-making smartphone division which finally saw profits in the last two quarters. Under CEO Kazuo Hirai, Sony has slimmed down its smartphone portfolio and focused on key markets to return to profitability. But this has come at the expense of sales and market share. Analysts hailed this as another solid device from Sony but said the key features it is marketing are limited. For example, super slow motion video capture requires the user to press the button at the exact moment the action is taking place making it difficult to capture the correct part of a motion. CNBC tested the XZ Premium ahead of MWC. In the demo, a skateboard topped with glitter was used by the skateboarder to perform a jump. CNBC captured the video and it was impressive, but required the capture button to be hit at the right moment. Story continues There is also a very small amount of content that can be viewed on a 4K HDR screen. So far, Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) Prime Video, the e-commerce giant's streaming service, have a handful of shows in 4K HDR. Sony said it is working with Amazon to optimize some of its 4K HDR shows for mobile to work on the Xperia XZ Premium. Daniel Gleeson, an analyst at Ovum, told CNBC by phone ahead of the launch event that the Sony Xperia XZ Premium's key features are limited because people have to buy a subscription service to watch 4K content and the slow motion camera can only capture a tiny snippet of action. "Those key features leave me wanting more than what they are promising. That's one thing that could lead to a lot of customer disappointment for those who purchase this phones on the basis of those feature," Gleeson said. The Sony Xperia XZ Premium ships in late Spring with pricing to be announced in local markets. CORRECTION: This story was updated to show that the Sony Xperia XZ Premium is capable of downloading at 1 gigabit per second. More From CNBC Bitcoin price rises higher than gold, but dont read too much into it Morgan Stanley and Goldman should hang heads in shame over Snap IPO: Analyst Samsung to Nokia: The hottest gadgets unveiled this week || Sony launches phone with world's first 4K HDR screen and superfast download speeds: Sony(Tokyo Stock Exchange: 6758.T-JP)launched a smartphone with the world's first 4K high dynamic range (HDR) screen, improved camera, and the ability to download large files at super-fast speeds, as it looks to stabilise profits in its once-struggling mobile division.
The Xperia XZ Premium was unveiled on Monday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and marks Sony's continued bid to play in the premium end of the market against the likes of Apple(NASDAQ: AAPL), Samsung(Korea Stock Exchange: 593-KR)and Huawei.
Key features include:
• The world's first 4K resolution high dynamic range (HDR) screen. This means the resolution is four times better than high definition displays. HDR is a way of making the blacks blacker and whites whiter on screens to create an image with more depth
• Capable of downloading at 1 gigabit per second. This means films can be downloaded in a matter of seconds
• Broadcast-quality camera allowing for super slow motion video at 960 frames per second
• 5.5 inch display
• 19 megapixel rear camera and 13 megapixel front-facing selfie camera
• Mirror finish in a range of colors
The Xperia XZ focuses on Sony's strengths including display technology and camera in a bid to boost profits. Sony has been on a path to stabilize the loss-making smartphone division which finally saw profits in the last two quarters.
Under CEO Kazuo Hirai, Sony has slimmed down its smartphone portfolio and focused on key markets to return to profitability. But this has come at the expense of sales and market share.
Analysts hailed this as another solid device from Sony but said the key features it is marketing are limited. For example, super slow motion video capture requires the user to press the button at the exact moment the action is taking place making it difficult to capture the correct part of a motion. CNBC tested the XZ Premium ahead of MWC. In the demo, a skateboard topped with glitter was used by the skateboarder to perform a jump. CNBC captured the video and it was impressive, but required the capture button to be hit at the right moment.
There is also a very small amount of content that can be viewed on a 4K HDR screen. So far, Netflix(NASDAQ: NFLX)and Amazon(NASDAQ: AMZN)Prime Video, the e-commerce giant's streaming service, have a handful of shows in 4K HDR. Sony said it is working with Amazon to optimize some of its 4K HDR shows for mobile to work on the Xperia XZ Premium.
Daniel Gleeson, an analyst at Ovum, told CNBC by phone ahead of the launch event that the Sony Xperia XZ Premium's key features are limited because people have to buy a subscription service to watch 4K content and the slow motion camera can only capture a tiny snippet of action.
"Those key features leave me wanting more than what they are promising. That's one thing that could lead to a lot of customer disappointment for those who purchase this phones on the basis of those feature," Gleeson said.
The Sony Xperia XZ Premium ships in late Spring with pricing to be announced in local markets.
CORRECTION: This story was updated to show that the Sony Xperia XZ Premium is capable of downloading at 1 gigabit per second.
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• Samsung to Nokia: The hottest gadgets unveiled this week || Flow and Manchester United Team up to deliver the Ultimate Football Experience to Caribbean Footballers: MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - Feb 27, 2017) - Up-and-coming Caribbean footballers between the ages of 13 and 16 will not be able to contain their excitement, as news breaks that Flow and Manchester United will host The Ultimate Football Experience , a skills-based competition, supported by the Caribbean Football Union . The programme seeks to give youngsters, the chance-of-a-lifetime to participate in a talent development football camp; and even earn a trip to Old Trafford, Manchester to see Man Utd vs Crystal Palace on May 21 st 2017. The good news gets even better as registration opens this week for the football competition which runs from March through to May 2017. Here's how it works: skilled boys and girls can register online at https://discoverflow.co/flowmanutd . Registered participants will then be instructed to appear at designated football festivals across all Caribbean markets in which Flow operates. The participants will engage in a Manchester United Soccer School's international programme, which has been specially devised for the campaign and will be delivered by CFU coaches. Throughout the competition Manchester United legends will also be making an appearance at the festivals to offer their tips and advice. This is a proven Manchester United Soccer School programme designed to build and test the skills of young footballers across the globe. As the competition evolves, two participants from each market, along with their respective coach, will advance to a two-day skills session in Trinidad and Tobago to experience one-on-one training with CFU and Manchester United Soccer School Coaches. There, they will participate in a series of drills designed by the coaches and compete for the chance for two finalists and their coach to win a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Old Trafford in Manchester, England. Considered to be the highlight of the development initiative the two winners along with their coaches will travel to the world-famous football stadium to witness first hand Manchester United's final Premier League game of the season against Crystal Palace. This VIP experience will also include a visit to the Manchester United Museum and Tour, taking in the history of the club followed by a tour of the iconic stadium. Story continues Manchester United's Group Managing Director, Richard Arnold said, "Youth development is at the heart of this Club's traditions and success. The Manchester United Soccer Schools were developed to help spread this spirit to as many children as possible. In recent years our partners have been instrumental in helping the great work of our Soccer Schools coaches reach young people around the world. We're proud to work with Flow on this project." "Like Manchester United, Flow also has a deep sense of commitment to youth development as can be seen by our support of several programmes throughout the region that help to hone the skills of young footballers," said Garfield Sinclair, Flow's newly appointed President of the Caribbean . Sinclair also said, "We're therefore proud to work in partnership with Manchester United to offer this once in a lifetime experience to our talented youngsters across the region." The Caribbean Football Union's ( CFU ) President Gordon Derrick gave a ringing endorsement of The Ultimate Football Experience, as he added: "The CFU is proud to be a partner with Flow on this exhilarating and beneficial initiative. Hundreds of young footballers in 15 countries -- half of the CFU's membership -- will have the opportunity to compete, hone their skills, and, for the finalists, live the dream. I am confident that this partnership will bode well for the future of football in the region." The Ultimate Football Experience is one of several Manchester United and Flow partnership initiatives. In January, Flow hosted the FA Cup Caribbean Tour during which the Company gave football fans up-close and unprecedented access to football's most coveted trophy. The final leg of the tour culminated in the Cayman Islands, where Manchester United ambassador Dwight Yorke made an appearance . Cable and Wireless is Manchester United's telecommunications partner in the Caribbean . About C&W Communications C&W is a full service communications and entertainment provider and delivers market-leading video, broadband, telephony and mobile services to consumers in 18 countries. Through its business division, C&W provides data center hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customized IT service solutions, utilizing cloud technology to serve business and government customers. C&W also operates a state-of-the-art submarine fiber network -- the most extensive in the region. Learn more at www.cwc.com , or follow C&W on LinkedIn , Facebook or Twitter . About Liberty Global Liberty Global is the world's largest international TV and broadband company, with operations in more than 30 countries across Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. We invest in the infrastructure that empowers our customers to make the most of the digital revolution. Our scale and commitment to innovation enable us to develop market-leading products delivered through next generation networks that connect our 25 million customers who subscribe to over 50 million television, broadband internet and telephony services. We also serve over 10 million mobile subscribers and offer WiFi service across 5 million access points. Liberty Global's businesses are comprised of two stocks: the Liberty Global Group ( NASDAQ : LBTYA ) ( NASDAQ : LBTYB ) and ( NASDAQ : LBTYK ) for our European operations, and the LiLAC Group ( NASDAQ : LILA ) and ( NASDAQ : LILAK ) ( OTC PINK : LILAB ), which consists of our operations in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Liberty Global Group operates in 11 European countries under the consumer brands Virgin Media, Unitymedia, Telenet and UPC. The Liberty Global Group also owns 50% of VodafoneZiggo, a Dutch joint venture, which has 4 million customers, 10 million fixed-line subscribers and 5 million mobile subscribers. The LiLAC Group operates in over 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean under the consumer brands VTR, Flow, Liberty, Más Móvil and BTC. In addition, the LiLAC Group operates a sub-sea fiber network throughout the region in over 30 markets. For more information, please visit www.libertyglobal.com . || Flow and Manchester United Team up to deliver the Ultimate Football Experience to Caribbean Footballers: MIAMI, FL--(Marketwired - Feb 27, 2017) - Up-and-coming Caribbean footballers between the ages of 13 and 16 will not be able to contain their excitement, as news breaks thatFlowandManchester Unitedwill hostThe Ultimate Football Experience, a skills-based competition, supported by theCaribbean Football Union. The programme seeks to give youngsters, the chance-of-a-lifetime to participate in a talent development football camp; and even earn a trip to Old Trafford, Manchester to seeMan Utd vs Crystal Palaceon May 21st2017.
The good news gets even better as registration opens this week for the football competition which runs from March through to May 2017. Here's how it works: skilled boys and girls can register online athttps://discoverflow.co/flowmanutd. Registered participants will then be instructed to appear at designated football festivals across all Caribbean markets in which Flow operates. The participants will engage in a Manchester United Soccer School's international programme, which has been specially devised for the campaign and will be delivered by CFU coaches. Throughout the competition Manchester United legends will also be making an appearance at the festivals to offer their tips and advice. This is a proven Manchester United Soccer School programme designed to build and test the skills of young footballers across the globe.
As the competition evolves, two participants from each market, along with their respective coach, will advance to a two-day skills session in Trinidad and Tobago to experience one-on-one training with CFU and Manchester United Soccer School Coaches. There, they will participate in a series of drills designed by the coaches and competefor the chance for two finalists and their coach to win a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Old Trafford in Manchester, England.
Considered to be the highlight of the development initiative the two winners along with their coaches will travel to the world-famous football stadium to witness first hand Manchester United's final Premier League game of the season against Crystal Palace. This VIP experience will also include a visit to the Manchester United Museum and Tour, taking in the history of the club followed by a tour of the iconic stadium.
Manchester United'sGroup Managing Director, Richard Arnoldsaid, "Youth development is at the heart of this Club's traditions and success. TheManchester United Soccer Schoolswere developed to help spread this spirit to as many children as possible. In recent years our partners have been instrumental in helping the great work of our Soccer Schools coaches reach young people around the world. We're proud to work withFlowon this project."
"Like Manchester United, Flow also has a deep sense of commitment to youth development as can be seen by our support of several programmes throughout the region that help to hone the skills of young footballers," saidGarfield Sinclair, Flow's newly appointed President of the Caribbean. Sinclair also said, "We're therefore proud to work in partnership with Manchester United to offer this once in a lifetime experience to our talented youngsters across the region."
The Caribbean Football Union's(CFU) President Gordon Derrick gave a ringing endorsement ofTheUltimate Football Experience,as he added: "The CFU is proud to be a partner with Flow on this exhilarating and beneficial initiative. Hundreds of young footballers in 15 countries -- half of the CFU's membership -- will have the opportunity to compete, hone their skills, and, for the finalists, live the dream. I am confident that this partnership will bode well for the future of football in the region."
The Ultimate Football Experienceis one of several Manchester United and Flow partnership initiatives. In January, Flowhosted the FA Cup Caribbean Tourduring which the Company gave football fans up-close and unprecedented access to football's most coveted trophy. The final leg of the tour culminated in the Cayman Islands, where Manchester United ambassadorDwight Yorke made an appearance.
Cable and Wirelessis Manchester United'stelecommunications partner in the Caribbean.
About C&W Communications
C&W is a full service communications and entertainment provider and delivers market-leading video, broadband, telephony and mobile services to consumers in 18 countries. Through its business division, C&W provides data center hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customized IT service solutions, utilizing cloud technology to serve business and government customers.
C&W also operates a state-of-the-art submarine fiber network -- the most extensive in the region.
Learn more atwww.cwc.com, or follow C&W onLinkedIn,FacebookorTwitter.
About Liberty Global
Liberty Global is the world's largest international TV and broadband company, with operations in more than 30 countries across Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. We invest in the infrastructure that empowers our customers to make the most of the digital revolution. Our scale and commitment to innovation enable us to develop market-leading products delivered through next generation networks that connect our 25 million customers who subscribe to over 50 million television, broadband internet and telephony services. We also serve over 10 million mobile subscribers and offer WiFi service across 5 million access points.
Liberty Global's businesses are comprised of two stocks: the Liberty Global Group (NASDAQ:LBTYA) (NASDAQ:LBTYB) and (NASDAQ:LBTYK) for our European operations, and the LiLAC Group (NASDAQ:LILA) and (NASDAQ:LILAK) (OTC PINK:LILAB), which consists of our operations in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Liberty Global Group operates in 11 European countries under the consumer brands Virgin Media, Unitymedia, Telenet and UPC. The Liberty Global Group also owns 50% of VodafoneZiggo, a Dutch joint venture, which has 4 million customers, 10 million fixed-line subscribers and 5 million mobile subscribers. The LiLAC Group operates in over 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean under the consumer brands VTR, Flow, Liberty, Más Móvil and BTC. In addition, the LiLAC Group operates a sub-sea fiber network throughout the region in over 30 markets.
For more information, please visitwww.libertyglobal.com. || Gartman: Don't Buy Stocks, Consider Gold: Dennis Gartman is the man behind The Gartman Letter, a daily newsletter discussing global capital markets. For almost 30 years, The Gartman Letter has tackled the political, economic and social trends shaping the world's markets. ETF.com recently caught up with Gartman to discuss the latest developments in the financial markets.
ETF.com: The stock market continues to hit record highs on a daily basis, with the Dow up 11-straight sessions through Friday [Feb. 24]. You characterized this rally as a "melt-up." Should investors be happy about it, or should they be concerned?Dennis Gartman:They should be egregiously concerned, because they have to ask themselves if they honestly believe all of the benefits that have been put forth by the Trump administration are going to absolutely come to fruition.
Will there be tax cuts as consequential as Mr. Trump has indicated? There'll be tax cuts, but will they be as consequential? Probably not. Will there be infrastructure spending? Not a question. But will there be as much infrastructure spending as the markets seem to anticipate? Probably not.
Those things make it difficult to remain bullish of stocks at these levels. The market can go higher, but it is at levels I find to be nosebleed territory. People should be very careful up here. New purchases are to be avoided; old purchases should be hedged up in some fashion using derivatives or options; and bring stop orders up close behind the market.
ETF.com: From what I gather, you think Trump's agenda is going to be bullish for stocks, but not as bullish as the market is anticipating.
Gartman:Mr. Trump's agenda is bullish for the economy, but not necessarily bullish for stocks. That sounds illogical, but it's not illogical at all.
Why do stocks go up before economies come out of a recession? Because at the bottoms—when the monetary authorities become expansionary—that money finds its way into the capital markets, because it isn't needed in plants, equipment and labor.
You get that period of time that stocks take off on the upside and the economy continues to dwindle, and everybody wonders how stocks can continue to go up. That's what happens at bottoms.
On the other hand, at the tops of economic expansions, when there’s demand for plants and equipment and labor, money has to come from somewhere―especially if the monetary authorities are starting to err on the side of being restrictive rather than expansionary, as the Fed currently is. At that point, money comes out of the capital markets and goes into plants and equipment and labor.
Trump's proposals and his agenda are very bullish for the economy. By definition, therefore, it's somewhat bearish for equity prices after this sort of extended rally.
ETF.com: Do you think we're close to the end of this bull market we've been in for eight years?
Gartman:We are; I would counsel people not to be a buyer of equities up here. If you’re an owner of equities, I would counsel strongly to bring stops up behind your positions, buy puts to protect those positions, sell futures to protect those positions, or write covered calls to protect those positions. I would tell you not to be a buyer of new equities. And anything that you had in the past, do something to protect those profits.
ETF.com: Another bull market that seemed to come to an end recently was in the bond market. Bonds sold off sharply last year and interest rates spiked up. Do you think the 30-year run in bonds is over, and will rates continue to head higher?
Gartman:Yes, I do. That 30-plus-year bull market, which began in August 1982, is over. It's hard to believe, but I was there at the beginning. I was there at the end of the previous bear market, and I was there at the beginning of this long, protracted bull market in bonds (or the long, protracted decline in interest rates). It's hard for me to make people remember, but in 1982, the 30-year bond had a coupon of 14.75%, and you couldn't give them away at the time. It was astonishing how bad the psychology was.
But since 1982, we've been in a 30-plus-year bull market; that bull market has ended. The trend is for higher interest rates, not lower. But you must also remember the bond market tends to move in multidecade, long-term trends. If we're in for 20, 30 or 40 years of higher rates, for the first 15 or 20 years, we'll see rates go up very slowly, and very marginally.
It's at the end of this next bear market―the last quarter―that rates will go up the fastest and prices of bonds will fall the most dramatically. So while interest rates are going higher, there's no reason to be panicky about that right now.
ETF.com: In this environment, where stocks are overvalued and bonds go down slowly, are there any assets you like right now?
Gartman:For the first time in a while, I think you should own commodities in general. You should own gold in dollar terms; you should own gold in euro terms; you should own gold in yen-denominated terms. Gold has started to be a bull market.
Also, for the first time in almost four or five years, I'm actually bullish of the crude oil market. Because the term structure had shifted and crude oil prices don't break on bearish news any longer, I'm starting to find myself turning bullish on that commodity.
Contact Sumit Roy [email protected].
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Permalink| © Copyright 2017ETF.com.All rights reserved || Gartman: Don't Buy Stocks, Consider Gold: Dennis Gartman is the man behind The Gartman Letter, a daily newsletter discussing global capital markets. For almost 30 years, The Gartman Letter has tackled the political, economic and social trends shaping the world's markets. ETF.com recently caught up with Gartman to discuss the latest developments in the financial markets. ETF.com: The stock market continues to hit record highs on a daily basis, with the Dow up 11-straight sessions through Friday [Feb. 24]. You characterized this rally as a "melt-up." Should investors be happy about it, or should they be concerned? Dennis Gartman: They should be egregiously concerned, because they have to ask themselves if they honestly believe all of the benefits that have been put forth by the Trump administration are going to absolutely come to fruition. Will there be tax cuts as consequential as Mr. Trump has indicated? There'll be tax cuts, but will they be as consequential? Probably not. Will there be infrastructure spending? Not a question. But will there be as much infrastructure spending as the markets seem to anticipate? Probably not. Those things make it difficult to remain bullish of stocks at these levels. The market can go higher, but it is at levels I find to be nosebleed territory. People should be very careful up here. New purchases are to be avoided; old purchases should be hedged up in some fashion using derivatives or options; and bring stop orders up close behind the market. ETF.com: From what I gather, you think Trump's agenda is going to be bullish for stocks, but not as bullish as the market is anticipating. Gartman: Mr. Trump's agenda is bullish for the economy, but not necessarily bullish for stocks. That sounds illogical, but it's not illogical at all. Why do stocks go up before economies come out of a recession? Because at the bottoms—when the monetary authorities become expansionary—that money finds its way into the capital markets, because it isn't needed in plants, equipment and labor. Story continues You get that period of time that stocks take off on the upside and the economy continues to dwindle, and everybody wonders how stocks can continue to go up. That's what happens at bottoms. On the other hand, at the tops of economic expansions, when there’s demand for plants and equipment and labor, money has to come from somewhere―especially if the monetary authorities are starting to err on the side of being restrictive rather than expansionary, as the Fed currently is. At that point, money comes out of the capital markets and goes into plants and equipment and labor. Trump's proposals and his agenda are very bullish for the economy. By definition, therefore, it's somewhat bearish for equity prices after this sort of extended rally. ETF.com: Do you think we're close to the end of this bull market we've been in for eight years? Gartman: We are; I would counsel people not to be a buyer of equities up here. If you’re an owner of equities, I would counsel strongly to bring stops up behind your positions, buy puts to protect those positions, sell futures to protect those positions, or write covered calls to protect those positions. I would tell you not to be a buyer of new equities. And anything that you had in the past, do something to protect those profits. ETF.com: Another bull market that seemed to come to an end recently was in the bond market. Bonds sold off sharply last year and interest rates spiked up. Do you think the 30-year run in bonds is over, and will rates continue to head higher? Gartman: Yes, I do. That 30-plus-year bull market, which began in August 1982, is over. It's hard to believe, but I was there at the beginning. I was there at the end of the previous bear market, and I was there at the beginning of this long, protracted bull market in bonds (or the long, protracted decline in interest rates). It's hard for me to make people remember, but in 1982, the 30-year bond had a coupon of 14.75%, and you couldn't give them away at the time. It was astonishing how bad the psychology was. But since 1982, we've been in a 30-plus-year bull market; that bull market has ended. The trend is for higher interest rates, not lower. But you must also remember the bond market tends to move in multidecade, long-term trends. If we're in for 20, 30 or 40 years of higher rates, for the first 15 or 20 years, we'll see rates go up very slowly, and very marginally. It's at the end of this next bear market―the last quarter―that rates will go up the fastest and prices of bonds will fall the most dramatically. So while interest rates are going higher, there's no reason to be panicky about that right now. ETF.com: In this environment, where stocks are overvalued and bonds go down slowly, are there any assets you like right now? Gartman: For the first time in a while, I think you should own commodities in general. You should own gold in dollar terms; you should own gold in euro terms; you should own gold in yen-denominated terms. Gold has started to be a bull market. Also, for the first time in almost four or five years, I'm actually bullish of the crude oil market. Because the term structure had shifted and crude oil prices don't break on bearish news any longer, I'm starting to find myself turning bullish on that commodity. Contact Sumit Roy at [email protected] . Recommended Stories SEC Rejects Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF Swedroe: Political Biases Can Impact Your Investing Big Bitcoin ETF Decision Coming Today, Or Maybe Not This Fallen Angel ETF Really A Rising Star What Snap’s Pop & Drop IPO Means For ETFs Permalink | © Copyright 2017 ETF.com. All rights reserved || Trump's education secretary supports school vouchers but studies suggest they don't help students: betsy devos (Yuri Gripas/Reuters) Earlier this month, by the narrowest of margins, Betsy DeVos was confirmed as President Donald Trump's secretary of education. Her confirmation marked a win for parents looking for greater school choice the ability to pluck a child from his or her public school and get a subsidy to place the child in a private, charter, or home school instead. One of the chief means by which parents make that switch is a system both DeVos and Trump have long supported: school vouchers. Vouchers act as a kind of gift certificate. They are worth a specific dollar amount and can be used only to pay for schooling. But with these programs in the spotlight, a roiling debate has developed as to whether vouchers actually help kids or if, as critics suggest, the programs could lead to the downfall of public schools. Does it work? Voucher programs today are generally small in nature, with about 400,000 US kids participating in them. Indiana, which has the most students who use vouchers of any state, still sees only about 3% of its students rely on those programs. Studies on voucher programs in states such as Ohio , Louisiana , and Indiana have not found much evidence that they move the needle on student outcomes. With the exception of a couple of outlier programs, which have found either great success or notable declines in outcomes, American voucher programs seem to have a negligible effect on how students fare. "These are very well-done studies," Mark Dynarski, an education researcher and voucher expert, tells Business Insider. "And what they're showing is incontrovertible evidence that no, those kids did not learn more." private school kindergarten graduation (A private kindergarten graduation ceremony.Flickr/Santa Catalina School) In 2016, researchers from the University of Arkansas published a meta-analysis essentially a study of multiple prior studies evaluating 11 programs around the world. Danish Shakeel, one of the study's coauthors, says the team saw slight gains in students' reading abilities but primarily in programs outside the US. Story continues "If you are focusing only within the US, the effects for reading were null," Shakeel tells Business Insider. Fears about the future Much of the debate around vouchers concerns what might happen if DeVos expands vouchers in the US. Skeptics fear the programs could gut public schools by drawing away students and draining their funding. Research suggests vouchers haven't had much impact on schools at least not yet. Because voucher programs are small, it's difficult to determine whether this means they don't harm public schools or whether they just aren't yet big enough to do damage. In Indiana, only 3% of students get vouchers, while about 10 to 15% of kids nationwide move in and out of a school over a typical year. "Given the kinds of waves happening inside schools," Dynarski says, "it's hard to see how vouchers actually cause the school to stop what they're doing and say, 'We need a plan to respond.'" tudents work during a lesson at The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School on September 4, 2003 in London. Students across the United Kingdom are returning to school for the start of the 2003/4 academic year. (Scott Barbour/Getty Images) Patrick Wolf, a University of Arkansas voucher researcher, adds that the 53 school-choice programs around the US "haven't thrown any traditional public school system into a doomsday death spiral" but have forced some low-performing schools to take a hard look in the mirror. His research indicates voucher programs can lead principals to improve their school's education programs to stay competitive. This tends to violate the assumption that public schools are defenseless against student loss. Church and state One fear about vouchers that does seem supported by evidence, however, is that the programs can prop up religious schools. A study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research on February 13 found that the majority of Catholic schools that accept vouchers in Milwaukee rely on those taxpayer funds to stay afloat. The study included data from 1999 to 2013 from 71 parishes across the city. Dynarski says that situation could lead the Catholic church to become an advocacy group for voucher programs, regardless of whether the programs help kids perform better in school. "Now you would have the Catholic dioceses arguing on behalf of vouchers, because it's now become intrinsic to their business operations," he says. "And that just seems a little strange to me." Shakeel says that overall the results of voucher programs are too modest to support arguments in favor of giving all district their own programs. As for whether to expand some voucher programs and how to do so, he says he'd like policymakers to take a more empirical approach to decision-making. "If the public is aware of the evidence," he says, "we can make decisions based on evidence and not based on news that's not backed by data." NOW WATCH: 'Shame! Shame! Shame!': Watch Betsy DeVos get physically blocked by protesters from entering a school More From Business Insider A Swedish town could give employees paid time off to have sex CEOs love the corner office, but research says it's overrated Bitcoin just hit an all-time high here's how you buy and sell it || Trump's education secretary supports school vouchers — but studies suggest they don't help students: (Yuri Gripas/Reuters)
Earlier this month, by the narrowest of margins,Betsy DeVos was confirmedas President Donald Trump's secretary of education.
Her confirmation marked a win for parents looking for greater school choice — the ability to pluck a child from his or her public school and get a subsidy to place the child in a private, charter, or home school instead.
One of the chief means by which parents make that switch is a systemboth DeVos and Trumphave long supported: school vouchers.
Vouchers act as a kind of gift certificate. They are worth a specific dollar amount and can be used only to pay for schooling. But with these programs in the spotlight, aroiling debatehas developed as towhether vouchers actually help kidsor if, as critics suggest, the programs couldlead to the downfallof public schools.
Voucher programs today are generally small in nature, with about400,000 US kidsparticipating in them. Indiana, which has the most students who use vouchers of any state, still sees only about 3% of its students rely on those programs.
Studies on voucher programs in states such asOhio,Louisiana, andIndianahave not found much evidence that they move the needle on student outcomes. With the exception of a couple of outlier programs, which have found either great success ornotable declinesin outcomes, American voucher programs seem to have a negligible effect on how students fare.
"These are very well-done studies," Mark Dynarski, an education researcher and voucher expert, tells Business Insider. "And what they're showing is incontrovertible evidence that no, those kids did not learn more."
(A private kindergarten graduation ceremony.Flickr/Santa Catalina School)
In 2016, researchers from the University of Arkansaspublished a meta-analysis— essentially a study of multiple prior studies — evaluating 11 programs around the world. Danish Shakeel, one of the study's coauthors, says the team saw slight gains in students' reading abilities but primarily in programs outside the US.
"If you are focusing only within the US, the effects for reading were null," Shakeel tells Business Insider.
Much of the debate around vouchers concerns what might happen if DeVos expands vouchers in the US. Skeptics fear the programs could gut public schools by drawing away students and draining their funding.
Research suggests vouchers haven't had much impact on schools — at least not yet. Because voucher programs are small, it's difficult to determine whether this means they don't harm public schools or whether they just aren't yet big enough to do damage. In Indiana, only 3% of students get vouchers, while about10 to 15% of kidsnationwide move in and out of a school over a typical year.
"Given the kinds of waves happening inside schools," Dynarski says, "it's hard to see how vouchers actually cause the school to stop what they're doing and say, 'We need a plan to respond.'"
(Scott Barbour/Getty Images)
Patrick Wolf, a University of Arkansas voucher researcher, adds that the 53 school-choice programs around the US "haven't thrown any traditional public school system into a doomsday death spiral" but have forced some low-performing schools to take a hard look in the mirror.
His research indicates voucher programs can leadprincipals to improvetheir school's education programs to stay competitive. This tends to violate the assumption that public schools are defenseless against student loss.
One fear about vouchers that does seem supported by evidence, however, is that the programs can prop up religious schools.
Astudypublished by the National Bureau of Economic Research on February 13 found that the majority of Catholic schools that accept vouchers in Milwaukeerely on those taxpayer fundsto stay afloat. The study included data from 1999 to 2013 from 71 parishes across the city.
Dynarski says that situation could lead the Catholic church to become an advocacy group for voucher programs, regardless of whether the programs help kids perform better in school. "Now you would have the Catholic dioceses arguing on behalf of vouchers, because it's now become intrinsic to their business operations," he says. "And that just seems a little strange to me."
Shakeel says that overall the results of voucher programs are too modest to support arguments in favor of giving all district their own programs. As for whether to expand some voucher programs and how to do so, he says he'd like policymakers to take a more empirical approach to decision-making.
"If the public is aware of the evidence," he says, "we can make decisions based on evidence and not based on news that's not backed by data."
NOW WATCH:'Shame! Shame! Shame!': Watch Betsy DeVos get physically blocked by protesters from entering a school
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• Bitcoin just hit an all-time high — here's how you buy and sell it || Bitcoin hits record high above $1,200 on talk of ETF approval: By Jemima Kelly LONDON (Reuters) - Digital currency bitcoin jumped to a record high above $1,200 on Friday, as investors speculated the first bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) to be issued in the United States is set to receive regulatory approval. Traditional financial players have largely shunned the web-based "crytpocurrency", viewing it as too volatile, complicated and risky, and doubting its inherent value. But bitcoin, invented in 2008, performed better than any other currency in every year since 2010 apart from 2014, when it was the worst-performing currency, and has added almost a quarter to its value so far this year. It soared to as high as $1,200 per bitcoin in early Asian trading on Europe's Bitstamp exchange , before easing to about $1,190. http://reut.rs/2lR1Mqk That put the total value of all bitcoins in circulation -- or the digital currency's "market cap", as it is known -- at close to $20 billion, around the same size as Iceland's economy. Some analysts say regulatory approval of a bitcoin ETF would make the currency relatively attractive to the often more cautious institutional investor market. [nL8N1G85HI] But despite potentially high returns, low correlations with other currencies and assets, falling volatility and increasing liquidity, there is scant evidence so far that most major players are considering investing in the digital currency. "Bitcoin is just not liquid enough for us to even think about," said Paul Lambert, fund manager and head of currency investment at Insight, in London. "We manage billions and billions of dollars we'd need to be able to go into that market and trade in hundreds of millions of dollars at a time, and my sense is it's not like that." Three ETFs that track the value of bitcoin have been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for approval. The SEC will decide by March 11 whether to approve one filed almost four years ago by investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. If approved, it would be the first bitcoin ETF issued and regulated by a U.S. entity. (Reporting by Jemima Kelly, graphic by Nigl Stephenson)
[Social Media Buzz]
Average Bitcoin market price is: USD 1,233.00, EUR 1,167.20 || One Bitcoin now worth $1263.88@bitstamp. High $1264.00. Low $1215.00. Market Cap $20.464 Billion #bitcoin || One Bitcoin now worth $1220.10@bitstamp. High $1231.00. Low $1188.30. Market Cap $19.756 Billion #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/zzfCCCEXdx || $1228.90 #bitfinex;
$1233.00 #GDAX;
$1197.00 #btce;
$1226.53 #bitstamp;
$1230.44 #gemini;
#bitcoin news: http://bit.ly/1VI6Yse || #Bitcoin $1253.00; @Chain || $1225.69 at 03:30 UTC [24h Rang...
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1274.99, 1255.15, 1267.12, 1272.83, 1223.54, 1150.00, 1188.49, 1116.72, 1175.83, 1221.38
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 3671.20, 3690.19, 3648.43, 3653.53, 3632.07, 3616.88, 3620.81, 3629.79, 3673.84, 3915.71, 3947.09, 3999.82, 3954.12, 4005.53, 4142.53, 3810.43, 3882.70, 3854.36, 3851.05, 3854.79, 3859.58, 3864.42, 3847.18, 3761.56, 3896.38, 3903.94, 3911.48, 3901.13, 3963.31, 3951.60, 3905.23, 3909.16, 3906.72, 3924.37, 3960.91, 4048.73, 4025.23, 4032.51, 4071.19, 4087.48, 4029.33, 4023.97, 4035.83, 4022.17, 3963.07, 3985.08, 4087.07, 4069.11, 4098.37, 4106.66, 4105.40, 4158.18, 4879.88, 4973.02, 4922.80, 5036.68, 5059.82, 5198.90, 5289.77, 5204.96, 5324.55, 5064.49, 5089.54, 5096.59, 5167.72, 5067.11, 5235.56, 5251.94, 5298.39, 5303.81, 5337.89, 5314.53, 5399.37, 5572.36, 5464.87, 5210.52, 5279.35, 5268.29, 5285.14, 5247.35, 5350.73, 5402.70, 5505.28, 5768.29, 5831.17, 5795.71, 5746.81, 5829.50, 5982.46, 6174.53.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2019-05-09]
Volume: 16784645411, RSI (14-day): 78.40, 50-day EMA: 5131.19, 200-day EMA: 4882.68
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1283.50, Gold RSI: 49.66
Oil Price: 61.70, Oil RSI: 45.34
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Bitcoin Basher Nouriel Roubini Cowers from Novogratzs Crypto Wager: Bitcoin basher Nouriel Roubini and crypto bull Mike Novogratz sparred over the future of blockchain. | Source: AP (i), YouTube (ii). Image Edited by CCN. Bitcoin perma-bull Mike Novogratz clashed with avowed crypto-hater Nouriel Roubini at the 2019 SALT tech conference in Las Vegas on May 8. During a panel discussion about digital currencies, Roubini once again trashed crypto as a massive bubble. Meanwhile, Novogratz cooed that bitcoin is a miracle. Crypto is the mother and father of all bubbles Nouriel Roubini is an economics professor at New York University. His latest claim to fame is opposing bitcoin . Despite the fact that Roubini has little real-world (i.e., non-academic) experience managing large sums of money, he has repeatedly dismissed bitcoin as worthless and a giant scam. He doubled-down on these sentiments today at the SALT forum. Crypto is the mother and father of all bubbles, Roubini said (via CNBC ). [The term] cryptocurrency is totally a misnomer. To be a currency, you have to be a unit of account, valuable, and a scalable means of payment. Roubini said crypto evangelists are essentially con artists who are deluding themselves and others. Why? Because bitcoin cant scale efficiently, is too vulnerable to massive manipulation, and is too volatile to be a stable store of value. Ive never seen such a level of manipulation. The reality is, these are not currencies. Read the full story on CCN.com . || Bitcoin Basher Nouriel Roubini Cowers from Novogratz’s Crypto Wager: Bitcoin perma-bullMike Novogratzclashed with avowedcrypto-hater Nouriel Roubiniat the 2019 SALT tech conference in Las Vegas on May 8.
During a panel discussion about digital currencies, Roubini once again trashed crypto as a massive “bubble.” Meanwhile, Novogratz cooed that bitcoin is a “miracle.”
Nouriel Roubiniis an economics professor at New York University. His latest claim to fame is opposingbitcoin.
Despite the fact that Roubini has little real-world (i.e., non-academic) experience managing large sums of money, he has repeatedly dismissed bitcoin as worthless and a giant scam. He doubled-down on these sentiments today at the SALT forum.
“Crypto is the mother and father of all bubbles,” Roubini said (viaCNBC). “[The term] cryptocurrency is totally a misnomer. To be a currency, you have to be a unit of account, valuable, and a scalable means of payment.”
Roubini said crypto evangelists are essentially con artists who are deluding themselves and others. Why? Because bitcoin can’t scale efficiently, is too vulnerable to “massive manipulation,” and is too volatile to be a stable store of value.
“I’ve never seen such a level of manipulation. The reality is, these are not currencies.” || Bitcoin Basher Nouriel Roubini Cowers from Novogratz’s Crypto Wager: Bitcoin perma-bullMike Novogratzclashed with avowedcrypto-hater Nouriel Roubiniat the 2019 SALT tech conference in Las Vegas on May 8.
During a panel discussion about digital currencies, Roubini once again trashed crypto as a massive “bubble.” Meanwhile, Novogratz cooed that bitcoin is a “miracle.”
Nouriel Roubiniis an economics professor at New York University. His latest claim to fame is opposingbitcoin.
Despite the fact that Roubini has little real-world (i.e., non-academic) experience managing large sums of money, he has repeatedly dismissed bitcoin as worthless and a giant scam. He doubled-down on these sentiments today at the SALT forum.
“Crypto is the mother and father of all bubbles,” Roubini said (viaCNBC). “[The term] cryptocurrency is totally a misnomer. To be a currency, you have to be a unit of account, valuable, and a scalable means of payment.”
Roubini said crypto evangelists are essentially con artists who are deluding themselves and others. Why? Because bitcoin can’t scale efficiently, is too vulnerable to “massive manipulation,” and is too volatile to be a stable store of value.
“I’ve never seen such a level of manipulation. The reality is, these are not currencies.” || Low-Volatility ETFs Have Seen Increased Interest on Safety Bets: This article was originally published onETFTrends.com.
Investors have been looking into low-volatility exchange traded funds that limit downside risk and still maintain some upside potential as headwinds increase toward the end of the business cycle, but the strategy is beginning to look pricey.
Over the past year, theiShares MSCI USA Minimum Volatility ETF (Cboe:USMV)andInvesco S&P 500 Low Volatility Portfolio (SPLV) were among the more popular ETF plays, attracting $8.7 billion and $2.4 billion in net inflows, according to ETFdb data.
The low-volatility investment style beloved by quants has experienced a wave of inflows over 10 consecutive months on rising demand for safety,Bloombergreports.
However, the heightened demand for these types of safety plays has caused U.S. companies with muted price swings to trade at their highest premium over global peers since February 2018.
“Those stocks that are technically defined as low volatility that have a low realized volatility are expensive,” the portfolio manager for high-income equities at TCW Group Inc., told Bloomberg.
The defensive low-volatility strategy has appeared attractive the current market mired with trade and liquidity concerns, easing profit growth and economic woes, with volatility recently spiking in response to another round of trade fears.
“Going forward, we all expect there to be much more volatility in the markets than there potentially has been in the past,” Michael Hunstad, head of quantitative strategies at Northern Trust Asset Management, told Bloomberg. “So it’s a very good time to think about de-risking even if you’re potentially cutting some of that upside participation.”
The low-volatility ETFs are factor-based strategies that tilt toward companies with a propensity for lower volatility. Different issuers and index providers arrive at a basket of low volatility stocks in varying fashions.
For example, SPLV holds the 100 S&P 500 members with the lowest trailing 12-month volatility.
USMV uses a different approach, somewhat more complex approach relative to traditional low volatility products, but has its advantages as well. Its risk model puts greater emphasis on more-recent data, which may be more predictive of future risk.
For more information on alternative index-based strategies, visit oursmart beta category.
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READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || Low-Volatility ETFs Have Seen Increased Interest on Safety Bets: This article was originally published on ETFTrends.com. Investors have been looking into low-volatility exchange traded funds that limit downside risk and still maintain some upside potential as headwinds increase toward the end of the business cycle, but the strategy is beginning to look pricey. Over the past year, the iShares MSCI USA Minimum Volatility ETF (Cboe:USMV) and Invesco S&P 500 Low Volatility Portfolio ( SPLV ) were among the more popular ETF plays, attracting $8.7 billion and $2.4 billion in net inflows, according to ETFdb data. The low-volatility investment style beloved by quants has experienced a wave of inflows over 10 consecutive months on rising demand for safety, Bloomberg reports. However, the heightened demand for these types of safety plays has caused U.S. companies with muted price swings to trade at their highest premium over global peers since February 2018. “Those stocks that are technically defined as low volatility that have a low realized volatility are expensive,” the portfolio manager for high-income equities at TCW Group Inc., told Bloomberg. The defensive low-volatility strategy has appeared attractive the current market mired with trade and liquidity concerns, easing profit growth and economic woes, with volatility recently spiking in response to another round of trade fears. “Going forward, we all expect there to be much more volatility in the markets than there potentially has been in the past,” Michael Hunstad, head of quantitative strategies at Northern Trust Asset Management, told Bloomberg. “So it’s a very good time to think about de-risking even if you’re potentially cutting some of that upside participation.” The low-volatility ETFs are factor-based strategies that tilt toward companies with a propensity for lower volatility. Different issuers and index providers arrive at a basket of low volatility stocks in varying fashions. For example, SPLV holds the 100 S&P 500 members with the lowest trailing 12-month volatility. Story continues USMV uses a different approach, somewhat more complex approach relative to traditional low volatility products, but has its advantages as well. Its risk model puts greater emphasis on more-recent data, which may be more predictive of future risk. For more information on alternative index-based strategies, visit our smart beta category . POPULAR ARTICLES AND RESOURCES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM SPY ETF Quote VOO ETF Quote QQQ ETF Quote VTI ETF Quote JNUG ETF Quote Top 34 Gold ETFs Top 34 Oil ETFs Top 57 Financials ETFs Markets Jittery On China’s Reaction To Trump’s Tweets Bitcoin Rallies to $6K Above 6-Month High Annual Morningstar Conference Unites Financial Industry’s Top Minds ‘Heartbeat’ Bill Creates Controversy TD Ameritrade Expands Commission-Free on Nearly 570 ETFs READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || Satoshi Nakamoto Horde: Craig Wright Submits List of Bitcoin Addresses: ByCCN:Craig Wright’sattorneys successfully met thedeadlineby which he was required to submit a list of bitcoin addresses associated with the Tulip Trust, presumably proving whether or not he is Satoshi Nakamoto. The list is unfortunately redacted (see bottom of the article). As a result, blockchain experts outside the government have no way to analyze them.
A motion to redact immediately followed –and then approval of the redaction– and also a “paperless” order to file the redacted version in the public record.
WizSec says they have unredacted the list and analyzed the addresses in question.
A cunning move on the part of Wright’s lawyers, who know full well that the reporters of the world definitively want access to that list. We’d love to know precisely how much bitcoin is allegedly held within the Tulip Trust. The publication of those addresses would also lead us to the blocks from which they derive and tell us other things we may not know about Wright’s background in Bitcoin. The genesis block Satoshi famously mined with a Coinbase message referencing “bailouts” cannot be spent but subsequent Nakamoto blocks certainly could.
The lawsuitbrought against Craig Wright by Dave Kleiman’s brother Iracould be the first time a court decides whether or not Craig Wright has the right tocall himself Satoshi Nakamoto. On these grounds alone, it is one of the most important happenings in crypto right now.
Several notable people have judged Wright to be a “fraud” in the court of public opinion, but that court holds far less consequence than the federal courts of the United States.
Read the full story on CCN.com. || Satoshi Nakamoto Horde: Craig Wright Submits List of Bitcoin Addresses: Craig Wright's lawyer has furnished a list of bitcoin addresses that would presumably prove whether or not the Australian entrepreneur is Satoshi Nakamoto. | Source: (i) YouTube/BBC (ii) Shutterstock ; Edited by CCN By CCN : Craig Wright’s attorneys successfully met the deadline by which he was required to submit a list of bitcoin addresses associated with the Tulip Trust, presumably proving whether or not he is Satoshi Nakamoto. The list is unfortunately redacted (see bottom of the article). As a result, blockchain experts outside the government have no way to analyze them. A motion to redact immediately followed – and then approval of the redaction – and also a “paperless” order to file the redacted version in the public record. Fragment #craigwright speaks at@bitcoinwednesday ‘Freedom is not free’ #BSV why he does give a S*** pic.twitter.com/XWysJWWulU — Vincent Everts (@vincente) May 1, 2019 WizSec says they have unredacted the list and analyzed the addresses in question. List of Redacted Addresses Leaves Us in the Dark – Satoshi Nakamoto Coins or Not? A cunning move on the part of Wright’s lawyers, who know full well that the reporters of the world definitively want access to that list. We’d love to know precisely how much bitcoin is allegedly held within the Tulip Trust. The publication of those addresses would also lead us to the blocks from which they derive and tell us other things we may not know about Wright’s background in Bitcoin. The genesis block Satoshi famously mined with a Coinbase message referencing “bailouts” cannot be spent but subsequent Nakamoto blocks certainly could. The lawsuit brought against Craig Wright by Dave Kleiman’s brother Ira could be the first time a court decides whether or not Craig Wright has the right to call himself Satoshi Nakamoto . On these grounds alone, it is one of the most important happenings in crypto right now. Several notable people have judged Wright to be a “fraud” in the court of public opinion, but that court holds far less consequence than the federal courts of the United States. Read the full story on CCN.com . View comments || Satoshi Nakamoto Horde: Craig Wright Submits List of Bitcoin Addresses: ByCCN:Craig Wright’sattorneys successfully met thedeadlineby which he was required to submit a list of bitcoin addresses associated with the Tulip Trust, presumably proving whether or not he is Satoshi Nakamoto. The list is unfortunately redacted (see bottom of the article). As a result, blockchain experts outside the government have no way to analyze them.
A motion to redact immediately followed –and then approval of the redaction– and also a “paperless” order to file the redacted version in the public record.
WizSec says they have unredacted the list and analyzed the addresses in question.
A cunning move on the part of Wright’s lawyers, who know full well that the reporters of the world definitively want access to that list. We’d love to know precisely how much bitcoin is allegedly held within the Tulip Trust. The publication of those addresses would also lead us to the blocks from which they derive and tell us other things we may not know about Wright’s background in Bitcoin. The genesis block Satoshi famously mined with a Coinbase message referencing “bailouts” cannot be spent but subsequent Nakamoto blocks certainly could.
The lawsuitbrought against Craig Wright by Dave Kleiman’s brother Iracould be the first time a court decides whether or not Craig Wright has the right tocall himself Satoshi Nakamoto. On these grounds alone, it is one of the most important happenings in crypto right now.
Several notable people have judged Wright to be a “fraud” in the court of public opinion, but that court holds far less consequence than the federal courts of the United States.
Read the full story on CCN.com. || Bitcoin Bros’ Silence to Coinbase Ban of Milo Yiannopoulos Is Deafening: ByCCN: Bitcoin evangelists’ silence in the face of Coinbase banning gay Jewish conservative activist Milo Yiannopoulos is deafening. Their refusal to condemn the ban undercuts the myth of crypto as a foil to traditional banking institutions.
If anything, bitcoin bros’ collective silence suggests that the crypto community is little more than a cheap knockoff of thecorrupt financial establishmentthey brag they’re rebelling against.
On May 3, Milo said he was banned within three minutes of trying to open an account onCoinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States. No reason was given.
Moreover, Coinbase has yet to return CCN’s emails and calls for comment on this story.
Obviously, Coinbase is a business, and it has the right to ban whomever it wants. But a leadingcrypto exchangebanning a man simply for his political beliefs has shades of tech totalitarianism.
Bitcoin evangelists apparently think it’s fine that Coinbase banned gay conservative Milos Yiannopoulos. | Source: screenshot
Yiannopoulos is a controversial British media personality who was a former editor at Breitbart. He has been branded a “far-right extremist” by the left-wing media for condemning political correctness.
Read the full story on CCN.com. || Bitcoin Bros’ Silence to Coinbase Ban of Milo Yiannopoulos Is Deafening: ByCCN: Bitcoin evangelists’ silence in the face of Coinbase banning gay Jewish conservative activist Milo Yiannopoulos is deafening. Their refusal to condemn the ban undercuts the myth of crypto as a foil to traditional banking institutions.
If anything, bitcoin bros’ collective silence suggests that the crypto community is little more than a cheap knockoff of thecorrupt financial establishmentthey brag they’re rebelling against.
On May 3, Milo said he was banned within three minutes of trying to open an account onCoinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States. No reason was given.
Moreover, Coinbase has yet to return CCN’s emails and calls for comment on this story.
Obviously, Coinbase is a business, and it has the right to ban whomever it wants. But a leadingcrypto exchangebanning a man simply for his political beliefs has shades of tech totalitarianism.
Bitcoin evangelists apparently think it’s fine that Coinbase banned gay conservative Milos Yiannopoulos. | Source: screenshot
Yiannopoulos is a controversial British media personality who was a former editor at Breitbart. He has been branded a “far-right extremist” by the left-wing media for condemning political correctness.
Read the full story on CCN.com. || Bitcoin Bros Silence to Coinbase Ban of Milo Yiannopoulos Is Deafening: Bitcoin evangelists' deafening silence to Coinbase's ban of conservative activist Milos Yiannopoulos undercuts the myth of crypto openness. | Source: MARK GRAHAM / AFP By CCN : Bitcoin evangelists silence in the face of Coinbase banning gay Jewish conservative activist Milo Yiannopoulos is deafening. Their refusal to condemn the ban undercuts the myth of crypto as a foil to traditional banking institutions. If anything, bitcoin bros collective silence suggests that the crypto community is little more than a cheap knockoff of the corrupt financial establishment they brag theyre rebelling against. Bitcoin Exchange Coinbase banned Milo Yiannopoulos in three minutes On May 3, Milo said he was banned within three minutes of trying to open an account on Coinbase , the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States. No reason was given. Moreover, Coinbase has yet to return CCNs emails and calls for comment on this story. Obviously, Coinbase is a business, and it has the right to ban whomever it wants. But a leading crypto exchange banning a man simply for his political beliefs has shades of tech totalitarianism. coinbase bans gay Jewish bitcoin fan Milo Yiannopoulos Bitcoin evangelists apparently think its fine that Coinbase banned gay conservative Milos Yiannopoulos. | Source: screenshot Coinbase ban follows Chase Banks purge of conservatives Yiannopoulos is a controversial British media personality who was a former editor at Breitbart. He has been branded a far-right extremist by the left-wing media for condemning political correctness. Read the full story on CCN.com . || 8 Things to Know Before Investing in Cryptocurrency: There is no clear vision for cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrency is popular, and those who believe it's a fad are surprised at how the market continues to grow. Cryptocurrency is a digital, virtual currency, unlike any other. The currency exists online and uses cryptography, blockchain technology and computer networks to track the value and ownership. First launched in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto, bitcoin was the first blockchain-based cryptocurrency and remains the most popular and valuable. But there are now numerous competitors to bitcoin. Those interested in trading in digital assets do so through an exchange. Here are few things to know about investing in cryptocurrencies. The U.S. wants to regulate cryptocurrency. Underscoring the significance of cryptocurrency, two bills in support of the digital currency were recently introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives. The bills are entitled the U.S. Virtual Currency Market and Regulatory Competitiveness Act of 2019 and the Virtual Currency Consumer Protection Act of 2019. The proposed legislation from these two acts are intended to regulate cryptocurrencies and protect consumers against bad actors. The federal government's interest in digital currency indicates that there's a future for cryptocurrency. Buying cryptocurrencies may be a bad investment. Gamblers and speculators are the best candidates for the cryptocurrency market. But some investing experts along with famous famous investors like Warren Buffett , Charlie Munger and T. Boone Pickens express distaste for cryptocurrency. "There are virtually no investment strategies that are worse ideas than buying cryptocurrencies. It is pure, unadulterated speculation in an unproven commodity," says Robert Johnson, a finance professor at Creighton University in Nebraska. "There is no intrinsic value in bitcoin and speculators buy with the hope that someone will come along and pay more. Unlike traditional businesses, there is no way to value cryptocurrencies other than the greater fool theory," he says. Story continues Some say you can invest a small portion of your portfolio. Mike Alfred, co-founder and CEO of Digital Assets Data in Denver, believes that bitcoin is the most important and misunderstood asset of our lifetime. He says that every investor should own up to 5% of this asset class. He is joined by David Tawil, president of Maglan Capital, who recommends investors allocate between 2% and 3% in crypto assets. Technology has disrupted every business and cryptocurrency is no different. There is a growing class of investors, advisors and regular folks who believe that digital currency will transform financial services. Tawil is certain of the crypto influence, but unsure which currency will prevail. While bitcoin is the clear leader, there's no guarantee which digital asset will ultimately take hold. Risk-adverse investors should steer clear. Any investor who is uncomfortable with great investment volatility and risk should stay away from digital coin investing. The same goes for those who can't afford to lose all their investment. One could choose the wrong cryptocurrency asset and watch their investment disappear. But Russell Korus, co-founder and CEO of EZ Exchange in Toronto, says that investors who are interested in dipping their toes into the crypto pool should focus on the blue-chip cryptocurreny: bitcoin. The oldest and largest cryptocurrency has demonstrated resilience to the threats of technology, community infighting and attempted government intervention. For crypto investors, research into the specific coins is necessary. "Mass adoption is inevitable," Korus says. Cryptocurrency may aid business transactions. Money transfer currently needs a third-party portal, whether it is a bank, credit card, PayPal or another intermediary. Crypto proponents expect the industry will facilitate direct transfer between two parties, cutting out the trusted third party. The transaction would be facilitated through public or private keys. A user's wallet or account address controls the public key and the private key is used to sign the transactions.This crypto benefit reduces processing fees charged by banks and financial institutions for wire and other fund transfers. The widely adopted blockchain technology stores the online transaction ledger and reduces the threat from hackers, as every new block created must be verified by the ledgers of each user on the market. Cryptocurrency can vanish. Blockchain is popular with a variety of financial institutions and other users. Since cryptocurrencies are virtual and lack a central storehouse, it's possible for an account balance to be wiped out. A computer crash without a backup could destroy a stash of cryptocurrency. If a user loses the private keys, the cryptocurrency is unrecoverable. Scammers can also hijack someone's mobile account by impersonating an account holder. The thieves contact the carrier and request for the the user's phone to be transferred to a new device. This is what gives the scammer access to crypto accounts. The cryptocurrency market is unpredictable. Bitcoin has been extremely volatile in its pricing, from being valued at a few hundred dollars to more than $17,000 in December 2017. At this writing, bitcoin is worth nearly $5,900 and there's no way to determine whether it will be worth more or less in the future. There are more than 2,000 types of coins, and cryptocurrency coin prices are unpredictable -- especially among smaller coins. The cryptocurrency market cap shows the market value of all the coins. The smallest coin with a positive market cap is HarmonyCoin and its market is worth $32. While the bitcoin market cap is valued at more than $104 billion, the No. 2 player is Ethereum, worth $18 billion in market cap. Invest in cryptocurrency with open eyes. In the 1600s, Holland saw the value of tulip bulbs skyrocket and ultimately crash, leaving investors with great financial losses. Other market boom and bust cycles have followed including the dot-com crash and the more recent subprime mortgage market collapse in the wake of the Great Recession . But there are significant differences between previous booms and busts and the current cryptocurrency craze. All the prior enthusiasm for tulips, tech and subprime mortgages were focused on actual assets. Cryptocurrency cannot be touched or seen and is simply an entry in an online log. Those that invest must remain cautious, understanding that they're buying into an asset class without a tangible product or history. Know these facts before investing in cryptocurrency. -- The government wants to regulate cryptocurrency. -- Buying cryptocurrencies may be a bad investment. -- Some say you can invest a small portion of your portfolio. -- Risk-adverse investors should steer clear. -- Cryptocurrency may aid business transactions. -- Cryptocurrency can vanish. -- The cryptocurrency market is unpredictable. -- Invest in cryptocurrency with open eyes. More From US News & World Report 8 Great Investing Apps and Sites for Millennials 10 Ways to Keep Your Cryptocurrency Safe 7 of the Best Cryptocurrencies to Buy || 8 Things to Know Before Investing in Cryptocurrency: There is no clear vision for cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrency is popular, and those who believe it's a fad are surprised at how the market continues to grow. Cryptocurrency is a digital, virtual currency, unlike any other. The currency exists online and uses cryptography, blockchain technology and computer networks to track the value and ownership. First launched in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto, bitcoin was the first blockchain-based cryptocurrency and remains the most popular and valuable. But there are now numerous competitors to bitcoin. Those interested in trading in digital assets do so through an exchange. Here are few things to know about investing in cryptocurrencies. The U.S. wants to regulate cryptocurrency. Underscoring the significance of cryptocurrency, two bills in support of the digital currency were recently introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives. The bills are entitled the U.S. Virtual Currency Market and Regulatory Competitiveness Act of 2019 and the Virtual Currency Consumer Protection Act of 2019. The proposed legislation from these two acts are intended to regulate cryptocurrencies and protect consumers against bad actors. The federal government's interest in digital currency indicates that there's a future for cryptocurrency. Buying cryptocurrencies may be a bad investment. Gamblers and speculators are the best candidates for the cryptocurrency market. But some investing experts along with famous famous investors like Warren Buffett , Charlie Munger and T. Boone Pickens express distaste for cryptocurrency. "There are virtually no investment strategies that are worse ideas than buying cryptocurrencies. It is pure, unadulterated speculation in an unproven commodity," says Robert Johnson, a finance professor at Creighton University in Nebraska. "There is no intrinsic value in bitcoin and speculators buy with the hope that someone will come along and pay more. Unlike traditional businesses, there is no way to value cryptocurrencies other than the greater fool theory," he says. Story continues Some say you can invest a small portion of your portfolio. Mike Alfred, co-founder and CEO of Digital Assets Data in Denver, believes that bitcoin is the most important and misunderstood asset of our lifetime. He says that every investor should own up to 5% of this asset class. He is joined by David Tawil, president of Maglan Capital, who recommends investors allocate between 2% and 3% in crypto assets. Technology has disrupted every business and cryptocurrency is no different. There is a growing class of investors, advisors and regular folks who believe that digital currency will transform financial services. Tawil is certain of the crypto influence, but unsure which currency will prevail. While bitcoin is the clear leader, there's no guarantee which digital asset will ultimately take hold. Risk-adverse investors should steer clear. Any investor who is uncomfortable with great investment volatility and risk should stay away from digital coin investing. The same goes for those who can't afford to lose all their investment. One could choose the wrong cryptocurrency asset and watch their investment disappear. But Russell Korus, co-founder and CEO of EZ Exchange in Toronto, says that investors who are interested in dipping their toes into the crypto pool should focus on the blue-chip cryptocurreny: bitcoin. The oldest and largest cryptocurrency has demonstrated resilience to the threats of technology, community infighting and attempted government intervention. For crypto investors, research into the specific coins is necessary. "Mass adoption is inevitable," Korus says. Cryptocurrency may aid business transactions. Money transfer currently needs a third-party portal, whether it is a bank, credit card, PayPal or another intermediary. Crypto proponents expect the industry will facilitate direct transfer between two parties, cutting out the trusted third party. The transaction would be facilitated through public or private keys. A user's wallet or account address controls the public key and the private key is used to sign the transactions.This crypto benefit reduces processing fees charged by banks and financial institutions for wire and other fund transfers. The widely adopted blockchain technology stores the online transaction ledger and reduces the threat from hackers, as every new block created must be verified by the ledgers of each user on the market. Cryptocurrency can vanish. Blockchain is popular with a variety of financial institutions and other users. Since cryptocurrencies are virtual and lack a central storehouse, it's possible for an account balance to be wiped out. A computer crash without a backup could destroy a stash of cryptocurrency. If a user loses the private keys, the cryptocurrency is unrecoverable. Scammers can also hijack someone's mobile account by impersonating an account holder. The thieves contact the carrier and request for the the user's phone to be transferred to a new device. This is what gives the scammer access to crypto accounts. The cryptocurrency market is unpredictable. Bitcoin has been extremely volatile in its pricing, from being valued at a few hundred dollars to more than $17,000 in December 2017. At this writing, bitcoin is worth nearly $5,900 and there's no way to determine whether it will be worth more or less in the future. There are more than 2,000 types of coins, and cryptocurrency coin prices are unpredictable -- especially among smaller coins. The cryptocurrency market cap shows the market value of all the coins. The smallest coin with a positive market cap is HarmonyCoin and its market is worth $32. While the bitcoin market cap is valued at more than $104 billion, the No. 2 player is Ethereum, worth $18 billion in market cap. Invest in cryptocurrency with open eyes. In the 1600s, Holland saw the value of tulip bulbs skyrocket and ultimately crash, leaving investors with great financial losses. Other market boom and bust cycles have followed including the dot-com crash and the more recent subprime mortgage market collapse in the wake of the Great Recession . But there are significant differences between previous booms and busts and the current cryptocurrency craze. All the prior enthusiasm for tulips, tech and subprime mortgages were focused on actual assets. Cryptocurrency cannot be touched or seen and is simply an entry in an online log. Those that invest must remain cautious, understanding that they're buying into an asset class without a tangible product or history. Know these facts before investing in cryptocurrency. -- The government wants to regulate cryptocurrency. -- Buying cryptocurrencies may be a bad investment. -- Some say you can invest a small portion of your portfolio. -- Risk-adverse investors should steer clear. -- Cryptocurrency may aid business transactions. -- Cryptocurrency can vanish. -- The cryptocurrency market is unpredictable. -- Invest in cryptocurrency with open eyes. More From US News & World Report 8 Great Investing Apps and Sites for Millennials 10 Ways to Keep Your Cryptocurrency Safe 7 of the Best Cryptocurrencies to Buy || 7 Top Dividend Growth ETFs for Stability in Uncertain Conditions: This article was originally published on ETFTrends.com. Investors who are concerned that the trade negotiations can breakdown into a full out trade war should look to dividend growers and related ETFs. We are thinking about some of the drivers of profit growth going forward, and we are looking at some of the communication services stocks, Avid Kostin, Goldman Sachs chief U.S. equity strategist, told CNBC . We like a combination of low labor cost sensitivity as a way of inoculating against rising labor inflation... The second would be dividend growers as a long-term strategy. Thats idiosyncratically what I would focus on. Dividend-paying stocks provide steady income in volatile conditions. Goldman also screens for stocks with big dividends and low labor costs in portfolios for its own clients. ETF investors can also target U.S. dividend growers through a number of options. For instance, the iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF ( DGRO ) specifically targets companies that pay a qualified dividend, must have at least five years of uninterrupted annual dividend growth and their earnings payout ratio must be less than 75%. DGRO shows a 2.19% 12-month yield. The Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF ( VIG ) , the largest dividend-related ETF on the market, tracks U.S. stocks that have increased dividends on a regular basis for at least 10 consecutive years and has a 1.89% 12-month yield. The Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF ( SCHD ) includes 100 stocks based on strong fundamentals, such as cash flow to debt, return on equity, dividend yield and consistent dividend payouts for at least 10 consecutive years, and it has a 2.83% 12-month yield. The Invesco Dividend Achievers ETF ( PFM ) also selects companies that have increased annual dividends for 10 or more consecutive fiscal years. The ETF comes with a 2.02% 12-month yield. The SPDR S&P Dividend ETF ( SDY ) holds firms that have a minimum dividend increase streak of 20 years for inclusion and shows a 2.39% 12-month yield. Moreover, SDY follows a yield-weighting methodology that allocates a larger weight toward those with higher yields, so the portfolio leans toward more mid-sized companies. Story continues The ProShares S&P 500 Aristocrats ETF ( NOBL ) only targets S&P 500 companies that have increased their dividends for at least 25 consecutive years and offers a 2.08% 12-month yield. The WisdomTree U.S. Quality Dividend Growth Fund ( DGRW ) includes companies with high long-term earnings-growth forecasts for the next three to five years and weights components based on the value of dividends they are expected to pay over the next year. DGRW has a 2.22% 12-month yield. For more information on dividend stocks, visit our dividend ETFs category . POPULAR ARTICLES AND RESOURCES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM SPY ETF Quote VOO ETF Quote QQQ ETF Quote VTI ETF Quote JNUG ETF Quote Top 34 Gold ETFs Top 34 Oil ETFs Top 57 Financials ETFs Markets Jittery On Chinas Reaction To Trumps Tweets Bitcoin Rallies to $6K Above 6-Month High Annual Morningstar Conference Unites Financial Industrys Top Minds Heartbeat Bill Creates Controversy TD Ameritrade Expands Commission-Free on Nearly 570 ETFs READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || 7 Top Dividend Growth ETFs for Stability in Uncertain Conditions: This article was originally published onETFTrends.com.
Investors who are concerned that the trade negotiations can breakdown into a full out trade war should look to dividend growers and related ETFs.
“We are thinking about some of the drivers of profit growth going forward, and we are looking at some of the communication services stocks,” Avid Kostin, Goldman Sachs chief U.S. equity strategist, toldCNBC. “We like a combination of low labor cost sensitivity as a way of inoculating against rising labor inflation... The second would be dividend growers as a long-term strategy. That’s idiosyncratically what I would focus on.”
Dividend-paying stocks provide steady income in volatile conditions. Goldman also screens for stocks with big dividends and low labor costs in portfolios for its own clients.
ETF investors can also target U.S. dividend growers through a number of options. For instance, the iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF (DGRO) specifically targets companies that pay a qualified dividend, must have at least five years of uninterrupted annual dividend growth and their earnings payout ratio must be less than 75%. DGRO shows a 2.19% 12-month yield.
The Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG) , the largest dividend-related ETF on the market, tracks U.S. stocks that have increased dividends on a regular basis for at least 10 consecutive years and has a 1.89% 12-month yield.
The Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) includes 100 stocks based on strong fundamentals, such as cash flow to debt, return on equity, dividend yield and consistent dividend payouts for at least 10 consecutive years, and it has a 2.83% 12-month yield.
The Invesco Dividend Achievers ETF (PFM) also selects companies that have increased annual dividends for 10 or more consecutive fiscal years. The ETF comes with a 2.02% 12-month yield.
The SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY) holds firms that have a minimum dividend increase streak of 20 years for inclusion and shows a 2.39% 12-month yield. Moreover, SDY follows a yield-weighting methodology that allocates a larger weight toward those with higher yields, so the portfolio leans toward more mid-sized companies.
The ProShares S&P 500 Aristocrats ETF (NOBL) only targets S&P 500 companies that have increased their dividends for at least 25 consecutive years and offers a 2.08% 12-month yield.
The WisdomTree U.S. Quality Dividend Growth Fund (DGRW) includes companies with high long-term earnings-growth forecasts for the next three to five years and weights components based on the value of dividends they are expected to pay over the next year. DGRW has a 2.22% 12-month yield.
For more information on dividend stocks, visit ourdividend ETFs category.
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READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || Services-Related ETFs Could Standout in a Prolonged Trade War: This article was originally published on ETFTrends.com. While the trade war dampens the economic outlook, some services-related ETFs could stand out or at least hold up much better than other sectors that rely on producing goods to turn a profit. Goldman Sachs analysts argued that services companies like Amazon ( AMZN ) will fare better than goods producers like Apple ( AAPL ) during a trade war, CNBC reports. “Services firms are less exposed to trade policy and have better corporate fundamentals than goods companies and should outperform even if the trade tensions are ultimately resolved, as our economists expect,” David Kostin, Goldman’s chief U.S. equity strategist, said in a note. Goldman singled out services stocks like Amazon, Google ( GOOGL ) and Microsoft ( MSFT ), which have less foreign input costs that are affected by tariffs and should outperform those that are exposed to trade barriers. Other names on the so-called services list include Netflix ( NFLX ), Comcast ( CMCSA ) and Wells Fargo ( WFC ) “The trading pattern during the past year of tariff announcements and delays suggests services-providing stocks will outperform goods-producing stocks as long as the trade dispute continues,” Kostin added. Moreover, the Goldman analysts argued that these services companies have more stable gross margins and stronger balance sheets, which could continue to support their growth trajectory regardless. Looking ahead, the firm projected that the goods basket could see a negative earnings growth of 2% and no sales growth for the year. “The faster growth rate supports the valuation premium of services, which trades at a 17.5x forward P/E multiple vs. 16.8x for goods,” Kostin said. Investors who are interested in these services-side companies can look to sector-related ETFs. For example, the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLC ) includes 11.5% Alphabet Class C, 11.2% Alphabet Class A, 4.9% Comcast and 4.6% Netflix. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF ( XLY ) holds a hefty 25.1% tilt toward Amazon. Story continues Additionally, the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLF ) includes a 6.1% weight in Wells Fargo. For more information on the market sectors, visit our sector ETFs category. POPULAR ARTICLES AND RESOURCES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM SPY ETF Quote VOO ETF Quote QQQ ETF Quote VTI ETF Quote JNUG ETF Quote Top 34 Gold ETFs Top 34 Oil ETFs Top 57 Financials ETFs Markets Jittery On China’s Reaction To Trump’s Tweets Bitcoin Rallies to $6K Above 6-Month High Annual Morningstar Conference Unites Financial Industry’s Top Minds ‘Heartbeat’ Bill Creates Controversy TD Ameritrade Expands Commission-Free on Nearly 570 ETFs READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || Services-Related ETFs Could Standout in a Prolonged Trade War: This article was originally published on ETFTrends.com. While the trade war dampens the economic outlook, some services-related ETFs could stand out or at least hold up much better than other sectors that rely on producing goods to turn a profit. Goldman Sachs analysts argued that services companies like Amazon ( AMZN ) will fare better than goods producers like Apple ( AAPL ) during a trade war, CNBC reports. “Services firms are less exposed to trade policy and have better corporate fundamentals than goods companies and should outperform even if the trade tensions are ultimately resolved, as our economists expect,” David Kostin, Goldman’s chief U.S. equity strategist, said in a note. Goldman singled out services stocks like Amazon, Google ( GOOGL ) and Microsoft ( MSFT ), which have less foreign input costs that are affected by tariffs and should outperform those that are exposed to trade barriers. Other names on the so-called services list include Netflix ( NFLX ), Comcast ( CMCSA ) and Wells Fargo ( WFC ) “The trading pattern during the past year of tariff announcements and delays suggests services-providing stocks will outperform goods-producing stocks as long as the trade dispute continues,” Kostin added. Moreover, the Goldman analysts argued that these services companies have more stable gross margins and stronger balance sheets, which could continue to support their growth trajectory regardless. Looking ahead, the firm projected that the goods basket could see a negative earnings growth of 2% and no sales growth for the year. “The faster growth rate supports the valuation premium of services, which trades at a 17.5x forward P/E multiple vs. 16.8x for goods,” Kostin said. Investors who are interested in these services-side companies can look to sector-related ETFs. For example, the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLC ) includes 11.5% Alphabet Class C, 11.2% Alphabet Class A, 4.9% Comcast and 4.6% Netflix. The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF ( XLY ) holds a hefty 25.1% tilt toward Amazon. Story continues Additionally, the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLF ) includes a 6.1% weight in Wells Fargo. For more information on the market sectors, visit our sector ETFs category. POPULAR ARTICLES AND RESOURCES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM SPY ETF Quote VOO ETF Quote QQQ ETF Quote VTI ETF Quote JNUG ETF Quote Top 34 Gold ETFs Top 34 Oil ETFs Top 57 Financials ETFs Markets Jittery On China’s Reaction To Trump’s Tweets Bitcoin Rallies to $6K Above 6-Month High Annual Morningstar Conference Unites Financial Industry’s Top Minds ‘Heartbeat’ Bill Creates Controversy TD Ameritrade Expands Commission-Free on Nearly 570 ETFs READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || What a Bitcoin ‘Reorg’ Is and What Binance Has to Do With It: What started with a single tweet quickly turned into an escalating debate Wednesday when the CEO of one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges appeared to entertain the idea of encouraging revisions to the bitcoin blockchain.
Following Wednesday’s revelation that crypto exchange Binancewas robbed of 7,000 BTC(worth about $40 million), a proposal was floated to conduct a transaction “reorg” on the bitcoin blockchain, sparking a fiery debate and community uproar.
The ideawas suggested a few hours after the world’s largest crypto exchange by volume was hacked when developer Jeremy Rubin, who has worked on bitcoin and Stellar’s core code,tweetedto the founder and CEO of Binance:
Hackers Are Shuffling Binance’s Stolen Bitcoin
Rubin essentially suggested that by getting a majority of miners onboard, the transaction history could be adjusted so that the funds are instead broken up and sent to them instead. This “reorganization” would come at some cost, but it would prevent the 7,000 BTC from staying in the hands of the hackers. Further, it wouldn’t have constituted a pure rollback, or a reversal of the transaction history writ-large.
The idea was subsequently raised during an ask-me-anything session held by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, sparking a round of speculation that ended with Zhao ultimately dismissing the idea.
As the tweet caught attention, the conversation quickly boiled over given the topic of discussion – there have been very few changes to the bitcoin blockchain’s transaction history in its 10 years of operation, as doing so has been reserved fordire emergenciesin which there may be critical consensus failures.
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“To clarify, the proposal by [Rubin] and [James Prestwich] is to construct a [transaction] that would keep all other transactions and just distribute the hacker coins to miners,”tweetedZhou. “It’s not: a rollback of any transaction, nor is it reverting funds back to Binance.”
The proposal caused an uproar on social media. As developer Udi Wertheimertweetedin response:
“The idea that this rollback of days would even be practical at all for anyone involved is insane. A day of mining costs 1800 BTC. Rolling back four days costs more than the hack itself.”
Others seemed to agree that the sheer financial incentives for such a feat would simply be infeasible.
“The losses are still at a minimum [7,250] BTC,”wrotedeveloper Jimmy Song about rough costs for Binance to sufficiently incentivize miners to rewrite part of the transaction history of the bitcoin network.
At the same time, infeasibility and impossibility are two separate matters. When explaining why Binance would ultimately not be pursuing a chain reorganization or “reorg” as suggested by Rubin, Zhou listed four separate reasons none of which had anything to do with the monetary cost.
“1. We may damage credibility of BTC. 2. We may cause a split in both the bitcoin network and community…3. The hackers did demonstrate certain weak points in our design and user confusion that was not obvious before. 4. While it was a very expensive lesson for us, it is nevertheless a lesson,” listed Zhou onTwitter.
Zhou’s reasoning highlighted a key concern many have voiced in the past when it comes to blockchain immutability not just on bitcoin but all proof-of-work (PoW) blockchains.
“If you bribe 51 percent of the miners, they will change the ledger for you. [This] tells you just how little irreversibility there is in PoW coins,”tweetedCornell University professor and researcher in blockchain consensus protocols Emin Gün Sirer.
A 51% attack on the blockchain network is not a new attack vector for PoW blockchains. However, as highlighted by Gün Sirer, it’s also not really an attack vector. On very special instances, the majority of self-interested miners on PoW blockchains have voluntarily agreed to alter a transaction history to undo critical situations.
While the situation isn’t entirely the same, in the past, blockchain networks have seen their histories altered in the wake of critical moments. This happened on the ethereum blockchain back in 2016 when over$60 millionworth of coins were siphoned off from the now-defunct smart contract The DAO. It also happened on the vericoin blockchain back in 2014 after$8 millionworth of coins were hacked.
While controversial, both decisions were supported by the primary developer community who launched system-wide upgrades or hard forks to enable otherwise infeasible amendments to the blockchain transaction history.
Yet those choices weren’t without their repercussions; the resulting ethereum fork resulted in two distinct chains, ethereum and ethereum classic, respectively.
Still, many in the bitcoin community took to social media to deride the idea as both infeasible as well against the philosophical underpinnings of the technology.
In Binance’s particular case, prominent members of the bitcoin community point out that bitcoin being the world’s largest blockchain is a particularly unique case with a reputation to uphold.
“Talk of forking or reorganizing the blockchain is close to heresy,”tweetedbillionaire bitcoin investor Michael Novogratz. “When the ethereum community did it the project was like 5 months old. A baby. Bitcoin now has $100bn market cap and is a legitimate store of wealth.”
It would also be unfair according to Adam Back – CEO of bitcoin development startup Blockstream – given that the latest Binance hack is nowhere near as severe as previous hacks suffered on the bitcoin blockchain.
“A Bitcoin reorg is just not happening, and I doubt any Bitcoin industry, miners nor developers considered it either. Recall 2014 $473mil, 2016 bitfinex hack $72mil, 2019 binance $40mil etc. #NotHappening,”tweetedBack.
Binance imagevia Shutterstock
• Hackers Steal $40.7 Million in Bitcoin From Crypto Exchange Binance
• Bitmain Discloses 88% Reduction In Own Bitcoin Mining Power || What a Bitcoin Reorg Is and What Binance Has to Do With It: What started with a single tweet quickly turned into an escalating debate Wednesday when the CEO of one of the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchanges appeared to entertain the idea of encouraging revisions to the bitcoin blockchain. Following Wednesdays revelation that crypto exchange Binance was robbed of 7,000 BTC (worth about $40 million), a proposal was floated to conduct a transaction reorg on the bitcoin blockchain, sparking a fiery debate and community uproar. The idea was suggested a few hours after the worlds largest crypto exchange by volume was hacked when developer Jeremy Rubin, who has worked on bitcoin and Stellars core code, tweeted to the founder and CEO of Binance: Hackers Are Shuffling Binances Stolen Bitcoin [Changpeng Zhao] if you reveal your private keys for the hacked coins
you can decentralized-ly at zero cost to you coordinate a reorg to undo the theft. Rubin essentially suggested that by getting a majority of miners onboard, the transaction history could be adjusted so that the funds are instead broken up and sent to them instead. This reorganization would come at some cost, but it would prevent the 7,000 BTC from staying in the hands of the hackers. Further, it wouldnt have constituted a pure rollback, or a reversal of the transaction history writ-large. The idea was subsequently raised during an ask-me-anything session held by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, sparking a round of speculation that ended with Zhao ultimately dismissing the idea. As the tweet caught attention, the conversation quickly boiled over given the topic of discussion there have been very few changes to the bitcoin blockchains transaction history in its 10 years of operation, as doing so has been reserved for dire emergencies in which there may be critical consensus failures. Bitstamp Hires Ex-Coinbase Trading Head to Court Wall Street Money To clarify, the proposal by [Rubin] and [James Prestwich] is to construct a [transaction] that would keep all other transactions and just distribute the hacker coins to miners, tweeted Zhou. Its not: a rollback of any transaction, nor is it reverting funds back to Binance. Story continues The proposal caused an uproar on social media. As developer Udi Wertheimer tweeted in response: The idea that this rollback of days would even be practical at all for anyone involved is insane. A day of mining costs 1800 BTC. Rolling back four days costs more than the hack itself. Others seemed to agree that the sheer financial incentives for such a feat would simply be infeasible. The losses are still at a minimum [7,250] BTC, wrote developer Jimmy Song about rough costs for Binance to sufficiently incentivize miners to rewrite part of the transaction history of the bitcoin network. At the same time, infeasibility and impossibility are two separate matters. When explaining why Binance would ultimately not be pursuing a chain reorganization or reorg as suggested by Rubin, Zhou listed four separate reasons none of which had anything to do with the monetary cost. 1. We may damage credibility of BTC. 2. We may cause a split in both the bitcoin network and community
3. The hackers did demonstrate certain weak points in our design and user confusion that was not obvious before. 4. While it was a very expensive lesson for us, it is nevertheless a lesson, listed Zhou on Twitter . Zhous reasoning highlighted a key concern many have voiced in the past when it comes to blockchain immutability not just on bitcoin but all proof-of-work (PoW) blockchains. A thought experiment? If you bribe 51 percent of the miners, they will change the ledger for you. [This] tells you just how little irreversibility there is in PoW coins, tweeted Cornell University professor and researcher in blockchain consensus protocols Emin Gün Sirer. A 51% attack on the blockchain network is not a new attack vector for PoW blockchains. However, as highlighted by Gün Sirer, its also not really an attack vector. On very special instances, the majority of self-interested miners on PoW blockchains have voluntarily agreed to alter a transaction history to undo critical situations. While the situation isnt entirely the same, in the past, blockchain networks have seen their histories altered in the wake of critical moments. This happened on the ethereum blockchain back in 2016 when over $60 million worth of coins were siphoned off from the now-defunct smart contract The DAO. It also happened on the vericoin blockchain back in 2014 after $8 million worth of coins were hacked. While controversial, both decisions were supported by the primary developer community who launched system-wide upgrades or hard forks to enable otherwise infeasible amendments to the blockchain transaction history. Yet those choices werent without their repercussions; the resulting ethereum fork resulted in two distinct chains, ethereum and ethereum classic, respectively. A resounding no Still, many in the bitcoin community took to social media to deride the idea as both infeasible as well against the philosophical underpinnings of the technology. In Binances particular case, prominent members of the bitcoin community point out that bitcoin being the worlds largest blockchain is a particularly unique case with a reputation to uphold. Talk of forking or reorganizing the blockchain is close to heresy, tweeted billionaire bitcoin investor Michael Novogratz. When the ethereum community did it the project was like 5 months old. A baby. Bitcoin now has $100bn market cap and is a legitimate store of wealth. It would also be unfair according to Adam Back CEO of bitcoin development startup Blockstream given that the latest Binance hack is nowhere near as severe as previous hacks suffered on the bitcoin blockchain. A Bitcoin reorg is just not happening, and I doubt any Bitcoin industry, miners nor developers considered it either. Recall 2014 $473mil, 2016 bitfinex hack $72mil, 2019 binance $40mil etc. #NotHappening, tweeted Back. Binance image via Shutterstock Related Stories Hackers Steal $40.7 Million in Bitcoin From Crypto Exchange Binance Bitmain Discloses 88% Reduction In Own Bitcoin Mining Power || What a Bitcoin ‘Reorg’ Is and What Binance Has to Do With It: What started with a single tweet quickly turned into an escalating debate Wednesday when the CEO of one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges appeared to entertain the idea of encouraging revisions to the bitcoin blockchain.
Following Wednesday’s revelation that crypto exchange Binancewas robbed of 7,000 BTC(worth about $40 million), a proposal was floated to conduct a transaction “reorg” on the bitcoin blockchain, sparking a fiery debate and community uproar.
The ideawas suggested a few hours after the world’s largest crypto exchange by volume was hacked when developer Jeremy Rubin, who has worked on bitcoin and Stellar’s core code,tweetedto the founder and CEO of Binance:
Hackers Are Shuffling Binance’s Stolen Bitcoin
Rubin essentially suggested that by getting a majority of miners onboard, the transaction history could be adjusted so that the funds are instead broken up and sent to them instead. This “reorganization” would come at some cost, but it would prevent the 7,000 BTC from staying in the hands of the hackers. Further, it wouldn’t have constituted a pure rollback, or a reversal of the transaction history writ-large.
The idea was subsequently raised during an ask-me-anything session held by Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, sparking a round of speculation that ended with Zhao ultimately dismissing the idea.
As the tweet caught attention, the conversation quickly boiled over given the topic of discussion – there have been very few changes to the bitcoin blockchain’s transaction history in its 10 years of operation, as doing so has been reserved fordire emergenciesin which there may be critical consensus failures.
Bitstamp Hires Ex-Coinbase Trading Head to Court Wall Street Money
“To clarify, the proposal by [Rubin] and [James Prestwich] is to construct a [transaction] that would keep all other transactions and just distribute the hacker coins to miners,”tweetedZhou. “It’s not: a rollback of any transaction, nor is it reverting funds back to Binance.”
The proposal caused an uproar on social media. As developer Udi Wertheimertweetedin response:
“The idea that this rollback of days would even be practical at all for anyone involved is insane. A day of mining costs 1800 BTC. Rolling back four days costs more than the hack itself.”
Others seemed to agree that the sheer financial incentives for such a feat would simply be infeasible.
“The losses are still at a minimum [7,250] BTC,”wrotedeveloper Jimmy Song about rough costs for Binance to sufficiently incentivize miners to rewrite part of the transaction history of the bitcoin network.
At the same time, infeasibility and impossibility are two separate matters. When explaining why Binance would ultimately not be pursuing a chain reorganization or “reorg” as suggested by Rubin, Zhou listed four separate reasons none of which had anything to do with the monetary cost.
“1. We may damage credibility of BTC. 2. We may cause a split in both the bitcoin network and community…3. The hackers did demonstrate certain weak points in our design and user confusion that was not obvious before. 4. While it was a very expensive lesson for us, it is nevertheless a lesson,” listed Zhou onTwitter.
Zhou’s reasoning highlighted a key concern many have voiced in the past when it comes to blockchain immutability not just on bitcoin but all proof-of-work (PoW) blockchains.
“If you bribe 51 percent of the miners, they will change the ledger for you. [This] tells you just how little irreversibility there is in PoW coins,”tweetedCornell University professor and researcher in blockchain consensus protocols Emin Gün Sirer.
A 51% attack on the blockchain network is not a new attack vector for PoW blockchains. However, as highlighted by Gün Sirer, it’s also not really an attack vector. On very special instances, the majority of self-interested miners on PoW blockchains have voluntarily agreed to alter a transaction history to undo critical situations.
While the situation isn’t entirely the same, in the past, blockchain networks have seen their histories altered in the wake of critical moments. This happened on the ethereum blockchain back in 2016 when over$60 millionworth of coins were siphoned off from the now-defunct smart contract The DAO. It also happened on the vericoin blockchain back in 2014 after$8 millionworth of coins were hacked.
While controversial, both decisions were supported by the primary developer community who launched system-wide upgrades or hard forks to enable otherwise infeasible amendments to the blockchain transaction history.
Yet those choices weren’t without their repercussions; the resulting ethereum fork resulted in two distinct chains, ethereum and ethereum classic, respectively.
Still, many in the bitcoin community took to social media to deride the idea as both infeasible as well against the philosophical underpinnings of the technology.
In Binance’s particular case, prominent members of the bitcoin community point out that bitcoin being the world’s largest blockchain is a particularly unique case with a reputation to uphold.
“Talk of forking or reorganizing the blockchain is close to heresy,”tweetedbillionaire bitcoin investor Michael Novogratz. “When the ethereum community did it the project was like 5 months old. A baby. Bitcoin now has $100bn market cap and is a legitimate store of wealth.”
It would also be unfair according to Adam Back – CEO of bitcoin development startup Blockstream – given that the latest Binance hack is nowhere near as severe as previous hacks suffered on the bitcoin blockchain.
“A Bitcoin reorg is just not happening, and I doubt any Bitcoin industry, miners nor developers considered it either. Recall 2014 $473mil, 2016 bitfinex hack $72mil, 2019 binance $40mil etc. #NotHappening,”tweetedBack.
Binance imagevia Shutterstock
• Hackers Steal $40.7 Million in Bitcoin From Crypto Exchange Binance
• Bitmain Discloses 88% Reduction In Own Bitcoin Mining Power
[Social Media Buzz]
May 09, 2019 09:02:00 UTC | 6,119.40$ | 5,470.40€ | 4,705.50£ | #Bitcoin #btc pic.twitter.com/rbTy9H6aQ6 || @RYO_Community @RyocurrencyO @fireice_uk @hyc_symas I wonder if @fluffypony would like to take the opportunity to offer any clarifying words on the need or lack there of for @tari in making @monero atomic swaps with @Bitcoin reality. || $BTC
The Full Bull has not begun... But, when it does you will all hear very good advice that will also be FACTUAL and yet you will have to be very care...
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6378.85, 7204.77, 6972.37, 7814.92, 7994.42, 8205.17, 7884.91, 7343.90, 7271.21, 8197.69
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 9174.91, 8277.01, 6955.27, 7754.00, 7621.30, 8265.59, 8736.98, 8621.90, 8129.97, 8926.57, 8598.31, 9494.63, 10166.40, 10233.90, 11112.70, 10551.80, 11225.30, 11403.70, 10690.40, 10005.00, 10301.10, 9813.07, 9664.73, 10366.70, 10725.60, 10397.90, 10951.00, 11086.40, 11489.70, 11512.60, 11573.30, 10779.90, 9965.57, 9395.01, 9337.55, 8866.00, 9578.63, 9205.12, 9194.85, 8269.81, 8300.86, 8338.35, 7916.88, 8223.68, 8630.65, 8913.47, 8929.28, 8728.47, 8879.62, 8668.12, 8495.78, 8209.40, 7833.04, 7954.48, 7165.70, 6890.52, 6973.53, 6844.23, 7083.80, 7456.11, 6853.84, 6811.47, 6636.32, 6911.09, 7023.52, 6770.73, 6834.76, 6968.32, 7889.25, 7895.96, 7986.24, 8329.11, 8058.67, 7902.09, 8163.42, 8294.31, 8845.83, 8895.58, 8802.46, 8930.88, 9697.50, 8845.74, 9281.51, 8987.05, 9348.48, 9419.08, 9240.55, 9119.01, 9235.92, 9743.86.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2018-05-03]
Volume: 10207299584, RSI (14-day): 63.35, 50-day EMA: 8698.25, 200-day EMA: 8823.80
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1310.70, Gold RSI: 42.02
Oil Price: 68.43, Oil RSI: 60.21
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
3 Reasons to Buy GrubHub After Its Recent Dip: Shares of GrubHub (NYSE: GRUB) tumbled 8% on May 1 after the food delivery company posted its first quarter earnings. The decline was surprising, since GrubHub crushed expectations across the board. GrubHub's revenue rose 49% annually to $232.6 million, beating estimates by $3.3 million. Its non-GAAP EBITDA rose 51% to $64.1 million, topping expectations by $6.2 million, as its non-GAAP net income surged 88% to $47.2 million, or $0.52 per share -- also beating estimates by $0.13. GrubHub's app. Image source:GrubHub. GrubHub's guidance for 46%-51% sales growth and 38%-52% EBITDA growth for the current quarter also matched expectations, as did its forecast for 36%-41% sales growth and 32%-42% EBITDA growth for the full year. Based on those figures, the stock isn't that expensive at 56 times this year's earnings. The bears might be circling GrubHub after its recent pullback, but I think investors should buy -- not sell -- this high-growth stock, for three simple reasons. 1. It's the clear market leader The bears often argue that Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) , UberEats, and other rivals will eventually take down GrubHub. Yet GrubHub controlled 52% of the food delivery market (excluding pizza) last year with its network of 80,000 restaurants, according to Bloomberg, while UberEats ranked a distant second with 15%. Amazon wasn't listed in Bloomberg's numbers, but Cowen & Co. estimated that the e-commerce giant controlled just 11% of the market last year. That's likely because Amazon charges restaurants higher fees than GrubHub and its subsidiary Seamless. The New York Post claims that Amazon charges restaurants 27.5% of each order per delivery, compared to GrubHub's 12% fee and Seamless' 24% fee. GrubHub's growth was fueled by its acquisitions of smaller players like Yelp 's (NYSE: YELP) Eat24. That takeover notably came with a five-year deal that lets Yelp users order food from listed restaurants via GrubHub. Story continues GrubHub's active diners rose 72% annually to 15.1 million last quarter. Its "Daily Average Grubs" (food orders) climbed 35% to 436,900, while its gross food sales grew 39% to $1.2 billion. Those figures indicate that GrubHub is likely widening its lead against rivals like UberEats and Amazon. 2. Its partnership with Yum Brands GrubHub also recently partnered with Yum Brands (NYSE: YUM) -- the parent company of KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut -- to offer pickups and deliveries from its KFC and Taco Bell stores across the US. Yum also agreed to buy $200 million of GrubHub's stock, and provide GrubHub with additional liquidity for the expansion of its US delivery network. A piece of fried chicken. Image source: Getty Images. That's a win-win deal for both companies. GrubHub expands its reach in the fast food market, while Yum helps KFC and Taco Bell catch up to Pizza Hut in deliveries. The deal also strengthens both companies' defenses against McDonald's and UberEats, which forged a similar partnership last year. During the conference call, CEO Matthew Maloney stated that "KFC and Taco Bell will start to add meaningful volume to our platform toward the end of 2018." 3. Ambitious expansion plans Lastly, Maloney stated that GrubHub expanded into "almost 50" new markets in the first four months of 2018, and expects the company to add GrubHub Delivery to "more than 100 new markets this year," compared to the 80 markets it served at the end of 2017. Maloney also noted that he sees "tremendous potential for online ordering in the U.S. as consumer habits shift and awareness of our product grows," and that the company remains "committed to making investments today to support long-term profitable growth." The bottom line GrubHub repeatedly proved the bears wrong over the past four years, and the stock more than tripled from its IPO price. But looking ahead, the global online food delivery services market could still grow at a compound annual growth rate of 32% between 2017 and 2021, according to Technavio. If GrubHub stays at the top of this market and holds its rivals at bay, its stock could still have a lot more room to run. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Leo Sun owns shares of Amazon. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon. The Motley Fool recommends Grubhub and Yelp. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || 3 Reasons to Buy GrubHub After Its Recent Dip: Shares ofGrubHub(NYSE: GRUB)tumbled 8% on May 1 after the food delivery company posted its first quarter earnings. The decline was surprising, since GrubHub crushed expectations across the board.
GrubHub's revenue rose 49% annually to $232.6 million, beating estimates by $3.3 million. Its non-GAAP EBITDA rose 51% to $64.1 million, topping expectations by $6.2 million, as its non-GAAP net income surged 88% to $47.2 million, or $0.52 per share -- also beating estimates by $0.13.
Image source:GrubHub.
GrubHub's guidance for 46%-51% sales growth and 38%-52% EBITDA growth for the current quarter also matched expectations, as did its forecast for 36%-41% sales growth and 32%-42% EBITDA growth for the full year. Based on those figures, the stock isn't that expensive at 56 times this year's earnings.
The bears might be circling GrubHub after its recent pullback, but I think investors should buy -- not sell -- this high-growth stock, for three simple reasons.
The bearsoften arguethatAmazon(NASDAQ: AMZN), UberEats, and other rivals will eventually take down GrubHub. Yet GrubHub controlled 52% of the food delivery market (excluding pizza) last year with its network of 80,000 restaurants, according to Bloomberg, while UberEats ranked a distant second with 15%.
Amazon wasn't listed in Bloomberg's numbers, but Cowen & Co. estimated that the e-commerce giant controlled just 11% of the market last year. That's likely because Amazon charges restaurants higher fees than GrubHub and its subsidiary Seamless. TheNew York Postclaims that Amazon charges restaurants 27.5% of each order per delivery, compared to GrubHub's 12% fee and Seamless' 24% fee.
GrubHub's growth was fueled by its acquisitions of smaller players likeYelp's(NYSE: YELP)Eat24. That takeover notably came with a five-year deal that lets Yelp users order food from listed restaurants via GrubHub.
GrubHub's active diners rose 72% annually to 15.1 million last quarter. Its "Daily Average Grubs" (food orders) climbed 35% to 436,900, while its gross food sales grew 39% to $1.2 billion. Those figures indicate that GrubHub is likely widening its lead against rivals like UberEats and Amazon.
GrubHub also recently partnered withYum Brands(NYSE: YUM)-- the parent company of KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut -- to offer pickups and deliveries from its KFC and Taco Bell stores across the US. Yum also agreed to buy $200 million of GrubHub's stock, and provide GrubHub with additional liquidity for the expansion of its US delivery network.
Image source: Getty Images.
That's a win-win deal for both companies. GrubHub expands its reach in the fast food market, while Yum helps KFC and Taco Bell catch up to Pizza Hut in deliveries. The deal also strengthens both companies' defenses againstMcDonald'sand UberEats, which forged asimilar partnershiplast year.
During the conference call, CEO Matthew Maloney stated that "KFC and Taco Bell will start to add meaningful volume to our platform toward the end of 2018."
Lastly, Maloney stated that GrubHub expanded into "almost 50" new markets in the first four months of 2018, and expects the company to add GrubHub Delivery to "more than 100 new markets this year," compared to the 80 markets it served at the end of 2017.
Maloney also noted that he sees "tremendous potential for online ordering in the U.S. as consumer habits shift and awareness of our product grows," and that the company remains "committed to making investments today to support long-term profitable growth."
GrubHub repeatedly proved the bears wrong over the past four years, and the stock more than tripled from its IPO price. But looking ahead, the global online food delivery services market could still grow at a compound annual growth rate of 32% between 2017 and 2021, according to Technavio.
If GrubHub stays at the top of this market and holds its rivals at bay, its stock could still have a lot more room to run.
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John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors.Leo Sunowns shares of Amazon. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon. The Motley Fool recommends Grubhub and Yelp. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || 3 Reasons to Buy Las Vegas Sands After its Q1 Earnings: Las Vegas Sands(NYSE: LVS)recently posted solid first quarter numbers that easily beat analyst expectations on the top and bottom lines. Its revenue rose 17% annually to $3.58 billion, topping estimates by $100 million and marking its highest growth in three quarters. Its adjusted earnings surged 58% to $1.04, beating expectations by $0.19, as its hold-adjusted property EBITDA climbed 20% to $1.37 billion.
Yet Sands' stock didn't rally after that report, presumably due to investor jitters about American companies too heavily invested in China. Sands' biggest money-maker is Macau, which generated over half of its hold-normalized adjusted property EBITDA during the quarter.
Image source: Las Vegas Sands.
However, I think Sands is fairly well-insulated from escalating trade tensions between the US and China, which are focused more on commodities and tech companies. So today, let's dig deeper into Sands' first quarter and highlight three reasons you should buy this stock.
Sands' biggest market is still a growing powerhouse. Its hold-adjusted property EBITDA in Macau rose 29% annually to $767 million last quarter, accounting for 56% of the company's total. Its total revenues in Macau rose 17% to $2.16 billion, or 60% of its top line.
Sands dominates the newer Cotai Strip area with four of its five Macau properties. Its total market share (in historical adjusted property EBITDA) in Macau rose from 28% in 2012 to 33% last year. During that period,Wynn's(NASDAQ: WYNN)share grew just one percentage point to 17%, whileMGM's(NYSE: MGM)share dropped from 10% to 7%.
Macau's total gaming revenues rose year-over-year for 20 consecutive months through March. Analysts expect that streak to continue with about 20% growth in April. More mainland tourists, supported by rising income levels, are visiting Macau and spending more money at Sands' resorts. The SAR (Special Administrative Region) experienced a 10% increase in visitors from mainland China over the past 12 months.
Image source: Getty Images.
The Hong Kong/Zhuhai/Macao bridge, which links the mainland and two SARs of the Pearl River Delta, will also open later this year and enable buses to bring in visitors at a faster rate than ferries. Sands intends to add about 3,400 hotel rooms to its Macau resorts by 2020 to support that growth.
Sands estimates that the number of outbound tourists from mainland China will increase from 135 million to 260 million between 2016 and 2025, with their expenditures surging from $261 million to $672 billion. Macau currently ranks second in outbound tourism behind its neighboring SAR Hong Kong.
The Chinese government also recently approved the commercial development of nearby Hengqin Island, which is linked to the Cotai Strip via a bridge. Sands believes that the island's development will contribute to Macau's "diversification and to its further development as a business and leisure tourism destination."
Many Sands investors focus heavily on Macau, but the region is merely the foundation of its growing Asian business. Revenue at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore rose 27% annually to $872 million -- or 24% of Sands' top line -- last quarter. Its hold-adjusted property EBITDA rose 11% to $430 million, or 32% of Sands' total.
Looking ahead, Sands plans to spend up to$10 billionon a new resort in Japan, which recently legalized casinos. Sands is in a much stronger position to expand in Japan than its rival Wynn, which is hobbled by a weaker MICE position, a bruisinglegal battlewith former vice chairman Kazuo Okuda over bribery allegations in the Philippines, and therecent downfallof founder Steve Wynn.
Image source: Getty Images.
CEO Sheldon Adelson is also mulling the development of a new resort in South Korea that would allow the development of casinos for tourists -- but, notably, would ban South Korean citizens. Over the next decade, these projects could support Sands' continued growth across Asia.
Analysts expect Sands' revenue and earnings to rise 5% and 12%, respectively, this year. The stock isn't cheap, but it's reasonably valued at 21 times this year's earnings and 20 times next year's earnings.
Sands' forward yield of 4%, which is much higher than Wynn's 1% yield and MGM's 1.4% yield, should also protect the stock during market downturns. Sands has raised its dividend annually every year after it started paying one in 2012.
Las Vegas Sands is a "best in breed" player that dominates the world's hottest casino market. It has plenty of irons in the fire, pays a hefty dividend, and trades at reasonable valuations. Therefore, I'd be looking to buy more shares of Sands, not sell them, if the stock gets dragged down by market turbulence.
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Leo Sunowns shares of Las Vegas Sands. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Inside The NTN Buzztime Proxy Fight: NTN Buzztime Inc (NYSE: NTN ) shareholder Sean Gordon, who owns roughly 9 percent of the company, is making a push to join the company’s board of directors. Up to this point, NTN Buzztime has not been receptive to the idea of nominating Gordon, and the company said a proxy fight could be detrimental. NTN Buzztime produces electronic trivia game networks for bars and restaurants, and 40 percent of its $21.3 million in annual revenue comes from Buffalo Wild Wings. In 2016, CEO Ram Krishnan predicted that NTN would grow its subscriber count to 10,000 different locations within five years , according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. Today, NTN has just 2,730 restaurant locations, and the company lost 114 subscriber locations in 2017, Gordon said. In the past three years, NTN stock is down 75 percent, and Gordon has argued that NTN has struggled to grow its business, has been slow to execute its strategy and is overly reliant on a single customer. Jumping Through Hoops NTN has said Gordon failed to meet the stockholder nomination requirements for a board seat, but Gordon said meeting those requirements are next to impossible. “In their corporate bylaws, they have numerous hurdles set up where you have to jump through the perfect hoop that is on fire with three tigers on the other side and come out safely,” Gordon said earlier this year, adding that he has attempted to meet the requirements to the best of his ability. NTN was notified in March that its has dropped below the $5.5-million NYSE minimum shareholder equity threshold required to maintain its listing, a warning that could set the company up for a dilutive capital raise in the near future. Demanding Access On Tuesday , Gordon updated NTN shareholders on his activist cause, disclosing that he has sent a letter to the company demanding access to a list of the company’s major shareholders. “Reviewing last year's shareholder vote, it is clear the market is sending a strong message to the board, as existing members only received roughly 50-percent support, and that was when they went unchallenged,” Gordon said in a press release. Story continues Gordon has said that NTN needs outside help to unlock what he sees as $25 to $50 per share in shareholder value. Related Links: Analyst: Activist Investor Starboard's Involvement Makes Mellanox 'Shareholder-Friendly' Dear Activists: Buying Stock Can Effect More Change Than Selling It Photo by Brian Rawson-Ketchum/Wikimedia. See more from Benzinga Today In Cryptocurrency: London Calling Bitcoin Cash, Investment Bank Predicts 90% Crash Low Float Du Jour: Integrated Media Technology Spikes 1,400% Wall Street Weighs In On Apple's Huge Quarter © 2018 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Inside The NTN Buzztime Proxy Fight: NTN Buzztime Inc(NYSE:NTN) shareholder Sean Gordon, who owns roughly 9 percent of the company, is making a push to join the company’s board of directors. Up to this point, NTN Buzztime has not been receptive to the idea of nominating Gordon, and the company said a proxy fight could be detrimental.
NTN Buzztime produces electronic trivia game networks for bars and restaurants, and 40 percent of its $21.3 million in annual revenue comes from Buffalo Wild Wings. In 2016, CEO Ram Krishnan predicted that NTN would grow its subscriber count to 10,000 different locations withinfive years, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Today, NTN has just 2,730 restaurant locations, and the company lost 114 subscriber locations in 2017, Gordon said.
In the past three years, NTN stock is down 75 percent, and Gordon has argued that NTN has struggled to grow its business, has been slow to execute its strategy and is overly reliant on a single customer.
Jumping Through Hoops
NTN has said Gordon failed to meet the stockholder nomination requirements for a board seat, but Gordon said meeting those requirements are next to impossible.
“In their corporate bylaws, they have numerous hurdles set up where you have to jump through the perfect hoop that is on fire with three tigers on the other side and come out safely,” Gordon said earlier this year, adding that he has attempted to meet the requirements to the best of his ability.
NTN was notified in March that its has dropped below the $5.5-million NYSE minimum shareholder equity threshold required to maintain its listing, a warning that could set the company up for a dilutive capital raise in the near future.
Demanding Access
On Tuesday, Gordon updated NTN shareholders on his activist cause, disclosing that he has sent a letter to the company demanding access to a list of the company’s major shareholders.
“Reviewing last year's shareholder vote, it is clear the market is sending a strong message to the board, as existing members only received roughly 50-percent support, and that was when they went unchallenged,” Gordon said in a press release.
Gordon has said that NTN needs outside help to unlock what he sees as $25 to $50 per share in shareholder value.
Related Links:
Analyst: Activist Investor Starboard's Involvement Makes Mellanox 'Shareholder-Friendly'
Dear Activists: Buying Stock Can Effect More Change Than Selling It
Photo by Brian Rawson-Ketchum/Wikimedia.
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© 2018 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Why Apple's "Evil" Inventory Just Spiked to the Highest Level Ever: Apple(NASDAQ: AAPL)CEO Tim Cook has always considered inventory to be "fundamentally evil." When companies overbuild inventory, it just sits around losing value -- typically 1% to 2% per week, in Cook's estimation. If it sits around too long, it will need to be written down, with the company eating a charge in the process. On the other hand, having too little inventory can leave money on the table if the company isn't sufficiently meeting demand. Keeping lean inventory is the key to enjoying strong inventory turnover, a metric that many investors keep a close eye on. It's very much a balancing act.
One thing that jumped out to me during last night'sfiscal second-quarter earnings releasewas a huge sequential spike in the company's inventory. Apple's inventory has just skyrocketed to the highest level it's ever been --by far.
Data source: SEC filings. Chart by author. Fiscal quarters shown.
For a company that prides itself on lean inventory management thanks in part to Cook's reputation as an operations mastermind, the jump initially looked like a yellow flag. Did Apple build way too much of some product that was collecting dust on Apple Store shelves? Surely it didn't buildthatmany HomePods, whicharen't selling well. It also seemed unlikely that Apple ordered too many of the new iPads in preparation for launch within the last days of the quarter after hosting an education-oriented event in Chicago.
Image source: Apple.
Before you get too concerned, remember that there are different broad categories of inventory: raw materials, work in process, and finished goods. Specifically, Cook is usually worried about the latter. Analyst Shannon Cross was able to get to the bottom of it, with CFO Luca Maestri confirming that Apple is essentially stocking up on components.
Cross:And then, Luca, can you talk about working capital, specifically inventory, which went up pretty significantly quarter over quarter? What's driving that? And how are you thinking about -- I mean, it's one of the uses of cash obviously. So how are you thinking about inventory and maybe working capital in general as you're going forward?
That inventory is not the type that is sitting around unsold.
As far as which type of component we're talking about, it's almost certainly related to memory. Apple is the largest buyer of memory in the world, making it particularly sensitive to changes in memory pricing, which have been steadily marching higher for the past two years. Just last quarter, Maestri said that memory pricing adversely impacted gross margin by 70 basis points. That translates into a hit of nearly $430 million.
In other words, Apple is anticipating memory pricing to continue rising, in which case it's better to stock up now ahead of those price increases. The good news is that there's light at the end of the tunnel: Pricing is expected to hopefully peak later this year. Maestri concluded, "And so that should provide some level of stability."
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Evan Niu, CFAowns shares of Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || MoviePass Is Sort of Unlimited Again: MoviePass is back to offering unlimited movies to new subscribers, but there are a couple of extra asterisks aimed at curbing consumption and fraud. With parent companyHelios and Matheson Analytics(NASDAQ: HMNY)hitting a new 52-week low on Wednesday just ahead of the move, the update continues to make the model unsustainable, but at least MoviePass will go down swinging.
Outrage sparked among the MoviePass community when it startedcapping usagefor new members on April 13, bundling the multiplex service with an extended iHeartRadio free trial, but limiting the plan's usage to just four movies a month. MoviePass executives suggested that the unlimited pass may not come back, but it did on Wednesday. Helios and Matheson likely realizes it will never grow beyond their existing 2 million subscribers if it offers a plan that's financially feasible. Scale now and pay the price later seems to be the mantra again for MoviePass.
Image source: MoviePass.
Today's MoviePass offering isn't the same as it was three weeks ago. All members of the service that allows up to one daily traditional screening at a movie theater can no longer see the same movie again. The restrictions kicked in this past weekend, just asAvengers: Infinity Warhit the silver screen. Each account is also locked to a single smartphone, a move designed to curb fraud. There are also more members now tasked with sending MoviePass a snapshot of the ticket stub of the movie they're seeing before reserving another check-in time, again, to limit the platform's abuse. Folks were sharing their MoviePass passwords and debit cards, using the debit cards for other in-theater purchases, scalping tickets, or just buying tickets to collect multiplex rewards without actually seeing the movies.
The changes will curb overall usage, something that may make the service less compelling to those who were milking MoviePass dry, but you can almost hear the, "Bye, Felicia," bleeding through walls of its accounting department. Selling unlimited daily screenings of movies for $9.95 is a hard model to turn profitable when MoviePass is paying retail prices that are higher than that for a single movie in most instances.
Helios and Matheson argues that it will eventually be able to offset its operating costs by striking subsidy deals with theater owners, pitching ads, or selling user data to marketers, but all of those revenue streams are like trying to dig yourself out of a hole with a spoon. Spoiler alert: That hole is a gravesite. MoviePass is losing an average of $20 million a month on a cash basis in the six months ending in March, and that red ink is only going to grow as the platform's popularity expands.
The goal now has to be to ramp up quickly and hope that achieving critical mass will either smoke out a patient cash-rich suitor or establish a base that's large enough to withstand the inevitable defections the moment that MoviePassprices its service for sustainability. MoviePass is in a race against available funding. Buckle up.
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Rick Munarrizowns shares of Helios and Matheson Analytics. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || MoviePass Is Sort of Unlimited Again: MoviePass is back to offering unlimited movies to new subscribers, but there are a couple of extra asterisks aimed at curbing consumption and fraud. With parent company Helios and Matheson Analytics (NASDAQ: HMNY) hitting a new 52-week low on Wednesday just ahead of the move, the update continues to make the model unsustainable, but at least MoviePass will go down swinging. Outrage sparked among the MoviePass community when it started capping usage for new members on April 13, bundling the multiplex service with an extended iHeartRadio free trial, but limiting the plan's usage to just four movies a month. MoviePass executives suggested that the unlimited pass may not come back, but it did on Wednesday. Helios and Matheson likely realizes it will never grow beyond their existing 2 million subscribers if it offers a plan that's financially feasible. Scale now and pay the price later seems to be the mantra again for MoviePass. MoviePass homepage showing $9.95 a month plan for unlimited movies. Image source: MoviePass. At the movies Today's MoviePass offering isn't the same as it was three weeks ago. All members of the service that allows up to one daily traditional screening at a movie theater can no longer see the same movie again. The restrictions kicked in this past weekend, just as Avengers: Infinity War hit the silver screen. Each account is also locked to a single smartphone, a move designed to curb fraud. There are also more members now tasked with sending MoviePass a snapshot of the ticket stub of the movie they're seeing before reserving another check-in time, again, to limit the platform's abuse. Folks were sharing their MoviePass passwords and debit cards, using the debit cards for other in-theater purchases, scalping tickets, or just buying tickets to collect multiplex rewards without actually seeing the movies. The changes will curb overall usage, something that may make the service less compelling to those who were milking MoviePass dry, but you can almost hear the, "Bye, Felicia," bleeding through walls of its accounting department. Selling unlimited daily screenings of movies for $9.95 is a hard model to turn profitable when MoviePass is paying retail prices that are higher than that for a single movie in most instances. Story continues Helios and Matheson argues that it will eventually be able to offset its operating costs by striking subsidy deals with theater owners, pitching ads, or selling user data to marketers, but all of those revenue streams are like trying to dig yourself out of a hole with a spoon. Spoiler alert: That hole is a gravesite. MoviePass is losing an average of $20 million a month on a cash basis in the six months ending in March, and that red ink is only going to grow as the platform's popularity expands. The goal now has to be to ramp up quickly and hope that achieving critical mass will either smoke out a patient cash-rich suitor or establish a base that's large enough to withstand the inevitable defections the moment that MoviePass prices its service for sustainability . MoviePass is in a race against available funding. Buckle up. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Rick Munarriz owns shares of Helios and Matheson Analytics. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || BP's Earnings Ride Higher Oil Prices to Best Results in Three Years: After ending 2017 on quite the high note , BP (NYSE: BP) kept the good times rolling: It beat Wall Street's expectations for another quarter, and promised to deliver another round of capital projects that will significantly boost production in 2018. With oil prices on the rise and BP's other businesses performing surprisingly well, this year promises to be an encore performance for investors. Here's a look at BP's most recent earnings results, and what investors can expect from the oil giant in the upcoming quarters. By the numbers Metric Q1 2018 Q4 2017 Q1 2017 Revenue $69.1 billion $70.0 billion $56.3 billion Net income $2.53 billion $63 million $1.49 billion Earnings per ADS (GAAP) $0.74 $0.01 $0.44 Operating cash flow $3.64 billion $5.9 billion $2.11 billion DATA SOURCE: BP EARNINGS RELEASE. ADS = AMERICAN DEPOSITARY SHARE; GAAP = GENERALLY ACCEPTED ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES. As is the case with most big oil companies in the first quarter , BP's cash flow numbers look surprisingly light compared to the gains it made in net income. As management noted, it's a product of building up a lot of working capital in the business that tends to wind down in the second half of this year. Adjusted for working capital, BP's cash flow was closer to $7 billion. With oil prices on the rise, it's really no surprise that BP's income results are following suit. Pretty much all the gains in net income came from the upstream side of the business as both production and realized prices increased. What is surprising, though, is that the company's downstream earnings remained surprisingly consistent. Typically, earnings from downstream segments start to decline as oil and gas prices rise. Chart of BP replacement cost profit by business segment for Q1 2017, Q4 2017, and Q1 2018, showing significant uptick in upstream and flat results from downstream Data source: BP earnings release. Chart by author. The reason BP was able to maintain downstream results was some unique investments that allow it to take advantages of different crude prices. Over the past few years, the company invested boatloads of money into its Whiting, Indiana refinery so it could process hard-to-refine oil sands out of Canada. The price of this particular type of crude has been declining lately, because supply is outstripping transportation and refining capacity. So even though feedstock prices, in general, are on the rise, BP can offset those increases with lower Canadian crude prices. Story continues The highlights Overall production for the quarter was 3.73 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOE/D), a 5.7% increase from this time last year. Gaining 5.7% in production from that kind of base is good, but it gets even better. Excluding BP's interest in Rosneft , production was 2.6 million BOE/D, which was up an even more impressive 9.1% compared to the prior year. BP announced that it had completed its Atoll gas project in Egypt, the first of six major capital projects slated to go live this year. Management noted that the project was completed both under budget and seven months ahead of schedule. The company gave the green light for two major new projects: phase 2 of the Khazzan gas project in Oman and phase 2 of its offshore India holdings. Combined, the two will increase production by 205,000 BOE/D, mostly in natural gas. BP also sanctioned the development of two fields in the North Sea that should add another 30,000 barrels per day of oil. Management also announced a strategic alliance with Petrobras for potential investments in all parts of the oil and gas business, both inside and outside of Brazil. This isn't uncommon, though, as many companies have been signing deals with Petrobras lately for similar development projects. So it's not exactly clear what this alliance grants BP compared to others. Offshore oil production platform at sunrise or sunset Image source: Getty Images. What management had to say Oil prices have been on the rise in recent quarters, which may entice the people pulling the purse strings to start spending more on growing the business. According to CFO Brian Gilvary, though, BP plans to maintain spending discipline for a while longer: With growing operating cash flow, we continue to expect the organic breakeven for the Group to average around $50 per barrel on a full dividend basis in 2018, reducing steadily to $35-40 per barrel by 2021 in line with growing free cash flow. And as we look beyond 2018 we continue to expect to grow returns as we grow our earnings within our disciplined investment framework. While we still have some way to go to on returns, we are seeing good progress on the underpinning drivers of improvement. With the continuing momentum across the business, and growing free cash flow, we remain active in our share buyback programme. With gearing expected to trend down this year we will continue to ensure the right balance between distributions and disciplined investment. BP Chart BP data by YCharts . Looking good for now One of the most encouraging things about BP's investment plans is that the company will be able to bring on a lot of additional production over the next three or four years, while maintaining a relatively modest capital spending plan. That means management should have plenty of cash to give back to investors , in the form of either more share buybacks or dividend increases -- or both. The question that should be a slight concern is whether the company is spending enough for its next wave of projects, which would likely go live five to seven years from now. The two projects that were recently given final approval should give a little clarity about that plan, but don't be surprised if we start to see management start to add a little extra to its exploration budget either this year or next. For now, though, it looks like BP is going to have a very nice run here in 2018, and possibly into 2019, with all the new major capital projects starting up. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Tyler Crowe has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || BP's Earnings Ride Higher Oil Prices to Best Results in Three Years: Afterending 2017 on quite the high note,BP(NYSE: BP)kept the good times rolling: It beat Wall Street's expectations for another quarter, and promised to deliver another round of capital projects that will significantly boost production in 2018. With oil prices on the rise and BP's other businesses performing surprisingly well, this year promises to be an encore performance for investors.
Here's a look at BP's most recent earnings results, and what investors can expect from the oil giant in the upcoming quarters.
[{"Metric": "Revenue", "Q1 2018": "$69.1 billion", "Q4 2017": "$70.0 billion", "Q1 2017": "$56.3 billion"}, {"Metric": "Net income", "Q1 2018": "$2.53 billion", "Q4 2017": "$63 million", "Q1 2017": "$1.49 billion"}, {"Metric": "Earnings per ADS (GAAP)", "Q1 2018": "$0.74", "Q4 2017": "$0.01", "Q1 2017": "$0.44"}, {"Metric": "Operating cash flow", "Q1 2018": "$3.64 billion", "Q4 2017": "$5.9 billion", "Q1 2017": "$2.11 billion"}]
DATA SOURCE: BP EARNINGS RELEASE. ADS = AMERICAN DEPOSITARY SHARE;GAAP= GENERALLY ACCEPTED ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES.
As is the case with mostbig oil companies in the first quarter, BP's cash flow numbers look surprisingly light compared to the gains it made in net income. As management noted, it's a product of building up a lot of working capital in the business that tends to wind down in the second half of this year. Adjusted for working capital, BP's cash flow was closer to $7 billion.
With oil prices on the rise, it's really no surprise that BP's income results are following suit. Pretty much all the gains in net income came from the upstream side of the business as both production and realized prices increased. What is surprising, though, is that the company's downstream earnings remained surprisingly consistent. Typically, earnings from downstream segments start to decline as oil and gas prices rise.
Data source: BP earnings release. Chart by author.
The reason BP was able to maintain downstream results was some unique investments that allow it to take advantages of different crude prices. Over the past few years, the company invested boatloads of money into its Whiting, Indiana refinery so it could process hard-to-refine oil sands out of Canada. The price of this particular type of crude has been declining lately, because supply is outstripping transportation and refining capacity. So even though feedstock prices, in general, are on the rise, BP can offset those increases with lower Canadian crude prices.
• Overall production for the quarter was 3.73 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOE/D), a 5.7% increase from this time last year. Gaining 5.7% in production from that kind of base is good, but it gets even better. Excluding BP's interest inRosneft, production was 2.6 million BOE/D, which was up an even more impressive 9.1% compared to the prior year.
• BP announced that it had completed its Atoll gas project in Egypt, the first of six major capital projects slated to go live this year. Management noted that the project was completed both under budget and seven months ahead of schedule.
• The company gave the green light for two major new projects: phase 2 of the Khazzan gas project in Oman and phase 2 of its offshore India holdings. Combined, the two will increase production by 205,000 BOE/D, mostly in natural gas. BP also sanctioned the development of two fields in the North Sea that should add another 30,000 barrels per day of oil.
• Management also announced a strategic alliance withPetrobrasfor potential investments in all parts of the oil and gas business, both inside and outside of Brazil. This isn't uncommon, though, as many companies have been signing deals with Petrobras lately for similar development projects. So it's not exactly clear what this alliance grants BP compared to others.
Image source: Getty Images.
Oil prices have been on the rise in recent quarters, which may entice the people pulling the purse strings to start spending more on growing the business. According to CFO Brian Gilvary, though, BP plans to maintain spending discipline for a while longer:
With growing operating cash flow, we continue to expect the organic breakeven for the Group to average around $50 per barrel on a full dividend basis in 2018, reducing steadily to $35-40 per barrel by 2021 in line with growing free cash flow. And as we look beyond 2018 we continue to expect to grow returns as we grow our earnings within our disciplined investment framework.
BPdata byYCharts.
One of the most encouraging things about BP's investment plans is that the company will be able to bring on a lot of additional production over the next three or four years, while maintaining a relatively modest capital spending plan. That means management should haveplenty of cash to give back to investors, in the form of either more share buybacks or dividend increases -- or both.
The question that should be a slight concern is whether the company is spending enough for its next wave of projects, which would likely go live five to seven years from now. The two projects that were recently given final approval should give a little clarity about that plan, but don't be surprised if we start to see management start to add a little extra to its exploration budget either this year or next. For now, though, it looks like BP is going to have a very nice run here in 2018, and possibly into 2019, with all the new major capital projects starting up.
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Tyler Crowehas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Why Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. Is Slumping Today: What happened Units of Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. (NYSE: EEP) sold off on Wednesday, falling nearly 10% at 2:45 p.m. EDT after pipeline peer TC Pipelines (NYSE: TCP) slashed its distribution due to a rule change that might have similar implications for Enbridge Energy Partners. So what Earlier this year, the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) changed a long-standing policy that allowed master limited partnerships (MLPs) like Enbridge Energy Partners and TC Pipelines to collect an allowance for income taxes on certain pipelines. As a result, Enbridge Energy Partners revised its full-year guidance to reflect its expectation that this policy change will result in a $100 million reduction in revenue and a $60 million drop in distributable cash flow. Several oil pipleines overhead with a blue background and oil pumpjacks in the foreground. Image source: Getty Images. Because of that, the company only expects to generate enough cash to cover its distribution by a tight 1.0 times this year as opposed to the more comfortable 1.15 times it initially anticipated. That razor-thin margin for error has investors concerned that Enbridge Energy Partners might reduce its distribution again to give it more breathing room. Those fears have increased with today's news that TC Pipelines will cut its payout 35% due to the impact the FERC rule change will have on its cash flow. Now what With today's sell-off, units of Enbridge Energy Partners now yield nearly 14.8%, reflecting the market's view that the company's payout isn't sustainable. While the company did recently declare its first-quarter distribution at the same rate as the previous quarter, the market seems to think it will either eventually reduce the distribution or will be taken private by parent company Enbridge (NYSE: ENB) . Investors should have a better idea of Enbridge's plans for its MLP when both companies report earnings on May 10. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Matthew DiLallo owns shares of Enbridge and Enbridge Energy Partners. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Enbridge. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Why Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. Is Slumping Today: Units ofEnbridge Energy Partners, L.P.(NYSE: EEP)sold off on Wednesday, falling nearly 10% at 2:45 p.m. EDT after pipeline peerTC Pipelines(NYSE: TCP)slashed its distributiondue to a rule change that might have similar implications for Enbridge Energy Partners.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)changeda long-standing policy that allowedmaster limited partnerships(MLPs) like Enbridge Energy Partners and TC Pipelines to collect an allowance for income taxes on certain pipelines. As a result, Enbridge Energy Partners revised its full-year guidance to reflect its expectation that this policy change will result in a $100 million reduction in revenue and a $60 million drop in distributable cash flow.
Image source: Getty Images.
Because of that, the company only expects to generate enough cash to cover its distribution by a tight 1.0 times this year as opposed to the more comfortable 1.15 times it initially anticipated. That razor-thin margin for error has investors concerned that Enbridge Energy Partners might reduce its distributionagainto give it more breathing room. Those fears have increased with today's news that TC Pipelines will cut its payout 35% due to the impact the FERC rule change will have on its cash flow.
With today's sell-off, units of Enbridge Energy Partners now yield nearly 14.8%, reflecting the market's view that the company's payout isn't sustainable. While the company did recently declare its first-quarter distribution at the same rate as the previous quarter, the market seems to think it will either eventually reduce the distribution or will be taken private by parent companyEnbridge(NYSE: ENB). Investors should have a better idea of Enbridge's plans for its MLP when both companies report earnings on May 10.
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Matthew DiLalloowns shares of Enbridge and Enbridge Energy Partners. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Enbridge. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || 3 Factors Weighing on NVIDIA's Growth: NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) has been a stock market darling over the past couple of years as its pursuit of tech trends such as video gaming, artificial intelligence (AI), and cloud computing has led to terrific financial growth. NVDA Revenue (TTM) Chart NVDA Revenue (TTM) data by YCharts But a closer look at the chipmaker's financials clearly indicates that only two of its five businesses are doing the heavy lifting. Gaming supplies 60% of NVIDIA's total revenue, and it grew 29% year over year last quarter. Meanwhile, the data center segment's revenue more than doubled last quarter and this business now accounts for 20% of the company's top line. However, the growth of NVIDIA's remaining three businesses -- professional visualization, automotive, and OEM and IP -- seems to have hit a wall in recent quarters. This is a red flag as relying on the other two segments means challenges in the form of competition from rivals such as Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) and the adoption of a different chip technology in data centers can have an outsize impact on the company and its stock. This is why it is important for NVIDIA's remaining businesses to step up their game. But will they be able to deliver? Let's find out. NVIDIA Quadro GPU Image Source: NVIDIA. https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-reinvents-the-workstation-with-real-time-ray-tracing Professional visualization fails to live up to hype NVIDIA's professional visualization segment, or pro-v, supplied less than 9% of its total revenue last quarter. There was a time when pro-v enjoyed greater clout at NVIDIA with 14% of the top line a couple of years ago, which means that it has fizzled in comparison to the company's other businesses. This is extremely surprising, as NVIDIA was going after the attractive virtual reality (VR) market with its Quadro GPUs (graphics processing units). When NVIDIA launched its GP100 Quadro GPU in February 2017, it probably expected to mint money from the booming VR content creation market. The chipmaker had claimed that this GPU was capable of rendering images more than 18 times faster than its predecessor, and even allowed users to combine GPUs to boost computing power. Story continues Such a powerful GPU should have helped NVIDIA tap into the VR content creation space that's expected to clock a terrific growth rate of 128% from 2016 to 2020, according to TechNavio, hitting an estimated $13 billion in size by 2020. Now, 43% of VR content creation takes place on PCs, so this platform could account for $6 billion of VR revenue in the next couple of years. Demand for professional-grade GPUs such as the Quadro should have increased, as more powerful hardware is needed to create VR content, but the same hasn't happened on a grand scale for NVIDIA. Its pro-v revenue in the last reported quarter was up just 13%, which isn't much considering the fast-growing nature of the VR market. NVIDIA's failure to tap into this market's terrific potential can be attributed to stiff competition. AMD, for instance, has been attacking the VR hardware market with its LiquidVR technology that combines its Ryzen processors with its Radeon Pro graphics cards. In fact, NVIDIA's archrival was chosen by Apple to power its most powerful Mac ever made -- the iMac Pro. AMD doesn't single out how much revenue it gets from its professional graphics business, but management's comments clearly indicate that it is very pleased. In 2017, AMD's professional graphics business pulled in record revenue, according to the annual report shared in March. So, NVIDIA's pro-v business seems to have run into an AMD-shaped wall. But NVIDIA investors will be hoping that its recently launched Quadro GV100 GPU will tilt the momentum in its favor as it promises a massive improvement in creating immersive VR content, though they should be advised to rein in their enthusiasm as last year's Quadro offering didn't do much for the company's top line despite being a promising product. Automotive growth goes off-road NVIDIA looked all set to own the field in self-driving cars thanks to its pioneering moves in this space , but the emergence of stiffer competition has thrown this business off gear. In fact, it is surprising to see that NVIDIA's automotive business has failed to take off despite early wins at Tesla and the company establishing a solid base of 225 partners developing autonomous car solutions using its platforms. The massive opportunity afforded by self-driving cars has encouraged competition in this space, and NVIDIA seems to be falling prey to the same. For instance, Intel reportedly snatched the Tesla business from NVIDIA last year. What's more, Chipzilla is also powering Alphabet subsidiary Waymo's self-driving cars. This could help it attract more partners from NVIDIA's ecosystem. The negative effects of this competition are already visible. Last quarter, the segment's revenue increased just 3% year over year. What's more, a closer look at the automotive business's revenue trends reveals that the company has been losing momentum in the past four quarters. Period Q1 FY18 Q2 FY18 Q3 FY18 Q4 FY18 Automotive revenue (in $millions) 140 142 144 132 Change (quarter over quarter) 9% 1% 1% (8%) Data source: NVIDIA quarterly filings. Of course, it is still early in the self-driving car race, and NVIDIA has a lot of time to get its business on track thanks to the recent moves it has made. For instance, it struck four new partnerships earlier this year with heavyweights including Uber, Volkswagen , and Baidu . It also introduced an autonomous vehicle safety simulator known as Drive Constellation.. So, it won't be surprising to see NVIDIA's automotive business making a big comeback. But investors need to keep a close watch on the competition because it has been potent enough to keep this business under stress so far. OEM and IP is in danger NVIDIA's OEM and IP (original equipment manufacturers and intellectual property) business supplies around 6% of its total revenue, and just like the automotive business, it hasn't done much for the company's overall performance. This segment's revenue was up just 2% last quarter, and it won't be long before it starts declining thanks to an AMD-Intel partnership. The OEM and IP business gets a sizable portion of its revenue from a cross-licensing deal with Intel that was struck seven years ago, while low-end GPU sales account for the remainder of this segment. It has been widely reported that the licensing deal came to an end in March of last year, and Intel is tapping AMD for its GPU technology. However, the OEM and IP business has stood its ground in recent quarters thanks to the rise in GPU-based cryptocurrency mining . But the recent deal between AMD and Intel to integrate the former's GPU into the latter's CPU to create a combo chip means that NVIDIA could see its royalty revenue eventually dry up. Intel had originally agreed to pay NVIDIA $1.5 billion in cross-licensing fees over a period of six years, which means that the graphics specialist was getting $250 million a year in revenue. Additionally, cryptocurrency mining might not be a long-term catalyst for the OEM and IP business thanks to the emergence of a specialist mining chip . NVIDIA needs to step up its game elsewhere NVIDIA's growth engines -- video gaming and data center -- will need to work overtime to ensure that its other three businesses don't weigh on its growth in the long run. Of course, NVIDIA can turn things around provided its automotive bets pay off and the pro-v business gets a boost from the latest products, but any shortcomings could be punished by investors who have been betting big on the company's long-term growth. NVIDIA's trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 47 is well above its historical five-year average of 30, and also exceeds the industry average of 35. This lofty valuation can be justified only if NVIDIA maintains its impressive growth momentum, and for that, it will have to fire on all cylinders, which it isn't doing right now. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Harsh Chauhan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Apple, Baidu, Nvidia, and Tesla. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool recommends Intel. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || 3 Factors Weighing on NVIDIA's Growth: NVIDIA(NASDAQ: NVDA)has been a stock market darling over the past couple of years as its pursuit of tech trends such as video gaming, artificial intelligence (AI), and cloud computing has led to terrific financial growth.
NVDA Revenue (TTM)data byYCharts
But a closer look at the chipmaker's financials clearly indicates that only two of its five businesses are doing the heavy lifting. Gaming supplies 60% of NVIDIA's total revenue, and it grew 29% year over year last quarter. Meanwhile, the data center segment's revenue more than doubled last quarter and this business now accounts for 20% of the company's top line.
However, the growth of NVIDIA's remaining three businesses -- professional visualization, automotive, and OEM and IP -- seems to have hit a wall in recent quarters. This is a red flag as relying on the other two segments means challenges in the form ofcompetition from rivalssuch asAdvanced Micro Devices(NASDAQ: AMD)and theadoption of a different chip technologyin data centers can have an outsize impact on the company and its stock.
This is why it is important for NVIDIA's remaining businesses to step up their game. But will they be able to deliver? Let's find out.
Image Source: NVIDIA. https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-reinvents-the-workstation-with-real-time-ray-tracing
NVIDIA's professional visualization segment, or pro-v, supplied less than 9% of its total revenue last quarter. There was a time when pro-v enjoyed greater clout at NVIDIA with 14% of the top line a couple of years ago, which means that it has fizzled in comparison to the company's other businesses. This is extremely surprising, as NVIDIA wasgoing after the attractive virtual reality (VR) marketwith its Quadro GPUs (graphics processing units).
When NVIDIA launched its GP100 Quadro GPU in February 2017, it probably expected to mint money from the booming VR content creation market. The chipmaker had claimed that this GPU was capable of rendering images more than 18 times faster than its predecessor, and even allowed users to combine GPUs to boost computing power.
Such a powerful GPU should have helped NVIDIA tap into the VR content creation space that's expected to clock a terrific growth rate of 128% from 2016 to 2020, according to TechNavio, hitting an estimated $13 billion in size by 2020. Now, 43% of VR content creation takes place on PCs, so this platform could account for $6 billion of VR revenue in the next couple of years.
Demand for professional-grade GPUs such as the Quadro should have increased, as more powerful hardware is needed to create VR content, but the same hasn't happened on a grand scale for NVIDIA. Its pro-v revenue in the last reported quarter was up just 13%, which isn't much considering the fast-growing nature of the VR market.
NVIDIA's failure to tap into this market's terrific potential can be attributed to stiff competition. AMD, for instance, has been attacking the VR hardware market with its LiquidVR technology that combines its Ryzen processors with its Radeon Pro graphics cards.
In fact, NVIDIA's archrival was chosen byAppleto power its most powerful Mac ever made -- the iMac Pro. AMD doesn't single out how much revenue it gets from its professional graphics business, but management's comments clearly indicate that it is very pleased. In 2017, AMD's professional graphics business pulled in record revenue, according to the annual report shared in March.
So, NVIDIA's pro-v business seems to have run into an AMD-shaped wall. But NVIDIA investors will be hoping that its recently launched Quadro GV100 GPU will tilt the momentum in its favor as it promises a massive improvement in creating immersive VR content, though they should be advised to rein in their enthusiasm as last year's Quadro offering didn't do much for the company's top line despite being a promising product.
NVIDIA looked all set to own the field in self-driving cars thanks to itspioneering moves in this space, but the emergence of stiffer competition has thrown this business off gear. In fact, it is surprising to see that NVIDIA's automotive business has failed to take offdespite early wins atTeslaand the company establishing a solid base of 225 partners developing autonomous car solutions using its platforms.
The massive opportunity afforded by self-driving cars has encouraged competition in this space, and NVIDIA seems to be falling prey to the same. For instance,Intelreportedlysnatched the Tesla businessfrom NVIDIA last year. What's more,Chipzilla is also poweringAlphabetsubsidiary Waymo's self-driving cars. This could help it attract more partners from NVIDIA's ecosystem.
The negative effects of this competition are already visible. Last quarter, the segment's revenue increased just 3% year over year. What's more, a closer look at the automotive business's revenue trends reveals that the company has been losing momentum in the past four quarters.
[{"Period": "Automotive revenue (in $millions)", "Q1 FY18": "140", "Q2 FY18": "142", "Q3 FY18": "144", "Q4 FY18": "132"}, {"Period": "Change (quarter over quarter)", "Q1 FY18": "9%", "Q2 FY18": "1%", "Q3 FY18": "1%", "Q4 FY18": "(8%)"}]
Data source: NVIDIA quarterly filings.
Of course, it is still early in the self-driving car race, and NVIDIA has a lot of time to get its business on track thanks to the recent moves it has made. For instance, it struckfour new partnershipsearlier this year with heavyweights including Uber,Volkswagen, andBaidu. It also introduced anautonomous vehicle safety simulatorknown as Drive Constellation..
So, it won't be surprising to see NVIDIA's automotive business making a big comeback. But investors need to keep a close watch on the competition because it has been potent enough to keep this business under stress so far.
NVIDIA's OEM and IP (original equipment manufacturers and intellectual property) business supplies around 6% of its total revenue, and just like the automotive business, it hasn't done much for the company's overall performance. This segment's revenue was up just 2% last quarter, and it won't be long before it starts declining thanks to an AMD-Intel partnership.
The OEM and IP business gets a sizable portion of its revenue from a cross-licensing deal with Intel that was struck seven years ago, while low-end GPU sales account for the remainder of this segment. It has been widely reported that the licensing deal came to an end in March of last year, and Intel is tapping AMD for its GPU technology.
However, the OEM and IP business has stood its ground in recent quarters thanks to the rise inGPU-based cryptocurrency mining. But the recent deal between AMD and Intel to integrate the former's GPU into the latter's CPU to create a combo chip means that NVIDIA could see its royalty revenue eventually dry up.
Intel had originally agreed to pay NVIDIA $1.5 billion in cross-licensing fees over a period of six years, which means that the graphics specialist was getting $250 million a year in revenue. Additionally, cryptocurrency mining might not be a long-term catalyst for the OEM and IP business thanks to the emergence ofa specialist mining chip.
NVIDIA's growth engines -- video gaming and data center -- will need to work overtime to ensure that its other three businesses don't weigh on its growth in the long run. Of course, NVIDIA can turn things around provided its automotive bets pay off and the pro-v business gets a boost from the latest products, but any shortcomings could be punished by investors who have been betting big on the company's long-term growth.
NVIDIA's trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 47 is well above its historical five-year average of 30, and also exceeds the industry average of 35. This lofty valuation can be justified only if NVIDIA maintains its impressive growth momentum, and for that, it will have to fire on all cylinders, which it isn't doing right now.
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Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors.Harsh Chauhanhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Apple, Baidu, Nvidia, and Tesla. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool recommends Intel. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Why Apple, Inc. Stock Popped 5% Wednesday: What happened Shares of technology giant Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) jumped as much as 5.1% on Wednesday, following the company's fiscal second-quarter earnings release. The stock is trading 5% higher at the time of this writing. Bullishness toward Apple stock on Wednesday reflects the company's better-than-expected revenue, earnings per share, and guidance. In addition, a handful of upbeat analyst reports have been published since the earnings release, likely playing a role in some of the investor optimism for Apple on Wednesday. An Apple customer holding the iPhone X on launch day iPhone X. Image source: Apple. So what For Apple's fiscal second quarter, revenue and earnings per share increased 16% and 30% year over year to $61.1 billion and $2.73, respectively. These were ahead of consensus analyst estimates for revenue and earnings per share of $61 billion and $2.69. The iPhone X continued to sell well, outselling every iPhone model each week since the phone's launch. In addition, Apple's services and other products segments helped propel revenue higher. Services revenue increased 31% year over year, and other products revenue increased 38% during the same period. Together, these segments accounted for a meaningful 21% of revenue. Analysts seemed pleased with the report. RBC Capital Market analyst Amit Daryanani said the report proves skeptics wrong. Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty admitted that Apple's third-quarter guidance implies that the meaningful downside she expected from iPhone in Apple's third quarter "didn't come to fruition." Now what Looking ahead, Apple expects its strong year-over-year growth to persist. Management guided for fiscal third-quarter revenue to be between $51.5 billion and $53.5 billion. The midpoint of this guidance range implies 16% year-over-year revenue growth for the period. Apple CEO Tim Cook was very optimistic about the company's business during the second-quarter earnings call: We're now halfway through our fiscal 2018 with nearly $150 billion in revenues and double-digit growth in all of our geographic segments. We've generated almost $34 billion in earnings in six months, and we're very bullish on Apple's future. We have the best pipeline of products and services we've ever had. Story continues More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Daniel Sparks owns shares of Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Why Apple, Inc. Stock Popped 5% Wednesday: What happened Shares of technology giant Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) jumped as much as 5.1% on Wednesday, following the company's fiscal second-quarter earnings release. The stock is trading 5% higher at the time of this writing. Bullishness toward Apple stock on Wednesday reflects the company's better-than-expected revenue, earnings per share, and guidance. In addition, a handful of upbeat analyst reports have been published since the earnings release, likely playing a role in some of the investor optimism for Apple on Wednesday. An Apple customer holding the iPhone X on launch day iPhone X. Image source: Apple. So what For Apple's fiscal second quarter, revenue and earnings per share increased 16% and 30% year over year to $61.1 billion and $2.73, respectively. These were ahead of consensus analyst estimates for revenue and earnings per share of $61 billion and $2.69. The iPhone X continued to sell well, outselling every iPhone model each week since the phone's launch. In addition, Apple's services and other products segments helped propel revenue higher. Services revenue increased 31% year over year, and other products revenue increased 38% during the same period. Together, these segments accounted for a meaningful 21% of revenue. Analysts seemed pleased with the report. RBC Capital Market analyst Amit Daryanani said the report proves skeptics wrong. Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty admitted that Apple's third-quarter guidance implies that the meaningful downside she expected from iPhone in Apple's third quarter "didn't come to fruition." Now what Looking ahead, Apple expects its strong year-over-year growth to persist. Management guided for fiscal third-quarter revenue to be between $51.5 billion and $53.5 billion. The midpoint of this guidance range implies 16% year-over-year revenue growth for the period. Apple CEO Tim Cook was very optimistic about the company's business during the second-quarter earnings call: We're now halfway through our fiscal 2018 with nearly $150 billion in revenues and double-digit growth in all of our geographic segments. We've generated almost $34 billion in earnings in six months, and we're very bullish on Apple's future. We have the best pipeline of products and services we've ever had. Story continues More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Daniel Sparks owns shares of Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Why Shares of MACOM Technology Solutions Holdings Jumped Today: What happened Shares of MACOM Technology Solutions Holdings (NASDAQ: MTSI) jumped on Wednesday following the semiconductor company's fiscal second-quarter report. The company beat analyst estimates for both revenue and earnings, and management commentary suggested that revenue has finally bottomed out. As of 1:40 p.m. EDT, the stock was up 18%. So what MACOM reported second-quarter revenue of $150.4 million, down 19.2% year over year but up 14.9% from the first quarter . Analysts were expecting revenue to be about $4.9 million lower. CEO John Croteau stated in the earnings release that the company's December quarter marked the bottom of the cycle for revenue and demand, and that order intake and customer forecasts had returned to more normalized patterns in the second quarter. A MACOM chip. Image source: MACOM. Non- GAAP earnings per share came in at $0.13, down from $0.63 in the prior-year period but $0.01 better than analysts were expecting. Non-GAAP gross margin fell almost 7 percentage points year over year to 51.6%, and non-GAAP operating margin was more than cut in half to 10.5%. Going forward, Croteau sees a return to growth: Moving forward, we expect sales across all our end markets to contribute to top line growth quarter-by-quarter throughout calendar 2018. The exact slope will be paced by our ability to scale operationally, both with our strategic suppliers and in our own factories. We believe the future contribution from these sales can provide significant operating leverage as we monetize what were previously strategic investments for the company. Now what MACOM expects third-quarter revenue between $142 million and $150 million, with non-GAAP gross margin recovering to a range of 54% to 57%. The company believes that the next phase of global infrastructure spending -- driven by 5G technology, heavy investments from cloud computing providers, and defense and industrial capital investment -- is now being entered following last year's cyclical downturn in China. Story continues Shares of MACOM have plunged since mid-2017 as revenue and profits fell off a cliff. The company's upbeat outlook was enough on Wednesday for the stock to begin clawing back a small part of those losses. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Timothy Green has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Why Shares of MACOM Technology Solutions Holdings Jumped Today: What happened Shares of MACOM Technology Solutions Holdings (NASDAQ: MTSI) jumped on Wednesday following the semiconductor company's fiscal second-quarter report. The company beat analyst estimates for both revenue and earnings, and management commentary suggested that revenue has finally bottomed out. As of 1:40 p.m. EDT, the stock was up 18%. So what MACOM reported second-quarter revenue of $150.4 million, down 19.2% year over year but up 14.9% from the first quarter . Analysts were expecting revenue to be about $4.9 million lower. CEO John Croteau stated in the earnings release that the company's December quarter marked the bottom of the cycle for revenue and demand, and that order intake and customer forecasts had returned to more normalized patterns in the second quarter. A MACOM chip. Image source: MACOM. Non- GAAP earnings per share came in at $0.13, down from $0.63 in the prior-year period but $0.01 better than analysts were expecting. Non-GAAP gross margin fell almost 7 percentage points year over year to 51.6%, and non-GAAP operating margin was more than cut in half to 10.5%. Going forward, Croteau sees a return to growth: Moving forward, we expect sales across all our end markets to contribute to top line growth quarter-by-quarter throughout calendar 2018. The exact slope will be paced by our ability to scale operationally, both with our strategic suppliers and in our own factories. We believe the future contribution from these sales can provide significant operating leverage as we monetize what were previously strategic investments for the company. Now what MACOM expects third-quarter revenue between $142 million and $150 million, with non-GAAP gross margin recovering to a range of 54% to 57%. The company believes that the next phase of global infrastructure spending -- driven by 5G technology, heavy investments from cloud computing providers, and defense and industrial capital investment -- is now being entered following last year's cyclical downturn in China. Story continues Shares of MACOM have plunged since mid-2017 as revenue and profits fell off a cliff. The company's upbeat outlook was enough on Wednesday for the stock to begin clawing back a small part of those losses. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Timothy Green has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Why HC2 Holdings Stock Is Surging Today: What happened Shares of HC2 Holdings (NYSE: HCHC) rocketed higher on Wednesday after the holding company announced that it had struck a deal to sell a portfolio company for as much as $1 billion if all milestones are met. As of 12:50 p.m. EDT, HS2 stock was up 38%. So what HC2 announced that BeneVir Biopharm, a portfolio company within its Pansend Life Sciences subsidiary focused on developing oncolytic immunotherapies for cancer treatment , agreed to be acquired by Janssen Biotech. HC2 owns roughly 76% of BeneVir's equity. A notepad page with a drawing of a big fish eating a little fish. Image source: Getty Images. The deal will bring HC2 $140 million in up-front cash payments when it closes, plus additional payments up to $900 million based on certain predetermined milestones. HC2 could ultimately receive more than $1 billion for the company when all is said and done. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2018. "This transaction is a defining moment for Pansend and HC2, clearly demonstrating David and Cherine's ability to identify and create value in the life sciences industry," said HC2 CEO Philip Falcone, speaking about David Present and Cherine Plumaker, who lead the Pansend subsidiary. Now what With a market capitalization of around $230 million as of Tuesday's close, this deal could bring in a tremendous amount of cash relative to the company's value. While there's no guarantee that the full $1 billion of potential payments will be received, investors are clearly thrilled by this news. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Timothy Green has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Why HC2 Holdings Stock Is Surging Today: Shares ofHC2 Holdings(NYSE: HCHC)rocketed higher on Wednesday after the holding company announced that it had struck a deal to sell a portfolio company for as much as $1 billion if all milestones are met. As of 12:50 p.m. EDT, HS2 stock was up 38%.
HC2 announced that BeneVir Biopharm, a portfolio company within its Pansend Life Sciences subsidiary focused on developing oncolyticimmunotherapies for cancer treatment, agreed to be acquired by Janssen Biotech. HC2 owns roughly 76% of BeneVir's equity.
Image source: Getty Images.
The deal will bring HC2 $140 million in up-front cash payments when it closes, plus additional payments up to $900 million based on certain predetermined milestones. HC2 could ultimately receive more than $1 billion for the company when all is said and done. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2018.
"This transaction is a defining moment for Pansend and HC2, clearly demonstrating David and Cherine's ability to identify and create value in the life sciences industry," said HC2 CEO Philip Falcone, speaking about David Present and Cherine Plumaker, who lead the Pansend subsidiary.
With a market capitalization of around $230 million as of Tuesday's close, this deal could bring in a tremendous amount of cash relative to the company's value. While there's no guarantee that the full $1 billion of potential payments will be received, investors are clearly thrilled by this news.
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Timothy Greenhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.
[Social Media Buzz]
2018/05/03（木）23:00
ビットコインの価格は1,031,127円だよ
https://crypto-currency-widgets.com/link/crypto.html …
#ビットコイン #bitcoin #btc $btc #価格pic.twitter.com/79GiyxLhVZ || Robinhood Crypto is coming in hot! Commission-free Bitcoin and Ethereum trading is now rolled out and available to investors in New Mexico. https://t.co/aq12aQwcpO || BTC Price: 9297.43$,
BTC Today High : 9300.81$,
BTC All Time High : 19903.44$
ETH Price: 722.00$ #bitcoin #BTC $BTC #ETH $ETH #cryptopic.twitter.com/USeshSvXEp || #TipusCanvi...
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9700.76, 9858.15, 9654.80, 9373.01, 9234.82, 9325.18, 9043.94, 8441.49, 8504.89, 8723.94
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 5590.69, 5708.52, 6011.45, 6031.60, 6008.42, 5930.32, 5526.64, 5750.80, 5904.83, 5780.90, 5753.09, 6153.85, 6130.53, 6468.40, 6767.31, 7078.50, 7207.76, 7379.95, 7407.41, 7022.76, 7144.38, 7459.69, 7143.58, 6618.14, 6357.60, 5950.07, 6559.49, 6635.75, 7315.54, 7871.69, 7708.99, 7790.15, 8036.49, 8200.64, 8071.26, 8253.55, 8038.77, 8253.69, 8790.92, 9330.55, 9818.35, 10058.80, 9888.61, 10233.60, 10975.60, 11074.60, 11323.20, 11657.20, 11916.70, 14291.50, 17899.70, 16569.40, 15178.20, 15455.40, 16936.80, 17415.40, 16408.20, 16564.00, 17706.90, 19497.40, 19140.80, 19114.20, 17776.70, 16624.60, 15802.90, 13831.80, 14699.20, 13925.80, 14026.60, 16099.80, 15838.50, 14606.50, 14656.20, 12952.20, 14156.40, 13657.20, 14982.10, 15201.00, 15599.20, 17429.50, 17527.00, 16477.60, 15170.10, 14595.40, 14973.30, 13405.80, 13980.60, 14360.20, 13772.00, 13819.80.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2018-01-15]
Volume: 12750799872, RSI (14-day): 45.40, 50-day EMA: 13865.86, 200-day EMA: 8539.97
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
How Paycom Plans to Take Over the Payroll Software Industry: In many ways, Paycom Software (NYSE: PAYC) has been a perfect stock for investors -- putting up impressive top-line growth numbers while increasing margins and free cash flow over the last several years. With its all-in-one cloud-based solution that combines payroll along with multiple HR tasks, Paycom continues to make significant inroads with companies in its 50-to-2,000-employee target, primarily by stealing market share from ADP (NASDAQ: ADP) . During multiple conference appearances in November and December, Paycom CEO Chad Richison and CFO Craig Bolte provided new insights on the company's total addressable market and margin trends, its sales force, and why Paycom is staying laser-focused on its mid-market niche. A person using Paycom's expense reporting app on a smartphone Image source: Paycom Software. The 50-to-2,000-employee market is a gold mine Paycom's licensing agreements generally include a per-employee fee. That fact, coupled with some new business wins in the 2,000-to-8,000-employee range, has led many (including me) to speculate that Paycom may be trying to expand its sales efforts into larger companies. Richison, however, explained at a Dec. 5 tech summit that this is not the case. Typically what you'll see as you go way far upmarket, it's the same thing you experience in low market. They use less of a full solution. If you go to a 30,000-employee [company] using one of our competitors, they're primarily using them for payroll and tax depositing and filing. They've built the other software around it, and now they're integrating point solution providers. So if you go too far upmarket, you run into that type of decision tree. Likewise, if you're going small business, it's more referral based, and they might only need one of your products. Well, our value proposition is we have 29 modules and 1 database ... the value proposition there starts to break down if you go too high up-market or too low down-market. At a conference the next day, Richison provided more detail around how much opportunity still exists in the smaller-size companies Paycom targets. Story continues According to the U.S. Labor Bureau statistics, in 2009 ... there were 126 million workers in the U.S., and what we were able to identify at that time is about 50 million of them worked for companies in our sweet spot. And so as we take our total opportunity for any one employee, which is well over four-hundred dollars -- we have not updated that since our IPO, and we've released a lot of new products since then -- and so as we calculate that out, it's well over a $20 billion opportunity for us, and so that's what we're focused on is that mid-market. With so much untapped potential remaining in the market where its value proposition is the strongest, there's simply no need at this point for Paycom to pursue larger (or smaller) companies that would result in lower win rates. A sales force singularly focused on new business Paycom's current client base uses, on average, about one-third of Paycom's available software modules. So there's still a significant opportunity to cross-sell existing modules to current customers. However, Richison has a simple reason why the reps in the field don't waste their time on incremental dollars from existing clients: Landing new business -- when we represent 2% of the overall TAM [total addressable market] for us -- obviously that's the largest opportunity. Our outside sales reps don't go back into the client base after the clients have been on-boarded for longer than 30 days, so they're really focused on the hunting side. After a big run-up, margins may still have room to expand Paycom's adjusted EBITDA margin has risen dramatically in recent years -- from 16.7% in 2012 to 28.7% in 2016 -- and the company's latest guidance implies an adjusted EBITDA margin of around 31% for full-year 2017. CFO Craig Bolte said at a conference in November: We continue to update our kind of medium-term margin targets. We updated it about a year ago to go up to 30 to 33%. And like you said, we're really hitting that -- the bottom end of that -- already this year. You know one thing, we're really focused on growth. So this isn't levers we're trying to pull to increase our margins, it's just we're focused on growth and when we bring on the business we bring on, it follows similar margin profiles to the business we already have. So I think we're still kind of early on to start pulling those margin levers. Perhaps I'm over-focusing on a couple of words, but I think the fact that Bolte said "medium-term margin targets" in the above quote is telling. On previous conference calls, those adjusted EBITDA margin targets have been referred to as "long-term." To me, Bolte's comments clearly imply that there's another level Paycom believes it can achieve beyond the 30% to 33% target they've set. The grandest of ambitions Richison hasn't been afraid in the past to talk about big goals. He's mentioned the potential for 120 total U.S. sales offices (which currently number 45). He's discussed the company's ambitions of $1 billion in annual sales . In Paycom's most recent conference appearance, in early December, however, Richison spoke about the company's boldest objective yet -- to replace ADP as the industry leader. The quarter-to-quarter messaging is extremely important ... but we also know what we're working on as our overall goal, and that's to be the No. 1 in this industry. You know, people laughed at that four years ago, and I'm sure there's people laughing at that right now. But our value proposition remains extremely strong, and we're focused on that. Admittedly, that goal seems like the tallest of orders, given that ADP is more than 10 times Paycom's size by market cap, and reported $11.7 billion in revenue last year compared to Paycom's $329.1 million. But based solely on the success Paycom has had at ADP's expense over the last several years, I wouldn't want to bet against the company. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Andy Gould owns shares of Paycom Software. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Paycom Software. The Motley Fool recommends Automatic Data Processing. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || How Paycom Plans to Take Over the Payroll Software Industry: In many ways,Paycom Software(NYSE: PAYC)has been a perfect stock for investors -- putting up impressive top-line growth numbers while increasing margins and free cash flow over the last several years. With its all-in-one cloud-based solution that combines payroll along with multiple HR tasks, Paycom continues to make significant inroads with companies in its 50-to-2,000-employee target, primarily by stealing market share fromADP(NASDAQ: ADP).
During multiple conference appearances in November and December, Paycom CEO Chad Richison and CFO Craig Bolte provided new insights on the company's total addressable market and margin trends, its sales force, and why Paycom is staying laser-focused on its mid-market niche.
Image source: Paycom Software.
Paycom's licensing agreements generally include a per-employee fee. That fact, coupled with some new business wins in the 2,000-to-8,000-employee range, has led many (including me) to speculate that Paycom may be trying to expand its sales efforts into larger companies. Richison, however, explained at a Dec. 5 tech summit that this is not the case.
Typically what you'll see as you go way far upmarket, it's the same thing you experience in low market. They use less of a full solution. If you go to a 30,000-employee [company] using one of our competitors, they're primarily using them for payroll and tax depositing and filing. They've built the other software around it, and now they're integrating point solution providers. So if you go too far upmarket, you run into that type of decision tree. Likewise, if you're going small business, it's more referral based, and they might only need one of your products. Well, our value proposition is we have 29 modules and 1 database ... the value proposition there starts to break down if you go too high up-market or too low down-market.
At a conference the next day, Richison provided more detail around how much opportunity still exists in the smaller-size companies Paycom targets.
According to the U.S. Labor Bureau statistics, in 2009 ... there were 126 million workers in the U.S., and what we were able to identify at that time is about 50 million of them worked for companies in our sweet spot. And so as we take our total opportunity for any one employee, which is well over four-hundred dollars -- we have not updated that since our IPO, and we've released a lot of new products since then -- and so as we calculate that out, it's well over a $20 billion opportunity for us, and so that's what we're focused on is that mid-market.
With so much untapped potential remaining in the market where its value proposition is the strongest, there's simply no need at this point for Paycom to pursue larger (or smaller) companies that would result in lower win rates.
Paycom's current client base uses, on average, about one-third of Paycom's available software modules. So there's still a significant opportunity to cross-sell existing modules to current customers. However, Richison has a simple reason why the reps in the field don't waste their time on incremental dollars from existing clients:
Landing new business -- when we represent 2% of the overall TAM [total addressable market] for us -- obviously that's the largest opportunity. Our outside sales reps don't go back into the client base after the clients have been on-boarded for longer than 30 days, so they're really focused on the hunting side.
Paycom's adjusted EBITDA margin hasrisen dramaticallyin recent years -- from 16.7% in 2012 to 28.7% in 2016 -- and the company'slatest guidanceimplies an adjusted EBITDA margin of around 31% for full-year 2017. CFO Craig Bolte said at a conference in November:
We continue to update our kind of medium-term margin targets. We updated it about a year ago to go up to 30 to 33%. And like you said, we're really hitting that -- the bottom end of that -- already this year. You know one thing, we're really focused on growth. So this isn't levers we're trying to pull to increase our margins, it's just we're focused on growth and when we bring on the business we bring on, it follows similar margin profiles to the business we already have. So I think we're still kind of early on to start pulling those margin levers.
Perhaps I'm over-focusing on a couple of words, but I think the fact that Bolte said "medium-term margin targets" in the above quote is telling. On previous conference calls, those adjusted EBITDA margin targets have been referred to as "long-term." To me, Bolte's comments clearly imply that there's another level Paycom believes it can achieve beyond the 30% to 33% target they've set.
Richison hasn't been afraid in the past to talk about big goals. He's mentioned the potential for 120 total U.S. sales offices (which currently number 45). He's discussed the company's ambitions of$1 billion in annual sales. In Paycom's most recent conference appearance, in early December, however, Richison spoke about the company's boldest objective yet -- to replace ADP as the industry leader.
The quarter-to-quarter messaging is extremely important ... but we also know what we're working on as our overall goal, and that's to be the No. 1 in this industry. You know, people laughed at that four years ago, and I'm sure there's people laughing at that right now. But our value proposition remains extremely strong, and we're focused on that.
Admittedly, that goal seems like the tallest of orders, given that ADP is more than 10 times Paycom's size by market cap, and reported $11.7 billion in revenue last year compared to Paycom's $329.1 million. But based solely on the success Paycom has had at ADP's expense over the last several years, I wouldn't want to bet against the company.
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• 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices
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• 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing
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• The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss
• Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This
Andy Gouldowns shares of Paycom Software. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Paycom Software. The Motley Fool recommends Automatic Data Processing. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || 3 Reasons It's Smart to Take Social Security Benefits at 62: One of the biggest retirement decisions most of us will make is deciding when to start receiving our Social Security benefits. That's because the age at which you start collecting determines, to some degree, the size of the checks.
Take a few minutes to learn how the system works and why you might want to start collecting Social Security at age 62.
Image source: Getty Images.
You may be assuming that The Social Security Administration expects you to retire at 65, an age often thought of as the typical retirement age. Thatwasonce the official "full" retirement age at which people could start collecting their full benefits, but the rules were changed in 1983. The SSA now assigns our full retirement age based on the year we were born. For those born in 1937 or earlier, it's 65, for those born in 1960 or later, it's 67, and for those born between 1937 and 1960, it's somewhere in between.
Regardless of your full retirement age, you're allowed to start receiving your Social Security retirement benefits early as age 62 or as late as age 70. Most people start collecting Social Security at age 62 -- and here are three compelling reasons why you might want to do the same.
Despite the good plans we might make for how our lives should unfold, things often don't turn out as expected. Fully 46% of retirees left the workforce earlier than planned, according to the 2016 Retirement Confidence Survey, with 55% citing health problems or a disability as the reason and 24% citing changes at work such as a downsizing or workplace closure.
Since there's a not-insignificant chance that you'll end up retiring earlier than expected, it's nice to know you can start receiving income from Social Security at age 62. It's likely to be especially welcome at such a time, because those retiring ahead of schedule will have less money socked away to supporta comfortable retirementand may be in even greater need of Social Security dollars. (Indeed, a majority of elderly beneficiaries get 50% or more of their income from Social Security, while 23% of married ones and 43% of unmarried ones get fully90%or more of their income from it, according to the SSA.)
Image source: Getty Images.
Here's the main reason why many people choose to start collecting Social Security later than their full retirement age: The longer you wait, until age 70, the bigger your checks will be. For every year beyond your full retirement age that you delay, your benefits will increase in value by about 8% -- up to age 70. So if you delay from 67 to 70, you can make your checks about 24% bigger. That's a meaningful difference: If you were expecting to collect $2,000 per month ($24,000 per year), you would instead receive $2,480 per month (or nearly $30,000 annually).
Given that, it may seem like a no-brainer decision tohang on as long as you canbefore claiming your benefits. It's not, though. As the SSA has explained, "If you live to the average life expectancy for someone your age, you will receive about the same amount in lifetime benefits no matter whether you choose to start receiving benefits at age 62, full retirement age, age 70 or any age in between." In other words, the system is designed so that for those who live average-length lives, it will wash in terms of total benefits received no matter when you start collecting. After all, if you delay starting to collect from ages 67 to 70, you will miss out on three years' worth of payments (albeit smaller ones) -- that's 36 payments.
Delaying starting to collectdoesmake sense in some cases, of course. Maybe you're perfectly happy working and want to work until your late 60s or age 70 or beyond. Perhaps many people in your family have enjoyed very long lives, in which case collecting bigger checks for a longer-than-average time can be worth it. For many of us, however, delaying won't be very worthwhile.
Finally, here's a terrific reason to claim Social Security at age 62: It can help youretire early. That's true whether you need to retire early or you don't. Claiming your benefits early can be a smart move if your family tree is full of people who lived shorter-than-average lives. In case you end up being one of them, you might as well enjoy the money while you're still around. If you beat the odds and end up living a long life, you'll still be collecting benefits.
Early retirees enjoy the extra benefits of being not so old and often not so sick in their early retirement years, and thus, they can better enjoy active goals such as traveling, golfing, and gardening.
Crunch the numbers to see if retiring early would work for you. If it doesn't look like it would right now, consider beefing up your saving and investing. If you get more aggressive about it now, you may be able to shave a few years off your working life.
Since you probably have no idea how long you'll live, consider trying to retire early and starting to collect Social Security benefits as early as you can, possibly as early as age 62.
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The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || 3 Reasons It's Smart to Take Social Security Benefits at 62: One of the biggest retirement decisions most of us will make is deciding when to start receiving our Social Security benefits. That's because the age at which you start collecting determines, to some degree, the size of the checks. Take a few minutes to learn how the system works and why you might want to start collecting Social Security at age 62. Two lit birthday candles -- one is the number 6 and the the number 2 Image source: Getty Images. You "full" retirement age and when you can start collecting You may be assuming that The Social Security Administration expects you to retire at 65, an age often thought of as the typical retirement age. That was once the official "full" retirement age at which people could start collecting their full benefits, but the rules were changed in 1983. The SSA now assigns our full retirement age based on the year we were born. For those born in 1937 or earlier, it's 65, for those born in 1960 or later, it's 67, and for those born between 1937 and 1960, it's somewhere in between. Regardless of your full retirement age, you're allowed to start receiving your Social Security retirement benefits early as age 62 or as late as age 70. Most people start collecting Social Security at age 62 -- and here are three compelling reasons why you might want to do the same. Reason No. 1: You might simply have to start at 62 Despite the good plans we might make for how our lives should unfold, things often don't turn out as expected. Fully 46% of retirees left the workforce earlier than planned, according to the 2016 Retirement Confidence Survey, with 55% citing health problems or a disability as the reason and 24% citing changes at work such as a downsizing or workplace closure. Since there's a not-insignificant chance that you'll end up retiring earlier than expected, it's nice to know you can start receiving income from Social Security at age 62. It's likely to be especially welcome at such a time, because those retiring ahead of schedule will have less money socked away to support a comfortable retirement and may be in even greater need of Social Security dollars. (Indeed, a majority of elderly beneficiaries get 50% or more of their income from Social Security, while 23% of married ones and 43% of unmarried ones get fully 90% or more of their income from it, according to the SSA.) Story continues social security card nestled among U.S. currency bills Image source: Getty Images. Reason No. 2: It's (probably) a wash Here's the main reason why many people choose to start collecting Social Security later than their full retirement age: The longer you wait, until age 70, the bigger your checks will be. For every year beyond your full retirement age that you delay, your benefits will increase in value by about 8% -- up to age 70. So if you delay from 67 to 70, you can make your checks about 24% bigger. That's a meaningful difference: If you were expecting to collect $2,000 per month ($24,000 per year), you would instead receive $2,480 per month (or nearly $30,000 annually). Given that, it may seem like a no-brainer decision to hang on as long as you can before claiming your benefits. It's not, though. As the SSA has explained, "If you live to the average life expectancy for someone your age, you will receive about the same amount in lifetime benefits no matter whether you choose to start receiving benefits at age 62, full retirement age, age 70 or any age in between." In other words, the system is designed so that for those who live average-length lives, it will wash in terms of total benefits received no matter when you start collecting. After all, if you delay starting to collect from ages 67 to 70, you will miss out on three years' worth of payments (albeit smaller ones) -- that's 36 payments. Delaying starting to collect does make sense in some cases, of course. Maybe you're perfectly happy working and want to work until your late 60s or age 70 or beyond. Perhaps many people in your family have enjoyed very long lives, in which case collecting bigger checks for a longer-than-average time can be worth it. For many of us, however, delaying won't be very worthwhile. Reason No. 3: Claiming Social Security early may help you retire early Finally, here's a terrific reason to claim Social Security at age 62: It can help you retire early . That's true whether you need to retire early or you don't. Claiming your benefits early can be a smart move if your family tree is full of people who lived shorter-than-average lives. In case you end up being one of them, you might as well enjoy the money while you're still around. If you beat the odds and end up living a long life, you'll still be collecting benefits. Early retirees enjoy the extra benefits of being not so old and often not so sick in their early retirement years, and thus, they can better enjoy active goals such as traveling, golfing, and gardening. Crunch the numbers to see if retiring early would work for you. If it doesn't look like it would right now, consider beefing up your saving and investing. If you get more aggressive about it now, you may be able to shave a few years off your working life. Since you probably have no idea how long you'll live, consider trying to retire early and starting to collect Social Security benefits as early as you can, possibly as early as age 62. Related: For more news videos visit Yahoo View . More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Intel and Micron Dissolve 3D NAND Partnership: For many years, chip giantIntel(NASDAQ: INTC)and memory specialistMicron(NASDAQ: MU)worked together to develop NAND flash memory technology.
NAND flash is a type of nonvolatile memory -- that is, a kind of memory that retains the information stored on it even when it's not connected to power -- that's commonly used in a wide range of applications.
Image source: Intel.
Smartphones, tablets, personal computers, and major data centers all rely on NAND flash for some, if not all, of their storage needs. Advances in NAND flash over the years by major industry players have led to larger storage capacities and lower cost per unit of storage, which has ultimately spurred adoption of the technology.
On Jan. 8, Intel and Micron announced that they had agreed to "work independently on future generations of 3D NAND" -- effectively dissolving their long-standing partnership with respect to NAND technology development.
Let's take a closer look at the details and the potential implications.
Intel and Micron say that they have "agreed to complete the development of their third-generation 3D NAND technology, which will be delivered toward the end of this year and extending into early 2019."
After that, Intel and Micron will go their separate ways with respect to NAND technology development.
Intel executive Rob Crooke, who runs the company's nonvolatile memory solutions group, said in a statement that Intel and Micron have "reached a point in the NAND development partnership where it is the right time for the companies to pursue the markets we're focused on."
The company didn't elaborate further onwhyit's the right time for this separation.
It's worth noting, though, that Intel and Micron say that they're going to keep collaborating on the companies' jointly developed3D XPoint technology, which is faster than NAND flash but more expensive to produce.
Ultimately, I see several big-picture implications from the dissolution of this partnership. The first is that since both companies no longer intend to pool their engineering resources on NAND flash development, each company is going to need to fill in the gaps internally.
This could ultimately lead to increased research and development expenses for both Intel and Micron, leading to reduced profitability. The extent of the profit reduction from here would ultimately depend on how close each company was to having independent technology development teams in the first place.
Image source: Intel.
Perhaps the more interesting implication is the potential for Micron and Intel to become more aggressive competitors for each other. Today, Intel generally focuses on select areas of the NAND flash market -- high-performance storage devices for data center and high-end personal computer use.
Micron is more of a generalist, supplying NAND flash into the segments that Intel does, as well as other areas where Intel doesn't play, such as the smartphone memory market.
In the years ahead, we could see Intelmore aggressively expandinto new areas of the NAND flash market or step up its efforts in areas that it participates in only cursorily. Micron, too, could double down on its efforts in areas that Intel is strong in, such as data center storage.
More aggressive competition could have a negative impact on industrywide NAND flash pricing, reducing the profitability of the industry as a whole.
Given that nonvolatile memory is a small adjacent business for Intel today while Micron is a dedicated memory specialist, Intel probably has more to gain and less to lose from ending this partnership than Micron does.
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Ashraf Eassaowns shares of Intel. The Motley Fool recommends Intel. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Intel and Micron Dissolve 3D NAND Partnership: For many years, chip giant Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) and memory specialist Micron (NASDAQ: MU) worked together to develop NAND flash memory technology. NAND flash is a type of nonvolatile memory -- that is, a kind of memory that retains the information stored on it even when it's not connected to power -- that's commonly used in a wide range of applications. A wafer of 3D XPoint memory. Image source: Intel. Smartphones, tablets, personal computers, and major data centers all rely on NAND flash for some, if not all, of their storage needs. Advances in NAND flash over the years by major industry players have led to larger storage capacities and lower cost per unit of storage, which has ultimately spurred adoption of the technology. On Jan. 8, Intel and Micron announced that they had agreed to "work independently on future generations of 3D NAND" -- effectively dissolving their long-standing partnership with respect to NAND technology development. Let's take a closer look at the details and the potential implications. Going at it alone Intel and Micron say that they have "agreed to complete the development of their third-generation 3D NAND technology, which will be delivered toward the end of this year and extending into early 2019." After that, Intel and Micron will go their separate ways with respect to NAND technology development. Intel executive Rob Crooke, who runs the company's nonvolatile memory solutions group, said in a statement that Intel and Micron have "reached a point in the NAND development partnership where it is the right time for the companies to pursue the markets we're focused on." The company didn't elaborate further on why it's the right time for this separation. It's worth noting, though, that Intel and Micron say that they're going to keep collaborating on the companies' jointly developed 3D XPoint technology , which is faster than NAND flash but more expensive to produce. The implications Ultimately, I see several big-picture implications from the dissolution of this partnership. The first is that since both companies no longer intend to pool their engineering resources on NAND flash development, each company is going to need to fill in the gaps internally. Story continues This could ultimately lead to increased research and development expenses for both Intel and Micron, leading to reduced profitability. The extent of the profit reduction from here would ultimately depend on how close each company was to having independent technology development teams in the first place. An Intel data center solid state drive. Image source: Intel. Perhaps the more interesting implication is the potential for Micron and Intel to become more aggressive competitors for each other. Today, Intel generally focuses on select areas of the NAND flash market -- high-performance storage devices for data center and high-end personal computer use. Micron is more of a generalist, supplying NAND flash into the segments that Intel does, as well as other areas where Intel doesn't play, such as the smartphone memory market. In the years ahead, we could see Intel more aggressively expand into new areas of the NAND flash market or step up its efforts in areas that it participates in only cursorily. Micron, too, could double down on its efforts in areas that Intel is strong in, such as data center storage. More aggressive competition could have a negative impact on industrywide NAND flash pricing, reducing the profitability of the industry as a whole. Given that nonvolatile memory is a small adjacent business for Intel today while Micron is a dedicated memory specialist, Intel probably has more to gain and less to lose from ending this partnership than Micron does. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Ashraf Eassa owns shares of Intel. The Motley Fool recommends Intel. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Better Buy: Infinera vs. Skyworks: The world becomes more connected every day. The Internet of Things (IoT) -- the infrastructure linking the billions of connected devices to one another and the cloud -- represents a huge growth opportunity for tech companies. There could be 20.4 billion connected devices by 2020, according to Gartner . Research firm IDC estimates that worldwide spending on the IoT could increase to $1.4 trillion by 2021, up from about $800 billion in 2017. Two companies that could benefit from this huge growth trend are Skyworks Solutions (NASDAQ: SWKS) and Infinera (NASDAQ: INFN) . In the company's fourth-quarter conference call, transcribed by S&P Global Market Intelligence , Skyworks CEO Liam Griffin could hardly contain his excitement as he talked about the rapid expansion the connected economy could experience in the coming years: ... [T]he ubiquitous connected economy is gaining significant momentum and enhancing the way we live, work, play, and educate. The growth opportunity is enormous. Global mobile data usage is expected to grow 5x between 2017 and 2021. IoT volumes are exploding with 75 billion devices projected by 2025. And there is still the opportunity to connect the unconnected, which, today, represents over 2 billion people worldwide. In parallel, the applications driving our business are expanding to now include connected homes, autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, wearables, as well as network infrastructure. Let's take a closer look at each of these two companies, examining what they do, how they are growing and valued, and what their prospects look like, to determine which represents a better potential investment. The letters "IoT" with icons of different devices that are connected. Both Skyworks Solutions and Infinera Corporation help the Internet of Things stay connected. Image source: Getty Images. A close look at Skyworks Skyworks Solutions designs and manufactures radio frequency (RF) chips for a number of different devices from smartphones and smartwatches to automobiles and refrigerators. In today's connected world, there is virtually no appliance or device that can't be connected. These chips, the company says, allow devices to connect to "a broad set of wireless protocols including cellular LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, LoRa, Thread, and Zigbee." The steadily rising number of connected devices and the coming shift to 5G should provide huge tailwinds for Skyworks for years to come. Story continues In the company's fourth quarter, Skyworks delivered record numbers: Revenues grew to $984.6 million, an 18% increase year over year, and net income rose to $281.3 million, a 14% increase year over year. The company is guiding for revenue to be up to $1.05 billion and non- GAAP earnings per share (EPS) to come in at $1.91. What makes Skyworks particularly compelling right now is its relatively attractive valuation. Based on the company's full fiscal year adjusted EPS of $6.45, the stock is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of about 16 as of the time of writing. Skyworks's balance sheet is pristine: It ended 2017 with about $1.6 billion in cash and no debt. The company also pays a rising dividend and allocated $432 million to share buybacks last year. Skyworks Solutions Metrics 2017 Q4 2016 Q4 Change Revenue $984.6 million $835.4 million 18% EPS (GAAP) $1.51 $1.31 15% Operating Margin 35.1% 34.9% 20 basis points The biggest risk facing Skyworks is its customer concentration . While its IoT sales are growing, a disproportionate amount of its revenue still comes from large smartphone manufacturers including Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) , Samsung , and Huawei . In the company's fourth-quarter conference call, CFO Kris Sennesael said, in terms of percentage of total revenue, sales to Apple are "in the high 30s," Samsung is in the "low teens," and Huawei is about 10%. If any of these smartphone makers ever took their production of RF chips in-house or looked to another supplier, it would represent a significant hit to Skyworks's top and bottom lines. A close look at Infinera The company's annual 10-K filing states that Infinera "provides optical transport networking equipment, software, and services" to telecoms, internet content providers, and cable providers. Essentially, Infinera allows carriers to boost their capacity over long- and short-distance networks without installing more optical fiber. As the use of high-speed internet and mobile networks increase, these types of products should be in high demand. In the company's second-quarter conference call, CEO Thomas Fallon confirmed the robust long-term demand for his company's products and services: As you look to fiber densification in the metro for both 5G and for what the cable guys are doing, as you look the advent of more and more cloud networking, there is more and more as a percentage of optical networking going in to enable new communications infrastructure than has ever been possible. That makes the environment, quite frankly, a healthy demand environment. Unfortunately, Infinera has had a hard time translating the world's insatiable appetite for more data into profits. In the company's third quarter, revenue did creep up 3.6% to $192.6 million, but the company could not turn a profit. The company's diluted EPS was a loss of $0.25, compared to last year's third-quarter losses of just $0.08. Because the company did not turn a profit in 2017, Infinera's stock does not sport a price-to-earnings ratio, but its price-to-sales ratio is just about 1.5. One of the biggest problems for Infinera is the intense competition it faces from others in the space, such as Ciena . This competition has created what Fallon described as "difficult pricing conditions" in the company's second-quarter conference call. None of this is helped by the "relatively weak" spending by major telecom companies and cable providers, two of Infinera's biggest class of customers. In the company's third-quarter earnings release, Infinera also announced a cost-cutting program implemented to return the company to profitability as soon as possible, hopefully by the second half of 2018. The final verdict If pricing pressure lessens and if the spending cycle of networks and internet service providers improves, it might then be possible to make a bull case for Infinera. But those are a lot of "ifs." Skyworks represents a better investment opportunity by nearly every metric that matters: value, revenue and earnings growth, and future opportunities. Skyworks is already showing it can grow with the IoT as its tailwind, and the coming shift to 5G should provide it another major boost to the company's revenue. The company is immensely profitable, with fattening operating margins and double-digit revenue and earnings growth. Kick in a shareholder-friendly management that is committed to responsibly buying back shares and raising its dividend, and I believe shareholders have a market-beating investment for years to come. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Matthew Cochrane owns shares of Skyworks Solutions. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple, Infinera, and Skyworks Solutions. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple, short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple, and short January 2018 $105 calls on Skyworks Solutions. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Better Buy: Infinera vs. Skyworks: The world becomes more connected every day. TheInternet of Things (IoT)-- the infrastructure linking the billions of connected devices to one another and the cloud -- represents a huge growth opportunity for tech companies. There could be 20.4 billion connected devices by 2020, according toGartner. Research firm IDC estimates that worldwide spending on the IoT could increase to $1.4 trillion by 2021, up from about $800 billion in 2017.
Two companies that could benefit from this huge growth trend areSkyworks Solutions(NASDAQ: SWKS)andInfinera(NASDAQ: INFN). In the company's fourth-quarter conference call, transcribed byS&P Global Market Intelligence, Skyworks CEO Liam Griffin could hardly contain his excitement as he talked about the rapid expansion the connected economy could experience in the coming years:
... [T]he ubiquitous connected economy is gaining significant momentum and enhancing the way we live, work, play, and educate. The growth opportunity is enormous. Global mobile data usage is expected to grow 5x between 2017 and 2021. IoT volumes are exploding with 75 billion devices projected by 2025. And there is still the opportunity to connect the unconnected, which, today, represents over 2 billion people worldwide. In parallel, the applications driving our business are expanding to now include connected homes, autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, wearables, as well as network infrastructure.
Let's take a closer look at each of these two companies, examining what they do, how they are growing and valued, and what their prospects look like, to determine which represents a better potential investment.
Both Skyworks Solutions and Infinera Corporation help the Internet of Things stay connected. Image source: Getty Images.
Skyworks Solutions designs and manufactures radio frequency (RF) chips for a number of different devices from smartphones and smartwatches to automobiles and refrigerators. In today's connected world, there is virtually no appliance or device that can't be connected. These chips, the company says, allow devices to connect to "a broad set of wireless protocols including cellular LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, LoRa, Thread, and Zigbee." The steadily rising number of connected devices and the coming shift to 5G should providehuge tailwindsfor Skyworks for years to come.
In the company's fourth quarter, Skyworks delivered record numbers: Revenues grew to $984.6 million, an 18% increase year over year, and net income rose to $281.3 million, a 14% increase year over year. The company is guiding for revenue to be up to $1.05 billion and non-GAAPearnings per share (EPS) to come in at $1.91. What makes Skyworks particularly compelling right now is its relatively attractive valuation. Based on the company's full fiscal year adjusted EPS of $6.45, the stock is trading at aprice-to-earnings ratioof about 16 as of the time of writing. Skyworks's balance sheet is pristine: It ended 2017 with about $1.6 billion in cash and no debt. The company also pays arising dividendand allocated $432 million to share buybacks last year.
[{"Skyworks Solutions Metrics": "Revenue", "2017 Q4": "$984.6 million", "2016 Q4": "$835.4 million", "Change": "18%"}, {"Skyworks Solutions Metrics": "EPS (GAAP)", "2017 Q4": "$1.51", "2016 Q4": "$1.31", "Change": "15%"}, {"Skyworks Solutions Metrics": "Operating Margin", "2017 Q4": "35.1%", "2016 Q4": "34.9%", "Change": "20 basis points"}]
The biggest risk facing Skyworks is itscustomer concentration. While its IoT sales are growing, a disproportionate amount of its revenue still comes from large smartphone manufacturers includingApple Inc(NASDAQ: AAPL),Samsung, andHuawei. In the company's fourth-quarter conference call, CFO Kris Sennesael said, in terms of percentage of total revenue, sales to Apple are "in the high 30s," Samsung is in the "low teens," and Huawei is about 10%. If any of these smartphone makers ever took their production of RF chips in-house or looked to another supplier, it would represent a significant hit to Skyworks's top and bottom lines.
The company's annual 10-K filing states that Infinera "provides optical transport networking equipment, software, and services" to telecoms, internet content providers, and cable providers. Essentially, Infinera allows carriers to boost their capacity over long- and short-distance networks without installing more optical fiber. As the use of high-speed internet and mobile networks increase, these types of products should be in high demand. In the company's second-quarter conference call, CEO Thomas Fallon confirmed the robust long-term demand for his company's products and services:
As you look to fiber densification in the metro for both 5G and for what the cable guys are doing, as you look the advent of more and more cloud networking, there is more and more as a percentage of optical networking going in to enable new communications infrastructure than has ever been possible. That makes the environment, quite frankly, a healthy demand environment.
Unfortunately, Infinera has had ahard timetranslating the world's insatiable appetite for more data into profits. In the company's third quarter, revenue did creep up 3.6% to $192.6 million, but the company could not turn a profit. The company's diluted EPS was a loss of $0.25, compared to last year's third-quarter losses of just $0.08. Because the company did not turn a profit in 2017, Infinera's stock does not sport a price-to-earnings ratio, but itsprice-to-sales ratiois just about 1.5.
One of the biggest problems for Infinera is theintense competitionit faces from others in the space, such asCiena. This competition has created what Fallon described as "difficult pricing conditions" in the company's second-quarter conference call. None of this is helped by the "relatively weak" spending by major telecom companies and cable providers, two of Infinera's biggest class of customers. In the company's third-quarter earnings release, Infinera also announced acost-cutting programimplemented to return the company to profitability as soon as possible, hopefully by the second half of 2018.
If pricing pressure lessens and if the spending cycle of networks and internet service providers improves, it might then be possible to make a bull case for Infinera. But those are a lot of "ifs."
Skyworks represents a better investment opportunity by nearly every metric that matters: value, revenue and earnings growth, and future opportunities. Skyworks is already showing it can grow with the IoT as its tailwind, and the coming shift to 5G should provide it another major boost to the company's revenue. The company is immensely profitable, with fattening operating margins and double-digit revenue and earnings growth. Kick in a shareholder-friendly management that is committed to responsibly buying back shares and raising its dividend, and I believe shareholders have a market-beating investment for years to come.
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Matthew Cochraneowns shares of Skyworks Solutions. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple, Infinera, and Skyworks Solutions. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple, short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple, and short January 2018 $105 calls on Skyworks Solutions. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || The 2 Ways Apple Will Probably Spend Its Cash Hoard in 2018: Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has enough money to scoop up companies like a kid in a candy store. The tech giant had about $285 billion in cash to play with as of the end of 2017, according to estimates from Moody's Investor Service . That's slightly more than the $268.9 billion cash pile Apple reported for the quarter ended Sept. 30. More importantly, it represents about a 16% increase over its 2016 year-end cash hoard of $246 billion. Tech companies as a whole are doing well on this front, according to the Moody's report. The top five non-financial cash holders in the U.S. are all technology companies, including Apple, Microsoft , Google parent Alphabet , Cisco , and Oracle . But Apple definitely wins the cash flow race, accounting for nearly 15% of all cash in the non-financial corporate sector. In the past, Apple has struggled with investing back in the U.S. because the vast majority of its cash is held overseas. With the passage of tax reform, Apple can now bring cash back to the U.S. with just a one-time 15.5% tax versus the previous 35% tax rate. That's $52 billion in cash savings. "You want people to use this money in the United States to invest more," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in an interview on CNBC in May. So what could Apple, a company that seemingly has everything, do with its pocket money? Let's take a look. Apple's Steve Jobs Theater is shown with its rounded glass outer wall and a blue sky background Apple recently spent a hunk of change on its new campus, including its new Steve Jobs Theater pictured above. Image source: Apple. One major acquisition -- or the same old smaller deals Some people have been begging Apple to step out of its comfort zone and make a half-exciting purchase that will help it expand its revenue streams outside of the iPhone. Apple's biggest acquisition to date was its $3 billion purchase in 2014 of headphone maker Beats Electronics and music streaming service Beats Music. Most recently, Apple scooped up music-discovery app Shazam for a reported $400 million to help it compete with top music subscription company Spotify. Story continues Now, with Apple making a tentative step into original content last year, some analysts are wondering if the company might take a leap and buy Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) to help it compete in the media space. This would make Apple the industry leader overnight. The deal would be a welcomed shortcut for Apple considering Netflix is a well-known brand that already holds content rights for a number of beloved shows and movies. Apple could roll Netflix's $9.99 per month video services into a package deal with its $9.99 per month Apple Music services for $20 per month. Then users could have their music and video content in one spot and sync it across all of their devices. However, there are some obvious hurdles here. First, Apple would need to find a way to keep Netflix open to non-iOS users so Netflix wouldn't lose customers. Second, Netflix's market cap is currently $92 billion and it's trading at a P/E ratio of 213.99 for the trailing 12 months. In other words, Apple would need to pay a premium to Netflix's current price. There are definitely issues that make me think the two companies are better off staying separate and concentrating on their strengths. But it would also be nice for Netflix to have more money to put into additional content. In 2018, Netflix expects to spend $7 billion to $8 billion on content, Netflix CFO David Wells said on the latest earnings call. Maybe it won't be Netflix, but the point is that Apple will have a good bit of cash to play around with that it didn't previously have. This gives it more freedom with acquisitions, so while Apple has typically stuck to smaller acquisitions, 2018 might be the year it departs from that strategy. In fact, a GBH research note seen by the website 9to5mac says Apple will probably bring $200 billion of its overseas cash back to the U.S. to be used partly for "larger M&A." The firm hinted that Netflix is probably out of the question as it expects the deals to still stay under $2 billion, but also noted that it's time Apple made an "aggressive" buy in the media sector. Meanwhile, famed Apple analyst and Loup Ventures co-founder Gene Munster said he expects Apple to bring back $214 billion to the U.S. but doesn't expect its M&A strategy to change. Munster believes Apple will continue making "sub-$1b technology acquisitions." I tend to agree with Munster because Apple doesn't like to rock the boat too much. That's not how it does things. As much as possible, Apple still likes to build its own products and keep to itself. In addition, Apple's stock is doing very well on its own with a price increase of 48% in the past year. AAPL Chart More generous buybacks and dividends Apple has sponsored a generous capital return program since 2012, and I expect it to continue. Since 2014, Apple has returned a stunning $234 billion to shareholders through dividends and repurchases. Of that chunk of change, about $61 billion was dedicated to dividends, while a much larger $166 billion went to buybacks. "We have now completed almost $234 billion of our $300 billion capital return program, including $166 billion in share repurchases," Apple CFO Luca Maestri said in the company's latest earnings call. Munster also expects Apple to increase its dividend and buyback program. He expects Apple to buy back $69 billion worth of stock over the next three to four years and to increase its annual dividend by 15%, which is on top of the two 10% increases announced in April of 2017 and 2016. Because Apple will continue to generate cash over this period, Munster doesn't expect a big change in the company's 2022 cash ending balance from today. So while it's exciting to imagine an Apple and Netflix combo, I think the reality is a bit mundane. I think Apple will continue to make smaller technology acquisitions, perhaps throwing in a midsize deal somewhere in there, while also increasing its buybacks and dividend. But I can't blame Apple. It's been a steady growth stock for so long partly because it has stuck with what works best for it. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Teresa Kersten is an employee of LinkedIn and is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft. Natalie Walters has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Apple, and Netflix. The Motley Fool owns shares of Oracle and has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool recommends Cisco Systems. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || The 2 Ways Apple Will Probably Spend Its Cash Hoard in 2018: Apple(NASDAQ: AAPL)has enough money to scoop up companies like a kid in a candy store.
The tech giant had about $285 billion in cash to play with as of the end of 2017, according to estimates fromMoody's Investor Service. That's slightly more than the $268.9 billion cash pile Apple reported for the quarter ended Sept. 30.
More importantly, it represents about a 16% increase over its 2016 year-end cash hoard of $246 billion.
Tech companies as a whole are doing well on this front, according to the Moody's report. The top five non-financial cash holders in the U.S. are all technology companies, including Apple,Microsoft, Google parentAlphabet,Cisco, andOracle.
But Apple definitely wins the cash flow race, accounting for nearly 15% of all cash in the non-financial corporate sector.
In the past, Apple has struggled with investing back in the U.S. because the vast majority of its cash is held overseas. With the passage of tax reform, Apple can nowbring cash back to the U.S.with just a one-time 15.5% tax versus the previous 35% tax rate. That's $52 billion in cash savings.
"You want people to use this money in the United States to invest more," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in an interview on CNBC in May.
So what could Apple, a company that seemingly has everything, do with its pocket money? Let's take a look.
Apple recently spent a hunk of change on its new campus, including its new Steve Jobs Theater pictured above. Image source: Apple.
Some people have been begging Apple to step out of its comfort zone and make a half-exciting purchase that will help it expand its revenue streams outside of the iPhone.
Apple's biggest acquisition to date was its $3 billion purchase in 2014 of headphone maker Beats Electronics and music streaming service Beats Music. Most recently, Applescooped up music-discovery app Shazamfor a reported $400 million to help it compete with top music subscription company Spotify.
Now, with Apple making a tentative step into original content last year, some analysts are wondering if the company mighttake a leap and buyNetflix(NASDAQ: NFLX)to help it compete in the media space. This would make Apple the industry leader overnight. The deal would be a welcomed shortcut for Apple considering Netflix is a well-known brand that already holds content rights for a number of beloved shows and movies.
Apple could roll Netflix's $9.99 per month video services into a package deal with its $9.99 per month Apple Music services for $20 per month. Then users could have their music and video content in one spot and sync it across all of their devices.
However, there are some obvious hurdles here. First, Apple would need to find a way to keep Netflix open to non-iOS users so Netflix wouldn't lose customers. Second, Netflix's market cap is currently $92 billion and it's trading at a P/E ratio of 213.99 for the trailing 12 months. In other words, Apple would need to pay a premium to Netflix's current price.
There are definitely issues that make me think the two companies are better off staying separate and concentrating on their strengths. But it would also be nice for Netflix to have more money to put into additional content. In 2018, Netflix expects to spend $7 billion to $8 billion on content, Netflix CFO David Wells said on the latest earnings call.
Maybe it won't be Netflix, but the point is that Apple will have a good bit of cash to play around with that it didn't previously have. This gives it more freedom with acquisitions, so while Apple has typically stuck to smaller acquisitions, 2018 might be the year it departs from that strategy.
In fact, a GBH research note seen by the website 9to5mac says Apple will probably bring $200 billion of its overseas cash back to the U.S. to be used partly for "larger M&A." The firm hinted that Netflix is probably out of the question as it expects the deals to still stay under $2 billion, but also noted that it's time Apple made an "aggressive" buy in the media sector.
Meanwhile, famed Apple analyst and Loup Ventures co-founder Gene Munster said he expects Apple to bring back $214 billion to the U.S. but doesn't expect its M&A strategy to change. Munster believes Apple will continue making "sub-$1b technology acquisitions."
I tend to agree with Munster because Apple doesn't like to rock the boat too much. That's not how it does things. As much as possible, Apple still likes to build its own products and keep to itself. In addition, Apple's stock is doing very well on its own with a price increase of 48% in the past year.
Apple has sponsored a generous capital return program since 2012, and I expect it to continue. Since 2014, Apple has returned a stunning $234 billion to shareholders through dividends and repurchases.
Of that chunk of change, about $61 billion was dedicated to dividends, while a much larger $166 billion went to buybacks. "We have now completed almost $234 billion of our $300 billion capital return program, including $166 billion in share repurchases," Apple CFO Luca Maestri said in the company's latest earnings call.
Munster also expects Apple to increase its dividend and buyback program. He expects Apple to buy back $69 billion worth of stock over the next three to four years and to increase its annual dividend by 15%, which is on top of the two 10% increases announced in April of 2017 and 2016. Because Apple will continue to generate cash over this period, Munster doesn't expect a big change in the company's 2022 cash ending balance from today.
So while it's exciting to imagine an Apple and Netflix combo, I think the reality is a bit mundane. I think Apple will continue to make smaller technology acquisitions, perhaps throwing in a midsize deal somewhere in there, while also increasing its buybacks and dividend. But I can't blame Apple. It's been a steady growth stock for so long partly because it has stuck with what works best for it.
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• 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today
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• Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This
Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Teresa Kersten is an employee of LinkedIn and is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft.Natalie Waltershas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Apple, and Netflix. The Motley Fool owns shares of Oracle and has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool recommends Cisco Systems. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Kraken Bitcoin Exchange Reopens After Two Anxious Days: Kraken, a major North American cryptocurrency exchange and the fifth-largest globally, came back online Saturday after an exceptionally long maintenance outage that fueled anxiety among users. It's a happy ending to what some feared could become yet another in a line of ignominious cryptocurrency exchange collapses. Kraken initially shut down last Thursday for what was projected to be two hours of maintenance. But the planned fix, a complete revamp of their trading engine, didn't go smoothly . The exchange provided regular, contrite updates as staff hunted what was described as "an elusive bug." All trading and withdrawals were suspended during the process. Despite fairly solid communication about the situation, some Bitcoiners began having flashbacks to catastrophic exchange failures of the past, including the 2014 collapse of Japan's Mt. Gox, then the world's largest Bitcoin exchange. That shutdown cost traders nearly half a billion dollars worth of Bitcoin -- at a price vastly lower than today's. Get Data Sheet , Fortune's technology newsletter. Dozens of other exchanges have been closed after hacks or other errors, most recently including South Korea's Youbit . Such failures expose investors to major losses because exchanges hold both cryptocurrency and conventional funds on traders' behalf. Most cryptocurrency veterans encourage investors to store cryptocurrency locally to minimize that risk. In Kraken's case, though, everything turned out fine. The exchange finally came back online Saturday , with all client funds reportedly intact. As a kind of apology to users, Kraken has reduced non-margin trading fees to zero until the end of the month. Kraken, along with Coinbase, are showing that a bitcoin exchange can be professional, trustworthy, and regulated. There is still, though, a gigantic elephant in the room -- Bitfinex, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, is still the target of serious skepticism. Most recently, it was discovered that Bitfinex was closely linked to a cryptocurrency called Tether, a relationship some argued exposes the entire cryptocurrency market to systemic risk. Story continues See original article on Fortune.com More from Fortune.com Exclusive: Metropolitan Bank Halts International Cryptocurrency-Related Wire Transfers Bitcoin Ups and Downs, Securing 'Star Wars', TIME's New Cyber Book Way Too Many People Are Using Credit Cards to Buy Bitcoin Bitcoin Exchange Kraken Goes Down for 40 Hours, Drawing Mt. Gox Comparisons KFC Introduces a Bucket That Can Only Be Paid for in Bitcoin || Kraken Bitcoin Exchange Reopens After Two Anxious Days: Kraken, a major North American cryptocurrency exchange and the fifth-largest globally, came back online Saturday after an exceptionally long maintenance outage that fueled anxiety among users. It's a happy ending to what some feared could become yet another in a line of ignominious cryptocurrency exchange collapses.
Kraken initially shut down last Thursday for what was projected to be two hours of maintenance. But the planned fix, a complete revamp of their trading engine,didn't go smoothly. The exchange provided regular, contrite updates as staff hunted what was described as"an elusive bug."All trading and withdrawals were suspended during the process.
Despite fairly solid communication about the situation, some Bitcoiners began havingflashbacksto catastrophic exchange failures of the past, including the 2014collapseof Japan's Mt. Gox, then the world's largest Bitcoin exchange. That shutdown cost traders nearly half a billion dollars worth of Bitcoin -- at a price vastly lower than today's.
Get Data Sheet,Fortune'stechnology newsletter.
Dozensof other exchanges have been closed after hacks or other errors, most recently including South Korea'sYoubit. Such failures expose investors to major losses because exchanges hold both cryptocurrency and conventional funds on traders' behalf. Most cryptocurrency veterans encourage investors tostore cryptocurrency locallyto minimize that risk.
In Kraken's case, though, everything turned out fine. The exchange finally came back onlineSaturday, with all client funds reportedly intact. As a kind of apology to users, Kraken has reduced non-margin trading fees to zero until the end of the month.
Kraken, along with Coinbase, are showing that a bitcoin exchange can be professional, trustworthy, and regulated. There is still, though, a gigantic elephant in the room -- Bitfinex, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, is still the target of serious skepticism. Most recently, it was discovered that Bitfinex was closely linked to a cryptocurrency called Tether, a relationshipsome arguedexposes the entire cryptocurrency market to systemic risk.
See original article on Fortune.com
More from Fortune.com
• Exclusive: Metropolitan Bank Halts International Cryptocurrency-Related Wire Transfers
• Bitcoin Ups and Downs, Securing 'Star Wars', TIME's New Cyber Book
• Way Too Many People Are Using Credit Cards to Buy Bitcoin
• Bitcoin Exchange Kraken Goes Down for 40 Hours, Drawing Mt. Gox Comparisons
• KFC Introduces a Bucket That Can Only Be Paid for in Bitcoin || Kraken Bitcoin Exchange Reopens After Two Anxious Days: Kraken, a major North American cryptocurrency exchange and the fifth-largest globally, came back online Saturday after an exceptionally long maintenance outage that fueled anxiety among users. It's a happy ending to what some feared could become yet another in a line of ignominious cryptocurrency exchange collapses.
Kraken initially shut down last Thursday for what was projected to be two hours of maintenance. But the planned fix, a complete revamp of their trading engine,didn't go smoothly. The exchange provided regular, contrite updates as staff hunted what was described as"an elusive bug."All trading and withdrawals were suspended during the process.
Despite fairly solid communication about the situation, some Bitcoiners began havingflashbacksto catastrophic exchange failures of the past, including the 2014collapseof Japan's Mt. Gox, then the world's largest Bitcoin exchange. That shutdown cost traders nearly half a billion dollars worth of Bitcoin -- at a price vastly lower than today's.
Get Data Sheet,Fortune'stechnology newsletter.
Dozensof other exchanges have been closed after hacks or other errors, most recently including South Korea'sYoubit. Such failures expose investors to major losses because exchanges hold both cryptocurrency and conventional funds on traders' behalf. Most cryptocurrency veterans encourage investors tostore cryptocurrency locallyto minimize that risk.
In Kraken's case, though, everything turned out fine. The exchange finally came back onlineSaturday, with all client funds reportedly intact. As a kind of apology to users, Kraken has reduced non-margin trading fees to zero until the end of the month.
Kraken, along with Coinbase, are showing that a bitcoin exchange can be professional, trustworthy, and regulated. There is still, though, a gigantic elephant in the room -- Bitfinex, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, is still the target of serious skepticism. Most recently, it was discovered that Bitfinex was closely linked to a cryptocurrency called Tether, a relationshipsome arguedexposes the entire cryptocurrency market to systemic risk.
See original article on Fortune.com
More from Fortune.com
• Exclusive: Metropolitan Bank Halts International Cryptocurrency-Related Wire Transfers
• Bitcoin Ups and Downs, Securing 'Star Wars', TIME's New Cyber Book
• Way Too Many People Are Using Credit Cards to Buy Bitcoin
• Bitcoin Exchange Kraken Goes Down for 40 Hours, Drawing Mt. Gox Comparisons
• KFC Introduces a Bucket That Can Only Be Paid for in Bitcoin || Why the Coverdell ESA Is a Great Way to Save for College -- and Teach Your Kids About Investing: This past fall, my wife and I were crestfallen when we heard that future contributions to Coverdell Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) would be phased out as part of the tax legislation package being written into law in Washington D.C. Fortunately, Coverdell accounts were eventually left alone in the final version of the bill . While Coverdell ESAs are not widely used, they offer a tax-advantaged way for parents and other loved ones to save for a kid's education expenses. As a father of four, I'm well aware how much college is likely to cost by the time my kids graduate high school, and I've extensively researched my family's options. While there's nothing wrong with funding 529 savings plans for children and leaving it at that, let me explain why we've chosen to use Coverdell accounts in conjunction with 529 plans to fund our children's future education costs. Specifically, I love Coverdell ESAs because their unique design makes them a fantastic way to teach your kids about investing in stocks, which is vital to their future financial security. Male student holding books on stair rail outside. The Coverdell ESA is a great way for low-income and middle-class families to save for college. Image source: Getty Images. What is a Coverdell ESA? It might be easiest to think of a Coverdell ESA as a Roth IRA intended for education savings rather than retirement. As with a Roth, contributions to the account are not eligible for an up-front tax deduction, but investment gains, as well as qualifying withdrawals made for qualified educational expenses, are tax-free. Beneficiaries can have more than one account, but no more than a combined $2,000 can be contributed to a beneficiary's accounts during a calendar year. Qualified withdrawals can be made for tuition, room, board, and school supplies. Although no contributions can be made to the account after the beneficiary turns 18, qualified withdrawals can made until the beneficiary turns 30. Because Coverdells are designed for low-income and middle-class families, contributions begin to be phased out once the contributor's modified adjusted gross income reaches $95,000 for single tax filers and $190,000 for married couples filing jointly. Story continues Why I love Coverdell ESAs One significant advantage formerly enjoyed by the Coverdell ESAs over 529 Savings Plans was eliminated by the recently passed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act . Coverdells used to be unique in that parents could also use them to fund their children's private school education with them. However, with the passage of the new legislation, 529 Plans can now be used for this purpose as well. In the eyes of many, that probably negated any advantage the Coverdell held over its more popular counterpart. But there is still one huge feature, in my eyes at least, that Coverdell ESAs continue to hold over 529 Plans: With Coverdells, investments can be made in virtually any type of equity imaginable, including stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, and bonds. With 529 Plans, parents are stuck with a limited number of choices -- sometimes nothing more than age-appropriate target-date funds . A great educational tool This wide range of investment options not only gives investors a chance to beat the market , but offers parents an excellent opportunity to teach their kids about stocks. When my eldest son reached an appropriate age, I did my best to explain to him what stocks are and how they work. After working through a few basic examples, I had him make a list of about 10 companies. A few of these were private companies such as Ikea , the furniture maker. However, the rest were not only public companies, but also solid investment opportunities. We eventually settled on Walt Disney Co (NYSE: DIS) and Amazon.com, Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) that first year. I bought the same stocks for the other kids' Coverdell accounts. list of 10 companies written on spiral notepad My son's first list of potential investments. Image source: Author. Each year, we go through the same basic process, and I show him the gains of his previous stock selections. Each year, I try to add a step in research so he can learn a bit more. The past two years, I have had him pick his companies from a stock-picking newsletter that has beaten the market consistently since its inception. I always tell him that although he won't understand everything he reads, he should try to pick up on as much as he can, and I'm there to answer questions. After he makes his list, I have him read the original recommendation and write a couple of sentences describing why he likes each of the companies he selected. He knows, though, that I have veto power over two companies from his original list. After his research, he picks the two he likes best, and we invest $1,000 in each (totaling the maximum $2,000 annual contribution to his Coverdell account). Up until this year, his picks have also gone into his siblings' accounts, but next year his oldest sister will join him in the stock-picking fun. As it currently stands, my kids are well ahead of the market and are not currently down on any stock pick my eldest has made. To date, he has built up a portfolio consisting of Alphabet , Amazon, Disney, Facebook , PayPal Holdings , Skechers USA , and Skyworks Solutions . Many of these have been repeat picks over the years, and we have never sold out of a position from any of my children's accounts. This year, for the first time ever, my wife and I will have more to contribute to our kids' college savings than the $2,000 that can go into their Coverdell accounts, so we'll be opening up 529 Plans with additional funds. Thankfully, we will still be able to make contributions to our kids' Coverdell accounts -- allowing us to save for college, beat the market, and teach our children about investing all at once. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Matthew Cochrane owns shares of Alphabet (A shares), Amazon, Facebook, PayPal Holdings, Skechers, Skyworks Solutions, and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Amazon, Facebook, PayPal Holdings, Skechers, Skyworks Solutions, and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has the following options: short January 2018 $105 calls on Skyworks Solutions. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Why the Coverdell ESA Is a Great Way to Save for College -- and Teach Your Kids About Investing: This past fall, my wife and I were crestfallen when we heard that future contributions to Coverdell Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) would bephased outas part of the tax legislation package being written into law in Washington D.C. Fortunately, Coverdell accounts were eventually left alone in thefinal version of the bill. WhileCoverdell ESAsare not widely used, they offer a tax-advantaged way for parents and other loved ones to save for a kid's education expenses.
As a father of four, I'm well aware how much college islikely to costby the time my kids graduate high school, and I've extensively researched my family's options. While there's nothing wrong with funding 529 savings plans for children and leaving it at that, let me explain why we've chosen to use Coverdell accounts in conjunction with 529 plans to fund our children's future education costs. Specifically, I love Coverdell ESAs because their unique design makes them a fantastic way to teach your kids about investing in stocks, which is vital to their future financial security.
The Coverdell ESA is a great way for low-income and middle-class families to save for college. Image source: Getty Images.
It might be easiest to think of a Coverdell ESA as aRoth IRAintended for education savings rather than retirement. As with a Roth, contributions to the account are not eligible for an up-front tax deduction, but investment gains, as well as qualifying withdrawals made for qualified educational expenses, are tax-free. Beneficiaries can have more than one account, but no more than a combined $2,000 can be contributed to a beneficiary's accounts during a calendar year. Qualified withdrawals can be made for tuition, room, board, and school supplies.
Although no contributions can be made to the account after the beneficiary turns 18, qualified withdrawals can made until the beneficiary turns 30.
Because Coverdells are designed for low-income and middle-class families, contributions begin to be phased out once the contributor'smodified adjusted gross incomereaches $95,000 for single tax filers and $190,000 for married couples filing jointly.
One significant advantage formerly enjoyed by the Coverdell ESAs over529 Savings Planswas eliminated by the recently passedTax Cuts and Jobs Act. Coverdells used to be unique in that parents could also use them to fund their children's private school education with them. However, with the passage of the new legislation, 529 Plans can now be used for this purpose as well.
In the eyes of many, that probably negated any advantage the Coverdell held over its more popular counterpart. But there is still one huge feature, in my eyes at least, that Coverdell ESAs continue to hold over 529 Plans: With Coverdells, investments can be made in virtually any type of equity imaginable, including stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, and bonds. With 529 Plans, parents are stuck with a limited number of choices -- sometimes nothing more than age-appropriatetarget-date funds.
This wide range of investment options not only gives investors a chance tobeat the market, but offers parents an excellent opportunity to teach their kids about stocks. When my eldest son reached an appropriate age, I did my best to explain to him what stocks are and how they work. After working through a few basic examples, I had him make a list of about 10 companies. A few of these were private companies such asIkea, the furniture maker. However, the rest were not only public companies, but also solid investment opportunities. We eventually settled onWalt Disney Co(NYSE: DIS)andAmazon.com, Inc(NASDAQ: AMZN)that first year. I bought the same stocks for the other kids' Coverdell accounts.
My son's first list of potential investments. Image source: Author.
Each year, we go through the same basic process, and I show him the gains of his previous stock selections. Each year, I try to add a step in research so he can learn a bit more. The past two years, I have had him pick his companies from a stock-picking newsletter that has beaten the market consistently since its inception. I always tell him that although he won't understand everything he reads, he should try to pick up on as much as he can, and I'm there to answer questions.
After he makes his list, I have him read the original recommendation and write a couple of sentences describing why he likes each of the companies he selected. He knows, though, that I have veto power over two companies from his original list. After his research, he picks the two he likes best, and we invest $1,000 in each (totaling the maximum $2,000 annual contribution to his Coverdell account). Up until this year, his picks have also gone into his siblings' accounts, but next year his oldest sister will join him in the stock-picking fun.
As it currently stands, my kids are well ahead of the market and are not currently down on any stock pick my eldest has made. To date, he has built up a portfolio consisting ofAlphabet, Amazon, Disney,Facebook,PayPal Holdings,Skechers USA, andSkyworks Solutions. Many of these have been repeat picks over the years, and we have never sold out of a position from any of my children's accounts.
This year, for the first time ever, my wife and I will have more to contribute to our kids' college savings than the $2,000 that can go into their Coverdell accounts, so we'll be opening up 529 Plans with additional funds. Thankfully, we will still be able to make contributions to our kids' Coverdell accounts -- allowing us to save for college, beat the market, and teach our children about investing all at once.
More From The Motley Fool
• 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices
• 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018
• 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing
• 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today
• The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss
• Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This
John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors.Matthew Cochraneowns shares of Alphabet (A shares), Amazon, Facebook, PayPal Holdings, Skechers, Skyworks Solutions, and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Amazon, Facebook, PayPal Holdings, Skechers, Skyworks Solutions, and Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has the following options: short January 2018 $105 calls on Skyworks Solutions. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || What Is Spotify's Valuation Right Now?: Spotify is causing a stir in Silicon Valley and on Wall Street. The London-based music streaming service filed confidential IPO paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission at the end of December, sources told Axios on Jan. 3. While the company is said to be pursuing a direct listing on the NYSE in the first half of 2018, it has still enlisted the help of Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) , Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) , and Allen & Co. as advisors. A direct listing is different, and crucially, less expensive than a traditional IPO because it means the company can skip the typical IPO roadshow process. So if Spotify lists its shares in the next couple of months, what will its valuation be? Let's take a closer look. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek stands on stage at a press conference with a blue and green backdrop of people dancing Spotify CEO Daniel Ek (above) might be taking his company public in early 2018. Image source: Spotify. Spotify funding rounds Spotify started in Sweden in 2006 when founders Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon were brainstorming business ideas and realized it was difficult to get the music they wanted on Napster despite the company being six years old. The entrepreneurs got their first cash injection about two years later with a $21.5 million Series A funding round in 2008. Spotify then raised a Series B of $50 million in August 2009 at a $250 million valuation from three investors. The company then raised a Series C, D, E, F, and G, as well as a few lines of credit. Most recently, the company agreed to buy a stake in China's Tencent (NASDAQOTH: TCEHY) Music Entertainment, which runs three music streaming services. In a tit-for-tat deal, Tencent will also buy an equity stake in Spotify. In total, Spotify has raised $2.7 billion, according to Crunchbase Data, while CB Insights pegs the number a bit lower at $2.27 billion. Date Transaction name # of investors Money raised Lead investors June 30, 2017 Secondary market 1 N/A N/A July 28, 2016 Secondary market 3 N/A N/A March 30, 2016 Debt financing 2 $1,000,000,000 N/A Jan. 27, 2016 Convertible note N/A $500,000,000 N/A Jan. 21, 2016 Secondary market 1 N/A N/A Nov. 1, 2015 Secondary market 1 $150,000,000 N/A Aug. 30, 2015 Secondary market 2 N/A N/A June 10, 2015 Series G 16 $526,000,000 N/A Nov. 25, 2014 Secondary market 2 N/A N/A Jan. 1, 2014 Secondary market 1 N/A N/A Nov. 21, 2013 Series F 1 $250,000,000 TCV Nov. 15, 2012 Series E 6 $100,000,000 Goldman Sachs Jan. 1, 2012 Secondary market 1 N/A N/A June 17, 2011 Series D 5 $100,000,000 Accel Partners Feb. 1, 2010 Series C 1 $13,967,792 Founders Fund Aug. 4, 2009 Series B 3 $50,000,000 Horizons Ventures Oct. 1, 2008 Series A 5 $21,640,000 N/A Data source: Crunchbase . Story continues Spotify's current valuation After billions in funding, growing its user base to 140 million with 70 million paying subscribers, where does Spotify's valuation stand? After Spotify and Tencent agreed to exchange minority stakes in each other, sources told Reuters in December that its valuation is now at least $19 billion. That's a sharp rise from the $13 billion valuation Spotify reportedly had last May when it first reached out to banks about advising it on a possible IPO. Two heavy-weight competitors This is where things get interesting. Despite still being a private company, Spotify is the definite leader in the music streaming space. Spotify said it hit 70 million paid subscribers this month, while its biggest competitor, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) Music, told Billboard in September that it had less than half that amount, with just over 30 million subscribers . Potential Spotify investors may also be interested to know that Spotify is still growing at an impressive rate, adding about 2 million subscribers per month last year. Apple added about 1 million subscribers per month in 2017. Of course, Apple did buy Shazam in December and could use its music-discovery capabilities to provide some cool new services for its subscribers. In addition, Shazam claims its app connects more than 1 billion people worldwide, which provides a huge base of potential Apple Music subscribers . Spotify's second closest competitor, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) Music, has only been around a little over a year. Last July, The Music Industry Blog, which tracks music app usage and spoke with industry experts, reported that the service had about 16 million paid subscribers. That growth rate should be putting pressure on Spotify to keep updating its offerings. Spotify needs to stay one step ahead of Amazon, which lately seems to be encroaching on every market it feels like. Of course, Apple and Amazon are both mature companies with multiple revenue streams. In fact, there's a debate about which of the two companies will hit a $1 trillion valuation first. Currently, Apple has an $898 billion market cap, while Amazon's is at $592 billion. And the rest... But what about the valuations of a more similar company, like Pandora (NYSE: P) or Tidal? Pandora's market cap sits at $1.29 billion, which isn't bad considering its stock has been on a pretty steady downward slope since 2014. In its latest earnings report, the company announced $379 million in revenue. The problem for Pandora is that while it reported an impressive 73.7 million active listeners, that's still a drop from the 77.9 million it had in the year-ago period. Even worse, it had only 5.19 million paid subscribers, a 29% increase from the same period last year, but still, nothing to brag about. The company has had trouble convincing users to pay for its services. Last March, Pandora launched its first on-demand streaming service, Pandora Premium, for $9.99 per month, the price that has somehow become the industry standard. This is on top of its $5 per month ad-free Pandora Premium subscription option that doesn't allow for replays, offline listening, or on-demand listening. Three-year-old Tidal, bought by rapper Jay-Z from Swedish parent company Aspiro for $56 million in 2015, was valued at $600 million in January 2017 when it sold a 33% stake to Sprint (NYSE: S) for $200 million. The last subscriber figure for Tidal comes from back in June 2016 when it claims it had 4.2 million subscribers. In December, Norwegian business newspaper Dagens Næringsliv claimed that Tidal had only enough money to last six more months. Tidal fought back against the claims, saying that its business had grown each year since its inception. Either way, it's not super encouraging that Tidal hasn't shared an updated subscriber figure. Spotify looking good ahead of IPO If this information tells you anything, it's that Spotify is in a good position ahead of its public offering. If it can keep current subscribers happy and keep adding about 2 million subscribers per month this year, then it might be worth investing in at its IPO. The one thing that may concern investors is that Amazon and Apple have the money and power to make sudden movements that encroach on Spotify's top position, such as when Apple scooped up Shazam last month. However, the company has been able to grow at a healthy rate all of 2017, despite its customers' having more and more options. And that's impressive. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Natalie Walters has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon, Apple, Pandora Media, and Tencent Holdings. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . View comments || What Is Spotify's Valuation Right Now?: Spotify is causing a stir in Silicon Valley and on Wall Street.
The London-based music streaming service filed confidential IPO paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission at the end of December, sources toldAxioson Jan. 3.
While the company is said to be pursuing a direct listing on the NYSE in the first half of 2018, it has still enlisted the help ofGoldman Sachs(NYSE: GS),Morgan Stanley(NYSE: MS), and Allen & Co. as advisors. A direct listing is different, and crucially, less expensive than a traditional IPO because it means the company can skip the typical IPO roadshow process.
So if Spotify lists its shares in the next couple of months, what will its valuation be? Let's take a closer look.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek (above) might be taking his company public in early 2018. Image source: Spotify.
Spotify started in Sweden in 2006 when founders Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon were brainstorming business ideas and realized it was difficult to get the music they wanted on Napster despite the company being six years old.
The entrepreneurs got their first cash injection about two years later with a $21.5 million Series A funding round in 2008. Spotify then raised a Series B of $50 million in August 2009 at a $250 million valuation from three investors. The company then raised a Series C, D, E, F, and G, as well as a few lines of credit.
Most recently, the company agreed to buy a stake in China'sTencent(NASDAQOTH: TCEHY)Music Entertainment, which runs three music streaming services. In a tit-for-tat deal, Tencent will also buy an equity stake in Spotify.
In total, Spotify has raised $2.7 billion, according to Crunchbase Data, while CB Insights pegs the number a bit lower at $2.27 billion.
[{"Date": "June 30, 2017", "Transactionname": "Secondary market", "#ofinvestors": "1", "Moneyraised": "N/A", "Leadinvestors": "N/A"}, {"Date": "July 28, 2016", "Transactionname": "Secondary market", "#ofinvestors": "3", "Moneyraised": "N/A", "Leadinvestors": "N/A"}, {"Date": "March 30, 2016", "Transactionname": "Debt financing", "#ofinvestors": "2", "Moneyraised": "$1,000,000,000", "Leadinvestors": "N/A"}, {"Date": "Jan. 27, 2016", "Transactionname": "Convertible note", "#ofinvestors": "N/A", "Moneyraised": "$500,000,000", "Leadinvestors": "N/A"}, {"Date": "Jan. 21, 2016", "Transactionname": "Secondary market", "#ofinvestors": "1", "Moneyraised": "N/A", "Leadinvestors": "N/A"}, {"Date": "Nov. 1, 2015", "Transactionname": "Secondary market", "#ofinvestors": "1", "Moneyraised": "$150,000,000", "Leadinvestors": "N/A"}, {"Date": "Aug. 30, 2015", "Transactionname": "Secondary market", "#ofinvestors": "2", "Moneyraised": "N/A", "Leadinvestors": "N/A"}, {"Date": "June 10, 2015", "Transactionname": "Series G", "#ofinvestors": "16", "Moneyraised": "$526,000,000", "Leadinvestors": "N/A"}, {"Date": "Nov. 25, 2014", "Transactionname": "Secondary market", "#ofinvestors": "2", "Moneyraised": "N/A", "Leadinvestors": "N/A"}, {"Date": "Jan. 1, 2014", "Transactionname": "Secondary market", "#ofinvestors": "1", "Moneyraised": "N/A", "Leadinvestors": "N/A"}, {"Date": "Nov. 21, 2013", "Transactionname": "Series F", "#ofinvestors": "1", "Moneyraised": "$250,000,000", "Leadinvestors": "TCV"}, {"Date": "Nov. 15, 2012", "Transactionname": "Series E", "#ofinvestors": "6", "Moneyraised": "$100,000,000", "Leadinvestors": "Goldman Sachs"}, {"Date": "Jan. 1, 2012", "Transactionname": "Secondary market", "#ofinvestors": "1", "Moneyraised": "N/A", "Leadinvestors": "N/A"}, {"Date": "June 17, 2011", "Transactionname": "Series D", "#ofinvestors": "5", "Moneyraised": "$100,000,000", "Leadinvestors": "Accel Partners"}, {"Date": "Feb. 1, 2010", "Transactionname": "Series C", "#ofinvestors": "1", "Moneyraised": "$13,967,792", "Leadinvestors": "Founders Fund"}, {"Date": "Aug. 4, 2009", "Transactionname": "Series B", "#ofinvestors": "3", "Moneyraised": "$50,000,000", "Leadinvestors": "Horizons Ventures"}, {"Date": "Oct. 1, 2008", "Transactionname": "Series A", "#ofinvestors": "5", "Moneyraised": "$21,640,000", "Leadinvestors": "N/A"}]
Data source:Crunchbase.
After billions in funding, growing its user base to 140 million with 70 million paying subscribers, where does Spotify's valuation stand?
After Spotify and Tencent agreed to exchange minority stakes in each other, sources told Reuters in December that its valuation is now at least $19 billion.
That's a sharp rise from the $13 billion valuation Spotify reportedly had last May when it first reached out to banks about advising it on a possible IPO.
This is where things get interesting.
Despite still being a private company, Spotify is the definite leader in the music streaming space.
Spotify said it hit70 million paid subscribersthis month, while its biggest competitor,Apple(NASDAQ: AAPL)Music, toldBillboardin September that it had less than half that amount, withjust over 30 million subscribers.
Potential Spotify investors may also be interested to know that Spotify is still growing at an impressive rate, adding about 2 million subscribers per month last year. Apple added about 1 million subscribers per month in 2017.
Of course, Apple did buy Shazam in December and could use its music-discovery capabilities to provide some cool new services for its subscribers. In addition, Shazam claims its app connects more than 1 billion people worldwide, which provides ahuge base of potential Apple Music subscribers.
Spotify's second closest competitor,Amazon(NASDAQ: AMZN)Music, has only been around a little over a year. Last July, The Music Industry Blog, which tracks music app usage and spoke with industry experts, reported that the service had about 16 million paid subscribers.
That growth rate should be putting pressure on Spotify to keep updating its offerings. Spotify needs to stay one step ahead of Amazon, which lately seems to be encroaching on every market it feels like.
Of course, Apple and Amazon are both mature companies with multiple revenue streams. In fact, there's a debate about which of the two companies will hit a $1 trillion valuation first. Currently, Apple has an $898 billion market cap, while Amazon's is at $592 billion.
But what about the valuations of a more similar company, likePandora(NYSE: P)or Tidal?
Pandora's market cap sits at $1.29 billion, which isn't bad considering its stock has been on a pretty steady downward slope since 2014. In its latest earnings report, the company announced $379 million in revenue.
The problem for Pandora is that while it reported an impressive 73.7 million active listeners, that's still a drop from the 77.9 million it had in the year-ago period. Even worse, it had only 5.19 million paid subscribers, a 29% increase from the same period last year, but still, nothing to brag about. The company has had trouble convincing users to pay for its services.
Last March, Pandora launched its first on-demand streaming service, Pandora Premium, for $9.99 per month, the price that has somehow become the industry standard. This is on top of its $5 per month ad-free Pandora Premium subscription option that doesn't allow for replays, offline listening, or on-demand listening.
Three-year-old Tidal, bought by rapper Jay-Z from Swedish parent company Aspiro for $56 million in 2015, was valued at $600 million in January 2017 when itsold a 33% staketoSprint(NYSE: S)for $200 million. The last subscriber figure for Tidal comes from back in June 2016 when it claims it had 4.2 million subscribers.
In December, Norwegian business newspaperDagens Næringslivclaimed that Tidal had only enough money to last six more months. Tidal fought back against the claims, saying that its business had grown each year since its inception.
Either way, it's not super encouraging that Tidal hasn't shared an updated subscriber figure.
If this information tells you anything, it's that Spotify is in a good position ahead of its public offering. If it can keep current subscribers happy and keep adding about 2 million subscribers per month this year, then it might be worth investing in at its IPO.
The one thing that may concern investors is that Amazon and Apple have the money and power to make sudden movements that encroach on Spotify's top position, such as when Apple scooped up Shazam last month.
However, the company has been able to grow at a healthy rate all of 2017, despite its customers' having more and more options. And that's impressive.
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John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors.Natalie Waltershas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Amazon, Apple, Pandora Media, and Tencent Holdings. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Could President Trump Cause Oil Prices to Top $80 a Barrel?: Crude prices have been red-hot over the past six months, rebounding more than 40% to well over $60 a barrel, athree-year high. While some analysts believe oil could give back some of its recent gains andhead back into the $50s, others see catalysts on the horizon that could push it even higher.
Analysts atCitigroup, for example, recently put out a report listing several wild cards that could drive crude up toward $80 a barrel. Among the most notable was President Trump, who through words or actions could escalate tensions in places like Iran and North Korea. Either scenario, or any number of other wild cards, could cause oil prices to skyrocket.
Image source: Getty Images.
Citigroup noted that President Trump, for example, could make good on his threats to end the controversial Iran nuclear deal, which, among other things, enabled the Middle Eastern nation to increase its oil exports. While recent reports suggest that the president will probably extend the sanction relief, it's still possible that he could reimpose them on the country. If that happened, it would dislocate as much as 500,000 barrels per day of the country's oil exports, which Citi thought would immediately add $5 per barrel to the price of oil.
However, even without an impact from Trump, Iran represents a huge wild card. Current tensions in the country from recent protests could boil over and take a significant portion of the country's oil exports offline. Meanwhile, the nation has long been a threat to cut off the oil flow through the Strait of Hormuz, which couldsignificantly disrupt the oil market.
In addition to Iran, Citigroup also noted that the "rhetoric from and toward North Korea has also escalated in the past few months," with Trump and Kim Jong-un trading incendiary comments, which could ultimately flare up into a military conflict. The risk of war would be likely to prompt nations to stockpile strategic goods such as oil, with that buying causing prices to spike.
It's worth emphasizing out that these are wild card events and not what Citigroup expects to see this year -- although if oil prices do rocket because of some Trump-fueled crisis, that would certainly benefit U.S. oil producers.
Image source Getty Images.
Among the producers that would see the greatest lift from a return of $80 oil are those that have the lowest production costs anddidn't cap their upside by hedging production against falling prices. Three that stand out areEOG Resources(NYSE: EOG),Anadarko Petroleum(NYSE: APC), andConocoPhillips(NYSE: COP). All three have gotten their costs down to the point where they can grow production at a healthy pace even if crude is in the $50s. EOG Resources, for example, can increase its oil output by a 15% compound annual rate through 2020 while living within the cash flow it can generate at $50 a barrel. Meanwhile, ConocoPhillips can grow its production by a 5% compound annual rate, while also returning significant cash flow to investors through dividends and share buybacks at $50 a barrel. Finally, Anadarko can deliver 14% oil production growth this year within cash flow at $50 oil.
Because of those sub-$50-a-barrel breakeven levels, this trio would produce a gusher of cash flow if crude pushed toward $80 a barrel, since they don't have any oil hedges that would cap that upside. Contrast this withPioneer Natural Resources(NYSE: PXD), which had hedged 80% of its oil for 2018 by the end of last year's third quarter, which capped its ceiling on that production at around $58 a barrel. While hedging helped put a floor under Pioneer's cash flow when oil was lower, it now prevents the company from enjoying the full benefit of higher oil prices.
As with any wild card, it's impossible to predict if President Trump will drive oil higher this year, which is why investors shouldn't buy oil stocks based on that belief. Instead, they should consider oil stocks that can do just fine if oil gives back its recent gains, while also providing unabated upside if it keeps rising. While that's a tall order, ConocoPhillips, EOG Resources, and Anadarko Petroleum all fit that bill, since they've pushed their production costs below $50 a barrel and don't have any oil hedges, which should enable them to do well no matter what happens to oil this year.
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Matthew DiLalloowns shares of ConocoPhillips. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Could President Trump Cause Oil Prices to Top $80 a Barrel?: Crude prices have been red-hot over the past six months, rebounding more than 40% to well over $60 a barrel, a three-year high . While some analysts believe oil could give back some of its recent gains and head back into the $50s , others see catalysts on the horizon that could push it even higher. Analysts at Citigroup , for example, recently put out a report listing several wild cards that could drive crude up toward $80 a barrel. Among the most notable was President Trump, who through words or actions could escalate tensions in places like Iran and North Korea. Either scenario, or any number of other wild cards, could cause oil prices to skyrocket. Several oil pumps with a sun burst behind them. Image source: Getty Images. How Trump could affect oil prices Citigroup noted that President Trump, for example, could make good on his threats to end the controversial Iran nuclear deal, which, among other things, enabled the Middle Eastern nation to increase its oil exports. While recent reports suggest that the president will probably extend the sanction relief, it's still possible that he could reimpose them on the country. If that happened, it would dislocate as much as 500,000 barrels per day of the country's oil exports, which Citi thought would immediately add $5 per barrel to the price of oil. However, even without an impact from Trump, Iran represents a huge wild card. Current tensions in the country from recent protests could boil over and take a significant portion of the country's oil exports offline. Meanwhile, the nation has long been a threat to cut off the oil flow through the Strait of Hormuz, which could significantly disrupt the oil market . In addition to Iran, Citigroup also noted that the "rhetoric from and toward North Korea has also escalated in the past few months," with Trump and Kim Jong-un trading incendiary comments, which could ultimately flare up into a military conflict. The risk of war would be likely to prompt nations to stockpile strategic goods such as oil, with that buying causing prices to spike. Story continues It's worth emphasizing out that these are wild card events and not what Citigroup expects to see this year -- although if oil prices do rocket because of some Trump-fueled crisis, that would certainly benefit U.S. oil producers. An oil pump reflecting into a pond. Image source Getty Images. How a Trump bump would affect oil stocks Among the producers that would see the greatest lift from a return of $80 oil are those that have the lowest production costs and didn't cap their upside by hedging production against falling prices . Three that stand out are EOG Resources (NYSE: EOG) , Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC) , and ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) . All three have gotten their costs down to the point where they can grow production at a healthy pace even if crude is in the $50s. EOG Resources, for example, can increase its oil output by a 15% compound annual rate through 2020 while living within the cash flow it can generate at $50 a barrel. Meanwhile, ConocoPhillips can grow its production by a 5% compound annual rate, while also returning significant cash flow to investors through dividends and share buybacks at $50 a barrel. Finally, Anadarko can deliver 14% oil production growth this year within cash flow at $50 oil. Because of those sub-$50-a-barrel breakeven levels, this trio would produce a gusher of cash flow if crude pushed toward $80 a barrel, since they don't have any oil hedges that would cap that upside. Contrast this with Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE: PXD) , which had hedged 80% of its oil for 2018 by the end of last year's third quarter, which capped its ceiling on that production at around $58 a barrel. While hedging helped put a floor under Pioneer's cash flow when oil was lower, it now prevents the company from enjoying the full benefit of higher oil prices. Well positioned even without help from Trump As with any wild card, it's impossible to predict if President Trump will drive oil higher this year, which is why investors shouldn't buy oil stocks based on that belief. Instead, they should consider oil stocks that can do just fine if oil gives back its recent gains, while also providing unabated upside if it keeps rising. While that's a tall order, ConocoPhillips, EOG Resources, and Anadarko Petroleum all fit that bill, since they've pushed their production costs below $50 a barrel and don't have any oil hedges, which should enable them to do well no matter what happens to oil this year. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Matthew DiLallo owns shares of ConocoPhillips. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Gen Xers Are Getting Walloped by Debt -- and Their Retirement Might Suffer for It: In case you didn't hear, U.S. credit card debt reached an all-time high last year, with the average indebted household now on the hook for roughly $16,000. And clearly, Gen Xers are no exception. According to a recent Allianz study , Gen Xers -- those primarily in their late 30s and 40s -- are struggling with debt to the point where it's impacting their long-term goals, particularly saving for retirement. Consider this: Since 2014, credit card and student loan debt have increased 15% among Gen Xers. And almost half of Gen Xers are convinced they can't start saving for the future until they're debt-free. 40-something couple lounging side by side while browsing on a laptop IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES. So what's their strategy in the meantime? For many late-30- and 40-somethings, the answer is a big fat nothing. Nearly two-thirds of Gen Xers think they'll just "figure things out" when retirement rolls around. At the same time, 59% are actively worried about maintaining their current lifestyle once they stop working. If all of this sounds like a whopper of a contradiction, you're not alone. It's pretty clear that a large chunk of Gen Xers are in trouble, and if you're one of them, it's time to map out a plan of attack before time runs out on you. Otherwise, you risk compromising the retirement you've been working hard for all these years. Don't let retirement savings fall by the wayside It's easy to neglect retirement savings when debt payments loom. And to an extent, it does make sense to pay off costly credit card debt before sticking spare cash into an IRA or 401(k). After all, your investments, if you're lucky, might give you an average annual 9% return, which is comparable to the stock market's historical average. A credit card, meanwhile, might charge as much as 25% interest on the same sum you'd otherwise sock away for retirement. Even student loans can be costly to repay, particularly if you borrowed money from private lenders . Therefore, aiming to eliminate debt and then focus on retirement is a pretty reasonable strategy. Story continues There's just one problem: Most Americans aren't good at paying off debt, and the reason is that so many of us continue living paycheck-to-paycheck. But unless you're willing to cut corners or work a side gig to generate extra cash, you're likely to get stuck in that endless cycle of debt, all the while letting your retirement savings suffer. A better approach to paying off debt If you're really intent on eliminating debt before building a nest egg, make certain you can pay it off quickly -- which, incidentally, you can do if you're smart about it. Start by creating a budget , which will give you a better sense of where your money is going. Next, review your expense categories and start immediately reducing your spending in those that are flexible (think leisure, cable, and even groceries). Or, if there are no expenses you're able or willing to cut, get a side hustle and make up the money that way. The key is to pay off your debt rapidly, and you need money to accomplish that goal. While you're working on saving that cash, devise a solid strategy for knocking out your debt. Figure out where you're spending the most on interest, and pay those balances first. You might also look into a balance transfer offer if your credit is strong, because that will help you consolidate your debts and, ideally, lock in a lower interest rate on them in the process. But as you're doing all of this, don't neglect your retirement savings completely -- especially if your employer offers a generous 401(k) match. Even if you don't manage to contribute to your plan above that level, be sure to put in enough to snag that match in full. Otherwise, you'll end up forgoing free money, which can really add up over time. Furthermore, don't forget the inherent tax savings that come with retirement plan contributions. When you fund a traditional IRA or 401(k), that money is deductible up front, which, depending on your effective tax rate, can amount to significant savings. You can't afford to waste more time Though Gen Xers are hardly at retirement's door, if you're on the older end of that spectrum, it means you probably don't have a ton of time to save for retirement. So if you're really going to wait to fund your savings until you're debt-free, be sure to get there quickly. If you're 47 years old and want to retire in 20 years, but think it'll take you five years to get out of debt, you'll be left with just a 15-year window to save. And that really puts the pressure on, because if your goal is to retire with, say, $300,000 -- which actually isn't a huge amount -- you'll need to set aside roughly $1,000 a month for that decade-and-a-half-long period. You'll also need your average yearly investment return to come pretty close to the stock market's historical 9% average, which may or may not happen depending on your tolerance for risk . The point is that while you might think you have plenty of time to pay down debt and save for retirement, that's not actually the case. And the sooner you realize that, the sooner you can take steps to effectively get out of debt and salvage your retirement in the process. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. 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24時間の最安値 0.2251867円
[BTC建]
1XP=0.2375948円
24時間の最高値 0.310671円
24時間の最安値 0.213915円
時価総額ランキング: 85 位 / 全 904 中
#XP $XP || Jan 15, 2018 18:00:00 UTC | 13,907.30$ | 11,338.70€ | 10,073.90£ |...
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11490.50, 11188.60, 11474.90, 11607.40, 12899.20, 11600.10, 10931.40, 10868.40, 11359.40, 11259.40
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 5795.71, 5746.81, 5829.50, 5982.46, 6174.53, 6378.85, 7204.77, 6972.37, 7814.92, 7994.42, 8205.17, 7884.91, 7343.90, 7271.21, 8197.69, 7978.31, 7963.33, 7680.07, 7881.85, 7987.37, 8052.54, 8673.22, 8805.78, 8719.96, 8659.49, 8319.47, 8574.50, 8564.02, 8742.96, 8209.00, 7707.77, 7824.23, 7822.02, 8043.95, 7954.13, 7688.08, 8000.33, 7927.71, 8145.86, 8230.92, 8693.83, 8838.38, 8994.49, 9320.35, 9081.76, 9273.52, 9527.16, 10144.56, 10701.69, 10855.37, 11011.10, 11790.92, 13016.23, 11182.81, 12407.33, 11959.37, 10817.16, 10583.13, 10801.68, 11961.27, 11215.44, 10978.46, 11208.55, 11450.85, 12285.96, 12573.81, 12156.51, 11358.66, 11815.99, 11392.38, 10256.06, 10895.09, 9477.64, 9693.80, 10666.48, 10530.73, 10767.14, 10599.11, 10343.11, 9900.77, 9811.93, 9911.84, 9870.30, 9477.68, 9552.86, 9519.15, 9607.42, 10085.63, 10399.67, 10518.17.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2019-08-02]
Volume: 17489094082, RSI (14-day): 52.90, 50-day EMA: 10048.54, 200-day EMA: 7680.81
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1445.60, Gold RSI: 69.02
Oil Price: 55.66, Oil RSI: 45.68
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Square Q2 bitcoin sales topped a record $125 million, up over 240% since last year: #Stackingsats has worked its way into the data as Square posted a record $125.1 million in quarterly bitcoin sales for the second quarter of 2019, almost double volumes last quarter and up more than 240% since Q2 2018.
According to analysis by The Block, the surge in bitcoin demand across exchanges in Q2 2019 resulted in higher growth rates across U.S. crypto exchanges based on BTC/USD trading pairs. For relative comparison, Square’s bitcoin volumes in the second quarter were ~20% of Circle’s Poloneix BTC/USDT volumes, ~6% of Gemini’s BTC/USD volume, and ~1% of Coinbase BTC/USD volume.
Update:During the prepared remarks on the earnings call, Square CEO Jack Dorsey concluded comments on Square’s Cash App ecosystem with a warm, “We love you, Bitcoin!”
CFO, Amrita Ahuja, also later added in a response to an analyst question that bitcoin is a new monetization and engagement lever within Cash App.
Join Genesis nowand continue reading,Square Q2 bitcoin sales topped a record $125 million, up over 240% since last year! || Square Q2 bitcoin sales topped a record $125 million, up over 240% since last year: #Stackingsats has worked its way into the data as Square posted a record $125.1 million in quarterly bitcoin sales for the second quarter of 2019, almost double volumes last quarter and up more than 240% since Q2 2018. According to analysis by The Block, the surge in bitcoin demand across exchanges in Q2 2019 resulted in higher growth rates across U.S. crypto exchanges based on BTC/USD trading pairs. For relative comparison, Squares bitcoin volumes in the second quarter were ~20% of Circles Poloneix BTC/USDT volumes, ~6% of Geminis BTC/USD volume, and ~1% of Coinbase BTC/USD volume. Update: During the prepared remarks on the earnings call, Square CEO Jack Dorsey concluded comments on Squares Cash App ecosystem with a warm, We love you, Bitcoin! CFO, Amrita Ahuja, also later added in a response to an analyst question that bitcoin is a new monetization and engagement lever within Cash App. Join Genesis now and continue reading, Square Q2 bitcoin sales topped a record $125 million, up over 240% since last year ! || You Can Now Tip on Twitter With Brave’s Basic Attention Token: Another tipping service has been added to Twitter, courtesy of Brave browser.
Alternative internet browserBravehas officially launched tipping following a beta phase, according to a companyblogpost. Tweeters can tip content using Brave’s Basic Attention Token (BAT).
Created by the co-founder of both Mozilla and Firefox, Brendan Eich, Brave began as a dedicated ad-blocking browser. In May 2017, the company conducted an initial coin offering of 1 billion BAT with a further 500 million BAT held by the firm, according toMessari Crypto.
Related:Square Crypto Lead: ‘The Product We’re Focusing on Is Bitcoin’
The firm’s intention was to create a more equitable profit distribution model between users, content creators and advertisers. With the addition, Brave steps further into the realm of micro-tipping, a service envisioned in itswhite paper.
To inaugurate the launch, Brave is sending 100,000 BAT grants to every Brave desktop user who cannot receive Brave Ads. Brave claims Reddit, Vimeo and GitHub are next on the list. Brave also currently supports tips for YouTube and Twitch. A Brave tips icon will be placed next to the familiar “retweet” and “favorite” feature on Twitter.
Brave has also automated the tips, meaning tips can be set for your favorite content creators in timed installments. Users must use the Brave browser and have Brave Rewards turned on to use the feature.
Micro-tipping continues to grow within crypto communities, particularly with Bitcoin’s Lightning Network. Independent project and pluginTippin.melaunched a similar bitcoin-based service last winter, receiving praise from Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. In April, the Internet Archiveself-reported$2,500 in donations from BAT tips.
Related:What Trump’s Bitcoin Tweet Changes
Brave image via Shutterstock
• Twitter Study Finds US Posts Most on Bitcoin and Facebook’s Libra
• ‘Release the Tape!’: Nouriel Roubini Calls for BitMEX CEO Debate Video || You Can Now Tip on Twitter With Braves Basic Attention Token: Another tipping service has been added to Twitter, courtesy of Brave browser. Alternative internet browser Brave has officially launched tipping following a beta phase, according to a company blog post. Tweeters can tip content using Braves Basic Attention Token (BAT). Created by the co-founder of both Mozilla and Firefox, Brendan Eich, Brave began as a dedicated ad-blocking browser. In May 2017, the company conducted an initial coin offering of 1 billion BAT with a further 500 million BAT held by the firm, according to Messari Crypto . Related: Square Crypto Lead: The Product Were Focusing on Is Bitcoin The firms intention was to create a more equitable profit distribution model between users, content creators and advertisers. With the addition, Brave steps further into the realm of micro-tipping, a service envisioned in its white paper . To inaugurate the launch, Brave is sending 100,000 BAT grants to every Brave desktop user who cannot receive Brave Ads. Brave claims Reddit, Vimeo and GitHub are next on the list. Brave also currently supports tips for YouTube and Twitch. A Brave tips icon will be placed next to the familiar retweet and favorite feature on Twitter. Brave has also automated the tips, meaning tips can be set for your favorite content creators in timed installments. Users must use the Brave browser and have Brave Rewards turned on to use the feature. Micro-tipping continues to grow within crypto communities, particularly with Bitcoins Lightning Network. Independent project and plugin Tippin.me launched a similar bitcoin-based service last winter, receiving praise from Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. In April, the Internet Archive self-reported $2,500 in donations from BAT tips. Related: What Trumps Bitcoin Tweet Changes Brave image via Shutterstock Related Stories Twitter Study Finds US Posts Most on Bitcoin and Facebooks Libra Release the Tape!: Nouriel Roubini Calls for BitMEX CEO Debate Video View comments || Square’s Q2 Bitcoin Revenue Nearly Doubles From Previous Record: Payments company Square reported its second-quarter earnings Thursday, revealing $125 million in bitcoin sales through its Cash App, nearly doubling a record first quarter.
“During the quarter, bitcoin revenue benefited from increased volume as a result of the increase in the price of bitcoin, and generated $2 million of gross profit,” theearnings reportexplains.
Founded by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, Square reported that bitcoin represented very nearly half of the total revenue on its Cash App, at $260 million, for the second quarter of 2019. Bitcoin costs, however, are listed at $122.9 million in the unaudited quarterly report, yielding the aforementioned $2 million in profit.
Related:Bitcoin Price on the Rise After First Fed Rate Cut Since 2008
On an investor call Thursday afternoon announcing the numbers, Dorsey said:
“We love you, bitcoin.”
The first quarter of 2019 was Square’s best quarter for bitcoin at the time, with$65.5 millionin revenue and $832,000 in profit. Clocking $125 million in sales in the second quarter, however, represents significant growth and a new record for the company. For comparison, the company reported$166 millionin bitcoin sales in all of 2018.
With a net loss for the quarter of $6.7 million on $1.17 billion in total revenue, bitcoin remains a long way away from the center of Square’s overall strategy. Transaction-based revenue in Q2 topped $775 million, according to the report.
Related:‘Building’ Bitcoin’s Software Just Got a Bit More Trustless
The company sells bitcoin to users through its Cash App, a service that expandedto all 50 U.S. statesin August 2018.
Earlier this week, the companyclarified the role of Square Crypto, a project within the company created to make open-source contributions to the bitcoin protocol and ecosystem.
A senior research director at market intelligence firm CB Insights told CoinDesk he believes adding bitcoin is helping Square drive more usage from its customers.
“They don’t really make a lot of money on it, but it is driving engagement,” Chris Brendler said.
Jack Dorsey image via CoinDesk archives
• Bitcoin Price on Track to Post First Monthly Loss Since January
• Fold App Adds Bitcoin ‘Kickbacks’ for Purchases at Target, Starbucks || Square’s Q2 Bitcoin Revenue Nearly Doubles From Previous Record: Payments company Square reported its second-quarter earnings Thursday, revealing $125 million in bitcoin sales through its Cash App, nearly doubling a record first quarter.
“During the quarter, bitcoin revenue benefited from increased volume as a result of the increase in the price of bitcoin, and generated $2 million of gross profit,” theearnings reportexplains.
Founded by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, Square reported that bitcoin represented very nearly half of the total revenue on its Cash App, at $260 million, for the second quarter of 2019. Bitcoin costs, however, are listed at $122.9 million in the unaudited quarterly report, yielding the aforementioned $2 million in profit.
Related:Bitcoin Price on the Rise After First Fed Rate Cut Since 2008
On an investor call Thursday afternoon announcing the numbers, Dorsey said:
“We love you, bitcoin.”
The first quarter of 2019 was Square’s best quarter for bitcoin at the time, with$65.5 millionin revenue and $832,000 in profit. Clocking $125 million in sales in the second quarter, however, represents significant growth and a new record for the company. For comparison, the company reported$166 millionin bitcoin sales in all of 2018.
With a net loss for the quarter of $6.7 million on $1.17 billion in total revenue, bitcoin remains a long way away from the center of Square’s overall strategy. Transaction-based revenue in Q2 topped $775 million, according to the report.
Related:‘Building’ Bitcoin’s Software Just Got a Bit More Trustless
The company sells bitcoin to users through its Cash App, a service that expandedto all 50 U.S. statesin August 2018.
Earlier this week, the companyclarified the role of Square Crypto, a project within the company created to make open-source contributions to the bitcoin protocol and ecosystem.
A senior research director at market intelligence firm CB Insights told CoinDesk he believes adding bitcoin is helping Square drive more usage from its customers.
“They don’t really make a lot of money on it, but it is driving engagement,” Chris Brendler said.
Jack Dorsey image via CoinDesk archives
• Bitcoin Price on Track to Post First Monthly Loss Since January
• Fold App Adds Bitcoin ‘Kickbacks’ for Purchases at Target, Starbucks || Squares Q2 Bitcoin Revenue Nearly Doubles From Previous Record: Payments company Square reported its second-quarter earnings Thursday, revealing $125 million in bitcoin sales through its Cash App, nearly doubling a record first quarter. During the quarter, bitcoin revenue benefited from increased volume as a result of the increase in the price of bitcoin, and generated $2 million of gross profit, the earnings report explains. Founded by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, Square reported that bitcoin represented very nearly half of the total revenue on its Cash App, at $260 million, for the second quarter of 2019. Bitcoin costs, however, are listed at $122.9 million in the unaudited quarterly report, yielding the aforementioned $2 million in profit. Related: Bitcoin Price on the Rise After First Fed Rate Cut Since 2008 On an investor call Thursday afternoon announcing the numbers, Dorsey said: We love you, bitcoin. The first quarter of 2019 was Squares best quarter for bitcoin at the time, with $65.5 million in revenue and $832,000 in profit. Clocking $125 million in sales in the second quarter, however, represents significant growth and a new record for the company. For comparison, the company reported $166 million in bitcoin sales in all of 2018. With a net loss for the quarter of $6.7 million on $1.17 billion in total revenue, bitcoin remains a long way away from the center of Squares overall strategy. Transaction-based revenue in Q2 topped $775 million, according to the report. Related: Building Bitcoins Software Just Got a Bit More Trustless The company sells bitcoin to users through its Cash App, a service that expanded to all 50 U.S. states in August 2018. Earlier this week, the company clarified the role of Square Crypto , a project within the company created to make open-source contributions to the bitcoin protocol and ecosystem. A senior research director at market intelligence firm CB Insights told CoinDesk he believes adding bitcoin is helping Square drive more usage from its customers. Story continues They dont really make a lot of money on it, but it is driving engagement, Chris Brendler said. Jack Dorsey image via CoinDesk archives Related Stories Bitcoin Price on Track to Post First Monthly Loss Since January Fold App Adds Bitcoin Kickbacks for Purchases at Target, Starbucks || First Bitcoin Capital Corp Now Owns the Only USPTO Granted Patent for Bitcoin Kiosk/ATM: TEL AVIV, ISRAEL / ACCESSWIRE / August 1, 2019 / FIRST BITCOIN CAPITAL CORP (OTC PINK:BITCF) ("the Company") a prolific generator of more than 100 unique cryptocurrencies and the developer of blockchain powered technology is proud to announce today that it has acquired http://legacy-assignments.uspto.gov/assignments/q?db=pat&reel=049886&frame=0552 U.S. Patent No. 9,135,787 - “Bitcoin Kiosk / ATM Device and System Integrating Enrollment Protocol and Method of Using the Same.” Known as the “Bitcoin ATM patent” this patent is related to the purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies utilizing a Bitcoin ATM or kiosk that allows customers to purchase Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies by using cash, debit or credit cards. Bitcoin ATMs do not require their users to have bank accounts, so customers can simply pay and instantly buy or sell Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. Greg Rubin, Company’s Chief Executive Officer stated, “Being the first ever publicly traded company in the Bitcoin and Blockchain industry, we now have acquired one of the most important intellectual properties in this space, as we believe that this patent will provide us a unique and leveraged position, in addition to our other projects as we continue moving forward into the digital asset and cryptocurrency businesses. This patent complements our innovation in the field.” According to Coin ATM Radar, there are more than 3,000 Bitcoin ATMs in the United States as of July, 2019, with average daily 3.7 Bitcoin ATM installations in the US. https://coinatmradar.com/charts/growth/united-states/ All Bitcoin ATMs and Kiosks manufactured and sold in the U.S., and all Bitcoin ATMs and Kiosks operated in the U.S. are believed to be subject to this patent and the company intends to enforce its right upon acquisition of same. The Company has already begun negotiations with a major law firm that has a very successful track record in enforcing patent rights when working on a contingency basis. Story continues U.S. Bitcoin ATMs represent 13.5 percent of all venues transacting in the digital currency worldwide, according to research by Larry Cermak, head of analysis at The Block. It is expected that this number of Bitcoin ATMs will continue to rise in the near future with more and more people discovering bitcoin as a payment method and store of value. First Bitcoin will develop strategies for structuring and implementation of an IP management plan. A business plan prepared by a third party foresees the owner of this unique Bitcoin patent earning more than 50 million dollars in profits over a 5 years period. The acquisition of the Bitcoin ATM Patent was arranged through the facilities of IPOfferings LLC, a leading patent brokerage, patent valuation and IP consulting services firm." About First Bitcoin Capital Corp First Bitcoin Capital Corp (BITCF) began developing digital currencies, proprietary Blockchain technologies, and the digital currency exchange - www.CoinQX.com (in Beta) in early 2014. We saw this step as a tremendous opportunity to create further shareholder value by leveraging management's experience in developing and managing complex Blockchain technologies and in developing new types of digital assets. Being the first publicly-traded cryptocurrency and BlockChain-centered Company, we provide our shareholders with diversified exposure to digital cryptocurrencies and BlockChain technologies. The Company began developing it's own blockchain and cryptocurrency called First Bitcoin (COIN:BIT) in 2016. Recently the Company updated the BIT wallet and added more functionality. Users are able to generate BIT through the processes of POW and POS mining. The First Bitcoin cryptocurrency has a current supply of 20,707,629,255 BIT. It is currently trading on LIVECOIN.net https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/first-bitcoin/ Contact us via: [email protected] or visit www.firstbitcoin.io For more information please visit: https://firstbitcoin.io/patents Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors as may be disclosed in company's filings. In addition to these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may differ materially because of more general factors including (without limitation) general industry and market conditions and growth rates, economic conditions, and governmental and public policy changes. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of the press release. Such forward-looking statements are risks that are detailed in the Company's website and filings. SOURCE: First Bitcoin Capital Corp. View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/554311/First-Bitcoin-Capital-Corp-Now-Owns-the-Only-USPTO-Granted-Patent-for-Bitcoin-KioskATM || First Bitcoin Capital Corp Now Owns the Only USPTO Granted Patent for Bitcoin Kiosk/ATM: TEL AVIV, ISRAEL / ACCESSWIRE / August 1, 2019 /FIRST BITCOIN CAPITAL CORP (OTC PINK:BITCF) ("the Company") a prolific generator of more than 100 unique cryptocurrencies and the developer of blockchain powered technology is proud to announce today that it has acquiredhttp://legacy-assignments.uspto.gov/assignments/q?db=pat&reel=049886&frame=0552U.S. Patent No. 9,135,787 - “Bitcoin Kiosk / ATM Device and System Integrating Enrollment Protocol and Method of Using the Same.” Known as the“Bitcoin ATM patent”this patent is related to the purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies utilizing a Bitcoin ATM or kiosk that allows customers to purchase Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies by using cash, debit or credit cards.
Bitcoin ATMs do not require their users to have bank accounts, so customers can simply pay and instantly buy or sell Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.
Greg Rubin, Company’s Chief Executive Officer stated, “Being the first ever publicly traded company in the Bitcoin and Blockchain industry, we now have acquired one of the most important intellectual properties in this space, as we believe that this patent will provide us a unique and leveraged position, in addition to our other projects as we continue moving forward into the digital asset and cryptocurrency businesses. This patent complements our innovation in the field.”
According to Coin ATM Radar, there are more than 3,000 Bitcoin ATMs in the United States as of July, 2019, with average daily 3.7 Bitcoin ATM installations in the US.
https://coinatmradar.com/charts/growth/united-states/
All Bitcoin ATMs and Kiosks manufactured and sold in the U.S., and all Bitcoin ATMs and Kiosks operated in the U.S. are believed to be subject to this patent and the company intends to enforce its right upon acquisition of same.
The Company has already begun negotiations with a major law firm that has a very successful track record in enforcing patent rights when working on a contingency basis.
U.S. Bitcoin ATMs represent 13.5 percent of all venues transacting in the digital currency worldwide, according to research by Larry Cermak, head of analysis at The Block.
It is expected that this number of Bitcoin ATMs will continue to rise in the near future with more and more people discovering bitcoin as a payment method and store of value.
First Bitcoin will develop strategies for structuring and implementation of an IP management plan. A business plan prepared by a third party foresees the owner of this unique Bitcoin patent earning more than 50 million dollars in profits over a 5 years period.
The acquisition of the Bitcoin ATM Patent was arranged through the facilities of IPOfferings LLC, a leading patent brokerage, patent valuation and IP consulting services firm."
About First Bitcoin Capital Corp
First Bitcoin Capital Corp (BITCF) began developing digital currencies, proprietary Blockchain technologies, and the digital currency exchange - www.CoinQX.com (in Beta) in early 2014. We saw this step as a tremendous opportunity to create further shareholder value by leveraging management's experience in developing and managing complex Blockchain technologies and in developing new types of digital assets. Being the first publicly-traded cryptocurrency and BlockChain-centered Company, we provide our shareholders with diversified exposure to digital cryptocurrencies and BlockChain technologies.
The Company began developing it's own blockchain and cryptocurrency called First Bitcoin (COIN:BIT) in 2016. Recently the Company updated the BIT wallet and added more functionality. Users are able to generate BIT through the processes of POW and POS mining. The First Bitcoin cryptocurrency has a current supply of 20,707,629,255 BIT. It is currently trading on LIVECOIN.net
https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/first-bitcoin/
Contact us via:[email protected] visitwww.firstbitcoin.io
For more information please visit:https://firstbitcoin.io/patents
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors as may be disclosed in company's filings. In addition to these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may differ materially because of more general factors including (without limitation) general industry and market conditions and growth rates, economic conditions, and governmental and public policy changes. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of the press release. Such forward-looking statements are risks that are detailed in the Company's website and filings.
SOURCE:First Bitcoin Capital Corp.
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/554311/First-Bitcoin-Capital-Corp-Now-Owns-the-Only-USPTO-Granted-Patent-for-Bitcoin-KioskATM || First Bitcoin Capital Corp Now Owns the Only USPTO Granted Patent for Bitcoin Kiosk/ATM: TEL AVIV, ISRAEL / ACCESSWIRE / August 1, 2019 /FIRST BITCOIN CAPITAL CORP (OTC PINK:BITCF) ("the Company") a prolific generator of more than 100 unique cryptocurrencies and the developer of blockchain powered technology is proud to announce today that it has acquiredhttp://legacy-assignments.uspto.gov/assignments/q?db=pat&reel=049886&frame=0552U.S. Patent No. 9,135,787 - “Bitcoin Kiosk / ATM Device and System Integrating Enrollment Protocol and Method of Using the Same.” Known as the“Bitcoin ATM patent”this patent is related to the purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies utilizing a Bitcoin ATM or kiosk that allows customers to purchase Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies by using cash, debit or credit cards.
Bitcoin ATMs do not require their users to have bank accounts, so customers can simply pay and instantly buy or sell Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.
Greg Rubin, Company’s Chief Executive Officer stated, “Being the first ever publicly traded company in the Bitcoin and Blockchain industry, we now have acquired one of the most important intellectual properties in this space, as we believe that this patent will provide us a unique and leveraged position, in addition to our other projects as we continue moving forward into the digital asset and cryptocurrency businesses. This patent complements our innovation in the field.”
According to Coin ATM Radar, there are more than 3,000 Bitcoin ATMs in the United States as of July, 2019, with average daily 3.7 Bitcoin ATM installations in the US.
https://coinatmradar.com/charts/growth/united-states/
All Bitcoin ATMs and Kiosks manufactured and sold in the U.S., and all Bitcoin ATMs and Kiosks operated in the U.S. are believed to be subject to this patent and the company intends to enforce its right upon acquisition of same.
The Company has already begun negotiations with a major law firm that has a very successful track record in enforcing patent rights when working on a contingency basis.
U.S. Bitcoin ATMs represent 13.5 percent of all venues transacting in the digital currency worldwide, according to research by Larry Cermak, head of analysis at The Block.
It is expected that this number of Bitcoin ATMs will continue to rise in the near future with more and more people discovering bitcoin as a payment method and store of value.
First Bitcoin will develop strategies for structuring and implementation of an IP management plan. A business plan prepared by a third party foresees the owner of this unique Bitcoin patent earning more than 50 million dollars in profits over a 5 years period.
The acquisition of the Bitcoin ATM Patent was arranged through the facilities of IPOfferings LLC, a leading patent brokerage, patent valuation and IP consulting services firm."
About First Bitcoin Capital Corp
First Bitcoin Capital Corp (BITCF) began developing digital currencies, proprietary Blockchain technologies, and the digital currency exchange - www.CoinQX.com (in Beta) in early 2014. We saw this step as a tremendous opportunity to create further shareholder value by leveraging management's experience in developing and managing complex Blockchain technologies and in developing new types of digital assets. Being the first publicly-traded cryptocurrency and BlockChain-centered Company, we provide our shareholders with diversified exposure to digital cryptocurrencies and BlockChain technologies.
The Company began developing it's own blockchain and cryptocurrency called First Bitcoin (COIN:BIT) in 2016. Recently the Company updated the BIT wallet and added more functionality. Users are able to generate BIT through the processes of POW and POS mining. The First Bitcoin cryptocurrency has a current supply of 20,707,629,255 BIT. It is currently trading on LIVECOIN.net
https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/first-bitcoin/
Contact us via:[email protected] visitwww.firstbitcoin.io
For more information please visit:https://firstbitcoin.io/patents
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors as may be disclosed in company's filings. In addition to these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may differ materially because of more general factors including (without limitation) general industry and market conditions and growth rates, economic conditions, and governmental and public policy changes. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date of the press release. Such forward-looking statements are risks that are detailed in the Company's website and filings.
SOURCE:First Bitcoin Capital Corp.
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/554311/First-Bitcoin-Capital-Corp-Now-Owns-the-Only-USPTO-Granted-Patent-for-Bitcoin-KioskATM || Intercontinental Exchange Inc (ICE) Q2 2019 Earnings Call Transcript: Image source: The Motley Fool.
Intercontinental Exchange Inc(NYSE: ICE)Q2 2019 Earnings CallAug 1, 2019,8:30 a.m. ET
• Prepared Remarks
• Questions and Answers
• Call Participants
Operator
Good morning, and welcome to the Intercontinental Exchange Second Quarter 2019 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]
I would now like to turn the conference over to Warren Gardiner, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Warren Gardiner--Vice President, Investor Relations
Good morning. ICE's second quarter 2019 earnings release and presentation can be found in the Investor section of theice.com. These items will be archived, and our call will be available for replay.
Today's call may contain forward-looking statements. These statements, which we undertake no obligation to update, represent our current judgment and are subject to risks, assumptions and uncertainties. For a description of the risks that could cause our results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements, please refer to our 2018 Form 10-K.
In our earnings supplement, we refer to certain non-GAAP measures, including adjusted income, EPS, operating income, operating margin, expenses, effective tax rate, free cash flow and EBITDA. We believe our non-GAAP measures are more reflective of our cash operations and core business performance. You'll find a reconciliation to the equivalent GAAP term in the earnings materials, and an explanation of why we deem this information to be meaningful, as well as how management uses these measures in our 10-Q.
When used on this call, net revenue refers to revenue net of transaction-based expenses, and adjusted earnings refers to adjusted diluted earnings per share. Please see the explanatory notes on the second page of the earnings supplement for additional details regarding the definition of certain terms.
With us on the call are Jeff Sprecher, Chairman and CEO; Scott Hill, Chief Financial Officer; and Ben Jackson, our President.
I'll now turn the call over to Scott.
Scott Hill--Chief Financial Officer
Thanks, Warren. Good morning, everyone and thank you for joining us today. I'll begin on Slide 4, with some of the key highlights from our second quarter performance. Earnings per share totaled $0.94, up 4% versus the prior year and equal to our record fourth quarter performance.
During the second quarter, we generated the second highest quarterly revenues in our Company's history, which yielded record adjusted operating income and record adjusted EBITDA. And importantly, first half free cash flow increased 13% year-over-year, enabling us to return over $1 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.
Consolidated net revenues in the quarter were $1.3 billion, with trading and clearing, and data and listings both increasing 5% year-over-year on a constant currency basis. Adjusted operating expenses totaled $540 million in the quarter, including roughly $5 million non-recurring benefit primarily in tech expense. Additionally, second quarter expenses reflect both the reclassification of certain licensing agreements from net revenues to expenses, as well as a small amount related to our acquisition of Simplifile in late June.
Looking forward to the third quarter, we expect adjusted operating expenses to be in the range of $552 million to $562 million. This includes $9 million to $10 million related to Simplifile, and roughly $10 million related to the aforementioned revenue reclassification. These expenses will be more than offset by around $25 million of revenue and thus accretive to the bottom line.
On a basis comparable to our original expense guidance, we now expect full year adjusted operating expenses to be around the low-end of that range and between $2.14 billion and $2.16 billion, adding in roughly $50 million for the full year amounts related to Simplifile and the revenue reclass, and noting again that, those expenses will be more than offset by additional revenue. Adjusted operating expenses are expected to be in the range of $2.19 billion to $2.21 billion. We've included Slide 11 in the appendix to provide additional clarity on this update.
Now, let's move to Slide 5, where I'll provide additional color on the performance of our trading and clearing segment. In the second quarter, net revenues were up 4% year-over-year or 5% on a constant currency basis. In our energy markets, average daily volumes or ADV were down 2% year-over-year. However, total energy revenues increased 2% versus the prior year on a constant currency basis, resulting in the second best quarter in our history. This strong performance was driven primarily by continued growth in our European natural gas and global oil products. Average daily volume in our European natural gas business established a new record during the second quarter, and open interest is up 29% over the prior year through July.
In addition, ADV and a broad suite of crude and refined oil related contracts that make up our global oil business increased 14% year-over-year in the second quarter with open interest up 25% at the end of July. Overall, July energy trends remain positive with ADV up 9% and open interest up 4% on a year-over-year basis. ADV in our agriculture and metals markets also set a record in the second quarter, driven by strong performance in both our sugar and coffee products. This was mitigated somewhat by a weaker rate per contract driven by customer and product mix. ADV remains strong in July, up 7% year-over-year.
Revenue in our financial futures business, which includes both our interest rate and equity index products declined year-over-year. A difficult political and economic environment, as well as the tough compare versus the prior year impacted interest rate volumes. However, we're off to a really good start in July with interest rate ADV increasing 29% year-over-year , led by a 60% increase in Euribor volumes. Importantly, open interest across our rates business is up 10% year-over-year, including Sterling open interest, which is up 40%. In our equity index business, MSCI ADV was up 16% in the second quarter and remain strong in July with ADV up 7%.
Turning next to Slide 6, I'll discuss our data and listings segment. Second quarter listings revenues totaled $111 million. The NYSE raised nearly $20 billion in IPO proceeds during the quarter, ranking first globally. During the first half of 2019, the NYSE helped to raise 55% of total U.S. IPO proceeds, including 75% of U.S. tech proceeds.
Moving to data services, on a constant currency basis, revenues grew 6% year-over-year to a record $553 million. In pricing and analytics, revenues grew 4% on a constant currency basis, held by a strong growth in our index business. Entering the third quarter, pricing and analytics ASP is up 6% year-over-year on a constant currency basis, and we expect revenue growth will reaccelerate in the second half.
Exchange data and feeds grew 9% on a constant currency basis. Strength in our futures business, which grew 7% in the second quarter as well as higher tape revenue related to share increases at the NYSE drove this strong performance. While we expect demand for our futures related exchange data products to continue to grow, lower tape revenues and continued softness in NYSE prop data will likely result in a sequential decline in total exchange data revenues in the third quarter.
And finally in desktops and connectivity, revenue increased 5% year-over-year on a constant currency basis. Growth in the ICE Global Network, as well as our desktop and chat platform was partially offset by weakness in some of our NYSE connectivity services.
Moving forward and despite currency impacts, we remained on track to our original full year data revenue guidance and we expect data revenues to be in the range of $550 million to $555 million during the third quarter.
Our continued focus on serving our customers combined with disciplined investments to support growth and profitability across our diverse business once again delivered solid results in the first half of 2019. We grew revenues, operating income, earnings per share and free cash flow. We returned more capital to shareholders in the first half of 2019 than in any other half year period in our history. And we are laser focused on building on this momentum to deliver a strong second half of the year and to strengthen the foundation for continued success in 2020.
I'll be happy to take your questions during Q&A. But for now, I'll turn it over to Ben.
Benjamin Jackson--President
Thank you, Scott, and good morning to everyone on the call. I'll begin on Slide 7. Over the last 20 years how energy is produced and consumed has rapidly evolved, so to have global trade flows, as well as the technology and data available to market participants. We have continuously invested alongside this evolution, building a global platform that today is one of the most diverse and liquid energy marketplaces in the world.
In our oil business, Brent crude stands as the cornerstone of a franchise spanning key price benchmarks such as Gasoil, WTI and Platts Dubai, which is one of the leading markers for crude traveling through Asia. Together these benchmarks form the foundation for a cohesive web of more than 600 related oil products such as locational spreads, product spreads and refining spreads. These are precise risk management tools that benefit from the deep liquidity in and their relationship to our global oil benchmarks. Driven by the breadth of our commercial customer base, we have become the natural home for liquidity in these products with open interest in our global oil products up 25% year-over-year to over 5.5 million contracts or over 40% of our total oil open interest.
Our global natural gas complex spans trading hubs across North America, Europe and Asia. The globalization of natural gas is a trend we've been investing in for over five years. Beginning with our investment in index. That investment established us as a leader in European gas trading. With Asia as the largest buyer of global LNG, the relationship between our European benchmark and Platts JKM, our Asian benchmark is driving global price formation. These new dynamics demand that commercials, investors and traders have a global view. European customers must be aware of supply and demand factors in Asia. Just as a buyer in Asia must be cognizant of trends facing European markets.
LNG shipments out of the Gulf are increasingly pricing away from Henry Hub. And as our benchmarks become more global, we are seeing participation increase with the number of trading firms in our European TTF market doubling since 2015, while average daily volume has increased a 124% this year alone.
In addition, a few weeks ago, we announced an agreement to extend our partnership with Platts to bring the eWindow platform to the global LNG trading community, replicating our successful strategy in the oil markets. The Platts eWindow will leverage our unique WebICE technology, enabling customers to transparently submit bids and offers, and execute trades, while simultaneously participating in the Platts price assessment process.
The globalization of natural gas alongside a global focus on decarbonization, is also critical to the environmental markets. In Europe and the U.S., regulators are increasing the focus on incentivizing the use of renewables and cleaner fossil fuels such as natural gas over coal. Incentives include introducing cap and trade programs and renewable energy standards. Built off of our acquisition of the Climate Exchange nearly a decade ago, we operate the world's largest emissions markets. And as demand for transparent pricing in carbon grows, our markets are well positioned to capture these trends.
Economies around the globe are demanding and consuming more energy. Sources such as renewables will continue to be introduced into the mix and these energy sources are unpredictable by nature. Their interplay with fossil fuels and energy production has the potential to drive additional volatility in global energy markets, and will require traders to consume more data and integrate more robust analytics into their workflows. This is an evolution that we have long envisioned and have positioned our business to benefit from, and we're excited about the future opportunities that lie ahead.
And with that, I'll turn the call over to Jeff.
Jeffrey Sprecher--Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you, Ben, and good morning to everyone on the call. The evolution of our energy markets is one example of how we're continuously investing and developing customer-driven solutions across asset classes, as well as the creative approach we've taken to leverage our infrastructure, our technology and our expertise to drive value creation. In areas such as data services, we're leveraging our core fixed income pricing and reference data, developing new fixed income benchmarks, such as our suite of uni-industries, [Phonetic] and launching real-time fixed income yield curves and credit risk tools. We're investing in our fixed income analytics, enhancing the functionality and now delivering it through an API to broaden the addressable market.
In the second quarter, we launched the ICE Data Vault, a cloud-based data repository, that leverages our consolidated feed business and delivers historical data from over 600 global sources. And we've invested in our sales footprint, adding coverage across both the EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions. These are just a few examples of the initiatives and the new products that we're bringing to the market. They demonstrate, how we are taking the former IDC foundation, one that traditionally served the back and middle offices. And we are enhancing it to drive transparency and liquidity, while we also expand our addressable market further into the front office.
When we combine the long tail secular trends, such as the electronification of bond markets, workflow automation and the shift from active of the passive fund management, our comprehensive data offering is positioned to continue to deliver compounding growth well into the future.
Towards the end of 2019, we expect to launch our ETF Hub, an innovative solution that will serve the $1 trillion fixed income ETF industry, an industry that some expect will double in size over the next five years. With the ETF Hub, we'll bring to market a single portal, one would -- that will be unique to the market to connect multiple participants and provide a more efficient solution for sponsors and traders to manage and execute their primary market orders.
In addition, the SEC is reviewing regulation around the use of custom baskets for the broader ETF sponsored community, a change that over time could provide additional tailwinds for activity on our ETF Hub platform. Ultimately, we view the ETF Hub is one of the first steps toward building a more automated, efficient and complete ecosystem, serving the fixed income trading and investing community.
We're also investing in our equity derivatives business, launching eight new MSCI contracts in the first half of the year. Led by the flagship emerging market index, open interest in our MSCI complex has more than doubled over the last five years to nearly 2 million contracts at the end of July, while average daily volume is up 12% year-over-year.
At the New York Stock Exchange, we executed our second successful direct listing, as Slack went public through this innovative offering. An offering that's maximized by NYSE's hybrid model, coupled to a dedicated market maker, that is compensated under the rules of the exchange, thereby combining dedicated human judgment with state-of-the-art technology. During the quarter, we also launched the NYSE Board Advisory Council, a creative initiative that leverages the unmatched network of the NYSE and one that seeks to address some of the important ESG issues that face corporations today.
As we look at opportunities across other asset classes, such as mortgages in digital assets, we're applying our unique approach to platform building and innovation. In our mortgage business, we closed on our acquisition of Simplifile on the second quarter and added a key piece of infrastructure, one that complements our suite of digital solutions aimed at bringing more efficiency to the $11 trillion U.S. mortgage industry.
At back subject to final regulatory approvals, we plan to launch our physically delivered Bitcoin futures in the very near future. As use cases for digital assets and payment flows advance, Bakkt is working to build a regulated digital asset ecosystem that serves the evolving needs of institutions, merchants and consumers around the world.
Let me close by have you turn to Slide 9. As we turn back to the first half of this year, we're focused on building on our long track record of growth, while we stay concentrated on the execution and investing for our future. I want to close by thanking our customers for their business and their trust. And I want to thank my colleagues for their efforts that contributed to yet another very, very strong quarter for ICE.
And with that ends my prepared remarks. Let me turn our call back to Kerry to conduct the question-and-answer session, which will operate until 9:30 AM Eastern Time.
Operator
We will now begin the question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] First question will come from Richard Repetto of Sandler O'Neill.
Richard Repetto--Sandler O'Neill -- Analyst
Yes. Good morning, Jeff, Scott and Ben. It's been an early morning for some of us. And I guess with the LSE repetitive confirmation of the announcement this morning, it seems like they taken a page out of your playbook with a focus on market data, and certainly they have some fixed income and FX trading platforms as well. I guess the question, Jeff, is how do you see this impacting your businesses, this one-stop shopping for market data? And how would you differentiate what you're offering versus what could be a potential, the LSE, Refinitiv combined platform?
Jeffrey Sprecher--Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
That's a great question. Thanks for asking it. First of all, we are fortunate that we saw the move to that kind of pivot very early, so that we were able to acquire some very, very strategic assets that what today would be viewed as incredibly attractive valuations to build the foundation for what we offer today. And as you see the footprint that we pivoted toward in data was really around fixed income data more than anything.
And in that space -- unique space and one of the things that we were able to acquire with IDC was a 50 year plus history of a high-quality fixed income data that with -- is hard to replicate for new entrants, simply because of time. And what we find is people, the buy side and sell side that are doing analytics and what have you, you need that rich robust data set in order to back test portfolio theories and other things.
Separately, the fixed income business is interesting, in that only a very tiny amount of fixed income trades on any given day. It's -- that's probably less than 5% of fixed income names in the muni space, where we've really put a big investment, it's less than 1%. And so the algorithms and knowledge base that comes from that foundation is really important, a much more so than the trading platforms, which is why we -- as we realize that, we pivoted hard into acquiring indices, legacy data sets and other relationships as opposed to execution venues, as you've seen. Because that will not change with the electronification of the business in our mind.
So we're well positioned. It's a space we expect more competition in. It's a space we expect more consolidation around. One of the facts that I mentioned years ago that we began to see partly by acquiring the New York Stock Exchange is that it's very hard to have connectivity to many, many customers because of cyber security issues. People want a smaller number of large vendors that have the scale to guarantee that connectivity -- direct connectivity to company is safe. And and so it was somewhat inevitable that there was going to be a roll-up in this space. And as I said, that's why we chose some assets quickly and went hard at them very early.
Operator
The next question will come from Michael Carrier of Bank of America.
Michael Carrier--Bank of America -- Analyst
Good morning. Thanks for taking the question. First Scott, maybe just on the expenses and the guidance on Slide 11, just with the growth in the net expense guide. Can you just provide some color on the revenue offsets and maybe which lines that will be flowing through for the second half?
Scott Hill--Chief Financial Officer
Sure. Yes. So Slide 11, again when we look at, I think the key point I would highlight there is effectively what we did this quarter was bringing the midpoint of our original guidance down by $25 million and then we added $50 million on top of it. And that's roughly $28 million, which was simply a change in how we're treating some revenue share agreements that we have, we're going to treat those as net revenue now, not growth, so that's about $28 million. And the vast majority of that is on our financials business and you saw that in our RPC which we adjusted the rolling three months is up a couple of pennies. It was about $8 million in the second quarter and then $10 million at quarter end, and third quarter and fourth quarter.
The other piece is the addition of Simplifile. As I mentioned, that's $9 million to $10 million in the quarter. You could double that and assume for the half, it will be $18 million to $20 million. And that's where, for the second half, we expect revenues in excess of $30 million. And so we've now got a mortgage business, that annualized is a $140 million plus business at very attractive margins. And so we're really excited about that.
So I think the way to think about expenses, they brought the midpoint down $25 million for the year. The gross to net change is no impact to the bottom line, and Simplifile immediately accretive and add to a really large mortgage business in a quickly digitalizing space.
Operator
The next question will come from Ken Worthington of J.P. Morgan.
Ken Worthington--J.P. Morgan -- Analyst
Hi. Good morning and thank you for taking my question. Maybe S -- on ASV, it's up less now than it had been in the past. I think the calculation was something like 5.7% organic constant currency. It had been in high -- as high as maybe 6.7% a couple of quarters ago. So what are the biggest drivers in the decline in ASV? I think you guys mentioned equity data. Is there something else as well? Pricing and analytics growth seems to be around 4% now. That's less than it's been in the past; maybe is that a driver as well? And then lastly, ASV does not capture all the outlook for data. Can you give us an update on the part of data that's not captured by ASV, how is that progressing?
Scott Hill--Chief Financial Officer
Yes. That's a big bundle of questions. Let me see if I go -- work my way through that. So first of all, you are 100% right to be looking at the ASV metric. That is the key indicator of the very good health of our data business because that ASV number represents the 90% of our revenues, roughly give or take that Lynn and her team are outselling every day. The other non-ASV stuff is session fees and NMS and tape data. And we don't sell that. We don't really control that to a great extent. So you're focused on the right metric.
I look at an ASV number, I think it was maybe 6.4% last quarter. 6.1% this quarter on a constant currency basis. They're between 5.7% and 6.7% in a given quarter, I don't lose much sleep on. As long as we're pivoting around 6%, I think that's really indicative of a data business that's positioned to deliver the kind of growth that you've seen from us over the past couple of years. So I think the ASV is well positioned. There is a little bit of weakness on the NYSE exchange data. And that weakness is not that it's going backwards. It's just not growing. And so that does have a bit of a downward impact.
But the good news is, you look at futures exchange data, as I said, growth in the quarter plus 7%, but no customer erosion at all. You hear from others that customers are going away, we're not seeing that. I think that reflects the commercial orientation of our markets. You look at pricing and analytics where it dipped a little bit in the second quarter, but again an instructive point in that audits come and go. And last year we had a few. The year before that we had a few. This year we didn't. And I mentioned that business is going to reaccelerate 5%, 6% in the third quarter, 6%, 7% in the fourth quarter. And coming off a 6% year headed back toward or another 6% year in pricing and analytics. So again, feel really good about that business, feel really good about the execution from Lynn and the team. And I think the ASV metric is a really good indicator that, that business is healthy and growing.
And the thing that I also hope you noted in the quarter was as we start to get some of the foundational investments behind us in that data business, you're starting to see the margin expansion that we would expect from the incremental revenue growth. So we were up a couple of points year-over-year in the quarter. And again I think that's reflective of the fact that, that a business that's positioned to continue to grow is also likely to have very solid incremental margins and expansion overall.
Jeffrey Sprecher--Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
And Ken, let me just pile on by mentioning that Ben went over on Slide 7, how our energy business has really changed. We started -- when I started the Company, we had natural gas was U.S. Henry Hub. Today, you look at the map on Slide 7 and you see that the energy business has pulled us to Europe and then EMEA, Asia. And so I mentioned in my prepared remarks, we're investing in sales and marketing people in these new areas. In other words, the flow of data sales is following the flow of commercial interest in our products. And so it gives us some confidence. We get asked a lot about the changes in large banks like euros, [Phonetic] changes that are going on around Brexit, changes in Europe, and what have you. But when you really look at the flow of the way people are integrating with our network, you see that it's broadening globally and that's helping to drive those data sales.
Operator
And the next question will come from Kyle Voigt of KBW.
Kyle Voigt--Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc. -- Analyst
Hi. Good morning. Maybe just one more follow-up on the LSE, Refinitiv transaction. It sounded like from LSE's call this morning that the Refinitiv deal wasn't really shaft or wasn't a highly competitive deal. So I guess my question is were you able to look at the asset prior to the LSE announcement last week? And then I guess part two of that is just clearly is moving LSE bigger into the front office, which you mentioned in your prepared remarks, with their desktop business at Refinitiv, would that be an area you'd focus on if assets were available in that space in terms of M&A? Thanks.
Jeffrey Sprecher--Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
It's a good question. I'm unable to speak to the current transaction. But let me just say to you that we had -- we've been relatively aggressive at the way we've built ICE over the last couple of decades. And we have had conversation around those assets for more than a decade with multiple management teams who have had multiple ideas on how we might interface with those, including acquisitions, joint ventures, bundling, cross licenses you name it. And we've watched those management teams and discuss with those management teams as they have made major investments in those assets, as they have pulled back from investments in those assets, as they've tried to do cost cutting around those assets, as they've tried to bundle with us, as they've focused on price increases, as they've focused on price decreases. And because it was a public company, we have watched with tremendous detail how those assets have evolved over decades.
And so we've had many opportunities to engage and we haven't found a way obviously that did something that would -- that we felt would really be accretive to ICE shareholders. That in no way as a comment on the current deal. David Schwimmer, and David Warren are two people who I have known for years and highly respect, and our tremendous at what they do and have given us guidance from time-to-time. And also Joe Baratta, and Martin Brand at Blackstone are amazingly sharp and savvy, and so I've got nothing but good feeling about those people in that deal that they did. But as it respects to ICE, over many, many years we were not able to find a way that we can create value.
Operator
The next question will come from Alex Blostein of Goldman Sachs.
Alex Blostein--Goldman Sachs -- Analyst
Hey, guys, good morning. Thanks. So maybe just to round up the discussion around LCE and Refinitiv, any way you guys kind of help us think about exposure ICE Data Services has to Refinitiv? I think most of that is going to be a mixed change that aside. But within pricing and analytics, is there any sort of revenue exposure there as well and how do you guys think of any potential risks twice on the back of that transaction?
Jeffrey Sprecher--Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
This is Jeff. I don't want to answer that question only because that particular transaction is going to go through a global antitrust review, and I don't want to say something that in any way is used in that review positively or negatively. So don't take that to mean anything other than there is a transcript being made of this call, and I'd rather not have us discussing that particular thing. You're going to give me a pass?
Operator
The next question will come from Dan Fannon of Jefferies.
Dan Fannon--Jefferies -- Analyst
Thanks. Can you talk about the ETF Hub in more detail, and timing of launch, kind of your expectations, and maybe some of the incentives that you're going to put out there to attract participants to that offering?
Benjamin Jackson--President
Sure, Dan. This is Ben. And thanks for the question. So we -- we've been talking about this on many calls and we're really excited about it because we are deep in the testing phase right now with a lot of the institutional buy sides and sell sides that are going to on-board onto this platform as it launches. And our our target launch date is in the fourth quarter of this year, and we feel really good about it on how the testing process has gone.
One of the things that excites us about this is -- and Jeff had highlighted in some of the comments he made that we have a multi-decade relationship on the institutional side of these buy side and sell side firms between our pricing, our reference data, our analytics and our index offerings. And what this is enabling us to do is we're going to be really combining that set of offerings with our execution capabilities in TMC and BondPoint that have historically been in the wealth management space, but have protocols that are really oriented toward the new wave of electronification in fixed income with central order book trading. And you're obviously hearing that other platforms out there are trying to race to build similar capabilities to what these platforms already have.
So as we're now going through the testing process and we're now onboarding customers into the ETF Hub, these institutional customers through the testing process for the technical integration process, as well as the legal onboarding, we are coupling the onboarding process of that ETF Hub for a lot of these institutional buy sites that are traditionally not been on our venues to also onboard onto TMC, BondPoint or auction in our RFQ protocols. So for the first time, a lot of these institutional buyers and sellers will have an opportunity to use our venues that have historically not interacted with that order flow in the secondary market. So that's all upside for us to be able to compete in an area that we traditionally have in secondary trading.
And in primary trading, which is where the ETF Hub is, we're going to have as Jeff highlighted in his comments, the unique solution for the industry that solves a ton of inefficiency that there is. And because we're solving that inefficiency and helping all these market participants save an additional amount of cost, reduce risk and hopefully continue to grow an asset class that have seen explosive growth, we see recurring revenue opportunities coming from this, from clients onboarding on it as a natural output of it.
Operator
[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Brian Bedell of Deutsche Bank.
Brian Bedell--Deutsche Bank -- Analyst
Great. Thanks. Good morning, folks. I was going to ask one on the Refinitiv as well, but Jeff, you might not answer, given the global antitrust review. But one I'll ask and then I'll have a second question, you can pick there one of the two.
Jeffrey Sprecher--Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Okay. Fair enough.
Brian Bedell--Deutsche Bank -- Analyst
The Refinitiv one was just longer term thoughts on how it could change pricing in the industry given how you've gone out to a lot of large customers and have been able to successfully bundle a lot of data services together; whether the Refinitiv transaction changes that dynamic longer term in that strategy?
And then the second question would be on energy. And the question there is, given that product range that you guys outlined a lot in this call, is there a view of broadening out the customer base there? You've traditionally been very heavy in the commercials, any thoughts to doing things to introduce more market, making in a proprietary trading, and perhaps even retail usage of energy futures?
Jeffrey Sprecher--Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
I think, we'll try to answer both questions. So yes, I think you threaded the needle. So yes, the notion of trying to bundle content and distribution is something that's unique to financial services. It is the play in media and transportation and many other industries around the world. And so I do think that, that trend will continue. I do think that the competition authorities are going to pay attention to that. And which is why I'm not prepared to get too in depth with somebody else's strategy versus our strategy.
But I think ultimately our industry has been going through consolidation, not just in platform providers, if you will like ICE, but buy side firms and sell side firms, and the way assets are gathered and managed. And so it's somewhat of an inevitability in my mind that you're going to see winners emerge. And as I mentioned, I'm glad that we made the transition early, so that we had a look at all of these assets and could figure out which ones really would work for the specific kind of platform and distribution, and content that we think can continue to deliver top line growth . You can bundle downward growth as well. So the idea here is to create compelling bundles that more customers want that can drive EPS growth. And I know we've done that.
Warren Gardiner--Vice President, Investor Relations
You want to pick up the [Speech Overlap]
Jeffrey Sprecher--Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Yes. Go ahead.
Benjamin Jackson--President
So on the energy side, just to pick up on the question -- second question you had there. So you're right, we have focused on the commercial hedger in building out a diversified product suite around the world. And when we say that, we're focused on the commercial hedger. I think one of the important distinctions that not everyone appreciates is what we mean by that. What we mean is that we've established a set of diversified products. So the product that people are actually consuming, whether it's various grades of crude oil or it's refined products and also enabling at the point of consumption of those goods, putting locations around the world where these customers are either buying or selling the end commodity. That enables them to as precisely as possible manage their exposure to price risk where they have the most acute risk, which is at that point of consumption. And this is distinct from many of the other peers that are out there, where they primarily focus on a single product and trying to attract customers, which could be a halfway around the world to interact with the product that they may have no commercial connection to.
If you look at products that we've developed in Asia for example like Singapore Gasoil, Fuel Oil, Singapore Jet Kerosene, these are small sample set of hundreds and hundreds of products that we have around the world in our global oil and refined product suite that we've been partnering with our customers to build. And we have an -- have had -- have today and continue to build on and grow market share in this part of our business as Scott had pointed out, open interest, up 25% and volumes even accelerated this month to up 17% in this week.
The last thing I'd point out is the reason we focus on the commercials is that they have a real vibrant market. It starts with the Cornerstone, which has to be the commercial trader that really cares about that physical instrument that's underpinning the price formation and the really the real risk around consuming the end good at the particular location. And what we've seen is, if we get that right, market makers, financials and those follow into that market. And that's what we've seen in all of the markets that we've developed.
So we do focus on each of those areas that you had mentioned, but we really focus on getting the commercial aspect of it right first. And that's why we're seeing this area of our business significantly grow.
Operator
The next question will be from Chris Harris of Wells Fargo.
Chris Harris--Wells Fargo -- Analyst
So part of ICE's value proposition in fixed income data is really offering valuation services for harder to value securities. So I'm wondering as more trading moves to electronic and becomes more transparent, how do you think this part of the data business will evolve?
Benjamin Jackson--President
Thanks, Chris. This is Ben. I'll take this. So I think one of the comments Jeff made in an answer to a question earlier today is very important to highlight. In that if you look at the corporate bond space where you have 30,000 instruments, on a given day, the number of instruments out of that 37 -- or 30,000 corporate bonds that are out there, less than 2,000 of those trade every single day. So even as electronification takes hold, you're talking about 5% or less of the market that's actually trading in a given day.
And with the explosion of data and the more precision that people want around managing their risk and pricing instruments moving not only from end of day, but to intraday, you can imagine the algorithm that's needed to understand what the correlations are of all the different instruments that actually do trade in a given day, and having to figure out what does that mean for something that hasn't traded in a day, a week or a month.
And when we talk about that multiple decades of being that trusted pricing and reference data provider to our customers, having that history, having that trust of being able to build out that complex algorithm, having trained it over many, many decades puts us in a position that I think is very, very strong. We will continue to grow as data and information assets continue to grow around this space.
Operator
And this concludes our question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the conference back over to Jeff Sprecher for any closing remarks.
Jeffrey Sprecher--Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you, Kerry, and thank you all for your participation in today's call. And we'll look forward to being back next quarter to similarly give you our great results.
Operator
[Operator Closing Remarks]
Duration: 45 minutes
Warren Gardiner--Vice President, Investor Relations
Scott Hill--Chief Financial Officer
Benjamin Jackson--President
Jeffrey Sprecher--Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Richard Repetto--Sandler O'Neill -- Analyst
Michael Carrier--Bank of America -- Analyst
Ken Worthington--J.P. Morgan -- Analyst
Kyle Voigt--Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc. -- Analyst
Alex Blostein--Goldman Sachs -- Analyst
Dan Fannon--Jefferies -- Analyst
Brian Bedell--Deutsche Bank -- Analyst
Chris Harris--Wells Fargo -- Analyst
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Motley Fool Transcribershas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Intercontinental Exchange. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Intercontinental Exchange Inc (ICE) Q2 2019 Earnings Call Transcript: Logo of jester cap with thought bubble. Image source: The Motley Fool. Intercontinental Exchange Inc (NYSE: ICE) Q2 2019 Earnings Call Aug 1, 2019 , 8:30 a.m. ET Contents: Prepared Remarks Questions and Answers Call Participants Prepared Remarks: Operator Good morning, and welcome to the Intercontinental Exchange Second Quarter 2019 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to turn the conference over to Warren Gardiner, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead. Warren Gardiner -- Vice President, Investor Relations Good morning. ICE's second quarter 2019 earnings release and presentation can be found in the Investor section of theice.com. These items will be archived, and our call will be available for replay. Today's call may contain forward-looking statements. These statements, which we undertake no obligation to update, represent our current judgment and are subject to risks, assumptions and uncertainties. For a description of the risks that could cause our results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements, please refer to our 2018 Form 10-K. In our earnings supplement, we refer to certain non-GAAP measures, including adjusted income, EPS, operating income, operating margin, expenses, effective tax rate, free cash flow and EBITDA. We believe our non-GAAP measures are more reflective of our cash operations and core business performance. You'll find a reconciliation to the equivalent GAAP term in the earnings materials, and an explanation of why we deem this information to be meaningful, as well as how management uses these measures in our 10-Q. When used on this call, net revenue refers to revenue net of transaction-based expenses, and adjusted earnings refers to adjusted diluted earnings per share. Please see the explanatory notes on the second page of the earnings supplement for additional details regarding the definition of certain terms. With us on the call are Jeff Sprecher, Chairman and CEO; Scott Hill, Chief Financial Officer; and Ben Jackson, our President. Story continues I'll now turn the call over to Scott. Scott Hill -- Chief Financial Officer Thanks, Warren. Good morning, everyone and thank you for joining us today. I'll begin on Slide 4, with some of the key highlights from our second quarter performance. Earnings per share totaled $0.94, up 4% versus the prior year and equal to our record fourth quarter performance. During the second quarter, we generated the second highest quarterly revenues in our Company's history, which yielded record adjusted operating income and record adjusted EBITDA. And importantly, first half free cash flow increased 13% year-over-year, enabling us to return over $1 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. Consolidated net revenues in the quarter were $1.3 billion, with trading and clearing, and data and listings both increasing 5% year-over-year on a constant currency basis. Adjusted operating expenses totaled $540 million in the quarter, including roughly $5 million non-recurring benefit primarily in tech expense. Additionally, second quarter expenses reflect both the reclassification of certain licensing agreements from net revenues to expenses, as well as a small amount related to our acquisition of Simplifile in late June. Looking forward to the third quarter, we expect adjusted operating expenses to be in the range of $552 million to $562 million. This includes $9 million to $10 million related to Simplifile, and roughly $10 million related to the aforementioned revenue reclassification. These expenses will be more than offset by around $25 million of revenue and thus accretive to the bottom line. On a basis comparable to our original expense guidance, we now expect full year adjusted operating expenses to be around the low-end of that range and between $2.14 billion and $2.16 billion, adding in roughly $50 million for the full year amounts related to Simplifile and the revenue reclass, and noting again that, those expenses will be more than offset by additional revenue. Adjusted operating expenses are expected to be in the range of $2.19 billion to $2.21 billion. We've included Slide 11 in the appendix to provide additional clarity on this update. Now, let's move to Slide 5, where I'll provide additional color on the performance of our trading and clearing segment. In the second quarter, net revenues were up 4% year-over-year or 5% on a constant currency basis. In our energy markets, average daily volumes or ADV were down 2% year-over-year. However, total energy revenues increased 2% versus the prior year on a constant currency basis, resulting in the second best quarter in our history. This strong performance was driven primarily by continued growth in our European natural gas and global oil products. Average daily volume in our European natural gas business established a new record during the second quarter, and open interest is up 29% over the prior year through July. In addition, ADV and a broad suite of crude and refined oil related contracts that make up our global oil business increased 14% year-over-year in the second quarter with open interest up 25% at the end of July. Overall, July energy trends remain positive with ADV up 9% and open interest up 4% on a year-over-year basis. ADV in our agriculture and metals markets also set a record in the second quarter, driven by strong performance in both our sugar and coffee products. This was mitigated somewhat by a weaker rate per contract driven by customer and product mix. ADV remains strong in July, up 7% year-over-year. Revenue in our financial futures business, which includes both our interest rate and equity index products declined year-over-year. A difficult political and economic environment, as well as the tough compare versus the prior year impacted interest rate volumes. However, we're off to a really good start in July with interest rate ADV increasing 29% year-over-year , led by a 60% increase in Euribor volumes. Importantly, open interest across our rates business is up 10% year-over-year, including Sterling open interest, which is up 40%. In our equity index business, MSCI ADV was up 16% in the second quarter and remain strong in July with ADV up 7%. Turning next to Slide 6, I'll discuss our data and listings segment. Second quarter listings revenues totaled $111 million. The NYSE raised nearly $20 billion in IPO proceeds during the quarter, ranking first globally. During the first half of 2019, the NYSE helped to raise 55% of total U.S. IPO proceeds, including 75% of U.S. tech proceeds. Moving to data services, on a constant currency basis, revenues grew 6% year-over-year to a record $553 million. In pricing and analytics, revenues grew 4% on a constant currency basis, held by a strong growth in our index business. Entering the third quarter, pricing and analytics ASP is up 6% year-over-year on a constant currency basis, and we expect revenue growth will reaccelerate in the second half. Exchange data and feeds grew 9% on a constant currency basis. Strength in our futures business, which grew 7% in the second quarter as well as higher tape revenue related to share increases at the NYSE drove this strong performance. While we expect demand for our futures related exchange data products to continue to grow, lower tape revenues and continued softness in NYSE prop data will likely result in a sequential decline in total exchange data revenues in the third quarter. And finally in desktops and connectivity, revenue increased 5% year-over-year on a constant currency basis. Growth in the ICE Global Network, as well as our desktop and chat platform was partially offset by weakness in some of our NYSE connectivity services. Moving forward and despite currency impacts, we remained on track to our original full year data revenue guidance and we expect data revenues to be in the range of $550 million to $555 million during the third quarter. Our continued focus on serving our customers combined with disciplined investments to support growth and profitability across our diverse business once again delivered solid results in the first half of 2019. We grew revenues, operating income, earnings per share and free cash flow. We returned more capital to shareholders in the first half of 2019 than in any other half year period in our history. And we are laser focused on building on this momentum to deliver a strong second half of the year and to strengthen the foundation for continued success in 2020. I'll be happy to take your questions during Q&A. But for now, I'll turn it over to Ben. Benjamin Jackson -- President Thank you, Scott, and good morning to everyone on the call. I'll begin on Slide 7. Over the last 20 years how energy is produced and consumed has rapidly evolved, so to have global trade flows, as well as the technology and data available to market participants. We have continuously invested alongside this evolution, building a global platform that today is one of the most diverse and liquid energy marketplaces in the world. In our oil business, Brent crude stands as the cornerstone of a franchise spanning key price benchmarks such as Gasoil, WTI and Platts Dubai, which is one of the leading markers for crude traveling through Asia. Together these benchmarks form the foundation for a cohesive web of more than 600 related oil products such as locational spreads, product spreads and refining spreads. These are precise risk management tools that benefit from the deep liquidity in and their relationship to our global oil benchmarks. Driven by the breadth of our commercial customer base, we have become the natural home for liquidity in these products with open interest in our global oil products up 25% year-over-year to over 5.5 million contracts or over 40% of our total oil open interest. Our global natural gas complex spans trading hubs across North America, Europe and Asia. The globalization of natural gas is a trend we've been investing in for over five years. Beginning with our investment in index. That investment established us as a leader in European gas trading. With Asia as the largest buyer of global LNG, the relationship between our European benchmark and Platts JKM, our Asian benchmark is driving global price formation. These new dynamics demand that commercials, investors and traders have a global view. European customers must be aware of supply and demand factors in Asia. Just as a buyer in Asia must be cognizant of trends facing European markets. LNG shipments out of the Gulf are increasingly pricing away from Henry Hub. And as our benchmarks become more global, we are seeing participation increase with the number of trading firms in our European TTF market doubling since 2015, while average daily volume has increased a 124% this year alone. In addition, a few weeks ago, we announced an agreement to extend our partnership with Platts to bring the eWindow platform to the global LNG trading community, replicating our successful strategy in the oil markets. The Platts eWindow will leverage our unique WebICE technology, enabling customers to transparently submit bids and offers, and execute trades, while simultaneously participating in the Platts price assessment process. The globalization of natural gas alongside a global focus on decarbonization, is also critical to the environmental markets. In Europe and the U.S., regulators are increasing the focus on incentivizing the use of renewables and cleaner fossil fuels such as natural gas over coal. Incentives include introducing cap and trade programs and renewable energy standards. Built off of our acquisition of the Climate Exchange nearly a decade ago, we operate the world's largest emissions markets. And as demand for transparent pricing in carbon grows, our markets are well positioned to capture these trends. Economies around the globe are demanding and consuming more energy. Sources such as renewables will continue to be introduced into the mix and these energy sources are unpredictable by nature. Their interplay with fossil fuels and energy production has the potential to drive additional volatility in global energy markets, and will require traders to consume more data and integrate more robust analytics into their workflows. This is an evolution that we have long envisioned and have positioned our business to benefit from, and we're excited about the future opportunities that lie ahead. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Jeff. Jeffrey Sprecher -- Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Thank you, Ben, and good morning to everyone on the call. The evolution of our energy markets is one example of how we're continuously investing and developing customer-driven solutions across asset classes, as well as the creative approach we've taken to leverage our infrastructure, our technology and our expertise to drive value creation. In areas such as data services, we're leveraging our core fixed income pricing and reference data, developing new fixed income benchmarks, such as our suite of uni-industries, [Phonetic] and launching real-time fixed income yield curves and credit risk tools. We're investing in our fixed income analytics, enhancing the functionality and now delivering it through an API to broaden the addressable market. In the second quarter, we launched the ICE Data Vault, a cloud-based data repository, that leverages our consolidated feed business and delivers historical data from over 600 global sources. And we've invested in our sales footprint, adding coverage across both the EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions. These are just a few examples of the initiatives and the new products that we're bringing to the market. They demonstrate, how we are taking the former IDC foundation, one that traditionally served the back and middle offices. And we are enhancing it to drive transparency and liquidity, while we also expand our addressable market further into the front office. When we combine the long tail secular trends, such as the electronification of bond markets, workflow automation and the shift from active of the passive fund management, our comprehensive data offering is positioned to continue to deliver compounding growth well into the future. Towards the end of 2019, we expect to launch our ETF Hub, an innovative solution that will serve the $1 trillion fixed income ETF industry, an industry that some expect will double in size over the next five years. With the ETF Hub, we'll bring to market a single portal, one would -- that will be unique to the market to connect multiple participants and provide a more efficient solution for sponsors and traders to manage and execute their primary market orders. In addition, the SEC is reviewing regulation around the use of custom baskets for the broader ETF sponsored community, a change that over time could provide additional tailwinds for activity on our ETF Hub platform. Ultimately, we view the ETF Hub is one of the first steps toward building a more automated, efficient and complete ecosystem, serving the fixed income trading and investing community. We're also investing in our equity derivatives business, launching eight new MSCI contracts in the first half of the year. Led by the flagship emerging market index, open interest in our MSCI complex has more than doubled over the last five years to nearly 2 million contracts at the end of July, while average daily volume is up 12% year-over-year. At the New York Stock Exchange, we executed our second successful direct listing, as Slack went public through this innovative offering. An offering that's maximized by NYSE's hybrid model, coupled to a dedicated market maker, that is compensated under the rules of the exchange, thereby combining dedicated human judgment with state-of-the-art technology. During the quarter, we also launched the NYSE Board Advisory Council, a creative initiative that leverages the unmatched network of the NYSE and one that seeks to address some of the important ESG issues that face corporations today. As we look at opportunities across other asset classes, such as mortgages in digital assets, we're applying our unique approach to platform building and innovation. In our mortgage business, we closed on our acquisition of Simplifile on the second quarter and added a key piece of infrastructure, one that complements our suite of digital solutions aimed at bringing more efficiency to the $11 trillion U.S. mortgage industry. At back subject to final regulatory approvals, we plan to launch our physically delivered Bitcoin futures in the very near future. As use cases for digital assets and payment flows advance, Bakkt is working to build a regulated digital asset ecosystem that serves the evolving needs of institutions, merchants and consumers around the world. Let me close by have you turn to Slide 9. As we turn back to the first half of this year, we're focused on building on our long track record of growth, while we stay concentrated on the execution and investing for our future. I want to close by thanking our customers for their business and their trust. And I want to thank my colleagues for their efforts that contributed to yet another very, very strong quarter for ICE. And with that ends my prepared remarks. Let me turn our call back to Kerry to conduct the question-and-answer session, which will operate until 9:30 AM Eastern Time. Questions and Answers: Operator We will now begin the question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] First question will come from Richard Repetto of Sandler O'Neill. Richard Repetto -- Sandler O'Neill -- Analyst Yes. Good morning, Jeff, Scott and Ben. It's been an early morning for some of us. And I guess with the LSE repetitive confirmation of the announcement this morning, it seems like they taken a page out of your playbook with a focus on market data, and certainly they have some fixed income and FX trading platforms as well. I guess the question, Jeff, is how do you see this impacting your businesses, this one-stop shopping for market data? And how would you differentiate what you're offering versus what could be a potential, the LSE, Refinitiv combined platform? Jeffrey Sprecher -- Chairman and Chief Executive Officer That's a great question. Thanks for asking it. First of all, we are fortunate that we saw the move to that kind of pivot very early, so that we were able to acquire some very, very strategic assets that what today would be viewed as incredibly attractive valuations to build the foundation for what we offer today. And as you see the footprint that we pivoted toward in data was really around fixed income data more than anything. And in that space -- unique space and one of the things that we were able to acquire with IDC was a 50 year plus history of a high-quality fixed income data that with -- is hard to replicate for new entrants, simply because of time. And what we find is people, the buy side and sell side that are doing analytics and what have you, you need that rich robust data set in order to back test portfolio theories and other things. Separately, the fixed income business is interesting, in that only a very tiny amount of fixed income trades on any given day. It's -- that's probably less than 5% of fixed income names in the muni space, where we've really put a big investment, it's less than 1%. And so the algorithms and knowledge base that comes from that foundation is really important, a much more so than the trading platforms, which is why we -- as we realize that, we pivoted hard into acquiring indices, legacy data sets and other relationships as opposed to execution venues, as you've seen. Because that will not change with the electronification of the business in our mind. So we're well positioned. It's a space we expect more competition in. It's a space we expect more consolidation around. One of the facts that I mentioned years ago that we began to see partly by acquiring the New York Stock Exchange is that it's very hard to have connectivity to many, many customers because of cyber security issues. People want a smaller number of large vendors that have the scale to guarantee that connectivity -- direct connectivity to company is safe. And and so it was somewhat inevitable that there was going to be a roll-up in this space. And as I said, that's why we chose some assets quickly and went hard at them very early. Operator The next question will come from Michael Carrier of Bank of America. Michael Carrier -- Bank of America -- Analyst Good morning. Thanks for taking the question. First Scott, maybe just on the expenses and the guidance on Slide 11, just with the growth in the net expense guide. Can you just provide some color on the revenue offsets and maybe which lines that will be flowing through for the second half? Scott Hill -- Chief Financial Officer Sure. Yes. So Slide 11, again when we look at, I think the key point I would highlight there is effectively what we did this quarter was bringing the midpoint of our original guidance down by $25 million and then we added $50 million on top of it. And that's roughly $28 million, which was simply a change in how we're treating some revenue share agreements that we have, we're going to treat those as net revenue now, not growth, so that's about $28 million. And the vast majority of that is on our financials business and you saw that in our RPC which we adjusted the rolling three months is up a couple of pennies. It was about $8 million in the second quarter and then $10 million at quarter end, and third quarter and fourth quarter. The other piece is the addition of Simplifile. As I mentioned, that's $9 million to $10 million in the quarter. You could double that and assume for the half, it will be $18 million to $20 million. And that's where, for the second half, we expect revenues in excess of $30 million. And so we've now got a mortgage business, that annualized is a $140 million plus business at very attractive margins. And so we're really excited about that. So I think the way to think about expenses, they brought the midpoint down $25 million for the year. The gross to net change is no impact to the bottom line, and Simplifile immediately accretive and add to a really large mortgage business in a quickly digitalizing space. Operator The next question will come from Ken Worthington of J.P. Morgan. Ken Worthington -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst Hi. Good morning and thank you for taking my question. Maybe S -- on ASV, it's up less now than it had been in the past. I think the calculation was something like 5.7% organic constant currency. It had been in high -- as high as maybe 6.7% a couple of quarters ago. So what are the biggest drivers in the decline in ASV? I think you guys mentioned equity data. Is there something else as well? Pricing and analytics growth seems to be around 4% now. That's less than it's been in the past; maybe is that a driver as well? And then lastly, ASV does not capture all the outlook for data. Can you give us an update on the part of data that's not captured by ASV, how is that progressing? Scott Hill -- Chief Financial Officer Yes. That's a big bundle of questions. Let me see if I go -- work my way through that. So first of all, you are 100% right to be looking at the ASV metric. That is the key indicator of the very good health of our data business because that ASV number represents the 90% of our revenues, roughly give or take that Lynn and her team are outselling every day. The other non-ASV stuff is session fees and NMS and tape data. And we don't sell that. We don't really control that to a great extent. So you're focused on the right metric. I look at an ASV number, I think it was maybe 6.4% last quarter. 6.1% this quarter on a constant currency basis. They're between 5.7% and 6.7% in a given quarter, I don't lose much sleep on. As long as we're pivoting around 6%, I think that's really indicative of a data business that's positioned to deliver the kind of growth that you've seen from us over the past couple of years. So I think the ASV is well positioned. There is a little bit of weakness on the NYSE exchange data. And that weakness is not that it's going backwards. It's just not growing. And so that does have a bit of a downward impact. But the good news is, you look at futures exchange data, as I said, growth in the quarter plus 7%, but no customer erosion at all. You hear from others that customers are going away, we're not seeing that. I think that reflects the commercial orientation of our markets. You look at pricing and analytics where it dipped a little bit in the second quarter, but again an instructive point in that audits come and go. And last year we had a few. The year before that we had a few. This year we didn't. And I mentioned that business is going to reaccelerate 5%, 6% in the third quarter, 6%, 7% in the fourth quarter. And coming off a 6% year headed back toward or another 6% year in pricing and analytics. So again, feel really good about that business, feel really good about the execution from Lynn and the team. And I think the ASV metric is a really good indicator that, that business is healthy and growing. And the thing that I also hope you noted in the quarter was as we start to get some of the foundational investments behind us in that data business, you're starting to see the margin expansion that we would expect from the incremental revenue growth. So we were up a couple of points year-over-year in the quarter. And again I think that's reflective of the fact that, that a business that's positioned to continue to grow is also likely to have very solid incremental margins and expansion overall. Jeffrey Sprecher -- Chairman and Chief Executive Officer And Ken, let me just pile on by mentioning that Ben went over on Slide 7, how our energy business has really changed. We started -- when I started the Company, we had natural gas was U.S. Henry Hub. Today, you look at the map on Slide 7 and you see that the energy business has pulled us to Europe and then EMEA, Asia. And so I mentioned in my prepared remarks, we're investing in sales and marketing people in these new areas. In other words, the flow of data sales is following the flow of commercial interest in our products. And so it gives us some confidence. We get asked a lot about the changes in large banks like euros, [Phonetic] changes that are going on around Brexit, changes in Europe, and what have you. But when you really look at the flow of the way people are integrating with our network, you see that it's broadening globally and that's helping to drive those data sales. Operator And the next question will come from Kyle Voigt of KBW. Kyle Voigt -- Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc. -- Analyst Hi. Good morning. Maybe just one more follow-up on the LSE, Refinitiv transaction. It sounded like from LSE's call this morning that the Refinitiv deal wasn't really shaft or wasn't a highly competitive deal. So I guess my question is were you able to look at the asset prior to the LSE announcement last week? And then I guess part two of that is just clearly is moving LSE bigger into the front office, which you mentioned in your prepared remarks, with their desktop business at Refinitiv, would that be an area you'd focus on if assets were available in that space in terms of M&A? Thanks. Jeffrey Sprecher -- Chairman and Chief Executive Officer It's a good question. I'm unable to speak to the current transaction. But let me just say to you that we had -- we've been relatively aggressive at the way we've built ICE over the last couple of decades. And we have had conversation around those assets for more than a decade with multiple management teams who have had multiple ideas on how we might interface with those, including acquisitions, joint ventures, bundling, cross licenses you name it. And we've watched those management teams and discuss with those management teams as they have made major investments in those assets, as they have pulled back from investments in those assets, as they've tried to do cost cutting around those assets, as they've tried to bundle with us, as they've focused on price increases, as they've focused on price decreases. And because it was a public company, we have watched with tremendous detail how those assets have evolved over decades. And so we've had many opportunities to engage and we haven't found a way obviously that did something that would -- that we felt would really be accretive to ICE shareholders. That in no way as a comment on the current deal. David Schwimmer, and David Warren are two people who I have known for years and highly respect, and our tremendous at what they do and have given us guidance from time-to-time. And also Joe Baratta, and Martin Brand at Blackstone are amazingly sharp and savvy, and so I've got nothing but good feeling about those people in that deal that they did. But as it respects to ICE, over many, many years we were not able to find a way that we can create value. Operator The next question will come from Alex Blostein of Goldman Sachs. Alex Blostein -- Goldman Sachs -- Analyst Hey, guys, good morning. Thanks. So maybe just to round up the discussion around LCE and Refinitiv, any way you guys kind of help us think about exposure ICE Data Services has to Refinitiv? I think most of that is going to be a mixed change that aside. But within pricing and analytics, is there any sort of revenue exposure there as well and how do you guys think of any potential risks twice on the back of that transaction? Jeffrey Sprecher -- Chairman and Chief Executive Officer This is Jeff. I don't want to answer that question only because that particular transaction is going to go through a global antitrust review, and I don't want to say something that in any way is used in that review positively or negatively. So don't take that to mean anything other than there is a transcript being made of this call, and I'd rather not have us discussing that particular thing. You're going to give me a pass? Operator The next question will come from Dan Fannon of Jefferies. Dan Fannon -- Jefferies -- Analyst Thanks. Can you talk about the ETF Hub in more detail, and timing of launch, kind of your expectations, and maybe some of the incentives that you're going to put out there to attract participants to that offering? Benjamin Jackson -- President Sure, Dan. This is Ben. And thanks for the question. So we -- we've been talking about this on many calls and we're really excited about it because we are deep in the testing phase right now with a lot of the institutional buy sides and sell sides that are going to on-board onto this platform as it launches. And our our target launch date is in the fourth quarter of this year, and we feel really good about it on how the testing process has gone. One of the things that excites us about this is -- and Jeff had highlighted in some of the comments he made that we have a multi-decade relationship on the institutional side of these buy side and sell side firms between our pricing, our reference data, our analytics and our index offerings. And what this is enabling us to do is we're going to be really combining that set of offerings with our execution capabilities in TMC and BondPoint that have historically been in the wealth management space, but have protocols that are really oriented toward the new wave of electronification in fixed income with central order book trading. And you're obviously hearing that other platforms out there are trying to race to build similar capabilities to what these platforms already have. So as we're now going through the testing process and we're now onboarding customers into the ETF Hub, these institutional customers through the testing process for the technical integration process, as well as the legal onboarding, we are coupling the onboarding process of that ETF Hub for a lot of these institutional buy sites that are traditionally not been on our venues to also onboard onto TMC, BondPoint or auction in our RFQ protocols. So for the first time, a lot of these institutional buyers and sellers will have an opportunity to use our venues that have historically not interacted with that order flow in the secondary market. So that's all upside for us to be able to compete in an area that we traditionally have in secondary trading. And in primary trading, which is where the ETF Hub is, we're going to have as Jeff highlighted in his comments, the unique solution for the industry that solves a ton of inefficiency that there is. And because we're solving that inefficiency and helping all these market participants save an additional amount of cost, reduce risk and hopefully continue to grow an asset class that have seen explosive growth, we see recurring revenue opportunities coming from this, from clients onboarding on it as a natural output of it. Operator [Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Brian Bedell of Deutsche Bank. Brian Bedell -- Deutsche Bank -- Analyst Great. Thanks. Good morning, folks. I was going to ask one on the Refinitiv as well, but Jeff, you might not answer, given the global antitrust review. But one I'll ask and then I'll have a second question, you can pick there one of the two. Jeffrey Sprecher -- Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Okay. Fair enough. Brian Bedell -- Deutsche Bank -- Analyst The Refinitiv one was just longer term thoughts on how it could change pricing in the industry given how you've gone out to a lot of large customers and have been able to successfully bundle a lot of data services together; whether the Refinitiv transaction changes that dynamic longer term in that strategy? And then the second question would be on energy. And the question there is, given that product range that you guys outlined a lot in this call, is there a view of broadening out the customer base there? You've traditionally been very heavy in the commercials, any thoughts to doing things to introduce more market, making in a proprietary trading, and perhaps even retail usage of energy futures? Jeffrey Sprecher -- Chairman and Chief Executive Officer I think, we'll try to answer both questions. So yes, I think you threaded the needle. So yes, the notion of trying to bundle content and distribution is something that's unique to financial services. It is the play in media and transportation and many other industries around the world. And so I do think that, that trend will continue. I do think that the competition authorities are going to pay attention to that. And which is why I'm not prepared to get too in depth with somebody else's strategy versus our strategy. But I think ultimately our industry has been going through consolidation, not just in platform providers, if you will like ICE, but buy side firms and sell side firms, and the way assets are gathered and managed. And so it's somewhat of an inevitability in my mind that you're going to see winners emerge. And as I mentioned, I'm glad that we made the transition early, so that we had a look at all of these assets and could figure out which ones really would work for the specific kind of platform and distribution, and content that we think can continue to deliver top line growth . You can bundle downward growth as well. So the idea here is to create compelling bundles that more customers want that can drive EPS growth. And I know we've done that. Warren Gardiner -- Vice President, Investor Relations You want to pick up the [Speech Overlap] Jeffrey Sprecher -- Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Yes. Go ahead. Benjamin Jackson -- President So on the energy side, just to pick up on the question -- second question you had there. So you're right, we have focused on the commercial hedger in building out a diversified product suite around the world. And when we say that, we're focused on the commercial hedger. I think one of the important distinctions that not everyone appreciates is what we mean by that. What we mean is that we've established a set of diversified products. So the product that people are actually consuming, whether it's various grades of crude oil or it's refined products and also enabling at the point of consumption of those goods, putting locations around the world where these customers are either buying or selling the end commodity. That enables them to as precisely as possible manage their exposure to price risk where they have the most acute risk, which is at that point of consumption. And this is distinct from many of the other peers that are out there, where they primarily focus on a single product and trying to attract customers, which could be a halfway around the world to interact with the product that they may have no commercial connection to. If you look at products that we've developed in Asia for example like Singapore Gasoil, Fuel Oil, Singapore Jet Kerosene, these are small sample set of hundreds and hundreds of products that we have around the world in our global oil and refined product suite that we've been partnering with our customers to build. And we have an -- have had -- have today and continue to build on and grow market share in this part of our business as Scott had pointed out, open interest, up 25% and volumes even accelerated this month to up 17% in this week. The last thing I'd point out is the reason we focus on the commercials is that they have a real vibrant market. It starts with the Cornerstone, which has to be the commercial trader that really cares about that physical instrument that's underpinning the price formation and the really the real risk around consuming the end good at the particular location. And what we've seen is, if we get that right, market makers, financials and those follow into that market. And that's what we've seen in all of the markets that we've developed. So we do focus on each of those areas that you had mentioned, but we really focus on getting the commercial aspect of it right first. And that's why we're seeing this area of our business significantly grow. Operator The next question will be from Chris Harris of Wells Fargo. Chris Harris -- Wells Fargo -- Analyst So part of ICE's value proposition in fixed income data is really offering valuation services for harder to value securities. So I'm wondering as more trading moves to electronic and becomes more transparent, how do you think this part of the data business will evolve? Benjamin Jackson -- President Thanks, Chris. This is Ben. I'll take this. So I think one of the comments Jeff made in an answer to a question earlier today is very important to highlight. In that if you look at the corporate bond space where you have 30,000 instruments, on a given day, the number of instruments out of that 37 -- or 30,000 corporate bonds that are out there, less than 2,000 of those trade every single day. So even as electronification takes hold, you're talking about 5% or less of the market that's actually trading in a given day. And with the explosion of data and the more precision that people want around managing their risk and pricing instruments moving not only from end of day, but to intraday, you can imagine the algorithm that's needed to understand what the correlations are of all the different instruments that actually do trade in a given day, and having to figure out what does that mean for something that hasn't traded in a day, a week or a month. And when we talk about that multiple decades of being that trusted pricing and reference data provider to our customers, having that history, having that trust of being able to build out that complex algorithm, having trained it over many, many decades puts us in a position that I think is very, very strong. We will continue to grow as data and information assets continue to grow around this space. Operator And this concludes our question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the conference back over to Jeff Sprecher for any closing remarks. Jeffrey Sprecher -- Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Thank you, Kerry, and thank you all for your participation in today's call. And we'll look forward to being back next quarter to similarly give you our great results. Operator [Operator Closing Remarks] Duration: 45 minutes Call participants: Warren Gardiner -- Vice President, Investor Relations Scott Hill -- Chief Financial Officer Benjamin Jackson -- President Jeffrey Sprecher -- Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard Repetto -- Sandler O'Neill -- Analyst Michael Carrier -- Bank of America -- Analyst Ken Worthington -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst Kyle Voigt -- Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc. -- Analyst Alex Blostein -- Goldman Sachs -- Analyst Dan Fannon -- Jefferies -- Analyst Brian Bedell -- Deutsche Bank -- Analyst Chris Harris -- Wells Fargo -- Analyst More ICE analysis All earnings call transcripts AlphaStreet Logo More From The Motley Fool 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,728 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss 20 of the Top Stocks to Buy (Including the Two Every Investor Should Own) What Is an ETF? 5 Recession-Proof Stocks How to Beat the Market This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. Motley Fool Transcribers has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Intercontinental Exchange. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || BitGo partners with Algorand to offer multisig wallets and custody services: Cryptocurrency custodian BitGo announced today that it is bringing multi-signature wallets and custody services to the Algorand blockchain.Both Algorand wallets and custody can now be accessed via BitGo, according to a company statement.
Unlike traditional cryptocurrency wallets, where funds can be accessed via a single private key, multi-signature wallets require several keys to unlock funds. Many blockchains including the largest ones like Bitcoin and Ethereum already support them, while BitGo itself provides multi-sig wallet support forover 100 tokens.
Meanwhile, Algorand just completed a $60 million token sale in June with much fanfare. The company is said to be valued at $24 billion.
Join Genesis nowand continue reading,BitGo partners with Algorand to offer multisig wallets and custody services! || BitGo partners with Algorand to offer multisig wallets and custody services: Cryptocurrency custodian BitGo announced today that it is bringing multi-signature wallets and custody services to the Algorand blockchain. Both Algorand wallets and custody can now be accessed via BitGo, according to a company statement. Unlike traditional cryptocurrency wallets, where funds can be accessed via a single private key, multi-signature wallets require several keys to unlock funds. Many blockchains including the largest ones like Bitcoin and Ethereum already support them, while BitGo itself provides multi-sig wallet support for over 100 tokens . Meanwhile, Algorand just completed a $60 million token sale in June with much fanfare. The company is said to be valued at $24 billion. Join Genesis now and continue reading, BitGo partners with Algorand to offer multisig wallets and custody services ! View comments || What Happened: Why the First Physical Bitcoin Futures Haven’t Launched: UPDATE (August 1, 2019, 19:30 UTC):LedgerX press representative Ryan Gorman told CoinDesk he will no longer be representing the company as of Thursday over ‘concerns‘ about the events of the last 24 hours.
UPDATE (August 1, 2019, 16:10 UTC):Ina series of tweetsThursday afternoon,LedgerX CEO Paul Chousaid the CFTC asked the company to censor its tweets.He threatened to suethe regulatory agency for “anti competitive behavior, breach of duty, [and] going against the [regulations],” noting the 180-day requirement described below.
LedgerX admitted Thursday it has not launched bitcoin futures, as the firm had previously claimed, after the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said it had not approved the exchange to do so.
Related:ICE CEO: Bakkt Will Launch Bitcoin Futures In ‘Very Near Future’
The companypreviously told CoinDeskit was planning to launch the product on Wednesday. LedgerX would have been the first venue in the U.S. to offer physically-settled bitcoin futures, which are contracts that pay out in the underlying cryptocurrency rather than in cash.
“Not only are they delivered physically in the sense that our customers can get bitcoin after the futures expires, but also they can deposit bitcoin to trade in the first place,” LedgerX CEO Paul Chou told CoinDesk on Monday.
But on Thursday morning, the day after CoinDesk’s initial story ran, CFTC chief communications officer Michael Short said in an emailed statement: “LedgerX has not yet been approved by the Commission.”
Indeed, a look at LedgerX’sdata pageshows only options and swaps trades that took place on Wednesday, but no futures.
Related:CFTC: LedgerX ‘Not Approved’ to Launch ‘Physical’ Bitcoin Futures
When contacted subsequently by CoinDesk, LedgerX chief operating and risk officer Juthica Chou acknowledged that the company was not trading futures contracts.
She insisted that the prior conversation with her and Paul Chou about a Wednesday launch pertained only to LedgerX’s retail platform, Omni, which she said is actively serving swaps and options products to traders at present.
“We’re still operating, we’re putting the product in front of retail,” she said.
The CFTC last month approved LedgerX as a designated contract market (DCM), which was one of two approvals the company needed to proceed with the futures launch. The other is an amendment to its derivatives clearing organization (DCO) license.
It is currently authorized to clear swaps, but not yet futures.
In the CFTC’s ownpress release dated June 25announcing the DCM approval, the regulator noted:
“LedgerX has requested that the CFTC amend its order of registration as a DCO, which limits LedgerX to clearing swaps, to allow it to clear futures listed on its DCM.”
According to CFTC regulations (Title 17 part 39.3), the agencyhas 180 daysto approve or deny a DCO application.
“[The CFTC] said to clear swaps and they said later that [we] should actually clear futures too and … we were waiting essentially for this amendment,” Paul Chou told CoinDesk Thursday.
Juthica Chou appeared to suggest that because this period had passed without an objection from CFTC, the company was under the impression that it was clear to proceed.
“We submitted the amendment on Nov. 8, 2018, it’s been more than 180 days, we don’t know why that’s the case [that it has not been approved],” Chou said, later adding:
“We filed on Nov. 8 and we have email correspondences confirming there were no additional items that they needed for the amendment.”
However, LedgerX needs explicit approval, according to a senior CFTC official.
“Every new or amended DCO application needs to be affirmatively approved by the Commission,” said this official, who did not want to be identified. “The absence of a decision does not constitute approval, and entity self-certification is not an option.”
The regulation does state that “the Commission may stay the running of the 180-day review period if an application is materially incomplete, in accordance with section 6(a) of the Act,” but there is no indication whether the CFTC took this action.
That said, LedgerX’s DCO application “appears to be in the very final stages of the approval process,” the senior official said.
Paul Chou told CoinDesk that there is little difference between swaps and futures products.
“Basically, it’s just a total technicality that a swap and a future are different things and … it’s like, it’s actually a little different,” he said. “The difference between futures and swaps is ridiculous, it’s the same product.”
Marc Hochstein contributed reporting.
Juthica Chou image via CoinDesk archives
• TD Ameritrade CEO: We’re Taking ‘Crawl, Walk, Run’ Approach to Crypto
• Bakkt Is Scheduled to Start Testing Its Bitcoin Futures Contracts Today || What Happened: Why the First Physical Bitcoin Futures Haven’t Launched: UPDATE (August 1, 2019, 19:30 UTC):LedgerX press representative Ryan Gorman told CoinDesk he will no longer be representing the company as of Thursday over ‘concerns‘ about the events of the last 24 hours.
UPDATE (August 1, 2019, 16:10 UTC):Ina series of tweetsThursday afternoon,LedgerX CEO Paul Chousaid the CFTC asked the company to censor its tweets.He threatened to suethe regulatory agency for “anti competitive behavior, breach of duty, [and] going against the [regulations],” noting the 180-day requirement described below.
LedgerX admitted Thursday it has not launched bitcoin futures, as the firm had previously claimed, after the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said it had not approved the exchange to do so.
Related:ICE CEO: Bakkt Will Launch Bitcoin Futures In ‘Very Near Future’
The companypreviously told CoinDeskit was planning to launch the product on Wednesday. LedgerX would have been the first venue in the U.S. to offer physically-settled bitcoin futures, which are contracts that pay out in the underlying cryptocurrency rather than in cash.
“Not only are they delivered physically in the sense that our customers can get bitcoin after the futures expires, but also they can deposit bitcoin to trade in the first place,” LedgerX CEO Paul Chou told CoinDesk on Monday.
But on Thursday morning, the day after CoinDesk’s initial story ran, CFTC chief communications officer Michael Short said in an emailed statement: “LedgerX has not yet been approved by the Commission.”
Indeed, a look at LedgerX’sdata pageshows only options and swaps trades that took place on Wednesday, but no futures.
Related:CFTC: LedgerX ‘Not Approved’ to Launch ‘Physical’ Bitcoin Futures
When contacted subsequently by CoinDesk, LedgerX chief operating and risk officer Juthica Chou acknowledged that the company was not trading futures contracts.
She insisted that the prior conversation with her and Paul Chou about a Wednesday launch pertained only to LedgerX’s retail platform, Omni, which she said is actively serving swaps and options products to traders at present.
“We’re still operating, we’re putting the product in front of retail,” she said.
The CFTC last month approved LedgerX as a designated contract market (DCM), which was one of two approvals the company needed to proceed with the futures launch. The other is an amendment to its derivatives clearing organization (DCO) license.
It is currently authorized to clear swaps, but not yet futures.
In the CFTC’s ownpress release dated June 25announcing the DCM approval, the regulator noted:
“LedgerX has requested that the CFTC amend its order of registration as a DCO, which limits LedgerX to clearing swaps, to allow it to clear futures listed on its DCM.”
According to CFTC regulations (Title 17 part 39.3), the agencyhas 180 daysto approve or deny a DCO application.
“[The CFTC] said to clear swaps and they said later that [we] should actually clear futures too and … we were waiting essentially for this amendment,” Paul Chou told CoinDesk Thursday.
Juthica Chou appeared to suggest that because this period had passed without an objection from CFTC, the company was under the impression that it was clear to proceed.
“We submitted the amendment on Nov. 8, 2018, it’s been more than 180 days, we don’t know why that’s the case [that it has not been approved],” Chou said, later adding:
“We filed on Nov. 8 and we have email correspondences confirming there were no additional items that they needed for the amendment.”
However, LedgerX needs explicit approval, according to a senior CFTC official.
“Every new or amended DCO application needs to be affirmatively approved by the Commission,” said this official, who did not want to be identified. “The absence of a decision does not constitute approval, and entity self-certification is not an option.”
The regulation does state that “the Commission may stay the running of the 180-day review period if an application is materially incomplete, in accordance with section 6(a) of the Act,” but there is no indication whether the CFTC took this action.
That said, LedgerX’s DCO application “appears to be in the very final stages of the approval process,” the senior official said.
Paul Chou told CoinDesk that there is little difference between swaps and futures products.
“Basically, it’s just a total technicality that a swap and a future are different things and … it’s like, it’s actually a little different,” he said. “The difference between futures and swaps is ridiculous, it’s the same product.”
Marc Hochstein contributed reporting.
Juthica Chou image via CoinDesk archives
• TD Ameritrade CEO: We’re Taking ‘Crawl, Walk, Run’ Approach to Crypto
• Bakkt Is Scheduled to Start Testing Its Bitcoin Futures Contracts Today || What Happened: Why the First Physical Bitcoin Futures Havent Launched: UPDATE (August 1, 2019, 19:30 UTC): LedgerX press representative Ryan Gorman told CoinDesk he will no longer be representing the company as of Thursday over concerns about the events of the last 24 hours. UPDATE (August 1, 2019, 16:10 UTC): In a series of tweets Thursday afternoon, LedgerX CEO Paul Chou said the CFTC asked the company to censor its tweets. He threatened to sue the regulatory agency for anti competitive behavior, breach of duty, [and] going against the [regulations], noting the 180-day requirement described below. LedgerX admitted Thursday it has not launched bitcoin futures, as the firm had previously claimed, after the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said it had not approved the exchange to do so. Related: ICE CEO: Bakkt Will Launch Bitcoin Futures In Very Near Future The company previously told CoinDesk it was planning to launch the product on Wednesday. LedgerX would have been the first venue in the U.S. to offer physically-settled bitcoin futures, which are contracts that pay out in the underlying cryptocurrency rather than in cash. Not only are they delivered physically in the sense that our customers can get bitcoin after the futures expires, but also they can deposit bitcoin to trade in the first place, LedgerX CEO Paul Chou told CoinDesk on Monday. But on Thursday morning, the day after CoinDesks initial story ran, CFTC chief communications officer Michael Short said in an emailed statement: LedgerX has not yet been approved by the Commission. Indeed, a look at LedgerXs data page shows only options and swaps trades that took place on Wednesday, but no futures. Related: CFTC: LedgerX Not Approved to Launch Physical Bitcoin Futures When contacted subsequently by CoinDesk, LedgerX chief operating and risk officer Juthica Chou acknowledged that the company was not trading futures contracts. She insisted that the prior conversation with her and Paul Chou about a Wednesday launch pertained only to LedgerXs retail platform, Omni, which she said is actively serving swaps and options products to traders at present. Story continues Were still operating, were putting the product in front of retail, she said. Approval still needed The CFTC last month approved LedgerX as a designated contract market (DCM), which was one of two approvals the company needed to proceed with the futures launch. The other is an amendment to its derivatives clearing organization (DCO) license. It is currently authorized to clear swaps, but not yet futures. In the CFTCs own press release dated June 25 announcing the DCM approval, the regulator noted: LedgerX has requested that the CFTC amend its order of registration as a DCO, which limits LedgerX to clearing swaps, to allow it to clear futures listed on its DCM. According to CFTC regulations ( Title 17 part 39.3 ), the agency has 180 days to approve or deny a DCO application. [The CFTC] said to clear swaps and they said later that [we] should actually clear futures too and
we were waiting essentially for this amendment, Paul Chou told CoinDesk Thursday. Juthica Chou appeared to suggest that because this period had passed without an objection from CFTC, the company was under the impression that it was clear to proceed. We submitted the amendment on Nov. 8, 2018, its been more than 180 days, we dont know why thats the case [that it has not been approved], Chou said, later adding: We filed on Nov. 8 and we have email correspondences confirming there were no additional items that they needed for the amendment. However, LedgerX needs explicit approval, according to a senior CFTC official. Every new or amended DCO application needs to be affirmatively approved by the Commission, said this official, who did not want to be identified. The absence of a decision does not constitute approval, and entity self-certification is not an option. Final stages? The regulation does state that the Commission may stay the running of the 180-day review period if an application is materially incomplete, in accordance with section 6(a) of the Act, but there is no indication whether the CFTC took this action. That said, LedgerXs DCO application appears to be in the very final stages of the approval process, the senior official said. Paul Chou told CoinDesk that there is little difference between swaps and futures products. Basically, its just a total technicality that a swap and a future are different things and
its like, its actually a little different, he said. The difference between futures and swaps is ridiculous, its the same product. Marc Hochstein contributed reporting. Juthica Chou image via CoinDesk archives Related Stories TD Ameritrade CEO: Were Taking Crawl, Walk, Run Approach to Crypto Bakkt Is Scheduled to Start Testing Its Bitcoin Futures Contracts Today || With the Wasabi 1.0.0 upgrade, Bitcoin sidechain RSK leaves Beta: The release brings significant improvements in performance, interoperability, storage and security, laying the foundation for RSK’s secure and scalable blockchain solutions mass adoption GIBRALTER / ACCESSWIRE / August 1, 2019 / IOV Labs, the organization behind the RSK tech stack and RIF exchange ecosystem, announced today that its node upgrade, Wasabi 1.0.0, is up and running within the RSK infrastructure, formally taking the platform out of beta. The upgrade includes several advancements, including the introduction of Unitrie and Armadillo, Virtual Machine opcodes, transactions tracing methods, and new RSK native contracts. Diego Zaldivar, CEO of IOV Labs and Co-founder of RSK Labs, said of the release: “With Wasabi, we’ve successfully launched out of beta into a stable product providing seamless integration between Bitcoin and RSK and laying the foundation for our sustainable scalability roadmap.” A highlight of the upgrade is RSK’s unique scaling solution Unitrie, an evolution of the data structure within RSK’s blockchain that reduces required storage enabling further scalability. Another key feature of the release is the improved compatibility with Ethereum through additional VM opcodes, notably CREATE2’s off-chain business logic validation,, while the introduction of native contracts that allow smart contracts to verify Bitcoin transaction confirmations, more seamlessly integrate RSK with the Bitcoin blockchain. Both updates are in line with RSK’s vision of enabling an interoperable blockchain ecosystem. The upgrade introduces the first phase of RSK’s innovative double-spend protection program Armadillo, which leverages the security of RSK’s merge-mining model to protect against overt attacks and significantly de-incentivize covered attacks. Nodes now also require much less storage to run, improving on already high incentives for for merge mining on the network. Adrian Eidelman, RSK’s Chief Technical Officer, commented: “Wasabi release 1.0.0 is a significant step forward for RSK Smart Contracts as it tackles improvements in key areas such as storage, scalability, security and interoperability. Addressing that will be key to accelerate the platform adoption” Story continues The RSK team reports that all critical nodes on the network - including mining pools, exchanges, and wallets - have been successfully upgraded. As Wasabi 1.0.0 is not compatible with previous versions, the team encourages anyone running a client node to visit the Github repository and complete the upgrade. RSK has maintained its title as ‘the world’s most secure Smart Contract platform’ since it surpassed 45% of the hashing power of the Bitcoin network in February. RSK brings smart contract capabilities to the Bitcoin blockchain powered by a two-way 1:1 Bitcoin peg. IOV Labs recently opened its Innovation Studio in San Francisco. Offering technologies, community building, and educational resources, the Innovation Studio’s mission is to empower developers and startups looking to compete and innovate in the Decentralized Finance ecosystem. The Innovation tech team is currently focused on building an easy to use DeFi software environment for non-blockchain developers. For more information about the Wasabi upgrade: https://www.rsk.co/noticia/wasabi-v1-0-0-is-here-what-you-need-to-know-about-rsk-upcoming-network-upgrade/ Wasabi 1.0.0 Github: https://github.com/rsksmart/rskj/releases/tag/WASABI-1.0.0 ### Diego Gutierrez Zaldivar, IOV Labs CEOLabs and Adrian Eidelman IOV Labs CTO and RSK Smart Contracts Lead are available for interview. About IOV Labs IOV Labs is a purpose driven organization focused on developing the platforms needed for a new blockchain-based financial system that will enable worldwide financial inclusion and bridge the gap between these nascent technologies and mass adoption. The organization currently develops the most popular implementations of the RSK Smart Contract Network and RIF OS platforms. With more than 40% total Bitcoin hash rate merge-mining, the RSK Network is the most secure Smart Contract platform in the world. RIF OS protocols is a suite of open and decentralized infrastructure protocols that enable faster, easier and scalable development of distributed applications (dApps) within a unified environment to enable mass adoption of Bitcoin and RSK. RIF OS Protocols include RIF Directory (a naming service protocol), RIF Payments (an offchain payment protocol), RIF Storage (a data storage and distribution protocol), RIF Communications (a secure routing, session and encrypted communications protocol) and RIF Gateways (an interoperability protocol that includes cross chain transfers and oracling services). Contact: Dan Edelstein [email protected] +972-545-464-238 SOURCE: IOV Labs View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/554286/With-the-Wasabi-100-upgrade-Bitcoin-sidechain-RSK-leaves-Beta || With the Wasabi 1.0.0 upgrade, Bitcoin sidechain RSK leaves Beta: The release brings significant improvements in performance, interoperability, storage and security, laying the foundation for RSK’s secure and scalable blockchain solutions mass adoption
GIBRALTER / ACCESSWIRE / August 1, 2019 /IOV Labs, the organization behind the RSK tech stack and RIF exchange ecosystem, announced today that its node upgrade, Wasabi 1.0.0, is up and running within the RSK infrastructure, formally taking the platform out of beta. The upgrade includes several advancements, including the introduction of Unitrie and Armadillo, Virtual Machine opcodes, transactions tracing methods, and new RSK native contracts.
Diego Zaldivar, CEO of IOV Labs and Co-founder of RSK Labs, said of the release:
“With Wasabi, we’ve successfully launched out of beta into a stable product providing seamless integration between Bitcoin and RSK and laying the foundation for our sustainable scalability roadmap.”
A highlight of the upgrade is RSK’s unique scaling solutionUnitrie,an evolution of the data structure within RSK’s blockchain that reduces required storage enabling further scalability.
Another key feature of the release is the improved compatibility with Ethereum through additional VM opcodes, notably CREATE2’s off-chain business logic validation,, while the introduction of native contracts that allow smart contracts to verify Bitcoin transaction confirmations, more seamlessly integrate RSK with the Bitcoin blockchain. Both updates are in line with RSK’s vision of enabling an interoperable blockchain ecosystem.
The upgrade introduces the first phase of RSK’s innovative double-spend protection program Armadillo, which leverages the security of RSK’s merge-mining model to protect against overt attacks and significantly de-incentivize covered attacks.
Nodes now also require much less storage to run, improving on already high incentives for for merge mining on the network.
Adrian Eidelman, RSK’s Chief Technical Officer, commented: “Wasabi release 1.0.0 is a significant step forward for RSK Smart Contracts as it tackles improvements in key areas such as storage, scalability, security and interoperability. Addressing that will be key to accelerate the platform adoption”
The RSK team reports that all critical nodes on the network - including mining pools, exchanges, and wallets - have been successfully upgraded. As Wasabi 1.0.0 is not compatible with previous versions, the team encourages anyone running a client node to visit theGithub repositoryand complete the upgrade.
RSK has maintained its title as ‘the world’s most secure Smart Contract platform’ since it surpassed 45% of the hashing power of the Bitcoin network in February. RSK brings smart contract capabilities to the Bitcoin blockchain powered by a two-way 1:1 Bitcoin peg.
IOV Labs recently opened its Innovation Studio in San Francisco. Offering technologies, community building, and educational resources, the Innovation Studio’s mission is to empower developers and startups looking to compete and innovate in the Decentralized Finance ecosystem. The Innovation tech team is currently focused on building an easy to use DeFi software environment for non-blockchain developers.
For more information about the Wasabi upgrade:https://www.rsk.co/noticia/wasabi-v1-0-0-is-here-what-you-need-to-know-about-rsk-upcoming-network-upgrade/
Wasabi 1.0.0 Github:https://github.com/rsksmart/rskj/releases/tag/WASABI-1.0.0
###
Diego Gutierrez Zaldivar, IOV Labs CEOLabs and Adrian Eidelman IOV Labs CTO and RSK Smart Contracts Lead are available for interview.
About IOV Labs
IOV Labs is a purpose driven organization focused on developing the platforms needed for a new blockchain-based financial system that will enable worldwide financial inclusion and bridge the gap between these nascent technologies and mass adoption.
The organization currently develops the most popular implementations of the RSK Smart Contract Network and RIF OS platforms.
With more than 40% total Bitcoin hash rate merge-mining, the RSK Network is the most secure Smart Contract platform in the world.
RIF OS protocols is a suite of open and decentralized infrastructure protocols that enable faster, easier and scalable development of distributed applications (dApps) within a unified environment to enable mass adoption of Bitcoin and RSK. RIF OS Protocols include RIF Directory (a naming service protocol), RIF Payments (an offchain payment protocol), RIF Storage (a data storage and distribution protocol), RIF Communications (a secure routing, session and encrypted communications protocol) and RIF Gateways (an interoperability protocol that includes cross chain transfers and oracling services).
Contact:
Dan [email protected]+972-545-464-238
SOURCE:IOV Labs
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/554286/With-the-Wasabi-100-upgrade-Bitcoin-sidechain-RSK-leaves-Beta || With the Wasabi 1.0.0 upgrade, Bitcoin sidechain RSK leaves Beta: The release brings significant improvements in performance, interoperability, storage and security, laying the foundation for RSK’s secure and scalable blockchain solutions mass adoption
GIBRALTER / ACCESSWIRE / August 1, 2019 /IOV Labs, the organization behind the RSK tech stack and RIF exchange ecosystem, announced today that its node upgrade, Wasabi 1.0.0, is up and running within the RSK infrastructure, formally taking the platform out of beta. The upgrade includes several advancements, including the introduction of Unitrie and Armadillo, Virtual Machine opcodes, transactions tracing methods, and new RSK native contracts.
Diego Zaldivar, CEO of IOV Labs and Co-founder of RSK Labs, said of the release:
“With Wasabi, we’ve successfully launched out of beta into a stable product providing seamless integration between Bitcoin and RSK and laying the foundation for our sustainable scalability roadmap.”
A highlight of the upgrade is RSK’s unique scaling solutionUnitrie,an evolution of the data structure within RSK’s blockchain that reduces required storage enabling further scalability.
Another key feature of the release is the improved compatibility with Ethereum through additional VM opcodes, notably CREATE2’s off-chain business logic validation,, while the introduction of native contracts that allow smart contracts to verify Bitcoin transaction confirmations, more seamlessly integrate RSK with the Bitcoin blockchain. Both updates are in line with RSK’s vision of enabling an interoperable blockchain ecosystem.
The upgrade introduces the first phase of RSK’s innovative double-spend protection program Armadillo, which leverages the security of RSK’s merge-mining model to protect against overt attacks and significantly de-incentivize covered attacks.
Nodes now also require much less storage to run, improving on already high incentives for for merge mining on the network.
Adrian Eidelman, RSK’s Chief Technical Officer, commented: “Wasabi release 1.0.0 is a significant step forward for RSK Smart Contracts as it tackles improvements in key areas such as storage, scalability, security and interoperability. Addressing that will be key to accelerate the platform adoption”
The RSK team reports that all critical nodes on the network - including mining pools, exchanges, and wallets - have been successfully upgraded. As Wasabi 1.0.0 is not compatible with previous versions, the team encourages anyone running a client node to visit theGithub repositoryand complete the upgrade.
RSK has maintained its title as ‘the world’s most secure Smart Contract platform’ since it surpassed 45% of the hashing power of the Bitcoin network in February. RSK brings smart contract capabilities to the Bitcoin blockchain powered by a two-way 1:1 Bitcoin peg.
IOV Labs recently opened its Innovation Studio in San Francisco. Offering technologies, community building, and educational resources, the Innovation Studio’s mission is to empower developers and startups looking to compete and innovate in the Decentralized Finance ecosystem. The Innovation tech team is currently focused on building an easy to use DeFi software environment for non-blockchain developers.
For more information about the Wasabi upgrade:https://www.rsk.co/noticia/wasabi-v1-0-0-is-here-what-you-need-to-know-about-rsk-upcoming-network-upgrade/
Wasabi 1.0.0 Github:https://github.com/rsksmart/rskj/releases/tag/WASABI-1.0.0
###
Diego Gutierrez Zaldivar, IOV Labs CEOLabs and Adrian Eidelman IOV Labs CTO and RSK Smart Contracts Lead are available for interview.
About IOV Labs
IOV Labs is a purpose driven organization focused on developing the platforms needed for a new blockchain-based financial system that will enable worldwide financial inclusion and bridge the gap between these nascent technologies and mass adoption.
The organization currently develops the most popular implementations of the RSK Smart Contract Network and RIF OS platforms.
With more than 40% total Bitcoin hash rate merge-mining, the RSK Network is the most secure Smart Contract platform in the world.
RIF OS protocols is a suite of open and decentralized infrastructure protocols that enable faster, easier and scalable development of distributed applications (dApps) within a unified environment to enable mass adoption of Bitcoin and RSK. RIF OS Protocols include RIF Directory (a naming service protocol), RIF Payments (an offchain payment protocol), RIF Storage (a data storage and distribution protocol), RIF Communications (a secure routing, session and encrypted communications protocol) and RIF Gateways (an interoperability protocol that includes cross chain transfers and oracling services).
Contact:
Dan [email protected]+972-545-464-238
SOURCE:IOV Labs
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/554286/With-the-Wasabi-100-upgrade-Bitcoin-sidechain-RSK-leaves-Beta
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10821.73, 10970.18, 11805.65, 11478.17, 11941.97, 11966.41, 11862.94, 11354.02, 11523.58, 11382.62
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 9593.90, 8756.43, 8601.80, 8804.48, 9269.99, 9733.72, 9328.20, 9377.01, 9670.74, 9726.58, 9729.04, 9522.98, 9081.76, 9182.58, 9209.29, 8790.37, 8906.93, 8835.05, 9181.02, 9525.75, 9439.12, 9700.41, 9461.06, 10167.27, 9529.80, 9656.72, 9800.64, 9665.53, 9653.68, 9758.85, 9771.49, 9795.70, 9870.09, 9321.78, 9480.84, 9475.28, 9386.79, 9450.70, 9538.02, 9480.25, 9411.84, 9288.02, 9332.34, 9303.63, 9648.72, 9629.66, 9313.61, 9264.81, 9162.92, 9045.39, 9143.58, 9190.85, 9137.99, 9228.33, 9123.41, 9087.30, 9132.49, 9073.94, 9375.47, 9252.28, 9428.33, 9277.97, 9278.81, 9240.35, 9276.50, 9243.61, 9243.21, 9192.84, 9132.23, 9151.39, 9159.04, 9185.82, 9164.23, 9374.89, 9525.36, 9581.07, 9536.89, 9677.11, 9905.17, 10990.87, 10912.82, 11100.47, 11111.21, 11323.47, 11759.59, 11053.61, 11246.35, 11205.89, 11747.02, 11779.77.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2020-08-06]
Volume: 23400740340, RSI (14-day): 73.87, 50-day EMA: 10017.19, 200-day EMA: 9015.01
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 2051.50, Gold RSI: 87.90
Oil Price: 41.95, Oil RSI: 59.33
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
ETFs to Ride the Gold Rally Amid Coronavirus Crisis: The year 2020, majorly dominated by the coronavirus pandemic and geopolitical tensions, has been quite promising for safe-haven assets like gold. On track for the best year since 1979, spot gold prices have witnessed an increase of more than 32% so far this year, going by a CNBC article.
Yellow metal prices have once again hit a new high, steering past $2,000 an ounce. The upside is being largely supported by a weaker dollar and declining bond yields. The yellow metal shares an inverse relationship with the greenback. A weak dollar against different currencies makes precious metal cheaper in other currencies and thereby, increases its demand and prices.
Also, some analysts believe the Federal Reserve’s measures to provide support to the ailing economy seem to be supportive of investments in gold and treasuries. Moreover, interest-rate cuts are lowering the opportunity costs of investing in non-yielding bullion. Uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic over the longer term is making the yellow metal’s reputation as a store of wealth more attractive and is supporting the rally in gold prices, per a Bloomberg article.
Meanwhile, rising geopolitical tensions are supporting the yellow metal. The simmering tensions between United States and China are making investors worrisome. Going on, the devastating blasts in Beirut have added to the safe-haven appeal of gold.
Yellow metal investments have been popular this year due to the coronavirus outbreak. Notably, the global stash of gold in ETFs touched the highest level in seven years in the middle of the first quarter of 2020. Net inflows in gold-backed ETFs are expected to continue as the second half of 2020 is likely to keep facing the brunt of the pandemic as the second wave of the outbreak is gathering steam.
Also, analysts at Bank of America expect the precious metal to hit $3,000 an ounce over the next 18 months (per an article published on foxbusiness.com). Going by the same article, commenting on the rising gold prices, they have said that “the global pandemic is providing a sustained boost to gold due to increased savings, growing inequality, vast capital destruction, declining productivity, rising public debt levels, and, most importantly, falling equilibrium real interest rates.”
Going on, Paul Wong, market strategist at Sprott Inc., has said that “the stage has been set for gold to continue to climb higher,” per a Bloomberg article.
Gold ETFs mostly move in tandem with gold prices. TheSPDR Gold SharesGLD,iShares Gold TrustIAU,SPDR Gold MiniShares TrustGLDM andGraniteShares Gold TrustBAR are some of the popular ETFs. These funds carry a Zacks ETF Rank #3 (Hold). Below we have discussed these in detail:
GLD
This is the largest and most popular ETF in the gold space, with AUM of $79.95 billion and average daily volume of 13.9 million shares. The fund reflects the performance of the price of gold bullion, less the Trust's expenses. At launch, each share of this ETF represented about 1/10th of an ounce of gold. The expense ratio is 0.40% (read: Will Blockbuster Rally of Bitcoin Last? ETFs in Focus).
IAU
This ETF offers exposure to the day-to-day movement of the price of gold bullion. It has AUM of $31.37 billion and trades in a solid volume of 27.3 million shares a day, on average. At launch, each share of this ETF represented about 1/100th of an ounce of gold. The ETF charges 25 basis points (bps) in annual fees (read: July ETF Asset Report: Gold, Bond, Nasdaq Emerge as Winners).
GLDM
This product seeks to reflect the performance of the price of gold bullion, less GLDM’s expenses. Being one of the low-cost products with an expense ratio of 0.18%, GLDM has accumulated $3.35 billion in AUM and trades in average daily volume of 2.8 million shares. At launch, each share of this ETF represented about 1/100th of an ounce of gold (read: How to Bet on the Gold Frenzy With ETFs & Stocks).
BAR
With AUM of $1.28 billion and an expense ratio of 0.17%, the fund tracks the performance of gold price less trust expenses. It trades in a moderate volume of 521,000 shares per day, on average. At launch, each share of this ETF represented about 1/100th of an ounce of gold (see: all the Precious Metal ETFs here).
Zacks’ free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis, as well as top-performing ETFs, each week.Get it free >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportSPDR Gold Shares (GLD): ETF Research ReportsiShares Gold Trust (IAU): ETF Research ReportsGraniteShares Gold Trust (BAR): ETF Research ReportsSPDR Gold MiniShares Trust (GLDM): ETF Research ReportsTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWant the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report || ETFs to Ride the Gold Rally Amid Coronavirus Crisis: The year 2020, majorly dominated by the coronavirus pandemic and geopolitical tensions, has been quite promising for safe-haven assets like gold. On track for the best year since 1979, spot gold prices have witnessed an increase of more than 32% so far this year, going by a CNBC article. Yellow metal prices have once again hit a new high, steering past $2,000 an ounce. The upside is being largely supported by a weaker dollar and declining bond yields. The yellow metal shares an inverse relationship with the greenback. A weak dollar against different currencies makes precious metal cheaper in other currencies and thereby, increases its demand and prices. Also, some analysts believe the Federal Reserves measures to provide support to the ailing economy seem to be supportive of investments in gold and treasuries. Moreover, interest-rate cuts are lowering the opportunity costs of investing in non-yielding bullion. Uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic over the longer term is making the yellow metals reputation as a store of wealth more attractive and is supporting the rally in gold prices, per a Bloomberg article. Meanwhile, rising geopolitical tensions are supporting the yellow metal. The simmering tensions between United States and China are making investors worrisome. Going on, the devastating blasts in Beirut have added to the safe-haven appeal of gold. Glittering Gold ETFs in Focus Yellow metal investments have been popular this year due to the coronavirus outbreak. Notably, the global stash of gold in ETFs touched the highest level in seven years in the middle of the first quarter of 2020. Net inflows in gold-backed ETFs are expected to continue as the second half of 2020 is likely to keep facing the brunt of the pandemic as the second wave of the outbreak is gathering steam. Also, analysts at Bank of America expect the precious metal to hit $3,000 an ounce over the next 18 months (per an article published on foxbusiness.com). Going by the same article, commenting on the rising gold prices, they have said that the global pandemic is providing a sustained boost to gold due to increased savings, growing inequality, vast capital destruction, declining productivity, rising public debt levels, and, most importantly, falling equilibrium real interest rates. Going on, Paul Wong, market strategist at Sprott Inc., has said that the stage has been set for gold to continue to climb higher, per a Bloomberg article. Gold ETFs mostly move in tandem with gold prices. The SPDR Gold Shares GLD, iShares Gold Trust IAU, SPDR Gold MiniShares Trust GLDM and GraniteShares Gold Trust BAR are some of the popular ETFs. These funds carry a Zacks ETF Rank #3 (Hold). Below we have discussed these in detail: Story continues GLD This is the largest and most popular ETF in the gold space, with AUM of $79.95 billion and average daily volume of 13.9 million shares. The fund reflects the performance of the price of gold bullion, less the Trust's expenses. At launch, each share of this ETF represented about 1/10th of an ounce of gold. The expense ratio is 0.40% (read: Will Blockbuster Rally of Bitcoin Last? ETFs in Focus). IAU This ETF offers exposure to the day-to-day movement of the price of gold bullion. It has AUM of $31.37 billion and trades in a solid volume of 27.3 million shares a day, on average. At launch, each share of this ETF represented about 1/100th of an ounce of gold. The ETF charges 25 basis points (bps) in annual fees (read: July ETF Asset Report: Gold, Bond, Nasdaq Emerge as Winners). GLDM This product seeks to reflect the performance of the price of gold bullion, less GLDMs expenses. Being one of the low-cost products with an expense ratio of 0.18%, GLDM has accumulated $3.35 billion in AUM and trades in average daily volume of 2.8 million shares. At launch, each share of this ETF represented about 1/100th of an ounce of gold (read: How to Bet on the Gold Frenzy With ETFs & Stocks). BAR With AUM of $1.28 billion and an expense ratio of 0.17%, the fund tracks the performance of gold price less trust expenses. It trades in a moderate volume of 521,000 shares per day, on average. At launch, each share of this ETF represented about 1/100th of an ounce of gold (see: all the Precious Metal ETFs here). Want key ETF info delivered straight to your inbox? Zacks free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis, as well as top-performing ETFs, each week. Get it free >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report SPDR Gold Shares (GLD): ETF Research Reports iShares Gold Trust (IAU): ETF Research Reports GraniteShares Gold Trust (BAR): ETF Research Reports SPDR Gold MiniShares Trust (GLDM): ETF Research Reports To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report View comments || China’s Open Source Development Has Lessons for the US: Lex Sokolin, a CoinDesk columnist, is Global Fintech co-head at ConsenSys, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based blockchain software company. The following is adapted from hisFintech Blueprintnewsletter.
The news cycle is obsessed with a global technology competition between China and the United States. Whether we look at artificial intelligence, 5G, blockchain or the Internet of Things, these next generation platforms are supposed to be the battleground between the world’s latest economies. The fighting is getting unfair. We can look at India and its band of over 50 Chinese apps, including the super app WeChat, or we can analyze the Donald Trump treatment of TikTok, put up for a fire sale and justified with jingoistic rhetoric.
However, competition in the next century is going to be far more complex than intellectual property ownership. It is going to be waged over multinational open-source networks, reintegrating finances and economies into a digital global superstructure. We have to develop clearer ways of thinking about this competition, and in this entry we will discuss one such framework. But first, why is there such extreme positioning over technology assets by both China and the U.S.? The simple answer is pain, and the economic havoc wrought by the coronovirus epidemic on the world.
Related:Bitcoin's Patronage System Is an Unheralded Strength
See also: Lex Sokolin –DeFi Protocols Should Act More Like Fiduciaries
The West has had the worst quarter in recent economic history – down 10% both in the U.S. and the eurozone. I’ve written before how the shock of opening up to capitalism in the USSR led to a45% GDP collapse over half a decade, resulting in life expectancy decreasing by 10 years for the average Russian due to alcoholism and violence. We aren’t going to see something of that scale in the U.S., but we will see continued social unrest, deep racial tension and restructuring. Perhaps this is productive stress. More likely, it is a pressure cooker with a hefty price.
China is holding up a bit better in the coronovirus environment, based on stronger national control over people, technology and narrative. The country’s second quarter saw 3.2% relative GDP growth (though arguably the first-quarter collapse was sharper in China than elsewhere). China has expanded control over Hong Kong, and made big investments into artificial intelligence and blockchain, which the West continues to view in a generally negative light. Chinese fintech giant Ant Financial is planning a$30 billioninitial public offering (in Hong Kong) at a $200 billion valuation.
And now these tensions come together in a farcical way around TikTok.
Related:TikTok and the Great Firewall of America
Most people see TikTok as a way for teens to socialize and negotiate popularity. It creates memes and celebrities through algorithmic recommendations. This isn’t Amazon or Well Fargo, by comparison.
To Donald Trump and the American national security apparatus, it’s a Trojan horse pulling private data and various functional information from a global user base of 1.5 billion people (80 million in the U.S.) into the machine learning maw of the Chinese Communist Party. It is hard to parse the claims around TikTok in a substantive way because we’re dealing with privileged intelligence. But I will note the following:
• TikTok was big in Asia before an American competitor was purchased by it and re-branded for $1B:Bytedance, the developer, closed the popular Musical.ly video app it acquired for nearly $1 billion in December and will move users to a revamped version of its homegrown competitor TikTok.
• Theories, including conspiracies, are rampant:There's a whole subreddit of people trying to reverse-engineer TikTok and making claims about its data practices, including storing the contents of someone's mobile clipboard.
• The Chinese state may have a reason to scrub content outside of trying to spy on the U.S.:TikTok – Yes, TikTok – Is the Latest Window Into China’s Police State;Expat Uyghurs are gaming the social platform known for fluff to find loopholes in Xinjiang’s information lockdown.
• TikTok is practically kicked out of the U.S., needing to hand over American operations to an American company, with Microsoft in the lead.:White House puts Chinese apps on notice as Trump gives TikTok ‘45 days’ to reach Microsoft deal.
The middle road would suggest TikTok is indeed more aggressive in gathering user data for processing than the other social networks, but that it may have business or compliance reasons to do so.
The American social networks are also keen to over-gather data, but they do so under a business model context they inherited out of the rise of the internet. Further, the current economic pressure from the virus is likely yielding unsavory jingoism and performative short-term punishment to distract from the presidential election in a historically stressful year.
With those issues out of the way, the interesting bit that remains is intellectual property and open source competition. This is the common complaint about Chinese business – that patents and copyrights are not respected and used for that nation’s betterment. If only they did not “steal” Western technology, they would not be so far ahead, goes the argument. I don’t quite buy it.
Competition in the next century is going to be far more complex than intellectual property ownership. It is going to be waged over multinational open-source networks.
In particular, I don’t quite buy it because of what is happening on Ethereum and public blockchains. You might have noticed thatETHandBTChad both strongly appreciated over the last week. There are many narratives floating around as to why this happened, but the most straightforward one is the rise ofdecentralized finance, with its $4 billion in collateralized lending. Another narrative would bethe technical upgrade of Ethereum 2.0, which is meant to start going live shortly. Forgive me for talking about price. But in this case, it appears to be a nice proxy for adoption.
How was this technology able to grow, pulling in billions in financial assets and millions of users, without any protection on intellectual property at all? All of this is open-source software, which you can download, audit, copy (i.e., fork) and redeploy. It is a technology that has been under study in China for nearly five years and remains open, competitive and becomes only stronger whenintegrated into the Chinese Business Services Network.
Let’s establish a framework that creates a clear distinction between (1) a defensible network effect that accrues from operating a market, or a value chain of industry players, and (2) the maturity level of the technology itself. In the past, you would sequence the creation of the idea, building it from scratch, and then blitz-scaling it in a linear fashion. If it took a long time to create an idea, you would want legal protections that allowed you to then build it and profit from it. If somebody copied your idea immediately, it would appear that the time spent on research and development was essentially stolen. Thus, recourse to the law.
I often rereadthis article describing the Shenzhen manufacturing hub as “open-source manufacturing.”It articulates how Shenzhen rose to become a global leader in hardware, with Chinese firms building gadgets off Kickstarter before the original campaigns had even finished. Housing the factories that made branded Western goods, the Eastern generics had the same quality and came from the same assembly lines. The ideation phase of the entrepreneurial journey was skipped by copying, and resources were focused on lighting-fast execution.
In addition to having the manufacturing speed and engineering talent to actually build the goods, the firms also had another advantage. That advantage was a storefront on Alibaba, and a supply chain that powered a similar storefront on the Amazon marketplace. Thus, not only could something be made quickly, it could be sold on a platform with a built-in audience. It is this second part of the equation that most exacerbates the intellectual property complaint. If the entrepreneur had locked in its audience through brand affinity, the generics would not meaningfully matter.
But decentralized finance protocols, social media networks and marketplaces like Amazon and Alibaba demonstrate another principle. Even before you launch any particular product, you may be able to establish your niche and create a pre-commercial footprint, like a large, engaged following. Or, it could be your approved store profile on Amazon, or the inside track with the Apple iOS mobile application approval team, or an existing set of trading partners in institutional finance.
Take a moment to read this thread from the founder of the Synthetix protocol, a DeFitoolthat allows people to create derivatives. It is an explanation of how to grow from $100 million to $500 million by engaging the community with economic participation.
Within the boundary of our framework, you start first by building out community participation through token distribution. People pay for the expectation of the delivery of the product and are aligned for the longer term. Then, you implement DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) governance, which drives engagement and allows the community to fix mistakes. The combination of the two recursively lands you into the upper right quadrant of a scalable software with a defensible market network.
Of course, this can go entirely wrong. The community might plunder a project instead of supporting it, like a management team paying itself bonuses in a leveraged buyout. There might be low participation and a lack of direction if an insufficient number of people are engaged. But at the very least we have a strategy.
This is similar to what incumbents do with their existing customer footprints. When rolling out new products, Facebook, Amazon, JPMorgan and the rest already have millions of people aligned with a brand tied to a commercial relationship. Launching a new product to this audience is orders of magnitude cheaper than acquiring users from scratch. And similarly, incumbents can capture innovation and ideation through corporate venture investments. This practically copies (or inexpensively acquires) product ideas for distribution.
See also: Lex Sokolin –Weed Out the Soviet-Era Ponzi Scheme Eating Ethereum
Finally, we can see where copying a product without having an existing commercial community doesn’t have any positive effect. Take for example the forking of Bitcoin into Bitcoin Cash, or any other 50 or so clones of the coin. Or alternately, even the more contested forks like Ethereum Classic do not really compete for the dominant spot given the much smaller market presence.
When looking at prescription drug revenue, we can see that about 80% of it comes from brands and 20% from generics. This would be a fair assumption to carry over to our thought experiment about copying software.
Is it really worth it to posture about a global technology Cold War over 20% of the market? It is also possible that the 20% captured by the generics is a separate user niche entirely, with a different collection of preferences (e.g., more price sensitive), and therefore copying grows the overall pie.
Let’s find a poetic end to the discussion.
Decentralized lending aggregator Yearn.Finance (YFI) has seen somewhere between$200 million and $400 million in value flow through it over the last monthafter distributing a reward mechanism to its community. That’s the model we sketched out above.
Within a week or so, the project was copied in China, launched as YFII, andallegedly attracted several hundred million in crypto assets from large Asian investors. This caused a number of Western projects, like Balancer, to freak out and hide YFII from their interfaces (i.e., censor it) even though the code continued to execute on permissionless global networks. As people dug in further and tried to engage with the Chinese DeFi community, they sawa large WeChat groupthat was being used as a governance mechanism for the cloned project.
Was it a scam? Was it gambling? Was it a speculative project? Does it hurt the economic share of Yearn.Finance? Or does it open up a new market for ideas and exchange? Should DeFi projects censor scams, or imitation, or theft?
I’d like to think there is a parallel world version of me, sitting in front of a screen on some late afternoon, agonizing over the human condition through the lens of fintech themes in another language. Maybe there is another *you* as well, reading that other text and wondering about your own twin in a strange culture.
What we twins have to agree on is that blockchain networks, open-source software, the Shenzhen manufacturing process, the Chinese blockchain services network, an increase in venture capital funding, and national software technology budgets have radically transformed the nature of competition. It’s not enough to have an idea and linearly bring it to the local market. We are playing on a different scale, with incentives and guidelines that look alien at first glance. Yet, this mutual discovery and the journey around it are a risk worth taking.
• China’s Open Source Development Has Lessons for the US
• China’s Open Source Development Has Lessons for the US || Chinas Open Source Development Has Lessons for the US: Lex Sokolin, a CoinDesk columnist, is Global Fintech co-head at ConsenSys, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based blockchain software company. The following is adapted from his Fintech Blueprint newsletter. The news cycle is obsessed with a global technology competition between China and the United States. Whether we look at artificial intelligence, 5G, blockchain or the Internet of Things, these next generation platforms are supposed to be the battleground between the worlds latest economies. The fighting is getting unfair. We can look at India and its band of over 50 Chinese apps, including the super app WeChat, or we can analyze the Donald Trump treatment of TikTok, put up for a fire sale and justified with jingoistic rhetoric. However, competition in the next century is going to be far more complex than intellectual property ownership. It is going to be waged over multinational open-source networks, reintegrating finances and economies into a digital global superstructure. We have to develop clearer ways of thinking about this competition, and in this entry we will discuss one such framework. But first, why is there such extreme positioning over technology assets by both China and the U.S.? The simple answer is pain, and the economic havoc wrought by the coronovirus epidemic on the world. Related: Bitcoin's Patronage System Is an Unheralded Strength See also: Lex Sokolin DeFi Protocols Should Act More Like Fiduciaries The West has had the worst quarter in recent economic history down 10% both in the U.S. and the eurozone. Ive written before how the shock of opening up to capitalism in the USSR led to a 45% GDP collapse over half a decade , resulting in life expectancy decreasing by 10 years for the average Russian due to alcoholism and violence. We arent going to see something of that scale in the U.S., but we will see continued social unrest, deep racial tension and restructuring. Perhaps this is productive stress. More likely, it is a pressure cooker with a hefty price. Story continues China is holding up a bit better in the coronovirus environment, based on stronger national control over people, technology and narrative. The countrys second quarter saw 3.2% relative GDP growth (though arguably the first-quarter collapse was sharper in China than elsewhere). China has expanded control over Hong Kong, and made big investments into artificial intelligence and blockchain, which the West continues to view in a generally negative light. Chinese fintech giant Ant Financial is planning a $30 billion initial public offering (in Hong Kong) at a $200 billion valuation. And now these tensions come together in a farcical way around TikTok. Related: TikTok and the Great Firewall of America Most people see TikTok as a way for teens to socialize and negotiate popularity. It creates memes and celebrities through algorithmic recommendations. This isnt Amazon or Well Fargo, by comparison. To Donald Trump and the American national security apparatus, its a Trojan horse pulling private data and various functional information from a global user base of 1.5 billion people (80 million in the U.S.) into the machine learning maw of the Chinese Communist Party. It is hard to parse the claims around TikTok in a substantive way because were dealing with privileged intelligence. But I will note the following: TikTok was big in Asia before an American competitor was purchased by it and re-branded for $1B: Bytedance, the developer, closed the popular Musical.ly video app it acquired for nearly $1 billion in December and will move users to a revamped version of its homegrown competitor TikTok . Theories, including conspiracies, are rampant: There's a whole subreddit of people trying to reverse-engineer TikTok and making claims about its data practices, including storing the contents of someone's mobile clipboard . The Chinese state may have a reason to scrub content outside of trying to spy on the U.S.: TikTok Yes, TikTok Is the Latest Window Into Chinas Police State; Expat Uyghurs are gaming the social platform known for fluff to find loopholes in Xinjiangs information lockdown. TikTok is practically kicked out of the U.S., needing to hand over American operations to an American company, with Microsoft in the lead.: White House puts Chinese apps on notice as Trump gives TikTok 45 days to reach Microsoft deal . The middle road would suggest TikTok is indeed more aggressive in gathering user data for processing than the other social networks, but that it may have business or compliance reasons to do so. The American social networks are also keen to over-gather data, but they do so under a business model context they inherited out of the rise of the internet. Further, the current economic pressure from the virus is likely yielding unsavory jingoism and performative short-term punishment to distract from the presidential election in a historically stressful year. With those issues out of the way, the interesting bit that remains is intellectual property and open source competition. This is the common complaint about Chinese business that patents and copyrights are not respected and used for that nations betterment. If only they did not steal Western technology, they would not be so far ahead, goes the argument. I dont quite buy it. Competition in the next century is going to be far more complex than intellectual property ownership. It is going to be waged over multinational open-source networks. In particular, I dont quite buy it because of what is happening on Ethereum and public blockchains. You might have noticed that ETH and BTC had both strongly appreciated over the last week. There are many narratives floating around as to why this happened, but the most straightforward one is the rise of decentralized finance , with its $4 billion in collateralized lending. Another narrative would be the technical upgrade of Ethereum 2.0 , which is meant to start going live shortly. Forgive me for talking about price. But in this case, it appears to be a nice proxy for adoption. How was this technology able to grow, pulling in billions in financial assets and millions of users, without any protection on intellectual property at all? All of this is open-source software, which you can download, audit, copy (i.e., fork) and redeploy. It is a technology that has been under study in China for nearly five years and remains open, competitive and becomes only stronger when integrated into the Chinese Business Services Network . The framework Lets establish a framework that creates a clear distinction between (1) a defensible network effect that accrues from operating a market, or a value chain of industry players, and (2) the maturity level of the technology itself. In the past, you would sequence the creation of the idea, building it from scratch, and then blitz-scaling it in a linear fashion. If it took a long time to create an idea, you would want legal protections that allowed you to then build it and profit from it. If somebody copied your idea immediately, it would appear that the time spent on research and development was essentially stolen. Thus, recourse to the law. I often reread this article describing the Shenzhen manufacturing hub as open-source manufacturing. It articulates how Shenzhen rose to become a global leader in hardware, with Chinese firms building gadgets off Kickstarter before the original campaigns had even finished. Housing the factories that made branded Western goods, the Eastern generics had the same quality and came from the same assembly lines. The ideation phase of the entrepreneurial journey was skipped by copying, and resources were focused on lighting-fast execution. In addition to having the manufacturing speed and engineering talent to actually build the goods, the firms also had another advantage. That advantage was a storefront on Alibaba, and a supply chain that powered a similar storefront on the Amazon marketplace. Thus, not only could something be made quickly, it could be sold on a platform with a built-in audience. It is this second part of the equation that most exacerbates the intellectual property complaint. If the entrepreneur had locked in its audience through brand affinity, the generics would not meaningfully matter. But decentralized finance protocols, social media networks and marketplaces like Amazon and Alibaba demonstrate another principle. Even before you launch any particular product, you may be able to establish your niche and create a pre-commercial footprint, like a large, engaged following. Or, it could be your approved store profile on Amazon, or the inside track with the Apple iOS mobile application approval team, or an existing set of trading partners in institutional finance. Take a moment to read this thread from the founder of the Synthetix protocol, a DeFi tool that allows people to create derivatives. It is an explanation of how to grow from $100 million to $500 million by engaging the community with economic participation. Within the boundary of our framework, you start first by building out community participation through token distribution. People pay for the expectation of the delivery of the product and are aligned for the longer term. Then, you implement DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) governance, which drives engagement and allows the community to fix mistakes. The combination of the two recursively lands you into the upper right quadrant of a scalable software with a defensible market network. Of course, this can go entirely wrong. The community might plunder a project instead of supporting it, like a management team paying itself bonuses in a leveraged buyout. There might be low participation and a lack of direction if an insufficient number of people are engaged. But at the very least we have a strategy. This is similar to what incumbents do with their existing customer footprints. When rolling out new products, Facebook, Amazon, JPMorgan and the rest already have millions of people aligned with a brand tied to a commercial relationship. Launching a new product to this audience is orders of magnitude cheaper than acquiring users from scratch. And similarly, incumbents can capture innovation and ideation through corporate venture investments. This practically copies (or inexpensively acquires) product ideas for distribution. See also: Lex Sokolin Weed Out the Soviet-Era Ponzi Scheme Eating Ethereum Finally, we can see where copying a product without having an existing commercial community doesnt have any positive effect. Take for example the forking of Bitcoin into Bitcoin Cash, or any other 50 or so clones of the coin. Or alternately, even the more contested forks like Ethereum Classic do not really compete for the dominant spot given the much smaller market presence. When looking at prescription drug revenue, we can see that about 80% of it comes from brands and 20% from generics. This would be a fair assumption to carry over to our thought experiment about copying software. Is it really worth it to posture about a global technology Cold War over 20% of the market? It is also possible that the 20% captured by the generics is a separate user niche entirely, with a different collection of preferences (e.g., more price sensitive), and therefore copying grows the overall pie. So it goes Lets find a poetic end to the discussion. Decentralized lending aggregator Yearn.Finance (YFI) has seen somewhere between $200 million and $400 million in value flow through it over the last month after distributing a reward mechanism to its community. Thats the model we sketched out above. Within a week or so, the project was copied in China, launched as YFII, and allegedly attracted several hundred million in crypto assets from large Asian investors . This caused a number of Western projects, like Balancer, to freak out and hide YFII from their interfaces (i.e., censor it) even though the code continued to execute on permissionless global networks. As people dug in further and tried to engage with the Chinese DeFi community, they saw a large WeChat group that was being used as a governance mechanism for the cloned project. Was it a scam? Was it gambling? Was it a speculative project? Does it hurt the economic share of Yearn.Finance? Or does it open up a new market for ideas and exchange? Should DeFi projects censor scams, or imitation, or theft? Id like to think there is a parallel world version of me, sitting in front of a screen on some late afternoon, agonizing over the human condition through the lens of fintech themes in another language. Maybe there is another *you* as well, reading that other text and wondering about your own twin in a strange culture. What we twins have to agree on is that blockchain networks, open-source software, the Shenzhen manufacturing process, the Chinese blockchain services network, an increase in venture capital funding, and national software technology budgets have radically transformed the nature of competition. Its not enough to have an idea and linearly bring it to the local market. We are playing on a different scale, with incentives and guidelines that look alien at first glance. Yet, this mutual discovery and the journey around it are a risk worth taking. Related Stories Chinas Open Source Development Has Lessons for the US Chinas Open Source Development Has Lessons for the US || Accused Twitter hacker’s first court appearance Zoombombed by Bitcoin pranksters: The first court hearing for the 17-year-old alleged “mastermind” of last month’sTwitter hackwas cut short Wednesday after pranksters disrupted the virtual proceedings with profane, racist, and in one instance, pornographic, outbursts.
A defense lawyer for Graham Ivan Clark, who isaccusedof breaking intoTwitteraccounts of famous CEOs and politicians from Barack Obama to Elon Musk as part of a Bitcoin-stealing scheme, attempted to argue for a reduction in Clark’s $725,000 bond, as well as a partial reinstatement of Clark’s internet access.
But a Florida judge terminated the hearing, which was held as a Zoom video call and did not require a password, less than 25 minutes in after several participants loudly interrupted in what’s known asZoombombing.
At first, the trolls cut into the testimony with clips of Middle Eastern music, and began messaging the chat with slang and racist epithets. Moments later, someone shared their screen to broadcast a graphic sexual video from the site Pornhub.
The incident highlights the difficulty in virtually prosecuting a crime committed virtually, allegedly by mostly teenage hackers, who seized access to some 130 Twitter accounts, to steal not only $117,000 worth of Bitcoin, but also “OG” usernames like @vampire.
It was perhaps not surprising, then, that the high-profile hearing, open to anyone with the publicly available Zoom meeting ID, also attracted some attendees with mischief in mind. Even before the loud disruptions, one participant’s video stream, instead of his or her face, showed a screen apparently set up to send Bitcoin to a “Free Graham Fund,” though it was unclear whether such a fund exists; in the address field, where an alphanumerical sequence would normally be for a cryptocurrency transaction, was just an offer: “Let me know the addy.”
Other participants may have joined in just for laughs: One user going by the name “lil peep” chimed in on the chat with “LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL.”
For their screen names, the pranksters also used names of fictional movie characters as well as the name of another judge at the same Florida court where the case is being tried.
After the first meeting was shut down, the court attempted to restart the call while selectively admitting authorized officials and media outlets, but the trolls quickly circumvented those restrictions as well: Soon, music began playing from accounts labeled “BBC News” and “CNN,” interspersed with clips, possibly from movies or TV, spouting phrases such as, “You think I care, kid?”
Shortly after that, voices from other accounts appearing to impersonate journalists from CNN and Fox 5 News hurled a string of profanities, including the phrase “F— Rolex.” That could be a reference to one of the other defendants in the case, 22-year-old Nima Fazeli, also known as “Rolex,” who was charged in California with aiding and abetting the hack.
The presiding Judge announced that future hearings will be password-protected before ending the call.
Despite numerous and escalating interruptions the Judge, Christopher Nash, reached a decision: Though he denied Clark’s request for reduced bond, he won’t require the Tampa teen to show that the source of the money used to post it did not come from criminal activity, as the court initially stipulated.
While Clark faces 30 counts of fraud charges for the Twitter hack and unlawful acquisition of Bitcoin, he was previously the target of another investigation into a cryptocurrency theft, though no charges were filed after he turned 100 Bitcoins over to prosecutors, according to new court documents.
• Looking for a job in finance?These Fortune 500 banks have the most job openings
• Congress still “a long ways away” from deal onbill that would include more stimulus checks
• Ford’s Jim Hackett had a bold vision—but couldn’t improve this all-important financial metric
• SEC reportedly investigatingKodak’s government loan and stock spike following Trump deal
• A running list ofcompanies that have filed for bankruptcyduring the coronavirus pandemic
This story was originally featured onFortune.com || Accused Twitter hacker’s first court appearance Zoombombed by Bitcoin pranksters: The first court hearing for the 17-year-old alleged “mastermind” of last month’sTwitter hackwas cut short Wednesday after pranksters disrupted the virtual proceedings with profane, racist, and in one instance, pornographic, outbursts.
A defense lawyer for Graham Ivan Clark, who isaccusedof breaking intoTwitteraccounts of famous CEOs and politicians from Barack Obama to Elon Musk as part of a Bitcoin-stealing scheme, attempted to argue for a reduction in Clark’s $725,000 bond, as well as a partial reinstatement of Clark’s internet access.
But a Florida judge terminated the hearing, which was held as a Zoom video call and did not require a password, less than 25 minutes in after several participants loudly interrupted in what’s known asZoombombing.
At first, the trolls cut into the testimony with clips of Middle Eastern music, and began messaging the chat with slang and racist epithets. Moments later, someone shared their screen to broadcast a graphic sexual video from the site Pornhub.
The incident highlights the difficulty in virtually prosecuting a crime committed virtually, allegedly by mostly teenage hackers, who seized access to some 130 Twitter accounts, to steal not only $117,000 worth of Bitcoin, but also “OG” usernames like @vampire.
It was perhaps not surprising, then, that the high-profile hearing, open to anyone with the publicly available Zoom meeting ID, also attracted some attendees with mischief in mind. Even before the loud disruptions, one participant’s video stream, instead of his or her face, showed a screen apparently set up to send Bitcoin to a “Free Graham Fund,” though it was unclear whether such a fund exists; in the address field, where an alphanumerical sequence would normally be for a cryptocurrency transaction, was just an offer: “Let me know the addy.”
Other participants may have joined in just for laughs: One user going by the name “lil peep” chimed in on the chat with “LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL.”
For their screen names, the pranksters also used names of fictional movie characters as well as the name of another judge at the same Florida court where the case is being tried.
After the first meeting was shut down, the court attempted to restart the call while selectively admitting authorized officials and media outlets, but the trolls quickly circumvented those restrictions as well: Soon, music began playing from accounts labeled “BBC News” and “CNN,” interspersed with clips, possibly from movies or TV, spouting phrases such as, “You think I care, kid?”
Shortly after that, voices from other accounts appearing to impersonate journalists from CNN and Fox 5 News hurled a string of profanities, including the phrase “F— Rolex.” That could be a reference to one of the other defendants in the case, 22-year-old Nima Fazeli, also known as “Rolex,” who was charged in California with aiding and abetting the hack.
The presiding Judge announced that future hearings will be password-protected before ending the call.
Despite numerous and escalating interruptions the Judge, Christopher Nash, reached a decision: Though he denied Clark’s request for reduced bond, he won’t require the Tampa teen to show that the source of the money used to post it did not come from criminal activity, as the court initially stipulated.
While Clark faces 30 counts of fraud charges for the Twitter hack and unlawful acquisition of Bitcoin, he was previously the target of another investigation into a cryptocurrency theft, though no charges were filed after he turned 100 Bitcoins over to prosecutors, according to new court documents.
• Looking for a job in finance?These Fortune 500 banks have the most job openings
• Congress still “a long ways away” from deal onbill that would include more stimulus checks
• Ford’s Jim Hackett had a bold vision—but couldn’t improve this all-important financial metric
• SEC reportedly investigatingKodak’s government loan and stock spike following Trump deal
• A running list ofcompanies that have filed for bankruptcyduring the coronavirus pandemic
This story was originally featured onFortune.com || Accused Twitter hackers first court appearance Zoombombed by Bitcoin pranksters: The first court hearing for the 17-year-old alleged mastermind of last months Twitter hack was cut short Wednesday after pranksters disrupted the virtual proceedings with profane, racist, and in one instance, pornographic, outbursts. A defense lawyer for Graham Ivan Clark, who is accused of breaking into Twitter accounts of famous CEOs and politicians from Barack Obama to Elon Musk as part of a Bitcoin-stealing scheme, attempted to argue for a reduction in Clarks $725,000 bond, as well as a partial reinstatement of Clarks internet access. But a Florida judge terminated the hearing, which was held as a Zoom video call and did not require a password, less than 25 minutes in after several participants loudly interrupted in whats known as Zoombombing . At first, the trolls cut into the testimony with clips of Middle Eastern music, and began messaging the chat with slang and racist epithets. Moments later, someone shared their screen to broadcast a graphic sexual video from the site Pornhub. The incident highlights the difficulty in virtually prosecuting a crime committed virtually, allegedly by mostly teenage hackers, who seized access to some 130 Twitter accounts, to steal not only $117,000 worth of Bitcoin, but also OG usernames like @vampire. It was perhaps not surprising, then, that the high-profile hearing, open to anyone with the publicly available Zoom meeting ID, also attracted some attendees with mischief in mind. Even before the loud disruptions, one participants video stream, instead of his or her face, showed a screen apparently set up to send Bitcoin to a Free Graham Fund, though it was unclear whether such a fund exists; in the address field, where an alphanumerical sequence would normally be for a cryptocurrency transaction, was just an offer: Let me know the addy. Other participants may have joined in just for laughs: One user going by the name lil peep chimed in on the chat with LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL. For their screen names, the pranksters also used names of fictional movie characters as well as the name of another judge at the same Florida court where the case is being tried. After the first meeting was shut down, the court attempted to restart the call while selectively admitting authorized officials and media outlets, but the trolls quickly circumvented those restrictions as well: Soon, music began playing from accounts labeled BBC News and CNN, interspersed with clips, possibly from movies or TV, spouting phrases such as, You think I care, kid? Story continues Shortly after that, voices from other accounts appearing to impersonate journalists from CNN and Fox 5 News hurled a string of profanities, including the phrase F Rolex. That could be a reference to one of the other defendants in the case, 22-year-old Nima Fazeli, also known as Rolex, who was charged in California with aiding and abetting the hack. The presiding Judge announced that future hearings will be password-protected before ending the call. Well perhaps unsurprisingly the accused Twitter hacker-Bitcoin thiefs first (virtual) hearing was shut down within 25 minutes due to relentless Zoombombing. (It ended a minute after this when someone screenshared a Porn Hub video.) pic.twitter.com/fGiceq4WfN Jen Wieczner (@jenwieczner) August 5, 2020 Despite numerous and escalating interruptions the Judge, Christopher Nash, reached a decision: Though he denied Clarks request for reduced bond, he wont require the Tampa teen to show that the source of the money used to post it did not come from criminal activity, as the court initially stipulated. While Clark faces 30 counts of fraud charges for the Twitter hack and unlawful acquisition of Bitcoin, he was previously the target of another investigation into a cryptocurrency theft, though no charges were filed after he turned 100 Bitcoins over to prosecutors, according to new court documents. More must-read finance coverage from Fortune : Looking for a job in finance? These Fortune 500 banks have the most job openings Congress still a long ways away from deal on bill that would include more stimulus checks Fords Jim Hackett had a bold vision but couldnt improve this all-important financial metric SEC reportedly investigating Kodaks government loan and stock spike following Trump deal A running list of companies that have filed for bankruptcy during the coronavirus pandemic This story was originally featured on Fortune.com View comments || Stock Market Today: Disney Adds to the Market's Magical Run: The wind remained beneath stocks' wings on Wednesday, as Washington's stimulus standoff improved and corporate earnings encouraged investors. Congressional Democrats and White House representatives said Tuesday evening that the two sides might be able to agree on another rescue package by week's end, with passage possibly coming next week. (Note: As readers of our free A Step Ahead e-newsletter learned this morning, our political forecasters at The Kiplinger Letter are less optimistic about a stimulus bill so soon.) SEE MORE 10 Best Stocks to Buy If President Donald Trump Wins Re-Election The corporate earnings calendar delivered a few single-stock surges today, too. Disney ( DIS , +8.8%), for instance, reported a larger-than-expected revenue decline for its most recent quarter. However, investors instead focused on the fact that its Disney+ streaming service now boasts 60.5 million subscribers; the entertainment conglomerate had targeted 60 million to 90 million subscribers by 2024 . "Overall, with new CEO Mr. Bob Chapek now indicating an 'innovative and bold' further pivot to streaming, we expect Disney shares to be even more aggressively positioned as a streaming growth story (where investors have limited investment vehicles), and eventual COVID recovery play," write Credit Suisse analysts, who upgraded the stock to Outperform. Square ( SQ , +7.1%), which reported a day early in response to someone gaining "early external access" to its results, announced a 64% jump in revenues thanks largely to Bitcoin-related activity. That said, Piper Sandler analysts kept the stock at Neutral, noting that "despite a good start to July gross payment volume, management sounded some cautious notes around 3Q20. These included Square Capital, risks of stimulus programs not being renewed, and higher expenses." The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished solidly in the black, closing up 1.4% to 27,201. The S&P 500 climbed 0.6% to 3,327. The Nasdaq Composite , up 0.5% to 10,998, set yet another all-time high. And small-caps roared yet again, with the Russell 2000 closing with a 1.9% gain to 1,546. Stock: Too Far, Or Not Far Enough? There's a growing chorus of market minds worried the current rally is a little excessive, however. SEE MORE 10 Best Stocks to Buy If Joe Biden Wins the Presidency Mad Money host Jim Cramer called the broader market "stupidly bullish" yesterday evening. He also railed against counterintuitive stock surges such as BP's ( BP ) 7% jump Tuesday after cutting its dividend. Cramer said the rally was vying for the "dumbest action of the year." Story continues Others, such as Canaccord Genuity equity strategist Tony Dwyer, have been a bit more subtle. Dwyer says the S&P 500 hitting its 3,300+ target suggests "limited upside." However, he also admits that "the combination of excess liquidity, monetary and fiscal policy, and global economic turn off the bottom reinforce adding risk exposure on any meaningful pullbacks despite the proximity of our target," adding that investors might be underappreciating a global recovery in 2021 that could benefit more economically sensitive industries. Of course, if you're a buy-and-holder, you're just enjoying the ride. A short-term slip is nothing to fear – though it could be a great place to buy if you're holding on to any more cash. To build your wish list, explore some of these blue-chip hedge-fund favorites , or consider these recession-proof stocks that are built to withstand a difficult economic recovery. And if you're looking to establish your next great retirement position, a dip would allow you to enjoy even better yields on high-yielding dividend stalwarts. Read on as we explore our updated list of 20 retirement plays that have the ability to deliver big dividends for decades down the road. SEE MORE 20 Most Expensive U.S. Cities to Live In View comments || Stock Market Today: Disney Adds to the Market's Magical Run: The wind remained beneath stocks' wings on Wednesday, as Washington's stimulus standoff improved and corporate earnings encouraged investors. Congressional Democrats and White House representatives said Tuesday evening that the two sides might be able to agree on another rescue package by week's end, with passage possibly coming next week. (Note: As readers of our free A Step Ahead e-newsletter learned this morning, our political forecasters at The Kiplinger Letter are less optimistic about a stimulus bill so soon.) SEE MORE 10 Best Stocks to Buy If President Donald Trump Wins Re-Election The corporate earnings calendar delivered a few single-stock surges today, too. Disney ( DIS , +8.8%), for instance, reported a larger-than-expected revenue decline for its most recent quarter. However, investors instead focused on the fact that its Disney+ streaming service now boasts 60.5 million subscribers; the entertainment conglomerate had targeted 60 million to 90 million subscribers by 2024 . "Overall, with new CEO Mr. Bob Chapek now indicating an 'innovative and bold' further pivot to streaming, we expect Disney shares to be even more aggressively positioned as a streaming growth story (where investors have limited investment vehicles), and eventual COVID recovery play," write Credit Suisse analysts, who upgraded the stock to Outperform. Square ( SQ , +7.1%), which reported a day early in response to someone gaining "early external access" to its results, announced a 64% jump in revenues thanks largely to Bitcoin-related activity. That said, Piper Sandler analysts kept the stock at Neutral, noting that "despite a good start to July gross payment volume, management sounded some cautious notes around 3Q20. These included Square Capital, risks of stimulus programs not being renewed, and higher expenses." The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished solidly in the black, closing up 1.4% to 27,201. The S&P 500 climbed 0.6% to 3,327. The Nasdaq Composite , up 0.5% to 10,998, set yet another all-time high. And small-caps roared yet again, with the Russell 2000 closing with a 1.9% gain to 1,546. Stock: Too Far, Or Not Far Enough? There's a growing chorus of market minds worried the current rally is a little excessive, however. SEE MORE 10 Best Stocks to Buy If Joe Biden Wins the Presidency Mad Money host Jim Cramer called the broader market "stupidly bullish" yesterday evening. He also railed against counterintuitive stock surges such as BP's ( BP ) 7% jump Tuesday after cutting its dividend. Cramer said the rally was vying for the "dumbest action of the year." Story continues Others, such as Canaccord Genuity equity strategist Tony Dwyer, have been a bit more subtle. Dwyer says the S&P 500 hitting its 3,300+ target suggests "limited upside." However, he also admits that "the combination of excess liquidity, monetary and fiscal policy, and global economic turn off the bottom reinforce adding risk exposure on any meaningful pullbacks despite the proximity of our target," adding that investors might be underappreciating a global recovery in 2021 that could benefit more economically sensitive industries. Of course, if you're a buy-and-holder, you're just enjoying the ride. A short-term slip is nothing to fear – though it could be a great place to buy if you're holding on to any more cash. To build your wish list, explore some of these blue-chip hedge-fund favorites , or consider these recession-proof stocks that are built to withstand a difficult economic recovery. And if you're looking to establish your next great retirement position, a dip would allow you to enjoy even better yields on high-yielding dividend stalwarts. Read on as we explore our updated list of 20 retirement plays that have the ability to deliver big dividends for decades down the road. SEE MORE 20 Most Expensive U.S. Cities to Live In View comments || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Trudges Past $11.7K as DeFi Lending Rates Gyrate: Bitcoin gained Wednesday while DeFi interest rate volatility is causing concern over its long-term viability. Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $11,670 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 4% over the previous 24 hours. Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $11,072-$11,735 BTC above 10-day and 50-day moving averages, a bullish signal for market technicians. Traders are mostly buying bitcoin Wednesday, with the world’s oldest cryptocurrency going as high as $11,735 on spot exchanges such as Coinbase. Read More: Bitcoin Price Rises 3% as Gold Trades Above $2K for First Time Related: Bitcoin's Patronage System Is an Unheralded Strength “I think we’ll hit $12,000 by Friday. There’s a lot of momentum in the market just now,” said Chris Thomas, head of digital assets for broker Swissquote. “Tuesday was a pause for breath, but we didn’t react negatively.” Thomas noted bitcoin spot volumes have been rising this past week after a month of relative feebleness. “Flows are definitely picking up and more people are feeling the excitement, which naturally helps the markets move higher still,” added Thomas. Read More: Ethereum Transition to Staking Could Push More Traders to Use Derivatives Related: Bitcoin Entering 'New Adoption Cycle,' Coin Metrics Exec Says While bitcoin’s pace is picking up, gold, the original hedge against economic uncertainty, has been on an absolute tear. The yellow metal was up 1.1% and at $2,041 as of press time, hitting a fresh intraday high at $2,056. However, while gold has rallied 14% over the past month, bitcoin has done twice as well, up 28% during that same period. Bitcoin bugs continue to believe its price can keep making outsized gains in unsettled economic times. “I’m bullish on bitcoin,” said George Clayton, managing partner of Cryptanalysis Capital. “I do not have a strong view on timing, but I’m expecting a move higher.” Volatile DeFi lending rates The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, ether (ETH), was up Wednesday, trading around $399 after climbing 3% in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET). Read More: BnkToTheFuture Steps Away From Banks Citing Mounting Risk Interest rates in Ethereum-powered decentralized finance, or DeFi, have see-sawed wildly over the past few months. Composite Lend Rate, a metric calculated by DeFi Pulse, determines how much profit an investor would return lending out crypto. It has fluctuated mostly due to the volatility of lender Compound’s rates, which have been as low as 0.122% on June 17 and as high as 18.6% on June 26. Compound dominates the DeFi lending market and had 3% rates for lenders as of Wednesday. Story continues “A number of new applications are adjusting their protocol and token incentives, which can trigger extreme volatility,” said Jean-Marc Bonnefous, managing partner for Tellurian Capital, which has been investing in crypto projects since 2014. “There is also a lot of shuffling of short-term liquidity among the DeFI protocols, which is not very conducive to longer-term sustainability and adoption,” he added. Other markets Digital assets on the CoinDesk 20 are mostly flashing green Wednesday. Notable winners as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET): zcash (ZEC) + 14% dash (DASH) + 6% bitcoin gold (BTG) 5.5% Read More: Square Crypto, Human Rights Foundation Ramp Up Bitcoin Grants Notable losers as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET): tezos (XTZ) – 0.66% qtum (QTUM) – 0.56% stellar (XLM) – 0.53% Read More: US Lawmakers Don’t Want Proof-of-Stake Networks to Get Overtaxed Equities: In Asia, the Nikkei 225 ended the day in the red 0.26% as poor corporate earnings for Softbank and Yamaha led stocks lower . In Europe, the FTSE 100 closed higher, gaining 1.1% as better-than-expected earnings reports boosted stocks like Commerzbank, up 5% on the day . In the United States, the S&P 500 gained 0.60% on shares of Disney jumping 8.8% on positive earnings and optimism for a coronavirus vaccine . Read More: Square Reports 600% Increase in Quarterly Bitcoin Revenue Commodities: Oil is up 1.6%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $42.14 Read More: Social Engineering: A Plague on Crypto and Twitter, Unlikely to Stop Treasurys: U.S. Treasury bonds were mixed Wednesday. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were up most on the 10-year, in the green 7.5%. Read More: Pharmacist Charged With Trafficking Drugs Worth $270M in Bitcoin Related Stories Market Wrap: Bitcoin Trudges Past $11.7K as DeFi Lending Rates Gyrate Market Wrap: Bitcoin Trudges Past $11.7K as DeFi Lending Rates Gyrate View comments || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Trudges Past $11.7K as DeFi Lending Rates Gyrate: Bitcoin gained Wednesday while DeFi interest rate volatility is causing concern over its long-term viability. Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $11,670 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 4% over the previous 24 hours. Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $11,072-$11,735 BTC above 10-day and 50-day moving averages, a bullish signal for market technicians. Traders are mostly buying bitcoin Wednesday, with the world’s oldest cryptocurrency going as high as $11,735 on spot exchanges such as Coinbase. Read More: Bitcoin Price Rises 3% as Gold Trades Above $2K for First Time Related: Bitcoin's Patronage System Is an Unheralded Strength “I think we’ll hit $12,000 by Friday. There’s a lot of momentum in the market just now,” said Chris Thomas, head of digital assets for broker Swissquote. “Tuesday was a pause for breath, but we didn’t react negatively.” Thomas noted bitcoin spot volumes have been rising this past week after a month of relative feebleness. “Flows are definitely picking up and more people are feeling the excitement, which naturally helps the markets move higher still,” added Thomas. Read More: Ethereum Transition to Staking Could Push More Traders to Use Derivatives Related: Bitcoin Entering 'New Adoption Cycle,' Coin Metrics Exec Says While bitcoin’s pace is picking up, gold, the original hedge against economic uncertainty, has been on an absolute tear. The yellow metal was up 1.1% and at $2,041 as of press time, hitting a fresh intraday high at $2,056. However, while gold has rallied 14% over the past month, bitcoin has done twice as well, up 28% during that same period. Bitcoin bugs continue to believe its price can keep making outsized gains in unsettled economic times. “I’m bullish on bitcoin,” said George Clayton, managing partner of Cryptanalysis Capital. “I do not have a strong view on timing, but I’m expecting a move higher.” Volatile DeFi lending rates The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, ether (ETH), was up Wednesday, trading around $399 after climbing 3% in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET). Read More: BnkToTheFuture Steps Away From Banks Citing Mounting Risk Interest rates in Ethereum-powered decentralized finance, or DeFi, have see-sawed wildly over the past few months. Composite Lend Rate, a metric calculated by DeFi Pulse, determines how much profit an investor would return lending out crypto. It has fluctuated mostly due to the volatility of lender Compound’s rates, which have been as low as 0.122% on June 17 and as high as 18.6% on June 26. Compound dominates the DeFi lending market and had 3% rates for lenders as of Wednesday. Story continues “A number of new applications are adjusting their protocol and token incentives, which can trigger extreme volatility,” said Jean-Marc Bonnefous, managing partner for Tellurian Capital, which has been investing in crypto projects since 2014. “There is also a lot of shuffling of short-term liquidity among the DeFI protocols, which is not very conducive to longer-term sustainability and adoption,” he added. Other markets Digital assets on the CoinDesk 20 are mostly flashing green Wednesday. Notable winners as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET): zcash (ZEC) + 14% dash (DASH) + 6% bitcoin gold (BTG) 5.5% Read More: Square Crypto, Human Rights Foundation Ramp Up Bitcoin Grants Notable losers as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET): tezos (XTZ) – 0.66% qtum (QTUM) – 0.56% stellar (XLM) – 0.53% Read More: US Lawmakers Don’t Want Proof-of-Stake Networks to Get Overtaxed Equities: In Asia, the Nikkei 225 ended the day in the red 0.26% as poor corporate earnings for Softbank and Yamaha led stocks lower . In Europe, the FTSE 100 closed higher, gaining 1.1% as better-than-expected earnings reports boosted stocks like Commerzbank, up 5% on the day . In the United States, the S&P 500 gained 0.60% on shares of Disney jumping 8.8% on positive earnings and optimism for a coronavirus vaccine . Read More: Square Reports 600% Increase in Quarterly Bitcoin Revenue Commodities: Oil is up 1.6%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $42.14 Read More: Social Engineering: A Plague on Crypto and Twitter, Unlikely to Stop Treasurys: U.S. Treasury bonds were mixed Wednesday. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were up most on the 10-year, in the green 7.5%. Read More: Pharmacist Charged With Trafficking Drugs Worth $270M in Bitcoin Related Stories Market Wrap: Bitcoin Trudges Past $11.7K as DeFi Lending Rates Gyrate Market Wrap: Bitcoin Trudges Past $11.7K as DeFi Lending Rates Gyrate View comments || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Trudges Past $11.7K as DeFi Lending Rates Gyrate: Bitcoin gained Wednesday while DeFi interest rate volatility is causing concern over its long-term viability. Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $11,670 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 4% over the previous 24 hours. Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $11,072-$11,735 BTC above 10-day and 50-day moving averages, a bullish signal for market technicians. Traders are mostly buying bitcoin Wednesday, with the world’s oldest cryptocurrency going as high as $11,735 on spot exchanges such as Coinbase. Read More: Bitcoin Price Rises 3% as Gold Trades Above $2K for First Time Related: Bitcoin's Patronage System Is an Unheralded Strength “I think we’ll hit $12,000 by Friday. There’s a lot of momentum in the market just now,” said Chris Thomas, head of digital assets for broker Swissquote. “Tuesday was a pause for breath, but we didn’t react negatively.” Thomas noted bitcoin spot volumes have been rising this past week after a month of relative feebleness. “Flows are definitely picking up and more people are feeling the excitement, which naturally helps the markets move higher still,” added Thomas. Read More: Ethereum Transition to Staking Could Push More Traders to Use Derivatives Related: Bitcoin Entering 'New Adoption Cycle,' Coin Metrics Exec Says While bitcoin’s pace is picking up, gold, the original hedge against economic uncertainty, has been on an absolute tear. The yellow metal was up 1.1% and at $2,041 as of press time, hitting a fresh intraday high at $2,056. However, while gold has rallied 14% over the past month, bitcoin has done twice as well, up 28% during that same period. Bitcoin bugs continue to believe its price can keep making outsized gains in unsettled economic times. “I’m bullish on bitcoin,” said George Clayton, managing partner of Cryptanalysis Capital. “I do not have a strong view on timing, but I’m expecting a move higher.” Volatile DeFi lending rates The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, ether (ETH), was up Wednesday, trading around $399 after climbing 3% in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET). Read More: BnkToTheFuture Steps Away From Banks Citing Mounting Risk Interest rates in Ethereum-powered decentralized finance, or DeFi, have see-sawed wildly over the past few months. Composite Lend Rate, a metric calculated by DeFi Pulse, determines how much profit an investor would return lending out crypto. It has fluctuated mostly due to the volatility of lender Compound’s rates, which have been as low as 0.122% on June 17 and as high as 18.6% on June 26. Compound dominates the DeFi lending market and had 3% rates for lenders as of Wednesday. Story continues “A number of new applications are adjusting their protocol and token incentives, which can trigger extreme volatility,” said Jean-Marc Bonnefous, managing partner for Tellurian Capital, which has been investing in crypto projects since 2014. “There is also a lot of shuffling of short-term liquidity among the DeFI protocols, which is not very conducive to longer-term sustainability and adoption,” he added. Other markets Digital assets on the CoinDesk 20 are mostly flashing green Wednesday. Notable winners as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET): zcash (ZEC) + 14% dash (DASH) + 6% bitcoin gold (BTG) 5.5% Read More: Square Crypto, Human Rights Foundation Ramp Up Bitcoin Grants Notable losers as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET): tezos (XTZ) – 0.66% qtum (QTUM) – 0.56% stellar (XLM) – 0.53% Read More: US Lawmakers Don’t Want Proof-of-Stake Networks to Get Overtaxed Equities: In Asia, the Nikkei 225 ended the day in the red 0.26% as poor corporate earnings for Softbank and Yamaha led stocks lower . In Europe, the FTSE 100 closed higher, gaining 1.1% as better-than-expected earnings reports boosted stocks like Commerzbank, up 5% on the day . In the United States, the S&P 500 gained 0.60% on shares of Disney jumping 8.8% on positive earnings and optimism for a coronavirus vaccine . Read More: Square Reports 600% Increase in Quarterly Bitcoin Revenue Commodities: Oil is up 1.6%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $42.14 Read More: Social Engineering: A Plague on Crypto and Twitter, Unlikely to Stop Treasurys: U.S. Treasury bonds were mixed Wednesday. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were up most on the 10-year, in the green 7.5%. Read More: Pharmacist Charged With Trafficking Drugs Worth $270M in Bitcoin Related Stories Market Wrap: Bitcoin Trudges Past $11.7K as DeFi Lending Rates Gyrate Market Wrap: Bitcoin Trudges Past $11.7K as DeFi Lending Rates Gyrate View comments || Twitter says vulnerability could have exposed direct messages for Android users: A security vulnerability in Twitter for Android could have allowed attackers to access some users' direct messages, the company has disclosed . Twitter on Wednesday said it has fixed a vulnerability in the Android app that for some users "could allow an attacker, through a malicious app installed on your device, to access private Twitter data on your device (like direct messages), by working around Android system permissions that protect against this." This was "related to an underlying Android OS security issue" on Android OS versions 8 and 9, the company said. Twitter said it believes 96 percent of Android users have a patch protecting them from the vulnerability, and it doesn't have evidence that attackers actually exploited the flaw, but the company adds it "can't be completely sure" of that. It's sending notifications to the users who may have been affected, requiring them to update the Android app, and promising to identify "changes to our processes to better guard against issues like this." This disclosure from Twitter comes after the company last month grappled with a massive hack, in which high-profile accounts including those belonging to former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden were taken over to promote a Bitcoin scam. The company said that 130 accounts were targeted, and the attackers accessed direct messages on "up to 36" of them, including that of an elected official in the Netherlands. More stories from theweek.com Pelosi doubts Republicans will pass generous coronavirus bill: 'Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn' State Department lifts global coronavirus travel advisory The terrible trade-off of keeping schools closed || Twitter says vulnerability could have exposed direct messages for Android users: A security vulnerability in Twitter for Android could have allowed attackers to access some users' direct messages, the company has disclosed . Twitter on Wednesday said it has fixed a vulnerability in the Android app that for some users "could allow an attacker, through a malicious app installed on your device, to access private Twitter data on your device (like direct messages), by working around Android system permissions that protect against this." This was "related to an underlying Android OS security issue" on Android OS versions 8 and 9, the company said. Twitter said it believes 96 percent of Android users have a patch protecting them from the vulnerability, and it doesn't have evidence that attackers actually exploited the flaw, but the company adds it "can't be completely sure" of that. It's sending notifications to the users who may have been affected, requiring them to update the Android app, and promising to identify "changes to our processes to better guard against issues like this." This disclosure from Twitter comes after the company last month grappled with a massive hack, in which high-profile accounts including those belonging to former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden were taken over to promote a Bitcoin scam. The company said that 130 accounts were targeted, and the attackers accessed direct messages on "up to 36" of them, including that of an elected official in the Netherlands. More stories from theweek.com Pelosi doubts Republicans will pass generous coronavirus bill: 'Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn' State Department lifts global coronavirus travel advisory The terrible trade-off of keeping schools closed || DeFi Traders Are Gaming Ethereum for Higher Profits, Researchers Say: Decentralized finance (DeFi) has been clogging the Ethereum network, but not in the way most analysts would have guessed.
An architectural quirk in the most-used software version of Ethereum, Geth, has led to an uptick in the practice of spamming the network to secure trade profits over the last six months,accordingto Certus One co-founder Hendrik Hofstadt.
Transaction spamming is one of many reasons the average Ethereum user fee has increased some 800% since May, according toCoin Metrics. Ponzi schemes likeMMMor DeFi’s general growth in 2020 are also to blame.
Related:Market Wrap: Bitcoin Trudges Past $11.7K as DeFi Lending Rates Gyrate
Read more:Weed Out the Soviet-Era Ponzi Scheme Eating Ethereum
Hofstadt told CoinDesk that algorithmic trading firms have created bot swarms to watch the Ethereum transaction queue (called the mempool). These bots wait for large trades on DeFi platforms such as Uniswap. After they go through, the bots quickly place orders to take advantage of price movements in what is called “backrunning.”
Too many firms knew about this practice, though. So some firms switched up their tactics over the spring months by sending awall of executionsto crowd out others and secure a backrun order.
Rough modeling shows some $5.99 million in gas fees have been used to execute this trading strategy since April 2018,accordingto developer Philippe Castonguay. That’s about a week’s worth of typical Ethereum fees for useless transactions.
Related:Two Reasons Crypto's Bull Market Is Coming
Moreover, the majority of these trades occurred since March 12’s “Black Thursday,” when DeFi platforms sawrecord volumes.
Read more:Thursday’s Market Madness Strained Ethereum’s Killer App: DeFi
For trading firms, this translates into more fees overall but arbitrage profits into the hundreds of thousands, according toaddressesprovided by Hofstadt.
For the network, spamming crowds out other transactions. It also increases the average fee for everyone.
On July 29, the Geth team approved swapping the execution model to a first come, first served basis. Yet, it remains to be seen if mining firms will update to the new Geth version.
Hofstadt said miners could keep doing business as usual if they value the extra pocket change from DeFi traders more than helping out the network in general.
Indeed, total network fees per day on Ethereum has increased 1,077% since May 5 from $162,200 to $1,909,000 on a seven-day rolling basis, according toCoin Metrics.
• DeFi Traders Are Gaming Ethereum for Higher Profits, Researchers Say
• DeFi Traders Are Gaming Ethereum for Higher Profits, Researchers Say || DeFi Traders Are Gaming Ethereum for Higher Profits, Researchers Say: Decentralized finance (DeFi) has been clogging the Ethereum network, but not in the way most analysts would have guessed. An architectural quirk in the most-used software version of Ethereum, Geth, has led to an uptick in the practice of spamming the network to secure trade profits over the last six months, according to Certus One co-founder Hendrik Hofstadt. Transaction spamming is one of many reasons the average Ethereum user fee has increased some 800% since May, according to Coin Metrics . Ponzi schemes like MMM or DeFi’s general growth in 2020 are also to blame. Related: Market Wrap: Bitcoin Trudges Past $11.7K as DeFi Lending Rates Gyrate Read more: Weed Out the Soviet-Era Ponzi Scheme Eating Ethereum Hofstadt told CoinDesk that algorithmic trading firms have created bot swarms to watch the Ethereum transaction queue (called the mempool). These bots wait for large trades on DeFi platforms such as Uniswap. After they go through, the bots quickly place orders to take advantage of price movements in what is called “backrunning.” Too many firms knew about this practice, though. So some firms switched up their tactics over the spring months by sending a wall of executions to crowd out others and secure a backrun order. Higher rewards for miners, higher profits for traders Rough modeling shows some $5.99 million in gas fees have been used to execute this trading strategy since April 2018, according to developer Philippe Castonguay. That’s about a week’s worth of typical Ethereum fees for useless transactions. Related: Two Reasons Crypto's Bull Market Is Coming Moreover, the majority of these trades occurred since March 12’s “Black Thursday,” when DeFi platforms saw record volumes . Read more: Thursday’s Market Madness Strained Ethereum’s Killer App: DeFi For trading firms, this translates into more fees overall but arbitrage profits into the hundreds of thousands, according to addresses provided by Hofstadt. Story continues For the network, spamming crowds out other transactions. It also increases the average fee for everyone. On July 29, the Geth team approved swapping the execution model to a first come, first served basis. Yet, it remains to be seen if mining firms will update to the new Geth version. Hofstadt said miners could keep doing business as usual if they value the extra pocket change from DeFi traders more than helping out the network in general. Indeed, total network fees per day on Ethereum has increased 1,077% since May 5 from $162,200 to $1,909,000 on a seven-day rolling basis, according to Coin Metrics . Related Stories DeFi Traders Are Gaming Ethereum for Higher Profits, Researchers Say DeFi Traders Are Gaming Ethereum for Higher Profits, Researchers Say || Teen Accused in Twitter Hack Sees Hearing Hacked With Porn: (Bloomberg) -- A bail hearing by Zoom for the 17-year-old accused of hacking some of the world’s highest-profile Twitter accounts last month offered some surprises when a lawyer revealed that the teenager was already under investigation last year -- and then the session was interrupted by participants showing porn. Graham Ivan Clark’s lawyers were in the middle of asking a Florida judge to lower their client’s bail -- saying the $725,000 he’s required to post to get out of jail is disproportionate to the $117,000 he’s alleged to have reaped from the hack -- when the raunchy images were broadcast into Wednesday’s hearing, bringing it to an unceremonious end. Clark was arrested last week and charged with hacking into the accounts of notable businesspeople, celebrities and politicians, including former president Barack Obama, Amazon.com Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos and Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk, and posting messages soliciting Bitcoin donations. He has pleaded not guilty and remains in jail on the $725,000 bond. On top of arguing for lower bail, attorney David Weisbrod told Judge Christopher Nash in Tampa that his client shouldn’t have to prove the source of any funds he posts. In making that argument, he revealed that authorities had served a search warrant on Clark’s residence last August, almost a year before the massive Twitter hack, as part of a separate investigation, and froze a cryptocurrency account of his. After the raid, Clark agreed to forfeit 100 Bitcoins -- about $1.2 million based on today’s Bitcoin price of about $11,600 -- as part of an agreement under which he wasn’t prosecuted and admitted no wrongdoing, Weisbrod told the court. In an interview after the hearing, he said the 100 Bitcoins represented about 25% of the cryptocurrency in Clark’s account, which authorities unfroze after making the agreement. He declined to comment further on the previous investigation. Read More: ‘Mastermind’ Accused of Twitter Hack Just Out of High School Story continues Last year’s probe was into a “SIM swap” scheme, lawyers for Clark said in court filings. In a SIM swap, hackers fool phone carriers into changing a person’s SIM card, used in authentication, to capture calls, texts and sensitive data, sometimes including bank account information. Such a ruse was at the center of a hack last year of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey himself. The company closed the loophole by suspending the ability to tweet via text. The investigation involved the alleged theft of $1 million from California residents, Florida prosecutors said in court papers. The day his funds were unfrozen, prosecutors say, Clark allegedly transferred them to another account to begin the activity that led to the current charges. Prosecutor Darrell Dirks urged the judge not to budge on the bail, saying the loss may be greater than $117,000 and that “we are still discovering the breadth and depth of the defendant’s criminal conduct.” The judge hadn’t ruled on the bail request when he was forced to cancel the hearing because of the porn bombs. In the end, he kept the bail amount as it is but agreed to remove the condition that Clark prove the source of his funds, Weisbrod said in the interview. (Updates with further details of the previous investigation. An earlier version of this story was corrected to reflect Clark’s not-guilty plea.) For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. ©2020 Bloomberg L.P. || Teen Accused in Twitter Hack Sees Hearing Hacked With Porn: (Bloomberg) -- A bail hearing by Zoom for the 17-year-old accused of hacking some of the world’s highest-profile Twitter accounts last month offered some surprises when a lawyer revealed that the teenager was already under investigation last year -- and then the session was interrupted by participants showing porn.
Graham Ivan Clark’s lawyers were in the middle of asking a Florida judge to lower their client’s bail -- saying the $725,000 he’s required to post to get out of jail is disproportionate to the $117,000 he’s alleged to have reaped from the hack -- when the raunchy images were broadcast into Wednesday’s hearing, bringing it to an unceremonious end.
Clark was arrested last week and charged with hacking into the accounts of notable businesspeople, celebrities and politicians, including former president Barack Obama, Amazon.com Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos and Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk, and posting messages soliciting Bitcoin donations. He has pleaded not guilty and remains in jail on the $725,000 bond.
On top of arguing for lower bail, attorney David Weisbrod told Judge Christopher Nash in Tampa that his client shouldn’t have to prove the source of any funds he posts. In making that argument, he revealed that authorities had served a search warrant on Clark’s residence last August, almost a year before the massive Twitter hack, as part of a separate investigation, and froze a cryptocurrency account of his.
After the raid, Clark agreed to forfeit 100 Bitcoins -- about $1.2 million based on today’s Bitcoin price of about $11,600 -- as part of an agreement under which he wasn’t prosecuted and admitted no wrongdoing, Weisbrod told the court. In an interview after the hearing, he said the 100 Bitcoins represented about 25% of the cryptocurrency in Clark’s account, which authorities unfroze after making the agreement. He declined to comment further on the previous investigation.
Read More: ‘Mastermind’ Accused of Twitter Hack Just Out of High School
Last year’s probe was into a “SIM swap” scheme, lawyers for Clark said in court filings. In a SIM swap, hackers fool phone carriers into changing a person’s SIM card, used in authentication, to capture calls, texts and sensitive data, sometimes including bank account information. Such a ruse was at the center of a hack last year of Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey himself. The company closed the loophole by suspending the ability to tweet via text.
The investigation involved the alleged theft of $1 million from California residents, Florida prosecutors said in court papers. The day his funds were unfrozen, prosecutors say, Clark allegedly transferred them to another account to begin the activity that led to the current charges.
Prosecutor Darrell Dirks urged the judge not to budge on the bail, saying the loss may be greater than $117,000 and that “we are still discovering the breadth and depth of the defendant’s criminal conduct.”
The judge hadn’t ruled on the bail request when he was forced to cancel the hearing because of the porn bombs. In the end, he kept the bail amount as it is but agreed to remove the condition that Clark prove the source of his funds, Weisbrod said in the interview.
(Updates with further details of the previous investigation. An earlier version of this story was corrected to reflect Clark’s not-guilty plea.)
For more articles like this, please visit us atbloomberg.com
Subscribe nowto stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P. || Two Reasons Crypto’s Bull Market Is Coming: Anil Lulla is the co-founder and COO of Delphi Digital , a research firm dedicated to advancing the development of the crypto market. In the past few months at least four crypto hedge funds have shuttered . Yet, there’s never been a better time for institutions to get involved in this sector. Despite an unprecedented global pandemic wreaking havoc on just about every major economy on the planet, investors have made quite a lot of money in recent months in both traditional and crypto markets. When it comes to the latter, this is just the beginning for those with the discipline to seek out under-appreciated opportunities in this fast-paced industry. Related: Bitcoin's Patronage System Is an Unheralded Strength The incoming bull market for crypto will look completely different than the last one. Mostly because there won’t be just one, but two different bull markets simultaneously playing out over the next 12-18 months. See also: Bitcoin ‘Active Entities’ at Highest Since 2017 Bull Run One will involve the rotation of capital from zombie projects to protocols where the underlying product is actually being used and accruing value. Even without an influx of new capital or users, there is still too much money tied up in ghost protocols, many of which dominate today’s large-cap names. After the last bull market, we were left with many projects with no real usage other than speculation. They were focused more on marketing efforts than actual product development. Related: TikTok and the Great Firewall of America Take XRP , for example. It is the king of worthless altcoins due to its ability to accrue very little to no value, even if adoption skyrockets. Even after the mid-March carnage, it still held a total market value north of $6 billion and currently trades close to $13 billion. Stellar’s native asset ( XLM ) is still in the top 15 at nearly $2 billion. NEO, another celebrated project in the ICO bull run that has yet to deliver, has a market cap of $1 billion. Story continues There’s an important difference between the adoption – or “success” – of a certain protocol and the potential for value to accrue to its native token. But as I’ve written before , the reallocation of capital away from zombie protocols has already begun. The “crypto tourists” of the last bull market have been driven out by inactivity, while the initial coin offerings and token projects they threw money at are shuttering. Decentralized finance (DeFi) is outshining alts , and investors now demand properly designed systems that actually contribute to the broader crypto ecosystem. The speed at which these projects innovate and adapt to new market conditions makes them extremely dynamic. They show the advantage of open source development versus more traditional top-down methods. Square may have an incredible team that’s been doing great work on all fronts (e.g., Cash App and Square Terminals). But even it can’t compete with the optionality of DeFi protocols. Now that DeFi base pieces have been laid, the sector is becoming more like an ecosystem than an industry with a bunch of different startup teams. See also: DeFi Dad – Five Years In, DeFi Now Defines Ethereum DeFi looks completely different today than even a few months ago. This time last year, there were only four DeFi projects in the top 100 crypto projects by market capitalization – Maker, 0x, Augur and Ren. Today, there are 11 with the addition of Aave , Synthetix , Compound , Kyber , Kava , Bancor and Loopring. This time next year, I predict there will be at least 25 in the top 100. That’s a lot of redistribution of capital even without an influx of new money coming in. The second bull market will be led by the usual suspect, bitcoin . As policymakers around the world continue to provide pandemic-related economic relief, bitcoin’s long-term value proposition as a hedge against fiat currency debasement only grows stronger. Circumstances are converging to accelerate us towards precisely the kind of world crypto was designed for. In the short run, non-sovereign scarce assets (i.e. BTC and gold) could be challenged by increased deflationary pressures. But such conditions would undoubtedly force policymakers to provide even greater monetary relief, compounding our conviction in bitcoin’s long-term value proposition as a hedge against fiat currency debasement. We saw a consistent misallocation of capital, with firms following each other into rounds at untenable valuations. When my partners and I left jobs in traditional finance to start a crypto research firm, we knew we were early, but we couldn’t help but sense something truly revolutionary was happening here: an era-defining opportunity on par with the advent of the internet. Two years later, after spending so much time closely tracking interesting protocols, that hunch has transformed into iron-clad conviction. This is exactly why our team is doubling down on our commitment to the industry. Last week, we officially announced Delphi Ventures , a new division of our company that will focus on providing long-term financial and intellectual capital to the most promising projects in the space. Broadly speaking, we saw a consistent misallocation of capital, with firms following each other into rounds at untenable valuations for pre-launch projects with no clear path to value-accrual and no justifiable use for those amounts of capital. On the other hand, our research led us to identify early stage projects with extremely promising ideas that we believed were being underfunded. See also: Crypto Hedge Fund Neural Capital Closes After Losing Half Its Money It’s easy in hindsight to say the investments made in the last period of market exuberance were doomed to failure, but there has been a shift in the standards of the industry. The foundation for the base infrastructure of the decentralized economy is being laid as we speak. The composability between projects allow teams to iterate much faster than traditional software companies and opens up experimentation going forward. My partner Medio Demarco said it best last year when tweeting that it was a bigger risk staying in traditional finance than getting involved in crypto. Eventually, I expect high-profile tech investors like Chamath Palihapitiya and Mark Cuban, who have expressed interest in crypto in the past, to go deeper and become champions of the sector. As of this weekend, the top 100 DeFi projects had a market cap of ~$7.3 billion. The total crypto market cap is around $370 billion. It’s crazy to think DeFi deserves less than 2% of this. On that note, I wanted to share a secret with all of you. At the top of the 2017 bubble, a friend of mine gave me a shirt as a joke. It says “moon: the moment when the crypto market cap reaches a total market cap of $1 trillion USD.” I can’t remember if I’ve ever worn it (hedging myself in case a photo leaks) but, as these two crypto bull markets converge, I think I may be caught wearing it sooner than I initially thought. Related Stories Two Reasons Crypto’s Bull Market Is Coming Two Reasons Crypto’s Bull Market Is Coming || Two Reasons Crypto’s Bull Market Is Coming: Anil Lulla is the co-founder and COO ofDelphi Digital, a research firm dedicated to advancing the development of the crypto market.
In the past few months at least fourcrypto hedge fundshaveshuttered. Yet, there’s never been a better time for institutions to get involved in this sector.
Despite an unprecedented global pandemic wreaking havoc on just about every major economy on the planet, investors have made quite a lot of money in recent months in both traditional and crypto markets. When it comes to the latter, this is just the beginning for those with the discipline to seek out under-appreciated opportunities in this fast-paced industry.
Related:Bitcoin's Patronage System Is an Unheralded Strength
The incoming bull market for crypto will look completely different than the last one. Mostly because there won’t be just one, but two different bull markets simultaneously playing out over the next 12-18 months.
See also:Bitcoin ‘Active Entities’ at Highest Since 2017 Bull Run
One will involve the rotation of capital from zombie projects to protocols where the underlying product is actually being used and accruing value. Even without an influx of new capital or users, there is still too much money tied up in ghost protocols, many of which dominate today’s large-cap names.
After the last bull market, we were left with many projects with no real usage other than speculation. They were focused more on marketing efforts than actual product development.
Related:TikTok and the Great Firewall of America
TakeXRP, for example. It is the king of worthless altcoins due to its ability to accrue very little to no value, even if adoption skyrockets. Even after the mid-March carnage, it still held a total market value north of $6 billion and currently trades close to $13 billion. Stellar’s native asset (XLM) is still in the top 15 at nearly $2 billion. NEO, another celebrated project in the ICO bull run that has yet to deliver, has a market cap of $1 billion.
There’s an important difference between the adoption – or “success” – of a certain protocol and the potential for value to accrue to its native token. But as I’vewritten before, the reallocation of capital away from zombie protocols has already begun.
The “crypto tourists” of the last bull market have been driven out by inactivity, while the initial coin offerings and token projects they threw money at are shuttering. Decentralized finance (DeFi)is outshining alts, and investors now demand properly designed systems that actually contribute to the broader crypto ecosystem.
The speed at which these projects innovate and adapt to new market conditions makes them extremely dynamic. They show the advantage of open source development versus more traditional top-down methods. Square may have an incredible team that’s been doing great work on all fronts (e.g., Cash App and Square Terminals). But even it can’t compete with the optionality of DeFi protocols. Now that DeFi base pieces have been laid, the sector is becoming more like an ecosystem than an industry with a bunch of different startup teams.
See also: DeFi Dad –Five Years In, DeFi Now Defines Ethereum
DeFi looks completely different today than even a few months ago. This time last year, there were only four DeFi projects in the top 100 crypto projects by market capitalization – Maker, 0x, Augur and Ren. Today, there are 11 with the addition ofAave,Synthetix,Compound,Kyber,Kava,Bancorand Loopring.
This time next year, I predict there will be at least 25 in the top 100. That’s a lot of redistribution of capital even without an influx of new money coming in.
The second bull market will be led by the usual suspect,bitcoin. As policymakers around the world continue to provide pandemic-related economic relief, bitcoin’s long-term value proposition as a hedge against fiat currency debasement only grows stronger. Circumstances are converging to accelerate us towards precisely the kind of world crypto was designed for.
In the short run, non-sovereign scarce assets (i.e. BTC and gold) could be challenged by increased deflationary pressures. But such conditions would undoubtedly force policymakers to provide even greater monetary relief, compounding our conviction in bitcoin’s long-term value proposition as a hedge against fiat currency debasement.
We saw a consistent misallocation of capital, with firms following each other into rounds at untenable valuations.
When my partners and I left jobs in traditional finance to start a crypto research firm, we knew we were early, but we couldn’t help but sense something truly revolutionary was happening here: an era-defining opportunity on par with the advent of the internet. Two years later, after spending so much time closely tracking interesting protocols, that hunch has transformed into iron-clad conviction. This is exactly why our team is doubling down on our commitment to the industry.
Last week, we officially announcedDelphi Ventures, a new division of our company that will focus on providing long-term financial and intellectual capital to the most promising projects in the space.
Broadly speaking, we saw a consistent misallocation of capital, with firms following each other into rounds at untenable valuations for pre-launch projects with no clear path to value-accrual and no justifiable use for those amounts of capital. On the other hand, our research led us to identify early stage projects with extremely promising ideas that we believed were being underfunded.
See also:Crypto Hedge Fund Neural Capital Closes After Losing Half Its Money
It’s easy in hindsight to say the investments made in the last period of market exuberance were doomed to failure, but there has been a shift in the standards of the industry.
The foundation for the base infrastructure of the decentralized economy is being laid as we speak. The composability between projects allow teams to iterate much faster than traditional software companies and opens up experimentation going forward.
My partner Medio Demarco said it best last year whentweetingthat it was a bigger risk staying in traditional finance than getting involved in crypto.
Eventually, I expect high-profile tech investors like Chamath Palihapitiya and Mark Cuban, who have expressed interest in crypto in the past, to go deeper and become champions of the sector. As of this weekend, the top 100 DeFi projects had a market cap of ~$7.3 billion. The total crypto market cap is around $370 billion. It’s crazy to think DeFi deserves less than 2% of this.
On that note, I wanted to share a secret with all of you. At the top of the 2017 bubble, a friend of mine gave me a shirt as a joke. It says “moon: the moment when the crypto market cap reaches a total market cap of $1 trillion USD.” I can’t remember if I’ve ever worn it (hedging myself in case a photo leaks) but, as these two crypto bull markets converge, I think I may be caught wearing it sooner than I initially thought.
• Two Reasons Crypto’s Bull Market Is Coming
• Two Reasons Crypto’s Bull Market Is Coming
[Social Media Buzz]
None available.
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11601.47, 11754.05, 11675.74, 11878.11, 11410.53, 11584.93, 11784.14, 11768.87, 11865.70, 11892.80
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 50538.24, 48561.17, 48927.30, 48912.38, 51206.69, 52246.52, 54824.12, 56008.55, 57805.12, 57332.09, 61243.09, 59302.32, 55907.20, 56804.90, 58870.89, 57858.92, 58346.65, 58313.64, 57523.42, 54529.14, 54738.95, 52774.27, 51704.16, 55137.31, 55973.51, 55950.75, 57750.20, 58917.69, 58918.83, 59095.81, 59384.31, 57603.89, 58758.55, 59057.88, 58192.36, 56048.94, 58323.95, 58245.00, 59793.23, 60204.96, 59893.45, 63503.46, 63109.70, 63314.01, 61572.79, 60683.82, 56216.18, 55724.27, 56473.03, 53906.09, 51762.27, 51093.65, 50050.87, 49004.25, 54021.75, 55033.12, 54824.70, 53555.11, 57750.18, 57828.05, 56631.08, 57200.29, 53333.54, 57424.01, 56396.52, 57356.40, 58803.78, 58232.32, 55859.80, 56704.57, 49150.54, 49716.19, 49880.54, 46760.19, 46456.06, 43537.51, 42909.40, 37002.44, 40782.74, 37304.69, 37536.63, 34770.58, 38705.98, 38402.22, 39294.20, 38436.97, 35697.61, 34616.07, 35678.13, 37332.86.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2021-05-31]
Volume: 39009847639, RSI (14-day): 38.46, 50-day EMA: 46911.63, 200-day EMA: 41611.38
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Millennials Own More Crypto Than Any Other Generation: Petri Oeschger / Getty Images A recent study from Piplsay found that 49% of millennials polled own cryptocurrency compared to 38% of Gen Xers and 13% of GenZ . Millennials are also more likely to adopt the investment as a form of payment, with 53% saying they are “very likely” to purchase products or services with crypto, vs. 40% of GenX polled and just 7% of GenZ. See: Biden to Crack Down On Tax Evasion by Crypto Investors Find: If You Want to Invest in Crypto Without Investing in Crypto, Consider These Lower-Risk Options “Millennials are growing natively with Web 2.0 — that is, mobile — and Web 3.0 (crypto) technology,” says Kurt Kumar of Rocketfuel Blockchain, a crypto payment processing company. “They intuitively understand digital wallets and treasure chests, which are part of many games younger millennials played, such as Fortnite and Minecraft.” Beresford Research notes that the youngest millennials are 25, while the oldest in the cohort are 40. Kumar also pointed out that some of the younger members of this generation may not have credit cards or bank accounts yet, so they are instantly leveraging crypto wallets to conduct trades and transactions. While this explanation could also apply to GenZ, it’s possible that more millennials have the maturity and knowledge to research and embrace crypto. GenZ, which ranges in age from 6 to 24, is just getting started dipping their toes into personal finance waters. The Piplsay research also revealed that 88% of all crypto investing was done by respondents with a college or master’s degree. The survey tallied the online responses of 5,061 people over the age of 18. Another survey from the Harris Poll and online savings site CouponCabin.com found that 44% of 2,063 Americans polled said they were “somewhat” or “very” familiar with crypto. These numbers are in line with the Piplsay findings, as well as past Harris Poll studies. See: 10 Cheap Cryptocurrencies To Check Out Find: Chia COO Explains What the New Eco-Friendly Crypto is All About Story continues “These results are consistent with a Bloomberg/Harris Poll survey from February that saw 43% of Americans respond that they were somewhat or very familiar with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin,” said Andrew Gretchko of CouponCabin. “Even after the massive Coinbase IPO and multiple new highs, the overall awareness for cryptocurrencies amongst the American public has largely been unchanged over the past few months.” The Musk Effect? At least some of the millennial interest in crypto may also stem from billionaire Elon Musk’s interest in the topic. “Elon’s meme tweets to his millions of followers resonates with millennials as they are the ones growing up with “meme culture.” Memes have been a main conduit for communicating certain references across millennial peer groups,” Kumar said. He noted that the generation considers themselves “meme-dealers.” Read: How Does Cryptocurrency Work – and Is It Safe? A separate Piplsay survey found that 41% of millennials and 35% of GenX follow Musk’s tweets closely, compared to 24% of GenZ. Half of millennials polled said they made or considered making investments based on the Tesla Technoking’s tweets. Doge More Famous Than Ethereum Musk’s social media presence has raised awareness about crypto in general, and Dogecoin, the cryptocurrency that began as a joke, specifically. The Harris Poll survey found that 89% of Americans have heard of cryptocurrency, with 71% knowing about Bitcoin. The survey found 29% of Americans have heard of Doge, while only 21% know about Ethereum, which is second only to Bitcoin in market cap. Discover: Ethereum: All You Need To Know To Decide If This Crypto Is Worth the Investment “The abnormally high awareness for Dogecoin (29%) leads me to believe that the cultural relevance the cryptocurrency has been provided by Elon Musk has certainly given it an edge,” Gretchko said. “While Ethereum seems to have more long-term utility, the latter has been memefied and gained Musk’s support, boosting its gains and providing additional visibility.” Crypto as Rewards Not everyone loves crypto, though, based on the Harris Poll. Gretchko pointed out that 26% of those polled believe they’re used for illegal transactions on the internet, 23% think they’re a get rich quick scheme, and 19% called them “nefarious” or “shady.” Learn: Cryptocurrency Jargon: A Guide for the Crypto-Curious Somewhat surprisingly, 44% of those surveyed in the Harris Poll said they would be interested in receiving cryptocurrency as an alternative to traditional cash back reward programs from retailers/cash back websites. “It’s one thing to be familiar with cryptocurrencies through friends, family, the news or the Internet, but it’s another to turn down cold, hard cash in exchange for cryptocurrency as part of a loyalty program,” Gretchko said. “I’d speculate that many view loyalty programs as ‘free’ money, and therefore are more willing to take a risk with money they haven’t already budgeted as opposed to taking part of their salary and investing in, say, Bitcoin.” Is Crypto Still a Good Investment? As Bitcoin remained under $40,000 per U.S. dollar for the seventh day straight and other crypto similarly dipped, it may look like a good time to buy. “Crypto is here to stay,” Kumar said. “Having some portion in Bitcoin is a hedge against [inflation] and sound financial planning. Bitcoin, over the last 10 years, has only gone up.” Kumar encourages retail investors to look at Bitcoin and Ethereum, avoiding alt-coins unless they have a good understanding of them. “Steer clear of Doge unless the itch is too strong and you want to embrace the speculative nature,” Kumar said. “Then, just invest a few hundred dollars and move on. If it goes up in the next few months or years, you’re ahead, and if it does not, you’re not facing a big loss.” See: Despite Volatility, Bitcoin is an Investable Asset Class, says Goldman Sachs Find: 10 Major Companies That Accept Bitcoin Tony Molina, CPA and Senior Product Specialist at Wealthfront, advises similar caution with any crypto investments. “Before you decide to buy the dip, make sure you don’t overexpose yourself just because Bitcoin is on sale,” he said. “Remember the golden rule with volatile assets like Bitcoin is to only invest an amount you would be willing to lose.” Molina said a smarter investment strategy would include ETFs, with an eye on long-term wealth building. “The best practice is to keep the vast majority of your portfolio in a globally diversified portfolio of ETFs, which is a strategy proven to maximize reward while minimizing risk. Then you can use the remainder of your portfolio on things you want to try .” More From GOBankingRates Housing Breaks That Are Available to Military Members and Their Families Everything You Need To Know About Taxes This Year 4 Tips for Saving Money While in the Military Big Personal Goals That You Should Put Your Money Toward This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : Millennials Own More Crypto Than Any Other Generation || Millennials Own More Crypto Than Any Other Generation: Petri Oeschger / Getty Images A recent study from Piplsay found that 49% of millennials polled own cryptocurrency compared to 38% of Gen Xers and 13% of GenZ . Millennials are also more likely to adopt the investment as a form of payment, with 53% saying they are “very likely” to purchase products or services with crypto, vs. 40% of GenX polled and just 7% of GenZ. See: Biden to Crack Down On Tax Evasion by Crypto Investors Find: If You Want to Invest in Crypto Without Investing in Crypto, Consider These Lower-Risk Options “Millennials are growing natively with Web 2.0 — that is, mobile — and Web 3.0 (crypto) technology,” says Kurt Kumar of Rocketfuel Blockchain, a crypto payment processing company. “They intuitively understand digital wallets and treasure chests, which are part of many games younger millennials played, such as Fortnite and Minecraft.” Beresford Research notes that the youngest millennials are 25, while the oldest in the cohort are 40. Kumar also pointed out that some of the younger members of this generation may not have credit cards or bank accounts yet, so they are instantly leveraging crypto wallets to conduct trades and transactions. While this explanation could also apply to GenZ, it’s possible that more millennials have the maturity and knowledge to research and embrace crypto. GenZ, which ranges in age from 6 to 24, is just getting started dipping their toes into personal finance waters. The Piplsay research also revealed that 88% of all crypto investing was done by respondents with a college or master’s degree. The survey tallied the online responses of 5,061 people over the age of 18. Another survey from the Harris Poll and online savings site CouponCabin.com found that 44% of 2,063 Americans polled said they were “somewhat” or “very” familiar with crypto. These numbers are in line with the Piplsay findings, as well as past Harris Poll studies. See: 10 Cheap Cryptocurrencies To Check Out Find: Chia COO Explains What the New Eco-Friendly Crypto is All About Story continues “These results are consistent with a Bloomberg/Harris Poll survey from February that saw 43% of Americans respond that they were somewhat or very familiar with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin,” said Andrew Gretchko of CouponCabin. “Even after the massive Coinbase IPO and multiple new highs, the overall awareness for cryptocurrencies amongst the American public has largely been unchanged over the past few months.” The Musk Effect? At least some of the millennial interest in crypto may also stem from billionaire Elon Musk’s interest in the topic. “Elon’s meme tweets to his millions of followers resonates with millennials as they are the ones growing up with “meme culture.” Memes have been a main conduit for communicating certain references across millennial peer groups,” Kumar said. He noted that the generation considers themselves “meme-dealers.” Read: How Does Cryptocurrency Work – and Is It Safe? A separate Piplsay survey found that 41% of millennials and 35% of GenX follow Musk’s tweets closely, compared to 24% of GenZ. Half of millennials polled said they made or considered making investments based on the Tesla Technoking’s tweets. Doge More Famous Than Ethereum Musk’s social media presence has raised awareness about crypto in general, and Dogecoin, the cryptocurrency that began as a joke, specifically. The Harris Poll survey found that 89% of Americans have heard of cryptocurrency, with 71% knowing about Bitcoin. The survey found 29% of Americans have heard of Doge, while only 21% know about Ethereum, which is second only to Bitcoin in market cap. Discover: Ethereum: All You Need To Know To Decide If This Crypto Is Worth the Investment “The abnormally high awareness for Dogecoin (29%) leads me to believe that the cultural relevance the cryptocurrency has been provided by Elon Musk has certainly given it an edge,” Gretchko said. “While Ethereum seems to have more long-term utility, the latter has been memefied and gained Musk’s support, boosting its gains and providing additional visibility.” Crypto as Rewards Not everyone loves crypto, though, based on the Harris Poll. Gretchko pointed out that 26% of those polled believe they’re used for illegal transactions on the internet, 23% think they’re a get rich quick scheme, and 19% called them “nefarious” or “shady.” Learn: Cryptocurrency Jargon: A Guide for the Crypto-Curious Somewhat surprisingly, 44% of those surveyed in the Harris Poll said they would be interested in receiving cryptocurrency as an alternative to traditional cash back reward programs from retailers/cash back websites. “It’s one thing to be familiar with cryptocurrencies through friends, family, the news or the Internet, but it’s another to turn down cold, hard cash in exchange for cryptocurrency as part of a loyalty program,” Gretchko said. “I’d speculate that many view loyalty programs as ‘free’ money, and therefore are more willing to take a risk with money they haven’t already budgeted as opposed to taking part of their salary and investing in, say, Bitcoin.” Is Crypto Still a Good Investment? As Bitcoin remained under $40,000 per U.S. dollar for the seventh day straight and other crypto similarly dipped, it may look like a good time to buy. “Crypto is here to stay,” Kumar said. “Having some portion in Bitcoin is a hedge against [inflation] and sound financial planning. Bitcoin, over the last 10 years, has only gone up.” Kumar encourages retail investors to look at Bitcoin and Ethereum, avoiding alt-coins unless they have a good understanding of them. “Steer clear of Doge unless the itch is too strong and you want to embrace the speculative nature,” Kumar said. “Then, just invest a few hundred dollars and move on. If it goes up in the next few months or years, you’re ahead, and if it does not, you’re not facing a big loss.” See: Despite Volatility, Bitcoin is an Investable Asset Class, says Goldman Sachs Find: 10 Major Companies That Accept Bitcoin Tony Molina, CPA and Senior Product Specialist at Wealthfront, advises similar caution with any crypto investments. “Before you decide to buy the dip, make sure you don’t overexpose yourself just because Bitcoin is on sale,” he said. “Remember the golden rule with volatile assets like Bitcoin is to only invest an amount you would be willing to lose.” Molina said a smarter investment strategy would include ETFs, with an eye on long-term wealth building. “The best practice is to keep the vast majority of your portfolio in a globally diversified portfolio of ETFs, which is a strategy proven to maximize reward while minimizing risk. Then you can use the remainder of your portfolio on things you want to try .” More From GOBankingRates Housing Breaks That Are Available to Military Members and Their Families Everything You Need To Know About Taxes This Year 4 Tips for Saving Money While in the Military Big Personal Goals That You Should Put Your Money Toward This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : Millennials Own More Crypto Than Any Other Generation || Cryptocurrency Jargon: A Guide for the Crypto-Curious: dulezidar / Getty Images Personal finance can be confusing and investing in stocks can be intimidating for the uninitiated. Trying to understand buy points, dollar-cost averaging, cup and handle patterns of stock prices and other elements of stock marketing investing — not to mention the various indices that reveal market trends — often requires a lot of study or guidance from an expert . See: How Does Cryptocurrency Work – and Is It Safe? Find: Breaking Down the Basics: Cryptocurrency And then cryptocurrency investing storms onto the scene with a language all its own, largely driven by retail stock investors, millennials and social media. Some of the jargon applies to stocks, as well, as it was borrowed from meme-stock investors and bandied heartily on the Reddit sub-thread /WallStreetBets during the GameStop stock frenzy. Here’s your guide to crypto jargon, so that whether you choose to invest or not, you’ll know what Elon Musk means when he pumps his fist to the sky on “Saturday Night Live” and declares, “To the moon!” Diamond hands – When a crypto or stock investor has “diamond hands” it means they will hold onto their coins or shares even as the value drops. On March 19, amidst Bitcoin plummeting from over $45,500 per coin to under $40,000, Tesla TechnoKing Elon Musk tweeted “Tesla has” with emoji for “diamond” and “hands.” He credited the statement to Tesla’s “Master of Coin.” Paper hands – On the other hand, someone with paper hands may sell stock or coin too early, losing out on unrealized profits. The analogy comes from poker, where someone may “fold,” or exit the game, if they believe they aren’t going to win. HODL – Pronounced Ha-dill (rhymes with model), HODL means someone who doesn’t intend to sell their crypto or stock. The term originated in a Bitcoin forum in 2013 when someone misspelled the word “hold,” declaring “I AM HODLING.” The word also applies to meme-stocks. Whale — A whale describes someone who holds a large percentage of a specific crypto. Investopedia writes that the top 20% of bitcoin holders own more than 80% of bitcoin. When these companies choose to sell coin, it can affect the market more than the singular actions of most investors. Surprisingly, Tesla is just on the cusp of being considered a whale, and the electric vehicle manufacturer doesn’t even own the most shares of any publicly held company, according to Fortune. It seems to be Musk’s tweets alone that move crypto value. Story continues See: 4 Best Places To Buy and Sell Cryptocurrency Find: 10 Cheap Cryptocurrencies To Check Out To the Moon – It’s difficult to trace the origins of the phrase “to the moon,” but the meaning is self-explanatory. Just as landing astronauts on the moon in 1969 (and even today…) was a questionable proposition with high stakes for success, a stock or crypto that goes “to the moon” just means its price will rise to make investors untold profits. When Lambo – Similar to “To the Moon,” Lambo (short for the luxury car Lambhorghini) comes up when investors ask when a cryptocurrency will be highly profitable for investors, allowing them to cash it in for their dream car. Mooning – When a stock or crypto is declared to be “mooning,” experts believe it has hit its peak. Of course, those who HODL could get caught losing money if they decide to sell in the future, but those who sell at the high point could “land a Lambo on the moon.” Bagholder – If crypto or a meme-stock goes in the opposite direction, though, anyone left holding after the sell point is considered a “bagholder,” standing to lose money should they sell their assets. See: Elon Musk Asks: Should Tesla Accept Dogecoin? How Much Would You Need? Find: How To Invest In Cryptocurrency: What You Should Know Before Investing Pump and dump – Pump and dump refers to investors who try to illegally drive up the value of a stock or crypto only to sell when it reaches a high point. Previously relegated to small cap stocks, which are easy to manipulate, investors have begun doing it with crypto, too. Buy the dip – When a stock expected to rise suddenly drops in price, some investors advise people to “buy the dip.” Wednesday’s crypto crash led to a flurry of “buy the dip” memes. The Musk Effect – This newly coined phrase describes billionaire Elon Musk’s ability to move the market with a single tweet , as he did Wednesday implying that Tesla would not sell its stake in Bitcoin, which helped the cryptocurrency regain some earlier losses. More From GOBankingRates Housing Breaks That Are Available to Military Members and Their Families Everything You Need To Know About Taxes This Year 4 Tips for Saving Money While in the Military How To Keep Your Financial Planning On Track in 2021 This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : Cryptocurrency Jargon: A Guide for the Crypto-Curious || Cryptocurrency Jargon: A Guide for the Crypto-Curious: Personal finance can be confusing and investing in stocks can be intimidating for the uninitiated. Trying to understand buy points, dollar-cost averaging, cup and handle patterns of stock prices and other elements of stock marketing investing — not to mention the various indices that reveal market trends —often requires a lot of study or guidance from an expert.
See:How Does Cryptocurrency Work – and Is It Safe?Find:Breaking Down the Basics: Cryptocurrency
And then cryptocurrency investing storms onto the scene with a language all its own, largely driven by retail stock investors, millennials and social media. Some of the jargon applies to stocks, as well, as it was borrowed from meme-stock investors and bandied heartily on the Reddit sub-thread /WallStreetBets during the GameStop stock frenzy.
Here’s your guide to crypto jargon, so that whether you choose to invest or not, you’ll know what Elon Musk means when he pumps his fist to the sky on “Saturday Night Live” and declares, “To the moon!”
Diamond hands– When a crypto or stock investor has “diamond hands” it means they will hold onto their coins or shares even as the value drops. On March 19, amidst Bitcoin plummeting from over $45,500 per coin to under $40,000, Tesla TechnoKing Elon Musk tweeted “Tesla has” with emoji for “diamond” and “hands.” He credited the statement to Tesla’s “Master of Coin.”
Paper hands– On the other hand, someone with paper hands may sell stock or coin too early, losing out on unrealized profits. The analogy comes from poker, where someone may “fold,” or exit the game, if they believe they aren’t going to win.
HODL– Pronounced Ha-dill (rhymes with model), HODL means someone who doesn’t intend to sell their crypto or stock. The term originated in a Bitcoin forum in 2013 when someone misspelled the word “hold,” declaring “I AM HODLING.” The word also applies to meme-stocks.
Whale— A whale describes someone who holds a large percentage of a specific crypto. Investopedia writes that the top 20% of bitcoin holders own more than 80% of bitcoin. When these companies choose to sell coin, it can affect the market more than the singular actions of most investors. Surprisingly, Tesla is just on the cusp of being considered a whale, and the electric vehicle manufacturer doesn’t even own the most shares of any publicly held company, according to Fortune. It seems to be Musk’s tweets alone that move crypto value.
See:4 Best Places To Buy and Sell CryptocurrencyFind:10 Cheap Cryptocurrencies To Check Out
To the Moon– It’s difficult to trace the origins of the phrase “to the moon,” but the meaning is self-explanatory. Just as landing astronauts on the moon in 1969 (and even today…) was a questionable proposition with high stakes for success, a stock or crypto that goes “to the moon” just means its price will rise to make investors untold profits.
When Lambo– Similar to “To the Moon,” Lambo (short for the luxury car Lambhorghini) comes up when investors ask when a cryptocurrency will be highly profitable for investors, allowing them to cash it in for their dream car.
Mooning– When a stock or crypto is declared to be “mooning,” experts believe it has hit its peak. Of course, those who HODL could get caught losing money if they decide to sell in the future, but those who sell at the high point could “land a Lambo on the moon.”
Bagholder– If crypto or a meme-stock goes in the opposite direction, though, anyone left holding after the sell point is considered a “bagholder,” standing to lose money should they sell their assets.
See:Elon Musk Asks: Should Tesla Accept Dogecoin? How Much Would You Need?Find:How To Invest In Cryptocurrency: What You Should Know Before Investing
Pump and dump– Pump and dump refers to investors who try to illegally drive up the value of a stock or crypto only to sell when it reaches a high point. Previously relegated to small cap stocks, which are easy to manipulate, investors have begun doing it with crypto, too.
Buy the dip– When a stock expected to rise suddenly drops in price, some investors advise people to “buy the dip.” Wednesday’s crypto crash led to a flurry of “buy the dip” memes.
The Musk Effect– This newly coined phrase describes billionaireElon Musk’s ability to move the market with a single tweet, as he did Wednesday implying that Tesla would not sell its stake in Bitcoin, which helped the cryptocurrency regain some earlier losses.
More From GOBankingRates
• Housing Breaks That Are Available to Military Members and Their Families
• Everything You Need To Know About Taxes This Year
• 4 Tips for Saving Money While in the Military
• How To Keep Your Financial Planning On Track in 2021
This article originally appeared onGOBankingRates.com:Cryptocurrency Jargon: A Guide for the Crypto-Curious || Crypto Long & Short: What I’ve Learned in the Past Five Years: Related: Bitcoin, Ether Etch Largest Daily Gains in a Week You’re reading Crypto Long & Short , a newsletter that looks closely at the forces driving cryptocurrency markets. It goes out every Sunday and offers a recap of the week – with insights and analysis – from a professional investor’s point of view. You can subscribe here . Related Stories Bitcoin Miner Marathon Will No Longer Censor Transactions, CEO Says Human Rights Foundation Gives Out $210K in Bitcoin Development Grants || Crypto Long & Short: What I’ve Learned in the Past Five Years: Related:Bitcoin, Ether Etch Largest Daily Gains in a WeekYou’re readingCrypto Long & Short, a newsletter that looks closely at the forces driving cryptocurrency markets. It goes out every Sunday and offers a recap of the week – with insights and analysis – from a professional investor’s point of view.You can subscribe here.
• Bitcoin Miner Marathon Will No Longer Censor Transactions, CEO Says
• Human Rights Foundation Gives Out $210K in Bitcoin Development Grants || 10 Cheap Cryptocurrencies To Check Out: Julien Viry / Getty Images Cryptocurrencies are all the rage these days, particularly with speculative investors . What used to be a “fringe” investment is now front and center in the financial press. Even financial networks like CNBC talk about Bitcoin daily and even keep a ticker up on the screen showing the current price. Small But Mighty: Don't Miss Out on Nominating Your Favorite Small Business To Be Featured on GOBankingRates -- Ends May 31 Put this all together and now even the average investor is well aware of Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency movement. However, many people are likely still unaware that Bitcoin is not the only cryptocurrency out there. In fact, there are plenty of other options if you want to get your crypto fix away from the big names. Just be aware that each cryptocurrency is unique, and that you should consult your financial advisor before you invest in any of these speculative products. If you're ready to invest in some crypto, check out the 10 cheap options on this list . Last updated: May 7, 2021 Cryptocurrency charts and prices VeChain Coin price as of May 5: $0.20 If you’re really looking for a cheap cryptocurrency, VeChain might tickle your fancy. VeChain trades at just $0.20 per coin, even after an amazing one-year gain of 4,500%. VeChain, which is the currency for the impressively named VeChain Thor Blockchain, is used to transfer value across the network. The VeChain Thor Blockchain was designed specifically for supply chain management and business processes through the use of distributed ledger technology. Check Out: 10 Best Cryptocurrencies To Invest In for 2021 Digital currency physical metal dogecoin coin. Dogecoin Coin price as of May 5: $0.59 Dogecoin originated as something of a joke, but it’s become quite real for all of those who are now profiting from it. The coin is certainly still “cheap,” at $0.59 per coin as of May 5, 2021, but that’s up from less than half a cent at the beginning of the year. Unlike many other cryptocurrencies which serve actual functions, Dogecoin was created as a satirical take on Bitcoin. The crypto has been rising solely on hype on message boards and from the same type of speculators that drove GameStop up by more than 400% in a single week earlier this year. Of course, that likely doesn’t matter to those who are generating real profits and who are still searching for “cheap” cryptocurrencies. Story continues Deep Dive: Dogecoin (DOGE): What It Is, What It's Worth and Should You Be Investing? EOS coinclose-up on a computer circuit motherboard as a blockchain technology payment network. EOS Coin price as of May 5: $8.25 EOS is considered a competitor to Ethereum, but both seem to coexist in the crypto world. EOS is the token that lives on the EOSIO blockchain. Like many of its brethren, the EOSIO blockchain is designed to facilitate large transactions rapidly and securely. The platform is fast and scalable, highly configurable, developer-friendly and security- and compliance-focused, according to its developers. EOS is an affordable coin at just above $8. Find Out: Ethereum (ETH): What It Is, What It’s Worth and Should You Be Investing? George Washington on dollar bill with blockchain code Chainlink Coin price as of May 5: $47.99 According to Coinbase, Chainlink is another Ethereum token that powers the Chainlink decentralized oracle network. This network is used to securely connect to external data sources, APIs and payment systems. Chainlink describes itself as enabling real-world data and off-chain computation to expand the capabilities of smart contracts while maintaining the upsides of blockchain technology, namely its security and reliability guarantees. The Chainlink price moves in fits and starts but currently sits above $48 per coin. Further Reading: What Is Chainlink and Why Is It Important in the World of Cryptocurrency? Gold coin litecoin on a bright background of business graphics close-up. Litecoin Coin price as of May 5: $351.27 Litecoin is one of the most venerable cryptocurrencies, created in 2011, just two years after Bitcoin. According to its developers, Litecoin is a peer-to-peer internet currency that allows for nearly instant, zero-cost payments to anyone anywhere in the world. As with blockchain technology in general, mathematics secures the Litecoin network. However, one thing that differentiates Litecoin from Bitcoin is that the Litecoin blockchain is capable of handling higher transaction volume due to more frequent block generation. Explained: How Does Cryptocurrency Work – and Is It Safe? cardano crypto coin on teal background Cardano Coin price as of May 5: $1.47 At less than $1.50, Cardano remains a very cheap cryptocurrency for most investors, even after its 2,800% one-year gain. According to Coinbase, Cardano is a blockchain platform built on a proof-of-stake consensus protocol called Ouroboros, which can validate transactions without high energy costs. Development on Cardano uses the Haskell programming language. The symbol for the Cardano token, ADA, comes from the 19th-century mathematician, Ada Lovelace. According to its developers, Ouroboros allows the Cardano network’s decentralization and provides the ability to sustainably scale to global requirements without compromising security. Dig In: What Are Altcoins — and Are the Potential Rewards Worth the Risks? cryptocurrency bitcoin trading chart on Macbook Pro Polkadot Coin price as of May 5: $38.93 Polkadot carries one of the more interesting cryptocurrency names, and it serves as the token on the Polkadot network. According to its developers, the Polkadot token serves three main purposes: providing governance for the network, operating the network and creating parachains by bonding Polkadot tokens. While this may be a foreign language to investors who are not familiar with the field, the 1,300% gain in the Polkadot token since August 2020 is something anyone can understand. Still, Polkadot remains affordable at just over $38 per token. Find Out: What Is a Non-Fungible Token and Why Are They Booming? cryptocurrency-blockchain-bitcoin-ethereum-monero-litecoin-rippl Stellar Coin price as of May 5: $0.57 Stellar is its own payment network, and it uses Stellar Lumens as its currency on that network. While the network can be used by anyone, it was envisioned to connect financial institutions making large transactions. On the Stellar network, these types of transactions can be done nearly instantaneously at little-to-no cost, unlike with traditional or even competitor blockchain networks. The price of Stellar Lumens has been steadily rising but it still trades well below $1 per coin. Explained: Breaking Down the Basics of Cryptocurrency 3d render of computer keyboard with Tether button and bull. Tether Coin price as of May 5: $1.00 Tether is an Ethereum token that is pegged to the value of a U.S. dollar, according to Coinbase. At $1 per token, Tether is still one of the more inexpensive cryptocurrencies available. However, that price is not likely to move like many of the other cryptocurrencies out there, because a Tether token is tied 1-to-1 to the value of the U.S. Dollar. More: Bitcoin Cash (BCH): How’s It Differ From Bitcoin and What’s It Worth? Nitra, Slovakia, march 4, 2018: Monero cryptocurrency coin with reflection. Monero Coin price as of May 5: $404.08 Monero is a type of cryptocurrency known as a “privacy coin,” as the focus of Monero is on user privacy. To that end, transactions on the Monero blockchain cannot be traced or tracked by anyone. As the Monero website puts it, when you use Monero as your cryptocurrency, you are your own bank, and no one can see your balances or track your activity. To issue new coins and secure transactions, Monero uses a proof-of-work consensus algorithm, according to Coinbase. At about $404 per coin, Monero is still quite affordable compared with the tens of thousands of dollars it costs to buy a single Bitcoin. More From GOBankingRates Money’s Most Influential: Where Do Americans Get Their Financial Advice? Everything You Need To Know About Taxes This Year ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’ Author Robert Kiyosaki: You Should Never Say ‘I Can’t Afford That’ Here’s How Much You Should Have in Your 401(k) Account, Based on Your Age This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : 10 Cheap Cryptocurrencies To Check Out || 10 Cheap Cryptocurrencies To Check Out: Cryptocurrencies are all the rage these days,particularly with speculative investors. What used to be a “fringe” investment is now front and center in the financial press. Even financial networks like CNBC talk about Bitcoin daily and even keep a ticker up on the screen showing the current price.
Small But Mighty:Don't Miss Out on Nominating Your Favorite Small Business To Be Featured on GOBankingRates -- Ends May 31
Put this all together and now even the average investor is well aware of Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency movement. However, many people are likely still unaware that Bitcoin is not the only cryptocurrency out there. In fact, there are plenty of other options if you want to get your crypto fix away from the big names. Just be aware that each cryptocurrency is unique, and that you should consult your financial advisor before you invest in any of these speculative products.If you're ready to invest in some crypto, check out the 10 cheap options on this list.
Last updated: May 7, 2021
• Coin price as of May 5:$0.20
If you’re really looking for a cheap cryptocurrency, VeChain might tickle your fancy. VeChain trades at just $0.20 per coin, even after an amazing one-year gain of 4,500%.
VeChain, which is the currency for the impressively named VeChain Thor Blockchain,is used to transfer value across the network. The VeChain Thor Blockchain was designed specifically for supply chain management and business processes through the use of distributed ledger technology.
Check Out:10 Best Cryptocurrencies To Invest In for 2021
• Coin price as of May 5:$0.59
Dogecoin originated as something of a joke,but it’s become quite real for all of those who are now profiting from it. The coin is certainly still “cheap,” at $0.59 per coin as of May 5, 2021,but that’s up from less than half a cent at the beginning of the year.
Unlike many other cryptocurrencies which serve actual functions, Dogecoin was created as a satirical take on Bitcoin.The crypto has been rising solely on hype on message boards and from the same type of speculators that drove GameStop up by more than 400% in a single week earlier this year.Of course, that likely doesn’t matter to those who are generating real profits and who are still searching for “cheap” cryptocurrencies.
Deep Dive:Dogecoin (DOGE): What It Is, What It's Worth and Should You Be Investing?
• Coin price as of May 5:$8.25
EOS is considered a competitor to Ethereum, but both seem to coexist in the crypto world.EOS is the token that lives on the EOSIO blockchain. Like many of its brethren, the EOSIO blockchain is designed to facilitate large transactions rapidly and securely. The platform is fast and scalable, highly configurable, developer-friendly and security- and compliance-focused, according to its developers.EOS is an affordable coin at just above $8.
Find Out:Ethereum (ETH): What It Is, What It’s Worth and Should You Be Investing?
• Coin price as of May 5:$47.99
According to Coinbase, Chainlink is another Ethereum token that powers the Chainlink decentralized oracle network. This network is used to securely connect to external data sources, APIs and payment systems.
Chainlink describes itself as enabling real-world data and off-chain computation to expand the capabilities of smart contracts while maintaining the upsides of blockchain technology, namely its security and reliability guarantees.The Chainlink price moves in fits and starts but currently sits above $48 per coin.
Further Reading:What Is Chainlink and Why Is It Important in the World of Cryptocurrency?
• Coin price as of May 5:$351.27
Litecoin is one of the most venerable cryptocurrencies, created in 2011,just two years after Bitcoin.According to its developers, Litecoin is a peer-to-peer internet currency that allows for nearly instant, zero-cost payments to anyone anywhere in the world. As with blockchain technology in general, mathematics secures the Litecoin network.However, one thing that differentiates Litecoin from Bitcoin is that the Litecoin blockchain is capable of handling higher transaction volume due to more frequent block generation.
Explained:How Does Cryptocurrency Work – and Is It Safe?
• Coin price as of May 5:$1.47
At less than $1.50, Cardano remains a very cheap cryptocurrency for most investors, even after its 2,800% one-year gain.
According to Coinbase, Cardano is a blockchain platform built on a proof-of-stake consensus protocol called Ouroboros, which can validate transactions without high energy costs. Development on Cardano uses the Haskell programming language. The symbol for the Cardano token, ADA, comes from the 19th-century mathematician, Ada Lovelace.According to its developers, Ouroboros allows the Cardano network’s decentralization and provides the ability to sustainably scale to global requirements without compromising security.
Dig In:What Are Altcoins — and Are the Potential Rewards Worth the Risks?
• Coin price as of May 5:$38.93
Polkadot carries one of the more interesting cryptocurrency names, and it serves as the token on the Polkadot network. According to its developers, the Polkadot token serves three main purposes: providing governance for the network, operating the network and creating parachains by bonding Polkadot tokens.While this may be a foreign language to investors who are not familiar with the field, the 1,300% gain in the Polkadot token since August 2020is something anyone can understand. Still, Polkadot remains affordable at just over $38 per token.
Find Out:What Is a Non-Fungible Token and Why Are They Booming?
• Coin price as of May 5:$0.57
Stellar is its own payment network, and it uses Stellar Lumens as its currency on that network.While the network can be used by anyone, it was envisioned to connect financial institutions making large transactions. On the Stellar network, these types of transactions can be done nearly instantaneously at little-to-no cost, unlike with traditional or even competitor blockchain networks.The price of Stellar Lumens has been steadily rising but it still trades well below $1 per coin.
Explained:Breaking Down the Basics of Cryptocurrency
• Coin price as of May 5:$1.00
Tether is an Ethereum token that is pegged to the value of a U.S. dollar, according to Coinbase.At $1 per token,Tether is still one of the more inexpensive cryptocurrencies available. However, that price is not likely to move like many of the other cryptocurrencies out there, because a Tether token is tied 1-to-1 to the value of the U.S. Dollar.
More:Bitcoin Cash (BCH): How’s It Differ From Bitcoin and What’s It Worth?
• Coin price as of May 5:$404.08
Monero is a type of cryptocurrency known as a “privacy coin,” as the focus of Monero is on user privacy. To that end, transactions on the Monero blockchain cannot be traced or tracked by anyone. As the Monero website puts it, when you use Monero as your cryptocurrency, you are your own bank, and no one can see your balances or track your activity.
To issue new coins and secure transactions, Monero uses a proof-of-work consensus algorithm, according to Coinbase.At about $404 per coin,Monero is still quite affordable compared with the tens of thousands of dollars it costs to buy a single Bitcoin.
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This article originally appeared onGOBankingRates.com:10 Cheap Cryptocurrencies To Check Out || Indianapolis 500 welcomes 135,000 fans in global benchmark: INDIANANPOLIS (AP) — As the minutes ticked closer to the green flag, Roger Penske took in the pageantry from a perch overlooking the Indianapolis Motor Speedway he owns. Then he glanced at his watch. The time? Time to throw open the doors and usher in thousands of Indianapolis 500 fans wearing checkered flag masks and shorts and let them cut loose. “I’m ready to go. We’ve been waiting a year and a half for this,” Penske said. The largest crowd in the world for a sports event showed up in joyous force on Sunday, 135,000 of them packing the stands at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was only 40% of capacity — that was the figure deemed safe in the pandemic — but it felt like a full house nonetheless. The fans were treated to a victory by one of the most popular drivers in IndyCar history as Helio Castroneves grabbed the lead late and pulled away for his fourth win in the showcase race . They cheered wildly as he clambered up the fence for his trademark victory celebration. He was mobbed by fans and security was needed to clear a path as he walked down the stairs from Victory Circle and toward the Yard of Bricks. “Every turn, you see everyone with my shirt in different teams,” Castroneves said. “There were so many people cheering. Look, this is a very special moment and it is part of history and I'm so honored to be in this position today.” Indy 500 fans Jameson and Kimmy Terzini were surely going wild after they clipped on a mannequin of Castroneves scaling their front porch in victory as part of the “Spectacle of Homes” contest meant to spark civic pride. That's just how much the Brazilian means to Indy 500 — and most of them refused to leave the track long after Castroneves won the race. The win helped make it feel like things were back to normal on a cool, cloudless day. The pork tenderloin line? Long. The merchandise shop lines? Long enough to stretch outside the store and mesh with the concession lines. Pit road. Packed. Parking lots. Full. COVID-19 concerns. About none. Story continues The public address announcer asked fans to salute the field of 33 cars as they zipped around the illustrious track on the warm-up lap. Thousands and thousands of fans doffed their caps and roared in approval of the drivers. Banned from the track last August, as a delayed Indy 500 became an empty Indy 500, Sunday’s race seemed to serve as a symbolic milestone that sports in the United States is truly back and open for business. Indy fans and dignitaries mixed with NFL players, pro wrestlers and social media celebrities at the Brickyard. Josh Richards, who boasts 25 million Tik Tok followers, reached 100,000 views within 30 minutes of posting a video from the grid. Indy is in a whole new era -- long gone are the days Mrs. Brady and Gomer Pyle taking center stage -- and that includes for fans who for the first time gawked at lineup intros and other hype videos around the track on 30 LED display boards added since 2019. The celebrities are getting an overhaul and so are the sponsors. Former NFL tackle Russell Okung is an investor in driver Rinus VeeKay’s Bitcoin-sponsored car and told team owner Ed Carpenter the cryptocurrency would invest in the race team “forever.” There was a QR code on the car that went straight to website conversion between U.S. dollars and Bitcoin. “We’re making history right now,” Okung said. If he wanted a true sense of 500 history, he could have walked further down pit road where team owner Beth Paretta watched as the finishing touches were put on her predominantly female team with driver Simona de Silvestro. Paretta, backed by Penske as part of his push for diversity, said four female team members would be part of the over-the-wall crew. “The greatest achievement is if every team has women integrated into their teams because women can do most of these jobs,” Paretta said. “They can certainly do them very well. We’d like to do some races later this year and hopefully more next year.” Danica Patrick was once assumed to usher in a generation of female drivers at Indy after her third-place finish in 2009. Working for NBC, the retired Patrick still drew a packed crowd in front of the pagoda, the Speedway’s most visible landmark. She also drove the pace car. “This Is Us” star Milo Ventimiglia first trip to Indy came with a fast thrill -- Mario Andretti drove him around the famed track in a two-seater ride a day before he waved the green flag to start the race. Through vaccinations — including more than 90,000 done at the speedway itself — Penske and speedway officials got the clearance for IMS to all these fans. Justin Brammer of Noblesville, Indiana, said he had no hesitation about attending his first Indy 500 and said the event proved sports could be pulled off safely. “Hopefully, this gives other people confidence around the country that if we could pull it off, it gets everybody back to somewhat normal,” he said.” Oh, and Indy is just getting started. “Let’s just be sure we get the race off and next year let’s blow the roof off the place,” Penske said. || Indianapolis 500 welcomes 135,000 fans in global benchmark: INDIANANPOLIS (AP) — As the minutes ticked closer to the green flag, Roger Penske took in the pageantry from a perch overlooking the Indianapolis Motor Speedway he owns. Then he glanced at his watch. The time? Time to throw open the doors and usher in thousands of Indianapolis 500 fans wearing checkered flag masks and shorts and let them cut loose. “I’m ready to go. We’ve been waiting a year and a half for this,” Penske said. The largest crowd in the world for a sports event showed up in joyous force on Sunday, 135,000 of them packing the stands at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was only 40% of capacity — that was the figure deemed safe in the pandemic — but it felt like a full house nonetheless. The fans were treated to a victory by one of the most popular drivers in IndyCar history as Helio Castroneves grabbed the lead late and pulled away for his fourth win in the showcase race . They cheered wildly as he clambered up the fence for his trademark victory celebration. He was mobbed by fans and security was needed to clear a path as he walked down the stairs from Victory Circle and toward the Yard of Bricks. “Every turn, you see everyone with my shirt in different teams,” Castroneves said. “There were so many people cheering. Look, this is a very special moment and it is part of history and I'm so honored to be in this position today.” Indy 500 fans Jameson and Kimmy Terzini were surely going wild after they clipped on a mannequin of Castroneves scaling their front porch in victory as part of the “Spectacle of Homes” contest meant to spark civic pride. That's just how much the Brazilian means to Indy 500 — and most of them refused to leave the track long after Castroneves won the race. The win helped make it feel like things were back to normal on a cool, cloudless day. The pork tenderloin line? Long. The merchandise shop lines? Long enough to stretch outside the store and mesh with the concession lines. Pit road. Packed. Parking lots. Full. COVID-19 concerns. About none. Story continues The public address announcer asked fans to salute the field of 33 cars as they zipped around the illustrious track on the warm-up lap. Thousands and thousands of fans doffed their caps and roared in approval of the drivers. Banned from the track last August, as a delayed Indy 500 became an empty Indy 500, Sunday’s race seemed to serve as a symbolic milestone that sports in the United States is truly back and open for business. Indy fans and dignitaries mixed with NFL players, pro wrestlers and social media celebrities at the Brickyard. Josh Richards, who boasts 25 million Tik Tok followers, reached 100,000 views within 30 minutes of posting a video from the grid. Indy is in a whole new era -- long gone are the days Mrs. Brady and Gomer Pyle taking center stage -- and that includes for fans who for the first time gawked at lineup intros and other hype videos around the track on 30 LED display boards added since 2019. The celebrities are getting an overhaul and so are the sponsors. Former NFL tackle Russell Okung is an investor in driver Rinus VeeKay’s Bitcoin-sponsored car and told team owner Ed Carpenter the cryptocurrency would invest in the race team “forever.” There was a QR code on the car that went straight to website conversion between U.S. dollars and Bitcoin. “We’re making history right now,” Okung said. If he wanted a true sense of 500 history, he could have walked further down pit road where team owner Beth Paretta watched as the finishing touches were put on her predominantly female team with driver Simona de Silvestro. Paretta, backed by Penske as part of his push for diversity, said four female team members would be part of the over-the-wall crew. “The greatest achievement is if every team has women integrated into their teams because women can do most of these jobs,” Paretta said. “They can certainly do them very well. We’d like to do some races later this year and hopefully more next year.” Danica Patrick was once assumed to usher in a generation of female drivers at Indy after her third-place finish in 2009. Working for NBC, the retired Patrick still drew a packed crowd in front of the pagoda, the Speedway’s most visible landmark. She also drove the pace car. “This Is Us” star Milo Ventimiglia first trip to Indy came with a fast thrill -- Mario Andretti drove him around the famed track in a two-seater ride a day before he waved the green flag to start the race. Through vaccinations — including more than 90,000 done at the speedway itself — Penske and speedway officials got the clearance for IMS to all these fans. Justin Brammer of Noblesville, Indiana, said he had no hesitation about attending his first Indy 500 and said the event proved sports could be pulled off safely. “Hopefully, this gives other people confidence around the country that if we could pull it off, it gets everybody back to somewhat normal,” he said.” Oh, and Indy is just getting started. “Let’s just be sure we get the race off and next year let’s blow the roof off the place,” Penske said. || Bitcoin price live: Crypto market recovers after yet another crash as Cardano and other coins surge: The price of bitcoin, Ethereum (ether), litecoin and Ripple (XRP) have all taken a hammering in May 2021 (Getty Images) The price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum (ether), Cardano (ada), dogecoin were mostly flat on Sunday, after yet another slump. That market fall was despite the good fortunes of some smaller coins, such as DubaiCoin, which gained 1,000 per cent in 24 hours . The astonishing gains seen by DubaiCoin since launching led to the government of Dubai issuing a warning that it is not officially linked to the UAE city, and may well be an elaborate scam. Bitcoins latest price fall means analysts remain divided over whether it is entering a bear market or is just suffering a brief correction on the road to more record highs. Despite being down overnight, it remains remarkably stable looking at it on a week-by-week basis. In other news, the final day of CoinDesks Consensus 2021 conference on Thursday saw NFL star Tom Brady discuss his bitcoin laser eyes, after being announced as a surprise guest at the leading crypto conference . Well have all the latest live updates right here. || Bitcoin price live: Crypto market recovers after yet another crash as Cardano and other coins surge: The price of bitcoin, Ethereum (ether), litecoin and Ripple (XRP) have all taken a hammering in May 2021 (Getty Images) The price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum (ether), Cardano (ada), dogecoin were mostly flat on Sunday, after yet another slump. That market fall was despite the good fortunes of some smaller coins, such as DubaiCoin, which gained 1,000 per cent in 24 hours . The astonishing gains seen by DubaiCoin since launching led to the government of Dubai issuing a warning that it is not officially linked to the UAE city, and may well be an elaborate scam. Bitcoins latest price fall means analysts remain divided over whether it is entering a bear market or is just suffering a brief correction on the road to more record highs. Despite being down overnight, it remains remarkably stable looking at it on a week-by-week basis. In other news, the final day of CoinDesks Consensus 2021 conference on Thursday saw NFL star Tom Brady discuss his bitcoin laser eyes, after being announced as a surprise guest at the leading crypto conference . Well have all the latest live updates right here. || Bitcoin price live: Crypto market recovers after yet another crash as Cardano and other coins surge: The price of bitcoin, Ethereum (ether), litecoin and Ripple (XRP) have all taken a hammering in May 2021 (Getty Images) The price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum (ether), Cardano (ada), dogecoin were mostly flat on Sunday, after yet another slump. That market fall was despite the good fortunes of some smaller coins, such as DubaiCoin, which gained 1,000 per cent in 24 hours . The astonishing gains seen by DubaiCoin since launching led to the government of Dubai issuing a warning that it is not officially linked to the UAE city, and may well be an elaborate scam. Bitcoins latest price fall means analysts remain divided over whether it is entering a bear market or is just suffering a brief correction on the road to more record highs. Despite being down overnight, it remains remarkably stable looking at it on a week-by-week basis. In other news, the final day of CoinDesks Consensus 2021 conference on Thursday saw NFL star Tom Brady discuss his bitcoin laser eyes, after being announced as a surprise guest at the leading crypto conference . Well have all the latest live updates right here. || Report Shows Over $2B Worth Of Bitcoin Bought During The Dip: Large investors — or so-called whales — bought great quantities ofBitcoin(CRYPTO: BTC) when it briefly dipped at the $30,000 price level.
What Happened:In a recentreportby blockchain analytics company Chainalysis, the firm's Chief Economist Philip Gradwell explains that whales bought 77,000 bitcoin last week, now worth over $3 billion.
This is the conclusion drawn by the company from its analysis of blockchain transaction data.
Bitcoin's pricedippedbriefly to a 5-month low under $30,000 on May 23 afternews spreadthat Chinese authorities are about to strike against cryptocurrencies as local crypto exchanges suspended their activities amid uncertainties.
The buys by institutional investors took place when Bitcoin was trading in the $30,000 to $35,000 range.
Those, who entered the market more recently, experienced considerable losses.
Chainalysis claims that 1.2 million BTC was sent at a 5 to 25% loss, with 120,000 bitcoin moved at a 25% loss or worse.
According to the report, $3.2 billion of Bitcoin was sold at a loss last week after being acquired in the previous 4 to 13 weeks.
“However, this was a smaller number of bitcoin sent at a loss than in the late 2017 and mid-March 2020 price crashes, suggesting that last week was not the worst capitulation of holders in Bitcoin’s history,” the report states.
Price Action:At press time, Bitcoin was trading at $35,853, up 4.48% in the past 24-hours, and 8.71% over the last week.
See more from Benzinga
• Click here for options trades from Benzinga
• Bitcoin Crashes Below ,000, Takes Tesla, Coinbase, MicroStrategy And Other Cryptos Down With It
© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Report Shows Over $2B Worth Of Bitcoin Bought During The Dip: Large investors — or so-called whales — bought great quantities of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) when it briefly dipped at the $30,000 price level. What Happened: In a recent report by blockchain analytics company Chainalysis, the firm's Chief Economist Philip Gradwell explains that whales bought 77,000 bitcoin last week, now worth over $3 billion. This is the conclusion drawn by the company from its analysis of blockchain transaction data. Bitcoin's price dipped briefly to a 5-month low under $30,000 on May 23 after news spread that Chinese authorities are about to strike against cryptocurrencies as local crypto exchanges suspended their activities amid uncertainties. The buys by institutional investors took place when Bitcoin was trading in the $30,000 to $35,000 range. Those, who entered the market more recently, experienced considerable losses. Chainalysis claims that 1.2 million BTC was sent at a 5 to 25% loss, with 120,000 bitcoin moved at a 25% loss or worse. According to the report, $3.2 billion of Bitcoin was sold at a loss last week after being acquired in the previous 4 to 13 weeks. “However, this was a smaller number of bitcoin sent at a loss than in the late 2017 and mid-March 2020 price crashes, suggesting that last week was not the worst capitulation of holders in Bitcoin’s history,” the report states. Price Action: At press time, Bitcoin was trading at $35,853, up 4.48% in the past 24-hours, and 8.71% over the last week. See more from Benzinga Click here for options trades from Benzinga Bitcoin Crashes Below ,000, Takes Tesla, Coinbase, MicroStrategy And Other Cryptos Down With It © 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Report Shows Over $2B Worth Of Bitcoin Bought During The Dip: Large investors — or so-called whales — bought great quantities ofBitcoin(CRYPTO: BTC) when it briefly dipped at the $30,000 price level.
What Happened:In a recentreportby blockchain analytics company Chainalysis, the firm's Chief Economist Philip Gradwell explains that whales bought 77,000 bitcoin last week, now worth over $3 billion.
This is the conclusion drawn by the company from its analysis of blockchain transaction data.
Bitcoin's pricedippedbriefly to a 5-month low under $30,000 on May 23 afternews spreadthat Chinese authorities are about to strike against cryptocurrencies as local crypto exchanges suspended their activities amid uncertainties.
The buys by institutional investors took place when Bitcoin was trading in the $30,000 to $35,000 range.
Those, who entered the market more recently, experienced considerable losses.
Chainalysis claims that 1.2 million BTC was sent at a 5 to 25% loss, with 120,000 bitcoin moved at a 25% loss or worse.
According to the report, $3.2 billion of Bitcoin was sold at a loss last week after being acquired in the previous 4 to 13 weeks.
“However, this was a smaller number of bitcoin sent at a loss than in the late 2017 and mid-March 2020 price crashes, suggesting that last week was not the worst capitulation of holders in Bitcoin’s history,” the report states.
Price Action:At press time, Bitcoin was trading at $35,853, up 4.48% in the past 24-hours, and 8.71% over the last week.
See more from Benzinga
• Click here for options trades from Benzinga
• Bitcoin Crashes Below ,000, Takes Tesla, Coinbase, MicroStrategy And Other Cryptos Down With It
© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin's in a slump here's why Warren Buffett has hated it all along: Bitcoin's in a slump here's why Warren Buffett has hated it all along The past month and a half has been bumpy for Bitcoin. After a bully first quarter of 2021 that led to an all-time peak of $63,000 per unit in mid-April, the world's leading digital currency has since lost more than 40% of its value, settling at just over $35,000 on Friday, May 28. Holdout investors who only a couple of months ago may have thought theyd missed an opportunity of a lifetime are now sighing with relief; meanwhile, those who bought in at the peak are trying not to think about their losses. And what about Warren Buffett? What would world's most famous investor say to those who might be thinking of firing up their investment apps and buying Bitcoin at a bargain price . Its probably rat poison squared, Buffett once said. 'Contrary to the interests of civilization' IgorGolovniov / Shutterstock While Buffett chose not to comment on cryptocurrency during his company Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders meeting earlier this month, Berkshire vice-chairman Charlie Munger pulled no punches on the subject. "I dont welcome a currency thats so useful to kidnappers and extortionists," Munger said during the meeting's much-watched Q&A session. "The whole damn development is disgusting and contrary to the interests of civilization." Not to be outdone, Buffett has made his share of extremely cutting remarks about Bitcoin and cryptocurrency over the years: I don't have any Bitcoin. I don't own any cryptocurrency, I never will, he told CNBC in 2020. Here are three reasons Buffett wont go near it. 1. It has no unique value at all Larry W Smith/EPA/Shutterstock The billionaire investor doesnt like Bitcoin because he considers it an unproductive asset. Buffett has a well-known preference for stocks of corporations whose value and cash flow come from producing things. But cryptocurrencies dont have real value, Buffett said in a CNBC interview in 2020. They don't reproduce, they can't mail you a check, they can't do anything, and what you hope is that somebody else comes along and pays you more money for them later on, but then that person's got the problem. Story continues Though Bitcoin is intended to provide real value as a payment system, that use is still pretty limited. As Buffett sees it, Bitcoins value comes from the optimism that someone else will be willing to pay more for it in the future than youre paying today. 2. He doesnt think crypto counts as money stockphoto-graf / Shutterstock As a tradeable asset, Bitcoin boomed. But does it meet the three criteria of money? According to the most common definition, money is supposed to be a means of exchange, a store of value, and a unit of account. But Buffett calls it a mirage. It does not meet the test of a currency, the billionaire said on CNBC in 2014. It is not a durable means of exchange, it's not a store of value. He adds that its a very effective way of anonymously transmitting money. But: a check is a way of transmitting money too, he said. Are checks worth a whole lot of money just because they can transmit money? 3. He doesnt understand it Larry W Smith/EPA/Shutterstock Buffett became one of the most successful investors in history by sticking with stocks he understands. "I get in enough trouble with things I think I know something about. Why in the world should I take a long or short position in something I don't know anything about? But people like to gamble, he told CNBC after a 2018 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, which is another problem with nonproductive assets. If you dont understand it, you get much more excited than if you understand it. You can have anything you want to imagine if you just look at something and say, thats magic. How does Buffett pick winning stocks? Laurent Gillieron/EPA/Shutterstock The billionaire investor follows the value investing strategy which focuses on buying undervalued stocks of strong companies and holding them for a long time. Simple, right? Berkshire Hathaway looks for companies with a good profit margin and those that produce unique products that cant easily be substituted. As Warren Buffett once said in a letter to his shareholders, Its far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price. But Buffetts distaste for crypto stocks doesnt mean you shouldnt buy Bitcoin. Even the billionaire has come around on sectors he previously spoke out against. He notoriously avoided tech stocks, even at the height of the dot-com bubble, and now his companys largest holding is Apple. You can start investing today fizkes / Shutterstock Bitcoin has made a lot of people rich along the way. But that doesnt mean youve missed the boat on investing just listen to Buffetts words of wisdom. The most reliable way to make money in the market is through a balanced, diversified portfolio of stocks, bonds and ETFs. And luckily, a new wave of investing apps make it easy to pursue such a strategy one popular app will even automatically invest your "spare change" on debit and credit card purchases. There's also more to investing than the stock market. Thanks to new technology, you have unprecedented access to a host of interesting opportunities you can even invest in U.S. farmland And you don't have to go it alone. Dont be afraid to get some expert advice before you hit the market. Today, there are certified financial planners who will work with you online to create a personalized investing plan. || Bitcoin's in a slump — here's why Warren Buffett has hated it all along: The past month and a half has been bumpy for Bitcoin.
After a bully first quarter of 2021 that led to an all-time peak of $63,000 per unit in mid-April, the world's leading digital currency has since lost more than 40% of its value, settling at just over $35,000 on Friday, May 28.
Holdout investors who only a couple of months ago may have thought they’d missed an opportunity of a lifetime are now sighing with relief; meanwhile, those who bought in at the peak are trying not to think about their losses.
And what about Warren Buffett? What would world's most famous investor say to those who might be thinking of firing up their investment apps andbuying Bitcoin at a bargain price.
It’s “probably rat poison squared,” Buffett once said.
While Buffett chose not to comment on cryptocurrency during his company Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders meeting earlier this month, Berkshire vice-chairman Charlie Munger pulled no punches on the subject.
"I don’t welcome a currency that’s so useful to kidnappers and extortionists," Munger said during the meeting's much-watched Q&A session. "The whole damn development is disgusting and contrary to the interests of civilization."
Not to be outdone, Buffett has made his share of extremely cutting remarks about Bitcoin and cryptocurrency over the years: “I don't have any Bitcoin. I don't own any cryptocurrency, I never will,” he toldCNBCin 2020.
Here are three reasons Buffett won’t go near it.
The billionaire investor doesn’t like Bitcoin because he considers it an unproductive asset.
Buffett has a well-known preference for stocks of corporations whose value — and cash flow — come from producing things. But cryptocurrencies don’t have real value, Buffett said in aCNBCinterview in 2020.
“They don't reproduce, they can't mail you a check, they can't do anything, and what you hope is that somebody else comes along and pays you more money for them later on, but then that person's got the problem.”
Though Bitcoinisintended to provide real value as a payment system, that use is still pretty limited. As Buffett sees it, Bitcoin’s value comes from the optimism that someone else will be willing to pay more for it in the future than you’re paying today.
As a tradeable asset, Bitcoin boomed. But does it meet the three criteria of money? According to the most common definition, money is supposed to be a means of exchange, a store of value, and a unit of account.
But Buffett calls it a “mirage.”
“It does not meet the test of a currency,” the billionaire said onCNBCin 2014. “It is not a durable means of exchange, it's not a store of value.”
He adds that it’s a very effective way of anonymously transmitting money. But: “a check is a way of transmitting money too,” he said. “Are checks worth a whole lot of money just because they can transmit money?”
Buffett became one of the most successful investors in history by sticking with stocks he understands.
"I get in enough trouble with things I think I know something about. Why in the world should I take a long or short position in something I don't know anything about?”
But people like to gamble, he toldCNBCafter a 2018 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, which is another problem with nonproductive assets.
“If you don’t understand it, you get much more excited than if you understand it. You can have anything you want to imagine if you just look at something and say, ‘that’s magic.’”
The billionaire investor follows the value investing strategy — which focuses on buying undervalued stocks of strong companies and holding them for a long time.
Simple, right?
Berkshire Hathaway looks for companies with a good profit margin and those that produce unique products that can’t easily be substituted. As Warren Buffett once said in a letter to his shareholders, “It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.”
But Buffett’s distaste for crypto stocks doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy Bitcoin. Even the billionaire has come around on sectors he previously spoke out against.
He notoriously avoided tech stocks, even at the height of the dot-com bubble, and now his company’s largest holding is Apple.
Bitcoin has made a lot of people rich along the way. But that doesn’t mean you’ve missed the boat on investing — just listen to Buffett’s words of wisdom.
The most reliable way to make money in the market is through a balanced, diversified portfolio of stocks, bonds and ETFs. And luckily, a new wave of investing apps make it easy to pursue such a strategy – one popular app will evenautomatically invest your "spare change"on debit and credit card purchases.
There's also more to investing than the stock market. Thanks to new technology, you have unprecedented access to a host of interesting opportunities — you can eveninvest in U.S. farmland
And you don't have to go it alone. Don’t be afraid to get some expert advice before you hit the market. Today, there are certified financial planners who willwork with you onlineto create a personalized investing plan. || Bitcoin's in a slump — here's why Warren Buffett has hated it all along: The past month and a half has been bumpy for Bitcoin.
After a bully first quarter of 2021 that led to an all-time peak of $63,000 per unit in mid-April, the world's leading digital currency has since lost more than 40% of its value, settling at just over $35,000 on Friday, May 28.
Holdout investors who only a couple of months ago may have thought they’d missed an opportunity of a lifetime are now sighing with relief; meanwhile, those who bought in at the peak are trying not to think about their losses.
And what about Warren Buffett? What would world's most famous investor say to those who might be thinking of firing up their investment apps andbuying Bitcoin at a bargain price.
It’s “probably rat poison squared,” Buffett once said.
While Buffett chose not to comment on cryptocurrency during his company Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders meeting earlier this month, Berkshire vice-chairman Charlie Munger pulled no punches on the subject.
"I don’t welcome a currency that’s so useful to kidnappers and extortionists," Munger said during the meeting's much-watched Q&A session. "The whole damn development is disgusting and contrary to the interests of civilization."
Not to be outdone, Buffett has made his share of extremely cutting remarks about Bitcoin and cryptocurrency over the years: “I don't have any Bitcoin. I don't own any cryptocurrency, I never will,” he toldCNBCin 2020.
Here are three reasons Buffett won’t go near it.
The billionaire investor doesn’t like Bitcoin because he considers it an unproductive asset.
Buffett has a well-known preference for stocks of corporations whose value — and cash flow — come from producing things. But cryptocurrencies don’t have real value, Buffett said in aCNBCinterview in 2020.
“They don't reproduce, they can't mail you a check, they can't do anything, and what you hope is that somebody else comes along and pays you more money for them later on, but then that person's got the problem.”
Though Bitcoinisintended to provide real value as a payment system, that use is still pretty limited. As Buffett sees it, Bitcoin’s value comes from the optimism that someone else will be willing to pay more for it in the future than you’re paying today.
As a tradeable asset, Bitcoin boomed. But does it meet the three criteria of money? According to the most common definition, money is supposed to be a means of exchange, a store of value, and a unit of account.
But Buffett calls it a “mirage.”
“It does not meet the test of a currency,” the billionaire said onCNBCin 2014. “It is not a durable means of exchange, it's not a store of value.”
He adds that it’s a very effective way of anonymously transmitting money. But: “a check is a way of transmitting money too,” he said. “Are checks worth a whole lot of money just because they can transmit money?”
Buffett became one of the most successful investors in history by sticking with stocks he understands.
"I get in enough trouble with things I think I know something about. Why in the world should I take a long or short position in something I don't know anything about?”
But people like to gamble, he toldCNBCafter a 2018 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, which is another problem with nonproductive assets.
“If you don’t understand it, you get much more excited than if you understand it. You can have anything you want to imagine if you just look at something and say, ‘that’s magic.’”
The billionaire investor follows the value investing strategy — which focuses on buying undervalued stocks of strong companies and holding them for a long time.
Simple, right?
Berkshire Hathaway looks for companies with a good profit margin and those that produce unique products that can’t easily be substituted. As Warren Buffett once said in a letter to his shareholders, “It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.”
But Buffett’s distaste for crypto stocks doesn’t mean you shouldn’t buy Bitcoin. Even the billionaire has come around on sectors he previously spoke out against.
He notoriously avoided tech stocks, even at the height of the dot-com bubble, and now his company’s largest holding is Apple.
Bitcoin has made a lot of people rich along the way. But that doesn’t mean you’ve missed the boat on investing — just listen to Buffett’s words of wisdom.
The most reliable way to make money in the market is through a balanced, diversified portfolio of stocks, bonds and ETFs. And luckily, a new wave of investing apps make it easy to pursue such a strategy – one popular app will evenautomatically invest your "spare change"on debit and credit card purchases.
There's also more to investing than the stock market. Thanks to new technology, you have unprecedented access to a host of interesting opportunities — you can eveninvest in U.S. farmland
And you don't have to go it alone. Don’t be afraid to get some expert advice before you hit the market. Today, there are certified financial planners who willwork with you onlineto create a personalized investing plan. || Volatility Paves Way for USDC Presence on Balance Sheets: The volatile nature of crypto market front-runners like bitcoin (BTC) could lead to their replacement on company balance sheets. As price swings lead to low returns for corporate treasurers, they look for an alternative. An alternative in the form of the stablecoin USD Coin (USDC). According to Bloomberg, Circle Internet Financial Ltd., one of the chief developers of USDC, has proposed an alternative for corporations looking to have a hand in the crypto space but are reluctant to go down the precarious BTC avenue. The proposal asserts that firms can invest their savings in USDC, and earn up to 7% interest per year when placed in a high-yield account. Reports indicate that this figure equates to over ten times the return expected from a one year Treasury Bill. More specifically, corporate treasurers will open a special account in which fiat money gets converted to USDC. The subsequent interest is therefore paid out in USDC. Meanwhile, Circle lends the funds to a network of investors willing to pay an interest rate, which in turn generates the yield. The appeal of stablecoins Stablecoins like USDC have their value tied to that of another reference. Such as, in USDCs case, the US Dollar, with which it is pegged 1-to-1. With this in mind, they are not as prone to price swings, nor as vulnerable to crashes or suffering from market corrections, as other cryptocurrencies. During the recent crypto price collapse on May 19, BTCs price swept down to a record low of $30,000 from an already-low point of $43,000. USDC, on the other hand, only suffered minor fluctuation. As did its rival in the rankings, fellow stablecoin Tether (USDT). Both tokens hit milestones in the days following the price crash, with USDT surpassing its $60 billion market cap mark. USDC, meanwhile, made it into the top 10 biggest cryptocurrencies by market cap. It ranked 10th on May 24, and has only continued to climb since. At time of press, data indicates it now ranks 8th, with a market cap of over $22 billion. Story continues Circle makes history It has been a positive week for Circle this week. On May 29, reports revealed they had secured an investment round of $440 million. The largest investment in crypto history, as reported by Forbes . This multimillion deal smashed Bitmains record, which had been held since 2018 when they acquired $422 million in their Series B1 round. Circles CEO Jeremy Allaire gushed about the investment in a thread of tweets , shared on May 28. We are thrilled and humbled by the support and partnership with these great investors, and excited to keep building a lasting institution that we believe can help transform the global financial system on the foundation of the open internet. He also revealed the financing would be used to accelerate our growth and market expansion. This comes on the heels of extraordinary growth in USDC adoption, and acceleration across our business.
[Social Media Buzz]
None available.
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36684.93, 37575.18, 39208.77, 36894.41, 35551.96, 35862.38, 33560.71, 33472.63, 37345.12, 36702.60
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 226.85, 217.11, 222.27, 227.75, 223.41, 220.11, 219.84, 219.18, 221.76, 235.43, 257.32, 234.82, 233.84, 243.61, 236.33, 240.28, 243.78, 244.53, 235.98, 238.89, 238.74, 237.47, 236.43, 253.83, 254.26, 260.20, 275.67, 281.70, 273.09, 276.18, 272.72, 276.26, 274.35, 289.61, 291.76, 296.38, 294.35, 285.34, 281.89, 286.39, 290.59, 285.51, 256.30, 260.93, 261.75, 260.02, 267.96, 266.74, 245.60, 246.20, 248.53, 247.03, 252.80, 242.71, 247.53, 244.22, 247.27, 253.01, 254.32, 253.70, 260.60, 255.49, 253.18, 245.02, 243.68, 236.07, 236.55, 236.15, 224.59, 219.16, 223.83, 228.57, 222.88, 223.36, 222.60, 224.63, 235.27, 234.18, 236.46, 231.27, 226.39, 219.43, 229.29, 225.85, 225.81, 236.15, 232.08, 234.93, 240.36, 239.02.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2015-05-04]
Volume: 21223400, RSI (14-day): 53.57, 50-day EMA: 240.10, 200-day EMA: 265.43
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1186.80, Gold RSI: 47.49
Oil Price: 58.93, Oil RSI: 65.38
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Thoughts on The Future of Bitcoin From Genesis-Minings CEO Marco Streng – Established Bitcoin Cloud Mining Company: Established In 2013 And One Of The Largest Bitcoin Cloud Mining Platforms In The World, Genesis-Mining's CEO Marco Streng Shares His Thoughts On The Possible Future Of Bitcoin
Hong Kong / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2015 /Writing about the future of Bitcoin with any certainty is like saying someone knows a certain horse will definitely win the Triple Crown this year. The fact is that the technology could go anywhere, legislation could change everything, andBitcoin culture continues to evolve somewhat sporadically. But there is no fun in not speculating; so Genesis Mining CEO Marco Streng decided to answer the impossible questions.BecauseGenesis Mining is one of the largest suppliers of any Bitcoin company in the world, Streng is uniquely informed about what new technologies are coming into vogue, which are over-hyped, and what research could change the technology tomorrow.
"There is a lot of innovation and pioneering going on in the mining world. Advancements range from innovative data center structures, intelligent and more powerful mining farm monitoring solutions, to more and more optimized chip designs for lower and lower nanometer scales."
Bitcoin culture today places a premium on the crowd-monitored nature of the technology, but as the power continually gravitates towards large companies and large data centers, that culture's voice is losing its thunder. The question is whether the average user will embrace the new era of mining or reject Bitcoin altogether. While the currency still represents the most regulatory-free currency in the world, its early adopters envisioned nothing short of utopia. Big companies are as prone to corruption as any other organization, or so the argument goes.
Streng got the question if the consolidation of mining will hurt or help the Bitcoin movement, especially concerning the Bitcoin faithful.
"What people may forget is that the higher the total mining power in the network, the less vulnerable Bitcoin is. In the early days, a private individual could possibly gain enough influence to control the Bitcoin network by a large enough investment in mining. Times have changed and it is much harder to do that now."
One of the biggest obstacles still facing the currency is evangelizing the many millions of people who believe it is a fringe movement, a fad, one that will disappear quietly in a few years. It does continue to edge its way in to the mainstream with small but notable successes, like Rand Paul’s new presidential campaign website accepting donations in BTC. And the technology does continue to gain high profile backers from numerous industries. But even with the most rose colored lenses, no one can say that Bitcoin is mainstream. Streng doesn’t think we will have to wait too long for that to happen.
"For those of us born in the late 80’s and early 90’s, we grew up with the internet being a major part of our lives. We didn’t have to adopt the technology, we simply had to learn to use it and convince our parents we needed to upgrade our dial up connection. Change is hard, and we saw older generations struggle to use Google instead of libraries and Amazon instead of RadioShack. Despite some people opposing it and all the negativity it received, the internet prevailed and has changed the daily lives of billions of people. I understand that Bitcoin sounds crazy to some, but inmany ways it is following the same path as the internet, and I think it will change the world just as profoundly."
Time will tell if Streng is right — if a more centralized infrastructure can mesh with Bitcoin culture, if the technology will be embraced by the general public, and if officials in the US and other countries decide not to regulate. But one thing is for sure, many thousands of highly informed critics said Bitcoin would never last as long as it has.
About Genesis-Mining:Hong Kong basedGenesis-Mining was established in October 2013 with Bitcoin cloud mining facilities located in Iceland, USA and Canada. Genesis-Mining has a partnership with the world's largest ASIC manufacturer; Spondoolies Tech.For more information about us, please visithttps://www.genesis-mining.com/a/47631
Contact:Paulo [email protected]
Source:Genesis-Mining || Thoughts on The Future of Bitcoin From Genesis-Minings CEO Marco Streng – Established Bitcoin Cloud Mining Company: Established In 2013 And One Of The Largest Bitcoin Cloud Mining Platforms In The World, Genesis-Mining's CEO Marco Streng Shares His Thoughts On The Possible Future Of Bitcoin
Hong Kong / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2015 /Writing about the future of Bitcoin with any certainty is like saying someone knows a certain horse will definitely win the Triple Crown this year. The fact is that the technology could go anywhere, legislation could change everything, andBitcoin culture continues to evolve somewhat sporadically. But there is no fun in not speculating; so Genesis Mining CEO Marco Streng decided to answer the impossible questions.BecauseGenesis Mining is one of the largest suppliers of any Bitcoin company in the world, Streng is uniquely informed about what new technologies are coming into vogue, which are over-hyped, and what research could change the technology tomorrow.
"There is a lot of innovation and pioneering going on in the mining world. Advancements range from innovative data center structures, intelligent and more powerful mining farm monitoring solutions, to more and more optimized chip designs for lower and lower nanometer scales."
Bitcoin culture today places a premium on the crowd-monitored nature of the technology, but as the power continually gravitates towards large companies and large data centers, that culture's voice is losing its thunder. The question is whether the average user will embrace the new era of mining or reject Bitcoin altogether. While the currency still represents the most regulatory-free currency in the world, its early adopters envisioned nothing short of utopia. Big companies are as prone to corruption as any other organization, or so the argument goes.
Streng got the question if the consolidation of mining will hurt or help the Bitcoin movement, especially concerning the Bitcoin faithful.
"What people may forget is that the higher the total mining power in the network, the less vulnerable Bitcoin is. In the early days, a private individual could possibly gain enough influence to control the Bitcoin network by a large enough investment in mining. Times have changed and it is much harder to do that now."
One of the biggest obstacles still facing the currency is evangelizing the many millions of people who believe it is a fringe movement, a fad, one that will disappear quietly in a few years. It does continue to edge its way in to the mainstream with small but notable successes, like Rand Paul’s new presidential campaign website accepting donations in BTC. And the technology does continue to gain high profile backers from numerous industries. But even with the most rose colored lenses, no one can say that Bitcoin is mainstream. Streng doesn’t think we will have to wait too long for that to happen.
"For those of us born in the late 80’s and early 90’s, we grew up with the internet being a major part of our lives. We didn’t have to adopt the technology, we simply had to learn to use it and convince our parents we needed to upgrade our dial up connection. Change is hard, and we saw older generations struggle to use Google instead of libraries and Amazon instead of RadioShack. Despite some people opposing it and all the negativity it received, the internet prevailed and has changed the daily lives of billions of people. I understand that Bitcoin sounds crazy to some, but inmany ways it is following the same path as the internet, and I think it will change the world just as profoundly."
Time will tell if Streng is right — if a more centralized infrastructure can mesh with Bitcoin culture, if the technology will be embraced by the general public, and if officials in the US and other countries decide not to regulate. But one thing is for sure, many thousands of highly informed critics said Bitcoin would never last as long as it has.
About Genesis-Mining:Hong Kong basedGenesis-Mining was established in October 2013 with Bitcoin cloud mining facilities located in Iceland, USA and Canada. Genesis-Mining has a partnership with the world's largest ASIC manufacturer; Spondoolies Tech.For more information about us, please visithttps://www.genesis-mining.com/a/47631
Contact:Paulo [email protected]
Source:Genesis-Mining || Thoughts on The Future of Bitcoin From Genesis-Minings CEO Marco Streng Established Bitcoin Cloud Mining Company: Established In 2013 And One Of The Largest Bitcoin Cloud Mining Platforms In The World, Genesis-Mining's CEO Marco Streng Shares His Thoughts On The Possible Future Of Bitcoin Hong Kong / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2015 / Writing about the future of Bitcoin with any certainty is like saying someone knows a certain horse will definitely win the Triple Crown this year. The fact is that the technology could go anywhere, legislation could change everything, and Bitcoin culture continues to evolve somewhat sporadically. But there is no fun in not speculating; so Genesis Mining CEO Marco Streng decided to answer the impossible questions . Because Genesis Mining is one of the largest suppliers of any Bitcoin company in the world , Streng is uniquely informed about what new technologies are coming into vogue, which are over-hyped, and what research could change the technology tomorrow. "There is a lot of innovation and pioneering going on in the mining world. Advancements range from innovative data center structures, intelligent and more powerful mining farm monitoring solutions, to more and more optimized chip designs for lower and lower nanometer scales." Bitcoin culture today places a premium on the crowd-monitored nature of the technology, but as the power continually gravitates towards large companies and large data centers, that culture's voice is losing its thunder. The question is whether the average user will embrace the new era of mining or reject Bitcoin altogether. While the currency still represents the most regulatory-free currency in the world, its early adopters envisioned nothing short of utopia. Big companies are as prone to corruption as any other organization, or so the argument goes. Streng got the question if the consolidation of mining will hurt or help the Bitcoin movement, especially concerning the Bitcoin faithful. "What people may forget is that the higher the total mining power in the network, the less vulnerable Bitcoin is. In the early days, a private individual could possibly gain enough influence to control the Bitcoin network by a large enough investment in mining. Times have changed and it is much harder to do that now." Story continues One of the biggest obstacles still facing the currency is evangelizing the many millions of people who believe it is a fringe movement, a fad, one that will disappear quietly in a few years. It does continue to edge its way in to the mainstream with small but notable successes, like Rand Pauls new presidential campaign website accepting donations in BTC. And the technology does continue to gain high profile backers from numerous industries. But even with the most rose colored lenses, no one can say that Bitcoin is mainstream. Streng doesnt think we will have to wait too long for that to happen. "For those of us born in the late 80s and early 90s, we grew up with the internet being a major part of our lives. We didnt have to adopt the technology, we simply had to learn to use it and convince our parents we needed to upgrade our dial up connection. Change is hard, and we saw older generations struggle to use Google instead of libraries and Amazon instead of RadioShack. Despite some people opposing it and all the negativity it received, the internet prevailed and has changed the daily lives of billions of people. I understand that Bitcoin sounds crazy to some, but inmany ways it is following the same path as the internet, and I think it will change the world just as profoundly." Time will tell if Streng is right if a more centralized infrastructure can mesh with Bitcoin culture, if the technology will be embraced by the general public, and if officials in the US and other countries decide not to regulate. But one thing is for sure, many thousands of highly informed critics said Bitcoin would never last as long as it has. About Genesis-Mining: Hong Kong based Genesis-Mining was established in October 2013 with Bitcoin cloud mining facilities located in Iceland, USA and Canada . Genesis-Mining has a partnership with the world's largest ASIC manufacturer; Spondoolies Tech. For more information about us, please visit https://www.genesis-mining.com/a/47631 Contact: Paulo Fiorio [email protected] Genesis-Mining Source: Genesis-Mining || Your first trade for Monday: The " Fast Money " traders closed the show with their first ideas for Monday. Tim Seymour was a buyer of CLF ( CLF ) . Steve Grasso was a buyer of BAC ( BAC ) . Brian Kelly was a seller of the XLU (NYSE Arca: XLE) . Guy Adami was a buyer of MET ( MET ) . Trader disclosure: On May 1, 2015 , the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders: Tim Seymour is long T, BAC, DIS, EUO, F, GE, GM, GOOGL, INTC, SUNE, Tim's firm is long BABA, AAPL, CLF, MCD, NKE, NOK, SBUX, YHOO. Steve Grasso is long AAPL, BAC, BTU, DD, EVGN, MJNA, PFE, T, TWTR, GDX, his firm is long TWTR, WYNN, AMZN, AMD, FCX, OXY, RIG, NE, TSE, VALE his kids own EFG, EFA, EWJ, IJR, SPY. Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck. Brian Kelly is long BTC=, BBRY, SPY puts, U.S. Dollar, he is short Australian Dollar, he is short Yen, he is short Yuan. Today he sold Crude Oil, GLD, GSG, and covered his 30-year bond short position. More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || Your first trade for Monday: The "Fast Money" traders closed the show with their first ideas for Monday.
Tim Seymour was a buyer of CLF(CLF).
Steve Grasso was a buyer of BAC(BAC).
Brian Kelly was a seller of the XLU(NYSE Arca: XLE).
Guy Adami was a buyer of MET(MET).
Trader disclosure: On May 1, 2015 , the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders:Tim Seymour is long T, BAC, DIS, EUO, F, GE, GM, GOOGL, INTC, SUNE, Tim's firm is long BABA, AAPL, CLF, MCD, NKE, NOK, SBUX, YHOO. Steve Grasso is long AAPL, BAC, BTU, DD, EVGN, MJNA, PFE, T, TWTR, GDX, his firm is long TWTR, WYNN, AMZN, AMD, FCX, OXY, RIG, NE, TSE, VALE his kids own EFG, EFA, EWJ, IJR, SPY. Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.Brian Kelly is long BTC=, BBRY, SPY puts, U.S. Dollar, he is short Australian Dollar, he is short Yen, he is short Yuan. Today he sold Crude Oil, GLD, GSG, and covered his 30-year bond short position.
More From CNBC
• Top News and Analysis
• Latest News Video
• Personal Finance || Buffett's Berkshire bash brings some intrigue: It’s called “Woodstock for Capitalists.” Berkshire Hathaway’s ( BRK-A ) annual meeting in Omaha is a little bit business, a little bit circus and always entertaining for the participants. But this weekend’s gathering has an added touch: intrigue. That’s because 84-year-old CEO Warren Buffett has been hinting he’s getting ready to announce when he’ll finally step down…and who he’s picking to replace him. But Yahoo Finance Editor in Chief Andy Serwer isn’t holding his breath expecting that announcement this time around. “I suspect not,” he says. “He’s in control of this thing and he plays this out very, very slowly. There’s sort of a group of successors and every year or so he kind of narrows it down a little more.” Yahoo Finance’s Aaron Task adds the rumor mill has been buzzing about Berkshire’s plans for a long time now. “They’ve talked about succession and they’ve named a couple people,” he explains. “It could be Ajit Jain, who runs Berkshire Reinsurance. You’ve got the guys who run the investment portfolio. Maybe they split it off. I suspect that’s what’s going to happen.” Task doesn’t think Berkshire investors should be worried when someone else finally takes the reins from the Oracle of Omaha because the company he’ll leave behind is such a juggernaut. “Berkshire IS Warren Buffett, but he wants you to think it’s bigger than Warren Buffett,” he notes. “So maybe they don’t get the same kind of terms as Warren Buffett, but all the deals are still going to come their way because they have the cash.” Get the Latest Market Data and News with the Yahoo Finance App Serwer also points out Buffett’s famous golden investing touch has gotten a bit tarnished recently. “His performance has lagged slightly over the past five years,” he says. “It’s very tough when you’re that big to grow and beat the market year after year.” Still, Serwer doesn’t believe anyone in Omaha this weekend will be complaining. “They’re 40,000 of the happiest people on the planet,” he explains. “And just to give you an idea why they’re so happy-- If you invested $100 when he started this thing in 1965, that $100 is worth $1,826,163.” Story continues And as for finding a replacement for Buffett? “They hope he lives forever and never has a successor,” Serwer laughs. Also from Yahoo Finance Bitcoin goes mainstream with Goldman's backing It's no secret, 'Secret' is no more || Buffett's Berkshire bash brings some intrigue: It’s called “Woodstock for Capitalists.” Berkshire Hathaway’s ( BRK-A ) annual meeting in Omaha is a little bit business, a little bit circus and always entertaining for the participants. But this weekend’s gathering has an added touch: intrigue. That’s because 84-year-old CEO Warren Buffett has been hinting he’s getting ready to announce when he’ll finally step down…and who he’s picking to replace him. But Yahoo Finance Editor in Chief Andy Serwer isn’t holding his breath expecting that announcement this time around. “I suspect not,” he says. “He’s in control of this thing and he plays this out very, very slowly. There’s sort of a group of successors and every year or so he kind of narrows it down a little more.” Yahoo Finance’s Aaron Task adds the rumor mill has been buzzing about Berkshire’s plans for a long time now. “They’ve talked about succession and they’ve named a couple people,” he explains. “It could be Ajit Jain, who runs Berkshire Reinsurance. You’ve got the guys who run the investment portfolio. Maybe they split it off. I suspect that’s what’s going to happen.” Task doesn’t think Berkshire investors should be worried when someone else finally takes the reins from the Oracle of Omaha because the company he’ll leave behind is such a juggernaut. “Berkshire IS Warren Buffett, but he wants you to think it’s bigger than Warren Buffett,” he notes. “So maybe they don’t get the same kind of terms as Warren Buffett, but all the deals are still going to come their way because they have the cash.” Get the Latest Market Data and News with the Yahoo Finance App Serwer also points out Buffett’s famous golden investing touch has gotten a bit tarnished recently. “His performance has lagged slightly over the past five years,” he says. “It’s very tough when you’re that big to grow and beat the market year after year.” Still, Serwer doesn’t believe anyone in Omaha this weekend will be complaining. “They’re 40,000 of the happiest people on the planet,” he explains. “And just to give you an idea why they’re so happy-- If you invested $100 when he started this thing in 1965, that $100 is worth $1,826,163.” Story continues And as for finding a replacement for Buffett? “They hope he lives forever and never has a successor,” Serwer laughs. Also from Yahoo Finance Bitcoin goes mainstream with Goldman's backing It's no secret, 'Secret' is no more || Mom launches company to cure daughter's fatal disorder: If your child was sick you would do everything in your power to make them feel better, right? Well, when Karen Aiach’s daughter, Ornella, was diagnosed with Sanfilippo Syndrome she went above and beyond what most parents would do.
Aiach explains the disease as “an awful neurological disease where the child will apparently develop normally up to a certain age, the age of two, and from that age start regressing from a cognitive standpoint and start entering into severe behavioral disorders.”
She adds the disease is fatal and those affected seldom see their 20th birthday.
So when her daughter was diagnosed with Sanfilippo, Aiach did what any parent would do, which is to try and fix it. While many would try in vain to find a cure, Aiach assembled a group of experts and created a company whose sole purpose was to end the horrible disease.
Get the Latest Market Data and News with the Yahoo Finance App
“Lysogenewas started in response to my daughter being diagnosed with that disease,” she says. “Facing the impossible and the unbelievable, I tried to react in a positive way and started discussing and meeting with researchers to find potential solutions to treat that disease and we eventually came altogether with a very promising approach which is gene therapy.”
Gene therapy is a process in which doctors introduce a kind of virus into the patient that carries specialized genes meant to replace missing or broken genes in the cells of a given patient.
Lysogene has completed what is called a “Phase I/II trial” in France with promising results that prove the therapy is safe and show encouraging signs of efficacy in treating the disease.
The next step is to start a Phase II/III clinical trial of its treatment beginning in 2016, using what is called LYS-SAF302 gene therapy. The trials will be conducted both in the United States and Europe. Pre-clinical trials used in Sanfilippo-infected mice show the potential to stop the course of the disease and extend their lifespan close to normal.
If all goes well Lysogene hopes for market approval for the therapy sometime in 2019-2020.
Aiach is content knowing her work could one day help thousands of children afflicted with the condition. As for Ornella, she says, “We have done the maximum that we could do and so we are all very proud of that, I think. And when Ornella looks at me I’m sure she has a tremendous amount of love and recognition because thanks to that experimental treatment we’ve helped her to live better and to have a better quality of life.”
More from Yahoo FinanceBudweiser's 'no' must go: social media
Bitcoin goes mainstream with Goldman Sachs' backing
Uber now drops off food, not just people || Mom launches company to cure daughter's fatal disorder: If your child was sick you would do everything in your power to make them feel better, right? Well, when Karen Aiach’s daughter, Ornella, was diagnosed with Sanfilippo Syndrome she went above and beyond what most parents would do. Aiach explains the disease as “an awful neurological disease where the child will apparently develop normally up to a certain age, the age of two, and from that age start regressing from a cognitive standpoint and start entering into severe behavioral disorders.” She adds the disease is fatal and those affected seldom see their 20th birthday. Karen Aiach and her daughter Ornella who was diagnosed with Sanfilippo Syndrom in 2009. So when her daughter was diagnosed with Sanfilippo, Aiach did what any parent would do, which is to try and fix it. While many would try in vain to find a cure, Aiach assembled a group of experts and created a company whose sole purpose was to end the horrible disease. Get the Latest Market Data and News with the Yahoo Finance App “ Lysogene was started in response to my daughter being diagnosed with that disease,” she says. “Facing the impossible and the unbelievable, I tried to react in a positive way and started discussing and meeting with researchers to find potential solutions to treat that disease and we eventually came altogether with a very promising approach which is gene therapy.” Gene therapy is a process in which doctors introduce a kind of virus into the patient that carries specialized genes meant to replace missing or broken genes in the cells of a given patient. Lysogene has completed what is called a “Phase I/II trial” in France with promising results that prove the therapy is safe and show encouraging signs of efficacy in treating the disease. The next step is to start a Phase II/III clinical trial of its treatment beginning in 2016, using what is called LYS-SAF302 gene therapy. The trials will be conducted both in the United States and Europe. Pre-clinical trials used in Sanfilippo-infected mice show the potential to stop the course of the disease and extend their lifespan close to normal. Story continues If all goes well Lysogene hopes for market approval for the therapy sometime in 2019-2020. Aiach is content knowing her work could one day help thousands of children afflicted with the condition. As for Ornella, she says, “We have done the maximum that we could do and so we are all very proud of that, I think. And when Ornella looks at me I’m sure she has a tremendous amount of love and recognition because thanks to that experimental treatment we’ve helped her to live better and to have a better quality of life.” More from Yahoo Finance Budweiser's 'no' must go: social media Bitcoin goes mainstream with Goldman Sachs' backing Uber now drops off food, not just people || Circle Attracts Goldman Sachs To The Bitcoin Space: Circle Internet Financial, a bitcoin-based startup, confirmed rumors that it was in the midst of a large fundraising effort this week after the New York Times reported that the company received a generous sum from financial giant Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS ). The news brought a great deal of attention to the cryptocurrency and gave investors a reason to take a second look at Circle now that it had the backing of a major player in the finance space. Goldman Sachs Takes An Interest Goldman Sachs announced on Wednesday that it had partnered with China's IDG Capital Partners to lead a $50 million investment into Circle. The funds are expected to be used by Circle executives to further the company's mission to improve the bitcoin payments system. Circle plans to make peer to peer exchanges faster, easier and more cost effective using bitcoin. Related Link: Bitcoin Security Conference Planned For May 2015 Bitcoin Businesses Present New Opportunities Goldman Sachs' investment marks a growing interest in the technology that powers bitcoin. While investors have been wary of the cryptocurrency itself due to its erratic swings in value, more and more firms have taken an interest in smaller companies that are creating platforms with which to use bitcoin. The idea of sending money across boarders instantly and with a minimal cost has proven to be a unique opportunity for finance firms, who may soon need to compete with small startups like Circle as they gain popularity. See more from Benzinga Is The Euro Moving Higher Or Lower? And What Should You Do About It? Meet The 3 Companies Goldman Sachs Says Are Leading The Bitcoin Revolution © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Circle Attracts Goldman Sachs To The Bitcoin Space: Circle Internet Financial, a bitcoin-based startup, confirmed rumors that it was in the midst of a large fundraising effort this week after theNew York Timesreported that the company received a generous sum from financial giantGoldman Sachs(NYSE:GS).
The news brought a great deal of attention to the cryptocurrency and gave investors a reason to take a second look at Circle now that it had the backing of a major player in the finance space.
Goldman Sachs Takes An Interest
Goldman Sachs announced on Wednesday that it had partnered with China's IDG Capital Partners to lead a $50 million investment into Circle.
The funds are expected to be used by Circle executives to further the company's mission— to improve the bitcoin payments system. Circle plans to make peer to peer exchanges faster, easier and more cost effective using bitcoin.
Related Link:Bitcoin Security Conference Planned For May 2015
Bitcoin Businesses Present New Opportunities
Goldman Sachs' investment marks a growing interest in the technology that powers bitcoin.
While investors have been wary of the cryptocurrency itself due to its erratic swings in value, more and more firms have taken an interest in smaller companies that are creating platforms with which to use bitcoin.
The idea of sending money across boarders instantly and with a minimal cost has proven to be a unique opportunity for finance firms, who may soon need to compete with small startups like Circle as they gain popularity.
See more from Benzinga
• Is The Euro Moving Higher Or Lower? And What Should You Do About It?
• Meet The 3 Companies Goldman Sachs Says Are Leading The Bitcoin Revolution
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Circle Attracts Goldman Sachs To The Bitcoin Space: Circle Internet Financial, a bitcoin-based startup, confirmed rumors that it was in the midst of a large fundraising effort this week after theNew York Timesreported that the company received a generous sum from financial giantGoldman Sachs(NYSE:GS).
The news brought a great deal of attention to the cryptocurrency and gave investors a reason to take a second look at Circle now that it had the backing of a major player in the finance space.
Goldman Sachs Takes An Interest
Goldman Sachs announced on Wednesday that it had partnered with China's IDG Capital Partners to lead a $50 million investment into Circle.
The funds are expected to be used by Circle executives to further the company's mission— to improve the bitcoin payments system. Circle plans to make peer to peer exchanges faster, easier and more cost effective using bitcoin.
Related Link:Bitcoin Security Conference Planned For May 2015
Bitcoin Businesses Present New Opportunities
Goldman Sachs' investment marks a growing interest in the technology that powers bitcoin.
While investors have been wary of the cryptocurrency itself due to its erratic swings in value, more and more firms have taken an interest in smaller companies that are creating platforms with which to use bitcoin.
The idea of sending money across boarders instantly and with a minimal cost has proven to be a unique opportunity for finance firms, who may soon need to compete with small startups like Circle as they gain popularity.
See more from Benzinga
• Is The Euro Moving Higher Or Lower? And What Should You Do About It?
• Meet The 3 Companies Goldman Sachs Says Are Leading The Bitcoin Revolution
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Buffett holds court in Omaha, Mayweather and Pacquiao bring in big bucks: Sell in May? No way! After a rough ride on Thursday stocks are bouncing back today with all three indices (^DJI,^GSPC,^IXIC) up more than half a percent. Some good news for consumers and automakers seems to be at least partly responsible for traders positive start to May.
Get the Latest Market Data and News with the Yahoo Finance App
Here are some of the other stoires Yahoo Finance is keeping an eye on today.
Berkshire shareholders flcok to OmahaBerkshire Hathaway (BRK-A,BRK-B) is holding its annual shareholder meeting this weekend. In what has become an annual ritual, the financial world will be listening for hints as to when 84-year-old CEO Warren Buffett might step down...and who might replace him.Mayweather vs. PacquiaTomorrow night...it's the big fight! Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao are squaring off for the world welterweight title in Las Vegas. The purse--estimated at $300 million dollars--is the most ever for a boxing match. HBO and Showtime are charging $99 dollars a pop to customers like our own Mike Santoli to watch it on pay-per-view. There are sure to be plenty of winners regardless of who wins the bout.
What to watch next weekFinally...it's Friday. Time to look at what we'll be watching next week.
Andy Serwer: Cinco de mayAaron Task: Jobs reportAkiko Fujita: British elections
More from Yahoo FinanceThe department store app that outpaced Uber, Tinder and NikeBitcoin goes mainstream with Goldman Sachs' backingMicrosoft developers conference falls flat, is Apple next? || Buffett holds court in Omaha, Mayweather and Pacquiao bring in big bucks: Sell in May? No way! After a rough ride on Thursday stocks are bouncing back today with all three indices ( ^DJI , ^GSPC , ^IXIC ) up more than half a percent. Some good news for consumers and automakers seems to be at least partly responsible for traders positive start to May. Get the Latest Market Data and News with the Yahoo Finance App Here are some of the other stoires Yahoo Finance is keeping an eye on today. Berkshire shareholders flcok to Omaha Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK-A , BRK-B ) is holding its annual shareholder meeting this weekend. In what has become an annual ritual, the financial world will be listening for hints as to when 84-year-old CEO Warren Buffett might step down...and who might replace him. Mayweather vs. Pacquia Tomorrow night...it's the big fight! Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao are squaring off for the world welterweight title in Las Vegas. The purse--estimated at $300 million dollars--is the most ever for a boxing match. HBO and Showtime are charging $99 dollars a pop to customers like our own Mike Santoli to watch it on pay-per-view. There are sure to be plenty of winners regardless of who wins the bout. What to watch next week Finally...it's Friday. Time to look at what we'll be watching next week. Andy Serwer: Cinco de may Aaron Task: Jobs report Akiko Fujita: British elections More from Yahoo Finance The department store app that outpaced Uber, Tinder and Nike Bitcoin goes mainstream with Goldman Sachs' backing Microsoft developers conference falls flat, is Apple next? || Bitcoin goes mainstream with Goldman Sachs' backing: Bitcoin is getting a big boost…from Goldman Sachs (GS).
The financial juggernaut and China’s IDG Capital Partners are investing $50 million inCircle Internet Financial, a start-up that provides services to help consumers use the virtual currency. Goldman is the first major Wall Street bank to make such a big bet on bitcoin.
But as Yahoo Finance Technology Reporter Aaron Pressman points out, Goldman isn’t interested in speculating in bitcoins. It’s focusing on how bitcoin operates.
“The technology behind the scenes that enables bitcoin to work, that’s something that venture capitalists and a lot of banks have been looking at,” he says. “And maybe really will be what comes out of this.”
Get the Latest Market Data and News with the Yahoo Finance App
Yahoo Finance’s Aaron Task believes Goldman is just trying to stay one step ahead of the competition.
“Everybody around Wall Street is looking at bitcoin and trying to figure out whether they’re going to wait for the regulations or try to get ahead of the regulations and dip their toe in the water,” he explains. “And that’s what Goldman is doing.”
Task adds Goldman likely feels more and more of us will be using the virtual currency in the future…and wants to get on that bandwagon now.
There’s going to be a greater adoption of bitcoin use as a method of payment,” he says. “I think that’s its promise…and what Goldman is betting on here.”
Task believes Goldman sees bitcoin as being an attractive consumer electronic money alternative.
“Apple Pay (AAPL) doesn’t do anything for me as a consumer,” he argues. “But if I can transfer bitcoins to somebody else around the world and pay for goods and services, I think they want to be part of that process.”
And Yahoo Finance’s Jen Rogers says having Goldman associated with bitcoin is a pretty important milestone for the virtual currency.
“It does seem to add legitimacy because it’s such a big name,” she notes.
Also from Yahoo Finance
Budweiser's 'no' must go: social media
Tyson's chickens just say no
Uber now drops off food, not just people || Bitcoin goes mainstream with Goldman Sachs' backing: Bitcoin is getting a big boost
from Goldman Sachs ( GS ). The financial juggernaut and Chinas IDG Capital Partners are investing $50 million in Circle Internet Financial , a start-up that provides services to help consumers use the virtual currency. Goldman is the first major Wall Street bank to make such a big bet on bitcoin. But as Yahoo Finance Technology Reporter Aaron Pressman points out, Goldman isnt interested in speculating in bitcoins. Its focusing on how bitcoin operates. The technology behind the scenes that enables bitcoin to work, thats something that venture capitalists and a lot of banks have been looking at, he says. And maybe really will be what comes out of this. Get the Latest Market Data and News with the Yahoo Finance App Yahoo Finances Aaron Task believes Goldman is just trying to stay one step ahead of the competition. Everybody around Wall Street is looking at bitcoin and trying to figure out whether theyre going to wait for the regulations or try to get ahead of the regulations and dip their toe in the water, he explains. And thats what Goldman is doing. Task adds Goldman likely feels more and more of us will be using the virtual currency in the future
and wants to get on that bandwagon now. Theres going to be a greater adoption of bitcoin use as a method of payment, he says. I think thats its promise
and what Goldman is betting on here. Task believes Goldman sees bitcoin as being an attractive consumer electronic money alternative. Apple Pay ( AAPL ) doesnt do anything for me as a consumer, he argues. But if I can transfer bitcoins to somebody else around the world and pay for goods and services, I think they want to be part of that process. And Yahoo Finances Jen Rogers says having Goldman associated with bitcoin is a pretty important milestone for the virtual currency. It does seem to add legitimacy because its such a big name, she notes. Also from Yahoo Finance Budweiser's 'no' must go: social media Story continues Tyson's chickens just say no Uber now drops off food, not just people || Bitcoin goes mainstream with Goldman Sachs' backing: Bitcoin is getting a big boost…from Goldman Sachs (GS).
The financial juggernaut and China’s IDG Capital Partners are investing $50 million inCircle Internet Financial, a start-up that provides services to help consumers use the virtual currency. Goldman is the first major Wall Street bank to make such a big bet on bitcoin.
But as Yahoo Finance Technology Reporter Aaron Pressman points out, Goldman isn’t interested in speculating in bitcoins. It’s focusing on how bitcoin operates.
“The technology behind the scenes that enables bitcoin to work, that’s something that venture capitalists and a lot of banks have been looking at,” he says. “And maybe really will be what comes out of this.”
Get the Latest Market Data and News with the Yahoo Finance App
Yahoo Finance’s Aaron Task believes Goldman is just trying to stay one step ahead of the competition.
“Everybody around Wall Street is looking at bitcoin and trying to figure out whether they’re going to wait for the regulations or try to get ahead of the regulations and dip their toe in the water,” he explains. “And that’s what Goldman is doing.”
Task adds Goldman likely feels more and more of us will be using the virtual currency in the future…and wants to get on that bandwagon now.
There’s going to be a greater adoption of bitcoin use as a method of payment,” he says. “I think that’s its promise…and what Goldman is betting on here.”
Task believes Goldman sees bitcoin as being an attractive consumer electronic money alternative.
“Apple Pay (AAPL) doesn’t do anything for me as a consumer,” he argues. “But if I can transfer bitcoins to somebody else around the world and pay for goods and services, I think they want to be part of that process.”
And Yahoo Finance’s Jen Rogers says having Goldman associated with bitcoin is a pretty important milestone for the virtual currency.
“It does seem to add legitimacy because it’s such a big name,” she notes.
Also from Yahoo Finance
Budweiser's 'no' must go: social media
Tyson's chickens just say no
Uber now drops off food, not just people || It's no secret, 'Secret' is no more: Secret, a messaging app that allowed users a veil of anonymity, has closed its doors. In the highly competitive worlds of Silicon Valley and venture capital it wasnt exactly an all-star. Valued at $100 million at its peak, it never broke into the higher echelons of the tech startup world. Anonymous messaging appSecret is shutting down. Photo: Secret Im not sure its too big of a tragedy for the venture capital world that this app didnt work out, says Yahoo Finance Technology Reporter Aaron Pressman. Id also like to say, just as the parent of teenagers, Im kind of glad to see this app go. It had a lot of problems and its kind of a thing where people can anonymously bully each other and pick on each other. Im not gonna miss it Still, the way in which founders David Byttow and Chrys Bader shuttered the company is a bit unique. Rather than taking the VC money and pivoting to a new business using the apps existing infrastructure, they gave the money back. Get the Latest Market Data and News with the Yahoo Finance App Its a move many inside the company saw coming several months ago. When they raised their last round the founders sold their shares, notes yahoo Finances Aaron Task. That was a signal to the other employees at the company [that] these guys arent really committed to Secret. In fact according to the New York Times account of Secret's final chapter, David Byttow took his share of the cash made from selling a stake in the company and bought a Ferrari. Many of the employees found out about it all...anonymously on Secret. That was really a death knell to the company, Task says, noting that many of the companys engineers jumped ship for more competitive jobs peppered throughout the Valley. More from Yahoo Finance Goldman Sachs buys into Bitcoin and McDonald's new DIY burger Budweiser's 'no' must go: social media Uber now drops off food, not just people || It's no secret, 'Secret' is no more: Secret, a messaging app that allowed users a veil of anonymity, has closed it’s doors. In the highly competitive worlds of Silicon Valley and venture capital it wasn’t exactly an all-star. Valued at $100 million at it’s peak, it never broke into the higher echelons of the tech startup world.
“I’m not sure it’s too big of a tragedy for the venture capital world that this app didn’t work out,” says Yahoo Finance Technology Reporter Aaron Pressman. “I’d also like to say, just as the parent of teenagers, I’m kind of glad to see this app go. It had a lot of problems and it’s kind of a thing where people can anonymously bully each other and pick on each other. I’m not gonna miss it”
Still, the way in which founders David Byttow and Chrys Badershuttered the companyis a bit unique. Rather than taking the VC money and “pivoting” to a new business using the apps existing infrastructure, they gave the money back.
Get the Latest Market Data and News with the Yahoo Finance App
It’s a move many inside the company saw coming several months ago. “When they raised their last round the founders sold their shares,” notes yahoo Finance’s Aaron Task. “That was a signal to the other employees at the company [that] these guys aren’t really committed to Secret.”
In factaccording to the New York Times’ accountof Secret's final chapter, David Byttow took his share of the cash made from selling a stake in the company and bought a Ferrari. Many of the employees found out about it all...anonymously on Secret.
“That was really a death knell to the company,” Task says, noting that many of the company’s engineers jumped ship for more competitive jobs peppered throughout the Valley.
More from Yahoo FinanceGoldman Sachs buys into Bitcoin and McDonald's new DIY burgerBudweiser's 'no' must go: social mediaUber now drops off food, not just people || Goldman Sachs buys into Bitcoin and McDonald's new DIY burger: Another day of red arrows for the major stock indices ( ^DJI , ^GSPC , ^IXIC ) a day after the Fed left the door open, at least a little, for a June rate hike. A mixed bag of economic data this morning didn't help matters. Jobless claims came in lower than any other week in the last 15 years and consumer spending ticked higher. Still the cost of employing the average American worker ticked higher and personal income was flat. Get the Latest Market Data and News with the Yahoo Finance App Here are some of the other stories Yahoo Finance is keeping an eye on today. McDonald's build-a-burger McDonald's ( MCD ) efforts to revitalize sales have been making headlines pretty much every day, and today is no exception. Now, the fast-food giant is reportedly test marketing custom-made meals, where diners can choose how their burgers and salads are made. Big banks and bitcoin Bitcoin is taking another step towards mainstream acceptance. Goldman Sachs ( GS ) is investing $50 million dollars in consumer digital currency company Circle Internet Financial, becoming the first big banking institution to get behind bitcoin. Secret no more It's no longer a secret--the Secret app is no more Co-founder David Byttow blogging that after a lot of thought and consultation with the board, he's shutting the company down after just 16 months. The once-hot app that allows users to share information anonymously has reportedly seen a big dropoff in demand despite a retooling a few months ago. Fastest growing retail app What retailer would you think had the fastest growing mobile app last year? Well, if you said Kohl's ( KSS ), you'd be right. Researcher Comscore finds the Kohl's app jumped 793 percent in 2014...second only to car service Lyft. More from Yahoo Finance McDonald's new menu, Apple becoming Microsoft and Budweiser's blunder Budweiser's 'no' must go: social media Microsoft developers conference falls flat, is Apple next?
[Social Media Buzz]
Reddit_Bitcoin: First GBTC trade was for 2 shares @ $44.00 (meaning $440), says the director, sales & business dev… http://ift.tt/1Piw7Sr || LIVE: Profit = $820.57 (22.24 %). BUY B15.37 @ $238.76 (#BitStamp). SELL @ $246.00 (#VirCurex) #bitcoin #btc - http://www.projectcoin.org || Current price: 156.83£ $BTCGBP $btc #bitcoin 2015-05-04 19:00:02 BST || Bitcoin traded at $241.62 USD on BTC-e at 09:00 PM Pacific Time || buysellbitco.in #bitcoin price in INR, Buy : 15318.00 INR Sell : 14847.00 INR...
|
236.12, 229.78, 237.33, 243.86, 241.83, 240.30, 242.16, 241.11, 236.38, 236.93
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 1004.55, 1007.48, 1027.44, 1046.21, 1054.42, 1047.87, 1079.98, 1115.30, 1117.44, 1166.72, 1173.68, 1143.84, 1165.20, 1179.97, 1179.97, 1222.50, 1251.01, 1274.99, 1255.15, 1267.12, 1272.83, 1223.54, 1150.00, 1188.49, 1116.72, 1175.83, 1221.38, 1231.92, 1240.00, 1249.61, 1187.81, 1100.23, 973.82, 1036.74, 1054.23, 1120.54, 1049.14, 1038.59, 937.52, 972.78, 966.72, 1045.77, 1047.15, 1039.97, 1026.43, 1071.79, 1080.50, 1102.17, 1143.81, 1133.25, 1124.78, 1182.68, 1176.90, 1175.95, 1187.87, 1187.13, 1205.01, 1200.37, 1169.28, 1167.54, 1172.52, 1182.94, 1193.91, 1211.67, 1210.29, 1229.08, 1222.05, 1231.71, 1207.21, 1250.15, 1265.49, 1281.08, 1317.73, 1316.48, 1321.79, 1347.89, 1421.60, 1452.82, 1490.09, 1537.67, 1555.45, 1578.80, 1596.71, 1723.35, 1755.36, 1787.13, 1848.57, 1724.24, 1804.91, 1808.91.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2017-05-14]
Volume: 437196000, RSI (14-day): 77.09, 50-day EMA: 1390.87, 200-day EMA: 1068.48
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
How a security researcher miraculously and accidentally killed the ‘WannaCry’ ransomware: The massive ransomware hack targeting Windows machines across the globe was stopped dead in its tracks by a security expert who inadvertently activated a “kill switch” built into the malware’s code. The ransomware, dubbed “WannaCry”, made headlines on Friday after infecting computers in nearly 100 countries across the world, with Russia and England reportedly seeing the highest number of infections. The ransomware effectively locks users out of their machines, encrypts their files, and instructs them to send $300 worth of Bitcoin in order to reclaim them. The ransomware also states that the $300 payout will increase if a prompt payment isn’t made. Don't Miss : Apple’s iPhone 8 will be the most expensive iPhone the world has ever seen The exploit, which proliferates via email, was reportedly part of a vast treasure trove of NSA hacking tools leaked by a hacking group known as the Shadow Brokers last month. And though the exploit had since been patched by Microsoft, not everyone had updated their software accordingly. So how did the WannaCry campaign come to an end? Well, a young security researcher — known as malwaretechblog on Twitter — took a look at the ransomware’s code and noticed that it connected to an unregistered domain name consisting of a random string of characters. Out of curiosity, he registered the domain and inadvertently shut WannaCry down. The following photo via Kevin Beaumont is instructive: Detailing how the surprise discovery of the kill switch went down, The Guardian reports: The kill switch was hardcoded into the malware in case the creator wanted to stop it spreading. This involved a very long nonsensical domain name that the malware makes a request to – just as if it was looking up any website – and if the request comes back and shows that the domain is live, the kill switch takes effect and the malware stops spreading. The domain cost $10.69 and was immediately registering thousands of connections every second. MalwareTech explained that he bought the domain because his company tracks botnets, and by registering these domains they can get an insight into how the botnet is spreading. “The intent was to just monitor the spread and see if we could do anything about it later on. But we actually stopped the spread just by registering the domain,” he said. But the following hours were an “emotional rollercoaster”. For anyone curious about the nitty-gritty details surrounding malwaretechblog’s ransomware killing adventure, he posted an article detailing the experience on the National Cyber Security Centre website. It’s well worth a read. Story continues It’s worth adding that everyone shouldn’t breathe a sigh of relief just yet. It’s imperative that users should backup their important files, avoid clicking on suspicious emails, and make sure that their operating system software is up to date. Trending right now: Apple’s iPhone 8 will be the most expensive iPhone the world has ever seen New Google Pixel 2 leak shows raw power that comes with stock Android O T-Mobile’s latest smartphone deal is one of the best yet See the original version of this article on BGR.com View comments || How a security researcher miraculously and accidentally killed the ‘WannaCry’ ransomware: The massive ransomware hack targeting Windows machines across the globe was stopped dead in its tracks by a security expert who inadvertently activated a “kill switch” built into the malware’s code. The ransomware, dubbed “WannaCry”, made headlines on Friday after infecting computers in nearly 100 countries across the world, with Russia and England reportedly seeing the highest number of infections. The ransomware effectively locks users out of their machines, encrypts their files, and instructs them to send $300 worth of Bitcoin in order to reclaim them. The ransomware also states that the $300 payout will increase if a prompt payment isn’t made. Don't Miss : Apple’s iPhone 8 will be the most expensive iPhone the world has ever seen The exploit, which proliferates via email, was reportedly part of a vast treasure trove of NSA hacking tools leaked by a hacking group known as the Shadow Brokers last month. And though the exploit had since been patched by Microsoft, not everyone had updated their software accordingly. So how did the WannaCry campaign come to an end? Well, a young security researcher — known as malwaretechblog on Twitter — took a look at the ransomware’s code and noticed that it connected to an unregistered domain name consisting of a random string of characters. Out of curiosity, he registered the domain and inadvertently shut WannaCry down. The following photo via Kevin Beaumont is instructive: Detailing how the surprise discovery of the kill switch went down, The Guardian reports: The kill switch was hardcoded into the malware in case the creator wanted to stop it spreading. This involved a very long nonsensical domain name that the malware makes a request to – just as if it was looking up any website – and if the request comes back and shows that the domain is live, the kill switch takes effect and the malware stops spreading. The domain cost $10.69 and was immediately registering thousands of connections every second. MalwareTech explained that he bought the domain because his company tracks botnets, and by registering these domains they can get an insight into how the botnet is spreading. “The intent was to just monitor the spread and see if we could do anything about it later on. But we actually stopped the spread just by registering the domain,” he said. But the following hours were an “emotional rollercoaster”. For anyone curious about the nitty-gritty details surrounding malwaretechblog’s ransomware killing adventure, he posted an article detailing the experience on the National Cyber Security Centre website. It’s well worth a read. Story continues It’s worth adding that everyone shouldn’t breathe a sigh of relief just yet. It’s imperative that users should backup their important files, avoid clicking on suspicious emails, and make sure that their operating system software is up to date. Trending right now: Apple’s iPhone 8 will be the most expensive iPhone the world has ever seen New Google Pixel 2 leak shows raw power that comes with stock Android O T-Mobile’s latest smartphone deal is one of the best yet See the original version of this article on BGR.com View comments || Huge Ransomware Attack Stopped by Accident: What to Do: Update 5/14 5:17 pm PT: Microsoft has criticized the NSA for what it says is the agency's role in weaponizing a weakness in Windows and allowing it to be stolen by hackers, which was reportedly used to launch the largest ransomware attack in history. As reported by the Los Angeles Times , "This attack provides yet another example of why the stockpiling of vulnerabilities by governments is such a problem," wrote Brad Smith, president and chief legal officer at Microsoft. A massive ransomware attack spread across the globe May 12, with reports of computer systems being locked up in Russia, Western Europe, East Asia and North America. British hospitals and a Spanish telecom were the most visible victims, but the largest number of attacks seemed to be in Russia. A WanaCrypt ransom screen, as captured by French malware hunter Kafeine. Credit: Kafeine A WanaCrypt ransom screen, as captured by French malware hunter Kafeine. Credit: Kafeine What you need to do: If you've not installed the March, April or May Windows Update bundles, do so immediately. It's worth shutting down your system for a few minutes if it gives you a chance to avoid this. If you're still using Windows XP, you're out of luck, but the March and April update bundles should be available to Windows Vista. ( UPDATE : Microsoft has released a patch for Windows XP and its server counterpart Windows 2003.) The ransomware, variably called WanaCryptor 2.0, WannaCry, WCry or WCrypt, seemed to be using an exploit that was developed years ago by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) and revealed publicly in a data dump last month. Microsoft secretly patched Windows against the attack in March, but many systems in large organizations had apparently not been updated. MORE: What Is Ransomware and How Can I Protect Myself? Global impact Several hospital systems in England reported that their computer screens displayed a message demanding $300 in Bitcoin. The Spanish telecommunications giant Telefonica had its systems brought down by ransomware that showed a ransom screen nearly identical to those hitting English hospitals, according to a report by the newspaper El Mundo . A live interactive map posted on the British tech blog MalwareTech showed infections in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and most countries in South America and East Asia. But Europe, including Russia, appeared to have the densest concentration. ZDNet reported that at least 16 National Health Service (NHS) hospital systems in England had been hit by the ransomware, and that the infections had appeared in Scotland as well. The BBC raised that number to 25 hospital systems, and said that Prime Minister Theresa May was being kept informed of the situation. English and Scottish hospitals were reportedly postponing appointments and directing patients to unaffected facilities. Story continues Russian antivirus firm Kaspersky Lab said it had detected more than 45,000 infections in 74 countries, the vast majority of them in Russia. The Czech antivirus firm Avast detected 57,000, with the worst-affected countries being Russia, Ukraine and Taiwan. England's NHS and Spain's computer emergency response team each issued public warnings. A Twitter feed purportedly belonging to a hacktivist group calling itself SpamTech claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that "The 'WannaCry/WCRY' was created by one of our members. We've taken over NHS computers and major engineering operation components." The group didn't offer any proof to verify its claim. Spreads on its own The ransomware appears to be "wormable." In other words, it's spreading from system to system by itself as a computer worm , rather than relying on human interaction as a Trojan horse , or infecting desktop applications like a traditional computer virus . "Something like this is incredibly significant," tweeted the blogger behind MalwareTech . "We've not seen P2P" — malware jumping from one "peer" computer to another — "spreading on PC via exploits at this scale in nearly a decade." Other experts compared today's infection to the Conficker worm, which continues to attack computer systems around the world despite the fact that the security flaw it exploits was patched in 2008. However, Conficker does no immediate damage and hides so that it can use infected computers as part of a "botnet" to send out spam and fake antivirus software. The worm spreading today immediately alerts the user to its presence, displaying two countdown clocks: the first tied to a deadline when the ransom amount will increase, the second to when all encrypted files will be deleted. MORE: Best Identity-Protection Services The $300 ransom demand — in some instances, $600 — indicates that hospitals and other large organizations do not appear to have been selected as targets, but rather infected randomly. In previous ransomware attacks against large institutions, cybercriminals running the malware have raised ransom demands into tens of thousands of dollars once they've realized the value of the infected systems. Image, movie, email, database and Microsoft Office files were among those targeted for encryption, as were files containing encryption keys. Some of the victims seemed to be paying up, with two of the Bitcoin wallets — here and here — specified as recipients by the ransomware screens reporting 16 payments today totaling about $4,675. "One thing is for sure," said Rich Barger, director of cyber research at database-software maker Splunk, in a statement. "Somebody is going to get very rich, or spend a very long amount of time in jail." Ties to the NSA At least two reports said the WanaCryptor ransomware was using an NSA exploit called ETERNALBLUE that was revealed in a cache of files posted online by WikiLeaks a group calling itself ShadowBrokers on April 14. Encrypted files are given the file suffix ".wncry". ETERNALBLUE exploits a previously unknown flaw in Microsoft's Server Message Block (SMB) protocol. (SMB lets machines on the same network share access to printers, files, network ports and other objects) The ShadowBrokers last summer tried and failed to auction off a large amount of information the group said had been stolen from the NSA. The public disclosure of ETERNALBLUE's code by the ShadowBrokers caused a moderate amount of panic in the information-security world, until Microsoft revealed the day after the dump that it had quietly patched the SMB flaw — and several others mentioned in the dump — a month earlier, with the March "Patch Tuesday" security updates. UPDATE: The ransomware attack was stopped dead in its tracks Friday by a British information-security professional, who tripped an unintentional "kill switch" in WanaCryptor, more or less by accident. The pseudonymous IT pro, who blogs under the name MalwareTech, analyzed WanaCryptor's code and noticed that it reached out to a server at a specific web address. He saw that there was no actual server at that URL, so he bought the address name — in technical terms, he registered the domain — and set up his own "sinkhole' server to see how many infected computers would connect to it. Much to MalwareTech's surprise, the ransomware samples he and other researchers were analyzing suddenly stopped encrypting infected machines. "I will confess that I was unaware registering the domain would stop the malware until after I registered it, so initially it was accidental," MalwareTech tweeted late on Friday. "So I can only add 'accidentally stopped an international cyber attack' to my résumé." In a detailed blog posting , MalwareTech explains that the "kill switch" may have been designed to hide the ransomware from antivirus researchers, who often run malware in restricted environments that simulate internet connections. The criminals behind the malware may not have thought that anyone would register that domain. Microsoft also took the trouble to release patches against the ransomware for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 , both of which stopped receiving regular security patches in 2014. It's likely that many of the British hospitals hit were still running Windows XP, upon which many legacy medical devices depend. If you haven't updated your systems to prevent infection by WanaCryptor, do so immediately, because MalwareTech's kill switch is not a permanent solution. "One thing that is very important to note is our sinkholing only stops this sample," he noted in his blog posting. "There is nothing stopping them removing the domain check and trying again, so it’s incredibly important that any unpatched systems are patched as quickly as possible." See also : 25 Things You Didn't Know Could Be Hacked Best Antivirus Protection for PC, Mac and Android 10 Worst Data Breaches of All Time Your Router's Security Stinks: Here's How to Fix It View comments || Huge Ransomware Attack Stopped by Accident: What to Do: Update 5/14 5:17 pm PT: Microsoft has criticized the NSA for what it says is the agency's role in weaponizing a weakness in Windows and allowing it to be stolen by hackers, which was reportedly used to launch the largest ransomware attack in history. As reported by the Los Angeles Times , "This attack provides yet another example of why the stockpiling of vulnerabilities by governments is such a problem," wrote Brad Smith, president and chief legal officer at Microsoft. A massive ransomware attack spread across the globe May 12, with reports of computer systems being locked up in Russia, Western Europe, East Asia and North America. British hospitals and a Spanish telecom were the most visible victims, but the largest number of attacks seemed to be in Russia. A WanaCrypt ransom screen, as captured by French malware hunter Kafeine. Credit: Kafeine A WanaCrypt ransom screen, as captured by French malware hunter Kafeine. Credit: Kafeine What you need to do: If you've not installed the March, April or May Windows Update bundles, do so immediately. It's worth shutting down your system for a few minutes if it gives you a chance to avoid this. If you're still using Windows XP, you're out of luck, but the March and April update bundles should be available to Windows Vista. ( UPDATE : Microsoft has released a patch for Windows XP and its server counterpart Windows 2003.) The ransomware, variably called WanaCryptor 2.0, WannaCry, WCry or WCrypt, seemed to be using an exploit that was developed years ago by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) and revealed publicly in a data dump last month. Microsoft secretly patched Windows against the attack in March, but many systems in large organizations had apparently not been updated. MORE: What Is Ransomware and How Can I Protect Myself? Global impact Several hospital systems in England reported that their computer screens displayed a message demanding $300 in Bitcoin. The Spanish telecommunications giant Telefonica had its systems brought down by ransomware that showed a ransom screen nearly identical to those hitting English hospitals, according to a report by the newspaper El Mundo . A live interactive map posted on the British tech blog MalwareTech showed infections in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and most countries in South America and East Asia. But Europe, including Russia, appeared to have the densest concentration. ZDNet reported that at least 16 National Health Service (NHS) hospital systems in England had been hit by the ransomware, and that the infections had appeared in Scotland as well. The BBC raised that number to 25 hospital systems, and said that Prime Minister Theresa May was being kept informed of the situation. English and Scottish hospitals were reportedly postponing appointments and directing patients to unaffected facilities. Story continues Russian antivirus firm Kaspersky Lab said it had detected more than 45,000 infections in 74 countries, the vast majority of them in Russia. The Czech antivirus firm Avast detected 57,000, with the worst-affected countries being Russia, Ukraine and Taiwan. England's NHS and Spain's computer emergency response team each issued public warnings. A Twitter feed purportedly belonging to a hacktivist group calling itself SpamTech claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that "The 'WannaCry/WCRY' was created by one of our members. We've taken over NHS computers and major engineering operation components." The group didn't offer any proof to verify its claim. Spreads on its own The ransomware appears to be "wormable." In other words, it's spreading from system to system by itself as a computer worm , rather than relying on human interaction as a Trojan horse , or infecting desktop applications like a traditional computer virus . "Something like this is incredibly significant," tweeted the blogger behind MalwareTech . "We've not seen P2P" — malware jumping from one "peer" computer to another — "spreading on PC via exploits at this scale in nearly a decade." Other experts compared today's infection to the Conficker worm, which continues to attack computer systems around the world despite the fact that the security flaw it exploits was patched in 2008. However, Conficker does no immediate damage and hides so that it can use infected computers as part of a "botnet" to send out spam and fake antivirus software. The worm spreading today immediately alerts the user to its presence, displaying two countdown clocks: the first tied to a deadline when the ransom amount will increase, the second to when all encrypted files will be deleted. MORE: Best Identity-Protection Services The $300 ransom demand — in some instances, $600 — indicates that hospitals and other large organizations do not appear to have been selected as targets, but rather infected randomly. In previous ransomware attacks against large institutions, cybercriminals running the malware have raised ransom demands into tens of thousands of dollars once they've realized the value of the infected systems. Image, movie, email, database and Microsoft Office files were among those targeted for encryption, as were files containing encryption keys. Some of the victims seemed to be paying up, with two of the Bitcoin wallets — here and here — specified as recipients by the ransomware screens reporting 16 payments today totaling about $4,675. "One thing is for sure," said Rich Barger, director of cyber research at database-software maker Splunk, in a statement. "Somebody is going to get very rich, or spend a very long amount of time in jail." Ties to the NSA At least two reports said the WanaCryptor ransomware was using an NSA exploit called ETERNALBLUE that was revealed in a cache of files posted online by WikiLeaks a group calling itself ShadowBrokers on April 14. Encrypted files are given the file suffix ".wncry". ETERNALBLUE exploits a previously unknown flaw in Microsoft's Server Message Block (SMB) protocol. (SMB lets machines on the same network share access to printers, files, network ports and other objects) The ShadowBrokers last summer tried and failed to auction off a large amount of information the group said had been stolen from the NSA. The public disclosure of ETERNALBLUE's code by the ShadowBrokers caused a moderate amount of panic in the information-security world, until Microsoft revealed the day after the dump that it had quietly patched the SMB flaw — and several others mentioned in the dump — a month earlier, with the March "Patch Tuesday" security updates. UPDATE: The ransomware attack was stopped dead in its tracks Friday by a British information-security professional, who tripped an unintentional "kill switch" in WanaCryptor, more or less by accident. The pseudonymous IT pro, who blogs under the name MalwareTech, analyzed WanaCryptor's code and noticed that it reached out to a server at a specific web address. He saw that there was no actual server at that URL, so he bought the address name — in technical terms, he registered the domain — and set up his own "sinkhole' server to see how many infected computers would connect to it. Much to MalwareTech's surprise, the ransomware samples he and other researchers were analyzing suddenly stopped encrypting infected machines. "I will confess that I was unaware registering the domain would stop the malware until after I registered it, so initially it was accidental," MalwareTech tweeted late on Friday. "So I can only add 'accidentally stopped an international cyber attack' to my résumé." In a detailed blog posting , MalwareTech explains that the "kill switch" may have been designed to hide the ransomware from antivirus researchers, who often run malware in restricted environments that simulate internet connections. The criminals behind the malware may not have thought that anyone would register that domain. Microsoft also took the trouble to release patches against the ransomware for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 , both of which stopped receiving regular security patches in 2014. It's likely that many of the British hospitals hit were still running Windows XP, upon which many legacy medical devices depend. If you haven't updated your systems to prevent infection by WanaCryptor, do so immediately, because MalwareTech's kill switch is not a permanent solution. "One thing that is very important to note is our sinkholing only stops this sample," he noted in his blog posting. "There is nothing stopping them removing the domain check and trying again, so it’s incredibly important that any unpatched systems are patched as quickly as possible." See also : 25 Things You Didn't Know Could Be Hacked Best Antivirus Protection for PC, Mac and Android 10 Worst Data Breaches of All Time Your Router's Security Stinks: Here's How to Fix It View comments || Global Ransomware Attack Could Have Happened Using NSA Tools: A global ransomware attack of an unprecedented scale took place Friday, affecting healthcare services, banks and tech companies. The attack was reported by the CCN-CERT, the Spanish Government’s Computer Security Incident Response Team at 12:26 p.m. EDT, Friday. “An alert has been issued for a massive attack of ransomware that affects Windows systems, blocking the access to the files (in their hard disks as in the units of a network to which they are connected). The special criticality of this campaign is caused by exploiting the vulnerability described in bulletin MS17-010 using EternalBlue / DoublePulsar, which can infect other connected Windows systems on the same network that are not properly updated. Infection of a single computer can end up compromising the entire corporate network,” the organization said in its press release. (Translated from Spanish) Read: Americans Leading Target Of Ransomware According to antivirus company Avast , 75,000 attacks had been reported in 75 countries, at the time of writing. The ransomware used in the attack is called WanaCrypt0r 2.0 or WanaCry and is available in 28 different languages ranging from Bulgarian to Vietnamese. The ransomware changes the affected file extension to.WNCRY. Once the ransomware has taken control of the computer, it then drops ransom notes in a text file, demanding $300 payment in the form of Bitcoins. The ransom note ends with a peculiar reassurance for victims, saying: "Don’t worry about decryption. We will surely decrypt your files because nobody will trust us if we cheat users." Read: Telefonica WannaCry Ransomware: One Of Spain's Largest Telecom Companies Hit By Cyberattack The most interesting aspect of the attack is the malware used, might have been originally written by the National Security Agency. It was dumped by hacking group Shadow Brokers in April. The group had discovered the tools in 2016 and had tried to sell them online. After not being able to sell, it dumped them. NSA had not commented on the leak then, but security firms had warned of an attack at the time, and it turns out their prediction turned out to be accurate. Story continues "This is quite possibly the most damaging thing I've seen in the last several years. This puts a powerful nation-state-level attack tool in the hands of anyone who wants to download it to start targeting servers. "The individual consumer is a little less at risk, as these kinds of tools are targeted at enterprise and business environments," said Matthew Hickey, founder of security firm Hacker House, at the time. The fact that cyber criminals could use NSA tools for large-scale attacks has raised eyebrows. Los Angeles Representative Ted. W. Lie, issued a statement on the attack, saying “The massive malware attack that hit multiple countries has caused chaos and has shut down vital institutions such as hospitals. It is deeply disturbing the National Security Agency likely wrote the original malware. I have been working on legislation with industry stakeholders and partners in the Senate to address this problem.. …Today’s worldwide ransomware attack shows what can happen when the NSA or CIA write malware instead of disclosing the vulnerability to the software manufacturer.…. The time is now for Congress to seriously address cybersecurity issues." Correction : An earlier version of this story incorrectly said some Bank of America's systems were impacted. A representative for the company said Bank of America’s systems are operating normally and with no interruptions. Related Articles Google To Offer Cybersecurity Protection For Elections Russia Suspected Of Hacking Several Countries || Global Ransomware Attack Could Have Happened Using NSA Tools: A global ransomware attack of an unprecedented scale took place Friday, affecting healthcare services, banks and tech companies. The attack was reported by the CCN-CERT, the Spanish Government’s Computer Security Incident Response Team at 12:26 p.m. EDT, Friday. “An alert has been issued for a massive attack of ransomware that affects Windows systems, blocking the access to the files (in their hard disks as in the units of a network to which they are connected). The special criticality of this campaign is caused by exploiting the vulnerability described in bulletin MS17-010 using EternalBlue / DoublePulsar, which can infect other connected Windows systems on the same network that are not properly updated. Infection of a single computer can end up compromising the entire corporate network,” the organization said in its press release. (Translated from Spanish) Read: Americans Leading Target Of Ransomware According to antivirus company Avast , 75,000 attacks had been reported in 75 countries, at the time of writing. The ransomware used in the attack is called WanaCrypt0r 2.0 or WanaCry and is available in 28 different languages ranging from Bulgarian to Vietnamese. The ransomware changes the affected file extension to.WNCRY. Once the ransomware has taken control of the computer, it then drops ransom notes in a text file, demanding $300 payment in the form of Bitcoins. The ransom note ends with a peculiar reassurance for victims, saying: "Don’t worry about decryption. We will surely decrypt your files because nobody will trust us if we cheat users." Read: Telefonica WannaCry Ransomware: One Of Spain's Largest Telecom Companies Hit By Cyberattack The most interesting aspect of the attack is the malware used, might have been originally written by the National Security Agency. It was dumped by hacking group Shadow Brokers in April. The group had discovered the tools in 2016 and had tried to sell them online. After not being able to sell, it dumped them. NSA had not commented on the leak then, but security firms had warned of an attack at the time, and it turns out their prediction turned out to be accurate. Story continues "This is quite possibly the most damaging thing I've seen in the last several years. This puts a powerful nation-state-level attack tool in the hands of anyone who wants to download it to start targeting servers. "The individual consumer is a little less at risk, as these kinds of tools are targeted at enterprise and business environments," said Matthew Hickey, founder of security firm Hacker House, at the time. The fact that cyber criminals could use NSA tools for large-scale attacks has raised eyebrows. Los Angeles Representative Ted. W. Lie, issued a statement on the attack, saying “The massive malware attack that hit multiple countries has caused chaos and has shut down vital institutions such as hospitals. It is deeply disturbing the National Security Agency likely wrote the original malware. I have been working on legislation with industry stakeholders and partners in the Senate to address this problem.. …Today’s worldwide ransomware attack shows what can happen when the NSA or CIA write malware instead of disclosing the vulnerability to the software manufacturer.…. The time is now for Congress to seriously address cybersecurity issues." Correction : An earlier version of this story incorrectly said some Bank of America's systems were impacted. A representative for the company said Bank of America’s systems are operating normally and with no interruptions. Related Articles Google To Offer Cybersecurity Protection For Elections Russia Suspected Of Hacking Several Countries || Government under pressure after NHS crippled in global cyber attack as weekend of chaos looms: Screenshot of the suspected ransomware message on a GP's computer in the Greater Preston area - PA Hospitals across the country hit badly by attack Nearly 100 countries affected Fears of chaos over weekend Edward Snowden blames NSA for attack Cyber attack hits German train stations as hackers target Deutsche Bahn Russian-linked cyber gang Shadow Brokers blamed Everything you need to know about global attack NHS bosses and the government are facing questions over why hospitals had been left vulnerable to the global cyber attack that crippled services on Friday. The health service faces a weekend of chaos after hackers demanding a ransom infiltrated the health service’s antiquated computer system. Operations and appointments were cancelled and ambulances diverted as up to 40 hospital trusts became infected by a “ransomware” attack demanding payment to regain access to vital medical records. Doctors warned that the infiltration – the largest cyber attack in NHS history – could cost lives. Medics described how computer screens were “wiped out one by one” by the attack, which spread to companies and institutions worldwide, including international shipper FedEx Corp in the US, and Germany's rail operator . 'Biggest ransomware attack in history' Researchers with security software maker Avast said they had observed 57,000 infections in 99 countries with Russia, Ukraine and Taiwan the top targets. Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at the Helsinki-based cybersecurity company F-Secure, called the attack "the biggest ransomware outbreak in history". The NHS said there was no evidence that patients’ medical records had been accessed, but it was unable to say whether the hackers – who are threatening to delete information unless payment is received within a week – had the ability to destroy such records. Experts at GCHQ’s national cyber security centre were helping NHS teams fight the attack. The US Department of Homeland Security said late on Friday that it was aware of reports of the ransomware, was sharing information with domestic and foreign partners and was ready to lend technical support. Story continues The ransomware attack has affected people and businesses across the world Credit: Malware Tec The attack has been declared a major incident, and has spread to Scotland, where crisis meetings were also being held last night. A computer hacking group known as Shadow Brokers was at least partly responsible. It is claimed the group, which has links to Russia, stole US National Security Agency cyber tools designed to access Microsoft Windows systems, then dumped the technology on a publicly-accessible website where online criminals could access it – possibly in retaliation for America’s attack on Syria. Questions over NHS vulnerability Microsoft had provided free software to protect computers in March, raising questions about why the NHS was still vulnerable. Last night the technology giant said it was pushing out automatic Windows updates to defend clients from WannaCry. Cyber experts said the health service appeared susceptible to attack because many trusts were using obsolete systems, while others have failed to apply recent security updates which would have protected them. This week it was suggested that 90 per cent of NHS trusts in the UK were using Windows XP – a 16-year-old operating system. Security experts said that computers using operating software introduced before 2007 were particularly vulnerable, leaving many NHS systems at risk. About | Ransomware Others, using newer systems, may have failed to apply recent security updates, which would have protected them, experts said. Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said the attack was "terrible news and a real worry for patients" and urged the Government to be "clear about what's happened". Ross Anderson, professor of security engineering at Cambridge University's computer lab, said the incident is the "sort of thing for which the secretary of state should get roasted in Parliament. "If large numbers of NHS organisations failed to act on a critical notice from Microsoft two months ago, then whose fault is that?" Mr Anderson told The Guardian. May: 'This was international attack' The hack is thought to be part of a wider attack, which has affected the Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica, which also owns 02, where the same message was presented. The ransomware attack was orchestrated using malware called Wanna Decryptor, also known as WannaCry, which demands each user affected pay $300 (£232) in the internet currency Bitcoin, to have files restored. Thousands of NHS computers have been affected so the ransom could potentially cost taxpayers millions. The attack was described by Theresa May as “intentional”. The Prime Minister said: “We are aware that a number of NHS organisations have reported that they have suffered from a ransomware attack. This is not targeted at the NHS, it’s an international attack and a number of countries and organisations have been affected. “The National Cyber Security Centre is working closely with NHS digital to ensure that they support the organisations concerned and that they protect patient safety. And, we are not aware of any evidence that patient data has been compromised.” Intelligence sources said the attack appeared to have been carried out by criminals rather than a hostile state and the ransomware had rapidly spread through companies and organisations in Europe and the Middle East. Russia’s interior ministry said last night it had come under cyber attack. Patients have operations cancelled In the UK the only affected organisation appeared to be the NHS. Patients awaiting heart surgery were among those who had operations cancelled, with doctors telling how staff were frantically ordering computers to be shut down. New parents were left stuck on wards with their newborns as administrative systems failed. Doctors at dozens of trusts resorted to pen and paper, with no access to medical records that could alert them to medical histories or allergies. Handwritten signs in the entrance of the Royal London’s A&E read: “The emergency department has no IT facilities, there are significant delays occurring.” At a glance | High profile hacks NHS trusts are supposed to regularly back up their files. But yesterday doctors and nurses were left treating patients without any access to their medical histories, with lost access to X-rays, blood tests and details such as allergies to medication. It raises the possibility that recent changes to medical records – such as a cancer diagnosis, or the results of a blood test – could be lost, if hackers delete the files. Hacking tool stolen from NSA The mysterious Shadow Brokers claimed last month it had stolen a “cyber weapon” from the NSA that gives unprecedented access to all computers using Microsoft Windows. The hacking tool had been developed by the NSA, to gain access to computers used by terrorists and enemy states. A screen shot circulated by medical staff showed that users were alerted to their system being compromised by a flashing warning on screen which reads: “What happened to my computer?” and states that many documents, photos, videos and databases and other files are no longer accessible. Warning “nobody can recover your files without our decryption service” it then demands payments of $300 – stating that the price will be doubled in three days. An NHS spokesman said: “At this stage we do not have any evidence that patient data has been accessed.” Colchester A&E was among several yesterday urging the public to stay away, unless in the most severe need tweeting: “Our A&E is open for critical or life-threatening situations requiring medical attention, such as loss of consciousness, heavy blood loss.” A 'miracle if no one comes to harm' At Lister Hospital in Stevenage, the telephone and computer system was fully disabled in an attempt to fend off the attack, with all non-urgent appointments and operations cancelled and patients told to keep away from A&E if at all possible. The loss of computer systems meant doctors and nurses lost access to X-rays, blood test results and booking systems, rendering a normal day’s work impossible. A worker at Colchester General Hospital described how her office’s computers were “wiped out, one by one”. Dominic Marley, a hospital doctor in the Manchester area, said it would be a “miracle if no one comes to harm”. Barts Health NHS Trust, which runs The Royal London, St Bartholomew’s, Whipps Cross and Newham hospitals in London, said it had implemented its major incident plan to cope with disruption. Anthony Brett was about to have a stent put in his liver to treat his cancer when he was told the procedure could not happen. The 50-year-old from Bow, east London, said: “To do it to the NHS that does so much good for people, it’s just disgusting. They should be hung, drawn and quartered.” 6:39AM Taiwan on alert Taiwan has been put on high alert after it was reportedly one of the top targets of the cyber attack that rocked the world on Friday, writes Nicola Smith . While government departments and hospital systems had so far been spared the chaos that struck Britain's NHS, there were fears the full impact of the attack may only emerge after the weekend. Ross Feingold, a Taiwan-based political analyst who advises on Taiwan and Hong Kong political affairs, warned that full picture may not be known until Monday morning when officials returned to work. Read the full article here . Taiwan is among the world’s biggest targets for ransomware attacks Credit: EPA 4:44AM Teams 'working round the clock' Ciaran Martin, the body's chief executive, said teams were "working round the clock" with UK and international partners and with private sector experts to lead the response. "We are very aware that attacks on critical services such as the NHS have a massive impact on individuals and their families, and we are doing everything in our power to help them restore these vital services." The attack has left hospitals and GP surgeries with a backlog of postponed appointments to contend with, including operations, once the crisis is brought under control. 3:58AM 'They will try again' The attack was apparently halted in the afternoon in the UK when a researcher took control of an Internet domain that acted as a kill switch for the worm's propagation, according to Ars Technica. The researcher, who uses the Twitter name @MalwareTechBlog, said: "I will confess that I was unaware registering the domain would stop the malware until after I registered it, so initially it was accidental. So long as the domain isn't revoked, this particular strain will no longer cause harm, but patch your systems ASAP as they will try again." It's very important everyone understands that all they need to do is change some code and start again. Patch your systems now! https://t.co/L4GIPLGKEs — MalwareTech (@MalwareTechBlog) May 13, 2017 Read the full article here. 2:47AM US offers help to tackle crisis The US Department of Homeland Security has said it is aware of reports of the ransomware. It says it is sharing information with domestic and foreign partners and was ready to lend technical support. The global cyber attack renewed concerns about whether the NSA and other countries' intelligence services too often hoard software vulnerabilities for offensive purposes, rather than quickly alerting technology companies to such flaws. Patrick Toomey, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement: "These attacks underscore the fact that vulnerabilities will be exploited not just by our security agencies, but by hackers and criminals around the world." If NSA builds a weapon to attack Windows XP—which Microsoft refuses to patches—and it falls into enemy hands, should NSA write a patch? https://t.co/TUTtmc2aU9 — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) May 12, 2017 12:51AM Is this how the spread of the virus was halted? God damn. Looks like @MalwareTechBlog stopped the spread of this global ransomware attack https://t.co/pgDiTS9oTR pic.twitter.com/YyFKt7cQwy — Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) May 12, 2017 12:03AM Germany's Deutsche Bahn railways 'affected by virus' Germany's main train operator Deutsche Bahn was attacked by ransomware based on leaked NSA tools. pic.twitter.com/hP66QZT1cQ — Pamela Moore (@Pamela_Moore13) May 12, 2017 11:32PM Chief Executive of NHS Providers speaks out on cyber attack Chris Hopson, Chief Executive of NHS Providers, says trusts are working to limit the impact of the cyber attack: 11:21PM Edward Snowden: Are any other vulnerabilities in software? In light of today's attack, Congress needs to be asking @NSAgov if it knows of any other vulnerabilities in software used in our hospitals. — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) May 12, 2017 10:12PM How to protect yourself from ransomware Back up your files The greatest damage people suffer from a ransomware attack is the loss of files, including pictures and documents. The best protection against ransomware is to back up all of the information and files on your devices in a completely separate system. A good place to do this is on an external hard drive that isn't connected to the internet. This means that if you suffer an attack you won't lost any information to the hackers. Businesses often save copies of their data to external servers that won't be affected if their main network is attacked. Be suspicious of emails, websites and apps For ransomware to work hackers need to download malicious software onto a victims computer. This is then used to launch the attack and encrypt files. The most common ways for the software to be installed on a victim's device is through phishing emails, malicious adverts on websites, and questionable apps and programs. People should always exercise caution when opening unsolicited emails or visiting websites they are unfamiliar with. Never download an app that hasn't been verified by an official store, and read reviews before installing programs. Read our full guide . 9:30PM FedEx reports malware interference in global cyberattack FedEx has said it is experiencing issues with some of its Microsoft Corp Windows systems. "Like many other companies, FedEx is experiencing interference with some of our Windows-based systems caused by malware," a spokeswoman said in a statement. "We are implementing remediation steps as quickly as possible." 9:12PM 'Emergency care is operating as normal,' says NHS London Director The head of the NHS in London, Dr Anne Rainsberry, says patients who are seriously ill should go to accident and emergency as usual, despite a huge cyber attack on hospitals. 9:07PM Russia's Interior Ministry targeted Russia's Interior Ministry says it has come under cyberattack. Two security companies tell AP that more than 70 countries have been affected by the cyberattack, with Russia the hardest hit. Russian police computers were also affected by the attack. 8:57PM We didn't turn anyone away Rozina Sabur reports: One nurse, who did not want to be named, said: "I work in one of the assessment clinics, we had to write everything by paper but it was ok, in our section we didn't turn anyone away". Another, a stroke specialist nurse, said: "We've been directing patients to Luton Hospital all day where they have a specialist stroke department. It started around 11:30/12 so I'd seen 4-5 patients before that." Patients could be seen leaving the hospital with handwritten medical notes scrawled on pieces of paper. Some described how their relatives had been told to attend their nearest alternative hospitals. 8:52PM NHS Digital's head of security: 'health has never paid a ransom' NHS Digital's head of security Dan Taylor the NHS "must ensure it has good cyber crime hygiene". In a hand-washing analogy, he added: "Think of this as washing your hands before going on to a ward to prevent infection, where cyber hygiene prevents digital viruses such as ransomware." Describing ransomware as a situation where data is "digitally locked" and a ransom is asked for for the unlocking key, Mr Taylor said "health has never paid a ransom". He added: "Instead, organisations have restored systems from back-ups after clearing the infection. But as we have seen recently, this can still lead to days of cancellations to patient facing services." 8:43PM Hospital conditions described as 'primitive' Rozina Sabur reports: Two general surgery ward nurse described the conditions today as "primitive". One said: "the usual notes that we do on the computer we had to do by hand. It's gone back to primitive times." The other described the rudimentary systems that the hospital pharmacy have been reduced to using. "I observed the pharmacy, instead they of the usual computer forms they had to write the medication name and dosage by hand. "We had to use forms from ten years ago because we couldn't use them online. We then had to call people to bring the medicine requests because when we do it online it registers automatically." He said the main things affected were laboratory forms and pharmacy forms. 8:38PM Technology writer Kate Bevan explains how ransomware works 8:26PM Hacking attacks reported in Romania and Russia Romania Romania's intelligence service says it has intercepted an attempted cyberattack on a government institution which it said likely came from cybercriminal group APT28 also known as Fancy Bear. Cyberint, subordinated to the Romanian Intelligence Service, said on Friday it thwarted a cyberattack to a government institution, without saying when it occurred, following notification from NATO and the Romanian foreign intelligence agency. Russia A top Russian mobile operator says it has come under cyberattacks that appeared similar to those that have crippled some U.K. hospitals. Pyotr Lidov, a spokesman for Megafon, said Friday's attacks froze computers in company's offices across Russia. He said that mobile communications haven't been affected. Lidov said that the attack involved demands of payment of $300 worth to free up the system. He added that the company managed to restore the work of its call center but closed most of its offices for the day. Some Russian media also have reported cyberattacks on the Interior Ministry and the Investigative Committee. The committee, the nation's top investigative agency, has rejected the claim. 8:22PM NHS 'will increasingly fall victim to these kinds of attacks' Jamie Moles, Principal Security Consultant at Lastline said: While security remains a low priority for NHS management, they will increasingly fall victim to these kinds of attacks, which will cause serious problems as it results in the cancellation of treatments whilst the affected systems are investigated and cleaned up. The National Health Service is one of the largest organisations in the United Kingdom. With an annual budget in the region of £116 billion, it is a massive target for cyber-attacks and currently, it’s a poorly defended target. There are a number of trusts in deficit and spending on the NHS has dropped in real terms since the recession. Priorities for all NHS trusts are unsurprisingly targeted at medical needs over and above admin and operational needs, but of course this includes IT Security. Interestingly, the NHS takes a very strict and sanitary approach to dealing with these attacks, shutting down almost all of its IT capabilities while it triages and treats the problem. Why would we expect any different from a medical organization? Moving forward if we are to prevent these attacks causing delays to treatment and potentially deaths, NHS trusts are going to have to invest in technology to deal with cyber-threats. There are plenty of good technologies available to assist in this issue and they can be scaled effectively and cost efficiently to cope with massive organisations like the NHS. 8:21PM Former MI6 director: ransomware attacks are 'increasingly common' Nigel Inkster, Director of transnational threats and political risk at the International Institute for Strategic Studies and former MI6 Director for operations and intelligence, says ransomware attacks like the one inflicted on the NHS today have become 'increasingly common'. 7:58PM Extremely Worrying Relatives of NHS patients speak about their fears. Relatives of a patient affected by NHS cyber attack say it is 'extremely worrying as he is seriously ill' #NHScyberattack pic.twitter.com/tjJejPvM7a — Sky News (@SkyNews) May 12, 2017 7:46PM Theresa May reacts The Prime Minister took a break from the election campaign trail to respond to the truly massive global ransomware attack which has done so much damage to the NHS. 7:34PM Scenes of desolation The main reception at Blackpool Victoria Hospital lies abandoned after the ransomware attack hamstrung the operation of the trust. Blackpool Victoria Hospital Credit: Warren Smith/Telegraph 7:24PM Theresa May: NHS not the target Theresa May said the Government is not aware of any evidence that patient records have been compromised in the massive cyber attack on the NHS. The Prime Minister said the ransomware hit was "not targeted" at the health service but was part of a wider assault on organisations across a number of countries. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is working to support the NHS. She said: We are aware that a number of NHS organisations have reported that they have suffered from a ransomware attack. This is not targeted at the NHS, it's an international attack and a number of countries and organisations have been affected. The National Cyber Security Centre is working closely with NHS digital to ensure that they support the organisations concerned and that they protect patient safety. And, we are not aware of any evidence that patient data has been compromised. Of course it is important that we have set up the National Cyber Security Centre and they are able to work with the NHS organisations concerned and to ensure that they are supported and patient safety is protected. 7:20PM The NHS toll: an update The following hospital trusts have confirmed they have been attacked by the malware: George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust (Nuneaten) Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (Great Yarmouth) Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust Latest news from GEH Update: Suspected cyber attack at GEH - We are currently dealing with a suspected cyber at... https://t.co/BZ95rLwmI8 — George Eliot NHS (@GEHNHSnews) May 12, 2017 7:07PM The human cost Anthony Brett turned up to St Bartholomew's Hospital in London today for an operation on his liver, but was turned away due to the chaos. A spokesman for the trust said: We are very sorry that we have to cancel routine appointments, and would ask members of the public to use other NHS services wherever possible Liver patient Anthony Brett is turned away from a London hospital Credit: Paul Grover/Telegraph 6:51PM World-wide reach...it makes you WannaCry This map gives a snapshot of the sheer breadth of this ransomware attack. Although the NHS has been badly affected, it shows the health service wasn't the only target. The reach of the WannaCry attack Credit: @Malware Tec 6:42PM FedEx the latest victim US multinational courier service FedEx appears to have been hit hard, according to an online security journalist. Employees have reportedly been instructed to switch off all non-essential Windows systems. FLASH: FedEx USA employees instructed to turn off all non-critical Windows systems on network after WCry compromise starts in UK offices — ZeroTayExploit (@SwiftOnSecurity) May 12, 2017 6:34PM Stay away from 'Clinical Results' This tweet from East Kent Hospitals appears to suggest that the ransomware infiltrated their IT systems in emails with 'Clinical Results' in the subject Trust staff: we are aware of the national cyber attack - DO NOT open any emails that have “Clinical Results” in the title or similar. — East Kent Hospitals (@EKHUFT) May 12, 2017 6:25PM Five more trusts confirmed Five more hospital trusts have confirmed they have been attacked, in addition to the list of 18 we brought you earlier. They are: Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Birmingham Community Healthcare Trust Aintree University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 6:21PM Spanish companies hit hard Major Spanish companies have been hit by a cyber attack bearing striking similarities with the onslaught against that has crippled the NHS, according to Madrid journalist James Babcock. Firms such as Telefónica, Spain’s leading telecoms company, were targeted by malware around midday, causing operators’ computer screens to turn blue. Access to files became impossible and a demand for a ransom to be paid in bitcoins flashed up on screens at Telefónica’s headquarters in northern Madrid. Spain’s National Cryptology Centre (CCN), part of the country’s secret security services, conformed in a press release that a “massive ransomware attack affecting Windows systems” had affected “a large number of organisations”. 6:15PM Back to the Stone Age A pharmacist in Yorkshire says it's back to paper notes and no patient histories All shut down in Yorkshire-even in GP practice. Back to handwriting notes while seeing patients without full histories! #nhscyberattack — Chris Maguire (@chris_magz) May 12, 2017 6:07PM Spreading worldwide As well as the NHS, the ransomware had struck telecoms companies, and electric utilities companies. Thousands of dollars was already rolling into Internet accounts set up to handle the ransom payments. Adam Meyers, from cyber security firm CrowdStrike advised against paying. We advise people not to pay, because if people do pay, it emboldens these criminal actors. Instead organisations were encouraged to make sure their data was backed up and copies were kept off networks. Employees had to be educated about which sort of emails to beware of and the latest patches and security updates installed. 6:01PM WannaCry: part of a wider attack of The hack on the NHS appeared to be a part of a wider attack of WannaCry ransomware which is spreading rapidly across Europe, security experts have told the Telegraph. Adam Meyers, vice president of intelligence at the cyber security firm CrowdStrike said it was being spread by people clicking on emails infected with fake invoices and job adverts. Mr Meyers said the ransomware appeared to be relatively new and it was unclear who was behind it. 5:53PM Hacking the NHS 'is easy' The Telegraph's Jamie Bartlett explains how today's strike is a classic example of a ransomware attack . He says that the online purchase of ransomware is one of the fastest growing trades on the internet. Insiders reckon the trade is worth millions of dollars a year. Individual attacks are for sale on the dark net for as little as $39. 5:42PM Like something out of the movies One Twitter posts a conversation between hospital staff. One said: We got a message saying your computers are now under their control and pay certain amount of money. Why would you cyber attack a hospital and hold it for ransom? The state of the world �� pic.twitter.com/e6h6yNrBBB — If.ra (@asystoly) May 12, 2017 5:37PM Mother and son turned away The real-world impacts of today's massive cyber attack on the NHS are beginning to filter through. 5:30PM No guarantee of recovery Cyber crime experts Databarracks say victims of ransomware attacks have got two options: You can either recover the information from a previous backup or pay the ransom. However, even if you pay the ransom, there is no guarantee that you will actually get your data back, so the only way to stay fully protected is to have historic copies of your data. When recovering from ransomware, your two aims are to minimise the amount of data loss and to minimise the amount of IT downtime. 5:24PM Critical or life-threatening only The latest tweets from Colchester Hospital make grim reading.. Our A&E is open for critical or life-threatening situations requiring medical attention, such as loss of consciousness, heavy blood loss... — Colchester Hospitals (@ColchesterNHSFT) May 12, 2017 2/... suspected broken bones, persistent chest pain, difficulty breathing, overdoses, signs of a stroke, ingestion or poisoning. — Colchester Hospitals (@ColchesterNHSFT) May 12, 2017 5:21PM "One by one, the screens were locking down” A shocked worker at Colchester General Hospital described how her office’s computers were “wiped out, one by one”. She said the effects of a hack on modern NHS hospitals could be 'catastrophic'. My computer locked at about 3pm and I couldn’t get anything to work. Then my colleague sat next to me said her computer was down. It swept through the office and everyone was effected and didn’t know what was going on. One by one the computers were wiped out. Nothing was working and switching them off and on did not solve the problems. 5:17PM Not just a British problem? A Milan-based Twitter user has Tweeted a picture of what appears to be a similar ransomware message at what is described as a university. A ransomware spreading in the lab at the university pic.twitter.com/8dROVXXkQv — １２Ｂ (@dodicin) May 12, 2017 5:08PM 'Double in three days' - the demand A screen shot circulated by medical staff shows a warning flashing on screen which reads: “What happened to my computer?” and states that many documents, photos, vidos and databases and other files are no longer accessible. Warning “nobody can recover your files without our decryption service” it then demands payments of $300 dollars - stating that the price will be doubled in three days. Doctors have seen this message on screens across the country Credit: PA 5:04PM The list gets bigger The situation is moving very fast. The Health Service Journal has a list of the hospitals and organisations known to have been hit. A list of NHS organisations who have fallen victims to today's nationwide ransomware attack: pic.twitter.com/LeXTO6YqFI — Shaun Lintern (@ShaunLintern) May 12, 2017 5:02PM Aintree University Hospital 'down' Top radiologist Rashid Akhtar reports that one of Liverpool's big hospitals is affected. Aintree hospital down — Rashid Akhtar (@TheRadiologyReg) May 12, 2017 4:58PM 'Miracle' if on one comes to harm Dominic Marley, a hospital doctor in the Manchester area, gives a grim perspective on the likely consequences of today's attack. No x-rays/bloods/bleeps/phones/notes. This is unprecedented. It will be a miracle if no-one comes to harm #NHS #CyberAttack attack — Dominic Marley (@DominicMarley) May 12, 2017 4:53PM Shocking and Unprecedented Peter Warren, Cyber Security Research Institute said the NHS tends to be 'quite leaky' when it comes to security: This is shocking and unprecedented. It is a historical moment, proving how important cyber security is. It hasn't been taken seriously enough for years, Cyber security is not a priority. The NHS is under pressure on many fronts. They tend to be quite leaky when it comes to cyber security. It is no surprise that this has happened. 4:45PM Cyber Spooks The National Cyber Security Centre are on the case. Sources said officials from the National Cyber Security Centre, a branch of the GCHQ electronic spy agency, said they are working with the NCA, dubbed Britain's FBI, to help health managers. The attack comes only weeks after the NCSC warned that so-called ransomware attacks, where hackers lock up data and demand money to release it, have become one the biggest cyber threats We are aware of cyber incident and we are working with @NHSDigital and the @NCA_UK to investigate — NCSC UK (@ncsc) May 12, 2017 4:42PM Dark Currency Hospitals and GP surgeries appear to have been told to pay $300 dollars - £233 - in order to regain access to their files. The hackers are demanding this is paid in Bitcoins, an unregulated internet currency that authorities find it difficult to trace. 1 Bitcoin is currently equivalent to £1,381. 4:34PM Hospital super boss says everyone has to muck in Chris Hopson, who represents NHS hospital bosses, said trusts will be supporting each other to get through the crisis. The scale and scope of what looks to be an extensive malware attack on the NHS is not yet clear. Given the potential impact, NHS trusts take this type of attack very seriously. They have detailed and well rehearsed contingency plans in place to deal with incidents of this type and these plans have worked effectively when they have been triggered on an individual trust basis in the past. Trusts will rally round support each other to cope with the disruption and early feedback suggests that this is already happening in this case. However, it is likely that some services will be affected, at least in the short term. The trusts affected will now be doing all they can to minimise the impact on patients, and to get their services back to normal as quickly as possible. 4:29PM Files held to ransom Doctors across the country have seen this message - what appears to be ransomware - flash up on their screens #nhscyberattack pic.twitter.com/SovgQejl3X — gigi.h (@fendifille) May 12, 2017 4:24PM NHS confirms it is under attack NHS Digital said: “We’re aware that a number of trusts that have reported potential issues to the CareCERT team. We believe it to be ransomware.” Register Log in commenting policy || Government under pressure after NHS crippled in global cyber attack as weekend of chaos looms: Screenshot of the suspected ransomware message on a GP's computer in the Greater Preston area - PA Hospitals across the country hit badly by attack Nearly 100 countries affected Fears of chaos over weekend Edward Snowden blames NSA for attack Cyber attack hits German train stations as hackers target Deutsche Bahn Russian-linked cyber gang Shadow Brokers blamed Everything you need to know about global attack NHS bosses and the government are facing questions over why hospitals had been left vulnerable to the global cyber attack that crippled services on Friday. The health service faces a weekend of chaos after hackers demanding a ransom infiltrated the health service’s antiquated computer system. Operations and appointments were cancelled and ambulances diverted as up to 40 hospital trusts became infected by a “ransomware” attack demanding payment to regain access to vital medical records. Doctors warned that the infiltration – the largest cyber attack in NHS history – could cost lives. Medics described how computer screens were “wiped out one by one” by the attack, which spread to companies and institutions worldwide, including international shipper FedEx Corp in the US, and Germany's rail operator . 'Biggest ransomware attack in history' Researchers with security software maker Avast said they had observed 57,000 infections in 99 countries with Russia, Ukraine and Taiwan the top targets. Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at the Helsinki-based cybersecurity company F-Secure, called the attack "the biggest ransomware outbreak in history". The NHS said there was no evidence that patients’ medical records had been accessed, but it was unable to say whether the hackers – who are threatening to delete information unless payment is received within a week – had the ability to destroy such records. Experts at GCHQ’s national cyber security centre were helping NHS teams fight the attack. The US Department of Homeland Security said late on Friday that it was aware of reports of the ransomware, was sharing information with domestic and foreign partners and was ready to lend technical support. Story continues The ransomware attack has affected people and businesses across the world Credit: Malware Tec The attack has been declared a major incident, and has spread to Scotland, where crisis meetings were also being held last night. A computer hacking group known as Shadow Brokers was at least partly responsible. It is claimed the group, which has links to Russia, stole US National Security Agency cyber tools designed to access Microsoft Windows systems, then dumped the technology on a publicly-accessible website where online criminals could access it – possibly in retaliation for America’s attack on Syria. Questions over NHS vulnerability Microsoft had provided free software to protect computers in March, raising questions about why the NHS was still vulnerable. Last night the technology giant said it was pushing out automatic Windows updates to defend clients from WannaCry. Cyber experts said the health service appeared susceptible to attack because many trusts were using obsolete systems, while others have failed to apply recent security updates which would have protected them. This week it was suggested that 90 per cent of NHS trusts in the UK were using Windows XP – a 16-year-old operating system. Security experts said that computers using operating software introduced before 2007 were particularly vulnerable, leaving many NHS systems at risk. About | Ransomware Others, using newer systems, may have failed to apply recent security updates, which would have protected them, experts said. Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said the attack was "terrible news and a real worry for patients" and urged the Government to be "clear about what's happened". Ross Anderson, professor of security engineering at Cambridge University's computer lab, said the incident is the "sort of thing for which the secretary of state should get roasted in Parliament. "If large numbers of NHS organisations failed to act on a critical notice from Microsoft two months ago, then whose fault is that?" Mr Anderson told The Guardian. May: 'This was international attack' The hack is thought to be part of a wider attack, which has affected the Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica, which also owns 02, where the same message was presented. The ransomware attack was orchestrated using malware called Wanna Decryptor, also known as WannaCry, which demands each user affected pay $300 (£232) in the internet currency Bitcoin, to have files restored. Thousands of NHS computers have been affected so the ransom could potentially cost taxpayers millions. The attack was described by Theresa May as “intentional”. The Prime Minister said: “We are aware that a number of NHS organisations have reported that they have suffered from a ransomware attack. This is not targeted at the NHS, it’s an international attack and a number of countries and organisations have been affected. “The National Cyber Security Centre is working closely with NHS digital to ensure that they support the organisations concerned and that they protect patient safety. And, we are not aware of any evidence that patient data has been compromised.” Intelligence sources said the attack appeared to have been carried out by criminals rather than a hostile state and the ransomware had rapidly spread through companies and organisations in Europe and the Middle East. Russia’s interior ministry said last night it had come under cyber attack. Patients have operations cancelled In the UK the only affected organisation appeared to be the NHS. Patients awaiting heart surgery were among those who had operations cancelled, with doctors telling how staff were frantically ordering computers to be shut down. New parents were left stuck on wards with their newborns as administrative systems failed. Doctors at dozens of trusts resorted to pen and paper, with no access to medical records that could alert them to medical histories or allergies. Handwritten signs in the entrance of the Royal London’s A&E read: “The emergency department has no IT facilities, there are significant delays occurring.” At a glance | High profile hacks NHS trusts are supposed to regularly back up their files. But yesterday doctors and nurses were left treating patients without any access to their medical histories, with lost access to X-rays, blood tests and details such as allergies to medication. It raises the possibility that recent changes to medical records – such as a cancer diagnosis, or the results of a blood test – could be lost, if hackers delete the files. Hacking tool stolen from NSA The mysterious Shadow Brokers claimed last month it had stolen a “cyber weapon” from the NSA that gives unprecedented access to all computers using Microsoft Windows. The hacking tool had been developed by the NSA, to gain access to computers used by terrorists and enemy states. A screen shot circulated by medical staff showed that users were alerted to their system being compromised by a flashing warning on screen which reads: “What happened to my computer?” and states that many documents, photos, videos and databases and other files are no longer accessible. Warning “nobody can recover your files without our decryption service” it then demands payments of $300 – stating that the price will be doubled in three days. An NHS spokesman said: “At this stage we do not have any evidence that patient data has been accessed.” Colchester A&E was among several yesterday urging the public to stay away, unless in the most severe need tweeting: “Our A&E is open for critical or life-threatening situations requiring medical attention, such as loss of consciousness, heavy blood loss.” A 'miracle if no one comes to harm' At Lister Hospital in Stevenage, the telephone and computer system was fully disabled in an attempt to fend off the attack, with all non-urgent appointments and operations cancelled and patients told to keep away from A&E if at all possible. The loss of computer systems meant doctors and nurses lost access to X-rays, blood test results and booking systems, rendering a normal day’s work impossible. A worker at Colchester General Hospital described how her office’s computers were “wiped out, one by one”. Dominic Marley, a hospital doctor in the Manchester area, said it would be a “miracle if no one comes to harm”. Barts Health NHS Trust, which runs The Royal London, St Bartholomew’s, Whipps Cross and Newham hospitals in London, said it had implemented its major incident plan to cope with disruption. Anthony Brett was about to have a stent put in his liver to treat his cancer when he was told the procedure could not happen. The 50-year-old from Bow, east London, said: “To do it to the NHS that does so much good for people, it’s just disgusting. They should be hung, drawn and quartered.” 6:39AM Taiwan on alert Taiwan has been put on high alert after it was reportedly one of the top targets of the cyber attack that rocked the world on Friday, writes Nicola Smith . While government departments and hospital systems had so far been spared the chaos that struck Britain's NHS, there were fears the full impact of the attack may only emerge after the weekend. Ross Feingold, a Taiwan-based political analyst who advises on Taiwan and Hong Kong political affairs, warned that full picture may not be known until Monday morning when officials returned to work. Read the full article here . Taiwan is among the world’s biggest targets for ransomware attacks Credit: EPA 4:44AM Teams 'working round the clock' Ciaran Martin, the body's chief executive, said teams were "working round the clock" with UK and international partners and with private sector experts to lead the response. "We are very aware that attacks on critical services such as the NHS have a massive impact on individuals and their families, and we are doing everything in our power to help them restore these vital services." The attack has left hospitals and GP surgeries with a backlog of postponed appointments to contend with, including operations, once the crisis is brought under control. 3:58AM 'They will try again' The attack was apparently halted in the afternoon in the UK when a researcher took control of an Internet domain that acted as a kill switch for the worm's propagation, according to Ars Technica. The researcher, who uses the Twitter name @MalwareTechBlog, said: "I will confess that I was unaware registering the domain would stop the malware until after I registered it, so initially it was accidental. So long as the domain isn't revoked, this particular strain will no longer cause harm, but patch your systems ASAP as they will try again." It's very important everyone understands that all they need to do is change some code and start again. Patch your systems now! https://t.co/L4GIPLGKEs — MalwareTech (@MalwareTechBlog) May 13, 2017 Read the full article here. 2:47AM US offers help to tackle crisis The US Department of Homeland Security has said it is aware of reports of the ransomware. It says it is sharing information with domestic and foreign partners and was ready to lend technical support. The global cyber attack renewed concerns about whether the NSA and other countries' intelligence services too often hoard software vulnerabilities for offensive purposes, rather than quickly alerting technology companies to such flaws. Patrick Toomey, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement: "These attacks underscore the fact that vulnerabilities will be exploited not just by our security agencies, but by hackers and criminals around the world." If NSA builds a weapon to attack Windows XP—which Microsoft refuses to patches—and it falls into enemy hands, should NSA write a patch? https://t.co/TUTtmc2aU9 — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) May 12, 2017 12:51AM Is this how the spread of the virus was halted? God damn. Looks like @MalwareTechBlog stopped the spread of this global ransomware attack https://t.co/pgDiTS9oTR pic.twitter.com/YyFKt7cQwy — Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) May 12, 2017 12:03AM Germany's Deutsche Bahn railways 'affected by virus' Germany's main train operator Deutsche Bahn was attacked by ransomware based on leaked NSA tools. pic.twitter.com/hP66QZT1cQ — Pamela Moore (@Pamela_Moore13) May 12, 2017 11:32PM Chief Executive of NHS Providers speaks out on cyber attack Chris Hopson, Chief Executive of NHS Providers, says trusts are working to limit the impact of the cyber attack: 11:21PM Edward Snowden: Are any other vulnerabilities in software? In light of today's attack, Congress needs to be asking @NSAgov if it knows of any other vulnerabilities in software used in our hospitals. — Edward Snowden (@Snowden) May 12, 2017 10:12PM How to protect yourself from ransomware Back up your files The greatest damage people suffer from a ransomware attack is the loss of files, including pictures and documents. The best protection against ransomware is to back up all of the information and files on your devices in a completely separate system. A good place to do this is on an external hard drive that isn't connected to the internet. This means that if you suffer an attack you won't lost any information to the hackers. Businesses often save copies of their data to external servers that won't be affected if their main network is attacked. Be suspicious of emails, websites and apps For ransomware to work hackers need to download malicious software onto a victims computer. This is then used to launch the attack and encrypt files. The most common ways for the software to be installed on a victim's device is through phishing emails, malicious adverts on websites, and questionable apps and programs. People should always exercise caution when opening unsolicited emails or visiting websites they are unfamiliar with. Never download an app that hasn't been verified by an official store, and read reviews before installing programs. Read our full guide . 9:30PM FedEx reports malware interference in global cyberattack FedEx has said it is experiencing issues with some of its Microsoft Corp Windows systems. "Like many other companies, FedEx is experiencing interference with some of our Windows-based systems caused by malware," a spokeswoman said in a statement. "We are implementing remediation steps as quickly as possible." 9:12PM 'Emergency care is operating as normal,' says NHS London Director The head of the NHS in London, Dr Anne Rainsberry, says patients who are seriously ill should go to accident and emergency as usual, despite a huge cyber attack on hospitals. 9:07PM Russia's Interior Ministry targeted Russia's Interior Ministry says it has come under cyberattack. Two security companies tell AP that more than 70 countries have been affected by the cyberattack, with Russia the hardest hit. Russian police computers were also affected by the attack. 8:57PM We didn't turn anyone away Rozina Sabur reports: One nurse, who did not want to be named, said: "I work in one of the assessment clinics, we had to write everything by paper but it was ok, in our section we didn't turn anyone away". Another, a stroke specialist nurse, said: "We've been directing patients to Luton Hospital all day where they have a specialist stroke department. It started around 11:30/12 so I'd seen 4-5 patients before that." Patients could be seen leaving the hospital with handwritten medical notes scrawled on pieces of paper. Some described how their relatives had been told to attend their nearest alternative hospitals. 8:52PM NHS Digital's head of security: 'health has never paid a ransom' NHS Digital's head of security Dan Taylor the NHS "must ensure it has good cyber crime hygiene". In a hand-washing analogy, he added: "Think of this as washing your hands before going on to a ward to prevent infection, where cyber hygiene prevents digital viruses such as ransomware." Describing ransomware as a situation where data is "digitally locked" and a ransom is asked for for the unlocking key, Mr Taylor said "health has never paid a ransom". He added: "Instead, organisations have restored systems from back-ups after clearing the infection. But as we have seen recently, this can still lead to days of cancellations to patient facing services." 8:43PM Hospital conditions described as 'primitive' Rozina Sabur reports: Two general surgery ward nurse described the conditions today as "primitive". One said: "the usual notes that we do on the computer we had to do by hand. It's gone back to primitive times." The other described the rudimentary systems that the hospital pharmacy have been reduced to using. "I observed the pharmacy, instead they of the usual computer forms they had to write the medication name and dosage by hand. "We had to use forms from ten years ago because we couldn't use them online. We then had to call people to bring the medicine requests because when we do it online it registers automatically." He said the main things affected were laboratory forms and pharmacy forms. 8:38PM Technology writer Kate Bevan explains how ransomware works 8:26PM Hacking attacks reported in Romania and Russia Romania Romania's intelligence service says it has intercepted an attempted cyberattack on a government institution which it said likely came from cybercriminal group APT28 also known as Fancy Bear. Cyberint, subordinated to the Romanian Intelligence Service, said on Friday it thwarted a cyberattack to a government institution, without saying when it occurred, following notification from NATO and the Romanian foreign intelligence agency. Russia A top Russian mobile operator says it has come under cyberattacks that appeared similar to those that have crippled some U.K. hospitals. Pyotr Lidov, a spokesman for Megafon, said Friday's attacks froze computers in company's offices across Russia. He said that mobile communications haven't been affected. Lidov said that the attack involved demands of payment of $300 worth to free up the system. He added that the company managed to restore the work of its call center but closed most of its offices for the day. Some Russian media also have reported cyberattacks on the Interior Ministry and the Investigative Committee. The committee, the nation's top investigative agency, has rejected the claim. 8:22PM NHS 'will increasingly fall victim to these kinds of attacks' Jamie Moles, Principal Security Consultant at Lastline said: While security remains a low priority for NHS management, they will increasingly fall victim to these kinds of attacks, which will cause serious problems as it results in the cancellation of treatments whilst the affected systems are investigated and cleaned up. The National Health Service is one of the largest organisations in the United Kingdom. With an annual budget in the region of £116 billion, it is a massive target for cyber-attacks and currently, it’s a poorly defended target. There are a number of trusts in deficit and spending on the NHS has dropped in real terms since the recession. Priorities for all NHS trusts are unsurprisingly targeted at medical needs over and above admin and operational needs, but of course this includes IT Security. Interestingly, the NHS takes a very strict and sanitary approach to dealing with these attacks, shutting down almost all of its IT capabilities while it triages and treats the problem. Why would we expect any different from a medical organization? Moving forward if we are to prevent these attacks causing delays to treatment and potentially deaths, NHS trusts are going to have to invest in technology to deal with cyber-threats. There are plenty of good technologies available to assist in this issue and they can be scaled effectively and cost efficiently to cope with massive organisations like the NHS. 8:21PM Former MI6 director: ransomware attacks are 'increasingly common' Nigel Inkster, Director of transnational threats and political risk at the International Institute for Strategic Studies and former MI6 Director for operations and intelligence, says ransomware attacks like the one inflicted on the NHS today have become 'increasingly common'. 7:58PM Extremely Worrying Relatives of NHS patients speak about their fears. Relatives of a patient affected by NHS cyber attack say it is 'extremely worrying as he is seriously ill' #NHScyberattack pic.twitter.com/tjJejPvM7a — Sky News (@SkyNews) May 12, 2017 7:46PM Theresa May reacts The Prime Minister took a break from the election campaign trail to respond to the truly massive global ransomware attack which has done so much damage to the NHS. 7:34PM Scenes of desolation The main reception at Blackpool Victoria Hospital lies abandoned after the ransomware attack hamstrung the operation of the trust. Blackpool Victoria Hospital Credit: Warren Smith/Telegraph 7:24PM Theresa May: NHS not the target Theresa May said the Government is not aware of any evidence that patient records have been compromised in the massive cyber attack on the NHS. The Prime Minister said the ransomware hit was "not targeted" at the health service but was part of a wider assault on organisations across a number of countries. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is working to support the NHS. She said: We are aware that a number of NHS organisations have reported that they have suffered from a ransomware attack. This is not targeted at the NHS, it's an international attack and a number of countries and organisations have been affected. The National Cyber Security Centre is working closely with NHS digital to ensure that they support the organisations concerned and that they protect patient safety. And, we are not aware of any evidence that patient data has been compromised. Of course it is important that we have set up the National Cyber Security Centre and they are able to work with the NHS organisations concerned and to ensure that they are supported and patient safety is protected. 7:20PM The NHS toll: an update The following hospital trusts have confirmed they have been attacked by the malware: George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust (Nuneaten) Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (Great Yarmouth) Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust Latest news from GEH Update: Suspected cyber attack at GEH - We are currently dealing with a suspected cyber at... https://t.co/BZ95rLwmI8 — George Eliot NHS (@GEHNHSnews) May 12, 2017 7:07PM The human cost Anthony Brett turned up to St Bartholomew's Hospital in London today for an operation on his liver, but was turned away due to the chaos. A spokesman for the trust said: We are very sorry that we have to cancel routine appointments, and would ask members of the public to use other NHS services wherever possible Liver patient Anthony Brett is turned away from a London hospital Credit: Paul Grover/Telegraph 6:51PM World-wide reach...it makes you WannaCry This map gives a snapshot of the sheer breadth of this ransomware attack. Although the NHS has been badly affected, it shows the health service wasn't the only target. The reach of the WannaCry attack Credit: @Malware Tec 6:42PM FedEx the latest victim US multinational courier service FedEx appears to have been hit hard, according to an online security journalist. Employees have reportedly been instructed to switch off all non-essential Windows systems. FLASH: FedEx USA employees instructed to turn off all non-critical Windows systems on network after WCry compromise starts in UK offices — ZeroTayExploit (@SwiftOnSecurity) May 12, 2017 6:34PM Stay away from 'Clinical Results' This tweet from East Kent Hospitals appears to suggest that the ransomware infiltrated their IT systems in emails with 'Clinical Results' in the subject Trust staff: we are aware of the national cyber attack - DO NOT open any emails that have “Clinical Results” in the title or similar. — East Kent Hospitals (@EKHUFT) May 12, 2017 6:25PM Five more trusts confirmed Five more hospital trusts have confirmed they have been attacked, in addition to the list of 18 we brought you earlier. They are: Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Birmingham Community Healthcare Trust Aintree University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 6:21PM Spanish companies hit hard Major Spanish companies have been hit by a cyber attack bearing striking similarities with the onslaught against that has crippled the NHS, according to Madrid journalist James Babcock. Firms such as Telefónica, Spain’s leading telecoms company, were targeted by malware around midday, causing operators’ computer screens to turn blue. Access to files became impossible and a demand for a ransom to be paid in bitcoins flashed up on screens at Telefónica’s headquarters in northern Madrid. Spain’s National Cryptology Centre (CCN), part of the country’s secret security services, conformed in a press release that a “massive ransomware attack affecting Windows systems” had affected “a large number of organisations”. 6:15PM Back to the Stone Age A pharmacist in Yorkshire says it's back to paper notes and no patient histories All shut down in Yorkshire-even in GP practice. Back to handwriting notes while seeing patients without full histories! #nhscyberattack — Chris Maguire (@chris_magz) May 12, 2017 6:07PM Spreading worldwide As well as the NHS, the ransomware had struck telecoms companies, and electric utilities companies. Thousands of dollars was already rolling into Internet accounts set up to handle the ransom payments. Adam Meyers, from cyber security firm CrowdStrike advised against paying. We advise people not to pay, because if people do pay, it emboldens these criminal actors. Instead organisations were encouraged to make sure their data was backed up and copies were kept off networks. Employees had to be educated about which sort of emails to beware of and the latest patches and security updates installed. 6:01PM WannaCry: part of a wider attack of The hack on the NHS appeared to be a part of a wider attack of WannaCry ransomware which is spreading rapidly across Europe, security experts have told the Telegraph. Adam Meyers, vice president of intelligence at the cyber security firm CrowdStrike said it was being spread by people clicking on emails infected with fake invoices and job adverts. Mr Meyers said the ransomware appeared to be relatively new and it was unclear who was behind it. 5:53PM Hacking the NHS 'is easy' The Telegraph's Jamie Bartlett explains how today's strike is a classic example of a ransomware attack . He says that the online purchase of ransomware is one of the fastest growing trades on the internet. Insiders reckon the trade is worth millions of dollars a year. Individual attacks are for sale on the dark net for as little as $39. 5:42PM Like something out of the movies One Twitter posts a conversation between hospital staff. One said: We got a message saying your computers are now under their control and pay certain amount of money. Why would you cyber attack a hospital and hold it for ransom? The state of the world �� pic.twitter.com/e6h6yNrBBB — If.ra (@asystoly) May 12, 2017 5:37PM Mother and son turned away The real-world impacts of today's massive cyber attack on the NHS are beginning to filter through. 5:30PM No guarantee of recovery Cyber crime experts Databarracks say victims of ransomware attacks have got two options: You can either recover the information from a previous backup or pay the ransom. However, even if you pay the ransom, there is no guarantee that you will actually get your data back, so the only way to stay fully protected is to have historic copies of your data. When recovering from ransomware, your two aims are to minimise the amount of data loss and to minimise the amount of IT downtime. 5:24PM Critical or life-threatening only The latest tweets from Colchester Hospital make grim reading.. Our A&E is open for critical or life-threatening situations requiring medical attention, such as loss of consciousness, heavy blood loss... — Colchester Hospitals (@ColchesterNHSFT) May 12, 2017 2/... suspected broken bones, persistent chest pain, difficulty breathing, overdoses, signs of a stroke, ingestion or poisoning. — Colchester Hospitals (@ColchesterNHSFT) May 12, 2017 5:21PM "One by one, the screens were locking down” A shocked worker at Colchester General Hospital described how her office’s computers were “wiped out, one by one”. She said the effects of a hack on modern NHS hospitals could be 'catastrophic'. My computer locked at about 3pm and I couldn’t get anything to work. Then my colleague sat next to me said her computer was down. It swept through the office and everyone was effected and didn’t know what was going on. One by one the computers were wiped out. Nothing was working and switching them off and on did not solve the problems. 5:17PM Not just a British problem? A Milan-based Twitter user has Tweeted a picture of what appears to be a similar ransomware message at what is described as a university. A ransomware spreading in the lab at the university pic.twitter.com/8dROVXXkQv — １２Ｂ (@dodicin) May 12, 2017 5:08PM 'Double in three days' - the demand A screen shot circulated by medical staff shows a warning flashing on screen which reads: “What happened to my computer?” and states that many documents, photos, vidos and databases and other files are no longer accessible. Warning “nobody can recover your files without our decryption service” it then demands payments of $300 dollars - stating that the price will be doubled in three days. Doctors have seen this message on screens across the country Credit: PA 5:04PM The list gets bigger The situation is moving very fast. The Health Service Journal has a list of the hospitals and organisations known to have been hit. A list of NHS organisations who have fallen victims to today's nationwide ransomware attack: pic.twitter.com/LeXTO6YqFI — Shaun Lintern (@ShaunLintern) May 12, 2017 5:02PM Aintree University Hospital 'down' Top radiologist Rashid Akhtar reports that one of Liverpool's big hospitals is affected. Aintree hospital down — Rashid Akhtar (@TheRadiologyReg) May 12, 2017 4:58PM 'Miracle' if on one comes to harm Dominic Marley, a hospital doctor in the Manchester area, gives a grim perspective on the likely consequences of today's attack. No x-rays/bloods/bleeps/phones/notes. This is unprecedented. It will be a miracle if no-one comes to harm #NHS #CyberAttack attack — Dominic Marley (@DominicMarley) May 12, 2017 4:53PM Shocking and Unprecedented Peter Warren, Cyber Security Research Institute said the NHS tends to be 'quite leaky' when it comes to security: This is shocking and unprecedented. It is a historical moment, proving how important cyber security is. It hasn't been taken seriously enough for years, Cyber security is not a priority. The NHS is under pressure on many fronts. They tend to be quite leaky when it comes to cyber security. It is no surprise that this has happened. 4:45PM Cyber Spooks The National Cyber Security Centre are on the case. Sources said officials from the National Cyber Security Centre, a branch of the GCHQ electronic spy agency, said they are working with the NCA, dubbed Britain's FBI, to help health managers. The attack comes only weeks after the NCSC warned that so-called ransomware attacks, where hackers lock up data and demand money to release it, have become one the biggest cyber threats We are aware of cyber incident and we are working with @NHSDigital and the @NCA_UK to investigate — NCSC UK (@ncsc) May 12, 2017 4:42PM Dark Currency Hospitals and GP surgeries appear to have been told to pay $300 dollars - £233 - in order to regain access to their files. The hackers are demanding this is paid in Bitcoins, an unregulated internet currency that authorities find it difficult to trace. 1 Bitcoin is currently equivalent to £1,381. 4:34PM Hospital super boss says everyone has to muck in Chris Hopson, who represents NHS hospital bosses, said trusts will be supporting each other to get through the crisis. The scale and scope of what looks to be an extensive malware attack on the NHS is not yet clear. Given the potential impact, NHS trusts take this type of attack very seriously. They have detailed and well rehearsed contingency plans in place to deal with incidents of this type and these plans have worked effectively when they have been triggered on an individual trust basis in the past. Trusts will rally round support each other to cope with the disruption and early feedback suggests that this is already happening in this case. However, it is likely that some services will be affected, at least in the short term. The trusts affected will now be doing all they can to minimise the impact on patients, and to get their services back to normal as quickly as possible. 4:29PM Files held to ransom Doctors across the country have seen this message - what appears to be ransomware - flash up on their screens #nhscyberattack pic.twitter.com/SovgQejl3X — gigi.h (@fendifille) May 12, 2017 4:24PM NHS confirms it is under attack NHS Digital said: “We’re aware that a number of trusts that have reported potential issues to the CareCERT team. We believe it to be ransomware.” Register Log in commenting policy || 'Accidental hero' finds kill switch to stop spread of ransomware cyber-attack: Move by @malwaretechblog came too late to help those in Europe and Asia, but people in the US were given more time to develop immunity to the attack Cyber-attack hits dozens of countries – live updates Massive ransomware cyber-attack hits 74 countries around the world The spread of WannaCry ransomware wreaked havoc on organizations including the UK’s National Health Service (NHS). Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images An “accidental hero” has halted the global spread of the WannaCry ransomware that has wreaked havoc on organizations including the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), FedEx and Telefonica. A cybersecurity researcher tweeting as @malwaretechblog , with the help of Darien Huss from security firm Proofpoint, found and implemented a “kill switch” in the malicious software that was based on a cyber-weapon stolen from the NSA. The kill switch was hardcoded into the malware in case the creator wanted to stop it from spreading. This involved a very long nonsensical domain name that the malware makes a request to – just as if it was looking up any website – and if the request comes back and shows that the domain is live, the kill switch takes effect and the malware stops spreading. Of course, this relies on the creator of the malware registering the specific domain. In this case, the creator failed to do this. And @malwaretechblog did early this morning (Pacific Time), stopping the rapid proliferation of the ransomware. “They get the accidental hero award of the day,” said Proofpoint’s Ryan Kalember. “They didn’t realize how much it probably slowed down the spread of this ransomware.” The time that @malwaretechblog registered the domain was too late to help Europe and Asia, where many organizations were affected. But it gave people in the US more time to develop immunity to the attack by patching their systems before they were infected, said Kalember. The kill switch won’t help anyone whose computer is already infected with the ransomware, and and it’s possible that there are other variances of the malware with different kill switches that will continue to spread. The malware was made available online on 14 April through a dump by a group called Shadow Brokers, which claimed last year to have stolen a cache of “cyber weapons” from the National Security Agency (NSA). Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts a user’s data, then demands payment in exchange for unlocking the data. This attack was caused by a bug called “WanaCrypt0r 2.0” or WannaCry , that exploits a vulnerability in Windows. Microsoft released a patch (a software update that fixes the problem) for the flaw in March, but computers that have not installed the security update remain vulnerable. I will confess that I was unaware registering the domain would stop the malware until after i registered it, so initially it was accidental. — MalwareTech (@MalwareTechBlog) May 13, 2017 The ransomware demands users pay $300 worth of cryptocurrency Bitcoin to retrieve their files, though it warns that the “payment will be raised” after a certain amount of time. Translations of the ransom message in 28 languages are included. The malware spreads through email. Story continues “This was eminently predictable in lots of ways,” said Ryan Kalember from cybersecurity firm Proofpoint. “As soon as the Shadow Brokers dump came out everyone [in the security industry] realized that a lot of people wouldn’t be able to install a patch, especially if they used an operating system like Windows XP [which many NHS computers still use], for which there is no patch.” Security researchers with Kaspersky Lab have recorded more than 45,000 attacks in 74 countries, including the UK, Russia, Ukraine, India, China, Italy, and Egypt. In Spain, major companies including telecommunications firm Telefónica were infected. By Friday evening, the ransomware had spread to the United States and South America, though Europe and Russia remained the hardest hit, according to security researchers Malware Hunter Team. The Russian interior ministry says about 1,000 computers have been affected. View comments || 'Accidental hero' finds kill switch to stop spread of ransomware cyber-attack: Move by @malwaretechblog came too late to help those in Europe and Asia, but people in the US were given more time to develop immunity to the attack Cyber-attack hits dozens of countries – live updates Massive ransomware cyber-attack hits 74 countries around the world The spread of WannaCry ransomware wreaked havoc on organizations including the UK’s National Health Service (NHS). Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images An “accidental hero” has halted the global spread of the WannaCry ransomware that has wreaked havoc on organizations including the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), FedEx and Telefonica. A cybersecurity researcher tweeting as @malwaretechblog , with the help of Darien Huss from security firm Proofpoint, found and implemented a “kill switch” in the malicious software that was based on a cyber-weapon stolen from the NSA. The kill switch was hardcoded into the malware in case the creator wanted to stop it from spreading. This involved a very long nonsensical domain name that the malware makes a request to – just as if it was looking up any website – and if the request comes back and shows that the domain is live, the kill switch takes effect and the malware stops spreading. Of course, this relies on the creator of the malware registering the specific domain. In this case, the creator failed to do this. And @malwaretechblog did early this morning (Pacific Time), stopping the rapid proliferation of the ransomware. “They get the accidental hero award of the day,” said Proofpoint’s Ryan Kalember. “They didn’t realize how much it probably slowed down the spread of this ransomware.” The time that @malwaretechblog registered the domain was too late to help Europe and Asia, where many organizations were affected. But it gave people in the US more time to develop immunity to the attack by patching their systems before they were infected, said Kalember. The kill switch won’t help anyone whose computer is already infected with the ransomware, and and it’s possible that there are other variances of the malware with different kill switches that will continue to spread. The malware was made available online on 14 April through a dump by a group called Shadow Brokers, which claimed last year to have stolen a cache of “cyber weapons” from the National Security Agency (NSA). Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts a user’s data, then demands payment in exchange for unlocking the data. This attack was caused by a bug called “WanaCrypt0r 2.0” or WannaCry , that exploits a vulnerability in Windows. Microsoft released a patch (a software update that fixes the problem) for the flaw in March, but computers that have not installed the security update remain vulnerable. I will confess that I was unaware registering the domain would stop the malware until after i registered it, so initially it was accidental. — MalwareTech (@MalwareTechBlog) May 13, 2017 The ransomware demands users pay $300 worth of cryptocurrency Bitcoin to retrieve their files, though it warns that the “payment will be raised” after a certain amount of time. Translations of the ransom message in 28 languages are included. The malware spreads through email. Story continues “This was eminently predictable in lots of ways,” said Ryan Kalember from cybersecurity firm Proofpoint. “As soon as the Shadow Brokers dump came out everyone [in the security industry] realized that a lot of people wouldn’t be able to install a patch, especially if they used an operating system like Windows XP [which many NHS computers still use], for which there is no patch.” Security researchers with Kaspersky Lab have recorded more than 45,000 attacks in 74 countries, including the UK, Russia, Ukraine, India, China, Italy, and Egypt. In Spain, major companies including telecommunications firm Telefónica were infected. By Friday evening, the ransomware had spread to the United States and South America, though Europe and Russia remained the hardest hit, according to security researchers Malware Hunter Team. The Russian interior ministry says about 1,000 computers have been affected. View comments || Inside the World's Greatest Scavenger Hunt: The Finale: GISHWHES stands for theGreatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen. Teams of 15 have one week to complete a list of 200 difficult, charitable, or hilarious tasks. They prove they’ve completed each item by submitting a photo or video of it; their $20 entry fees go to a charity, and the winning team gets a trip to an exotic location.
This is the final part of our series!
Part 1•Part 2•Part 3•Part 4• Part 5
It’s been an exhausting week for the 15 members of Team Raised from Perdition. In their fourth annual attempt to win the world’s largest scavenger hunt, they’ve taken the week off from work, palmed off children to relatives, and tested the limits of society’s tolerance for disruption.
They’ve also made personal sacrifices. “Sleep deprivation. Junk food all the time,” says co-captain Nina Mostepan. “Working out? I don’t know what that is right now.”
“We eat a lot of pickled eggs and chili in a jar while we’re driving,” adds Shiane Gaylie.
During the heat of the hunt week, “we get short with each other,” admits co-captain Geoff MacAnally. “Nina and I bicker about, like, how things should be running. And then we’re like, ‘I need to breathe.’”
As the deadline approaches—Saturday midnight—it’s clear the team won’t complete all 176 items on the GISHWHES list. (In the six-year history of the hunt, no team ever has.)
In the end, though, the team managed all but three tasks. They’vepampered a cow in Vermont, played badminton in a food court, persuaded two old men to play chess in a movie theater, sold bottled air on the street, registered 10 people to vote, built a spa for a mouse, panned for gold in a public fountain, sculpted a life-size dictator out of maxipads, built a working rowing scull out of trash, wrote a phone app for dialing a rotary phone, and played a human piano.
“Months pass between the end of the hunt and the actual winner’s announcement,” Christine says. “We spend that time obsessively combing over all the other teams’ entries and beating ourselves up for what we could have done better.”
In general, though, Raised from Perdition was feeing confident. “We figured there was pretty much no way we wouldn’t at least be a runner-up,” says Rob Fitz-James.
“Because we were runners-up the year before, and we did even better this year,” Shiane adds.
Rob agrees. “Better video quality, better photo quality. And submitting items before the deadline problem helped.”
According to hunt creator Misha Collins, the judging takes so long because, well, there’s a lot to go through.
“We take it very seriously. We have stages. We have lots of people that help judge in the first round, and then we narrow it down to the top 50 teams, and then down to the top 10 teams, and then down to the top three.”
Every year, some teams try to get by with “interpretive” items. “Sometimes, people will come up with a creative interpretation; they’ll do a cardboard cutout version of the real thing, or something like that. 19 times out of 20, they don’t get points for that, even if they put a fair amount of creative work into it. Our directive is very specific: you have to do the item as it is stipulated, and not some creative re-imagining to make it easier.”
Nowadays, his team actually employs Photoshop experts. “Because people cheat! One year, there was a team that would have won, but they’d Photoshopped a really big-ticket item. It was very convincing, and we were like, ‘Wow, they did it!’ But they didn’t. They had cheated, and we caught them.”
The GISHWHES judging process isn’t just long; it’s also opaque. Each item on the list carries a certain point value, but “there’s a high degree of subjectivity in the judging,” Collins says. “Like, we give bonus points.”
But the teams themselves will never know.
“GISHWHES never tells the competitors what their point total is,” Christine points out. “We don’t even get a cumulative point total, and we’re never told what the individual items are awarded. And it drives us crazy. Because it’s difficult to know how to improve from year to year if you don’t have a metric for what the judges are looking for.”
“That’s by design,” Collins says. “We don’t want people to get involved in petty arguments. So we don’t give them enough information to fight.”
The contest wrapped up on August 6, but weeks—months—went by without any word as to when the winners would be announced.
“Sometimes GISHWHES can be a little disorganized, I find,” says Shiane. “They just kind of surprise you a lot. You don’t know when the winner will be announced, for example. You don’t know when anything will be announced, until it’s there.”
But then, one day in October, there it was: a tweet that Misha Collins would be making an announcement on Facebook Live.
Christine: “I’m sitting in my dark hole of a basement. We gathered over Google Hangouts and held our breath.”
Shiane: “He did the runners up first, and he did it alphabetically. As soon as he skipped R, which our team name starts with, we knew that we’d won. We were all freaking out before he even announced it.”
Geoff: “And then the moment: ‘And the winning teammmmis…’That’s exactly how he does it.”
In fact, thatishow Misha Collins said it. “And the GISHWHES 2016 winning teammmm…is…Raised from Perdition!”
Christine: “Everyone erupted.”
Kira Sullivan: “We were all freaking out. It was pure joy. I screamed. My roommates thought something really bad happened to me!”
Shiane: “I hit my head on the ceiling. I pushed Rob over a table. We yelled and screamed for, like, 20 minutes.”
Geoff: “I cried.”
Nina “Uglycrying! You can see it in the video. I’m like, ‘Waauuuugh!’”
Kira: “In that moment, we really felt like a team. We didn’t know each other beforehand, but we came together and we won.”
Suzanne Simpson: “It was the most surreal experience of my life.”
Geoff: “After three years of working hard, it was a euphoric feeling.”
The prize for winning GISHWHES is a trip to some exotic spot. This year, it’s Iceland. (For the2017 hunt, which begins in August, the trip will be to Hawaii.)
Raised from Perdition arrived in Iceland today, in fact, to begin their five-day adventure, orchestrated by the GISHWHES staff and attended (at least for one day) by Misha Collins.
“Well, Misha’s pretty cool,” says Nat. “But the best part of the trip is meeting our teammates! We don’t know the people in San Fran, or South America, or Chicago, or Tennessee, or Connecticut, so we’ll get to meet them all! It’s all going to be great.”
For many GISHWHES players, the greatest reward isn’t the trip.
“I’ve heard a lot of people say things like, ‘I was suffering from agoraphobia. I hadn’t left my house to do more than go to the grocery store in two years. My friend coerced me into participating in GISHWHES, and it somehow broke things through for me,” recounts Collins. “Or, ‘I did GISHWHES and I changed my major in school to art,’ or, ‘I did GISHWHES and I decided to go back to school because of it.
“I mean, I don’t want to be too grandiose about it,” he adds. “I don’t want to make it sound like it’s all about that touchy-feely stuff. Itisjust a scavenger hunt. But people do have some remarkable experiences.”
Of course, there’s something in it for Collins, too. He’s proud of his seven Guinness World Records. The million-plus dollars raised for charity. The five Syrian refugee families housed and fed. The lives saved from bone-marrow donations. The mountain on Mars that NASA named after GISHWHES.
And he’s especially proud of the 2011 hunt item that required launching a fully decorated Christmas tree into the air with helium balloons.
“There was something just magical about that image, of watching Christmas trees float away. It was one of those ephemeral, magical moments,” Collins says.
“But we didn’t really think it through all the way. Because what happens if untethered is, the Christmas tree just floats away! And there were some regional airports that were closed due to, ‘Christmas trees in the airspace!’ I love that item, even though people’s flights were delayed because of it.”
Over the years, GISHWHES has grown from an impromptu game that Collins ran on Twitter for 300 fans to a truly international competition with 55,000 participants. And in that time, he’s had to add lawyers, and insurance, and a staff, and a website. Is there a danger that GISHWHES might become so Real and Official and Regulated that it loses its sense of chaotic, spontaneous, hilarious fun?
“We want the tone of GISHWHES to remain irreverent and free spirited and kindhearted and challenging and humiliating,” he says. “But at the same time, we want it to grow to something that more people participate in. In my grandiose scheme, people all over the world dread the first week in August, because that’s when GISHWHES happens. That’s my ambition for our enterprise. And you know, we’ll see. If it keeps growing at this rate, by the year 2300, we might be a well-known outfit.”
More from David Pogue:
Inside the World’s Greatest Scavenger Hunt:Part 1•Part 2•Part 3•Part 4• Part 5
The David Pogue Review: Windows 10 Creators Update
Now I get it: Bitcoin
David Pogue tested 47 pill-reminder apps to find the best one
David Pogue’s search for the world’s best air-travel app
The little-known iPhone feature that lets blind people see with their fingers
David Pogue, tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, welcomes nontoxic comments in the comments section below. On the web, he’sdavidpogue.com. On Twitter, he’s@pogue. On email, he’s [email protected]. You canread all his articles here, or you can sign up toget his columns by email. || How to Protect Yourself as Ransomware Attack Spreads Around the Globe: Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on this website. Hospitals and other healthcare providers across England were forced to cancel countless appointments and divert ambulances on Friday after a massive ransomware attack crippled their computer systems. In the hours that followed, the crisis spread to facilities in at dozens of other countries, according to news reports. FedEx was one of the big corporations affected by the attack, telling NBC News that "like many other companies, FedEx is experiencing interference with some of our Windows-based systems caused by malware. We are implementing remediation steps as quickly as possible. We regret any inconvenience to our customers. Although this latest attack was massive in scope, ransomeware threats often strike the personal computers of individual consumers, too. Heres what you need to know and how to protect yourself. What is ransomware? Ransomware is a form of malware designed to steal money from individuals, businesses and other organizations by holding their data hostage. Imagine coming home to find a big padlock on your front door and a criminal standing next to it, demanding money to let you in. That's ransomware. Only instead of being locked out of your house, you're locked out of all your personal files. The next time you log on, your computer displays a ransom note saying your data has been encrypted, with instructions on how to pay to unlock it. Can hackers really make money doing this? Oh, yes. Ransomware is big business. Ransoms can range from a few hundred to thousands of dollars and are usually paid in the "virtual" currency Bitcoin, which is nearly impossible to trace. In some cases, the longer you wait to pay, the higher the ransom becomes. According to cybersecurity firm Symantec's Internet Security Threat Report released in April, the number of new ransomware strategies uncovered during 2016 more than tripled to 101, while the number of ransomware infections the company spotted jumped 36 percent. Verizon's recently released 2017 Data Breach Investigations Report notes that ransomware accounted for 72 percent of the malware incidents involving the heathcare industry last year. Story continues Why is this particular ransomware attack significant? Friday's attack affected at least 25 of the UK's National Health Service's hospitals and other organizations. But NHS says it was not the specific target of the attack. It does not appear that patient information was accessed, according to the organization, but its investigation into the matter is still in the early stages. Barts Health, which manages a handful of major hospitals in London and elsewhere, also confirmed it was experiencing a "major IT disruption." The malware arrived in encrypted files distributed by email. Once a computer was infected, the user received a note demanding $300 in bitcoin to restore access to patient information and other data on the device. The attack quickly spread to other countries. CNN put the figure at 74 . Has this ever happened in the US? Yes. One of the best known examples involved L.A.'s Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, which in February 2016 said it paid a ransom of $17,000 to get its computer systems unlocked. Because of the large amount of personal information collected about patients, hospitals and other healthcare providers are prime ransonware targets. If a doctor can't access information about a patient's medications and pre-exisiting conditions, it's virtually impossible to provide treatment, forcing the doctor and patient to reschedule appointments. And that can result in millions of dollars in lost productivity. So, even though medical computer systems are routinely backed up, and nearly all that data can be recovered and restored, hospitals often pay the ransom in an effort to speed things up and minimize financial losses. How do you get infected? Whether they involve a computer nework run by a business or hospital, or just an average person's personal PC, most ransomware infections happen when a user is lured by a bogus phishing email to a site that infects his or her computer, or by clicking on an attached file that secretly installs it. How can you avoid having your data taken hostage? You avoid ransomware the same way you avoid any malware infection: By being careful. While that's not always easy, there are things you can do to steer clear of problems. Dont casually click a link inside an email; instead, type the web address directly into your browser. Never open an attachment unless you were expecting to receive it and you're certain of what it is. Don't spend time in the disreputable corners of the internet that specialize in risqué content or pirated movies; you can get infected simply by visiting a dodgy site. Never install software just because a web site tells you to do it. And always keep a backup copy of all your personal files on a separate drive or with a "cloud"-based backup service. That way, if the worst happens, you'll always have access to your most important data. More from Consumer Reports: Top pick tires for 2016 Best used cars for $25,000 and less 7 best mattresses for couples Copyright © 2006-2017 Consumer Reports, Inc. || How to Protect Yourself as Ransomware Attack Spreads Around the Globe: Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on this website. Hospitals and other healthcare providers across England were forced to cancel countless appointments and divert ambulances on Friday after a massive ransomware attack crippled their computer systems. In the hours that followed, the crisis spread to facilities in at dozens of other countries, according to news reports. FedEx was one of the big corporations affected by the attack, telling NBC News that "like many other companies, FedEx is experiencing interference with some of our Windows-based systems caused by malware. We are implementing remediation steps as quickly as possible. We regret any inconvenience to our customers. Although this latest attack was massive in scope, ransomeware threats often strike the personal computers of individual consumers, too. Heres what you need to know and how to protect yourself. What is ransomware? Ransomware is a form of malware designed to steal money from individuals, businesses and other organizations by holding their data hostage. Imagine coming home to find a big padlock on your front door and a criminal standing next to it, demanding money to let you in. That's ransomware. Only instead of being locked out of your house, you're locked out of all your personal files. The next time you log on, your computer displays a ransom note saying your data has been encrypted, with instructions on how to pay to unlock it. Can hackers really make money doing this? Oh, yes. Ransomware is big business. Ransoms can range from a few hundred to thousands of dollars and are usually paid in the "virtual" currency Bitcoin, which is nearly impossible to trace. In some cases, the longer you wait to pay, the higher the ransom becomes. According to cybersecurity firm Symantec's Internet Security Threat Report released in April, the number of new ransomware strategies uncovered during 2016 more than tripled to 101, while the number of ransomware infections the company spotted jumped 36 percent. Verizon's recently released 2017 Data Breach Investigations Report notes that ransomware accounted for 72 percent of the malware incidents involving the heathcare industry last year. Story continues Why is this particular ransomware attack significant? Friday's attack affected at least 25 of the UK's National Health Service's hospitals and other organizations. But NHS says it was not the specific target of the attack. It does not appear that patient information was accessed, according to the organization, but its investigation into the matter is still in the early stages. Barts Health, which manages a handful of major hospitals in London and elsewhere, also confirmed it was experiencing a "major IT disruption." The malware arrived in encrypted files distributed by email. Once a computer was infected, the user received a note demanding $300 in bitcoin to restore access to patient information and other data on the device. The attack quickly spread to other countries. CNN put the figure at 74 . Has this ever happened in the US? Yes. One of the best known examples involved L.A.'s Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, which in February 2016 said it paid a ransom of $17,000 to get its computer systems unlocked. Because of the large amount of personal information collected about patients, hospitals and other healthcare providers are prime ransonware targets. If a doctor can't access information about a patient's medications and pre-exisiting conditions, it's virtually impossible to provide treatment, forcing the doctor and patient to reschedule appointments. And that can result in millions of dollars in lost productivity. So, even though medical computer systems are routinely backed up, and nearly all that data can be recovered and restored, hospitals often pay the ransom in an effort to speed things up and minimize financial losses. How do you get infected? Whether they involve a computer nework run by a business or hospital, or just an average person's personal PC, most ransomware infections happen when a user is lured by a bogus phishing email to a site that infects his or her computer, or by clicking on an attached file that secretly installs it. How can you avoid having your data taken hostage? You avoid ransomware the same way you avoid any malware infection: By being careful. While that's not always easy, there are things you can do to steer clear of problems. Dont casually click a link inside an email; instead, type the web address directly into your browser. Never open an attachment unless you were expecting to receive it and you're certain of what it is. Don't spend time in the disreputable corners of the internet that specialize in risqué content or pirated movies; you can get infected simply by visiting a dodgy site. Never install software just because a web site tells you to do it. And always keep a backup copy of all your personal files on a separate drive or with a "cloud"-based backup service. That way, if the worst happens, you'll always have access to your most important data. More from Consumer Reports: Top pick tires for 2016 Best used cars for $25,000 and less 7 best mattresses for couples Copyright © 2006-2017 Consumer Reports, Inc. || How to Protect Yourself as Ransomware Attack Spreads Around the Globe: Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on this website. Hospitals and other healthcare providers across England were forced to cancel countless appointments and divert ambulances on Friday after a massive ransomware attack crippled their computer systems. In the hours that followed, the crisis spread to facilities in at dozens of other countries, according to news reports. FedEx was one of the big corporations affected by the attack, saying that "like many other companies, FedEx is experiencing interference with some of our Windows-based systems caused by malware. We are implementing remediation steps as quickly as possible. We regret any inconvenience to our customers.” Although this latest attack was massive in scope, ransomware threats often strike the personal computers of individual consumers, too. Here’s what you need to know and how to protect yourself. What Is Ransomware? Ransomware is a form of malware designed to steal money from individuals, businesses and other organizations by holding their data hostage. Imagine coming home to find a big padlock on your front door and a criminal standing next to it, demanding money to let you in. That's ransomware. Only instead of being locked out of your house, you're locked out of all your personal files. The next time you log on, your computer displays a ransom note saying your data has been encrypted, with instructions on how to pay to unlock it. Can Hackers Really Make Money Doing This? Oh, yes. Ransomware is big business. Ransoms can range from a few hundred to thousands of dollars and are usually paid in the "virtual" currency Bitcoin, which is nearly impossible to trace. In some cases, the longer you wait to pay, the higher the ransom becomes. According to cybersecurity firm Symantec's Internet Security Threat Report released in April, the number of new versions of ransomware uncovered during 2016 more than tripled to 101, while the number of ransomware infections the company spotted jumped 36 percent. Verizon's recently released 2017 Data Breach Investigations Report notes that ransomware accounted for 72 percent of the malware incidents involving the heathcare industry last year. Story continues Why Is This Particular Ransomware Attack Significant? Friday's attack affected at least 25 of the UK's National Health Service's hospitals and other organizations. But NHS says it was not the specific target of the attack. It does not appear that patient information was accessed, according to the organization, but its investigation into the matter is still in the early stages. Barts Health, which manages a handful of major hospitals in London and elsewhere, also confirmed it was experiencing a "major IT disruption." The malware arrived in encrypted files distributed by email. Once a computer was infected, the user received a note demanding $300 in bitcoin to restore access to patient information and other data on the device. British Prime Minister Theresa May called it an "international attack" affecting a "number of countries and organizations." CNN put the figure at 74 countries . Has This Ever Happened in the U.S.? Yes. One of the best known examples involved L.A.'s Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, which in February 2016 said it paid a ransom of $17,000 to get its computer systems unlocked. Because of the large amount of personal information collected about patients, hospitals and other healthcare providers are prime ransonware targets. If a doctor can't access information about a patient's medications and pre-exisiting conditions, it's virtually impossible to provide treatment, forcing the doctor and patient to reschedule appointments. And that can result in millions of dollars in lost productivity. So, even though medical computer systems are routinely backed up, and nearly all that data can be recovered and restored, hospitals often pay the ransom in an effort to speed things up and minimize financial losses. How Does Your Device Get Infected? Whether they involve a computer nework run by a business or hospital, or just an average person's personal PC, most ransomware infections happen when a user is lured by a bogus “phishing” email to a site that infects his or her computer, or by clicking on an attached file that secretly installs it. How can you avoid having your data taken hostage? You avoid ransomware the same way you avoid any malware infection: By being careful. While that's not always easy, there are things you can do to steer clear of problems. Don’t casually click a link inside an email; instead, type the web address directly into your browser. Never open an attachment unless you were expecting to receive it and you're certain of what it is. Don't spend time in the disreputable corners of the internet that specialize in risqué content or pirated movies; you can get infected simply by visiting a dodgy site. Never install software just because a web site tells you to do it. And always keep a backup copy of all your personal files on a separate drive or with a "cloud"-based backup service. That way, if the worst happens, you'll always have access to your most important data. More from Consumer Reports: Top pick tires for 2016 Best used cars for $25,000 and less 7 best mattresses for couples Copyright © 2006-2017 Consumer Reports, Inc. || How to Protect Yourself as Ransomware Attack Spreads Around the Globe: Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on this website. Hospitals and other healthcare providers across England were forced to cancel countless appointments and divert ambulances on Friday after a massive ransomware attack crippled their computer systems. In the hours that followed, the crisis spread to facilities in at dozens of other countries, according to news reports. FedEx was one of the big corporations affected by the attack, saying that "like many other companies, FedEx is experiencing interference with some of our Windows-based systems caused by malware. We are implementing remediation steps as quickly as possible. We regret any inconvenience to our customers.” Although this latest attack was massive in scope, ransomware threats often strike the personal computers of individual consumers, too. Here’s what you need to know and how to protect yourself. What Is Ransomware? Ransomware is a form of malware designed to steal money from individuals, businesses and other organizations by holding their data hostage. Imagine coming home to find a big padlock on your front door and a criminal standing next to it, demanding money to let you in. That's ransomware. Only instead of being locked out of your house, you're locked out of all your personal files. The next time you log on, your computer displays a ransom note saying your data has been encrypted, with instructions on how to pay to unlock it. Can Hackers Really Make Money Doing This? Oh, yes. Ransomware is big business. Ransoms can range from a few hundred to thousands of dollars and are usually paid in the "virtual" currency Bitcoin, which is nearly impossible to trace. In some cases, the longer you wait to pay, the higher the ransom becomes. According to cybersecurity firm Symantec's Internet Security Threat Report released in April, the number of new versions of ransomware uncovered during 2016 more than tripled to 101, while the number of ransomware infections the company spotted jumped 36 percent. Verizon's recently released 2017 Data Breach Investigations Report notes that ransomware accounted for 72 percent of the malware incidents involving the heathcare industry last year. Story continues Why Is This Particular Ransomware Attack Significant? Friday's attack affected at least 25 of the UK's National Health Service's hospitals and other organizations. But NHS says it was not the specific target of the attack. It does not appear that patient information was accessed, according to the organization, but its investigation into the matter is still in the early stages. Barts Health, which manages a handful of major hospitals in London and elsewhere, also confirmed it was experiencing a "major IT disruption." The malware arrived in encrypted files distributed by email. Once a computer was infected, the user received a note demanding $300 in bitcoin to restore access to patient information and other data on the device. British Prime Minister Theresa May called it an "international attack" affecting a "number of countries and organizations." CNN put the figure at 74 countries . Has This Ever Happened in the U.S.? Yes. One of the best known examples involved L.A.'s Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, which in February 2016 said it paid a ransom of $17,000 to get its computer systems unlocked. Because of the large amount of personal information collected about patients, hospitals and other healthcare providers are prime ransonware targets. If a doctor can't access information about a patient's medications and pre-exisiting conditions, it's virtually impossible to provide treatment, forcing the doctor and patient to reschedule appointments. And that can result in millions of dollars in lost productivity. So, even though medical computer systems are routinely backed up, and nearly all that data can be recovered and restored, hospitals often pay the ransom in an effort to speed things up and minimize financial losses. How Does Your Device Get Infected? Whether they involve a computer nework run by a business or hospital, or just an average person's personal PC, most ransomware infections happen when a user is lured by a bogus “phishing” email to a site that infects his or her computer, or by clicking on an attached file that secretly installs it. How can you avoid having your data taken hostage? You avoid ransomware the same way you avoid any malware infection: By being careful. While that's not always easy, there are things you can do to steer clear of problems. Don’t casually click a link inside an email; instead, type the web address directly into your browser. Never open an attachment unless you were expecting to receive it and you're certain of what it is. Don't spend time in the disreputable corners of the internet that specialize in risqué content or pirated movies; you can get infected simply by visiting a dodgy site. Never install software just because a web site tells you to do it. And always keep a backup copy of all your personal files on a separate drive or with a "cloud"-based backup service. That way, if the worst happens, you'll always have access to your most important data. More from Consumer Reports: Top pick tires for 2016 Best used cars for $25,000 and less 7 best mattresses for couples Copyright © 2006-2017 Consumer Reports, Inc. || How to Protect Yourself as Ransomware Attack Spreads Around the Globe: Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on this website. Hospitals and other healthcare providers across England were forced to cancel countless appointments and divert ambulances on Friday after a massive ransomware attack crippled their computer systems. In the hours that followed, the crisis spread to facilities in at dozens of other countries, according to news reports. FedEx was one of the big corporations affected by the attack, saying that "like many other companies, FedEx is experiencing interference with some of our Windows-based systems caused by malware. We are implementing remediation steps as quickly as possible. We regret any inconvenience to our customers.” Although this latest attack was massive in scope, ransomware threats often strike the personal computers of individual consumers, too. Here’s what you need to know and how to protect yourself. What Is Ransomware? Ransomware is a form of malware designed to steal money from individuals, businesses and other organizations by holding their data hostage. Imagine coming home to find a big padlock on your front door and a criminal standing next to it, demanding money to let you in. That's ransomware. Only instead of being locked out of your house, you're locked out of all your personal files. The next time you log on, your computer displays a ransom note saying your data has been encrypted, with instructions on how to pay to unlock it. Can Hackers Really Make Money Doing This? Oh, yes. Ransomware is big business. Ransoms can range from a few hundred to thousands of dollars and are usually paid in the "virtual" currency Bitcoin, which is nearly impossible to trace. In some cases, the longer you wait to pay, the higher the ransom becomes. According to cybersecurity firm Symantec's Internet Security Threat Report released in April, the number of new versions of ransomware uncovered during 2016 more than tripled to 101, while the number of ransomware infections the company spotted jumped 36 percent. Verizon's recently released 2017 Data Breach Investigations Report notes that ransomware accounted for 72 percent of the malware incidents involving the heathcare industry last year. Story continues Why Is This Particular Ransomware Attack Significant? Friday's attack affected at least 25 of the UK's National Health Service's hospitals and other organizations. But NHS says it was not the specific target of the attack. It does not appear that patient information was accessed, according to the organization, but its investigation into the matter is still in the early stages. Barts Health, which manages a handful of major hospitals in London and elsewhere, also confirmed it was experiencing a "major IT disruption." The malware arrived in encrypted files distributed by email. Once a computer was infected, the user received a note demanding $300 in bitcoin to restore access to patient information and other data on the device. British Prime Minister Theresa May called it an "international attack" affecting a "number of countries and organizations." CNN put the figure at 99 countries . Has This Ever Happened in the U.S.? Yes. One of the best known examples involved L.A.'s Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, which in February 2016 said it paid a ransom of $17,000 to get its computer systems unlocked. Because of the large amount of personal information collected about patients, hospitals and other healthcare providers are prime ransonware targets. If a doctor can't access information about a patient's medications and pre-exisiting conditions, it's virtually impossible to provide treatment, forcing the doctor and patient to reschedule appointments. And that can result in millions of dollars in lost productivity. So, even though medical computer systems are routinely backed up, and nearly all that data can be recovered and restored, hospitals often pay the ransom in an effort to speed things up and minimize financial losses. How Does Your Device Get Infected? Whether they involve a computer nework run by a business or hospital, or just an average person's personal PC, most ransomware infections happen when a user is lured by a bogus “phishing” email to a site that infects his or her computer, or by clicking on an attached file that secretly installs it. How Can You Avoid Having Your Data Taken Hostage? You avoid ransomware the same way you avoid any malware infection: By being careful. While that's not always easy, there are things you can do to steer clear of problems. Don’t casually click a link inside an email; instead, type the web address directly into your browser. Never open an attachment unless you were expecting to receive it and you're certain of what it is. Don't spend time in the disreputable corners of the internet that specialize in risqué content or pirated movies; you can get infected simply by visiting a dodgy site. Never install software just because a web site tells you to do it. And always keep a backup copy of all your personal files on a separate drive or with a "cloud"-based backup service. That way, if the worst happens, you'll always have access to your most important data. More from Consumer Reports: Top pick tires for 2016 Best used cars for $25,000 and less 7 best mattresses for couples Copyright © 2006-2017 Consumer Reports, Inc. || How to Protect Yourself as Ransomware Attack Spreads Around the Globe: Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on this website. Hospitals and other healthcare providers across England were forced to cancel countless appointments and divert ambulances on Friday after a massive ransomware attack crippled their computer systems. In the hours that followed, the crisis spread to facilities in at dozens of other countries, according to news reports. FedEx was one of the big corporations affected by the attack, saying that "like many other companies, FedEx is experiencing interference with some of our Windows-based systems caused by malware. We are implementing remediation steps as quickly as possible. We regret any inconvenience to our customers.” Although this latest attack was massive in scope, ransomware threats often strike the personal computers of individual consumers, too. Here’s what you need to know and how to protect yourself. What Is Ransomware? Ransomware is a form of malware designed to steal money from individuals, businesses and other organizations by holding their data hostage. Imagine coming home to find a big padlock on your front door and a criminal standing next to it, demanding money to let you in. That's ransomware. Only instead of being locked out of your house, you're locked out of all your personal files. The next time you log on, your computer displays a ransom note saying your data has been encrypted, with instructions on how to pay to unlock it. Can Hackers Really Make Money Doing This? Oh, yes. Ransomware is big business. Ransoms can range from a few hundred to thousands of dollars and are usually paid in the "virtual" currency Bitcoin, which is nearly impossible to trace. In some cases, the longer you wait to pay, the higher the ransom becomes. According to cybersecurity firm Symantec's Internet Security Threat Report released in April, the number of new versions of ransomware uncovered during 2016 more than tripled to 101, while the number of ransomware infections the company spotted jumped 36 percent. Verizon's recently released 2017 Data Breach Investigations Report notes that ransomware accounted for 72 percent of the malware incidents involving the heathcare industry last year. Story continues Why Is This Particular Ransomware Attack Significant? Friday's attack affected at least 25 of the UK's National Health Service's hospitals and other organizations. But NHS says it was not the specific target of the attack. It does not appear that patient information was accessed, according to the organization, but its investigation into the matter is still in the early stages. Barts Health, which manages a handful of major hospitals in London and elsewhere, also confirmed it was experiencing a "major IT disruption." The malware arrived in encrypted files distributed by email. Once a computer was infected, the user received a note demanding $300 in bitcoin to restore access to patient information and other data on the device. British Prime Minister Theresa May called it an "international attack" affecting a "number of countries and organizations." CNN put the figure at 74 countries . Has This Ever Happened in the U.S.? Yes. One of the best known examples involved L.A.'s Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, which in February 2016 said it paid a ransom of $17,000 to get its computer systems unlocked. Because of the large amount of personal information collected about patients, hospitals and other healthcare providers are prime ransonware targets. If a doctor can't access information about a patient's medications and pre-exisiting conditions, it's virtually impossible to provide treatment, forcing the doctor and patient to reschedule appointments. And that can result in millions of dollars in lost productivity. So, even though medical computer systems are routinely backed up, and nearly all that data can be recovered and restored, hospitals often pay the ransom in an effort to speed things up and minimize financial losses. How Does Your Device Get Infected? Whether they involve a computer nework run by a business or hospital, or just an average person's personal PC, most ransomware infections happen when a user is lured by a bogus “phishing” email to a site that infects his or her computer, or by clicking on an attached file that secretly installs it. How can you avoid having your data taken hostage? You avoid ransomware the same way you avoid any malware infection: By being careful. While that's not always easy, there are things you can do to steer clear of problems. Don’t casually click a link inside an email; instead, type the web address directly into your browser. Never open an attachment unless you were expecting to receive it and you're certain of what it is. Don't spend time in the disreputable corners of the internet that specialize in risqué content or pirated movies; you can get infected simply by visiting a dodgy site. Never install software just because a web site tells you to do it. And always keep a backup copy of all your personal files on a separate drive or with a "cloud"-based backup service. That way, if the worst happens, you'll always have access to your most important data. More from Consumer Reports: Top pick tires for 2016 Best used cars for $25,000 and less 7 best mattresses for couples Copyright © 2006-2017 Consumer Reports, Inc. || How to Protect Yourself as Ransomware Attack Spreads Around the Globe: Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on this website. Hospitals and other healthcare providers across England were forced to cancel countless appointments and divert ambulances on Friday after a massive ransomware attack crippled their computer systems. In the hours that followed, the crisis spread to facilities in at dozens of other countries, according to news reports. FedEx was one of the big corporations affected by the attack, saying that "like many other companies, FedEx is experiencing interference with some of our Windows-based systems caused by malware. We are implementing remediation steps as quickly as possible. We regret any inconvenience to our customers.” Although this latest attack was massive in scope, ransomware threats often strike the personal computers of individual consumers, too. Here’s what you need to know and how to protect yourself. What Is Ransomware? Ransomware is a form of malware designed to steal money from individuals, businesses and other organizations by holding their data hostage. Imagine coming home to find a big padlock on your front door and a criminal standing next to it, demanding money to let you in. That's ransomware. Only instead of being locked out of your house, you're locked out of all your personal files. The next time you log on, your computer displays a ransom note saying your data has been encrypted, with instructions on how to pay to unlock it. Can Hackers Really Make Money Doing This? Oh, yes. Ransomware is big business. Ransoms can range from a few hundred to thousands of dollars and are usually paid in the "virtual" currency Bitcoin, which is nearly impossible to trace. In some cases, the longer you wait to pay, the higher the ransom becomes. According to cybersecurity firm Symantec's Internet Security Threat Report released in April, the number of new versions of ransomware uncovered during 2016 more than tripled to 101, while the number of ransomware infections the company spotted jumped 36 percent. Verizon's recently released 2017 Data Breach Investigations Report notes that ransomware accounted for 72 percent of the malware incidents involving the heathcare industry last year. Story continues Why Is This Particular Ransomware Attack Significant? Friday's attack affected at least 25 of the UK's National Health Service's hospitals and other organizations. But NHS says it was not the specific target of the attack. It does not appear that patient information was accessed, according to the organization, but its investigation into the matter is still in the early stages. Barts Health, which manages a handful of major hospitals in London and elsewhere, also confirmed it was experiencing a "major IT disruption." The malware arrived in encrypted files distributed by email. Once a computer was infected, the user received a note demanding $300 in bitcoin to restore access to patient information and other data on the device. British Prime Minister Theresa May called it an "international attack" affecting a "number of countries and organizations." CNN put the figure at 99 countries . Has This Ever Happened in the U.S.? Yes. One of the best known examples involved L.A.'s Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, which in February 2016 said it paid a ransom of $17,000 to get its computer systems unlocked. Because of the large amount of personal information collected about patients, hospitals and other healthcare providers are prime ransonware targets. If a doctor can't access information about a patient's medications and pre-exisiting conditions, it's virtually impossible to provide treatment, forcing the doctor and patient to reschedule appointments. And that can result in millions of dollars in lost productivity. So, even though medical computer systems are routinely backed up, and nearly all that data can be recovered and restored, hospitals often pay the ransom in an effort to speed things up and minimize financial losses. How Does Your Device Get Infected? Whether they involve a computer nework run by a business or hospital, or just an average person's personal PC, most ransomware infections happen when a user is lured by a bogus “phishing” email to a site that infects his or her computer, or by clicking on an attached file that secretly installs it. How Can You Avoid Having Your Data Taken Hostage? You avoid ransomware the same way you avoid any malware infection: By being careful. While that's not always easy, there are things you can do to steer clear of problems. Don’t casually click a link inside an email; instead, type the web address directly into your browser. Never open an attachment unless you were expecting to receive it and you're certain of what it is. Don't spend time in the disreputable corners of the internet that specialize in risqué content or pirated movies; you can get infected simply by visiting a dodgy site. Never install software just because a web site tells you to do it. And always keep a backup copy of all your personal files on a separate drive or with a "cloud"-based backup service. That way, if the worst happens, you'll always have access to your most important data. More from Consumer Reports: Top pick tires for 2016 Best used cars for $25,000 and less 7 best mattresses for couples Copyright © 2006-2017 Consumer Reports, Inc. || How to Protect Yourself as Ransomware Attack Spreads Around the Globe: Consumer Reports has no relationship with any advertisers on this website. Hospitals and other healthcare providers across England were forced to cancel countless appointments and divert ambulances on Friday after a massive ransomware attack crippled their computer systems. In the hours that followed, the crisis spread to facilities in at dozens of other countries, according to news reports. FedEx was one of the big corporations affected by the attack, saying that "like many other companies, FedEx is experiencing interference with some of our Windows-based systems caused by malware. We are implementing remediation steps as quickly as possible. We regret any inconvenience to our customers.” Although this latest attack was massive in scope, ransomware threats often strike the personal computers of individual consumers, too. Here’s what you need to know and how to protect yourself. What Is Ransomware? Ransomware is a form of malware designed to steal money from individuals, businesses and other organizations by holding their data hostage. Imagine coming home to find a big padlock on your front door and a criminal standing next to it, demanding money to let you in. That's ransomware. Only instead of being locked out of your house, you're locked out of all your personal files. The next time you log on, your computer displays a ransom note saying your data has been encrypted, with instructions on how to pay to unlock it. Can Hackers Really Make Money Doing This? Oh, yes. Ransomware is big business. Ransoms can range from a few hundred to thousands of dollars and are usually paid in the "virtual" currency Bitcoin, which is nearly impossible to trace. In some cases, the longer you wait to pay, the higher the ransom becomes. According to cybersecurity firm Symantec's Internet Security Threat Report released in April, the number of new versions of ransomware uncovered during 2016 more than tripled to 101, while the number of ransomware infections the company spotted jumped 36 percent. Verizon's recently released 2017 Data Breach Investigations Report notes that ransomware accounted for 72 percent of the malware incidents involving the heathcare industry last year. Story continues Why Is This Particular Ransomware Attack Significant? Friday's attack affected at least 25 of the UK's National Health Service's hospitals and other organizations. But NHS says it was not the specific target of the attack. It does not appear that patient information was accessed, according to the organization, but its investigation into the matter is still in the early stages. Barts Health, which manages a handful of major hospitals in London and elsewhere, also confirmed it was experiencing a "major IT disruption." The malware arrived in encrypted files distributed by email. Once a computer was infected, the user received a note demanding $300 in bitcoin to restore access to patient information and other data on the device. British Prime Minister Theresa May called it an "international attack" affecting a "number of countries and organizations." CNN put the figure at 74 countries . Has This Ever Happened in the U.S.? Yes. One of the best known examples involved L.A.'s Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, which in February 2016 said it paid a ransom of $17,000 to get its computer systems unlocked. Because of the large amount of personal information collected about patients, hospitals and other healthcare providers are prime ransonware targets. If a doctor can't access information about a patient's medications and pre-exisiting conditions, it's virtually impossible to provide treatment, forcing the doctor and patient to reschedule appointments. And that can result in millions of dollars in lost productivity. So, even though medical computer systems are routinely backed up, and nearly all that data can be recovered and restored, hospitals often pay the ransom in an effort to speed things up and minimize financial losses. How Does Your Device Get Infected? Whether they involve a computer nework run by a business or hospital, or just an average person's personal PC, most ransomware infections happen when a user is lured by a bogus “phishing” email to a site that infects his or her computer, or by clicking on an attached file that secretly installs it. How can you avoid having your data taken hostage? You avoid ransomware the same way you avoid any malware infection: By being careful. While that's not always easy, there are things you can do to steer clear of problems. Don’t casually click a link inside an email; instead, type the web address directly into your browser. Never open an attachment unless you were expecting to receive it and you're certain of what it is. Don't spend time in the disreputable corners of the internet that specialize in risqué content or pirated movies; you can get infected simply by visiting a dodgy site. Never install software just because a web site tells you to do it. And always keep a backup copy of all your personal files on a separate drive or with a "cloud"-based backup service. That way, if the worst happens, you'll always have access to your most important data. More from Consumer Reports: Top pick tires for 2016 Best used cars for $25,000 and less 7 best mattresses for couples Copyright © 2006-2017 Consumer Reports, Inc. || Massive ransomware cyber-attack hits nearly 100 countries around the world: More than 45,000 attacks recorded in countries including the UK, Russia, India and China may have originated with theft of ‘cyber weapons’ from the NSA Global cyber-attack – live updates ‘ Accidental hero’ finds kill switch to stop spread The attack hit England’s National Health Service (NHS) on Friday, locking staff out of their computers and forcing some hospitals to divert patients. Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images A ransomware cyber-attack that may have originated from the theft of “cyber weapons” linked to the US government has hobbled hospitals in England and spread to countries across the world. Security researchers with Kaspersky Lab have recorded more than 45,000 attacks in 99 countries, including the UK, Russia, Ukraine, India, China, Italy, and Egypt. In Spain, major companies including telecommunications firm Telefónica were infected. By Friday evening, the ransomware had spread to the United States and South America, though Europe and Russia remained the hardest hit, according to security researchers Malware Hunter Team. The Russian interior ministry says about 1,000 computers have been affected. Markus Jakobsson, chief scientist with security firm Agari, said that the attack was “scattershot” rather than targeted. “It’s a very broad spread,” Jakobsson said, noting that the ransom demand is “relatively small”. “This is not an attack that was meant for large institutions. It was meant for anyone who got it.” Fresh IDR based heatmap for WanaCrypt0r 2.0 ransomware (WCry/WannaCry). Also follow @MalwareTechBlog 's tracker: https://t.co/mjFwsT3JzH pic.twitter.com/SPeZfBpckm — MalwareHunterTeam (@malwrhunterteam) May 12, 2017 The malware was made available online on 14 April through a dump by a group called Shadow Brokers, which claimed last year to have stolen a cache of “cyber weapons” from the National Security Agency (NSA). At the time, there was skepticism about whether the group was exaggerating the scale of its hack. Story continues On Twitter, whistleblower Edward Snowden blamed the NSA. “If @ NSAGov had privately disclosed the flaw used to attack hospitals when they *found* it, not when they lost it, this may not have happened,” he said . “It’s very easy for someone to say that, but the reality is the US government isn’t the only one that has a stockpile of exploits they are leveraging to protect the nation,” said Jay Kaplan, CEO of Synack, who formerly worked at the NSA. “It’s this constant tug of war. Do you let intelligence agencies continue to take advantage of vulnerabilities to fight terrorists or do you give it to the vendors and fix them?” The NSA is among many government agencies around the world to collect cyber weapons and vulnerabilities in popular operating systems and software so they can use them to carry out intelligence gathering or engage in cyberwarfare. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts a user’s data, then demands payment in exchange for unlocking the data. This attack used malicious software called “WanaCrypt0r 2.0” or WannaCry , that exploits a vulnerability in Windows. Microsoft released a patch (a software update that fixes the problem) for the flaw in March, but computers that have not installed the security update remain vulnerable. “This was eminently predictable in lots of ways,” said Ryan Kalember from cybersecurity firm Proofpoint. “As soon as the Shadow Brokers dump came out everyone [in the security industry] realized that a lot of people wouldn’t be able to install a patch, especially if they used an operating system like Windows XP [which many NHS computers still use], for which there is no patch.” The ransomware demands users pay $300 worth of cryptocurrency Bitcoin to retrieve their files, though it warns that the “payment will be raised” after a certain amount of time. Translations of the ransom message in 28 languages are included. The malware spreads through email. “Attacks with language support show a progressive increase of the threat level,” Jakobsson said. The attack hit England’s National Health Service (NHS) on Friday, locking staff out of their computers and forcing some hospitals to divert patients. “The attack against the NHS demonstrates that cyber-attacks can quite literally have life and death consequences,” said Mike Viscuso, chief techology officer of security firm Carbon Black. “When patients’ lives are at stake, there is no time for finger pointing but this attack serves as an additional clarion call that healthcare organizations must make cybersecurity a priority, lest they encounter a scenario where lives are risked.” Ransomware attacks are on the rise. Security company SonicWall, which studies cyberthreats, saw ransomware attacks rise 167 times in 2016 compared to 2015. “Ransomware attacks everyone, but industry verticals that rely on legacy systems are especially vulnerable,” said Dmitriy Ayrapetov, executive director at SonicWall. A Los Angeles hospital paid $17,000 in bitcoin to ransomware hackers last year, after a cyber-attack locked doctors and nurses out of their computer system for days. 36,000 detections of #WannaCry (aka #WanaCypt0r aka #WCry ) #ransomware so far. Russia, Ukraine, and Taiwan leading. This is huge. pic.twitter.com/EaZcaxPta4 — Jakub Kroustek (@JakubKroustek) May 12, 2017 Jakobsson said that the concentration of the attack in Russia suggested that the attack originated in Russia. Since the malware spreads by email, the level of penetration in Russia could be a sign that the criminals had access to a large database of Russian email addresses. However, Jakobsson warned that the origin of the attack remains unconfirmed.
[Social Media Buzz]
In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 11 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $13,742.89 #bitcoin #btc || Current value of DOGE in BTC: Vircurex: 0.00000042 -- Volume: 11183.38501665 Today's trend: stable at 05/14/17 00:55 || #bitcoin #miner Antminer R4 7.5TH/s Bitcoin Miner w/ Power Supply w/ Warranty - Ready for Run. . $1645.00 http://ift.tt/2qhnXHY pic.twitter.com/km4d0LULjU || One Bitcoin now worth $1780.00@bitstamp. High $1815.00. Low $1753.00. Market Cap...
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1738.43, 1734.45, 1839.09, 1888.65, 1987.71, 2084.73, 2041.20, 2173.40, 2320.42, 2443.64
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 3657.84, 3728.57, 3601.01, 3576.03, 3604.58, 3585.12, 3600.87, 3599.77, 3602.46, 3583.97, 3470.45, 3448.12, 3486.18, 3457.79, 3487.95, 3521.06, 3464.01, 3459.15, 3466.36, 3413.77, 3399.47, 3666.78, 3671.20, 3690.19, 3648.43, 3653.53, 3632.07, 3616.88, 3620.81, 3629.79, 3673.84, 3915.71, 3947.09, 3999.82, 3954.12, 4005.53, 4142.53, 3810.43, 3882.70, 3854.36, 3851.05, 3854.79, 3859.58, 3864.42, 3847.18, 3761.56, 3896.38, 3903.94, 3911.48, 3901.13, 3963.31, 3951.60, 3905.23, 3909.16, 3906.72, 3924.37, 3960.91, 4048.73, 4025.23, 4032.51, 4071.19, 4087.48, 4029.33, 4023.97, 4035.83, 4022.17, 3963.07, 3985.08, 4087.07, 4069.11, 4098.37, 4106.66, 4105.40, 4158.18, 4879.88, 4973.02, 4922.80, 5036.68, 5059.82, 5198.90, 5289.77, 5204.96, 5324.55, 5064.49, 5089.54, 5096.59, 5167.72, 5067.11, 5235.56, 5251.94.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2019-04-17]
Volume: 12438480677, RSI (14-day): 70.07, 50-day EMA: 4506.38, 200-day EMA: 4723.25
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1272.20, Gold RSI: 36.71
Oil Price: 63.76, Oil RSI: 64.78
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Romanian Central Bank Official Says Crypto Will Not Fulfil Basic Roles of Currency: An official from the Romanian central bank has stated that cryptocurrency will not replace currency issued by central banks as it is not necessarily a currency. The news was published by local media outlet Business Review on April 16. Daniel Daianu, a member of the Romanian National Bank (BNR)’s Administration Council, reportedly stressed the necessity to be aware of the difference between institutions and their roles, ensuring that those roles will not disappear. Daianu also addressed the importance of making the distinction between blockchain technology and digital currencies. Daianu said: “In my opinion, these are financial assets, not cryptocurrencies, and they won’t be able to fulfil the basic roles of currency. [...] Cryptocurrencies will never be able to substitute the currency issued by a central bank. What can happen is for central banks to have a digital currency, but that will also be issued by the bank, and commercial banks will receive digital currency that can multiply. I do agree, however, that new technologies lead to disintermediation and this feature of decentralization shows us the merits of networks.” Romania — which became the first Eastern European chapter affiliate of American nonprofit corporation Bitcoin Foundation back in 2014 — released a draft Emergency Ordinance that regulates the issuance of electronic money (e-money) last July. The draft reportedly described electronic money as “monetary value stored electronically, including magnetic, representing a claim on the issuer issued on receipt of funds for the purpose of performing payment transactions and which is accepted by a person other than the issuer of electronic money.” A recent report from the World Economic Forum (WEF) revealed that at least 40 central banks globally are conducting research projects and pilots with blockchain technology that aim to address such issues as financial inclusion, payments efficiency and cybersecurity. The WEF provided ten use cases for distributed ledger technology аt central banks including the development of retail central bank currency, among others. Related Articles: Reuters: France to Push EU Member States to Adopt Its Cryptocurrency Regulations Bitcoin Approaches $5,250, US Stocks Slightly Down BlockShow Launches Crypto Fundraising Campaign for Notre Dame Reconstruction Bitcoin Holds Near $5,100 as US Stocks Stand Still || Romanian Central Bank Official Says Crypto Will Not Fulfil Basic Roles of Currency: An official from the Romanian central bank has stated that cryptocurrency will not replace currency issued by central banks as it is not necessarily a currency. The news was published by local media outlet Business Review on April 16. Daniel Daianu, a member of the Romanian National Bank (BNR)’s Administration Council, reportedly stressed the necessity to be aware of the difference between institutions and their roles, ensuring that those roles will not disappear. Daianu also addressed the importance of making the distinction between blockchain technology and digital currencies. Daianu said: “In my opinion, these are financial assets, not cryptocurrencies, and they won’t be able to fulfil the basic roles of currency. [...] Cryptocurrencies will never be able to substitute the currency issued by a central bank. What can happen is for central banks to have a digital currency, but that will also be issued by the bank, and commercial banks will receive digital currency that can multiply. I do agree, however, that new technologies lead to disintermediation and this feature of decentralization shows us the merits of networks.” Romania — which became the first Eastern European chapter affiliate of American nonprofit corporation Bitcoin Foundation back in 2014 — released a draft Emergency Ordinance that regulates the issuance of electronic money (e-money) last July. The draft reportedly described electronic money as “monetary value stored electronically, including magnetic, representing a claim on the issuer issued on receipt of funds for the purpose of performing payment transactions and which is accepted by a person other than the issuer of electronic money.” A recent report from the World Economic Forum (WEF) revealed that at least 40 central banks globally are conducting research projects and pilots with blockchain technology that aim to address such issues as financial inclusion, payments efficiency and cybersecurity. The WEF provided ten use cases for distributed ledger technology аt central banks including the development of retail central bank currency, among others. Related Articles: Reuters: France to Push EU Member States to Adopt Its Cryptocurrency Regulations Bitcoin Approaches $5,250, US Stocks Slightly Down BlockShow Launches Crypto Fundraising Campaign for Notre Dame Reconstruction Bitcoin Holds Near $5,100 as US Stocks Stand Still || Kraken Exchange Joins Binance, ShapeShift in Delisting Bitcoin SV: Another major crypto exchange is delisting bitcoin SV (BSV) amid an ongoing feud between that cryptocurrencys creator Craig Wright and outspoken members of the bitcoin community. San Francisco-based Kraken announced Tuesday that it will no longer support BSV, citing both community sentiment and ongoing litigation filed against the exchange by the coins advocates. Kraken will disable BSV deposits on April 22, trading will cease on all trading pairs April 29 and, finally, withdrawals will stop May 31. Craig Wrights Fight With a Cartoon Bitcoin Astronaut Cat Explained The move follows announcements Monday by two other prominent exchanges, Binance and ShapeShift, that they were delisting BSV in response to Wrights behavior. Binances CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), tweeted that Wright is poisoning the bitcoin community with his threats to sue people who called him a fraud because he has claimed to be bitcoins pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. But Kraken was already negatively disposed toward BSV long before the kerfuffle started. In December, during the contentious hard fork of bitcoin cash when it got split into bitcoin cash ABC and bitcoin cash Satoshi Vision, Florida-based mining firm United Investment Corp. filed a federal lawsuit against a group of defendants for supporting the ABC version, including Kraken and its CEO Jesse Powell. Kraken enabled BSV trading in November. They are suing us, our investors, well-respected and prominent figures in the community, and the community got to the point its fed up with it, Powell told CoinDesk. Its completely antithetical to what this community is about. Community sentiment Why Coinbases Move Into Proof-of-Stake Matters On Monday, Kraken launched a poll on its Twitter account, asking people to vote for or against delisting BSV. At the moment of writing, the poll shows that around 70,545 users voted, 71 percent supporting delisting, seven percent opposing and 21 percent not caring. Story continues We at Kraken have our own strong opinions, and its like a bubble, so putting out a poll was the opportunity to get other peoples opinions, Powell explained. If the vast majority of the votes had been in favor of keeping BSV at Kraken, it wouldnt have been delisted, but if the results were indecisive, say 50/50, the coin would still have been delisted, Powell said. In the past Kraken has delisted other tokens, including Namecoin and Iconomi the former because of its low volume and the need to support a technically onerous upgrade at some point, the latter because the protocol was changed by its creators. The feud The delisting wave started after Wright threatened to sue a pseudonymous Twitter user nicknamed Hodlonaut, known for starting the bitcoin Lightning Torch , and crypto investor and podcaster Peter McCormack, unless they publicly recognized Wright as bitcoins pseudonymous creator Nakamoto. It looks they keep to use the law system to abuse it, suing anyone who says anything against them, Powell said about BSV advocates. Aside from ShapeShift and Binance, the crypto apps Blockchain , SatoWallet , Phantasma Chain and Bittylicious announced Monday they, too, would stop supporting BSV. Powell said more exchanges may follow suit. The more players delist them, the easier it becomes to do it, he said. Image of Jesse Powell via CoinDesk archives Related Stories Binance Delists Bitcoin SV, CEO Calls Craig Wright a Fraud Binance Labs Grants $45,000 to 3 Open-Source Blockchain Startups || Kraken Exchange Joins Binance, ShapeShift in Delisting Bitcoin SV: Another major crypto exchange is delisting bitcoin SV (BSV) amid an ongoing feud between that cryptocurrency’s creator Craig Wright and outspoken members of the bitcoin community.
San Francisco-based KrakenannouncedTuesday that it will no longer support BSV, citing both community sentiment and ongoing litigation filed against the exchange by the coin’s advocates.
Kraken will disable BSV deposits on April 22, trading will cease on all trading pairs April 29 and, finally, withdrawals will stop May 31.
Craig Wright’s Fight With a Cartoon Bitcoin Astronaut Cat Explained
The move follows announcements Monday by two other prominent exchanges, Binance and ShapeShift, that they were delisting BSV in response to Wright’s behavior. Binance’s CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ),tweetedthat Wright is “poisoning” the bitcoin community with his threats to sue people who called him a fraud because he has claimed to be bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.
But Kraken was already negatively disposed toward BSV long before thekerfufflestarted.
In December, during thecontentioushard fork of bitcoin cash when it got split into bitcoin cash ABC and bitcoin cash “Satoshi Vision,” Florida-based mining firm United Investment Corp. filed a federallawsuitagainst a group of defendants for supporting the ABC version, including Kraken and its CEO Jesse Powell. KrakenenabledBSV trading in November.
“They are suing us, our investors, well-respected and prominent figures in the community, and the community got to the point it’s fed up with it,” Powell told CoinDesk. “It’s completely antithetical to what this community is about.”
Why Coinbase’s Move Into Proof-of-Stake Matters
On Monday, Kraken launched apollon its Twitter account, asking people to vote for or against delisting BSV. At the moment of writing, the poll shows that around 70,545 users voted, 71 percent supporting delisting, seven percent opposing and 21 percent not caring.
“We at Kraken have our own strong opinions, and it’s like a bubble, so putting out a poll was the opportunity to get other people’s opinions,” Powell explained.
If the vast majority of the votes had been in favor of keeping BSV at Kraken, it wouldn’t have been delisted, but if the results were indecisive, say 50/50, the coin would still have been delisted, Powell said.
In the past Kraken has delisted other tokens, including Namecoin and Iconomi — the former because of its low volume and the need to support a technically onerous upgrade at some point, the latter because the protocol waschangedby its creators.
The delisting wave started after Wright threatened to sue a pseudonymous Twitter user nicknamed Hodlonaut, known for starting the bitcoinLightning Torch, and crypto investor and podcaster Peter McCormack, unless they publicly recognized Wright as bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator Nakamoto.
“It looks they keep to use the law system to abuse it, suing anyone who says anything against them,” Powell said about BSV advocates.
Aside from ShapeShift and Binance, the crypto appsBlockchain,SatoWallet,Phantasma ChainandBittyliciousannounced Monday they, too, would stop supporting BSV.
Powell said more exchanges may follow suit. “The more players delist them, the easier it becomes to do it,” he said.
Image of Jesse Powell via CoinDesk archives
• Binance Delists Bitcoin SV, CEO Calls Craig Wright a ‘Fraud’
• Binance Labs Grants $45,000 to 3 Open-Source Blockchain Startups || Kraken Exchange Joins Binance, ShapeShift in Delisting Bitcoin SV: Another major crypto exchange is delisting bitcoin SV (BSV) amid an ongoing feud between that cryptocurrency’s creator Craig Wright and outspoken members of the bitcoin community.
San Francisco-based KrakenannouncedTuesday that it will no longer support BSV, citing both community sentiment and ongoing litigation filed against the exchange by the coin’s advocates.
Kraken will disable BSV deposits on April 22, trading will cease on all trading pairs April 29 and, finally, withdrawals will stop May 31.
Craig Wright’s Fight With a Cartoon Bitcoin Astronaut Cat Explained
The move follows announcements Monday by two other prominent exchanges, Binance and ShapeShift, that they were delisting BSV in response to Wright’s behavior. Binance’s CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ),tweetedthat Wright is “poisoning” the bitcoin community with his threats to sue people who called him a fraud because he has claimed to be bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.
But Kraken was already negatively disposed toward BSV long before thekerfufflestarted.
In December, during thecontentioushard fork of bitcoin cash when it got split into bitcoin cash ABC and bitcoin cash “Satoshi Vision,” Florida-based mining firm United Investment Corp. filed a federallawsuitagainst a group of defendants for supporting the ABC version, including Kraken and its CEO Jesse Powell. KrakenenabledBSV trading in November.
“They are suing us, our investors, well-respected and prominent figures in the community, and the community got to the point it’s fed up with it,” Powell told CoinDesk. “It’s completely antithetical to what this community is about.”
Why Coinbase’s Move Into Proof-of-Stake Matters
On Monday, Kraken launched apollon its Twitter account, asking people to vote for or against delisting BSV. At the moment of writing, the poll shows that around 70,545 users voted, 71 percent supporting delisting, seven percent opposing and 21 percent not caring.
“We at Kraken have our own strong opinions, and it’s like a bubble, so putting out a poll was the opportunity to get other people’s opinions,” Powell explained.
If the vast majority of the votes had been in favor of keeping BSV at Kraken, it wouldn’t have been delisted, but if the results were indecisive, say 50/50, the coin would still have been delisted, Powell said.
In the past Kraken has delisted other tokens, including Namecoin and Iconomi — the former because of its low volume and the need to support a technically onerous upgrade at some point, the latter because the protocol waschangedby its creators.
The delisting wave started after Wright threatened to sue a pseudonymous Twitter user nicknamed Hodlonaut, known for starting the bitcoinLightning Torch, and crypto investor and podcaster Peter McCormack, unless they publicly recognized Wright as bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator Nakamoto.
“It looks they keep to use the law system to abuse it, suing anyone who says anything against them,” Powell said about BSV advocates.
Aside from ShapeShift and Binance, the crypto appsBlockchain,SatoWallet,Phantasma ChainandBittyliciousannounced Monday they, too, would stop supporting BSV.
Powell said more exchanges may follow suit. “The more players delist them, the easier it becomes to do it,” he said.
Image of Jesse Powell via CoinDesk archives
• Binance Delists Bitcoin SV, CEO Calls Craig Wright a ‘Fraud’
• Binance Labs Grants $45,000 to 3 Open-Source Blockchain Startups || Craig Wright Allegedly Submits Fake Email in Bitcoin Lawsuit: ByCCN: A Redditor has revealed perhaps the most interesting fraud claim regarding Craig Wright yet. Wright is being sued by the estate of Dave Kleiman for a sum in the many billions of dollars. The suitallegesthat Wright stole over 1 million BTC from Kleimanshortly after his death.
Reddit user Contrarian__saysthat a piece of evidence submitted by Wright in the case is provably false. An apparent expert inGPG signaturesand cryptography, Contrarian__ makes his case plain as day:
We know how to find the long ID of the key used and the timestamp of the signature. I’ve bolded the ID and italicized the timestamp. Looking on the MIT keyserver, we can find the fake* key. The timestamp of the signature is 1394600848, which is March 12, 2014, two weeks before Craig filed to install Uyen as a director of Dave’s old company, and almost a year after Dave died!
The e-mail has another interesting characteristic, beyond its apparent false signature: apparently Dave Kleiman mispelled his own name as Klieman when he set up the account from which he sent the e-mail. Or the e-mail is definitively fake and alleged Satoshi Nakamoto Craig Wright failed to catch the typo while generating the fabrication.
Source:Scribd
Another Reddit commentator points out that the strategy for “appointing” someone is odd, as Kleiman allegedly says:
Unless I hear otherwise, I will assume you are coming on-board. || Craig Wright Allegedly Submits Fake Email in Bitcoin Lawsuit: The standard of proof as to who is Satoshi Nakamoto seems to be the ability to create a cryptographic signature using one of the original Satoshi addresses. No one has done this, including Craig Wright. | Source: CoinGeek/YouTube By CCN : A Redditor has revealed perhaps the most interesting fraud claim regarding Craig Wright yet. Wright is being sued by the estate of Dave Kleiman for a sum in the many billions of dollars. The suit alleges that Wright stole over 1 million BTC from Kleiman shortly after his death. Signature Actually Dates to 2014, Not 2012 Reddit user Contrarian__ says that a piece of evidence submitted by Wright in the case is provably false. An apparent expert in GPG signatures and cryptography, Contrarian__ makes his case plain as day: We know how to find the long ID of the key used and the timestamp of the signature. I’ve bolded the ID and italicized the timestamp. Looking on the MIT keyserver, we can find the fake* key. The timestamp of the signature is 1394600848, which is March 12, 2014, two weeks before Craig filed to install Uyen as a director of Dave’s old company, and almost a year after Dave died! The e-mail has another interesting characteristic, beyond its apparent false signature: apparently Dave Kleiman mispelled his own name as Klieman when he set up the account from which he sent the e-mail. Or the e-mail is definitively fake and alleged Satoshi Nakamoto Craig Wright failed to catch the typo while generating the fabrication. Source: Scribd Another Reddit commentator points out that the strategy for “appointing” someone is odd, as Kleiman allegedly says: Unless I hear otherwise, I will assume you are coming on-board. Read the full story on CCN.com . || Craig Wright Allegedly Submits Fake Email in Bitcoin Lawsuit: ByCCN: A Redditor has revealed perhaps the most interesting fraud claim regarding Craig Wright yet. Wright is being sued by the estate of Dave Kleiman for a sum in the many billions of dollars. The suitallegesthat Wright stole over 1 million BTC from Kleimanshortly after his death.
Reddit user Contrarian__saysthat a piece of evidence submitted by Wright in the case is provably false. An apparent expert inGPG signaturesand cryptography, Contrarian__ makes his case plain as day:
We know how to find the long ID of the key used and the timestamp of the signature. I’ve bolded the ID and italicized the timestamp. Looking on the MIT keyserver, we can find the fake* key. The timestamp of the signature is 1394600848, which is March 12, 2014, two weeks before Craig filed to install Uyen as a director of Dave’s old company, and almost a year after Dave died!
The e-mail has another interesting characteristic, beyond its apparent false signature: apparently Dave Kleiman mispelled his own name as Klieman when he set up the account from which he sent the e-mail. Or the e-mail is definitively fake and alleged Satoshi Nakamoto Craig Wright failed to catch the typo while generating the fabrication.
Source:Scribd
Another Reddit commentator points out that the strategy for “appointing” someone is odd, as Kleiman allegedly says:
Unless I hear otherwise, I will assume you are coming on-board. || Rich Bitcoin Trader Risks Death Penalty for Building Home on the Sea: ByCCN: Thai officials are royally enraged at a man named Chad Elwartowski, reportedly a wealthyBitcointrader, for deciding to build a platform house off the coast of Phuket.
A formal complaint has been filed, the charge being the violation of Thailand’s criminal code, section 119. Thatsectionof Thai law reads:
“Whoever, does any act with intent to cause the Country or any part thereof to descend under the sovereignty of any foreign State, or to deteriorate the independence of the State, shall be punished with death or imprisonment for life.”
Authorities believe that by building a “seastead” or homestead on the sea, Elwartowski and his wife, Supranee Thepdet, are attempting to create an independent state and threaten the sovereignty ofThailand.
A wealthy Bitcoin trader now faces the death penalty after trying to build a seastead in Thailand. | Source: Shutterstock
The charge is dangerous, and a police official told the Bangkok Post that the structure would be torn down before long. Additionally, the company which built the structure is now under investigation.
Officials argue that the structure is a barrier to oil ships bound for Phuket. It seems self-evident, given the reporting and handling of the situation, that Elwartowski took no efforts to obtain permission to build the platform.
Read the full story on CCN.com. || Rich Bitcoin Trader Risks Death Penalty for Building Home on the Sea: Wealthy Bitcoin trader Chad Elwartowski took his crypto stockpile and built a home on the sea. For this crime, he risks the death penalty. | Source: Shutterstock By CCN : Thai officials are royally enraged at a man named Chad Elwartowski, reportedly a wealthy Bitcoin trader, for deciding to build a platform house off the coast of Phuket. Building Your Own Country At Sea Can Cost Your Life in Thailand A formal complaint has been filed, the charge being the violation of Thailand’s criminal code, section 119. That section of Thai law reads: “Whoever, does any act with intent to cause the Country or any part thereof to descend under the sovereignty of any foreign State, or to deteriorate the independence of the State, shall be punished with death or imprisonment for life.” Authorities believe that by building a “seastead” or homestead on the sea, Elwartowski and his wife, Supranee Thepdet, are attempting to create an independent state and threaten the sovereignty of Thailand . bitcoin thailand A wealthy Bitcoin trader now faces the death penalty after trying to build a seastead in Thailand. | Source: Shutterstock The charge is dangerous, and a police official told the Bangkok Post that the structure would be torn down before long. Additionally, the company which built the structure is now under investigation. Officials argue that the structure is a barrier to oil ships bound for Phuket. It seems self-evident, given the reporting and handling of the situation, that Elwartowski took no efforts to obtain permission to build the platform. Read the full story on CCN.com . || Rich Bitcoin Trader Risks Death Penalty for Building Home on the Sea: ByCCN: Thai officials are royally enraged at a man named Chad Elwartowski, reportedly a wealthyBitcointrader, for deciding to build a platform house off the coast of Phuket.
A formal complaint has been filed, the charge being the violation of Thailand’s criminal code, section 119. Thatsectionof Thai law reads:
“Whoever, does any act with intent to cause the Country or any part thereof to descend under the sovereignty of any foreign State, or to deteriorate the independence of the State, shall be punished with death or imprisonment for life.”
Authorities believe that by building a “seastead” or homestead on the sea, Elwartowski and his wife, Supranee Thepdet, are attempting to create an independent state and threaten the sovereignty ofThailand.
A wealthy Bitcoin trader now faces the death penalty after trying to build a seastead in Thailand. | Source: Shutterstock
The charge is dangerous, and a police official told the Bangkok Post that the structure would be torn down before long. Additionally, the company which built the structure is now under investigation.
Officials argue that the structure is a barrier to oil ships bound for Phuket. It seems self-evident, given the reporting and handling of the situation, that Elwartowski took no efforts to obtain permission to build the platform.
Read the full story on CCN.com. || Craig Wright’s Fight With a Cartoon Bitcoin Astronaut Cat Explained: There’s a legal conflict brewing between outspoken members of the bitcoin community and the controversial computer scientist who claims to be the cryptocurrency’s creator. It’s a complex story to untangle, but it boils down to Australian computer scientist Craig S. Wright – who has claimed to be bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator since 2016 – sending out legal letters to those community members that have called him a “fraud.” While several news reports , as early as late 2015, identified Wright as Satoshi, and the lead maintainer of bitcoin at the time Gavin Andresen even lent his credence to the unmasking, security experts rebuked the claim , leaving many in the cryptocurrency community unconvinced. Yet, Wright has continued stating that he Satoshi and those that believe that to be a false claim have continued to call Wright a liar. ‘Satoshi’s Treasure’ Is a Global Puzzle With a $1 Million Bitcoin Prize The latest mudslinging came after “Hodlonaut,” the pseudonymous bitcoin user that created the lightning torch experiment , which promoted bitcoin’s layer-two scaling tech for payments, used his newfound influence to castigate Wright earlier this month. Sometime after the public tweets, Wright sent a letter to Hodlonaut arguing that those calling him a “fraud” are libelous and damaging his reputation – warranting legal action. Yet, the legal threat against Hodlonaut hasn’t worked the way Wright probably wanted – with users worried about expensive and timely court cases and so hesitant to post negatively about him. Instead, though, the threat triggered a wave of community support for Hodlonaut, with many others jumping in to call Wright a fraud. Binance Delists Bitcoin SV, CEO Calls Craig Wright a ‘Fraud’ Bitcoin podcaster Peter McCormack also pointed fingers at Wright and received a legal letter, asking him to apologize publicly and delete any incendiary tweets or face legal repercussions. On Sunday, McCormack published a three-page, tongue-in-cheek response saying that he would not apologize, would fight Wright in court and again arguing that Wright “is definitely not the person behind the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto.” Story continues To lend support to his argument, McCormack argued anyone can claim to be Satoshi. “‘Hey, I Peter McCormack am Satoshi Nakamoto. I created Bitcoin,’ See, I just did it,” McCormack wrote. What’s more, exchanges in the ecosystem seem to be lining up in support of Hodlonaut as well. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) also called Wright a “fraud,” and soon after, announced the exchange would delist bitcoin SV (Satoshi’s vision), the cryptocurrency that Wright supports and which broke off from bitcoin cash late last year after yet another feud involving Wright. Exchange service provider Shapeshift is planning to do the same , and Kraken launched a Twitter poll Monday seeking input on a possible delisting. So who is Craig Wright? Wright first came to fame in December 2015, when publications Gizmodo and Wired published investigative articles detailing how he might be the force behind bitcoin’s creation (in the case of Gizmodo, the late Dave Kleiman was identified as a possible collaborator). Those articles were, at the time, the latest effort by the media to identify Satoshi Nakamoto, who disappeared from the scene in late 2010. Months later, a series of new articles – published by the BBC, GQ and the Economist – profiled Wright and his efforts to prove that he was, in fact, the creator of bitcoin. Wright also published a blog post that notably featured a digital signature tied to the ninth bitcoin block. Yet this effort was rebuffed by a wave of security and cryptography experts, and Wright was labeled a fraud by many in the bitcoin community. More recently, Wright became involved in the development of bitcoin cash, which was forked away from the main bitcoin blockchain in 2017. Yet subsequent arguments over changes to bitcoin cash’s code led to plans for bitcoin SV (or Satoshi’s Vision), setting the stage for last fall’s fork . Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin called him a fraud publicly at a conference last year. More recently, Wright has issued legal threats to developers of bitcoin cash. Why is Wright issuing legal letters? Wright and businessman Calvin Ayre, who has been working with Wright on bitcoin SV, have sent legal letters to a handful of people, including ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin and cryptocurrency blog Chepicap, for alleged defamation. Thus far, McCormack is the only recipient to reveal the contents of his letter to the public. The letter was issued in response to a series of tweets from McCormack that criticized Wright, including one calling him a “fraud” and another calling him a “sociopath.” The letter from the law firm SCA Ontier to McCormack states: “You have … carried out a target campaign on Twitter to harass and libel our client by posting highly defamatory and abusive tweets, knowing they would be read not just by your 52,000 followers, but also by our client.” It continues: “The above publications have caused serious harm to our client’s reputation in this jurisdiction and continue [sic] to do so.” The letter goes on to ask McCormack to delete the tweets deemed defamatory and to issue an apology to Wright. Okay, but why are people changing their Twitter photos to astronaut cats? Much of the public outcry against the brewing legal spat has taken place on Twitter, with the contours of the fight being sketched out by supporters of people like Hodlonaut and McCormack and those who are defending Wright and bitcoin SV generally. A key sign of the battle-lines: a wave of bitcoin enthusiasts have changed their Twitter profile photos to Hodlonaut’s picture, which features a grey cat in an astronaut suit. Going further, some supporters have set up and crowdsourced a legal fund for him, dubbed We Are All Hodlonaut , which raised $20,000 in under 24 hours. As of the time of writing, the fund has amassed in excess of that original goal $28,000 from more than 1,000 supporters, and according to Lightning Labs CEO Elizabeth Stark, most of the contributions came from lightning payments. What’s more, Preston Byrne, an influential lawyer in the cryptocurrency space, tweeted that he is “assisting Hodlonaut pro bono.” Have the legal letters stymied criticism of Wright? Essentially, no. Despite the legal letters, influential people in the community continue to tweet negatively about him and the Nakamoto claim. For instance, developer Jonathan Toomin tweeted in parody: “I am God. If anyone publicly refutes this assertion, I will sue you for defamation. You will then need to prove in court that I am not God, which you will be unable to do.” Chaincode bitcoin developer Matt Corallo stepped in on Twitter to say: “Dunno how British libel suits work,” but if it helps, he offered to fly to the UK to provide “expert witness” and to state “unequivocally, under oath, that Craig is a fraud.” At the same time, others in the space want all the drama to die down, arguing that Wright should be ignored. As Bitcoin Core maintainer Jonas Schnelli tweeted : “He seeks attention with insane methods. Ignore. Ignore. Ignore his lawsuit. Don’t make him feel important. He is a psychopath.” Hodlonaut profile picture via Twitter Related Stories Craig Wright’s nChain Is Hiring a Lawyer to Protect Its Crypto Patents Bloq CEO Jeff Garzik Subpoenaed Over Craig Wright’s Satoshi Claim || Craig Wright’s Fight With a Cartoon Bitcoin Astronaut Cat Explained: There’s a legal conflict brewing between outspoken members of the bitcoin community and the controversial computer scientist who claims to be the cryptocurrency’s creator. It’s a complex story to untangle, but it boils down to Australian computer scientist Craig S. Wright – who has claimed to be bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator since 2016 – sending out legal letters to those community members that have called him a “fraud.” While several news reports , as early as late 2015, identified Wright as Satoshi, and the lead maintainer of bitcoin at the time Gavin Andresen even lent his credence to the unmasking, security experts rebuked the claim , leaving many in the cryptocurrency community unconvinced. Yet, Wright has continued stating that he Satoshi and those that believe that to be a false claim have continued to call Wright a liar. ‘Satoshi’s Treasure’ Is a Global Puzzle With a $1 Million Bitcoin Prize The latest mudslinging came after “Hodlonaut,” the pseudonymous bitcoin user that created the lightning torch experiment , which promoted bitcoin’s layer-two scaling tech for payments, used his newfound influence to castigate Wright earlier this month. Sometime after the public tweets, Wright sent a letter to Hodlonaut arguing that those calling him a “fraud” are libelous and damaging his reputation – warranting legal action. Yet, the legal threat against Hodlonaut hasn’t worked the way Wright probably wanted – with users worried about expensive and timely court cases and so hesitant to post negatively about him. Instead, though, the threat triggered a wave of community support for Hodlonaut, with many others jumping in to call Wright a fraud. Binance Delists Bitcoin SV, CEO Calls Craig Wright a ‘Fraud’ Bitcoin podcaster Peter McCormack also pointed fingers at Wright and received a legal letter, asking him to apologize publicly and delete any incendiary tweets or face legal repercussions. On Sunday, McCormack published a three-page, tongue-in-cheek response saying that he would not apologize, would fight Wright in court and again arguing that Wright “is definitely not the person behind the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto.” Story continues To lend support to his argument, McCormack argued anyone can claim to be Satoshi. “‘Hey, I Peter McCormack am Satoshi Nakamoto. I created Bitcoin,’ See, I just did it,” McCormack wrote. What’s more, exchanges in the ecosystem seem to be lining up in support of Hodlonaut as well. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) also called Wright a “fraud,” and soon after, announced the exchange would delist bitcoin SV (Satoshi’s vision), the cryptocurrency that Wright supports and which broke off from bitcoin cash late last year after yet another feud involving Wright. Exchange service provider Shapeshift is planning to do the same , and Kraken launched a Twitter poll Monday seeking input on a possible delisting. So who is Craig Wright? Wright first came to fame in December 2015, when publications Gizmodo and Wired published investigative articles detailing how he might be the force behind bitcoin’s creation (in the case of Gizmodo, the late Dave Kleiman was identified as a possible collaborator). Those articles were, at the time, the latest effort by the media to identify Satoshi Nakamoto, who disappeared from the scene in late 2010. Months later, a series of new articles – published by the BBC, GQ and the Economist – profiled Wright and his efforts to prove that he was, in fact, the creator of bitcoin. Wright also published a blog post that notably featured a digital signature tied to the ninth bitcoin block. Yet this effort was rebuffed by a wave of security and cryptography experts, and Wright was labeled a fraud by many in the bitcoin community. More recently, Wright became involved in the development of bitcoin cash, which was forked away from the main bitcoin blockchain in 2017. Yet subsequent arguments over changes to bitcoin cash’s code led to plans for bitcoin SV (or Satoshi’s Vision), setting the stage for last fall’s fork . Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin called him a fraud publicly at a conference last year. More recently, Wright has issued legal threats to developers of bitcoin cash. Why is Wright issuing legal letters? Wright and businessman Calvin Ayre, who has been working with Wright on bitcoin SV, have sent legal letters to a handful of people, including ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin and cryptocurrency blog Chepicap, for alleged defamation. Thus far, McCormack is the only recipient to reveal the contents of his letter to the public. The letter was issued in response to a series of tweets from McCormack that criticized Wright, including one calling him a “fraud” and another calling him a “sociopath.” The letter from the law firm SCA Ontier to McCormack states: “You have … carried out a target campaign on Twitter to harass and libel our client by posting highly defamatory and abusive tweets, knowing they would be read not just by your 52,000 followers, but also by our client.” It continues: “The above publications have caused serious harm to our client’s reputation in this jurisdiction and continue [sic] to do so.” The letter goes on to ask McCormack to delete the tweets deemed defamatory and to issue an apology to Wright. Okay, but why are people changing their Twitter photos to astronaut cats? Much of the public outcry against the brewing legal spat has taken place on Twitter, with the contours of the fight being sketched out by supporters of people like Hodlonaut and McCormack and those who are defending Wright and bitcoin SV generally. A key sign of the battle-lines: a wave of bitcoin enthusiasts have changed their Twitter profile photos to Hodlonaut’s picture, which features a grey cat in an astronaut suit. Going further, some supporters have set up and crowdsourced a legal fund for him, dubbed We Are All Hodlonaut , which raised $20,000 in under 24 hours. As of the time of writing, the fund has amassed in excess of that original goal $28,000 from more than 1,000 supporters, and according to Lightning Labs CEO Elizabeth Stark, most of the contributions came from lightning payments. What’s more, Preston Byrne, an influential lawyer in the cryptocurrency space, tweeted that he is “assisting Hodlonaut pro bono.” Have the legal letters stymied criticism of Wright? Essentially, no. Despite the legal letters, influential people in the community continue to tweet negatively about him and the Nakamoto claim. For instance, developer Jonathan Toomin tweeted in parody: “I am God. If anyone publicly refutes this assertion, I will sue you for defamation. You will then need to prove in court that I am not God, which you will be unable to do.” Chaincode bitcoin developer Matt Corallo stepped in on Twitter to say: “Dunno how British libel suits work,” but if it helps, he offered to fly to the UK to provide “expert witness” and to state “unequivocally, under oath, that Craig is a fraud.” At the same time, others in the space want all the drama to die down, arguing that Wright should be ignored. As Bitcoin Core maintainer Jonas Schnelli tweeted : “He seeks attention with insane methods. Ignore. Ignore. Ignore his lawsuit. Don’t make him feel important. He is a psychopath.” Hodlonaut profile picture via Twitter Related Stories Craig Wright’s nChain Is Hiring a Lawyer to Protect Its Crypto Patents Bloq CEO Jeff Garzik Subpoenaed Over Craig Wright’s Satoshi Claim || Craig Wright’s Fight With a Cartoon Bitcoin Astronaut Cat Explained: There’s a legal conflict brewing between outspoken members of the bitcoin community and the controversial computer scientist who claims to be the cryptocurrency’s creator. It’s a complex story to untangle, but it boils down to Australian computer scientist Craig S. Wright – who has claimed to be bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator since 2016 – sending out legal letters to those community members that have called him a “fraud.” While several news reports , as early as late 2015, identified Wright as Satoshi, and the lead maintainer of bitcoin at the time Gavin Andresen even lent his credence to the unmasking, security experts rebuked the claim , leaving many in the cryptocurrency community unconvinced. Yet, Wright has continued stating that he Satoshi and those that believe that to be a false claim have continued to call Wright a liar. ‘Satoshi’s Treasure’ Is a Global Puzzle With a $1 Million Bitcoin Prize The latest mudslinging came after “Hodlonaut,” the pseudonymous bitcoin user that created the lightning torch experiment , which promoted bitcoin’s layer-two scaling tech for payments, used his newfound influence to castigate Wright earlier this month. Sometime after the public tweets, Wright sent a letter to Hodlonaut arguing that those calling him a “fraud” are libelous and damaging his reputation – warranting legal action. Yet, the legal threat against Hodlonaut hasn’t worked the way Wright probably wanted – with users worried about expensive and timely court cases and so hesitant to post negatively about him. Instead, though, the threat triggered a wave of community support for Hodlonaut, with many others jumping in to call Wright a fraud. Binance Delists Bitcoin SV, CEO Calls Craig Wright a ‘Fraud’ Bitcoin podcaster Peter McCormack also pointed fingers at Wright and received a legal letter, asking him to apologize publicly and delete any incendiary tweets or face legal repercussions. On Sunday, McCormack published a three-page, tongue-in-cheek response saying that he would not apologize, would fight Wright in court and again arguing that Wright “is definitely not the person behind the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto.” Story continues To lend support to his argument, McCormack argued anyone can claim to be Satoshi. “‘Hey, I Peter McCormack am Satoshi Nakamoto. I created Bitcoin,’ See, I just did it,” McCormack wrote. What’s more, exchanges in the ecosystem seem to be lining up in support of Hodlonaut as well. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) also called Wright a “fraud,” and soon after, announced the exchange would delist bitcoin SV (Satoshi’s vision), the cryptocurrency that Wright supports and which broke off from bitcoin cash late last year after yet another feud involving Wright. Exchange service provider Shapeshift is planning to do the same , and Kraken launched a Twitter poll Monday seeking input on a possible delisting. So who is Craig Wright? Wright first came to fame in December 2015, when publications Gizmodo and Wired published investigative articles detailing how he might be the force behind bitcoin’s creation (in the case of Gizmodo, the late Dave Kleiman was identified as a possible collaborator). Those articles were, at the time, the latest effort by the media to identify Satoshi Nakamoto, who disappeared from the scene in late 2010. Months later, a series of new articles – published by the BBC, GQ and the Economist – profiled Wright and his efforts to prove that he was, in fact, the creator of bitcoin. Wright also published a blog post that notably featured a digital signature tied to the ninth bitcoin block. Yet this effort was rebuffed by a wave of security and cryptography experts, and Wright was labeled a fraud by many in the bitcoin community. More recently, Wright became involved in the development of bitcoin cash, which was forked away from the main bitcoin blockchain in 2017. Yet subsequent arguments over changes to bitcoin cash’s code led to plans for bitcoin SV (or Satoshi’s Vision), setting the stage for last fall’s fork . Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin called him a fraud publicly at a conference last year. More recently, Wright has issued legal threats to developers of bitcoin cash. Why is Wright issuing legal letters? Wright and businessman Calvin Ayre, who has been working with Wright on bitcoin SV, have sent legal letters to a handful of people, including ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin and cryptocurrency blog Chepicap, for alleged defamation. Thus far, McCormack is the only recipient to reveal the contents of his letter to the public. The letter was issued in response to a series of tweets from McCormack that criticized Wright, including one calling him a “fraud” and another calling him a “sociopath.” The letter from the law firm SCA Ontier to McCormack states: “You have … carried out a target campaign on Twitter to harass and libel our client by posting highly defamatory and abusive tweets, knowing they would be read not just by your 52,000 followers, but also by our client.” It continues: “The above publications have caused serious harm to our client’s reputation in this jurisdiction and continue [sic] to do so.” The letter goes on to ask McCormack to delete the tweets deemed defamatory and to issue an apology to Wright. Okay, but why are people changing their Twitter photos to astronaut cats? Much of the public outcry against the brewing legal spat has taken place on Twitter, with the contours of the fight being sketched out by supporters of people like Hodlonaut and McCormack and those who are defending Wright and bitcoin SV generally. A key sign of the battle-lines: a wave of bitcoin enthusiasts have changed their Twitter profile photos to Hodlonaut’s picture, which features a grey cat in an astronaut suit. Going further, some supporters have set up and crowdsourced a legal fund for him, dubbed We Are All Hodlonaut , which raised $20,000 in under 24 hours. As of the time of writing, the fund has amassed in excess of that original goal $28,000 from more than 1,000 supporters, and according to Lightning Labs CEO Elizabeth Stark, most of the contributions came from lightning payments. What’s more, Preston Byrne, an influential lawyer in the cryptocurrency space, tweeted that he is “assisting Hodlonaut pro bono.” Have the legal letters stymied criticism of Wright? Essentially, no. Despite the legal letters, influential people in the community continue to tweet negatively about him and the Nakamoto claim. For instance, developer Jonathan Toomin tweeted in parody: “I am God. If anyone publicly refutes this assertion, I will sue you for defamation. You will then need to prove in court that I am not God, which you will be unable to do.” Chaincode bitcoin developer Matt Corallo stepped in on Twitter to say: “Dunno how British libel suits work,” but if it helps, he offered to fly to the UK to provide “expert witness” and to state “unequivocally, under oath, that Craig is a fraud.” At the same time, others in the space want all the drama to die down, arguing that Wright should be ignored. As Bitcoin Core maintainer Jonas Schnelli tweeted : “He seeks attention with insane methods. Ignore. Ignore. Ignore his lawsuit. Don’t make him feel important. He is a psychopath.” Hodlonaut profile picture via Twitter Related Stories Craig Wright’s nChain Is Hiring a Lawyer to Protect Its Crypto Patents Bloq CEO Jeff Garzik Subpoenaed Over Craig Wright’s Satoshi Claim || Bitcoin Cash Price: Dont Trust Rallies That Start on Crypto Twitter: The bitcoin cash price has made strong gains this week, but investors shouldn't ever trust a rally that starts on Crypto Twitter. | Source: Bitcoin.com/Crypto Strategies. Image edited by CCN. By CCN : The bitcoin cash price surged on Monday and Tuesday as a social media campaign pressuring crypto exchanges to delist its top rival gained momentum. BCH PRICE, BITCOIN CASH BITCOIN CASH (BCH) SLIPPING FROM ITS INTRADAY HIGH | SOURCE: COINMARKETCAP.COM The fourth-largest cryptocurrency set an intraday high at $324.80 following the Asian market open. Unsurprisingly, BCH demonstrated an inverse trajectory to bitcoin SV (BSV). As some of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges announced that they would delist the controversial cryptocurrency , the bitcoin SV price plunged by 23-percent. At the same time, the bitcoin cash price appreciated more than 10-percent against the dollar. One straightforward theory suggested that crypto traders were dumping BSV for BCH, and social media sentiment seemed to bear that out. On exchanges, both cryptocurrencies experienced large volumes against tether (USDT), which could indicate that funds were flowing from one to the other. According to the OKEx Token Delisting and Hiding Guideline ( https://t.co/DzhKdbBxzn ), BSV currently does not meet our delisting criteria. As such, OKEx has no intention to delist BSV for the time being. OKEx (@OKEx) April 16, 2019 Hong Kong-based OKEx, which refused to delist BSV , was the top spot trading platform for both BSV and BCH. The crypto exchange hosted almost 8.9-percent of the total BSV volume. It also hosted 10-percent of the overall BCH volume. That proves that both the assets shared an interim inverse relationship in terms of price action. Read the full story on CCN.com . || Bitcoin Cash Price: Don’t Trust Rallies That Start on Crypto Twitter: ByCCN: Thebitcoin cash pricesurged on Monday and Tuesday as a social media campaign pressuring crypto exchanges to delist its top rival gained momentum.
BITCOIN CASH (BCH) SLIPPING FROM ITS INTRADAY HIGH | SOURCE: COINMARKETCAP.COM
The fourth-largest cryptocurrency set an intraday high at $324.80 following the Asian market open.
Unsurprisingly, BCH demonstrated an inverse trajectory to bitcoin SV (BSV). As some of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges announced that they woulddelist the controversial cryptocurrency, thebitcoin SV priceplunged by 23-percent. At the same time, the bitcoin cash price appreciated more than 10-percent against the dollar.
One straightforward theory suggested that crypto traders were dumping BSV for BCH, and social media sentiment seemed to bear that out. On exchanges, both cryptocurrencies experienced large volumes against tether (USDT), which could indicate that funds were flowing from one to the other.
Hong Kong-based OKEx, whichrefused to delist BSV, was the top spot trading platform for both BSV and BCH. The crypto exchange hosted almost 8.9-percent of the total BSV volume. It also hosted 10-percent of the overall BCH volume. That proves that both the assets shared an interim inverse relationship in terms of price action.
Read the full story on CCN.com. || Bitcoin Cash Price: Don’t Trust Rallies That Start on Crypto Twitter: ByCCN: Thebitcoin cash pricesurged on Monday and Tuesday as a social media campaign pressuring crypto exchanges to delist its top rival gained momentum.
BITCOIN CASH (BCH) SLIPPING FROM ITS INTRADAY HIGH | SOURCE: COINMARKETCAP.COM
The fourth-largest cryptocurrency set an intraday high at $324.80 following the Asian market open.
Unsurprisingly, BCH demonstrated an inverse trajectory to bitcoin SV (BSV). As some of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges announced that they woulddelist the controversial cryptocurrency, thebitcoin SV priceplunged by 23-percent. At the same time, the bitcoin cash price appreciated more than 10-percent against the dollar.
One straightforward theory suggested that crypto traders were dumping BSV for BCH, and social media sentiment seemed to bear that out. On exchanges, both cryptocurrencies experienced large volumes against tether (USDT), which could indicate that funds were flowing from one to the other.
Hong Kong-based OKEx, whichrefused to delist BSV, was the top spot trading platform for both BSV and BCH. The crypto exchange hosted almost 8.9-percent of the total BSV volume. It also hosted 10-percent of the overall BCH volume. That proves that both the assets shared an interim inverse relationship in terms of price action.
Read the full story on CCN.com. || The story of Goldman Sachs and its stance on cryptocurrency: Goldman Sachs is one of the largest and most infamous banks in the world today. Founded in 1869 by Marcus Goldman, the bank has become one of the pin-ups for finance on Wall Street. Like any traditional bank, Goldman Sachs has been sceptical about cryptocurrency from the beginning, with Bitcoin aiming to replace such enterprises. But is the banking giant now becoming more interested in the idea of cryptocurrency? This is the story of Goldman Sachs and its stance on cryptocurrency. Background Goldman Sachs in Q1 of 2019 alone managed to rake in $2.25 billion worth of profit. Amazingly, this was lower than projected, causing a small slump in its share price. Even still, to make such profit in one quarter alone highlights the size of the company. Goldman Sachs is currently run by CEO David Soloman, who replaced Lloyd Blankfein in October 2018. The bank currently employs just over 36,000 people and is a truly global bank. The 2008 financial crisis When discussing the largest US banks, it is impossible not to talk about the 2008 financial crisis, which is still causing reverberations throughout the world. Goldman Sachs was able to make some money off of the subprime mortgage crisis by short selling the securities in 2007. Michael Swenson and Josh Birnbaum were two Goldman Sachs traders who did this and made a tidy profit of $4 billion in doing so. Compared to many of the other major banks and investment firms in the USA, Goldman Sachs came off relatively lightly following the financial crisis, with many others going bankrupt. It was not, however, immune from criticism from both the government and citizens. As a result of the 2008 financial crisis, many of the major banks in both the UK and USA ended up receiving bailouts from their governments and therefore taxpayers. Although Goldman Sachs has refuted the claim that it kept any bailout funds, this has since been questioned. Goldman Sachs was exposed to the collapse of insurance firm AIG. When Goldman Sachs received money from the US Treasury, it claimed that the money was sent as compensation to clients. However, it has since emerged that the bank kept $2.9 billion, which ended up entering its own private reserves. Story continues Combine this with the fact that even after the crisis many Goldman Sachs employees received huge bonuses, public opinion turned. Many political scientists and economists have since argued that the 2008 financial crisis has had a direct affect on the rise of populism we see throughout the world today. 2008 was also a huge turning point for cryptocurrencies, as Bitcoin’s release coincided with a direct catalyst for people to search for alternatives. The clique One of the many issues surrounding the larger banks in the world is the clique that has now formed. A list of former Goldman Sachs employees reads like a who’s who of influential bankers who have gone on to Central Bank roles. European Central Bank boss Mario Draghi, Bank of Canada Governor and current Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney, and United States Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin are just three former Goldman Sachs employees who have gone on to such roles. Questions therefore arise over their bias in such roles, as they could potentially favour Goldman Sachs in their dealings. Goldman Sachs and cryptocurrency Goldman Sachs and cryptocurrency are not two ideal partners. With Bitcoin attempting to bring down the traditional fiat system, it is directly opposed to such big banks like Goldman Sachs. However, there have been examples of Goldman Sachs coming around to the idea of cryptocurrencies. Firstly, Circle – the owner of large cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex – is backed by Goldman Sachs. The company has even launched its own stablecoin – the USDC. Another Goldman Sachs-backed venture is the blockchain security company BitGo . Both Goldman Sachs and investor Mike Novogratz have contributed $15 million towards the project, which aims to provide $100 million worth of insurance to cryptocurrencies stored in cold wallets. Goldman Sachs CEO David Soloman also stated that although he doesn’t see Bitcoin as a viable store of value, it would be “arrogant” to not think that cryptocurrencies can be successful. Unlike JP Morgan though, which recently announced that it is creating its own kind of “cryptocurrency”, Goldman Sachs has taken the route of investing in start-ups rather than being directly involved itself. Conclusion There is no doubt that Goldman Sachs is a behemoth and widely respected within the “traditional” financial circles. Its appetite for cryptocurrencies is limited, but it has made a few investments behind the scenes for companies that are looking to become involved in the industry. Whether it will follow JP Morgan’s example and dive in with its own form of “cryptocurrency” is another matter though. Instead, it is more likely that as the industry continues to grow, Goldman Sachs will keep providing capital to cryptocurrency start-ups and investments, earning back its capital return through these methods. The post The story of Goldman Sachs and its stance on cryptocurrency appeared first on Coin Rivet . || The story of Goldman Sachs and its stance on cryptocurrency: Goldman Sachs is one of the largest and most infamous banks in the world today. Founded in 1869 by Marcus Goldman, the bank has become one of the pin-ups for finance on Wall Street. Like any traditional bank, Goldman Sachs has been sceptical about cryptocurrency from the beginning, with Bitcoin aiming to replace such enterprises. But is the banking giant now becoming more interested in the idea of cryptocurrency? This is the story of Goldman Sachs and its stance on cryptocurrency. Background Goldman Sachs in Q1 of 2019 alone managed to rake in $2.25 billion worth of profit. Amazingly, this was lower than projected, causing a small slump in its share price. Even still, to make such profit in one quarter alone highlights the size of the company. Goldman Sachs is currently run by CEO David Soloman, who replaced Lloyd Blankfein in October 2018. The bank currently employs just over 36,000 people and is a truly global bank. The 2008 financial crisis When discussing the largest US banks, it is impossible not to talk about the 2008 financial crisis, which is still causing reverberations throughout the world. Goldman Sachs was able to make some money off of the subprime mortgage crisis by short selling the securities in 2007. Michael Swenson and Josh Birnbaum were two Goldman Sachs traders who did this and made a tidy profit of $4 billion in doing so. Compared to many of the other major banks and investment firms in the USA, Goldman Sachs came off relatively lightly following the financial crisis, with many others going bankrupt. It was not, however, immune from criticism from both the government and citizens. As a result of the 2008 financial crisis, many of the major banks in both the UK and USA ended up receiving bailouts from their governments and therefore taxpayers. Although Goldman Sachs has refuted the claim that it kept any bailout funds, this has since been questioned. Goldman Sachs was exposed to the collapse of insurance firm AIG. When Goldman Sachs received money from the US Treasury, it claimed that the money was sent as compensation to clients. However, it has since emerged that the bank kept $2.9 billion, which ended up entering its own private reserves. Story continues Combine this with the fact that even after the crisis many Goldman Sachs employees received huge bonuses, public opinion turned. Many political scientists and economists have since argued that the 2008 financial crisis has had a direct affect on the rise of populism we see throughout the world today. 2008 was also a huge turning point for cryptocurrencies, as Bitcoin’s release coincided with a direct catalyst for people to search for alternatives. The clique One of the many issues surrounding the larger banks in the world is the clique that has now formed. A list of former Goldman Sachs employees reads like a who’s who of influential bankers who have gone on to Central Bank roles. European Central Bank boss Mario Draghi, Bank of Canada Governor and current Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney, and United States Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin are just three former Goldman Sachs employees who have gone on to such roles. Questions therefore arise over their bias in such roles, as they could potentially favour Goldman Sachs in their dealings. Goldman Sachs and cryptocurrency Goldman Sachs and cryptocurrency are not two ideal partners. With Bitcoin attempting to bring down the traditional fiat system, it is directly opposed to such big banks like Goldman Sachs. However, there have been examples of Goldman Sachs coming around to the idea of cryptocurrencies. Firstly, Circle – the owner of large cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex – is backed by Goldman Sachs. The company has even launched its own stablecoin – the USDC. Another Goldman Sachs-backed venture is the blockchain security company BitGo . Both Goldman Sachs and investor Mike Novogratz have contributed $15 million towards the project, which aims to provide $100 million worth of insurance to cryptocurrencies stored in cold wallets. Goldman Sachs CEO David Soloman also stated that although he doesn’t see Bitcoin as a viable store of value, it would be “arrogant” to not think that cryptocurrencies can be successful. Unlike JP Morgan though, which recently announced that it is creating its own kind of “cryptocurrency”, Goldman Sachs has taken the route of investing in start-ups rather than being directly involved itself. Conclusion There is no doubt that Goldman Sachs is a behemoth and widely respected within the “traditional” financial circles. Its appetite for cryptocurrencies is limited, but it has made a few investments behind the scenes for companies that are looking to become involved in the industry. Whether it will follow JP Morgan’s example and dive in with its own form of “cryptocurrency” is another matter though. Instead, it is more likely that as the industry continues to grow, Goldman Sachs will keep providing capital to cryptocurrency start-ups and investments, earning back its capital return through these methods. The post The story of Goldman Sachs and its stance on cryptocurrency appeared first on Coin Rivet . || eToro launches cryptocurrency exchange, adds support for multiple fiat-based stablecoins: eToro, the global multi-asset trading platform has officially unveiled its fully regulated cryptocurrency exchange, eToroX. The exchange will have 37 crypto-to-fiat asset pairs and will initially support 16 assets including: 8 fiat-based stablecoins (Canadian dollar, U.S. dollar, Swiss franc, Pound Sterling, New Zealand dollar, Japanese yen, euro, and the Australian dollar) 2 metal-based stablecoins (gold and silver) 6 cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, XRP, Litecoin, Dash, Bitcoin Cash, and Ethereum) "We will continuously innovate eToroX to add more features and more assets," eToro CEO and co-founder, Yoni Assia, said on stage during his Paris Blockchain Week Summit presentation. Last month, eToro also launched a trading platform and wallet service to 32 U.S. states and territories, enabling users to trade 13 cryptocurrencies.
[Social Media Buzz]
1 #BTC (#Bitcoin) quotes:
$5231.58/$5232.46 #Bitstamp
$5227.20/$5228.00 #Kraken
⇢$-5.26/$-3.58 || #MikabotSell
$BTC #BTC /USDT , satıldı.
Şuanki Fiyat: 5167.77000 USDT
Şuan Tarih: 17.04.2019 11:30:00
Alış Fiyatı: 5164.49000 USDT
Alış Tarihi: 16.04.2019 21:30:00
Kasaya Giren Kar%: 0.06
Mikabot Yorumu: Kar Edildi || 2019/04/18 05:00:22 24h BTC-PricePer-Currency
via https://coinlib.io/coin/BTC/Bitcoin …
#coinlib_moneyflowpic.twitter.com/hCEcmsmbCy || NTerminal Alert
We spotted a large Bitcoin trans...
|
5298.39, 5303.81, 5337.89, 5314.53, 5399.37, 5572.36, 5464.87, 5210.52, 5279.35, 5268.29
|
Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 6487.16, 6475.74, 6495.84, 6476.29, 6474.75, 6480.38, 6486.39, 6332.63, 6334.27, 6317.61, 6377.78, 6388.44, 6361.26, 6376.13, 6419.66, 6461.01, 6530.14, 6453.72, 6385.62, 6409.22, 6411.27, 6371.27, 6359.49, 5738.35, 5648.03, 5575.55, 5554.33, 5623.54, 4871.49, 4451.87, 4602.17, 4365.94, 4347.11, 3880.76, 4009.97, 3779.13, 3820.72, 4257.42, 4278.85, 4017.27, 4214.67, 4139.88, 3894.13, 3956.89, 3753.99, 3521.10, 3419.94, 3476.11, 3614.23, 3502.66, 3424.59, 3486.95, 3313.68, 3242.48, 3236.76, 3252.84, 3545.86, 3696.06, 3745.95, 4134.44, 3896.54, 4014.18, 3998.98, 4078.60, 3815.49, 3857.30, 3654.83, 3923.92, 3820.41, 3865.95, 3742.70, 3843.52, 3943.41, 3836.74, 3857.72, 3845.19, 4076.63, 4025.25, 4030.85, 4035.30, 3678.92, 3687.37, 3661.30, 3552.95, 3706.05, 3630.68, 3655.01, 3678.56, 3657.84, 3728.57.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2019-01-19]
Volume: 5955691380, RSI (14-day): 47.46, 50-day EMA: 3997.58, 200-day EMA: 5508.02
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Crypto Analyst Brian Kelly: ‘No Shot’ for Bitcoin ETF in 2019: Crypto entrepreneur and regular contributor to CNBC, Brian Kelly, claimed that there is no chance for a Bitcoin ( BTC ) exchange-traded fund ( ETF ) approval in 2019. Kelly made his remarks in an interview with Cointelegraph at the Crypto Finance Conference, Switzerland, Jan. 18. Discussing the overall state of the cryptocurrency market, Kelly predicted that 2019 will turn out better than 2018. The analyst argued that “we are somewhere close to the end of [the bear market], but we might have another dip lower, it wouldn’t surprise me at all.” Speaking specifically about what we should expect from 2019, Kelly continued: “Probably in 2019 the focus will be on currencies — Bitcoin, Litecoin, some of those — because we have quite a bit of geopolitical tension in the world. We are starting to see some global macro players use Bitcoin as alternative to their gold position, or as a way to hedge against fiat currency fluctuations and volatility.” According to Kelly, 2019 will see Bitcoin become a more accepted asset among mainstream investors. However, when asked about the likelihood of a Bitcoin ETF receiving government approval this year, Kelly said that there is “no shot” for that. The approval of a Bitcoin ETF — an investment fund that would track the value of its underlying asset and trade on stock exchanges — by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC ) is a highly anticipated event that is seen by many as a prerequisite for major institutional investors entering the crypto market. Over 2018, the SEC has received multiple Bitcoin ETF applications from various players, such as the Winklevoss twins , but is yet to approve any one of them. Expanding on his point of view, Kelly said that the agency is unlikely to change its opinion in the near future, as “there is too much that is unresolved.” According to the analyst, it will take more than a year to settle the existing issues. Story continues Kelly further predicted that in the upcoming years the world will face a new recession, followed by a new financial crisis. However, the nature of the latter will be different from the previous crises, which will purportedly create a window of opportunity for cryptocurrencies and result in making them an actual alternative to fiat money. As Cointelegraph reported last August, Kelly had previously predicted that the approval of a Bitcoin ETF would not happen earlier than in February 2019. He then affirmed the SEC’s argument that the existing BTC futures market is not mature enough, nevertheless highlighting that it is evolving quickly. Related Articles: Total Market Cap Drops $5 Billion as All Major Coins Take Price Hit Crypto Prices See Calm as ZB.Com Bypasses Binance to Become Top Exchange Chip Making Giant TSMC Reports Significant Drop in Crypto Mining Revenue Crypto Markets Experience Moderate Growth, Bitcoin Holds Above $3,600 || Crypto Analyst Brian Kelly: ‘No Shot’ for Bitcoin ETF in 2019: Crypto entrepreneur and regular contributor to CNBC, Brian Kelly, claimed that there is no chance for a Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) approval in 2019. Kelly made his remarks in an interview with Cointelegraph at the Crypto Finance Conference, Switzerland, Jan. 18.
Discussing the overall state of thecryptocurrencymarket, Kelly predicted that 2019 will turn out better than 2018. The analyst argued that “we are somewhere close to the end of [the bear market], but we might have another dip lower, it wouldn’t surprise me at all.” Speaking specifically about what we should expect from 2019, Kelly continued:
“Probably in 2019 the focus will be on currencies — Bitcoin, Litecoin, some of those — because we have quite a bit of geopolitical tension in the world. We are starting to see some global macro players use Bitcoin as alternative to their gold position, or as a way to hedge against fiat currency fluctuations and volatility.”
According to Kelly, 2019 will see Bitcoin become a more accepted asset among mainstream investors.
However, when asked about the likelihood of a Bitcoin ETF receiving government approval this year, Kelly said that there is “no shot” for that.
The approval of a Bitcoin ETF — an investment fund that would track the value of its underlying asset and trade on stock exchanges — by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is a highly anticipated event that is seen by many as a prerequisite for major institutional investors entering the crypto market.
Over 2018, the SEC has received multiple Bitcoin ETF applications from various players, such as theWinklevoss twins, but is yet to approve any one of them. Expanding on his point of view, Kelly said that the agency is unlikely to change its opinion in the near future, as “there is too much that is unresolved.” According to the analyst, it will take more than a year to settle the existing issues.
Kelly further predicted that in the upcoming years the world will face a new recession, followed by a new financial crisis. However, the nature of the latter will be different from the previous crises, which will purportedly create a window of opportunity for cryptocurrencies and result in making them an actual alternative to fiat money.
As Cointelegraphreportedlast August, Kelly had previously predicted that the approval of a Bitcoin ETF would not happen earlier than in February 2019. He then affirmed the SEC’s argument that the existing BTC futures market is not mature enough, nevertheless highlighting that it is evolving quickly.
• Total Market Cap Drops $5 Billion as All Major Coins Take Price Hit
• Crypto Prices See Calm as ZB.Com Bypasses Binance to Become Top Exchange
• Chip Making Giant TSMC Reports Significant Drop in Crypto Mining Revenue
• Crypto Markets Experience Moderate Growth, Bitcoin Holds Above $3,600 || Crypto Analyst Brian Kelly: ‘No Shot’ for Bitcoin ETF in 2019: Crypto entrepreneur and regular contributor to CNBC, Brian Kelly, claimed that there is no chance for a Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) approval in 2019. Kelly made his remarks in an interview with Cointelegraph at the Crypto Finance Conference, Switzerland, Jan. 18.
Discussing the overall state of thecryptocurrencymarket, Kelly predicted that 2019 will turn out better than 2018. The analyst argued that “we are somewhere close to the end of [the bear market], but we might have another dip lower, it wouldn’t surprise me at all.” Speaking specifically about what we should expect from 2019, Kelly continued:
“Probably in 2019 the focus will be on currencies — Bitcoin, Litecoin, some of those — because we have quite a bit of geopolitical tension in the world. We are starting to see some global macro players use Bitcoin as alternative to their gold position, or as a way to hedge against fiat currency fluctuations and volatility.”
According to Kelly, 2019 will see Bitcoin become a more accepted asset among mainstream investors.
However, when asked about the likelihood of a Bitcoin ETF receiving government approval this year, Kelly said that there is “no shot” for that.
The approval of a Bitcoin ETF — an investment fund that would track the value of its underlying asset and trade on stock exchanges — by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is a highly anticipated event that is seen by many as a prerequisite for major institutional investors entering the crypto market.
Over 2018, the SEC has received multiple Bitcoin ETF applications from various players, such as theWinklevoss twins, but is yet to approve any one of them. Expanding on his point of view, Kelly said that the agency is unlikely to change its opinion in the near future, as “there is too much that is unresolved.” According to the analyst, it will take more than a year to settle the existing issues.
Kelly further predicted that in the upcoming years the world will face a new recession, followed by a new financial crisis. However, the nature of the latter will be different from the previous crises, which will purportedly create a window of opportunity for cryptocurrencies and result in making them an actual alternative to fiat money.
As Cointelegraphreportedlast August, Kelly had previously predicted that the approval of a Bitcoin ETF would not happen earlier than in February 2019. He then affirmed the SEC’s argument that the existing BTC futures market is not mature enough, nevertheless highlighting that it is evolving quickly.
• Total Market Cap Drops $5 Billion as All Major Coins Take Price Hit
• Crypto Prices See Calm as ZB.Com Bypasses Binance to Become Top Exchange
• Chip Making Giant TSMC Reports Significant Drop in Crypto Mining Revenue
• Crypto Markets Experience Moderate Growth, Bitcoin Holds Above $3,600 || Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Stellar, Litecoin, TRON, Bitcoin SV, Cardano: Price Analysis, Jan. 18: The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.
The market data is provided by theHitBTCexchange.
In a recent interview with Cointelegraph, Sterling Witzke, partner at Winklevoss Capital, claimed that institutional investors are looking into the cryptocurrency industry, but are not quite ready to take the bigplungeyet.
According to her, the unfavorable regulatory environment in the United States and the lack of adequate security measures in are two major factors that need to be sorted out if institutions are to make a decisive entry.
Companies are trying various approaches to opening up Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to the mainstream audience.
One such attempt is by Bitcoin ATM company Coinme that haspartneredwith coins-to-cash converter Coinstar. The two companies aim to facilitate buying Bitcoin through Coinstar kiosks that are going to be put up at grocery stores throughout various countries.
As if the number of existing cryptocurrencies was not enough, researchers fromseventop U.S. Universities have come together to launch a “globally scalable decentralized payments network.” This shows that some of the top minds in the industry are positive on the prospects of cryptocurrencies in the future.
Bitcoin’s (BTC) volatility has declined sharply in the past three days. We anticipate a resolution of this tight range within the next few days. Both moving averages are either flat or marginally sloping down. The RSI is in the negative zone. This shows that the path of least resistance is to the downside.
A breakdown of $3,473.47 can push theBTC/USDpair towards the year-to-date low of $3,236.09. On the contrary, if the bulls push the price above the moving averages, a rally to $4,000 is possible. We anticipate a strong resistance in the zone of $4,000–$4,255.
If the bulls scale this zone, the leading cryptocurrency might start a new uptrend. We shall wait for a reliable buy setup to form before recommending any trades in it. Until then, it is best to remain on the sidelines.
The failure of Ripple (XRP) to break out of the moving averages will attract sellers. A breakdown of $0.31121 can lead to a decline to $0.27795.
The trend is down as theXRP/USDpair continues to trade inside the descending channel. Both of the moving averages have turned down marginally and the RSI is in the negative zone, which suggests that the bears have the upper hand.
The first sign of a probable trend reversal will be a breakout and close above the downtrend line. Such a move can see the price move to $0.4, and above it to the resistance line of the channel. We couldn’t find a reliable trade setup at the current levels, so we are not suggesting any new long positions.
Though the bulls have successfully defended the 50-day SMA for the past four days, they haven’t been able to push Ethereum (ETH) above the 20-day EMA.
The 20-day EMA sloping down and the RSI in the negative zone suggest that the bears have the advantage in the short term. A breakdown of $116.3 will increase the probability of a fall to $100, and further to $83.
However, if the bulls push the price higher, a breakout above $140 can carry theETH/USDpair towards the next overhead resistance of $167.32. We shall wait for a confirmed change in trend before proposing a trade in it.
The volatility in Bitcoin Cash (BCH) has shrunk dramatically in the past three days, which shows a lack of both buying and selling interest.
If the buyers return in large numbers and push theBCH/USDpair above the moving averages, a rally to $177.3 will be probable.
Nonetheless, if the bears sink the digital currency below $121.3, a decline to $100, and below that to $73.5, will be possible.
ThoughEOScontinues to trade inside the range of $2.3093–$3.2081, the bulls are struggling to push the price above the 20-day EMA.
A breakdown of the range and $2.1733 can push theEOS/USDpair towards $1.7746, and below that to the recent low of $1.55.
Conversely, if the bulls push the price above the 20-day EMA, the cryptocurrency might reach the top of the range. With both of the moving averages flat and the RSI marginally in the negative zone, a consolidation is likely.
The intraday range has tightened further in Stellar (XLM). The bulls and the bears are in a state of balance.
A break below $0.010235190 will increase the probability of a retest of $0.09285498, below which the downtrend will resume.
If the bulls push theXLM/USDpair above the 20-day EMA and the 50-day SMA, a move to $0.13427050 will be possible. A break out of this level will be the first indication that the trend is about to reverse. Currently, we couldn’t find any bullish patterns, so we are not suggesting a trade.
Litecoin (LTC) has been trading between the moving averages for the past four days. Such a tight range is unlikely to sustain for a long time.
After this period of low volatility, we expect the range to expand in the next few days. However, it is difficult to predict which way the break will happen because the moving averages are flat and the RSI is also just below the 50 levels.
If theLTC/USDpair scales above the 20-day EMA, it might attempt to move up to $36.428, and further to $40.784. However, if the bears sink the virtual currency below the support zone of $27.701–$29.349, a fall to $23.090 will be probable. Therefore, long positions should be protected with a stop loss at $27.5.
For the past two days, Tron (TRX) has been trading inside the intraday high and low formed on Jan. 15 of this year.
A breakout and close above the overhead resistance zone of $0.02733572–$0.02815521 might start a new uptrend that could carry theTRX/USDpair to $0.04.
On the other hand, if the price breaks down of the 20-day EMA, it might correct to $0.0211344, and below it to $0.0183. We suggest traders either buy closer to $0.0183, or on a close above $0.02815521 (UTC time frame). We couldn’t find any reliable trades inside the range.
Not much is happening in Bitcoin SV (BSV) as it remains stuck inside a very tight range of $74.022–$88.722.
A breakdown of this tight range will lead to a retest of $65.031. A break of this level will trigger the liquidation of long positions that can plunge theBSV/USDpair further to $57, and below that to $38.528.
The first sign of recovery will be when the bulls push the price above the moving averages and sustain it there. Until then, we suggest the traders stay on the sidelines.
Though Cardano (ADA) has closed above the 20-day EMA, it is yet to make a decisive move higher. Currently, the bulls are struggling to sustain above the moving average.
Both moving averages are flat, and the RSI is close to 50 levels, which points to a consolidation in the near term.
The levels to watch on the downside are $0.4 and $0.036815, whereas an important threshold on the upside is $0.051468. If this level is crossed, theADA/USDpair can move up to the resistance line of the ascending channel.
However, we couldn’t find any bullish setups at the current levels, so we remain neutral on the coin.
The market data is provided by theHitBTCexchange. The charts for the analysis are provided byTradingView.
• Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Stellar, Litecoin, Tron, Bitcoin SV, Cardano: Price Analysis, Jan. 11
• Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Stellar, Litecoin, Tron, Bitcoin SV, Cardano: Price Analysis, Jan. 16
• Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Stellar, Litecoin, Tron, Bitcoin SV, Cardano: Price Analysis, Jan. 14
• Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Litecoin, Stellar, Tron, Bitcoin SV, Cardano: Price Analysis, Jan. 9 || Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Stellar, Litecoin, TRON, Bitcoin SV, Cardano: Price Analysis, Jan. 18: The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision. The market data is provided by the HitBTC exchange. In a recent interview with Cointelegraph, Sterling Witzke, partner at Winklevoss Capital, claimed that institutional investors are looking into the cryptocurrency industry, but are not quite ready to take the big plunge yet. According to her, the unfavorable regulatory environment in the United States and the lack of adequate security measures in are two major factors that need to be sorted out if institutions are to make a decisive entry. Companies are trying various approaches to opening up Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to the mainstream audience. One such attempt is by Bitcoin ATM company Coinme that has partnered with coins-to-cash converter Coinstar. The two companies aim to facilitate buying Bitcoin through Coinstar kiosks that are going to be put up at grocery stores throughout various countries. As if the number of existing cryptocurrencies was not enough, researchers from seven top U.S. Universities have come together to launch a globally scalable decentralized payments network. This shows that some of the top minds in the industry are positive on the prospects of cryptocurrencies in the future. BTC/USD Bitcoins ( BTC ) volatility has declined sharply in the past three days. We anticipate a resolution of this tight range within the next few days. Both moving averages are either flat or marginally sloping down. The RSI is in the negative zone. This shows that the path of least resistance is to the downside. BTC/USD A breakdown of $3,473.47 can push the BTC/USD pair towards the year-to-date low of $3,236.09. On the contrary, if the bulls push the price above the moving averages, a rally to $4,000 is possible. We anticipate a strong resistance in the zone of $4,000$4,255. Story continues If the bulls scale this zone, the leading cryptocurrency might start a new uptrend. We shall wait for a reliable buy setup to form before recommending any trades in it. Until then, it is best to remain on the sidelines. XRP/USD The failure of Ripple ( XRP ) to break out of the moving averages will attract sellers. A breakdown of $0.31121 can lead to a decline to $0.27795. XRP/USD The trend is down as the XRP/USD pair continues to trade inside the descending channel. Both of the moving averages have turned down marginally and the RSI is in the negative zone, which suggests that the bears have the upper hand. The first sign of a probable trend reversal will be a breakout and close above the downtrend line. Such a move can see the price move to $0.4, and above it to the resistance line of the channel. We couldnt find a reliable trade setup at the current levels, so we are not suggesting any new long positions. ETH/USD Though the bulls have successfully defended the 50-day SMA for the past four days, they havent been able to push Ethereum ( ETH ) above the 20-day EMA. ETH/USD The 20-day EMA sloping down and the RSI in the negative zone suggest that the bears have the advantage in the short term. A breakdown of $116.3 will increase the probability of a fall to $100, and further to $83. However, if the bulls push the price higher, a breakout above $140 can carry the ETH/USD pair towards the next overhead resistance of $167.32. We shall wait for a confirmed change in trend before proposing a trade in it. BCH/USD The volatility in Bitcoin Cash ( BCH ) has shrunk dramatically in the past three days, which shows a lack of both buying and selling interest. BCH/USD If the buyers return in large numbers and push the BCH/USD pair above the moving averages, a rally to $177.3 will be probable. Nonetheless, if the bears sink the digital currency below $121.3, a decline to $100, and below that to $73.5, will be possible. EOS/USD Though EOS continues to trade inside the range of $2.3093$3.2081, the bulls are struggling to push the price above the 20-day EMA. EOS/USD A breakdown of the range and $2.1733 can push the EOS/USD pair towards $1.7746, and below that to the recent low of $1.55. Conversely, if the bulls push the price above the 20-day EMA, the cryptocurrency might reach the top of the range. With both of the moving averages flat and the RSI marginally in the negative zone, a consolidation is likely. XLM/USD The intraday range has tightened further in Stellar ( XLM ). The bulls and the bears are in a state of balance. XLM/USD A break below $0.010235190 will increase the probability of a retest of $0.09285498, below which the downtrend will resume. If the bulls push the XLM/USD pair above the 20-day EMA and the 50-day SMA, a move to $0.13427050 will be possible. A break out of this level will be the first indication that the trend is about to reverse. Currently, we couldnt find any bullish patterns, so we are not suggesting a trade. LTC/USD Litecoin ( LTC ) has been trading between the moving averages for the past four days. Such a tight range is unlikely to sustain for a long time. LTC/USD After this period of low volatility, we expect the range to expand in the next few days. However, it is difficult to predict which way the break will happen because the moving averages are flat and the RSI is also just below the 50 levels. If the LTC/USD pair scales above the 20-day EMA, it might attempt to move up to $36.428, and further to $40.784. However, if the bears sink the virtual currency below the support zone of $27.701$29.349, a fall to $23.090 will be probable. Therefore, long positions should be protected with a stop loss at $27.5. TRX/USD For the past two days, Tron ( TRX ) has been trading inside the intraday high and low formed on Jan. 15 of this year. TRX/USD A breakout and close above the overhead resistance zone of $0.02733572$0.02815521 might start a new uptrend that could carry the TRX/USD pair to $0.04. On the other hand, if the price breaks down of the 20-day EMA, it might correct to $0.0211344, and below it to $0.0183. We suggest traders either buy closer to $0.0183, or on a close above $0.02815521 (UTC time frame). We couldnt find any reliable trades inside the range. BSV/USD Not much is happening in Bitcoin SV (BSV) as it remains stuck inside a very tight range of $74.022$88.722. BSV/USD A breakdown of this tight range will lead to a retest of $65.031. A break of this level will trigger the liquidation of long positions that can plunge the BSV/USD pair further to $57, and below that to $38.528. The first sign of recovery will be when the bulls push the price above the moving averages and sustain it there. Until then, we suggest the traders stay on the sidelines. ADA/USD Though Cardano ( ADA ) has closed above the 20-day EMA, it is yet to make a decisive move higher. Currently, the bulls are struggling to sustain above the moving average. ADA/USD Both moving averages are flat, and the RSI is close to 50 levels, which points to a consolidation in the near term. The levels to watch on the downside are $0.4 and $0.036815, whereas an important threshold on the upside is $0.051468. If this level is crossed, the ADA/USD pair can move up to the resistance line of the ascending channel. However, we couldnt find any bullish setups at the current levels, so we remain neutral on the coin. The market data is provided by the HitBTC exchange. The charts for the analysis are provided by TradingView . Related Articles: Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Stellar, Litecoin, Tron, Bitcoin SV, Cardano: Price Analysis, Jan. 11 Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Stellar, Litecoin, Tron, Bitcoin SV, Cardano: Price Analysis, Jan. 16 Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Stellar, Litecoin, Tron, Bitcoin SV, Cardano: Price Analysis, Jan. 14 Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Litecoin, Stellar, Tron, Bitcoin SV, Cardano: Price Analysis, Jan. 9 || Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Stellar, Litecoin, TRON, Bitcoin SV, Cardano: Price Analysis, Jan. 18: The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.
The market data is provided by theHitBTCexchange.
In a recent interview with Cointelegraph, Sterling Witzke, partner at Winklevoss Capital, claimed that institutional investors are looking into the cryptocurrency industry, but are not quite ready to take the bigplungeyet.
According to her, the unfavorable regulatory environment in the United States and the lack of adequate security measures in are two major factors that need to be sorted out if institutions are to make a decisive entry.
Companies are trying various approaches to opening up Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to the mainstream audience.
One such attempt is by Bitcoin ATM company Coinme that haspartneredwith coins-to-cash converter Coinstar. The two companies aim to facilitate buying Bitcoin through Coinstar kiosks that are going to be put up at grocery stores throughout various countries.
As if the number of existing cryptocurrencies was not enough, researchers fromseventop U.S. Universities have come together to launch a “globally scalable decentralized payments network.” This shows that some of the top minds in the industry are positive on the prospects of cryptocurrencies in the future.
Bitcoin’s (BTC) volatility has declined sharply in the past three days. We anticipate a resolution of this tight range within the next few days. Both moving averages are either flat or marginally sloping down. The RSI is in the negative zone. This shows that the path of least resistance is to the downside.
A breakdown of $3,473.47 can push theBTC/USDpair towards the year-to-date low of $3,236.09. On the contrary, if the bulls push the price above the moving averages, a rally to $4,000 is possible. We anticipate a strong resistance in the zone of $4,000–$4,255.
If the bulls scale this zone, the leading cryptocurrency might start a new uptrend. We shall wait for a reliable buy setup to form before recommending any trades in it. Until then, it is best to remain on the sidelines.
The failure of Ripple (XRP) to break out of the moving averages will attract sellers. A breakdown of $0.31121 can lead to a decline to $0.27795.
The trend is down as theXRP/USDpair continues to trade inside the descending channel. Both of the moving averages have turned down marginally and the RSI is in the negative zone, which suggests that the bears have the upper hand.
The first sign of a probable trend reversal will be a breakout and close above the downtrend line. Such a move can see the price move to $0.4, and above it to the resistance line of the channel. We couldn’t find a reliable trade setup at the current levels, so we are not suggesting any new long positions.
Though the bulls have successfully defended the 50-day SMA for the past four days, they haven’t been able to push Ethereum (ETH) above the 20-day EMA.
The 20-day EMA sloping down and the RSI in the negative zone suggest that the bears have the advantage in the short term. A breakdown of $116.3 will increase the probability of a fall to $100, and further to $83.
However, if the bulls push the price higher, a breakout above $140 can carry theETH/USDpair towards the next overhead resistance of $167.32. We shall wait for a confirmed change in trend before proposing a trade in it.
The volatility in Bitcoin Cash (BCH) has shrunk dramatically in the past three days, which shows a lack of both buying and selling interest.
If the buyers return in large numbers and push theBCH/USDpair above the moving averages, a rally to $177.3 will be probable.
Nonetheless, if the bears sink the digital currency below $121.3, a decline to $100, and below that to $73.5, will be possible.
ThoughEOScontinues to trade inside the range of $2.3093–$3.2081, the bulls are struggling to push the price above the 20-day EMA.
A breakdown of the range and $2.1733 can push theEOS/USDpair towards $1.7746, and below that to the recent low of $1.55.
Conversely, if the bulls push the price above the 20-day EMA, the cryptocurrency might reach the top of the range. With both of the moving averages flat and the RSI marginally in the negative zone, a consolidation is likely.
The intraday range has tightened further in Stellar (XLM). The bulls and the bears are in a state of balance.
A break below $0.010235190 will increase the probability of a retest of $0.09285498, below which the downtrend will resume.
If the bulls push theXLM/USDpair above the 20-day EMA and the 50-day SMA, a move to $0.13427050 will be possible. A break out of this level will be the first indication that the trend is about to reverse. Currently, we couldn’t find any bullish patterns, so we are not suggesting a trade.
Litecoin (LTC) has been trading between the moving averages for the past four days. Such a tight range is unlikely to sustain for a long time.
After this period of low volatility, we expect the range to expand in the next few days. However, it is difficult to predict which way the break will happen because the moving averages are flat and the RSI is also just below the 50 levels.
If theLTC/USDpair scales above the 20-day EMA, it might attempt to move up to $36.428, and further to $40.784. However, if the bears sink the virtual currency below the support zone of $27.701–$29.349, a fall to $23.090 will be probable. Therefore, long positions should be protected with a stop loss at $27.5.
For the past two days, Tron (TRX) has been trading inside the intraday high and low formed on Jan. 15 of this year.
A breakout and close above the overhead resistance zone of $0.02733572–$0.02815521 might start a new uptrend that could carry theTRX/USDpair to $0.04.
On the other hand, if the price breaks down of the 20-day EMA, it might correct to $0.0211344, and below it to $0.0183. We suggest traders either buy closer to $0.0183, or on a close above $0.02815521 (UTC time frame). We couldn’t find any reliable trades inside the range.
Not much is happening in Bitcoin SV (BSV) as it remains stuck inside a very tight range of $74.022–$88.722.
A breakdown of this tight range will lead to a retest of $65.031. A break of this level will trigger the liquidation of long positions that can plunge theBSV/USDpair further to $57, and below that to $38.528.
The first sign of recovery will be when the bulls push the price above the moving averages and sustain it there. Until then, we suggest the traders stay on the sidelines.
Though Cardano (ADA) has closed above the 20-day EMA, it is yet to make a decisive move higher. Currently, the bulls are struggling to sustain above the moving average.
Both moving averages are flat, and the RSI is close to 50 levels, which points to a consolidation in the near term.
The levels to watch on the downside are $0.4 and $0.036815, whereas an important threshold on the upside is $0.051468. If this level is crossed, theADA/USDpair can move up to the resistance line of the ascending channel.
However, we couldn’t find any bullish setups at the current levels, so we remain neutral on the coin.
The market data is provided by theHitBTCexchange. The charts for the analysis are provided byTradingView.
• Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Stellar, Litecoin, Tron, Bitcoin SV, Cardano: Price Analysis, Jan. 11
• Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Stellar, Litecoin, Tron, Bitcoin SV, Cardano: Price Analysis, Jan. 16
• Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Stellar, Litecoin, Tron, Bitcoin SV, Cardano: Price Analysis, Jan. 14
• Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Litecoin, Stellar, Tron, Bitcoin SV, Cardano: Price Analysis, Jan. 9 || Haven, a New App From OB1, Lets Users Chat, Shop and Send Crypto Privately: Haven OB1.jpg Blockchain startup OB1, the developers of decentralized shopping platform OpenBazaar , have announced Haven , a privacy-focused app for socializing with friends and making purchases with cryptocurrencies. The project was announced by Brian Hoffman, founder and CEO of OB1, at the North American Bitcoin Conference in Miami. The developers claim that Haven will enable users to shop, chat, and send cryptocurrencies privately from their mobile device. The ability to chat with friends and family on social networks has been tainted with data breaches and reports of the networks tracking user activity and selling collected data to third parties. According to a company announcement, Haven will have a little bit of everything. It will "combine a multiple-cryptocurrency wallet, a social network and a truly peer-to-peer marketplace" for an inclusive economy and global participation with a focus on privacy. Users can set up an e-commerce store using just their smartphones. They can also purchase items through the marketplace using cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. To speed up the shopping process, Haven features a multi-wallet where you can keep, receive and send the four cryptocurrencies supported on the platform: bitcoin, bitcoin cash, zcoin and litecoin. Haven comes with a social feed, complete with features that allow users to share, like, comment and repost, prominent on the app. To ensure a secure shopping experience, Haven leverages the OpenBazaar software and InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), a decentralized and distributed file storage system. OpenBazaar is an open source project for building decentralized e-commerce stores that doesn't require go-betweens to function. Think of it as an eBay without fees. We believe users should be in control of their own data and are inspired by how cryptocurrencies allow them to trade with one another around the world. Users can connect this way now without needing access to traditional payment processors or using giant e-commerce platforms that collect all their personal data, Hoffman explained in the company announcement. Haven is OB1s most advanced project representing our mission to bring a convenient but private social marketplace experience to users. This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine . || Haven, a New App From OB1, Lets Users Chat, Shop and Send Crypto Privately: Blockchain startup OB1, the developers of decentralized shopping platformOpenBazaar, have announcedHaven, a privacy-focused app for socializing with friends and making purchases with cryptocurrencies.
The project was announced by Brian Hoffman, founder and CEO of OB1, at the North American Bitcoin Conference in Miami. The developers claim that Haven will “enable users to shop, chat, and send cryptocurrencies privately from their mobile device.”
The ability to chat with friends and family on social networks has been tainted with data breaches and reports of the networks tracking user activity and selling collected data to third parties.
According to a company announcement, Haven will have a little bit of everything. It will "combine a multiple-cryptocurrency wallet, a social network and a truly peer-to-peer marketplace" for an inclusive economy and global participation with a focus on privacy.
Users can set up an e-commerce store using just their smartphones. They can also purchase items through the marketplace using cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. To speed up the shopping process, Haven features a multi-wallet where you can keep, receive and send the four cryptocurrencies supported on the platform: bitcoin, bitcoin cash, zcoin and litecoin.
Haven comes with a social feed, complete with features that allow users to share, like, comment and repost, prominent on the app.
To ensure a secure shopping experience, Haven leverages theOpenBazaarsoftware and InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), a decentralized and distributed file storage system.
OpenBazaar is an open source project for building decentralized e-commerce stores that doesn't require go-betweens to function. Think of it as an eBay without fees.
“We believe users should be in control of their own data and are inspired by how cryptocurrencies allow them to trade with one another around the world. Users can connect this way now without needing access to traditional payment processors or using giant e-commerce platforms that collect all their personal data,” Hoffman explained in the company announcement.
“Haven is OB1’s most advanced project representing our mission to bring a convenient but private social marketplace experience to users.”
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || Binance Expands Fiat-to-Crypto Exchange Into Europe Via Jersey: Binance’s cryptocurrency exchange platform has expanded into the European market with its entry into the Island of Jersey, a self-governing dependency of Great Britain. Binance Jersey will allow trading of popular cryptocurrencies bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) against the euro (EUR) and the British pound (GBP).
The exchange will launch with four trading pairs, including BTC/GBP, ETH/GBP, BTC/EUR and ETH/EUR.
In a statement, Wei Zhou, Binance’s chief financial officer, called the island “an undisputed pioneer in blockchain development leveraged by this strong framework and talent pool.”
He added: “Binance Jersey hopes to increase Jersey’s competitive advantage in banking from other jurisdictions competing for cryptocurrency-related business as the island’s cryptocurrency regulation allows.”
Binance and Digital Jerseyfirst partneredin June 2018, with both companies signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) such that Binance could “develop a compliance base and cryptocurrency exchange in Jersey.” The partnership was also meant to help Binance develop a better understanding of the regulatory and economic environment of Jersey Island, particularly with compliance with anti-money laundering and know-your-customer (KYC) laws.
At the time, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao explained why they chose Jersey as their latest destination. “We have chosen Jersey to be the next big step in our global expansion strategy for its clear and pro-crypto investment and regulatory environment. With its local economy based on a major currency (GBP), and its proximity to the UK and Western Europe, we are confident the cooperation with Jersey will not only benefit the local economy, but also form a strong operational foundation for our expansion into the rest of Europe.”
Jersey is not part of the EU; however, it maintains a special relationship with the EU through the U.K. It is only regarded as being a part of the European Union for trade in goods; otherwise the Island is not a part of the EU. (Its formal relationship is set out in Protocol 3 of the U.K.'s 1972 Accession Treaty.) The island has made itsintentionknown to Great Britain that, post-Brexit, it intends to preserve its relationship with the European Union, as well as with the United Kingdom.
Jersey could serve as a contingency plan post-Brexit for Binance, following in the footsteps of Coinbase, which opened aDublinoffice last year. Binance officials were unavailable to elaborate on these potential plans.
Registration on Binance Jersey started immediately, as Zhao noted in atweet:
“Binance.je is overwhelmed with registrations. There is a backlog of KYC verifications already. More resources are allocated to reduce it. In the mean time, we appreciate your understanding and patience. The registration prize is FIFO based, no worries. Just crazy!”
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || Binance Expands Fiat-to-Crypto Exchange Into Europe Via Jersey: Binance Expands Fiat-to-Crypto Exchange Into Europe Via Jersey Binances cryptocurrency exchange platform has expanded into the European market with its entry into the Island of Jersey, a self-governing dependency of Great Britain. Binance Jersey will allow trading of popular cryptocurrencies bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) against the euro (EUR) and the British pound (GBP). The exchange will launch with four trading pairs, including BTC/GBP, ETH/GBP, BTC/EUR and ETH/EUR. In a statement, Wei Zhou, Binances chief financial officer, called the island an undisputed pioneer in blockchain development leveraged by this strong framework and talent pool. He added: Binance Jersey hopes to increase Jerseys competitive advantage in banking from other jurisdictions competing for cryptocurrency-related business as the islands cryptocurrency regulation allows. Binance and Digital Jersey first partnered in June 2018, with both companies signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) such that Binance could develop a compliance base and cryptocurrency exchange in Jersey. The partnership was also meant to help Binance develop a better understanding of the regulatory and economic environment of Jersey Island, particularly with compliance with anti-money laundering and know-your-customer (KYC) laws. At the time, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao explained why they chose Jersey as their latest destination. We have chosen Jersey to be the next big step in our global expansion strategy for its clear and pro-crypto investment and regulatory environment. With its local economy based on a major currency (GBP), and its proximity to the UK and Western Europe, we are confident the cooperation with Jersey will not only benefit the local economy, but also form a strong operational foundation for our expansion into the rest of Europe. Jersey is not part of the EU; however, it maintains a special relationship with the EU through the U.K. It is only regarded as being a part of the European Union for trade in goods; otherwise the Island is not a part of the EU. (Its formal relationship is set out in Protocol 3 of the U.K.'s 1972 Accession Treaty.) The island has made its intention known to Great Britain that, post-Brexit, it intends to preserve its relationship with the European Union, as well as with the United Kingdom. Story continues Jersey could serve as a contingency plan post-Brexit for Binance, following in the footsteps of Coinbase, which opened a Dublin office last year. Binance officials were unavailable to elaborate on these potential plans. Registration on Binance Jersey started immediately, as Zhao noted in a tweet : Binance.je is overwhelmed with registrations. There is a backlog of KYC verifications already. More resources are allocated to reduce it. In the mean time, we appreciate your understanding and patience. The registration prize is FIFO based, no worries. Just crazy! This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine . || How Coinstar Could Turn $62 Million Dollars Worth of Literal Trash into Bitcoin: According toan estimateby recycling and waste management company Covanta Holding Corporation, Americans literally throw away $62 million dollars a year worth of spare pocket change. Covanta offered CBS News a theory along with the estimate “that the coins are probably tossed accidentally.”
With an average yearly inflation rate calculated by most economists of about 2% since 1913 when the Federal Reserve first began issuing banknotes and coins produced by the U.S. Mint, a pocket full of change has never been worth less than it is now, so it’s no wonder Americans aren’t being so careful with their change and even just throwing it out.
What are you supposed to do with pennies and nickels? Dimes? There’s not a thing you can buy with those, and they make too much noise jingling around for something worth so little.
All you can do is save those up in a big plastic container for a year, marvel how heavy the thing is when it’s full, and then pour in your buckets full of junk metal for a coin counting machine to issue you a nice, crisp banknote for $20.
It’s kind of like a little taste of hyperinflation.
You know those stories from countries that created so much currency that people would bring wheel barrels with piles of notes to the store to buy a week’s worth of groceries and someone would steal the wheel barrels, but leave the piles of notes?
This kind of scenario, although it’s humorously outlandish, has really happened many times in history, most recently in Venezuela and quite notoriously in Zimbabwe.
It happened in Germany after World War I, and it even happened in the United States to an extent right after the Revolutionary War. While it sounds cartoonish, it’s real and devastating.
If you use United States dollars as your main currency, America’s economy is so massive, resilient, and spirited, that even massive wealth redistribution through the socialist banking system’s official policy of monetary expansion and gradual currency debasement has not been enough to create this terrible economic scenario.
Instead, your currency’s only been burnt around the edges – those practically worthless, jingling pocket coins. It’s no wonder that many people would rather toss the already practically worthless coins of a currency that will only continue to depreciate every year in the trash than save them.
But people might be a lot more careful with their pocket change if there was some way it could be more valuable. Soon one way to make it more valuable will be totoss it into a Coinstar machineand convert it from the dust of a depreciating public currency into bitcoin, an appreciating, private, free market currency with a definite and fixed supply.
And even though Americans throw a lot of change out, there are many who save it up, which is how Coinstar built their coin counting kiosk business in the first place.Now they’re teaming upwith bitcoin ATM company Coinme to turn people’s change into bitcoin.
The big contribution of eBay was how it took millions of dollars worth of valuable inventories just sitting around in people’s garages and attics and turned it into cash for them and capital for the buyers. Uber took millions of dollars worth of unused private vehicles and turned them into cash for their owners and capital for the riders.
There’s a lot more change out there too than just the $62 million a year that Americans are throwing away. Think of how much money is sitting around in jars in garages and attics around the country. Coinstar and Coinme are about to help people set those untapped resources free and turn them into capital to keep moving the economy and make us all a little richer.
Featured Image from Shutterstock
The postHow Coinstar Could Turn $62 Million Dollars Worth of Literal Trash into Bitcoinappeared first onCCN. || How Coinstar Could Turn $62 Million Dollars Worth of Literal Trash into Bitcoin: bitcoin piggy bank coinstar According to an estimate by recycling and waste management company Covanta Holding Corporation, Americans literally throw away $62 million dollars a year worth of spare pocket change. Covanta offered CBS News a theory along with the estimate “that the coins are probably tossed accidentally.” Coinstar to Sell Bitcoin for Pocket Change at US Grocery Stores With an average yearly inflation rate calculated by most economists of about 2% since 1913 when the Federal Reserve first began issuing banknotes and coins produced by the U.S. Mint, a pocket full of change has never been worth less than it is now, so it’s no wonder Americans aren’t being so careful with their change and even just throwing it out. What are you supposed to do with pennies and nickels? Dimes? There’s not a thing you can buy with those, and they make too much noise jingling around for something worth so little. All you can do is save those up in a big plastic container for a year, marvel how heavy the thing is when it’s full, and then pour in your buckets full of junk metal for a coin counting machine to issue you a nice, crisp banknote for $20. It’s kind of like a little taste of hyperinflation. A Little Taste of Hyperinflation venezuela hyperinflation bitcoin You know those stories from countries that created so much currency that people would bring wheel barrels with piles of notes to the store to buy a week’s worth of groceries and someone would steal the wheel barrels, but leave the piles of notes? This kind of scenario, although it’s humorously outlandish, has really happened many times in history, most recently in Venezuela and quite notoriously in Zimbabwe. It happened in Germany after World War I, and it even happened in the United States to an extent right after the Revolutionary War. While it sounds cartoonish, it’s real and devastating. If you use United States dollars as your main currency, America’s economy is so massive, resilient, and spirited, that even massive wealth redistribution through the socialist banking system’s official policy of monetary expansion and gradual currency debasement has not been enough to create this terrible economic scenario. Story continues Instead, your currency’s only been burnt around the edges – those practically worthless, jingling pocket coins. It’s no wonder that many people would rather toss the already practically worthless coins of a currency that will only continue to depreciate every year in the trash than save them. Holding Your [Bit]coins with a Tighter Fist coinstar bitcoin But people might be a lot more careful with their pocket change if there was some way it could be more valuable. Soon one way to make it more valuable will be to toss it into a Coinstar machine and convert it from the dust of a depreciating public currency into bitcoin, an appreciating, private, free market currency with a definite and fixed supply. And even though Americans throw a lot of change out, there are many who save it up, which is how Coinstar built their coin counting kiosk business in the first place. Now they’re teaming up with bitcoin ATM company Coinme to turn people’s change into bitcoin. The big contribution of eBay was how it took millions of dollars worth of valuable inventories just sitting around in people’s garages and attics and turned it into cash for them and capital for the buyers. Uber took millions of dollars worth of unused private vehicles and turned them into cash for their owners and capital for the riders. There’s a lot more change out there too than just the $62 million a year that Americans are throwing away. Think of how much money is sitting around in jars in garages and attics around the country. Coinstar and Coinme are about to help people set those untapped resources free and turn them into capital to keep moving the economy and make us all a little richer. Featured Image from Shutterstock The post How Coinstar Could Turn $62 Million Dollars Worth of Literal Trash into Bitcoin appeared first on CCN . || How Coinstar Could Turn $62 Million Dollars Worth of Literal Trash into Bitcoin: According toan estimateby recycling and waste management company Covanta Holding Corporation, Americans literally throw away $62 million dollars a year worth of spare pocket change. Covanta offered CBS News a theory along with the estimate “that the coins are probably tossed accidentally.”
With an average yearly inflation rate calculated by most economists of about 2% since 1913 when the Federal Reserve first began issuing banknotes and coins produced by the U.S. Mint, a pocket full of change has never been worth less than it is now, so it’s no wonder Americans aren’t being so careful with their change and even just throwing it out.
What are you supposed to do with pennies and nickels? Dimes? There’s not a thing you can buy with those, and they make too much noise jingling around for something worth so little.
All you can do is save those up in a big plastic container for a year, marvel how heavy the thing is when it’s full, and then pour in your buckets full of junk metal for a coin counting machine to issue you a nice, crisp banknote for $20.
It’s kind of like a little taste of hyperinflation.
You know those stories from countries that created so much currency that people would bring wheel barrels with piles of notes to the store to buy a week’s worth of groceries and someone would steal the wheel barrels, but leave the piles of notes?
This kind of scenario, although it’s humorously outlandish, has really happened many times in history, most recently in Venezuela and quite notoriously in Zimbabwe.
It happened in Germany after World War I, and it even happened in the United States to an extent right after the Revolutionary War. While it sounds cartoonish, it’s real and devastating.
If you use United States dollars as your main currency, America’s economy is so massive, resilient, and spirited, that even massive wealth redistribution through the socialist banking system’s official policy of monetary expansion and gradual currency debasement has not been enough to create this terrible economic scenario.
Instead, your currency’s only been burnt around the edges – those practically worthless, jingling pocket coins. It’s no wonder that many people would rather toss the already practically worthless coins of a currency that will only continue to depreciate every year in the trash than save them.
But people might be a lot more careful with their pocket change if there was some way it could be more valuable. Soon one way to make it more valuable will be totoss it into a Coinstar machineand convert it from the dust of a depreciating public currency into bitcoin, an appreciating, private, free market currency with a definite and fixed supply.
And even though Americans throw a lot of change out, there are many who save it up, which is how Coinstar built their coin counting kiosk business in the first place.Now they’re teaming upwith bitcoin ATM company Coinme to turn people’s change into bitcoin.
The big contribution of eBay was how it took millions of dollars worth of valuable inventories just sitting around in people’s garages and attics and turned it into cash for them and capital for the buyers. Uber took millions of dollars worth of unused private vehicles and turned them into cash for their owners and capital for the riders.
There’s a lot more change out there too than just the $62 million a year that Americans are throwing away. Think of how much money is sitting around in jars in garages and attics around the country. Coinstar and Coinme are about to help people set those untapped resources free and turn them into capital to keep moving the economy and make us all a little richer.
Featured Image from Shutterstock
The postHow Coinstar Could Turn $62 Million Dollars Worth of Literal Trash into Bitcoinappeared first onCCN. || Living on Bitcoin Day 4: The Uphill Climb: This is the fourth instalment of reporter Colin Harper's "Living on Bitcoin" experience in San Francisco. Find out what happened to him earlier onDay 1,onDay 2and onDay 3.
I woke up in a state of amazement: In my three days of living on bitcoin, I had managed to survive on a handful of services and the generosity of friends.
Hungry forany placethat would let me spend it, I was more determined than ever to call up every single store in the Bay Area that might accept bitcoin. A few, like Bamboo Asia and Ramen Underground, were closed yesterday, so I still had a small, if shrinking, beacon of light at the end of a tunnel of rejection.
Most places weren’t open yet, so I had a call with my editor, who was keen to hear about how it had been both too simple and hopelessly difficult.
“Well hey, there’s the angle,” she suggested.
It was an angle, but it was also a dead end of sorts. I needed to find someplace to finally spend my bitcoin to make my day-to-day purchases different for a change (though going shop-to-shop in unsuccessful attempts to spend it and acting like a hungry lunatic on Haight street could also be considered “something different”).
A bit of work, a bit of coffee, a bit of social media trumpeting and it’s 11:00 a.m. Excited by the prospect of hopefully goingoutfor lunch for once this week, I called up Bamboo Asia first.
“Hello, is this Bamboo Asia?”
“Yes it is,” a woman responded over the phone.
“Do y’all still accept bitcoin?”
“What?”
“Do you still take bitcoin?”
“Bit … coin?” she stuttered, a bit confused.
“I take that as a no, then?”
“No.”
“Okay, thank you,” I hung up.
Strike one.
Next up: Ramen Underground:
“Yes, hello, do you take bitcoin?”
“Bit what?”
“Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency.”
“Oh. No.”
Strike 2.
Then, I dialed Numa, a sushi joint that had slipped through yesterday’s round of solicitations:
“Do you accept bitcoin?”
“Do we havecorn?”
Uh, no.
“No, no, do you takebitcoin— as a method for payment?”
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what that is,” she said hesitantly.
“It’s internet money. It —”
“Oh, no, no, no — no, not that, sorry.” She quickly cut me off.
Strike 3.
Well, in reality, there were many more strikes than that. I even called Siegel’s Clothing Superstore and Tuxedo, just for hell of it.
Over the phone, the question like an incessant recording (at this point, everytime I ask, I close my eyes and squinch my face up in embarrassed anticipation for the answer).
“I — I don’t think so, but let me check — can you hold on a minute?”
“Absolutely,” I answer, excited at the prospect of potentially something to go on.
“For the current sale, I’m sorry, no, they don’t accept bitcoin. No Apple Pay. Just Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and, of course, U.S. cash.”
Yep, I expected as much.
There was one last hope, but I was beginning to doubt that even Stookey’s, a bar I’d been told takes bitcoin by someone other than Google, would take it. If all else fails, maybe I’ll get to spend it there — eventually.
As night rolled around, I got ready to transition to the Crypto Castle. Queen Liz had granted me two night’s stay: On Tuesday, I’d be on the couches upstairs, but for Monday, I’d be sleeping in Jeremy’s room.
Oh. Ok.
The gesture took me aback for a second but it made sense for the bohemian-tech aesthetic that the house has going for it. That I would sleep in a millionaire’s bed one night and then a couch the next was humorous and exotic in a very benign way to me.
It was a short walk from Christian’s apartment, only half a mile, but distance can be deceiving when San Francisco's hills tack on a couple hundred feet of elevation gain. Lugging my belongings in a 50-gallon hiking backpack, my daypack slung over my right shoulder, I schlepped myself up the hills that were sloping at a crazy 45 degrees.
I was partially heaving when I topped the hill, turned right on Kansas Street and stopped in front of the castle’s telltale blue door with a “Bitcoin Prefered Here” sticker in the window. I pressed the buzzer.
“Yes, who is it?”
“Colin — the Bitcoin journalist,” I responded, and soon heard the door’s unlatching click.
Hans, an Italian expat developer with a machine-learning background who’s relatively new to the space, let me in. He has rich olive skin and curly black hair, and an apprehensive but affable personality.
We walked over to Jeremy’s room as Hans recapped some of what Liz had told me.
“I’m finishing up some work right now, do you mind?” he asked as we entered the room. Apparently, Jeremy’s room is a free-for-all space; he would likely have it no other way.
“Of course not — work away,” I told him. I mean, it’s not really my place to dictate what he can and can’t do in a room that isn’t mine to begin with.
The in-and-out style of the house’s residents made for some brisk but pleasant introductions. I would meet Teddy, a tall, lanky and balding Ethereum-to-EOS developer who works with Hans. He’s a bit jumpy and is into Soylent (and keeps offering me some to drink). Diego, another developer who used to play soccer at Boston College, would also come through with Kingsley, an Australian venture capitalist.
I posted up upstairs and did some work, shot the bull with Crypto Castle denizens and made plans for the rest of the week. I also reviewed Kashmir Hill’s 2014 living on bitcoin series. She had held on to some of her coins (she had a few left) and they had appreciated in value from 2013 to 2014.
Her second series is even more entertaining than the first. With her bitcoins’ increased purchasing power, she could access more exotic experiences: She spends it on winery tours, a nice (boy, I meannice) dinner and even a riotous strip club experience.
Reading her accounts, I feel a wave of envy and the sense of a missed opportunity. She had so many more ways to spend her bitcoin; in reality, five years later, my bitcoin doesn’t have the same reach and San Francisco has basically zero merchant presence. Even if I had 2–3 bitcoin like her at the time of this experiment, I wouldn’t have a way to spend it (unless I wanted to drop it on bottles at Monarch, but that’s not really my scene).
Toward the end of the day, the reality that I hadn’t had one, in-person exchange with a merchant of any kind deeply depressed me.
Why the hell am I even doing this, and why I am spending so much money here?
I could be doing this anywhere. I could be doing this back home. Even there — in little ol’ Nashville with its tinkertoy tech scene — I could have at least bought dinner at Flyte, the only restaurant in town to accept BTC. But it’s a pricey dine, so by the time the week was up I would have been out a month’s rent (or a week’s rent in San Francisco).
Dinnertime approaching, I decided to use a Whole Foods gift card to stock up on provisions. It was a five-minute walk from the castle, and Kashmir had used gift cards she purchased from Gyft on her second go-around, so I thought it was permissible to buy one off of Bitrefill myself.
At least I could tear into the San Francisco Whole Foods’ hot and cold takeaway bars, an unmatched cornucopia of grocery store self-serves. Turkey pot pie, steak fries, tabouli, butternut squash, kale salad, chicken salad, couscous, shrimp, croquettes, yams, all crammed into the brown to-go box. I also got some Peet’s coffee and almond croissants for the house (should have gone for whole bean becauseof coursethis house wouldalsohave a grinder).
While the young woman at the counter dealt with the somewhat clunky process of redeeming my gift card — after I’d had to go through the even clunkier process of buying bitcoin before buying said gift card before being able to buy the groceries in store — something Hill observes in her article resonated with me.
The process was more time consuming and labor intensive than paying in fiat, but it was also liberating in its own way.
Bitcoin had provided me the opportunity to purchase those groceries, just as it had allowed me to buy all my Uber Eats food up till now. The merchant/drivers didn’t know where the credit came from, nor where or how it was bought.
For Uber, KYC is a given. But with gift cards, you can use bitcoin to transact in near complete anonymity. You can bank like a ghost if you want, and you can buy most everything you need without leaving a trail of credit or debit. Like cash, bitcoin can be used as an anonymous transfer of value — you just need to transmute it into a different payment method for real-world use first. If you want to increase your anonymity, you can take steps to mask your network activity. (e.g., I started using the privacy-focused Samourai wallet on the fourth day after my BRD wallet became too unreliable).
With these thoughts, I returned home (unfortunately, uphill again). After hanging with the castle’s crew and eating my meal, I took my rest in the bed of a guy who probably didn’t even know I was sleeping there but would doubtless not care.
Colin's adventures continue...find out what happens onDay 5 here.
As Kashmir Hill did in her original journey, Colin is accepting BTC tips to help him along the way.
Tip jar: 3CnLhqitCjUN4HPYf6Qa2MmvCpSoBiFfBN
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || Living on Bitcoin Day 4: The Uphill Climb: This is the fourth instalment of reporter Colin Harper's "Living on Bitcoin" experience in San Francisco. Find out what happened to him earlier onDay 1,onDay 2and onDay 3.
I woke up in a state of amazement: In my three days of living on bitcoin, I had managed to survive on a handful of services and the generosity of friends.
Hungry forany placethat would let me spend it, I was more determined than ever to call up every single store in the Bay Area that might accept bitcoin. A few, like Bamboo Asia and Ramen Underground, were closed yesterday, so I still had a small, if shrinking, beacon of light at the end of a tunnel of rejection.
Most places weren’t open yet, so I had a call with my editor, who was keen to hear about how it had been both too simple and hopelessly difficult.
“Well hey, there’s the angle,” she suggested.
It was an angle, but it was also a dead end of sorts. I needed to find someplace to finally spend my bitcoin to make my day-to-day purchases different for a change (though going shop-to-shop in unsuccessful attempts to spend it and acting like a hungry lunatic on Haight street could also be considered “something different”).
A bit of work, a bit of coffee, a bit of social media trumpeting and it’s 11:00 a.m. Excited by the prospect of hopefully goingoutfor lunch for once this week, I called up Bamboo Asia first.
“Hello, is this Bamboo Asia?”
“Yes it is,” a woman responded over the phone.
“Do y’all still accept bitcoin?”
“What?”
“Do you still take bitcoin?”
“Bit … coin?” she stuttered, a bit confused.
“I take that as a no, then?”
“No.”
“Okay, thank you,” I hung up.
Strike one.
Next up: Ramen Underground:
“Yes, hello, do you take bitcoin?”
“Bit what?”
“Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency.”
“Oh. No.”
Strike 2.
Then, I dialed Numa, a sushi joint that had slipped through yesterday’s round of solicitations:
“Do you accept bitcoin?”
“Do we havecorn?”
Uh, no.
“No, no, do you takebitcoin— as a method for payment?”
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what that is,” she said hesitantly.
“It’s internet money. It —”
“Oh, no, no, no — no, not that, sorry.” She quickly cut me off.
Strike 3.
Well, in reality, there were many more strikes than that. I even called Siegel’s Clothing Superstore and Tuxedo, just for hell of it.
Over the phone, the question like an incessant recording (at this point, everytime I ask, I close my eyes and squinch my face up in embarrassed anticipation for the answer).
“I — I don’t think so, but let me check — can you hold on a minute?”
“Absolutely,” I answer, excited at the prospect of potentially something to go on.
“For the current sale, I’m sorry, no, they don’t accept bitcoin. No Apple Pay. Just Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and, of course, U.S. cash.”
Yep, I expected as much.
There was one last hope, but I was beginning to doubt that even Stookey’s, a bar I’d been told takes bitcoin by someone other than Google, would take it. If all else fails, maybe I’ll get to spend it there — eventually.
As night rolled around, I got ready to transition to the Crypto Castle. Queen Liz had granted me two night’s stay: On Tuesday, I’d be on the couches upstairs, but for Monday, I’d be sleeping in Jeremy’s room.
Oh. Ok.
The gesture took me aback for a second but it made sense for the bohemian-tech aesthetic that the house has going for it. That I would sleep in a millionaire’s bed one night and then a couch the next was humorous and exotic in a very benign way to me.
It was a short walk from Christian’s apartment, only half a mile, but distance can be deceiving when San Francisco's hills tack on a couple hundred feet of elevation gain. Lugging my belongings in a 50-gallon hiking backpack, my daypack slung over my right shoulder, I schlepped myself up the hills that were sloping at a crazy 45 degrees.
I was partially heaving when I topped the hill, turned right on Kansas Street and stopped in front of the castle’s telltale blue door with a “Bitcoin Prefered Here” sticker in the window. I pressed the buzzer.
“Yes, who is it?”
“Colin — the Bitcoin journalist,” I responded, and soon heard the door’s unlatching click.
Hans, an Italian expat developer with a machine-learning background who’s relatively new to the space, let me in. He has rich olive skin and curly black hair, and an apprehensive but affable personality.
We walked over to Jeremy’s room as Hans recapped some of what Liz had told me.
“I’m finishing up some work right now, do you mind?” he asked as we entered the room. Apparently, Jeremy’s room is a free-for-all space; he would likely have it no other way.
“Of course not — work away,” I told him. I mean, it’s not really my place to dictate what he can and can’t do in a room that isn’t mine to begin with.
The in-and-out style of the house’s residents made for some brisk but pleasant introductions. I would meet Teddy, a tall, lanky and balding Ethereum-to-EOS developer who works with Hans. He’s a bit jumpy and is into Soylent (and keeps offering me some to drink). Diego, another developer who used to play soccer at Boston College, would also come through with Kingsley, an Australian venture capitalist.
I posted up upstairs and did some work, shot the bull with Crypto Castle denizens and made plans for the rest of the week. I also reviewed Kashmir Hill’s 2014 living on bitcoin series. She had held on to some of her coins (she had a few left) and they had appreciated in value from 2013 to 2014.
Her second series is even more entertaining than the first. With her bitcoins’ increased purchasing power, she could access more exotic experiences: She spends it on winery tours, a nice (boy, I meannice) dinner and even a riotous strip club experience.
Reading her accounts, I feel a wave of envy and the sense of a missed opportunity. She had so many more ways to spend her bitcoin; in reality, five years later, my bitcoin doesn’t have the same reach and San Francisco has basically zero merchant presence. Even if I had 2–3 bitcoin like her at the time of this experiment, I wouldn’t have a way to spend it (unless I wanted to drop it on bottles at Monarch, but that’s not really my scene).
Toward the end of the day, the reality that I hadn’t had one, in-person exchange with a merchant of any kind deeply depressed me.
Why the hell am I even doing this, and why I am spending so much money here?
I could be doing this anywhere. I could be doing this back home. Even there — in little ol’ Nashville with its tinkertoy tech scene — I could have at least bought dinner at Flyte, the only restaurant in town to accept BTC. But it’s a pricey dine, so by the time the week was up I would have been out a month’s rent (or a week’s rent in San Francisco).
Dinnertime approaching, I decided to use a Whole Foods gift card to stock up on provisions. It was a five-minute walk from the castle, and Kashmir had used gift cards she purchased from Gyft on her second go-around, so I thought it was permissible to buy one off of Bitrefill myself.
At least I could tear into the San Francisco Whole Foods’ hot and cold takeaway bars, an unmatched cornucopia of grocery store self-serves. Turkey pot pie, steak fries, tabouli, butternut squash, kale salad, chicken salad, couscous, shrimp, croquettes, yams, all crammed into the brown to-go box. I also got some Peet’s coffee and almond croissants for the house (should have gone for whole bean becauseof coursethis house wouldalsohave a grinder).
While the young woman at the counter dealt with the somewhat clunky process of redeeming my gift card — after I’d had to go through the even clunkier process of buying bitcoin before buying said gift card before being able to buy the groceries in store — something Hill observes in her article resonated with me.
The process was more time consuming and labor intensive than paying in fiat, but it was also liberating in its own way.
Bitcoin had provided me the opportunity to purchase those groceries, just as it had allowed me to buy all my Uber Eats food up till now. The merchant/drivers didn’t know where the credit came from, nor where or how it was bought.
For Uber, KYC is a given. But with gift cards, you can use bitcoin to transact in near complete anonymity. You can bank like a ghost if you want, and you can buy most everything you need without leaving a trail of credit or debit. Like cash, bitcoin can be used as an anonymous transfer of value — you just need to transmute it into a different payment method for real-world use first. If you want to increase your anonymity, you can take steps to mask your network activity. (e.g., I started using the privacy-focused Samourai wallet on the fourth day after my BRD wallet became too unreliable).
With these thoughts, I returned home (unfortunately, uphill again). After hanging with the castle’s crew and eating my meal, I took my rest in the bed of a guy who probably didn’t even know I was sleeping there but would doubtless not care.
Colin's adventures continue...find out what happens onDay 5 here.
As Kashmir Hill did in her original journey, Colin is accepting BTC tips to help him along the way.
Tip jar: 3CnLhqitCjUN4HPYf6Qa2MmvCpSoBiFfBN
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || Living on Bitcoin Day 4: The Uphill Climb: LOBday4.jpg This is the fourth instalment of reporter Colin Harper's "Living on Bitcoin" experience in San Francisco. Find out what happened to him earlier on Day 1 , on Day 2 and on Day 3 . I woke up in a state of amazement: In my three days of living on bitcoin, I had managed to survive on a handful of services and the generosity of friends. Hungry for any place that would let me spend it, I was more determined than ever to call up every single store in the Bay Area that might accept bitcoin. A few, like Bamboo Asia and Ramen Underground, were closed yesterday, so I still had a small, if shrinking, beacon of light at the end of a tunnel of rejection. Most places weren’t open yet, so I had a call with my editor, who was keen to hear about how it had been both too simple and hopelessly difficult. “Well hey, there’s the angle,” she suggested. It was an angle, but it was also a dead end of sorts. I needed to find someplace to finally spend my bitcoin to make my day-to-day purchases different for a change (though going shop-to-shop in unsuccessful attempts to spend it and acting like a hungry lunatic on Haight street could also be considered “something different”). A bit of work, a bit of coffee, a bit of social media trumpeting and it’s 11:00 a.m. Excited by the prospect of hopefully going out for lunch for once this week, I called up Bamboo Asia first. “Hello, is this Bamboo Asia?” “Yes it is,” a woman responded over the phone. “Do y’all still accept bitcoin?” “What?” “Do you still take bitcoin?” “Bit … coin?” she stuttered, a bit confused. “I take that as a no, then?” “No.” “Okay, thank you,” I hung up. Strike one . Next up: Ramen Underground: “Yes, hello, do you take bitcoin?” “Bit what?” “Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency.” “Oh. No.” Strike 2 . Then, I dialed Numa, a sushi joint that had slipped through yesterday’s round of solicitations: “Do you accept bitcoin?” “Do we have corn ?” Uh, no. “No, no, do you take bitcoin — as a method for payment?” “I’m sorry. I don’t know what that is,” she said hesitantly. “It’s internet money. It —” “Oh, no, no, no — no, not that, sorry.” She quickly cut me off. Strike 3 . Well, in reality, there were many more strikes than that. I even called Siegel’s Clothing Superstore and Tuxedo, just for hell of it. Over the phone, the question like an incessant recording (at this point, everytime I ask, I close my eyes and squinch my face up in embarrassed anticipation for the answer). “I — I don’t think so, but let me check — can you hold on a minute?” “Absolutely,” I answer, excited at the prospect of potentially something to go on. Story continues “For the current sale, I’m sorry, no, they don’t accept bitcoin. No Apple Pay. Just Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and, of course, U.S. cash.” Yep, I expected as much. There was one last hope, but I was beginning to doubt that even Stookey’s, a bar I’d been told takes bitcoin by someone other than Google, would take it. If all else fails, maybe I’ll get to spend it there — eventually. As night rolled around, I got ready to transition to the Crypto Castle. Queen Liz had granted me two night’s stay: On Tuesday, I’d be on the couches upstairs, but for Monday, I’d be sleeping in Jeremy’s room. Oh. Ok. The gesture took me aback for a second but it made sense for the bohemian-tech aesthetic that the house has going for it. That I would sleep in a millionaire’s bed one night and then a couch the next was humorous and exotic in a very benign way to me. It was a short walk from Christian’s apartment, only half a mile, but distance can be deceiving when San Francisco's hills tack on a couple hundred feet of elevation gain. Lugging my belongings in a 50-gallon hiking backpack, my daypack slung over my right shoulder, I schlepped myself up the hills that were sloping at a crazy 45 degrees. I was partially heaving when I topped the hill, turned right on Kansas Street and stopped in front of the castle’s telltale blue door with a “Bitcoin Prefered Here” sticker in the window. I pressed the buzzer. “Yes, who is it?” “Colin — the Bitcoin journalist,” I responded, and soon heard the door’s unlatching click. Hans, an Italian expat developer with a machine-learning background who’s relatively new to the space, let me in. He has rich olive skin and curly black hair, and an apprehensive but affable personality. We walked over to Jeremy’s room as Hans recapped some of what Liz had told me. “I’m finishing up some work right now, do you mind?” he asked as we entered the room. Apparently, Jeremy’s room is a free-for-all space; he would likely have it no other way. “Of course not — work away,” I told him. I mean, it’s not really my place to dictate what he can and can’t do in a room that isn’t mine to begin with. The in-and-out style of the house’s residents made for some brisk but pleasant introductions. I would meet Teddy, a tall, lanky and balding Ethereum-to-EOS developer who works with Hans. He’s a bit jumpy and is into Soylent (and keeps offering me some to drink). Diego, another developer who used to play soccer at Boston College, would also come through with Kingsley, an Australian venture capitalist. I posted up upstairs and did some work, shot the bull with Crypto Castle denizens and made plans for the rest of the week. I also reviewed Kashmir Hill’s 2014 living on bitcoin series. She had held on to some of her coins (she had a few left) and they had appreciated in value from 2013 to 2014. Her second series is even more entertaining than the first. With her bitcoins’ increased purchasing power, she could access more exotic experiences: She spends it on winery tours, a nice (boy, I mean nice ) dinner and even a riotous strip club experience. Reading her accounts, I feel a wave of envy and the sense of a missed opportunity. She had so many more ways to spend her bitcoin; in reality, five years later, my bitcoin doesn’t have the same reach and San Francisco has basically zero merchant presence. Even if I had 2–3 bitcoin like her at the time of this experiment, I wouldn’t have a way to spend it (unless I wanted to drop it on bottles at Monarch, but that’s not really my scene). Toward the end of the day, the reality that I hadn’t had one, in-person exchange with a merchant of any kind deeply depressed me. Why the hell am I even doing this, and why I am spending so much money here? I could be doing this anywhere. I could be doing this back home. Even there — in little ol’ Nashville with its tinkertoy tech scene — I could have at least bought dinner at Flyte, the only restaurant in town to accept BTC. But it’s a pricey dine, so by the time the week was up I would have been out a month’s rent (or a week’s rent in San Francisco). Dinnertime approaching, I decided to use a Whole Foods gift card to stock up on provisions. It was a five-minute walk from the castle, and Kashmir had used gift cards she purchased from Gyft on her second go-around, so I thought it was permissible to buy one off of Bitrefill myself. At least I could tear into the San Francisco Whole Foods’ hot and cold takeaway bars, an unmatched cornucopia of grocery store self-serves. Turkey pot pie, steak fries, tabouli, butternut squash, kale salad, chicken salad, couscous, shrimp, croquettes, yams, all crammed into the brown to-go box. I also got some Peet’s coffee and almond croissants for the house (should have gone for whole bean because of course this house would also have a grinder). While the young woman at the counter dealt with the somewhat clunky process of redeeming my gift card — after I’d had to go through the even clunkier process of buying bitcoin before buying said gift card before being able to buy the groceries in store — something Hill observes in her article resonated with me. The process was more time consuming and labor intensive than paying in fiat, but it was also liberating in its own way. Bitcoin had provided me the opportunity to purchase those groceries, just as it had allowed me to buy all my Uber Eats food up till now. The merchant/drivers didn’t know where the credit came from, nor where or how it was bought. For Uber, KYC is a given. But with gift cards, you can use bitcoin to transact in near complete anonymity. You can bank like a ghost if you want, and you can buy most everything you need without leaving a trail of credit or debit. Like cash, bitcoin can be used as an anonymous transfer of value — you just need to transmute it into a different payment method for real-world use first. If you want to increase your anonymity, you can take steps to mask your network activity. (e.g., I started using the privacy-focused Samourai wallet on the fourth day after my BRD wallet became too unreliable). With these thoughts, I returned home (unfortunately, uphill again). After hanging with the castle’s crew and eating my meal, I took my rest in the bed of a guy who probably didn’t even know I was sleeping there but would doubtless not care. Colin's adventures continue...find out what happens on Day 5 here. As Kashmir Hill did in her original journey, Colin is accepting BTC tips to help him along the way. Tip jar: 3CnLhqitCjUN4HPYf6Qa2MmvCpSoBiFfBN This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine . View comments || Bitmains Chip Supplier Saw a Big Drop in Crypto Mining Sales Last Year: bitmain bitcoin mining crypto Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited, who provides chips to Bitcoin mining giant Bitmain, says that 2018 saw a downturn in demand for crypto mining chips. In a recent conference call with investors, TSMC CEO C. C. Wei said that cryptocurrency had previously accounted for a lot of the companys orders, but that it had gone down since the boom year of 2017. No Comment Presumably referring to Bitmain , TSMC Chairman Mark Liu said: We dont want to specify too much of the segment, particularly it belongs to one of the big customers. The firm still posted a profit for the year. They believe that demand for new high-end smartphone chips will offset a decline in demand for ASIC chips. A securities analyst asked the company which sector had seen the biggest decline, to which Wei replied: High-end smartphone is one thing, and then others seeing the drop, actually you can imagine that cryptocurrencies mining, they dropped quite a lot. And then related to that might be some of the high-performance computing that you can see from other applications that related to the cryptocurrency mining. A representative from Susquehanna Financial Group asked about why the downturn in crypto is still affecting the business all these months later. I believe cryptocurrency accounted for only a few of percentage of overall revenues in the first half of 18. So why is there still an overhang on your HPC revenue mix? I believe you said including crypto, it will be HPC will be down double digits. And Im just trying to better understand how it has trended from 18 to 19? How Long are You Going To Blame Bitmain? Wei, seeming slightly flustered, responds: Okay. This year, we dont forecast we become conservative in forecasting this volatile business. So the cryptocurrency mining this year is much, much less than last year. And to what percentage, I dont think [
] I can release it right now. [
] we expand in our customer portfolio and product portfolio. But their ramp will start from probably in the second half this year with the small-volume and then going to the mass production next year. Thats why this year, we saw just slightly increase on the HPC business excluding the cryptocurrency. Story continues bitmain bitcoin mining A separate press release from TSMC reports increased profits a bit more than 10% over last year . Technology investors are accustomed to much better returns, and the consensus was that without the drop in demand for cryptocurrency mining chips, returns would be much stronger. Year-over-year, fourth quarter revenue increased 4.4% while net income and diluted EPS both increased 0.7%. Compared to third quarter 2018, fourth quarter results represented an 11.3% increase in revenue and a 12.3% increase in net income. Bitmain, meanwhile, continues to have both legal and financial troubles. This week, the company announced a new round of layoffs . There are strong reasons to believe a boardroom shake-up is in progress, CCN reported last week . To top it off, the Bitmain initial public offering may never happen . Featured Image from Shutterstock The post Bitmains Chip Supplier Saw a Big Drop in Crypto Mining Sales Last Year appeared first on CCN . || Bitmain’s Chip Supplier Saw a ‘Big Drop’ in Crypto Mining Sales Last Year: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited, who provides chips to Bitcoin mining giant Bitmain,says that 2018 saw a downturnin demand for crypto mining chips. In a recent conference call with investors, TSMC CEO C. C. Wei said that cryptocurrency had previously accounted for “a lot” of the company’s orders, but that it had gone down since the boom year of 2017.
Presumably referring toBitmain, TSMC Chairman Mark Liu said:
We don’t want to specify too much of the segment, particularly it belongs to one of the big customers.
The firm still posted a profit for the year. They believe that demand for new high-end smartphone chips will offset a decline in demand for ASIC chips. A securities analyst asked the company which sector had seen the “biggest decline,” to which Wei replied:
High-end smartphone is one thing, and then others seeing the drop, actually you can imagine that cryptocurrencies mining, they dropped quite a lot. And then related to that might be some of the high-performance computing that you can see from other applications that related to the cryptocurrency mining.
A representative from Susquehanna Financial Group asked about why the downturn in crypto isstillaffecting the business all these months later.
I believe cryptocurrency accounted for only a few of percentage of overall revenues in the first half of ’18. So why is there still an overhang on your HPC revenue mix? I believe you said including crypto, it will be — HPC will be down double digits. And I’m just trying to better understand how it has trended from ’18 to ’19?
Wei, seeming slightly flustered, responds:
Okay. This year, we don’t forecast — we become conservative in forecasting this volatile business. So the cryptocurrency mining this year is much, much less than last year. And to what percentage, I don’t think […] I can release it right now. […] we expand in our customer portfolio and product portfolio. But their ramp will start from probably in the second half this year with the small-volume and then going to the mass production next year. That’s why this year, we saw just slightly increase on the HPC business excluding the cryptocurrency.
A separate press release from TSMC reports increased profits a bitmore than 10% over last year. Technology investors are accustomed to much better returns, and the consensus was that without the drop in demand for cryptocurrency mining chips, returns would be much stronger.
Year-over-year, fourth quarter revenue increased 4.4% while net income and diluted EPS both increased 0.7%. Compared to third quarter 2018, fourth quarter results represented an 11.3% increase in revenue and a 12.3% increase in net income.
Bitmain, meanwhile, continues to have both legal and financial troubles. This week, the company announceda new round of layoffs. There are strong reasons to believe a boardroom shake-up is in progress,CCN reported last week. To top it off, the Bitmain initial public offeringmay never happen.
Featured Image from Shutterstock
The postBitmain’s Chip Supplier Saw a ‘Big Drop’ in Crypto Mining Sales Last Yearappeared first onCCN. || Stocks Rally, Gold Breaks as Reports Say China Offered U.S. Import Boost: Investors celebrated the potential positive progress in U.S.-China trade talks on Friday by driving the major stock indexes sharply higher. U.S. Treasury yields also rose on the news, making the U.S. Dollar a more attractive investment, while driving down demand for the safe-haven Japanese Yen and gold . Fueling the reactions in the markets was a report from CNBC that China had offered a six-year increase in U.S. imports during recent trade talks. Bloomberg News also reported on Friday that the deal would aim to reduce the annual U.S. trade deficit to zero by 2024. Traders in these markets were already on edge before their regular session openings after the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was considering the idea of easing tariffs on Chinese goods as a means of moving along the negotiations for a new trade deal. The reaction to this news was cautious, however, because the report was refuted by a senior administration official who told CNBC that there is “no discussion of lifting tariffs now.” The Details According to CNBC, China has offered a six-year boost in imports during its ongoing talks with the U.S., officials familiar with the matter told CNBC. Bloomberg news is saying that Chinese officials made the offer during the mid-level trade talks earlier in the month. Furthermore, China offered to increase its annual import of U.S. goods by a combined value of over $1 trillion, the officials told Bloomberg, which was the first to report on the import boost offer. According to the latest data, the U.S. trade deficit with China in 2018 was $323 billion. If the deal is accepted, this deal would aim to reduce that annual trade difference to $0 by 2024, one of the officials told Bloomberg. Additionally, sources told CNBC that China pegged its proposal to buy more U.S. goods through 2024 to President Donald Trump’s hopes of being re-elected in 2020. High Level Talks Scheduled CNBC is also reporting that China’s top trade negotiator, Vice Premier Liu He, will visit Washington, D.C., on January 30 for two days of talks with U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer. With this meeting scheduled for so late in the month, stock traders will have nearly two weeks to continue to push equities higher. Story continues Talk of Weaker Dollar Premature Today’s price action in the U.S. Treasurys suggests talk of a weaker U.S. Dollar may be premature since the rise in rates suggests investors are pricing in a stronger economy which could mean the Fed will have to raise rates. Of course, it all depends on whether a trade deal is reached over the short-run. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Treasury Yields Jump on China Proposal, Trump Will Make ‘Major” Announcement on Saturday Natural Gas Price Futures (NG) Technical Analysis – Strengthens Over $3.320, Weakens Under $3.215 Stocks Rally, Gold Breaks as Reports Say China Offered U.S. Import Boost Brent Crude Oil Price Update – Needs to Take Out $63.91 to Reaffirm Change in Trend NZD/USD Forex Technical Analysis – Headed into Minor Retracement Zone at .6720 to .6690 Bitcoin – Tight Ranges Return, Which Could Spell Trouble For The Bulls || Stocks Rally, Gold Breaks as Reports Say China Offered U.S. Import Boost: Investors celebrated the potential positive progress in U.S.-China trade talks on Friday by driving the majorstock indexessharply higher. U.S. Treasury yields also rose on the news, making theU.S. Dollara more attractive investment, while driving down demand for the safe-havenJapanese Yenandgold.
Fueling the reactions in the markets was a report from CNBC that China had offered a six-year increase in U.S. imports during recent trade talks. Bloomberg News also reported on Friday that the deal would aim to reduce the annual U.S. trade deficit to zero by 2024.
Traders in these markets were already on edge before their regular session openings after the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was considering the idea of easing tariffs on Chinese goods as a means of moving along the negotiations for a new trade deal. The reaction to this news was cautious, however, because the report was refuted by a senior administration official who told CNBC that there is “no discussion of lifting tariffs now.”
According to CNBC, China has offered a six-year boost in imports during its ongoing talks with the U.S., officials familiar with the matter told CNBC.
Bloomberg news is saying that Chinese officials made the offer during the mid-level trade talks earlier in the month. Furthermore, China offered to increase its annual import of U.S. goods by a combined value of over $1 trillion, the officials told Bloomberg, which was the first to report on the import boost offer.
According to the latest data, the U.S. trade deficit with China in 2018 was $323 billion. If the deal is accepted, this deal would aim to reduce that annual trade difference to $0 by 2024, one of the officials told Bloomberg.
Additionally, sources told CNBC that China pegged its proposal to buy more U.S. goods through 2024 to President Donald Trump’s hopes of being re-elected in 2020.
CNBC is also reporting that China’s top trade negotiator, Vice Premier Liu He, will visit Washington, D.C., on January 30 for two days of talks with U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer. With this meeting scheduled for so late in the month, stock traders will have nearly two weeks to continue to push equities higher.
Today’s price action in the U.S. Treasurys suggests talk of a weaker U.S. Dollar may be premature since the rise in rates suggests investors are pricing in a stronger economy which could mean the Fed will have to raise rates. Of course, it all depends on whether a trade deal is reached over the short-run.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• Treasury Yields Jump on China Proposal, Trump Will Make ‘Major” Announcement on Saturday
• Natural Gas Price Futures (NG) Technical Analysis – Strengthens Over $3.320, Weakens Under $3.215
• Stocks Rally, Gold Breaks as Reports Say China Offered U.S. Import Boost
• Brent Crude Oil Price Update – Needs to Take Out $63.91 to Reaffirm Change in Trend
• NZD/USD Forex Technical Analysis – Headed into Minor Retracement Zone at .6720 to .6690
• Bitcoin – Tight Ranges Return, Which Could Spell Trouble For The Bulls
[Social Media Buzz]
Bitcoin Moves Past $3,700 Resistance as Crypto Market Recovery Continues http://twib.in/l/rMGo4Gx57E6E || Certainly ugly to look at, but he is going to pieces, for the TAI'S throat. #twitterbot #crypto #cryptocurrency #bitcoin #ethereum || @GiftOneBox, the global biggest airdrop organization of cryptocurrency, is airdropping million Tokens.Currently the platform has locked various tokens, include BTC, ETH, EOS.1GIFT = US$0.2Click to Sign-up: https://gift.one/i/1000351773 || ICO projects Bitcoi...
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3601.01, 3576.03, 3604.58, 3585.12, 3600.87, 3599.77, 3602.46, 3583.97, 3470.45, 3448.12
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 15332.32, 15290.90, 15701.34, 16276.34, 16317.81, 16068.14, 15955.59, 16716.11, 17645.41, 17804.01, 17817.09, 18621.31, 18642.23, 18370.00, 18364.12, 19107.46, 18732.12, 17150.62, 17108.40, 17717.41, 18177.48, 19625.84, 18803.00, 19201.09, 19445.40, 18699.77, 19154.23, 19345.12, 19191.63, 18321.14, 18553.92, 18264.99, 18058.90, 18803.66, 19142.38, 19246.64, 19417.08, 21310.60, 22805.16, 23137.96, 23869.83, 23477.29, 22803.08, 23783.03, 23241.35, 23735.95, 24664.79, 26437.04, 26272.29, 27084.81, 27362.44, 28840.95, 29001.72, 29374.15, 32127.27, 32782.02, 31971.91, 33992.43, 36824.36, 39371.04, 40797.61, 40254.55, 38356.44, 35566.66, 33922.96, 37316.36, 39187.33, 36825.37, 36178.14, 35791.28, 36630.07, 36069.80, 35547.75, 30825.70, 33005.76, 32067.64, 32289.38, 32366.39, 32569.85, 30432.55, 33466.10, 34316.39, 34269.52, 33114.36, 33537.18, 35510.29, 37472.09, 36926.07, 38144.31, 39266.01.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2021-02-06]
Volume: 71326033653, RSI (14-day): 64.75, 50-day EMA: 31893.80, 200-day EMA: 21074.62
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Crypto exchange Bitfinex says it repaid $550 million Tether loan central to fraud probe: Our mission to make business better is fueled by readers like you. To enjoy unlimited access to our journalism, subscribe today . Cryptocurrency exchange Bifinex said Friday it repaid a half billion-dollar loan at the center of a fraud probe opened by the New York Attorney General’s office three years ago. Bitfinex settled its remaining debt—$550 million out of a total $750 million—borrowed from its sister firm Tether in January, the company said in statement . Tether is the issuer of a popular, if controversy-prone “stablecoin,” a digital currency designed to maintain a fixed price; in this case, a one-to-one peg with the U.S. dollar. “We are pleased to be in a position to pay off the loan in its entirety,” said Stuart Hoegner, Bitfinex’s general counsel, in an email to Fortune . “Our performance has made it possible to repay the remaining balance of the outstanding revolving credit facility early.” While Hoegner did not elaborate on the recent financial performance of Bitfinex, a private concern registered in the British Virgin Islands, it doesn’t require much sleuthing to figure out where the funds may have come from. The price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum have rocketed upward to hit all-time highs in recent months, a bull run that likely supplied the exchange with ample funds. In an April 2019 court order , New York Attorney General Letitia James alleged that iFinex, the parent company that operates both Bitfinex and Tether, possibly defrauded cryptocurrency investors by engaging “in a cover-up to hide the apparent loss of $850 million dollars of co-mingled client and corporate funds.” Bitfinex lost access to the $850 million in question when the funds got tied up with Crypto Capital, a Panamanian payment processor with which it did business, investigators said. Bitfinex quietly tapped Tether’s cash reserves as a “corporate slush fund…to hide Bitfinex’s massive, undisclosed losses and inability to handle customer withdrawals,” they alleged. Story continues Bitfinex has been wrapped up in legal proceedings since the investigation started. In January, the company said it expected to finish turning over relevant documents to the Attorney General’s office by mid Feb. “We are having a productive and constructive dialogue with the New York Attorney General’s Office, and we look forward to continuing those discussions,” Hoegner told Fortune . Tether, a virtual currency popular among traders, is the industry’s third biggest with a total market value of nearly $30 billion, according to Messari , a cryptocurrency tracking tool. For comparison, at press time, the total market value of Bitcoin exceeded $700 billion and Ethereum clocked in at just under $200 billion. Skeptics frequently claim that Tether is not fully backed by reserves, an allegation the company has been unable to dismiss since it has never provided a proper audit. Others fear malicious actors could be using Tether for cryptocurrency market price manipulation . “Tether is fully backed at all times by its reserves, which includes traditional currency and cash equivalents and, from time to time, may include other assets and receivables from loans made by Tether to third parties,” Hoegner told Fortune . More must-read finance coverage from Fortune : Nearly 80% of the 346,000 workers who vanished from the U.S. labor force in January are women Can anyone fix Wells Fargo ? Why bad news for bars and barbershops could be worse news for banks Robinhood CEO isn’t licensed with Wall Street regulator FINRA PayPal CEO says he received death threats after banning accounts that sent mob to the Capitol This story was originally featured on Fortune.com || Crypto exchange Bitfinex says it repaid $550 million Tether loan central to fraud probe: Our mission to make business better is fueled by readers like you. To enjoy unlimited access to our journalism, subscribe today . Cryptocurrency exchange Bifinex said Friday it repaid a half billion-dollar loan at the center of a fraud probe opened by the New York Attorney General’s office three years ago. Bitfinex settled its remaining debt—$550 million out of a total $750 million—borrowed from its sister firm Tether in January, the company said in statement . Tether is the issuer of a popular, if controversy-prone “stablecoin,” a digital currency designed to maintain a fixed price; in this case, a one-to-one peg with the U.S. dollar. “We are pleased to be in a position to pay off the loan in its entirety,” said Stuart Hoegner, Bitfinex’s general counsel, in an email to Fortune . “Our performance has made it possible to repay the remaining balance of the outstanding revolving credit facility early.” While Hoegner did not elaborate on the recent financial performance of Bitfinex, a private concern registered in the British Virgin Islands, it doesn’t require much sleuthing to figure out where the funds may have come from. The price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum have rocketed upward to hit all-time highs in recent months, a bull run that likely supplied the exchange with ample funds. In an April 2019 court order , New York Attorney General Letitia James alleged that iFinex, the parent company that operates both Bitfinex and Tether, possibly defrauded cryptocurrency investors by engaging “in a cover-up to hide the apparent loss of $850 million dollars of co-mingled client and corporate funds.” Bitfinex lost access to the $850 million in question when the funds got tied up with Crypto Capital, a Panamanian payment processor with which it did business, investigators said. Bitfinex quietly tapped Tether’s cash reserves as a “corporate slush fund…to hide Bitfinex’s massive, undisclosed losses and inability to handle customer withdrawals,” they alleged. Story continues Bitfinex has been wrapped up in legal proceedings since the investigation started. In January, the company said it expected to finish turning over relevant documents to the Attorney General’s office by mid Feb. “We are having a productive and constructive dialogue with the New York Attorney General’s Office, and we look forward to continuing those discussions,” Hoegner told Fortune . Tether, a virtual currency popular among traders, is the industry’s third biggest with a total market value of nearly $30 billion, according to Messari , a cryptocurrency tracking tool. For comparison, at press time, the total market value of Bitcoin exceeded $700 billion and Ethereum clocked in at just under $200 billion. Skeptics frequently claim that Tether is not fully backed by reserves, an allegation the company has been unable to dismiss since it has never provided a proper audit. Others fear malicious actors could be using Tether for cryptocurrency market price manipulation . “Tether is fully backed at all times by its reserves, which includes traditional currency and cash equivalents and, from time to time, may include other assets and receivables from loans made by Tether to third parties,” Hoegner told Fortune . More must-read finance coverage from Fortune : Nearly 80% of the 346,000 workers who vanished from the U.S. labor force in January are women Can anyone fix Wells Fargo ? Why bad news for bars and barbershops could be worse news for banks Robinhood CEO isn’t licensed with Wall Street regulator FINRA PayPal CEO says he received death threats after banning accounts that sent mob to the Capitol This story was originally featured on Fortune.com || TSNP Stock: What’s Going on With Blockchain Play Tesoro Enterprises?: On Tuesday,Tesoro Enterprises(OTCMKTS:TSNP) announced its plans to move into blockchain trading markets. With shares already up almost 200%, penny-stock investors will likely see more gains as Wall Street punters rush in.
Source: Shutterstock
Don’t assume long-term success — very few penny stocks ever vault themselves into the big leagues, and Tesoro doesn’t exactly have a great resume either. But if you’re looking to nurse yourGameStop(NYSE:GME) andAMC(NYSE:AMC) losses, this flash stock has it all:
A well-timed press release in a market that’s starving for blockchain investments. A charismatic CEO who can talk the talk. A crypto market that’s too hot to handle.
TSNP stock isn’t for the faint-hearted. Just a month ago, Tesoro Enterprises was an unknown penny stock that claimed to focus on the “delivery of construction materials for the commercial and residential market places.” The last time the company reported figures to the SEC was in 2012, showing just $360,000 of revenues and a -50% profit margin.
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But then management did something quite brilliant.After merging with HUMBL in December, the company launched a press release last Tuesday, renaming itselfHUMBL Financialand claiming to create away for investors to invest in ETF-styled blockchain technology. Shares shot up from 40 cents to $1.40 by the end of the week. Some might rightly wonder if it’s a pump-and-dump.
It’s entirely unclear what a company that delivers construction materials has to do with crypto investing (or why a crypto company would merge with a construction penny stock). But that hasn’t stopped the San Diego-based company from trying. In the press release, the company claimed it would release “non-custodial, algorithmically driven financial technology services that allow customers to purchase and hold digital assets in pre-set allocations through their own exchange accounts.” In plain English, that means the company will help you invest in an ETF-style bucket of cryptocurrencies, but it won’t do it itself. Instead, it will rely on your existing exchange accounts to allocate trades.
Presumably, that’s because the company’soriginal mission of running an exchange-traded fundwas a little too hard. The SEC has rejected the far-better funded Gemini ETF’s proposaltwice already, so it’s not surprising that HUMBL has also faced similar roadblocks. An non-custodial app, meanwhile, is far easier to launch.
That’s not to say HUMBL couldn’t eventually develop a “Web 3 platform that will allow you to invest, trade, track and pay in more synthetic ways on the blockchain,”as it claims it will. But that’s likely years away — if it ever happens at all.
That doesn’t mean TSNP stock can’t bounce in the meantime. Investors are starved for good cryptocurrency stocks;Marathon Patent Group(NASDAQ:MARA) has along history of fraud and misrepresentation.Riot Blockchain’s(NASDAQ:RIOT) CEO, meanwhile, has been investigated by the SEC formicrocap fraud.
That makes any legitimate-sounding company with the word “blockchain” have the potential for massive gains. Whether actually legitimate or not, it doesn’t matter much when the market’s this hot. And with enough retail-investor-fueled momentum, this penny stock could raise enough money to become a self-driving force in cryptocurrencies.
In 2018, the Long Island Iced Tea Corp, a ready-to-drink tea company, rebranded itself as the Long Blockchain Corp. Sharesinstantly shot up 200%— proof that investors often jump in first and ask questions later. (The company would later fall back to earth and get de-listed).
Fortunately, HUMBL looks a little better-prepared than its tea-producing predecessor. With anactual team of engineers(supposedly) and$2.5 million of funding(also supposedly), this company might yet pull off America’s first blockchain ETF. (Hopefully the company will update its financials with the SEC in the mean-time).
And if it fails? Well, not all is lost. In a crypto market this hot, it couldrebrand itself as a cryptocurrency playand keep watching investors rush in. Just don’t be there if or when the market falls out of Bitcoin.
On the date of publication, Tom Yeung did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
Tom Yeung, CFA, is a registered investment advisor on a mission to bring simplicity to the world of investing.
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The postTSNP Stock: Whatâs Going on With Blockchain Play Tesoro Enterprises?appeared first onInvestorPlace. || Clubhouse for 24 hours: serendipity, cancel culture, meditation, and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg: If you didn’t know what Clubhouse was a week ago, there’s a decent chance you’re aware of the exclusive audio chat platform now — even if you haven’t been invited to join. In just the last few days, Tesla CEO Elon Musk , Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev , entrepreneur and activist Kim Dotcom , and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg spoke on the platform, collectively drawing tens of thousands of live listeners and sparking spillover rooms. While I first signed up for the app this summer, I finally decided to spend a solid day there (with a few hours of sleep) on Thursday, Feb. 4, given the widespread intrigue. The app, launched in March and still in beta mode, originally served as a forum for venture capitalists and entrepreneurs to pontificate about tech and raising capital. But it’s become much more than that. Clubhouse Drop-in audio chat app logo on the App Store is seen displayed on a phone screen. (Photo illustration by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images) It turns out Thursday was a memorable day to stay glued to the platform, though many users called it “just another day on Clubhouse.” I hopped on at 7 a.m. PT to find several groups reeling from one man’s racist behavior the night before and later listened to Lindsay Lohan and Perez Hilton talk about a potential “Mean Girls” reunion before a surprise appearance at the end of the day from Mark Zuckerberg . Clubhouse has deep roots in the VC community, and Andreessen Horowitz led its latest $100 million round of funding , bringing the company’s post-money valuation to $1 billion. Marc Andreessen is one of the key and most consistent participants and moderators on the app, particularly in a nightly room called “ The Good Time Show ,” hosted by husband and wife duo Aarthi Ramamurthy , director of Facebook’s communities products, and Sriram Krishnan , who was just named Andreessen’s newest general partner . Both Musk and Zuckerberg joined that room for their Clubhouse cameos. Bad actors can still proliferate One million users signed up for Clubhouse between Jan. 30 and Feb. 1 (Musk grilled Tenev on Jan. 31 ). As of Feb. 2, the app had over six million users, according to digital data miner Vajresh Balaji . Unlike sites like Twitter and Instagram, a user must have a registered account to access the platform. After the initial barrier to entry, the space is fluid. Anyone can start a room at any time. Several active early users host daily or weekly rooms, and often seamlessly plug the app’s features and suggest best practices. In addition to adding a bio and linking your Instagram ( FB ) and Twitter ( TWTR ) accounts, Clubhouse prominently displays the date you joined at the bottom of your profile. As with any new consumer tech platform, the idea of early adopter clout is widely championed. Every room has three strata — the speakers/moderators; users whom the speakers follow; listeners only. Story continues Despite its unique medium (no video or written text), the pipes of Clubhouse appear eerily similar to social media juggernauts with bad actors proliferating the platform as it continues to grow. On Wednesday, a white man named David Markovich started a room called “Let’s all Welcome China and Japan to Clubhouse,” making himself the only moderator in a room full of Asian users, many of whom were there to connect with other Asians in their native language. This triggered chef Matt Delatour to create a room called “Why’s David Markovich moderating a room dedicated to Asians?” Markovich, who runs a digital marketing firm called Online Geniuses, was removed as an administrator on Talk Club for violating Clubhouse’s community guidelines , but his profile remained intact and he continued to amass followers. I reached out to Markovich but did not get an immediate response. Clubhouse did not respond to multiple requests for comment on its suspension policy, which is mostly driven by individuals reporting bad behavior. This comes after self-described “9-figure” entrepreneur and investor J.T. Foxx was a moderator in several rooms selling a $2500 coaching course. His account was suspended but has since been reinstated. The platform has also been criticized by Black users who say it silences Black voices by replicating the existing white power structures of Silicon Valley. A group of multi-racial women even started a change.org petition , crediting Black users for boosting the app’s popularity, and demanding that Clubhouse “hire more Black employees at every level and ensure that anti-Blackness within the company itself is addressed and prevented vigilantly.” Despite the content moderation problems, I found myself drawn into the conversations, many of which center around the app’s own pitfalls. Here’s how I spent my day on Clubhouse. ‘You really have to treat it like a part-time job’ 8 a.m. PT Based on my self-selected interests (TV, movies, spirituality, mindfulness, fitness, outdoors, BIPOC, East Asian, theater, entrepreneurship, angel investing, startups and philosophy, to name a few), I’m served a wide range of rooms to join, ranging from murder mystery games, DJ jam sessions and guided meditation to anti-racist groups and heated discussions about cancel culture. Upon opening my app, the top conversations stemmed from Markovich. I joined one called “Safe from ‘David on Clubhouse’ - what happened?” where 150 people were discussing Markovich’s behavior in a forum hosted by three Black women who work in media. The creator of the room plays the role of moderator, but can bring up others to speak. Depending on the size and popularity of the room, it’s likely the average user is relegated to the listen-only audience section, where they can raise their hand to speak. I was brought up as a speaker and disclosed that I am a journalist working on a Clubhouse story, and a few users DMed me on Twitter to share their experiences. A common thread was just how sticky and versatile the platform is. Sha Cannon, a 49-year-old for-hire COO for startups and small businesses, hosts several rooms during the week, finding it an effective way to network. “Because the platform has live audio, I am able to show up to connect more than on other platforms. Without the obstacle of being ‘camera ready’ that video live streaming presents,” she said. Marc Liu, a 34-year-old filmmaker, finds Clubhouse rooms the ultimate background noise, spending “at least 10-15 hours” on the app every day. “I don’t think I have ever encountered a social media app that generates this much time commitment; both for enjoyment and engagement, you really have to treat it like a part-time job,” he said. He’s currently part of administering the vaccination effort in Orange County, California and finds that “listening in on the wide variety of conversations on Clubhouse helps pass the time and keeps me from feeling like I’m missing out on the goings on of the world while I’m at work.” Lessons from an ‘urban monk’ 10:30 a.m. PT I perused several popular rooms, including “How to Buy a House for $7500” (hint: don’t live in southern California), “All Things COVID Q+A w/ physicians & scientists,” “Elon Musk Removes #Bitcoin From his Twitter Bio” and “Insta-Hype: Ping Connect & Grow your Instagram and Brand.” Many of these spaces have a designated “expert” who hosts a vocal version of Reddit’s ask me anything. Clubhouse has made it easy to leave a room simply by clicking on a small peace sign emoji. Unless the room includes only a handful of people or you were in the middle of speaking, there’s little pressure to stay in a room. 12:30 p.m. PT After four hours on the app, I began experiencing mental fatigue and fog. I stumbled upon a room called “The Art of Stopping Time: Lessons from a Monk” hosted by Dr. Pedram Shojai, who goes by the alias “urbanmonk.” I found a pilates workout on Instagram and stretched to Dr. Shojai’s soothing voice say “meditation is not optional, it’s like dental hygiene.” He also asked everyone to think about their relationship with the word “soul,” which he dubbed the “s-word.” NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 26: Activist Pedram Shojai visits Build to discuss the film "Prosperity" at Build Studio on September 26, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Bennett Raglin/Getty Images) There were fewer people talking over each other, and it felt like a session I would have attended in person for a little bit of Zen. I saw Clubhouse CEO Paul Davison quietly pop in and out of a series of rooms. I did hear a lot of users saying “follow up with me on Twitter or LinkedIn.” Despite its audio-only nature, it’s heavily reliant on other social platforms to continue text-based communication. 1:10 p.m. PT So much advice! So many thought leaders! “Shark Tank” judge and real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran answered questions in the “Business Unusual” group. Several young entrepreneurs asked her for tips on diversification and entering new markets. She answered with lots of humor, just one of many guests who was visibly having fun connecting with a vast audience. 2 p.m. PT I gravitated toward conversations where BIPOC (Black, indigenous, and people of color) individuals shared solutions to make spaces — including Clubhouse — more equitable. I joined a room called “Racism and misogyny have no place here,” where several entrepreneurs of color heatedly discussed Clubhouse’s suspension policy and whether it’s a user’s duty to flag bad behavior or potential scams. 2:45 p.m. PT Oops! Time for a late lunch with a size of gossip. Perez Hilton hopped on with Lindsay Lohan, and they discussed her DJ-ing career, reminisced about the days of paparazzi and stretch limos and also brought up Daniel Franzese, who played Damian in “Mean Girls” alongside Lohan. It was a lighthearted session that had me feeling nostalgic. 4:30 p.m. PT One thing is abundantly clear — these conversations run LONG and at times circuitous because people come and go. The moderator guides the flow and keeps people focused on the topic of the room. For the most part, you can catch up pretty quickly to the gist of the chat, but sometimes it feels like you’re on tweet three of an infinite thread. I jumped into a one-on-one conversation between Thomas Ma, the co-founder of marketing agency Sapphire, and Jaime Schmidt, the founder of Schmidt’s Naturals, which was acquired by Unilever for nine figures. My turn to moderate 6 p.m. PT Stretch break! Water refill. Because now it’s my time to moderate! My husband and I started a room called “SAG Awards and Golden Globe nominations: AAPI represent,” where anyone could debrief the highlights and lowlights (“I May Destroy You” and “Minari” getting snubbed in the Golden Globes noms). We had chatted with Diane Paragas, the director of “Yellow Rose” and actresses Celia Au and Olivia Cheng, about Asian American representation in media. We also riffed on topics like the distinctions between Asian and Asian-American cinema and the popularity contests that still dominate all societal structures, especially Hollywood. At the peak of the talk, 150 people had joined. 9:20 p.m. PT The most consistently popular room on Clubhouse is “The Good Time Show.” With a Facebook executive and Andreessen Horowitz pair hosting the daily conversations, it’s the ultimate forum for tech execs to test out the app’s waters. From Musk to Reddit CEO Steve Huffman and on Thursday, Zuckerberg, the room hit its 5,000 person cap in less than a minute. Zuckerberg, billed as a “surprise guest,” joined the room at 9:30 p.m. PT and shared why the pandemic has renewed his belief that AR and VR will gain mainstream appeal. Side note: Zuckerberg’s Clubhouse name is “zuck23.” “Mark Zuckerberg” was already scooped up. Here’s what Mark Zuckerberg said on Clubhouse about AR, VR, and Remote Work “We should be teleporting, not transporting ourselves” pic.twitter.com/AT16reaQus — Josh Constine - SignalFire (@JoshConstine) February 5, 2021 Two Facebook executives — Fidji Simo (head of the app) and Andrew Bosworth (vice president of AR and VR) — were the advertised guests and stayed on after Zuckerberg left the conversation. Like clockwork, the app started glitching as soon as Zuckerberg hopped off Clubhouse, with moderators losing control and getting kicked out of their own rooms. Clubhouse’s head of community Stephanie Saffa Simon shared some insights about the overloaded servers and the serendipitous timing of the glitches, and talked about the surreal milestones of having Zuckerberg or Musk, but insisted the more intimate and music-focused rooms are what really create community on the platform. Things escalated quickly — somehow I found myself in a room called MARK ZUCKERBERG BUYING CLUBHOUSE? The chatter continued late into the evening, with some of the familiar faces from earlier in the day swerving in and out. Clubhouse started glitching after Mark Zuckerberg made a surprise appearance and caused the servers to crash 3:30 a.m. PT ish? Fell asleep while listening to “AllDayDreamingRadio: CoDreaming Productive Beats.” Perfect lo-fi to curb the tingling from the day’s conversations. 7 a.m. One more room — then my 24 hours is done! I found a Korean language room hosted by Sophia Hong, the founder of a beauty startup called “Mask Moments.” She moderated a room of 100 or so Koreans, most of whom were based in Korea, and was helping onboard them. She talked about how she had never fully connected with any other social media platforms until she found Clubhouse. “There’s a feeling of building something together and having a more interactive conversation,” she said in Korean. I finally log off. It’s been an enlightening day, but it’s time for a 24-hour cleanse. Then again, there’s a chat with Zendaya tonight that I might have to tune into... Melody Hahm is Yahoo Finance’s West Coast correspondent, covering entrepreneurship, technology and culture. Follow her on Twitter @melodyhahm . Read more: NBA star Andre Iguodala on Apartment List investment: 'It's a rare thing you see' with startups Capitol Hill siege 'may be the beginning of the end of Big Tech': Scott Galloway From Elon Musk to Oracle — the coronavirus accelerates California exodus Stephen Curry won't invest in CBD, blockchain, or gambling Etsy seller: ‘2020 was one of the best years I’ve ever had’ View comments || Clubhouse for 24 hours: serendipity, cancel culture, meditation, and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg: If you didn’t know whatClubhousewas a week ago, there’s a decent chance you’re aware of the exclusive audio chat platform now — even if you haven’t been invited to join.
In just the last few days, Tesla CEOElon Musk, Robinhood CEOVlad Tenev, entrepreneur and activistKim Dotcom, and Facebook CEOMark Zuckerbergspoke on the platform, collectively drawing tens of thousands of live listeners and sparking spillover rooms.
While I first signed up for the app this summer, I finally decided to spend a solid day there (with a few hours of sleep) on Thursday, Feb. 4, given the widespread intrigue. The app, launched in March and still in beta mode, originally served as a forum for venture capitalists and entrepreneurs to pontificate about tech and raising capital. But it’s become much more than that.
It turns out Thursday was a memorable day to stay glued to the platform, though many users called it “just another day on Clubhouse.” I hopped on at 7 a.m. PT to find several groupsreeling from one man’s racist behaviorthe night before and later listened toLindsay Lohan and Perez Hiltontalk about a potential “Mean Girls” reunion before a surprise appearance at the end of the day fromMark Zuckerberg.
Clubhouse has deep roots in the VC community, andAndreessen Horowitzled its latest$100 million round of funding, bringing the company’s post-money valuation to $1 billion. Marc Andreessen is one of the key and most consistent participants and moderators on the app, particularly in a nightly room called “The Good Time Show,” hosted by husband and wife duoAarthi Ramamurthy, director of Facebook’s communities products, andSriram Krishnan, who was just namedAndreessen’s newest general partner. Both Musk and Zuckerberg joined that room for their Clubhouse cameos.
One million userssigned up for Clubhouse between Jan. 30 and Feb. 1 (Musk grilled Tenev onJan. 31). As of Feb. 2, the app had over six million users, according todigital data miner Vajresh Balaji. Unlike sites like Twitter and Instagram, a user must have a registered account to access the platform.
After the initial barrier to entry, the space is fluid. Anyone can start a room at any time. Several active early users host daily or weekly rooms, and often seamlessly plug the app’s features and suggest best practices. In addition to adding a bio and linking your Instagram (FB) and Twitter (TWTR) accounts, Clubhouse prominently displays the date you joined at the bottom of your profile. As with any new consumer tech platform, the idea of early adopter clout is widely championed. Every room has three strata — the speakers/moderators; users whom the speakers follow; listeners only.
Despite its unique medium (no video or written text), the pipes of Clubhouse appear eerily similar to social media juggernauts with bad actors proliferating the platform as it continues to grow. On Wednesday, a white man named David Markovichstarted a roomcalled “Let’s all Welcome China and Japan to Clubhouse,” making himself the only moderator in a room full of Asian users, many of whom were there to connect with other Asians in their native language. This triggered chef Matt Delatour to create a room called “Why’s David Markovich moderating a room dedicated to Asians?”
Markovich, who runs a digital marketing firm called Online Geniuses, was removed as an administrator on Talk Club for violating Clubhouse’scommunity guidelines, but his profile remained intact and he continued to amass followers. I reached out to Markovich but did not get an immediate response. Clubhouse did not respond to multiple requests for comment on its suspension policy, which is mostly driven by individuals reporting bad behavior. This comes after self-described “9-figure” entrepreneur and investor J.T. Foxx was a moderator in several rooms selling a $2500 coaching course. His account wassuspendedbut has since been reinstated.
The platform has also been criticized by Black users who say it silences Black voices by replicating the existing white power structures of Silicon Valley. A group of multi-racial women even started achange.org petition, crediting Black users for boosting the app’s popularity, and demanding thatClubhouse“hire more Black employees at every level and ensure that anti-Blackness within the company itself is addressed and prevented vigilantly.”
Despite the content moderation problems, I found myself drawn into the conversations, many of which center around the app’s own pitfalls. Here’s how I spent my day on Clubhouse.
8 a.m. PTBased on my self-selected interests (TV, movies, spirituality, mindfulness, fitness, outdoors, BIPOC, East Asian, theater, entrepreneurship, angel investing, startups and philosophy, to name a few), I’m served a wide range of rooms to join, ranging from murder mystery games, DJ jam sessions and guided meditation to anti-racist groups and heated discussions about cancel culture.
Upon opening my app, the top conversations stemmed from Markovich. I joined one called “Safe from ‘David on Clubhouse’ - what happened?” where 150 people were discussing Markovich’s behavior in a forum hosted by three Black women who work in media.
The creator of the room plays the role of moderator, but can bring up others to speak. Depending on the size and popularity of the room, it’s likely the average user is relegated to the listen-only audience section, where they can raise their hand to speak. I was brought up as a speaker and disclosed that I am a journalist working on a Clubhouse story, and a few users DMed me on Twitter to share their experiences. A common thread was just how sticky and versatile the platform is.
Sha Cannon, a 49-year-old for-hire COO for startups and small businesses, hosts several rooms during the week, finding it an effective way to network. “Because the platform has live audio, I am able to show up to connect more than on other platforms. Without the obstacle of being ‘camera ready’ that video live streaming presents,” she said.
Marc Liu, a 34-year-old filmmaker, finds Clubhouse rooms the ultimate background noise, spending “at least 10-15 hours” on the app every day. “I don’t think I have ever encountered a social media app that generates this much time commitment; both for enjoyment and engagement, you really have to treat it like a part-time job,” he said.
He’s currently part of administering the vaccination effort in Orange County, California and finds that “listening in on the wide variety of conversations on Clubhouse helps pass the time and keeps me from feeling like I’m missing out on the goings on of the world while I’m at work.”
10:30 a.m. PTI perused several popular rooms, including “How to Buy a House for $7500” (hint: don’t live in southern California), “All Things COVID Q+A w/ physicians & scientists,” “Elon Musk Removes #Bitcoin From his Twitter Bio” and “Insta-Hype: Ping Connect & Grow your Instagram and Brand.” Many of these spaces have a designated “expert” who hosts a vocal version of Reddit’s ask me anything.
Clubhouse has made it easy to leave a room simply by clicking on a small peace sign emoji. Unless the room includes only a handful of people or you were in the middle of speaking, there’s little pressure to stay in a room.
12:30 p.m. PTAfter four hours on the app, I began experiencing mental fatigue and fog. I stumbled upon a room called “The Art of Stopping Time: Lessons from a Monk” hosted by Dr. Pedram Shojai, who goes by the alias “urbanmonk.” I found a pilates workout on Instagram and stretched to Dr. Shojai’s soothing voice say “meditation is not optional, it’s like dental hygiene.” He also asked everyone to think about their relationship with the word “soul,” which he dubbed the “s-word.”
There were fewer people talking over each other, and it felt like a session I would have attended in person for a little bit of Zen. I saw Clubhouse CEO Paul Davison quietly pop in and out of a series of rooms. I did hear a lot of users saying “follow up with me on Twitter or LinkedIn.” Despite its audio-only nature, it’s heavily reliant on other social platforms to continue text-based communication.
1:10 p.m. PTSo much advice! So many thought leaders! “Shark Tank” judge and real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran answered questions in the “Business Unusual” group. Several young entrepreneurs asked her for tips on diversification and entering new markets. She answered with lots of humor, just one of many guests who was visibly having fun connecting with a vast audience.
2 p.m. PTI gravitated toward conversations where BIPOC (Black, indigenous, and people of color) individuals shared solutions to make spaces — including Clubhouse — more equitable. I joined a room called “Racism and misogyny have no place here,” where several entrepreneurs of color heatedly discussed Clubhouse’s suspension policy and whether it’s a user’s duty to flag bad behavior or potential scams.
2:45 p.m. PTOops! Time for a late lunch with a size of gossip. Perez Hilton hopped on with Lindsay Lohan, and they discussed her DJ-ing career, reminisced about the days of paparazzi and stretch limos and also brought up Daniel Franzese, who played Damian in “Mean Girls” alongside Lohan. It was a lighthearted session that had me feeling nostalgic.
4:30 p.m. PTOne thing is abundantly clear — these conversations run LONG and at times circuitous because people come and go. The moderator guides the flow and keeps people focused on the topic of the room. For the most part, you can catch up pretty quickly to the gist of the chat, but sometimes it feels like you’re on tweet three of an infinite thread.
I jumped into a one-on-one conversation between Thomas Ma, the co-founder of marketing agency Sapphire, and Jaime Schmidt, the founder of Schmidt’s Naturals, which was acquired by Unilever for nine figures.
6 p.m. PTStretch break! Water refill. Because now it’s my time to moderate! My husband and I started a room called “SAG Awards and Golden Globe nominations: AAPI represent,” where anyone could debrief the highlights and lowlights (“I May Destroy You” and “Minari” getting snubbed in the Golden Globes noms). We had chatted with Diane Paragas, the director of “Yellow Rose” and actresses Celia Au and Olivia Cheng, about Asian American representation in media. We also riffed on topics like the distinctions between Asian and Asian-American cinema and the popularity contests that still dominate all societal structures, especially Hollywood. At the peak of the talk, 150 people had joined.
9:20 p.m. PTThe most consistently popular room on Clubhouse is “The Good Time Show.” With a Facebook executive and Andreessen Horowitz pair hosting the daily conversations, it’s the ultimate forum for tech execs to test out the app’s waters. From Musk to Reddit CEO Steve Huffman and on Thursday, Zuckerberg, the room hit its 5,000 person cap in less than a minute. Zuckerberg, billed as a “surprise guest,” joined the room at 9:30 p.m. PT and shared why the pandemic has renewed his belief that AR and VR will gain mainstream appeal. Side note: Zuckerberg’s Clubhouse name is “zuck23.” “Mark Zuckerberg” was already scooped up.
Two Facebook executives — Fidji Simo (head of the app) and Andrew Bosworth (vice president of AR and VR) — were the advertised guests and stayed on after Zuckerberg left the conversation. Like clockwork, the app started glitching as soon as Zuckerberg hopped off Clubhouse, with moderators losing control and getting kicked out of their own rooms.
Clubhouse’s head of community Stephanie Saffa Simon shared some insights about the overloaded servers and the serendipitous timing of the glitches, and talked about the surreal milestones of having Zuckerberg or Musk, but insisted the more intimate and music-focused rooms are what really create community on the platform.
Things escalated quickly — somehow I found myself in a room called MARK ZUCKERBERG BUYING CLUBHOUSE? The chatter continued late into the evening, with some of the familiar faces from earlier in the day swerving in and out.
3:30 a.m. PT ish?Fell asleep while listening to “AllDayDreamingRadio: CoDreaming Productive Beats.” Perfect lo-fi to curb the tingling from the day’s conversations.
7 a.m.One more room — then my 24 hours is done! I found a Korean language room hosted by Sophia Hong, the founder of a beauty startup called “Mask Moments.” She moderated a room of 100 or so Koreans, most of whom were based in Korea, and was helping onboard them. She talked about how she had never fully connected with any other social media platforms until she found Clubhouse. “There’s a feeling of building something together and having a more interactive conversation,” she said in Korean.
I finally log off. It’s been an enlightening day, but it’s time for a 24-hour cleanse. Then again, there’s a chat with Zendaya tonight that I might have to tune into...
Melody Hahm is Yahoo Finance’s West Coast correspondent, covering entrepreneurship, technology and culture. Follow her on Twitter@melodyhahm.
Read more:
• NBA star Andre Iguodala on Apartment List investment: 'It's a rare thing you see' with startups
• Capitol Hill siege 'may be the beginning of the end of Big Tech': Scott Galloway
• From Elon Musk to Oracle — the coronavirus accelerates California exodus
• Stephen Curry won't invest in CBD, blockchain, or gambling
• Etsy seller: ‘2020 was one of the best years I’ve ever had’ || Binance Suspends Deposits in Nigeria Following Central Bank Directive: Binance has temporarily suspended deposits in Nigerian naira the countrys local fiat currency in response to a Friday letter from Nigerias central bank (CBN) instructing local banks to identify and close all accounts tied to cryptocurrency platforms or operations. The CBN letter told local banking institutions that dealing in cryptocurrencies or facilitating payments for cryptocurrency exchanges is prohibited under a 2017 circular stating bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies are not legal tender in the country. While the move might impact fiat on- and off-ramps, most of the nations crypto trading occurs on peer-to-peer platforms and remains unaffected, according to sources in Nigeria. In a statement , Binance announced its Nigerian naira payment partners suspended deposit services until further notice, starting from 7 p.m. local time (GMT+1) as of Friday, adding that it is monitoring the situation closely. Related: Which Crypto Projects Are Based on Ethereum? Withdrawal services remain normal and will continue to be processed but might take slightly longer time than usual, the statement said. Central bank ban The CBN directive comes just months after protesters in Nigeria used bitcoin to raise funds after authorities reportedly shuttered bank accounts associated with the movement. Since the letter started making rounds on the internet, Nigerian crypto users tweeted the hashtag #WeWantOurCryptoBack over 26,000 times, according to data obtained from SproutSocial. But professionals in the crypto space do not believe the panic will last, or it will have any impact on crypto adoption. Related: First Mover: Tesla Sends Bitcoin Mooning Past $44K as Snoop Wins #dogebowl Nigeria-based software and blockchain engineer Tosin Olugbenga told CoinDesk the CBN may have issued the directive because of the bitcoin price run of 2020 and growing interest in cryptocurrencies worldwide is causing Nigerians to convert their earnings to crypto. Story continues Theyre moving money from naira to crypto. That is what the CBN sees and has taken issue with. It is not banning crypto trading. Its just telling financial institutions not to allow their platforms to be used to buy or sell crypto on exchanges like binance, Olugbenga said. Olugbenga added that most crypto transactions in Nigeria happen on peer-to-peer exchanges, so once the panic dies down trading will continue as usual. The news has caused a panic in the crypto space, especially for new crypto investors, but the true essence of crypto is decentralization. [The] majority of crypto trades that occur in Nigeria are peer-to-peer, Aronu Ugochukwu, chief executive officer of DeFi platform Xend Finance, told CoinDesk via an email. So far, the CBN has not provided an official reason for the sudden order that is sending panic through social media. Nigeria is the latest government to take an interest in regulating the space: India is once again considering a ban on private cryptocurrencies . Meanwhile, the president of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, said bitcoin facilitates questionable transactions and should be regulated on a global scale. Read the CBN letter below: Related Stories Binance Suspends Deposits in Nigeria Following Central Bank Directive Binance Suspends Deposits in Nigeria Following Central Bank Directive || Binance Suspends Deposits in Nigeria Following Central Bank Directive: Binance has temporarily suspended deposits in Nigerian naira – the country’s local fiat currency – in response to aFriday letterfrom Nigeria’s central bank (CBN) instructing local banks to identify and close all accounts tied to cryptocurrency platforms or operations.
The CBN letter told local banking institutions that dealing in cryptocurrencies or facilitating payments for cryptocurrency exchanges is prohibited under a2017 circularstatingbitcoin(BTC) and other cryptocurrencies are not legal tender in the country. While the move might impact fiat on- and off-ramps, most of the nation’s crypto trading occurs on peer-to-peer platforms and remains unaffected, according to sources in Nigeria.
In astatement, Binance announced its Nigerian naira payment partners suspended deposit services until further notice, starting from 7 p.m. local time (GMT+1) as of Friday, adding that it is monitoring the situation closely.
Related:Which Crypto Projects Are Based on Ethereum?
“Withdrawal services remain normal and will continue to be processed but might take slightly longer time than usual,” the statement said.
The CBN directive comes just months after protesters in Nigeriaused bitcointo raise funds after authoritiesreportedly shutteredbank accounts associated with the movement.
Since the letter started making rounds on the internet, Nigerian crypto users tweeted the hashtag#WeWantOurCryptoBackover 26,000 times, according to data obtained from SproutSocial.
But professionals in the crypto space do not believe the panic will last, or it will have any impact on crypto adoption.
Related:First Mover: Tesla Sends Bitcoin Mooning Past $44K as Snoop Wins #dogebowl
Nigeria-based software and blockchain engineerTosin Olugbengatold CoinDesk the CBN may have issued the directive because of the bitcoin price run of 2020 and growing interest in cryptocurrencies worldwide is causing Nigerians to convert their earnings to crypto.
“They’re moving money from naira to crypto. That is what the CBN sees and has taken issue with. It is not banning crypto trading. It’s just telling financial institutions not to allow their platforms to be used to buy or sell crypto on exchanges like binance,” Olugbenga said.
Olugbenga added that most crypto transactions in Nigeria happen on peer-to-peer exchanges, so once the panic dies down trading will continue as usual.
“The news has caused a panic in the crypto space, especially for new crypto investors, but the true essence of crypto is decentralization. [The] majority of crypto trades that occur in Nigeria are peer-to-peer,” Aronu Ugochukwu, chief executive officer of DeFi platform Xend Finance, told CoinDesk via an email.
So far, the CBN has not provided an official reason for the sudden order that is sending panic through social media.
Nigeria is the latest government to take an interest in regulating the space: India is once again considering aban on private cryptocurrencies. Meanwhile, the president of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde,saidbitcoin facilitates questionable transactions and should be regulated on a global scale.
Read the CBN letter below:
• Binance Suspends Deposits in Nigeria Following Central Bank Directive
• Binance Suspends Deposits in Nigeria Following Central Bank Directive || If Whales Move the Market, UniWhales Is the Whale Whisperer: When Elon Musk changed his Twitter bio to “#bitcoin” last week it moved the market , but not just for bitcoin itself. Users of UniWhales could see big holders making moves in real-time. Matt Aaron, the CEO of UniWhales, sent CoinDesk screenshots showing three big moves of liquidity providers exiting USDC/ETH and USDT/ETH positions on Uniswap. In 11 minutes, $47 million worth of liquidity had exited the Uniswap system right after Musk told the world: “Our thesis is that whales control the market,” Aaron told CoinDesk in a phone call. “People with more money tend to have better information.” Related: First Mover: Tesla Sends Bitcoin Mooning Past $44K as Snoop Wins #dogebowl UniWhales started in September as a simple Telegram channel with a bot that flagged large buys on Uniswap. That’s why it’s called UniWhales. It started analyzing the moves of big holders (whales) on Uniswap, the leading automated market maker on Ethereum. Santiago Roel of ParaFi Capital told CoinDesk via email that he has been using the product for a while. “Their subscription model offers a glimpse into how SaaS could be brought on chain, which will be an emerging theme as a new monetization model,” he wrote. Initiated by a pseudonymous developer called Timur, Aaron, a crypto alum, was an early adopter. “I was addicted to this channel, just like as a fan,” he said. Related: Bitcoin and Ether Hit New All-Time Highs as Tesla Invests $1.5 in BTC and CME Launches ETH Futures Trading The approach took off quickly and the two decided to turn it into a business together. In a pickle Liquidity moves are telling but it all started with big buys. For example, on Jan. 26, the price of the Ethereum token PICKLE shot up 40% (from just under $11 to almost $14), and members of the UniWhales community watched it happen in real time. The UniWhales Telegram bot was flagging $1.6 million worth of PICKLE getting picked up in a short span of time on Uniswap. That was 75% of the daily trade volume all at once. Spotting this kind of movement is the heart of what PICKLE is all about. Story continues Traders need alerts to know if something big is happening with a token they have a position in or if it means they should take a position. Some traders will simply follow momentum but others use UniWhales as an alert to see if they need to start looking at Twitter or Telegram to see what just happened. Correlation is not causation, but Aaaron showed CoinDesk a tweet that seemed to correspond nicely with the moves: As ever, the name of Andre Cronje is powerful out there among the DeFi degens. The news that Yearn’s founder had finalized his plan to make those who got the short end of the stick in the exploit somewhat whole was bullish, for at least some bag holders. Pickle started as a publicly minded Weird DeFi project aimed at helping stablecoins hold their peg. Before long, the anon-led endeavor evolved into something like an imitation of Yearn Finance, the leading robo-advisor for yield. Like other anon-led projects before it, Pickle got exploited. Yearn, in turn, absorbed it, in its quest to be the powerhouse of decentralized finance. Eventually Timur and Aaron developed the UWL token, which enables access to the app, exclusive webinars and to premium Telegram channels. Like any startup, UniWhales is still working on its business model, but its focus is on building a strong analytics community for DeFi. How it works UniWhales describes itself as a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) but only in the loosest sense. By holding UWL, users can express their opinions to Aaron and Timur about what’s needed. “We are definitely benevolent dictators,” Aaron said, though he noted they have an “open dialogue with everyone in their community.” If, for example, they ever have any doubt about which direction to go, they have a gang in Telegram 16 hours a day that always has an opinion on any particular direction. To access the community’s private channels, a user needs to hold 5,000 UWL. UniWhales uses Mintgate and CollabLand to verify token holdings and allow premium access. The basic membership provides access to the app and channels with bots that flag things like big buys on Uniswap or SushiSwap, new or unknown tokens and (like in the example up top) big moves into or out of liquidity pools. For 16,000 UWL, users get access to the power channel, which shows moves by wallets known to be tied to major players in crypto, such as big funds or well-known investors. The total supply is 10 million UWL. Of that, 35% was sold in a public and private sale and 25% was set aside for the liquidity supply. The sales happened in November and the team raised a total of 400 ETH. All the funds were put into liquidity pools on automated market makers, and those LP tokens were locked up for six months. The team allocation of 15% is also locked up for six months. Aaron said that’s to “signal to the community that we are trying to build it for the long term.” Right now, the only recurring revenue the team has are the underlying LP fees on Uniswap and SushiSwap and any liquidity mining benefit either might proffer. Aaron said they are looking into other ways they might make the project more sustainable, though if fees get introduced anywhere he said they will accrue value to all token holders, not just the company. “We want to make sure the token holders are rewarded for participating in our project,” Aaron said. Related Stories If Whales Move the Market, UniWhales Is the Whale Whisperer If Whales Move the Market, UniWhales Is the Whale Whisperer || If Whales Move the Market, UniWhales Is the Whale Whisperer: When Elon Musk changed his Twitter bio to “#bitcoin” last week itmoved the market, but not just for bitcoin itself.
Users of UniWhales could see big holders making moves in real-time. Matt Aaron, the CEO of UniWhales, sent CoinDesk screenshots showing three big moves of liquidity providers exiting USDC/ETH and USDT/ETH positions on Uniswap. In 11 minutes, $47 million worth of liquidity had exited the Uniswap system right after Musk told the world:
“Our thesis is that whales control the market,” Aaron told CoinDesk in a phone call. “People with more money tend to have better information.”
Related:First Mover: Tesla Sends Bitcoin Mooning Past $44K as Snoop Wins #dogebowl
UniWhalesstarted in September as a simpleTelegram channelwith a bot that flagged large buys on Uniswap. That’s why it’s called UniWhales. It started analyzing the moves of big holders (whales) on Uniswap, the leading automated market maker on Ethereum.
Santiago Roel of ParaFi Capital told CoinDesk via email that he has been using the product for a while.
“Their subscription model offers a glimpse into how SaaS could be brought on chain, which will be an emerging theme as a new monetization model,” he wrote.
Initiated by a pseudonymous developer called Timur, Aaron, a crypto alum, was an early adopter. “I was addicted to this channel, just like as a fan,” he said.
Related:Bitcoin and Ether Hit New All-Time Highs as Tesla Invests $1.5 in BTC and CME Launches ETH Futures Trading
The approach took off quickly and the two decided to turn it into a business together.
Liquidity moves are telling but it all started with big buys.
For example, on Jan. 26, the price of theEthereum token PICKLEshot up 40% (from just under $11 to almost $14), and members of the UniWhales community watched it happen in real time.
The UniWhales Telegram bot was flagging $1.6 million worth of PICKLE getting picked up in a short span of time on Uniswap. That was 75% of the daily trade volume all at once. Spotting this kind of movement is the heart of what PICKLE is all about.
Traders need alerts to know if something big is happening with a token they have a position in or if it means they should take a position. Some traders will simply follow momentum but others use UniWhales as an alert to see if they need to start looking at Twitter or Telegram to see what just happened.
Correlation is not causation, but Aaaron showed CoinDesk a tweet that seemed to correspond nicely with the moves:
As ever, the name of Andre Cronje is powerful out there among the DeFi degens. The news that Yearn’s founder had finalized his plan to make those who got the short end of the stick in the exploit somewhat whole was bullish, for at least some bag holders.
Pickle started as a publicly mindedWeird DeFi projectaimed at helping stablecoins hold their peg. Before long, the anon-led endeavor evolved into something like an imitation of Yearn Finance, the leading robo-advisor for yield. Like other anon-led projects before it, Pickle got exploited.
Yearn, in turn, absorbed it, in its questto be the powerhouseof decentralized finance.
Eventually Timur and Aaron developed the UWL token, which enables access to the app, exclusive webinars and to premium Telegram channels. Like any startup, UniWhales is still working on its business model, but its focus is on building a strong analytics community for DeFi.
UniWhales describes itself as a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) but only in the loosest sense.
By holding UWL, users can express their opinions to Aaron and Timur about what’s needed.
“We are definitely benevolent dictators,” Aaron said, though he noted they have an “open dialogue with everyone in their community.”
If, for example, they ever have any doubt about which direction to go, they have a gang in Telegram 16 hours a day that always has an opinion on any particular direction.
To access the community’s private channels, a user needs to hold 5,000 UWL. UniWhales usesMintgateandCollabLandto verify token holdings and allow premium access.
The basic membership provides access to the app and channels with bots that flag things like big buys on Uniswap or SushiSwap, new or unknown tokens and (like in the example up top) big moves into or out of liquidity pools.
For 16,000 UWL, users get access to the power channel, which shows moves by wallets known to be tied to major players in crypto, such as big funds or well-known investors.
The total supply is 10 million UWL. Of that, 35% was sold in a public and private sale and 25% was set aside for the liquidity supply. The sales happenedin Novemberand the team raised a total of 400 ETH.
All the funds were put into liquidity pools on automated market makers, and those LP tokens were locked up for six months. The team allocation of 15% is also locked up for six months.
Aaron said that’s to “signal to the community that we are trying to build it for the long term.”
Right now, the only recurring revenue the team has are the underlying LP fees onUniswapandSushiSwapand any liquidity mining benefit either might proffer. Aaron said they are looking into other ways they might make the project more sustainable, though if fees get introduced anywhere he said they will accrue value to all token holders, not just the company.
“We want to make sure the token holders are rewarded for participating in our project,” Aaron said.
• If Whales Move the Market, UniWhales Is the Whale Whisperer
• If Whales Move the Market, UniWhales Is the Whale Whisperer || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Rises to $38.3K While Ether’s New High Takes Spotlight: Bitcoin made some gains Friday, but ether hit another brand-new price high ahead of CME’s ether futures launching on Monday. Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $37,751 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 0.32% over the previous 24 hours. Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $36,637-$38,332 (CoinDesk 20) BTC below the 10-hour but above the 50-hour moving average on the hourly chart, a sideways signal for market technicians. The price of bitcoin is now in the fourth day of an upward trend, going as high as $38,332 at 14:00 UTC (9 a.m. ET) before losing some steam heading into the weekend. It was down to $37,751 as of press time. “Similar to the last bull run, we are seeing bitcoin initially steal the attention as retail adoption pours in through mainstream attention,” said Michael Gord, chief executive officer for trading firm Global Digital Asset. Related: Bitcoin and Ether Hit New All-Time Highs as Tesla Invests $1.5 in BTC and CME Launches ETH Futures Trading However, Gord told CoinDesk traders are rotating out of bitcoin to high-flying digital assets. “Bitcoin then cools off and profits generated from bitcoin find themselves first in ether, then in other high market-cap digital assets,” Gord said. Read More: Dalio to Offer Alt-Cash Fund, Says ‘Bitcoin Won’t Escape Our Scrutiny’ Nevertheless, fresh interest such as from Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates, which manages $150 billion in investor money, has some including quantitative trading firm QCP Capital highly bullish on bitcoin. “Bridgewater’s piece out last week had a sensitivity analysis which showed their estimates of BTC price, should private holders of gold switch to BTC,” states QCP’s weekly investor note Friday. “They forecasted that should 50% of capital in gold move into BTC, that would result in a price of $85,000 per 1 BTC.” Related: Hardware Wallet Maker Ledger Adds DeFi Support to Mobile App Story continues Investors are certainly looking to crypto as an asset class, but bitcoin is still quite volatile; its 30-day volatility from Thursday’s close is at 102.9% on an annualized basis whereas gold is at 16%. Yet, crypto advocates see bitcoin and ether (ETH) similar to different asset classes, according to Joel Edgerton, chief operating officer of cryptocurrency exchange BitFlyer USA. “My guess is that BTC is like gold and priced by the value it stores, a scarce commodity in price discovery,” Edgerton said. “ETH is more like a stock and priced by the value it delivers (ETH 2.0, network effects, basis for DeFi).” He said he thinks of ether as an exchange-traded fund (ETF) for decentralized finance. While bitcoin has performed well so far in 2021 – it’s up 29% – ether’s returns have more than quadrupled, gaining 129%. “Ether is surging largely on the back of the growth in decentralized finance projects that rely on ERC-20 tokens to operate,” Guy Hirsch, managing director of U.S. for eToro. “Since ETH has not previously traded this high, it’s hard to tell what kind of support there is but, should DeFi projects continue to grow at the rate they are, it would be hard for ETH to not also continue setting new records.” One thing to watch during a heated ether market is the ETH/BTC trading pair. A rise in this market signals traders are selling their bitcoin for ether; it has appreciated over 75% in 2021. “While bitcoin consolidates and trends back towards all-time highs, much of the price action has focused on the ETH and DeFi space,” said Jason Lau, chief operating officer of San Francisco-based crypto exchange OKCoin. “ETH/BTC has almost doubled in the last month.” Ether dominance up ahead of CME launch Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was up Friday, trading around $1,714 and climbing 3.3% in 24 hours as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET). It hit a brand-new price high Friday, at $1,761, according to CoinDesk 20 data. Read More: Ether Tops $1.7K, Setting New Record as CME Futures Launch Nears The dominance of ether, a measure of the asset to the larger $1.1 trillion market cap of cryptocurrencies overall, is now at over 17%. That’s a more than 50% increase since the beginning of 2021, according to metrics calculated by charting software TradingView. Chad Steinglass, head of trading at CrossTower Capital, told CoinDesk that crypto traders have been scooping up ETH ahead of institutional-friendly CME launching ether futures Feb. 8. “I think that many traders are building positions ahead of the launch,” he said. “The availability of CME-listed ETH futures could be a significant positive catalyst,” said Steinglass. “The addition of CME futures will open the door to many potential investors who want to have exposure, but have yet to take any positions due to logistical hurdles.” “With decentralized exchange trading surging yet again, and yield farming showing no sign of easing, growing interest in leveraged farming products is driving demand for ETH ever so higher and shows the market is only going to grow further,” noted Denis Vinokourov, head of research at crypto brokerage Bequant. Other markets Digital assets on the CoinDesk 20 are all in the green Friday. Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET): 0x (ZRX) + 50.3% cosmos (ATOM) + 29.7% cardano (ADA) + 24.5% Read More: DeFi Season? LINK, AAVE, ZRX and COMP Hit Record Price Highs Equities: The Nikkei 225 index in Asia closed up 1.5% as positive corporate earnings and hopes of fresh U.S. stimulus boosting the global economy led the index higher . Europe’s FTSE 100 ended the day slipping 0.22% as investors were unsure the continent’s vaccine rollouts are being executed effectively . The United States’ S&P 500 index eked out a gain of 0.30% as poor job numbers and the possibility of further government stimulus left investors mixed . Commodities: Oil was up 0.86%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $56.94. Gold was in the green 0.92% and at $1,810 as of press time. Silver is gaining, up 1.8% and changing hands at $26.82. Treasurys: The 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield climbed Friday to 1.170 and in the green 3.2%. Related Stories Market Wrap: Bitcoin Rises to $38.3K While Ether’s New High Takes Spotlight Market Wrap: Bitcoin Rises to $38.3K While Ether’s New High Takes Spotlight || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Rises to $38.3K While Ether’s New High Takes Spotlight: Bitcoin made some gains Friday, but ether hit another brand-new price high ahead of CME’s ether futures launching on Monday.
• Bitcoin(BTC) trading around $37,751 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 0.32% over the previous 24 hours.
• Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $36,637-$38,332 (CoinDesk 20)
• BTC below the 10-hour but above the 50-hour moving average on the hourly chart, a sideways signal for market technicians.
The price of bitcoin is now in the fourth day of an upward trend, going as high as $38,332 at 14:00 UTC (9 a.m. ET) before losing some steam heading into the weekend. It was down to $37,751 as of press time.
“Similar to the last bull run, we are seeing bitcoin initially steal the attention as retail adoption pours in through mainstream attention,” said Michael Gord, chief executive officer for trading firm Global Digital Asset.
Related:Bitcoin and Ether Hit New All-Time Highs as Tesla Invests $1.5 in BTC and CME Launches ETH Futures Trading
However, Gord told CoinDesk traders are rotating out of bitcoin to high-flying digital assets. “Bitcoin then cools off and profits generated from bitcoin find themselves first in ether, then in other high market-cap digital assets,” Gord said.
Read More:Dalio to Offer Alt-Cash Fund, Says ‘Bitcoin Won’t Escape Our Scrutiny’
Nevertheless, fresh interest such as from Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates, which manages $150 billion in investor money, has some including quantitative trading firm QCP Capital highly bullish on bitcoin.
“Bridgewater’s piece out last week had a sensitivity analysis which showed their estimates of BTC price, should private holders of gold switch to BTC,” states QCP’s weekly investor note Friday. “They forecasted that should 50% of capital in gold move into BTC, that would result in a price of $85,000 per 1 BTC.”
Related:Hardware Wallet Maker Ledger Adds DeFi Support to Mobile App
Investors are certainly looking to crypto as an asset class, but bitcoin is still quite volatile; its 30-day volatility from Thursday’s close is at 102.9% on an annualized basis whereas gold is at 16%.
Yet, crypto advocates see bitcoin andether(ETH) similar to different asset classes, according to Joel Edgerton, chief operating officer of cryptocurrency exchange BitFlyer USA. “My guess is that BTC is like gold and priced by the value it stores, a scarce commodity in price discovery,” Edgerton said. “ETH is more like a stock and priced by the value it delivers (ETH 2.0, network effects, basis for DeFi).” He said he thinks of ether as an exchange-traded fund (ETF) for decentralized finance.
While bitcoin has performed well so far in 2021 – it’s up 29% – ether’s returns have more than quadrupled, gaining 129%.
“Ether is surging largely on the back of the growth in decentralized finance projects that rely on ERC-20 tokens to operate,” Guy Hirsch, managing director of U.S. for eToro. “Since ETH has not previously traded this high, it’s hard to tell what kind of support there is but, should DeFi projects continue to grow at the rate they are, it would be hard for ETH to not also continue setting new records.”
One thing to watch during a heated ether market is the ETH/BTC trading pair. A rise in this market signals traders are selling their bitcoin for ether; it has appreciated over 75% in 2021.
“While bitcoin consolidates and trends back towards all-time highs, much of the price action has focused on the ETH and DeFi space,” said Jason Lau, chief operating officer of San Francisco-based crypto exchange OKCoin. “ETH/BTC has almost doubled in the last month.”
Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was up Friday, trading around $1,714 and climbing 3.3% in 24 hours as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET). It hit a brand-new price high Friday, at $1,761, according to CoinDesk 20 data.
Read More:Ether Tops $1.7K, Setting New Record as CME Futures Launch Nears
The dominance of ether, a measure of the asset to the larger $1.1 trillion market cap of cryptocurrencies overall, is now at over 17%. That’s a more than 50% increase since the beginning of 2021, according to metrics calculated by charting software TradingView.
Chad Steinglass, head of trading at CrossTower Capital, told CoinDesk that crypto traders have been scooping up ETH ahead of institutional-friendly CME launching ether futures Feb. 8. “I think that many traders are building positions ahead of the launch,” he said.
“The availability of CME-listed ETH futures could be a significant positive catalyst,” said Steinglass. “The addition of CME futures will open the door to many potential investors who want to have exposure, but have yet to take any positions due to logistical hurdles.”
“With decentralized exchange trading surging yet again, and yield farming showing no sign of easing, growing interest in leveraged farming products is driving demand for ETH ever so higher and shows the market is only going to grow further,” noted Denis Vinokourov, head of research at crypto brokerage Bequant.
Digital assets on theCoinDesk 20are all in the green Friday. Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• 0x(ZRX) + 50.3%
• cosmos(ATOM) + 29.7%
• cardano(ADA) + 24.5%
Read More:DeFi Season? LINK, AAVE, ZRX and COMP Hit Record Price Highs
Equities:
• The Nikkei 225 index in Asia closed up 1.5% aspositive corporate earnings and hopes of fresh U.S. stimulus boosting the global economy led the index higher.
• Europe’s FTSE 100 ended the day slipping 0.22% asinvestors were unsure the continent’s vaccine rollouts are being executed effectively.
• The United States’ S&P 500 index eked out a gain of 0.30% aspoor job numbers and the possibility of further government stimulus left investors mixed.
Commodities:
• Oil was up 0.86%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $56.94.
• Gold was in the green 0.92% and at $1,810 as of press time.
• Silver is gaining, up 1.8% and changing hands at $26.82.
Treasurys:
• The 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield climbed Friday to 1.170 and in the green 3.2%.
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Rises to $38.3K While Ether’s New High Takes Spotlight
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Rises to $38.3K While Ether’s New High Takes Spotlight || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Rises to $38.3K While Ether’s New High Takes Spotlight: Bitcoin made some gains Friday, but ether hit another brand-new price high ahead of CME’s ether futures launching on Monday.
• Bitcoin(BTC) trading around $37,751 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 0.32% over the previous 24 hours.
• Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $36,637-$38,332 (CoinDesk 20)
• BTC below the 10-hour but above the 50-hour moving average on the hourly chart, a sideways signal for market technicians.
The price of bitcoin is now in the fourth day of an upward trend, going as high as $38,332 at 14:00 UTC (9 a.m. ET) before losing some steam heading into the weekend. It was down to $37,751 as of press time.
“Similar to the last bull run, we are seeing bitcoin initially steal the attention as retail adoption pours in through mainstream attention,” said Michael Gord, chief executive officer for trading firm Global Digital Asset.
Related:Bitcoin and Ether Hit New All-Time Highs as Tesla Invests $1.5 in BTC and CME Launches ETH Futures Trading
However, Gord told CoinDesk traders are rotating out of bitcoin to high-flying digital assets. “Bitcoin then cools off and profits generated from bitcoin find themselves first in ether, then in other high market-cap digital assets,” Gord said.
Read More:Dalio to Offer Alt-Cash Fund, Says ‘Bitcoin Won’t Escape Our Scrutiny’
Nevertheless, fresh interest such as from Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates, which manages $150 billion in investor money, has some including quantitative trading firm QCP Capital highly bullish on bitcoin.
“Bridgewater’s piece out last week had a sensitivity analysis which showed their estimates of BTC price, should private holders of gold switch to BTC,” states QCP’s weekly investor note Friday. “They forecasted that should 50% of capital in gold move into BTC, that would result in a price of $85,000 per 1 BTC.”
Related:Hardware Wallet Maker Ledger Adds DeFi Support to Mobile App
Investors are certainly looking to crypto as an asset class, but bitcoin is still quite volatile; its 30-day volatility from Thursday’s close is at 102.9% on an annualized basis whereas gold is at 16%.
Yet, crypto advocates see bitcoin andether(ETH) similar to different asset classes, according to Joel Edgerton, chief operating officer of cryptocurrency exchange BitFlyer USA. “My guess is that BTC is like gold and priced by the value it stores, a scarce commodity in price discovery,” Edgerton said. “ETH is more like a stock and priced by the value it delivers (ETH 2.0, network effects, basis for DeFi).” He said he thinks of ether as an exchange-traded fund (ETF) for decentralized finance.
While bitcoin has performed well so far in 2021 – it’s up 29% – ether’s returns have more than quadrupled, gaining 129%.
“Ether is surging largely on the back of the growth in decentralized finance projects that rely on ERC-20 tokens to operate,” Guy Hirsch, managing director of U.S. for eToro. “Since ETH has not previously traded this high, it’s hard to tell what kind of support there is but, should DeFi projects continue to grow at the rate they are, it would be hard for ETH to not also continue setting new records.”
One thing to watch during a heated ether market is the ETH/BTC trading pair. A rise in this market signals traders are selling their bitcoin for ether; it has appreciated over 75% in 2021.
“While bitcoin consolidates and trends back towards all-time highs, much of the price action has focused on the ETH and DeFi space,” said Jason Lau, chief operating officer of San Francisco-based crypto exchange OKCoin. “ETH/BTC has almost doubled in the last month.”
Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was up Friday, trading around $1,714 and climbing 3.3% in 24 hours as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET). It hit a brand-new price high Friday, at $1,761, according to CoinDesk 20 data.
Read More:Ether Tops $1.7K, Setting New Record as CME Futures Launch Nears
The dominance of ether, a measure of the asset to the larger $1.1 trillion market cap of cryptocurrencies overall, is now at over 17%. That’s a more than 50% increase since the beginning of 2021, according to metrics calculated by charting software TradingView.
Chad Steinglass, head of trading at CrossTower Capital, told CoinDesk that crypto traders have been scooping up ETH ahead of institutional-friendly CME launching ether futures Feb. 8. “I think that many traders are building positions ahead of the launch,” he said.
“The availability of CME-listed ETH futures could be a significant positive catalyst,” said Steinglass. “The addition of CME futures will open the door to many potential investors who want to have exposure, but have yet to take any positions due to logistical hurdles.”
“With decentralized exchange trading surging yet again, and yield farming showing no sign of easing, growing interest in leveraged farming products is driving demand for ETH ever so higher and shows the market is only going to grow further,” noted Denis Vinokourov, head of research at crypto brokerage Bequant.
Digital assets on theCoinDesk 20are all in the green Friday. Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• 0x(ZRX) + 50.3%
• cosmos(ATOM) + 29.7%
• cardano(ADA) + 24.5%
Read More:DeFi Season? LINK, AAVE, ZRX and COMP Hit Record Price Highs
Equities:
• The Nikkei 225 index in Asia closed up 1.5% aspositive corporate earnings and hopes of fresh U.S. stimulus boosting the global economy led the index higher.
• Europe’s FTSE 100 ended the day slipping 0.22% asinvestors were unsure the continent’s vaccine rollouts are being executed effectively.
• The United States’ S&P 500 index eked out a gain of 0.30% aspoor job numbers and the possibility of further government stimulus left investors mixed.
Commodities:
• Oil was up 0.86%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $56.94.
• Gold was in the green 0.92% and at $1,810 as of press time.
• Silver is gaining, up 1.8% and changing hands at $26.82.
Treasurys:
• The 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield climbed Friday to 1.170 and in the green 3.2%.
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Rises to $38.3K While Ether’s New High Takes Spotlight
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Rises to $38.3K While Ether’s New High Takes Spotlight || Stock Market Today: Investors Look Past Weak Jobs Report: Stocks closed the week with a timid move higher as investors digested more positive breadcrumbs on COVID relief as well as a sign that the economic recovery is perhaps not as robust as hoped. The Labor Department on Friday reported a slim 49,000 jobs were added in January, and a drop in the unemployment rate, from 6.7% to 6.3%, isn't as favorable as it seems. SEE MORE 21 Best Retirement Stocks for an Income-Rich 2021 "The headline unemployment number keeps moving down, which is normally a good thing," says Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor Alliance, "but the labor force participation rate has been coming down as well, indicating that more people are dropping out of the headline unemployment number." Rick Rieder, BlackRock’s chief investment officer of Global Fixed Income, was more sanguine. " With rolling lockdowns, regional divergences, government hiring dynamics, etc., the information at the aggregate level (+49,000 in payroll gains) was not terribly revealing, though we’re heartened by the improvement in temporary hiring (a leading sector, with 81,000 jobs gained)," he says. "Overall, we continue to think that U.S. economic growth will surprise to the upside and have been heartened by a number of recent economic and corporate earnings indicators." Also Friday, President Joe Biden sought to assure Americans waiting for financial relief, saying, "I'm not cutting the size of the checks. They're going to be $1,400 – period." That was enough to lift most of the major indices to new highs for the second consecutive day. SEE MORE The 21 Best ETFs to Buy for a Prosperous 2021 The S&P 500 (+0.4% to 3,886), Nasdaq Composite (+0.6% to 13,856) and Russell 2000 (+1.4% to 2,233) all closed with new records Friday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.3% to 31,148) is just 40 points, or a 0.1% gain, from its all-time high of 31,188 set on Jan. 20. Other action in the stock market today: U.S. crude oil futures climbed yet again, up 1.0% to settle at $56.78 per barrel. Gold futures rebounded by 1.2% to close out Friday at $1,813.00 per ounce. Bitcoin prices, at $37,528 on Thursday, edged its way 0.6% higher to $37,754. (Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day; prices reported here are as of 4 p.m. each trading day.) stock chart for 020521 Safety First! The more the market keeps scratching at new highs, the more market observers are preaching caution. Stocks appear to be pricing in an awfully-great-case scenario – one that seems to ignore the risk of "the spread of stronger and more contagious COVID-19 mutations that are already seen in some countries," says James McDonald, CEO and chief investment officer of alternative investment manager Hercules Investments, adding that "the stock market is as stretched as ever." Story continues And Zaccarelli chimes in on Biden's looming stimulus package : "Our concern would be in the short term, the stimulus bill is a buy the rumor, sell the fact type of situation and the stock market will actually head lower because the good news was already priced in." That doesn't mean you should flee for the exits, but some investors might consider battening down the hatches. For instance, some coronavirus stocks are enjoying renewed interest of late and could climb in value if new COVID variants complicate America's fight against the coronavirus. So too could a number of other tech stocks . Also worth considering are good old-fashioned defensive plays. We've recently analyzed 11 defensive stocks, mostly scattered across telecom, healthcare and consumer staples, that boast a number of qualities that investors will want in their corner should a market correction be just around the corner. Check them out! Kyle Woodley was long Bitcoin as of this writing. SEE MORE The 10 Best Closed-End Funds (CEFs) for 2021 View comments || Stock Market Today: Investors Look Past Weak Jobs Report: Stocks closed the week with a timid move higher as investors digested more positive breadcrumbs on COVID relief as well as a sign that the economic recovery is perhaps not as robust as hoped. The Labor Department on Friday reported a slim 49,000 jobs were added in January, and a drop in the unemployment rate, from 6.7% to 6.3%, isn't as favorable as it seems. SEE MORE 21 Best Retirement Stocks for an Income-Rich 2021 "The headline unemployment number keeps moving down, which is normally a good thing," says Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor Alliance, "but the labor force participation rate has been coming down as well, indicating that more people are dropping out of the headline unemployment number." Rick Rieder, BlackRock’s chief investment officer of Global Fixed Income, was more sanguine. " With rolling lockdowns, regional divergences, government hiring dynamics, etc., the information at the aggregate level (+49,000 in payroll gains) was not terribly revealing, though we’re heartened by the improvement in temporary hiring (a leading sector, with 81,000 jobs gained)," he says. "Overall, we continue to think that U.S. economic growth will surprise to the upside and have been heartened by a number of recent economic and corporate earnings indicators." Also Friday, President Joe Biden sought to assure Americans waiting for financial relief, saying, "I'm not cutting the size of the checks. They're going to be $1,400 – period." That was enough to lift most of the major indices to new highs for the second consecutive day. SEE MORE The 21 Best ETFs to Buy for a Prosperous 2021 The S&P 500 (+0.4% to 3,886), Nasdaq Composite (+0.6% to 13,856) and Russell 2000 (+1.4% to 2,233) all closed with new records Friday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.3% to 31,148) is just 40 points, or a 0.1% gain, from its all-time high of 31,188 set on Jan. 20. Other action in the stock market today: U.S. crude oil futures climbed yet again, up 1.0% to settle at $56.78 per barrel. Gold futures rebounded by 1.2% to close out Friday at $1,813.00 per ounce. Bitcoin prices, at $37,528 on Thursday, edged its way 0.6% higher to $37,754. (Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day; prices reported here are as of 4 p.m. each trading day.) stock chart for 020521 Safety First! The more the market keeps scratching at new highs, the more market observers are preaching caution. Stocks appear to be pricing in an awfully-great-case scenario – one that seems to ignore the risk of "the spread of stronger and more contagious COVID-19 mutations that are already seen in some countries," says James McDonald, CEO and chief investment officer of alternative investment manager Hercules Investments, adding that "the stock market is as stretched as ever." Story continues And Zaccarelli chimes in on Biden's looming stimulus package : "Our concern would be in the short term, the stimulus bill is a buy the rumor, sell the fact type of situation and the stock market will actually head lower because the good news was already priced in." That doesn't mean you should flee for the exits, but some investors might consider battening down the hatches. For instance, some coronavirus stocks are enjoying renewed interest of late and could climb in value if new COVID variants complicate America's fight against the coronavirus. So too could a number of other tech stocks . Also worth considering are good old-fashioned defensive plays. We've recently analyzed 11 defensive stocks, mostly scattered across telecom, healthcare and consumer staples, that boast a number of qualities that investors will want in their corner should a market correction be just around the corner. Check them out! Kyle Woodley was long Bitcoin as of this writing. SEE MORE The 10 Best Closed-End Funds (CEFs) for 2021 View comments || Fintech Focus Roundup For February 6, 2021: 'This Is Not The Market Participant's Problem': Volatility Arbitrage Trader Talks GameStop, Market Microstructure, RegulationThe dynamics that transpired in GameStop can be traced back to factors like Federal Reserve stabilization efforts and low rates, which incentivize risk taking.
“The growth of structured products, passive investing, the regulatory standpoint that’s been implemented with Dodd-Frank and dealers needing to hedge off their risk more frequently than not” are all part of a regime change that’s affected the stability of markets, said Kris Sidial, co-chief investment officer of The Ambrus Group.
“These dislocations happen quite frequently in small windows, and it offers the potential for large outlier events,” like the equity bust and boom of 2020, he said.
“Strength and fragility are two completely different components. The market could be strong, but fragile.”
The aforementioned dynamics of dealers’ risk exposure to direction and volatility causes violent crash dynamics to transpire.
In February 2020, one-sidedness in the market by yield-seeking participants like target date funds — such as mutual funds — selling far out-of-the money puts on the S&P 500 exacerbated volatility. So did customers looking to buy puts in an increasing fashion for downside exposure.
“We’re in there buying puts, dealers are short puts and short stock,” Sidial said in a discussion on rising delta and volatility forcing dealers to sell into weakness to hedge.
“As people reach for those downside puts on SPX, it now reflexively has another implication on increasing volatility. Well, all those people that are carrying short volatility exposure in their book are losing money.”
In all, a new regime with knock-on effects is forming solely due to positioning in the market.
PayPal-Owned Venmo To Add Crypto, Savings, Deal-Finding FunctionalitiesVenmo is a holistic platform for payments and money transfers.
As part of a vision to unlock access to fast and easy mobile payments, the company’s parent announced it would amp up innovation around the platform, adding cryptocurrency; the ability to save money; and to stay in the know on shopping deals through integrated tools from Honey, a platform for savings, deals and rewards.
"We all know the current financial system is antiquated, and we can envision a future where transactions are completed in seconds, not days; a future where transactions should be less expensive to complete; and a future that enables all people to be part of the digital economy, not just the affluent," PayPal CEO Daniel Schulman said.
"We are significantly investing in our new crypto, blockchain, and digital currencies business unit in order to help shape this more inclusive future."
Commission-Free Tastyworks Adds Crypto To Platform For Active Traderstastyworks is a product of tastytrade, a holistic platform dedicated to challenging investors to think and trade strategically.
In light of the digital disruption in traditional finance, tastytrade is unlocking trading access to Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash, cryptocurrencies with a combined market capitalization of over $735 billion.
“The recent surge in the prices of crypto like Bitcoin and Ethereum has increased customer interest in trading them,” said Scott Sheridan, CEO of tastyworks.
“Our development team has built what we feel is one of the most secure, low-latency, and reliable digital asset order routing and execution systems out there. And most important, it lets our clients buy and sell them and monitor their positions alongside their stocks and options. We are the first major brokerage firm to offer this.”
After requesting approval, tastyworks investors will be able to buy and sell cryptocurrencies directly from their equity accounts, unlocking a new level of portfolio diversification.
Metromile Taps Uber Veteran Ryan Graves For $50M, Guidance On InnovationMetromile caters to non-traditional car owners, such as those that use transportation services like Uber Technologies Inc and Lyft Inc.
The company’s pay-per-mile auto insurance leverages big data and intelligent systems to tailor rates to driver behavior, resulting in lower premiums. Additionally, the company licenses out its core fraud, underwriting, and AI technology to help insurers automate and digitize their processes.
After partnering with INSU Acquisition Corp II, a SPAC sponsored by the insurance-focused Cohen & Company Inc, to become a publicly listed company that would trade on the Nasdaq Inc exchange under ticker “MILE,” the company added a $50 million investment from Ryan Graves, Uber’s former senior vice president of global operations, as well as the founder and CEO of Saltwater, an investment company.
As part of the development, Graves will join Metromile’s board of directors, assisting Chamath Palihapitiya’s Social Capital, Mark Cuban, and other leading institutional investors to support Metromile’s growth plans as a public company.
“Ryan has a remarkable reputation as an energetic and thoughtful business builder. His leadership and operating skills made Uber one of the fastest-growing companies of all time. As Metromile accelerates growth and scale, Ryan’s partnership will be immensely valuable to our Board and management team,” said Metromile Founder and Chairman David Friedberg.
“We are thrilled to have him become an owner in the business and sit side-by-side our Board and management team as we execute our growth plans as a public company.”
Entrepreneur And Media Personality Michael Gruen On The Power In Cold Emailing, ConnectingToo often, the value of cold emailing is discounted because the solicitor has no relationship with the audience, and there's no real-time feedback. However, cold emails are powerful. They helped Michael Gruen, an entrepreneur, angel investor, consultant and media personality, build his career and relationships, invest, as well as launch new companies.
“The value of the cold email is so underrated,” he said. “For example, I got a meeting with the chairman of NBC when I was like 15, just by cold email. From there, if they like you, and you do a good job, they’ll introduce you to others.”
Regardless of age and experience, when worded properly, cold emails are respected for being straightforward and unobtrusive.
“When you’re 13, and you’re writing emails and hustling, people pay respect to it. Also, I think people underestimate people’s desire to help.”
See more from Benzinga
• Click here for options trades from Benzinga
• PayPal-Owned Venmo To Add Crypto, Savings, Deal-Finding Functionalities
• Fintech Focus For February 5, 2021
© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Fintech Focus Roundup For February 6, 2021: Fintech Header 'This Is Not The Market Participant's Problem': Volatility Arbitrage Trader Talks GameStop, Market Microstructure, Regulation The dynamics that transpired in GameStop can be traced back to factors like Federal Reserve stabilization efforts and low rates, which incentivize risk taking. “The growth of structured products, passive investing, the regulatory standpoint that’s been implemented with Dodd-Frank and dealers needing to hedge off their risk more frequently than not” are all part of a regime change that’s affected the stability of markets, said Kris Sidial, co-chief investment officer of The Ambrus Group. “These dislocations happen quite frequently in small windows, and it offers the potential for large outlier events,” like the equity bust and boom of 2020, he said. “Strength and fragility are two completely different components. The market could be strong, but fragile.” The aforementioned dynamics of dealers’ risk exposure to direction and volatility causes violent crash dynamics to transpire. In February 2020, one-sidedness in the market by yield-seeking participants like target date funds — such as mutual funds — selling far out-of-the money puts on the S&P 500 exacerbated volatility. So did customers looking to buy puts in an increasing fashion for downside exposure. “We’re in there buying puts, dealers are short puts and short stock,” Sidial said in a discussion on rising delta and volatility forcing dealers to sell into weakness to hedge. “As people reach for those downside puts on SPX, it now reflexively has another implication on increasing volatility. Well, all those people that are carrying short volatility exposure in their book are losing money.” In all, a new regime with knock-on effects is forming solely due to positioning in the market. Newfound Research PayPal-Owned Venmo To Add Crypto, Savings, Deal-Finding Functionalities Venmo is a holistic platform for payments and money transfers. As part of a vision to unlock access to fast and easy mobile payments, the company’s parent announced it would amp up innovation around the platform, adding cryptocurrency; the ability to save money; and to stay in the know on shopping deals through integrated tools from Honey, a platform for savings, deals and rewards. Story continues "We all know the current financial system is antiquated, and we can envision a future where transactions are completed in seconds, not days; a future where transactions should be less expensive to complete; and a future that enables all people to be part of the digital economy, not just the affluent," PayPal CEO Daniel Schulman said. "We are significantly investing in our new crypto, blockchain, and digital currencies business unit in order to help shape this more inclusive future." Venmo Commission-Free Tastyworks Adds Crypto To Platform For Active Traders tastyworks is a product of tastytrade, a holistic platform dedicated to challenging investors to think and trade strategically. In light of the digital disruption in traditional finance, tastytrade is unlocking trading access to Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash, cryptocurrencies with a combined market capitalization of over $735 billion. “The recent surge in the prices of crypto like Bitcoin and Ethereum has increased customer interest in trading them,” said Scott Sheridan, CEO of tastyworks. “Our development team has built what we feel is one of the most secure, low-latency, and reliable digital asset order routing and execution systems out there. And most important, it lets our clients buy and sell them and monitor their positions alongside their stocks and options. We are the first major brokerage firm to offer this.” After requesting approval, tastyworks investors will be able to buy and sell cryptocurrencies directly from their equity accounts, unlocking a new level of portfolio diversification. Metromile Taps Uber Veteran Ryan Graves For $50M, Guidance On Innovation Metromile caters to non-traditional car owners, such as those that use transportation services like Uber Technologies Inc and Lyft Inc. The company’s pay-per-mile auto insurance leverages big data and intelligent systems to tailor rates to driver behavior, resulting in lower premiums. Additionally, the company licenses out its core fraud, underwriting, and AI technology to help insurers automate and digitize their processes. After partnering with INSU Acquisition Corp II, a SPAC sponsored by the insurance-focused Cohen & Company Inc, to become a publicly listed company that would trade on the Nasdaq Inc exchange under ticker “MILE,” the company added a $50 million investment from Ryan Graves, Uber’s former senior vice president of global operations, as well as the founder and CEO of Saltwater, an investment company. As part of the development, Graves will join Metromile’s board of directors, assisting Chamath Palihapitiya’s Social Capital, Mark Cuban, and other leading institutional investors to support Metromile’s growth plans as a public company. “Ryan has a remarkable reputation as an energetic and thoughtful business builder. His leadership and operating skills made Uber one of the fastest-growing companies of all time. As Metromile accelerates growth and scale, Ryan’s partnership will be immensely valuable to our Board and management team,” said Metromile Founder and Chairman David Friedberg. “We are thrilled to have him become an owner in the business and sit side-by-side our Board and management team as we execute our growth plans as a public company.” Entrepreneur And Media Personality Michael Gruen On The Power In Cold Emailing, Connecting Too often, the value of cold emailing is discounted because the solicitor has no relationship with the audience, and there's no real-time feedback. However, cold emails are powerful. They helped Michael Gruen, an entrepreneur, angel investor, consultant and media personality, build his career and relationships, invest, as well as launch new companies. “The value of the cold email is so underrated,” he said. “For example, I got a meeting with the chairman of NBC when I was like 15, just by cold email. From there, if they like you, and you do a good job, they’ll introduce you to others.” Regardless of age and experience, when worded properly, cold emails are respected for being straightforward and unobtrusive. “When you’re 13, and you’re writing emails and hustling, people pay respect to it. Also, I think people underestimate people’s desire to help.” See more from Benzinga Click here for options trades from Benzinga PayPal-Owned Venmo To Add Crypto, Savings, Deal-Finding Functionalities Fintech Focus For February 5, 2021 © 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || US Senate Bill Re-Introduces Suspicious Activity Reports for Social Media: Another challenge to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects tech platforms from being liable for various forms of content posted on them, has re-emerged, with bipartisan support. It takes a page from the Banking Secrecy Act (BSA) but, rather than filing Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), the bill would force tech companies to file “Suspicious Transmission Activity Reports” (STARs) for “illegal activity” on their platforms.
This week, senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and John Cornyn of Texasreintroducedtheir“See Something Say Something Online”act, which would force tech companies “to report suspicious activity to law enforcement, similar to the way that banks are required to report suspicious transactions over $10,000 or others that might signal criminal activity.”
According to asummary documentfrom Manchin’s office, companies are “largely shielded from liability for the actions taken by individuals on their platforms, lacking incentives to clean up illicit activity. Even when they do take action, they often just delete the data rather than turning it over to the appropriate authorities, making it more difficult for law enforcement to go after bad actors online. It is past time to hold these sites accountable, and for them to say something when they see something online.”
Related:Introducing CoinDesk TV: Industry-Leading Crypto News, Now in Living Color
But many questions remain about why such a bill is needed, including concerns over what actions could fall under the broad umbrella it lays out and what data would be collected.
Anne Fauvre-Willis is COO atOasis Labs, a company that focuses on data privacy. She says this is a great example of a bill with nice intentions in theory, but costly implications in practice.
“I understand regulators want to put more onus on tech companies to protect their users, but this does the opposite,” said Fauvre-Willis in an email. “It violates individuals’ right to privacy and removes them from any sense of control of their data in an undeliberate way.”
The bill would create a system “similar to the Bank Secrecy Act by authorizing the creation of an office within the Department of Justice (DOJ) to act as the clearinghouse for these reports, similar to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) within the Department of Treasury,” according to a press release from Manchin’s office.
Related:What Bloomberg Gets Wrong About Bitcoin's Climate Footprint
The bill was re-introduced to raise the threshold of what is required to be reported as “serious crimes,” which the release identifies as drug sales, hate crimes, murder or terrorism, to “ensure that users’ privacy remains safe.”
Read more:FinCEN Encourages Banks to Share Customer Information With Each Other
Tech companies would have to send STARs within 30 days of becoming aware of any such information. “Suspicious transmissions” could include a wide array of material, including a “public or private post, message, comment, tag, transaction, or any other user-generated content or transmission that commits, facilitates, incites, promotes, or otherwise assists the commission of a major crime.”
If the companies choose not to do so, they will be stripped of Section 230 protections, with the end result likely being they would be sued into oblivion.
By threatening to remove Section 230 protections for failing to comply with the bill, it makes the filings of STARs mandatory in practice if not in word. So, to ensure these companies are able to continue to exist they will be forced to further transgress upon users’ data privacy.
STARs would be accompanied by a host of personal information associated with the post’s originator.
They would include the name, location and identity information given to the platform; the time, origin and destination of the transmission; any relevant text, information and metadata related to it. It’s not clear how wide or narrow that relevant information could be. Entities filing STARs would have to keep them on record for five years after filing them.
A blanket gag order also means the targets of STARs would not be informed about them. And STARs would also not be subject to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
Additionally, the bill calls for the creation of a department under the DOJ to manage these reports. There would also be a centralized online resource established that could be used by any member of the public to report to law enforcement any suspicious activity related to “major crimes.”
“With an overly broad definition of reporting ‘suspicious activity,’ the bill completely ignores consumer privacy protections and defaults to a world where the government knows best,” said Fauvre-Willis.
“In practice what this means is that, if passed, companies would have to pass along large swaths of data that may be relevant but also very much may not be. This data could include sensitive information about individuals including emails, age, social security numbers and who knows what else.”
Compelling companies to divulge personal information on a regular basis with regards to the billions of posts, messages, tags and other actions people take every day seems like a great way to create a massive honeypot of personal data, one that has troubling implications.
“The ‘see something, say something’ approach has been thoroughly debunked in the offline context – as leading to invasions of privacy while not advancing public safety – and it would be even more negative in the context of online platforms,” said Nadine Strossen, a law professor at New York University and former president of the ACLU.
The bill specifically outlines the creation of a centralized online resource where people (anyone, seemingly) could file STARs. Whether tech companies would then have to provide personal information on users who had STARs filed against them by members of the public is an open question the 11-page bill fails to address.
Read more:How FinCEN Became a Honeypot for Sensitive Personal Data
“Creating a clearinghouse for this data in a centralized system run by the federal government seems fraught for security risk,” said Fauvre-Willis. “Holding sensitive data is no easy task, and sharing it in a way that is safe and protected, even harder. And once the government has this data what will they do with it? This bill feels fraught with challenges and half-thinking.”
Data is sensitive, and the avalanche of data this might produce means that it could be a succulent honeypot for people who might be interested in using that data in ways that are only limited by the extent of their imagination.
“It’s creating a facility for the public to report bad tweets,” said Jerry Brito, the executive director of Coin Center, in a phone call. “Have you seen Twitter?”
Strossen said the legislation would also encourage and empower anyone to wreak havoc on particular users or platforms, simply by filing a STAR.
“Given the vague, broad descriptions of ‘suspicious activity,’ which turn on subjective judgments, a limitless array of posts could be claimed to fit within them,” she said in an email. “People could weaponize this law to make life miserable for anyone from political opponents, to economic competitors, to individuals they dislike.”
Conversely, Strossen said, “Plausible arguments can be made that this law violates platform users’ free speech and privacy rights, because the federal government deputizes platforms to monitor and disclose detailed information about their users’ communications.”
“Government can’t do an end-run around constitutional constraints on its own actions by forcing platforms to engage in spying and censorship that the government wouldn’t be permitted to engage in directly.”
Not only would it seemingly require companies to monitor direct messages that they may not otherwise, the bill also discourages the adoption of end-to-end encryption. Such encryption would stop companies from having extensive reach into messages sent by individuals, which could feasibly make them unable to comply with STAR filings.
“What that means is that Twitter has to be searching, constantly monitoring your DMs for suspicious stuff,” said Brito. “And then informing on it. That’s problematic for all the reasons you can imagine.”
Read more:Google Down: The Perils of Centralization
Brito says he thinks the reaction among tech companies would actually be to move toward encryption, as Apple and WhatsApp have done, though he doesn’t think the term “private” in the bill is specifically referring to encrypted communications.
“They’re going to say, ‘All of the communications that we provide on our platforms are end-to-end encrypted and so we can’t see into our customers communications,’” he said. “And then the government’s going to come back by saying, ‘Okay, we need a backdoor then.’ So that’s one thing. The other thing is it’s going to push folks towards decentralization.”
In decentralized systems, there isn’t one centralized body (or company) that can unilaterally decide to adhere to such regulation and begin to surveil users’ communications.
The BSA, from which the thrust of this act borrows heavily, has resulted in compliance officers filing a SAR on anything that might possibly lead to liability for the financial institutions.
As such, banks have been filing more and more SARs, the number of which has nearlydoubledin the last decade.
As a financial compliance lawyer describedin an earlier interview, financial institutions have been doing more defensive SAR filing, turning what was a thoughtful process into something that is more akin to just checking the box. Essentially, the idea is banks are filing large numbers of SARs to protect themselves from liability or being hit with fines for potential noncompliance with the BSA.
It’s hard to imagine this bill doing anything different, but using STARs instead.
Brito also raised the point of whether the potential deluge of information is something law enforcement wants. For example, as the number of SARs has risen, FinCEN has shrunk. This means there are relatively few people to analyze all the SARs that come, and potentially place a limit on the quality of the intelligence they’re seeking to gather.
“Did the sponsors of this bill talk to law enforcement?” he asked. “Because as a result of this they could very well get tens of thousands of reports for whenever anybody uses the wordbomb, for example, like ‘that club was the bomb.’ That doesn’t help them and they’re going to have to go through them all.”
This also doesn’t take into account that Facebook and other social media platforms already have compliance teams thatwork closely with law enforcementon these sorts of issues. Facebook and Instagramreport and take down millionsof instances of child pornography annually, for example.
“Who is this meant to cover that isn’t already doing this today?” said Brito.
For all the consternation around big tech andantitrust legislation being rolled out, yet another side effect of this legislation would be to hamper the ability of other tech companies to compete with the already dominant platforms.
“As with any such burdensome regulation, another adverse impact would be to further entrench the already dominant online platforms, such as Facebook and Google, and to raise further barriers to entry for new, small companies,” said Strossen, “The giants have the resources to contend with the regulatory requirements, but their potential competitors do not.”
Content moderation itself is a tall task, one that requires resources, systems and attention. Creating additional obstacles, as this bill does, would exponentially increase the upfront costs to getting into the game at all, and provide a myriad number of reasons why someone shouldn’t.
“This bill, like many that seek to regulate the internet before it, has the indirect effect of hurting small startups and entrepreneurs more than anything,” said Fauvre-Willis. “The more these bills go into action, the greater moat large companies have against small innovators. Facebook and Google can hire lawyers and teams to manage this process if they need to. An early stage company cannot. This has the unintended consequence of stifling innovation as a result.”
• US Senate Bill Re-Introduces Suspicious Activity Reports for Social Media
• US Senate Bill Re-Introduces Suspicious Activity Reports for Social Media || US Senate Bill Re-Introduces Suspicious Activity Reports for Social Media: Another challenge to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which protects tech platforms from being liable for various forms of content posted on them, has re-emerged, with bipartisan support. It takes a page from the Banking Secrecy Act (BSA) but, rather than filing Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), the bill would force tech companies to file “Suspicious Transmission Activity Reports” (STARs) for “illegal activity” on their platforms. This week, senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and John Cornyn of Texas reintroduced their “See Something Say Something Online” act, which would force tech companies “to report suspicious activity to law enforcement, similar to the way that banks are required to report suspicious transactions over $10,000 or others that might signal criminal activity.” According to a summary document from Manchin’s office, companies are “largely shielded from liability for the actions taken by individuals on their platforms, lacking incentives to clean up illicit activity. Even when they do take action, they often just delete the data rather than turning it over to the appropriate authorities, making it more difficult for law enforcement to go after bad actors online. It is past time to hold these sites accountable, and for them to say something when they see something online.” Related: Introducing CoinDesk TV: Industry-Leading Crypto News, Now in Living Color But many questions remain about why such a bill is needed, including concerns over what actions could fall under the broad umbrella it lays out and what data would be collected. Anne Fauvre-Willis is COO at Oasis Labs , a company that focuses on data privacy. She says this is a great example of a bill with nice intentions in theory, but costly implications in practice. “I understand regulators want to put more onus on tech companies to protect their users, but this does the opposite,” said Fauvre-Willis in an email. “It violates individuals’ right to privacy and removes them from any sense of control of their data in an undeliberate way.” Story continues No STARs? No Section 230 protections The bill would create a system “similar to the Bank Secrecy Act by authorizing the creation of an office within the Department of Justice (DOJ) to act as the clearinghouse for these reports, similar to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) within the Department of Treasury,” according to a press release from Manchin’s office. Related: What Bloomberg Gets Wrong About Bitcoin's Climate Footprint The bill was re-introduced to raise the threshold of what is required to be reported as “serious crimes,” which the release identifies as drug sales, hate crimes, murder or terrorism, to “ensure that users’ privacy remains safe.” Read more: FinCEN Encourages Banks to Share Customer Information With Each Other Tech companies would have to send STARs within 30 days of becoming aware of any such information. “Suspicious transmissions” could include a wide array of material, including a “public or private post, message, comment, tag, transaction, or any other user-generated content or transmission that commits, facilitates, incites, promotes, or otherwise assists the commission of a major crime.” If the companies choose not to do so, they will be stripped of Section 230 protections, with the end result likely being they would be sued into oblivion. By threatening to remove Section 230 protections for failing to comply with the bill, it makes the filings of STARs mandatory in practice if not in word. So, to ensure these companies are able to continue to exist they will be forced to further transgress upon users’ data privacy. STARs would be accompanied by a host of personal information associated with the post’s originator. They would include the name, location and identity information given to the platform; the time, origin and destination of the transmission; any relevant text, information and metadata related to it. It’s not clear how wide or narrow that relevant information could be. Entities filing STARs would have to keep them on record for five years after filing them. A blanket gag order also means the targets of STARs would not be informed about them. And STARs would also not be subject to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Additionally, the bill calls for the creation of a department under the DOJ to manage these reports. There would also be a centralized online resource established that could be used by any member of the public to report to law enforcement any suspicious activity related to “major crimes.” “With an overly broad definition of reporting ‘suspicious activity,’ the bill completely ignores consumer privacy protections and defaults to a world where the government knows best,” said Fauvre-Willis. “In practice what this means is that, if passed, companies would have to pass along large swaths of data that may be relevant but also very much may not be. This data could include sensitive information about individuals including emails, age, social security numbers and who knows what else.” How STARs create a data honeypot Compelling companies to divulge personal information on a regular basis with regards to the billions of posts, messages, tags and other actions people take every day seems like a great way to create a massive honeypot of personal data, one that has troubling implications. “The ‘see something, say something’ approach has been thoroughly debunked in the offline context – as leading to invasions of privacy while not advancing public safety – and it would be even more negative in the context of online platforms,” said Nadine Strossen, a law professor at New York University and former president of the ACLU. The bill specifically outlines the creation of a centralized online resource where people (anyone, seemingly) could file STARs. Whether tech companies would then have to provide personal information on users who had STARs filed against them by members of the public is an open question the 11-page bill fails to address. Read more: How FinCEN Became a Honeypot for Sensitive Personal Data “Creating a clearinghouse for this data in a centralized system run by the federal government seems fraught for security risk,” said Fauvre-Willis. “Holding sensitive data is no easy task, and sharing it in a way that is safe and protected, even harder. And once the government has this data what will they do with it? This bill feels fraught with challenges and half-thinking.” Data is sensitive, and the avalanche of data this might produce means that it could be a succulent honeypot for people who might be interested in using that data in ways that are only limited by the extent of their imagination. “It’s creating a facility for the public to report bad tweets,” said Jerry Brito, the executive director of Coin Center, in a phone call. “Have you seen Twitter?” Strossen said the legislation would also encourage and empower anyone to wreak havoc on particular users or platforms, simply by filing a STAR. “Given the vague, broad descriptions of ‘suspicious activity,’ which turn on subjective judgments, a limitless array of posts could be claimed to fit within them,” she said in an email. “People could weaponize this law to make life miserable for anyone from political opponents, to economic competitors, to individuals they dislike.” Free speech, data privacy and decentralization Conversely, Strossen said, “Plausible arguments can be made that this law violates platform users’ free speech and privacy rights, because the federal government deputizes platforms to monitor and disclose detailed information about their users’ communications.” “Government can’t do an end-run around constitutional constraints on its own actions by forcing platforms to engage in spying and censorship that the government wouldn’t be permitted to engage in directly.” Not only would it seemingly require companies to monitor direct messages that they may not otherwise, the bill also discourages the adoption of end-to-end encryption. Such encryption would stop companies from having extensive reach into messages sent by individuals, which could feasibly make them unable to comply with STAR filings. “What that means is that Twitter has to be searching, constantly monitoring your DMs for suspicious stuff,” said Brito. “And then informing on it. That’s problematic for all the reasons you can imagine.” Read more: Google Down: The Perils of Centralization Brito says he thinks the reaction among tech companies would actually be to move toward encryption, as Apple and WhatsApp have done, though he doesn’t think the term “private” in the bill is specifically referring to encrypted communications. “They’re going to say, ‘All of the communications that we provide on our platforms are end-to-end encrypted and so we can’t see into our customers communications,’” he said. “And then the government’s going to come back by saying, ‘Okay, we need a backdoor then.’ So that’s one thing. The other thing is it’s going to push folks towards decentralization.” In decentralized systems, there isn’t one centralized body (or company) that can unilaterally decide to adhere to such regulation and begin to surveil users’ communications. The impending data deluge: Who is asking for this? The BSA, from which the thrust of this act borrows heavily, has resulted in compliance officers filing a SAR on anything that might possibly lead to liability for the financial institutions. As such, banks have been filing more and more SARs, the number of which has nearly doubled in the last decade. As a financial compliance lawyer described in an earlier interview , financial institutions have been doing more defensive SAR filing, turning what was a thoughtful process into something that is more akin to just checking the box. Essentially, the idea is banks are filing large numbers of SARs to protect themselves from liability or being hit with fines for potential noncompliance with the BSA. It’s hard to imagine this bill doing anything different, but using STARs instead. Brito also raised the point of whether the potential deluge of information is something law enforcement wants. For example, as the number of SARs has risen, FinCEN has shrunk. This means there are relatively few people to analyze all the SARs that come, and potentially place a limit on the quality of the intelligence they’re seeking to gather. “Did the sponsors of this bill talk to law enforcement?” he asked. “Because as a result of this they could very well get tens of thousands of reports for whenever anybody uses the word bomb , for example, like ‘that club was the bomb.’ That doesn’t help them and they’re going to have to go through them all.” This also doesn’t take into account that Facebook and other social media platforms already have compliance teams that work closely with law enforcement on these sorts of issues. Facebook and Instagram report and take down millions of instances of child pornography annually, for example. “Who is this meant to cover that isn’t already doing this today?” said Brito. Squashing competition For all the consternation around big tech and antitrust legislation being rolled out , yet another side effect of this legislation would be to hamper the ability of other tech companies to compete with the already dominant platforms. “As with any such burdensome regulation, another adverse impact would be to further entrench the already dominant online platforms, such as Facebook and Google, and to raise further barriers to entry for new, small companies,” said Strossen, “The giants have the resources to contend with the regulatory requirements, but their potential competitors do not.” Content moderation itself is a tall task, one that requires resources, systems and attention. Creating additional obstacles, as this bill does, would exponentially increase the upfront costs to getting into the game at all, and provide a myriad number of reasons why someone shouldn’t. “This bill, like many that seek to regulate the internet before it, has the indirect effect of hurting small startups and entrepreneurs more than anything,” said Fauvre-Willis. “The more these bills go into action, the greater moat large companies have against small innovators. Facebook and Google can hire lawyers and teams to manage this process if they need to. An early stage company cannot. This has the unintended consequence of stifling innovation as a result.” Related Stories US Senate Bill Re-Introduces Suspicious Activity Reports for Social Media US Senate Bill Re-Introduces Suspicious Activity Reports for Social Media || The Week In Cannabis: Stocks Up By Double-Digits On Jazz Pharma's GWPH Acquisition, Potential Federal Moves: Cannabis stocks had one of their strongest weeks in history.
Jazz Pharmaceuticals PLC(NASDAQ:JAZZ) acquiredGW Pharmaceuticals PLC- ADR(NASDAQ:GWPH) for $7.2 billion, or $6.7 billion excluding GW Pharma's cash.
The price of $220 per ADS in cash and stock, with $200 in cash and $20 in Jazz shares, represents about 50.4% premium over the $146.25 per share at which GW Pharma had closed on Tuesday.
“The Jazz Pharmaceutical acquisition of GW Pharmaceuticals for $7 billion shows just how much companies are willing to pay for cannabis assets," Green Market Report editor Debra Borchardt told Benzinga. "It seems the bear market for cannabis stocks is officially over as GW Pharma stock jumped over 50% on the news."
Benzinga Cannabis content is now available in Spanish onEl Planteo.
Other Cannabis Spikes
Also spiking on the acquisition announcement in a classic sympathy move wereCorbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc.(NASDAQ:CRBP) andZynerba Pharmaceuticals Inc.(NASDAQ:ZYNE), both posting gains of more than 40% this week.
Sundial Growers Inc(NASDAQ:SNDL) had a roller coaster week. The stock received attention from Reddit investor group r/WallStreetBets, which has over 8 million members. Sundial shares closed nearly 48.5% higheron Monday, dippedTuesday, but spiked 16%on Wednesday. Gains for the week ultimately surpassed 38%.
As of Jan. 14, 35.79% of the float was short, and the group is known to target buying shares of companies such asGameStop Corp(NYSE:GME) andAMC Entertainment Holdings Inc(NYSE:AMC), which are heavily shorted as well.
Following this stellar rise, Sundial closed a share offering valued at roughly $74.5 million this week. The company registered an offering of 60.5 million Series A Units sold at a price of about $1 each. Some 14 million Series B Units were sold at a price of $1 each, minus $0.0001.
ETFs also did great, posting double digits gains. Over the last five trading days:
• TheETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF(NYSE:MJ): gained 22.4%.
• TheAdvisorShares Pure Cannabis ETF(NYSE:YOLO): was up 23.6%.
• TheCannabis ETF(NYSE:THCX): rose 25.1%.
• TheAmplify Seymour Cannabis ETF(NYSE:CNBS): advanced 24.6%.
• TheSPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust(NYSE:SPY) was up 4.83%.
Politics
A coalition of Democratic Senators announced imminent plans to advance legislation aimed at descheduling marijuana on a federal level. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, along with Sens. Ron Wyden and Cory Booker,issued a statementon Monday saying that they will “release a unified discussion draft on comprehensive reform” during the early part of 2021.
Alabama: A State Senate committeevoted to passa medical marijuana legalization bill, moving it to the full floor for review. The bill, presented last week by Senator Tim Melson, passed the Senate Judiciary Committee 8-3 after a short debate. It proposes for around 20 ailments to be treated with medical cannabis, including sleep disorders, PTSD, anxiety, cancer-related cachexia, Crohn's disease and Tourette's syndrome.
Virginia: The state House of Delegatesvotedfor a bill to legalize cannabis, expecting a Senate vote later today. The bills have been revised, and changed several times by many governing bodies, since their first introduction by Governor Ralph Northam in mid-January. The House supported the latest version in a 55-42 vote, with two abstentions. Those who were against the bill reportedly argued that marijuana legalization would prompt “increased youth use and impaired driving.”
Kansas: Governor Laura Kelly says the state is ready for medical marijuana legalization.
New Mexico: The Senate and House introduced cannabis legalization bills Monday. On the heels of the two bills presentation Emily Kaltenbach, Senior Director for Resident States and New Mexico for the Drug Policy Alliance issued the following statement that questions the social justice aspect of one of them: “Although there are some similarities between these bills, there is a stark difference in who is prioritized by each. The Senate version fails to include comprehensive social justice and equity provisions that are necessary to right the wrongs of the failed war on drugs.”
Financings And M&A
• BGP Acquisition Corp.(NEO: BGP.UN) debut on the NEO Exchange following a $115 million initial public offering (IPO), which included the full exercise of an over-allotment option.
• Schwazze(OTCQX:SHWZ) closeda .3 million acquisitionof two Star Buds Colorado dispensaries located in Denver.
• Red White & Bloom Brands Inc.(CSE: RWB) (OTC:RWBYF) closed a debenture unit financing to an arm’s-length investor on a private placement basis. Gross proceeds were $6.12 million.
• Coda Signatureclosed a $6 million funding round led by current investors, Granite Hall Partners, Gotham Green Partners and Salveo Capital.
• GrowGeneration Corp.(NASDAQ:GRWG)purchasedGrow Depot, a two-store chain in Auburn and Augusta, Maine, for an undisclosed price.
• Aleafia Health Inc.(TSX: AH) (OTCQX:ALEAF) repaid a $25 million debt to Emblem Corp. in cash. Emblem Corp. issued an 8% unsecured convertible debt on Feb. 2, 2018. The Toronto-based company acquired it on March 14, 2019.
• Springbigacquired BudTender. Terms of the deal are undisclosed.
• South African wine and spirits companyDistell, producer of Bunnahabhain and Deanston Scotch whiskies, teamed up with venture capital firm Invenfin to invest in cannabis wellness brand Rethink.
• Power REIT(AMEX: PW) obtained a greenhouse cannabis cultivation facility in California for $7.685 million.
• Skincare companyCellular Goods, poised to debut on the London Stock Exchange, received an investment fromDavid Beckham'sDB Ventures. The company is poised to become the first company of its kind to list on the LSE.
• Gaby Inc.(CSE: GABY) (OTCQB:GABLF) raised CA$12.5 million ($9.74 million) to complete the acquisition of Miramar Professional Services, which runs the California-based Mankind Dispensary.
• PureK Holdings Corp.(TSX: PKAN) purchased skincare and beauty company No B.S. Life LLC for $500,000 in cash, plus a refundable deposit in the amount of $1.5 million. PureK will pay an additional $1 million in cash once the deal closes.
Earnings Reports
• The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company(NYSE:SMG)reported a 105% sales spike, reaching $748.6 million in the first three months of this fiscal year. The record quarterly results can be mainly attributed to the substantial retailer support in the U.S. Consumer and Hawthorne segments, according to Scotts Miracle-Gro chair and CEO Jim Hagedorn. The Hawthorne segment sales “surpassed our expectations,” he said, citing an increase of 71% to $309.4 million.
More News From The Week
Tilray Inc.(NASDAQ:TLRY) received all regulatory and market approvals to offer its medical cannabis products to consumers in Portugal. The company said it would utilize its GMP-certified EU facility located in Cantanhed for the purpose.
Cresco Labs(CSE: CL) (OTCQX:CRLBF) was approved by the Arizona Department of Health Services to commence adult-use sales at its Sunnyside dispensary in Phoenix in mid-February.
Planet 13 Holdings Inc.(OTCQX:PLNHF) is expanding outside of Nevada. On Wednesday, the company announced it has started building its first California store.
Haymaker Cannabisannounced a partnership with SMACK/Ultimate Rap League founder Troy "Smack White" Mitchell, an equity owner of Haymaker Cannabis and the brand's flagship ambassador. Mitchell, the face and host of Ultimate Rap League, hip-hop's preeminent rap-battle circuit, says the alliance with Haymaker Cannabis was born out of each brand's mutual respect for the other.
“The Haymaker Cannabis joint-venture with SMACK/URL came about because [Haymaker Cannabis co-founder] Pacino Bing was a big fan of battle-rap for so many years,” Mitchell told Benzinga. “And he invited me to get involved because of my reach and the level of respect that I have within the hip-hop culture. What they're doing with cannabis is very unique and it reminded me of how I started within my industry.”
“Haymaker's partnership with Mitchell was based entirely on our respect and admiration for who he is and the culture he created,” Bing added. “It makes sense for the Haymaker Cannabis brand and coincides with our core values of being competitive and vocal about our place in cannabis as minorities.”
Inanna Manufacturinghas launched. Led by CEO and founder Raquel Origel, Inanna offers a full suite of services to cannabis brands, taking them through the processes of ideation, flavor formulation, research and development, packaging, and market launch with ease. Products the company can white label include gummies, tinctures, topicals, pre-rolls and baked goods.
HempFusion Wellness Inc.(TSX: CBD.U) (PINK:CBDHF) started trading on the OTC Markets.
View more earnings on MJ
“As a US-based CBD company, this important step allows a broader range of US investors to access the Company,” commented Jason Mitchell N.D., HempFusion’s co-founder and CEO. “Additionally, we have applied for an OTCQX listing and DTC eligibility, which we expect in the coming weeks subject to the approval of the OTCQX and the satisfaction of certain listing requirements.”
HydroFarmis leveraging its robust distribution network via Eddi’s Wholesale to increase the availability ofAdvanced Nutrients,the industry’s top-selling complete nutrient system. The strategic partnership aims to improve market efficiency and productivity, making it more convenient than ever for growers in Canada to cultivate potent specialty crops.
“HydroFarm and Advanced Nutrients are both driven by the same goal to make it easier for growers to put a superior end product on the market,” Advanced Nutrients founder and CEO, Michael ‘BigMike’ Straumietis, told Benzinga. “I couldn’t be more thrilled to reach a greater audience of Canadian growers who are looking for proven ways to cultivate consistent yields of high-value crops.”
Canopy Growth Corp.(TSX: WEED) (NASDAQ:CGC) introduced a new line of CBD products for dogs under the SurityPro brand name.
GKUA Ultra Premium,the cannabis brand created by Lil Wayne, is now being sold in Colorado.
Precision Extraction Solutionsentered into an exclusive partnership with Biologics Modular, designer and manufacturer of modular clean room facilities delivered in an intermodal container platform. The companies will collaborate to create prefabricated turn-key modular extraction pods that guarantee minimized capital cost and shorter production timelines.Marc Beginin, CEO of Precision Extraction Solutions, told Benzinga, “We’re excited to utilize this partnership with Biologics Modular to provide cannabis companies with a quick turnaround, C1D1- capable extraction solution, not only enabling them to meet expansion goals, but also allowing them to be operational in a matter of weeks as opposed to months or years.”
The brand first debuted in California in December 2019 and has since expanded to Michigan. GKUA partnered with award-winning Harmony Extracts, in Colorado to bring their signature strains, along with oils, live sauces and live concentrates, to the state.
Executive Moves
• Cannabis Movers & Shakers: CB1 Capital, Copperstate Farms, The Ideation Lab, HERBL, Pure Harvest
• Cannabis Movers & Shakers: HempFusion Sponsors Race Car Driver Steve Arpini; New Hires At Culta, Aleafia, And Decibel
Top Stories Of The Week
• Petalfast CEO: THC-Infused Aperitif Is A No-Brainer
• Report: U.S. Hemp Industry To Hit .9B By 2025
• Klay Thompson, Alex Morgan, Travis Pastrana, Paul Rodriguez Talk About Their New CBD Brand
• Martha Stewart On New CBD Products For Pets: Vets Are 'Not Yet On The CBD Wagon'
• Cannabis Regulatory Update: Kansas, Virginia, New Mexico
• Cannabis Industry Pandemic Health Risk Study Identifies Necessary Considerations For Events To Resume In 2021
• Investment And M&A Activity In The Cannabis Industry Heats Up Going Into February
• Why Are Only 8% Of Cannabis CEOs Women?
• Psilocybin Legalization: New Bills Introduced In Florida, Connecticut and Hawaii
• As More Countries Legalize Cannabis, A Booming Global Marketplace Will Follow
• Benzinga Cannabis Hour Recap: Tim Seymour Discusses 2021 Trends, Cannabis ETFs
Top Spanish stories:
·5 Criptomonedas Para Comprar Además de Dogecoin o Bitcoin
·Las Mejores Criptomonedas para Invertir en 2021
·Hablamos con la Rapera Sofía Gabanna: ‘El Rap Es una Forma de Vida, No Es una Moda’
·Hablamos con Luli Trujillo, la Periodista que Revoluciona la Televisión Argentina
·México Regula el Cannabis Medicinal y Discute por el Cáñamo y el Recreativo: Habla Erika Santana, Directora de CONIDEBID
·Regulación del Cannabis Medicinal en México, Situación de la Industria y Rol de la Justicia: Habla Lorena Beltrán, CEO de CannabiSalud
·El Insólito Tatuaje de Zabo, la Inocencia de Pepe Rosemblat y la Persecuta de Evelyn Botto: Anécdotas Fumonas y Veraniegas
·0800 Don Rouch, el Joyero del Trap Argentino
·Ayahuasca: Todo lo que Necesitas Saber
·Básicos del Cannabis: ¿Qué Es un Cogollo?
Top Portuguese stories:
·Julian Marley sobre a Morte de sua Filha: ‘o Acesso à Cannabis Deveria Ser mais Fácil’
·Rachael Rapinoe Fala sobre Cannabis, Empreendedorismo e Motivações
Lead image byIlona Szentivanyi. Copyright: Benzinga.
See more from Benzinga
• Click here for options trades from Benzinga
• The Week In Cannabis: Arizona Adult-Use Sales, Big Financings, M&A, And A Nasdaq Debut
© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || The Week In Cannabis: Stocks Up By Double-Digits On Jazz Pharma's GWPH Acquisition, Potential Federal Moves: Cannabis stocks had one of their strongest weeks in history. Jazz Pharmaceuticals PLC (NASDAQ: JAZZ ) acquired GW Pharmaceuticals PLC- ADR (NASDAQ: GWPH ) for $7.2 billion, or $6.7 billion excluding GW Pharma's cash. The price of $220 per ADS in cash and stock, with $200 in cash and $20 in Jazz shares, represents about 50.4% premium over the $146.25 per share at which GW Pharma had closed on Tuesday. “The Jazz Pharmaceutical acquisition of GW Pharmaceuticals for $7 billion shows just how much companies are willing to pay for cannabis assets," Green Market Report editor Debra Borchardt told Benzinga. "It seems the bear market for cannabis stocks is officially over as GW Pharma stock jumped over 50% on the news." Benzinga Cannabis content is now available in Spanish on El Planteo . Other Cannabis Spikes Also spiking on the acquisition announcement in a classic sympathy move were Corbus Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CRBP ) and Zynerba Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: ZYNE ), both posting gains of more than 40% this week. Sundial Growers Inc (NASDAQ: SNDL ) had a roller coaster week. The stock received attention from Reddit investor group r/WallStreetBets, which has over 8 million members. Sundial shares closed nearly 48.5% higher on Monday , dipped Tuesday , but spiked 16% on Wednesday . Gains for the week ultimately surpassed 38%. As of Jan. 14, 35.79% of the float was short, and the group is known to target buying shares of companies such as GameStop Corp (NYSE: GME ) and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE: AMC ), which are heavily shorted as well. Following this stellar rise, Sundial closed a share offering valued at roughly $74.5 million this week. The company registered an offering of 60.5 million Series A Units sold at a price of about $1 each. Some 14 million Series B Units were sold at a price of $1 each, minus $0.0001. ETFs also did great, posting double digits gains. Over the last five trading days: The ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF (NYSE: MJ ): gained 22.4%. The AdvisorShares Pure Cannabis ETF (NYSE: YOLO ): was up 23.6%. The Cannabis ETF (NYSE: THCX ): rose 25.1%. The Amplify Seymour Cannabis ETF (NYSE: CNBS ): advanced 24.6%. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE: SPY ) was up 4.83%. Story continues Politics A coalition of Democratic Senators announced imminent plans to advance legislation aimed at descheduling marijuana on a federal level. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, along with Sens. Ron Wyden and Cory Booker, issued a statement on Monday saying that they will “release a unified discussion draft on comprehensive reform” during the early part of 2021. Alabama : A State Senate committee voted to pass a medical marijuana legalization bill, moving it to the full floor for review. The bill, presented last week by Senator Tim Melson, passed the Senate Judiciary Committee 8-3 after a short debate. It proposes for around 20 ailments to be treated with medical cannabis, including sleep disorders, PTSD, anxiety, cancer-related cachexia, Crohn's disease and Tourette's syndrome. Virginia : The state House of Delegates voted for a bill to legalize cannabis, expecting a Senate vote later today. The bills have been revised, and changed several times by many governing bodies, since their first introduction by Governor Ralph Northam in mid-January. The House supported the latest version in a 55-42 vote, with two abstentions. Those who were against the bill reportedly argued that marijuana legalization would prompt “increased youth use and impaired driving.” Kansas : Governor Laura Kelly says the state is ready for medical marijuana legalization. New Mexico : The Senate and House introduced cannabis legalization bills Monday. On the heels of the two bills presentation Emily Kaltenbach, Senior Director for Resident States and New Mexico for the Drug Policy Alliance issued the following statement that questions the social justice aspect of one of them: “Although there are some similarities between these bills, there is a stark difference in who is prioritized by each. The Senate version fails to include comprehensive social justice and equity provisions that are necessary to right the wrongs of the failed war on drugs.” Financings And M&A BGP Acquisition Corp. (NEO: BGP.UN) debut on the NEO Exchange following a $115 million initial public offering (IPO), which included the full exercise of an over-allotment option. Schwazze (OTCQX: SHWZ ) closed a .3 million acquisition of two Star Buds Colorado dispensaries located in Denver. Red White & Bloom Brands Inc. (CSE: RWB) (OTC: RWBYF ) closed a debenture unit financing to an arm’s-length investor on a private placement basis. Gross proceeds were $6.12 million. Coda Signature closed a $6 million funding round led by current investors, Granite Hall Partners, Gotham Green Partners and Salveo Capital. GrowGeneration Corp. (NASDAQ: GRWG ) purchased Grow Depot, a two-store chain in Auburn and Augusta, Maine, for an undisclosed price. Aleafia Health Inc. (TSX: AH) (OTCQX: ALEAF ) repaid a $25 million debt to Emblem Corp. in cash. Emblem Corp. issued an 8% unsecured convertible debt on Feb. 2, 2018. The Toronto-based company acquired it on March 14, 2019. Springbig acquired BudTender. Terms of the deal are undisclosed. South African wine and spirits company Distell , producer of Bunnahabhain and Deanston Scotch whiskies, teamed up with venture capital firm Invenfin to invest in cannabis wellness brand Rethink. Power REIT (AMEX: PW) obtained a greenhouse cannabis cultivation facility in California for $7.685 million. Skincare company Cellular Goods , poised to debut on the London Stock Exchange, received an investment from David Beckham's DB Ventures. The company is poised to become the first company of its kind to list on the LSE. Gaby Inc. (CSE: GABY) (OTCQB: GABLF ) raised CA$12.5 million ($9.74 million) to complete the acquisition of Miramar Professional Services, which runs the California-based Mankind Dispensary. PureK Holdings Corp. (TSX: PKAN) purchased skincare and beauty company No B.S. Life LLC for $500,000 in cash, plus a refundable deposit in the amount of $1.5 million. PureK will pay an additional $1 million in cash once the deal closes. Earnings Reports The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE: SMG ) reported a 105% sales spike , reaching $748.6 million in the first three months of this fiscal year. The record quarterly results can be mainly attributed to the substantial retailer support in the U.S. Consumer and Hawthorne segments, according to Scotts Miracle-Gro chair and CEO Jim Hagedorn. The Hawthorne segment sales “surpassed our expectations,” he said, citing an increase of 71% to $309.4 million. More News From The Week Tilray Inc. (NASDAQ: TLRY ) received all regulatory and market approvals to offer its medical cannabis products to consumers in Portugal. The company said it would utilize its GMP-certified EU facility located in Cantanhed for the purpose. Cresco Labs (CSE: CL) (OTCQX: CRLBF ) was approved by the Arizona Department of Health Services to commence adult-use sales at its Sunnyside dispensary in Phoenix in mid-February. Planet 13 Holdings Inc. (OTCQX: PLNHF ) is expanding outside of Nevada. On Wednesday, the company announced it has started building its first California store. Haymaker Cannabis announced a partnership with SMACK/Ultimate Rap League founder Troy "Smack White" Mitchell, an equity owner of Haymaker Cannabis and the brand's flagship ambassador. Mitchell, the face and host of Ultimate Rap League, hip-hop's preeminent rap-battle circuit, says the alliance with Haymaker Cannabis was born out of each brand's mutual respect for the other. “The Haymaker Cannabis joint-venture with SMACK/URL came about because [Haymaker Cannabis co-founder] Pacino Bing was a big fan of battle-rap for so many years,” Mitchell told Benzinga. “And he invited me to get involved because of my reach and the level of respect that I have within the hip-hop culture. What they're doing with cannabis is very unique and it reminded me of how I started within my industry.” “Haymaker's partnership with Mitchell was based entirely on our respect and admiration for who he is and the culture he created,” Bing added. “It makes sense for the Haymaker Cannabis brand and coincides with our core values of being competitive and vocal about our place in cannabis as minorities.” Inanna Manufacturing has launched. Led by CEO and founder Raquel Origel, Inanna offers a full suite of services to cannabis brands, taking them through the processes of ideation, flavor formulation, research and development, packaging, and market launch with ease. Products the company can white label include gummies, tinctures, topicals, pre-rolls and baked goods. HempFusion Wellness Inc. (TSX: CBD.U) (PINK: CBDHF ) started trading on the OTC Markets. View more earnings on MJ “As a US-based CBD company, this important step allows a broader range of US investors to access the Company,” commented Jason Mitchell N.D., HempFusion’s co-founder and CEO. “Additionally, we have applied for an OTCQX listing and DTC eligibility, which we expect in the coming weeks subject to the approval of the OTCQX and the satisfaction of certain listing requirements.” HydroFarm is leveraging its robust distribution network via Eddi’s Wholesale to increase the availability of Advanced Nutrients, the industry’s top-selling complete nutrient system. The strategic partnership aims to improve market efficiency and productivity, making it more convenient than ever for growers in Canada to cultivate potent specialty crops. “HydroFarm and Advanced Nutrients are both driven by the same goal to make it easier for growers to put a superior end product on the market,” Advanced Nutrients founder and CEO, Michael ‘BigMike’ Straumietis, told Benzinga. “I couldn’t be more thrilled to reach a greater audience of Canadian growers who are looking for proven ways to cultivate consistent yields of high-value crops.” Canopy Growth Corp. (TSX: WEED) (NASDAQ: CGC ) introduced a new line of CBD products for dogs under the SurityPro brand name. GKUA Ultra Premium, the cannabis brand created by Lil Wayne, is now being sold in Colorado. Precision Extraction Solutions entered into an exclusive partnership with Biologics Modular, designer and manufacturer of modular clean room facilities delivered in an intermodal container platform. The companies will collaborate to create prefabricated turn-key modular extraction pods that guarantee minimized capital cost and shorter production timelines. Marc Beginin, CEO of Precision Extraction Solutions, told Benzinga, “We’re excited to utilize this partnership with Biologics Modular to provide cannabis companies with a quick turnaround, C1D1- capable extraction solution, not only enabling them to meet expansion goals, but also allowing them to be operational in a matter of weeks as opposed to months or years.” The brand first debuted in California in December 2019 and has since expanded to Michigan. GKUA partnered with award-winning Harmony Extracts, in Colorado to bring their signature strains, along with oils, live sauces and live concentrates, to the state. Executive Moves Cannabis Movers & Shakers: CB1 Capital, Copperstate Farms, The Ideation Lab, HERBL, Pure Harvest Cannabis Movers & Shakers: HempFusion Sponsors Race Car Driver Steve Arpini; New Hires At Culta, Aleafia, And Decibel Top Stories Of The Week Petalfast CEO: THC-Infused Aperitif Is A No-Brainer Report: U.S. Hemp Industry To Hit .9B By 2025 Klay Thompson, Alex Morgan, Travis Pastrana, Paul Rodriguez Talk About Their New CBD Brand Martha Stewart On New CBD Products For Pets: Vets Are 'Not Yet On The CBD Wagon' Cannabis Regulatory Update: Kansas, Virginia, New Mexico Cannabis Industry Pandemic Health Risk Study Identifies Necessary Considerations For Events To Resume In 2021 Investment And M&A Activity In The Cannabis Industry Heats Up Going Into February Why Are Only 8% Of Cannabis CEOs Women? Psilocybin Legalization: New Bills Introduced In Florida, Connecticut and Hawaii As More Countries Legalize Cannabis, A Booming Global Marketplace Will Follow Benzinga Cannabis Hour Recap: Tim Seymour Discusses 2021 Trends, Cannabis ETFs Top Spanish stories: · 5 Criptomonedas Para Comprar Además de Dogecoin o Bitcoin · Las Mejores Criptomonedas para Invertir en 2021 · Hablamos con la Rapera Sofía Gabanna: ‘El Rap Es una Forma de Vida, No Es una Moda’ · Hablamos con Luli Trujillo, la Periodista que Revoluciona la Televisión Argentina · México Regula el Cannabis Medicinal y Discute por el Cáñamo y el Recreativo: Habla Erika Santana, Directora de CONIDEBID · Regulación del Cannabis Medicinal en México, Situación de la Industria y Rol de la Justicia: Habla Lorena Beltrán, CEO de CannabiSalud · El Insólito Tatuaje de Zabo, la Inocencia de Pepe Rosemblat y la Persecuta de Evelyn Botto: Anécdotas Fumonas y Veraniegas · 0800 Don Rouch, el Joyero del Trap Argentino · Ayahuasca: Todo lo que Necesitas Saber · Básicos del Cannabis: ¿Qué Es un Cogollo? Top Portuguese stories: · Julian Marley sobre a Morte de sua Filha: ‘o Acesso à Cannabis Deveria Ser mais Fácil’ · Rachael Rapinoe Fala sobre Cannabis, Empreendedorismo e Motivações Lead image by Ilona Szentivanyi . Copyright: Benzinga. See more from Benzinga Click here for options trades from Benzinga The Week In Cannabis: Arizona Adult-Use Sales, Big Financings, M&A, And A Nasdaq Debut © 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
[Social Media Buzz]
None available.
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38903.44, 46196.46, 46481.11, 44918.18, 47909.33, 47504.85, 47105.52, 48717.29, 47945.06, 49199.87
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 6446.47, 6495.00, 6676.75, 6644.13, 6601.96, 6625.56, 6589.62, 6556.10, 6502.59, 6576.69, 6622.48, 6588.31, 6602.95, 6652.23, 6642.64, 6585.53, 6256.24, 6274.58, 6285.99, 6290.93, 6596.54, 6596.11, 6544.43, 6476.71, 6465.41, 6489.19, 6482.35, 6487.16, 6475.74, 6495.84, 6476.29, 6474.75, 6480.38, 6486.39, 6332.63, 6334.27, 6317.61, 6377.78, 6388.44, 6361.26, 6376.13, 6419.66, 6461.01, 6530.14, 6453.72, 6385.62, 6409.22, 6411.27, 6371.27, 6359.49, 5738.35, 5648.03, 5575.55, 5554.33, 5623.54, 4871.49, 4451.87, 4602.17, 4365.94, 4347.11, 3880.76, 4009.97, 3779.13, 3820.72, 4257.42, 4278.85, 4017.27, 4214.67, 4139.88, 3894.13, 3956.89, 3753.99, 3521.10, 3419.94, 3476.11, 3614.23, 3502.66, 3424.59, 3486.95, 3313.68, 3242.48, 3236.76, 3252.84, 3545.86, 3696.06, 3745.95, 4134.44, 3896.54, 4014.18, 3998.98.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2018-12-23]
Volume: 6151275490, RSI (14-day): 51.91, 50-day EMA: 4407.67, 200-day EMA: 6035.91
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
‘Human ATM’: Flash Cryptocurrency Releases Peer-to-Peer Functionality for Mobile: Flash is a lesser-known Scrypt-based cryptocurrency which has a growing presence in Venezuela and Africa. It is not designed to be a proof-of-work system, although it uses mining to verify transactions and secure the network, but instead focuses on transactions which can settle in a matter of seconds. Their mobile wallet recently integrated a “human ATM” peer-to-peer trading functionality which could be a hit in jurisdictions where fiat money is hard to trust. Places like Venezuela, for example. As a cryptocurrency design, it may face traction issues due to its technical design – the mining competitions in Litecoin and Bitcoin are part of the spectacle. In Flash, a small number of miners secure the network and process transactions for very little profit. This notwithstanding, Flash has a mobile application that can hold multiple crpytocurrencies – Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dash, and Ethereum (as well as Flash). Notably, Flash is also available in Coinomi , a popular mobile wallet which supports many cryptos. Flash primarily focuses on merchant and peer-to-peer user adoption in regions where other methods are either unavailable or unreliable. Venezuela has become the hallmark example of a crypto use case, but there are other regions where digital currencies can serve to allow merchants the ability to accept more than just cash with little overhead and far lower fees than credit card processing may incur. Flash marketing director James Hinton says that as many as 800 merchants in Africa will be adopting Flash in the coming months, which inherently means they’ll also be accepting Bitcoin , Dash , Litecoin , and Ethereum . Creating a mobile Flash wallet account grants you access to the web version of the wallet, which has over 20 ERC-20 tokens in addition to the regular cryptos. A fully functional multi-currency wallet is likely to gain some installs in the app stores, but now they’ve added something that is likely to germinate interest across borders: a peer-to-peer trading feature they’re calling the “Human ATM.” Story continues On-Chain Peer-to-Peer Marketplace The human ATM feature is unique as mobile wallets go. It allows the user to load up a map of people offering in-person trades. Trades can be settled in person and then funds can be released on the app. Like LocalBitcoins, there is a rating and review system and, of course, the author must stress that it’s always best to meet in a public place and follow basic best practices. For Venezuela, what this will ultimately do is allow anyone to become a walking Bitcoin ATM, even if they transact in person primarily in Flash due to the exchange rate differences. Flash is supported by the Einstein Exchange in Canada, which enables users to connect their bank accounts and associated payment methods (like debit and credit cards) for external transfers. Some smaller exchanges also support Flash the cryptocurrency. Flash itself has over 600,000 active addresses worldwide. In the two weeks that this story was worked on, they had dozens of installations in Africa and Venezuela. A partnership with Seychelles-based Crowdforce is promising: ‘CrowdForce integrates flashcoin to bring micropayments to Africa.’ READ MORE HERE: https://t.co/j6iaNshxKf — CrowdForce (@mycrowdforce) December 20, 2018 CrowdForce’s PayForce network includes 8,000 vendors, all of whom will now be accepting cryptocurrency through Flash. This includes Flashcoin. To this reporter, the Flash cryptocurrency is much less important than what its mobile wallet has the potential to do. People like peer-to-peer, there’s no two ways about it, and the success of eBay as a global marketplace or the almost immediate success of Facebook’s marketplace features (which were preceded by DIY “swap shops”) are evidence that when people can deal with other people directly, they often choose to do so. The wallet is available in the Play Store and Apple App Store . Coinbase for the Unbanked For the unbanked of the world, the Human ATM aspect is incredibly important, especially as merchants in disadvantaged regions adopt it. In the same way that Coinbase and its minor competitors make it easy for people with the full backing of the traditional financial system behind them to access the crypto economy, the Flash wallet can enable the unbanked of the world to do the same, potentially with far lower fees. A typical interaction will likely go like this: a field worker walks in with their cash wages and, having no trust in banks or other institutions if such even exist, places an order with the merchant to buy a certain amount of crypto in order to save it. They can then spend that crypto there and other merchants, but more importantly, they can spend it online. Or they can simply have a way to enter the crypto economy, from which they can get their money into stablecoins and thus eventually into the western banking system if they so desire. Human ATM transactions don’t take place in some off-chain wallet, either. If you sell one crypto for another on the application, you pay the network fees in the one you’re selling, and the buyer pays the network fees in the one he or she is using to pay you with. This means there’s no need for a staff to ensure that transactions are properly done, because all transactions happen with the security and transparency of the blockchain. Downsides of In-Person Trading So, what are the drawbacks? Like any peer-to-peer interaction, there’s definitive risk of being defrauded. As an attempt to help with this, online trades are also possible with the app. No Flashcoin is required to conduct trades. Nevertheless, easy methods of peer-to-peer trading which support multiple currencies are to date rare and incredibly necessary for the worldwide individual adoption of cryptos, and the Flash team are pioneering the cause. Installing and using the Flash mobile app gives the user a parallel account on their web wallet , which has 66 major ERC-20 tokens in addition to the things offered on the mobile app. The post ‘Human ATM’: Flash Cryptocurrency Releases Peer-to-Peer Functionality for Mobile appeared first on CCN . || ‘Human ATM’: Flash Cryptocurrency Releases Peer-to-Peer Functionality for Mobile: Flash is a lesser-known Scrypt-based cryptocurrency which has a growing presence in Venezuela and Africa. It is not designed to be a proof-of-work system, although it uses mining to verify transactions and secure the network, but instead focuses on transactions which can settle in a matter of seconds. Their mobile wallet recently integrated a “human ATM” peer-to-peer trading functionality which could be a hit in jurisdictions where fiat money is hard to trust. Places like Venezuela, for example.
As a cryptocurrency design, it may face traction issues due to its technical design – the mining competitions in Litecoin and Bitcoin are part of the spectacle. In Flash, a small number of miners secure the network and process transactions for very little profit. This notwithstanding, Flash has a mobile application that can hold multiple crpytocurrencies – Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dash, and Ethereum (as well as Flash). Notably, Flash is also available inCoinomi, a popular mobile wallet which supports many cryptos.
Flash primarily focuses on merchant and peer-to-peer user adoption in regions where other methods are either unavailable or unreliable. Venezuela has become the hallmark example of a crypto use case, but there are other regions where digital currencies can serve to allow merchants the ability to accept more than just cash with little overhead and far lower fees than credit card processing may incur. Flash marketing director James Hinton says that as many as 800 merchants in Africa will be adopting Flash in the coming months, which inherently means they’ll also be acceptingBitcoin,Dash,Litecoin, andEthereum.
Creating a mobile Flash wallet account grants you access to the web version of the wallet, which has over 20 ERC-20 tokens in addition to the regular cryptos.
A fully functional multi-currency wallet is likely to gain some installs in the app stores, but now they’ve added something that is likely to germinate interest across borders: a peer-to-peer trading feature they’re calling the “Human ATM.”
The human ATM feature is unique as mobile wallets go. It allows the user to load up a map of people offering in-person trades. Trades can be settled in person and then funds can be released on the app. Like LocalBitcoins, there is a rating and review system and, of course, the author must stress that it’s always best to meet in a public place and follow basic best practices.
For Venezuela, what this will ultimately do is allow anyone to become a walking Bitcoin ATM, even if they transact in person primarily in Flash due to the exchange rate differences. Flash is supported by theEinstein Exchangein Canada, which enables users to connect their bank accounts and associated payment methods (like debit and credit cards) for external transfers. Some smaller exchanges also support Flash the cryptocurrency.
Flash itself has over 600,000 active addresses worldwide. In the two weeks that this story was worked on, they had dozens of installations in Africa and Venezuela. A partnership with Seychelles-based Crowdforce is promising:
CrowdForce’s PayForce network includes 8,000 vendors, all of whomwill now be accepting cryptocurrencythrough Flash. This includes Flashcoin.
To this reporter, the Flash cryptocurrency is much less important than what its mobile wallet has the potential to do.People like peer-to-peer, there’s no two ways about it, and the success of eBay as a global marketplace or the almost immediate success of Facebook’s marketplace features (which were preceded by DIY “swap shops”) are evidence that when people can deal with other people directly, they often choose to do so.
The wallet is available in thePlay StoreandApple App Store.
For the unbanked of the world, the Human ATM aspect is incredibly important, especially as merchants in disadvantaged regions adopt it. In the same way that Coinbase and its minor competitors make it easy for people with the full backing of the traditional financial system behind them to access the crypto economy, the Flash wallet can enable the unbanked of the world to do the same, potentially with far lower fees.
A typical interaction will likely go like this: a field worker walks in with their cash wages and, having no trust in banks or other institutions if such even exist, places an order with the merchant to buy a certain amount of crypto in order to save it. They can then spend that crypto there and other merchants, but more importantly, they can spend it online. Or they can simply have a way to enter the crypto economy, from which they can get their money into stablecoins and thus eventually into the western banking system if they so desire.
Human ATM transactions don’t take place in some off-chain wallet, either. If you sell one crypto for another on the application, you pay the network fees in the one you’re selling, and the buyer pays the network fees in the one he or she is using to pay you with. This means there’s no need for a staff to ensure that transactions are properly done, because all transactions happen with the security and transparency of the blockchain.
So, what are the drawbacks? Like any peer-to-peer interaction, there’s definitive risk of being defrauded. As an attempt to help with this, online trades are also possible with the app. No Flashcoin is required to conduct trades.
Nevertheless, easy methods of peer-to-peer trading which support multiple currencies are to date rare and incredibly necessary for the worldwideindividualadoption of cryptos, and the Flash team are pioneering the cause.
Installing and using the Flash mobile app gives the user a parallel account on theirweb wallet, which has 66 major ERC-20 tokens in addition to the things offered on the mobile app.
The post‘Human ATM’: Flash Cryptocurrency Releases Peer-to-Peer Functionality for Mobileappeared first onCCN. || Prolonged Government Shutdown Hangs Over Wall Street; How Will This Affect Crypto?: The debate over President Trump’s border wall has unveiled new partisan dysfunction in Washington as the United States on Saturday faced its third government shutdown in a year. The partial shutdown, which risks extending into the holidays, presents fresh headaches for Wall Street following theworst weekly selloffin a decade. For cryptocurrency investors, the power of holding non-correlated assets could become apparent in the near future.
For more context behind the latest developments on Wall Street and in crypto-land, read Hacked.com’sWeek in Review.
A Senate impasse over the funding of President Trump’s $5.7 billionborder walltriggered a partial government shutdown on Saturday, with both parties blaming each other for the lack of resolve. President Trump has referred to it as a “Democrat shutdown” that “could be a long stay,” referring to a prolonged interruption of federal government functions. Democrats, meanwhile, accusedTrumpof throwing another “temper tantrum.”
Trump, who has put his Christmas holiday on hold, tweeted Saturday morning that his administration was negotiating with Democrats over a new budget deal that includes the “desperately needed Border Security” wall.
Funding for the wall was approved on Thursday in the House of Representatives but was struck down in the Senate by a united Democrat front.
The impasse couldn’t have come at a worse time for stock traders, who have seen their yearly gainswither awayin the last three months. Stocks are now trading at their lowest level in 16 months, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average recording its worst weekly slide in a decade. On Friday, the Nasdaq Composite Indexfell to the bearsfor the first time since 2009, a dramatic role reversal from the tech-induced bull market that characterized the post-crisis era.
Signs of a looming government shutdown Friday wreaked havoc on Wall Street, and a prolonged impasse could have adverse effects on what’s left of the bull market for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average. Investors’ collective angst is well documented by the CBOE VIX, which tracks expected volatility over the next 30 days. The so-called “fear index” settled above 30 on Friday for the first time since February and is on track for a yearly gain of 173%.
The possibility of an extended government shutdown could impact the cryptocurrency market both directly and indirectly. For starters, it threatens to further delay the proposed launch ofBakkt, Intercontinental Exchange’s forthcoming crypto trading platform. Bakkt still requireskey approvalsfrom the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), a federal body that is affected by the Senate impasse. As it currently stands, Bakkt isunlikelyto get the approvals needed to launch by the proposed date of Jan. 24. Although the initial delay is unrelated to the government shutdown, a failure to agree on a new budget will certainly affect the CFTC’s timeline.
Once launched, Bakkt could have a dramatic influence on bitcoin futures. Readmore.
In terms of indirect consequences, politically-inspired volatility on Wall Street could play into the hands ofbitcoinand other digital currencies that have previously enjoyed safe-haven status among investors. Cryptos may have struggled to demonstrate their utility as spending instruments, but until now have been an excellent store of value. The value of safe-haven investments in the current climate is demonstrated bygold‘s recent six-month peak. That being said, the key selling point here is whether you believe bitcoin has reached bottom or, at the very least, is approaching the final stage of the bear market.
Or it could be that bitcoin continues to establish itself as a non-correlated asset that trades independently of broader market moves. We’ve spotted some elements of correlation recently, but otherwise, bitcoin is generally not closely influenced by stocks, monetary policy, and economic data (it is influenced by FUD/FOMO, but we don’t watch the economic calendar to play BTC).
In any case, a prolonged bear market in stocks, should it materialize, could finally test the hypotheses of bitcoin’s most ardent backers: that it is asuperior store of value, better suited for periods of volatility and destined to compete with fiat on a global scale.
Featured Image from Shutterstock
Looking beyond crypto? VisitHacked.comfor the latest market analysis.
The postProlonged Government Shutdown Hangs Over Wall Street; How Will This Affect Crypto?appeared first onCCN. || Prolonged Government Shutdown Hangs Over Wall Street; How Will This Affect Crypto?: The debate over President Trump’s border wall has unveiled new partisan dysfunction in Washington as the United States on Saturday faced its third government shutdown in a year. The partial shutdown, which risks extending into the holidays, presents fresh headaches for Wall Street following the worst weekly selloff in a decade. For cryptocurrency investors, the power of holding non-correlated assets could become apparent in the near future. For more context behind the latest developments on Wall Street and in crypto-land, read Hacked.com’s Week in Review . US Government Grinds to a Halt A Senate impasse over the funding of President Trump’s $5.7 billion border wall triggered a partial government shutdown on Saturday, with both parties blaming each other for the lack of resolve. President Trump has referred to it as a “Democrat shutdown” that “could be a long stay,” referring to a prolonged interruption of federal government functions. Democrats, meanwhile, accused Trump of throwing another “temper tantrum.” Trump, who has put his Christmas holiday on hold, tweeted Saturday morning that his administration was negotiating with Democrats over a new budget deal that includes the “desperately needed Border Security” wall. I am in the White House, working hard. News reports concerning the Shutdown and Syria are mostly FAKE. We are negotiating with the Democrats on desperately needed Border Security (Gangs, Drugs, Human Trafficking & more) but it could be a long stay. On Syria, we were originally… — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 22, 2018 Funding for the wall was approved on Thursday in the House of Representatives but was struck down in the Senate by a united Democrat front. Investors on Edge The impasse couldn’t have come at a worse time for stock traders, who have seen their yearly gains wither away in the last three months. Stocks are now trading at their lowest level in 16 months, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average recording its worst weekly slide in a decade. On Friday, the Nasdaq Composite Index fell to the bears for the first time since 2009, a dramatic role reversal from the tech-induced bull market that characterized the post-crisis era. Story continues Signs of a looming government shutdown Friday wreaked havoc on Wall Street, and a prolonged impasse could have adverse effects on what’s left of the bull market for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average. Investors’ collective angst is well documented by the CBOE VIX, which tracks expected volatility over the next 30 days. The so-called “fear index” settled above 30 on Friday for the first time since February and is on track for a yearly gain of 173%. Influence over Crypto The possibility of an extended government shutdown could impact the cryptocurrency market both directly and indirectly. For starters, it threatens to further delay the proposed launch of Bakkt , Intercontinental Exchange’s forthcoming crypto trading platform. Bakkt still requires key approvals from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), a federal body that is affected by the Senate impasse. As it currently stands, Bakkt is unlikely to get the approvals needed to launch by the proposed date of Jan. 24. Although the initial delay is unrelated to the government shutdown, a failure to agree on a new budget will certainly affect the CFTC’s timeline. Once launched, Bakkt could have a dramatic influence on bitcoin futures. Read more . In terms of indirect consequences, politically-inspired volatility on Wall Street could play into the hands of bitcoin and other digital currencies that have previously enjoyed safe-haven status among investors. Cryptos may have struggled to demonstrate their utility as spending instruments, but until now have been an excellent store of value. The value of safe-haven investments in the current climate is demonstrated by gold ‘s recent six-month peak. That being said, the key selling point here is whether you believe bitcoin has reached bottom or, at the very least, is approaching the final stage of the bear market. Or it could be that bitcoin continues to establish itself as a non-correlated asset that trades independently of broader market moves. We’ve spotted some elements of correlation recently, but otherwise, bitcoin is generally not closely influenced by stocks, monetary policy, and economic data (it is influenced by FUD/FOMO, but we don’t watch the economic calendar to play BTC). In any case, a prolonged bear market in stocks, should it materialize, could finally test the hypotheses of bitcoin’s most ardent backers: that it is a superior store of value , better suited for periods of volatility and destined to compete with fiat on a global scale. Featured Image from Shutterstock Looking beyond crypto? Visit Hacked.com for the latest market analysis. The post Prolonged Government Shutdown Hangs Over Wall Street; How Will This Affect Crypto? appeared first on CCN . || Bitcoin Cash Price Sees Saturday Slump after 150% Weekly Rally: For a cryptocurrency which has dropped 98 percent from its all-time high already,bitcoin cash— for now — is looking brave in the face of a powerful bearish sentiment.
The cryptocurrency’sABC versionthis week surged close to 150 percent against the US dollar, from about $71 to $182 on a 7-day timeframe. The uptrend came as a part of a market-wide recovery in which all the leading coins posted impressive profits. The bulls in the crypto space also appeared at a time when the US stock market wasplunginghard. Overall, bitcoin cash turned out to be themost profitable asseton a weekly basis, even better than Apple stock.
The latest recovery action at most compensates 3 percent of the totalbitcoin cashlosses, bringing the overall capital erosion to 95 percent since all-time high. But whether or not it would extend the ongoing recovery action clearly depends on two major factors: mining profitability and demand from investors.
Since thefork, the exchanges that had paused BCH trading have now resumed it. In the last three weeks, the BCH volume rate is averaging at 10k on daily basis. There have been few instances in which the volume has peaked as high as 22k, but whether or not these figures are artificially inflated remains unverifiable at present.
The mining profitability of bitcoin cash has also improved in recent weeks. After the fork, the coin’s hash rate has dropped significantly, but it has made the mining operations more profitable. According to the CoinWarz SHA256 index, bitcoin cash is more profitable than bitcoin at press time.
The bitcoin cash recovery does very little to compensate for thelosses it faced in November, let alone the whole year. The bitcoin-spinoff just concluded aso-called hash warwith its own clone, dubbed bitcoin cash satoshi vision, orbitcoin SV. Both the projects reportedlywastedmillions of dollars worth of computing power to prove supremacy over each other. Bitcoin cash appeared to win after proving a longer chain than bitcoin SV but lost $9 billion market capitalization as collateral damage.
As of now, the cryptocurrency is showing signs of a pullback. Its market performance on an adjusted 24-hour timeframe is noting an aggregated 8 percent loss at press time, per CoinMarketCap.com. The pullback resembles the reversals noted during many of bitcoin cash’s previous uptrends. Between September 30 and November 2, for instance, the asset had recovered by almost $222, after which it plunged further to establish new lower lows.
Overall, the bitcoin cash recovery does very little to reinstate the investors’ faith in the cryptocurrency. A more interim bullish bias scenario is hoping to be established once the price crosses above its 50-period MA on the daily chart. Until then, the likelihood of a double bottom formation lingers over the BCH market.
Featured Image from Shutterstock. Charts fromTradingView.
The postBitcoin Cash Price Sees Saturday Slump after 150% Weekly Rallyappeared first onCCN. || Bitcoin Cash Price Sees Saturday Slump after 150% Weekly Rally: For a cryptocurrency which has dropped 98 percent from its all-time high already,bitcoin cash— for now — is looking brave in the face of a powerful bearish sentiment.
The cryptocurrency’sABC versionthis week surged close to 150 percent against the US dollar, from about $71 to $182 on a 7-day timeframe. The uptrend came as a part of a market-wide recovery in which all the leading coins posted impressive profits. The bulls in the crypto space also appeared at a time when the US stock market wasplunginghard. Overall, bitcoin cash turned out to be themost profitable asseton a weekly basis, even better than Apple stock.
The latest recovery action at most compensates 3 percent of the totalbitcoin cashlosses, bringing the overall capital erosion to 95 percent since all-time high. But whether or not it would extend the ongoing recovery action clearly depends on two major factors: mining profitability and demand from investors.
Since thefork, the exchanges that had paused BCH trading have now resumed it. In the last three weeks, the BCH volume rate is averaging at 10k on daily basis. There have been few instances in which the volume has peaked as high as 22k, but whether or not these figures are artificially inflated remains unverifiable at present.
The mining profitability of bitcoin cash has also improved in recent weeks. After the fork, the coin’s hash rate has dropped significantly, but it has made the mining operations more profitable. According to the CoinWarz SHA256 index, bitcoin cash is more profitable than bitcoin at press time.
The bitcoin cash recovery does very little to compensate for thelosses it faced in November, let alone the whole year. The bitcoin-spinoff just concluded aso-called hash warwith its own clone, dubbed bitcoin cash satoshi vision, orbitcoin SV. Both the projects reportedlywastedmillions of dollars worth of computing power to prove supremacy over each other. Bitcoin cash appeared to win after proving a longer chain than bitcoin SV but lost $9 billion market capitalization as collateral damage.
As of now, the cryptocurrency is showing signs of a pullback. Its market performance on an adjusted 24-hour timeframe is noting an aggregated 8 percent loss at press time, per CoinMarketCap.com. The pullback resembles the reversals noted during many of bitcoin cash’s previous uptrends. Between September 30 and November 2, for instance, the asset had recovered by almost $222, after which it plunged further to establish new lower lows.
Overall, the bitcoin cash recovery does very little to reinstate the investors’ faith in the cryptocurrency. A more interim bullish bias scenario is hoping to be established once the price crosses above its 50-period MA on the daily chart. Until then, the likelihood of a double bottom formation lingers over the BCH market.
Featured Image from Shutterstock. Charts fromTradingView.
The postBitcoin Cash Price Sees Saturday Slump after 150% Weekly Rallyappeared first onCCN. || Bitcoin Cash Price Sees Saturday Slump after 150% Weekly Rally: bitcoin cash price slump For a cryptocurrency which has dropped 98 percent from its all-time high already, bitcoin cash for now is looking brave in the face of a powerful bearish sentiment. The cryptocurrencys ABC version this week surged close to 150 percent against the US dollar, from about $71 to $182 on a 7-day timeframe. The uptrend came as a part of a market-wide recovery in which all the leading coins posted impressive profits. The bulls in the crypto space also appeared at a time when the US stock market was plunging hard. Overall, bitcoin cash turned out to be the most profitable asset on a weekly basis, even better than Apple stock. Bitcoin Cash Fundamentals The latest recovery action at most compensates 3 percent of the total bitcoin cash losses, bringing the overall capital erosion to 95 percent since all-time high. But whether or not it would extend the ongoing recovery action clearly depends on two major factors: mining profitability and demand from investors. Since the fork , the exchanges that had paused BCH trading have now resumed it. In the last three weeks, the BCH volume rate is averaging at 10k on daily basis. There have been few instances in which the volume has peaked as high as 22k, but whether or not these figures are artificially inflated remains unverifiable at present. The mining profitability of bitcoin cash has also improved in recent weeks. After the fork, the coins hash rate has dropped significantly, but it has made the mining operations more profitable. According to the CoinWarz SHA256 index, bitcoin cash is more profitable than bitcoin at press time. Whats Next for Bitcoin Cash The bitcoin cash recovery does very little to compensate for the losses it faced in November , let alone the whole year. The bitcoin-spinoff just concluded a so-called hash war with its own clone, dubbed bitcoin cash satoshi vision, or bitcoin SV . Both the projects reportedly wasted millions of dollars worth of computing power to prove supremacy over each other. Bitcoin cash appeared to win after proving a longer chain than bitcoin SV but lost $9 billion market capitalization as collateral damage. Story continues As of now, the cryptocurrency is showing signs of a pullback. Its market performance on an adjusted 24-hour timeframe is noting an aggregated 8 percent loss at press time, per CoinMarketCap.com. The pullback resembles the reversals noted during many of bitcoin cashs previous uptrends. Between September 30 and November 2, for instance, the asset had recovered by almost $222, after which it plunged further to establish new lower lows. Overall, the bitcoin cash recovery does very little to reinstate the investors faith in the cryptocurrency. A more interim bullish bias scenario is hoping to be established once the price crosses above its 50-period MA on the daily chart. Until then, the likelihood of a double bottom formation lingers over the BCH market. Featured Image from Shutterstock. Charts from TradingView . The post Bitcoin Cash Price Sees Saturday Slump after 150% Weekly Rally appeared first on CCN . || $7 Billion Wiped Out of Crypto as Bitcoin Price Drops Below $4k Once Again: bitcoin price wipeout In the past 24 hours, the crypto market recorded a loss of over $7 billion as its valuation dropped from $134 billion to $127 billion. The Bitcoin price declined below the $4,000 mark after surging to $4,100, struggling to maintain its newly found momentum. As the Bitcoin price dropped from $4,162 to $3,780 and demonstrated a 9 percent decline in value, most major crypto assets in the likes of Ripple (XRP) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) recorded larger drops in the range of 15 to 25 percent. bitcoin price chart From its weekly peak, the Bitcoin Cash price fell from $239 to $180, by just over 24 percent. A minor correction was expected for the majority of assets in the global crypto market due to the large gains they recorded throughout the past week. Where is Bitcoin Heading? Last week, when Bitcoin achieved a new yearly low at $3,100, a strong buy wall was created on major fiat-to-cryptocurrency exchanges Coinbase and Bitstamp . Existing investors saw a buying opportunity in the tight range from $3,000 to $3,500. As the high buy wall started to accumulate the dominant cryptocurrency, Bitcoin experienced a corrective rally and fueled other crypto assets in the market to increase in price. Bitcoin Cash, in particular, showed a strong upward movement, tripling its value from $75 to $239 within a five-day span. A technical analyst with the online alias Hsaka explained that the $3,910 mark was tested as a resistance level and the failure to overcome it led the price of Bitcoin to drop below the $3,800. The analyst wrote : Expecting a bounce into a lower high off this white level. If $3,910 is retested as resistance, high odds that was the local top and well begin unraveling soon. If this is heading down soon, Id ideally want to see it reject off the $3,890 level. Otherwise, might just chop around on the weekend and break down on Monday. The volume of Bitcoin has also substantially declined from around $8 billion to $5.9 billion. The decline in the volume of the asset was expected as the cryptocurrency market tends to see a drop in trading activity during the weekend. Story continues Expect Less Trading Activity and Price Action As the Christmas season nears, the cryptocurrency market is likely to see its volume drop, which could lead to less intense buy walls but also relieve sell pressure on major assets. On December 20, a cryptocurrency trader known as DonAlt said that the bear market is not over just yet and that it is not the time to start accumulating, adding that the market is merely showing volatility in a low price range. By the way, this is not the place to start buying. A full year bear market doesnt just go away like this, itll take time. Even if BTC goes to $4,270 Ill only be looking to short/close longs. Were still in a bear market, BTC is just rightfully punishing late bears, the trader said . Featured Image from Shutterstock. Charts from TradingView . The post $7 Billion Wiped Out of Crypto as Bitcoin Price Drops Below $4k Once Again appeared first on CCN . || $7 Billion Wiped Out of Crypto as Bitcoin Price Drops Below $4k Once Again: In the past 24 hours, the crypto market recorded a loss of over $7 billion as its valuation dropped from $134 billion to $127 billion. TheBitcoin pricedeclined below the $4,000 mark after surging to $4,100, struggling to maintain its newly found momentum.
As the Bitcoin price dropped from $4,162 to $3,780 and demonstrated a 9 percent decline in value, most major crypto assets in the likes ofRipple (XRP)andBitcoin Cash (BCH)recorded larger drops in the range of 15 to 25 percent.
From its weekly peak, theBitcoin Cash pricefell from $239 to $180, by just over 24 percent. A minor correction was expected for the majority of assets in the global crypto market due to the large gains they recorded throughout the past week.
Last week, whenBitcoinachieved a new yearly low at $3,100, a strong buy wall was created on major fiat-to-cryptocurrency exchangesCoinbaseandBitstamp. Existing investors saw a buying opportunity in the tight range from $3,000 to $3,500.
As the high buy wall started to accumulate the dominant cryptocurrency, Bitcoin experienced a corrective rally and fueled other crypto assets in the market to increase in price.
Bitcoin Cash, in particular, showed a strong upward movement, tripling its value from $75 to $239 within a five-day span.
A technical analyst with the online alias “Hsaka” explained that the $3,910 mark was tested as a resistance level and the failure to overcome it led the price of Bitcoin to drop below the $3,800.
The analystwrote:
“Expecting a bounce into a lower high off this white level. If $3,910 is retested as resistance, high odds that was the local top and we’ll begin unraveling soon. If this is heading down soon, I’d ideally want to see it reject off the $3,890 level. Otherwise, might just chop around on the weekend and break down on Monday.”
The volume of Bitcoin has also substantially declined from around $8 billion to $5.9 billion. The decline in the volume of the asset was expected as the cryptocurrency market tends to see a drop in trading activity during the weekend.
As theChristmasseason nears, the cryptocurrency market is likely to see its volume drop, which could lead to less intense buy walls but also relieve sell pressure on major assets.
On December 20, a cryptocurrency trader known as DonAlt said that the bear market is not over just yet and that it is not the time to start accumulating, adding that the market is merely showing volatility in a low price range.
“By the way, this is not the place to start buying. A full year bear market doesn’t just go away like this, it’ll take time. Even if BTC goes to $4,270 I’ll only be looking to short/close longs. We’re still in a bear market, BTC is just rightfully punishing late bears,” the tradersaid.
Featured Image from Shutterstock. Charts fromTradingView.
The post$7 Billion Wiped Out of Crypto as Bitcoin Price Drops Below $4k Once Againappeared first onCCN. || $7 Billion Wiped Out of Crypto as Bitcoin Price Drops Below $4k Once Again: In the past 24 hours, the crypto market recorded a loss of over $7 billion as its valuation dropped from $134 billion to $127 billion. TheBitcoin pricedeclined below the $4,000 mark after surging to $4,100, struggling to maintain its newly found momentum.
As the Bitcoin price dropped from $4,162 to $3,780 and demonstrated a 9 percent decline in value, most major crypto assets in the likes ofRipple (XRP)andBitcoin Cash (BCH)recorded larger drops in the range of 15 to 25 percent.
From its weekly peak, theBitcoin Cash pricefell from $239 to $180, by just over 24 percent. A minor correction was expected for the majority of assets in the global crypto market due to the large gains they recorded throughout the past week.
Last week, whenBitcoinachieved a new yearly low at $3,100, a strong buy wall was created on major fiat-to-cryptocurrency exchangesCoinbaseandBitstamp. Existing investors saw a buying opportunity in the tight range from $3,000 to $3,500.
As the high buy wall started to accumulate the dominant cryptocurrency, Bitcoin experienced a corrective rally and fueled other crypto assets in the market to increase in price.
Bitcoin Cash, in particular, showed a strong upward movement, tripling its value from $75 to $239 within a five-day span.
A technical analyst with the online alias “Hsaka” explained that the $3,910 mark was tested as a resistance level and the failure to overcome it led the price of Bitcoin to drop below the $3,800.
The analystwrote:
“Expecting a bounce into a lower high off this white level. If $3,910 is retested as resistance, high odds that was the local top and we’ll begin unraveling soon. If this is heading down soon, I’d ideally want to see it reject off the $3,890 level. Otherwise, might just chop around on the weekend and break down on Monday.”
The volume of Bitcoin has also substantially declined from around $8 billion to $5.9 billion. The decline in the volume of the asset was expected as the cryptocurrency market tends to see a drop in trading activity during the weekend.
As theChristmasseason nears, the cryptocurrency market is likely to see its volume drop, which could lead to less intense buy walls but also relieve sell pressure on major assets.
On December 20, a cryptocurrency trader known as DonAlt said that the bear market is not over just yet and that it is not the time to start accumulating, adding that the market is merely showing volatility in a low price range.
“By the way, this is not the place to start buying. A full year bear market doesn’t just go away like this, it’ll take time. Even if BTC goes to $4,270 I’ll only be looking to short/close longs. We’re still in a bear market, BTC is just rightfully punishing late bears,” the tradersaid.
Featured Image from Shutterstock. Charts fromTradingView.
The post$7 Billion Wiped Out of Crypto as Bitcoin Price Drops Below $4k Once Againappeared first onCCN. || Want to Become Wealthy? Do This One Thing: So you want to be wealthy? Welcome to the club. Now, how to get on the road to riches -- especially if you're living paycheck to paycheck.
It's not complicated to find a path to wealth, and nearly anyone can do it over time, with dedication and discipline. Here's the task: Spend less than you earn and invest the difference. This means saving some money and using it to buy assets -- such as stocks -- that produce a good rate of return.
Image source: Getty Images.
No matter who you are or how much money you make, you won't become wealthy if you spend all the money you make. It's as simple as that. Consider lottery winners and professional athletes, actors, and musicians, many of whom have become briefly wealthy only to squander their riches and be left in debt.
You can't get wealthy if you spend all you earn because you need money invested to be wealthy. To be wealthy, you need enough money invested to live the way you want without working. Ideally, you'll save and invest enough money that you can live comfortably off the interest from your investments and the initial amount you invested won'teverdecline. You're wealthy then because you can enjoy your life, not worry about working, and still leave a legacy to your kids.
This would mean having so much saved that returns produced by your investments give you enough money to meet spending needs for a very comfortable life. If you can do that, then you're wealthy. But, of course, your investment account balance needs to be big to do that. So you need to spend less than you earn, save money, then invest it so your account can grow to the size you need.
Simply spending less than you earn and saving the difference in a bank account or savings account couldeventuallyhelp you become wealthy because your bank account balance would slowly grow and might some day get to the point where you can live off the interest. But, if you just save and don'tinvest, it's going to take a really long time to get to that point -- and you may never be able to save enough to get there.
When you invest, on the other hand, your saved money works for you and helps you build the big investment account balance you need to get wealthy.
Say you have $100 invested and earn 10% annual returns. You'd have $110 at the end of year one. Next year, you have $110 invested so you earn 10% on that $110. So your investments won't just earn you $10, they'll earn you $11. And the next year, you'll have $121 invested, which will earn you $12.10.
This keeps happening over and over when you've invested your money. And the bigger the amount you have invested -- and the greater the returns your investments earn -- themore compound interest helps you. So if you want to build wealth and get to the point where you have a huge investment account, the goal is to invest as much as you can, as quickly as you can.
Once you've committed to spending less than you earn so you have money to invest, the trick is to actually follow through. To do this, you have two choices: increase your income or reduce what you spend.
And you can work on doing both simultaneously. Some tips to help include:
• Negotiate for regular raises-- and save them right away. If your income increases, invest the added money right away before you ever get used to living on it.
• Focus on cutting the big stuff.If you have an expensive car, or your rent or mortgage payment takes up too high a percentage of your income, it's going to be very hard to cut enough to save a meaningful amount. Consider downsizing or getting a roommate, and commit to purchasing inexpensive used cars instead of costlier new models. Audit your subscriptions and cut the cable cord if you haven't already. Cut out bad spending habits and things you spend money on, that aren't necessary.
• Live on a budget.You need to know where your money is going and cap spending in problem areas. To make a viable budget, track spending first. Then decide where you're spending too much and work with the numbers so you can budget to save at least 10% and ideally closer to 20% of your income.
By following these tips, you'll have money to invest instead of spending everything you earn.
Once you've started to save, decide where to put the money so you can grow that big investment account balance.
If you're saving for something like retirement and won't need the funds for at least five years or so, the money should be in the stock market. Historically, investing in the market has always been the best way to earn the returns you need to build wealth.
You canresearch how to pick individual stocksto get your money in the market, or you can build asimple portfolio of ETFsif you want a more hands-off approach. The key is to diversify your investments and not put all your money into one stock or one industry, because that increases your risk of losing big if the company or industry doesn't perform well.
Now you know the secret to becoming wealthy. You can start working on the process today. Just make your budget, start spending less than you earn, and begin investing the difference. You'll be well on your way to financial success.
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The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Want to Become Wealthy? Do This One Thing: So you want to be wealthy? Welcome to the club. Now, how to get on the road to riches -- especially if you're living paycheck to paycheck. It's not complicated to find a path to wealth, and nearly anyone can do it over time, with dedication and discipline. Here's the task: Spend less than you earn and invest the difference. This means saving some money and using it to buy assets -- such as stocks -- that produce a good rate of return. Smiling woman putting money into piggy bank Image source: Getty Images. Saving money is essential to building wealth No matter who you are or how much money you make, you won't become wealthy if you spend all the money you make. It's as simple as that. Consider lottery winners and professional athletes, actors, and musicians, many of whom have become briefly wealthy only to squander their riches and be left in debt. You can't get wealthy if you spend all you earn because you need money invested to be wealthy. To be wealthy, you need enough money invested to live the way you want without working. Ideally, you'll save and invest enough money that you can live comfortably off the interest from your investments and the initial amount you invested won't ever decline. You're wealthy then because you can enjoy your life, not worry about working, and still leave a legacy to your kids. This would mean having so much saved that returns produced by your investments give you enough money to meet spending needs for a very comfortable life. If you can do that, then you're wealthy. But, of course, your investment account balance needs to be big to do that. So you need to spend less than you earn, save money, then invest it so your account can grow to the size you need. Investing as much as you can helps build wealth more quickly Simply spending less than you earn and saving the difference in a bank account or savings account could eventually help you become wealthy because your bank account balance would slowly grow and might some day get to the point where you can live off the interest. But, if you just save and don't invest , it's going to take a really long time to get to that point -- and you may never be able to save enough to get there. Story continues When you invest, on the other hand, your saved money works for you and helps you build the big investment account balance you need to get wealthy. Say you have $100 invested and earn 10% annual returns. You'd have $110 at the end of year one. Next year, you have $110 invested so you earn 10% on that $110. So your investments won't just earn you $10, they'll earn you $11. And the next year, you'll have $121 invested, which will earn you $12.10. This keeps happening over and over when you've invested your money. And the bigger the amount you have invested -- and the greater the returns your investments earn -- the more compound interest helps you . So if you want to build wealth and get to the point where you have a huge investment account, the goal is to invest as much as you can, as quickly as you can. How can you spend less than you earn? Once you've committed to spending less than you earn so you have money to invest, the trick is to actually follow through. To do this, you have two choices: increase your income or reduce what you spend. And you can work on doing both simultaneously. Some tips to help include: Negotiate for regular raises -- and save them right away. If your income increases, invest the added money right away before you ever get used to living on it. Focus on cutting the big stuff. If you have an expensive car, or your rent or mortgage payment takes up too high a percentage of your income, it's going to be very hard to cut enough to save a meaningful amount. Consider downsizing or getting a roommate, and commit to purchasing inexpensive used cars instead of costlier new models. Audit your subscriptions and cut the cable cord if you haven't already. Cut out bad spending habits and things you spend money on, that aren't necessary. Live on a budget . You need to know where your money is going and cap spending in problem areas. To make a viable budget, track spending first. Then decide where you're spending too much and work with the numbers so you can budget to save at least 10% and ideally closer to 20% of your income. By following these tips, you'll have money to invest instead of spending everything you earn. How to invest your savings Once you've started to save, decide where to put the money so you can grow that big investment account balance. If you're saving for something like retirement and won't need the funds for at least five years or so, the money should be in the stock market. Historically, investing in the market has always been the best way to earn the returns you need to build wealth. You can research how to pick individual stocks to get your money in the market, or you can build a simple portfolio of ETFs if you want a more hands-off approach. The key is to diversify your investments and not put all your money into one stock or one industry, because that increases your risk of losing big if the company or industry doesn't perform well. You can start working on becoming wealthy today Now you know the secret to becoming wealthy. You can start working on the process today. Just make your budget, start spending less than you earn, and begin investing the difference. You'll be well on your way to financial success. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Warren Buffett Bailed Out a Bank, Then the Bank Bailed Out Buffett: Many worry that Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A) (NYSE: BRK-B) is simply too big to outperform, even with one of the world's greatest investors calling the shots. But if it can continue to find special situations like that of Home Capital Group (TSX: HCG) , Berkshire may be able to outperform the market for a very long time. In a very special deal, Berkshire bought into the bank at a discount and sold at a premium, a move that only the Oracle of Omaha could make. Getting paid for the Buffett name The Home Capital Group story is an incredible one. In April 2017, a securities regulator accused the Canadian bank of making misleading statements about the quality of its mortgage underwriting, setting off alarm bells for investors and depositors alike. By June, Home Capital Group was in crisis, as depositors were fleeing the bank. As much as the bank needed liquidity, it also needed credibility -- in a span of just a few short months, 95% of the bank's high-interest savings account deposits left it, according to Fortune . Warren Buffett at a Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting. Image source: The Motley Fool. Insert Berkshire Hathaway, arguably one of the best bank investors of all time. The conglomerate gave Home Capital Group a loan shark-style deal , offering to lend it up to 2 billion Canadian dollars at a 9% interest rate, secured by more than CA$5 billion of mortgages. Berkshire Hathaway also took a near-20% stake in the bank, buying shares at CA$9.55, a 20% discount to the average price in the 20 days leading up to its final proposal. Upon shareholder approval, Berkshire could later increase its stake to more than 38% of the bank with an additional equity investment. Buffett's first equity and debt investment was enough to inject confidence into the bank. Almost overnight, its liquidity position improved thanks to Buffett's cachet, and fears over its solvency dissipated. In a testament to how quickly things changed, Home Capital Group relied on Berkshire's credit line for less than one month, repaying it by the end of July 2017. Home Capital shareholders later voted not to allow Berkshire to buy even more of the bank at a discount. Story continues Even though Berkshire would earn only a trivial amount in interest on the loan, it had already exacted a high "fee" in the form of deeply discounted Home Capital Group stock. In roughly one month, Berkshire saw a 53% gain on its Home Capital shares, partly due to the big discount at which it bought the stock and partly due to investors buying up shares on the back of Buffett's investment. Buying at a discount, selling at a premium Berkshire Hathaway often gets a good deal when buying into a bank on the brink, but rarely has one paid it handsomely to sell out -- until now. That's where this story diverges from that of many of Buffett's bank bailouts. Last month, Home Capital Group announced it would buy back as much as 22.7% of its outstanding stock through a tender offer at a price of CA$16.50 to CA$18.50 per share, a 17% to 31% premium above where shares had most recently closed. Shareholders could submit to sell some or all of their stock at a price in the range of CA$16.50 to CA$18.50. Berkshire Hathaway was happy to cash in, offering to sell the entirety of its stake back to Home Capital Group for CA$16.50 per share. The bank will buy back 83% of Berkshire's stock at that price. So, to recap, Berkshire Hathaway bought Home Capital shares at a 20% discount to the market price in June 2017. This week, we learned that it will sell approximately 83% of its shares back to Home Capital in a tender offer at a price 17% above where shares traded prior to the tender offer. Berkshire bought in at a discount to market price and is selling most of its stock at a premium to the market price, which is about as good as it gets. Bailing out Buffett Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway may have bailed out Home Capital Group, but Home Capital Group also bailed out Berkshire Hathaway. The tender offer to buy back stock allowed Berkshire to quietly cash out of 83% of its stake in one transaction, enabling it to sell down its position without driving down the market price. Prior to selling shares in the tender offer, Berkshire's position was equivalent to about 45 days of trading volume in Home Capital Group shares. The tender offer was also advantageous for Home Capital Group, which, by buying back most of Buffett's stock, no longer has to worry about a trickle of headlines about Berkshire selling down its stake in sales through the open market. Now that Berkshire owns less than 10% of the bank, it can quietly sell the remainder of its shares with fewer disclosure requirements. This deal was a great one for Buffett and Berkshire, though anyone who tried to duplicate the trade is left holding losses. Home Capital Group, which opened at CA$17.20 per share after Buffett bought in, now trades for less than CA$14 per share. The tender offer, which locked in big gains for Berkshire, would have only locked in losses for people who followed him into the trade. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Jordan Wathen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Berkshire Hathaway (B shares). The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Warren Buffett Bailed Out a Bank, Then the Bank Bailed Out Buffett: Many worry thatBerkshire Hathaway(NYSE: BRK-A)(NYSE: BRK-B)is simply too big to outperform, even with one of the world's greatest investors calling the shots. But if it can continue to find special situations like that ofHome Capital Group(TSX: HCG), Berkshire may be able to outperform the market for a very long time.
In a very special deal, Berkshire bought into the bank at a discount and sold at a premium, a move that only the Oracle of Omaha could make.
The Home Capital Group story is an incredible one. In April 2017, a securities regulator accused the Canadian bank of making misleading statements about the quality of its mortgage underwriting, setting off alarm bells for investors and depositors alike.
By June, Home Capital Group was in crisis, as depositors were fleeing the bank. As much as the bank needed liquidity, it also needed credibility -- in a span of just a few short months, 95% of the bank's high-interest savings account deposits left it, according toFortune.
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Insert Berkshire Hathaway, arguably one of thebest bank investorsof all time. The conglomerate gave Home Capital Group aloan shark-style deal, offering to lend it up to 2 billion Canadian dollars at a 9% interest rate, secured by more than CA$5 billion of mortgages. Berkshire Hathaway also took a near-20% stake in the bank, buying shares at CA$9.55, a 20% discount to the average price in the 20 days leading up to its final proposal. Upon shareholder approval, Berkshire could later increase its stake to more than 38% of the bank with an additional equity investment.
Buffett's first equity and debt investment was enough to inject confidence into the bank. Almost overnight, its liquidity position improved thanks to Buffett's cachet, and fears over its solvency dissipated. In a testament to how quickly things changed, Home Capital Group relied on Berkshire's credit line for less than one month, repaying it by the end of July 2017. Home Capital shareholders later voted not to allow Berkshire to buy even more of the bank at a discount.
Even though Berkshire would earn only a trivial amount in interest on the loan, it had already exacted a high "fee" in the form of deeply discounted Home Capital Group stock. In roughly one month, Berkshire saw a 53% gain on its Home Capital shares, partly due to the big discount at which it bought the stock and partly due to investors buying up shares on the back of Buffett's investment.
Berkshire Hathaway often gets a good deal when buying into a bank on the brink, but rarely has one paid it handsomely to sell out -- until now. That's where this story diverges from that of many of Buffett's bank bailouts.
Last month, Home Capital Group announced it would buy back as much as 22.7% of its outstanding stock through a tender offer at a price of CA$16.50 to CA$18.50 per share, a 17% to 31% premium above where shares had most recently closed.
Shareholders could submit to sell some or all of their stock at a price in the range of CA$16.50 to CA$18.50. Berkshire Hathaway was happy to cash in, offering to sell the entirety of its stake back to Home Capital Group for CA$16.50 per share. The bank will buy back 83% of Berkshire's stock at that price.
So, to recap, Berkshire Hathaway bought Home Capital shares at a 20% discount to the market price in June 2017. This week, we learned that it will sell approximately 83% of its shares back to Home Capital in a tender offer at a price 17% above where shares traded prior to the tender offer.
Berkshire bought in at a discount to market price and is selling most of its stock at a premium to the market price, which is about as good as it gets.
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway may have bailed out Home Capital Group, but Home Capital Group also bailed out Berkshire Hathaway.
The tender offer to buy back stock allowed Berkshire to quietly cash out of 83% of its stake in one transaction, enabling it to sell down its position without driving down the market price. Prior to selling shares in the tender offer, Berkshire's position was equivalent to about 45 days of trading volume in Home Capital Group shares.
The tender offer was also advantageous for Home Capital Group, which, by buying back most of Buffett's stock, no longer has to worry about a trickle of headlines about Berkshire selling down its stake in sales through the open market. Now that Berkshire owns less than 10% of the bank, it can quietly sell the remainder of its shares with fewer disclosure requirements.
This deal was a great one for Buffett and Berkshire, though anyone who tried to duplicate the trade is left holding losses. Home Capital Group, which opened at CA$17.20 per share after Buffett bought in, now trades for less than CA$14 per share. The tender offer, which locked in big gains for Berkshire, would have only locked in losses for people who followed him into the trade.
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• 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices
• 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018
• 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing
• 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today
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Jordan Wathenhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Berkshire Hathaway (B shares). The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || India: Police Bust Bitcoin Ponzi Scheme that Defrauded 8,000 Crypto Investors: india police cryptocurrency regulation bitcoin crime ico Police in India have cracked a crypto Ponzi scheme in the city of Pune that defrauded over 8,000 investors, seizing nearly $2 million worth of bitcoin in the process. According to a news report from The Times of India , police have been on the trail of the scammers since January and have now arrested the scam’s ringleader, Amit Bhardwaj, and ten accomplices for their fraudulent activities. Bhardwaj and his brother, who was also implicated in the case, were taken from Dubai to Delhi where they will now stand trial. Catching the Crypto Ponzi Scheme Scammers Bhardwaj owned a company called GainBitcoin that promised investors 10% returns in order to lure them into the crypto Ponzi scheme. Bhardwaj and his accomplices used the money to live the life of luxury and their ill-gotten gains on partying to attract even more victims. Although a majority of the Indian crypto scams took place in Pune, the scammers also hosted high-end luxury parties across Macau and Dubai to entice potential investors. They used these parties to defraud investors. Indian police had received numerous complaints from defrauded investors in the past six months, which bolstered the evidence they had already collected in regards to the gang since last January. Bitcoin Cache Seized During Sting When the police busted Bhardwaj for perpetrating the crypto Ponzi scheme, they ordered him to return the principal amount invested in the scam , but the ringleader denied all allegations thrown his way. Once the police began performing digital forensics on Bhardwaj and his gang’s crypto accounts, they found a treasure trove of cryptocurrencies. As part of the haul, Indian police confiscated almost 452 bitcoins from a cryptocurrency wallet used by the scam’s gang members. Back in November, Indian authorities also seized 32 bitcoins, 390,000 rupees in cash, and 79.99 ether (ETH) as part of the continuing investigations in the case. It is believed that the scammers still have 160 bitcoins stashed away somewhere, along with 80,000 ETH. The investigations are still ongoing, and police are still unearthing the full scale of this audacious crypto crime ring. Featured Image from Shutterstock The post India: Police Bust Bitcoin Ponzi Scheme that Defrauded 8,000 Crypto Investors appeared first on CCN . || India: Police Bust Bitcoin Ponzi Scheme that Defrauded 8,000 Crypto Investors: Police in India have cracked a crypto Ponzi scheme in the city of Pune that defrauded over 8,000 investors, seizing nearly $2 million worth of bitcoin in the process.
According to a news report fromThe Times of India, police have been on the trail of the scammers since January and have now arrested the scam’s ringleader, Amit Bhardwaj, and ten accomplices for their fraudulent activities. Bhardwaj and his brother, who was also implicated in the case, were taken from Dubai to Delhi where they will now stand trial.
Bhardwaj owned a company called GainBitcoin that promised investors 10% returns in order to lure them into the crypto Ponzi scheme. Bhardwaj and his accomplices used the money to live the life of luxury and their ill-gotten gains on partying to attract even more victims.
Although a majority of theIndian crypto scamstook place in Pune, the scammers also hosted high-end luxury parties across Macau and Dubai to entice potential investors. They used these parties to defraud investors.
Indian police had received numerous complaints from defrauded investors in the past six months, which bolstered the evidence they had already collected in regards to the gang since last January.
When the police busted Bhardwaj for perpetrating the crypto Ponzi scheme, they ordered him to return the principal amountinvested in the scam, but the ringleader denied all allegations thrown his way.
Once the police began performing digital forensics on Bhardwaj and his gang’s crypto accounts, they found a treasure trove of cryptocurrencies.
As part of the haul, Indian police confiscated almost 452 bitcoins from a cryptocurrency wallet used by the scam’s gang members. Back in November, Indian authorities also seized 32 bitcoins, 390,000 rupees in cash, and 79.99 ether (ETH) as part of the continuing investigations in the case.
It is believed that the scammers still have 160 bitcoins stashed away somewhere, along with 80,000 ETH. The investigations are still ongoing, and police are still unearthing the full scale of this audacious crypto crime ring.
Featured Image from Shutterstock
The postIndia: Police Bust Bitcoin Ponzi Scheme that Defrauded 8,000 Crypto Investorsappeared first onCCN. || India: Police Bust Bitcoin Ponzi Scheme that Defrauded 8,000 Crypto Investors: Police in India have cracked a crypto Ponzi scheme in the city of Pune that defrauded over 8,000 investors, seizing nearly $2 million worth of bitcoin in the process.
According to a news report fromThe Times of India, police have been on the trail of the scammers since January and have now arrested the scam’s ringleader, Amit Bhardwaj, and ten accomplices for their fraudulent activities. Bhardwaj and his brother, who was also implicated in the case, were taken from Dubai to Delhi where they will now stand trial.
Bhardwaj owned a company called GainBitcoin that promised investors 10% returns in order to lure them into the crypto Ponzi scheme. Bhardwaj and his accomplices used the money to live the life of luxury and their ill-gotten gains on partying to attract even more victims.
Although a majority of theIndian crypto scamstook place in Pune, the scammers also hosted high-end luxury parties across Macau and Dubai to entice potential investors. They used these parties to defraud investors.
Indian police had received numerous complaints from defrauded investors in the past six months, which bolstered the evidence they had already collected in regards to the gang since last January.
When the police busted Bhardwaj for perpetrating the crypto Ponzi scheme, they ordered him to return the principal amountinvested in the scam, but the ringleader denied all allegations thrown his way.
Once the police began performing digital forensics on Bhardwaj and his gang’s crypto accounts, they found a treasure trove of cryptocurrencies.
As part of the haul, Indian police confiscated almost 452 bitcoins from a cryptocurrency wallet used by the scam’s gang members. Back in November, Indian authorities also seized 32 bitcoins, 390,000 rupees in cash, and 79.99 ether (ETH) as part of the continuing investigations in the case.
It is believed that the scammers still have 160 bitcoins stashed away somewhere, along with 80,000 ETH. The investigations are still ongoing, and police are still unearthing the full scale of this audacious crypto crime ring.
Featured Image from Shutterstock
The postIndia: Police Bust Bitcoin Ponzi Scheme that Defrauded 8,000 Crypto Investorsappeared first onCCN. || Dollar Saved from Worst Weekly Loss in 10 Months by Aggressive Safe-Haven Buying: U.S. Treasury markets showed little reaction to the plunge in the U.S. equity markets on Friday, suggesting the selling pressure was orderly and not representative of a panic. The price range was relatively tight with yields settling near eight-month lows as President Donald Trump threatened a ‘very long” government shutdown and some traders shedding risky assets ahead of the long holiday weekend.
T-notes and T-bonds have been on a tear since the Federal Reserve on Wednesday revealed its updated monetary policy strategy and economic projections which struck a more dovish tone than in the previous meetings, but not dovish enough for the markets’ liking.
Investors had expected the Fed to indicate that further rate increases would be more data dependent due to plunging stock markets, slowing international growth and a potential slowdown in the U.S. economy, however, the central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by 25-basis points while pledging to keep withdrawing support from an economy it views as strong.
Yields did rise a little on an intraday basis on Friday after New York President John Williams said that the U.S. central bank is open to reassessing its views and listening to market signals that the U.S. economy could fall short of expectations.
At the end of the session, the benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield was little changed at 2.792 percent. The yield hit an 8-month low of 2.748 percent on Thursday, well-off a seven-year high of 3.261 percent reached on October 9.
U.S. 30-year Treasury bonds rose on the week, benefitting from year-end demand from fund managers rebalancing portfolios.
TheU.S. Dollarposted a volatile range against a basket of currencies on Friday, first dipping to a its lowest level since November 22 then rebounding to close only slightly lower while recapturing nearly half of the week’s losses. The strong recovery helped the dollar avoid its biggest weekly loss in 10 months.
Traders said the rebound in the dollar was fueled by aggressive safe-haven buying amid stock market volatility, weaker Treasury yields and a possible U.S. government shutdown.
U.S. economic data was mixed on Friday and had very little effect on the financial markets. Core Durable Goods Orders, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, dropped 0.3%, missing the forecast for a 0.3% increase. Durable Goods Orders came in up 0.8%, lower than the 1.6% estimate.
The U.S. economy also slowed slightly more than previously estimated in the third quarter, and momentum appears to have moderated further in the fourth, according to the Commerce Department. Final GDP came in at 3.4%, down slightly from the previous read of 3.5%.
The government also said that data indicated U.S. consumer spending increased solidly in November, but wage growth remained moderate, suggesting the current pace of consumption was unlikely to be sustained.
Personal Spending was up 0.4%, higher than the 0.3% estimate. The previous month was revised higher to 0.8%. Personal Income, however, came in lower than expected at 0.2%, missing the 0.3% forecast. It was also lower than the previously reported 0.5%.
The Core PCE Price Index, the Fed’s preferred inflation measure, was 0.1%, below the 0.2% forecast.
Revised University of Michigan Sentiment jumped to 98.3, beating the 97.6 estimate and the previously reported 97.5.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Natural Gas Weekly Price Forecast – natural gas markets fall again || Opinion: How To Cherry-Pick Cryptocurrencies?: Some metrics are used time and time again to help technologists claimsome sort of supremacyfor their protocol. There are two that stand out: transactions per second and market capitalization; however, are these two metrics what matters when picking whatcryptocurrencies to invest in?
The ability of cryptocurrenciesto scaleis constantly in question, and the best way to measure their ability to handle a higher capacity is by looking at how many transactions can be processed by a particular cryptocurrency.
The problem arises when it becomes clear this is a marketing gimmick more than an effective tool for evaluating thelong-term potential of a coin.WhenBitcoin implemented SegWit, all the current problems with unconfirmed transactions disappeared and, for the time being, there are no more issues with it. Some more important questions for investors to ask is, what is the current demand on the system, is the protocol meeting those demands andwhat are the plans to increase the capacity in the future?The other deceiving metric is market capitalization, as it often uses the total number of coins in existence rather than the total amount in circulation. This difference is key, as otherwise, a massive inflation of market capitalization can occur.For example, this inflation may occur if only half of the coins are in circulation. The company would hold the other half of the coins, and the current trading price is applied to those all coins, regardless of the fact they have never been bought or sold.A better way to evaluate the market capitalization of crypto-companies is by assessing the amount of real capital that has been invested into it. This would give an accurate picture of the aggregate interest the world has in that protocol, and takes away the loopy financial valuations that can occur when companies count undistributed coins in their market cap.
note: these are very simpletips and ideasabout looking for the right metrics to value cryptocurrencies, however, I do believe these same ideas are extremely powerful to help preventing overvaluing coins.
Prices rarely matter for my long-term analysis, as I don’t expect growth to be linear. Volatility is something that I personally love and have came to terms with: it can takes us to the moon, or hell; but without it we won’t go anywhere. What matters the most are the small details, like the ones I’m mentioning below, which dictate most of everyone’s success and failures.
There’s a really nice article explaining why timing is so critical, but the gist of it is that if you miss, for example, 10 days of trading, during peaks/lows, you could lose potentially lose more than 50% of all potential profits. This is, missing the 10 best days can lower your expected returns in halve.What we ought to do is to actually wait patiently for a good opportunity to either buy or sell; instead of worrying, take these opportunities to either average your losses, by re-buying bitcoin, or to actually dig-deeper and study some techniques that can help you improve your predictions accuracy.TA is definitely a great way to try better understanding price movements and how you can leverage them for your own gains.
A fairly successful strategy among many traders and investors is to pick a day, every month, and just buy the same quantity. For instance, I try to split my entry-points in 4 or 5 smaller ones, near key resistance and support levels, and then I just wait until either the price moves in the opposite direction and I’m forced to re-assess, or the orders go in.
This is considered to be a safe strategy as you simply dilute probabilities by a longer time-frame.
A key point in my analysis is looking at companies from an objective, third-person, perspective, comparing what I consider to be thefundamental valuesfor the success of any cryptocurrency project:
1. Technology ->it dictates user adoption. Understanding how bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies work under the hood is to me, the most important value. But only because I like technology and it’s easier to spend time around the subject. Pick something you like to do and you won’t work a day in life.
2. Psychology ->it dictates market behavior. If you want a neat tool to understand when it’s a perfect time to sell, check google trends. People lookup bitcoin the most when prices are incredibly high. I would argue its our nature to buy when prices are high due to excessive FOMO and hype. That’s why it is so important to be a contrarian when it comes to market movement.
3. Business ->it dictates investors strategy. Consider the following: if the shares-asset class is doing fine, how do you think the price of long-term assets, like gold or silver, will behave? Interest rates at zero make investors bullish on spending money on assets with huge returns, as making riskier gambles is cheaper due to money being cheaper to get. Don’t people say bitcoin is the new digital gold? What do you think it will happen when traditional markets enter a bear-run? In my eyes, cryptocurrency could be the answer.
4. Philosophy ->it dictates market values. If you didn’t know, most technological problems are also philosophical ones; if you think of scalability, the hottest subject around cryptocurrency adoption, it becomes obvious the discussion is not whether you can scale bitcoin (or other cryptocurrencies), but how you’ll do it. Will you give up decentralization for efficiency?
I hope these tips help you in your endeavors to becoming a better investor and trader!
Don’t forget: we should only invest what we can afford to lose. Mistakes will be made and money will be lost, however, if you work hard on a balanced strategy, your long-terms results will most definitely improve!
Rome wasn’t built in a day.If you really want to succeed in this market, you need to go all-in. No, do not put all your hard-earned cash into bitcoin, but do dive-deep into cryptocurrency: either by learning about technology, business, market behavior, TA, or any other field you might consider relevant, you’ll be adding value to the market because your gambles will be more accurate and you’ll likely bet on better projects or assets.Markets are cyclical. If you lost money now you can always recover it on the next bull-run, which in my not-expert opinion is coming soon.
One of the obvious reasons are ETFs. If, in one hand, bitcoin futures gave institutional investors a chance to bet heavily against bitcoin and make double-wins, ETFs will have the exact opposite effect, one hopes.
My final piece of advice is for you to set reasonable targets in your head and don’t get too greedy. Be patient and learn as many different strategies as possible; with time and enough dumb decisions, knowledge and experience will come!
Disclaimer: this article isn’t financial advisement; it represents my personal opinion andshould not be attributed to CCN. I have savings invested in cryptocurrency so take whatever I write with a grain of salt. Do not invest what you cannot afford to lose and always read as much as possible about a project before investing.
The postOpinion: How To Cherry-Pick Cryptocurrencies?appeared first onCCN. || Switzerland Merchants Charged 8% by PayPal Showing Merits of Crypto: PayPal, a leading payments processor valued at over $97 billion, charges merchants high percentage-based fees on top of a flat based fee of 2.9 percent. The high transaction fee of PayPal has led merchants to explore alternatives like crypto to minimize expenses.
For most normal users on PayPal, a transaction from one user to another in the same country is charged a base fee of 2.9 percent. But, if the transaction is sent to a user in a different country, conversion rates apply, often taking the fee from 2.9 percent to over 5 percent.
For merchants, the fee can exceed the range of 8 to 10 percent depending on the country a merchant or a user is based in.
On a cryptocurrency-relatedsubreddit(/r/cryptocurrency), oneSwitzerland-basedmerchant shared a screenshot of a transaction covering a payment received from a buyer with seller protection.
For a purchase of one deck of crypto playing cards worth 14.9 francs (CHF) which is equivalent to $15, PayPal charged a transaction fee of 1.21 franc, an 8.12 percent fee.
The payment seems small due to the low price of the product, but if the merchant sells 1,000 of the crypto playing cards and generates $15,000, an 8.12 percent fee on the revenue is $1,218.
Merchants often have to deal with a wide range of costs and for those dealing with physical products, merchants have to cover manufacturing costs and taxes among other expenses. An 8.12 percent fee before any other expense is deducted from the revenue places a significant burden on a merchant.
On most payments platforms, a system called seller protection also locks certain payments received by merchants from time to time for three months, disallowing merchants from withdrawing the money sent by buyers for a set period of time in case the buyer wants a refund.
Such a policy causes a major problem for merchants, especially for small businesses which are scaling, that need to address urgent payments and cover expenses with the revenue generated through e-commerce platforms and facilitated by PayPal.
The Swiss merchant said that six payments are currently stuck for another three months without a specific reason provided by PayPal.
The merchantwrote:
But now I wished I never used PayPal, got a lot of money stuck for another 3 months (6 total) and they give me no reason at all. After being a customer of theirs for 6 years one day they decided nope were gonna hold your money, ban you from our service.
Despite the increase in the value ofBitcoinand major crypto assets over the past nine years, the cryptocurrency sector has not seen an improvement in merchant adoption at the same rate as other areas of the space.
Prior to the bull run of cryptocurrencies in late 2017, it was difficult for cryptocurrency companies to convince merchants to adopt digital assets due to the lack of mainstream awareness of the asset class.
As the infrastructure around digital assets strengthens and companies like ICE and Bakkt continue to build services around it, more merchants could begin to integrate cryptocurrencies as an alternative to payment processors.
Already, the Switzerland-based merchant has integrated a cryptocurrency payments processor into an e-commerce website to experiment with digital assets.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
The postSwitzerland Merchants Charged 8% by PayPal Showing Merits of Cryptoappeared first onCCN.
[Social Media Buzz]
2018/12/23 18:00
BTC 443176.5円
ETH 14243.3円
ETC 534.2円
BCH 21173円
XRP 40.5円
XEM 8.2円
LSK 163.2円
MONA 78.4円
#仮想通貨 #ビットコイン #Bitcoin #bitFlyer #Coincheck || 12/23 23:00現在
#Bitcoin : 445,010円↑
#NEM #XEM : 8.2018円↑
#Monacoin : 134円→
#Ethereum : 14,260円↑
#Zaif : 0.1763円↑ || Cotización del Bitcoin Cash: 174 30.€ | +0.87% | Kraken | 23/12/18 22:00 #BitcoinCash #Kraken #BCHEUR || $BTC : -0.41% 4029$
Top (last h):
$TKT : +107.83% 83st
$EVN : +11.29% 7015st
$SS : +10.10% 134st
$VNX : +10.00% 8st
Worst ...
|
4078.60, 3815.49, 3857.30, 3654.83, 3923.92, 3820.41, 3865.95, 3742.70, 3843.52, 3943.41
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 11246.35, 11205.89, 11747.02, 11779.77, 11601.47, 11754.05, 11675.74, 11878.11, 11410.53, 11584.93, 11784.14, 11768.87, 11865.70, 11892.80, 12254.40, 11991.23, 11758.28, 11878.37, 11592.49, 11681.83, 11664.85, 11774.60, 11366.13, 11488.36, 11323.40, 11542.50, 11506.87, 11711.51, 11680.82, 11970.48, 11414.03, 10245.30, 10511.81, 10169.57, 10280.35, 10369.56, 10131.52, 10242.35, 10363.14, 10400.92, 10442.17, 10323.76, 10680.84, 10796.95, 10974.91, 10948.99, 10944.59, 11094.35, 10938.27, 10462.26, 10538.46, 10246.19, 10760.07, 10692.72, 10750.72, 10775.27, 10709.65, 10844.64, 10784.49, 10619.45, 10575.97, 10549.33, 10669.58, 10793.34, 10604.41, 10668.97, 10915.69, 11064.46, 11296.36, 11384.18, 11555.36, 11425.90, 11429.51, 11495.35, 11322.12, 11358.10, 11483.36, 11742.04, 11916.33, 12823.69, 12965.89, 12931.54, 13108.06, 13031.17, 13075.25, 13654.22, 13271.29, 13437.88, 13546.52, 13781.00.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2020-10-31]
Volume: 30306464719, RSI (14-day): 77.24, 50-day EMA: 11832.09, 200-day EMA: 10440.34
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Twitter Relents, Unlocks New York Post ’s Account after Blocking Hunter Biden Reports: Twitter relented on Friday and unlocked the New York Post’s main Twitter account after refusing to do so for two weeks over tweets linking to the news outlet’s exclusive reports on leaked emails revealing high-dollar negotiations between Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden and foreign companies. “Our policies are living documents,” Twitter said in a series of tweets Friday. “We’re willing to update and adjust them when we encounter new scenarios or receive important feedback from the public.” “One such example is the recent change to our Hacked Materials Policy and its impact on accounts like the New York Post,” the social media platform continued, adding that it is “updating our practice of not retroactively overturning prior enforcement.” On October 14, Twitter locked the Post’s account and blocked users from tweeting out the link to the first of several Post stories detailing the Hunter Biden emails, saying the news outlet violated its policy on sharing “hacked materials.” The mammoth social media company did not provide details on its decision and demanded that the Post delete six tweets linking to the Hunter Biden stories. The Post refused to delete the tweets. Emails from 2017 show Biden discussing a deal with the former chairman of Chinese energy company CEFC China Energy, Ye Jianming, saying Ye agreed to improve the terms of Biden’s three-year consulting contract with CEFC, which initially promised Biden $10 million per-year “for introductions alone.” In leaked emails from 2014, Biden appears to try to leverage his influence with his father, then-vice president Joe Biden, in negotiations regarding his lucrative position on the board of the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma. He refers to his father, who was heavily involved in U.S. policy on Ukraine at the time, as “my guy.” Twitter also suspended the Trump campaign’s account earlier this month for attempting to tweet out a video calling Biden a “liar” and citing the Post’s reports. Story continues Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee attempted to help circumvent the Twitter block on the Biden report by reprinting the Post’s story on the committee’s government website . However, Twitter allowed users to tweet the committee’s link but inserted a warning that pops up when users try to click on the link, warning that the content may be “unsafe” or contain “violent or misleading content that could lead to real-world harm.” Shortly after the Post’s account was locked, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey acknowledged that, “our communication around our actions on the @nypost article was not great. And blocking URL sharing via tweet or DM with zero context as to why we’re blocking: unacceptable.” More from National Review Twitter Suspends Trump Campaign Account over Video Citing NY Post Hunter Biden Report Journalists Join Dem Operatives in Attacking Fellow Reporters over Biden-Burisma Story High-Profile Twitter Accounts Including Obama, Biden Targeted in Bitcoin Scam || Twitter Relents, Unlocks New York Post ’s Account after Blocking Hunter Biden Reports: Twitter relented on Friday and unlocked the New York Post’s main Twitter account after refusing to do so for two weeks over tweets linking to the news outlet’s exclusive reports on leaked emails revealing high-dollar negotiations between Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden and foreign companies. “Our policies are living documents,” Twitter said in a series of tweets Friday. “We’re willing to update and adjust them when we encounter new scenarios or receive important feedback from the public.” “One such example is the recent change to our Hacked Materials Policy and its impact on accounts like the New York Post,” the social media platform continued, adding that it is “updating our practice of not retroactively overturning prior enforcement.” On October 14, Twitter locked the Post’s account and blocked users from tweeting out the link to the first of several Post stories detailing the Hunter Biden emails, saying the news outlet violated its policy on sharing “hacked materials.” The mammoth social media company did not provide details on its decision and demanded that the Post delete six tweets linking to the Hunter Biden stories. The Post refused to delete the tweets. Emails from 2017 show Biden discussing a deal with the former chairman of Chinese energy company CEFC China Energy, Ye Jianming, saying Ye agreed to improve the terms of Biden’s three-year consulting contract with CEFC, which initially promised Biden $10 million per-year “for introductions alone.” In leaked emails from 2014, Biden appears to try to leverage his influence with his father, then-vice president Joe Biden, in negotiations regarding his lucrative position on the board of the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma. He refers to his father, who was heavily involved in U.S. policy on Ukraine at the time, as “my guy.” Twitter also suspended the Trump campaign’s account earlier this month for attempting to tweet out a video calling Biden a “liar” and citing the Post’s reports. Story continues Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee attempted to help circumvent the Twitter block on the Biden report by reprinting the Post’s story on the committee’s government website . However, Twitter allowed users to tweet the committee’s link but inserted a warning that pops up when users try to click on the link, warning that the content may be “unsafe” or contain “violent or misleading content that could lead to real-world harm.” Shortly after the Post’s account was locked, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey acknowledged that, “our communication around our actions on the @nypost article was not great. And blocking URL sharing via tweet or DM with zero context as to why we’re blocking: unacceptable.” More from National Review Twitter Suspends Trump Campaign Account over Video Citing NY Post Hunter Biden Report Journalists Join Dem Operatives in Attacking Fellow Reporters over Biden-Burisma Story High-Profile Twitter Accounts Including Obama, Biden Targeted in Bitcoin Scam || The S&P 500 could ‘easily’ dip into a correction before the election on Tuesday: Our mission to help you navigate the new normal is fueled by subscribers. To enjoy unlimited access to our journalism,subscribe today.Buckle up, investors: it might be a rough few days.The S&P 500 “could easily dip into correction territory on Monday, it wouldn’t be surprising if that happened,” says Randy Frederick, Charles Schwab’s vice president of trading and derivatives. The S&P 500 would need to touch 3,222 points to register a 10% correction from its previous high on Sept. 2. On Friday, the index closed down 1.2% at 3,269.96, about 1.4% above correction territory.
To be sure, it’s been a rocky week in the markets heading into Election Day on Nov. 3: With the Dow down 6.5% for the week (and S&P 500 down 5.6%), markets just booked their worst one-week drop since the throes of the pandemic back in March.
Up until recent weeks, markets had felt more comfortable that therewouldn’tbea contested election, Schwab’s Frederick suggests, but now, it looks as if some investors believethe race is tighter. With conflicting views in the markets, Frederick says he’s seeing a mixed bag of signals, and there could be moves up or down.
“The indicators I follow are just all over the map, I can’t remember the last time there was such huge disagreement,” he tellsFortune. “I’ve got some indicators showing me very strong bullish signs, I’ve got some showing me very strong bearish signs, and some that are showing things they typically don’t show unless there’s high volatility expected. When you get a mix like that, about all you can say is that we know there’s going to be movement, we just don’t know which direction.”
The one thing investorscancount on in the next few days? “Things are not going to be calm and lazy and quiet,” suggests Frederick.
Strategists like Frederick are watching options and the VIX, or fear gauge, noting that the open interest put/call ratio for the VIX was at itshighest level since March on Friday. However, he notes index options (which typically show more institutional activity) might be signaling some hedging for the downside going on.
To be sure, with the election a mere two trading days away, investors are antsy, and some market observers are trying to read the tea leaves:Only twice have markets shed more than 3% in a day within six days of an election(as the S&P 500 and Dow both did on Thursday), and both times the incumbent lost, LPL’s Ryan Detrick pointed out Thursday.
Add to that adisappointing day on Friday for tech stocksfollowing big earnings from the likes ofAppleandFacebook, which dragged the tech-heavy Nasdaq nearly 2.5% lower on Friday.
Markets overall have become increasingly anxious in the past week or two astalks of a stimulus deal before the election fizzled out, and more concerning still, cases of the coronavirus in the U.S. and worldwide continue to rise, sparking fears of further restrictions (some countries have already begun another roundof lockdowns).
Indeed, absent last-minute jitters over the election, the uptick in the virus cases this week has been “the biggest catalyst for the downside moves,” says Frederick.
Still, strategists like LPL’s Jeff Buchbinder argue we’ll see a rally after election once a clear winner is named—”Whether it’s Biden or Trump, we think that clarity will help,” he tellsFortune.
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• Microsoft’s cloudcould be a bit foggy for the next quarter
• Coinbase launchescrypto debit cardin U.S. with 1% Bitcoin reward
This story was originally featured onFortune.com || The stock market has made its final prediction: Joe Biden will win the presidential election: Our mission to help you navigate the new normal is fueled by subscribers. To enjoy unlimited access to our journalism,subscribe today.Even when the polls were wrong in 2016, the stock market’s time-tested “presidential predictor”was rightabout who would win the election: The S&P 500’s 2.2% decline in the three months leading up to November four years ago signaled that the incumbent party in the White House—the Democrats—would be replaced.In other words, the stock market predicted Donald Trump would defeat Hillary Clinton despitepolls to the contrary.Now, the same stock market indicator—which is dependent upon S&P 500 performance for the three months from August through the end of October—has finalized its prediction. With the S&P 500 down slightly (just 0.6%) over that period on the last trading day of October, the stock market’spresidential predictor, as it’s known by market analysts, is officially signaling that Joe Biden will win the election.
Though the dip is minor, the negative S&P 500 performance over those three months indicates that the incumbent party—in other words, President Trump—will be voted out of the White House and replaced with a Democrat.
The pattern has held true for almost a century, since 1928, according to Sam Stovall, the chief investment strategist of CFRA who has long tracked the S&P 500. Since 1944, negative performance by the stock index over the key time frame has correctly predicted a changeover in the presidential party 88% of the time (see chart below). Only once has itbeen wrong, in 1956. (Meanwhile, positive performance by the S&P 500 in that time period has indicated reelection of the party in the White House 82% of the time.)
While there is no proven explanation for why the stock market has such a high batting average when it comes to the winner of the presidential election, analysts theorize that it likely has to do with uncertainty around the future. Investors tend to sell stocks when it’s unclear how events will play out—just see earlier this year when the coronavirus plunged the world into chaos and caused a bear market. Therefore, the thinking goes, the selloff may reveal uncertainty about how a President from a new political party will shape policy in the coming years.
Even though the S&P 500’s decline is small over the relevant prediction period, it can still be right: In the 2000 election when George W. Bush defeated Al Gore (who was then the incumbent party, following Democrat Bill Clinton), the S&P 500 was down just 0.1% from August through October, according to CFRA. Of course, the 2000 election was notoriously close, with a highly contested result that was ultimately decided by the Supreme Court—something that many politicos are already expecting could happen with this year’s election, given the unprecedented nature of the pandemic and changed voting protocols.
Still, cautions Stovall, “the presidential predictor implies, but does not guarantee, a Biden victory.”
Whether the predictor will succeed in 2020, investors and voters will have to wait until at least Election Day on Nov. 3 (orlikely longer) to find out. But no matter what happens next week, stocks have officially sealed their prediction.
• Chobani and PayPal are paying workers more—and rethinking capitalism
• When it comes to climate change, says Mark Carney,this financial crisis is different—and maybe better
• Ray Dalio on whyChinese capitalism is on the rise—and why American capitalism is in desperate need of a fix
• Microsoft’s cloudcould be a bit foggy for the next quarter
• Coinbase launchescrypto debit cardin U.S. with 1% Bitcoin reward
This story was originally featured onFortune.com || The stock market has made its final prediction: Joe Biden will win the presidential election: Our mission to help you navigate the new normal is fueled by subscribers. To enjoy unlimited access to our journalism, subscribe today . Even when the polls were wrong in 2016, the stock market’s time-tested “presidential predictor” was right about who would win the election: The S&P 500’s 2.2% decline in the three months leading up to November four years ago signaled that the incumbent party in the White House—the Democrats—would be replaced. In other words, the stock market predicted Donald Trump would defeat Hillary Clinton despite polls to the contrary . Now, the same stock market indicator—which is dependent upon S&P 500 performance for the three months from August through the end of October—has finalized its prediction. With the S&P 500 down slightly (just 0.6%) over that period on the last trading day of October, the stock market’s presidential predictor , as it’s known by market analysts, is officially signaling that Joe Biden will win the election. Though the dip is minor, the negative S&P 500 performance over those three months indicates that the incumbent party—in other words, President Trump—will be voted out of the White House and replaced with a Democrat. The pattern has held true for almost a century, since 1928, according to Sam Stovall, the chief investment strategist of CFRA who has long tracked the S&P 500. Since 1944, negative performance by the stock index over the key time frame has correctly predicted a changeover in the presidential party 88% of the time (see chart below). Only once has it been wrong, in 1956 . (Meanwhile, positive performance by the S&P 500 in that time period has indicated reelection of the party in the White House 82% of the time.) While there is no proven explanation for why the stock market has such a high batting average when it comes to the winner of the presidential election, analysts theorize that it likely has to do with uncertainty around the future. Investors tend to sell stocks when it’s unclear how events will play out—just see earlier this year when the coronavirus plunged the world into chaos and caused a bear market. Therefore, the thinking goes, the selloff may reveal uncertainty about how a President from a new political party will shape policy in the coming years. Story continues Even though the S&P 500’s decline is small over the relevant prediction period, it can still be right: In the 2000 election when George W. Bush defeated Al Gore (who was then the incumbent party, following Democrat Bill Clinton), the S&P 500 was down just 0.1% from August through October, according to CFRA. Of course, the 2000 election was notoriously close, with a highly contested result that was ultimately decided by the Supreme Court—something that many politicos are already expecting could happen with this year’s election, given the unprecedented nature of the pandemic and changed voting protocols. Courtesy of CFRA Still, cautions Stovall, “the presidential predictor implies, but does not guarantee, a Biden victory.” Whether the predictor will succeed in 2020, investors and voters will have to wait until at least Election Day on Nov. 3 (or likely longer ) to find out. But no matter what happens next week, stocks have officially sealed their prediction. More must-read finance coverage from Fortune : Chobani and PayPal are paying workers more— and rethinking capitalism When it comes to climate change, says Mark Carney, this financial crisis is different —and maybe better Ray Dalio on why Chinese capitalism is on the rise —and why American capitalism is in desperate need of a fix Microsoft’s cloud could be a bit foggy for the next quarter Coinbase launches crypto debit card in U.S. with 1% Bitcoin reward This story was originally featured on Fortune.com || Crypto Lender Celsius Taps Horizen for ‘Proof-of-Reserves’ Proof of Concept: Crypto lender Celsius is producing a series of experiments over the next few months that would test what it would look like for the company to decentralize some of its operations.
The centralized finance (CeFi) stalwart is working with Horizen, a platform that develops and maintains the privacy tokenZEN, to take a look at creating a proof-of-reserves system using Horizen’s zero-knowledge proofs.
“The biggest challenge in DeFi [decentralized finance] is transparency,” said Nuke Goldstein, chief technology officer at Celsius. “How do we show the world that the numbers that we report are real?”
Related:ETH Gobbles Up Larger Share of Genesis Loan Book as Trading Firms Feast on DeFi Summer
The proof-of-reserves pilot would take the information that appears on Celsius’ website and have it fed from a Horizen sidechain as opposed to Celsius’ internal servers. The application would show total customer assets per coin type at first and eventually share Celsius transaction data encrypted by Horizen’s zero-knowledge-proof toolkit so as to not reveal the personally identifiable information of customers.
That said, the proof of reserves wouldn’t give customers alook into whatportion of Celsius’ lending portfolio is unsecured; what portion of depositors’ funds have been invested in derivatives contracts rather than in loans; or the amount of collateral pledged by borrowers that is being rehypothecated (i.e. lent out) by Celsius.
Read more:What Crypto Lender Celsius Isn’t Telling Its Depositors
Nic Carter, co-founder of Castle Island Ventures and Coin Metrics, has written extensively aboutproof of reservesand is advocating for every crypto custody firm to adopt the transparency measure.
Related:Leaked Recordings Suggest Crypto Lender Babel Leveraged Users' Funds in Longing Bitcoin
“Because I’ve never seen a proof of reserves for a lender before, it’s difficult to conceptualize what they’re trying to do,” Carter said via email. “ZK-proofs for PoR I’m familiar with, but they are a bit black-boxy. I’ve never seen them deployed in the wild.”
Celsius failed to provide a wireframe of the concept. CTO Goldstein added:
“The full implementation will automate reserve tracking directly from blockchain feeds and retain the privacy of individual accounts so that account data cannot be reverse-engineered.”
The company is going to start offering these solutions on the retail side of its loan book first, Goldstein added.
Celsius will also subject these proofs-of-concept to hackathons in the Celsius community.
“We’re going to wrap the ideas and technology in such a way that we can share with the community and say, ‘Try to find holes in this, try to find what’s wrong with this,’” Goldstein said. “And if you find something, we pay you for it.”
It will be years however before customers see these applications in production, Goldstein said.
“It’s a long process but these phases will get us closer,” he said.
• Crypto Lender Celsius Taps Horizen for ‘Proof-of-Reserves’ Proof of Concept
• Crypto Lender Celsius Taps Horizen for ‘Proof-of-Reserves’ Proof of Concept || Crypto Lender Celsius Taps Horizen for ‘Proof-of-Reserves’ Proof of Concept: Crypto lender Celsius is producing a series of experiments over the next few months that would test what it would look like for the company to decentralize some of its operations. The centralized finance (CeFi) stalwart is working with Horizen, a platform that develops and maintains the privacy token ZEN , to take a look at creating a proof-of-reserves system using Horizen’s zero-knowledge proofs. “The biggest challenge in DeFi [decentralized finance] is transparency,” said Nuke Goldstein, chief technology officer at Celsius. “How do we show the world that the numbers that we report are real?” Related: ETH Gobbles Up Larger Share of Genesis Loan Book as Trading Firms Feast on DeFi Summer The proof-of-reserves pilot would take the information that appears on Celsius’ website and have it fed from a Horizen sidechain as opposed to Celsius’ internal servers. The application would show total customer assets per coin type at first and eventually share Celsius transaction data encrypted by Horizen’s zero-knowledge-proof toolkit so as to not reveal the personally identifiable information of customers. That said, the proof of reserves wouldn’t give customers a look into what portion of Celsius’ lending portfolio is unsecured; what portion of depositors’ funds have been invested in derivatives contracts rather than in loans; or the amount of collateral pledged by borrowers that is being rehypothecated (i.e. lent out) by Celsius. Read more: What Crypto Lender Celsius Isn’t Telling Its Depositors Nic Carter, co-founder of Castle Island Ventures and Coin Metrics, has written extensively about proof of reserves and is advocating for every crypto custody firm to adopt the transparency measure. Related: Leaked Recordings Suggest Crypto Lender Babel Leveraged Users' Funds in Longing Bitcoin “Because I’ve never seen a proof of reserves for a lender before, it’s difficult to conceptualize what they’re trying to do,” Carter said via email. “ZK-proofs for PoR I’m familiar with, but they are a bit black-boxy. I’ve never seen them deployed in the wild.” Story continues Celsius failed to provide a wireframe of the concept. CTO Goldstein added: “The full implementation will automate reserve tracking directly from blockchain feeds and retain the privacy of individual accounts so that account data cannot be reverse-engineered.” The company is going to start offering these solutions on the retail side of its loan book first, Goldstein added. Celsius will also subject these proofs-of-concept to hackathons in the Celsius community. “We’re going to wrap the ideas and technology in such a way that we can share with the community and say, ‘Try to find holes in this, try to find what’s wrong with this,’” Goldstein said. “And if you find something, we pay you for it.” It will be years however before customers see these applications in production, Goldstein said. “It’s a long process but these phases will get us closer,” he said. Related Stories Crypto Lender Celsius Taps Horizen for ‘Proof-of-Reserves’ Proof of Concept Crypto Lender Celsius Taps Horizen for ‘Proof-of-Reserves’ Proof of Concept || ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / October 30, 2020 / ALT 5 Sigma Inc. an emerging leader in blockchain-powered financial platforms provides its daily digital instruments market summary for Bitcoin (BTC/USD), Ether (ETH/USD), Litecoin (LTC/USD). Real-Time Market Data is available at www.alt5pro.com and Real-Time Market Data feed is also available at www.alt5sigma.com ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH ALT5 Sigma Market Summary Friday, October 30 2020 at 4:02 PM Digital Asset Pair Price 24hr Chg 7d Chg 24/hr Volume MarketCap Bitcoin BTC/USD $13,527.20 -$0.00 $0.05 $29,924 M $250,659 M Ethereum ETH/USD $383.47 -$0.02 -$0.06 $13,732 M $43,418 M XRP XRP/USD $0.24 -$0.03 -$0.06 $2,399 M $10,798 M Bitcoin Cash BCH/USD $260.86 -$0.03 -$0.03 $3,119 M $4,841 M Litecoin LTC/USD $53.85 -$0.03 -$0.02 $2,595 M $3,542 M Bitcoin SV BSV/USD $161.88 -$0.04 -$0.01 $852 M $3,004 M EOS EOS/USD $2.52 -$0.04 -$0.04 $2,669 M $2,361 M Monero XMR/USD $123.68 -$0.02 -$0.00 $1,112 M $2,195 M Stellar XLM/USD $0.08 -$0.02 -$0.09 $123 M $1,599 M Dash DASH/USD $70.66 $0.04 -$0.01 $530 M $692 M About ALT 5 Sigma Inc. ALT 5 is a fintech company specializing in the development and deployment of digital assets trading and exchange platforms. Alt 5 was founded by financial industry specialists out of the necessity to provide the digital asset economy with security, accessibility, transparency and compliance. ALT 5 provides its clients the ability to buy, sell and hold digital assets in a safe and secure environment deployed with the best practices of the financial industry. ALT 5's products and services are available to Banks, Broker Dealers, Funds, Family Offices, Professional Traders, Retail Traders, Digital Asset Exchanges, Digital Asset Brokers, Blockchain Developers, and Financial Information Providers. ALT 5's digital asset custodian services are secured by GardaWorld. GardaWorld is the world's largest privately-owned business solutions and security services company, offering cash management services. Story continues For more information, visit www.alt5sigma.com . Contact: Andre Beauchesne Tel. 1-800-204-6203 [email protected] For more information on ALT 5 Pay, visit www.alt5pay.com For more information on ALT 5 Pro, visit www.alt5pro.com SOURCE: ALT 5 Sigma Inc. View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/613666/ALT-5-Sigma-Digital-Instrument-Market-Summary-for-BTC-ETH-LTC-BCH || ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / October 30, 2020 /ALT 5 Sigma Inc. an emerging leader in blockchain-powered financial platforms provides its daily digital instruments market summary for Bitcoin (BTC/USD), Ether (ETH/USD), Litecoin (LTC/USD).
Real-Time Market Data is available atwww.alt5pro.comand Real-Time Market Data feed is also available atwww.alt5sigma.comALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH
[["Digital Asset", "Pair", "Price", "24hr Chg", "7d Chg", "24/hr Volume", "MarketCap"], ["Bitcoin", "BTC/USD", "$13,527.20", "-$0.00", "$0.05", "$29,924 M", "$250,659 M"], ["Ethereum", "ETH/USD", "$383.47", "-$0.02", "-$0.06", "$13,732 M", "$43,418 M"], ["XRP", "XRP/USD", "$0.24", "-$0.03", "-$0.06", "$2,399 M", "$10,798 M"], ["Bitcoin Cash", "BCH/USD", "$260.86", "-$0.03", "-$0.03", "$3,119 M", "$4,841 M"], ["Litecoin", "LTC/USD", "$53.85", "-$0.03", "-$0.02", "$2,595 M", "$3,542 M"], ["Bitcoin SV", "BSV/USD", "$161.88", "-$0.04", "-$0.01", "$852 M", "$3,004 M"], ["EOS", "EOS/USD", "$2.52", "-$0.04", "-$0.04", "$2,669 M", "$2,361 M"], ["Monero", "XMR/USD", "$123.68", "-$0.02", "-$0.00", "$1,112 M", "$2,195 M"], ["Stellar", "XLM/USD", "$0.08", "-$0.02", "-$0.09", "$123 M", "$1,599 M"], ["Dash", "DASH/USD", "$70.66", "$0.04", "-$0.01", "$530 M", "$692 M"]]
About ALT 5 Sigma Inc.ALT 5 is a fintech company specializing in the development and deployment of digital assets trading and exchange platforms. Alt 5 was founded by financial industry specialists out of the necessity to provide the digital asset economy with security, accessibility, transparency and compliance.
ALT 5 provides its clients the ability to buy, sell and hold digital assets in a safe and secure environment deployed with the best practices of the financial industry. ALT 5's products and services are available to Banks, Broker Dealers, Funds, Family Offices, Professional Traders, Retail Traders, Digital Asset Exchanges, Digital Asset Brokers, Blockchain Developers, and Financial Information Providers.
ALT 5's digital asset custodian services are secured by GardaWorld. GardaWorld is the world's largest privately-owned business solutions and security services company, offering cash management services.
For more information, visitwww.alt5sigma.com.
Contact:Andre BeauchesneTel. [email protected]
For more information on ALT 5 Pay, visitwww.alt5pay.comFor more information on ALT 5 Pro, visitwww.alt5pro.com
SOURCE:ALT 5 Sigma Inc.
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/613666/ALT-5-Sigma-Digital-Instrument-Market-Summary-for-BTC-ETH-LTC-BCH || ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / October 30, 2020 /ALT 5 Sigma Inc. an emerging leader in blockchain-powered financial platforms provides its daily digital instruments market summary for Bitcoin (BTC/USD), Ether (ETH/USD), Litecoin (LTC/USD).
Real-Time Market Data is available atwww.alt5pro.comand Real-Time Market Data feed is also available atwww.alt5sigma.comALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH
[["Digital Asset", "Pair", "Price", "24hr Chg", "7d Chg", "24/hr Volume", "MarketCap"], ["Bitcoin", "BTC/USD", "$13,527.20", "-$0.00", "$0.05", "$29,924 M", "$250,659 M"], ["Ethereum", "ETH/USD", "$383.47", "-$0.02", "-$0.06", "$13,732 M", "$43,418 M"], ["XRP", "XRP/USD", "$0.24", "-$0.03", "-$0.06", "$2,399 M", "$10,798 M"], ["Bitcoin Cash", "BCH/USD", "$260.86", "-$0.03", "-$0.03", "$3,119 M", "$4,841 M"], ["Litecoin", "LTC/USD", "$53.85", "-$0.03", "-$0.02", "$2,595 M", "$3,542 M"], ["Bitcoin SV", "BSV/USD", "$161.88", "-$0.04", "-$0.01", "$852 M", "$3,004 M"], ["EOS", "EOS/USD", "$2.52", "-$0.04", "-$0.04", "$2,669 M", "$2,361 M"], ["Monero", "XMR/USD", "$123.68", "-$0.02", "-$0.00", "$1,112 M", "$2,195 M"], ["Stellar", "XLM/USD", "$0.08", "-$0.02", "-$0.09", "$123 M", "$1,599 M"], ["Dash", "DASH/USD", "$70.66", "$0.04", "-$0.01", "$530 M", "$692 M"]]
About ALT 5 Sigma Inc.ALT 5 is a fintech company specializing in the development and deployment of digital assets trading and exchange platforms. Alt 5 was founded by financial industry specialists out of the necessity to provide the digital asset economy with security, accessibility, transparency and compliance.
ALT 5 provides its clients the ability to buy, sell and hold digital assets in a safe and secure environment deployed with the best practices of the financial industry. ALT 5's products and services are available to Banks, Broker Dealers, Funds, Family Offices, Professional Traders, Retail Traders, Digital Asset Exchanges, Digital Asset Brokers, Blockchain Developers, and Financial Information Providers.
ALT 5's digital asset custodian services are secured by GardaWorld. GardaWorld is the world's largest privately-owned business solutions and security services company, offering cash management services.
For more information, visitwww.alt5sigma.com.
Contact:Andre BeauchesneTel. [email protected]
For more information on ALT 5 Pay, visitwww.alt5pay.comFor more information on ALT 5 Pro, visitwww.alt5pro.com
SOURCE:ALT 5 Sigma Inc.
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/613666/ALT-5-Sigma-Digital-Instrument-Market-Summary-for-BTC-ETH-LTC-BCH || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Tests $13.6K as DeFi Total Value Locked Dips Below $11B: Bitcoin capped the week weaker while DeFi crypto locked dipped. Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $13,354 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 0.14% over the previous 24 hours. Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $13,191-$13,663 BTC above its 10-day and 50-day moving averages, a bullish signal for market technicians. The price of bitcoin was able to muster a rise to as high as $13,663 Friday, according to CoinDesk 20 data. However, the world’s oldest cryptocurrency subsequently lost some steam and settled to $13,354 as of press time. Read More: Deribit Sees Record Bitcoin Options Volume as Activity in $36K Calls Surge Related: Bitcoin Revisits $13.5K After Posting Best Month Since April Michaeal Gord, chief executive officer for trading firm Global Digital Assets, said he expects the bitcoin market to cool ahead of uncertain fundamentals next week. “I think we’ll probably stay sideways until the [Nov. 3 U.S. presidential] election, with most investors taking a wait-and-see approach,” he said. However, Gord said he anticipates things will pick up amid coronavirus concerns on the global economy. “As more countries enter a second lockdown, governments will need to print more fiat currency to keep their economies afloat, which I expect to result in an increasing demand for alternative assets over the next few weeks,” he said. Volumes on major USD/BTC spot exchanges are shaping up to be higher than average the past month Friday. Daily average volume has been $494,925.493 the past 30 days, while Friday was at $700,217,632 as of press time. Related: By the Numbers: More Bitcoin Bulls Than Ever Before While higher than average volumes might indicate a potential price move upward, it’s possible equities will be taking the front seat in how bitcoin performs in the near term. “For most of the pandemic, BTC remained correlated with equities,” noted Andrew Ballinger, an investment analyst at crypto-focused firm Wave Financial. Indeed, correlations between bitcoin and the S&P 500 seem to be rising as stock sell-offs or tepid days had an impact on the cryptocurrency market . Story continues “I wouldn’t be fully honest if I said I didn’t believe a major downturn in equities would have no effect on the still-nascent digital asset economy,” Ballinger added. Major stocks indices are in the red on Friday. The Nikkei 225 in Asia slipped 1.5% as coronavirus concerns outweighed the release of positive Japanese industrial output numbers for September . The FTSE 100 in Europe ended the day flat, in the red 0.08% as investors signaled uncertainty amid lockdowns and eurozone GDP beating forecasts . In the United States the S&P 500 fell 2.1% as increasing concerns about the pandemic combined with stalled talks in Congress on a stimulus package led investors to sell . Despite the possibly negative influence of stocks on crypto, Ballinger has a bullish forecast. “Short of a significant and swift hit to the equity markets, I still stand by my prediction of bitcoin hitting $14,000 before year end,” Ballinger said. “With continued uncertainty surrounding the economic recovery, investors may turn to digital currencies over equities, and test the ‘digital gold’ thesis of bitcoin further.” DeFi value locked drops The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, ether (ETH), was down Friday trading around $383 and slipping 1.9% in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET). Read More: Ethereum Developers Pencil In January for Eth 1.x ‘Berlin’ Hard Fork The amount of cryptocurrency “locked” in decentralized finance (DeFi), known as total value locked, or TVL, is trending downward. On Friday, the amount of crypto TVL dipped below $11 billion. The last time TVL was at this level was back on Oct. 8. Over-the-counter crypto trader Alessandro Andreotti said the DeFi TVL decline is only temporary because of bitcoin’s price closing in on 2020 highs. “I think it’s only a momentary downtrend since bitcoin is on the spotlight for now. We’re gonna see new highs for DeFi and crypto in general after the U.S. election,” he said. Other markets Digital assets on the CoinDesk 20 are mixed, mostly red Friday. Notable winners as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET): dash (DASH) + 4.9% zcash (ZEC) + 3.8% Notable losers: orchid (OXT) – 6.3% eos (EOS) – 4.2% tron (TRX) – 4.1% Read More: Uniswap’s $40M Governance Has Some UNI Holders Fear for Price Commodities: Oil was down 1.4%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $38.58. Gold was in the green 0.57% and at $1,878 as of press time. Treasurys: U.S. Treasury bond yields all climbed Friday. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were up most on the two-year bond, jumping to 0.156 and in the green 6.6%. Related Stories Market Wrap: Bitcoin Tests $13.6K as DeFi Total Value Locked Dips Below $11B Market Wrap: Bitcoin Tests $13.6K as DeFi Total Value Locked Dips Below $11B || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Tests $13.6K as DeFi Total Value Locked Dips Below $11B: Bitcoin capped the week weaker while DeFi crypto locked dipped.
• Bitcoin(BTC) trading around $13,354 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 0.14% over the previous 24 hours.
• Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $13,191-$13,663
• BTC above its 10-day and 50-day moving averages, a bullish signal for market technicians.
The price of bitcoin was able to muster a rise to as high as $13,663 Friday, according to CoinDesk 20 data. However, the world’s oldest cryptocurrency subsequently lost some steam and settled to $13,354 as of press time.
Read More:Deribit Sees Record Bitcoin Options Volume as Activity in $36K Calls Surge
Related:Bitcoin Revisits $13.5K After Posting Best Month Since April
Michaeal Gord, chief executive officer for trading firm Global Digital Assets, said he expects the bitcoin market to cool ahead of uncertain fundamentals next week. “I think we’ll probably stay sideways until the [Nov. 3 U.S. presidential] election, with most investors taking a wait-and-see approach,” he said.
However, Gord said he anticipates things will pick up amid coronavirus concerns on the global economy.
“As more countries enter a second lockdown, governments will need to print more fiat currency to keep their economies afloat, which I expect to result in an increasing demand for alternative assets over the next few weeks,” he said.
Volumes on major USD/BTC spot exchanges are shaping up to be higher than average the past month Friday. Daily average volume has been $494,925.493 the past 30 days, while Friday was at $700,217,632 as of press time.
Related:By the Numbers: More Bitcoin Bulls Than Ever Before
While higher than average volumes might indicate a potential price move upward, it’s possible equities will be taking the front seat in how bitcoin performs in the near term.
“For most of the pandemic, BTC remained correlated with equities,” noted Andrew Ballinger, an investment analyst at crypto-focused firm Wave Financial. Indeed, correlations between bitcoin and the S&P 500 seem to be rising asstock sell-offs or tepid days had an impact on the cryptocurrency market.
“I wouldn’t be fully honest if I said I didn’t believe a major downturn in equities would have no effect on the still-nascent digital asset economy,” Ballinger added. Major stocks indices are in the red on Friday.
• The Nikkei 225 in Asia slipped 1.5% ascoronavirus concerns outweighed the release of positive Japanese industrial output numbers for September.
• The FTSE 100 in Europe ended the day flat, in the red 0.08% asinvestors signaled uncertainty amid lockdowns and eurozone GDP beating forecasts.
• In the United States the S&P 500 fell 2.1% asincreasing concerns about the pandemic combined with stalled talks in Congress on a stimulus package led investors to sell.
Despite the possibly negative influence of stocks on crypto, Ballinger has a bullish forecast. “Short of a significant and swift hit to the equity markets, I still stand by my prediction of bitcoin hitting $14,000 before year end,” Ballinger said. “With continued uncertainty surrounding the economic recovery, investors may turn to digital currencies over equities, and test the ‘digital gold’ thesis of bitcoin further.”
The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization,ether(ETH), was down Friday trading around $383 and slipping 1.9% in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).
Read More:Ethereum Developers Pencil In January for Eth 1.x ‘Berlin’ Hard Fork
The amount of cryptocurrency “locked” in decentralized finance (DeFi), known as total value locked, or TVL, is trending downward. On Friday, the amount of crypto TVL dipped below $11 billion. The last time TVL was at this level was back on Oct. 8.
Over-the-counter crypto trader Alessandro Andreotti said the DeFi TVL decline is only temporary because of bitcoin’s price closing in on 2020 highs. “I think it’s only a momentary downtrend since bitcoin is on the spotlight for now. We’re gonna see new highs for DeFi and crypto in general after the U.S. election,” he said.
Digital assets on theCoinDesk 20are mixed, mostly red Friday. Notable winners as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• dash(DASH) + 4.9%
• zcash(ZEC) + 3.8%
Notable losers:
• orchid(OXT) – 6.3%
• eos(EOS) – 4.2%
• tron(TRX) – 4.1%
Read More:Uniswap’s $40M Governance Has Some UNI Holders Fear for Price
Commodities:
• Oil was down 1.4%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $38.58.
• Gold was in the green 0.57% and at $1,878 as of press time.
Treasurys:
• U.S. Treasury bond yields all climbed Friday. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were up most on the two-year bond, jumping to 0.156 and in the green 6.6%.
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Tests $13.6K as DeFi Total Value Locked Dips Below $11B
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Tests $13.6K as DeFi Total Value Locked Dips Below $11B || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Tests $13.6K as DeFi Total Value Locked Dips Below $11B: Bitcoin capped the week weaker while DeFi crypto locked dipped.
• Bitcoin(BTC) trading around $13,354 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 0.14% over the previous 24 hours.
• Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $13,191-$13,663
• BTC above its 10-day and 50-day moving averages, a bullish signal for market technicians.
The price of bitcoin was able to muster a rise to as high as $13,663 Friday, according to CoinDesk 20 data. However, the world’s oldest cryptocurrency subsequently lost some steam and settled to $13,354 as of press time.
Read More:Deribit Sees Record Bitcoin Options Volume as Activity in $36K Calls Surge
Related:Bitcoin Revisits $13.5K After Posting Best Month Since April
Michaeal Gord, chief executive officer for trading firm Global Digital Assets, said he expects the bitcoin market to cool ahead of uncertain fundamentals next week. “I think we’ll probably stay sideways until the [Nov. 3 U.S. presidential] election, with most investors taking a wait-and-see approach,” he said.
However, Gord said he anticipates things will pick up amid coronavirus concerns on the global economy.
“As more countries enter a second lockdown, governments will need to print more fiat currency to keep their economies afloat, which I expect to result in an increasing demand for alternative assets over the next few weeks,” he said.
Volumes on major USD/BTC spot exchanges are shaping up to be higher than average the past month Friday. Daily average volume has been $494,925.493 the past 30 days, while Friday was at $700,217,632 as of press time.
Related:By the Numbers: More Bitcoin Bulls Than Ever Before
While higher than average volumes might indicate a potential price move upward, it’s possible equities will be taking the front seat in how bitcoin performs in the near term.
“For most of the pandemic, BTC remained correlated with equities,” noted Andrew Ballinger, an investment analyst at crypto-focused firm Wave Financial. Indeed, correlations between bitcoin and the S&P 500 seem to be rising asstock sell-offs or tepid days had an impact on the cryptocurrency market.
“I wouldn’t be fully honest if I said I didn’t believe a major downturn in equities would have no effect on the still-nascent digital asset economy,” Ballinger added. Major stocks indices are in the red on Friday.
• The Nikkei 225 in Asia slipped 1.5% ascoronavirus concerns outweighed the release of positive Japanese industrial output numbers for September.
• The FTSE 100 in Europe ended the day flat, in the red 0.08% asinvestors signaled uncertainty amid lockdowns and eurozone GDP beating forecasts.
• In the United States the S&P 500 fell 2.1% asincreasing concerns about the pandemic combined with stalled talks in Congress on a stimulus package led investors to sell.
Despite the possibly negative influence of stocks on crypto, Ballinger has a bullish forecast. “Short of a significant and swift hit to the equity markets, I still stand by my prediction of bitcoin hitting $14,000 before year end,” Ballinger said. “With continued uncertainty surrounding the economic recovery, investors may turn to digital currencies over equities, and test the ‘digital gold’ thesis of bitcoin further.”
The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization,ether(ETH), was down Friday trading around $383 and slipping 1.9% in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).
Read More:Ethereum Developers Pencil In January for Eth 1.x ‘Berlin’ Hard Fork
The amount of cryptocurrency “locked” in decentralized finance (DeFi), known as total value locked, or TVL, is trending downward. On Friday, the amount of crypto TVL dipped below $11 billion. The last time TVL was at this level was back on Oct. 8.
Over-the-counter crypto trader Alessandro Andreotti said the DeFi TVL decline is only temporary because of bitcoin’s price closing in on 2020 highs. “I think it’s only a momentary downtrend since bitcoin is on the spotlight for now. We’re gonna see new highs for DeFi and crypto in general after the U.S. election,” he said.
Digital assets on theCoinDesk 20are mixed, mostly red Friday. Notable winners as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• dash(DASH) + 4.9%
• zcash(ZEC) + 3.8%
Notable losers:
• orchid(OXT) – 6.3%
• eos(EOS) – 4.2%
• tron(TRX) – 4.1%
Read More:Uniswap’s $40M Governance Has Some UNI Holders Fear for Price
Commodities:
• Oil was down 1.4%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $38.58.
• Gold was in the green 0.57% and at $1,878 as of press time.
Treasurys:
• U.S. Treasury bond yields all climbed Friday. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were up most on the two-year bond, jumping to 0.156 and in the green 6.6%.
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Tests $13.6K as DeFi Total Value Locked Dips Below $11B
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Tests $13.6K as DeFi Total Value Locked Dips Below $11B || Investment Opportunity with ASICLine miners: ASICLine New Era in Cryptocurrency Mining New Era in Cryptocurrency Mining Saint Paul, MN, Oct. 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ASICLine ( https://asicline.com ) has recently pioneered a new era in the world of cryptocurrency mining with the official launch of its two miners FirstLine and PowerBox. These advanced range of 5nm ASIC miners make crypto mining simple, affordable, and profitable like never before, with several features that are unheard of in the industry. Hash rate and power consumption are the two key parameters determining the profitability of cryptocurrency mining. In both these fronts, FirstLine and PowerBox beats all other available products hands down. Naturally, within the current level of mining difficulty, the profit making potential of these two products is higher compared to any other product. Hash Rate and Power Consumption: ⦁ FirstLine: Bitcoin 410 TH/s, Litecoin 60 GH/s, Ethereum 8 GH/s, and Monero 3 MH/s, and 650 W power consumption. ⦁ PowerBox: Bitcoin 1250 TH/s, Litecoin 180 GH/s, Ethereum 24 GH/s, and Monero 9 MH/s, and 1800 W power consumption. Power consumption of 650 W and 1,800 W respectively, for FirstLine and PowerBox. Profit per Month: ⦁ FirstLine: $960 (Bitcoin), $4,152 (Litecoin), $6,345 (Ethereum), and $7,071 (Monero) ⦁ PowerBox: $2,942 (Bitcoin), $12.4K (Litecoin), $19 K (Ethereum), and $21.1 K ( Monero ) Easy to Use: Users are just required to plug in, and connect to the internet through Wi-Fi or cable, enter the pool data or select ASICLine pool, which has 0 % fee, and insert wallet address and start mining. No prior knowledge in IT or mining is required. “The global lockdown has deprived millions of people from their livelihood and we are happy to create a profitable work-for-home opportunity for all through ASICLine,” said ASICLine CEO Martin Muller. To find out more, visit https://asicline.com / About ASICLine: ASICLine was founded by a team comprising of multiple investors dedicated to bringing the latest ASIC technology miners to the market before the so-called technology giants use them for a long time for their own profit and dump them on the market when they are no longer profitable. Whenever a new generation of ASIC is available, ASICLine is committed to bringing it to the public for a price they can afford. The company is now offering an advanced range of ASIC miners with guaranteed profitability. Story continues Media Contact: Nicolas Smit +1 (206) 965-8243 ###KISSPR.COM PRESS RELEASE NEWS DISCLAIMER ### This news has been published for the above source. Kiss PR Brand Story Press Release News Desk was not involved in the creation of this content. KISS PR and its distribution partners are not directly or indirectly responsible for any claims made in the above statements. Contact the vendor of the product directly. https://story.kisspr.com Attachment ASICLine || Investment Opportunity with ASICLine miners: Saint Paul, MN, Oct. 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ASICLine (https://asicline.com) has recently pioneered a new era in the world of cryptocurrency mining with the official launch of its two miners FirstLine and PowerBox. These advanced range of 5nm ASIC miners make crypto mining simple, affordable, and profitable like never before, with several features that are unheard of in the industry.
Hash rate and power consumption are the two key parameters determining the profitability of cryptocurrency mining. In both these fronts, FirstLine and PowerBox beats all other available products hands down. Naturally, within the current level of mining difficulty, the profit making potential of these two products is higher compared to any other product.
Hash Rate and Power Consumption:
⦁ FirstLine: Bitcoin 410 TH/s, Litecoin 60 GH/s, Ethereum 8 GH/s, and Monero 3 MH/s, and 650 W power consumption.
⦁ PowerBox: Bitcoin 1250 TH/s, Litecoin 180 GH/s, Ethereum 24 GH/s, and Monero 9 MH/s, and 1800 W power consumption.
Power consumption of 650 W and 1,800 W respectively, for FirstLine and PowerBox.
Profit per Month:
⦁ FirstLine: $960 (Bitcoin), $4,152 (Litecoin), $6,345 (Ethereum), and $7,071 (Monero)
⦁ PowerBox: $2,942 (Bitcoin), $12.4K (Litecoin), $19 K (Ethereum), and $21.1 K ( Monero )
Easy to Use: Users are just required to plug in, and connect to the internet through Wi-Fi or cable, enter the pool data or select ASICLine pool, which has 0 % fee, and insert wallet address and start mining. No prior knowledge in IT or mining is required.
“The global lockdown has deprived millions of people from their livelihood and we are happy to create a profitable work-for-home opportunity for all through ASICLine,” said ASICLine CEO Martin Muller.
To find out more, visithttps://asicline.com/
About ASICLine: ASICLine was founded by a team comprising of multiple investors dedicated to bringing the latest ASIC technology miners to the market before the so-called technology giants use them for a long time for their own profit and dump them on the market when they are no longer profitable. Whenever a new generation of ASIC is available, ASICLine is committed to bringing it to the public for a price they can afford. The company is now offering an advanced range of ASIC miners with guaranteed profitability.
Media Contact: Nicolas Smit
+1 (206) 965-8243
###KISSPR.COM PRESS RELEASE NEWS DISCLAIMER ###This news has been published for the above source. Kiss PR Brand Story Press Release News Desk was not involved in the creation of this content. KISS PR and its distribution partners are not directly or indirectly responsible for any claims made in the above statements. Contact the vendor of the product directly.https://story.kisspr.com
Attachment
• ASICLine || Bitcoin Developers Still Divided on Specifics of Taproot Activation: The code for Taproot, Bitcoins biggest upgrade in years, is finalized and has been packaged into a forthcoming update . Only, its not ready to be deployed yet because Bitcoin developers have differing opinions on the best route to activation. Taproot will enhance Bitcoins smart contract capabilities by implementing a new digital signature scheme, Schnorr. Implementing the upgrade requires a soft fork of Bitcoins code, and there are a few competing proposals for how to activate it. In a bid to expedite implementation discussions, Bitcoin Core contributor A.J. Towns recently surveyed 12 other developers who have been active in the implementation process to glean their thoughts on what activation should look like. Related: By the Numbers: More Bitcoin Bulls Than Ever Before Read more: Bitcoins Future: Exactly How a Coming Upgrade Could Improve Privacy and Scaling The results of the survey show that, while developers are generally aligned when it comes to the big picture of Taproots activation, they disagree on the details. As they debate the finer points, the developers conservative, careful deliberation may seem like nitpicking to outsiders. But it shows that so-called soft-fork upgrades like Taproot are not entirely riskless events and that the specter of the controversial Segwit soft fork has haunted discussions. Taproot activation proposals, explained The Segwit transaction load increase was Bitcoins last soft fork, or an upgrade that is backwards compatible, meaning software running the old version of the code can still interact with the upgraded version. Related: US Banks May Seek to Partner With or Buy Crypto Custodians, OCC's Brooks Says Segwits activation was anything but smooth and relied on tweaks along the way after miners failed to adopt the upgrade in its first year. To keep the upgrade from failing, a new implementation proposal was adopted in the middle of the activation process. In an effort to put pressure on miners to upgrade, one proposal even suggested that node operators those Bitcoin users who run Bitcoins software and keep a copy of its ledger reject transactions from the miners who hadnt updated to SegWit to expedite its adoption. Story continues Read more: Taproot Has Been Merged Into Bitcoin Core: Heres What That Means In a perfect world, both node users and miners would upgrade simultaneously to ensure no conflict would split the chain or result in two rival factions supporting two different versions of Bitcoins code. Even though Taproot is a non-controversial upgrade, the memory of Segwit is making developers cautious when evaluating this latest upgrade. Two proposals Two of the leading implementation proposals for Taproot rely on a mix of miner signaling and user activation. BIP 8, introduced in 2017 by Bitcoin developers Luke Dashjr and Shoalinfry, would include a signaling period for miners; if enough miners dont activate to reach consensus on the upgrade, then a flag day for activation would automatically upgrade Bitcoin nodes that have downloaded v0.21 of Bitcoin Core. These nodes would reject blocks and transactions from miners who do not support Taproot, so in theory, this method would incentivize miners to adopt the new ruleset lest they lose out on profits. In a second Taproot implementation proposal, Core developer Matt Corallos Modern Softfork Activation, fuses BIP 8 with BIP 9 (the latter being the proposal originally adopted to activate Segwit but which proved inadequate). Corallos hybrid model first includes a one-year signaling period for miners. Second, if a super-majority of miners does not update during this timeframe, then the upgrade would be subject to a six-month review to make changes (if any) to the proposal. The third and final step is a BIP 8-style activation period of two years, with a non-mandatory flag-day for node users to activate the update. What Bitcoin developers think For the first question in his survey, AJ Towns asks developers what percentage of miners need to signal an upgrade for it to be considered a safe majority. Eight believe that nothing less than 85%-95% would be sufficient. The thinking is that anything less threatens a network split where some miners run the older code and some the newer code, which would create two conflicting transaction histories. Failing a miner-signalled activation, seven respondents think a flag day for node-enforced activation could come as soon as 12-18 months after activation begins. If too few miners adopt the upgrade, this would mean nodes could enforce the Taproot ruleset and only accept blocks from miners who also signaled for the upgrade. In a perfect world, both node users and miners would upgrade simultaneously to ensure no conflict would split the chain or result in two rival factions supporting two different versions of Bitcoins code. Almost all of the developers surveyed want to wait to see if miners and users adopt the upgrade on their own before deciding on a hard date for flag day (if theres enough early support, a flag day may not be necessary at all). If activation doesnt come to pass through voluntary activation, then a flag day activation is the last option on the table. Most respondents were in favor of a mandatory flag day to automatically signal the update. This would mean updated nodes would reject blocks from miners who havent signaled for the upgrade. Disagreements on the finer details So-called forced signaling through the flag day would have the benefit of making Taproot default on any Bitcoin Core node running v.21; in turn, these nodes would only accept block data from miners who have also signaled the update, so in theory this would encourage miners to upgrade lest they lose their business. But what if the miners have node users who do accept their blocks? This is one caveat to forced signaling: If too many miners and node users dont accept Taproot and refuse to update their software, then the network could split into two competing chains. If enough economic interest backs the old version of Bitcoin, then the result could be two competing assets. This outcome is partly why some developers, like Matt Corallo, think that forced signaling is unnecessary. Since Taproot has been largely uncontroversial, it would be a political risk to force signal the upgrade, he argues. He considers the activation method a relic of Segwits user-activated soft fork, a proposal to activate Segwit through similar means after miners failed to adopt the upgrade. Segwit was very controversial and political. Taproot is not, but Corallo believes enforced signalling threatens to make it that way. In his post, Towns writes the mandatory signaling would be a way to definitively enforce Taproots network-wide activation after enough consensus has been established through discussion and miner support. If you want to maximize the number of nodes that will enforce the rules should a flag day occur, but also only choose the flag day after an initial activation attempt is already widely deployed, then you have no choice but to make signaling mandatory when the flag day occurs, Towns writes. Whats the holdup? Towns introduces an alternative activation proposal in the survey which features a four-year activation time frame. As ever in Bitcoin development discussion, this, too, received some pushback. Once the decision to activate has overwhelming support from developers and users, the longer the timeframe for activation (beyond that practically required for miners to safely upgrade) the more things that can go wrong, former Bitcoin Core developer Eric Lombrozo said to Towns on Twitter . Risks aside, if most developers and Bitcoiners think Taproot is a shoe-in for an upgrade, it shouldnt take four years to activate, especially since it has already been so-long in the making. After all, if Taproots been in the works since 2018, shouldnt miners and node operators know what to expect? As Blockstream CEO Adam Back put it on Twitter , Taproot cant be a surprise after several years. Related Stories Bitcoin Developers Still Divided on Specifics of Taproot Activation Bitcoin Developers Still Divided on Specifics of Taproot Activation || Bitcoin Developers Still Divided on Specifics of Taproot Activation: The code for Taproot, Bitcoin’s biggest upgrade in years, is finalized andhas been packaged into a forthcoming update. Only, it’s not ready to be deployed yet because Bitcoin developers have differing opinions on the best route to activation.
Taproot will enhance Bitcoin’s smart contract capabilities by implementing a new digital signature scheme, Schnorr. Implementing the upgrade requires a “soft fork” of Bitcoin’s code, and there are a few competing proposals for how to activate it.
In a bid to expedite implementation discussions, Bitcoin Core contributor A.J. Towns recently surveyed 12 other developers who have been active in the implementation process to glean their thoughts on what activation should look like.
Related:By the Numbers: More Bitcoin Bulls Than Ever Before
Read more:Bitcoin’s Future: Exactly How a Coming Upgrade Could Improve Privacy and Scaling
Theresults of the surveyshow that, while developers are generally aligned when it comes to the big picture of Taproot’s activation, they disagree on the details. As they debate the finer points, the developer’s conservative, careful deliberation may seem like nitpicking to outsiders.
But it shows that so-called “soft-fork” upgrades like Taproot are not entirely riskless events – and that the specter ofthe controversial Segwit soft forkhas haunted discussions.
The Segwit transaction load increase was Bitcoin’s last soft fork, or an upgrade that is “backwards compatible,” meaning software running the old version of the code can still interact with the upgraded version.
Related:US Banks May Seek to Partner With or Buy Crypto Custodians, OCC's Brooks Says
Segwit’s activation was anything but smooth and relied on tweaks along the way after miners failed to adopt the upgrade in its first year. To keep the upgrade from failing, a new implementation proposal was adopted in the middle of the activation process. In an effort to put pressure on miners to upgrade, one proposal even suggested that node operators – those Bitcoin users who run Bitcoin’s software and keep a copy of its ledger – reject transactions from the miners who hadn’t updated to SegWit to expedite its adoption.
Read more:Taproot Has Been Merged Into Bitcoin Core: Here’s What That Means
In a perfect world, both node users and miners would upgrade simultaneously to ensure no conflict would “split” the chain – or result in two rival factions supporting two different versions of Bitcoin’s code.
Even though Taproot is a non-controversial upgrade, the memory of Segwit is making developers cautious when evaluating this latest upgrade.
Two of the leading implementation proposals for Taproot rely on a mix of miner signaling and user activation. BIP 8, introduced in 2017 by Bitcoin developers Luke Dashjr and Shoalinfry, would include a signaling period for miners; if enough miners don’t activate to reach consensus on the upgrade, then a “flag day” for activation would automatically upgrade Bitcoin nodes that have downloaded v0.21 of Bitcoin Core.
These nodes would reject blocks and transactions from miners who do not support Taproot, so in theory, this method would incentivize miners to adopt the new ruleset lest they lose out on profits.
In a second Taproot implementation proposal, Core developer Matt Corallo’s Modern Softfork Activation, fuses BIP 8 with BIP 9 (the latter being the proposal originally adopted to activate Segwit but which proved inadequate).
Corallo’s hybrid model first includes a one-year signaling period for miners. Second, if a super-majority of miners does not update during this timeframe, then the upgrade would be subject to a six-month review to make changes (if any) to the proposal.
The third and final step is a BIP 8-style activation period of two years, with a non-mandatory flag-day for node users to activate the update.
For the first question in his survey, AJ Towns asks developers what percentage of miners need to signal an upgrade for it to be considered a safe majority. Eight believe that nothing less than 85%-95% would be sufficient. The thinking is that anything less threatens a network “split” where some miners run the older code and some the newer code, which would create two conflicting transaction histories.
Failing a miner-signalled activation, seven respondents think a flag day for node-enforced activation could come as soon as 12-18 months after activation begins. If too few miners adopt the upgrade, this would mean nodes could enforce the Taproot ruleset and only accept blocks from miners who also signaled for the upgrade.
In a perfect world, both node users and miners would upgrade simultaneously to ensure no conflict would “split” the chain – or result in two rival factions supporting two different versions of Bitcoin’s code.
Almost all of the developers surveyed want to wait to see if miners and users adopt the upgrade on their own before deciding on a hard date for flag day (if there’s enough early support, a flag day may not be necessary at all).
If activation doesn’t come to pass through voluntary activation, then a flag day activation is the last option on the table. Most respondents were in favor of a mandatory flag day to automatically signal the update. This would mean updated nodes would reject blocks from miners who haven’t signaled for the upgrade.
So-called forced signaling through the flag day would have the benefit of making Taproot default on any Bitcoin Core node running v.21; in turn, these nodes would only accept block data from miners who have also signaled the update, so in theory this would encourage miners to upgrade lest they lose their business.
But what if the miners have node users who do accept their blocks?
This is one caveat to forced signaling: If too many miners and node users don’t accept Taproot and refuse to update their software, then the network could split into two competing chains. If enough economic interest backs the “old” version of Bitcoin, then the result could be two competing assets.
This outcome is partly why some developers, like Matt Corallo, think that forced signaling is unnecessary.
Since Taproot has been largely uncontroversial, it would be a political risk to force signal the upgrade, he argues. He considers the activation method a relic of Segwit’s “user-activated soft fork,” a proposal to activate Segwit through similar means after miners failed to adopt the upgrade. Segwit was very controversial and political. Taproot is not, but Corallo believes enforced signalling threatens to make it that way.
In his post, Towns writes the mandatory signaling would be a way to definitively enforce Taproot’s network-wide activation after enough consensus has been established through discussion and miner support.
“If you want to maximize the number of nodes that will enforce the rules should a flag day occur, but also only choose the flag day after an initial activation attempt is already widely deployed, then you have no choice but to make signaling mandatory when the flag day occurs,” Towns writes.
Towns introduces an alternative activation proposal in the survey which features a four-year activation time frame. As ever in Bitcoin development discussion, this, too, received some pushback.
“Once the decision to activate has overwhelming support from developers and users, the longer the timeframe for activation (beyond that practically required for miners to safely upgrade) the more things that can go wrong,” former Bitcoin Core developer Eric Lombrozosaid to Towns on Twitter.
Risks aside, if most developers and Bitcoiners think Taproot is a shoe-in for an upgrade, it shouldn’t take four years to activate, especially since it has already been so-long in the making.
After all, if Taproot’s been in the works since 2018, shouldn’t miners and node operators know what to expect?
As Blockstream CEO Adam Backput it on Twitter, “Taproot can’t be a surprise after several years.”
• Bitcoin Developers Still Divided on Specifics of Taproot Activation
• Bitcoin Developers Still Divided on Specifics of Taproot Activation || Bitcoin Developers Still Divided on Specifics of Taproot Activation: The code for Taproot, Bitcoin’s biggest upgrade in years, is finalized andhas been packaged into a forthcoming update. Only, it’s not ready to be deployed yet because Bitcoin developers have differing opinions on the best route to activation.
Taproot will enhance Bitcoin’s smart contract capabilities by implementing a new digital signature scheme, Schnorr. Implementing the upgrade requires a “soft fork” of Bitcoin’s code, and there are a few competing proposals for how to activate it.
In a bid to expedite implementation discussions, Bitcoin Core contributor A.J. Towns recently surveyed 12 other developers who have been active in the implementation process to glean their thoughts on what activation should look like.
Related:By the Numbers: More Bitcoin Bulls Than Ever Before
Read more:Bitcoin’s Future: Exactly How a Coming Upgrade Could Improve Privacy and Scaling
Theresults of the surveyshow that, while developers are generally aligned when it comes to the big picture of Taproot’s activation, they disagree on the details. As they debate the finer points, the developer’s conservative, careful deliberation may seem like nitpicking to outsiders.
But it shows that so-called “soft-fork” upgrades like Taproot are not entirely riskless events – and that the specter ofthe controversial Segwit soft forkhas haunted discussions.
The Segwit transaction load increase was Bitcoin’s last soft fork, or an upgrade that is “backwards compatible,” meaning software running the old version of the code can still interact with the upgraded version.
Related:US Banks May Seek to Partner With or Buy Crypto Custodians, OCC's Brooks Says
Segwit’s activation was anything but smooth and relied on tweaks along the way after miners failed to adopt the upgrade in its first year. To keep the upgrade from failing, a new implementation proposal was adopted in the middle of the activation process. In an effort to put pressure on miners to upgrade, one proposal even suggested that node operators – those Bitcoin users who run Bitcoin’s software and keep a copy of its ledger – reject transactions from the miners who hadn’t updated to SegWit to expedite its adoption.
Read more:Taproot Has Been Merged Into Bitcoin Core: Here’s What That Means
In a perfect world, both node users and miners would upgrade simultaneously to ensure no conflict would “split” the chain – or result in two rival factions supporting two different versions of Bitcoin’s code.
Even though Taproot is a non-controversial upgrade, the memory of Segwit is making developers cautious when evaluating this latest upgrade.
Two of the leading implementation proposals for Taproot rely on a mix of miner signaling and user activation. BIP 8, introduced in 2017 by Bitcoin developers Luke Dashjr and Shoalinfry, would include a signaling period for miners; if enough miners don’t activate to reach consensus on the upgrade, then a “flag day” for activation would automatically upgrade Bitcoin nodes that have downloaded v0.21 of Bitcoin Core.
These nodes would reject blocks and transactions from miners who do not support Taproot, so in theory, this method would incentivize miners to adopt the new ruleset lest they lose out on profits.
In a second Taproot implementation proposal, Core developer Matt Corallo’s Modern Softfork Activation, fuses BIP 8 with BIP 9 (the latter being the proposal originally adopted to activate Segwit but which proved inadequate).
Corallo’s hybrid model first includes a one-year signaling period for miners. Second, if a super-majority of miners does not update during this timeframe, then the upgrade would be subject to a six-month review to make changes (if any) to the proposal.
The third and final step is a BIP 8-style activation period of two years, with a non-mandatory flag-day for node users to activate the update.
For the first question in his survey, AJ Towns asks developers what percentage of miners need to signal an upgrade for it to be considered a safe majority. Eight believe that nothing less than 85%-95% would be sufficient. The thinking is that anything less threatens a network “split” where some miners run the older code and some the newer code, which would create two conflicting transaction histories.
Failing a miner-signalled activation, seven respondents think a flag day for node-enforced activation could come as soon as 12-18 months after activation begins. If too few miners adopt the upgrade, this would mean nodes could enforce the Taproot ruleset and only accept blocks from miners who also signaled for the upgrade.
In a perfect world, both node users and miners would upgrade simultaneously to ensure no conflict would “split” the chain – or result in two rival factions supporting two different versions of Bitcoin’s code.
Almost all of the developers surveyed want to wait to see if miners and users adopt the upgrade on their own before deciding on a hard date for flag day (if there’s enough early support, a flag day may not be necessary at all).
If activation doesn’t come to pass through voluntary activation, then a flag day activation is the last option on the table. Most respondents were in favor of a mandatory flag day to automatically signal the update. This would mean updated nodes would reject blocks from miners who haven’t signaled for the upgrade.
So-called forced signaling through the flag day would have the benefit of making Taproot default on any Bitcoin Core node running v.21; in turn, these nodes would only accept block data from miners who have also signaled the update, so in theory this would encourage miners to upgrade lest they lose their business.
But what if the miners have node users who do accept their blocks?
This is one caveat to forced signaling: If too many miners and node users don’t accept Taproot and refuse to update their software, then the network could split into two competing chains. If enough economic interest backs the “old” version of Bitcoin, then the result could be two competing assets.
This outcome is partly why some developers, like Matt Corallo, think that forced signaling is unnecessary.
Since Taproot has been largely uncontroversial, it would be a political risk to force signal the upgrade, he argues. He considers the activation method a relic of Segwit’s “user-activated soft fork,” a proposal to activate Segwit through similar means after miners failed to adopt the upgrade. Segwit was very controversial and political. Taproot is not, but Corallo believes enforced signalling threatens to make it that way.
In his post, Towns writes the mandatory signaling would be a way to definitively enforce Taproot’s network-wide activation after enough consensus has been established through discussion and miner support.
“If you want to maximize the number of nodes that will enforce the rules should a flag day occur, but also only choose the flag day after an initial activation attempt is already widely deployed, then you have no choice but to make signaling mandatory when the flag day occurs,” Towns writes.
Towns introduces an alternative activation proposal in the survey which features a four-year activation time frame. As ever in Bitcoin development discussion, this, too, received some pushback.
“Once the decision to activate has overwhelming support from developers and users, the longer the timeframe for activation (beyond that practically required for miners to safely upgrade) the more things that can go wrong,” former Bitcoin Core developer Eric Lombrozosaid to Towns on Twitter.
Risks aside, if most developers and Bitcoiners think Taproot is a shoe-in for an upgrade, it shouldn’t take four years to activate, especially since it has already been so-long in the making.
After all, if Taproot’s been in the works since 2018, shouldn’t miners and node operators know what to expect?
As Blockstream CEO Adam Backput it on Twitter, “Taproot can’t be a surprise after several years.”
• Bitcoin Developers Still Divided on Specifics of Taproot Activation
• Bitcoin Developers Still Divided on Specifics of Taproot Activation || Why Satoshi Chose Halloween to Release the Bitcoin White Paper: Was it an allusion to the Reformation or something to do with the ancient pagan tradition of Samhain?
Formore episodesand free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublica,iHeartRadioorRSS.
This episode is sponsored byCrypto.com,Nexo.ioandElliptic.
Related:By the Numbers: More Bitcoin Bulls Than Ever Before
One of the most powerful aspects ofbitcoinis its mythology.
In this episode, NLW explores the 12th anniversary of the Bitcoin white paper and the choices that went into its release date.
Whether it was something to do with the Reformation or an allusion to the longstanding pagan tradition of Samhain, the one thing that’s clear is the choice adds all the more mystique to bitcoin’s incredible origins.
See also:Money Reimagined: Who Are the Real Monsters?
Related:Crypto Is Less Scary Than Halloween
Formore episodesand free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublica,iHeartRadioorRSS.
• Why Satoshi Chose Halloween to Release the Bitcoin White Paper
• Why Satoshi Chose Halloween to Release the Bitcoin White Paper || Why Satoshi Chose Halloween to Release the Bitcoin White Paper: Was it an allusion to the Reformation or something to do with the ancient pagan tradition of Samhain?
Formore episodesand free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublica,iHeartRadioorRSS.
This episode is sponsored byCrypto.com,Nexo.ioandElliptic.
Related:By the Numbers: More Bitcoin Bulls Than Ever Before
One of the most powerful aspects ofbitcoinis its mythology.
In this episode, NLW explores the 12th anniversary of the Bitcoin white paper and the choices that went into its release date.
Whether it was something to do with the Reformation or an allusion to the longstanding pagan tradition of Samhain, the one thing that’s clear is the choice adds all the more mystique to bitcoin’s incredible origins.
See also:Money Reimagined: Who Are the Real Monsters?
Related:Crypto Is Less Scary Than Halloween
Formore episodesand free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublica,iHeartRadioorRSS.
• Why Satoshi Chose Halloween to Release the Bitcoin White Paper
• Why Satoshi Chose Halloween to Release the Bitcoin White Paper
[Social Media Buzz]
None available.
|
13737.11, 13550.49, 13950.30, 14133.71, 15579.85, 15565.88, 14833.75, 15479.57, 15332.32, 15290.90
|
Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 228.76, 230.06, 228.12, 229.28, 227.18, 230.30, 235.02, 239.84, 239.85, 243.61, 238.17, 238.48, 240.11, 235.23, 230.51, 230.64, 230.30, 229.09, 229.81, 232.98, 231.49, 231.21, 227.09, 230.62, 230.28, 234.53, 235.14, 234.34, 232.76, 239.14, 236.69, 236.06, 237.55, 237.29, 238.73, 238.26, 240.38, 246.06, 242.97, 242.30, 243.93, 244.94, 247.05, 245.31, 249.51, 251.99, 254.32, 262.87, 270.64, 261.64, 263.44, 269.46, 266.27, 274.02, 276.50, 281.65, 283.68, 285.30, 293.79, 304.62, 313.86, 328.02, 314.17, 325.43, 361.19, 403.42, 411.56, 386.35, 374.47, 386.48, 373.37, 380.26, 336.82, 311.08, 338.15, 336.75, 332.91, 320.17, 330.75, 335.09, 334.59, 326.15, 322.02, 326.93, 324.54, 323.05, 320.05, 328.21, 352.68, 358.04.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2015-11-27]
Volume: 55179100, RSI (14-day): 60.75, 50-day EMA: 315.47, 200-day EMA: 276.79
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1056.20, Gold RSI: 27.44
Oil Price: 41.71, Oil RSI: 42.97
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
6 Ways Blockchain Could Change The World: Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin have seen a drop in enthusiasm over the past year as more people have become wary toward the currencies.
A spate of high profile scams and illegal transactions that involved bitcoin painted the cryptocurrency as a tool for criminals and an unsafe avenue with which to move money. While bitcoin enthusiasts continue to rework the currency's image in order to gain mainstream approval, others say the coin itself isn't what the world should be focused on.
Blockchain, the ledger-like technology that bitcoin runs on, has instead emerged as one of the most important technological advancements from the past decade. Blockchain's ability to facilitate transactions seamlessly without a third party intermediary has been driving bitcoin's popularity over the past few years.
Related Link:Ben Bernanke Sees Serious Problems With Bitcoin
While the system was developed in order to easily transfer bitcoins from party to party, many believe that supporting a bitcoin market is one of many uses blockchain could have in the future.
Some analysts believe that blockchain could significantly change the way that the financial system operates, overhauling everything from banks to exchanges. Others say the financial space is just the starting point for blockchain; the technology could be applicable to a wide range of industries and activities as it becomes more and more advanced.
Here's a look at 6 ways blockchain may be seen in the future.
1. Banks
One of the first places blockchain is likely to turn up is at banks.
As bitcoin threatened to disrupt the traditional finance system, many big banks created dedicated teams to study the cryptocurrency and experiment with its use. While the majority of banks are still wary of bitcoin itself, many have become increasingly interested in how bitcoin might improve their operations.
So far, the best use-case for blockchain within a bank has been to . At the moment, sending money from one country to another requires a great deal of time and administration, but using blockchain to run those payments could change that. For one, the system would likely make such transactions cheaper by eliminating the need for a middleman. Not only that, but blockchain would also speed up processing, a benefit to both banks and customers.
Related Link:Trading Bitcoin Binary Options
2. Exchanges
Blockchain has also been touted as a viable way to run an exchange. Using a ledger like blockchain would make trade data much more accurate by conducting the trades on a peer-to-peer basis.
Applying this technology to an exchange would cut down on the need for supervisors, a cost-saving measure that would also reduce the instances of human error. Not only that, but a blockchain-run exchange would also speed up transaction times, allowing traders to see real-time results when their trades are placed.
Nasdaq Inc(NASDAQ:NDAQ) has already begun for a blockchain-based exchange; the company has partnered with Chain, a blockchain infrastructure provider, to work on integrating blockchain into the exchange's operations.
While blockchain may be a good way to overhaul U.S. exchanges, many worry about technological problems that might arise, especially after several mishaps delayed trading on U.S. exchanges this year.
3. Legal Contracts
The legal space could also be turned on its head by blockchain, as the ledger has been suggested as a way to facilitate contracts. Dubbed "smart contracts," blockchain-supported contracts would be able to essentially enforce themselves without the need for a third party.
Computer programs would be able to set conditions laid out in a contract and when they were satisfied, the next part of the contract would be released. That means contractual obligations could be easier to enforce, as they would be automated and security surrounding such transactions would be enhanced.
One example would be the ability for a customer to pay for a package at the moment it was delivered.International Business Machines Corp.(NYSE:IBM) has a dedicated research team to investigate the possibility of creating smart contracts. The firm believes that such a system would enhance privacy for participating businesses and ensure that required conditions are met.
4. Politics
This year was the first year that a presidential candidate accepted bitcoin donations for their campaign, but many believe that blockchain will truly revolutionize politics in the years to come.
Voting has always been a hot topic among the U.S. public; each election ends with questions about accuracy and efficiency, as well as calls to reform the system and update the technology used. Blockchain supporters say that the ledger bitcoin runs on could the voting process by making it more secure. In such a voting system, blockchain would store each vote with an encrypted hash.
These encryptions are exceedingly difficult to break and would require a hacker with an impossible amount of computer power in order to change just one vote without being noticed. The Liberal Alliance, a political party in Denmark, has already to run its internal voting system using blockchain, making it the first political group in the world to integrate blockchain into its voting practices.
Related Link:Paris Attacks Weigh On Bitcoin
5. Microtransactions
Companies likeNetflix, Inc.(NASDAQ:NFLX) have revolutionized the way people view content by disrupting traditional cable broadcasters and pushing more people to watch TV and movies online.
However, subscription services like that one may be under fire in the coming years if blockchain is used to facilitate . This type of system would allow users to pay per minute, or per show in a pay-as-you-go manner.
Such payment systems could benefit both customers and content providers, as it gives a more realistic view of what people are actually using. Subscription bundles often result in a great deal of unused services, which customers may be overpaying for. On the flip side, cheaper bundles or less complex bundled options could sway customers away from one subscription service to another, but a pay-as-you-go option allows customers to view and pay for exactly what they want.
5. Tipping
Another way micropayments might enhance online content is through a tipping service. Allowing users to "tip" for particularly entertaining or insightful social media posts or blogs would diminish the need for online advertising and give content creators a new source of income.
Many believe that such a system would improve the quality of online content and help eliminate some of the spam that circulates throughout the Internet. This kind of system would also be facilitated through blockchain, and many believe that a cryptocurrency like bitcoin would make such a tipping scheme possible.
6. Music
The music industry has been alight with debates over whether artists are being fairly compensated for the value of their work. Many believe that big name labels likeSonyare unfairly negotiating royalty fees with music distributors in a way that doesn't deliver that value back to the content creators themselves.
However, with the help of blockchain, some say the music industry could shift to a more artist-driven model in which blockchain makes artists' contracts more transparent, thus eliminating arguments over how royalties are distributed when their label makes a deal with a firm like Spotify.
In 2016, a company called is planning to work together with music companies and artists to see how blockchain-supported infrastructure might improve the way business is conducted within the industry.
Image Credit:
See more from Benzinga
• Can Subscription Services Take Over The Movies As Well?
• Is The Video Subscription Space Saturated?
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || 6 Ways Blockchain Could Change The World: Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin have seen a drop in enthusiasm over the past year as more people have become wary toward the currencies. A spate of high profile scams and illegal transactions that involved bitcoin painted the cryptocurrency as a tool for criminals and an unsafe avenue with which to move money. While bitcoin enthusiasts continue to rework the currency's image in order to gain mainstream approval, others say the coin itself isn't what the world should be focused on. Blockchain, the ledger-like technology that bitcoin runs on, has instead emerged as one of the most important technological advancements from the past decade. Blockchain's ability to facilitate transactions seamlessly without a third party intermediary has been driving bitcoin's popularity over the past few years. Related Link: Ben Bernanke Sees Serious Problems With Bitcoin While the system was developed in order to easily transfer bitcoins from party to party, many believe that supporting a bitcoin market is one of many uses blockchain could have in the future. Some analysts believe that blockchain could significantly change the way that the financial system operates, overhauling everything from banks to exchanges. Others say the financial space is just the starting point for blockchain; the technology could be applicable to a wide range of industries and activities as it becomes more and more advanced. Here's a look at 6 ways blockchain may be seen in the future. 1. Banks One of the first places blockchain is likely to turn up is at banks. As bitcoin threatened to disrupt the traditional finance system, many big banks created dedicated teams to study the cryptocurrency and experiment with its use. While the majority of banks are still wary of bitcoin itself, many have become increasingly interested in how bitcoin might improve their operations. So far, the best use-case for blockchain within a bank has been to . At the moment, sending money from one country to another requires a great deal of time and administration, but using blockchain to run those payments could change that. For one, the system would likely make such transactions cheaper by eliminating the need for a middleman. Not only that, but blockchain would also speed up processing, a benefit to both banks and customers. Story continues Related Link: Trading Bitcoin Binary Options 2. Exchanges Blockchain has also been touted as a viable way to run an exchange. Using a ledger like blockchain would make trade data much more accurate by conducting the trades on a peer-to-peer basis. Applying this technology to an exchange would cut down on the need for supervisors, a cost-saving measure that would also reduce the instances of human error. Not only that, but a blockchain-run exchange would also speed up transaction times, allowing traders to see real-time results when their trades are placed. Nasdaq Inc (NASDAQ: NDAQ ) has already begun for a blockchain-based exchange; the company has partnered with Chain, a blockchain infrastructure provider, to work on integrating blockchain into the exchange's operations. While blockchain may be a good way to overhaul U.S. exchanges, many worry about technological problems that might arise, especially after several mishaps delayed trading on U.S. exchanges this year. 3. Legal Contracts The legal space could also be turned on its head by blockchain, as the ledger has been suggested as a way to facilitate contracts. Dubbed "smart contracts," blockchain-supported contracts would be able to essentially enforce themselves without the need for a third party. Computer programs would be able to set conditions laid out in a contract and when they were satisfied, the next part of the contract would be released. That means contractual obligations could be easier to enforce, as they would be automated and security surrounding such transactions would be enhanced. One example would be the ability for a customer to pay for a package at the moment it was delivered. International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM ) has a dedicated research team to investigate the possibility of creating smart contracts. The firm believes that such a system would enhance privacy for participating businesses and ensure that required conditions are met. 4. Politics This year was the first year that a presidential candidate accepted bitcoin donations for their campaign, but many believe that blockchain will truly revolutionize politics in the years to come. Voting has always been a hot topic among the U.S. public; each election ends with questions about accuracy and efficiency, as well as calls to reform the system and update the technology used. Blockchain supporters say that the ledger bitcoin runs on could the voting process by making it more secure. In such a voting system, blockchain would store each vote with an encrypted hash. These encryptions are exceedingly difficult to break and would require a hacker with an impossible amount of computer power in order to change just one vote without being noticed. The Liberal Alliance, a political party in Denmark, has already to run its internal voting system using blockchain, making it the first political group in the world to integrate blockchain into its voting practices. Related Link: Paris Attacks Weigh On Bitcoin 5. Microtransactions Companies like Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX ) have revolutionized the way people view content by disrupting traditional cable broadcasters and pushing more people to watch TV and movies online. However, subscription services like that one may be under fire in the coming years if blockchain is used to facilitate . This type of system would allow users to pay per minute, or per show in a pay-as-you-go manner. Such payment systems could benefit both customers and content providers, as it gives a more realistic view of what people are actually using. Subscription bundles often result in a great deal of unused services, which customers may be overpaying for. On the flip side, cheaper bundles or less complex bundled options could sway customers away from one subscription service to another, but a pay-as-you-go option allows customers to view and pay for exactly what they want. 5. Tipping Another way micropayments might enhance online content is through a tipping service. Allowing users to "tip" for particularly entertaining or insightful social media posts or blogs would diminish the need for online advertising and give content creators a new source of income. Many believe that such a system would improve the quality of online content and help eliminate some of the spam that circulates throughout the Internet. This kind of system would also be facilitated through blockchain, and many believe that a cryptocurrency like bitcoin would make such a tipping scheme possible. 6. Music The music industry has been alight with debates over whether artists are being fairly compensated for the value of their work. Many believe that big name labels like Sony are unfairly negotiating royalty fees with music distributors in a way that doesn't deliver that value back to the content creators themselves. However, with the help of blockchain, some say the music industry could shift to a more artist-driven model in which blockchain makes artists' contracts more transparent, thus eliminating arguments over how royalties are distributed when their label makes a deal with a firm like Spotify. In 2016, a company called is planning to work together with music companies and artists to see how blockchain-supported infrastructure might improve the way business is conducted within the industry. Image Credit: See more from Benzinga Can Subscription Services Take Over The Movies As Well? Is The Video Subscription Space Saturated? © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || The Best Gift Cards for the Geeks on Your List: (Photo: Thinkstock.com) Gift cards might be the last refuge of scoundrels who cant be bothered to put any thought into the whole buying-and-wrapping process. But they can also be handy ways to get something for people whose interests you just dont understand. So if your gift list includes someone whos obsessed with technology of one sort or another, and you have no idea what shes talking about half the time, a gift card could be the perfect solution. But not just any card: You want one thats just right for your geeky giftee. Here are some suggestions. The generalists Of course, pretty much every big-name tech brand that sells anything online including Apple , Google , Microsoft sells gift cards of its own these days. Note that Apple cards occasionally go on sale at other retailers, allowing you to buy a $100 card for, say, $80. Its worth keeping an eye out for such bargains, as they come and go quickly. (Photo: Apple.com) If your recipient isnt so brand-specific, most of the major online retailers who sell electronics offer gift cards, too: Amazon ; Best Buy ; Walmart . Tech stores Then there are the technology specialists, retailers such as Crutchfield , Newegg , TigerDirect , who sell technology products and almost nothing else. One personal favorite in this bunch: B&H Photo , which began life as (yes) a camera store in Manhattan but has morphed into a smorgasbord of digital goodies of almost every kind, from computers and their accessories to tablets, smartphones, TVs, media players, and wearables, as well as a truly remarkable range of photo and video hardware. (Photo: B&H Photo) True specialists Then there are the true specialists: sites that focus on one particular type of technology or another. The Dynamism store, for example, specializes in 3D technology (in addition to notebooks and some other general tech stuff). Thinkgeek specializes in geek culture: Shopping for someone obsessed with Star Wars , Star Trek , Doctor Who , Minecraft, Marvel Comics, Game of Thrones , or pretty much any other nerdy franchise? This is your store. Story continues (Image: Thinkgeek.com) For gamers, consider a XBox Gift Card or a Playstation Store Cash Card . Have someone on your list who you dont want to see for a while? Get a Minecraft gift card : You buy a physical card at a retailer (including Target, Best Buy, even 7-11), then redeem it online for a downloadable copy of the Minecraft game. Your recipient wont resurface for months . Finally, two honorable mentions: Skype has gift cards , which you can give to loved ones who cant seem to stay in touch. And Gyft offers perhaps the geekiest offer of all: The mobile gift-card app works with Bitcoin . Dan Miller is an editor at Yahoo. He hardly ever gives anyone a gift card. || The Best Gift Cards for the Geeks on Your List: (Photo: Thinkstock.com) Gift cards might be the last refuge of scoundrels who cant be bothered to put any thought into the whole buying-and-wrapping process. But they can also be handy ways to get something for people whose interests you just dont understand. So if your gift list includes someone whos obsessed with technology of one sort or another, and you have no idea what shes talking about half the time, a gift card could be the perfect solution. But not just any card: You want one thats just right for your geeky giftee. Here are some suggestions. The generalists Of course, pretty much every big-name tech brand that sells anything online including Apple , Google , Microsoft sells gift cards of its own these days. Note that Apple cards occasionally go on sale at other retailers, allowing you to buy a $100 card for, say, $80. Its worth keeping an eye out for such bargains, as they come and go quickly. (Photo: Apple.com) If your recipient isnt so brand-specific, most of the major online retailers who sell electronics offer gift cards, too: Amazon ; Best Buy ; Walmart . Tech stores Then there are the technology specialists, retailers such as Crutchfield , Newegg , TigerDirect , who sell technology products and almost nothing else. One personal favorite in this bunch: B&H Photo , which began life as (yes) a camera store in Manhattan but has morphed into a smorgasbord of digital goodies of almost every kind, from computers and their accessories to tablets, smartphones, TVs, media players, and wearables, as well as a truly remarkable range of photo and video hardware. (Photo: B&H Photo) True specialists Then there are the true specialists: sites that focus on one particular type of technology or another. The Dynamism store, for example, specializes in 3D technology (in addition to notebooks and some other general tech stuff). Thinkgeek specializes in geek culture: Shopping for someone obsessed with Star Wars , Star Trek , Doctor Who , Minecraft, Marvel Comics, Game of Thrones , or pretty much any other nerdy franchise? This is your store. Story continues (Image: Thinkgeek.com) For gamers, consider a XBox Gift Card or a Playstation Store Cash Card . Have someone on your list who you dont want to see for a while? Get a Minecraft gift card : You buy a physical card at a retailer (including Target, Best Buy, even 7-11), then redeem it online for a downloadable copy of the Minecraft game. Your recipient wont resurface for months . Finally, two honorable mentions: Skype has gift cards , which you can give to loved ones who cant seem to stay in touch. And Gyft offers perhaps the geekiest offer of all: The mobile gift-card app works with Bitcoin . Dan Miller is an editor at Yahoo. He hardly ever gives anyone a gift card. || In taking economic war to Islamic State, U.S. developing new tools: By Yeganeh Torbati and Brett Wolf WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Since last month, U.S. warplanes have struck Islamic State's oil infrastructure in Syria in a stepped-up campaign of economic warfare that the United States estimates has cut the group's black-market earnings from oil by about a third. In finding their targets, U.S. military planners have relied in part on an unconventional source of intelligence: access to banking records that provide insight into which refineries and oil pumps are generating cash for the extremist group, current and former officials say. The intent is to choke off the Islamic State's funding by tracking its remaining ties to the global financial system. By identifying money flowing to and from the group, U.S. officials have been able to get a glimpse into how its black-market economy operates, people with knowledge of the effort have said. That in turn has influenced decisions about targeting for air strikes in an effort that began before Islamic State's Nov. 13 attacks on Paris and has intensified since, they said. While Islamic State's access to formal banking has been restricted, it retains some ties that U.S. military and financial officials can use against it, the current and former officials said. "We have done a really good job of largely keeping the Islamic State out of the formal financial system," said Matthew Levitt, who served as deputy assistant secretary for intelligence at the U.S. Treasury in the George W. Bush administration. "But we haven't been entirely successful, and that may not be a bad thing." Reuters was unable to verify key aspects of the campaign, including when it started or exactly which facilities have been destroyed as a result. Two current officials who confirmed the operations in outline declined to comment on their details. It was unclear how U.S. intelligence, Treasury, and military officials working on what the government calls "counter threat finance" operations have used banking records to identify lucrative Islamic State oil-related targets in Syria and whether that involved local banks. A report this year by the intergovernmental Financial Action Task Force found there were more than 20 Syrian financial institutions with operations in Islamic State territory. In Iraq, Treasury has worked with government officials to cut off bank branches in the group's territory from the Iraqi and international financial systems. Gerald Roberts, section chief of the FBI's terrorist financing operations section, said that Islamic State's recruits from outside Syria often come with financial trails that officials tracking them can "exploit." "We are seeing them using traditional banking systems," he said at a banking conference last week in Washington, adding that young, tech-savvy Islamic State members are also familiar with virtual currencies such as Bitcoin. Islamic State, also known as IS, ISIS or ISIL, is sometimes forced to use commercial banks because the amounts involved are too large to move using other means, said Levitt. The U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) uses a set of "business rules" to screen the roughly 55,000 reports it receives daily from financial institutions for signs of activity involving Islamic State, a spokesman said. He declined to describe the rules, but law enforcement sources say names, IP addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers are among the data that intelligence authorities try to match. The matches allow FinCEN "to connect the dots between seemingly unrelated individuals and entities," the FinCEN spokesman said. At present, FinCEN finds about 1,200 matches suggesting possible Islamic State-linked financial activity each month, up from 800 in April, the spokesman said. Bank of America, JP Morgan and Wells Fargo declined to comment on whether they provided financial reports to the U.S. government. Such reports are supplied confidentially. Citigroup, HSBC, and Standard Chartered did not immediately respond to requests for comment. "TIDAL WAVE II" The use of financial records linked to Islamic State is only one part of the intelligence-gathering exercise for air strikes in Syria that also includes methods such as aerial surveillance by drones, officials said. One former military official familiar with the process said that any financial intelligence collected by FinCEN would require "significant vetting" before the military acted on it. Earlier this month, U.S.-led coalition planes struck 116 fuel trucks used to smuggle Islamic State oil 45 minutes after dropping leaflets warning drivers to flee, a Pentagon spokesman said. Coalition strikes destroyed another 283 Islamic State fuel trucks on Saturday, the Pentagon said. On Nov. 8, a coalition air strike destroyed three oil refineries in Syria near the border with Turkey. U.S. defense officials estimate that Islamic State, an adversary the United States calls the wealthiest terrorist group of its kind in history, was earning about $47 million per month from oil sales prior to October. That month, the U.S. military launched an intensified effort to go after oil infrastructure, dubbed "Tidal Wave II," named after the bombing campaign targeting Romanian oil fields in World War Two. The Pentagon estimates the strikes have reduced the Islamic State's income from oil sales by about 30 percent, one U.S. defense official with knowledge of the previously unreported estimate said. Reuters was unable to confirm this. The use of financial records in helping to pick U.S. targets was first disclosed last week at the banking conference in Washington. At the conference, Kurt Gredzinski, the Counter Threat Finance Team Chief at U.S. Special Operations Command, cited the importance of information provided by banks in the war against Islamic State. "That to me is the first time in my recollection that we strategically targeted based on threat finance information," he said at the conference. He declined to comment further on which strike he had been referring to. "RESILIENT FINANCIAL PORTFOLIO" U.S. officials believe that diminished funding could gradually undermine Islamic State's grip on the area it controls in Iraq and Syria, because it needs revenue to pay salaries and keep public infrastructure operating, said two former officials with knowledge of the Obama administration's thinking. Experts caution that Islamic State, which rules an area the size of Austria, has surprisingly deep pockets due to the various revenue streams it controls. It has built up what amounts to a "durable and resilient financial portfolio," funded by oil sales, extortion, and sales of antiquities, said Thomas Sanderson, an expert on terrorism at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Money can be strapped to the backs of mules," Sanderson said. "It's easy to move things across a border during a time of deprivation and chaos." Despite some initial success, cutting off its funding will require deeper cooperation from governments from Turkey to Russia, experts say. The group has shown the ability to bounce back from previous U.S. strikes on its oil facilities. Counter-terrorism experts say that Islamic State appears to have learned from U.S. successes in cracking down on funding for al-Qaeda, which relied heavily on support from wealthy donors in the Gulf region. "IS has learned that you don't want to be reliant on too many outside sources," said Sanderson. "Donors are fickle and subject to pressure and (IS) wants to be in control." (Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati in Washington and Brett Wolf of Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence. Additional reporting by Joel Schectman, Warren Strobel, and Jonathan Landay in Washington.; Editing by Kevin Krolicki and Stuart Grudgings) || In taking economic war to Islamic State, U.S. developing new tools: By Yeganeh Torbati and Brett Wolf WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Since last month, U.S. warplanes have struck Islamic State's oil infrastructure in Syria in a stepped-up campaign of economic warfare that the United States estimates has cut the group's black-market earnings from oil by about a third. In finding their targets, U.S. military planners have relied in part on an unconventional source of intelligence: access to banking records that provide insight into which refineries and oil pumps are generating cash for the extremist group, current and former officials say. The intent is to choke off the Islamic State's funding by tracking its remaining ties to the global financial system. By identifying money flowing to and from the group, U.S. officials have been able to get a glimpse into how its black-market economy operates, people with knowledge of the effort have said. That in turn has influenced decisions about targeting for air strikes in an effort that began before Islamic State's Nov. 13 attacks on Paris and has intensified since, they said. While Islamic State's access to formal banking has been restricted, it retains some ties that U.S. military and financial officials can use against it, the current and former officials said. "We have done a really good job of largely keeping the Islamic State out of the formal financial system," said Matthew Levitt, who served as deputy assistant secretary for intelligence at the U.S. Treasury in the George W. Bush administration. "But we haven't been entirely successful, and that may not be a bad thing." Reuters was unable to verify key aspects of the campaign, including when it started or exactly which facilities have been destroyed as a result. Two current officials who confirmed the operations in outline declined to comment on their details. It was unclear how U.S. intelligence, Treasury, and military officials working on what the government calls "counter threat finance" operations have used banking records to identify lucrative Islamic State oil-related targets in Syria and whether that involved local banks. A report this year by the intergovernmental Financial Action Task Force found there were more than 20 Syrian financial institutions with operations in Islamic State territory. In Iraq, Treasury has worked with government officials to cut off bank branches in the group's territory from the Iraqi and international financial systems. Gerald Roberts, section chief of the FBI's terrorist financing operations section, said that Islamic State's recruits from outside Syria often come with financial trails that officials tracking them can "exploit." "We are seeing them using traditional banking systems," he said at a banking conference last week in Washington, adding that young, tech-savvy Islamic State members are also familiar with virtual currencies such as Bitcoin. Islamic State, also known as IS, ISIS or ISIL, is sometimes forced to use commercial banks because the amounts involved are too large to move using other means, said Levitt. The U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) uses a set of "business rules" to screen the roughly 55,000 reports it receives daily from financial institutions for signs of activity involving Islamic State, a spokesman said. He declined to describe the rules, but law enforcement sources say names, IP addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers are among the data that intelligence authorities try to match. The matches allow FinCEN "to connect the dots between seemingly unrelated individuals and entities," the FinCEN spokesman said. At present, FinCEN finds about 1,200 matches suggesting possible Islamic State-linked financial activity each month, up from 800 in April, the spokesman said. Bank of America, JP Morgan and Wells Fargo declined to comment on whether they provided financial reports to the U.S. government. Such reports are supplied confidentially. Citigroup, HSBC, and Standard Chartered did not immediately respond to requests for comment. "TIDAL WAVE II" The use of financial records linked to Islamic State is only one part of the intelligence-gathering exercise for air strikes in Syria that also includes methods such as aerial surveillance by drones, officials said. One former military official familiar with the process said that any financial intelligence collected by FinCEN would require "significant vetting" before the military acted on it. Earlier this month, U.S.-led coalition planes struck 116 fuel trucks used to smuggle Islamic State oil 45 minutes after dropping leaflets warning drivers to flee, a Pentagon spokesman said. Coalition strikes destroyed another 283 Islamic State fuel trucks on Saturday, the Pentagon said. On Nov. 8, a coalition air strike destroyed three oil refineries in Syria near the border with Turkey. U.S. defense officials estimate that Islamic State, an adversary the United States calls the wealthiest terrorist group of its kind in history, was earning about $47 million per month from oil sales prior to October. That month, the U.S. military launched an intensified effort to go after oil infrastructure, dubbed "Tidal Wave II," named after the bombing campaign targeting Romanian oil fields in World War Two. The Pentagon estimates the strikes have reduced the Islamic State's income from oil sales by about 30 percent, one U.S. defense official with knowledge of the previously unreported estimate said. Reuters was unable to confirm this. The use of financial records in helping to pick U.S. targets was first disclosed last week at the banking conference in Washington. At the conference, Kurt Gredzinski, the Counter Threat Finance Team Chief at U.S. Special Operations Command, cited the importance of information provided by banks in the war against Islamic State. "That to me is the first time in my recollection that we strategically targeted based on threat finance information," he said at the conference. He declined to comment further on which strike he had been referring to. "RESILIENT FINANCIAL PORTFOLIO" U.S. officials believe that diminished funding could gradually undermine Islamic State's grip on the area it controls in Iraq and Syria, because it needs revenue to pay salaries and keep public infrastructure operating, said two former officials with knowledge of the Obama administration's thinking. Experts caution that Islamic State, which rules an area the size of Austria, has surprisingly deep pockets due to the various revenue streams it controls. It has built up what amounts to a "durable and resilient financial portfolio," funded by oil sales, extortion, and sales of antiquities, said Thomas Sanderson, an expert on terrorism at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Money can be strapped to the backs of mules," Sanderson said. "It's easy to move things across a border during a time of deprivation and chaos." Despite some initial success, cutting off its funding will require deeper cooperation from governments from Turkey to Russia, experts say. The group has shown the ability to bounce back from previous U.S. strikes on its oil facilities. Counter-terrorism experts say that Islamic State appears to have learned from U.S. successes in cracking down on funding for al-Qaeda, which relied heavily on support from wealthy donors in the Gulf region. "IS has learned that you don't want to be reliant on too many outside sources," said Sanderson. "Donors are fickle and subject to pressure and (IS) wants to be in control." (Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati in Washington and Brett Wolf of Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence. Additional reporting by Joel Schectman, Warren Strobel, and Jonathan Landay in Washington.; Editing by Kevin Krolicki and Stuart Grudgings) || Insight - In taking economic war to Islamic State, U.S. developing new tools: By Yeganeh Torbati and Brett Wolf WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Since last month, U.S. warplanes have struck Islamic State's oil infrastructure in Syria in a stepped-up campaign of economic warfare that the United States estimates has cut the group's black-market earnings from oil by about a third. In finding their targets, U.S. military planners have relied in part on an unconventional source of intelligence: access to banking records that provide insight into which refineries and oil pumps are generating cash for the extremist group, current and former officials say. The intent is to choke off the Islamic State's funding by tracking its remaining ties to the global financial system. By identifying money flowing to and from the group, U.S. officials have been able to get a glimpse into how its black-market economy operates, people with knowledge of the effort have said. That in turn has influenced decisions about targeting for air strikes in an effort that began before Islamic State's Nov. 13 attacks on Paris and has intensified since, they said. While Islamic State's access to formal banking has been restricted, it retains some ties that U.S. military and financial officials can use against it, the current and former officials said. "We have done a really good job of largely keeping the Islamic State out of the formal financial system," said Matthew Levitt, who served as deputy assistant secretary for intelligence at the U.S. Treasury in the George W. Bush administration. "But we haven't been entirely successful, and that may not be a bad thing." Reuters was unable to verify key aspects of the campaign, including when it started or exactly which facilities have been destroyed as a result. Two current officials who confirmed the operations in outline declined to comment on their details. It was unclear how U.S. intelligence, Treasury, and military officials working on what the government calls "counter threat finance" operations have used banking records to identify lucrative Islamic State oil-related targets in Syria and whether that involved local banks. A report this year by the intergovernmental Financial Action Task Force found there were more than 20 Syrian financial institutions with operations in Islamic State territory. In Iraq, Treasury has worked with government officials to cut off bank branches in the group's territory from the Iraqi and international financial systems. Gerald Roberts, section chief of the FBI's terrorist financing operations section, said that Islamic State's recruits from outside Syria often come with financial trails that officials tracking them can "exploit." "We are seeing them using traditional banking systems," he said at a banking conference last week in Washington, adding that young, tech-savvy Islamic State members are also familiar with virtual currencies such as Bitcoin. Islamic State, also known as IS, ISIS or ISIL, is sometimes forced to use commercial banks because the amounts involved are too large to move using other means, said Levitt. The U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) uses a set of "business rules" to screen the roughly 55,000 reports it receives daily from financial institutions for signs of activity involving Islamic State, a spokesman said. He declined to describe the rules, but law enforcement sources say names, IP addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers are among the data that intelligence authorities try to match. The matches allow FinCEN "to connect the dots between seemingly unrelated individuals and entities," the FinCEN spokesman said. At present, FinCEN finds about 1,200 matches suggesting possible Islamic State-linked financial activity each month, up from 800 in April, the spokesman said. Bank of America, JP Morgan and Wells Fargo declined to comment on whether they provided financial reports to the U.S. government. Such reports are supplied confidentially. Citigroup, HSBC, and Standard Chartered did not immediately respond to requests for comment. "TIDAL WAVE II" The use of financial records linked to Islamic State is only one part of the intelligence-gathering exercise for air strikes in Syria that also includes methods such as aerial surveillance by drones, officials said. One former military official familiar with the process said that any financial intelligence collected by FinCEN would require "significant vetting" before the military acted on it. Earlier this month, U.S.-led coalition planes struck 116 fuel trucks used to smuggle Islamic State oil 45 minutes after dropping leaflets warning drivers to flee, a Pentagon spokesman said. Coalition strikes destroyed another 283 Islamic State fuel trucks on Saturday, the Pentagon said. On Nov. 8, a coalition air strike destroyed three oil refineries in Syria near the border with Turkey. U.S. defence officials estimate that Islamic State, an adversary the United States calls the wealthiest terrorist group of its kind in history, was earning about $47 million per month from oil sales prior to October. That month, the U.S. military launched an intensified effort to go after oil infrastructure, dubbed "Tidal Wave II," named after the bombing campaign targeting Romanian oil fields in World War Two. The Pentagon estimates the strikes have reduced the Islamic State's income from oil sales by about 30 percent, one U.S. defence official with knowledge of the previously unreported estimate said. Reuters was unable to confirm this. The use of financial records in helping to pick U.S. targets was first disclosed last week at the banking conference in Washington. At the conference, Kurt Gredzinski, the Counter Threat Finance Team Chief at U.S. Special Operations Command, cited the importance of information provided by banks in the war against Islamic State. "That to me is the first time in my recollection that we strategically targeted based on threat finance information," he said at the conference. He declined to comment further on which strike he had been referring to. "RESILIENT FINANCIAL PORTFOLIO" U.S. officials believe that diminished funding could gradually undermine Islamic State's grip on the area it controls in Iraq and Syria, because it needs revenue to pay salaries and keep public infrastructure operating, said two former officials with knowledge of the Obama administration's thinking. Experts caution that Islamic State, which rules an area the size of Austria, has surprisingly deep pockets due to the various revenue streams it controls. It has built up what amounts to a "durable and resilient financial portfolio," funded by oil sales, extortion, and sales of antiquities, said Thomas Sanderson, an expert on terrorism at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Money can be strapped to the backs of mules," Sanderson said. "It's easy to move things across a border during a time of deprivation and chaos." Despite some initial success, cutting off its funding will require deeper cooperation from governments from Turkey to Russia, experts say. The group has shown the ability to bounce back from previous U.S. strikes on its oil facilities. Counter-terrorism experts say that Islamic State appears to have learned from U.S. successes in cracking down on funding for al-Qaeda, which relied heavily on support from wealthy donors in the Gulf region. "IS has learned that you don't want to be reliant on too many outside sources," said Sanderson. "Donors are fickle and subject to pressure and (IS) wants to be in control." (Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati in Washington and Brett Wolf of Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence. Additional reporting by Joel Schectman, Warren Strobel, and Jonathan Landay in Washington.; Editing by Kevin Krolicki and Stuart Grudgings) || Insight - In taking economic war to Islamic State, U.S. developing new tools: By Yeganeh Torbati and Brett Wolf WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Since last month, U.S. warplanes have struck Islamic State's oil infrastructure in Syria in a stepped-up campaign of economic warfare that the United States estimates has cut the group's black-market earnings from oil by about a third. In finding their targets, U.S. military planners have relied in part on an unconventional source of intelligence: access to banking records that provide insight into which refineries and oil pumps are generating cash for the extremist group, current and former officials say. The intent is to choke off the Islamic State's funding by tracking its remaining ties to the global financial system. By identifying money flowing to and from the group, U.S. officials have been able to get a glimpse into how its black-market economy operates, people with knowledge of the effort have said. That in turn has influenced decisions about targeting for air strikes in an effort that began before Islamic State's Nov. 13 attacks on Paris and has intensified since, they said. While Islamic State's access to formal banking has been restricted, it retains some ties that U.S. military and financial officials can use against it, the current and former officials said. "We have done a really good job of largely keeping the Islamic State out of the formal financial system," said Matthew Levitt, who served as deputy assistant secretary for intelligence at the U.S. Treasury in the George W. Bush administration. "But we haven't been entirely successful, and that may not be a bad thing." Reuters was unable to verify key aspects of the campaign, including when it started or exactly which facilities have been destroyed as a result. Two current officials who confirmed the operations in outline declined to comment on their details. It was unclear how U.S. intelligence, Treasury, and military officials working on what the government calls "counter threat finance" operations have used banking records to identify lucrative Islamic State oil-related targets in Syria and whether that involved local banks. A report this year by the intergovernmental Financial Action Task Force found there were more than 20 Syrian financial institutions with operations in Islamic State territory. In Iraq, Treasury has worked with government officials to cut off bank branches in the group's territory from the Iraqi and international financial systems. Gerald Roberts, section chief of the FBI's terrorist financing operations section, said that Islamic State's recruits from outside Syria often come with financial trails that officials tracking them can "exploit." "We are seeing them using traditional banking systems," he said at a banking conference last week in Washington, adding that young, tech-savvy Islamic State members are also familiar with virtual currencies such as Bitcoin. Islamic State, also known as IS, ISIS or ISIL, is sometimes forced to use commercial banks because the amounts involved are too large to move using other means, said Levitt. The U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) uses a set of "business rules" to screen the roughly 55,000 reports it receives daily from financial institutions for signs of activity involving Islamic State, a spokesman said. He declined to describe the rules, but law enforcement sources say names, IP addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers are among the data that intelligence authorities try to match. The matches allow FinCEN "to connect the dots between seemingly unrelated individuals and entities," the FinCEN spokesman said. At present, FinCEN finds about 1,200 matches suggesting possible Islamic State-linked financial activity each month, up from 800 in April, the spokesman said. Bank of America, JP Morgan and Wells Fargo declined to comment on whether they provided financial reports to the U.S. government. Such reports are supplied confidentially. Citigroup, HSBC, and Standard Chartered did not immediately respond to requests for comment. "TIDAL WAVE II" The use of financial records linked to Islamic State is only one part of the intelligence-gathering exercise for air strikes in Syria that also includes methods such as aerial surveillance by drones, officials said. One former military official familiar with the process said that any financial intelligence collected by FinCEN would require "significant vetting" before the military acted on it. Earlier this month, U.S.-led coalition planes struck 116 fuel trucks used to smuggle Islamic State oil 45 minutes after dropping leaflets warning drivers to flee, a Pentagon spokesman said. Coalition strikes destroyed another 283 Islamic State fuel trucks on Saturday, the Pentagon said. On Nov. 8, a coalition air strike destroyed three oil refineries in Syria near the border with Turkey. U.S. defence officials estimate that Islamic State, an adversary the United States calls the wealthiest terrorist group of its kind in history, was earning about $47 million per month from oil sales prior to October. That month, the U.S. military launched an intensified effort to go after oil infrastructure, dubbed "Tidal Wave II," named after the bombing campaign targeting Romanian oil fields in World War Two. The Pentagon estimates the strikes have reduced the Islamic State's income from oil sales by about 30 percent, one U.S. defence official with knowledge of the previously unreported estimate said. Reuters was unable to confirm this. The use of financial records in helping to pick U.S. targets was first disclosed last week at the banking conference in Washington. At the conference, Kurt Gredzinski, the Counter Threat Finance Team Chief at U.S. Special Operations Command, cited the importance of information provided by banks in the war against Islamic State. "That to me is the first time in my recollection that we strategically targeted based on threat finance information," he said at the conference. He declined to comment further on which strike he had been referring to. "RESILIENT FINANCIAL PORTFOLIO" U.S. officials believe that diminished funding could gradually undermine Islamic State's grip on the area it controls in Iraq and Syria, because it needs revenue to pay salaries and keep public infrastructure operating, said two former officials with knowledge of the Obama administration's thinking. Experts caution that Islamic State, which rules an area the size of Austria, has surprisingly deep pockets due to the various revenue streams it controls. It has built up what amounts to a "durable and resilient financial portfolio," funded by oil sales, extortion, and sales of antiquities, said Thomas Sanderson, an expert on terrorism at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Money can be strapped to the backs of mules," Sanderson said. "It's easy to move things across a border during a time of deprivation and chaos." Despite some initial success, cutting off its funding will require deeper cooperation from governments from Turkey to Russia, experts say. The group has shown the ability to bounce back from previous U.S. strikes on its oil facilities. Counter-terrorism experts say that Islamic State appears to have learned from U.S. successes in cracking down on funding for al-Qaeda, which relied heavily on support from wealthy donors in the Gulf region. "IS has learned that you don't want to be reliant on too many outside sources," said Sanderson. "Donors are fickle and subject to pressure and (IS) wants to be in control." (Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati in Washington and Brett Wolf of Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence. Additional reporting by Joel Schectman, Warren Strobel, and Jonathan Landay in Washington.; Editing by Kevin Krolicki and Stuart Grudgings) || Paris Attacks Weigh On Bitcoin: EU officials are set to gather in Brussels in order to discuss the Paris attacks and ways to prevent similar situations from occurring in the future. One of the topics on the table for discussion is expected to be bitcoin and its potential to be used as a finance tool for terrorists.
The recent crisis in Paris has shined a spotlight on some of the issues that bitcoin has been facing as it becomes a more and more popular tool to conduct financial transactions on the web. While bitcoin enthusiasts say the cryptocurrency's ability to send payments anonymously without a third party intermediary is an important part of its appeal, others believe that bitcoin could be contributing to terror plots and should be more tightly regulated.
Related Link: Lasting Market Impacts From The Paris Attacks
Trust Issues
Bitcoin has long suffered from trust issues as the cryptocurrency has been portrayed as a tool for criminals after an underground marketplace dealing in illegal and illicit bitcoin transactions was exposed last year. The marketplace, called Silk Road, is what some say is only the beginning of the damage that bitcoin can do.
Because making transactions with bitcoin can protect the buyer and seller's identities, criminals are better able to solicit and pay for illegal goods and services online. The same, many believe, is true for terrorists. Bitcoin gives them an avenue to send and receive funds undetected as there is no third party intermediary monitoring and verifying those payments.
Regulation Could Break Bitcoin
However, on the other side of the coin, bitcoin supporters say that too much regulation would eliminate bitcoin's purpose all together. The electronic currency was meant to operate outside of traditional finance in order to make sending money across boarders faster and easier. They argue that placing strict regulations on bitcoin would disrupt the currency's decentralized nature and undo all of the progress that bitcoin technology has made.
Related Link: Ben Bernanke Sees Serious Problems With Bitcoin
What To Do
It is unclear how regulators plan to monitor bitcoin transactions and whether or not their efforts would be successful in thwarting terror plots. Bitcoin isn't the only payment scheme that is believed to be involved in terrorist planning operations either; pre-paid debit cards purchased from stores may also be a threat as they similarly don't require any kind of verification to be used for online payments.
See more from Benzinga
• 9 IPOs That Fell Flat On Wall Street
• 9 Ways To Make Your Retirement Savings Stretch Further
• 9 Investment Options For Traders Looking To Add Europe To Their Portfolio
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Paris Attacks Weigh On Bitcoin: EU officials are set to gather in Brussels in order to discuss the Paris attacks and ways to prevent similar situations from occurring in the future. One of the topics on the table for discussion is expected to be bitcoin and its potential to be used as a finance tool for terrorists. The recent crisis in Paris has shined a spotlight on some of the issues that bitcoin has been facing as it becomes a more and more popular tool to conduct financial transactions on the web. While bitcoin enthusiasts say the cryptocurrency's ability to send payments anonymously without a third party intermediary is an important part of its appeal, others believe that bitcoin could be contributing to terror plots and should be more tightly regulated. Related Link: Lasting Market Impacts From The Paris Attacks Trust Issues Bitcoin has long suffered from trust issues as the cryptocurrency has been portrayed as a tool for criminals after an underground marketplace dealing in illegal and illicit bitcoin transactions was exposed last year. The marketplace, called Silk Road, is what some say is only the beginning of the damage that bitcoin can do. Because making transactions with bitcoin can protect the buyer and seller's identities, criminals are better able to solicit and pay for illegal goods and services online. The same, many believe, is true for terrorists. Bitcoin gives them an avenue to send and receive funds undetected as there is no third party intermediary monitoring and verifying those payments. Regulation Could Break Bitcoin However, on the other side of the coin, bitcoin supporters say that too much regulation would eliminate bitcoin's purpose all together. The electronic currency was meant to operate outside of traditional finance in order to make sending money across boarders faster and easier. They argue that placing strict regulations on bitcoin would disrupt the currency's decentralized nature and undo all of the progress that bitcoin technology has made. Story continues Related Link: Ben Bernanke Sees Serious Problems With Bitcoin What To Do It is unclear how regulators plan to monitor bitcoin transactions and whether or not their efforts would be successful in thwarting terror plots. Bitcoin isn't the only payment scheme that is believed to be involved in terrorist planning operations either; pre-paid debit cards purchased from stores may also be a threat as they similarly don't require any kind of verification to be used for online payments. See more from Benzinga 9 IPOs That Fell Flat On Wall Street 9 Ways To Make Your Retirement Savings Stretch Further 9 Investment Options For Traders Looking To Add Europe To Their Portfolio © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Paris Attacks Weigh On Bitcoin: EU officials are set to gather in Brussels in order to discuss the Paris attacks and ways to prevent similar situations from occurring in the future. One of the topics on the table for discussion is expected to be bitcoin and its potential to be used as a finance tool for terrorists.
The recent crisis in Paris has shined a spotlight on some of the issues that bitcoin has been facing as it becomes a more and more popular tool to conduct financial transactions on the web. While bitcoin enthusiasts say the cryptocurrency's ability to send payments anonymously without a third party intermediary is an important part of its appeal, others believe that bitcoin could be contributing to terror plots and should be more tightly regulated.
Related Link: Lasting Market Impacts From The Paris Attacks
Trust Issues
Bitcoin has long suffered from trust issues as the cryptocurrency has been portrayed as a tool for criminals after an underground marketplace dealing in illegal and illicit bitcoin transactions was exposed last year. The marketplace, called Silk Road, is what some say is only the beginning of the damage that bitcoin can do.
Because making transactions with bitcoin can protect the buyer and seller's identities, criminals are better able to solicit and pay for illegal goods and services online. The same, many believe, is true for terrorists. Bitcoin gives them an avenue to send and receive funds undetected as there is no third party intermediary monitoring and verifying those payments.
Regulation Could Break Bitcoin
However, on the other side of the coin, bitcoin supporters say that too much regulation would eliminate bitcoin's purpose all together. The electronic currency was meant to operate outside of traditional finance in order to make sending money across boarders faster and easier. They argue that placing strict regulations on bitcoin would disrupt the currency's decentralized nature and undo all of the progress that bitcoin technology has made.
Related Link: Ben Bernanke Sees Serious Problems With Bitcoin
What To Do
It is unclear how regulators plan to monitor bitcoin transactions and whether or not their efforts would be successful in thwarting terror plots. Bitcoin isn't the only payment scheme that is believed to be involved in terrorist planning operations either; pre-paid debit cards purchased from stores may also be a threat as they similarly don't require any kind of verification to be used for online payments.
See more from Benzinga
• 9 IPOs That Fell Flat On Wall Street
• 9 Ways To Make Your Retirement Savings Stretch Further
• 9 Investment Options For Traders Looking To Add Europe To Their Portfolio
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
[Social Media Buzz]
BTCTurk 1085.4 TL BTCe 353.999 $ CampBx $ BitStamp 362.00 $ Cavirtex 480 $ CEXIO 361.62 $ Bitcoin.de 340.82 € #Bitcoin #btc || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 7 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $353.28 #bitcoin #btc || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 7 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $329.70 #bitcoin #btc || Current price: 340.33€ $BTCEUR $btc #bitcoin 2015-11-27 11:00:16 CET || Current value of DOGE in...
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357.38, 371.29, 377.32, 362.49, 359.19, 361.05, 363.18, 388.95, 388.78, 395.54
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 11664.85, 11774.60, 11366.13, 11488.36, 11323.40, 11542.50, 11506.87, 11711.51, 11680.82, 11970.48, 11414.03, 10245.30, 10511.81, 10169.57, 10280.35, 10369.56, 10131.52, 10242.35, 10363.14, 10400.92, 10442.17, 10323.76, 10680.84, 10796.95, 10974.91, 10948.99, 10944.59, 11094.35, 10938.27, 10462.26, 10538.46, 10246.19, 10760.07, 10692.72, 10750.72, 10775.27, 10709.65, 10844.64, 10784.49, 10619.45, 10575.97, 10549.33, 10669.58, 10793.34, 10604.41, 10668.97, 10915.69, 11064.46, 11296.36, 11384.18, 11555.36, 11425.90, 11429.51, 11495.35, 11322.12, 11358.10, 11483.36, 11742.04, 11916.33, 12823.69, 12965.89, 12931.54, 13108.06, 13031.17, 13075.25, 13654.22, 13271.29, 13437.88, 13546.52, 13781.00, 13737.11, 13550.49, 13950.30, 14133.71, 15579.85, 15565.88, 14833.75, 15479.57, 15332.32, 15290.90, 15701.34, 16276.34, 16317.81, 16068.14, 15955.59, 16716.11, 17645.41, 17804.01, 17817.09, 18621.31.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2020-11-20]
Volume: 36992873940, RSI (14-day): 83.86, 50-day EMA: 14193.31, 200-day EMA: 11428.96
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1872.60, Gold RSI: 46.05
Oil Price: 42.15, Oil RSI: 59.16
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Goldman Sachs Expects Digital Yuan to Reach 1B Users Within 10 Years: The digital yuan, China’s planned national virtual currency, would account for 15% of total consumption payments in 10 years, helping commercial banks gain more ground from fintech companies, according to a Nov. 17 Goldman Sachs report shared with CoinDesk.
The Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DC/EP) could be a more attractive alternative to existing digital payment services provided by fintech companies in a cashless environment, said the 81-page report. It cited anonymity enabled by the separation of a bank account and the digital yuan wallet, offline payment and interconnectivity with various payment options as contributing to the digital yuan’s success.
“In 10 years we expect DC/EP to reach 1 billion addressable users, 1.6 trillion rmb ($229 billion) in issuance, 19 trillion rmb ($2.7 trillion) in annual Total Payment Value (TPV) and account for 15% of total consumption payments,” the report said.
Related:Central Bankers, Experts Outline Possible Scenarios for CBDC Adoption
Goldman Sachs said consumption payments – meaning the transactions in which users make purchases via a digital payment platform – will be where banks and fintech providers compete most aggressively.
“Consumption is the major source of income for [third-party payment] (3PP) providers given the higher take rate than transfers and finance; thus consumption payments are regarded as ‘commercial payments’ by payment institutions,” the report said.
The report came after China’s top financial regulatorshaltedAnt Group’s record-setting initial public offering. The company, which is the fintech affiliate of China’s IT giant Alibaba, has one of the most popular digital payment mobile apps Alipay. Beijing’s authorities also proposed a set of newanti-monopolistic practicesto rein in fintech companies in the country.
The adoption of the digital yuan will likely slow the rate that banks have been ceding ground to fintech, and even reverse market share losses over the long-term if DC/EP gains in popularity, the report said.
Related:First Mover: What China Crackdown Means for $18K Bitcoin as Dimon Passes on 'Tea'
The report noted China Merchant Bank (CMB) and Ping An Bank (PAB) may be among the beneficiaries from the new digital payment ecosystem, as third-party payment platforms would have to face more competition in the long term.
“A 10% increase in the bank app users would lift revenues by 2%-5%,” the report said. “PAB and CMB are best placed to commercialize returning app users given their leading retail franchises, premium client bases, superior fintech capability and strategic focus on retail finance.”
Currently, Alipay and Tencent’s digital payment arm WeChat Pay still dominate China’s digital payment industry. The two companies account forover 90%of mobile banking transactions in the last three months of 2019.
“Commercial banks will be the only institutions permitted to operate in DC/EP exchange as it is the digitalization of legal tender,” the bank noted. “This will effectively level the playing field with fintech platforms, enabling banks to once again compete head-to-head with them in consumption payments.”
However, fintech companies will still be focused on retail banking services, taking large shares of growth in the retail financial services market in the next five years as the central bank gradually increases the adoption for the digital yuan.
“Over the next five years, we expect Fintech to grow revenues at almost double the rate of banks as they continue to capture incremental market share across the retail finance ecosystem,” the bank said.
The report also notes DC/EP would not disintermediate the commercial banks since the virtual currency is replacing cash rather than savings. In addition, the digital yuan wallet will not pay interest to depositors and most of the transactions will be in small amounts, the report said.
According to the report, China has 900 million mobile internet users as of 2019, making up over 64% of its population. The country’s M0/M2 ratio is only 4%, which is one of the lowest cash usage among major economies and it is still declining. Ninety-six percent of Chinese banking services are processed on electronic devices.
The bank forecasts a 3 trillion rmb ($428.6 billion) revenue pool for retail finance by 2025 (excluding mortgages) as growth in payments and retail lending slows but wealth management and insurance agencies remain brisk.
Read the full report below:
• Goldman Sachs Expects Digital Yuan to Reach 1B Users Within 10 Years
• Goldman Sachs Expects Digital Yuan to Reach 1B Users Within 10 Years || Goldman Sachs Expects Digital Yuan to Reach 1B Users Within 10 Years: The digital yuan, China’s planned national virtual currency, would account for 15% of total consumption payments in 10 years, helping commercial banks gain more ground from fintech companies, according to a Nov. 17 Goldman Sachs report shared with CoinDesk. The Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DC/EP) could be a more attractive alternative to existing digital payment services provided by fintech companies in a cashless environment, said the 81-page report. It cited anonymity enabled by the separation of a bank account and the digital yuan wallet, offline payment and interconnectivity with various payment options as contributing to the digital yuan’s success. “In 10 years we expect DC/EP to reach 1 billion addressable users, 1.6 trillion rmb ($229 billion) in issuance, 19 trillion rmb ($2.7 trillion) in annual Total Payment Value (TPV) and account for 15% of total consumption payments,” the report said. Related: Central Bankers, Experts Outline Possible Scenarios for CBDC Adoption Goldman Sachs said consumption payments – meaning the transactions in which users make purchases via a digital payment platform – will be where banks and fintech providers compete most aggressively. “Consumption is the major source of income for [third-party payment] (3PP) providers given the higher take rate than transfers and finance; thus consumption payments are regarded as ‘commercial payments’ by payment institutions,” the report said. Leveling the playing field The report came after China’s top financial regulators halted Ant Group’s record-setting initial public offering. The company, which is the fintech affiliate of China’s IT giant Alibaba, has one of the most popular digital payment mobile apps Alipay. Beijing’s authorities also proposed a set of new anti-monopolistic practices to rein in fintech companies in the country. The adoption of the digital yuan will likely slow the rate that banks have been ceding ground to fintech, and even reverse market share losses over the long-term if DC/EP gains in popularity, the report said. Story continues Related: First Mover: What China Crackdown Means for $18K Bitcoin as Dimon Passes on 'Tea' The report noted China Merchant Bank (CMB) and Ping An Bank (PAB) may be among the beneficiaries from the new digital payment ecosystem, as third-party payment platforms would have to face more competition in the long term. “A 10% increase in the bank app users would lift revenues by 2%-5%,” the report said. “PAB and CMB are best placed to commercialize returning app users given their leading retail franchises, premium client bases, superior fintech capability and strategic focus on retail finance.” Currently, Alipay and Tencent’s digital payment arm WeChat Pay still dominate China’s digital payment industry. The two companies account for over 90% of mobile banking transactions in the last three months of 2019. “Commercial banks will be the only institutions permitted to operate in DC/EP exchange as it is the digitalization of legal tender,” the bank noted. “This will effectively level the playing field with fintech platforms, enabling banks to once again compete head-to-head with them in consumption payments.” Fintech growth However, fintech companies will still be focused on retail banking services, taking large shares of growth in the retail financial services market in the next five years as the central bank gradually increases the adoption for the digital yuan. “Over the next five years, we expect Fintech to grow revenues at almost double the rate of banks as they continue to capture incremental market share across the retail finance ecosystem,” the bank said. The report also notes DC/EP would not disintermediate the commercial banks since the virtual currency is replacing cash rather than savings. In addition, the digital yuan wallet will not pay interest to depositors and most of the transactions will be in small amounts, the report said. According to the report, China has 900 million mobile internet users as of 2019, making up over 64% of its population. The country’s M0/M2 ratio is only 4%, which is one of the lowest cash usage among major economies and it is still declining. Ninety-six percent of Chinese banking services are processed on electronic devices. The bank forecasts a 3 trillion rmb ($428.6 billion) revenue pool for retail finance by 2025 (excluding mortgages) as growth in payments and retail lending slows but wealth management and insurance agencies remain brisk. Read the full report below: Related Stories Goldman Sachs Expects Digital Yuan to Reach 1B Users Within 10 Years Goldman Sachs Expects Digital Yuan to Reach 1B Users Within 10 Years || Here's What $500 Invested In 7 Electric Vehicle Penny Stocks In March Is Worth Right Now: Who would have thought 2020 would be the dawn of a new era in electric vehicle stocks. Though many of these companies have been on the market in one shape or form for years, most have traded aspenny stocks.Tesla Inc(NASDAQ:TSLA), which was always the top dog in the industry, now finds itself with a number of major competitors.
There’s no denying that FOMO (fear of missing out) has driven short-term trends in these lesser-known names, and those who invested early are now reaping the benefits.
Before we continue, we need to acknowledge that these stocks carry huge amounts of risk. The EV stocks detailed below are all volatile like penny stocks. So if you are looking for ways to trade these names ormake money with penny stocks, it’s important to control your downside.
All that being said, a number of new EV stocks have also helped fuel demand. Let’s say you decided that after the March sell-off this year to invest some money into electric vehicle penny stocks. What would that look like right now if you were to take $500 at that time and throw it blindly into some of these names?
Kandi Technologies Group, Inc.(NASDAQ:KNDI)
Kandi Technologies is one of the newer names in the space. In 2013, the company and Geely Group, a Chinese automaker, jointly invested in the establishment of Fengsheng Automotive Technology Group Co., Ltd. in order to develop, manufacture and sell pure EV products. Earlier this year, Fengsheng introduced its first pure electric SUV, the Maple 30x.
Fast-forward to today and Kandi has established dealer partnerships for the retail launch of two “affordable EV models”- K23 and K27. Shares of KNDI have rallied almost 180% in the last two weeks, nearly getting back to the all-time high of $17.40 from July 30.
A $500 investment in Kandi in mid-March would’ve gotten someone around 230 shares. At today’s price, that position would be worth around $3,300. That’s a 560% return.
ElectraMeccanica Vehicles Corp(NASDAQ:SOLO)
ElectraMeccanica’s flagship is a single-passenger EV dubbed “SOLO”. The company has been working toward commercialization and building its U.S. footprint, with its first round of new retail locations just announced at the end of October and the initial shipment of SOLO EV’s just arriving in North America.
With commercial launch imminent and momentum as a backdrop, SOLO shares have surged in recent weeks. In aJuly interview with Benzinga, ElectraMeccanica CEO Paul Rivera said, “We are not trying to compete with Tesla... When you’re driving this car, it's just you, and you’re focused on the road.”
With SOLO shares trading around $0.90 in mid-March, a $500 position would be somewhere in the ballpark of 555 shares. As of Thursday, the former penny stock reached a high of $9.74 making that position worth about $5,405, a 900% gain.
Blink Charging Co.(NASDAQ:BLNK)
Another one of the “pick and shovel” EV stocks is Blink Charging. The company continues gaining exposure as its charging stations remain a hot topic among traders and customers alike. Not only has Blink focused on expanding its charging footprint, but the company has also benefitted from other industry news.Apple Inc(NASDAQ:AAPL) for example, announced earlier this year that its Apple Maps would include EV charge routing. According to Blink, that will include its charging stations. Last week, Blink introduced a cable management solution for new and existing EV charger locations.
BLNK reached a new all-time high Thursday, breaking $19 for the first time. A $500 position in BLNK around mid-March would equate to roughly 312 shares at $1.60. At today’s price that position is worth over $5,720 or an over 1,000% gain.
Ayro Inc.(NASDAQ:AYRO)
Ayro Inc. initially focused on manufacturing short-haul electric vehicles, such as things that drive around college campuses and office complexes. But the company’s recent deal with Karma Automotive forms a partnership that includes a plan to produce more than 20,000 light-duty trucks over the next three years. It’s also reportedly worth as much as $300 million.
While AYRO is still one of the lower-priced EV stocks, shares have been equally explosive. Prior to its merger with DropCar, shares were trading around $0.40 in mid-March. A $500 position was equal to roughly 1,250 shares of DCAR – now AYRO. At this week’s current levels above $6, that position is worth right around $7,700.
Green Power Motors(NASDAQ:GP)
Green Power was originally listed on the TSX Venture market and traded in the U.S. on the OTCQX Market under the symbol GPVRF. After filing for a $35 million IPO on the Nasdaq, Green Power began trading under GP, the symbol it’s known for today. The company manufactures electric buses, cargo delivery vehicles, shuttles, and transit vehicles. Green Power recently closed a deal for six electric school buses that were sold to Thermalito Union Elementary School District through Greenpower's national distributor, Creative Bus Sales.
While GP reached of $23.45 earlier this year, the former penny stock currently trades around $19. Back in mid-March when Green Power was still on the OTCQX, the penny stock was worth around $1.05 meaning a $500 position was equal to about 476 shares. As of recent levels of $19, that position is now 1,700% higher valued at around $9,000.
Workhorse Group(NASDAQ:WKHS)
Who could forget Workhorse Group? It was one of the electric vehicle penny stocks originally brought to life bya Trump Tweet last summer. The company specializes in medium-duty trucks with powertrain components under the Workhorse chassis brand. Most recently, WKHS caught some momentum after receiving a purchase order for 500 all-electric C-1000 delivery vehicles from Pritchard Companies. Some of the momentum had been stifled following news that Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) would be rolling out its own electric cargo vehicle.
Needless to say, it hasn’t been a bad year for the former penny stock. In mid-March, shares were trading around $1.50. At its peak, WKHS reached highs of $30.99. Currently, the EV stock sits around $22.78 a share. That means a $500 position in March (roughly 333 shares) is now worth over $7,580 or an over 1,400% gain.
Nio Inc.(NYSE:NIO)
Nio isn’t the new kid on the block anymore. Last yearNIO became a penny stock, at one point trading as low as $1.19. Though it didn’t experience a massive sell-off like most of the market did in the first quarter, shares of NIO stock were hovering around $2.30 in mid-March. But in light of the company’s recent earnings beat, NIO is at $48, knocking on the door of all-time highs. A $500 position in Mid-March would equate to about 217 shares of NIO. Today that would be worth $10,500, equating to a gain of over 2,000%.
Neither the author of this post nor Pennystocks.com have a position or financial relationship with any of the stocks mentioned above.
See more from Benzinga
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• Cannabis Stock Gainers And Losers From November 19, 2020
• Bitcoin, Ethereum & Chainlink - American Wrap: 11/19/2020
© 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Here's What $500 Invested In 7 Electric Vehicle Penny Stocks In March Is Worth Right Now: Who would have thought 2020 would be the dawn of a new era in electric vehicle stocks. Though many of these companies have been on the market in one shape or form for years, most have traded as penny stocks . Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA ), which was always the top dog in the industry, now finds itself with a number of major competitors. There’s no denying that FOMO (fear of missing out) has driven short-term trends in these lesser-known names, and those who invested early are now reaping the benefits. Before we continue, we need to acknowledge that these stocks carry huge amounts of risk. The EV stocks detailed below are all volatile like penny stocks. So if you are looking for ways to trade these names or make money with penny stocks , it’s important to control your downside. All that being said, a number of new EV stocks have also helped fuel demand. Let’s say you decided that after the March sell-off this year to invest some money into electric vehicle penny stocks. What would that look like right now if you were to take $500 at that time and throw it blindly into some of these names? Kandi Technologies Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: KNDI ) Kandi Technologies is one of the newer names in the space. In 2013, the company and Geely Group, a Chinese automaker, jointly invested in the establishment of Fengsheng Automotive Technology Group Co., Ltd. in order to develop, manufacture and sell pure EV products. Earlier this year, Fengsheng introduced its first pure electric SUV, the Maple 30x. Fast-forward to today and Kandi has established dealer partnerships for the retail launch of two “affordable EV models”- K23 and K27. Shares of KNDI have rallied almost 180% in the last two weeks, nearly getting back to the all-time high of $17.40 from July 30. A $500 investment in Kandi in mid-March would’ve gotten someone around 230 shares. At today’s price, that position would be worth around $3,300. That’s a 560% return. Story continues ElectraMeccanica Vehicles Corp (NASDAQ: SOLO ) ElectraMeccanica’s flagship is a single-passenger EV dubbed “SOLO”. The company has been working toward commercialization and building its U.S. footprint, with its first round of new retail locations just announced at the end of October and the initial shipment of SOLO EV’s just arriving in North America. With commercial launch imminent and momentum as a backdrop, SOLO shares have surged in recent weeks. In a July interview with Benzinga , ElectraMeccanica CEO Paul Rivera said, “We are not trying to compete with Tesla... When you’re driving this car, it's just you, and you’re focused on the road.” With SOLO shares trading around $0.90 in mid-March, a $500 position would be somewhere in the ballpark of 555 shares. As of Thursday, the former penny stock reached a high of $9.74 making that position worth about $5,405, a 900% gain. Blink Charging Co. (NASDAQ: BLNK ) Another one of the “pick and shovel” EV stocks is Blink Charging. The company continues gaining exposure as its charging stations remain a hot topic among traders and customers alike. Not only has Blink focused on expanding its charging footprint, but the company has also benefitted from other industry news. Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL ) for example, announced earlier this year that its Apple Maps would include EV charge routing. According to Blink, that will include its charging stations. Last week, Blink introduced a cable management solution for new and existing EV charger locations. BLNK reached a new all-time high Thursday, breaking $19 for the first time. A $500 position in BLNK around mid-March would equate to roughly 312 shares at $1.60. At today’s price that position is worth over $5,720 or an over 1,000% gain. Ayro Inc. (NASDAQ: AYRO ) Ayro Inc. initially focused on manufacturing short-haul electric vehicles, such as things that drive around college campuses and office complexes. But the company’s recent deal with Karma Automotive forms a partnership that includes a plan to produce more than 20,000 light-duty trucks over the next three years. It’s also reportedly worth as much as $300 million. While AYRO is still one of the lower-priced EV stocks, shares have been equally explosive. Prior to its merger with DropCar, shares were trading around $0.40 in mid-March. A $500 position was equal to roughly 1,250 shares of DCAR – now AYRO. At this week’s current levels above $6, that position is worth right around $7,700. Green Power Motors (NASDAQ: GP ) Green Power was originally listed on the TSX Venture market and traded in the U.S. on the OTCQX Market under the symbol GPVRF. After filing for a $35 million IPO on the Nasdaq, Green Power began trading under GP, the symbol it’s known for today. The company manufactures electric buses, cargo delivery vehicles, shuttles, and transit vehicles. Green Power recently closed a deal for six electric school buses that were sold to Thermalito Union Elementary School District through Greenpower's national distributor, Creative Bus Sales. While GP reached of $23.45 earlier this year, the former penny stock currently trades around $19. Back in mid-March when Green Power was still on the OTCQX, the penny stock was worth around $1.05 meaning a $500 position was equal to about 476 shares. As of recent levels of $19, that position is now 1,700% higher valued at around $9,000. Workhorse Group (NASDAQ: WKHS ) Who could forget Workhorse Group? It was one of the electric vehicle penny stocks originally brought to life by a Trump Tweet last summer . The company specializes in medium-duty trucks with powertrain components under the Workhorse chassis brand. Most recently, WKHS caught some momentum after receiving a purchase order for 500 all-electric C-1000 delivery vehicles from Pritchard Companies. Some of the momentum had been stifled following news that Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F ) would be rolling out its own electric cargo vehicle. Needless to say, it hasn’t been a bad year for the former penny stock. In mid-March, shares were trading around $1.50. At its peak, WKHS reached highs of $30.99. Currently, the EV stock sits around $22.78 a share. That means a $500 position in March (roughly 333 shares) is now worth over $7,580 or an over 1,400% gain. Nio Inc. (NYSE: NIO ) Nio isn’t the new kid on the block anymore. Last year NIO became a penny stock , at one point trading as low as $1.19. Though it didn’t experience a massive sell-off like most of the market did in the first quarter, shares of NIO stock were hovering around $2.30 in mid-March. But in light of the company’s recent earnings beat, NIO is at $48, knocking on the door of all-time highs. A $500 position in Mid-March would equate to about 217 shares of NIO. Today that would be worth $10,500, equating to a gain of over 2,000%. Neither the author of this post nor Pennystocks.com have a position or financial relationship with any of the stocks mentioned above. See more from Benzinga Click here for options trades from Benzinga Cannabis Stock Gainers And Losers From November 19, 2020 Bitcoin, Ethereum & Chainlink - American Wrap: 11/19/2020 © 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Texas Financial Regulators Crack Down on 15 Alleged Crypto Scams: Texas regulators are going after a host of crypto firms they allege to be investment scams, 10 of which they say are are controlled by a single Texas man.
The Texas State Securities Board on Thursday ordered 15 firms to cease and desist operations with a series of emergency orders against crypto, forex and binary options hubs that purport to be based in Texas.
Ten firms are named in the firstorder: Proactive Expert Trading, Reliable Miners, BitcoinFX Options, Sure Trade Earnings, CryptoTradeFXWay, Proactive ExpertTrade, ReliableFX Internal Trade, MaxFX Internal Trade, AntPoolTop Mining and ExpertTrades247. Regulators say one man, James Blundell, pumped all 10 on social media.
Related:Hackers, Scammers Have Stolen $7.6B in Crypto Since 2011
Three are named in thesecond: Binary Trade Forex, FX Trades and IQTrade. Regulators say the trio are not registered to sell securities in Texas. They’re peddling highly lucrative, low risk investing options – at least according to the customer testimonials, which TSSB alleges are fake.
One firm, a crypto binary option and forex investment platform called GenuisPlanFxPro, is named in thethird. Regulators say GenuisPlanFxPro falsely claims to hold a handful of international financial licenses.
TSSB officials alleged a common thread across all 15 firms is their savvy use of social media to draw investors in and drain them dry.
“Bad actors know how to use social media and internet websites to create the pretense of legitimate operations. They can also use this technology to quickly reach large numbers of potential victims,” said Enforcement Director Joe Rotunda in a statement.
Related:Court Enters $900K Judgment Against Crypto Ponzi Scammer on Behalf of CFTC
“Their websites often go dark, social media often goes dormant and fraudsters often disappear. In many cases, the money is gone.”
• Texas Financial Regulators Crack Down on 15 Alleged Crypto Scams
• Texas Financial Regulators Crack Down on 15 Alleged Crypto Scams || Texas Financial Regulators Crack Down on 15 Alleged Crypto Scams: Texas regulators are going after a host of crypto firms they allege to be investment scams, 10 of which they say are are controlled by a single Texas man. The Texas State Securities Board on Thursday ordered 15 firms to cease and desist operations with a series of emergency orders against crypto, forex and binary options hubs that purport to be based in Texas. Ten firms are named in the first order : Proactive Expert Trading, Reliable Miners, BitcoinFX Options, Sure Trade Earnings, CryptoTradeFXWay, Proactive ExpertTrade, ReliableFX Internal Trade, MaxFX Internal Trade, AntPoolTop Mining and ExpertTrades247. Regulators say one man, James Blundell, pumped all 10 on social media. Related: Hackers, Scammers Have Stolen $7.6B in Crypto Since 2011 Three are named in the second : Binary Trade Forex, FX Trades and IQTrade. Regulators say the trio are not registered to sell securities in Texas. Theyre peddling highly lucrative, low risk investing options at least according to the customer testimonials, which TSSB alleges are fake. One firm, a crypto binary option and forex investment platform called GenuisPlanFxPro, is named in the third . Regulators say GenuisPlanFxPro falsely claims to hold a handful of international financial licenses. TSSB officials alleged a common thread across all 15 firms is their savvy use of social media to draw investors in and drain them dry. Bad actors know how to use social media and internet websites to create the pretense of legitimate operations. They can also use this technology to quickly reach large numbers of potential victims, said Enforcement Director Joe Rotunda in a statement. Related: Court Enters $900K Judgment Against Crypto Ponzi Scammer on Behalf of CFTC Their websites often go dark, social media often goes dormant and fraudsters often disappear. In many cases, the money is gone. Related Stories Texas Financial Regulators Crack Down on 15 Alleged Crypto Scams Texas Financial Regulators Crack Down on 15 Alleged Crypto Scams || ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / November 19, 2020 / ALT 5 Sigma Inc., an emerging leader in blockchain-powered financial platforms, provides its daily digital instruments market summary for Bitcoin (BTC/USD), Ether (ETH/USD), Litecoin (LTC/USD). Real-Time Market Data is available at www.alt5pro.com , and Real-Time Market Data feed is also available at www.alt5sigma.com . ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH Market Summary Thursday, November 19, 2020, at 4:10:32 PM Digital Asset Pair Price 24hr Chg 7d Chg 24/hr Volume MarketCap Bitcoin BTC/USD $17,973.53 $0.02 $0.12 $36,544 M $333,376 M Ethereum ETH/USD $475.15 $0.01 $0.04 $12,289 M $53,927 M XRP XRP/USD $0.30 $0.04 $0.19 $5,146 M $13,713 M Litecoin LTC/USD $82.37 $0.13 $0.40 $6,343 M $5,430 M Bitcoin Cash BCH/USD $248.95 $0.01 -$0.04 $1,501 M $4,625 M Bitcoin SV BSV/USD $162.56 $0.02 $0.04 $459 M $3,020 M EOS EOS/USD $2.66 $0.03 $0.09 $2,209 M $2,493 M Monero XMR/USD $119.29 -$0.03 $0.08 $854 M $2,119 M Stellar XLM/USD $0.08 $0.03 $0.06 $156 M $1,777 M Dash DASH/USD $83.11 $0.05 $0.05 $395 M $816 M ALT 5 is a fintech company specializing in the development and deployment of digital assets trading and exchange platforms. Alt 5 was founded by financial industry specialists out of the necessity to provide the digital asset economy with security, accessibility, transparency, and compliance. About ALT 5 Sigma Inc. ALT 5 provides its clients the ability to buy, sell, and hold digital assets in a safe and secure environment deployed with the best practices of the financial industry. ALT 5's products and services are available to Banks, Broker-Dealers, Funds, Family Offices, Professional Traders, Retail Traders, Digital Asset Exchanges, Digital Asset Brokers, Blockchain Developers, and Financial Information Providers. ALT 5's digital asset custodian services are secured by GardaWorld. GardaWorld is the world's largest privately-owned business solutions and security services company, offering cash management services. For more information, visit www.alt5sigma.com . Story continues CONTACT: Andre Beauchesne Tel. 1-800-204-6203 [email protected] For more information on ALT 5 Pay, visit www.alt5pay.com For more information on ALT 5 Pro, visit www.alt5pro.com SOURCE: ALT 5 Sigma, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/617674/ALT-5-Sigma-Digital-Instrument-Market-Summary-for-BTC-ETH-LTC-BCH || ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / November 19, 2020 /ALT 5 Sigma Inc., an emerging leader in blockchain-powered financial platforms, provides its daily digital instruments market summary for Bitcoin (BTC/USD), Ether (ETH/USD), Litecoin (LTC/USD).
Real-Time Market Data is available atwww.alt5pro.com, and Real-Time Market Data feed is also available atwww.alt5sigma.com.
ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH
[["Digital Asset", "Pair", "Price", "24hr Chg", "7d Chg", "24/hr Volume", "MarketCap"], ["Bitcoin", "BTC/USD", "$17,973.53", "$0.02", "$0.12", "$36,544 M", "$333,376 M"], ["Ethereum", "ETH/USD", "$475.15", "$0.01", "$0.04", "$12,289 M", "$53,927 M"], ["XRP", "XRP/USD", "$0.30", "$0.04", "$0.19", "$5,146 M", "$13,713 M"], ["Litecoin", "LTC/USD", "$82.37", "$0.13", "$0.40", "$6,343 M", "$5,430 M"], ["Bitcoin Cash", "BCH/USD", "$248.95", "$0.01", "-$0.04", "$1,501 M", "$4,625 M"], ["Bitcoin SV", "BSV/USD", "$162.56", "$0.02", "$0.04", "$459 M", "$3,020 M"], ["EOS", "EOS/USD", "$2.66", "$0.03", "$0.09", "$2,209 M", "$2,493 M"], ["Monero", "XMR/USD", "$119.29", "-$0.03", "$0.08", "$854 M", "$2,119 M"], ["Stellar", "XLM/USD", "$0.08", "$0.03", "$0.06", "$156 M", "$1,777 M"], ["Dash", "DASH/USD", "$83.11", "$0.05", "$0.05", "$395 M", "$816 M"]]
ALT 5 is a fintech company specializing in the development and deployment of digital assets trading and exchange platforms. Alt 5 was founded by financial industry specialists out of the necessity to provide the digital asset economy with security, accessibility, transparency, and compliance.About ALT 5 Sigma Inc.
ALT 5 provides its clients the ability to buy, sell, and hold digital assets in a safe and secure environment deployed with the best practices of the financial industry. ALT 5's products and services are available to Banks, Broker-Dealers, Funds, Family Offices, Professional Traders, Retail Traders, Digital Asset Exchanges, Digital Asset Brokers, Blockchain Developers, and Financial Information Providers.
ALT 5's digital asset custodian services are secured by GardaWorld. GardaWorld is the world's largest privately-owned business solutions and security services company, offering cash management services.
For more information, visitwww.alt5sigma.com.
CONTACT:Andre BeauchesneTel. [email protected]
For more information on ALT 5 Pay, visitwww.alt5pay.comFor more information on ALT 5 Pro, visitwww.alt5pro.com
SOURCE:ALT 5 Sigma, Inc.
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/617674/ALT-5-Sigma-Digital-Instrument-Market-Summary-for-BTC-ETH-LTC-BCH || ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / November 19, 2020 /ALT 5 Sigma Inc., an emerging leader in blockchain-powered financial platforms, provides its daily digital instruments market summary for Bitcoin (BTC/USD), Ether (ETH/USD), Litecoin (LTC/USD).
Real-Time Market Data is available atwww.alt5pro.com, and Real-Time Market Data feed is also available atwww.alt5sigma.com.
ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH
[["Digital Asset", "Pair", "Price", "24hr Chg", "7d Chg", "24/hr Volume", "MarketCap"], ["Bitcoin", "BTC/USD", "$17,973.53", "$0.02", "$0.12", "$36,544 M", "$333,376 M"], ["Ethereum", "ETH/USD", "$475.15", "$0.01", "$0.04", "$12,289 M", "$53,927 M"], ["XRP", "XRP/USD", "$0.30", "$0.04", "$0.19", "$5,146 M", "$13,713 M"], ["Litecoin", "LTC/USD", "$82.37", "$0.13", "$0.40", "$6,343 M", "$5,430 M"], ["Bitcoin Cash", "BCH/USD", "$248.95", "$0.01", "-$0.04", "$1,501 M", "$4,625 M"], ["Bitcoin SV", "BSV/USD", "$162.56", "$0.02", "$0.04", "$459 M", "$3,020 M"], ["EOS", "EOS/USD", "$2.66", "$0.03", "$0.09", "$2,209 M", "$2,493 M"], ["Monero", "XMR/USD", "$119.29", "-$0.03", "$0.08", "$854 M", "$2,119 M"], ["Stellar", "XLM/USD", "$0.08", "$0.03", "$0.06", "$156 M", "$1,777 M"], ["Dash", "DASH/USD", "$83.11", "$0.05", "$0.05", "$395 M", "$816 M"]]
ALT 5 is a fintech company specializing in the development and deployment of digital assets trading and exchange platforms. Alt 5 was founded by financial industry specialists out of the necessity to provide the digital asset economy with security, accessibility, transparency, and compliance.About ALT 5 Sigma Inc.
ALT 5 provides its clients the ability to buy, sell, and hold digital assets in a safe and secure environment deployed with the best practices of the financial industry. ALT 5's products and services are available to Banks, Broker-Dealers, Funds, Family Offices, Professional Traders, Retail Traders, Digital Asset Exchanges, Digital Asset Brokers, Blockchain Developers, and Financial Information Providers.
ALT 5's digital asset custodian services are secured by GardaWorld. GardaWorld is the world's largest privately-owned business solutions and security services company, offering cash management services.
For more information, visitwww.alt5sigma.com.
CONTACT:Andre BeauchesneTel. [email protected]
For more information on ALT 5 Pay, visitwww.alt5pay.comFor more information on ALT 5 Pro, visitwww.alt5pro.com
SOURCE:ALT 5 Sigma, Inc.
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/617674/ALT-5-Sigma-Digital-Instrument-Market-Summary-for-BTC-ETH-LTC-BCH || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Hangs Around $18K While Ether Locked in DeFi Declines: Bitcoin steadied around $18,000 after record volumes on Wednesday while Ethereum 2.0 may be causing some investors to move ether out of decentralized finance (DeFi).
• Bitcoin(BTC) trading around $18,026 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 2.1% over the previous 24 hours.
• Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $17,364-$18,170
• BTC above its 10-day and 50-day moving averages, a bullish signal for market technicians.
Bitcoin’s price rise stalled somewhat Thursday, with the world’s oldest cryptocurrency hitting as high as $18,170 before dipping below the $18,000 level, but back to $18,026 as of press time.
Volume contributed to the weakening price action. At $1.79 billion, Wednesday was the highest volume day for major USD/BTC spot exchanges since way back on March 13, when volumes hit $1.98 billion the day after the “Black Thursday” crash. Today, daily volume on these exchanges were at a comparably tepid $867 million.
Related:10 Metrics Where Bitcoin Has Already Hit New All-Time Highs
A volume pullback from the second-largest day on the USD/BTC spot market in 2020 isn’t deterring analysts on their bullish prognostications.
“The current upward move seems more sustainable than the 2017 bull run as institutional investors are now positioning in bitcoin whereas it was only retail speculation back in 2017,” said Elie Le Rest, partner at quant firm ExoAlpha. “Bitcoin confirms by its recent price move that it has a place in a diversified portfolio.”
Read More:Deutsche Bank Says Investors Increasingly Prefer Bitcoin Over Gold
“The market’s infrastructure, regulatory regime and overall maturity is much more robust than previously,” said John Willock, CEO of crypto asset manager Tritium. “I fully expect a couple of pullbacks from these nominal mile markers such as $18,000, $19,000 and $20,000, but I do expect we should see the overall momentum continue through the rest of the year.”
Related:MicroStrategy Wants to Be in the Bitcoin Business, Not Just an Investor
Since Oct. 20, bitcoin’s 30-day volatility has been steadily rising, indicating that some price gyrations may still be on the horizon.
“No assets go parabolic forever,” noted Michael Gord, chief executive officer for trading firm Global Digital Assets. “Bitcoin has gone up over 50% in the past month and is due for a correction.”
“Long term I’m still very bullish and still seeing increasing interest from more traditional investors in bitcoin and other digital assets,” Gord added.
Read More:OKEx Exchange Says Crypto Withdrawals to Restart by Next Friday
Investors are certainly looking at the derivatives market, with bitcoin futures (over $6 billion) and options (over $4 billion) open interest hitting new highs. CME, a professional investor venue, has flirted with $1 billion in bitcoin open interest this week, a sign institutions are increasingly hedging crypto positions.
Even permabulls like Henrik Kugelberg, a Sweden-based over-the-counter crypto trader, are prepared for some bumps in the road should bitcoin work its way to an all-time high.
“I expect a much larger drop pretty soon,” Kugelberg told CoinDesk. “But in all I can see BTC going to $23,000-$24,000 in the next month or two.”
The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization,ether(ETH), was up Thursday, trading around $475 and climbing 0.55% in 24 hours as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).
The amount of ether “locked” in decentralized finance, or DeFi, is declining. The fall began Nov. 14, going from 8.9 million to 7.7 million ETH as of press time, according to aggregator DeFi Pulse.
Jean-Marc Bonnefous, managing partner for investment firm Tellurian Capital, suspects some of the ether movement out of DeFi might have to do with Ethereum’s ambitious “2.0” project. This requires some capital allocation to a smart contract set aside for staking somethingknown as the “beacon chain” to launch the new network.
“There is the need to find another 400,000 ETH to fill the first phase of staking into ETH 2.0 by the end of November,” said Bonnefous. “So this might explain some of the leakage out of DeFi.”
Digital assets on theCoinDesk 20are mixed Thursday, mostly green. Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• litecoin(LTC) + 13.6%
• chainlink(LINK) + 5.3%
• xrp(XRP) + 4.6%
Notable losers:
• orchid(OXT) – 6.8%
• ethereum classic(ETC) – 1%
• omg network(OMG) – 0.79%
Read More:Solidus Believes Its Crypto Surveillance Tool Can Help Launch a Bitcoin ETF
Equities:
• The Nikkei 225 closed in the red 0.36% asinvestors grappled with the possibility of a coronavirus vaccine versus a rising number of daily cases.
• The FTSE 100 in Europe ended the day slipping 0.80% asEuropean Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde cautioned fresh stimulus would be needed.
• In the United States the S&P gained 0.50% asinvestors hit the buy button on tech stocks that may fare well amid economic concerns regarding rising coronavirus cases.
Commodities:
• Oil was up 0.71%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $41.88.
• Gold was in the red 0.30% and at $1,866 as of press time.
Treasurys:
• The 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield fell Tuesday, dipping to 0.855 and in the red 2.7%.
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Hangs Around $18K While Ether Locked in DeFi Declines
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Hangs Around $18K While Ether Locked in DeFi Declines || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Hangs Around $18K While Ether Locked in DeFi Declines: Bitcoin steadied around $18,000 after record volumes on Wednesday while Ethereum 2.0 may be causing some investors to move ether out of decentralized finance (DeFi). Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $18,026 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 2.1% over the previous 24 hours. Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $17,364-$18,170 BTC above its 10-day and 50-day moving averages, a bullish signal for market technicians. Bitcoin’s price rise stalled somewhat Thursday, with the world’s oldest cryptocurrency hitting as high as $18,170 before dipping below the $18,000 level, but back to $18,026 as of press time. Volume contributed to the weakening price action. At $1.79 billion, Wednesday was the highest volume day for major USD/BTC spot exchanges since way back on March 13, when volumes hit $1.98 billion the day after the “Black Thursday” crash. Today, daily volume on these exchanges were at a comparably tepid $867 million. Related: 10 Metrics Where Bitcoin Has Already Hit New All-Time Highs A volume pullback from the second-largest day on the USD/BTC spot market in 2020 isn’t deterring analysts on their bullish prognostications. “The current upward move seems more sustainable than the 2017 bull run as institutional investors are now positioning in bitcoin whereas it was only retail speculation back in 2017,” said Elie Le Rest, partner at quant firm ExoAlpha. “Bitcoin confirms by its recent price move that it has a place in a diversified portfolio.” Read More: Deutsche Bank Says Investors Increasingly Prefer Bitcoin Over Gold “The market’s infrastructure, regulatory regime and overall maturity is much more robust than previously,” said John Willock, CEO of crypto asset manager Tritium. “I fully expect a couple of pullbacks from these nominal mile markers such as $18,000, $19,000 and $20,000, but I do expect we should see the overall momentum continue through the rest of the year.” Story continues Related: MicroStrategy Wants to Be in the Bitcoin Business, Not Just an Investor Since Oct. 20, bitcoin’s 30-day volatility has been steadily rising, indicating that some price gyrations may still be on the horizon. “No assets go parabolic forever,” noted Michael Gord, chief executive officer for trading firm Global Digital Assets. “Bitcoin has gone up over 50% in the past month and is due for a correction.” “Long term I’m still very bullish and still seeing increasing interest from more traditional investors in bitcoin and other digital assets,” Gord added. Read More: OKEx Exchange Says Crypto Withdrawals to Restart by Next Friday Investors are certainly looking at the derivatives market, with bitcoin futures (over $6 billion) and options (over $4 billion) open interest hitting new highs. CME, a professional investor venue, has flirted with $1 billion in bitcoin open interest this week, a sign institutions are increasingly hedging crypto positions. Even permabulls like Henrik Kugelberg, a Sweden-based over-the-counter crypto trader, are prepared for some bumps in the road should bitcoin work its way to an all-time high. “ I expect a much larger drop pretty soon,” Kugelberg told CoinDesk. “But in all I can see BTC going to $23,000-$24,000 in the next month or two.” Ether moving out of DeFi The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, ether (ETH), was up Thursday, trading around $475 and climbing 0.55% in 24 hours as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET). The amount of ether “locked” in decentralized finance, or DeFi, is declining. The fall began Nov. 14, going from 8.9 million to 7.7 million ETH as of press time, according to aggregator DeFi Pulse. Jean-Marc Bonnefous, managing partner for investment firm Tellurian Capital, suspects some of the ether movement out of DeFi might have to do with Ethereum’s ambitious “2.0” project. This requires some capital allocation to a smart contract set aside for staking something known as the “beacon chain” to launch the new network . “There is the need to find another 400,000 ETH to fill the first phase of staking into ETH 2.0 by the end of November,” said Bonnefous. “So this might explain some of the leakage out of DeFi.” Other markets Digital assets on the CoinDesk 20 are mixed Thursday, mostly green. Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET): litecoin (LTC) + 13.6% chainlink (LINK) + 5.3% xrp (XRP) + 4.6% Notable losers: orchid (OXT) – 6.8% ethereum classic (ETC) – 1% omg network (OMG) – 0.79% Read More: Solidus Believes Its Crypto Surveillance Tool Can Help Launch a Bitcoin ETF Equities: The Nikkei 225 closed in the red 0.36% as investors grappled with the possibility of a coronavirus vaccine versus a rising number of daily cases . The FTSE 100 in Europe ended the day slipping 0.80% as European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde cautioned fresh stimulus would be needed . In the United States the S&P gained 0.50% as investors hit the buy button on tech stocks that may fare well amid economic concerns regarding rising coronavirus cases . Commodities: Oil was up 0.71%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $41.88. Gold was in the red 0.30% and at $1,866 as of press time. Treasurys: The 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield fell Tuesday, dipping to 0.855 and in the red 2.7%. Related Stories Market Wrap: Bitcoin Hangs Around $18K While Ether Locked in DeFi Declines Market Wrap: Bitcoin Hangs Around $18K While Ether Locked in DeFi Declines || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Hangs Around $18K While Ether Locked in DeFi Declines: Bitcoin steadied around $18,000 after record volumes on Wednesday while Ethereum 2.0 may be causing some investors to move ether out of decentralized finance (DeFi).
• Bitcoin(BTC) trading around $18,026 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 2.1% over the previous 24 hours.
• Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $17,364-$18,170
• BTC above its 10-day and 50-day moving averages, a bullish signal for market technicians.
Bitcoin’s price rise stalled somewhat Thursday, with the world’s oldest cryptocurrency hitting as high as $18,170 before dipping below the $18,000 level, but back to $18,026 as of press time.
Volume contributed to the weakening price action. At $1.79 billion, Wednesday was the highest volume day for major USD/BTC spot exchanges since way back on March 13, when volumes hit $1.98 billion the day after the “Black Thursday” crash. Today, daily volume on these exchanges were at a comparably tepid $867 million.
Related:10 Metrics Where Bitcoin Has Already Hit New All-Time Highs
A volume pullback from the second-largest day on the USD/BTC spot market in 2020 isn’t deterring analysts on their bullish prognostications.
“The current upward move seems more sustainable than the 2017 bull run as institutional investors are now positioning in bitcoin whereas it was only retail speculation back in 2017,” said Elie Le Rest, partner at quant firm ExoAlpha. “Bitcoin confirms by its recent price move that it has a place in a diversified portfolio.”
Read More:Deutsche Bank Says Investors Increasingly Prefer Bitcoin Over Gold
“The market’s infrastructure, regulatory regime and overall maturity is much more robust than previously,” said John Willock, CEO of crypto asset manager Tritium. “I fully expect a couple of pullbacks from these nominal mile markers such as $18,000, $19,000 and $20,000, but I do expect we should see the overall momentum continue through the rest of the year.”
Related:MicroStrategy Wants to Be in the Bitcoin Business, Not Just an Investor
Since Oct. 20, bitcoin’s 30-day volatility has been steadily rising, indicating that some price gyrations may still be on the horizon.
“No assets go parabolic forever,” noted Michael Gord, chief executive officer for trading firm Global Digital Assets. “Bitcoin has gone up over 50% in the past month and is due for a correction.”
“Long term I’m still very bullish and still seeing increasing interest from more traditional investors in bitcoin and other digital assets,” Gord added.
Read More:OKEx Exchange Says Crypto Withdrawals to Restart by Next Friday
Investors are certainly looking at the derivatives market, with bitcoin futures (over $6 billion) and options (over $4 billion) open interest hitting new highs. CME, a professional investor venue, has flirted with $1 billion in bitcoin open interest this week, a sign institutions are increasingly hedging crypto positions.
Even permabulls like Henrik Kugelberg, a Sweden-based over-the-counter crypto trader, are prepared for some bumps in the road should bitcoin work its way to an all-time high.
“I expect a much larger drop pretty soon,” Kugelberg told CoinDesk. “But in all I can see BTC going to $23,000-$24,000 in the next month or two.”
The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization,ether(ETH), was up Thursday, trading around $475 and climbing 0.55% in 24 hours as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).
The amount of ether “locked” in decentralized finance, or DeFi, is declining. The fall began Nov. 14, going from 8.9 million to 7.7 million ETH as of press time, according to aggregator DeFi Pulse.
Jean-Marc Bonnefous, managing partner for investment firm Tellurian Capital, suspects some of the ether movement out of DeFi might have to do with Ethereum’s ambitious “2.0” project. This requires some capital allocation to a smart contract set aside for staking somethingknown as the “beacon chain” to launch the new network.
“There is the need to find another 400,000 ETH to fill the first phase of staking into ETH 2.0 by the end of November,” said Bonnefous. “So this might explain some of the leakage out of DeFi.”
Digital assets on theCoinDesk 20are mixed Thursday, mostly green. Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• litecoin(LTC) + 13.6%
• chainlink(LINK) + 5.3%
• xrp(XRP) + 4.6%
Notable losers:
• orchid(OXT) – 6.8%
• ethereum classic(ETC) – 1%
• omg network(OMG) – 0.79%
Read More:Solidus Believes Its Crypto Surveillance Tool Can Help Launch a Bitcoin ETF
Equities:
• The Nikkei 225 closed in the red 0.36% asinvestors grappled with the possibility of a coronavirus vaccine versus a rising number of daily cases.
• The FTSE 100 in Europe ended the day slipping 0.80% asEuropean Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde cautioned fresh stimulus would be needed.
• In the United States the S&P gained 0.50% asinvestors hit the buy button on tech stocks that may fare well amid economic concerns regarding rising coronavirus cases.
Commodities:
• Oil was up 0.71%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $41.88.
• Gold was in the red 0.30% and at $1,866 as of press time.
Treasurys:
• The 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield fell Tuesday, dipping to 0.855 and in the red 2.7%.
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Hangs Around $18K While Ether Locked in DeFi Declines
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Hangs Around $18K While Ether Locked in DeFi Declines || Marathon to Participate in the “Operations and Investment into Mining” Panel at Bitmain’s Mining and Investment Summit 2020 on November 24th at 11:40 AM ET: LAS VEGAS, Nov. 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --Marathon Patent Group, Inc.(NASDAQ:MARA) ("Marathon" or "Company"), one of the largest publicly traded Bitcoin self-mining companies in North America, will be participating in Bitmain’sMining and Investment Summit 2020, which is being held on Tuesday, November 24, 2020.
The Mining and Investment Summit 2020 brings together the leading companies in the fields of cryptocurrency mining and digital asset financial services. During the event, Marathon’s CEO Merrick Okamoto will be participating in the “Operations and Investment into Mining” panel, which will commence at 11:40 a.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, November 24th. Interested parties may register for the event usingthis link.
OnNovember 18, 2020, Marathon unveiled a new investor presentation, which contains updated financial information as of November 5, 2020. The presentation can be accessed on the Company’s websitehere.
To receive additional information about the company or the event, please contact Marathon’s investor relations team [email protected].
About Marathon Patent GroupMarathon is a digital asset technology company that mines cryptocurrencies, with a focus on the blockchain ecosystem and the generation of digital assets. For more information, visitwww.marathonpg.com.
Marathon Patent Group Company Contact:Jason AssadTelephone: 678-570-6791Email:[email protected]
Marathon Patent Group Investor Contact:Gateway Investor RelationsMatt Glover and Charlie SchumacherTelephone: 949-574-3860Email:[email protected] || Marathon to Participate in the “Operations and Investment into Mining” Panel at Bitmain’s Mining and Investment Summit 2020 on November 24th at 11:40 AM ET: LAS VEGAS, Nov. 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Marathon Patent Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: MARA ) ("Marathon" or "Company") , one of the largest publicly traded Bitcoin self-mining companies in North America, will be participating in Bitmain’s Mining and Investment Summit 2020 , which is being held on Tuesday, November 24, 2020. The Mining and Investment Summit 2020 brings together the leading companies in the fields of cryptocurrency mining and digital asset financial services. During the event, Marathon’s CEO Merrick Okamoto will be participating in the “Operations and Investment into Mining” panel, which will commence at 11:40 a.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, November 24 th . Interested parties may register for the event using this link . On November 18, 2020 , Marathon unveiled a new investor presentation, which contains updated financial information as of November 5, 2020. The presentation can be accessed on the Company’s website here . To receive additional information about the company or the event, please contact Marathon’s investor relations team at [email protected] . About Marathon Patent Group Marathon is a digital asset technology company that mines cryptocurrencies, with a focus on the blockchain ecosystem and the generation of digital assets. For more information, visit www.marathonpg.com . Marathon Patent Group Company Contact: Jason Assad Telephone: 678-570-6791 Email: [email protected] Marathon Patent Group Investor Contact: Gateway Investor Relations Matt Glover and Charlie Schumacher Telephone: 949-574-3860 Email: [email protected] || FOREX-Dollar slips on report that U.S. stimulus talks to resume: * U.S. stimulus talks to resume -CNBC, citing Schumer * Euro getting above $1.1850 opens way for move higher -analyst * Sterling falls on Brexit worries * Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E (Recasts; adds new comment, Senator Schumer's news; updates prices) By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK, Nov 19 (Reuters) - The dollar slid for a sixth straight session on Thursday, after trading higher for most of the day, on reports that U.S. Senate Republican leaders have agreed to resume negotiations on another coronavirus stimulus package. CNBC reported that top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said on Thursday that Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has agreed to resume COVID-19 relief talks as cases surge across the country. The report led to a bounce in stocks, pushed the euro to a session high versus the dollar, and pared losses in currencies that benefit from higher risk appetite such as the Australian dollar and the Norwegian crown. Prior to the Nov. 3 U.S. election, financial markets had been riveted by the back-and-forth from lawmakers during the stimulus talks. In the end though, investors were resigned to the fact that any stimulus plan would be passed after President-elect Joe Biden takes office in January. "The euro bottomed out against the dollar hours ago and technically when we got above $1.1850, the move higher accelerated," said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Forex. "I think the market is relatively thin and when the Schumer news hit, it further opened the door. The market is still sensitive to news about the stimulus," he added. In late afternoon trading, an index which tracks the dollar against a basket of currencies was down 0.2% at 92.299. The dollar, though, remains caught in a tug-of-war between the upbeat outlook arising from positive vaccine news as well as the relentless rise in coronavirus infections that forced localized shutdowns around the world. The surge in coronavirus cases is supposedly positive for the safe-haven dollar. The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 surpassed 250,000 on Wednesday as New York City's public school system, the country's largest, halted in-person instruction, citing a jump in infection rates. The euro rose 0.2% against the dollar to $1.1875. With fiscal stimulus plans remaining uncertain, speculation is growing that the Federal Reserve may further loosen monetary policy in December. Two Fed officials on Wednesday held out the option of doing more, and Treasuries have rallied in anticipation of a possible expansion of U.S. central bank bond-buying.\ The dollar was little changed against the yen at 103.81 yen. The yen has gained about 1.4% since Pfizer Inc announced promising trial results for its COVID-19 vaccine. The greenback showed little reaction after the Labor Department reported that U.S. weekly jobless claims increased to a seasonally-adjusted 742,000 for the week ended Nov. 14. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 707,000 applications for the latest week. Elsewhere, sterling dipped 0.2% to $1.3255 against the dollar after the Times newspaper reported that European leaders will urge the European Commission to publish no-deal Brexit plans as the year-end deadline approaches. Bitcoin, meanwhile, rose 1.2% on Thursday to $18,004, not far from the all-time high of nearly $20,000 reached three years ago. ======================================================== Currency bid prices at 3:37PM (2037 GMT) Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid Previous Change Session Dollar index 92.2710 92.4740 -0.21% +0.00% +92.7270 +92.2660 Euro/Dollar $1.1878 $1.1854 +0.22% +5.96% +1.1880 +1.1817 Dollar/Yen 103.7950 103.8200 -0.04% -4.45% +104.2100 +103.7450 Euro/Yen 123.28 123.05 +0.19% +1.10% +123.3200 +122.8500 Dollar/Swiss 0.9106 0.9112 -0.04% -5.88% +0.9139 +0.9106 Sterling/Dollar 1.3266 1.3268 -0.02% +0.02% +1.3268 +1.3198 Dollar/Canadian 1.3065 1.3085 -0.14% +0.59% +1.3122 +1.3060 Aussie/Dollar 0.7294 0.7306 -0.14% +3.97% +0.7305 +0.7255 Euro/Swiss 1.0815 1.0796 +0.18% -0.34% +1.0819 +1.0791 Euro/Sterling 0.8951 0.8931 +0.22% +5.88% +0.8963 +0.8924 NZ 0.6924 0.6923 -0.06% +2.82% +0.6925 +0.6879 Dollar/Dollar Dollar/Norway 8.9845 9.0045 +0.07% +2.72% +9.0920 +9.0105 Euro/Norway 10.6761 10.6880 -0.11% +8.52% +10.7485 +10.6703 Dollar/Sweden 8.5913 8.5980 +0.22% -8.09% +8.6569 +8.5877 Euro/Sweden 10.2059 10.1835 +0.22% -2.52% +10.2345 +10.1787 (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfyss; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Paul Simao) || FOREX-Dollar slips on report that U.S. stimulus talks to resume: * U.S. stimulus talks to resume -CNBC, citing Schumer * Euro getting above $1.1850 opens way for move higher -analyst * Sterling falls on Brexit worries * Graphic: World FX rates in 2020 https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E (Recasts; adds new comment, Senator Schumer's news; updates prices) By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK, Nov 19 (Reuters) - The dollar slid for a sixth straight session on Thursday, after trading higher for most of the day, on reports that U.S. Senate Republican leaders have agreed to resume negotiations on another coronavirus stimulus package. CNBC reported that top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said on Thursday that Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has agreed to resume COVID-19 relief talks as cases surge across the country. The report led to a bounce in stocks, pushed the euro to a session high versus the dollar, and pared losses in currencies that benefit from higher risk appetite such as the Australian dollar and the Norwegian crown. Prior to the Nov. 3 U.S. election, financial markets had been riveted by the back-and-forth from lawmakers during the stimulus talks. In the end though, investors were resigned to the fact that any stimulus plan would be passed after President-elect Joe Biden takes office in January. "The euro bottomed out against the dollar hours ago and technically when we got above $1.1850, the move higher accelerated," said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Forex. "I think the market is relatively thin and when the Schumer news hit, it further opened the door. The market is still sensitive to news about the stimulus," he added. In late afternoon trading, an index which tracks the dollar against a basket of currencies was down 0.2% at 92.299. The dollar, though, remains caught in a tug-of-war between the upbeat outlook arising from positive vaccine news as well as the relentless rise in coronavirus infections that forced localized shutdowns around the world. The surge in coronavirus cases is supposedly positive for the safe-haven dollar. The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 surpassed 250,000 on Wednesday as New York City's public school system, the country's largest, halted in-person instruction, citing a jump in infection rates. The euro rose 0.2% against the dollar to $1.1875. With fiscal stimulus plans remaining uncertain, speculation is growing that the Federal Reserve may further loosen monetary policy in December. Two Fed officials on Wednesday held out the option of doing more, and Treasuries have rallied in anticipation of a possible expansion of U.S. central bank bond-buying.\ The dollar was little changed against the yen at 103.81 yen. The yen has gained about 1.4% since Pfizer Inc announced promising trial results for its COVID-19 vaccine. The greenback showed little reaction after the Labor Department reported that U.S. weekly jobless claims increased to a seasonally-adjusted 742,000 for the week ended Nov. 14. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 707,000 applications for the latest week. Elsewhere, sterling dipped 0.2% to $1.3255 against the dollar after the Times newspaper reported that European leaders will urge the European Commission to publish no-deal Brexit plans as the year-end deadline approaches. Bitcoin, meanwhile, rose 1.2% on Thursday to $18,004, not far from the all-time high of nearly $20,000 reached three years ago. ======================================================== Currency bid prices at 3:37PM (2037 GMT) Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid Previous Change Session Dollar index 92.2710 92.4740 -0.21% +0.00% +92.7270 +92.2660 Euro/Dollar $1.1878 $1.1854 +0.22% +5.96% +1.1880 +1.1817 Dollar/Yen 103.7950 103.8200 -0.04% -4.45% +104.2100 +103.7450 Euro/Yen 123.28 123.05 +0.19% +1.10% +123.3200 +122.8500 Dollar/Swiss 0.9106 0.9112 -0.04% -5.88% +0.9139 +0.9106 Sterling/Dollar 1.3266 1.3268 -0.02% +0.02% +1.3268 +1.3198 Dollar/Canadian 1.3065 1.3085 -0.14% +0.59% +1.3122 +1.3060 Aussie/Dollar 0.7294 0.7306 -0.14% +3.97% +0.7305 +0.7255 Euro/Swiss 1.0815 1.0796 +0.18% -0.34% +1.0819 +1.0791 Euro/Sterling 0.8951 0.8931 +0.22% +5.88% +0.8963 +0.8924 NZ 0.6924 0.6923 -0.06% +2.82% +0.6925 +0.6879 Dollar/Dollar Dollar/Norway 8.9845 9.0045 +0.07% +2.72% +9.0920 +9.0105 Euro/Norway 10.6761 10.6880 -0.11% +8.52% +10.7485 +10.6703 Dollar/Sweden 8.5913 8.5980 +0.22% -8.09% +8.6569 +8.5877 Euro/Sweden 10.2059 10.1835 +0.22% -2.52% +10.2345 +10.1787 (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfyss; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Paul Simao) || The Complete Case for $100K Bitcoin: What a year – a global pandemic, a wavering stock market, rising numbers of unemployed people and continued uncertainty in global markets. Yet, we saw the bitcoin price recover from $5,300 in March to almost $18,000 at time of writing. That’s almost a 240% return within nine months. For regular investors, the burning question is whether bitcoin is becoming overpriced. Is it too late to buy bitcoin? Hong Fang is the CEO at OKCoin , a U.S. licensed, fiat-focused cryptocurrency exchange headquartered in San Francisco. Hong spent eight years at Goldman Sachs, leaving as VP of Investment Banking. She is a graduate of Peking University in Beijing, China, and has an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. Related: MicroStrategy Wants to Be in the Bitcoin Business, Not Just an Investor If we put aside short-term volatility and take a long-term perspective, there is a reasonable path for the price of bitcoin to reach over $500,000 in the next decade. To go even further, I think BTC is likely to hit $100,000 in the next 12 months. Significant upside has yet to play out for bitcoin. Bitcoin is a ‘store of value’ When we talk about the valuation of an asset, the first step is to understand the fundamental economics. Equities, bonds and real estate, for example, often derive their value from generating cash flows; therefore, valuation of these assets involves projecting future cash flows. Commodities, on the other hand, are more utility based and therefore their prices are anchored by industrial supply and demand. Before taking any action on bitcoin, I suggest asking yourself, “What is bitcoin for?” Use this as a baseline to form your own view of the value of bitcoin and its fair price range in a given time horizon. Here’s my take as a HODLer: Bitcoin is sound money and the first native internet money in human society. It is scarce (21 million fixed supply), durable (digital), accessible (blockchain is 24/7), divisible (1 bitcoin = 100 million satoshis), verifiable (open-source Bitcoin Core) and most importantly, censorship resistant (encrypted). With these superior monetary qualities in one asset, bitcoin is a great store of value. Once it reaches a critical mass of adoption as a store of value, bitcoin has huge potential to grow into a global reserve currency (and universal unit of account, too) over time. The history of money shows us that natural forms of money generally go through three phases of evolution: first as collectible (speculation on scarcity), second as investment (store of value), third as money (unit of account) and payment (medium of exchange). As bitcoin goes through different phases, its valuation scheme varies, too. In my view, bitcoin is currently in the early stage of phase II. Below is a short summary of the two phases bitcoin has been through and respective value implications. Story continues Bitcoin as collectible Between its inception in 2009 and 2018, bitcoin was in its “collectible” phase. Only a small cluster of cypherpunks believed in bitcoin as “future sound money.” It was hard to come up with a valuation scheme for bitcoin that matched its fundamentals. It was also too early to tell whether bitcoin could succeed in building consensus around its “store of value” superiority. Related: Bitcoin Is the Biggest Big Short Bitcoin is built as a basic utility and doesn’t generate cash flow, so there is no way to forecast its price based on cash flows. Its circulating supply was easy to calculate, but it was really hard to estimate demand given the fickle nature of speculative trading. When speculative demand surged and drained out of the system, particularly around the initial coin offering (ICO) boom in 2017, we saw bitcoin’s price explode from $900 in early 2017 to $19,000 by the end of 2017, and then down to $3,700 by the end of 2018. Bitcoin’s opponents usually attack bitcoin’s price volatility as a bug, but I believe that bitcoin’s price volatility is a unique and smart self-marketing feature. It was key to its survival in the early days. Bitcoin operates as a decentralized global network. There is no coordinated marketing team out there promoting bitcoin’s utility to the world. It is the dramatic price volatility that has continued to attract attention from non-followers, some of whom were later converted into believers, thus driving the continued momentum of bitcoin adoption. Bitcoin as investment Bitcoin went through an identity crisis as “sound money” before it graduated into the second stage as an investment vehicle. Starting with the scalability debate in 2017, when the network became congested with historical high volume and transaction costs surged, its community had serious controversies (some called it “civil war”) involving the future path of bitcoin. See also: Bitcoin 101 As a result, on Aug. 1, 2017, the bitcoin blockchain was hard forked to create the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) chain to allow larger blocks as BTC stuck to a block size limit with SegWit adoption to enable a second-layer solution. On November 15, 2018, the BCH network forked again into Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Satoshi’s Vision (BSV). Fortunately, bitcoin (BTC in this case) survived its growing pains (and the industry-wide bear market) and thrived thereafter. It is also through such public disputes (and price performance after hard forks) that BTC support and dominance has been further solidified, with an increasing number of addresses holding BTC and decreasing volatility . Then came 2020. Banner year This year has been an extraordinary year in many aspects, but it is truly a milestone year for bitcoin. The coronavirus pandemic has brought emotional and economic stress to many people on a global basis. On top of that, 12 years after the 2008 financial crisis and the publication of the Bitcoin white paper, we are reminded how easily our economy could be flooded with new money printed out of thin air; $3 trillion in new money was created in just three months in the United States, about 14% of U.S. GDP in 2019. The U.S. was not alone. In 2020, it has been extremely hard for responsible savers to find reliable, real yields to preserve their hard-earned wealth. American middle-class families have had to either accept zero to negative interest rates at banks and debasement risk or bet in the all-time-high equity market when the real economy struggles, not knowing when the music will stop. In other countries, people must fight an uphill battle everyday to simply preserve the earning power of their salaries. These macro themes are too strong for anyone to ignore. In contrast, the Bitcoin network had its successful third halving on May 11, 2020, highlighting the beauty of having monetary discipline pre-written into code and executed by the global network smoothly ever since. As a result, more investors in traditional finance (Wall Street institutions included) have started to realize that bitcoin has a unique hedging capability against long-term inflation risk, with a risk-reward profile better than its closest monetary cousin, gold. Different from its 2017 ride, bitcoin’s current run-up is characterized by more vocal institutional endorsement: Square and MicroStrategy allocate treasury cash into bitcoin; the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) allow U.S. banks to offer crypto asset custody; PayPal enabling crypto buying and selling; Fidelity making a case for 5% asset allocation and doubling down on crypto engineer recruiting; well-established traditional asset managers including Paul Tudor Jones and Stanley Druckenmilller announcing public support for bitcoin. The mainstream momentum is building up. For the first time since its historic inception, bitcoin officially entered mainstream media as “digital gold,” a legit and credible (and liquid) alternative asset to consider for both individuals and institutions. The earlier comparison to “Dutch tulip mania” starts to fade. As more people educate themselves about what bitcoin is and start to embrace it not as a speculative trading asset but as a long-term asset allocation option, we can now look at its fundamentals and anchor price ranges with a simple supply-and-demand math. Below are three scenarios used to triangulate bitcoin’s potential one-year trajectory. Scenario 1: 1-2% US household wealth allocation? According to the Federal Reserve , U.S. household wealth reached $112 trillion by June 2020 (top 10% owns two-thirds of the wealth). 1%-2% of $112 trillion = $1.1 trillion to $2.2 trillion potential demand ( Fidelity’s most recent report actually recommends 5% target allocation). Current total circulating BTC is about 18.5 million. To keep it simple, let’s assume 21 million max supply are all up for sale. Divide the potential demand by max supply, we get a price range of $56,000-$112,000 . This scenario does not account for the rest of the world ($400 trillion global family wealth, according to Credit Suisse Wealth Report 2020 ). If we assume 1%-2% allocation of global family wealth, we will be looking at a $228,000-$456,000 price range. Would this happen in the next 12 months? Likely not. Can this happen within the next decade? I think that’s very possible. Scenario 2: 2%-3% of global high-net-worth individual allocation? According to Capgemini World Wealth Report 2020 , global HNWI wealth stood at $74 trillion by end of 2019 (~13% alternative, 14.6% real estate, 17% fixed income, 25% cash and cash equivalent, 30% equity). 2%-3% of $74 trillion = $1.48 trillion-$2.22 trillion potential demand. Divide the potential demand by max supply, we get a price range of $70,000-$105,000 . This scenario does look at global data, but only accounts for high-net-worth individual (HNWI) allocation, assuming that this segment has more assets to invest and investment decisions are more driven by institutional asset managers and advisers. I am also assuming a higher range of allocation here because HNWI are generally better positioned to take on more risks in search of higher risk-adjusted return. Scenario 3: Catching up with gold? There has been a long-standing argument that bitcoin would catch up to gold in market cap once it is widely accepted as a “digital and superior version of gold.” Current gold market cap is $9 trillion. This is about 2% of total global wealth and 12% of global HNWI wealth. 100% gold market cap means $428,000 price point for bitcoin. Can we get there in 12 months? Probably too aggressive an assumption. Can bitcoin rise to 20%-25% of gold in 12 months (aka 2.4%-3% global HNWI wealth allocation)? Possible. That would give us a price range of $80,000-$110,000 . There are additional factors that could add more upside to bitcoin. Given that we are still in the early stage of mainstream adoption, I don’t want to over-emphasize them, but I want to lay them out just to keep the perspective. Potential allocation from corporate treasury management. We are already seeing early signs of that with Square and MicroStrategy. Square recently allocated about 1.8% of its cash balance to buy $50 million in bitcoin. Sizing up corporate demand for bitcoin is tricky, though. Each company has its own cash flow and growth profile, which will affect its risk appetite in asset allocation. Potential allocation from foreign exchange reserves of all sovereign states. According to the International Monetary Fund , the global foreign exchange (forex) reserve was $12 trillion by June 2020, with the top three reserve currencies in U.S. dollars $7 trillion (58.3%), euros $2 trillion (16.7%), and yen $650 billion (5.4%). Is it possible to see sovereign countries allocate some of their forex reserves into bitcoin? I believe that trend will emerge over time when bitcoin’s superiority in “store of value” further plays out in the next five to 10 years. Assuming 25% allocation ($3 trillion, a little more than euro allocation), that is another $140,000 upside . Bitcoin catching up on the U.S. dollar as a dominant global currency reserve could take a long time to materialize, if at all but it is not impossible to see bitcoin among the top 3 list. Not 100% of bitcoin’s max supply would be available for trade. There is about 18.5 million in circulation . About 10% of that has been dormant for over 10 years. It’s tricky to estimate how much of the total bitcoin in circulation will actually be up for sale at different price points. None of the above account for the dollar’s inflation rate in the years to come, which is about 2%-3% annually as a baseline. Neither do these scenarios account for the network effect of bitcoin, the possibility of bitcoin becoming more ubiquitous and reliable as a unit of account. What could go wrong? A one-sided investment case is never a good one. It is prudent to play devil’s advocate and assess downside risks. What are the major risks that may derail a bitcoin bull run? Protocol risk The biggest risk always comes from inside. Bitcoin has inherent value only because it has the unique characteristics of “sound money” (scarce, durable, accessible, divisible, verifiable and censorship resistant). If any of those qualities are compromised, the foundation to its investment case will be eroded or gone. Such protocol risks were high in its first few years, but after two major controversial hard forks and three successful halvings, it seems that protocol-level risks are somewhat contained. The Bitcoin ecosystem has been consistent in independent developer support. According to Electric Capital’s developer report , the Bitcoin developer ecosystem has maintained 100+ independent developers every month since 2014. Additionally, we’ve also seen an increase in commits to the Bitcoin Core codebase in 2020, reaching a peak in May (around the time when the third halving happened). It’s also encouraging to see major development milestones emerging on the Bitcoin Core network, including the merge of Signet, Schnorr/Taproot and increased focus on fuzz testing, to name a few. These protocol-level developments continue to enhance the privacy and scalability of the network, boosting bitcoin’s technical stability as a currency. To ensure a healthy and safe future for bitcoin, it is critical to ensure the Bitcoin Core developer community remains independent and decentralized and continues to make steady improvements in critical areas like security and privacy. This is also why we have been passionate about providing no-strings sponsorship to Bitcoin Core developers and projects at OKCoin. Investing in bitcoin development helps reduce the protocol risk. Concentration risk This, to me, is the second0biggest risk to bitcoin. Bitcoin’s ethos is to empower individuals through decentralization, but the risk of concentration always exists. Within the network, the risk lies in the concentration of mining power. It is not an industry secret that 65% of the world’s hash power is in China . If mining power is coalesced, a mining pool or group of miners can manipulate network transactions, creating fake coins through double-spending, in turn impacting the market price. However, there is also the argument that such concentration risk is inevitable but to some extent harmless, too, given how the network incentive has been designed for bitcoin. In other words, the incentives in the form of new bitcoins and transaction fees should work to keep the majority of the nodes honest because it is economically costly to cheat (not because it is hard or impossible to cheat). The assumption is that the mining participants are all rational and make economic decisions. Externally, similar risk lies in ownership concentration. Investors, or “whales,” holding significant amounts of bitcoin can influence and even manipulate the market by triggering a change in price based on their buy/sell timing. Given that an individual (or an entity) can own more than one bitcoin address, it’s hard to paint an accurate picture of bitcoin ownership. So this risk does exist. This is also why I feel very passionate about promoting financial literacy and crypto knowledge. I believe that we can build a healthier and more sustainable future if more individuals come to understand what bitcoin is about and start to embrace it. The first institutional wave is exciting to see, but if bitcoin ownership tilts too much toward the institutional end, we would be defeated in our mission of building a more inclusive and individually empowering network. Political risk Another major risk comes from sovereign governments. Given that bitcoin is positioned as future money, it is possible that sovereign governments ban it for fear of threatening fiat currencies. Again, such risks are highest in earlier years before bitcoin builds meaningful adoption momentum. Actually, such bans have already happened in several countries (India in 2018, for example, which was revoked in 2020). Central bank digital currency (CBDC) experiments around the world could also have an impact on how bitcoin’s future plays out. This year has seen the first wave of institutional endorsement for bitcoin, and therefore 2020 will be recognized as a milestone year in alleviating this political risk. When publicly listed companies, asset managers and well-known individuals start to own bitcoin and speak in favor of bitcoin, such a ban is going to become very unpopular and hence harder to implement in countries where popular votes do matter. I hope the momentum will continue to build, making a risk of total bitcoin ban increasingly remote as time passes. In a world of uncertainty, bitcoin gives HODLers like me confidence. It has a huge network effect that can ultimately empower every individual who believes in it and uses it. A successful and complete ban on bitcoin will also need to take coordinated efforts of all sovereign governments, which is very unlikely. As long as there are countries that let bitcoin legally flow, bitcoin will have a chance to win – a decentralized global network cannot be shut down by any single party. That being said, bitcoin price volatility could be amplified from time to time by domestic and geopolitical changes. In my view, political risks remain the second-largest risk to bitcoin until it becomes too big to be tampered with. We are obviously far away from that point. There can also be a wider payment ban on bitcoin while it is being recognized as legal financial assets. Such a risk is not totally out of the picture yet. The good thing is, we are not banking on bitcoin becoming the unit of account and medium of payment in our $100,000-$500,000 scenario. When bitcoin does progress to phase III, we will not be talking about bitcoin price anymore, but instead talk about everything else’s price in bitcoin. Adoption risk This is a timing risk. It is quite possible that it may take much longer than expected for bitcoin to go mainstream. The only way to manage this risk is to make sure your bitcoin portfolio is properly sized. If you invest in bitcoin (or anything else) and worry about where its price would be in the next 12 months, your portfolio of bitcoin is probably too big for you. Size it based on your own risk tolerance and conviction level in bitcoin. Don’t do more than what you can afford (or believe in). I also believe the unique quality of bitcoin will speak for itself over time. Bitcoin’s price chart between 2017 and 2018 very much looked like a bubble. However, if we look at bitcoin’s full trading history, there is a clear upward trend together with growing asset-holding addresses , growing active addresses and growing network computing power . The increasing mean hashrate of the Bitcoin network represents the security level that one would want to see in a network where people’s wealth is stored. I may be on the bullish side for bitcoin’s 12-month price trajectory but I truly believe that with bitcoin, time will be our best friend. Looking ahead Bitcoin is unlike any other asset we have encountered before. This is a truly sound and global wealth network that will continue to grow as the world recognizes the significance of its properties. To put things in perspective, here is a recent tweet from Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy, that summarizes the relevance of bitcoin as a utility and store of value. In a world of uncertainty, bitcoin gives HODLers like me confidence. It has a huge network effect that can ultimately empower every individual who believes in it and uses it. I look forward to the continued evolution of the bitcoin ecosystem and feel excited about being part of it. Related Stories The Complete Case for $100K Bitcoin The Complete Case for $100K Bitcoin || The Complete Case for $100K Bitcoin: What a year – a global pandemic, a wavering stock market, rising numbers of unemployed people and continued uncertainty in global markets. Yet, we saw the bitcoin price recover from $5,300 in March to almost $18,000 at time of writing. That’s almost a 240% return within nine months.
For regular investors, the burning question is whetherbitcoinis becoming overpriced. Is it too late to buy bitcoin?
Hong Fang is the CEO atOKCoin, a U.S. licensed, fiat-focused cryptocurrency exchange headquartered in San Francisco. Hong spent eight years at Goldman Sachs, leaving as VP of Investment Banking. She is a graduate of Peking University in Beijing, China, and has an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.
Related:MicroStrategy Wants to Be in the Bitcoin Business, Not Just an Investor
If we put aside short-term volatility and take a long-term perspective, there is a reasonable path for the price of bitcoin to reach over $500,000 in the next decade. To go even further, I think BTC is likely to hit $100,000 in the next 12 months. Significant upside has yet to play out for bitcoin.
When we talk about the valuation of an asset, the first step is to understand the fundamental economics. Equities, bonds and real estate, for example, often derive their value from generating cash flows; therefore, valuation of these assets involves projecting future cash flows. Commodities, on the other hand, are more utility based and therefore their prices are anchored by industrial supply and demand. Before taking any action on bitcoin, I suggest asking yourself, “What is bitcoin for?” Use this as a baseline to form your own view of the value of bitcoin and itsfairprice range in a given time horizon.
Here’s my take as a HODLer:
• Bitcoin is sound money and the firstnativeinternet money in human society.
• It is scarce (21 million fixed supply), durable (digital), accessible (blockchain is 24/7), divisible (1 bitcoin = 100 million satoshis), verifiable (open-source Bitcoin Core) and most importantly, censorship resistant (encrypted). With these superior monetary qualities in one asset, bitcoin is a great store of value. Once it reaches a critical mass of adoption as a store of value, bitcoin has huge potential to grow into a global reserve currency (and universal unit of account, too) over time.
• The history of money shows us that natural forms of money generally go through three phases of evolution: first as collectible (speculation on scarcity), second as investment (store of value), third as money (unit of account) and payment (medium of exchange). As bitcoin goes through different phases, its valuation scheme varies, too. In my view, bitcoin is currently in the early stage of phase II. Below is a short summary of the two phases bitcoin has been through and respective value implications.
Between its inception in 2009 and 2018, bitcoin was in its “collectible” phase. Only a small cluster of cypherpunks believed in bitcoin as “future sound money.” It was hard to come up with a valuation scheme for bitcoin that matched its fundamentals. It was also too early to tell whether bitcoin could succeed in building consensus around its “store of value” superiority.
Related:Bitcoin Is the Biggest Big Short
Bitcoin is built as a basic utility and doesn’t generate cash flow, so there is no way to forecast its price based on cash flows. Its circulating supply was easy to calculate, but it was really hard to estimate demand given the fickle nature of speculative trading. When speculative demand surged and drained out of the system, particularly around the initial coin offering (ICO) boom in 2017, we saw bitcoin’s price explode from $900 in early 2017 to $19,000 by the end of 2017, and then down to $3,700 by the end of 2018.
Bitcoin’s opponents usually attack bitcoin’s price volatility as a bug, but I believe that bitcoin’s price volatility is a unique and smart self-marketing feature. It was key to its survival in the early days. Bitcoin operates as a decentralized global network. There is no coordinated marketing team out there promoting bitcoin’s utility to the world. It is the dramatic price volatility that has continued to attract attention from non-followers, some of whom were later converted into believers, thus driving the continued momentum of bitcoin adoption.
Bitcoin went through an identity crisis as “sound money” before it graduated into the second stage as an investment vehicle. Starting with the scalability debate in 2017, when the network became congested with historical high volume and transaction costs surged, its community hadserious controversies(some called it “civil war”) involving the future path of bitcoin.
See also:Bitcoin 101
As a result, on Aug. 1, 2017, the bitcoin blockchain was hard forked to create the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) chain to allow larger blocks as BTC stuck to a block size limit with SegWit adoption to enable a second-layer solution. On November 15, 2018, the BCH network forked again into Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Satoshi’s Vision (BSV).
Fortunately, bitcoin (BTC in this case) survived its growing pains (and the industry-wide bear market) and thrived thereafter. It is also through such public disputes (and price performance after hard forks) that BTC support and dominance has been further solidified, withan increasing number of addresses holding BTCanddecreasing volatility.
Then came 2020.
This year has been an extraordinary year in many aspects, but it is truly a milestone year for bitcoin. The coronavirus pandemic has brought emotional and economic stress to many people on a global basis. On top of that, 12 years after the 2008 financial crisis and the publication of the Bitcoin white paper, we are reminded how easily our economy could be flooded with new money printed out of thin air; $3 trillion in new money was created in just three months in the United States, about 14% of U.S. GDP in 2019. The U.S. was not alone.
In 2020, it has been extremely hard for responsible savers to find reliable, real yields to preserve their hard-earned wealth. American middle-class families have had to either accept zero to negative interest rates at banks and debasement risk or bet in the all-time-high equity market when the real economy struggles, not knowing when the music will stop. In other countries, people must fight an uphill battle everyday to simply preserve the earning power of their salaries.
These macro themes are too strong for anyone to ignore. In contrast, the Bitcoin network had its successfulthird halvingon May 11, 2020, highlighting the beauty of having monetary discipline pre-written into code and executed by the global network smoothly ever since. As a result, more investors in traditional finance (Wall Street institutions included) have started to realize that bitcoin has a unique hedging capability against long-term inflation risk, with a risk-reward profile better than its closest monetary cousin, gold.
Different from its 2017 ride, bitcoin’s current run-up is characterized by more vocal institutional endorsement: Square and MicroStrategy allocate treasury cash into bitcoin; the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) allow U.S. banks to offer crypto asset custody; PayPal enabling crypto buying and selling; Fidelity making a case for 5% asset allocation and doubling down on crypto engineer recruiting; well-established traditional asset managers includingPaul Tudor JonesandStanley Druckenmilllerannouncing public support for bitcoin. The mainstream momentum is building up.
For the first time since its historic inception, bitcoin officially entered mainstream media as “digital gold,” a legit and credible (and liquid) alternative asset to consider for both individuals and institutions. The earlier comparison to “Dutch tulip mania” starts to fade. As more people educate themselves about what bitcoin is and start to embrace it not as a speculative trading asset but as a long-term asset allocation option, we can now look at its fundamentals and anchor price ranges with a simple supply-and-demand math.
Below are three scenarios used to triangulate bitcoin’s potential one-year trajectory.
• According to theFederal Reserve, U.S. household wealth reached $112 trillion by June 2020 (top 10% owns two-thirds of the wealth).
• 1%-2% of $112 trillion = $1.1 trillion to $2.2 trillion potential demand (Fidelity’s most recent reportactually recommends 5% target allocation).
• Current totalcirculating BTCis about 18.5 million. To keep it simple, let’s assume 21 million max supply are all up for sale.
• Divide the potential demand by max supply, we get a price range of$56,000-$112,000. This scenario does not account for the rest of the world ($400 trillion global family wealth, according toCredit Suisse Wealth Report 2020). If we assume 1%-2% allocation of global family wealth, we will be looking at a$228,000-$456,000price range. Would this happen in the next 12 months? Likely not. Can this happen within the next decade? I think that’s very possible.
• According toCapgemini World Wealth Report 2020, global HNWI wealth stood at $74 trillion by end of 2019 (~13% alternative, 14.6% real estate, 17% fixed income, 25% cash and cash equivalent, 30% equity).
• 2%-3% of $74 trillion = $1.48 trillion-$2.22 trillion potential demand.
• Divide the potential demand by max supply, we get a price range of$70,000-$105,000.
• This scenario does look at global data, but only accounts for high-net-worth individual (HNWI) allocation, assuming that this segment has more assets to invest and investment decisions are more driven by institutional asset managers and advisers. I am also assuming a higher range of allocation here because HNWI are generally better positioned to take on more risks in search of higher risk-adjusted return.
• There has been a long-standing argument that bitcoin would catch up to gold in market cap once it is widely accepted as a “digital and superior version of gold.”
• Current gold market cap is $9 trillion. This is about 2% of total global wealth and 12% of global HNWI wealth.
• 100% gold market cap means $428,000 price point for bitcoin. Can we get there in 12 months? Probably too aggressive an assumption. Can bitcoin rise to 20%-25% of gold in 12 months (aka 2.4%-3% global HNWI wealth allocation)? Possible. That would give us a price range of$80,000-$110,000.
There are additional factors that could add more upside to bitcoin. Given that we are still in the early stage of mainstream adoption, I don’t want to over-emphasize them, but I want to lay them out just to keep the perspective.
• Potential allocation from corporate treasury management. We are already seeing early signs of that with Square and MicroStrategy. Square recently allocated about 1.8% of its cash balance to buy $50 million in bitcoin. Sizing up corporate demand for bitcoin is tricky, though. Each company has its own cash flow and growth profile, which will affect its risk appetite in asset allocation.
• Potential allocation from foreign exchange reserves of all sovereign states. According to theInternational Monetary Fund, the global foreign exchange (forex) reserve was $12 trillion by June 2020, with the top three reserve currencies in U.S. dollars $7 trillion (58.3%), euros $2 trillion (16.7%), and yen $650 billion (5.4%). Is it possible to see sovereign countries allocate some of their forex reserves into bitcoin? I believe that trend will emerge over time when bitcoin’s superiority in “store of value” further plays out in the next five to 10 years. Assuming 25% allocation ($3 trillion, a little more than euro allocation), that is another$140,000 upside. Bitcoin catching up on the U.S. dollar as a dominant global currency reserve could take a long time to materialize, if at all but it is not impossible to see bitcoin among the top 3 list.
• Not 100% of bitcoin’s max supply would be available for trade. There is about18.5 million in circulation. About 10% of that has beendormantfor over 10 years. It’s tricky to estimate how much of the total bitcoin in circulation will actually be up for sale at different price points.
• None of the above account for the dollar’s inflation rate in the years to come, which is about 2%-3% annually as a baseline. Neither do these scenarios account for the network effect of bitcoin, the possibility of bitcoin becoming more ubiquitous and reliable as a unit of account.
A one-sided investment case is never a good one. It is prudent to play devil’s advocate and assess downside risks. What are the major risks that may derail a bitcoin bull run?
The biggest risk always comes from inside. Bitcoin has inherent valueonly becauseit has the unique characteristics of “sound money” (scarce, durable, accessible, divisible, verifiable and censorship resistant). If any of those qualities are compromised, the foundation to its investment case will be eroded or gone.
Such protocol risks were high in its first few years, but after two major controversial hard forks and three successful halvings, it seems that protocol-level risks are somewhat contained. The Bitcoin ecosystem has been consistent in independent developer support. According toElectric Capital’s developer report, the Bitcoin developer ecosystem has maintained 100+ independent developers every month since 2014. Additionally, we’ve also seen an increase in commits to the Bitcoin Core codebase in 2020, reaching a peak in May (around the time when the third halving happened).
It’s also encouraging to see major development milestones emerging on the Bitcoin Core network, including the merge of Signet, Schnorr/Taproot and increased focus on fuzz testing, to name a few. These protocol-level developments continue to enhance the privacy and scalability of the network, boosting bitcoin’s technical stability as a currency.
To ensure a healthy and safe future for bitcoin, it is critical to ensure the Bitcoin Core developer community remains independent and decentralized and continues to make steady improvements in critical areas like security and privacy. This is also why we have been passionate about providing no-strings sponsorship toBitcoin Core developers and projectsat OKCoin. Investing in bitcoin development helps reduce the protocol risk.
This, to me, is the second0biggest risk to bitcoin. Bitcoin’s ethos is to empower individuals through decentralization, but the risk of concentration always exists.
Within the network, the risk lies in the concentration of mining power. It is not an industry secret that65% of the world’s hash power is in China. If mining power is coalesced, a mining pool or group of miners can manipulate network transactions, creating fake coins through double-spending, in turn impacting the market price. However, there is also theargumentthat such concentration risk is inevitable but to some extent harmless, too, given how the network incentive has been designed for bitcoin. In other words, the incentives in the form of new bitcoins and transaction fees should work to keep the majority of the nodes honest because it is economically costly to cheat (not because it is hard or impossible to cheat). The assumption is that the mining participants are all rational and make economic decisions.
Externally, similar risk lies in ownership concentration. Investors, or “whales,” holding significant amounts of bitcoin can influence and even manipulate the market by triggering a change in price based on their buy/sell timing. Given that an individual (or an entity) can own more than one bitcoin address, it’s hard to paint an accurate picture of bitcoin ownership. So this risk does exist. This is also why I feel very passionate about promoting financial literacy and crypto knowledge. I believe that we can build a healthier and more sustainable future if more individuals come to understand what bitcoin is about and start to embrace it. The first institutional wave is exciting to see, but if bitcoin ownership tilts too much toward the institutional end, we would be defeated in our mission of building a more inclusive and individually empowering network.
Another major risk comes from sovereign governments. Given that bitcoin is positioned as future money, it is possible that sovereign governments ban it for fear of threatening fiat currencies. Again, such risks are highest in earlier years before bitcoin builds meaningful adoption momentum. Actually, such bans have already happened inseveral countries(India in 2018, for example, which was revoked in 2020). Central bank digital currency (CBDC) experiments around the world could also have an impact on how bitcoin’s future plays out.
This year has seen the first wave of institutional endorsement for bitcoin, and therefore 2020 will be recognized as a milestone year in alleviating this political risk. When publicly listed companies, asset managers and well-known individuals start to own bitcoin and speak in favor of bitcoin, such a ban is going to become very unpopular and hence harder to implement in countries where popular votes do matter. I hope the momentum will continue to build, making a risk of total bitcoin ban increasingly remote as time passes.
In a world of uncertainty, bitcoin gives HODLers like me confidence. It has a huge network effect that can ultimately empower every individual who believes in it and uses it.
A successful and complete ban on bitcoin will also need to take coordinated efforts ofallsovereign governments, which is very unlikely. As long as there are countries that let bitcoin legally flow, bitcoin will have a chance to win – a decentralized global network cannot be shut down by any single party.
That being said, bitcoin price volatility could be amplified from time to time by domestic and geopolitical changes. In my view, political risks remain the second-largest risk to bitcoin until it becomes too big to be tampered with. We are obviously far away from that point.
There can also be a wider payment ban on bitcoin while it is being recognized as legal financial assets. Such a risk is not totally out of the picture yet. The good thing is, we are not banking on bitcoin becoming the unit of account and medium of payment in our $100,000-$500,000 scenario. When bitcoin does progress to phase III, we will not be talking about bitcoin price anymore, but instead talk about everything else’s price in bitcoin.
This is a timing risk. It is quite possible that it may take much longer than expected for bitcoin to go mainstream.
The only way to manage this risk is to make sure your bitcoin portfolio is properly sized.
If you invest in bitcoin (or anything else) and worry about where its price would be in the next 12 months, your portfolio of bitcoin is probably too big for you. Size it based on your own risk tolerance and conviction level in bitcoin. Don’t do more than what you can afford (or believe in).
I also believe the unique quality of bitcoin will speak for itself over time. Bitcoin’s price chart between 2017 and 2018 very much looked like a bubble. However, if we look at bitcoin’s full trading history, there is a clear upward trend together withgrowing asset-holding addresses,growing active addressesandgrowing network computing power. The increasing mean hashrate of the Bitcoin network represents the security level that one would want to see in a network where people’s wealth is stored.
I may be on the bullish side for bitcoin’s 12-month price trajectory but I truly believe that with bitcoin, time will be our best friend.
Bitcoin is unlike any other asset we have encountered before. This is a truly sound and global wealth network that will continue to grow as the world recognizes the significance of its properties. To put things in perspective, here is a recent tweet from Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy, that summarizes the relevance of bitcoin as a utility and store of value.
In a world of uncertainty, bitcoin gives HODLers like me confidence. It has a huge network effect that can ultimately empower every individual who believes in it and uses it. I look forward to the continued evolution of the bitcoin ecosystem and feel excited about being part of it.
• The Complete Case for $100K Bitcoin
• The Complete Case for $100K Bitcoin || The Complete Case for $100K Bitcoin: What a year – a global pandemic, a wavering stock market, rising numbers of unemployed people and continued uncertainty in global markets. Yet, we saw the bitcoin price recover from $5,300 in March to almost $18,000 at time of writing. That’s almost a 240% return within nine months.
For regular investors, the burning question is whetherbitcoinis becoming overpriced. Is it too late to buy bitcoin?
Hong Fang is the CEO atOKCoin, a U.S. licensed, fiat-focused cryptocurrency exchange headquartered in San Francisco. Hong spent eight years at Goldman Sachs, leaving as VP of Investment Banking. She is a graduate of Peking University in Beijing, China, and has an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.
Related:MicroStrategy Wants to Be in the Bitcoin Business, Not Just an Investor
If we put aside short-term volatility and take a long-term perspective, there is a reasonable path for the price of bitcoin to reach over $500,000 in the next decade. To go even further, I think BTC is likely to hit $100,000 in the next 12 months. Significant upside has yet to play out for bitcoin.
When we talk about the valuation of an asset, the first step is to understand the fundamental economics. Equities, bonds and real estate, for example, often derive their value from generating cash flows; therefore, valuation of these assets involves projecting future cash flows. Commodities, on the other hand, are more utility based and therefore their prices are anchored by industrial supply and demand. Before taking any action on bitcoin, I suggest asking yourself, “What is bitcoin for?” Use this as a baseline to form your own view of the value of bitcoin and itsfairprice range in a given time horizon.
Here’s my take as a HODLer:
• Bitcoin is sound money and the firstnativeinternet money in human society.
• It is scarce (21 million fixed supply), durable (digital), accessible (blockchain is 24/7), divisible (1 bitcoin = 100 million satoshis), verifiable (open-source Bitcoin Core) and most importantly, censorship resistant (encrypted). With these superior monetary qualities in one asset, bitcoin is a great store of value. Once it reaches a critical mass of adoption as a store of value, bitcoin has huge potential to grow into a global reserve currency (and universal unit of account, too) over time.
• The history of money shows us that natural forms of money generally go through three phases of evolution: first as collectible (speculation on scarcity), second as investment (store of value), third as money (unit of account) and payment (medium of exchange). As bitcoin goes through different phases, its valuation scheme varies, too. In my view, bitcoin is currently in the early stage of phase II. Below is a short summary of the two phases bitcoin has been through and respective value implications.
Between its inception in 2009 and 2018, bitcoin was in its “collectible” phase. Only a small cluster of cypherpunks believed in bitcoin as “future sound money.” It was hard to come up with a valuation scheme for bitcoin that matched its fundamentals. It was also too early to tell whether bitcoin could succeed in building consensus around its “store of value” superiority.
Related:Bitcoin Is the Biggest Big Short
Bitcoin is built as a basic utility and doesn’t generate cash flow, so there is no way to forecast its price based on cash flows. Its circulating supply was easy to calculate, but it was really hard to estimate demand given the fickle nature of speculative trading. When speculative demand surged and drained out of the system, particularly around the initial coin offering (ICO) boom in 2017, we saw bitcoin’s price explode from $900 in early 2017 to $19,000 by the end of 2017, and then down to $3,700 by the end of 2018.
Bitcoin’s opponents usually attack bitcoin’s price volatility as a bug, but I believe that bitcoin’s price volatility is a unique and smart self-marketing feature. It was key to its survival in the early days. Bitcoin operates as a decentralized global network. There is no coordinated marketing team out there promoting bitcoin’s utility to the world. It is the dramatic price volatility that has continued to attract attention from non-followers, some of whom were later converted into believers, thus driving the continued momentum of bitcoin adoption.
Bitcoin went through an identity crisis as “sound money” before it graduated into the second stage as an investment vehicle. Starting with the scalability debate in 2017, when the network became congested with historical high volume and transaction costs surged, its community hadserious controversies(some called it “civil war”) involving the future path of bitcoin.
See also:Bitcoin 101
As a result, on Aug. 1, 2017, the bitcoin blockchain was hard forked to create the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) chain to allow larger blocks as BTC stuck to a block size limit with SegWit adoption to enable a second-layer solution. On November 15, 2018, the BCH network forked again into Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Satoshi’s Vision (BSV).
Fortunately, bitcoin (BTC in this case) survived its growing pains (and the industry-wide bear market) and thrived thereafter. It is also through such public disputes (and price performance after hard forks) that BTC support and dominance has been further solidified, withan increasing number of addresses holding BTCanddecreasing volatility.
Then came 2020.
This year has been an extraordinary year in many aspects, but it is truly a milestone year for bitcoin. The coronavirus pandemic has brought emotional and economic stress to many people on a global basis. On top of that, 12 years after the 2008 financial crisis and the publication of the Bitcoin white paper, we are reminded how easily our economy could be flooded with new money printed out of thin air; $3 trillion in new money was created in just three months in the United States, about 14% of U.S. GDP in 2019. The U.S. was not alone.
In 2020, it has been extremely hard for responsible savers to find reliable, real yields to preserve their hard-earned wealth. American middle-class families have had to either accept zero to negative interest rates at banks and debasement risk or bet in the all-time-high equity market when the real economy struggles, not knowing when the music will stop. In other countries, people must fight an uphill battle everyday to simply preserve the earning power of their salaries.
These macro themes are too strong for anyone to ignore. In contrast, the Bitcoin network had its successfulthird halvingon May 11, 2020, highlighting the beauty of having monetary discipline pre-written into code and executed by the global network smoothly ever since. As a result, more investors in traditional finance (Wall Street institutions included) have started to realize that bitcoin has a unique hedging capability against long-term inflation risk, with a risk-reward profile better than its closest monetary cousin, gold.
Different from its 2017 ride, bitcoin’s current run-up is characterized by more vocal institutional endorsement: Square and MicroStrategy allocate treasury cash into bitcoin; the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) allow U.S. banks to offer crypto asset custody; PayPal enabling crypto buying and selling; Fidelity making a case for 5% asset allocation and doubling down on crypto engineer recruiting; well-established traditional asset managers includingPaul Tudor JonesandStanley Druckenmilllerannouncing public support for bitcoin. The mainstream momentum is building up.
For the first time since its historic inception, bitcoin officially entered mainstream media as “digital gold,” a legit and credible (and liquid) alternative asset to consider for both individuals and institutions. The earlier comparison to “Dutch tulip mania” starts to fade. As more people educate themselves about what bitcoin is and start to embrace it not as a speculative trading asset but as a long-term asset allocation option, we can now look at its fundamentals and anchor price ranges with a simple supply-and-demand math.
Below are three scenarios used to triangulate bitcoin’s potential one-year trajectory.
• According to theFederal Reserve, U.S. household wealth reached $112 trillion by June 2020 (top 10% owns two-thirds of the wealth).
• 1%-2% of $112 trillion = $1.1 trillion to $2.2 trillion potential demand (Fidelity’s most recent reportactually recommends 5% target allocation).
• Current totalcirculating BTCis about 18.5 million. To keep it simple, let’s assume 21 million max supply are all up for sale.
• Divide the potential demand by max supply, we get a price range of$56,000-$112,000. This scenario does not account for the rest of the world ($400 trillion global family wealth, according toCredit Suisse Wealth Report 2020). If we assume 1%-2% allocation of global family wealth, we will be looking at a$228,000-$456,000price range. Would this happen in the next 12 months? Likely not. Can this happen within the next decade? I think that’s very possible.
• According toCapgemini World Wealth Report 2020, global HNWI wealth stood at $74 trillion by end of 2019 (~13% alternative, 14.6% real estate, 17% fixed income, 25% cash and cash equivalent, 30% equity).
• 2%-3% of $74 trillion = $1.48 trillion-$2.22 trillion potential demand.
• Divide the potential demand by max supply, we get a price range of$70,000-$105,000.
• This scenario does look at global data, but only accounts for high-net-worth individual (HNWI) allocation, assuming that this segment has more assets to invest and investment decisions are more driven by institutional asset managers and advisers. I am also assuming a higher range of allocation here because HNWI are generally better positioned to take on more risks in search of higher risk-adjusted return.
• There has been a long-standing argument that bitcoin would catch up to gold in market cap once it is widely accepted as a “digital and superior version of gold.”
• Current gold market cap is $9 trillion. This is about 2% of total global wealth and 12% of global HNWI wealth.
• 100% gold market cap means $428,000 price point for bitcoin. Can we get there in 12 months? Probably too aggressive an assumption. Can bitcoin rise to 20%-25% of gold in 12 months (aka 2.4%-3% global HNWI wealth allocation)? Possible. That would give us a price range of$80,000-$110,000.
There are additional factors that could add more upside to bitcoin. Given that we are still in the early stage of mainstream adoption, I don’t want to over-emphasize them, but I want to lay them out just to keep the perspective.
• Potential allocation from corporate treasury management. We are already seeing early signs of that with Square and MicroStrategy. Square recently allocated about 1.8% of its cash balance to buy $50 million in bitcoin. Sizing up corporate demand for bitcoin is tricky, though. Each company has its own cash flow and growth profile, which will affect its risk appetite in asset allocation.
• Potential allocation from foreign exchange reserves of all sovereign states. According to theInternational Monetary Fund, the global foreign exchange (forex) reserve was $12 trillion by June 2020, with the top three reserve currencies in U.S. dollars $7 trillion (58.3%), euros $2 trillion (16.7%), and yen $650 billion (5.4%). Is it possible to see sovereign countries allocate some of their forex reserves into bitcoin? I believe that trend will emerge over time when bitcoin’s superiority in “store of value” further plays out in the next five to 10 years. Assuming 25% allocation ($3 trillion, a little more than euro allocation), that is another$140,000 upside. Bitcoin catching up on the U.S. dollar as a dominant global currency reserve could take a long time to materialize, if at all but it is not impossible to see bitcoin among the top 3 list.
• Not 100% of bitcoin’s max supply would be available for trade. There is about18.5 million in circulation. About 10% of that has beendormantfor over 10 years. It’s tricky to estimate how much of the total bitcoin in circulation will actually be up for sale at different price points.
• None of the above account for the dollar’s inflation rate in the years to come, which is about 2%-3% annually as a baseline. Neither do these scenarios account for the network effect of bitcoin, the possibility of bitcoin becoming more ubiquitous and reliable as a unit of account.
A one-sided investment case is never a good one. It is prudent to play devil’s advocate and assess downside risks. What are the major risks that may derail a bitcoin bull run?
The biggest risk always comes from inside. Bitcoin has inherent valueonly becauseit has the unique characteristics of “sound money” (scarce, durable, accessible, divisible, verifiable and censorship resistant). If any of those qualities are compromised, the foundation to its investment case will be eroded or gone.
Such protocol risks were high in its first few years, but after two major controversial hard forks and three successful halvings, it seems that protocol-level risks are somewhat contained. The Bitcoin ecosystem has been consistent in independent developer support. According toElectric Capital’s developer report, the Bitcoin developer ecosystem has maintained 100+ independent developers every month since 2014. Additionally, we’ve also seen an increase in commits to the Bitcoin Core codebase in 2020, reaching a peak in May (around the time when the third halving happened).
It’s also encouraging to see major development milestones emerging on the Bitcoin Core network, including the merge of Signet, Schnorr/Taproot and increased focus on fuzz testing, to name a few. These protocol-level developments continue to enhance the privacy and scalability of the network, boosting bitcoin’s technical stability as a currency.
To ensure a healthy and safe future for bitcoin, it is critical to ensure the Bitcoin Core developer community remains independent and decentralized and continues to make steady improvements in critical areas like security and privacy. This is also why we have been passionate about providing no-strings sponsorship toBitcoin Core developers and projectsat OKCoin. Investing in bitcoin development helps reduce the protocol risk.
This, to me, is the second0biggest risk to bitcoin. Bitcoin’s ethos is to empower individuals through decentralization, but the risk of concentration always exists.
Within the network, the risk lies in the concentration of mining power. It is not an industry secret that65% of the world’s hash power is in China. If mining power is coalesced, a mining pool or group of miners can manipulate network transactions, creating fake coins through double-spending, in turn impacting the market price. However, there is also theargumentthat such concentration risk is inevitable but to some extent harmless, too, given how the network incentive has been designed for bitcoin. In other words, the incentives in the form of new bitcoins and transaction fees should work to keep the majority of the nodes honest because it is economically costly to cheat (not because it is hard or impossible to cheat). The assumption is that the mining participants are all rational and make economic decisions.
Externally, similar risk lies in ownership concentration. Investors, or “whales,” holding significant amounts of bitcoin can influence and even manipulate the market by triggering a change in price based on their buy/sell timing. Given that an individual (or an entity) can own more than one bitcoin address, it’s hard to paint an accurate picture of bitcoin ownership. So this risk does exist. This is also why I feel very passionate about promoting financial literacy and crypto knowledge. I believe that we can build a healthier and more sustainable future if more individuals come to understand what bitcoin is about and start to embrace it. The first institutional wave is exciting to see, but if bitcoin ownership tilts too much toward the institutional end, we would be defeated in our mission of building a more inclusive and individually empowering network.
Another major risk comes from sovereign governments. Given that bitcoin is positioned as future money, it is possible that sovereign governments ban it for fear of threatening fiat currencies. Again, such risks are highest in earlier years before bitcoin builds meaningful adoption momentum. Actually, such bans have already happened inseveral countries(India in 2018, for example, which was revoked in 2020). Central bank digital currency (CBDC) experiments around the world could also have an impact on how bitcoin’s future plays out.
This year has seen the first wave of institutional endorsement for bitcoin, and therefore 2020 will be recognized as a milestone year in alleviating this political risk. When publicly listed companies, asset managers and well-known individuals start to own bitcoin and speak in favor of bitcoin, such a ban is going to become very unpopular and hence harder to implement in countries where popular votes do matter. I hope the momentum will continue to build, making a risk of total bitcoin ban increasingly remote as time passes.
In a world of uncertainty, bitcoin gives HODLers like me confidence. It has a huge network effect that can ultimately empower every individual who believes in it and uses it.
A successful and complete ban on bitcoin will also need to take coordinated efforts ofallsovereign governments, which is very unlikely. As long as there are countries that let bitcoin legally flow, bitcoin will have a chance to win – a decentralized global network cannot be shut down by any single party.
That being said, bitcoin price volatility could be amplified from time to time by domestic and geopolitical changes. In my view, political risks remain the second-largest risk to bitcoin until it becomes too big to be tampered with. We are obviously far away from that point.
There can also be a wider payment ban on bitcoin while it is being recognized as legal financial assets. Such a risk is not totally out of the picture yet. The good thing is, we are not banking on bitcoin becoming the unit of account and medium of payment in our $100,000-$500,000 scenario. When bitcoin does progress to phase III, we will not be talking about bitcoin price anymore, but instead talk about everything else’s price in bitcoin.
This is a timing risk. It is quite possible that it may take much longer than expected for bitcoin to go mainstream.
The only way to manage this risk is to make sure your bitcoin portfolio is properly sized.
If you invest in bitcoin (or anything else) and worry about where its price would be in the next 12 months, your portfolio of bitcoin is probably too big for you. Size it based on your own risk tolerance and conviction level in bitcoin. Don’t do more than what you can afford (or believe in).
I also believe the unique quality of bitcoin will speak for itself over time. Bitcoin’s price chart between 2017 and 2018 very much looked like a bubble. However, if we look at bitcoin’s full trading history, there is a clear upward trend together withgrowing asset-holding addresses,growing active addressesandgrowing network computing power. The increasing mean hashrate of the Bitcoin network represents the security level that one would want to see in a network where people’s wealth is stored.
I may be on the bullish side for bitcoin’s 12-month price trajectory but I truly believe that with bitcoin, time will be our best friend.
Bitcoin is unlike any other asset we have encountered before. This is a truly sound and global wealth network that will continue to grow as the world recognizes the significance of its properties. To put things in perspective, here is a recent tweet from Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy, that summarizes the relevance of bitcoin as a utility and store of value.
In a world of uncertainty, bitcoin gives HODLers like me confidence. It has a huge network effect that can ultimately empower every individual who believes in it and uses it. I look forward to the continued evolution of the bitcoin ecosystem and feel excited about being part of it.
• The Complete Case for $100K Bitcoin
• The Complete Case for $100K Bitcoin || Elon Musk Tweets 'Caution' On SPACs As Tesla Rivals Go Public: A Forbes cover story called "How SPACS Became Wall Street Money Tree" highlights some of the negatives of the SPAC industry.Tesla Inc(NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk tweeted in response to the article.
What Happened:The article from Forbes highlights some former SPACs likeWaitr Holdings(NASDAQ:WTRH) andMultiplan Corporation(NYSE:MPLN) trading below $10 and other newer SPACs with red flags.
Why It’s Important:Musk has over 40 million followers on Twitter. He is well respected by investors and has a cult-like following.
There are a number of companies considered Tesla rivals that have or will go public via the SPAC route.
Fisker Inc(NYSE:FSR) andLordstown Motors(NASDAQ:RIDE) are building competing electric vehicles to Tesla.
Hyliion Holdings Corp(NYSE:HYLN) andNikola Corporation(NASDAQ:NKLA) are both working on electric and hydrogen-powered Class 8 trucks that would compete with the upcoming Tesla Semi.
Related Link:Will The Real Elon Musk Please Stand Up: Another Twitter Bitcoin Scam
Canoo, going public viaHennessey Capital Acquisition(NASDAQ:HCAC) will offer an electric vehicle subscription service.
QuantumScape, going public viaKensington Acquisition Corp(NYSE:KCAC),Eos Energy Enterprises(NASDAQ:EOSE) andRMG Acquisition Corp(NYSE:RMG) target Romeo Power are all companies competing in the battery market with Tesla.
See more from Benzinga
• Click here for options trades from Benzinga
• Exclusive: MP Materials CEO Talks Rare Earth Mining, Supporting Tesla, EV Companies
• Tesla's S&P 500 Inclusion Could Move Elon Musk Up Billionaire Ladder
© 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
[Social Media Buzz]
None available.
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18642.23, 18370.00, 18364.12, 19107.46, 18732.12, 17150.62, 17108.40, 17717.41, 18177.48, 19625.84
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 31676.69, 32505.66, 33723.03, 34662.44, 31637.78, 32186.28, 34649.64, 34434.34, 35867.78, 35040.84, 33572.12, 33897.05, 34668.55, 35287.78, 33746.00, 34235.20, 33855.33, 32877.37, 33798.01, 33520.52, 34240.19, 33155.85, 32702.03, 32822.35, 31780.73, 31421.54, 31533.07, 31796.81, 30817.83, 29807.35, 32110.69, 32313.11, 33581.55, 34292.45, 35350.19, 37337.54, 39406.94, 39995.91, 40008.42, 42235.55, 41626.20, 39974.89, 39201.95, 38152.98, 39747.50, 40869.55, 42816.50, 44555.80, 43798.12, 46365.40, 45585.03, 45593.64, 44428.29, 47793.32, 47096.95, 47047.00, 46004.48, 44695.36, 44801.19, 46717.58, 49339.18, 48905.49, 49321.65, 49546.15, 47706.12, 48960.79, 46942.22, 49058.67, 48902.40, 48829.83, 47054.98, 47166.69, 48847.03, 49327.72, 50025.38, 49944.62, 51753.41, 52633.54, 46811.13, 46091.39, 46391.42, 44883.91, 45201.46, 46063.27, 44963.07, 47092.49, 48176.35, 47783.36, 47267.52, 48278.36.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2021-09-18]
Volume: 28575630451, RSI (14-day): 53.96, 50-day EMA: 45676.86, 200-day EMA: 41768.83
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Regulation Is Coming to the Crypto Business: For the last decade, crypto businesses have operated largely outside of the reach of global regulators. Entrepreneurs have created vast fortunes offering financial products that are not constrained by financial regulations. All of that is about to change. This week the SEC announced plans to sue the USA’s largest crypto exchange Coinbase relating to an offering that gives investors interest. The SEC says Coinbase is not regulated to offer such a product as they consider it to be a security. This signals a turning point in the world of Crypto. No longer is crypto-currency lending a fringe asset class operating in the wild wild west of the internet; the time has come for the sheriff to lay down the law. This move by the SEC should be seen a significant warning sign that they intend on going head to head with crypto-related businesses. In the coming year, it’s likely that the financial regulators around the world will turn their sights to Crypto businesses and require them to comply with specialized regulations that are still being drafted as well as traditional securities laws. The only exception will be to those companies that are already regulated to sell securities or are regulated banks and will have the benefit of continuation of trade and will likely have a poll position for any changes in the requirements. Related: Fidelity Makes Case for Bitcoin ETF With SEC Most of the major companies in crypto have been regulated as money service businesses, but if crypto and crypto lending is being classified as a security then they have to sell their products very differently and change the way they deal with their customers. On top of that new regulations are being drafted for any financial institution offering crypto services that are only being offered to those that are registered securities businesses already. It's an ironic situation where the businesses that have disrupted financial markets are now being disrupted by the regulators in those markets. Story continues Crypto businesses that do not have regulatory approval to offer securities, will be forced to form an orderly lineup which could take each of them a year or more to get approval. When it comes to the SEC and other regulators, you simply can’t rush them or bully them. The process could set back the plans and ambitions of some of the bigger businesses by years and give way to smaller businesses that are ready to offer crypto investing and lending products sold as securities to overtake those constrained by red tape. PayPal has announced its intentions to move into the cryptocurrency space with an offering that will launch later this year. It is no longer the disruptive startup it once way but its advantage today is a long history of dealing with regulators and that could give it an edge. Related: Crypto Execs Should Cooperate With Regulators, Says SALT Panel To my knowledge, there’s only one company in the world that has regulatory approval as both a virtual asset service provider and is a registered securities business and who has been operating in compliance with securities laws for over a decade. A relatively small investment platform called “Bnk to the Future” which has only 150,000 registered investors (mostly higher net worth investors) is the only crypto-focused company that has been offering crypto buying, lending, and crypto equity investing services sold in compliance with both securities laws and new virtual asset service provider registrations. Bnk To The Future was the original platform that helped raise money for giants like Kraken, Coinbase, BitFinex, BitStamp, Circle, and Blockchain.com. Despite being a relatively small business, It's now in a unique position because of its consistant ability to stay on the right side of regulation. In the 2000 Summer Olympic Games, Eric Moussambani Malonga, a swimmer from Equatorial Guinea who had never even seen an Olympic-sized pool, won his heat after all other swimmers were disqualified due to false starts. His victory is a reminder that the rule makers can sometimes disqualify strong players on a technicality and make room for unlikely winners. Coinbase and other large crypto-lending companies like BlockFi and Celsius have a strong position now but the future of the Crypto business will likely have more to do with regulatory approval than white papers, branding, and well-designed smartphone apps. The disruptors are facing serious disruption as the whole industry finds itself on the radar of global regulators who have been given the go-ahead to start cleaning things up. || Regulation Is Coming to the Crypto Business: For the last decade, crypto businesses have operated largely outside of the reach of global regulators. Entrepreneurs have created vast fortunes offering financial products that are not constrained by financial regulations. All of that is about to change.This week the SEC announced plans to sue the USA’s largest crypto exchange Coinbase relating to an offering that gives investors interest. The SEC says Coinbase is not regulated to offer such a product as they consider it to be a security.
This signals a turning point in the world of Crypto. No longer is crypto-currency lending a fringe asset class operating in the wild wild west of the internet; the time has come for the sheriff to lay down the law. This move by the SEC should be seen a significant warning sign that they intend on going head to head with crypto-related businesses.
In the coming year, it’s likely that the financial regulators around the world will turn their sights to Crypto businesses and require them to comply with specialized regulations that are still being drafted as well as traditional securities laws. The only exception will be to those companies that are already regulated to sell securities or are regulated banks and will have the benefit of continuation of trade and will likely have a poll position for any changes in the requirements.
Related:Fidelity Makes Case for Bitcoin ETF With SEC
Most of the major companies in crypto have been regulated as money service businesses, but if crypto and crypto lending is being classified as a security then they have to sell their products very differently and change the way they deal with their customers. On top of that new regulations are being drafted for any financial institution offering crypto services that are only being offered to those that are registered securities businesses already.It's an ironic situation where the businesses that have disrupted financial markets are now being disrupted by the regulators in those markets.
Crypto businesses that do not have regulatory approval to offer securities, will be forced to form an orderly lineup which could take each of them a year or more to get approval. When it comes to the SEC and other regulators, you simply can’t rush them or bully them. The process could set back the plans and ambitions of some of the bigger businesses by years and give way to smaller businesses that are ready to offer crypto investing and lending products sold as securities to overtake those constrained by red tape.
PayPal has announced its intentions to move into the cryptocurrency space with an offering that will launch later this year. It is no longer the disruptive startup it once way but its advantage today is a long history of dealing with regulators and that could give it an edge.
Related:Crypto Execs Should Cooperate With Regulators, Says SALT Panel
To my knowledge, there’s only one company in the world that has regulatory approval as both a virtual asset service provider and is a registered securities business and who has been operating in compliance with securities laws for over a decade. A relatively small investment platform called “Bnk to the Future” which has only 150,000 registered investors (mostly higher net worth investors) is the only crypto-focused company that has been offering crypto buying, lending, and crypto equity investing services sold in compliance with both securities laws and new virtual asset service provider registrations.
Bnk To The Future was the original platform that helped raise money for giants like Kraken, Coinbase, BitFinex, BitStamp, Circle, and Blockchain.com. Despite being a relatively small business, It's now in a unique position because of its consistant ability to stay on the right side of regulation.
In the 2000 Summer Olympic Games, Eric Moussambani Malonga, a swimmer from Equatorial Guinea who had never even seen an Olympic-sized pool, won his heat after all other swimmers were disqualified due to false starts. His victory is a reminder that the rule makers can sometimes disqualify strong players on a technicality and make room for unlikely winners.
Coinbase and other large crypto-lending companies like BlockFi and Celsius have a strong position now but the future of the Crypto business will likely have more to do with regulatory approval than white papers, branding, and well-designed smartphone apps.The disruptors are facing serious disruption as the whole industry finds itself on the radar of global regulators who have been given the go-ahead to start cleaning things up. || 7 timely Warren Buffett quotes to help guide you in this risky market: Warren Buffett is a remarkable investor. He’s grown his business, Berkshire Hathaway, from a failing textile company into a multinational conglomerate with stakes in Geico, Apple and Coca-Cola.
Buffett has dropped countless gems of wisdom over the years, but the following seven quotes offer investors particularly timely advice on how to invest in stocks today — maybe even withyour spare change.
“Inflation acts as a gigantic corporate tapeworm. That tapeworm preemptively consumes its requisite daily diet of investment dollars regardless of the health of the host organism. Regardless of a company's profits, it has to spend more on receivables, inventory, and fixed assets to simply equal the unit volume of the previous year.”
Buffett offered this colorful image back in his1981 annual letter to shareholders. The billionaire investor described high inflation as a “tax on capital” that dissuades corporate investment.
With inflation steadily on the rise, hitting highs not seen in close to a decade-and-a-half, investors might want to think about assets that are immune (or at least not as vulnerable) to the ravages of rising costs.
One example other billionaires like Bill Gates have taken to recently isinvesting in farmland. Agriculture offers steady, reliable returns — whatever the state of the economy, people still need to eat.
Other assets that have historically done well during periods of high inflation include gold and real estate.
“Most people get interested in stocks when everyone else is. The time to get interested is when no one else is. You can't buy what is popular and do well.”
According to a Bank of America report in April, a whopping $576 billion went into stock-based funds from November 2020 to March 2021 — trouncing the combined $452 billion inflows seen in the 12 years prior.
Whether you’re new to investing or you’ve been at it for ages, going against the grain is often the prudent thing to do.
As we’ve seen with the meme stock fiascos of late, blindly following the crowd often leads to disastrous results. Instead of focusing on what’s popular, try to prioritize safety and stability.
For example, three solid blue-chip stocks that have performed sluggishly in recent months include The Walt Disney Company, Caterpillar, and Intel. If you're a bargain hunter, they can even be purchased usingyour digital nickels and dimes.
“[T]he biggest thing you learn is that the pandemic was bound to occur, and this isn’t the worst one that’s imaginable at all. Society has a terrible time preparing for things that are remote but are possible and will occur sooner or later.”
In an interview earlier thissummer with CNBC, Buffett reflected on his biggest takeaway from the pandemic: how ill-prepared society is to handle emergencies that it knows will happen sooner or later.
COVID, he points out, had an “extremely uneven” impact on different members of society. While we will certainly be faced with another crisis in the future, it’s difficult to know exactly what that challenge will be.
As an investor, the simplest way to prepare for anything is through proper diversification. Spread your bets out as widely as possible.
Buffett is famously a fan of index funds and has previously said the best thing most investors can do is put their money in an S&P 500 index fund. Many investing apps even let you invest in index funds usingonly your spare change.
“The true investor welcomes volatility… a wildly fluctuating market means that irrationally low prices will periodically be attached to solid businesses.”
Investing is a roller-coaster ride.
Ups and downs are built into the experience. And no one knows with 100% certainty when, and for how long, those moves will come.
Invest long enough and you’ll find that there will be weeks, months, or even years that your portfolio produces nothing but losses.
But as Buffett explains in the above quote, those periods of decline offer tremendous opportunities to buy high-quality stocks at cheap prices. Investors who purchased stocks during the height of the COVID pandemic have profited handsomely. And, unfortunately, those who sold out to move their money to the sidelines are likely regretting their decision.
If you understand that volatility is the rule (and not the exception), prolonged dips and swings can actuallywork to your advantage.
“If you don’t understand it, you get much more excited than if you understand it. You can have anything you want to imagine if you just look at something and say, ‘that’s magic.’”
Buffett has never been shy about his disdain for cryptocurrency. Not only does he openly avoid investing in anything he doesn’t understand, but he’s also wary of a currency that his business partner Charlie Munger criticized as being “so useful to kidnappers and extortionists.”
While he said he wouldneverbuy Bitcoin, he famously refused to invest in Apple once upon a time — and now it’s one of Berkshire Hathaway's largest stock holdings.
If you’re set on buying into Bitcoin, be sure to invest only what you can afford to lose. And, as Buffett told CNBC in 2018, remember that it’s notmagic— so temper your expectations for returns.
“Whether we're talking about socks or stocks, I like buying quality merchandise when it is marked down.”
Sure, frugality runs in Buffett’s blood. With a net worth of $100 billion, one of his favorite restaurants is still McDonald’s and has a card that grants him free breakfast at the fast-food chain — something he reportedly cashes in on often.
And who doesn’t love a good deal?
When it comes to stocks, Buffett is just as adamant about finding good bargains — especially of high-quality companies.
Even with a $140 billion war chest of cash, Buffett is never in a hurry to invest Berkshire Hathaway's capital. Instead, he remains patient and only invests in good companies when they're available on the cheap. A couple of Buffett's famous investments include buying Bank of America during the height of 2008 mortgage crisis and Coca-Cola back in 1988 at a time of struggle.
Create a watchlist of stable companies with reputable brands that you'd love invest in, and then wait for the chance tosnap them upat discounted prices.
“No matter how great the talent or efforts, some things just take time. You can't produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant.”
No one spits out a fun turn of phrase like the Nebraska native.
But underneath the quip, Buffett has an important message to share: In investing, there’s no tool as powerful as time.
Studies have shown that investors are becoming increasingly impatient, zigzagging in and out of stocks in order to predict what the market will do next.
But instead of worrying about short-term gains, think long-term.
You don’t have to have to be a billionaire like Buffett to make these investment lessons work for you. And you don't have to limit yourself to the stock market.
For instance,some investing servicesmake it possible to lock in a steady and consistent rental income stream by investing in premium real estate properties — from commercial developments in LA to residential buildings in NYC.
You’ll gain exposure to high-end properties that big-time real estate moguls usually have access to, and you’llreceive regular payoutsin the form of quarterly dividend distributions.
With enough time and commitment to the principles that Buffett teaches, investment success is well within anyone's reach.
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind. || 7 timely Warren Buffett quotes to help guide you in this risky market: 7 timely Warren Buffett quotes to help guide you in this risky market Warren Buffett is a remarkable investor. Hes grown his business, Berkshire Hathaway, from a failing textile company into a multinational conglomerate with stakes in Geico, Apple and Coca-Cola. Buffett has dropped countless gems of wisdom over the years, but the following seven quotes offer investors particularly timely advice on how to invest in stocks today maybe even with your spare change . 1. Beware of inflation (its heating up) smspsy / Shutterstock Inflation acts as a gigantic corporate tapeworm. That tapeworm preemptively consumes its requisite daily diet of investment dollars regardless of the health of the host organism. Regardless of a company's profits, it has to spend more on receivables, inventory, and fixed assets to simply equal the unit volume of the previous year. Buffett offered this colorful image back in his 1981 annual letter to shareholders . The billionaire investor described high inflation as a tax on capital that dissuades corporate investment. With inflation steadily on the rise, hitting highs not seen in close to a decade-and-a-half, investors might want to think about assets that are immune (or at least not as vulnerable) to the ravages of rising costs. One example other billionaires like Bill Gates have taken to recently is investing in farmland . Agriculture offers steady, reliable returns whatever the state of the economy, people still need to eat. Other assets that have historically done well during periods of high inflation include gold and real estate. 2. Dont follow the herd insta_photos / Shutterstock Most people get interested in stocks when everyone else is. The time to get interested is when no one else is. You can't buy what is popular and do well. According to a Bank of America report in April, a whopping $576 billion went into stock-based funds from November 2020 to March 2021 trouncing the combined $452 billion inflows seen in the 12 years prior. Whether youre new to investing or youve been at it for ages, going against the grain is often the prudent thing to do. Story continues As weve seen with the meme stock fiascos of late, blindly following the crowd often leads to disastrous results. Instead of focusing on whats popular, try to prioritize safety and stability. For example, three solid blue-chip stocks that have performed sluggishly in recent months include The Walt Disney Company, Caterpillar, and Intel. If you're a bargain hunter, they can even be purchased using your digital nickels and dimes . 3. Prepare your portfolio for anything fizkes / Shutterstock [T]he biggest thing you learn is that the pandemic was bound to occur, and this isnt the worst one thats imaginable at all. Society has a terrible time preparing for things that are remote but are possible and will occur sooner or later. In an interview earlier this summer with CNBC , Buffett reflected on his biggest takeaway from the pandemic: how ill-prepared society is to handle emergencies that it knows will happen sooner or later. COVID, he points out, had an extremely uneven impact on different members of society. While we will certainly be faced with another crisis in the future, its difficult to know exactly what that challenge will be. As an investor, the simplest way to prepare for anything is through proper diversification. Spread your bets out as widely as possible. Buffett is famously a fan of index funds and has previously said the best thing most investors can do is put their money in an S&P 500 index fund. Many investing apps even let you invest in index funds using only your spare change . 4. Volatility is part of the game Jacob Lund / Shutterstock The true investor welcomes volatility
a wildly fluctuating market means that irrationally low prices will periodically be attached to solid businesses. Investing is a roller-coaster ride. Ups and downs are built into the experience. And no one knows with 100% certainty when, and for how long, those moves will come. Invest long enough and youll find that there will be weeks, months, or even years that your portfolio produces nothing but losses. But as Buffett explains in the above quote, those periods of decline offer tremendous opportunities to buy high-quality stocks at cheap prices. Investors who purchased stocks during the height of the COVID pandemic have profited handsomely. And, unfortunately, those who sold out to move their money to the sidelines are likely regretting their decision. If you understand that volatility is the rule (and not the exception), prolonged dips and swings can actually work to your advantage . 5. If you want to buy Bitcoin, proceed with caution Volodymyr Maksymchuk / Shutterstock If you dont understand it, you get much more excited than if you understand it. You can have anything you want to imagine if you just look at something and say, thats magic. Buffett has never been shy about his disdain for cryptocurrency. Not only does he openly avoid investing in anything he doesnt understand, but hes also wary of a currency that his business partner Charlie Munger criticized as being so useful to kidnappers and extortionists. While he said he would never buy Bitcoin, he famously refused to invest in Apple once upon a time and now its one of Berkshire Hathaway's largest stock holdings. If youre set on buying into Bitcoin, be sure to invest only what you can afford to lose. And, as Buffett told CNBC in 2018, remember that its not magic so temper your expectations for returns. 6. Focus on quality and value USA White House / Wikimedia Commons Whether we're talking about socks or stocks, I like buying quality merchandise when it is marked down. Sure, frugality runs in Buffetts blood. With a net worth of $100 billion, one of his favorite restaurants is still McDonalds and has a card that grants him free breakfast at the fast-food chain something he reportedly cashes in on often. And who doesnt love a good deal? When it comes to stocks, Buffett is just as adamant about finding good bargains especially of high-quality companies. Even with a $140 billion war chest of cash, Buffett is never in a hurry to invest Berkshire Hathaway's capital. Instead, he remains patient and only invests in good companies when they're available on the cheap. A couple of Buffett's famous investments include buying Bank of America during the height of 2008 mortgage crisis and Coca-Cola back in 1988 at a time of struggle. Create a watchlist of stable companies with reputable brands that you'd love invest in, and then wait for the chance to snap them up at discounted prices. 7. Think long-term even if you have very little to invest NaruFoto / Shutterstock No matter how great the talent or efforts, some things just take time. You can't produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant. No one spits out a fun turn of phrase like the Nebraska native. But underneath the quip, Buffett has an important message to share: In investing, theres no tool as powerful as time. Studies have shown that investors are becoming increasingly impatient, zigzagging in and out of stocks in order to predict what the market will do next. But instead of worrying about short-term gains, think long-term. Where to go from here You dont have to have to be a billionaire like Buffett to make these investment lessons work for you. And you don't have to limit yourself to the stock market. For instance, some investing services make it possible to lock in a steady and consistent rental income stream by investing in premium real estate properties from commercial developments in LA to residential buildings in NYC. Youll gain exposure to high-end properties that big-time real estate moguls usually have access to, and youll receive regular payouts in the form of quarterly dividend distributions. With enough time and commitment to the principles that Buffett teaches, investment success is well within anyone's reach. This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind. || In Addition to Bitcoin, AMC Will Now Accept Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash: Pavlo Gonchar / SOPA Images AMC, which announced last month it will have the information technology systems in place to accept Bitcoin as payment for movie tickets and concessions if purchased online at all of its U.S. theaters by the end of the year, is expanding its crypto payment options. Learn: 8 Best Cryptocurrencies To Invest In for 2021 Economy Explained: Bitcoin Cash (BCH): The Most Important Things You Need To Know About It “Cryptocurrency enthusiasts: you likely know @AMCTheatres has announced we will accept Bitcoin for online ticket and concession payments by year-end 2021. I can confirm today that when we do so, we also expect that we similarly will accept Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash,” AMC CEO Adam Aron tweeted. Apparently, the announcement didn’t go down well with some crypto enthusiasts, including one who replied: “@CEOAdam and @AMCTheatres You could have effortlessly had millions of new supporters by accepting #Dogecoin. No reason not to when you literally accept Litecoin which is also based off BTC. Selling all my AMC stock to buy more $Doge. Ridiculous.” You could have effortlessly had millions of new supporters by accepting #Dogecoin . No reason not to when you literally accept Litecoin which is also based off BTC. Selling all my AMC stock to buy more $Doge . Ridiculous. — Matt Wallace (@MattWallace888) September 17, 2021 In an earnings call last month, Aron said that he had learned more in the past 6 months about Blockchain and cryptocurrency than he learned about it in the entire decade before that — an increased knowledge which has given him the confidence to accept Bitcoin, according to a transcript of the call. “We also are in the preliminary stage of now exploring how else AMC can participate in this new burgeoning cryptocurrency universe and we’re quite intrigued by the potentially lucrative business opportunity for AMC if we intelligently pursue further serious involvement with cryptocurrency, more detail will be shared publicly with you,” he added at the time. Story continues More: Crypto and 5 Other Groundbreaking Investing Trends for Gen Z Other companies — big and small — are also starting to accept cryptos as a form of payment. Tesla, for example, was one of the first big companies to do so. It reversed its decision a few months ago , however, due to concerns “about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel,” CEO Elon Musk said at the time. See: 10 Cheap Cryptocurrencies To Check Out Discover: 6 Biggest Myths About Cryptocurrency Following the announcement, Ben Weiss, CEO of Bitcoin ATM CoinFlip, posted a letter to AMC on LinkedIn, which stated in part, “As a thank you for your contributions to the crypto community, we’d like to offer to install our ATMs across AMC Theatres locations at no cost.” More From GOBankingRates Fourth Stimulus Checks Are Coming From These States — Is Yours on the List? The 8 Best Deals From Costco’s September Coupon Book What Is the Next Big Cryptocurrency To Explode in 2021? When Social Security Runs Out: What the Program Will Look Like in 2035 Last updated: September 17, 2021 This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : In Addition to Bitcoin, AMC Will Now Accept Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash || In Addition to Bitcoin, AMC Will Now Accept Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash: AMC, whichannounced last month it will have the information technology systems in place to accept Bitcoinas payment for movie tickets and concessions if purchased online at all of its U.S. theaters by the end of the year, is expanding its crypto payment options.
Learn:8 Best Cryptocurrencies To Invest In for 2021Economy Explained:Bitcoin Cash (BCH): The Most Important Things You Need To Know About It
“Cryptocurrency enthusiasts: you likely know @AMCTheatres has announced we will accept Bitcoin for online ticket and concession payments by year-end 2021. I can confirm today that when we do so, we also expect that we similarly will accept Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash,” AMC CEO Adam Aron tweeted.
Apparently, the announcement didn’t go down well with some crypto enthusiasts, including one who replied:
“@CEOAdam and @AMCTheatres You could have effortlessly had millions of new supporters by accepting #Dogecoin. No reason not to when you literally accept Litecoin which is also based off BTC. Selling all my AMC stock to buy more $Doge. Ridiculous.”
In an earnings call last month, Aron said that he had learned more in the past 6 months about Blockchain and cryptocurrency than he learned about it in the entire decade before that — an increased knowledge which has given him the confidence to accept Bitcoin, according to a transcript of the call.
“We also are in the preliminary stage of now exploring how else AMC can participate in this new burgeoning cryptocurrency universe and we’re quite intrigued by the potentially lucrative business opportunity for AMC if we intelligently pursue further serious involvement with cryptocurrency, more detail will be shared publicly with you,” he added at the time.
More:Crypto and 5 Other Groundbreaking Investing Trends for Gen Z
Other companies — big and small — are also starting to accept cryptos as a form of payment. Tesla, for example, was one of the first big companies to do so. Itreversed its decision a few months ago, however, due to concerns “about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel,” CEO Elon Musk said at the time.
See:10 Cheap Cryptocurrencies To Check OutDiscover:6 Biggest Myths About Cryptocurrency
Following the announcement, Ben Weiss, CEO of Bitcoin ATM CoinFlip, posted a letter to AMC on LinkedIn, which stated in part, “As a thank you for your contributions to the crypto community, we’d like to offer to install our ATMs across AMC Theatres locations at no cost.”
More From GOBankingRates
• Fourth Stimulus Checks Are Coming From These States — Is Yours on the List?
• The 8 Best Deals From Costco’s September Coupon Book
• What Is the Next Big Cryptocurrency To Explode in 2021?
• When Social Security Runs Out: What the Program Will Look Like in 2035
Last updated: September 17, 2021
This article originally appeared onGOBankingRates.com:In Addition to Bitcoin, AMC Will Now Accept Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash || In Addition to Bitcoin, AMC Will Now Accept Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash: AMC, whichannounced last month it will have the information technology systems in place to accept Bitcoinas payment for movie tickets and concessions if purchased online at all of its U.S. theaters by the end of the year, is expanding its crypto payment options.
Learn:8 Best Cryptocurrencies To Invest In for 2021Economy Explained:Bitcoin Cash (BCH): The Most Important Things You Need To Know About It
“Cryptocurrency enthusiasts: you likely know @AMCTheatres has announced we will accept Bitcoin for online ticket and concession payments by year-end 2021. I can confirm today that when we do so, we also expect that we similarly will accept Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash,” AMC CEO Adam Aron tweeted.
Apparently, the announcement didn’t go down well with some crypto enthusiasts, including one who replied:
“@CEOAdam and @AMCTheatres You could have effortlessly had millions of new supporters by accepting #Dogecoin. No reason not to when you literally accept Litecoin which is also based off BTC. Selling all my AMC stock to buy more $Doge. Ridiculous.”
In an earnings call last month, Aron said that he had learned more in the past 6 months about Blockchain and cryptocurrency than he learned about it in the entire decade before that — an increased knowledge which has given him the confidence to accept Bitcoin, according to a transcript of the call.
“We also are in the preliminary stage of now exploring how else AMC can participate in this new burgeoning cryptocurrency universe and we’re quite intrigued by the potentially lucrative business opportunity for AMC if we intelligently pursue further serious involvement with cryptocurrency, more detail will be shared publicly with you,” he added at the time.
More:Crypto and 5 Other Groundbreaking Investing Trends for Gen Z
Other companies — big and small — are also starting to accept cryptos as a form of payment. Tesla, for example, was one of the first big companies to do so. Itreversed its decision a few months ago, however, due to concerns “about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel,” CEO Elon Musk said at the time.
See:10 Cheap Cryptocurrencies To Check OutDiscover:6 Biggest Myths About Cryptocurrency
Following the announcement, Ben Weiss, CEO of Bitcoin ATM CoinFlip, posted a letter to AMC on LinkedIn, which stated in part, “As a thank you for your contributions to the crypto community, we’d like to offer to install our ATMs across AMC Theatres locations at no cost.”
More From GOBankingRates
• Fourth Stimulus Checks Are Coming From These States — Is Yours on the List?
• The 8 Best Deals From Costco’s September Coupon Book
• What Is the Next Big Cryptocurrency To Explode in 2021?
• When Social Security Runs Out: What the Program Will Look Like in 2035
Last updated: September 17, 2021
This article originally appeared onGOBankingRates.com:In Addition to Bitcoin, AMC Will Now Accept Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash || 'This is how the SEC regulates': Crypto investors wary as Coinbase fight heats up, regulators circle: There's a storm brewing between the booming cryptocurrency sector and regulators charged with overseeing a white-hot industry, where potential risks to investors are proliferating almost as fast as new products. Tuesday's Senate testimony by newly appointed Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler did little to shed light on a number of crypto-related controversies — including an evolving battle with Coinbase ( COIN ), the premier crypto trading platform trying to offer a new lending product. However, the SEC chief faced pointed questions on how far the agency was willing to go to impose order on the Wild West of trading and product creation in a digital currency sector that prides itself on decentralization, efficiency and the empowerment of small investors. For his part, Gensler said "this asset class is rife with fraud, scams, and abuse in certain applications. We can do better." That point was illustrated on Monday, when a fraudulent press release touting a partnership between Walmart ( WMT ) and Litecoin ( LTC-USD ) moved the market before the retail giant shot it down. The SEC is set up to promote investor protection, facilitate capital formation and anything else in between, according to Gensler. In recent months, the SEC has gone on the offensive to pursue alleged bad actors in the crypto space. On Monday, the agency charged three media companies with illegal digital asset and stock offerings . At the beginning of the September, they fined the crypto lending platform, BitConnect, and its top executive $2 billion for fraud. And the month before, the SEC charged Poloniex, a crypto exchange, $10 million for operating an unregistered exchange that sold digital securities. Regulators "are coming aggressively after cryptocurrency businesses using enforcement cases and sending a signal that they are watching the sector very carefully," Reena Aggarwal, director of Georgetown's Center for Financial Markets and Policy, told Yahoo Finance. Story continues Coinbase and 'regulation by litigation' Employees of Coinbase Global Inc, the biggest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, watch as their listing is displayed on the Nasdaq MarketSite jumbotron at Times Square in New York, U.S., April 14, 2021. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton (Shannon Stapleton / reuters) However, tensions between regulators and industry players are rising, as a viral Twitter post by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong illustrated last week. The friction brewing between Armstrong and the SEC centers on Coinbase's plans to launch a crypto lending product, Coinbase Lend, later this year. With a proposal offering a 4% annual percentage yield (APY) on USD coin (USDC) — a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar — the lending product is lower than other crypto lending businesses according to what Armstrong revealed over Twitter. However, the SEC still classified the product as a security. Coinbase's chief isn't alone in taking issue with regulators. Other crypto market players have publicly expressed frustration with the SEC, which is also reportedly probing the popular decentralized finance (DeFi) platform UniSwap. “This is how the SEC regulates,” Caitlin Long, a Wall Street veteran who's currently CEO of crypto bank startup Avanti Financial, told Yahoo Finance in an interview. “They will try to move a whole market by picking an example. What’s interesting and frustrating to us in the [crypto] industry is that the industry has been collectively asking the SEC for clarity on some of these very issues for years," she added. They aren’t providing much in the way of proactive guidance but rather leaving founders to read the tea leaves based on enforcements... But the enforcements are patchy and scattered. Nic Carter, crypto investor Long and others have criticized this approach, calling it "regulation by litigation." Georgetown's Aggarwal and those on Capitol Hill have pointed out that it isn't clear whether the SEC has the authority or resources to regulate other parts of the market, such as the fees associated with crypto exchanges. "Funding-wise we could use a lot more people," Gensler admitted on Tuesday. "There's 6,000 projects. Some of those are commodities, many of them are securities under the laws and many of the platforms are." While pinning down the SEC's next moves in the crypto sector remains difficult, the larger concern expressed by advocates, and the policy-minded in Washington who disagree with Gensler, is that the commission's current approach lacks clarity. Jennifer Schulp, a former FINRA attorney and current Director of Financial Regulation Studies at the Cato Institute, said that one key problem Gensler put on display this week is that determining whether a digital asset is a security remains far from clear. Gensler's "assertion of authority is based on a lot of assumptions about the facts and circumstances of a myriad assets," Schulp told Yahoo Finance. "This lack of clarity, coupled with the SEC’s insistence at bringing these assets within an ill-fitting securities regulation framework, risks hampering innovation at the expense of so-called investor protection," she added. Representations of cryptocurrencies Bitcoin, Ethereum, DogeCoin, Ripple, Litecoin are placed on PC motherboard in this illustration taken, June 29, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration (Dado Ruvic / reuters) Nic Carter, partner at the crypto-focused venture capital firm, Castle Island Partners, said the SEC's current regulatory framework for crypto assets is completely fair, but there's a lot more to be desired. "They aren’t providing much in the way of proactive guidance but rather leaving founders to read the tea leaves based on enforcements... But the enforcements are patchy and scattered," Carter explained. Other companies with a crypto lending business, such as crypto wealth management firm Abra, avoids regulatory scrutiny by using a "bank trust based model for offering yield on crypto custody," CEO Bill Barhydt told Yahoo Finance in an interview this week. This safer approach includes Know Your Customer (KYC) protocols through a Nevada-based chartered trust company called Prime Trust. "All users go through Onboarding for those trust accounts via the Abra App. Interest (yield) on crypto holdings, including Bitcoin, Ethereum and USD stablecoins is paid via Prime Trust," said an Abra spokesperson. Prime Trust is a chartered trust company regulated by the banking commissioner’s office at the Financial Institutions Division. Their clients also include crypto exchanges such as Kraken and Binance.US. Abra faced its own brush with the SEC more than a year ago, when the regulator fined the firm $300,000 for offering clients tokens that mirrored the performance of stocks and shares of exchange traded funds (ETFs). Large exchanges such as FTX have managed to offer tokenized equities by not making them available to U.S. investors. Now with $1 billion in assets under management, Abra appears to have recovered, thanks to success in their private client services business that has expanded dramatically over the past six months, according to Barhydt. "Generally these are wealthy clients looking for a very high touch experience," he added. At the close of its latest funding round, Abra raised $55 million with backing from venture investors including Blockchain Capital and Amex Ventures. David Hollerith covers cryptocurrency for Yahoo Finance. Follow him @dshollers . READ MORE: Read the latest cryptocurrency and bitcoin news from Yahoo Finance For more information about cryptocurrency, check out: Dogecoin, what is it? How to buy it Ethereum: What is it and how do you invest in it? The top 21 crypto leaders to watch in the back half of 2021 Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter , Facebook , Instagram , Flipboard , LinkedIn , YouTube , and reddit || 'This is how the SEC regulates': Crypto investors wary as Coinbase fight heats up, regulators circle: There's a storm brewing between the booming cryptocurrency sector and regulators charged with overseeing a white-hot industry, where potential risks to investors are proliferating almost as fast as new products.
Tuesday's Senate testimony by newly appointedSecurities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler did little to shed light on a number of crypto-related controversies — including an evolving battle with Coinbase (COIN), the premier crypto trading platform trying to offer a new lending product.
However, the SEC chief faced pointed questions on how far the agency was willing to go to impose order on theWild West of trading and product creationin a digital currency sector that prides itself on decentralization, efficiency and the empowerment of small investors.
For his part, Gensler said "this asset class is rife with fraud, scams, and abuse in certain applications. We can do better." That point was illustrated on Monday, when afraudulent press release touting a partnershipbetween Walmart (WMT) and Litecoin (LTC-USD) moved the market before the retail giant shot it down.
The SEC is set up to promote investor protection, facilitate capital formation and anything else in between, according to Gensler. In recent months, the SEC has gone on the offensive to pursue alleged bad actors in the crypto space.
On Monday, the agencycharged three media companies with illegal digital asset and stock offerings. At the beginning of the September, theyfined the crypto lending platform, BitConnect, and its top executive$2 billion for fraud. And the month before, the SECcharged Poloniex, a crypto exchange, $10 millionfor operating an unregistered exchange that sold digital securities.
Regulators "are coming aggressively after cryptocurrency businesses using enforcement cases and sending a signal that they are watching the sector very carefully," Reena Aggarwal, director of Georgetown's Center for Financial Markets and Policy, told Yahoo Finance.
However, tensions between regulators and industry players are rising, as a viral Twitter post by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong illustrated last week. Thefriction brewing between Armstrong and the SECcenters on Coinbase's plans to launch a crypto lending product, Coinbase Lend, later this year.
With a proposal offering a 4% annual percentage yield (APY) on USD coin (USDC) — a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar — the lending product is lower than other crypto lending businesses according to what Armstrong revealed over Twitter. However, the SEC still classified the product as a security.
Coinbase's chief isn't alone in taking issue with regulators. Other crypto market players have publicly expressed frustration with the SEC, which is also reportedly probing the populardecentralized finance (DeFi)platform UniSwap.
“This is how the SEC regulates,” Caitlin Long, a Wall Street veteran who's currently CEO of crypto bank startup Avanti Financial, told Yahoo Finance in an interview.
“They will try to move a whole market by picking an example. What’s interesting and frustrating to us in the [crypto] industry is that the industry has been collectively asking the SEC for clarity on some of these very issues for years," she added.
They aren’t providing much in the way of proactive guidance but rather leaving founders to read the tea leaves based on enforcements... But the enforcements are patchy and scattered.Nic Carter, crypto investor
Long and others have criticized this approach, calling it "regulation by litigation." Georgetown's Aggarwal and those on Capitol Hill have pointed out that it isn't clear whether the SEC has the authority or resources to regulate other parts of the market, such as the fees associated with crypto exchanges.
"Funding-wise we could use a lot more people," Gensler admitted on Tuesday. "There's 6,000 projects. Some of those are commodities, many of them are securities under the laws and many of the platforms are."
While pinning down the SEC's next moves in the crypto sector remains difficult, the larger concern expressed by advocates, and the policy-minded in Washington who disagree with Gensler, is that the commission's current approach lacks clarity.
Jennifer Schulp, a former FINRA attorney and current Director of Financial Regulation Studies at the Cato Institute, said that one key problem Gensler put on display this week is that determining whether a digital asset is a security remains far from clear.
Gensler's "assertion of authority is based on a lot of assumptions about the facts and circumstances of a myriad assets," Schulp told Yahoo Finance.
"This lack of clarity, coupled with the SEC’s insistence at bringing these assets within an ill-fitting securities regulation framework, risks hampering innovation at the expense of so-called investor protection," she added.
Nic Carter, partner at the crypto-focused venture capital firm, Castle Island Partners, said the SEC's current regulatory framework for crypto assets is completely fair, but there's a lot more to be desired.
"They aren’t providing much in the way of proactive guidance but rather leaving founders to read the tea leaves based on enforcements... But the enforcements are patchy and scattered," Carter explained.
Other companies with a crypto lending business, such as crypto wealth management firm Abra, avoids regulatory scrutiny by using a "bank trust based model for offering yield on crypto custody," CEO Bill Barhydt told Yahoo Finance in an interview this week.
This safer approach includes Know Your Customer (KYC) protocols through a Nevada-based chartered trust company called Prime Trust.
"All users go through Onboarding for those trust accounts via the Abra App. Interest (yield) on crypto holdings, including Bitcoin, Ethereum and USD stablecoins is paid via Prime Trust," said an Abra spokesperson.
Prime Trust is a chartered trust company regulated by the banking commissioner’s office at the Financial Institutions Division. Their clients also include crypto exchanges such as Kraken and Binance.US.
Abra faced its ownbrush with the SECmore than a year ago, when the regulator fined the firm $300,000 for offering clients tokens that mirrored the performance of stocks and shares of exchange traded funds (ETFs). Large exchanges such as FTX have managed to offer tokenized equities by not making them available to U.S. investors.
Now with $1 billion in assets under management, Abra appears to have recovered, thanks to success in their private client services business that has expanded dramatically over the past six months, according to Barhydt.
"Generally these are wealthy clients looking for a very high touch experience," he added.
At the close of its latest funding round, Abra raised $55 million with backing from venture investors including Blockchain Capital and Amex Ventures.
David Hollerith covers cryptocurrency for Yahoo Finance. Follow him@dshollers.
READ MORE:
• Read the latest cryptocurrency and bitcoin news from Yahoo Finance
For more information about cryptocurrency, check out:
Dogecoin, what is it? How to buy it
Ethereum: What is it and how do you invest in it?
The top 21 crypto leaders to watch in the back half of 2021
Follow Yahoo Finance onTwitter,Facebook,Instagram,Flipboard,LinkedIn,YouTube, andreddit || Stock Market Today: Stocks End Choppy Week With a Loss: man with box on head giving thumbs down Getty Images U.S. stock markets turned lower in early trading, and stayed in negative territory as the day wore on. In addition to a lower-than-anticipated preliminary reading on the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment survey (71.0 vs. 72.0 expected), investors also had to contend with a "quadruple-witching" day. This occurs four times a year – March, June, September and December – and marks the simultaneous expiration of index futures, index options, stock options and individual futures. It can often lead to heavier-than-usual volume and erratic moves in all or parts of the market. SEE MORE The 21 Best Stocks to Buy for the Rest of 2021 By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.5% at 34,584, the S&P 500 Index was off 0.9% at 4,432 and the Nasdaq Composite had given back 0.9% to 15,043 – with all three indexes erasing their weekly gains. Sign up for Kiplinger's FREE Investing Weekly e-letter for stock, ETF and mutual fund recommendations, and other investing advice. Next week, all eyes will be on the latest policy announcement from the Federal Reserve, due out on Wednesday afternoon. Barclays economists "expect the committee to signal that it is prepared to reduce the pace of asset purchases 'later this year' conditional on further progress toward the dual mandate [of inflation and unemployment]." However, they do not believe a formal announcement will come until November or December. SEE MORE Natural Asset Companies (NACs): A New Type of ESG Investment Other news in the stock market today: The small-cap Russell 2000 ended 0.2% higher at 2,236. M&A buzz helped lift shares of Invesco ( IVZ ) 5.5% today. Specifically, a report in The Wall Street Journal suggested the financial firm is in talks to merge with State Street's ( STT , -2.6%) asset-management division, according to people familiar with the matter. "We are not surprised that IVZ has entered another asset manager's crosshairs," CFRA analyst Catherine Seifert says. "We think the merger of these two firms makes sense, and would enhance STT's already strong exchange-traded fund (ETF) presence. We caution that a potential merger of the number four ETF provider (IVZ) with the third-largest ETF provider (STT), while potentially overtaking Vanguard and the second largest ETF provider, could also raise antitrust issues." Seifert has a Buy rating on Invesco. Thermo Fisher Scientific ( TMO , +6.5%) got a lift after the medtech company issued upbeat guidance. TMO expects fiscal 2022 earnings of $21.16 per share on $40.3 billion in revenue, well above the $19.68 earnings per share and $34.3 billion in sales analysts, on average, are expecting. U.S. crude oil futures slipped 0.9% to $71.97 per barrel. Gold futures declined 0.3% to end at $1,751.40 an ounce, marking their third straight loss. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) jumped 11.3% to 20.81. Bitcoin edged up 0.1% to $47,505.29. (Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day; prices reported here are as of 4 p.m. each trading day.) Story continues stock price chart 091721 YCharts Stay the Course With Stocks Don't let the daily headlines distract you from long-term fundamentals. There are several reasons to be constructive on stocks, says Tony DeSpirito, CIO of BlackRock's U.S. Fundamental Active Equities, including the return to a more normal, shareholder-friendly distribution of capital. In addition to surging share buybacks – which are reaching 2018's record levels – many publicly traded companies are raising and reinstating dividends. SEE MORE Hedge Funds' 25 Top Blue-Chip Stocks to Buy Now "Through July, 45% of dividend payers in the Russell 1000 have hiked," DeSpirito notes. "This compares to a full-year average of 61%. At this rate, we estimate over 75% of dividend payers in the index could raise their payout by year-end." If you want to brush up on the best dividend payers , check out the generous yields in real estate investment trusts (REITs) and healthcare stocks . And there are always the beloved Dividend Aristocrats , companies with a track record of increasing shareholder payouts for the last 25 straight years. Not sure where to start? Take a look at these five names . This elite list has received top-billing from Wall Street pros based on their current financial situation and future prospects. SEE MORE Best Online Brokers, 2021 You may also like Dying Careers You May Want to Steer Clear Of 7 Best Commodity Stocks to Play the Coming Boom 5 Top Dividend Aristocrats to Beef Up Your Portfolio || Stock Market Today: Stocks End Choppy Week With a Loss: man with box on head giving thumbs down Getty Images U.S. stock markets turned lower in early trading, and stayed in negative territory as the day wore on. In addition to a lower-than-anticipated preliminary reading on the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment survey (71.0 vs. 72.0 expected), investors also had to contend with a "quadruple-witching" day. This occurs four times a year – March, June, September and December – and marks the simultaneous expiration of index futures, index options, stock options and individual futures. It can often lead to heavier-than-usual volume and erratic moves in all or parts of the market. SEE MORE The 21 Best Stocks to Buy for the Rest of 2021 By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.5% at 34,584, the S&P 500 Index was off 0.9% at 4,432 and the Nasdaq Composite had given back 0.9% to 15,043 – with all three indexes erasing their weekly gains. Sign up for Kiplinger's FREE Investing Weekly e-letter for stock, ETF and mutual fund recommendations, and other investing advice. Next week, all eyes will be on the latest policy announcement from the Federal Reserve, due out on Wednesday afternoon. Barclays economists "expect the committee to signal that it is prepared to reduce the pace of asset purchases 'later this year' conditional on further progress toward the dual mandate [of inflation and unemployment]." However, they do not believe a formal announcement will come until November or December. SEE MORE Natural Asset Companies (NACs): A New Type of ESG Investment Other news in the stock market today: The small-cap Russell 2000 ended 0.2% higher at 2,236. M&A buzz helped lift shares of Invesco ( IVZ ) 5.5% today. Specifically, a report in The Wall Street Journal suggested the financial firm is in talks to merge with State Street's ( STT , -2.6%) asset-management division, according to people familiar with the matter. "We are not surprised that IVZ has entered another asset manager's crosshairs," CFRA analyst Catherine Seifert says. "We think the merger of these two firms makes sense, and would enhance STT's already strong exchange-traded fund (ETF) presence. We caution that a potential merger of the number four ETF provider (IVZ) with the third-largest ETF provider (STT), while potentially overtaking Vanguard and the second largest ETF provider, could also raise antitrust issues." Seifert has a Buy rating on Invesco. Thermo Fisher Scientific ( TMO , +6.5%) got a lift after the medtech company issued upbeat guidance. TMO expects fiscal 2022 earnings of $21.16 per share on $40.3 billion in revenue, well above the $19.68 earnings per share and $34.3 billion in sales analysts, on average, are expecting. U.S. crude oil futures slipped 0.9% to $71.97 per barrel. Gold futures declined 0.3% to end at $1,751.40 an ounce, marking their third straight loss. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) jumped 11.3% to 20.81. Bitcoin edged up 0.1% to $47,505.29. (Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day; prices reported here are as of 4 p.m. each trading day.) Story continues stock price chart 091721 YCharts Stay the Course With Stocks Don't let the daily headlines distract you from long-term fundamentals. There are several reasons to be constructive on stocks, says Tony DeSpirito, CIO of BlackRock's U.S. Fundamental Active Equities, including the return to a more normal, shareholder-friendly distribution of capital. In addition to surging share buybacks – which are reaching 2018's record levels – many publicly traded companies are raising and reinstating dividends. SEE MORE Hedge Funds' 25 Top Blue-Chip Stocks to Buy Now "Through July, 45% of dividend payers in the Russell 1000 have hiked," DeSpirito notes. "This compares to a full-year average of 61%. At this rate, we estimate over 75% of dividend payers in the index could raise their payout by year-end." If you want to brush up on the best dividend payers , check out the generous yields in real estate investment trusts (REITs) and healthcare stocks . And there are always the beloved Dividend Aristocrats , companies with a track record of increasing shareholder payouts for the last 25 straight years. Not sure where to start? Take a look at these five names . This elite list has received top-billing from Wall Street pros based on their current financial situation and future prospects. SEE MORE Best Online Brokers, 2021 You may also like Dying Careers You May Want to Steer Clear Of 7 Best Commodity Stocks to Play the Coming Boom 5 Top Dividend Aristocrats to Beef Up Your Portfolio || PayPal initiates crypto function in the UK: US payment giant PayPal has launched its cryptocurrency service in the United Kingdom. From today, UK users will be able to buy, hold and sell digital currencies. Paypal started its crypto operations in the US in October last year, and announced last month that it would soon do the same across the Atlantic. Jose Fernandez da Ponte, head of crypto and blockchain at PayPal said the move was “doing really well in the US”. UK users can now buy or sell Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Litecoin for as little as £1. Customers will also be able to track crypto prices in real-time and access crypto guides. Relying on Paxos PayPal is relying on Paxos – a New York-regulated digital currency company. Paxos represents a family of protocols for solving consensus in a network of unreliable or fallible processors. Consensus is the process of agreeing on one result among a group of participants. This problem becomes difficult when the participants or their communications may experience failures. CEO Dan Schulman recently confirmed the company would “continue to be pleased with the momentum it is seeing on crypto” and that it will be “adding incremental functionality into that”. The official website says customers “can buy, sell and hold cryptocurrency through PayPal’s cryptocurrency service, but they can’t use it to send cryptocurrency. Purchases and sales of cryptocurrency aren’t reversible and cannot be changed”. || PayPal initiates crypto function in the UK: US payment giant PayPal has launched its cryptocurrency service in the United Kingdom. From today, UK users will be able to buy, hold and sell digital currencies. Paypal started its crypto operations in the US in October last year, and announced last month that it would soon do the same across the Atlantic. Jose Fernandez da Ponte, head of crypto and blockchain at PayPal said the move was “doing really well in the US”. UK users can now buy or sell Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Litecoin for as little as £1. Customers will also be able to track crypto prices in real-time and access crypto guides. Relying on Paxos PayPal is relying on Paxos – a New York-regulated digital currency company. Paxos represents a family of protocols for solving consensus in a network of unreliable or fallible processors. Consensus is the process of agreeing on one result among a group of participants. This problem becomes difficult when the participants or their communications may experience failures. CEO Dan Schulman recently confirmed the company would “continue to be pleased with the momentum it is seeing on crypto” and that it will be “adding incremental functionality into that”. The official website says customers “can buy, sell and hold cryptocurrency through PayPal’s cryptocurrency service, but they can’t use it to send cryptocurrency. Purchases and sales of cryptocurrency aren’t reversible and cannot be changed”. || PayPal Customers in U.K. Can Now Buy & Sell Crypto: BeInCrypto –
PayPal announced that eligible customers in the United Kingdom are now able to buy and sell several different digital currencies.
Global payment servicePayPal has announcedthat eligible users in the United Kingdom are now able to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies via PayPal’s service. At launch, PayPal will sell Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash to users with verifiable identities. The announcement fulfillsPayPal’s pledgein August 2021 to move crypto in the British market. This is the first location outside of the United States that PayPal has offered the ability to purchase cryptocurrency. As they do in the U.S., PayPal says they will continue to use Paxos to facilitate the transactions and holding of said digital assets.
In a tweet announcing the rollout, PayPal said “We are delighted to share that all eligible customers in the UK can now buy, hold and sell #Cryptocurrencies #Bitcoin, #Ethereum, #BitcoinCash & #Litecoin from their PayPal account. Look out for it in the PayPal app.”
This storywas seen first onBeInCryptoJoin our Telegram Groupand get trading signals, a free trading course and more stories likethisonBeInCrypto || PayPal Customers in U.K. Can Now Buy & Sell Crypto: BeInCrypto – PayPal announced that eligible customers in the United Kingdom are now able to buy and sell several different digital currencies. Global payment service PayPal has announced that eligible users in the United Kingdom are now able to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies via PayPal’s service. At launch, PayPal will sell Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash to users with verifiable identities. The announcement fulfills PayPal’s pledge in August 2021 to move crypto in the British market. This is the first location outside of the United States that PayPal has offered the ability to purchase cryptocurrency. As they do in the U.S., PayPal says they will continue to use Paxos to facilitate the transactions and holding of said digital assets. In a tweet announcing the rollout, PayPal said “We are delighted to share that all eligible customers in the UK can now buy, hold and sell #Cryptocurrencies #Bitcoin, #Ethereum, #BitcoinCash & #Litecoin from their PayPal account. Look out for it in the PayPal app.” This story was seen first on BeInCrypto Join our Telegram Group and get trading signals, a free trading course and more stories like this on BeInCrypto || 7 Top Robinhood Stocks to Buy Heading Into Q4: The markets are entering the last quarter of another eventful year for equities as an asset class. Without doubt, the year will be remembered for Reddit and Meme stocks. Its also a year when Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD ) trading platform gained significant traction as millennials took a plunge into stock trading. In general, meme stocks were among the top traded Robinhood stocks. However, as we head into Q4 2021, I am focused on some non-speculative Robinhood stocks. I believe that these names are positioned for a rally in the coming months with one of few positive catalysts on the horizon. 7 Cheap Stocks to Buy If You Have $250 to Spend Lets look at seven Robinhood stocks that look poised for a rally in Q4 2021. InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX ) JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ: JBLU ) Chevron (NYSE: CVX ) Target (NYSE: TGT ) Altria (NYSE: MO ) Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN ) Alibaba Group (NYSE: BABA ) An important point to note is that historical data from 1928 to 2020 indicate that Q4 is a good time to remain invested. Index returns have averaged 0.4% in October, 0.9% in November and 1.3% in December. 7 Top Robinhood Stocks to Buy Heading Into Q4: Novavax (NVAX) Novavax (NVAX) logo surrounded by medical supplies Source: Ascannio/Shutterstock.com NVAX stock has already surged by 117% this year. But a further rally seems likely with a robust growth outlook for 2022. In August 2021, Novavax and the European Commission announced a purchase agreement for 200 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. Novavax has also reached an agreement with the Government of Japan to provide 150 million doses of the vaccine . Additionally, Novavax is focused on low-income countries. The company has filed for emergency use authorization in India, Indonesia and the Philippines. The final regulatory submission in the United States is also due in the last quarter. Clearly, Novavax seems positioned for strong growth in the coming years. As its order book swells, the stock is likely to trend higher. Story continues Novavax is already undertaking clinical trials for a combination of the Covid-19 and seasonal influenza vaccine. If trails deliver positive results, the combination is likely to be a source of steady long-term cash flows. An important point to note is that Novavax ended Q2 2021 with cash and equivalents of $2.1 billion. This provides the company with flexibility for manufacturing expansion and investment in clinical trials. The company has an attractive pipeline of potential vaccines for SARS, Ebola, respiratory syncytial virus and MERS. JetBlue Airways (JBLU) jetblue (JBLU) airplane on a runway Source: Roman Tiraspolsky / Shutterstock.com After surging to highs of $21.96 in March 2021, JBLU stock has corrected to current levels of $15. However, I believe that the stock is due for a reversal in the coming months. In terms of the pandemic impact, there are two points to note. First and foremost, latest data indicates that at least 75% of the U.S. population have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. Furthermore, Covid-19 cases in the United States have started to dip from the latest peak . With the holiday season coming, thats all good news for JetBlue. I also like the airline company from a financial perspective. As of Q2 2021, JetBlue reported adjusted-debt-to-capital-ratio of 55%. Further, the company has a liquidity buffer of $3.7 billion. With a healthy balance sheet, the company is positioned for growth as the airline industry witnesses gradual revival. Its worth noting that the company has already announced 32 new routes this year . At the same time, the company has a pipeline of fleet expansion through 2027. 7 Cheap Stocks to Buy If You Have $250 to Spend Therefore, as capacity utilization improves, JetBlue is positioned to deliver healthy EBITDA margin. The company has already undertaken cost cutting measures, which will have a positive impact in the coming quarters. Overall, JLBU stock seems positioned for a strong reversal from current levels. Chevron (CVX) chevron stock Source: LesPalenik / Shutterstock.com CVX stock has been sideways to lower over the past six-months. The last quarter of the year marks the beginning of the heating season. In general, this translates into higher demand for oil and gas. It seems very likely that the 5.58% dividend yield stock is poised for reversal in the last quarter. Chevron is attractive from a fundamental perspective. As of Q2 2021, the company reported a net-debt ratio of 21%. Its also worth noting that for the quarter, the company reported operating cash flow of $7 billion. With oil prices remaining firm, the company is positioned for annualized OCF of $28 to $30 billion. Another important point to note is that the company reduced debt by $2.5 billion in the last quarter. With strong cash flows, Chevron is positioned to sustain dividend and deleverage. As of December 2020, Chevron also had reserves of 11.1bboe along with 84.1bboe in resources . With low-break even assets and a long reserve life, CVX stock is attractive at a forward price-to-earnings-ratio of 14.5. Strong financial flexibility also allows Chevron to invest in the renewable energy segment. In the next few years, the company plans to ramp-up production of renewable natural gas, diesel and biodiesel. Target (TGT) an image of bullseye the target (TGT) dog in a target store Source: Robert Gregory Griffeth / Shutterstock.com The U.S. economy is largely driven by consumption spending. In the last quarter of the year, retail spending generally accelerates thanks to the approaching holiday season. TGT stock looks attractive among general merchandise retailers. After touching a high of $267, the stock has corrected to current levels around $243. Gradual accumulation can be considered now that the company is building a strong omni-channel presence. For Q2 2021, Target reported healthy comparable store sales growth of 8.9% . Digital sales were also boosted by same-day delivery. Target has also been aggressively remodeling its stores. The company is on track to complete 140 remodels this year. At the same time, the company has been opening smaller format stores. This helps expand reach and further boost sales from drive-up, order pick-up and shipments. With strong growth numbers and cash flows, Target also increased quarterly dividends by 32% in June 2021. TGT stock currently offers an annualized dividend of $3.6, which translates into a dividend yield of 1.47%. 7 Cheap Stocks to Buy If You Have $250 to Spend Even after an upside of 38% for year-to-date 2021, TGT stock trades at an attractive price-to-earnings-ratio of 18.8. Renewed upside seems likely heading into Q4 2021. Altria (MO) a sign with the Altria (MO) logo Source: Kristi Blokhin / Shutterstock.com After an extended period of consolidation around $40 levels, MO stock has started trending higher. There are several reasons to believe the upside is likely to sustain. Recently, Altria increased quarterly dividends by 5% to 90 cents per share. At a dividend yield of 7.19%, the stock is likely to attract income investors. Further, MO stock is trading at a forward P/E of 10.85. Valuations are attractive and the stock has a low beta. Its also worth noting that Altria has 35% stake in Juul Labs, though the Food & Drug Administration is likely to need additional time to decide if the brand e-cigarette can be sold in the U.S. But a positive outcome will translate into meaningful upside for MO stock. Altria is also in a business transformation phase with focus on non-combustible products. However, the cigarette segment is likely to remain the cash flow machine in the coming years. The company also has stake in Cronos (NASDAQ: CRON ). The possibility of Federal level legalization of cannabis is another factor that could serve as an upward catalyst. Coinbase (COIN) The Coinbase (COIN) logo on a smartphone screen with a BTC token. Source: Primakov / Shutterstock.com COIN stock has remained depressed after a stellar listing. However, the companys quarterly numbers have remained robust. Given wider adoption of cryptocurrencies, Coinbase is positioned to deliver healthy cash flows. Cathie Wood recently reiterated her long-term target of $500,000 for Bitcoin (CCC: BTC-USD ). A key reason cited was growing institutional interest in the cryptocurrency. Its also worth noting that even with a possible rate hike in 2022, real interest rates are likely to remain negative. This will support upside in asset classes like gold and Bitcoin. For Q2 2021, Coinbase reported revenue of $2 billion and an adjusted EBITDA of $1.2 billion. Further, excluding custodial funds due to customers, the companys operating cash flow for the first half of 2021 was $2.2 billion. Clearly, the business has robust EBITDA margin and cash flows. A key highlight in Q2 2021 results was that the company has over 9,000 financial institutions as clients. Coinbase also added 29 new assets for trading during the quarter. As the number of assets increase, the trading volume is also likely to swell. 7 Cheap Stocks to Buy If You Have $250 to Spend In more recent news, Coinbase announced a private offering of $1.5 billion Senior Notes. The company expects to utilize the proceeds for product development and potential mergers . Any inorganic growth news can serve as another stock upside trigger. Alibaba Group (BABA) Alibaba (BABA) logo displayed on phone screen in person's hands Source: Jirapong Manustrong / Shutterstock.com Im including BABA stock in my list of Robinhood stocks to buy as a contrarian pick. Alibaba stock has remained depressed for an extended period but it seems the worst might be over. It was recently reported that Chinas state-backed firms are likely to take stake in Ant Group assets. If the speculation proves true, it could pave the way for Ant Groups initial public offering (IPO). Alibaba has also pledged to invest $15 billion in a common prosperity drive. These might be early indicators that the differences with regulators are being ironed-out. Its worth noting that Alibaba has continued to report healthy growth in its core ecommerce business. The companys presence in Southeast Asia is likely to ensure that strong revenue growth sustains. Further, the companys cloud business has also reported positive EBITDA for the second consecutive quarter. As EBITDA margin expands in the next few quarters, the stock is likely to trend higher. Alibaba also has high financial flexibility to pursue aggressive organic and acquisition driven growth. Investors should consider some exposure to BABA stock. The core business remains strong and its a good time to be greedy when markets are fearful. On the date of publication, Faisal Humayun did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines . Faisal Humayun is a senior research analyst with 12 years of industry experience in the field of credit research, equity research and financial modeling. Faisal has authored over 1,500 stock specific articles with focus on the technology, energy and commodities sector. More From InvestorPlace Stock Prodigy Who Found NIO at $2
Says Buy THIS Now Analyst Who Found Microsoft at $0.38 Names #1 Pick for the AI Boom Americas #1 EV Stock Still Flying Under the Radar The post 7 Top Robinhood Stocks to Buy Heading Into Q4 appeared first on InvestorPlace . || 7 Top Robinhood Stocks to Buy Heading Into Q4: The markets are entering the last quarter of another eventful year for equities as an asset class. Without doubt, the year will be remembered for Reddit and Meme stocks. It’s also a year whenRobinhood(NASDAQ:HOOD) trading platform gained significant traction as millennials took a plunge into stock trading. In general, meme stocks were among the top traded Robinhood stocks.
However, as we head into Q4 2021, I am focused on some non-speculative Robinhood stocks. I believe that these names are positioned for a rally in the coming months with one of few positive catalysts on the horizon.
• 7 Cheap Stocks to Buy If You Have $250 to Spend
Let’s look at seven Robinhood stocks that look poised for a rally in Q4 2021.
InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips
• Novavax(NASDAQ:NVAX)
• JetBlue Airways(NASDAQ:JBLU)
• Chevron(NYSE:CVX)
• Target(NYSE:TGT)
• Altria(NYSE:MO)
• Coinbase(NASDAQ:COIN)
• Alibaba Group(NYSE:BABA)
An important point to note is thathistorical data from 1928 to 2020indicate that Q4 is a good time to remain invested. Index returns have averaged 0.4% in October, 0.9% in November and 1.3% in December.
Source: Ascannio/Shutterstock.com
NVAX stock has already surged by 117% this year. But a further rally seems likely with a robust growth outlook for 2022.
In August 2021, Novavax and the European Commission announced apurchase agreement for 200 million dosesof the Covid-19 vaccine. Novavax has also reached an agreement with the Government of Japan toprovide 150 million doses of the vaccine.
Additionally, Novavax is focused on low-income countries. The company has filed foremergency use authorizationin India, Indonesia and the Philippines. The final regulatory submission in the United States is also due in the last quarter.
Clearly, Novavax seems positioned for strong growth in the coming years. As its order book swells, the stock is likely to trend higher.
Novavax is already undertaking clinical trials for a combination of the Covid-19 and seasonal influenza vaccine. If trails deliver positive results, the combination is likely to be a source of steady long-term cash flows.
An important point to note is that Novavax ended Q2 2021 with cash and equivalents of $2.1 billion. This provides the company with flexibility for manufacturing expansion and investment in clinical trials. The company has an attractive pipeline of potential vaccines for SARS, Ebola, respiratory syncytial virus and MERS.
Source: Roman Tiraspolsky / Shutterstock.com
After surging to highs of $21.96 in March 2021, JBLU stock has corrected to current levels of $15. However, I believe that the stock is due for a reversal in the coming months.
In terms of the pandemic impact, there are two points to note. First and foremost, latest data indicates that at least 75% of the U.S. population havereceived at least one doseof the Covid-19 vaccine. Furthermore, Covid-19 cases in the United States havestarted to dip from the latest peak.
With the holiday season coming, that’s all good news for JetBlue. I also like the airline company from a financial perspective. As of Q2 2021, JetBlue reported adjusted-debt-to-capital-ratio of 55%. Further, the company has a liquidity buffer of $3.7 billion.
With a healthy balance sheet, the company is positioned for growth as the airline industry witnesses gradual revival. It’s worth noting that the company hasalready announced 32 new routes this year. At the same time, the company has a pipeline of fleet expansion through 2027.
• 7 Cheap Stocks to Buy If You Have $250 to Spend
Therefore, as capacity utilization improves, JetBlue is positioned to deliver healthy EBITDA margin. The company has already undertaken cost cutting measures, which will have a positive impact in the coming quarters. Overall, JLBU stock seems positioned for a strong reversal from current levels.
Source: LesPalenik / Shutterstock.com
CVX stock has been sideways to lower over the past six-months. The last quarter of the year marks the beginning of the heating season. In general, this translates into higher demand for oil and gas. It seems very likely that the 5.58% dividend yield stock is poised for reversal in the last quarter.
Chevron is attractive from a fundamental perspective. As of Q2 2021, the company reported a net-debt ratio of 21%. It’s also worth noting that for the quarter, the company reported operating cash flow of $7 billion. With oil prices remaining firm, the company is positioned for annualized OCF of $28 to $30 billion.
Another important point to note is that the company reduced debt by $2.5 billion in the last quarter. With strong cash flows, Chevron is positioned to sustain dividend and deleverage.
As of December 2020, Chevron also hadreserves of 11.1bboe along with 84.1bboe in resources. With low-break even assets and a long reserve life, CVX stock is attractive at a forward price-to-earnings-ratio of 14.5.
Strong financial flexibility also allows Chevron to invest in the renewable energy segment. In the next few years, the company plans to ramp-up production of renewable natural gas, diesel and biodiesel.
Source: Robert Gregory Griffeth / Shutterstock.com
The U.S. economy is largely driven by consumption spending. In the last quarter of the year, retail spending generally accelerates thanks to the approaching holiday season.
TGT stock looks attractive among general merchandise retailers. After touching a high of $267, the stock has corrected to current levels around $243. Gradual accumulation can be considered now that the company is building a strong omni-channel presence.
For Q2 2021, Target reported healthycomparable store sales growth of 8.9%. Digital sales were also boosted by same-day delivery.
Target has also been aggressively remodeling its stores. The company is on track to complete 140 remodels this year. At the same time, the company has been opening smaller format stores. This helps expand reach and further boost sales from drive-up, order pick-up and shipments.
With strong growth numbers and cash flows, Target also increased quarterly dividends by 32% in June 2021. TGT stock currently offers an annualized dividend of $3.6, which translates into a dividend yield of 1.47%.
• 7 Cheap Stocks to Buy If You Have $250 to Spend
Even after an upside of 38% for year-to-date 2021, TGT stock trades at an attractive price-to-earnings-ratio of 18.8. Renewed upside seems likely heading into Q4 2021.
Source: Kristi Blokhin / Shutterstock.com
After an extended period of consolidation around $40 levels, MO stock has started trending higher. There are several reasons to believe the upside is likely to sustain.
Recently, Altria increased quarterly dividends by 5% to 90 cents per share. At a dividend yield of 7.19%, the stock is likely to attract income investors. Further, MO stock is trading at a forward P/E of 10.85. Valuations are attractive and the stock has a low beta.
It’s also worth noting that Altria has 35% stake in Juul Labs, though the Food & Drug Administration is likely to need additional time to decide if the brand e-cigarette can be sold in the U.S. But a positive outcome will translate into meaningful upside for MO stock.
Altria is also in a business transformation phase with focus on non-combustible products. However, the cigarette segment is likely to remain the cash flow machine in the coming years.
The company also has stake inCronos(NASDAQ:CRON). The possibility of Federal level legalization of cannabis is another factor that could serve as an upward catalyst.
Source: Primakov / Shutterstock.com
COIN stock has remained depressed after a stellar listing. However, the company’s quarterly numbers have remained robust. Given wider adoption of cryptocurrencies, Coinbase is positioned to deliver healthy cash flows.
Cathie Wood recently reiterated herlong-term target of $500,000forBitcoin(CCC:BTC-USD). A key reason cited was growing institutional interest in the cryptocurrency. It’s also worth noting that even with a possible rate hike in 2022, real interest rates are likely to remain negative. This will support upside in asset classes like gold and Bitcoin.
For Q2 2021, Coinbase reported revenue of $2 billion and an adjusted EBITDA of $1.2 billion. Further, excluding custodial funds due to customers, the company’s operating cash flow for the first half of 2021 was $2.2 billion. Clearly, the business has robust EBITDA margin and cash flows.
A key highlight in Q2 2021 results was that the company has over 9,000 financial institutions as clients. Coinbase also added 29 new assets for trading during the quarter. As the number of assets increase, the trading volume is also likely to swell.
• 7 Cheap Stocks to Buy If You Have $250 to Spend
In more recent news, Coinbase announced a private offering of $1.5 billion Senior Notes. The company expects to utilize the proceeds forproduct development and potential mergers. Any inorganic growth news can serve as another stock upside trigger.
Source: Jirapong Manustrong / Shutterstock.com
I’m including BABA stock in my list of Robinhood stocks to buy as a contrarian pick. Alibaba stock has remained depressed for an extended period but it seems the worst might be over.
It was recently reported that China’sstate-backed firms are likely to take stakeinAnt Groupassets. If the speculation proves true, it could pave the way for Ant Group’s initial public offering (IPO). Alibaba has alsopledged to invest $15 billionin a “common prosperity drive.” These might be early indicators that the differences with regulators are being ironed-out.
It’s worth noting that Alibaba has continued to report healthy growth in its core ecommerce business. The company’s presence in Southeast Asia is likely to ensure that strong revenue growth sustains.
Further, the company’s cloud business has also reported positive EBITDA for the second consecutive quarter. As EBITDA margin expands in the next few quarters, the stock is likely to trend higher. Alibaba also has high financial flexibility to pursue aggressive organic and acquisition driven growth.
Investors should consider some exposure to BABA stock. The core business remains strong and it’s a good time to be greedy when markets are fearful.
On the date of publication,Faisal Humayundid not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.comPublishing Guidelines.
Faisal Humayun is a senior research analyst with 12 years of industry experience in the field of credit research, equity research and financial modeling. Faisal has authored over 1,500 stock specific articles with focus on the technology, energy and commodities sector.
• Stock Prodigy Who Found NIO at $2… Says Buy THIS Now
• Analyst Who Found Microsoft at $0.38 Names #1 Pick for the AI Boom
• America’s #1 EV Stock Still Flying Under the Radar
The post7 Top Robinhood Stocks to Buy Heading Into Q4appeared first onInvestorPlace. || Interactive Brokers founder on why he owns crypto: People may 'lose faith in paper money': Online trading pioneerThomas Peterffyhas become a believer in cryptocurrency.
"I have for some time [owned cryptocurrencies]. I do own some cryptos, and I do own some gold. I must say that the cryptos have done much, much better than the gold," theInteractive Brokersfounder said onYahoo Finance Live. "I mean you have to prepare for the small percentage or probability that things can fall apart — especially with all this crazy issuance of more and more money [by the government]. This deficit spending, I don't know, people sooner or later could — I am not saying they will — but they could lose faith in paper money."
Bitcoin prices rallied to $47,500Friday afternoon.
The founder is also pushing Interactive Brokers into the surging crypto trading market, which is currently dominated by Coinbase and Robinhood.
This week, Interactive Brokers launched cryptocurrency trading in partnership with regulated blockchain infrastructure platform Paxos. The platform allows Interactive Brokers' clients to trade and custody bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin and bitcoin cash.
"It [crypto trading] could be maybe 20% of our business if you are lucky," Peterffy said of the outlook for the new crypto trading platform.
Peterffy has some company in the camp of being a prominent name in financial services personally dabbling in the crypto market.
"Quite frankly, I am glad I do [own crypto]. This has helped me learn about the evolution of what I think will be a blockchain technology that will continue to grow. So it's something I am glad I got involved with,"Rick Rieder, BlackRock chief investment officer,told Yahoo Finance Live. Rieder revealed he owns "small pieces" of crypto in several of his bigger portfolios, and compares the positions to owning stakes in venture capital firms.
Rieder added, "I think it could have some real upside. My sense is there are more buyers than sellers. It's an asset class that I think is durable."
Ark Invest's Cathie Woodis also staying bullish on crypto. She has exposure to the ups and downs of crypto through the performance of levered stocks such as Coinbase and Square in her various innovation focused ETFs.
"Bitcoin in particular is a new global monetary system. It's a rules-based monetary policy, which is completely de-centralized and therefore is not subject to the whims of policymakers. In fact, it's a hedge against the whims of policymakers, especially in emerging markets,"Wood said on Yahoo Finance Live.
Brian Sozziis an editor-at-large andanchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter@BrianSozziand onLinkedIn.
• Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
Follow Yahoo Finance onTwitter,Facebook,Instagram,Flipboard,LinkedIn,YouTube, andreddit || Interactive Brokers founder on why he owns crypto: People may 'lose faith in paper money': Online trading pioneer Thomas Peterffy has become a believer in cryptocurrency. "I have for some time [owned cryptocurrencies]. I do own some cryptos, and I do own some gold. I must say that the cryptos have done much, much better than the gold," the Interactive Brokers founder said on Yahoo Finance Live . "I mean you have to prepare for the small percentage or probability that things can fall apart — especially with all this crazy issuance of more and more money [by the government]. This deficit spending, I don't know, people sooner or later could — I am not saying they will — but they could lose faith in paper money." Bitcoin prices rallied to $47,500 Friday afternoon. The founder is also pushing Interactive Brokers into the surging crypto trading market, which is currently dominated by Coinbase and Robinhood. This week, Interactive Brokers launched cryptocurrency trading in partnership with regulated blockchain infrastructure platform Paxos. The platform allows Interactive Brokers' clients to trade and custody bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin and bitcoin cash. "It [crypto trading] could be maybe 20% of our business if you are lucky," Peterffy said of the outlook for the new crypto trading platform. Peterffy has some company in the camp of being a prominent name in financial services personally dabbling in the crypto market. "Quite frankly, I am glad I do [own crypto]. This has helped me learn about the evolution of what I think will be a blockchain technology that will continue to grow. So it's something I am glad I got involved with," Rick Rieder , BlackRock chief investment officer, told Yahoo Finance Live . Rieder revealed he owns "small pieces" of crypto in several of his bigger portfolios, and compares the positions to owning stakes in venture capital firms. Rieder added, "I think it could have some real upside. My sense is there are more buyers than sellers. It's an asset class that I think is durable." Story continues Ark Invest's Cathie Wood is also staying bullish on crypto. She has exposure to the ups and downs of crypto through the performance of levered stocks such as Coinbase and Square in her various innovation focused ETFs. "Bitcoin in particular is a new global monetary system. It's a rules-based monetary policy, which is completely de-centralized and therefore is not subject to the whims of policymakers. In fact, it's a hedge against the whims of policymakers, especially in emerging markets," Wood said on Yahoo Finance Live . Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and anchor at Yahoo Finance . Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn . Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter , Facebook , Instagram , Flipboard , LinkedIn , YouTube , and reddit || El Salvador Will Not Tax Foreign Investors Who Make Profits on Bitcoin: This article was originally published onETFTrends.com.
El Salvador, thefirst countryto adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, will not tax foreign investors who make profits on Bitcoin, according toFrance24,which cited Agence France-Presse.
Javier Argueta, legal advisor to El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, told AFP that “if a person has assets in bitcoin and makes high profits, there will be no tax.” The goal, Argueta said, was to “encourage foreign investment.”
El Salvador officially introduced Bitcoin as legal tender last week.
Officials in El Salvador have championed cryptocurrency as a way to increase access to banking and decrease the cost of remittances sent into the country by citizens living abroad, usually to family members.
More than a fifth of El Salvador’s GDP comes from remittances. President Bukele has said that decreasing the cost of remittances could introduce billions into the country's economy. Recentstudies, however, have indicated that this may not be the case.
Many have expressed concerns that El Salvador's Bitcoin experiment could backfire. Bitcoin remains a volatile asset, and its adoption has largely been as a speculative investment rather than a currency for everyday transactions.
Others worry about Bitcoin being used for money laundering and terrorist financing, although Argueta has said that the digital wallets being used by Salvadorians include the “relevant mechanisms” to trace transactions and catch illegal uses of the currency.
Chivo, the digital wallet Salvadorians can use with zero commission fees, had technical issues uponlaunch. The issues are now 95% fixed, according to President Bukele. However, some users are still reporting low functionality,Cointelegraphreported.
Chivo was created in partnership with Mexican crypto exchange Bitso and Silvergate Bank. According to Cointelegraph, Bitso has declined to comment on the Chivo wallets issues as it is not involved with the app's frontend development.
For more news, information, and strategy, visit theCrypto Channel.
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None available.
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47260.22, 42843.80, 40693.68, 43574.51, 44895.10, 42839.75, 42716.59, 43208.54, 42235.73, 41034.54
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 583.41, 580.18, 577.76, 579.65, 569.95, 573.91, 574.11, 577.50, 575.47, 572.30, 575.54, 598.21, 608.63, 606.59, 610.44, 614.54, 626.32, 622.86, 623.51, 606.72, 608.24, 609.24, 610.68, 607.16, 606.97, 605.98, 609.87, 609.23, 608.31, 597.15, 596.30, 602.84, 602.62, 600.83, 608.04, 606.17, 604.73, 605.69, 609.73, 613.98, 610.89, 612.13, 610.20, 612.51, 613.02, 617.12, 619.11, 616.75, 618.99, 641.07, 636.19, 636.79, 640.38, 638.65, 641.63, 639.19, 637.96, 630.52, 630.86, 632.83, 657.29, 657.07, 653.76, 657.59, 678.30, 688.31, 689.65, 714.48, 701.86, 700.97, 729.79, 740.83, 688.70, 703.23, 703.42, 711.52, 703.13, 709.85, 723.27, 715.53, 716.41, 705.05, 702.03, 705.02, 711.62, 744.20, 740.98, 751.59, 751.62, 731.03.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2016-11-20]
Volume: 154116000, RSI (14-day): 58.67, 50-day EMA: 684.45, 200-day EMA: 604.63
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
India's rupee restrictions are boosting demand for bitcoin: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to withdraw 500 and 1000 rupee notes from circulation has sparked interest in bitcoin among India's consumers.
Following last week's announcement thatthe notes were no longer legal tender, sales volumes for bitcoin increased on several exchanges for the digital currency, according to The Hindustan Times.
The announcement by the Indian government was an attempt to crackdown on corruption and "black money", but following the movement, internet searches for the term "buy bitcoin" increased in popularity, according to Google Trends data.
Other signs of increased interest include downloads of the smartphone app for bitcoin exchange Zebpay, which passed a threshold of 100,000 downloads.
"Queries for bitcoins have gone up by 20 percent to 30 percent in the past couple of days," Zebpay's CEO, Saurabh Agrawal, told the Hindustan Times.
As a result of the increased demand, the premium paid for rupee-denominated bitcoin has widened.
One bitcoin on the Indian exchange Unocoin is worth 55,405 rupees, or $817.97, at the time of writing. Dollar-denominated bitcoin currently costs around $709.
According to Charles Hayter, CEO and founder of Crypto Compare, the premium at the start of September was just $20, or around 3 percent.
"Bitcoin is a sanctuary in emerging markets where knee jerk policy reactions are commonplace - India's move on high value bank notes is just the latest in a string of poorly communicated & executed judgments," he told CNBC via email.
"Bitcoin was trading at a $20 dollar premium in India at the beginning of September and now is trading at a $70-100 premium to the USD rate."
One reason for the increased demand may be due to Indians who are frustrated by the government's decision and are now looking for a way to store their wealth that is (theoretically) out of Dehli's reach.
"The Indian rupee, like all other government currencies, is a fiat currency. It exists through the fiat - order - of the government," explained Jacob J, a writer for The CoinTelegraph.
"As seen in the recent instance, its existence can also be terminated through an order from the government. With the passage of time, Bitcoin's superiority as a currency is becoming more and more apparent."
India has been slow to start using digital currencies. The amount of bitcoin traded per day in India is a fraction of other countries, according to Linus Lindgren, strategic investor and advisor at BTCXIndia.
"I would estimate the average traded volume in India to be around 500btc/day, which is less than 1 percent, maybe even 0.1 percent, of global volumes," he told CNBC via email.
"We have certainly seen a larger interest than ever before in the last weeks, but in contrast to centralised systems, where money can be made worthless over night, a decentralised currency like bitcoin is opt-in, meaning that this revolution will come gradually as more and more people start seeing the benefits and switch."
Follow CNBC International onTwitterandFacebook. || India's rupee restrictions are boosting demand for bitcoin: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to withdraw 500 and 1000 rupee notes from circulation has sparked interest in bitcoin among India's consumers. Following last week's announcement that the notes were no longer legal tender , sales volumes for bitcoin increased on several exchanges for the digital currency, according to The Hindustan Times. The announcement by the Indian government was an attempt to crackdown on corruption and "black money", but following the movement, internet searches for the term "buy bitcoin" increased in popularity, according to Google Trends data. Other signs of increased interest include downloads of the smartphone app for bitcoin exchange Zebpay, which passed a threshold of 100,000 downloads. "Queries for bitcoins have gone up by 20 percent to 30 percent in the past couple of days," Zebpay's CEO, Saurabh Agrawal, told the Hindustan Times. As a result of the increased demand, the premium paid for rupee-denominated bitcoin has widened. One bitcoin on the Indian exchange Unocoin is worth 55,405 rupees, or $817.97, at the time of writing. Dollar-denominated bitcoin currently costs around $709. According to Charles Hayter, CEO and founder of Crypto Compare, the premium at the start of September was just $20, or around 3 percent. "Bitcoin is a sanctuary in emerging markets where knee jerk policy reactions are commonplace - India's move on high value bank notes is just the latest in a string of poorly communicated & executed judgments," he told CNBC via email. "Bitcoin was trading at a $20 dollar premium in India at the beginning of September and now is trading at a $70-100 premium to the USD rate." One reason for the increased demand may be due to Indians who are frustrated by the government's decision and are now looking for a way to store their wealth that is (theoretically) out of Dehli's reach. "The Indian rupee, like all other government currencies, is a fiat currency. It exists through the fiat - order - of the government," explained Jacob J, a writer for The CoinTelegraph. Story continues "As seen in the recent instance, its existence can also be terminated through an order from the government. With the passage of time, Bitcoin's superiority as a currency is becoming more and more apparent." India has been slow to start using digital currencies. The amount of bitcoin traded per day in India is a fraction of other countries, according to Linus Lindgren, strategic investor and advisor at BTCXIndia. "I would estimate the average traded volume in India to be around 500btc/day, which is less than 1 percent, maybe even 0.1 percent, of global volumes," he told CNBC via email. "We have certainly seen a larger interest than ever before in the last weeks, but in contrast to centralised systems, where money can be made worthless over night, a decentralised currency like bitcoin is opt-in, meaning that this revolution will come gradually as more and more people start seeing the benefits and switch." Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook . || REPORT: Trump team's top pick for Treasury secretary is an ex-Goldman Sachs banker: Steven Mnuchin (AP/Evan Vucci) It looks as if President-elect Donald Trump's advisers have a clear top pick for Treasury secretary: ex-Goldman Sachs banker Steven Mnuchin, who served as the national finance chair on Trump's presidential campaign. That's according to Bloomberg's Saleha Mohsin, Kevin Cirilli, and Jennifer Jacobs , who report that Trump's transition team has recommended the banker. Mnuchin spent 17 years with Goldman Sachs. Mnuchin was chief information officer at The Goldman Sachs Group before leaving the firm in 2002. He also worked briefly for George Soros. Mnuchin was seen at Trump Tower on Monday, according to a pool report. When asked why he was there and whether he was interested in the position, he said: "I'm here just helping with the transition this week. A lot of work to do." Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein last week called Mnuchin a "highflier, a very nice guy," and a "smart, smart guy." "He was a very senior guy at a very young age at Goldman Sachs," Blankfein said in an interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin of The New York Times. Blankfein said Mnuchin reported to him when he ran the fixed-income division. "I follow his career, I know what he's done, but I haven’t really engaged with him that much," Blankfein said. "I'm sure he stayed just as smart as he was when he was at Goldman." Another potential candidate is JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. CNBC last week reported that Dimon, a lifelong Democrat, was in the running for the position. NOW WATCH: Ex-Wells Fargo employees reveal how some bankers abused customers More From Business Insider Michael Bloomberg has a plan to shift the conversation on climate change Here's why Trump's win boosted Bitcoin Europe's Trump rally evaporated || REPORT: Trump team's top pick for Treasury secretary is an ex-Goldman Sachs banker: (AP/Evan Vucci)
It looks as if President-elect Donald Trump's advisers have a clear top pick for Treasury secretary: ex-Goldman Sachs banker Steven Mnuchin, who served as the national finance chair on Trump's presidential campaign.
That'saccording to Bloomberg's Saleha Mohsin, Kevin Cirilli, and Jennifer Jacobs, who report that Trump's transition team has recommended the banker. Mnuchin spent 17 years with Goldman Sachs.
Mnuchin was chief information officer at The Goldman Sachs Group before leaving the firm in 2002. He alsoworked brieflyfor George Soros.
Mnuchin was seen at Trump Tower on Monday, according to a pool report. When asked why he was there and whether he was interested in the position, he said: "I'm here just helping with the transition this week. A lot of work to do."
Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein last week called Mnuchin a "highflier, a very nice guy," and a "smart, smart guy."
"He was a very senior guy at a very young age at Goldman Sachs," Blankfein said in an interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin of The New York Times.
Blankfein said Mnuchin reported to him when he ran the fixed-income division.
"I follow his career, I know what he's done, but I haven’t really engaged with him that much," Blankfein said. "I'm sure he stayed just as smart as he was when he was at Goldman."
Another potential candidate is JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon.CNBC last week reportedthat Dimon, a lifelong Democrat, was in the running for the position.
NOW WATCH:Ex-Wells Fargo employees reveal how some bankers abused customers
More From Business Insider
• Michael Bloomberg has a plan to shift the conversation on climate change
• Here's why Trump's win boosted Bitcoin
• Europe's Trump rally evaporated
[Social Media Buzz]
1 #bitcoin = $15530.00 MXN | $0 USD #BitAPeso 1 USD = 0MXN http://www.bitapeso.com || Current price of Bitcoin is $753.00. || Average Bitcoin market price is: USD 729.00, EUR 688.69 || #HamRadioCoin #HAM $0.004124 (10.00%) 0.00000547 BTC (9.51%) || One Bitcoin now worth $725.61@bitstamp. High $753.82. Low $714.00. Market Cap $11.607 Billion #bitcoin || #UFOCoin #UFO $0.000008 (0.18%) 0.00000001 BTC (-0.00%) || $754.55 #bitfinex;
$740.00 #btce;
$753.00 #GDAX;
$753.00 #bitstamp;
$753.00 #kraken;
...
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739.25, 751.35, 744.59, 740.29, 741.65, 735.38, 732.03, 735.81, 735.60, 745.69
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 7419.29, 7418.49, 7711.11, 8424.27, 8181.39, 7951.58, 8165.01, 8192.15, 8218.46, 8180.48, 7780.44, 7624.91, 7567.15, 7434.39, 7032.85, 7068.48, 6951.80, 6753.12, 6305.80, 6568.23, 6184.71, 6295.73, 6322.69, 6297.57, 6199.71, 6308.52, 6334.73, 6580.63, 6423.76, 6506.07, 6308.53, 6488.76, 6376.71, 6534.88, 6719.96, 6763.19, 6707.26, 6884.64, 7096.28, 7047.16, 6978.23, 7037.58, 7193.25, 7272.72, 7260.06, 7361.66, 6792.83, 6529.17, 6467.07, 6225.98, 6300.86, 6329.70, 6321.20, 6351.80, 6517.31, 6512.71, 6543.20, 6517.18, 6281.20, 6371.30, 6398.54, 6519.67, 6734.95, 6721.98, 6710.63, 6595.41, 6446.47, 6495.00, 6676.75, 6644.13, 6601.96, 6625.56, 6589.62, 6556.10, 6502.59, 6576.69, 6622.48, 6588.31, 6602.95, 6652.23, 6642.64, 6585.53, 6256.24, 6274.58, 6285.99, 6290.93, 6596.54, 6596.11, 6544.43, 6476.71.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2018-10-18]
Volume: 3924080000, RSI (14-day): 47.62, 50-day EMA: 6585.35, 200-day EMA: 7203.48
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1226.50, Gold RSI: 61.63
Oil Price: 68.65, Oil RSI: 37.67
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Canadian Blockchain Company Sees Opportunity in Newly Legalized Cannabis: LikeWalmartwith pork from China andMaerskwith shipping containers, DMG Blockchain Solutions (DMG) is hoping to be the first global supply chain company to manage cannabis products on the blockchain, initially in Canada — and then around the world.
Canada’s legalization of cannabis came into effect today on October 17, 2018, and Vancouver-basedDMG Blockchain Solutionsis poised to launch its platform built on the Hyperledger permissioned blockchain to provide what it calls “legal and safe” marijuana.
DMG Blockchain Solutions CEO Dan Reitzik toldBitcoin Magazinein an interview:
“The legal cannabis industry is brand new and, as such, producers, distributors, retailers and regulators are waiting for a solution and don't have years of experience with existing technology.”
In an effort to ensure that individual information and privacy will be protected, DMG is using the Hyperledger permissioned blockchain in conjunction with its own proprietary technology.
“This is one of the reasons we have partnered with a globally known, respected and trusted technology partner, as they have the experience integrating platforms with existing systems and software,” said Reitzik.
Medical marijuana has been legal in Canada for medical purposes since 2011, and, to this end, existing cannabisregulationcalls for tight licensing and compliance measures. As pot goes recreational in the country, DMG’s solutions will leverage blockchain technology to enforce and streamline these processes.
This mainly involves verifying and tracking products — anything from cannabis, including edibles, oils and other derivatives — using a combination of the blockchain’s immutable distributed ledger and monitoring hardware. Keeping tabs on the flow of products with more certainty than existing systems will make it easier for companies to demonstrate that they’re falling in line with regulatory mandates, as federal departments responsible for regulating and taxing cannabis will have access to the DMG platform.
“[Companies] have been approved by the Canadian Government to cultivate and sell product, and our intention is to have ALL industry participants on this blockchain … [the government] will want assurances that product is from legal sources (elimination of black market) and that the products are safe for consumers. This is why all stakeholders will want to participate on our blockchain — to access these markets,” Reitzik said.
According to DMG, cannabis represents a $23 billion industry in Canada alone. Some reports estimate that the global cannabis market could exceed $500 billion.
“Canada is being positioned to be the global supplier of cannabis, and our blockchain platform can help enable this by way of product traceability for rapid recalls, ensuring a legal source of product, and enhancing product safety, as well as facilitating and automating legal and taxation compliance,” DMG noted in a public statement.
“Canada has set up a network of more than 100 Licensed Producers (LPs), some of which have market caps in excess of $5 billion,” claimed Reitzik.
DMG is currently in discussions with cannabis industry players, including major licensed producers, quality assurance labs, retail distributors and government regulators.
DMG’s goal is to have a global platform that will provide immediate product traceability, as well as the ability to automate transactions and information flow among licensed producers, licensed distributors, regulators, retailers, shippers, and reporting and auditing systems.
To DMG, there are many clearcut benefits to using a permissioned blockchain to manage cannabis logistics.
It can integrate the licensed accreditation of producers, distributors, retailers, shippers, as well as manage reporting and auditing systems. For an industry that is still federally illegal in the neighboring U.S., such rigid control mechanisms are essential to keeping product flow within regulatory confines and preventing it from illegally jumping across the border.
Within the supply chain itself, smart contracts will detect events such as defective products and product recalls, which will allow distributors and retailers to react to issues in real time.
For all other operations, interfaces are being developed between the blockchain and traditional systems to facilitate faster and more efficient information flow. The same systems will ensure that employee and client onboarding is frictionless and fast and that cooperation between industry entities is painless and efficient.
“This global blockchain initiative is a collaboration among industry stakeholders and is being tailored to meet industry players’ specific requirements. DMG intends to onboard significant industry participants as it launches its cannabis supply chain solution,” said Reitzik.
“This project is not simply DMG building a platform, it is a collaboration between many industry participants. Just as there's one global blockchain that manages bitcoin globally, we intend for this to be the single blockchain to manage the entire supply chain for cannabis globally,” added Reitzik.
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || Canadian Blockchain Company Sees Opportunity in Newly Legalized Cannabis: DMG Cannabis Like Walmart with pork from China and Maersk with shipping containers, DMG Blockchain Solutions (DMG) is hoping to be the first global supply chain company to manage cannabis products on the blockchain, initially in Canada — and then around the world. Canada’s legalization of cannabis came into effect today on October 17, 2018, and Vancouver-based DMG Blockchain Solutions is poised to launch its platform built on the Hyperledger permissioned blockchain to provide what it calls “legal and safe” marijuana. DMG Blockchain Solutions CEO Dan Reitzik told Bitcoin Magazine in an interview: “The legal cannabis industry is brand new and, as such, producers, distributors, retailers and regulators are waiting for a solution and don't have years of experience with existing technology.” In an effort to ensure that individual information and privacy will be protected, DMG is using the Hyperledger permissioned blockchain in conjunction with its own proprietary technology. “This is one of the reasons we have partnered with a globally known, respected and trusted technology partner, as they have the experience integrating platforms with existing systems and software,” said Reitzik. Medical marijuana has been legal in Canada for medical purposes since 2011, and, to this end, existing cannabis regulation calls for tight licensing and compliance measures. As pot goes recreational in the country, DMG’s solutions will leverage blockchain technology to enforce and streamline these processes. This mainly involves verifying and tracking products — anything from cannabis, including edibles, oils and other derivatives — using a combination of the blockchain’s immutable distributed ledger and monitoring hardware. Keeping tabs on the flow of products with more certainty than existing systems will make it easier for companies to demonstrate that they’re falling in line with regulatory mandates, as federal departments responsible for regulating and taxing cannabis will have access to the DMG platform. “[Companies] have been approved by the Canadian Government to cultivate and sell product, and our intention is to have ALL industry participants on this blockchain … [the government] will want assurances that product is from legal sources (elimination of black market) and that the products are safe for consumers. This is why all stakeholders will want to participate on our blockchain — to access these markets,” Reitzik said. Canada: Fertile Market for Growing Cannabis Demand According to DMG, cannabis represents a $23 billion industry in Canada alone. Some reports estimate that the global cannabis market could exceed $500 billion. Story continues “Canada is being positioned to be the global supplier of cannabis, and our blockchain platform can help enable this by way of product traceability for rapid recalls, ensuring a legal source of product, and enhancing product safety, as well as facilitating and automating legal and taxation compliance,” DMG noted in a public statement. “Canada has set up a network of more than 100 Licensed Producers (LPs), some of which have market caps in excess of $5 billion,” claimed Reitzik. DMG is currently in discussions with cannabis industry players, including major licensed producers, quality assurance labs, retail distributors and government regulators. The Blockchain Prescription DMG’s goal is to have a global platform that will provide immediate product traceability, as well as the ability to automate transactions and information flow among licensed producers, licensed distributors, regulators, retailers, shippers, and reporting and auditing systems. To DMG, there are many clearcut benefits to using a permissioned blockchain to manage cannabis logistics. It can integrate the licensed accreditation of producers, distributors, retailers, shippers, as well as manage reporting and auditing systems. For an industry that is still federally illegal in the neighboring U.S., such rigid control mechanisms are essential to keeping product flow within regulatory confines and preventing it from illegally jumping across the border. Within the supply chain itself, smart contracts will detect events such as defective products and product recalls, which will allow distributors and retailers to react to issues in real time. For all other operations, interfaces are being developed between the blockchain and traditional systems to facilitate faster and more efficient information flow. The same systems will ensure that employee and client onboarding is frictionless and fast and that cooperation between industry entities is painless and efficient. “This global blockchain initiative is a collaboration among industry stakeholders and is being tailored to meet industry players’ specific requirements. DMG intends to onboard significant industry participants as it launches its cannabis supply chain solution,” said Reitzik. “This project is not simply DMG building a platform, it is a collaboration between many industry participants. Just as there's one global blockchain that manages bitcoin globally, we intend for this to be the single blockchain to manage the entire supply chain for cannabis globally,” added Reitzik. This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine . View comments || Cryptos Mostly Flat; BTCC Launches in South Korea: Investing.com - Cryptocurrencies were mostly flat on Wednesday, while a Hong Kong-based exchange announced it is extending its services to South Korea. Bitcoin fell 0.72% to $6,713.50 on the Bitfinex exchange as of 8:55 AM ET (12:55 GMT). Cryptocurrencies overall were slightly lower, with the total coin market capitalization at $210 billion at the time of writing, compared to $211 billion on Tuesday. Ethereum,or Ether, decreased 0.99% to $212.46 and Litecoin was at $52.40, down 2.31%, while XRP rose 2.94% to $0.48073. Meanwhile, Hong Kong-based exchange BTCC is launching its services in South Korea later this month, Korean business site The Investor reported. The beta service will be available in October and its full debut in November. The service will include a trading platform, wallets, a mining pool and consumer payments. The company was founded in 2011 and was one of the top trading platforms in China before a crackdown on the mainland prompted it to close. It was bought in January by a blockchain investment fund in Hong Kong. In other news, smart contracts that use blockchain could be liable under U.S. regulations if they are used for event contracts, Brian Quintenz, a commissioner at the U.S. Commodity and Futures Trading Commission. "Essentially, these contracts would allow individuals to bet on the outcome of future events, like sporting events or elections, using digital currency. If your prediction is right, the contract automatically pays you the winnings," he said. Such contracts would fall under a prediction markets, which the CFTC regulates. "If the contract is a product within the CFTC's jurisdiction, then regardless of whether it is executed via a written ISDA (International Swaps and Derivatives Association) confirmation or software code, it is subject to CFTC regulation," Quintenz said. Related Articles Wooing investors, Rwanda hosts first tantalum-tracking blockchain Gemini Stablecoin Volume Doubles on Top 10 Exchange Amid Tether Turmoil 85 Percent of Developers Can Alter Their Cryptoassets' Protocol, Research Shows || Cryptos Mostly Flat; BTCC Launches in South Korea: Investing.com - Cryptocurrencies were mostly flat on Wednesday, while a Hong Kong-based exchange announced it is extending its services to South Korea. Bitcoin fell 0.72% to $6,713.50 on the Bitfinex exchange as of 8:55 AM ET (12:55 GMT). Cryptocurrencies overall were slightly lower, with the total coin market capitalization at $210 billion at the time of writing, compared to $211 billion on Tuesday. Ethereum,or Ether, decreased 0.99% to $212.46 and Litecoin was at $52.40, down 2.31%, while XRP rose 2.94% to $0.48073. Meanwhile, Hong Kong-based exchange BTCC is launching its services in South Korea later this month, Korean business site The Investor reported. The beta service will be available in October and its full debut in November. The service will include a trading platform, wallets, a mining pool and consumer payments. The company was founded in 2011 and was one of the top trading platforms in China before a crackdown on the mainland prompted it to close. It was bought in January by a blockchain investment fund in Hong Kong. In other news, smart contracts that use blockchain could be liable under U.S. regulations if they are used for event contracts, Brian Quintenz, a commissioner at the U.S. Commodity and Futures Trading Commission. "Essentially, these contracts would allow individuals to bet on the outcome of future events, like sporting events or elections, using digital currency. If your prediction is right, the contract automatically pays you the winnings," he said. Such contracts would fall under a prediction markets, which the CFTC regulates. "If the contract is a product within the CFTC's jurisdiction, then regardless of whether it is executed via a written ISDA (International Swaps and Derivatives Association) confirmation or software code, it is subject to CFTC regulation," Quintenz said. Related Articles Wooing investors, Rwanda hosts first tantalum-tracking blockchain Gemini Stablecoin Volume Doubles on Top 10 Exchange Amid Tether Turmoil 85 Percent of Developers Can Alter Their Cryptoassets' Protocol, Research Shows || Billionaire Mike Novogratz Crypto Fund is Fidelitys First Custodian Client: Mike Novogratz Bitcoin price Galaxy Digital, a crypto merchant bank operated by billionaire investor Mike Novogratz listed on Toronto-based stock exchange TSX-V, has become the first alpha crypto custody client of Fidelity Digital Assets. This week, Fidelity, the worlds fourth-largest asset manager with $7.2 trillion in assets under administration as of October 2018, launched Fidelity Digital Assets , a subsidiary of Fidelity that will provide crypto custodian solutions to institutional investors and accredited investors. Through the platform, all 27 million customers and 23,000 businesses of Fidelity will be provided with sufficient infrastructure and services to invest in the cryptocurrency market. Demand From Hedge Funds and Institutions In an official press release, Fidelity CEO Abigail Johnson said that the long-term mission of the firm in the sector of cryptocurrency is to increase the accessibility and improve the infrastructure surrounding the asset class. Our goal is to make digitally-native assets, such as bitcoin, more accessible to investors. We expect to continue investing and experimenting, over the long-term, with ways to make this emerging asset class easier for our clients to understand and use. The core operations of Fidelity Digital Assets include assisting institutional investors such as hedge funds, pensions, and academic institutions to invest in the cryptocurrency market with appropriate institutional products. Fidelity Digital Assets founding head Tom Jessop said that the establishment of the companys digital asset arm can be considered as the recognition by Fidelity of sufficient demand from institutions for cryptocurrencies. Within less than 24 hours since its launch, Fidelity Digital Assets secured Galaxy Digital as its first custody client, a company that aims to achieve a similar objective as Fidelity to institutionalize the cryptocurrency market. Jessop stated: This is a recognition that there is institutional demand for these assets as a class. Family offices, hedge funds, other sophisticated investors, are starting to think seriously about this space. In January of this year, Novogratz contributed $302 million to Galaxy Digital to build a full-service merchant banking business in the crypto and blockchain space. Months later, Galaxy Digital was listed on Canadas stock market, enabling investors to directly invest in the cryptocurrency market. Apart from its core business of investing in cryptocurrencies and blockchain projects, Galaxy Digital offers high profile investors and institutional clients consultancy to facilitate large investments into the market. Story continues The resulting firm will have over 70 employees with deep institutional experience spanning across technology, investing, advisory, and trading. The Firm has also invested significantly in its management, operations, legal, and finance departments, he added. The partnership between Fidelity and Galaxy Digital is expected to lead to clients of the Novogratz-led firm to invest in the cryptocurrency market through Fidelity, similar to how prior to the launch of Fidelity Digital Assets, clients of Fidelity purchased cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum through Coinbase, a partner company of Fidelity. Future Remains Bright The infrastructure of the cryptocurrency market, specifically pertaining to the institutionalization of the asset class, has improved exponentially in the past nine months. Increasing efforts to strengthen the infrastructure of the cryptocurrency market suggest that regulated financial institutions are seeing solid demand for crypto from their existing client base, which could fuel the next major movement of the sector. Featured image from Youtube/Bloomberg. The post Billionaire Mike Novogratz Crypto Fund is Fidelitys First Custodian Client appeared first on CCN . View comments || Billionaire Mike Novogratz’ Crypto Fund is Fidelity’s First Custodian Client: Galaxy Digital, a crypto merchant bank operated by billionaire investor Mike Novogratz listed on Toronto-based stock exchange TSX-V, has become the first alpha crypto custody client of Fidelity Digital Assets.
This week, Fidelity, the world’s fourth-largest asset manager with $7.2 trillion in assets under administration as of October 2018,launched Fidelity Digital Assets, a subsidiary of Fidelity that will provide crypto custodian solutions to institutional investors and accredited investors.
Through the platform, all 27 million customers and 23,000 businesses of Fidelity will be provided with sufficient infrastructure and services to invest in the cryptocurrency market.
In an official press release, Fidelity CEO Abigail Johnson said that the long-term mission of the firm in the sector of cryptocurrency is to increase the accessibility and improve the infrastructure surrounding the asset class.
“Our goal is to make digitally-native assets, such as bitcoin, more accessible to investors. We expect to continue investing and experimenting, over the long-term, with ways to make this emerging asset class easier for our clients to understand and use.”
The core operations of Fidelity Digital Assets include assisting institutional investors such as hedge funds, pensions, and academic institutions to invest in the cryptocurrency market with appropriate institutional products.
Fidelity Digital Assets founding head Tom Jessopsaidthat the establishment of the company’s digital asset arm can be considered as the recognition by Fidelity of sufficient demand from institutions for cryptocurrencies.
Within less than 24 hours since its launch, Fidelity Digital Assets secured Galaxy Digital as its first custody client, a company that aims to achieve a similar objective as Fidelity to institutionalize the cryptocurrency market.
Jessop stated:
“This is a recognition that there is institutional demand for these assets as a class. Family offices, hedge funds, other sophisticated investors, are starting to think seriously about this space.”
In January of this year, Novogratz contributed $302 million to Galaxy Digital to build a full-service merchant banking business in the crypto and blockchain space. Months later, Galaxy Digital was listed on Canada’s stock market, enabling investors to directly invest in the cryptocurrency market.
Apart from its core business of investing in cryptocurrencies and blockchain projects, Galaxy Digital offers high profile investors and institutional clients consultancy to facilitate large investments into the market.
“The resulting firm will have over 70 employees with deep institutional experience spanning across technology, investing, advisory, and trading. The Firm has also invested significantly in its management, operations, legal, and finance departments,” he added.
The partnership between Fidelity and Galaxy Digital is expected to lead to clients of the Novogratz-led firm to invest in the cryptocurrency market through Fidelity, similar to how prior to the launch of Fidelity Digital Assets, clients of Fidelity purchased cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum through Coinbase, a partner company of Fidelity.
The infrastructure of the cryptocurrency market, specifically pertaining to the institutionalization of the asset class, has improved exponentially in the past nine months.
Increasing efforts to strengthen the infrastructure of the cryptocurrency market suggest that regulated financial institutions are seeing solid demand for crypto from their existing client base, which could fuel the next major movement of the sector.
Featured image from Youtube/Bloomberg.
The postBillionaire Mike Novogratz’ Crypto Fund is Fidelity’s First Custodian Clientappeared first onCCN. || Indian Govt. Panel Could Propose Illegalizing Holding of Unregulated Crypto Assets: Report: GainBitcoin Bitcoin It could soon be illegal in the world’s largest democracy to hold cryptocurrencies that lack the government’s seal of approval. According to Moneycontrol, a report which is being prepared by a committee headed by India’s Economic Affairs Secretary, Subhash Chandra Garg, may propose amendments to the existing laws with a view of making it illegal to hold crypto assets that are not approved by the government. Per the reports from the Indian financial publication, the Subhash Garg-committee is in the final phase of deliberations. Besides merely proposing legislative amendments and recommending punishment for those holding unapproved crypto assets, the panel will also define the punitive measures that will be meted on those who flout the law. It is understood that this move stems from the government’s view that crypto assets which are unregulated should be kept out of the Indian financial ecosystem to prevent them from being used to aid illegalities such as evading taxes as well as in Ponzi and multi-level marketing schemes. No Surprises The Subhash Garg-committee was set up last year and is expected to submit its report in December. Besides the Economic Affairs Secretary, the membership of the committee is drawn from India’s central bank and the country’s securities markets regulator. If the Subhash Garg-panel report is adopted as reported it will not be a surprise given the anti-cryptocurrency stance the various government agencies in India have taken. Early in April, for instance, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) prohibited financial institutions that the central bank of the world’s second-most populous country regulates from offering services to crypto businesses. Additionally, the RBI banned these financial institutions from allowing their clients to buy cryptocurrencies. “…with immediate effect, entities regulated by RBI shall not deal with or provide services to any individual or business entities dealing with or settling VCs [Virtual Currencies],” read part of a statement issued by the RBI as reported by CCN. “Regulated entities which already provide such services shall exit the relationship within a specified time.” Story continues Trail of Devastation Months after the ban the devastating repercussions continue to be felt in India . In September one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world’s sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP, Zebpay , announced that it was shutting down after it found itself unable to operate without access to banking services. Newsflash: Major Indian Bitcoin Exchange Zebpay Shuts Down Due to Banking Freeze https://t.co/TqUd4zbMit — CCN (@CryptoCoinsNews) September 28, 2018 The negative consequences of the ban have not been limited to cryptocurrency exchanges, however, and have spread to the wider blockchain ecosystem. As CCN reported last month, this was leading to a ‘blockchain brain drain’ as well as ‘blockchain capital flight’ to jurisdictions with more conducive environments such as Malta, Estonia, Switzerland and Thailand. Featured image from Shutterstock. The post Indian Govt. Panel Could Propose Illegalizing Holding of Unregulated Crypto Assets: Report appeared first on CCN . || Blockchain Search Engine BlockBar To Make Digital Currency Transactions Tracking Easy: BlockBar launches the first ever search engine built for the blockchain, aims to help digital currency investors to track real-time transactions. The search engine also features a blockchain directory with latest updates of cryptocurrency projects SINGAPORE / ACCESSWIRE / October 17, 2018 / The incredible growth of cryptocurrency world made the number of digital currencies and user base explode massively. As a result, it can be exceedingly difficult to keep track of transactions. Tools to help track and manage cryptocurrencies are still pretty slim. BlockBar is trying to help by its blockchain search engine to track transactions and asset management. A search engine built for the blockchain community It's not a secret that the cryptocurrency market cap has grown faster than any other industry or technology and the adoption is rapidly increasing. BlockBar is a platform that helps users to track their crypto assets across all exchanges, wallets, and currencies. BlockBar will allow users to check transaction hash or ID and addresses with ease. "Blockchain is a digitized, decentralized, public ledger of all cryptocurrency transactions and once a transaction has been recorded and verified, it cannot be changed. The search engine site blockbar.com is similar to conventional search engines like google.com and ask.com. We intend to build a platform that's easy to use, reliable and helpful" says sources close to the team. A big fat cryptoworld directory is included The search engine is not the only prime features of BlockBar. The platform has developed additional features its users could use such as a blockchain directory. "Blockbar directory is an online cryptoworld directory that has the most complete and up-to-date crypto project." the project team explained in an announcement published on BloqWire crypto news network. The new search engine has specific categories and subcategories listing various projects. The payment currency, for example listed Basic Currency, Anchored Fiat Money, and Anonymous Currency as sub-categories. The Basic Currency sub-category for instance listed Bitcoin, Bytecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, Digibyte, Dogecoin, Gifto, Dai, Nano, NEM, Hshare, Bitcoin Diamond, Bitcoin Glad, Latoken, Verge, APIS, Groestlcoin, Super Bitcoin, Cryptonex, Gochain, Decred, Ethereum, Nxt, Ormeus Coin, Digitalnote, MaidSafeCoin, Zipper, Emercoin, Metal, GoNetwork, and Zclassic. Other categories listed in the search engine directory are Science, Infrastruct, Financial Tools, Public Welfare, Payment Tools, Cloud Service, Social, Media, Entertainment, Health, Transport, New economic Energy, and Others. The first category tagged "HOT" are blockchain projects considered by a team of experts to be gaining much momentum at the time of ranking. Story continues Recently blockbar announced on their twitter handle, @the_blockbar, that Steemit, a blogging and social networking website owned by Steemit Inc that uses the Steem blockchain to reward publishers and curators, has been included in its search engine's directory category. Mostly traders choose to search addresses and transactions through the official explorers provided by individual cryptocurrencies, which users never find as a convenient way. With the introduction of BlockBar, the team is putting an end to this problem. Users can just paste an address or transaction ID, and they can search all coins in one place. While describing other features in store for users, the team said they are working on an asset management software which will be added to blockbar soon, so that users can effectively manage their crypto funds with lesser stress. However, their biggest project which they are tirelessly working on, is to make blockbar a decentralized application (DApp), to become the first ever search engine that runs 100% on the blockchain. Contact Info: Name: BlockBar Email: Send Email Organization: BloqWire For more information, please visit https://www.blockbar.com SOURCE: BloqWire || Blockchain Search Engine BlockBar To Make Digital Currency Transactions Tracking Easy: BlockBar launches the first ever search engine built for the blockchain, aims to help digital currency investors to track real-time transactions. The search engine also features a blockchain directory with latest updates of cryptocurrency projects
SINGAPORE / ACCESSWIRE / October 17, 2018 /The incredible growth of cryptocurrency world made the number of digital currencies and user base explode massively. As a result, it can be exceedingly difficult to keep track of transactions. Tools to help track and manage cryptocurrencies are still pretty slim. BlockBar is trying to help by itsblockchain search engineto track transactions and asset management.
A search engine built for the blockchain community
It's not a secret that the cryptocurrency market cap has grown faster than any other industry or technology and the adoption is rapidly increasing. BlockBar is a platform that helps users to track their crypto assets across all exchanges, wallets, and currencies.
BlockBar will allow users to check transaction hash or ID and addresses with ease. "Blockchain is a digitized, decentralized, public ledger of all cryptocurrency transactions and once a transaction has been recorded and verified, it cannot be changed. The search engine site blockbar.com is similar to conventional search engines like google.com and ask.com. We intend to build a platform that's easy to use, reliable and helpful" says sources close to the team.
A big fat cryptoworld directory is included
The search engine is not the only prime features of BlockBar. The platform has developed additional features its users could use such as a blockchain directory.
"Blockbar directory is an online cryptoworld directory that has the most complete and up-to-date crypto project." the project team explained in an announcement published on BloqWirecrypto newsnetwork.
The new search engine has specific categories and subcategories listing various projects. The payment currency, for example listed Basic Currency, Anchored Fiat Money, and Anonymous Currency as sub-categories. The Basic Currency sub-category for instance listed Bitcoin, Bytecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, Digibyte, Dogecoin, Gifto, Dai, Nano, NEM, Hshare, Bitcoin Diamond, Bitcoin Glad, Latoken, Verge, APIS, Groestlcoin, Super Bitcoin, Cryptonex, Gochain, Decred, Ethereum, Nxt, Ormeus Coin, Digitalnote, MaidSafeCoin, Zipper, Emercoin, Metal, GoNetwork, and Zclassic. Other categories listed in the search engine directory are Science, Infrastruct, Financial Tools, Public Welfare, Payment Tools, Cloud Service, Social, Media, Entertainment, Health, Transport, New economic Energy, and Others. The first category tagged "HOT" are blockchain projects considered by a team of experts to be gaining much momentum at the time of ranking.
Recently blockbar announced on their twitter handle, @the_blockbar, that Steemit, a blogging and social networking website owned by Steemit Inc that uses the Steem blockchain to reward publishers and curators, has been included in its search engine's directory category.
Mostly traders choose to search addresses and transactions through the official explorers provided by individual cryptocurrencies, which users never find as a convenient way. With the introduction of BlockBar, the team is putting an end to this problem. Users can just paste an address or transaction ID, and they can search all coins in one place.
While describing other features in store for users, the team said they are working on an asset management software which will be added to blockbar soon, so that users can effectively manage their crypto funds with lesser stress. However, their biggest project which they are tirelessly working on, is to make blockbar a decentralized application (DApp), to become the first ever search engine that runs 100% on the blockchain.
Contact Info:Name: BlockBarEmail:Send EmailOrganization: BloqWire
For more information, please visithttps://www.blockbar.com
SOURCE:BloqWire || $194 Million was Moved Using Bitcoin With $0.1 Fee, True Potential of Crypto: On October 16, a Bitcoin user moved 29,999 BTC worth $194 million with a $0.1 fee, a transaction which with banks would cost tens of thousands of dollars.
An often pushed narrative against cryptocurrencies likeBitcoinandEthereumis that it is expensive to clear transactions due to fees sent to miners. However, the $194 million payment on the Bitcoin blockchain demonstrates the potential of consensus currencies to optimize cross-border payments significantly.
Transferwise is a UK-based multi-billion dollar firm that eliminates hidden fees in bank transfers. On the platform, users can send small to large payments through bank accounts with substantially lower fees.
However, even on a platform like Transferwise, to send over $1 million, it costs over $7,500 in transaction fees. That means, through wire transfers and conventional banking methods, tens of thousands of dollars are required to clear a transaction that is larger than $1 million.
Percentage-wise, $7,500 is less than 1 percent of $1 million, and in that sense, a $7,500 fee is cheap. But, on the Bitcoin network, which is supposedly highly inefficient in processing payments, it costs less than $0.1 to clear a $194 million transaction.
On October 14, publicly acclaimed cryptocurrency critic Nouriel Roubini, an economist and professor at Stern School,claimedthat it costs $60 to process a Bitcoin transaction and as such, it costs $63 to purchase a Starbucks latte that costs $3, using Bitcoin.
“So the cost per transaction of bitcoin is literally $60. So if I were to buy a $3 latte at Starbucks I would have to pay $63 to get it! So the myth of a ‘Brilliant new technology that reduces the vast fees of legacy financial systems!’ turns out to be a Big Fat Lie!” Nouriel claimed.
In response, respected cryptocurrency investor and Blocktower co-founder Ari Paul stated that the transaction fee of Bitcoin, which is less than $0.1, is publicly verifiable on the blockchain.
“BTC fees are less than $0.10, easily verifiable. If you value truth, you’d provide a public correction. If your goal is to mislead people with simply false statements, carry on. There’s nothing to research. Fees are publicly viewable from many sources (googling it works.) I find it better not to provide a specific source because then regardless of source, the source gets attacked,” Paul noted.
As scalability of public blockchain networks improves with the integration of both on-chain andsecond-layer scaling solutions, cryptocurrencies will be able to handle small payments with higher efficiency.
But, in the mid-term, given the ability of the blockchain to process large-scale payments at the same cost of a small transaction, it is highly likely that cryptocurrencies will gain wide acceptance by investors and firms in the offshore banking market, a $30 trillion industry that relies on financial institutions to clear large transactions.
Spending $0.1 to $1 for a $5 to $10 transaction could be inefficient and impractical. However, spending the same fee to process multi-million dollar transactions provide cryptocurrencies a clear edge over legacy systems.
Images from Shutterstock
The post$194 Million was Moved Using Bitcoin With $0.1 Fee, True Potential of Cryptoappeared first onCCN. || $194 Million was Moved Using Bitcoin With $0.1 Fee, True Potential of Crypto: On October 16, a Bitcoin user moved 29,999 BTC worth $194 million with a $0.1 fee, a transaction which with banks would cost tens of thousands of dollars.
An often pushed narrative against cryptocurrencies likeBitcoinandEthereumis that it is expensive to clear transactions due to fees sent to miners. However, the $194 million payment on the Bitcoin blockchain demonstrates the potential of consensus currencies to optimize cross-border payments significantly.
Transferwise is a UK-based multi-billion dollar firm that eliminates hidden fees in bank transfers. On the platform, users can send small to large payments through bank accounts with substantially lower fees.
However, even on a platform like Transferwise, to send over $1 million, it costs over $7,500 in transaction fees. That means, through wire transfers and conventional banking methods, tens of thousands of dollars are required to clear a transaction that is larger than $1 million.
Percentage-wise, $7,500 is less than 1 percent of $1 million, and in that sense, a $7,500 fee is cheap. But, on the Bitcoin network, which is supposedly highly inefficient in processing payments, it costs less than $0.1 to clear a $194 million transaction.
On October 14, publicly acclaimed cryptocurrency critic Nouriel Roubini, an economist and professor at Stern School,claimedthat it costs $60 to process a Bitcoin transaction and as such, it costs $63 to purchase a Starbucks latte that costs $3, using Bitcoin.
“So the cost per transaction of bitcoin is literally $60. So if I were to buy a $3 latte at Starbucks I would have to pay $63 to get it! So the myth of a ‘Brilliant new technology that reduces the vast fees of legacy financial systems!’ turns out to be a Big Fat Lie!” Nouriel claimed.
In response, respected cryptocurrency investor and Blocktower co-founder Ari Paul stated that the transaction fee of Bitcoin, which is less than $0.1, is publicly verifiable on the blockchain.
“BTC fees are less than $0.10, easily verifiable. If you value truth, you’d provide a public correction. If your goal is to mislead people with simply false statements, carry on. There’s nothing to research. Fees are publicly viewable from many sources (googling it works.) I find it better not to provide a specific source because then regardless of source, the source gets attacked,” Paul noted.
As scalability of public blockchain networks improves with the integration of both on-chain andsecond-layer scaling solutions, cryptocurrencies will be able to handle small payments with higher efficiency.
But, in the mid-term, given the ability of the blockchain to process large-scale payments at the same cost of a small transaction, it is highly likely that cryptocurrencies will gain wide acceptance by investors and firms in the offshore banking market, a $30 trillion industry that relies on financial institutions to clear large transactions.
Spending $0.1 to $1 for a $5 to $10 transaction could be inefficient and impractical. However, spending the same fee to process multi-million dollar transactions provide cryptocurrencies a clear edge over legacy systems.
Images from Shutterstock
The post$194 Million was Moved Using Bitcoin With $0.1 Fee, True Potential of Cryptoappeared first onCCN. || $194 Million was Moved Using Bitcoin With $0.1 Fee, True Potential of Crypto: bitcoin transaction fee: $194 million in BTC for 10 cents On October 16, a Bitcoin user moved 29,999 BTC worth $194 million with a $0.1 fee, a transaction which with banks would cost tens of thousands of dollars. An often pushed narrative against cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum is that it is expensive to clear transactions due to fees sent to miners. However, the $194 million payment on the Bitcoin blockchain demonstrates the potential of consensus currencies to optimize cross-border payments significantly. $1 Million Through a Bank Costs $10,000+ Transferwise is a UK-based multi-billion dollar firm that eliminates hidden fees in bank transfers. On the platform, users can send small to large payments through bank accounts with substantially lower fees. However, even on a platform like Transferwise, to send over $1 million, it costs over $7,500 in transaction fees. That means, through wire transfers and conventional banking methods, tens of thousands of dollars are required to clear a transaction that is larger than $1 million. Percentage-wise, $7,500 is less than 1 percent of $1 million, and in that sense, a $7,500 fee is cheap. But, on the Bitcoin network, which is supposedly highly inefficient in processing payments, it costs less than $0.1 to clear a $194 million transaction. bitcoin On October 14, publicly acclaimed cryptocurrency critic Nouriel Roubini, an economist and professor at Stern School, claimed that it costs $60 to process a Bitcoin transaction and as such, it costs $63 to purchase a Starbucks latte that costs $3, using Bitcoin. “So the cost per transaction of bitcoin is literally $60. So if I were to buy a $3 latte at Starbucks I would have to pay $63 to get it! So the myth of a ‘Brilliant new technology that reduces the vast fees of legacy financial systems!’ turns out to be a Big Fat Lie!” Nouriel claimed. In response, respected cryptocurrency investor and Blocktower co-founder Ari Paul stated that the transaction fee of Bitcoin, which is less than $0.1, is publicly verifiable on the blockchain. Story continues “BTC fees are less than $0.10, easily verifiable. If you value truth, you’d provide a public correction. If your goal is to mislead people with simply false statements, carry on. There’s nothing to research. Fees are publicly viewable from many sources (googling it works.) I find it better not to provide a specific source because then regardless of source, the source gets attacked,” Paul noted. Crypto Could Crack Offshore Banking Market First As scalability of public blockchain networks improves with the integration of both on-chain and second-layer scaling solutions , cryptocurrencies will be able to handle small payments with higher efficiency. But, in the mid-term, given the ability of the blockchain to process large-scale payments at the same cost of a small transaction, it is highly likely that cryptocurrencies will gain wide acceptance by investors and firms in the offshore banking market, a $30 trillion industry that relies on financial institutions to clear large transactions. Spending $0.1 to $1 for a $5 to $10 transaction could be inefficient and impractical. However, spending the same fee to process multi-million dollar transactions provide cryptocurrencies a clear edge over legacy systems. Images from Shutterstock The post $194 Million was Moved Using Bitcoin With $0.1 Fee, True Potential of Crypto appeared first on CCN . || Cryptocurrencies are entering a bull market, as stocks turn bearish: A day after financial services giant Fidelity leaped intocryptocurrencies, fund manager Mark Yusko is predicting it could be the next booming market.
“We think that the equity markets are the beginnings of a bear market,” he told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo on Tuesday. “We think the crypto market is the beginning of a bull market.”
The 72-year-old firm which manages $7.2 trillion in client assets, launched a new business dubbed Fidelity Digital Asset Services on Monday.
“Our goal is to make digitally-native assets, such as bitcoin, more accessible to investors,” said Abigail P. Johnson, Chairman and CEO of Fidelity Investments in a statement.
“That is a huge development,” said Yusko. “And what it says is that the great wall of money. The institutional investors are coming for this asset and it is the first alternative asset really in my career that delivers on the promise.”
Fidelity is entering the market as the price of Bitcoin hovers around the $6,500 level down from its high of $20,000 reached earlier this year.
And despite skeptics, sagging prices, and reports of scams, Yusko, a “big believer” in sound money argues cryptocurrencies yield better returns—especially bitcoin.
“Love bitcoin—we think that is digital gold,” he said. “Ultimately [it] may be a reserve currency.”
Yusko added that he sees Ethereum in the same way as the World Wide Web.
“Ethereum is more of a protocol, like a platform, it’s like the www. Of the internet of value or what I want to dub the trust net,” he said.
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• Here's How You Get a Body Like An Olympian || Cryptocurrencies are entering a bull market, as stocks turn bearish: A day after financial services giant Fidelity leaped into cryptocurrencies , fund manager Mark Yusko is predicting it could be the next booming market. “We think that the equity markets are the beginnings of a bear market,” he told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo on Tuesday. “We think the crypto market is the beginning of a bull market.” The 72-year-old firm which manages $7.2 trillion in client assets, launched a new business dubbed Fidelity Digital Asset Services on Monday. “Our goal is to make digitally-native assets, such as bitcoin, more accessible to investors,” said Abigail P. Johnson, Chairman and CEO of Fidelity Investments in a statement. “That is a huge development,” said Yusko. “And what it says is that the great wall of money. The institutional investors are coming for this asset and it is the first alternative asset really in my career that delivers on the promise.” Fidelity is entering the market as the price of Bitcoin hovers around the $6,500 level down from its high of $20,000 reached earlier this year. And despite skeptics, sagging prices, and reports of scams, Yusko, a “big believer” in sound money argues cryptocurrencies yield better returns— especially bitcoin . “Love bitcoin—we think that is digital gold,” he said. “Ultimately [it] may be a reserve currency.” Yusko added that he sees Ethereum in the same way as the World Wide Web. “Ethereum is more of a protocol, like a platform, it’s like the www. Of the internet of value or what I want to dub the trust net,” he said. Related Articles How Much is Michael Phelps Worth? Ryan Lochte's Brand Value Sinks Amid Rio Scandal Here's How You Get a Body Like An Olympian || Spread between BTC/USD and BTC/USDT Crosses $300: The imbalanced peg between the US Dollar and Tether LLC’s USDT has resulted in a $300-spread in Bitcoin price.
At the press time, the aggregated Bitcoin-to-dollar exchange rate on non-Tether exchanges is approximately 6430-fiat. Meanwhile, on Tether exchanges like BitFinex, the same forex rate is above 6700-fiat. The strange trading activity, which started surfacing on Monday, has seen traders getting their money out of USDT however possible.
The exchanges that offer USDT liquidity, including BitFinex and Binance, therefore experienced a massive drop in USDT value against its quote currencies, which is mainly Bitcoin, USD, and Ethereum.
Simultaneously, the exchanges that didn’t feature USDT experienced their Bitcoin rates driven by increased arbitrage activity. Traders purchased the digital currency at a lower price, transferred it to the wallets of Tether-enabled crypto exchanges, and later shorted their holdings either for other stablecoins, the USDT itself, or the dollar.
The USDT decline itself surfaced owing to growingcommunity mistrust of Tetherafter its prime exchange BitFinex dropped Noble Coin as its banking partner, eventually becoming insolvent, according to reports. The exchange, however, refuted the rumors and said its withdrawals were working fine.
Meanwhile, the community continues to believe that Tether does not have an adequate amount of dollars to back its USDT supply, about which BitFinex, Tether’s partner exchange, is already aware. And while USDT is one of the highest volumed cryptocurrencies, the exchange couldn’t handle the capital flight towards Bitcoin, resulting in its stark drop and Bitcoin’s steep rise.
BitFinex in its latest statementclarifiedthat traders on its platform trade Bitcoins against the dollar, not USDT.
“USDT on Bitfinex is used as a transport layer, used if a trader wishes to deposit or withdraw in e.g. Omni USDT or Ethereum USDT. Until the trader specifically chooses to transport their fiat in Tether-denominated USD, all their fiat holdings on Bitfinex will be held in the form of fiat USD.”
Believing what BitFinex stated, traders were genuinely moving their fiat holdings into Bitcoin on its trading platform, buying the digital currency at a prime value. Hence, the Bitcoin-to-dollar exchange rate went up enormously.
The spread between Tether and non-Tether exchange is expected to stay as the confusion mounts. The community has asked Tether, LLC and BitFinex both to have their balance sheets audited and end the FUD once for all. The question is now whether traders are exchanging their digital assets for real fiat funds or for a currency that may or may not be artificially pegged to the dollar.
Tether and BitFinex haven’t confirmed whether they would go through an independent audit or not.
Featured Image from Shutterstock. Charts fromTradingView.
The postSpread between BTC/USD and BTC/USDT Crosses $300appeared first onCCN. || Spread between BTC/USD and BTC/USDT Crosses $300: The imbalanced peg between the US Dollar and Tether LLC’s USDT has resulted in a $300-spread in Bitcoin price.
At the press time, the aggregated Bitcoin-to-dollar exchange rate on non-Tether exchanges is approximately 6430-fiat. Meanwhile, on Tether exchanges like BitFinex, the same forex rate is above 6700-fiat. The strange trading activity, which started surfacing on Monday, has seen traders getting their money out of USDT however possible.
The exchanges that offer USDT liquidity, including BitFinex and Binance, therefore experienced a massive drop in USDT value against its quote currencies, which is mainly Bitcoin, USD, and Ethereum.
Simultaneously, the exchanges that didn’t feature USDT experienced their Bitcoin rates driven by increased arbitrage activity. Traders purchased the digital currency at a lower price, transferred it to the wallets of Tether-enabled crypto exchanges, and later shorted their holdings either for other stablecoins, the USDT itself, or the dollar.
The USDT decline itself surfaced owing to growingcommunity mistrust of Tetherafter its prime exchange BitFinex dropped Noble Coin as its banking partner, eventually becoming insolvent, according to reports. The exchange, however, refuted the rumors and said its withdrawals were working fine.
Meanwhile, the community continues to believe that Tether does not have an adequate amount of dollars to back its USDT supply, about which BitFinex, Tether’s partner exchange, is already aware. And while USDT is one of the highest volumed cryptocurrencies, the exchange couldn’t handle the capital flight towards Bitcoin, resulting in its stark drop and Bitcoin’s steep rise.
BitFinex in its latest statementclarifiedthat traders on its platform trade Bitcoins against the dollar, not USDT.
“USDT on Bitfinex is used as a transport layer, used if a trader wishes to deposit or withdraw in e.g. Omni USDT or Ethereum USDT. Until the trader specifically chooses to transport their fiat in Tether-denominated USD, all their fiat holdings on Bitfinex will be held in the form of fiat USD.”
Believing what BitFinex stated, traders were genuinely moving their fiat holdings into Bitcoin on its trading platform, buying the digital currency at a prime value. Hence, the Bitcoin-to-dollar exchange rate went up enormously.
The spread between Tether and non-Tether exchange is expected to stay as the confusion mounts. The community has asked Tether, LLC and BitFinex both to have their balance sheets audited and end the FUD once for all. The question is now whether traders are exchanging their digital assets for real fiat funds or for a currency that may or may not be artificially pegged to the dollar.
Tether and BitFinex haven’t confirmed whether they would go through an independent audit or not.
Featured Image from Shutterstock. Charts fromTradingView.
The postSpread between BTC/USD and BTC/USDT Crosses $300appeared first onCCN. || Spread between BTC/USD and BTC/USDT Crosses $300: bitcoin trading The imbalanced peg between the US Dollar and Tether LLC’s USDT has resulted in a $300-spread in Bitcoin price. At the press time, the aggregated Bitcoin-to-dollar exchange rate on non-Tether exchanges is approximately 6430-fiat. Meanwhile, on Tether exchanges like BitFinex, the same forex rate is above 6700-fiat. The strange trading activity, which started surfacing on Monday, has seen traders getting their money out of USDT however possible. The exchanges that offer USDT liquidity, including BitFinex and Binance, therefore experienced a massive drop in USDT value against its quote currencies, which is mainly Bitcoin, USD, and Ethereum. Simultaneously, the exchanges that didn’t feature USDT experienced their Bitcoin rates driven by increased arbitrage activity. Traders purchased the digital currency at a lower price, transferred it to the wallets of Tether-enabled crypto exchanges, and later shorted their holdings either for other stablecoins, the USDT itself, or the dollar. The USDT decline itself surfaced owing to growing community mistrust of Tether after its prime exchange BitFinex dropped Noble Coin as its banking partner, eventually becoming insolvent, according to reports. The exchange, however, refuted the rumors and said its withdrawals were working fine. USDT FUD Meanwhile, the community continues to believe that Tether does not have an adequate amount of dollars to back its USDT supply, about which BitFinex, Tether’s partner exchange, is already aware. And while USDT is one of the highest volumed cryptocurrencies, the exchange couldn’t handle the capital flight towards Bitcoin, resulting in its stark drop and Bitcoin’s steep rise. BitFinex in its latest statement clarified that traders on its platform trade Bitcoins against the dollar, not USDT. “USDT on Bitfinex is used as a transport layer, used if a trader wishes to deposit or withdraw in e.g. Omni USDT or Ethereum USDT. Until the trader specifically chooses to transport their fiat in Tether-denominated USD, all their fiat holdings on Bitfinex will be held in the form of fiat USD.” Believing what BitFinex stated, traders were genuinely moving their fiat holdings into Bitcoin on its trading platform, buying the digital currency at a prime value. Hence, the Bitcoin-to-dollar exchange rate went up enormously. Community Demanding Audit The spread between Tether and non-Tether exchange is expected to stay as the confusion mounts. The community has asked Tether, LLC and BitFinex both to have their balance sheets audited and end the FUD once for all. The question is now whether traders are exchanging their digital assets for real fiat funds or for a currency that may or may not be artificially pegged to the dollar. Story continues Tether and BitFinex haven’t confirmed whether they would go through an independent audit or not. Featured Image from Shutterstock. Charts from TradingView . The post Spread between BTC/USD and BTC/USDT Crosses $300 appeared first on CCN . View comments || How to Create a Blockchain Network for Business and Not Screw Up. FutureNet Project Founder Roman Ziemian Shares the Secret of Success: FutureNet is a multifunctional platform specialized in innovative technologies for business online promotion. The project introduces an improved business model that unites the best of the blockchain and MLM worlds. FutureNet network was founded in 2014, the audience of the project already numbers over 3,5 mln users. FutureNet project founder Roman Ziemian shares his rules of doing business and explains how a life position of a leader affects the project results. What rules should be followed by entrepreneurs who create a business from scratch? First of all, you should always look at the business from a global and timing perspective. Create a product that will be in demand among society at any time and place in the world, develop it in accordance with market changes. Don’t be afraid to do something, but don’t forget about the risks – no matter how successful the project is, be ready to lose the money you’ve invested. Speaking of network business, I think that it should be treated as your own family. You grow and develop together with partners and you move towards the success for a common cause. How did the history of the FutureNet project begin? When I met my business partner Stephan Morgenstern, the blockchain topic was only at the start of its development. Besides, considering a great experience that Stephan has in network marketing we couldn’t pass by this sector and decided to create an improved and modern MLM business model that meets the challenges of today, opens up the potential of users on the Internet and gives them the opportunity to earn. Why did you choose the EU for doing business, Poland in particularly? I was born in Poland and when I met Stephan we’ve decided together that it will be the best place for the start. European legislative base is very strong and at the same time allows owners to freely conduct and develop their own business. Besides, the EU has a code of laws regarding frauds, corruption, money laundering, violation of which has serious consequences for the company. This way ensure the security of users personal information, their financial assets and show that our business is not a shallow but an honest project in which anyone can participate. Now we also have offices in England, Dubai, and Hong Kong. Story continues The project audience already numbers over 3,5 mln users in 190 countries in the world. How did you manage to do it? We’ve created a business platform that unites unique blockchain technologies and a classic MLM. It’s not a secret that it is possible to earn in MLM business. We went further and decided to improve the model of conducting network business and give users more opportunities to make additional money. You can earn in network marketing. Let’s have a look at Mary Kay. Just think about it – the company was created in 1963 and already has over 3 mln employees! There are many stories of success in this company and other leaders in the network marketing and they are all true. It’s important to understand that any result depends only on you. The amount of earning in the project directly connected with the work made by a user. Projects that promise you million for nothing are scams. Nothing costs more than something that’s free. How to distinguish MLM projects from financial pyramids? Unfortunately, financial pyramids still exist and it’s most of the time difficult to distinguish worthwhile projects from frauds. Even though people can access great opportunities of the technological world and they are more cautious about startups that enter the market, most of them still can fall for shallow projects. MLM business has proved for years that anyone willing to earn can do so but certain efforts should be applied. Despite the fact that financial pyramids are developing and coming up with new fraud schemes, there are several indicators which can help to distinguish them from MLM projects. One of the main difference that network marketing has against financial pyramids is a product developed and produced by the company. The product should be in demand among users, bring benefits, help to build and develop existing business. In FutureNet we are mainly focused on our users. For example, crypto wallet FNWallet is used for safe transactions and storing cryptocurrencies. Users can assess 13 categories with thousands of products on online trading platform 24BAS. Cloud storage FutureCloud allows storing the information in the cloud and sharing it online. One of the latest product developed by FutureNet – an advertising network BannersApp where users see ads when unlocking their smartphones, while brands can customize their banners in accordance with the characteristics of potential clients. Besides, you should pay attention to the fact that financial pyramids usually appear in the market as fast as they will disappear afterwards and don’t offer any real products, only promise you enormous earnings from nothing. Such companies should be avoided. What do you think about such popular topic as cryptocurrencies, FuturoCoin in particular? Do you think that founders have made the idea of “the coin of the future” to come true? The cryptocurrency market was at the peak of its popularity in 2017, in particular, the leading coins Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple – this is when FutureNet team has thought of creating own cryptocurrency. It was a big step for FutureNet as with the launch of FuturoCoin they’ve opened a whole new range of opportunities for network users. A team of real professionals worked on creating the coin, its rate already exceeds $12 and holders are willingly trading it on cryptocurrency exchanges. Transactions in FuturoCoin take 4 seconds and an additional protection from double-spending was developed. Users can set up to 10 recipients within one transaction, the fee is fixed and doesn’t depend on the number of addresses. FuturoCoin holders can assess a wide range of opportunities for using the coin in the business and everyday lives. You can already pay with FuturoCoin in FutureNet cafes located in Kiev, Wroclaw, and Warsaw. FutureNet is actively supporting sports. What does it mean to you? Social responsibility of owners and participant is of the indicators of a successful business. Your business should participate in the life of society and be useful. FutureNet was created for people at the first place and the communication with them is very important to us – this is why the project has so many in common with the social network. Our new project – FutureNet Sport is a part of FutureNet network and is actively participating in the lives of sports teams and events. We’ve already become partners with a German football club VfB Stuttgart and a Polish basketball FutureNet WKS Śląsk Wrocław, and have also participated in such event like Shanghai International Legends Stars Tournaments 2018, Deutschland Tour 2018 on cycling and many others. The project has not bypassed quite an important question of charity. What role does it play in FutureNet? I and Stephan take charity very seriously and have founded an organization called FutureNet Foundation. Thanks to the participants we’ve recently managed to raise money on a surgery for an 8-years girl Wictoria from Poland and have already helped many other kids. Together with the foundation, we want to help as many kids as possible and to make the world brighter and better for them. In June, I and Stephan have become partners with IIMSAM organization and the United Nations. The main goal of IIMSAM is to fight against cancer and the global hunger problem. We can’t imagine how hard it can be for women to fight breast cancer but we want to do our best to support them in such a hard time and give them an opportunity to feel strong and confident. At the moment Stephan is the only IIMSAM ambassador in Germany and me – in Poland. This cooperation plays a great role in our lives and the life of the project. We believe that together FutureNet and IIMSAM can do more for people who really need help and support. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: USDT Sell-Off Briefly Breathed Life Into Bitcoin (BTC) USD/CAD Daily Price Forecast – USD/CAD Breaches 1.29 Handle on Weak US Greenback in Broad Market Global Stocks Mostly Higher, Oil in Focus on US-Saudi Tensions Natural Gas Price Fundamental Daily Forecast – Trader Reaction to $3.306 Will Determine Today’s Direction E-mini NASDAQ-100 Index (NQ) Futures Technical Analysis – October 16, 2018 Forecast USD/JPY Full Bearish Continuation Below 111.63 || How to Create a Blockchain Network for Business and Not Screw Up. FutureNet Project Founder Roman Ziemian Shares the Secret of Success: FutureNet is a multifunctional platform specialized in innovative technologies for business online promotion. The project introduces an improved business model that unites the best of the blockchain and MLM worlds. FutureNet network was founded in 2014, the audience of the project already numbers over 3,5 mln users. FutureNet project founder Roman Ziemian shares his rules of doing business and explains how a life position of a leader affects the project results. What rules should be followed by entrepreneurs who create a business from scratch? First of all, you should always look at the business from a global and timing perspective. Create a product that will be in demand among society at any time and place in the world, develop it in accordance with market changes. Don’t be afraid to do something, but don’t forget about the risks – no matter how successful the project is, be ready to lose the money you’ve invested. Speaking of network business, I think that it should be treated as your own family. You grow and develop together with partners and you move towards the success for a common cause. How did the history of the FutureNet project begin? When I met my business partner Stephan Morgenstern, the blockchain topic was only at the start of its development. Besides, considering a great experience that Stephan has in network marketing we couldn’t pass by this sector and decided to create an improved and modern MLM business model that meets the challenges of today, opens up the potential of users on the Internet and gives them the opportunity to earn. Why did you choose the EU for doing business, Poland in particularly? I was born in Poland and when I met Stephan we’ve decided together that it will be the best place for the start. European legislative base is very strong and at the same time allows owners to freely conduct and develop their own business. Besides, the EU has a code of laws regarding frauds, corruption, money laundering, violation of which has serious consequences for the company. This way ensure the security of users personal information, their financial assets and show that our business is not a shallow but an honest project in which anyone can participate. Now we also have offices in England, Dubai, and Hong Kong. Story continues The project audience already numbers over 3,5 mln users in 190 countries in the world. How did you manage to do it? We’ve created a business platform that unites unique blockchain technologies and a classic MLM. It’s not a secret that it is possible to earn in MLM business. We went further and decided to improve the model of conducting network business and give users more opportunities to make additional money. You can earn in network marketing. Let’s have a look at Mary Kay. Just think about it – the company was created in 1963 and already has over 3 mln employees! There are many stories of success in this company and other leaders in the network marketing and they are all true. It’s important to understand that any result depends only on you. The amount of earning in the project directly connected with the work made by a user. Projects that promise you million for nothing are scams. Nothing costs more than something that’s free. How to distinguish MLM projects from financial pyramids? Unfortunately, financial pyramids still exist and it’s most of the time difficult to distinguish worthwhile projects from frauds. Even though people can access great opportunities of the technological world and they are more cautious about startups that enter the market, most of them still can fall for shallow projects. MLM business has proved for years that anyone willing to earn can do so but certain efforts should be applied. Despite the fact that financial pyramids are developing and coming up with new fraud schemes, there are several indicators which can help to distinguish them from MLM projects. One of the main difference that network marketing has against financial pyramids is a product developed and produced by the company. The product should be in demand among users, bring benefits, help to build and develop existing business. In FutureNet we are mainly focused on our users. For example, crypto wallet FNWallet is used for safe transactions and storing cryptocurrencies. Users can assess 13 categories with thousands of products on online trading platform 24BAS. Cloud storage FutureCloud allows storing the information in the cloud and sharing it online. One of the latest product developed by FutureNet – an advertising network BannersApp where users see ads when unlocking their smartphones, while brands can customize their banners in accordance with the characteristics of potential clients. Besides, you should pay attention to the fact that financial pyramids usually appear in the market as fast as they will disappear afterwards and don’t offer any real products, only promise you enormous earnings from nothing. Such companies should be avoided. What do you think about such popular topic as cryptocurrencies, FuturoCoin in particular? Do you think that founders have made the idea of “the coin of the future” to come true? The cryptocurrency market was at the peak of its popularity in 2017, in particular, the leading coins Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple – this is when FutureNet team has thought of creating own cryptocurrency. It was a big step for FutureNet as with the launch of FuturoCoin they’ve opened a whole new range of opportunities for network users. A team of real professionals worked on creating the coin, its rate already exceeds $12 and holders are willingly trading it on cryptocurrency exchanges. Transactions in FuturoCoin take 4 seconds and an additional protection from double-spending was developed. Users can set up to 10 recipients within one transaction, the fee is fixed and doesn’t depend on the number of addresses. FuturoCoin holders can assess a wide range of opportunities for using the coin in the business and everyday lives. You can already pay with FuturoCoin in FutureNet cafes located in Kiev, Wroclaw, and Warsaw. FutureNet is actively supporting sports. What does it mean to you? Social responsibility of owners and participant is of the indicators of a successful business. Your business should participate in the life of society and be useful. FutureNet was created for people at the first place and the communication with them is very important to us – this is why the project has so many in common with the social network. Our new project – FutureNet Sport is a part of FutureNet network and is actively participating in the lives of sports teams and events. We’ve already become partners with a German football club VfB Stuttgart and a Polish basketball FutureNet WKS Śląsk Wrocław, and have also participated in such event like Shanghai International Legends Stars Tournaments 2018, Deutschland Tour 2018 on cycling and many others. The project has not bypassed quite an important question of charity. What role does it play in FutureNet? I and Stephan take charity very seriously and have founded an organization called FutureNet Foundation. Thanks to the participants we’ve recently managed to raise money on a surgery for an 8-years girl Wictoria from Poland and have already helped many other kids. Together with the foundation, we want to help as many kids as possible and to make the world brighter and better for them. In June, I and Stephan have become partners with IIMSAM organization and the United Nations. The main goal of IIMSAM is to fight against cancer and the global hunger problem. We can’t imagine how hard it can be for women to fight breast cancer but we want to do our best to support them in such a hard time and give them an opportunity to feel strong and confident. At the moment Stephan is the only IIMSAM ambassador in Germany and me – in Poland. This cooperation plays a great role in our lives and the life of the project. We believe that together FutureNet and IIMSAM can do more for people who really need help and support. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: USDT Sell-Off Briefly Breathed Life Into Bitcoin (BTC) USD/CAD Daily Price Forecast – USD/CAD Breaches 1.29 Handle on Weak US Greenback in Broad Market Global Stocks Mostly Higher, Oil in Focus on US-Saudi Tensions Natural Gas Price Fundamental Daily Forecast – Trader Reaction to $3.306 Will Determine Today’s Direction E-mini NASDAQ-100 Index (NQ) Futures Technical Analysis – October 16, 2018 Forecast USD/JPY Full Bearish Continuation Below 111.63 || Crypto firm Coinbase is opening a Dublin office as 'Plan B' for Brexit: puppies in the Coinbase office Glassdoor/Coinbase Coinbase, one of the most prominent cryptocurrency exchanges, has announced plans to open an office in Ireland's capital, Dublin. The announcement is part of the company's contingency planning for a no-deal Brexit. "As we plan for all eventualities, it’s important that we continue servicing our customers across Europe, and Ireland would be our preferred choice there if it comes to it," UK CEO Zeeshan Feroz said. Coinbase, one of the most prominent cryptocurrency exchanges, has announced plans to open an office in Ireland's capital, Dublin, as it makes contingency plans for Brexit. The exchange says it is opening the Dublin office partly to serve rising demand from the European Union, but also as a means of ensuring it can keep all of its operations going in the event of no deal being reached between Britain and the EU during Brexit talks. "To begin with we’re housing a significant support team there, and we’re looking to capitalise on the talent pool that’s available to us in Ireland and hire other folks," Zeeshan Feroz, Coinbase's UK CEO told The Guardian. "It is also a plan B for Brexit," Feroz added. "As we plan for all eventualities, it’s important that we continue servicing our customers across Europe , and Ireland would be our preferred choice there if it comes to it." Up until now, relocation of offices and staff to EU27 countries has largely been limited to major financial institutions, with the likes of Barclays and Bank of America Merill Lynch both announcing plans to move staff to Dublin, and many other firms shifting staff to cities including Paris and Frankfurt. Crypto companies, however, have been less forward in their contingency planning. Feroz said that Coinbase's move reflects the fact that it is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority as a financial institution. "Clearly as a regulated financial institution, if we don’t have access to passporting, we have to look for alternatives," he said. Story continues Passporting rules allow EU finance companies to sell their services across the 28-member bloc with a local license, rather than getting a license to operate in each member country where it does business. The rights are tied strongly to membership of the European single market, and as a result will be lost once the UK drops out of the EU. The threat of losing passporting rights is the biggest concern for the finance industry, and has been the main driver in firms moving EU jobs to cities outside the UK. NOW WATCH: What activated charcoal actually does to your body See Also: I've taken AncestryDNA, 23andMe, and National Geographic genetics tests — here's how to choose one to try The 20 best countries around the world to live as an expat, ranked Bitcoin tanks as cryptocurrencies join in global market bloodbath SEE ALSO: 10 things you need to know in markets today
[Social Media Buzz]
You no longer have to paste numbers into a spreadsheet or Google to get current BTC->USD exchange rate. https://t.co/uOOeJ7nu7w This Chrome extension takes a number displayed on a webpage & converts from #BTC to the #USD. Just select a bitcoin amount & it'll be added to the tool. https://t.co/SI8nkLgLgx || [12:00] Most mentioned tickers in the last 4 hours: $BTC $ETH $XRP $TRX $NEO $RVN $ICX $XHV $DAPS $DOVpic.twitter.com/L0oCDoY0SO || Bitcoin - BTC
Price: $6,537.62
Change in 1h: +0.0...
|
6465.41, 6489.19, 6482.35, 6487.16, 6475.74, 6495.84, 6476.29, 6474.75, 6480.38, 6486.39
|
Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 32067.64, 32289.38, 32366.39, 32569.85, 30432.55, 33466.10, 34316.39, 34269.52, 33114.36, 33537.18, 35510.29, 37472.09, 36926.07, 38144.31, 39266.01, 38903.44, 46196.46, 46481.11, 44918.18, 47909.33, 47504.85, 47105.52, 48717.29, 47945.06, 49199.87, 52149.01, 51679.80, 55888.13, 56099.52, 57539.95, 54207.32, 48824.43, 49705.33, 47093.85, 46339.76, 46188.45, 45137.77, 49631.24, 48378.99, 50538.24, 48561.17, 48927.30, 48912.38, 51206.69, 52246.52, 54824.12, 56008.55, 57805.12, 57332.09, 61243.09, 59302.32, 55907.20, 56804.90, 58870.89, 57858.92, 58346.65, 58313.64, 57523.42, 54529.14, 54738.95, 52774.27, 51704.16, 55137.31, 55973.51, 55950.75, 57750.20, 58917.69, 58918.83, 59095.81, 59384.31, 57603.89, 58758.55, 59057.88, 58192.36, 56048.94, 58323.95, 58245.00, 59793.23, 60204.96, 59893.45, 63503.46, 63109.70, 63314.01, 61572.79, 60683.82, 56216.18, 55724.27, 56473.03, 53906.09, 51762.27.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2021-04-22]
Volume: 74798630778, RSI (14-day): 34.63, 50-day EMA: 55644.87, 200-day EMA: 39030.51
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1781.20, Gold RSI: 58.54
Oil Price: 61.43, Oil RSI: 50.57
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Coinbase: A Pure-Play Cryptocurrency Stock: Not long ago, Wall Street viewed crypto with a mix of suspicion and contempt. The space which Bitcoin spawned was mostly derided by the mainstream finance world. It’s just a fad, right? A bubble that was about to end in tears for all involved and a haven for criminal activity. That view is certainly no longer the case. As the trend has refused to die and the ecosystem has blossomed, Wall Street has slowly come round to the idea that crypto is here to stay. The extent of the transformation from financial bad boy to the possible future of global payments, got real vindication recently with the public listing of Coinbase ( COIN ). The cryptocurrency exchange made a splashy entrance last week, with a $75.9 billion NASDAQ listing. So, is all the hoopla merited? Rosenblatt Securities’ Sean Horgan thinks so. “We are bullish on the long-term upside of COIN as it benefits from the growing adoption and acceptance of cryptocurrency, while our short-term view is more cautious as the stock faces downside risk from a drawdown in the price of crypto,” the analyst said. “Sustainable long-term growth is less uncertain, in our view, and our expectations are potentially conservative given upside risk from institutional adoption and subscription revenue growth.” And Coinbase is most certainly growing. In 2020, the company generated revenue of around $1.3 billion, increasing year-over-year by 144%. However, in 1Q21 alone, the company’s revenue hit $1.8 billion. Although, as Horgan notes above, Coinbase to an extent is at the mercy of the crypto cycle, which at the moment is going through one of its boom phases. The pullbacks are notorious, however, and the bear markets are long. That said, crypto has reached an “inflection point on its road to legitimacy,” and Horgan believes it is a “long-term disruptive trend that is only in its early innings.” There is evidence to back up the claim. The institutions have moved in and are now scooping up Bitcoin to store as a digital equivalent of gold. And as the recent launch of crypto trading on Venmo – the PayPal owned mobile payment service - can attest, the network effect will create further demand and businesses are “likely to see the value of offering a crypto-checkout option at the point-of-sale.” Story continues “As this ecosystem evolves and becomes more valuable, COIN is a way to capture the upside,” the analyst summed up. “Net/net, we are buyers of COIN as a long-term category leader and pure-play cryptocurrency stock.” Accordingly, Horgan initiated coverage of COIN with a Buy rating and $450 price target. The implication for investors? Upside of 44%. (To watch Horgan’s track record, click here ) Horgan’s colleagues agree. Based on Buys only – 5, in total – the stock has a Strong Buy consensus rating. The average price target is also a bullish one, and at $479.83, suggests upside of ~50% over the next 12 months. ( See COIN stock analysis on TipRanks ) To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks’ Best Stocks to Buy , a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analyst. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment. || Coinbase: A Pure-Play Cryptocurrency Stock: Not long ago, Wall Street viewed crypto with a mix of suspicion and contempt. The space which Bitcoin spawned was mostly derided by the mainstream finance world. It’s just a fad, right? A bubble that was about to end in tears for all involved and a haven for criminal activity.
That view is certainly no longer the case. As the trend has refused to die and the ecosystem has blossomed, Wall Street has slowly come round to the idea that crypto is here to stay.
The extent of the transformation from financial bad boy to the possible future of global payments, got real vindication recently with the public listing of Coinbase (COIN). The cryptocurrency exchange made a splashy entrance last week, with a $75.9 billion NASDAQ listing. So, is all the hoopla merited?
Rosenblatt Securities’Sean Horganthinks so.
“We are bullish on the long-term upside of COIN as it benefits from the growing adoption and acceptance of cryptocurrency, while our short-term view is more cautious as the stock faces downside risk from a drawdown in the price of crypto,” the analyst said. “Sustainable long-term growth is less uncertain, in our view, and our expectations are potentially conservative given upside risk from institutional adoption and subscription revenue growth.”
And Coinbase is most certainly growing. In 2020, the company generated revenue of around $1.3 billion, increasing year-over-year by 144%. However, in 1Q21 alone, the company’s revenue hit $1.8 billion.
Although, as Horgan notes above, Coinbase to an extent is at the mercy of the crypto cycle, which at the moment is going through one of its boom phases. The pullbacks are notorious, however, and the bear markets are long.
That said, crypto has reached an “inflection point on its road to legitimacy,” and Horgan believes it is a “long-term disruptive trend that is only in its early innings.”
There is evidence to back up the claim. The institutions have moved in and are now scooping up Bitcoin to store as a digital equivalent of gold. And as the recent launch of crypto trading on Venmo – the PayPal owned mobile payment service - can attest, the network effect will create further demand and businesses are “likely to see the value of offering a crypto-checkout option at the point-of-sale.”
“As this ecosystem evolves and becomes more valuable, COIN is a way to capture the upside,” the analyst summed up. “Net/net, we are buyers of COIN as a long-term category leader and pure-play cryptocurrency stock.”
Accordingly, Horgan initiated coverage of COIN with a Buy rating and $450 price target. The implication for investors? Upside of 44%. (To watch Horgan’s track record,click here)
Horgan’s colleagues agree. Based on Buys only – 5, in total – the stock has a Strong Buy consensus rating. The average price target is also a bullish one, and at $479.83, suggests upside of ~50% over the next 12 months. (See COIN stock analysis on TipRanks)
To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks’Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analyst. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment. || Q1 2021 Industry Trends: NFTs Rise to Fame, DeFi Consolidates 2020 Gains: After a year of exponential growth and activity, the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector is beginning to cool. In Q1 2021, the dollar value of crypto assets under management by DeFi applications appeared to grow 150%, from roughly $20 billion to $50 billion. However, the majority of this activity reflects the rising dollar value of ETH and other Ethereum-based tokens, not growth in the real number of crypto assets under management. Adjusting for this “ price effect, ” by fixing crypto asset prices over a 90-day period, we can see that total value locked (TVL) in DeFi grew 50% over the quarter, with a gradual correction towards the end of March. Related: Everything We Want Costs Energy, Including Bitcoin Trading volume on decentralized exchanges (DEXs) also saw a similar pattern of steady growth and a slight decline near the end of the first quarter. The sector that stole DeFi’s thunder is the non-fungible token (NFT) industry, with an over 25x increase in trading volume and valuations over $2 billion for certain marketplaces. NFT marketplaces like NBA TopShot are fast approaching the same levels of user activity as the top DeFi apps. However, it remains to be seen how much of the NFT sector’s initial burst of activity will carry through into the rest of the year. NFTs are unique and indivisible crypto assets that can represent a variety of goods such as art, video, music, real estate, news stories and even tweets . The ownership of NFTs are verifiable through a public blockchain like Ethereum, which makes them difficult to forge but easy to authenticate. Related: NFT Issuer Doublejump.Tokyo Ditches Ethereum for Flow Blockchain Read more: What Are NFTs and How Do They Work? Over the past three months, financial and mainstream media has been transfixed by the novelty of NFTs and their adoption by deep-pocketed investors. Renowned British auction house Christie’s sold an NFT artwork by the artist Mike Winkelmann, aka Beeple, for a record-breaking $69 million . Shortly thereafter, Sotheby’s , another reputable auction house, announced on March 16 it would be making plans to host its own NFT art sale. For all the hype around NFTs this past quarter, value in and user activity for DeFi applications remains stable. The two most popular decentralized applications (dapps) by number of active accounts across all general purpose blockchains in Q1 2021 are both DEXs. Uniswap , which runs on Ethereum, ended the quarter with an estimated 55,000 active accounts. The runner-up, PancakeSwap , which runs on the Binance Smart Chain, had nearly 50,000. Story continues Read more: Controversial Dapps Test Binance Smart Chain’s Decentralization Much of the DeFi sector’s value and activity, which accumulated to dizzying heights over 2020, has remained constant into 2021 despite the novelty of its applications being outshone by NFTs in the first quarter. To read more about crypto industry trends and performance in Q1 2021, download CoinDesk Research’s latest Quarterly Review available to read for free from the CoinDesk Research Hub. Related Stories Q1 2021 Industry Trends: NFTs Rise to Fame, DeFi Consolidates 2020 Gains Q1 2021 Industry Trends: NFTs Rise to Fame, DeFi Consolidates 2020 Gains View comments || Q1 2021 Industry Trends: NFTs Rise to Fame, DeFi Consolidates 2020 Gains: After a year of exponential growth and activity, the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector is beginning to cool.
In Q1 2021, the dollar value of crypto assets under management by DeFi applications appeared to grow 150%, from roughly $20 billion to $50 billion. However, the majority of this activity reflects the rising dollar value ofETHand other Ethereum-based tokens, not growth in the real number of crypto assets under management.
Adjusting for this “price effect,” by fixing crypto asset prices over a 90-day period, we can see that total value locked (TVL) in DeFi grew 50% over the quarter, with a gradual correction towards the end of March.
Related:Everything We Want Costs Energy, Including Bitcoin
Trading volume on decentralized exchanges(DEXs) also saw a similar pattern of steady growth and a slight decline near the end of the first quarter.
The sector that stole DeFi’s thunder is the non-fungible token (NFT) industry, with an over 25x increase in trading volume and valuations over $2 billion for certain marketplaces.
NFT marketplaces like NBA TopShot are fast approaching the same levels of user activity as the top DeFi apps. However, it remains to be seen how much of the NFT sector’s initial burst of activity will carry through into the rest of the year.
NFTs are unique and indivisible crypto assets that can represent a variety of goods such as art, video, music, real estate, news storiesand even tweets. The ownership of NFTs are verifiable through a public blockchain like Ethereum, which makes them difficult to forge but easy to authenticate.
Related:NFT Issuer Doublejump.Tokyo Ditches Ethereum for Flow Blockchain
Read more:What Are NFTs and How Do They Work?
Over the past three months, financial and mainstream media has been transfixed by the novelty of NFTs and their adoption by deep-pocketed investors. Renowned British auction house Christie’s sold an NFT artwork by the artist Mike Winkelmann, aka Beeple, for a record-breaking$69 million. Shortly thereafter,Sotheby’s, another reputable auction house, announced on March 16 it would be making plans to host its own NFT art sale.
For all the hype around NFTs this past quarter, value in and user activity for DeFi applications remains stable.
The two most popular decentralized applications (dapps) by number of active accounts across all general purpose blockchains in Q1 2021 are both DEXs.Uniswap, which runs on Ethereum, ended the quarter with an estimated 55,000 active accounts. The runner-up,PancakeSwap, which runs on the Binance Smart Chain, had nearly 50,000.
Read more:Controversial Dapps Test Binance Smart Chain’s Decentralization
Much of the DeFi sector’s value and activity, which accumulated to dizzying heights over 2020, has remained constant into 2021 despite the novelty of its applications being outshone by NFTs in the first quarter.
To read more about crypto industry trends and performance in Q1 2021,download CoinDesk Research’s latest Quarterly Review available to read for free from the CoinDesk Research Hub.
• Q1 2021 Industry Trends: NFTs Rise to Fame, DeFi Consolidates 2020 Gains
• Q1 2021 Industry Trends: NFTs Rise to Fame, DeFi Consolidates 2020 Gains || Chipotle Q1 earnings blows away Wall Street's estimates, boosted by digital surge: Chipotle ( CMG ) on Wednesday posted a first-quarter earnings report that outperformed market expectations, with the fast-food giant's digital sales more than doubling as pandemic-fueled app purchases overtook in-person buying. Heres what the California-based company reported, compared to Wall Streets expectations, according to a Bloomberg consensus estimate: Revenue: $1.74 billion versus $1.75 billion expected Adj. earnings per share (EPS): $5.36 versus $4.91 per share expected Same-store sales: 17.2% versus 17.18% expected Compared to a year ago, digital sales grew to $869.8 million dollars and were primarily driven by order ahead transactions by guests and the addition of drive-through Chipotlanes." In fact, digital buying spurred by COVID-19 social distancing accounting for 50.1% of sales. "As vaccines roll out and we get closer to moving past this pandemic, I believe Chipotle is well positioned for growth," Brian Niccol, Chipotle Chairman and CEO said in the report. "I'm excited about our future as we remain focused on innovating in culinary, leading in food with integrity, and providing convenient access inside our restaurants and through our expanding digital ecosystem," he added. Chipotle's stock, which closed over 1% lower in Wednesday's session at 1,507.62, rose modestly in after-hours trading. This past quarter, the company introduced the Hand-Crafted Quesadilla , but diners can only order it online. The move is part of an effort to drive customer loyalty with a combination of cheap eats and app-based deals. The first quarter played host to a number of initiatives designed specifically to court Gen Z consumers. In March, the company announced a collaboration with e.l.f. Beauty ( ELF ) to serve up a makeup collection dubbed 'e.l.f x Chipotle,' which includes a make up set with names designed to reference Chipotle's menu. Chipotle then followed up with an effort to ride the Bitcoin bonanza with plans to give away $100,000 in free burritos and $100,000 in Bitcoin ( BTC-USD ), coinciding with another April 1st holiday: National Burrito Day. Story continues 'Middle stages' of a turnaround Chipotle's Hand-Crafted Quesadilla (Courtesy: Chipotle). (Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.) This report comes as Wall Street was eager to learn if a combination of new menu items and digital bargains directed toward younger consumers could sustain the momentum that propelled the company through the COVID-19 crisis. And indeed, those factors did work to Chipotle's benefit. During the quarter, the company opened 40 new restaurants, 26 of which include drive-thru 'Chipotlanes,' while five locations closed bringing the total restaurant count to 2,803. In a note earlier this month, John Ivankoe of J.P. Morgan remains neutral on Chipotle, with a price target of $1,460.00. He expects the company to post double-digit store margins on $20 billion in sales, but doesn't see much impetus for a big move higher. "Chipotle still has opportunity to grow comps in full-year 2021, due to dining rooms re-opening and pricing," the analyst said. "The company seems to be teasing some higher revenue targets in the United States." Yet Peter Saleh of BTIG is more bullish on the stock, reiterating it as a "Buy" last month with a price target of $1,600, largely in part to the potential of the quesadilla. "We believe the launch of Quesadilla will translate into continued same-store sales momentum and will support healthy digital sales mix. We expect this product to attract new customers to the brand as it has been the most requested menu item with upwards of 20 million unfilled orders per year," ultimately expanding the the customer base, the analyst wrote. Saleh added that he sees the food chain in the "middle stages" of its economic turnaround as it looks to rebound from the coronavirus pandemic. Nicholas Johnson of Morningstar is also optimistic about the long-term potential of the fast casual chain. In a note from earlier February, following Chipotle's fourth-quarter earnings , he notes "In our view, it's clear that [Niccol] has restored Chipotle's foundation and positioned the company for above-industry growth for years to come." Brooke DiPalma is a producer and reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter at @ BrookeDiPalma or email her at [email protected]. READ MORE: McDonald's sets eyes on Korean pop market, plans a BTS-themed meal for May Krispy Kreme CEO defends COVID vaccine promotion: 'If folks don't want to visit a donut shop, they don't have to' A new kind of chicken war: Kellogg's MorningStar Farms unveils plant-based tenders Chipotle to give away bitcoin and burritos, as part of effort to reach Gen Z Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter , Facebook , Instagram , Flipboard , SmartNews , LinkedIn , YouTube , and reddit . || Chipotle Q1 earnings blows away Wall Street's estimates, boosted by digital surge: Chipotle (CMG) on Wednesday posted afirst-quarter earnings reportthat outperformed market expectations, with the fast-food giant's digital sales more than doubling as pandemic-fueled app purchases overtook in-person buying.
Here’s what the California-based company reported, compared to Wall Street’s expectations, according to a Bloomberg consensus estimate:
• Revenue:$1.74 billion versus $1.75 billion expected
• Adj. earnings per share (EPS):$5.36 versus $4.91 per share expected
• Same-store sales:17.2% versus 17.18% expected
Compared to a year ago, digital sales grew to $869.8 million dollars and were primarily driven by order ahead transactions by guests and the addition ofdrive-through “Chipotlanes."In fact, digital buying spurred by COVID-19 social distancing accounting for 50.1% of sales.
"As vaccines roll out and we get closer to moving past this pandemic, I believe Chipotle is well positioned for growth," Brian Niccol, Chipotle Chairman and CEO said in the report.
"I'm excited about our future as we remain focused on innovating in culinary, leading in food with integrity, and providing convenient access inside our restaurants and through our expanding digital ecosystem," he added.
Chipotle's stock, which closed over 1% lower in Wednesday's session at 1,507.62, rose modestly in after-hours trading.
This past quarter, the company introduced theHand-Crafted Quesadilla, but diners can only order it online. The move is part of an effort to drive customer loyalty with a combination of cheap eats and app-based deals.
The first quarter played host to a number of initiatives designed specifically to court Gen Z consumers. In March, the company announced acollaboration with e.l.f. Beauty(ELF) to serve up a makeup collection dubbed 'e.l.f x Chipotle,' which includes a make up set with names designed to reference Chipotle's menu.
Chipotle then followed up with an effort to ride the Bitcoin bonanzawith plansto give away $100,000 in free burritos and $100,000 in Bitcoin (BTC-USD), coinciding with another April 1st holiday: National Burrito Day.
This report comes as Wall Street was eager to learn if a combination of new menu items and digital bargains directed toward younger consumers couldsustain the momentum that propelled the companythrough the COVID-19 crisis.
And indeed, those factors did work to Chipotle's benefit. During the quarter, the company opened 40 new restaurants, 26 of whichinclude drive-thru 'Chipotlanes,'while five locations closed — bringing the total restaurant count to 2,803.
In a note earlier this month, John Ivankoe of J.P. Morgan remains neutral on Chipotle, with a price target of $1,460.00. He expects the company to post double-digit store margins on $20 billion in sales, but doesn't see much impetus for a big move higher.
"Chipotle still has opportunity to grow comps in full-year 2021, due to dining rooms re-opening and pricing," the analyst said. "The company seems to be “teasing” some higher revenue targets in the United States."
Yet Peter Saleh of BTIG is more bullish on the stock, reiterating it as a "Buy" last month with a price target of $1,600, largely in part to the potential of the quesadilla.
"We believe the launch of Quesadilla will translate into continued same-store sales momentum and will support healthy digital sales mix. We expect this product to attract new customers to the brand as it has been the most requested menu item with upwards of 20 million unfilled orders per year," ultimately expanding the the customer base, the analyst wrote.
Saleh added that he sees the food chain in the "middle stages" of its economic turnaround as it looks to rebound from the coronavirus pandemic.
Nicholas Johnson of Morningstar is also optimistic about the long-term potential of the fast casual chain. In a note from earlier February, followingChipotle's fourth-quarter earnings, he notes "In our view, it's clear that [Niccol] has restored Chipotle's foundation and positioned the company for above-industry growth for years to come."
Brooke DiPalma is a producer and reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter at @BrookeDiPalmaor email her at [email protected].
READ MORE:
• McDonald's sets eyes on Korean pop market, plans a BTS-themed meal for May
• Krispy Kreme CEO defends COVID vaccine promotion: 'If folks don't want to visit a donut shop, they don't have to'
• A new kind of chicken war: Kellogg's MorningStar Farms unveils plant-based tenders
• Chipotle to give away bitcoin and burritos, as part of effort to reach Gen Z
Follow Yahoo Finance onTwitter,Facebook,Instagram,Flipboard,SmartNews,LinkedIn,YouTube, andreddit. || Market Wrap: Bitcoin in Neutral at $55.5K as Ether Continues Bull Run: It’s boring bitcoin so far this week, with ether making gains for traders in a crypto market that overall is still signaling bullishness.
• Bitcoin(BTC) trading around $55,502 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Slipping 1.9% over the previous 24 hours.
• Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $54,565-$57,043 (CoinDesk 20)
• BTC close to the 10-hour and 50-hour moving average on the hourly chart, a sideways signal for market technicians.
The price of bitcoin has changed little over the past 24 hours, despite the asset’s notorious volatility causing the spot market to undulate from $54,565 to $57,043 during the session, a $2,478 swing, according to CoinDesk 20 price data.
Nevertheless, BTC has mostly stayed above $55,000 for almost a month. According to CoinDesk 20 historical data, the last time bitcoin closed below that level was back on March 26.
Related:NFT Issuer Doublejump.Tokyo Ditches Ethereum for Flow Blockchain
Since the start of April, bitcoin’s dominance, a measure of the asset against the broader crypto market as calculated by charting firm TradingView, has plummeted. It’s down almost 10% since April 1, and bitcoin is currently at 51% dominance as of press time, roughly half the market. At the beginning of 2021, that figure was over 70%.
“Traders are looking for opportunities elsewhere,” noted David Russell, VP of Market Intelligence at brokerage firm TradeStation Group. ”That’s what seems to be happening now. It’s not bearish but a potential sign of confidence in the space.”
Less bullish bitcoin action afterthe excitement of Coinbase’s direct listingisn’t a surprise for some, with prices unable to break through all-time high of $64,829.14 reached April 14. “As expected, we saw the April 14 ‘Coinbase top’ we were positioning for that bled into a deleveraging weekend sell-off,” noted quantitative trading firm QCP Capital in an investor note on Wednesday.
A week later, traders are looking at other markets to play in. Volumes on major spot exchanges are much lower than average Wednesday, below $3 billion on the eight major exchanges tracked by the CoinDesk 20.
Related:CBDCs and Stablecoins: The Regulatory Battle to Come
TradeStation’s Russell told CoinDesk that U.S. dollar inflation will continue to be a key driver for investment into cryptocurrencies, and the case for crypto remains. According to data aggregator Inflation Tool, in the past decade the greenback’s value has decreased in purchasing power,so that it takes $118 in 2021 to pay for something that would have cost $100 in 2011.
“Procter & Gamble is raising prices and the [Federal Reserve] isn’t raising interest rates. Signs of inflation are mounting throughout the economy,” added Russell. ”Inflation and scarcity value could emerge as newer drivers for the crypto space, especially with a Fed meeting next week.”
Read More:During Bitcoin’s Latest Crash, ‘Tether Premium’ Shows Where Money Went
Ether(ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was up Wednesday, trading around $2,425 and climbing 4.2% in 24 hours as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).
While bitcoin’s price has been mostly stagnant this week, ether is popping. A good measure for comparing the world’s oldest cryptocurrency to ether is by viewing charts on the ETH/BTC pair, available on most major cryptocurrency exchanges.
When the pair on the charts goes bullish, it means traders are selling bitcoin for ether, the case right now.
The ETH/BTC went bullish on Tuesday, with the price now well above the 10-day and 50-day moving averages on the hourly chart; it’s up over 5% so far today on Coinbase.
“It’s interesting to note at the current ETH/BTC ratio we are back to levels last seen at the beginning of February,” noted Andrew Tu, and executive at quantitative trading firm Efficient Frontier.
“In February we saw this top out at 0.046 BTC. So this is the level we should be looking at, to see whether it breaks out of that resistance,” Tu added. As of press time, ETH/BTC was trading at 0.043 BTC on Coinbase.
Nick Mancini, research analyst at crypto sentiment analytics firm Trade The Chain, told CoinDesk a breakout in bitcoin’s price performance could cause ETH and other crypto markets to see red. “If bitcoin breaks bullish out of the current trend, we will likely see ETH and [altcoins] take a small hit.”
Read More:Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital Said to Be in Talks to Buy BitGo
Digital assets on theCoinDesk 20are mostly higher Wednesday. Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• kyber network(KNC) + 7.4%
• orchid(OXT) + 3.3%
• omg network(OMG) + 2.7%
Notable losers:
• ethereum classic(ETC) – 4.3%
• stellar(XLM) – 2.9%
• cosmos(ATOM) – 2.2%
Equities:
• Asia’s Nikkei 225 index closed down 2%despite positive export data from March, with engineering firm Chiyoda and retailer Rakuten both slipping more than 5%.
• The FTSE 100 in Europe closed in the green 0.52% astraders digested positive corporate earnings reports, motivating them to buy stocks.
• The United States’ S&P 500 index was up 0.93%Wednesday as traders navigated positive earnings results although Netflix stock dropped 7% on poor subscriber numbers.
Commodities:
• Oil was down 2.1%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $61.04.
• Gold was in the green 0.90% and at $1,794 as of press time.
• Silver is gaining, up 2.9% and changing hands at $26.57.
Treasurys:
• The 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield fell Wednesday to 1.554 and in the red 0.22%.
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin in Neutral at $55.5K as Ether Continues Bull Run
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin in Neutral at $55.5K as Ether Continues Bull Run || Market Wrap: Bitcoin in Neutral at $55.5K as Ether Continues Bull Run: It’s boring bitcoin so far this week, with ether making gains for traders in a crypto market that overall is still signaling bullishness. Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $55,502 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Slipping 1.9% over the previous 24 hours. Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $54,565-$57,043 (CoinDesk 20) BTC close to the 10-hour and 50-hour moving average on the hourly chart, a sideways signal for market technicians. The price of bitcoin has changed little over the past 24 hours, despite the asset’s notorious volatility causing the spot market to undulate from $54,565 to $57,043 during the session, a $2,478 swing, according to CoinDesk 20 price data. Nevertheless, BTC has mostly stayed above $55,000 for almost a month. According to CoinDesk 20 historical data, the last time bitcoin closed below that level was back on March 26. Related: NFT Issuer Doublejump.Tokyo Ditches Ethereum for Flow Blockchain Since the start of April, bitcoin’s dominance, a measure of the asset against the broader crypto market as calculated by charting firm TradingView, has plummeted. It’s down almost 10% since April 1, and bitcoin is currently at 51% dominance as of press time, roughly half the market. At the beginning of 2021, that figure was over 70%. “Traders are looking for opportunities elsewhere,” noted David Russell, VP of Market Intelligence at brokerage firm TradeStation Group. ”That’s what seems to be happening now. It’s not bearish but a potential sign of confidence in the space.” Less bullish bitcoin action after the excitement of Coinbase’s direct listing isn’t a surprise for some, with prices unable to break through all-time high of $64,829.14 reached April 14. “As expected, we saw the April 14 ‘Coinbase top’ we were positioning for that bled into a deleveraging weekend sell-off,” noted quantitative trading firm QCP Capital in an investor note on Wednesday. A week later, traders are looking at other markets to play in. Volumes on major spot exchanges are much lower than average Wednesday, below $3 billion on the eight major exchanges tracked by the CoinDesk 20. Related: CBDCs and Stablecoins: The Regulatory Battle to Come TradeStation’s Russell told CoinDesk that U.S. dollar inflation will continue to be a key driver for investment into cryptocurrencies, and the case for crypto remains. According to data aggregator Inflation Tool, in the past decade the greenback’s value has decreased in purchasing power,so that it takes $118 in 2021 to pay for something that would have cost $100 in 2011. Story continues “Procter & Gamble is raising prices and the [Federal Reserve] isn’t raising interest rates. Signs of inflation are mounting throughout the economy,” added Russell. ”Inflation and scarcity value could emerge as newer drivers for the crypto space, especially with a Fed meeting next week.” Read More: During Bitcoin’s Latest Crash, ‘Tether Premium’ Shows Where Money Went Ether bullish over bitcoin Ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was up Wednesday, trading around $2,425 and climbing 4.2% in 24 hours as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET). While bitcoin’s price has been mostly stagnant this week, ether is popping. A good measure for comparing the world’s oldest cryptocurrency to ether is by viewing charts on the ETH/BTC pair, available on most major cryptocurrency exchanges. When the pair on the charts goes bullish, it means traders are selling bitcoin for ether, the case right now. The ETH/BTC went bullish on Tuesday, with the price now well above the 10-day and 50-day moving averages on the hourly chart; it’s up over 5% so far today on Coinbase. “It’s interesting to note at the current ETH/BTC ratio we are back to levels last seen at the beginning of February,” noted Andrew Tu, and executive at quantitative trading firm Efficient Frontier. “In February we saw this top out at 0.046 BTC. So this is the level we should be looking at, to see whether it breaks out of that resistance,” Tu added. As of press time, ETH/BTC was trading at 0.043 BTC on Coinbase. Nick Mancini, research analyst at crypto sentiment analytics firm Trade The Chain, told CoinDesk a breakout in bitcoin’s price performance could cause ETH and other crypto markets to see red. “If bitcoin breaks bullish out of the current trend, we will likely see ETH and [altcoins] take a small hit.” Read More: Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital Said to Be in Talks to Buy BitGo Other markets Digital assets on the CoinDesk 20 are mostly higher Wednesday. Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET): kyber network (KNC) + 7.4% orchid (OXT) + 3.3% omg network (OMG) + 2.7% Notable losers: ethereum classic (ETC) – 4.3% stellar (XLM) – 2.9% cosmos (ATOM) – 2.2% Equities: Asia’s Nikkei 225 index closed down 2% despite positive export data from March, with engineering firm Chiyoda and retailer Rakuten both slipping more than 5% . The FTSE 100 in Europe closed in the green 0.52% as traders digested positive corporate earnings reports, motivating them to buy stocks . The United States’ S&P 500 index was up 0.93% Wednesday as traders navigated positive earnings results although Netflix stock dropped 7% on poor subscriber numbers . Commodities: Oil was down 2.1%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $61.04. Gold was in the green 0.90% and at $1,794 as of press time. Silver is gaining, up 2.9% and changing hands at $26.57. Treasurys: The 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield fell Wednesday to 1.554 and in the red 0.22%. Related Stories Market Wrap: Bitcoin in Neutral at $55.5K as Ether Continues Bull Run Market Wrap: Bitcoin in Neutral at $55.5K as Ether Continues Bull Run View comments || Market Wrap: Bitcoin in Neutral at $55.5K as Ether Continues Bull Run: It’s boring bitcoin so far this week, with ether making gains for traders in a crypto market that overall is still signaling bullishness.
• Bitcoin(BTC) trading around $55,502 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Slipping 1.9% over the previous 24 hours.
• Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $54,565-$57,043 (CoinDesk 20)
• BTC close to the 10-hour and 50-hour moving average on the hourly chart, a sideways signal for market technicians.
The price of bitcoin has changed little over the past 24 hours, despite the asset’s notorious volatility causing the spot market to undulate from $54,565 to $57,043 during the session, a $2,478 swing, according to CoinDesk 20 price data.
Nevertheless, BTC has mostly stayed above $55,000 for almost a month. According to CoinDesk 20 historical data, the last time bitcoin closed below that level was back on March 26.
Related:NFT Issuer Doublejump.Tokyo Ditches Ethereum for Flow Blockchain
Since the start of April, bitcoin’s dominance, a measure of the asset against the broader crypto market as calculated by charting firm TradingView, has plummeted. It’s down almost 10% since April 1, and bitcoin is currently at 51% dominance as of press time, roughly half the market. At the beginning of 2021, that figure was over 70%.
“Traders are looking for opportunities elsewhere,” noted David Russell, VP of Market Intelligence at brokerage firm TradeStation Group. ”That’s what seems to be happening now. It’s not bearish but a potential sign of confidence in the space.”
Less bullish bitcoin action afterthe excitement of Coinbase’s direct listingisn’t a surprise for some, with prices unable to break through all-time high of $64,829.14 reached April 14. “As expected, we saw the April 14 ‘Coinbase top’ we were positioning for that bled into a deleveraging weekend sell-off,” noted quantitative trading firm QCP Capital in an investor note on Wednesday.
A week later, traders are looking at other markets to play in. Volumes on major spot exchanges are much lower than average Wednesday, below $3 billion on the eight major exchanges tracked by the CoinDesk 20.
Related:CBDCs and Stablecoins: The Regulatory Battle to Come
TradeStation’s Russell told CoinDesk that U.S. dollar inflation will continue to be a key driver for investment into cryptocurrencies, and the case for crypto remains. According to data aggregator Inflation Tool, in the past decade the greenback’s value has decreased in purchasing power,so that it takes $118 in 2021 to pay for something that would have cost $100 in 2011.
“Procter & Gamble is raising prices and the [Federal Reserve] isn’t raising interest rates. Signs of inflation are mounting throughout the economy,” added Russell. ”Inflation and scarcity value could emerge as newer drivers for the crypto space, especially with a Fed meeting next week.”
Read More:During Bitcoin’s Latest Crash, ‘Tether Premium’ Shows Where Money Went
Ether(ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was up Wednesday, trading around $2,425 and climbing 4.2% in 24 hours as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).
While bitcoin’s price has been mostly stagnant this week, ether is popping. A good measure for comparing the world’s oldest cryptocurrency to ether is by viewing charts on the ETH/BTC pair, available on most major cryptocurrency exchanges.
When the pair on the charts goes bullish, it means traders are selling bitcoin for ether, the case right now.
The ETH/BTC went bullish on Tuesday, with the price now well above the 10-day and 50-day moving averages on the hourly chart; it’s up over 5% so far today on Coinbase.
“It’s interesting to note at the current ETH/BTC ratio we are back to levels last seen at the beginning of February,” noted Andrew Tu, and executive at quantitative trading firm Efficient Frontier.
“In February we saw this top out at 0.046 BTC. So this is the level we should be looking at, to see whether it breaks out of that resistance,” Tu added. As of press time, ETH/BTC was trading at 0.043 BTC on Coinbase.
Nick Mancini, research analyst at crypto sentiment analytics firm Trade The Chain, told CoinDesk a breakout in bitcoin’s price performance could cause ETH and other crypto markets to see red. “If bitcoin breaks bullish out of the current trend, we will likely see ETH and [altcoins] take a small hit.”
Read More:Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital Said to Be in Talks to Buy BitGo
Digital assets on theCoinDesk 20are mostly higher Wednesday. Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• kyber network(KNC) + 7.4%
• orchid(OXT) + 3.3%
• omg network(OMG) + 2.7%
Notable losers:
• ethereum classic(ETC) – 4.3%
• stellar(XLM) – 2.9%
• cosmos(ATOM) – 2.2%
Equities:
• Asia’s Nikkei 225 index closed down 2%despite positive export data from March, with engineering firm Chiyoda and retailer Rakuten both slipping more than 5%.
• The FTSE 100 in Europe closed in the green 0.52% astraders digested positive corporate earnings reports, motivating them to buy stocks.
• The United States’ S&P 500 index was up 0.93%Wednesday as traders navigated positive earnings results although Netflix stock dropped 7% on poor subscriber numbers.
Commodities:
• Oil was down 2.1%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $61.04.
• Gold was in the green 0.90% and at $1,794 as of press time.
• Silver is gaining, up 2.9% and changing hands at $26.57.
Treasurys:
• The 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield fell Wednesday to 1.554 and in the red 0.22%.
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin in Neutral at $55.5K as Ether Continues Bull Run
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin in Neutral at $55.5K as Ether Continues Bull Run || How You Can Avoid Getting Hit by Unexpected Crypto Tax: 2020 was a great year for crypto even as the world struggled economically due to the coronavirus. Bitcoin’s price closed at just under $5,000 in mid-March 2020. The coin rested at $57,355 a year later. Ethereum rose more than 1,600% in roughly the same timeframe (from about $110 to $1,768). While surging crypto prices meant many investors turned a tidy profit over the last year, it also prompted tax officials to take a more discerning look at crypto transactions. The IRS Form 1040 for 2020 now clearly asks taxpayers if “at any time during 2020, did you sell, receive, send, exchange or otherwise acquire any financial interest in any virtual currency.” Many crypto holders find it daunting to figure out tax obligations, especially as government authorities begin to scrutinize digital asset holders more closely. In the wake of the 2017 ICO boom, Shane Brunette realized there were no tools that could easily account and categorize large amounts of Ethereum network-based transactions. He tried to hire a crypto accountant but received quotes far beyond his budget. Image: Tim and Shane Brunette, co-founders at CryptoTaxCalculator.io He decided to rely on a software engineering background to launch Crypto Tax Calculator in 2018. Later bringing on his brother Tim as CTO, the duo built out the platform to help other crypto holders calculate taxes. The brothers say CryptoTaxCalculator is robust enough to where a normal accountant who does not have crypto specialization could take transaction records and help with tax calculation. According to Shane and Tim, CryptoTaxCalculator supports more than 100 exchanges, DeFi protocols like NFTs, and networks like Binance Smart Chain. Some Crypto Holders Await A Solemn Surprise Come Tax Time Unsurprisingly, Shane and Tim’s work on tax software means they’ve spoken with many crypto holders confused about why they were hit with a large tax bill. The duo explains many are caught off guard by not understanding the differences between income and capital gains tax events, especially since “transactions like staking rewards and airdrops trigger income tax events, and in many jurisdictions, you are limited on how you can discount this income using capital losses.” Both also stress anyone who disposes of crypto is going to “trigger a tax event, regardless of whether you have cashed out to fiat or not.” It’s Not Smart To Sleep On Your Taxes Even If Filing Deadlines Get Extended Some are breathing a sigh of relief as they have a bit more time this year to get tax affairs in order. Many authorities have been extending filing deadlines to help citizens navigate unique challenges posed by the coronavirus. Story continues In light of this, the Brunette brothers add there’s no better time to get a handle on crypto taxes. They recommend crypto holders interested in turning to tax software “make sure it covers fees paid in cryptocurrency, which can quickly add to large savings.” Both point out how “an error margin of 1% can quickly add up to substantial amounts across hundreds or thousands of transactions, and the high volatility in cryptocurrency can magnify these errors.” High-volume traders should think about if they want to be categorized as trading as a business, Shane and Tim explain. Doing so can lead to offsetting capital losses against income but often means a taxpayer misses out on the “discounts around capital gains.” The Brunette brothers agree tax officials should carve out time to offer additional insight into rules and regulations surrounding crypto. They point towards guidance issued in late March from authorities in the UK offering clarity on staking rewards. According to Shane and Tim, the new guidelines left “many DeFi users with more tax exposure than they expected” and postulate traders might have changed their behavior if they had a better understanding of tax obligations. Both also point out there’s been “no indication that tax jurisdictions intend to update the rules for digital collectibles.” In their eyes, tax officials could soothe concerns about ambiguity by releasing crypto ‘case studies,’ especially touching on more “exotic” crypto scenarios. Being Proactive With Taxes Is The Best Strategy For Crypto Holders The Brunette brothers believe “specialized cryptocurrency accountant should not be a required service for users participating in the digital asset economy. Everything maps back to existing tax laws, and understanding the tax implications of your trading activity can be made easy with the right software.” Both Shane and Tim understand the coronavirus pandemic has left many worried and concerned about tax obligations, especially as officials signal they will crack down harder on crypto non-compliance. Still, the brothers draw on their own experience and explain how “tax authorities tend to be much more considerate towards proactively compliant users” and argue record-keeping is much easier with the right software. They note their own software platform is currently expanding the team to keep up with demand, hoping to ensure compliance with tax officials will be as simple as “adding your public wallet address.” Overall, while the tax world can be confusing and ever-changing, Shane and Tim Brunette agree building a software startup is a rewarding experience. Both claim “it’s hard to turn off work when we are together and enjoy each other's company as brothers instead of co-workers,” but agree that in a fast-paced world “having somebody you can fallback on who you know very well and deeply trust can be incredibly valuable.” View comments || How You Can Avoid Getting Hit by Unexpected Crypto Tax: 2020 was a great year for crypto even as the world struggled economically due to the coronavirus. Bitcoin’sprice closedat just under $5,000 in mid-March 2020. The coin rested at $57,355 a year later. Ethereum rose more than 1,600% in roughly the same timeframe (from about $110 to $1,768).
While surging crypto prices meant many investors turned a tidy profit over the last year, it also prompted tax officials to take a more discerning look at crypto transactions.
The IRS Form 1040 for 2020 nowclearly asks taxpayersif“at any time during 2020, did you sell, receive, send, exchange or otherwise acquire any financial interest in any virtual currency.”
Many crypto holders find it daunting to figure out tax obligations, especially as government authorities begin to scrutinize digital asset holders more closely.
In the wake of the 2017 ICO boom, Shane Brunette realized there were no tools that could easily account and categorize large amounts of Ethereum network-based transactions. He tried to hire a crypto accountant but received quotes far beyond his budget.
Image: Tim and Shane Brunette, co-founders at CryptoTaxCalculator.io
He decided to rely on a software engineering background to launchCrypto Tax Calculatorin 2018. Later bringing on his brother Tim as CTO, the duo built out the platform to help other crypto holders calculate taxes. The brothers say CryptoTaxCalculator is robust enough to where a normal accountant who does not have crypto specialization could take transaction records and help with tax calculation. According to Shane and Tim, CryptoTaxCalculator supports more than 100 exchanges, DeFi protocols like NFTs, and networks like Binance Smart Chain.
Unsurprisingly, Shane and Tim’s work on tax software means they’ve spoken with many crypto holders confused about why they were hit with a large tax bill.
The duo explains many are caught off guard by not understanding the differences between income and capital gains tax events, especially since“transactions like staking rewards and airdrops trigger income tax events, and in many jurisdictions, you are limited on how you can discount this income using capital losses.”
Both also stress anyone who disposes of crypto is going to“trigger a tax event, regardless of whether you have cashed out to fiat or not.”
Some are breathing a sigh of relief as they have a bit more time this year to get tax affairs in order. Many authorities have beenextending filing deadlinesto help citizens navigate unique challenges posed by the coronavirus.
In light of this, the Brunette brothers add there’s no better time to get a handle on crypto taxes.
They recommend crypto holders interested in turning to tax software“make sure it covers fees paid in cryptocurrency, which can quickly add to large savings.”Both point out how“an error margin of 1% can quickly add up to substantial amounts across hundreds or thousands of transactions, and the high volatility in cryptocurrency can magnify these errors.”
High-volume traders should think about if they want to be categorized as trading as a business, Shane and Tim explain. Doing so can lead to offsetting capital losses against income but often means a taxpayer misses out on the“discounts around capital gains.”
The Brunette brothers agree tax officials should carve out time to offer additional insight into rules and regulations surrounding crypto. Theypoint towards guidanceissued in late March from authorities in the UK offering clarity on staking rewards.
According to Shane and Tim, the new guidelines left“many DeFi users with more tax exposure than they expected”and postulate traders might have changed their behavior if they had a better understanding of tax obligations.
Both also point out there’s been“no indication that tax jurisdictions intend to update the rules for digital collectibles.”In their eyes, tax officials could soothe concerns about ambiguity by releasing crypto ‘case studies,’ especially touching on more “exotic” crypto scenarios.
The Brunette brothers believe“specialized cryptocurrency accountant should not be a required service for users participating in the digital asset economy. Everything maps back to existing tax laws, and understanding the tax implications of your trading activity can be made easy with the right software.”
Both Shane and Tim understand the coronavirus pandemic has left many worried and concerned about tax obligations, especially as officials signal they will crack down harder on crypto non-compliance.
Still, the brothers draw on their own experience and explain how“tax authorities tend to be much more considerate towards proactively compliant users”and argue record-keeping is much easier with the right software.
They note their own software platform is currently expanding the team to keep up with demand, hoping to ensure compliance with tax officials will be as simple as“adding your public wallet address.”
Overall, while the tax world can be confusing and ever-changing, Shane and Tim Brunette agree building a software startup is a rewarding experience.
Both claim“it’s hard to turn off work when we are together and enjoy each other's company as brothers instead of co-workers,”but agree that in a fast-paced world“having somebody you can fallback on who you know very well and deeply trust can be incredibly valuable.” || Stock Market Today: Dow Bounces Back as Earnings Beats Roll On: Technical analyst pointing at stock chart going up Getty Images Wednesday maintained the same light-news, heavy-earnings pace of the past couple of days, but with a much better result that saw the major indexes close in the black. Netflix ( NFLX ) was the primary focus of today's earnings slate . Its stock tanked by 7.4% after it reported disappointing subscriber growth in Q1 and predicted much of the same for Q2. SEE MORE 12 Cheapest Small Towns in America However, Michael Reinking, NYSE senior market strategist (and, get this, celebrant of National Big Word Day today), points out that "earnings remain the cynosure of investors, and, while there has been a disproportionable amount of coverage of the Netflix subs disappointment, earnings have been quite strong over the past few days." Indeed, Verizon ( VZ , -0.4%), Halliburton ( HAL , -3.6%) and Edwards Lifesciences ( EW , +6.3%) were among a few dozen companies to announce Street-beating earnings over the past 24 hours alone. Investor reactions to each of those reports varied widely, but the direction of the broader markets was unanimously up: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.9% to 34,137, the S&P 500 finished 0.9% higher to 4,173, the Nasdaq Composite closed up 1.2% to 13,950 and the small-cap Russell 2000 jumped 2.4% to 2,239. Sign up for Kiplinger's FREE Investing Weekly e-letter for stock, ETF and mutual fund recommendations, and other investing advice. "After the defensive posturing we’ve seen in the market over the last week, some of that is reversing today," Reinking adds. Other action in the stock market today: Cruise line stocks were sharply higher on Wednesday, including gains from Carnival ( CCL , +X%) and Royal Caribbean ( RCL , +X%). But leading the way was Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings ( NCLH , +X%) after Goldman Sachs analyst Stephen Grambling upgraded it to Buy. "The bottom-line is NCLH is poised to see fundamentals inflect once sailings resume," he writes, "with pent-up leisure demand driving a recovery in net yields beyond pre-pandemic levels at the same time that net cruise costs ex-fuel will be slower to bounce back." U.S. crude oil futures slumped 2.1% to $61.35 per barrel. Gold futures improved by 0.8% to $1,793.10 per ounce. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) retreated by 8.1% to 17.16. Bitcoin prices declined 1.8% to $55.615. (Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day; prices reported here are as of 4 p.m. each trading day.) Story continues stock chart for 042121 YCharts SEE MORE 7 5G Stocks With More Catalysts Than 5G ESG Investments for Earth Day Tomorrow marks the nation's 51st celebration of Earth Day, and never before has the concept behind it been so important to investors. Environmental stewardship has become a crucial value to a swelling number of investors – it goes beyond buying shares of companies directly in the business of doing better by the environment , but ensuring that firms of all types are contributing where they can. That's just part of a wider trend favoring investments based on ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) factors . And it's more than merely a feel-good strategy; many good ESG practices go hand in hand with stronger operations. If you want to harness these factors but don't feel like doing heavy research across hundreds of stocks, funds that select their holdings based on these criteria are abundant – we've recently explored a number of ESG ETFs that fit the bill , and this wider list of values-based funds includes picks for ETF and mutual fund investors alike . That said, some people are most comfortable with individual companies they've come to learn and understand, like the ubiquitous blue chips of the Dow 30 – and you'll be glad to know that several of them are solid ESG citizens. According to index and analytics specialist MSCI, 10 Dow stocks are considered leaders in environmental, social and governance practices , and most of them also pass muster with Wall Street's top analysts. Check them out. Kyle Woodley was long NCLH as of this writing. SEE MORE 25 Blue Chips With Brawny Balance Sheets || Stock Market Today: Dow Bounces Back as Earnings Beats Roll On: Technical analyst pointing at stock chart going up Getty Images Wednesday maintained the same light-news, heavy-earnings pace of the past couple of days, but with a much better result that saw the major indexes close in the black. Netflix ( NFLX ) was the primary focus of today's earnings slate . Its stock tanked by 7.4% after it reported disappointing subscriber growth in Q1 and predicted much of the same for Q2. SEE MORE 12 Cheapest Small Towns in America However, Michael Reinking, NYSE senior market strategist (and, get this, celebrant of National Big Word Day today), points out that "earnings remain the cynosure of investors, and, while there has been a disproportionable amount of coverage of the Netflix subs disappointment, earnings have been quite strong over the past few days." Indeed, Verizon ( VZ , -0.4%), Halliburton ( HAL , -3.6%) and Edwards Lifesciences ( EW , +6.3%) were among a few dozen companies to announce Street-beating earnings over the past 24 hours alone. Investor reactions to each of those reports varied widely, but the direction of the broader markets was unanimously up: The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.9% to 34,137, the S&P 500 finished 0.9% higher to 4,173, the Nasdaq Composite closed up 1.2% to 13,950 and the small-cap Russell 2000 jumped 2.4% to 2,239. Sign up for Kiplinger's FREE Investing Weekly e-letter for stock, ETF and mutual fund recommendations, and other investing advice. "After the defensive posturing we’ve seen in the market over the last week, some of that is reversing today," Reinking adds. Other action in the stock market today: Cruise line stocks were sharply higher on Wednesday, including gains from Carnival ( CCL , +X%) and Royal Caribbean ( RCL , +X%). But leading the way was Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings ( NCLH , +X%) after Goldman Sachs analyst Stephen Grambling upgraded it to Buy. "The bottom-line is NCLH is poised to see fundamentals inflect once sailings resume," he writes, "with pent-up leisure demand driving a recovery in net yields beyond pre-pandemic levels at the same time that net cruise costs ex-fuel will be slower to bounce back." U.S. crude oil futures slumped 2.1% to $61.35 per barrel. Gold futures improved by 0.8% to $1,793.10 per ounce. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) retreated by 8.1% to 17.16. Bitcoin prices declined 1.8% to $55.615. (Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day; prices reported here are as of 4 p.m. each trading day.) Story continues stock chart for 042121 YCharts SEE MORE 7 5G Stocks With More Catalysts Than 5G ESG Investments for Earth Day Tomorrow marks the nation's 51st celebration of Earth Day, and never before has the concept behind it been so important to investors. Environmental stewardship has become a crucial value to a swelling number of investors – it goes beyond buying shares of companies directly in the business of doing better by the environment , but ensuring that firms of all types are contributing where they can. That's just part of a wider trend favoring investments based on ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) factors . And it's more than merely a feel-good strategy; many good ESG practices go hand in hand with stronger operations. If you want to harness these factors but don't feel like doing heavy research across hundreds of stocks, funds that select their holdings based on these criteria are abundant – we've recently explored a number of ESG ETFs that fit the bill , and this wider list of values-based funds includes picks for ETF and mutual fund investors alike . That said, some people are most comfortable with individual companies they've come to learn and understand, like the ubiquitous blue chips of the Dow 30 – and you'll be glad to know that several of them are solid ESG citizens. According to index and analytics specialist MSCI, 10 Dow stocks are considered leaders in environmental, social and governance practices , and most of them also pass muster with Wall Street's top analysts. Check them out. Kyle Woodley was long NCLH as of this writing. SEE MORE 25 Blue Chips With Brawny Balance Sheets || Novogratz on crypto ETFs: There's no doubt Canada is one step ahead of the U.S.: U.S. regulators are doing American investors a disservice by not authorizing cryptocurrency ETFs. There are over one dozen ETFs currently on hold in the review stage at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Meanwhile, Canadian regulators began allowing investors to buy crypto ETFs in February. "The Canadian regulators are one step ahead there's no doubt about it. It's surprising to me that the SEC has also been so slow. I assume with [SEC chief Gary] Gensler now taking the seat officially, that's going to speed up ," Mike Novogratz, Galaxy Partners CEO tells Yahoo Finance Live. Novogratz and Galaxy worked with asset management firm CI Financial to launch the CI Galaxy Ethereum ETF ( ETHX-U.TO ) on the Toronto Stock Exchange Tuesday. It's one of three ethereum ETFs that Canadian securities regulators have approved for listing this week, and they are the first of their kind in North America. In February, the Purpose Bitcoin ETF ( BTCC-U.TO ) was similarly the first bitcoin ETF to list in North America. But U.S. investors who want crypto exposure have it tough if they don't want the custodial headaches that can come with buying actual coins and tokens. Grayscale Investments manages cryptocurrency trusts, such as the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which are exchange traded products and somewhat similar to ETFs. But because of their structure, they're subject to so-called tracking errors, where the trust trades higher or lower than the underlying asset it's supposed to be tracking. True ETFs tend to have fewer and less volatile tracking errors because market makers can dynamically create and destroy baskets of new shares. Grayscale crypto products are only available to accredited investors in the U.S., which excludes many budding crypto enthusiasts who can't satisfy the net worth and income requirements. Grayscale says they always intended to eventually convert the trusts to ETFs . But until the SEC starts green lighting the asset class, they're effectively in the same holding pattern as other filers in the U.S. Story continues Novogratz says, "It makes no sense that we have been so slow. They allowed the Grayscale Trust, which was a tough way for retail to participate. They paid high fees. [The Trust] traded at a premium to the price of the underlying [asset] for many, many months. Now it's trading at a big discount." CI GAM has waived the 40 basis point management fee it normally charges through June 15. Most Grayscale products charge a 2% management fee. Canadian investors have an edge on U.S. Global securities regulators were understandably slow to act in 2018 after the price of bitcoin plunged from its 2017 peak of nearly $20,000 to $3,100 that year. But the game has changed, as crypto has emerged as an asset class, with Wall Street institutions incorporating it on their platforms and offering it to clients . Kurt MacAlpine, CI Financial CEO, appeared on Yahoo Finance Live with Novogratz and explained exactly how U.S. investors are being deprived by regulators holding up crypto-based ETFs. Essentially, investors are being locked out of professional crypto investment advice by their investment advisors, which don't have access to crypto ETF and mutual fund products. "I am very excited by the fact that Canadian regulator has approved these strategies because now clients don't have to go away from their advisor to access cryptocurrencies, which is essentially what they were forced to do beforehand. By not having a managed product in the marketplace, they were forced to hold them in wallets sitting outside of the very important, very critical advice-based relationship," says MacAlpine. Canadian investors now have options. "We get a lot of inbound questions from clients asking us how do they think about digital assets? How does it fit into their portfolio? How does it stack up from a deployment of capital relative to other asset classes?" says MacAlpine. "So now, having it in the friendly format and structure, it allows them to get advice based upon those particular assets, which they couldn't do in the case of ethereum as of yesterday. Now people can get access to it through their financial advisor, which I think is absolutely critical to think about it as a holistic, balanced advice-based financial portfolio and relationship." But when it comes to getting similar products in the U.S., Novogratz is hopeful for U.S. regulators, saying, "[Gensler] understands crypto well, and he likes bitcoin and ethereum. He taught a class on it at M.I.T." 2021 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting Jared Blikre is an anchor and reporter focused on the markets on Yahoo Finance Live. Follow him @SPYJared Investors should literally 'go away in May' this year: NYSE trader This is the single worst time to be a passive investor: veteran investor Archegos: How Wall Street's hubris is a lesson for retail traders 'We are in a bearish environment': veteran trader Tesla stock is off its high, but it's not 'on sale': trader Why women investors outperform men in the long run: trader https://finance.yahoo.com... Former NYSE veteran breaks down risk management while trading AMD Here's how to take emotions out of investing: veteran trader What the GameStop Congressional hearing will reveal to retail investors || Novogratz on crypto ETFs: There's no doubt Canada is one step ahead of the U.S.: U.S. regulators are doing American investors a disservice by not authorizing cryptocurrency ETFs. There are over one dozen ETFs currently on hold in the review stage at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Meanwhile, Canadian regulators began allowing investors to buy crypto ETFs in February.
"The Canadian regulators are one step ahead — there's no doubt about it. It's surprising to me that the SEC has also been so slow. I assume with [SEC chief Gary] Gensler now taking the seat officially,that's going to speed up," Mike Novogratz, Galaxy Partners CEO tells Yahoo Finance Live.
Novogratz and Galaxy worked with asset management firm CI Financial to launch the CI Galaxy Ethereum ETF (ETHX-U.TO) on the Toronto Stock Exchange Tuesday. It's one of three ethereum ETFs that Canadian securities regulators have approved for listing this week, and they are the first of their kind in North America. In February, the Purpose Bitcoin ETF (BTCC-U.TO) was similarly the first bitcoin ETF to list in North America.
But U.S. investors who want crypto exposure have it tough if they don't want the custodial headaches that can come with buying actual coins and tokens. Grayscale Investments manages cryptocurrency trusts, such as the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which are exchange traded products and somewhat similar to ETFs. But because of their structure, they're subject to so-called tracking errors, where the trust trades higher or lower than the underlying asset it's supposed to be tracking. True ETFs tend to have fewer and less volatile tracking errors because market makers can dynamically create and destroy baskets of new shares.
Grayscale crypto products are only available toaccredited investorsin the U.S., which excludes many budding crypto enthusiasts who can't satisfy the net worth and income requirements. Grayscale says they always intended to eventuallyconvert the trusts to ETFs. But until the SEC starts green lighting the asset class, they're effectively in the same holding pattern as other filers in the U.S.
Novogratz says, "It makes no sense that we have been so slow. They allowed the Grayscale Trust, which was a tough way for retail to participate. They paid high fees. [The Trust] traded at a premium to the price of the underlying [asset] for many, many months. Now it's trading at a big discount."
CI GAM has waived the 40 basis point management fee it normally charges through June 15. Most Grayscale products charge a 2% management fee.
Global securities regulators were understandably slow to act in 2018 after the price of bitcoin plunged from its 2017 peak of nearly $20,000 to $3,100 that year. But the game has changed, as crypto has emerged as an asset class, with Wall Street institutions incorporating it on their platforms andoffering it to clients.
Kurt MacAlpine, CI Financial CEO, appeared on Yahoo Finance Live with Novogratz and explained exactly how U.S. investors are being deprived by regulators holding up crypto-based ETFs. Essentially, investors are being locked out of professional crypto investment advice by their investment advisors, which don't have access to crypto ETF and mutual fund products.
"I am very excited by the fact that Canadian regulator has approved these strategies because now clients don't have to go away from their advisor to access cryptocurrencies, which is essentially what they were forced to do beforehand. By not having a managed product in the marketplace, they were forced to hold them in wallets sitting outside of the very important, very critical advice-based relationship," says MacAlpine.
Canadian investors now have options. "We get a lot of inbound questions from clients asking us how do they think about digital assets? How does it fit into their portfolio? How does it stack up from a deployment of capital relative to other asset classes?" says MacAlpine. "So now, having it in the friendly format and structure, it allows them to get advice based upon those particular assets, which they couldn't do in the case of ethereum as of yesterday. Now people can get access to it through their financial advisor, which I think is absolutely critical to think about it as a holistic, balanced advice-based financial portfolio and relationship."
But when it comes to getting similar products in the U.S., Novogratz is hopeful for U.S. regulators, saying, "[Gensler] understands crypto well, and he likes bitcoin and ethereum. He taught a class on it at M.I.T."
Jared Blikre is an anchor and reporter focused on the markets on Yahoo Finance Live. Follow him@SPYJared
• Investors should literally 'go away in May' this year: NYSE trader
• ‘This is the single worst time to be a passive investor’: veteran investor
• Archegos: How Wall Street's hubris is a lesson for retail traders
• 'We are in a bearish environment': veteran trader
• Tesla stock is off its high, but it's not 'on sale': trader
• Why women investors outperform men in the long run: traderhttps://finance.yahoo.com...
• Former NYSE veteran breaks down risk management while trading AMD
• Here's how to take emotions out of investing: veteran trader
• What the GameStop Congressional hearing will reveal to retail investors || Marathon to Participate in the H.C. Wainwright Cryptocurrency, Blockchain & FinTech Conference on April 27, 2021: LAS VEGAS, April 21, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: MARA ) ("Marathon" or "Company") , one of the largest enterprise Bitcoin self-mining companies in North America, will be participating in the H.C. Wainwright Cryptocurrency, Blockchain & FinTech Conference , which is being held virtually on Tuesday, April 27, 2021. Marathon’s chairman and CEO, Merrick Okamoto, will be participating in the Crypto Mining: Technology, Flexibility, and Sustainability Panel at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time, a fireside chat at 2:30 p.m. Eastern time, and will also hold one-on-one meetings with institutional investors and analysts throughout the conference. Interested parties can register for each event and view the live webcasts at the following links: Crypto Mining Panel (April 27 th at 10:00 a.m. ET) – Webcast here Fireside Chat (April 27 th at 2:30 p.m. ET) – Webcast here For additional information or to schedule a one-on-one meeting with Marathon, please contact your H.C. Wainwright representative or Marathon’s IR team at [email protected] . Investor Notice Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. Before making an investment decision, you should carefully consider the risks, uncertainties and forward-looking statements described under "Risk Factors" in Item 1A of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020. If any of these risks were to occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations would likely suffer. In that event, the value of our securities could decline and you could lose part or all of your investment. The risks and uncertainties we describe are not the only ones facing us. Additional risks not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also impair our business operations. In addition, our past financial performance may not be a reliable indicator of future performance, and historical trends should not be used to anticipate results in the future. Future changes in the network-wide mining difficulty rate or Bitcoin hashrate may also materially affect the future performance of Marathon's production of Bitcoin. Additionally, all discussions of financial metrics assume mining difficulty rates as of March 2021. See "Safe Harbor" below. Story continues About Marathon Digital Holdings Marathon is a digital asset technology company that mines cryptocurrencies with a focus on the blockchain ecosystem and the generation of digital assets. Marathon Digital Holdings Company Contact: Jason Assad Telephone: 678-570-6791 Email: [email protected] Marathon Digital Holdings Investor Contact: Gateway Investor Relations Matt Glover and Charlie Schumacher Telephone: 949-574-3860 Email: [email protected] || Marathon to Participate in the H.C. Wainwright Cryptocurrency, Blockchain & FinTech Conference on April 27, 2021: LAS VEGAS, April 21, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc.(NASDAQ:MARA) ("Marathon" or "Company"), one of the largest enterprise Bitcoin self-mining companies in North America, will be participating in theH.C. Wainwright Cryptocurrency, Blockchain & FinTech Conference, which is being held virtually on Tuesday, April 27, 2021.
Marathon’s chairman and CEO, Merrick Okamoto, will be participating in theCrypto Mining: Technology, Flexibility, and Sustainability Panelat 10:00 a.m. Eastern time, a fireside chat at 2:30 p.m. Eastern time, and will also hold one-on-one meetings with institutional investors and analysts throughout the conference.
Interested parties can register for each event and view the live webcasts at the following links:
• Crypto Mining Panel (April 27that 10:00 a.m. ET) –Webcast here
• Fireside Chat (April 27that 2:30 p.m. ET) –Webcast here
For additional information or to schedule a one-on-one meeting with Marathon, please contact your H.C. Wainwright representative or Marathon’s IR team [email protected].
Investor NoticeInvesting in our securities involves a high degree of risk. Before making an investment decision, you should carefully consider the risks, uncertainties and forward-looking statements described under "Risk Factors" in Item 1A of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020. If any of these risks were to occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations would likely suffer. In that event, the value of our securities could decline and you could lose part or all of your investment. The risks and uncertainties we describe are not the only ones facing us. Additional risks not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also impair our business operations. In addition, our past financial performance may not be a reliable indicator of future performance, and historical trends should not be used to anticipate results in the future. Future changes in the network-wide mining difficulty rate or Bitcoin hashrate may also materially affect the future performance of Marathon's production of Bitcoin. Additionally, all discussions of financial metrics assume mining difficulty rates as of March 2021. See "Safe Harbor" below.
About Marathon Digital HoldingsMarathon is a digital asset technology company that mines cryptocurrencies with a focus on the blockchain ecosystem and the generation of digital assets.
Marathon Digital Holdings Company Contact:Jason AssadTelephone: 678-570-6791Email:[email protected]
Marathon Digital Holdings Investor Contact:Gateway Investor RelationsMatt Glover and Charlie SchumacherTelephone: 949-574-3860Email:[email protected] || BitWats release Most Profitable ASIC Miners: BitWats BitWats BitWats NEW YORK, April 21, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bitwats ( www.BitWats.com ), a team of technology leaders working relentlessly to bring the latest crypto-mining technology to the public, has just released the markets most powerful and profitable crypto miners. The companys product range currently comprises of BT, DBT, and GBT, three multi-algorithm miners capable of delivering lightning fast hash rate, maximum energy efficiency, and fastest possible return on investment. All the miners from Bitwats are built around the latest ASIC technology. An ASIC or application-specific integrated circuit is a microchip designed for a special application. Powered by 5nm ASIC chips, the mining rigs from Bitwats offer extraordinary hash rates and energy efficiency for mining bitcoin, litecoin, ethereum, and monero. As a result, the profitability of these miners is second to none in the current crypto market. DBT offers hash rates of 750 TH/s, 70 GH/s, 5 GH/s, and 5 MH/s, for bitcoin, litecoin, ethereum, and monero respectively. On the other hand, for GBT Miner, the hash power in the same order are 2250 TH/s, 210 GH/s, 15 GH/s, and 15 MH/s. The power consumptions for these two units are 900W and 2200W respectively Based on figures mentioned above, monthly profit making potential of the two units is as mentioned below. DBT Miner: $7,500 (Bitcoin), $13,000 (Litecoin), $13,000 (Ethereum), and $15,000 (Monero) GBT Miner: $22,500 (Bitcoin), $39,000 (Litecoin), $37,000 (Ethereum), and $45,000 (Monero) Bitwats designed its crypto miners with the goal of making crypto mining easy and profitable for all, including the newbies. Once these miners are delivered, anyone can start mining simply by connecting the unit to a power socket and accessing it through WiFi or cable, and entering the pool data. Users also have the option of joining Bitwats own mining pool that has a 0% fee. Also, the company covers the delivery and custom fees for its customers. To find out more, please visit https://www.bitwats.com About Bitwats: Bitwats was founded in 2016 by a team of technology leaders with a track record of working for the worlds most prodigious companies in the past. Dedicated to bringing the latest crypto-mining technology to the public, the company has recently introduced its exquisite line of advanced ASIC miners. Unlike most other crypto mining hardware manufacturers, Bitwats continuously works towards making crypto mining easy and profitable for all regardless of their experience and knowledge. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8c207d7f-6e22-406b-9017-e430f208bba9 Story continues CONTACT: Contact: Daniel Lotin [email protected] +1 (347) 905-5614 View comments || BitWats release Most Profitable ASIC Miners: NEW YORK, April 21, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bitwats (www.BitWats.com), a team of technology leaders working relentlessly to bring the latest crypto-mining technology to the public, has just released the market’s most powerful and profitable crypto miners. The company’s product range currently comprises of BT, DBT, and GBT, three multi-algorithm miners capable of delivering lightning fast hash rate, maximum energy efficiency, and fastest possible return on investment.
All the miners from Bitwats are built around the latest ASIC technology. An ASIC or application-specific integrated circuit is a microchip designed for a special application. Powered by 5nm ASIC chips, the mining rigs from Bitwats offer extraordinary hash rates and energy efficiency for mining bitcoin, litecoin, ethereum, and monero. As a result, the profitability of these miners is second to none in the current crypto market.
DBT offers hash rates of 750 TH/s, 70 GH/s, 5 GH/s, and 5 MH/s, for bitcoin, litecoin, ethereum, and monero respectively. On the other hand, for GBT Miner, the hash power in the same order are 2250 TH/s, 210 GH/s, 15 GH/s, and 15 MH/s. The power consumptions for these two units are 900W and 2200W respectively
Based on figures mentioned above, monthly profit making potential of the two units is as mentioned below.
• DBT Miner: $7,500 (Bitcoin), $13,000 (Litecoin), $13,000 (Ethereum), and $15,000 (Monero)
• GBT Miner: $22,500 (Bitcoin), $39,000 (Litecoin), $37,000 (Ethereum), and $45,000 (Monero)
Bitwats designed its crypto miners with the goal of making crypto mining easy and profitable for all, including the newbies. Once these miners are delivered, anyone can start mining simply by connecting the unit to a power socket and accessing it through WiFi or cable, and entering the pool data. Users also have the option of joining Bitwats’ own mining pool that has a 0% fee. Also, the company covers the delivery and custom fees for its customers.
To find out more, please visithttps://www.bitwats.com
About Bitwats: Bitwats was founded in 2016 by a team of technology leaders with a track record of working for the world’s most prodigious companies in the past. Dedicated to bringing the latest crypto-mining technology to the public, the company has recently introduced its exquisite line of advanced ASIC miners. Unlike most other crypto mining hardware manufacturers, Bitwats continuously works towards making crypto mining easy and profitable for all regardless of their experience and knowledge.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available athttps://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8c207d7f-6e22-406b-9017-e430f208bba9
CONTACT: Contact: Daniel Lotin [email protected] +1 (347) 905-5614 || Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP: Reminds Investors of Securities Fraud Class Action Filed Against Ebang International Holdings Inc.: RADNOR, PA / ACCESSWIRE / April 21, 2021 /The law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP reminds investors of Ebang International Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:EBON) ("Ebang") that a securities fraud class action lawsuit has been filed against Ebang on behalf of those who purchased or acquired Ebang securitiesbetween June 26, 2020 and April 5, 2021, inclusive (the "Class Period").
Lead Plaintiff Deadline:June 7, 2021
Website:https://www.ktmc.com/ebang-international-class-action-lawsuit?utm_source=PR&utm_medium=Link&utm_campaign=ebang
Contact:James Maro, Esq. (484) 270-1453
Adrienne Bell, Esq. (484) 270-1435
Toll free (844) 887-9500
Ebang is a leading application-specific integrated circuit chip design company and a leading manufacturer of Bitcoin mining machines.
The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, the defendants failed to disclose to investors that: (1) the proceeds from Ebang's public offerings had been directed to low yield, long term bonds to an underwriter and to related parties rather than used to develop Ebang's operations; (2) Ebang's sales were declining, and Ebang had inflated reported sales, including through the sale of defective units; (3) Ebang's attempts to go public in Hong Kong had failed due to allegations of embezzling investor funds and inflated sales figures; (4) Ebang's purported cryptocurrency exchange was merely the purchase of an out-of-the-box crypto exchange; and (5) as a result of the foregoing, the defendants' positive statements about Ebang's business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.
Ebang investors may,no later than June 7, 2021, seek to be appointed as a lead plaintiff representative of the class through Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP, or other counsel, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of all class members in directing the litigation. In order to be appointed as a lead plaintiff, the Court must determine that the class member's claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision of whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff.
Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP prosecutes class actions in state and federal courts throughout the country involving securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duties and other violations of state and federal law. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP is a driving force behind corporate governance reform, and has recovered billions of dollars on behalf of institutional and individual investors from the United States and around the world. The firm represents investors, consumers and whistleblowers (private citizens who report fraudulent practices against the government and share in the recovery of government dollars). The complaint in this action was not filed by Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP. For more information about Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP please visitwww.ktmc.com.
CONTACT:
Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLPJames Maro, Jr., Esq.Adrienne Bell, Esq.280 King of Prussia RoadRadnor, PA 19087(844) 887-9500 (toll free)[email protected]
SOURCE:Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/641621/Kessler-Topaz-Meltzer-Check-LLP-Reminds-Investors-of-Securities-Fraud-Class-Action-Filed-Against-Ebang-International-Holdings-Inc
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51093.65, 50050.87, 49004.25, 54021.75, 55033.12, 54824.70, 53555.11, 57750.18, 57828.05, 56631.08
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 11711.51, 11680.82, 11970.48, 11414.03, 10245.30, 10511.81, 10169.57, 10280.35, 10369.56, 10131.52, 10242.35, 10363.14, 10400.92, 10442.17, 10323.76, 10680.84, 10796.95, 10974.91, 10948.99, 10944.59, 11094.35, 10938.27, 10462.26, 10538.46, 10246.19, 10760.07, 10692.72, 10750.72, 10775.27, 10709.65, 10844.64, 10784.49, 10619.45, 10575.97, 10549.33, 10669.58, 10793.34, 10604.41, 10668.97, 10915.69, 11064.46, 11296.36, 11384.18, 11555.36, 11425.90, 11429.51, 11495.35, 11322.12, 11358.10, 11483.36, 11742.04, 11916.33, 12823.69, 12965.89, 12931.54, 13108.06, 13031.17, 13075.25, 13654.22, 13271.29, 13437.88, 13546.52, 13781.00, 13737.11, 13550.49, 13950.30, 14133.71, 15579.85, 15565.88, 14833.75, 15479.57, 15332.32, 15290.90, 15701.34, 16276.34, 16317.81, 16068.14, 15955.59, 16716.11, 17645.41, 17804.01, 17817.09, 18621.31, 18642.23, 18370.00, 18364.12, 19107.46, 18732.12, 17150.62, 17108.40.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2020-11-27]
Volume: 38886494645, RSI (14-day): 55.41, 50-day EMA: 15164.99, 200-day EMA: 11886.81
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1781.90, Gold RSI: 31.35
Oil Price: 45.53, Oil RSI: 68.94
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
A Millennial Crypto Victory Bigger Than the Price of Bitcoin: (Bloomberg Opinion) -- With the speed cryptocurrency is emerging as the Millennial generation’s alternative asset of choice in India, it’s hard to imagine that just two years ago a couple of blockchain pioneers were briefly in police custody. Sathvik Vishwanath and Harish BV, cofounders of a then five-year-old startup, were arrested in late 2018. No, they hadn’t pulled off a shady initial coin offering. Their “crime” was that they put up a kiosk in a mall in Bangalore where customers could swap Bitcoin, Ether or Ripple for cash or vice versa. That was the whole point of Unocoin, their crypto token exchange. But the police were suspicious of the new-fangled “ATM.” A lot has changed since then. Unocoin, which just raised financing from Tesla Inc.-backer Tim Draper’s Draper Associates, is flourishing, together with other Indian blockchain ventures. India’s share of person-to-person virtual-currency trading in Asia has surged to 33%, the same as in China, according to Oslo-based Arcane Research’s analysis of volumes on Paxful and LocalBitcoins, the biggest platforms for transactions in the region. Some of this is no doubt due to the bubbly rise this year in Bitcoin, which recently came within $100 of its all-time high after surpassing $19,000 for the first time since 2017. Even after Thursday’s wobble, prices have still more than doubled this year.But fundamental factors are also at play. Sending money to India in a tokenized form, and thus avoiding hefty bank charges, is becoming an option. Some customers of digital-asset exchanges, probably tech-savvy freelancers, receive tokens at regular intervals as payment for their work and convert them into rupees via their local bank accounts. Families in India are using the same channel to send money to students overseas. Having the world’s largest diaspora — and more than $100 billion in two-way money flows last year — isn’t the only thing. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s disastrous ban on 86% of the country’s currency in November 2016 shook Indians’ faith in fiat money. Add the fear of leaving spare cash in banks when three major deposit-taking institutions have crumbled in the past 15 months. No wonder Arcane expects Indian crypto volumes to overtake China’s. Story continues The domestic asset management industry is also helping adoption of crypto — by its incompetence. Most large-cap fund managers have struggled to beat their benchmarks, especially in recent years. The Nifty 50 index has returned only about 2% annually in dollar terms over the past decade. Yet, as Bloomberg Intelligence’s Gaurav Patankar and Morgan Barna have shown, lack of performance hasn’t kept managers from pocketing high fees. Disgruntled younger savers are taking note, and dipping their toes in U.S. exchange-traded funds. At 1%, international allocation is still tiny, the Bloomberg Intelligence analysts say, but it’s growing rapidly. Ditto for crypto-investing, even though holding a highly volatile digital asset over the long term isn’t for the faint of heart. Only 600 of Unocoin’s 1.2 million customers have started a systematic buying plan to invest (mostly) in Bitcoin. But 99.5% of them are sitting on profit, and must be bragging about it to their friends. There’s one dampener: regulation. Nobody wants a return to 2018, when the Reserve Bank, the monetary authority, instructed banks not to entertain customers who dealt in virtual currency. The draconian approach nearly strangled India’s blockchain revolution. The action against Unocoin’s kiosk in Bangalore was like the heavy hand of the state crashing down on a kids’ lemonade stand. If folks in India’s technology capital couldn’t pay cash to buy digital tokens, then the asset was effectively being banned nationwide. In hindsight, the founders’ ordeal with the police proved to be a blessing in disguise. Young entrepreneurs joined together, went to the Supreme Court in New Delhi and got the RBI’s direction to banks declared unconstitutional. That was in March. Already, the exchange has seen a fivefold jump in trading, averaging $150,000 a day, from $30,000 before the court’s verdict. Of late, trading is much higher, thanks to the rally in Bitcoin prices. Larger bourses such as CoinDCX were witnessing daily volumes of almost $700,000, when I last checked. The players are urging the government to bring digital assets under the existing money-laundering law, which will give the industry legitimacy. The next step would be to regulate the tokens as money or securities, depending on their use. Read About: The End of Banking as We Know It India’s phlegmatic bureaucracy may wonder if this is all a craze. Perhaps not. It isn’t even unique to Indian Millennial and Generation Z consumers. Wringing the global banking industry dry of its exorbitant fees, and putting more purchasing power in people's hands after the Covid-19 pandemic, will be a worldwide goal. In their study titled, “What We Must Do to Rebuild,” Deutsche Bank AG economists are advising companies and policy makers to design alternatives to credit cards and “remove middleman fees.” In the short run, conventional fintech will help, but in the longer term, major economies will all do this by replacing cash with their own central bank digital currencies. That’s when older consumers will join in. If they don’t, they’ll get get stuck, and not just figuratively. Automatically triggered crypto “smart contracts“ will make it possible for self-driving cars to switch lanes faster than others. Commuters will be continuously paying one another in official digital currencies — or in stablecoins like Facebook Inc.’s proposed Libra, private tokens whose values are fixed against fiat money. The Indian Millennials have read the tea leaves right. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Andy Mukherjee is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering industrial companies and financial services. He previously was a columnist for Reuters Breakingviews. He has also worked for the Straits Times, ET NOW and Bloomberg News. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. ©2020 Bloomberg L.P. || A Millennial Crypto Victory Bigger Than the Price of Bitcoin: (Bloomberg Opinion) -- With the speed cryptocurrency is emerging as the Millennial generation’s alternative asset of choice in India, it’s hard to imagine that just two years ago a couple of blockchain pioneers were briefly in police custody.
Sathvik Vishwanath and Harish BV, cofounders of a then five-year-old startup, were arrested in late 2018. No, they hadn’t pulled off a shady initial coin offering. Their “crime” was that they put up a kiosk in a mall in Bangalore where customers could swap Bitcoin, Ether or Ripple for cash or vice versa. That was the whole point of Unocoin, their crypto token exchange. But the police were suspicious of the new-fangled “ATM.”
A lot has changed since then. Unocoin, which just raised financing from Tesla Inc.-backer Tim Draper’s Draper Associates, is flourishing, together with other Indian blockchain ventures. India’s share of person-to-person virtual-currency trading in Asia has surged to 33%, the same as in China, according to Oslo-based Arcane Research’s analysis of volumes on Paxful and LocalBitcoins, the biggest platforms for transactions in the region.
Some of this is no doubt due to the bubbly rise this year in Bitcoin, which recently came within $100 of its all-time high after surpassing $19,000 for the first time since 2017. Even after Thursday’s wobble, prices have still more than doubled this year.But fundamental factors are also at play. Sending money to India in a tokenized form, and thus avoiding hefty bank charges, is becoming an option. Some customers of digital-asset exchanges, probably tech-savvy freelancers, receive tokens at regular intervals as payment for their work and convert them into rupees via their local bank accounts. Families in India are using the same channel to send money to students overseas.
Having the world’s largest diaspora — and more than $100 billion in two-way money flows last year — isn’t the only thing. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s disastrous ban on 86% of the country’s currency in November 2016 shook Indians’ faith in fiat money. Add the fear of leaving spare cash in banks when three major deposit-taking institutions have crumbled in the past 15 months. No wonder Arcane expects Indian crypto volumes to overtake China’s.
The domestic asset management industry is also helping adoption of crypto — by its incompetence. Most large-cap fund managers have struggled to beat their benchmarks, especially in recent years. The Nifty 50 index has returned only about 2% annually in dollar terms over the past decade. Yet, as Bloomberg Intelligence’s Gaurav Patankar and Morgan Barna have shown, lack of performance hasn’t kept managers from pocketing high fees.
Disgruntled younger savers are taking note, and dipping their toes in U.S. exchange-traded funds. At 1%, international allocation is still tiny, the Bloomberg Intelligence analysts say, but it’s growing rapidly. Ditto for crypto-investing, even though holding a highly volatile digital asset over the long term isn’t for the faint of heart. Only 600 of Unocoin’s 1.2 million customers have started a systematic buying plan to invest (mostly) in Bitcoin. But 99.5% of them are sitting on profit, and must be bragging about it to their friends.
There’s one dampener: regulation. Nobody wants a return to 2018, when the Reserve Bank, the monetary authority, instructed banks not to entertain customers who dealt in virtual currency. The draconian approach nearly strangled India’s blockchain revolution. The action against Unocoin’s kiosk in Bangalore was like the heavy hand of the state crashing down on a kids’ lemonade stand. If folks in India’s technology capital couldn’t pay cash to buy digital tokens, then the asset was effectively being banned nationwide.
In hindsight, the founders’ ordeal with the police proved to be a blessing in disguise. Young entrepreneurs joined together, went to the Supreme Court in New Delhi and got the RBI’s direction to banks declared unconstitutional. That was in March. Already, the exchange has seen a fivefold jump in trading, averaging $150,000 a day, from $30,000 before the court’s verdict. Of late, trading is much higher, thanks to the rally in Bitcoin prices. Larger bourses such as CoinDCX were witnessing daily volumes of almost $700,000, when I last checked.
The players are urging the government to bring digital assets under the existing money-laundering law, which will give the industry legitimacy. The next step would be to regulate the tokens as money or securities, depending on their use. Read About: The End of Banking as We Know It
India’s phlegmatic bureaucracy may wonder if this is all a craze. Perhaps not. It isn’t even unique to Indian Millennial and Generation Z consumers. Wringing the global banking industry dry of its exorbitant fees, and putting more purchasing power in people's hands after the Covid-19 pandemic, will be a worldwide goal. In their study titled, “What We Must Do to Rebuild,” Deutsche Bank AG economists are advising companies and policy makers to design alternatives to credit cards and “remove middleman fees.” In the short run, conventional fintech will help, but in the longer term, major economies will all do this by replacing cash with their own central bank digital currencies.
That’s when older consumers will join in. If they don’t, they’ll get get stuck, and not just figuratively. Automatically triggered crypto “smart contracts“ will make it possible for self-driving cars to switch lanes faster than others. Commuters will be continuously paying one another in official digital currencies — or in stablecoins like Facebook Inc.’s proposed Libra, private tokens whose values are fixed against fiat money.
The Indian Millennials have read the tea leaves right.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
Andy Mukherjee is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering industrial companies and financial services. He previously was a columnist for Reuters Breakingviews. He has also worked for the Straits Times, ET NOW and Bloomberg News.
For more articles like this, please visit us atbloomberg.com/opinion
Subscribe nowto stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P. || A Millennial Crypto Victory Bigger Than the Price of Bitcoin: (Bloomberg Opinion) -- With the speed cryptocurrency is emerging as the Millennial generation’s alternative asset of choice in India, it’s hard to imagine that just two years ago a couple of blockchain pioneers were briefly in police custody.
Sathvik Vishwanath and Harish BV, cofounders of a then five-year-old startup, were arrested in late 2018. No, they hadn’t pulled off a shady initial coin offering. Their “crime” was that they put up a kiosk in a mall in Bangalore where customers could swap Bitcoin, Ether or Ripple for cash or vice versa. That was the whole point of Unocoin, their crypto token exchange. But the police were suspicious of the new-fangled “ATM.”
A lot has changed since then. Unocoin, which just raised financing from Tesla Inc.-backer Tim Draper’s Draper Associates, is flourishing, together with other Indian blockchain ventures. India’s share of person-to-person virtual-currency trading in Asia has surged to 33%, the same as in China, according to Oslo-based Arcane Research’s analysis of volumes on Paxful and LocalBitcoins, the biggest platforms for transactions in the region.
Some of this is no doubt due to the bubbly rise this year in Bitcoin, which recently came within $100 of its all-time high after surpassing $19,000 for the first time since 2017. Even after Thursday’s wobble, prices have still more than doubled this year.But fundamental factors are also at play. Sending money to India in a tokenized form, and thus avoiding hefty bank charges, is becoming an option. Some customers of digital-asset exchanges, probably tech-savvy freelancers, receive tokens at regular intervals as payment for their work and convert them into rupees via their local bank accounts. Families in India are using the same channel to send money to students overseas.
Having the world’s largest diaspora — and more than $100 billion in two-way money flows last year — isn’t the only thing. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s disastrous ban on 86% of the country’s currency in November 2016 shook Indians’ faith in fiat money. Add the fear of leaving spare cash in banks when three major deposit-taking institutions have crumbled in the past 15 months. No wonder Arcane expects Indian crypto volumes to overtake China’s.
The domestic asset management industry is also helping adoption of crypto — by its incompetence. Most large-cap fund managers have struggled to beat their benchmarks, especially in recent years. The Nifty 50 index has returned only about 2% annually in dollar terms over the past decade. Yet, as Bloomberg Intelligence’s Gaurav Patankar and Morgan Barna have shown, lack of performance hasn’t kept managers from pocketing high fees.
Disgruntled younger savers are taking note, and dipping their toes in U.S. exchange-traded funds. At 1%, international allocation is still tiny, the Bloomberg Intelligence analysts say, but it’s growing rapidly. Ditto for crypto-investing, even though holding a highly volatile digital asset over the long term isn’t for the faint of heart. Only 600 of Unocoin’s 1.2 million customers have started a systematic buying plan to invest (mostly) in Bitcoin. But 99.5% of them are sitting on profit, and must be bragging about it to their friends.
There’s one dampener: regulation. Nobody wants a return to 2018, when the Reserve Bank, the monetary authority, instructed banks not to entertain customers who dealt in virtual currency. The draconian approach nearly strangled India’s blockchain revolution. The action against Unocoin’s kiosk in Bangalore was like the heavy hand of the state crashing down on a kids’ lemonade stand. If folks in India’s technology capital couldn’t pay cash to buy digital tokens, then the asset was effectively being banned nationwide.
In hindsight, the founders’ ordeal with the police proved to be a blessing in disguise. Young entrepreneurs joined together, went to the Supreme Court in New Delhi and got the RBI’s direction to banks declared unconstitutional. That was in March. Already, the exchange has seen a fivefold jump in trading, averaging $150,000 a day, from $30,000 before the court’s verdict. Of late, trading is much higher, thanks to the rally in Bitcoin prices. Larger bourses such as CoinDCX were witnessing daily volumes of almost $700,000, when I last checked.
The players are urging the government to bring digital assets under the existing money-laundering law, which will give the industry legitimacy. The next step would be to regulate the tokens as money or securities, depending on their use. Read About: The End of Banking as We Know It
India’s phlegmatic bureaucracy may wonder if this is all a craze. Perhaps not. It isn’t even unique to Indian Millennial and Generation Z consumers. Wringing the global banking industry dry of its exorbitant fees, and putting more purchasing power in people's hands after the Covid-19 pandemic, will be a worldwide goal. In their study titled, “What We Must Do to Rebuild,” Deutsche Bank AG economists are advising companies and policy makers to design alternatives to credit cards and “remove middleman fees.” In the short run, conventional fintech will help, but in the longer term, major economies will all do this by replacing cash with their own central bank digital currencies.
That’s when older consumers will join in. If they don’t, they’ll get get stuck, and not just figuratively. Automatically triggered crypto “smart contracts“ will make it possible for self-driving cars to switch lanes faster than others. Commuters will be continuously paying one another in official digital currencies — or in stablecoins like Facebook Inc.’s proposed Libra, private tokens whose values are fixed against fiat money.
The Indian Millennials have read the tea leaves right.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
Andy Mukherjee is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering industrial companies and financial services. He previously was a columnist for Reuters Breakingviews. He has also worked for the Straits Times, ET NOW and Bloomberg News.
For more articles like this, please visit us atbloomberg.com/opinion
Subscribe nowto stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P. || Is the World Heading Towards Another Bretton Woods Moment?: In 1944, with the death machine of World War II still very much churning, the Bretton Woods conference saw delegates from 45 nations descend on New Hampshire to devise rules that would govern the post-war international monetary system. Fast-forward to 2020, and another tumultuous global event has led to calls by the IMF for “ a new Bretton Woods moment .” This is troubling on many levels. Bretton Woods Conference, July 1944. Image source: UN photo The Significance of Bretton Woods 1.0 First, a brief history lesson. Bretton Woods enshrined the US dollar as the world’s de facto international settlement currency, with dollars convertible to gold at $35 per ounce. Overnight, the dollar became synonymous with world trade, supplanting the gold standard and asserting America’s might on the international stage. Since the United States was the only country that could physically print dollars, and each country had agreed to redeem its currency for US dollars rather than the precious metal, the US government – or, more accurately, the Federal Reserve – became kingmakers of the global monetary system. The International Monetary Fund, meanwhile, was tasked with enforcing the agreement, ensuring exchange rate stability, and presiding over a fixed pool of currencies which member states could use for borrowing. Less than three decades after the agreement, and amid rising inflation, President Nixon suspended the USD’s convertibility to gold while firing up the printing machines to finance the Vietnam war. By 1973, the fixed exchange rate system transformed into a floating exchange rate system wherein the value of national currencies fluctuated day-to-day. Nixon, in short, paved the way for the Federal Reserve’s expansive monetary policies. Speaking of which, the Fed’s penchant for deflation-countering quantitative easing has seen its balance sheet explode in 2020, growing by over $3 trillion since February. It’s easy to see a reckoning coming down the road. Story continues What Does Bretton Woods 2020 Look Like? What exactly is the IMF insinuating by suggesting the time is ripe for a “new Bretton Woods moment”? Written by IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, the article that appeared in mid-October referenced a pandemic that has “made the world economy 4.4% smaller this year and (will) strip an estimated $11 trillion of output by next year.” Although Georgieva did not mention the US dollar, she did stress the need to “take measures to prevent the build-up of financial risks over the medium term,” concluding the article with “This is our moment!” One interpretation of seizing the moment might be an end to the Dollar’s dominance, to be replaced by a more stable international reserve currency. The IMF’s own Special Drawing Rights (SDR) perhaps. Created in 1969, just two years before Nixon abandoned the gold standard, the SDR’s value was originally linked to gold before decoupling and deriving value from a basket of the world’s top global fiat currencies. At present, these include the dollar, euro, Chinese renminbi, Japanese yen, and British pound sterling. Designed to augment member states’ official reserves, the SDR is known as a “supplementary international reserve asset” and the most obvious candidate for replacing USD in the world stage. Although the IMF is not in the position to create money out of thin air like the Federal Reserve, that mightn’t always be the case. If SDR were to depose the USD, the IMF would in essence become the world’s central bank. From its new eyrie, it would not be surprising to hear IMF brass like Georgieva talk up the protections offered by the basket-backed currency, particularly given the volatility inherent in forex markets. But the idea of Bretton Woods 2.0 doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence. The Federal Reserve pursued debt and inflation-driven policies for decades, injecting stimulus, dispensing bailout cash as it saw fit, and savagely devaluing the dollar. Incredibly, US debt is expected to reach $28.7 trillion by 20209. An IMF central bank would almost certainly continue pumping magical money into the economy, with a very small and influential cabal regulating fiscal decisions affecting billions of people. The Revolution Will Be Decentralized There are better ways. One is represented by Bitcoin, a decentralized, deflationary cryptocurrency that has a fixed, predictable supply that cannot be manipulated by any centralized authority. Another is Sögur (SGR), a blockchain-based digital equivalent of the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights. Built by a team of tech and finance experts , and supported by an advisory council that includes renowned economists like Dr. Jacob A. Frenkel, Chairman of JPMorgan Chase International, and Leo Melamed, ex-Chairman of the CME, Sögur’s Digital SDR is arguably a superior version of the IMF’s basket-backed currency. Principally because its governance mechanism makes it entirely decentralized: ruled not by a small and ideologically biased group but by token-holders themselves. By leveraging smart contracts, Sögur automatically increases the price of SGR as its market cap grows. What’s more, funds received when issuing new SGR are held in a reserve and used to ensure the token is always redeemable – like the USD was before Nixon delinked it from gold. SGR is not unique in being an asset-backed cryptocurrency, incidentally; there are others backed by gold or pegged to the US dollar or euro. What makes SGR unique is the total package: democratic governance, a stable monetary model, fiat redeemability, a deeply knowledgeable and dedicated team, and the transparency and immutability of blockchain technology. Sögur’s parent company, Sogur Monetary Technologies Ltd (SMTL), works under not-for-profit principles, with no shares or shareholders and all parties committed to implementing the protocol and furthering the interests of SGR token-holders. The IMF is right about one thing – a watershed moment like Bretton Wood is long overdue. But when the USD is finally replaced as the world’s reserve currency, its replacement shouldn’t be built on a mountain of debt. In every respect, a democratically governed digital currency is better equipped to fill the void than another fiat reserve tightly controlled by Keynesian apparatchiks. Suggested Reading: 25 Countries with the most debt per capita and debt to GDP: 2020 Rankings 10 Best Growth Stocks To Buy Now According To Ray Dalio 10 Best Dividend Stocks for Passive Income Disclosure: This Op-Ed is written by Reuben Jackson . Insider Monkey News Department isn't involved in the production of this article. || Is the World Heading Towards Another Bretton Woods Moment?: In 1944, with the death machine of World War II still very much churning, the Bretton Woods conference saw delegates from 45 nations descend on New Hampshire to devise rules that would govern the post-war international monetary system. Fast-forward to 2020, and another tumultuous global event has led to calls by the IMF for “a new Bretton Woods moment.” This is troubling on many levels.
Bretton Woods Conference, July 1944.Image source: UN photo
First, a brief history lesson. Bretton Woods enshrined the US dollar as the world’s de facto international settlement currency, with dollars convertible to gold at $35 per ounce. Overnight, the dollar became synonymous with world trade, supplanting the gold standard and asserting America’s might on the international stage.
Since the United States was the only country that could physically print dollars, and each country had agreed to redeem its currency for US dollars rather than the precious metal, the US government – or, more accurately, the Federal Reserve – became kingmakers of the global monetary system. The International Monetary Fund, meanwhile, was tasked with enforcing the agreement, ensuring exchange rate stability, and presiding over a fixed pool of currencies which member states could use for borrowing.
Less than three decades after the agreement, and amid rising inflation, President Nixon suspended the USD’s convertibility to gold while firing up the printing machines to finance the Vietnam war. By 1973, the fixed exchange rate system transformed into a floating exchange rate system wherein the value of national currencies fluctuated day-to-day. Nixon, in short, paved the way for the Federal Reserve’s expansive monetary policies. Speaking of which, the Fed’s penchant for deflation-countering quantitative easing has seen itsbalance sheet explodein 2020, growing by over $3 trillion since February. It’s easy to see a reckoning coming down the road.
What exactly is the IMF insinuating by suggesting the time is ripe for a “new Bretton Woods moment”? Written by IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, the article that appeared in mid-October referenced a pandemic that has “made the world economy 4.4% smaller this year and (will) strip an estimated $11 trillion of output by next year.”
Although Georgieva did not mention the US dollar, she did stress the need to “take measures to prevent the build-up of financial risks over the medium term,” concluding the article with “This is our moment!”
One interpretation of seizing the moment might be an end to the Dollar’s dominance, to be replaced by a more stable international reserve currency. The IMF’s own Special Drawing Rights (SDR) perhaps. Created in 1969, just two years before Nixon abandoned the gold standard, the SDR’s value was originally linked to gold before decoupling and deriving value from a basket of the world’s top global fiat currencies. At present, these include the dollar, euro, Chinese renminbi, Japanese yen, and British pound sterling.
Designed to augment member states’ official reserves, the SDR is known as a “supplementary international reserve asset” and the most obvious candidate for replacing USD in the world stage. Although the IMF is not in the position to create money out of thin air like the Federal Reserve, that mightn’t always be the case. If SDR were to depose the USD, the IMF would in essence become the world’s central bank. From its new eyrie, it would not be surprising to hear IMF brass like Georgieva talk up the protections offered by the basket-backed currency, particularly given the volatility inherent in forex markets.
But the idea of Bretton Woods 2.0 doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence. The Federal Reserve pursued debt and inflation-driven policies for decades, injecting stimulus, dispensing bailout cash as it saw fit, and savagely devaluing the dollar. Incredibly, US debt is expected to reach $28.7 trillion by 20209. An IMF central bank would almost certainly continue pumping magical money into the economy, with a very small and influential cabal regulating fiscal decisions affecting billions of people.
There are better ways. One is represented by Bitcoin, a decentralized, deflationary cryptocurrency that has a fixed, predictable supply that cannot be manipulated by any centralized authority. Another isSögur(SGR), a blockchain-based digital equivalent of the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights.
Built by ateam of tech and finance experts, and supported by an advisory council that includes renowned economists like Dr. Jacob A. Frenkel, Chairman of JPMorgan Chase International, and Leo Melamed, ex-Chairman of the CME, Sögur’s Digital SDR is arguably a superior version of the IMF’s basket-backed currency. Principally because its governance mechanism makes it entirely decentralized: ruled not by a small and ideologically biased group but by token-holders themselves.
By leveraging smart contracts, Sögur automatically increases the price of SGR as its market cap grows. What’s more, funds received when issuing new SGR are held in a reserve and used to ensure the token is always redeemable – like the USD was before Nixon delinked it from gold. SGR is not unique in being an asset-backed cryptocurrency, incidentally; there are others backed by gold or pegged to the US dollar or euro.
What makes SGR unique is the total package: democratic governance, a stable monetary model, fiat redeemability, a deeply knowledgeable and dedicated team, and the transparency and immutability of blockchain technology. Sögur’s parent company, Sogur Monetary Technologies Ltd (SMTL), works under not-for-profit principles, with no shares or shareholders and all parties committed to implementing the protocol and furthering the interests of SGR token-holders.
The IMF is right about one thing – a watershed moment like Bretton Wood is long overdue. But when the USD is finally replaced as the world’s reserve currency, its replacement shouldn’t be built on a mountain of debt. In every respect, a democratically governed digital currency is better equipped to fill the void than another fiat reserve tightly controlled by Keynesian apparatchiks.
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Disclosure: This Op-Ed is written byReuben Jackson. Insider Monkey News Department isn't involved in the production of this article. || Bitcoin Plunges Along With Other Coins: (Bloomberg) -- Bitcoin plunged on Thursday in a sell-off that saw other digital assets fall more than 20%, a slide likely to stoke speculation about the durability of the latest boom in cryptocurrencies. The largest token fell as much as 14% in Thursday trading, heading for one of its worst days since the pandemic-spurred liquidation in March. The rout began just hours after Bitcoin rose to within $7 of its record high of $19,511, the culmination of a more than 250% surge in past nine months. Fears over tighter crypto regulation and profit-taking after a frenetic rally were among the reasons cited for the sudden drop. The sell-off gathered pace late Wednesday after Coinbase Inc. Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong tweeted about speculation the U.S. is considering new rules that would undermine anonymity in digital transactions. News that the Trump administration may clamp down on crypto might have been a trigger for the drop, said Antoni Trenchev, managing partner of Nexo in London, which bills itself as the worlds biggest digital-coin lender. But any asset that rallies 75% in 2 months and 260% from the March lows is allowed to undergo a correction. Other coins including XRP tumbled as much as 27%, according to prices compiled by Bloomberg. After garnering more support from Wall Street money managers and fund providers, the rally in cryptocurrencies had looked over-heated. The fierce retreat could stir yet another debate over the their value in diversifying portfolios. Conditions are very massively overbought and bound for a correction, said Vijay Ayyar, head of business development with crypto exchange Luno in Singapore. So I dont think its unusual. Crypto believers tout purchases by retail investors, institutions and even billionaires, as well as the search for a hedge against dollar weakness amid the pandemic, as reasons why the boom can last. Skeptics argue the cryptocurrencys famed volatility portends a repeat of what happened three years ago, when a bubble burst spectacularly. Some see signs of retail investors piling in to chase momentum for fast gains, storing up an inevitable reckoning. Story continues Concern about potential U.S. crypto rules help explain Thursdays price drop across most major digital assets, said Ryan Rabaglia, global head of trading at OSL brokerage in Hong Kong. Its also not unusual to see a short-term pullback following periods of significant, accelerated gains as traders look to take profits before resetting once volatility subsides, he said. Once the dust settles, were back to business as usual with all medium to long-term bullish indicators still in play. Proponents of digital assets say the current focus on cryptocurrencies compared with three years ago is different because of growing institutional interest, for instance from the likes of Fidelity Investments and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Just this week, Van Eck Associates Corp. launched a Bitcoin exchange-traded note on the Deutsche Boerse Xetra exchange. In October, PayPal Holdings Inc. said it would allow its customers access to cryptocurrencies. There is also a buzz around Ethereum, the most-actively used blockchain in the world, which is set for a network upgrade that would allow it to process a similar number of transactions as Mastercard Inc. and Visa Inc. The shift to the new system could curb the total supply of Ether, whose price has quadrupled so far this year. Lunos Ayyar said he expects Bitcoin to stabilize and achieve all-time highs. But that would be followed by a larger drop in the cryptocurrency, he said. Soravis Srinawakoon, chief executive of Bangkok-based Band Protocol, said the plunge in crypto was healthy. This is just a normal pull back after seven weeks straight of Bitcoin in the green, due to many people over-leveraging. (Updates prices) For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. ©2020 Bloomberg L.P. || Bitcoin Plunges Along With Other Coins: (Bloomberg) -- Bitcoin plunged on Thursday in a sell-off that saw other digital assets fall more than 20%, a slide likely to stoke speculation about the durability of the latest boom in cryptocurrencies.
The largest token fell as much as 14% in Thursday trading, heading for one of its worst days since the pandemic-spurred liquidation in March.
The rout began just hours after Bitcoin rose to within $7 of its record high of $19,511, the culmination of a more than 250% surge in past nine months. Fears over tighter crypto regulation and profit-taking after a frenetic rally were among the reasons cited for the sudden drop.
The sell-off gathered pace late Wednesday after Coinbase Inc. Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong tweeted about speculation the U.S. is considering new rules that would undermine anonymity in digital transactions.
“News that the Trump administration may clamp down on crypto might have been a trigger for the drop,” said Antoni Trenchev, managing partner of Nexo in London, which bills itself as the world’s biggest digital-coin lender. “But any asset that rallies 75% in 2 months and 260% from the March lows is allowed to undergo a correction.”
Other coins including XRP tumbled as much as 27%, according to prices compiled by Bloomberg.
After garnering more support from Wall Street money managers and fund providers, the rally in cryptocurrencies had looked over-heated. The fierce retreat could stir yet another debate over the their value in diversifying portfolios.
“Conditions are very massively overbought and bound for a correction,” said Vijay Ayyar, head of business development with crypto exchange Luno in Singapore. “So I don’t think it’s unusual.”
Crypto believers tout purchases by retail investors, institutions and even billionaires, as well as the search for a hedge against dollar weakness amid the pandemic, as reasons why the boom can last.
Skeptics argue the cryptocurrency’s famed volatility portends a repeat of what happened three years ago, when a bubble burst spectacularly. Some see signs of retail investors piling in to chase momentum for fast gains, storing up an inevitable reckoning.
Concern about potential U.S. crypto rules help explain Thursday’s price drop across most major digital assets, said Ryan Rabaglia, global head of trading at OSL brokerage in Hong Kong.
“It’s also not unusual to see a short-term pullback following periods of significant, accelerated gains as traders look to take profits before resetting once volatility subsides,” he said. “Once the dust settles, we’re back to business as usual with all medium to long-term bullish indicators still in play.”
Proponents of digital assets say the current focus on cryptocurrencies compared with three years ago is different because of growing institutional interest, for instance from the likes of Fidelity Investments and JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Just this week, Van Eck Associates Corp. launched a Bitcoin exchange-traded note on the Deutsche Boerse Xetra exchange. In October, PayPal Holdings Inc. said it would allow its customers access to cryptocurrencies.
There is also a buzz around Ethereum, the most-actively used blockchain in the world, which is set for a network upgrade that would allow it to process a similar number of transactions as Mastercard Inc. and Visa Inc. The shift to the new system could curb the total supply of Ether, whose price has quadrupled so far this year.
Luno’s Ayyar said he expects Bitcoin to stabilize and achieve all-time highs. But that would be followed by a larger drop in the cryptocurrency, he said.
Soravis Srinawakoon, chief executive of Bangkok-based Band Protocol, said the plunge in crypto was healthy.
“This is just a normal pull back after seven weeks straight of Bitcoin in the green, due to many people over-leveraging.”
(Updates prices)
For more articles like this, please visit us atbloomberg.com
Subscribe nowto stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P. || Bitcoin Plunges Along With Other Coins: (Bloomberg) -- Bitcoin plunged on Thursday in a sell-off that saw other digital assets fall more than 20%, a slide likely to stoke speculation about the durability of the latest boom in cryptocurrencies.
The largest token fell as much as 14% in Thursday trading, heading for one of its worst days since the pandemic-spurred liquidation in March.
The rout began just hours after Bitcoin rose to within $7 of its record high of $19,511, the culmination of a more than 250% surge in past nine months. Fears over tighter crypto regulation and profit-taking after a frenetic rally were among the reasons cited for the sudden drop.
The sell-off gathered pace late Wednesday after Coinbase Inc. Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong tweeted about speculation the U.S. is considering new rules that would undermine anonymity in digital transactions.
“News that the Trump administration may clamp down on crypto might have been a trigger for the drop,” said Antoni Trenchev, managing partner of Nexo in London, which bills itself as the world’s biggest digital-coin lender. “But any asset that rallies 75% in 2 months and 260% from the March lows is allowed to undergo a correction.”
Other coins including XRP tumbled as much as 27%, according to prices compiled by Bloomberg.
After garnering more support from Wall Street money managers and fund providers, the rally in cryptocurrencies had looked over-heated. The fierce retreat could stir yet another debate over the their value in diversifying portfolios.
“Conditions are very massively overbought and bound for a correction,” said Vijay Ayyar, head of business development with crypto exchange Luno in Singapore. “So I don’t think it’s unusual.”
Crypto believers tout purchases by retail investors, institutions and even billionaires, as well as the search for a hedge against dollar weakness amid the pandemic, as reasons why the boom can last.
Skeptics argue the cryptocurrency’s famed volatility portends a repeat of what happened three years ago, when a bubble burst spectacularly. Some see signs of retail investors piling in to chase momentum for fast gains, storing up an inevitable reckoning.
Concern about potential U.S. crypto rules help explain Thursday’s price drop across most major digital assets, said Ryan Rabaglia, global head of trading at OSL brokerage in Hong Kong.
“It’s also not unusual to see a short-term pullback following periods of significant, accelerated gains as traders look to take profits before resetting once volatility subsides,” he said. “Once the dust settles, we’re back to business as usual with all medium to long-term bullish indicators still in play.”
Proponents of digital assets say the current focus on cryptocurrencies compared with three years ago is different because of growing institutional interest, for instance from the likes of Fidelity Investments and JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Just this week, Van Eck Associates Corp. launched a Bitcoin exchange-traded note on the Deutsche Boerse Xetra exchange. In October, PayPal Holdings Inc. said it would allow its customers access to cryptocurrencies.
There is also a buzz around Ethereum, the most-actively used blockchain in the world, which is set for a network upgrade that would allow it to process a similar number of transactions as Mastercard Inc. and Visa Inc. The shift to the new system could curb the total supply of Ether, whose price has quadrupled so far this year.
Luno’s Ayyar said he expects Bitcoin to stabilize and achieve all-time highs. But that would be followed by a larger drop in the cryptocurrency, he said.
Soravis Srinawakoon, chief executive of Bangkok-based Band Protocol, said the plunge in crypto was healthy.
“This is just a normal pull back after seven weeks straight of Bitcoin in the green, due to many people over-leveraging.”
(Updates prices)
For more articles like this, please visit us atbloomberg.com
Subscribe nowto stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P. || Previously Unpublished Emails of Satoshi Nakamoto Present a New Puzzle: Newly discovered emails between Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator, and the late Hal Finney deepen the mystery around the cryptocurrency’s origins. The three emails come from Bitcoin’s earliest days, when its future was uncertain. They show how closely Satoshi collaborated with early supporters at the time of Bitcoin’s launch. While anything written or coded by Satoshi is intrinsically valuable to the community, perhaps the most intriguing parts of these messages are neither words nor code, but something seemingly prosaic: the timestamps, which present a new riddle. Related: How Bitcoin Gets to $100,000 Michael Kaplikov is an adjunct professor at Pace University in New York; since discovering Bitcoin, he has been interested in its origin story. They were shared with me by journalist and author Nathaniel Popper, who during his work on “ Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money ” was provided access to Finney’s correspondence. Finney, who died in 2014, was the recipient of the first Bitcoin transaction. A legend in his own right, he developed the first reusable proof-of-work system, among other achievements . [Editor’s note: In preparing this article for publication, CoinDesk contacted Fran Finney, Hal’s widow, who confirmed she had provided his correspondence to Popper, who in turn confirmed sending the messages to the author. “In March of 2014 we sent Nathaniel Popper those files, documenting email exchanges between Hal and Satoshi,” Fran Finney told CoinDesk. “The files were retrieved from the computer Hal was using for personal email in 2009 and were provided with Hal’s consent.”] Related: Guggenheim Fund Files to Be Able to Invest Up to Almost $500M in Bitcoin Through GBTC November 2008 was when Satoshi opened Bitcoin to public scrutiny. Until then, the project Satoshi had spent a year and a half coding was only shared privately with a select few. On Aug. 22 of that year, he emailed Wei Dai, the author of “b-money” and, sometime before that, Adam Back, the creator of Hashcash (whose proof-of-work function is used in Bitcoin). Story continues The initial reception was less than ecstatic, Finney later recalled. “When Satoshi announced Bitcoin on the cryptography mailing list, he got a skeptical reception at best,” he wrote in 2013 in his penultimate post on the Bitcointalk forum. “Cryptographers have seen too many grand schemes by clueless noobs. They tend to have a knee-jerk reaction.” Sometime around Nov. 16, 2008, Satoshi shared a pre-release version of the Bitcoin code with several members of the Cryptography Mailing List, including James A. Donald , Ray Dillinger and Finney. The first of Satoshi’s emails I received from Popper was sent a few days later. ‘How large do you envision it becoming? Tens of nodes? Thousands? Millions?’ In that first email from Nov. 19, Finney thanks Satoshi for some corrections and asks about the aspired-to size of the Bitcoin network as it would affect scalability and performance. Notably, Donald, the first person to respond to Bitcoin’s public announcement on the mailing list, had raised the same concern. “It does not seem to scale to the required size,” he wrote. This was a harbinger of the scaling debate that eventually led to the creation of splinter cryptocurrencies including bitcoin cash and so-called layer 2 solutions such as sidechains and the Lightning Network. For Finney, this was not just a technical issue. Apparently in his mind, it has a bearing on Bitcoin’s future monetary value. A couple of months later, he stated that if Bitcoin became the world’s dominant payment system, then its value “should be equal to the total value of all the wealth in the world.” Extrapolating this logic further, he arrived at $10 million per bitcoin . In a 2018 interview, Dillinger said the discussion that started on the public mailing list moved to private emails and eventually led to Finney and himself helping Satoshi with certain parts of the Bitcoin code: “It was when we started talking about floating-point types in accounting code that I learned Hal was involved in the effort. Hal was reviewing the transaction scripting language, and both the code he had and the code I had interacted with the accounting code.” Also, soon after the Nov. 19 email (sometime in the first half of December 2008), Satoshi added Finney to Bitcoin’s repository on Sourceforge, a site for managing open-source projects similar to GitHub. ‘Thought you’d like to know’ Although the Bitcoin Genesis block is dated Jan. 3, 2009, Bitcoin’s public network did not go live until five days later when the source code was released to the public and the first few blocks were mined. It is assumed that in the first few months of Bitcoin’s existence, most of the hash power was provided by Satoshi. However, Bitcoin’s creator was fully aware that if his peer-to-peer electronic cash were to succeed, he needed others to join. The following two emails are from Satoshi to Finney. In the first one, from Jan. 8, 2009, Satoshi notified Finney about the release of version 0.1 of the Bitcoin software. It was sent just a few hours after Satoshi made an analogous public announcement on the Cryptography Mailing List. It appears that Finney had replied to Satoshi, letting him know that he would try to look at the code over the weekend (Jan. 8 happened to fall on a Thursday). The following day, Jan. 10, Satoshi also updated Wei Dai (whom he had emailed a few months earlier to inquire about the proper citation format for Dai’s “b-money”): “I think it [Bitcoin] achieves nearly all the goals you set out to solve in your b-money paper.” On the same day, a discussion between Satoshi and Finney ensued on Bitcoin’s own recently created mailing list on Sourceforge and through private emails that Finney later provided for publication to the Wall Street Journal. (In that exchange, uncharacteristically, Finney used his Gmail account instead of [email protected] ; also worth noting, most of the email header data was stripped, the significance of which will become apparent later). In the middle of these technical discussions, on the eve of Jan. 11, the first-ever bitcoin transfer occurred , transferring 10 BTC from Satoshi to Finney. Interestingly enough, it is not referenced in any of the emails or contemporaneous public posts. Curious timestamps In the January 2009 emails, Satoshi’s time zone appears to be eight hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). If you assume he actually was Japanese as his handle suggested, one might assume this reflects his ancestral land. However, Japan was nine hours ahead of GMT at the time. Even more intriguing is that somehow Finney’s email server had received both emails before Satoshi’s email server, which presents a conundrum. Derek Atkins, a long-time colleague and friend of Finney, who was also a member of the Cryptography Mailing List, helped us compare these emails to Satoshi’s other emails to the list that Atkins happened to preserve in his archive. Atkins suggested the issue might be attributed to the way Satoshi’s computer was configured: “Let’s assume the sender’s system is set in local time instead of GMT (which is/was common for Windows), but also assume there is a misconfiguration in the local timezone of the sending computer. That could explain the discrepancy.” Then, we compared it to the first email Satoshi sent to the Cryptography Mailing List. While the headers of that email are generally consistent with our emails, its timestamps are also internally consistent. Atkins suggested the discrepancy could arise from the clock change: “However, if the system is set up for local time and NOT set up for DST [Daylight Saving Time], then that would also explain the discrepancy. On Oct. 31, 2008, there was a 12-hour difference from EDT to ‘GMT+8,’ whereas in January there would be a 13-hour difference because the [U.S.] returned back to standard time.” In the United States, the clock was moved one hour back on Nov. 2, 2008. Thus, the difference between the U.S. and Japan increased by one hour (Japan does not do clock changes). At first, this appeared to be a plausible explanation (assuming that Satoshi was not actually based in Japan), yet Satoshi’s emails to the Cryptography Mailing List from Nov. 8, 2008, and Jan. 8, 2009, do not have contradictory timestamps either. It is possible Satoshi had initially set his computer’s clock to Japan time based on the pre-DST time difference and later forgot to make the adjustment. But it would not explain why his other post-DST emails do not exhibit the same abnormality. Based on Satoshi’s email to Finney from Jan. 12, we know that at around this time he was at some place with limited connectivity, so perhaps his computer’s internal clock was out of sync: “Unfortunately, I can’t receive incoming connections from where I am, which has made things more difficult. Your node receiving incoming connections was the main thing keeping the network going the first day or two.” It is possible that immediately after sending out an email with “normal” timestamps on Jan. 8, Satoshi had travelled to a location in a different time zone with limited connectivity from which he emailed Finney the following day. Another possibility is that Satoshi Nakamoto (or the various team members behind the moniker) used several computers, some of which were configured accurately while some were not. But none of these theories feels quite satisfactory. A more outlandish theory hinges on the popular hypothesis that Finney himself was Satoshi. If we assume he had connected Satoshi’s email to his main email account ([email protected]) for convenience, so he would not have to log in into his Vistomail account every time, then this might explain why the Finney.org server would receive it before the Anonymousspeech.com server. This would also explain why Finney chose not to share these emails with the Wall Street Journal and why those he did share were missing most of the header data. But we must admit that just like the other theories mentioned above, we do not have any hard evidence to support it. Satoshi remains ever-mysterious These emails do not turn Bitcoin’s genesis story inside out, nor do they introduce any new, unlikely characters to the cast. They do not appear to resolve the eternal mystery surrounding Satoshi’s identity either. At the same time, they present us with a new little puzzle. It has taken Sergio Demian Lerner seven long years to figure out the famous “ Patoshi ” pattern. Hopefully, it will take a bit less time for the community to suggest a better explanation for the odd timestamps. The emails also provide additional insights about the close collaboration between Satoshi and early adopters like Finney during Bitcoin’s launch. Later on, understandably, Finney chose not to highlight his early involvement. “When Satoshi announced the first release of the software, I grabbed it right away. I think I was the first person besides Satoshi to run bitcoin,” he wrote in his final post to the Bitcointalk forum, without mentioning their communications before the release. Yet, almost seven years later, we must agree with Finney’s other remark from the same farewell post: “Today, Satoshi’s true identity has become a mystery.“ Related Stories Previously Unpublished Emails of Satoshi Nakamoto Present a New Puzzle Previously Unpublished Emails of Satoshi Nakamoto Present a New Puzzle || Previously Unpublished Emails of Satoshi Nakamoto Present a New Puzzle: Newly discovered emails between Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator, and the late Hal Finney deepen the mystery around the cryptocurrency’s origins.
The three emails come from Bitcoin’s earliest days, when its future was uncertain. They show how closely Satoshi collaborated with early supporters at the time of Bitcoin’s launch.
While anything written or coded by Satoshi is intrinsically valuable to the community, perhaps the most intriguing parts of these messages are neither words nor code, but something seemingly prosaic: the timestamps, which present a new riddle.
Related:How Bitcoin Gets to $100,000
They were shared with me by journalist and author Nathaniel Popper, who during his work on “Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money” was provided access to Finney’s correspondence.
Finney, who died in 2014, was the recipient of the first Bitcoin transaction. A legend in his own right, he developed the first reusable proof-of-work system,among other achievements.
[Editor’s note: In preparing this article for publication, CoinDesk contacted Fran Finney, Hal’s widow, who confirmed she had provided his correspondence to Popper, who in turn confirmed sending the messages to the author. “In March of 2014 we sent Nathaniel Popper those files, documenting email exchanges between Hal and Satoshi,” Fran Finney told CoinDesk. “The files were retrieved from the computer Hal was using for personal email in 2009 and were provided with Hal’s consent.”]
Related:Guggenheim Fund Files to Be Able to Invest Up to Almost $500M in Bitcoin Through GBTC
November 2008 was when Satoshi opened Bitcoin to public scrutiny. Until then, the project Satoshi hadspenta year and a half coding was onlysharedprivately with a select few. On Aug. 22 of that year, heemailedWei Dai, the author of “b-money” and, sometime before that, Adam Back, the creator of Hashcash (whose proof-of-work function is used in Bitcoin).
Theinitial receptionwas less than ecstatic, Finney later recalled.
“When Satoshi announced Bitcoin on the cryptography mailing list, he got a skeptical reception at best,” he wrote in 2013 in his penultimate post on the Bitcointalk forum. “Cryptographers have seen too many grand schemes by clueless noobs. They tend to have a knee-jerk reaction.”
Sometime around Nov. 16, 2008, Satoshishareda pre-release version of the Bitcoin code with several members of the Cryptography Mailing List,including James A. Donald, Ray Dillinger and Finney. The first of Satoshi’s emails I received from Popper was sent a few days later.
In that first email from Nov. 19, Finney thanks Satoshi for some corrections and asks about the aspired-to size of the Bitcoin network as it would affect scalability and performance. Notably, Donald, the first person to respond to Bitcoin’s public announcement on the mailing list, hadraisedthe same concern. “It does not seem to scale to the required size,” he wrote. This was a harbinger of the scaling debate that eventually led to the creation of splinter cryptocurrencies includingbitcoin cashand so-called layer 2 solutions such as sidechains and the Lightning Network.
For Finney, this was not just a technical issue. Apparently in his mind, it has a bearing on Bitcoin’s future monetary value. A couple of months later, he stated that if Bitcoin became the world’s dominant payment system, then its value “should be equal to the total value of all the wealth in the world.” Extrapolating this logic further, hearrivedat $10 million perbitcoin.
In a 2018 interview, Dillingersaidthe discussion that started on the public mailing list moved to private emails and eventually led to Finney and himself helping Satoshi with certain parts of the Bitcoin code:
“It was when we started talking about floating-point types in accounting code that I learned Hal was involved in the effort. Hal was reviewing the transaction scripting language, and both the code he had and the code I had interacted with the accounting code.”
Also, soon after the Nov. 19 email (sometime in the first half of December 2008), Satoshi added Finney to Bitcoin’s repository on Sourceforge, a site for managing open-source projects similar to GitHub.
Although the Bitcoin Genesis block is dated Jan. 3, 2009, Bitcoin’s public network did not go live until five days later when the source code wasreleasedto the public and the first few blocks were mined.
It is assumed that in the first few months of Bitcoin’s existence, most of the hash power was provided by Satoshi. However, Bitcoin’s creator was fully aware that if his peer-to-peer electronic cash were to succeed, he needed others to join.
The following two emails are from Satoshi to Finney. In the first one, from Jan. 8, 2009, Satoshi notified Finney about the release of version 0.1 of the Bitcoin software. It was sent just a few hours after Satoshimadean analogous public announcement on the Cryptography Mailing List.
It appears that Finney had replied to Satoshi, letting him know that he would try to look at the code over the weekend (Jan. 8 happened to fall on a Thursday).
The following day, Jan. 10, Satoshi alsoupdatedWei Dai (whom he had emailed a few months earlier to inquire about the proper citation format for Dai’s “b-money”):
“I think it [Bitcoin] achieves nearly all the goals you set out to solve in your b-money paper.”
On the same day, a discussion between Satoshi and Finney ensued on Bitcoin’s own recently createdmailing list on Sourceforgeand through private emails that Finney laterprovidedfor publication to the Wall Street Journal. (In that exchange, uncharacteristically, Finney used his Gmail account instead [email protected]; also worth noting, most of the email header data was stripped, the significance of which will become apparent later). In the middle of these technical discussions, on the eve of Jan. 11, the first-ever bitcoin transferoccurred, transferring 10 BTC from Satoshi to Finney. Interestingly enough, it is not referenced in any of the emails or contemporaneous public posts.
In the January 2009 emails, Satoshi’s time zone appears to be eight hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). If you assume he actually was Japanese as his handle suggested, one might assume this reflects his ancestral land. However, Japan was nine hours ahead of GMT at the time. Even more intriguing is that somehow Finney’s email server had received both emails before Satoshi’s email server, which presents a conundrum.
Derek Atkins, a long-time colleague and friend of Finney, who was also a member of the Cryptography Mailing List, helped us compare these emails to Satoshi’s other emails to the list that Atkins happened to preserve in his archive. Atkins suggested the issue might be attributed to the way Satoshi’s computer was configured:
“Let’s assume the sender’s system is set in local time instead of GMT (which is/was common for Windows), but also assume there is a misconfiguration in the local timezone of the sending computer. That could explain the discrepancy.”
Then, we compared it to the first email Satoshi sent to the Cryptography Mailing List. While the headers of that email are generally consistent with our emails, its timestamps are also internally consistent. Atkins suggested the discrepancy could arise from the clock change:
“However, if the system is set up for local time and NOT set up for DST [Daylight Saving Time], then that would also explain the discrepancy. On Oct. 31, 2008, there was a 12-hour difference from EDT to ‘GMT+8,’ whereas in January there would be a 13-hour difference because the [U.S.] returned back to standard time.”
In the United States, the clock wasmovedone hour back on Nov. 2, 2008. Thus, the difference between the U.S. and Japan increased by one hour (Japan does not do clock changes). At first, this appeared to be a plausible explanation (assuming that Satoshi was not actually based in Japan), yet Satoshi’s emails to the Cryptography Mailing List from Nov. 8, 2008, and Jan. 8, 2009, do not have contradictory timestamps either.
It is possible Satoshi had initially set his computer’s clock to Japan time based on the pre-DST time difference and later forgot to make the adjustment. But it would not explain why his other post-DST emails do not exhibit the same abnormality.
Based onSatoshi’s emailto Finney from Jan. 12, we know that at around this time he was at some place with limited connectivity, so perhaps his computer’s internal clock was out of sync:
“Unfortunately, I can’t receive incoming connections from where I am, which has made things more difficult. Your node receiving incoming connections was the main thing keeping the network going the first day or two.”
It is possible that immediately after sending out an email with “normal” timestamps on Jan. 8, Satoshi had travelled to a location in a different time zone with limited connectivity from which he emailed Finney the following day.
Another possibility is that Satoshi Nakamoto (or the various team members behind the moniker) used several computers, some of which were configured accurately while some were not. But none of these theories feels quite satisfactory.
A more outlandish theory hinges on the popular hypothesis that Finney himself was Satoshi. If we assume he had connected Satoshi’s email to his main email account ([email protected]) for convenience, so he would not have to log in into his Vistomail account every time, then this might explain why the Finney.org server would receive it before the Anonymousspeech.com server.
This would also explain why Finney chose not to share these emails with the Wall Street Journal and why those he did share were missing most of the header data. But we must admit that just like the other theories mentioned above, we do not have any hard evidence to support it.
These emails do not turn Bitcoin’s genesis story inside out, nor do they introduce any new, unlikely characters to the cast. They do not appear to resolve the eternal mystery surrounding Satoshi’s identity either.
At the same time, they present us with a new little puzzle. It has taken Sergio Demian Lerner seven long years to figure out the famous “Patoshi” pattern. Hopefully, it will take a bit less time for the community to suggest a better explanation for the odd timestamps.
The emails also provide additional insights about the close collaboration between Satoshi and early adopters like Finney during Bitcoin’s launch. Later on, understandably, Finneychosenot to highlight his early involvement. “When Satoshi announced the first release of the software, I grabbed it right away. I think I was the first person besides Satoshi to run bitcoin,” he wrote in his final post to the Bitcointalk forum, without mentioning their communications before the release.
Yet, almost seven years later, we must agree with Finney’s other remark from the same farewell post:
“Today, Satoshi’s true identity has become a mystery.“
• Previously Unpublished Emails of Satoshi Nakamoto Present a New Puzzle
• Previously Unpublished Emails of Satoshi Nakamoto Present a New Puzzle || Schmuck Insurance: A reading of one of the most enduring early investor arguments for bitcoin. For more episodes and free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe with Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Pocketcasts , Google Podcasts , Castbox , Stitcher , RadioPublica , iHeartRadio or RSS . This episode is sponsored by Crypto.com and Nexo.io . Related: What Janet Yellen as Treasury Secretary Means for Bitcoin and Markets When NLW asked Crypto Twitter for recommendations of the best way to convince friends and family about bitcoin and crypto, one of the ideas was to review old articles that have stood the test of time. With that in mind, NLW today reads Chamath Palihapitiyas May 2013 piece for Bloomberg, Why I Invested In Bitcoin. Even among prescient early pieces, this one is particularly salient. See also: Chamath Palihapitiyas Social Capital Holds Bitcoin From 2013, Mulls Public Listing Related: ENCORE: Luke Gromen on the History and (Declining) Future of the Global Dollar System For more episodes and free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe with Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Pocketcasts , Google Podcasts , Castbox , Stitcher , RadioPublica , iHeartRadio or RSS . Related Stories Schmuck Insurance Schmuck Insurance || Schmuck Insurance: A reading of one of the most enduring early investor arguments for bitcoin.
Formore episodesand free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublica,iHeartRadioorRSS.
This episode is sponsored byCrypto.comandNexo.io.
Related:What Janet Yellen as Treasury Secretary Means for Bitcoin and Markets
When NLW asked Crypto Twitter for recommendations of the best way to convince friends and family aboutbitcoinand crypto, one of the ideas was to review old articles that have stood the test of time.
With that in mind, NLW today reads Chamath Palihapitiya’s May 2013 piece for Bloomberg, “Why I Invested In Bitcoin.”
Even among prescient early pieces, this one is particularly salient.
See also:Chamath Palihapitiya’s Social Capital Holds Bitcoin From 2013, Mulls Public Listing
Related:ENCORE: Luke Gromen on the History and (Declining) Future of the Global Dollar System
Formore episodesand free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublica,iHeartRadioorRSS.
• Schmuck Insurance
• Schmuck Insurance || Crypto exchange Coinbase hit by connection, latency problems as bitcoin plummets: By Tom Wilson LONDON (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase said on Thursday its retail and professional-focused platforms were hit by tech problems, with users reporting difficulty trading as bitcoin plunged towards its biggest one-day drop since September. California-based Coinbase said on its website at 14:14 GMT it was investigating connectivity problems, adding at 14:42 GMT that it had identified the problem and implemented a solution. In a separate post at 15:21 GMT on its Coinbase Pro site it said "increased latencies impacting order entry and settlement" for its Coinbase Pro service, adding it was investigating the problem. A spokesman for Coinbase, one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, declined to comment. Coinbase users on Twitter reported problems trading. One Coinbase Pro user told Reuters by message: "The outage prevented me from submitting a buy limit order which would've been executed as the limit price was met. At this time the order finally went through but I missed the price for now." Bitcoin, the world's biggest cryptocurrency, slumped as much as 13% on Thursday to its lowest since Nov. 16., slamming the brakes on its red-hot rally and sparking a sell-off of smaller coins. It was last down 9% at $16,904 and on course for its biggest one-day drop since Sept 3. The move represents a sharp correction from its three-year high of its near-record $19,521 hit on Wednesday. (Reporting by Tom Wilson; Editing by Tom Brown) || Crypto exchange Coinbase hit by connection, latency problems as bitcoin plummets: By Tom Wilson LONDON (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase said on Thursday its retail and professional-focused platforms were hit by tech problems, with users reporting difficulty trading as bitcoin plunged towards its biggest one-day drop since September. California-based Coinbase said on its website at 14:14 GMT it was investigating connectivity problems, adding at 14:42 GMT that it had identified the problem and implemented a solution. In a separate post at 15:21 GMT on its Coinbase Pro site it said "increased latencies impacting order entry and settlement" for its Coinbase Pro service, adding it was investigating the problem. A spokesman for Coinbase, one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, declined to comment. Coinbase users on Twitter reported problems trading. One Coinbase Pro user told Reuters by message: "The outage prevented me from submitting a buy limit order which would've been executed as the limit price was met. At this time the order finally went through but I missed the price for now." Bitcoin, the world's biggest cryptocurrency, slumped as much as 13% on Thursday to its lowest since Nov. 16., slamming the brakes on its red-hot rally and sparking a sell-off of smaller coins. It was last down 9% at $16,904 and on course for its biggest one-day drop since Sept 3. The move represents a sharp correction from its three-year high of its near-record $19,521 hit on Wednesday. (Reporting by Tom Wilson; Editing by Tom Brown) || Crypto exchange Coinbase hit by connection, latency problems as bitcoin plummets: By Tom Wilson
LONDON (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase said on Thursday its retail and professional-focused platforms were hit by tech problems, with users reporting difficulty trading as bitcoin plunged towards its biggest one-day drop since September.
California-based Coinbase said on its website at 14:14 GMT it was investigating connectivity problems, adding at 14:42 GMT that it had identified the problem and implemented a solution.
In a separate post at 15:21 GMT on its Coinbase Pro site it said "increased latencies impacting order entry and settlement" for its Coinbase Pro service, adding it was investigating the problem.
A spokesman for Coinbase, one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, declined to comment.
Coinbase users on Twitter reported problems trading.
One Coinbase Pro user told Reuters by message: "The outage prevented me from submitting a buy limit order which would've been executed as the limit price was met. At this time the order finally went through but I missed the price for now."
Bitcoin, the world's biggest cryptocurrency, slumped as much as 13% on Thursday to its lowest since Nov. 16., slamming the brakes on its red-hot rally and sparking a sell-off of smaller coins.
It was last down 9% at $16,904 and on course for its biggest one-day drop since Sept 3. The move represents a sharp correction from its three-year high of its near-record $19,521 hit on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Tom Wilson; Editing by Tom Brown) || Crypto exchange Coinbase hit by connection, latency problems as bitcoin plummets: By Tom Wilson LONDON (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase said on Thursday its retail and professional-focused platforms were hit by tech problems, with users reporting difficulty trading as bitcoin plunged towards its biggest one-day drop since September. California-based Coinbase said on its website at 14:14 GMT it was investigating connectivity problems, adding at 14:42 GMT that it had identified the problem and implemented a solution. In a separate post at 15:21 GMT on its Coinbase Pro site it said "increased latencies impacting order entry and settlement" for its Coinbase Pro service, adding it was investigating the problem. A spokesman for Coinbase, one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, declined to comment. Coinbase users on Twitter reported problems trading. One Coinbase Pro user told Reuters by message: "The outage prevented me from submitting a buy limit order which would've been executed as the limit price was met. At this time the order finally went through but I missed the price for now." Bitcoin, the world's biggest cryptocurrency, slumped as much as 13% on Thursday to its lowest since Nov. 16., slamming the brakes on its red-hot rally and sparking a sell-off of smaller coins. It was last down 9% at $16,904 and on course for its biggest one-day drop since Sept 3. The move represents a sharp correction from its three-year high of its near-record $19,521 hit on Wednesday. (Reporting by Tom Wilson; Editing by Tom Brown) || 3 Reasons Bitcoin Crashed by $3,000 – And Why It’s Still Bullish: Bitcoin suffered a price crash earlier on Thursday, having missed record highs by a narrow margin earlier this week.
The top cryptocurrency by market valuefell from over $19,300 to $16,327during the early European trading hours and was last seen trading near $17,200, representing a 10% drop on a 24-hour basis, according toCoinDesk 20data.
The sudden fall caught many traders off-guard, given the cryptocurrency was trading just 2% short of its record high of $19,783 on Wednesday.
Related:Bitcoin's Carnivore Cult Is Both Stupid and Correct
So, what’s behind the $3,000 decline? Here are three of the primary factors responsible for the price drop:
“Bitcoinhas fallen victim to a large unwinding of leverage trades in derivatives listed across major exchanges,” Matthew Dibb, CEO of Stack Funds, told CoinDesk.
Nearly $2 billion-worth of derivative positions have been liquidated in the past 24 hours. Of that, more than $1.6 billion-worth has been closed in the past 12 hours, according to data sourceBybit.
The unwinding of leverage tradeshad been expected, as the cost of holding long positions in the perpetual futures market, also known as the funding rate, had risen sharply to a multi-month high of 0.098% in the past few days – a sign of overleveraging, or overheating, in the market. The funding rate is decided and paid every eight hours.
Related:Canada-Listed Investment Firm Sells All Its Ether, Monero to Buy More Bitcoin
Also read:Bitcoin Faces Volatility Rise as Futures Market Shows Signs of Overheating
With the price drop, the funding rate has fallen back to 0.011%, according to data sourceGlassnode. In effect, excess leverage has been crowded out.
Bitcoin’s rally from $10,000 to $19,400 seen over the past seven weeks looked overstretched on the technical charts.
The momentum was so strong that the cryptocurrency consistently traded above its 10-day moving average (MA) throughout the ascent, despite an overbought reading on the 14-day relative strength index (RSI).
Assets seldom see a 90-degree rally, as speculators tend to book profits at regular intervals, pushing prices down to their short-term moving averages. The cryptocurrency has seen several pullbacks of 20% or more during the previous bull markets.
The price drop seen today has taken the cryptocurrency well below its 10-day average and allowed the RSI to realign in a more bull friendly-manner. “It’s a healthy pullback,” Stack Funds’ Dibb said.
According to chart analysts, price rallies with regular pullbacks are more sustainable than the near-90 degree ascents.
Some tradershad positionedfor the pullback by buying put options, or bearish bets, as noted by Deribit Insights.
According to trader and analyst Alex Kruger, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong’stweet threadabout the U.S. Treasury Department’srumored plansto track owners of self-hosted cryptocurrency wallets weakened the bullish move, allowing a price pullback.
“This [regulatory concerns], against a backdrop of euphoria and unsustainable high leverage among longs led to the largest 24-hour drop since March,” Kruger told CoinDesk in a Telegram chat.
“However, if what Armstrong talked about comes to be, it would be extremely bearish. As of now, I see that as highly unlikely (in the short-term),” Kruger said.
The downward move may also have been amplified by prominent cryptocurrency exchange OKEX’s announcement it wouldresume withdrawals.
“Most of the frozen bitcoin [on OKEx] had traded up around 70%, so there were a lot of unrealized profits locked up there,” Sui Chung, CEO of CF Benchmarks, said in a statement provided to CoinDesk. “Once these coins were free to move, it’s likely many traders sold them for dollars and stablecoins to realize those gains, adding greater momentum to the selling.”
Bitcoin had already fallen to around $17,600 when the exchange lifted the suspension at 08:00 UTC today, and fell to $16,350 in the following hour. OKEx suspended withdrawals on Oct. 16 when bitcoin traded near $11,500.
Also read:OKEx Sees Biggest Bitcoin Outflow in 6 Months Soon After Resuming Withdrawals
The path of least resistance for bitcoin remains on the higher side. “The latest price drop is a noise against the larger bullish trend,” Kruger said.
Indeed, bullish macro factors such as increased institutional participation, record money printing by central banks, and the search for yield remain intact despite the price drop.
Holding sentiment remains strong on Thursday, with the number of coins held on cryptocurrency exchanges at 2,384,913, the lowest level since Aug. 2018, according to data source Glassnode.
The data suggests investors view the current drop as a bull market pullback and remain confident about the cryptocurrency’s long-term prospects. The metric has declined by over 17% this year, meaning there’s been a liquidity drop in the market.
Lastly, today’s price plunge has cleared out the excessive leverage, as noted above. With the cost of holding long positions normalized, bitcoin can now chart a more sustained rally to record highs.
Crypto Broker’s Heusser expects the cryptocurrency to consolidate in the range of $17,500 to $19,000 in the short-term before resuming its uptrend.
“Bitcoin is yet to peak,” said Siddharth Menon, co-founder and COO of Mumbai-based WazirX exchange. “I’m also seeing a lot of pro traders take positions in bitcoin. These are healthy positions because they are not going all-in, but adding funds when it goes up or down.”
Also read:Bitcoin Price Drops Almost $3,000 With Sharpest Sell-Off in 12 Weeks
• 3 Reasons Bitcoin Crashed by $3,000 – And Why It’s Still Bullish
• 3 Reasons Bitcoin Crashed by $3,000 – And Why It’s Still Bullish || 3 Reasons Bitcoin Crashed by $3,000 – And Why It’s Still Bullish: Bitcoin suffered a price crash earlier on Thursday, having missed record highs by a narrow margin earlier this week. The top cryptocurrency by market value fell from over $19,300 to $16,327 during the early European trading hours and was last seen trading near $17,200, representing a 10% drop on a 24-hour basis, according to CoinDesk 20 data. The sudden fall caught many traders off-guard, given the cryptocurrency was trading just 2% short of its record high of $19,783 on Wednesday. Related: Bitcoin's Carnivore Cult Is Both Stupid and Correct So, what’s behind the $3,000 decline? Here are three of the primary factors responsible for the price drop: 1. Excess leverage “ Bitcoin has fallen victim to a large unwinding of leverage trades in derivatives listed across major exchanges,” Matthew Dibb, CEO of Stack Funds, told CoinDesk. Nearly $2 billion-worth of derivative positions have been liquidated in the past 24 hours. Of that, more than $1.6 billion-worth has been closed in the past 12 hours, according to data source Bybit . The unwinding of leverage trades had been expected , as the cost of holding long positions in the perpetual futures market, also known as the funding rate, had risen sharply to a multi-month high of 0.098% in the past few days – a sign of overleveraging, or overheating, in the market. The funding rate is decided and paid every eight hours. Related: Canada-Listed Investment Firm Sells All Its Ether, Monero to Buy More Bitcoin Also read: Bitcoin Faces Volatility Rise as Futures Market Shows Signs of Overheating With the price drop, the funding rate has fallen back to 0.011%, according to data source Glassnode . In effect, excess leverage has been crowded out. 2. Technical pullback Bitcoin’s rally from $10,000 to $19,400 seen over the past seven weeks looked overstretched on the technical charts. The momentum was so strong that the cryptocurrency consistently traded above its 10-day moving average (MA) throughout the ascent, despite an overbought reading on the 14-day relative strength index (RSI). Story continues Assets seldom see a 90-degree rally, as speculators tend to book profits at regular intervals, pushing prices down to their short-term moving averages. The cryptocurrency has seen several pullbacks of 20% or more during the previous bull markets. The price drop seen today has taken the cryptocurrency well below its 10-day average and allowed the RSI to realign in a more bull friendly-manner. “It’s a healthy pullback,” Stack Funds’ Dibb said. According to chart analysts, price rallies with regular pullbacks are more sustainable than the near-90 degree ascents. Some traders had positioned for the pullback by buying put options, or bearish bets, as noted by Deribit Insights. 3. Other factors amplified sell-off According to trader and analyst Alex Kruger, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong’s tweet thread about the U.S. Treasury Department’s rumored plans to track owners of self-hosted cryptocurrency wallets weakened the bullish move, allowing a price pullback. “This [regulatory concerns], against a backdrop of euphoria and unsustainable high leverage among longs led to the largest 24-hour drop since March,” Kruger told CoinDesk in a Telegram chat. “However, if what Armstrong talked about comes to be, it would be extremely bearish. As of now, I see that as highly unlikely (in the short-term),” Kruger said. The downward move may also have been amplified by prominent cryptocurrency exchange OKEX’s announcement it would resume withdrawals . “Most of the frozen bitcoin [on OKEx] had traded up around 70%, so there were a lot of unrealized profits locked up there,” Sui Chung, CEO of CF Benchmarks, said in a statement provided to CoinDesk. “Once these coins were free to move, it’s likely many traders sold them for dollars and stablecoins to realize those gains, adding greater momentum to the selling.” Bitcoin had already fallen to around $17,600 when the exchange lifted the suspension at 08:00 UTC today, and fell to $16,350 in the following hour. OKEx suspended withdrawals on Oct. 16 when bitcoin traded near $11,500. Also read: OKEx Sees Biggest Bitcoin Outflow in 6 Months Soon After Resuming Withdrawals Still bullish The path of least resistance for bitcoin remains on the higher side. “The latest price drop is a noise against the larger bullish trend,” Kruger said. Indeed, bullish macro factors such as increased institutional participation, record money printing by central banks, and the search for yield remain intact despite the price drop. Holding sentiment remains strong on Thursday, with the number of coins held on cryptocurrency exchanges at 2,384,913, the lowest level since Aug. 2018, according to data source Glassnode. The data suggests investors view the current drop as a bull market pullback and remain confident about the cryptocurrency’s long-term prospects. The metric has declined by over 17% this year, meaning there’s been a liquidity drop in the market. Lastly, today’s price plunge has cleared out the excessive leverage, as noted above. With the cost of holding long positions normalized, bitcoin can now chart a more sustained rally to record highs. Crypto Broker’s Heusser expects the cryptocurrency to consolidate in the range of $17,500 to $19,000 in the short-term before resuming its uptrend. “Bitcoin is yet to peak,” said Siddharth Menon, co-founder and COO of Mumbai-based WazirX exchange. “I’m also seeing a lot of pro traders take positions in bitcoin. These are healthy positions because they are not going all-in, but adding funds when it goes up or down.” Also read: Bitcoin Price Drops Almost $3,000 With Sharpest Sell-Off in 12 Weeks Related Stories 3 Reasons Bitcoin Crashed by $3,000 – And Why It’s Still Bullish 3 Reasons Bitcoin Crashed by $3,000 – And Why It’s Still Bullish || 3 Reasons Bitcoin Crashed by $3,000 – And Why It’s Still Bullish: Bitcoin suffered a price crash earlier on Thursday, having missed record highs by a narrow margin earlier this week.
The top cryptocurrency by market valuefell from over $19,300 to $16,327during the early European trading hours and was last seen trading near $17,200, representing a 10% drop on a 24-hour basis, according toCoinDesk 20data.
The sudden fall caught many traders off-guard, given the cryptocurrency was trading just 2% short of its record high of $19,783 on Wednesday.
Related:Bitcoin's Carnivore Cult Is Both Stupid and Correct
So, what’s behind the $3,000 decline? Here are three of the primary factors responsible for the price drop:
“Bitcoinhas fallen victim to a large unwinding of leverage trades in derivatives listed across major exchanges,” Matthew Dibb, CEO of Stack Funds, told CoinDesk.
Nearly $2 billion-worth of derivative positions have been liquidated in the past 24 hours. Of that, more than $1.6 billion-worth has been closed in the past 12 hours, according to data sourceBybit.
The unwinding of leverage tradeshad been expected, as the cost of holding long positions in the perpetual futures market, also known as the funding rate, had risen sharply to a multi-month high of 0.098% in the past few days – a sign of overleveraging, or overheating, in the market. The funding rate is decided and paid every eight hours.
Related:Canada-Listed Investment Firm Sells All Its Ether, Monero to Buy More Bitcoin
Also read:Bitcoin Faces Volatility Rise as Futures Market Shows Signs of Overheating
With the price drop, the funding rate has fallen back to 0.011%, according to data sourceGlassnode. In effect, excess leverage has been crowded out.
Bitcoin’s rally from $10,000 to $19,400 seen over the past seven weeks looked overstretched on the technical charts.
The momentum was so strong that the cryptocurrency consistently traded above its 10-day moving average (MA) throughout the ascent, despite an overbought reading on the 14-day relative strength index (RSI).
Assets seldom see a 90-degree rally, as speculators tend to book profits at regular intervals, pushing prices down to their short-term moving averages. The cryptocurrency has seen several pullbacks of 20% or more during the previous bull markets.
The price drop seen today has taken the cryptocurrency well below its 10-day average and allowed the RSI to realign in a more bull friendly-manner. “It’s a healthy pullback,” Stack Funds’ Dibb said.
According to chart analysts, price rallies with regular pullbacks are more sustainable than the near-90 degree ascents.
Some tradershad positionedfor the pullback by buying put options, or bearish bets, as noted by Deribit Insights.
According to trader and analyst Alex Kruger, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong’stweet threadabout the U.S. Treasury Department’srumored plansto track owners of self-hosted cryptocurrency wallets weakened the bullish move, allowing a price pullback.
“This [regulatory concerns], against a backdrop of euphoria and unsustainable high leverage among longs led to the largest 24-hour drop since March,” Kruger told CoinDesk in a Telegram chat.
“However, if what Armstrong talked about comes to be, it would be extremely bearish. As of now, I see that as highly unlikely (in the short-term),” Kruger said.
The downward move may also have been amplified by prominent cryptocurrency exchange OKEX’s announcement it wouldresume withdrawals.
“Most of the frozen bitcoin [on OKEx] had traded up around 70%, so there were a lot of unrealized profits locked up there,” Sui Chung, CEO of CF Benchmarks, said in a statement provided to CoinDesk. “Once these coins were free to move, it’s likely many traders sold them for dollars and stablecoins to realize those gains, adding greater momentum to the selling.”
Bitcoin had already fallen to around $17,600 when the exchange lifted the suspension at 08:00 UTC today, and fell to $16,350 in the following hour. OKEx suspended withdrawals on Oct. 16 when bitcoin traded near $11,500.
Also read:OKEx Sees Biggest Bitcoin Outflow in 6 Months Soon After Resuming Withdrawals
The path of least resistance for bitcoin remains on the higher side. “The latest price drop is a noise against the larger bullish trend,” Kruger said.
Indeed, bullish macro factors such as increased institutional participation, record money printing by central banks, and the search for yield remain intact despite the price drop.
Holding sentiment remains strong on Thursday, with the number of coins held on cryptocurrency exchanges at 2,384,913, the lowest level since Aug. 2018, according to data source Glassnode.
The data suggests investors view the current drop as a bull market pullback and remain confident about the cryptocurrency’s long-term prospects. The metric has declined by over 17% this year, meaning there’s been a liquidity drop in the market.
Lastly, today’s price plunge has cleared out the excessive leverage, as noted above. With the cost of holding long positions normalized, bitcoin can now chart a more sustained rally to record highs.
Crypto Broker’s Heusser expects the cryptocurrency to consolidate in the range of $17,500 to $19,000 in the short-term before resuming its uptrend.
“Bitcoin is yet to peak,” said Siddharth Menon, co-founder and COO of Mumbai-based WazirX exchange. “I’m also seeing a lot of pro traders take positions in bitcoin. These are healthy positions because they are not going all-in, but adding funds when it goes up or down.”
Also read:Bitcoin Price Drops Almost $3,000 With Sharpest Sell-Off in 12 Weeks
• 3 Reasons Bitcoin Crashed by $3,000 – And Why It’s Still Bullish
• 3 Reasons Bitcoin Crashed by $3,000 – And Why It’s Still Bullish || Cypherpunk Holdings Inc. Announces Updated Bitcoin Holdings: Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - November 26, 2020) - Cypherpunk Holdings Inc. (CSE: HODL) ("Cypherpunk" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has increased its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings to BTC 276.479. This represents a net increase since June 30, 2020 of 72.979 BTC.
The increase in Bitcoin holdings is a result of the full liquidation of positions in Monero (XMR) and Ethereum (ETH), as well as the partial use of proceeds from a private placement of $505,000 CAD that closed on August 27th, 2020.
During October 2020, Cypherpunk Holdings Inc. was added to the unofficial list of public companies with a treasury position in Bitcoin alongside other companies such as MicroStrategy [MSTR], Square [SQ], and Galaxy Digital Holdings [GLXY]. The web site for Bitcoin Treasuries can be found athttps://bitcointreasuries.org/
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Generally, any statements that are not historical facts may contain forward-looking information, and forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or indicates that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be" taken, "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to the Company's intention to complete the private placement offering and its goal of making investments in the blockchain and other sectors and enhancing value. There is no assurance that the Company's plans or objectives will be implemented as set out herein, or at all. Forward-looking information is based on certain factors and assumptions the Company believes to be reasonable at the time such statements are made and is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. There can be no assurance that such forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made and the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as required by law. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements.
Investor Relations Contact:Lana ThompsonOperations Coordinator, Cypherpunk Holdings Inc.,[email protected]: 416.599.8547
To view the source version of this press release, please visithttps://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/69049
[Social Media Buzz]
None available.
|
17717.41, 18177.48, 19625.84, 18803.00, 19201.09, 19445.40, 18699.77, 19154.23, 19345.12, 19191.63
|
Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 619.11, 616.75, 618.99, 641.07, 636.19, 636.79, 640.38, 638.65, 641.63, 639.19, 637.96, 630.52, 630.86, 632.83, 657.29, 657.07, 653.76, 657.59, 678.30, 688.31, 689.65, 714.48, 701.86, 700.97, 729.79, 740.83, 688.70, 703.23, 703.42, 711.52, 703.13, 709.85, 723.27, 715.53, 716.41, 705.05, 702.03, 705.02, 711.62, 744.20, 740.98, 751.59, 751.62, 731.03, 739.25, 751.35, 744.59, 740.29, 741.65, 735.38, 732.03, 735.81, 735.60, 745.69, 756.77, 777.94, 771.16, 773.87, 758.70, 764.22, 768.13, 770.81, 772.79, 774.65, 769.73, 780.09, 780.56, 781.48, 778.09, 784.91, 790.83, 790.53, 792.71, 800.88, 834.28, 864.54, 921.98, 898.82, 896.18, 907.61, 933.20, 975.92, 973.50, 961.24, 963.74, 998.33, 1021.75, 1043.84, 1154.73, 1013.38.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2017-01-05]
Volume: 510199008, RSI (14-day): 61.77, 50-day EMA: 852.52, 200-day EMA: 693.36
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1179.70, Gold RSI: 56.72
Oil Price: 53.76, Oil RSI: 61.19
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Bitcoin is going bananas: (Photographers take pictures in front of a mock bitcoin ATM during the opening of Hong Kong's first bitcoin retail store.Reuters/Bobby Yip)
Bitcoin is going bananas.
The cryptocurrency was 10.1% higher at $1,127.48 per coin just after noon in New York on Wednesday, bringing its 2017 gain to 17.8%.
On its first trading day of the new year, bitcoin crossed above the $1,000 mark for the first time since 2013.
Bitcoin is up 95% since the beginning of September, and it gained 123% in 2016, making it thetop performing currencyfor the second year in a row.
Bitcoin's gains have been buoyed by renewed interest from China, where money is rushing out of the country as its currency, the yuan, continues to weaken. China'sforeign-exchange reserves shrankby about 8% in 2016 to $3.05 trillion as of November. The outflows have pushed the yuan to its weakest levels against the dollar since 2008.
According to a recent Business Insider Intelligence briefing, citing data fromCryptocompare: "In the first 24 hours of the new year, over 5 million bitcoins were bought in Chinese yuan, equating to $3.8 billion. In contrast, just 53,000 bitcoins were bought in US dollars." And while not all of that translates into people actually buying and holding, it shows the tremendous appetite for bitcoin in China.
The situation is unlikely to improve anytime soon unless China takes action to stop the bleeding amid the US Federal Reserve ratcheting up its 2017 interest-rate hike expectations to three from two. If those rate hikes happen, an even weaker yuan is most likely in the cards, creating an even more beneficial scenario for bitcoin.
(Markets Insider)
NOW WATCH:Watch Yellen explain why the Federal Reserve decides to raise rates
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• China is behind the latest bitcoin craze || Bitcoin is going bananas: Bitcoin machine (Photographers take pictures in front of a mock bitcoin ATM during the opening of Hong Kong's first bitcoin retail store.Reuters/Bobby Yip) Bitcoin is going bananas. The cryptocurrency was 10.1% higher at $1,127.48 per coin just after noon in New York on Wednesday, bringing its 2017 gain to 17.8%. On its first trading day of the new year, bitcoin crossed above the $1,000 mark for the first time since 2013. Bitcoin is up 95% since the beginning of September, and it gained 123% in 2016, making it the top performing currency for the second year in a row. Bitcoin's gains have been buoyed by renewed interest from China, where money is rushing out of the country as its currency, the yuan, continues to weaken. China's foreign-exchange reserves shrank by about 8% in 2016 to $3.05 trillion as of November. The outflows have pushed the yuan to its weakest levels against the dollar since 2008. According to a recent Business Insider Intelligence briefing, citing data from Cryptocompare : "In the first 24 hours of the new year, over 5 million bitcoins were bought in Chinese yuan, equating to $3.8 billion. In contrast, just 53,000 bitcoins were bought in US dollars." And while not all of that translates into people actually buying and holding, it shows the tremendous appetite for bitcoin in China. The situation is unlikely to improve anytime soon unless China takes action to stop the bleeding amid the US Federal Reserve ratcheting up its 2017 interest-rate hike expectations to three from two. If those rate hikes happen, an even weaker yuan is most likely in the cards, creating an even more beneficial scenario for bitcoin. Bitcoin (Markets Insider) NOW WATCH: Watch Yellen explain why the Federal Reserve decides to raise rates More From Business Insider 26 things under $20 we use every day Customers developed a new habit during the recession it's killing Applebee's and Buffalo Wild Wings China is behind the latest bitcoin craze || Bitcoin is going bananas: (Photographers take pictures in front of a mock bitcoin ATM during the opening of Hong Kong's first bitcoin retail store.Reuters/Bobby Yip)
Bitcoin is going bananas.
The cryptocurrency was 10.1% higher at $1,127.48 per coin just after noon in New York on Wednesday, bringing its 2017 gain to 17.8%.
On its first trading day of the new year, bitcoin crossed above the $1,000 mark for the first time since 2013.
Bitcoin is up 95% since the beginning of September, and it gained 123% in 2016, making it thetop performing currencyfor the second year in a row.
Bitcoin's gains have been buoyed by renewed interest from China, where money is rushing out of the country as its currency, the yuan, continues to weaken. China'sforeign-exchange reserves shrankby about 8% in 2016 to $3.05 trillion as of November. The outflows have pushed the yuan to its weakest levels against the dollar since 2008.
According to a recent Business Insider Intelligence briefing, citing data fromCryptocompare: "In the first 24 hours of the new year, over 5 million bitcoins were bought in Chinese yuan, equating to $3.8 billion. In contrast, just 53,000 bitcoins were bought in US dollars." And while not all of that translates into people actually buying and holding, it shows the tremendous appetite for bitcoin in China.
The situation is unlikely to improve anytime soon unless China takes action to stop the bleeding amid the US Federal Reserve ratcheting up its 2017 interest-rate hike expectations to three from two. If those rate hikes happen, an even weaker yuan is most likely in the cards, creating an even more beneficial scenario for bitcoin.
(Markets Insider)
NOW WATCH:Watch Yellen explain why the Federal Reserve decides to raise rates
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• China is behind the latest bitcoin craze || Bitcoin Services Inc. Purchases Four Antminer S9 Bitcoin Miner: GRANDVILLE, MI / ACCESSWIRE / January 4, 2017 / Bitcoin Services Inc. (OTC PINK: BTSC) announced today that it purchased four Antminer S9 bitcoin miners. The S9 has more hashing power than any previous device crammed into its silicon; a massive 14 TH/s (TeraHash per second). A total of 189 chips, spread over 3 circuit boards, are combined to achieve this phenomenal hashrate. In addition, after several shareholder inquiries, the company has no plans for a reverse split. The current share structure as of today is 511,784,705 OS, 387,512,190 Restricted, and 124,272,515 Float. About Bitcoin Services Inc.: Our business operations are Internet based to the consumer and consist of three separate streams, as follows: (1) bitcoin escrow services, (2) bitcoin mining, and (3) blockchain software development. The principal products and services are the mining of bitcoins, providing escrow services for buyers and sellers of bitcoins, and the development and sale of blockchain software. The market for these services and products is worldwide, and sold and marketed on the Internet. Safe Harbor Statement This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27a of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and section 21e of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Those statements include the intent, belief, or current expectations of the company and its management team. Prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. Accomplishing the strategy described herein is significantly dependent upon numerous factors, many that are not in management's control. Some of these factors include the ability of the company to raise sufficient capital, attract qualified management, attract new customers, and effectively compete against similar companies. Story continues CONTACT: [email protected] SOURCE : Bitcoin Services Inc. || Bitcoin Services Inc. Purchases Four Antminer S9 Bitcoin Miner: GRANDVILLE, MI / ACCESSWIRE / January 4, 2017 /Bitcoin Services Inc. (OTC PINK: BTSC) announced today that it purchased four Antminer S9 bitcoin miners. The S9 has more hashing power than any previous device crammed into its silicon; a massive 14 TH/s (TeraHash per second). A total of 189 chips, spread over 3 circuit boards, are combined to achieve this phenomenal hashrate. In addition, after several shareholder inquiries, the company has no plans for a reverse split. The current share structure as of today is 511,784,705 OS, 387,512,190 Restricted, and 124,272,515 Float.
About Bitcoin Services Inc.:
Our business operations are Internet based to the consumer and consist of three separate streams, as follows: (1) bitcoin escrow services, (2) bitcoin mining, and (3) blockchain software development. The principal products and services are the mining of bitcoins, providing escrow services for buyers and sellers of bitcoins, and the development and sale of blockchain software. The market for these services and products is worldwide, and sold and marketed on the Internet.
Safe Harbor Statement
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27a of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and section 21e of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Those statements include the intent, belief, or current expectations of the company and its management team. Prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. Accomplishing the strategy described herein is significantly dependent upon numerous factors, many that are not in management's control. Some of these factors include the ability of the company to raise sufficient capital, attract qualified management, attract new customers, and effectively compete against similar companies.
CONTACT:
[email protected]
SOURCE: Bitcoin Services Inc. || Bitcoin Services Inc. Purchases Four Antminer S9 Bitcoin Miner: GRANDVILLE, MI / ACCESSWIRE / January 4, 2017 /Bitcoin Services Inc. (OTC PINK: BTSC) announced today that it purchased four Antminer S9 bitcoin miners. The S9 has more hashing power than any previous device crammed into its silicon; a massive 14 TH/s (TeraHash per second). A total of 189 chips, spread over 3 circuit boards, are combined to achieve this phenomenal hashrate. In addition, after several shareholder inquiries, the company has no plans for a reverse split. The current share structure as of today is 511,784,705 OS, 387,512,190 Restricted, and 124,272,515 Float.
About Bitcoin Services Inc.:
Our business operations are Internet based to the consumer and consist of three separate streams, as follows: (1) bitcoin escrow services, (2) bitcoin mining, and (3) blockchain software development. The principal products and services are the mining of bitcoins, providing escrow services for buyers and sellers of bitcoins, and the development and sale of blockchain software. The market for these services and products is worldwide, and sold and marketed on the Internet.
Safe Harbor Statement
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27a of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and section 21e of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Those statements include the intent, belief, or current expectations of the company and its management team. Prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. Accomplishing the strategy described herein is significantly dependent upon numerous factors, many that are not in management's control. Some of these factors include the ability of the company to raise sufficient capital, attract qualified management, attract new customers, and effectively compete against similar companies.
CONTACT:
[email protected]
SOURCE: Bitcoin Services Inc. || 10 things you need to know before the opening bell: (People skate on the frozen Doubs river at the Swiss - French border in Les Brenets, Switzerland.Reuters/Denis Balibouse)
Here is what you need to know.
Stock markets all over the world are opening 2017 with a bang.China's Shanghai Composite (+1%) paced the gains in Asia and Italy's MIB (+1.7%) leads the advance in Europe. Here in the US, the Dow is on track to open higher by 0.9% near 19,932.
The dollar is flying.The US dollar index is higher by 0.6% at 103.39, and on track to close at its best level since the end of 2002. The greenback is higher against all of its major peers with its biggest gains coming against the euro (+0.8%).
Bonds are getting crushed.Heavy selling has yields across the Treasury curve up about 6 basis points apiece with the 10-year reaching 2.51%. Selling isn't limited to just the US, as yields are also screaming higher across Europe, where the UK 10-year is up 9 bps at 1.33%.
Crude oil soars to an 18-month high.West Texas Intermediate crude oil trades up 2.3% at $54.93 per barrel following confirmation both Kuwait and Oman have lived up to their promises to cut production, Bloomberg reports. Meanwhile, Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, is higher by 2.2% at $58.08 per barrel.
Bitcoin is above $1,000.The cryptocurrency trades up 0.8% at $1,020 per coin after crossing the $1,000 mark for the first time since 2013 on Monday.
China is tightening control of capital.Beijing announced new rules aimed at slowing the flow of capital out of China. The measures include requiring citizens taking money out of the country to pledge it won't be used to buy property overseas and calling on banks to report any overseas transactions valued at $10,000 or more, Reuters says. State-run media organization Xinhua has denied the measures are capital controls.
UK manufacturing is booming.Markit UK Manufacturing PMI hit 56.1 in December, making for the best print in 30 months. "The UK manufacturing sector starts 2017 on a strong footing. The headline PMI hit a two-and-ahalf year high in December, with rates of expansion in output and new orders among the fastest seen during the survey’s 25-year history," wrote Rob Dobson, senior economist at IHS Markit, which compiles the survey. The British pound is little changed near 1.2275 versus the dollar.
2017 could be a busy year for tech IPOs.Blue Apron, Dropbox, Snap, and Spotify are among the tech startups that are candidates to go public this year.
Cantor Fitzgerald hires Anshu Jain.Cantor has named Jain president about one and a half years after he resigned as co-CEO of Deutsche Bank following a series of regulatory troubles.
Twitter's China boss is out.Kathy Chen has quit after eight months on the job, Reuters reports. In a tweet announcing her departure, Chen wrote, "Now that the Twitter APAC team is working directly with Chinese advertisers, this is the right time for me to leave the company."
US economic data flows.Markit manufacturing PMI will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET before both ISM Manufacturing and construction spending cross the wires at 10 a.m. ET.
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• Finland just launched an experiment giving 2,000 people free money until 2019 || 10 things you need to know before the opening bell: Skating on a river (People skate on the frozen Doubs river at the Swiss - French border in Les Brenets, Switzerland.Reuters/Denis Balibouse) Here is what you need to know. Stock markets all over the world are opening 2017 with a bang . China's Shanghai Composite (+1%) paced the gains in Asia and Italy's MIB (+1.7%) leads the advance in Europe. Here in the US, the Dow is on track to open higher by 0.9% near 19,932. The dollar is flying. The US dollar index is higher by 0.6% at 103.39, and on track to close at its best level since the end of 2002. The greenback is higher against all of its major peers with its biggest gains coming against the euro (+0.8%). Bonds are getting crushed. Heavy selling has yields across the Treasury curve up about 6 basis points apiece with the 10-year reaching 2.51%. Selling isn't limited to just the US, as yields are also screaming higher across Europe, where the UK 10-year is up 9 bps at 1.33%. Crude oil soars to an 18-month high . West Texas Intermediate crude oil trades up 2.3% at $54.93 per barrel following confirmation both Kuwait and Oman have lived up to their promises to cut production, Bloomberg reports. Meanwhile, Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, is higher by 2.2% at $58.08 per barrel. Bitcoin is above $1,000 . The cryptocurrency trades up 0.8% at $1,020 per coin after crossing the $1,000 mark for the first time since 2013 on Monday. China is tightening control of capital . Beijing announced new rules aimed at slowing the flow of capital out of China. The measures include requiring citizens taking money out of the country to pledge it won't be used to buy property overseas and calling on banks to report any overseas transactions valued at $10,000 or more, Reuters says. State-run media organization Xinhua has denied the measures are capital controls. UK manufacturing is booming . Markit UK Manufacturing PMI hit 56.1 in December, making for the best print in 30 months. "The UK manufacturing sector starts 2017 on a strong footing. The headline PMI hit a two-and-ahalf year high in December, with rates of expansion in output and new orders among the fastest seen during the survey’s 25-year history," wrote Rob Dobson, senior economist at IHS Markit, which compiles the survey. The British pound is little changed near 1.2275 versus the dollar. Story continues 2017 could be a busy year for tech IPOs . Blue Apron, Dropbox, Snap, and Spotify are among the tech startups that are candidates to go public this year. Cantor Fitzgerald hires Anshu Jain . Cantor has named Jain president about one and a half years after he resigned as co-CEO of Deutsche Bank following a series of regulatory troubles. Twitter's China boss is out . Kathy Chen has quit after eight months on the job, Reuters reports. In a tweet announcing her departure, Chen wrote, " Now that the Twitter APAC team is working directly with Chinese advertisers, this is the right time for me to leave the company." US economic data flows. Markit manufacturing PMI will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET before both ISM Manufacturing and construction spending cross the wires at 10 a.m. ET. More From Business Insider A surprising factor in the extinction of the dinosaurs may have been how long their eggs took to hatch I've owned an Amazon Echo for over a year now — here are my 19 favorite features Finland just launched an experiment giving 2,000 people free money until 2019 || Bitcoin jumps above $1,000 for first time in three years: By Jemima Kelly LONDON (Reuters) - Digital currency bitcoin kicked off the new year by jumping above $1,000 for the first time in three years late on Sunday, having outperformed all central-bank-issued currencies with a 125 percent climb in 2016. Bitcoin - a web-based "cryptocurrency" that has no central authority, relying instead on thousands of computers across the world that validate transactions and add new bitcoins to the system - jumped 2.5 percent to $1,022 on the Europe-based Bitstamp exchange, its highest since December 2013. Though the digital currency has historically been highly volatile - a tenfold increase in its value in two months in late 2013 took it to above $1,100, before a hack on the Tokyo-based Mt. Gox exchange saw it plunge to under $400 in the following weeks - it has in the past two years been more stable. Its biggest daily moves in 2016 were around 10 percent, still very volatile compared with fiat currencies, but markedly lower than the trading of 2013, which saw daily price swings of as much as 40 percent. Bitcoin may have been boosted in the past year by increased demand in China on the back of a 7 percent annual fall in the value of the yuan in 2016, the Chinese currency's weakest showing in over 20 years. Data shows most bitcoin trading is done in China. Bitcoin is used to move money across the globe quickly and anonymously and does not fall under the purview of any authority, making it attractive to those wanting to get around capital controls, such as China's. It is also may appeal to those worried about a lack of supply of cash, such as in India, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi removed high-denomination bank notes from circulation in November. "The growing war on cash, and capital controls, is making bitcoin look like a viable, if high risk, alternative," said Paul Gordon, a board member of the UK Digital Currency Association and co-founder of Quantave, a firm seeking to make it easier for institutional investors to access digital currency exchanges. Though bitcoin is still some way off the all-time high of $1,163 that it reached on the Bitstamp exchange in late 2013, there are now more bitcoins in circulation - 12.5 are added to the system every 10 minutes. Its total worth is at a record-high above $16 billion, putting its value at around the same as that of an average FTSE 100 company. (Reporting by Jemima Kelly; Editing by Peter Graff) || Bitcoin jumps above $1,000 for first time in three years: By Jemima Kelly
LONDON (Reuters) - Digital currency bitcoin kicked off the new year by jumping above $1,000 for the first time in three years late on Sunday, having outperformed all central-bank-issued currencies with a 125 percent climb in 2016.
Bitcoin - a web-based "cryptocurrency" that has no central authority, relying instead on thousands of computers across the world that validate transactions and add new bitcoins to the system - jumped 2.5 percent to $1,022 on the Europe-based Bitstamp exchange, its highest since December 2013.
Though the digital currency has historically been highly volatile - a tenfold increase in its value in two months in late 2013 took it to above $1,100, before a hack on the Tokyo-based Mt. Gox exchange saw it plunge to under $400 in the following weeks - it has in the past two years been more stable.
Its biggest daily moves in 2016 were around 10 percent, still very volatile compared with fiat currencies, but markedly lower than the trading of 2013, which saw daily price swings of as much as 40 percent.
Bitcoin may have been boosted in the past year by increased demand in China on the back of a 7 percent annual fall in the value of the yuan in 2016, the Chinese currency's weakest showing in over 20 years. Data shows most bitcoin trading is done in China.
Bitcoin is used to move money across the globe quickly and anonymously and does not fall under the purview of any authority, making it attractive to those wanting to get around capital controls, such as China's.
It is also may appeal to those worried about a lack of supply of cash, such as in India, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi removed high-denomination bank notes from circulation in November.
"The growing war on cash, and capital controls, is making bitcoin look like a viable, if high risk, alternative," said Paul Gordon, a board member of the UK Digital Currency Association and co-founder of Quantave, a firm seeking to make it easier for institutional investors to access digital currency exchanges.
Though bitcoin is still some way off the all-time high of $1,163 that it reached on the Bitstamp exchange in late 2013, there are now more bitcoins in circulation - 12.5 are added to the system every 10 minutes. Its total worth is at a record-high above $16 billion, putting its value at around the same as that of an average FTSE 100 company.
(Reporting by Jemima Kelly; Editing by Peter Graff) || Bitcoin jumps above $1,000 for first time in three years: By Jemima Kelly
LONDON (Reuters) - Digital currency bitcoin kicked off the new year by jumping above $1,000 for the first time in three years late on Sunday, having outperformed all central-bank-issued currencies with a 125 percent climb in 2016.
Bitcoin - a web-based "cryptocurrency" that has no central authority, relying instead on thousands of computers across the world that validate transactions and add new bitcoins to the system - jumped 2.5 percent to $1,022 on the Europe-based Bitstamp exchange, its highest since December 2013.
Though the digital currency has historically been highly volatile - a tenfold increase in its value in two months in late 2013 took it to above $1,100, before a hack on the Tokyo-based Mt. Gox exchange saw it plunge to under $400 in the following weeks - it has in the past two years been more stable.
Its biggest daily moves in 2016 were around 10 percent, still very volatile compared with fiat currencies, but markedly lower than the trading of 2013, which saw daily price swings of as much as 40 percent.
Bitcoin may have been boosted in the past year by increased demand in China on the back of a 7 percent annual fall in the value of the yuan in 2016, the Chinese currency's weakest showing in over 20 years. Data shows most bitcoin trading is done in China.
Bitcoin is used to move money across the globe quickly and anonymously and does not fall under the purview of any authority, making it attractive to those wanting to get around capital controls, such as China's.
It is also may appeal to those worried about a lack of supply of cash, such as in India, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi removed high-denomination bank notes from circulation in November.
"The growing war on cash, and capital controls, is making bitcoin look like a viable, if high risk, alternative," said Paul Gordon, a board member of the UK Digital Currency Association and co-founder of Quantave, a firm seeking to make it easier for institutional investors to access digital currency exchanges.
Though bitcoin is still some way off the all-time high of $1,163 that it reached on the Bitstamp exchange in late 2013, there are now more bitcoins in circulation - 12.5 are added to the system every 10 minutes. Its total worth is at a record-high above $16 billion, putting its value at around the same as that of an average FTSE 100 company.
(Reporting by Jemima Kelly; Editing by Peter Graff) || Bitcoin breaks $1,000 level, highest in more than 3 years: The price of bitcoin (Exchange: BTC=-USS) has breached the $1,000 mark, hitting a more than three-year high on Monday. The cryptocurrency was trading at $1,021 at the time of publication, according to CoinDesk data, at level not seen since November 2013, with its market capitalization exceeding $16 billion. Bitcoin has been on a steady march higher for the past few months, driven by a number of factors such as the devaluation of the yuan, geopolitical uncertainty and an increase in professional investors taking an interest in the asset class. "We are seeing the aftermath of zero interest rates run amok. So bitcoin is a healthy reminder that we don't have to hold on to dollars or renminbi, which is subject to capital controls and loss of purchasing power. Rather it's a new asset class," Bobby Lee, chief executive of BTC China, one of the world's largest bitcoin exchanges, told CNBC by phone. China is the source of the majority of trade in bitcoin and the devaluation of the yuan and fears over capital controls have contributed to the recent spike in the digital currency. But several other factors have also had a notable impact. For example, bitcoin's price has appreciated around 137 percent in the past 12 months but got a big boost after Donald Trump won the U.S. election in November. Another big event this year was in June when a change in bitcoin's underlying rules meant those who were "mining" the cryptocurrency a process whereby users are awarded with bitcoin if they solve complex mathematical puzzles in order for a bitcoin transaction to go through received less rewards. This was due to the process known as "halving," which essentially reduces the supply of bitcoin. But overall, bitcoin experts said that the market is growing in terms of volumes and those participating, creating a "network effect" that will see the price rise further. "The value of Uber in any city is directly dependent on the number of drivers and number of users, it's not linear it's exponential. The same is true of the value of bitcoin," Lee said. || Bitcoin breaks $1,000 level, highest in more than 3 years: The price of bitcoin(Exchange: BTC=-USS)has breached the $1,000 mark, hitting a more than three-year high on Monday.
The cryptocurrency was trading at $1,021 at the time of publication, according to CoinDesk data, at level not seen since November 2013, with its market capitalization exceeding $16 billion.
Bitcoin has been on asteady march higherfor the past few months, driven by a number of factors such as the devaluation of the yuan, geopolitical uncertainty and an increase in professional investors taking an interest in the asset class.
"We are seeing the aftermath of zero interest rates run amok. So bitcoin is a healthy reminder that we don't have to hold on to dollars or renminbi, which is subject to capital controls and loss of purchasing power. Rather it's a new asset class," Bobby Lee, chief executive of BTC China, one of the world's largest bitcoin exchanges, told CNBC by phone.
China is the source of the majority of trade in bitcoin and the devaluation of the yuan and fears over capital controls have contributed to the recent spike in the digital currency.
But several other factors have also had a notable impact. For example, bitcoin's price has appreciated around 137 percent in the past 12 months but got a big boost after Donald Trump won the U.S. election in November.
Another big event this year was in June when a change in bitcoin's underlying rules meant those who were "mining" the cryptocurrency – a process whereby users are awarded with bitcoin if they solve complex mathematical puzzles in order for a bitcoin transaction to go through – received less rewards. This was due to theprocess known as "halving,"which essentially reduces the supply of bitcoin.
But overall, bitcoin experts said that the market is growing in terms of volumes and those participating, creating a "network effect" that will see the price rise further.
"The value of Uber in any city is directly dependent on the number of drivers and number of users, it's not linear it's exponential. The same is true of the value of bitcoin," Lee said. || Bitcoin breaks $1,000 level, highest in more than 3 years: The price of bitcoin(Exchange: BTC=-USS)has breached the $1,000 mark, hitting a more than three-year high on Monday.
The cryptocurrency was trading at $1,021 at the time of publication, according to CoinDesk data, at level not seen since November 2013, with its market capitalization exceeding $16 billion.
Bitcoin has been on asteady march higherfor the past few months, driven by a number of factors such as the devaluation of the yuan, geopolitical uncertainty and an increase in professional investors taking an interest in the asset class.
"We are seeing the aftermath of zero interest rates run amok. So bitcoin is a healthy reminder that we don't have to hold on to dollars or renminbi, which is subject to capital controls and loss of purchasing power. Rather it's a new asset class," Bobby Lee, chief executive of BTC China, one of the world's largest bitcoin exchanges, told CNBC by phone.
China is the source of the majority of trade in bitcoin and the devaluation of the yuan and fears over capital controls have contributed to the recent spike in the digital currency.
But several other factors have also had a notable impact. For example, bitcoin's price has appreciated around 137 percent in the past 12 months but got a big boost after Donald Trump won the U.S. election in November.
Another big event this year was in June when a change in bitcoin's underlying rules meant those who were "mining" the cryptocurrency – a process whereby users are awarded with bitcoin if they solve complex mathematical puzzles in order for a bitcoin transaction to go through – received less rewards. This was due to theprocess known as "halving,"which essentially reduces the supply of bitcoin.
But overall, bitcoin experts said that the market is growing in terms of volumes and those participating, creating a "network effect" that will see the price rise further.
"The value of Uber in any city is directly dependent on the number of drivers and number of users, it's not linear it's exponential. The same is true of the value of bitcoin," Lee said. || Bitcoin jumps above $1,000 for first time in three years: By Jemima Kelly LONDON (Reuters) - Digital currency bitcoin kicked off the new year by jumping above $1,000 for the first time in three years late on Sunday, having outperformed all central-bank-issued currencies with a 125 percent climb in 2016. Bitcoin - a web-based "cryptocurrency" that has no central authority, relying instead on thousands of computers across the world that validate transactions and add new bitcoins to the system - jumped 2.5 percent to $1,022 on the Europe-based Bitstamp exchange, its highest since December 2013. Though the digital currency has historically been highly volatile - a tenfold increase in its value in two months in late 2013 took it to above $1,100, before a hack on the Tokyo-based Mt. Gox exchange saw it plunge to under $400 in the following weeks - it has in the past two years been more stable. Its biggest daily moves in 2016 were around 10 percent, still very volatile compared with fiat currencies, but markedly lower than the trading of 2013, which saw daily price swings of as much as 40 percent. Bitcoin may have been boosted in the past year by increased demand in China on the back of a 7 percent annual fall in the value of the yuan in 2016, the Chinese currency's weakest showing in over 20 years. Data shows most bitcoin trading is done in China. Bitcoin is used to move money across the globe quickly and anonymously and does not fall under the purview of any authority, making it attractive to those wanting to get around capital controls, such as China's. It is also may appeal to those worried about a lack of supply of cash, such as in India, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi removed high-denomination bank notes from circulation in November. "The growing war on cash, and capital controls, is making bitcoin look like a viable, if high risk, alternative," said Paul Gordon, a board member of the UK Digital Currency Association and co-founder of Quantave, a firm seeking to make it easier for institutional investors to access digital currency exchanges. Though bitcoin is still some way off the all-time high of $1,163 that it reached on the Bitstamp exchange in late 2013, there are now more bitcoins in circulation - 12.5 are added to the system every 10 minutes. Its total worth is at a record-high above $16 billion, putting its value at around the same as that of an average FTSE 100 company. (Reporting by Jemima Kelly; Editing by Peter Graff) || Bitcoin jumps above $1,000 for first time in three years: By Jemima Kelly LONDON (Reuters) - Digital currency bitcoin kicked off the new year by jumping above $1,000 for the first time in three years late on Sunday, having outperformed all central-bank-issued currencies with a 125 percent climb in 2016. Bitcoin - a web-based "cryptocurrency" that has no central authority, relying instead on thousands of computers across the world that validate transactions and add new bitcoins to the system - jumped 2.5 percent to $1,022 on the Europe-based Bitstamp exchange, its highest since December 2013. Though the digital currency has historically been highly volatile - a tenfold increase in its value in two months in late 2013 took it to above $1,100, before a hack on the Tokyo-based Mt. Gox exchange saw it plunge to under $400 in the following weeks - it has in the past two years been more stable. Its biggest daily moves in 2016 were around 10 percent, still very volatile compared with fiat currencies, but markedly lower than the trading of 2013, which saw daily price swings of as much as 40 percent. Bitcoin may have been boosted in the past year by increased demand in China on the back of a 7 percent annual fall in the value of the yuan in 2016, the Chinese currency's weakest showing in over 20 years. Data shows most bitcoin trading is done in China. Bitcoin is used to move money across the globe quickly and anonymously and does not fall under the purview of any authority, making it attractive to those wanting to get around capital controls, such as China's. It is also may appeal to those worried about a lack of supply of cash, such as in India, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi removed high-denomination bank notes from circulation in November. "The growing war on cash, and capital controls, is making bitcoin look like a viable, if high risk, alternative," said Paul Gordon, a board member of the UK Digital Currency Association and co-founder of Quantave, a firm seeking to make it easier for institutional investors to access digital currency exchanges. Though bitcoin is still some way off the all-time high of $1,163 that it reached on the Bitstamp exchange in late 2013, there are now more bitcoins in circulation - 12.5 are added to the system every 10 minutes. Its total worth is at a record-high above $16 billion, putting its value at around the same as that of an average FTSE 100 company. (Reporting by Jemima Kelly; Editing by Peter Graff) || Bitcoin jumps above $1,000 for first time in three years: By Jemima Kelly LONDON (Reuters) - Digital currency bitcoin kicked off the new year by jumping above $1,000 for the first time in three years late on Sunday, having outperformed all central-bank-issued currencies with a 125 percent climb in 2016. Bitcoin - a web-based "cryptocurrency" that has no central authority, relying instead on thousands of computers across the world that validate transactions and add new bitcoins to the system - jumped 2.5 percent to $1,022 on the Europe-based Bitstamp exchange, its highest since December 2013. Though the digital currency has historically been highly volatile - a tenfold increase in its value in two months in late 2013 took it to above $1,100, before a hack on the Tokyo-based Mt. Gox exchange saw it plunge to under $400 in the following weeks - it has in the past two years been more stable. Its biggest daily moves in 2016 were around 10 percent, still very volatile compared with fiat currencies, but markedly lower than the trading of 2013, which saw daily price swings of as much as 40 percent. Bitcoin may have been boosted in the past year by increased demand in China on the back of a 7 percent annual fall in the value of the yuan in 2016, the Chinese currency's weakest showing in over 20 years. Data shows most bitcoin trading is done in China. Bitcoin is used to move money across the globe quickly and anonymously and does not fall under the purview of any authority, making it attractive to those wanting to get around capital controls, such as China's. It is also may appeal to those worried about a lack of supply of cash, such as in India, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi removed high-denomination bank notes from circulation in November. "The growing war on cash, and capital controls, is making bitcoin look like a viable, if high risk, alternative," said Paul Gordon, a board member of the UK Digital Currency Association and co-founder of Quantave, a firm seeking to make it easier for institutional investors to access digital currency exchanges. Though bitcoin is still some way off the all-time high of $1,163 that it reached on the Bitstamp exchange in late 2013, there are now more bitcoins in circulation - 12.5 are added to the system every 10 minutes. Its total worth is at a record-high above $16 billion, putting its value at around the same as that of an average FTSE 100 company. (Reporting by Jemima Kelly; Editing by Peter Graff) || Bitcoin jumps above $1,000 for first time in three years: By Jemima Kelly LONDON (Reuters) - Digital currency bitcoin kicked off the new year by jumping above $1,000 for the first time in three years late on Sunday, having outperformed all central-bank-issued currencies with a 125 percent climb in 2016. Bitcoin - a web-based "cryptocurrency" that has no central authority, relying instead on thousands of computers across the world that validate transactions and add new bitcoins to the system - jumped 2.5 percent to $1,022 on the Europe-based Bitstamp exchange, its highest since December 2013. Though the digital currency has historically been highly volatile - a tenfold increase in its value in two months in late 2013 took it to above $1,100, before a hack on the Tokyo-based Mt. Gox exchange saw it plunge to under $400 in the following weeks - it has in the past two years been more stable. Its biggest daily moves in 2016 were around 10 percent, still very volatile compared with fiat currencies, but markedly lower than the trading of 2013, which saw daily price swings of as much as 40 percent. Bitcoin may have been boosted in the past year by increased demand in China on the back of a 7 percent annual fall in the value of the yuan in 2016, the Chinese currency's weakest showing in over 20 years. Data shows most bitcoin trading is done in China. Bitcoin is used to move money across the globe quickly and anonymously and does not fall under the purview of any authority, making it attractive to those wanting to get around capital controls, such as China's. It is also may appeal to those worried about a lack of supply of cash, such as in India, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi removed high-denomination bank notes from circulation in November. "The growing war on cash, and capital controls, is making bitcoin look like a viable, if high risk, alternative," said Paul Gordon, a board member of the UK Digital Currency Association and co-founder of Quantave, a firm seeking to make it easier for institutional investors to access digital currency exchanges. Though bitcoin is still some way off the all-time high of $1,163 that it reached on the Bitstamp exchange in late 2013, there are now more bitcoins in circulation - 12.5 are added to the system every 10 minutes. Its total worth is at a record-high above $16 billion, putting its value at around the same as that of an average FTSE 100 company. (Reporting by Jemima Kelly; Editing by Peter Graff) || Bitcoin jumps above $1,000 for first time in three years: By Jemima Kelly LONDON (Reuters) - Digital currency bitcoin kicked off the new year by jumping above $1,000 for the first time in three years late on Sunday, having outperformed all central-bank-issued currencies with a 125 percent climb in 2016. Bitcoin - a web-based "cryptocurrency" that has no central authority, relying instead on thousands of computers across the world that validate transactions and add new bitcoins to the system - jumped 2.5 percent to $1,022 on the Europe-based Bitstamp exchange, its highest since December 2013. Though the digital currency has historically been highly volatile - a tenfold increase in its value in two months in late 2013 took it to above $1,100, before a hack on the Tokyo-based Mt. Gox exchange saw it plunge to under $400 in the following weeks - it has in the past two years been more stable. Its biggest daily moves in 2016 were around 10 percent, still very volatile compared with fiat currencies, but markedly lower than the trading of 2013, which saw daily price swings of as much as 40 percent. Bitcoin may have been boosted in the past year by increased demand in China on the back of a 7 percent annual fall in the value of the yuan in 2016, the Chinese currency's weakest showing in over 20 years. Data shows most bitcoin trading is done in China. Bitcoin is used to move money across the globe quickly and anonymously and does not fall under the purview of any authority, making it attractive to those wanting to get around capital controls, such as China's. It is also may appeal to those worried about a lack of supply of cash, such as in India, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi removed high-denomination bank notes from circulation in November. "The growing war on cash, and capital controls, is making bitcoin look like a viable, if high risk, alternative," said Paul Gordon, a board member of the UK Digital Currency Association and co-founder of Quantave, a firm seeking to make it easier for institutional investors to access digital currency exchanges. Though bitcoin is still some way off the all-time high of $1,163 that it reached on the Bitstamp exchange in late 2013, there are now more bitcoins in circulation - 12.5 are added to the system every 10 minutes. Its total worth is at a record-high above $16 billion, putting its value at around the same as that of an average FTSE 100 company. (Reporting by Jemima Kelly; Editing by Peter Graff) || Bitcoin jumps above $1,000 for first time in three years: By Jemima Kelly LONDON (Reuters) - Digital currency bitcoin kicked off the new year by jumping above $1,000 for the first time in three years late on Sunday, having outperformed all central-bank-issued currencies with a 125 percent climb in 2016. Bitcoin - a web-based "cryptocurrency" that has no central authority, relying instead on thousands of computers across the world that validate transactions and add new bitcoins to the system - jumped 2.5 percent to $1,022 on the Europe-based Bitstamp exchange, its highest since December 2013. Though the digital currency has historically been highly volatile - a tenfold increase in its value in two months in late 2013 took it to above $1,100, before a hack on the Tokyo-based Mt. Gox exchange saw it plunge to under $400 in the following weeks - it has in the past two years been more stable. Its biggest daily moves in 2016 were around 10 percent, still very volatile compared with fiat currencies, but markedly lower than the trading of 2013, which saw daily price swings of as much as 40 percent. Bitcoin may have been boosted in the past year by increased demand in China on the back of a 7 percent annual fall in the value of the yuan in 2016, the Chinese currency's weakest showing in over 20 years. Data shows most bitcoin trading is done in China. Bitcoin is used to move money across the globe quickly and anonymously and does not fall under the purview of any authority, making it attractive to those wanting to get around capital controls, such as China's. It is also may appeal to those worried about a lack of supply of cash, such as in India, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi removed high-denomination bank notes from circulation in November. "The growing war on cash, and capital controls, is making bitcoin look like a viable, if high risk, alternative," said Paul Gordon, a board member of the UK Digital Currency Association and co-founder of Quantave, a firm seeking to make it easier for institutional investors to access digital currency exchanges. Though bitcoin is still some way off the all-time high of $1,163 that it reached on the Bitstamp exchange in late 2013, there are now more bitcoins in circulation - 12.5 are added to the system every 10 minutes. Its total worth is at a record-high above $16 billion, putting its value at around the same as that of an average FTSE 100 company. (Reporting by Jemima Kelly; Editing by Peter Graff)
[Social Media Buzz]
http://www.coindesk.com/price/ Bitcoin 1 month summary ($758.00 to $1131.00) Ditto See above Hedge strategy (Cf. Bitcoin & Brexit) +up 370+ points || http://www.coindesk.com/price/ Bitcoin $965.00 (Yuan currency +up) || #Bitcoin last trade
@bitstamp $1127.00
@coinbase $1138.09
Set #crypto #price #alerts at http://AlertCo.in || One Bitcoin now worth $1115.48@bitstamp. High $1139.89. Low $1051.00. Market Cap $17.941 Billion #bitcoin || $1118.00 at 04:32 UTC [24h Range: $1038.35 - $1139.89 Vol...
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902.20, 908.59, 911.20, 902.83, 907.68, 777.76, 804.83, 823.98, 818.41, 821.80
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 3963.31, 3951.60, 3905.23, 3909.16, 3906.72, 3924.37, 3960.91, 4048.73, 4025.23, 4032.51, 4071.19, 4087.48, 4029.33, 4023.97, 4035.83, 4022.17, 3963.07, 3985.08, 4087.07, 4069.11, 4098.37, 4106.66, 4105.40, 4158.18, 4879.88, 4973.02, 4922.80, 5036.68, 5059.82, 5198.90, 5289.77, 5204.96, 5324.55, 5064.49, 5089.54, 5096.59, 5167.72, 5067.11, 5235.56, 5251.94, 5298.39, 5303.81, 5337.89, 5314.53, 5399.37, 5572.36, 5464.87, 5210.52, 5279.35, 5268.29, 5285.14, 5247.35, 5350.73, 5402.70, 5505.28, 5768.29, 5831.17, 5795.71, 5746.81, 5829.50, 5982.46, 6174.53, 6378.85, 7204.77, 6972.37, 7814.92, 7994.42, 8205.17, 7884.91, 7343.90, 7271.21, 8197.69, 7978.31, 7963.33, 7680.07, 7881.85, 7987.37, 8052.54, 8673.22, 8805.78, 8719.96, 8659.49, 8319.47, 8574.50, 8564.02, 8742.96, 8209.00, 7707.77, 7824.23, 7822.02.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2019-06-06]
Volume: 19474611077, RSI (14-day): 50.50, 50-day EMA: 7114.18, 200-day EMA: 5645.54
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1337.60, Gold RSI: 73.51
Oil Price: 52.59, Oil RSI: 26.44
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro: ‘I Do Not Know What Bitcoin Is’: The president of Brazil , Jair Bolsonaro, has stated that he does not know what bitcoin ( BTC ) is, and endorsed the suspension of a project that would create a crypto for indigenous people to use, Cointelegraph Brazil reported on June 4. Bolsonaro supported the Minister of Women, Family and Human Rights, Damares Alves in the termination of a project worth 44.9 million Brazilian reals ($11.5 million) between the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) and the Federal Fluminense University (UFF), which promoted the creation of a cryptocurrency for indigenous people to use. Bolsonaro delivered his comments during an interview with Ratinho's SBT show on June 4. After saying that the Minister acted properly in blocking the project that "wanted to teach the Indian to use bitcoin," the president was asked by a show participant if he knew what bitcoin was. Bolsonaro replied: "I do not know what bitcoin is." Shortly after the speech, Bolsonaro rectified his statement and said that bitcoin was a "virtual currency." The project offered by FUNAI and the UFF will purportedly neither receive financing and support, nor integrate bitcoin. Over his career, Bolsonaro has made several controversial statements regarding indigenous people in Brazil, and promised to roll back protections on their lands. As previously reported, the government suspended the indigenous crypto project in early January claiming that the contract was issued improperly and lacked technical analysis, such as a detailed description of the project. The contract was signed directly between FUNAI and UFF, instead of through a legal bidding process. Moreover, the government said that the contract had been approved too quickly and entailed considerable expenditure. In late May, the President of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil, Deputy Rodrigo Maia ordered the establishment of a commission to consider cryptocurrency regulation in the country. The commission will be composed of 34 members in accordance with the House Rules of Procedure. Related Articles: Brazil Establishes Committee for Cryptocurrency Regulation Judge Freezes Funds in Accounts Belonging to Embattled Brazilian Crypto Firm Chinese Authorities to Investigate Illegal Mining Farms at ‘Global Mining Capital’ Sichuan Margin Lenders on Poloniex Lost $13.5 Million Due to Flash Crash || President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro: ‘I Do Not Know What Bitcoin Is’: The president ofBrazil, Jair Bolsonaro, has stated that he does not know what bitcoin (BTC) is, and endorsed the suspension of a project that would create a crypto for indigenous people to use, Cointelegraph Brazilreportedon June 4.
Bolsonaro supported the Minister of Women, Family and Human Rights, Damares Alves in the termination of a project worth 44.9 million Brazilian reals ($11.5 million) between the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) and the Federal Fluminense University (UFF), which promoted the creation of acryptocurrencyfor indigenous people to use. Bolsonaro delivered his comments during aninterviewwith Ratinho's SBT show on June 4.
After saying that the Minister acted properly in blocking the project that "wanted to teach the Indian to use bitcoin," the president was asked by a show participant if he knew what bitcoin was. Bolsonaro replied:
"I do not know what bitcoin is."
Shortly after the speech, Bolsonaro rectified his statement and said that bitcoin was a "virtual currency." The project offered by FUNAI and the UFF will purportedly neither receive financing and support, nor integrate bitcoin.
Over his career, Bolsonaro has made severalcontroversial statementsregarding indigenous people in Brazil, andpromisedto roll back protections on their lands.
As previously reported, thegovernmentsuspendedthe indigenous crypto project in early January claiming that the contract was issued improperly and lacked technical analysis, such as a detailed description of the project. The contract was signed directly between FUNAI and UFF, instead of through a legal bidding process. Moreover, the government said that the contract had been approved too quickly and entailed considerable expenditure.
In late May, the President of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil, Deputy Rodrigo Maiaorderedthe establishment of a commission to consider cryptocurrency regulation in the country. The commission will be composed of 34 members in accordance with the House Rules of Procedure.
• Brazil Establishes Committee for Cryptocurrency Regulation
• Judge Freezes Funds in Accounts Belonging to Embattled Brazilian Crypto Firm
• Chinese Authorities to Investigate Illegal Mining Farms at ‘Global Mining Capital’ Sichuan
• Margin Lenders on Poloniex Lost $13.5 Million Due to Flash Crash || President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro: ‘I Do Not Know What Bitcoin Is’: The president ofBrazil, Jair Bolsonaro, has stated that he does not know what bitcoin (BTC) is, and endorsed the suspension of a project that would create a crypto for indigenous people to use, Cointelegraph Brazilreportedon June 4.
Bolsonaro supported the Minister of Women, Family and Human Rights, Damares Alves in the termination of a project worth 44.9 million Brazilian reals ($11.5 million) between the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) and the Federal Fluminense University (UFF), which promoted the creation of acryptocurrencyfor indigenous people to use. Bolsonaro delivered his comments during aninterviewwith Ratinho's SBT show on June 4.
After saying that the Minister acted properly in blocking the project that "wanted to teach the Indian to use bitcoin," the president was asked by a show participant if he knew what bitcoin was. Bolsonaro replied:
"I do not know what bitcoin is."
Shortly after the speech, Bolsonaro rectified his statement and said that bitcoin was a "virtual currency." The project offered by FUNAI and the UFF will purportedly neither receive financing and support, nor integrate bitcoin.
Over his career, Bolsonaro has made severalcontroversial statementsregarding indigenous people in Brazil, andpromisedto roll back protections on their lands.
As previously reported, thegovernmentsuspendedthe indigenous crypto project in early January claiming that the contract was issued improperly and lacked technical analysis, such as a detailed description of the project. The contract was signed directly between FUNAI and UFF, instead of through a legal bidding process. Moreover, the government said that the contract had been approved too quickly and entailed considerable expenditure.
In late May, the President of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil, Deputy Rodrigo Maiaorderedthe establishment of a commission to consider cryptocurrency regulation in the country. The commission will be composed of 34 members in accordance with the House Rules of Procedure.
• Brazil Establishes Committee for Cryptocurrency Regulation
• Judge Freezes Funds in Accounts Belonging to Embattled Brazilian Crypto Firm
• Chinese Authorities to Investigate Illegal Mining Farms at ‘Global Mining Capital’ Sichuan
• Margin Lenders on Poloniex Lost $13.5 Million Due to Flash Crash || A government-backed cryptocurrency is gearing up to launch following fund creation and UN talks: The Marshall Islands could see its own cryptocurrency replace the US dollar, and a new fund is being launched to spur the digital asset's adoption. The so-called SOV Development Fund will sustain the infrastructure around SOV, the digital currency recently declared the republic's official currency. The token, which has a controversial past, hopes to solve what some view to be a major problem with cryptocurrencies like bitcoin: the fact that they aren't backed by a government. The hope for SOV is that its adoption by the Marshall Islands, a tiny Pacific Ocean archipelago, will give it a leg up over other cryptocurrencies. While bitcoin is officially recognized as acceptable tender in countries like Japan, it is not considered the sovereign currency, a designation that would force international organizations to afford it the same respect as the euro and yen and require merchants to accept it. In Japan, although bitcoin is legal, merchants are not required to take it as payment. SOV is built on its own blockchain and will have to duke it out with the U.S. dollar, which the country's 53,000 residents are free to continue to use. SFB Technologies, the company hired by the Marshall Islands to develop the technology behind SOV, has a tough hill to climb to get the crypto as popular as the bitcoins of the world, to be sure. And there's no guarantee regular people will ever use it, even the residents of the Marshall Islands. Indeed, the democratically-elected President Hilda Heine almost lost her premiership after the Parliament triggered a vote of no confidence last year over the coin. Here comes the fund Still, the fund could play a key role in making the cryptocurrency a success. It includes heavy-hitter advisors like Luis Ubinas, former President of the Ford Foundation, and seven directors, two of whom the government will nominate, according to a press release. It added that once the token is launched, "the goal is to transition to an alternative governance model based on blockchain." Story continues Now, Heine's plans for creating the so-called "first legal tender cryptocurrency" are being presented at the UN's Blockchain for Impact Summit. They also explained the fund's utility, which aside from managing SOV, will also include financing social good to rectify some of the Marshall Islands' issues like corruption and economic underdevelopment. “The SOV Development Fund’s mandate is to maintain the SOV infrastructure long term; to seed the ecosystem around the SOV; to promote the SOV and its uses, both domestically and internationally," the SOV's Chief Economist, Peter Dittus, Ph.D., told the audience via video link. The development fund will be endowed with 30% of the SOV’s initial supply, while 10% of total SOV distribution will go to investors in the token for helping jumpstart its development. Another 10% will be delivered to the islands' population for free via airdrop once the SOV mainnet is launched at a yet-undecided date. This will jump start circulation, which will be followed by a time-released monetary issuance early next year. The tokens will be stored in banks once issued. Barak Ben-Ezer, Developer of the SOVChain, explained to The Block in a meeting in New York that the token should help build an entirely new economy for the nation. The goal is also to develop a special economic zone to attract new "companies and exchanges and banks and start-ups." "[The fund] is going to serve the Marshall Islands, its current economy," he said. "The more the special economic zone grows, the more the SOV will grow. The more the SOV grows, the more funds we will have in the special development fund to support the ecosystem." Meanwhile, Ben-Ezer said that a new token and blockchain were necessary to truly bring together the digital asset and financial worlds. Specifically, he said it was wishful thinking that governments will change laws in the U.S. to treat bitcoin and others as currencies, which has important capital gains tax implications. Ben-Ezer also noted that Bitcoin has a limited supply, which means its value would remain too high to act as a true currency. As such, Ben-Ezer explained the fund's plans to open-source the SOV token, so countries like the Cayman Islands and Monaco can fork it and make their own blockchain. || A government-backed cryptocurrency is gearing up to launch following fund creation and UN talks: The Marshall Islands could see its own cryptocurrency replace the US dollar, and a new fund is being launched to spur the digital asset's adoption.
The so-called SOV Development Fund will sustain the infrastructure around SOV, the digital currency recently declared the republic's official currency.
The token, which has a controversial past, hopes to solve what some view to be a major problem with cryptocurrencies like bitcoin: the fact that they aren't backed by a government. The hope for SOV is that its adoption by the Marshall Islands, a tiny Pacific Ocean archipelago, will give it a leg up over other cryptocurrencies. While bitcoin is officially recognized as acceptable tender in countries like Japan, it is not considered the sovereign currency, a designation that would force international organizations to afford it the same respect as the euro and yen and require merchants to accept it. In Japan, although bitcoin is legal, merchants are not required to take it as payment.
SOV is built on its own blockchain and will have to duke it out with the U.S. dollar, which the country's 53,000 residents are free to continue to use.
SFB Technologies, the company hired by the Marshall Islands to develop the technology behind SOV, has a tough hill to climb to get the crypto as popular as the bitcoins of the world, to be sure. And there's no guarantee regular people will ever use it, even the residents of the Marshall Islands. Indeed, the democratically-elected President Hilda Heine almost lost herpremiershipafter the Parliament triggered a vote of no confidence last year over the coin.
Here comes the fund
Still, the fund could play a key role in making the cryptocurrency a success. It includes heavy-hitter advisors like Luis Ubinas, former President of the Ford Foundation, and seven directors, two of whom the government will nominate, according to a press release. It added that once the token is launched, "the goal is to transition to an alternative governance model based on blockchain."
Now, Heine's plans for creating the so-called "first legal tender cryptocurrency" are being presented at the UN's Blockchain for Impact Summit. They also explained the fund's utility, which aside from managing SOV, will also include financing social good to rectify some of the Marshall Islands' issues like corruption and economic underdevelopment.
“The SOV Development Fund’s mandate is to maintain the SOV infrastructure long term; to seed the ecosystem around the SOV; to promote the SOV and its uses, both domestically and internationally," the SOV's Chief Economist, Peter Dittus, Ph.D., told the audience via video link.
The development fund will be endowed with 30% of the SOV’s initial supply, while 10% of total SOV distribution will go to investors in the token for helping jumpstart its development. Another 10% will be delivered to the islands' population for free via airdrop once the SOV mainnet is launched at a yet-undecided date. This will jump start circulation, which will be followed by a time-released monetary issuance early next year. The tokens will be stored in banks once issued.
Barak Ben-Ezer, Developer of the SOVChain, explained to The Block in a meeting in New York that the token should help build an entirely new economy for the nation. The goal is also to develop a special economic zone to attract new "companies and exchanges and banks and start-ups."
"[The fund] is going to serve the Marshall Islands, its current economy," he said. "The more the special economic zone grows, the more the SOV will grow. The more the SOV grows, the more funds we will have in the special development fund to support the ecosystem."
Meanwhile, Ben-Ezer said that a new token and blockchain were necessary to truly bring together the digital asset and financial worlds. Specifically, he said it was wishful thinking that governments will change laws in the U.S. to treat bitcoin and others as currencies, which has important capital gains tax implications. Ben-Ezer also noted that Bitcoin has a limited supply, which means its value would remain too high to act as a true currency.
As such, Ben-Ezer explained the fund's plans to open-source the SOV token, so countries like the Cayman Islands and Monaco can fork it and make their own blockchain. || ‘Gold Is Superior To Bitcoin,’ Say People Who Sell Gold: The folks that sell gold are a bit upset byGrayscale’sDrop Goldadvertising campaign.
In particular,GoldMoney.com, is going to great lengths to convince the investing public that the yellow metal is “superior” tobitcoin, not the other way around as the Grayscale ads claim.
The precious-metals company has created aninfographic and white paperthat aim to convince us gold isn’t so bad.
Ethereum Investment Vehicle Approved for Small Investors
GoldMoney.com founder Roy Sebag has quite a lot to say on the matter. His white paper begins by calling out Barry Silbert, founder of Grayscale parent Digital Currency Group:
The DropGold advertorial campaign has, in my personal view, been poorly conceived, and–as I have repeatedly stated via social media–is so preposterous in its nature as to be akin to uttering phrases like “drop Oxygen” or “drop Copper.” In short, I believe this campaign will not age well, and that it runs the risk of ultimately undermining the ideals and objectives of the cryptocurrency community, which, for the most part, are well-meaning in their desire to reorient society towards a return to the principles of sound commodity money which have underscored and amplified the proliferation of human cooperative societies from time immemorial until the very recent past (with Richard Nixon’s historically unprecedented and ostensibly temporary suspension of the Gold standard in 1971). To be even more explicit, I am sympathetic to the broad vision of the cryptocurrency community and feel that Grayscale and Mr. Silbert, through these actions, have made a critical error in judgement that is neither representative of the community nor beneficial to its core objectives.
Sebag goes on to argue that far from being weightless as suggested in the Grayscale ads, bitcoin actually weighs more than gold. After all, it is hosted on heavy servers!
Courtesy ofGoldMoney
Russian Central Bank to Consider Gold-Backed Cryptocurrency
Further, he tells us that gold has implicit utility – as a thing used to create more bitcoin!
Courtesy ofGoldMoney
“Bitcoin needs gold to exist,” writes Sebag. “Gold doesn’t need Bitcoin to exist.”
While Sebag is splitting hairs here – after all, bitcoin, as a digital asset, is invisible, tasteless, and odorless while gold is a physical object you can wear around your neck – his point is simply that we shouldn’t yet discount gold as a valuable asset.
The market, obviously, would agree, with gold tradingwell above $1,000 an ounce. Just how much we should own as an investment, however, is still a tough call, infographic or no.
Image via Shutterstock
• Bitcoin-Gold Price Correlation Shows Widest Spread in Over a Year
• Cryptos ‘Not a Substitute’ for the Precious Metal, Says World Gold Council || ‘Gold Is Superior To Bitcoin,’ Say People Who Sell Gold: The folks that sell gold are a bit upset byGrayscale’sDrop Goldadvertising campaign.
In particular,GoldMoney.com, is going to great lengths to convince the investing public that the yellow metal is “superior” tobitcoin, not the other way around as the Grayscale ads claim.
The precious-metals company has created aninfographic and white paperthat aim to convince us gold isn’t so bad.
Ethereum Investment Vehicle Approved for Small Investors
GoldMoney.com founder Roy Sebag has quite a lot to say on the matter. His white paper begins by calling out Barry Silbert, founder of Grayscale parent Digital Currency Group:
The DropGold advertorial campaign has, in my personal view, been poorly conceived, and–as I have repeatedly stated via social media–is so preposterous in its nature as to be akin to uttering phrases like “drop Oxygen” or “drop Copper.” In short, I believe this campaign will not age well, and that it runs the risk of ultimately undermining the ideals and objectives of the cryptocurrency community, which, for the most part, are well-meaning in their desire to reorient society towards a return to the principles of sound commodity money which have underscored and amplified the proliferation of human cooperative societies from time immemorial until the very recent past (with Richard Nixon’s historically unprecedented and ostensibly temporary suspension of the Gold standard in 1971). To be even more explicit, I am sympathetic to the broad vision of the cryptocurrency community and feel that Grayscale and Mr. Silbert, through these actions, have made a critical error in judgement that is neither representative of the community nor beneficial to its core objectives.
Sebag goes on to argue that far from being weightless as suggested in the Grayscale ads, bitcoin actually weighs more than gold. After all, it is hosted on heavy servers!
Courtesy ofGoldMoney
Russian Central Bank to Consider Gold-Backed Cryptocurrency
Further, he tells us that gold has implicit utility – as a thing used to create more bitcoin!
Courtesy ofGoldMoney
“Bitcoin needs gold to exist,” writes Sebag. “Gold doesn’t need Bitcoin to exist.”
While Sebag is splitting hairs here – after all, bitcoin, as a digital asset, is invisible, tasteless, and odorless while gold is a physical object you can wear around your neck – his point is simply that we shouldn’t yet discount gold as a valuable asset.
The market, obviously, would agree, with gold tradingwell above $1,000 an ounce. Just how much we should own as an investment, however, is still a tough call, infographic or no.
Image via Shutterstock
• Bitcoin-Gold Price Correlation Shows Widest Spread in Over a Year
• Cryptos ‘Not a Substitute’ for the Precious Metal, Says World Gold Council || ‘Gold Is Superior To Bitcoin,’ Say People Who Sell Gold: The folks that sell gold are a bit upset by Grayscale’s Drop Gold advertising campaign. In particular, GoldMoney.com , is going to great lengths to convince the investing public that the yellow metal is “superior” to bitcoin , not the other way around as the Grayscale ads claim. The precious-metals company has created an infographic and white paper that aim to convince us gold isn’t so bad. Ethereum Investment Vehicle Approved for Small Investors GoldMoney.com founder Roy Sebag has quite a lot to say on the matter. His white paper begins by calling out Barry Silbert, founder of Grayscale parent Digital Currency Group: The DropGold advertorial campaign has, in my personal view, been poorly conceived, and–as I have repeatedly stated via social media–is so preposterous in its nature as to be akin to uttering phrases like “drop Oxygen” or “drop Copper.” In short, I believe this campaign will not age well, and that it runs the risk of ultimately undermining the ideals and objectives of the cryptocurrency community, which, for the most part, are well-meaning in their desire to reorient society towards a return to the principles of sound commodity money which have underscored and amplified the proliferation of human cooperative societies from time immemorial until the very recent past (with Richard Nixon’s historically unprecedented and ostensibly temporary suspension of the Gold standard in 1971). To be even more explicit, I am sympathetic to the broad vision of the cryptocurrency community and feel that Grayscale and Mr. Silbert, through these actions, have made a critical error in judgement that is neither representative of the community nor beneficial to its core objectives. Sebag goes on to argue that far from being weightless as suggested in the Grayscale ads, bitcoin actually weighs more than gold. After all, it is hosted on heavy servers! Courtesy of GoldMoney Russian Central Bank to Consider Gold-Backed Cryptocurrency Further, he tells us that gold has implicit utility – as a thing used to create more bitcoin! Story continues Courtesy of GoldMoney “Bitcoin needs gold to exist,” writes Sebag. “Gold doesn’t need Bitcoin to exist.” While Sebag is splitting hairs here – after all, bitcoin, as a digital asset, is invisible, tasteless, and odorless while gold is a physical object you can wear around your neck – his point is simply that we shouldn’t yet discount gold as a valuable asset. The market, obviously, would agree, with gold trading well above $1,000 an ounce . Just how much we should own as an investment, however, is still a tough call, infographic or no. Image via Shutterstock Related Stories Bitcoin-Gold Price Correlation Shows Widest Spread in Over a Year Cryptos ‘Not a Substitute’ for the Precious Metal, Says World Gold Council || P2P Bitcoin Exchange HodlHodl Launches Lightning Network Support: Non-custodial peer-to-peer ( P2P ) bitcoin ( BTC ) exchange HodlHodl announced Lightning Network support in a Medium article published on June 5. The announcement claims that now “everyone is able to buy bitcoins and receive them directly into their Lightning wallet & sell bitcoins directly from their Lightning wallet .” The post also notes that the platform has previously tested Lightning Network support on the test network. The company reportedly only implemented Lightning Network support after successful testing. The post further highlights that the actual procedure will not be much different when compared to the usual HodlHodl transaction: “The only difference is that for the contract lifetime we hold funds in our Lightning wallet which protects both buyer and seller from scams, and the contracts become cheaper, faster and simpler. ” Lastly, the company notes that the implementation will not affect the rest of the platform, and that the regular bitcoin on-chain multisignature contracts used on the platform will still be non-custodial. As Cointelegraph reported yesterday, P2P crypto exchange LocalBitcoins — HodlHodl’s major competitor — has officially confirmed the removal of trading in local fiat currencies. LocalEthereum, the similarly-named platform catering to ether ( ETH ) traders, announced it had removed cash transaction fees as a direct response to LocalBitcoins’ action. Related Articles: LocalBitcoins Confirms Removal of Local Cash Trades Egypt Lays Out Path for a Crypto Future With Draft Law Binance Hires Former NBA, Dell Exec to Head Global Strategy Initiatives Crypto Trading Platform OKCoin Expands Its Services and Opens Office in Malta || P2P Bitcoin Exchange HodlHodl Launches Lightning Network Support: Non-custodial peer-to-peer ( P2P ) bitcoin ( BTC ) exchange HodlHodl announced Lightning Network support in a Medium article published on June 5. The announcement claims that now “everyone is able to buy bitcoins and receive them directly into their Lightning wallet & sell bitcoins directly from their Lightning wallet .” The post also notes that the platform has previously tested Lightning Network support on the test network. The company reportedly only implemented Lightning Network support after successful testing. The post further highlights that the actual procedure will not be much different when compared to the usual HodlHodl transaction: “The only difference is that for the contract lifetime we hold funds in our Lightning wallet which protects both buyer and seller from scams, and the contracts become cheaper, faster and simpler. ” Lastly, the company notes that the implementation will not affect the rest of the platform, and that the regular bitcoin on-chain multisignature contracts used on the platform will still be non-custodial. As Cointelegraph reported yesterday, P2P crypto exchange LocalBitcoins — HodlHodl’s major competitor — has officially confirmed the removal of trading in local fiat currencies. LocalEthereum, the similarly-named platform catering to ether ( ETH ) traders, announced it had removed cash transaction fees as a direct response to LocalBitcoins’ action. Related Articles: LocalBitcoins Confirms Removal of Local Cash Trades Egypt Lays Out Path for a Crypto Future With Draft Law Binance Hires Former NBA, Dell Exec to Head Global Strategy Initiatives Crypto Trading Platform OKCoin Expands Its Services and Opens Office in Malta || P2P Bitcoin Exchange HodlHodl Launches Lightning Network Support: Non-custodial peer-to-peer ( P2P ) bitcoin ( BTC ) exchange HodlHodl announced Lightning Network support in a Medium article published on June 5. The announcement claims that now “everyone is able to buy bitcoins and receive them directly into their Lightning wallet & sell bitcoins directly from their Lightning wallet .” The post also notes that the platform has previously tested Lightning Network support on the test network. The company reportedly only implemented Lightning Network support after successful testing. The post further highlights that the actual procedure will not be much different when compared to the usual HodlHodl transaction: “The only difference is that for the contract lifetime we hold funds in our Lightning wallet which protects both buyer and seller from scams, and the contracts become cheaper, faster and simpler. ” Lastly, the company notes that the implementation will not affect the rest of the platform, and that the regular bitcoin on-chain multisignature contracts used on the platform will still be non-custodial. As Cointelegraph reported yesterday, P2P crypto exchange LocalBitcoins — HodlHodl’s major competitor — has officially confirmed the removal of trading in local fiat currencies. LocalEthereum, the similarly-named platform catering to ether ( ETH ) traders, announced it had removed cash transaction fees as a direct response to LocalBitcoins’ action. Related Articles: LocalBitcoins Confirms Removal of Local Cash Trades Egypt Lays Out Path for a Crypto Future With Draft Law Binance Hires Former NBA, Dell Exec to Head Global Strategy Initiatives Crypto Trading Platform OKCoin Expands Its Services and Opens Office in Malta || 101 Best Dividend Stocks to Buy for 2019 and Beyond: iStock Dependable dividend stocks that routinely grow their payouts are welcome in any environment. But they seem especially attractive nowadays. Stock market volatility is back with a vengeance. The Dow Jones Industrial Average went from powering ahead to an all-time high of 26,828 on Oct. 3 to losing 8% in the span of about three weeks. These kinds of rocky markets tend to give investors motion sickness. But they can add a dose of Dramamine to their portfolios - in the form of reliable dividend-growth stocks. "Dividend growers, which tend to be quality companies, have generally shown greater resilience in unsteady markets and could address concerns about dividend stocks in a rising-rate environment," write Tianyin Cheng, director of strategy and ESG Indices at S&P Dow Jones Indices; and Vinit Srivastava, head of strategy and ESG indices at S&P Dow Jones Indices. "This argument applies to not only to the U.S. large-cap space, but it also extends to small- and mid-cap segments and international markets." Dividend stocks - both at home and abroad - with long track records of rock-solid rising payments tend to generate superior returns over long periods of time and can help investors weather shorter periods of market turbulence. This is a look at the most reliable long-term dividend stocks in the world. Dubbed the "Dividend Aristocrats," they have raised dividends for at least five straight years (Canadian firms), 10 years (E.U.-based firms) or 25 years (U.S. companies). Such stocks provide reliable and rising income streams - and a sense of security that will help you sleep better at night. We've listed them here alphabetically; take a look. SEE ALSO: 25 Stocks Every Retiree Should Own 3M Market value: $107.7 billion Dividend yield: 2.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 60 Industrial conglomerate 3M ( MMM , $184.95), which makes everything from adhesives to electric circuits, is having a tough 2018. Shares tumbled after a disappointing third-quarter earnings report that reflected weakness in the company's automotive, dental and consumer electronics markets. Story continues The stock is down 21% for the year-to-date as a result of its difficulties - a rare down year amid a long upward run. However, whatever the shorter-term holds for 3M's share price, investors can bank on the conglomerate's steady payouts over the long haul. While inclusion in the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats requires a minimum of 25 years of uninterrupted annual dividend growth, MMM has much more - its dividend has improved annually for 60 consecutive years, and the payout dates back a century. SEE ALSO: The 25 Best Stocks to Buy (According to Hedge Funds) Abbott Laboratories Market value: $117.5 billion Dividend yield: 1.7% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 46 Following its 2013 spinoff of AbbVie - another Dividend Aristocrat on this list - today's Abbott Laboratories ( ABT , $66.99) is focused on branded generic drugs, medical devices, nutrition and diagnostic products. Its product list includes the likes of Similac infant formulas, Glucerna diabetes management products and i-Stat diagnostics devices. The company has been expanding by acquisition as of late, including medical-device firm St. Jude Medical and rapid-testing technology business Alere, both snapped up in 2017. The company, which dates back to 1888, first paid a dividend in 1924. Abbott has raised its dividend for 46 straight years. SEE ALSO: The 25 Biggest U.S. IPOs of All Time AbbVie Getty Images Market value: $122.3 billion Dividend yield: 4.8% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 46 AbbVie's ( ABBV , $80.79) corporate heritage will sound very familiar. The pharmaceutical maker was spun off from Abbott Laboratories in 2013, and like its parent, it carries a longstanding dividend payment. Including its time as part of Abbott, AbbVie upped its annual distribution for 46 consecutive years. What should really excite investors, however, is that AbbVie upped its payout twice in 2018. The first one was an 11% hike that came during its usual payout-increase time at the start of the year. However, ABBV also announced an additional 35% boost to its dividend starting with the payment made in May, citing additional capital from U.S. tax reform. Best-selling treatments include Humira for rheumatoid arthritis and AndroGel, a testosterone replacement therapy. All told, AbbVie's pipeline includes more than 35 products across various stages of clinical trials. SEE ALSO: 12 Vulnerable Stocks to Watch on Market-Wide Weakness Aflac Market value: $31.8 billion Dividend yield: 2.5% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 36 Aflac ( AFL , $41.70) is a supplemental insurance company - popularized by the loud Aflac duck - with roots going back to 1955 that covers numerous workplace offerings, such as accident, short-term disability and life insurance. The company's stock started the year in horrific fashion after a report of alleged fraud sent shares into a dive. But shares in Aflac have quietly come back after evidence of wrongdoing failed to materialize. Analysts at Janney Montgomery Scott have been steadfast throughout with a "Buy" rating on the stock. "It has a significantly simpler business profile with a more reliable stream of earnings than its life insurance peers, and has shown an inflection point in the sale of its benefits products both in Japan and the U.S.," they write. SEE ALSO: The "Accelerators": 13 Dividend Stocks With Rapidly Growing Payouts A.O. Smith Market value: $7.5 billion Dividend yield: 2.0% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 25 A.O. Smith ( AOS , $43.74) is one of the newest members of the Dividend Aristocrats. The manufacturer of commercial and residential water heaters was added to the illustrious group of dependable dividend growers in 2018. In January, A.O. Smith hiked its quarterly cash dividend to 18 cents a share, a 29% increase. Then the company upped its payout again, by 22% in October to 22 cents per share. Over the past five years, the company's compound annual growth rate of its dividend is more than 25%. Analysts at Boenning and Scattergood rate shares at "Outperform" (buy, essentially), thanks to the rollout of A.O. Smith water heaters at home-improvement chain Lowe's, as well as strength across the North American market. SEE ALSO: The 25 Best Low-Fee Mutual Funds You Can Buy Air Products and Chemicals Market value: $32.8 billion Dividend yield: 2.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 36 Air Products and Chemicals ( APD , $149.43) spent much of past couple years restructuring. Under pressure from investors, it started to shed some weight, including spinning off its Electronic Materials division and selling its Performance Materials business. Air Products, which dates back to 1940, now is a slimmed-down company that has returned to focusing on its legacy industrial gases business. But it hasn't taken its eye off the dividend, which it has improved on an annual basis for 36 years in a row. That includes a 15-cent upgrade in January 2018 - its largest in company history. SEE ALSO: The Kip ETF 20: The 20 Best Cheap ETFs You Can Buy Archer Daniels Midland Market value: $26.0 billion Dividend yield: 2.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 43 Archer Daniels Midland ( ADM , $46.46) processes ingredients for food and feed, including corn sweeteners, starches and emulsifiers such as lecithin. It also has a commodities trading business. It's a truly global agricultural powerhouse, too, boasting customers in 170 countries that are served by 500 crop procurement locations and 270 ingredient plants. But it's a difficult business, too. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect ADM's earnings to decline at an average annual rate of 8.8% for the next five years. Archer Daniels Midland has paid out dividends on an uninterrupted basis for 86 years. That includes 43 consecutive years of payout increases. SEE ALSO: 12 Top Stock Picks to Shield Your Portfolio Ashtead Group Market value: $11.2 billion Dividend yield: 1.9% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 14 U.K.-based Ashtead Group ( ASHTY , $93.01) is a major player in the U.K. and American rental equipment markets. Ashtead leases construction and industrial equipment to customers that use its machines for road building, facilities management, climate control, special events and disaster relief. The company's Sunbelt division is the second largest equipment rental firm in the U.S., with 712 locations nationwide. Its A-Plant division operates from 187 rental locations in the U.K. and is that country's largest equipment renter. The company pays dividends semi-annually, and five-year dividend growth has averaged an impressive 45% annually. Note that European Dividend Aristocrats have a lower bar than their American counterparts, only requiring a minimum of 10 consecutive annual dividend increases for inclusion. Dividends on some international stocks may be taxed at a higher rate; however, the IRS offers a foreign tax credit that investors can use to offset taxes collected by foreign governments. SEE ALSO: 16 High-Yielding Monthly Dividend Payers Associated British Foods Courtesy Alexandre Dulaunoy via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $24.8 billion Dividend yield: 1.0% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 18 Associated British Foods ( ASBFY , $31.28) is a multinational food processor and retailer operating in 50 countries. Americans might not be familiar with the corporate parent, but they may know a few of its brands, including Ovaltine hot chocolate, Twinings teas, Mazola corn oil and Kingsmill bread. ABF also owns the Primark clothing brand and a chain of 350 Primark retail stores across Europe and North America. Associated British Foods has improved its dividend by an average of 7.4% annually over the past five years, including a 12% hike in 2017 to 41 pence (roughly 54 cents). SEE ALSO: 49 Companies Amazon Could Destroy (And 1 It Already Has) AT&T Getty Images Market value: $211.5 billion Dividend yield: 6.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 34 Telecommunications stocks are synonymous with dividend payments. Customers pay for service every month, which ensures a steady stream of cash to fund dividends. AT&T ( T , $29.09) - the largest U.S. telecom company - is a perfect example. AT&T has raised its dividend on an annual basis for 34 consecutive years, and typically boasts one of the highest dividend yields in the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index. That's in large part because of the cash flows generated by the telecom business, which enjoys what some call an effective duopoly with rival Verizon ( VZ ). Together, the pair command roughly 70% of the U.S. wireless subscriptions market. SEE ALSO: Best Online Brokers, 2018 Automatic Data Processing Market value: $59.6 billion Dividend yield: 2.0% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 43 Automatic Data Processing ( ADP , $136.35) is the world's largest payroll processing firm, responsible for paying more than 39 million employees and serving more than 650,000 clients across more than 110 countries. One of ADP's great advantages is its "stickiness." It's difficult and expensive for corporate customers to change payroll service providers. That competitive advantage helps throw off consistent income and cash flow. In turn, ADP has become a dependable dividend payer - one that has provided an annual raise for shareholders since 1975. SEE ALSO: 10 Best ETFs to Buy for an All-Weather Portfolio BAE Systems Getty Images Market value: $21.8 billion Dividend yield: 3.4% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 14 BAE Systems ( BAESY , $27.33) is one of the world's largest defense contractors, serving government customers mainly in the U.K. and U.S. The company designs and manufactures military aircraft, land vehicles and surface ships and is expanding its capabilities in cyber security and intelligence. Despite flat revenues last year, BAE was able to increase cash flow from operations by 54% and earnings per share by 8% while significantly reducing debt. BAE's dividend has improved for 14 consecutive years, though its progress has been slow, at just 2.4% annually over the past five years. SEE ALSO: 25 Dividend Stocks That Analysts Love the Most Bank of Nova Scotia Getty Images Market value: $65.8 billion Dividend yield: 5.0% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 8 Bank of Nova Scotia ( BNS , $53.45) is one of Canada's five big banks, serving more than 24 million customers in North America, Latin America, the Caribbean, Central America and Asia-Pacific. BNS has gone on a buying binge over the past 10 months, spending almost C$7 billion on acquisitions both in Canada and Latin America. However, the deals have yet to have a positive effect on the bank's stock, which is down over the past 52 weeks relative to its Canadian peers. Bank of Nova Scotia's third-quarter earnings were buoyed by strong results in its Canadian and Asian operations, however. That prompted the bank to raise its quarterly dividend by 3.7% to 85 Canadian cents per share - its sixth hike in just three years. Qualification for aristocracy in Canada is a little different and less stringent than the U.S. version - most importantly, it only needs to increase its annual payout for five consecutive years, and can even maintain the same dividend for two consecutive years within that time. Note: The exchange rate as of Oct. 1, 2018, is 1.28 Canadian dollars for every U.S. dollar. SEE ALSO: 11 Stocks Warren Buffett Is Buying or Selling BCE Getty Images Market value: $35.4 billion Dividend yield: 5.9% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 10 BCE ( BCE , $39.42) is Canada's largest communications company with annual revenue of $22.7 billion. It generates approximately 54% of its sales from wireline broadband and TV, 35% from wireless, and the remaining 11% from the company's media operations. The company's fiber-optic network is 240,000 kilometers in length - the largest in Canada - delivering internet, phone and TV to more than 9.2 million locations across seven provinces. BCE has raised its annual dividend by 5% or more for 11 consecutive years, keeping its payout ratio within a healthy range of 65% to 75%. Becton Dickinson Market value: $61.3 billion Dividend yield: 1.3% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 46 Medical devices maker Becton Dickinson ( BDX , $229.00) first bulked up with its 2015 acquisition of CareFusion, a complementary player in the same industry. Last year, it struck a $24 billion deal for fellow Dividend Aristocrat C.R. Bard, another medical products company with a strong position in treatments for infectious diseases. The company, which makes everything from insulin syringes to cell analysis systems, is increasingly looking for growth to be driven by markets outside the U.S., including China. Annual dividend increases stretch back 46 years and counting - a track record that should offer peace of mind to antsy income investors. SEE ALSO: 20 Dividend Stocks to Fund 20 Years of Retirement British American Tobacco Getty Images Market value: $105.1 billion Dividend yield: 5.9% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 20 British American Tobacco ( BTI , $45.83) isn't terribly well-known in the U.S., but it's the world's largest publicly traded tobacco company. BAT owns the popular Dunhill and Rothmans cigarette brands, which are sold to millions of consumers worldwide. BAT aims to deliver future EPS gains each year at high-single-digit levels. Earnings should receive a boost in 2018 from more than $400 million in anticipated acquisition-related synergies. The last increase to the quarterly dividend on BTI's stock was a 15.2% bump last year. Brown-Forman Market value: $22.4 billion Dividend yield: 1.4% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 34 Brown-Forman ( BF.B , $46.61) is one of the largest producers and distributors of alcohol in the world. Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey and Finlandia vodka are just two of its best-known brands, with the former helping drive better-than-expected growth in the most recent quarter. Tequila sales - Brown-Forman features the Herradura and El Jimador brands, among others - also are on the rise. The company has raised its payout annually for 34 years, and has delivered an uninterrupted regular payout for 72 years. SEE ALSO: 15 Consumer Stocks That Deliver Dividend Growth Like Clockwork Bunzl Courtesy Graham Richardson via Flickr Market value: $9.8 billion Dividend yield: 1.4% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 25 Bunzl ( BZLFY , $29.13) is an international distributor of food packaging, cleaning supplies, personal-protection equipment and other consumable items. The company serves customers from several industries, including foodservice, grocery, cleaning, retail and health care. Roughly 60% of sales come from North America, while Europe and the U.K. contribute another 35%. The company's dividend has increased for 25 years in a row, which would be enough to qualify even as an American Dividend Aristocrat. The company's last hike to its semi-annual dividend was a 10% boost in 2017. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Getty Images Market value: $38.0 billion Dividend yield: 4.9% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 8 Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce ( CM , $85.70) is the smallest of Canada's five big banks. It greatly expanded its U.S. business in 2017 buying Chicago-based PrivateBancorp for $5 billion in cash and shares. As a result of its purchase of PrivateBancorp, the bank's third-quarter earnings from its U.S. business increased by 295% to C$162 million. On Sept. 13, CIBC sold $769 million of Canada's first gender-diversity bond, the funds used to lend to companies advancing women in the executive ranks and the boardroom. Considering they pay about 70 basis points more than similar-maturity Canadian federal government bonds, investors can expect to see more of this from CIBC and other banks. CIBC most recently raised its quarterly dividend by 3 cents to C$1.36 a share. SEE ALSO: Emerging-Markets Stocks: 10 Ways to Play the Next Bull Market Canadian National Railway Getty Images Market value: $59.8 billion Dividend yield: 1.7% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 22 Canadian National Railway ( CNI , $82.15) was once run by Hunter Harrison, the executive Bill Ackman hired to turnaround its rival, Canadian Pacific Railway ( CP ). CN is North America's second largest publicly traded North American railway with a network of almost 20,000 route miles serving more than $250 billion of goods annually across Canada and the American Midwest. Over the past six years, Canadian National has grown revenues and operating profits by 6% and 9%, respectively, compounded annually. Investors will like the fact that the railroad operator has grown its annual dividend payment every year since it went public in 1995, averaging 16% a year. Canadian Natural Resources Getty Images Market value: $34.4 billion Dividend yield: 3.7% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 17 Canadian Natural Resources ( CNQ , $28.19) is one of the world's top independent energy producers, with natural gas, heavy crude oil and oil sands operations in North America and offshore operations in Africa and the U.K. It produces the oil equivalent of 1.1 billion barrels daily. Business is so good for Canadian Natural Resources that it has been able to pay down its long-term debt by C$2.5 billion over the past 12 months. Its debt is now 2.1 times adjusted EBITDA, down from 3.4x. In addition to debt reduction, the company has returned C$1.2 billion via share buybacks and dividends through the first six months of 2018. It currently pays a quarterly dividend of 33.5 Canadian cents, which is 22% higher than its year-ago payout. SEE ALSO: The Best and Worst Presidents (According to the Stock Market) Cardinal Health Market value: $15.0 billion Dividend yield: 3.8% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 33 A steady stream of acquisitions helped wholesale drug and medical device distributor Cardinal Health ( CAH , $49.92) become the giant that it is today. More recently, it has been embroiled in legal actions related to the nation's opioid epidemic. In late 2016, Cardinal Health agreed to pay $44 million to the Department of Justice to settle allegations that it failed to report suspicious drug orders. And in early 2017, the company agreed to a $20 million settlement with the state of West Virginia. However, Cardinal Health is looking for new life with an acquisition of Medtronic's ( MDT ) Patient Care, Deep Vein Thrombosis and Nutritional Insufficiency business, completed in July 2017. On the dividend front, Cardinal Health has upped the ante on its annual payout for 33 years and counting. Chevron Getty Images Market value: $213.7 billion Dividend yield: 4.0% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 32 Chevron ( CVX , $111.53) is an integrated oil giant that also has operations in natural gas and geothermal energy. And like its competitors, Chevron hurt when oil prices started to tumble in 2014. The energy major was forced to slash spending as a result, but - reassuringly - it never slashed its dividend. Cut to today, and the outlook for oil looks much more stable. Oil prices topped $75 per barrel in early October. Kiplinger forecasts that prices will range from $65 to $70 a barrel through the end of the year - a far better environment than what energy companies were dealing with a few years ago. With three decades of uninterrupted dividend growth under its belt, Chevron's track record instills confidence that the payouts will continue. SEE ALSO: Millionaires in America: All 50 States Ranked Cincinnati Financial Market value: $12.4 billion Dividend yield: 2.8% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 57 Inclement weather was unkind to Cincinnati Financial ( CINF , $76.50) in 2018. The insurer said it suffered close to $100 million in losses from Hurricane Florence in the third quarter alone. The hit from Hurricane Michael, which made landfall in October, will take a toll on fourth-quarter results. But while hurricane seasons always come and go, Cincinnati Financial's dividend always stays strong. The property and casualty insurance specialist has one of the Dividend Aristocrats' longest streaks of increases at 57 years, and given that Cincinnati Financial pays out only about two-thirds of its profits as dividends, that trend should continue. Analysts expect forecast average annual earnings growth of 6.1% for the next five years, according to Thomson Reuters data. Cintas Market value: $18.3 billion Dividend yield: 0.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 35 Cintas ( CTAS , $171.47) - which is well-known for providing corporate uniforms, but also offers maintenance supplies, tile and carpet cleaning services and even compliance training - is seen by some investors as a bet on jobs growth. There may be something to that. Shares are up 12% for the year-to-date - they were doing far better just a month ago thanks to unemployment reaching 49-year lows, but then pulled back during the broader-market swoon. Regardless of how the labor market is doing, Cintas is a stalwart as a dividend payer. The company has raised its payout every year since 1983. SEE ALSO: 10 Funds to Buy for High-Yield Preferred Stocks Clorox Getty Images Market value: $18.9 billion Dividend yield: 2.6% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 41 Clorox ( CLX , $147.82), whose brands include its namesake bleaches, Glad trash bags and Hidden Valley salad dressing, is raising prices to offset higher input costs. Analysts at Wells Fargo applaud the move, but think investors are taking a wait-and-see approach with the stock because of uncertainty as to how consumers will respond. They rate CLX shares at "Market Perform" (hold). In the longer run, analysts expect solid and steady growth from the consumer products company; earnings are expected to rise an average of 6.1% a year for the next five years. Clorox's dividend has increased in size annually since 1977. Coca-Cola Getty Images Market value: $195.2 billion Dividend yield: 3.4% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 55 Coca-Cola ( KO , $45.92) has long been known for quenching consumers' thirst, but it's equally effective at quenching investors' thirst for income. The company has paid a quarterly dividend since 1920, and that dividend has increased annually for the past 55 years. With the U.S. market for carbonated beverages on the decline for more than a decade, according to market research, Coca-Cola has responded by adding bottled water, fruit juices and teas to its product lineup to keep the cash flowing. In addition to the namesake Coca-Cola brand, KO also sports names such as Minute Maid, Powerade, Simply Orange and Vitaminwater. SEE ALSO: 25 Stocks Every Retiree Should Own Colgate-Palmolive Getty Images Market value: $51.7 billion Dividend yield: 2.8% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 55 Colgate-Palmolive ( CL , $59.58) sells staples ranging from toothpaste to dish detergent, and thus demand for its products tends to remain stable in good and bad economies alike. The company derives the vast majority of its sales outside the U.S., and that has been a problem in 2018. A stronger dollar, stagnant demand in key overseas markets and higher input costs have weighed on Clorox's results. You still can count on Colgate's dividend, however. It dates back more than a century, to 1895, and has increased annually for 55 consecutive years. Coloplast Courtesy of Flickr user Lost Parcels Market value: $19.8 billion Dividend yield: 1.8% Country: Denmark Consecutive annual dividend increases: 22 Denmark's Coloplast ( CLPBY , $9.33) is the worldwide leader in ostomy and incontinence products and has an expanding presence in wound care, skincare and urology. Coloplast has the top market share for continence care and ostomy care products, the No. 4 share of the urology market and the No. 5 share of the wound and skincare market. Over the past five years, Coloplast has produced 5.9% annual sales gains and 7.2% annual EPS growth, then turned that into 8.5% annual dividend increases on average. SEE ALSO: 20 Best Small-Cap Dividend Stocks to Buy Compass Group Getty Images Market value: $31.6 billion Dividend yield: 1.6% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 17 Compass Group ( CMPGY , $19.97) is the world's largest contract foodservice business. This British company operates in 50 countries worldwide, has more than 55,000 client locations and serves more than 5.5 billion meals each year. Alphabet ( GOOGL ), Intel ( INTC ) and other large corporate customers account for 39% of Compass Group sales. Other important customers include health-care and senior-care facilities (23% of sales), as well as colleges and schools (18%). North America is the company's primary market, representing 59% of sales, and Europe contributes 25%. The company's 8.7% annual EPS growth rate is almost mirrored by its 8.6% dividend growth rate over the same time frame. The payout is made semi-annually. Consolidated Edison Market value: $23.7 billion Dividend yield: 3.8% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 43 Consolidated Edison (ED, $76.33) is one of the nation's largest utility stocks by market value. Founded in 1823, it provides electric, gas and steam service for the 10 million customers in New York City and Westchester County. And like most utilities, Consolidated Edison enjoys a fairly stable stream of revenues and income thanks to a dearth of direct competition. As a result, the utility company has been able to hike its annual distribution without interruption for more than four decades. SEE ALSO: 10 Apple Products That Changed Everything (And 10 That Didn't) Diageo Getty Images Market value: $84.3 billion Dividend yield: 3.0% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 20 Diageo ( DEO , $138.02) is a multinational purveyor of beers and premium liquors that records sales in more than 180 countries. The company was formed in 1997 when Irish beermaker Guinness merged with U.K. liquor merchant Grand Metropolitan. With iconic liquor brands such as Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, J&B, Smirnoff and Tanqueray, North America is Diageo's largest market. But the company sees better growth opportunities in emerging markets like India and Africa, where incomes are rising and more than 750 million new consumers will reach drinking age during the next decade. Diageo has raised its dividend 8% annually for the past five years. Dover Market value: $10.3 billion Dividend yield: 2.3% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 63 Industrial conglomerate Dover ( DOV , $70.50) has its hands in all sorts of industries, from Dover-branded pumps, lifts and even productivity tools for the energy business, to Anthony-branded commercial refrigerator and freezer doors. It's not an exciting business, though it has gotten more headline-worthy in 2018. Under pressure from activist investor Daniel Loeb's Third Point hedge fund, Dover spun off its upstream energy business earlier this year. Known as Apergy Corp. ( APY ), the spinoff began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on May 9. Dividend growth has been a priority for Dover, which at 63 consecutive years of annual distribution hikes boasts the third-longest such streak among publicly traded companies. SEE ALSO: 25 Blue-Chip Stocks Mutual Fund Managers Love Most Ecolab Market value: $42.6 billion Dividend yield: 1.1% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 26 Ecolab ( ECL , $147.34) provides water treatment and other industrial-scale maintenance services for several industries, including food, healthcare, and oil and gas. Ecolab's fortunes can wane as industrial needs fluctuate though; for instance, when energy companies pare spending. Over the long haul, though, ECL shares are a proven winner. That's thanks in no small part to a dividend that dates back 81 years. And that payout has grown on an annual basis for more than a quarter-century. Enagas Courtesy Moríñigo via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $6.3 billion Dividend yield: 7.7% Country: Spain Consecutive annual dividend increases: 14 Spanish utility Enagas ( ENGGY , $13.22) has raised its dividend 14 years in a row. The company is Spain's principal natural gas carrier, delivering gas via its 10,000-kilometer pipeline network. Enagas also is TSO-certified by the European Union, which enables the company to operate in eight European countries. In addition to its pipeline, Enagas owns three underground storage facilities, four gas liquid plants and interests in natural gas assets in Mexico, Peru, Sweden and Chile. Enagas fattened its dividend by about 5.7% from 2013 to 2017, and the company is guiding for 5% annual dividend growth through 2020. SEE ALSO: The "Sweet Spot": 15 Mid-Cap Dividend Stocks to Buy Enbridge Market value: $53.9 billion Dividend yield: 6.6% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 22 One of the big headwinds holding back Enbridge ( ENB , $31.26) stock was a complex business structure in place to take advantage of tax loopholes available to master limited partnerships. However, when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission decided to put an end to the loopholes, which allowed MLPs to double their recovery of taxes, Enbridge decided to buy back all of its pipeline subsidiaries at the cost of C$11.4 billion. Enbridge did cut its annual dividend-growth-rate forecast to a manageable 10% despite oil prices in the $70s. But this can be taken as a positive. Enbridge - under a unified corporate structure, and amid higher oil prices but less strain from a rapidly scaling dividend - should produce better cash flow and ultimately be more attractive to investors. Emerson Electric Market value: $41.6 billion Dividend yield: 2.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 61 Emerson Electric ( EMR , $66.25) makes a wide variety of industrial products, ranging from control valves to electrical fittings. The prolonged downturn in oil prices weighed on Emerson for a couple years as energy companies continued to cut back on spending. Happily, analysts now say it's well-positioned to take advantage of the recovery in the energy sector. Emerson has paid dividends since 1956 and has boosted its annual payout for 61 consecutive years. SEE ALSO: Where Millionaires Live in America EssilorLuxottica Courtesy Erkethan via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $49.0 billion Dividend yield: 1.3% Country: France Consecutive annual dividend increases: 25 EssilorLuxottica ( ESLOY , $68.57) - the end product of a recent merger of French ophthalmic optics company Essilor and Italian eyewear company Luxottica. The combined group includes brands such as Varilux, Transitions, Foster Grant, Ray-Ban, Persol and Oakley. Luxottica also brought with it store brands including LensCrafters, Sunglass Hut and Pearle Vision. Essilor pays dividends once a year and has increased its payout for a quarter of a century. The company's dividend growth rate for the past five years is 10.9%, and juiced its payout by 35% last year. How the dividend program continues under the combined entity remains to be seen. Exxon Mobil Getty Images Market value: $328.2 billion Dividend yield: 4.2% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 36 A descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, today's Exxon Mobil ( XOM , $77.53) remains one of the world's largest oil companies and is the single biggest company by market value among Standard & Poor's 53 Dividend Aristocrats. As a dividend stalwart - Exxon and its various predecessors have strung together uninterrupted payouts since 1882 - it continued to hike its payout even as oil prices declined in recent years. Exxon has increased its dividend for 36 consecutive years, and has done so at an average annual rate of 6.3%. That includes a 7% boost to its quarterly checks announced in late April. SEE ALSO: 11 Best Vanguard Index Funds to Buy for Low-Cost Quality Federal Realty Investment Trust Market value: $9.0 billion Dividend yield: 3.3% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 51 Real estate investment trusts (REITs) such as Federal Realty Investment Trust ( FRT , $122.52) are required to pay out at least 90% of their taxable earnings as dividends in exchange for certain tax benefits. Thus, REITs typically are a go-to source for income. Few have been steadier than FRT. Federal Realty Investment Trust - which owns retail and mixed-use real estate across 12 states, as well as the District of Columbia - has now hiked its payout every year for half a century, and at an annual growth rate of more than 7%. Fortis Market value: $14.0 billion Dividend yield: 4.2% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 45 Fortis ( FTS , $32.97) owns 10 utility operations in Canada, U.S. and the Caribbean, providing gas and electricity to more than 3.3 million customers. It is one of the top 15 utilities in North America. In the company's 31-year history, its asset base has grown from $300 million at its launch in 1985 to $50 billion today. The company gets 92% of its earnings from regulated utilities, which means those profits are fairly stable and benefit from steady rate increases. It's easy to see why Fortis has been able to increase its annual dividend for 45 straight years. Over the past decade, Fortis has kept its dividend payout ratio between 61% and 73%, ensuring it's not stretching to make its payments. SEE ALSO: The 10 Best Dividend Stocks of All Time Franklin Resources Market value: $15.2 billion Dividend yield: 3.1% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 38 The name Franklin Resources ( BEN , $29.31) might not be well-known among investors; however, along with its subsidiaries, it's called the more familiar Franklin Templeton investments. The global investment firm is one of the world's largest by assets under management, and is known for its bond funds, among other things. Mutual fund providers have come under pressure because customers are eschewing traditional stock pickers in favor of indexed investments. However, Franklin is fighting back by launching its first suite of passive exchange-traded funds. The asset manager has raised its dividend annually since 1981, including an 15% hike announced in December 2017. Investors also got an extra treat in February, when the company announced a special dividend of $3 per share, representing almost 9% in additional yield based on the March 29 record date. Fresenius Medical Care Courtesy Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce via Flickr Market value: $24.5 billion Dividend yield: 1.6% Country: Germany Consecutive annual dividend increases: 21 Fresenius Medicare Care ( FMS , $40.06) provides dialysis services through clinics in 150 countries. The company operates more than 3,500 clinics and treated over 300,000 patients last year. Much of Fresenius' top-line growth has come from acquisitions that include Sparsh Nephrocare, XENiOS, Cura Group, and most recently, NxStage Medical ( NXTM ), a major competitor. The company generates nearly 75% of its revenues from North America, which houses approximately 2,400 of its clinics. Its dividend has grown at a rate of about 7% annually over the past five years. SEE ALSO: 30 Blue-Chip Stocks With the Best Analyst Ratings General Dynamics Market value: $50.3 billion Dividend yield: 2.2% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 26 Defense contractor General Dynamics ( GD , $169.86) is one of the newest members of the Dividend Aristocrats, having been added to the elite list of dividend growers at the end of January 2017. Shares in the company came under pressure in late April after quarterly revenue missed Wall Street estimates because of weakness in the company's aerospace unit, then again in October thanks to a revenue miss in its Q3 report. General Dynamics has upped its distribution for 26 consecutive years, however. With a payout ratio of just 29.3% - the S&P 500 has an average payout ratio of about 40% - General Dynamics should have ample room for more dividend hikes. Genuine Parts Market value: $14.5 billion Dividend yield: 2.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 62 Automotive and industrial replacement parts maker Genuine Parts ( GPC , $98.56) is best-known for the Napa brand, though it also operates under AutoTodo in Mexico and UAP in Canada. Since its founding in 1928, it has pursued a strategy of acquisitions to fuel growth. At the end of 2017, it bought Alliance Automotive Group, one of the largest distribution companies in Europe, for $2 billion. A long-time dividend machine, GPC has hiked its dividend annually for more than six decades. That includes a 7% improvement to the payout in February 2018. SEE ALSO: Microsoft's 15 Biggest Flops Groupe Bruxelles Lambert Market value: $12.7 billion Dividend yield: 3.1% Country: Belgium Consecutive annual dividend increases: 15 With the goal of diversifying earnings, Groupe Bruxelles Lambert ( GBLBF , $90.90) created its Sierra Capital subsidiary five years ago, which invests in different outside fund managers. So far, Sierra has returned more than 800 million euros ($910 million) of dividends to the parent company. The firm's net asset value grew 11.2% last year, and Groupe Bruxelles raised its dividend 2.4% to 3 euros ($3.41). That was slightly below the 10-year average annual growth rate of 2.7%, but that still was good enough to mark 15 consecutive years of payout expansion. Groupe Bruxelles currently does not have shares that trade on a U.S. exchange. However, some brokerage accounts allow investors to buy and sell stocks on foreign exchanges. Hermes International Getty Images Market value: $59.3 billion Dividend yield: 1.1% Country: France Consecutive annual dividend increases: 12 Hermes International ( HESAY , $56.91) is a 180-year-old purveyor of high-fashion goods and among the most recognizable luxury brands in the world. In addition to its iconic scarves, Hermes sells leather goods, home accessories and other consumer items through a worldwide network of more than 300 stores. Hermes' success has allowed it to grow dividends by a nice 12.5% annual rate over the past half-decade. And in addition to a 12% hike last year to 3.75 euros per share, the company also paid out a 5-euro special dividend. Thus, investors received about $10.20 in dividends in 2017. SEE ALSO: 10 Biggest Product Recalls of All Time Hormel Getty Images Market value: $21.9 billion Dividend yield: 1.8% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 52 Shares in Hormel ( HRL , $41.17), the maker of Spam, have been on a tear in 2018. The stock was up 15% for the year-to-date through Oct. 19. The S&P 500 was up 2.7% over the same time frame. "The company expects to gain from its sturdy brand portfolio, innovation and buyouts," say analysts at Zacks Investment Research. "These factors are expected to help the company offset hurdles related to freight costs, adverse currency movements and volatile commodity prices." And then there's the dividend, which is as reliable as they come. Hormel has hiked its payout annually for 52 consecutive years. Illinois Tool Works Getty Images Market value: $41.6 billion Dividend yield: 3.2% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 55 Founded in 1912, Illinois Tool Works ( ITW , $124.10) makes construction products, car parts, restaurant equipment and more. While ITW sells many products under the namesake brand, it also operates businesses including Foster Refrigerators, ACME Packaging Systems and the Wolf Range Company. Higher costs and a stronger dollar are weighing heavily on shares so far in 2018. Illinois Tool Works announced a 28% increase to its dividend in August 2018, good for the company's 55th consecutive year of payout hikes. SEE ALSO: How Well Do You Really Know Warren Buffett? Imperial Brands Getty Images Market value: $33.0 billion Dividend yield: 4.3% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 21 U.K.-based Imperial Brands ( IMBBY , $34.59) is the world's fifth largest tobacco company. Many analysts and money managers consider Imperial a prime takeover target, meaning investors could potentially capture a buyout premium by owning shares. Imperial has been paying dividends since 1997. The company has improved that payout by 10% for each of the past nine years, and Imperial is committing to at least 10% average annual growth going forward. Intertek Group Getty Images Market value: $9.3 billion Dividend yield: 1.8% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 15 U.K.-based Intertek Group ( IKTSY , $57.75) provides quality assurance services to customers in the energy, chemical, agricultural, construction and health-care industries. The company operates more than 1,000 testing labs across 100 countries, and its services include systems certification and supply chain assessment, food, fuels and chemical testing, on-site inspection and product certification. Intertek frequently uses acquisitions to supplement organic growth and has added more than £250 million ($320 million) to revenues since 2015 via M&A. The company's dividends actually have been expanding faster than earnings over the past 15 years, with payouts jumping by 19.1% annually versus 14% annual growth on the bottom line. SEE ALSO: 20 Small Towns With Big Millionaire Populations Johnson & Johnson Getty Images Market value: $367.5 billion Dividend yield: 2.6% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 56 Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ , $136.97), founded in 1886 and public since 1944, operates in several different segments of the health care industry. In addition to pharmaceuticals, it makes over-the-counter consumer products such as Band-Aids, Neosporin and Listerine. It also manufactures medical devices used in surgery. Shares in J&J were flat for the year-to-date through Oct. 19, but investors can take some comfort in the rock-solid dividend. The health-care giant hiked its payout by 7.1% in April 2018, extending its streak of consecutive annual dividend increases to 56. Johnson Matthey Getty Images Market value: $7.1 billion Dividend yield: 2.9% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 31 Johnson Matthey ( JMPLY , $73.55) might be two centuries old, but it's still well entrenched in the future, manufacturing high-tech products from precious metals for customers in the automotive, natural resources and health-care industries. Among other things, the U.K. company is the global leader in automotive catalytic converters. Sales are well-diversified geographically, spread across Europe (39% of revenue), North America (33%) and China and Asia-Pacific (20%). Johnson Matthey began paying a dividend in 1999, and it has been expanding both earnings per share and its dividend at a 7% annual rate over the past six years. SEE ALSO: Test Your Mutual Fund IQ Kerry Group Courtesy Hajotthu via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $18.7 billion Dividend yield: 0.5% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 32 Ireland-domiciled Kerry Group ( KRYAY , $105.99) is a dominant player in packaged food markets across Ireland and the U.K. The company also is a world leader in specialty ingredients used to improve the flavor, appearance and health benefits of food. The company likely will need to rely on acquisitions to achieve its 10% annual EPS growth target over the next five years. According to Davy Research, Kerry Group may produce more than £800 million ($1.03 billion) of free cash flow, which will be used for M&A over the next two years. This European Dividend Aristocrat features one of the largest track records of dividend increases on this list, at 32 years of growth. The last hike was a 12% bump in 2017 to 0.63 euros (72 cents) per share. Kimberly-Clark Market value: $35.4 billion Dividend yield: 3.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 46 Kimberly-Clark's ( KMB , $102.31) well-known brands include Huggies diapers, Scott paper towels and Kleenex tissues. Like other makers of consumer staples, Kimberly-Clark holds out the promise of delivering slow but steady growth along with a healthy dividend to drive total returns. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect earnings to grow at an average annual rate of 4.8% over the next five years. Kimberly-Clark has paid out a dividend for 83 consecutive years, and has raised the annual payout for the past 46 years. SEE ALSO: 20 of the Best Stocks You Probably Haven't Heard Of Leggett & Platt Market value: $4.5 billion Dividend yield: 4.4% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 48 Leggett & Platt ( LEG , $34.75) has its hands in several pies, including producing steel wire; designing and manufacturing seating support systems for automobiles; and making components for manufacturers of upholstered furniture, beds and other home furnishings. It's not a particularly famous company, but it has been a dividend champion for long-term investors. Leggett & Platt's dividend has improved for 47 consecutive years and in 55 of the past 56 years. Lindt & Sprungli Getty Images Market value: $8.0 billion Dividend yield: 1.4% Country: Switzerland Consecutive annual dividend increases: 15 Swiss chocolate-maker Lindt & Sprungli ( LDSVF , $6,668.97) is a world leader in premium quality chocolates. The company manufactures chocolate from 12 sites across the U.S. and Europe, operates 410 retail stores and records sales in 120 countries. American consumers buy the company's Lindt, Ghirardelli and Russell Stover brands and have made Lindt the No. 1 player in premium chocolates and No. 3 overall in the U.S. chocolate market. Demand for chocolates is growing at single-digit rates in developed countries and double-digit rates in emerging markets. So it should be no surprise that Lindt anticipates the majority of its future growth will come from emerging markets like China, South Africa, Brazil and Russia, where sales rose 12.4% last year. Lindt's average dividend growth over the past five years has been a strong 10.9%, including a 10% hike last year. SEE ALSO: The 50 Best Stocks of All Time L'Oreal Getty Images Market value: $120.5 billion Dividend yield: 2.0% Country: France Consecutive annual dividend increases: 35 France's L'Oreal ( LRLCY , $43.08) is the world leader in cosmetics and skincare. The company holds a 19% share of the global cosmetics market and a 37% share of the skincare market. The global market for cosmetics is growing 4%-5% a year as a result of advertising on social media, increasing urbanization and rising online beauty spending by an expanding middle class. L'Oréal's online sales grew 24% last year, and the company already commands a 10% share of the e-commerce market for beauty products. The dividend has expanded 7.6% annually on average. Last year not only saw a 7.9% improvement to the payout, but also a preferential dividend of 10% to investors who have owned shares for at least two years. Lowe's Getty Images Market value: $75.8 billion Dividend yield: 2.1% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 56 Home improvement chain Lowe's ( LOW , $93.78) has paid a dividend every quarter since going public in 1961, and that dividend has increased annually for more than half a century. Rival Home Depot ( HD ) is also a longtime dividend payer, but its string of annual dividend increases only dates back to 2009. Analysts expect the retailer's earrings to grow at an average annual rate of 15.2% for the next five years, according to data from Thomson Reuters. SEE ALSO: How Well Do You Really Understand Bitcoin? Magna International Getty Images Market value: $16.3 billion Dividend yield: 2.7% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 9 It's not easy being an auto parts manufacturer, but if any company can handle the tariff issues, it's Magna International ( MGA , $48.36). A big player in electric-vehicle development, Magna just joined with BMW and Andretti Motorsport as a partner in their electric-vehicle racing team. The alliance allows Magna to learn more about how its mobility solutions business can help cities solve their mobility challenges. Magna repurchased $729 million of its shares in Q2 2018 in addition to paying out $115 million in dividends. McCormick & Company Market value: $18.2 billion Dividend yield: 1.5% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 32 A couple of acquisitions are expected to spice up McCormick & Company's ( MKC , $138.39) growth. The company, which makes herbs, spices and other flavorings, bought RB Foods in August 2017 and Enrico Giotti in December 2016. Both acquisitions are helping to drive sales growth, Zacks notes. Analysts expect average annual earnings growth of almost 10.4% for the next five years. That should provide support for McCormick's dividend, which has been improved on an annual basis for 32 consecutive years. SEE ALSO: 10 Top Utility Stocks to Buy for Safety and Dividends McDonald's Market value: $134.4 billion Dividend yield: 2.7% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 42 The world's largest hamburger chain also happens to be a dividend stalwart. Changing consumer tastes will always be a risk, but McDonald's ( MCD , $173.34) dividend dates back to 1976 and has gone up every year since. That's the power of being a consumer giant that has been able to adjust itself to changing consumer tastes without losing its core. McDonald's stock, a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, has outperformed that blue-chip barometer by 32 percentage points over the past five years. Medtronic Market value: $121.4 billion Dividend yield: 2.2% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 41 Medtronic ( MDT , $89.75) is one of the world's largest makers of medical devices, holding more than 4,600 patents on products ranging from insulin pumps for diabetics to stents used by cardiac surgeons. Look around a hospital or doctor's office - in the U.S. or in about 160 other countries - and there's a good chance you'll see its products. The company is focused on the health of its shareholders as well as its patients: Medtronic has been steadily increasing its dividend every year for more than four decades. SEE ALSO: What Happens When a Retailer Goes Bankrupt? Methanex Market value: $5.1 billion Dividend yield: 2.0% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 7 Methanex ( MEOH , $65.89) is the world's largest producer of methanol. Methanol is a clean-burning biodegradable fuel that's gaining traction for both commercial and residential uses. It's also used in combination with other chemicals to make plastics, paints, building materials and more. Although Methanex currently only produced 7.2 million tonnes of methanol in 2017, it can produce as much as 9.4 million tonnes annually, providing significant potential cash-flow growth. Between its quarterly dividend (currently 33 cents per quarter) and share repurchases, Methanex has returned $1.1 billion to shareholders since 2013. Micro Focus International Courtesy Ben P L via Wikimedia Market value: $6.5 billion Dividend yield: 7.6% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 13 The 2017 acquisition of Hewlett-Packard Enterprise's ( HPE ) software division made Micro Focus International ( MFGP , $15.29) the seventh largest software company in the world. Micro Focus provides enterprise-scale software for large businesses in areas such as applications development, analytics, big data, and security and risk management. Since completing its initial public offering in 2005, Micro Focus has delivered 25.7% annual growth in EPS and 27.7% yearly growth to its semi-annual dividend, which jumped by 32.1% last year to 88 cents. SEE ALSO: 5 Stocks to Sell According to Wall Street Analysts Nestle Getty Images Market value: $252.2 billion Dividend yield: 2.9% Country: Switzerlands Consecutive annual dividend increases: 23 Nestle ( NSRGY , $83.84) is the world's largest food and beverage company, boasting operations in 189 countries. Nestle churns out food products at 413 factories in 85 countries. Best-selling brands include Gerber baby food, Nescafe instant coffee, Purina pet food, Stouffers frozen foods and Perrier and Poland Springs waters. In 2018, Nestle paid $7 billion to acquire Starbucks' ( SBUX ) packaged-coffee business. The company's dividend is one of the oldest among these European Dividend Aristocrats, dating back to 1959. Novartis Getty Images Market value: $197.0 billion Dividend yield: 3.5% Country: Switzerland Consecutive annual dividend increases: 21 Novartis ( NVS , $85.29) is a global health-care company that generates more than $49 billion in annual sales through the development and marketing of blockbuster drugs such as Costentyx (arthritis) and Entresto (heart failure). Novartis has raised its dividend 21 years in a row and improved the payout by 7.1% annually on average over the past decade. SEE ALSO: 5 Hot-Running Health Insurance Stocks to Buy Novo Nordisk Courtesy Johan Wessman via Flickr Market value: $102.0 billion Dividend yield: 3.0% Country: Denmark Consecutive annual dividend increases: 13 Danish firm Novo Nordisk ( NVO , $42.39) is the world leader in medicines for diabetes and obesity-related disorders. The company has a 47% share of the insulin market and a 27% share of the total market for diabetes care (which includes insulin). Demand for the company's medicines is growing because of the global diabetes pandemic. The incidence of diabetes has doubled over the past 16 years, and scientists believe the disease could affect 11.7% of the global population (more than 736 million people) by 2045. While Novo/Nordisk has grown its dividend by 25.6% annually over the past five years, 2017's payout was just 3.3% better than the year prior, mostly because of increased spending on share repurchases. Novozymes Getty Images Market value: $13.6 billion Dividend yield: 1.6% Country: Denmark Consecutive annual dividend increases: 18 Novozymes ( NVZMY , $46.98) is the world leader in industrial enzymes and commands nearly half of this $4 billion market. Enzymes facilitate chemical reactions and are added to cleaning products, food processing, biofuel production and pharmaceutical manufacturing. This Danish company flourished following its 2000 spinoff from the aforementioned Novo Nordisk, but growth has slowed due to lower oil prices, which reduced demand for some enzymes used in detergents, animal feed and biofuels. Novozymes increased its dividend 14.3% in 2017 - just below its five-year average dividend growth rate of 16.3%. The company plans to increase its dividend 13% in 2018 and boost its payout ratio from 40% to 50%. SEE ALSO: The 5 Best Dividend Growth Stocks for the Rest of 2018 Nucor Getty Images Market value: $17.8 billion Dividend yield: 2.7% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 45 Shareholders in Nucor ( NUE , $56.13), the largest U.S. steelmaker, aren't get much benefit from tariffs in 2018. Instead, oversupply fears have been weighing on the stock. "There appears to be too much inventory in the channel right now, and this has impacted mill orders and volumes," say analysts at Longbow Research. Despite the volatility in the steel business, investors can feel good about Nucor's dividend. The company has hiked its annual payout every year since 1974, and it pays out a conservative 20% of profits as dividends. Paddy Power Betfair Getty Images Market value: $6.9 billion Dividend yield: 3.1% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 18 Ireland's Patty Power Betfair ( PDYPY , $42.45) is a leading sports-betting bookmaker in the U.K. and Australia. The company was formed in 2016 through the merger of two major U.K. bookmakers, Patty Power and Betfair. The company operates 623 betting shops across the U.K. and Ireland, runs Ireland's largest telephone betting service and has numerous online sites for sports-betting, poker and casino-gaming. Paddy Power has grown dividends 9.7% annually since 2013 while maintaining a payout ratio of between 40% and 50%. SEE ALSO: 7 Growth Stocks That Will Pay You Cash, Too Pentair Market value: $6.8 billion Dividend yield: 1.8% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 42 U.K.-based diversified industrial company Pentair ( PNR , $39.35) completed the tax-free spinoff of nVent Electric ( NVT ) in April. The move allows Pentair to focus on its water assets, operating in businesses such as Flow Technologies, Filtration & Process and Aquatic & Environmental Systems. Pentair has raised its dividend every year for more than four decades. Analysts on average project earnings per share to increase 8.6% next year, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters. PepsiCo Getty Images Market value: $155.9 billion Dividend yield: 3.4% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 46 Like Coca-Cola ( KO ), PepsiCo ( PEP , $110.45) is working against a long-term slide in soda sales. It too has responded by expanding its offerings of non-carbonated beverages. One advantage Pepsi has that Coca-Cola doesn't is its foods business - the company owns Frito-Lay snacks like Doritos, Tostitos and Rold Gold pretzels, and demand for salty snacks remains solid. In August, the company struck a deal to acquire at-home carbonated drink maker SodaStream ( SODA ) for $3.2 billion. Pepsi has paid out a quarterly dividend ever since 1965, and the company has raised the annual payout for 46 consecutive years. SEE ALSO: 5 "Warren Buffett Stocks" That Might Not Be His Ideas PPG Industries Market value: $24.7 billion Dividend yield: 1.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 47 Rising costs for raw materials are taking a toll on PPG Industries ( PPG , $102.83) these days. The paints and coatings company said in late April that it would cut 1,100 jobs as part of a restructuring aimed at slashing expenses. Longer-term, analysts remain convinced that the company can generate steady growth. Earnings are forecast to grow at an average annual rate of more than 6.4% for the next five years, according to Thomson Reuters. That in turn should help prop up PPG's dividend, which has been paid since 1899 and improved on an annual basis for 47 years. Praxair Getty Images Market value: $47.4 billion Dividend yield: 2.0% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 25 Praxair ( PX , $164.94) was added to the Dividend Aristocrats in January 2018, the same month that it declared its 25th consecutive annual dividend increase. The manufacturer of industrial gasses hiked its quarterly payout by 5% to 82.50 cents a share. "With a focused business strategy and solid execution, we were able to generate record free cash flow in 2017 and this dividend increase reflects our confidence in our ability to sustain strong cash flow throughout economic cycles," Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Steve Angel said in a press release. Analysts expect the multinational industrial firm's earnings to increase at an average annual rate of 10.7% for the next five years. SEE ALSO: America's Most Popular Breakfast Cereals (And the Stocks Behind Them) Procter & Gamble Getty Images Market value: $218.9 billion Dividend yield: 3.3% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 62 With major brands such as Tide detergent, Pampers diapers and Gillette razors, Procter & Gamble ( PG , $87.86) is among the world's largest consumer products companies. Although the economy ebbs and flows, demand for products such as toilet paper, toothpaste and soap tends to remain stable. That hardly makes P&G completely recession-proof, but it has helped fuel reliable dividend payments for more than a century. The company has paid shareholders a dividend since 1891, and raised its dividend annually for 62 years in a row. Prudential PLC Courtesy Andrew Smith via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $49.7 billion Dividend yield: 3.3% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 14 U.K.-based Prudential PLC ( PUK , $38.36) is a world leader in insurance products, annuities and other financial services. The company serves more than 36 million customers worldwide and holds nearly £700 billion ($897 billion) of assets under management. Prudential sells annuity products in the U.S. through its Jackson subsidiary and is not affiliated with U.S. insurance giant Prudential Financial ( PRU ). Jackson is the largest wholesale distributor of variable annuities in the U.S. Prudential has delivered five-year average dividend growth of 10.5% annually. SEE ALSO: 10 Growth Stocks to Buy With Monster Potential Red Electricia Courtesy Zarateman via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $11.4 billion Dividend yield: 7.3% Country: Spain Consecutive annual dividend increases: 20 Red Electricia ( RDEIY , $10.59) operates Spain's electric power grid along with a fiber optic network that accounts for 49% of that country's fiber rentals. Red invested 412 million euros ($469 million) last year in its transmission system across Spain and completed the consulting phase of a project that will link transmission grids in Spain and France. Annual dividend growth has averaged 7% for the past three years, including a 7% improvement in 2017. Roche Holdings Courtesy William Murphy via Flickr Market value: $200.4 billion Dividend yield: 3.7% Country: Switzerland Consecutive annual dividend increases: 16 Switzerland's Roche Holdings ( RHHBY , $29.32) is one of the world's largest biotech company and the world leader for in-vitro diagnostics and tissue-based cancer diagnostics. Roche became a leader these areas in 2009 when the company acquired Genentech, considered by many to be the founder of the biotech industry. The company's drug portfolio includes best-selling oncology medicines such as Herceptin, Avastin and Perjeta, and immunology drugs Rituxan and Actemra. Roche began paying dividends in 2005. Dividend growth over the past decade has averaged 8.2% annually, but growth has slowed to 3.6% annually over the most recent five years. And last year, RHHBY's dividend grew by just 1.2%. SEE ALSO: 5 Great Stocks to Buy If You're New to Investing Roper Technologies Market value: $29.5 billion Dividend yield: 0.6% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 25 Along with A.O. Smith and Praxair, Roper Technologies ( ROP , $285.38) was the third company added to the Dividend Aristocrats in 2018. The diversified industrial company was tapped for the honor after it hiked its dividend for a 25th straight year in December 2017. Roper lifted its quarterly dividend by 18% to 41.25 cents a share at the time. With a payout ratio of just 14.3%, Roper should have ample room to keep the dividend hikes coming for many years to come. Royal Bank of Canada Market value: $104.0 billion Dividend yield: 4.2% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 8 Royal Bank of Canada ( RY , $72.14) is arguably Canada's biggest bank if you go by metrics other than earnings; for instance, its 13 million customer count is tops in Canada. RBC also has the largest full-service wealth advisory business in Canada, along with the largest fund company in Canada. Even better, J.D. Power has named it the highest for customer satisfaction the last three years. Over the past 10 years, Royal Bank of Canada paid out more than C$35 billion in dividends to its shareholders, growing its payment by an average of 12% a year - three times greater than the average U.S. bank. SEE ALSO: 5 Blue-Chip "Marijuana Stocks" S&P Global Courtesy B64 via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $43.1 billion Dividend yield: 1.2% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 45 S&P Global ( SPGI , $171.41), formerly known as McGraw Hill Financial, is the company behind S&P Global Ratings, S&P Global Market Intelligence and S&P Global Platts. Although most investors probably know it for its majority stake in S&P Dow Jones Indices, it's also a central player in corporate and financial analytics, information and research. S&P Global has paid uninterrupted dividends since 1937 and has increased its distribution for 45 years in a row. Sage Group Courtesy TubularWorld via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $7.4 billion Dividend yield: 2.2% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 22 Sage Group ( SPYY , $27.28) is an enterprise software business headquartered in the U.K. The company provides specialized software with applications in accounting, financial management, enterprise planning, HR and payroll, and payment processing and banking to business customers worldwide. Sage currently serves roughly 3 million customers across 23 countries. Nine countries together account for 95% of Sage's revenues. Its top markets are Europe (54% of sales) and North America (31% of sales). The company's dividend, which has been growing every year since 1999, has averaged 10.3% in annual expansion over the past decade. SEE ALSO: The 7 Best Biotech Stocks for Investors Who Hate Risk Sanofi Getty Images Market value: $106.2 billion Dividend yield: 4.4% Country: France Consecutive annual dividend increases: 24 French pharmaceutical powerhouse Sanofi ( SNY , $42.60) is relying on acquisitions to help replace eroding sales on Lantus, a blockbuster diabetes drug whose patent recently expired. The company spent $11.6 billion earlier this year to acquire Bioverativ, which specializes in drugs for hemophilia. In addition, Sanofi paid $4.8 billion to purchase Ablynx and its portfolio of medicines for rare blood disorders. Sanofi has delivered 24 consecutive years of dividend growth on its yearly payout, averaging 4.9% growth on the distribution over the past decade. But it did up the ante for this year, boosting its dividend 13%. Sherwin-Williams Market value: $34.7 billion Dividend yield: 0.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 39 Sherwin-Williams ( SHW , $370.44) completed its $11 billion acquisition of Valspar in 2017 to create one of the largest paints, coatings and home-improvement companies in the world. The benefits of the deal are already showing up in results. Analysts expect revenue to increase almost 19% this year. While Sherwin-Williams did issue $6 billion in bonds to finance the transaction, investors shouldn't worry about the company's 39-year streak of annual dividend increases. SHW pays out a meager 18% of its earnings as dividends, which means it has plenty of wiggle room while it pays off its debts. SEE ALSO: QUIZ: What Do You Know About Gold? Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken Courtesy Thue via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $22.2 billion Dividend yield: 6.7% Country: Sweden Consecutive annual dividend increases: 10 Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken ( SKVKY , $10.26), more commonly known as SEB, is a leading Nordic financial services group serving corporate customers in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Germany and the United Kingdom. Founded in 1856, SEB serves approximately 3,000 large corporate customers, 400,000 small- to medium-sized businesses and 4.0 million private customers. The firm has assets under management totaling SEK 1,838 billion ($201.1 billion). SEB halted its dividend in 2008 thanks to the global financial crisis, but has put together a string of increases ever since - and has done so at a rapid 25.1% average annual rate over the past five years. Stanley Black & Decker Market value: $16.9 billion Dividend yield: 2.4% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 51 Analysts expect power and hand toolmaker Stanley Black & Decker ( SWK , $110.21) to generate average annual earnings growth of nearly 11% a year over the next five years, thanks to a strategy of growth through acquisitions and cost cuts. Stanley Black & Decker bought Newell Tools from Newell Brands ( NWL ) for $2 billion in 2016. In January 2017, it negotiated the purchase of Craftsman tools from Sears Holdings ( SHLDQ ) for a total of $775 million over three years and a percentage of annual sales. Most recently, SWK announced the acquisition of IES Attachments for $690 million cash in August. The company has paid a dividend for 142 years on an uninterrupted basis, and has increased it annually for just more than half a century. SEE ALSO: 8 Real Estate Plays Yielding Up to 8% Suncor Energy Market value: $55.0 billion Dividend yield: 3.3% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 16 There may not be a NYSE-listed Canadian company that's more popular with analysts at the moment than Suncor Energy ( SU , $33.88). Suncor is best known for its oil sands projects in Northern Alberta. Its latest, Fort Hills, which boasts lower carbon emissions and operating costs, just opened to pomp and circumstance as the Canadian oil industry celebrates higher prices and a stronger economy. Over the past six years, Suncor has grown its dividend by 19% annually, from 50 Canadian cents per share in 2012 to C$1.44 in 2018. Sysco Market value: $36.3 billion Dividend yield: 2.1% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 49 Sysco ( SYY , $69.80), a food services and restaurant supply company, is generating sales growth by making acquisitions. The company bought European services and supplies company Brakes Group in 2016, as well as the Supplies on the Fly e-commerce platform. In April 2018, the it acquired U.K.-based Kent Frozen Foods for an undisclosed sum. However, Sysco has been able to generate plenty of growth on its own, producing a steady ramp-up in revenues for years. Analysts expect average earnings growth of 12.6% annually over the next half-decade. That should allow Sysco to keep up its streak of 49 consecutive years of paying higher dividends. SEE ALSO: The 5 Highest-Yielding Warren Buffett Dividend Stocks Target Market value: $43.1 billion Dividend yield: 3.1% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 47 The No. 2 discount retail chain after Walmart ( WMT ) was late to the e-commerce game but its catch-up efforts are starting to pay off. Shares in Target ( TGT , $81.94) were 21% for the year-to-date through Oct. 19. The S&P 500 was up 2.3% over the same span. Analysts expect average annual earnings growth of 8% for the next five years. Longer term, investors can have confidence in the dividend. Target paid its first dividend in 1967, seven years ahead of Walmart, and has raised its payout annually since 1972. Thomson Reuters Getty Images Market value: $25.6 billion Dividend yield: 3.0% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 24 Thomson Reuters ( TRI , $45.94) started October by closing the biggest leveraged M&A deal of 2018. A group of investors led by Blackstone Group ( BX ) bought 55% of Thomson Reuters' Financial & Risk business for $17 billion. Thomson Reuters shareholders will see $9 billion to $11 billion of the proceeds in the form of share repurchases, with the rest going to debt repayment, cash to the balance sheet, and taxes and deal expenses. Its largest shareholder, the Thomson family's Woodbridge Group, will reinvest approximately 30% to 50% of its future dividends in Thomson Reuters stock over the next three years. As a result of the deal, which will leave Thomson less reliant on the financial services industry, Thomson Reuters will keep its annual dividend at $1.38, bringing its streak of 24 annual dividend increases to an end. However, Thomson Reuters can remain a Canadian Dividend Aristocrat by increasing the payout next year. SEE ALSO: 6 Companies That Invest in Themselves T. Rowe Price Market value: $22.6 billion Dividend yield: 3.0% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 32 Asset managers such as T. Rowe Price ( TROW , $93.87) have been losing market share to indexed funds of the type Vanguard offers, but the company still boasts $1 trillion in assets under management, and analysts expect solid top-line growth in 2018. Aided by advising fees, the company is forecast to see a 14.1% gain in revenue this year, according to data from Thomson Reuters. T. Rowe Price has improved its dividend every year for 32 years, and it boasts a lean 39% payout ratio that should keep the annual hikes coming. Unilever NV Getty Images Market value: $144.1 billion Dividend yield: 3.4% Country: United Kingdom, Netherlands Consecutive annual dividend increases: 19 Unilever NV ( UL , $53.38) is an Anglo-Dutch consumer products giant with more than 400 brands in its portfolio, including American-friendly names such as Lipton, Knorr, Dove, Axe, Hellmann's, Suave and Breyer's. Unilever Group consists of both a Dutch subsidiary, Unilever NV (55% of group sales) and a U.K. subsidiary, Unilever PLC (45% of group sales). The company is consolidating its operations into the Dutch unit this year. Unilever pays quarterly dividends. At present, Unilever PLC and Unilever NV pay separate but equal dividends. Post-consolidation, Unilever NV will be the surviving entity and all dividend payments will be made in euros. SEE ALSO: 10 S&P 500 Stocks to Buy for Long-Term Outperformance VF Corporation Market value: $31.4 billion Dividend yield: 2.6% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 46 VF Corporation ( VFC , $79.31) is an apparel company with a large number of brands under its umbrella, including Lee and Wrangler jeans and The North Face outdoor products. It added to its brand portfolio with the acquisition of Icebreaker Holdings - another outdoor and sport designer - under undisclosed terms in April 2018. Analysts expect average annual earnings growth of 13.5% for the next five years. Suffice to say, VFC's 46-year streak of annual dividend payout hikes appears safe. Walgreens Boots Alliance Market value: $72.4 billion Dividend yield: 2.3% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 43 Shareholders in Walgreens Boots Alliance's ( WBA , $76.23) breathed a sigh of relief in April when Amazon.com ( AMZN ) shelved its plan to sell prescription drugs to doctors and hospitals. Tracing its roots back to a single drugstore founded in 1901, Walgreens has boosted its dividend every year for more than four decades. Mostly recently, it announced a hike of 10% in June. It merged with Alliance Boots - a Switzerland-based health and beauty multinational - in 2014 to form the current company. SEE ALSO: 7 Tech Stocks to Buy With 100% Street Support Walmart Getty Images Market value: $289.8 billion Dividend yield: 2.1% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 43 Walmart ( WMT , $98.94) isn't conceding the retail race to Amazon.com ( AMZN ), even as the online juggernaut claims an ever-larger piece of the pie. The world's largest retailer, with roughly 4,700 stores in the U.S., has hardly been passive as Amazon seduces its customers. Walmart expects U.S. e-commerce sales to grow 40% in the current fiscal year, driven by a revamped website with a focus on fashion and home goods. The retailer also is investing heavily in its online grocery delivery service. Walmart has been delivering meager penny increases to its dividend since 2014, but that has been enough to keep up its 43-year streak of consecutive annual payout hikes. Waste Connections Getty Images Market value: $25.2 billion Dividend yield: 0.8% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 8 Waste Connections ( WCN , $95.76) is a waste services company providing garbage and recycling collection for secondary markets in the U.S. and Canada. Over the past five years, Waste Connections has grown its adjusted free cash flow from $300 million to close to $900 million, allowing for double-digit increases of its dividend. Waste Connections stock has a 10-year cumulative return of 422% as of Aug. 31, considerably higher than its peers and the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index. WCN also has delivered 14 consecutive years of positive shareholder returns. SEE ALSO: The 10 Best Stocks of the Bull Market Whitbread Courtesy A P Monblat via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $10.4 billion Dividend yield: 1.5% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 14 Whitbread ( WTBDY , $14.10) is the largest U.K. operator of hotels and coffee shops. The company owns Premier Inn, which operates approximately 800 hotels across Britain, the Middle East and Germany. Whitbread's Costa coffee shop business is the second largest coffee shop chain in Europe. Costa operates approximately 2,400 coffee shops in the U.K., more than 1,400 stores in 31 international markets and over 8,000 Costa Express self-serve kiosks. Whitbread plans to split its operations into two separate companies over the next 24 months. According to management, "de-merging" will enable each business to focus more resources on international growth and produce £100 million ($128 million) in efficiency savings over the next two years. Whitbread's payout has grown by 12.8% annually for the past 10 years, and its payout ratio tends to hover around 40% of earnings. Wolters Kluwer NV Courtesy Wo st 01 via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $16.0 billion Dividend yield: 2.0% Country: Netherlands Consecutive annual dividend increases: 28 Wolters Kluwer ( WTKWY , $58.33) is a global leader in professional information, software and related services for customers in the health care, tax & accounting, finance, risk & compliance, and legal sectors. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company has offices in more than 40 countries, sells to customers in approximately 180 countries and generated sales exceeding 4.4 billion euros ($5 billion) last year. Wolters Kluwer's five- and 10- year annual dividend growth rates have averaged 3.9% and 3.1%, respectively. The company pays dividends semi-annually and typically maintains payout in a 30%-40% range. SEE ALSO: 10 States That Are Surprisingly "Rich" in Millionaires WPP PLC Courtesy IAB UK via Flickr Market value: $14.1 billion Dividend yield: 7.3% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 18 WPP PLC ( WPP , $55.91) is the largest of five advertising holding companies that control a sizable percentage of the world's advertising, marketing and communications. WPP provides services through approximately 400 subsidiary businesses. It owns many of the best-known advertising and public relations firms, including Grey, Ogilvy & Mathers, Mediacom, Y&R, and Hill & Knowlton. WPP's shares fell sharply in February of this year thanks to a weak outlook, and the company suffered more tumult in April when the company's CEO of 15 years was forced to step down following allegations of personal misconduct. At least WPP's dividend has been impressive. The payout has grown 17.7% annually on average over the past 10 years, and 17.9% over the past five. W.W. Grainger Market value: $13.2 billion Dividend yield: 2% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 46 W.W. Grainger ( GWW , $233.61) - which not only sells industrial equipment and tools, but provides other services such as helping companies manage inventory - is expected to generate steady-if-not spectacular sales growth for the next few years. Revenue is forecast to rise 8% this year and 6.2% in 2019. Fortunately for the income-minded, Grainger has lifted its payout every year for 46 years and maintains a reasonable 34% payout ratio. SEE ALSO: 5 Stocks That Should Start Paying Dividends EDITOR'S PICKS 30 Blue-Chip Stocks With the Best Analyst Ratings 20 Small Towns With Big Millionaire Populations The 25 Best Low-Fee Mutual Funds You Can Buy Copyright 2018-2019 The Kiplinger Washington Editors dividend increases: 25 A.O. Smith ( AOS , $43.74) is one of the newest members of the Dividend Aristocrats. The manufacturer of commercial and residential water heaters was added to the illustrious group of dependable dividend growers in 2018. In January, A.O. Smith hiked its quarterly cash dividend to 18 cents a share, a 29% increase. Then the company upped its payout again, by 22% in October to 22 cents per share. Over the past five years, the company's compound annual growth rate of its dividend is more than 25%. Analysts at Boenning and Scattergood rate shares at "Outperform" (buy, essentially), thanks to the rollout of A.O. Smith water heaters at home-improvement chain Lowe's, as well as strength across the North American market. SEE ALSO: The 25 Best Low-Fee Mutual Funds You Can Buy Air Products and Chemicals Market value: $32.8 billion Dividend yield: 2.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 36 Air Products and Chemicals ( APD , $149.43) spent much of past couple years restructuring. Under pressure from investors, it started to shed some weight, including spinning off its Electronic Materials division and selling its Performance Materials business. Air Products, which dates back to 1940, now is a slimmed-down company that has returned to focusing on its legacy industrial gases business. But it hasn't taken its eye off the dividend, which it has improved on an annual basis for 36 years in a row. That includes a 15-cent upgrade in January 2018 - its largest in company history. SEE ALSO: The Kip ETF 20: The 20 Best Cheap ETFs You Can Buy Archer Daniels Midland Market value: $26.0 billion Dividend yield: 2.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 43 Archer Daniels Midland ( ADM , $46.46) processes ingredients for food and feed, including corn sweeteners, starches and emulsifiers such as lecithin. It also has a commodities trading business. It's a truly global agricultural powerhouse, too, boasting customers in 170 countries that are served by 500 crop procurement locations and 270 ingredient plants. But it's a difficult business, too. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect ADM's earnings to decline at an average annual rate of 8.8% for the next five years. Archer Daniels Midland has paid out dividends on an uninterrupted basis for 86 years. That includes 43 consecutive years of payout increases. SEE ALSO: 12 Top Stock Picks to Shield Your Portfolio Ashtead Group Market value: $11.2 billion Dividend yield: 1.9% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 14 U.K.-based Ashtead Group ( ASHTY , $93.01) is a major player in the U.K. and American rental equipment markets. Ashtead leases construction and industrial equipment to customers that use its machines for road building, facilities management, climate control, special events and disaster relief. The company's Sunbelt division is the second largest equipment rental firm in the U.S., with 712 locations nationwide. Its A-Plant division operates from 187 rental locations in the U.K. and is that country's largest equipment renter. The company pays dividends semi-annually, and five-year dividend growth has averaged an impressive 45% annually. Note that European Dividend Aristocrats have a lower bar than their American counterparts, only requiring a minimum of 10 consecutive annual dividend increases for inclusion. Dividends on some international stocks may be taxed at a higher rate; however, the IRS offers a foreign tax credit that investors can use to offset taxes collected by foreign governments. SEE ALSO: 16 High-Yielding Monthly Dividend Payers Associated British Foods Courtesy Alexandre Dulaunoy via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $24.8 billion Dividend yield: 1.0% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 18 Associated British Foods ( ASBFY , $31.28) is a multinational food processor and retailer operating in 50 countries. Americans might not be familiar with the corporate parent, but they may know a few of its brands, including Ovaltine hot chocolate, Twinings teas, Mazola corn oil and Kingsmill bread. ABF also owns the Primark clothing brand and a chain of 350 Primark retail stores across Europe and North America. Associated British Foods has improved its dividend by an average of 7.4% annually over the past five years, including a 12% hike in 2017 to 41 pence (roughly 54 cents). SEE ALSO: 49 Companies Amazon Could Destroy (And 1 It Already Has) AT&T Getty Images Market value: $211.5 billion Dividend yield: 6.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 34 Telecommunications stocks are synonymous with dividend payments. Customers pay for service every month, which ensures a steady stream of cash to fund dividends. AT&T ( T , $29.09) - the largest U.S. telecom company - is a perfect example. AT&T has raised its dividend on an annual basis for 34 consecutive years, and typically boasts one of the highest dividend yields in the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index. That's in large part because of the cash flows generated by the telecom business, which enjoys what some call an effective duopoly with rival Verizon ( VZ ). Together, the pair command roughly 70% of the U.S. wireless subscriptions market. SEE ALSO: Best Online Brokers, 2018 Automatic Data Processing Market value: $59.6 billion Dividend yield: 2.0% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 43 Automatic Data Processing ( ADP , $136.35) is the world's largest payroll processing firm, responsible for paying more than 39 million employees and serving more than 650,000 clients across more than 110 countries. One of ADP's great advantages is its "stickiness." It's difficult and expensive for corporate customers to change payroll service providers. That competitive advantage helps throw off consistent income and cash flow. In turn, ADP has become a dependable dividend payer - one that has provided an annual raise for shareholders since 1975. SEE ALSO: 10 Best ETFs to Buy for an All-Weather Portfolio BAE Systems Getty Images Market value: $21.8 billion Dividend yield: 3.4% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 14 BAE Systems ( BAESY , $27.33) is one of the world's largest defense contractors, serving government customers mainly in the U.K. and U.S. The company designs and manufactures military aircraft, land vehicles and surface ships and is expanding its capabilities in cyber security and intelligence. Despite flat revenues last year, BAE was able to increase cash flow from operations by 54% and earnings per share by 8% while significantly reducing debt. BAE's dividend has improved for 14 consecutive years, though its progress has been slow, at just 2.4% annually over the past five years. SEE ALSO: 25 Dividend Stocks That Analysts Love the Most Bank of Nova Scotia Getty Images Market value: $65.8 billion Dividend yield: 5.0% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 8 Bank of Nova Scotia ( BNS , $53.45) is one of Canada's five big banks, serving more than 24 million customers in North America, Latin America, the Caribbean, Central America and Asia-Pacific. BNS has gone on a buying binge over the past 10 months, spending almost C$7 billion on acquisitions both in Canada and Latin America. However, the deals have yet to have a positive effect on the bank's stock, which is down over the past 52 weeks relative to its Canadian peers. Bank of Nova Scotia's third-quarter earnings were buoyed by strong results in its Canadian and Asian operations, however. That prompted the bank to raise its quarterly dividend by 3.7% to 85 Canadian cents per share - its sixth hike in just three years. Qualification for aristocracy in Canada is a little different and less stringent than the U.S. version - most importantly, it only needs to increase its annual payout for five consecutive years, and can even maintain the same dividend for two consecutive years within that time. Note: The exchange rate as of Oct. 1, 2018, is 1.28 Canadian dollars for every U.S. dollar. SEE ALSO: 11 Stocks Warren Buffett Is Buying or Selling BCE Getty Images Market value: $35.4 billion Dividend yield: 5.9% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 10 BCE ( BCE , $39.42) is Canada's largest communications company with annual revenue of $22.7 billion. It generates approximately 54% of its sales from wireline broadband and TV, 35% from wireless, and the remaining 11% from the company's media operations. The company's fiber-optic network is 240,000 kilometers in length - the largest in Canada - delivering internet, phone and TV to more than 9.2 million locations across seven provinces. BCE has raised its annual dividend by 5% or more for 11 consecutive years, keeping its payout ratio within a healthy range of 65% to 75%. Becton Dickinson Becton Dickinson Market value: $61.3 billion Dividend yield: 1.3% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 46 Medical devices maker Becton Dickinson ( BDX , $229.00) first bulked up with its 2015 acquisition of CareFusion, a complementary player in the same industry. Last year, it struck a $24 billion deal for fellow Dividend Aristocrat C.R. Bard, another medical products company with a strong position in treatments for infectious diseases. The company, which makes everything from insulin syringes to cell analysis systems, is increasingly looking for growth to be driven by markets outside the U.S., including China. Annual dividend increases stretch back 46 years and counting - a track record that should offer peace of mind to antsy income investors. SEE ALSO: 20 Dividend Stocks to Fund 20 Years of Retirement British American Tobacco Getty Images Market value: $105.1 billion Dividend yield: 5.9% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 20 British American Tobacco ( BTI , $45.83) isn't terribly well-known in the U.S., but it's the world's largest publicly traded tobacco company. BAT owns the popular Dunhill and Rothmans cigarette brands, which are sold to millions of consumers worldwide. BAT aims to deliver future EPS gains each year at high-single-digit levels. Earnings should receive a boost in 2018 from more than $400 million in anticipated acquisition-related synergies. The last increase to the quarterly dividend on BTI's stock was a 15.2% bump last year. Brown-Forman Market value: $22.4 billion Dividend yield: 1.4% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 34 Brown-Forman ( BF.B , $46.61) is one of the largest producers and distributors of alcohol in the world. Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey and Finlandia vodka are just two of its best-known brands, with the former helping drive better-than-expected growth in the most recent quarter. Tequila sales - Brown-Forman features the Herradura and El Jimador brands, among others - also are on the rise. The company has raised its payout annually for 34 years, and has delivered an uninterrupted regular payout for 72 years. SEE ALSO: 15 Consumer Stocks That Deliver Dividend Growth Like Clockwork Bunzl Courtesy Graham Richardson via Flickr Market value: $9.8 billion Dividend yield: 1.4% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 25 Bunzl ( BZLFY , $29.13) is an international distributor of food packaging, cleaning supplies, personal-protection equipment and other consumable items. The company serves customers from several industries, including foodservice, grocery, cleaning, retail and health care. Roughly 60% of sales come from North America, while Europe and the U.K. contribute another 35%. The company's dividend has increased for 25 years in a row, which would be enough to qualify even as an American Dividend Aristocrat. The company's last hike to its semi-annual dividend was a 10% boost in 2017. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Getty Images Market value: $38.0 billion Dividend yield: 4.9% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 8 Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce ( CM , $85.70) is the smallest of Canada's five big banks. It greatly expanded its U.S. business in 2017 buying Chicago-based PrivateBancorp for $5 billion in cash and shares. As a result of its purchase of PrivateBancorp, the bank's third-quarter earnings from its U.S. business increased by 295% to C$162 million. On Sept. 13, CIBC sold $769 million of Canada's first gender-diversity bond, the funds used to lend to companies advancing women in the executive ranks and the boardroom. Considering they pay about 70 basis points more than similar-maturity Canadian federal government bonds, investors can expect to see more of this from CIBC and other banks. CIBC most recently raised its quarterly dividend by 3 cents to C$1.36 a share. SEE ALSO: Emerging-Markets Stocks: 10 Ways to Play the Next Bull Market Canadian National Railway Getty Images Market value: $59.8 billion Dividend yield: 1.7% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 22 Canadian National Railway ( CNI , $82.15) was once run by Hunter Harrison, the executive Bill Ackman hired to turnaround its rival, Canadian Pacific Railway ( CP ). CN is North America's second largest publicly traded North American railway with a network of almost 20,000 route miles serving more than $250 billion of goods annually across Canada and the American Midwest. Over the past six years, Canadian National has grown revenues and operating profits by 6% and 9%, respectively, compounded annually. Investors will like the fact that the railroad operator has grown its annual dividend payment every year since it went public in 1995, averaging 16% a year. Canadian Natural Resources Getty Images Market value: $34.4 billion Dividend yield: 3.7% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 17 Canadian Natural Resources ( CNQ , $28.19) is one of the world's top independent energy producers, with natural gas, heavy crude oil and oil sands operations in North America and offshore operations in Africa and the U.K. It produces the oil equivalent of 1.1 billion barrels daily. Business is so good for Canadian Natural Resources that it has been able to pay down its long-term debt by C$2.5 billion over the past 12 months. Its debt is now 2.1 times adjusted EBITDA, down from 3.4x. In addition to debt reduction, the company has returned C$1.2 billion via share buybacks and dividends through the first six months of 2018. It currently pays a quarterly dividend of 33.5 Canadian cents, which is 22% higher than its year-ago payout. SEE ALSO: The Best and Worst Presidents (According to the Stock Market) Cardinal Health Market value: $15.0 billion Dividend yield: 3.8% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 33 A steady stream of acquisitions helped wholesale drug and medical device distributor Cardinal Health ( CAH , $49.92) become the giant that it is today. More recently, it has been embroiled in legal actions related to the nation's opioid epidemic. In late 2016, Cardinal Health agreed to pay $44 million to the Department of Justice to settle allegations that it failed to report suspicious drug orders. And in early 2017, the company agreed to a $20 million settlement with the state of West Virginia. However, Cardinal Health is looking for new life with an acquisition of Medtronic's ( MDT ) Patient Care, Deep Vein Thrombosis and Nutritional Insufficiency business, completed in July 2017. On the dividend front, Cardinal Health has upped the ante on its annual payout for 33 years and counting. Chevron Getty Images Market value: $213.7 billion Dividend yield: 4.0% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 32 Chevron ( CVX , $111.53) is an integrated oil giant that also has operations in natural gas and geothermal energy. And like its competitors, Chevron hurt when oil prices started to tumble in 2014. The energy major was forced to slash spending as a result, but - reassuringly - it never slashed its dividend. Cut to today, and the outlook for oil looks much more stable. Oil prices topped $75 per barrel in early October. Kiplinger forecasts that prices will range from $65 to $70 a barrel through the end of the year - a far better environment than what energy companies were dealing with a few years ago. With three decades of uninterrupted dividend growth under its belt, Chevron's track record instills confidence that the payouts will continue. SEE ALSO: Millionaires in America: All 50 States Ranked Cincinnati Financial Market value: $12.4 billion Dividend yield: 2.8% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 57 Inclement weather was unkind to Cincinnati Financial ( CINF , $76.50) in 2018. The insurer said it suffered close to $100 million in losses from Hurricane Florence in the third quarter alone. The hit from Hurricane Michael, which made landfall in October, will take a toll on fourth-quarter results. But while hurricane seasons always come and go, Cincinnati Financial's dividend always stays strong. The property and casualty insurance specialist has one of the Dividend Aristocrats' longest streaks of increases at 57 years, and given that Cincinnati Financial pays out only about two-thirds of its profits as dividends, that trend should continue. Analysts expect forecast average annual earnings growth of 6.1% for the next five years, according to Thomson Reuters data. Cintas Market value: $18.3 billion Dividend yield: 0.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 35 Cintas ( CTAS , $171.47) - which is well-known for providing corporate uniforms, but also offers maintenance supplies, tile and carpet cleaning services and even compliance training - is seen by some investors as a bet on jobs growth. There may be something to that. Shares are up 12% for the year-to-date - they were doing far better just a month ago thanks to unemployment reaching 49-year lows, but then pulled back during the broader-market swoon. Regardless of how the labor market is doing, Cintas is a stalwart as a dividend payer. The company has raised its payout every year since 1983. SEE ALSO: 10 Funds to Buy for High-Yield Preferred Stocks Clorox Getty Images Market value: $18.9 billion Dividend yield: 2.6% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 41 Clorox ( CLX , $147.82), whose brands include its namesake bleaches, Glad trash bags and Hidden Valley salad dressing, is raising prices to offset higher input costs. Analysts at Wells Fargo applaud the move, but think investors are taking a wait-and-see approach with the stock because of uncertainty as to how consumers will respond. They rate CLX shares at "Market Perform" (hold). In the longer run, analysts expect solid and steady growth from the consumer products company; earnings are expected to rise an average of 6.1% a year for the next five years. Clorox's dividend has increased in size annually since 1977. Coca-Cola Getty Images Market value: $195.2 billion Dividend yield: 3.4% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 55 Coca-Cola ( KO , $45.92) has long been known for quenching consumers' thirst, but it's equally effective at quenching investors' thirst for income. The company has paid a quarterly dividend since 1920, and that dividend has increased annually for the past 55 years. With the U.S. market for carbonated beverages on the decline for more than a decade, according to market research, Coca-Cola has responded by adding bottled water, fruit juices and teas to its product lineup to keep the cash flowing. In addition to the namesake Coca-Cola brand, KO also sports names such as Minute Maid, Powerade, Simply Orange and Vitaminwater. SEE ALSO: 25 Stocks Every Retiree Should Own Colgate-Palmolive Getty Images Market value: $51.7 billion Dividend yield: 2.8% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 55 Colgate-Palmolive ( CL , $59.58) sells staples ranging from toothpaste to dish detergent, and thus demand for its products tends to remain stable in good and bad economies alike. The company derives the vast majority of its sales outside the U.S., and that has been a problem in 2018. A stronger dollar, stagnant demand in key overseas markets and higher input costs have weighed on Clorox's results. You still can count on Colgate's dividend, however. It dates back more than a century, to 1895, and has increased annually for 55 consecutive years. Coloplast Courtesy of Flickr user Lost Parcels Market value: $19.8 billion Dividend yield: 1.8% Country: Denmark Consecutive annual dividend increases: 22 Denmark's Coloplast ( CLPBY , $9.33) is the worldwide leader in ostomy and incontinence products and has an expanding presence in wound care, skincare and urology. Coloplast has the top market share for continence care and ostomy care products, the No. 4 share of the urology market and the No. 5 share of the wound and skincare market. Over the past five years, Coloplast has produced 5.9% annual sales gains and 7.2% annual EPS growth, then turned that into 8.5% annual dividend increases on average. SEE ALSO: 20 Best Small-Cap Dividend Stocks to Buy Compass Group Getty Images Market value: $31.6 billion Dividend yield: 1.6% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 17 Compass Group ( CMPGY , $19.97) is the world's largest contract foodservice business. This British company operates in 50 countries worldwide, has more than 55,000 client locations and serves more than 5.5 billion meals each year. Alphabet ( GOOGL ), Intel ( INTC ) and other large corporate customers account for 39% of Compass Group sales. Other important customers include health-care and senior-care facilities (23% of sales), as well as colleges and schools (18%). North America is the company's primary market, representing 59% of sales, and Europe contributes 25%. The company's 8.7% annual EPS growth rate is almost mirrored by its 8.6% dividend growth rate over the same time frame. The payout is made semi-annually. Consolidated Edison Market value: $23.7 billion Dividend yield: 3.8% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 43 Consolidated Edison (ED, $76.33) is one of the nation's largest utility stocks by market value. Founded in 1823, it provides electric, gas and steam service for the 10 million customers in New York City and Westchester County. And like most utilities, Consolidated Edison enjoys a fairly stable stream of revenues and income thanks to a dearth of direct competition. As a result, the utility company has been able to hike its annual distribution without interruption for more than four decades. SEE ALSO: 10 Apple Products That Changed Everything (And 10 That Didn't) Diageo Getty Images Market value: $84.3 billion Dividend yield: 3.0% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 20 Diageo ( DEO , $138.02) is a multinational purveyor of beers and premium liquors that records sales in more than 180 countries. The company was formed in 1997 when Irish beermaker Guinness merged with U.K. liquor merchant Grand Metropolitan. With iconic liquor brands such as Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, J&B, Smirnoff and Tanqueray, North America is Diageo's largest market. But the company sees better growth opportunities in emerging markets like India and Africa, where incomes are rising and more than 750 million new consumers will reach drinking age during the next decade. Diageo has raised its dividend 8% annually for the past five years. Dover Market value: $10.3 billion Dividend yield: 2.3% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 63 Industrial conglomerate Dover ( DOV , $70.50) has its hands in all sorts of industries, from Dover-branded pumps, lifts and even productivity tools for the energy business, to Anthony-branded commercial refrigerator and freezer doors. It's not an exciting business, though it has gotten more headline-worthy in 2018. Under pressure from activist investor Daniel Loeb's Third Point hedge fund, Dover spun off its upstream energy business earlier this year. Known as Apergy Corp. ( APY ), the spinoff began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on May 9. Dividend growth has been a priority for Dover, which at 63 consecutive years of annual distribution hikes boasts the third-longest such streak among publicly traded companies. SEE ALSO: 25 Blue-Chip Stocks Mutual Fund Managers Love Most Ecolab Market value: $42.6 billion Dividend yield: 1.1% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 26 Ecolab ( ECL , $147.34) provides water treatment and other industrial-scale maintenance services for several industries, including food, healthcare, and oil and gas. Ecolab's fortunes can wane as industrial needs fluctuate though; for instance, when energy companies pare spending. Over the long haul, though, ECL shares are a proven winner. That's thanks in no small part to a dividend that dates back 81 years. And that payout has grown on an annual basis for more than a quarter-century. Enagas Courtesy Moríñigo via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $6.3 billion Dividend yield: 7.7% Country: Spain Consecutive annual dividend increases: 14 Spanish utility Enagas ( ENGGY , $13.22) has raised its dividend 14 years in a row. The company is Spain's principal natural gas carrier, delivering gas via its 10,000-kilometer pipeline network. Enagas also is TSO-certified by the European Union, which enables the company to operate in eight European countries. In addition to its pipeline, Enagas owns three underground storage facilities, four gas liquid plants and interests in natural gas assets in Mexico, Peru, Sweden and Chile. Enagas fattened its dividend by about 5.7% from 2013 to 2017, and the company is guiding for 5% annual dividend growth through 2020. SEE ALSO: The "Sweet Spot": 15 Mid-Cap Dividend Stocks to Buy Enbridge Market value: $53.9 billion Dividend yield: 6.6% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 22 One of the big headwinds holding back Enbridge ( ENB , $31.26) stock was a complex business structure in place to take advantage of tax loopholes available to master limited partnerships. However, when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission decided to put an end to the loopholes, which allowed MLPs to double their recovery of taxes, Enbridge decided to buy back all of its pipeline subsidiaries at the cost of C$11.4 billion. Enbridge did cut its annual dividend-growth-rate forecast to a manageable 10% despite oil prices in the $70s. But this can be taken as a positive. Enbridge - under a unified corporate structure, and amid higher oil prices but less strain from a rapidly scaling dividend - should produce better cash flow and ultimately be more attractive to investors. Emerson Electric Market value: $41.6 billion Dividend yield: 2.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 61 Emerson Electric ( EMR , $66.25) makes a wide variety of industrial products, ranging from control valves to electrical fittings. The prolonged downturn in oil prices weighed on Emerson for a couple years as energy companies continued to cut back on spending. Happily, analysts now say it's well-positioned to take advantage of the recovery in the energy sector. Emerson has paid dividends since 1956 and has boosted its annual payout for 61 consecutive years. SEE ALSO: Where Millionaires Live in America EssilorLuxottica Courtesy Erkethan via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $49.0 billion Dividend yield: 1.3% Country: France Consecutive annual dividend increases: 25 EssilorLuxottica ( ESLOY , $68.57) - the end product of a recent merger of French ophthalmic optics company Essilor and Italian eyewear company Luxottica. The combined group includes brands such as Varilux, Transitions, Foster Grant, Ray-Ban, Persol and Oakley. Luxottica also brought with it store brands including LensCrafters, Sunglass Hut and Pearle Vision. Essilor pays dividends once a year and has increased its payout for a quarter of a century. The company's dividend growth rate for the past five years is 10.9%, and juiced its payout by 35% last year. How the dividend program continues under the combined entity remains to be seen. Exxon Mobil Getty Images Market value: $328.2 billion Dividend yield: 4.2% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 36 A descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, today's Exxon Mobil ( XOM , $77.53) remains one of the world's largest oil companies and is the single biggest company by market value among Standard & Poor's 53 Dividend Aristocrats. As a dividend stalwart - Exxon and its various predecessors have strung together uninterrupted payouts since 1882 - it continued to hike its payout even as oil prices declined in recent years. Exxon has increased its dividend for 36 consecutive years, and has done so at an average annual rate of 6.3%. That includes a 7% boost to its quarterly checks announced in late April. SEE ALSO: 11 Best Vanguard Index Funds to Buy for Low-Cost Quality Federal Realty Investment Trust Market value: $9.0 billion Dividend yield: 3.3% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 51 Real estate investment trusts (REITs) such as Federal Realty Investment Trust ( FRT , $122.52) are required to pay out at least 90% of their taxable earnings as dividends in exchange for certain tax benefits. Thus, REITs typically are a go-to source for income. Few have been steadier than FRT. Federal Realty Investment Trust - which owns retail and mixed-use real estate across 12 states, as well as the District of Columbia - has now hiked its payout every year for half a century, and at an annual growth rate of more than 7%. Fortis Market value: $14.0 billion Dividend yield: 4.2% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 45 Fortis ( FTS , $32.97) owns 10 utility operations in Canada, U.S. and the Caribbean, providing gas and electricity to more than 3.3 million customers. It is one of the top 15 utilities in North America. In the company's 31-year history, its asset base has grown from $300 million at its launch in 1985 to $50 billion today. The company gets 92% of its earnings from regulated utilities, which means those profits are fairly stable and benefit from steady rate increases. It's easy to see why Fortis has been able to increase its annual dividend for 45 straight years. Over the past decade, Fortis has kept its dividend payout ratio between 61% and 73%, ensuring it's not stretching to make its payments. SEE ALSO: The 10 Best Dividend Stocks of All Time Franklin Resources Market value: $15.2 billion Dividend yield: 3.1% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 38 The name Franklin Resources ( BEN , $29.31) might not be well-known among investors; however, along with its subsidiaries, it's called the more familiar Franklin Templeton investments. The global investment firm is one of the world's largest by assets under management, and is known for its bond funds, among other things. Mutual fund providers have come under pressure because customers are eschewing traditional stock pickers in favor of indexed investments. However, Franklin is fighting back by launching its first suite of passive exchange-traded funds. The asset manager has raised its dividend annually since 1981, including an 15% hike announced in December 2017. Investors also got an extra treat in February, when the company announced a special dividend of $3 per share, representing almost 9% in additional yield based on the March 29 record date. Fresenius Medical Care Courtesy Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce via Flickr Market value: $24.5 billion Dividend yield: 1.6% Country: Germany Consecutive annual dividend increases: 21 Fresenius Medicare Care ( FMS , $40.06) provides dialysis services through clinics in 150 countries. The company operates more than 3,500 clinics and treated over 300,000 patients last year. Much of Fresenius' top-line growth has come from acquisitions that include Sparsh Nephrocare, XENiOS, Cura Group, and most recently, NxStage Medical ( NXTM ), a major competitor. The company generates nearly 75% of its revenues from North America, which houses approximately 2,400 of its clinics. Its dividend has grown at a rate of about 7% annually over the past five years. SEE ALSO: 30 Blue-Chip Stocks With the Best Analyst Ratings General Dynamics Market value: $50.3 billion Dividend yield: 2.2% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 26 Defense contractor General Dynamics ( GD , $169.86) is one of the newest members of the Dividend Aristocrats, having been added to the elite list of dividend growers at the end of January 2017. Shares in the company came under pressure in late April after quarterly revenue missed Wall Street estimates because of weakness in the company's aerospace unit, then again in October thanks to a revenue miss in its Q3 report. General Dynamics has upped its distribution for 26 consecutive years, however. With a payout ratio of just 29.3% - the S&P 500 has an average payout ratio of about 40% - General Dynamics should have ample room for more dividend hikes. Genuine Parts Market value: $14.5 billion Dividend yield: 2.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 62 Automotive and industrial replacement parts maker Genuine Parts ( GPC , $98.56) is best-known for the Napa brand, though it also operates under AutoTodo in Mexico and UAP in Canada. Since its founding in 1928, it has pursued a strategy of acquisitions to fuel growth. At the end of 2017, it bought Alliance Automotive Group, one of the largest distribution companies in Europe, for $2 billion. A long-time dividend machine, GPC has hiked its dividend annually for more than six decades. That includes a 7% improvement to the payout in February 2018. SEE ALSO: Microsoft's 15 Biggest Flops Groupe Bruxelles Lambert Market value: $12.7 billion Dividend yield: 3.1% Country: Belgium Consecutive annual dividend increases: 15 With the goal of diversifying earnings, Groupe Bruxelles ( GBLBF , $90.90) created its Sierra Capital subsidiary five years ago, which invests in different outside fund managers. So far, Sierra has returned more than 800 million euros ($910 million) of dividends to the parent company. The firm's net asset value grew 11.2% last year, and Groupe Bruxelles raised its dividend 2.4% to 3 euros ($3.41). That was slightly below the 10-year average annual growth rate of 2.7%, but that still was good enough to mark 15 consecutive years of payout expansion. Groupe Bruxelles currently does not have shares that trade on a U.S. exchange. However, some brokerage accounts allow investors to buy and sell stocks on foreign exchanges. Hermes International Getty Images Market value: $59.3 billion Dividend yield: 1.1% Country: France Consecutive annual dividend increases: 12 Hermes International ( HESAY , $56.91) is a 180-year-old purveyor of high-fashion goods and among the most recognizable luxury brands in the world. In addition to its iconic scarves, Hermes sells leather goods, home accessories and other consumer items through a worldwide network of more than 300 stores. Hermes' success has allowed it to grow dividends by a nice 12.5% annual rate over the past half-decade. And in addition to a 12% hike last year to 3.75 euros per share, the company also paid out a 5-euro special dividend. Thus, investors received about $10.20 in dividends in 2017. SEE ALSO: 10 Biggest Product Recalls of All Time Hormel Getty Images Market value: $21.9 billion Dividend yield: 1.8% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 52 Shares in Hormel ( HRL , $41.17), the maker of Spam, have been on a tear in 2018. The stock was up 15% for the year-to-date through Oct. 19. The S&P 500 was up 2.7% over the same time frame. "The company expects to gain from its sturdy brand portfolio, innovation and buyouts," say analysts at Zacks Investment Research. "These factors are expected to help the company offset hurdles related to freight costs, adverse currency movements and volatile commodity prices." And then there's the dividend, which is as reliable as they come. Hormel has hiked its payout annually for 52 consecutive years. Illinois Tool Works Getty Images Market value: $41.6 billion Dividend yield: 3.2% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 55 Founded in 1912, Illinois Tool Works ( ITW , $124.10) makes construction products, car parts, restaurant equipment and more. While ITW sells many products under the namesake brand, it also operates businesses including Foster Refrigerators, ACME Packaging Systems and the Wolf Range Company. Higher costs and a stronger dollar are weighing heavily on shares so far in 2018. Illinois Tool Works announced a 28% increase to its dividend in August 2018, good for the company's 55th consecutive year of payout hikes. SEE ALSO: How Well Do You Really Know Warren Buffett? Imperial Brands Getty Images Market value: $33.0 billion Dividend yield: 4.3% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 21 U.K.-based Imperial Brands ( IMBBY , $34.59) is the world's fifth largest tobacco company. Many analysts and money managers consider Imperial a prime takeover target, meaning investors could potentially capture a buyout premium by owning shares. Imperial has been paying dividends since 1997. The company has improved that payout by 10% for each of the past nine years, and Imperial is committing to at least 10% average annual growth going forward. Intertek Group Getty Images Market value: $9.3 billion Dividend yield: 1.8% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 15 U.K.-based Intertek Group ( IKTSY , $57.75) provides quality assurance services to customers in the energy, chemical, agricultural, construction and health-care industries. The company operates more than 1,000 testing labs across 100 countries, and its services include systems certification and supply chain assessment, food, fuels and chemical testing, on-site inspection and product certification. Intertek frequently uses acquisitions to supplement organic growth and has added more than £250 million ($320 million) to revenues since 2015 via M&A. The company's dividends actually have been expanding faster than earnings over the past 15 years, with payouts jumping by 19.1% annually versus 14% annual growth on the bottom line. SEE ALSO: 20 Small Towns With Big Millionaire Populations Johnson & Johnson Getty Images Market value: $367.5 billion Dividend yield: 2.6% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 56 Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ , $136.97), founded in 1886 and public since 1944, operates in several different segments of the health care industry. In addition to pharmaceuticals, it makes over-the-counter consumer products such as Band-Aids, Neosporin and Listerine. It also manufactures medical devices used in surgery. Shares in J&J were flat for the year-to-date through Oct. 19, but investors can take some comfort in the rock-solid dividend. The health-care giant hiked its payout by 7.1% in April 2018, extending its streak of consecutive annual dividend increases to 56. Johnson Matthey Getty Images Market value: $7.1 billion Dividend yield: 2.9% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 31 Johnson Matthey ( JMPLY , $73.55) might be two centuries old, but it's still well entrenched in the future, manufacturing high-tech products from precious metals for customers in the automotive, natural resources and health-care industries. Among other things, the U.K. company is the global leader in automotive catalytic converters. Sales are well-diversified geographically, spread across Europe (39% of revenue), North America (33%) and China and Asia-Pacific (20%). Johnson Matthey began paying a dividend in 1999, and it has been expanding both earnings per share and its dividend at a 7% annual rate over the past six years. SEE ALSO: Test Your Mutual Fund IQ Kerry Group Courtesy Hajotthu via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $18.7 billion Dividend yield: 0.5% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 32 Ireland-domiciled Kerry Group ( KRYAY , $105.99) is a dominant player in packaged food markets across Ireland and the U.K. The company also is a world leader in specialty ingredients used to improve the flavor, appearance and health benefits of food. The company likely will need to rely on acquisitions to achieve its 10% annual EPS growth target over the next five years. According to Davy Research, Kerry Group may produce more than £800 million ($1.03 billion) of free cash flow, which will be used for M&A over the next two years. This European Dividend Aristocrat features one of the largest track records of dividend increases on this list, at 32 years of growth. The last hike was a 12% bump in 2017 to 0.63 euros (72 cents) per share. Kimberly-Clark Market value: $35.4 billion Dividend yield: 3.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 46 Kimberly-Clark's ( KMB , $102.31) well-known brands include Huggies diapers, Scott paper towels and Kleenex tissues. Like other makers of consumer staples, Kimberly-Clark holds out the promise of delivering slow but steady growth along with a healthy dividend to drive total returns. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect earnings to grow at an average annual rate of 4.8% over the next five years. Kimberly-Clark has paid out a dividend for 83 consecutive years, and has raised the annual payout for the past 46 years. SEE ALSO: 20 of the Best Stocks You Probably Haven't Heard Of Leggett & Platt Market value: $4.5 billion Dividend yield: 4.4% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 48 Leggett & Platt ( LEG , $34.75) has its hands in several pies, including producing steel wire; designing and manufacturing seating support systems for automobiles; and making components for manufacturers of upholstered furniture, beds and other home furnishings. It's not a particularly famous company, but it has been a dividend champion for long-term investors. Leggett & Platt's dividend has improved for 47 consecutive years and in 55 of the past 56 years. Lindt & Sprungli Getty Images Market value: $8.0 billion Dividend yield: 1.4% Country: Switzerland Consecutive annual dividend increases: 15 Swiss chocolate-maker Lindt & Sprungli ( LDSVF , $6,668.97) is a world leader in premium quality chocolates. The company manufactures chocolate from 12 sites across the U.S. and Europe, operates 410 retail stores and records sales in 120 countries. American consumers buy the company's Lindt, Ghirardelli and Russell Stover brands and have made Lindt the No. 1 player in premium chocolates and No. 3 overall in the U.S. chocolate market. Demand for chocolates is growing at single-digit rates in developed countries and double-digit rates in emerging markets. So it should be no surprise that Lindt anticipates the majority of its future growth will come from emerging markets like China, South Africa, Brazil and Russia, where sales rose 12.4% last year. Lindt's average dividend growth over the past five years has been a strong 10.9%, including a 10% hike last year. SEE ALSO: The 50 Best Stocks of All Time L'Oreal Getty Images Market value: $120.5 billion Dividend yield: 2.0% Country: France Consecutive annual dividend increases: 35 France's L'Oreal ( LRLCY , $43.08) is the world leader in cosmetics and skincare. The company holds a 19% share of the global cosmetics market and a 37% share of the skincare market. The global market for cosmetics is growing 4%-5% a year as a result of advertising on social media, increasing urbanization and rising online beauty spending by an expanding middle class. L'Oréal's online sales grew 24% last year, and the company already commands a 10% share of the e-commerce market for beauty products. The dividend has expanded 7.6% annually on average. Last year not only saw a 7.9% improvement to the payout, but also a preferential dividend of 10% to investors who have owned shares for at least two years. Lowe's Getty Images Market value: $75.8 billion Dividend yield: 2.1% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 56 Home improvement chain Lowe's ( LOW , $93.78) has paid a dividend every quarter since going public in 1961, and that dividend has increased annually for more than half a century. Rival Home Depot ( HD ) is also a longtime dividend payer, but its string of annual dividend increases only dates back to 2009. Analysts expect the retailer's earrings to grow at an average annual rate of 15.2% for the next five years, according to data from Thomson Reuters. SEE ALSO: How Well Do You Really Understand Bitcoin? Magna International Getty Images Market value: $16.3 billion Dividend yield: 2.7% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 9 It's not easy being an auto parts manufacturer, but if any company can handle the tariff issues, it's Magna International ( MGA , $48.36). A big player in electric-vehicle development, Magna just joined with BMW and Andretti Motorsport as a partner in their electric-vehicle racing team. The alliance allows Magna to learn more about how its mobility solutions business can help cities solve their mobility challenges. Magna repurchased $729 million of its shares in Q2 2018 in addition to paying out $115 million in dividends. McCormick & Company Market value: $18.2 billion Dividend yield: 1.5% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 32 A couple of acquisitions are expected to spice up McCormick & Company's ( MKC , $138.39) growth. The company, which makes herbs, spices and other flavorings, bought RB Foods in August 2017 and Enrico Giotti in December 2016. Both acquisitions are helping to drive sales growth, Zacks notes. Analysts expect average annual earnings growth of almost 10.4% for the next five years. That should provide support for McCormick's dividend, which has been improved on an annual basis for 32 consecutive years. SEE ALSO: 10 Top Utility Stocks to Buy for Safety and Dividends McDonald's Market value: $134.4 billion Dividend yield: 2.7% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 42 The world's largest hamburger chain also happens to be a dividend stalwart. Changing consumer tastes will always be a risk, but McDonald's ( MCD , $173.34) dividend dates back to 1976 and has gone up every year since. That's the power of being a consumer giant that has been able to adjust itself to changing consumer tastes without losing its core. McDonald's stock, a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, has outperformed that blue-chip barometer by 32 percentage points over the past five years. Medtronic Market value: $121.4 billion Dividend yield: 2.2% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 41 Medtronic ( MDT , $89.75) is one of the world's largest makers of medical devices, holding more than 4,600 patents on products ranging from insulin pumps for diabetics to stents used by cardiac surgeons. Look around a hospital or doctor's office - in the U.S. or in about 160 other countries - and there's a good chance you'll see its products. The company is focused on the health of its shareholders as well as its patients: Medtronic has been steadily increasing its dividend every year for more than four decades. SEE ALSO: What Happens When a Retailer Goes Bankrupt? Methanex Market value: $5.1 billion Dividend yield: 2.0% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 7 Methanex ( MEOH , $65.89) is the world's largest producer of methanol. Methanol is a clean-burning biodegradable fuel that's gaining traction for both commercial and residential uses. It's also used in combination with other chemicals to make plastics, paints, building materials and more. Although Methanex currently only produced 7.2 million tonnes of methanol in 2017, it can produce as much as 9.4 million tonnes annually, providing significant potential cash-flow growth. Between its quarterly dividend (currently 33 cents per quarter) and share repurchases, Methanex has returned $1.1 billion to shareholders since 2013. Micro Focus International Courtesy Ben P L via Wikimedia Market value: $6.5 billion Dividend yield: 7.6% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 13 The 2017 acquisition of Hewlett-Packard Enterprise's ( HPE ) software division made Micro Focus International ( MFGP , $15.29) the seventh largest software company in the world. Micro Focus provides enterprise-scale software for large businesses in areas such as applications development, analytics, big data, and security and risk management. Since completing its initial public offering in 2005, Micro Focus has delivered 25.7% annual growth in EPS and 27.7% yearly growth to its semi-annual dividend, which jumped by 32.1% last year to 88 cents. SEE ALSO: 5 Stocks to Sell According to Wall Street Analysts Nestle Getty Images Market value: $252.2 billion Dividend yield: 2.9% Country: Switzerlands Consecutive annual dividend increases: 23 Nestle ( NSRGY , $83.84) is the world's largest food and beverage company, boasting operations in 189 countries. Nestle churns out food products at 413 factories in 85 countries. Best-selling brands include Gerber baby food, Nescafe instant coffee, Purina pet food, Stouffers frozen foods and Perrier and Poland Springs waters. In 2018, Nestle paid $7 billion to acquire Starbucks' ( SBUX ) packaged-coffee business. The company's dividend is one of the oldest among these European Dividend Aristocrats, dating back to 1959. Novartis Getty Images Market value: $197.0 billion Dividend yield: 3.5% Country: Switzerland Consecutive annual dividend increases: 21 Novartis ( NVS , $85.29) is a global health-care company that generates more than $49 billion in annual sales through the development and marketing of blockbuster drugs such as Costentyx (arthritis) and Entresto (heart failure). Novartis has raised its dividend 21 years in a row and improved the payout by 7.1% annually on average over the past decade. SEE ALSO: 5 Hot-Running Health Insurance Stocks to Buy Novo Nordisk Courtesy Johan Wessman via Flickr Market value: $102.0 billion Dividend yield: 3.0% Country: Denmark Consecutive annual dividend increases: 13 Danish firm Novo Nordisk ( NVO , $42.39) is the world leader in medicines for diabetes and obesity-related disorders. The company has a 47% share of the insulin market and a 27% share of the total market for diabetes care (which includes insulin). Demand for the company's medicines is growing because of the global diabetes pandemic. The incidence of diabetes has doubled over the past 16 years, and scientists believe the disease could affect 11.7% of the global population (more than 736 million people) by 2045. While Novo/Nordisk has grown its dividend by 25.6% annually over the past five years, 2017's payout was just 3.3% better than the year prior, mostly because of increased spending on share repurchases. Novozymes Getty Images Market value: $13.6 billion Dividend yield: 1.6% Country: Denmark Consecutive annual dividend increases: 18 Novozymes ( NVZMY , $46.98) is the world leader in industrial enzymes and commands nearly half of this $4 billion market. Enzymes facilitate chemical reactions and are added to cleaning products, food processing, biofuel production and pharmaceutical manufacturing. This Danish company flourished following its 2000 spinoff from the aforementioned Novo Nordisk, but growth has slowed due to lower oil prices, which reduced demand for some enzymes used in detergents, animal feed and biofuels. Novozymes increased its dividend 14.3% in 2017 - just below its five-year average dividend growth rate of 16.3%. The company plans to increase its dividend 13% in 2018 and boost its payout ratio from 40% to 50%. SEE ALSO: The 5 Best Dividend Growth Stocks for the Rest of 2018 Nucor Getty Images Market value: $17.8 billion Dividend yield: 2.7% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 45 Shareholders in Nucor ( NUE , $56.13), the largest U.S. steelmaker, aren't get much benefit from tariffs in 2018. Instead, oversupply fears have been weighing on the stock. "There appears to be too much inventory in the channel right now, and this has impacted mill orders and volumes," say analysts at Longbow Research. Despite the volatility in the steel business, investors can feel good about Nucor's dividend. The company has hiked its annual payout every year since 1974, and it pays out a conservative 20% of profits as dividends. Paddy Power Betfair Getty Images Market value: $6.9 billion Dividend yield: 3.1% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 18 Ireland's Patty Power Betfair ( PDYPY , $42.45) is a leading sports-betting bookmaker in the U.K. and Australia. The company was formed in 2016 through the merger of two major U.K. bookmakers, Patty Power and Betfair. The company operates 623 betting shops across the U.K. and Ireland, runs Ireland's largest telephone betting service and has numerous online sites for sports-betting, poker and casino-gaming. Paddy Power has grown dividends 9.7% annually since 2013 while maintaining a payout ratio of between 40% and 50%. SEE ALSO: 7 Growth Stocks That Will Pay You Cash, Too Pentair Market value: $6.8 billion Dividend yield: 1.8% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 42 U.K.-based diversified industrial company Pentair ( PNR , $39.35) completed the tax-free spinoff of nVent Electric ( NVT ) in April. The move allows Pentair to focus on its water assets, operating in businesses such as Flow Technologies, Filtration & Process and Aquatic & Environmental Systems. Pentair has raised its dividend every year for more than four decades. Analysts on average project earnings per share to increase 8.6% next year, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters. PepsiCo Getty Images Market value: $155.9 billion Dividend yield: 3.4% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 46 Like Coca-Cola ( KO ), PepsiCo ( PEP , $110.45) is working against a long-term slide in soda sales. It too has responded by expanding its offerings of non-carbonated beverages. One advantage Pepsi has that Coca-Cola doesn't is its foods business - the company owns Frito-Lay snacks like Doritos, Tostitos and Rold Gold pretzels, and demand for salty snacks remains solid. In August, the company struck a deal to acquire at-home carbonated drink maker SodaStream ( SODA ) for $3.2 billion. Pepsi has paid out a quarterly dividend ever since 1965, and the company has raised the annual payout for 46 consecutive years. SEE ALSO: 5 "Warren Buffett Stocks" That Might Not Be His Ideas PPG Industries Market value: $24.7 billion Dividend yield: 1.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 47 Rising costs for raw materials are taking a toll on PPG Industries ( PPG , $102.83) these days. The paints and coatings company said in late April that it would cut 1,100 jobs as part of a restructuring aimed at slashing expenses. Longer-term, analysts remain convinced that the company can generate steady growth. Earnings are forecast to grow at an average annual rate of more than 6.4% for the next five years, according to Thomson Reuters. That in turn should help prop up PPG's dividend, which has been paid since 1899 and improved on an annual basis for 47 years. Praxair Getty Images Market value: $47.4 billion Dividend yield: 2.0% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 25 Praxair ( PX , $164.94) was added to the Dividend Aristocrats in January 2018, the same month that it declared its 25th consecutive annual dividend increase. The manufacturer of industrial gasses hiked its quarterly payout by 5% to 82.50 cents a share. "With a focused business strategy and solid execution, we were able to generate record free cash flow in 2017 and this dividend increase reflects our confidence in our ability to sustain strong cash flow throughout economic cycles," Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Steve Angel said in a press release. Analysts expect the multinational industrial firm's earnings to increase at an average annual rate of 10.7% for the next five years. SEE ALSO: America's Most Popular Breakfast Cereals (And the Stocks Behind Them) Procter & Gamble Getty Images Market value: $218.9 billion Dividend yield: 3.3% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 62 With major brands such as Tide detergent, Pampers diapers and Gillette razors, Procter & Gamble ( PG , $87.86) is among the world's largest consumer products companies. Although the economy ebbs and flows, demand for products such as toilet paper, toothpaste and soap tends to remain stable. That hardly makes P&G completely recession-proof, but it has helped fuel reliable dividend payments for more than a century. The company has paid shareholders a dividend since 1891, and raised its dividend annually for 62 years in a row. Prudential PLC Courtesy Andrew Smith via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $49.7 billion Dividend yield: 3.3% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 14 U.K.-based Prudential PLC ( PUK , $38.36) is a world leader in insurance products, annuities and other financial services. The company serves more than 36 million customers worldwide and holds nearly £700 billion ($897 billion) of assets under management. Prudential sells annuity products in the U.S. through its Jackson subsidiary and is not affiliated with U.S. insurance giant Prudential Financial ( PRU ). Jackson is the largest wholesale distributor of variable annuities in the U.S. Prudential has delivered five-year average dividend growth of 10.5% annually. SEE ALSO: 10 Growth Stocks to Buy With Monster Potential Red Electricia Courtesy Zarateman via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $11.4 billion Dividend yield: 7.3% Country: Spain Consecutive annual dividend increases: 20 Red Electricia ( RDEIY , $10.59) operates Spain's electric power grid along with a fiber optic network that accounts for 49% of that country's fiber rentals. Red invested 412 million euros ($469 million) last year in its transmission system across Spain and completed the consulting phase of a project that will link transmission grids in Spain and France. Annual dividend growth has averaged 7% for the past three years, including a 7% improvement in 2017. Roche Holdings Courtesy William Murphy via Flickr Market value: $200.4 billion Dividend yield: 3.7% Country: Switzerland Consecutive annual dividend increases: 16 Switzerland's Roche Holdings ( RHHBY , $29.32) is one of the world's largest biotech company and the world leader for in-vitro diagnostics and tissue-based cancer diagnostics. Roche became a leader these areas in 2009 when the company acquired Genentech, considered by many to be the founder of the biotech industry. The company's drug portfolio includes best-selling oncology medicines such as Herceptin, Avastin and Perjeta, and immunology drugs Rituxan and Actemra. Roche began paying dividends in 2005. Dividend growth over the past decade has averaged 8.2% annually, but growth has slowed to 3.6% annually over the most recent five years. And last year, RHHBY's dividend grew by just 1.2%. SEE ALSO: 5 Great Stocks to Buy If You're New to Investing Roper Technologies Market value: $29.5 billion Dividend yield: 0.6% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 25 Along with A.O. Smith and Praxair, Roper Technologies ( ROP , $285.38) was the third company added to the Dividend Aristocrats in 2018. The diversified industrial company was tapped for the honor after it hiked its dividend for a 25th straight year in December 2017. Roper lifted its quarterly dividend by 18% to 41.25 cents a share at the time. With a payout ratio of just 14.3%, Roper should have ample room to keep the dividend hikes coming for many years to come. Royal Bank of Canada Market value: $104.0 billion Dividend yield: 4.2% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 8 Royal Bank of Canada ( RY , $72.14) is arguably Canada's biggest bank if you go by metrics other than earnings; for instance, its 13 million customer count is tops in Canada. RBC also has the largest full-service wealth advisory business in Canada, along with the largest fund company in Canada. Even better, J.D. Power has named it the highest for customer satisfaction the last three years. Over the past 10 years, Royal Bank of Canada paid out more than C$35 billion in dividends to its shareholders, growing its payment by an average of 12% a year - three times greater than the average U.S. bank. SEE ALSO: 5 Blue-Chip "Marijuana Stocks" S&P Global Courtesy B64 via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $43.1 billion Dividend yield: 1.2% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 45 S&P Global ( SPGI , $171.41), formerly known as McGraw Hill Financial, is the company behind S&P Global Ratings, S&P Global Market Intelligence and S&P Global Platts. Although most investors probably know it for its majority stake in S&P Dow Jones Indices, it's also a central player in corporate and financial analytics, information and research. S&P Global has paid uninterrupted dividends since 1937 and has increased its distribution for 45 years in a row. Sage Group Courtesy TubularWorld via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $7.4 billion Dividend yield: 2.2% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 22 Sage Group ( SPYY , $27.28) is an enterprise software business headquartered in the U.K. The company provides specialized software with applications in accounting, financial management, enterprise planning, HR and payroll, and payment processing and banking to business customers worldwide. Sage currently serves roughly 3 million customers across 23 countries. Nine countries together account for 95% of Sage's revenues. Its top markets are Europe (54% of sales) and North America (31% of sales). The company's dividend, which has been growing every year since 1999, has averaged 10.3% in annual expansion over the past decade. SEE ALSO: The 7 Best Biotech Stocks for Investors Who Hate Risk Sanofi Getty Images Market value: $106.2 billion Dividend yield: 4.4% Country: France Consecutive annual dividend increases: 24 French pharmaceutical powerhouse Sanofi ( SNY , $42.60) is relying on acquisitions to help replace eroding sales on Lantus, a blockbuster diabetes drug whose patent recently expired. The company spent $11.6 billion earlier this year to acquire Bioverativ, which specializes in drugs for hemophilia. In addition, Sanofi paid $4.8 billion to purchase Ablynx and its portfolio of medicines for rare blood disorders. Sanofi has delivered 24 consecutive years of dividend growth on its yearly payout, averaging 4.9% growth on the distribution over the past decade. But it did up the ante for this year, boosting its dividend 13%. Sherwin-Williams Market value: $34.7 billion Dividend yield: 0.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 39 Sherwin-Williams ( SHW , $370.44) completed its $11 billion acquisition of Valspar in 2017 to create one of the largest paints, coatings and home-improvement companies in the world. The benefits of the deal are already showing up in results. Analysts expect revenue to increase almost 19% this year. While Sherwin-Williams did issue $6 billion in bonds to finance the transaction, investors shouldn't worry about the company's 39-year streak of annual dividend increases. SHW pays out a meager 18% of its earnings as dividends, which means it has plenty of wiggle room while it pays off its debts. SEE ALSO: QUIZ: What Do You Know About Gold? Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken Courtesy Thue via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $22.2 billion Dividend yield: 6.7% Country: Sweden Consecutive annual dividend increases: 10 Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken ( SKVKY , $10.26), more commonly known as SEB, is a leading Nordic financial services group serving corporate customers in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Germany and the United Kingdom. Founded in 1856, SEB serves approximately 3,000 large corporate customers, 400,000 small- to medium-sized businesses and 4.0 million private customers. The firm has assets under management totaling SEK 1,838 billion ($201.1 billion). SEB halted its dividend in 2008 thanks to the global financial crisis, but has put together a string of increases ever since - and has done so at a rapid 25.1% average annual rate over the past five years. Stanley Black & Decker Market value: $16.9 billion Dividend yield: 2.4% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 51 Analysts expect power and hand toolmaker Stanley Black & Decker ( SWK , $110.21) to generate average annual earnings growth of nearly 11% a year over the next five years, thanks to a strategy of growth through acquisitions and cost cuts. Stanley Black & Decker bought Newell Tools from Newell Brands ( NWL ) for $2 billion in 2016. In January 2017, it negotiated the purchase of Craftsman tools from Sears Holdings ( SHLDQ ) for a total of $775 million over three years and a percentage of annual sales. Most recently, SWK announced the acquisition of IES Attachments for $690 million cash in August. The company has paid a dividend for 142 years on an uninterrupted basis, and has increased it annually for just more than half a century. SEE ALSO: 8 Real Estate Plays Yielding Up to 8% Suncor Energy Market value: $55.0 billion Dividend yield: 3.3% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 16 There may not be a NYSE-listed Canadian company that's more popular with analysts at the moment than Suncor Energy ( SU , $33.88). Suncor is best known for its oil sands projects in Northern Alberta. Its latest, Fort Hills, which boasts lower carbon emissions and operating costs, just opened to pomp and circumstance as the Canadian oil industry celebrates higher prices and a stronger economy. Over the past six years, Suncor has grown its dividend by 19% annually, from 50 Canadian cents per share in 2012 to C$1.44 in 2018. Sysco Market value: $36.3 billion Dividend yield: 2.1% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 49 Sysco ( SYY , $69.80), a food services and restaurant supply company, is generating sales growth by making acquisitions. The company bought European services and supplies company Brakes Group in 2016, as well as the Supplies on the Fly e-commerce platform. In April 2018, the it acquired U.K.-based Kent Frozen Foods for an undisclosed sum. However, Sysco has been able to generate plenty of growth on its own, producing a steady ramp-up in revenues for years. Analysts expect average earnings growth of 12.6% annually over the next half-decade. That should allow Sysco to keep up its streak of 49 consecutive years of paying higher dividends. SEE ALSO: The 5 Highest-Yielding Warren Buffett Dividend Stocks Target Market value: $43.1 billion Dividend yield: 3.1% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 47 The No. 2 discount retail chain after Walmart ( WMT ) was late to the e-commerce game but its catch-up efforts are starting to pay off. Shares in Target ( TGT , $81.94) were 21% for the year-to-date through Oct. 19. The S&P 500 was up 2.3% over the same span. Analysts expect average annual earnings growth of 8% for the next five years. Longer term, investors can have confidence in the dividend. Target paid its first dividend in 1967, seven years ahead of Walmart, and has raised its payout annually since 1972. Thomson Reuters Getty Images Market value: $25.6 billion Dividend yield: 3.0% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 24 Thomson Reuters ( TRI , $45.94) started October by closing the biggest leveraged M&A deal of 2018. A group of investors led by Blackstone Group ( BX ) bought 55% of Thomson Reuters' Financial & Risk business for $17 billion. Thomson Reuters shareholders will see $9 billion to $11 billion of the proceeds in the form of share repurchases, with the rest going to debt repayment, cash to the balance sheet, and taxes and deal expenses. Its largest shareholder, the Thomson family's Woodbridge Group, will reinvest approximately 30% to 50% of its future dividends in Thomson Reuters stock over the next three years. As a result of the deal, which will leave Thomson less reliant on the financial services industry, Thomson Reuters will keep its annual dividend at $1.38, bringing its streak of 24 annual dividend increases to an end. However, Thomson Reuters can remain a Canadian Dividend Aristocrat by increasing the payout next year. SEE ALSO: 6 Companies That Invest in Themselves T. Rowe Price Market value: $22.6 billion Dividend yield: 3.0% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 32 Asset managers such as T. Rowe Price ( TROW , $93.87) have been losing market share to indexed funds of the type Vanguard offers, but the company still boasts $1 trillion in assets under management, and analysts expect solid top-line growth in 2018. Aided by advising fees, the company is forecast to see a 14.1% gain in revenue this year, according to data from Thomson Reuters. T. Rowe Price has improved its dividend every year for 32 years, and it boasts a lean 39% payout ratio that should keep the annual hikes coming. Unilever NV Getty Images Market value: $144.1 billion Dividend yield: 3.4% Country: United Kingdom, Netherlands Consecutive annual dividend increases: 19 Unilever NV ( UL , $53.38) is an Anglo-Dutch consumer products giant with more than 400 brands in its portfolio, including American-friendly names such as Lipton, Knorr, Dove, Axe, Hellmann's, Suave and Breyer's. Unilever Group consists of both a Dutch subsidiary, Unilever NV (55% of group sales) and a U.K. subsidiary, Unilever PLC (45% of group sales). The company is consolidating its operations into the Dutch unit this year. Unilever pays quarterly dividends. At present, Unilever PLC and Unilever NV pay separate but equal dividends. Post-consolidation, Unilever NV will be the surviving entity and all dividend payments will be made in euros. SEE ALSO: 10 S&P 500 Stocks to Buy for Long-Term Outperformance VF Corporation Market value: $31.4 billion Dividend yield: 2.6% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 46 VF Corporation ( VFC , $79.31) is an apparel company with a large number of brands under its umbrella, including Lee and Wrangler jeans and The North Face outdoor products. It added to its brand portfolio with the acquisition of Icebreaker Holdings - another outdoor and sport designer - under undisclosed terms in April 2018. Analysts expect average annual earnings growth of 13.5% for the next five years. Suffice to say, VFC's 46-year streak of annual dividend payout hikes appears safe. Walgreens Boots Alliance Market value: $72.4 billion Dividend yield: 2.3% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 43 Shareholders in Walgreens Boots Alliance's ( WBA , $76.23) breathed a sigh of relief in April when Amazon.com ( AMZN ) shelved its plan to sell prescription drugs to doctors and hospitals. Tracing its roots back to a single drugstore founded in 1901, Walgreens has boosted its dividend every year for more than four decades. Mostly recently, it announced a hike of 10% in June. It merged with Alliance Boots - a Switzerland-based health and beauty multinational - in 2014 to form the current company. SEE ALSO: 7 Tech Stocks to Buy With 100% Street Support Walmart Getty Images Market value: $289.8 billion Dividend yield: 2.1% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 43 Walmart ( WMT , $98.94) isn't conceding the retail race to Amazon.com ( AMZN ), even as the online juggernaut claims an ever-larger piece of the pie. The world's largest retailer, with roughly 4,700 stores in the U.S., has hardly been passive as Amazon seduces its customers. Walmart expects U.S. e-commerce sales to grow 40% in the current fiscal year, driven by a revamped website with a focus on fashion and home goods. The retailer also is investing heavily in its online grocery delivery service. Walmart has been delivering meager penny increases to its dividend since 2014, but that has been enough to keep up its 43-year streak of consecutive annual payout hikes. Waste Connections Getty Images Market value: $25.2 billion Dividend yield: 0.8% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 8 Waste Connections ( WCN , $95.76) is a waste services company providing garbage and recycling collection for secondary markets in the U.S. and Canada. Over the past five years, Waste Connections has grown its adjusted free cash flow from $300 million to close to $900 million, allowing for double-digit increases of its dividend. Waste Connections stock has a 10-year cumulative return of 422% as of Aug. 31, considerably higher than its peers and the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index. WCN also has delivered 14 consecutive years of positive shareholder returns. SEE ALSO: The 10 Best Stocks of the Bull Market Whitbread Courtesy A P Monblat via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $10.4 billion Dividend yield: 1.5% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 14 Whitbread ( WTBDY , $14.10) is the largest U.K. operator of hotels and coffee shops. The company owns Premier Inn, which operates approximately 800 hotels across Britain, the Middle East and Germany. Whitbread's Costa coffee shop business is the second largest coffee shop chain in Europe. Costa operates approximately 2,400 coffee shops in the U.K., more than 1,400 stores in 31 international markets and over 8,000 Costa Express self-serve kiosks. Whitbread plans to split its operations into two separate companies over the next 24 months. According to management, "de-merging" will enable each business to focus more resources on international growth and produce £100 million ($128 million) in efficiency savings over the next two years. Whitbread's payout has grown by 12.8% annually for the past 10 years, and its payout ratio tends to hover around 40% of earnings. Wolters Kluwer NV Courtesy Wo st 01 via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $16.0 billion Dividend yield: 2.0% Country: Netherlands Consecutive annual dividend increases: 28 Wolters Kluwer ( WTKWY , $58.33) is a global leader in professional information, software and related services for customers in the health care, tax & accounting, finance, risk & compliance, and legal sectors. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company has offices in more than 40 countries, sells to customers in approximately 180 countries and generated sales exceeding 4.4 billion euros ($5 billion) last year. Wolters Kluwer's five- and 10- year annual dividend growth rates have averaged 3.9% and 3.1%, respectively. The company pays dividends semi-annually and typically maintains payout in a 30%-40% range. SEE ALSO: 10 States That Are Surprisingly "Rich" in Millionaires WPP PLC Courtesy IAB UK via Flickr Market value: $14.1 billion Dividend yield: 7.3% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 18 WPP PLC ( WPP , $55.91) is the largest of five advertising holding companies that control a sizable percentage of the world's advertising, marketing and communications. WPP provides services through approximately 400 subsidiary businesses. It owns many of the best-known advertising and public relations firms, including Grey, Ogilvy & Mathers, Mediacom, Y&R, and Hill & Knowlton. WPP's shares fell sharply in February of this year thanks to a weak outlook, and the company suffered more tumult in April when the company's CEO of 15 years was forced to step down following allegations of personal misconduct. At least WPP's dividend has been impressive. The payout has grown 17.7% annually on average over the past 10 years, and 17.9% over the past five. W.W. Grainger Market value: $13.2 billion Dividend yield: 2% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 46 W.W. Grainger ( GWW , $233.61) - which not only sells industrial equipment and tools, but provides other services such as helping companies manage inventory - is expected to generate steady-if-not spectacular sales growth for the next few years. Revenue is forecast to rise 8% this year and 6.2% in 2019. Fortunately for the income-minded, Grainger has lifted its payout every year for 46 years and maintains a reasonable 34% payout ratio. SEE ALSO: 5 Stocks That Should Start Paying Dividends EDITOR'S PICKS 30 Blue-Chip Stocks With the Best Analyst Ratings 20 Small Towns With Big Millionaire Populations The 25 Best Low-Fee Mutual Funds You Can Buy Copyright 2018 The Kiplinger Washington Editors || 101 Best Dividend Stocks to Buy for 2019 and Beyond: iStock Dependable dividend stocks that routinely grow their payouts are welcome in any environment. But they seem especially attractive nowadays. Stock market volatility is back with a vengeance. The Dow Jones Industrial Average went from powering ahead to an all-time high of 26,828 on Oct. 3 to losing 8% in the span of about three weeks. These kinds of rocky markets tend to give investors motion sickness. But they can add a dose of Dramamine to their portfolios - in the form of reliable dividend-growth stocks. "Dividend growers, which tend to be quality companies, have generally shown greater resilience in unsteady markets and could address concerns about dividend stocks in a rising-rate environment," write Tianyin Cheng, director of strategy and ESG Indices at S&P Dow Jones Indices; and Vinit Srivastava, head of strategy and ESG indices at S&P Dow Jones Indices. "This argument applies to not only to the U.S. large-cap space, but it also extends to small- and mid-cap segments and international markets." Dividend stocks - both at home and abroad - with long track records of rock-solid rising payments tend to generate superior returns over long periods of time and can help investors weather shorter periods of market turbulence. This is a look at the most reliable long-term dividend stocks in the world. Dubbed the "Dividend Aristocrats," they have raised dividends for at least five straight years (Canadian firms), 10 years (E.U.-based firms) or 25 years (U.S. companies). Such stocks provide reliable and rising income streams - and a sense of security that will help you sleep better at night. We've listed them here alphabetically; take a look. SEE ALSO: 25 Stocks Every Retiree Should Own 3M Market value: $107.7 billion Dividend yield: 2.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 60 Industrial conglomerate 3M ( MMM , $184.95), which makes everything from adhesives to electric circuits, is having a tough 2018. Shares tumbled after a disappointing third-quarter earnings report that reflected weakness in the company's automotive, dental and consumer electronics markets. Story continues The stock is down 21% for the year-to-date as a result of its difficulties - a rare down year amid a long upward run. However, whatever the shorter-term holds for 3M's share price, investors can bank on the conglomerate's steady payouts over the long haul. While inclusion in the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats requires a minimum of 25 years of uninterrupted annual dividend growth, MMM has much more - its dividend has improved annually for 60 consecutive years, and the payout dates back a century. SEE ALSO: The 25 Best Stocks to Buy (According to Hedge Funds) Abbott Laboratories Market value: $117.5 billion Dividend yield: 1.7% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 46 Following its 2013 spinoff of AbbVie - another Dividend Aristocrat on this list - today's Abbott Laboratories ( ABT , $66.99) is focused on branded generic drugs, medical devices, nutrition and diagnostic products. Its product list includes the likes of Similac infant formulas, Glucerna diabetes management products and i-Stat diagnostics devices. The company has been expanding by acquisition as of late, including medical-device firm St. Jude Medical and rapid-testing technology business Alere, both snapped up in 2017. The company, which dates back to 1888, first paid a dividend in 1924. Abbott has raised its dividend for 46 straight years. SEE ALSO: The 25 Biggest U.S. IPOs of All Time AbbVie Getty Images Market value: $122.3 billion Dividend yield: 4.8% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 46 AbbVie's ( ABBV , $80.79) corporate heritage will sound very familiar. The pharmaceutical maker was spun off from Abbott Laboratories in 2013, and like its parent, it carries a longstanding dividend payment. Including its time as part of Abbott, AbbVie upped its annual distribution for 46 consecutive years. What should really excite investors, however, is that AbbVie upped its payout twice in 2018. The first one was an 11% hike that came during its usual payout-increase time at the start of the year. However, ABBV also announced an additional 35% boost to its dividend starting with the payment made in May, citing additional capital from U.S. tax reform. Best-selling treatments include Humira for rheumatoid arthritis and AndroGel, a testosterone replacement therapy. All told, AbbVie's pipeline includes more than 35 products across various stages of clinical trials. SEE ALSO: 12 Vulnerable Stocks to Watch on Market-Wide Weakness Aflac Market value: $31.8 billion Dividend yield: 2.5% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 36 Aflac ( AFL , $41.70) is a supplemental insurance company - popularized by the loud Aflac duck - with roots going back to 1955 that covers numerous workplace offerings, such as accident, short-term disability and life insurance. The company's stock started the year in horrific fashion after a report of alleged fraud sent shares into a dive. But shares in Aflac have quietly come back after evidence of wrongdoing failed to materialize. Analysts at Janney Montgomery Scott have been steadfast throughout with a "Buy" rating on the stock. "It has a significantly simpler business profile with a more reliable stream of earnings than its life insurance peers, and has shown an inflection point in the sale of its benefits products both in Japan and the U.S.," they write. SEE ALSO: The "Accelerators": 13 Dividend Stocks With Rapidly Growing Payouts A.O. Smith Market value: $7.5 billion Dividend yield: 2.0% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 25 A.O. Smith ( AOS , $43.74) is one of the newest members of the Dividend Aristocrats. The manufacturer of commercial and residential water heaters was added to the illustrious group of dependable dividend growers in 2018. In January, A.O. Smith hiked its quarterly cash dividend to 18 cents a share, a 29% increase. Then the company upped its payout again, by 22% in October to 22 cents per share. Over the past five years, the company's compound annual growth rate of its dividend is more than 25%. Analysts at Boenning and Scattergood rate shares at "Outperform" (buy, essentially), thanks to the rollout of A.O. Smith water heaters at home-improvement chain Lowe's, as well as strength across the North American market. SEE ALSO: The 25 Best Low-Fee Mutual Funds You Can Buy Air Products and Chemicals Market value: $32.8 billion Dividend yield: 2.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 36 Air Products and Chemicals ( APD , $149.43) spent much of past couple years restructuring. Under pressure from investors, it started to shed some weight, including spinning off its Electronic Materials division and selling its Performance Materials business. Air Products, which dates back to 1940, now is a slimmed-down company that has returned to focusing on its legacy industrial gases business. But it hasn't taken its eye off the dividend, which it has improved on an annual basis for 36 years in a row. That includes a 15-cent upgrade in January 2018 - its largest in company history. SEE ALSO: The Kip ETF 20: The 20 Best Cheap ETFs You Can Buy Archer Daniels Midland Market value: $26.0 billion Dividend yield: 2.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 43 Archer Daniels Midland ( ADM , $46.46) processes ingredients for food and feed, including corn sweeteners, starches and emulsifiers such as lecithin. It also has a commodities trading business. It's a truly global agricultural powerhouse, too, boasting customers in 170 countries that are served by 500 crop procurement locations and 270 ingredient plants. But it's a difficult business, too. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect ADM's earnings to decline at an average annual rate of 8.8% for the next five years. Archer Daniels Midland has paid out dividends on an uninterrupted basis for 86 years. That includes 43 consecutive years of payout increases. SEE ALSO: 12 Top Stock Picks to Shield Your Portfolio Ashtead Group Market value: $11.2 billion Dividend yield: 1.9% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 14 U.K.-based Ashtead Group ( ASHTY , $93.01) is a major player in the U.K. and American rental equipment markets. Ashtead leases construction and industrial equipment to customers that use its machines for road building, facilities management, climate control, special events and disaster relief. The company's Sunbelt division is the second largest equipment rental firm in the U.S., with 712 locations nationwide. Its A-Plant division operates from 187 rental locations in the U.K. and is that country's largest equipment renter. The company pays dividends semi-annually, and five-year dividend growth has averaged an impressive 45% annually. Note that European Dividend Aristocrats have a lower bar than their American counterparts, only requiring a minimum of 10 consecutive annual dividend increases for inclusion. Dividends on some international stocks may be taxed at a higher rate; however, the IRS offers a foreign tax credit that investors can use to offset taxes collected by foreign governments. SEE ALSO: 16 High-Yielding Monthly Dividend Payers Associated British Foods Courtesy Alexandre Dulaunoy via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $24.8 billion Dividend yield: 1.0% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 18 Associated British Foods ( ASBFY , $31.28) is a multinational food processor and retailer operating in 50 countries. Americans might not be familiar with the corporate parent, but they may know a few of its brands, including Ovaltine hot chocolate, Twinings teas, Mazola corn oil and Kingsmill bread. ABF also owns the Primark clothing brand and a chain of 350 Primark retail stores across Europe and North America. Associated British Foods has improved its dividend by an average of 7.4% annually over the past five years, including a 12% hike in 2017 to 41 pence (roughly 54 cents). SEE ALSO: 49 Companies Amazon Could Destroy (And 1 It Already Has) AT&T Getty Images Market value: $211.5 billion Dividend yield: 6.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 34 Telecommunications stocks are synonymous with dividend payments. Customers pay for service every month, which ensures a steady stream of cash to fund dividends. AT&T ( T , $29.09) - the largest U.S. telecom company - is a perfect example. AT&T has raised its dividend on an annual basis for 34 consecutive years, and typically boasts one of the highest dividend yields in the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index. That's in large part because of the cash flows generated by the telecom business, which enjoys what some call an effective duopoly with rival Verizon ( VZ ). Together, the pair command roughly 70% of the U.S. wireless subscriptions market. SEE ALSO: Best Online Brokers, 2018 Automatic Data Processing Market value: $59.6 billion Dividend yield: 2.0% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 43 Automatic Data Processing ( ADP , $136.35) is the world's largest payroll processing firm, responsible for paying more than 39 million employees and serving more than 650,000 clients across more than 110 countries. One of ADP's great advantages is its "stickiness." It's difficult and expensive for corporate customers to change payroll service providers. That competitive advantage helps throw off consistent income and cash flow. In turn, ADP has become a dependable dividend payer - one that has provided an annual raise for shareholders since 1975. SEE ALSO: 10 Best ETFs to Buy for an All-Weather Portfolio BAE Systems Getty Images Market value: $21.8 billion Dividend yield: 3.4% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 14 BAE Systems ( BAESY , $27.33) is one of the world's largest defense contractors, serving government customers mainly in the U.K. and U.S. The company designs and manufactures military aircraft, land vehicles and surface ships and is expanding its capabilities in cyber security and intelligence. Despite flat revenues last year, BAE was able to increase cash flow from operations by 54% and earnings per share by 8% while significantly reducing debt. BAE's dividend has improved for 14 consecutive years, though its progress has been slow, at just 2.4% annually over the past five years. SEE ALSO: 25 Dividend Stocks That Analysts Love the Most Bank of Nova Scotia Getty Images Market value: $65.8 billion Dividend yield: 5.0% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 8 Bank of Nova Scotia ( BNS , $53.45) is one of Canada's five big banks, serving more than 24 million customers in North America, Latin America, the Caribbean, Central America and Asia-Pacific. BNS has gone on a buying binge over the past 10 months, spending almost C$7 billion on acquisitions both in Canada and Latin America. However, the deals have yet to have a positive effect on the bank's stock, which is down over the past 52 weeks relative to its Canadian peers. Bank of Nova Scotia's third-quarter earnings were buoyed by strong results in its Canadian and Asian operations, however. That prompted the bank to raise its quarterly dividend by 3.7% to 85 Canadian cents per share - its sixth hike in just three years. Qualification for aristocracy in Canada is a little different and less stringent than the U.S. version - most importantly, it only needs to increase its annual payout for five consecutive years, and can even maintain the same dividend for two consecutive years within that time. Note: The exchange rate as of Oct. 1, 2018, is 1.28 Canadian dollars for every U.S. dollar. SEE ALSO: 11 Stocks Warren Buffett Is Buying or Selling BCE Getty Images Market value: $35.4 billion Dividend yield: 5.9% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 10 BCE ( BCE , $39.42) is Canada's largest communications company with annual revenue of $22.7 billion. It generates approximately 54% of its sales from wireline broadband and TV, 35% from wireless, and the remaining 11% from the company's media operations. The company's fiber-optic network is 240,000 kilometers in length - the largest in Canada - delivering internet, phone and TV to more than 9.2 million locations across seven provinces. BCE has raised its annual dividend by 5% or more for 11 consecutive years, keeping its payout ratio within a healthy range of 65% to 75%. Becton Dickinson Market value: $61.3 billion Dividend yield: 1.3% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 46 Medical devices maker Becton Dickinson ( BDX , $229.00) first bulked up with its 2015 acquisition of CareFusion, a complementary player in the same industry. Last year, it struck a $24 billion deal for fellow Dividend Aristocrat C.R. Bard, another medical products company with a strong position in treatments for infectious diseases. The company, which makes everything from insulin syringes to cell analysis systems, is increasingly looking for growth to be driven by markets outside the U.S., including China. Annual dividend increases stretch back 46 years and counting - a track record that should offer peace of mind to antsy income investors. SEE ALSO: 20 Dividend Stocks to Fund 20 Years of Retirement British American Tobacco Getty Images Market value: $105.1 billion Dividend yield: 5.9% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 20 British American Tobacco ( BTI , $45.83) isn't terribly well-known in the U.S., but it's the world's largest publicly traded tobacco company. BAT owns the popular Dunhill and Rothmans cigarette brands, which are sold to millions of consumers worldwide. BAT aims to deliver future EPS gains each year at high-single-digit levels. Earnings should receive a boost in 2018 from more than $400 million in anticipated acquisition-related synergies. The last increase to the quarterly dividend on BTI's stock was a 15.2% bump last year. Brown-Forman Market value: $22.4 billion Dividend yield: 1.4% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 34 Brown-Forman ( BF.B , $46.61) is one of the largest producers and distributors of alcohol in the world. Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey and Finlandia vodka are just two of its best-known brands, with the former helping drive better-than-expected growth in the most recent quarter. Tequila sales - Brown-Forman features the Herradura and El Jimador brands, among others - also are on the rise. The company has raised its payout annually for 34 years, and has delivered an uninterrupted regular payout for 72 years. SEE ALSO: 15 Consumer Stocks That Deliver Dividend Growth Like Clockwork Bunzl Courtesy Graham Richardson via Flickr Market value: $9.8 billion Dividend yield: 1.4% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 25 Bunzl ( BZLFY , $29.13) is an international distributor of food packaging, cleaning supplies, personal-protection equipment and other consumable items. The company serves customers from several industries, including foodservice, grocery, cleaning, retail and health care. Roughly 60% of sales come from North America, while Europe and the U.K. contribute another 35%. The company's dividend has increased for 25 years in a row, which would be enough to qualify even as an American Dividend Aristocrat. The company's last hike to its semi-annual dividend was a 10% boost in 2017. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Getty Images Market value: $38.0 billion Dividend yield: 4.9% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 8 Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce ( CM , $85.70) is the smallest of Canada's five big banks. It greatly expanded its U.S. business in 2017 buying Chicago-based PrivateBancorp for $5 billion in cash and shares. As a result of its purchase of PrivateBancorp, the bank's third-quarter earnings from its U.S. business increased by 295% to C$162 million. On Sept. 13, CIBC sold $769 million of Canada's first gender-diversity bond, the funds used to lend to companies advancing women in the executive ranks and the boardroom. Considering they pay about 70 basis points more than similar-maturity Canadian federal government bonds, investors can expect to see more of this from CIBC and other banks. CIBC most recently raised its quarterly dividend by 3 cents to C$1.36 a share. SEE ALSO: Emerging-Markets Stocks: 10 Ways to Play the Next Bull Market Canadian National Railway Getty Images Market value: $59.8 billion Dividend yield: 1.7% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 22 Canadian National Railway ( CNI , $82.15) was once run by Hunter Harrison, the executive Bill Ackman hired to turnaround its rival, Canadian Pacific Railway ( CP ). CN is North America's second largest publicly traded North American railway with a network of almost 20,000 route miles serving more than $250 billion of goods annually across Canada and the American Midwest. Over the past six years, Canadian National has grown revenues and operating profits by 6% and 9%, respectively, compounded annually. Investors will like the fact that the railroad operator has grown its annual dividend payment every year since it went public in 1995, averaging 16% a year. Canadian Natural Resources Getty Images Market value: $34.4 billion Dividend yield: 3.7% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 17 Canadian Natural Resources ( CNQ , $28.19) is one of the world's top independent energy producers, with natural gas, heavy crude oil and oil sands operations in North America and offshore operations in Africa and the U.K. It produces the oil equivalent of 1.1 billion barrels daily. Business is so good for Canadian Natural Resources that it has been able to pay down its long-term debt by C$2.5 billion over the past 12 months. Its debt is now 2.1 times adjusted EBITDA, down from 3.4x. In addition to debt reduction, the company has returned C$1.2 billion via share buybacks and dividends through the first six months of 2018. It currently pays a quarterly dividend of 33.5 Canadian cents, which is 22% higher than its year-ago payout. SEE ALSO: The Best and Worst Presidents (According to the Stock Market) Cardinal Health Market value: $15.0 billion Dividend yield: 3.8% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 33 A steady stream of acquisitions helped wholesale drug and medical device distributor Cardinal Health ( CAH , $49.92) become the giant that it is today. More recently, it has been embroiled in legal actions related to the nation's opioid epidemic. In late 2016, Cardinal Health agreed to pay $44 million to the Department of Justice to settle allegations that it failed to report suspicious drug orders. And in early 2017, the company agreed to a $20 million settlement with the state of West Virginia. However, Cardinal Health is looking for new life with an acquisition of Medtronic's ( MDT ) Patient Care, Deep Vein Thrombosis and Nutritional Insufficiency business, completed in July 2017. On the dividend front, Cardinal Health has upped the ante on its annual payout for 33 years and counting. Chevron Getty Images Market value: $213.7 billion Dividend yield: 4.0% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 32 Chevron ( CVX , $111.53) is an integrated oil giant that also has operations in natural gas and geothermal energy. And like its competitors, Chevron hurt when oil prices started to tumble in 2014. The energy major was forced to slash spending as a result, but - reassuringly - it never slashed its dividend. Cut to today, and the outlook for oil looks much more stable. Oil prices topped $75 per barrel in early October. Kiplinger forecasts that prices will range from $65 to $70 a barrel through the end of the year - a far better environment than what energy companies were dealing with a few years ago. With three decades of uninterrupted dividend growth under its belt, Chevron's track record instills confidence that the payouts will continue. SEE ALSO: Millionaires in America: All 50 States Ranked Cincinnati Financial Market value: $12.4 billion Dividend yield: 2.8% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 57 Inclement weather was unkind to Cincinnati Financial ( CINF , $76.50) in 2018. The insurer said it suffered close to $100 million in losses from Hurricane Florence in the third quarter alone. The hit from Hurricane Michael, which made landfall in October, will take a toll on fourth-quarter results. But while hurricane seasons always come and go, Cincinnati Financial's dividend always stays strong. The property and casualty insurance specialist has one of the Dividend Aristocrats' longest streaks of increases at 57 years, and given that Cincinnati Financial pays out only about two-thirds of its profits as dividends, that trend should continue. Analysts expect forecast average annual earnings growth of 6.1% for the next five years, according to Thomson Reuters data. Cintas Market value: $18.3 billion Dividend yield: 0.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 35 Cintas ( CTAS , $171.47) - which is well-known for providing corporate uniforms, but also offers maintenance supplies, tile and carpet cleaning services and even compliance training - is seen by some investors as a bet on jobs growth. There may be something to that. Shares are up 12% for the year-to-date - they were doing far better just a month ago thanks to unemployment reaching 49-year lows, but then pulled back during the broader-market swoon. Regardless of how the labor market is doing, Cintas is a stalwart as a dividend payer. The company has raised its payout every year since 1983. SEE ALSO: 10 Funds to Buy for High-Yield Preferred Stocks Clorox Getty Images Market value: $18.9 billion Dividend yield: 2.6% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 41 Clorox ( CLX , $147.82), whose brands include its namesake bleaches, Glad trash bags and Hidden Valley salad dressing, is raising prices to offset higher input costs. Analysts at Wells Fargo applaud the move, but think investors are taking a wait-and-see approach with the stock because of uncertainty as to how consumers will respond. They rate CLX shares at "Market Perform" (hold). In the longer run, analysts expect solid and steady growth from the consumer products company; earnings are expected to rise an average of 6.1% a year for the next five years. Clorox's dividend has increased in size annually since 1977. Coca-Cola Getty Images Market value: $195.2 billion Dividend yield: 3.4% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 55 Coca-Cola ( KO , $45.92) has long been known for quenching consumers' thirst, but it's equally effective at quenching investors' thirst for income. The company has paid a quarterly dividend since 1920, and that dividend has increased annually for the past 55 years. With the U.S. market for carbonated beverages on the decline for more than a decade, according to market research, Coca-Cola has responded by adding bottled water, fruit juices and teas to its product lineup to keep the cash flowing. In addition to the namesake Coca-Cola brand, KO also sports names such as Minute Maid, Powerade, Simply Orange and Vitaminwater. SEE ALSO: 25 Stocks Every Retiree Should Own Colgate-Palmolive Getty Images Market value: $51.7 billion Dividend yield: 2.8% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 55 Colgate-Palmolive ( CL , $59.58) sells staples ranging from toothpaste to dish detergent, and thus demand for its products tends to remain stable in good and bad economies alike. The company derives the vast majority of its sales outside the U.S., and that has been a problem in 2018. A stronger dollar, stagnant demand in key overseas markets and higher input costs have weighed on Clorox's results. You still can count on Colgate's dividend, however. It dates back more than a century, to 1895, and has increased annually for 55 consecutive years. Coloplast Courtesy of Flickr user Lost Parcels Market value: $19.8 billion Dividend yield: 1.8% Country: Denmark Consecutive annual dividend increases: 22 Denmark's Coloplast ( CLPBY , $9.33) is the worldwide leader in ostomy and incontinence products and has an expanding presence in wound care, skincare and urology. Coloplast has the top market share for continence care and ostomy care products, the No. 4 share of the urology market and the No. 5 share of the wound and skincare market. Over the past five years, Coloplast has produced 5.9% annual sales gains and 7.2% annual EPS growth, then turned that into 8.5% annual dividend increases on average. SEE ALSO: 20 Best Small-Cap Dividend Stocks to Buy Compass Group Getty Images Market value: $31.6 billion Dividend yield: 1.6% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 17 Compass Group ( CMPGY , $19.97) is the world's largest contract foodservice business. This British company operates in 50 countries worldwide, has more than 55,000 client locations and serves more than 5.5 billion meals each year. Alphabet ( GOOGL ), Intel ( INTC ) and other large corporate customers account for 39% of Compass Group sales. Other important customers include health-care and senior-care facilities (23% of sales), as well as colleges and schools (18%). North America is the company's primary market, representing 59% of sales, and Europe contributes 25%. The company's 8.7% annual EPS growth rate is almost mirrored by its 8.6% dividend growth rate over the same time frame. The payout is made semi-annually. Consolidated Edison Market value: $23.7 billion Dividend yield: 3.8% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 43 Consolidated Edison (ED, $76.33) is one of the nation's largest utility stocks by market value. Founded in 1823, it provides electric, gas and steam service for the 10 million customers in New York City and Westchester County. And like most utilities, Consolidated Edison enjoys a fairly stable stream of revenues and income thanks to a dearth of direct competition. As a result, the utility company has been able to hike its annual distribution without interruption for more than four decades. SEE ALSO: 10 Apple Products That Changed Everything (And 10 That Didn't) Diageo Getty Images Market value: $84.3 billion Dividend yield: 3.0% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 20 Diageo ( DEO , $138.02) is a multinational purveyor of beers and premium liquors that records sales in more than 180 countries. The company was formed in 1997 when Irish beermaker Guinness merged with U.K. liquor merchant Grand Metropolitan. With iconic liquor brands such as Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, J&B, Smirnoff and Tanqueray, North America is Diageo's largest market. But the company sees better growth opportunities in emerging markets like India and Africa, where incomes are rising and more than 750 million new consumers will reach drinking age during the next decade. Diageo has raised its dividend 8% annually for the past five years. Dover Market value: $10.3 billion Dividend yield: 2.3% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 63 Industrial conglomerate Dover ( DOV , $70.50) has its hands in all sorts of industries, from Dover-branded pumps, lifts and even productivity tools for the energy business, to Anthony-branded commercial refrigerator and freezer doors. It's not an exciting business, though it has gotten more headline-worthy in 2018. Under pressure from activist investor Daniel Loeb's Third Point hedge fund, Dover spun off its upstream energy business earlier this year. Known as Apergy Corp. ( APY ), the spinoff began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on May 9. Dividend growth has been a priority for Dover, which at 63 consecutive years of annual distribution hikes boasts the third-longest such streak among publicly traded companies. SEE ALSO: 25 Blue-Chip Stocks Mutual Fund Managers Love Most Ecolab Market value: $42.6 billion Dividend yield: 1.1% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 26 Ecolab ( ECL , $147.34) provides water treatment and other industrial-scale maintenance services for several industries, including food, healthcare, and oil and gas. Ecolab's fortunes can wane as industrial needs fluctuate though; for instance, when energy companies pare spending. Over the long haul, though, ECL shares are a proven winner. That's thanks in no small part to a dividend that dates back 81 years. And that payout has grown on an annual basis for more than a quarter-century. Enagas Courtesy Moríñigo via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $6.3 billion Dividend yield: 7.7% Country: Spain Consecutive annual dividend increases: 14 Spanish utility Enagas ( ENGGY , $13.22) has raised its dividend 14 years in a row. The company is Spain's principal natural gas carrier, delivering gas via its 10,000-kilometer pipeline network. Enagas also is TSO-certified by the European Union, which enables the company to operate in eight European countries. In addition to its pipeline, Enagas owns three underground storage facilities, four gas liquid plants and interests in natural gas assets in Mexico, Peru, Sweden and Chile. Enagas fattened its dividend by about 5.7% from 2013 to 2017, and the company is guiding for 5% annual dividend growth through 2020. SEE ALSO: The "Sweet Spot": 15 Mid-Cap Dividend Stocks to Buy Enbridge Market value: $53.9 billion Dividend yield: 6.6% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 22 One of the big headwinds holding back Enbridge ( ENB , $31.26) stock was a complex business structure in place to take advantage of tax loopholes available to master limited partnerships. However, when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission decided to put an end to the loopholes, which allowed MLPs to double their recovery of taxes, Enbridge decided to buy back all of its pipeline subsidiaries at the cost of C$11.4 billion. Enbridge did cut its annual dividend-growth-rate forecast to a manageable 10% despite oil prices in the $70s. But this can be taken as a positive. Enbridge - under a unified corporate structure, and amid higher oil prices but less strain from a rapidly scaling dividend - should produce better cash flow and ultimately be more attractive to investors. Emerson Electric Market value: $41.6 billion Dividend yield: 2.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 61 Emerson Electric ( EMR , $66.25) makes a wide variety of industrial products, ranging from control valves to electrical fittings. The prolonged downturn in oil prices weighed on Emerson for a couple years as energy companies continued to cut back on spending. Happily, analysts now say it's well-positioned to take advantage of the recovery in the energy sector. Emerson has paid dividends since 1956 and has boosted its annual payout for 61 consecutive years. SEE ALSO: Where Millionaires Live in America EssilorLuxottica Courtesy Erkethan via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $49.0 billion Dividend yield: 1.3% Country: France Consecutive annual dividend increases: 25 EssilorLuxottica ( ESLOY , $68.57) - the end product of a recent merger of French ophthalmic optics company Essilor and Italian eyewear company Luxottica. The combined group includes brands such as Varilux, Transitions, Foster Grant, Ray-Ban, Persol and Oakley. Luxottica also brought with it store brands including LensCrafters, Sunglass Hut and Pearle Vision. Essilor pays dividends once a year and has increased its payout for a quarter of a century. The company's dividend growth rate for the past five years is 10.9%, and juiced its payout by 35% last year. How the dividend program continues under the combined entity remains to be seen. Exxon Mobil Getty Images Market value: $328.2 billion Dividend yield: 4.2% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 36 A descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, today's Exxon Mobil ( XOM , $77.53) remains one of the world's largest oil companies and is the single biggest company by market value among Standard & Poor's 53 Dividend Aristocrats. As a dividend stalwart - Exxon and its various predecessors have strung together uninterrupted payouts since 1882 - it continued to hike its payout even as oil prices declined in recent years. Exxon has increased its dividend for 36 consecutive years, and has done so at an average annual rate of 6.3%. That includes a 7% boost to its quarterly checks announced in late April. SEE ALSO: 11 Best Vanguard Index Funds to Buy for Low-Cost Quality Federal Realty Investment Trust Market value: $9.0 billion Dividend yield: 3.3% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 51 Real estate investment trusts (REITs) such as Federal Realty Investment Trust ( FRT , $122.52) are required to pay out at least 90% of their taxable earnings as dividends in exchange for certain tax benefits. Thus, REITs typically are a go-to source for income. Few have been steadier than FRT. Federal Realty Investment Trust - which owns retail and mixed-use real estate across 12 states, as well as the District of Columbia - has now hiked its payout every year for half a century, and at an annual growth rate of more than 7%. Fortis Market value: $14.0 billion Dividend yield: 4.2% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 45 Fortis ( FTS , $32.97) owns 10 utility operations in Canada, U.S. and the Caribbean, providing gas and electricity to more than 3.3 million customers. It is one of the top 15 utilities in North America. In the company's 31-year history, its asset base has grown from $300 million at its launch in 1985 to $50 billion today. The company gets 92% of its earnings from regulated utilities, which means those profits are fairly stable and benefit from steady rate increases. It's easy to see why Fortis has been able to increase its annual dividend for 45 straight years. Over the past decade, Fortis has kept its dividend payout ratio between 61% and 73%, ensuring it's not stretching to make its payments. SEE ALSO: The 10 Best Dividend Stocks of All Time Franklin Resources Market value: $15.2 billion Dividend yield: 3.1% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 38 The name Franklin Resources ( BEN , $29.31) might not be well-known among investors; however, along with its subsidiaries, it's called the more familiar Franklin Templeton investments. The global investment firm is one of the world's largest by assets under management, and is known for its bond funds, among other things. Mutual fund providers have come under pressure because customers are eschewing traditional stock pickers in favor of indexed investments. However, Franklin is fighting back by launching its first suite of passive exchange-traded funds. The asset manager has raised its dividend annually since 1981, including an 15% hike announced in December 2017. Investors also got an extra treat in February, when the company announced a special dividend of $3 per share, representing almost 9% in additional yield based on the March 29 record date. Fresenius Medical Care Courtesy Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce via Flickr Market value: $24.5 billion Dividend yield: 1.6% Country: Germany Consecutive annual dividend increases: 21 Fresenius Medicare Care ( FMS , $40.06) provides dialysis services through clinics in 150 countries. The company operates more than 3,500 clinics and treated over 300,000 patients last year. Much of Fresenius' top-line growth has come from acquisitions that include Sparsh Nephrocare, XENiOS, Cura Group, and most recently, NxStage Medical ( NXTM ), a major competitor. The company generates nearly 75% of its revenues from North America, which houses approximately 2,400 of its clinics. Its dividend has grown at a rate of about 7% annually over the past five years. SEE ALSO: 30 Blue-Chip Stocks With the Best Analyst Ratings General Dynamics Market value: $50.3 billion Dividend yield: 2.2% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 26 Defense contractor General Dynamics ( GD , $169.86) is one of the newest members of the Dividend Aristocrats, having been added to the elite list of dividend growers at the end of January 2017. Shares in the company came under pressure in late April after quarterly revenue missed Wall Street estimates because of weakness in the company's aerospace unit, then again in October thanks to a revenue miss in its Q3 report. General Dynamics has upped its distribution for 26 consecutive years, however. With a payout ratio of just 29.3% - the S&P 500 has an average payout ratio of about 40% - General Dynamics should have ample room for more dividend hikes. Genuine Parts Market value: $14.5 billion Dividend yield: 2.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 62 Automotive and industrial replacement parts maker Genuine Parts ( GPC , $98.56) is best-known for the Napa brand, though it also operates under AutoTodo in Mexico and UAP in Canada. Since its founding in 1928, it has pursued a strategy of acquisitions to fuel growth. At the end of 2017, it bought Alliance Automotive Group, one of the largest distribution companies in Europe, for $2 billion. A long-time dividend machine, GPC has hiked its dividend annually for more than six decades. That includes a 7% improvement to the payout in February 2018. SEE ALSO: Microsoft's 15 Biggest Flops Groupe Bruxelles Lambert Market value: $12.7 billion Dividend yield: 3.1% Country: Belgium Consecutive annual dividend increases: 15 With the goal of diversifying earnings, Groupe Bruxelles Lambert ( GBLBF , $90.90) created its Sierra Capital subsidiary five years ago, which invests in different outside fund managers. So far, Sierra has returned more than 800 million euros ($910 million) of dividends to the parent company. The firm's net asset value grew 11.2% last year, and Groupe Bruxelles raised its dividend 2.4% to 3 euros ($3.41). That was slightly below the 10-year average annual growth rate of 2.7%, but that still was good enough to mark 15 consecutive years of payout expansion. Groupe Bruxelles currently does not have shares that trade on a U.S. exchange. However, some brokerage accounts allow investors to buy and sell stocks on foreign exchanges. Hermes International Getty Images Market value: $59.3 billion Dividend yield: 1.1% Country: France Consecutive annual dividend increases: 12 Hermes International ( HESAY , $56.91) is a 180-year-old purveyor of high-fashion goods and among the most recognizable luxury brands in the world. In addition to its iconic scarves, Hermes sells leather goods, home accessories and other consumer items through a worldwide network of more than 300 stores. Hermes' success has allowed it to grow dividends by a nice 12.5% annual rate over the past half-decade. And in addition to a 12% hike last year to 3.75 euros per share, the company also paid out a 5-euro special dividend. Thus, investors received about $10.20 in dividends in 2017. SEE ALSO: 10 Biggest Product Recalls of All Time Hormel Getty Images Market value: $21.9 billion Dividend yield: 1.8% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 52 Shares in Hormel ( HRL , $41.17), the maker of Spam, have been on a tear in 2018. The stock was up 15% for the year-to-date through Oct. 19. The S&P 500 was up 2.7% over the same time frame. "The company expects to gain from its sturdy brand portfolio, innovation and buyouts," say analysts at Zacks Investment Research. "These factors are expected to help the company offset hurdles related to freight costs, adverse currency movements and volatile commodity prices." And then there's the dividend, which is as reliable as they come. Hormel has hiked its payout annually for 52 consecutive years. Illinois Tool Works Getty Images Market value: $41.6 billion Dividend yield: 3.2% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 55 Founded in 1912, Illinois Tool Works ( ITW , $124.10) makes construction products, car parts, restaurant equipment and more. While ITW sells many products under the namesake brand, it also operates businesses including Foster Refrigerators, ACME Packaging Systems and the Wolf Range Company. Higher costs and a stronger dollar are weighing heavily on shares so far in 2018. Illinois Tool Works announced a 28% increase to its dividend in August 2018, good for the company's 55th consecutive year of payout hikes. SEE ALSO: How Well Do You Really Know Warren Buffett? Imperial Brands Getty Images Market value: $33.0 billion Dividend yield: 4.3% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 21 U.K.-based Imperial Brands ( IMBBY , $34.59) is the world's fifth largest tobacco company. Many analysts and money managers consider Imperial a prime takeover target, meaning investors could potentially capture a buyout premium by owning shares. Imperial has been paying dividends since 1997. The company has improved that payout by 10% for each of the past nine years, and Imperial is committing to at least 10% average annual growth going forward. Intertek Group Getty Images Market value: $9.3 billion Dividend yield: 1.8% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 15 U.K.-based Intertek Group ( IKTSY , $57.75) provides quality assurance services to customers in the energy, chemical, agricultural, construction and health-care industries. The company operates more than 1,000 testing labs across 100 countries, and its services include systems certification and supply chain assessment, food, fuels and chemical testing, on-site inspection and product certification. Intertek frequently uses acquisitions to supplement organic growth and has added more than £250 million ($320 million) to revenues since 2015 via M&A. The company's dividends actually have been expanding faster than earnings over the past 15 years, with payouts jumping by 19.1% annually versus 14% annual growth on the bottom line. SEE ALSO: 20 Small Towns With Big Millionaire Populations Johnson & Johnson Getty Images Market value: $367.5 billion Dividend yield: 2.6% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 56 Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ , $136.97), founded in 1886 and public since 1944, operates in several different segments of the health care industry. In addition to pharmaceuticals, it makes over-the-counter consumer products such as Band-Aids, Neosporin and Listerine. It also manufactures medical devices used in surgery. Shares in J&J were flat for the year-to-date through Oct. 19, but investors can take some comfort in the rock-solid dividend. The health-care giant hiked its payout by 7.1% in April 2018, extending its streak of consecutive annual dividend increases to 56. Johnson Matthey Getty Images Market value: $7.1 billion Dividend yield: 2.9% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 31 Johnson Matthey ( JMPLY , $73.55) might be two centuries old, but it's still well entrenched in the future, manufacturing high-tech products from precious metals for customers in the automotive, natural resources and health-care industries. Among other things, the U.K. company is the global leader in automotive catalytic converters. Sales are well-diversified geographically, spread across Europe (39% of revenue), North America (33%) and China and Asia-Pacific (20%). Johnson Matthey began paying a dividend in 1999, and it has been expanding both earnings per share and its dividend at a 7% annual rate over the past six years. SEE ALSO: Test Your Mutual Fund IQ Kerry Group Courtesy Hajotthu via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $18.7 billion Dividend yield: 0.5% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 32 Ireland-domiciled Kerry Group ( KRYAY , $105.99) is a dominant player in packaged food markets across Ireland and the U.K. The company also is a world leader in specialty ingredients used to improve the flavor, appearance and health benefits of food. The company likely will need to rely on acquisitions to achieve its 10% annual EPS growth target over the next five years. According to Davy Research, Kerry Group may produce more than £800 million ($1.03 billion) of free cash flow, which will be used for M&A over the next two years. This European Dividend Aristocrat features one of the largest track records of dividend increases on this list, at 32 years of growth. The last hike was a 12% bump in 2017 to 0.63 euros (72 cents) per share. Kimberly-Clark Market value: $35.4 billion Dividend yield: 3.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 46 Kimberly-Clark's ( KMB , $102.31) well-known brands include Huggies diapers, Scott paper towels and Kleenex tissues. Like other makers of consumer staples, Kimberly-Clark holds out the promise of delivering slow but steady growth along with a healthy dividend to drive total returns. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect earnings to grow at an average annual rate of 4.8% over the next five years. Kimberly-Clark has paid out a dividend for 83 consecutive years, and has raised the annual payout for the past 46 years. SEE ALSO: 20 of the Best Stocks You Probably Haven't Heard Of Leggett & Platt Market value: $4.5 billion Dividend yield: 4.4% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 48 Leggett & Platt ( LEG , $34.75) has its hands in several pies, including producing steel wire; designing and manufacturing seating support systems for automobiles; and making components for manufacturers of upholstered furniture, beds and other home furnishings. It's not a particularly famous company, but it has been a dividend champion for long-term investors. Leggett & Platt's dividend has improved for 47 consecutive years and in 55 of the past 56 years. Lindt & Sprungli Getty Images Market value: $8.0 billion Dividend yield: 1.4% Country: Switzerland Consecutive annual dividend increases: 15 Swiss chocolate-maker Lindt & Sprungli ( LDSVF , $6,668.97) is a world leader in premium quality chocolates. The company manufactures chocolate from 12 sites across the U.S. and Europe, operates 410 retail stores and records sales in 120 countries. American consumers buy the company's Lindt, Ghirardelli and Russell Stover brands and have made Lindt the No. 1 player in premium chocolates and No. 3 overall in the U.S. chocolate market. Demand for chocolates is growing at single-digit rates in developed countries and double-digit rates in emerging markets. So it should be no surprise that Lindt anticipates the majority of its future growth will come from emerging markets like China, South Africa, Brazil and Russia, where sales rose 12.4% last year. Lindt's average dividend growth over the past five years has been a strong 10.9%, including a 10% hike last year. SEE ALSO: The 50 Best Stocks of All Time L'Oreal Getty Images Market value: $120.5 billion Dividend yield: 2.0% Country: France Consecutive annual dividend increases: 35 France's L'Oreal ( LRLCY , $43.08) is the world leader in cosmetics and skincare. The company holds a 19% share of the global cosmetics market and a 37% share of the skincare market. The global market for cosmetics is growing 4%-5% a year as a result of advertising on social media, increasing urbanization and rising online beauty spending by an expanding middle class. L'Oréal's online sales grew 24% last year, and the company already commands a 10% share of the e-commerce market for beauty products. The dividend has expanded 7.6% annually on average. Last year not only saw a 7.9% improvement to the payout, but also a preferential dividend of 10% to investors who have owned shares for at least two years. Lowe's Getty Images Market value: $75.8 billion Dividend yield: 2.1% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 56 Home improvement chain Lowe's ( LOW , $93.78) has paid a dividend every quarter since going public in 1961, and that dividend has increased annually for more than half a century. Rival Home Depot ( HD ) is also a longtime dividend payer, but its string of annual dividend increases only dates back to 2009. Analysts expect the retailer's earrings to grow at an average annual rate of 15.2% for the next five years, according to data from Thomson Reuters. SEE ALSO: How Well Do You Really Understand Bitcoin? Magna International Getty Images Market value: $16.3 billion Dividend yield: 2.7% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 9 It's not easy being an auto parts manufacturer, but if any company can handle the tariff issues, it's Magna International ( MGA , $48.36). A big player in electric-vehicle development, Magna just joined with BMW and Andretti Motorsport as a partner in their electric-vehicle racing team. The alliance allows Magna to learn more about how its mobility solutions business can help cities solve their mobility challenges. Magna repurchased $729 million of its shares in Q2 2018 in addition to paying out $115 million in dividends. McCormick & Company Market value: $18.2 billion Dividend yield: 1.5% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 32 A couple of acquisitions are expected to spice up McCormick & Company's ( MKC , $138.39) growth. The company, which makes herbs, spices and other flavorings, bought RB Foods in August 2017 and Enrico Giotti in December 2016. Both acquisitions are helping to drive sales growth, Zacks notes. Analysts expect average annual earnings growth of almost 10.4% for the next five years. That should provide support for McCormick's dividend, which has been improved on an annual basis for 32 consecutive years. SEE ALSO: 10 Top Utility Stocks to Buy for Safety and Dividends McDonald's Market value: $134.4 billion Dividend yield: 2.7% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 42 The world's largest hamburger chain also happens to be a dividend stalwart. Changing consumer tastes will always be a risk, but McDonald's ( MCD , $173.34) dividend dates back to 1976 and has gone up every year since. That's the power of being a consumer giant that has been able to adjust itself to changing consumer tastes without losing its core. McDonald's stock, a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, has outperformed that blue-chip barometer by 32 percentage points over the past five years. Medtronic Market value: $121.4 billion Dividend yield: 2.2% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 41 Medtronic ( MDT , $89.75) is one of the world's largest makers of medical devices, holding more than 4,600 patents on products ranging from insulin pumps for diabetics to stents used by cardiac surgeons. Look around a hospital or doctor's office - in the U.S. or in about 160 other countries - and there's a good chance you'll see its products. The company is focused on the health of its shareholders as well as its patients: Medtronic has been steadily increasing its dividend every year for more than four decades. SEE ALSO: What Happens When a Retailer Goes Bankrupt? Methanex Market value: $5.1 billion Dividend yield: 2.0% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 7 Methanex ( MEOH , $65.89) is the world's largest producer of methanol. Methanol is a clean-burning biodegradable fuel that's gaining traction for both commercial and residential uses. It's also used in combination with other chemicals to make plastics, paints, building materials and more. Although Methanex currently only produced 7.2 million tonnes of methanol in 2017, it can produce as much as 9.4 million tonnes annually, providing significant potential cash-flow growth. Between its quarterly dividend (currently 33 cents per quarter) and share repurchases, Methanex has returned $1.1 billion to shareholders since 2013. Micro Focus International Courtesy Ben P L via Wikimedia Market value: $6.5 billion Dividend yield: 7.6% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 13 The 2017 acquisition of Hewlett-Packard Enterprise's ( HPE ) software division made Micro Focus International ( MFGP , $15.29) the seventh largest software company in the world. Micro Focus provides enterprise-scale software for large businesses in areas such as applications development, analytics, big data, and security and risk management. Since completing its initial public offering in 2005, Micro Focus has delivered 25.7% annual growth in EPS and 27.7% yearly growth to its semi-annual dividend, which jumped by 32.1% last year to 88 cents. SEE ALSO: 5 Stocks to Sell According to Wall Street Analysts Nestle Getty Images Market value: $252.2 billion Dividend yield: 2.9% Country: Switzerlands Consecutive annual dividend increases: 23 Nestle ( NSRGY , $83.84) is the world's largest food and beverage company, boasting operations in 189 countries. Nestle churns out food products at 413 factories in 85 countries. Best-selling brands include Gerber baby food, Nescafe instant coffee, Purina pet food, Stouffers frozen foods and Perrier and Poland Springs waters. In 2018, Nestle paid $7 billion to acquire Starbucks' ( SBUX ) packaged-coffee business. The company's dividend is one of the oldest among these European Dividend Aristocrats, dating back to 1959. Novartis Getty Images Market value: $197.0 billion Dividend yield: 3.5% Country: Switzerland Consecutive annual dividend increases: 21 Novartis ( NVS , $85.29) is a global health-care company that generates more than $49 billion in annual sales through the development and marketing of blockbuster drugs such as Costentyx (arthritis) and Entresto (heart failure). Novartis has raised its dividend 21 years in a row and improved the payout by 7.1% annually on average over the past decade. SEE ALSO: 5 Hot-Running Health Insurance Stocks to Buy Novo Nordisk Courtesy Johan Wessman via Flickr Market value: $102.0 billion Dividend yield: 3.0% Country: Denmark Consecutive annual dividend increases: 13 Danish firm Novo Nordisk ( NVO , $42.39) is the world leader in medicines for diabetes and obesity-related disorders. The company has a 47% share of the insulin market and a 27% share of the total market for diabetes care (which includes insulin). Demand for the company's medicines is growing because of the global diabetes pandemic. The incidence of diabetes has doubled over the past 16 years, and scientists believe the disease could affect 11.7% of the global population (more than 736 million people) by 2045. While Novo/Nordisk has grown its dividend by 25.6% annually over the past five years, 2017's payout was just 3.3% better than the year prior, mostly because of increased spending on share repurchases. Novozymes Getty Images Market value: $13.6 billion Dividend yield: 1.6% Country: Denmark Consecutive annual dividend increases: 18 Novozymes ( NVZMY , $46.98) is the world leader in industrial enzymes and commands nearly half of this $4 billion market. Enzymes facilitate chemical reactions and are added to cleaning products, food processing, biofuel production and pharmaceutical manufacturing. This Danish company flourished following its 2000 spinoff from the aforementioned Novo Nordisk, but growth has slowed due to lower oil prices, which reduced demand for some enzymes used in detergents, animal feed and biofuels. Novozymes increased its dividend 14.3% in 2017 - just below its five-year average dividend growth rate of 16.3%. The company plans to increase its dividend 13% in 2018 and boost its payout ratio from 40% to 50%. SEE ALSO: The 5 Best Dividend Growth Stocks for the Rest of 2018 Nucor Getty Images Market value: $17.8 billion Dividend yield: 2.7% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 45 Shareholders in Nucor ( NUE , $56.13), the largest U.S. steelmaker, aren't get much benefit from tariffs in 2018. Instead, oversupply fears have been weighing on the stock. "There appears to be too much inventory in the channel right now, and this has impacted mill orders and volumes," say analysts at Longbow Research. Despite the volatility in the steel business, investors can feel good about Nucor's dividend. The company has hiked its annual payout every year since 1974, and it pays out a conservative 20% of profits as dividends. Paddy Power Betfair Getty Images Market value: $6.9 billion Dividend yield: 3.1% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 18 Ireland's Patty Power Betfair ( PDYPY , $42.45) is a leading sports-betting bookmaker in the U.K. and Australia. The company was formed in 2016 through the merger of two major U.K. bookmakers, Patty Power and Betfair. The company operates 623 betting shops across the U.K. and Ireland, runs Ireland's largest telephone betting service and has numerous online sites for sports-betting, poker and casino-gaming. Paddy Power has grown dividends 9.7% annually since 2013 while maintaining a payout ratio of between 40% and 50%. SEE ALSO: 7 Growth Stocks That Will Pay You Cash, Too Pentair Market value: $6.8 billion Dividend yield: 1.8% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 42 U.K.-based diversified industrial company Pentair ( PNR , $39.35) completed the tax-free spinoff of nVent Electric ( NVT ) in April. The move allows Pentair to focus on its water assets, operating in businesses such as Flow Technologies, Filtration & Process and Aquatic & Environmental Systems. Pentair has raised its dividend every year for more than four decades. Analysts on average project earnings per share to increase 8.6% next year, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters. PepsiCo Getty Images Market value: $155.9 billion Dividend yield: 3.4% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 46 Like Coca-Cola ( KO ), PepsiCo ( PEP , $110.45) is working against a long-term slide in soda sales. It too has responded by expanding its offerings of non-carbonated beverages. One advantage Pepsi has that Coca-Cola doesn't is its foods business - the company owns Frito-Lay snacks like Doritos, Tostitos and Rold Gold pretzels, and demand for salty snacks remains solid. In August, the company struck a deal to acquire at-home carbonated drink maker SodaStream ( SODA ) for $3.2 billion. Pepsi has paid out a quarterly dividend ever since 1965, and the company has raised the annual payout for 46 consecutive years. SEE ALSO: 5 "Warren Buffett Stocks" That Might Not Be His Ideas PPG Industries Market value: $24.7 billion Dividend yield: 1.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 47 Rising costs for raw materials are taking a toll on PPG Industries ( PPG , $102.83) these days. The paints and coatings company said in late April that it would cut 1,100 jobs as part of a restructuring aimed at slashing expenses. Longer-term, analysts remain convinced that the company can generate steady growth. Earnings are forecast to grow at an average annual rate of more than 6.4% for the next five years, according to Thomson Reuters. That in turn should help prop up PPG's dividend, which has been paid since 1899 and improved on an annual basis for 47 years. Praxair Getty Images Market value: $47.4 billion Dividend yield: 2.0% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 25 Praxair ( PX , $164.94) was added to the Dividend Aristocrats in January 2018, the same month that it declared its 25th consecutive annual dividend increase. The manufacturer of industrial gasses hiked its quarterly payout by 5% to 82.50 cents a share. "With a focused business strategy and solid execution, we were able to generate record free cash flow in 2017 and this dividend increase reflects our confidence in our ability to sustain strong cash flow throughout economic cycles," Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Steve Angel said in a press release. Analysts expect the multinational industrial firm's earnings to increase at an average annual rate of 10.7% for the next five years. SEE ALSO: America's Most Popular Breakfast Cereals (And the Stocks Behind Them) Procter & Gamble Getty Images Market value: $218.9 billion Dividend yield: 3.3% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 62 With major brands such as Tide detergent, Pampers diapers and Gillette razors, Procter & Gamble ( PG , $87.86) is among the world's largest consumer products companies. Although the economy ebbs and flows, demand for products such as toilet paper, toothpaste and soap tends to remain stable. That hardly makes P&G completely recession-proof, but it has helped fuel reliable dividend payments for more than a century. The company has paid shareholders a dividend since 1891, and raised its dividend annually for 62 years in a row. Prudential PLC Courtesy Andrew Smith via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $49.7 billion Dividend yield: 3.3% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 14 U.K.-based Prudential PLC ( PUK , $38.36) is a world leader in insurance products, annuities and other financial services. The company serves more than 36 million customers worldwide and holds nearly £700 billion ($897 billion) of assets under management. Prudential sells annuity products in the U.S. through its Jackson subsidiary and is not affiliated with U.S. insurance giant Prudential Financial ( PRU ). Jackson is the largest wholesale distributor of variable annuities in the U.S. Prudential has delivered five-year average dividend growth of 10.5% annually. SEE ALSO: 10 Growth Stocks to Buy With Monster Potential Red Electricia Courtesy Zarateman via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $11.4 billion Dividend yield: 7.3% Country: Spain Consecutive annual dividend increases: 20 Red Electricia ( RDEIY , $10.59) operates Spain's electric power grid along with a fiber optic network that accounts for 49% of that country's fiber rentals. Red invested 412 million euros ($469 million) last year in its transmission system across Spain and completed the consulting phase of a project that will link transmission grids in Spain and France. Annual dividend growth has averaged 7% for the past three years, including a 7% improvement in 2017. Roche Holdings Courtesy William Murphy via Flickr Market value: $200.4 billion Dividend yield: 3.7% Country: Switzerland Consecutive annual dividend increases: 16 Switzerland's Roche Holdings ( RHHBY , $29.32) is one of the world's largest biotech company and the world leader for in-vitro diagnostics and tissue-based cancer diagnostics. Roche became a leader these areas in 2009 when the company acquired Genentech, considered by many to be the founder of the biotech industry. The company's drug portfolio includes best-selling oncology medicines such as Herceptin, Avastin and Perjeta, and immunology drugs Rituxan and Actemra. Roche began paying dividends in 2005. Dividend growth over the past decade has averaged 8.2% annually, but growth has slowed to 3.6% annually over the most recent five years. And last year, RHHBY's dividend grew by just 1.2%. SEE ALSO: 5 Great Stocks to Buy If You're New to Investing Roper Technologies Market value: $29.5 billion Dividend yield: 0.6% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 25 Along with A.O. Smith and Praxair, Roper Technologies ( ROP , $285.38) was the third company added to the Dividend Aristocrats in 2018. The diversified industrial company was tapped for the honor after it hiked its dividend for a 25th straight year in December 2017. Roper lifted its quarterly dividend by 18% to 41.25 cents a share at the time. With a payout ratio of just 14.3%, Roper should have ample room to keep the dividend hikes coming for many years to come. Royal Bank of Canada Market value: $104.0 billion Dividend yield: 4.2% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 8 Royal Bank of Canada ( RY , $72.14) is arguably Canada's biggest bank if you go by metrics other than earnings; for instance, its 13 million customer count is tops in Canada. RBC also has the largest full-service wealth advisory business in Canada, along with the largest fund company in Canada. Even better, J.D. Power has named it the highest for customer satisfaction the last three years. Over the past 10 years, Royal Bank of Canada paid out more than C$35 billion in dividends to its shareholders, growing its payment by an average of 12% a year - three times greater than the average U.S. bank. SEE ALSO: 5 Blue-Chip "Marijuana Stocks" S&P Global Courtesy B64 via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $43.1 billion Dividend yield: 1.2% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 45 S&P Global ( SPGI , $171.41), formerly known as McGraw Hill Financial, is the company behind S&P Global Ratings, S&P Global Market Intelligence and S&P Global Platts. Although most investors probably know it for its majority stake in S&P Dow Jones Indices, it's also a central player in corporate and financial analytics, information and research. S&P Global has paid uninterrupted dividends since 1937 and has increased its distribution for 45 years in a row. Sage Group Courtesy TubularWorld via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $7.4 billion Dividend yield: 2.2% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 22 Sage Group ( SPYY , $27.28) is an enterprise software business headquartered in the U.K. The company provides specialized software with applications in accounting, financial management, enterprise planning, HR and payroll, and payment processing and banking to business customers worldwide. Sage currently serves roughly 3 million customers across 23 countries. Nine countries together account for 95% of Sage's revenues. Its top markets are Europe (54% of sales) and North America (31% of sales). The company's dividend, which has been growing every year since 1999, has averaged 10.3% in annual expansion over the past decade. SEE ALSO: The 7 Best Biotech Stocks for Investors Who Hate Risk Sanofi Getty Images Market value: $106.2 billion Dividend yield: 4.4% Country: France Consecutive annual dividend increases: 24 French pharmaceutical powerhouse Sanofi ( SNY , $42.60) is relying on acquisitions to help replace eroding sales on Lantus, a blockbuster diabetes drug whose patent recently expired. The company spent $11.6 billion earlier this year to acquire Bioverativ, which specializes in drugs for hemophilia. In addition, Sanofi paid $4.8 billion to purchase Ablynx and its portfolio of medicines for rare blood disorders. Sanofi has delivered 24 consecutive years of dividend growth on its yearly payout, averaging 4.9% growth on the distribution over the past decade. But it did up the ante for this year, boosting its dividend 13%. Sherwin-Williams Market value: $34.7 billion Dividend yield: 0.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 39 Sherwin-Williams ( SHW , $370.44) completed its $11 billion acquisition of Valspar in 2017 to create one of the largest paints, coatings and home-improvement companies in the world. The benefits of the deal are already showing up in results. Analysts expect revenue to increase almost 19% this year. While Sherwin-Williams did issue $6 billion in bonds to finance the transaction, investors shouldn't worry about the company's 39-year streak of annual dividend increases. SHW pays out a meager 18% of its earnings as dividends, which means it has plenty of wiggle room while it pays off its debts. SEE ALSO: QUIZ: What Do You Know About Gold? Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken Courtesy Thue via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $22.2 billion Dividend yield: 6.7% Country: Sweden Consecutive annual dividend increases: 10 Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken ( SKVKY , $10.26), more commonly known as SEB, is a leading Nordic financial services group serving corporate customers in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Germany and the United Kingdom. Founded in 1856, SEB serves approximately 3,000 large corporate customers, 400,000 small- to medium-sized businesses and 4.0 million private customers. The firm has assets under management totaling SEK 1,838 billion ($201.1 billion). SEB halted its dividend in 2008 thanks to the global financial crisis, but has put together a string of increases ever since - and has done so at a rapid 25.1% average annual rate over the past five years. Stanley Black & Decker Market value: $16.9 billion Dividend yield: 2.4% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 51 Analysts expect power and hand toolmaker Stanley Black & Decker ( SWK , $110.21) to generate average annual earnings growth of nearly 11% a year over the next five years, thanks to a strategy of growth through acquisitions and cost cuts. Stanley Black & Decker bought Newell Tools from Newell Brands ( NWL ) for $2 billion in 2016. In January 2017, it negotiated the purchase of Craftsman tools from Sears Holdings ( SHLDQ ) for a total of $775 million over three years and a percentage of annual sales. Most recently, SWK announced the acquisition of IES Attachments for $690 million cash in August. The company has paid a dividend for 142 years on an uninterrupted basis, and has increased it annually for just more than half a century. SEE ALSO: 8 Real Estate Plays Yielding Up to 8% Suncor Energy Market value: $55.0 billion Dividend yield: 3.3% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 16 There may not be a NYSE-listed Canadian company that's more popular with analysts at the moment than Suncor Energy ( SU , $33.88). Suncor is best known for its oil sands projects in Northern Alberta. Its latest, Fort Hills, which boasts lower carbon emissions and operating costs, just opened to pomp and circumstance as the Canadian oil industry celebrates higher prices and a stronger economy. Over the past six years, Suncor has grown its dividend by 19% annually, from 50 Canadian cents per share in 2012 to C$1.44 in 2018. Sysco Market value: $36.3 billion Dividend yield: 2.1% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 49 Sysco ( SYY , $69.80), a food services and restaurant supply company, is generating sales growth by making acquisitions. The company bought European services and supplies company Brakes Group in 2016, as well as the Supplies on the Fly e-commerce platform. In April 2018, the it acquired U.K.-based Kent Frozen Foods for an undisclosed sum. However, Sysco has been able to generate plenty of growth on its own, producing a steady ramp-up in revenues for years. Analysts expect average earnings growth of 12.6% annually over the next half-decade. That should allow Sysco to keep up its streak of 49 consecutive years of paying higher dividends. SEE ALSO: The 5 Highest-Yielding Warren Buffett Dividend Stocks Target Market value: $43.1 billion Dividend yield: 3.1% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 47 The No. 2 discount retail chain after Walmart ( WMT ) was late to the e-commerce game but its catch-up efforts are starting to pay off. Shares in Target ( TGT , $81.94) were 21% for the year-to-date through Oct. 19. The S&P 500 was up 2.3% over the same span. Analysts expect average annual earnings growth of 8% for the next five years. Longer term, investors can have confidence in the dividend. Target paid its first dividend in 1967, seven years ahead of Walmart, and has raised its payout annually since 1972. Thomson Reuters Getty Images Market value: $25.6 billion Dividend yield: 3.0% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 24 Thomson Reuters ( TRI , $45.94) started October by closing the biggest leveraged M&A deal of 2018. A group of investors led by Blackstone Group ( BX ) bought 55% of Thomson Reuters' Financial & Risk business for $17 billion. Thomson Reuters shareholders will see $9 billion to $11 billion of the proceeds in the form of share repurchases, with the rest going to debt repayment, cash to the balance sheet, and taxes and deal expenses. Its largest shareholder, the Thomson family's Woodbridge Group, will reinvest approximately 30% to 50% of its future dividends in Thomson Reuters stock over the next three years. As a result of the deal, which will leave Thomson less reliant on the financial services industry, Thomson Reuters will keep its annual dividend at $1.38, bringing its streak of 24 annual dividend increases to an end. However, Thomson Reuters can remain a Canadian Dividend Aristocrat by increasing the payout next year. SEE ALSO: 6 Companies That Invest in Themselves T. Rowe Price Market value: $22.6 billion Dividend yield: 3.0% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 32 Asset managers such as T. Rowe Price ( TROW , $93.87) have been losing market share to indexed funds of the type Vanguard offers, but the company still boasts $1 trillion in assets under management, and analysts expect solid top-line growth in 2018. Aided by advising fees, the company is forecast to see a 14.1% gain in revenue this year, according to data from Thomson Reuters. T. Rowe Price has improved its dividend every year for 32 years, and it boasts a lean 39% payout ratio that should keep the annual hikes coming. Unilever NV Getty Images Market value: $144.1 billion Dividend yield: 3.4% Country: United Kingdom, Netherlands Consecutive annual dividend increases: 19 Unilever NV ( UL , $53.38) is an Anglo-Dutch consumer products giant with more than 400 brands in its portfolio, including American-friendly names such as Lipton, Knorr, Dove, Axe, Hellmann's, Suave and Breyer's. Unilever Group consists of both a Dutch subsidiary, Unilever NV (55% of group sales) and a U.K. subsidiary, Unilever PLC (45% of group sales). The company is consolidating its operations into the Dutch unit this year. Unilever pays quarterly dividends. At present, Unilever PLC and Unilever NV pay separate but equal dividends. Post-consolidation, Unilever NV will be the surviving entity and all dividend payments will be made in euros. SEE ALSO: 10 S&P 500 Stocks to Buy for Long-Term Outperformance VF Corporation Market value: $31.4 billion Dividend yield: 2.6% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 46 VF Corporation ( VFC , $79.31) is an apparel company with a large number of brands under its umbrella, including Lee and Wrangler jeans and The North Face outdoor products. It added to its brand portfolio with the acquisition of Icebreaker Holdings - another outdoor and sport designer - under undisclosed terms in April 2018. Analysts expect average annual earnings growth of 13.5% for the next five years. Suffice to say, VFC's 46-year streak of annual dividend payout hikes appears safe. Walgreens Boots Alliance Market value: $72.4 billion Dividend yield: 2.3% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 43 Shareholders in Walgreens Boots Alliance's ( WBA , $76.23) breathed a sigh of relief in April when Amazon.com ( AMZN ) shelved its plan to sell prescription drugs to doctors and hospitals. Tracing its roots back to a single drugstore founded in 1901, Walgreens has boosted its dividend every year for more than four decades. Mostly recently, it announced a hike of 10% in June. It merged with Alliance Boots - a Switzerland-based health and beauty multinational - in 2014 to form the current company. SEE ALSO: 7 Tech Stocks to Buy With 100% Street Support Walmart Getty Images Market value: $289.8 billion Dividend yield: 2.1% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 43 Walmart ( WMT , $98.94) isn't conceding the retail race to Amazon.com ( AMZN ), even as the online juggernaut claims an ever-larger piece of the pie. The world's largest retailer, with roughly 4,700 stores in the U.S., has hardly been passive as Amazon seduces its customers. Walmart expects U.S. e-commerce sales to grow 40% in the current fiscal year, driven by a revamped website with a focus on fashion and home goods. The retailer also is investing heavily in its online grocery delivery service. Walmart has been delivering meager penny increases to its dividend since 2014, but that has been enough to keep up its 43-year streak of consecutive annual payout hikes. Waste Connections Getty Images Market value: $25.2 billion Dividend yield: 0.8% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 8 Waste Connections ( WCN , $95.76) is a waste services company providing garbage and recycling collection for secondary markets in the U.S. and Canada. Over the past five years, Waste Connections has grown its adjusted free cash flow from $300 million to close to $900 million, allowing for double-digit increases of its dividend. Waste Connections stock has a 10-year cumulative return of 422% as of Aug. 31, considerably higher than its peers and the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index. WCN also has delivered 14 consecutive years of positive shareholder returns. SEE ALSO: The 10 Best Stocks of the Bull Market Whitbread Courtesy A P Monblat via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $10.4 billion Dividend yield: 1.5% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 14 Whitbread ( WTBDY , $14.10) is the largest U.K. operator of hotels and coffee shops. The company owns Premier Inn, which operates approximately 800 hotels across Britain, the Middle East and Germany. Whitbread's Costa coffee shop business is the second largest coffee shop chain in Europe. Costa operates approximately 2,400 coffee shops in the U.K., more than 1,400 stores in 31 international markets and over 8,000 Costa Express self-serve kiosks. Whitbread plans to split its operations into two separate companies over the next 24 months. According to management, "de-merging" will enable each business to focus more resources on international growth and produce £100 million ($128 million) in efficiency savings over the next two years. Whitbread's payout has grown by 12.8% annually for the past 10 years, and its payout ratio tends to hover around 40% of earnings. Wolters Kluwer NV Courtesy Wo st 01 via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $16.0 billion Dividend yield: 2.0% Country: Netherlands Consecutive annual dividend increases: 28 Wolters Kluwer ( WTKWY , $58.33) is a global leader in professional information, software and related services for customers in the health care, tax & accounting, finance, risk & compliance, and legal sectors. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company has offices in more than 40 countries, sells to customers in approximately 180 countries and generated sales exceeding 4.4 billion euros ($5 billion) last year. Wolters Kluwer's five- and 10- year annual dividend growth rates have averaged 3.9% and 3.1%, respectively. The company pays dividends semi-annually and typically maintains payout in a 30%-40% range. SEE ALSO: 10 States That Are Surprisingly "Rich" in Millionaires WPP PLC Courtesy IAB UK via Flickr Market value: $14.1 billion Dividend yield: 7.3% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 18 WPP PLC ( WPP , $55.91) is the largest of five advertising holding companies that control a sizable percentage of the world's advertising, marketing and communications. WPP provides services through approximately 400 subsidiary businesses. It owns many of the best-known advertising and public relations firms, including Grey, Ogilvy & Mathers, Mediacom, Y&R, and Hill & Knowlton. WPP's shares fell sharply in February of this year thanks to a weak outlook, and the company suffered more tumult in April when the company's CEO of 15 years was forced to step down following allegations of personal misconduct. At least WPP's dividend has been impressive. The payout has grown 17.7% annually on average over the past 10 years, and 17.9% over the past five. W.W. Grainger Market value: $13.2 billion Dividend yield: 2% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 46 W.W. Grainger ( GWW , $233.61) - which not only sells industrial equipment and tools, but provides other services such as helping companies manage inventory - is expected to generate steady-if-not spectacular sales growth for the next few years. Revenue is forecast to rise 8% this year and 6.2% in 2019. Fortunately for the income-minded, Grainger has lifted its payout every year for 46 years and maintains a reasonable 34% payout ratio. SEE ALSO: 5 Stocks That Should Start Paying Dividends EDITOR'S PICKS 30 Blue-Chip Stocks With the Best Analyst Ratings 20 Small Towns With Big Millionaire Populations The 25 Best Low-Fee Mutual Funds You Can Buy Copyright 2018-2019 The Kiplinger Washington Editors dividend increases: 25 A.O. Smith ( AOS , $43.74) is one of the newest members of the Dividend Aristocrats. The manufacturer of commercial and residential water heaters was added to the illustrious group of dependable dividend growers in 2018. In January, A.O. Smith hiked its quarterly cash dividend to 18 cents a share, a 29% increase. Then the company upped its payout again, by 22% in October to 22 cents per share. Over the past five years, the company's compound annual growth rate of its dividend is more than 25%. Analysts at Boenning and Scattergood rate shares at "Outperform" (buy, essentially), thanks to the rollout of A.O. Smith water heaters at home-improvement chain Lowe's, as well as strength across the North American market. SEE ALSO: The 25 Best Low-Fee Mutual Funds You Can Buy Air Products and Chemicals Market value: $32.8 billion Dividend yield: 2.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 36 Air Products and Chemicals ( APD , $149.43) spent much of past couple years restructuring. Under pressure from investors, it started to shed some weight, including spinning off its Electronic Materials division and selling its Performance Materials business. Air Products, which dates back to 1940, now is a slimmed-down company that has returned to focusing on its legacy industrial gases business. But it hasn't taken its eye off the dividend, which it has improved on an annual basis for 36 years in a row. That includes a 15-cent upgrade in January 2018 - its largest in company history. SEE ALSO: The Kip ETF 20: The 20 Best Cheap ETFs You Can Buy Archer Daniels Midland Market value: $26.0 billion Dividend yield: 2.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 43 Archer Daniels Midland ( ADM , $46.46) processes ingredients for food and feed, including corn sweeteners, starches and emulsifiers such as lecithin. It also has a commodities trading business. It's a truly global agricultural powerhouse, too, boasting customers in 170 countries that are served by 500 crop procurement locations and 270 ingredient plants. But it's a difficult business, too. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect ADM's earnings to decline at an average annual rate of 8.8% for the next five years. Archer Daniels Midland has paid out dividends on an uninterrupted basis for 86 years. That includes 43 consecutive years of payout increases. SEE ALSO: 12 Top Stock Picks to Shield Your Portfolio Ashtead Group Market value: $11.2 billion Dividend yield: 1.9% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 14 U.K.-based Ashtead Group ( ASHTY , $93.01) is a major player in the U.K. and American rental equipment markets. Ashtead leases construction and industrial equipment to customers that use its machines for road building, facilities management, climate control, special events and disaster relief. The company's Sunbelt division is the second largest equipment rental firm in the U.S., with 712 locations nationwide. Its A-Plant division operates from 187 rental locations in the U.K. and is that country's largest equipment renter. The company pays dividends semi-annually, and five-year dividend growth has averaged an impressive 45% annually. Note that European Dividend Aristocrats have a lower bar than their American counterparts, only requiring a minimum of 10 consecutive annual dividend increases for inclusion. Dividends on some international stocks may be taxed at a higher rate; however, the IRS offers a foreign tax credit that investors can use to offset taxes collected by foreign governments. SEE ALSO: 16 High-Yielding Monthly Dividend Payers Associated British Foods Courtesy Alexandre Dulaunoy via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $24.8 billion Dividend yield: 1.0% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 18 Associated British Foods ( ASBFY , $31.28) is a multinational food processor and retailer operating in 50 countries. Americans might not be familiar with the corporate parent, but they may know a few of its brands, including Ovaltine hot chocolate, Twinings teas, Mazola corn oil and Kingsmill bread. ABF also owns the Primark clothing brand and a chain of 350 Primark retail stores across Europe and North America. Associated British Foods has improved its dividend by an average of 7.4% annually over the past five years, including a 12% hike in 2017 to 41 pence (roughly 54 cents). SEE ALSO: 49 Companies Amazon Could Destroy (And 1 It Already Has) AT&T Getty Images Market value: $211.5 billion Dividend yield: 6.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 34 Telecommunications stocks are synonymous with dividend payments. Customers pay for service every month, which ensures a steady stream of cash to fund dividends. AT&T ( T , $29.09) - the largest U.S. telecom company - is a perfect example. AT&T has raised its dividend on an annual basis for 34 consecutive years, and typically boasts one of the highest dividend yields in the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index. That's in large part because of the cash flows generated by the telecom business, which enjoys what some call an effective duopoly with rival Verizon ( VZ ). Together, the pair command roughly 70% of the U.S. wireless subscriptions market. SEE ALSO: Best Online Brokers, 2018 Automatic Data Processing Market value: $59.6 billion Dividend yield: 2.0% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 43 Automatic Data Processing ( ADP , $136.35) is the world's largest payroll processing firm, responsible for paying more than 39 million employees and serving more than 650,000 clients across more than 110 countries. One of ADP's great advantages is its "stickiness." It's difficult and expensive for corporate customers to change payroll service providers. That competitive advantage helps throw off consistent income and cash flow. In turn, ADP has become a dependable dividend payer - one that has provided an annual raise for shareholders since 1975. SEE ALSO: 10 Best ETFs to Buy for an All-Weather Portfolio BAE Systems Getty Images Market value: $21.8 billion Dividend yield: 3.4% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 14 BAE Systems ( BAESY , $27.33) is one of the world's largest defense contractors, serving government customers mainly in the U.K. and U.S. The company designs and manufactures military aircraft, land vehicles and surface ships and is expanding its capabilities in cyber security and intelligence. Despite flat revenues last year, BAE was able to increase cash flow from operations by 54% and earnings per share by 8% while significantly reducing debt. BAE's dividend has improved for 14 consecutive years, though its progress has been slow, at just 2.4% annually over the past five years. SEE ALSO: 25 Dividend Stocks That Analysts Love the Most Bank of Nova Scotia Getty Images Market value: $65.8 billion Dividend yield: 5.0% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 8 Bank of Nova Scotia ( BNS , $53.45) is one of Canada's five big banks, serving more than 24 million customers in North America, Latin America, the Caribbean, Central America and Asia-Pacific. BNS has gone on a buying binge over the past 10 months, spending almost C$7 billion on acquisitions both in Canada and Latin America. However, the deals have yet to have a positive effect on the bank's stock, which is down over the past 52 weeks relative to its Canadian peers. Bank of Nova Scotia's third-quarter earnings were buoyed by strong results in its Canadian and Asian operations, however. That prompted the bank to raise its quarterly dividend by 3.7% to 85 Canadian cents per share - its sixth hike in just three years. Qualification for aristocracy in Canada is a little different and less stringent than the U.S. version - most importantly, it only needs to increase its annual payout for five consecutive years, and can even maintain the same dividend for two consecutive years within that time. Note: The exchange rate as of Oct. 1, 2018, is 1.28 Canadian dollars for every U.S. dollar. SEE ALSO: 11 Stocks Warren Buffett Is Buying or Selling BCE Getty Images Market value: $35.4 billion Dividend yield: 5.9% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 10 BCE ( BCE , $39.42) is Canada's largest communications company with annual revenue of $22.7 billion. It generates approximately 54% of its sales from wireline broadband and TV, 35% from wireless, and the remaining 11% from the company's media operations. The company's fiber-optic network is 240,000 kilometers in length - the largest in Canada - delivering internet, phone and TV to more than 9.2 million locations across seven provinces. BCE has raised its annual dividend by 5% or more for 11 consecutive years, keeping its payout ratio within a healthy range of 65% to 75%. Becton Dickinson Becton Dickinson Market value: $61.3 billion Dividend yield: 1.3% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 46 Medical devices maker Becton Dickinson ( BDX , $229.00) first bulked up with its 2015 acquisition of CareFusion, a complementary player in the same industry. Last year, it struck a $24 billion deal for fellow Dividend Aristocrat C.R. Bard, another medical products company with a strong position in treatments for infectious diseases. The company, which makes everything from insulin syringes to cell analysis systems, is increasingly looking for growth to be driven by markets outside the U.S., including China. Annual dividend increases stretch back 46 years and counting - a track record that should offer peace of mind to antsy income investors. SEE ALSO: 20 Dividend Stocks to Fund 20 Years of Retirement British American Tobacco Getty Images Market value: $105.1 billion Dividend yield: 5.9% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 20 British American Tobacco ( BTI , $45.83) isn't terribly well-known in the U.S., but it's the world's largest publicly traded tobacco company. BAT owns the popular Dunhill and Rothmans cigarette brands, which are sold to millions of consumers worldwide. BAT aims to deliver future EPS gains each year at high-single-digit levels. Earnings should receive a boost in 2018 from more than $400 million in anticipated acquisition-related synergies. The last increase to the quarterly dividend on BTI's stock was a 15.2% bump last year. Brown-Forman Market value: $22.4 billion Dividend yield: 1.4% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 34 Brown-Forman ( BF.B , $46.61) is one of the largest producers and distributors of alcohol in the world. Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey and Finlandia vodka are just two of its best-known brands, with the former helping drive better-than-expected growth in the most recent quarter. Tequila sales - Brown-Forman features the Herradura and El Jimador brands, among others - also are on the rise. The company has raised its payout annually for 34 years, and has delivered an uninterrupted regular payout for 72 years. SEE ALSO: 15 Consumer Stocks That Deliver Dividend Growth Like Clockwork Bunzl Courtesy Graham Richardson via Flickr Market value: $9.8 billion Dividend yield: 1.4% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 25 Bunzl ( BZLFY , $29.13) is an international distributor of food packaging, cleaning supplies, personal-protection equipment and other consumable items. The company serves customers from several industries, including foodservice, grocery, cleaning, retail and health care. Roughly 60% of sales come from North America, while Europe and the U.K. contribute another 35%. The company's dividend has increased for 25 years in a row, which would be enough to qualify even as an American Dividend Aristocrat. The company's last hike to its semi-annual dividend was a 10% boost in 2017. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Getty Images Market value: $38.0 billion Dividend yield: 4.9% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 8 Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce ( CM , $85.70) is the smallest of Canada's five big banks. It greatly expanded its U.S. business in 2017 buying Chicago-based PrivateBancorp for $5 billion in cash and shares. As a result of its purchase of PrivateBancorp, the bank's third-quarter earnings from its U.S. business increased by 295% to C$162 million. On Sept. 13, CIBC sold $769 million of Canada's first gender-diversity bond, the funds used to lend to companies advancing women in the executive ranks and the boardroom. Considering they pay about 70 basis points more than similar-maturity Canadian federal government bonds, investors can expect to see more of this from CIBC and other banks. CIBC most recently raised its quarterly dividend by 3 cents to C$1.36 a share. SEE ALSO: Emerging-Markets Stocks: 10 Ways to Play the Next Bull Market Canadian National Railway Getty Images Market value: $59.8 billion Dividend yield: 1.7% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 22 Canadian National Railway ( CNI , $82.15) was once run by Hunter Harrison, the executive Bill Ackman hired to turnaround its rival, Canadian Pacific Railway ( CP ). CN is North America's second largest publicly traded North American railway with a network of almost 20,000 route miles serving more than $250 billion of goods annually across Canada and the American Midwest. Over the past six years, Canadian National has grown revenues and operating profits by 6% and 9%, respectively, compounded annually. Investors will like the fact that the railroad operator has grown its annual dividend payment every year since it went public in 1995, averaging 16% a year. Canadian Natural Resources Getty Images Market value: $34.4 billion Dividend yield: 3.7% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 17 Canadian Natural Resources ( CNQ , $28.19) is one of the world's top independent energy producers, with natural gas, heavy crude oil and oil sands operations in North America and offshore operations in Africa and the U.K. It produces the oil equivalent of 1.1 billion barrels daily. Business is so good for Canadian Natural Resources that it has been able to pay down its long-term debt by C$2.5 billion over the past 12 months. Its debt is now 2.1 times adjusted EBITDA, down from 3.4x. In addition to debt reduction, the company has returned C$1.2 billion via share buybacks and dividends through the first six months of 2018. It currently pays a quarterly dividend of 33.5 Canadian cents, which is 22% higher than its year-ago payout. SEE ALSO: The Best and Worst Presidents (According to the Stock Market) Cardinal Health Market value: $15.0 billion Dividend yield: 3.8% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 33 A steady stream of acquisitions helped wholesale drug and medical device distributor Cardinal Health ( CAH , $49.92) become the giant that it is today. More recently, it has been embroiled in legal actions related to the nation's opioid epidemic. In late 2016, Cardinal Health agreed to pay $44 million to the Department of Justice to settle allegations that it failed to report suspicious drug orders. And in early 2017, the company agreed to a $20 million settlement with the state of West Virginia. However, Cardinal Health is looking for new life with an acquisition of Medtronic's ( MDT ) Patient Care, Deep Vein Thrombosis and Nutritional Insufficiency business, completed in July 2017. On the dividend front, Cardinal Health has upped the ante on its annual payout for 33 years and counting. Chevron Getty Images Market value: $213.7 billion Dividend yield: 4.0% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 32 Chevron ( CVX , $111.53) is an integrated oil giant that also has operations in natural gas and geothermal energy. And like its competitors, Chevron hurt when oil prices started to tumble in 2014. The energy major was forced to slash spending as a result, but - reassuringly - it never slashed its dividend. Cut to today, and the outlook for oil looks much more stable. Oil prices topped $75 per barrel in early October. Kiplinger forecasts that prices will range from $65 to $70 a barrel through the end of the year - a far better environment than what energy companies were dealing with a few years ago. With three decades of uninterrupted dividend growth under its belt, Chevron's track record instills confidence that the payouts will continue. SEE ALSO: Millionaires in America: All 50 States Ranked Cincinnati Financial Market value: $12.4 billion Dividend yield: 2.8% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 57 Inclement weather was unkind to Cincinnati Financial ( CINF , $76.50) in 2018. The insurer said it suffered close to $100 million in losses from Hurricane Florence in the third quarter alone. The hit from Hurricane Michael, which made landfall in October, will take a toll on fourth-quarter results. But while hurricane seasons always come and go, Cincinnati Financial's dividend always stays strong. The property and casualty insurance specialist has one of the Dividend Aristocrats' longest streaks of increases at 57 years, and given that Cincinnati Financial pays out only about two-thirds of its profits as dividends, that trend should continue. Analysts expect forecast average annual earnings growth of 6.1% for the next five years, according to Thomson Reuters data. Cintas Market value: $18.3 billion Dividend yield: 0.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 35 Cintas ( CTAS , $171.47) - which is well-known for providing corporate uniforms, but also offers maintenance supplies, tile and carpet cleaning services and even compliance training - is seen by some investors as a bet on jobs growth. There may be something to that. Shares are up 12% for the year-to-date - they were doing far better just a month ago thanks to unemployment reaching 49-year lows, but then pulled back during the broader-market swoon. Regardless of how the labor market is doing, Cintas is a stalwart as a dividend payer. The company has raised its payout every year since 1983. SEE ALSO: 10 Funds to Buy for High-Yield Preferred Stocks Clorox Getty Images Market value: $18.9 billion Dividend yield: 2.6% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 41 Clorox ( CLX , $147.82), whose brands include its namesake bleaches, Glad trash bags and Hidden Valley salad dressing, is raising prices to offset higher input costs. Analysts at Wells Fargo applaud the move, but think investors are taking a wait-and-see approach with the stock because of uncertainty as to how consumers will respond. They rate CLX shares at "Market Perform" (hold). In the longer run, analysts expect solid and steady growth from the consumer products company; earnings are expected to rise an average of 6.1% a year for the next five years. Clorox's dividend has increased in size annually since 1977. Coca-Cola Getty Images Market value: $195.2 billion Dividend yield: 3.4% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 55 Coca-Cola ( KO , $45.92) has long been known for quenching consumers' thirst, but it's equally effective at quenching investors' thirst for income. The company has paid a quarterly dividend since 1920, and that dividend has increased annually for the past 55 years. With the U.S. market for carbonated beverages on the decline for more than a decade, according to market research, Coca-Cola has responded by adding bottled water, fruit juices and teas to its product lineup to keep the cash flowing. In addition to the namesake Coca-Cola brand, KO also sports names such as Minute Maid, Powerade, Simply Orange and Vitaminwater. SEE ALSO: 25 Stocks Every Retiree Should Own Colgate-Palmolive Getty Images Market value: $51.7 billion Dividend yield: 2.8% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 55 Colgate-Palmolive ( CL , $59.58) sells staples ranging from toothpaste to dish detergent, and thus demand for its products tends to remain stable in good and bad economies alike. The company derives the vast majority of its sales outside the U.S., and that has been a problem in 2018. A stronger dollar, stagnant demand in key overseas markets and higher input costs have weighed on Clorox's results. You still can count on Colgate's dividend, however. It dates back more than a century, to 1895, and has increased annually for 55 consecutive years. Coloplast Courtesy of Flickr user Lost Parcels Market value: $19.8 billion Dividend yield: 1.8% Country: Denmark Consecutive annual dividend increases: 22 Denmark's Coloplast ( CLPBY , $9.33) is the worldwide leader in ostomy and incontinence products and has an expanding presence in wound care, skincare and urology. Coloplast has the top market share for continence care and ostomy care products, the No. 4 share of the urology market and the No. 5 share of the wound and skincare market. Over the past five years, Coloplast has produced 5.9% annual sales gains and 7.2% annual EPS growth, then turned that into 8.5% annual dividend increases on average. SEE ALSO: 20 Best Small-Cap Dividend Stocks to Buy Compass Group Getty Images Market value: $31.6 billion Dividend yield: 1.6% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 17 Compass Group ( CMPGY , $19.97) is the world's largest contract foodservice business. This British company operates in 50 countries worldwide, has more than 55,000 client locations and serves more than 5.5 billion meals each year. Alphabet ( GOOGL ), Intel ( INTC ) and other large corporate customers account for 39% of Compass Group sales. Other important customers include health-care and senior-care facilities (23% of sales), as well as colleges and schools (18%). North America is the company's primary market, representing 59% of sales, and Europe contributes 25%. The company's 8.7% annual EPS growth rate is almost mirrored by its 8.6% dividend growth rate over the same time frame. The payout is made semi-annually. Consolidated Edison Market value: $23.7 billion Dividend yield: 3.8% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 43 Consolidated Edison (ED, $76.33) is one of the nation's largest utility stocks by market value. Founded in 1823, it provides electric, gas and steam service for the 10 million customers in New York City and Westchester County. And like most utilities, Consolidated Edison enjoys a fairly stable stream of revenues and income thanks to a dearth of direct competition. As a result, the utility company has been able to hike its annual distribution without interruption for more than four decades. SEE ALSO: 10 Apple Products That Changed Everything (And 10 That Didn't) Diageo Getty Images Market value: $84.3 billion Dividend yield: 3.0% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 20 Diageo ( DEO , $138.02) is a multinational purveyor of beers and premium liquors that records sales in more than 180 countries. The company was formed in 1997 when Irish beermaker Guinness merged with U.K. liquor merchant Grand Metropolitan. With iconic liquor brands such as Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, J&B, Smirnoff and Tanqueray, North America is Diageo's largest market. But the company sees better growth opportunities in emerging markets like India and Africa, where incomes are rising and more than 750 million new consumers will reach drinking age during the next decade. Diageo has raised its dividend 8% annually for the past five years. Dover Market value: $10.3 billion Dividend yield: 2.3% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 63 Industrial conglomerate Dover ( DOV , $70.50) has its hands in all sorts of industries, from Dover-branded pumps, lifts and even productivity tools for the energy business, to Anthony-branded commercial refrigerator and freezer doors. It's not an exciting business, though it has gotten more headline-worthy in 2018. Under pressure from activist investor Daniel Loeb's Third Point hedge fund, Dover spun off its upstream energy business earlier this year. Known as Apergy Corp. ( APY ), the spinoff began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on May 9. Dividend growth has been a priority for Dover, which at 63 consecutive years of annual distribution hikes boasts the third-longest such streak among publicly traded companies. SEE ALSO: 25 Blue-Chip Stocks Mutual Fund Managers Love Most Ecolab Market value: $42.6 billion Dividend yield: 1.1% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 26 Ecolab ( ECL , $147.34) provides water treatment and other industrial-scale maintenance services for several industries, including food, healthcare, and oil and gas. Ecolab's fortunes can wane as industrial needs fluctuate though; for instance, when energy companies pare spending. Over the long haul, though, ECL shares are a proven winner. That's thanks in no small part to a dividend that dates back 81 years. And that payout has grown on an annual basis for more than a quarter-century. Enagas Courtesy Moríñigo via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $6.3 billion Dividend yield: 7.7% Country: Spain Consecutive annual dividend increases: 14 Spanish utility Enagas ( ENGGY , $13.22) has raised its dividend 14 years in a row. The company is Spain's principal natural gas carrier, delivering gas via its 10,000-kilometer pipeline network. Enagas also is TSO-certified by the European Union, which enables the company to operate in eight European countries. In addition to its pipeline, Enagas owns three underground storage facilities, four gas liquid plants and interests in natural gas assets in Mexico, Peru, Sweden and Chile. Enagas fattened its dividend by about 5.7% from 2013 to 2017, and the company is guiding for 5% annual dividend growth through 2020. SEE ALSO: The "Sweet Spot": 15 Mid-Cap Dividend Stocks to Buy Enbridge Market value: $53.9 billion Dividend yield: 6.6% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 22 One of the big headwinds holding back Enbridge ( ENB , $31.26) stock was a complex business structure in place to take advantage of tax loopholes available to master limited partnerships. However, when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission decided to put an end to the loopholes, which allowed MLPs to double their recovery of taxes, Enbridge decided to buy back all of its pipeline subsidiaries at the cost of C$11.4 billion. Enbridge did cut its annual dividend-growth-rate forecast to a manageable 10% despite oil prices in the $70s. But this can be taken as a positive. Enbridge - under a unified corporate structure, and amid higher oil prices but less strain from a rapidly scaling dividend - should produce better cash flow and ultimately be more attractive to investors. Emerson Electric Market value: $41.6 billion Dividend yield: 2.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 61 Emerson Electric ( EMR , $66.25) makes a wide variety of industrial products, ranging from control valves to electrical fittings. The prolonged downturn in oil prices weighed on Emerson for a couple years as energy companies continued to cut back on spending. Happily, analysts now say it's well-positioned to take advantage of the recovery in the energy sector. Emerson has paid dividends since 1956 and has boosted its annual payout for 61 consecutive years. SEE ALSO: Where Millionaires Live in America EssilorLuxottica Courtesy Erkethan via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $49.0 billion Dividend yield: 1.3% Country: France Consecutive annual dividend increases: 25 EssilorLuxottica ( ESLOY , $68.57) - the end product of a recent merger of French ophthalmic optics company Essilor and Italian eyewear company Luxottica. The combined group includes brands such as Varilux, Transitions, Foster Grant, Ray-Ban, Persol and Oakley. Luxottica also brought with it store brands including LensCrafters, Sunglass Hut and Pearle Vision. Essilor pays dividends once a year and has increased its payout for a quarter of a century. The company's dividend growth rate for the past five years is 10.9%, and juiced its payout by 35% last year. How the dividend program continues under the combined entity remains to be seen. Exxon Mobil Getty Images Market value: $328.2 billion Dividend yield: 4.2% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 36 A descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, today's Exxon Mobil ( XOM , $77.53) remains one of the world's largest oil companies and is the single biggest company by market value among Standard & Poor's 53 Dividend Aristocrats. As a dividend stalwart - Exxon and its various predecessors have strung together uninterrupted payouts since 1882 - it continued to hike its payout even as oil prices declined in recent years. Exxon has increased its dividend for 36 consecutive years, and has done so at an average annual rate of 6.3%. That includes a 7% boost to its quarterly checks announced in late April. SEE ALSO: 11 Best Vanguard Index Funds to Buy for Low-Cost Quality Federal Realty Investment Trust Market value: $9.0 billion Dividend yield: 3.3% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 51 Real estate investment trusts (REITs) such as Federal Realty Investment Trust ( FRT , $122.52) are required to pay out at least 90% of their taxable earnings as dividends in exchange for certain tax benefits. Thus, REITs typically are a go-to source for income. Few have been steadier than FRT. Federal Realty Investment Trust - which owns retail and mixed-use real estate across 12 states, as well as the District of Columbia - has now hiked its payout every year for half a century, and at an annual growth rate of more than 7%. Fortis Market value: $14.0 billion Dividend yield: 4.2% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 45 Fortis ( FTS , $32.97) owns 10 utility operations in Canada, U.S. and the Caribbean, providing gas and electricity to more than 3.3 million customers. It is one of the top 15 utilities in North America. In the company's 31-year history, its asset base has grown from $300 million at its launch in 1985 to $50 billion today. The company gets 92% of its earnings from regulated utilities, which means those profits are fairly stable and benefit from steady rate increases. It's easy to see why Fortis has been able to increase its annual dividend for 45 straight years. Over the past decade, Fortis has kept its dividend payout ratio between 61% and 73%, ensuring it's not stretching to make its payments. SEE ALSO: The 10 Best Dividend Stocks of All Time Franklin Resources Market value: $15.2 billion Dividend yield: 3.1% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 38 The name Franklin Resources ( BEN , $29.31) might not be well-known among investors; however, along with its subsidiaries, it's called the more familiar Franklin Templeton investments. The global investment firm is one of the world's largest by assets under management, and is known for its bond funds, among other things. Mutual fund providers have come under pressure because customers are eschewing traditional stock pickers in favor of indexed investments. However, Franklin is fighting back by launching its first suite of passive exchange-traded funds. The asset manager has raised its dividend annually since 1981, including an 15% hike announced in December 2017. Investors also got an extra treat in February, when the company announced a special dividend of $3 per share, representing almost 9% in additional yield based on the March 29 record date. Fresenius Medical Care Courtesy Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce via Flickr Market value: $24.5 billion Dividend yield: 1.6% Country: Germany Consecutive annual dividend increases: 21 Fresenius Medicare Care ( FMS , $40.06) provides dialysis services through clinics in 150 countries. The company operates more than 3,500 clinics and treated over 300,000 patients last year. Much of Fresenius' top-line growth has come from acquisitions that include Sparsh Nephrocare, XENiOS, Cura Group, and most recently, NxStage Medical ( NXTM ), a major competitor. The company generates nearly 75% of its revenues from North America, which houses approximately 2,400 of its clinics. Its dividend has grown at a rate of about 7% annually over the past five years. SEE ALSO: 30 Blue-Chip Stocks With the Best Analyst Ratings General Dynamics Market value: $50.3 billion Dividend yield: 2.2% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 26 Defense contractor General Dynamics ( GD , $169.86) is one of the newest members of the Dividend Aristocrats, having been added to the elite list of dividend growers at the end of January 2017. Shares in the company came under pressure in late April after quarterly revenue missed Wall Street estimates because of weakness in the company's aerospace unit, then again in October thanks to a revenue miss in its Q3 report. General Dynamics has upped its distribution for 26 consecutive years, however. With a payout ratio of just 29.3% - the S&P 500 has an average payout ratio of about 40% - General Dynamics should have ample room for more dividend hikes. Genuine Parts Market value: $14.5 billion Dividend yield: 2.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 62 Automotive and industrial replacement parts maker Genuine Parts ( GPC , $98.56) is best-known for the Napa brand, though it also operates under AutoTodo in Mexico and UAP in Canada. Since its founding in 1928, it has pursued a strategy of acquisitions to fuel growth. At the end of 2017, it bought Alliance Automotive Group, one of the largest distribution companies in Europe, for $2 billion. A long-time dividend machine, GPC has hiked its dividend annually for more than six decades. That includes a 7% improvement to the payout in February 2018. SEE ALSO: Microsoft's 15 Biggest Flops Groupe Bruxelles Lambert Market value: $12.7 billion Dividend yield: 3.1% Country: Belgium Consecutive annual dividend increases: 15 With the goal of diversifying earnings, Groupe Bruxelles ( GBLBF , $90.90) created its Sierra Capital subsidiary five years ago, which invests in different outside fund managers. So far, Sierra has returned more than 800 million euros ($910 million) of dividends to the parent company. The firm's net asset value grew 11.2% last year, and Groupe Bruxelles raised its dividend 2.4% to 3 euros ($3.41). That was slightly below the 10-year average annual growth rate of 2.7%, but that still was good enough to mark 15 consecutive years of payout expansion. Groupe Bruxelles currently does not have shares that trade on a U.S. exchange. However, some brokerage accounts allow investors to buy and sell stocks on foreign exchanges. Hermes International Getty Images Market value: $59.3 billion Dividend yield: 1.1% Country: France Consecutive annual dividend increases: 12 Hermes International ( HESAY , $56.91) is a 180-year-old purveyor of high-fashion goods and among the most recognizable luxury brands in the world. In addition to its iconic scarves, Hermes sells leather goods, home accessories and other consumer items through a worldwide network of more than 300 stores. Hermes' success has allowed it to grow dividends by a nice 12.5% annual rate over the past half-decade. And in addition to a 12% hike last year to 3.75 euros per share, the company also paid out a 5-euro special dividend. Thus, investors received about $10.20 in dividends in 2017. SEE ALSO: 10 Biggest Product Recalls of All Time Hormel Getty Images Market value: $21.9 billion Dividend yield: 1.8% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 52 Shares in Hormel ( HRL , $41.17), the maker of Spam, have been on a tear in 2018. The stock was up 15% for the year-to-date through Oct. 19. The S&P 500 was up 2.7% over the same time frame. "The company expects to gain from its sturdy brand portfolio, innovation and buyouts," say analysts at Zacks Investment Research. "These factors are expected to help the company offset hurdles related to freight costs, adverse currency movements and volatile commodity prices." And then there's the dividend, which is as reliable as they come. Hormel has hiked its payout annually for 52 consecutive years. Illinois Tool Works Getty Images Market value: $41.6 billion Dividend yield: 3.2% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 55 Founded in 1912, Illinois Tool Works ( ITW , $124.10) makes construction products, car parts, restaurant equipment and more. While ITW sells many products under the namesake brand, it also operates businesses including Foster Refrigerators, ACME Packaging Systems and the Wolf Range Company. Higher costs and a stronger dollar are weighing heavily on shares so far in 2018. Illinois Tool Works announced a 28% increase to its dividend in August 2018, good for the company's 55th consecutive year of payout hikes. SEE ALSO: How Well Do You Really Know Warren Buffett? Imperial Brands Getty Images Market value: $33.0 billion Dividend yield: 4.3% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 21 U.K.-based Imperial Brands ( IMBBY , $34.59) is the world's fifth largest tobacco company. Many analysts and money managers consider Imperial a prime takeover target, meaning investors could potentially capture a buyout premium by owning shares. Imperial has been paying dividends since 1997. The company has improved that payout by 10% for each of the past nine years, and Imperial is committing to at least 10% average annual growth going forward. Intertek Group Getty Images Market value: $9.3 billion Dividend yield: 1.8% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 15 U.K.-based Intertek Group ( IKTSY , $57.75) provides quality assurance services to customers in the energy, chemical, agricultural, construction and health-care industries. The company operates more than 1,000 testing labs across 100 countries, and its services include systems certification and supply chain assessment, food, fuels and chemical testing, on-site inspection and product certification. Intertek frequently uses acquisitions to supplement organic growth and has added more than £250 million ($320 million) to revenues since 2015 via M&A. The company's dividends actually have been expanding faster than earnings over the past 15 years, with payouts jumping by 19.1% annually versus 14% annual growth on the bottom line. SEE ALSO: 20 Small Towns With Big Millionaire Populations Johnson & Johnson Getty Images Market value: $367.5 billion Dividend yield: 2.6% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 56 Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ , $136.97), founded in 1886 and public since 1944, operates in several different segments of the health care industry. In addition to pharmaceuticals, it makes over-the-counter consumer products such as Band-Aids, Neosporin and Listerine. It also manufactures medical devices used in surgery. Shares in J&J were flat for the year-to-date through Oct. 19, but investors can take some comfort in the rock-solid dividend. The health-care giant hiked its payout by 7.1% in April 2018, extending its streak of consecutive annual dividend increases to 56. Johnson Matthey Getty Images Market value: $7.1 billion Dividend yield: 2.9% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 31 Johnson Matthey ( JMPLY , $73.55) might be two centuries old, but it's still well entrenched in the future, manufacturing high-tech products from precious metals for customers in the automotive, natural resources and health-care industries. Among other things, the U.K. company is the global leader in automotive catalytic converters. Sales are well-diversified geographically, spread across Europe (39% of revenue), North America (33%) and China and Asia-Pacific (20%). Johnson Matthey began paying a dividend in 1999, and it has been expanding both earnings per share and its dividend at a 7% annual rate over the past six years. SEE ALSO: Test Your Mutual Fund IQ Kerry Group Courtesy Hajotthu via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $18.7 billion Dividend yield: 0.5% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 32 Ireland-domiciled Kerry Group ( KRYAY , $105.99) is a dominant player in packaged food markets across Ireland and the U.K. The company also is a world leader in specialty ingredients used to improve the flavor, appearance and health benefits of food. The company likely will need to rely on acquisitions to achieve its 10% annual EPS growth target over the next five years. According to Davy Research, Kerry Group may produce more than £800 million ($1.03 billion) of free cash flow, which will be used for M&A over the next two years. This European Dividend Aristocrat features one of the largest track records of dividend increases on this list, at 32 years of growth. The last hike was a 12% bump in 2017 to 0.63 euros (72 cents) per share. Kimberly-Clark Market value: $35.4 billion Dividend yield: 3.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 46 Kimberly-Clark's ( KMB , $102.31) well-known brands include Huggies diapers, Scott paper towels and Kleenex tissues. Like other makers of consumer staples, Kimberly-Clark holds out the promise of delivering slow but steady growth along with a healthy dividend to drive total returns. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect earnings to grow at an average annual rate of 4.8% over the next five years. Kimberly-Clark has paid out a dividend for 83 consecutive years, and has raised the annual payout for the past 46 years. SEE ALSO: 20 of the Best Stocks You Probably Haven't Heard Of Leggett & Platt Market value: $4.5 billion Dividend yield: 4.4% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 48 Leggett & Platt ( LEG , $34.75) has its hands in several pies, including producing steel wire; designing and manufacturing seating support systems for automobiles; and making components for manufacturers of upholstered furniture, beds and other home furnishings. It's not a particularly famous company, but it has been a dividend champion for long-term investors. Leggett & Platt's dividend has improved for 47 consecutive years and in 55 of the past 56 years. Lindt & Sprungli Getty Images Market value: $8.0 billion Dividend yield: 1.4% Country: Switzerland Consecutive annual dividend increases: 15 Swiss chocolate-maker Lindt & Sprungli ( LDSVF , $6,668.97) is a world leader in premium quality chocolates. The company manufactures chocolate from 12 sites across the U.S. and Europe, operates 410 retail stores and records sales in 120 countries. American consumers buy the company's Lindt, Ghirardelli and Russell Stover brands and have made Lindt the No. 1 player in premium chocolates and No. 3 overall in the U.S. chocolate market. Demand for chocolates is growing at single-digit rates in developed countries and double-digit rates in emerging markets. So it should be no surprise that Lindt anticipates the majority of its future growth will come from emerging markets like China, South Africa, Brazil and Russia, where sales rose 12.4% last year. Lindt's average dividend growth over the past five years has been a strong 10.9%, including a 10% hike last year. SEE ALSO: The 50 Best Stocks of All Time L'Oreal Getty Images Market value: $120.5 billion Dividend yield: 2.0% Country: France Consecutive annual dividend increases: 35 France's L'Oreal ( LRLCY , $43.08) is the world leader in cosmetics and skincare. The company holds a 19% share of the global cosmetics market and a 37% share of the skincare market. The global market for cosmetics is growing 4%-5% a year as a result of advertising on social media, increasing urbanization and rising online beauty spending by an expanding middle class. L'Oréal's online sales grew 24% last year, and the company already commands a 10% share of the e-commerce market for beauty products. The dividend has expanded 7.6% annually on average. Last year not only saw a 7.9% improvement to the payout, but also a preferential dividend of 10% to investors who have owned shares for at least two years. Lowe's Getty Images Market value: $75.8 billion Dividend yield: 2.1% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 56 Home improvement chain Lowe's ( LOW , $93.78) has paid a dividend every quarter since going public in 1961, and that dividend has increased annually for more than half a century. Rival Home Depot ( HD ) is also a longtime dividend payer, but its string of annual dividend increases only dates back to 2009. Analysts expect the retailer's earrings to grow at an average annual rate of 15.2% for the next five years, according to data from Thomson Reuters. SEE ALSO: How Well Do You Really Understand Bitcoin? Magna International Getty Images Market value: $16.3 billion Dividend yield: 2.7% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 9 It's not easy being an auto parts manufacturer, but if any company can handle the tariff issues, it's Magna International ( MGA , $48.36). A big player in electric-vehicle development, Magna just joined with BMW and Andretti Motorsport as a partner in their electric-vehicle racing team. The alliance allows Magna to learn more about how its mobility solutions business can help cities solve their mobility challenges. Magna repurchased $729 million of its shares in Q2 2018 in addition to paying out $115 million in dividends. McCormick & Company Market value: $18.2 billion Dividend yield: 1.5% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 32 A couple of acquisitions are expected to spice up McCormick & Company's ( MKC , $138.39) growth. The company, which makes herbs, spices and other flavorings, bought RB Foods in August 2017 and Enrico Giotti in December 2016. Both acquisitions are helping to drive sales growth, Zacks notes. Analysts expect average annual earnings growth of almost 10.4% for the next five years. That should provide support for McCormick's dividend, which has been improved on an annual basis for 32 consecutive years. SEE ALSO: 10 Top Utility Stocks to Buy for Safety and Dividends McDonald's Market value: $134.4 billion Dividend yield: 2.7% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 42 The world's largest hamburger chain also happens to be a dividend stalwart. Changing consumer tastes will always be a risk, but McDonald's ( MCD , $173.34) dividend dates back to 1976 and has gone up every year since. That's the power of being a consumer giant that has been able to adjust itself to changing consumer tastes without losing its core. McDonald's stock, a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, has outperformed that blue-chip barometer by 32 percentage points over the past five years. Medtronic Market value: $121.4 billion Dividend yield: 2.2% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 41 Medtronic ( MDT , $89.75) is one of the world's largest makers of medical devices, holding more than 4,600 patents on products ranging from insulin pumps for diabetics to stents used by cardiac surgeons. Look around a hospital or doctor's office - in the U.S. or in about 160 other countries - and there's a good chance you'll see its products. The company is focused on the health of its shareholders as well as its patients: Medtronic has been steadily increasing its dividend every year for more than four decades. SEE ALSO: What Happens When a Retailer Goes Bankrupt? Methanex Market value: $5.1 billion Dividend yield: 2.0% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 7 Methanex ( MEOH , $65.89) is the world's largest producer of methanol. Methanol is a clean-burning biodegradable fuel that's gaining traction for both commercial and residential uses. It's also used in combination with other chemicals to make plastics, paints, building materials and more. Although Methanex currently only produced 7.2 million tonnes of methanol in 2017, it can produce as much as 9.4 million tonnes annually, providing significant potential cash-flow growth. Between its quarterly dividend (currently 33 cents per quarter) and share repurchases, Methanex has returned $1.1 billion to shareholders since 2013. Micro Focus International Courtesy Ben P L via Wikimedia Market value: $6.5 billion Dividend yield: 7.6% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 13 The 2017 acquisition of Hewlett-Packard Enterprise's ( HPE ) software division made Micro Focus International ( MFGP , $15.29) the seventh largest software company in the world. Micro Focus provides enterprise-scale software for large businesses in areas such as applications development, analytics, big data, and security and risk management. Since completing its initial public offering in 2005, Micro Focus has delivered 25.7% annual growth in EPS and 27.7% yearly growth to its semi-annual dividend, which jumped by 32.1% last year to 88 cents. SEE ALSO: 5 Stocks to Sell According to Wall Street Analysts Nestle Getty Images Market value: $252.2 billion Dividend yield: 2.9% Country: Switzerlands Consecutive annual dividend increases: 23 Nestle ( NSRGY , $83.84) is the world's largest food and beverage company, boasting operations in 189 countries. Nestle churns out food products at 413 factories in 85 countries. Best-selling brands include Gerber baby food, Nescafe instant coffee, Purina pet food, Stouffers frozen foods and Perrier and Poland Springs waters. In 2018, Nestle paid $7 billion to acquire Starbucks' ( SBUX ) packaged-coffee business. The company's dividend is one of the oldest among these European Dividend Aristocrats, dating back to 1959. Novartis Getty Images Market value: $197.0 billion Dividend yield: 3.5% Country: Switzerland Consecutive annual dividend increases: 21 Novartis ( NVS , $85.29) is a global health-care company that generates more than $49 billion in annual sales through the development and marketing of blockbuster drugs such as Costentyx (arthritis) and Entresto (heart failure). Novartis has raised its dividend 21 years in a row and improved the payout by 7.1% annually on average over the past decade. SEE ALSO: 5 Hot-Running Health Insurance Stocks to Buy Novo Nordisk Courtesy Johan Wessman via Flickr Market value: $102.0 billion Dividend yield: 3.0% Country: Denmark Consecutive annual dividend increases: 13 Danish firm Novo Nordisk ( NVO , $42.39) is the world leader in medicines for diabetes and obesity-related disorders. The company has a 47% share of the insulin market and a 27% share of the total market for diabetes care (which includes insulin). Demand for the company's medicines is growing because of the global diabetes pandemic. The incidence of diabetes has doubled over the past 16 years, and scientists believe the disease could affect 11.7% of the global population (more than 736 million people) by 2045. While Novo/Nordisk has grown its dividend by 25.6% annually over the past five years, 2017's payout was just 3.3% better than the year prior, mostly because of increased spending on share repurchases. Novozymes Getty Images Market value: $13.6 billion Dividend yield: 1.6% Country: Denmark Consecutive annual dividend increases: 18 Novozymes ( NVZMY , $46.98) is the world leader in industrial enzymes and commands nearly half of this $4 billion market. Enzymes facilitate chemical reactions and are added to cleaning products, food processing, biofuel production and pharmaceutical manufacturing. This Danish company flourished following its 2000 spinoff from the aforementioned Novo Nordisk, but growth has slowed due to lower oil prices, which reduced demand for some enzymes used in detergents, animal feed and biofuels. Novozymes increased its dividend 14.3% in 2017 - just below its five-year average dividend growth rate of 16.3%. The company plans to increase its dividend 13% in 2018 and boost its payout ratio from 40% to 50%. SEE ALSO: The 5 Best Dividend Growth Stocks for the Rest of 2018 Nucor Getty Images Market value: $17.8 billion Dividend yield: 2.7% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 45 Shareholders in Nucor ( NUE , $56.13), the largest U.S. steelmaker, aren't get much benefit from tariffs in 2018. Instead, oversupply fears have been weighing on the stock. "There appears to be too much inventory in the channel right now, and this has impacted mill orders and volumes," say analysts at Longbow Research. Despite the volatility in the steel business, investors can feel good about Nucor's dividend. The company has hiked its annual payout every year since 1974, and it pays out a conservative 20% of profits as dividends. Paddy Power Betfair Getty Images Market value: $6.9 billion Dividend yield: 3.1% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 18 Ireland's Patty Power Betfair ( PDYPY , $42.45) is a leading sports-betting bookmaker in the U.K. and Australia. The company was formed in 2016 through the merger of two major U.K. bookmakers, Patty Power and Betfair. The company operates 623 betting shops across the U.K. and Ireland, runs Ireland's largest telephone betting service and has numerous online sites for sports-betting, poker and casino-gaming. Paddy Power has grown dividends 9.7% annually since 2013 while maintaining a payout ratio of between 40% and 50%. SEE ALSO: 7 Growth Stocks That Will Pay You Cash, Too Pentair Market value: $6.8 billion Dividend yield: 1.8% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 42 U.K.-based diversified industrial company Pentair ( PNR , $39.35) completed the tax-free spinoff of nVent Electric ( NVT ) in April. The move allows Pentair to focus on its water assets, operating in businesses such as Flow Technologies, Filtration & Process and Aquatic & Environmental Systems. Pentair has raised its dividend every year for more than four decades. Analysts on average project earnings per share to increase 8.6% next year, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters. PepsiCo Getty Images Market value: $155.9 billion Dividend yield: 3.4% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 46 Like Coca-Cola ( KO ), PepsiCo ( PEP , $110.45) is working against a long-term slide in soda sales. It too has responded by expanding its offerings of non-carbonated beverages. One advantage Pepsi has that Coca-Cola doesn't is its foods business - the company owns Frito-Lay snacks like Doritos, Tostitos and Rold Gold pretzels, and demand for salty snacks remains solid. In August, the company struck a deal to acquire at-home carbonated drink maker SodaStream ( SODA ) for $3.2 billion. Pepsi has paid out a quarterly dividend ever since 1965, and the company has raised the annual payout for 46 consecutive years. SEE ALSO: 5 "Warren Buffett Stocks" That Might Not Be His Ideas PPG Industries Market value: $24.7 billion Dividend yield: 1.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 47 Rising costs for raw materials are taking a toll on PPG Industries ( PPG , $102.83) these days. The paints and coatings company said in late April that it would cut 1,100 jobs as part of a restructuring aimed at slashing expenses. Longer-term, analysts remain convinced that the company can generate steady growth. Earnings are forecast to grow at an average annual rate of more than 6.4% for the next five years, according to Thomson Reuters. That in turn should help prop up PPG's dividend, which has been paid since 1899 and improved on an annual basis for 47 years. Praxair Getty Images Market value: $47.4 billion Dividend yield: 2.0% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 25 Praxair ( PX , $164.94) was added to the Dividend Aristocrats in January 2018, the same month that it declared its 25th consecutive annual dividend increase. The manufacturer of industrial gasses hiked its quarterly payout by 5% to 82.50 cents a share. "With a focused business strategy and solid execution, we were able to generate record free cash flow in 2017 and this dividend increase reflects our confidence in our ability to sustain strong cash flow throughout economic cycles," Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Steve Angel said in a press release. Analysts expect the multinational industrial firm's earnings to increase at an average annual rate of 10.7% for the next five years. SEE ALSO: America's Most Popular Breakfast Cereals (And the Stocks Behind Them) Procter & Gamble Getty Images Market value: $218.9 billion Dividend yield: 3.3% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 62 With major brands such as Tide detergent, Pampers diapers and Gillette razors, Procter & Gamble ( PG , $87.86) is among the world's largest consumer products companies. Although the economy ebbs and flows, demand for products such as toilet paper, toothpaste and soap tends to remain stable. That hardly makes P&G completely recession-proof, but it has helped fuel reliable dividend payments for more than a century. The company has paid shareholders a dividend since 1891, and raised its dividend annually for 62 years in a row. Prudential PLC Courtesy Andrew Smith via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $49.7 billion Dividend yield: 3.3% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 14 U.K.-based Prudential PLC ( PUK , $38.36) is a world leader in insurance products, annuities and other financial services. The company serves more than 36 million customers worldwide and holds nearly £700 billion ($897 billion) of assets under management. Prudential sells annuity products in the U.S. through its Jackson subsidiary and is not affiliated with U.S. insurance giant Prudential Financial ( PRU ). Jackson is the largest wholesale distributor of variable annuities in the U.S. Prudential has delivered five-year average dividend growth of 10.5% annually. SEE ALSO: 10 Growth Stocks to Buy With Monster Potential Red Electricia Courtesy Zarateman via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $11.4 billion Dividend yield: 7.3% Country: Spain Consecutive annual dividend increases: 20 Red Electricia ( RDEIY , $10.59) operates Spain's electric power grid along with a fiber optic network that accounts for 49% of that country's fiber rentals. Red invested 412 million euros ($469 million) last year in its transmission system across Spain and completed the consulting phase of a project that will link transmission grids in Spain and France. Annual dividend growth has averaged 7% for the past three years, including a 7% improvement in 2017. Roche Holdings Courtesy William Murphy via Flickr Market value: $200.4 billion Dividend yield: 3.7% Country: Switzerland Consecutive annual dividend increases: 16 Switzerland's Roche Holdings ( RHHBY , $29.32) is one of the world's largest biotech company and the world leader for in-vitro diagnostics and tissue-based cancer diagnostics. Roche became a leader these areas in 2009 when the company acquired Genentech, considered by many to be the founder of the biotech industry. The company's drug portfolio includes best-selling oncology medicines such as Herceptin, Avastin and Perjeta, and immunology drugs Rituxan and Actemra. Roche began paying dividends in 2005. Dividend growth over the past decade has averaged 8.2% annually, but growth has slowed to 3.6% annually over the most recent five years. And last year, RHHBY's dividend grew by just 1.2%. SEE ALSO: 5 Great Stocks to Buy If You're New to Investing Roper Technologies Market value: $29.5 billion Dividend yield: 0.6% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 25 Along with A.O. Smith and Praxair, Roper Technologies ( ROP , $285.38) was the third company added to the Dividend Aristocrats in 2018. The diversified industrial company was tapped for the honor after it hiked its dividend for a 25th straight year in December 2017. Roper lifted its quarterly dividend by 18% to 41.25 cents a share at the time. With a payout ratio of just 14.3%, Roper should have ample room to keep the dividend hikes coming for many years to come. Royal Bank of Canada Market value: $104.0 billion Dividend yield: 4.2% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 8 Royal Bank of Canada ( RY , $72.14) is arguably Canada's biggest bank if you go by metrics other than earnings; for instance, its 13 million customer count is tops in Canada. RBC also has the largest full-service wealth advisory business in Canada, along with the largest fund company in Canada. Even better, J.D. Power has named it the highest for customer satisfaction the last three years. Over the past 10 years, Royal Bank of Canada paid out more than C$35 billion in dividends to its shareholders, growing its payment by an average of 12% a year - three times greater than the average U.S. bank. SEE ALSO: 5 Blue-Chip "Marijuana Stocks" S&P Global Courtesy B64 via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $43.1 billion Dividend yield: 1.2% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 45 S&P Global ( SPGI , $171.41), formerly known as McGraw Hill Financial, is the company behind S&P Global Ratings, S&P Global Market Intelligence and S&P Global Platts. Although most investors probably know it for its majority stake in S&P Dow Jones Indices, it's also a central player in corporate and financial analytics, information and research. S&P Global has paid uninterrupted dividends since 1937 and has increased its distribution for 45 years in a row. Sage Group Courtesy TubularWorld via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $7.4 billion Dividend yield: 2.2% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 22 Sage Group ( SPYY , $27.28) is an enterprise software business headquartered in the U.K. The company provides specialized software with applications in accounting, financial management, enterprise planning, HR and payroll, and payment processing and banking to business customers worldwide. Sage currently serves roughly 3 million customers across 23 countries. Nine countries together account for 95% of Sage's revenues. Its top markets are Europe (54% of sales) and North America (31% of sales). The company's dividend, which has been growing every year since 1999, has averaged 10.3% in annual expansion over the past decade. SEE ALSO: The 7 Best Biotech Stocks for Investors Who Hate Risk Sanofi Getty Images Market value: $106.2 billion Dividend yield: 4.4% Country: France Consecutive annual dividend increases: 24 French pharmaceutical powerhouse Sanofi ( SNY , $42.60) is relying on acquisitions to help replace eroding sales on Lantus, a blockbuster diabetes drug whose patent recently expired. The company spent $11.6 billion earlier this year to acquire Bioverativ, which specializes in drugs for hemophilia. In addition, Sanofi paid $4.8 billion to purchase Ablynx and its portfolio of medicines for rare blood disorders. Sanofi has delivered 24 consecutive years of dividend growth on its yearly payout, averaging 4.9% growth on the distribution over the past decade. But it did up the ante for this year, boosting its dividend 13%. Sherwin-Williams Market value: $34.7 billion Dividend yield: 0.9% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 39 Sherwin-Williams ( SHW , $370.44) completed its $11 billion acquisition of Valspar in 2017 to create one of the largest paints, coatings and home-improvement companies in the world. The benefits of the deal are already showing up in results. Analysts expect revenue to increase almost 19% this year. While Sherwin-Williams did issue $6 billion in bonds to finance the transaction, investors shouldn't worry about the company's 39-year streak of annual dividend increases. SHW pays out a meager 18% of its earnings as dividends, which means it has plenty of wiggle room while it pays off its debts. SEE ALSO: QUIZ: What Do You Know About Gold? Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken Courtesy Thue via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $22.2 billion Dividend yield: 6.7% Country: Sweden Consecutive annual dividend increases: 10 Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken ( SKVKY , $10.26), more commonly known as SEB, is a leading Nordic financial services group serving corporate customers in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Germany and the United Kingdom. Founded in 1856, SEB serves approximately 3,000 large corporate customers, 400,000 small- to medium-sized businesses and 4.0 million private customers. The firm has assets under management totaling SEK 1,838 billion ($201.1 billion). SEB halted its dividend in 2008 thanks to the global financial crisis, but has put together a string of increases ever since - and has done so at a rapid 25.1% average annual rate over the past five years. Stanley Black & Decker Market value: $16.9 billion Dividend yield: 2.4% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 51 Analysts expect power and hand toolmaker Stanley Black & Decker ( SWK , $110.21) to generate average annual earnings growth of nearly 11% a year over the next five years, thanks to a strategy of growth through acquisitions and cost cuts. Stanley Black & Decker bought Newell Tools from Newell Brands ( NWL ) for $2 billion in 2016. In January 2017, it negotiated the purchase of Craftsman tools from Sears Holdings ( SHLDQ ) for a total of $775 million over three years and a percentage of annual sales. Most recently, SWK announced the acquisition of IES Attachments for $690 million cash in August. The company has paid a dividend for 142 years on an uninterrupted basis, and has increased it annually for just more than half a century. SEE ALSO: 8 Real Estate Plays Yielding Up to 8% Suncor Energy Market value: $55.0 billion Dividend yield: 3.3% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 16 There may not be a NYSE-listed Canadian company that's more popular with analysts at the moment than Suncor Energy ( SU , $33.88). Suncor is best known for its oil sands projects in Northern Alberta. Its latest, Fort Hills, which boasts lower carbon emissions and operating costs, just opened to pomp and circumstance as the Canadian oil industry celebrates higher prices and a stronger economy. Over the past six years, Suncor has grown its dividend by 19% annually, from 50 Canadian cents per share in 2012 to C$1.44 in 2018. Sysco Market value: $36.3 billion Dividend yield: 2.1% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 49 Sysco ( SYY , $69.80), a food services and restaurant supply company, is generating sales growth by making acquisitions. The company bought European services and supplies company Brakes Group in 2016, as well as the Supplies on the Fly e-commerce platform. In April 2018, the it acquired U.K.-based Kent Frozen Foods for an undisclosed sum. However, Sysco has been able to generate plenty of growth on its own, producing a steady ramp-up in revenues for years. Analysts expect average earnings growth of 12.6% annually over the next half-decade. That should allow Sysco to keep up its streak of 49 consecutive years of paying higher dividends. SEE ALSO: The 5 Highest-Yielding Warren Buffett Dividend Stocks Target Market value: $43.1 billion Dividend yield: 3.1% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 47 The No. 2 discount retail chain after Walmart ( WMT ) was late to the e-commerce game but its catch-up efforts are starting to pay off. Shares in Target ( TGT , $81.94) were 21% for the year-to-date through Oct. 19. The S&P 500 was up 2.3% over the same span. Analysts expect average annual earnings growth of 8% for the next five years. Longer term, investors can have confidence in the dividend. Target paid its first dividend in 1967, seven years ahead of Walmart, and has raised its payout annually since 1972. Thomson Reuters Getty Images Market value: $25.6 billion Dividend yield: 3.0% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 24 Thomson Reuters ( TRI , $45.94) started October by closing the biggest leveraged M&A deal of 2018. A group of investors led by Blackstone Group ( BX ) bought 55% of Thomson Reuters' Financial & Risk business for $17 billion. Thomson Reuters shareholders will see $9 billion to $11 billion of the proceeds in the form of share repurchases, with the rest going to debt repayment, cash to the balance sheet, and taxes and deal expenses. Its largest shareholder, the Thomson family's Woodbridge Group, will reinvest approximately 30% to 50% of its future dividends in Thomson Reuters stock over the next three years. As a result of the deal, which will leave Thomson less reliant on the financial services industry, Thomson Reuters will keep its annual dividend at $1.38, bringing its streak of 24 annual dividend increases to an end. However, Thomson Reuters can remain a Canadian Dividend Aristocrat by increasing the payout next year. SEE ALSO: 6 Companies That Invest in Themselves T. Rowe Price Market value: $22.6 billion Dividend yield: 3.0% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 32 Asset managers such as T. Rowe Price ( TROW , $93.87) have been losing market share to indexed funds of the type Vanguard offers, but the company still boasts $1 trillion in assets under management, and analysts expect solid top-line growth in 2018. Aided by advising fees, the company is forecast to see a 14.1% gain in revenue this year, according to data from Thomson Reuters. T. Rowe Price has improved its dividend every year for 32 years, and it boasts a lean 39% payout ratio that should keep the annual hikes coming. Unilever NV Getty Images Market value: $144.1 billion Dividend yield: 3.4% Country: United Kingdom, Netherlands Consecutive annual dividend increases: 19 Unilever NV ( UL , $53.38) is an Anglo-Dutch consumer products giant with more than 400 brands in its portfolio, including American-friendly names such as Lipton, Knorr, Dove, Axe, Hellmann's, Suave and Breyer's. Unilever Group consists of both a Dutch subsidiary, Unilever NV (55% of group sales) and a U.K. subsidiary, Unilever PLC (45% of group sales). The company is consolidating its operations into the Dutch unit this year. Unilever pays quarterly dividends. At present, Unilever PLC and Unilever NV pay separate but equal dividends. Post-consolidation, Unilever NV will be the surviving entity and all dividend payments will be made in euros. SEE ALSO: 10 S&P 500 Stocks to Buy for Long-Term Outperformance VF Corporation Market value: $31.4 billion Dividend yield: 2.6% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 46 VF Corporation ( VFC , $79.31) is an apparel company with a large number of brands under its umbrella, including Lee and Wrangler jeans and The North Face outdoor products. It added to its brand portfolio with the acquisition of Icebreaker Holdings - another outdoor and sport designer - under undisclosed terms in April 2018. Analysts expect average annual earnings growth of 13.5% for the next five years. Suffice to say, VFC's 46-year streak of annual dividend payout hikes appears safe. Walgreens Boots Alliance Market value: $72.4 billion Dividend yield: 2.3% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 43 Shareholders in Walgreens Boots Alliance's ( WBA , $76.23) breathed a sigh of relief in April when Amazon.com ( AMZN ) shelved its plan to sell prescription drugs to doctors and hospitals. Tracing its roots back to a single drugstore founded in 1901, Walgreens has boosted its dividend every year for more than four decades. Mostly recently, it announced a hike of 10% in June. It merged with Alliance Boots - a Switzerland-based health and beauty multinational - in 2014 to form the current company. SEE ALSO: 7 Tech Stocks to Buy With 100% Street Support Walmart Getty Images Market value: $289.8 billion Dividend yield: 2.1% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 43 Walmart ( WMT , $98.94) isn't conceding the retail race to Amazon.com ( AMZN ), even as the online juggernaut claims an ever-larger piece of the pie. The world's largest retailer, with roughly 4,700 stores in the U.S., has hardly been passive as Amazon seduces its customers. Walmart expects U.S. e-commerce sales to grow 40% in the current fiscal year, driven by a revamped website with a focus on fashion and home goods. The retailer also is investing heavily in its online grocery delivery service. Walmart has been delivering meager penny increases to its dividend since 2014, but that has been enough to keep up its 43-year streak of consecutive annual payout hikes. Waste Connections Getty Images Market value: $25.2 billion Dividend yield: 0.8% Country: Canada Consecutive annual dividend increases: 8 Waste Connections ( WCN , $95.76) is a waste services company providing garbage and recycling collection for secondary markets in the U.S. and Canada. Over the past five years, Waste Connections has grown its adjusted free cash flow from $300 million to close to $900 million, allowing for double-digit increases of its dividend. Waste Connections stock has a 10-year cumulative return of 422% as of Aug. 31, considerably higher than its peers and the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index. WCN also has delivered 14 consecutive years of positive shareholder returns. SEE ALSO: The 10 Best Stocks of the Bull Market Whitbread Courtesy A P Monblat via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $10.4 billion Dividend yield: 1.5% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 14 Whitbread ( WTBDY , $14.10) is the largest U.K. operator of hotels and coffee shops. The company owns Premier Inn, which operates approximately 800 hotels across Britain, the Middle East and Germany. Whitbread's Costa coffee shop business is the second largest coffee shop chain in Europe. Costa operates approximately 2,400 coffee shops in the U.K., more than 1,400 stores in 31 international markets and over 8,000 Costa Express self-serve kiosks. Whitbread plans to split its operations into two separate companies over the next 24 months. According to management, "de-merging" will enable each business to focus more resources on international growth and produce £100 million ($128 million) in efficiency savings over the next two years. Whitbread's payout has grown by 12.8% annually for the past 10 years, and its payout ratio tends to hover around 40% of earnings. Wolters Kluwer NV Courtesy Wo st 01 via Wikimedia Commons Market value: $16.0 billion Dividend yield: 2.0% Country: Netherlands Consecutive annual dividend increases: 28 Wolters Kluwer ( WTKWY , $58.33) is a global leader in professional information, software and related services for customers in the health care, tax & accounting, finance, risk & compliance, and legal sectors. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company has offices in more than 40 countries, sells to customers in approximately 180 countries and generated sales exceeding 4.4 billion euros ($5 billion) last year. Wolters Kluwer's five- and 10- year annual dividend growth rates have averaged 3.9% and 3.1%, respectively. The company pays dividends semi-annually and typically maintains payout in a 30%-40% range. SEE ALSO: 10 States That Are Surprisingly "Rich" in Millionaires WPP PLC Courtesy IAB UK via Flickr Market value: $14.1 billion Dividend yield: 7.3% Country: United Kingdom Consecutive annual dividend increases: 18 WPP PLC ( WPP , $55.91) is the largest of five advertising holding companies that control a sizable percentage of the world's advertising, marketing and communications. WPP provides services through approximately 400 subsidiary businesses. It owns many of the best-known advertising and public relations firms, including Grey, Ogilvy & Mathers, Mediacom, Y&R, and Hill & Knowlton. WPP's shares fell sharply in February of this year thanks to a weak outlook, and the company suffered more tumult in April when the company's CEO of 15 years was forced to step down following allegations of personal misconduct. At least WPP's dividend has been impressive. The payout has grown 17.7% annually on average over the past 10 years, and 17.9% over the past five. W.W. Grainger Market value: $13.2 billion Dividend yield: 2% Country: United States Consecutive annual dividend increases: 46 W.W. Grainger ( GWW , $233.61) - which not only sells industrial equipment and tools, but provides other services such as helping companies manage inventory - is expected to generate steady-if-not spectacular sales growth for the next few years. Revenue is forecast to rise 8% this year and 6.2% in 2019. Fortunately for the income-minded, Grainger has lifted its payout every year for 46 years and maintains a reasonable 34% payout ratio. SEE ALSO: 5 Stocks That Should Start Paying Dividends EDITOR'S PICKS 30 Blue-Chip Stocks With the Best Analyst Ratings 20 Small Towns With Big Millionaire Populations The 25 Best Low-Fee Mutual Funds You Can Buy Copyright 2018 The Kiplinger Washington Editors || South Korean Post Teams Up With Crypto Exchange to Apply Blockchain: South Korea’snational postal serviceKorea Postis planning to applyblockchaintechnology to its billing system, local news agencyNews1 Koreareports on June 5.
The initiative is a collaboration between the South Koreangovernmentand local private companies includingcryptocurrency exchangeCoinplugand global IT companyNHN.
According to the report, South Korean authorities will grant project participants 800 million won ($677,000) in order to support the initiative.
Operating under the authority of the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Korea Post will build a blockchain-poweredpaymentmethod incorporated in its postal service, using the blockchain expertise of Coinplug and NHN's payment technology.
The pilot project will reportedly launch in the city ofNaju, which received the title of "Innovative City" and has attracted a number of public offices to move fromSeoul.
The postal service is also considering to apply blockchain technology to overseas remittances, the report notes.
Coinplug is a South Korea-based cryptocurrency exchange that wasfoundedin June 2013. The exchange offers bitcoin (BTC) exchange andwalletservices, as well as a bitcoin prepaid card okBitcard. The exchange wasreportedlyset up by South Korean andSilicon Valleyengineers, and targets the Korean andAsianmarket.
Recently, the South Korean Ministry of Science and ICTannouncedthat the agency will conduct a follow-up study on blockchain regulations. Entitled “Blockchain Regulation Improvement Study Group,” the study intends to find out how regulations can be improved in order to embrace the benefits of the technology and to bring it to mass adoption.
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• US Congressmen Urge Presidential Economic Advisor to Hold Blockchain Forum || South Korean Post Teams Up With Crypto Exchange to Apply Blockchain: South Koreas national postal service Korea Post is planning to apply blockchain technology to its billing system, local news agency News1 Korea reports on June 5. The initiative is a collaboration between the South Korean government and local private companies including cryptocurrency exchange Coinplug and global IT company NHN . According to the report, South Korean authorities will grant project participants 800 million won ($677,000) in order to support the initiative. Operating under the authority of the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Korea Post will build a blockchain-powered payment method incorporated in its postal service, using the blockchain expertise of Coinplug and NHN's payment technology. The pilot project will reportedly launch in the city of Naju , which received the title of "Innovative City" and has attracted a number of public offices to move from Seoul . The postal service is also considering to apply blockchain technology to overseas remittances, the report notes. Coinplug is a South Korea-based cryptocurrency exchange that was founded in June 2013. The exchange offers bitcoin ( BTC ) exchange and wallet services, as well as a bitcoin prepaid card okBitcard. The exchange was reportedly set up by South Korean and Silicon Valley engineers, and targets the Korean and Asian market. Recently, the South Korean Ministry of Science and ICT announced that the agency will conduct a follow-up study on blockchain regulations. Entitled Blockchain Regulation Improvement Study Group, the study intends to find out how regulations can be improved in order to embrace the benefits of the technology and to bring it to mass adoption. Related Articles: Marshall Islands Form Dedicated Fund to Support Implementation of Its National Crypto Top South Korean Utility to Co-Develop Blockchain System for Renewable Energy Certificates Brazilian State-Owned Bank Funds Documentary via Its Own Ethereum-Based Token US Congressmen Urge Presidential Economic Advisor to Hold Blockchain Forum || Privacy Crypto Grin’s First Hard Fork Planned for Mid-July: Grin developers have reached a rough agreement on a block number and expected date of activation for the crypto network’s first ever system-wide upgrade or hard fork.
Proposed by Quentin Le Sceller, a Grin core developer and software engineer at blockchain startup BlockCypher, during a developer call on Tuesday, the proposed activation block number is 262,080. The network is expected to hit this block height on July 17.
On Wednesday, developers re-discussed Le Sceller’s hard fork timeline, which also calls for launching a private test network for the upgrade in the beginning of June and activation of the upgrade on the public Grin test network – called Floonet – on June 19.
Ethereum Classic May Delay Upcoming Hard Fork ‘Atlantis’
Taking a step back, Grin is a privacy-focussed cryptocurrency that leverages a technology calledMimbleWimbleto obfuscate transaction activity. Launched back in January, Grin raised roughly$65,000from crowd-sourced donations in the months preceding its launch. After receiving a mysterious bitcoin donation in early May worth roughly$300,000, the project presently holds roughly holds about $420,000 in funds.
During today’s impromptu meeting, Grin core developer Michael Cordner who goes by the pseudonym “Yeastplume” emphasized that while the proposed timeline could change, efforts should be taken to stick by the schedule.
“If the date slips, we’ll communicate it closer to the time,” wrote Cordner in the developer chatroom. “But we should really try to keep to it, which is another reason [why] we should keep all non-[hard fork] related [pull requests] out until post [Grin version] 2.0.0.”
The scheduled hard fork in July is actuallyone of fouranticipated system-wide upgrades in Grin’s two-year roadmap of the Grin blockchain, designed to keep specialized mining hardware from proliferating on the network.
The Real Discussion About Ethereum’s Next Hard Fork Is About to Begin
Most notably, Grin employs two different proof-of-work mining algorithms that dictate the efficacy of using ASICs versus more general computing devices called GPUs. One called Cuckatoo31+ is explicitly ASIC-friendly while the other called Cuckaroo29 is designed to optimize for GPU-specific capabilities.
Overtime the vision is to gradually phase out Cuckaroo29 in favor of Cuckatoo31+ given a philosophy that no mining algorithm can truly say ASIC-resistant forever. But in order to ensure that the secondary mining algorithm – Cuckaroo29 – stay truly ASIC-resistant for the initial period of two years, Grin developers agreed to execute minor changes to the later upgrade every six or so months.
Grin’s first upcoming hard fork will execute a change to the Cuckaroo29 mining algorithm designed to ensure its ASIC-resistant qualities on the network. However, Le Sceller emphasized to CoinDesk that in a matter of two years, this mining algorithm “will disappear.”
In addition, Grin developers are expected to discuss sometimethis monthpotential delays or holds to the schedule of the Cuckatoo31+ mining algorithm taking effect in 2021 and beyond.
Outside of the mining algorithm tweak, Grin’s first hard fork activation will also feature notable upgrades to the cryptocurrency’s wallet software aimed at increasing wallet flexibility and usability.
One of the proposals going into the hard fork titled “improved bulletproof rewind scheme,” Le Sceller tells CoinDesk will basically enable new kinds of wallet including multi-signature wallets and “watch-only” wallets alongside regular ones.
“A watch-only wallet is just a way to see the output of a wallet (i.e. the balance and the incoming funds) but you won’t be able to spend them,” detailed Le Sceller. “This is useful for a lot of stuff. [For example,] auditing or simply if you do not want to use your private key just to see your wallet balance.”
Additionally, Grin’s wallet API will also get a boost to enable new functions such as transaction invoicing.
Le Sceller highlighted:
“Regarding the new API version, [Grin developer] Yeastplume has been working on it for some time now and it’s an enhanced version using JSON-RPC (compared to the previous one which was using REST)…A website using Grin [tokens] can create an invoice and the client only ‘need to sign it’ which reduces the number of back and forth.”
Le Sceller added that mining pools, exchanges, and other users interacting with the Grin protocol will need to upgrade both their node and wallet software in order to accept new blocks and build transactions past the anticipated hard fork point.
He also emphasized that while developers reached a consensus today around the hard fork timeline, “all the datesin the documentthat I shared are tentative and not definitive,” indicating potential for change after further discussion in months to come.
Fork image via Shutterstock
• Congressman Emmer to Reintroduce Tax Bill Focused on Crypto Hard Forks
• Privacy Cryptocurrency Grin Receives Mysterious $300K Bitcoin Donation || Privacy Crypto Grin’s First Hard Fork Planned for Mid-July: Grin developers have reached a rough agreement on a block number and expected date of activation for the crypto network’s first ever system-wide upgrade or hard fork. Proposed by Quentin Le Sceller, a Grin core developer and software engineer at blockchain startup BlockCypher, during a developer call on Tuesday, the proposed activation block number is 262,080. The network is expected to hit this block height on July 17. On Wednesday, developers re-discussed Le Sceller’s hard fork timeline, which also calls for launching a private test network for the upgrade in the beginning of June and activation of the upgrade on the public Grin test network – called Floonet – on June 19. Ethereum Classic May Delay Upcoming Hard Fork ‘Atlantis’ Taking a step back, Grin is a privacy-focussed cryptocurrency that leverages a technology called MimbleWimble to obfuscate transaction activity. Launched back in January, Grin raised roughly $65,000 from crowd-sourced donations in the months preceding its launch. After receiving a mysterious bitcoin donation in early May worth roughly $300,000 , the project presently holds roughly holds about $420,000 in funds. During today’s impromptu meeting, Grin core developer Michael Cordner who goes by the pseudonym “Yeastplume” emphasized that while the proposed timeline could change, efforts should be taken to stick by the schedule. “If the date slips, we’ll communicate it closer to the time,” wrote Cordner in the developer chatroom. “But we should really try to keep to it, which is another reason [why] we should keep all non-[hard fork] related [pull requests] out until post [Grin version] 2.0.0.” Cuckaroo29 The scheduled hard fork in July is actually one of four anticipated system-wide upgrades in Grin’s two-year roadmap of the Grin blockchain, designed to keep specialized mining hardware from proliferating on the network. The Real Discussion About Ethereum’s Next Hard Fork Is About to Begin Most notably, Grin employs two different proof-of-work mining algorithms that dictate the efficacy of using ASICs versus more general computing devices called GPUs. One called Cuckatoo31+ is explicitly ASIC-friendly while the other called Cuckaroo29 is designed to optimize for GPU-specific capabilities. Story continues Overtime the vision is to gradually phase out Cuckaroo29 in favor of Cuckatoo31+ given a philosophy that no mining algorithm can truly say ASIC-resistant forever. But in order to ensure that the secondary mining algorithm – Cuckaroo29 – stay truly ASIC-resistant for the initial period of two years, Grin developers agreed to execute minor changes to the later upgrade every six or so months. Grin’s first upcoming hard fork will execute a change to the Cuckaroo29 mining algorithm designed to ensure its ASIC-resistant qualities on the network. However, Le Sceller emphasized to CoinDesk that in a matter of two years, this mining algorithm “will disappear.” In addition, Grin developers are expected to discuss sometime this month potential delays or holds to the schedule of the Cuckatoo31+ mining algorithm taking effect in 2021 and beyond. Other changes Outside of the mining algorithm tweak, Grin’s first hard fork activation will also feature notable upgrades to the cryptocurrency’s wallet software aimed at increasing wallet flexibility and usability. One of the proposals going into the hard fork titled “ improved bulletproof rewind scheme ,” Le Sceller tells CoinDesk will basically enable new kinds of wallet including multi-signature wallets and “watch-only” wallets alongside regular ones. “A watch-only wallet is just a way to see the output of a wallet (i.e. the balance and the incoming funds) but you won’t be able to spend them,” detailed Le Sceller. “This is useful for a lot of stuff. [For example,] auditing or simply if you do not want to use your private key just to see your wallet balance.” Additionally, Grin’s wallet API will also get a boost to enable new functions such as transaction invoicing. Le Sceller highlighted: “Regarding the new API version, [Grin developer] Yeastplume has been working on it for some time now and it’s an enhanced version using JSON-RPC (compared to the previous one which was using REST)…A website using Grin [tokens] can create an invoice and the client only ‘need to sign it’ which reduces the number of back and forth.” Le Sceller added that mining pools, exchanges, and other users interacting with the Grin protocol will need to upgrade both their node and wallet software in order to accept new blocks and build transactions past the anticipated hard fork point. He also emphasized that while developers reached a consensus today around the hard fork timeline, “all the dates in the document that I shared are tentative and not definitive,” indicating potential for change after further discussion in months to come. Fork image via Shutterstock Related Stories Congressman Emmer to Reintroduce Tax Bill Focused on Crypto Hard Forks Privacy Cryptocurrency Grin Receives Mysterious $300K Bitcoin Donation || Peloton CEO: Sales increased after we raised prices to $2,245 per bike: Peloton, whichfiled confidentiallyfor an initial public offering on Wednesday, might not have gained a cult following had it not raised the price of its in-home exercise bike to $2,245 early on.
“It was interesting psychology that we teased out,” Peloton CEO John Foley recalled in an interview last year with Yahoo Finance. “In the very, very early days, we charged $1,200 for the Peloton bike for the first couple of months. And what turned out happening is we heard from customers that the bike must be poorly built if you’re charging $1,200 for it. We charged $2,000 dollars for it, and sales increased, because people said, ‘Oh, it must be a quality bike.’”
Foley is ready to take Peloton to the next level, this time, as a publicly-traded company. Peloton on Wednesday announced it had filed confidentially for an initial public offering, but the company has not yet determined the price for the IPO or the number of shares that will be offered. Peloton last raiseda $550 million Series F round of funding, led by venture capital firm TCV, in August 2018, valuing the company at $4 billion.
It’s a stark difference from nearly seven years ago, when Foley, a serial entrepreneur and former Barnes and Noble (BKS) executive, found himself turned down by over 400 investors, who didn’t see a viable business in developing and selling fitness equipment for the home, including yet another exercise bike.
“I was just always pitching and always getting ‘No,’” Foley recalls. “Finally, over the course of five years, we became capitalized enough to build what is now Peloton. But I am proud to the extent that I went through those tough times, that we’ve shown there will be great returns for capital that comes into the fitness space, to the extent some of these other fledgling niche companies are getting traction or getting capital.”
Now, the situation is different for the in-home fitness market, which is even more crowded with quality devices, ranging from — yes — more exercise bikes like the cheaper $800 Echelon Fit to even a$1,500 mirror with a virtual trainer.
The New York City-based Peloton, which now has over 900 employees, has seen its business grow, driven largely by sales of its slick, internet-connected stationary bikes that stream thousands of live and pre-recorded SoulCycle-esque group classes into people’s homes. The company has sold over400,000 Peloton bikes, according to a CNBC report earlier this year, which start at $1,995 (plus a $250 delivery fee and $39 monthly membership), earning a cult following of users who includeMark Zuckerberg,Richard Branson, Ellen DeGeneres, David Beckham, andSean “Diddy” Combs. Along with the membership fee, Peloton offers an app with videos for spinning, running, strength training, and stretching.
Foley said presales of Peloton’s newer $4,000 internet-connected treadmill — a machine that chucks the old-school rolling conveyor belt in favor of smoother running slats — were triple the company’s internal estimates for the first six months. And since September 2018, Peloton has gone global, openingsix showroomsacross Canada and five stores in London alone, according to the company’s website.
It’s all part of a larger business play for Foley, which includes capitalizing on a slowly growing trend with Americans becoming more fitness-conscious. According to a report from the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association due out later this year,62.5 million Americansnow own gym memberships — up 2.6% from 60.9 million in 2017.
By slowly rolling out new types of high-quality, internet-connected fitness equipment for the home, Foley contends he can get new customers to spend less time ponying up for gym memberships and more time exercising on Peloton machines in the convenience of one’s home. (Peloton is currently developing a third piece of fitness equipment, although Foley declined to give specifics.)
“You’re experiencing all the cardio you want from … your own home,” Foley explains. “Will you cancel your gym membership? Potentially, because you have better fitness equipment, better instructors, better software, better hardware, and a better location — and we’re going to make sure that’s a better value.”
Peloton’s growing pack of competitors will no doubt be watching closely.
Note: This story was originally published on September 12, 2018 and updated to reflect Peloton’s confidential IPO filing.
—
JP Mangalindan is the Chief Tech Correspondent for Yahoo Finance covering the intersection of tech and business. Email story tips and musings [email protected]. Follow him onTwitterorFacebook.
More from JP:
• LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman defends Facebooks’ response to election meddling
• Bitcoin advocate Charlie Shrem: Here’s how long you should hold your crypto
• Reddit co-founder: Why I’m betting on bitcoin despite its volatility
• Nvidia CEO: ‘Computer graphics will never be the same again’
• Amazon self-published authors: Our books were banned for no reason || Peloton CEO John Foley: Sales increased after we raised prices: Peloton, which filed confidentially for an initial public offering on Wednesday, might not have gained a cult following had it not raised the price of its in-home exercise bike to $2,245 early on. “It was interesting psychology that we teased out,” Peloton CEO John Foley recalled in an interview last year with Yahoo Finance. “In the very, very early days, we charged $1,200 for the Peloton bike for the first couple of months. And what turned out happening is we heard from customers that the bike must be poorly built if you’re charging $1,200 for it. We charged $2,000 dollars for it, and sales increased, because people said, ‘Oh, it must be a quality bike.’” Foley is ready to take Peloton to the next level, this time, as a publicly-traded company. Peloton on Wednesday announced it had filed confidentially for an initial public offering, but the company has not yet determined the price for the IPO or the number of shares that will be offered. Peloton last raised a $550 million Series F round of funding , led by venture capital firm TCV, in August 2018, valuing the company at $4 billion. It’s a stark difference from nearly seven years ago, when Foley, a serial entrepreneur and former Barnes and Noble ( BKS ) executive, found himself turned down by over 400 investors, who didn’t see a viable business in developing and selling fitness equipment for the home, including yet another exercise bike. Peloton CEO John Foley speaking to Yahoo Finance in September 2018. “I was just always pitching and always getting ‘No,’” Foley recalls. “Finally, over the course of five years, we became capitalized enough to build what is now Peloton. But I am proud to the extent that I went through those tough times, that we’ve shown there will be great returns for capital that comes into the fitness space, to the extent some of these other fledgling niche companies are getting traction or getting capital.” A crowded market Now, the situation is different for the in-home fitness market, which is even more crowded with quality devices, ranging from — yes — more exercise bikes like the cheaper $800 Echelon Fit to even a $1,500 mirror with a virtual trainer . The New York City-based Peloton, which now has over 900 employees, has seen its business grow, driven largely by sales of its slick, internet-connected stationary bikes that stream thousands of live and pre-recorded SoulCycle-esque group classes into people’s homes. The company has sold over 400,000 Peloton bikes , according to a CNBC report earlier this year, which start at $1,995 (plus a $250 delivery fee and $39 monthly membership), earning a cult following of users who include Mark Zuckerberg, Richard Branson, Ellen DeGeneres, David Beckham, and Sean “Diddy” Combs . Along with the membership fee, Peloton offers an app with videos for spinning, running, strength training, and stretching. Story continues Foley said presales of Peloton’s newer $4,000 internet-connected treadmill — a machine that chucks the old-school rolling conveyor belt in favor of smoother running slats — were triple the company’s internal estimates for the first six months. And since September 2018, Peloton has gone global, opening six showrooms across Canada and five stores in London alone, according to the company’s website. The Peloton bike starts at $2,245. It’s all part of a larger business play for Foley, which includes capitalizing on a slowly growing trend with Americans becoming more fitness-conscious. According to a report from the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association due out later this year, 62.5 million Americans now own gym memberships — up 2.6% from 60.9 million in 2017. By slowly rolling out new types of high-quality, internet-connected fitness equipment for the home, Foley contends he can get new customers to spend less time ponying up for gym memberships and more time exercising on Peloton machines in the convenience of one’s home. (Peloton is currently developing a third piece of fitness equipment, although Foley declined to give specifics.) “You’re experiencing all the cardio you want from … your own home,” Foley explains. “Will you cancel your gym membership? Potentially, because you have better fitness equipment, better instructors, better software, better hardware, and a better location — and we’re going to make sure that’s a better value.” Peloton’s growing pack of competitors will no doubt be watching closely. Note: This story was originally published on September 12, 2018 and updated to reflect Peloton’s confidential IPO filing. — JP Mangalindan is the Chief Tech Correspondent for Yahoo Finance covering the intersection of tech and business. Email story tips and musings to [email protected] . Follow him on Twitter or Facebook . More from JP: LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman defends Facebooks’ response to election meddling Bitcoin advocate Charlie Shrem: Here’s how long you should hold your crypto Reddit co-founder: Why I’m betting on bitcoin despite its volatility Nvidia CEO: ‘Computer graphics will never be the same again’ Amazon self-published authors: Our books were banned for no reason Mark your calendars! View comments || California Public Accountants Seek Clarity on Cryptocurrency Holdings: The California Society of Certified Public Accountants (CalCPA) is seeking clarity oncryptocurrencyholdings from the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), according to a recent letter obtained by Cointelegraph.
In the letter, CalCPA stated that accounting for digital currencies is not adequately captured under existingUnited StatesGenerally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) established by the FASB, and should be generally aligned with the accounting model for a foreign currency. The organization said that many of the features and risks of cryptocurrencies are similar to those of foreign currency. The society further argued:
“...while nogovernmentbacks cryptocurrencies, the ‘gold standard’ is long gone, and governments only influence, but do not really back, their own respective currencies. Instances of massive currency devaluation are not infrequent and well known. And while bitcoin is not legal tender in the U.S., neither is Canadian dollar, or any other foreign currency.”
CalCPA thus urges the FASB to initiate a project for accounting cryptocurrencies and add it to the Board’s or Emerging Issues Task Force’s technical agenda, since it believes that digital currencies will continue to expand in both volume and new fields of application.
Authorities in various spheres are seeking regulatory clarity for cryptocurrencies. CalCPA’s request follows a bipartisan letter from 21 U.S. congressmen to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS),requestingguidance on how to report taxes virtual currency.
The letter urged the IRS to provide guidance on tax consequences and basic reporting requirements for taxpayers that use cryptocurrencies, claiming that there is still “substantial ambiguity on a number of important questions about the federal taxation” of the emerging type of asset.
In response to the request, IRS Commissioner Charles Rettigstatedthat the agency has prioritized issuing relevant guidance. The instruction will specifically cover issues such as acceptable methods for calculation cost basis, cost basis assignment; and tax treatment of forks.
• SEC Chairman: Other Market Protections Needed Before Bitcoin ETF Approval
• Major Coins See Red Following Reports That FOMO Fueled May’s Rally
• LocalBitcoins Confirms Removal of Local Cash Trades
• John McAfee To Roll Out ‘Freedom Coin’ Cryptocurrency This Fall
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8043.95, 7954.13, 7688.08, 8000.33, 7927.71, 8145.86, 8230.92, 8693.83, 8838.38, 8994.49
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 6729.74, 6083.69, 6162.48, 6173.23, 6249.18, 6093.67, 6157.13, 5903.44, 6218.30, 6404.00, 6385.82, 6614.18, 6529.59, 6597.55, 6639.14, 6673.50, 6856.93, 6773.88, 6741.75, 6329.95, 6394.71, 6228.81, 6238.05, 6276.12, 6359.64, 6741.75, 7321.04, 7370.78, 7466.86, 7354.13, 7419.29, 7418.49, 7711.11, 8424.27, 8181.39, 7951.58, 8165.01, 8192.15, 8218.46, 8180.48, 7780.44, 7624.91, 7567.15, 7434.39, 7032.85, 7068.48, 6951.80, 6753.12, 6305.80, 6568.23, 6184.71, 6295.73, 6322.69, 6297.57, 6199.71, 6308.52, 6334.73, 6580.63, 6423.76, 6506.07, 6308.53, 6488.76, 6376.71, 6534.88, 6719.96, 6763.19, 6707.26, 6884.64, 7096.28, 7047.16, 6978.23, 7037.58, 7193.25, 7272.72, 7260.06, 7361.66, 6792.83, 6529.17, 6467.07, 6225.98, 6300.86, 6329.70, 6321.20, 6351.80, 6517.31, 6512.71, 6543.20, 6517.18, 6281.20, 6371.30.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2018-09-18]
Volume: 4180090000, RSI (14-day): 42.46, 50-day EMA: 6714.44, 200-day EMA: 7434.64
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1196.80, Gold RSI: 46.38
Oil Price: 69.85, Oil RSI: 55.91
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Bullish on Blockchain: Georgia Universities to Offer Fintech Degree Programs: The University System of Georgia (USG)announcedthe launch of a state-wide fintech academy on on Sept. 11. It is the largest education effort of its kind in the United States.
While individual universities have offered blockchain courses, such asStanfordandNYU, Georgia is opening the program to all current students across all colleges in the state’s public university system. Additionally, professionals and degree-holders who desire to enter the fintech sector can enroll in the academy.
Called theGeorgia FinTech Academy, the program will have two in-person locations in the downtown Atlanta area for on-campus classes. Courses will also be conducted online and in departments within Georgia colleges. Completion of these programs will result in accredited credentials or degrees.
The scale is large. The mission is to make fintech education accessible to everyone in Georgia, with a focus on experiential learning through apprenticeships.
Though the large effort could be seen as risky and too early, Jim Senn, founding director of the program, makes a clear separation between core technologies and individual cryptocurrencies.
Senn stated in an exclusive interview with CCN:
“Cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin and ethereum, should be considered separately from blockchain or distributed ledger. Bitcoin is an application. Blockchain is a new base technology featuring a distributed ledger.”
He admits that core blockchain technologies are still new, but USG seems to have already placed its bet on growing adoption.
Reflecting on the industry, Senn said:
“The industry around blockchain and distributed ledger is in its infancy. In many ways it feels like the very early days of the Internet, prior to the introduction of the worldwide web. The technology community is only now beginning to develop the tools and practices to make blockchain a viable technology for business and government.”
As a hub for fintech innovation already, Atlanta is drawing on experts from private companies to teach targeted curricula for blockchain applications, including commercial banking, software development, and supply chain logistics.
Since blockchain has the potential to bring regions large investments and economic innovations, countries are stepping up their efforts to teach the technology and gain a competitive edge with intellectual property.
China has poured money into luring blockchain innovators and investments, though the country still, ironically, has an overallban on large components of the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
Malta, meanwhile, has a running start, with government and residents accepting cryptocurrency investors wholeheartedly. As CCNreportedon Sept. 2, the University of Malta created a €300,000 blockchain scholarship fund.
Georgia’s new fintech program could be a major step in a growing push for the U.S. to step up efforts nationally in distributed ledger technology, with an eye toward remaining competitive globally.
Images from Shutterstock
The postBullish on Blockchain: Georgia Universities to Offer Fintech Degree Programsappeared first onCCN. || Bullish on Blockchain: Georgia Universities to Offer Fintech Degree Programs: University of Georgia blockchain The University System of Georgia (USG) announced the launch of a state-wide fintech academy on on Sept. 11. It is the largest education effort of its kind in the United States. While individual universities have offered blockchain courses, such as Stanford and NYU , Georgia is opening the program to all current students across all colleges in the state’s public university system. Additionally, professionals and degree-holders who desire to enter the fintech sector can enroll in the academy. GA Fintech Curriculum Heavy in Blockchain Tech Called the Georgia FinTech Academy , the program will have two in-person locations in the downtown Atlanta area for on-campus classes. Courses will also be conducted online and in departments within Georgia colleges. Completion of these programs will result in accredited credentials or degrees. The scale is large. The mission is to make fintech education accessible to everyone in Georgia, with a focus on experiential learning through apprenticeships. Though the large effort could be seen as risky and too early, Jim Senn, founding director of the program, makes a clear separation between core technologies and individual cryptocurrencies. Senn stated in an exclusive interview with CCN: “Cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin and ethereum, should be considered separately from blockchain or distributed ledger. Bitcoin is an application. Blockchain is a new base technology featuring a distributed ledger.” He admits that core blockchain technologies are still new, but USG seems to have already placed its bet on growing adoption. Reflecting on the industry, Senn said: “The industry around blockchain and distributed ledger is in its infancy. In many ways it feels like the very early days of the Internet, prior to the introduction of the worldwide web. The technology community is only now beginning to develop the tools and practices to make blockchain a viable technology for business and government.” Story continues As a hub for fintech innovation already, Atlanta is drawing on experts from private companies to teach targeted curricula for blockchain applications, including commercial banking, software development, and supply chain logistics. Crypto — a New Arms Race in Education? bitcoin education graduation cap Since blockchain has the potential to bring regions large investments and economic innovations, countries are stepping up their efforts to teach the technology and gain a competitive edge with intellectual property. China has poured money into luring blockchain innovators and investments, though the country still, ironically, has an overall ban on large components of the cryptocurrency ecosystem . Malta, meanwhile, has a running start, with government and residents accepting cryptocurrency investors wholeheartedly. As CCN reported on Sept. 2, the University of Malta created a €300,000 blockchain scholarship fund. Georgia’s new fintech program could be a major step in a growing push for the U.S. to step up efforts nationally in distributed ledger technology, with an eye toward remaining competitive globally. Images from Shutterstock The post Bullish on Blockchain: Georgia Universities to Offer Fintech Degree Programs appeared first on CCN . || Litecoin a ‘Significantly Overvalued Relic,’ Cryptocurrency Hedge Fund Claims: litecoin price bear Proponents of litecoin, the seventh-largest cryptocurrency, have long touted it as “silver to bitcoin’s gold,” the medium of exchange to BTC’s store of value. Much like physical silver, though, litecoin currently trades well below its all-time high, having plunged to about $55 from a peak of $358. However, according to cryptocurrency hedge fund Multicoin Capital, even at that mark litecoin is “significantly overvalued.” Multicoin , which is short LTC, lays out its bear case for the asset in a new report , authored by managing partner Tushar Jain. A Maturing Market and a Diminishing ‘Coinbase Effect’ The Texas-based fund, via Jain, argues that LTC faces a variety of negative catalysts, with no bull case to offset them. First, Jain alleges that litecoin’s 2017 bull run came predominantly as a result of naivety among retail investors and immaturity in the cryptocurrency market. As evidence, he cites the fact that LTC was the “least expensive per-unit asset on Coinbase,” one of the most popular trading platforms among inexperienced cryptocurrency buyers — the most likely group to not recognize that you can purchase fractional coins. The coin no longer bears that distinction, though, since Coinbase listed ethereum classic (ETC) in August and has further announced plans to consider listing a variety of other assets, which promises to diminish the impact that a Coinbase listing provides for an individual cryptocurrency. Questionable Financials & Development charlie lee litecoin bitcoin cryptocurrency Next, Multicoin argues that the Litecoin Foundation is in a poor financial situation to continue operating effectively, holding only about $322,000 in assets — with 82 percent of those funds denominated in LTC. Moreover, the firm says that LTC does not have a unique development roadmap, which helps explain the dearth of LTC GitHub commits, with the majority of LTC updates being forked from Bitcoin Core. Litecoin development With these factors in mind, Jain, like several other analysts, called founder Charlie Lee’s decision to sell his entire LTC stake a “red flag,” regardless of his stated intentions in so doing. “Despite his intentions, a misalignment of incentives now exists that decreases his motivation to continue development and add value to the protocol,” Jain wrote. “To better achieve this goal, we would have liked to see him time-lock his holdings or use them to fund further LTC development.” Sell Pressures Finally, Multicoin argues that the litecoin price will not be able to overcome the significant selling pressure it will likely face in the near future. To wit, the report notes that Bitmain — the most valuable cryptocurrency company — owns over 1 million LTC, according to a leaked investor deck . The firm, led by CEO Jihan Wu, has been an outspoken supporter of bitcoin cash (BCH), which — like litecoin — aims to become the internet’s “digital cash.” Consequently, Multicoin believes that Bitmain will eventually dump the LTC, either to provide BCH with price support or to force litecoin further into bearish territory. Story continues Even absent that looming risk, LTC faces continuous sell pressure from mining, a drawback which applies to all inflationary and disinflationary cryptocurrencies but whose effects will be particularly pronounced on an asset already facing significant negative catalysts. Batting Down the ‘Bull Case’ for Litecoin litecoin Meanwhile, Multicoin believes the supposed bull cases for litecoin — e.g. that it is an ideal medium of exchange and/or a testnet for the Bitcoin network — fail to stand up to scrutiny. Writing in the firm’s report, Jain takes aim at the narrative that if bitcoin is gold, then litecoin is silver. Jain says that this is a false analogy because, unlike physical gold, bitcoin will likely in the future become a viable medium of exchange through the adoption of technologies like the Lightning Network (LN). “Comparing digital assets to precious metals may be a nice analogy, but it does not have any substance. The value of the ratio of silver-to-gold is based on the idea of price-to-weight ratio. A lower price-to-weight ratio makes payments for smaller purchases more convenient. Digital assets are weightless, and thus the same analysis cannot be made.” Even if there is room in the cryptocurrency ecosystem for a non-bitcoin medium of exchange, Multicoin argues that there is no reason why LTC will be the asset that fills this void: “Litecoin’s adoption is generally shown using qualitative evidence of merchants accepting Litecoin. Merchants accepting Litecoin also generally accept a basket of other cryptoassets because crypto payment processors such as BitPay support many cryptocurrencies. Merchants are not explicitly choosing to support Litecoin payments. Rather, they’re electing to accept payment in any crypto, of which Litecoin is just one.” Perhaps a stronger case is that, as a member of the “Satoshi family tree,” LTC can serve as a live-fire testnet for BTC, whose developers tend to move cautiously to preserve the network’s security. Even if true, though, Multicoin argues that there is no reason why such a testnet should be worth $3 billion, much lest present token holders with any further upside from that mark. LTC a ‘Relic of the Pre-Smart Contract’ Age Summarizing the firm’s position, Multicoin says that while LTC may be historically significant, its founding vision has become obsolete and has not been replaced by a viable roadmap. Jane writes, “In truth, Litecoin is a relic of the pre-smart contract platform crypto ecosystem. Perception resulting from these outdated narratives has led to a large divergence between current price and fundamental value.” He concludes: “Hovering at approximately $50, we believe LTC is significantly overvalued. Given the lack of a viable investment thesis, nonexistent positive catalysts and strong negative catalysts, we expect LTC to continue to substantially underperform the crypto market.” Though withering, Multicoin’s view is not universally shared among cryptocurrency analysts. Last month, CCN reported that Mati Greenspan, senior market analyst at eToro, said that LTC is trading at a “massive discount” to its fundamental and technical factors. Images from Shutterstock The post Litecoin a ‘Significantly Overvalued Relic,’ Cryptocurrency Hedge Fund Claims appeared first on CCN . View comments || Litecoin a ‘Significantly Overvalued Relic,’ Cryptocurrency Hedge Fund Claims: Proponents of litecoin, the seventh-largest cryptocurrency, have long touted it as “silver to bitcoin’s gold,” the medium of exchange to BTC’s store of value. Much like physical silver, though, litecoin currently trades well below its all-time high, having plunged to about $55 from a peak of $358. However, according to cryptocurrency hedge fund Multicoin Capital, even at that mark litecoin is “significantly overvalued.”
Multicoin, which is short LTC, lays out its bear case for the asset in anew report, authored by managing partner Tushar Jain.
The Texas-based fund, via Jain, argues that LTC faces a variety of negative catalysts, with no bull case to offset them.
First, Jain alleges that litecoin’s 2017 bull run came predominantly as a result of naivety among retail investors and immaturity in the cryptocurrency market. As evidence, he cites the fact that LTC was the “least expensive per-unit asset on Coinbase,” one of the most popular trading platforms among inexperienced cryptocurrency buyers — the most likely group to not recognize that you can purchase fractional coins.
The coin no longer bears that distinction, though, since Coinbaselisted ethereum classic(ETC) in August and has further announced plans to consider listing a variety of other assets, which promises to diminish the impact that a Coinbase listing provides for an individual cryptocurrency.
Next, Multicoin argues that the Litecoin Foundation is in a poor financial situation to continue operating effectively, holding only about $322,000 in assets — with 82 percent of those funds denominated in LTC.
Moreover, the firm says that LTC does not have a unique development roadmap, which helps explain the dearth of LTC GitHub commits, with the majority of LTC updates being forked from Bitcoin Core.
With these factors in mind, Jain, like several other analysts, called founder Charlie Lee’s decision tosell his entire LTC stakea “red flag,” regardless of his stated intentions in so doing.
“Despite his intentions, a misalignment of incentives now exists that decreases his motivation to continue development and add value to the protocol,” Jain wrote. “To better achieve this goal, we would have liked to see him time-lock his holdings or use them to fund further LTC development.”
Finally, Multicoin argues that the litecoin price will not be able to overcome the significant selling pressure it will likely face in the near future.
To wit, the report notes thatBitmain— the most valuable cryptocurrency company — owns over 1 million LTC, according to aleaked investor deck. The firm, led by CEO Jihan Wu, has been an outspoken supporter of bitcoin cash (BCH), which — like litecoin — aims to become the internet’s “digital cash.” Consequently, Multicoin believes that Bitmain will eventually dump the LTC, either to provide BCH with price support or to force litecoin further into bearish territory.
Even absent that looming risk, LTC faces continuous sell pressure from mining, a drawback which applies to all inflationary and disinflationary cryptocurrencies but whose effects will be particularly pronounced on an asset already facing significant negative catalysts.
Meanwhile, Multicoin believes the supposed bull cases for litecoin — e.g. that it is an ideal medium of exchange and/or a testnet for the Bitcoin network — fail to stand up to scrutiny.
Writing in the firm’s report, Jain takes aim at the narrative that if bitcoin is gold, then litecoin is silver. Jain says that this is a false analogy because, unlike physical gold, bitcoin will likely in the future become a viable medium of exchange through the adoption of technologies like theLightning Network(LN).
“Comparing digital assets to precious metals may be a nice analogy, but it does not have any substance. The value of the ratio of silver-to-gold is based on the idea of price-to-weight ratio. A lower price-to-weight ratio makes payments for smaller purchases more convenient. Digital assets are weightless, and thus the same analysis cannot be made.”
Even if there is room in the cryptocurrency ecosystem for a non-bitcoin medium of exchange, Multicoin argues that there is no reason why LTC will be the asset that fills this void:
“Litecoin’s adoption is generally shown using qualitative evidence of merchants accepting Litecoin. Merchants accepting Litecoin also generally accept a basket of other cryptoassets because crypto payment processors such as BitPay support many cryptocurrencies. Merchants are not explicitly choosing to support Litecoin payments. Rather, they’re electing to accept payment in any crypto, of which Litecoin is just one.”
Perhaps a stronger case is that, as a member of the “Satoshi family tree,” LTC can serve as a live-fire testnet for BTC, whose developers tend to move cautiously to preserve the network’s security. Even if true, though, Multicoin argues that there is no reason why such a testnet should be worth $3 billion, much lest present token holders with any further upside from that mark.
Summarizing the firm’s position, Multicoin says that while LTC may be historically significant, its founding vision has become obsolete and has not been replaced by a viable roadmap. Jane writes, “In truth, Litecoin is a relic of the pre-smart contract platform crypto ecosystem. Perception resulting from these outdated narratives has led to a large divergence between current price and fundamental value.”
He concludes:
“Hovering at approximately $50, we believe LTC is significantly overvalued. Given the lack of a viable investment thesis, nonexistent positive catalysts and strong negative catalysts, we expect LTC to continue to substantially underperform the crypto market.”
Though withering, Multicoin’s view is not universally shared among cryptocurrency analysts. Last month, CCNreportedthat Mati Greenspan, senior market analyst at eToro, said that LTC is trading at a “massive discount” to its fundamental and technical factors.
Images from Shutterstock
The postLitecoin a ‘Significantly Overvalued Relic,’ Cryptocurrency Hedge Fund Claimsappeared first onCCN. || Crypto Wallet Protection App Wants to Secure Your Wallets Against Malware: Malware, a persistent thorn in the side of the internet’s wider community, has become an increasing concern for cryptocurrency users. A problem that comes in many forms, malicious software is leveraged by hackers to rob community members of their funds. One program, dubbed theclipboard hijacker, for instance, operates by secretly gaining control of a Windows device’s running memory. It then replaces the Bitcoin address copied into a user’s clipboard with the address of the attacker, leading the user to unwittingly transfers funds to the hacker.
New Jersey–basedBlockSafe Technologiesis determined to make mobile crypto wallets more secure with a mobile wallet protection app called the CryptoDefender.According to the company, the CryptoDefender mobile app proactively prevents keylogging malware from stealing your cryptocurrency wallet login details.
The mobile app, which has a desktop version, is loaded with a host of features including a password generator that creates and stores strong passwords, a password vault for encrypting and storing passwords securely, a secure browser and an OATH-complaint one-time password (OTP) generator for websites that allows for two-factor authentication.
George Waller, who serves as the CEO of BlockSafe and the co-founder of cybersecurity outfit StrikeForce Technologies, played a pivotal role in introducing out-of-band authentication and keystroke encryption to the marketplace. He has also held management roles at RxRemedy, TeachMeIT and HealthSCOUT.
Speaking withBitcoin Magazine, Waller said the threat posed by bad actors and malware is one of the biggest barriers to the mass adoption of cryptocurrency.
“Wallets are very vulnerable and insecure, with an average of $9 million stolen every day. By far, those most at risk of becoming victims at the hands of bad actors are those without IT teams, sophisticated cybersecurity tools, or the experience to understand how great the risk can really be,” he remarked.
“The best targets to steal crypto from are the everyday investors, the folks that did the research and took the chance of investing their hard-earned dollars in an emerging and revolutionary technology, and as blockchain cybersecurity experts, we simply won’t stand idly by while the community that is the very foundation of this space are robbed straight out of it.”
At the core of howCryptoDefenderoperates is its keystroke encryption, which blocks keylogging malware and other forms of malware from breaching mobile crypto wallets.
It accomplishes this by encrypting every keystroke a user makes, rather than trying to detect keylogging malware on the device. The app installs an encrypted keystroke keyboard and then routes each encrypted keystroke through its secure data stack, bypassing the original data stack that can easily be hijacked by hackers.
CryptoDefender comes with a secure mobile browser, which Waller says prevents against all forms of attack, including man-in-the-middle and man-in-the-browser attacks. Each time a user launches the browser, CryptoDefender will “generate a brand new browser on the fly, [and] when you close it, we dissolve it,” Waller explained.
“We don’t allow browser extensions, tabs, injections, cookies, or any other vulnerable attributes to be loaded into the browser. Every time you open our browser, it’s a brand new one for the first time.”
Users can create strong passwords up to 99 characters in length and store them automatically in the Password Vault for safekeeping. The Vault, which Waller claims is “extremely safe,” works hand in hand with the browser and the encrypted keyboard. He went on further by saying that the Vault uses AES-256 encryption — a key-generationtechniqueused to encrypt data and prevent unwanted access to data — and fingerprint authentication to secure it.
“Many of us buy, sell, and move cryptocurrencies from our phones and desktops; if one device is protected while the other remains vulnerable to intrusion, they both are at risk. CryptoDefender is a tremendous milestone as it represents phase one in our three-part mission to secure the blockchain ecosystem,” Waller added.
Waller said the app is different from a long list of anti-keylogger software offering similar solutions because of its utility as both a downstream and upstream prescription. He also claimed the app is the “only keystroke encryption” product designed to protect crypto wallets.
“We built this with the assumption that your device is already infected, therefore, as soon as you install this, you are protected. Products that take a reactive approach, i.e., anti-virus software, are always stuck in that cat-n-mouse cycle and getting bypassed on a daily basis.”
The mobile app is available on the BlockSafewebsitefor both Android and iOS devices.
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || Crypto Wallet Protection App Wants to Secure Your Wallets Against Malware: Crypto Wallet Protection App Wants to Secure Your Wallets Against Malware Malware, a persistent thorn in the side of the internet’s wider community, has become an increasing concern for cryptocurrency users. A problem that comes in many forms, malicious software is leveraged by hackers to rob community members of their funds. One program, dubbed the clipboard hijacker , for instance, operates by secretly gaining control of a Windows device’s running memory. It then replaces the Bitcoin address copied into a user’s clipboard with the address of the attacker, leading the user to unwittingly transfers funds to the hacker. New Jersey–based BlockSafe Technologies is determined to make mobile crypto wallets more secure with a mobile wallet protection app called the CryptoDefender. According to the company , the CryptoDefender mobile app proactively prevents keylogging malware from stealing your cryptocurrency wallet login details. The mobile app, which has a desktop version, is loaded with a host of features including a password generator that creates and stores strong passwords, a password vault for encrypting and storing passwords securely, a secure browser and an OATH-complaint one-time password (OTP) generator for websites that allows for two-factor authentication. Proactive Defense George Waller, who serves as the CEO of BlockSafe and the co-founder of cybersecurity outfit StrikeForce Technologies, played a pivotal role in introducing out-of-band authentication and keystroke encryption to the marketplace. He has also held management roles at RxRemedy, TeachMeIT and HealthSCOUT. Speaking with Bitcoin Magazine , Waller said the threat posed by bad actors and malware is one of the biggest barriers to the mass adoption of cryptocurrency. “Wallets are very vulnerable and insecure, with an average of $9 million stolen every day. By far, those most at risk of becoming victims at the hands of bad actors are those without IT teams, sophisticated cybersecurity tools, or the experience to understand how great the risk can really be,” he remarked. Story continues “The best targets to steal crypto from are the everyday investors, the folks that did the research and took the chance of investing their hard-earned dollars in an emerging and revolutionary technology, and as blockchain cybersecurity experts, we simply won’t stand idly by while the community that is the very foundation of this space are robbed straight out of it.” At the core of how CryptoDefender operates is its keystroke encryption, which blocks keylogging malware and other forms of malware from breaching mobile crypto wallets. It accomplishes this by encrypting every keystroke a user makes, rather than trying to detect keylogging malware on the device. The app installs an encrypted keystroke keyboard and then routes each encrypted keystroke through its secure data stack, bypassing the original data stack that can easily be hijacked by hackers. Other Features CryptoDefender comes with a secure mobile browser, which Waller says prevents against all forms of attack, including man-in-the-middle and man-in-the-browser attacks. Each time a user launches the browser, CryptoDefender will “generate a brand new browser on the fly, [and] when you close it, we dissolve it,” Waller explained. “We don’t allow browser extensions, tabs, injections, cookies, or any other vulnerable attributes to be loaded into the browser. Every time you open our browser, it’s a brand new one for the first time.” Users can create strong passwords up to 99 characters in length and store them automatically in the Password Vault for safekeeping. The Vault, which Waller claims is “extremely safe,” works hand in hand with the browser and the encrypted keyboard. He went on further by saying that the Vault uses AES-256 encryption — a key-generation technique used to encrypt data and prevent unwanted access to data — and fingerprint authentication to secure it. “Many of us buy, sell, and move cryptocurrencies from our phones and desktops; if one device is protected while the other remains vulnerable to intrusion, they both are at risk. CryptoDefender is a tremendous milestone as it represents phase one in our three-part mission to secure the blockchain ecosystem,” Waller added. Waller said the app is different from a long list of anti-keylogger software offering similar solutions because of its utility as both a downstream and upstream prescription. He also claimed the app is the “only keystroke encryption” product designed to protect crypto wallets. “We built this with the assumption that your device is already infected, therefore, as soon as you install this, you are protected. Products that take a reactive approach, i.e., anti-virus software, are always stuck in that cat-n-mouse cycle and getting bypassed on a daily basis.” The mobile app is available on the BlockSafe website for both Android and iOS devices. This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine . || Fmr. SpaceX Engineer Launches Institutional-Grade Cryptocurrency Exchange: Bitcoin Cryptocurrency LXDX Moon As an engineer at SpaceX, Joshua Greenwald was charged with spearheading automation and propulsion on the aerospace startups Moonraker project. Now, he is directing his efforts toward a radically different industry, albeit one that also has lunar ambitions. Greenwald, who spent more than a decade as a trader prior to his stint at SpaceX, has founded a cryptocurrency exchange, LXDX, that seeks to make the nascent asset class more accessible to institutional investors while also providing individual investors with professional-grade trading tools. Our immediate focus is on cryptocurrency and enabling every investor to utilize the exclusive tools, like smart order routing, that only institutions previously could access. When we built top tier infrastructure for traditional markets, our team solved many of the same problems facing cryptocurrency exchanges today, Greenwald said in remarks cited by LeapRate . LXDX has received funding from firms such as the venture arm of Dymon Asia Capital, a $4.9 billion investment group based out of Singapore. Recently, LXDX relocated to Malta, a cryptocurrency-friendly country that has stylized itself as Europes Blockchain Island. In so doing, it joins a number of exchange heavyweights, including top-five platforms OKEx, Binance, and ZB.com. The startup also joins a growing arms race among firms seeking to entice institutional investors like pensions, endowments, and hedge funds into the cryptocurrency markets, a development that analysts including Mike Novogratz have said will spur the next great cryptocurrency bull run. Most recently, Voyage, a cryptoasset investing platform founded by Ubers first CTO and a former E*Trade executive, launched an institutional brokerage arm led by an ex-Deutsche Banke executive. However, established cryptocurrency firms that heretofore have served primarily retail investors are also positioning themselves to serve the herd of institutions, assuming it does arrive as anticipated. For example, Coinbase, best known as a brokerage for first-time crypto buyers, has spun off an institutional arm, which recently opened an office in New York that will be staffed by 100 employees. Featured Image from Shutterstock The post Fmr. SpaceX Engineer Launches Institutional-Grade Cryptocurrency Exchange appeared first on CCN . || Against Fake Volume Allegation: OKEx Distributes $5M Trading Commissions to Users Weekly: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / September 17, 2018 / Recently, there appears allegation upon the trading volume of OKEx , a world-leading digital asset exchange. However, the allegation itself is invalid for the difficulty to collect the accurate data of trading volume as a person or even media outlets, let alone exchanges like OKEx with futures trading and API transaction. What's more, there is an important fact need to be mentioned. It is reported that OKEx has launched a program named Happy Friday, a bonus distribution campaign that to give away 50% of its trading fee to OKB (OKEx platform token) holders weekly. The program has distributed approximately $5 million last week. If OKEx has washed trade grossly to reach the volume which currently listed on CMC, meantime the weekly bonus remained $5 million; the exchange will need to pay most of the bonus to users with its own money, then why would OKEx make fake volume? That does not make any sense. The Happy Friday campaign mentioned above is a program launched by OKEx to distribute 50% of weekly transaction fee as BTC bonus every Friday to users holding OKB. The amount is based on the percentage of OKB the user holds. Since launched, the Happy Friday campaign became popular among OK users worldwide, and the mega bonus pool has once reached up to 2,000 BTC. OKEx, as one of the top crypto exchanges by volume, 24H trading volume reached $872 million on CoinMarketCap (14th, Sep.), and $5.07 billion on AICoin (14th, Sep.), the most popular website about crypto information in China. The former lists only token-trading while AICoin records the total volume including futures trading. Taking the data on CoinMarketCap as basic volume and 0.02%, the lowest rate as standard (which is hardly possible), therefore, the daily trading fee is $174,550, while the amount of weekly bonus pool would be $610,925 (of only token-trading), which will all be distributed to OKB holders. The data showed is based on the lowest rate of trading fee enjoyed by the highest-level member, and the trading volume exclude futures trading, which is the majority revenue source of OKEx. According to AICoin, the total trading volume in the past 24H is $5.07 billion, so the 24H futures trading volume would be $4,197,248,301. Assuming the trading fee rate is still 0.02%, then the daily trading fee is $839,450, and the amount of weekly bonus pool would be $2,938,075, which would all distributed to OKB holders as well. Story continues According to the data calculated above, users can get over 1,200 BTC each week from the OKEx Happy Friday campaign. At the same time, the eligibility is even easy to meet that you just need to hold no less than 100 OKB to enjoy mega bonus. As to OKB, it is a global utility token issued by OK Blockchain Foundation to connect prospective digital asset projects to OKEx users as well as professional investors, creating an OKEx ecosystem that helps to advance the development of blockchain technology and the digital asset industry. Different from tokens from other platforms, OKB has a great roadmap including but not limited to the application of programs such as Happy Friday, Global Partner, Prime Investor, OK Partner Exchange etc., as well as the world's first index product OK06ETT. The total available supply of OKB is 1 billion, some of which will be locked up with those programs meanwhile the value of OKB will be added. 60% of the circulation amount will be given to OKEx users for community building through marketing campaigns, which enables OKB holders to enjoy various privileges and the increasing profit for long term. *The current price of OKB is $1.23, which is near the historic low point and worth to invest. Media Contact: [email protected] SOURCE: OKEx https://www.accesswire.com/512080/Against-Fake-Volume-Allegation-OKEx-Distributes-5M-Trading-Commissions-to-Users-Weekly || Against Fake Volume Allegation: OKEx Distributes $5M Trading Commissions to Users Weekly: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / September 17, 2018 /Recently, there appears allegation upon the trading volume ofOKEx, a world-leading digital asset exchange. However, the allegation itself is invalid for the difficulty to collect the accurate data of trading volume as a person or even media outlets, let alone exchanges like OKEx with futures trading and API transaction.
What's more, there is an important fact need to be mentioned. It is reported that OKEx has launched a program named Happy Friday, a bonus distribution campaign that to give away 50% of its trading fee toOKB(OKEx platform token) holders weekly. The program has distributed approximately $5 million last week. If OKEx has washed trade grossly to reach the volume which currently listed on CMC, meantime the weekly bonus remained $5 million; the exchange will need to pay most of the bonus to users with its own money, then why would OKEx make fake volume? That does not make any sense.
The Happy Friday campaign mentioned above is a program launched by OKEx to distribute 50% of weekly transaction fee as BTC bonus every Friday to users holding OKB. The amount is based on the percentage of OKB the user holds. Since launched, the Happy Friday campaign became popular among OK users worldwide, and the mega bonus pool has once reached up to 2,000 BTC.
OKEx, as one of the top crypto exchanges by volume, 24H trading volume reached $872 million on CoinMarketCap (14th, Sep.), and $5.07 billion on AICoin (14th, Sep.), the most popular website about crypto information in China. The former lists only token-trading while AICoin records the total volume including futures trading.
Taking the data on CoinMarketCap as basic volume and 0.02%, the lowest rate as standard (which is hardly possible), therefore, the daily trading fee is $174,550, while the amount of weekly bonus pool would be $610,925 (of only token-trading), which will all be distributed to OKB holders.
The data showed is based on the lowest rate of trading fee enjoyed by the highest-level member, and the trading volume exclude futures trading, which is the majority revenue source of OKEx. According to AICoin, the total trading volume in the past 24H is $5.07 billion, so the 24H futures trading volume would be $4,197,248,301. Assuming the trading fee rate is still 0.02%, then the daily trading fee is $839,450, and the amount of weekly bonus pool would be $2,938,075, which would all distributed to OKB holders as well.
According to the data calculated above, users can get over 1,200 BTC each week from the OKEx Happy Friday campaign. At the same time, the eligibility is even easy to meet that you just need to hold no less than 100 OKB to enjoy mega bonus.
As to OKB, it is a global utility token issued by OK Blockchain Foundation to connect prospective digital asset projects to OKEx users as well as professional investors, creating an OKEx ecosystem that helps to advance the development of blockchain technology and the digital asset industry.
Different from tokens from other platforms, OKB has a great roadmap including but not limited to the application of programs such as Happy Friday, Global Partner, Prime Investor, OK Partner Exchange etc., as well as the world's first index product OK06ETT. The total available supply of OKB is 1 billion, some of which will be locked up with those programs meanwhile the value of OKB will be added. 60% of the circulation amount will be given to OKEx users for community building through marketing campaigns, which enables OKB holders to enjoy various privileges and the increasing profit for long term.
*The current price of OKB is $1.23, which is near the historic low point and worth to invest.
Media Contact:[email protected]
SOURCE:OKEx
https://www.accesswire.com/512080/Against-Fake-Volume-Allegation-OKEx-Distributes-5M-Trading-Commissions-to-Users-Weekly || DeepToken Exchange's Overseas Meet-Up Tour Draws Interest for AI+Blockchain DECO Ecosystem: SINGAPORE / ACCESSWIRE / September 17, 2018 /DeepToken Exchange (www.deeptoken.com), the world's first cryptocurrency exchange dedicated to AI, has just completed its overseas meet-up tour. Founder, Feng He, together with his team, met and talked with community members, investors and partners. The topic of discussion was the new "AI+Blockchain" ecosystem, or the DECO (decentralized AI ecosystem), composed of DeepToken Exchange and DeepBrain Chain. Attendees including local media agencies showed a lot of enthusiasm and interest for DeepToken's innovative operation models.
The first stop in Vietnam on September 12th saw a number of Vietnamese KOLs and experts in the area of blockchain and AI in attendance. As an AI focused exchange, DeepToken Exchange utilizes a revolutionary 'Voting as Mining' model to ensure only the most quality projects receive the complete support package of fund raising, tokenization and the ability to issue and trade these tokens on the exchange. Listing is permanently free, greatly alleviating the financial burden of AI startups and allowing them to take the first step in blockchain integration. Thus, they may acquire funding, without having to worry about the exorbitant costs associated with exchange listing.
Local AI experts, professional investors at ZASCO and the CEO of Bigcoin Vietnam the advantages of AI combined with blockchain discussed in detail with Feng He and showed great interest in the DBC AI Training Net, saying that the cheap AI computing power and the multiple AI training models will facilitate local AI companies' development.
Feng He brainstorming with AI experts, ZASCO experts and the CEO of Bigcoin Vietnam during Vietnamese Meetup
CEO Feng He Explaining DECO (decentralized AI ecosystem)
During the second stop in Thailand on September 15th, Feng He's presentation was received by a full house of attentive guests, including industry leaders in AI and blockchain, as well as local community members and investors. After the meetup, he visited ZMINE, Thailand's largest GPU mining farm, and Atlas Mining Supply, a big player in the local mining market. As founder of both DeepBrain Chain and DeepToken Exchange, Feng He believes pooling together resources capable of supporting the proposed joint ecosystem is of paramount importance. Jeff Zhou, founder of Seadex exchange, also attended the meet-up. The event was co-hosted by DeepBrain Chain's partner Bitcoin Addict Thailand, a cryptocurrency media and community operator than brings pertinent and relevant news to Thai cryptocurrency enthusiasts and investors.
Full house during Thai Meetup; the innovative model of DeepToken Exchange attracted keen interest
Entering into a mutually beneficial relationship, DeepBrain Chain and Bitcoin Addict Thailand will maximize local awareness and understanding of emergent fields like blockchain and decentralized compute sharing platforms so that investors can benefit from this century's most revolutionary technologies. Feng He took the chance to provide in-depth answers to audience questions regarding both DeepBrain Chain and DeepToken Exchange's development plans in Thailand, including local partnerships and resource recruitment.
Since launching the AI Training Net, DeepBrain Chain has received a lot of inquiries from reputable AI companies and research institutes. Among the first clients are Mentorx, the largest China-US cross-border training institute for students, Cyberreason, a global leader in endpoint security, and 17zuoye, a leading Chinese institute in online education.
In addition to Bitcoin Addict Thailand, other media agencies also covered DeepBrain Chain and DeepToken Exchange, including a one-on-one interview between Blockchain Review and Feng He. Local cryptocurrency media CRYPTONIST and KOLs such as Rit and Coinman also took the opportunity to get the scoop on the future of the AI industry.
DeepToken will support mainstream cryptocurrency pairs including BTC and ETH, as well as DBC. In the future, more AI tokens will be supported.
Company Name: DeepTokenContact Person: Shawn YouEmail:[email protected]: SingaporeWebsite:https://www.deeptoken.com
SOURCE:DeepToken Exchange
https://www.accesswire.com/512073/DeepToken-Exchanges-Overseas-Meet-Up-Tour-Draws-Interest-for-AIBlockchain-DECO-Ecosystem || DeepToken Exchange's Overseas Meet-Up Tour Draws Interest for AI+Blockchain DECO Ecosystem: SINGAPORE / ACCESSWIRE / September 17, 2018 / DeepToken Exchange ( www.deeptoken.com ), the world's first cryptocurrency exchange dedicated to AI, has just completed its overseas meet-up tour. Founder, Feng He, together with his team, met and talked with community members, investors and partners. The topic of discussion was the new "AI+Blockchain" ecosystem, or the DECO (decentralized AI ecosystem), composed of DeepToken Exchange and DeepBrain Chain. Attendees including local media agencies showed a lot of enthusiasm and interest for DeepToken's innovative operation models. The first stop in Vietnam on September 12th saw a number of Vietnamese KOLs and experts in the area of blockchain and AI in attendance. As an AI focused exchange, DeepToken Exchange utilizes a revolutionary 'Voting as Mining' model to ensure only the most quality projects receive the complete support package of fund raising, tokenization and the ability to issue and trade these tokens on the exchange. Listing is permanently free, greatly alleviating the financial burden of AI startups and allowing them to take the first step in blockchain integration. Thus, they may acquire funding, without having to worry about the exorbitant costs associated with exchange listing. Local AI experts, professional investors at ZASCO and the CEO of Bigcoin Vietnam the advantages of AI combined with blockchain discussed in detail with Feng He and showed great interest in the DBC AI Training Net, saying that the cheap AI computing power and the multiple AI training models will facilitate local AI companies' development. Feng He brainstorming with AI experts, ZASCO experts and the CEO of Bigcoin Vietnam during Vietnamese Meetup CEO Feng He Explaining DECO (decentralized AI ecosystem) During the second stop in Thailand on September 15th, Feng He's presentation was received by a full house of attentive guests, including industry leaders in AI and blockchain, as well as local community members and investors. After the meetup, he visited ZMINE, Thailand's largest GPU mining farm, and Atlas Mining Supply, a big player in the local mining market. As founder of both DeepBrain Chain and DeepToken Exchange, Feng He believes pooling together resources capable of supporting the proposed joint ecosystem is of paramount importance. Jeff Zhou, founder of Seadex exchange, also attended the meet-up. The event was co-hosted by DeepBrain Chain's partner Bitcoin Addict Thailand, a cryptocurrency media and community operator than brings pertinent and relevant news to Thai cryptocurrency enthusiasts and investors. Story continues Full house during Thai Meetup; the innovative model of DeepToken Exchange attracted keen interest Entering into a mutually beneficial relationship, DeepBrain Chain and Bitcoin Addict Thailand will maximize local awareness and understanding of emergent fields like blockchain and decentralized compute sharing platforms so that investors can benefit from this century's most revolutionary technologies. Feng He took the chance to provide in-depth answers to audience questions regarding both DeepBrain Chain and DeepToken Exchange's development plans in Thailand, including local partnerships and resource recruitment. Since launching the AI Training Net, DeepBrain Chain has received a lot of inquiries from reputable AI companies and research institutes. Among the first clients are Mentorx, the largest China-US cross-border training institute for students, Cyberreason, a global leader in endpoint security, and 17zuoye, a leading Chinese institute in online education. In addition to Bitcoin Addict Thailand, other media agencies also covered DeepBrain Chain and DeepToken Exchange, including a one-on-one interview between Blockchain Review and Feng He. Local cryptocurrency media CRYPTONIST and KOLs such as Rit and Coinman also took the opportunity to get the scoop on the future of the AI industry. DeepToken will support mainstream cryptocurrency pairs including BTC and ETH, as well as DBC. In the future, more AI tokens will be supported. Company Name: DeepToken Contact Person: Shawn You Email: [email protected] Country: Singapore Website: https://www.deeptoken.com SOURCE: DeepToken Exchange https://www.accesswire.com/512073/DeepToken-Exchanges-Overseas-Meet-Up-Tour-Draws-Interest-for-AIBlockchain-DECO-Ecosystem View comments || Nasdaq is Acquiring Crypto-Friendly Swedish Fintech Cinnober: Nasdaq cryptocurrency Editors Note 18/Sep 07:55 a.m : The article has been amended to clarify that Cinnober is a trading solution provider to marketplaces and clearinghouses, not an exchange itself as suggested previously. Nasdaq, the worlds second-largest stock exchange, announced Friday that it is in the works to acquire Cinnober, a trading solution provider based in Sweden. Cinnober has a history for bullishness towards digital assets and making it easier for institutions to invest in them. One of those efforts is the partnership with BitGo, a behemoth for institutional-grade cryptocurrency custody security. BitGo itself has built partnerships and acquisitions over its history, which have helped it firm up its mission, including the acquisition of Kingdom Trust and a partnership with the South Korea exchange Korbit. Nasdaq: More Prepping for Cryptocurrency Trading? Nasdaqs latest acquisition highlights, though indirectly in this case, its taste for cryptocurrency trading. As CCN reported , on the heels of the SECs second rejection for the Winklevoss twins ETF, the Nasdaq held a closed-door meeting with cryptocurrency industry experts. In the meeting, participants discussed ways to legitimize cryptocurrencies as a traditional securities product, especially in ways to appease the fickle SEC. Cinnobers BitGo platform is well-suited for large institutional investors in Nasdaq. The multi-signature security and custody solution with BitGo has made it one of the most popular in the space. Nasdaqs release points to their interest in Cinnobers success in offering newer asset types. Adena Friedman, President and CEO, Nasdaq, said: The combined intellectual capital, technology competence and capabilities of Cinnober and our Market Technology business will expand the breadth and depth of our fastest growing division at Nasdaq. Not only have the global capital markets continued to evolve rapidly, new marketplaces in various industries are demanding market technology infrastructure that enables rapid growth and scale as well as access to tools to promote market integrity. This acquisition will enhance our ability to serve market infrastructure operators worldwide, and will accelerate our ability to expand into new growth segments. Cinnober has developed in-house solutions and technology acquisitions that make it a prime candidate for the tech-heavy Nasdaq Corporation. Cinnobers cryptocurrency custodian service, in specific, could be one of the most coveted arms of the acquisition, as questions over custodianship have made many institutional investors leery. Story continues Household names in finance are racing to developer regulated and clearly audited custodian solutions, including Citigroup and Bank of America . Exchange Hacks Marred Cryptos History Large institutions concerns over custody are understandable, given the number of exchanges hacked in Bitcoins history. The Bancor exchange hack is the most recent large example, as CCN reported on in July. Many cryptocurrency experts believe that the custodian problem has been solved, especially with multi-signature technology and cold storage. While the technology is there, legitimacy can only be improved when large names like Nasdaq can provide tangible audits that traditional securities managers are accustomed to. Nasdaq acquisition of Cinnober is another box to check off in the race to provide the first (and best) publicly trading cryptocurrency vehicle (and thus the servicing fees that translate to more profits.) Featured image from Shutterstock. The post Nasdaq is Acquiring Crypto-Friendly Swedish Fintech Cinnober appeared first on CCN . View comments || Nasdaq is Acquiring Crypto-Friendly Swedish Fintech Cinnober: Editor’s Note 18/Sep 07:55 a.m: The article has been amended to clarify that Cinnober is a trading solution provider to marketplaces and clearinghouses, not an exchange itself as suggested previously.
Nasdaq, the world’s second-largest stock exchange,announcedFriday that it is in the works to acquire Cinnober, a trading solution provider based in Sweden.
Cinnober has a history for bullishness towards digital assets and making it easier for institutions to invest in them. One of those efforts is thepartnershipwith BitGo, a behemoth for institutional-grade cryptocurrency custody security. BitGo itself has built partnerships and acquisitions over its history, which have helped it firm up its mission, including the acquisition of Kingdom Trust and apartnershipwith the South Korea exchange Korbit.
Nasdaq’s latest acquisition highlights, though indirectly in this case, its taste for cryptocurrency trading. As CCNreported, on the heels of the SEC’ssecond rejectionfor the Winklevoss twins’ ETF, the Nasdaq held a closed-door meeting with cryptocurrency industry experts. In the meeting, participants discussed ways to legitimize cryptocurrencies as a traditional securities product, especially in ways to appease the fickle SEC.
Cinnober’s BitGo platform is well-suited for large institutional investors in Nasdaq. The multi-signature security and custody solution with BitGo has made it one of the most popular in the space. Nasdaq’s release points to their interest in Cinnober’s success in offering newer asset types. Adena Friedman, President and CEO, Nasdaq, said:
“The combined intellectual capital, technology competence and capabilities of Cinnober and our Market Technology business will expand the breadth and depth of our fastest growing division at Nasdaq. Not only have the global capital markets continued to evolve rapidly, new marketplaces in various industries are demanding market technology infrastructure that enables rapid growth and scale as well as access to tools to promote market integrity. This acquisition will enhance our ability to serve market infrastructure operators worldwide, and will accelerate our ability to expand into new growth segments.”
Cinnober has developed in-house solutions and technology acquisitions that make it a prime candidate for the tech-heavy Nasdaq Corporation. Cinnober’s cryptocurrency custodian service, in specific, could be one of the most coveted arms of the acquisition, asquestions over custodianshiphave made many institutional investors leery.
Household names in finance are racing to developer regulated and clearly audited custodian solutions, includingCitigroupandBank of America.
Large institutions’ concerns over custody are understandable, given the number of exchanges hacked in Bitcoin’s history. The Bancor exchange hack is the most recent large example, as CCNreportedon in July. Many cryptocurrency experts believe that the custodian problem has been solved, especially with multi-signature technology and cold storage.
While the technology is there, legitimacy can only be improved when large names like Nasdaq can provide tangible audits that traditional securities managers are accustomed to. Nasdaq acquisition of Cinnober is another box to check off in the race to provide the first (and best) publicly trading cryptocurrency vehicle (and thus the servicing fees that translate to more profits.)
Featured image from Shutterstock.
The postNasdaq is Acquiring Crypto-Friendly Swedish Fintech Cinnoberappeared first onCCN. || Bitcoin Inches Down, Coinbase Expands New York Office: Investing.com - Cryptocurrencies were flat on Monday, with Bitcoin maintaining a four-day range of $6,450.
Bitcoin inched down 0.70% to $6,470.70 on the Bitfinex exchange, as of 8:38 AM ET (12:38 GMT).
Cryptocurrencies overall were slightly higher with the coin market cap of total market capitalization at $201 billion at the time of writing compared to $199 billion on Friday.
Ethereum,or Ether, the second-biggest alternative currency by market cap, fell 0.72% to $218.30. XRP, the third-largest virtual currency, was down 0.09% to $0.27971 and Litecoin was at $55.934, down 1.58%.
In other news, platform exchange Coinbase is planning to hire 130 employees in its New York office by the end of next year, bringing the total staff to 150. The move is part of the companies plan to target institutional investors, Adam White, general manager of Coinbase, said.
“When we saw the market begin to correct, which we all expected, institutions didn’t lose interest. It was exactly the opposite. They look at it as an opportunity to enter when things are not too frothy,” he said.
Meanwhile, a U.S. Pennsylvania district court dismissed a case against the defunct Mt. Gox digital currency exchange and Mizuho bank of Japan on lack of jurisdiction. The court granted a motion of Mizuho to dissmiss the case filed against them by Gregory Pearce, who was one of 24,000 users who lost money.
The platform collapsed in 2014, following the theft of nearly 70% of Bitcoin holdings from hackers. The cyber attack resulted in a loss of 850,000 Bitcoin and is one of the most significant attacks to date.
Related Articles
Litecoin (LTC) Support from Gemini Exchange Confirmed
Malta Stakes New Claim on Crypto Leadership with Delta Summit
Government Sites in India Among Prime Targets for Cryptojacking, Research Shows || Bitcoin Inches Down, Coinbase Expands New York Office: Investing.com - Cryptocurrencies were flat on Monday, with Bitcoin maintaining a four-day range of $6,450.
Bitcoin inched down 0.70% to $6,470.70 on the Bitfinex exchange, as of 8:38 AM ET (12:38 GMT).
Cryptocurrencies overall were slightly higher with the coin market cap of total market capitalization at $201 billion at the time of writing compared to $199 billion on Friday.
Ethereum,or Ether, the second-biggest alternative currency by market cap, fell 0.72% to $218.30. XRP, the third-largest virtual currency, was down 0.09% to $0.27971 and Litecoin was at $55.934, down 1.58%.
In other news, platform exchange Coinbase is planning to hire 130 employees in its New York office by the end of next year, bringing the total staff to 150. The move is part of the companies plan to target institutional investors, Adam White, general manager of Coinbase, said.
“When we saw the market begin to correct, which we all expected, institutions didn’t lose interest. It was exactly the opposite. They look at it as an opportunity to enter when things are not too frothy,” he said.
Meanwhile, a U.S. Pennsylvania district court dismissed a case against the defunct Mt. Gox digital currency exchange and Mizuho bank of Japan on lack of jurisdiction. The court granted a motion of Mizuho to dissmiss the case filed against them by Gregory Pearce, who was one of 24,000 users who lost money.
The platform collapsed in 2014, following the theft of nearly 70% of Bitcoin holdings from hackers. The cyber attack resulted in a loss of 850,000 Bitcoin and is one of the most significant attacks to date.
Related Articles
Litecoin (LTC) Support from Gemini Exchange Confirmed
Malta Stakes New Claim on Crypto Leadership with Delta Summit
Government Sites in India Among Prime Targets for Cryptojacking, Research Shows || Bitcoin Inches Down, Coinbase Expands New York Office: Bitcoin was flat on Monday. Investing.com - Cryptocurrencies were flat on Monday, with Bitcoin maintaining a four-day range of $6,450. Bitcoin inched down 0.70% to $6,470.70 on the Bitfinex exchange, as of 8:38 AM ET (12:38 GMT). Cryptocurrencies overall were slightly higher with the coin market cap of total market capitalization at $201 billion at the time of writing compared to $199 billion on Friday. Ethereum,or Ether, the second-biggest alternative currency by market cap, fell 0.72% to $218.30. XRP, the third-largest virtual currency, was down 0.09% to $0.27971 and Litecoin was at $55.934, down 1.58%. In other news, platform exchange Coinbase is planning to hire 130 employees in its New York office by the end of next year, bringing the total staff to 150. The move is part of the companies plan to target institutional investors, Adam White, general manager of Coinbase, said. When we saw the market begin to correct, which we all expected, institutions didnt lose interest. It was exactly the opposite. They look at it as an opportunity to enter when things are not too frothy, he said. Meanwhile, a U.S. Pennsylvania district court dismissed a case against the defunct Mt. Gox digital currency exchange and Mizuho bank of Japan on lack of jurisdiction. The court granted a motion of Mizuho to dissmiss the case filed against them by Gregory Pearce, who was one of 24,000 users who lost money. The platform collapsed in 2014, following the theft of nearly 70% of Bitcoin holdings from hackers. The cyber attack resulted in a loss of 850,000 Bitcoin and is one of the most significant attacks to date. Related Articles Litecoin (LTC) Support from Gemini Exchange Confirmed Malta Stakes New Claim on Crypto Leadership with Delta Summit Government Sites in India Among Prime Targets for Cryptojacking, Research Shows || Can Sonos Stock Bounce Back?: You don't get a second chance to make a first impression, and it's safe to say thatSonos(NASDAQ: SONO)didn't get it right the first time. The maker of high-end wireless speakers has seen its stock plummet 22% over the past four trading days, taking a hit after its first quarterly report as a public companyfailed to impressthe market.
It's been a bumpy first six weeks of trading for Sonos. The stock is 11% above its early AugustIPO price of $15, but the shares have fallen nearly 30% since peaking on their second day of trading. Last week's earnings report could've been the kind of report that would've catapulted a debutante into the ranks of market darlings, but it didn't live up to the hype.
Image source: Sonos.
Revenue fell 7% in Sonos' fiscal third quarter. The decline isn't a surprise. Sonos spelled it out in the prospectus ahead of last month's Wall Street debut. Sonos actually landed at the very top of its preliminary revenue range. It did post a much larger loss than analysts were targeting, but no one is judging the tech-savvy audio system pioneer on its current profitability.
A couple of analysts chimed in with fresh updates to explain the post-earnings sell-off. Brent Thill at Jefferies is telling clients that investors were hoping for Sonos to issue more robust guidance. It's calling for 14% to 16% top-line growth in the current quarter, in line with Wall Street expectations. He sees the stock meandering until the market gets greater clarity on how new products will shape its near-term future. He has a hold rating and a $23 price target.
Katy Huberty at Morgan Stanley also blamed the sell-off on the uninspiring outlook for the fiscal fourth quarter. She's waiting until the market gets its first impression of how consumers embrace the company's new products during the seasonally potent holiday shopping season. She has a neutral equal weight rating and a lower $20 price target.
Thill and Huberty having lukewarm ratings on the stock matters. Jefferies and Morgan Stanley were two of the underwriters tasked to take Sonos public last month.
The good news is that Sonos isn't broken. The fiscal third quarter's decline was a fluke, as the release of the big-ticket PLAYBASE -- its first entry in the home theater sound base niche with a $699 price point -- inflated reported revenue a year earlier. Sonos actually sold 11% more devices during this quarter than it did a year earlier. It just had to settle for lower price points given the product mix.
Growing its installed base of users should be enough. Sonos is competing against the tech giants putting out heavily subsidized voice-activated digital assistants that double as entry-level home audio systems. The company is in a tough spot, but last month's public debut finds it flush with IPO cash to keep innovating until it raises the bar. The current quarter's return to double-digit growth should appease investors, and if that doesn't do the trick, it probably won't be long before Sonos is floated as an acquisition candidate for a tech giant seeing the value in nabbing a high-end brand in this growing market. Sonos had a rough run last week, but things should get better from here.
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Rick Munarrizhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Can Sonos Stock Bounce Back?: You don't get a second chance to make a first impression, and it's safe to say that Sonos (NASDAQ: SONO) didn't get it right the first time. The maker of high-end wireless speakers has seen its stock plummet 22% over the past four trading days, taking a hit after its first quarterly report as a public company failed to impress the market. It's been a bumpy first six weeks of trading for Sonos. The stock is 11% above its early August IPO price of $15 , but the shares have fallen nearly 30% since peaking on their second day of trading. Last week's earnings report could've been the kind of report that would've catapulted a debutante into the ranks of market darlings, but it didn't live up to the hype. Sonos speaker with a smartphone. Image source: Sonos. Sonic distortion Revenue fell 7% in Sonos' fiscal third quarter. The decline isn't a surprise. Sonos spelled it out in the prospectus ahead of last month's Wall Street debut. Sonos actually landed at the very top of its preliminary revenue range. It did post a much larger loss than analysts were targeting, but no one is judging the tech-savvy audio system pioneer on its current profitability. A couple of analysts chimed in with fresh updates to explain the post-earnings sell-off. Brent Thill at Jefferies is telling clients that investors were hoping for Sonos to issue more robust guidance. It's calling for 14% to 16% top-line growth in the current quarter, in line with Wall Street expectations. He sees the stock meandering until the market gets greater clarity on how new products will shape its near-term future. He has a hold rating and a $23 price target. Katy Huberty at Morgan Stanley also blamed the sell-off on the uninspiring outlook for the fiscal fourth quarter. She's waiting until the market gets its first impression of how consumers embrace the company's new products during the seasonally potent holiday shopping season. She has a neutral equal weight rating and a lower $20 price target. Story continues Thill and Huberty having lukewarm ratings on the stock matters. Jefferies and Morgan Stanley were two of the underwriters tasked to take Sonos public last month. The good news is that Sonos isn't broken. The fiscal third quarter's decline was a fluke, as the release of the big-ticket PLAYBASE -- its first entry in the home theater sound base niche with a $699 price point -- inflated reported revenue a year earlier. Sonos actually sold 11% more devices during this quarter than it did a year earlier. It just had to settle for lower price points given the product mix. Growing its installed base of users should be enough. Sonos is competing against the tech giants putting out heavily subsidized voice-activated digital assistants that double as entry-level home audio systems. The company is in a tough spot, but last month's public debut finds it flush with IPO cash to keep innovating until it raises the bar. The current quarter's return to double-digit growth should appease investors, and if that doesn't do the trick, it probably won't be long before Sonos is floated as an acquisition candidate for a tech giant seeing the value in nabbing a high-end brand in this growing market. Sonos had a rough run last week, but things should get better from here. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Rick Munarriz has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Shopify Stock Just Did Something It Hasn't Done in 7 Months: Shares of Shopify (NYSE: SHOP) soared 10% last week. The move might have seemed like par for the course in 2016, 2017, and early 2018 -- when the e-commerce platform provider was one of the market's hottest stocks -- but it was a rare accomplishment these days. You have to go back to early February -- more than seven months -- to find the last time that Shopify shares came through with a double-digit percentage gain. The recent rarity of a big weekly move isn't leaving investors smarting. Shopify is still beating the market with a 53% return so far in 2018. The shares remain well below their summertime peak, but last week's spike is promising. The stock has popped sixfold since the start of 2016. Shopify's storefront on Facebook. Image source: Shopify. It all checks out Shares of Shopify were already moving higher before a bullish analyst initiation kicked in on Friday morning. The stock had risen in each of the five previous trading days. The stock actually dipped slightly on Friday despite the bullish Wall Street move. Ygal Arounian at Wedbush is kicking off his coverage of Shopify with an outperform rating. He believes that Shopify -- despite already having more than 600,000 merchant accounts on its platform -- is still in its infancy. He sees it continuing to expand its reach in terms of merchant size as well as offerings. Arounian thinks that Shopify will continue to capture a larger share of money spent on enterprise e-commerce software. He's slapping a $177 price target on the stock, a 14% move higher from current levels and just enough to take out July's all-time highs. Shopify topped out this summer after putting out mixed second-quarter results . The look back was stellar. Earnings blew away Wall Street expectations , the way they have historically done. However, the increased guidance left investors wanting more. Most of the increase in Shopify's outlook was already realized in the recently concluded second quarter, a small setback for a stock after rallying for more than two years. Story continues The good news for investors is that the 48% to 50% revenue growth that Shopify is targeting for the current quarter is pretty good. Shopify has grown at headier clips in the past (top-line growth has decelerated for more than two years), but it's still the kind of growth that investors willing to accept lofty valuations crave in their investments. Shopify continues to do a lot of things right as it empowers budding entrepreneurs with the ability to immediately set up digital storefronts that they can quickly populate across various hotbeds of visibility. There will be critics , but a stock doesn't become a six-bagger over the past three years without punishing the naysayers. Momentum is back on Shopify's side, and now it's a matter of time before it hits Arounian's price target and establishes new all-time highs. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Rick Munarriz has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Shopify. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Shopify Stock Just Did Something It Hasn't Done in 7 Months: Shares ofShopify(NYSE: SHOP)soared 10% last week. The move might have seemed like par for the course in 2016, 2017, and early 2018 -- when the e-commerce platform provider was one of the market's hottest stocks -- but it was a rare accomplishment these days. You have to go back to early February -- more than seven months -- to find the last time that Shopify shares came through with a double-digit percentage gain.
The recent rarity of a big weekly move isn't leaving investors smarting. Shopify is still beating the market with a 53% return so far in 2018. The shares remain well below their summertime peak, but last week's spike is promising. The stock has popped sixfold since the start of 2016.
Image source: Shopify.
Shares of Shopify were already moving higher before a bullish analyst initiation kicked in on Friday morning. The stock had risen in each of the five previous trading days. The stock actually dipped slightly on Friday despite the bullish Wall Street move.
Ygal Arounian at Wedbush is kicking off his coverage of Shopify with an outperform rating. He believes that Shopify -- despite already having more than 600,000 merchant accounts on its platform -- is still in its infancy. He sees it continuing to expand its reach in terms of merchant size as well as offerings. Arounian thinks that Shopify will continue to capture a larger share of money spent on enterprise e-commerce software. He's slapping a $177 price target on the stock, a 14% move higher from current levels and just enough to take out July's all-time highs.
Shopify topped out this summer after putting outmixed second-quarter results. The look back was stellar. Earningsblew away Wall Street expectations, the way they have historically done. However, the increased guidance left investors wanting more. Most of the increase in Shopify's outlook was already realized in the recently concluded second quarter, a small setback for a stock after rallying for more than two years.
The good news for investors is that the 48% to 50% revenue growth that Shopify is targeting for the current quarter is pretty good. Shopify has grown at headier clips in the past (top-line growth has decelerated for more than two years), but it's still the kind of growth that investors willing to accept lofty valuations crave in their investments.
Shopify continues to do a lot of things right as it empowers budding entrepreneurs with the ability to immediately set up digital storefronts that they can quickly populate across various hotbeds of visibility. There will becritics, but a stock doesn't become a six-bagger over the past three years without punishing the naysayers. Momentum is back on Shopify's side, and now it's a matter of time before it hits Arounian's price target and establishes new all-time highs.
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Rick Munarrizhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Shopify. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy.
[Social Media Buzz]
1 Bitcoin =40632.56846615554 TL
Tarih/Saat : 18/09/18 16:00:04 || Sep 18, 2018 23:30:00 UTC | 6,343.40$ | 5,431.30€ | 4,818.60£ | #Bitcoin #btc pic.twitter.com/dRtq3Wt0Nb || Block 537970
Hash: 0x...102690e8ce3521bd45b74d9e1c21d10e0e32f5a59b6d14
Size: 1.28MB
Txs: 2,435
SegWit spends: 38%
5,649 in → 5,838 out
Out/In Ratio: 1.03
Out Value: $59,446,127 | 9,422 btc
Fees
Total: $1,611 | 0.26 btc
Highest: $235.14
Median: $0.17
Lowest: $0.00 pic.twitter.com/mJ81lw4RUn || #KHL - September 18 22:00 ...
|
6398.54, 6519.67, 6734.95, 6721.98, 6710.63, 6595.41, 6446.47, 6495.00, 6676.75, 6644.13
|
Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 5200.37, 5392.31, 5014.48, 5225.63, 5238.44, 6191.19, 6198.78, 6185.07, 5830.25, 6416.31, 6734.80, 6681.06, 6716.44, 6469.80, 6242.19, 5922.04, 6429.84, 6438.64, 6606.78, 6793.62, 6733.39, 6867.53, 6791.13, 7271.78, 7176.41, 7334.10, 7302.09, 6865.49, 6859.08, 6971.09, 6845.04, 6842.43, 6642.11, 7116.80, 7096.18, 7257.67, 7189.42, 6881.96, 6880.32, 7117.21, 7429.72, 7550.90, 7569.94, 7679.87, 7795.60, 7807.06, 8801.04, 8658.55, 8864.77, 8988.60, 8897.47, 8912.65, 9003.07, 9268.76, 9951.52, 9842.67, 9593.90, 8756.43, 8601.80, 8804.48, 9269.99, 9733.72, 9328.20, 9377.01, 9670.74, 9726.58, 9729.04, 9522.98, 9081.76, 9182.58, 9209.29, 8790.37, 8906.93, 8835.05, 9181.02, 9525.75, 9439.12, 9700.41, 9461.06, 10167.27, 9529.80, 9656.72, 9800.64, 9665.53, 9653.68, 9758.85, 9771.49, 9795.70, 9870.09, 9321.78.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2020-06-11]
Volume: 30247143440, RSI (14-day): 47.83, 50-day EMA: 9080.49, 200-day EMA: 8422.56
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1732.00, Gold RSI: 54.31
Oil Price: 36.34, Oil RSI: 57.82
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Hut 8 Plans $7.5M Offering to Upgrade Bitcoin Mining Rigs: Bitcoin saw a quick, short-lived run past $10,000 after the head of the U.S. Federal Reserve said Wednesday that interest rates will remain near 0% until the end of 2022 and its bond buying program would continue. Bitcoin (BTC) was trading around $9,894 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET), gaining 1.6% over the previous 24 hours. At 00:00 UTC on Wednesday (8:00 p.m. Monday ET), bitcoin was changing hands around $9,783 on exchanges like Coinbase. Its price dipped to as low as $9,709 at 09:00 UTC (5 a.m. ET) before buying volume picked up, pushing the price above its 50-day and 10-day moving averages, a bullish technical indicator. Read More: Another Data Point Suggests Bitcoin Close to Prolonged Bull Market A Speaking after the Federal Open Market Committee’s two-day June meeting, Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank will likely keep interest rates near 0% until 2022. That sent bitcoin briefly to $10,000 before it dropped back. “There is great uncertainty about the future,” Powell said. “At the Federal Reserve, we are strongly committed to use our tools to do whatever we can for as long as it takes to provide some relief and stability to ensure that the recovery will be as strong as possible.” Related: Market Wrap: Bitcoin Briefly Pops Past $10K as Fed Says Rates May Stay Near 0% Until 2022 Cryptocurrency stakeholders see the Fed’s announcement of no changes as reason to buy bitcoin. “Liquidity can’t paper over insolvency,” said Scott Bambacigno, a vice prescient at crypto exchange software provider AlphaPoint, “When you are deep in debt, more debt isn’t going to help. The Fed can ‘print money’ but they cannot ‘print jobs’. Assets like gold and bitcoin should do well if the economy continues in this direction.” While the price did briefly pop, bitcoin’s brief run to $10,000 quickly lost steam. ”A lot of analysts may be looking for the Fed decision to move BTC, but It’s important to bear in mind that over a long time horizon bitcoin remains uncorrelated to traditional markets,” said Aaron Suduiko, a research analyst for crypto liquidity provider SFOX. Story continues Indeed, the upward trajectories of bitcoin seem totally unhinged from stock indexes like the S&P 500. Read More: Bitcoin Bulls Might Get Negative Rates From Central Banks, Just Not the Fed As a result of the Fed news, or perhaps the lack of much new information, the S&P 500 index was flat, slipping less than a percent. U.S. Treasury bonds all slipped. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were down most on the two-year bond, in the red 14%. Stocks in the U.S. are basically back to where they started the year. Meanwhile, many in the cryptocurrency world are pondering if investors will pour more money into blockchain-based digital assets. “Eventually the $3 trillion freshly printed dollars are going to find their way into places other than stocks and urban real estate,” said George Clayton, managing partner of New York-based fund Cryptanalysis Capital. “I’m wondering what the Fed will do when inflation starts accelerating.” Other markets Digital assets on CoinDesk’s big board are mixed, though mostly higher Wednesday. The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, ether (ETH), is trading around $247 and climbed 1.9% in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET). Ether’s 2020 price performance is trouncing bitcoin , led by the surge in interest of decentralized finance applications like stablecoins. Read More: Bitwage Lets Earners Sidestep Volatility With Stablecoin Payments The biggest cryptocurrency winners on the day include zcash (ZEC) up 4.9%, nem (XEM) climbing 3.3% and neo (NEO) in the green 2.5%. One lone loser Wednesday is cardano (ADA) in the red 2.4%. All price changes were as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET). In commodities, oil is in the green, up 1.4% as a barrel of crude was priced at $38 at press time. The rest of the global equities market was flat on the day, a less-than-exciting week after huge run-ups the past week erased most of the losses incurred during the coronavirus-induced crash. “The market is going sideways. It’s not a good time to invest in anything right now stock-wise,” said Alessandro Andreotti, an Italy-based over-the-counter crypto broker. Read More: Coinbase’s Ex-Lead Lawyer Sold $4.6M in Stock to US Banking Watchdog The FTSE 100 index of top companies in Europe fell 2.1% Tuesday on forecasts the global economy will contract in 2020 . Japan’s Nikkei 225 of large market capitalization companies ended the day flat, up less than a percent, in the green due to rising stocks in paper, transportation and real estate . Related Stories Market Wrap: DeFi Is Helping Ether Outpace Bitcoin This Year Market Wrap: $10,000 Remains Bitcoin’s Price to Beat || Hut 8 Plans $7.5M Offering to Upgrade Bitcoin Mining Rigs: Bitcoin saw a quick, short-lived run past $10,000 after the head of the U.S. Federal Reserve said Wednesday thatinterest rates will remain near 0%until the end of 2022 and its bond buying program would continue.
Bitcoin(BTC) was trading around $9,894 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET), gaining 1.6% over the previous 24 hours.
At 00:00 UTC on Wednesday (8:00 p.m. Monday ET), bitcoin was changing hands around $9,783 on exchanges like Coinbase. Its price dipped to as low as $9,709 at 09:00 UTC (5 a.m. ET) before buying volume picked up, pushing the price above its 50-day and 10-day moving averages, a bullish technical indicator.
Read More:Another Data Point Suggests Bitcoin Close to Prolonged Bull Market
A
Speaking after the Federal Open Market Committee’s two-day June meeting, Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank will likely keep interest rates near 0% until 2022. That sent bitcoin briefly to $10,000 before it dropped back.
“There is great uncertainty about the future,” Powell said. “At the Federal Reserve, we are strongly committed to use our tools to do whatever we can for as long as it takes to provide some relief and stability to ensure that the recovery will be as strong as possible.”
Related:Market Wrap: Bitcoin Briefly Pops Past $10K as Fed Says Rates May Stay Near 0% Until 2022
Cryptocurrency stakeholders see the Fed’s announcement of no changes as reason to buy bitcoin. “Liquidity can’t paper over insolvency,” said Scott Bambacigno, a vice prescient at crypto exchange software provider AlphaPoint, “When you are deep in debt, more debt isn’t going to help. The Fed can ‘print money’ but they cannot ‘print jobs’. Assets like gold and bitcoin should do well if the economy continues in this direction.”
While the price did briefly pop, bitcoin’s brief run to $10,000 quickly lost steam. ”A lot of analysts may be looking for the Fed decision to move BTC, but It’s important to bear in mind that over a long time horizon bitcoin remains uncorrelated to traditional markets,” said Aaron Suduiko, a research analyst for crypto liquidity provider SFOX.
Indeed, the upward trajectories of bitcoin seem totally unhinged from stock indexes like the S&P 500.
Read More:Bitcoin Bulls Might Get Negative Rates From Central Banks, Just Not the Fed
As a result of the Fed news, or perhaps the lack of much new information, the S&P 500 index was flat, slipping less than a percent. U.S. Treasury bonds all slipped. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were down most on the two-year bond, in the red 14%.
Stocks in the U.S. are basically back to where they started the year. Meanwhile, many in the cryptocurrency world are pondering if investors will pour more money into blockchain-based digital assets. “Eventually the $3 trillion freshly printed dollars are going to find their way into places other than stocks and urban real estate,” said George Clayton, managing partner of New York-based fund Cryptanalysis Capital. “I’m wondering what the Fed will do when inflation starts accelerating.”
Digital assets on CoinDesk’s big board are mixed, though mostly higher Wednesday. The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization,ether(ETH), is trading around $247 and climbed 1.9% in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).Ether’s 2020 price performance is trouncing bitcoin, led by the surge in interest of decentralized finance applications like stablecoins.
Read More:Bitwage Lets Earners Sidestep Volatility With Stablecoin Payments
The biggest cryptocurrency winners on the day includezcash(ZEC) up 4.9%,nem(XEM) climbing 3.3% andneo(NEO) in the green 2.5%. One lone loser Wednesday iscardano(ADA) in the red 2.4%. All price changes were as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).
In commodities, oil is in the green, up 1.4% as a barrel of crude was priced at $38 at press time.
The rest of the global equities market was flat on the day, a less-than-exciting week after huge run-ups the past week erased most of the losses incurred during the coronavirus-induced crash. “The market is going sideways. It’s not a good time to invest in anything right now stock-wise,” said Alessandro Andreotti, an Italy-based over-the-counter crypto broker.
Read More:Coinbase’s Ex-Lead Lawyer Sold $4.6M in Stock to US Banking Watchdog
The FTSE 100 index of top companies in Europe fell 2.1% Tuesdayon forecasts the global economy will contract in 2020.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 of large market capitalization companies ended the day flat, up less than a percent,in the green due to rising stocks in paper, transportation and real estate.
• Market Wrap: DeFi Is Helping Ether Outpace Bitcoin This Year
• Market Wrap: $10,000 Remains Bitcoin’s Price to Beat || Hut 8 Plans $7.5M Offering to Upgrade Bitcoin Mining Rigs: Bitcoin saw a quick, short-lived run past $10,000 after the head of the U.S. Federal Reserve said Wednesday thatinterest rates will remain near 0%until the end of 2022 and its bond buying program would continue.
Bitcoin(BTC) was trading around $9,894 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET), gaining 1.6% over the previous 24 hours.
At 00:00 UTC on Wednesday (8:00 p.m. Monday ET), bitcoin was changing hands around $9,783 on exchanges like Coinbase. Its price dipped to as low as $9,709 at 09:00 UTC (5 a.m. ET) before buying volume picked up, pushing the price above its 50-day and 10-day moving averages, a bullish technical indicator.
Read More:Another Data Point Suggests Bitcoin Close to Prolonged Bull Market
A
Speaking after the Federal Open Market Committee’s two-day June meeting, Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank will likely keep interest rates near 0% until 2022. That sent bitcoin briefly to $10,000 before it dropped back.
“There is great uncertainty about the future,” Powell said. “At the Federal Reserve, we are strongly committed to use our tools to do whatever we can for as long as it takes to provide some relief and stability to ensure that the recovery will be as strong as possible.”
Related:Market Wrap: Bitcoin Briefly Pops Past $10K as Fed Says Rates May Stay Near 0% Until 2022
Cryptocurrency stakeholders see the Fed’s announcement of no changes as reason to buy bitcoin. “Liquidity can’t paper over insolvency,” said Scott Bambacigno, a vice prescient at crypto exchange software provider AlphaPoint, “When you are deep in debt, more debt isn’t going to help. The Fed can ‘print money’ but they cannot ‘print jobs’. Assets like gold and bitcoin should do well if the economy continues in this direction.”
While the price did briefly pop, bitcoin’s brief run to $10,000 quickly lost steam. ”A lot of analysts may be looking for the Fed decision to move BTC, but It’s important to bear in mind that over a long time horizon bitcoin remains uncorrelated to traditional markets,” said Aaron Suduiko, a research analyst for crypto liquidity provider SFOX.
Indeed, the upward trajectories of bitcoin seem totally unhinged from stock indexes like the S&P 500.
Read More:Bitcoin Bulls Might Get Negative Rates From Central Banks, Just Not the Fed
As a result of the Fed news, or perhaps the lack of much new information, the S&P 500 index was flat, slipping less than a percent. U.S. Treasury bonds all slipped. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were down most on the two-year bond, in the red 14%.
Stocks in the U.S. are basically back to where they started the year. Meanwhile, many in the cryptocurrency world are pondering if investors will pour more money into blockchain-based digital assets. “Eventually the $3 trillion freshly printed dollars are going to find their way into places other than stocks and urban real estate,” said George Clayton, managing partner of New York-based fund Cryptanalysis Capital. “I’m wondering what the Fed will do when inflation starts accelerating.”
Digital assets on CoinDesk’s big board are mixed, though mostly higher Wednesday. The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization,ether(ETH), is trading around $247 and climbed 1.9% in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).Ether’s 2020 price performance is trouncing bitcoin, led by the surge in interest of decentralized finance applications like stablecoins.
Read More:Bitwage Lets Earners Sidestep Volatility With Stablecoin Payments
The biggest cryptocurrency winners on the day includezcash(ZEC) up 4.9%,nem(XEM) climbing 3.3% andneo(NEO) in the green 2.5%. One lone loser Wednesday iscardano(ADA) in the red 2.4%. All price changes were as of 20:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).
In commodities, oil is in the green, up 1.4% as a barrel of crude was priced at $38 at press time.
The rest of the global equities market was flat on the day, a less-than-exciting week after huge run-ups the past week erased most of the losses incurred during the coronavirus-induced crash. “The market is going sideways. It’s not a good time to invest in anything right now stock-wise,” said Alessandro Andreotti, an Italy-based over-the-counter crypto broker.
Read More:Coinbase’s Ex-Lead Lawyer Sold $4.6M in Stock to US Banking Watchdog
The FTSE 100 index of top companies in Europe fell 2.1% Tuesdayon forecasts the global economy will contract in 2020.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 of large market capitalization companies ended the day flat, up less than a percent,in the green due to rising stocks in paper, transportation and real estate.
• Market Wrap: DeFi Is Helping Ether Outpace Bitcoin This Year
• Market Wrap: $10,000 Remains Bitcoin’s Price to Beat || Human Rights Foundation launches fund to support development of Bitcoin privacy projects: The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) has launched a fund to support software developers working on privacy-focused Bitcoin projects. The New York-based nonprofit, which aims to promote and protect human rights globally, announced the initiative in a press release on Wednesday. The HRF said it is starting the fund in order to "better serve as a financial tool for human rights activists, civil society organizations and journalists around the world." The foundation also awarded the new fund's first grant, to Chris Belcher, a UK-based developer working on CoinSwap, a tool that makes it harder to monitor Bitcoin transactions. A second grant will be given to another developer soon, according to the announcement. HRF is also seeking more support via a crowdfunding campaign in which 95% of donations collected will be used to fund the work of selected developers. The remaining 5% will support HRF's efforts in general. "Human rights defenders and reporters around the world face increasing financial repression in the form of frozen bank accounts, restrictions on foreign funding, payment surveillance, and general difficulty in earning income or receiving donations," Alex Gladstein, the organization's chief strategy officer, said in a statement. "Bitcoin can be a powerful tool for them to use moving forward alongside encrypted messaging apps like Signal and projects like Tor Browser and SecureDrop." © 2020 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. || Human Rights Foundation launches fund to support development of Bitcoin privacy projects: The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) has launched a fund to support software developers working on privacy-focused Bitcoin projects.
The New York-based nonprofit, which aims to promote and protect human rights globally, announced the initiative in apress releaseon Wednesday. The HRF said it is starting the fund in order to"better serve as a financial tool for human rights activists, civil society organizations and journalists around the world."
The foundation also awarded the new fund's first grant, to Chris Belcher, a UK-based developer working on CoinSwap, a tool that makes it harder to monitor Bitcoin transactions. A second grant will be given to another developer soon, according to the announcement.
HRF is also seeking more support via acrowdfunding campaignin which95% of donations collected will be used to fund the work of selected developers. The remaining 5% will support HRF's efforts in general.
"Human rights defenders and reporters around the world face increasing financial repression in the form of frozen bank accounts, restrictions on foreign funding, payment surveillance, and general difficulty in earning income or receiving donations," Alex Gladstein, the organization's chief strategy officer, said in a statement. "Bitcoin can be a powerful tool for them to use moving forward alongside encrypted messaging apps like Signal and projects like Tor Browser and SecureDrop."
© 2020 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. || Human Rights Foundation launches fund to support development of Bitcoin privacy projects: The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) has launched a fund to support software developers working on privacy-focused Bitcoin projects.
The New York-based nonprofit, which aims to promote and protect human rights globally, announced the initiative in apress releaseon Wednesday. The HRF said it is starting the fund in order to"better serve as a financial tool for human rights activists, civil society organizations and journalists around the world."
The foundation also awarded the new fund's first grant, to Chris Belcher, a UK-based developer working on CoinSwap, a tool that makes it harder to monitor Bitcoin transactions. A second grant will be given to another developer soon, according to the announcement.
HRF is also seeking more support via acrowdfunding campaignin which95% of donations collected will be used to fund the work of selected developers. The remaining 5% will support HRF's efforts in general.
"Human rights defenders and reporters around the world face increasing financial repression in the form of frozen bank accounts, restrictions on foreign funding, payment surveillance, and general difficulty in earning income or receiving donations," Alex Gladstein, the organization's chief strategy officer, said in a statement. "Bitcoin can be a powerful tool for them to use moving forward alongside encrypted messaging apps like Signal and projects like Tor Browser and SecureDrop."
© 2020 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice. || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Briefly Pops Past $10K as Fed Says Rates May Stay Near 0% Until 2022: In a now-deleted tweet, Coinbase Custody International announced it was adding support for withdrawals and deposits in the stablecoin tether. While that May 30 tweet is now gone, it’s hard to hide its effects given a recent surge in the stablecoin’s count of active addresses. The number of unique addresses active in the network, either as a sender or receiver, nearly doubled to 203,776 last week, having risen by 26% in May, according to data provided by the blockchain analytics firm Glassnode . However, as of Tuesday, the number of active addresses was back down sharply to 122,809. Coinbase Custody’s original tweet was shared on the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex’s social platform and also acknowledged by Paolo Ardoino , chief technology officer at Bitfinex and Tether Ltd (creator of tether). It is unclear when the tweet was removed. Also, there is no mention of USDT in the list of supported assets on its official website. CoinDesk reached out to Coinbase Custody on Tuesday for information on whether it are supporting tether. As of press time, we have yet to receive any reply. While that mystery remains, the on-chain data shows the original announcement was followed by a spike in the number of active addresses. “Coinbase Custody International’s announcement may have contributed to the recent jump in addresses,” said Wilson Withiam, research analyst at data provider Messari. The custodian mainly serves wealthy institutional investors, such as family offices and trading firms. As such, one may conclude that its decision to add support for tether is reflective of the increased institutional interest in the stablecoin. Related: Coinbase Custody Deleted Tweet That Could Explain Surge in Tether Addresses See also: As Tether Supply Hits Record Highs, It Moves Away From Original Home Demand for tether and other dollar-backed stablecoins has been on the rise this year in the wake of the U.S. dollar shortage in the global economy and extremely low interest rates in fiat markets as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. While commercial banks across the advanced world are offering near zero interest rates on deposits, cryptocurrency lending platforms including Nexo and Celsius Network are paying 8% interest rate on tether deposits. Story continues Hence, it’s no surprise the number of active addresses has risen by over 600% so far this year. Meanwhile, Tether Ltd., the company behind the stablecoin, has issued over $5 billion worth of tether since January and its market capitalization has increased from $4 billion to $9.3 billion, according to Glassnode. Related Stories Stablecoins Are the Bridge From Central Banks to Consumer Payments Market Wrap: Bitcoin Can’t Stick to $9,000 While Stocks Rally || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Briefly Pops Past $10K as Fed Says Rates May Stay Near 0% Until 2022: In a now-deleted tweet, Coinbase Custody International announced it was adding support for withdrawals and deposits in the stablecoin tether.
While that May 30 tweet is now gone, it’s hard to hide its effects given a recent surge in the stablecoin’s count of active addresses. The number of unique addresses active in the network, either as a sender or receiver, nearly doubled to 203,776 last week, having risen by 26% in May, according to data provided by the blockchain analytics firmGlassnode. However, as of Tuesday, the number of active addresses was back down sharply to 122,809.
Coinbase Custody’soriginal tweetwasshared onthe cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex’s social platform and also acknowledgedby Paolo Ardoino, chief technology officer at Bitfinex and Tether Ltd (creator of tether).
It is unclear when the tweet was removed. Also, there isno mention of USDTin the list of supported assets on its official website. CoinDesk reached out to Coinbase Custody on Tuesday for information on whether it are supporting tether. As of press time, we have yet to receive any reply.
While that mystery remains, the on-chain data shows the original announcement was followed by a spike in the number of active addresses.
“Coinbase Custody International’s announcement may have contributed to the recent jump in addresses,” said Wilson Withiam, research analyst at data provider Messari.
The custodian mainly serves wealthy institutional investors, such as family offices and trading firms. As such, one may conclude that its decision to add support for tether is reflective of the increased institutional interest in the stablecoin.
Related:Coinbase Custody Deleted Tweet That Could Explain Surge in Tether Addresses
See also:As Tether Supply Hits Record Highs, It Moves Away From Original Home
Demand for tether and other dollar-backed stablecoinshas been on the risethis year in the wake of the U.S. dollar shortage in the global economy and extremely low interest rates in fiat markets as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. While commercial banks across the advanced world are offering near zero interest rates on deposits, cryptocurrencylending platformsincluding Nexo and Celsius Network are paying 8% interest rate on tether deposits.
Hence, it’s no surprise the number of active addresses has risen by over 600% so far this year. Meanwhile, Tether Ltd., the company behind the stablecoin,has issuedover $5 billion worth of tether since January and its market capitalization has increased from $4 billion to $9.3 billion, according to Glassnode.
• Stablecoins Are the Bridge From Central Banks to Consumer Payments
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Can’t Stick to $9,000 While Stocks Rally || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Briefly Pops Past $10K as Fed Says Rates May Stay Near 0% Until 2022: In a now-deleted tweet, Coinbase Custody International announced it was adding support for withdrawals and deposits in the stablecoin tether.
While that May 30 tweet is now gone, it’s hard to hide its effects given a recent surge in the stablecoin’s count of active addresses. The number of unique addresses active in the network, either as a sender or receiver, nearly doubled to 203,776 last week, having risen by 26% in May, according to data provided by the blockchain analytics firmGlassnode. However, as of Tuesday, the number of active addresses was back down sharply to 122,809.
Coinbase Custody’soriginal tweetwasshared onthe cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex’s social platform and also acknowledgedby Paolo Ardoino, chief technology officer at Bitfinex and Tether Ltd (creator of tether).
It is unclear when the tweet was removed. Also, there isno mention of USDTin the list of supported assets on its official website. CoinDesk reached out to Coinbase Custody on Tuesday for information on whether it are supporting tether. As of press time, we have yet to receive any reply.
While that mystery remains, the on-chain data shows the original announcement was followed by a spike in the number of active addresses.
“Coinbase Custody International’s announcement may have contributed to the recent jump in addresses,” said Wilson Withiam, research analyst at data provider Messari.
The custodian mainly serves wealthy institutional investors, such as family offices and trading firms. As such, one may conclude that its decision to add support for tether is reflective of the increased institutional interest in the stablecoin.
Related:Coinbase Custody Deleted Tweet That Could Explain Surge in Tether Addresses
See also:As Tether Supply Hits Record Highs, It Moves Away From Original Home
Demand for tether and other dollar-backed stablecoinshas been on the risethis year in the wake of the U.S. dollar shortage in the global economy and extremely low interest rates in fiat markets as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. While commercial banks across the advanced world are offering near zero interest rates on deposits, cryptocurrencylending platformsincluding Nexo and Celsius Network are paying 8% interest rate on tether deposits.
Hence, it’s no surprise the number of active addresses has risen by over 600% so far this year. Meanwhile, Tether Ltd., the company behind the stablecoin,has issuedover $5 billion worth of tether since January and its market capitalization has increased from $4 billion to $9.3 billion, according to Glassnode.
• Stablecoins Are the Bridge From Central Banks to Consumer Payments
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Can’t Stick to $9,000 While Stocks Rally || Meet the Pro-Bitcoin, Anti-BitLicense Democrat Running for State Office: In a now-deleted tweet, Coinbase Custody International announced it was adding support for withdrawals and deposits in the stablecoin tether. While that May 30 tweet is now gone, it’s hard to hide its effects given a recent surge in the stablecoin’s count of active addresses. The number of unique addresses active in the network, either as a sender or receiver, nearly doubled to 203,776 last week, having risen by 26% in May, according to data provided by the blockchain analytics firm Glassnode . However, as of Tuesday, the number of active addresses was back down sharply to 122,809. Coinbase Custody’s original tweet was shared on the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex’s social platform and also acknowledged by Paolo Ardoino , chief technology officer at Bitfinex and Tether Ltd (creator of tether). It is unclear when the tweet was removed. Also, there is no mention of USDT in the list of supported assets on its official website. CoinDesk reached out to Coinbase Custody on Tuesday for information on whether it are supporting tether. As of press time, we have yet to receive any reply. While that mystery remains, the on-chain data shows the original announcement was followed by a spike in the number of active addresses. “Coinbase Custody International’s announcement may have contributed to the recent jump in addresses,” said Wilson Withiam, research analyst at data provider Messari. The custodian mainly serves wealthy institutional investors, such as family offices and trading firms. As such, one may conclude that its decision to add support for tether is reflective of the increased institutional interest in the stablecoin. Related: Coinbase Custody Deleted Tweet That Could Explain Surge in Tether Addresses See also: As Tether Supply Hits Record Highs, It Moves Away From Original Home Demand for tether and other dollar-backed stablecoins has been on the rise this year in the wake of the U.S. dollar shortage in the global economy and extremely low interest rates in fiat markets as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. While commercial banks across the advanced world are offering near zero interest rates on deposits, cryptocurrency lending platforms including Nexo and Celsius Network are paying 8% interest rate on tether deposits. Story continues Hence, it’s no surprise the number of active addresses has risen by over 600% so far this year. Meanwhile, Tether Ltd., the company behind the stablecoin, has issued over $5 billion worth of tether since January and its market capitalization has increased from $4 billion to $9.3 billion, according to Glassnode. Related Stories Stablecoins Are the Bridge From Central Banks to Consumer Payments Market Wrap: Bitcoin Can’t Stick to $9,000 While Stocks Rally || Meet the Pro-Bitcoin, Anti-BitLicense Democrat Running for State Office: In a now-deleted tweet, Coinbase Custody International announced it was adding support for withdrawals and deposits in the stablecoin tether.
While that May 30 tweet is now gone, it’s hard to hide its effects given a recent surge in the stablecoin’s count of active addresses. The number of unique addresses active in the network, either as a sender or receiver, nearly doubled to 203,776 last week, having risen by 26% in May, according to data provided by the blockchain analytics firmGlassnode. However, as of Tuesday, the number of active addresses was back down sharply to 122,809.
Coinbase Custody’soriginal tweetwasshared onthe cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex’s social platform and also acknowledgedby Paolo Ardoino, chief technology officer at Bitfinex and Tether Ltd (creator of tether).
It is unclear when the tweet was removed. Also, there isno mention of USDTin the list of supported assets on its official website. CoinDesk reached out to Coinbase Custody on Tuesday for information on whether it are supporting tether. As of press time, we have yet to receive any reply.
While that mystery remains, the on-chain data shows the original announcement was followed by a spike in the number of active addresses.
“Coinbase Custody International’s announcement may have contributed to the recent jump in addresses,” said Wilson Withiam, research analyst at data provider Messari.
The custodian mainly serves wealthy institutional investors, such as family offices and trading firms. As such, one may conclude that its decision to add support for tether is reflective of the increased institutional interest in the stablecoin.
Related:Coinbase Custody Deleted Tweet That Could Explain Surge in Tether Addresses
See also:As Tether Supply Hits Record Highs, It Moves Away From Original Home
Demand for tether and other dollar-backed stablecoinshas been on the risethis year in the wake of the U.S. dollar shortage in the global economy and extremely low interest rates in fiat markets as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. While commercial banks across the advanced world are offering near zero interest rates on deposits, cryptocurrencylending platformsincluding Nexo and Celsius Network are paying 8% interest rate on tether deposits.
Hence, it’s no surprise the number of active addresses has risen by over 600% so far this year. Meanwhile, Tether Ltd., the company behind the stablecoin,has issuedover $5 billion worth of tether since January and its market capitalization has increased from $4 billion to $9.3 billion, according to Glassnode.
• Stablecoins Are the Bridge From Central Banks to Consumer Payments
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Can’t Stick to $9,000 While Stocks Rally || Meet the Pro-Bitcoin, Anti-BitLicense Democrat Running for State Office: In a now-deleted tweet, Coinbase Custody International announced it was adding support for withdrawals and deposits in the stablecoin tether.
While that May 30 tweet is now gone, it’s hard to hide its effects given a recent surge in the stablecoin’s count of active addresses. The number of unique addresses active in the network, either as a sender or receiver, nearly doubled to 203,776 last week, having risen by 26% in May, according to data provided by the blockchain analytics firmGlassnode. However, as of Tuesday, the number of active addresses was back down sharply to 122,809.
Coinbase Custody’soriginal tweetwasshared onthe cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex’s social platform and also acknowledgedby Paolo Ardoino, chief technology officer at Bitfinex and Tether Ltd (creator of tether).
It is unclear when the tweet was removed. Also, there isno mention of USDTin the list of supported assets on its official website. CoinDesk reached out to Coinbase Custody on Tuesday for information on whether it are supporting tether. As of press time, we have yet to receive any reply.
While that mystery remains, the on-chain data shows the original announcement was followed by a spike in the number of active addresses.
“Coinbase Custody International’s announcement may have contributed to the recent jump in addresses,” said Wilson Withiam, research analyst at data provider Messari.
The custodian mainly serves wealthy institutional investors, such as family offices and trading firms. As such, one may conclude that its decision to add support for tether is reflective of the increased institutional interest in the stablecoin.
Related:Coinbase Custody Deleted Tweet That Could Explain Surge in Tether Addresses
See also:As Tether Supply Hits Record Highs, It Moves Away From Original Home
Demand for tether and other dollar-backed stablecoinshas been on the risethis year in the wake of the U.S. dollar shortage in the global economy and extremely low interest rates in fiat markets as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. While commercial banks across the advanced world are offering near zero interest rates on deposits, cryptocurrencylending platformsincluding Nexo and Celsius Network are paying 8% interest rate on tether deposits.
Hence, it’s no surprise the number of active addresses has risen by over 600% so far this year. Meanwhile, Tether Ltd., the company behind the stablecoin,has issuedover $5 billion worth of tether since January and its market capitalization has increased from $4 billion to $9.3 billion, according to Glassnode.
• Stablecoins Are the Bridge From Central Banks to Consumer Payments
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Can’t Stick to $9,000 While Stocks Rally || Coinbase Custody Deleted Tweet That Could Explain Surge in Tether Addresses: Federal Reserve officials see U.S. inflation as likely to stay below 2% over the next three years, based on a new summary of economic predictions released Wednesday by the central bank. Prices for personal consumption expenditures are expected to climb just 1% this year, down from a December projection of 1.9%, according to the document . Inflation will average 1.5% next year and 1.7% in 2022, the officials projected. “Weaker demand and significantly lower oil prices are holding down consumer price inflation,” the Fed’s monetary-policy committee said Wednesday at the conclusion of a two-day, closed-door meeting. The Fed made no change to its benchmark interest rate, now set in a range from 0% to 0.25%, and officials projected no hikes through the next three years. The officials saw U.S. gross domestic product falling 6.5% this year before a 5% increase in 2021 and 3.5% growth in 2022. The central bank pledged to continue its purchases of Treasury bonds and other securities “at least at the current pace to sustain smooth market functioning.” Read more: First Mover: Bitcoin Bulls Might Get Negative Rates From Central Banks, Just Not the Fed The revised inflation expectations show that officials see little threat of runaway inflation despite the central bank’s trillion-dollar money injections to stabilize markets and heal an economy devastated by the coronavirus and related lockdowns. Related: Fed Officials See Anemic Inflation Despite Trillion-Dollar Money Injections Bitcoin prices have surged 36% this year, partly on expectations that the largest cryptocurrency by market value might serve as a hedge against inflation. Economists including Steve Hanke of Johns Hopkins University have written that hyperinflation episodes in Zimbabwe, France and elsewhere have historically occurred when “when the supply of money had no natural constraints.” The Federal Reserve has expanded its balance sheet by about $3 trillion this year to $7.2 trillion as of last week. Prior to the 2008 financial crisis, the central bank had less than $1 trillion of total assets. Story continues Yet, so far inflation has remained muted. Rising unemployment tamps down wage growth and flagging consumer demand reduces upward pressure on prices for goods and services. A report earlier Wednesday from the U.S. Labor Department showed another closely followed inflation gauge, the consumer price index, or CPI, climbed just 0.1% over the past 12 months , partly due to this year’s collapse in oil and other energy-related costs. Read more: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Money Printer Excluding food and energy items, the so-called core CPI climbed just 1.2% over the past year, less than half the rate of just a few months ago. The core inflation reading is the weakest since 2011, Scott Anderson, chief economist at the French bank BNP Paribas’ Bank of the West unit, wrote Wednesday in an email. “Our forecast is for core consumer price inflation to continue to moderate year-on-year into early 2021 before turning the corner on reviving growth,” he wrote. Related Stories The Geopolitical Implications of a Too-Strong Dollar, Feat. Brent Johnson Why a Strong Dollar Is Bad for the US and Bad for the World, Feat. Lyn Alden || Coinbase Custody Deleted Tweet That Could Explain Surge in Tether Addresses: Federal Reserve officials see U.S. inflation as likely to stay below 2% over the next three years, based on a new summary of economic predictions released Wednesday by the central bank.
Prices for personal consumption expenditures are expected to climb just 1% this year, down from a December projection of 1.9%, according to thedocument. Inflation will average 1.5% next year and 1.7% in 2022, the officials projected.
“Weaker demand and significantly lower oil prices are holding down consumer price inflation,” the Fed’s monetary-policy committee said Wednesday at the conclusion of a two-day, closed-door meeting.
The Fed made no change to its benchmark interest rate, now set in a range from 0% to 0.25%, and officials projected no hikes through the next three years. The officials saw U.S. gross domestic product falling 6.5% this year before a 5% increase in 2021 and 3.5% growth in 2022.
The central bank pledged to continue its purchases of Treasury bonds and other securities “at least at the current pace to sustain smooth market functioning.”
Read more:First Mover: Bitcoin Bulls Might Get Negative Rates From Central Banks, Just Not the Fed
The revised inflation expectations show that officials see little threat of runaway inflation despite the central bank’s trillion-dollar money injections to stabilize markets and heal an economy devastated by the coronavirus and related lockdowns.
Related:Fed Officials See Anemic Inflation Despite Trillion-Dollar Money Injections
Bitcoinprices have surged 36% this year, partly on expectations that the largest cryptocurrency by market value might serve as a hedge against inflation. Economists including Steve Hanke of Johns Hopkins University have written that hyperinflation episodes in Zimbabwe, France and elsewhere have historically occurred when “when the supply of money had no natural constraints.”
The Federal Reserve has expanded its balance sheet by about $3 trillion this year to$7.2 trillionas of last week. Prior to the 2008 financial crisis, the central bank had less than $1 trillion of total assets.
Yet, so far inflation has remained muted. Rising unemployment tamps down wage growth and flagging consumer demand reduces upward pressure on prices for goods and services.
A report earlier Wednesday from the U.S. Labor Department showed another closely followed inflation gauge, the consumer price index, or CPI,climbed just 0.1% over the past 12 months, partly due to this year’s collapse in oil and other energy-related costs.
Read more:How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Money Printer
Excluding food and energy items, the so-called core CPI climbed just 1.2% over the past year, less than half the rate of just a few months ago.
The core inflation reading is the weakest since 2011, Scott Anderson, chief economist at the French bank BNP Paribas’ Bank of the West unit, wrote Wednesday in an email.
“Our forecast is for core consumer price inflation to continue to moderate year-on-year into early 2021 before turning the corner on reviving growth,” he wrote.
• The Geopolitical Implications of a Too-Strong Dollar, Feat. Brent Johnson
• Why a Strong Dollar Is Bad for the US and Bad for the World, Feat. Lyn Alden || ‘Radical Indifference’: How Surveillance Capitalism Conquered Our Lives: When Shoshana Zuboff returns my call 15 minutes late, it’s because her previous call with an organization in Israel dropped halfway through and it took them a while to reconnect. Such is the peril of functioning in quarantine, even as tech companies exert more power than ever.
Rather than having time over the summer to reflect and plan her next book as she intended, Zuboff’s been busy with people wanting to speak with her and do virtual events. It’s part of the reason that for the last four months, we’ve been trying to schedule a call, only to have the date repeatedly pushed back.
Birds are chirping in the background as we speak over the phone, part of the ambience of Zuboff’s home in the country. She says she’s lucky to be there, given the challenges her friends face balancing COVID-19 and living in cities. The birds beat the dystopian jingle of ice cream trucks as they rove New York City, looking for customers amid a pandemic.
“Pandemic life just takes so much time,” she says. “Between figuring out how to get groceries and everything else, it is just so painstaking.”
See also:In Trump Versus Twitter, Decentralized Tech May Win
Zuboff is the author of The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power, and the Charles Edward Wilson Professor Emerita at Harvard Business School. Zuboff says the book (which is 660 pages long) “synthesizes years of research and thinking in order to reveal a world in which technology users are neither customers, employees, nor products. Instead they are the raw material for new procedures of manufacturing and sales that define an entirely new economic order: a surveillance economy.”
Zuboff and I speak abut the framework of surveillance capitalism. But I’m keen to hear her views on the roiling protests in the U.S., and Trump’sexecutive order on Section 230, a law that affords social media companies immunity from content liability, which the president has taken issue with. It feels like a good time to think about the context the internet gives to these events, and who controls it.
Related:‘Radical Indifference’: How Surveillance Capitalism Conquered Our Lives
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Benjamin Powers:Describe surveillance capitalism and what that means for people who might not be familiar with it.
Shoshana Zuboff:Surveillance capitalism was invented at Google between 2000 and 2001 as a response to the financial emergency during the dot-com bust. They were the smartest guys with the best search engine and the swankiest venture capital investors. But even they came under the gun with their investors threatening to withdraw. At that time they decided they had to find a fast track to monetization, and it was going to have to be through advertising, which they’d rejected previously.
They discovered leftover behavioral data on their servers, called data exhaust, was actually full of rich predictive signals. And those predictive signals were just lying around unused, more than what was needed for product or service improvement. I call these data behavioral “surpluses.” It was by training their already highly sophisticated analytical capabilities on these surplus flows and pulling out those predictive signals, while using them for analysis, that they discovered that they could predict what kind of ad somebody is likely to click on and if they would click through to the website. That became what we now know as the “click-through rate.”
The click-through rate is a computational product that predicts a fragment of human behavior. It turned out that there was a very substantial market of business customers who wanted to know what customers will do, who wanted behavioral predictions of customer behavior and user behavior.
So advertisers and their clients surrendered the traditional relationship between a product and its ad, where a company decides where to place its ads based on alignment with its brand values. Even the first years of online advertising maintain that continuity. But Google made them an offer they couldn’t refuse and they agreed to it after quite a bit of debate and conflict. They agreed to buy the product without asking to see what was inside Google’s black box and let the machines decide where the ads go.
BP:How does this model expand to enmesh almost all of the internet?
SZ:This is not just an accident that happened at Google. This is an economic logic that was so successful at Google that within just a few years, it became the default model throughout the tech sector and then spread through the normal economy and has become the dominant economic logic in our time.
Between 2001, when this logic first started being systematically applied, and 2004, when Google went public (the first time we got to see any of their numbers) their revenue increased by 3,590%. That exponential increase represents what I call the surveillance dividend. At that point, they had cracked the code and many companies found a path to monetization. Now everybody from your TV manufacturer to Ford Motor Company started to say “to heck with the product, we want the data.” Everyone in every sector is chasing the surveillance dividend.
There is a story about the top young folks at Google sitting around in an office in 2001, trying to answer the question: “what is Google?” And nobody had a cogent way to answer that question. Larry Page ultimately began to share things and what he said was if Google had a business, it would be personal information. People are going to produce so much data. There will be cheap cameras and sensors everywhere. There will be so much data about people’s lives that all of human experience will be searchable and indexable. He had the vision that personal information was the game. Surveillance capitalism is an economic logic founded on the unilateral, secret theft of private experience as a limitless source of free raw material, and that free raw material becomes the zero-cost asset [meaning that, after set-up costs, it is free to produce]. It can be translated into behavioral data. That behavioral data is now claimed as proprietary and it’s gathered into new complex supply chain ecosystems.
This is the arc that surveillance capitalism is traveling: Not only to know everything and use it for prediction, but to actuate human behavior.
Everything feeds the supply chain. Not only what you do online, but everything on your phone, all the apps on your phone, and as Page predicted, all the cameras and sensors are gathering data. All of behavioral data is now claimed as proprietary and flows into complex ecosystems before being conveyed to surveillance capitalism’s computational factories, called artificial intelligence. The [output] is computational products that predict human behavior that are sold in markets, just like we have markets for pork belly futures or oil futures.
BP:What does this mean for people’s daily life?
SZ:Human futures markets have competitive dynamics. What the actors and the sellers in these markets are competing on is certainty. They’re selling certainty to their customers and the best predictions win. We had some insight into these factory hubs a couple years ago with aleaked Facebook document in 2018. The document revealed that in Facebook’s AI hub, trillions of data points are ingested every day and 6 million predictions of behavior are produced every second. So this is the kind of scale that we’re talking about. When we think about the competition in these prediction markets, and you kind of deconstruct that competition, you begin to see the economic imperatives at work here very clearly.
The first one is scale. For AI to be effective in producing predictions, it needs a lot of data. The second one is scope. In addition to volume, you need variety. That involves getting people off their desktop, off their laptop, and out into the world and getting them moving around their house, in their cars, through their cities. Give them a little computer, they can take it in their pocket and it will tell us everything they’re doing. We’ll call it a phone. Those are economies of scope.
The final discovery was that the very best predictive data comes from digitally intervening in people’s behavior and learning how to tune and herd their behavior in the direction that maximizes the strength of their predictions and therefore maximize customer outcomes. This became a new zone of experimentation. The extraction scale is huge, but conceptually straightforward. The scope is huge but has required a lot of invention. Facebook, for example, is now working on how to translatebrainwaves into language.
How do we actually modify behavior in the direction that optimizes revenue flows? This is not as straightforward. This is a new zone of experimentation and so the companies went to work experimenting with it. Things like Facebook’s massive scale contagion experiments, and things like Google’s Pokemon Go, the augmented reality game which experimented with how to herd people through their cities, towns, and villages to the establishments that were paying Niantic Labs, which made Pokemon Go and which was spun off of Google, for guaranteed footfall. This is exactly the same structure as the online ad market markets who are paying for click through rate and now you have a real world establishment paying for guaranteed footfall.
See also:Why Bitcoin’s ‘Culture War’ Matters
This is what data scientists call the shift from monitoring to actuation. That’s when you actually have enough knowledge about a machine system to be able to control it remotely and automate it. You can change the parameters or do whatever you need to do remotely because you have so much information now about the system monitoring the actuation. This is the arc that surveillance capitalism is traveling: Not only to know everything and use it for prediction, but to actuate human behavior, social behavior, and individual behavior to drive behavior in the direction that is optimal for revenue.
We see this inpsychologically-based micro targeting. We see this in the real time use of rewards and punishments, delivered through your phone. We see this through the importation of gamification in order to point people in the direction that satisfies commercial outcomes. Pokemon Go was an example of that. The point is that when people think about these issues, they just think about targeted ads. They think this is just about advertising. It no longer is. This is about your insurance company rewarding and punishing you in real time for the amount of pressure that your foot places on the gas pedal. In real time it can raise or lower your premiums based on your immediate behavior.
BP: So what’s the end game in this scenario? You reference Sidewalk Lab’s previous experimentation with Toronto as a “smart city” that exchanges data for all sorts of privileges. What does that look like?
SZ:Such an experiment replaces decisions that citizens make about how they want to live together, which are the building blocks of every democracy. The citizen has no role other than just to be part of this larger system. And these companies say if you agree to give us all your data and make your life completely accessible to us in every way, then you will be eligible for all these cool new services.
If you choose privacy and anonymity though, you will be excluded from the service offerings. You won’t be able to take advantage of the new transit systems, or the new security systems, or the food delivery systems. These are the real-time rewards and punishments in action. Googlespoke aboutusing data to construct reputation scores. People and businesses that behave within the algorithmic parameters get higher reputation scores and that privileges them when it comes to bank loans or other kinds of services. People who violate the algorithmic parameters are punished because they’re excluded from these kinds of relationships and services, and they can’t advance their lives because they’re excluded.
See also:Decentralization and What Section 230 Really Means for Freedom of Speech
This is a vision of a future: a private corporation with unaccountable power. It’s a future where we don’t have the great democratization of information that we expected in the digital century, but just the opposite. We revert to a feudal pattern with these huge concentrations of knowledge and this new kind of power.
This power is not soldiers coming to your house in the middle of the night and whisking you away to the gulag. This is not violence and terror and murder. This is power that operates remotely through the milieu of digital instrumentation. For anyone who thinks that such systems are only the subject of Black Mirror episodes, go and read the history of the 20th century where it took the entire Western alliance to fight back another kind of totalizing power that wanted total control over individuals and society and that was totalitarianism. This is different because it tends to come bearing a cappuccino rather than a gun.
Radical indifference is about maximizing flows of data, not because these are evil people, but because this is the compulsion of this economic logic.
BP:How might Trump’s executive order attacking Section 230 – which absolves companies from civil liability for online content – impact this, if at all?
SZ:Disinformation is a routine consequence of the economic logic that we have just discussed. It’s a consequence of the imperatives of economies of scale and economies of scope. All systems have been engineered right from the start to maximize supply chain flows. In the euphemistic language of the surveillance capitalists, it is engagement. There is no room in this economic logic to judge the quality of supply. It doesn’t matter. Scale matters. Scope matters. Actuation that allows us to increase the accuracy of prediction matters. That’s all.
This is what I call radical indifference. We don’t care if you’re happy or sad. We just care that we can get the data. We don’t care if you have cancer if you’re getting married or if you’re planning a terrorist attack, we just care that we get the data. Radical indifference is about maximizing flows of data, not because these are evil people, but because this is the compulsion of this economic logic. Until we interrupt and outlaw that economic logic, we will have disinformation.
The nature of the human being is if you’re driving down a road, and there’s a car accident, you’re gonna stop and look. If you’re driving down the road, and there’s a beautiful willow tree, you’re gonna keep driving. It turns out that violent, contentious, hateful, rabble rousing, and mendacious content gets people to stop and look. That’s the car wreck.
Because the systems are engineered to maximize supply, and because people stop and look at car wrecks, it enables armies of bots and trolls. That’s Mr Trump.
Section 230 had no way of anticipating surveillance capitalism. There’s no incentive to take down bad stuff and massive incentives to keep the supply chains full. It turns out that the internet is not a bulletin board, as the creators of Section 230 envisioned. The internet is more like the bloodstream of the global body politic. Thanks to the economic imperatives of surveillance capitalism, the people who own and operate the internet, are incentivized to allow anybody to put any kind of poison into the bloodstream without an antidote. That’s where we are today.
BP:So does Section 230 need scrutiny? Yes, but it needs scrutiny as part of a larger discussion about legislative frameworks, regulatory paradigms, charters of rights, or the institutions that we need to make the internet compatible with democracy.
SZ:This is the third decade of the digital century. We have to figure this out. Mr. Trump is coming along and shining attention on Section 230, which one might think was a good thing, but now here we have the second whiplash. That whiplash is that Mr. Trump is fighting for the right to put poison at will into the global bloodstream. He’s fighting for the right to lie. He’s fighting for the right to put counterfactual information into the body politic.
We need to construct a rule of law compatible with democracy that addresses these core questions of surveillance capitalism and who owns and operates the internet. We need to do it so that we make the internet safe for truth. Not safe for lies. There are areas where there’s opinion but there are areas where there are facts. Now we have a global bloodstream in which there is no institutional operation that comes under democratic protection and democratic oversight. This has made our democracies untenable.
• Brave Browser’s Affiliate Link Controversy, Explained
• Bitfinex Spin-Out Says Funds Are Lining Up for Its New Decentralized Exchange || ‘Radical Indifference’: How Surveillance Capitalism Conquered Our Lives: When Shoshana Zuboff returns my call 15 minutes late, it’s because her previous call with an organization in Israel dropped halfway through and it took them a while to reconnect. Such is the peril of functioning in quarantine, even as tech companies exert more power than ever. Rather than having time over the summer to reflect and plan her next book as she intended, Zuboff’s been busy with people wanting to speak with her and do virtual events. It’s part of the reason that for the last four months, we’ve been trying to schedule a call, only to have the date repeatedly pushed back. Birds are chirping in the background as we speak over the phone, part of the ambience of Zuboff’s home in the country. She says she’s lucky to be there, given the challenges her friends face balancing COVID-19 and living in cities. The birds beat the dystopian jingle of ice cream trucks as they rove New York City, looking for customers amid a pandemic. “Pandemic life just takes so much time,” she says. “Between figuring out how to get groceries and everything else, it is just so painstaking.” See also: In Trump Versus Twitter, Decentralized Tech May Win Zuboff is the author o f The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power , and the Charles Edward Wilson Professor Emerita at Harvard Business School. Zuboff says the book (which is 660 pages long) “synthesizes years of research and thinking in order to reveal a world in which technology users are neither customers, employees, nor products. Instead they are the raw material for new procedures of manufacturing and sales that define an entirely new economic order: a surveillance economy.” Zuboff and I speak abut the framework of surveillance capitalism. But I’m keen to hear her views on the roiling protests in the U.S., and Trump’s executive order on Section 230 , a law that affords social media companies immunity from content liability, which the president has taken issue with. It feels like a good time to think about the context the internet gives to these events, and who controls it. Story continues Related: ‘Radical Indifference’: How Surveillance Capitalism Conquered Our Lives This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Benjamin Powers: Describe surveillance capitalism and what that means for people who might not be familiar with it. Shoshana Zuboff: Surveillance capitalism was invented at Google between 2000 and 2001 as a response to the financial emergency during the dot-com bust. They were the smartest guys with the best search engine and the swankiest venture capital investors. But even they came under the gun with their investors threatening to withdraw. At that time they decided they had to find a fast track to monetization, and it was going to have to be through advertising, which they’d rejected previously. They discovered leftover behavioral data on their servers, called data exhaust, was actually full of rich predictive signals. And those predictive signals were just lying around unused, more than what was needed for product or service improvement. I call these data behavioral “surpluses.” It was by training their already highly sophisticated analytical capabilities on these surplus flows and pulling out those predictive signals, while using them for analysis, that they discovered that they could predict what kind of ad somebody is likely to click on and if they would click through to the website. That became what we now know as the “click-through rate.” The click-through rate is a computational product that predicts a fragment of human behavior. It turned out that there was a very substantial market of business customers who wanted to know what customers will do, who wanted behavioral predictions of customer behavior and user behavior. So advertisers and their clients surrendered the traditional relationship between a product and its ad, where a company decides where to place its ads based on alignment with its brand values. Even the first years of online advertising maintain that continuity. But Google made them an offer they couldn’t refuse and they agreed to it after quite a bit of debate and conflict. They agreed to buy the product without asking to see what was inside Google’s black box and let the machines decide where the ads go. BP: How does this model expand to enmesh almost all of the internet? SZ: This is not just an accident that happened at Google. This is an economic logic that was so successful at Google that within just a few years, it became the default model throughout the tech sector and then spread through the normal economy and has become the dominant economic logic in our time. Between 2001, when this logic first started being systematically applied, and 2004, when Google went public (the first time we got to see any of their numbers) their revenue increased by 3,590%. That exponential increase represents what I call the surveillance dividend. At that point, they had cracked the code and many companies found a path to monetization. Now everybody from your TV manufacturer to Ford Motor Company started to say “to heck with the product, we want the data.” Everyone in every sector is chasing the surveillance dividend. There is a story about the top young folks at Google sitting around in an office in 2001, trying to answer the question: “what is Google?” And nobody had a cogent way to answer that question. Larry Page ultimately began to share things and what he said was if Google had a business, it would be personal information. People are going to produce so much data. There will be cheap cameras and sensors everywhere. There will be so much data about people’s lives that all of human experience will be searchable and indexable. He had the vision that personal information was the game. Surveillance capitalism is an economic logic founded on the unilateral, secret theft of private experience as a limitless source of free raw material, and that free raw material becomes the zero-cost asset [meaning that, after set-up costs, it is free to produce]. It can be translated into behavioral data. That behavioral data is now claimed as proprietary and it’s gathered into new complex supply chain ecosystems. This is the arc that surveillance capitalism is traveling: Not only to know everything and use it for prediction, but to actuate human behavior. Everything feeds the supply chain. Not only what you do online, but everything on your phone, all the apps on your phone, and as Page predicted, all the cameras and sensors are gathering data. All of behavioral data is now claimed as proprietary and flows into complex ecosystems before being conveyed to surveillance capitalism’s computational factories, called artificial intelligence. The [output] is computational products that predict human behavior that are sold in markets, just like we have markets for pork belly futures or oil futures. BP: What does this mean for people’s daily life? SZ: Human futures markets have competitive dynamics. What the actors and the sellers in these markets are competing on is certainty. They’re selling certainty to their customers and the best predictions win. We had some insight into these factory hubs a couple years ago with a leaked Facebook document in 2018 . The document revealed that in Facebook’s AI hub, trillions of data points are ingested every day and 6 million predictions of behavior are produced every second. So this is the kind of scale that we’re talking about. When we think about the competition in these prediction markets, and you kind of deconstruct that competition, you begin to see the economic imperatives at work here very clearly. The first one is scale. For AI to be effective in producing predictions, it needs a lot of data. The second one is scope. In addition to volume, you need variety. That involves getting people off their desktop, off their laptop, and out into the world and getting them moving around their house, in their cars, through their cities. Give them a little computer, they can take it in their pocket and it will tell us everything they’re doing. We’ll call it a phone. Those are economies of scope. The final discovery was that the very best predictive data comes from digitally intervening in people’s behavior and learning how to tune and herd their behavior in the direction that maximizes the strength of their predictions and therefore maximize customer outcomes. This became a new zone of experimentation. The extraction scale is huge, but conceptually straightforward. The scope is huge but has required a lot of invention. Facebook, for example, is now working on how to translate brainwaves into language . How do we actually modify behavior in the direction that optimizes revenue flows? This is not as straightforward. This is a new zone of experimentation and so the companies went to work experimenting with it. Things like Facebook’s massive scale contagion experiments, and things like Google’s Pokemon Go, the augmented reality game which experimented with how to herd people through their cities, towns, and villages to the establishments that were paying Niantic Labs, which made Pokemon Go and which was spun off of Google, for guaranteed footfall. This is exactly the same structure as the online ad market markets who are paying for click through rate and now you have a real world establishment paying for guaranteed footfall. See also: Why Bitcoin’s ‘Culture War’ Matters This is what data scientists call the shift from monitoring to actuation. That’s when you actually have enough knowledge about a machine system to be able to control it remotely and automate it. You can change the parameters or do whatever you need to do remotely because you have so much information now about the system monitoring the actuation. This is the arc that surveillance capitalism is traveling: Not only to know everything and use it for prediction, but to actuate human behavior, social behavior, and individual behavior to drive behavior in the direction that is optimal for revenue. We see this in psychologically-based micro targeting . We see this in the real time use of rewards and punishments, delivered through your phone. We see this through the importation of gamification in order to point people in the direction that satisfies commercial outcomes. Pokemon Go was an example of that. The point is that when people think about these issues, they just think about targeted ads. They think this is just about advertising. It no longer is. This is about your insurance company rewarding and punishing you in real time for the amount of pressure that your foot places on the gas pedal. In real time it can raise or lower your premiums based on your immediate behavior. BP : So what’s the end game in this scenario? You reference Sidewalk Lab’s previous experimentation with Toronto as a “smart city” that exchanges data for all sorts of privileges. What does that look like? SZ: Such an experiment replaces decisions that citizens make about how they want to live together, which are the building blocks of every democracy. The citizen has no role other than just to be part of this larger system. And these companies say if you agree to give us all your data and make your life completely accessible to us in every way, then you will be eligible for all these cool new services. If you choose privacy and anonymity though, you will be excluded from the service offerings. You won’t be able to take advantage of the new transit systems, or the new security systems, or the food delivery systems. These are the real-time rewards and punishments in action. Google spoke about using data to construct reputation scores. People and businesses that behave within the algorithmic parameters get higher reputation scores and that privileges them when it comes to bank loans or other kinds of services. People who violate the algorithmic parameters are punished because they’re excluded from these kinds of relationships and services, and they can’t advance their lives because they’re excluded. See also: Decentralization and What Section 230 Really Means for Freedom of Speech This is a vision of a future: a private corporation with unaccountable power. It’s a future where we don’t have the great democratization of information that we expected in the digital century, but just the opposite. We revert to a feudal pattern with these huge concentrations of knowledge and this new kind of power. This power is not soldiers coming to your house in the middle of the night and whisking you away to the gulag. This is not violence and terror and murder. This is power that operates remotely through the milieu of digital instrumentation. For anyone who thinks that such systems are only the subject of Black Mirror episodes, go and read the history of the 20th century where it took the entire Western alliance to fight back another kind of totalizing power that wanted total control over individuals and society and that was totalitarianism. This is different because it tends to come bearing a cappuccino rather than a gun. Radical indifference is about maximizing flows of data, not because these are evil people, but because this is the compulsion of this economic logic. BP: How might Trump’s executive order attacking Section 230 – which absolves companies from civil liability for online content – impact this, if at all? SZ: Disinformation is a routine consequence of the economic logic that we have just discussed. It’s a consequence of the imperatives of economies of scale and economies of scope. All systems have been engineered right from the start to maximize supply chain flows. In the euphemistic language of the surveillance capitalists, it is engagement. There is no room in this economic logic to judge the quality of supply. It doesn’t matter. Scale matters. Scope matters. Actuation that allows us to increase the accuracy of prediction matters. That’s all. This is what I call radical indifference. We don’t care if you’re happy or sad. We just care that we can get the data. We don’t care if you have cancer if you’re getting married or if you’re planning a terrorist attack, we just care that we get the data. Radical indifference is about maximizing flows of data, not because these are evil people, but because this is the compulsion of this economic logic. Until we interrupt and outlaw that economic logic, we will have disinformation. The nature of the human being is if you’re driving down a road, and there’s a car accident, you’re gonna stop and look. If you’re driving down the road, and there’s a beautiful willow tree, you’re gonna keep driving. It turns out that violent, contentious, hateful, rabble rousing, and mendacious content gets people to stop and look. That’s the car wreck. Because the systems are engineered to maximize supply, and because people stop and look at car wrecks, it enables armies of bots and trolls. That’s Mr Trump. Section 230 had no way of anticipating surveillance capitalism. There’s no incentive to take down bad stuff and massive incentives to keep the supply chains full. It turns out that the internet is not a bulletin board, as the creators of Section 230 envisioned. The internet is more like the bloodstream of the global body politic. Thanks to the economic imperatives of surveillance capitalism, the people who own and operate the internet, are incentivized to allow anybody to put any kind of poison into the bloodstream without an antidote. That’s where we are today. BP: So does Section 230 need scrutiny? Yes, but it needs scrutiny as part of a larger discussion about legislative frameworks, regulatory paradigms, charters of rights, or the institutions that we need to make the internet compatible with democracy. SZ: This is the third decade of the digital century. We have to figure this out. Mr. Trump is coming along and shining attention on Section 230, which one might think was a good thing, but now here we have the second whiplash. That whiplash is that Mr. Trump is fighting for the right to put poison at will into the global bloodstream. He’s fighting for the right to lie. He’s fighting for the right to put counterfactual information into the body politic. We need to construct a rule of law compatible with democracy that addresses these core questions of surveillance capitalism and who owns and operates the internet. We need to do it so that we make the internet safe for truth. Not safe for lies. There are areas where there’s opinion but there are areas where there are facts. Now we have a global bloodstream in which there is no institutional operation that comes under democratic protection and democratic oversight. This has made our democracies untenable. Related Stories Brave Browser’s Affiliate Link Controversy, Explained Bitfinex Spin-Out Says Funds Are Lining Up for Its New Decentralized Exchange || A Vision for Digital Property Rights, Feat. Nic Carter: On one hand, the bitcoin industry has matured to include traditional brokerages and institutional traders. On the other, bitcoin privacy tech is still shrouded in a legal gray zone.
The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) took a strong stance onbitcoinprivacy tech Wednesday byannouncingits new Bitcoin Developer Fund. The first $50,000 grant from the fund has been awarded to freelanceCoinSwapdeveloper Chris Belcher.
CoinSwap, a mixing technique originally invented in 2013 by Greg Maxwell, is part of a comprehensive suite ofprivacy toolsbeing developed by bitcoin advocates.
“The fund’s next gift, already earmarked for another developer working on strengthening Bitcoin pseudonymity at the network level, will be announced later this summer,” Alex Gladstein, the HRF’s chief strategy officer, said in an email.
HRF will alsocrowdsource fundraisingfor such privacy tech, he added, using both dollars and bitcoin, while making it “possible for activists to more safely receive donations, earn income and continue their important work under increased financial pressure.”
Belcher said he hopes to have a primitive testnet available near the end of the year.
“It will be a bit likeLightning, where there’s never a single day when it’s finished, but it slowly gets more and better features and bug fixes until one day you realize it’s everywhere,” Belcher said of CoinSwap, which he plans to keep as an open source hobby project and not a revenue-producing company.
Related:Human Rights Foundation Funds Bitcoin Privacy Tools Despite ‘Coin Mixing’ Legal Stigma
Theoretically, any wallet provider could use the open source code to add the feature to their mobile app or desktop app. Privacy-focused wallets could even use CoinSwap features as another layer to current CoinJoin offerings.
Read more:Samourai Wallet Releases Privacy-Enhancing CoinJoin Feature
“The bitcoin ecosystem could end up in a bad situation where it’s impossible to accept bitcoin as payment without consulting some centralized blacklist … so I talk a lot about privacy but fungibility is important too,” Belcher said. “Centralization also makes the privacy of the software worse, so I’m less interested in going in that direction … it’s all about tradeoffs.”
Adam Fiscor, co-founder of zkSNACKs, said the nextWasabi Research Clubwill examine CoinSwaps, though he said it would be premature to comment on it further.
Both CoinSwaps and CoinJoins are a type of non-custodial mixing, which could theoretically be layered as two privacy tools used in the same transaction. CoinSwaps are comparable toatomic swaps, while CoinJoin options typically pool disparate funds together as part of the transaction.
Read more:100 Bitcoin Users Perform What Might Be Largest ‘CoinJoin’ Transaction Ever
However, some compliance officers at leading analytics companies and crypto exchanges treat mixed bitcoin as inherently suspicious, which influences how legal authorities view the technology as well. It remains to be seen if CoinSwap features will suffer from the same stigmas as the incumbent method, CoinJoin.
The technologists working with bitcoin privacy tech walk a delicate line, and tend to pay their lawyers accordingly.
AttorneyPreston Brynesaid he would not advise clients to use CoinJoin transactions, which he said is sometimes wrongly associated with money laundering. Many exchanges and wallet companies choose to be safe rather than sorry when it comes to legal battles.
Yet, lawyer Rafael Yakobi said there’s nothing inherently wrong with using this privacy feature, it’s all about how you report it. In the case of wallet providers, this may be possible in non-custodial scenarios where the intermediating startup never controls the assets.
“I’m quite confident that CoinJoin hasnot yet been mentionedin any piece of legislation. It’s not even mentioned by name inFinCEN’s guidance,” Yakobi said. “The more appropriate question is whether flagging CoinJoin transactions is implicitly required by the relevant regulations. I’m not sure about Europe, but in the U.S. it’s not an objective yes or no answer. Each business is required to formulate best practices designed to comply with the law.”
Over in Europe, it appears the law enforcement agencyEuropolis wary of the privacy-orientedWasabi Wallet, because the analytics firm Chainalysis estimated $15 million worth of illicit transactions used the bitcoin wallet’s CoinJoin feature.
Read more:EU’s Europol: Bitcoin Privacy Wallet ‘Not Looking Good’ For Law Enforcement
Critics like Reckless VR founderUdi Wertheimerand Jon Matonis of Cypherpunk Holdings, the latter of which invested in both the privacy-orientedSamourai Walletand Wasabi-maker zkSNACKs, say blockchain analytics firms are overestimating the amount of illicit transactions when they flag mixed bitcoin.
“Exchanges, banks and regulators are being sold a false narrative if they believe that this [analytics] technology provides reliable, or more importantly, actionable results,” Matonis said. “It is purely a dangerous game of probabilities and false positives, disingenuously overstated to peddle more forensic services.”
HRF’s Gladstein recently took Elliptic, another blockchain analytics firm, to task for its “surveillance” work.“The tools you’re building regardless of your intentions will be used for policing bitcoin,” Gladstein said during a panel with Elliptic’s Tom Robinson at an event this month. “At the end of the day what you’re doing is warrantless surveillance against people in other countries.”
Read more:‘Financial Surveillance’ or ‘Blockchain Analysis’? Human Rights Foundation Debates Elliptic
For his part, Matonis’s investment thesis revolves around the belief the legal community will adopt compliance norms that don’t restrict or criminalize privacy-tech like mixers.
“The concern around mixing technology, or coin hygiene, stems from the flawed thinking that cryptocurrency transactions are identical to bank transfers using fiat currency,” Matonis said. “This is a grand societal battle that must be won by privacy advocates, not because it is a cute feature or a principled position, but because it is an existential economic necessity. A peer-to-peer value transfer system fails without underlying coin privacy at its core, because the entire system would lack fungibility if all coins were not treated equally the way paper cash is today.”
This is why some bitcoiners continue to work on privacy tech, regardless of exchange policies and other hurdles.
Meanwhile, CoinJoin usage continues to increase, with roughly 13,500 newWasabi Wallet downloadsthis year.
So far in June, more than 10,000 fresh bitcoin were used in Wasabi CoinJoin transactions for the first time, the highest record since the all-time peak in August 2019 according to the Wasabi team.
Overall, usage has more than tripled since May 2019, when roughly 9,764 total bitcoin were used in Wasabi’s CoinJoin transactions, compared to 35,697 total bitcoin used in May 2020, they said.
And that’s not even to mention the few thousandbitcoinsent using otherCoinJoin toolssince the coronavirus began, includingSamourai WalletandJoinMarket. Generally speaking, usage appears to be up across the sector.
Matonis said as long as companies and public individuals focus on non-custodial, open source software, he believes privacy-tech projects will actually bear less compliance costs over time as the tools become normalized. For example, mixing protocols could become a “standard default feature” in bitcoin wallets.
“Both the bitcoin industry and law enforcement need to resist falling for the myth of blockchain forensics as perpetrated by the blockchain surveillance firms,” Matonis said of companies that routinely flag mixed coins as suspicious.
“Law enforcement methods will undoubtedly have to evolve beyond simply using money as an identity tracking device or simply relying on metadata through non-targeted driftnet surveillance,” he added. “This means employing real and sometimes cumbersome police work that doesn’t violate the rights of any individuals.”
• Another Data Point Suggests Bitcoin Close to Prolonged Bull Market
• Market Wrap: DeFi Is Helping Ether Outpace Bitcoin This Year || Fed Officials See Anemic Inflation Despite Trillion-Dollar Money Injections: On one hand, the bitcoin industry has matured to include traditional brokerages and institutional traders. On the other, bitcoin privacy tech is still shrouded in a legal gray zone. The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) took a strong stance on bitcoin privacy tech Wednesday by announcing its new Bitcoin Developer Fund. The first $50,000 grant from the fund has been awarded to freelance CoinSwap developer Chris Belcher. CoinSwap, a mixing technique originally invented in 2013 by Greg Maxwell, is part of a comprehensive suite of privacy tools being developed by bitcoin advocates. “The fund’s next gift, already earmarked for another developer working on strengthening Bitcoin pseudonymity at the network level, will be announced later this summer,” Alex Gladstein, the HRF’s chief strategy officer, said in an email. HRF will also crowdsource fundraising for such privacy tech, he added, using both dollars and bitcoin, while making it “possible for activists to more safely receive donations, earn income and continue their important work under increased financial pressure.” Belcher said he hopes to have a primitive testnet available near the end of the year. “It will be a bit like Lightning , where there’s never a single day when it’s finished, but it slowly gets more and better features and bug fixes until one day you realize it’s everywhere,” Belcher said of CoinSwap, which he plans to keep as an open source hobby project and not a revenue-producing company. Related: Human Rights Foundation Funds Bitcoin Privacy Tools Despite ‘Coin Mixing’ Legal Stigma Theoretically, any wallet provider could use the open source code to add the feature to their mobile app or desktop app. Privacy-focused wallets could even use CoinSwap features as another layer to current CoinJoin offerings. Read more: Samourai Wallet Releases Privacy-Enhancing CoinJoin Feature “The bitcoin ecosystem could end up in a bad situation where it’s impossible to accept bitcoin as payment without consulting some centralized blacklist … so I talk a lot about privacy but fungibility is important too,” Belcher said. “Centralization also makes the privacy of the software worse, so I’m less interested in going in that direction … it’s all about tradeoffs.” Story continues Adam Fiscor, co-founder of zkSNACKs, said the next Wasabi Research Club will examine CoinSwaps, though he said it would be premature to comment on it further. Both CoinSwaps and CoinJoins are a type of non-custodial mixing, which could theoretically be layered as two privacy tools used in the same transaction. CoinSwaps are comparable to atomic swaps , while CoinJoin options typically pool disparate funds together as part of the transaction. Read more: 100 Bitcoin Users Perform What Might Be Largest ‘CoinJoin’ Transaction Ever However, some compliance officers at leading analytics companies and crypto exchanges treat mixed bitcoin as inherently suspicious, which influences how legal authorities view the technology as well. It remains to be seen if CoinSwap features will suffer from the same stigmas as the incumbent method, CoinJoin. CoinJoin The technologists working with bitcoin privacy tech walk a delicate line, and tend to pay their lawyers accordingly. Attorney Preston Bryne said he would not advise clients to use CoinJoin transactions, which he said is sometimes wrongly associated with money laundering. Many exchanges and wallet companies choose to be safe rather than sorry when it comes to legal battles. Yet, lawyer Rafael Yakobi said there’s nothing inherently wrong with using this privacy feature, it’s all about how you report it. In the case of wallet providers, this may be possible in non-custodial scenarios where the intermediating startup never controls the assets. “I’m quite confident that CoinJoin has not yet been mentioned in any piece of legislation. It’s not even mentioned by name in FinCEN’s guidance ,” Yakobi said. “The more appropriate question is whether flagging CoinJoin transactions is implicitly required by the relevant regulations. I’m not sure about Europe, but in the U.S. it’s not an objective yes or no answer. Each business is required to formulate best practices designed to comply with the law.” Over in Europe, it appears the law enforcement agency Europol is wary of the privacy-oriented Wasabi Wallet , because the analytics firm Chainalysis estimated $15 million worth of illicit transactions used the bitcoin wallet’s CoinJoin feature. Read more: EU’s Europol: Bitcoin Privacy Wallet ‘Not Looking Good’ For Law Enforcement Critics like Reckless VR founder Udi Wertheimer and Jon Matonis of Cypherpunk Holdings, the latter of which invested in both the privacy-oriented Samourai Wallet and Wasabi-maker zkSNACKs, say blockchain analytics firms are overestimating the amount of illicit transactions when they flag mixed bitcoin. “Exchanges, banks and regulators are being sold a false narrative if they believe that this [analytics] technology provides reliable, or more importantly, actionable results,” Matonis said. “It is purely a dangerous game of probabilities and false positives, disingenuously overstated to peddle more forensic services.” HRF’s Gladstein recently took Elliptic, another blockchain analytics firm, to task for its “surveillance” work. “The tools you’re building regardless of your intentions will be used for policing bitcoin,” Gladstein said during a panel with Elliptic’s Tom Robinson at an event this month. “At the end of the day what you’re doing is warrantless surveillance against people in other countries.” Read more: ‘Financial Surveillance’ or ‘Blockchain Analysis’? Human Rights Foundation Debates Elliptic For his part, Matonis’s investment thesis revolves around the belief the legal community will adopt compliance norms that don’t restrict or criminalize privacy-tech like mixers. “The concern around mixing technology, or coin hygiene, stems from the flawed thinking that cryptocurrency transactions are identical to bank transfers using fiat currency,” Matonis said. “This is a grand societal battle that must be won by privacy advocates, not because it is a cute feature or a principled position, but because it is an existential economic necessity. A peer-to-peer value transfer system fails without underlying coin privacy at its core, because the entire system would lack fungibility if all coins were not treated equally the way paper cash is today.” This is why some bitcoiners continue to work on privacy tech, regardless of exchange policies and other hurdles. Continued growth Meanwhile, CoinJoin usage continues to increase, with roughly 13,500 new Wasabi Wallet downloads this year. So far in June, more than 10,000 fresh bitcoin were used in Wasabi CoinJoin transactions for the first time, the highest record since the all-time peak in August 2019 according to the Wasabi team. Overall, usage has more than tripled since May 2019, when roughly 9,764 total bitcoin were used in Wasabi’s CoinJoin transactions, compared to 35,697 total bitcoin used in May 2020, they said. And that’s not even to mention the few thousand bitcoin sent using other CoinJoin tools since the coronavirus began, including Samourai Wallet and JoinMarket . Generally speaking, usage appears to be up across the sector. Matonis said as long as companies and public individuals focus on non-custodial, open source software, he believes privacy-tech projects will actually bear less compliance costs over time as the tools become normalized. For example, mixing protocols could become a “standard default feature” in bitcoin wallets. “Both the bitcoin industry and law enforcement need to resist falling for the myth of blockchain forensics as perpetrated by the blockchain surveillance firms,” Matonis said of companies that routinely flag mixed coins as suspicious. “Law enforcement methods will undoubtedly have to evolve beyond simply using money as an identity tracking device or simply relying on metadata through non-targeted driftnet surveillance,” he added. “This means employing real and sometimes cumbersome police work that doesn’t violate the rights of any individuals.” Related Stories Another Data Point Suggests Bitcoin Close to Prolonged Bull Market Market Wrap: DeFi Is Helping Ether Outpace Bitcoin This Year || Fed Officials See Anemic Inflation Despite Trillion-Dollar Money Injections: On one hand, the bitcoin industry has matured to include traditional brokerages and institutional traders. On the other, bitcoin privacy tech is still shrouded in a legal gray zone.
The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) took a strong stance onbitcoinprivacy tech Wednesday byannouncingits new Bitcoin Developer Fund. The first $50,000 grant from the fund has been awarded to freelanceCoinSwapdeveloper Chris Belcher.
CoinSwap, a mixing technique originally invented in 2013 by Greg Maxwell, is part of a comprehensive suite ofprivacy toolsbeing developed by bitcoin advocates.
“The fund’s next gift, already earmarked for another developer working on strengthening Bitcoin pseudonymity at the network level, will be announced later this summer,” Alex Gladstein, the HRF’s chief strategy officer, said in an email.
HRF will alsocrowdsource fundraisingfor such privacy tech, he added, using both dollars and bitcoin, while making it “possible for activists to more safely receive donations, earn income and continue their important work under increased financial pressure.”
Belcher said he hopes to have a primitive testnet available near the end of the year.
“It will be a bit likeLightning, where there’s never a single day when it’s finished, but it slowly gets more and better features and bug fixes until one day you realize it’s everywhere,” Belcher said of CoinSwap, which he plans to keep as an open source hobby project and not a revenue-producing company.
Related:Human Rights Foundation Funds Bitcoin Privacy Tools Despite ‘Coin Mixing’ Legal Stigma
Theoretically, any wallet provider could use the open source code to add the feature to their mobile app or desktop app. Privacy-focused wallets could even use CoinSwap features as another layer to current CoinJoin offerings.
Read more:Samourai Wallet Releases Privacy-Enhancing CoinJoin Feature
“The bitcoin ecosystem could end up in a bad situation where it’s impossible to accept bitcoin as payment without consulting some centralized blacklist … so I talk a lot about privacy but fungibility is important too,” Belcher said. “Centralization also makes the privacy of the software worse, so I’m less interested in going in that direction … it’s all about tradeoffs.”
Adam Fiscor, co-founder of zkSNACKs, said the nextWasabi Research Clubwill examine CoinSwaps, though he said it would be premature to comment on it further.
Both CoinSwaps and CoinJoins are a type of non-custodial mixing, which could theoretically be layered as two privacy tools used in the same transaction. CoinSwaps are comparable toatomic swaps, while CoinJoin options typically pool disparate funds together as part of the transaction.
Read more:100 Bitcoin Users Perform What Might Be Largest ‘CoinJoin’ Transaction Ever
However, some compliance officers at leading analytics companies and crypto exchanges treat mixed bitcoin as inherently suspicious, which influences how legal authorities view the technology as well. It remains to be seen if CoinSwap features will suffer from the same stigmas as the incumbent method, CoinJoin.
The technologists working with bitcoin privacy tech walk a delicate line, and tend to pay their lawyers accordingly.
AttorneyPreston Brynesaid he would not advise clients to use CoinJoin transactions, which he said is sometimes wrongly associated with money laundering. Many exchanges and wallet companies choose to be safe rather than sorry when it comes to legal battles.
Yet, lawyer Rafael Yakobi said there’s nothing inherently wrong with using this privacy feature, it’s all about how you report it. In the case of wallet providers, this may be possible in non-custodial scenarios where the intermediating startup never controls the assets.
“I’m quite confident that CoinJoin hasnot yet been mentionedin any piece of legislation. It’s not even mentioned by name inFinCEN’s guidance,” Yakobi said. “The more appropriate question is whether flagging CoinJoin transactions is implicitly required by the relevant regulations. I’m not sure about Europe, but in the U.S. it’s not an objective yes or no answer. Each business is required to formulate best practices designed to comply with the law.”
Over in Europe, it appears the law enforcement agencyEuropolis wary of the privacy-orientedWasabi Wallet, because the analytics firm Chainalysis estimated $15 million worth of illicit transactions used the bitcoin wallet’s CoinJoin feature.
Read more:EU’s Europol: Bitcoin Privacy Wallet ‘Not Looking Good’ For Law Enforcement
Critics like Reckless VR founderUdi Wertheimerand Jon Matonis of Cypherpunk Holdings, the latter of which invested in both the privacy-orientedSamourai Walletand Wasabi-maker zkSNACKs, say blockchain analytics firms are overestimating the amount of illicit transactions when they flag mixed bitcoin.
“Exchanges, banks and regulators are being sold a false narrative if they believe that this [analytics] technology provides reliable, or more importantly, actionable results,” Matonis said. “It is purely a dangerous game of probabilities and false positives, disingenuously overstated to peddle more forensic services.”
HRF’s Gladstein recently took Elliptic, another blockchain analytics firm, to task for its “surveillance” work.“The tools you’re building regardless of your intentions will be used for policing bitcoin,” Gladstein said during a panel with Elliptic’s Tom Robinson at an event this month. “At the end of the day what you’re doing is warrantless surveillance against people in other countries.”
Read more:‘Financial Surveillance’ or ‘Blockchain Analysis’? Human Rights Foundation Debates Elliptic
For his part, Matonis’s investment thesis revolves around the belief the legal community will adopt compliance norms that don’t restrict or criminalize privacy-tech like mixers.
“The concern around mixing technology, or coin hygiene, stems from the flawed thinking that cryptocurrency transactions are identical to bank transfers using fiat currency,” Matonis said. “This is a grand societal battle that must be won by privacy advocates, not because it is a cute feature or a principled position, but because it is an existential economic necessity. A peer-to-peer value transfer system fails without underlying coin privacy at its core, because the entire system would lack fungibility if all coins were not treated equally the way paper cash is today.”
This is why some bitcoiners continue to work on privacy tech, regardless of exchange policies and other hurdles.
Meanwhile, CoinJoin usage continues to increase, with roughly 13,500 newWasabi Wallet downloadsthis year.
So far in June, more than 10,000 fresh bitcoin were used in Wasabi CoinJoin transactions for the first time, the highest record since the all-time peak in August 2019 according to the Wasabi team.
Overall, usage has more than tripled since May 2019, when roughly 9,764 total bitcoin were used in Wasabi’s CoinJoin transactions, compared to 35,697 total bitcoin used in May 2020, they said.
And that’s not even to mention the few thousandbitcoinsent using otherCoinJoin toolssince the coronavirus began, includingSamourai WalletandJoinMarket. Generally speaking, usage appears to be up across the sector.
Matonis said as long as companies and public individuals focus on non-custodial, open source software, he believes privacy-tech projects will actually bear less compliance costs over time as the tools become normalized. For example, mixing protocols could become a “standard default feature” in bitcoin wallets.
“Both the bitcoin industry and law enforcement need to resist falling for the myth of blockchain forensics as perpetrated by the blockchain surveillance firms,” Matonis said of companies that routinely flag mixed coins as suspicious.
“Law enforcement methods will undoubtedly have to evolve beyond simply using money as an identity tracking device or simply relying on metadata through non-targeted driftnet surveillance,” he added. “This means employing real and sometimes cumbersome police work that doesn’t violate the rights of any individuals.”
• Another Data Point Suggests Bitcoin Close to Prolonged Bull Market
• Market Wrap: DeFi Is Helping Ether Outpace Bitcoin This Year || Human Rights Foundation Funds Bitcoin Privacy Tools Despite ‘Coin Mixing’ Legal Stigma: An unknown wallet holder mistakenly, it seems, sent a $2 million transaction fee on the Ethereum blockchain, Elrond is testing its network in a “trial by fire” and Libra’s Dante Disparte thinks governments entering the stablecoin race is good for Libra. Here’s the story: You’re reading Blockchain Bites , the daily roundup of the most pivotal stories in blockchain and crypto news, and why they’re significant. You can subscribe to this and all of CoinDesk’s newsletters here . Top shelf Libra’s Future Libra’s initial prospectus and subsequent redesign has left its imprint on the world. Some 70% of central banks are researching a national digital currency, a fact that Dante Disparte, head of policy and communications at the Libra Association, thinks is good for the Libra project and its mission. “I think there would be nothing better for the world and for poverty alleviation if, in fact, we started to trigger a bit of a space race on compliance to address the 1.7 billion people who are unbanked and underbanked,” he said. “So from my point of view, there is no monopoly on this work. Let others enter this process and let the race begin.” CoinDesk’s Ian Allison takes a deep dive into where Libra stands in midst of the “digital dollar space race.” Institutional Investors Fidelity Digital Assets found the number of U.S. institutional investors buying crypto derivative products jumped significantly in 2020. In a survey the subsidiary found “22% of U.S. respondents invested in digital assets have exposure via futures, which is a substantial increase relative to 9% of U.S. investors surveyed in 2019,” while 80% of investors surveyed have found “something appealing about the asset class.” Separately, Bakkt and Galaxy Digital plan to partner to offer a “white glove” trading and custody solution targeting institutional investors this year. Galaxy will provide all the trading services and functionalities, while Bakkt will repurpose part of its Bakkt Warehouse as the service’s custody solution. Building Blocks Elrond, a proof-of-stake blockchain, is offering up to $60,000 to node-runners and white-hat hackers to find bugs and vulnerabilities in a trial-by-fire test of the network. Separately, Band Protocol 2.0 launched Wednesday with its mainnet oracle solution, BandChain, leveraging the Cosmos SDK. The project’s revamp comes 10 months after listing as an initial exchange offering (IEO) on Binance Launchpad and a $3 million 2019 seed round led by Sequoia India. Story continues Investments Hacker Noon, a tech publication with 4 million monthly readers, has closed a $1 million strategic investment from micropayments firm Coil, a blockchain-agnostic product built on the Interledger protocol and headed by former Ripple CTO Stefan Thomas. The publication will integrate Coil’s Web Monetization technology to pay Hacker Noon writers based on their screen time. Financial Products London-based investment firm ETC Group plans to list a bitcoin-backed exchange-traded product (ETP), called the Bitcoin Exchange Traded Crypto (BTCE), on Deutsche Borse’s Xetra market. This would be the world’s first centrally cleared derivative crypto asset. Meanwhile, Bitwage, a crypto payroll provider, has added USDC support to its platform. Related: Blockchain Bites: Libra’s Future, Elrond’s ‘Trial by Fire’ and LocalBitcoins’ Volume Ill-Gotten Gains? Just before 10:00 UTC Wednesday, an unknown wallet holder sent 0.55 ether (around $133) with a 10,666 ETH transaction fee – currently worth just under $2.6 million. The fee went to Chinese mining group Spark Pool – which ordinarily would have averaged around $0.50 – that now says it has frozen the payout to miners in its pool. Elsewhere, a 20-year old California resident was charged Monday by the U.S. Department of Justice with allegedly participating in a SIM-swapping scam that defrauded Apple and stole an unknown amount of cryptocurrency from one victim. Movers & Shakers Brian Brooks sold $4.6 million Coinbase stock options when he left the exchange to become interim head at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). Since taking office Brooks has already publicly suggested a federal payments charter for fintech companies, asked state and local governments to consider lifting COVID-19 lockdowns to protect the banking system and published a request for public input on how banks look at crypto. In an interview with CoinDesk’s Nikhilesh De, Brooks said, “My job here is not to protect incumbents, and it’s not to preserve the status quo.” He also thinks DeFi is the most exciting corner of crypto today. Blockchain Voting Residents of Moscow will have the option to cast votes electronically in Russia’s upcoming national referendum on its constitution, and have their votes recorded on Bitfury’s open-source enterprise blockchain, Exonum. Sources close to the matter say Moscow’s Department of Information Technologies tapped Kaspersky Lab, an anti-virus software vendor turned blockchain consultant, to build this technical solution. Opinion The Crypto Community Needs to Stand Up and Fight Racism Robert Greenfield, CEO of Emerging Impact, takes a moment to reflect on the crypto industry’s response to the death of George Floyd and subsequent protests around the country. Whereas other corporations and public figures working in the broader tech industry have taken a stance against police brutality and economic injustice, the crypto community has been mostly silent. “The crypto community is conveniently selective about what aspects of society it wants to change,” Greenfield said. Bitcoin Doesn’t Take Sides: Why Apolitical Solutions Are the Internet’s Future Preston Byrne, partner in Anderson Kill and a CoinDesk columnist, sees another side of the culture war. In an op-ed examining censorship and the future of Section 230, Byrne thinks the winners will likely be apolitical. “Companies that build politics-free solutions will be the future of the internet. Not because such products have the right opinions about their users, but because they have no opinions at all,” he said. Market intel Profitable Coins Over 16 million BTC out of the total circulating supply of 18.4 million, or 87%, is currently making gains. The metric, an obscure data point called percentage of bitcoin’s circulating supply in profit, is calculated by looking at the ratio of coins with a value that is higher now than when they were last moved, and signals a coming bull run. “Historically, levels of 90% and higher have clearly marked pronounced bull markets,” Glassnode said in a weekly report. Playing it Loose Officials in the U.K., Europe and New Zealand may push interest rates below zero as a form of economic stimulus. And bitcoin might be a beneficiary of looser monetary policy outside the U.S., even if the Federal Reserve never joins its foreign counterparts. While central banks’ dalliances with negative interest rates in the mid-2010s didn’t seem to affect bitcoin’s price, a current market capitalization roughly 20 times levels in 2014 and an increasing correlation with the broader market may see people turning to bitcoin as a hedge against increasing consumer prices. Get the full First Mover analysis in your inbox. Strictly Not Stifled LocalBitcoins’ ban on cash transactions and stricter identity verification has not appeared to stifle the peer-to-peer exchange’s business. LocalBitcoins’ volume is down 27% over the past 12 months and up almost 40% for the year to date. Compared to reported volumes of 12 months ago, OKEx and Coinbase have seen volume drop by approximately 30% and 45%, respectively, according to data from Nomics. Since January, however, the two exchanges’ volumes have grown by roughly 2,500% and 800%, respectively. The Breakdown What the Stock Market’s ‘Robinhood Rally’ Means for Bitcoin The largest 50-day rally in stock market history and even shares of bankrupt companies are up more than 100%. NLW asks and answers: What is going on? Who won #CryptoTwitter? Related Stories Blockchain Bites: Coinbase Surveillance, Bitcoin Wargames, CoinMarketCap Drama Blockchain Bites: Why UN and Federal Reserve Experts Think CBDCs Could Kill Commercial Banking View comments
[Social Media Buzz]
None available.
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9480.84, 9475.28, 9386.79, 9450.70, 9538.02, 9480.25, 9411.84, 9288.02, 9332.34, 9303.63
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 660.77, 679.46, 673.11, 672.86, 665.68, 665.01, 650.62, 655.56, 661.28, 654.10, 651.78, 654.35, 655.03, 656.99, 655.05, 624.68, 606.27, 547.47, 566.35, 578.29, 575.04, 587.78, 592.69, 591.05, 587.80, 592.10, 589.12, 587.56, 585.59, 570.47, 567.24, 577.44, 573.22, 574.32, 575.63, 581.70, 581.31, 586.75, 583.41, 580.18, 577.76, 579.65, 569.95, 573.91, 574.11, 577.50, 575.47, 572.30, 575.54, 598.21, 608.63, 606.59, 610.44, 614.54, 626.32, 622.86, 623.51, 606.72, 608.24, 609.24, 610.68, 607.16, 606.97, 605.98, 609.87, 609.23, 608.31, 597.15, 596.30, 602.84, 602.62, 600.83, 608.04, 606.17, 604.73, 605.69, 609.73, 613.98, 610.89, 612.13, 610.20, 612.51, 613.02, 617.12, 619.11, 616.75, 618.99, 641.07, 636.19, 636.79.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2016-10-13]
Volume: 61620700, RSI (14-day): 70.02, 50-day EMA: 610.52, 200-day EMA: 562.77
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1255.00, Gold RSI: 29.38
Oil Price: 50.44, Oil RSI: 62.80
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Nadex Q3 2016: Interest Keeps Growing in Limited Risk Trading: Total number of trades up over 53% versus Q3 2015 Faster, easier deposits and withdrawals using bank debit cards on mobile devices Major updates for Android and iPhone apps New Market Filter gives traders greater control and precision CHICAGO, IL / ACCESSWIRE / October 12, 2016 / Following the Trading Update for the quarter ending August 31, 2016 reported by parent company IG Group (LSE: IGG), Nadex reported over 37% growth in trade volume and over 53% growth in total trades of binary options during the third quarter of 2016 compared to Q3 2015. Nadex has seen quarterly increases in volume and total trades for 19 of the last 20 quarters. This sustained growth points to an important movement: demand for limited-risk alternatives to conventional trading. Individual traders are increasingly attracted to the low fees, low minimum opening balance, and guaranteed limited risk offered by exchange-traded binary options and spreads. Faster, Easier Deposits and Withdrawals The latest updates to the Nadex mobile apps make it easy and quick to open and manage an account from anywhere. Mobile users can upload application documents and deposit funds instantly. Members can withdraw funds to their checking accounts just as quickly and securely, anytime from PC or mobile. Powerful Market Filter Tool With over 10,000 contracts available daily, Nadex added a major new feature to its proprietary trading platform: Market Filter. Traders can search for markets and contracts to trade based on several criteria, including asset class, current trading price, length of contract, and time to expiration. For example, a trader can filter for crude oil binaries costing less than $40, to sell, with under an hour until expiration. Or for weekly euro binary options that are at or in the money. This feature, available in both the free demo and live platform with free real-time market data, allows traders to test a virtually limitless range of strategies. Growing Awareness of the Value of Regulated Exchanges The importance of trading binary options on a CFTC-regulated exchange has received mainstream acceptance. In 2013, the CFTC issued an advisory stating that only three exchanges, including Nadex, were legally authorized to solicit US clients. In early 2016, a major Cyprus-based binary options vendor found to have offered off-exchange contracts to US customers settled with the CFTC and SEC for $11 million and closed its US operation. Story continues Such developments have highlighted the contrast between illegal offshore vendors and regulated, US-based exchanges like Nadex. Nadex has emerged as a leading CFTC-regulated exchange offering limited-risk trading in binary options and spreads on multiple asset classes. "We're no longer just trying to introduce the concept of limited-risk trading," said Nadex CEO Timothy McDermott. "People are aware of it. Now our job is to get them asking, 'If I can trade the same markets with limited risk on a CFTC regulated exchange - with lower fees and capital requirements - why not?' Frankly, we hope everyone starts asking that question." Nadex: US-based, regulated, secure Nadex is the first and largest CFTC-regulated online exchange in the U.S offering binary options and spreads to individual traders seeking low-cost, limited risk ways to participate in the markets. Member funds are segregated and held in top-tier US banks. Using Nadex's online and mobile platforms, traders can trade short-term price movements in the most heavily traded currency, commodity, and stock index markets, as well as on economic events and the price of Bitcoin, with limited-risk hourly, daily and weekly contracts. Notes to Editors Nadex offers traders a trusted, secure way to trade binary options and spreads on a wide range of the most heavily traded forex, commodities and stock indices. Nadex is headquartered in Chicago, and is subject to regulatory oversight by the CFTC. Follow us on Twitter: @Nadex_US Like us on Facebook: nadexUS To learn more about Nadex, please visit https://nadex.com . For information on becoming a Nadex member, call 1-866-296-0167 or email [email protected] . Disclaimer: Trading on Nadex involves risk and may not be appropriate for all investors. SOURCE: Nadex || Nadex Q3 2016: Interest Keeps Growing in Limited Risk Trading: Total number of trades up over 53% versus Q3 2015 Faster, easier deposits and withdrawals using bank debit cards on mobile devices Major updates for Android and iPhone apps New Market Filter gives traders greater control and precision CHICAGO, IL / ACCESSWIRE / October 12, 2016 / Following the Trading Update for the quarter ending August 31, 2016 reported by parent company IG Group (LSE: IGG), Nadex reported over 37% growth in trade volume and over 53% growth in total trades of binary options during the third quarter of 2016 compared to Q3 2015. Nadex has seen quarterly increases in volume and total trades for 19 of the last 20 quarters. This sustained growth points to an important movement: demand for limited-risk alternatives to conventional trading. Individual traders are increasingly attracted to the low fees, low minimum opening balance, and guaranteed limited risk offered by exchange-traded binary options and spreads. Faster, Easier Deposits and Withdrawals The latest updates to the Nadex mobile apps make it easy and quick to open and manage an account from anywhere. Mobile users can upload application documents and deposit funds instantly. Members can withdraw funds to their checking accounts just as quickly and securely, anytime from PC or mobile. Powerful Market Filter Tool With over 10,000 contracts available daily, Nadex added a major new feature to its proprietary trading platform: Market Filter. Traders can search for markets and contracts to trade based on several criteria, including asset class, current trading price, length of contract, and time to expiration. For example, a trader can filter for crude oil binaries costing less than $40, to sell, with under an hour until expiration. Or for weekly euro binary options that are at or in the money. This feature, available in both the free demo and live platform with free real-time market data, allows traders to test a virtually limitless range of strategies. Growing Awareness of the Value of Regulated Exchanges The importance of trading binary options on a CFTC-regulated exchange has received mainstream acceptance. In 2013, the CFTC issued an advisory stating that only three exchanges, including Nadex, were legally authorized to solicit US clients. In early 2016, a major Cyprus-based binary options vendor found to have offered off-exchange contracts to US customers settled with the CFTC and SEC for $11 million and closed its US operation. Story continues Such developments have highlighted the contrast between illegal offshore vendors and regulated, US-based exchanges like Nadex. Nadex has emerged as a leading CFTC-regulated exchange offering limited-risk trading in binary options and spreads on multiple asset classes. "We're no longer just trying to introduce the concept of limited-risk trading," said Nadex CEO Timothy McDermott. "People are aware of it. Now our job is to get them asking, 'If I can trade the same markets with limited risk on a CFTC regulated exchange - with lower fees and capital requirements - why not?' Frankly, we hope everyone starts asking that question." Nadex: US-based, regulated, secure Nadex is the first and largest CFTC-regulated online exchange in the U.S offering binary options and spreads to individual traders seeking low-cost, limited risk ways to participate in the markets. Member funds are segregated and held in top-tier US banks. Using Nadex's online and mobile platforms, traders can trade short-term price movements in the most heavily traded currency, commodity, and stock index markets, as well as on economic events and the price of Bitcoin, with limited-risk hourly, daily and weekly contracts. Notes to Editors Nadex offers traders a trusted, secure way to trade binary options and spreads on a wide range of the most heavily traded forex, commodities and stock indices. Nadex is headquartered in Chicago, and is subject to regulatory oversight by the CFTC. Follow us on Twitter: @Nadex_US Like us on Facebook: nadexUS To learn more about Nadex, please visit https://nadex.com . For information on becoming a Nadex member, call 1-866-296-0167 or email [email protected] . Disclaimer: Trading on Nadex involves risk and may not be appropriate for all investors. SOURCE: Nadex || A Harvard Professor Studied Infamous White-Collar Criminals. Here’s What He Learned.: Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? Eugene Soltes does, at least if the men are disgraced corporate executives. Soltes, an associate professor at Harvard Business School, struck up relationships--mainly by phone, email, and letter--with close to 50 prominent white-collar criminals in order to learn what made them tick, why they blew it all, and what, if anything, distinguishes them from us. He eventually got to knowPonzi schemers Bernard Madoffand Allen Stanford, former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski, Enron CFO Andy Fastow, ImClone CEO Samuel Waksal, McKinsey partner Anil Kumar, KPMG partner Scott London, and many others.
The resulting book,Why They Do It: Inside the Mind of the White-Collar Criminal(Public Affairs, 447 pages), comes out October 11. For this article, Soltes also struck up a brief telephone relationship withFortunelegal affairs writer Roger Parloff, though he has not yet been convicted of anything.
Fortune: When did you start working on this project and why?
The project began almost a decade ago, although at the time it wasn't even a scholarly endeavor. It was just my curiosity. I was a graduate student, finishing my doctorate at the University of Chicago School of Business. One night I was working on my dissertation, which involved a large empirical dataset, and was waiting for some data output. I was watching TV and came across a show on MSNBC calledLockup--a cross between a reality and documentary show.
It was about criminals--mostly violent offenders. From this I started wondering: What about all the nonviolent offenders--like the executives I'd read about in the papers. That spurred me to write down the first ten questions that came to mind and to send letters to a number of prominent white-collar criminals. That led, down the road, to this project.
Were most the white-collar criminals fundamentally like you and me, or were they sociopaths?
By and large, they were like us. That's one of the main things I took away in this project.
Once they've been indicted or convicted, we tend to distance them from ourselves and say we'd never do this. We're not like them. But when we look at their errors more carefully, they're actually ones we are all susceptible to making. The main difference is that we are not generally in those types of leadership positions that when we make an error it actually has that kind of cataclysmic consequences on thousands or tens of thousands of people.
The main challenge that not just managers face, but that we all face as humans, is that we're not hardwired to detect harm that we're doing when the harm is distant. It's not enough to know the difference between right and wrong. One actually has to feel that one's actions are harmful to avoid going forward. So take something like insider trading. You don't see the victims. It's actually impossible in many instances to identify who those victims are. So it's not surprising that if you engage in insider trading, there's not going to be any internal alarm screaming out that you're engaging in some extraordinarily heinous crime.
So I could sit in a room all day with these executives and never be worried about them going into my back pocket and taking $5 out of my wallet. They're socialized. They wouldn't do that. Yet many of these individuals--I've held stock in some of their firms--they've taken actually far more than that out of my retirement account, or my stock account. But they don't feel any kind of deep harm in doing so. That's a discrepancy.
Was Bernie Madoff a sociopath?
Out of all the individuals I've spent time with, Madoff is different. Unlike other managers, Madoff knew his victims in intimate ways--they were family, friends, people in his religious circle.
Madoff is a brilliant individual. Cordial. Open. I see why he was such a successful manager in terms of bringing people into his fund and taking on this leadership position. But he doesn't feel a great deal of remorse for his actions. He’s simply less empathetic.
Did most people feel remorse?
Very few. That was something that did surprise me. That's something I found puzzling for awhile until I started appreciating the fact that it's hard to feel deep remorse if you don't actually see the people whom you've hurt. You read that you've harmed the integrity of the markets--but that doesn't resonate internally with us very well.
Do you think any of the people you met were actually innocent?
There were a couple cases where the penalties they faced seemed quite remarkable. One person that particularly resonated with me Scott Harkonen, the CEO of a biotech firm called InterMune. In his case they were developing a new drug for a fatal lung disease called IPF (idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis). They ran this trial. When the results came back, they found some things potentially working, and other things weren't quite so successful. They put together a press release describing all the technical detail, all the nitty gritty. But they started the press release at the top saying that the trial demonstrated that this had some success in treating IPF. A number of years later the government went after them for fraud, saying that "demonstrate" was misleading. And in his particular case, I'd say the word "suggest" would probably have been a more conservative way of framing it. But he faced up to 10 years in prison, which is what the government sought.
He received probation, but, still, the effects on his life and career are really extraordinary. He spent millions of dollars in defense. The loss of his license. The loss of his reputation.
And I look at the current political discourse, and some of the things that our potential leaders are saying, and how they frame them, and I think ofhow Scott Harkonen faced ten years in prisonbecause he used the word "demonstrate" rather than "suggest"?
The two major presidential candidates have each been accused by their critics of criminal wrongdoing. How do their personalities and temperaments stack up against those of the people in your book? [This interview took place beforedisclosure of the 2005Access Hollywoodvideoin which Republican candidate Donald Trump made lewd comments about groping women.]
There's a trait associated with being a leader of any large firm. We have people who are CEOs and CFOs come regularly to Harvard Business School and there's a lot of similarities. You don't become head of large firm by luck. There are some characteristics of temperament that allow you to get there. Temperament, discipline, and self-control are crucial.
I see momentary lapses of self-control and restraint as being one of the things that actually undermined the executives in my book. They showed discipline and self-control for decades. But we all have momentary lapses.
I think Secretary [Hillary] Clinton has said about her email server: This was a mistake. It was a lapse in judgment.
And then I think what we've seen from Mr. Trump is, he's struggling to maintain that discipline and temperament in any consistent way. It's actually being able to maintain discipline and control under stress, under different circumstances, which is, it seems to me, one of the most important characteristics of being a successful leader. This is what took down the people I've been speaking with, who are, in many cases, really remarkable individuals. Brilliant individuals. And when you see the mistakes they made, and how that has changed their lives and careers and harmed others, it is really remarkable and humbling.
So when I look at the political candidates, I think of that. It doesn't require very many mistakes to have really catastrophic consequences not only for their own careers, but for those around them. In the business context, the victims are shareholders. But in politics, the victims would be us, and citizens of the world.
See original article on Fortune.com
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• This is what white collar criminals do after prison || A Harvard Professor Studied Infamous White-Collar Criminals. Heres What He Learned.: Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? Eugene Soltes does, at least if the men are disgraced corporate executives. Soltes, an associate professor at Harvard Business School, struck up relationships--mainly by phone, email, and letter--with close to 50 prominent white-collar criminals in order to learn what made them tick, why they blew it all, and what, if anything, distinguishes them from us. He eventually got to know Ponzi schemers Bernard Madoff and Allen Stanford, former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski, Enron CFO Andy Fastow, ImClone CEO Samuel Waksal, McKinsey partner Anil Kumar, KPMG partner Scott London, and many others. The resulting book, Why They Do It: Inside the Mind of the White-Collar Criminal (Public Affairs, 447 pages), comes out October 11. For this article, Soltes also struck up a brief telephone relationship with Fortune legal affairs writer Roger Parloff, though he has not yet been convicted of anything. Fortune : When did you start working on this project and why? The project began almost a decade ago, although at the time it wasn't even a scholarly endeavor. It was just my curiosity. I was a graduate student, finishing my doctorate at the University of Chicago School of Business. One night I was working on my dissertation, which involved a large empirical dataset, and was waiting for some data output. I was watching TV and came across a show on MSNBC called Lockup --a cross between a reality and documentary show. It was about criminals--mostly violent offenders. From this I started wondering: What about all the nonviolent offenders--like the executives I'd read about in the papers. That spurred me to write down the first ten questions that came to mind and to send letters to a number of prominent white-collar criminals. That led, down the road, to this project. Were most the white-collar criminals fundamentally like you and me, or were they sociopaths? By and large, they were like us. That's one of the main things I took away in this project. Story continues Once they've been indicted or convicted, we tend to distance them from ourselves and say we'd never do this. We're not like them. But when we look at their errors more carefully, they're actually ones we are all susceptible to making. The main difference is that we are not generally in those types of leadership positions that when we make an error it actually has that kind of cataclysmic consequences on thousands or tens of thousands of people. The main challenge that not just managers face, but that we all face as humans, is that we're not hardwired to detect harm that we're doing when the harm is distant. It's not enough to know the difference between right and wrong. One actually has to feel that one's actions are harmful to avoid going forward. So take something like insider trading. You don't see the victims. It's actually impossible in many instances to identify who those victims are. So it's not surprising that if you engage in insider trading, there's not going to be any internal alarm screaming out that you're engaging in some extraordinarily heinous crime. So I could sit in a room all day with these executives and never be worried about them going into my back pocket and taking $5 out of my wallet. They're socialized. They wouldn't do that. Yet many of these individuals--I've held stock in some of their firms--they've taken actually far more than that out of my retirement account, or my stock account. But they don't feel any kind of deep harm in doing so. That's a discrepancy. Was Bernie Madoff a sociopath? Out of all the individuals I've spent time with, Madoff is different. Unlike other managers, Madoff knew his victims in intimate ways--they were family, friends, people in his religious circle. Madoff is a brilliant individual. Cordial. Open. I see why he was such a successful manager in terms of bringing people into his fund and taking on this leadership position. But he doesn't feel a great deal of remorse for his actions. Hes simply less empathetic. Did most people feel remorse? Very few. That was something that did surprise me. That's something I found puzzling for awhile until I started appreciating the fact that it's hard to feel deep remorse if you don't actually see the people whom you've hurt. You read that you've harmed the integrity of the markets--but that doesn't resonate internally with us very well. Do you think any of the people you met were actually innocent? There were a couple cases where the penalties they faced seemed quite remarkable. One person that particularly resonated with me Scott Harkonen, the CEO of a biotech firm called InterMune. In his case they were developing a new drug for a fatal lung disease called IPF (idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis). They ran this trial. When the results came back, they found some things potentially working, and other things weren't quite so successful. They put together a press release describing all the technical detail, all the nitty gritty. But they started the press release at the top saying that the trial demonstrated that this had some success in treating IPF. A number of years later the government went after them for fraud, saying that "demonstrate" was misleading. And in his particular case, I'd say the word "suggest" would probably have been a more conservative way of framing it. But he faced up to 10 years in prison, which is what the government sought. He received probation, but, still, the effects on his life and career are really extraordinary. He spent millions of dollars in defense. The loss of his license. The loss of his reputation. And I look at the current political discourse, and some of the things that our potential leaders are saying, and how they frame them, and I think of how Scott Harkonen faced ten years in prison because he used the word "demonstrate" rather than "suggest"? The two major presidential candidates have each been accused by their critics of criminal wrongdoing. How do their personalities and temperaments stack up against those of the people in your book? [This interview took place before disclosure of the 2005 Access Hollywood video in which Republican candidate Donald Trump made lewd comments about groping women.] There's a trait associated with being a leader of any large firm. We have people who are CEOs and CFOs come regularly to Harvard Business School and there's a lot of similarities. You don't become head of large firm by luck. There are some characteristics of temperament that allow you to get there. Temperament, discipline, and self-control are crucial. I see momentary lapses of self-control and restraint as being one of the things that actually undermined the executives in my book. They showed discipline and self-control for decades. But we all have momentary lapses. I think Secretary [Hillary] Clinton has said about her email server: This was a mistake. It was a lapse in judgment. And then I think what we've seen from Mr. Trump is, he's struggling to maintain that discipline and temperament in any consistent way. It's actually being able to maintain discipline and control under stress, under different circumstances, which is, it seems to me, one of the most important characteristics of being a successful leader. This is what took down the people I've been speaking with, who are, in many cases, really remarkable individuals. Brilliant individuals. And when you see the mistakes they made, and how that has changed their lives and careers and harmed others, it is really remarkable and humbling. So when I look at the political candidates, I think of that. It doesn't require very many mistakes to have really catastrophic consequences not only for their own careers, but for those around them. In the business context, the victims are shareholders. But in politics, the victims would be us, and citizens of the world. See original article on Fortune.com More from Fortune.com Here's Who's Most Likely to Rip Off Their Employer Justice Department is setting its sights on white-collar criminals These hackers allegedly stole insider info to make big trades Bitcoin's first criminal goes to prison today This is what white collar criminals do after prison || 10 paid iPhone apps on sale for free for a limited time: Galaxy Note 7s are exploding... iPhones are exploding... it's time for some uplifting news and nothing is more uplifting than scoring a bunch of paid iPhone and iPad apps for free. Today's batch includes several solid apps as well as a few nifty sticker packs for iMessage, but these sales won't last so be sure to check them out right away. DON’T MISS: No matter what happens next, the Galaxy Note 7 is dead to us These are paid iPhone and iPad apps that have been made available for free for a limited time by their developers. There is no way to tell how long they will be free. These sales could end an hour from now or a week from now — obviously, the only thing we can guarantee is that they were free at the time this post was written. If you click on a link and see a price listed next to an app instead of the word “get,” it is no longer free. The sale has ended. If you download the app, you will be charged. Widget Calendar widget-calendar Normally $0.99. “Quotes: Widget & Watch” gives 2 beautiful quotes a day. “Memory: Your Memo” helps you remember everything by various colors. --- Widget Calendar shows the full calendar in widget. - See the calendar and the events in widget - Hide events of category that you don't want to see in widget - View all the reminders and manage it - Open Calendar app of the date - Open Reminders by touching the list name - Smooth transitions and no buggy moment The fastest way to check your calendar whenever you need to, even when the screen is locked! Download Widget Calendar Union union Normally $1.99. - "A professional image blending tool that’s actually easy to use." - TECHCRUNCH - "A quick and easy way to turn your iPhone or iPad into a photo manipulation tool." - GIZMODO - "The best image-blending app around." - CULT OF MAC *** From the creators of Fragment, Tangent and Matter, previous App Store Editors' Choice and App of the Week *** Union is an elegant image blending tool that lets you create superimposed, silhouetted, and double-exposed photos. Here's how it works. 1. Load a background image, solid color, or transparent layer 2. Load a foreground image, solid color, or shape 3. Efficiently erase areas of the foreground image using Union’s palette of intuitive, user-friendly tools 4. Adjust the position and size of the foreground image to reach desired composition 5. Make color adjustments on the background and foreground so they blend seamlessly 6. Save your work in full resolution and share your work with friends Also included in Union is Pixite Source, a free resource for professional quality images, textures, and overlays that you can use in your edits. Union invites professionals and hobbyists alike to explore image blending and photo editing. Story continues Download Union Election Stickers election-stickers Normally $0.99. Election Stickers: 2016 Edition Express your political views in iMessages with this U.S. Election sticker pack that contains our 2016 presidential candidates: Hillary and Trump. Quick tips on installing and using Sticker apps: • To access iMessage apps, tap the App Store icon alongside the compose field to see your most recently used iMessage app. • To continue browsing, tap the icon on the lower left corner which brings up the app drawer. From there, tap the plus icon to access the App Store for iMessage, where you can browse and download more apps. Here, you can also go to Manage where you can add your apps to your app drawer. • To use a sticker within a conversation, you simply tap to send or you can touch and hold to place them on top of bubbles, other Stickers, or even photos. It feels just like peeling and pasting a traditional sticker. • iPhone and iPad users (running iOS 10) and Apple Watch owners (running watchOS 3) can receive stickers. On Apple Watch, you can send any of the stickers you recently sent from iPhone or iPad. You can receive stickers on earlier versions of iOS and other platforms but they’re received inline as images and don’t support being pasted on top of text, photos etc. Express yourself in new ways with Election Stickers you can put anywhere in your chat. Scale, rotate, and layer stickers—even place them on photos you send and receive! • SEND stickers in chat • PLACE stickers anywhere on your iMessages • CUSTOMIZE your photos with stickers in chat • LAYER stickers over each other, in chat, and on photos • SCALE & ROTATE stickers Download Election Stickers Halloween halloween Normally $0.99. Halloween stickers for iMessage. Special price for launch only so download now and try it out! The pack contains 15 high quality ANIMATED stickers you can put everywhere on your messages. No in-app purchase. all stickers are included with the app! Download Halloween Mobdro Plus mobdro-plus Normally $0.99. Mobdro Plus is built for music lovers. This is the only outstanding music app for millions songs from YouTube. Get the app, discover, organise and play thousands of premium tracks or playlists seamlessly. 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Main Features: √ Find & Merge duplicate contacts, phone √ Delete multiple contacts √ One tap backup your contacts √ Quick find the contacts you need √ Show system statistics: memory, storage Download Clean&Clean Trending right now: Apple launches investigation as another iPhone goes up in flames Don’t expect a Surface Book 2 to take on Apple’s new MacBook Pro this year Tests show that one iPhone 7 model is actually slower than all the others See the original version of this article on BGR.com View comments || 10 paid iPhone apps on sale for free for a limited time: Galaxy Note 7s are exploding... iPhones are exploding... it's time for some uplifting news and nothing is more uplifting than scoring a bunch of paid iPhone and iPad apps for free. Today's batch includes several solid apps as well as a few nifty sticker packs for iMessage, but these sales won't last so be sure to check them out right away. DON’T MISS: No matter what happens next, the Galaxy Note 7 is dead to us These are paid iPhone and iPad apps that have been made available for free for a limited time by their developers. There is no way to tell how long they will be free. These sales could end an hour from now or a week from now — obviously, the only thing we can guarantee is that they were free at the time this post was written. If you click on a link and see a price listed next to an app instead of the word “get,” it is no longer free. The sale has ended. If you download the app, you will be charged. Widget Calendar widget-calendar Normally $0.99. “Quotes: Widget & Watch” gives 2 beautiful quotes a day. “Memory: Your Memo” helps you remember everything by various colors. --- Widget Calendar shows the full calendar in widget. - See the calendar and the events in widget - Hide events of category that you don't want to see in widget - View all the reminders and manage it - Open Calendar app of the date - Open Reminders by touching the list name - Smooth transitions and no buggy moment The fastest way to check your calendar whenever you need to, even when the screen is locked! Download Widget Calendar Union union Normally $1.99. - "A professional image blending tool that’s actually easy to use." - TECHCRUNCH - "A quick and easy way to turn your iPhone or iPad into a photo manipulation tool." - GIZMODO - "The best image-blending app around." - CULT OF MAC *** From the creators of Fragment, Tangent and Matter, previous App Store Editors' Choice and App of the Week *** Union is an elegant image blending tool that lets you create superimposed, silhouetted, and double-exposed photos. Here's how it works. 1. Load a background image, solid color, or transparent layer 2. Load a foreground image, solid color, or shape 3. Efficiently erase areas of the foreground image using Union’s palette of intuitive, user-friendly tools 4. Adjust the position and size of the foreground image to reach desired composition 5. Make color adjustments on the background and foreground so they blend seamlessly 6. Save your work in full resolution and share your work with friends Also included in Union is Pixite Source, a free resource for professional quality images, textures, and overlays that you can use in your edits. Union invites professionals and hobbyists alike to explore image blending and photo editing. Story continues Download Union Election Stickers election-stickers Normally $0.99. Election Stickers: 2016 Edition Express your political views in iMessages with this U.S. Election sticker pack that contains our 2016 presidential candidates: Hillary and Trump. Quick tips on installing and using Sticker apps: • To access iMessage apps, tap the App Store icon alongside the compose field to see your most recently used iMessage app. • To continue browsing, tap the icon on the lower left corner which brings up the app drawer. From there, tap the plus icon to access the App Store for iMessage, where you can browse and download more apps. Here, you can also go to Manage where you can add your apps to your app drawer. • To use a sticker within a conversation, you simply tap to send or you can touch and hold to place them on top of bubbles, other Stickers, or even photos. It feels just like peeling and pasting a traditional sticker. • iPhone and iPad users (running iOS 10) and Apple Watch owners (running watchOS 3) can receive stickers. On Apple Watch, you can send any of the stickers you recently sent from iPhone or iPad. You can receive stickers on earlier versions of iOS and other platforms but they’re received inline as images and don’t support being pasted on top of text, photos etc. Express yourself in new ways with Election Stickers you can put anywhere in your chat. Scale, rotate, and layer stickers—even place them on photos you send and receive! • SEND stickers in chat • PLACE stickers anywhere on your iMessages • CUSTOMIZE your photos with stickers in chat • LAYER stickers over each other, in chat, and on photos • SCALE & ROTATE stickers Download Election Stickers Halloween halloween Normally $0.99. Halloween stickers for iMessage. Special price for launch only so download now and try it out! The pack contains 15 high quality ANIMATED stickers you can put everywhere on your messages. No in-app purchase. all stickers are included with the app! Download Halloween Mobdro Plus mobdro-plus Normally $0.99. Mobdro Plus is built for music lovers. This is the only outstanding music app for millions songs from YouTube. Get the app, discover, organise and play thousands of premium tracks or playlists seamlessly. Feature Sections of Mobdro app: Trending Songs & PlayLists - Realtime hottest official music tracks by Genres. - Trending premium songs on overall. - Season, spotlight and Index playlists. Search - One search button to continuously listen best songs on your favourite topics. - Easy to create playlist and add tracks to your library. - Search by track and playlist. PlayList - Organise unlimited number of playlists. - Play your list on your own favours : normal, repeat and shuffle. Player - Best optimised player for watch music mvs. - Best experiences on listening music, just like normal music app. Please do send your voices so we can get it and deliver your favourite features at the best manner. Download Mobdro Plus let's led lets-led Normally $0.99. Let’s Led turns your iphone/ipad into an ticker display. a time clock, and with over 100 symbol, you can send any message you want. Download let's led mixsuite mixsuite Normally $0.99. MixSuite allows you to mix your favourite tracks with your favourite videos effortlessly. This app allows you to select your video(s) from a variety of different areas, to make sure you never miss out on capturing the perfect video for your mood. Choose from YouTube, Vimeo, or even upload your own videos from your personal device! Now onto the Music - MixSuite brings through all your personal tracks from your native music app to allow for quick and easy selection of the tracks you wish to listen to. Now you can create your own Mix! Simply Double-tap the tracks from first to last to order them along with the selected video(s). MixSuite will even allow you to add a voiceover to the video - narrate over your favourite videos to give a truly unique mix. Tap save and you’re ready to listen to your mix! All mixes are saved to a dedicated library within the app to allow for playback at any time. Don’t forget to share the app to your friends for them to give it a try! Download mixsuite CryptoTrader cryptotrader Normally $2.99. CryptoTrader: Interactive, Real-Time Cryptocurrency Advisor! - Handy & clear chart optimized for mobile screens - Up-to-date real-time price data of digital coins and tokens - Historical price data to analyze trends - Current order book and recent trades - EMA and MACD indicators Supported cryptocurrencies: - Bitcoin (Bitfinex, Coinbase, Btc-e, Okcoin) - Ethereum (Poloniex, Kraken, Bitfinex) - Monero - Augur - Ripple - Dash - Steem - Litecoin - Ethereum Classic - and many more. Download CryptoTrader MORPH morph Normally $0.99. From the ominous dangers of a dark square world, MORPH an adorable little creature is propelled by adept chooses into the light, finding his way from world to world in this extremely astute puzzle game. Careful thought is necessary to avoid treacherous obstacles which would lead to a certain horrible death and find the hidden path to the portal leading to the light a symbol of your growing enlightenment. Download MORPH Clean&Clean cleanclean Normally $0.99. CLEANER MASTER FOR IOS … √ Clean&Clean Master – The World's Leading Cleaner & Optimizer for Mobile. √ "Memory Cleaner" helps you free up your RAM on device to boost performance. √ "Lightning Disk Cleaner": we bring the new technology for this feature to helps you clean junk/temp files on disk, which is faster than other apps same feature. Do you think your device is well organize? You will surprised how app can upgrade and make it more smooth & faster!!! Main Features: √ Find & Merge duplicate contacts, phone √ Delete multiple contacts √ One tap backup your contacts √ Quick find the contacts you need √ Show system statistics: memory, storage Download Clean&Clean Trending right now: Apple launches investigation as another iPhone goes up in flames Don’t expect a Surface Book 2 to take on Apple’s new MacBook Pro this year Tests show that one iPhone 7 model is actually slower than all the others See the original version of this article on BGR.com View comments || Traders weigh opportunity in Deutsche Bank as European banks gain: The " Fast Money " traders debated whether it's time to buy Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBK-DE) after the European banks (Mexico Stock Exchange: SX7P-MX) saw their best weekly performance in a month . Trader Karen Finerman said "the leverage and potential volatility in [Deutsche Bank] is enormous." She said she bought some call options in the stock. Trader Steve Grasso agreed and said he was tempted to buy the stock on Friday. Grasso said he feels Deutsche will be able to resolve its issues and that he sees positive headlines for the bank rolling in. Trader Guy Adami wasn't confident that was the case. He said the $14-billion opening position levied by the Justice Department in September came well after the stock had begun to decline. U.S.-listed shares of Deutsche have declined more than 52 percent in the past year. Disclosures: STEVE GRASSO Grasso is long: BA, CC, CHK, EVGN, KBH, MJNA, MON, MU, OLN, PFE, PHM, T, TWTR, GDX. Grasso's children own: EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY NO SHORTS. His firm is long VIRT, DVN, LDP, WDR, AVP, CVX, FCX, ICE, KDUS, KO, MAT, MCD, MJNA, NE, NEM, OLN, OXY, RIG, STAG, TAXI, TEX, TITXF, URI, VALE, WDR, WYNN, ZNGA, CUBA, HSPO, ICE, AMZN, MJNA, TITXF, NXTD, SPY, QQQ, DIA, XLI, BGCP, VIRT, JCP, GE, AIR, FP BRIAN KELLY Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, CME, DXJ, GDX, KBE, SLV, US Dollar UUP. He is short the euro and Japanese yen. KAREN FINERMAN Karen is long AAL, BAC, C, DAL, long DB calls, short DB preferred, FB, FL, GOGO, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, LYV, KORS, KORS calls, KORS puts, M, MA, SEDG, SPY puts, UAL, URI, WIFI long call spreads. Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, C, C calls, FB, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, JPM calls, KORS, LYV, M, MOH, PLCE, SPY puts, URI, WIFI. Her firm is short IWM, MDY. Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International. GUY ADAMI Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC. Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || Traders weigh opportunity in Deutsche Bank as European banks gain: The "Fast Money" traders debated whether it's time to buy Deutsche Bank(XETRA:DBK-DE)after the European banks(Mexico Stock Exchange: SX7P-MX)saw theirbest weekly performance in a month.
Trader Karen Finerman said "the leverage and potential volatility in [Deutsche Bank] is enormous." She said she bought some call options in the stock.
Trader Steve Grasso agreed and said he was tempted to buy the stock on Friday. Grasso said he feels Deutsche will be able to resolve its issues and that he sees positive headlines for the bank rolling in.
Trader Guy Adami wasn't confident that was the case. He said the $14-billion opening position levied by the Justice Department in September came well after the stock had begun to decline. U.S.-listed shares of Deutsche have declined more than 52 percent in the past year.
Disclosures:
STEVE GRASSO
Grasso is long: BA, CC, CHK, EVGN, KBH, MJNA, MON, MU, OLN, PFE, PHM, T, TWTR, GDX. Grasso's children own: EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY NO SHORTS. His firm is long VIRT, DVN, LDP, WDR, AVP, CVX, FCX, ICE, KDUS, KO, MAT, MCD, MJNA, NE, NEM, OLN, OXY, RIG, STAG, TAXI, TEX, TITXF, URI, VALE, WDR, WYNN, ZNGA, CUBA, HSPO, ICE, AMZN, MJNA, TITXF, NXTD, SPY, QQQ, DIA, XLI, BGCP, VIRT, JCP, GE, AIR, FP
BRIAN KELLY
Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, CME, DXJ, GDX, KBE, SLV, US Dollar UUP. He is short the euro and Japanese yen.
KAREN FINERMAN
Karen is long AAL, BAC, C, DAL, long DB calls, short DB preferred, FB, FL, GOGO, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, LYV, KORS, KORS calls, KORS puts, M, MA, SEDG, SPY puts, UAL, URI, WIFI long call spreads. Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, C, C calls, FB, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, JPM calls, KORS, LYV, M, MOH, PLCE, SPY puts, URI, WIFI. Her firm is short IWM, MDY. Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International.
GUY ADAMI
Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC. Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck
More From CNBC
• Top News and Analysis
• Latest News Video
• Personal Finance || Your first trade for Friday, October 7: The "Fast Money" traders shared their first moves for the market open.
Tim Seymour was a buyer of Total S.A.(Euronext Paris: FP-FR).
Brian Kelly was a seller of UnitedHealth(NYSE: UNH).
Dan Nathan was a buyer of Twitter(NYSE: TWTR).
Guy Adami was a buyer of CME Group(NASDAQ: CME).
Trader disclosure: On October 6, 2016, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders:Tim Seymour is long ABX, APC, AVP, BAC, BBRY, CLF, DO, DVYE, EDC, EWZ, F, FB, FCX, FXI, GM, GOOGL, GE, INTC, LQD,MCD, MUR, OIH, PG, RACE, RAI, RH, RL, SINA, T, TWTR, VALE, VZ, XOM. short: SPY, XRT; Tim's firm is long ABX, BABA, BIDU, CBD, CLF, EWZ, F, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, X, YHOO, short EWG, HYG, IWM. Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, DXJ, TLT, XOP, WTI, US Dollar UUP; he is short EUR=, JPY=, GBP=. Dan Nathan is long TWTR, long PYPL oct call, Long FEZ Nov put spread, long EEM Nov put spread, long XHB jan put spread, long XLK Jan put spread, long XLU Dec call spread, SMH Nov Put Spread. Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
More From CNBC
• Top News and Analysis
• Latest News Video
• Personal Finance || Your first trade for Friday, October 7: The " Fast Money " traders shared their first moves for the market open. Tim Seymour was a buyer of Total S.A. (Euronext Paris: FP-FR) . Brian Kelly was a seller of UnitedHealth (NYSE: UNH) . Dan Nathan was a buyer of Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) . Guy Adami was a buyer of CME Group (NASDAQ: CME) . Trader disclosure: On October 6, 2016, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders: Tim Seymour is long ABX, APC, AVP, BAC, BBRY, CLF, DO, DVYE, EDC, EWZ, F, FB, FCX, FXI, GM, GOOGL, GE, INTC, LQD,MCD, MUR, OIH, PG, RACE, RAI, RH, RL, SINA, T, TWTR, VALE, VZ, XOM. short: SPY, XRT; Tim's firm is long ABX, BABA, BIDU, CBD, CLF, EWZ, F, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, X, YHOO, short EWG, HYG, IWM. Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, DXJ, TLT, XOP, WTI, US Dollar UUP; he is short EUR=, JPY=, GBP=. Dan Nathan is long TWTR, long PYPL oct call, Long FEZ Nov put spread, long EEM Nov put spread, long XHB jan put spread, long XLK Jan put spread, long XLU Dec call spread, SMH Nov Put Spread. Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, GDX, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck. More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || These Two Charts Show How Much Damage Hurricane Matthew Could Cause: Hurricane Matthew could end up being a disaster well into the nine figures in the U.S.
As the storm, which has already been linked to more than 100 deaths in Haiti, bears down on the coast of Miami, the primary concernfor elected officials and everyone else on the southeastern coast of the United States is protecting human life.
But a secondary concern--and one that will be on people's minds in the coming days--is the likely very costly property damage thatwill ensue as the storm makes landfall. Analysts at CoreLogic, the global property information and analytics firm, has put together estimates of "number of properties at risk of storm surge damage for each of the five hurricane categories as well as the accompanyingreconstruction cost value for these properties."
The estimate: As much as $326 billion dollars.
That would certainly make Matthew a Mega story. It's highly unlikely, though, that damage would reach thatlevel. First of all, this would require Matthew to remain a category four hurricane as itbarreledthrough 4 states: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. Matthew does look likely to make landfall as a category four, but it is likely that only one of these states faces the maximum damages, and that the hurricane loses strength as it passes through others. The worst hurricane, in terms of damage in the U.S.--Katrina--which decimated New Orleans, topped out at just over $50 billion in damage.
Still, if Matthew ends up to doing anywhere nears as much damage as some estimate it could easily make the top 10 of worst storms.
See original article on Fortune.com
More from Fortune.com
• This Insurance Giant Is Getting Ready to Acquire Its Rivals
• Google Looks to Partner With Insurance Companies in France
• Giant Insurance Firm Pays $120 Million for Mini-Madoff
• Allstate Just Used Drones to Inspect Homes in Texas
• Risk of Bitcoin Hacks and Losses Is Very Real || These Two Charts Show How Much Damage Hurricane Matthew Could Cause: Hurricane Matthew could end up being a disaster well into the nine figures in the U.S. As the storm, which has already been linked to more than 100 deaths in Haiti, bears down on the coast of Miami, the primary concern for elected officials and everyone else on the southeastern coast of the United States is protecting human life. But a secondary concern--and one that will be on people's minds in the coming days--is the likely very costly property damage that will ensue as the storm makes landfall. Analysts at CoreLogic, the global property information and analytics firm, has put together estimates of "number of properties at risk of storm surge damage for each of the five hurricane categories as well as the accompanying reconstruction cost value for these properties." The estimate: As much as $326 billion dollars. recon_matthew_480 That would certainly make Matthew a Mega story. It's highly unlikely, though, that damage would reach that level. First of all, this would require Matthew to remain a category four hurricane as it barreled through 4 states: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. Matthew does look likely to make landfall as a category four, but it is likely that only one of these states faces the maximum damages, and that the hurricane loses strength as it passes through others. The worst hurricane, in terms of damage in the U.S.--Katrina--which decimated New Orleans, topped out at just over $50 billion in damage. costliest_hurricanes_480 Still, if Matthew ends up to doing anywhere nears as much damage as some estimate it could easily make the top 10 of worst storms. See original article on Fortune.com More from Fortune.com This Insurance Giant Is Getting Ready to Acquire Its Rivals Google Looks to Partner With Insurance Companies in France Giant Insurance Firm Pays $120 Million for Mini-Madoff Allstate Just Used Drones to Inspect Homes in Texas Risk of Bitcoin Hacks and Losses Is Very Real View comments
[Social Media Buzz]
#UFOCoin #UFO $0.000006 (0.17%) 0.00000001 BTC (-0.00%) || #ChainCoin #CHC $0.000083 (-0.44%) 0.00000013 BTC (0.00%) || BTC-E LAST 574.00€ AVERAGE 575.01€ at 11:09 UTC #Bitcoin #BTCEUR || 1 #bitcoin = $12451.00 MXN | $657.2 USD #BitAPeso 1 USD = 18.95MXN http://www.bitapeso.com || 1 #bitcoin = $12295.00 MXN | $650.17 USD #BitAPeso 1 USD = 18.91MXN http://www.bitapeso.com || 1 BTC Price: BTC-e 635.2 USD Bitstamp 635.00 USD Coinbase 636.97 USD #btc #bitcoin 2016-10-13 20:30 pic.twitter.com/BCbVb...
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640.38, 638.65, 641.63, 639.19, 637.96, 630.52, 630.86, 632.83, 657.29, 657.07
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 269.23, 284.89, 293.11, 310.87, 292.05, 287.46, 285.83, 278.09, 279.47, 274.90, 273.61, 278.98, 275.83, 277.22, 276.05, 288.28, 288.70, 292.69, 293.62, 294.43, 289.59, 287.72, 284.65, 281.60, 282.61, 281.23, 285.22, 281.88, 278.58, 279.58, 261.00, 265.08, 264.47, 270.39, 266.38, 264.08, 265.68, 261.55, 258.51, 257.98, 211.08, 226.68, 235.35, 232.57, 230.39, 228.17, 210.49, 221.61, 225.83, 224.77, 231.40, 229.78, 228.76, 230.06, 228.12, 229.28, 227.18, 230.30, 235.02, 239.84, 239.85, 243.61, 238.17, 238.48, 240.11, 235.23, 230.51, 230.64, 230.30, 229.09, 229.81, 232.98, 231.49, 231.21, 227.09, 230.62, 230.28, 234.53, 235.14, 234.34, 232.76, 239.14, 236.69, 236.06, 237.55, 237.29, 238.73, 238.26, 240.38, 246.06.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2015-10-06]
Volume: 27535100, RSI (14-day): 64.87, 50-day EMA: 239.14, 200-day EMA: 250.66
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1146.80, Gold RSI: 57.94
Oil Price: 48.53, Oil RSI: 60.26
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
New York regulator issues license to Winkelvoss bitcoin venture: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gemini Trust Company, founded by investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, has been granted a license to operate as a chartered limited liability trust company by the New York State Department of Financial Services, the state regulator announced on Monday.
Under the charter, Gemini will operate a bitcoin exchange and will officially open for trading on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. (1330 GMT)) serving both individual and institutional customers, Gemimi said in a separate statement on Monday.
Bitcoin is a virtual currency bought and sold on a peer-to-peer network independent of central control.
"In New York, we are continuing to move forward on licensing and chartering virtual currency firms," said Anthony J. Albanese, acting superintendent of Financial Services. "Smart, targeted regulation that helps protect consumers and prevent illicit activity is vital to the long-term future of this industry."
Gemini is the first licensed crypto currency business for the Winklevoss brothers, best known for accusing Facebook Inc founder Mark Zuckerberg of stealing their idea.
"Our focus right now is operating a spot bitcoin exchange. In many ways, we're not really re-inventing the wheel," said Gemini chief executive Tyler Winklevoss told Reuters in August.
The Winklevoss brothers filed an application to operate as a trust company with the New York's banking regulator in July.
A trust company is a type of financial institution technically different from a bank, analysts said. Under New York banking law, a trust company has all the powers of a bank to take deposits and make loans, alongside certain fiduciary powers such as acting as an agent for government bodies.
As a limited liability trust company, Gemini will maintain significant capital reserves consistent with that of a premier fiduciary business, the company said.
Gemini added that it will hold in custody all bitcoin deposits, the majority of which will be held in its offline, multi-signature, geographically distributed cold storage system.
Gemini said all fiat currency such as U.S. dollars transferred to Gemini will be deposited in a New York state chartered bank, headquartered in midtown Manhattan, and eligible for Federal Deposit Insurance Corp insurance, subject to applicable limitations. It did not name the bank.
Bitcoin's value has been highly volatile, having peaked at over $1,200 in late 2013 before crashing after the collapse of the Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange. One bitcoin is currently worth around $238.17 on the BitStamp platform.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss Editing by W Simon) || New York regulator issues license to Winkelvoss bitcoin venture: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gemini Trust Company, founded by investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, has been granted a license to operate as a chartered limited liability trust company by the New York State Department of Financial Services, the state regulator announced on Monday. Under the charter, Gemini will operate a bitcoin exchange and will officially open for trading on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. (1330 GMT)) serving both individual and institutional customers, Gemimi said in a separate statement on Monday. Bitcoin is a virtual currency bought and sold on a peer-to-peer network independent of central control. "In New York, we are continuing to move forward on licensing and chartering virtual currency firms," said Anthony J. Albanese, acting superintendent of Financial Services. "Smart, targeted regulation that helps protect consumers and prevent illicit activity is vital to the long-term future of this industry." Gemini is the first licensed crypto currency business for the Winklevoss brothers, best known for accusing Facebook Inc founder Mark Zuckerberg of stealing their idea. "Our focus right now is operating a spot bitcoin exchange. In many ways, we're not really re-inventing the wheel," said Gemini chief executive Tyler Winklevoss told Reuters in August. The Winklevoss brothers filed an application to operate as a trust company with the New York's banking regulator in July. A trust company is a type of financial institution technically different from a bank, analysts said. Under New York banking law, a trust company has all the powers of a bank to take deposits and make loans, alongside certain fiduciary powers such as acting as an agent for government bodies. As a limited liability trust company, Gemini will maintain significant capital reserves consistent with that of a premier fiduciary business, the company said. Gemini added that it will hold in custody all bitcoin deposits, the majority of which will be held in its offline, multi-signature, geographically distributed cold storage system. Story continues Gemini said all fiat currency such as U.S. dollars transferred to Gemini will be deposited in a New York state chartered bank, headquartered in midtown Manhattan, and eligible for Federal Deposit Insurance Corp insurance, subject to applicable limitations. It did not name the bank. Bitcoin's value has been highly volatile, having peaked at over $1,200 in late 2013 before crashing after the collapse of the Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange. One bitcoin is currently worth around $238.17 on the BitStamp platform. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss Editing by W Simon) || Pot Resort To Open Fully Booked On New Year's Eve: In September, the Santee Sioux tribe of South Dakota announced that it was embracing new laws that allow Native American Tribes to sell and consume marijuana on their reservations by opening a marijuana-themed resort. The tribe outlined plans to create the ultimate "adult playground" where people could come to relax and enjoy marijuana in public spaces without fear of being prosecuted.
Now, the Tribe's lawyers say thatreservationsfor the resort's opening night are flying in, and that the establishment will likely open its doors for the first time to a sold out weekend.
See Also:Relax And Get High
New Year's Eve Opening
The marijuana resort is slated to open on New Year's Eve, providing the perfect atmosphere for partygoers who are interested in making cannabis a part of their 2016 celebrations. The venue will feature dance clubs and a dedicated smoking lounge where around 30 different strains of cannabis will be on offer. The tribe's attorney Seth Pearmansaidthe resort has already booked in rooms for 100 people as interest continues to grow.
Tribal Revenue
Much like casinos, many Native American tribes are hoping to bring in revenue from marijuana sales as laws allow them to sell and use the drug even if the state they reside in has classed it as illegal. For the Santee Sioux tribe, that has opened the door for a revolutionary idea to create the world's first cannabis resort. However, the venture comes with its own risks as the marijuana industry is still under the microscope.
For one, the tribe will have to ensure that marijuana isn't taken off the reservation and that visitors aren't buying too much of the stuff. However, for the tribe, which has struggled to stay afloat financially, the estimated $2 million per month the resort is forecast to bring in is well worth it.
See more from Benzinga
• Bitcoin Takes A Hit In Australia
• Small Businesses Turn To Online Lenders
• As California's Drought Drags On, Winners And Losers Emerge
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Pot Resort To Open Fully Booked On New Year's Eve: In September, the Santee Sioux tribe of South Dakota announced that it was embracing new laws that allow Native American Tribes to sell and consume marijuana on their reservations by opening a marijuana-themed resort. The tribe outlined plans to create the ultimate "adult playground" where people could come to relax and enjoy marijuana in public spaces without fear of being prosecuted. Now, the Tribe's lawyers say that reservations for the resort's opening night are flying in, and that the establishment will likely open its doors for the first time to a sold out weekend. See Also: Relax And Get High New Year's Eve Opening The marijuana resort is slated to open on New Year's Eve, providing the perfect atmosphere for partygoers who are interested in making cannabis a part of their 2016 celebrations. The venue will feature dance clubs and a dedicated smoking lounge where around 30 different strains of cannabis will be on offer. The tribe's attorney Seth Pearman said the resort has already booked in rooms for 100 people as interest continues to grow. Tribal Revenue Much like casinos, many Native American tribes are hoping to bring in revenue from marijuana sales as laws allow them to sell and use the drug even if the state they reside in has classed it as illegal. For the Santee Sioux tribe, that has opened the door for a revolutionary idea to create the world's first cannabis resort. However, the venture comes with its own risks as the marijuana industry is still under the microscope. For one, the tribe will have to ensure that marijuana isn't taken off the reservation and that visitors aren't buying too much of the stuff. However, for the tribe, which has struggled to stay afloat financially, the estimated $2 million per month the resort is forecast to bring in is well worth it. See more from Benzinga Bitcoin Takes A Hit In Australia Small Businesses Turn To Online Lenders As California's Drought Drags On, Winners And Losers Emerge © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin Takes A Hit In Australia: Bitcoin has gained popularity across the globe in recent years, but concerns about safety have kept the cryptocurrency from becoming a mainstream means of payment. For that reason, banks in Australia have begun to move away from cryptocurrency, deciding last month to close the accounts of 13 of the continent's 17 bitcoin exchanges.
The decision has had a ripple effect on the bitcoin industry in Australia as more and more businesses similarly turn their backs on digital currencies.
Bye-Bye Bitcoin
In Australia, many businesses began accepting bitcoin payments when the coin gained popularity. As the digital payments trend expanded, some firms hoped to use bitcoin in order to tap into a greater pool of potential clients and make it easier for international customers to pay. However, the nation's banks' decision to shut bitcoin exchanges out has led many Australian firms to rethink their decisions. Many worry that the banks are only the beginning of a backlash against cryptocurrencies, and that by participating in the trend they could tarnish their reputations.
Related Link:Bitcoin Gains Deeper Foothold In Latin America Through MercadoLibre
Big Blow To Cryptocurrencies
Although cryptocurrencies are still receiving a lot of positive attention in places like Europe and the US, the changing attitude in Australia could put a dent in the industry's momentum. Australia makes up around7 percentof bitcoin's $3.5 billion global value, a significant portion. Not only will a negative attitude toward bitcoin affect the Australian market, but it could spread further afield. Some worry that the negative reputation could eventually influence the opinions of consumers and lawmakers in other countries as well.
See more from Benzinga
• Small Businesses Turn To Online Lenders
• As California's Drought Drags On, Winners And Losers Emerge
• Is Europe Recovering Or Not?
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin Takes A Hit In Australia: Bitcoin has gained popularity across the globe in recent years, but concerns about safety have kept the cryptocurrency from becoming a mainstream means of payment. For that reason, banks in Australia have begun to move away from cryptocurrency, deciding last month to close the accounts of 13 of the continent's 17 bitcoin exchanges.
The decision has had a ripple effect on the bitcoin industry in Australia as more and more businesses similarly turn their backs on digital currencies.
Bye-Bye Bitcoin
In Australia, many businesses began accepting bitcoin payments when the coin gained popularity. As the digital payments trend expanded, some firms hoped to use bitcoin in order to tap into a greater pool of potential clients and make it easier for international customers to pay. However, the nation's banks' decision to shut bitcoin exchanges out has led many Australian firms to rethink their decisions. Many worry that the banks are only the beginning of a backlash against cryptocurrencies, and that by participating in the trend they could tarnish their reputations.
Related Link:Bitcoin Gains Deeper Foothold In Latin America Through MercadoLibre
Big Blow To Cryptocurrencies
Although cryptocurrencies are still receiving a lot of positive attention in places like Europe and the US, the changing attitude in Australia could put a dent in the industry's momentum. Australia makes up around7 percentof bitcoin's $3.5 billion global value, a significant portion. Not only will a negative attitude toward bitcoin affect the Australian market, but it could spread further afield. Some worry that the negative reputation could eventually influence the opinions of consumers and lawmakers in other countries as well.
See more from Benzinga
• Small Businesses Turn To Online Lenders
• As California's Drought Drags On, Winners And Losers Emerge
• Is Europe Recovering Or Not?
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin Takes A Hit In Australia: Bitcoin has gained popularity across the globe in recent years, but concerns about safety have kept the cryptocurrency from becoming a mainstream means of payment. For that reason, banks in Australia have begun to move away from cryptocurrency, deciding last month to close the accounts of 13 of the continent's 17 bitcoin exchanges. The decision has had a ripple effect on the bitcoin industry in Australia as more and more businesses similarly turn their backs on digital currencies. Bye-Bye Bitcoin In Australia, many businesses began accepting bitcoin payments when the coin gained popularity. As the digital payments trend expanded, some firms hoped to use bitcoin in order to tap into a greater pool of potential clients and make it easier for international customers to pay. However, the nation's banks' decision to shut bitcoin exchanges out has led many Australian firms to rethink their decisions. Many worry that the banks are only the beginning of a backlash against cryptocurrencies, and that by participating in the trend they could tarnish their reputations. Related Link: Bitcoin Gains Deeper Foothold In Latin America Through MercadoLibre Big Blow To Cryptocurrencies Although cryptocurrencies are still receiving a lot of positive attention in places like Europe and the US, the changing attitude in Australia could put a dent in the industry's momentum. Australia makes up around 7 percent of bitcoin's $3.5 billion global value, a significant portion. Not only will a negative attitude toward bitcoin affect the Australian market, but it could spread further afield. Some worry that the negative reputation could eventually influence the opinions of consumers and lawmakers in other countries as well. See more from Benzinga Small Businesses Turn To Online Lenders As California's Drought Drags On, Winners And Losers Emerge Is Europe Recovering Or Not? © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. View comments || XBT Provider AB: Bitcoin Tracker EUR to start trading on Nasdaq Nordic today: Stockholm, SWEDEN (October 5th, 2015) -XBT Provider AB is proud to announce the launch of Bitcoin tracker Euro.
Starting today anyone with a brokerage account connected to Nasdaq Nordic can trade the ETN "Bitcoin Tracker EUR" The ticker code is Bitcoin XBTE. ISIN: SE0007525332
Bitcoin Tracker EUR is designed to mirror the return of the underlying asset, U.S. dollar (USD) per Bitcoin. The product is an exchange traded note designed to track the movement of the underlying asset after fees.
Bitcoin Tracker EUR is our second Bitcoin-based security available on Nasdaq Nordic. XBT Provider launched this financial instrument to meet the needs of investors` growing appetite for exposure to Bitcoin prices.
"Bitcoin tracker EUR" (BTE) is listed on Nasdaq Nordic in Stockholm and traded in the same manner as any share or instrument listed on the Nasdaq exchange in Stockholm. BTE is also available via Bloomberg terminals through the ticker code COINXBE.
The full prospectus is available onxbtprovider.com
Bitcoin Tracker EUR is issued under the same prospectus as Bitcoin Tracker One which isapproved by Sweden`s financial supervisory authority, Finansinspektionen.
ABOUT XBT PROVIDERXBT Provider AB (publ) is a public limited liability company formed in Sweden with statutory seat in Stockholm. The issuer is incorporated under Swedish law and registered with the Swedish companies` registration office under registration number 559001-3313.
ABOUT THE MARKET MAKER: MANGOLD FONDKOMMISSIONMangold Fondkommission is a Stockholm based Brokerage and Investment bank. As a member of Nasdaq Nordic the company assists XBT Provider with clearing services and acts as a liquidity provider for Bitcoin Tracker One and Bitcoin Tracker EUR.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT
Alexander MarshE-mail:[email protected]
Johan WattenströmE-mail:[email protected]
Press release (PDF)
This announcement is distributed by NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions on behalf of NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions clients.The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.Source: XBT Provider AB via GlobeNewswireHUG#1956529 || XBT Provider AB: Bitcoin Tracker EUR to start trading on Nasdaq Nordic today: Stockholm, SWEDEN (October 5th, 2015) -XBT Provider AB is proud to announce the launch of Bitcoin tracker Euro.
Starting today anyone with a brokerage account connected to Nasdaq Nordic can trade the ETN "Bitcoin Tracker EUR" The ticker code is Bitcoin XBTE. ISIN: SE0007525332
Bitcoin Tracker EUR is designed to mirror the return of the underlying asset, U.S. dollar (USD) per Bitcoin. The product is an exchange traded note designed to track the movement of the underlying asset after fees.
Bitcoin Tracker EUR is our second Bitcoin-based security available on Nasdaq Nordic. XBT Provider launched this financial instrument to meet the needs of investors` growing appetite for exposure to Bitcoin prices.
"Bitcoin tracker EUR" (BTE) is listed on Nasdaq Nordic in Stockholm and traded in the same manner as any share or instrument listed on the Nasdaq exchange in Stockholm. BTE is also available via Bloomberg terminals through the ticker code COINXBE.
The full prospectus is available onxbtprovider.com
Bitcoin Tracker EUR is issued under the same prospectus as Bitcoin Tracker One which isapproved by Sweden`s financial supervisory authority, Finansinspektionen.
ABOUT XBT PROVIDERXBT Provider AB (publ) is a public limited liability company formed in Sweden with statutory seat in Stockholm. The issuer is incorporated under Swedish law and registered with the Swedish companies` registration office under registration number 559001-3313.
ABOUT THE MARKET MAKER: MANGOLD FONDKOMMISSIONMangold Fondkommission is a Stockholm based Brokerage and Investment bank. As a member of Nasdaq Nordic the company assists XBT Provider with clearing services and acts as a liquidity provider for Bitcoin Tracker One and Bitcoin Tracker EUR.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT
Alexander MarshE-mail:[email protected]
Johan WattenströmE-mail:[email protected]
Press release (PDF)
This announcement is distributed by NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions on behalf of NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions clients.The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.Source: XBT Provider AB via GlobeNewswireHUG#1956529 || Bitcoin flounders in Australia as regulatory worries bite: By Byron Kaye and Swati Pandey SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian businesses are turning their backs on bitcoin, as signs grow that the cryptocurrency's mainstream appeal is fading. Concerns about bitcoin's potential crime links mean many businesses have stopped accepting it, a trend accelerated by Australian banks' move last month to close the accounts of 13 of the country's 17 bitcoin exchanges. The development is a blow to hopes of bitcoin fans that the currency can play a significant role in everyday business transactions in developed economies, with Australia once seen as one of its most promising markets. It is estimated to hold 7 percent of the currency's $3.5 billion global value, a sizeable figure in a country of just 24 million people. "We've got a squeaky clean reputation, and that's actually worth a lot more to us than dipping into this," said James Snodgrass, principal of Sydney's Forsyth Real Estate, which ditched the currency in late 2014 after the firm was investigated by the federal tax office. Forsyth had offered to collect home deposits and other realtor fees via bitcoin to cater to international buyers. The tax office probe found no wrongdoing but Forsyth was burned by the negative publicity and bailed out before ever taking a bitcoin payment. Although most mainstream banks in Europe and the U.S. already refuse to keep bitcoin-affiliated accounts, developments in Australia represent the first coordinated shutdown of bitcoin exchanges by a country's banking system. The move makes it much harder for people to convert regular currencies in to or out of bitcoin, threatening its long-term value. "It really runs on people using bitcoin, and if nobody uses it then it's worthless," said University of Technology Sydney senior finance lecturer Adrian Lee. BANK SHUTDOWN The banks' shutdown appears at odds with a government inquiry which in August recommended removing sales tax for people who buy bitcoin. The Australian anti-money laundering agency, AUSTRAC, told Reuters that banks have no legal obligation to close bitcoin accounts. The so-called "Big Four" banks - Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac Banking Corp, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and National Australia Bank - directed inquiries about bitcoin to the Australian Bankers' Association. Tony Pearson, the association's acting chief executive, wouldn't confirm the coordinated rejection of bitcoin but said in an email that its "lack of transparency and regulatory oversight raises a number of risks for users and also poses risks for the payments system, the integrity of the financial system and the erosion of the tax base". Australia's organised crime agency has said it is concerned the currency's untraceable nature makes it attractive for money laundering and selling illicit drugs. In the U.K. and the U.S., most large banks have already cut ties with bitcoin account holders, but lack of industry co-ordination has left room for individual lenders to support the currency, including Germany's Fidor Bank AG, which operates in Britain, and tech-focused Californian lender Silicon Valley Bank. CLOSE, MOVE OFFSHORE OR SNEAK AROUND The 13 Australian bitcoin exchanges whose accounts were closed by the banks have shut operations. The remaining four have had their accounts frozen, and now face three options: close, move overseas or spread their business into several smaller bank accounts to avoid detection by their banks. Buyabitcoin.com.au, one of the remaining four exchanges, said it is still considering its options. "It makes it, obviously, hard to take payments from our customers, but we have a couple of relationships left," said Andrew Smith, general manager of the Melbourne-based exchange. Smith declined to identify which bank his firm is now using from fear of repercussions but said he plans to move the business offshore. Two sources told Reuters that regional lender Bank of Queensland still held some bitcoin accounts. The bank said in an email that "virtual currencies fall outside of our risk appetite" but did not deny or confirm it had these accounts. RETAIL PULLOUT Some industry watchers believe ambivalence may be bitcoin's biggest problem. At least six Australian retail businesses, which as recently as 2014 courted publicity for offering sales by bitcoin, told Reuters they were considering exiting the currency. "If governments begin to aggressively attack the whole idea of cryptocurrencies and give it a bad name, it might have an adverse effect on our brand by accepting it," said David Brim, co-founder of off-road vehicle maker Tomcar Australia, which has sold one car using bitcoin since introducing it in November 2014. Grant Fairweather, owner of the Metropolitan Hotel in Sydney, said he started accepting bitcoin when a group of digital currency fans chose his pub as their regular meeting venue. "They tell me that it's doing quite well, but that doesn't transpose into here," said Fairweather, who sells about A$100 ($70) worth of drinks via bitcoin from the meetings and does no other bitcoin trade. An online clothing retailer told Reuters she had made no bitcoin sales since introducing the service in 2013 and asked not to be named, saying "since bitcoin's going out anyway, we'd rather not throw our name back into it". (Additional reporting by Nathan Lynch in SYDNEY and Jemima Kelly in LONDON. Editing by Jane Wardell and Rachel Armstrong) || Bitcoin flounders in Australia as regulatory worries bite: By Byron Kaye and Swati Pandey SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian businesses are turning their backs on bitcoin, as signs grow that the cryptocurrency's mainstream appeal is fading. Concerns about bitcoin's potential crime links mean many businesses have stopped accepting it, a trend accelerated by Australian banks' move last month to close the accounts of 13 of the country's 17 bitcoin exchanges. The development is a blow to hopes of bitcoin fans that the currency can play a significant role in everyday business transactions in developed economies, with Australia once seen as one of its most promising markets. It is estimated to hold 7 percent of the currency's $3.5 billion global value, a sizeable figure in a country of just 24 million people. "We've got a squeaky clean reputation, and that's actually worth a lot more to us than dipping into this," said James Snodgrass, principal of Sydney's Forsyth Real Estate, which ditched the currency in late 2014 after the firm was investigated by the federal tax office. Forsyth had offered to collect home deposits and other realtor fees via bitcoin to cater to international buyers. The tax office probe found no wrongdoing but Forsyth was burned by the negative publicity and bailed out before ever taking a bitcoin payment. Although most mainstream banks in Europe and the U.S. already refuse to keep bitcoin-affiliated accounts, developments in Australia represent the first coordinated shutdown of bitcoin exchanges by a country's banking system. The move makes it much harder for people to convert regular currencies in to or out of bitcoin, threatening its long-term value. "It really runs on people using bitcoin, and if nobody uses it then it's worthless," said University of Technology Sydney senior finance lecturer Adrian Lee. BANK SHUTDOWN The banks' shutdown appears at odds with a government inquiry which in August recommended removing sales tax for people who buy bitcoin. The Australian anti-money laundering agency, AUSTRAC, told Reuters that banks have no legal obligation to close bitcoin accounts. The so-called "Big Four" banks - Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac Banking Corp, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and National Australia Bank - directed inquiries about bitcoin to the Australian Bankers' Association. Tony Pearson, the association's acting chief executive, wouldn't confirm the coordinated rejection of bitcoin but said in an email that its "lack of transparency and regulatory oversight raises a number of risks for users and also poses risks for the payments system, the integrity of the financial system and the erosion of the tax base". Australia's organised crime agency has said it is concerned the currency's untraceable nature makes it attractive for money laundering and selling illicit drugs. In the U.K. and the U.S., most large banks have already cut ties with bitcoin account holders, but lack of industry co-ordination has left room for individual lenders to support the currency, including Germany's Fidor Bank AG, which operates in Britain, and tech-focused Californian lender Silicon Valley Bank. CLOSE, MOVE OFFSHORE OR SNEAK AROUND The 13 Australian bitcoin exchanges whose accounts were closed by the banks have shut operations. The remaining four have had their accounts frozen, and now face three options: close, move overseas or spread their business into several smaller bank accounts to avoid detection by their banks. Buyabitcoin.com.au, one of the remaining four exchanges, said it is still considering its options. "It makes it, obviously, hard to take payments from our customers, but we have a couple of relationships left," said Andrew Smith, general manager of the Melbourne-based exchange. Smith declined to identify which bank his firm is now using from fear of repercussions but said he plans to move the business offshore. Two sources told Reuters that regional lender Bank of Queensland still held some bitcoin accounts. The bank said in an email that "virtual currencies fall outside of our risk appetite" but did not deny or confirm it had these accounts. RETAIL PULLOUT Some industry watchers believe ambivalence may be bitcoin's biggest problem. At least six Australian retail businesses, which as recently as 2014 courted publicity for offering sales by bitcoin, told Reuters they were considering exiting the currency. "If governments begin to aggressively attack the whole idea of cryptocurrencies and give it a bad name, it might have an adverse effect on our brand by accepting it," said David Brim, co-founder of off-road vehicle maker Tomcar Australia, which has sold one car using bitcoin since introducing it in November 2014. Grant Fairweather, owner of the Metropolitan Hotel in Sydney, said he started accepting bitcoin when a group of digital currency fans chose his pub as their regular meeting venue. "They tell me that it's doing quite well, but that doesn't transpose into here," said Fairweather, who sells about A$100 ($70) worth of drinks via bitcoin from the meetings and does no other bitcoin trade. An online clothing retailer told Reuters she had made no bitcoin sales since introducing the service in 2013 and asked not to be named, saying "since bitcoin's going out anyway, we'd rather not throw our name back into it". (Additional reporting by Nathan Lynch in SYDNEY and Jemima Kelly in LONDON. Editing by Jane Wardell and Rachel Armstrong) || Bitcoin flounders in Australia as regulatory worries bite: By Byron Kaye and Swati Pandey SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian businesses are turning their backs on bitcoin, as signs grow that the cryptocurrency's mainstream appeal is fading. Concerns about bitcoin's potential crime links mean many businesses have stopped accepting it, a trend accelerated by Australian banks' move last month to close the accounts of 13 of the country's 17 bitcoin exchanges. The development is a blow to hopes of bitcoin fans that the currency can play a significant role in everyday business transactions in developed economies, with Australia once seen as one of its most promising markets. It is estimated to hold 7 percent of the currency's $3.5 billion global value, a sizeable figure in a country of just 24 million people. "We've got a squeaky clean reputation, and that's actually worth a lot more to us than dipping into this," said James Snodgrass, principal of Sydney's Forsyth Real Estate, which ditched the currency in late 2014 after the firm was investigated by the federal tax office. Forsyth had offered to collect home deposits and other realtor fees via bitcoin to cater to international buyers. The tax office probe found no wrongdoing but Forsyth was burned by the negative publicity and bailed out before ever taking a bitcoin payment. Although most mainstream banks in Europe and the U.S. already refuse to keep bitcoin-affiliated accounts, developments in Australia represent the first coordinated shutdown of bitcoin exchanges by a country's banking system. The move makes it much harder for people to convert regular currencies in to or out of bitcoin, threatening its long-term value. "It really runs on people using bitcoin, and if nobody uses it then it's worthless," said University of Technology Sydney senior finance lecturer Adrian Lee. BANK SHUTDOWN The banks' shutdown appears at odds with a government inquiry which in August recommended removing sales tax for people who buy bitcoin. The Australian anti-money laundering agency, AUSTRAC, told Reuters that banks have no legal obligation to close bitcoin accounts. The so-called "Big Four" banks - Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac Banking Corp, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and National Australia Bank - directed inquiries about bitcoin to the Australian Bankers' Association. Tony Pearson, the association's acting chief executive, wouldn't confirm the coordinated rejection of bitcoin but said in an email that its "lack of transparency and regulatory oversight raises a number of risks for users and also poses risks for the payments system, the integrity of the financial system and the erosion of the tax base". Australia's organised crime agency has said it is concerned the currency's untraceable nature makes it attractive for money laundering and selling illicit drugs. In the U.K. and the U.S., most large banks have already cut ties with bitcoin account holders, but lack of industry co-ordination has left room for individual lenders to support the currency, including Germany's Fidor Bank AG, which operates in Britain, and tech-focused Californian lender Silicon Valley Bank. CLOSE, MOVE OFFSHORE OR SNEAK AROUND The 13 Australian bitcoin exchanges whose accounts were closed by the banks have shut operations. The remaining four have had their accounts frozen, and now face three options: close, move overseas or spread their business into several smaller bank accounts to avoid detection by their banks. Buyabitcoin.com.au, one of the remaining four exchanges, said it is still considering its options. "It makes it, obviously, hard to take payments from our customers, but we have a couple of relationships left," said Andrew Smith, general manager of the Melbourne-based exchange. Smith declined to identify which bank his firm is now using from fear of repercussions but said he plans to move the business offshore. Two sources told Reuters that regional lender Bank of Queensland still held some bitcoin accounts. The bank said in an email that "virtual currencies fall outside of our risk appetite" but did not deny or confirm it had these accounts. RETAIL PULLOUT Some industry watchers believe ambivalence may be bitcoin's biggest problem. At least six Australian retail businesses, which as recently as 2014 courted publicity for offering sales by bitcoin, told Reuters they were considering exiting the currency. "If governments begin to aggressively attack the whole idea of cryptocurrencies and give it a bad name, it might have an adverse effect on our brand by accepting it," said David Brim, co-founder of off-road vehicle maker Tomcar Australia, which has sold one car using bitcoin since introducing it in November 2014. Grant Fairweather, owner of the Metropolitan Hotel in Sydney, said he started accepting bitcoin when a group of digital currency fans chose his pub as their regular meeting venue. "They tell me that it's doing quite well, but that doesn't transpose into here," said Fairweather, who sells about A$100 ($70) worth of drinks via bitcoin from the meetings and does no other bitcoin trade. An online clothing retailer told Reuters she had made no bitcoin sales since introducing the service in 2013 and asked not to be named, saying "since bitcoin's going out anyway, we'd rather not throw our name back into it". (Additional reporting by Nathan Lynch in SYDNEY and Jemima Kelly in LONDON. Editing by Jane Wardell and Rachel Armstrong) || Bitcoin flounders in Australia as regulatory worries bite: By Byron Kaye and Swati Pandey
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian businesses are turning their backs on bitcoin, as signs grow that the cryptocurrency's mainstream appeal is fading.
Concerns about bitcoin's potential crime links mean many businesses have stopped accepting it, a trend accelerated by Australian banks' move last month to close the accounts of 13 of the country's 17 bitcoin exchanges.
The development is a blow to hopes of bitcoin fans that the currency can play a significant role in everyday business transactions in developed economies, with Australia once seen as one of its most promising markets. It is estimated to hold 7 percent of the currency's $3.5 billion global value, a sizeable figure in a country of just 24 million people.
"We've got a squeaky clean reputation, and that's actually worth a lot more to us than dipping into this," said James Snodgrass, principal of Sydney's Forsyth Real Estate, which ditched the currency in late 2014 after the firm was investigated by the federal tax office.
Forsyth had offered to collect home deposits and other realtor fees via bitcoin to cater to international buyers. The tax office probe found no wrongdoing but Forsyth was burned by the negative publicity and bailed out before ever taking a bitcoin payment.
Although most mainstream banks in Europe and the U.S. already refuse to keep bitcoin-affiliated accounts, developments in Australia represent the first coordinated shutdown of bitcoin exchanges by a country's banking system.
The move makes it much harder for people to convert regular currencies in to or out of bitcoin, threatening its long-term value.
"It really runs on people using bitcoin, and if nobody uses it then it's worthless," said University of Technology Sydney senior finance lecturer Adrian Lee.
BANK SHUTDOWN
The banks' shutdown appears at odds with a government inquiry which in August recommended removing sales tax for people who buy bitcoin. The Australian anti-money laundering agency, AUSTRAC, told Reuters that banks have no legal obligation to close bitcoin accounts.
The so-called "Big Four" banks - Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac Banking Corp, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and National Australia Bank - directed inquiries about bitcoin to the Australian Bankers' Association.
Tony Pearson, the association's acting chief executive, wouldn't confirm the coordinated rejection of bitcoin but said in an email that its "lack of transparency and regulatory oversight raises a number of risks for users and also poses risks for the payments system, the integrity of the financial system and the erosion of the tax base".
Australia's organized crime agency has said it is concerned the currency's untraceable nature makes it attractive for money laundering and selling illicit drugs.
In the U.K. and the U.S., most large banks have already cut ties with bitcoin account holders, but lack of industry co-ordination has left room for individual lenders to support the currency, including Germany's Fidor Bank AG, which operates in Britain, and tech-focused Californian lender Silicon Valley Bank.
CLOSE, MOVE OFFSHORE OR SNEAK AROUND
The 13 Australian bitcoin exchanges whose accounts were closed by the banks have shut operations.
The remaining four have had their accounts frozen, and now face three options: close, move overseas or spread their business into several smaller bank accounts to avoid detection by their banks.
Buyabitcoin.com.au, one of the remaining four exchanges, said it is still considering its options.
"It makes it, obviously, hard to take payments from our customers, but we have a couple of relationships left," said Andrew Smith, general manager of the Melbourne-based exchange.
Smith declined to identify which bank his firm is now using from fear of repercussions but said he plans to move the business offshore.
Two sources told Reuters that regional lender Bank of Queensland still held some bitcoin accounts. The bank said in an email that "virtual currencies fall outside of our risk appetite" but did not deny or confirm it had these accounts.
RETAIL PULLOUT
Some industry watchers believe ambivalence may be bitcoin's biggest problem.
At least six Australian retail businesses, which as recently as 2014 courted publicity for offering sales by bitcoin, told Reuters they were considering exiting the currency.
"If governments begin to aggressively attack the whole idea of cryptocurrencies and give it a bad name, it might have an adverse effect on our brand by accepting it," said David Brim, co-founder of off-road vehicle maker Tomcar Australia, which has sold one car using bitcoin since introducing it in November 2014.
Grant Fairweather, owner of the Metropolitan Hotel in Sydney, said he started accepting bitcoin when a group of digital currency fans chose his pub as their regular meeting venue.
"They tell me that it's doing quite well, but that doesn't transpose into here," said Fairweather, who sells about A$100 ($70) worth of drinks via bitcoin from the meetings and does no other bitcoin trade.
An online clothing retailer told Reuters she had made no bitcoin sales since introducing the service in 2013 and asked not to be named, saying "since bitcoin's going out anyway, we'd rather not throw our name back into it".
(Additional reporting by Nathan Lynch in SYDNEY and Jemima Kelly in LONDON. Editing by Jane Wardell and Rachel Armstrong) || Bitcoin flounders in Australia as regulatory worries bite: By Byron Kaye and Swati Pandey SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian businesses are turning their backs on bitcoin, as signs grow that the cryptocurrency's mainstream appeal is fading. Concerns about bitcoin's potential crime links mean many businesses have stopped accepting it, a trend accelerated by Australian banks' move last month to close the accounts of 13 of the country's 17 bitcoin exchanges. The development is a blow to hopes of bitcoin fans that the currency can play a significant role in everyday business transactions in developed economies, with Australia once seen as one of its most promising markets. It is estimated to hold 7 percent of the currency's $3.5 billion global value, a sizeable figure in a country of just 24 million people. "We've got a squeaky clean reputation, and that's actually worth a lot more to us than dipping into this," said James Snodgrass, principal of Sydney's Forsyth Real Estate, which ditched the currency in late 2014 after the firm was investigated by the federal tax office. Forsyth had offered to collect home deposits and other realtor fees via bitcoin to cater to international buyers. The tax office probe found no wrongdoing but Forsyth was burned by the negative publicity and bailed out before ever taking a bitcoin payment. Although most mainstream banks in Europe and the U.S. already refuse to keep bitcoin-affiliated accounts, developments in Australia represent the first coordinated shutdown of bitcoin exchanges by a country's banking system. The move makes it much harder for people to convert regular currencies in to or out of bitcoin, threatening its long-term value. "It really runs on people using bitcoin, and if nobody uses it then it's worthless," said University of Technology Sydney senior finance lecturer Adrian Lee. BANK SHUTDOWN The banks' shutdown appears at odds with a government inquiry which in August recommended removing sales tax for people who buy bitcoin. The Australian anti-money laundering agency, AUSTRAC, told Reuters that banks have no legal obligation to close bitcoin accounts. The so-called "Big Four" banks - Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac Banking Corp, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and National Australia Bank - directed inquiries about bitcoin to the Australian Bankers' Association. Tony Pearson, the association's acting chief executive, wouldn't confirm the coordinated rejection of bitcoin but said in an email that its "lack of transparency and regulatory oversight raises a number of risks for users and also poses risks for the payments system, the integrity of the financial system and the erosion of the tax base". Story continues Australia's organized crime agency has said it is concerned the currency's untraceable nature makes it attractive for money laundering and selling illicit drugs. In the U.K. and the U.S., most large banks have already cut ties with bitcoin account holders, but lack of industry co-ordination has left room for individual lenders to support the currency, including Germany's Fidor Bank AG, which operates in Britain, and tech-focused Californian lender Silicon Valley Bank. CLOSE, MOVE OFFSHORE OR SNEAK AROUND The 13 Australian bitcoin exchanges whose accounts were closed by the banks have shut operations. The remaining four have had their accounts frozen, and now face three options: close, move overseas or spread their business into several smaller bank accounts to avoid detection by their banks. Buyabitcoin.com.au, one of the remaining four exchanges, said it is still considering its options. "It makes it, obviously, hard to take payments from our customers, but we have a couple of relationships left," said Andrew Smith, general manager of the Melbourne-based exchange. Smith declined to identify which bank his firm is now using from fear of repercussions but said he plans to move the business offshore. Two sources told Reuters that regional lender Bank of Queensland still held some bitcoin accounts. The bank said in an email that "virtual currencies fall outside of our risk appetite" but did not deny or confirm it had these accounts. RETAIL PULLOUT Some industry watchers believe ambivalence may be bitcoin's biggest problem. At least six Australian retail businesses, which as recently as 2014 courted publicity for offering sales by bitcoin, told Reuters they were considering exiting the currency. "If governments begin to aggressively attack the whole idea of cryptocurrencies and give it a bad name, it might have an adverse effect on our brand by accepting it," said David Brim, co-founder of off-road vehicle maker Tomcar Australia, which has sold one car using bitcoin since introducing it in November 2014. Grant Fairweather, owner of the Metropolitan Hotel in Sydney, said he started accepting bitcoin when a group of digital currency fans chose his pub as their regular meeting venue. "They tell me that it's doing quite well, but that doesn't transpose into here," said Fairweather, who sells about A$100 ($70) worth of drinks via bitcoin from the meetings and does no other bitcoin trade. An online clothing retailer told Reuters she had made no bitcoin sales since introducing the service in 2013 and asked not to be named, saying "since bitcoin's going out anyway, we'd rather not throw our name back into it". (Additional reporting by Nathan Lynch in SYDNEY and Jemima Kelly in LONDON. Editing by Jane Wardell and Rachel Armstrong) View comments || Bitcoin flounders in Australia as regulatory worries bite: By Byron Kaye and Swati Pandey
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian businesses are turning their backs on bitcoin, as signs grow that the cryptocurrency's mainstream appeal is fading.
Concerns about bitcoin's potential crime links mean many businesses have stopped accepting it, a trend accelerated by Australian banks' move last month to close the accounts of 13 of the country's 17 bitcoin exchanges.
The development is a blow to hopes of bitcoin fans that the currency can play a significant role in everyday business transactions in developed economies, with Australia once seen as one of its most promising markets. It is estimated to hold 7 percent of the currency's $3.5 billion global value, a sizeable figure in a country of just 24 million people.
"We've got a squeaky clean reputation, and that's actually worth a lot more to us than dipping into this," said James Snodgrass, principal of Sydney's Forsyth Real Estate, which ditched the currency in late 2014 after the firm was investigated by the federal tax office.
Forsyth had offered to collect home deposits and other realtor fees via bitcoin to cater to international buyers. The tax office probe found no wrongdoing but Forsyth was burned by the negative publicity and bailed out before ever taking a bitcoin payment.
Although most mainstream banks in Europe and the U.S. already refuse to keep bitcoin-affiliated accounts, developments in Australia represent the first coordinated shutdown of bitcoin exchanges by a country's banking system.
The move makes it much harder for people to convert regular currencies in to or out of bitcoin, threatening its long-term value.
"It really runs on people using bitcoin, and if nobody uses it then it's worthless," said University of Technology Sydney senior finance lecturer Adrian Lee.
BANK SHUTDOWN
The banks' shutdown appears at odds with a government inquiry which in August recommended removing sales tax for people who buy bitcoin. The Australian anti-money laundering agency, AUSTRAC, told Reuters that banks have no legal obligation to close bitcoin accounts.
The so-called "Big Four" banks - Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac Banking Corp, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and National Australia Bank - directed inquiries about bitcoin to the Australian Bankers' Association.
Tony Pearson, the association's acting chief executive, wouldn't confirm the coordinated rejection of bitcoin but said in an email that its "lack of transparency and regulatory oversight raises a number of risks for users and also poses risks for the payments system, the integrity of the financial system and the erosion of the tax base".
Australia's organized crime agency has said it is concerned the currency's untraceable nature makes it attractive for money laundering and selling illicit drugs.
In the U.K. and the U.S., most large banks have already cut ties with bitcoin account holders, but lack of industry co-ordination has left room for individual lenders to support the currency, including Germany's Fidor Bank AG, which operates in Britain, and tech-focused Californian lender Silicon Valley Bank.
CLOSE, MOVE OFFSHORE OR SNEAK AROUND
The 13 Australian bitcoin exchanges whose accounts were closed by the banks have shut operations.
The remaining four have had their accounts frozen, and now face three options: close, move overseas or spread their business into several smaller bank accounts to avoid detection by their banks.
Buyabitcoin.com.au, one of the remaining four exchanges, said it is still considering its options.
"It makes it, obviously, hard to take payments from our customers, but we have a couple of relationships left," said Andrew Smith, general manager of the Melbourne-based exchange.
Smith declined to identify which bank his firm is now using from fear of repercussions but said he plans to move the business offshore.
Two sources told Reuters that regional lender Bank of Queensland still held some bitcoin accounts. The bank said in an email that "virtual currencies fall outside of our risk appetite" but did not deny or confirm it had these accounts.
RETAIL PULLOUT
Some industry watchers believe ambivalence may be bitcoin's biggest problem.
At least six Australian retail businesses, which as recently as 2014 courted publicity for offering sales by bitcoin, told Reuters they were considering exiting the currency.
"If governments begin to aggressively attack the whole idea of cryptocurrencies and give it a bad name, it might have an adverse effect on our brand by accepting it," said David Brim, co-founder of off-road vehicle maker Tomcar Australia, which has sold one car using bitcoin since introducing it in November 2014.
Grant Fairweather, owner of the Metropolitan Hotel in Sydney, said he started accepting bitcoin when a group of digital currency fans chose his pub as their regular meeting venue.
"They tell me that it's doing quite well, but that doesn't transpose into here," said Fairweather, who sells about A$100 ($70) worth of drinks via bitcoin from the meetings and does no other bitcoin trade.
An online clothing retailer told Reuters she had made no bitcoin sales since introducing the service in 2013 and asked not to be named, saying "since bitcoin's going out anyway, we'd rather not throw our name back into it".
(Additional reporting by Nathan Lynch in SYDNEY and Jemima Kelly in LONDON. Editing by Jane Wardell and Rachel Armstrong) || Small Businesses Turn To Online Lenders: The tech sector has reached into a new industry over the past year, as more firms rush tomake loansto small businesses. Despite the U.S.'s recovery since the financial crisis, banks have been cautious about doling out small business loans.
In 2008, banks held $711 in small business loans; that figure has decreased significantly to just $599 billion as of the second quarter of 2015. For that reason, there has been a gap in the marketplace as entrepreneurs look for ways to fund their growing companies.
Lending To Well Known Firms
While small business owners might be required to make a pitch to a bank or private investor in order to secure funding, some companies are using their existing relationships with entrepreneurs in order to make loans.
Intuit Inc.(NASDAQ:INTU) together withOn Deck Capital Inc(NYSE:ONDK) havelaunched a financing productthat allows users of the firm's QuickBooks to secure small loans.
Related Link:Intuit And OnDeck To Launch 0M Small Business Lending Fund
The firm is able to use existing data from the user to determine how risky the loan would be, making it easier to deliver lower-rate loans for businesses with strong financials.
Knowledge Is Power
Other firms have created similar programs that use data gathered from customers in order to determine whether a loan is worthwhile.
Online lender Kabbage Inc. has partnered withUnited Parcel Service, Inc.(NYSE:UPS) to make loans using the firm's shipping history as a gauge of how many orders they're fulfilling.PayPal Holdings Inc(NASDAQ:PYPL) similarly uses vendors' transaction history to determine whether a loan would be high-risk.
High Interest Rates
However, such loans can be difficult for small business owners to repay. As online lenders become plentiful, many are jockeying for clients by offering more money at higher rates.
The ease of borrowing money online has also given rise to a slew of cash advance firms that are able to approve huge sums of money quickly, but charge annual percentage rates of more than 100 percent.
Image Credit: Public Domain
See more from Benzinga
• Logistics Firms Prepare For 3D Printing's Future
• The Biggest Losers From Monday's Market Meltdown
• Louis C.K. Embraces Bitcoin
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Small Businesses Turn To Online Lenders: The tech sector has reached into a new industry over the past year, as more firms rush to make loans to small businesses. Despite the U.S.'s recovery since the financial crisis, banks have been cautious about doling out small business loans. In 2008, banks held $711 in small business loans; that figure has decreased significantly to just $599 billion as of the second quarter of 2015. For that reason, there has been a gap in the marketplace as entrepreneurs look for ways to fund their growing companies. Lending To Well Known Firms While small business owners might be required to make a pitch to a bank or private investor in order to secure funding, some companies are using their existing relationships with entrepreneurs in order to make loans. Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU ) together with On Deck Capital Inc (NYSE: ONDK ) have launched a financing product that allows users of the firm's QuickBooks to secure small loans. Related Link: Intuit And OnDeck To Launch 0M Small Business Lending Fund The firm is able to use existing data from the user to determine how risky the loan would be, making it easier to deliver lower-rate loans for businesses with strong financials. Knowledge Is Power Other firms have created similar programs that use data gathered from customers in order to determine whether a loan is worthwhile. Online lender Kabbage Inc. has partnered with United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE: UPS ) to make loans using the firm's shipping history as a gauge of how many orders they're fulfilling. PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: PYPL ) similarly uses vendors' transaction history to determine whether a loan would be high-risk. High Interest Rates However, such loans can be difficult for small business owners to repay. As online lenders become plentiful, many are jockeying for clients by offering more money at higher rates. The ease of borrowing money online has also given rise to a slew of cash advance firms that are able to approve huge sums of money quickly, but charge annual percentage rates of more than 100 percent. Story continues Image Credit: Public Domain See more from Benzinga Logistics Firms Prepare For 3D Printing's Future The Biggest Losers From Monday's Market Meltdown Louis C.K. Embraces Bitcoin © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || As California's Drought Drags On, Winners And Losers Emerge: California's severe drought is dragging through its fourth year, leaving the state to continue finding ways to cut back on water usage.
Many of California's biggest businesses have been hard hit by the shortage, but other firms are using the crisis as an opportunity.
Agriculture
Water usage in agriculture is essential, so regulations cutting back on the amount farmers can use each day have been detrimental to the industry. This is especially true for poultry processors who use gallons of water to sanitize and clean each chicken. California's poultry farms process about 3 percent of the U.S. total, adding up to a great deal of water use.
Related Link:California Drought Stocks To Look At
Organics Suffer
Farms throughout California have been required toreduce their water useby 25 percent and cut back on outdoor watering – something that has taken a toll on the state's crops, especially those that are organic.
As organic crops are typically more difficult to grow and require more resources, prices have risen to cope with smaller yields in the wake of the shortage.
However, for companies likeMonsanto Company(NYSE:MON),E I Du Pont De Nemours And Co(NYSE:DD) andSyngenta AG (ADR)(NYSE:SYT), the drought has had the opposite effect. The shortage of water has created a demand for seeds that have been genetically modified to increase crop yields and reduce costs for farmers.
Cutting Back Is A Big Business
California residents have also been subjected to strict water usage limits, making everyday tasks like watering their lawns or even showering more complicated.
However, businesses who help track and cut down on water consumption have seen a boost in sales, as meters are installed and efficient usage gadgets are put to use.Mueller Water Products, Inc.(NYSE:MWA), a company that makes water meters, andRexnord Corp(NYSE:RXN), which focuses on efficient plumbing systems, are both expecting the drought to boost sales and increase their bottom lines.
Image Credit:Public Domain
See more from Benzinga
• Is Europe Recovering Or Not?
• In An Effort To Shore Up Cyberdefense, The FBI Looks To Teens
• Europol Highlights Bitcoin Use Among Criminals
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || As California's Drought Drags On, Winners And Losers Emerge: California's severe drought is dragging through its fourth year, leaving the state to continue finding ways to cut back on water usage. Many of California's biggest businesses have been hard hit by the shortage, but other firms are using the crisis as an opportunity. Agriculture Water usage in agriculture is essential, so regulations cutting back on the amount farmers can use each day have been detrimental to the industry. This is especially true for poultry processors who use gallons of water to sanitize and clean each chicken. California's poultry farms process about 3 percent of the U.S. total, adding up to a great deal of water use. Related Link: California Drought Stocks To Look At Organics Suffer Farms throughout California have been required to reduce their water use by 25 percent and cut back on outdoor watering – something that has taken a toll on the state's crops, especially those that are organic. As organic crops are typically more difficult to grow and require more resources, prices have risen to cope with smaller yields in the wake of the shortage. However, for companies like Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON ), E I Du Pont De Nemours And Co (NYSE: DD ) and Syngenta AG (ADR) (NYSE: SYT ), the drought has had the opposite effect. The shortage of water has created a demand for seeds that have been genetically modified to increase crop yields and reduce costs for farmers. Cutting Back Is A Big Business California residents have also been subjected to strict water usage limits, making everyday tasks like watering their lawns or even showering more complicated. However, businesses who help track and cut down on water consumption have seen a boost in sales, as meters are installed and efficient usage gadgets are put to use. Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE: MWA ), a company that makes water meters, and Rexnord Corp (NYSE: RXN ), which focuses on efficient plumbing systems, are both expecting the drought to boost sales and increase their bottom lines. Image Credit: Public Domain See more from Benzinga Is Europe Recovering Or Not? In An Effort To Shore Up Cyberdefense, The FBI Looks To Teens Europol Highlights Bitcoin Use Among Criminals © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. View comments || MarilynJean Interactive (MJMI.QB) Today Announced Cancellation of Over 15% of Its Free Trading Shares: HENDERSON, NV / ACCESSWIRE / October 1, 2015 /MarilynJean Interactive (MJMI) today announced cancellation of 21,183,000 Common shares representing 10.9% of its issued and outstanding share total and 15.75% of its free trading shares.
As previously disclosed, on July 11, 2012, the Company issued 42,385,500 units at $0.01/unit, each unit consisting of one common share and one fourth of one common share warrant exercisable at $0.50 and one half of a common share warrant with an exercise price of $1.00. All warrants associated with these units have since expired and none were exercised before expiration.
On October 1, 2015 we have cancelled and returned to treasury 21,183,000 Common Shares, pursuant to Return to Treasury Agreements entered into with certain shareholders. The shareholders voluntarily agreed to cancel the shares and return them to treasury for consideration of promissory notes totaling $155,915. The notes are due and payable upon completion of a financing by our company in excess of $375,000.
Peter Janosi, MJMI's president said: "In addition to the over 100,000,000 convertible preferred shares that were cancelled last week, today's share cancellation brings the total reduction to over 42% of the Company's previous fully diluted share total. By significantly reducing the Company's free trading shares, we believe we have further increased the Company's potential to access capital and grow its business."
MJMI is in the business of providing safe and accessible services for the users of Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies.
MJMI is currently exploring partnerships with several existing Bitcoin and crypto-currency exchanges as well as manufacturers and operators of BitcoinATMs. Such a combination would place the company in an exciting position to offer an end to end solution for trading in various crypto-currencies and potentially capture a share of the lucrative markets of Bitcoin trading and remittance services, just as these markets appear poised to undergo massive growth.
About Bitcoin and Crypto-Currencies
Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies are a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure transactions and control the creation of new units. Bitcoin became the first decentralized crypto-currency in 2009. Crypto-currency is produced at a rate which is defined when the system is created and publicly known. By contrast, in centralized banking and economic systems, such as the Federal Reserve System, corporate boards or governments control the supply of currency by printing units or demanding additions to digital banking ledgers. However, neither companies nor governments can produce units of crypto-currency and as such the value of crypto-currencies are completely based on supply and demand, free from any governmental control. Many people believe crypto-currencies, and in particular bitcoin, hold the promise of being the most significant advancement in global finance in modern history. The advent of bitcoin creates a secure, easily accessible and transferable transnational currency that is completely liberated from political influence.
Richard Branson, head of the Virgin Group, is quoted on his company's website as saying: "I have invested in Bitcoin because I believe in its potential, the capacity it has to transform global payments is very exciting."
Heavyweight investment bank Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), announced on April 30th 2015 that it had partnered with Chinese investment firm IDG Capital partners to invest $50 million in a Bitcoin start-up. Numerous high-profile firms have begun accepting Bitcoin as a payment method including: Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL), Dish Network Corp. (NASDAQ:DISH), Expedia Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE), and Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK).
MarilynJean Media Interactive is among the first publicly traded companies focused on bitcoin and the crypto-currency space. The company's trading symbol is MJMI.QB.
Website:www.marilynjean.comPress Contact:[email protected]
SOURCE:MarilynJean Interactive
[Social Media Buzz]
Current price of Bitcoin is $241.00 via Chain || Current price: 158.1£ $BTCGBP $btc #bitcoin 2015-10-06 05:00:05 BST || #RDD / #BTC on the exchanges:
Cryptsy: 0.00000004
Bittrex: 0.00000004
Average $1.0E-5 per #reddcoin
23:00:02 || Current price: 162.94£ $BTCGBP $btc #bitcoin 2015-10-06 17:00:05 BST || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 15 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $107.42 #bitcoin #btc || Current value of DOGE in BTC: BTER: 0.00000048 -- Volume:...
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242.97, 242.30, 243.93, 244.94, 247.05, 245.31, 249.51, 251.99, 254.32, 262.87
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 7243.13, 7269.68, 7124.67, 7152.30, 6932.48, 6640.52, 7276.80, 7202.84, 7218.82, 7191.16, 7511.59, 7355.63, 7322.53, 7275.16, 7238.97, 7290.09, 7317.99, 7422.65, 7293.00, 7193.60, 7200.17, 6985.47, 7344.88, 7410.66, 7411.32, 7769.22, 8163.69, 8079.86, 7879.07, 8166.55, 8037.54, 8192.49, 8144.19, 8827.76, 8807.01, 8723.79, 8929.04, 8942.81, 8706.25, 8657.64, 8745.89, 8680.88, 8406.52, 8445.43, 8367.85, 8596.83, 8909.82, 9358.59, 9316.63, 9508.99, 9350.53, 9392.88, 9344.37, 9293.52, 9180.96, 9613.42, 9729.80, 9795.94, 9865.12, 10116.67, 9856.61, 10208.24, 10326.05, 10214.38, 10312.12, 9889.42, 9934.43, 9690.14, 10142.00, 9633.39, 9608.48, 9686.44, 9663.18, 9924.52, 9650.17, 9341.71, 8820.52, 8784.49, 8672.46, 8599.51, 8562.45, 8869.67, 8787.79, 8755.25, 9078.76, 9122.55, 8909.95, 8108.12, 7923.64, 7909.73.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2020-03-10]
Volume: 42213940994, RSI (14-day): 30.76, 50-day EMA: 8966.02, 200-day EMA: 8620.48
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1659.10, Gold RSI: 60.36
Oil Price: 34.36, Oil RSI: 24.26
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Crypto stocks slide as global markets roil: Publicly-traded cryptocurrency companies were not spared during the U.S. stock market's steep plunge on Monday. Crypto stocks on both the U.S. and the Canadian stock markets started the trading day with a significant fallout, according to available data, with prices hovering around their respective all-time lows throughout the day. Crypto friendly bank Silvergate's stock (SI) opened with an 11% slump this morning, trading between the $12 and $13 range and closed at $12.63, slightly above the all-time low it posted in November last year. [caption id="attachment_58218" align="aligncenter" width="1228"] Source: TradingView[/caption] Bitcoin mining equipment maker Canaan, which went public around the same time last year as Silvergate, also saw the price of its stock (CAN) tank by as much as 20% on Nasdaq after the market opened. The price continued trending downwards throughout the day, hitting a $3.32 all-time low. [caption id="attachment_58220" align="aligncenter" width="1228"] Source: TradingView[/caption] The situation is not different in Canada. Galaxy Digital Holding (GLXY), which is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, started the day with a 10.48% plunge, hitting a $0.66 bottom but bounced back as the day progressed and ended the day at $0.96. Similarly, the price of Toronto-headquartered miner Hut 8 (HUT) quickly dropped 19.01% from $1.21 to $0.98 as the market opened, slightly above its all-time low of $0.84. [caption id="attachment_58221" align="aligncenter" width="1093"] Source: TradingView[/caption] [caption id="attachment_58222" align="aligncenter" width="1093"] Source: TradingView[/caption] Zooming out, the global markets were in turmoil on Monday as concerns over the coronavirus and an oil trade war between Saudi Arabia and Russia escalated. The S&P 500 Index was down 7% in the morning, triggering a marketwide trading halt. Global oil prices also dropped 30% over the weekend. || Crypto stocks slide as global markets roil: Publicly-traded cryptocurrency companies were not spared during the U.S. stock market's steep plunge on Monday.
Crypto stocks on both the U.S. and the Canadian stock markets started the trading day with a significant fallout, according to available data, with prices hovering around their respective all-time lows throughout the day.
Crypto friendly bank Silvergate's stock (SI) opened with an 11% slump this morning, trading between the $12 and $13 range and closed at $12.63, slightly above the all-time low it posted in November last year.
[caption id="attachment_58218" align="aligncenter" width="1228"]
Source: TradingView[/caption]
Bitcoin mining equipment maker Canaan, which went public around the same time last year as Silvergate, also saw the price of its stock (CAN) tank by as much as 20% on Nasdaq after the market opened. The price continued trending downwards throughout the day, hitting a $3.32 all-time low.
[caption id="attachment_58220" align="aligncenter" width="1228"]
Source: TradingView[/caption]
The situation is not different in Canada. Galaxy Digital Holding (GLXY), which is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, started the day with a 10.48% plunge, hitting a $0.66 bottom but bounced back as the day progressed and ended the day at $0.96.
Similarly, the price of Toronto-headquartered miner Hut 8 (HUT) quickly dropped 19.01% from $1.21 to $0.98 as the market opened, slightly above its all-time low of $0.84.
[caption id="attachment_58221" align="aligncenter" width="1093"]
Source: TradingView[/caption] [caption id="attachment_58222" align="aligncenter" width="1093"]
Source: TradingView[/caption]
Zooming out, the global markets were in turmoil on Monday as concerns over the coronavirus and an oil trade war between Saudi Arabia and Russia escalated.
The S&P 500 Index was down 7% in the morning, triggering a marketwide trading halt. Global oil prices also dropped 30% over the weekend. || What the Oil Market Says About Bitcoin’s ‘Safe Haven’ Status: Monday’s historic financial tumult reached beyond stocks, sinking commodities and even bitcoin markets.
“I don’t think any asset is safe right now – except cash, U.S. dollars,” said Ali Khedery, formerly Exxon’s senior Middle East adviser and now CEO of U.S.-based strategy firm Dragoman Ventures.
Whilebitcoin(BTC) prices dropped nearly10 percentover the weekend, Saudi Arabia slashed its export oil prices when Russia refused to support anOrganization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)effort to reduce oil production. Coronavirus quarantines mean fewer cars on the road, economic slowdown and less demand for oil, experts warn.
Related:Bitcoiners in Europe Reflect on Economic Shocks as Coronavirus Spreads
Matt Smith, director of commodity research at ClipperData, described the current state as an “oversupplied” oil market where Saudi Arabia made a drastic move, harming everyone’s bottom line, in an effort to “to get Russia back to the negotiating table.”
Smith said it will be difficult for nations to reconfigure their supply chains to circumnavigate the oversaturated market. Although nations like Iran appear to be interested in using thebitcoin mining industryto turn cheap power into global assets, both Smith and Khedery agree there’s no serious interest in bitcoin as a market alternative any time soon.
“In times of crisis, all markets correlate,” Smith said, arguing the dip contradicts bitcoin’s “safe haven”narrative.
Plus, an anonymous bitcoin mining farm operator in Iran said many operations are stalled byregulatory setbackssuch as penalty fees for subsidized electricity.Bitcoinersmay be thrilled about the potential to turn surplus energy into bitcoin, but so far it doesn’t appear as though OPEC members are prioritizing mining infrastructure for that approach. The Iranian miner said the local industry doesn’t appear to have any connection to strategies for abating a broader market crisis, at least none civilians are aware of.
Related:Bitcoin Back Over $8K as Traditional Markets Rebound
Yet, if the oil market continues to plummet, Khedery said, “It may cause Iran, Iraq and Venezuela to collapse.”
“Iran is in deep trouble,” Khedery added, speaking of the oil-exporting nation hampered by both sanctions and a coronavirus outbreak.
Regardless,bitcoin bullsremain unfazed. Electric Capital co-founder Avichal Gargtweetedbitcoin may become a safe haven asset in the future. Bitcoin-focused investor Tuur Demeester said he expects the broader market chaos to increase bitcoin’s dominance on exchanges.
“What you want in a period of crisis is options,” Demeester said. “You’ll be attracted to an asset that’s liquid. … There are some people who are being forced to sell [bitcoin]. But, overall we’re in a very healthy [bitcoin] market.”
Likewise, Gabor Gurbacs, director of digital asset strategies at VanEck/MVIS, said adopting a bitcoin strategy is in the best interest of any country heavily involved in energy markets.
“While for now the petrodollar system remains dominant and the U.S. dollar outperforms other currencies, sovereign nations are increasingly searching for alternatives,” Gurbacs said, adding the safe haven narrative hasn’t been disproven because “bitcoin is a relatively young asset and it’s not a full-fledged store of value yet.”
There were, indeed, rumors at theWorld Economic Forumin January that some nations are actively looking for alternative currencies to settle energy market trades. But such forum participants generally dismissed bitcoin as too nascent, and alternative fiat systems as a poor substitute for the dollar, at least so far.
“The Russians and Chinese have been trying for years. And failing, it seems,” Khedery said.
Regarding the proverbial petrodollar, he added nations “can’t displace [USD] until there is a viable alternative.”
• You Call That Volatility? Bitcoin Traders Scoff at Wall Street’s Gyrations
• Bitcoin, Bonds and Gold: Why Markets Are Upended in a Time of Fear || What the Oil Market Says About Bitcoin’s ‘Safe Haven’ Status: Monday’s historic financial tumult reached beyond stocks, sinking commodities and even bitcoin markets. “I don’t think any asset is safe right now – except cash, U.S. dollars,” said Ali Khedery, formerly Exxon’s senior Middle East adviser and now CEO of U.S.-based strategy firm Dragoman Ventures. While bitcoin (BTC) prices dropped nearly 10 percent over the weekend, Saudi Arabia slashed its export oil prices when Russia refused to support an Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) effort to reduce oil production. Coronavirus quarantines mean fewer cars on the road, economic slowdown and less demand for oil, experts warn. Related: Bitcoiners in Europe Reflect on Economic Shocks as Coronavirus Spreads Matt Smith, director of commodity research at ClipperData, described the current state as an “oversupplied” oil market where Saudi Arabia made a drastic move, harming everyone’s bottom line, in an effort to “to get Russia back to the negotiating table.” Smith said it will be difficult for nations to reconfigure their supply chains to circumnavigate the oversaturated market. Although nations like Iran appear to be interested in using the bitcoin mining industry to turn cheap power into global assets, both Smith and Khedery agree there’s no serious interest in bitcoin as a market alternative any time soon. “In times of crisis, all markets correlate,” Smith said, arguing the dip contradicts bitcoin’s “safe haven” narrative . Plus, an anonymous bitcoin mining farm operator in Iran said many operations are stalled by regulatory setbacks such as penalty fees for subsidized electricity. Bitcoiners may be thrilled about the potential to turn surplus energy into bitcoin, but so far it doesn’t appear as though OPEC members are prioritizing mining infrastructure for that approach. The Iranian miner said the local industry doesn’t appear to have any connection to strategies for abating a broader market crisis, at least none civilians are aware of. Story continues Related: Bitcoin Back Over $8K as Traditional Markets Rebound Yet, if the oil market continues to plummet, Khedery said, “It may cause Iran, Iraq and Venezuela to collapse.” “Iran is in deep trouble,” Khedery added, speaking of the oil-exporting nation hampered by both sanctions and a coronavirus outbreak. Regardless, bitcoin bulls remain unfazed. Electric Capital co-founder Avichal Garg tweeted bitcoin may become a safe haven asset in the future. Bitcoin-focused investor Tuur Demeester said he expects the broader market chaos to increase bitcoin’s dominance on exchanges. “What you want in a period of crisis is options,” Demeester said. “You’ll be attracted to an asset that’s liquid. … There are some people who are being forced to sell [bitcoin]. But, overall we’re in a very healthy [bitcoin] market.” Likewise, Gabor Gurbacs, director of digital asset strategies at VanEck/MVIS, said adopting a bitcoin strategy is in the best interest of any country heavily involved in energy markets. “While for now the petrodollar system remains dominant and the U.S. dollar outperforms other currencies, sovereign nations are increasingly searching for alternatives,” Gurbacs said, adding the safe haven narrative hasn’t been disproven because “bitcoin is a relatively young asset and it’s not a full-fledged store of value yet.” There were, indeed, rumors at the World Economic Forum in January that some nations are actively looking for alternative currencies to settle energy market trades. But such forum participants generally dismissed bitcoin as too nascent, and alternative fiat systems as a poor substitute for the dollar, at least so far. “The Russians and Chinese have been trying for years. And failing, it seems,” Khedery said. Regarding the proverbial petrodollar, he added nations “can’t displace [USD] until there is a viable alternative.” Related Stories You Call That Volatility? Bitcoin Traders Scoff at Wall Street’s Gyrations Bitcoin, Bonds and Gold: Why Markets Are Upended in a Time of Fear || What the Oil Market Says About Bitcoin’s ‘Safe Haven’ Status: Monday’s historic financial tumult reached beyond stocks, sinking commodities and even bitcoin markets.
“I don’t think any asset is safe right now – except cash, U.S. dollars,” said Ali Khedery, formerly Exxon’s senior Middle East adviser and now CEO of U.S.-based strategy firm Dragoman Ventures.
Whilebitcoin(BTC) prices dropped nearly10 percentover the weekend, Saudi Arabia slashed its export oil prices when Russia refused to support anOrganization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)effort to reduce oil production. Coronavirus quarantines mean fewer cars on the road, economic slowdown and less demand for oil, experts warn.
Related:Bitcoiners in Europe Reflect on Economic Shocks as Coronavirus Spreads
Matt Smith, director of commodity research at ClipperData, described the current state as an “oversupplied” oil market where Saudi Arabia made a drastic move, harming everyone’s bottom line, in an effort to “to get Russia back to the negotiating table.”
Smith said it will be difficult for nations to reconfigure their supply chains to circumnavigate the oversaturated market. Although nations like Iran appear to be interested in using thebitcoin mining industryto turn cheap power into global assets, both Smith and Khedery agree there’s no serious interest in bitcoin as a market alternative any time soon.
“In times of crisis, all markets correlate,” Smith said, arguing the dip contradicts bitcoin’s “safe haven”narrative.
Plus, an anonymous bitcoin mining farm operator in Iran said many operations are stalled byregulatory setbackssuch as penalty fees for subsidized electricity.Bitcoinersmay be thrilled about the potential to turn surplus energy into bitcoin, but so far it doesn’t appear as though OPEC members are prioritizing mining infrastructure for that approach. The Iranian miner said the local industry doesn’t appear to have any connection to strategies for abating a broader market crisis, at least none civilians are aware of.
Related:Bitcoin Back Over $8K as Traditional Markets Rebound
Yet, if the oil market continues to plummet, Khedery said, “It may cause Iran, Iraq and Venezuela to collapse.”
“Iran is in deep trouble,” Khedery added, speaking of the oil-exporting nation hampered by both sanctions and a coronavirus outbreak.
Regardless,bitcoin bullsremain unfazed. Electric Capital co-founder Avichal Gargtweetedbitcoin may become a safe haven asset in the future. Bitcoin-focused investor Tuur Demeester said he expects the broader market chaos to increase bitcoin’s dominance on exchanges.
“What you want in a period of crisis is options,” Demeester said. “You’ll be attracted to an asset that’s liquid. … There are some people who are being forced to sell [bitcoin]. But, overall we’re in a very healthy [bitcoin] market.”
Likewise, Gabor Gurbacs, director of digital asset strategies at VanEck/MVIS, said adopting a bitcoin strategy is in the best interest of any country heavily involved in energy markets.
“While for now the petrodollar system remains dominant and the U.S. dollar outperforms other currencies, sovereign nations are increasingly searching for alternatives,” Gurbacs said, adding the safe haven narrative hasn’t been disproven because “bitcoin is a relatively young asset and it’s not a full-fledged store of value yet.”
There were, indeed, rumors at theWorld Economic Forumin January that some nations are actively looking for alternative currencies to settle energy market trades. But such forum participants generally dismissed bitcoin as too nascent, and alternative fiat systems as a poor substitute for the dollar, at least so far.
“The Russians and Chinese have been trying for years. And failing, it seems,” Khedery said.
Regarding the proverbial petrodollar, he added nations “can’t displace [USD] until there is a viable alternative.”
• You Call That Volatility? Bitcoin Traders Scoff at Wall Street’s Gyrations
• Bitcoin, Bonds and Gold: Why Markets Are Upended in a Time of Fear || I Attended a Bitcoin Conference in VR and Still Got Sick: Human frailty knows no bounds – even the virtual ones.
I attended a virtual reality meetup hosted by bitcoin advocate Udi Wertheimer on Sunday for the MIT Bitcoin Expo. Instead of jaunting up to Cambridge, Mass., for the afternoon, I donned virtual goggles in Southern California to enter the world of “non-deterministic bitcoin scripts” and other cypherpunk conversations.
And despite all the coronavirus-fueled excitement around virtual gatherings being a viable alternative to germ-swapping IRL events, I still got sick. Still, my foe was much more mundane: motion sickness.
Related:Bitcoiners in Europe Reflect on Economic Shocks as Coronavirus Spreads
“Kudos to all you brave souls who are still here in meatspace,” said Casa Chief Technology Officer Jameson Lopp as he opened his talk, addressing the sparse physical crowd at MIT.
Truthfully, it’s pretty cool that you can roam a tech conference from the comfort (and safety) of your own home. To date, some45 tech-related conferenceshave been canceled, postponed or moved to online platforms. That’s a lot for a distributed industry that has long relied on hackathons and meetups for forward progress.
Wertheimer’s VR experience ran on Mozilla Hubs. A fairly buggy platform compared to others such as VRChat – which hosted a four-hour VR “afterparty” for the MIT Expo.
My experience was, I’d say, closer to Harry Potter’s Azkaban prison than San Francisco’s (now-postponed) Bitcoin 2020.
Related:You Call That Volatility? Bitcoin Traders Scoff at Wall Street’s Gyrations
Mozilla Hubs can run on two platforms: desktop or VR goggles. At first, I logged on to the desktop version I had become familiar with in the week prior for fun. Here’s a picture of me as a donut at the Parthenon:
It’s important to note Hubs’ current status as more of a proof-of-concept than full VR simulation, especially on desktop alone.
You can move about, talk to attendees and even teleport, but it still lags severely and crashes after about two-dozen people join the virtual room. The VR group I joined does not plan on using the platform again (although Mozilla is marketing the product toevent organizers like SXSW).
“When Jameson joined we had some severe audio problems, he could hear only some of the people so it was a bit of a mess. Still lots of fun though,” Wertheimer told CoinDesk.
After lobbying my editor, I purchased an Oculus Go for the event, the cheapest headset you can get on Amazon. (At about $150 on Amazon Prime, it has never been cheaper to distance yourself from reality.)
Linking my Oculus with Hubs, I re-entered into the MIT Expo hall. Or rather,under itby about 60 feet:
No, being virtually buried alive is not quite as suffocating as dwelling in the dirt, but it wasn’t enjoyable either.
I felt quite trapped beneath the virtual tent and its 30-some avatar guests. More still, I was incapable of moving. My controller worked whenever I exited the Expo to pick a new avatar character, but was worthless inside the event itself. I was left spinning around my apartment looking for some virtual buttons to click. This, in turn, was greeted by lagging images of a mountain backdrop and distant echoes of a conversation about bitcoin scripting language.
Health experts caution that COVID-19 is asymptomatic until an acute turning point, wherein hospitalization is generally required. My experience with VR bears similar warning.
Unexpectedly, nausea set in some 30 minutes into the Expo. Nonetheless, I was determined to carry on.
My resolve did not last.
Perhaps the digital world is more weighty than the physical. I abandoned the VR world for the comforts of meatspace after multiple (failed) attempts at moving toward the tent entrance.
Like bitcoin, VR isn’t ready for the big stage quite yet. It may never be.
The limitations of VR are still quite tangible. Clunky and expensive hardware is met with underdeveloped software infamous for making users disoriented and seasick. For one, I’m glad vomit doesn’t transfer to the digital realm.
Most VR applications such as VRChat cannot handle more than a few hundred attendees without crashing. Mozilla Hubs can only run about 30 people before sending applicants into the digital abyss. There’s also that little voice in the back of your head wondering if what you are doing is entirely normal.
“Not all VR experiences are equal. In particular, the platform we used on Sunday appeared to have performance issues once we maxed out the number of people who were allowed to join the virtual space,” Lopp told CoinDesk via email. “In general, though, some platforms enable interesting functions that you wouldn’t be able to do in real life.”
Silver linings certainly exist in the VR clouds. Wertheimer said participants felt more comfortable addressing conference speakers in one-on-one conversation. Privacy-minded attendees, who often do not attend real conferences, happily showed up under pseudonyms.
“Having the person next to you nodding, explaining things with their hands, looking at what you’re describing. It sounds simple but it makes the interaction feel a lot more ‘human’ than most online interactions,” Wertheimer told CoinDesk.
Like bitcoin, expect VR innovations to grow in stature as the list of nixed conferences continues to lengthen. Regardless of its defects, VR remains an attractive way to make the tent bigger for crypto.
Clearly, nausea beats the flu any day of the week.
• FluffyPony on Encryption, Clearview and How Coronavirus Could Impact Privacy
• Coronavirus Rate Cuts: Australia’s Central Bank Did It First || I Attended a Bitcoin Conference in VR and Still Got Sick: Human frailty knows no bounds – even the virtual ones.
I attended a virtual reality meetup hosted by bitcoin advocate Udi Wertheimer on Sunday for the MIT Bitcoin Expo. Instead of jaunting up to Cambridge, Mass., for the afternoon, I donned virtual goggles in Southern California to enter the world of “non-deterministic bitcoin scripts” and other cypherpunk conversations.
And despite all the coronavirus-fueled excitement around virtual gatherings being a viable alternative to germ-swapping IRL events, I still got sick. Still, my foe was much more mundane: motion sickness.
Related:Bitcoiners in Europe Reflect on Economic Shocks as Coronavirus Spreads
“Kudos to all you brave souls who are still here in meatspace,” said Casa Chief Technology Officer Jameson Lopp as he opened his talk, addressing the sparse physical crowd at MIT.
Truthfully, it’s pretty cool that you can roam a tech conference from the comfort (and safety) of your own home. To date, some45 tech-related conferenceshave been canceled, postponed or moved to online platforms. That’s a lot for a distributed industry that has long relied on hackathons and meetups for forward progress.
Wertheimer’s VR experience ran on Mozilla Hubs. A fairly buggy platform compared to others such as VRChat – which hosted a four-hour VR “afterparty” for the MIT Expo.
My experience was, I’d say, closer to Harry Potter’s Azkaban prison than San Francisco’s (now-postponed) Bitcoin 2020.
Related:You Call That Volatility? Bitcoin Traders Scoff at Wall Street’s Gyrations
Mozilla Hubs can run on two platforms: desktop or VR goggles. At first, I logged on to the desktop version I had become familiar with in the week prior for fun. Here’s a picture of me as a donut at the Parthenon:
It’s important to note Hubs’ current status as more of a proof-of-concept than full VR simulation, especially on desktop alone.
You can move about, talk to attendees and even teleport, but it still lags severely and crashes after about two-dozen people join the virtual room. The VR group I joined does not plan on using the platform again (although Mozilla is marketing the product toevent organizers like SXSW).
“When Jameson joined we had some severe audio problems, he could hear only some of the people so it was a bit of a mess. Still lots of fun though,” Wertheimer told CoinDesk.
After lobbying my editor, I purchased an Oculus Go for the event, the cheapest headset you can get on Amazon. (At about $150 on Amazon Prime, it has never been cheaper to distance yourself from reality.)
Linking my Oculus with Hubs, I re-entered into the MIT Expo hall. Or rather,under itby about 60 feet:
No, being virtually buried alive is not quite as suffocating as dwelling in the dirt, but it wasn’t enjoyable either.
I felt quite trapped beneath the virtual tent and its 30-some avatar guests. More still, I was incapable of moving. My controller worked whenever I exited the Expo to pick a new avatar character, but was worthless inside the event itself. I was left spinning around my apartment looking for some virtual buttons to click. This, in turn, was greeted by lagging images of a mountain backdrop and distant echoes of a conversation about bitcoin scripting language.
Health experts caution that COVID-19 is asymptomatic until an acute turning point, wherein hospitalization is generally required. My experience with VR bears similar warning.
Unexpectedly, nausea set in some 30 minutes into the Expo. Nonetheless, I was determined to carry on.
My resolve did not last.
Perhaps the digital world is more weighty than the physical. I abandoned the VR world for the comforts of meatspace after multiple (failed) attempts at moving toward the tent entrance.
Like bitcoin, VR isn’t ready for the big stage quite yet. It may never be.
The limitations of VR are still quite tangible. Clunky and expensive hardware is met with underdeveloped software infamous for making users disoriented and seasick. For one, I’m glad vomit doesn’t transfer to the digital realm.
Most VR applications such as VRChat cannot handle more than a few hundred attendees without crashing. Mozilla Hubs can only run about 30 people before sending applicants into the digital abyss. There’s also that little voice in the back of your head wondering if what you are doing is entirely normal.
“Not all VR experiences are equal. In particular, the platform we used on Sunday appeared to have performance issues once we maxed out the number of people who were allowed to join the virtual space,” Lopp told CoinDesk via email. “In general, though, some platforms enable interesting functions that you wouldn’t be able to do in real life.”
Silver linings certainly exist in the VR clouds. Wertheimer said participants felt more comfortable addressing conference speakers in one-on-one conversation. Privacy-minded attendees, who often do not attend real conferences, happily showed up under pseudonyms.
“Having the person next to you nodding, explaining things with their hands, looking at what you’re describing. It sounds simple but it makes the interaction feel a lot more ‘human’ than most online interactions,” Wertheimer told CoinDesk.
Like bitcoin, expect VR innovations to grow in stature as the list of nixed conferences continues to lengthen. Regardless of its defects, VR remains an attractive way to make the tent bigger for crypto.
Clearly, nausea beats the flu any day of the week.
• FluffyPony on Encryption, Clearview and How Coronavirus Could Impact Privacy
• Coronavirus Rate Cuts: Australia’s Central Bank Did It First || DeFi lending protocol Compound sees its biggest day of liquidations since v2 protocol launch: Compound saw $2,534,760 worth of collateral liquidated on March 8 – a record high since the launch of its v2 lending protocol in May of last year.
The price of ether (ETH) plunged over the weekend, dropping from above $250 to around $200. Since borrowers tend to use ETH as collateral, the price dip rendered many loans under-collateralized, triggering their liquidation. MakerDAO, another lending protocol, as well as exchange dYdX also saw liquidation spike over the same period, although those occurrences were not as substantial as those seen on Compound.
"I think it's mainly because they [Compound] have a more aggressive collateral ratio. And the incentives are higher to liquidate there because you get paid immediately instead of entering an auction," DeFi simulation platform Gauntlet Networks CEO Tarun Chitra told The Block.
Outstanding loans on Compound, MakerDAO, and dYdX also took a hit over the weekend, dropping by 1.8% from $75,042,115 Friday to $73,683,069 Sunday across the three platforms.
[caption id="attachment_58176" align="aligncenter" width="681"]
Source: LoanScan[/caption]
The move perhaps reflects traders' desire to deleverage their positions as the global markets face increasing volatility.
In addition to ETH, the price of BTC also fell over the weekend from above $9,000 to around $8,400, with CME Bitcoin futures daily volume hitting a 2020 low last Friday.
Beyond crypto, equity and commodity markets are also in a state of turmoil. The global oil price plunged as much as 30% over the weekend, while the U.S. Treasury 10-year yields trended below 1% for the first time during the same time period.
"Everyone is deleveraging at the same time, and the liquidations are a lagging indicator of that," said Chitra.
This report's headline has been updated for clarity. || DeFi lending protocol Compound sees its biggest day of liquidations since v2 protocol launch: Compound saw $2,534,760 worth of collateral liquidated on March 8 – a record high since the launch of its v2 lending protocol in May of last year. The price of ether (ETH) plunged over the weekend, dropping from above $250 to around $200. Since borrowers tend to use ETH as collateral, the price dip rendered many loans under-collateralized, triggering their liquidation. MakerDAO, another lending protocol, as well as exchange dYdX also saw liquidation spike over the same period, although those occurrences were not as substantial as those seen on Compound. "I think it's mainly because they [Compound] have a more aggressive collateral ratio. And the incentives are higher to liquidate there because you get paid immediately instead of entering an auction," DeFi simulation platform Gauntlet Networks CEO Tarun Chitra told The Block. Outstanding loans on Compound, MakerDAO, and dYdX also took a hit over the weekend, dropping by 1.8% from $75,042,115 Friday to $73,683,069 Sunday across the three platforms. [caption id="attachment_58176" align="aligncenter" width="681"] Source: LoanScan[/caption] The move perhaps reflects traders' desire to deleverage their positions as the global markets face increasing volatility. In addition to ETH, the price of BTC also fell over the weekend from above $9,000 to around $8,400, with CME Bitcoin futures daily volume hitting a 2020 low last Friday. Beyond crypto, equity and commodity markets are also in a state of turmoil. The global oil price plunged as much as 30% over the weekend, while the U.S. Treasury 10-year yields trended below 1% for the first time during the same time period. "Everyone is deleveraging at the same time, and the liquidations are a lagging indicator of that," said Chitra. This report's headline has been updated for clarity. || Is Bitcoin Safe in a Market Crash? Look to Gold for Signs, Feat. Delphi Digitals Kevin Kelly: For more episodes and free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe with Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Pocketcasts , Google Podcasts , Castbox , Stitcher , RadioPublica , IHeartRadio or RSS . Bitcoins (BTC) price has cratered but thats nothing compared to the broader market havoc. From the coronavirus scare to an oil price war, a confluence of factors is aligning to make it a very rough Monday. On this episode of The Breakdown, @nlw is joined by Delphi Digitals Kevin Kelly to discuss: Why the stock market is just catching up to what the bond markets have been saying Why the bond markets have been a better reflection of potential economic pain Why we need to pay attention to what happens in the credit markets The role of the oil price war in todays market drop What the declining bitcoin price means for the safe haven and uncorrelated asset narratives Which assets are actually acting like safe havens Related: Bitcoin News Roundup for March 10, 2020 For more episodes and free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe with Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Pocketcasts , Google Podcasts , Castbox , Stitcher , RadioPublica , IHeartRadio or RSS . Related Stories Leader to Watch: Elena Giralt Talks Zcash and Feminism FluffyPony on Encryption, Clearview and How Coronavirus Could Impact Privacy Gender and Income: Binance US and Stellar CEOs Debunk Myths for International Womens Day || Is Bitcoin Safe in a Market Crash? Look to Gold for Signs, Feat. Delphi Digital’s Kevin Kelly: For more episodes and free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublica,IHeartRadioorRSS.
Bitcoin’s(BTC) price has cratered but that’s nothing compared to the broader market havoc. From thecoronavirus scareto an oil price war, a confluence of factors is aligning to make it a very rough Monday.
On this episode of The Breakdown, @nlw is joined by Delphi Digital’s Kevin Kelly to discuss:
• Why the stock market is just catching up to what the bond markets have been saying
• Why the bond markets have been a better reflection of potential economic pain
• Why we need to pay attention to what happens in the credit markets
• The role of the oil price war in today’s market drop
• What the declining bitcoin price means for the safe haven and uncorrelatedasset narratives
• Which assets are actually acting like safe havens
Related:Bitcoin News Roundup for March 10, 2020
For more episodes and free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublica,IHeartRadioorRSS.
• Leader to Watch: Elena Giralt Talks Zcash and Feminism
• FluffyPony on Encryption, Clearview and How Coronavirus Could Impact Privacy
• Gender and Income: Binance US and Stellar CEOs Debunk Myths for International Women’s Day || Is Bitcoin Safe in a Market Crash? Look to Gold for Signs, Feat. Delphi Digital’s Kevin Kelly: For more episodes and free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublica,IHeartRadioorRSS.
Bitcoin’s(BTC) price has cratered but that’s nothing compared to the broader market havoc. From thecoronavirus scareto an oil price war, a confluence of factors is aligning to make it a very rough Monday.
On this episode of The Breakdown, @nlw is joined by Delphi Digital’s Kevin Kelly to discuss:
• Why the stock market is just catching up to what the bond markets have been saying
• Why the bond markets have been a better reflection of potential economic pain
• Why we need to pay attention to what happens in the credit markets
• The role of the oil price war in today’s market drop
• What the declining bitcoin price means for the safe haven and uncorrelatedasset narratives
• Which assets are actually acting like safe havens
Related:Bitcoin News Roundup for March 10, 2020
For more episodes and free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublica,IHeartRadioorRSS.
• Leader to Watch: Elena Giralt Talks Zcash and Feminism
• FluffyPony on Encryption, Clearview and How Coronavirus Could Impact Privacy
• Gender and Income: Binance US and Stellar CEOs Debunk Myths for International Women’s Day || Old Rivals Oracle and IBM Want Their Blockchains to Talk to Each Other: Rival IT giants IBM and Oracle are working to make their blockchains communicate with each other. The groundbreaking interoperability work is happening on blockchains built using Fabric, Oracle developers said at last week’s Hyperledger Global Forum in Phoenix, Ariz. Mark Rakhmilevich, Oracle’s senior director of blockchain product management, said the Fabric interoperability initiative began just before the first Hyperledger Global Forum in Basel, Switzerland, at the end of 2018. Related: Web3 Foundation Funds Technical Bridge Connecting Polkadot to Bitcoin “We have done full testing with IBM and SAP. The three of us have basically done cross-network testing on Fabric,” Rakhmilevich said in an interview. “So if somebody comes and says they want to run a network on Oracle but have some members whose preference is to be on IBM, we can show them the process which is tested and certified.” To some extent, this is about making blockchain nodes run on both IBM and Oracle’s clouds. But it also opens the door to connecting the consortia of firms clustered on the two platforms. The technical aspects include ironing out the exchange of information across networks in a format the other side can digest. “The long-term goal should be to create a simple user interface that you can click into and set up. But for now we tested manually going through and connecting,” said Rakhmilevich. The shipping example Enterprise blockchain is a team sport, as is often heard among the distributed ledger technology (DLT) set. However, groups of companies are often aligned with particular platforms even when, in some cases, they are addressing the same use case (shipping container tracking, for instance) and using the same underlying open-source blockchain (such as Fabric). Related: Microsoft, EY and ConsenSys Tout New Way for Big Biz to Use Public Ethereum A good example is Oracle Blockchain and CargoSmart’s Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN) consortium, which includes shipping carriers like CMA CGM, COSCO Shipping Lines and Hapag-Lloyd, and uses Fabric. Story continues Meanwhile, IBM and Maersk launched TradeLens in 2018, which also counts CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd as members as well as MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company and Ocean Network Express, and runs on the Fabric-based IBM Blockchain Platform. Both consortia also include a range of shipping ports around the world, as well as freight forwarding companies and the like, meaning any step towards harmonizing these projects has potentially enormous value to the participating industry players. Building consortia is a tough job and it’s not surprising tech vendors want to guard the big names on their platforms. To make the process more agile, Rakhmilevich recommends starting with “code first,” while the heavy lifting of establishing a formal consortium can be done in parallel. “Creating the consortium framework is going to take a lot of time, so let’s go and start building this while the lawyers are talking, something people can run without having this formal consortium,” he said. The blockchain teams at IBM, Oracle and SAP, who all know each other, are perhaps more sanguine about creating a harmony between firms participating on different deployments of Fabric. The decision-makers on the business side might see things differently. “Large IT firms have this history of competition, but it makes sense at technical levels to cooperate, whether it’s formal standards or informal things,” said Rakhmilevich. “Particularly when talking about blockchain, which is an ecosystem play, that’s going to involve multiple parties, so you have to make sure that you can support it across multiple clouds and multiple vendors. You still compete in the field, we will do that every day.” Related Stories Hyperledger Conference Shows Where Blockchain Can Fight Global Warming IBM’s Public Cloud Is Secure Enough for Crypto Custodians || Old Rivals Oracle and IBM Want Their Blockchains to Talk to Each Other: Rival IT giants IBM and Oracle are working to make their blockchains communicate with each other.
The groundbreaking interoperability work is happening on blockchains built using Fabric, Oracle developers said at last week’s Hyperledger Global Forum in Phoenix, Ariz.
Mark Rakhmilevich, Oracle’s senior director of blockchain product management, said theFabric interoperability initiativebegan just before the first Hyperledger Global Forum in Basel, Switzerland, at the end of 2018.
Related:Web3 Foundation Funds Technical Bridge Connecting Polkadot to Bitcoin
“We have done full testing with IBM and SAP. The three of us have basically done cross-network testing on Fabric,” Rakhmilevich said in an interview. “So if somebody comes and says they want to run a network on Oracle but have some members whose preference is to be on IBM, we can show them the process which is tested and certified.”
To some extent, this is about making blockchain nodes run on both IBM and Oracle’s clouds. But it also opens the door to connecting the consortia of firms clustered on the two platforms.
The technical aspects include ironing out the exchange of information across networks in a format the other side can digest. “The long-term goal should be to create a simple user interface that you can click into and set up. But for now we tested manually going through and connecting,” said Rakhmilevich.
Enterprise blockchain is a team sport, as is often heard among the distributed ledger technology (DLT) set. However, groups of companies are often aligned with particular platforms even when, in some cases, they are addressing the same use case (shipping container tracking, for instance) and using the same underlying open-source blockchain (such as Fabric).
Related:Microsoft, EY and ConsenSys Tout New Way for Big Biz to Use Public Ethereum
A good example is Oracle Blockchain and CargoSmart’s Global Shipping Business Network (GSBN) consortium, which includes shipping carriers like CMA CGM, COSCO Shipping Lines and Hapag-Lloyd, and uses Fabric.
Meanwhile, IBM and Maersk launched TradeLens in 2018, which also counts CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd as members as well as MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company and Ocean Network Express, and runs on the Fabric-based IBM Blockchain Platform.
Both consortia also include a range of shipping ports around the world, as well as freight forwarding companies and the like, meaning any step towards harmonizing these projects has potentially enormous value to the participating industry players.
Building consortiais a tough joband it’s not surprising tech vendors want to guard the big names on their platforms. To make the process more agile, Rakhmilevich recommends starting with “code first,” while the heavy lifting of establishing a formal consortium can be done in parallel.
“Creating the consortium framework is going to take a lot of time, so let’s go and start building this while the lawyers are talking, something people can run without having this formal consortium,” he said.
The blockchain teams at IBM, Oracle and SAP, who all know each other, are perhaps more sanguine about creating a harmony between firms participating on different deployments of Fabric. The decision-makers on the business side might see things differently.
“Large IT firms have this history of competition, but it makes sense at technical levels to cooperate, whether it’s formal standards or informal things,” said Rakhmilevich. “Particularly when talking about blockchain, which is an ecosystem play, that’s going to involve multiple parties, so you have to make sure that you can support it across multiple clouds and multiple vendors. You still compete in the field, we will do that every day.”
• Hyperledger Conference Shows Where Blockchain Can Fight Global Warming
• IBM’s Public Cloud Is Secure Enough for Crypto Custodians || Bitcoins implied volatility is surging, and its a cash grab for big traders: Implied volatility for bitcoin has been soaring and it's a boon for some of the market's biggest traders. One-month implied volatility for the digital asset has increased from 55% to 65% since Sunday at midnight, according to data provided by Skew . Implied volatility gauges a market's expectation for volatility in a given asset over the next month. As traders brace for rocky markets ahead, bitcoin continues to see its price fall. During the last 24-hours, bitcoin has shed more than 4% and is currently trading above $7,700 per coin. Elsewhere, U.S. equities are seeing further losses amid the growing coronavirus outbreak and mounting fears about its economic impact. Adding to the concerns: conversations between OPEC and Russia broke down over the weekend, a development which precipitated a 30% drop in the price of crude. At last check, Dow Jones Industrial Average was trading down more than 1,400 points this morning. Indeed, the VIX index which measures 30-day implied volatility soared to 62 during this morning's session, which is close to where it stood during the financial crisis. Still, some crypto traders are surprised that there isn't more panic in the market. "It's a casual slide down," Darius Sit of crypto derivatives trader QCP told The Block. "Which is strange." Max Boonen, co-founder of B2C2, said revised growth expectations would have more of an impact on equities relative to bitcoin, which might be playing into the more sanguine sentiment. "Stocks are down big time because the growth expectations have been revised much lower," he said. "Bitcoin does not really depend on economic growth. It's not a stock with dividends." Regardless of the asset class, an increase in volatility is a good thing for some traders and brokers who thrive during these kinds of market conditions. High-frequency traders like Virtu Financial make markets during these conditions and earn money on the spread between the price investors want to buy or sell a stock. When volatility increases, that spread widens and firms bring in more money. Story continues Virtu is one of the few stocks in the green today, trading up 1.9% at time of writing. The same logic goes for crypto market-making firms, industry sources say. "I suspect everyone in a similar business benefits to varying degrees based on the exact strategy," Boonen said, adding: "We had a big February." Since the beginning of March, Boonen said the firm has raked in as much profit as it did in December. || Bitcoin’s implied volatility is surging, and it’s a cash grab for big traders: Implied volatility for bitcoin has been soaring – and it's a boon for some of the market's biggest traders.
One-month implied volatility for the digital asset has increased from 55% to 65% since Sunday at midnight, according to data provided bySkew. Implied volatility gauges a market's expectation for volatility in a given asset over the next month.
As traders brace for rocky markets ahead, bitcoin continues to see its price fall. During the last 24-hours, bitcoin has shed more than 4% and is currently trading above $7,700 per coin.
Elsewhere, U.S. equities are seeing further losses amid the growing coronavirus outbreak and mounting fears about its economic impact. Adding to the concerns: conversations between OPEC and Russia broke down over the weekend, a development which precipitated a 30% drop in the price of crude. At last check, Dow Jones Industrial Average was trading down more than 1,400 points this morning.
Indeed, the VIX index – which measures 30-day implied volatility – soared to 62 during this morning's session, which is close to where it stood during the financial crisis.
Still, some crypto traders are surprised that there isn't more panic in the market.
"It's a casual slide down," Darius Sit of crypto derivatives trader QCP told The Block. "Which is strange."
Max Boonen, co-founder of B2C2, said revised growth expectations would have more of an impact on equities relative to bitcoin, which might be playing into the more sanguine sentiment.
"Stocks are down big time because the growth expectations have been revised much lower," he said. "Bitcoin does not really depend on economic growth. It's not a stock with dividends."
Regardless of the asset class, an increase in volatility is a good thing for some traders and brokers who thrive during these kinds of market conditions. High-frequency traders like Virtu Financial make markets during these conditions and earn money on the spread between the price investors want to buy or sell a stock. When volatility increases, that spread widens and firms bring in more money.
Virtu is one of the few stocks in the green today, trading up 1.9% at time of writing.
The same logic goes for crypto market-making firms, industry sources say.
"I suspect everyone in a similar business benefits to varying degrees based on the exact strategy," Boonen said, adding: "We had a big February." Since the beginning of March, Boonen said the firm has raked in as much profit as it did in December. || Bitcoin’s implied volatility is surging, and it’s a cash grab for big traders: Implied volatility for bitcoin has been soaring – and it's a boon for some of the market's biggest traders.
One-month implied volatility for the digital asset has increased from 55% to 65% since Sunday at midnight, according to data provided bySkew. Implied volatility gauges a market's expectation for volatility in a given asset over the next month.
As traders brace for rocky markets ahead, bitcoin continues to see its price fall. During the last 24-hours, bitcoin has shed more than 4% and is currently trading above $7,700 per coin.
Elsewhere, U.S. equities are seeing further losses amid the growing coronavirus outbreak and mounting fears about its economic impact. Adding to the concerns: conversations between OPEC and Russia broke down over the weekend, a development which precipitated a 30% drop in the price of crude. At last check, Dow Jones Industrial Average was trading down more than 1,400 points this morning.
Indeed, the VIX index – which measures 30-day implied volatility – soared to 62 during this morning's session, which is close to where it stood during the financial crisis.
Still, some crypto traders are surprised that there isn't more panic in the market.
"It's a casual slide down," Darius Sit of crypto derivatives trader QCP told The Block. "Which is strange."
Max Boonen, co-founder of B2C2, said revised growth expectations would have more of an impact on equities relative to bitcoin, which might be playing into the more sanguine sentiment.
"Stocks are down big time because the growth expectations have been revised much lower," he said. "Bitcoin does not really depend on economic growth. It's not a stock with dividends."
Regardless of the asset class, an increase in volatility is a good thing for some traders and brokers who thrive during these kinds of market conditions. High-frequency traders like Virtu Financial make markets during these conditions and earn money on the spread between the price investors want to buy or sell a stock. When volatility increases, that spread widens and firms bring in more money.
Virtu is one of the few stocks in the green today, trading up 1.9% at time of writing.
The same logic goes for crypto market-making firms, industry sources say.
"I suspect everyone in a similar business benefits to varying degrees based on the exact strategy," Boonen said, adding: "We had a big February." Since the beginning of March, Boonen said the firm has raked in as much profit as it did in December. || Bitcoin, Bonds and Gold: Why Markets Are Upended in a Time of Fear: Noelle Acheson is a veteran of company analysis and CoinDesk’s director of research. The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own.
The following article originally appeared inInstitutional Crypto by CoinDesk, a weekly newsletter focused on institutional investment in crypto assets.Sign up for free here.
Anyone seen the movie “Parasite”? You know, the one about class mobility, creative solutions and scary basements.
Related:Bitcoin Back Over $8K as Traditional Markets Rebound
I thought of that film after readingJill Carlson’s op-eda couple of days ago – she looks at our collective surprise that bitcoin is not a safe haven, and in a gentle way asks “well what did you expect?” She highlights thatbitcoin(BTC) is too young to be considered a safe haven because its narrative is not yet formed. That doesn’t mean it won’t eventually get there, though.
What does this have to do with a South Korean Oscar winner? Well, in “Parasite” we spend the first hour thinking the film is about one thing but it turns out it’s not, it’s about something totally different.
The same thing is happening in cryptoland. Jill’s right: Bitcoin’s narrative isthekey driver of its price trends, and it will change over time. The story isn’t about what bitcoin “is” but about what it “will be.”
An even more interesting narrative shift, however, is unfolding elsewhere.
Related:Kraken Exchange Pledges India Expansion as Nation Reopens for Crypto Business
I’m talking about the rest of the market. Almost all of it, in fact. Narratives are shifting all over the place.
For instance, everyone knows you should have bonds in your portfolio because they offer income and stability. I mean, there’s no way rates could go negative, right?
This week the yield on 30-year and 10-year U.S. government debtdropped totheir lowest levels ever. The S&P 500now yields morethan Treasurys, calling into question the entire concept of “risk distribution.”
Even gold is behaving strangely. We hold it up as the ultimate example of a “safe haven” investment, and yet market structure shifts are calling that into question. Last week the gold pricedropped almost5 percent in one day, the largest daily fall in seven years, due to deleveraging pressure from derivative positions. And we tend to forget that gold fell almost 30 percent at the height of the 2008 market rout.
Gold’s role as a safe haven is entirely based on narratives: that shiny and yellow are desirable qualities (surely that’s subjective?), that supply is limited (we don’t know that for sure) and that heavy is good (you’ll have heard the derogatory expression “such a lightweight!”). These days, heavy – as in very difficult to pick up and take with you – is perhaps not the indicator of utility it once was.
Even though we can all agree gold’s metallic propertiesare impressive, its position as the world’s safe haven is no longer universally unassailable, and through no fault of its own. The narratives around it are changing, and the resumption of the gold price rally at the beginning of the week seems less based on conviction the metal will hold its value in times of trouble and more of a desperate realization there’s nothing out there that can yet take its place.
Now, why so many narrative shifts all of a sudden? Actually, narratives are always changing – but the pace of change is usually much slower than what we are witnessing today.
What we are witnessing is a breakdown of assumptions, in a time of fear. We’re worried about the economy, the banking system, the climate, living conditions, politics, education and the automatization of jobs. Add to that a growing feeling of vulnerability and concern about health and contagion.
In times of fear, we fall back on what we know, what we can be sure of. These days, that’s not much.
In his poignant 1944 paper called “The Social Psychology of Fear,” philosopher Kurt Riezler pointed out that “If we do not know the nature of a danger, we make an assumption. Without such an assumption, we cannot act.”
But what are assumptions if not conclusions based on narratives? We assumed interest rates would never go negative. We assumed house prices would never go down. We assumed profits were a good thing, and social media would liberate us.
So now, confronted by many dangers we are still struggling to understand, we are reaching for assumptions we no longer trust.
Bitcoin’s narrative is changing, as is to be expected for such a young and complex innovation. But so are the narratives that guide just about every other aspect of investing.
A few years from now, when the new narratives have settled into some semblance of normality, we’ll look back on this time and realize that the bigger story was in front of us all along.
• Crypto Needs a Rational Value Investing Model
• You Call That Volatility? Bitcoin Traders Scoff at Wall Street’s Gyrations || Bitcoin, Bonds and Gold: Why Markets Are Upended in a Time of Fear: Noelle Acheson is a veteran of company analysis and CoinDesk’s director of research. The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own.
The following article originally appeared inInstitutional Crypto by CoinDesk, a weekly newsletter focused on institutional investment in crypto assets.Sign up for free here.
Anyone seen the movie “Parasite”? You know, the one about class mobility, creative solutions and scary basements.
Related:Bitcoin Back Over $8K as Traditional Markets Rebound
I thought of that film after readingJill Carlson’s op-eda couple of days ago – she looks at our collective surprise that bitcoin is not a safe haven, and in a gentle way asks “well what did you expect?” She highlights thatbitcoin(BTC) is too young to be considered a safe haven because its narrative is not yet formed. That doesn’t mean it won’t eventually get there, though.
What does this have to do with a South Korean Oscar winner? Well, in “Parasite” we spend the first hour thinking the film is about one thing but it turns out it’s not, it’s about something totally different.
The same thing is happening in cryptoland. Jill’s right: Bitcoin’s narrative isthekey driver of its price trends, and it will change over time. The story isn’t about what bitcoin “is” but about what it “will be.”
An even more interesting narrative shift, however, is unfolding elsewhere.
Related:Kraken Exchange Pledges India Expansion as Nation Reopens for Crypto Business
I’m talking about the rest of the market. Almost all of it, in fact. Narratives are shifting all over the place.
For instance, everyone knows you should have bonds in your portfolio because they offer income and stability. I mean, there’s no way rates could go negative, right?
This week the yield on 30-year and 10-year U.S. government debtdropped totheir lowest levels ever. The S&P 500now yields morethan Treasurys, calling into question the entire concept of “risk distribution.”
Even gold is behaving strangely. We hold it up as the ultimate example of a “safe haven” investment, and yet market structure shifts are calling that into question. Last week the gold pricedropped almost5 percent in one day, the largest daily fall in seven years, due to deleveraging pressure from derivative positions. And we tend to forget that gold fell almost 30 percent at the height of the 2008 market rout.
Gold’s role as a safe haven is entirely based on narratives: that shiny and yellow are desirable qualities (surely that’s subjective?), that supply is limited (we don’t know that for sure) and that heavy is good (you’ll have heard the derogatory expression “such a lightweight!”). These days, heavy – as in very difficult to pick up and take with you – is perhaps not the indicator of utility it once was.
Even though we can all agree gold’s metallic propertiesare impressive, its position as the world’s safe haven is no longer universally unassailable, and through no fault of its own. The narratives around it are changing, and the resumption of the gold price rally at the beginning of the week seems less based on conviction the metal will hold its value in times of trouble and more of a desperate realization there’s nothing out there that can yet take its place.
Now, why so many narrative shifts all of a sudden? Actually, narratives are always changing – but the pace of change is usually much slower than what we are witnessing today.
What we are witnessing is a breakdown of assumptions, in a time of fear. We’re worried about the economy, the banking system, the climate, living conditions, politics, education and the automatization of jobs. Add to that a growing feeling of vulnerability and concern about health and contagion.
In times of fear, we fall back on what we know, what we can be sure of. These days, that’s not much.
In his poignant 1944 paper called “The Social Psychology of Fear,” philosopher Kurt Riezler pointed out that “If we do not know the nature of a danger, we make an assumption. Without such an assumption, we cannot act.”
But what are assumptions if not conclusions based on narratives? We assumed interest rates would never go negative. We assumed house prices would never go down. We assumed profits were a good thing, and social media would liberate us.
So now, confronted by many dangers we are still struggling to understand, we are reaching for assumptions we no longer trust.
Bitcoin’s narrative is changing, as is to be expected for such a young and complex innovation. But so are the narratives that guide just about every other aspect of investing.
A few years from now, when the new narratives have settled into some semblance of normality, we’ll look back on this time and realize that the bigger story was in front of us all along.
• Crypto Needs a Rational Value Investing Model
• You Call That Volatility? Bitcoin Traders Scoff at Wall Street’s Gyrations || Bitcoin, Bonds and Gold: Why Markets Are Upended in a Time of Fear: Noelle Acheson is a veteran of company analysis and CoinDesks director of research. The opinions expressed in this article are the authors own. The following article originally appeared in Institutional Crypto by CoinDesk , a weekly newsletter focused on institutional investment in crypto assets. Sign up for free here . Anyone seen the movie Parasite ? You know, the one about class mobility, creative solutions and scary basements. Related: Bitcoin Back Over $8K as Traditional Markets Rebound I thought of that film after reading Jill Carlsons op-ed a couple of days ago she looks at our collective surprise that bitcoin is not a safe haven, and in a gentle way asks well what did you expect? She highlights that bitcoin (BTC) is too young to be considered a safe haven because its narrative is not yet formed. That doesnt mean it wont eventually get there, though. What does this have to do with a South Korean Oscar winner? Well, in Parasite we spend the first hour thinking the film is about one thing but it turns out its not, its about something totally different. The same thing is happening in cryptoland. Jills right: Bitcoins narrative is the key driver of its price trends, and it will change over time. The story isnt about what bitcoin is but about what it will be. An even more interesting narrative shift, however, is unfolding elsewhere. Related: Kraken Exchange Pledges India Expansion as Nation Reopens for Crypto Business Im talking about the rest of the market. Almost all of it, in fact. Narratives are shifting all over the place. For instance, everyone knows you should have bonds in your portfolio because they offer income and stability. I mean, theres no way rates could go negative, right? This week the yield on 30-year and 10-year U.S. government debt dropped to their lowest levels ever. The S&P 500 now yields more than Treasurys, calling into question the entire concept of risk distribution. Even gold is behaving strangely. We hold it up as the ultimate example of a safe haven investment, and yet market structure shifts are calling that into question. Last week the gold price dropped almost 5 percent in one day, the largest daily fall in seven years, due to deleveraging pressure from derivative positions. And we tend to forget that gold fell almost 30 percent at the height of the 2008 market rout. Story continues Golds role as a safe haven is entirely based on narratives: that shiny and yellow are desirable qualities (surely thats subjective?), that supply is limited (we dont know that for sure) and that heavy is good (youll have heard the derogatory expression such a lightweight!). These days, heavy as in very difficult to pick up and take with you is perhaps not the indicator of utility it once was. Even though we can all agree golds metallic properties are impressive , its position as the worlds safe haven is no longer universally unassailable, and through no fault of its own. The narratives around it are changing, and the resumption of the gold price rally at the beginning of the week seems less based on conviction the metal will hold its value in times of trouble and more of a desperate realization theres nothing out there that can yet take its place. Now, why so many narrative shifts all of a sudden? Actually, narratives are always changing but the pace of change is usually much slower than what we are witnessing today. What we are witnessing is a breakdown of assumptions, in a time of fear. Were worried about the economy, the banking system, the climate, living conditions, politics, education and the automatization of jobs. Add to that a growing feeling of vulnerability and concern about health and contagion. In times of fear, we fall back on what we know, what we can be sure of. These days, thats not much. In his poignant 1944 paper called The Social Psychology of Fear , philosopher Kurt Riezler pointed out that If we do not know the nature of a danger, we make an assumption. Without such an assumption, we cannot act. But what are assumptions if not conclusions based on narratives? We assumed interest rates would never go negative. We assumed house prices would never go down. We assumed profits were a good thing, and social media would liberate us. So now, confronted by many dangers we are still struggling to understand, we are reaching for assumptions we no longer trust. Bitcoins narrative is changing, as is to be expected for such a young and complex innovation. But so are the narratives that guide just about every other aspect of investing. A few years from now, when the new narratives have settled into some semblance of normality, well look back on this time and realize that the bigger story was in front of us all along. Related Stories Crypto Needs a Rational Value Investing Model You Call That Volatility? Bitcoin Traders Scoff at Wall Streets Gyrations
[Social Media Buzz]
None available.
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7911.43, 4970.79, 5563.71, 5200.37, 5392.31, 5014.48, 5225.63, 5238.44, 6191.19, 6198.78
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 4578.77, 4582.96, 4236.31, 4376.53, 4597.12, 4599.88, 4228.75, 4226.06, 4122.94, 4161.27, 4130.81, 3882.59, 3154.95, 3637.52, 3625.04, 3582.88, 4065.20, 3924.97, 3905.95, 3631.04, 3630.70, 3792.40, 3682.84, 3926.07, 3892.35, 4200.67, 4174.73, 4163.07, 4338.71, 4403.74, 4409.32, 4317.48, 4229.36, 4328.41, 4370.81, 4426.89, 4610.48, 4772.02, 4781.99, 4826.48, 5446.91, 5647.21, 5831.79, 5678.19, 5725.59, 5605.51, 5590.69, 5708.52, 6011.45, 6031.60, 6008.42, 5930.32, 5526.64, 5750.80, 5904.83, 5780.90, 5753.09, 6153.85, 6130.53, 6468.40, 6767.31, 7078.50, 7207.76, 7379.95, 7407.41, 7022.76, 7144.38, 7459.69, 7143.58, 6618.14, 6357.60, 5950.07, 6559.49, 6635.75, 7315.54, 7871.69, 7708.99, 7790.15, 8036.49, 8200.64, 8071.26, 8253.55, 8038.77, 8253.69, 8790.92, 9330.55, 9818.35, 10058.80, 9888.61, 10233.60.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2017-11-30]
Volume: 8310689792, RSI (14-day): 77.80, 50-day EMA: 7226.34, 200-day EMA: 4651.17
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1273.20, Gold RSI: 45.42
Oil Price: 57.40, Oil RSI: 60.13
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Did the Bitcoin Bubble Burst on Wednesday?: A growing number of investors and financiers have begun to warn about the possibility thatbitcoin has entered bubble territory. As a result, when the price of bitcoin fell abruptly on Wednesday, it would have been tempting to conclude that they were right.
Bitcoin opened the day at $9,908. It then spent the morning climbing higher before topping out at $11,377. However, over the next few hours, it plummeted, dropping to $9,290, an 18% fall. By the end of the day, the cryptocurrency had recovered to $10,230.
Data source: Coindesk.com.
Given the late recovery in bitcoin, it can't be said that the bubble burst today. After all, it eclipsed the $10,000 threshold for the first time ever. Yet, it would be a mistake to ignore what happened in intraday trading. What today showed is that bitcoin's price can drop just as quickly as it can surge.
Talk to anyone in the tech industry and they'll rave about the technology underlying bitcoin, which is not only important but valuable. I'm referring to blockchain, a so-called distributed ledger.
By leveraging blockchain, bitcoin users can cut out the middleman when making a payment. If you want to transfer bitcoin to me, you don't need a bank or payments processor to do it; you can just transfer it directly to me by way of blockchain, which will record the transaction.
Image source: Getty Images.
Takethis explanationfrom Marc Andreessen, co-founder of venture capital fund Andreessen Horowitz:
Bitcoin gives us, for the first time, a way for one Internet user to transfer a unique piece of digital property to another Internet user, such that the transfer is guaranteed to be safe and secure, everyone knows that the transfer has taken place, and nobody can challenge the legitimacy of the transfer. The consequences of this breakthrough are hard to overstate.
Despite these benefits, it's important to appreciate that just because Silicon Valley is enamored with the technology underlying bitcoinÂdoesn't mean that bitcoin itself is a prudent investment. This is especially true at bitcoin's price today, which has climbed more than tenfold since the beginning of the year.
Just looking at a chart of bitcoin makes it hard to deny that the cryptocurrency has entered bubble territory. Few assets that I'm aware of can climb so far so fast without an underlying catalyst that boosts the valuation of the underlying asset.
Data source: Coindesk.com. Chart by author.
The implication is that speculators are influencing the price of bitcoin right now, not bona fide users of the currency. And in a speculative market, what goes up can just as quickly fall back down.
One thing that could ring the death knell for bitcoin, in fact, is one of its major features. Namely, because there doesn't need to be an intermediary such as a bank or payments company in a bitcoin exchange, it offers a convenient avenue to launder money, which has become virtually impossible to do through a bank.
"Bitcoin is successful only because of its potential for circumvention, lack of oversight," said Joseph Stigliz, an economics professor at Columbia University and former winner of the Nobel Prize in economics. "So it seems to me it ought to be outlawed."
Warren Buffett has echoed similar concerns: "It doesn't make sense. This thing is not regulated. It's not under control. It's not under the supervision [of] any... United States Federal Reserve or any other central bank. I don't believe in this whole thing at all. I think it's going to implode."
Stiglitz agrees: "It's a bubble that's going to give a lot of people a lot of exciting times as it rides up and then goes down. ... If the government says 'the reason bitcoin is being used is circumvention,' they could close it down at any moment. And then it collapses."
So, in conclusion, no, the intraday drop in bitcoin's price on Wednesday does not mean that the bitcoin bubble has burst. But it does provide a prelude of what an actual collapse might look like.
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• 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018
• 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing
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The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Did the Bitcoin Bubble Burst on Wednesday?: A growing number of investors and financiers have begun to warn about the possibility thatbitcoin has entered bubble territory. As a result, when the price of bitcoin fell abruptly on Wednesday, it would have been tempting to conclude that they were right.
Bitcoin opened the day at $9,908. It then spent the morning climbing higher before topping out at $11,377. However, over the next few hours, it plummeted, dropping to $9,290, an 18% fall. By the end of the day, the cryptocurrency had recovered to $10,230.
Data source: Coindesk.com.
Given the late recovery in bitcoin, it can't be said that the bubble burst today. After all, it eclipsed the $10,000 threshold for the first time ever. Yet, it would be a mistake to ignore what happened in intraday trading. What today showed is that bitcoin's price can drop just as quickly as it can surge.
Talk to anyone in the tech industry and they'll rave about the technology underlying bitcoin, which is not only important but valuable. I'm referring to blockchain, a so-called distributed ledger.
By leveraging blockchain, bitcoin users can cut out the middleman when making a payment. If you want to transfer bitcoin to me, you don't need a bank or payments processor to do it; you can just transfer it directly to me by way of blockchain, which will record the transaction.
Image source: Getty Images.
Takethis explanationfrom Marc Andreessen, co-founder of venture capital fund Andreessen Horowitz:
Bitcoin gives us, for the first time, a way for one Internet user to transfer a unique piece of digital property to another Internet user, such that the transfer is guaranteed to be safe and secure, everyone knows that the transfer has taken place, and nobody can challenge the legitimacy of the transfer. The consequences of this breakthrough are hard to overstate.
Despite these benefits, it's important to appreciate that just because Silicon Valley is enamored with the technology underlying bitcoinÂdoesn't mean that bitcoin itself is a prudent investment. This is especially true at bitcoin's price today, which has climbed more than tenfold since the beginning of the year.
Just looking at a chart of bitcoin makes it hard to deny that the cryptocurrency has entered bubble territory. Few assets that I'm aware of can climb so far so fast without an underlying catalyst that boosts the valuation of the underlying asset.
Data source: Coindesk.com. Chart by author.
The implication is that speculators are influencing the price of bitcoin right now, not bona fide users of the currency. And in a speculative market, what goes up can just as quickly fall back down.
One thing that could ring the death knell for bitcoin, in fact, is one of its major features. Namely, because there doesn't need to be an intermediary such as a bank or payments company in a bitcoin exchange, it offers a convenient avenue to launder money, which has become virtually impossible to do through a bank.
"Bitcoin is successful only because of its potential for circumvention, lack of oversight," said Joseph Stigliz, an economics professor at Columbia University and former winner of the Nobel Prize in economics. "So it seems to me it ought to be outlawed."
Warren Buffett has echoed similar concerns: "It doesn't make sense. This thing is not regulated. It's not under control. It's not under the supervision [of] any... United States Federal Reserve or any other central bank. I don't believe in this whole thing at all. I think it's going to implode."
Stiglitz agrees: "It's a bubble that's going to give a lot of people a lot of exciting times as it rides up and then goes down. ... If the government says 'the reason bitcoin is being used is circumvention,' they could close it down at any moment. And then it collapses."
So, in conclusion, no, the intraday drop in bitcoin's price on Wednesday does not mean that the bitcoin bubble has burst. But it does provide a prelude of what an actual collapse might look like.
More From The Motley Fool
• 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices
• 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018
• 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing
• 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today
• The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss
• Why You're Smart to Buy Shopify Inc. (US) -- Despite Citron's Report
The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Did the Bitcoin Bubble Burst on Wednesday?: A growing number of investors and financiers have begun to warn about the possibility that bitcoin has entered bubble territory . As a result, when the price of bitcoin fell abruptly on Wednesday, it would have been tempting to conclude that they were right. Bitcoin opened the day at $9,908. It then spent the morning climbing higher before topping out at $11,377. However, over the next few hours, it plummeted, dropping to $9,290, an 18% fall. By the end of the day, the cryptocurrency had recovered to $10,230. An intraday chart of bitcoin prices. Data source: Coindesk.com. Given the late recovery in bitcoin, it can't be said that the bubble burst today. After all, it eclipsed the $10,000 threshold for the first time ever. Yet, it would be a mistake to ignore what happened in intraday trading. What today showed is that bitcoin's price can drop just as quickly as it can surge. The allure of bitcoin Talk to anyone in the tech industry and they'll rave about the technology underlying bitcoin, which is not only important but valuable. I'm referring to blockchain, a so-called distributed ledger. By leveraging blockchain, bitcoin users can cut out the middleman when making a payment. If you want to transfer bitcoin to me, you don't need a bank or payments processor to do it; you can just transfer it directly to me by way of blockchain, which will record the transaction. A bitcoin sitting on top of a computer board. Image source: Getty Images. Take this explanation from Marc Andreessen, co-founder of venture capital fund Andreessen Horowitz: Bitcoin gives us, for the first time, a way for one Internet user to transfer a unique piece of digital property to another Internet user, such that the transfer is guaranteed to be safe and secure, everyone knows that the transfer has taken place, and nobody can challenge the legitimacy of the transfer. The consequences of this breakthrough are hard to overstate. What kinds of digital property might be transferred in this way? Think about digital signatures, digital contracts, digital keys (to physical locks, or to online lockers), digital ownership of physical assets such as cars and houses, digital stocks and bonds ... and digital money. All these are exchanged through a distributed network of trust that does not require or rely upon a central intermediary like a bank or broker. And all in a way where only the owner of an asset can send it, only the intended recipient can receive it, the asset can only exist in one place at a time, and everyone can validate transactions and ownership of all assets anytime they want. Story continues But is bitcoin a good investment? Despite these benefits, it's important to appreciate that just because Silicon Valley is enamored with the technology underlying bitcoin doesn't mean that bitcoin itself is a prudent investment . This is especially true at bitcoin's price today, which has climbed more than tenfold since the beginning of the year. Just looking at a chart of bitcoin makes it hard to deny that the cryptocurrency has entered bubble territory. Few assets that I'm aware of can climb so far so fast without an underlying catalyst that boosts the valuation of the underlying asset. Chart of bitcoin's price since 2009. Data source: Coindesk.com. Chart by author. The implication is that speculators are influencing the price of bitcoin right now, not bona fide users of the currency. And in a speculative market, what goes up can just as quickly fall back down. One thing that could ring the death knell for bitcoin, in fact, is one of its major features. Namely, because there doesn't need to be an intermediary such as a bank or payments company in a bitcoin exchange, it offers a convenient avenue to launder money, which has become virtually impossible to do through a bank. "Bitcoin is successful only because of its potential for circumvention, lack of oversight," said Joseph Stigliz, an economics professor at Columbia University and former winner of the Nobel Prize in economics. "So it seems to me it ought to be outlawed." Warren Buffett has echoed similar concerns: "It doesn't make sense. This thing is not regulated. It's not under control. It's not under the supervision [of] any... United States Federal Reserve or any other central bank. I don't believe in this whole thing at all. I think it's going to implode." Stiglitz agrees: "It's a bubble that's going to give a lot of people a lot of exciting times as it rides up and then goes down. ... If the government says 'the reason bitcoin is being used is circumvention,' they could close it down at any moment. And then it collapses." So, in conclusion, no, the intraday drop in bitcoin's price on Wednesday does not mean that the bitcoin bubble has burst. But it does provide a prelude of what an actual collapse might look like. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Why You're Smart to Buy Shopify Inc. (US) -- Despite Citron's Report The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Sterling rises on Brexit bets; stocks dip, oil falls: By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A tech-sector selloff weighed on Wall Street and on stocks globally on Wednesday, while the British pound touched a two-month high versus the U.S. dollar as Britain and the European Union moved closer to a Brexit deal.
Traders bailed out of technology shares and bought bank stocks, that rose sharply a day after the nominee to head the Federal Reserve said some regulations could be scaled back, while he acknowledged interest rates could gradually continue to rise.
"We are certainly seeing a change in leadership at least for today in that we are taking profits from technology and redistributing those profits to areas that will benefit from lower taxes, less regulation, higher interest rates and kind of later stages of the economic cycle," said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors in Boston.
The U.S. Senate could vote on a tax overhaul plan as early as Thursday. The Republican plan, expected to cut many corporations' taxes, is seen by some analysts as a boon for U.S. stocks.
Despite the day's 2.6 percent selloff, the S&P 500 tech sector is up over 35 percent in 2017, by far the best performing of the 11 S&P industry sectors.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 103.97 points, or 0.44 percent, to 23,940.68, the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 0.97 points, or 0.04 percent, to 2,626.07 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) dropped 87.97 points, or 1.27 percent, to 6,824.39.
Emerging market stocks lost 0.45 percent.
Traders in Asian stocks were cautious over the latest missile test by North Korea and concerns at recent softness in Chinese shares.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japanclosed 0.25 percent lower.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index (.FTEU3) rose 0.25 percent and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globeshed 0.07 percent after touching a record intraday high.
Britain's FTSE fell, lagging a broad-based rebound in European shares as the stronger sterling hurt the internationally-exposed companies in the index.
Sterling (GBP=) was last trading at $1.3411, up 0.56 percent on the day.
Even as the British currency hit a two-month high some investors were wary of rushing in to buy the pound until more details emerged from a EU summit on Dec 14-15.
"There is a lot of water that has to flow under this particular bridge before we see investors becoming optimistic about the pound in their portfolios," said Jeremy Stretch, head of G10 FX strategy at CIBC Capital Markets.
The dollar index (.DXY) fell 0.02 percent, with the euro (EUR=) up 0.09 percent to $1.185.
The Japanese yen weakened 0.39 percent versus the greenback at 111.92 per dollar.
Bitcoin rose over $11,000 to hit a record high for the sixth day in a row after gaining more than $1,000 in just 12 hours, stoking concerns that a rapidly swelling bubble could be set to burst.
The cryptocurrency had a session high of $11,395 and a low of $9,250 and was last at $9,781.09.
Oil futures' prices fell in a volatile session on conflicting statements from oil ministers a day ahead of OPEC's meeting in Vienna, as members debate the path for an extension of the group's agreement to cap supplies.
U.S. crude (CLc1) fell 0.93 percent to $57.45 per barrel and Brent (LCOc1) was last at $63.40, down 0.33 percent on the day.
Benchmark U.S. 10-year noteslast fell 14/32 in price to yield 2.3846 percent, from 2.337 percent late on Tuesday.
The 30-year bondlast fell 38/32 in price to yield 2.8237 percent, from 2.765 percent late on Tuesday.
Spot gold (XAU=) dropped 0.8 percent to $1,283.95 an ounce. U.S. gold futures (GCcv1) fell 0.89 percent to $1,283.40 an ounce.
Copper (CMCU3) lost 0.75 percent to $6,754.00 a tonne.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos, additional reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed, Lewis Krauskopf and David Gaffen; Editing by Andrew Hay and Nick Zieminski) || Sterling rises on Brexit bets; stocks dip, oil falls: By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A tech-sector selloff weighed on Wall Street and on stocks globally on Wednesday, while the British pound touched a two-month high versus the U.S. dollar as Britain and the European Union moved closer to a Brexit deal.
Traders bailed out of technology shares and bought bank stocks, that rose sharply a day after the nominee to head the Federal Reserve said some regulations could be scaled back, while he acknowledged interest rates could gradually continue to rise.
"We are certainly seeing a change in leadership at least for today in that we are taking profits from technology and redistributing those profits to areas that will benefit from lower taxes, less regulation, higher interest rates and kind of later stages of the economic cycle," said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors in Boston.
The U.S. Senate could vote on a tax overhaul plan as early as Thursday. The Republican plan, expected to cut many corporations' taxes, is seen by some analysts as a boon for U.S. stocks.
Despite the day's 2.6 percent selloff, the S&P 500 tech sector is up over 35 percent in 2017, by far the best performing of the 11 S&P industry sectors.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> rose 103.97 points, or 0.44 percent, to 23,940.68, the S&P 500 <.SPX> lost 0.97 points, or 0.04 percent, to 2,626.07 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> dropped 87.97 points, or 1.27 percent, to 6,824.39.
Emerging market stocks lost 0.45 percent.
Traders in Asian stocks were cautious over the latest missile test by North Korea and concerns at recent softness in Chinese shares.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> closed 0.25 percent lower.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index <.FTEU3> rose 0.25 percent and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe <.MIWD00000PUS> shed 0.07 percent after touching a record intraday high.
Britain's FTSE fell, lagging a broad-based rebound in European shares as the stronger sterling hurt the internationally-exposed companies in the index.
Sterling <GBP=> was last trading at $1.3411, up 0.56 percent on the day.
Even as the British currency hit a two-month high some investors were wary of rushing in to buy the pound until more details emerged from a EU summit on Dec 14-15.
"There is a lot of water that has to flow under this particular bridge before we see investors becoming optimistic about the pound in their portfolios," said Jeremy Stretch, head of G10 FX strategy at CIBC Capital Markets.
The dollar index <.DXY> fell 0.02 percent, with the euro <EUR=> up 0.09 percent to $1.185.
The Japanese yen weakened 0.39 percent versus the greenback at 111.92 per dollar.
Bitcoin rose over $11,000 to hit a record high for the sixth day in a row after gaining more than $1,000 in just 12 hours, stoking concerns that a rapidly swelling bubble could be set to burst.
The cryptocurrency had a session high of $11,395 and a low of $9,250 and was last at $9,781.09.
Oil futures' prices fell in a volatile session on conflicting statements from oil ministers a day ahead of OPEC's meeting in Vienna, as members debate the path for an extension of the group's agreement to cap supplies.
U.S. crude <CLc1> fell 0.93 percent to $57.45 per barrel and Brent <LCOc1> was last at $63.40, down 0.33 percent on the day.
Benchmark U.S. 10-year notes <US10YT=RR> last fell 14/32 in price to yield 2.3846 percent, from 2.337 percent late on Tuesday.
The 30-year bond <US30YT=RR> last fell 38/32 in price to yield 2.8237 percent, from 2.765 percent late on Tuesday.
Spot gold <XAU=> dropped 0.8 percent to $1,283.95 an ounce. U.S. gold futures <GCcv1> fell 0.89 percent to $1,283.40 an ounce.
Copper <CMCU3> lost 0.75 percent to $6,754.00 a tonne.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos, additional reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed, Lewis Krauskopf and David Gaffen; Editing by Andrew Hay and Nick Zieminski) || Sterling rises on Brexit bets; stocks dip, oil falls: By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK (Reuters) - A tech-sector selloff weighed on Wall Street and on stocks globally on Wednesday, while the British pound touched a two-month high versus the U.S. dollar as Britain and the European Union moved closer to a Brexit deal. Traders bailed out of technology shares and bought bank stocks, that rose sharply a day after the nominee to head the Federal Reserve said some regulations could be scaled back, while he acknowledged interest rates could gradually continue to rise. "We are certainly seeing a change in leadership at least for today in that we are taking profits from technology and redistributing those profits to areas that will benefit from lower taxes, less regulation, higher interest rates and kind of later stages of the economic cycle," said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors in Boston. The U.S. Senate could vote on a tax overhaul plan as early as Thursday. The Republican plan, expected to cut many corporations' taxes, is seen by some analysts as a boon for U.S. stocks. Despite the day's 2.6 percent selloff, the S&P 500 tech sector is up over 35 percent in 2017, by far the best performing of the 11 S&P industry sectors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> rose 103.97 points, or 0.44 percent, to 23,940.68, the S&P 500 <.SPX> lost 0.97 points, or 0.04 percent, to 2,626.07 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> dropped 87.97 points, or 1.27 percent, to 6,824.39. Emerging market stocks lost 0.45 percent. Traders in Asian stocks were cautious over the latest missile test by North Korea and concerns at recent softness in Chinese shares. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> closed 0.25 percent lower. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index <.FTEU3> rose 0.25 percent and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe <.MIWD00000PUS> shed 0.07 percent after touching a record intraday high. Story continues Britain's FTSE fell, lagging a broad-based rebound in European shares as the stronger sterling hurt the internationally-exposed companies in the index. Sterling <GBP=> was last trading at $1.3411, up 0.56 percent on the day. Even as the British currency hit a two-month high some investors were wary of rushing in to buy the pound until more details emerged from a EU summit on Dec 14-15. "There is a lot of water that has to flow under this particular bridge before we see investors becoming optimistic about the pound in their portfolios," said Jeremy Stretch, head of G10 FX strategy at CIBC Capital Markets. The dollar index <.DXY> fell 0.02 percent, with the euro <EUR=> up 0.09 percent to $1.185. The Japanese yen weakened 0.39 percent versus the greenback at 111.92 per dollar. Bitcoin rose over $11,000 to hit a record high for the sixth day in a row after gaining more than $1,000 in just 12 hours, stoking concerns that a rapidly swelling bubble could be set to burst. The cryptocurrency had a session high of $11,395 and a low of $9,250 and was last at $9,781.09. Oil futures' prices fell in a volatile session on conflicting statements from oil ministers a day ahead of OPEC's meeting in Vienna, as members debate the path for an extension of the group's agreement to cap supplies. U.S. crude <CLc1> fell 0.93 percent to $57.45 per barrel and Brent <LCOc1> was last at $63.40, down 0.33 percent on the day. Benchmark U.S. 10-year notes <US10YT=RR> last fell 14/32 in price to yield 2.3846 percent, from 2.337 percent late on Tuesday. The 30-year bond <US30YT=RR> last fell 38/32 in price to yield 2.8237 percent, from 2.765 percent late on Tuesday. Spot gold <XAU=> dropped 0.8 percent to $1,283.95 an ounce. U.S. gold futures <GCcv1> fell 0.89 percent to $1,283.40 an ounce. Copper <CMCU3> lost 0.75 percent to $6,754.00 a tonne. (Reporting by Rodrigo Campos, additional reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed, Lewis Krauskopf and David Gaffen; Editing by Andrew Hay and Nick Zieminski) || Sterling rises on Brexit bets; stocks dip, oil falls: By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK (Reuters) - A tech-sector selloff weighed on Wall Street and on stocks globally on Wednesday, while the British pound touched a two-month high versus the U.S. dollar as Britain and the European Union moved closer to a Brexit deal. Traders bailed out of technology shares and bought bank stocks, that rose sharply a day after the nominee to head the Federal Reserve said some regulations could be scaled back, while he acknowledged interest rates could gradually continue to rise. "We are certainly seeing a change in leadership at least for today in that we are taking profits from technology and redistributing those profits to areas that will benefit from lower taxes, less regulation, higher interest rates and kind of later stages of the economic cycle," said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors in Boston. The U.S. Senate could vote on a tax overhaul plan as early as Thursday. The Republican plan, expected to cut many corporations' taxes, is seen by some analysts as a boon for U.S. stocks. Despite the day's 2.6 percent selloff, the S&P 500 tech sector is up over 35 percent in 2017, by far the best performing of the 11 S&P industry sectors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 103.97 points, or 0.44 percent, to 23,940.68, the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 0.97 points, or 0.04 percent, to 2,626.07 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) dropped 87.97 points, or 1.27 percent, to 6,824.39. Emerging market stocks lost 0.45 percent. Traders in Asian stocks were cautious over the latest missile test by North Korea and concerns at recent softness in Chinese shares. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.25 percent lower. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index (.FTEU3) rose 0.25 percent and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.07 percent after touching a record intraday high. Britain's FTSE fell, lagging a broad-based rebound in European shares as the stronger sterling hurt the internationally-exposed companies in the index. Story continues Sterling (GBP=) was last trading at $1.3411, up 0.56 percent on the day. Even as the British currency hit a two-month high some investors were wary of rushing in to buy the pound until more details emerged from a EU summit on Dec 14-15. "There is a lot of water that has to flow under this particular bridge before we see investors becoming optimistic about the pound in their portfolios," said Jeremy Stretch, head of G10 FX strategy at CIBC Capital Markets. The dollar index (.DXY) fell 0.02 percent, with the euro (EUR=) up 0.09 percent to $1.185. The Japanese yen weakened 0.39 percent versus the greenback at 111.92 per dollar. Bitcoin rose over $11,000 to hit a record high for the sixth day in a row after gaining more than $1,000 in just 12 hours, stoking concerns that a rapidly swelling bubble could be set to burst. The cryptocurrency had a session high of $11,395 and a low of $9,250 and was last at $9,781.09. Oil futures' prices fell in a volatile session on conflicting statements from oil ministers a day ahead of OPEC's meeting in Vienna, as members debate the path for an extension of the group's agreement to cap supplies. U.S. crude (CLc1) fell 0.93 percent to $57.45 per barrel and Brent (LCOc1) was last at $63.40, down 0.33 percent on the day. Benchmark U.S. 10-year notes last fell 14/32 in price to yield 2.3846 percent, from 2.337 percent late on Tuesday. The 30-year bond last fell 38/32 in price to yield 2.8237 percent, from 2.765 percent late on Tuesday. Spot gold (XAU=) dropped 0.8 percent to $1,283.95 an ounce. U.S. gold futures (GCcv1) fell 0.89 percent to $1,283.40 an ounce. Copper (CMCU3) lost 0.75 percent to $6,754.00 a tonne. (Reporting by Rodrigo Campos, additional reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed, Lewis Krauskopf and David Gaffen; Editing by Andrew Hay and Nick Zieminski) || Sterling rises on Brexit bets; stocks dip, oil falls: By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK (Reuters) - A tech-sector selloff weighed on Wall Street and on stocks globally on Wednesday, while the British pound touched a two-month high versus the U.S. dollar as Britain and the European Union moved closer to a Brexit deal. Traders bailed out of technology shares and bought bank stocks, that rose sharply a day after the nominee to head the Federal Reserve said some regulations could be scaled back, while he acknowledged interest rates could gradually continue to rise. "We are certainly seeing a change in leadership at least for today in that we are taking profits from technology and redistributing those profits to areas that will benefit from lower taxes, less regulation, higher interest rates and kind of later stages of the economic cycle," said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors in Boston. The U.S. Senate could vote on a tax overhaul plan as early as Thursday. The Republican plan, expected to cut many corporations' taxes, is seen by some analysts as a boon for U.S. stocks. Despite the day's 2.6 percent selloff, the S&P 500 tech sector is up over 35 percent in 2017, by far the best performing of the 11 S&P industry sectors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 103.97 points, or 0.44 percent, to 23,940.68, the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 0.97 points, or 0.04 percent, to 2,626.07 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) dropped 87.97 points, or 1.27 percent, to 6,824.39. Emerging market stocks lost 0.45 percent. Traders in Asian stocks were cautious over the latest missile test by North Korea and concerns at recent softness in Chinese shares. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.25 percent lower. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index (.FTEU3) rose 0.25 percent and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.07 percent after touching a record intraday high. Britain's FTSE fell, lagging a broad-based rebound in European shares as the stronger sterling hurt the internationally-exposed companies in the index. Story continues Sterling (GBP=) was last trading at $1.3411, up 0.56 percent on the day. Even as the British currency hit a two-month high some investors were wary of rushing in to buy the pound until more details emerged from a EU summit on Dec 14-15. "There is a lot of water that has to flow under this particular bridge before we see investors becoming optimistic about the pound in their portfolios," said Jeremy Stretch, head of G10 FX strategy at CIBC Capital Markets. The dollar index (.DXY) fell 0.02 percent, with the euro (EUR=) up 0.09 percent to $1.185. The Japanese yen weakened 0.39 percent versus the greenback at 111.92 per dollar. Bitcoin rose over $11,000 to hit a record high for the sixth day in a row after gaining more than $1,000 in just 12 hours, stoking concerns that a rapidly swelling bubble could be set to burst. The cryptocurrency had a session high of $11,395 and a low of $9,250 and was last at $9,781.09. Oil futures' prices fell in a volatile session on conflicting statements from oil ministers a day ahead of OPEC's meeting in Vienna, as members debate the path for an extension of the group's agreement to cap supplies. U.S. crude (CLc1) fell 0.93 percent to $57.45 per barrel and Brent (LCOc1) was last at $63.40, down 0.33 percent on the day. Benchmark U.S. 10-year notes last fell 14/32 in price to yield 2.3846 percent, from 2.337 percent late on Tuesday. The 30-year bond last fell 38/32 in price to yield 2.8237 percent, from 2.765 percent late on Tuesday. Spot gold (XAU=) dropped 0.8 percent to $1,283.95 an ounce. U.S. gold futures (GCcv1) fell 0.89 percent to $1,283.40 an ounce. Copper (CMCU3) lost 0.75 percent to $6,754.00 a tonne. (Reporting by Rodrigo Campos, additional reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed, Lewis Krauskopf and David Gaffen; Editing by Andrew Hay and Nick Zieminski) || Sterling rises on Brexit bets; stocks dip, oil falls: By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK (Reuters) - A tech-sector selloff weighed on Wall Street and on stocks globally on Wednesday, while the British pound touched a two-month high versus the U.S. dollar as Britain and the European Union moved closer to a Brexit deal. Traders bailed out of technology shares and bought bank stocks, that rose sharply a day after the nominee to head the Federal Reserve said some regulations could be scaled back, while he acknowledged interest rates could gradually continue to rise. "We are certainly seeing a change in leadership at least for today in that we are taking profits from technology and redistributing those profits to areas that will benefit from lower taxes, less regulation, higher interest rates and kind of later stages of the economic cycle," said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors in Boston. The U.S. Senate could vote on a tax overhaul plan as early as Thursday. The Republican plan, expected to cut many corporations' taxes, is seen by some analysts as a boon for U.S. stocks. Despite the day's 2.6 percent selloff, the S&P 500 tech sector is up over 35 percent in 2017, by far the best performing of the 11 S&P industry sectors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 103.97 points, or 0.44 percent, to 23,940.68, the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 0.97 points, or 0.04 percent, to 2,626.07 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) dropped 87.97 points, or 1.27 percent, to 6,824.39. Emerging market stocks lost 0.45 percent. Traders in Asian stocks were cautious over the latest missile test by North Korea and concerns at recent softness in Chinese shares. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.25 percent lower. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index (.FTEU3) rose 0.25 percent and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.07 percent after touching a record intraday high. Britain's FTSE fell, lagging a broad-based rebound in European shares as the stronger sterling hurt the internationally-exposed companies in the index. Story continues Sterling (GBP=) was last trading at $1.3411, up 0.56 percent on the day. Even as the British currency hit a two-month high some investors were wary of rushing in to buy the pound until more details emerged from a EU summit on Dec 14-15. "There is a lot of water that has to flow under this particular bridge before we see investors becoming optimistic about the pound in their portfolios," said Jeremy Stretch, head of G10 FX strategy at CIBC Capital Markets. The dollar index (.DXY) fell 0.02 percent, with the euro (EUR=) up 0.09 percent to $1.185. The Japanese yen weakened 0.39 percent versus the greenback at 111.92 per dollar. Bitcoin rose over $11,000 to hit a record high for the sixth day in a row after gaining more than $1,000 in just 12 hours, stoking concerns that a rapidly swelling bubble could be set to burst. The cryptocurrency had a session high of $11,395 and a low of $9,250 and was last at $9,781.09. Oil futures' prices fell in a volatile session on conflicting statements from oil ministers a day ahead of OPEC's meeting in Vienna, as members debate the path for an extension of the group's agreement to cap supplies. U.S. crude (CLc1) fell 0.93 percent to $57.45 per barrel and Brent (LCOc1) was last at $63.40, down 0.33 percent on the day. Benchmark U.S. 10-year notes last fell 14/32 in price to yield 2.3846 percent, from 2.337 percent late on Tuesday. The 30-year bond last fell 38/32 in price to yield 2.8237 percent, from 2.765 percent late on Tuesday. Spot gold (XAU=) dropped 0.8 percent to $1,283.95 an ounce. U.S. gold futures (GCcv1) fell 0.89 percent to $1,283.40 an ounce. Copper (CMCU3) lost 0.75 percent to $6,754.00 a tonne. (Reporting by Rodrigo Campos, additional reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed, Lewis Krauskopf and David Gaffen; Editing by Andrew Hay and Nick Zieminski) || Bitcoin Just Lost a Ton of Value, But Does That Mean the Bubble Burst?: Nothing lasts forever, but normally things last for more than a few hours. Bitcoin wasnt so lucky, as after the cryptocurrency surged to more than $11,000, its value tumbled Wednesday. At its lowest, the blockchain -based cryptocurrency plummeted to around $9,000, meaning nearly a fifth of its value had suddenly vanished. But is this a sign of the bitcoin bubble bursting or just a temporary blip? While skeptics of the cryptocurrency were quick to post bubble-bursting memes on social media, the bitcoin diehards on its dedicated subreddit remained generally calm, even blase in the face of this sudden drop. User Exotemporal attributed any panic to a lack of memory. They dont remember the past because they werent there to witness the previous dips, the redditor wrote. I can see why someone would think that a 20 percent drop that happens within minutes is scary as hell. Theyll learn that these dips that arent accompanied by bad news are just transfers of money from the weakest to the strongest hands. Dips are a regular occurrence and an opportunity for newcomers to buy discounted bitcoins. The lack of any specific event precipitating this drop is a crucial point. Outside of a few hiccups with the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbases servers , nothing notable has gone wrong with bitcoin to cause this sudden downward spike. That doesnt guarantee a rebound, but it also implies theres no particular reason to expect the decline to continue. Lets get some context on the numbers. At the start of 2017, the price of bitcoin was below $1,000, and the cryptocurrency has proceeded to smash through every big, round, symbolic milestone between that and $10,000 at ever increasing speeds. It wasnt until September 2 that bitcoin reached $5,000 for the first time, for instance, and it was just three months later that it doubled that price by reaching $10,000. A bitcoin conference in 2014, when the cryptocurrency's value was a mere fraction of what it is now, before or after the price drop. Even that undersells just how fast the value of bitcoin has been climbing, though. It was only about a week ago that bitcoins record high was $8,000 or, you know, a full thousand dollars less than the cryptocurrencys value at its lowest point Wednesday. Everything is relative with bitcoin, and the new normal resets faster than is easy to comprehend. I bought in at $8,250 and it stayed constant till the 9-11k big push, wrote user Leathermanhelppls. I was worried for a couple days that I bought at the all time high and Id lose out
.now the real fun begins! This is the exhilaration whiplash that I was promised. Going to [hold] for all its worth! Story continues The currencys value has already started to rebound somewhat. The price changes with every refresh, but its price was up as high as around $9,800 during the writing of this story, though it has since dropped to around $9,650. As for why this happened, all anyone can do is speculate, with Exotemporal again chiming in. I think that someone sold a large amount of bitcoins, the price dropped slightly, newcomers start panicking, automatic sell orders kicked in, some exchanges went down, the panic got insane, then everyone realized that they were being silly, they wrote. Hopefully, not too many people lost some money. A dip that isnt accompanied by terrible news will always rebound quickly. Their explanation sounds as plausible as any but again, as long as a more concrete and ominous reason for the drop doesnt emerge, none of this matters that much. Bitcoin ought to be fine. Maybe not $11,000 fine straight away, but fine. Photos via Getty Images / Andrew Burton, Getty Images / Dan Kitwood Photos via Getty Images / Andrew Burton, Getty Images / Dan Kitwood Written by Alasdair Wilkins More articles by Alasdair Follow Alasdair on Twitter tweet share More From Inverse The IRS is Going After Bitcoin Owners BitBonkers Live Visualizer Shows People Using Bitcoin for Illegal Purchases When Will Bitcoin Fork, and What's It Mean for Crypto's Future? A Huge Bitcoin Investor Has Bought 'CoinDesk', the Huge Bitcoin Publication Craig Wright: I Don't "Have the Courage" to Prove I'm Bitcoin Creator, so "Goodbye" View comments || Bitcoin Just Lost a Ton of Value, But Does That Mean the Bubble Burst?: Nothing lasts forever, but normally things last for more than a few hours. Bitcoin wasnt so lucky, as after the cryptocurrency surged to more than $11,000, its value tumbled Wednesday. At its lowest, the blockchain -based cryptocurrency plummeted to around $9,000, meaning nearly a fifth of its value had suddenly vanished. But is this a sign of the bitcoin bubble bursting or just a temporary blip? While skeptics of the cryptocurrency were quick to post bubble-bursting memes on social media, the bitcoin diehards on its dedicated subreddit remained generally calm, even blase in the face of this sudden drop. User Exotemporal attributed any panic to a lack of memory. They dont remember the past because they werent there to witness the previous dips, the redditor wrote. I can see why someone would think that a 20 percent drop that happens within minutes is scary as hell. Theyll learn that these dips that arent accompanied by bad news are just transfers of money from the weakest to the strongest hands. Dips are a regular occurrence and an opportunity for newcomers to buy discounted bitcoins. The lack of any specific event precipitating this drop is a crucial point. Outside of a few hiccups with the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbases servers , nothing notable has gone wrong with bitcoin to cause this sudden downward spike. That doesnt guarantee a rebound, but it also implies theres no particular reason to expect the decline to continue. Lets get some context on the numbers. At the start of 2017, the price of bitcoin was below $1,000, and the cryptocurrency has proceeded to smash through every big, round, symbolic milestone between that and $10,000 at ever increasing speeds. It wasnt until September 2 that bitcoin reached $5,000 for the first time, for instance, and it was just three months later that it doubled that price by reaching $10,000. A bitcoin conference in 2014, when the cryptocurrency's value was a mere fraction of what it is now, before or after the price drop. Even that undersells just how fast the value of bitcoin has been climbing, though. It was only about a week ago that bitcoins record high was $8,000 or, you know, a full thousand dollars less than the cryptocurrencys value at its lowest point Wednesday. Everything is relative with bitcoin, and the new normal resets faster than is easy to comprehend. I bought in at $8,250 and it stayed constant till the 9-11k big push, wrote user Leathermanhelppls. I was worried for a couple days that I bought at the all time high and Id lose out
.now the real fun begins! This is the exhilaration whiplash that I was promised. Going to [hold] for all its worth! Story continues The currencys value has already started to rebound somewhat. The price changes with every refresh, but its price was up as high as around $9,800 during the writing of this story, though it has since dropped to around $9,650. As for why this happened, all anyone can do is speculate, with Exotemporal again chiming in. I think that someone sold a large amount of bitcoins, the price dropped slightly, newcomers start panicking, automatic sell orders kicked in, some exchanges went down, the panic got insane, then everyone realized that they were being silly, they wrote. Hopefully, not too many people lost some money. A dip that isnt accompanied by terrible news will always rebound quickly. Their explanation sounds as plausible as any but again, as long as a more concrete and ominous reason for the drop doesnt emerge, none of this matters that much. Bitcoin ought to be fine. Maybe not $11,000 fine straight away, but fine. Photos via Getty Images / Andrew Burton, Getty Images / Dan Kitwood Photos via Getty Images / Andrew Burton, Getty Images / Dan Kitwood Written by Alasdair Wilkins More articles by Alasdair Follow Alasdair on Twitter tweet share More From Inverse The IRS is Going After Bitcoin Owners BitBonkers Live Visualizer Shows People Using Bitcoin for Illegal Purchases When Will Bitcoin Fork, and What's It Mean for Crypto's Future? A Huge Bitcoin Investor Has Bought 'CoinDesk', the Huge Bitcoin Publication Craig Wright: I Don't "Have the Courage" to Prove I'm Bitcoin Creator, so "Goodbye" View comments || Bitcoin Just Lost a Ton of Value, But Does That Mean the Bubble Burst?: Nothing lasts forever, but normally things last for more than a few hours. Bitcoin wasnt so lucky, as after the cryptocurrency surged to more than $11,000, its value tumbled Wednesday. At its lowest, the blockchain -based cryptocurrency plummeted to around $9,000, meaning nearly a fifth of its value had suddenly vanished. But is this a sign of the bitcoin bubble bursting or just a temporary blip? While skeptics of the cryptocurrency were quick to post bubble-bursting memes on social media, the bitcoin diehards on its dedicated subreddit remained generally calm, even blase in the face of this sudden drop. User Exotemporal attributed any panic to a lack of memory. They dont remember the past because they werent there to witness the previous dips, the redditor wrote. I can see why someone would think that a 20 percent drop that happens within minutes is scary as hell. Theyll learn that these dips that arent accompanied by bad news are just transfers of money from the weakest to the strongest hands. Dips are a regular occurrence and an opportunity for newcomers to buy discounted bitcoins. The lack of any specific event precipitating this drop is a crucial point. Outside of a few hiccups with the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbases servers , nothing notable has gone wrong with bitcoin to cause this sudden downward spike. That doesnt guarantee a rebound, but it also implies theres no particular reason to expect the decline to continue. Lets get some context on the numbers. At the start of 2017, the price of bitcoin was below $1,000, and the cryptocurrency has proceeded to smash through every big, round, symbolic milestone between that and $10,000 at ever increasing speeds. It wasnt until September 2 that bitcoin reached $5,000 for the first time, for instance, and it was just three months later that it doubled that price by reaching $10,000. A bitcoin conference in 2014, when the cryptocurrency's value was a mere fraction of what it is now, before or after the price drop. Even that undersells just how fast the value of bitcoin has been climbing, though. It was only about a week ago that bitcoins record high was $8,000 or, you know, a full thousand dollars less than the cryptocurrencys value at its lowest point Wednesday. Everything is relative with bitcoin, and the new normal resets faster than is easy to comprehend. I bought in at $8,250 and it stayed constant till the 9-11k big push, wrote user Leathermanhelppls. I was worried for a couple days that I bought at the all time high and Id lose out
.now the real fun begins! This is the exhilaration whiplash that I was promised. Going to [hold] for all its worth! Story continues The currencys value has already started to rebound somewhat. The price changes with every refresh, but its price was up as high as around $9,800 during the writing of this story, though it has since dropped to around $9,650. As for why this happened, all anyone can do is speculate, with Exotemporal again chiming in. I think that someone sold a large amount of bitcoins, the price dropped slightly, newcomers start panicking, automatic sell orders kicked in, some exchanges went down, the panic got insane, then everyone realized that they were being silly, they wrote. Hopefully, not too many people lost some money. A dip that isnt accompanied by terrible news will always rebound quickly. Their explanation sounds as plausible as any but again, as long as a more concrete and ominous reason for the drop doesnt emerge, none of this matters that much. Bitcoin ought to be fine. Maybe not $11,000 fine straight away, but fine. Photos via Getty Images / Andrew Burton, Getty Images / Dan Kitwood Photos via Getty Images / Andrew Burton, Getty Images / Dan Kitwood Written by Alasdair Wilkins More articles by Alasdair Follow Alasdair on Twitter tweet share More From Inverse The IRS is Going After Bitcoin Owners BitBonkers Live Visualizer Shows People Using Bitcoin for Illegal Purchases When Will Bitcoin Fork, and What's It Mean for Crypto's Future? A Huge Bitcoin Investor Has Bought 'CoinDesk', the Huge Bitcoin Publication Craig Wright: I Don't "Have the Courage" to Prove I'm Bitcoin Creator, so "Goodbye" View comments || Dollar steady as strong U.S. data supports; tax bill progress eyed: By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar was steady against a basket of currencies on Wednesday, supported by strong U.S. third-quarter economic growth data, but uncertainty surrounding lawmakers’ efforts to pass a tax bill kept dollar bulls in check. The dollar index <.DXY>, which measures the greenback against six rival currencies, was at 93.231, little changed on the day. Congressional Republicans scrambled on Wednesday to reformulate their tax-cut bill to satisfy lawmakers worried about how much it would expand the federal deficit, as the measure moved toward a U.S. Senate floor vote later this week. The U.S. Senate will vote later Wednesday on whether to begin debate on a Republican tax bill, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told the chamber. "There is a lot on the Trump administration's plate in December and their track record is not the best," said Alfonso Esparza, senior currency analyst at OANDA in Toronto. "Until something is delivered the market is a bit hesitant." The dollar index, which slipped nearly 1 percent last week, is up 0.5 percent so far this week. "It's a little bit of an unwind of what we saw last week," said Brad Bechtel, managing director FX at Jefferies in New York. The greenback has drawn support from strong data and remarks on Tuesday by Federal Reserve chair nominee Jerome Powell signaling that the central bank is likely to raise interest rates again next month, Bechtel said. Data on Wednesday showed the U.S. economy grew faster than initially thought in the third quarter, notching its quickest pace in three years, as increases in business investment in inventories and equipment offset a moderation in consumer spending. Against the yen the dollar was 0.36 percent higher, as U.S. Treasury yields climbed after the upbeat GDP data. Bitcoin was the most eye-catching mover, and zoomed past $11,000 to hit a record high of $11,395 before pulling back to trade at $9,919.58, little changed on the day. Sterling rose to a two-month high after European Union diplomats said that Britain has moved "close" to EU demands over Brexit, although concerns that differences remain on key conditions capped the currency's gains on Wednesday. Sterling was 0.59 percent higher at $1.3415. The Canadian dollar weakened to a nearly four-week low against its U.S. counterpart as oil prices fell. (Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed; Editing by Frances Kerry and Lisa Shumaker) || Dollar steady as strong U.S. data supports; tax bill progress eyed: By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar was steady against a basket of currencies on Wednesday, supported by strong U.S. third-quarter economic growth data, but uncertainty surrounding lawmakers’ efforts to pass a tax bill kept dollar bulls in check. The dollar index <.DXY>, which measures the greenback against six rival currencies, was at 93.231, little changed on the day. Congressional Republicans scrambled on Wednesday to reformulate their tax-cut bill to satisfy lawmakers worried about how much it would expand the federal deficit, as the measure moved toward a U.S. Senate floor vote later this week. The U.S. Senate will vote later Wednesday on whether to begin debate on a Republican tax bill, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told the chamber. "There is a lot on the Trump administration's plate in December and their track record is not the best," said Alfonso Esparza, senior currency analyst at OANDA in Toronto. "Until something is delivered the market is a bit hesitant." The dollar index, which slipped nearly 1 percent last week, is up 0.5 percent so far this week. "It's a little bit of an unwind of what we saw last week," said Brad Bechtel, managing director FX at Jefferies in New York. The greenback has drawn support from strong data and remarks on Tuesday by Federal Reserve chair nominee Jerome Powell signaling that the central bank is likely to raise interest rates again next month, Bechtel said. Data on Wednesday showed the U.S. economy grew faster than initially thought in the third quarter, notching its quickest pace in three years, as increases in business investment in inventories and equipment offset a moderation in consumer spending. Against the yen the dollar was 0.36 percent higher, as U.S. Treasury yields climbed after the upbeat GDP data. Bitcoin was the most eye-catching mover, and zoomed past $11,000 to hit a record high of $11,395 before pulling back to trade at $9,919.58, little changed on the day. Sterling rose to a two-month high after European Union diplomats said that Britain has moved "close" to EU demands over Brexit, although concerns that differences remain on key conditions capped the currency's gains on Wednesday. Sterling was 0.59 percent higher at $1.3415. The Canadian dollar weakened to a nearly four-week low against its U.S. counterpart as oil prices fell. (Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed; Editing by Frances Kerry and Lisa Shumaker) || Goldman Sachs says bitcoin is a commodity: Goldman Sachs Chris Hondros/Getty Images Bitcoin is more like gold than the US dollar, Jeff Currie, Goldman Sachs' head of commodities research, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. Bitcoin doesn't have the same amount of liquidity as gold though, which is the primary difference between the two. Watch bitcoin's price move in real time here. Bitcoin is a commodity, just like gold , according to Goldman Sachs' Jeff Currie, global head of commodities research. Currie laid out his simple thinking behind why he sees bitcoin as a commodity, instead of a security or a currency, in an interview with Bloomberg TV : "It's a commodity. A security, by definition, has a liability attached to it. Take a dollar bill, it has a liability to the US government. Commodities do not have liabilities. They are bearer assets, and when you think about it in that context, you look at bitcoin, it's not that much different than gold. I don't see why there's all this hostility toward it." Currie's argument is that bitcoin doesn't answer to anyone. The price is set by the market and isn't backed by a central government, public company or private entity, just like gold. Bitcoin is much more volatile than gold, however, and Currie explains that liquidity is the main cause of this. There is $8.3 trillion worth of gold above ground, while bitcoin has a market cap closer to $165 billion, making it much more volatile and much less liquid. " Central banks control an enormous amount of the supply of gold, which does not make it a complete substitute between bitcoin and gold," Currie said. Curries comments came as bitcoin crossed, then fell back below, $10,000 a coin for the first time. Other, smaller cryptocurrencies like ether and litecoin also touched all-time highs on Wednesday. Goldman Sachs CEO Llyod Blankfein has stated previously that he is "still thinking" about bitcoin and hasn't come to any conclusions yet . The bank has said it is looking into how best to serve its clients interested in digital currencies, however. Story continues Bitcoin's meteoric rise has grabbed the attention of more traditional players on Wall Street. Business Insider reported on Wednesday that Nasdaq, the exchange operator, plans to begin offering bitcoin futures next year. CME and Cboe, two exchange giants, have also announced plans to offer bitcoin futures, which could help with volatility in the market. Read more about bitcoin's historic rise, and how it crossed $10,000 here. bitcoin price chart Markets Insider NOW WATCH: One type of ETF is taking over the market See Also: GOLDMAN SACHS: Pain is coming for investors with markets the most expensive since 1900 People are freaking out over a video that appears to show an NFL player levitating, and it's 100% real Hedge funds are betting billions that these 17 stocks are going to implode SEE ALSO: Bitcoin clears $10,000 || Goldman Sachs says bitcoin is a commodity: Chris Hondros/Getty Images
• Bitcoin is more like gold than the US dollar, Jeff Currie, Goldman Sachs' head of commodities research, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV.
• Bitcoin doesn't have the same amount of liquidity as gold though, which is the primary difference between the two.
• Watch bitcoin's price move in real time here.
Bitcoinis a commodity, just likegold, according to Goldman Sachs' Jeff Currie, global head of commodities research.
Currie laid out his simple thinking behind why he sees bitcoin as a commodity, instead of a security or a currency, inan interview with Bloomberg TV:
"It's a commodity. A security, by definition, has a liability attached to it. Take a dollar bill, it has a liability to the US government. Commodities do not have liabilities. They are bearer assets, and when you think about it in that context, you look at bitcoin, it's not that much different than gold. I don't see why there's all this hostility toward it."
Currie's argument is that bitcoin doesn't answer to anyone. The price is set by the market and isn't backed by a central government, public company or private entity, just like gold.
Bitcoin is much more volatile than gold, however, and Currie explains that liquidity is the main cause of this. There is $8.3 trillion worth of gold above ground, while bitcoin has a market cap closer to $165 billion, making it much more volatile and much less liquid.
"Central banks control an enormous amount of the supply of gold, which does not make it a complete substitute between bitcoin and gold," Currie said.
Curries comments came as bitcoin crossed, then fell back below, $10,000 a coin for the first time. Other, smaller cryptocurrencies like ether and litecoin also touched all-time highs on Wednesday.
Goldman Sachs CEO Llyod Blankfein has stated previouslythat he is "still thinking" about bitcoin and hasn't come to any conclusions yet. The bank has said it is looking into how best to serve its clients interested in digital currencies, however.
Bitcoin's meteoric rise has grabbed the attention of more traditional players on Wall Street. Business Insider reported on Wednesday thatNasdaq, the exchange operator, plans to begin offering bitcoin futuresnext year. CME and Cboe, two exchange giants, have also announced plans to offer bitcoin futures, which could help with volatility in the market.
Markets Insider
NOW WATCH:One type of ETF is taking over the market
See Also:
• GOLDMAN SACHS: Pain is coming for investors with markets the most expensive since 1900
• People are freaking out over a video that appears to show an NFL player levitating, and it's 100% real
• Hedge funds are betting billions that these 17 stocks are going to implode
SEE ALSO:Bitcoin clears $10,000 || Bitcoin's blistering rally breaches $11,000 mark: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Saqib Iqbal Ahmed NEW YORK (Reuters) - Red-hot bitcoin soared through an all-time high above $11,000 on Wednesday, taking its gains to nearly 1,000 percent so far this year, the most of any asset class. Depending on where you look, the virtual currency hit the $10,000 milestone some time between Tuesday and early Wednesday in several digital currency exchanges. (For interactive graphic, click http://tmsnrt.rs/2AHKJPd ) On Wednesday, bitcoin hit an all-time high of $11,395 (BTC=BTSP), on the Luxembourg-based BitStamp, one of the largest and most liquid digital currency exchanges. But by mid-afternoon in New York, bitcoin was back below $10,000, an expected pullback after a steep rally. Despite widespread scepticism of many veteran bankers and fund managers, bitcoin is being propelled by a continued influx of retail buyers as well as promises of bitcoin futures opening the door to institutional investors, analysts said.Created in 2009, bitcoin tracks the ideas set out in a white paper by an individual or group of individuals called Satoshi Nakamoto, whose true identity has yet to be revealed. It promises lower transaction fees than traditional online payment systems and is not regulated by any government or entity. Enthusiasts and supporters of bitcoin are attracted by its revolutionary ideals of transparency and a lack of central or official control. But the risks of dealing in bitcoin were exposed in 2013 when Tokyo-based exchange MtGox collapsed after admitting it had lost the equivalent of hundreds of millions of dollars of investor funds. Bitcoin is a far cry from those early beginnings. The $10,000 level when it happened was a key turning point for this digital asset and a critical moment for the crypto-currency space in general. (Graphic: Bitcoin's blistering ascent - Price: http://tmsnrt.rs/2AFGqEe ) "Investors will be looking to take profits and re-evaluate their positions. There will be some churn as overweight bitcoiners wash into other cryptos searching for yield," said Charles Hayter, founder and chief executive officer of CryptoCompare, an interactive crypto-currency platform. Story continues Bitcoin took 834 days to top $1,000 from the time that BitStamp started to track the price in August 2011. It took another 1,270 days to hit $2,000 on May 20, 2017. However, the price has surged in the later half of 2017, crossing successive $1,000 milestones with ever increasing speed on its march toward $10,000. As bitcoin soars, the virtual currency market now has market capitalization -- its price multiplied by the number of coins that have been released into the system -- of more than $300 billion. Bitcoin accounts for more than 50 percent of that market cap. (Graphic: Bitcoin's blistering ascent - Market Cap Explosion: http://tmsnrt.rs/2Adlinz ) Bitcoin's volatility versus other asset markets shows a sharp divergence, with more frequent peaks and sharp declines over the last two years. (Graphic: Bitcoin's blistering ascent - Volatility: http://tmsnrt.rs/2AeMjHe ) (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Saqib Iqbal Ahmed; Additional reporting by Daniel Bases; Editing by Daniel Bases, Kim Coghill and Susan Thomas) || Bitcoin's blistering rally breaches $11,000 mark: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Saqib Iqbal Ahmed NEW YORK (Reuters) - Red-hot bitcoin soared through an all-time high above $11,000 on Wednesday, taking its gains to nearly 1,000 percent so far this year, the most of any asset class. Depending on where you look, the virtual currency hit the $10,000 milestone some time between Tuesday and early Wednesday in several digital currency exchanges. (For interactive graphic, click http://tmsnrt.rs/2AHKJPd ) On Wednesday, bitcoin hit an all-time high of $11,395 (BTC=BTSP), on the Luxembourg-based BitStamp, one of the largest and most liquid digital currency exchanges. But by mid-afternoon in New York, bitcoin was back below $10,000, an expected pullback after a steep rally. Despite widespread scepticism of many veteran bankers and fund managers, bitcoin is being propelled by a continued influx of retail buyers as well as promises of bitcoin futures opening the door to institutional investors, analysts said.Created in 2009, bitcoin tracks the ideas set out in a white paper by an individual or group of individuals called Satoshi Nakamoto, whose true identity has yet to be revealed. It promises lower transaction fees than traditional online payment systems and is not regulated by any government or entity. Enthusiasts and supporters of bitcoin are attracted by its revolutionary ideals of transparency and a lack of central or official control. But the risks of dealing in bitcoin were exposed in 2013 when Tokyo-based exchange MtGox collapsed after admitting it had lost the equivalent of hundreds of millions of dollars of investor funds. Bitcoin is a far cry from those early beginnings. The $10,000 level when it happened was a key turning point for this digital asset and a critical moment for the crypto-currency space in general. (Graphic: Bitcoin's blistering ascent - Price: http://tmsnrt.rs/2AFGqEe ) "Investors will be looking to take profits and re-evaluate their positions. There will be some churn as overweight bitcoiners wash into other cryptos searching for yield," said Charles Hayter, founder and chief executive officer of CryptoCompare, an interactive crypto-currency platform. Story continues Bitcoin took 834 days to top $1,000 from the time that BitStamp started to track the price in August 2011. It took another 1,270 days to hit $2,000 on May 20, 2017. However, the price has surged in the later half of 2017, crossing successive $1,000 milestones with ever increasing speed on its march toward $10,000. As bitcoin soars, the virtual currency market now has market capitalization -- its price multiplied by the number of coins that have been released into the system -- of more than $300 billion. Bitcoin accounts for more than 50 percent of that market cap. (Graphic: Bitcoin's blistering ascent - Market Cap Explosion: http://tmsnrt.rs/2Adlinz ) Bitcoin's volatility versus other asset markets shows a sharp divergence, with more frequent peaks and sharp declines over the last two years. (Graphic: Bitcoin's blistering ascent - Volatility: http://tmsnrt.rs/2AeMjHe ) (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Saqib Iqbal Ahmed; Additional reporting by Daniel Bases; Editing by Daniel Bases, Kim Coghill and Susan Thomas) || Bitcoin's blistering rally breaches $11,000 mark: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Saqib Iqbal Ahmed
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Red-hot bitcoin soared through an all-time high above $11,000 on Wednesday, taking its gains to nearly 1,000 percent so far this year, the most of any asset class.
Depending on where you look, the virtual currency hit the $10,000 milestone some time between Tuesday and early Wednesday in several digital currency exchanges.
(For interactive graphic, click http://tmsnrt.rs/2AHKJPd)
On Wednesday, bitcoin hit an all-time high of $11,395 <BTC=BTSP>, on the Luxembourg-based BitStamp, one of the largest and most liquid digital currency exchanges. But by mid-afternoon in New York, bitcoin was back below $10,000, an expected pullback after a steep rally.
Despite widespread scepticism of many veteran bankers and fund managers, bitcoin is being propelled by a continued influx of retail buyers as well as promises of bitcoin futures opening the door to institutional investors, analysts said.Created in 2009, bitcoin tracks the ideas set out in a white paper by an individual or group of individuals called Satoshi Nakamoto, whose true identity has yet to be revealed. It promises lower transaction fees than traditional online payment systems and is not regulated by any government or entity.
Enthusiasts and supporters of bitcoin are attracted by its revolutionary ideals of transparency and a lack of central or official control. But the risks of dealing in bitcoin were exposed in 2013 when Tokyo-based exchange MtGox collapsed after admitting it had lost the equivalent of hundreds of millions of dollars of investor funds.
Bitcoin is a far cry from those early beginnings.
The $10,000 level when it happened was a key turning point for this digital asset and a critical moment for the crypto-currency space in general.
(Graphic: Bitcoin's blistering ascent - Price: http://tmsnrt.rs/2AFGqEe)
"Investors will be looking to take profits and re-evaluate their positions. There will be some churn as overweight bitcoiners wash into other cryptos searching for yield," said Charles Hayter, founder and chief executive officer of CryptoCompare, an interactive crypto-currency platform.
Bitcoin took 834 days to top $1,000 from the time that BitStamp started to track the price in August 2011. It took another 1,270 days to hit $2,000 on May 20, 2017. However, the price has surged in the later half of 2017, crossing successive $1,000 milestones with ever increasing speed on its march toward $10,000.
As bitcoin soars, the virtual currency market now has market capitalization -- its price multiplied by the number of coins that have been released into the system -- of more than $300 billion. Bitcoin accounts for more than 50 percent of that market cap.
(Graphic: Bitcoin's blistering ascent - Market Cap Explosion: http://tmsnrt.rs/2Adlinz)
Bitcoin's volatility versus other asset markets shows a sharp divergence, with more frequent peaks and sharp declines over the last two years.
(Graphic: Bitcoin's blistering ascent - Volatility: http://tmsnrt.rs/2AeMjHe)
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Saqib Iqbal Ahmed; Additional reporting by Daniel Bases; Editing by Daniel Bases, Kim Coghill and Susan Thomas) || Bitcoin's blistering rally breaches $11,000 mark: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Saqib Iqbal Ahmed
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Red-hot bitcoin soared through an all-time high above $11,000 on Wednesday, taking its gains to nearly 1,000 percent so far this year, the most of any asset class.
Depending on where you look, the virtual currency hit the $10,000 milestone some time between Tuesday and early Wednesday in several digital currency exchanges.
(For interactive graphic, click http://tmsnrt.rs/2AHKJPd)
On Wednesday, bitcoin hit an all-time high of $11,395 <BTC=BTSP>, on the Luxembourg-based BitStamp, one of the largest and most liquid digital currency exchanges. But by mid-afternoon in New York, bitcoin was back below $10,000, an expected pullback after a steep rally.
Despite widespread scepticism of many veteran bankers and fund managers, bitcoin is being propelled by a continued influx of retail buyers as well as promises of bitcoin futures opening the door to institutional investors, analysts said.Created in 2009, bitcoin tracks the ideas set out in a white paper by an individual or group of individuals called Satoshi Nakamoto, whose true identity has yet to be revealed. It promises lower transaction fees than traditional online payment systems and is not regulated by any government or entity.
Enthusiasts and supporters of bitcoin are attracted by its revolutionary ideals of transparency and a lack of central or official control. But the risks of dealing in bitcoin were exposed in 2013 when Tokyo-based exchange MtGox collapsed after admitting it had lost the equivalent of hundreds of millions of dollars of investor funds.
Bitcoin is a far cry from those early beginnings.
The $10,000 level when it happened was a key turning point for this digital asset and a critical moment for the crypto-currency space in general.
(Graphic: Bitcoin's blistering ascent - Price: http://tmsnrt.rs/2AFGqEe)
"Investors will be looking to take profits and re-evaluate their positions. There will be some churn as overweight bitcoiners wash into other cryptos searching for yield," said Charles Hayter, founder and chief executive officer of CryptoCompare, an interactive crypto-currency platform.
Bitcoin took 834 days to top $1,000 from the time that BitStamp started to track the price in August 2011. It took another 1,270 days to hit $2,000 on May 20, 2017. However, the price has surged in the later half of 2017, crossing successive $1,000 milestones with ever increasing speed on its march toward $10,000.
As bitcoin soars, the virtual currency market now has market capitalization -- its price multiplied by the number of coins that have been released into the system -- of more than $300 billion. Bitcoin accounts for more than 50 percent of that market cap.
(Graphic: Bitcoin's blistering ascent - Market Cap Explosion: http://tmsnrt.rs/2Adlinz)
Bitcoin's volatility versus other asset markets shows a sharp divergence, with more frequent peaks and sharp declines over the last two years.
(Graphic: Bitcoin's blistering ascent - Volatility: http://tmsnrt.rs/2AeMjHe)
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Saqib Iqbal Ahmed; Additional reporting by Daniel Bases; Editing by Daniel Bases, Kim Coghill and Susan Thomas)
[Social Media Buzz]
Current price of Bitcoin is $9803.00 #bitcoin || #Bitcoin 0.32%
Ultima: R$ 37820.00 Alta: R$ 39999.99 Baixa: R$ 35500.00
Fonte: Foxbit || 30 Kasım 2017 Saat 19:00:01, 1 BTC Kaç TL, 36.250,50 TL. #BTCTRY #btctl #bitcoinfiyatihttp://www.doviz724.com/1-bitcoin-kac-tl.html … || Sign up for Luno and get ZAR 10.00 worth of Bitcoin when you buy or sell ZAR 500.00 (exchange excluded), using https://www.luno.com/invite/X97Y3 || One Bitcoin now worth $10554.25@bitstamp. High $11395.00. Low $9250.00. ...
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10975.60, 11074.60, 11323.20, 11657.20, 11916.70, 14291.50, 17899.70, 16569.40, 15178.20, 15455.40
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 11675.74, 11878.11, 11410.53, 11584.93, 11784.14, 11768.87, 11865.70, 11892.80, 12254.40, 11991.23, 11758.28, 11878.37, 11592.49, 11681.83, 11664.85, 11774.60, 11366.13, 11488.36, 11323.40, 11542.50, 11506.87, 11711.51, 11680.82, 11970.48, 11414.03, 10245.30, 10511.81, 10169.57, 10280.35, 10369.56, 10131.52, 10242.35, 10363.14, 10400.92, 10442.17, 10323.76, 10680.84, 10796.95, 10974.91, 10948.99, 10944.59, 11094.35, 10938.27, 10462.26, 10538.46, 10246.19, 10760.07, 10692.72, 10750.72, 10775.27, 10709.65, 10844.64, 10784.49, 10619.45, 10575.97, 10549.33, 10669.58, 10793.34, 10604.41, 10668.97, 10915.69, 11064.46, 11296.36, 11384.18, 11555.36, 11425.90, 11429.51, 11495.35, 11322.12, 11358.10, 11483.36, 11742.04, 11916.33, 12823.69, 12965.89, 12931.54, 13108.06, 13031.17, 13075.25, 13654.22, 13271.29, 13437.88, 13546.52, 13781.00, 13737.11, 13550.49, 13950.30, 14133.71, 15579.85, 15565.88.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2020-11-06]
Volume: 39837841971, RSI (14-day): 84.43, 50-day EMA: 12395.30, 200-day EMA: 10672.82
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1950.30, Gold RSI: 61.08
Oil Price: 37.14, Oil RSI: 42.84
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Feds seize $1 billion in Bitcoin from mystery man ‘X’: The U.S. Justice Departmentannouncedon Thursday it has seized nearly 70,000 Bitcoins from a person the agency would describe only as “Individual X.”
The news is remarkable because of the value of Bitcoin seized—the haul is worth around $1.05 billion based on today’s Bitcoin price of $15,000—but also because of the timing and the mysterious nature of the seizure.
According to a Justice Departmentcomplaint, the digital wallet holding the Bitcoins belonged to a hacker who stole them from the operator of the Silk Road, a notorious black market website that acted as a giant online bazaar for drugs and other criminal activity. The federal government took down the Silk Road and arrestedits owner—who isnow serving life in prison—in 2013.
The Justice Department complaint says IRS agents reviewed the hacker’s activities earlier this year with the help of a cryptocurrency forensics firm. That firm, Chainalysis, publisheda blog postdetailing how it analyzed the Bitcoin blockchain—a tamper-proof public ledger of transactions—to track the hacker’s activities.
The blog post includes the graphic below, which shows the stolen Bitcoins moving to different wallets, including one transaction in which the hacker moved 101 Bitcoins to a now-shuttered criminal exchange called BTC-e:
According to a person familiar with the investigation, the hacker’s robbery of Silk Road—which took the form of 54 transactions in less than 24 hours—took place in 2012. Meanwhile, the transfer of 101 Bitcoins took place in 2015, with no further transactions after that.
This raises the question of why the so-called Individual X hasn’t touched any of the funds, even asBitcoin has soared in price. There appear to be two possible explanations: The person is a wealthy individual who did not need to sell any of the Bitcoins, or else the person is in prison without access to a website needed to transfer the funds.
The source familiar with the investigation said it is significant the complaint was filed in San Francisco, and that Individual X signed a consent decree. This implies the person in question is located in Northern California and is cooperating with law enforcement—as does the fact the Justice Department was able to seize the Bitcoin, which could only have occurred if the person provided the password or “private key” needed to transfer Bitcoin funds.
As for why the Justice Department didn’t name the individual, the source speculated it was because the person could be at risk of violent retaliation from criminals tied to the Silk Road.
“They’re not in the safest business in the world,” the source said.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment as to whether Individual X is in prison. Nor did the agency state if a criminal complaint—as opposed to the civil one unveiled today—will be forthcoming. The lack of any criminal complaint may suggest Individual X is already incarcerated and may have agreed to turn over the Bitcoin as part of a cooperation arrangement with authorities.
The Justice Department seized not only 69,370.22491543 Bitcoins from Individual X, but the same amount in three spinoff currencies known as Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, and Bitcoin SV. Together, those other currencies are worth around $30 million.
The government hasn’t announced what it will do with the seized Bitcoins, but in the past it hassoldthemthough auctions run by the U.S. Marshals Service, with the proceeds primarily going to law enforcement agencies.
• COVID-19 resurgencesets back Europe’s economic recoveryhopes
• TheU.S. economyis slowly beginning to climb out of its deep hole
• Stocks historically perform betterunder a divided Congress
• Theft of $2.3M from GOP shows howcampaigns are juicy targets for hackers
• A journalist-turned-detective on howcorporate America depends on private sleuths
This story was originally featured onFortune.com || Feds seize $1 billion in Bitcoin from mystery man ‘X’: The U.S. Justice Department announced on Thursday it has seized nearly 70,000 Bitcoins from a person the agency would describe only as “Individual X.” The news is remarkable because of the value of Bitcoin seized—the haul is worth around $1.05 billion based on today’s Bitcoin price of $15,000—but also because of the timing and the mysterious nature of the seizure. According to a Justice Department complaint , the digital wallet holding the Bitcoins belonged to a hacker who stole them from the operator of the Silk Road, a notorious black market website that acted as a giant online bazaar for drugs and other criminal activity. The federal government took down the Silk Road and arrested its owner —who is now serving life in prison —in 2013. The Justice Department complaint says IRS agents reviewed the hacker’s activities earlier this year with the help of a cryptocurrency forensics firm. That firm, Chainalysis, published a blog post detailing how it analyzed the Bitcoin blockchain—a tamper-proof public ledger of transactions—to track the hacker’s activities. The blog post includes the graphic below, which shows the stolen Bitcoins moving to different wallets, including one transaction in which the hacker moved 101 Bitcoins to a now-shuttered criminal exchange called BTC-e: According to a person familiar with the investigation, the hacker’s robbery of Silk Road—which took the form of 54 transactions in less than 24 hours—took place in 2012. Meanwhile, the transfer of 101 Bitcoins took place in 2015, with no further transactions after that. This raises the question of why the so-called Individual X hasn’t touched any of the funds, even as Bitcoin has soared in price . There appear to be two possible explanations: The person is a wealthy individual who did not need to sell any of the Bitcoins, or else the person is in prison without access to a website needed to transfer the funds. The source familiar with the investigation said it is significant the complaint was filed in San Francisco, and that Individual X signed a consent decree. This implies the person in question is located in Northern California and is cooperating with law enforcement—as does the fact the Justice Department was able to seize the Bitcoin, which could only have occurred if the person provided the password or “private key” needed to transfer Bitcoin funds. Story continues As for why the Justice Department didn’t name the individual, the source speculated it was because the person could be at risk of violent retaliation from criminals tied to the Silk Road. “They’re not in the safest business in the world,” the source said. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment as to whether Individual X is in prison. Nor did the agency state if a criminal complaint—as opposed to the civil one unveiled today—will be forthcoming. The lack of any criminal complaint may suggest Individual X is already incarcerated and may have agreed to turn over the Bitcoin as part of a cooperation arrangement with authorities. The Justice Department seized not only 69,370.22491543 Bitcoins from Individual X, but the same amount in three spinoff currencies known as Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, and Bitcoin SV. Together, those other currencies are worth around $30 million. The government hasn’t announced what it will do with the seized Bitcoins, but in the past it has sold them though auctions run by the U.S. Marshals Service , with the proceeds primarily going to law enforcement agencies. More must-read finance coverage from Fortune : COVID-19 resurgence sets back Europe’s economic recovery hopes The U.S. economy is slowly beginning to climb out of its deep hole Stocks historically perform better under a divided Congress Theft of $2.3M from GOP shows how campaigns are juicy targets for hackers A journalist-turned-detective on how corporate America depends on private sleuths This story was originally featured on Fortune.com || Feds seize $1 billion in Bitcoin from mystery man ‘X’: The U.S. Justice Departmentannouncedon Thursday it has seized nearly 70,000 Bitcoins from a person the agency would describe only as “Individual X.”
The news is remarkable because of the value of Bitcoin seized—the haul is worth around $1.05 billion based on today’s Bitcoin price of $15,000—but also because of the timing and the mysterious nature of the seizure.
According to a Justice Departmentcomplaint, the digital wallet holding the Bitcoins belonged to a hacker who stole them from the operator of the Silk Road, a notorious black market website that acted as a giant online bazaar for drugs and other criminal activity. The federal government took down the Silk Road and arrestedits owner—who isnow serving life in prison—in 2013.
The Justice Department complaint says IRS agents reviewed the hacker’s activities earlier this year with the help of a cryptocurrency forensics firm. That firm, Chainalysis, publisheda blog postdetailing how it analyzed the Bitcoin blockchain—a tamper-proof public ledger of transactions—to track the hacker’s activities.
The blog post includes the graphic below, which shows the stolen Bitcoins moving to different wallets, including one transaction in which the hacker moved 101 Bitcoins to a now-shuttered criminal exchange called BTC-e:
According to a person familiar with the investigation, the hacker’s robbery of Silk Road—which took the form of 54 transactions in less than 24 hours—took place in 2012. Meanwhile, the transfer of 101 Bitcoins took place in 2015, with no further transactions after that.
This raises the question of why the so-called Individual X hasn’t touched any of the funds, even asBitcoin has soared in price. There appear to be two possible explanations: The person is a wealthy individual who did not need to sell any of the Bitcoins, or else the person is in prison without access to a website needed to transfer the funds.
The source familiar with the investigation said it is significant the complaint was filed in San Francisco, and that Individual X signed a consent decree. This implies the person in question is located in Northern California and is cooperating with law enforcement—as does the fact the Justice Department was able to seize the Bitcoin, which could only have occurred if the person provided the password or “private key” needed to transfer Bitcoin funds.
As for why the Justice Department didn’t name the individual, the source speculated it was because the person could be at risk of violent retaliation from criminals tied to the Silk Road.
“They’re not in the safest business in the world,” the source said.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment as to whether Individual X is in prison. Nor did the agency state if a criminal complaint—as opposed to the civil one unveiled today—will be forthcoming. The lack of any criminal complaint may suggest Individual X is already incarcerated and may have agreed to turn over the Bitcoin as part of a cooperation arrangement with authorities.
The Justice Department seized not only 69,370.22491543 Bitcoins from Individual X, but the same amount in three spinoff currencies known as Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, and Bitcoin SV. Together, those other currencies are worth around $30 million.
The government hasn’t announced what it will do with the seized Bitcoins, but in the past it hassoldthemthough auctions run by the U.S. Marshals Service, with the proceeds primarily going to law enforcement agencies.
• COVID-19 resurgencesets back Europe’s economic recoveryhopes
• TheU.S. economyis slowly beginning to climb out of its deep hole
• Stocks historically perform betterunder a divided Congress
• Theft of $2.3M from GOP shows howcampaigns are juicy targets for hackers
• A journalist-turned-detective on howcorporate America depends on private sleuths
This story was originally featured onFortune.com || ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / November 5, 2020 / ALT 5 Sigma Inc., an emerging leader in blockchain-powered financial platforms, provides its daily digital instruments market summary for Bitcoin (BTC/USD), Ether (ETH/USD), Litecoin (LTC/USD). Real-Time Market Data is available at www.alt5pro.com , and Real-Time Market Data feed is also available at www.alt5sigma.com . ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH ALT5 Sigma Market Summary Thursday, November 05, 2020, at 4:02:10 PM Digital Asset Pair Price 24hr Chg 7d Chg 24/hr Volume MarketCap Bitcoin BTC/USD $15,073.55 $0.07 $0.12 $36,844 M $279,386 M Ethereum ETH/USD $412.89 $0.02 $0.06 $14,226 M $46,783 M XRP XRP/USD $0.25 $0.03 $0.01 $2,817 M $11,119 M Bitcoin Cash BCH/USD $246.52 $0.03 -$0.08 $2,151 M $4,576 M Litecoin LTC/USD $58.46 $0.07 $0.06 $3,065 M $3,847 M Bitcoin SV BSV/USD $158.42 $0.04 -$0.06 $723 M $2,941 M EOS EOS/USD $2.43 $0.03 -$0.07 $2,155 M $2,283 M Monero XMR/USD $118.62 $0.01 -$0.05 $1,022 M $2,105 M Stellar XLM/USD $0.08 $0.08 $0.04 $159 M $1,684 M Dash DASH/USD $67.68 $0.04 $0.01 $426 M $663 M About ALT 5 Sigma Inc. ALT 5 is a fintech company specializing in the development and deployment of digital assets trading and exchange platforms. Alt 5 was founded by financial industry specialists out of the necessity to provide the digital asset economy with security, accessibility, transparency, and compliance. ALT 5 provides its clients the ability to buy, sell, and hold digital assets in a safe and secure environment deployed with the best practices of the financial industry. ALT 5's products and services are available to Banks, Broker-Dealers, Funds, Family Offices, Professional Traders, Retail Traders, Digital Asset Exchanges, Digital Asset Brokers, Blockchain Developers, and Financial Information Providers. ALT 5's digital asset custodian services are secured by GardaWorld. GardaWorld is the world's largest privately-owned business solutions and security services company, offering cash management services. Story continues For more information, visit www.alt5sigma.com . CONTACT: Andre Beauchesne Tel. 1-800-204-6203 [email protected] For more information on ALT 5 Pay, visit www.alt5pay.com For more information on ALT 5 Pro, visit www.alt5pro.com SOURCE: ALT 5 Sigma, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/615005/ALT-5-Sigma-Digital-Instrument-Market-Summary-for-BTC-ETH-LTC-BCH || ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / November 5, 2020 /ALT 5 Sigma Inc., an emerging leader in blockchain-powered financial platforms, provides its daily digital instruments market summary for Bitcoin (BTC/USD), Ether (ETH/USD), Litecoin (LTC/USD).
Real-Time Market Data is available atwww.alt5pro.com, and Real-Time Market Data feed is also available atwww.alt5sigma.com.
ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH
[["Digital Asset", "Pair", "Price", "24hr Chg", "7d Chg", "24/hr Volume", "MarketCap"], ["Bitcoin", "BTC/USD", "$15,073.55", "$0.07", "$0.12", "$36,844 M", "$279,386 M"], ["Ethereum", "ETH/USD", "$412.89", "$0.02", "$0.06", "$14,226 M", "$46,783 M"], ["XRP", "XRP/USD", "$0.25", "$0.03", "$0.01", "$2,817 M", "$11,119 M"], ["Bitcoin Cash", "BCH/USD", "$246.52", "$0.03", "-$0.08", "$2,151 M", "$4,576 M"], ["Litecoin", "LTC/USD", "$58.46", "$0.07", "$0.06", "$3,065 M", "$3,847 M"], ["Bitcoin SV", "BSV/USD", "$158.42", "$0.04", "-$0.06", "$723 M", "$2,941 M"], ["EOS", "EOS/USD", "$2.43", "$0.03", "-$0.07", "$2,155 M", "$2,283 M"], ["Monero", "XMR/USD", "$118.62", "$0.01", "-$0.05", "$1,022 M", "$2,105 M"], ["Stellar", "XLM/USD", "$0.08", "$0.08", "$0.04", "$159 M", "$1,684 M"], ["Dash", "DASH/USD", "$67.68", "$0.04", "$0.01", "$426 M", "$663 M"]]
About ALT 5 Sigma Inc.
ALT 5 is a fintech company specializing in the development and deployment of digital assets trading and exchange platforms. Alt 5 was founded by financial industry specialists out of the necessity to provide the digital asset economy with security, accessibility, transparency, and compliance.
ALT 5 provides its clients the ability to buy, sell, and hold digital assets in a safe and secure environment deployed with the best practices of the financial industry. ALT 5's products and services are available to Banks, Broker-Dealers, Funds, Family Offices, Professional Traders, Retail Traders, Digital Asset Exchanges, Digital Asset Brokers, Blockchain Developers, and Financial Information Providers.
ALT 5's digital asset custodian services are secured by GardaWorld. GardaWorld is the world's largest privately-owned business solutions and security services company, offering cash management services.
For more information, visitwww.alt5sigma.com.
CONTACT:Andre BeauchesneTel. [email protected]
For more information on ALT 5 Pay, visitwww.alt5pay.comFor more information on ALT 5 Pro, visitwww.alt5pro.com
SOURCE:ALT 5 Sigma, Inc.
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/615005/ALT-5-Sigma-Digital-Instrument-Market-Summary-for-BTC-ETH-LTC-BCH || ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / November 5, 2020 /ALT 5 Sigma Inc., an emerging leader in blockchain-powered financial platforms, provides its daily digital instruments market summary for Bitcoin (BTC/USD), Ether (ETH/USD), Litecoin (LTC/USD).
Real-Time Market Data is available atwww.alt5pro.com, and Real-Time Market Data feed is also available atwww.alt5sigma.com.
ALT 5 Sigma Digital Instrument Market Summary for BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH
[["Digital Asset", "Pair", "Price", "24hr Chg", "7d Chg", "24/hr Volume", "MarketCap"], ["Bitcoin", "BTC/USD", "$15,073.55", "$0.07", "$0.12", "$36,844 M", "$279,386 M"], ["Ethereum", "ETH/USD", "$412.89", "$0.02", "$0.06", "$14,226 M", "$46,783 M"], ["XRP", "XRP/USD", "$0.25", "$0.03", "$0.01", "$2,817 M", "$11,119 M"], ["Bitcoin Cash", "BCH/USD", "$246.52", "$0.03", "-$0.08", "$2,151 M", "$4,576 M"], ["Litecoin", "LTC/USD", "$58.46", "$0.07", "$0.06", "$3,065 M", "$3,847 M"], ["Bitcoin SV", "BSV/USD", "$158.42", "$0.04", "-$0.06", "$723 M", "$2,941 M"], ["EOS", "EOS/USD", "$2.43", "$0.03", "-$0.07", "$2,155 M", "$2,283 M"], ["Monero", "XMR/USD", "$118.62", "$0.01", "-$0.05", "$1,022 M", "$2,105 M"], ["Stellar", "XLM/USD", "$0.08", "$0.08", "$0.04", "$159 M", "$1,684 M"], ["Dash", "DASH/USD", "$67.68", "$0.04", "$0.01", "$426 M", "$663 M"]]
About ALT 5 Sigma Inc.
ALT 5 is a fintech company specializing in the development and deployment of digital assets trading and exchange platforms. Alt 5 was founded by financial industry specialists out of the necessity to provide the digital asset economy with security, accessibility, transparency, and compliance.
ALT 5 provides its clients the ability to buy, sell, and hold digital assets in a safe and secure environment deployed with the best practices of the financial industry. ALT 5's products and services are available to Banks, Broker-Dealers, Funds, Family Offices, Professional Traders, Retail Traders, Digital Asset Exchanges, Digital Asset Brokers, Blockchain Developers, and Financial Information Providers.
ALT 5's digital asset custodian services are secured by GardaWorld. GardaWorld is the world's largest privately-owned business solutions and security services company, offering cash management services.
For more information, visitwww.alt5sigma.com.
CONTACT:Andre BeauchesneTel. [email protected]
For more information on ALT 5 Pay, visitwww.alt5pay.comFor more information on ALT 5 Pro, visitwww.alt5pro.com
SOURCE:ALT 5 Sigma, Inc.
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/615005/ALT-5-Sigma-Digital-Instrument-Market-Summary-for-BTC-ETH-LTC-BCH || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Surpasses $15.3K; Ether Up 210% in 2020: Bitcoin is hitting fresh highs during a surge past $15,000 while investors may be overlooking the upside of ether in 2020.
• Bitcoin(BTC) trading around $15,087 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 7.7% over the previous 24 hours.
• Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $14,005-$15,306
• BTC above its 10-day and 50-day moving averages, a bullish signal for market technicians.
The price of bitcoin jumped Thursday, going up to $15,306 around 15:50 UTC (10:50 a.m. ET), according to CoinDesk 20 data, taking it to its highest price point since Jan. 8, 2018, when bitcoin’s high was $15,360. It has dipped since, settling at $15,087 as of press time.
Read More:Bitcoin Breaks $15K as Investor Numbers Peak
Related:Market Wrap: Bitcoin Loses Steam at $15.9K; Over 600K ETH Yanked From DeFi
“Bitcoin is above the psychological threshold of $15,000 today on strongly positive momentum, having cleared resistance from 2019,” said Katie Stockton, a technical analyst for Fairlead Strategies.
Momentum, in the form of volume, was strong Thursday on leading USD/BTC spot exchanges. It was $1,233,248,261 as of press time, the highest since Oct. 21 when volume hit $1,273,812,127.
Stockton suspects momentum may subside, which may cause a price pullback. “There are some signs of short-term upside exhaustion from an overbought/oversold perspective supporting a few weeks of consolidation, but we would see this as healthy from a technical perspective.”
Analysts still see bitcoin as an asset to bet on in uncertain times over the long term.
Related:First Mover: Resistance Is Futile as Bitcoin Breaches $15K, Crypto Gets Greedy
“The U.S. is going to push the spending button again no matter who wins the White House,” noted Henrik Kugelberg. Next year “will probably see more individual support payments all over the world, and some of that money is inevitably gonna be placed in bitcoin.”
“The macroeconomic situation in the U.S. and elsewhere is far more uncertain, and concerns about COVID-19’s resurgence sending the economy back into a tailspin are not entirely unfounded,” noted Guy Hirsch, U.S. managing director at multi-asset brokerage eToro. “All in all, it feels like a perfect storm for retail [bitcoin] adoption that’s coming right at the beginning of an expected wave of institutional capital,” he added. While most markets are up Thursday along with crypto, the U.S. Dollar Index, a measure of the greenback versus a basket of other fiat currencies, is in the red 0.88% Thursday as of press time, down 1.6% since the start of November.
In the futures market, open interest for bitcoin contracts was back at $5.4 billion, with CME’s $804 million taking third place of all venues as institutional investors poured money in. The CME is a U.S.-regulated exchange for larger investors and brokerages, therefore its open interest growth is a signal large players are placing hedges and directional positions as part of some sort of bitcoin strategy.
“Interestingly, while aggregate futures open interest (OI) has risen back to $5.4 billion (late October highs), the increments were very steady and managed,” noted Denis Vinokourov, head of research at digital asset prime broker Bequant. “This suggests that the more regulated entities that operate in the current ecosystem are taking a more pragmatic approach to the current FOMO.“
The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization,ether(ETH), was up Thursday, trading around $414 and climbing 3.4% in 24 hours as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).
Read More:Someone Just Paid a $9,000 Fee for a $120 DeFi Transaction
Bitcoin boosters like to talk about its 2020 price gains as a hedge against an uncertain global economy. However, ether has done even better than bitcoin so far this year, up 210% versus bitcoin’s 95% gains.
John Willock, chief executive officer of crypto liquidity provider Tritum, said investors like ether’s potential as both a hedge and a bet on the possible future of finance.
“Ether holds similar qualities to bitcoin as a general economic uncertainty hedge but also has the added value of utility with the network it powers,” Willock said. “With the long-anticipated forthcoming ETH 2.0 proof-of-stake upgrade, it will, from an investment perspective, become a yield-bearing instrument which has much broader appeal.”
Digital assets on theCoinDesk 20are all green Thursday. Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• stellar(XLM) + 8.8%
• 0x(ZRX) + 7.8%
• litecoin(LTC) + 7.6%
Read More:US Seized More Than $1B in Silk Road-Linked Bitcoins, Seeks Forfeiture
Equities:
• The Nikkei 225 ended the day climbing 1.7% asinvestors in Asia digested the possibility of a Biden presidency in the U.S. that is more lenient on Chinese trade issues.
• Europe’s FTSE 100 closed in the green 0.39% asthe U.K.’s central bank kept interest rates steady amid fresh lockdowns.
• In the United States the S&P 500 gained 2% astech stocks climbed and investors felt confident final presidential election results were imminent.
Commodities:
• Oil was down 1.5%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $38.52.
• Gold was in the green 2.5% and at $1,950 as of press time.
Treasurys:
• U.S. Treasury bond yields were mixed Thursday. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were up most on the two-year bond, climbing to 0.149 and in the green 1.3%.
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Surpasses $15.3K; Ether Up 210% in 2020
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Surpasses $15.3K; Ether Up 210% in 2020 || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Surpasses $15.3K; Ether Up 210% in 2020: Bitcoin is hitting fresh highs during a surge past $15,000 while investors may be overlooking the upside of ether in 2020.
• Bitcoin(BTC) trading around $15,087 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 7.7% over the previous 24 hours.
• Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $14,005-$15,306
• BTC above its 10-day and 50-day moving averages, a bullish signal for market technicians.
The price of bitcoin jumped Thursday, going up to $15,306 around 15:50 UTC (10:50 a.m. ET), according to CoinDesk 20 data, taking it to its highest price point since Jan. 8, 2018, when bitcoin’s high was $15,360. It has dipped since, settling at $15,087 as of press time.
Read More:Bitcoin Breaks $15K as Investor Numbers Peak
Related:Market Wrap: Bitcoin Loses Steam at $15.9K; Over 600K ETH Yanked From DeFi
“Bitcoin is above the psychological threshold of $15,000 today on strongly positive momentum, having cleared resistance from 2019,” said Katie Stockton, a technical analyst for Fairlead Strategies.
Momentum, in the form of volume, was strong Thursday on leading USD/BTC spot exchanges. It was $1,233,248,261 as of press time, the highest since Oct. 21 when volume hit $1,273,812,127.
Stockton suspects momentum may subside, which may cause a price pullback. “There are some signs of short-term upside exhaustion from an overbought/oversold perspective supporting a few weeks of consolidation, but we would see this as healthy from a technical perspective.”
Analysts still see bitcoin as an asset to bet on in uncertain times over the long term.
Related:First Mover: Resistance Is Futile as Bitcoin Breaches $15K, Crypto Gets Greedy
“The U.S. is going to push the spending button again no matter who wins the White House,” noted Henrik Kugelberg. Next year “will probably see more individual support payments all over the world, and some of that money is inevitably gonna be placed in bitcoin.”
“The macroeconomic situation in the U.S. and elsewhere is far more uncertain, and concerns about COVID-19’s resurgence sending the economy back into a tailspin are not entirely unfounded,” noted Guy Hirsch, U.S. managing director at multi-asset brokerage eToro. “All in all, it feels like a perfect storm for retail [bitcoin] adoption that’s coming right at the beginning of an expected wave of institutional capital,” he added. While most markets are up Thursday along with crypto, the U.S. Dollar Index, a measure of the greenback versus a basket of other fiat currencies, is in the red 0.88% Thursday as of press time, down 1.6% since the start of November.
In the futures market, open interest for bitcoin contracts was back at $5.4 billion, with CME’s $804 million taking third place of all venues as institutional investors poured money in. The CME is a U.S.-regulated exchange for larger investors and brokerages, therefore its open interest growth is a signal large players are placing hedges and directional positions as part of some sort of bitcoin strategy.
“Interestingly, while aggregate futures open interest (OI) has risen back to $5.4 billion (late October highs), the increments were very steady and managed,” noted Denis Vinokourov, head of research at digital asset prime broker Bequant. “This suggests that the more regulated entities that operate in the current ecosystem are taking a more pragmatic approach to the current FOMO.“
The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization,ether(ETH), was up Thursday, trading around $414 and climbing 3.4% in 24 hours as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).
Read More:Someone Just Paid a $9,000 Fee for a $120 DeFi Transaction
Bitcoin boosters like to talk about its 2020 price gains as a hedge against an uncertain global economy. However, ether has done even better than bitcoin so far this year, up 210% versus bitcoin’s 95% gains.
John Willock, chief executive officer of crypto liquidity provider Tritum, said investors like ether’s potential as both a hedge and a bet on the possible future of finance.
“Ether holds similar qualities to bitcoin as a general economic uncertainty hedge but also has the added value of utility with the network it powers,” Willock said. “With the long-anticipated forthcoming ETH 2.0 proof-of-stake upgrade, it will, from an investment perspective, become a yield-bearing instrument which has much broader appeal.”
Digital assets on theCoinDesk 20are all green Thursday. Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• stellar(XLM) + 8.8%
• 0x(ZRX) + 7.8%
• litecoin(LTC) + 7.6%
Read More:US Seized More Than $1B in Silk Road-Linked Bitcoins, Seeks Forfeiture
Equities:
• The Nikkei 225 ended the day climbing 1.7% asinvestors in Asia digested the possibility of a Biden presidency in the U.S. that is more lenient on Chinese trade issues.
• Europe’s FTSE 100 closed in the green 0.39% asthe U.K.’s central bank kept interest rates steady amid fresh lockdowns.
• In the United States the S&P 500 gained 2% astech stocks climbed and investors felt confident final presidential election results were imminent.
Commodities:
• Oil was down 1.5%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $38.52.
• Gold was in the green 2.5% and at $1,950 as of press time.
Treasurys:
• U.S. Treasury bond yields were mixed Thursday. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were up most on the two-year bond, climbing to 0.149 and in the green 1.3%.
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Surpasses $15.3K; Ether Up 210% in 2020
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Surpasses $15.3K; Ether Up 210% in 2020 || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Surpasses $15.3K; Ether Up 210% in 2020: Bitcoin is hitting fresh highs during a surge past $15,000 while investors may be overlooking the upside of ether in 2020. Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $15,087 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 7.7% over the previous 24 hours. Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $14,005-$15,306 BTC above its 10-day and 50-day moving averages, a bullish signal for market technicians. The price of bitcoin jumped Thursday, going up to $15,306 around 15:50 UTC (10:50 a.m. ET), according to CoinDesk 20 data, taking it to its highest price point since Jan. 8, 2018, when bitcoin’s high was $15,360. It has dipped since, settling at $15,087 as of press time. Read More: Bitcoin Breaks $15K as Investor Numbers Peak Related: Market Wrap: Bitcoin Loses Steam at $15.9K; Over 600K ETH Yanked From DeFi “Bitcoin is above the psychological threshold of $15,000 today on strongly positive momentum, having cleared resistance from 2019,” said Katie Stockton, a technical analyst for Fairlead Strategies. Momentum, in the form of volume, was strong Thursday on leading USD/BTC spot exchanges. It was $1,233,248,261 as of press time, the highest since Oct. 21 when volume hit $1,273,812,127. Stockton suspects momentum may subside, which may cause a price pullback. “There are some signs of short-term upside exhaustion from an overbought/oversold perspective supporting a few weeks of consolidation, but we would see this as healthy from a technical perspective.” Analysts still see bitcoin as an asset to bet on in uncertain times over the long term. Related: First Mover: Resistance Is Futile as Bitcoin Breaches $15K, Crypto Gets Greedy “The U.S. is going to push the spending button again no matter who wins the White House,” noted Henrik Kugelberg. Next year “will probably see more individual support payments all over the world, and some of that money is inevitably gonna be placed in bitcoin.” “The macroeconomic situation in the U.S. and elsewhere is far more uncertain, and concerns about COVID-19’s resurgence sending the economy back into a tailspin are not entirely unfounded,” noted Guy Hirsch, U.S. managing director at multi-asset brokerage eToro. “All in all, it feels like a perfect storm for retail [bitcoin] adoption that’s coming right at the beginning of an expected wave of institutional capital,” he added. While most markets are up Thursday along with crypto, the U.S. Dollar Index, a measure of the greenback versus a basket of other fiat currencies, is in the red 0.88% Thursday as of press time, down 1.6% since the start of November. Story continues In the futures market, open interest for bitcoin contracts was back at $5.4 billion, with CME’s $804 million taking third place of all venues as institutional investors poured money in. The CME is a U.S.-regulated exchange for larger investors and brokerages, therefore its open interest growth is a signal large players are placing hedges and directional positions as part of some sort of bitcoin strategy. “Interestingly, while aggregate futures open interest (OI) has risen back to $5.4 billion (late October highs), the increments were very steady and managed,” noted Denis Vinokourov, head of research at digital asset prime broker Bequant. “This suggests that the more regulated entities that operate in the current ecosystem are taking a more pragmatic approach to the current FOMO.“ Ether outperforming bitcoin The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, ether (ETH), was up Thursday, trading around $414 and climbing 3.4% in 24 hours as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET). Read More: Someone Just Paid a $9,000 Fee for a $120 DeFi Transaction Bitcoin boosters like to talk about its 2020 price gains as a hedge against an uncertain global economy. However, ether has done even better than bitcoin so far this year, up 210% versus bitcoin’s 95% gains. John Willock, chief executive officer of crypto liquidity provider Tritum, said investors like ether’s potential as both a hedge and a bet on the possible future of finance. “Ether holds similar qualities to bitcoin as a general economic uncertainty hedge but also has the added value of utility with the network it powers,” Willock said. “With the long-anticipated forthcoming ETH 2.0 proof-of-stake upgrade, it will, from an investment perspective, become a yield-bearing instrument which has much broader appeal.” Other markets Digital assets on the CoinDesk 20 are all green Thursday. Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET): stellar (XLM) + 8.8% 0x (ZRX) + 7.8% litecoin (LTC) + 7.6% Read More: US Seized More Than $1B in Silk Road-Linked Bitcoins, Seeks Forfeiture Equities: The Nikkei 225 ended the day climbing 1.7% as investors in Asia digested the possibility of a Biden presidency in the U.S. that is more lenient on Chinese trade issues. Europe’s FTSE 100 closed in the green 0.39% as the U.K.’s central bank kept interest rates steady amid fresh lockdowns . In the United States the S&P 500 gained 2% as tech stocks climbed and investors felt confident final presidential election results were imminent . Commodities: Oil was down 1.5%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $38.52. Gold was in the green 2.5% and at $1,950 as of press time. Treasurys: U.S. Treasury bond yields were mixed Thursday. Yields, which move in the opposite direction as price, were up most on the two-year bond, climbing to 0.149 and in the green 1.3%. Related Stories Market Wrap: Bitcoin Surpasses $15.3K; Ether Up 210% in 2020 Market Wrap: Bitcoin Surpasses $15.3K; Ether Up 210% in 2020 || Square Reports Over $1B in Quarterly Bitcoin Revenue for First Time: Q3 Earnings: It was a monster quarter for Square’s bitcoin business.
“Cash App generated $1.63 billion ofbitcoinrevenue and $32 million of bitcoin gross profit during the third quarter of 2020, up approximately 11x and 15x year over year, respectively,” the publicly traded payments firm wrote in itsQ3 investor letter published Thursday at the market close.
For comparison, in thesecond quarterof 2020 the publicly traded payments company sold $875 million through its Cash App with $17 million in profit. Square sold $516 million in bitcoin over theentire year of 2019.
Related:Market Wrap: Bitcoin Loses Steam at $15.9K; Over 600K ETH Yanked From DeFi
Among publicly traded companies, it could be said that Jack Dorsey’s Square has led the way in building bitcoin services, first piloting bitcoin purchases in its Cash App inlate 2017. PayPal confirmed its rumored support for bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ether and litecoin justlast month.
Square went one step further in Q3, however, officially adding bitcoin to its balance sheet rather than simply making it available to customers.
Square acknowledged itsOctober announcementof a $50 million purchase of bitcoin as a treasury asset in its shareholder letter. Bitcoin’s price hovered under $11,000 at the time. As of this writing it hasbroken $15,000.
“We announced two strategic investments,” Dorsey said during the earnings call. “The second was a $50 million investment in bitcoin, which we believe will be the native currency of the internet, and help people thrive around the world and the economy.”
Related:First Mover: Resistance Is Futile as Bitcoin Breaches $15K, Crypto Gets Greedy
In Q1 2020, Square brought in $306 million in revenue from selling bitcoin in the Cash App. It brought in $875 million in revenue in Q2. However, the margin on bitcoin sales is always quite small for Square. Inlate 2019, the company changed the way it supported its bitcoin business, shifting to a fee-based model, in order to make costs to buyers more transparent.
Sales of bitcoin in Cash App earn Square a little under 2% in profit, which is a very thin margin compared to Square’s overall business, which runs at much higher margins. For example, the company overall made $597 million on $1.92 billion in revenue in the second quarter, or roughly a 31% profit.
Overall, the Cash App also delivers stronger profits. In the second quarter, it brought in $1.2 billion worth of revenue and $281 million in gross profit, according to itsQ2 shareholder letter.
Cash app’s profit in the third quarter hit $385 million.
Square’s bitcoin research arm, Square Crypto, recentlyannounced a design grantmeant to help make crypto wallets more user-friendly.
Read the full investor letter below:
• Square Reports Over $1B in Quarterly Bitcoin Revenue for First Time: Q3 Earnings
• Square Reports Over $1B in Quarterly Bitcoin Revenue for First Time: Q3 Earnings || Square Reports Over $1B in Quarterly Bitcoin Revenue for First Time: Q3 Earnings: It was a monster quarter for Square’s bitcoin business.
“Cash App generated $1.63 billion ofbitcoinrevenue and $32 million of bitcoin gross profit during the third quarter of 2020, up approximately 11x and 15x year over year, respectively,” the publicly traded payments firm wrote in itsQ3 investor letter published Thursday at the market close.
For comparison, in thesecond quarterof 2020 the publicly traded payments company sold $875 million through its Cash App with $17 million in profit. Square sold $516 million in bitcoin over theentire year of 2019.
Related:Market Wrap: Bitcoin Loses Steam at $15.9K; Over 600K ETH Yanked From DeFi
Among publicly traded companies, it could be said that Jack Dorsey’s Square has led the way in building bitcoin services, first piloting bitcoin purchases in its Cash App inlate 2017. PayPal confirmed its rumored support for bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ether and litecoin justlast month.
Square went one step further in Q3, however, officially adding bitcoin to its balance sheet rather than simply making it available to customers.
Square acknowledged itsOctober announcementof a $50 million purchase of bitcoin as a treasury asset in its shareholder letter. Bitcoin’s price hovered under $11,000 at the time. As of this writing it hasbroken $15,000.
“We announced two strategic investments,” Dorsey said during the earnings call. “The second was a $50 million investment in bitcoin, which we believe will be the native currency of the internet, and help people thrive around the world and the economy.”
Related:First Mover: Resistance Is Futile as Bitcoin Breaches $15K, Crypto Gets Greedy
In Q1 2020, Square brought in $306 million in revenue from selling bitcoin in the Cash App. It brought in $875 million in revenue in Q2. However, the margin on bitcoin sales is always quite small for Square. Inlate 2019, the company changed the way it supported its bitcoin business, shifting to a fee-based model, in order to make costs to buyers more transparent.
Sales of bitcoin in Cash App earn Square a little under 2% in profit, which is a very thin margin compared to Square’s overall business, which runs at much higher margins. For example, the company overall made $597 million on $1.92 billion in revenue in the second quarter, or roughly a 31% profit.
Overall, the Cash App also delivers stronger profits. In the second quarter, it brought in $1.2 billion worth of revenue and $281 million in gross profit, according to itsQ2 shareholder letter.
Cash app’s profit in the third quarter hit $385 million.
Square’s bitcoin research arm, Square Crypto, recentlyannounced a design grantmeant to help make crypto wallets more user-friendly.
Read the full investor letter below:
• Square Reports Over $1B in Quarterly Bitcoin Revenue for First Time: Q3 Earnings
• Square Reports Over $1B in Quarterly Bitcoin Revenue for First Time: Q3 Earnings || Square Reports Over $1B in Quarterly Bitcoin Revenue for First Time: Q3 Earnings: It was a monster quarter for Squares bitcoin business. Cash App generated $1.63 billion of bitcoin revenue and $32 million of bitcoin gross profit during the third quarter of 2020, up approximately 11x and 15x year over year, respectively, the publicly traded payments firm wrote in its Q3 investor letter published Thursday at the market close . For comparison, in the second quarter of 2020 the publicly traded payments company sold $875 million through its Cash App with $17 million in profit. Square sold $516 million in bitcoin over the entire year of 2019 . Related: Market Wrap: Bitcoin Loses Steam at $15.9K; Over 600K ETH Yanked From DeFi Among publicly traded companies, it could be said that Jack Dorseys Square has led the way in building bitcoin services, first piloting bitcoin purchases in its Cash App in late 2017 . PayPal confirmed its rumored support for bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ether and litecoin just last month . Square went one step further in Q3, however, officially adding bitcoin to its balance sheet rather than simply making it available to customers. Square acknowledged its October announcement of a $50 million purchase of bitcoin as a treasury asset in its shareholder letter. Bitcoins price hovered under $11,000 at the time. As of this writing it has broken $15,000 . We announced two strategic investments, Dorsey said during the earnings call. The second was a $50 million investment in bitcoin, which we believe will be the native currency of the internet, and help people thrive around the world and the economy. Past earnings Related: First Mover: Resistance Is Futile as Bitcoin Breaches $15K, Crypto Gets Greedy In Q1 2020, Square brought in $306 million in revenue from selling bitcoin in the Cash App. It brought in $875 million in revenue in Q2. However, the margin on bitcoin sales is always quite small for Square. In late 2019 , the company changed the way it supported its bitcoin business, shifting to a fee-based model, in order to make costs to buyers more transparent. Story continues Sales of bitcoin in Cash App earn Square a little under 2% in profit, which is a very thin margin compared to Squares overall business, which runs at much higher margins. For example, the company overall made $597 million on $1.92 billion in revenue in the second quarter, or roughly a 31% profit. Overall, the Cash App also delivers stronger profits. In the second quarter, it brought in $1.2 billion worth of revenue and $281 million in gross profit, according to its Q2 shareholder letter . Cash apps profit in the third quarter hit $385 million. Squares bitcoin research arm, Square Crypto, recently announced a design grant meant to help make crypto wallets more user-friendly. Read the full investor letter below: Related Stories Square Reports Over $1B in Quarterly Bitcoin Revenue for First Time: Q3 Earnings Square Reports Over $1B in Quarterly Bitcoin Revenue for First Time: Q3 Earnings || Bitcoin Hits $15,000: Here Comes the FOMO: Bitcoin Twitter interprets today’s massive price action.
Formore episodesand free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublica,iHeartRadioorRSS.
This episode is sponsored byCrypto.comandNexo.io.
Related:Bitcoin News Roundup for Nov. 6, 2020
As the U.S. election picture starts to become more clear, bitcoin has smashed through $15,000 – its highest price since 2017’s record-breaking run. Alongside the price action has come a wave of mainstream media coverage.
In this special he-was-supposed-to-be-on-vacation episode, NLW breaks down Twitter’s response and shares interpretations, including:
• “Quietest bull run ever”
• Stimulus on the way
• Halving bull redemption
• Death of the nation-state
• Start of a reflexive cycle
• It feels real
See also:Bitcoin Breaks $15K as Investor Numbers Peak
Formore episodesand free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublica,iHeartRadioorRSS.
• Bitcoin Hits $15,000: Here Comes the FOMO
• Bitcoin Hits $15,000: Here Comes the FOMO
• Bitcoin Hits $15,000: Here Comes the FOMO || Bitcoin Hits $15,000: Here Comes the FOMO: Bitcoin Twitter interprets today’s massive price action.
Formore episodesand free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublica,iHeartRadioorRSS.
This episode is sponsored byCrypto.comandNexo.io.
Related:Bitcoin News Roundup for Nov. 6, 2020
As the U.S. election picture starts to become more clear, bitcoin has smashed through $15,000 – its highest price since 2017’s record-breaking run. Alongside the price action has come a wave of mainstream media coverage.
In this special he-was-supposed-to-be-on-vacation episode, NLW breaks down Twitter’s response and shares interpretations, including:
• “Quietest bull run ever”
• Stimulus on the way
• Halving bull redemption
• Death of the nation-state
• Start of a reflexive cycle
• It feels real
See also:Bitcoin Breaks $15K as Investor Numbers Peak
Formore episodesand free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe withApple Podcasts,Spotify,Pocketcasts,Google Podcasts,Castbox,Stitcher,RadioPublica,iHeartRadioorRSS.
• Bitcoin Hits $15,000: Here Comes the FOMO
• Bitcoin Hits $15,000: Here Comes the FOMO
• Bitcoin Hits $15,000: Here Comes the FOMO || Bitcoin Hits $15,000: Here Comes the FOMO: Bitcoin Twitter interprets todays massive price action. For more episodes and free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe with Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Pocketcasts , Google Podcasts , Castbox , Stitcher , RadioPublica , iHeartRadio or RSS . This episode is sponsored by Crypto.com and Nexo.io . Related: Bitcoin News Roundup for Nov. 6, 2020 As the U.S. election picture starts to become more clear, bitcoin has smashed through $15,000 its highest price since 2017s record-breaking run. Alongside the price action has come a wave of mainstream media coverage. In this special he-was-supposed-to-be-on-vacation episode, NLW breaks down Twitters response and shares interpretations, including: Quietest bull run ever Stimulus on the way Halving bull redemption Death of the nation-state Start of a reflexive cycle It feels real See also: Bitcoin Breaks $15K as Investor Numbers Peak For more episodes and free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe with Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Pocketcasts , Google Podcasts , Castbox , Stitcher , RadioPublica , iHeartRadio or RSS . Related Stories Bitcoin Hits $15,000: Here Comes the FOMO Bitcoin Hits $15,000: Here Comes the FOMO Bitcoin Hits $15,000: Here Comes the FOMO || Federal Reserve Keeps Rates Close to Zero, Maintains Asset Purchases: The Federal Reserve said it would hold benchmark interest rates at their current level and continue increasing holdings of U.S. Treasurys and mortgage bonds at least at the current pace or as needed “to sustain smooth market functioning.” The statement is in keeping with economists’ expectations for the U.S. central bank to take no new monetary policy actions. “Weaker demand and earlier declines in oil prices have been holding down consumer price inflation,” according to the Fed statement, which noted the “COVID-19 pandemic is causing tremendous human and economic hardship across the United States and around the world.” “Overall financial conditions remain accommodative, in part reflecting policy measures to support the economy and the flow of credit to U.S. households and businesses.” “The path of the economy will depend significantly on the course of the virus. The ongoing public health crisis will continue to weigh on economic activity, employment and inflation in the near term, and poses considerable risks to the economic outlook over the medium term.” The Fed has expanded its balance sheet by about $3 trillion this year to $7.1 trillion, sparking fears of future inflation that have bolstered investor demand for bitcoin, seen as a hedge against rising consumer prices and a weakening dollar. Bitcoin ( BTC ) prices have doubled this year to roughly $15,000 . Read More: Bitcoin Likes Biden (and Fed’s Powell) as Price Approaches $15K Related Stories Federal Reserve Keeps Rates Close to Zero, Maintains Asset Purchases Federal Reserve Keeps Rates Close to Zero, Maintains Asset Purchases Federal Reserve Keeps Rates Close to Zero, Maintains Asset Purchases Federal Reserve Keeps Rates Close to Zero, Maintains Asset Purchases || Federal Reserve Keeps Rates Close to Zero, Maintains Asset Purchases: The Federal Reservesaidit would hold benchmark interest rates at their current level and continue increasing holdings of U.S. Treasurys and mortgage bonds at least at the current pace or as needed “to sustain smooth market functioning.”
• The statement is in keeping with economists’ expectations for the U.S. central bank to take no new monetary policy actions.
• “Weaker demand and earlier declines in oil prices have been holding down consumer price inflation,” according to the Fed statement, which noted the “COVID-19 pandemic is causing tremendous human and economic hardship across the United States and around the world.”
• “Overall financial conditions remain accommodative, in part reflecting policy measures to support the economy and the flow of credit to U.S. households and businesses.”
• “The path of the economy will depend significantly on the course of the virus. The ongoing public health crisis will continue to weigh on economic activity, employment and inflation in the near term, and poses considerable risks to the economic outlook over the medium term.”
• The Fed has expanded its balance sheet by about $3 trillion this year to $7.1 trillion, sparking fears of future inflation that have bolstered investor demand for bitcoin, seen as a hedge against rising consumer prices and a weakening dollar.
• Bitcoin (BTC) prices havedoubled this year to roughly $15,000.
Read More:Bitcoin Likes Biden (and Fed’s Powell) as Price Approaches $15K
• Federal Reserve Keeps Rates Close to Zero, Maintains Asset Purchases
• Federal Reserve Keeps Rates Close to Zero, Maintains Asset Purchases
• Federal Reserve Keeps Rates Close to Zero, Maintains Asset Purchases
• Federal Reserve Keeps Rates Close to Zero, Maintains Asset Purchases || Bitcoin Hits $15K Level For The First Time Since January 2018: Bitcoin was trading at highs of around $15,200 gaining momentum during the U.S. election uncertainty. That's the cryptocurrency's highest since January 2018.
It's still unclear whether President Donald Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden had won the election as the vote count continued. However, Biden appears to be the favorite at publication time.
The last time bitcoin peaked was back in December 2017 when the cryptocurrency traded at around $20,000.
This year there have been a number of positive factors pushing bitcoin higher, such as the announcement thatPayPal(NASDAQ:PYPL) is adding features enabling users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies.Square(NYSE:SQ) also made recent announcements adding bitcoin to its holdings.
Related Links:
As Bitcoin Hits New 2020 Highs, The Course Strikes Comparison With 2016 Election Cycle
Square Invests M In Bitcoin; Dorsey Sees A Currency For The Internet
See more from Benzinga
• Click here for options trades from Benzinga
• Bank of England Boosts Quantitative Easing As Second COVID-19 Lockdown Begins
• Why Bluebird Bio's Stock Is Trading Lower Today
© 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin Hits $15K Level For The First Time Since January 2018: Bitcoin was trading at highs of around $15,200 gaining momentum during the U.S. election uncertainty. That's the cryptocurrency's highest since January 2018.
It's still unclear whether President Donald Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden had won the election as the vote count continued. However, Biden appears to be the favorite at publication time.
The last time bitcoin peaked was back in December 2017 when the cryptocurrency traded at around $20,000.
This year there have been a number of positive factors pushing bitcoin higher, such as the announcement thatPayPal(NASDAQ:PYPL) is adding features enabling users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies.Square(NYSE:SQ) also made recent announcements adding bitcoin to its holdings.
Related Links:
As Bitcoin Hits New 2020 Highs, The Course Strikes Comparison With 2016 Election Cycle
Square Invests M In Bitcoin; Dorsey Sees A Currency For The Internet
See more from Benzinga
• Click here for options trades from Benzinga
• Bank of England Boosts Quantitative Easing As Second COVID-19 Lockdown Begins
• Why Bluebird Bio's Stock Is Trading Lower Today
© 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin Hits $15K Level For The First Time Since January 2018: Bitcoin was trading at highs of around $15,200 gaining momentum during the U.S. election uncertainty. That's the cryptocurrency's highest since January 2018. It's still unclear whether President Donald Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden had won the election as the vote count continued. However, Biden appears to be the favorite at publication time. The last time bitcoin peaked was back in December 2017 when the cryptocurrency traded at around $20,000. This year there have been a number of positive factors pushing bitcoin higher, such as the announcement that PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL ) is adding features enabling users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. Square (NYSE: SQ ) also made recent announcements adding bitcoin to its holdings. Related Links: As Bitcoin Hits New 2020 Highs, The Course Strikes Comparison With 2016 Election Cycle Square Invests M In Bitcoin; Dorsey Sees A Currency For The Internet See more from Benzinga Click here for options trades from Benzinga Bank of England Boosts Quantitative Easing As Second COVID-19 Lockdown Begins Why Bluebird Bio's Stock Is Trading Lower Today © 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
[Social Media Buzz]
None available.
|
14833.75, 15479.57, 15332.32, 15290.90, 15701.34, 16276.34, 16317.81, 16068.14, 15955.59, 16716.11
|
Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 19114.20, 17776.70, 16624.60, 15802.90, 13831.80, 14699.20, 13925.80, 14026.60, 16099.80, 15838.50, 14606.50, 14656.20, 12952.20, 14156.40, 13657.20, 14982.10, 15201.00, 15599.20, 17429.50, 17527.00, 16477.60, 15170.10, 14595.40, 14973.30, 13405.80, 13980.60, 14360.20, 13772.00, 13819.80, 11490.50, 11188.60, 11474.90, 11607.40, 12899.20, 11600.10, 10931.40, 10868.40, 11359.40, 11259.40, 11171.40, 11440.70, 11786.30, 11296.40, 10106.30, 10221.10, 9170.54, 8830.75, 9174.91, 8277.01, 6955.27, 7754.00, 7621.30, 8265.59, 8736.98, 8621.90, 8129.97, 8926.57, 8598.31, 9494.63, 10166.40, 10233.90, 11112.70, 10551.80, 11225.30, 11403.70, 10690.40, 10005.00, 10301.10, 9813.07, 9664.73, 10366.70, 10725.60, 10397.90, 10951.00, 11086.40, 11489.70, 11512.60, 11573.30, 10779.90, 9965.57, 9395.01, 9337.55, 8866.00, 9578.63, 9205.12, 9194.85, 8269.81, 8300.86, 8338.35, 7916.88.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2018-03-17]
Volume: 4426149888, RSI (14-day): 34.16, 50-day EMA: 10112.44, 200-day EMA: 9185.13
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Starbucks' Same-Store Sales Growth Relies on This 1 Thing: Starbucks'(NASDAQ: SBUX)digital rewards program has no doubt been one of its biggest successes of the last decade. My Starbucks Rewards (MSR) members now account for over one-third of all purchases at Starbucks stores. And sincerevamping the rewards programin 2016, Starbucks has been able to increase the amount each MSR member spends per year through increased personalization and incentivization.
That's why Starbucks is heavily focused on bringing more customers into the rewards program. After disappointing investors with just 2% U.S. same-store sales growth last quarter, Starbucks is hoping MSR member growth will help it reach its full-year goal of 3% to 5% in same-store sales growth.
CFO Scott Maw outlined the company's strategy to get there at a recent investors conference.
Image source: Starbucks
MSR members are extremely important to Starbucks. Virtually all of its same-store sales growth stems from MSR members.
Maw is targeting mid-single-digital growth in spend per customer in each quarter for the next couple years, and he also expects low-double-digit membership growth.
The program now offers individualized incentives to buy more at Starbucks with a new offer (sometimes two offers) every week. The offers range from the simple -- visit three times this week -- to more complicated -- order these items -- and pay out varying amounts of stars, the currency Starbucks uses to redeem for free beverages and food items.
Creating more personalized offers has been a strong driver for MSR member spend over the last couple years since Starbucks revamped the program. Maw wants to drive ways to send more personalized offers to more customers, even if they don't want to sign up for My Starbucks Rewards.
Maw provided three examples of features in the pipeline that he expects will eventually drive an increase in membership signups.
First, it's opening up mobile order and pay to everyone. The feature, which allows MSR members to order ahead from the Starbucks mobile app and pick it up when they get to the store, drove an increase in sales during peak hours at Starbucks. In fact, it was so successful, someStarbucks stores had trouble filling walk-in customer ordersand mobile orders in a timely manner.
Starbucks has fixed the bottleneck issues facing its store operations at peak hours by using individual store data to help its employees figure out how to work as efficiently as possible based on what kind of orders each store usually sees at certain times. Extending mobile order and pay to non-members should drive app installs and provide a way for Starbucks to collect customer emails. That opens a couple marketing channels for Starbucks to drive sales and drive customers to become MSR members.
Second, Starbucks will look to reactivate old members. Millions of MSR members haven't logged into their accounts in over 90 days. That's a big opportunity because those customers have shown interest in using the rewards program in the past. Maw says Starbucks will start offering greater incentives to those customers, as it's seen a strong payoff once a customer reactivates.
Third, the company will roll out a new Wi-Fi system that allows customers to log in with their email once, and on subsequent visits their devices will automatically connect to the network without requiring reauthentication. Starbucks can then send marketing emails to those customers.
Maw says that Starbucks stores see 75 million unique customers per month, but just 15 million of those customers are MSR members. That leaves about 60 million customers with which Starbucks could have a much closer relationship -- whether that's full membership or just an app download or email registration.
Astute readers will notice, however, that the 15 million members represent 20% of customers, but account for over 33% of order volume. That's not entirely driven by the fact that they're MSR members, but also the fact that more frequent and higher-spending customers are more likely to sign up for the program.
But the long tail of Starbucks customers still presents a massive opportunity. Maw points out increasing a customer's frequency from one time per week to six times per month would be a significant improvement. And if you multiply it by the millions of customers that fit that profile, it could be a big driver toward that 3% to 5% goal.
Starbucks' digital marketing efforts will be the key to reaching its same-store sales goal for the full year. Investors should pay close attention to updates surrounding its plan to onboard more members through things like mobile order and pay, its new Wi-Fi system, and reactivating old customers. And if the company provides an update on membership growth, be sure it's at least 10%. (It was 11% in the first quarter.) If Starbucks takes care of its digital channels, same-store sales will follow.
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Adam Levyowns shares of Starbucks. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Starbucks. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Starbucks' Same-Store Sales Growth Relies on This 1 Thing: Starbucks ' (NASDAQ: SBUX) digital rewards program has no doubt been one of its biggest successes of the last decade. My Starbucks Rewards (MSR) members now account for over one-third of all purchases at Starbucks stores. And since revamping the rewards program in 2016, Starbucks has been able to increase the amount each MSR member spends per year through increased personalization and incentivization. That's why Starbucks is heavily focused on bringing more customers into the rewards program. After disappointing investors with just 2% U.S. same-store sales growth last quarter, Starbucks is hoping MSR member growth will help it reach its full-year goal of 3% to 5% in same-store sales growth. CFO Scott Maw outlined the company's strategy to get there at a recent investors conference. A person holding a phone with the Starbucks app loaded. Image source: Starbucks My Starbucks Reward member profile MSR members are extremely important to Starbucks. Virtually all of its same-store sales growth stems from MSR members. Maw is targeting mid-single-digital growth in spend per customer in each quarter for the next couple years, and he also expects low-double-digit membership growth. The program now offers individualized incentives to buy more at Starbucks with a new offer (sometimes two offers) every week. The offers range from the simple -- visit three times this week -- to more complicated -- order these items -- and pay out varying amounts of stars, the currency Starbucks uses to redeem for free beverages and food items. Creating more personalized offers has been a strong driver for MSR member spend over the last couple years since Starbucks revamped the program. Maw wants to drive ways to send more personalized offers to more customers, even if they don't want to sign up for My Starbucks Rewards. Three ways to get more digital sign-ups Maw provided three examples of features in the pipeline that he expects will eventually drive an increase in membership signups. First, it's opening up mobile order and pay to everyone. The feature, which allows MSR members to order ahead from the Starbucks mobile app and pick it up when they get to the store, drove an increase in sales during peak hours at Starbucks. In fact, it was so successful, some Starbucks stores had trouble filling walk-in customer orders and mobile orders in a timely manner. Story continues Starbucks has fixed the bottleneck issues facing its store operations at peak hours by using individual store data to help its employees figure out how to work as efficiently as possible based on what kind of orders each store usually sees at certain times. Extending mobile order and pay to non-members should drive app installs and provide a way for Starbucks to collect customer emails. That opens a couple marketing channels for Starbucks to drive sales and drive customers to become MSR members. Second, Starbucks will look to reactivate old members. Millions of MSR members haven't logged into their accounts in over 90 days. That's a big opportunity because those customers have shown interest in using the rewards program in the past. Maw says Starbucks will start offering greater incentives to those customers, as it's seen a strong payoff once a customer reactivates. Third, the company will roll out a new Wi-Fi system that allows customers to log in with their email once, and on subsequent visits their devices will automatically connect to the network without requiring reauthentication. Starbucks can then send marketing emails to those customers. The opportunity is massive Maw says that Starbucks stores see 75 million unique customers per month, but just 15 million of those customers are MSR members. That leaves about 60 million customers with which Starbucks could have a much closer relationship -- whether that's full membership or just an app download or email registration. Astute readers will notice, however, that the 15 million members represent 20% of customers, but account for over 33% of order volume. That's not entirely driven by the fact that they're MSR members, but also the fact that more frequent and higher-spending customers are more likely to sign up for the program. But the long tail of Starbucks customers still presents a massive opportunity. Maw points out increasing a customer's frequency from one time per week to six times per month would be a significant improvement. And if you multiply it by the millions of customers that fit that profile, it could be a big driver toward that 3% to 5% goal. Starbucks' digital marketing efforts will be the key to reaching its same-store sales goal for the full year. Investors should pay close attention to updates surrounding its plan to onboard more members through things like mobile order and pay, its new Wi-Fi system, and reactivating old customers. And if the company provides an update on membership growth, be sure it's at least 10%. (It was 11% in the first quarter.) If Starbucks takes care of its digital channels, same-store sales will follow. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Adam Levy owns shares of Starbucks. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Starbucks. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || What to Expect From Micron Technology's Q2 Earnings: Shares of Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) recently shot up to 17-year highs as more evidence about stronger DRAM pricing emerged. Goldman Sachs analysts recently raised Micron's price target on grounds of tight DRAM supply that have pushed up average selling prices of memory chips. Goldman estimates that prices of 32 GB server DRAM modules have increased from $300 in January to almost $315 now, setting the stage for Micron to report strong second-quarter results on March 22. Thus I won't be surprised if Micron beats consensus estimates and issues sunny guidance. Artist's rendering of an integrated circuit. Image source: Getty Images. Solid growth in the cards Wall Street expects Micron's second-quarter revenue to jump 56% year over year to $7.28 billion. What's more, its earnings are expected to more than triple to $2.74 per share. These estimates are right in line with the memory specialist's recently updated guidance . Micron was originally expecting earnings of $2.58 per share on $7 billion in revenue, but consistently strong DRAM pricing and demand through the second quarter encouraged it to boost its estimates. Industry sources believe that DRAM prices will increase 3%-5% sequentially during the first calendar quarter of 2018, while demand will remain robust thanks to the growing DRAM content in smartphones and data centers. However, investors will be more concerned with Micron's outlook to get a clear insight into the health of the memory market. Micron should issue solid guidance The dynamics of the DRAM market are expected to remain favorable, with prices expected to rise as much as 10% through the first half of 2018 on the back of strong end-market demand. For instance, the DRAM content in smartphones jumped 33.4% to an average of 3.2 GB last year, according to DRAMeXchange. Smartphone original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are expected to pack their devices with more memory this year. Samsung , for instance, has equipped its latest flagship smartphones with 4 GB and 6 GB RAM configurations. Meanwhile, Chinese smartphone company OnePlus' latest flagship phone comes in two variants, which pack 6 GB and 8 GB of RAM. Story continues So, the mobile DRAM market should keep expanding this year. In addition, server DRAM will also witness strong demand as data centers will need more memory to store and process the data generated by artificial intelligence and Internet of Things-related applications. As such, it isn't surprising to see DRAMeXchange estimates that DRAM sales will rise 30% this year to $96 billion, which bodes well for Micron. More importantly, Micron forecasts that demand for automotive and server-related DRAM will outpace the growth of the broader DRAM industry, which is expected to clock a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20%-25% for the next few years. However, these aren't the only catalysts for Micron. The company is going aggressively after the NAND flash market as well, as evident from its recently launched mobile 3D NAND solutions. The chipmaker is targeting flagship devices with this product line, which comes in 256 GB, 128 GB, and 64 GB capacities. Micron believes that built-in storage in smartphones will grow rapidly thanks to emerging tech trends such as artificial intelligence. Counterpoint Research estimates that average NAND flash storage capacity in smartphones will increase to 60 GB by the end of the year. Looking ahead, Micron forecasts that flagship smartphones could have as much as a terabyte of storage capacity by 2021 as they will store and process more data on the device itself. In the end, it looks like Micron's growth isn't going to stop anytime soon. I expect another beat-and-raise announcement from Micron when its second-quarter results come out next week. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Harsh Chauhan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || What to Expect From Micron Technology's Q2 Earnings: Shares ofMicron Technology(NASDAQ: MU)recently shot up to 17-year highs as more evidence about stronger DRAM pricing emerged.Goldman Sachsanalysts recently raised Micron's price target on grounds of tight DRAM supply that have pushed up average selling prices of memory chips.
Goldman estimates that prices of 32 GB server DRAM modules have increased from $300 in January to almost $315 now, setting the stage for Micron to report strong second-quarter results on March 22. Thus I won't be surprised if Micron beats consensus estimates and issues sunny guidance.
Image source: Getty Images.
Wall Street expects Micron's second-quarter revenue to jump 56% year over year to $7.28 billion. What's more, its earnings are expected to more than triple to $2.74 per share. These estimates are right in line with the memory specialist'srecently updated guidance.
Micron was originally expecting earnings of $2.58 per share on $7 billion in revenue, but consistently strong DRAM pricing and demand through the second quarter encouraged it to boost its estimates. Industry sources believe that DRAM prices will increase 3%-5% sequentially during the first calendar quarter of 2018, while demand will remain robust thanks to the growing DRAM content in smartphones and data centers.
However, investors will be more concerned with Micron's outlook to get a clear insight into the health of the memory market.
The dynamics of the DRAM market are expected to remain favorable, with prices expected to rise as much as 10% through the first half of 2018 on the back of strong end-market demand. For instance, the DRAM content in smartphones jumped 33.4% to an average of 3.2 GB last year, according to DRAMeXchange.
Smartphone original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are expected to pack their devices with more memory this year.Samsung, for instance, has equipped its latest flagship smartphones with 4 GB and 6 GB RAM configurations. Meanwhile, Chinese smartphone company OnePlus' latest flagship phone comes in two variants, which pack 6 GB and 8 GB of RAM.
So, the mobile DRAM market should keep expanding this year. In addition, server DRAM will also witness strong demand as data centers will need more memory to store and process the data generated by artificial intelligence and Internet of Things-related applications. As such, it isn't surprising to see DRAMeXchange estimates that DRAM sales will rise 30% this year to $96 billion, which bodes well for Micron.
More importantly, Micron forecasts that demand for automotive and server-related DRAM will outpace the growth of the broader DRAM industry, which is expected to clock a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20%-25% for the next few years.
However, these aren't the only catalysts for Micron. The company is going aggressively after the NAND flash market as well, as evident from its recently launched mobile 3D NAND solutions. The chipmaker is targeting flagship devices with this product line, which comes in 256 GB, 128 GB, and 64 GB capacities.
Micron believes that built-in storage in smartphones will grow rapidly thanks to emerging tech trends such as artificial intelligence. Counterpoint Research estimates that average NAND flash storage capacity in smartphones will increase to 60 GB by the end of the year. Looking ahead, Micron forecasts that flagship smartphones could have as much as a terabyte of storage capacity by 2021 as they will store and process more data on the device itself.
In the end, it looks like Micron's growth isn't going to stop anytime soon. I expect another beat-and-raise announcement from Micron when its second-quarter results come out next week.
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Harsh Chauhanhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Thiel: I would bet on bitcoin as the 'online equivalent of gold': Billionaire venture capitalist and entrepreneur Peter Thiel sees bitcoin (BTC) as the only cryptocurrency worth betting on.
“I’m not exactly sure whether I would encourage people to run outright nowand buy these cryptocurrencies,” Thiel said at a recent event hosted by the Economic Club of New York. “But, the technology that people like to talk about is the blockchain technology. I’m somewhat skeptical about how well that translates into good investments. But the one use case of cryptocurrency of a store of value may actually have quite a bit of a way to go.”
Thiel added that he’s long bitcoin and “neutral to skeptical” about most everything else with “a few possible exceptions.”
His view is that there’s going to be one cryptocurrency that will be the equivalent of gold. That will most likely be bitcoin, according to Thiel. Currently, there’s about $200 billion worth of bitcoin and $8 trillion worth of gold.
“My bet is there will be one online equivalent of gold. I would bet on the biggest.”
Bitcoin, like gold, can be used as a hedge to the “whole world falling apart,” he said.
“The question about something like bitcoin is whether it can become a new store of value. And, I think the thing it would replace is something like gold,” Thiel said. “We’re not talking about a new payments system. It’s too cumbersome to use for payments for day-to-day transactions, but the analogy is it’s like bars of gold in a vault that never moves.”
He added that bitcoin is “bubble-like,” but that doesn’t rebut the use case of bitcoin as a store of value.
“There are all these elements that remind me of 99/2000 that make me nervous. It’s people playing fast and loose with ICO rules just like the IPOs of the dot-com bubble. You have sort of the crazy promoter-type people, where the people who exaggerate beat the people with a normal plan and then they get beaten by the people who exaggerate a lot. So there are a lot of very crazy, unhealthy dynamics,” Thiel said. “At the same time, it still strikes me as deeply contrarian.”
One thing that’s different this time is that there are virtually no Wall Street analysts pushing bitcoin. Whereas during the dot-com bubble, there were a lot of analysts covering tech stocks.
• Julia La Roche is a finance reporter at Yahoo Finance.Follow her on Twitter.PayPal CEO: ‘Checkout is like a vestigial organ of yesterday’George Soros says Facebook’s days are ‘numbered’Thiel: If Trump runs again, he’ll be re-electedThiel: The vast majority of capital I give companies is just going to landlords || Peter Thiel: Bitcoin, like gold, can be used as a hedge to the 'whole world falling apart': Billionaire venture capitalist and entrepreneur Peter Thiel sees bitcoin ( BTC ) as the only cryptocurrency worth betting on. Im not exactly sure whether I would encourage people to run out right now and buy these cryptocurrencies, Thiel said at a recent event hosted by the Economic Club of New York. But, the technology that people like to talk about is the blockchain technology. Im somewhat skeptical about how well that translates into good investments. But the one use case of cryptocurrency of a store of value may actually have quite a bit of a way to go. Thiel added that hes long bitcoin and neutral to skeptical about most everything else with a few possible exceptions. His view is that theres going to be one cryptocurrency that will be the equivalent of gold. That will most likely be bitcoin, according to Thiel. Currently, theres about $200 billion worth of bitcoin and $8 trillion worth of gold. My bet is there will be one online equivalent of gold. I would bet on the biggest. Billionaire investor Peter Thiel discusses the future of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology at the Economic Club of New York. Bitcoin, like gold, can be used as a hedge to the whole world falling apart, he said. The question about something like bitcoin is whether it can become a new store of value. And, I think the thing it would replace is something like gold, Thiel said. Were not talking about a new payments system. Its too cumbersome to use for payments for day-to-day transactions, but the analogy is its like bars of gold in a vault that never moves. He added that bitcoin is bubble-like, but that doesnt rebut the use case of bitcoin as a store of value. There are all these elements that remind me of 99/2000 that make me nervous. Its people playing fast and loose with ICO rules just like the IPOs of the dot-com bubble. You have sort of the crazy promoter-type people, where the people who exaggerate beat the people with a normal plan and then they get beaten by the people who exaggerate a lot. So there are a lot of very crazy, unhealthy dynamics, Thiel said. At the same time, it still strikes me as deeply contrarian. One thing thats different this time is that there are virtually no Wall Street analysts pushing bitcoin. Whereas during the dot-com bubble, there were a lot of analysts covering tech stocks. Julia La Roche is a finance reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter. PayPal CEO: Checkout is like a vestigial organ of yesterday George Soros says Facebooks days are numbered Thiel: If Trump runs again, hell be re-elected Thiel: The vast majority of capital I give companies is just going to landlords || Analyst Predicts Bitcoin Price Drop to $2,800 This Year: Bitcoin’s pending “death cross” has left investors worried and confused.
According to a graph posted byBloomberg, the 50-day moving average is getting close to the 200-day moving average. If it touches the latter, or worse, goes below it, bitcoin will suffer a great loss.
Considering these trends and comparing these activities to BTC’s price in 2013, technical analyst Paul Day from Market Securities Dubai Ltd., has claimed that the value will eventually drop to $2,800. “There’s been a definitive shift over the past couple of months after the bubble activity at the end of 2017,” said Day.
2013 is often remembered as one of theworst crashesin BTC history. First, the price dropped from $233 to $67 in April, a 71% drop in 12 hours, then the price remained extremely volatile in the last two months. It broke records on Nov. 30, 2013 with a value of $1,126, but declined by 19% within 24 hours, only to recover on Dec. 5, 2013 to $1,155. The price kept decreasing by 41% and increasing by 47%, before dropping to a surprising value of $503 on Dec. 19, 2013. From an all time high of the first week of December, the price had declined by 56%. The price drop was such that it took bitcoin over three years to finally cross the $1,000 barrier again.
Day isn’t the only analyst predicting a low value for bitcoin in the future.Robert Sluymer, technical strategist at Fundstrat Global Advisors, wrote that “Bitcoin will begin to show evidence of bottoming short-term closer to $5,873.”Charlie Munger, Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., has openly called bitcoin “a noxious poison”. Munger also called it disgusting and said that he hated it ever since it was created.
Meanwhile, bitcoin bullJohn Mcafeepredicted that the price will reach $1 million by the year 2020. Even Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase’s chairman and CEO, who previously called BTC a ‘bubble’ has amended his statements. “I regret making comments saying Bitcoin is a fraud. The blockchain is real. You can have crypto yen and dollars and stuff like that, ” said Dimon.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
The postAnalyst Predicts Bitcoin Price Drop to $2,800 This Yearappeared first onCCN. || Analyst Predicts Bitcoin Price Drop to $2,800 This Year: Bitcoin’s pending “death cross” has left investors worried and confused.
According to a graph posted byBloomberg, the 50-day moving average is getting close to the 200-day moving average. If it touches the latter, or worse, goes below it, bitcoin will suffer a great loss.
Considering these trends and comparing these activities to BTC’s price in 2013, technical analyst Paul Day from Market Securities Dubai Ltd., has claimed that the value will eventually drop to $2,800. “There’s been a definitive shift over the past couple of months after the bubble activity at the end of 2017,” said Day.
2013 is often remembered as one of theworst crashesin BTC history. First, the price dropped from $233 to $67 in April, a 71% drop in 12 hours, then the price remained extremely volatile in the last two months. It broke records on Nov. 30, 2013 with a value of $1,126, but declined by 19% within 24 hours, only to recover on Dec. 5, 2013 to $1,155. The price kept decreasing by 41% and increasing by 47%, before dropping to a surprising value of $503 on Dec. 19, 2013. From an all time high of the first week of December, the price had declined by 56%. The price drop was such that it took bitcoin over three years to finally cross the $1,000 barrier again.
Day isn’t the only analyst predicting a low value for bitcoin in the future.Robert Sluymer, technical strategist at Fundstrat Global Advisors, wrote that “Bitcoin will begin to show evidence of bottoming short-term closer to $5,873.”Charlie Munger, Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., has openly called bitcoin “a noxious poison”. Munger also called it disgusting and said that he hated it ever since it was created.
Meanwhile, bitcoin bullJohn Mcafeepredicted that the price will reach $1 million by the year 2020. Even Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase’s chairman and CEO, who previously called BTC a ‘bubble’ has amended his statements. “I regret making comments saying Bitcoin is a fraud. The blockchain is real. You can have crypto yen and dollars and stuff like that, ” said Dimon.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
The postAnalyst Predicts Bitcoin Price Drop to $2,800 This Yearappeared first onCCN. || What Happened in the Stock Market Today: Stocks climbed on Friday as investors weighed encouraging economic data against continued political turmoil in Washington. According to a report from the Federal Reserve this morning, industrial production climbed a stronger-than-expected 1.1% in the month of February -- the metric's highest growth in four months. Still, investors were rattled by reports that Donald Trump is preparing to oust his national security advisor, H.R. McMaster, with the commander in chief hinting that more turnover is likely in the near future. "There will always be change, and I think you want to see change," Trump stated to reporters yesterday. "I want to also see different ideas." The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI) extended yesterday's gains, while a more modest rise from the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) helped the widely followed index break its four-day losing streak . Today's stock market Index Percentage Change Point Change Dow 0.29% 72.85 S&P 500 0.17% 4.68 Data source: Yahoo! Finance. Oil stocks enjoyed a more pronounced rise after a significant drop in U.S. gasoline stockpiles countered a larger-than-expected increase in U.S. crude supplies, leaving the SPDR S&P; Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (NYSEMKT: XOP) up 1.3%. Meanwhile, industrial stocks continued to climb, with the Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEMKT: XLI) increasing 0.5%. As for individual stocks, earnings news sent shares of Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK) and Jabil Circuit (NYSE: JBL) in different directions today. Wall Street sign with three American flags in the background. Image source: Getty Images. Overstock underwhelms Falling as much as 16.4% early today, shares of Overstock.com partially recovered to close down 5.2% after the e-commerce and blockchain specialist posted disappointing fiscal fourth-quarter 2017 results and warned investors of a new SEC investigation. Overstock's quarterly revenue fell 13% year over year to $456.3 million -- far below expectations for $526.2 million -- which translated to a pre-tax loss of $24.9 million. Story continues CEO Patrick Byrne noted that the company continues to seek strategic alternatives for its e-commerce operations, including a potential sale of the segment. It faces significant margin pressure on the e-commerce side from rival Wayfair , which incurred its own pre-tax loss of $244 million last year. As such, Byrne says Overstock will finally "respond in kind [by] adopting the classic internet 'growth strategy' I have previously eschewed: high growth, negative GAAP net income, funded out of our negative cash conversion cycle." In the meantime, Overstock says its blockchain enterprises operating under the Medici Ventures moniker are "progressing nicely." During the subsequent conference call, however, management warned that in February, the SEC informed the company it is conducting an investigation into its planned tZERO security token offering. Overstock didn't elaborate on the purpose of the investigation, noting it's in the process of providing the SEC with requested documents and will cooperate fully. But it also warned that the development may result in a delay of the offering and negative publicity surrounding its cryptocurrency initiatives. Jabil supplies a solid quarter Shares of Jabil climbed 10.1% to end the week after the electronics manufacturing services and supply announced better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter 2018 results. Quarterly revenue grew 19.2% year over year to $5.3 billion, while adjusted earnings jumped 37.5% to $0.66 per share. Both figures compared favorably to Jabil's most recent guidance, which called for adjusted earnings per share in the range of $0.50 to $0.74 on revenue of $4.75 billion to $5.05 billion. "I'm pleased with the results of our second quarter," stated CEO Mark Mondello, "which was characterized by strong revenue growth, core operating income expansion and healthy cash flow generation." What's more, for its fiscal third quarter Jabil expects revenue of $4.75 billion to $5.05 billion, and adjusted earnings per share of $0.35 to $0.55. Analysts were only modeling earnings of $0.29 per share on revenue of $4.8 billion. There was little not to like about this straightforward quarterly beat from Jabil, so it's no surprise to see the stock revisiting its 52-week high in response. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Steve Symington has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends W. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || What Happened in the Stock Market Today: Stocks climbed on Friday as investors weighed encouraging economic data against continued political turmoil in Washington. According to a report from the Federal Reserve this morning, industrial production climbed a stronger-than-expected 1.1% in the month of February -- the metric's highest growth in four months. Still, investors were rattled by reports that Donald Trump is preparing to oust his national security advisor, H.R. McMaster, with the commander in chief hinting that more turnover is likely in the near future. "There will always be change, and I think you want to see change," Trump stated to reporters yesterday. "I want to also see different ideas." The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI) extended yesterday's gains, while a more modest rise from the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) helped the widely followed index break its four-day losing streak . Today's stock market Index Percentage Change Point Change Dow 0.29% 72.85 S&P 500 0.17% 4.68 Data source: Yahoo! Finance. Oil stocks enjoyed a more pronounced rise after a significant drop in U.S. gasoline stockpiles countered a larger-than-expected increase in U.S. crude supplies, leaving the SPDR S&P; Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (NYSEMKT: XOP) up 1.3%. Meanwhile, industrial stocks continued to climb, with the Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEMKT: XLI) increasing 0.5%. As for individual stocks, earnings news sent shares of Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK) and Jabil Circuit (NYSE: JBL) in different directions today. Wall Street sign with three American flags in the background. Image source: Getty Images. Overstock underwhelms Falling as much as 16.4% early today, shares of Overstock.com partially recovered to close down 5.2% after the e-commerce and blockchain specialist posted disappointing fiscal fourth-quarter 2017 results and warned investors of a new SEC investigation. Overstock's quarterly revenue fell 13% year over year to $456.3 million -- far below expectations for $526.2 million -- which translated to a pre-tax loss of $24.9 million. Story continues CEO Patrick Byrne noted that the company continues to seek strategic alternatives for its e-commerce operations, including a potential sale of the segment. It faces significant margin pressure on the e-commerce side from rival Wayfair , which incurred its own pre-tax loss of $244 million last year. As such, Byrne says Overstock will finally "respond in kind [by] adopting the classic internet 'growth strategy' I have previously eschewed: high growth, negative GAAP net income, funded out of our negative cash conversion cycle." In the meantime, Overstock says its blockchain enterprises operating under the Medici Ventures moniker are "progressing nicely." During the subsequent conference call, however, management warned that in February, the SEC informed the company it is conducting an investigation into its planned tZERO security token offering. Overstock didn't elaborate on the purpose of the investigation, noting it's in the process of providing the SEC with requested documents and will cooperate fully. But it also warned that the development may result in a delay of the offering and negative publicity surrounding its cryptocurrency initiatives. Jabil supplies a solid quarter Shares of Jabil climbed 10.1% to end the week after the electronics manufacturing services and supply announced better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter 2018 results. Quarterly revenue grew 19.2% year over year to $5.3 billion, while adjusted earnings jumped 37.5% to $0.66 per share. Both figures compared favorably to Jabil's most recent guidance, which called for adjusted earnings per share in the range of $0.50 to $0.74 on revenue of $4.75 billion to $5.05 billion. "I'm pleased with the results of our second quarter," stated CEO Mark Mondello, "which was characterized by strong revenue growth, core operating income expansion and healthy cash flow generation." What's more, for its fiscal third quarter Jabil expects revenue of $4.75 billion to $5.05 billion, and adjusted earnings per share of $0.35 to $0.55. Analysts were only modeling earnings of $0.29 per share on revenue of $4.8 billion. There was little not to like about this straightforward quarterly beat from Jabil, so it's no surprise to see the stock revisiting its 52-week high in response. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Steve Symington has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends W. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || 3 High-Yield Stocks Still Worth Buying: Dividend stocks have been shown to be one of the surest ways to generate wealth over time, while also creating a recurring income stream. Investors seeking to achieve this goal, however, may end up chasing stocks with higher yields, which can sometimes be a mistake. A larger payout can be caused by a plummeting stock price, which could reveal difficulties in the underlying business. This can lead to a company cutting or suspending unsustainable payouts. That doesn't mean that all high-yield stocks are risky. With that in mind, we asked three Motley Fool investors to choose top companies with high payouts that still offer a measure of safety. They offered up convincing arguments for Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) , Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (NYSE: ETP) , and National Retail Properties, Inc. (NYSE: NNN) . Young business woman drawing risk/reward graph. Image source: Getty Images. Safer than it looks Daniel Miller (Ford Motor Company) : When investors see a dividend yield approaching 6%, it often sends a red flag. A common reason for such a high dividend yield is that the stock price has been pummeled by Wall Street pessimism, which inflated the dividend yield. That's true for Ford Motor Company, which sports a 5.6% dividend yield thanks to its slowing sales in North America and China, coupled with increasing investments for autonomous and electrified vehicles. Those headwinds are certainly real and part of the reason CEO Jim Hackett took over in 2017. But what investors need to better understand is that while many higher dividend yields are risky, Ford has always planned for its dividend to be sustainable so management wouldn't have to cut the dividend, even during down cycles. 2019 Ford Ranger speeding down two-lane highway. Image source: Ford. One major factor that makes Ford's dividend sustainable is its decision to pay an annual supplemental dividend rather than a permanent dividend raise. In 2015 Ford, paid a one-time supplemental dividend of $0.25 per share -- for context, Ford's current annual dividend is $0.60 -- followed by a $0.05 and $0.13 payout in 2016 and 2017, respectively. Those supplemental payments will depend on the profitability of Ford in the given year, enabling management to reward shareholders during the good times and save cash during the bad. Story continues As my colleague John Rosevear points out, today's Ford is in a much better position to sail through a deep recession and still pay the dividend. And while Ford's near 6% dividend yield looks risky -- and sounds risky considering the industry cycle is peaking -- management has always planned for this dividend to stay where it is. Right now, that makes Ford's 5.6% dividend yield worth buying as an income play. A risk worth taking John Bromels (Energy Transfer Partners) If high yields are indicators of high risk, then Energy Transfer Partners' 12.4% yield ought to be an indicator of astronomical risk! But for this energy infrastructure MLP , the risk appears substantially lower than it did a few months ago, which may make this the time to buy in before the market catches on. Energy Transfer Partners, which operates more than 71,000 miles of pipelines across the U.S. -- including the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline -- has a well-established yield and a history of increasing it regularly. In fact, the company has never cut its quarterly distribution, increasing it instead almost every quarter since the company went public in 2002. That's one heck of a record of commitment to increasing value for unitholders. Oil pipeline with refinery in the distance. Image source: Getty Images. The market, though, has been concerned about the partnership's balance sheet, which is is awash in debt , and its distribution coverage, which was very thin for much of last year. However, in its most recent Q4 2017 earnings report, the company posted a distribution coverage ratio of 1.3 times, which is a very comfortable margin. The company also has taken some concrete steps to pay down more expensive debt through asset sales and take on less expensive debt in return, which has cleaned up its balance sheet somewhat -- so the risks seem much more remote. Even if the worst happened and the company's yield were, say, halved, Energy Transfer Partners would still yield more than many of its peers. Investors should be aware that there are some additional tax reporting requirements for MLP unitholders, which can make them a poor choice for some portfolios. But if that doesn't bother you, you'd be hard-pressed to find this high a yield for this moderate a risk. High-yield without the risk Danny Vena (National Retail Properties): The changing landscape brought on by the advent of e-commerce has made investors leery of brick-and-mortar retail, and sent them fleeing from anything having to do with shopping malls. This has resulted in plunging stock prices for a number of real estate investment trusts (REIT) involved in the space. Companies with this special tax structure are required to pay out 90% of the income in the form of dividends. Investors have been known, however, to "throw out the baby with the bathwater," and National Retail Properties is a classic case of that. The company has seen its stock price plunge over e-commerce fears, falling nearly 28% from highs reached in mid-2016. These concerns are unfounded and belie the actual nature of the company's business. Gas station and convenience store illuminated at night. Image source: Getty Images. National Retail Properties has a diverse group of retail locations that aren't likely candidates for disruption by e-commerce. The properties in its portfolio include gas stations, convenience stores, restaurants, automotive service locations, fitness centers, car washes, and movie theaters. These businesses can't be replicated with online purchases, making them largely immune to the effects that are being experienced by many retailers. The company invests in single-tenant retail buildings -- not malls -- that have automatic rent increases built into the contracts, which typically run between 15 and 20 years. Tenants are also required to pay the recurring costs of property ownership, like taxes, utilities, and insurance. A diverse portfolio of 2,764 properties in 48 states helps diversify any risk, and the company has an occupancy rate of 99.1%, and hasn't fallen below 96.4% since 2003. National Retail Properties boasts a current yield of 4.9%, nearly three times that of the S&P 500. The company also is a Dividend Aristocrat , having increased its payout for 28 years running. The combination of high-yield, built-in income increases and a long history of payouts make this company the perfect high-yield stock. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Daniel Miller owns shares of Ford. Danny Vena has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. John Bromels owns shares of Ford. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Ford. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || 3 High-Yield Stocks Still Worth Buying: Dividend stocks have been shown to be one of the surest ways to generate wealth over time, while also creating a recurring income stream. Investors seeking to achieve this goal, however, may end up chasing stocks with higher yields, which can sometimes be a mistake. A larger payout can be caused by a plummeting stock price, which could reveal difficulties in the underlying business. This can lead to a company cutting or suspending unsustainable payouts.
That doesn't mean that all high-yield stocks are risky. With that in mind, we asked three Motley Fool investors to choose top companies with high payouts that still offer a measure of safety. They offered up convincing arguments forFord Motor Company(NYSE: F),Energy Transfer Partners, L.P.(NYSE: ETP), andNational Retail Properties, Inc.(NYSE: NNN).
Image source: Getty Images.
Daniel Miller(Ford Motor Company): When investors see a dividend yield approaching 6%, it often sends a red flag. A common reason for such a high dividend yield is that the stock price has been pummeled by Wall Street pessimism, which inflated the dividend yield. That's true for Ford Motor Company, which sports a 5.6% dividend yield thanks to its slowing sales in North America and China, coupled with increasing investments for autonomous and electrified vehicles.
Those headwinds are certainly real and part of the reason CEO Jim Hackett took over in 2017. But what investors need to better understand is that while many higher dividend yields are risky, Ford has always planned for its dividend to be sustainable so management wouldn't have to cut the dividend, even during down cycles.
Image source: Ford.
One major factor that makes Ford's dividend sustainable is its decision to pay an annual supplemental dividend rather than a permanent dividend raise. In 2015 Ford, paid a one-time supplemental dividend of $0.25 per share -- for context, Ford's current annual dividend is $0.60 -- followed by a $0.05 and $0.13 payout in 2016 and 2017, respectively. Those supplemental payments will depend on the profitability of Ford in the given year, enabling management to reward shareholders during the good times and save cash during the bad.
As my colleague John Rosevear points out, today's Ford is in amuch better position to sail through a deep recessionand still pay the dividend. And while Ford's near 6% dividend yield looks risky -- and sounds risky considering the industry cycle is peaking -- management has always planned for this dividend to stay where it is. Right now, that makes Ford's 5.6% dividend yield worth buying as an income play.
John Bromels(Energy Transfer Partners)If high yields are indicators of high risk, then Energy Transfer Partners' 12.4% yield ought to be an indicator of astronomical risk! But for this energy infrastructureMLP, the risk appears substantially lower than it did a few months ago, which may make this the time to buy in before the market catches on.
Energy Transfer Partners, which operates more than 71,000 miles of pipelines across the U.S. -- including the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline -- has a well-established yield and a history of increasing it regularly. In fact, the company has never cut its quarterly distribution, increasing it instead almost every quarter since the company went public in 2002. That's one heck of a record of commitment to increasing value for unitholders.
Image source: Getty Images.
The market, though, has been concerned about the partnership's balance sheet, which is isawash in debt, and its distribution coverage, which was very thin for much of last year. However, in its most recent Q4 2017 earnings report, the company posted a distribution coverage ratio of 1.3 times, which is a very comfortable margin.
The company also has taken someconcrete stepsto pay down more expensive debt through asset sales and take on less expensive debt in return, which has cleaned up its balance sheet somewhat -- so the risks seem much more remote. Even if the worst happened and the company's yield were, say, halved, Energy Transfer Partners would still yield more than many of its peers.
Investors should be aware that there are some additional tax reporting requirements for MLP unitholders, which can make them a poor choice for some portfolios. But if that doesn't bother you, you'd be hard-pressed to find this high a yield for this moderate a risk.
Danny Vena(National Retail Properties):The changing landscape brought on by the advent of e-commerce has made investors leery of brick-and-mortar retail, and sent them fleeing from anything having to do with shopping malls. This has resulted in plunging stock prices for a number ofreal estate investment trusts(REIT) involved in the space. Companies with this special tax structure are required to pay out 90% of the income in the form of dividends.
Investors have been known, however, to "throw out the baby with the bathwater," and National Retail Properties is a classic case of that. The company has seen its stock price plunge over e-commerce fears, falling nearly 28% from highs reached in mid-2016. These concerns are unfounded and belie the actual nature of the company's business.
Image source: Getty Images.
National Retail Properties has a diverse group of retail locations that aren't likely candidates for disruption by e-commerce. The properties in its portfolio include gas stations, convenience stores, restaurants, automotive service locations, fitness centers, car washes, and movie theaters. These businesses can't be replicated with online purchases, making them largely immune to the effects that are being experienced by many retailers.
The company invests in single-tenant retail buildings -- not malls -- that have automatic rent increases built into the contracts, which typically run between 15 and 20 years. Tenants are also required to pay the recurring costs of property ownership, like taxes, utilities, and insurance.
A diverse portfolio of 2,764 properties in 48 states helps diversify any risk, and the company has an occupancy rate of 99.1%, and hasn't fallen below 96.4% since 2003.
National Retail Properties boasts a current yield of 4.9%, nearly three times that of the S&P 500. The company also is aDividend Aristocrat, having increased its payout for 28 years running.
The combination of high-yield, built-in income increases and a long history of payouts make this company the perfect high-yield stock.
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• 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing
• 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today
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• Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This
Daniel Millerowns shares of Ford.Danny Venahas no position in any of the stocks mentioned.John Bromelsowns shares of Ford. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Ford. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Billionaire Investor Peter Thiel Touts Bitcoin as Digital Gold: The billionaire venture capitalist is doubling down on BTC, likening the digital coin to gold’s online equal.
Thiel touts the No. 1 cryptocurrency for its size and its ability to compete with gold as a safe haven, saying at the Economic Club of New York:
“I would be long bitcoin, and neutral to skeptical of just about everything else at this point with a few possible exceptions. There will be one online equivalent to gold, and the one you’d bet on would be the biggest,” said Thiel.
But with the exception of a few digital coins, Thiel remains neutral on the rest of the cryptocurrency pack. He didn’t dismiss the possibility that bitcoin could be surpassed by Ethereum or other altcoins that prey on the leading cryptocurrency’s weaknesses, but bitcoin’s strength is in its size.
Bitcoin controls more than 40% of cryptocurrency market cap compared to almost one-fifth for Ethereum, as per Coin Market Cap data cited in CNBC.
The PayPal founder and Facebook’s maiden major investor was clear that the direction he sees bitcoin headed in is as a store of value, not payments, the latter of which he characterized as a “cumbersome” application.
“I’m not talking about a new payments system. It’s like bars of gold in a vault that never move, and it’s a sort of hedge of sorts against the whole world going falling apart.”
Similar to how Thiel believes in theory No. 2 Ethereum could overtake No. 1 bitcoin, it’s not likely to happen, just as silver has not managed to overtake leading asset class gold.
Meanwhile, Thiel’s bullish BTC prediction isn’t a slam dunk, with him placing the odds of bitcoin becoming worthless at between 50% and 80% compared to a 20% to 50% likelihood that the BTC price advances, falling short of providing any timeline for his theory.
“Probability weighted it’s good, and the question of how to time this I’m not going to try to do that precisely,” Thiel said.
But don’t let the percentages scare you, as Thiel’s venture capital firm Founders Fund has been scooping up BTC for the past six years. In fact, his firm has amassed between USD 15 million and USD 20 million in bitcoin during that time,” according to reports.
The timing of Thiel’s prediction for bitcoin as a hedge for Armageddon was furtuitous after just a few days ago the hatch on a cargo plane in Russia somehowopened and spilledthree tons of physical gold bars worth a reported USD 378 million onto a runway in Russia. Perhaps the universe is trying to say something.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
The postBillionaire Investor Peter Thiel Touts Bitcoin as Digital Goldappeared first onCCN. || Billionaire Investor Peter Thiel Touts Bitcoin as Digital Gold: The billionaire venture capitalist is doubling down on BTC, likening the digital coin to gold’s online equal.
Thiel touts the No. 1 cryptocurrency for its size and its ability to compete with gold as a safe haven, saying at the Economic Club of New York:
“I would be long bitcoin, and neutral to skeptical of just about everything else at this point with a few possible exceptions. There will be one online equivalent to gold, and the one you’d bet on would be the biggest,” said Thiel.
But with the exception of a few digital coins, Thiel remains neutral on the rest of the cryptocurrency pack. He didn’t dismiss the possibility that bitcoin could be surpassed by Ethereum or other altcoins that prey on the leading cryptocurrency’s weaknesses, but bitcoin’s strength is in its size.
Bitcoin controls more than 40% of cryptocurrency market cap compared to almost one-fifth for Ethereum, as per Coin Market Cap data cited in CNBC.
The PayPal founder and Facebook’s maiden major investor was clear that the direction he sees bitcoin headed in is as a store of value, not payments, the latter of which he characterized as a “cumbersome” application.
“I’m not talking about a new payments system. It’s like bars of gold in a vault that never move, and it’s a sort of hedge of sorts against the whole world going falling apart.”
Similar to how Thiel believes in theory No. 2 Ethereum could overtake No. 1 bitcoin, it’s not likely to happen, just as silver has not managed to overtake leading asset class gold.
Meanwhile, Thiel’s bullish BTC prediction isn’t a slam dunk, with him placing the odds of bitcoin becoming worthless at between 50% and 80% compared to a 20% to 50% likelihood that the BTC price advances, falling short of providing any timeline for his theory.
“Probability weighted it’s good, and the question of how to time this I’m not going to try to do that precisely,” Thiel said.
But don’t let the percentages scare you, as Thiel’s venture capital firm Founders Fund has been scooping up BTC for the past six years. In fact, his firm has amassed between USD 15 million and USD 20 million in bitcoin during that time,” according to reports.
The timing of Thiel’s prediction for bitcoin as a hedge for Armageddon was furtuitous after just a few days ago the hatch on a cargo plane in Russia somehowopened and spilledthree tons of physical gold bars worth a reported USD 378 million onto a runway in Russia. Perhaps the universe is trying to say something.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
The postBillionaire Investor Peter Thiel Touts Bitcoin as Digital Goldappeared first onCCN. || Why Kodak Stock Is Surging Today: Shares ofKodak(NYSE: KODK)jumped on Friday following the imaging company's fourth-quarter report. The stock rocketed higher earlier this year when Kodak announcedblockchain and cryptocurrency-related initiatives. Much of those gains have since disappeared, but an optimistic full-year outlook from the company seems to be helping the stock regain some lost ground. Shares of Kodak were up about 11.1% at 1:15 p.m. EDT.
Kodak reported fourth-quarter revenue of $414 million, down 4.2% year over year. Here's how each of its divisions fared:
[{"Division": "Print systems", "Q4 Revenue": "$261 million", "Year-Over-Year Change": "(6.5%)"}, {"Division": "Enterprise inkjet systems", "Q4 Revenue": "$39 million", "Year-Over-Year Change": "(9.3%)"}, {"Division": "Flexographic packaging", "Q4 Revenue": "$41 million", "Year-Over-Year Change": "20.6%"}, {"Division": "Software and solutions", "Q4 Revenue": "$21 million", "Year-Over-Year Change": "(12.5%)"}, {"Division": "Consumer and film", "Q4 Revenue": "$47 million", "Year-Over-Year Change": "0%"}, {"Division": "Advanced materials and 3D", "Q4 Revenue": "$1 million", "Year-Over-Year Change": "0%"}, {"Division": "Eastman Business Park", "Q4 Revenue": "$4 million", "Year-Over-Year Change": "0%"}]
Data source: Kodak.
Net income came in at $129 million, up from $10 million in the prior-year period. A tax benefit of $101 million due to the release of a valuation allowance was responsible for the bulk of the increase. OperationalEBITDAon a constant currency basis was $15 million, down from $43 million in the prior-year period.
Looking forward, Kodak expects 2018 revenue between $1.5 billion and $1.6 billion, and operational EBITDA between $60 million and $70 million. Those numbers compare to $1.53 billion of revenue and $57 million of operational EBITDA in 2017.
Image source: Kodak.
Kodak made no mention of its blockchain or cryptocurrency initiatives in its earnings press release. The company's guidance called for revenue and operational EBITDA growth in 2018, which seems to be what's pushing up the stock on Friday. But with the stock price still elevated from levels prior to the company's cryptocurrency announcement, a crypto crash could derail the stock.
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• The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss
• Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This
Timothy Greenhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Why Kodak Stock Is Surging Today: What happened Shares of Kodak (NYSE: KODK) jumped on Friday following the imaging company's fourth-quarter report. The stock rocketed higher earlier this year when Kodak announced blockchain and cryptocurrency-related initiatives . Much of those gains have since disappeared, but an optimistic full-year outlook from the company seems to be helping the stock regain some lost ground. Shares of Kodak were up about 11.1% at 1:15 p.m. EDT. So what Kodak reported fourth-quarter revenue of $414 million, down 4.2% year over year. Here's how each of its divisions fared: Division Q4 Revenue Year-Over-Year Change Print systems $261 million (6.5%) Enterprise inkjet systems $39 million (9.3%) Flexographic packaging $41 million 20.6% Software and solutions $21 million (12.5%) Consumer and film $47 million 0% Advanced materials and 3D $1 million 0% Eastman Business Park $4 million 0% Data source: Kodak. Net income came in at $129 million, up from $10 million in the prior-year period. A tax benefit of $101 million due to the release of a valuation allowance was responsible for the bulk of the increase. Operational EBITDA on a constant currency basis was $15 million, down from $43 million in the prior-year period. Looking forward, Kodak expects 2018 revenue between $1.5 billion and $1.6 billion, and operational EBITDA between $60 million and $70 million. Those numbers compare to $1.53 billion of revenue and $57 million of operational EBITDA in 2017. Kodak ink cartridges. Image source: Kodak. Now what Kodak made no mention of its blockchain or cryptocurrency initiatives in its earnings press release. The company's guidance called for revenue and operational EBITDA growth in 2018, which seems to be what's pushing up the stock on Friday. But with the stock price still elevated from levels prior to the company's cryptocurrency announcement, a crypto crash could derail the stock. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Timothy Green has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Bitcoin is dangerously close to a 'death cross' formation that could send it tumbling: Reuters / Cheryl Ravelo-Gagalac
• Formerly red-hot bitcoin has seen a large drop from its record highs reached in December.
• The digital coin looks poised to trigger a bearish technical indicator known as a "death cross," which portends more selling to come.
• Goldman Sachs said earlier this week that bitcoin is at risk of taking out its February lows.
Bitcoinis flirting with disaster.
The formerly red-hotcryptocurrencyhas seen a precipitous decline from record highs reached in December. And the loss has gotten so pronounced that it's threatening to trigger the so-called "death cross," a bearish indicator used by technical analysts.
A death cross is achieved when an asset's short-term moving average falls below the long-term level, an occurrence that some analysts say portends a further downward move. In this case, we're looking at the 50-day average inching dangerously close to the 200-day.
Business Insider / Joe Ciolli, data from Bloomberg
Now before you run off and sell all of your bitcoin, note thattechnical analysislike this is intended to be used as complementary. Few traders make decisions based solely off technicals, while wise ones use it as one piece of a bigger investment puzzle.
This bearish signal on bitcoin matches a forecast made byGoldman Sachson March 11. The technical analysis team led by Sheba Jafariwarned further selling is on the horizon, citing the February low of $5,922 as potentially in jeopardy.
And while bitcoin hasn't yet re-tested those lows, the seemingly imminent death cross may give more technically-inclined investors reason enough to push it that far.
NOW WATCH:The surprising reason why NASA hasn't sent humans to Mars yet
See Also:
• 15 documentaries on Netflix that will make you smarter about business
• GOLDMAN SACHS: Stocks are at a key level and we expect 'one more leg to new lows'
• GOLDMAN SACHS WARNS: Risks are rising that bitcoin will fall through its February lows
SEE ALSO:Wall Street is expecting an M&A explosion this year — and Goldman Sachs knows how you can make a killing betting on it || Bitcoin is dangerously close to a 'death cross' formation that could send it tumbling: trader upset stock market crash Reuters / Cheryl Ravelo-Gagalac Formerly red-hot bitcoin has seen a large drop from its record highs reached in December. The digital coin looks poised to trigger a bearish technical indicator known as a "death cross," which portends more selling to come. Goldman Sachs said earlier this week that bitcoin is at risk of taking out its February lows. Bitcoin is flirting with disaster. The formerly red-hot cryptocurrency has seen a precipitous decline from record highs reached in December. And the loss has gotten so pronounced that it's threatening to trigger the so-called " death cross ," a bearish indicator used by technical analysts. A death cross is achieved when an asset's short-term moving average falls below the long-term level, an occurrence that some analysts say portends a further downward move. In this case, we're looking at the 50-day average inching dangerously close to the 200-day. Bitcoin death cross Business Insider / Joe Ciolli, data from Bloomberg Now before you run off and sell all of your bitcoin, note that technical analysis like this is intended to be used as complementary. Few traders make decisions based solely off technicals, while wise ones use it as one piece of a bigger investment puzzle. This bearish signal on bitcoin matches a forecast made by Goldman Sachs on March 11. The technical analysis team led by Sheba Jafari warned further selling is on the horizon , citing the February low of $5,922 as potentially in jeopardy. And while bitcoin hasn't yet re-tested those lows, the seemingly imminent death cross may give more technically-inclined investors reason enough to push it that far. NOW WATCH: The surprising reason why NASA hasn't sent humans to Mars yet See Also: 15 documentaries on Netflix that will make you smarter about business GOLDMAN SACHS: Stocks are at a key level and we expect 'one more leg to new lows' GOLDMAN SACHS WARNS: Risks are rising that bitcoin will fall through its February lows SEE ALSO: Wall Street is expecting an M&A explosion this year and Goldman Sachs knows how you can make a killing betting on it || Bitcoin is dangerously close to a 'death cross' formation that could send it tumbling: Reuters / Cheryl Ravelo-Gagalac
• Formerly red-hot bitcoin has seen a large drop from its record highs reached in December.
• The digital coin looks poised to trigger a bearish technical indicator known as a "death cross," which portends more selling to come.
• Goldman Sachs said earlier this week that bitcoin is at risk of taking out its February lows.
Bitcoinis flirting with disaster.
The formerly red-hotcryptocurrencyhas seen a precipitous decline from record highs reached in December. And the loss has gotten so pronounced that it's threatening to trigger the so-called "death cross," a bearish indicator used by technical analysts.
A death cross is achieved when an asset's short-term moving average falls below the long-term level, an occurrence that some analysts say portends a further downward move. In this case, we're looking at the 50-day average inching dangerously close to the 200-day.
Business Insider / Joe Ciolli, data from Bloomberg
Now before you run off and sell all of your bitcoin, note thattechnical analysislike this is intended to be used as complementary. Few traders make decisions based solely off technicals, while wise ones use it as one piece of a bigger investment puzzle.
This bearish signal on bitcoin matches a forecast made byGoldman Sachson March 11. The technical analysis team led by Sheba Jafariwarned further selling is on the horizon, citing the February low of $5,922 as potentially in jeopardy.
And while bitcoin hasn't yet re-tested those lows, the seemingly imminent death cross may give more technically-inclined investors reason enough to push it that far.
NOW WATCH:The surprising reason why NASA hasn't sent humans to Mars yet
See Also:
• 15 documentaries on Netflix that will make you smarter about business
• GOLDMAN SACHS: Stocks are at a key level and we expect 'one more leg to new lows'
• GOLDMAN SACHS WARNS: Risks are rising that bitcoin will fall through its February lows
SEE ALSO:Wall Street is expecting an M&A explosion this year — and Goldman Sachs knows how you can make a killing betting on it || U.S. court halts activities of four people in cryptocurrency schemes: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal court has halted the activities and frozen the assets of four people who allegedly promoted schemes falsely promising large returns for small payments of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, the Federal Trade Commission said on Friday. The FTC, which requested a temporary restraining order and asset freezes pending trial, said three "chain referral schemes" were marketed as bona-fide money-making opportunities via YouTube, social media, and conference calls. In reality they failed to deliver any returns or allow consumers to recoup their investments, the agency said. They were called Bitcoin Funding Team, My7Network and Jetcoin, according to the FTC. (Reporting by Washington Newsroom; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
[Social Media Buzz]
2018/03/17 12:00
#Binance 格安コイン
1位 #IOST 0.00000219 BTC(1.93円)
2位 #STORM 0.00000256 BTC(2.26円)
3位 #TNB 0.00000328 BTC(2.89円)
4位 #TRX 0.00000364 BTC(3.21円)
5位 #NCASH 0.00000371 BTC(3.27円)
#仮想通貨 #アルトコイン #草コイン || 2018-03-17 22:00:04 UTC
BTC: $7975.7
BCH: $958.15
ETH: $556.89
ZEC: $225.4
LTC: $154.22
ETC: $16.43
XRP: $0.6311 || 2018/03/17 23:00
#Binance 格安コイン
1位 #IOST 0.00000220 BTC(1.89円)
2位 #STORM 0.00000260 BTC(2.23円)
3位 #TNB 0.00000323 BTC(2.78円)
4位 #TRX 0.00000361 BTC(3.1円)
5位 #POE 0.000003...
|
8223.68, 8630.65, 8913.47, 8929.28, 8728.47, 8879.62, 8668.12, 8495.78, 8209.40, 7833.04
|
Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 435.51, 441.39, 449.42, 445.74, 450.28, 458.55, 461.43, 466.09, 444.69, 449.01, 455.10, 448.32, 451.88, 444.67, 450.30, 446.72, 447.98, 459.60, 458.54, 458.55, 460.48, 450.89, 452.73, 454.77, 455.67, 455.67, 457.57, 454.16, 453.78, 454.62, 438.71, 442.68, 443.19, 439.32, 444.15, 445.98, 449.60, 453.38, 473.46, 530.04, 526.23, 533.86, 531.39, 536.92, 537.97, 569.19, 572.73, 574.98, 585.54, 576.60, 581.65, 574.63, 577.47, 606.73, 672.78, 704.38, 685.56, 694.47, 766.31, 748.91, 756.23, 763.78, 737.23, 666.65, 596.12, 623.98, 665.30, 665.12, 629.37, 655.28, 647.00, 639.89, 673.34, 676.30, 703.70, 658.66, 683.66, 670.63, 677.33, 640.56, 666.52, 650.96, 649.36, 647.66, 664.55, 654.47, 658.08, 663.26, 660.77, 679.46.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2016-07-17]
Volume: 74407904, RSI (14-day): 55.51, 50-day EMA: 628.72, 200-day EMA: 501.14
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
SolidX Reveals Plan to Launch a Bitcoin ETF: Earlier this week, blockchain technology provider SolidX revealed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that is looking to launch an exchange traded fund based on the digital currency bitcoin.
“According to the S-1 filing, the trust will issue shares that represent units of ownership in the trust, with SolidX Management LLC acting as the custodian of bitcoin held by the trust. Bank of New York Mellon, in turn, will act as the administrator of the trust and custodian for its cash holdings,” reports Pete Rizzo for CoinDesk.
Related:Winkdex Bitcoin Index Debuts
The filing from SolidX was revealed just days after it was reported that the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, the highly anticipated exchange traded fund sponsored by twin brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, when it comes to market, will trade on the Bats ETF Marketplace. It was previously expected that the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust would trade on the Nasdaq.
Trending on ETF Trends
Grab Some Palladium Power With These ETFs
A Bright Precious Metals ETF Outlook
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Cotton ETN Grows on Tightening Inventories
Bitcoin is a type of decentralized digital currency based on a peer-to-peer network and can be exchanged through computers internationally without a financial intermediary. The system was first introduced by developer Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009.
The SolidX bitcoin offering, assuming it comes to market, will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker XBTC and will provide bitcoin pricing via the TradeBlock XBX Index.
“As noted by industry advocacy group Coin Center, a notable difference between the SolidX Bitcoin Trust and the competingWinklevoss Bitcoin Trustis that the former has secured insurance that would cover the loss or theft of bitcoins in the trust,” reports CoinDesk.
Related:Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF Will List on BATS
In February 2014, Winklevoss Capital launched the Winkdex, a bitcoin index that will eventually be used for a planned bitcoin ETF, “COIN,” which was first proposed in 2013 but is still waiting on regulatory approval.
Click hereto read the full story on ETF Trends. || SolidX Reveals Plan to Launch a Bitcoin ETF: Earlier this week, blockchain technology provider SolidX revealed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that is looking to launch an exchange traded fund based on the digital currency bitcoin. According to the S-1 filing, the trust will issue shares that represent units of ownership in the trust, with SolidX Management LLC acting as the custodian of bitcoin held by the trust. Bank of New York Mellon, in turn, will act as the administrator of the trust and custodian for its cash holdings, reports Pete Rizzo for CoinDesk. Related: Winkdex Bitcoin Index Debuts The filing from SolidX was revealed just days after it was reported that the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, the highly anticipated exchange traded fund sponsored by twin brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, when it comes to market, will trade on the Bats ETF Marketplace. It was previously expected that the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust would trade on the Nasdaq. Trending on ETF Trends Grab Some Palladium Power With These ETFs A Bright Precious Metals ETF Outlook Investors: Dont Overreact to Bearish Oil Calls Some Analysts See a New Oil Bull Market Cotton ETN Grows on Tightening Inventories Bitcoin is a type of decentralized digital currency based on a peer-to-peer network and can be exchanged through computers internationally without a financial intermediary. The system was first introduced by developer Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009. The SolidX bitcoin offering, assuming it comes to market, will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker XBTC and will provide bitcoin pricing via the TradeBlock XBX Index. As noted by industry advocacy group Coin Center, a notable difference between the SolidX Bitcoin Trust and the competing Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust is that the former has secured insurance that would cover the loss or theft of bitcoins in the trust, reports CoinDesk. Related: Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF Will List on BATS In February 2014, Winklevoss Capital launched the Winkdex, a bitcoin index that will eventually be used for a planned bitcoin ETF, COIN, which was first proposed in 2013 but is still waiting on regulatory approval. Click here to read the full story on ETF Trends. || SolidX Reveals Plan to Launch a Bitcoin ETF: Earlier this week, blockchain technology provider SolidX revealed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that is looking to launch an exchange traded fund based on the digital currency bitcoin.
“According to the S-1 filing, the trust will issue shares that represent units of ownership in the trust, with SolidX Management LLC acting as the custodian of bitcoin held by the trust. Bank of New York Mellon, in turn, will act as the administrator of the trust and custodian for its cash holdings,” reports Pete Rizzo for CoinDesk.
Related:Winkdex Bitcoin Index Debuts
The filing from SolidX was revealed just days after it was reported that the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, the highly anticipated exchange traded fund sponsored by twin brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, when it comes to market, will trade on the Bats ETF Marketplace. It was previously expected that the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust would trade on the Nasdaq.
Trending on ETF Trends
Grab Some Palladium Power With These ETFs
A Bright Precious Metals ETF Outlook
Investors: Don’t Overreact to Bearish Oil Calls
Some Analysts See a New Oil Bull Market
Cotton ETN Grows on Tightening Inventories
Bitcoin is a type of decentralized digital currency based on a peer-to-peer network and can be exchanged through computers internationally without a financial intermediary. The system was first introduced by developer Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009.
The SolidX bitcoin offering, assuming it comes to market, will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker XBTC and will provide bitcoin pricing via the TradeBlock XBX Index.
“As noted by industry advocacy group Coin Center, a notable difference between the SolidX Bitcoin Trust and the competingWinklevoss Bitcoin Trustis that the former has secured insurance that would cover the loss or theft of bitcoins in the trust,” reports CoinDesk.
Related:Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF Will List on BATS
In February 2014, Winklevoss Capital launched the Winkdex, a bitcoin index that will eventually be used for a planned bitcoin ETF, “COIN,” which was first proposed in 2013 but is still waiting on regulatory approval.
Click hereto read the full story on ETF Trends. || Understanding What Bitcoin & Gold Have In Common in Financial Markets: DailyFX.com -
Talking Points:
• Is It Time To Take Bitcoin Seriously?
• How Can Understanding Bitcoin Help Traders Interested In The Direction of Spot Gold?
• Following BTC/USD
“I’ve been working on a new electronic cash system that’s fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party.”
-Satoshi Nakamoto, November 1, 2008
To receive Tyler’s analysis directly via email, pleaseSIGN UP HERE
The cryptocurrency Bitcoin appears to be back in a big way. Calling Bitcoin (Trading View Ticker: BTCUSD) a cryptocurrency can be enough to make most people turn the page in search of a lighter read. However, a quick introduction can help you see how this innovative coin that is now ~7.5 years old has gone from a coder’s coin and known by only a few hobbyists to an asset class in a class of itself.
Is It Time To Take Bitcoin Seriously?
Only a handful of people have been following Bitcoin since the creator, Satoshi Nakamoto introduced and explained how and why Bitcoin could work first introduced the digital asset on the cryptography mail archive. However, now many people have at least heard of the Bitcoin though few fully grasp the implications of both commerce and financial markets if Bitcoin can hit the proverbial ‘Tipping Point.'
Regardless of whether or not we’ve hit the tipping point, it is worth taking Bitcoin seriously as it has not only stood the test of time, but the technology that is underlying BTC, the blockchain, has garnered the attention of Goldman Sachs, Citibank, JPMorgan, BNP Paribas and many more as the ‘Next Big Thing’ in Financial Markets. Developed markets with some of the most distraught monetary managers like Brazil have recently seen Bitcoin Trading surpass Gold trading per Cryptocoin News.
Make no mistake; some will call Bitcoin a fad who will fade away into the oblivion of Financial Innovation in a similar fate of Adjustable Rate Mortgages, while others will say the Bitcoin has and will continue to change everything. While I lay to closer to the ‘Change Everything’ extreme, it has yet to be fully adopted, and likely will not be fully adopted as a replacement of fiat currency for multiple reasons.
At the top of the list for reasons a developed economy would refuse to adopt Bitcoin over the local currency is that the global amount of BTC is fixed at 21 million bitcoins, with ~14 million in existence today. That means if the economy is to grow, the government would need to spend less, and save more in order to buy BTC to build the economy or tax citizens on the BTC they hold, which is inherently difficult. However, it would be an unlikely event to see governments willingly give-up the desire to print and tax in hopes of re-election.
How Can Understanding Bitcoin Help Traders of Spot Gold?
This section could have easily been titled, how I came to respect Bitcoin. It is hard to say that we’ll look back on the creation of the Bitcoin in the same light as the Guttenberg press or the Internet, it’s fair to say that it inspires the same ‘Animal Spirits’ that causes Gold (CFD: XAUUSD) to go bid when investors look for a haven asset as a store of value.
It doesn’t appear to be coincidence when that Bitcoin came onto the seen as banks were being bailed out as the initial or genesis block with the first transaction referenced a Times article dated 03/01/2009 titled, ‘Chancellor on Brink of Second Bailout for Banks.’ A few days later the source code of Bitcoin was released by Satoshi.
Either way, the spirit behind buying gold and buying bitcoin appears to be very similar. In a ‘doomsday scenario’ where you desire an asset to hold value while other fiat-priced assets are plummeting in value, BTC like Gold is ideal for bartering. The difference is that BTC can allow bartering to be done digitally thanks to the blockchain (more on that in a later post for the geeks out there like myself), whereas gold would most likely be bartered face-to-face in the event of an economic collapse.
As you can see on the chart above, this mutual symbiotic relationship can be seen with an overlay of Gold (CFD: XAUUSD) and BTCUSD. As a note, FXCM does not provide liquidity for Bitcoin, but its development and price direction can be invaluable for seeing another market in the same spirit as Gold that can enhance your analysis on precious metals.
[Warning: A Bit of Technical Info Ahead]
One last note before moving on (kudos for reading this far), Bitcoin’s network and maintenance is what sets it apart from fiat currencies, and places it in a similar league as precious metals such as Gold. First, the ledger, known as the blockchain is considered trustless in that it must be verified my multiple nodes called miners that verify, validate Bitcoin transactions. Typically, this is done by a bank, which acts as a one trusted third-party (see opening quote from Satoshi,) whereas Bitcoin utilizes a distributed network of miners to confirm transactions so there cannot be a single point of failure or misuse as we’ve seen with Rogue Traders or Bank Executives cheating out bondholders/ equity holders. Lastly, the base algorithm is cryptographic and is known as an asymmetric encryption that allows public and private keys to validate a transaction that is then validated by the network.
In this manner, Bitcoin is allowed to act as a digital barter currency without the need for banks and helps to accomplish what Gold has accomplished for millennia by acting as a store of value in bad times and good times, and accepted at all times if the price is right.
[You May Now Turn-Off Your Hard Thinking Cap]
Following BTC/USD
Lucky you, DailyFX will begin covering Bitcoin. Historically, we’ve covered Bitcoinin relation to sharp price increases in the wake of Brexit or the Eurozone crisis, or the Yuan Devaluation. However, given the correlation of XAUUSD & BTCUSD and the rising popularity of BTCUSD, we felt you’d be interested in learning more about the development of this pseudo-currency / neo-haven asset as it turns toward its awkward growth years of potential adaptability into everyday utilization.
If you’re interested in seeing price trends of Bitcoin, the best place to keep an eye on these moves throughout the day is theDailyFX Chart Pagewhere you can keep an eye on BTCUSD or BTCEUR if you wish. However, if you’re keeping an eye on BTC trends in the desire to get a better understanding on the price direction of Gold, it’s likely best to look at BTCUSD. Both BTCUSD & Gold (CFD: XAUUSD) are priced in US Dollar so that a big move in the US Dollar can heavily influence both assets.
Thank you for your time, and we look forward to providing you with more information on this new type of currency where a desire for haven digital assets and technology meet.
Happy Trading & Please Let Me Know If You Have Any Questions
T.Y.
original source
DailyFXprovides forex news and technical analysis on the trends that influence the global currency markets.Learn forex trading with a free practice account and trading charts fromFXCM. || Understanding What Bitcoin & Gold Have In Common in Financial Markets: DailyFX.com - Talking Points: Is It Time To Take Bitcoin Seriously? How Can Understanding Bitcoin Help Traders Interested In The Direction of Spot Gold? Following BTC/USD “I’ve been working on a new electronic cash system that’s fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party.” -Satoshi Nakamoto, November 1, 2008 To receive Tyler’s analysis directly via email, please SIGN UP HERE The cryptocurrency Bitcoin appears to be back in a big way. Calling Bitcoin ( Trading View Ticker: BTCUSD ) a cryptocurrency can be enough to make most people turn the page in search of a lighter read. However, a quick introduction can help you see how this innovative coin that is now ~7.5 years old has gone from a coder’s coin and known by only a few hobbyists to an asset class in a class of itself. Understanding What Bitcoin & Gold Have In Common in Financial Markets Is It Time To Take Bitcoin Seriously? Only a handful of people have been following Bitcoin since the creator, Satoshi Nakamoto introduced and explained how and why Bitcoin could work first introduced the digital asset on the cryptography mail archive. However, now many people have at least heard of the Bitcoin though few fully grasp the implications of both commerce and financial markets if Bitcoin can hit the proverbial ‘Tipping Point.' Regardless of whether or not we’ve hit the tipping point, it is worth taking Bitcoin seriously as it has not only stood the test of time, but the technology that is underlying BTC, the blockchain, has garnered the attention of Goldman Sachs, Citibank, JPMorgan, BNP Paribas and many more as the ‘Next Big Thing’ in Financial Markets. Developed markets with some of the most distraught monetary managers like Brazil have recently seen Bitcoin Trading surpass Gold trading per Cryptocoin News. Make no mistake; some will call Bitcoin a fad who will fade away into the oblivion of Financial Innovation in a similar fate of Adjustable Rate Mortgages, while others will say the Bitcoin has and will continue to change everything. While I lay to closer to the ‘Change Everything’ extreme, it has yet to be fully adopted, and likely will not be fully adopted as a replacement of fiat currency for multiple reasons. Story continues At the top of the list for reasons a developed economy would refuse to adopt Bitcoin over the local currency is that the global amount of BTC is fixed at 21 million bitcoins, with ~14 million in existence today. That means if the economy is to grow, the government would need to spend less, and save more in order to buy BTC to build the economy or tax citizens on the BTC they hold, which is inherently difficult. However, it would be an unlikely event to see governments willingly give-up the desire to print and tax in hopes of re-election. How Can Understanding Bitcoin Help Traders of Spot Gold? Understanding What Bitcoin & Gold Have In Common in Financial Markets This section could have easily been titled, how I came to respect Bitcoin. It is hard to say that we’ll look back on the creation of the Bitcoin in the same light as the Guttenberg press or the Internet, it’s fair to say that it inspires the same ‘Animal Spirits’ that causes Gold (CFD: XAUUSD) to go bid when investors look for a haven asset as a store of value. It doesn’t appear to be coincidence when that Bitcoin came onto the seen as banks were being bailed out as the initial or genesis block with the first transaction referenced a Times article dated 03/01/2009 titled, ‘Chancellor on Brink of Second Bailout for Banks.’ A few days later the source code of Bitcoin was released by Satoshi. Either way, the spirit behind buying gold and buying bitcoin appears to be very similar. In a ‘doomsday scenario’ where you desire an asset to hold value while other fiat-priced assets are plummeting in value, BTC like Gold is ideal for bartering. The difference is that BTC can allow bartering to be done digitally thanks to the blockchain (more on that in a later post for the geeks out there like myself), whereas gold would most likely be bartered face-to-face in the event of an economic collapse. As you can see on the chart above, this mutual symbiotic relationship can be seen with an overlay of Gold (CFD: XAUUSD) and BTCUSD. As a note, FXCM does not provide liquidity for Bitcoin, but its development and price direction can be invaluable for seeing another market in the same spirit as Gold that can enhance your analysis on precious metals. [Warning: A Bit of Technical Info Ahead] One last note before moving on (kudos for reading this far), Bitcoin’s network and maintenance is what sets it apart from fiat currencies, and places it in a similar league as precious metals such as Gold. First, the ledger, known as the blockchain is considered trustless in that it must be verified my multiple nodes called miners that verify, validate Bitcoin transactions. Typically, this is done by a bank, which acts as a one trusted third-party (see opening quote from Satoshi,) whereas Bitcoin utilizes a distributed network of miners to confirm transactions so there cannot be a single point of failure or misuse as we’ve seen with Rogue Traders or Bank Executives cheating out bondholders/ equity holders. Lastly, the base algorithm is cryptographic and is known as an asymmetric encryption that allows public and private keys to validate a transaction that is then validated by the network. In this manner, Bitcoin is allowed to act as a digital barter currency without the need for banks and helps to accomplish what Gold has accomplished for millennia by acting as a store of value in bad times and good times, and accepted at all times if the price is right. [You May Now Turn-Off Your Hard Thinking Cap] Following BTC/USD Understanding What Bitcoin & Gold Have In Common in Financial Markets Lucky you, DailyFX will begin covering Bitcoin. Historically , we’ve covered Bitcoin in relation to sharp price increases in the wake of Brexit or the Eurozone crisis, or the Yuan Devaluation. However, given the correlation of XAUUSD & BTCUSD and the rising popularity of BTCUSD, we felt you’d be interested in learning more about the development of this pseudo-currency / neo-haven asset as it turns toward its awkward growth years of potential adaptability into everyday utilization. If you’re interested in seeing price trends of Bitcoin, the best place to keep an eye on these moves throughout the day is the DailyFX Chart Page where you can keep an eye on BTCUSD or BTCEUR if you wish. However, if you’re keeping an eye on BTC trends in the desire to get a better understanding on the price direction of Gold, it’s likely best to look at BTCUSD. Both BTCUSD & Gold (CFD: XAUUSD) are priced in US Dollar so that a big move in the US Dollar can heavily influence both assets. Thank you for your time, and we look forward to providing you with more information on this new type of currency where a desire for haven digital assets and technology meet. Happy Trading & Please Let Me Know If You Have Any Questions T.Y. original source DailyFX provides forex news and technical analysis on the trends that influence the global currency markets. Learn forex trading with a free practice account and trading charts from FXCM . || Understanding What Bitcoin & Gold Have In Common in Financial Markets: DailyFX.com -
Talking Points:
• Is It Time To Take Bitcoin Seriously?
• How Can Understanding Bitcoin Help Traders Interested In The Direction of Spot Gold?
• Following BTC/USD
“I’ve been working on a new electronic cash system that’s fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party.”
-Satoshi Nakamoto, November 1, 2008
To receive Tyler’s analysis directly via email, pleaseSIGN UP HERE
The cryptocurrency Bitcoin appears to be back in a big way. Calling Bitcoin (Trading View Ticker: BTCUSD) a cryptocurrency can be enough to make most people turn the page in search of a lighter read. However, a quick introduction can help you see how this innovative coin that is now ~7.5 years old has gone from a coder’s coin and known by only a few hobbyists to an asset class in a class of itself.
Is It Time To Take Bitcoin Seriously?
Only a handful of people have been following Bitcoin since the creator, Satoshi Nakamoto introduced and explained how and why Bitcoin could work first introduced the digital asset on the cryptography mail archive. However, now many people have at least heard of the Bitcoin though few fully grasp the implications of both commerce and financial markets if Bitcoin can hit the proverbial ‘Tipping Point.'
Regardless of whether or not we’ve hit the tipping point, it is worth taking Bitcoin seriously as it has not only stood the test of time, but the technology that is underlying BTC, the blockchain, has garnered the attention of Goldman Sachs, Citibank, JPMorgan, BNP Paribas and many more as the ‘Next Big Thing’ in Financial Markets. Developed markets with some of the most distraught monetary managers like Brazil have recently seen Bitcoin Trading surpass Gold trading per Cryptocoin News.
Make no mistake; some will call Bitcoin a fad who will fade away into the oblivion of Financial Innovation in a similar fate of Adjustable Rate Mortgages, while others will say the Bitcoin has and will continue to change everything. While I lay to closer to the ‘Change Everything’ extreme, it has yet to be fully adopted, and likely will not be fully adopted as a replacement of fiat currency for multiple reasons.
At the top of the list for reasons a developed economy would refuse to adopt Bitcoin over the local currency is that the global amount of BTC is fixed at 21 million bitcoins, with ~14 million in existence today. That means if the economy is to grow, the government would need to spend less, and save more in order to buy BTC to build the economy or tax citizens on the BTC they hold, which is inherently difficult. However, it would be an unlikely event to see governments willingly give-up the desire to print and tax in hopes of re-election.
How Can Understanding Bitcoin Help Traders of Spot Gold?
This section could have easily been titled, how I came to respect Bitcoin. It is hard to say that we’ll look back on the creation of the Bitcoin in the same light as the Guttenberg press or the Internet, it’s fair to say that it inspires the same ‘Animal Spirits’ that causes Gold (CFD: XAUUSD) to go bid when investors look for a haven asset as a store of value.
It doesn’t appear to be coincidence when that Bitcoin came onto the seen as banks were being bailed out as the initial or genesis block with the first transaction referenced a Times article dated 03/01/2009 titled, ‘Chancellor on Brink of Second Bailout for Banks.’ A few days later the source code of Bitcoin was released by Satoshi.
Either way, the spirit behind buying gold and buying bitcoin appears to be very similar. In a ‘doomsday scenario’ where you desire an asset to hold value while other fiat-priced assets are plummeting in value, BTC like Gold is ideal for bartering. The difference is that BTC can allow bartering to be done digitally thanks to the blockchain (more on that in a later post for the geeks out there like myself), whereas gold would most likely be bartered face-to-face in the event of an economic collapse.
As you can see on the chart above, this mutual symbiotic relationship can be seen with an overlay of Gold (CFD: XAUUSD) and BTCUSD. As a note, FXCM does not provide liquidity for Bitcoin, but its development and price direction can be invaluable for seeing another market in the same spirit as Gold that can enhance your analysis on precious metals.
[Warning: A Bit of Technical Info Ahead]
One last note before moving on (kudos for reading this far), Bitcoin’s network and maintenance is what sets it apart from fiat currencies, and places it in a similar league as precious metals such as Gold. First, the ledger, known as the blockchain is considered trustless in that it must be verified my multiple nodes called miners that verify, validate Bitcoin transactions. Typically, this is done by a bank, which acts as a one trusted third-party (see opening quote from Satoshi,) whereas Bitcoin utilizes a distributed network of miners to confirm transactions so there cannot be a single point of failure or misuse as we’ve seen with Rogue Traders or Bank Executives cheating out bondholders/ equity holders. Lastly, the base algorithm is cryptographic and is known as an asymmetric encryption that allows public and private keys to validate a transaction that is then validated by the network.
In this manner, Bitcoin is allowed to act as a digital barter currency without the need for banks and helps to accomplish what Gold has accomplished for millennia by acting as a store of value in bad times and good times, and accepted at all times if the price is right.
[You May Now Turn-Off Your Hard Thinking Cap]
Following BTC/USD
Lucky you, DailyFX will begin covering Bitcoin. Historically, we’ve covered Bitcoinin relation to sharp price increases in the wake of Brexit or the Eurozone crisis, or the Yuan Devaluation. However, given the correlation of XAUUSD & BTCUSD and the rising popularity of BTCUSD, we felt you’d be interested in learning more about the development of this pseudo-currency / neo-haven asset as it turns toward its awkward growth years of potential adaptability into everyday utilization.
If you’re interested in seeing price trends of Bitcoin, the best place to keep an eye on these moves throughout the day is theDailyFX Chart Pagewhere you can keep an eye on BTCUSD or BTCEUR if you wish. However, if you’re keeping an eye on BTC trends in the desire to get a better understanding on the price direction of Gold, it’s likely best to look at BTCUSD. Both BTCUSD & Gold (CFD: XAUUSD) are priced in US Dollar so that a big move in the US Dollar can heavily influence both assets.
Thank you for your time, and we look forward to providing you with more information on this new type of currency where a desire for haven digital assets and technology meet.
Happy Trading & Please Let Me Know If You Have Any Questions
T.Y.
original source
DailyFXprovides forex news and technical analysis on the trends that influence the global currency markets.Learn forex trading with a free practice account and trading charts fromFXCM. || These are the most common misconceptions about the fintech industry: (Shutterstock)
The fintech industry promises to shake up the financial world, but the public might have some misconceptions about just how that will happen.
Fintech is surely disruptive and revolutionary, but is it truly a group of startups threatening to destroy traditional financial institutions as we know them? Not according toTradestreaming, which has compiled a list of the biggest misconceptions about the fintech industry.
1) Wall Street will not fall because of it.
The public's distrust for Wall Street and legacy financial players has reached unprecedented levels, but don't expect fintech to ride in like a white knight and change all that.
The finance world is losing some jobs and financial apps are growing in popularity, but these apps are nowhere close to a real threat to taking the place of banks in our economy. Instead, thefintech companiesare helping legacy players evolve.
2) Banks are not being replaced.
Brick-and-mortar banks are becoming less important, particularly among millennials, but they are far from dead and buried.A recent report from the The Institute of International Finance discovered that compliance and regulatory activities can cost banks $1 billion per year, which means it's far too difficult, expensive, and labor intensive for startups to compete with banks head-to-head.
As a result,fintech companieshave decided to compliment banks rather than fight them.
3)Fintech startupsare flashy.
The word "startup" conjures images of Silicon Valley, flowing cash, and fame. Butfintech startupsare anything but sexy, as these companies spend significant time and money to figure out ways to deal with state and federal regulations. Tradestreaming notes that an estimated 10-15% of total human capital costs go toward compliance.
Along with that, they must work tirelessly to bring on new clients, a challenge unto itself.
4) Fintech is not the ultimate equalizer.
Many view fintechs as an equalizer that gives powerful technology to the unbanked and underbanked, which in turn closes opportunity gaps. If everyone has access to cutting-edge financial technology, then the rich and elite wouldn't hold all the cards, right?
That's only true to a degree, as some apps have provided automated tools (such as robo-advisors) for the common man, but these tools typically only go as far the amount of money you pay for them.
Yet even with all these misconceptions, we’ve still entered the most profound era of change for financial services companies since the 1970s brought us index mutual funds, discount brokers and ATMs.
This change will create surprising winners and stunned losers among some of the most powerful names in the financial world: The most contentious conflicts (and partnerships) will be between startups that are completely reengineering decades-old practices, traditional power players who are furiously trying to adapt with their own innovations, and total disruption of established technology & processes:
• Traditional Retail Banks vs. Online-Only Banks:Traditional retail banks provide a valuable service, but online-only banks can offer many of the same services with higher rates and lower fees
• Traditional Lenders vs. Peer-to-Peer Marketplaces: P2P lending marketplaces are growing much faster than traditional lenders—only time will tell if the banks strategy of creating their own small loan networks will be successful
• Traditional Asset Managers vs. Robo-Advisors: Robo-advisors likeBettermentoffer lower fees, lower minimums and solid returns to investors, but the much larger traditional asset managers are creating their own robo-products while providing the kind of handholding that high net worth clients are willing to pay handsomely for.
As you can see, this very fluid environment is creating winners and losers before your eyes…and it’s also creating the potential for new cost savings or growth opportunities for both you and your company.
After months of researching and reporting this important trend, Evan Bakker, research analyst forBI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has put togetheran essential report on the fintech ecosystemthat explains the new landscape, identifies the ripest areas for disruption, and highlights the some of the most exciting new companies. These new players have the potential to become the next Visa, Paypal or Charles Schwab because they have the potential to transform important areas of the financial services industry like:
• Retail banking
• Lending and Financing
• Payments and Transfers
• Wealth and Asset Management
• Markets and Exchanges
• Insurance
• Blockchain Transactions
If you work in any of these sectors, it’s important for you to understand how the fintech revolution will change your business and possibly even your career. And if you’re employed in any part of the digital economy, you’ll want to know how you can exploit these new technologies to make your employer more efficient, flexible and profitable.
Among the big picture insights you'll get fromThe Fintech Ecosystem Report: Measuring the effects of technology on the entire financial services industry:
• Why financial technology is so disruptive to financial services—it will soon change the nature of almost every financial activity, from banking to payments to wealth management.
• The basic conflict will be between old firms and new—startups are re-imagining financial services processes from top to bottom, while incumbent financial services firms are trying to keep up with new products of their own.
• Both sides face serious obstacles—traditional banks and financial services firms are investing heavily in innovation, but leveraging their investments is difficult with so much invested in legacy systems and profit centers.
• Meanwhile, startups are struggling to navigate a rapidly-changing regulatory landscape and must scale up quickly with limited resources.
• The blockchain is a wild card that could completely overhaul financial services. Both major banks and startups around the world are exploring the technology behind the blockchain, which stores and records Bitcoin transactions. This technology could lower the cost of many financial activities to near-zero and could wipe away many traditional banking activities completely.
This exclusive report also:
• Explains the main growth drivers of the exploding fintech ecosystem.
• Frames the challenges and opportunities faced by incumbents and startups.
• Breaks down global and regionalfintech investments, including which regions are the most significant and which are poised for the highest growth.
• Reveals which two financial services are garnering the most investment, and are therefore likely to be transformed first and fastest by fintech
• Explains why blockchain technology is critically important to banks and startups, and assesses which players stand to gain the most from it.
• Explores the financial sectors facing disruption and breaks them down in terms of investments, vulnerabilities and growth opportunities.
• And much more.
The Fintech Ecosystem Report: Measuring the effects of technology on the entire financial services industryis how you get the full story on the fintech revolution.
To get your copy of this invaluable guide to the fintech revolution, choose one of these options:
1. Subscribe to an ALL-ACCESS Membership with BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report AND over 100 other expertly researched deep-dive reports, subscriptions to all of our daily newsletters, and much more. >>START A MEMBERSHIP
2. Purchase the report and download it immediately from our research store. >>BUY THE REPORT
The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of the fast-moving world of financial technology.
More From Business Insider
• Bitcoin may be headed for a bubble
• Seedrs bets on secondary market
• Lending Club may have hit a dead end || These are the most common misconceptions about the fintech industry: FintechShapingtheFuture (Shutterstock) The fintech industry promises to shake up the financial world, but the public might have some misconceptions about just how that will happen. Fintech is surely disruptive and revolutionary, but is it truly a group of startups threatening to destroy traditional financial institutions as we know them? Not according to Tradestreaming , which has compiled a list of the biggest misconceptions about the fintech industry. 1) Wall Street will not fall because of it. The public's distrust for Wall Street and legacy financial players has reached unprecedented levels, but don't expect fintech to ride in like a white knight and change all that. The finance world is losing some jobs and financial apps are growing in popularity, but these apps are nowhere close to a real threat to taking the place of banks in our economy. Instead, the fintech companies are helping legacy players evolve. 2) Banks are not being replaced. Brick-and-mortar banks are becoming less important, particularly among millennials, but they are far from dead and buried. A recent report from the The Institute of International Finance discovered that compliance and regulatory activities can cost banks $1 billion per year, which means it's far too difficult, expensive, and labor intensive for startups to compete with banks head-to-head. As a result, fintech companies have decided to compliment banks rather than fight them. 3) Fintech startups are flashy. The word "startup" conjures images of Silicon Valley, flowing cash, and fame. But fintech startups are anything but sexy, as these companies spend significant time and money to figure out ways to deal with state and federal regulations. Tradestreaming notes that an estimated 10-15% of total human capital costs go toward compliance. Along with that, they must work tirelessly to bring on new clients, a challenge unto itself. 4) Fintech is not the ultimate equalizer. Many view fintechs as an equalizer that gives powerful technology to the unbanked and underbanked, which in turn closes opportunity gaps. If everyone has access to cutting-edge financial technology, then the rich and elite wouldn't hold all the cards, right? Story continues That's only true to a degree, as some apps have provided automated tools (such as robo-advisors) for the common man, but these tools typically only go as far the amount of money you pay for them. Yet even with all these misconceptions, we’ve still entered the most profound era of change for financial services companies since the 1970s brought us index mutual funds, discount brokers and ATMs. This change will create surprising winners and stunned losers among some of the most powerful names in the financial world: The most contentious conflicts (and partnerships) will be between startups that are completely reengineering decades-old practices, traditional power players who are furiously trying to adapt with their own innovations, and total disruption of established technology & processes: Traditional Retail Banks vs. Online-Only Banks: Traditional retail banks provide a valuable service, but online-only banks can offer many of the same services with higher rates and lower fees Traditional Lenders vs. Peer-to-Peer Marketplaces : P2P lending marketplaces are growing much faster than traditional lenders—only time will tell if the banks strategy of creating their own small loan networks will be successful Traditional Asset Managers vs. Robo-Advisors : Robo-advisors like Betterment offer lower fees, lower minimums and solid returns to investors, but the much larger traditional asset managers are creating their own robo-products while providing the kind of handholding that high net worth clients are willing to pay handsomely for. As you can see, this very fluid environment is creating winners and losers before your eyes…and it’s also creating the potential for new cost savings or growth opportunities for both you and your company. After months of researching and reporting this important trend, Evan Bakker, research analyst for BI Intelligence , Business Insider's premium research service, has put together an essential report on the fintech ecosystem that explains the new landscape, identifies the ripest areas for disruption, and highlights the some of the most exciting new companies. These new players have the potential to become the next Visa, Paypal or Charles Schwab because they have the potential to transform important areas of the financial services industry like: Retail banking Lending and Financing Payments and Transfers Wealth and Asset Management Markets and Exchanges Insurance Blockchain Transactions If you work in any of these sectors, it’s important for you to understand how the fintech revolution will change your business and possibly even your career. And if you’re employed in any part of the digital economy, you’ll want to know how you can exploit these new technologies to make your employer more efficient, flexible and profitable. Among the big picture insights you'll get from The Fintech Ecosystem Report : Measuring the effects of technology on the entire financial services industry: Why financial technology is so disruptive to financial services—it will soon change the nature of almost every financial activity, from banking to payments to wealth management. The basic conflict will be between old firms and new—startups are re-imagining financial services processes from top to bottom, while incumbent financial services firms are trying to keep up with new products of their own. Both sides face serious obstacles—traditional banks and financial services firms are investing heavily in innovation, but leveraging their investments is difficult with so much invested in legacy systems and profit centers. Meanwhile, startups are struggling to navigate a rapidly-changing regulatory landscape and must scale up quickly with limited resources. The blockchain is a wild card that could completely overhaul financial services. Both major banks and startups around the world are exploring the technology behind the blockchain, which stores and records Bitcoin transactions. This technology could lower the cost of many financial activities to near-zero and could wipe away many traditional banking activities completely. This exclusive report also: Explains the main growth drivers of the exploding fintech ecosystem. Frames the challenges and opportunities faced by incumbents and startups. Breaks down global and regional fintech investments , including which regions are the most significant and which are poised for the highest growth. Reveals which two financial services are garnering the most investment, and are therefore likely to be transformed first and fastest by fintech Explains why blockchain technology is critically important to banks and startups, and assesses which players stand to gain the most from it. Explores the financial sectors facing disruption and breaks them down in terms of investments, vulnerabilities and growth opportunities. And much more. The Fintech Ecosystem Report : Measuring the effects of technology on the entire financial services industry is how you get the full story on the fintech revolution. To get your copy of this invaluable guide to the fintech revolution, choose one of these options: Subscribe to an ALL-ACCESS Membership with BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report AND over 100 other expertly researched deep-dive reports, subscriptions to all of our daily newsletters, and much more. >> START A MEMBERSHIP Purchase the report and download it immediately from our research store. >> BUY THE REPORT The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of the fast-moving world of financial technology. More From Business Insider Bitcoin may be headed for a bubble Seedrs bets on secondary market Lending Club may have hit a dead end || O’Leary’s O’Shares Seeks Big Additions to its ETF Lineup: O’Shares Investments, the exchange traded funds issuer founded by “Shark Tank” personality Kevin O’Leary, is looking to make significant additions to its ETF lineup.
A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission indicates O’Shares is looking to add as many as 17 ETFs to its stable.
Related:More Shank Tank ETFs
“All the proposed offerings have ‘quality’ in the name and would employ a passive investing approach. The investable universe of these funds includes emerging-market equities, small-cap U.S. stocks, preferred shares, and even corporate credit,” reports Luke Kawa for Bloomberg.
Trending on ETF Trends
SolidX Reveals Plan to Launch a Bitcoin ETF
A Big Day for ETFs as 5 Sponsors Launch New Products
AdvisorShares, Cornerstone Roll Out Active Small-Cap ETF
Tech ETFs with Exposure to Hardware, Internet Segments
Oil ETFs That Hand More Control to Traders
The O’Shares FTSE US Quality Dividend ETF (OUSA) , the first O’Shares ETF, has enjoyed rapid success. Just about a year old, OUSA has over $240 million in assets under management.
The O’Shares FTSE US Quality Dividend ETF cements O’Leary’s dividend commitment. OUSA tracks the FTSE US Qual / Vol / Yield Factor Index, an expansion of FTSE Russell’s FTSE Global Factor Index Series. The index seizes on three prominent themes in the ETF community: Dividends along with the low volatility and quality factors.
In August 2015, O’Shares launched the O’Shares FTSE Europe Quality Dividend ETF (OEUR) and the O’Shares FTSE Asia Pacific Quality Dividend ETF (OASI) . OEUR tracks the FTSE Europe Qual / Vol / Yield Factor 5% Capped Index. OASI follows the FTSE Asia Pacific Qual / Vol / Yield Factor 5% Capped Index.
Related:Advantages of Quality Dividend ETFs
“O’Leary’s celebrity status and the application of smart-beta strategies to fixed income could help the Canadian businessman differentiate himself and attract assets in what’s becoming a crowded ETF space, with roughly 60 issuers in the U.S.,” according to Bloomberg.
Click hereto read the full story on ETF Trends. || OLearys OShares Seeks Big Additions to its ETF Lineup: OShares Investments, the exchange traded funds issuer founded by Shark Tank personality Kevin OLeary, is looking to make significant additions to its ETF lineup. A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission indicates OShares is looking to add as many as 17 ETFs to its stable. Related: More Shank Tank ETFs All the proposed offerings have quality in the name and would employ a passive investing approach. The investable universe of these funds includes emerging-market equities, small-cap U.S. stocks, preferred shares, and even corporate credit, reports Luke Kawa for Bloomberg. Trending on ETF Trends SolidX Reveals Plan to Launch a Bitcoin ETF A Big Day for ETFs as 5 Sponsors Launch New Products AdvisorShares, Cornerstone Roll Out Active Small-Cap ETF Tech ETFs with Exposure to Hardware, Internet Segments Oil ETFs That Hand More Control to Traders The OShares FTSE US Quality Dividend ETF ( OUSA ) , the first OShares ETF, has enjoyed rapid success. Just about a year old, OUSA has over $240 million in assets under management. The OShares FTSE US Quality Dividend ETF cements OLearys dividend commitment. OUSA tracks the FTSE US Qual / Vol / Yield Factor Index, an expansion of FTSE Russells FTSE Global Factor Index Series. The index seizes on three prominent themes in the ETF community: Dividends along with the low volatility and quality factors. In August 2015, OShares launched the OShares FTSE Europe Quality Dividend ETF ( OEUR ) and the OShares FTSE Asia Pacific Quality Dividend ETF ( OASI ) . OEUR tracks the FTSE Europe Qual / Vol / Yield Factor 5% Capped Index. OASI follows the FTSE Asia Pacific Qual / Vol / Yield Factor 5% Capped Index. Related: Advantages of Quality Dividend ETFs OLearys celebrity status and the application of smart-beta strategies to fixed income could help the Canadian businessman differentiate himself and attract assets in whats becoming a crowded ETF space, with roughly 60 issuers in the U.S., according to Bloomberg. Click here to read the full story on ETF Trends. || Bitcoin Buying Service Launches with Market-Beating Rates: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / July 13, 2016 / Selling bitcoins has just been made more profitable with the launch of a new website from PowerBTC.com . The recently revamped service offers to buy the crypto currency with one very simple advantage - a guarantee that they will pay a significantly higher price than the exchange rate of the day. The platform charges no transaction fees, making the market-beating offer even more attractive to those with bitcoin assets to trade. PowerBTC.com can guarantee this higher payment as they have established relationships with bulk bitcoin buyers, and need volume to feed their clients' hunger for the digital currency. They aim to make the selling process as simple and transparent as possible, not requiring any lengthy registration process, nor storing any personal information about their customers. Funds are delivered direct within 48 hours of purchase using Paypal, Western Union, or bank transfer, with the promise of complete privacy and anonymity. Tom Clark , CEO of PowerBTC.com, said, "We believe we are the best buyers for your bitcoin assets, whether you're a dedicated miner or a savvy trader. Not only do we offer better-than-market rates, but we deliver your funds in US Dollars direct with no strings attached, no need for registration, and a guarantee of complete privacy." Bitcoin has long been the most high-profile crypto currency, but its technological origins have often made it appear inaccessible to the mainstream investor. Talk of mining and exchanges can be off-putting, but PowerBTC.com aim to simplify the whole process of realizing bitcoin value by offering a no-frills, easy to use way of turning coins into solid cash. The service is not limited to new entrants to the blockchain arena, however, as the ease of converting a digital wallet into conventional currency at market-beating rates will appeal to even the most hardcore of bitcoin miners. The Key PowerBTC.com Features: All bitcoins purchased at significantly above market rates. No commissions or fees charged, just a clear and transparent buying price: what you see is what you get. Simple selling process with no registration or account required. Easy international payment in US Dollars via PayPal, Western Union, or bank transfer. Full anonymity guarantee with no personal details stored, and a safe and secure online platform. SOURCE: PowerBTC LLC || Bitcoin Buying Service Launches with Market-Beating Rates: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / July 13, 2016 /Selling bitcoins has just been made more profitable with the launch of a new website fromPowerBTC.com. The recently revamped service offers to buy the crypto currency with one very simple advantage - a guarantee that they will pay a significantly higher price than the exchange rate of the day.
The platform charges no transaction fees, making the market-beating offer even more attractive to those with bitcoin assets to trade.
PowerBTC.com can guarantee this higher payment as they have established relationships with bulk bitcoin buyers, and need volume to feed their clients' hunger for the digital currency. They aim to make the selling process as simple and transparent as possible, not requiring any lengthy registration process, nor storing any personal information about their customers. Funds are delivered direct within 48 hours of purchase using Paypal, Western Union, or bank transfer, with the promise of complete privacy and anonymity.
Tom Clark , CEO of PowerBTC.com, said, "We believe we are the best buyers for your bitcoin assets, whether you're a dedicated miner or a savvy trader. Not only do we offer better-than-market rates, but we deliver your funds in US Dollars direct with no strings attached, no need for registration, and a guarantee of complete privacy."
Bitcoin has long been the most high-profile crypto currency, but its technological origins have often made it appear inaccessible to the mainstream investor. Talk of mining and exchanges can be off-putting, but PowerBTC.com aim to simplify the whole process of realizing bitcoin value by offering a no-frills, easy to use way of turning coins into solid cash. The service is not limited to new entrants to the blockchain arena, however, as the ease of converting a digital wallet into conventional currency at market-beating rates will appeal to even the most hardcore of bitcoin miners.
The Key PowerBTC.com Features:
• All bitcoins purchased at significantly above market rates.
• No commissions or fees charged, just a clear and transparent buying price: what you see is what you get.
• Simple selling process with no registration or account required.
• Easy international payment in US Dollars via PayPal, Western Union, or bank transfer.
• Full anonymity guarantee with no personal details stored, and a safe and secure online platform.
SOURCE:PowerBTC LLC || Bitcoin Buying Service Launches with Market-Beating Rates: NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / July 13, 2016 /Selling bitcoins has just been made more profitable with the launch of a new website fromPowerBTC.com. The recently revamped service offers to buy the crypto currency with one very simple advantage - a guarantee that they will pay a significantly higher price than the exchange rate of the day.
The platform charges no transaction fees, making the market-beating offer even more attractive to those with bitcoin assets to trade.
PowerBTC.com can guarantee this higher payment as they have established relationships with bulk bitcoin buyers, and need volume to feed their clients' hunger for the digital currency. They aim to make the selling process as simple and transparent as possible, not requiring any lengthy registration process, nor storing any personal information about their customers. Funds are delivered direct within 48 hours of purchase using Paypal, Western Union, or bank transfer, with the promise of complete privacy and anonymity.
Tom Clark , CEO of PowerBTC.com, said, "We believe we are the best buyers for your bitcoin assets, whether you're a dedicated miner or a savvy trader. Not only do we offer better-than-market rates, but we deliver your funds in US Dollars direct with no strings attached, no need for registration, and a guarantee of complete privacy."
Bitcoin has long been the most high-profile crypto currency, but its technological origins have often made it appear inaccessible to the mainstream investor. Talk of mining and exchanges can be off-putting, but PowerBTC.com aim to simplify the whole process of realizing bitcoin value by offering a no-frills, easy to use way of turning coins into solid cash. The service is not limited to new entrants to the blockchain arena, however, as the ease of converting a digital wallet into conventional currency at market-beating rates will appeal to even the most hardcore of bitcoin miners.
The Key PowerBTC.com Features:
• All bitcoins purchased at significantly above market rates.
• No commissions or fees charged, just a clear and transparent buying price: what you see is what you get.
• Simple selling process with no registration or account required.
• Easy international payment in US Dollars via PayPal, Western Union, or bank transfer.
• Full anonymity guarantee with no personal details stored, and a safe and secure online platform.
SOURCE:PowerBTC LLC || Traders say it might be time to buy into tech after NASDAQ hits 2016 highs: The "Fast Money" traders are keeping an eye on the big tech names, after the technology-heavy NASDAQ(NASDAQ: .IXIC)saw its highest levels of the year on Tuesday.
Trader Pete Najarian said that technology and biotechnology companies could help drive the NASDAQ higher, especially if giants like Microsoft(NASDAQ: MSFT)and Apple(NASDAQ: AAPL)start participating in the rally.
Trader Dan Nathan said he likes PayPal(NASDAQ: PYPL)because of "interesting secular things going on in e-payments." Another stock he likes is JD.com(NASDAQ: JD), even though the "fundamentals haven't been fantastic." Nathan said that JD is a company is well-positioned.
Trader Brian Kelly said that he is less confident in tech's potential.
"If you're buying into tech and you're buying into dividend stocks, you just need to know that you're buying into a bubble. That doesn't mean that it can't go higher. Bubbles go on for a long time, a lot longer than most people can stay short them," Kelly said.
He said he would rather look at securities outside the United States, especially in Japan.
"To me, what happened in Japan over the last couple days could be game changing, so I would look towards Japan," Kelly said, adding that in particular he would look at the WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund(NYSE Arca: DXJ).
Disclosures:
PETE NAJARIAN
Long stock: AAPL, BAC, BMY, CSCO, DIS, DISCA, GE, KMI, KMI.A, KO, LUX, MRK, PEP, PFE, SAVE, VIAB, ZIOP Long Calls: AAL, AKS, AMJ, CHK, CLF, CNX, CSX, DAL, EGO, GSAT, HBAN, HOG, INTC, KGC, LLY, MT, MU, NLNK, P, SBUX, SLV, SLW, SVU, TMUS, WLL, XLE, YELP. Long Puts: BID, CS,GM, NAV, NLY
TIM SEYMOUR
Tim Seymour is long APC, AVP, BAC, BBRY, CLF, DO, EDC, EWZ, F, FCX, FXI, GM, GOOGL, GRMN, GE, INTC, LQD, M, MCD, MPEL, NKE, RACE, RAI, RH, RL, SINA, T, TWTR, UA, VALE, VZ, XOM and short: SPY, XRT. His firm is long ABX, BABA, BIDU, CLF, EWZ, F, HD, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, YHOO, short HYG, IWM
BRIAN KELLY
Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, DXJ, GLD, MOS, POT, SLV, XME, US Dollar UUP; he is short WTI crude, Swiss franc, euro and Japanese yen.
DAN NATHAN
Dan Nathan is Long JD Aug call spread, Long PFE, Long TWTR, BABA Aug put spread, IWM long Sept put, XLF long Aug put spread, XLK long Sept Put spread, FXI long Aug put spread, SMH long Aug put spread, long PYPL call calendar, long C Aug put spread, XOP Sept put spread, TGT long Aug calls, TSLA long Aug put, SPY long Sept put spread, BAC long Sept puts.
More From CNBC
• Top News and Analysis
• Latest News Video
• Personal Finance || Traders say it might be time to buy into tech after NASDAQ hits 2016 highs: The " Fast Money " traders are keeping an eye on the big tech names, after the technology-heavy NASDAQ (NASDAQ: .IXIC) saw its highest levels of the year on Tuesday. Trader Pete Najarian said that technology and biotechnology companies could help drive the NASDAQ higher, especially if giants like Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) start participating in the rally. Trader Dan Nathan said he likes PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) because of "interesting secular things going on in e-payments." Another stock he likes is JD.com (NASDAQ: JD) , even though the "fundamentals haven't been fantastic." Nathan said that JD is a company is well-positioned. Trader Brian Kelly said that he is less confident in tech's potential. "If you're buying into tech and you're buying into dividend stocks, you just need to know that you're buying into a bubble. That doesn't mean that it can't go higher. Bubbles go on for a long time, a lot longer than most people can stay short them," Kelly said. He said he would rather look at securities outside the United States, especially in Japan. "To me, what happened in Japan over the last couple days could be game changing, so I would look towards Japan," Kelly said, adding that in particular he would look at the WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund (NYSE Arca: DXJ) . Disclosures: PETE NAJARIAN Long stock: AAPL, BAC, BMY, CSCO, DIS, DISCA, GE, KMI, KMI.A, KO, LUX, MRK, PEP, PFE, SAVE, VIAB, ZIOP Long Calls: AAL, AKS, AMJ, CHK, CLF, CNX, CSX, DAL, EGO, GSAT, HBAN, HOG, INTC, KGC, LLY, MT, MU, NLNK, P, SBUX, SLV, SLW, SVU, TMUS, WLL, XLE, YELP. Long Puts: BID, CS,GM, NAV, NLY TIM SEYMOUR Tim Seymour is long APC, AVP, BAC, BBRY, CLF, DO, EDC, EWZ, F, FCX, FXI, GM, GOOGL, GRMN, GE, INTC, LQD, M, MCD, MPEL, NKE, RACE, RAI, RH, RL, SINA, T, TWTR, UA, VALE, VZ, XOM and short: SPY, XRT. His firm is long ABX, BABA, BIDU, CLF, EWZ, F, HD, KO, MCD, MPEL, NKE, PEP, PF, SAVE, SBUX, SINA, VALE, VIAB, WMT, WEN, YHOO, short HYG, IWM Story continues BRIAN KELLY Brian Kelly is long Bitcoin, DXJ, GLD, MOS, POT, SLV, XME, US Dollar UUP; he is short WTI crude, Swiss franc, euro and Japanese yen. DAN NATHAN Dan Nathan is Long JD Aug call spread, Long PFE, Long TWTR, BABA Aug put spread, IWM long Sept put, XLF long Aug put spread, XLK long Sept Put spread, FXI long Aug put spread, SMH long Aug put spread, long PYPL call calendar, long C Aug put spread, XOP Sept put spread, TGT long Aug calls, TSLA long Aug put, SPY long Sept put spread, BAC long Sept puts. More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || U.S. tech company files bitcoin ETF application with SEC: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Nikhil Subba NEW YORK (Reuters) - SolidX Partners Inc, a U.S. technology company that provides blockchain services, on Tuesday filed an application with the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch an exchange-traded product that tracks the price of bitcoin. Blockchain is the technology that powers bitcoin, the digital currency. SolidX provides blockchain-based software relating to the recording of digital records, transfer of assets, and identity, according to its website. The ETF product will be called SolidX Bitcoin Trust and will list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol XBTC upon regulatory approval, SolidX Partners said on Tuesday. SolidX is the second company to file for a bitcoin exchange-traded product with the U.S. regulator. The Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, owned by brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, filed the first bitcoin ETF application three years ago. In its SEC filing, SolidX said it will provide investors with exposure to the daily change of the U.S. dollar price of bitcoin. The value of bitcoin will be based on the price tracked by XBX, an index created by TradeBlock, a financial services company. Bitcoin is a digital asset launched in 2009 that can be transferred among parties through the internet without the use of a central administrator or clearing agency. Its blockchain has gained global popularity due to its perceived usefulness in recording and keeping track of assets across practically all industries. The exact size of the offering was not disclosed, but based on the filing, the company said the ETF will issue a basket of 10,000 shares. Bank of New York Mellon has been tapped as the custodian of the cash held by SolidX Bitcoin Trust, while SolidX Partners will be responsible for the ETF's bitcoin holdings. SolidX, in its ETF filing, said the bitcoin it will hold will be insured. The insurance will cover the loss of bitcoin through theft, destruction, or computer fraud. Story continues Bitcoin's value has been highly volatile, having peaked at over $1,200 in late 2013 before crashing after the collapse of the Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange. It has since recovered, hitting a more than two-year high of nearly $780 in the run-up to the British referendum on whether the country should leave the European Union. On Tuesday, bitcoin traded at $662.44 on the Bitstamp platform. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss in New York and Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Chris Reese) || U.S. tech company files bitcoin ETF application with SEC: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Nikhil Subba
NEW YORK (Reuters) - SolidX Partners Inc, a U.S. technology company that provides blockchain services, on Tuesday filed an application with the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch an exchange-traded product that tracks the price of bitcoin.
Blockchain is the technology that powers bitcoin, the digital currency. SolidX provides blockchain-based software relating to the recording of digital records, transfer of assets, and identity, according to its website.
The ETF product will be called SolidX Bitcoin Trust and will list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol XBTC upon regulatory approval, SolidX Partners said on Tuesday.
SolidX is the second company to file for a bitcoin exchange-traded product with the U.S. regulator. The Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, owned by brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, filed the first bitcoin ETF application three years ago.
In its SEC filing, SolidX said it will provide investors with exposure to the daily change of the U.S. dollar price of bitcoin. The value of bitcoin will be based on the price tracked by XBX, an index created by TradeBlock, a financial services company.
Bitcoin is a digital asset launched in 2009 that can be transferred among parties through the internet without the use of a central administrator or clearing agency. Its blockchain has gained global popularity due to its perceived usefulness in recording and keeping track of assets across practically all industries.
The exact size of the offering was not disclosed, but based on the filing, the company said the ETF will issue a basket of 10,000 shares.
Bank of New York Mellon has been tapped as the custodian of the cash held by SolidX Bitcoin Trust, while SolidX Partners will be responsible for the ETF's bitcoin holdings.
SolidX, in its ETF filing, said the bitcoin it will hold will be insured. The insurance will cover the loss of bitcoin through theft, destruction, or computer fraud.
Bitcoin's value has been highly volatile, having peaked at over $1,200 in late 2013 before crashing after the collapse of the Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange.
It has since recovered, hitting a more than two-year high of nearly $780 in the run-up to the British referendum on whether the country should leave the European Union. On Tuesday, bitcoin traded at $662.44 on the Bitstamp platform.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss in New York and Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Chris Reese) || U.S. tech company files bitcoin ETF application with SEC: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Nikhil Subba NEW YORK (Reuters) - SolidX Partners Inc, a U.S. technology company that provides blockchain services, on Tuesday filed an application with the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch an exchange-traded product that tracks the price of bitcoin. Blockchain is the technology that powers bitcoin, the digital currency. SolidX provides blockchain-based software relating to the recording of digital records, transfer of assets, and identity, according to its website. The ETF product will be called SolidX Bitcoin Trust and will list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol XBTC upon regulatory approval, SolidX Partners said on Tuesday. SolidX is the second company to file for a bitcoin exchange-traded product with the U.S. regulator. The Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, owned by brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, filed the first bitcoin ETF application three years ago. In its SEC filing, SolidX said it will provide investors with exposure to the daily change of the U.S. dollar price of bitcoin. The value of bitcoin will be based on the price tracked by XBX, an index created by TradeBlock, a financial services company. Bitcoin is a digital asset launched in 2009 that can be transferred among parties through the internet without the use of a central administrator or clearing agency. Its blockchain has gained global popularity due to its perceived usefulness in recording and keeping track of assets across practically all industries. The exact size of the offering was not disclosed, but based on the filing, the company said the ETF will issue a basket of 10,000 shares. Bank of New York Mellon has been tapped as the custodian of the cash held by SolidX Bitcoin Trust, while SolidX Partners will be responsible for the ETF's bitcoin holdings. SolidX, in its ETF filing, said the bitcoin it will hold will be insured. The insurance will cover the loss of bitcoin through theft, destruction, or computer fraud. Story continues Bitcoin's value has been highly volatile, having peaked at over $1,200 in late 2013 before crashing after the collapse of the Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange. It has since recovered, hitting a more than two-year high of nearly $780 in the run-up to the British referendum on whether the country should leave the European Union. On Tuesday, bitcoin traded at $662.44 on the Bitstamp platform. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss in New York and Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Chris Reese) || U.S. tech company files bitcoin ETF application with SEC: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Nikhil Subba NEW YORK (Reuters) - SolidX Partners Inc, a U.S. technology company that provides blockchain services, on Tuesday filed an application with the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch an exchange-traded product that tracks the price of bitcoin. Blockchain is the technology that powers bitcoin, the digital currency. SolidX provides blockchain-based software relating to the recording of digital records, transfer of assets, and identity, according to its website. The ETF product will be called SolidX Bitcoin Trust and will list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol XBTC upon regulatory approval, SolidX Partners said on Tuesday. SolidX is the second company to file for a bitcoin exchange-traded product with the U.S. regulator. The Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, owned by brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, filed the first bitcoin ETF application three years ago. In its SEC filing, SolidX said it will provide investors with exposure to the daily change of the U.S. dollar price of bitcoin. The value of bitcoin will be based on the price tracked by XBX, an index created by TradeBlock, a financial services company. Bitcoin is a digital asset launched in 2009 that can be transferred among parties through the internet without the use of a central administrator or clearing agency. Its blockchain has gained global popularity due to its perceived usefulness in recording and keeping track of assets across practically all industries. The exact size of the offering was not disclosed, but based on the filing, the company said the ETF will issue a basket of 10,000 shares. Bank of New York Mellon has been tapped as the custodian of the cash held by SolidX Bitcoin Trust, while SolidX Partners will be responsible for the ETF's bitcoin holdings. SolidX, in its ETF filing, said the bitcoin it will hold will be insured. The insurance will cover the loss of bitcoin through theft, destruction, or computer fraud. Story continues Bitcoin's value has been highly volatile, having peaked at over $1,200 in late 2013 before crashing after the collapse of the Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange. It has since recovered, hitting a more than two-year high of nearly $780 in the run-up to the British referendum on whether the country should leave the European Union. On Tuesday, bitcoin traded at $662.44 on the Bitstamp platform. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss in New York and Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Chris Reese) || U.S. tech company files bitcoin ETF application with SEC: (Adds byline, details on insurance, custodian bank, background on bitcoin, SolidX) By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Nikhil Subba NEW YORK, July 12 (Reuters) - SolidX Partners Inc, a U.S. technology company that provides blockchain services, on Tuesday filed an application with the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch an exchange-traded product that tracks the price of bitcoin. Blockchain is the technology that powers bitcoin, the digital currency. SolidX provides blockchain-based software relating to the recording of digital records, transfer of assets, and identity, according to its website. The ETF product will be called SolidX Bitcoin Trust and will list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol XBTC upon regulatory approval, SolidX Partners said on Tuesday. SolidX is the second company to file for a bitcoin exchange-traded product with the U.S. regulator. The Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, owned by brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, filed the first bitcoin ETF application three years ago. In its SEC filing, SolidX said it will provide investors with exposure to the daily change of the U.S. dollar price of bitcoin. The value of bitcoin will be based on the price tracked by XBX, an index created by TradeBlock, a financial services company. Bitcoin is a digital asset launched in 2009 that can be transferred among parties through the internet without the use of a central administrator or clearing agency. Its blockchain has gained global popularity due to its perceived usefulness in recording and keeping track of assets across practically all industries. The exact size of the offering was not disclosed, but based on the filing, the company said the ETF will issue a basket of 10,000 shares. Bank of New York Mellon has been tapped as the custodian of the cash held by SolidX Bitcoin Trust, while SolidX Partners will be responsible for the ETF's bitcoin holdings. SolidX, in its ETF filing, said the bitcoin it will hold will be insured. The insurance will cover the loss of bitcoin through theft, destruction, or computer fraud. Story continues Bitcoin's value has been highly volatile, having peaked at over $1,200 in late 2013 before crashing after the collapse of the Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange. It has since recovered, hitting a more than two-year high of nearly $780 in the run-up to the British referendum on whether the country should leave the European Union. On Tuesday, bitcoin traded at $662.44 on the Bitstamp platform. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss in New York and Nikhil Subba in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Chris Reese)
[Social Media Buzz]
One Bitcoin now worth $664.44@bitstamp. High $666.67. Low $655.00. Market Cap $10.474 Billion #bitcoin || $668.00 at 15:15 UTC [24h Range: $659.73 - $669.99 Volume: 1354 BTC] || #TrinityCoin #TTY $ 0.000007 (-0.32 %) 0.00000001 BTC (-0.00 %) || #UFOCoin #UFO $ 0.000020 (-9.92 %) 0.00000003 BTC (-10.00 %) || 1 #bitcoin 1998.97 TL, 654.497 $, 599.98 €, GBP, 40302.00 RUR, 70699 ¥, CNH, CAD #btc || 1 #BTC (#Bitcoin) quotes:
$665.07/$665.82 #Bitstamp
$652.00/$653.59 #BTCe
⇢$-13.82/$-11.48
$669.25/...
|
673.11, 672.86, 665.68, 665.01, 650.62, 655.56, 661.28, 654.10, 651.78, 654.35
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 907.94, 886.62, 899.07, 895.03, 921.79, 924.67, 921.01, 892.69, 901.54, 917.59, 919.75, 921.59, 919.50, 920.38, 970.40, 989.02, 1011.80, 1029.91, 1042.90, 1027.34, 1038.15, 1061.35, 1063.07, 994.38, 988.67, 1004.45, 999.18, 990.64, 1004.55, 1007.48, 1027.44, 1046.21, 1054.42, 1047.87, 1079.98, 1115.30, 1117.44, 1166.72, 1173.68, 1143.84, 1165.20, 1179.97, 1179.97, 1222.50, 1251.01, 1274.99, 1255.15, 1267.12, 1272.83, 1223.54, 1150.00, 1188.49, 1116.72, 1175.83, 1221.38, 1231.92, 1240.00, 1249.61, 1187.81, 1100.23, 973.82, 1036.74, 1054.23, 1120.54, 1049.14, 1038.59, 937.52, 972.78, 966.72, 1045.77, 1047.15, 1039.97, 1026.43, 1071.79, 1080.50, 1102.17, 1143.81, 1133.25, 1124.78, 1182.68, 1176.90, 1175.95, 1187.87, 1187.13, 1205.01, 1200.37, 1169.28, 1167.54, 1172.52, 1182.94.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2017-04-16]
Volume: 183231008, RSI (14-day): 57.60, 50-day EMA: 1118.28, 200-day EMA: 938.52
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Bitcoin Wallets Under Siege From Large Collider Attack: A group called the Large Bitcoin Collider claims it can smash open bitcoin wallets by using a so-called brute force attack, which directs mass amounts of computer power at individual wallets in order to guess their private keys. The project, which has been underway for months, relies on a distributed network of computers (similar to bitcoin itself), and invites anyone to participate--those who do could potentially share in the proceeds of the wallets cracked open. A trophy list on the home page of Collider (an apparent reference to the Hadron Collider ) suggests the group has successfully opened over a dozen wallets, though only three had any bitcoin in them. Its unclear if the group is motivated by financial gain or the cryptographic challenge of smashing wallets--the answer is probably both based on the sites webpage and outside observers. A Q&A list on the Colliders website says robbing even a tiny amount from non-profit group like the Internet archive would make you an unconditional jerk. But it also suggests other wallets are fair game, and that proceeds would be divvied up among the Collider participants. Meanwhile, others think the wallet-smashing endeavor is a fools errand, according to Motherboard , which first reported on the Large Bitcoin Collider. In this view, the project is too hard and the rewards too low and infrequent (as this Reddit commenter explains ) to pay off. But some speculate the goal of the project is not to rob a whole lot of wallets, but instead to strike a mother lode from a long-lost wallet from bitcoins early days: About 10% of Bitcoins were created early, before 2012, and have never been traded. If somebody ever finds the key of the early lost Bitcoins, theyll have a huge payoff, over a billion dollars. Speculation is that either Satoshi Nakamoto, whoever he is, is holding onto them for a big payoff, or somebody lost the private key for all those early Bitcoins. As the years go on, the second explanation seems more likely, said the top comment on the site Hacker News . Story continues Get Data Sheet , Fortune s technology newsletter. As for the process of cracking open wallets, it involves the laborious task of creating private keys--which are dozens of characters in length--and trying them against existing bitcoin addresses. The Collider has so far created and checked 3,000 trillion private keys, a researcher told Motherboard. As for the legality of all this, its unclear. On one hand, the law is pretty clear that you are not supposed to join a conspiracy in order to rob people. But on the other hand, as the groups website points out, It is not illegal to search for colliding private keys. For bitcoin owners, the risk of the Large Bitcoin Collider performing a stick-up on your private wallet is pretty tiny for now. But if the process also results in someone creating a collision for bitcoins general hashing algorithm--as happened with the longtime crypographic standard SHA-1 (cracked by this year)--that would spell a lot more trouble, though as one reader points out , bitcoins encryption algorithm can be upgraded. See original article on Fortune.com More from Fortune.com These Investors Bought the Firm Behind Bitcoin's Self-Proclaimed Inventor VC Fred Wilson Thinks Coinbase Is the Goldman Sachs of Bitcoin Why Everyone's Talking About 'Initial Coin Offerings' Why the Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF May Not Be Dead Yet Bitcoin Is Finally Starting to Settle Down || Bitcoin Wallets Under Siege From ‘Large Collider’ Attack: A group called the “Large Bitcoin Collider” claims it can smash open bitcoin wallets by using a so-called brute force attack, which directs mass amounts of computer power at individual wallets in order to guess their private keys.
The project, which has been underway for months, relies on a distributed network of computers (similar to bitcoin itself), and invites anyone to participate--those who do could potentially share in the proceeds of the wallets cracked open.
A “trophy list” on the home page of Collider (an apparent reference to theHadron Collider) suggests the group has successfully opened over a dozen wallets, though only three had any bitcoin in them. It’s unclear if the group is motivated by financial gain or the cryptographic challenge of smashing wallets--the answer is probably both based on the site’s webpage and outside observers.
AQ&A liston the Collider’s website says robbing even a tiny amount from non-profit group like the Internet archive “would make you an unconditional jerk.” But it also suggests other wallets are fair game, and that proceeds would be divvied up among the Collider participants.
Meanwhile, others think the wallet-smashing endeavor is a fool’s errand, according toMotherboard, which first reported on the Large Bitcoin Collider. In this view, the project is too hard and the rewards too low and infrequent (as thisReddit commenter explains) to pay off.
But some speculate the goal of the project is not to rob a whole lot of wallets, but instead to strike a mother lode from a long-lost wallet from bitcoin’s early days:
“About 10% ofBitcoinswere created early, before 2012, and have never been traded. If somebody ever finds the key of the early lost Bitcoins, they’ll have a huge payoff, over a billion dollars. Speculation is that either “Satoshi Nakamoto”, whoever he is, is holding onto them for a big payoff, or somebody lost the private key for all those early Bitcoins. As the years go on, the second explanation seems more likely,” said the top comment on the siteHacker News.
Get Data Sheet,Fortune‘s technology newsletter.
As for the process of cracking open wallets, it involves the laborious task of creating private keys--which are dozens of characters in length--and trying them against existing bitcoin addresses. The Collider has so far created and checked3,000 trillionprivate keys, a researcher told Motherboard.
As for the legality of all this, it’s unclear. On one hand, the law is pretty clear that you are not supposed to join a conspiracy in order to rob people. But on the other hand, as the group’s website points out, “It is not illegal to search for colliding private keys.”
For bitcoin owners, the risk of the Large Bitcoin Collider performing a stick-up on your private wallet is pretty tiny for now. But if the process also results in someone creatinga collisionfor bitcoin’s general hashing algorithm--as happened with the longtime crypographic standard SHA-1 (cracked by this year)--that would spell a lot more trouble, though as one readerpoints out, bitcoin’s encryption algorithm can be upgraded.
See original article on Fortune.com
More from Fortune.com
• These Investors Bought the Firm Behind Bitcoin's Self-Proclaimed Inventor
• VC Fred Wilson Thinks Coinbase Is the Goldman Sachs of Bitcoin
• Why Everyone's Talking About 'Initial Coin Offerings'
• Why the Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF May Not Be Dead Yet
• Bitcoin Is Finally Starting to Settle Down || Bitcoin Wallets Under Siege From ‘Large Collider’ Attack: A group called the “Large Bitcoin Collider” claims it can smash open bitcoin wallets by using a so-called brute force attack, which directs mass amounts of computer power at individual wallets in order to guess their private keys.
The project, which has been underway for months, relies on a distributed network of computers (similar to bitcoin itself), and invites anyone to participate--those who do could potentially share in the proceeds of the wallets cracked open.
A “trophy list” on the home page of Collider (an apparent reference to theHadron Collider) suggests the group has successfully opened over a dozen wallets, though only three had any bitcoin in them. It’s unclear if the group is motivated by financial gain or the cryptographic challenge of smashing wallets--the answer is probably both based on the site’s webpage and outside observers.
AQ&A liston the Collider’s website says robbing even a tiny amount from non-profit group like the Internet archive “would make you an unconditional jerk.” But it also suggests other wallets are fair game, and that proceeds would be divvied up among the Collider participants.
Meanwhile, others think the wallet-smashing endeavor is a fool’s errand, according toMotherboard, which first reported on the Large Bitcoin Collider. In this view, the project is too hard and the rewards too low and infrequent (as thisReddit commenter explains) to pay off.
But some speculate the goal of the project is not to rob a whole lot of wallets, but instead to strike a mother lode from a long-lost wallet from bitcoin’s early days:
“About 10% ofBitcoinswere created early, before 2012, and have never been traded. If somebody ever finds the key of the early lost Bitcoins, they’ll have a huge payoff, over a billion dollars. Speculation is that either “Satoshi Nakamoto”, whoever he is, is holding onto them for a big payoff, or somebody lost the private key for all those early Bitcoins. As the years go on, the second explanation seems more likely,” said the top comment on the siteHacker News.
Get Data Sheet,Fortune‘s technology newsletter.
As for the process of cracking open wallets, it involves the laborious task of creating private keys--which are dozens of characters in length--and trying them against existing bitcoin addresses. The Collider has so far created and checked3,000 trillionprivate keys, a researcher told Motherboard.
As for the legality of all this, it’s unclear. On one hand, the law is pretty clear that you are not supposed to join a conspiracy in order to rob people. But on the other hand, as the group’s website points out, “It is not illegal to search for colliding private keys.”
For bitcoin owners, the risk of the Large Bitcoin Collider performing a stick-up on your private wallet is pretty tiny for now. But if the process also results in someone creatinga collisionfor bitcoin’s general hashing algorithm--as happened with the longtime crypographic standard SHA-1 (cracked by this year)--that would spell a lot more trouble, though as one readerpoints out, bitcoin’s encryption algorithm can be upgraded.
See original article on Fortune.com
More from Fortune.com
• These Investors Bought the Firm Behind Bitcoin's Self-Proclaimed Inventor
• VC Fred Wilson Thinks Coinbase Is the Goldman Sachs of Bitcoin
• Why Everyone's Talking About 'Initial Coin Offerings'
• Why the Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF May Not Be Dead Yet
• Bitcoin Is Finally Starting to Settle Down || Inside the World's Greatest Scavenger Hunt, Part 1: In the fall of 2015, my teenage daughter Tia crafted a spectacular, life-sized poodle out of feminine hygiene products. “It’s a tampoodle,” she told me. She made this, uh, artwork as an audition piece—to showcase her creative skills, as a tryout for an elite team in some kind of national scavenger hunt. (She made the team.) I thought the tampoodle was cute. I thought it was great fun that Tia was joining some kind of scavenger hunt. I had no idea what kind of ride was ahead. Meet GISHWHES When most people think of a scavenger hunt, they probably imagine the list of items includes, you know, “Get the dean’s signature” or “Find a dog with a curly tail.” GISHWHES is not that. It stands for the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen. (Its creator acknowledges GISHWHES may be the Ugliest Acronym the World Has Ever Seen.) Teams of 15 have one week to complete about 200 extremely difficult or hilarious tasks. They prove they’ve completed each item by submitting a photo or video of it; their $20 entry fees go to a charity, and the winning team gets a trip to some exotic location with Misha Collins, the hunt’s founder. Sample items from past GISHWHES lists: • Do a dramatic reading of your grade-school report card. • Find someone you love and butter them up—literally. Cover them in butter and then give them a big hug. • Glaciers are melting—so act accordingly. Pose at a major glacier wearing a swimsuit with floaties. • Have a tea party with a pediatric cancer patient, where you’re dressed as a character from “Alice in Wonderland.” • Tour a sewage treatment plant dressed in formal attire with an accompanying violinist or flutist. • Get a child to write a letter to the universe. Launch the letter into orbit . • Film an erotically charged conversation between a housewife and pizza delivery man. The actors can ONLY talk about grammar and fonts. What astonished me is what a big deal GISHWHES is. Last year, 55,000 people registered to participate—not including all the friends and family members who lent favors, assistance, and props. ( Registration for this year’s hunt opens this week .) Story continues Some participants had to dress up as a prospector and pan for gold in a public fountain. Photo courtesy of David Pogue GISHWHES holds seven Guinness World Records, including Biggest Media Scavenger Hunt, Largest Online Photo Album of Hugs, Longest Chain of Safety Pins, Most Pledges for a Charitable Campaign, and Largest Gathering of People in French Maid Outfits. (Why is there a Guinness record for Largest Gathering of People in French Maid Outfits!?) But in the end, GISHWHES is an event that does good in the world. Over the years, GISHWHES list items have persuaded players to a) raise over $1 million for charity, b) donate hundreds of thousands of pints of blood, c) volunteer at soup kitchens, d) register thousands of citizens to vote, and e) register to become bone-marrow donors. (That last item has already saved two lives, according to GISHWHES producers.) And the 2016 hunt raised $250,000 to buy homes for five Syrian refugee families. So yes, GISHWHES is a do-gooder enterprise. But it’s also brilliantly clever, gut-bustingly funny, and positively unforgettable. So my question is: Why haven’t people heard of GISHWHES? Why isn’t it a cultural thing? Why isn’t it, at the very least, a reality show? It’d be the most entertaining show on TV. Well, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. With the tolerance of my superiors at Yahoo, I decided to make my own darned reality show. Above on this page is Episode 1 of a five-part series. Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3 • Part 4 • Part 5 Misha Collins Misha Collins attends the “Supernatural” special video presentation and Q&A on Day 4 of Comic-Con International on Sunday, July 27, 2014, in San Diego. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP) GISHWHES was created, and is run to this day, by TV actor Misha Collins, a costar of the CW series “Supernatural.” (His heartthrob status helps explain why GISHWHES participants are predominantly female.) “I went to the University of Chicago,” he told me. “The University of Chicago has a scavenger hunt that we call Scav, that has been running about 30 years now. It took place over the course of a long weekend. We would completely abandon our academics and our sense of decency for those three days, and go all-out for this scavenger hunt. And I loved it. I actually think that it was one of the most educational aspects of my college experience, and infused with the most joy.” Years later, after a decade of struggling as an actor in Los Angeles, Collins finally landed a show. “I got on this TV show ‘Supernatural,’ and I developed a little bit of a fandom following, and I started to notice that there was a high level of creative engagement from our fans. That got my wheels turning. What can I do with this? How can I have fun with it?” Collins’s first side project with his fans was a charity called Random Acts . “We’ve done some pretty big projects. We built an orphanage in Haiti; we’re finishing building a high school in Nicaragua right now. But we also do myriad smaller projects all over the world—as small as bringing roses into a senior citizen home.” Then, in 2009, as a lark, Collins ran a little scavenger hunt from his Twitter account. About 300 people participated; they were instructed to photograph their submissions and send them to an email address that Collins set up. “People engaged in it with an enthusiasm and a committedness that I could not’ve anticipated,” he says now. “I remember sitting in my apartment, looking at the submissions that had come in, and thinking, ‘This is amazing!’ The art people were creating, the tasks that I thought were impossible that people were pulling off—! I remember, ‘This is what I wanna do for my life’s work. This is awesome.’” And so, in 2010, GISHWHES was born. For the 2016 hunt, I embedded myself with my daughter’s GISHWHES team for the week. I filmed their efforts and followed their frustrations and joys. In the coming episodes, you’ll get to meet them—and you’ll get go to inside world’s biggest scavenger hunt. Part 1 • Part 2 • Part 3 • Part 4 • Part 5 More from David Pogue: The David Pogue Review: Windows 10 Creators Update Now I get it: Bitcoin David Pogue tested 47 pill-reminder apps to find the best one David Pogue’s search for the world’s best air-travel app The little-known iPhone feature that lets blind people see with their fingers David Pogue, tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, welcomes non-toxic comments in the Comments below. On the web, he’s davidpogue.com . On Twitter, he’s @pogue . On email, he’s [email protected]. You can read all his articles here , or you can sign up to get his columns by email . || Inside the World's Greatest Scavenger Hunt, Part 1: In the fall of 2015, my teenage daughter Tia crafted a spectacular, life-sized poodle out of feminine hygiene products.
“It’s a tampoodle,” she told me.
She made this, uh, artwork as an audition piece—to showcase her creative skills, as a tryout for an elite team in some kind of national scavenger hunt. (She made the team.)
I thought the tampoodle was cute. I thought it was great fun that Tia was joining some kind of scavenger hunt.
I had no idea what kind of ride was ahead.
When most people think of a scavenger hunt, they probably imagine the list of items includes, you know, “Get the dean’s signature” or “Find a dog with a curly tail.”
GISHWHES is not that.
It stands for theGreatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen.(Its creator acknowledges GISHWHES may be the Ugliest Acronym the World Has Ever Seen.)
Teams of 15 have one week to complete about 200 extremely difficult or hilarious tasks. They prove they’ve completed each item by submitting a photo or video of it; their $20 entry fees go to a charity, and the winning team gets a trip to some exotic location with Misha Collins, the hunt’s founder.
Sample items from past GISHWHES lists:
• • Do a dramatic reading of your grade-school report card.
• • Find someone you love and butter them up—literally. Cover them in butter and then give them a big hug.
• • Glaciers are melting—so act accordingly. Pose at a major glacier wearing a swimsuit with floaties.
• • Have a tea party with a pediatric cancer patient, where you’re dressed as a character from “Alice in Wonderland.”
• • Tour a sewage treatment plant dressed in formal attire with an accompanying violinist or flutist.
• • Get a child to write a letter to the universe. Launch the letter into orbit.
• • Film an erotically charged conversation between a housewife and pizza delivery man. The actors can ONLY talk about grammar and fonts.
What astonished me is what a big deal GISHWHES is. Last year, 55,000 people registered to participate—not including all the friends and family members who lent favors, assistance, and props. (Registration for this year’s hunt opens this week.)
GISHWHES holds seven Guinness World Records, including Biggest Media Scavenger Hunt, Largest Online Photo Album of Hugs, Longest Chain of Safety Pins, Most Pledges for a Charitable Campaign, and Largest Gathering of People in French Maid Outfits. (Why is there a Guinness record for Largest Gathering of People in French Maid Outfits!?)
But in the end, GISHWHES is an event that does good in the world. Over the years, GISHWHES list items have persuaded players to a) raise over $1 million for charity, b) donate hundreds of thousands of pints of blood, c) volunteer at soup kitchens, d) register thousands of citizens to vote, and e) register to become bone-marrow donors. (That last item has already saved two lives, according to GISHWHES producers.)
And the 2016 hunt raised $250,000 to buy homes for five Syrian refugee families.
So yes, GISHWHES is a do-gooder enterprise. But it’s also brilliantly clever, gut-bustingly funny, and positively unforgettable.
So my question is: Why haven’t people heard of GISHWHES? Why isn’t it a culturalthing?
Why isn’t it, at the very least, a reality show? It’d be the most entertaining show on TV.
Well, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. With the tolerance of my superiors at Yahoo, I decided to make myowndarned reality show. Above on this page is Episode 1 of a five-part series.
Part 1 •Part 2•Part 3•Part 4•Part 5
GISHWHES was created, and is run to this day, by TV actor Misha Collins, a costar of the CW series “Supernatural.” (His heartthrob status helps explain why GISHWHES participants are predominantly female.)
“I went to the University of Chicago,” he told me. “The University of Chicago has a scavenger hunt that we call Scav, that has been running about 30 years now. It took place over the course of a long weekend. We would completely abandon our academics and our sense of decency for those three days, and go all-out for this scavenger hunt. And I loved it. I actually think that it was one of the most educational aspects of my college experience, and infused with the most joy.”
Years later, after a decade of struggling as an actor in Los Angeles, Collins finally landed a show. “I got on this TV show ‘Supernatural,’ and I developed a little bit of a fandom following, and I started to notice that there was a high level of creative engagement from our fans. That got my wheels turning. What can I do with this? How can I have fun with it?”
Collins’s first side project with his fans wasa charity called Random Acts. “We’ve done some pretty big projects. We built an orphanage in Haiti; we’re finishing building a high school in Nicaragua right now. But we also do myriad smaller projects all over the world—as small as bringing roses into a senior citizen home.”
Then, in 2009, as a lark, Collins ran a little scavenger hunt from his Twitter account. About 300 people participated; they were instructed to photograph their submissions and send them to an email address that Collins set up.
“People engaged in it with an enthusiasm and a committedness that I could not’ve anticipated,” he says now. “I remember sitting in my apartment, looking at the submissions that had come in, and thinking, ‘This is amazing!’ The art people were creating, the tasks that I thought were impossible that people were pulling off—! I remember, ‘This is what I wanna do for my life’s work. This is awesome.’”
And so, in 2010, GISHWHES was born.
For the 2016 hunt, I embedded myself with my daughter’s GISHWHES team for the week. I filmed their efforts and followed their frustrations and joys. In the coming episodes, you’ll get to meet them—and you’ll get go to inside world’s biggest scavenger hunt.
Part 1 •Part 2•Part 3•Part 4•Part 5
More from David Pogue:
The David Pogue Review: Windows 10 Creators Update
Now I get it: Bitcoin
David Pogue tested 47 pill-reminder apps to find the best one
David Pogue’s search for the world’s best air-travel app
The little-known iPhone feature that lets blind people see with their fingers
David Pogue, tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, welcomes non-toxic comments in the Comments below. On the web, he’sdavidpogue.com. On Twitter, he’s@pogue. On email, he’s [email protected]. You canread all his articles here, or you can sign up toget his columns by email. || Yes, Some Businesses Still Run Microsoft’s Much-Maligned Windows Vista: A new survey shows that a sizable percentage of businesses are still running Vista, the problem-plagued version of Windows that launched 10 years ago and Microsoft stopped supporting as of this week. Some 9% of companies surveyed by business software maker Spiceworks are still running at least one instance of Windows Vista. More striking is that more than half of the businesses surveyed--52%--have at least one PC running Windows XP, an even older, albeit more respected, version of Windows. ended support of Windows XP, which debuted in 2001, in 2014. Other Spiceworks data reveals Windows XP is running on 14% of all business PCs worldwide. Windows Vista has much lower penetration there, running on just 1% of the PCs tallied. Meanwhile, eight-year old Windows 7 runs a whopping 69% of all business PCs worldwide. Get Data Sheet , Fortune 's technology newsletter. The figures come from Spiceworks’s recent 2017 OS Adoption Trends report, which examined anonymized data collected from “hundreds of thousands” of IT professionals who use Spiceworks software to manage their networks. The company supplemented that by surveying 461 information technology professionals. A whopping 90% of those surveyed said they worry about the risks posed by the use of old, unsupported operating systems which are easier to attack and more susceptible to malware. That puts both corporate and personal data at risk. It’s hardly unusual for people to put off upgrading their software. One reason is that change is hard and disruptive. Updates of one product can break other products. Another reason is that upgrades cost companies--and their employees--money and time. But the risks of failing to update operating systems (or other software) are real. Stats like these are fodder for Microsoft , which is always pushing users to get up to date. Last year, other Spiceworks research showed that the current Windows 10 release had been adopted by 54% of organizations surveyed, up from 38% last July. Windows 10 launched in July 2015. Story continues See original article on Fortune.com More from Fortune.com These Investors Bought the Firm Behind Bitcoin's Self-Proclaimed Inventor Google Home Can Now Track Flight Prices FCC Could Announce Broadcaster Auction Results on Thursday Amazon Is Opening Up This Echo Feature to Other Manufacturers One of Twitter's Top Engineers Left the Company Last Month || Yes, Some Businesses Still Run Microsoft’s Much-Maligned Windows Vista: A new survey shows that a sizable percentage of businesses are still running Vista, the problem-plagued version of Windows that launched 10 years ago andMicrosoft stopped supportingas of this week.
Some 9% of companies surveyed by business software maker Spiceworks are still running at least one instance of Windows Vista. More striking is that more than half of the businesses surveyed--52%--have at least one PC running Windows XP, an even older, albeit more respected, version of Windows. ended support of Windows XP, which debuted in 2001, in 2014.
Other Spiceworks data reveals Windows XP is running on 14% of all business PCs worldwide. Windows Vista has much lower penetration there, running on just 1% of the PCs tallied. Meanwhile, eight-year old Windows 7 runs a whopping 69% of all business PCs worldwide.
Get Data Sheet,Fortune's technology newsletter.
The figures come from Spiceworks’s recent2017 OS Adoption Trendsreport, which examined anonymized data collected from “hundreds of thousands” of IT professionals who use Spiceworks software to manage their networks. The company supplemented that by surveying 461 information technology professionals.
A whopping 90% of those surveyed said they worry about the risks posed by the use of old, unsupported operating systems which are easier to attack and more susceptible to malware. That puts both corporate and personal data at risk.
It’s hardly unusual for people to put off upgrading their software. One reason is that change is hard and disruptive. Updates of one product can break other products. Another reason is that upgrades cost companies--and their employees--money and time.
But the risks of failing to update operating systems (or other software) are real. Stats like these are fodder for Microsoft , which is always pushing users to get up to date.
Last year, other Spiceworks research showed that the current Windows 10 release had been adopted by 54% of organizations surveyed, up from 38% last July.Windows 10launched in July 2015.
See original article on Fortune.com
More from Fortune.com
• These Investors Bought the Firm Behind Bitcoin's Self-Proclaimed Inventor
• Google Home Can Now Track Flight Prices
• FCC Could Announce Broadcaster Auction Results on Thursday
• Amazon Is Opening Up This Echo Feature to Other Manufacturers
• One of Twitter's Top Engineers Left the Company Last Month || What US ETF Market Looks Like Today: It was just 24 years ago that the first ETF, the SPDR S&P 500 (SPY) , came to market—ETF No. 1. Now, with 51 new ETF launches having already occurred this year, we are about to hit a milestone: 2,000 ETFs listed in the U.S. These funds already command more assets than hedge funds in an asset base that grows about 20-25% yearly. With nearly $3 trillion in assets in U.S.-listed ETFs alone, some are already projecting the size of the market to double by 2020. If you talk to those who were part of the ETF industry’s early days—people like State Street Global Advisors’ Jim Ross and iShares’ former head Lee Kranefuss , you get a sense that no one would have guessed ETFs would take off as they did, and reinvent the way investors access the market. “The growth of ETFs in U.S. capital markets is a textbook case study in ‘Disruptive Innovation,’ right alongside well-known historical examples like Amazon, Google, Facebook, Netflix and scores of others successful enterprises,” ConvergEx Nick Colas said in a commentary this week. “It is no exaggeration to say that there are more ETFs than investable stocks listed on U.S. exchanges.” Today’s market definitely looks very different from its early days. The era of plain-vanilla products designed around well-known equity indices is giving way to a wave of innovation that has ETFs tapping into broad, diverse and niche pockets through various strategies today. Here’s a broad overview of the market’s makeup, with data courtesy of FactSet: Asset Class Equity ETFs dominate in numbers and in assets. Roughly 70% of all U.S.-listed ETFs are equity funds—or some 1,385 ETFs in the market today. These U.S. and/or international equity ETFs have about $2.2 trillion in combined assets. That amounts to 78% of all U.S.-listed ETF assets, or nearly $8 out of every $10 invested in ETFs today. Investors have plenty of choices when it comes to equity ETF exposures. The biggest of these funds are all focused on U.S. stocks, led by SPY, with $233 billion in assets. IVV comes at No. 2, with $103 billion; and VTI at No. 3, with $76 billion. Those three ETFs alone represent about 25% of assets specifically in U.S. equity ETFs, and 19% of all assets tied to equity ETFs, either domestic or international. Story continues Fixed income ETFs —the second-largest asset class in this industry—command about $490 billion in total assets, the bulk of which is in U.S. fixed-income funds. This is a segment of the market that’s still growing. There are only 317 fixed-income ETFs on the market today, which represents about 16% of all U.S. ETF listings. Many see fixed income as a still-opening-up frontier for more ETF innovation. The remainder of the market is split into smaller slices: Alternatives ETFs represent about 2.6% of the total market; asset allocation ETFs 2.2%; commodity ETFs 5.7%; and currency ETFs 1.5% of the total number of U.S. ETF listings. Smart-Beta ETFs Market-cap-weighted strategies were the first, and remain the largest number of, funds in the market. But it’s smart-beta funds that are driving asset growth and product innovation. Smart beta goes by many names—some call it strategic beta, fundamental indexing, factor investing and more. But the ETFs in this category are simply rules-based strategies that aim to deliver better risk-adjusted returns than traditional market-cap-weighted indexes. They apply different selection screens, and weight securities in different ways to deliver a spectrum of results. Today there are roughly 800 smart-beta ETFs on the market—that’s four out of every 10 ETFs in the market—and funds falling under this rubric represented roughly half of the ETFs that launched last year. Among equity ETFs, nearly half are some flavor of smart beta today. In the fixed-income space, where active management is still widely accepted, smart beta has been slower to find a following—only about 9% of all fixed-income ETFs today are smart-beta funds. Costs ETFs have always been known for their low cost, and ongoing fee compression keeps pushing price tags lower. The cheapest ETFs on the market today carry a mere 0.03% expense ratio—that’s $3 per $10,000 invested. They are: Schwab U.S. Broad Market ETF (SCHB) Schwab U.S. Large-Cap ETF (SCHX) iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF (ITOT) These are all vanilla strategies, and as the market moves more toward smart-beta approaches, expense ratios have averaged higher because the more complex a fund is, the more it usually costs. But even in the smart-beta segment, fee compression is real. The cheapest smart-beta ETFs today have 0.04% expense ratios—a pair of Schwab growth and value funds that use a multifactor selection process to pick securities, which are then market-cap-weighted in the portfolios. Most ETFs today have expense ratios between 0.3% and 1.0%. But there are funds that come with hefty expense ratios. There are 22 ETFs that have expense ratios of more than 2%, and the most expensive ETF has an ER of 9.20%—that’s $920 per $10,000 invested. It’s the VanEck Vectors BDC Income ETF (BIZD) . ETF Issuers Roughly 82% of all U.S.-listed ETF assets are managed by three single ETF issuers—BlackRock’s iShares, Vanguard and State Street Global Advisors. iShares’s dominance is uncontested, as the firm alone commands about $1 trillion of all ETF assets in the U.S. But there are a growing number of ETF issuers, with new firms looking for ways to join the bandwagon as investors demand access to the ETF wrapper. Today we count nearly 80 ETF issuers in all, each trying to find their niche in a market that’s increasingly diverse. At the end of the day, the number of ETF launches—which outpaces ETF closures year after year—and the continued entry of these new ETF players, suggest that 2,000 ETFs with nearly $3 trillion in the U.S. alone may very well be just the beginning for this “disruptive innovation” of an industry. Contact Cinthia Murphy at [email protected] Recommended Stories Bogle’s Recipe For Active Manager Survival Don’t Choose An ETF Based On Fees Alone Socially Responsible Dividends In An ETF Running An Index ETF Is Harder Than It Looks SEC To Review Decision Denying Bitcoin ETF Permalink | © Copyright 2017 ETF.com. All rights reserved || What US ETF Market Looks Like Today: It was just 24 years ago that the first ETF, theSPDR S&P 500 (SPY), came to market—ETF No. 1.
Now, with 51 new ETF launches having already occurred this year, we are about to hit a milestone: 2,000 ETFs listed in the U.S.
These funds already command more assets than hedge funds in an asset base that grows about 20-25% yearly. With nearly $3 trillion in assets in U.S.-listed ETFs alone, some are already projecting the size of the market to double by 2020.
If you talk to those who were part of the ETF industry’s early days—people likeState Street Global Advisors’ Jim RossandiShares’ former head Lee Kranefuss, you get a sense that no one would have guessed ETFs would take off as they did, and reinvent the way investors access the market.
“The growth of ETFs in U.S. capital markets is a textbook case study in ‘Disruptive Innovation,’ right alongside well-known historical examples like Amazon, Google, Facebook, Netflix and scores of others successful enterprises,” ConvergEx Nick Colas said in a commentary this week. “It is no exaggeration to say that there are more ETFs than investable stocks listed on U.S. exchanges.”
Today’s market definitely looks very different from its early days. The era of plain-vanilla products designed around well-known equity indices is giving way to a wave of innovation that has ETFs tapping into broad, diverse and niche pockets through various strategies today.
Here’s a broad overview of the market’s makeup, with data courtesy of FactSet:
Asset Class
Equity ETFsdominate in numbers and in assets. Roughly 70% of all U.S.-listed ETFs are equity funds—or some 1,385 ETFs in the market today. These U.S. and/or international equity ETFs have about $2.2 trillion in combined assets. That amounts to 78% of all U.S.-listed ETF assets, or nearly $8 out of every $10 invested in ETFs today.
Investors have plenty of choices when it comes to equity ETF exposures.
The biggest of these funds are all focused on U.S. stocks, led by SPY, with $233 billion in assets.IVVcomes at No. 2, with $103 billion; andVTIat No. 3, with $76 billion. Those three ETFs alone represent about 25% of assets specifically in U.S. equity ETFs, and 19% of all assets tied to equity ETFs, either domestic or international.
Fixed income ETFs—the second-largest asset class in this industry—command about $490 billion in total assets, the bulk of which is in U.S. fixed-income funds. This is a segment of the market that’s still growing.
There are only 317 fixed-income ETFs on the market today, which represents about 16% of all U.S. ETF listings. Many see fixed income as a still-opening-up frontier for more ETF innovation.
The remainder of the market is split into smaller slices:Alternatives ETFsrepresent about 2.6% of the total market;asset allocation ETFs2.2%;commodity ETFs5.7%; andcurrency ETFs1.5% of the total number of U.S. ETF listings.
Smart-Beta ETFs
Market-cap-weighted strategies were the first, and remain the largest number of, funds in the market. But it’s smart-beta funds that are driving asset growth and product innovation.
Smart beta goes by many names—some call it strategic beta, fundamental indexing, factor investing and more. But the ETFs in this category are simply rules-based strategies that aim to deliver better risk-adjusted returns than traditional market-cap-weighted indexes. They apply different selection screens, and weight securities in different ways to deliver a spectrum of results.
Today there are roughly800 smart-beta ETFson the market—that’s four out of every 10 ETFs in the market—and funds falling under this rubric represented roughly half of the ETFs that launched last year. Among equity ETFs, nearly half are some flavor of smart beta today. In the fixed-income space, where active management is still widely accepted, smart beta has been slower to find a following—only about 9% of all fixed-income ETFs today are smart-beta funds.
Costs
ETFs have always been known for their low cost, and ongoing fee compression keeps pushing price tags lower.
The cheapest ETFs on the market today carry a mere 0.03% expense ratio—that’s $3 per $10,000 invested. They are:
• Schwab U.S. Broad Market ETF (SCHB)
• Schwab U.S. Large-Cap ETF (SCHX)
• iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF (ITOT)
These are all vanilla strategies, and as the market moves more toward smart-beta approaches, expense ratios have averaged higher because the more complex a fund is, the more it usually costs. But even in the smart-beta segment, fee compression is real.
The cheapest smart-beta ETFs today have 0.04% expense ratios—a pair of Schwab growth and value funds that use a multifactor selection process to pick securities, which are then market-cap-weighted in the portfolios.
Most ETFs today have expense ratios between 0.3% and 1.0%. But there are funds that come with hefty expense ratios. There are 22 ETFs that have expense ratios of more than 2%, and the most expensive ETF has an ER of 9.20%—that’s $920 per $10,000 invested. It’s theVanEck Vectors BDC Income ETF (BIZD).
ETF Issuers
Roughly 82% of all U.S.-listed ETF assets are managed by three single ETF issuers—BlackRock’s iShares, Vanguard and State Street Global Advisors. iShares’s dominance is uncontested, as the firm alone commands about $1 trillion of all ETF assets in the U.S.
But there are a growing number of ETF issuers, with new firms looking for ways to join the bandwagon as investors demand access to the ETF wrapper.
Today we count nearly 80ETF issuersin all, each trying to find their niche in a market that’s increasingly diverse.
At the end of the day, the number of ETF launches—which outpaces ETF closures year after year—and the continued entry of these new ETF players, suggest that 2,000 ETFs with nearly $3 trillion in the U.S. alone may very well be just the beginning for this “disruptive innovation” of an industry.
Contact Cinthia Murphy [email protected]
Recommended Stories
• Bogle’s Recipe For Active Manager Survival
• Don’t Choose An ETF Based On Fees Alone
• Socially Responsible Dividends In An ETF
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• SEC To Review Decision Denying Bitcoin ETF
Permalink| © Copyright 2017ETF.com.All rights reserved || Humaniq, Blockchain Financial Platform for the Unbanked, Appoints CEO and 20 Members to Global Advisory Board: LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwired - Apr 12, 2017) - Humaniq (https://humaniq.co/), the blockchain financial platform offering financial inclusion solutions for the unbanked, today announced its executive leadership and advisory board, helping guide the company through its current token sale and the development of its mobile banking app that will support Humaniq's humanitarian initiative.
"Humaniq is a disruptive tech platform innovation for good. We are a solution to a global problem," said Alex Fork, President and co-Founder of Humaniq. "More than half the world lives on less than $2.50 a day and more than 80 percent of the world's population lives in countries where income differentials are widening. Humaniq will help reverse these trends and bring people out of poverty by giving them banking tools that are easy to understand. Humaniq will provide liquidity for entrepreneurial ventures via loans, online work and crypto-financing as well as helping to create new opportunities in the digital economy, locally, nationally and internationally. With the appointment of our new CEO we are ready to capitalize on these opportunities immediately."
Dinis Guarda has been appointed as CEO of Humaniq. Guarda is an entrepreneur and author with a strong background in international management, blockchain and financial inclusion, who has previously founded the successful ventures Ztudium, intelligenthq.com and Tradingfloor.com.
Alex Fork, who founded Humaniq in 2016 to help lift the unbanked out of poverty in emerging economies, now serves as President and Leading Visionary of Humaniq. Fork previously founded the Future Fintech Accelerator and authored the book "Bitcoin: More than money."
"We strongly believe that the heart, humanity and experience represented on this team will be the driving force behind Humaniq's success," said Dinis Guarda, CEO of Humaniq.
"We have already raised over $3M for our token sale in just three days," added Guarda.
"With our strong team and advisory board as our foundation, we look forward to building the new world of financial inclusion, industry 4.0 and education together with Humaniq," Guarda explained.
The Humaniq executive leadership team consists of:
• Alex Fork,President and Co-Founder of Humaniq and Leading Visionary, Luxembourg.
• Dinis Guarda, CEO of Humaniq, UK.
• Dmitry Kaminskiy, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Humaniq, UK.
• Richard Kastelein, Chief Marketing Officer, Netherlands.
The Humaniq advisory board consists of twenty leaders from around the world with diverse backgrounds in global policy, public affairs, technology, science, blockchain and education:
• Nick Ayton, Technology Advisory Board / 21 Million Project, UK
• Karl Hoods, Policy and Legal Advisor, Save the Children, London, UK
• Pavel Kravchenko, Technology/Blockchain Advisor, Ukraine
• Michael Terpin, Technology Advisor/Transform Group, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
• Chami Akmeemana, Technology Advisor/Policy and Legal advisory board / Advisor for regulator, Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), Australia
• Matt McKibbin, Technology Advisor/Crypto Economy, US
• Ron Morris, Scientific Advisor/Education/Universities Advisor, Director Groupe INSEEC San Francisco, US
• Derin Cag, Advisor Chief Influencer Officer, Founder of Richtopia.com, UK
• Tim Campbell MBE, Public Affairs and Global Policy advisory, UK
• Alex Bausch, Technology Advisory Board / Co-Chairman of the Blockchain Ecosystem Network, Netherlands
• Matthias Klees, Technology Advisor / Bitcoinsulting, Szenekonzept, Germany
• Iggy Bassy, Policy and Legal advisory board / Social Impact and AI, Data expert, Founder Cervest UK
• Paul Mears, Policy and Financial Risk advisory board / Currency International Payments advisor, Monaco
• Vishai Mishra, Technology advisory board / Big Data and Security, Rightrelevance.com, US
• David Applefield, Public Affairs and Global Policy Advisor/Communications and PR Advisor, FT Special Rep for Africa, France.
• Jochen Heussner, Chief Financial Officer / Legal and Financial Investment Advisor EU, Founder Planetcompliance.com, Italy
• Alexander Perkins, Legal and Financial Investment Advisor, USA
• Alakanani Itireleng, Africa [leading] Ambassador, Botswana
• Dickson Nsofor, Technology and Policy advisor, New York branch lead, United Nations relations, US
• Maria Fonseca, Evangelist and Thought Leader, Editor Intelligenthq.com, UK.
Humaniq is currently hosting a public Token Sale to fund its Blockchain banking app for financial inclusion. The ICO reached 1706 Bitcoin, 2,030,037.64 US Dollars in its first day.
"This project is much beyond crypto-currencies. This is a social good movement gathering the best people in the world focused on converting the most advanced tech for sustainable development in the undeveloped world. Now, with this enhanced advisory board, the Humaniq project will be able to address governments and global non-profit organizations. The technological tool to tackle down the main challenges facing the 2 billion unbanked people has arrived. Humaniq will create deep impact for social good on a global scale," said Dmitry Kaminskiy, co-founder of Humaniq and managing partner of Deep Knowledge Ventures.
To learn more and to participate, visit:https://my.humaniq.co/?roistat_visit=103423.
About Humaniq:Humaniq is an Ethereum-based blockchain banking app building the next generation model for financial services. Launched in 2016, Humaniq aims to provide mobile finance to the 2 billion unbanked population through its mobile app that uses biometric authentication to replace traditional methods of ID and security. Humaniq's open source stack and API will be available for startups and other businesses to build services on its core technology, making it easy to adapt their service and plug it into Humaniq's network to reach a huge, untapped audience. For more information, visithttps://humaniq.co/. || Humaniq, Blockchain Financial Platform for the Unbanked, Appoints CEO and 20 Members to Global Advisory Board: LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwired - Apr 12, 2017) - Humaniq ( https://humaniq.co/ ), the blockchain financial platform offering financial inclusion solutions for the unbanked, today announced its executive leadership and advisory board, helping guide the company through its current token sale and the development of its mobile banking app that will support Humaniq's humanitarian initiative. "Humaniq is a disruptive tech platform innovation for good. We are a solution to a global problem," said Alex Fork, President and co-Founder of Humaniq. "More than half the world lives on less than $2.50 a day and more than 80 percent of the world's population lives in countries where income differentials are widening. Humaniq will help reverse these trends and bring people out of poverty by giving them banking tools that are easy to understand. Humaniq will provide liquidity for entrepreneurial ventures via loans, online work and crypto-financing as well as helping to create new opportunities in the digital economy, locally, nationally and internationally. With the appointment of our new CEO we are ready to capitalize on these opportunities immediately." Dinis Guarda has been appointed as CEO of Humaniq. Guarda is an entrepreneur and author with a strong background in international management, blockchain and financial inclusion, who has previously founded the successful ventures Ztudium, intelligenthq.com and Tradingfloor.com. Alex Fork, who founded Humaniq in 2016 to help lift the unbanked out of poverty in emerging economies, now serves as President and Leading Visionary of Humaniq. Fork previously founded the Future Fintech Accelerator and authored the book "Bitcoin: More than money." "We strongly believe that the heart, humanity and experience represented on this team will be the driving force behind Humaniq's success," said Dinis Guarda, CEO of Humaniq. "We have already raised over $3M for our token sale in just three days," added Guarda. "With our strong team and advisory board as our foundation, we look forward to building the new world of financial inclusion, industry 4.0 and education together with Humaniq," Guarda explained. Story continues The Humaniq executive leadership team consists of: Alex Fork , President and Co-Founder of Humaniq and Leading Visionary, Luxembourg. Dinis Guarda, CEO of Humaniq, UK. Dmitry Kaminskiy, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Humaniq, UK. Richard Kastelein, Chief Marketing Officer, Netherlands. The Humaniq advisory board consists of twenty leaders from around the world with diverse backgrounds in global policy, public affairs, technology, science, blockchain and education: Nick Ayton, Technology Advisory Board / 21 Million Project, UK Karl Hoods, Policy and Legal Advisor, Save the Children, London, UK Pavel Kravchenko, Technology/Blockchain Advisor, Ukraine Michael Terpin, Technology Advisor/Transform Group, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Chami Akmeemana, Technology Advisor/Policy and Legal advisory board / Advisor for regulator, Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), Australia Matt McKibbin, Technology Advisor/Crypto Economy, US Ron Morris, Scientific Advisor/Education/Universities Advisor, Director Groupe INSEEC San Francisco, US Derin Cag, Advisor Chief Influencer Officer, Founder of Richtopia.com, UK Tim Campbell MBE, Public Affairs and Global Policy advisory, UK Alex Bausch, Technology Advisory Board / Co-Chairman of the Blockchain Ecosystem Network, Netherlands Matthias Klees, Technology Advisor / Bitcoinsulting, Szenekonzept, Germany Iggy Bassy, Policy and Legal advisory board / Social Impact and AI, Data expert, Founder Cervest UK Paul Mears, Policy and Financial Risk advisory board / Currency International Payments advisor, Monaco Vishai Mishra, Technology advisory board / Big Data and Security, Rightrelevance.com, US David Applefield, Public Affairs and Global Policy Advisor/Communications and PR Advisor, FT Special Rep for Africa, France. Jochen Heussner, Chief Financial Officer / Legal and Financial Investment Advisor EU, Founder Planetcompliance.com, Italy Alexander Perkins, Legal and Financial Investment Advisor, USA Alakanani Itireleng, Africa [leading] Ambassador, Botswana Dickson Nsofor, Technology and Policy advisor, New York branch lead, United Nations relations, US Maria Fonseca, Evangelist and Thought Leader, Editor Intelligenthq.com, UK. Humaniq is currently hosting a public Token Sale to fund its Blockchain banking app for financial inclusion. The ICO reached 1706 Bitcoin, 2,030,037.64 US Dollars in its first day. "This project is much beyond crypto-currencies. This is a social good movement gathering the best people in the world focused on converting the most advanced tech for sustainable development in the undeveloped world. Now, with this enhanced advisory board, the Humaniq project will be able to address governments and global non-profit organizations. The technological tool to tackle down the main challenges facing the 2 billion unbanked people has arrived. Humaniq will create deep impact for social good on a global scale," said Dmitry Kaminskiy, co-founder of Humaniq and managing partner of Deep Knowledge Ventures. To learn more and to participate, visit: https://my.humaniq.co/?roistat_visit=103423 . About Humaniq: Humaniq is an Ethereum-based blockchain banking app building the next generation model for financial services. Launched in 2016, Humaniq aims to provide mobile finance to the 2 billion unbanked population through its mobile app that uses biometric authentication to replace traditional methods of ID and security. Humaniq's open source stack and API will be available for startups and other businesses to build services on its core technology, making it easy to adapt their service and plug it into Humaniq's network to reach a huge, untapped audience. For more information, visit https://humaniq.co/ . || Bitcoin value rises over $1 billion as Japan, Russia move to legitimize cryptocurrency: Bitcoin(Exchange: BTC=-USS)is up nearly $100 in the past week, hitting levels not seen since mid-March after Japan legalized the cryptocurrency as a payment method and Russia is seeking to regulate it too.
The digital currency was trading at around $1,223.04 at the time of publication, up from highs of $1,124.88 on April 5, and hitting prices not seen since March 16, according to Coindesk data. Bitcoin's market capitalization has risen from $18.34 billion on April 5, to $19.5 billion on Wednesday, according to Coinmarketcap.com data.
Bitcoin has suffered a recent dip in price thanks to a debate over thefuture of its underlying technology, but the recent support appears to have come from Japan.
Earlier this month, Japan began accepting bitcoin as legal currency with major retailers backing the new law. Consumer electronics retailing giant Bic Camera began accepting bitcoin last week.
Bitcoin trading in Japanese yen is the second-most liquid market globally, according to data compiled by cryptocurrency trading platform Gatecoin.
"The Japan virtual currency act has likely had a major impact, as there has been a lot of buzz in Japanese media over the ruling over the last few months," Aurélien Menant, founder and CEO of Gatecoin, told CNBC by email.
At the same time, Russia, one of the strongest opponents of bitcoin is seeking to regulate the digital currency. Russian Deputy Finance Minister Alexey Moiseev told Bloomberg in an interview this week that the authorities hope to recognize bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a legal financial instrument in 2018 in a bid to tackle money laundering.
"The state needs to know who at every moment of time stands on both sides of the financial chain," Moiseev told Bloomberg.
"If there's a transaction, the people who facilitate it should understand from whom they bought and to whom they were selling, just like with bank operations."
Increasing state regulation around bitcoin could make the cryptocurrency an attractive investment for investors who previously shied away from it due to the high risk and price swings.
More From CNBC
• Adyen, the firm that processes payments for Uber, Netflix, saw 2016 revenues rise 99%
• India’s mobile market is seeing a huge shift but Apple might not benefit for a while
• Another Apple supplier tanks amid fears it could lose its key contract || Bitcoin value rises over $1 billion as Japan, Russia move to legitimize cryptocurrency: Bitcoin (Exchange: BTC=-USS) is up nearly $100 in the past week, hitting levels not seen since mid-March after Japan legalized the cryptocurrency as a payment method and Russia is seeking to regulate it too. The digital currency was trading at around $1,223.04 at the time of publication, up from highs of $1,124.88 on April 5, and hitting prices not seen since March 16, according to Coindesk data. Bitcoin's market capitalization has risen from $18.34 billion on April 5, to $19.5 billion on Wednesday, according to Coinmarketcap.com data. Bitcoin has suffered a recent dip in price thanks to a debate over the future of its underlying technology , but the recent support appears to have come from Japan. Earlier this month, Japan began accepting bitcoin as legal currency with major retailers backing the new law. Consumer electronics retailing giant Bic Camera began accepting bitcoin last week. Bitcoin trading in Japanese yen is the second-most liquid market globally, according to data compiled by cryptocurrency trading platform Gatecoin. "The Japan virtual currency act has likely had a major impact, as there has been a lot of buzz in Japanese media over the ruling over the last few months," Aurélien Menant, founder and CEO of Gatecoin, told CNBC by email. At the same time, Russia, one of the strongest opponents of bitcoin is seeking to regulate the digital currency. Russian Deputy Finance Minister Alexey Moiseev told Bloomberg in an interview this week that the authorities hope to recognize bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a legal financial instrument in 2018 in a bid to tackle money laundering. "The state needs to know who at every moment of time stands on both sides of the financial chain," Moiseev told Bloomberg. "If there's a transaction, the people who facilitate it should understand from whom they bought and to whom they were selling, just like with bank operations." Increasing state regulation around bitcoin could make the cryptocurrency an attractive investment for investors who previously shied away from it due to the high risk and price swings. More From CNBC Adyen, the firm that processes payments for Uber, Netflix, saw 2016 revenues rise 99% Indias mobile market is seeing a huge shift but Apple might not benefit for a while Another Apple supplier tanks amid fears it could lose its key contract || Bitcoin value rises over $1 billion as Japan, Russia move to legitimize cryptocurrency: Bitcoin(Exchange: BTC=-USS)is up nearly $100 in the past week, hitting levels not seen since mid-March after Japan legalized the cryptocurrency as a payment method and Russia is seeking to regulate it too.
The digital currency was trading at around $1,223.04 at the time of publication, up from highs of $1,124.88 on April 5, and hitting prices not seen since March 16, according to Coindesk data. Bitcoin's market capitalization has risen from $18.34 billion on April 5, to $19.5 billion on Wednesday, according to Coinmarketcap.com data.
Bitcoin has suffered a recent dip in price thanks to a debate over thefuture of its underlying technology, but the recent support appears to have come from Japan.
Earlier this month, Japan began accepting bitcoin as legal currency with major retailers backing the new law. Consumer electronics retailing giant Bic Camera began accepting bitcoin last week.
Bitcoin trading in Japanese yen is the second-most liquid market globally, according to data compiled by cryptocurrency trading platform Gatecoin.
"The Japan virtual currency act has likely had a major impact, as there has been a lot of buzz in Japanese media over the ruling over the last few months," Aurélien Menant, founder and CEO of Gatecoin, told CNBC by email.
At the same time, Russia, one of the strongest opponents of bitcoin is seeking to regulate the digital currency. Russian Deputy Finance Minister Alexey Moiseev told Bloomberg in an interview this week that the authorities hope to recognize bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a legal financial instrument in 2018 in a bid to tackle money laundering.
"The state needs to know who at every moment of time stands on both sides of the financial chain," Moiseev told Bloomberg.
"If there's a transaction, the people who facilitate it should understand from whom they bought and to whom they were selling, just like with bank operations."
Increasing state regulation around bitcoin could make the cryptocurrency an attractive investment for investors who previously shied away from it due to the high risk and price swings.
More From CNBC
• Adyen, the firm that processes payments for Uber, Netflix, saw 2016 revenues rise 99%
• India’s mobile market is seeing a huge shift but Apple might not benefit for a while
• Another Apple supplier tanks amid fears it could lose its key contract || Bitcoin miners have collectively earned more than $2 billion: An interior view of U.S. bitcoin mining company Bitfury's mining farm near Keflavik Bitcoin mining has become a multi-billion dollar industry. Bitcoin miners have collectively earned over $2 billion in revenue since the cryptocurrency was established in 2008, according to an estimate from a new report published by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance. Nearly every way the United incident could have ended differentlyin one flowchart Bitcoin mining is how transactions on the bitcoin network get processed. Transactions in bitcoin are bundled into blocks, and its the job of miners to confirm those blocks are legitimate. This happens when a miner successfully solves a cryptographic puzzle attached to each block, gaining a payout called the block reward. This payout halves every four years; the current reward is 12.5 bitcoins per block, or $15,350 at todays prices. The twist is this: miners must compete with one another with greater computational power to solve the puzzle and win the payout. These incentives have led to a massive increase in complexity and need for computational power. In bitcoins early days, people mined the cryptocurrency on their home computers. Today, server farms of thousands of custom-designed machines around the world compete with one another to solve the puzzle first. Revenues generated by the bitcoin mining sector could be significantly higher, the report says. The estimate only accounts for revenues earned from block rewards and fees paid by bitcoin users for having their transactions processed. It doesnt include revenue from selling mining equipment, or providing cloud mining services, which let subscribers share in block rewards for a fee, without having to operate their own equipment. United Airlines has exposed the moral dilemma behind rewarding customer loyalty Importantly, the estimate doesnt account for capital gains from cashing out of bitcoin strategically, since the researchers assumed block rewards were immediately converted to US dollars. Those gains could be substantial, since bitcoin has been on a historic bull run . Story continues Transaction fees have historically been a small part of miners revenue, but theyve shot up this year as the number of transactions gets closer to the bitcoin networks limit. Users are willing to pay higher fees to ensure their transactions are processed by miners. The question of how to raise the limit is at the heart of the civil war that has divided the bitcoin world. As bitcoin adoption grows, miners are prospering. Read this next: Bitcoins civil war threatens to blow up the cryptocurrency itself Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief , our free daily newsletter with the worlds most important and interesting news. More stories from Quartz: Choose your spouse wisely: Life advice for IIM-A grads from the chief of Axis Bank Heres the best way to guess correctly on a multiple choice test || Bitcoin miners have collectively earned more than $2 billion: An interior view of U.S. bitcoin mining company Bitfury's mining farm near Keflavik Bitcoin mining has become a multi-billion dollar industry. Bitcoin miners have collectively earned over $2 billion in revenue since the cryptocurrency was established in 2008, according to an estimate from a new report published by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance. Nearly every way the United incident could have ended differentlyin one flowchart Bitcoin mining is how transactions on the bitcoin network get processed. Transactions in bitcoin are bundled into blocks, and its the job of miners to confirm those blocks are legitimate. This happens when a miner successfully solves a cryptographic puzzle attached to each block, gaining a payout called the block reward. This payout halves every four years; the current reward is 12.5 bitcoins per block, or $15,350 at todays prices. The twist is this: miners must compete with one another with greater computational power to solve the puzzle and win the payout. These incentives have led to a massive increase in complexity and need for computational power. In bitcoins early days, people mined the cryptocurrency on their home computers. Today, server farms of thousands of custom-designed machines around the world compete with one another to solve the puzzle first. Revenues generated by the bitcoin mining sector could be significantly higher, the report says. The estimate only accounts for revenues earned from block rewards and fees paid by bitcoin users for having their transactions processed. It doesnt include revenue from selling mining equipment, or providing cloud mining services, which let subscribers share in block rewards for a fee, without having to operate their own equipment. United Airlines has exposed the moral dilemma behind rewarding customer loyalty Importantly, the estimate doesnt account for capital gains from cashing out of bitcoin strategically, since the researchers assumed block rewards were immediately converted to US dollars. Those gains could be substantial, since bitcoin has been on a historic bull run . Story continues Transaction fees have historically been a small part of miners revenue, but theyve shot up this year as the number of transactions gets closer to the bitcoin networks limit. Users are willing to pay higher fees to ensure their transactions are processed by miners. The question of how to raise the limit is at the heart of the civil war that has divided the bitcoin world. As bitcoin adoption grows, miners are prospering. Read this next: Bitcoins civil war threatens to blow up the cryptocurrency itself Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief , our free daily newsletter with the worlds most important and interesting news. More stories from Quartz: Choose your spouse wisely: Life advice for IIM-A grads from the chief of Axis Bank Heres the best way to guess correctly on a multiple choice test || Bitcoin miners have collectively earned more than $2 billion: An interior view of U.S. bitcoin mining company Bitfury's mining farm near Keflavik Bitcoin mining has become a multi-billion dollar industry. Bitcoin miners have collectively earned over $2 billion in revenue since the cryptocurrency was established in 2008, according to an estimate from a new report published by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance. Nearly every way the United incident could have ended differentlyin one flowchart Bitcoin mining is how transactions on the bitcoin network get processed. Transactions in bitcoin are bundled into blocks, and its the job of miners to confirm those blocks are legitimate. This happens when a miner successfully solves a cryptographic puzzle attached to each block, gaining a payout called the block reward. This payout halves every four years; the current reward is 12.5 bitcoins per block, or $15,350 at todays prices. The twist is this: miners must compete with one another with greater computational power to solve the puzzle and win the payout. These incentives have led to a massive increase in complexity and need for computational power. In bitcoins early days, people mined the cryptocurrency on their home computers. Today, server farms of thousands of custom-designed machines around the world compete with one another to solve the puzzle first. Revenues generated by the bitcoin mining sector could be significantly higher, the report says. The estimate only accounts for revenues earned from block rewards and fees paid by bitcoin users for having their transactions processed. It doesnt include revenue from selling mining equipment, or providing cloud mining services, which let subscribers share in block rewards for a fee, without having to operate their own equipment. United Airlines has exposed the moral dilemma behind rewarding customer loyalty Importantly, the estimate doesnt account for capital gains from cashing out of bitcoin strategically, since the researchers assumed block rewards were immediately converted to US dollars. Those gains could be substantial, since bitcoin has been on a historic bull run . Story continues Transaction fees have historically been a small part of miners revenue, but theyve shot up this year as the number of transactions gets closer to the bitcoin networks limit. Users are willing to pay higher fees to ensure their transactions are processed by miners. The question of how to raise the limit is at the heart of the civil war that has divided the bitcoin world. As bitcoin adoption grows, miners are prospering. Read this next: Bitcoins civil war threatens to blow up the cryptocurrency itself Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief , our free daily newsletter with the worlds most important and interesting news. More stories from Quartz: Choose your spouse wisely: Life advice for IIM-A grads from the chief of Axis Bank Heres the best way to guess correctly on a multiple choice test || The David Pogue Review: Windows 10 Creators Update: I don’t even understand the concept ofWindows 10 Creators Update, which you can download starting Tuesday, April 11.
In 2015, Microsoft (MSFT) announced that Windows 10 would be thelast named version of Windowsever. That thereafter, the company wouldn’t release huge megalithic new versions, as it always had before—it would, instead, trickle out improvements and new features as they were ready, piece by piece. “Windows will be delivered as a service, bringing new innovations and updates in an ongoing manner,” the company said.
Well, so much for that. Apparently, we’re back on the annual schedule.
The other baffling element is the name: Creators Update. As it turns out, most of the features that would have justified that title never saw the light of day. Evidently Microsoft figured it couldn’t have them ready in time for its big 2017 update,and abandoned them.
For example, there was supposed to be a cool app that would let you wave your phone around an object and automatically generate a 3-D model of it on the screen. There was supposed to be an app called Groove Music, something along the lines of Apple’s GarageBand. Thepromised People baron the taskbar never materialized, either.
So what did make the cut? Lots of stuff that keeps up with other operating systems, and lots of small refinements. Here’s an overview.
• Anew columnin the Start menu. Microsoft has moved the icons for Power (containing the Restart, Shut Down, and Sleep commands), Settings, File Explorer (new desktop window) icon, and Personal (containing “Change account settings,” “Lock,” and “sign out”). Instead of clogging up the main Start menu, they now appear in a special, skinny vertical stack of buttons at its far left. As a result, the main (middle) Start menu column lists only apps. This is good stuff.
• Hide the apps.On the other hand, you can hide that list of apps, so that the entire Start menu is made of tiles. (You do that in Settings -> Personalize -> Start.)
• Foldersin the tiled area of your Start menu. Just drag one tile atop another to create a new folder. You’ve just created a tile that, when clicked, sprouts tiles showing its contents. Another win for common sense.
• Control Panelis gone from the Start menu contextual menu. That’s anunenhancement for most people.
• Action Center updates.Volume and brightness sliders now appear in the Action Center, saving you a click or two every time you tweak them.
• Dynamic lock.If you pair your smartphone (even an iPhone) with your PC using Bluetooth and turn this feature on, then the PC locks automatically when you walk away with your phone. It takes about 30 seconds for the computer to notice that you’re gone, so it’s not what you’d call Fort Knox security. But it’s better than no safety net at all.
• Privacy settingsfor your apps’ access to your location, calendar, typing, and so on are now listed individually. OK, fine.
• More control overaccent colors(title bars, Start menu, taskbar, action center); for example, you can specify any color you like. You’re no longer limited to a handful of shades.
• Downloadable themes(desktop wallpaper photos with associated color schemes) in the Microsoft Store.
• Night Lightchanges the screen tones from blue to warmer ones, on the theory that blue light messes up your sleep juice before bed.
• In Settings -> Apps and features,you can now restrict Windows 10 to running apps that came from the Windows Store—and, in theory, have been proven to be safe by Microsoft. (See also: Gatekeeper on the Mac.)
• Microsoft’s voice assistant now understands yourrequests for recurring reminders. So you can say, for example, “Remind me every Friday at 5 p.m. to buy the party pizza,” or “Remind me about my anniversary once a year.”
• More commands.You can now turn off, lock, restart, or sleep your PC computer with a voice command to Cortana. You can also adjust your computer’s playback volume by voice, and play/pause/skip tracks from the iHeartRadio and TuneIn apps. You can even ask Cortana, “What song is this?”
• More appscan respond to Cortana commands, including Netflix (NFLX), Hulu, Twitter (TWTR), Pandora (P), and so on. (Here’s the complete list.) To learn what commands an app can understand, type its name into Cortana.
• Full-screen Cortana.Once you’ve left your PC unused for at least 10 seconds, you can say, “Hey, Cortana” to see Cortana’s full-screen mode, where text is big enough to read from across the room.
• You can alsonavigate the Windows 10 setup processby voice.
• Save sets of tabsfor later re-use.
• Tab previews!Point to a tab without clicking to see a miniature of the window it represents. Or click the little down-arrow button to see thumbnails of all of them at once.
• No Flashon unknown websites.
• You canread ebooksfrom Microsoft’s new ebooks store (or other ePub-format documents) right in the browser. You can adjust the font, type size, or page color, and even have it read aloud to you.
• Paint 3Dis one of the few pieces left of the grand 3-D vision that Microsoft originally defined for the Creators Update. It’s a simple app that lets you create 3-D shapes by combining, turning, and resizing basic spheres, cones, rectangles, and so on.
• If your PC has a touchscreen, and you have a stylus, you can draw a path in the Maps app; the app tells you itsreal-world distance.
• The newTraffic Check iconin Maps produces an estimate of the driving time to your work address, if you’ve recorded it.
• Draw or write on photos and videosin the Photos app, using your finger or a stylus. (If you write on a video, your writing will appear during playback at that spot.)
• New filtersin the Photos app.
• More “Insights” inSticky Notes. The Sticky Notes app spot data types like fight numbers, email and web addresses, phone numbers, and stock abbreviations. Once those items turn blue, you can click them to produce a related command button. For example, click a phone number to see a Call button, or a date to see an Add Reminder button.
• An evolving Settings app.There’s now a page called Apps, where you’ll find all of your programs’ settings. The redesigned System -> Display page has been reorganized. On the Devices -> Bluetooth & Other Devices page, you now get a single screen to manage all of your peripherals.
• TheStorage Space feature, if you turn it on, monitors your PC and automatically deletes temporary files and empties the Recycle Bin after 30 days.
• Centralized troubleshooter. In Settings -> Update & security -> Troubleshoot, Microsoft has assembled icons for all of Windows’s troubleshooting wizards in one place.
• A revampedsecurity center, with a one-click Fresh Start button that reinstalls Windows when things are really messed up. (Unfortunately, this new app is called Windows Defender Security Center, which is not the same thing as the regular Windows Defender anti-malware app. Confusing.)
• Specify longer work days,of up to 18 hours (“Active hours”), during which Windows will never restart to install an update.
• Game Modeis supposed to give you better frame rates (smoother game animation) by dedicating more PC resources to your game, but most people report the difference isn’t noticeable.
• Beam:you can now broadcast the games you’re playing live to the internet, and interact with your admirers.
• A new Share menu.Now, if you want to send a page (or other material) to someone else, you have to look for Windows’s special Share icon. There’s no longer a Share panel on the side of the screen, and the Windows+H keystroke is dead.
• Copy screenshot.Press Windows key+Shift+S to copy a rectangular area of your screen to your clipboard. (The existing screenshot shortcuts are still around.)
• Accessibility upgradesinclude compatibility with Braille devices; availability of the Narrator during installation (and during the Windows Recovery Environment); and the keyboard shortcut for Narrator is now Ctrl+Windows key+Enter (rather than Windows key+Enter), in hopes of making it less likely that you’ll hit it accidentally.
• Better ink.If you have a touchscreen and stylus, you can do more when you write on the screen. For example, you can add more to a drawing you’ve made earlier, you can erase only part of a line, and you get improved onscreen tools like protractor and ruler.
Microsoft says that it has also made zillions of under-the-hood changes: better stability and security, greater options for software companies to exploit Windows’s power.
So no, Creators Update isn’t nearly as big a deal as Microsoft originally intended—actually, not an especially big deal at all. But even though most of the changes are small, they build on Windows 10, which was already coherent, attractive, and stable.
If you already have Windows 10, Creators Update is free. So download away—even if you wonder why it’s called what it’s called.
More from David Pogue:
Now I get it: Bitcoin
David Pogue tested 47 pill-reminder apps to find the best one
David Pogue’s search for the world’s best air-travel app
The little-known iPhone feature that lets blind people see with their fingers
I paid $3,000 for my MacBook Pro and got emotional whiplash
Here’s the real money-maker for the Internet of Things
David Pogue, tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, welcomes non-toxic comments in the Comments below. On the web, he’sdavidpogue.com. On Twitter, he’s@pogue. On email, he’s [email protected]. You canread all his articles here, or you can sign up toget his columns by email. || Monday Hot Reads: How To Tell If Your Mutual Fund Is Dying: Compiled by ETF.com Staff How To Tell If Your Mutual Fund Is Dying (LA Times) As many investors pull money from actively managed stock mutual funds, shareholders who stay put may face special risks. Would You Buy An ETF Without Knowing What’s In It? (Bloomberg Businessweek) Precidian will be competing with Eaton Vance on the level of nontransparent active exchange-traded vehicles. A Once-Hot ETF Now Looks Pricey (Benzinga) VanEck's SLX steel ETF is looking expensive after a recent surge. Building A Better Bond ETF (Barron’s) Bond indexes are problematic, making ETFs based on them problematic. Here's how to improve performance. The Anti-Bitcoin ETF (Wall Street Journal) Diversified currency funds provide a contrast to proposed—and so far rejected—bitcoin ETFs. ETFs Claiming Larger Share Of Invested Assets (Chicago Tribune) Asset gathering pace is picking up steam, and that’s even more impressive if you consider 401(k)s still largely don’t offer ETFs. 5 High Yield ETFs Of CEFs For Tactical Income Investors (FMD Capital Management) A rundown of the differences between five ETFs that invest in closed-end funds. Investors Check In To This ETF, But Don’t Want To Leave (WSJ) BlackRock’s iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF IEMG has never had a day of net redemptions. A Foreign Threat To US Treasuries That Dwarfs Fed's Debt Hoard (Bloomberg) There’s an even bigger debt pile that could draw buyers away from Treasuries at just the wrong time. Recommended Stories Monday Hot Reads: How To Tell If Your Mutual Fund Is Dying BlackRock’s Active Gambit Ups Pressure On Rivals The ‘Stock Picker’s Market’ That Wasn’t Friday Hot Reads: Model ETF Portfolios Get A Fixed Income Overhaul Tuesday Hot Reads: ETFs Have Saved Investors How Many Billions? Permalink | © Copyright 2017 ETF.com. All rights reserved || Monday Hot Reads: How To Tell If Your Mutual Fund Is Dying: Compiled by ETF.com Staff
How To Tell If Your Mutual Fund Is Dying(LA Times)As many investors pull money from actively managed stock mutual funds, shareholders who stay put may face special risks.
Would You Buy An ETF Without Knowing What’s In It?(Bloomberg Businessweek)Precidian will be competing with Eaton Vance on the level of nontransparent active exchange-traded vehicles.
A Once-Hot ETF Now Looks Pricey(Benzinga)VanEck'sSLXsteel ETF is looking expensive after a recent surge.
Building A Better Bond ETF(Barron’s)Bond indexes are problematic, making ETFs based on them problematic. Here's how to improve performance.
The Anti-Bitcoin ETF(Wall Street Journal)Diversified currency funds provide a contrast to proposed—and so far rejected—bitcoin ETFs.
ETFs Claiming Larger Share Of Invested Assets(Chicago Tribune)Asset gathering pace is picking up steam, and that’s even more impressive if you consider 401(k)s still largely don’t offer ETFs.
5 High Yield ETFs Of CEFs For Tactical Income Investors(FMD Capital Management)A rundown of the differences between five ETFs that invest in closed-end funds.
Investors Check In To This ETF, But Don’t Want To Leave(WSJ)BlackRock’s iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETFIEMGhas never had a day of net redemptions.
A Foreign Threat To US Treasuries That Dwarfs Fed's Debt Hoard(Bloomberg)There’s an even bigger debt pile that could draw buyers away from Treasuries at just the wrong time.
Recommended Stories
• Monday Hot Reads: How To Tell If Your Mutual Fund Is Dying
• BlackRock’s Active Gambit Ups Pressure On Rivals
• The ‘Stock Picker’s Market’ That Wasn’t
• Friday Hot Reads: Model ETF Portfolios Get A Fixed Income Overhaul
• Tuesday Hot Reads: ETFs Have Saved Investors How Many Billions?
Permalink| © Copyright 2017ETF.com.All rights reserved
[Social Media Buzz]
$1151.09 at 13:30 UTC [24h Range: $1150.00 - $1192.50 Volume: 2247 BTC] || One Bitcoin now worth $1173.06@bitstamp. High $1179.30. Low $1150.00. Market Cap $19.092 Billion #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/oNKWDuqnQ9 || 1 KOBO = 0.00000656 BTC
= 0.0078 USD
= 2.4492 NGN
= 0.1044 ZAR
= 0.8046 KES
#Kobocoin 2017-04-17 00:00 || One Bitcoin now worth $1178.00@bitstamp. High $1192.50. Low $1165.00. Market Cap $19.173 Billion #bitcoin || 1 #BTC (#Bitcoin) quotes:
$1171.41/$1172.00 #Bitstamp
$1185.21/$...
|
1193.91, 1211.67, 1210.29, 1229.08, 1222.05, 1231.71, 1207.21, 1250.15, 1265.49, 1281.08
|
Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 55724.27, 56473.03, 53906.09, 51762.27, 51093.65, 50050.87, 49004.25, 54021.75, 55033.12, 54824.70, 53555.11, 57750.18, 57828.05, 56631.08, 57200.29, 53333.54, 57424.01, 56396.52, 57356.40, 58803.78, 58232.32, 55859.80, 56704.57, 49150.54, 49716.19, 49880.54, 46760.19, 46456.06, 43537.51, 42909.40, 37002.44, 40782.74, 37304.69, 37536.63, 34770.58, 38705.98, 38402.22, 39294.20, 38436.97, 35697.61, 34616.07, 35678.13, 37332.86, 36684.93, 37575.18, 39208.77, 36894.41, 35551.96, 35862.38, 33560.71, 33472.63, 37345.12, 36702.60, 37334.40, 35552.52, 39097.86, 40218.48, 40406.27, 38347.06, 38053.50, 35787.25, 35615.87, 35698.30, 31676.69, 32505.66, 33723.03, 34662.44, 31637.78, 32186.28, 34649.64, 34434.34, 35867.78, 35040.84, 33572.12, 33897.05, 34668.55, 35287.78, 33746.00, 34235.20, 33855.33, 32877.37, 33798.01, 33520.52, 34240.19, 33155.85, 32702.03, 32822.35, 31780.73, 31421.54, 31533.07.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2021-07-17]
Volume: 18895018942, RSI (14-day): 39.35, 50-day EMA: 36090.26, 200-day EMA: 39033.70
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
What Are Altcoins — and Are the Potential Rewards Worth the Risks?: gopixa / iStock.com Chances are, you’ve heard of Bitcoin. Created in 2009, Bitcoin was the first widely accepted cryptocurrency , but it’s by no means the only cryptocurrency. Read: 10 Best Cryptocurrencies To Invest in for 2021 Check Out: Is the Shiba Inu Coin the Cryptocurrency You Should Be Watching? In fact, there are currently more than 9,300 cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin, according to CoinMarketCap. And these altcoins — as they are called — have a total market capitalization of more than $1 trillion. But unless you’re a cryptocurrency trader, the only altcoins you’ve likely heard of are Ethereum — the second-most popular cryptocurrency after Bitcoin — and Dogecoin , which was touted on Twitter by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and has soared in popularity recently. The hype surrounding Dogecoin might have piqued your interest in altcoins. But before you get too excited, it’s important to understand what altcoins are and what their risks are before investing in them. More: Breaking Down the Basics of Cryptocurrency What Are Altcoins? The term altcoin is short for alternative coin — as in, an alternative to bitcoin. Altcoins also are alternatives to currencies issued by governments. However, they aren’t physical coins. Like Bitcoin, altcoins are digital currencies. According to cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase , cryptocurrency is like “Money 2.0.–a new kind of cash that is native to the Internet, which gives it the potential to be the fastest, easiest, cheapest, safest and most universal way to exchange value that the world has ever seen.” Many altcoins share the core characteristics of Bitcoin. Yet, they all are different from Bitcoin in one way or another, said Dr. Richard Smith , an investing expert and CEO of the Foundation for the Study of Cycles. And they have different uses. For example, Ethereum, the second-biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalization after Bitcoin, wasn’t created to be digital money but rather to be a decentralized computing platform. The popular Dogecoin started as a joke based on a Shibu Inu “doge” meme but now is used as a tipping system on social media. The Hype Around NFTs: What Are They? And How Pricey Do They Get? How Do Altcoins Work? Altcoins don’t rely on banks, financial institutions or any sort of middleman to be transferred from person to person. Instead, they rely on blockchain technology, which is a digital ledger of cryptocurrency transactions, Smith said. Details about transactions are stored in “blocks” that must be verified to ensure that the transactions are legitimate. “Once the block is accepted by the consensus algorithm, it becomes a permanent part of the distributed ledger,” Smith said. Story continues Because the blockchain is stored in computers and servers around the world, it would be next to impossible to hack into such a large network, according to CoinMarketCap. That’s why blockchain technology is considered secure. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that investing altcoins is safe. See: How Does Cryptocurrency Work–And Is It Safe? How Do You Get Altcoins? Like Bitcoin, altcoins can act like a currency and an asset. The easiest way to get them is to purchase through an online exchange. There are currently more than 350 different exchanges on which altcoins are traded, Smith said. Some of the best-known cryptocurrency exchanges are Coinbase, Binance, Kraken and Bittrex. You also can buy and sell select cryptocurrencies through digital payment systems PayPal and Venmo. Altcoin prices are determined by buyers and sellers transacting on exchanges, Smith said. Be aware that cryptocurrency prices can be very volatile. You’ll need to download a digital, or crypto, wallet on your computer or smartphone to store your altcoins. When choosing a wallet, pay attention to which cryptocurrencies it supports because some support more than others. Should You Invest in Altcoins? There is money to be made buying and selling altcoins, but there’s also money to be lost. This is true with most any investment. But altcoins come with their unique set of risks. For starters, altcoin prices are extremely volatile. Most individual investors are not equipped to manage this volatility, Smith said. Plus, there is little regulation in place around altcoins. When companies want to sell shares of stock to the public , they must first register their IPOs with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Cryptocurrency coin offerings, on the other hand, currently do not have to be registered with the SEC. Fraud also is rampant in the cryptocurrency market, with scammers who lure investors with fake cryptocurrencies. That doesn’t mean you should stay away from altcoins altogether. “Altcoins can also be a source of diversification for more traditional portfolios, but this diversification must be handled with great care,” Smith said. Learn: How to Invest in Cryptocurrency: What You Should Know Before Investing Buyer Beware Before buying any altcoins, do your research. Smith recommends Coindesk.com as a reliable source of cryptocurrency news. And if an altcoin is trading on the Coinbase exchange, “that is generally a good sign that it has differentiated itself enough to be worthy of an investors consideration,” Smith said. “It also means that the altcoin is less likely to run afoul of regulators since Coinbase is highly attentive to regulatory concerns.” Smith also recommends asking the following questions before buying an altcoin: Who is behind the altcoin and do they have a track record of success? Does the altcoin solve a real problem in a novel way? Is there a real community developing around the altcoin? Is the growth of that community organic or is it being driven by questionable public relations tactics? Finally, be aware that cryptocurrencies are treated as property by the IRS. The sale of cryptocurrencies is treated as a capital gain or loss (depending on whether you made or lost money on the sale), and you might have a tax liability. This article is part of GOBankingRates’ ‘Economy Explained’ series to help readers navigate the complexities of our financial system. More From GOBankingRates Follow Along With 31 Days of Living Richer Read About the Best Small Businesses in Your State What It Means To Live a Truly Rich Life and How To Achieve It Nominate Your Favorite Small Business for the Small Business Spotlight Last updated: April 27, 2021 This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : What Are Altcoins — and Are the Potential Rewards Worth the Risks? View comments || What Are Altcoins — and Are the Potential Rewards Worth the Risks?: Chances are, you’ve heard of Bitcoin. Created in 2009,Bitcoin was the first widely accepted cryptocurrency, but it’s by no means the only cryptocurrency.
Read:10 Best Cryptocurrencies To Invest in for 2021Check Out:Is the Shiba Inu Coin the Cryptocurrency You Should Be Watching?
In fact, there are currently more than 9,300 cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin, according to CoinMarketCap.And these altcoins — as they are called — have a total market capitalization of more than $1 trillion. But unless you’re a cryptocurrency trader, the only altcoins you’ve likely heard of areEthereum— the second-most popular cryptocurrency after Bitcoin — andDogecoin, which was touted on Twitter by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and hassoared in popularityrecently.
The hype surrounding Dogecoin might have piqued your interest in altcoins. But before you get too excited, it’s important to understand what altcoins are and what their risks are before investing in them.
More:Breaking Down the Basics of Cryptocurrency
The term altcoin is short for alternative coin — as in, an alternative to bitcoin. Altcoins also are alternatives to currencies issued by governments. However, they aren’t physical coins. Like Bitcoin, altcoins are digital currencies. According tocryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, cryptocurrency is like “Money 2.0.–a new kind of cash that is native to the Internet, which gives it the potential to be the fastest, easiest, cheapest, safest and most universal way to exchange value that the world has ever seen.”
Many altcoins share the core characteristics of Bitcoin. Yet, they all are different from Bitcoin in one way or another, saidDr. Richard Smith, an investing expert and CEO of the Foundation for the Study of Cycles.And they have different uses.
For example, Ethereum, the second-biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalization after Bitcoin, wasn’t created to be digital money but rather to be a decentralized computing platform.The popular Dogecoin started as a joke based on a Shibu Inu “doge” meme but now is used as a tipping system on social media.
The Hype Around NFTs:What Are They? And How Pricey Do They Get?
Altcoins don’t rely on banks, financial institutions or any sort of middleman to be transferred from person to person. Instead, they rely on blockchain technology, which is a digital ledger of cryptocurrency transactions, Smith said.Details about transactions are stored in “blocks” that must be verified to ensure that the transactions are legitimate. “Once the block is accepted by the consensus algorithm, it becomes a permanent part of the distributed ledger,” Smith said.
Because the blockchain is stored in computers and servers around the world, it would be next to impossible to hack into such a large network, according to CoinMarketCap. That’s why blockchain technology is considered secure. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that investing altcoins is safe.
See:How Does Cryptocurrency Work–And Is It Safe?
Like Bitcoin, altcoins can act like a currency and an asset. The easiest way to get them is to purchase through an online exchange.There are currently more than 350 different exchanges on which altcoins are traded, Smith said. Some of thebest-known cryptocurrency exchangesare Coinbase, Binance, Kraken and Bittrex. You also canbuy and sell select cryptocurrencies through digital payment systems PayPal and Venmo.
Altcoin prices are determined by buyers and sellers transacting on exchanges, Smith said. Be aware that cryptocurrency prices can be very volatile.
You’ll need to download a digital, or crypto, wallet on your computer or smartphone to store your altcoins. When choosing a wallet, pay attention to which cryptocurrencies it supports because some support more than others.
There is money to be made buying and selling altcoins, but there’s also money to be lost. This is true with most any investment. But altcoins come with their unique set of risks.
For starters, altcoin prices are extremely volatile. Most individual investors are not equipped to manage this volatility, Smith said.
Plus, there is little regulation in place around altcoins. When companies want tosell shares of stock to the public, they must first register their IPOs with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Cryptocurrency coin offerings, on the other hand, currently do not have to be registered with the SEC.Fraud also is rampant in the cryptocurrency market, with scammers who lure investors with fake cryptocurrencies.
That doesn’t mean you should stay away from altcoins altogether. “Altcoins can also be a source of diversification for more traditional portfolios, but this diversification must be handled with great care,” Smith said.
Learn:How to Invest in Cryptocurrency: What You Should Know Before Investing
Before buying any altcoins, do your research. Smith recommends Coindesk.com as a reliable source of cryptocurrency news. And if an altcoin is trading on the Coinbase exchange, “that is generally a good sign that it has differentiated itself enough to be worthy of an investors consideration,” Smith said. “It also means that the altcoin is less likely to run afoul of regulators since Coinbase is highly attentive to regulatory concerns.”
Smith also recommends asking the following questions before buying an altcoin:
• Who is behind the altcoin and do they have a track record of success?
• Does the altcoin solve a real problem in a novel way?
• Is there a real community developing around the altcoin?
• Is the growth of that community organic or is it being driven by questionable public relations tactics?
Finally, be aware that cryptocurrencies are treated as property by the IRS. The sale of cryptocurrencies is treated as a capital gain or loss (depending on whether you made or lost money on the sale), and you might have a tax liability.
This article is part of GOBankingRates’ ‘Economy Explained’ series to help readers navigate the complexities of our financial system.
More From GOBankingRates
• Follow Along With 31 Days of Living Richer
• Read About the Best Small Businesses in Your State
• What It Means To Live a Truly Rich Life and How To Achieve It
• Nominate Your Favorite Small Business for the Small Business Spotlight
Last updated: April 27, 2021
This article originally appeared onGOBankingRates.com:What Are Altcoins — and Are the Potential Rewards Worth the Risks? || Darkhorse Technologies Ltd. Announces the Launch of Bitcoinlotterys.com & Draw-Down of Funds: Montreal, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - July 16, 2021) - Darkhorse Technologies Ltd. (the "Company" and/or "Darkhorse") is pleased to announce the launch of its highly anticipated cryptocurrency themed lottery ticketing concierge servicewww.bitcoinlotterys.com.
Launching of www.bitcoinlotterys.com:on 01stJuly, Darkhorse successfully launched its upgraded lottery ticketing concierge service. The newly launched bitcoinlotterys ticketing platform allows cryptocurrency users the option to play and win digital currencies in a variety of lotto games including the US Powerball, US MegaMillions, EuroMillions and the ever-popular Spanish lotto. Eleven world recognised lottery draws are currently accessible onwww.bitcoinlotterys.com. All games are fully transparent, secure, and all crypto payments function entirely on blockchain technology. Automatic winning pay-outs are sent directly to users' digital wallets.
Speaking on behalf of Darkhorse, the Company's CTO Eyal Bar-Noy commented:"The demand for new and innovative ways to access, pay, play, and cash out of these bigger multimillion dollar Jackpots is growing at pace. Darkhorse provides the Next-Gen gamer direct access to play and cash out winnings in various cryptocurrencies. We offer a seamless, easy to navigate lotto ticketing service to anyone, anywhere in the world. Our aim has always been to white-label our technology and bring highly secure, permission-free and borderless crypto gaming to the global masses."
Furthermore, to the Company's previously announced engagement of WestPark Capital Inc. as lead placement agent of its up to USD$3 million General Solicitation Offering, the company is pleased to announce it has undertaken its first draw-down on the subordinated convertible promissory notes of USD$524,940.
About Darkhorse Technologies Ltd:Darkhorse Technologies Limited is a Business to Business (B2B) FinTech Group.
The Company has established itself as a market leading service provider to the multibillion-dollar digital asset industry. Using sophisticated technology, we have bridged the commercialisation gap between cryptocurrency and financial services, establishing a disruptive line of business. By uniting these billion-dollar industries, we have monetized a highly scalable digital asset backed business. Darkhorse is incorporated in Canada and has multiple business partners that operate in over 30 jurisdictions spanning five continents.
Contact:IR ManagerDarkhorse Technologies LtdInvestor enquiries [email protected]:www.darkhorseteck.com
Forward-Looking StatementsCertain matters discussed within this press release are forward-looking statements including, but not limited to the timing and ability to enter into any additional acquisitions and expand our business, as well as the size of future revenue or trading volume or future access to capital markets. Although Darkhorse Technologies Ltd believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be attained. Darkhorse Technologies Ltd does not undertake any duty to update any statements contained herein (including any forward-looking statements), except as required by law. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include general industry considerations, regulatory changes, changes in local or national economic conditions, our ability to access the capital markets on terms acceptable to us, or at all, our ability to comply with our contractual covenants, including in respect of our debt and other risks detailed from time to time in Darkhorse Technologies Ltd reports filed on SEDAR.
THIS NEWS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO U.S. NEWS AGENCIES
To view the source version of this press release, please visithttps://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/90518 || Darkhorse Technologies Ltd. Announces the Launch of Bitcoinlotterys.com & Draw-Down of Funds: Montreal, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - July 16, 2021) - Darkhorse Technologies Ltd. (the " Company " and/or " Darkhorse ") is pleased to announce the launch of its highly anticipated cryptocurrency themed lottery ticketing concierge service www.bitcoinlotterys.com . Launching of www.bitcoinlotterys.com: on 01 st July, Darkhorse successfully launched its upgraded lottery ticketing concierge service. The newly launched bitcoinlotterys ticketing platform allows cryptocurrency users the option to play and win digital currencies in a variety of lotto games including the US Powerball, US MegaMillions, EuroMillions and the ever-popular Spanish lotto. Eleven world recognised lottery draws are currently accessible on www.bitcoinlotterys.com . All games are fully transparent, secure, and all crypto payments function entirely on blockchain technology. Automatic winning pay-outs are sent directly to users' digital wallets. Speaking on behalf of Darkhorse, the Company's CTO Eyal Bar-Noy commented: "The demand for new and innovative ways to access, pay, play, and cash out of these bigger multimillion dollar Jackpots is growing at pace. Darkhorse provides the Next-Gen gamer direct access to play and cash out winnings in various cryptocurrencies. We offer a seamless, easy to navigate lotto ticketing service to anyone, anywhere in the world. Our aim has always been to white-label our technology and bring highly secure, permission-free and borderless crypto gaming to the global masses." Furthermore, to the Company's previously announced engagement of WestPark Capital Inc. as lead placement agent of its up to USD$3 million General Solicitation Offering, the company is pleased to announce it has undertaken its first draw-down on the subordinated convertible promissory notes of USD$524,940. About Darkhorse Technologies Ltd: Darkhorse Technologies Limited is a Business to Business (B2B) FinTech Group. The Company has established itself as a market leading service provider to the multibillion-dollar digital asset industry. Using sophisticated technology, we have bridged the commercialisation gap between cryptocurrency and financial services, establishing a disruptive line of business. By uniting these billion-dollar industries, we have monetized a highly scalable digital asset backed business. Darkhorse is incorporated in Canada and has multiple business partners that operate in over 30 jurisdictions spanning five continents. Story continues Contact: IR Manager Darkhorse Technologies Ltd Investor enquiries - [email protected] Website: www.darkhorseteck.com Forward-Looking Statements Certain matters discussed within this press release are forward-looking statements including, but not limited to the timing and ability to enter into any additional acquisitions and expand our business, as well as the size of future revenue or trading volume or future access to capital markets. Although Darkhorse Technologies Ltd believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be attained. Darkhorse Technologies Ltd does not undertake any duty to update any statements contained herein (including any forward-looking statements), except as required by law. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include general industry considerations, regulatory changes, changes in local or national economic conditions, our ability to access the capital markets on terms acceptable to us, or at all, our ability to comply with our contractual covenants, including in respect of our debt and other risks detailed from time to time in Darkhorse Technologies Ltd reports filed on SEDAR. THIS NEWS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO U.S. NEWS AGENCIES To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/90518 || Darkhorse Technologies Ltd. Announces the Launch of Bitcoinlotterys.com & Draw-Down of Funds: Montreal, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - July 16, 2021) - Darkhorse Technologies Ltd. (the "Company" and/or "Darkhorse") is pleased to announce the launch of its highly anticipated cryptocurrency themed lottery ticketing concierge servicewww.bitcoinlotterys.com.
Launching of www.bitcoinlotterys.com:on 01stJuly, Darkhorse successfully launched its upgraded lottery ticketing concierge service. The newly launched bitcoinlotterys ticketing platform allows cryptocurrency users the option to play and win digital currencies in a variety of lotto games including the US Powerball, US MegaMillions, EuroMillions and the ever-popular Spanish lotto. Eleven world recognised lottery draws are currently accessible onwww.bitcoinlotterys.com. All games are fully transparent, secure, and all crypto payments function entirely on blockchain technology. Automatic winning pay-outs are sent directly to users' digital wallets.
Speaking on behalf of Darkhorse, the Company's CTO Eyal Bar-Noy commented:"The demand for new and innovative ways to access, pay, play, and cash out of these bigger multimillion dollar Jackpots is growing at pace. Darkhorse provides the Next-Gen gamer direct access to play and cash out winnings in various cryptocurrencies. We offer a seamless, easy to navigate lotto ticketing service to anyone, anywhere in the world. Our aim has always been to white-label our technology and bring highly secure, permission-free and borderless crypto gaming to the global masses."
Furthermore, to the Company's previously announced engagement of WestPark Capital Inc. as lead placement agent of its up to USD$3 million General Solicitation Offering, the company is pleased to announce it has undertaken its first draw-down on the subordinated convertible promissory notes of USD$524,940.
About Darkhorse Technologies Ltd:Darkhorse Technologies Limited is a Business to Business (B2B) FinTech Group.
The Company has established itself as a market leading service provider to the multibillion-dollar digital asset industry. Using sophisticated technology, we have bridged the commercialisation gap between cryptocurrency and financial services, establishing a disruptive line of business. By uniting these billion-dollar industries, we have monetized a highly scalable digital asset backed business. Darkhorse is incorporated in Canada and has multiple business partners that operate in over 30 jurisdictions spanning five continents.
Contact:IR ManagerDarkhorse Technologies LtdInvestor enquiries [email protected]:www.darkhorseteck.com
Forward-Looking StatementsCertain matters discussed within this press release are forward-looking statements including, but not limited to the timing and ability to enter into any additional acquisitions and expand our business, as well as the size of future revenue or trading volume or future access to capital markets. Although Darkhorse Technologies Ltd believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be attained. Darkhorse Technologies Ltd does not undertake any duty to update any statements contained herein (including any forward-looking statements), except as required by law. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include general industry considerations, regulatory changes, changes in local or national economic conditions, our ability to access the capital markets on terms acceptable to us, or at all, our ability to comply with our contractual covenants, including in respect of our debt and other risks detailed from time to time in Darkhorse Technologies Ltd reports filed on SEDAR.
THIS NEWS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO U.S. NEWS AGENCIES
To view the source version of this press release, please visithttps://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/90518 || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Holds Above $30K but Price Chart Looks ‘Ugly’: Bitcoin bounced to around $32,200 after touching a 2.5-week low early Friday near $31,000.
The largest cryptocurrency by market value may have been buoyed by a CoinDeskreportthat Bank of America has approved trading in bitcoin futures for some clients, according to Edward Moya, senior market analyst for Oanda.
“This is a big commitment for America’s second-largest bank and signals that interest in trading cryptocurrencies is here to stay,” Moya wrote in an email. “On Wall Street, if one bank sees opportunity in doing something risky, the rest will easily justify following suit.”
Related:Bitcoin Drops as Investors Buy $22K and $20K Puts
Cryptocurrencies:
• Bitcoin(BTC): $31,964.2, +1.04%
• Ether(ETH): $1,917.5, -0.29%
Traditional markets:
• S&P 500: 4327.1, -0.75%
• Gold: $1810.9, -1.01%
• 10-year Treasury yield closed at 1.299%, compared with 1.303% on Thursday
Analysts said bitcoin might be prepping for a price breakout – higher or lower – after trading in a range between roughly $30,000 and $40,000 for the past eight weeks.
The big concern is a drop below the psychological level of $30,000 mighttrigger additional sellingas options traders look to square positions.
Related:Bitcoin Trending Lower With Possible Break of $30K Support
“There is a big move coming,” blockchain analyst William Clemente III wrote Friday inAnthony Pompliano’s newsletter.” Theoretically, we could be looking at this big move in the next few days but could take up to those full three weeks.”
The breakout looks more likely to be to the downside, based on the look of bitcoin’s price chart, according to Mati Greenspan, founder of the cryptocurrency and foreign-exchange analysis firm Quantum Economics.
“Bitcoin’s chart looks really ugly at the moment,” Greenspan wrote in his newsletter. “The downward slope that has materialized over the last few days gives the appearance that gravitational forces are calling for a retest of the red-line support at $20,000, the previous all-time high. In technical terms, this is known as capitulation.”
Earlier this month, Circle, the company behind the fast-growing dollar-linked stablecoinUSDC, announced plans to become a public company at a $4.5 billion valuation, via adealwith aspecial-purpose acquisition corporation(SPAC).
Charlie Morris, founder of ByteTree Asset Management, speculated this week the deal could end up luring more investors to cryptocurrencies.
It’s “unquestionably the starter stock for the cautious,” Morris wrote July 14 in his weekly newsletter.
Big investors might find the stock hard to resist due to USDC’s fast growth: The stablecoin’s supply has soared to more than $25 billion, from about $3.9 billion at the start of the year. “It’s clear to the eye this company is growing like a weed,” Morris wrote.
What might make the new shares more attractive for portfolios is that USDC “powers crypto, yet has none of the volatility, making it a natural haven in comparison to the asset managers or miners whose fortunes are linked to crypto prices,” according to Morris.
But that might just be a camel’s nose under the tent:
“The old world will end up owning all of these stocks regardless, and that is why index funds always amuse me. They just buy whatever is stuck in front of them, meaning that investors who are trying hard to avoid crypto will end up owning it. Before long, everyone will be invested in crypto and crypto stocks, whether they like it or not, and Circle’s listing will be a crowd pleaser.”
The parabolic growth in the market cap of stablecoin gianttether(USDT) suddenlycame to a grinding haltat the end of May, just as bitcoin’s price was coming off its all-time highs.
According to analysts and market participants whospoketo CoinDesk’s Muyao Shen, the sudden pause reveals that the most traded cryptocurrency in the world is seeing its dominance threatened by three unprecedented challenges combining in a perfect storm to rattle the stablecoin.
• China’s crackdown on cryptocurrencies and money laundering has choked off the fiat on-ramp to crypto markets through over-the-counter brokers, while listless bitcoin prices have reduced the incentive to invest: “Tether’s market in Asia is mostly through OTC merchants, and with less cash going into the market there is less demand for tether,” Rachel Lin, former vice president and founding partner at Singapore-based crypto investment firm Matrixport, told Shen.
• The rising star of the stablecoin market is increasingly USDC. “I think USDC has a chance to compete in the stablecoin market in Asia against tether,” said Justin Sun, who helms the Tron blockchain.
• More questions have been raised recently byregulatorsandgovernmentsaround the world about USDT and other stablecoins. “The market is infused with bearish sentiment and traders are looking for a reason,” said Noelle Acheson, head of market insights at crypto prime broker Genesis Global Trading, a CoinDesk sister company. “It’s FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) season, and tether’s vulnerabilities are almost always a part of that conversation.”
An executive from Tether, while acknowledging the demand for USDT has fallen, argued the trend is not exclusive to the token.
“Demand for tether ebbs and flows, and has been impacted by lower demand in recent weeks,” Paolo Ardoino, chief technology officer at Tether, said in a written response via a spokesperson.
• Thorchain loses 4K in ether in attack:Thorchainsufferedan attack on the crypto trading protocol that drained about 4,000 ETH, worth about $7.7 million based on ether’s price as of press time. The company tweeted that it would provide a “more detailed assessment and recovery steps” soon. Administrators wrote earlier that the network had been halted while developers investigated the extent of the breach. “While the treasury has the funds to cover the stolen amount, we request the attacker get in contact with the team to discuss return of funds and a bounty commensurate with the discovery,” the administrators wrote on Telegram.
• Binance halts support for stock tokens:Crypto exchange Binance said it willno longer supporttokens linked to stocks, barely three months after it made them available on its trading platform. Binance announced Friday that stock tokens are unavailable for purchase on its website effective immediately, and support for such tokens will end on Oct. 14, with all positions closed the following day. The embattled exchange, which has been facing regulatory headwinds, said the move will allow it to focus on other products.
• FOX token’s rally:Following ShapeShift’s announcement that it would transform into a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), its governance FOX tokenrose300% to $1.16 in several hours. While the cryptocurrency has retraced to $0.55 in the past 24 hours, it’s still up almost 200% this week – a stellar performance considering the broader market lull. Analysts stand divided on whether the rally represents an ever-intensifying search for yield or investors cheering ShapeShift’s early-mover advantage as a DAO.
• US Presidential Advisory Group to Discuss Stablecoins
• COVID-19 Stimulus Checks Fueled ‘Modest’ Jump in Bitcoin Price Last Year: Cleveland Fed
• Japan Increasing Efforts to Regulate Digital Currency: Report
• Bitcoin Miners Worth Over $1.3M Seized, 8 Arrested in Malaysia: Report
• Terra Attracts $150M for DeFi Ecosystem Fund
Most digital assets on CoinDesk 20 ended lower on Friday.
Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
stellar(XLM) +3.37%
eos(EOS) +3.12%
Notable losers:
polkadot(DOT) -5.4%
yearn finance(YFI) -5.26%
algorand(ALGO) -4.79%
• Bitcoin Network Sees Fourth Straight Downward Difficulty Adjustment
• Russian Industry Association Works to Attract Crypto Mining || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Holds Above $30K but Price Chart Looks ‘Ugly’: Bitcoin bounced to around $32,200 after touching a 2.5-week low early Friday near $31,000.
The largest cryptocurrency by market value may have been buoyed by a CoinDeskreportthat Bank of America has approved trading in bitcoin futures for some clients, according to Edward Moya, senior market analyst for Oanda.
“This is a big commitment for America’s second-largest bank and signals that interest in trading cryptocurrencies is here to stay,” Moya wrote in an email. “On Wall Street, if one bank sees opportunity in doing something risky, the rest will easily justify following suit.”
Related:Bitcoin Drops as Investors Buy $22K and $20K Puts
Cryptocurrencies:
• Bitcoin(BTC): $31,964.2, +1.04%
• Ether(ETH): $1,917.5, -0.29%
Traditional markets:
• S&P 500: 4327.1, -0.75%
• Gold: $1810.9, -1.01%
• 10-year Treasury yield closed at 1.299%, compared with 1.303% on Thursday
Analysts said bitcoin might be prepping for a price breakout – higher or lower – after trading in a range between roughly $30,000 and $40,000 for the past eight weeks.
The big concern is a drop below the psychological level of $30,000 mighttrigger additional sellingas options traders look to square positions.
Related:Bitcoin Trending Lower With Possible Break of $30K Support
“There is a big move coming,” blockchain analyst William Clemente III wrote Friday inAnthony Pompliano’s newsletter.” Theoretically, we could be looking at this big move in the next few days but could take up to those full three weeks.”
The breakout looks more likely to be to the downside, based on the look of bitcoin’s price chart, according to Mati Greenspan, founder of the cryptocurrency and foreign-exchange analysis firm Quantum Economics.
“Bitcoin’s chart looks really ugly at the moment,” Greenspan wrote in his newsletter. “The downward slope that has materialized over the last few days gives the appearance that gravitational forces are calling for a retest of the red-line support at $20,000, the previous all-time high. In technical terms, this is known as capitulation.”
Earlier this month, Circle, the company behind the fast-growing dollar-linked stablecoinUSDC, announced plans to become a public company at a $4.5 billion valuation, via adealwith aspecial-purpose acquisition corporation(SPAC).
Charlie Morris, founder of ByteTree Asset Management, speculated this week the deal could end up luring more investors to cryptocurrencies.
It’s “unquestionably the starter stock for the cautious,” Morris wrote July 14 in his weekly newsletter.
Big investors might find the stock hard to resist due to USDC’s fast growth: The stablecoin’s supply has soared to more than $25 billion, from about $3.9 billion at the start of the year. “It’s clear to the eye this company is growing like a weed,” Morris wrote.
What might make the new shares more attractive for portfolios is that USDC “powers crypto, yet has none of the volatility, making it a natural haven in comparison to the asset managers or miners whose fortunes are linked to crypto prices,” according to Morris.
But that might just be a camel’s nose under the tent:
“The old world will end up owning all of these stocks regardless, and that is why index funds always amuse me. They just buy whatever is stuck in front of them, meaning that investors who are trying hard to avoid crypto will end up owning it. Before long, everyone will be invested in crypto and crypto stocks, whether they like it or not, and Circle’s listing will be a crowd pleaser.”
The parabolic growth in the market cap of stablecoin gianttether(USDT) suddenlycame to a grinding haltat the end of May, just as bitcoin’s price was coming off its all-time highs.
According to analysts and market participants whospoketo CoinDesk’s Muyao Shen, the sudden pause reveals that the most traded cryptocurrency in the world is seeing its dominance threatened by three unprecedented challenges combining in a perfect storm to rattle the stablecoin.
• China’s crackdown on cryptocurrencies and money laundering has choked off the fiat on-ramp to crypto markets through over-the-counter brokers, while listless bitcoin prices have reduced the incentive to invest: “Tether’s market in Asia is mostly through OTC merchants, and with less cash going into the market there is less demand for tether,” Rachel Lin, former vice president and founding partner at Singapore-based crypto investment firm Matrixport, told Shen.
• The rising star of the stablecoin market is increasingly USDC. “I think USDC has a chance to compete in the stablecoin market in Asia against tether,” said Justin Sun, who helms the Tron blockchain.
• More questions have been raised recently byregulatorsandgovernmentsaround the world about USDT and other stablecoins. “The market is infused with bearish sentiment and traders are looking for a reason,” said Noelle Acheson, head of market insights at crypto prime broker Genesis Global Trading, a CoinDesk sister company. “It’s FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) season, and tether’s vulnerabilities are almost always a part of that conversation.”
An executive from Tether, while acknowledging the demand for USDT has fallen, argued the trend is not exclusive to the token.
“Demand for tether ebbs and flows, and has been impacted by lower demand in recent weeks,” Paolo Ardoino, chief technology officer at Tether, said in a written response via a spokesperson.
• Thorchain loses 4K in ether in attack:Thorchainsufferedan attack on the crypto trading protocol that drained about 4,000 ETH, worth about $7.7 million based on ether’s price as of press time. The company tweeted that it would provide a “more detailed assessment and recovery steps” soon. Administrators wrote earlier that the network had been halted while developers investigated the extent of the breach. “While the treasury has the funds to cover the stolen amount, we request the attacker get in contact with the team to discuss return of funds and a bounty commensurate with the discovery,” the administrators wrote on Telegram.
• Binance halts support for stock tokens:Crypto exchange Binance said it willno longer supporttokens linked to stocks, barely three months after it made them available on its trading platform. Binance announced Friday that stock tokens are unavailable for purchase on its website effective immediately, and support for such tokens will end on Oct. 14, with all positions closed the following day. The embattled exchange, which has been facing regulatory headwinds, said the move will allow it to focus on other products.
• FOX token’s rally:Following ShapeShift’s announcement that it would transform into a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), its governance FOX tokenrose300% to $1.16 in several hours. While the cryptocurrency has retraced to $0.55 in the past 24 hours, it’s still up almost 200% this week – a stellar performance considering the broader market lull. Analysts stand divided on whether the rally represents an ever-intensifying search for yield or investors cheering ShapeShift’s early-mover advantage as a DAO.
• US Presidential Advisory Group to Discuss Stablecoins
• COVID-19 Stimulus Checks Fueled ‘Modest’ Jump in Bitcoin Price Last Year: Cleveland Fed
• Japan Increasing Efforts to Regulate Digital Currency: Report
• Bitcoin Miners Worth Over $1.3M Seized, 8 Arrested in Malaysia: Report
• Terra Attracts $150M for DeFi Ecosystem Fund
Most digital assets on CoinDesk 20 ended lower on Friday.
Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
stellar(XLM) +3.37%
eos(EOS) +3.12%
Notable losers:
polkadot(DOT) -5.4%
yearn finance(YFI) -5.26%
algorand(ALGO) -4.79%
• Bitcoin Network Sees Fourth Straight Downward Difficulty Adjustment
• Russian Industry Association Works to Attract Crypto Mining || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Holds Above $30K but Price Chart Looks ‘Ugly’: Bitcoin bounced to around $32,200 after touching a 2.5-week low early Friday near $31,000. The largest cryptocurrency by market value may have been buoyed by a CoinDesk report that Bank of America has approved trading in bitcoin futures for some clients, according to Edward Moya, senior market analyst for Oanda. “This is a big commitment for America’s second-largest bank and signals that interest in trading cryptocurrencies is here to stay,” Moya wrote in an email. “On Wall Street, if one bank sees opportunity in doing something risky, the rest will easily justify following suit.” Latest prices Related: Bitcoin Drops as Investors Buy $22K and $20K Puts Cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin (BTC): $31,964.2, +1.04% Ether (ETH): $1,917.5, -0.29% Traditional markets: S&P 500: 4327.1, -0.75% Gold: $1810.9, -1.01% 10-year Treasury yield closed at 1.299%, compared with 1.303% on Thursday Analysts said bitcoin might be prepping for a price breakout – higher or lower – after trading in a range between roughly $30,000 and $40,000 for the past eight weeks. The big concern is a drop below the psychological level of $30,000 might trigger additional selling as options traders look to square positions. Related: Bitcoin Trending Lower With Possible Break of $30K Support “There is a big move coming,” blockchain analyst William Clemente III wrote Friday in Anthony Pompliano’s newsletter .” Theoretically, we could be looking at this big move in the next few days but could take up to those full three weeks.” The breakout looks more likely to be to the downside, based on the look of bitcoin’s price chart, according to Mati Greenspan, founder of the cryptocurrency and foreign-exchange analysis firm Quantum Economics. “Bitcoin’s chart looks really ugly at the moment,” Greenspan wrote in his newsletter. “The downward slope that has materialized over the last few days gives the appearance that gravitational forces are calling for a retest of the red-line support at $20,000, the previous all-time high. In technical terms, this is known as capitulation.” Story continues Circle and crypto investors Earlier this month, Circle, the company behind the fast-growing dollar-linked stablecoin USDC , announced plans to become a public company at a $4.5 billion valuation, via a deal with a special-purpose acquisition corporation (SPAC). Charlie Morris, founder of ByteTree Asset Management, speculated this week the deal could end up luring more investors to cryptocurrencies. It’s “unquestionably the starter stock for the cautious,” Morris wrote July 14 in his weekly newsletter. Big investors might find the stock hard to resist due to USDC’s fast growth: The stablecoin’s supply has soared to more than $25 billion, from about $3.9 billion at the start of the year. “It’s clear to the eye this company is growing like a weed,” Morris wrote. What might make the new shares more attractive for portfolios is that USDC “powers crypto, yet has none of the volatility, making it a natural haven in comparison to the asset managers or miners whose fortunes are linked to crypto prices,” according to Morris. But that might just be a camel’s nose under the tent: “The old world will end up owning all of these stocks regardless, and that is why index funds always amuse me. They just buy whatever is stuck in front of them, meaning that investors who are trying hard to avoid crypto will end up owning it. Before long, everyone will be invested in crypto and crypto stocks, whether they like it or not, and Circle’s listing will be a crowd pleaser.” What’s up with tether? The parabolic growth in the market cap of stablecoin giant tether (USDT) suddenly came to a grinding halt at the end of May, just as bitcoin’s price was coming off its all-time highs. According to analysts and market participants who spoke to CoinDesk’s Muyao Shen, the sudden pause reveals that the most traded cryptocurrency in the world is seeing its dominance threatened by three unprecedented challenges combining in a perfect storm to rattle the stablecoin. China’s crackdown on cryptocurrencies and money laundering has choked off the fiat on-ramp to crypto markets through over-the-counter brokers, while listless bitcoin prices have reduced the incentive to invest: “Tether’s market in Asia is mostly through OTC merchants, and with less cash going into the market there is less demand for tether,” Rachel Lin, former vice president and founding partner at Singapore-based crypto investment firm Matrixport, told Shen. The rising star of the stablecoin market is increasingly USDC. “I think USDC has a chance to compete in the stablecoin market in Asia against tether,” said Justin Sun, who helms the Tron blockchain. More questions have been raised recently by regulators and governments around the world about USDT and other stablecoins. “The market is infused with bearish sentiment and traders are looking for a reason,” said Noelle Acheson, head of market insights at crypto prime broker Genesis Global Trading, a CoinDesk sister company. “It’s FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) season, and tether’s vulnerabilities are almost always a part of that conversation.” An executive from Tether, while acknowledging the demand for USDT has fallen, argued the trend is not exclusive to the token. “Demand for tether ebbs and flows, and has been impacted by lower demand in recent weeks,” Paolo Ardoino, chief technology officer at Tether, said in a written response via a spokesperson. Altcoin roundup Thorchain loses 4K in ether in attack: Thorchain suffered an attack on the crypto trading protocol that drained about 4,000 ETH, worth about $7.7 million based on ether’s price as of press time. The company tweeted that it would provide a “more detailed assessment and recovery steps” soon. Administrators wrote earlier that the network had been halted while developers investigated the extent of the breach. “While the treasury has the funds to cover the stolen amount, we request the attacker get in contact with the team to discuss return of funds and a bounty commensurate with the discovery,” the administrators wrote on Telegram. Binance halts support for stock tokens: Crypto exchange Binance said it will no longer support tokens linked to stocks, barely three months after it made them available on its trading platform. Binance announced Friday that stock tokens are unavailable for purchase on its website effective immediately, and support for such tokens will end on Oct. 14, with all positions closed the following day. The embattled exchange, which has been facing regulatory headwinds, said the move will allow it to focus on other products. FOX token’s rally: Following ShapeShift’s announcement that it would transform into a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), its governance FOX token rose 300% to $1.16 in several hours. While the cryptocurrency has retraced to $0.55 in the past 24 hours, it’s still up almost 200% this week – a stellar performance considering the broader market lull. Analysts stand divided on whether the rally represents an ever-intensifying search for yield or investors cheering ShapeShift’s early-mover advantage as a DAO. Relevant news US Presidential Advisory Group to Discuss Stablecoins COVID-19 Stimulus Checks Fueled ‘Modest’ Jump in Bitcoin Price Last Year: Cleveland Fed Japan Increasing Efforts to Regulate Digital Currency: Report Bitcoin Miners Worth Over $1.3M Seized, 8 Arrested in Malaysia: Report Terra Attracts $150M for DeFi Ecosystem Fund Other markets Most digital assets on CoinDesk 20 ended lower on Friday. Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET): stellar (XLM) +3.37% eos (EOS) +3.12% Notable losers: polkadot (DOT) -5.4% yearn finance (YFI) -5.26% algorand (ALGO) -4.79% Related Stories Bitcoin Network Sees Fourth Straight Downward Difficulty Adjustment Russian Industry Association Works to Attract Crypto Mining || Bearish on bitcoin, bullish on oil: How Canadians plan to invest this summer: Horizons ETFs Management Canada says investors are "overwhelmingly bullish" heading into Q3 (Photo by Lu Yang/Xinhua via Getty) (Xinhua/Lu Yang via Getty Images) (Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images) Canadians plan to ditch crypto for crude as the price of bitcoin falls and rebounding travel breathes life into the energy sector, according to one of the country's largest purveyors of exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Investors and advisors surveyed by Horizons ETFs Management Canada picked Canadian energy as their most bullish asset class in the firm's third-quarter outlook survey released on Friday. Both aligned on their view of bitcoin ( BTC-CAD ), ranking the world's most popular cryptocurrency the most bearish among 16 investment categories. "Heading into the third quarter of 2021, Canadian investors and advisors are overwhelmingly bullish across most market indices and asset classes," Horizons said in a news release. The Toronto-based financial services firm has over $19 billion in assets under management, and operates 95 ETFs on Canadian exchanges. Horizons says its third-quarter 2021 Advisor and Investor Sentiment Surveys is based on responses from 342 investor and 166 advisor participants questioned between June 18 and June 30. Their forward-looking views cover the period from June 30 to Sept. 30. Participants weighed in on a range of investment categories from currencies and commodities, to cannabis and the burgeoning psychedelics sector. Canadian energy stocks climb Canadian energy stocks have benefited from a recent run-up in oil prices and expectations for rising fuel consumption this summer. The S&P/TSX Capped Energy Index has climbed more than 42 per cent year-to-date. Horizons says advisors added five percentage points to their positive view on Canadian energy in this latest survey, bringing their total bullishness score to 64 per cent. Investors added 11 percentage points, for a total bullishness of 62 per cent. A year-to-date view of the iShares S&P/TSX Capped Energy Index ETF (XEG.TO). "On top of the strong tailwinds with energy prices rising, Canada has also faced some of the longest and most stringent restrictions in the developed world," said Mark Noble, executive vice-president of ETF Strategy at Horizons ETFs in the release. "Now that global travel opportunities and transport of goods globally are increasing, energy demand is on the rise, which has resulted in strong performance for Canada's energy sector." Story continues Bitcoin's drop brings out the bears Bitcoin surged from about US$11,000 last October to well over US$60,000 in April, and now trades in the US$30,000 range. The wild ride has been driven by a chaotic mix of factors, ranging from Tesla ( TSLA ) boss Elon Musk's Twitter account to regulatory crackdowns in parts of China. A year-to-date view of Bitcoin in U.S. dollars. "Following a 41.34 per cent decline in the price of Bitcoin during Q2 2021, the worst performance of any of the Q3 Surveys' measured asset classes, investors shifted their position from bullish to bearish, adding 15 percentage points to their negative sentiment, for a total of 50 per cent bearish overall," Horizons said. Investment advisors upped their already pessimistic view on bitcoin for the third quarter of 2021, adding nine percentage points, for a bearishness score of 54 per cent. What about pot & psychedelics? Canadian and U.S. large-cap equities were strong performers in Q2 2021. While investors and advisors remain in the bull camp for Q3, they cautiously pared back expectations for the S&P/TSX 60 and the S&P 500, while raising their view on the Nasdaq 100. Horizons says the outlook for emerging markets was one of the biggest gulfs in its Q3 survey. It was the third most-bullish sector for advisors at 61 per cent, a four percentage point drop from last quarter. Investors who were also bullish on international equities reduced their positive view by nine percentage points to 49 per cent overall. Expectations for Canada's cannabis sector fell among investors and advisors. However, opinions on the burgeoning psychedelics space were mixed, with investors 46 per cent bullish, and advisors evenly split between neutral and bearish sentiment, at 34 per cent each, heading into Q3 2021. Jeff Lagerquist is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jefflagerquist . Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android . || Bearish on bitcoin, bullish on oil: How Canadians plan to invest this summer: Canadians plan to ditch crypto for crude as the price of bitcoin falls and rebounding travel breathes life into the energy sector, according to one of the country's largest purveyors of exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Investors and advisors surveyed by Horizons ETFs Management Canada picked Canadian energy as their most bullish asset class in the firm's third-quarter outlook survey released on Friday. Both aligned on their view of bitcoin (BTC-CAD), ranking the world's most popular cryptocurrency the most bearish among 16 investment categories.
"Heading into the third quarter of 2021, Canadian investors and advisors are overwhelmingly bullish across most market indices and asset classes," Horizons said in a news release. The Toronto-based financial services firm has over $19 billion in assets under management, and operates 95 ETFs on Canadian exchanges.
Horizons says its third-quarter 2021Advisor and Investor Sentiment Surveysis based on responses from 342 investor and 166 advisor participants questioned between June 18 and June 30. Their forward-looking views cover the period from June 30 to Sept. 30. Participants weighed in on a range of investment categories from currencies and commodities, to cannabis and the burgeoning psychedelics sector.
Canadian energy stocks have benefited from a recent run-up in oil prices and expectations for rising fuel consumption this summer. The S&P/TSX Capped Energy Index has climbed more than 42 per cent year-to-date. Horizons says advisors added five percentage points to their positive view on Canadian energy in this latest survey, bringing their total bullishness score to 64 per cent. Investors added 11 percentage points, for a total bullishness of 62 per cent.
"On top of the strong tailwinds with energy prices rising, Canada has also faced some of the longest and most stringent restrictions in the developed world," said Mark Noble, executive vice-president of ETF Strategy at Horizons ETFs in the release. "Now that global travel opportunities and transport of goods globally are increasing, energy demand is on the rise, which has resulted in strong performance for Canada's energy sector."
Bitcoin surged from about US$11,000 last October to well over US$60,000 in April, and now trades in the US$30,000 range. The wild ride has been driven by a chaotic mix of factors, ranging from Tesla (TSLA) boss Elon Musk's Twitter account to regulatory crackdowns in parts of China.
"Following a 41.34 per cent decline in the price of Bitcoin during Q2 2021, the worst performance of any of the Q3 Surveys' measured asset classes, investors shifted their position from bullish to bearish, adding 15 percentage points to their negative sentiment, for a total of 50 per cent bearish overall," Horizons said.
Investment advisors upped their already pessimistic view on bitcoin for the third quarter of 2021, adding nine percentage points, for a bearishness score of 54 per cent.
Canadian and U.S. large-cap equities were strong performers in Q2 2021. While investors and advisors remain in the bull camp for Q3, they cautiously pared back expectations for the S&P/TSX 60 and the S&P 500, while raising their view on the Nasdaq 100.
Horizons says the outlook for emerging markets was one of the biggest gulfs in its Q3 survey. It was the third most-bullish sector for advisors at 61 per cent, a four percentage point drop from last quarter. Investors who were also bullish on international equities reduced their positive view by nine percentage points to 49 per cent overall.
Expectations for Canada's cannabis sector fell among investors and advisors. However, opinions on the burgeoning psychedelics space were mixed, with investors 46 per cent bullish, and advisors evenly split between neutral and bearish sentiment, at 34 per cent each, heading into Q3 2021.
Jeff Lagerquist is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter@jefflagerquist.
Download the Yahoo Finance app, available forAppleandAndroid. || Money Reimagined: Why the World Still Needs Uncensorable Marketplaces: Earlier this week I wrote a long-overduepostmortemon OpenBazaar, the cryptocurrency-powered e-commerce marketplace that folded in January. What follows is a eulogy of sorts.
Skeptics might wonder why I suggested, in my interview with OpenBazaar co-founder Brian Hoffman, that someone might want to dust off theopen-source codeand have another go at building a peer-to-peer version of eBay. Or at least, why would anyone other thana criminalwant to build a marketplace where anyone can take part and no product or service can be banned?
I’ll give two examples that illustrate the need for such a service. Those who scoff at the first may be convinced by the second, and vice versa.
Related:Crypto Long & Short: Crypto Needs More Than VC Interest
In March, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, the organization that owns the rights to the late Theodor Geisel’s works, announced it wouldcease publishingsix of his 60 books because they contained illustrations depicting racial stereotypes. To be clear: This was absolutely the organization’s prerogative, and the claims in some corners that a beloved children’s author had been “canceled” were overblown.
Far more concerning was the decision by eBay to stopused-book sellersfrom listing the half-dozen books in question on its platform.
Because these discontinued books, published from the 1930s to the 1970s, were now collector’s items, they were more likely to end up sitting in Mylar bags or behind museum glass than corrupting impressionable minds. eBay nevertheless decided that protecting its brand from any association with offensive drawings was a higher priority than letting a few small-business owners make a buck or two during thecoronavirus-induced recession.
Related:How Axie Infinity Creates Work in the Metaverse
Again: eBay’s house, eBay’s rules. I am not a lawyer, but to the best of my understanding the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution doesn’t guarantee vendors the right to use an internet platform, however dominant it may be in its market. (As of May 2020, eBayranked thirdin U.S. e-commerce sales, behind Amazon and Walmart, with a 4.5% market share.)
Yet, had OpenBazaar still been around then, the booksellers might have had another way to monetize the musty old volumes collecting dust on their shelves at a time when the coronavirus pandemic was likelydiscouraging garage sales.
No one would have been hurt.
Perhaps you think eBay took the high road by refusing to facilitate resales of out-of-print books that reflect the prejudices of their day, and that there’s no good reason to help anyone circumvent such enlightened corporate censorship.
If so, consider another, older example.
In 2016, when Sen. Ted Cruz was vying for the Republican presidential nomination, the Texas Republican wasmockedfor having once defended a Texas law that criminalized the sale of, er, marital aids.
Nine years earlier, as the state’s solicitor general, Cruz had responded to a lawsuit challenging the law’s constitutionality by arguing, among other things, that “there is no substantive-due-process right to stimulate one’s genitals for non-medical purposes unrelated to procreation or outside of an interpersonal relationship.” Unconvinced by his brief, an appeals court struck down the law in 2008 (the year Satoshi Nakamoto published the Bitcoin white paper).
But what if the ban, which most readers would probably consider archaic and intrusive, had stood?
Neither bricks-and-mortar nor online retailers would have been able to sell these products to Texans without risk of prosecution. Yet, OpenBazaar would have given randy residents of the Lone Star State another way to obtain their sex toys. Granted, this would have fallen under the “illicit uses” category.
But, again, no one would have been hurt.
Both of these examples may be outliers, but they speak to a broader principle.
In the old world of physical stores and face-to-face business dealings, trade is almost always censorship-resistant by default. You hand banknotes to the baker or the butcher or the barber, she gives you a brioche or a brisket or a buzzcut. No third party gets to second-guess or overrule your choices. As commerce moves online, more and more transactions are funneled through ever-more-powerful intermediaries.
“Electronic P2P markets at scale are still unexplored lands,” said Tim Pastoor, an independent researcher on peer-to-peer identity and reputation systems. “Sure, people have been transacting P2P since the dawn of time, but digitally and at scale is another one of those magical nuts that hasn’t fully been cracked yet.”
Pastoor sees a practical economic benefit to cracking that nut.
“It would be cheaper for both buyer and seller if the middleman is eliminated from the process,” he said. “Think eBay, Amazon or even Netflix or Spotify, or ordering a pizza from your local shop, but without the centralized infrastructure between the buyer and seller, that always comes with some sort of fee for the upkeep of the infra[structure] and for the business building and maintaining it to operate.”
Costs aside, the Dr. Seuss example shows the veto power of intermediaries becomes a problem when they block innocuous transactions. Those incredulous that I question eBay’s offensive-materials policy should consider how they would react if the company’s executives instead enforced Ted Cruz’s views on morality.
Bitcoinrestoredcensorship resistanceto payments in the digital realm. OpenBazaar did the same for commerce in general but found little traction. Still, it was a valiant effort. I hope someone picks up where Hoffman’s team left off.–Marc Hochstein
Miner/Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) has been a hot topic in the Ethereum community over the past few months due to the increasingly disruptive strategies Ethereum miners are using to capture it. According to data from Dune Analytics and Flashbots, a cumulative $765 million in additional miner revenue has been generated from different MEV tactics since Jan. 1, 2020.
Ethereum miners extract MEV by ordering transactions within blocks. The ability to order transactions enables miners to front-run trades on decentralized exchanges (DEX), take advantage of price arbitrage across DEXs, and liquidate positions at the most optimal times on decentralized lending apps. Bots are commonly programmed to identify these profit opportunities within the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem of Ethereum and exploit them by paying off miners to manipulate transaction order.
As seen in the chart, MEV tends to follow trade volume on decentralized exchanges. This is because growing liquidity and trade sizes on DEXs lead to more profitable arbitrage and front running opportunities.
Critics of MEV tacticsbelieve the process of extracting additional value through transaction ordering threatens the integrity of the Ethereum network. While price arbitrage and liquidation are beneficial for the usability of DeFi, MEV is controversial because of the negative effects it simultaneously has on the Ethereum ecosystem. Front-running consists of stealing basis points from other transactions, by buying before the pending transaction and then selling the asset for a profit after the other transaction confirms. Furthermore, front-running bots are associated with creating a slower and more costly Ethereum network. MEV can also cause transactions to fail for gas fee and slippage errors.
While daily MEV revenue has cooled considerably from its peak of $5 million reached in May during the height of the crypto bull market, MEV remains a source of contention and debate on Ethereum that is only expected to become more heated as the DeFi ecosystem continues to mature.–Teddy Oosterbaan
• Can Coinbase Keep Wall Street Happy During the Crypto ‘Pause’?
• Hard Forks Are Fan Fiction || Money Reimagined: Why the World Still Needs Uncensorable Marketplaces: Earlier this week I wrote a long-overdue postmortem on OpenBazaar, the cryptocurrency-powered e-commerce marketplace that folded in January. What follows is a eulogy of sorts. Skeptics might wonder why I suggested, in my interview with OpenBazaar co-founder Brian Hoffman, that someone might want to dust off the open-source code and have another go at building a peer-to-peer version of eBay. Or at least, why would anyone other than a criminal want to build a marketplace where anyone can take part and no product or service can be banned? I’ll give two examples that illustrate the need for such a service. Those who scoff at the first may be convinced by the second, and vice versa. Related: Crypto Long & Short: Crypto Needs More Than VC Interest You’re reading Money Reimagined , a weekly look at the technological, economic and social events and trends that are redefining our relationship with money and transforming the global financial system. Subscribe to get the full newsletter here . Michael Casey is away. This week’s main column is written by Executive Editor Marc Hochstein. In March, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, the organization that owns the rights to the late Theodor Geisel’s works, announced it would cease publishing six of his 60 books because they contained illustrations depicting racial stereotypes. To be clear: This was absolutely the organization’s prerogative, and the claims in some corners that a beloved children’s author had been “canceled” were overblown. Far more concerning was the decision by eBay to stop used-book sellers from listing the half-dozen books in question on its platform. Because these discontinued books, published from the 1930s to the 1970s, were now collector’s items, they were more likely to end up sitting in Mylar bags or behind museum glass than corrupting impressionable minds. eBay nevertheless decided that protecting its brand from any association with offensive drawings was a higher priority than letting a few small-business owners make a buck or two during the coronavirus-induced recession . Story continues Related: How Axie Infinity Creates Work in the Metaverse Again: eBay’s house, eBay’s rules. I am not a lawyer, but to the best of my understanding the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution doesn’t guarantee vendors the right to use an internet platform, however dominant it may be in its market. (As of May 2020, eBay ranked third in U.S. e-commerce sales, behind Amazon and Walmart, with a 4.5% market share.) Yet, had OpenBazaar still been around then, the booksellers might have had another way to monetize the musty old volumes collecting dust on their shelves at a time when the coronavirus pandemic was likely discouraging garage sales . No one would have been hurt. Sexless in Texas Perhaps you think eBay took the high road by refusing to facilitate resales of out-of-print books that reflect the prejudices of their day, and that there’s no good reason to help anyone circumvent such enlightened corporate censorship. If so, consider another, older example. In 2016, when Sen. Ted Cruz was vying for the Republican presidential nomination, the Texas Republican was mocked for having once defended a Texas law that criminalized the sale of, er, marital aids. Nine years earlier, as the state’s solicitor general, Cruz had responded to a lawsuit challenging the law’s constitutionality by arguing, among other things, that “there is no substantive-due-process right to stimulate one’s genitals for non-medical purposes unrelated to procreation or outside of an interpersonal relationship.” Unconvinced by his brief, an appeals court struck down the law in 2008 (the year Satoshi Nakamoto published the Bitcoin white paper). But what if the ban, which most readers would probably consider archaic and intrusive, had stood? Neither bricks-and-mortar nor online retailers would have been able to sell these products to Texans without risk of prosecution. Yet, OpenBazaar would have given randy residents of the Lone Star State another way to obtain their sex toys. Granted, this would have fallen under the “illicit uses” category. But, again, no one would have been hurt. The P2P frontier Both of these examples may be outliers, but they speak to a broader principle. In the old world of physical stores and face-to-face business dealings, trade is almost always censorship-resistant by default. You hand banknotes to the baker or the butcher or the barber, she gives you a brioche or a brisket or a buzzcut. No third party gets to second-guess or overrule your choices. As commerce moves online, more and more transactions are funneled through ever-more-powerful intermediaries. “Electronic P2P markets at scale are still unexplored lands,” said Tim Pastoor, an independent researcher on peer-to-peer identity and reputation systems. “Sure, people have been transacting P2P since the dawn of time, but digitally and at scale is another one of those magical nuts that hasn’t fully been cracked yet.” Pastoor sees a practical economic benefit to cracking that nut. “It would be cheaper for both buyer and seller if the middleman is eliminated from the process,” he said. “Think eBay, Amazon or even Netflix or Spotify, or ordering a pizza from your local shop, but without the centralized infrastructure between the buyer and seller, that always comes with some sort of fee for the upkeep of the infra[structure] and for the business building and maintaining it to operate.” Costs aside, the Dr. Seuss example shows the veto power of intermediaries becomes a problem when they block innocuous transactions. Those incredulous that I question eBay’s offensive-materials policy should consider how they would react if the company’s executives instead enforced Ted Cruz’s views on morality. Bitcoin restored censorship resistance to payments in the digital realm. OpenBazaar did the same for commerce in general but found little traction. Still, it was a valiant effort. I hope someone picks up where Hoffman’s team left off. –Marc Hochstein Off The Charts: DeFi Grows, So Does Front-Running Miner/Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) has been a hot topic in the Ethereum community over the past few months due to the increasingly disruptive strategies Ethereum miners are using to capture it. According to data from Dune Analytics and Flashbots, a cumulative $765 million in additional miner revenue has been generated from different MEV tactics since Jan. 1, 2020. Ethereum miners extract MEV by ordering transactions within blocks. The ability to order transactions enables miners to front-run trades on decentralized exchanges (DEX), take advantage of price arbitrage across DEXs, and liquidate positions at the most optimal times on decentralized lending apps. Bots are commonly programmed to identify these profit opportunities within the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem of Ethereum and exploit them by paying off miners to manipulate transaction order. As seen in the chart, MEV tends to follow trade volume on decentralized exchanges. This is because growing liquidity and trade sizes on DEXs lead to more profitable arbitrage and front running opportunities. Critics of MEV tactics believe the process of extracting additional value through transaction ordering threatens the integrity of the Ethereum network. While price arbitrage and liquidation are beneficial for the usability of DeFi, MEV is controversial because of the negative effects it simultaneously has on the Ethereum ecosystem. Front-running consists of stealing basis points from other transactions, by buying before the pending transaction and then selling the asset for a profit after the other transaction confirms. Furthermore, front-running bots are associated with creating a slower and more costly Ethereum network. MEV can also cause transactions to fail for gas fee and slippage errors. While daily MEV revenue has cooled considerably from its peak of $5 million reached in May during the height of the crypto bull market, MEV remains a source of contention and debate on Ethereum that is only expected to become more heated as the DeFi ecosystem continues to mature. –Teddy Oosterbaan Related Stories Can Coinbase Keep Wall Street Happy During the Crypto ‘Pause’? Hard Forks Are Fan Fiction || Bank of America might allow limited Bitcoin futures trading, reports say: Bank of America has reportedly begun allowing some clients to trade Bitcoin futures, a big step for a company that has been conservative in its cryptocurrency approaches so far. Coindesk , citing anonymous sources, says select bank clients are setting up accounts to access the crypto market, and a small number may have already gone live. Bank of America did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the report. The appeal for BofA, per Coindesk, is the significant margin it requires, which could make it a very rewarding business opportunity. The company will also reportedly be using CME futures, which were launched in 2017 and have since become one of the biggest Bitcoin futures trading platforms. Bank of America has been wary of cryptocurrencies for some time. In March, one of its analysts noted that Bitcoin "has not been particularly compelling as an inflation hedge." Earlier this month, though, Bloomberg reported the bank had created a new team dedicated to researching cryptos. Earlier this year, crypto custody firm NYDIG partnered with fintech firm Fidelity National Information Services to enable U.S. banks to offer Bitcoin to smaller banks. Hundreds enrolled in the program, which could be putting pressure on larger financial institutions. In March, Morgan Stanley began offering Bitcoin funds to its clients. And Goldman Sachs quickly followed suit , adding to the potential pressure on BofA. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com View comments || Bank of America might allow limited Bitcoin futures trading, reports say: Bank of America has reportedly begun allowing some clients to trade Bitcoin futures, a big step for a company that has been conservative in its cryptocurrency approaches so far. Coindesk , citing anonymous sources, says select bank clients are setting up accounts to access the crypto market, and a small number may have already gone live. Bank of America did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the report. The appeal for BofA, per Coindesk, is the significant margin it requires, which could make it a very rewarding business opportunity. The company will also reportedly be using CME futures, which were launched in 2017 and have since become one of the biggest Bitcoin futures trading platforms. Bank of America has been wary of cryptocurrencies for some time. In March, one of its analysts noted that Bitcoin "has not been particularly compelling as an inflation hedge." Earlier this month, though, Bloomberg reported the bank had created a new team dedicated to researching cryptos. Earlier this year, crypto custody firm NYDIG partnered with fintech firm Fidelity National Information Services to enable U.S. banks to offer Bitcoin to smaller banks. Hundreds enrolled in the program, which could be putting pressure on larger financial institutions. In March, Morgan Stanley began offering Bitcoin funds to its clients. And Goldman Sachs quickly followed suit , adding to the potential pressure on BofA. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com View comments || Bank of America might allow limited Bitcoin futures trading, reports say: Bank of America has reportedly begun allowing some clients to trade Bitcoin futures, a big step for a company that has been conservative in its cryptocurrency approaches so far. Coindesk , citing anonymous sources, says select bank clients are setting up accounts to access the crypto market, and a small number may have already gone live. Bank of America did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the report. The appeal for BofA, per Coindesk, is the significant margin it requires, which could make it a very rewarding business opportunity. The company will also reportedly be using CME futures, which were launched in 2017 and have since become one of the biggest Bitcoin futures trading platforms. Bank of America has been wary of cryptocurrencies for some time. In March, one of its analysts noted that Bitcoin "has not been particularly compelling as an inflation hedge." Earlier this month, though, Bloomberg reported the bank had created a new team dedicated to researching cryptos. Earlier this year, crypto custody firm NYDIG partnered with fintech firm Fidelity National Information Services to enable U.S. banks to offer Bitcoin to smaller banks. Hundreds enrolled in the program, which could be putting pressure on larger financial institutions. In March, Morgan Stanley began offering Bitcoin funds to its clients. And Goldman Sachs quickly followed suit , adding to the potential pressure on BofA. This story was originally featured on Fortune.com View comments || Jack Dorsey’s Square Targets Bitcoin Network for DeFi: When thebitcoinprice is in a downturn, developers tend to focus more on building. That seems to be the case in the latest market cycle, with companies likeSquareandPayPalboth focused on bitcoin. Both companies happened to announce their latest developments at about the same time. Square’s stock is moving higher today while PayPal shares have barely budged.
Square generatedUSD 4.5 billionin bitcoin revenue last year on its Cash App. Jack Dorsey’s company is already behind Square Crypto, which is dedicated to building and funding open-source Bitcoin projects that support BTC for payments. Now Dorsey has announced a new initiative to create an open developer platform that paves the way for decentralized financial (DeFi) services on Bitcoin.
DeFi is a burgeoning niche in the cryptocurrency industry that gives users the ability to generate passive income through activities such as staking and lending. It also gives people who are either unbanked or underbanked access to financial services that they otherwise would not receive.
Ethereumis currently the go-to platform for decentralized finance. That is the blockchain on which most decentralized applications (Dapps) are built. Ethereum is a natural fit given its use of smart contracts that take the place of third parties such as banks.
Now Dorsey apparently wants to muscle Bitcoin into the DeFi fray. There is currently USD 54 billion in total value locked (TVL) in DeFi, and Dorsey seemingly believes Bitcoin should capture more of it. Square has named Mike Brock to lead the business, which has yet to be named. The work on the project will all be transparent and open-source in the spirit of decentralization.
Responses from the cryptocurrency community were mixed. Independent developer Udi Wertheimersaid, “This is good.” Investor Lark Davisaskedwhy not just use Ethereum?
Payments platform PayPal may not be building out a new DeFi platform, but it is making it easier for users to transact using bitcoin. PayPal has increased the weekly purchase ceiling for U.S. customers to USD 100K, paving the way for higher transactions. As part of the changes, there will be no yearly purchase cap.
Previously, the limit was USD 20K on weekly bitcoin purchases, while the yearly purchase limit was set at USD 50K.
Square and PayPal seem to be giving the bitcoin price a pop, with the leading cryptocurrency up 2% in the last 24-hour period.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• S&P 500 Price Forecast – Stock Market Drifts Lower Into the Weekend
• Silver Weekly Price Forecast – Silver Markets Give Up Early Gains for the Week
• Gold Weekly Price Forecast – Gold Markets Show Hesitation
• Jack Dorsey’s Square Targets Bitcoin Network for DeFi
• Cintas Tops Q4 Earnings Estimates; Target Price $400
• Silver Price Forecast – Silver Markets Break Down Toward Support || Jack Dorsey’s Square Targets Bitcoin Network for DeFi: When thebitcoinprice is in a downturn, developers tend to focus more on building. That seems to be the case in the latest market cycle, with companies likeSquareandPayPalboth focused on bitcoin. Both companies happened to announce their latest developments at about the same time. Square’s stock is moving higher today while PayPal shares have barely budged.
Square generatedUSD 4.5 billionin bitcoin revenue last year on its Cash App. Jack Dorsey’s company is already behind Square Crypto, which is dedicated to building and funding open-source Bitcoin projects that support BTC for payments. Now Dorsey has announced a new initiative to create an open developer platform that paves the way for decentralized financial (DeFi) services on Bitcoin.
DeFi is a burgeoning niche in the cryptocurrency industry that gives users the ability to generate passive income through activities such as staking and lending. It also gives people who are either unbanked or underbanked access to financial services that they otherwise would not receive.
Ethereumis currently the go-to platform for decentralized finance. That is the blockchain on which most decentralized applications (Dapps) are built. Ethereum is a natural fit given its use of smart contracts that take the place of third parties such as banks.
Now Dorsey apparently wants to muscle Bitcoin into the DeFi fray. There is currently USD 54 billion in total value locked (TVL) in DeFi, and Dorsey seemingly believes Bitcoin should capture more of it. Square has named Mike Brock to lead the business, which has yet to be named. The work on the project will all be transparent and open-source in the spirit of decentralization.
Responses from the cryptocurrency community were mixed. Independent developer Udi Wertheimersaid, “This is good.” Investor Lark Davisaskedwhy not just use Ethereum?
Payments platform PayPal may not be building out a new DeFi platform, but it is making it easier for users to transact using bitcoin. PayPal has increased the weekly purchase ceiling for U.S. customers to USD 100K, paving the way for higher transactions. As part of the changes, there will be no yearly purchase cap.
Previously, the limit was USD 20K on weekly bitcoin purchases, while the yearly purchase limit was set at USD 50K.
Square and PayPal seem to be giving the bitcoin price a pop, with the leading cryptocurrency up 2% in the last 24-hour period.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• S&P 500 Price Forecast – Stock Market Drifts Lower Into the Weekend
• Silver Weekly Price Forecast – Silver Markets Give Up Early Gains for the Week
• Gold Weekly Price Forecast – Gold Markets Show Hesitation
• Jack Dorsey’s Square Targets Bitcoin Network for DeFi
• Cintas Tops Q4 Earnings Estimates; Target Price $400
• Silver Price Forecast – Silver Markets Break Down Toward Support || Jack Dorsey’s Square Targets Bitcoin Network for DeFi: When the bitcoin price is in a downturn, developers tend to focus more on building. That seems to be the case in the latest market cycle, with companies like Square and PayPal both focused on bitcoin. Both companies happened to announce their latest developments at about the same time. Square’s stock is moving higher today while PayPal shares have barely budged. Square’s Decentralized Push Square generated USD 4.5 billion in bitcoin revenue last year on its Cash App. Jack Dorsey’s company is already behind Square Crypto, which is dedicated to building and funding open-source Bitcoin projects that support BTC for payments. Now Dorsey has announced a new initiative to create an open developer platform that paves the way for decentralized financial (DeFi) services on Bitcoin. DeFi is a burgeoning niche in the cryptocurrency industry that gives users the ability to generate passive income through activities such as staking and lending. It also gives people who are either unbanked or underbanked access to financial services that they otherwise would not receive. Ethereum is currently the go-to platform for decentralized finance. That is the blockchain on which most decentralized applications (Dapps) are built. Ethereum is a natural fit given its use of smart contracts that take the place of third parties such as banks. Now Dorsey apparently wants to muscle Bitcoin into the DeFi fray. There is currently USD 54 billion in total value locked (TVL) in DeFi, and Dorsey seemingly believes Bitcoin should capture more of it. Square has named Mike Brock to lead the business, which has yet to be named. The work on the project will all be transparent and open-source in the spirit of decentralization. Responses from the cryptocurrency community were mixed. Independent developer Udi Wertheimer said , “This is good.” Investor Lark Davis asked why not just use Ethereum? Source: Twitter PayPal Eases Bitcoin Limits Payments platform PayPal may not be building out a new DeFi platform, but it is making it easier for users to transact using bitcoin. PayPal has increased the weekly purchase ceiling for U.S. customers to USD 100K, paving the way for higher transactions. As part of the changes, there will be no yearly purchase cap. Story continues Previously , the limit was USD 20K on weekly bitcoin purchases, while the yearly purchase limit was set at USD 50K. Square and PayPal seem to be giving the bitcoin price a pop, with the leading cryptocurrency up 2% in the last 24-hour period. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: S&P 500 Price Forecast – Stock Market Drifts Lower Into the Weekend Silver Weekly Price Forecast – Silver Markets Give Up Early Gains for the Week Gold Weekly Price Forecast – Gold Markets Show Hesitation Jack Dorsey’s Square Targets Bitcoin Network for DeFi Cintas Tops Q4 Earnings Estimates; Target Price $400 Silver Price Forecast – Silver Markets Break Down Toward Support || Can Coinbase Keep Wall Street Happy During the Crypto ‘Pause’?: I’d love to spend this morning writing about yesterday’s announcement that Square will be developing what sounds like its own decentralized finance (DeFi) platform on Bitcoin. But there’s nearly no information in the world about the project right now – even the name is (for now literally) TBD. David Z. Morris is CoinDesk’s chief insights columnist. We do know it will be led by Mike Brock , a former Red Hat team member. The idea of building DeFi on Bitcoin, which doesn’t natively support all of the smart contracts required, is exciting and novel and frankly a little weird. But I trust Square CEO Jack Dorsey, so I’m eager to hear more. Related: Bitcoin Trending Lower With Possible Break of $30K Support But in the absence of that “more,” let’s talk about the fact that markets seem so indifferent to this possibly game-changing news, and what that means for other crypto businesses – specifically, exchanges. Bitcoin edged up less than 1% in the last 24 hours, which is a pretty typical daily fluctuation and can’t be tied to the Square announcement. For first-timers, that’s because we’re entering at least a bit of a crypto pause, with public interest having been redirected to, among other things, going outside. Search volume for both “bitcoin” and “Ethereum” have cratered over the last few weeks, and as we’ll discuss, so have exchange volumes. Hopefully this won’t turn into a full-fledged bear market like 2018-2019’s “Crypto Winter,” but at least for a little while, this kind of news may just not move the needle as much as it would have closer to the market top when there were more eyes on the sector. That’s a problem, above all, for cryptocurrency exchanges, which make most of their money from trading fees. In the past, trading lulls have led to lots of layoffs and strategic contraction. But this time around, there’s something new to consider: Among all cryptocurrency exchanges, dormant cycles may be worst for those that are publicly listed. Story continues Long periods of dormancy have so far proven typical for crypto, as adoption waves come and go like tides. These big fluctuations in public interest are very bad for the bottom lines of companies like Coinbase, not only because they’re making less money, but because Wall Street is not particularly well set up to value businesses with that kind of intrinsic ebb and flow. Related: Bitcoin Network Sees Fourth Straight Downward Difficulty Adjustment But first, let’s look at just how bad things are out there! The situation was highlighted last night by Frank Chaparro , news director of The Block, who characterized exchange volumes as “falling off a cliff.” But I’ve seen actual cliffs I’d rather fall off – aggregate exchange volumes are down roughly 60% since the May market peak. Some exchanges are doing better than others: Binance, possibly thanks to its legal troubles, is off more like 85%, according to data from CoinGecko. Derivative trading volume on FTX is down roughly the same amount. These may be higher than the aggregate because newcomers were more likely to use these more prominent platforms. It’s also quite possible that smaller exchanges in the aggregate are spoofing volume , and everyone’s down as much as the big boys. This is not the type of performance Wall Street likes. Trading volume on Coinbase, according to my calculations, is off an even more chilling 92% from its May peak. As Jeff Roberts over at Decrypt pointed out , this will lead to a pretty crazy situation for Coinbase’s stock. They should report second-quarter earnings soon, but that will be for April through June, which includes the May peak, so that report will probably look great. The report will also (because the SEC has some standards) include major caveats about how their third quarter outlook – that is, the business actually happening at the time – is an absolute dog’s breakfast. This is not the type of performance Wall Street likes. Wall Street, big surprise, likes numbers to go up – the more steadily, the better. Even if you’re a money-losing public startup, you’d better be able to lose a little bit less money each quarter. Coinbase, because it is deeply tied to a market that moves in rather long, slow, and deep cycles, is going to have a very hard time meeting those expectations. Some Wall Street analysts may be knowledgeable and generous enough to try to make allowances for Coinbase’s unusual market position. But most won’t, and they’ll look at the huge gap between the Q2 numbers and the publicly-viewable volumes actually happening the same day, and they’ll think, “My god, this stock is terrible.” I’d bet there’s resistance to even covering the stock, since analyst reputations hinge on the accuracy of their calls, and setting a medium-term price target for Coinbase’s stock is like trying to guess which way a hand grenade will bounce. (Coinbase does have non-exchange revenues, such as custody services, but transaction fees are as much as 96% of its revenue .) That said, this arguably creates an opportunity. For many, many years, Bitcoin has been slammed for its volatility, but supporters said that things would smooth out with enough adoption – enough coins spread out across enough hands creates stability. That has started to show signs of coming true . In fact, the past two months of relatively tight trading between $30K-$34K has been far worse for exchange trading volumes than a few wild swings would have been. By a similar token (pun intended), Coinbase is a long-term bet that crypto exchange activity will diversify and deepen to a degree that its revenues smooth. Both the Nasdaq and Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, are publicly listed, and they’ve been pretty good long-term bets. If you think the crypto market will thrive alongside the stock market in coming years, Coinbase is still probably a good bet – but maybe wait a few weeks to fill your bags. A lot of investors have already concluded they aren’t interested, which is why $COIN is off a precipitous 31% since its initial stock listing. But as the current bloodbath makes its way into Wall Street’s full awareness, there’s further left for it to fall, at least in the near term. Related Stories Russian Industry Association Works to Attract Crypto Mining Crypto Long & Short: Crypto Needs More Than VC Interest || Can Coinbase Keep Wall Street Happy During the Crypto ‘Pause’?: I’d love to spend this morning writing about yesterday’s announcement that Square will be developing what sounds like its own decentralized finance (DeFi) platform on Bitcoin. But there’s nearly no information in the world about the project right now – even the name is (for now literally) TBD.
David Z. Morris is CoinDesk’s chief insights columnist.
We do know it will be led byMike Brock, a former Red Hat team member. The idea of building DeFi on Bitcoin, which doesn’t natively support all of the smart contracts required, is exciting and novel and frankly a little weird. But I trust Square CEO Jack Dorsey, so I’m eager to hear more.
Related:Bitcoin Trending Lower With Possible Break of $30K Support
But in the absence of that “more,” let’s talk about the fact that markets seem so indifferent to this possibly game-changing news, and what that means for other crypto businesses – specifically, exchanges.
Bitcoinedged up less than 1% in the last 24 hours, which is a pretty typical daily fluctuation and can’t be tied to the Square announcement. For first-timers, that’s because we’re entering at least a bit of a crypto pause, with public interest having been redirected to, among other things, going outside. Search volume for both “bitcoin” and “Ethereum” havecrateredover the last few weeks, and as we’ll discuss, so have exchange volumes. Hopefully this won’t turn into a full-fledged bear market like 2018-2019’s “Crypto Winter,” but at least for a little while, this kind of news may just not move the needle as much as it would have closer to the market top when there were more eyes on the sector.
That’s a problem, above all, for cryptocurrency exchanges, which make most of their money from trading fees. In the past, trading lulls have led to lots of layoffs and strategic contraction. But this time around, there’s something new to consider: Among all cryptocurrency exchanges, dormant cycles may be worst for those that are publicly listed.
Long periods of dormancy have so far proven typical for crypto, as adoption waves come and go like tides. These big fluctuations in public interest are very bad for the bottom lines of companies like Coinbase, not only because they’re making less money, but because Wall Street is not particularly well set up to value businesses with that kind of intrinsic ebb and flow.
Related:Bitcoin Network Sees Fourth Straight Downward Difficulty Adjustment
But first, let’s look at just how bad things are out there! The situation was highlighted last night byFrank Chaparro, news director of The Block, who characterized exchange volumes as “falling off a cliff.” But I’ve seen actual cliffs I’d rather fall off – aggregate exchange volumes are down roughly 60% since the May market peak. Some exchanges are doing better than others: Binance, possibly thanks to its legal troubles, is off more like 85%, according to data from CoinGecko. Derivative trading volume on FTX is down roughly the same amount. These may be higher than the aggregate because newcomers were more likely to use these more prominent platforms. It’s also quite possible that smaller exchanges in the aggregate arespoofing volume, and everyone’s down as much as the big boys.
This is not the type of performance Wall Street likes.
Trading volume on Coinbase, according to my calculations, is off an even more chilling 92% from its May peak. As Jeff Roberts over at Decryptpointed out, this will lead to a pretty crazy situation for Coinbase’s stock. They should report second-quarter earnings soon, but that will be for April through June, which includes the May peak, so that report will probably look great. The report will also (because the SEC has some standards) include major caveats about how their third quarter outlook – that is, the business actually happening at the time – is an absolute dog’s breakfast.
This is not the type of performance Wall Street likes. Wall Street, big surprise, likes numbers to go up – the more steadily, the better. Even if you’re a money-losing public startup, you’d better be able to lose a little bit less money each quarter. Coinbase, because it is deeply tied to a market that moves in rather long, slow, and deep cycles, is going to have a very hard time meeting those expectations.
Some Wall Street analysts may be knowledgeable and generous enough to try to make allowances for Coinbase’s unusual market position. But most won’t, and they’ll look at the huge gap between the Q2 numbers and the publicly-viewable volumes actually happening the same day, and they’ll think, “My god, this stock is terrible.” I’d bet there’s resistance to even covering the stock, since analyst reputations hinge on the accuracy of their calls, and setting a medium-term price target for Coinbase’s stock is like trying to guess which way a hand grenade will bounce. (Coinbase does have non-exchange revenues, such as custody services, but transaction fees are as much as96% of its revenue.)
That said, this arguably creates an opportunity. For many, many years, Bitcoin has been slammed for its volatility, but supporters said thatthings would smooth outwith enough adoption – enough coins spread out across enough hands creates stability. That has started to showsigns of coming true. In fact, the past two months of relatively tight trading between $30K-$34K has been far worse for exchange trading volumes than a few wild swings would have been.
By a similar token (pun intended), Coinbase is a long-term bet that crypto exchange activity will diversify and deepen to a degree that its revenues smooth. Both the Nasdaq and Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, are publicly listed, and they’ve been pretty good long-term bets. If you think the crypto market will thrive alongside the stock market in coming years, Coinbase is still probably a good bet – but maybe wait a few weeks to fill your bags. A lot of investors have already concluded they aren’t interested, which is why $COIN is off a precipitous 31% since its initial stock listing. But as the current bloodbath makes its way into Wall Street’s full awareness, there’s further left for it to fall, at least in the near term.
• Russian Industry Association Works to Attract Crypto Mining
• Crypto Long & Short: Crypto Needs More Than VC Interest
[Social Media Buzz]
None available.
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31796.81, 30817.83, 29807.35, 32110.69, 32313.11, 33581.55, 34292.45, 35350.19, 37337.54, 39406.94
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 233.41, 232.88, 247.85, 253.72, 273.47, 263.48, 233.91, 233.51, 226.43, 217.46, 226.97, 238.23, 227.27, 226.85, 217.11, 222.27, 227.75, 223.41, 220.11, 219.84, 219.18, 221.76, 235.43, 257.32, 234.82, 233.84, 243.61, 236.33, 240.28, 243.78, 244.53, 235.98, 238.89, 238.74, 237.47, 236.43, 253.83, 254.26, 260.20, 275.67, 281.70, 273.09, 276.18, 272.72, 276.26, 274.35, 289.61, 291.76, 296.38, 294.35, 285.34, 281.89, 286.39, 290.59, 285.51, 256.30, 260.93, 261.75, 260.02, 267.96, 266.74, 245.60, 246.20, 248.53, 247.03, 252.80, 242.71, 247.53, 244.22, 247.27, 253.01, 254.32, 253.70, 260.60, 255.49, 253.18, 245.02, 243.68, 236.07, 236.55, 236.15, 224.59, 219.16, 223.83, 228.57, 222.88, 223.36, 222.60, 224.63, 235.27.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2015-04-21]
Volume: 24978000, RSI (14-day): 47.17, 50-day EMA: 245.62, 200-day EMA: 270.11
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1202.90, Gold RSI: 52.89
Oil Price: 55.26, Oil RSI: 60.16
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
California's Water Crisis Draws Investors: As California struggles through a four-year drought that has left the state in dire need of both better water controls and a more efficient way to supply its residents, many investors are beginning to look for ways to capitalize on the growing demand for companies that can conserve and transport water.
Infrastructure
After Governor Jerry Brown declared astate of emergencyin January, the state began to focus its efforts on conservation and educating residents on ways to save the precious resource.
Related Link:California Drought Lesson: Do Not Take Water Supply For Granted
Since then, there has been a push in many communities to install water meters that measure the amount of water a particular residence is using. Companies that manufacture and install water meters, likeMueller Water Products, Inc.(NYSE:MWA) andBadger Meter, Inc.(NYSE:BMI), are likely to see a jump in sales as conservation takes priority.
Desalination
While the environmental effects and sky-high costs of desalination have kept California from investing heavily in making sea water drinkable, many believe the state will eventually resort to more reliance on plants that do just that.
For that reason, long-term investment in companies likeXylem Inc(NYSE:XYL), which manufacture the equipment needed for desalination, could be a smart play.
Energy
Some investors are thinking outside the box and looking to alternative energy companies as the drought forces California to rely less on hydropower.
Many see solar as a great alternative, especially in California where sunshine is plentiful. For that reason, investors are looking toSolarCity Corp(NASDAQ:SCTY), the state's largest rooftop solar panel installer.
Image Credit: Public Domain
See more from Benzinga
• Bitcoin Becomes An Everyday Currency
• Target's Partnership With Lilly Pulitzer Kicks Off With A Bang
• The Who's Who In The Smartwatch Space
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || California's Water Crisis Draws Investors: As California struggles through a four-year drought that has left the state in dire need of both better water controls and a more efficient way to supply its residents, many investors are beginning to look for ways to capitalize on the growing demand for companies that can conserve and transport water. Infrastructure After Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in January, the state began to focus its efforts on conservation and educating residents on ways to save the precious resource. Related Link: California Drought Lesson: Do Not Take Water Supply For Granted Since then, there has been a push in many communities to install water meters that measure the amount of water a particular residence is using. Companies that manufacture and install water meters, like Mueller Water Products, Inc. (NYSE: MWA ) and Badger Meter, Inc. (NYSE: BMI ), are likely to see a jump in sales as conservation takes priority. Desalination While the environmental effects and sky-high costs of desalination have kept California from investing heavily in making sea water drinkable, many believe the state will eventually resort to more reliance on plants that do just that. For that reason, long-term investment in companies like Xylem Inc (NYSE: XYL ), which manufacture the equipment needed for desalination, could be a smart play. Energy Some investors are thinking outside the box and looking to alternative energy companies as the drought forces California to rely less on hydropower. Many see solar as a great alternative, especially in California where sunshine is plentiful. For that reason, investors are looking to SolarCity Corp (NASDAQ: SCTY ), the state's largest rooftop solar panel installer. Image Credit: Public Domain See more from Benzinga Bitcoin Becomes An Everyday Currency Target's Partnership With Lilly Pulitzer Kicks Off With A Bang The Who's Who In The Smartwatch Space © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. View comments || Avra Announces Launch of Top Tier Security Products for Digital Currency Vendors: GREENVILLE, SC--(Marketwired - Apr 20, 2015) - Avra, Inc. ( OTCQB : AVRN ) ("Avra" or the "Company") a development stage company pioneering product innovation and activation of merchant and consumer commerce in the global Bitcoin-related digital currencies market, is pleased to announce the introduction of AvraSecure, a dedicated platform which offers critical security solutions to the growing digital currency industry. AvraSecure ( www.avrasecure.com ) is a perfect fit to complement all forms of technical payment infrastructure such as Bitcoin ATM machines, electronic wallets and related digital storage and transaction systems as well as payment gateways for Visa® and MasterCard® processing; while providing security and compliance requirements for KYC/AML which owner/operators will need in order to stay protected and remain compliant within the increasingly stringent regulatory environment. Avra is has created a one-stop solution that provides a best practice level of protection combined with an easy to integrate application interface. Avra invites its peers to join our security initiative and increase the level of security to the highest standards in order to combat intrusions and their effect on the industry, individual brand reputation, and most importantly, customer acquisition and retention. "Card brands such as Visa, MasterCard, Discover and AMEX agreed to form a security council in 2004 known as the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Counsel which to-date has had a very positive impact on protecting consumers and businesses. More needs to be done however as its shocking to think what the impact of breaches could be without this council," stated Steve Shepherd, CEO at Avra. "Digital Currency businesses are a relatively small but highly visible target and Avra has invested significantly in the development of preventative applications available to our clients through AvraSecure, a subscription based solution which can be implemented for as little as $199 per month with increased security solutions available based upon a completely free client-specific needs assessment." Story continues "It is a difficult task to make frictionless commerce service commitments as easy as possible when we operate in an environment that is constantly under the threat of attack. Hackers have more motivation to continue to find vulnerabilities whenever and wherever they can. We are committed to delivering rigorously controlled access that achieves the highest level of security and protection to our users, while continuously monitoring for vulnerabilities," stated Barry Johnson, Avra's Data Security Manager, "Many of the people becoming involved in the Bitcoin arena aren't necessarily security engineers with the bank-grade experience necessary to secure servers, wallets, websites and shopping carts. Currently, the real cost of intrusions can run into millions of dollars with limited recourse available. Companies which elect to operate as vendors in this market must have top-grade security if they intend to hold value on behalf of a client. If they do not, they shouldn't be operating at all, and should be held at least partially liable for otherwise preventable incursions." For more information please visit our website at: www.avraglobal.com . About Avra, Inc. ( OTCQB : AVRN ) Avra, Inc. is focused on solutions in the digital currency markets, particularly in offering payment solutions to businesses worldwide. The Company's business model is divided into five distinct categories: AvraPay: to develop a complete, turn-key and painless way for merchants to accept Bitcoin as Payment; AvraATM: to promote usage and acceptance of digital currencies through the Company's proposed network of ATMs; AvraTourism: to provide cryptocurrency payment processing solutions for merchants such as hotels and casinos; AvraNews: to provide a news portal focusing on digital currency news, and the latest addition; AvraSecure, offering subscription based critical security solutions to digital currency vendors. For more information about the Company please visit: www.avraglobal.com . Additional information regarding Avra, Inc. and its filings can be found at www.sec.gov . Forward Looking Statements Some information in this document constitutes forward-looking statements or statements which may be deemed or construed to be forward-looking statements, such as the closing of the share exchange agreement. The words "plan", "forecast", "anticipates", "estimate", "project", "intend", "expect", "should", "believe", and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve, and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause the Company's actual results, performance (financial or operating) or achievements to differ from the future results, performance (financial or operating) or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The risks, uncertainties and other factors are more fully discussed in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements attributable to Avra Inc., herein are expressly qualified in their entirety by the above-mentioned cautionary statement. Avra Inc., disclaims any obligation to update forward-looking statements contained in this estimate, except as may be required by law. || Avra Announces Launch of Top Tier Security Products for Digital Currency Vendors: GREENVILLE, SC--(Marketwired - Apr 20, 2015) -Avra, Inc.(OTCQB:AVRN) ("Avra" or the "Company") a development stage company pioneering product innovation and activation of merchant and consumer commerce in the global Bitcoin-related digital currencies market, is pleased to announce the introduction of AvraSecure, a dedicated platform which offers critical security solutions to the growing digital currency industry.
AvraSecure (www.avrasecure.com) is a perfect fit to complement all forms of technical payment infrastructure such as Bitcoin ATM machines, electronic wallets and related digital storage and transaction systems as well as payment gateways for Visa® and MasterCard® processing; while providing security and compliance requirements for KYC/AML which owner/operators will need in order to stay protected and remain compliant within the increasingly stringent regulatory environment.
Avra is has created a one-stop solution that provides a best practice level of protection combined with an easy to integrate application interface. Avra invites its peers to join our security initiative and increase the level of security to the highest standards in order to combat intrusions and their effect on the industry, individual brand reputation, and most importantly, customer acquisition and retention.
"Card brands such as Visa, MasterCard, Discover and AMEX agreed to form a security council in 2004 known as the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Counsel which to-date has had a very positive impact on protecting consumers and businesses. More needs to be done however as its shocking to think what the impact of breaches could be without this council," stated Steve Shepherd, CEO at Avra. "Digital Currency businesses are a relatively small but highly visible target and Avra has invested significantly in the development of preventative applications available to our clients through AvraSecure, a subscription based solution which can be implemented for as little as $199 per month with increased security solutions available based upon a completely free client-specific needs assessment."
"It is a difficult task to make frictionless commerce service commitments as easy as possible when we operate in an environment that is constantly under the threat of attack. Hackers have more motivation to continue to find vulnerabilities whenever and wherever they can. We are committed to delivering rigorously controlled access that achieves the highest level of security and protection to our users, while continuously monitoring for vulnerabilities," stated Barry Johnson, Avra's Data Security Manager, "Many of the people becoming involved in the Bitcoin arena aren't necessarily security engineers with the bank-grade experience necessary to secure servers, wallets, websites and shopping carts. Currently, the real cost of intrusions can run into millions of dollars with limited recourse available. Companies which elect to operate as vendors in this market must have top-grade security if they intend to hold value on behalf of a client. If they do not, they shouldn't be operating at all, and should be held at least partially liable for otherwise preventable incursions."
For more information please visit our website at:www.avraglobal.com.
About Avra, Inc.(OTCQB:AVRN)Avra, Inc. is focused on solutions in the digital currency markets, particularly in offering payment solutions to businesses worldwide. The Company's business model is divided into five distinct categories: AvraPay: to develop a complete, turn-key and painless way for merchants to accept Bitcoin as Payment; AvraATM: to promote usage and acceptance of digital currencies through the Company's proposed network of ATMs; AvraTourism: to provide cryptocurrency payment processing solutions for merchants such as hotels and casinos; AvraNews: to provide a news portal focusing on digital currency news, and the latest addition; AvraSecure, offering subscription based critical security solutions to digital currency vendors. For more information about the Company please visit:www.avraglobal.com.
Additional information regarding Avra, Inc. and its filings can be found atwww.sec.gov.
Forward Looking StatementsSome information in this document constitutes forward-looking statements or statements which may be deemed or construed to be forward-looking statements, such as the closing of the share exchange agreement. The words "plan", "forecast", "anticipates", "estimate", "project", "intend", "expect", "should", "believe", and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve, and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause the Company's actual results, performance (financial or operating) or achievements to differ from the future results, performance (financial or operating) or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The risks, uncertainties and other factors are more fully discussed in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements attributable to Avra Inc., herein are expressly qualified in their entirety by the above-mentioned cautionary statement. Avra Inc., disclaims any obligation to update forward-looking statements contained in this estimate, except as may be required by law. || Bitcoin Alternative Jetcoin Disrupts Sports Industry, Athlete And Fan Relationships – Launching Cryptocurrency Presale: Bringing Wall Street And Blockchain Technology To The World Of Sports And Entertainment, Jetcoin Institute Is Pleased To Announce The Jetcoin Presale: Jetcoin Is Backed By Gold Bullion Allowing Anyone To Own IP Rights Of Promising Athletes And Talents
SINGAPORE, SG / ACCESSWIRE / April 19, 2015 /Jetcoin, the new digital fuel for the world of sports and entertainment, gives fans and supporters a unique opportunity to benefit directly from the success of their favourite athletes and stars. It disrupts traditional fan-athlete/talent relationships by enabling anyone to launch and support the careers of tomorrow's stars.
Using block chain technology, Jetcoin decentralises the world of sports and entertainment, ruled today by powerful agents and corporations. Jetcoin tilts the power balance by establishing the first platform where anyone can own IP rights of promising athletes and talents. Also the first digital currency to be backed by precious metal collateral (gold) via a partnership with XNF, Jetcoin is tradeable across 3 continents through DXMarkets.
Uniquely backed by physical assets, Jetcoin is issued by the Jetcoin Institute, which has gathered a team of first-class advisors led by world famous currency expert, Prof. Bernard Lietaer. The Jetcoin Platform will be built with NXT technology to deliver a unique and decentralised financial platform. Jetcoin holders are able to earn revenues through Jetcoin Contracts and its social media rewards system, P.O.S.E. (Proof Of Social Engagement) as well as access unique lifestyle experiences.
In August 2014, in a bid to both establish the branding of Jetcoin internationally as well as to secure a testing ground for a myriad of innovative tech applications and crowd funding concepts customised for sports and entertainment, Jetcoin became the first digital currency to become the main sponsor of a Serie A football team, A.C. ChievoVerona. In developing the Jetcoin ecosystem of partnerships, deals have been made with top service providers like Samsung Sportsflow and Pogoseat to optimise fan experience and engagement in sport entertainment. Jetcoin Institute has also recently developed and launched Stadia, a free sport app aimed at increasing fan interaction and engagement during live football.
For a limited time period, jetcoins are available at a promotional price of US$ 0.02 at the official website implementation by https://jetcoininstitute.com. Compared to the Bitcoin, whose rise from its initial sale price of less than US$0.01 to its peak of US$1250, Jetcoin - backed by physical assets - is poised to track an interesting trajectory.
About JetcoinMain sponsor of Serie A football team, A.C. ChievoVerona, 'jetcoin' is a new digital fuel issued by the Jetcoin Institute. It gives fans and supporters in the world of sports and entertainment a unique opportunity to benefit directly from the success of their favourite athletes and stars, both financially and also through unique lifestyle experiences such as seat upgrades, access to VIP boxes, exclusive events, behind-the-scenes and/or after-parties etc. Jetcoin Institute continues to work with partner teams, brands and service providers to offer exclusive deals to jetcoin holders. Visithttps://jetcoininstitute.com
About Prof. Bernard LietaerProf. Lietaer is the author of The Future of Money (translated in 18 languages), and is an international expert in the design and implementation of currency systems. He co-designed and implemented the convergence mechanism to the Euro. Visithttp://www.lietaer.com
About A.C. ChievoVeronaA.C. Chievo Verona is a professional Serie A Italian Football club named after and based in Chievo, Verona, in the Veneto region. Visithttp://chievoverona.tv
About Samsung SportsflowSportsFlow delivers the latest sports news, photos and videos from around the world via one single app. Visit http://www.sportsflow.me
About XNFXNF is a digital currency with a physical collateral in GOLD. XNF Trading provides the easiest way to acquire virtual currencies (Jetcoin - XNF) in exchange for traditional currencies (USD and EUR) and bitcoins. Visit http://www.nofiatcoin.com
About DXMarketsDXMarkets is a cutting-edge trading platform for digital currencies. The platform offers a fully customisable dashboard that caters for beginners and experienced traders. DXMarkets aims to position itself as the preferred choice for financial institutions wanting to integrate digital currencies into their product portfolio. Visit https://dxmarkets.com
About NXTNXT is an open source cryptocurrency and payment network, using proof-of-stake to reach consensus for transactions. As such there is a static money supply and no mining as with Bitcoin. NXT is specifically conceived as flexible platform to build applications and financial services around. Visit http://www.nxt.org
About PogoseatPogoseat is an enterprise solution for sports teams and concert venues that enables their fans to upgrade seats and purchase unique VIP upgrades. Pogoseat currently works with clients across the NBA, MLB, NHL, AFL, The Football League and NCAA all over America. Visit https://www.pogoseat.com
About StadiaStadia is a free app powered by Jetcoin that optimises fan experience during live football, available for download on Android and IOS. Visit http://www.stadia.clubFor more information about us, please visithttps://jetcoininstitute.com
Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=U6p-3VYPLVg
Contact:Celia [email protected]
Source:Jetcoin || Bitcoin Alternative Jetcoin Disrupts Sports Industry, Athlete And Fan Relationships Launching Cryptocurrency Presale: Bringing Wall Street And Blockchain Technology To The World Of Sports And Entertainment, Jetcoin Institute Is Pleased To Announce The Jetcoin Presale: Jetcoin Is Backed By Gold Bullion Allowing Anyone To Own IP Rights Of Promising Athletes And Talents SINGAPORE, SG / ACCESSWIRE / April 19, 2015 / Jetcoin, the new digital fuel for the world of sports and entertainment, gives fans and supporters a unique opportunity to benefit directly from the success of their favourite athletes and stars. It disrupts traditional fan-athlete/talent relationships by enabling anyone to launch and support the careers of tomorrow's stars. Using block chain technology, Jetcoin decentralises the world of sports and entertainment, ruled today by powerful agents and corporations. Jetcoin tilts the power balance by establishing the first platform where anyone can own IP rights of promising athletes and talents. Also the first digital currency to be backed by precious metal collateral (gold) via a partnership with XNF, Jetcoin is tradeable across 3 continents through DXMarkets. Uniquely backed by physical assets, Jetcoin is issued by the Jetcoin Institute, which has gathered a team of first-class advisors led by world famous currency expert, Prof. Bernard Lietaer. The Jetcoin Platform will be built with NXT technology to deliver a unique and decentralised financial platform. Jetcoin holders are able to earn revenues through Jetcoin Contracts and its social media rewards system, P.O.S.E. (Proof Of Social Engagement) as well as access unique lifestyle experiences. In August 2014, in a bid to both establish the branding of Jetcoin internationally as well as to secure a testing ground for a myriad of innovative tech applications and crowd funding concepts customised for sports and entertainment, Jetcoin became the first digital currency to become the main sponsor of a Serie A football team, A.C. ChievoVerona. In developing the Jetcoin ecosystem of partnerships, deals have been made with top service providers like Samsung Sportsflow and Pogoseat to optimise fan experience and engagement in sport entertainment. Jetcoin Institute has also recently developed and launched Stadia, a free sport app aimed at increasing fan interaction and engagement during live football. Story continues For a limited time period, jetcoins are available at a promotional price of US$ 0.02 at the official website implementation by https://jetcoininstitute.com. Compared to the Bitcoin, whose rise from its initial sale price of less than US$0.01 to its peak of US$1250, Jetcoin - backed by physical assets - is poised to track an interesting trajectory. About Jetcoin Main sponsor of Serie A football team, A.C. ChievoVerona, 'jetcoin' is a new digital fuel issued by the Jetcoin Institute. It gives fans and supporters in the world of sports and entertainment a unique opportunity to benefit directly from the success of their favourite athletes and stars, both financially and also through unique lifestyle experiences such as seat upgrades, access to VIP boxes, exclusive events, behind-the-scenes and/or after-parties etc. Jetcoin Institute continues to work with partner teams, brands and service providers to offer exclusive deals to jetcoin holders. Visit https://jetcoininstitute.com About Prof. Bernard Lietaer Prof. Lietaer is the author of The Future of Money (translated in 18 languages), and is an international expert in the design and implementation of currency systems. He co-designed and implemented the convergence mechanism to the Euro. Visit http://www.lietaer.com About A.C. ChievoVerona A.C. Chievo Verona is a professional Serie A Italian Football club named after and based in Chievo, Verona, in the Veneto region. Visit http://chievoverona.tv About Samsung Sportsflow SportsFlow delivers the latest sports news, photos and videos from around the world via one single app. Visit http://www.sportsflow.me About XNF XNF is a digital currency with a physical collateral in GOLD. XNF Trading provides the easiest way to acquire virtual currencies (Jetcoin - XNF) in exchange for traditional currencies (USD and EUR) and bitcoins. Visit http://www.nofiatcoin.com About DXMarkets DXMarkets is a cutting-edge trading platform for digital currencies. The platform offers a fully customisable dashboard that caters for beginners and experienced traders. DXMarkets aims to position itself as the preferred choice for financial institutions wanting to integrate digital currencies into their product portfolio. Visit https://dxmarkets.com About NXT NXT is an open source cryptocurrency and payment network, using proof-of-stake to reach consensus for transactions. As such there is a static money supply and no mining as with Bitcoin. NXT is specifically conceived as flexible platform to build applications and financial services around. Visit http://www.nxt.org About Pogoseat Pogoseat is an enterprise solution for sports teams and concert venues that enables their fans to upgrade seats and purchase unique VIP upgrades. Pogoseat currently works with clients across the NBA, MLB, NHL, AFL, The Football League and NCAA all over America. Visit https://www.pogoseat.com About Stadia Stadia is a free app powered by Jetcoin that optimises fan experience during live football, available for download on Android and IOS. Visit http://www.stadia.club For more information about us, please visit https://jetcoininstitute.com Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=U6p-3VYPLVg Contact: Celia Wong [email protected] Jetcoininstitute Source: Jetcoin || Bitcoin Alternative Jetcoin Disrupts Sports Industry, Athlete And Fan Relationships – Launching Cryptocurrency Presale: Bringing Wall Street And Blockchain Technology To The World Of Sports And Entertainment, Jetcoin Institute Is Pleased To Announce The Jetcoin Presale: Jetcoin Is Backed By Gold Bullion Allowing Anyone To Own IP Rights Of Promising Athletes And Talents
SINGAPORE, SG / ACCESSWIRE / April 19, 2015 /Jetcoin, the new digital fuel for the world of sports and entertainment, gives fans and supporters a unique opportunity to benefit directly from the success of their favourite athletes and stars. It disrupts traditional fan-athlete/talent relationships by enabling anyone to launch and support the careers of tomorrow's stars.
Using block chain technology, Jetcoin decentralises the world of sports and entertainment, ruled today by powerful agents and corporations. Jetcoin tilts the power balance by establishing the first platform where anyone can own IP rights of promising athletes and talents. Also the first digital currency to be backed by precious metal collateral (gold) via a partnership with XNF, Jetcoin is tradeable across 3 continents through DXMarkets.
Uniquely backed by physical assets, Jetcoin is issued by the Jetcoin Institute, which has gathered a team of first-class advisors led by world famous currency expert, Prof. Bernard Lietaer. The Jetcoin Platform will be built with NXT technology to deliver a unique and decentralised financial platform. Jetcoin holders are able to earn revenues through Jetcoin Contracts and its social media rewards system, P.O.S.E. (Proof Of Social Engagement) as well as access unique lifestyle experiences.
In August 2014, in a bid to both establish the branding of Jetcoin internationally as well as to secure a testing ground for a myriad of innovative tech applications and crowd funding concepts customised for sports and entertainment, Jetcoin became the first digital currency to become the main sponsor of a Serie A football team, A.C. ChievoVerona. In developing the Jetcoin ecosystem of partnerships, deals have been made with top service providers like Samsung Sportsflow and Pogoseat to optimise fan experience and engagement in sport entertainment. Jetcoin Institute has also recently developed and launched Stadia, a free sport app aimed at increasing fan interaction and engagement during live football.
For a limited time period, jetcoins are available at a promotional price of US$ 0.02 at the official website implementation by https://jetcoininstitute.com. Compared to the Bitcoin, whose rise from its initial sale price of less than US$0.01 to its peak of US$1250, Jetcoin - backed by physical assets - is poised to track an interesting trajectory.
About JetcoinMain sponsor of Serie A football team, A.C. ChievoVerona, 'jetcoin' is a new digital fuel issued by the Jetcoin Institute. It gives fans and supporters in the world of sports and entertainment a unique opportunity to benefit directly from the success of their favourite athletes and stars, both financially and also through unique lifestyle experiences such as seat upgrades, access to VIP boxes, exclusive events, behind-the-scenes and/or after-parties etc. Jetcoin Institute continues to work with partner teams, brands and service providers to offer exclusive deals to jetcoin holders. Visithttps://jetcoininstitute.com
About Prof. Bernard LietaerProf. Lietaer is the author of The Future of Money (translated in 18 languages), and is an international expert in the design and implementation of currency systems. He co-designed and implemented the convergence mechanism to the Euro. Visithttp://www.lietaer.com
About A.C. ChievoVeronaA.C. Chievo Verona is a professional Serie A Italian Football club named after and based in Chievo, Verona, in the Veneto region. Visithttp://chievoverona.tv
About Samsung SportsflowSportsFlow delivers the latest sports news, photos and videos from around the world via one single app. Visit http://www.sportsflow.me
About XNFXNF is a digital currency with a physical collateral in GOLD. XNF Trading provides the easiest way to acquire virtual currencies (Jetcoin - XNF) in exchange for traditional currencies (USD and EUR) and bitcoins. Visit http://www.nofiatcoin.com
About DXMarketsDXMarkets is a cutting-edge trading platform for digital currencies. The platform offers a fully customisable dashboard that caters for beginners and experienced traders. DXMarkets aims to position itself as the preferred choice for financial institutions wanting to integrate digital currencies into their product portfolio. Visit https://dxmarkets.com
About NXTNXT is an open source cryptocurrency and payment network, using proof-of-stake to reach consensus for transactions. As such there is a static money supply and no mining as with Bitcoin. NXT is specifically conceived as flexible platform to build applications and financial services around. Visit http://www.nxt.org
About PogoseatPogoseat is an enterprise solution for sports teams and concert venues that enables their fans to upgrade seats and purchase unique VIP upgrades. Pogoseat currently works with clients across the NBA, MLB, NHL, AFL, The Football League and NCAA all over America. Visit https://www.pogoseat.com
About StadiaStadia is a free app powered by Jetcoin that optimises fan experience during live football, available for download on Android and IOS. Visit http://www.stadia.clubFor more information about us, please visithttps://jetcoininstitute.com
Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=U6p-3VYPLVg
Contact:Celia [email protected]
Source:Jetcoin || Your first trade for Monday: The " Fast Money " traders gave their final trades of the day. Tim Seymour was a buyer of the TUR (NYSE Arca: TUR) . Steve Grasso was a buyer of TWTR ( TWTR ) . Brian Kelly was a seller of the TLT (NYSE Arca: TLT) . Guy Adami was a buyer of BX ( BX ) . Trader disclosure: On April 17, 2015, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders: Tim Seymour is long T, BAC, BX, C, DAL, DIS, F, GE, GM, GOOGL, INTC, EWP, SUNE, TWX, Tim's firm is long BABA, BIDU, CHL, IBN, MCD, NKE, NOK, SBUX, TUR, VALE.Steve Grasso is long AAPL, EVGN, MJNA, PFE, T, TWTR, GDX, BAC, BTU, his firm is long AMD, AMZN, NE, OXY, VALE, RIG his kids own EFG, EFA, EWJ, IJR, SPY. Brian Kelly is long BTC=, CTRL calls, GSG, BBRY, SPY puts, he is short 30-Year Bond Futures, he is short Yuan, today he covered U.S. Dollar, today he sold Euro, today he sold EEM, today he sold GLD. Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck. More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || Your first trade for Monday: The "Fast Money" traders gave their final trades of the day.
Tim Seymour was a buyer of the TUR(NYSE Arca: TUR).
Steve Grasso was a buyer of TWTR(TWTR).
Brian Kelly was a seller of the TLT(NYSE Arca: TLT).
Guy Adami was a buyer of BX(BX).
Trader disclosure: On April 17, 2015, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC's "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders:Tim Seymour is long T, BAC, BX, C, DAL, DIS, F, GE, GM, GOOGL, INTC, EWP, SUNE, TWX, Tim's firm is long BABA, BIDU, CHL, IBN, MCD, NKE, NOK, SBUX, TUR, VALE.Steve Grasso is long AAPL, EVGN, MJNA, PFE, T, TWTR, GDX, BAC, BTU, his firm is long AMD, AMZN, NE, OXY, VALE, RIG his kids own EFG, EFA, EWJ, IJR, SPY. Brian Kelly is long BTC=, CTRL calls, GSG, BBRY, SPY puts, he is short 30-Year Bond Futures, he is short Yuan, today he covered U.S. Dollar, today he sold Euro, today he sold EEM, today he sold GLD. Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
More From CNBC
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• Personal Finance || Established Bitcoin Media Platform Bitcoinist.net Receives Significant VC Investment And Announces Inside Bitcoins Partnership: Trusted Bitcoin news and tech review source Bitcoinist.net is pleased to announce a significant investment to expand its operations, and a new partnership with the leader in the Bitcoin conference industry; Inside Bitcoins
LONDON, ENGLAND / ACCESSWIRE / April 16, 2015 /Bitcoinist.net, a Bitcoin media company founded in early 2014 and dedicated to being an independent voice for the cryptocurrency community, is pleased to announce an additional investment round into the company. Bitcoinist has been a cornerstone of the Bitcoin industry, providing news and reviews since early 2014, and will use this investment for an aggressive expansion plan. Bitcoinist.net's original investor, Zoltan Tokay, has invested an undisclosed amount into the site in recognition of the many milestones that the company has achieved.
For the last year, the Bitcoinist team has been at nearly every Bitcoin conference to show support and provide coverage. As the entire Bitcoin industry has grown, so has the Bitcoinist team and its reach. Earlier this month, Bitcoinist.net andInside Bitcoinsjoined together in a monumental deal. The Inside Bitcoins news section will now syndicate news articles and reviews from the Bitcoinist team, and vice versa. Scott Fargo, Editor-in-Chief at Bitcoinist.net, shared his thoughts on the new partnership:
"We atBitcoinist.netare happy to provide news and other content to Inside Bitcoins, the leader in the Bitcoin conference industry. We are looking forward to providing coverage of their world wide events as well."
Bitcoinist has already taken steps towards securing additional partnerships with key entities in the cryptocurrency industry. Look out for future announcements from the Bitcoinist team. For more information about Bitcoinist, please visit (www.bitcoinist.net). Inside Bitcoins is produced by Meckler Media. More information on MecklerMedia can be found at their website (www.mecklermedia.com).
About Bitcoinist
Bitcoinist LTD. is a private limited company registered in the United Kingdom. Since early 2014, Bitcoinist has provided industry-leading reviews, commentary, and news on cryptocurrency and technology. Notably, Bitcoinist has become a leading source for independent Bitcoin mining and cryptocurrency mining hardware reviews. Since being founded in February 2014 by Mate Tokay, Norbert Kovacs and Zoltan Tokay, Bitcoinist.net has grown into a dedicated international team.
For more information about us, please visithttp://bitcoinist.net/
Contact Info:
Name: Vivien GalEmail:[email protected]: BitcoinistAddress: 1 Hova Villas Brighton & Hove BN3 3DH, United KingdomPhone: +36302722409
SOURCE:Bitcoinist || Established Bitcoin Media Platform Bitcoinist.net Receives Significant VC Investment And Announces Inside Bitcoins Partnership: Trusted Bitcoin news and tech review source Bitcoinist.net is pleased to announce a significant investment to expand its operations, and a new partnership with the leader in the Bitcoin conference industry; Inside Bitcoins
LONDON, ENGLAND / ACCESSWIRE / April 16, 2015 /Bitcoinist.net, a Bitcoin media company founded in early 2014 and dedicated to being an independent voice for the cryptocurrency community, is pleased to announce an additional investment round into the company. Bitcoinist has been a cornerstone of the Bitcoin industry, providing news and reviews since early 2014, and will use this investment for an aggressive expansion plan. Bitcoinist.net's original investor, Zoltan Tokay, has invested an undisclosed amount into the site in recognition of the many milestones that the company has achieved.
For the last year, the Bitcoinist team has been at nearly every Bitcoin conference to show support and provide coverage. As the entire Bitcoin industry has grown, so has the Bitcoinist team and its reach. Earlier this month, Bitcoinist.net andInside Bitcoinsjoined together in a monumental deal. The Inside Bitcoins news section will now syndicate news articles and reviews from the Bitcoinist team, and vice versa. Scott Fargo, Editor-in-Chief at Bitcoinist.net, shared his thoughts on the new partnership:
"We atBitcoinist.netare happy to provide news and other content to Inside Bitcoins, the leader in the Bitcoin conference industry. We are looking forward to providing coverage of their world wide events as well."
Bitcoinist has already taken steps towards securing additional partnerships with key entities in the cryptocurrency industry. Look out for future announcements from the Bitcoinist team. For more information about Bitcoinist, please visit (www.bitcoinist.net). Inside Bitcoins is produced by Meckler Media. More information on MecklerMedia can be found at their website (www.mecklermedia.com).
About Bitcoinist
Bitcoinist LTD. is a private limited company registered in the United Kingdom. Since early 2014, Bitcoinist has provided industry-leading reviews, commentary, and news on cryptocurrency and technology. Notably, Bitcoinist has become a leading source for independent Bitcoin mining and cryptocurrency mining hardware reviews. Since being founded in February 2014 by Mate Tokay, Norbert Kovacs and Zoltan Tokay, Bitcoinist.net has grown into a dedicated international team.
For more information about us, please visithttp://bitcoinist.net/
Contact Info:
Name: Vivien GalEmail:[email protected]: BitcoinistAddress: 1 Hova Villas Brighton & Hove BN3 3DH, United KingdomPhone: +36302722409
SOURCE:Bitcoinist || Established Bitcoin Media Platform Bitcoinist.net Receives Significant VC Investment And Announces Inside Bitcoins Partnership: Trusted Bitcoin news and tech review source Bitcoinist.net is pleased to announce a significant investment to expand its operations, and a new partnership with the leader in the Bitcoin conference industry; Inside Bitcoins LONDON, ENGLAND / ACCESSWIRE / April 16, 2015 / Bitcoinist.net, a Bitcoin media company founded in early 2014 and dedicated to being an independent voice for the cryptocurrency community, is pleased to announce an additional investment round into the company. Bitcoinist has been a cornerstone of the Bitcoin industry, providing news and reviews since early 2014, and will use this investment for an aggressive expansion plan. Bitcoinist.net's original investor, Zoltan Tokay, has invested an undisclosed amount into the site in recognition of the many milestones that the company has achieved. For the last year, the Bitcoinist team has been at nearly every Bitcoin conference to show support and provide coverage. As the entire Bitcoin industry has grown, so has the Bitcoinist team and its reach. Earlier this month, Bitcoinist.net and Inside Bitcoins joined together in a monumental deal. The Inside Bitcoins news section will now syndicate news articles and reviews from the Bitcoinist team, and vice versa. Scott Fargo, Editor-in-Chief at Bitcoinist.net, shared his thoughts on the new partnership: "We at Bitcoinist.net are happy to provide news and other content to Inside Bitcoins, the leader in the Bitcoin conference industry. We are looking forward to providing coverage of their world wide events as well." Bitcoinist has already taken steps towards securing additional partnerships with key entities in the cryptocurrency industry. Look out for future announcements from the Bitcoinist team. For more information about Bitcoinist, please visit ( www.bitcoinist.net ). Inside Bitcoins is produced by Meckler Media. More information on MecklerMedia can be found at their website ( www.mecklermedia.com ). About Bitcoinist Bitcoinist LTD. is a private limited company registered in the United Kingdom. Since early 2014, Bitcoinist has provided industry-leading reviews, commentary, and news on cryptocurrency and technology. Notably, Bitcoinist has become a leading source for independent Bitcoin mining and cryptocurrency mining hardware reviews. Since being founded in February 2014 by Mate Tokay, Norbert Kovacs and Zoltan Tokay, Bitcoinist.net has grown into a dedicated international team. Story continues For more information about us, please visit http://bitcoinist.net/ Contact Info: Name: Vivien Gal Email: [email protected] Organization: Bitcoinist Address: 1 Hova Villas Brighton & Hove BN3 3DH, United Kingdom Phone: +36302722409 SOURCE: Bitcoinist || Is London Becoming The World's Bitcoin Hub?: Last month, the British government threw its weight behind bitcoin saying it would create new regulations to prevent money laundering through cryptocurrency exchanges and work together with fintech companies to come up with a set of rules to govern the use of cryptocurrencies.
The proposal marked a major step in making the UK a hub for investors and small businesses interested in digital currencies.
Now, London is quickly making a name for itself as one of the most bitcoin-friendly cities in the world.
Attitude Is Everything
Although London has made a name as the largest currency trading destination, for many the city doesn't seem like a home for bitcoin.
With Silicon Valley launching some of the world's most successful tech companies and New York famous for its financial clout, London isn't often pictured as an innovative place for bitcoin enthusiasts.
However, the city has made its intention to create an environment that fosters bitcoin innovation clear in recent months as the bitcoin scene continues to grow.
The City of London's government has said that growth opportunities offered by finance technology like digital currencies are a welcome addition to the city's economy and Finance Minister George Osborne has openly expressed his desire to make Britain a leader in the fintech space.
Some saythat it will be that positive attitude which will attract more and more bitcoin firms to bring their business to London.
Related Link:New App Allows Seamless Bitcoin Investment
Government Involvement
In addition to Britain's decision to work together with digital currency businesses to develop a set of standards to govern cryptocurrencies, the region is also making it easier for bitcoin-based businesses to file their taxes.
In 2014, Britain decided to amend its tax law and make bitcoin trades exempt from value added taxes, something most other countries have yet to decide.
UBS On Board
Swiss BankUBS AG(NYSE:UBS) is planning to join London's fintech scene later this month by opening a dedicated blockchain technology innovation lab which will research ways to integrate blockchain into financial services.
Although UBS is not the first bank to tout the potential benefits of blockchain, the technology powering bitcoin, it is the first to go public with its research plans.
See more from Benzinga
• EU Policymakers Express Frustration As Greek Bailout Talks Flatline
• U.S. Department Of Defense Hopes To Pick Up The Pace With 'Better Buying Power 3.0'
• Marijuana Legalization Supporters Delivered A Blow With Schedule 1 Ruling
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Is London Becoming The World's Bitcoin Hub?: Last month, the British government threw its weight behind bitcoin saying it would create new regulations to prevent money laundering through cryptocurrency exchanges and work together with fintech companies to come up with a set of rules to govern the use of cryptocurrencies.
The proposal marked a major step in making the UK a hub for investors and small businesses interested in digital currencies.
Now, London is quickly making a name for itself as one of the most bitcoin-friendly cities in the world.
Attitude Is Everything
Although London has made a name as the largest currency trading destination, for many the city doesn't seem like a home for bitcoin.
With Silicon Valley launching some of the world's most successful tech companies and New York famous for its financial clout, London isn't often pictured as an innovative place for bitcoin enthusiasts.
However, the city has made its intention to create an environment that fosters bitcoin innovation clear in recent months as the bitcoin scene continues to grow.
The City of London's government has said that growth opportunities offered by finance technology like digital currencies are a welcome addition to the city's economy and Finance Minister George Osborne has openly expressed his desire to make Britain a leader in the fintech space.
Some saythat it will be that positive attitude which will attract more and more bitcoin firms to bring their business to London.
Related Link:New App Allows Seamless Bitcoin Investment
Government Involvement
In addition to Britain's decision to work together with digital currency businesses to develop a set of standards to govern cryptocurrencies, the region is also making it easier for bitcoin-based businesses to file their taxes.
In 2014, Britain decided to amend its tax law and make bitcoin trades exempt from value added taxes, something most other countries have yet to decide.
UBS On Board
Swiss BankUBS AG(NYSE:UBS) is planning to join London's fintech scene later this month by opening a dedicated blockchain technology innovation lab which will research ways to integrate blockchain into financial services.
Although UBS is not the first bank to tout the potential benefits of blockchain, the technology powering bitcoin, it is the first to go public with its research plans.
See more from Benzinga
• EU Policymakers Express Frustration As Greek Bailout Talks Flatline
• U.S. Department Of Defense Hopes To Pick Up The Pace With 'Better Buying Power 3.0'
• Marijuana Legalization Supporters Delivered A Blow With Schedule 1 Ruling
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Is London Becoming The World's Bitcoin Hub?: Last month, the British government threw its weight behind bitcoin saying it would create new regulations to prevent money laundering through cryptocurrency exchanges and work together with fintech companies to come up with a set of rules to govern the use of cryptocurrencies. The proposal marked a major step in making the UK a hub for investors and small businesses interested in digital currencies. Now, London is quickly making a name for itself as one of the most bitcoin-friendly cities in the world. Attitude Is Everything Although London has made a name as the largest currency trading destination, for many the city doesn't seem like a home for bitcoin. With Silicon Valley launching some of the world's most successful tech companies and New York famous for its financial clout, London isn't often pictured as an innovative place for bitcoin enthusiasts. However, the city has made its intention to create an environment that fosters bitcoin innovation clear in recent months as the bitcoin scene continues to grow. The City of London's government has said that growth opportunities offered by finance technology like digital currencies are a welcome addition to the city's economy and Finance Minister George Osborne has openly expressed his desire to make Britain a leader in the fintech space. Some say that it will be that positive attitude which will attract more and more bitcoin firms to bring their business to London. Related Link: New App Allows Seamless Bitcoin Investment Government Involvement In addition to Britain's decision to work together with digital currency businesses to develop a set of standards to govern cryptocurrencies, the region is also making it easier for bitcoin-based businesses to file their taxes. In 2014, Britain decided to amend its tax law and make bitcoin trades exempt from value added taxes, something most other countries have yet to decide. UBS On Board Swiss Bank UBS AG (NYSE: UBS ) is planning to join London's fintech scene later this month by opening a dedicated blockchain technology innovation lab which will research ways to integrate blockchain into financial services. Story continues Although UBS is not the first bank to tout the potential benefits of blockchain, the technology powering bitcoin, it is the first to go public with its research plans. See more from Benzinga EU Policymakers Express Frustration As Greek Bailout Talks Flatline U.S. Department Of Defense Hopes To Pick Up The Pace With 'Better Buying Power 3.0' Marijuana Legalization Supporters Delivered A Blow With Schedule 1 Ruling © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Comstock Mining Announces First Quarter 2015 Results: VIRGINIA CITY, NV--(Marketwired - April 16, 2015) -Comstock Mining Inc. (the "Company")(NYSE MKT: LODE)today announced selected unaudited financial results for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2015.
First Quarter 2015 Selected Strategic and Operational Highlights
• Costs applicable to mining revenue were reduced by 22% when comparing Q1 2015, to Q1 2014.
• Weighted average gold grades improved 63% to 0.039 opt in Q1 2015, from 0.024 opt in Q1 2014.
• Weighted average silver grades improved 113%, to 0.734 opt in Q1 2015, from 0.345 opt in Q1 2014.
• Silver to gold production exceeded an 11:1 silver:gold ratio in Q1 2015, up from 9:1 in Q1 2014.
• Metallurgical yields improved to 81% in Q1 2015, from 74% in Q1 2014.
• Strip ratio improved to 1:1 for the first quarter of 2015, down from the 2014 average of 4.8:1.
• Encountered significant high grade intercepts from Succor-Holman mineral patents drilling program.
• Commenced moving State Route 342 ('SR-342'), accelerating operational and community benefits.
• Expanded our landmark special use permit for mining and mine development.
• Expanded our land position, acquiring lands immediately adjacent to our mine area and leach pad.
• Expanded our existing heap leach pad consistent with recently expanded Water Control Permit.
• Enhanced Senior Mining, Financial and Environmental Management, adding operational, environmental and financial strengths to our team while reducing overall costs.
First Quarter 2015 Selected Financial Highlights
• Mining revenue was $5.9 million in Q1 2015 as compared to $5.6 million in Q1 2014, an increase of 6%, resulting from higher gold ounces produced and higher average gold price per ounce.
• Costs applicable to mining revenue was $3.7 million in Q1 2015, as compared to $4.8 million, net of silver credits, in Q1 2014, a decrease of 22%, primarily due to mining cost reductions.
• General and administrative expenses were $2.1 million in Q1 2015, as compared to $2.2 million in Q1 2014, primarily due to lower labor costs of $0.5 million, offset by severance of $0.4 million.
• Net income was $1.3 million, or $0.01 per share for Q1 2015, as compared to a loss of $3.8 million, or $(0.07) per share, for Q1 2014. The improvement resulted from lower costs, higher revenue and the elimination of certain liabilities that strengthened our balance sheet.
• Net cash generated by operating activities was a positive $0.2 million in Q1 2015, as compared to a cash use of $2.4 million from operations in Q1 2014, or a 109% improvement.
• Net cash used for investing was $3.1 million for the first quarter of 2015, primarily from $1.7 million for strategic land purchases and $1.1 million for the expansion of the processing facility.
• Net cash provided by financing activities for the first quarter of 2015, was $1.8 million comprised of proceeds of $4.4 million from the Revolving Credit Facility, partially off-set by a $2.7 million pay-down of other long-term debt obligations. Cash and cash equivalents at March 31, 2015 were $4.2 million.
• Total long-term debt and capital lease obligations were $14.1 million at March 31, 2015, including $5 million outstanding on the Revolving Credit Facility.
First Quarter 2015 Selected Production Highlights
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"We have continued our crusade for lower costs into 2015, with substantially improved grades, yields and strip ratios while reducing absolute spending wherever possible. We also commenced the re-routing of SR- 342, and have safely accelerated many operating, environmental and community benefits. These achievements have positioned us for profitability throughout 2015," stated Corrado De Gasperis, CEO of Comstock Mining.
ProductionMetal pours totaled 4,695 ounces of gold and 56,482 ounces of silver, during the first quarter of 2015, as compared to 4,507 ounces of gold and 49,358 ounces of silver in the first quarter of 2014, a 4.2% increase for gold ounces and a 14.4% increase for silver ounces. The Company crushed and stacked 157,612 dry tons of mineralized material, delivering 6,083 estimated ounces of recoverable gold and 115,689 estimated ounces of recoverable silver to the leach pads with weighted average gold grades of 0.039 ounces per ton.
For the quarter ended March 31, 2015, the Company realized an average sales price of $1,280.25 per ounce of gold and $15.94 per ounce of silver. In comparison, commodity market prices in the first quarter of 2015 averaged $1,219.22 per ounce of gold and $16.72 per ounce of silver.
Operating Costs and Cost ReductionsDuring the first three months of 2015, actual Lucerne Mine costs applicable to mining revenue were $4.6 million, $3.7 million net of silver by-product credits as compared to $5.8 million, $4.8 million net of silver by-product credits in the first three months of 2014, representing a 22% reduction of costs applicable to mining revenue.These costs applicable to mining revenue also include depreciation of $1.5 million and $1.3 million, for the first quarter of 2015 and 2014, respectively.
During 2015, the Company continued reducing costs applicable to mining revenue, targeting over $5 million in reductions this year as compared to 2014. The Company has already realized $1.0 million of savings from reduced labor, drilling and blasting and fuel in the first quarter of 2015, as compared to the first quarter of 2014. The Company has also identified $1.5 million of potential cost reductions in all other non-mining activities, including general, administrative, land and environmental areas and has already realized $0.3 million in the first quarter of 2015, as compared to the first quarter of 2014. The Company incurred $0.4 million in severance costs during the first quarter, in mining and general and administrative expenses, associated with organizational cost reduction activities.
Exploration and Development (including Underground)During the first quarter, the Company announced that the drill program on the East-side of the Lucerne continues to reveal higher-grade gold intercepts that further define a near-surface, broadening zone of high-grade gold mineralization in the Succor and Holman mineral patents. These results represent significant progress towards the first major objective in the 2014-2015 exploration and development drilling program (the 'Program'), representing a comprehensive drilling and evaluation of high priority targets including the Succor and Holman. All data, to date, suggests these claims have excellent potential for economic mining and metal recovery. The current drill program resulted in the following summary of intercepts:
Table 1: Summary of Drill Program
[["", "", "", "", ""], ["", "", "", "", ""], ["", "", "Succor", "", "Holman"], ["No. Holes Drilled", "", "80", "", "39"], ["Strike Length Drilled (ft)", "", "700", "", "575"], ["No. 10' intervals with intercepts > .015 Au opt.", "", "166", "", "55"], ["No. 10' interval with intercepts > .100 Au opt.", "", "22", "", "3"], ["No. drill holes with intercepts > .100 Au opt.", "", "20", "", "2"], ["", "", "", "", ""], ["", "", "", "", ""]]
Table 2: Average Grades for Drill Intercepts Greater than .015 Au opt.
[["", "", "", "", ""], ["", "", "", "", ""], ["", "", "Succor", "", "Holman"], ["Avg Au opt.", "", "0.056", "", "0.047"], ["Avg Ag opt.", "", "0.259", "", "0.333"], ["", "", "", "", ""], ["", "", "", "", ""]]
Underground DevelopmentThe Company recently completed extensive geological development and modeling, incorporating all available data, including existing drill holes and historic underground mine maps, amongst other geological information and is preparing to develop the underground portion of the drill program. The sectional compilation resulted in several important findings. The work confirmed that the lode is comprised of a group of northwest trending, sub-parallel mineralized structures, rather than a simple vein system confined to a single fault zone. These structural groups coalesce into a single zone in the central part of the East-side area and diverge to the north and south to create zones up to 600-feet wide. The Company also discovered dike-like masses of quartz porphyry that have intruded into the main lode and have a direct relationship to the known mineralization.
Out of this extensive geologic work, a definitive underground target has emerged, specifically that part of the lode occupied by the above described mineralized mass of quartz porphyry, as well as the neighboring wall rocks. This conclusion is based on surface drill hole results, metallurgy, and proximity to the current Lucerne Mine floor, as well as past mining knowledge.
The results from the underground program will be incorporated into existing sectional data and, along with newly derived grade shells and grade models, an initial, phased internal reserve model will be created for this area. Developing a new underground access to the quartz porphyry structures and the almost adjacent Woodville Bonanza structures represents a significant opportunity for an accelerated, efficient underground mine plan in the Lucerne Area.
http://www.comstockmining.com/files/flipbooks/Proposed-Underground-Drill-ProgramLooking-NW-From-Top/
Evaluation of Existing Mine DumpsDuring late summer through autumn of 2014, the geological and environmental teams undertook a systematic evaluation of historic mine dumps throughout most of the central part of the District. Quantifying and understanding the nature of legacy contaminants and identifying the extent of mineralization with the potential to increase mineable resources were the two primary objectives. Overall, significant tonnages of mineralized dump materials were quantified. Most tonnages are directly to the east of the Lucerne mine and average around 0.025-0.035 opt Au. Dumps sampled for this evaluation are located within Gold Canyon, Storey County, on the east side of SR-342, and west of Silver City in Lyon County. Dumps sampled include the Silver Hills-Donovan (Eastside), Woodville, Lady Washington, Keystone, New York, and Oest. Total tonnages inventoried total over 640,000 tons.
"These near-surface drill results represent exceptionally higher grades than our current average mine grades. These discoveries of near surface, high-grade minerals on the East-side of Lucerne, the development of high-grade vein structures for underground feasibility and the discovery of good grading historic dump materials all provide immediate potential for expanding our operations," continued Mr. De Gasperis.
HOPE Gold CoinOn March 30, 2015, the Company received 300,000 coins ("HOPE Coins") issued by the HOPE Gold Coin Charitable Trust (the "Trust") as payment (and partial pre-payment) on the Mineral Rights License Agreement entered into by the Company with the Trust on October 9, 2014. The HOPE coins are considered a cryptographic currency. The Trust represents one of the first organizations effectively leveraging existing block-chain technologies and was recently named one of the top 25 companies on the Sand Hill Bitcoin Innovative Disrupters list. The HOPE Coins are being sold by the Trust for $10 each.
Hospitality SegmentEffective April 1, 2015, the Company entered into an agreement to lease the Gold Hill Hotel. The Company retains ownership to the land and Gold Hill Hotel properties while leasing the facilities to independent operators. Historically, the hospitality segment operated at a net loss but based on the current lease agreement, the Company does not expect any future net losses and more likely, prospective net lease and rental income.
SR-342 RealignmentIn early February, NDOT closed an approximate two-mile section of SR-342, south of Gold Hill, as a safety precaution following roadway cracking and area specific sinking during a weekend of heavy rains. The area of sinking is above a historic mine-shaft dating back to the early 1900's, and that portion of the road sits on old mine dumps and looser fill, that has a history of instability and, in some cases failure. The Company owns the land, with NDOT granted prescriptive rights to operate the state roadbed over that private land. Storey County, NDOT, the Company, and other applicable regulatory agencies evaluated several remedies for the realignment of SR-342. The route will be realigned to the east of the historic shaft, enabling safe travel, continuing operations and important reclamations, while positioning the area for future mining and development.
The realignment will occur over two phases, with Phase 1 completion taking approximately 10-12 weeks and Phase 2 requiring an additional six months. Phase 1 begins with the Company removing the unconsolidated fill that now exists above the base bedrock level and beneath the existing road followed by construction of a bypass road upon the base bedrock. Additionally, the historic Silver Hill Shaft will be capped permanently.
http://comstockmining.com/sr-342-construction-2015
Once Phase 1 is complete in June, the road will be reopened during construction of the second phase. Phase 2 includes removal of additional material on the east side of the canyon and will conclude with a tie in of the south end of the newly constructed alignment. A short closure will be necessary toward the end of Phase 2 for the tie in and completion of the realignment. The project is estimated to last through December of 2015, with an estimated cost of $3 million.
CorporateCash and cash equivalents on hand at March 31, 2015 totaled $4.2 million. Total long-term debt and capital lease obligations at March 31, 2015, were $14.1 million as compared to $13.5 million at March 31, 2014. For the remainder of 2015, the Company plans on spending approximately $3.5 million in capital expenditures, primarily the road realignment project and some infrastructural development. The Company also plans to pay down an additional $6.6 million in debt obligations, including $3.4 million on the Revolving Credit Facility.
OutlookThe Company expects to be cash positive from operations throughout 2015, while expanding our mining activities during the third quarter, including exploration and development of an underground Lucerne mine, a second Dayton mine plan and commencing the Dayton permitting.
Mr. De Gasperis concluded, "Our goals for this year are to ensure the lowest cost operating parameters and expand Lucerne, including a tremendous underground opportunity, while developing and commissioning Dayton. We expect to be cash positive from operations throughout 2015, while expanding our mining activities during the third quarter, including the initial underground target."
The Company will host a conference call today, April 16, 2015, at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time/11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The live call will include a Q&A with accredited institutions, investors and analysts immediately following the prepared remarks. The dial-in telephone numbers for the live audio are as follows:
North American Toll Free: 1-866-253-4737International: 1-416-849-4292
The audio will be available, usually within 24 hours of the call, on the Company website:http://www.comstockmining.com/investors/investor-library
About Comstock Mining Inc.Comstock Mining Inc. is a producing, Nevada-based, gold and silver mining company with extensive, contiguous property in the Comstock District and is an emerging leader in sustainable, responsible mining, including concurrent and accelerated reclamations, soil sampling, voluntary air monitoring, cultural asset protection and historical restorations. The Company began acquiring properties in the Comstock District in 2003. Since then, the Company has consolidated a significant portion of the Comstock District, amassed the single largest known repository of historical and current geological data on the Comstock region, secured permits, built an infrastructure and commenced production in 2012. The Company continues acquiring additional properties in the district, expanding its footprint and creating opportunities for further exploration, development and mining. The near term goal of our business plan is to deliver stockholder value by validating qualified resources (measured and indicated) and reserves (proven and probable) of at least 3,250,000 gold equivalent ounces from our first two resource areas, Lucerne and Dayton, and significantly grow the commercial development of our operations through coordinated, district wide plans that are economically feasible and socially responsible.
Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release and any related calls or discussions may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 about Comstock. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements about matters such as: future prices and sales of, and demand for, our products; future industry market conditions; future changes in our exploration activities, production capacity and operations; future exploration, production, operating and overhead costs; operational and management restructuring activities (including implementation of methodologies and changes in the board of directors); future employment and contributions of personnel; tax and interest rates; capital expenditures and their impact on us; nature and timing and accounting for restructuring charges, gains or losses on debt extinguishment, derivative liabilities and the impact thereof; productivity, business process, rationalization, investment, acquisition, consulting, operational, tax, financial and capital projects and initiatives; contingencies; environmental compliance and changes in the regulatory environment; offerings, sales and other actions regarding debt or equity securities; and future working capital, costs, revenues, business opportunities, debt levels, cash flows, margins, earnings and growth.
The words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "project," "plan," "should," "intend," "may," "will," "would," "potential" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of doing so. These statements are based on assumptions and assessments made by our management in light of their experience and their perception of historical and current trends, current conditions, possible future developments and other factors they believe to be appropriate. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees, representations or warranties and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, developments and business decisions to differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. Some of those risks and uncertainties include the risk factors discussed in Item 1A, "Risk Factors" of our annual report on Form 10-K and the following: current global economic and capital market uncertainties; the speculative nature of gold or mineral exploration, including risks of diminishing quantities or grades of qualified resources and reserves; operational or technical difficulties in connection with exploration or mining activities; contests over our title to properties; potential dilution to our stockholders from the conversion of securities that are convertible into or exercisable for shares of our common stock; potential inability to continue to comply with government regulations; adoption of or changes in legislation or regulations adversely affecting our businesses; business opportunities that may be presented to, or pursued by, us; changes in the United States or other monetary or fiscal policies or regulations; interruptions in our production capabilities due to unexpected equipment failures; fluctuation of prices for gold or certain other commodities (such as silver, copper, diesel fuel, and electricity); changes in generally accepted accounting principles; geopolitical events; potential inability to implement our business strategies; potential inability to grow revenues organically; potential inability to attract and retain key personnel; interruptions in delivery of critical supplies and equipment raw materials due to credit or other limitations imposed by vendors; assertion of claims, lawsuits and proceedings against us; potential inability to maintain an effective system of internal controls over financial reporting; potential inability or failure to timely file periodic reports with the SEC; potential inability to maintain the listing of our securities on any securities exchange or market; and work stoppages or other labor difficulties. Occurrence of such events or circumstances could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows or the market price of our securities. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements by or attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these factors. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement.
Neither this press release nor any related calls or discussions constitutes an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. || Comstock Mining Announces First Quarter 2015 Results: VIRGINIA CITY, NV --(Marketwired - April 16, 2015) - Comstock Mining Inc. (the "Company") (NYSE MKT: LODE) today announced selected unaudited financial results for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2015. First Quarter 2015 Selected Strategic and Operational Highlights Costs applicable to mining revenue were reduced by 22% when comparing Q1 2015, to Q1 2014. Weighted average gold grades improved 63% to 0.039 opt in Q1 2015, from 0.024 opt in Q1 2014. Weighted average silver grades improved 113%, to 0.734 opt in Q1 2015, from 0.345 opt in Q1 2014. Silver to gold production exceeded an 11:1 silver:gold ratio in Q1 2015, up from 9:1 in Q1 2014. Metallurgical yields improved to 81% in Q1 2015, from 74% in Q1 2014. Strip ratio improved to 1:1 for the first quarter of 2015, down from the 2014 average of 4.8:1. Encountered significant high grade intercepts from Succor-Holman mineral patents drilling program. Commenced moving State Route 342 ('SR-342'), accelerating operational and community benefits. Expanded our landmark special use permit for mining and mine development. Expanded our land position, acquiring lands immediately adjacent to our mine area and leach pad. Expanded our existing heap leach pad consistent with recently expanded Water Control Permit. Enhanced Senior Mining, Financial and Environmental Management, adding operational, environmental and financial strengths to our team while reducing overall costs. First Quarter 2015 Selected Financial Highlights Mining revenue was $5.9 million in Q1 2015 as compared to $5.6 million in Q1 2014, an increase of 6%, resulting from higher gold ounces produced and higher average gold price per ounce. Costs applicable to mining revenue was $3.7 million in Q1 2015, as compared to $4.8 million, net of silver credits, in Q1 2014, a decrease of 22%, primarily due to mining cost reductions. General and administrative expenses were $2.1 million in Q1 2015, as compared to $2.2 million in Q1 2014, primarily due to lower labor costs of $0.5 million, offset by severance of $0.4 million. Net income was $1.3 million, or $0.01 per share for Q1 2015, as compared to a loss of $3.8 million, or $(0.07) per share, for Q1 2014. The improvement resulted from lower costs, higher revenue and the elimination of certain liabilities that strengthened our balance sheet. Net cash generated by operating activities was a positive $0.2 million in Q1 2015, as compared to a cash use of $2.4 million from operations in Q1 2014, or a 109% improvement. Net cash used for investing was $3.1 million for the first quarter of 2015, primarily from $1.7 million for strategic land purchases and $1.1 million for the expansion of the processing facility. Net cash provided by financing activities for the first quarter of 2015, was $1.8 million comprised of proceeds of $4.4 million from the Revolving Credit Facility, partially off-set by a $2.7 million pay-down of other long-term debt obligations. Cash and cash equivalents at March 31, 2015 were $4.2 million. Total long-term debt and capital lease obligations were $14.1 million at March 31, 2015, including $5 million outstanding on the Revolving Credit Facility. Story continues First Quarter 2015 Selected Production Highlights 1Q 2015 1Q 2014 Mining Operations Tons Mined 316,199 947,852 Processing Tons Crushed 157,612 205,686 Weighted Average Grade Per Ton Au 0.039 0.024 Weighted Average Grade Per Ton Ag 0.734 0.345 Estimated Au Ounces Stacked 6,083 5,016 Estimated Ag Ounces Stacked 115,689 70,989 Estimated Au Equivalent* Ounces Stacked 7,669 6,140 Au Ounces Poured and Sold 4,695 4,507 Ag Ounces Poured and Sold 56,482 49,358 Au Equivalent* Ounces Poured 5,470 5,290 * Au Equivalent ounces = Au ounces (actual) + Ag ounces (actual) ÷ the ratio of average gold to silver prices 72.91 63.14 "We have continued our crusade for lower costs into 2015, with substantially improved grades, yields and strip ratios while reducing absolute spending wherever possible. We also commenced the re-routing of SR- 342, and have safely accelerated many operating, environmental and community benefits. These achievements have positioned us for profitability throughout 2015," stated Corrado De Gasperis, CEO of Comstock Mining. Production Metal pours totaled 4,695 ounces of gold and 56,482 ounces of silver, during the first quarter of 2015, as compared to 4,507 ounces of gold and 49,358 ounces of silver in the first quarter of 2014, a 4.2% increase for gold ounces and a 14.4% increase for silver ounces. The Company crushed and stacked 157,612 dry tons of mineralized material, delivering 6,083 estimated ounces of recoverable gold and 115,689 estimated ounces of recoverable silver to the leach pads with weighted average gold grades of 0.039 ounces per ton. For the quarter ended March 31, 2015, the Company realized an average sales price of $1,280.25 per ounce of gold and $15.94 per ounce of silver. In comparison, commodity market prices in the first quarter of 2015 averaged $1,219.22 per ounce of gold and $16.72 per ounce of silver. Operating Costs and Cost Reductions During the first three months of 2015, actual Lucerne Mine costs applicable to mining revenue were $4.6 million, $3.7 million net of silver by-product credits as compared to $5.8 million, $4.8 million net of silver by-product credits in the first three months of 2014, representing a 22% reduction of costs applicable to mining revenue. These costs applicable to mining revenue also include depreciation of $1.5 million and $1.3 million, for the first quarter of 2015 and 2014, respectively. During 2015, the Company continued reducing costs applicable to mining revenue, targeting over $5 million in reductions this year as compared to 2014. The Company has already realized $1.0 million of savings from reduced labor, drilling and blasting and fuel in the first quarter of 2015, as compared to the first quarter of 2014. The Company has also identified $1.5 million of potential cost reductions in all other non-mining activities, including general, administrative, land and environmental areas and has already realized $0.3 million in the first quarter of 2015, as compared to the first quarter of 2014. The Company incurred $0.4 million in severance costs during the first quarter, in mining and general and administrative expenses, associated with organizational cost reduction activities. Exploration and Development (including Underground) During the first quarter, the Company announced that the drill program on the East-side of the Lucerne continues to reveal higher-grade gold intercepts that further define a near-surface, broadening zone of high-grade gold mineralization in the Succor and Holman mineral patents. These results represent significant progress towards the first major objective in the 2014-2015 exploration and development drilling program (the 'Program'), representing a comprehensive drilling and evaluation of high priority targets including the Succor and Holman. All data, to date, suggests these claims have excellent potential for economic mining and metal recovery. The current drill program resulted in the following summary of intercepts: Table 1: Summary of Drill Program Succor Holman No. Holes Drilled 80 39 Strike Length Drilled (ft) 700 575 No. 10' intervals with intercepts > .015 Au opt. 166 55 No. 10' interval with intercepts > .100 Au opt. 22 3 No. drill holes with intercepts > .100 Au opt. 20 2 Table 2: Average Grades for Drill Intercepts Greater than .015 Au opt. Succor Holman Avg Au opt. 0.056 0.047 Avg Ag opt. 0.259 0.333 Underground Development The Company recently completed extensive geological development and modeling, incorporating all available data, including existing drill holes and historic underground mine maps, amongst other geological information and is preparing to develop the underground portion of the drill program. The sectional compilation resulted in several important findings. The work confirmed that the lode is comprised of a group of northwest trending, sub-parallel mineralized structures, rather than a simple vein system confined to a single fault zone. These structural groups coalesce into a single zone in the central part of the East-side area and diverge to the north and south to create zones up to 600-feet wide. The Company also discovered dike-like masses of quartz porphyry that have intruded into the main lode and have a direct relationship to the known mineralization. Out of this extensive geologic work, a definitive underground target has emerged, specifically that part of the lode occupied by the above described mineralized mass of quartz porphyry, as well as the neighboring wall rocks. This conclusion is based on surface drill hole results, metallurgy, and proximity to the current Lucerne Mine floor, as well as past mining knowledge. The results from the underground program will be incorporated into existing sectional data and, along with newly derived grade shells and grade models, an initial, phased internal reserve model will be created for this area. Developing a new underground access to the quartz porphyry structures and the almost adjacent Woodville Bonanza structures represents a significant opportunity for an accelerated, efficient underground mine plan in the Lucerne Area. http://www.comstockmining.com/files/flipbooks/Proposed-Underground-Drill-ProgramLooking-NW-From-Top/ Evaluation of Existing Mine Dumps During late summer through autumn of 2014, the geological and environmental teams undertook a systematic evaluation of historic mine dumps throughout most of the central part of the District. Quantifying and understanding the nature of legacy contaminants and identifying the extent of mineralization with the potential to increase mineable resources were the two primary objectives. Overall, significant tonnages of mineralized dump materials were quantified. Most tonnages are directly to the east of the Lucerne mine and average around 0.025-0.035 opt Au. Dumps sampled for this evaluation are located within Gold Canyon, Storey County, on the east side of SR-342, and west of Silver City in Lyon County. Dumps sampled include the Silver Hills-Donovan (Eastside), Woodville, Lady Washington, Keystone, New York, and Oest. Total tonnages inventoried total over 640,000 tons. "These near-surface drill results represent exceptionally higher grades than our current average mine grades. These discoveries of near surface, high-grade minerals on the East-side of Lucerne, the development of high-grade vein structures for underground feasibility and the discovery of good grading historic dump materials all provide immediate potential for expanding our operations," continued Mr. De Gasperis. HOPE Gold Coin On March 30, 2015, the Company received 300,000 coins ("HOPE Coins") issued by the HOPE Gold Coin Charitable Trust (the "Trust") as payment (and partial pre-payment) on the Mineral Rights License Agreement entered into by the Company with the Trust on October 9, 2014. The HOPE coins are considered a cryptographic currency. The Trust represents one of the first organizations effectively leveraging existing block-chain technologies and was recently named one of the top 25 companies on the Sand Hill Bitcoin Innovative Disrupters list. The HOPE Coins are being sold by the Trust for $10 each. Hospitality Segment Effective April 1, 2015, the Company entered into an agreement to lease the Gold Hill Hotel. The Company retains ownership to the land and Gold Hill Hotel properties while leasing the facilities to independent operators. Historically, the hospitality segment operated at a net loss but based on the current lease agreement, the Company does not expect any future net losses and more likely, prospective net lease and rental income. SR-342 Realignment In early February, NDOT closed an approximate two-mile section of SR-342, south of Gold Hill, as a safety precaution following roadway cracking and area specific sinking during a weekend of heavy rains. The area of sinking is above a historic mine-shaft dating back to the early 1900's, and that portion of the road sits on old mine dumps and looser fill, that has a history of instability and, in some cases failure. The Company owns the land, with NDOT granted prescriptive rights to operate the state roadbed over that private land. Storey County, NDOT, the Company, and other applicable regulatory agencies evaluated several remedies for the realignment of SR-342. The route will be realigned to the east of the historic shaft, enabling safe travel, continuing operations and important reclamations, while positioning the area for future mining and development. The realignment will occur over two phases, with Phase 1 completion taking approximately 10-12 weeks and Phase 2 requiring an additional six months. Phase 1 begins with the Company removing the unconsolidated fill that now exists above the base bedrock level and beneath the existing road followed by construction of a bypass road upon the base bedrock. Additionally, the historic Silver Hill Shaft will be capped permanently. http://comstockmining.com/sr-342-construction-2015 Once Phase 1 is complete in June, the road will be reopened during construction of the second phase. Phase 2 includes removal of additional material on the east side of the canyon and will conclude with a tie in of the south end of the newly constructed alignment. A short closure will be necessary toward the end of Phase 2 for the tie in and completion of the realignment. The project is estimated to last through December of 2015, with an estimated cost of $3 million. Corporate Cash and cash equivalents on hand at March 31, 2015 totaled $4.2 million. Total long-term debt and capital lease obligations at March 31, 2015, were $14.1 million as compared to $13.5 million at March 31, 2014. For the remainder of 2015, the Company plans on spending approximately $3.5 million in capital expenditures, primarily the road realignment project and some infrastructural development. The Company also plans to pay down an additional $6.6 million in debt obligations, including $3.4 million on the Revolving Credit Facility. Outlook The Company expects to be cash positive from operations throughout 2015, while expanding our mining activities during the third quarter, including exploration and development of an underground Lucerne mine, a second Dayton mine plan and commencing the Dayton permitting. Mr. De Gasperis concluded, "Our goals for this year are to ensure the lowest cost operating parameters and expand Lucerne, including a tremendous underground opportunity, while developing and commissioning Dayton. We expect to be cash positive from operations throughout 2015, while expanding our mining activities during the third quarter, including the initial underground target." The Company will host a conference call today, April 16, 2015, at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time/11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The live call will include a Q&A with accredited institutions, investors and analysts immediately following the prepared remarks. The dial-in telephone numbers for the live audio are as follows: North American Toll Free: 1-866-253-4737 International: 1-416-849-4292 The audio will be available, usually within 24 hours of the call, on the Company website: http://www.comstockmining.com/investors/investor-library About Comstock Mining Inc. Comstock Mining Inc. is a producing, Nevada-based, gold and silver mining company with extensive, contiguous property in the Comstock District and is an emerging leader in sustainable, responsible mining, including concurrent and accelerated reclamations, soil sampling, voluntary air monitoring, cultural asset protection and historical restorations. The Company began acquiring properties in the Comstock District in 2003. Since then, the Company has consolidated a significant portion of the Comstock District, amassed the single largest known repository of historical and current geological data on the Comstock region, secured permits, built an infrastructure and commenced production in 2012. The Company continues acquiring additional properties in the district, expanding its footprint and creating opportunities for further exploration, development and mining. The near term goal of our business plan is to deliver stockholder value by validating qualified resources (measured and indicated) and reserves (proven and probable) of at least 3,250,000 gold equivalent ounces from our first two resource areas, Lucerne and Dayton, and significantly grow the commercial development of our operations through coordinated, district wide plans that are economically feasible and socially responsible. Forward-Looking Statements This press release and any related calls or discussions may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 about Comstock. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements about matters such as: future prices and sales of, and demand for, our products; future industry market conditions; future changes in our exploration activities, production capacity and operations; future exploration, production, operating and overhead costs; operational and management restructuring activities (including implementation of methodologies and changes in the board of directors); future employment and contributions of personnel; tax and interest rates; capital expenditures and their impact on us; nature and timing and accounting for restructuring charges, gains or losses on debt extinguishment, derivative liabilities and the impact thereof; productivity, business process, rationalization, investment, acquisition, consulting, operational, tax, financial and capital projects and initiatives; contingencies; environmental compliance and changes in the regulatory environment; offerings, sales and other actions regarding debt or equity securities; and future working capital, costs, revenues, business opportunities, debt levels, cash flows, margins, earnings and growth. The words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "project," "plan," "should," "intend," "may," "will," "would," "potential" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of doing so. These statements are based on assumptions and assessments made by our management in light of their experience and their perception of historical and current trends, current conditions, possible future developments and other factors they believe to be appropriate. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees, representations or warranties and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, developments and business decisions to differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. Some of those risks and uncertainties include the risk factors discussed in Item 1A, "Risk Factors" of our annual report on Form 10-K and the following: current global economic and capital market uncertainties; the speculative nature of gold or mineral exploration, including risks of diminishing quantities or grades of qualified resources and reserves; operational or technical difficulties in connection with exploration or mining activities; contests over our title to properties; potential dilution to our stockholders from the conversion of securities that are convertible into or exercisable for shares of our common stock; potential inability to continue to comply with government regulations; adoption of or changes in legislation or regulations adversely affecting our businesses; business opportunities that may be presented to, or pursued by, us; changes in the United States or other monetary or fiscal policies or regulations; interruptions in our production capabilities due to unexpected equipment failures; fluctuation of prices for gold or certain other commodities (such as silver, copper, diesel fuel, and electricity); changes in generally accepted accounting principles; geopolitical events; potential inability to implement our business strategies; potential inability to grow revenues organically; potential inability to attract and retain key personnel; interruptions in delivery of critical supplies and equipment raw materials due to credit or other limitations imposed by vendors; assertion of claims, lawsuits and proceedings against us; potential inability to maintain an effective system of internal controls over financial reporting; potential inability or failure to timely file periodic reports with the SEC; potential inability to maintain the listing of our securities on any securities exchange or market; and work stoppages or other labor difficulties. Occurrence of such events or circumstances could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows or the market price of our securities. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements by or attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these factors. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement. Neither this press release nor any related calls or discussions constitutes an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. || Brad Garlinghouse Joins Ripple Labs as Company's First Chief Operating Officer: SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Apr 16, 2015) - Ripple Labs today announced that it has appointed Brad Garlinghouse as the company's first Chief Operating Officer. The former Hightail CEO and longtime Yahoo! executive brings a history of disciplined growth and execution to the newly created position. "We are very excited to have Brad join the team," said Ripple Labs CEO and co-founder Chris Larsen. "Brad's experience will be invaluable as we advance our focus from building a strong pipeline to execution and exceptional growth. We share a vision for the future of finance and the creation of an Internet of Value in which value exchange is as fast, free, transparent, and secure as information exchange is on the Internet today." Prior to serving as CEO of Hightail, formerly known as YouSendIt, Garlinghouse was the President of Applications and Commerce at AOL. During a six year tenure at Yahoo!, he held a number of senior roles. Previously, he spent time as a Partner at @Ventures and in business development at @Home Network. Garlinghouse serves on the boards of Ancestry.com, Animoto, and Tonic for Health. He holds a BA from the University of Kansas and an MBA from Harvard Business School. "Ripple Labs is an incredible team, all joined by a shared passion to change the world -- the energy, commitment and expertise is unmatched," said Garlinghouse. "There is already incredible momentum for Ripple as a new infrastructure for global payments, and the opportunity to define the actual framework for the Internet of Value is an order of magnitude bigger than anything else underway in payments today." Ripple Labs is the global leader in distributed financial technology and standards. The team supports the adoption of Ripple, a settlement protocol that enables the world's disparate financial networks to securely transfer funds in any currency in real time. Banks, money transmitters and clearing houses can use Ripple as an alternative to correspondent banking to facilitate straight-through processing with no reserve funding required. Earthport , the largest open network for global bank payments, and three banks in the United States and Germany recently announced Ripple integrations. Ripple was created to enable the world to move value as easily as information moves today, giving rise to an Internet of Value (IoV) akin to today's Internet of Knowledge. For more information about Ripple Labs, please visit http://www.ripplelabs.com . For more information about Ripple, please visit http://www.ripple.com . About Ripple Labs Ripple Labs is the global leader on distributed financial technology. The team supports adoption of the Ripple protocol, an Internet of Value (IoV) that enables the free and instant exchange of anything of value. The San Francisco-based startup is funded by Google Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, IDG Capital Partners, Core Innovation Capital, FF Angel, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Bitcoin Opportunity Corp. and Vast Ventures. Story continues Named one of 2014's 50 Smartest Companies by MIT Technology Review, Ripple Labs' team of 100 is comprised of deeply experienced cryptographers, security experts, distributed network developers, Silicon Valley and Wall Street veterans. They contribute code to the open-source software, as well as develop tools for and recruit financial institutions and payment networks to use Ripple. The team shepherds a movement to evolve finance so that payment systems are open, secure, constructive and globally inclusive. About Ripple Ripple is an Internet protocol that interconnects all the world's disparate financial systems to power the secure transfer of funds in any currency in real time -- enabling an Internet of Value (IoV). As settlement infrastructure, Ripple transforms and enhances today's financial systems. Ripple unlocks assets and provides access to payment systems for everyone, empowering the world to move value like information moves today. For more information about Ripple, please visit http://www.ripple.com . Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=2803991 View comments || Brad Garlinghouse Joins Ripple Labs as Company's First Chief Operating Officer: SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Apr 16, 2015) -Ripple Labstoday announced that it has appointed Brad Garlinghouse as the company's first Chief Operating Officer. The former Hightail CEO and longtime Yahoo! executive brings a history of disciplined growth and execution to the newly created position.
"We are very excited to have Brad join the team," said Ripple Labs CEO and co-founder Chris Larsen. "Brad's experience will be invaluable as we advance our focus from building a strong pipeline to execution and exceptional growth. We share a vision for the future of finance and the creation of an Internet of Value in which value exchange is as fast, free, transparent, and secure as information exchange is on the Internet today."
Prior to serving as CEO of Hightail, formerly known as YouSendIt, Garlinghouse was the President of Applications and Commerce at AOL. During a six year tenure at Yahoo!, he held a number of senior roles. Previously, he spent time as a Partner at @Ventures and in business development at @Home Network. Garlinghouse serves on the boards of Ancestry.com, Animoto, and Tonic for Health. He holds a BA from the University of Kansas and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
"Ripple Labs is an incredible team, all joined by a shared passion to change the world -- the energy, commitment and expertise is unmatched," said Garlinghouse. "There is already incredible momentum for Ripple as a new infrastructure for global payments, and the opportunity to define the actual framework for the Internet of Value is an order of magnitude bigger than anything else underway in payments today."
Ripple Labs is the global leader in distributed financial technology and standards. The team supports the adoption of Ripple, a settlement protocol that enables the world's disparate financial networks to securely transfer funds in any currency in real time. Banks, money transmitters and clearing houses can use Ripple as an alternative to correspondent banking to facilitate straight-through processing with no reserve funding required.Earthport, the largest open network for global bank payments, and three banks in the United States and Germany recently announced Ripple integrations.
Ripple was created to enable the world to move value as easily as information moves today, giving rise to an Internet of Value (IoV) akin to today's Internet of Knowledge. For more information about Ripple Labs, please visithttp://www.ripplelabs.com. For more information about Ripple, please visithttp://www.ripple.com.
About Ripple LabsRipple Labs is the global leader on distributed financial technology. The team supports adoption of the Ripple protocol, an Internet of Value (IoV) that enables the free and instant exchange of anything of value. The San Francisco-based startup is funded by Google Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, IDG Capital Partners, Core Innovation Capital, FF Angel, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Bitcoin Opportunity Corp. and Vast Ventures.
Named one of 2014's50 Smartest Companiesby MIT Technology Review, Ripple Labs' team of 100 is comprised of deeply experienced cryptographers, security experts, distributed network developers, Silicon Valley and Wall Street veterans. They contribute code to the open-source software, as well as develop tools for and recruit financial institutions and payment networks to use Ripple. The team shepherds a movement to evolve finance so that payment systems are open, secure, constructive and globally inclusive.
About RippleRipple is an Internet protocol that interconnects all the world's disparate financial systems to power the secure transfer of funds in any currency in real time -- enabling an Internet of Value (IoV). As settlement infrastructure, Ripple transforms and enhances today's financial systems. Ripple unlocks assets and provides access to payment systems for everyone, empowering the world to move value like information moves today. For more information about Ripple, please visithttp://www.ripple.com.
Image Available:http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=2803991 || London stakes its claim as global bitcoin hub: (Repeats Wednesday item) * UK authorities want to promote financial innovation * Government also aims to curb bitcoin use in crime * Bitcoin backers say UK attitude makes London attractive * World's biggest bitcoin networking group is London-based By Jemima Kelly LONDON, April 15 (Reuters) - London, centre of the $5-trillion-a-day global currency market, now wants to be home to a controversial upstart - bitcoin. British authorities have come out in support of digital currencies in the name of promoting financial innovation, while proposing that regulations should be drawn up to prevent their use in crime. But it is technophiles who are leading the drive to make London a real-world hub for trade in web-based "cryptocurrencies", of which bitcoin is the original and still most popular. Every Tuesday evening in a trendy cafe in London's Shoreditch neighbourhood, a group of digital currency enthusiasts gathers to discuss ideas, "vape" from e-cigarettes and exchange their pounds for bitcoins in a dedicated "ATM". With more than 2,200 members, CoinScrum, run by a former derivatives trader who left the world of traditional finance to work on a digital currency start-up, is the biggest bitcoin networking group in the world. Its meetings draw a mostly young, mostly male crowd - some amateurs, others who have come to Britain to start bitcoin businesses. Already the capital of traditional currency trading, London is competing with San Francisco's web expertise and New York's financial clout as it pushes to be the foremost financial technology - or fintech - centre in the world. Last month the British government announced plans to regulate digital currency exchanges to prevent their use in money-laundering, and to help to develop a set of standards for cryptocurrencies. Backers of bitcoin praised this for lending legitimacy to the currency - which unlike traditional money has no printed form and remains outside the control of central banks - without stifling innovation. "London has been the home of financial innovation for hundreds of years," said Nicolas Cary, co-founder of Blockchain, which provides bitcoin data and "wallet" software for storing the currency. "It would be a historical mistake not to make this the home of digital currencies. There's an incredible amount of talent and experience here." Just over 14 million bitcoins are in circulation, worth around $3.1 billion at the current exchange rate of around $220 each. Bitcoin brought 29-year-old Cary to Britain two years ago from Denver, Colorado. He joined forces with Ben Reeves, then a 22-year-old computer science graduate, to develop the Blockchain wallet, spending the first year working out of a two-bedroom apartment in northern England. Story continues Now Blockchain, named after the technology behind bitcoin, is the world's biggest wallet provider, with over 3 million users. Last year it raised over $30 million in its first round of funding, including from billionaire Richard Branson. POSITIVE ATTITUDE While some people argue that London lags New York overall as the centre for traditional finance, many say the latter's attitude to digital currencies - including a state plan to impose a "BitLicense" on bitcoin start-ups - makes London more attractive for the growing number of businesses dealing in the budding technology. "What we see in the UK ... is a different attitude," said Jerry Brito, executive director of Coin Center, a Washington DC-based non-profit advocacy group for digital currencies. "It's a very positive attitude, one of: this is an amazing innovation, we're going to have to have some kind of regulation in terms of money laundering, but let's do this in a constructive way, in partnership with the technologists and the industry." Detractors worry that digital currencies make it easy for users to buy products anonymously from websites like Silk Road, an underground marketplace for drugs and other illegal goods which was shut down in 2013. But advocates argue that using cash for illicit trades is easier and less traceable, pointing out that most U.S. banknotes are contaminated with cocaine. Asked about bitcoin, the governing body for the City of London financial district said authorities needed to be "alive to the potential risks and take strong action if they find evidence of abuse or criminal activities". But the employment and growth opportunities offered by the fintech in general were to be welcomed, it said. Britain made bitcoin trading exempt from value-added tax last year. Other countries have yet to decide how to tax bitcoin, since its independence from any central bank means it does not fall into the traditional definition of money. However, Australia has made bitcoin transactions subject to goods and services tax. That helped to drive CoinJar, an Australian company that allows users to buy, sell and spend bitcoins, to move its headquarters to London last December. INVESTMENT Later this month Swiss banking giant UBS will open a technology lab in London to explore the wider application of the technology in the financial services industry. Finance minister George Osborne has said he wants Britain to lead the world in developing fintech, highlighting the potential of digital currencies. Last year investment in fintech firms in Britain and Ireland more than doubled compared with 2013, to $623 million, representing 42 percent of such investment in Europe, according to consultancy Accenture. Alongside the new regulation and standards, the British government promised an additional 10 million pounds ($15 million) for a research initiative that will look into the blockchain technology behind digital currencies. It is the blockchain - essentially a ledger of every bitcoin transaction that is virtually impossible to tamper with - that the Bank of England has also said could be revolutionary. Central banks, it has said, could eventually issue digital currencies of their own. Dozens of others have copied this technology to set up their own digital currencies, though none has so far managed to knock bitcoin off the top spot. TANTRIC MASSAGE Londoners can change cash for bitcoins at seven ATMs in the capital, and use them to pay for anything from tantric massage to a designer dress, a pork chop to a pint of beer. One company even allows rent on property to be paid in bitcoin. Back in the trendy "Vape Lab" e-cigarette cafe, one young bitcoiner was putting 800 pounds' worth of 20 pound notes into a bitcoin ATM in exchange for the digital currency. "I just sell bitcoin to others, because they don't know how to do it, so I take advantage of that and I make a profit," he said. ($1 = 0.6774 pounds) (editing by David Stamp) View comments
[Social Media Buzz]
Bitcoin traded at $222.32 USD on BTC-e at 06:00 AM Pacific Time || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 26 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $1,078.58 #bitcoin #btc || $224.00 at 09:45 UTC [24h Range: $223.00 - $226.51 Volume: 6340 BTC] || $225.22 at 08:45 UTC [24h Range: $223.00 - $226.51 Volume: 6322 BTC] || Current price: 218.63€ $BTCEUR $btc #bitcoin 2015-04-22 00:40:08 CEST || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 24 exchange pair(s), yiel...
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234.18, 236.46, 231.27, 226.39, 219.43, 229.29, 225.85, 225.81, 236.15, 232.08
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 421.44, 424.03, 423.41, 422.74, 420.35, 419.41, 421.56, 422.48, 425.19, 423.73, 424.28, 429.71, 430.57, 427.40, 428.59, 435.51, 441.39, 449.42, 445.74, 450.28, 458.55, 461.43, 466.09, 444.69, 449.01, 455.10, 448.32, 451.88, 444.67, 450.30, 446.72, 447.98, 459.60, 458.54, 458.55, 460.48, 450.89, 452.73, 454.77, 455.67, 455.67, 457.57, 454.16, 453.78, 454.62, 438.71, 442.68, 443.19, 439.32, 444.15, 445.98, 449.60, 453.38, 473.46, 530.04, 526.23, 533.86, 531.39, 536.92, 537.97, 569.19, 572.73, 574.98, 585.54, 576.60, 581.65, 574.63, 577.47, 606.73, 672.78, 704.38, 685.56, 694.47, 766.31, 748.91, 756.23, 763.78, 737.23, 666.65, 596.12, 623.98, 665.30, 665.12, 629.37, 655.28, 647.00, 639.89, 673.34, 676.30, 703.70.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2016-07-02]
Volume: 112354000, RSI (14-day): 59.99, 50-day EMA: 601.66, 200-day EMA: 475.15
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
As Q3 Begins, Gold Miner ETFs Keep Shining: Looking back to the first half of 2016, exchange traded funds that track precious metals miners have been the top performers so far this year, and the metal producers group may continue to shine through the second half.
Year-to-date, the S&P 500 rose 2.4%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 2.9% and the Nasdaq Composite dipped 3.9%.
In contrast, among the top ETFs of the year, the PureFunds ISE Junior Silver ETF (SILJ) surged 181.1%, Global X Gold Explorers ETF (GLDX) jumped 137.4%, iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners Fund ETF (SLVP) advanced 129.5%, Global X Silver Miners ETF (SIL) increased 127.8% andVanEckVectors Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ) rose 118.9%.
SILJ tries to reflect the performance of the ISE Junior Silver (Small Cap Miners/Explorers) Index, which is comprised of silver exploration and mining exposure of small-cap companies, such as 16.5% Coeur Mining (CDE), 14.2% Pan American Silver (PAAS) and 14.1% First Majestic Silver (AG). The junior silver miner ETF has a large 67.8% tilt toward Canadian names, followed by 33.9% U.S. exposure.
Related:Playing It Safe With Gold Miners ETFs
GLDX tracks the Solactive Global Gold Explorers Total Return Index, which includes global gold miners, with heavy 81.8% emphasis on Canadian miners, along with 16.6% Australian companies.
SLVP follows the MSCI ACWI Select Silver Miners Investable Market Index, which includes global silver mining stocks, and also has a large 63.7% tilt toward Canadian companies, along with 12.7% U.S., 12.0% U.K. and 5.4% Mexico. The silver miner ETF also holds a large 22.1% position in Silver Wheaton Corp (SLW).
SIL, the largest silver miner-related ETF, tries to mirror the Solactive Global Silver Miners Total Return Index, which is also comprised of global silver miners. However, SIL has a lower 50.5% country tilt toward Canada, but a much larger 22.0% position in the U.S. and 21.0% in Mexico. Additionally, SIL is slightly more diversified, with only a 11.6% weight in SLW.
Related:Another Rally Looms for Gold ETFs
Lastly, GDXJ, the largest junior gold miner ETF, tries to reflect the performance of the MVIS Global Junior Gold Miners Index, which includes micro- and small-cap gold miners. The fund has a large 65.0% country weight toward Canada, along with 12.4% U.S., 8.8% Australia and 5.0% U.K.
Precious metals miners have been the hot spot for most of the year as gold bullion strengthened on safe-haven demand and a more dovish Federal Reserve outlook.
Gold prices have jumped 25% to $1,325.5 per ounce as of the end of June.
Trending on ETF Trends
Supply Concerns Linger for Oil ETFs
11 Surging Silver ETFs as Two-Year High Looms
A Gold Boon for these Glistening ETFs
As Bank of England Mulls Rate Cuts, More Pound Punishment Likely
Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF Will Trade on BATS
During the start of the year when the equities markets saw two-digit percentage point declines, investors shifted into the gold hard asset as a safe store of wealth. In addition, once equities started rebounding, traders maintained their gold positions on the depreciating U.S. dollar and the extended low rate outlook from the Federal Reserve, betting that precious metals will continue to be a good store of wealth and also help hedge against a more volatile outlook, such as the United Kingdom’s recent referendum vote on breaking away from the European Union, or Brexit.
Meanwhile, gold miners, which have been among the worst performing assets over recent years, staged a rally on the sudden improvement in gold prices.
Looking ahead, gold bullion and miners could continue to shine as a safe-haven play in a post-Brexit world.
Related:A New Leg up Could be Coming for Gold ETFs
The Fed has signaled it would slow the pace of interest rate normalization this year – higher interest rates typically weigh on gold prices since the hard asset provide no yield and would become less attractive to higher-yielding conservative debt assets in a rising rate environment. Moreover, futures traders are even pricing in a chance that the Fed is more likely to cut interest rates than raise them.
Robust demand is also supporting the gold market. For instance, ETF flows into gold have expanded at their fastest pace since 2009. Physically backed gold ETF holdings are still one-third below the December 2012 peak, which suggest that prices can hold at about $1,200 per ounce. The SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) , the largest gold-related ETF by assets, has been the most popular ETF play of 2016, attracting $12.2 billion in net inflows as of the end of June.
We might still see more out of the emerging markets as demand has not been as robust in the developing world. For instance, China has shown little demand, with the Shanghai Gold Exchange seeing muted growth in volume. While the higher prices may have deterred Asian buyers, demand could pick up if people expect prices to remain elevated.
For more information on the Gold ETFs, visit ourGold category.
The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product. || As Q3 Begins, Gold Miner ETFs Keep Shining: Looking back to the first half of 2016, exchange traded funds that track precious metals miners have been the top performers so far this year, and the metal producers group may continue to shine through the second half. Year-to-date, the S&P 500 rose 2.4%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 2.9% and the Nasdaq Composite dipped 3.9%. In contrast, among the top ETFs of the year, the PureFunds ISE Junior Silver ETF ( SILJ ) surged 181.1%, Global X Gold Explorers ETF ( GLDX ) jumped 137.4%, iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners Fund ETF ( SLVP ) advanced 129.5%, Global X Silver Miners ETF ( SIL ) increased 127.8% and VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF ( GDXJ ) rose 118.9%. SILJ tries to reflect the performance of the ISE Junior Silver (Small Cap Miners/Explorers) Index, which is comprised of silver exploration and mining exposure of small-cap companies, such as 16.5% Coeur Mining ( CDE ), 14.2% Pan American Silver ( PAAS ) and 14.1% First Majestic Silver ( AG ). The junior silver miner ETF has a large 67.8% tilt toward Canadian names, followed by 33.9% U.S. exposure. Related: Playing It Safe With Gold Miners ETFs GLDX tracks the Solactive Global Gold Explorers Total Return Index, which includes global gold miners, with heavy 81.8% emphasis on Canadian miners, along with 16.6% Australian companies. SLVP follows the MSCI ACWI Select Silver Miners Investable Market Index, which includes global silver mining stocks, and also has a large 63.7% tilt toward Canadian companies, along with 12.7% U.S., 12.0% U.K. and 5.4% Mexico. The silver miner ETF also holds a large 22.1% position in Silver Wheaton Corp ( SLW ). SIL, the largest silver miner-related ETF, tries to mirror the Solactive Global Silver Miners Total Return Index, which is also comprised of global silver miners. However, SIL has a lower 50.5% country tilt toward Canada, but a much larger 22.0% position in the U.S. and 21.0% in Mexico. Additionally, SIL is slightly more diversified, with only a 11.6% weight in SLW. Related: Another Rally Looms for Gold ETFs Lastly, GDXJ, the largest junior gold miner ETF, tries to reflect the performance of the MVIS Global Junior Gold Miners Index, which includes micro- and small-cap gold miners. The fund has a large 65.0% country weight toward Canada, along with 12.4% U.S., 8.8% Australia and 5.0% U.K. Precious metals miners have been the hot spot for most of the year as gold bullion strengthened on safe-haven demand and a more dovish Federal Reserve outlook. Gold prices have jumped 25% to $1,325.5 per ounce as of the end of June. Trending on ETF Trends Supply Concerns Linger for Oil ETFs Story continues 11 Surging Silver ETFs as Two-Year High Looms A Gold Boon for these Glistening ETFs As Bank of England Mulls Rate Cuts, More Pound Punishment Likely Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF Will Trade on BATS During the start of the year when the equities markets saw two-digit percentage point declines, investors shifted into the gold hard asset as a safe store of wealth. In addition, once equities started rebounding, traders maintained their gold positions on the depreciating U.S. dollar and the extended low rate outlook from the Federal Reserve, betting that precious metals will continue to be a good store of wealth and also help hedge against a more volatile outlook, such as the United Kingdom’s recent referendum vote on breaking away from the European Union, or Brexit. Meanwhile, gold miners, which have been among the worst performing assets over recent years, staged a rally on the sudden improvement in gold prices. Looking ahead, gold bullion and miners could continue to shine as a safe-haven play in a post-Brexit world. Related: A New Leg up Could be Coming for Gold ETFs The Fed has signaled it would slow the pace of interest rate normalization this year – higher interest rates typically weigh on gold prices since the hard asset provide no yield and would become less attractive to higher-yielding conservative debt assets in a rising rate environment. Moreover, futures traders are even pricing in a chance that the Fed is more likely to cut interest rates than raise them. Robust demand is also supporting the gold market. For instance, ETF flows into gold have expanded at their fastest pace since 2009. Physically backed gold ETF holdings are still one-third below the December 2012 peak, which suggest that prices can hold at about $1,200 per ounce. The SPDR Gold Shares ( GLD ) , the largest gold-related ETF by assets, has been the most popular ETF play of 2016, attracting $12.2 billion in net inflows as of the end of June. We might still see more out of the emerging markets as demand has not been as robust in the developing world. For instance, China has shown little demand, with the Shanghai Gold Exchange seeing muted growth in volume. While the higher prices may have deterred Asian buyers, demand could pick up if people expect prices to remain elevated. For more information on the Gold ETFs, visit our Gold category . The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product. View comments || Former U.S. Secret Service agent suspected in additional Bitcoin thefts: By Joseph Menn SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A Secret Service agent who stole money seized by the government in the investigation of underground drug bazaar Silk Road is now suspected of stealing money in at least two other cases, according to court filings unsealed on Thursday. In the larger of those cases, he is thought to have been behind the theft of about $700,000 worth of Bitcoin from a Secret Service account three months after the agency was urged to block his access, the documents say. Former agent Shaun Bridges pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced in December to nearly six years in prison for stealing more than $800,000 of the crypto currency Bitcoin during the Silk Road investigation. According to an affidavit unsealed Thursday, the Justice Department learned in April 2015 that Bridges might have kept a private cryptographic key giving him access to a Bitcoin wallet with the $700,000 in currency that the Silk Road task force had seized in 2014. The department urged the agency to move the funds elsewhere. “Unfortunately, the U.S. Secret Service did not do so and the funds were thereafter stolen, something the U.S, Secret Service only discovered once it was ordered by a court to pay a portion of the seizure back to affected claimants,” a team of prosecutors wrote in an accompanying motion. The Bitcoin in question was moved in July 2015 but only discovered missing in December, the affidavit said. The Secret Service and Bridges' attorney Steven Levin declined to comment. In the previous case, Bridges admitted he stole money from Silk Road accounts and framed someone else for it, leading Silk Road chief Ross Ulbricht to plan a murder. Ulbricht is now serving a life sentence. (Reporting by Joseph Menn; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) || Former U.S. Secret Service agent suspected in additional Bitcoin thefts: By Joseph Menn SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A Secret Service agent who stole money seized by the government in the investigation of underground drug bazaar Silk Road is now suspected of stealing money in at least two other cases, according to court filings unsealed on Thursday. In the larger of those cases, he is thought to have been behind the theft of about $700,000 worth of Bitcoin from a Secret Service account three months after the agency was urged to block his access, the documents say. Former agent Shaun Bridges pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced in December to nearly six years in prison for stealing more than $800,000 of the crypto currency Bitcoin during the Silk Road investigation. According to an affidavit unsealed Thursday, the Justice Department learned in April 2015 that Bridges might have kept a private cryptographic key giving him access to a Bitcoin wallet with the $700,000 in currency that the Silk Road task force had seized in 2014. The department urged the agency to move the funds elsewhere. “Unfortunately, the U.S. Secret Service did not do so and the funds were thereafter stolen, something the U.S, Secret Service only discovered once it was ordered by a court to pay a portion of the seizure back to affected claimants,” a team of prosecutors wrote in an accompanying motion. The Bitcoin in question was moved in July 2015 but only discovered missing in December, the affidavit said. The Secret Service and Bridges' attorney Steven Levin declined to comment. In the previous case, Bridges admitted he stole money from Silk Road accounts and framed someone else for it, leading Silk Road chief Ross Ulbricht to plan a murder. Ulbricht is now serving a life sentence. (Reporting by Joseph Menn; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) || Former U.S. Secret Service agent suspected in additional Bitcoin thefts: By Joseph Menn SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A Secret Service agent who stole money seized by the government in the investigation of underground drug bazaar Silk Road is now suspected of stealing money in at least two other cases, according to court filings unsealed on Thursday. In the larger of those cases, he is thought to have been behind the theft of about $700,000 worth of Bitcoin from a Secret Service account three months after the agency was urged to block his access, the documents say. Former agent Shaun Bridges pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced in December to nearly six years in prison for stealing more than $800,000 of the crypto currency Bitcoin during the Silk Road investigation. According to an affidavit unsealed Thursday, the Justice Department learned in April 2015 that Bridges might have kept a private cryptographic key giving him access to a Bitcoin wallet with the $700,000 in currency that the Silk Road task force had seized in 2014. The department urged the agency to move the funds elsewhere. “Unfortunately, the U.S. Secret Service did not do so and the funds were thereafter stolen, something the U.S, Secret Service only discovered once it was ordered by a court to pay a portion of the seizure back to affected claimants,” a team of prosecutors wrote in an accompanying motion. The Bitcoin in question was moved in July 2015 but only discovered missing in December, the affidavit said. The Secret Service and Bridges' attorney Steven Levin declined to comment. In the previous case, Bridges admitted he stole money from Silk Road accounts and framed someone else for it, leading Silk Road chief Ross Ulbricht to plan a murder. Ulbricht is now serving a life sentence. (Reporting by Joseph Menn; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) || Former U.S. Secret Service agent suspected in additional Bitcoin thefts: By Joseph Menn SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A Secret Service agent who stole money seized by the government in the investigation of underground drug bazaar Silk Road is now suspected of stealing money in at least two other cases, according to court filings unsealed on Thursday. In the larger of those cases, he is thought to have been behind the theft of about $700,000 worth of Bitcoin from a Secret Service account three months after the agency was urged to block his access, the documents say. Former agent Shaun Bridges pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced in December to nearly six years in prison for stealing more than $800,000 of the crypto currency Bitcoin during the Silk Road investigation. According to an affidavit unsealed Thursday, the Justice Department learned in April 2015 that Bridges might have kept a private cryptographic key giving him access to a Bitcoin wallet with the $700,000 in currency that the Silk Road task force had seized in 2014. The department urged the agency to move the funds elsewhere. “Unfortunately, the U.S. Secret Service did not do so and the funds were thereafter stolen, something the U.S, Secret Service only discovered once it was ordered by a court to pay a portion of the seizure back to affected claimants,” a team of prosecutors wrote in an accompanying motion. The Bitcoin in question was moved in July 2015 but only discovered missing in December, the affidavit said. The Secret Service and Bridges' attorney Steven Levin declined to comment. In the previous case, Bridges admitted he stole money from Silk Road accounts and framed someone else for it, leading Silk Road chief Ross Ulbricht to plan a murder. Ulbricht is now serving a life sentence. (Reporting by Joseph Menn; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) || Former U.S. Secret Service agent suspected in additional Bitcoin thefts: By Joseph Menn
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A Secret Service agent who stole money seized by the government in the investigation of underground drug bazaar Silk Road is now suspected of stealing money in at least two other cases, according to court filings unsealed on Thursday.
In the larger of those cases, he is thought to have been behind the theft of about $700,000 worth of Bitcoin from a Secret Service account three months after the agency was urged to block his access, the documents say.
Former agent Shaun Bridges pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced in December to nearly six years in prison for stealing more than $800,000 of the crypto currency Bitcoin during the Silk Road investigation.
According to an affidavit unsealed Thursday, the Justice Department learned in April 2015 that Bridges might have kept a private cryptographic key giving him access to a Bitcoin wallet with the $700,000 in currency that the Silk Road task force had seized in 2014. The department urged the agency to move the funds elsewhere.
“Unfortunately, the U.S. Secret Service did not do so and the funds were thereafter stolen, something the U.S, Secret Service only discovered once it was ordered by a court to pay a portion of the seizure back to affected claimants,” a team of prosecutors wrote in an accompanying motion. The Bitcoin in question was moved in July 2015 but only discovered missing in December, the affidavit said.
The Secret Service and Bridges' attorney Steven Levin declined to comment.
In the previous case, Bridges admitted he stole money from Silk Road accounts and framed someone else for it, leading Silk Road chief Ross Ulbricht to plan a murder. Ulbricht is now serving a life sentence.
(Reporting by Joseph Menn; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) || Former U.S. Secret Service agent suspected in additional Bitcoin thefts: By Joseph Menn SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A Secret Service agent who stole money seized by the government in the investigation of underground drug bazaar Silk Road is now suspected of stealing money in at least two other cases, according to court filings unsealed on Thursday. In the larger of those cases, he is thought to have been behind the theft of about $700,000 worth of Bitcoin from a Secret Service account three months after the agency was urged to block his access, the documents say. Former agent Shaun Bridges pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced in December to nearly six years in prison for stealing more than $800,000 of the crypto currency Bitcoin during the Silk Road investigation. According to an affidavit unsealed Thursday, the Justice Department learned in April 2015 that Bridges might have kept a private cryptographic key giving him access to a Bitcoin wallet with the $700,000 in currency that the Silk Road task force had seized in 2014. The department urged the agency to move the funds elsewhere. “Unfortunately, the U.S. Secret Service did not do so and the funds were thereafter stolen, something the U.S, Secret Service only discovered once it was ordered by a court to pay a portion of the seizure back to affected claimants,” a team of prosecutors wrote in an accompanying motion. The Bitcoin in question was moved in July 2015 but only discovered missing in December, the affidavit said. The Secret Service and Bridges' attorney Steven Levin declined to comment. In the previous case, Bridges admitted he stole money from Silk Road accounts and framed someone else for it, leading Silk Road chief Ross Ulbricht to plan a murder. Ulbricht is now serving a life sentence. (Reporting by Joseph Menn; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) || Former U.S. Secret Service agent suspected in additional Bitcoin thefts: By Joseph Menn SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A Secret Service agent who stole money seized by the government in the investigation of underground drug bazaar Silk Road is now suspected of stealing money in at least two other cases, according to court filings unsealed on Thursday. In the larger of those cases, he is thought to have been behind the theft of about $700,000 worth of Bitcoin from a Secret Service account three months after the agency was urged to block his access, the documents say. Former agent Shaun Bridges pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced in December to nearly six years in prison for stealing more than $800,000 of the crypto currency Bitcoin during the Silk Road investigation. According to an affidavit unsealed Thursday, the Justice Department learned in April 2015 that Bridges might have kept a private cryptographic key giving him access to a Bitcoin wallet with the $700,000 in currency that the Silk Road task force had seized in 2014. The department urged the agency to move the funds elsewhere. “Unfortunately, the U.S. Secret Service did not do so and the funds were thereafter stolen, something the U.S, Secret Service only discovered once it was ordered by a court to pay a portion of the seizure back to affected claimants,” a team of prosecutors wrote in an accompanying motion. The Bitcoin in question was moved in July 2015 but only discovered missing in December, the affidavit said. The Secret Service and Bridges' attorney Steven Levin declined to comment. In the previous case, Bridges admitted he stole money from Silk Road accounts and framed someone else for it, leading Silk Road chief Ross Ulbricht to plan a murder. Ulbricht is now serving a life sentence. (Reporting by Joseph Menn; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) || Former U.S. Secret Service agent suspected in additional Bitcoin thefts: By Joseph Menn
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A Secret Service agent who stole money seized by the government in the investigation of underground drug bazaar Silk Road is now suspected of stealing money in at least two other cases, according to court filings unsealed on Thursday.
In the larger of those cases, he is thought to have been behind the theft of about $700,000 worth of Bitcoin from a Secret Service account three months after the agency was urged to block his access, the documents say.
Former agent Shaun Bridges pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced in December to nearly six years in prison for stealing more than $800,000 of the crypto currency Bitcoin during the Silk Road investigation.
According to an affidavit unsealed Thursday, the Justice Department learned in April 2015 that Bridges might have kept a private cryptographic key giving him access to a Bitcoin wallet with the $700,000 in currency that the Silk Road task force had seized in 2014. The department urged the agency to move the funds elsewhere.
“Unfortunately, the U.S. Secret Service did not do so and the funds were thereafter stolen, something the U.S, Secret Service only discovered once it was ordered by a court to pay a portion of the seizure back to affected claimants,” a team of prosecutors wrote in an accompanying motion. The Bitcoin in question was moved in July 2015 but only discovered missing in December, the affidavit said.
The Secret Service and Bridges' attorney Steven Levin declined to comment.
In the previous case, Bridges admitted he stole money from Silk Road accounts and framed someone else for it, leading Silk Road chief Ross Ulbricht to plan a murder. Ulbricht is now serving a life sentence.
(Reporting by Joseph Menn; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) || Former U.S. Secret Service agent suspected in additional Bitcoin thefts: By Joseph Menn SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A Secret Service agent who stole money seized by the government in the investigation of underground drug bazaar Silk Road is now suspected of stealing money in at least two other cases, according to court filings unsealed on Thursday. In the larger of those cases, he is thought to have been behind the theft of about $700,000 worth of Bitcoin from a Secret Service account three months after the agency was urged to block his access, the documents say. Former agent Shaun Bridges pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced in December to nearly six years in prison for stealing more than $800,000 of the crypto currency Bitcoin during the Silk Road investigation. According to an affidavit unsealed Thursday, the Justice Department learned in April 2015 that Bridges might have kept a private cryptographic key giving him access to a Bitcoin wallet with the $700,000 in currency that the Silk Road task force had seized in 2014. The department urged the agency to move the funds elsewhere. “Unfortunately, the U.S. Secret Service did not do so and the funds were thereafter stolen, something the U.S, Secret Service only discovered once it was ordered by a court to pay a portion of the seizure back to affected claimants,” a team of prosecutors wrote in an accompanying motion. The Bitcoin in question was moved in July 2015 but only discovered missing in December, the affidavit said. The Secret Service and Bridges' attorney Steven Levin declined to comment. In the previous case, Bridges admitted he stole money from Silk Road accounts and framed someone else for it, leading Silk Road chief Ross Ulbricht to plan a murder. Ulbricht is now serving a life sentence. (Reporting by Joseph Menn; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) || Former U.S. Secret Service agent suspected in additional Bitcoin thefts: By Joseph Menn
SAN FRANCISCO, June 30 (Reuters) - A Secret Service agent who stole money seized by the government in the investigation of underground drug bazaar Silk Road is now suspected of stealing money in at least two other cases, according to court filings unsealed on Thursday.
In the larger of those cases, he is thought to have been behind the theft of about $700,000 worth of Bitcoin from a Secret Service account three months after the agency was urged to block his access, the documents say.
Former agent Shaun Bridges pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced in December to nearly six years in prison for stealing more than $800,000 of the crypto currency Bitcoin during the Silk Road investigation.
According to an affidavit unsealed Thursday, the Justice Department learned in April 2015 that Bridges might have kept a private cryptographic key giving him access to a Bitcoin wallet with the $700,000 in currency that the Silk Road task force had seized in 2014. The department urged the agency to move the funds elsewhere.
"Unfortunately, the U.S. Secret Service did not do so and the funds were thereafter stolen, something the U.S, Secret Service only discovered once it was ordered by a court to pay a portion of the seizure back to affected claimants," a team of prosecutors wrote in an accompanying motion. The Bitcoin in question was moved in July 2015 but only discovered missing in December, the affidavit said.
The Secret Service and Bridges' attorney Steven Levin declined to comment.
In the previous case, Bridges admitted he stole money from Silk Road accounts and framed someone else for it, leading Silk Road chief Ross Ulbricht to plan a murder. Ulbricht is now serving a life sentence.
(Reporting by Joseph Menn; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) || Former U.S. Secret Service agent suspected in additional Bitcoin thefts: By Joseph Menn
SAN FRANCISCO, June 30 (Reuters) - A Secret Service agent who stole money seized by the government in the investigation of underground drug bazaar Silk Road is now suspected of stealing money in at least two other cases, according to court filings unsealed on Thursday.
In the larger of those cases, he is thought to have been behind the theft of about $700,000 worth of Bitcoin from a Secret Service account three months after the agency was urged to block his access, the documents say.
Former agent Shaun Bridges pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced in December to nearly six years in prison for stealing more than $800,000 of the crypto currency Bitcoin during the Silk Road investigation.
According to an affidavit unsealed Thursday, the Justice Department learned in April 2015 that Bridges might have kept a private cryptographic key giving him access to a Bitcoin wallet with the $700,000 in currency that the Silk Road task force had seized in 2014. The department urged the agency to move the funds elsewhere.
"Unfortunately, the U.S. Secret Service did not do so and the funds were thereafter stolen, something the U.S, Secret Service only discovered once it was ordered by a court to pay a portion of the seizure back to affected claimants," a team of prosecutors wrote in an accompanying motion. The Bitcoin in question was moved in July 2015 but only discovered missing in December, the affidavit said.
The Secret Service and Bridges' attorney Steven Levin declined to comment.
In the previous case, Bridges admitted he stole money from Silk Road accounts and framed someone else for it, leading Silk Road chief Ross Ulbricht to plan a murder. Ulbricht is now serving a life sentence.
(Reporting by Joseph Menn; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) || Former U.S. Secret Service agent suspected in additional Bitcoin thefts: By Joseph Menn SAN FRANCISCO, June 30 (Reuters) - A Secret Service agent who stole money seized by the government in the investigation of underground drug bazaar Silk Road is now suspected of stealing money in at least two other cases, according to court filings unsealed on Thursday. In the larger of those cases, he is thought to have been behind the theft of about $700,000 worth of Bitcoin from a Secret Service account three months after the agency was urged to block his access, the documents say. Former agent Shaun Bridges pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced in December to nearly six years in prison for stealing more than $800,000 of the crypto currency Bitcoin during the Silk Road investigation. According to an affidavit unsealed Thursday, the Justice Department learned in April 2015 that Bridges might have kept a private cryptographic key giving him access to a Bitcoin wallet with the $700,000 in currency that the Silk Road task force had seized in 2014. The department urged the agency to move the funds elsewhere. "Unfortunately, the U.S. Secret Service did not do so and the funds were thereafter stolen, something the U.S, Secret Service only discovered once it was ordered by a court to pay a portion of the seizure back to affected claimants," a team of prosecutors wrote in an accompanying motion. The Bitcoin in question was moved in July 2015 but only discovered missing in December, the affidavit said. The Secret Service and Bridges' attorney Steven Levin declined to comment. In the previous case, Bridges admitted he stole money from Silk Road accounts and framed someone else for it, leading Silk Road chief Ross Ulbricht to plan a murder. Ulbricht is now serving a life sentence. (Reporting by Joseph Menn; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) || LinkedIn founder and billionaire investor Reid Hoffman: 'I'm optimistic' about the next 100 years: Reid Hoffman Portrait LinkedIn Illustration (Mike Nudelman/Business Insider) Reid Hoffman was one of the first people to have the idea that the internet could be used to connect large numbers of like-minded people together, founding a short-lived social platform called SocialNet in 1997. After an executive stint at online payments innovator PayPal, Hoffman turned that insight into LinkedIn, which launched in 2002 and has since become the default online venue for job hunting and making professional connections, fetching a price tag of $26.2 billion when it was bought by Microsoft this June. Hoffman is still the chairman of LinkedIn, and has also become one of the most prolific investors in Silicon Valley, with early bets on big winners like Facebook and Airbnb. He runs an early-stage startup fund for Greylock, a top Silicon Valley VC, serves on the boards of a number of nonprofits like Do Something , and he's recently been teaching a course at Stanford, “ Blitzscaling ,” that shows startups how to grow fast. Hoffman is featured in our inaugural edition of the BI 100: The Creators , which celebrates business leaders who create many types of value in society. We interviewed him via email prior to the Microsoft-LinkedIn deal to learn more about his view of entrepreneurship, capitalism, and the future: Matt Rosoff: I've seen you quoted as saying you wanted to make a big impact on the world. Explain what that meant to you when you graduated from Stanford, and how your position evolved to encompass entrepreneurship. Reid Hoffman: As a child, I wondered often: “Why are we? What is the meaning of life?” These questions made me realize that life is what has meaning — not just individual lives, but all of our lives. Coming out of Stanford, I hoped to contribute to these questions as an academic and a public intellectual: to write essays and books about who we are and who we should be, both as individuals and a society. Then, at Oxford, I realized that being an academic conflicted with being a public intellectual: writing books on scholarship for dozens of people vs. writing books for society. Story continues On reflection, I realized that I could focus on software instead of books, business instead of the academy, and products informed by theories instead of just theories. With the change of focus, I could move from writing scholarship that dozens might read, to books that thousands might read, to software that millions to billions might use. Thus, I could help enable better meaning of life for many people at scale. PayPal was disruptive, it was democratizing, and it had universal appeal. Rosoff: PayPal was outsized in its later influence in Silicon Valley — it spawned a lot of great entrepreneurs and operators. Why? What was special about it? Hoffman: Even by Silicon Valley standards, PayPal's vision was massively ambitious. We described PayPal on our company t-shirts as “the global payment operating system.” We wanted to build a 21st century payments system that went beyond the credit cards, merchant terminals, and ATM infrastructure that the finance industry's established players had built. We wanted to create a service that would let people exchange money as easily as the internet was letting them exchange information. PayPal was disruptive, it was democratizing, and it had universal appeal. It gave power to millions and millions of individuals and reduced monopolist control from nations, banks, and other huge corporations. Our experience with PayPal showed us how to think big and how to keep massive ambition for impact. As the PayPal experience was very fast – about four years – we all graduated with experience, resources, ambition, and youth. Thus, a number of us went on to create Yelp, YouTube, Yammer, and LinkedIn. PayPal IPO (Peter Thiel and Elon Musk, two of the other top Silicon Valley entrepreneurs to emerge from PayPal.PAUL SAKUMA/AP) Rosoff: What did you personally learn at PayPal about impact that you've been able to carry forward? Hoffman: At PayPal, we had a window of opportunity – to scale up a new digital payments system on a global level before huge companies with far more resources and experience in the payments industry truly understood what was possible. So we learned to move boldly, decisively, and fast. At PayPal, we helped pioneer the idea that growth is the foundation for an internet company. The faster we got to scale, the stronger we created network effects, the more enduring business that we created. Another thing few people realize is that PayPal centrally depended on the power of networks. By 2001, we had a pretty big fraud problem, where international crime rings were using stolen credit card numbers to make payments to dummy accounts, and leaving us on the hook for these charges after withdrawing the money. But because all these transactions were happening on a single networked platform, we could map how all the different accounts were interacting with each other. So we were able to develop a fraud-monitoring system that identified the various patterns that were associated with fraud, and in time we got very good at preventing fraudulent transactions. And that was a key personal lesson to learn: a network of identities, communications, and transactions can be a platform for a number of applications. In PayPal, we had payment but also identity and anti-fraud. When you build a platform that creates all kinds of relationships and enables a huge number of interactions of one kind or another, the data that it generates ends up creating all kinds of strategic advantages. You see that in many of our post-PayPal businesses: Linkedin, Youtube, Yelp, Affirm, etc. Rosoff: You founded a social network, SocialNet, in the 1990s, well before Facebook, MySpace, and Friendster. Then again with LinkedIn. Why were you drawn to that kind of business? What's interesting about it? Hoffman: SocialNet emerged from those questions I mentioned earlier that have always compelled me. What is a meaningful life, and what kinds of social systems enable it? Broadly, the meaning of life comes from how we interact with each other. The internet can reconfigure space, so that the right people are always next to each other. The internet was this new medium where anyone could be a publisher, so what did that mean? What kinds of information would people want to publish about themselves? Traditionally, publishers had often built communities of interest around specific topics. But that didn't mean all the people who were subscribing to Golf Magazine could easily find each other. But the internet made that possible. Broadly, the meaning of life comes from how we interact with each other. The theory behind SocialNet was that the web wasn't just a place where traditional publishers could distribute content more efficiently, or where readers would just have more opportunities to comment on stories that professional writers had written. The web was a place where millions and millions of people would create their own media identities, share information about themselves, and look for opportunities to connect with each other in ways that could truly enhance their lives. Socialnet also started with a particular set of key relationships in human life: dating, work, social, and living (roommates). LinkedIn then focused on one deep aspect of life: work. Especially in its early days, a lot of people just thought of it as a place to post your resume when you were looking for a job. In reality, it was an identity platform for professionals, a place where you shared information about yourself so you could be found and find others, and thus develop connections and relationships that would enrich your professional life in all sorts of different ways. Your identity and network became the platform to amplify your professional life overall, to connect you with opportunity and success. Rosoff: Does LinkedIn have a larger mission than providing shareholder returns? What is it? And how does a company balance the need to provide profits and shareholder returns with larger missions? Hoffman: This question implies a tension between "a larger mission" and "shareholder returns." I disagree; instead, I see a synergy. First and foremost, our mission is to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce, by building the world's best platform for sharing professional identity, finding job opportunities, learning more about specific companies and industries, and developing new skills. And because our larger mission has led to a product that brings hundreds of millions of users serious economic value, we're able to monetize it in ways that generate strong returns for our shareholders as well. Mission reinforces shareholder return; business model reinforces mission. Rosoff: How have you taken the lessons you learned at both PayPal and LinkedIn and applied them to your investment decisions? Hoffman: Because of my experiences with PayPal and LinkedIn, I look for ideas that can solve a need for hundreds of millions of people. While achieving scale fast was also a priority for both these companies, there were also strong long-term visions informing them from the very start. At LinkedIn, for example, you couldn't directly research companies or take online classes in the early years. But the founding vision of Linkedin did include these ideas and others not yet implemented. So I look for that too. Does the founder have both the bias to action that you need to get a product to market quickly, and also a persuasive vision for where the company and the market in general will be five years or even ten years out? Does success transform people’s lives and industries at scale? Jeff Weiner, Satya Nadella, Reid Hoffman (Hoffman (right) with LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner (left) and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella (middle).Microsoft) Rosoff: One hundred years from now, will life be better for most people than it is today? How so? What could go wrong? Hoffman: We're still in the very early years of a massively transformative era, the beginning of what I call the Networked Age. The great news is that networks create compounding feedback loops that amplify the frequency, velocity, and reach of human communication and exchange. And that's the bad news too. The Arab Spring and ISIS are both products of the Networked Age. On the plus side, I believe that networks and the flows of capital, talent, and information they enable are going to make life more prosperous and more meaningful for billions of people. On the potential downside, we should ask what kinds of strain does that put on the planet and on society? As global standards of living rise because of increased interconnectivity, we're going to need more energy, more food, more global cooperation. Can we manage it? I'm optimistic. If you look at long-term trends, we're less violent than we were 100 years ago, more educated, and perhaps surprisingly, more tolerant of diversity. Of course, we're also going to be adding a lot of new elements into the mix, very quickly. Artificial Intelligence. Genome editing. If we think carefully about all the different pathways that are now emerging, I think we can ultimately navigate to a much better place. But the actual contours of that world are all but impossible to predict. If you think about how we went from the early web's "coffee cams" and dancing-baby animations to Facebook, Airbnb, Uber, Bitcoin, and countless other unforeseen services and technologies in less than 20 years, it seems impossible to predict specifics for 2116. Comparing the last 100 years to the next 100, however, it seems nearly certain that we will make a number of inventions and changes that will be magic and radically new. NOW WATCH: How to use Facebook’s awesome new 360-degree photo feature More From Business Insider GREEN BERET: This is how we're different from US Navy SEALs How to see everything Google knows about you MITT ROMNEY: My son emailed me yesterday telling me to run for president || LinkedIn founder and billionaire investor Reid Hoffman: 'I'm optimistic' about the next 100 years: (Mike Nudelman/Business Insider)
Reid Hoffman was one of the first people to have the idea that the internet could be used to connect large numbers of like-minded people together, founding a short-lived social platform called SocialNet in 1997.
After an executive stint at online payments innovator PayPal, Hoffman turned that insight into LinkedIn, which launched in 2002 and has since become the default online venue for job hunting and making professional connections, fetchinga price tag of $26.2 billionwhen it was bought by Microsoft this June.
Hoffman is still the chairman of LinkedIn, and has also become one of the most prolific investors in Silicon Valley, with early bets on big winners like Facebook and Airbnb. He runs an early-stage startup fund for Greylock, a top Silicon Valley VC, serves on the boards of a number of nonprofits likeDo Something, and he's recently been teaching a course at Stanford, “Blitzscaling,” that shows startups how to grow fast.
Hoffman is featured in our inaugural edition of theBI 100: The Creators, which celebrates business leaders who create many types of value in society. We interviewed him via email prior to the Microsoft-LinkedIn deal to learn more about his view of entrepreneurship, capitalism, and the future:
Matt Rosoff:I've seen you quoted as saying you wanted to make a big impact on the world. Explain what that meant to you when you graduated from Stanford, and how your position evolved to encompass entrepreneurship.
Reid Hoffman:As a child, I wondered often: “Why are we? What is the meaning of life?” These questions made me realize that life is what has meaning — not just individual lives, but all of our lives. Coming out of Stanford, I hoped to contribute to these questions as an academic and a public intellectual: to write essays and books about who we are and who we should be, both as individuals and a society. Then, at Oxford, I realized that being an academic conflicted with being a public intellectual: writing books on scholarship for dozens of people vs. writing books for society.
On reflection, I realized that I could focus on software instead of books, business instead of the academy, and products informed by theories instead of just theories. With the change of focus, I could move from writing scholarship that dozens might read, to books that thousands might read, to software that millions to billions might use. Thus, I could help enable better meaning of life for many people at scale.
PayPal was disruptive, it was democratizing, and it had universal appeal.
Rosoff:PayPal was outsized in its later influence in Silicon Valley — it spawned a lot of great entrepreneurs and operators. Why? What was special about it?
Hoffman:Even by Silicon Valley standards, PayPal's vision was massively ambitious. We described PayPal on our company t-shirts as “the global payment operating system.” We wanted to build a 21st century payments system that went beyond the credit cards, merchant terminals, and ATM infrastructure that the finance industry's established players had built. We wanted to create a service that would let people exchange money as easily as the internet was letting them exchange information. PayPal was disruptive, it was democratizing, and it had universal appeal. It gave power to millions and millions of individuals and reduced monopolist control from nations, banks, and other huge corporations. Our experience with PayPal showed us how to think big and how to keep massive ambition for impact. As the PayPal experience was very fast – about four years – we all graduated with experience, resources, ambition, and youth. Thus, a number of us went on to create Yelp, YouTube, Yammer, and LinkedIn.
(Peter Thiel and Elon Musk, two of the other top Silicon Valley entrepreneurs to emerge from PayPal.PAUL SAKUMA/AP)
Rosoff:What did you personally learn at PayPal about impact that you've been able to carry forward?
Hoffman:At PayPal, we had a window of opportunity – to scale up a new digital payments system on a global level before huge companies with far more resources and experience in the payments industry truly understood what was possible. So we learned to move boldly, decisively, and fast. At PayPal, we helped pioneer the idea that growth is the foundation for an internet company. The faster we got to scale, the stronger we created network effects, the more enduring business that we created.
Another thing few people realize is that PayPal centrally depended on the power of networks. By 2001, we had a pretty big fraud problem, where international crime rings were using stolen credit card numbers to make payments to dummy accounts, and leaving us on the hook for these charges after withdrawing the money. But because all these transactions were happening on a single networked platform, we could map how all the different accounts were interacting with each other. So we were able to develop a fraud-monitoring system that identified the various patterns that were associated with fraud, and in time we got very good at preventing fraudulent transactions.
And that was a key personal lesson to learn: a network of identities, communications, and transactions can be a platform for a number of applications. In PayPal, we had payment but also identity and anti-fraud. When you build a platform that creates all kinds of relationships and enables a huge number of interactions of one kind or another, the data that it generates ends up creating all kinds of strategic advantages. You see that in many of our post-PayPal businesses: Linkedin, Youtube, Yelp, Affirm, etc.
Rosoff:You founded a social network, SocialNet, in the 1990s, well before Facebook, MySpace, and Friendster. Then again with LinkedIn. Why were you drawn to that kind of business? What's interesting about it?
Hoffman:SocialNet emerged from those questions I mentioned earlier that have always compelled me. What is a meaningful life, and what kinds of social systems enable it?
Broadly, the meaning of life comes from how we interact with each other. The internet can reconfigure space, so that the right people are always next to each other. The internet was this new medium where anyone could be a publisher, so what did that mean? What kinds of information would people want to publish about themselves? Traditionally, publishers had often built communities of interest around specific topics. But that didn't mean all the people who were subscribing to Golf Magazine could easily find each other. But the internet made that possible.
Broadly, the meaning of life comes from how we interact with each other.
The theory behind SocialNet was that the web wasn't just a place where traditional publishers could distribute content more efficiently, or where readers would just have more opportunities to comment on stories that professional writers had written. The web was a place where millions and millions of people would create their own media identities, share information about themselves, and look for opportunities to connect with each other in ways that could truly enhance their lives. Socialnet also started with a particular set of key relationships in human life: dating, work, social, and living (roommates).
LinkedIn then focused on one deep aspect of life: work. Especially in its early days, a lot of people just thought of it as a place to post your resume when you were looking for a job. In reality, it was an identity platform for professionals, a place where you shared information about yourself so you could be found and find others, and thus develop connections and relationships that would enrich your professional life in all sorts of different ways. Your identity and network became the platform to amplify your professional life overall, to connect you with opportunity and success.
Rosoff:Does LinkedIn have a larger mission than providing shareholder returns? What is it? And how does a company balance the need to provide profits and shareholder returns with larger missions?
Hoffman:This question implies a tension between "a larger mission" and "shareholder returns." I disagree; instead, I see a synergy. First and foremost, our mission is to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce, by building the world's best platform for sharing professional identity, finding job opportunities, learning more about specific companies and industries, and developing new skills. And because our larger mission has led to a product that brings hundreds of millions of users serious economic value, we're able to monetize it in ways that generate strong returns for our shareholders as well. Mission reinforces shareholder return; business model reinforces mission.
Rosoff:How have you taken the lessons you learned at both PayPal and LinkedIn and applied them to your investment decisions?
Hoffman:Because of my experiences with PayPal and LinkedIn, I look for ideas that can solve a need for hundreds of millions of people. While achieving scale fast was also a priority for both these companies, there were also strong long-term visions informing them from the very start. At LinkedIn, for example, you couldn't directly research companies or take online classes in the early years. But the founding vision of Linkedin did include these ideas and others not yet implemented. So I look for that too. Does the founder have both the bias to action that you need to get a product to market quickly, and also a persuasive vision for where the company and the market in general will be five years or even ten years out? Does success transform people’s lives and industries at scale?
(Hoffman (right) with LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner (left) and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella (middle).Microsoft)
Rosoff:One hundred years from now, will life be better for most people than it is today? How so? What could go wrong?
Hoffman:We're still in the very early years of a massively transformative era, the beginning of what I call the Networked Age. The great news is that networks create compounding feedback loops that amplify the frequency, velocity, and reach of human communication and exchange. And that's the bad news too. The Arab Spring and ISIS are both products of the Networked Age.
On the plus side, I believe that networks and the flows of capital, talent, and information they enable are going to make life more prosperous and more meaningful for billions of people. On the potential downside, we should ask what kinds of strain does that put on the planet and on society? As global standards of living rise because of increased interconnectivity, we're going to need more energy, more food, more global cooperation. Can we manage it? I'm optimistic. If you look at long-term trends, we're less violent than we were 100 years ago, more educated, and perhaps surprisingly, more tolerant of diversity.
Of course, we're also going to be adding a lot of new elements into the mix, very quickly. Artificial Intelligence. Genome editing. If we think carefully about all the different pathways that are now emerging, I think we can ultimately navigate to a much better place. But the actual contours of that world are all but impossible to predict. If you think about how we went from the early web's "coffee cams" and dancing-baby animations to Facebook, Airbnb, Uber, Bitcoin, and countless other unforeseen services and technologies in less than 20 years, it seems impossible to predict specifics for 2116. Comparing the last 100 years to the next 100, however, it seems nearly certain that we will make a number of inventions and changes that will be magic and radically new.
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• MITT ROMNEY: My son emailed me yesterday telling me to run for president || The Danger of Cryptocurrency Markets: - By Alex Barrow
One of our more profitable trades this year was in the cryptocurrency Bitcoin.
We caught it breaking out of a long-term triangle pattern and rode it to the very top of its trend. We then successfully exited our position right before Bitcoin began breaking down last week.
• Warning! GuruFocus has detected 7 Warning Signs with TSLA. Click here to check it out.
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For those unfamiliar, Bitcoin is a digital asset and payment system -- a virtual currency. It's considered a cryptocurrency because it doesn't require a central bank to handle its transactions. It's all self-contained through technology that encrypts and records a ledger over a distributed computer system. This technology is called the blockchain.
The benefit of blockchain technology comes from its transparency. Everybody can see every transaction. The whole system is also decentralized. There's no single institution or bank that controls the transferring of assets back and forth. This (advocates claim) removes the possibility of corruption, theft and a whole host of other common problems that come with your standard financial system.
Bitcoin and its fellow cryptocurrencies (several have been launched since) have become popular as alternatives to the standard fiat currencies of governments around the world. In some ways they're treated in a similar way to gold and other precious metals. Don't trust the government? Scared of inflation or other market problems? Then pile into these alternative currencies.
Our Macro Ops team member Tyler actually produced an entire SitRep discussing Bitcoin, blockchain technology and its benefits. If you're interested in learning more, you can check out that presentation here .
Now we like the idea of Bitcoin. Its blockchain technology is impressive and can be used in a variety of different applications.
We're also fans of the engineers who created it and maintained it for this long. The whole "Silicon Valley" mentality of disrupting standard systems and finding new and better ways to do old things is inspiring. This attitude is what created cryptocurrencies in the face of centuries old banking systems. This ability to think outside the box, dismissing all previous assumptions, is one that's also useful to take and apply to our own market analysis as investors.
But here's the problem. A lot of times these engineers take the disruption mentality too far.
I'm sure you've heard some of the ridiculous Silicon Valley techno utopian fantasies that float around from time to time. Our favorite is the "tech island" concept that gets proposed every few years. It usually comes from a group of techies whose heads get too big as they start spouting off the benefits of a sovereign island with no rules and regulations. Just innovation.
They completely disregard the benefits of the institutional structures our society has built thus far. They take the concept of disruption and stretch it, claiming that everything that's been created in the past is wrong and needs to be redone.
But this makes no sense. There's usually a reason certain systems are in place and have been in place for a number years. While having the disruption mentality may give you fresh eyes to find solutions to old problems, taking it too far becomes harmful to the process. You become the obnoxious intern fresh out of college lecturing 30-year veterans on how to do their jobs. Sure you can make suggestions for improvement, but in reality you don't know anything compared to them and you need to learn.
Tesla(TSLA) may have completely turned the auto manufacturing process on its head and revolutionized the industry, but do you think Elon Musk completely disregarded Henry Ford to do so? Hell no. He was a dedicated student of the man. Musk studied past manufacturing process down to the tee, broke out the first principles and built from there. He's far from ignorant and understood the old way was in place for a reason but could be reinvented and improved upon.
The impractical side of the disruption mentality is a problem. It creates unrealistic beliefs that lead to booms and busts. And that's exactly what we're seeing in the cryptocurrency space.
The advocates of these currencies have come to the point of pushing fantasies. Their long-term goal is to create a system completely free of human intervention -- with machines doing everything. In their minds, the humans are the problem and rigid automation is the solution to creating a "perfect" system.
A large percentage of cryptocurrency investors believe in this vision to some extent. This belief is part of the reason you'll see massive runs in the price of these assets. But it's also why you'll see crashes, too.
A potential crash is what our team at Macro Ops saw coming right before we exited our Bitcoin position and prices dropped.
The problem wasn't actually in the Bitcoin market though, but instead in the Ethereum market, another cryptocurrency. This market works in a similar way, with investors exchanging Ether instead of Bitcoin.
The story of the crash starts with the creation of a new "revolutionary" kind of venture capital firm -- the Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). Its goal? To be the first VC with no executives. Computers would run everything. (Because humans are the biggest problem, right?)
The firm used Ethereum technology to run its operations. Investors would join the fund by submitting Ether to it. Once they bought in, they would receive voting rights in proportion to their investment. Companies that wanted to be funded by the VC would submit their proposals which all the DAO investors would vote on. Whichever proposal won the voting round would be accepted and funded. All this was carried out through Ethereum technology.
It was a decentralized, democratic system with full transparency -- a brand-new kind of investment firm. People considered it a beautiful extension of the technology that undermined cryptocurrencies. It excited them. And they piled in. DAO quickly raised $152 million from investors around the world.
But then the unthinkable happened. The fund was robbed. A hacker exposed weaknesses in DAO's Ethereum construct and stole over $50 million.
The hacking successfully put an end to the DAO. And what's more, it cast doubt on the security and durability of the entire Ethereum system. The beliefs of cryptocurrency investors took a beating. And that beating transferred to virtual currency prices.
This was when the price of Bitcoin started to fall, and we exited our position. But Bitcoin's drop was minor compared to the drop in Ether prices. The price of Ether was nearly cut in half from the incident.
A nearly 50% drop in two days? That's rough.
And it's also a great example of what we mean by techno fantasies creating booms and busts. But it's nothing new. It's really the same things that drive all bubbles and busts: hope, greed and fear.
This isn't even the first time cryptocurrencies have run into problems like this. You may have heard of the collapse of Mt. Gox in 2014. It was the world's largest bitcoin exchange that had to shut down after being robbed of over $450 million worth of bitcoins.
But it's funny because even though the same lessons are taught in each one of these fiascos, people never learn. The DAO experience is a good reminder.
The first lesson is in the unavoidability of human intervention in the systems we create. Soon after the DAO robbery, Ethereum developers were actually able to catch the hacker and freeze the funds he stole.
Great. Problem solved, right?
Nope.
This is where a giant debate erupted among the Ethereum community. Returning the stolen money to investors would require a manual change to Ethereum's underlying technology. This is a huge deal because it would require human intervention - which would defeat the whole purpose of a completely autonomous system, right? It would ruin the system's sanctity and fly in the face of the principles on which it was built. This made the decision a polarizing one. It's ironic because the community is now stuck in a political battle, just the kind they hate and created cryptocurrencies to avoid.
It's stupid to think that we can avoid all intervention in a system we created ourselves. There are always inherent human biases that go into the construction of anything. In that sense, nothing we create can be "perfect" and free of human touch. This fact will almost always cause the need for a human to step into a system at some point down the line.
Part two of this unavoidable human intervention concept is the legal side of the DAO robbery. Who's responsible for the stolen funds? Should the developers of the DAO be held accountable? They're the ones that made the code with the holes in it right? But wait a minute; they were just developers! The system was completely run by machines! The goal was no executives, remember?
Ha. Good luck telling that to investors.
When it hits the fan, people want someone to blame. Chalking it up to computer problems is not going to work. Emotions come into play, people get pissed, and a machine does not suffice as a scapegoat.
This leads us to the second lesson behind the DAO failure -- regulation. As we discussed before, the Silicon Valley crowd loves to push the disruption mentality too far and pontificate about things like tech islands without any rules or regulation, where pure innovation can supposedly flourish. This same mentality carried over into cryptocurrencies. The thought was that a completely machine-based system wouldn't need regulation like standard banks. This would lead to fewer costs and a far better efficiency.
This is a nice sentiment. But in reality, regulation is necessary. Now we agree overregulation is bad, which is what much of the financial system is suffering from now, but zero regulation is just as dumb. To think cryptocurrencies could somehow avoid any type of regulation is stupid. And it again goes back to what happens in cases of fraud and stolen assets. There need to be rules in place so that the right people are prosecuted and victims compensated.
And it's funny because the cryptocurrency community is starting to realize this. It's starting to realize why the original banking system is there in the first place with all its rules. Turns out not all parts of the system are worthless and in need of "disruption." Surprise, surprise.
We're now seeing posts like the following in various cryptocurrency circles:
"We are an anonymous collective concerned with the lack of regulation in the cybercurrency sector.
"We have contacted the SEC (Securities Exchange Commission) to raise awareness of the developments in Ethereum and specifically concepts like the DAO. While we generally support the innovations in cryptography and cybercurrency, the current "wild-west" environment presents dangerous pitfalls for potential investors, as the DAO attack has shown. As such, regulation is required to protect investors in the United States and abroad. We are currently in contact with investigators at the SEC, the ESC (European Securities Committee) and the MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) to explore this matter.
"We urge the community to reach out to both the above mentioned authorities, as well as their own national regulators to explore possible measures to protect investors and to establish liability for fraudulent investment schemes. Please see below an excerpt of a Tip Complaint Referral Form Submitted to the SEC. Further information will follow shortly."
Ha! Crawling back to some form of regulation, huh?
So why is the silliness in the cryptocurrency space important to us as global macro investors? Well first off because this virtual currency is another market we trade.
But more than that, this is a wonderful exercise in getting into the heads of investors and determining why booms and busts occur. Our metaview of this entire cryptocurrency situation helped us ride Bitcoin to highs and jump out before it faltered. We understood the investor motivations and false beliefs helping to drive the boom. And we knew any crack in that belief, such as another hacking incident, would send prices in a downward spiral.
It pays to be one level above the hope, greed and fear that drives markets. Being objective and rational, while still understanding the emotional pushes and pulls that affect other investors, is the key to success.
Disclosure:The author owns no shares in any stocks mentioned in this article.
Start afree seven-day trialof Premium Membership to GuruFocus.
This article first appeared onGuruFocus.
• Warning! GuruFocus has detected 7 Warning Signs with TSLA. Click here to check it out.
• TSLA 15-Year Financial Data
• The intrinsic value of TSLA
• Peter Lynch Chart of TSLA || The Danger of Cryptocurrency Markets: - By Alex Barrow One of our more profitable trades this year was in the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Bitcoin Inventory We caught it breaking out of a long-term triangle pattern and rode it to the very top of its trend. We then successfully exited our position right before Bitcoin began breaking down last week. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 7 Warning Signs with TSLA. Click here to check it out. TSLA 15-Year Financial Data The intrinsic value of TSLA Peter Lynch Chart of TSLA For those unfamiliar, Bitcoin is a digital asset and payment system -- a virtual currency. It's considered a cryptocurrency because it doesn't require a central bank to handle its transactions. It's all self-contained through technology that encrypts and records a ledger over a distributed computer system. This technology is called the blockchain . The benefit of blockchain technology comes from its transparency. Everybody can see every transaction. The whole system is also decentralized. There's no single institution or bank that controls the transferring of assets back and forth. This (advocates claim) removes the possibility of corruption, theft and a whole host of other common problems that come with your standard financial system. Bitcoin and its fellow cryptocurrencies (several have been launched since) have become popular as alternatives to the standard fiat currencies of governments around the world. In some ways they're treated in a similar way to gold and other precious metals. Don't trust the government? Scared of inflation or other market problems? Then pile into these alternative currencies. Our Macro Ops team member Tyler actually produced an entire SitRep discussing Bitcoin, blockchain technology and its benefits. If you're interested in learning more, you can check out that presentation here . Now we like the idea of Bitcoin. Its blockchain technology is impressive and can be used in a variety of different applications. We're also fans of the engineers who created it and maintained it for this long. The whole "Silicon Valley" mentality of disrupting standard systems and finding new and better ways to do old things is inspiring. This attitude is what created cryptocurrencies in the face of centuries old banking systems. This ability to think outside the box, dismissing all previous assumptions, is one that's also useful to take and apply to our own market analysis as investors. Story continues But here's the problem. A lot of times these engineers take the disruption mentality too far. I'm sure you've heard some of the ridiculous Silicon Valley techno utopian fantasies that float around from time to time. Our favorite is the "tech island" concept that gets proposed every few years. It usually comes from a group of techies whose heads get too big as they start spouting off the benefits of a sovereign island with no rules and regulations. Just innovation. They completely disregard the benefits of the institutional structures our society has built thus far. They take the concept of disruption and stretch it, claiming that everything that's been created in the past is wrong and needs to be redone. But this makes no sense. There's usually a reason certain systems are in place and have been in place for a number years. While having the disruption mentality may give you fresh eyes to find solutions to old problems, taking it too far becomes harmful to the process. You become the obnoxious intern fresh out of college lecturing 30-year veterans on how to do their jobs. Sure you can make suggestions for improvement, but in reality you don't know anything compared to them and you need to learn. Tesla ( TSLA ) may have completely turned the auto manufacturing process on its head and revolutionized the industry, but do you think Elon Musk completely disregarded Henry Ford to do so? Hell no. He was a dedicated student of the man. Musk studied past manufacturing process down to the tee, broke out the first principles and built from there. He's far from ignorant and understood the old way was in place for a reason but could be reinvented and improved upon. The impractical side of the disruption mentality is a problem. It creates unrealistic beliefs that lead to booms and busts. And that's exactly what we're seeing in the cryptocurrency space. The advocates of these currencies have come to the point of pushing fantasies. Their long-term goal is to create a system completely free of human intervention -- with machines doing everything. In their minds, the humans are the problem and rigid automation is the solution to creating a "perfect" system. A large percentage of cryptocurrency investors believe in this vision to some extent. This belief is part of the reason you'll see massive runs in the price of these assets. But it's also why you'll see crashes, too. A potential crash is what our team at Macro Ops saw coming right before we exited our Bitcoin position and prices dropped. The problem wasn't actually in the Bitcoin market though, but instead in the Ethereum market, another cryptocurrency. This market works in a similar way, with investors exchanging Ether instead of Bitcoin. The story of the crash starts with the creation of a new "revolutionary" kind of venture capital firm -- the Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). Its goal? To be the first VC with no executives. Computers would run everything. (Because humans are the biggest problem, right?) The firm used Ethereum technology to run its operations. Investors would join the fund by submitting Ether to it. Once they bought in, they would receive voting rights in proportion to their investment. Companies that wanted to be funded by the VC would submit their proposals which all the DAO investors would vote on. Whichever proposal won the voting round would be accepted and funded. All this was carried out through Ethereum technology. It was a decentralized, democratic system with full transparency -- a brand-new kind of investment firm. People considered it a beautiful extension of the technology that undermined cryptocurrencies. It excited them. And they piled in. DAO quickly raised $152 million from investors around the world. But then the unthinkable happened. The fund was robbed. A hacker exposed weaknesses in DAO's Ethereum construct and stole over $50 million. The hacking successfully put an end to the DAO. And what's more, it cast doubt on the security and durability of the entire Ethereum system. The beliefs of cryptocurrency investors took a beating. And that beating transferred to virtual currency prices. This was when the price of Bitcoin started to fall, and we exited our position. But Bitcoin's drop was minor compared to the drop in Ether prices. The price of Ether was nearly cut in half from the incident. Kraken Ethusd A nearly 50% drop in two days? That's rough. And it's also a great example of what we mean by techno fantasies creating booms and busts. But it's nothing new. It's really the same things that drive all bubbles and busts: hope, greed and fear. This isn't even the first time cryptocurrencies have run into problems like this. You may have heard of the collapse of Mt. Gox in 2014. It was the world's largest bitcoin exchange that had to shut down after being robbed of over $450 million worth of bitcoins. But it's funny because even though the same lessons are taught in each one of these fiascos, people never learn. The DAO experience is a good reminder. The first lesson is in the unavoidability of human intervention in the systems we create. Soon after the DAO robbery, Ethereum developers were actually able to catch the hacker and freeze the funds he stole. Great. Problem solved, right? Nope. This is where a giant debate erupted among the Ethereum community. Returning the stolen money to investors would require a manual change to Ethereum's underlying technology. This is a huge deal because it would require human intervention - which would defeat the whole purpose of a completely autonomous system, right? It would ruin the system's sanctity and fly in the face of the principles on which it was built. This made the decision a polarizing one. It's ironic because the community is now stuck in a political battle, just the kind they hate and created cryptocurrencies to avoid. It's stupid to think that we can avoid all intervention in a system we created ourselves. There are always inherent human biases that go into the construction of anything. In that sense, nothing we create can be "perfect" and free of human touch. This fact will almost always cause the need for a human to step into a system at some point down the line. Part two of this unavoidable human intervention concept is the legal side of the DAO robbery. Who's responsible for the stolen funds? Should the developers of the DAO be held accountable? They're the ones that made the code with the holes in it right? But wait a minute; they were just developers! The system was completely run by machines! The goal was no executives, remember? Ha. Good luck telling that to investors. When it hits the fan, people want someone to blame. Chalking it up to computer problems is not going to work. Emotions come into play, people get pissed, and a machine does not suffice as a scapegoat. This leads us to the second lesson behind the DAO failure -- regulation. As we discussed before, the Silicon Valley crowd loves to push the disruption mentality too far and pontificate about things like tech islands without any rules or regulation, where pure innovation can supposedly flourish. This same mentality carried over into cryptocurrencies. The thought was that a completely machine-based system wouldn't need regulation like standard banks. This would lead to fewer costs and a far better efficiency. This is a nice sentiment. But in reality, regulation is necessary. Now we agree overregulation is bad, which is what much of the financial system is suffering from now, but zero regulation is just as dumb. To think cryptocurrencies could somehow avoid any type of regulation is stupid. And it again goes back to what happens in cases of fraud and stolen assets. There need to be rules in place so that the right people are prosecuted and victims compensated. And it's funny because the cryptocurrency community is starting to realize this. It's starting to realize why the original banking system is there in the first place with all its rules. Turns out not all parts of the system are worthless and in need of "disruption." Surprise, surprise. We're now seeing posts like the following in various cryptocurrency circles: "We are an anonymous collective concerned with the lack of regulation in the cybercurrency sector. "We have contacted the SEC (Securities Exchange Commission) to raise awareness of the developments in Ethereum and specifically concepts like the DAO. While we generally support the innovations in cryptography and cybercurrency, the current "wild-west" environment presents dangerous pitfalls for potential investors, as the DAO attack has shown. As such, regulation is required to protect investors in the United States and abroad. We are currently in contact with investigators at the SEC, the ESC (European Securities Committee) and the MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) to explore this matter. "We urge the community to reach out to both the above mentioned authorities, as well as their own national regulators to explore possible measures to protect investors and to establish liability for fraudulent investment schemes. Please see below an excerpt of a Tip Complaint Referral Form Submitted to the SEC. Further information will follow shortly." Ha! Crawling back to some form of regulation, huh? So why is the silliness in the cryptocurrency space important to us as global macro investors? Well first off because this virtual currency is another market we trade. But more than that, this is a wonderful exercise in getting into the heads of investors and determining why booms and busts occur. Our metaview of this entire cryptocurrency situation helped us ride Bitcoin to highs and jump out before it faltered. We understood the investor motivations and false beliefs helping to drive the boom. And we knew any crack in that belief, such as another hacking incident, would send prices in a downward spiral. It pays to be one level above the hope, greed and fear that drives markets. Being objective and rational, while still understanding the emotional pushes and pulls that affect other investors, is the key to success. Disclosure: The author owns no shares in any stocks mentioned in this article. Start a free seven-day trial of Premium Membership to GuruFocus. This article first appeared on GuruFocus . Warning! GuruFocus has detected 7 Warning Signs with TSLA. Click here to check it out. TSLA 15-Year Financial Data The intrinsic value of TSLA Peter Lynch Chart of TSLA || Germophobes Beware, The FDA Calls Into Question The Effectiveness Of Hand Sanitizer: Hand sanitizers kills 99.9 percent of germs and is effective in promoting health and wellness, right? Perhaps if this claim were true the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wouldn't find it necessary to initiate a probe and ask for new studies on its effectiveness.
The Associated Pressreported on Wednesday that the federal health officials is requesting from companies that manufacture and sell hand sanitizers studies on how the antiseptic gels and rubs fight germs and get absorbed into the body.
The FDA is undergoing a new initiative to review decades-old chemicals that have never had a comprehensive review by a federal agency. The agency did confirm that has no reason to believe at this time that the products are ineffective or unsafe.
Ninety (90) percent of sanitizers sold to the public, including at schools and other public spaces, contain either ethanol or ethyl alcohol.
Related Link:AbbVie Gets Fourth Breakthrough Therapy Designation From FDA For Ibrutinib
"We're not trying to alarm people," said Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA's drug center. "Obviously ethanol and humans have co-existed for a long time, so there's a lot that's known about it."
Nevertheless, the agency has concerns over the long-lasting consequences, if any, of frequent use by children and women of child-bearing age.
Companies will have a full year to submit relevant information to the FDA and will take comments on its proposal for six months before finalizing it.
See more from Benzinga
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• Winklevoss Twins Approach BATS Global Markets To List Bitcoin ETF
• Lions Gate To Buy Starz For .4 Billion
© 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Germophobes Beware, The FDA Calls Into Question The Effectiveness Of Hand Sanitizer: Hand sanitizers kills 99.9 percent of germs and is effective in promoting health and wellness, right? Perhaps if this claim were true the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wouldn't find it necessary to initiate a probe and ask for new studies on its effectiveness. The Associated Press reported on Wednesday that the federal health officials is requesting from companies that manufacture and sell hand sanitizers studies on how the antiseptic gels and rubs fight germs and get absorbed into the body. The FDA is undergoing a new initiative to review decades-old chemicals that have never had a comprehensive review by a federal agency. The agency did confirm that has no reason to believe at this time that the products are ineffective or unsafe. Ninety (90) percent of sanitizers sold to the public, including at schools and other public spaces, contain either ethanol or ethyl alcohol. Related Link: AbbVie Gets Fourth Breakthrough Therapy Designation From FDA For Ibrutinib "We're not trying to alarm people," said Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA's drug center. "Obviously ethanol and humans have co-existed for a long time, so there's a lot that's known about it." Nevertheless, the agency has concerns over the long-lasting consequences, if any, of frequent use by children and women of child-bearing age. Companies will have a full year to submit relevant information to the FDA and will take comments on its proposal for six months before finalizing it. See more from Benzinga Elizabeth Warren: Apple, Google And Amazon Threaten Our Democracy Winklevoss Twins Approach BATS Global Markets To List Bitcoin ETF Lions Gate To Buy Starz For .4 Billion © 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
[Social Media Buzz]
Germany wins, Bitcoin hits $700.00 || BTC Price: BTC-E $679.00 USD - Bitstamp $674.00 USD - CEX.IO $704.81 USD 2016-07-02 11:35 UTC #btc #bitcoin http://cur.lv/1042n4 || 1 #bitcoin 2042.7 TL, 674.999 $, 617.999 €, GBP, 41620.00 RUR, 72625 ¥, CNH, CAD #btc || $696.79 #bitfinex;
$696.00 #bitstamp;
$678.00 #btce;
Prices & News: http://bit.ly/1VI6Yse
#bitcoin #btc || 1 KOBO = 0.00001496 BTC
= 0.0103 USD
= 2.9059 NGN
= 0.1499 ZAR
= 1.0401 KES
#Kobocoin 2016-07-02 19:00 pic.twitte...
|
658.66, 683.66, 670.63, 677.33, 640.56, 666.52, 650.96, 649.36, 647.66, 664.55
|
Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 6890.52, 6973.53, 6844.23, 7083.80, 7456.11, 6853.84, 6811.47, 6636.32, 6911.09, 7023.52, 6770.73, 6834.76, 6968.32, 7889.25, 7895.96, 7986.24, 8329.11, 8058.67, 7902.09, 8163.42, 8294.31, 8845.83, 8895.58, 8802.46, 8930.88, 9697.50, 8845.74, 9281.51, 8987.05, 9348.48, 9419.08, 9240.55, 9119.01, 9235.92, 9743.86, 9700.76, 9858.15, 9654.80, 9373.01, 9234.82, 9325.18, 9043.94, 8441.49, 8504.89, 8723.94, 8716.79, 8510.38, 8368.83, 8094.32, 8250.97, 8247.18, 8513.25, 8418.99, 8041.78, 7557.82, 7587.34, 7480.14, 7355.88, 7368.22, 7135.99, 7472.59, 7406.52, 7494.17, 7541.45, 7643.45, 7720.25, 7514.47, 7633.76, 7653.98, 7678.24, 7624.92, 7531.98, 6786.02, 6906.92, 6582.36, 6349.90, 6675.35, 6456.58, 6550.16, 6499.27, 6734.82, 6769.94, 6776.55, 6729.74, 6083.69, 6162.48, 6173.23, 6249.18, 6093.67, 6157.13.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2018-06-27]
Volume: 3296219904, RSI (14-day): 34.43, 50-day EMA: 7250.35, 200-day EMA: 8251.10
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1252.80, Gold RSI: 23.69
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Bitcoin Price Hasnt Found a Bottom [Yet]: Crypto Hedge Fund Manager: bitcoin price The ongoing bitcoin price recovery might be short-lived and prices may suffer another retracement, but falling prices will be temporary and bitcoin remains a solid investment in the near-term. This was the investment opinion of Blockchain Capital partner Spencer Bogart, speaking to Melissa Lee on CNBCs Fast Money this week. The venture capitalist, who has consistently maintained that bitcoin is a screaming buy said that he believes there will be downward pressure on the bitcoin price in the next few months due to a coming supply glut caused by crypto funds exiting their lockdown period. Nevertheless, he said, bitcoin remains the most solid asset in the crypto space because it has a unique combination of mindshare, global presence, demonstrable use case, and freedom from SEC regulations after being classified as a commodity by federal regulators. Forced Selling At 17:30 EST on Monday June 25, Bitcoin rebounded from dipping under $6,000 to about $6,200, much to the relief of the market, though it ultimately pared that recovery over the following 24 hours. bitcoin price In Bogarts opinion however, the next few weeks and months will see a round of selloffs as crypto hedge funds seek to redeem funds after the one year lockdown cycle for investors who came into the market under more bullish circumstances in summer 2017. He said: Summer 2017 maybe 100-300 new crypto hedge funds were formed, and one year since then, a lot of them are reaching the end of the 1 year lockup. The LPs in those funds are now looking at a down-50% year. Theyre saying, hey, I want to redeem out of that fund. That means forced selling on behalf of all of these new crypto funds that have popped up. I think that could take prices artificially lower, and [Bitcoin is] very attractive to buy at these levels. Despite this he said, he is super bullish on crypto, particularly bitcoin which he described as the only coin to demonstrate wide adoption and a practical use case. Story continues In his words: A lot of coins are ICOs are still very overvalued, but Bitcoin has the mindshare, the general awareness and global distribution that no other coin has. From a regulatory perspective it is also the safest due to the SEC decision [that it is not a security]
It is also the only coin that has demonstrated use case and traction in terms of moving and storage value all over the world. In his opinion, investors should not wait for the market to find a bottom, or else they will end up paying higher prices for the asset than they are doing right now. The right strategy he said, is not to attempt to time the market, but to average into it. In a separate development, Brian Kelly, CEO of digital currency investment firm BKCM LLC, indicated that the figure of $5,900 may in fact be the price floor that many investors are looking for, stating that this is base cost of mining the bitcoin blockchain and that an incentive exists for miners to keep the price above that level. Featured Image from Shutterstock The post Bitcoin Price Hasnt Found a Bottom [Yet]: Crypto Hedge Fund Manager appeared first on CCN . || Bitcoin Price Hasn’t Found a Bottom [Yet]: Crypto Hedge Fund Manager: The ongoing bitcoin price recovery might be short-lived and prices may suffer another retracement, but falling prices will be temporary and bitcoin remains a solid investment in the near-term.
This was the investment opinion of Blockchain Capital partner Spencer Bogart, speaking to Melissa Lee on CNBC’s “Fast Money” this week. The venture capitalist, who has consistently maintained that bitcoin is a “screaming buy” said that he believes there will be downward pressure on thebitcoin pricein the next few months due to a coming supply glut caused by crypto funds exiting their lockdown period.
Nevertheless, he said, bitcoin remains the most solid asset in the crypto space because it has a unique combination of mindshare, global presence, demonstrable use case, and freedom from SEC regulations after beingclassifiedas a commodity by federal regulators.
At 17:30 EST on Monday June 25, Bitcoin rebounded from dipping under $6,000 to about $6,200, much to the relief of the market, though it ultimately pared that recovery over the following 24 hours.
In Bogart’s opinion however, the next few weeks and months will see a round of selloffs as crypto hedge funds seek to redeem funds after the one year lockdown cycle for investors who came into the market under more bullish circumstances in summer 2017.
He said:
“Summer 2017 maybe 100-300 new crypto hedge funds were formed, and one year since then, a lot of them are reaching the end of the 1 year lockup. The LPs in those funds are now looking at a down-50% year. They’re saying, ‘hey, I want to redeem out of that fund’. That means forced selling on behalf of all of these new crypto funds that have popped up. I think that could take prices artificially lower, and [Bitcoin is] very attractive to buy at these levels.”
Despite this he said, he is “super bullish” on crypto, particularly bitcoin which he described as the only coin to demonstrate wide adoption and a practical use case.
In his words:
“A lot of coins are ICOs are still very overvalued, but Bitcoin has the mindshare, the general awareness and global distribution that no other coin has. From a regulatory perspective it is also the safest due to the SEC decision [that it is not a security]…It is also the only coin that has demonstrated use case and traction in terms of moving and storage value all over the world.”
In his opinion, investors should not wait for the market to find a bottom, or else they will end up paying higher prices for the asset than they are doing right now. The right strategy he said, is not to attempt to time the market, but to average into it.
In a separate development, Brian Kelly, CEO of digital currency investment firm BKCM LLC, indicated that the figure of $5,900 may in fact be the price floor that many investors are looking for, stating that this is base cost of mining the bitcoin blockchain and that an incentive exists for miners to keep the price above that level.
Featured Image from Shutterstock
The postBitcoin Price Hasn’t Found a Bottom [Yet]: Crypto Hedge Fund Managerappeared first onCCN. || Bitcoin Price Hasn’t Found a Bottom [Yet]: Crypto Hedge Fund Manager: The ongoing bitcoin price recovery might be short-lived and prices may suffer another retracement, but falling prices will be temporary and bitcoin remains a solid investment in the near-term.
This was the investment opinion of Blockchain Capital partner Spencer Bogart, speaking to Melissa Lee on CNBC’s “Fast Money” this week. The venture capitalist, who has consistently maintained that bitcoin is a “screaming buy” said that he believes there will be downward pressure on thebitcoin pricein the next few months due to a coming supply glut caused by crypto funds exiting their lockdown period.
Nevertheless, he said, bitcoin remains the most solid asset in the crypto space because it has a unique combination of mindshare, global presence, demonstrable use case, and freedom from SEC regulations after beingclassifiedas a commodity by federal regulators.
At 17:30 EST on Monday June 25, Bitcoin rebounded from dipping under $6,000 to about $6,200, much to the relief of the market, though it ultimately pared that recovery over the following 24 hours.
In Bogart’s opinion however, the next few weeks and months will see a round of selloffs as crypto hedge funds seek to redeem funds after the one year lockdown cycle for investors who came into the market under more bullish circumstances in summer 2017.
He said:
“Summer 2017 maybe 100-300 new crypto hedge funds were formed, and one year since then, a lot of them are reaching the end of the 1 year lockup. The LPs in those funds are now looking at a down-50% year. They’re saying, ‘hey, I want to redeem out of that fund’. That means forced selling on behalf of all of these new crypto funds that have popped up. I think that could take prices artificially lower, and [Bitcoin is] very attractive to buy at these levels.”
Despite this he said, he is “super bullish” on crypto, particularly bitcoin which he described as the only coin to demonstrate wide adoption and a practical use case.
In his words:
“A lot of coins are ICOs are still very overvalued, but Bitcoin has the mindshare, the general awareness and global distribution that no other coin has. From a regulatory perspective it is also the safest due to the SEC decision [that it is not a security]…It is also the only coin that has demonstrated use case and traction in terms of moving and storage value all over the world.”
In his opinion, investors should not wait for the market to find a bottom, or else they will end up paying higher prices for the asset than they are doing right now. The right strategy he said, is not to attempt to time the market, but to average into it.
In a separate development, Brian Kelly, CEO of digital currency investment firm BKCM LLC, indicated that the figure of $5,900 may in fact be the price floor that many investors are looking for, stating that this is base cost of mining the bitcoin blockchain and that an incentive exists for miners to keep the price above that level.
Featured Image from Shutterstock
The postBitcoin Price Hasn’t Found a Bottom [Yet]: Crypto Hedge Fund Managerappeared first onCCN. || What Happened in the Stock Market Today: Stocks managed to bounce back a bit today after yesterday's losses, with theDow Jones Industrial Average(DJINDICES: ^DJI)and theS&P 500(SNPINDEX: ^GSPC)both making small gains.
[{"Index": "Dow", "Percentage Change": "0.12%", "Point Change": "30.31"}, {"Index": "S&P 500", "Percentage Change": "0.22%", "Point Change": "5.99"}]
Data source: Yahoo! Finance.
Energy led the market as the price of crude oil climbed above $70; theSPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF(NYSEMKT: XOP)increased 2.4%. Home construction stocks rose after an encouraging quarter fromLennar, and theiShares US Home Construction ETF(NYSEMKT: ITB)closed up 1.6%.
Two providers of information services to businesses reported expectation-beating quarterly results today. Shares ofFactSet Research Systems(NYSE: FDS)andIHS Markit(NASDAQ: INFO)got opposite reactions from investors, though.
Image source: Getty Images.
FactSet Research Systems, a provider of data and research to financial institutions, reportedfiscal third-quarter resultsthat beat expectations, but saw its shares sell off 5.2% on slowing subscription growth. Revenue increased 8.9% to $339.9 million, in line with analyst expectations. Adjusted earnings per share grew 17.8% to $2.18, beating the analyst consensus by $0.05.
Organic annual subscription value grew 5.3%, which was below the 5.8% growth reportedlast quarterand toward the low end of the 4.9% to 6.5% range that the company is forecasting for the full year. Adjusted operating margin came in at 31%, also down from the 31.4% in Q2 and at the bottom of the 31% to 32.5% guidance range for the year. The company added 80 more clients in the quarter, a 1.6% sequential increase.
Despite slipping in some key metrics from the quarter before, FactSet expects that new products coming in the fourth quarter will keep it on track for the year. "We are making progress integrating and cross selling our acquisitions resulting in important wins this quarter, particularly within Analytics," said CEO Phil Snow in the press release. "We continue to innovate with the launch of the Open:FactSet marketplace and enhancing our risk offering. We believe we have a solid pipeline for the fourth quarter and expect to finish fiscal 2018 in our guidance range."
The softening in some key measures had the stock giving up what it had gained in the month before the report, but if FactSet delivers on its expectations for next quarter, it could be a temporary setback.
Business intelligence provider IHS Markit announced better-than-expected revenue and profit in its fiscal second quarter, and the stock jumped 4.8%. Revenue grew 11.3% to $1.01 billion and adjusted earnings per share increased 17.3% to $0.61. Wall Street was expecting the company to earn $0.57 per share on revenue of $974 million.
Recurring revenue grew 6% organically and non-recurring, organic revenue jumped 15%. On a segment basis, Transportation was the strongest business, growing 14% organically and 22% overall. Financial services revenue grew 9% and the resources and consolidated markets and solutions segments each grew 6%. AdjustedEBITDAmargin improved 110 basis points year over year excluding currency effects.
"We reported our strongest organic revenue growth quarter since the merger while delivering solid margin expansion and earnings growth," said CEO Lance Uggla in the press release. (IHS and Markit merged in July 2016.)
Last month, IHS Market announced it's restructuring its financial services offerings by acquiring Ipreo, a software provider to customers in global capital markets, and divesting its MarkitSERV trade processing solution, expecting to boost its organic growth rate a percentage point to 5%-7%. Investors were happy today to see the organic growth from the company's existing businesses.
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Jim Crumlyowns shares of FactSet Research Systems. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends FactSet Research Systems. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || What Happened in the Stock Market Today: Stocks managed to bounce back a bit today after yesterday's losses, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI) and the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) both making small gains. Today's stock market Index Percentage Change Point Change Dow 0.12% 30.31 S&P 500 0.22% 5.99 Data source: Yahoo! Finance. Energy led the market as the price of crude oil climbed above $70; the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (NYSEMKT: XOP) increased 2.4%. Home construction stocks rose after an encouraging quarter from Lennar , and the iShares US Home Construction ETF (NYSEMKT: ITB) closed up 1.6%. Two providers of information services to businesses reported expectation-beating quarterly results today. Shares of FactSet Research Systems (NYSE: FDS) and IHS Markit (NASDAQ: INFO) got opposite reactions from investors, though. Rising stock graph and stock price table. Image source: Getty Images. FactSet beats profit expectations but shares slip FactSet Research Systems, a provider of data and research to financial institutions, reported fiscal third-quarter results that beat expectations, but saw its shares sell off 5.2% on slowing subscription growth. Revenue increased 8.9% to $339.9 million, in line with analyst expectations. Adjusted earnings per share grew 17.8% to $2.18, beating the analyst consensus by $0.05. Organic annual subscription value grew 5.3%, which was below the 5.8% growth reported last quarter and toward the low end of the 4.9% to 6.5% range that the company is forecasting for the full year. Adjusted operating margin came in at 31%, also down from the 31.4% in Q2 and at the bottom of the 31% to 32.5% guidance range for the year. The company added 80 more clients in the quarter, a 1.6% sequential increase. Despite slipping in some key metrics from the quarter before, FactSet expects that new products coming in the fourth quarter will keep it on track for the year. "We are making progress integrating and cross selling our acquisitions resulting in important wins this quarter, particularly within Analytics," said CEO Phil Snow in the press release. "We continue to innovate with the launch of the Open:FactSet marketplace and enhancing our risk offering. We believe we have a solid pipeline for the fourth quarter and expect to finish fiscal 2018 in our guidance range." Story continues The softening in some key measures had the stock giving up what it had gained in the month before the report, but if FactSet delivers on its expectations for next quarter, it could be a temporary setback. IHS Markit delivers nice profit gains Business intelligence provider IHS Markit announced better-than-expected revenue and profit in its fiscal second quarter, and the stock jumped 4.8%. Revenue grew 11.3% to $1.01 billion and adjusted earnings per share increased 17.3% to $0.61. Wall Street was expecting the company to earn $0.57 per share on revenue of $974 million. Recurring revenue grew 6% organically and non-recurring, organic revenue jumped 15%. On a segment basis, Transportation was the strongest business, growing 14% organically and 22% overall. Financial services revenue grew 9% and the resources and consolidated markets and solutions segments each grew 6%. Adjusted EBITDA margin improved 110 basis points year over year excluding currency effects. "We reported our strongest organic revenue growth quarter since the merger while delivering solid margin expansion and earnings growth," said CEO Lance Uggla in the press release. (IHS and Markit merged in July 2016.) Last month, IHS Market announced it's restructuring its financial services offerings by acquiring Ipreo, a software provider to customers in global capital markets, and divesting its MarkitSERV trade processing solution, expecting to boost its organic growth rate a percentage point to 5%-7%. Investors were happy today to see the organic growth from the company's existing businesses. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Jim Crumly owns shares of FactSet Research Systems. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends FactSet Research Systems. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Why Helios and Matheson Stock Just Dropped Another 13%: From a "high" of just $0.45 last week to Friday's closing price of $0.31 per share,Helios and Matheson Analytics(NASDAQ: HMNY)-- the company that owns 92% of MoviePass -- lost nearly a third of its market capitalization. This week, the rout in Helios and Matheson stock is continuing, with shares sinking 7% on Monday and 13% more today.
As of 3:15 p.m. EDT, Helios stock is selling for just two bits -- a mere $0.25 a share.
Moviepass started as a cute story about an upstart fighting for consumers -- but may grow into a monster that will suck away investors' voting rights. Image source: Getty Images.
Why are investors panicking over Helios? I'm sure thatAMC Entertainment's(NYSE: AMC)decision to invade its discount turf witha $19.95-a-month movie subscription planof its own has something to do with it. But there's also a self-inflicted wound to consider.
Last week, MoviePass filed a preliminary proxy statement with the SEC, informing investors that it plans to potentially:
• Quadruple the number of its shares outstanding to 2 billion shares, diluting existing shareholders by as much as 89% in the process (because Helios only has 223 million shares outstanding today).
• And/or conduct a reverse split of its shares, shrinking investors' shareholdings by as much as a 250-to-1 ratio (i.e. if you own 1,000 shares before the reverse split, you'd own just four shares at the end of it).
• And to complicate matters further, Helios is issuing $164 million worth of convertible debt, and 20,500 shares of preferred stock -- with each preferred share conferring voting rights equivalent to owning 3,205 shares of common stock.
Investors owning shares of the company that owns most of MoviePass now face not just the prospect of seeing their company potentially beaten at its own game by AMC. On top of that, their reward for keeping faith with MoviePass and sticking with Helios stock through its growing pains is to be significantly diluted, and to have much of their voting power transferred away to some other unnamed investor(s) who are acquiring the preferred stock.
No wonder they're upset. No wonder they're selling.
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Rich Smithhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Why Helios and Matheson Stock Just Dropped Another 13%: What happened From a "high" of just $0.45 last week to Friday's closing price of $0.31 per share, Helios and Matheson Analytics (NASDAQ: HMNY) -- the company that owns 92% of MoviePass -- lost nearly a third of its market capitalization. This week, the rout in Helios and Matheson stock is continuing, with shares sinking 7% on Monday and 13% more today. As of 3:15 p.m. EDT, Helios stock is selling for just two bits -- a mere $0.25 a share. A child in a Dracula costume standing behind a pile of pumpkins in a field. Moviepass started as a cute story about an upstart fighting for consumers -- but may grow into a monster that will suck away investors' voting rights. Image source: Getty Images. So what Why are investors panicking over Helios? I'm sure that AMC Entertainment 's (NYSE: AMC) decision to invade its discount turf with a $19.95-a-month movie subscription plan of its own has something to do with it. But there's also a self-inflicted wound to consider. Last week, MoviePass filed a preliminary proxy statement with the SEC, informing investors that it plans to potentially: Quadruple the number of its shares outstanding to 2 billion shares, diluting existing shareholders by as much as 89% in the process (because Helios only has 223 million shares outstanding today). And/or conduct a reverse split of its shares, shrinking investors' shareholdings by as much as a 250-to-1 ratio (i.e. if you own 1,000 shares before the reverse split, you'd own just four shares at the end of it). And to complicate matters further, Helios is issuing $164 million worth of convertible debt, and 20,500 shares of preferred stock -- with each preferred share conferring voting rights equivalent to owning 3,205 shares of common stock. Now what Investors owning shares of the company that owns most of MoviePass now face not just the prospect of seeing their company potentially beaten at its own game by AMC. On top of that, their reward for keeping faith with MoviePass and sticking with Helios stock through its growing pains is to be significantly diluted, and to have much of their voting power transferred away to some other unnamed investor(s) who are acquiring the preferred stock. Story continues No wonder they're upset. No wonder they're selling. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Why Hertz Global Holdings, Sibanye-Stillwater, and Achaogen Slumped Today: Tuesday saw a quieter session on Wall Street than Monday, with most major benchmarks modestly increasing to recover some of the ground lost in yesterday's sell-off. Bullish investors are focusing on the likelihood of continued sharp gains when companies report their second-quarter earning in the next month, believing that those results could spur another push higher for stocks. Yet some companies had bad news that sent their shares lower. Hertz Global Holdings (NYSE: HTZ) , Sibanye-Stillwater (NYSE: SBGL) , and Achaogen (NASDAQ: AKAO) were among the worst performers on the day. Here's why they did so poorly. Hertz could see more pressure Shares of Hertz Global Holdings dropped nearly 12% on a bad day for the rental car industry generally. Analysts at Morgan Stanley gave downbeat assessments of both Hertz and its primary rival, noting that they think it'll be tough for the companies to gain enough pricing power to be able to outpace the depreciation expenses they have to take on their vehicle fleets. Competitive pressures from ride-sharing and other alternatives to rental cars are also weighing on Hertz's prospects. Morgan Stanley did boost its price target on the stock by $2 to $15 per share, but it kept an underperform rating on Hertz. Moreover, the new target is still well below where Hertz closed on the day even after today's decline. Customer getting a document from an employee behind the counter, with a Hertz logo behind them. Image source: Hertz Global Holdings. Sibanye-Stillwater deals with safety issues Sibanye-Stillwater stock fell 11% after the company suffered yet another fatal mining accident. The latest incident occurred at Sibanye's Khomanani mine west of Johannesburg in South Africa, with a worker dying while night-shift cleaning operations were ongoing. Sibanye's safety record has been horrible recently, and South Africa's parliament has suggested that the company should be put under strict regulatory oversight pending a review of whether it should keep its operating license. With the company responsible for nearly half of all mining deaths since early this year, Sibanye needs to work quickly to restore its reputation to whatever extent it can. Story continues Achaogen suffers a setback Finally, shares of Achaogen plunged 20%. The biotech company announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had given a split decision on a key candidate drug. Achaogen said that the FDA had approved its Zemdri antibiotic treatment for urinary tract infections, with CEO Blake Wise pointing to the decision as "an important step in our commitment to fighting [multidrug resistant] bacteria." Yet the FDA rejected an indication for Zemdri in treating bloodstream infections, arguing that Achaogen's evidence didn't show enough effectiveness in treatment. Investors weren't happy with the mixed performance , even though the company will go back to the FDA to see if it can address the agency's concerns. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Dan Caplinger has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Why Hertz Global Holdings, Sibanye-Stillwater, and Achaogen Slumped Today: Tuesday saw a quieter session on Wall Street than Monday, with most major benchmarks modestly increasing to recover some of the ground lost in yesterday's sell-off. Bullish investors are focusing on the likelihood of continued sharp gains when companies report their second-quarter earning in the next month, believing that those results could spur another push higher for stocks. Yet some companies had bad news that sent their shares lower.Hertz Global Holdings(NYSE: HTZ),Sibanye-Stillwater(NYSE: SBGL), andAchaogen(NASDAQ: AKAO)were among the worst performers on the day. Here's why they did so poorly.
Shares of Hertz Global Holdings dropped nearly 12% on a bad day for the rental car industry generally. Analysts at Morgan Stanley gave downbeat assessments of both Hertz and its primary rival, noting that they think it'll be tough for the companies to gain enough pricing power to be able to outpace the depreciation expenses they have to take on their vehicle fleets.Competitive pressures from ride-sharingand other alternatives to rental cars are also weighing on Hertz's prospects. Morgan Stanley did boost its price target on the stock by $2 to $15 per share, but it kept an underperform rating on Hertz. Moreover, the new target is still well below where Hertz closed on the day even after today's decline.
Image source: Hertz Global Holdings.
Sibanye-Stillwater stock fell 11% after the company suffered yet another fatal mining accident. The latest incident occurred at Sibanye's Khomanani mine west of Johannesburg in South Africa, with a worker dying while night-shift cleaning operations were ongoing. Sibanye's safety record has been horrible recently, and South Africa's parliament has suggested that the company should be put under strict regulatory oversight pending a review of whether it should keep its operating license. With the company responsible for nearly half of all mining deaths since early this year,Sibanye needs to work quicklyto restore its reputation to whatever extent it can.
Finally, shares of Achaogen plunged 20%. The biotech company announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had given a split decision on a key candidate drug. Achaogen said that the FDA had approved its Zemdri antibiotic treatment for urinary tract infections, with CEO Blake Wise pointing to the decision as "an important step in our commitment to fighting [multidrug resistant] bacteria." Yet the FDA rejected an indication for Zemdri in treating bloodstream infections, arguing that Achaogen's evidence didn't show enough effectiveness in treatment.Investors weren't happy with the mixed performance, even though the company will go back to the FDA to see if it can address the agency's concerns.
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Dan Caplingerhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Why Puma Biotechnology Stock Soared Today: What happened Shares of the commercial-stage biotech Puma Biotechnology (NASDAQ: PBYI) rose by as much as 27.9% today on heavy volume. The spark? Puma's shares were shooting higher today in response to the news that European regulators apparently are willing to reverse course regarding their decision on the biotech's controversial breast cancer drug neratinib. The drugmaker's shares have cooled off since their red-hot start but they remain up by a healthy 23.4% as of 3:46 p.m. EDT. A female cancer patient staring out of a window. Image Source: Getty Images. So what Unlike the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that granted the drug approval last year, European regulators rejected neratinib during its first official review roughly five months ago today. However, the company said that the European Medicines Agency agreed to re-examine that negative opinion, and all signs pointed to an eventual approval. That's a big deal because an approval in Europe should produce hundreds of millions in additional sales going forward. Now what Although European authorities still need to hold a final vote at their next meeting, Puma appears confident that today's re-examination will turn into a positive outcome for the drug. If so, Puma may be able to start generating sales in Europe before year's end. That's key because Puma's stock is arguably only fairly valued at present. In other words, this mid-cap biotech stock might be an outright bargain at current levels if this last major regulatory hurdle can be overcome and the company begins to generate sales for this all-important drug in the EU. In fact, Puma's shares presently may be trading at a price-to-sales ratio of less than 4 relative to its 2019 revenues. That's a steal for a commercial-stage biotech with an FDA- and EU-approved breast cancer drug. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This George Budwell has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Why Puma Biotechnology Stock Soared Today: Shares of the commercial-stage biotechPuma Biotechnology(NASDAQ: PBYI)rose by as much as 27.9% today on heavy volume. The spark?
Puma's shares were shooting higher today in response to the news that European regulators apparently are willing to reverse course regarding their decision on the biotech's controversial breast cancer drug neratinib. The drugmaker's shares have cooled off since their red-hot start but they remain up by a healthy 23.4% as of 3:46 p.m. EDT.
Image Source: Getty Images.
Unlike the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that granted the drug approval last year, European regulatorsrejectedneratinib during its first official review roughly five months ago today. However, the company said that the European Medicines Agency agreed to re-examine that negative opinion, and all signs pointed to an eventual approval. That's a big deal because an approval in Europe should produce hundreds of millions in additional sales going forward.
Although European authorities still need to hold a final vote at their next meeting, Puma appears confident that today's re-examination will turn into a positive outcome for the drug. If so, Puma may be able to start generating sales in Europe before year's end. That's key because Puma's stock is arguably only fairly valued at present.
In other words, this mid-cap biotech stock might be an outright bargain at current levels if this last major regulatory hurdle can be overcome and the company begins to generate sales for this all-important drug in the EU. In fact, Puma's shares presently may be trading at a price-to-sales ratio of less than 4 relative to its 2019 revenues. That's a steal for a commercial-stage biotech with an FDA- and EU-approved breast cancer drug.
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George Budwellhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Why Netflix Stock Popped Today: What happened Shares of Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) jumped on Tuesday following some positive analyst commentary. This move higher comes one day after Netflix stock suffered a steep drop , dragged lower by a market worried about an escalating trade war. At 3:35 p.m. EDT, Netflix stock was up about 4.1%. It was up as much as 5.3% earlier in the day. So what Analyst David Miller from Imperial Capital initiated coverage of Netflix on Wednesday with an "outperform" rating. Miller slapped a $503 price target on the stock, the highest so far. The stock currently sits right around $400 per share. The Netflix logo Image source: Netflix. The reasoning behind the lofty price target involves pricing and operating leverage. Miller noted that Netflix's basic package, which does not include high-definition picture quality, is priced at just $7.99, lower than Amazon 's video offering despite having more content. This implies that Netflix may be able to raise prices in the future without losing very many subscribers. Miller also expects Netflix to be able to rein in its marketing and development spending, leading to operating leverage this year. Now what Netflix is an expensive stock, trading for hundreds of times earnings. The company expects its free cash flow to be a loss of between $3 billion and $4 billion this year as its debt-fueled content spending binge continues. The current stock price already reflects an awful lot of optimism, but Miller's price target goes well beyond that. Could Netflix soar to $500 per share? Sure. But that move certainly wouldn't be based on the fundamentals. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Timothy Green has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends AMZN and Netflix. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Why Netflix Stock Popped Today: Shares ofNetflix(NASDAQ: NFLX)jumped on Tuesday following some positive analyst commentary. This move higher comes one day afterNetflix stock suffered a steep drop, dragged lower by a market worried about an escalating trade war. At 3:35 p.m. EDT, Netflix stock was up about 4.1%. It was up as much as 5.3% earlier in the day.
Analyst David Miller from Imperial Capital initiated coverage of Netflix on Wednesday with an "outperform" rating. Miller slapped a $503 price target on the stock, the highest so far. The stock currently sits right around $400 per share.
Image source: Netflix.
The reasoning behind the lofty price target involves pricing and operating leverage. Miller noted that Netflix's basic package, which does not include high-definition picture quality, is priced at just $7.99, lower thanAmazon's video offering despite having more content. This implies that Netflix may be able to raise prices in the future without losing very many subscribers.
Miller also expects Netflix to be able to rein in its marketing and development spending, leading to operating leverage this year.
Netflix is an expensive stock, trading for hundreds of times earnings. The company expects its free cash flow to be a loss of between $3 billion and $4 billion this year as itsdebt-fueled content spending bingecontinues. The current stock price already reflects an awful lot of optimism, but Miller's price target goes well beyond that.
Could Netflix soar to $500 per share? Sure. But that move certainly wouldn't be based on the fundamentals.
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John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors.Timothy Greenhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends AMZN and Netflix. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Why General Electric, Puma Biotechnology, and Lennar Jumped Today: The stock market had a relatively calm session on Tuesday, bouncing back slightly after suffering substantial declines yesterday. Investors continue to worry about the threat of prolonged trade tensions across the globe, especially in light of recent U.S. policy, but a strong domestic economy seemed to make them a bit more comfortable with current events. Some individual companies also had good news that lifted their shares.General Electric(NYSE: GE),Puma Biotechnology(NASDAQ: PBYI), andLennar(NYSE: LEN)were among the best performers on the day. Here's why they did so well.
Shares of General Electric jumped 8% in a move that many would see as counterintuitive, because the industrial giant wastaken out of theDow Jones Industrial Averageeffective today. Yet the company also announced some major changes, including its decision to spin off its healthcare division and to sell its Baker Hughes oil services unit. CEO John Flannery has been under pressure to take aggressive action following ongoing struggles in some of the conglomerate's core businesses, and although today's moves might not be enough by themselves to be successful, GE shareholders at least see them as a step in the right direction.
Image source: General Electric.
Puma Biotechnology stock soared 24% after the company said that European regulators look ready to grant approval for a key candidate treatment. Puma announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) under the European Medicines Agency recommended approval of Puma's marketing authorization application for neratinib, a treatment for early-stage breast cancer. The CHMP had initially announced anegative opinion at a formal meetingearly this year, but the reversal indicates that it's likely that the body will approve neratinib in a final vote at its next meeting. Even with today's news, the stock is still down by about a third so far in 2018.
Finally, shares of Lennar gained 5%. The homebuilder reported impressive results in its fiscal second quarter, including a nearly 80% rise in the dollar value of new home orders. Deliveries jumped by more than half from year-ago levels, and Lennar's backlog has more than doubled in dollar-value terms over the same period. Overall sales were up 67%. Executive chairman Stuart Miller explained that "concerns about rising interest rates and construction costs have been offset by low unemployment and increasing wages, combined with short supply based on years of underproduction of new homes." As long as those trends persist, Lennar should be able to keep growing, especially with asmart acquisitionbearing fruit for the homebuilder.
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Dan Caplingerhas no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Why General Electric, Puma Biotechnology, and Lennar Jumped Today: The stock market had a relatively calm session on Tuesday, bouncing back slightly after suffering substantial declines yesterday. Investors continue to worry about the threat of prolonged trade tensions across the globe, especially in light of recent U.S. policy, but a strong domestic economy seemed to make them a bit more comfortable with current events. Some individual companies also had good news that lifted their shares. General Electric (NYSE: GE) , Puma Biotechnology (NASDAQ: PBYI) , and Lennar (NYSE: LEN) were among the best performers on the day. Here's why they did so well. GE bids adieu to the Dow Shares of General Electric jumped 8% in a move that many would see as counterintuitive, because the industrial giant was taken out of the Dow Jones Industrial Average effective today . Yet the company also announced some major changes, including its decision to spin off its healthcare division and to sell its Baker Hughes oil services unit. CEO John Flannery has been under pressure to take aggressive action following ongoing struggles in some of the conglomerate's core businesses, and although today's moves might not be enough by themselves to be successful, GE shareholders at least see them as a step in the right direction. Worker on top of wind turbine with other turbines in the distance. Image source: General Electric. Puma takes a leap forward Puma Biotechnology stock soared 24% after the company said that European regulators look ready to grant approval for a key candidate treatment. Puma announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) under the European Medicines Agency recommended approval of Puma's marketing authorization application for neratinib, a treatment for early-stage breast cancer. The CHMP had initially announced a negative opinion at a formal meeting early this year, but the reversal indicates that it's likely that the body will approve neratinib in a final vote at its next meeting. Even with today's news, the stock is still down by about a third so far in 2018. Story continues Lennar builds higher Finally, shares of Lennar gained 5%. The homebuilder reported impressive results in its fiscal second quarter, including a nearly 80% rise in the dollar value of new home orders. Deliveries jumped by more than half from year-ago levels, and Lennar's backlog has more than doubled in dollar-value terms over the same period. Overall sales were up 67%. Executive chairman Stuart Miller explained that "concerns about rising interest rates and construction costs have been offset by low unemployment and increasing wages, combined with short supply based on years of underproduction of new homes." As long as those trends persist, Lennar should be able to keep growing, especially with a smart acquisition bearing fruit for the homebuilder. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Dan Caplinger has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Payments company Circle: 'We never left bitcoin': Circle is starting to look more like Coinbase.
Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville co-founded Circle in 2013. It was the first company to earn aBitLicense, the new operating license bestowed on a select few cryptocurrency companies by the New York Department of Financial Services. Circle’s peer-to-peer payments app originally operated only in bitcoin and offered buying and selling of bitcoin, so the app was generally framed as a Venmo for bitcoin.
But in 2016, Circle rebranded its main app Circle Pay and ended its support of buying bitcoin within the app, though it continued to use the bitcoin blockchain for its back-end rails. At a conference in New York, Jeremy Allaire even declared, “It’s highly unlikely that any of us will be using bitcoin in five to ten years.” Tech media wrote that Circle “gave up on bitcoin.”
Fast forward to 2018. Circle has quietly expanded its portfolio of crypto products, and is starting to look like a full-service crypto investment firm.
Circle has four distinct products: Circle Pay, its original fast money-transfer app a la Venmo; Circle Invest, which offers buying and selling of seven different cryptocurrencies (bitcoin, ether, bitcoin cash, litecoin, monero, ethereum classic, and Zcash);Circle Trade, an institutional trading deskthat provides liquidity to large crypto exchanges and investors; andPoloniex, a US bitcoin exchange Circle acquired in February.
“We never left bitcoin,” says Circle president Sean Neville. It’s a statement big bitcoin believers might dispute based on the company’s history. “We believe in bitcoin. Everything that we’re doing is based on crypto assets and underlying blockchain technology. We’re not necessarily bitcoin maximalists, it’s not necessarily the perfect thing for everything that we’re doing, but it’s extremely valuable and a core component of what we’re doing.”
Speaking to Yahoo Finance back in February, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire rattled off a list of Circle’s competitors: “In the social payments space, it’s companies like Square Cash or Venmo. In cross-currency payments, which we enable people to do instantly for free, it might be a company like TransferWise. Circle Invest, which is not yet launched, will compete certainly with products like Coinbase.com, or Robinhood’s latest crypto offering.”
But it is Coinbase, the No. 1 mainstream crypto brokerage in America with 20 million users, that Circle appears to be setting its sights on more than any other competitor.
Coinbase is the best-known choice for newbies who want to dip a toe into bitcoin. Neville describes Circle Invest in the same terms: “It’s aimed at someone who wants to get involved in trading crypto assets but needs somewhat of a guided experience. We provide things like custody. It’s a really simple way to acquire multiple kinds of tokens in just a couple of taps.”
As for the growing crypto competition, Neville says, “I think a lot of us are kicking the shins of the same giants together. If we think about this as a new internet for finance, there need to be multiple players… There’s room for a lot of experimentation and collaboration, even though there is competition.”
Last month, Circle added a “buy the market” feature on its Circle Invest app that lets users simply choose an amount to invest and disperse it equally into all seven coins Circle Invest currently supports.Robinhood Cryptohas a similar feature; Coinbase, for now, does not.
Watch Yahoo Finance’s All Markets Summit: Crypto here.
—
Daniel Roberts covers bitcoin and blockchain at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter at @readDanwrite.
Read more:
Circle CEO: We will compete with Square, Robinhood, Coinbase and Venmo
OpenBazaar founder: Bitcoin can disrupt marketplaces like eBay and Etsy
Ripple exec: XRP is ‘Crypto 2.0’
Coinbase exec: ‘Adding more assets is a very big priority for us’
Lightning Labs CEO: We are back to a ‘bitcoin, not blockchain’ world
The 11 biggest names in crypto right now || Circle is doubling down on crypto investing products: Circle is starting to look more like Coinbase. Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville co-founded Circle in 2013. It was the first company to earn a BitLicense, the new operating license bestowed on a select few cryptocurrency companies by the New York Department of Financial Services . Circle’s peer-to-peer payments app originally operated only in bitcoin and offered buying and selling of bitcoin, so the app was generally framed as a Venmo for bitcoin. But in 2016, Circle rebranded its main app Circle Pay and ended its support of buying bitcoin within the app, though it continued to use the bitcoin blockchain for its back-end rails. At a conference in New York, Jeremy Allaire even declared, “ It’s highly unlikely that any of us will be using bitcoin in five to ten years .” Tech media wrote that Circle “ gave up on bitcoin .” Fast forward to 2018. Circle has quietly expanded its portfolio of crypto products, and is starting to look like a full-service crypto investment firm. Circle has four distinct products: Circle Pay, its original fast money-transfer app a la Venmo; Circle Invest, which offers buying and selling of seven different cryptocurrencies (bitcoin, ether, bitcoin cash, litecoin, monero, ethereum classic, and Zcash); Circle Trade, an institutional trading desk that provides liquidity to large crypto exchanges and investors; and Poloniex, a US bitcoin exchange Circle acquired in February . “We never left bitcoin,” says Circle president Sean Neville. It’s a statement big bitcoin believers might dispute based on the company’s history. “We believe in bitcoin. Everything that we’re doing is based on crypto assets and underlying blockchain technology. We’re not necessarily bitcoin maximalists, it’s not necessarily the perfect thing for everything that we’re doing, but it’s extremely valuable and a core component of what we’re doing.” Screens from the Circle Pay app (L) and the Circle Invest app Speaking to Yahoo Finance back in February, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire rattled off a list of Circle’s competitors: “In the social payments space, it’s companies like Square Cash or Venmo. In cross-currency payments, which we enable people to do instantly for free, it might be a company like TransferWise. Circle Invest, which is not yet launched, will compete certainly with products like Coinbase.com, or Robinhood’s latest crypto offering.” Story continues But it is Coinbase, the No. 1 mainstream crypto brokerage in America with 20 million users, that Circle appears to be setting its sights on more than any other competitor. Coinbase is the best-known choice for newbies who want to dip a toe into bitcoin. Neville describes Circle Invest in the same terms: “It’s aimed at someone who wants to get involved in trading crypto assets but needs somewhat of a guided experience. We provide things like custody. It’s a really simple way to acquire multiple kinds of tokens in just a couple of taps.” As for the growing crypto competition, Neville says, “I think a lot of us are kicking the shins of the same giants together. If we think about this as a new internet for finance, there need to be multiple players… There’s room for a lot of experimentation and collaboration, even though there is competition.” Last month, Circle added a “buy the market” feature on its Circle Invest app that lets users simply choose an amount to invest and disperse it equally into all seven coins Circle Invest currently supports. Robinhood Crypto has a similar feature; Coinbase, for now, does not. Watch Yahoo Finance’s All Markets Summit: Crypto here . — Daniel Roberts covers bitcoin and blockchain at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter at @ readDanwrite . Read more: Circle CEO: We will compete with Square, Robinhood, Coinbase and Venmo OpenBazaar founder: Bitcoin can disrupt marketplaces like eBay and Etsy Ripple exec: XRP is ‘Crypto 2.0’ Coinbase exec: ‘Adding more assets is a very big priority for us’ Lightning Labs CEO: We are back to a ‘bitcoin, not blockchain’ world The 11 biggest names in crypto right now || Will AMC Stubs A-List Be a MoviePass or AMC Killer?: There's plenty of buzz for today's launch of AMC Entertainment 's (NYSE: AMC) monthly subscription plan. AMC Stubs A-List will be taking on Helios and Matheson Analytics ' (NASDAQ: HMNY) MoviePass, but that also means taking on some of the industry demons that have weighed on multiplex operators in recent years. AMC Stubs A-List seems amazing on the surface, and since the exhibitor's website was down for a spell earlier today, it's fair to say that film buffs slamming the site to sign up for the plan feel the same way, too. Members pay $19.95 a month to watch as many as three movies a week. It's going to be an easy sell, especially for active movie goers. The ability to watch a dozen movies a month is a pretty sweet deal, especially since folks were spending more than that by the time they hit the local multiplex for the second time in any given month. The subscription service will be a hit, but it may also come at a cost. MoviePass disrupted the value proposition of a night at the movies, and now AMC will be doing the same thing. The exterior of AMC 14 theater at Saratoga at night. Image source: AMC Entertainment. Screen doors Helios and Matheson argues that it's not worried about AMC. MoviePass has gone from 20,000 to more than 3 million members since slashing its price to $9.95 a month last summer. MoviePass offers access to as many as a movie per day, as long as you don't see the same film twice. MoviePass is also venue-agnostic. It will work at most movie houses. It also has a great name. No offense, AMC, but AMC Stubs A-List is a bit of a mouthful. However, there are a lot of advantages that AMC Stubs A-List has over MoviePass. AMC's offering will work on Dolby Cinema, IMAX (NYSE: IMAX) , RealD 3D, and other premium screenings. MoviePass is limited to standard showings. AMC will also let members purchase advance tickets online. MoviePass is limited to purchases made for screenings scheduled later that day, and outside of a handful of small chains that offer e-ticketing, folks need to check-in near the actual theater and then physically buy the tickets at the venue within 30 minutes. Story continues Another thing going for AMC is that it won't make members feel like second-class citizens. It is the venue operator, so it knows transactions are legit. MoviePass makes members jump through several hoops to safeguard against misuse of the program, including having most of its users submit photos of ticket stubs to verify that they used the pre-loaded debit cards for the checked-in screenings. There are a lot of things that MoviePass members put up with in exchange for a well-priced buffet of movies, and now AMC is raising the bar -- even if it's also raising the price of the experience -- in terms of convenience. One final thing working in AMC's favor is that it's profitable. Helios and Matheson is burning through cash , and that finds it doing a lot of things that aren't popular with users. Next month it will introduce surge pricing for screenings of high-demand movies. It also plans to let users watch premium screenings if they pay a couple of more bucks per film, but demand-based pricing and the option for a paid upgrade for a premium setup will start pushing prices closer to AMC's cost. Credits roll AMC Stubs A-List is great, but now let's go over why it may hurt AMC and actually help MoviePass. For starters, it will champion MoviePass' crusade that a movie-going experience is worth less than current retail prices. A big win for Helios and Matheson is that folks may decide to sign up for both plans -- I know I will -- and it will reduce the monthly burden of ticket prices on MoviePass. The move also naturally validates the MoviePass model, and bargain seekers wooed by AMC Stubs A-List for $19.95 may be even more smitten by MoviePass at half that price. AMC is going to learn a few lessons the hard way here. It's going to realize that folks tend to go for pricier tickets when it's on someone else's dime, something that it probably already knows since it collected $2.24 per movie more from MoviePass than it did from its average movie goer in its latest quarter. The difference will be even higher here, as AMC Stubs A-List members will be encouraged to go for premium shows. AMC Entertainment has naturally thought this through, but the plan could be too good for its own good. More From The Motley Fool 3 Growth Stocks at Deep-Value Prices 5 Expected Social Security Changes in 2018 6 Years Later, 6 Charts That Show How Far Apple, Inc. Has Come Since Steve Jobs' Passing 10 Best Stocks to Buy Today The $16,122 Social Security Bonus You Cannot Afford to Miss Bitcoin's Biggest Competitor Isn't Ethereum -- It's This Rick Munarriz owns shares of Helios and Matheson Analytics. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends IMAX. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy . || Will AMC Stubs A-List Be a MoviePass or AMC Killer?: There's plenty of buzz for today's launch ofAMC Entertainment's(NYSE: AMC)monthly subscription plan. AMC Stubs A-List will be taking onHelios and Matheson Analytics'(NASDAQ: HMNY)MoviePass, but that also means taking on some of the industry demons that have weighed on multiplex operators in recent years.
AMC Stubs A-List seems amazingon the surface, and since the exhibitor's website was down for a spell earlier today, it's fair to say that film buffs slamming the site to sign up for the plan feel the same way, too. Members pay $19.95 a month to watch as many as three movies a week. It's going to be an easy sell, especially for active movie goers. The ability to watch a dozen movies a month is a pretty sweet deal, especially since folks were spending more than that by the time they hit the local multiplex for the second time in any given month. The subscription service will be a hit, but it may also come at a cost. MoviePass disrupted the value proposition of a night at the movies, and now AMC will be doing the same thing.
Image source: AMC Entertainment.
Helios and Matheson argues that it's not worried about AMC. MoviePass has gone from 20,000 to more than 3 million members since slashing its price to $9.95 a month last summer. MoviePass offers access to as many as a movie per day, as long as you don't see the same film twice. MoviePass is also venue-agnostic. It will work at most movie houses. It also has a great name. No offense, AMC, but AMC Stubs A-List is a bit of a mouthful.
However, there are a lot of advantages that AMC Stubs A-List has over MoviePass. AMC's offering will work on Dolby Cinema,IMAX(NYSE: IMAX), RealD 3D, and other premium screenings. MoviePass is limited to standard showings. AMC will also let members purchase advance tickets online. MoviePass is limited to purchases made for screenings scheduled later that day, and outside of a handful of small chains that offer e-ticketing, folks need to check-in near the actual theater and then physically buy the tickets at the venue within 30 minutes.
Another thing going for AMC is that it won't make members feel like second-class citizens. It is the venue operator, so it knows transactions are legit. MoviePass makes members jump through several hoops to safeguard against misuse of the program, including having most of its users submit photos of ticket stubs to verify that they used the pre-loaded debit cards for the checked-in screenings. There are a lot of things that MoviePass members put up with in exchange for a well-priced buffet of movies, and now AMC is raising the bar -- even if it's also raising the price of the experience -- in terms of convenience.
One final thing working in AMC's favor is that it's profitable. Helios and Matheson isburning through cash, and that finds it doing a lot of things that aren't popular with users. Next month it will introduce surge pricing for screenings of high-demand movies. It also plans to let users watch premium screenings if they pay a couple of more bucks per film, but demand-based pricing and the option for a paid upgrade for a premium setup will start pushing prices closer to AMC's cost.
AMC Stubs A-List is great, but now let's go over why it may hurt AMC and actually help MoviePass. For starters, it will champion MoviePass' crusade that a movie-going experience is worth less than current retail prices. A big win for Helios and Matheson is that folks may decide to sign up for both plans -- I know I will -- and it will reduce the monthly burden of ticket prices on MoviePass. The move also naturally validates the MoviePass model, and bargain seekers wooed by AMC Stubs A-List for $19.95 may be even more smitten by MoviePass at half that price.
AMC is going to learn a few lessons the hard way here. It's going to realize that folks tend to go for pricier tickets when it's on someone else's dime, something that it probably already knows since it collected $2.24 per movie more from MoviePass than it did from its average movie goer in its latest quarter. The difference will be even higher here, as AMC Stubs A-List members will be encouraged to go for premium shows. AMC Entertainment has naturally thought this through, but the plan could be too good for its own good.
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Rick Munarrizowns shares of Helios and Matheson Analytics. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends IMAX. The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. || Polychain Becomes First $1 Billion Crypto Fund: What Happens Now?: Polychain Capital is at the vanguard of cryptocurrency investing, attracting backers from prominent ventures capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz, and betting on companies that might define the next generation of blockchain. Earlier this year, Polychain became the first crypto fund with more than $1 billion in assets under management, according to a regulatory filing . That figure is from February and comprises cryptocurrency assets, equity in companies and unspent cash pledged from investors. (The total may have dipped below $1 billion in recent months given how the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have fallen since February. The total could also have increased, in part because the fund is still taking new investments). Olaf Carlson-Wee, the founder and CEO of Polychain, is relentlessly upbeat about not just Polychain but the state of the blockchain industry and what’s coming next. This is unsurprising given that he’s a man who believes in Bitcoin so much that he once spent years trying to live off it . Carlson-Wee is not just fervent, however, but deeply knowledgeable about crypto, thanks in part to his time at Coinbase, which he joined as the Bitcoin exchange’s first employee. Fortune caught up with him to learn more about Polychain and how he perceives the future of digital assets at a time when big VCs are experimenting with different investment structures. Our conversation has been edited for clarity. What’s Polychain’s investment strategy? Carlson-Wee : We're long only. There are no algorithms or quantitative strategies, which is what a lot of people think when they hear the words “hedge fund.” We invest fundamentally based on what we view as the best technology that allows for novel behavior on the blockchain--for example, novel on-chain governance mechanisms that allow token holders and users to vote on changes in protocol. How did you raise all that money? We've had pretty incredible growth from pretty humble beginnings. Our first base of investors was high-profile venture funds, which is unusual for the industry, but crypto is esoteric enough they valued our unique skill sets. Story continues I can’t reveal the identity of all our limited partners, but they include Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures, Founders Fund, Sequoia, Bain, and Bessemer. What Is Polychain Excited About Right Now? The team is pretty excited about Dfinity [a decentralized “Cloud 3.0” that aspires to challenge Web Services]. We’re big on novel mechanisms for smart contracts, and the use of Wasm compilers to open up more programming languages. This will open up the gates for hundreds of thousands of developers. Also, threshold relay techniques, which offer a quicker consensus mechanism for blockchains. That Sounds Really Complicated. How does Polychain Keep Up? It takes a lot of technical sophistication to understand some of these projects. I’m the chief investment officers leading decisions but we also have an incredible team of people I call crypto native. They’ve been in this world for a long time. We spent most of our time reading white papers, and reading specs. The key is finding projects with a clear blueprint. Once you have that, you can begin getting it built out. Prices Are Down and Fewer People Seem Interested in Crypto These Days. What’s Up With That? Prices have slumped but it’s important to step back and get some perspective. When you look at the entirety of the ecosystem, it’s been the most aggressive growth of any asset class that has ever existed. If you want to talk about growth in users, one of the ways to measure that is transactional numbers on networks--that line is healthy, and up and to the right. I'm talking about the major networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum. We've seen a retrenchment from the days of last September to December. But look back a year ago, and markets have grown substantially. It’s easy to zoom way in on the short term. Volatility has been small in the six months compared to what I've seen in long term. This is a natural part of porting all the assets of the world onto Internet. Do Funds Like Polychain Mean Blockchain Is Now More About Institutions Than Individuals? I would push back on that sentiment. If you think about who trades on NYSE or NASDAQ, it's almost exclusively institutionally managed pools of capital -- that's the vast majority of trade volume. If you look at managed pools of capital for crypto, that’s definitely the minority of markets. Today it's mostly crypto enthusiasts and technologists trading their assets. While the pendulum has swung away from at home hobbyist traders to more professional traders, I do think it’s relatively small compared to almost any financial market. See original article on Fortune.com More from Fortune.com The Ledger: Coinbase, XRP and the SEC, Blockchain Bubble Gum, Mt. Gox to Bithumb Hacks Why Robinhood Doesn't Care If It Makes Money on Cryptocurrency Trading $1 Billion Bitcoins Lost in Mt. Gox Hack to Be Returned to Victims Why Ripple Thinks Coinbase Should Add Cryptocurrency XRP Robinhood CEO Takes Aim at Bitcoin Exchanges' High Fees
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5903.44, 6218.30, 6404.00, 6385.82, 6614.18, 6529.59, 6597.55, 6639.14, 6673.50, 6856.93
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 49716.19, 49880.54, 46760.19, 46456.06, 43537.51, 42909.40, 37002.44, 40782.74, 37304.69, 37536.63, 34770.58, 38705.98, 38402.22, 39294.20, 38436.97, 35697.61, 34616.07, 35678.13, 37332.86, 36684.93, 37575.18, 39208.77, 36894.41, 35551.96, 35862.38, 33560.71, 33472.63, 37345.12, 36702.60, 37334.40, 35552.52, 39097.86, 40218.48, 40406.27, 38347.06, 38053.50, 35787.25, 35615.87, 35698.30, 31676.69, 32505.66, 33723.03, 34662.44, 31637.78, 32186.28, 34649.64, 34434.34, 35867.78, 35040.84, 33572.12, 33897.05, 34668.55, 35287.78, 33746.00, 34235.20, 33855.33, 32877.37, 33798.01, 33520.52, 34240.19, 33155.85, 32702.03, 32822.35, 31780.73, 31421.54, 31533.07, 31796.81, 30817.83, 29807.35, 32110.69, 32313.11, 33581.55, 34292.45, 35350.19, 37337.54, 39406.94, 39995.91, 40008.42, 42235.55, 41626.20, 39974.89, 39201.95, 38152.98, 39747.50, 40869.55, 42816.50, 44555.80, 43798.12, 46365.40, 45585.03.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2021-08-10]
Volume: 33546019517, RSI (14-day): 69.39, 50-day EMA: 38260.75, 200-day EMA: 38965.38
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1728.80, Gold RSI: 28.60
Oil Price: 68.29, Oil RSI: 43.03
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Institutional Investors Return to Bitcoin Despite US Crypto Tax Plans: Lawmakers and regulators’ increasing scrutiny of crypto markets, including the debate over the U.S. infrastructure bill’s crypto tax reporting provision, may be spooking retail investors but not institutional ones, recent blockchain data from Glassnode indicates.
These larger investors, as represented by large-value dollar transactions, fueledbitcoin’snearly 20% price gains since last week, the Berlin-based blockchain data firm found. A number of analysts say the trend shows that these institutions are focusing more on the cryptocurrency’s upside than on potential obstacles.
“Investors are looking to the positives around regulation rather than the negative,” said Joel Kruger, cryptocurrency strategist at institutional crypto exchange LMAX Digital, noting that “the fact that the U.S. government is listening and is aware that there is a provision around crypto in the infrastructure bill that needs more clarification.”
Related:Crypto News Roundup for Aug. 10, 2021
Bitcoin’s on-chain transaction volume with values of at least $1 million has risen 10% since the beginning of August and accounts for nearly 70% of the total value transferred.
This blockchain metric represents rising institutional activities on the Bitcoin network because “retail investors rarely move transactions [with values of at least $1 million] on a scale to create such dominance,” said a blockchain analyst at Glassnode who goes by the name “Checkmate.”
“The rising dominance also correlates with [massive] Coinbaseexchange outflowssince December 2020, which we also assign to likely US institutions,” the analyst added.
Meanwhile, small-size transactions have declined as a percentage of the overall market, as shown by the chart below. Transactions valued less than $1 million have dropped to around 30-40% of market dominance from 70% since July 2020.
Related:US Senate Sends Infrastructure Bill to House
Institutional investors’ recent bullishness comes as the crypto market monitors intense political and regulatory developments worldwide, including a hotly debated $28 billion tax reporting provision in the $1 trillion infrastructure bill in the U.S. and a crackdown in Europe and other regionsagainst Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange by trading volume.
Despite the potential for greater regulatory oversight, institutional investors are optimistic about bitcoin’s future, analysts and industry experts say.
“In general, institutions would welcome regulation that is clear and fair,” said Andrew Tu, an executive at quantitative trading firm Efficient Frontier. “The recent price increase over the last week … has shown that the market does not react strongly to concerns over regulation, as opposed to actual legislation passing.”
In the latest infrastructure bill development on Monday, U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) filedan objectiontoa compromiseamendment to the crypto tax reporting provision. The amendment would have exempted crypto transaction validators from a broadened definition of “broker.”
Kruger said that increased regulation helps validate the industry.
“This means the industry is getting recognized and this ultimately helps with acceptance and adoption,” Kruger said.
Others also said that the crypto market has become more used to news coming from regulators as the industry matures.
“The crypto market is very used to regulatory concerns, especially the crypto OG (original gangsters) hodlers (long-time holders) who have seen multiple cycles of regulatory uncertainty,” Tu said.
Indeed, on a 14-day median basis, the average number of days each BTC transacted remained dormant or unmoved, has risen slightly to around 10 days from seven days, according to Glassnode,meaningthat some bitcoin “old hands are not taking exit liquidity at this stage.”
Instead of focusing on regulatory uncertainties, institutional investors have highlighted bitcoin’s strengthening market fundamentals as a justification for their optimism.
“The regulatory concerns don’t impact bitcoin here as much as other cryptocurrencies, and the sentiment behind bitcoin has been showing signs of turning for a couple of weeks now,” said Noelle Acheson, head of Market Insights at Genesis. (Genesis is owned by CoinDesk’s parent company, Digital Currency Group.)
On the supply side, bitcoin’silliquid supply, or the balance held by illiquid entities, reached a record high recently, meaning that the oldest cryptocurrency has a weakness in supply.
The perpetual derivatives market’s funding rates have turned positive again after they went negative for most of June and July.
Calculated every eight hours,the funding raterefers to the cost of holding long/short positions in the bitcoin perpetuals (futures with no expiry) market. The metric is used by exchanges offering perpetuals to balance the market and guide perpetual prices toward the spot price.
A positive funding rate means longs are paying shorts to keep the position open, and the market is skewed bullish. Meanwhile, a negative funding rate implies a bearish market positioning.
As CoinDeskreported, bitcoin’s put-call open position ratio also recently dropped to the lowest level this year on increased activity in calls, or bullish bets.
At press time, bitcoin was changing hands at $46,201.20, up by 5.32% in the past 24 hours, according toCoinDesk 20.
• Human Rights Foundation, Compass Mining Give $80K to Sponsor Bitcoin Developer
• State of Crypto: What Just Happened in the US Senate? || Institutional Investors Return to Bitcoin Despite US Crypto Tax Plans: Lawmakers and regulators’ increasing scrutiny of crypto markets, including the debate over the U.S. infrastructure bill’s crypto tax reporting provision, may be spooking retail investors but not institutional ones, recent blockchain data from Glassnode indicates. These larger investors, as represented by large-value dollar transactions, fueled bitcoin’s nearly 20% price gains since last week, the Berlin-based blockchain data firm found. A number of analysts say the trend shows that these institutions are focusing more on the cryptocurrency’s upside than on potential obstacles. “Investors are looking to the positives around regulation rather than the negative,” said Joel Kruger, cryptocurrency strategist at institutional crypto exchange LMAX Digital, noting that “the fact that the U.S. government is listening and is aware that there is a provision around crypto in the infrastructure bill that needs more clarification.” Related: Crypto News Roundup for Aug. 10, 2021 Bitcoin’s on-chain transaction volume with values of at least $1 million has risen 10% since the beginning of August and accounts for nearly 70% of the total value transferred. This blockchain metric represents rising institutional activities on the Bitcoin network because “retail investors rarely move transactions [with values of at least $1 million] on a scale to create such dominance,” said a blockchain analyst at Glassnode who goes by the name “Checkmate.” “The rising dominance also correlates with [massive] Coinbase exchange outflows since December 2020, which we also assign to likely US institutions,” the analyst added. Meanwhile, small-size transactions have declined as a percentage of the overall market, as shown by the chart below. Transactions valued less than $1 million have dropped to around 30-40% of market dominance from 70% since July 2020. Related: US Senate Sends Infrastructure Bill to House Story continues Institutional investors’ recent bullishness comes as the crypto market monitors intense political and regulatory developments worldwide, including a hotly debated $28 billion tax reporting provision in the $1 trillion infrastructure bill in the U.S. and a crackdown in Europe and other regions against Binance , the world’s biggest crypto exchange by trading volume. Despite the potential for greater regulatory oversight, institutional investors are optimistic about bitcoin’s future, analysts and industry experts say. “In general, institutions would welcome regulation that is clear and fair,” said Andrew Tu, an executive at quantitative trading firm Efficient Frontier. “The recent price increase over the last week … has shown that the market does not react strongly to concerns over regulation, as opposed to actual legislation passing.” In the latest infrastructure bill development on Monday, U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) filed an objection to a compromise amendment to the crypto tax reporting provision. The amendment would have exempted crypto transaction validators from a broadened definition of “broker.” Kruger said that increased regulation helps validate the industry. “This means the industry is getting recognized and this ultimately helps with acceptance and adoption,” Kruger said. Others also said that the crypto market has become more used to news coming from regulators as the industry matures. “The crypto market is very used to regulatory concerns, especially the crypto OG (original gangsters) hodlers (long-time holders) who have seen multiple cycles of regulatory uncertainty,” Tu said. Indeed, on a 14-day median basis, the average number of days each BTC transacted remained dormant or unmoved, has risen slightly to around 10 days from seven days, according to Glassnode, meaning that some bitcoin “old hands are not taking exit liquidity at this stage.” Market fundamentals turn stronger, healthier Instead of focusing on regulatory uncertainties, institutional investors have highlighted bitcoin’s strengthening market fundamentals as a justification for their optimism. “The regulatory concerns don’t impact bitcoin here as much as other cryptocurrencies, and the sentiment behind bitcoin has been showing signs of turning for a couple of weeks now,” said Noelle Acheson, head of Market Insights at Genesis. (Genesis is owned by CoinDesk’s parent company, Digital Currency Group.) On the supply side, bitcoin’s illiquid supply , or the balance held by illiquid entities, reached a record high recently, meaning that the oldest cryptocurrency has a weakness in supply. The perpetual derivatives market’s funding rates have turned positive again after they went negative for most of June and July. Calculated every eight hours, the funding rate refers to the cost of holding long/short positions in the bitcoin perpetuals (futures with no expiry) market. The metric is used by exchanges offering perpetuals to balance the market and guide perpetual prices toward the spot price. A positive funding rate means longs are paying shorts to keep the position open, and the market is skewed bullish. Meanwhile, a negative funding rate implies a bearish market positioning. As CoinDesk reported , bitcoin’s put-call open position ratio also recently dropped to the lowest level this year on increased activity in calls, or bullish bets. At press time, bitcoin was changing hands at $46,201.20, up by 5.32% in the past 24 hours, according to CoinDesk 20. Related Stories Human Rights Foundation, Compass Mining Give $80K to Sponsor Bitcoin Developer State of Crypto: What Just Happened in the US Senate? || Institutional Investors Return to Bitcoin Despite US Crypto Tax Plans: Lawmakers and regulators’ increasing scrutiny of crypto markets, including the debate over the U.S. infrastructure bill’s crypto tax reporting provision, may be spooking retail investors but not institutional ones, recent blockchain data from Glassnode indicates.
These larger investors, as represented by large-value dollar transactions, fueledbitcoin’snearly 20% price gains since last week, the Berlin-based blockchain data firm found. A number of analysts say the trend shows that these institutions are focusing more on the cryptocurrency’s upside than on potential obstacles.
“Investors are looking to the positives around regulation rather than the negative,” said Joel Kruger, cryptocurrency strategist at institutional crypto exchange LMAX Digital, noting that “the fact that the U.S. government is listening and is aware that there is a provision around crypto in the infrastructure bill that needs more clarification.”
Related:Crypto News Roundup for Aug. 10, 2021
Bitcoin’s on-chain transaction volume with values of at least $1 million has risen 10% since the beginning of August and accounts for nearly 70% of the total value transferred.
This blockchain metric represents rising institutional activities on the Bitcoin network because “retail investors rarely move transactions [with values of at least $1 million] on a scale to create such dominance,” said a blockchain analyst at Glassnode who goes by the name “Checkmate.”
“The rising dominance also correlates with [massive] Coinbaseexchange outflowssince December 2020, which we also assign to likely US institutions,” the analyst added.
Meanwhile, small-size transactions have declined as a percentage of the overall market, as shown by the chart below. Transactions valued less than $1 million have dropped to around 30-40% of market dominance from 70% since July 2020.
Related:US Senate Sends Infrastructure Bill to House
Institutional investors’ recent bullishness comes as the crypto market monitors intense political and regulatory developments worldwide, including a hotly debated $28 billion tax reporting provision in the $1 trillion infrastructure bill in the U.S. and a crackdown in Europe and other regionsagainst Binance, the world’s biggest crypto exchange by trading volume.
Despite the potential for greater regulatory oversight, institutional investors are optimistic about bitcoin’s future, analysts and industry experts say.
“In general, institutions would welcome regulation that is clear and fair,” said Andrew Tu, an executive at quantitative trading firm Efficient Frontier. “The recent price increase over the last week … has shown that the market does not react strongly to concerns over regulation, as opposed to actual legislation passing.”
In the latest infrastructure bill development on Monday, U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) filedan objectiontoa compromiseamendment to the crypto tax reporting provision. The amendment would have exempted crypto transaction validators from a broadened definition of “broker.”
Kruger said that increased regulation helps validate the industry.
“This means the industry is getting recognized and this ultimately helps with acceptance and adoption,” Kruger said.
Others also said that the crypto market has become more used to news coming from regulators as the industry matures.
“The crypto market is very used to regulatory concerns, especially the crypto OG (original gangsters) hodlers (long-time holders) who have seen multiple cycles of regulatory uncertainty,” Tu said.
Indeed, on a 14-day median basis, the average number of days each BTC transacted remained dormant or unmoved, has risen slightly to around 10 days from seven days, according to Glassnode,meaningthat some bitcoin “old hands are not taking exit liquidity at this stage.”
Instead of focusing on regulatory uncertainties, institutional investors have highlighted bitcoin’s strengthening market fundamentals as a justification for their optimism.
“The regulatory concerns don’t impact bitcoin here as much as other cryptocurrencies, and the sentiment behind bitcoin has been showing signs of turning for a couple of weeks now,” said Noelle Acheson, head of Market Insights at Genesis. (Genesis is owned by CoinDesk’s parent company, Digital Currency Group.)
On the supply side, bitcoin’silliquid supply, or the balance held by illiquid entities, reached a record high recently, meaning that the oldest cryptocurrency has a weakness in supply.
The perpetual derivatives market’s funding rates have turned positive again after they went negative for most of June and July.
Calculated every eight hours,the funding raterefers to the cost of holding long/short positions in the bitcoin perpetuals (futures with no expiry) market. The metric is used by exchanges offering perpetuals to balance the market and guide perpetual prices toward the spot price.
A positive funding rate means longs are paying shorts to keep the position open, and the market is skewed bullish. Meanwhile, a negative funding rate implies a bearish market positioning.
As CoinDeskreported, bitcoin’s put-call open position ratio also recently dropped to the lowest level this year on increased activity in calls, or bullish bets.
At press time, bitcoin was changing hands at $46,201.20, up by 5.32% in the past 24 hours, according toCoinDesk 20.
• Human Rights Foundation, Compass Mining Give $80K to Sponsor Bitcoin Developer
• State of Crypto: What Just Happened in the US Senate? || AMC to Accept Bitcoin for Tickets and Concessions Later This Year: AMC Entertainment Holdings, which runs the largest movie theater chain in the U.S., will begin accepting bitcoin payments for tickets and concessions by the end of the year, the company’s CEO, Adam Aron, said on a second-quarter earnings call Monday. “We are also in the preliminary stage of now exploring how else AMC can participate in this new burgeoning cryptocurrency universe and we’re quite intrigued by potentially lucrative business opportunities for AMC if we intelligently pursue further serious involvement with cryptocurrency,” Aron said. AMC did not specify what technology it would use to process the payments. The company has 593 theaters in the U.S. and 335 international locations. Related: Human Rights Foundation, Compass Mining Give $80K to Sponsor Bitcoin Developer Aron said that AMC will also begin accepting Apple Pay and Google Pay payments by the end of 2021. AMC’s stock was trading at roughly $33 Monday morning. After the earnings release, the stock jumped 13.2% before falling to about $35 at the time of publication. During the Reddit-driven retail trading frenzy earlier this year, so-called “ meme stocks ” like GameStop and AMC soared in value. AMC’s pivot to bitcoin payments suggests the struggling movie theater chain sees value in cryptocurrencies. Related Stories Bitcoin Upside Stalls; Lower Support at $38K-$40K Bitcoin Breaks Key Resistance as Market Health Improves on Institutional Demand Institutional Investors Return to Bitcoin Despite US Crypto Tax Plans || AMC to Accept Bitcoin for Tickets and Concessions Later This Year: AMC Entertainment Holdings, which runs the largest movie theater chain in the U.S., will begin acceptingbitcoinpayments for tickets and concessions by the end of the year, the company’s CEO, Adam Aron, said on a second-quarter earnings call Monday.
“We are also in the preliminary stage of now exploring how else AMC can participate in this new burgeoning cryptocurrency universe and we’re quite intrigued by potentially lucrative business opportunities for AMC if we intelligently pursue further serious involvement with cryptocurrency,” Aron said.
AMC did not specify what technology it would use to process the payments. The company has 593 theaters in the U.S. and 335 international locations.
Related:Human Rights Foundation, Compass Mining Give $80K to Sponsor Bitcoin Developer
Aron said that AMC will also begin accepting Apple Pay and Google Pay payments by the end of 2021.
AMC’s stock was trading at roughly $33 Monday morning. After the earnings release, the stock jumped 13.2% before falling to about $35 at the time of publication.
During the Reddit-driven retail trading frenzy earlier this year, so-called “meme stocks” like GameStop and AMC soared in value. AMC’s pivot to bitcoin payments suggests the struggling movie theater chain sees value in cryptocurrencies.
• Bitcoin Upside Stalls; Lower Support at $38K-$40K
• Bitcoin Breaks Key Resistance as Market Health Improves on Institutional Demand
• Institutional Investors Return to Bitcoin Despite US Crypto Tax Plans || AMC to Accept Bitcoin for Tickets and Concessions Later This Year: AMC Entertainment Holdings, which runs the largest movie theater chain in the U.S., will begin acceptingbitcoinpayments for tickets and concessions by the end of the year, the company’s CEO, Adam Aron, said on a second-quarter earnings call Monday.
“We are also in the preliminary stage of now exploring how else AMC can participate in this new burgeoning cryptocurrency universe and we’re quite intrigued by potentially lucrative business opportunities for AMC if we intelligently pursue further serious involvement with cryptocurrency,” Aron said.
AMC did not specify what technology it would use to process the payments. The company has 593 theaters in the U.S. and 335 international locations.
Related:Human Rights Foundation, Compass Mining Give $80K to Sponsor Bitcoin Developer
Aron said that AMC will also begin accepting Apple Pay and Google Pay payments by the end of 2021.
AMC’s stock was trading at roughly $33 Monday morning. After the earnings release, the stock jumped 13.2% before falling to about $35 at the time of publication.
During the Reddit-driven retail trading frenzy earlier this year, so-called “meme stocks” like GameStop and AMC soared in value. AMC’s pivot to bitcoin payments suggests the struggling movie theater chain sees value in cryptocurrencies.
• Bitcoin Upside Stalls; Lower Support at $38K-$40K
• Bitcoin Breaks Key Resistance as Market Health Improves on Institutional Demand
• Institutional Investors Return to Bitcoin Despite US Crypto Tax Plans || SHAREHOLDER ALERT: Pomerantz Law Firm Reminds Shareholders with Losses on their Investment in Coinbase Global, Inc., of Class Action Lawsuit and Upcoming Deadline - COIN: New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - August 9, 2021) - Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Coinbase Global, Inc. ("Coinbase" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: COIN) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, and docketed under 21-cv-06049, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired Coinbase Class A common stock pursuant and/or traceable to the Company's registration statement and prospectus (collectively, the "Offering Materials") for the resale of up to 114,850,769 shares of its Class A common stock, whereby Coinbase began trading as a public company on or around April 14, 2021 (the "Offering"). Plaintiff pursues claims against the Defendants under the Securities Act of 1933.
If you are a shareholder who purchased or otherwise acquired Coinbase Class A common stock pursuant and/or traceable to the Company's registration statement and prospectus, you have until September 20, 2021 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained atwww.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby [email protected] 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.
[Click here for information about joining the class action]
Coinbase "powers the cryptoeconomy," offering a "trusted platform" for sending and receiving Bitcoin and other digital assets built using blockchain technology to approximately 43 million retail users, 7,000 institutions, and 115,000 ecosystem partners in over 100 countries.
On April 14, 2021, Coinbase filed its prospectus on Form 424B4 with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which forms part of the Registration Statement. The Company registered for the resale of up to 114,850,769 shares of its Class A common stock by registered shareholders. According to the Registration Statement, the resale of the Company's stock was not underwritten by any investment bank and the registered stockholders would purportedly elect whether or not to sell their shares. Such sales, if any, would be brokerage transactions on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, and Coinbase would purportedly not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares of Class A common stock by the registered stockholders. Thus, Coinbase's operations, including its liquidity and capital resources, would continue to be financed with cash flow from operating activities and net proceeds from the sale of convertible preferred stock. As of December 31, 2020, Coinbase had cash and cash equivalents of $1.1 billion, exclusive of restricted cash and customer custodial funds.
The complaint alleges that, the Offering Materials were false and misleading and omitted to state that, at the time of the Offering: (1) the Company required a sizeable cash injection; (2) the Company's platform was susceptible to service-level disruptions, which were increasingly likely to occur as the Company scaled its services to a larger user base; and (3) as a result of the foregoing, Defendants' positive statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects, were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis.
Only a month later, the high-flying promise of Coinbase came to a screaming halt, as Coinbase conceded the need to raise capital and revealed performance issues that prevented users' ability to trade cryptocurrencies. On May 17, 2021, Coinbase announced its plans to raise about $1.25 billion via a convertible bond sale. Then, on May 19, 2021, Coinbase revealed technical problems, including "delays . . . due to network congestion" effecting those who want to get their money out.
On this news, the Company's share price fell $23.44 per share, nearly 10% over two consecutive trading sessions, to close at $224.80 per share on May 19, 2021, thereby injuring investors.
By the commencement of this action, Coinbase stock traded as low as $208.00 per share, a significant decline from its April 14, 2021 opening price of $381.00 per share.
Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. Seewww.pomlaw.com.
CONTACT:Robert S. WilloughbyPomerantz [email protected] ext. 7980
To view the source version of this press release, please visithttps://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/92599 || SHAREHOLDER ALERT: Pomerantz Law Firm Reminds Shareholders with Losses on their Investment in Coinbase Global, Inc., of Class Action Lawsuit and Upcoming Deadline - COIN: New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - August 9, 2021) - Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Coinbase Global, Inc. ("Coinbase" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: COIN) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, and docketed under 21-cv-06049, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired Coinbase Class A common stock pursuant and/or traceable to the Company's registration statement and prospectus (collectively, the "Offering Materials") for the resale of up to 114,850,769 shares of its Class A common stock, whereby Coinbase began trading as a public company on or around April 14, 2021 (the "Offering"). Plaintiff pursues claims against the Defendants under the Securities Act of 1933. If you are a shareholder who purchased or otherwise acquired Coinbase Class A common stock pursuant and/or traceable to the Company's registration statement and prospectus, you have until September 20, 2021 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com . To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased. [Click here for information about joining the class action] Coinbase "powers the cryptoeconomy," offering a "trusted platform" for sending and receiving Bitcoin and other digital assets built using blockchain technology to approximately 43 million retail users, 7,000 institutions, and 115,000 ecosystem partners in over 100 countries. On April 14, 2021, Coinbase filed its prospectus on Form 424B4 with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which forms part of the Registration Statement. The Company registered for the resale of up to 114,850,769 shares of its Class A common stock by registered shareholders. According to the Registration Statement, the resale of the Company's stock was not underwritten by any investment bank and the registered stockholders would purportedly elect whether or not to sell their shares. Such sales, if any, would be brokerage transactions on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, and Coinbase would purportedly not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares of Class A common stock by the registered stockholders. Thus, Coinbase's operations, including its liquidity and capital resources, would continue to be financed with cash flow from operating activities and net proceeds from the sale of convertible preferred stock. As of December 31, 2020, Coinbase had cash and cash equivalents of $1.1 billion, exclusive of restricted cash and customer custodial funds. Story continues The complaint alleges that, the Offering Materials were false and misleading and omitted to state that, at the time of the Offering: (1) the Company required a sizeable cash injection; (2) the Company's platform was susceptible to service-level disruptions, which were increasingly likely to occur as the Company scaled its services to a larger user base; and (3) as a result of the foregoing, Defendants' positive statements about the Company's business, operations, and prospects, were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis. Only a month later, the high-flying promise of Coinbase came to a screaming halt, as Coinbase conceded the need to raise capital and revealed performance issues that prevented users' ability to trade cryptocurrencies. On May 17, 2021, Coinbase announced its plans to raise about $1.25 billion via a convertible bond sale. Then, on May 19, 2021, Coinbase revealed technical problems, including "delays . . . due to network congestion" effecting those who want to get their money out. On this news, the Company's share price fell $23.44 per share, nearly 10% over two consecutive trading sessions, to close at $224.80 per share on May 19, 2021, thereby injuring investors. By the commencement of this action, Coinbase stock traded as low as $208.00 per share, a significant decline from its April 14, 2021 opening price of $381.00 per share. Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com . CONTACT: Robert S. Willoughby Pomerantz LLP [email protected] 888-476-6529 ext. 7980 To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/92599 || AMC Entertainment Comes Through in Q2, Stock Rallies: AMC Entertainment reported its long-awaited Q2 results , and investors are rewarding the stock. Shares of AMC rallied more than 3% in the regular session. Since the company’s earnings report was announced, the stock has tacked on another 4%-plus in extended-hours trading. The movie chain’s revenue came in at a stronger than expected USD 444 million as the company benefited from the reopening of the economy. AMC Tailwinds & Headwinds AMC’s results were buoyed by the reopening of theaters across the U.S. and internationally. Adam Aron, the company’s CEO, described the quarter as “transformational” thanks largely to “quarter-ending liquidity” of more than USD 2 billion, which is about twice its former peak. Aron believes this cash and credit will help the company get through the pandemic uncertainties. Another potential tailwind is that ticket prices are inching higher and averaging USD 10.90 in the U.S., up 15% vs. pre-COVID-19 levels. There are headwinds as well. AMC is not a profitable company and reported a loss of USD 344 million for the quarter. Worse, AMC was operating at a loss even prior to the pandemic as movie theaters have had to compete with the rise of streaming content. In addition, AMC is saddled with billions of dollars of debt on its balance sheet, which fuels some of the short interest in the stock. AMC, however, is a meme stock, meaning that rather than trade on fundamentals, the price is fueled by internet sentiment. That meme-stock quality has seen the AMC price skyrocket as high as USD 70 per share in early June, though the stock is currently trading at about half of that level. Retail investors hold the lion’s share of AMC shares, as per the CEO. These shareholders were invited to participate in the company’s earnings call, where Aron was prepared to answer some of their questions about the path forward. Bitcoin Payments AMC is also catching crypto fever and plans to accept bitcoin as a payment method by year-end. Doing so could help to motivate the cryptocurrency community to go to AMC theatres. CEO Adam Aron reportedly discussed the details on the company’s earnings call, saying that AMC is implementing the technology to accept bitcoin payments for tickets and at the concession stand, the latter of which has attractive margins. Story continues This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: USD/JPY Forex Technical Analysis – Trader Reaction to 110.191 to 110.537 Retracement Zone Sets Near-Term Tone USD/CAD Exchange Rate Prediction – The Dollar Continues to Rally on Strong JOLTs Report AMC Entertainment Comes Through in Q2, Stock Rallies Economic Data from the Eurozone and the U.S Keep the EUR and the Dollar in Focus U.S. Dollar Index (DX) Futures Technical Analysis – Upside Momentum Could Extend Rally into 93.195 to 93.430 European Equities: Economic Sentiment Figures and COVID-19 Updates in Focus || AMC Entertainment Will Accept Bitcoin For U.S. Tickets, Concessions By Year End – CEO Adam Aron: AMC Entertainmentchairman-CEOAdam Aronsaid the chain will be technologically equipped to start acceptingBitcoinpayments for U.S.movie ticketsand concessions ordered online by the end of the year.
At a meaty, newsy and somewhat bizarre webcast, Aron also noted the chain will also start accepting Apple Pay and Google Pay.
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Aron noted that many of the company’s big new crop of retail investors, which he’s embraced heartily, are highly enthusiastic about cryptocurrency.
He said he learned about cryto while serving a stint on the board of Centricus Acquisition Corp., a SPAC (or special purpose acquisition company) set up by one one of his “closest European friends” of more than 20 years, chairman of Silversea Cruises (Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio). Centricus acquired a firm called Arqit, which Aron said “is on the cutting edge of quantum encryption and blockchain technology.”
AMC reportedstronger than anticipated second-quarter financial resultsthis afternoon. Aron hosted the call with hundreds of investors on the line, ticking off a stream of new initiatives some of which, like the Bitcoin gambit, sounded like a wish list or attempt to show chat-room investors that he’s on the same page. It’s not clear how a Bitcoin — which is worth $45,947.90 at current prices — could pay for a night out at the movies.
Aron took a raft of questions from the retail crowd — from whether the company will invest in drive-ins (no, a bad business) or consumer products (eh, could do) or film production (it’s expensive). He took the opportunity of that last query to recall AMC’s production venture with Regal, Open Road, and its Oscar wins forSpotlight —then segue into why the company needs to sell more stock and raise cash for big plays.
Investors on Wall Street chatrooms like Reddit and others have bough in, buoyed the stock and Aron owes them a lot. He bowed to group pressure at the company’s annual meeting earlier this month that it not seek authorization to sell more shares. He took over a dozen questions from them on the call, and only one from a Wall Street analyst at the tail end.
He did make some major news, likea deal with Warner Bros. andplans to buy and build new theaters.
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• New On Prime Video For January 2022: Daily Listings For Streaming TV, Movies & More || AMC Entertainment Will Accept Bitcoin For U.S. Tickets, Concessions By Year End – CEO Adam Aron: AMC Entertainment chairman-CEO Adam Aron said the chain will be technologically equipped to start accepting Bitcoin payments for U.S. movie tickets and concessions ordered online by the end of the year. At a meaty, newsy and somewhat bizarre webcast, Aron also noted the chain will also start accepting Apple Pay and Google Pay. More from Deadline AMC Entertainment Moves To Refinance Debt - Report Crypto.com, Which Took Naming Rights On Staples Center, Loses $30M In Hack Attack Adam Aron Unloads More Of His AMC Entertainment Stock, CEO Promises No More Selling Aron noted that many of the company’s big new crop of retail investors, which he’s embraced heartily, are highly enthusiastic about cryptocurrency. He said he learned about cryto while serving a stint on the board of Centricus Acquisition Corp., a SPAC (or special purpose acquisition company) set up by one one of his “closest European friends” of more than 20 years, chairman of Silversea Cruises (Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio). Centricus acquired a firm called Arqit, which Aron said “is on the cutting edge of quantum encryption and blockchain technology.” AMC reported stronger than anticipated second-quarter financial results this afternoon. Aron hosted the call with hundreds of investors on the line, ticking off a stream of new initiatives some of which, like the Bitcoin gambit, sounded like a wish list or attempt to show chat-room investors that he’s on the same page. It’s not clear how a Bitcoin — which is worth $45,947.90 at current prices — could pay for a night out at the movies. Aron took a raft of questions from the retail crowd — from whether the company will invest in drive-ins (no, a bad business) or consumer products (eh, could do) or film production (it’s expensive). He took the opportunity of that last query to recall AMC’s production venture with Regal, Open Road, and its Oscar wins for Spotlight — then segue into why the company needs to sell more stock and raise cash for big plays. Story continues Investors on Wall Street chatrooms like Reddit and others have bough in, buoyed the stock and Aron owes them a lot. He bowed to group pressure at the company’s annual meeting earlier this month that it not seek authorization to sell more shares. He took over a dozen questions from them on the call, and only one from a Wall Street analyst at the tail end. He did make some major news, like a deal with Warner Bros . and plans to buy and build new theaters . Best of Deadline Cancellations/Renewals Scorecard: TV Shows Ended Or Continuing In 2021-22 Season What's New On HBO Max For January 2022: Day-By-Day Listings For TV Shows & Movies New On Prime Video For January 2022: Daily Listings For Streaming TV, Movies & More || AMC Entertainment Will Accept Bitcoin For U.S. Tickets, Concessions By Year End – CEO Adam Aron: AMC Entertainmentchairman-CEOAdam Aronsaid the chain will be technologically equipped to start acceptingBitcoinpayments for U.S.movie ticketsand concessions ordered online by the end of the year.
At a meaty, newsy and somewhat bizarre webcast, Aron also noted the chain will also start accepting Apple Pay and Google Pay.
More from Deadline
• AMC Entertainment Moves To Refinance Debt - Report
• Crypto.com, Which Took Naming Rights On Staples Center, Loses $30M In Hack Attack
• Adam Aron Unloads More Of His AMC Entertainment Stock, CEO Promises No More Selling
Aron noted that many of the company’s big new crop of retail investors, which he’s embraced heartily, are highly enthusiastic about cryptocurrency.
He said he learned about cryto while serving a stint on the board of Centricus Acquisition Corp., a SPAC (or special purpose acquisition company) set up by one one of his “closest European friends” of more than 20 years, chairman of Silversea Cruises (Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio). Centricus acquired a firm called Arqit, which Aron said “is on the cutting edge of quantum encryption and blockchain technology.”
AMC reportedstronger than anticipated second-quarter financial resultsthis afternoon. Aron hosted the call with hundreds of investors on the line, ticking off a stream of new initiatives some of which, like the Bitcoin gambit, sounded like a wish list or attempt to show chat-room investors that he’s on the same page. It’s not clear how a Bitcoin — which is worth $45,947.90 at current prices — could pay for a night out at the movies.
Aron took a raft of questions from the retail crowd — from whether the company will invest in drive-ins (no, a bad business) or consumer products (eh, could do) or film production (it’s expensive). He took the opportunity of that last query to recall AMC’s production venture with Regal, Open Road, and its Oscar wins forSpotlight —then segue into why the company needs to sell more stock and raise cash for big plays.
Investors on Wall Street chatrooms like Reddit and others have bough in, buoyed the stock and Aron owes them a lot. He bowed to group pressure at the company’s annual meeting earlier this month that it not seek authorization to sell more shares. He took over a dozen questions from them on the call, and only one from a Wall Street analyst at the tail end.
He did make some major news, likea deal with Warner Bros. andplans to buy and build new theaters.
Best of Deadline
• Cancellations/Renewals Scorecard: TV Shows Ended Or Continuing In 2021-22 Season
• What's New On HBO Max For January 2022: Day-By-Day Listings For TV Shows & Movies
• New On Prime Video For January 2022: Daily Listings For Streaming TV, Movies & More || AMC Entertainment In Deal With Warner Bros For 45-Day Theatrical Window In 2022: In what doesn’t come as shocking news,AMC Entertainmentchairman and CEOAdam Aronsaid Monday that the No. 1 theater chain has inked a deal with Warner Bros, ensuring a 45-day theatrical window for the studio’s releases in 2022. Warners previously hammered out a 45-day theatrical window with No. 2 circuit Cineworld, and its U.S. counterpart Regal, earlier this year as the Burbank, CA studio was slammed by the industry and talent reps for its day-and-date theatrical-HBO Max streaming model.
The news came in a flurry of announcement by Aron during a call afterAMC released second-quarter earnings, including the chainpicking up eight older Arclight Cinemas leases, three of which are in L.A. (two of them — The Grove in LA and The Americana at Brand in Glendale — we already knew about).
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“We’re especially pleased that Warners has has decided to move away from day-and-date releases and commit to theatrical windows as well,” said Aron. “We’re having conversations with other movie studios in Hollywood.”
Aron said that studios’ experimenting with the theatrical window was as a result of the pandemic, adding, “We’re seeing the consensus that exclusive theatrical window is a good way to build major motion picture franchises.”
This past weekend, Warner Bros’ critically acclaimed James Gunn DC movieThe Suicide Squadtanked at the domestic box office with $26.5 million, under its $30M-plus projection. The pic’s availability free to HBO Max subscribers is largely to blame, as well as the decline in fanboy sentiment with the franchise. There’s also some concern by a few that the booming Delta variant can be easily blamed.
Despite opening some day-and-date movies to $20M-$30M+, Warner Bros’ theatrical titles that were also available on HBO Max suffered sharp second-weekend declines at the box office. Most recently,Space Jam: A New Legacyplummeted 69%. || AMC Entertainment In Deal With Warner Bros For 45-Day Theatrical Window In 2022: In what doesn’t come as shocking news, AMC Entertainment chairman and CEO Adam Aron said Monday that the No. 1 theater chain has inked a deal with Warner Bros, ensuring a 45-day theatrical window for the studio’s releases in 2022. Warners previously hammered out a 45-day theatrical window with No. 2 circuit Cineworld, and its U.S. counterpart Regal, earlier this year as the Burbank, CA studio was slammed by the industry and talent reps for its day-and-date theatrical-HBO Max streaming model. The news came in a flurry of announcement by Aron during a call after AMC released second-quarter earnings , including the chain picking up eight older Arclight Cinemas leases , three of which are in L.A. (two of them — The Grove in LA and The Americana at Brand in Glendale — we already knew about). More from Deadline AMC Entertainment Will Accept Bitcoin For U.S. Tickets, Concessions By Year End, CEO Says Adam Aron Unloads More Of His AMC Entertainment Stock, CEO Promises No More Selling AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron Issues New Year's Resolution, Vowing To "Try Very Hard" To Refinance Debt And Shore Up Balance Sheet “We’re especially pleased that Warners has has decided to move away from day-and-date releases and commit to theatrical windows as well,” said Aron. “We’re having conversations with other movie studios in Hollywood.” Aron said that studios’ experimenting with the theatrical window was as a result of the pandemic, adding, “We’re seeing the consensus that exclusive theatrical window is a good way to build major motion picture franchises.” This past weekend, Warner Bros’ critically acclaimed James Gunn DC movie The Suicide Squad tanked at the domestic box office with $26.5 million, under its $30M-plus projection. The pic’s availability free to HBO Max subscribers is largely to blame, as well as the decline in fanboy sentiment with the franchise. There’s also some concern by a few that the booming Delta variant can be easily blamed. Despite opening some day-and-date movies to $20M-$30M+, Warner Bros’ theatrical titles that were also available on HBO Max suffered sharp second-weekend declines at the box office. Most recently, Space Jam: A New Legacy plummeted 69%. || The Cryptocurrency Tech That Could Replace Verizon: For folks who are unaware, I run a cryptocurrency-focused research advisory calledCrypto Investor Networkwith legendary early Bitcoin investorCharlie Shrem.
Source: Shutterstock
Together, we’ve created a blockbuster portfolio of crypto picks that, in less than a year, has risen more than 100%. Some of those picks are up more than 400%.
Just two weeks ago, we introduced a brand-new cryptocurrency pick into that portfolio that we think could be our biggest winner yet…
InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips
It’s a small, mostly unheard-of cryptocurrency that is one of the most promising cryptos Charlie and I have ever come across. Whenever we tell folks about it, everyone goes: “Oh. My. God. This could be huge!”
And they’re right – it could be huge, because this crypto actually has what it takes to replaceVerizon(NYSE:VZ),AT&T(NYSE:T),T-Mobile(NASADQ:TMUS) and every other wireless cell service provider in the world.
You read that correctly. This small crypto could disintermediate the multi-hundred-billion-dollar telecom industry and create a new basis for how things receive internet coverage.
The idea is pretty simple…
As opposed to receiving cell coverage to power your smartphone and smartwatch while out and about, you can receive an extended WiFi signal that is provided by someone in their home or office, who is creating that WiFi signal and blasting it out into the world. They’re doing this because they’re getting rewarded to do it with the very cryptocurrency we’re talking about right now.
That WiFi signal costs money. But less than the traditional cell signal. And it is just as powerful.
In essence, then,this cryptocurrency is the basis for creating a cheaper way for people and things to access the internet when on the go.
The project was just started a few years back, and is already seeing huge uptake in certain parts of the country. Adoption appears to be accelerating in 2021, and we think this is the critical inflection point after which this cryptocurrency will go mainstream and turn into a true Verizon challenger.
If that happens, the upside potential of this crypto ishuge!
Why? Because its market capitalization is under $5 billion. Compare that to Verizon, which features a $235 billion valuation.
Mark my words. This may be the most exciting cryptocurrency in the market today, and one of the best investment opportunities of the decade.
It’s certainly an opportunity you don’t want to miss.
To find out more about this exciting new crypto pick, click here.
On the date of publication, Luke Lango did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
By uncovering early investments in hypergrowth industries, Luke Lango puts you on the ground-floor of world-changing megatrends. It’s the theme of his premiere technology-focused service,Innovation Investor. To see Luke’s entire lineup of innovative cutting-edge stocks,become a subscriber of Innovation Investor today.
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The postThe Cryptocurrency Tech That Could Replace Verizonappeared first onInvestorPlace. || The Cryptocurrency Tech That Could Replace Verizon: For folks who are unaware, I run a cryptocurrency-focused research advisory called Crypto Investor Network with legendary early Bitcoin investor Charlie Shrem . A concept image of the world with different crypto icons. Source: Shutterstock Together, we’ve created a blockbuster portfolio of crypto picks that, in less than a year, has risen more than 100%. Some of those picks are up more than 400%. Just two weeks ago, we introduced a brand-new cryptocurrency pick into that portfolio that we think could be our biggest winner yet… InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips It’s a small, mostly unheard-of cryptocurrency that is one of the most promising cryptos Charlie and I have ever come across. Whenever we tell folks about it, everyone goes: “ Oh. My. God. This could be huge! ” And they’re right – it could be huge, because this crypto actually has what it takes to replace Verizon (NYSE: VZ ), AT&T (NYSE: T ), T-Mobile (NASADQ: TMUS ) and every other wireless cell service provider in the world. You read that correctly. This small crypto could disintermediate the multi-hundred-billion-dollar telecom industry and create a new basis for how things receive internet coverage. A Cryptocurrency And a Big Disruptor The idea is pretty simple… As opposed to receiving cell coverage to power your smartphone and smartwatch while out and about, you can receive an extended WiFi signal that is provided by someone in their home or office, who is creating that WiFi signal and blasting it out into the world. They’re doing this because they’re getting rewarded to do it with the very cryptocurrency we’re talking about right now. That WiFi signal costs money. But less than the traditional cell signal. And it is just as powerful. In essence, then, this cryptocurrency is the basis for creating a cheaper way for people and things to access the internet when on the go. The project was just started a few years back, and is already seeing huge uptake in certain parts of the country. Adoption appears to be accelerating in 2021, and we think this is the critical inflection point after which this cryptocurrency will go mainstream and turn into a true Verizon challenger. Story continues If that happens, the upside potential of this crypto is huge ! Why? Because its market capitalization is under $5 billion. Compare that to Verizon, which features a $235 billion valuation. Mark my words. This may be the most exciting cryptocurrency in the market today, and one of the best investment opportunities of the decade. It’s certainly an opportunity you don’t want to miss. To find out more about this exciting new crypto pick, click here. On the date of publication, Luke Lango did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. By uncovering early investments in hypergrowth industries, Luke Lango puts you on the ground-floor of world-changing megatrends. It’s the theme of his premiere technology-focused service, Innovation Investor . To see Luke’s entire lineup of innovative cutting-edge stocks, become a subscriber of Innovation Investor today . More From InvestorPlace Stock Prodigy Who Found NIO at $2… Says Buy THIS Now Analyst Who Found Microsoft at $0.38 Names #1 Pick for the AI Boom America’s #1 EV Stock Still Flying Under the Radar The post The Cryptocurrency Tech That Could Replace Verizon appeared first on InvestorPlace . || Congress’s Misstep on Crypto Reporting Shows the Dangerous Allure of Surveillance: The U.S. Senate may be nearing a compromise solution to fix a controversial cryptocurrency tax-reporting measure in the omnibus infrastructure bill. The intent of the measure was to impose 1099 tax reporting requirements on crypto exchanges and other companies that handle investments. But because of poorly crafted language, the original measure could have also covered cryptocurrency miners and software developers, who do not and cannot track the real-world identities of users.
On Monday afternoon, original sponsor Rob Portman (R-Ohio) announced a compromise had been reached toexclude “non brokers,”so, fingers crossed, revised language will address the problems. Whatever the outcome, the push for a compromise revision has been made possible by a huge groundswell of activism from U.S. citizens, including floods of emails and phone calls to Senate offices, and loud objections to the measure from figures fromSquare CEO Jack DorseytoGene Simmons of Kiss.
David Z. Morris is CoinDesk’s chief insights columnist.
Related:US Senate Sends Infrastructure Bill to House
One of the main sources of angst was the possibility the measure might impose tax reporting requirements onsoftware developerswho design financial tools and systems, such as decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and digital wallets for storing crypto keys. According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a pro-digital rights group, the measure could “force software creators … to create cumbersome surveillance systems or stop offering services in the United States.”
This is a problem for a number of obvious reasons. The overriding issue is that, according to current U.S. case law,software is a form of speech, and thus protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution – a protection first established ina case about encryption. It would certainly be a matter for the courts if the initial language were to go into effect. Apple, for instance, was poised to use this argument in 2016 when the FBI tried to force it tocreate phone-unlocking software, though that case didn’t go to trial.
But that’s just the formal legal issue with the provision. The intensity of the backlash suggests something more visceral than mere constitutional angst. One explanation, I think, is that the measure would do something fundamentally un-American: make a crime not just illegal, butimpossible.
This all started, remember, as a measure about tax reporting. Requiring tax reporting from crypto entities was expected to raise about $28 billion in revenue to offset new spending for priorities like highways and trains. Fair enough! As myself and many others have made clear, the fight here isn’t against taxing cryptocurrency capital gains. Entities like Coinbase should absolutely report the tax information the government wants. Individuals shouldtrack and report transactionsthat take place elsewhere – and they should be pursued and punished by the justice system if they don’t.
Related:State of Crypto: What Just Happened in the US Senate?
But making it illegal to build financial software without built-in tax reporting features is a whole different kettle of fish. Such a mandate could be compared to a law requiring that every dollar bill be tagged with a GPS chip and tracked to ensure that it isn’t spent on anything illegal. Or to a law requiring all guns be equipped with a target camera and AI system to ensure they’re not being used to shoot the wrong things.
Translating the original tax measure into real-world terms illuminates why it met so much resistance. These are obviously absurd proposals that would fundamentally conflict with the American ethos by putting immense and direct control of individual decisions in the hands of the government. When it comes to paper money or guns, our deep cultural bias is towards leaving it up to individuals to choose to use them wisely and properly, while making sure they face justice if and when they commit a crime. (The actual way people behave with guns certainly leaves that stance open for scrutiny, but that’s a topic for another day.)
That Portman’s original language looped in so many non-brokers may mostly reflect regulators’ ignorance about the structure of decentralized systems. But it also reflects a deeper failure to think of digital systems through the same ethical framework of personal responsibility that we apply in the physical world. We saw another major sign of this bias recently at Apple, which after years of touting its commitment to privacy and security now plans to startmonitoring user communicationsfor child pornography – a measure that would be clearly morally repugnant if it involved monitoring the physical mail of millions of people as a way to catch predators.
To put it directly, the government should concern itself with catching criminals, not with outlawing tools with potential criminal uses. This is an especially important value to defend as financial systems become increasingly digital, in part for the same reason the Second Amendment exists: Limiting government power helps keep it honest. And as inconvenient as this truth may be, defending the right to financial privacy in the 21st century will be inextricable from defending individuals’ ability to commit crimes using unmonitored financial tools.
There is a further bit of infuriating context here. One reason the crypto-reporting provision was added so hastily to the infrastructure bill is that in late July, Republicans in Congress killed another pay-for in the bill: an additional$100 billion in revenuethat would have come from enhancing IRS enforcement of tax laws on corporations and the top 1% of income earners.
On the face of it, this is enraging because it shows Congress knows there’s a boatload of tax avoidance going on among the wealthy and corporations, but finds it more politically expedient to squeeze a nascent industry than putting more cops on an existing but poorly enforced beat.
But more deeply, it speaks to the profound allure that automated surveillance and censorship hold for the government, and why it demands strong opposition, not just when it comes to crypto, but in all walks of life.
• Institutional Investors Return to Bitcoin Despite US Crypto Tax Plans
• Several Crypto Mining Stocks Up Sharply as Bitcoin Rises Above $46K || Congress’s Misstep on Crypto Reporting Shows the Dangerous Allure of Surveillance: The U.S. Senate may be nearing a compromise solution to fix a controversial cryptocurrency tax-reporting measure in the omnibus infrastructure bill. The intent of the measure was to impose 1099 tax reporting requirements on crypto exchanges and other companies that handle investments. But because of poorly crafted language, the original measure could have also covered cryptocurrency miners and software developers, who do not and cannot track the real-world identities of users. On Monday afternoon, original sponsor Rob Portman (R-Ohio) announced a compromise had been reached to exclude “non brokers,” so, fingers crossed, revised language will address the problems. Whatever the outcome, the push for a compromise revision has been made possible by a huge groundswell of activism from U.S. citizens, including floods of emails and phone calls to Senate offices, and loud objections to the measure from figures from Square CEO Jack Dorsey to Gene Simmons of Kiss . David Z. Morris is CoinDesk’s chief insights columnist. Related: US Senate Sends Infrastructure Bill to House One of the main sources of angst was the possibility the measure might impose tax reporting requirements on software developers who design financial tools and systems, such as decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and digital wallets for storing crypto keys. According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a pro-digital rights group, the measure could “force software creators … to create cumbersome surveillance systems or stop offering services in the United States.” This is a problem for a number of obvious reasons. The overriding issue is that, according to current U.S. case law, software is a form of speech , and thus protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution – a protection first established in a case about encryption . It would certainly be a matter for the courts if the initial language were to go into effect. Apple, for instance, was poised to use this argument in 2016 when the FBI tried to force it to create phone-unlocking software , though that case didn’t go to trial. Story continues But that’s just the formal legal issue with the provision. The intensity of the backlash suggests something more visceral than mere constitutional angst. One explanation, I think, is that the measure would do something fundamentally un-American: make a crime not just illegal, but impossible . This all started, remember, as a measure about tax reporting. Requiring tax reporting from crypto entities was expected to raise about $28 billion in revenue to offset new spending for priorities like highways and trains. Fair enough! As myself and many others have made clear, the fight here isn’t against taxing cryptocurrency capital gains. Entities like Coinbase should absolutely report the tax information the government wants. Individuals should track and report transactions that take place elsewhere – and they should be pursued and punished by the justice system if they don’t. Related: State of Crypto: What Just Happened in the US Senate? But making it illegal to build financial software without built-in tax reporting features is a whole different kettle of fish. Such a mandate could be compared to a law requiring that every dollar bill be tagged with a GPS chip and tracked to ensure that it isn’t spent on anything illegal. Or to a law requiring all guns be equipped with a target camera and AI system to ensure they’re not being used to shoot the wrong things. Translating the original tax measure into real-world terms illuminates why it met so much resistance. These are obviously absurd proposals that would fundamentally conflict with the American ethos by putting immense and direct control of individual decisions in the hands of the government. When it comes to paper money or guns, our deep cultural bias is towards leaving it up to individuals to choose to use them wisely and properly, while making sure they face justice if and when they commit a crime. (The actual way people behave with guns certainly leaves that stance open for scrutiny, but that’s a topic for another day.) That Portman’s original language looped in so many non-brokers may mostly reflect regulators’ ignorance about the structure of decentralized systems. But it also reflects a deeper failure to think of digital systems through the same ethical framework of personal responsibility that we apply in the physical world. We saw another major sign of this bias recently at Apple, which after years of touting its commitment to privacy and security now plans to start monitoring user communications for child pornography – a measure that would be clearly morally repugnant if it involved monitoring the physical mail of millions of people as a way to catch predators. To put it directly, the government should concern itself with catching criminals, not with outlawing tools with potential criminal uses. This is an especially important value to defend as financial systems become increasingly digital, in part for the same reason the Second Amendment exists: Limiting government power helps keep it honest. And as inconvenient as this truth may be, defending the right to financial privacy in the 21st century will be inextricable from defending individuals’ ability to commit crimes using unmonitored financial tools. There is a further bit of infuriating context here. One reason the crypto-reporting provision was added so hastily to the infrastructure bill is that in late July, Republicans in Congress killed another pay-for in the bill: an additional $100 billion in revenue that would have come from enhancing IRS enforcement of tax laws on corporations and the top 1% of income earners. On the face of it, this is enraging because it shows Congress knows there’s a boatload of tax avoidance going on among the wealthy and corporations, but finds it more politically expedient to squeeze a nascent industry than putting more cops on an existing but poorly enforced beat. But more deeply, it speaks to the profound allure that automated surveillance and censorship hold for the government, and why it demands strong opposition, not just when it comes to crypto, but in all walks of life. Related Stories Institutional Investors Return to Bitcoin Despite US Crypto Tax Plans Several Crypto Mining Stocks Up Sharply as Bitcoin Rises Above $46K || Bitcoin, cryptos post 5th straight week of outflows -CoinShares data: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin investment products and funds registered outflows for a fifth consecutive week, as investor sentiment remained cautious in the midst of increased global regulatory scrutiny, data from digital asset manager CoinShares showed on Monday. Outflows from the world's most popular cryptocurrency totaled $33 million in the week ended Aug. 6, compared with $19.7 million the previous week. But so far this year, bitcoin inflows remained a robust $4.2 billion. Total crypto outflows, meanwhile, added up to nearly $26 million, although CoinShares noted that the magnitude of outflows was much less than in May and June. Sluggishness in the crypto market was due in part to global regulatory crackdown, analysts say. "There's all this focus on crypto because with all the new financial products and innovative solutions, governments, which are here to protect investors, are going to wonder whether this is a good idea and so, they're going to look more into these," said Matthijs de Vries, chief technology officer at infrastructure provider AllianceBlock. Bitcoin on Monday hit an 11-week high above $46,000. Since mid-July, bitcoin has gained 46% against the dollar. Data also showed that ether, the token used in the Ethereum blockchain, also saw outflows of $2.8 million, from a nearly $9-million outflow the previous week. Last Thursday, Ethereum, the second-largest blockchain network, went through a major software upgrade, which is expected to stabilize transaction fees and reduce supply of the ether token. Ether's supply is being reduced through "burning," in which tokens are sent to specialized addresses that have unobtainable private keys. Without access to a private key, no one can use the tokens, putting them outside the circulating supply. About $59.2 million worth of ether tokens have been "burned" since Thursday's software upgrade, according to ultrasound.money, a website that tracks ether burning and supply. Investors expect ether to accelerate gains as the Ethereum network burns more of its tokens. Ether was last up 4.9% at $3,161.93. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Marguerita Choy) || Bitcoin, cryptos post 5th straight week of outflows -CoinShares data: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bitcoin investment products and funds registered outflows for a fifth consecutive week, as investor sentiment remained cautious in the midst of increased global regulatory scrutiny, data from digital asset manager CoinShares showed on Monday.
Outflows from the world's most popular cryptocurrency totaled $33 million in the week ended Aug. 6, compared with $19.7 million the previous week. But so far this year, bitcoin inflows remained a robust $4.2 billion.
Total crypto outflows, meanwhile, added up to nearly $26 million, although CoinShares noted that the magnitude of outflows was much less than in May and June.
Sluggishness in the crypto market was due in part to global regulatory crackdown, analysts say.
"There's all this focus on crypto because with all the new financial products and innovative solutions, governments, which are here to protect investors, are going to wonder whether this is a good idea and so, they're going to look more into these," said Matthijs de Vries, chief technology officer at infrastructure provider AllianceBlock.
Bitcoin on Monday hit an 11-week high above $46,000. Since mid-July, bitcoin has gained 46% against the dollar.
Data also showed that ether, the token used in the Ethereum blockchain, also saw outflows of $2.8 million, from a nearly $9-million outflow the previous week.
Last Thursday, Ethereum, the second-largest blockchain network, went through a major software upgrade, which is expected to stabilize transaction fees and reduce supply of the ether token.
Ether's supply is being reduced through "burning," in which tokens are sent to specialized addresses that have unobtainable private keys. Without access to a private key, no one can use the tokens, putting them outside the circulating supply.
About $59.2 million worth of ether tokens have been "burned" since Thursday's software upgrade, according to ultrasound.money, a website that tracks ether burning and supply.
Investors expect ether to accelerate gains as the Ethereum network burns more of its tokens. Ether was last up 4.9% at $3,161.93.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
[Social Media Buzz]
None available.
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45593.64, 44428.29, 47793.32, 47096.95, 47047.00, 46004.48, 44695.36, 44801.19, 46717.58, 49339.18
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 4073.26, 4325.13, 4181.93, 4376.63, 4331.69, 4160.62, 4193.70, 4087.66, 4001.74, 4100.52, 4151.52, 4334.68, 4371.60, 4352.40, 4382.88, 4382.66, 4579.02, 4565.30, 4703.39, 4892.01, 4578.77, 4582.96, 4236.31, 4376.53, 4597.12, 4599.88, 4228.75, 4226.06, 4122.94, 4161.27, 4130.81, 3882.59, 3154.95, 3637.52, 3625.04, 3582.88, 4065.20, 3924.97, 3905.95, 3631.04, 3630.70, 3792.40, 3682.84, 3926.07, 3892.35, 4200.67, 4174.73, 4163.07, 4338.71, 4403.74, 4409.32, 4317.48, 4229.36, 4328.41, 4370.81, 4426.89, 4610.48, 4772.02, 4781.99, 4826.48, 5446.91, 5647.21, 5831.79, 5678.19, 5725.59, 5605.51, 5590.69, 5708.52, 6011.45, 6031.60, 6008.42, 5930.32, 5526.64, 5750.80, 5904.83, 5780.90, 5753.09, 6153.85, 6130.53, 6468.40, 6767.31, 7078.50, 7207.76, 7379.95, 7407.41, 7022.76, 7144.38, 7459.69, 7143.58, 6618.14.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2017-11-10]
Volume: 5208249856, RSI (14-day): 54.41, 50-day EMA: 5754.56, 200-day EMA: 3859.71
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1272.40, Gold RSI: 45.84
Oil Price: 56.74, Oil RSI: 71.17
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Tech Roundup: AAPL & FB Earnings, Responses to Russian Meddling: President Trump’s proposed tax reforms are particularly positive for the big technology companies that have been hoarding their cash overseas to avoid high taxes on repatriation. Apple AAPL, Microsoft MSFT, Cisco CSCO and Alphabet GOOGL will all benefit from the new plan to charge a one-time tax of 12% on all cash and 5% on all non-cash assets brought back into the country. The reduction in the corporate tax rate to 20% is also a positive.
The top stories from last week-
Earnings
Apple: Apple sailed past the Zacks Consensus Estimates on both top and bottom lines, helped by growth across product lines and most geographies. Most encouraging was the acceleration in services revenue growth, the improved pricing across iPads and Macs and relative strength in China. But iPhones, which still account for more than half the revenue were a drag on margins.
The guidance of $84 to $87 billion was better than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $83.3 billion, which is great considering that some people are definitely bypassing the iPhone 8 for the iPhone X, which is likely to remain supply-constrained. Read more: Apple Q4 Earnings Impress, iPhones & Services Lead
Facebook: Facebook FB also topped expectations. As far as revenues are concerned, the company grew both users (MAUs and DAUs grew 16% each) and prices (average price per ad increased 35%). There was a spike on the cost side that Facebook attributed to a bigger workforce and marketing. Costs will rise greatly going forward, as Facebook invests in security, video and AR/VR. Read more: Facebook's Mobile & Video Efforts Drive Q3 Earnings
Tech Companies Grilled on Russian Meddling
While Google, Twitter and Facebook were all taken to task by government officials for allegedly allowing meddling by Russians in the 2016 U.S. elections, it was Facebook that faced most of the flak. Officials were particularly upset with the time the social network took to track the ads bought in Russian rubles and that violated its terms of service, as well as its general lack of knowledge about the 5 million advertisers on its platform.
Facebook has said that at least 3,000 U.S. political ads had been bought by people in Russia. These people had also published another 80,000 Facebook posts that were seen by around 126 million Americans over two years. The company has now admitted that it could have done more to protect its platform from people deliberately posting divisive, hurtful, hateful posts.
The company has now committed to doubling its security staff (including temporary workers) to 20K by the end of 2018 (it currently employs around 20K in total). It also intends to give political ads special treatment going forward. So political advertisers will have to furnish more information about their identities now and there will be a 1,000 more people reviewing these ads. Facebook will compile a publicly searchable archive of political ads beginning next year.
Twitter said that Russians had 2,752 accounts on the platform. Google said that Russia-linked ad spending on its platform was only around $4,700, but it would build a database of political ads in any case.
Both Facebook and Google said that Russia linked ads were a tiny fraction of the total content on their platforms.
[{"Ticker": "AAPL", "Price Change Last Week": "+5.80%", "Price Change Last 6 Months": "+15.80%"}, {"Ticker": "FB", "Price Change Last Week": "+0.57%", "Price Change Last 6 Months": "+19.08%"}, {"Ticker": "GOOGL", "Price Change Last Week": "+1.58%", "Price Change Last 6 Months": "+10.49%"}, {"Ticker": "MSFT", "Price Change Last Week": "+0.39%", "Price Change Last 6 Months": "+21.94%"}, {"Ticker": "INTC", "Price Change Last Week": "+4.37%", "Price Change Last 6 Months": "+25.85%"}, {"Ticker": "CSCO", "Price Change Last Week": "+0.12%", "Price Change Last 6 Months": "+0.23%"}, {"Ticker": "AMZN", "Price Change Last Week": "+0.97%", "Price Change Last 6 Months": "+19.00%"}]
Other Stories
Corporate
iPhone X Demand in India: iPhone X is seeing very strong demand in India with the first devices selling off in a few minutes on Amazon.in. Pre-orders are much higher than expected as many customers bypassed the iPhone 8 series, waiting instead for the tenth anniversary device. But the limited availability also put off a few that may now go for a Samsung device, according to media reports.
Tech Companies Building Undersea Cable: Companies like Softbank, Facebook and Amazon AMZN are getting together with telecoms to build an undersea cable that can transfer data at speeds of up to 60TBPS. The 8,700 mile long wire will lie beneath the Pacific Ocean connecting Hermosa Beach, near Los Angeles, to Japan and the Philippines. The new cable is intended to cater the growing number of IoT devices, according to Softbank. Gartner estimates that these devices will grow from more than 8 billion this year to more than 20 billion by 2020.
Microsoft Acquires Wind Power in the Netherlands: A wind farm adjacent to Microsoft’s data center operations in the Netherlands is being expanded and repowered to generate 180-megawatts of energy to be used entirely by the software giant. The construction and operation will be by Nuon, part of Vattenfall in the Wieringermeer Polder, near Amsterdam. The plant will be the largest of its kind in the area and is expected to be operational in 2019.
Amazon Exits Fresh Grocery Biz in Some States: Delivering fresh groceries is a tricky business, as it deals with highly perishable items. There’s also the need for more local sourcing because things gone bad are harder to return. The business is also hard for retail king Amazon, which is discontinuing the service with minimal notice in parts of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and California.
It’s true that Amazon may be working on synergies between Whole Foods, Amazon Prime Now one-hour delivery and Amazon Fresh to bring the service to these and other markets. But it isn’t a given, especially because spokespersons for the company are not providing much further information.
Micron CEO Joins AMD Board: Mark Durcan, who resigned from the position of Micron MU CEO in February and from its board effective May 8, after 32 years at the company, has joined AMD’s board. Sanjay Mehrotra, former SanDisk co-founder and CEO, is the new CEO and President at Micron.
Legal/Regulatory
Facebook Faces Overtime Lawsuit: Susie Bigger, who joined Facebook in 2013 and worked there until earlier this year as a Client Solutions Manager, alleges that Facebook routinely classifies people wrongly to avoid paying overtime. She says that “[Client Solutions Managers’] primary duties do not involve the exercise of discretion or independent judgment with respect to matters of significance”.
On the other hand, these people generally handle advertiser accounts based on decisions taken at the team level. So they should be eligible for overtime when they work more than 40 hours. The lawsuit claims damages for lost wages. Biggers’ lawyers are now asking a judge to grant the case class action status, so they can sue for lost wages on behalf of not only Bigger, but also other Client Solutions Managers, Customer Solutions Managers and Account Managers at Facebook.
New Products/Technology
Cisco’s AI-Powered Voice Assistant for Meetings: At Cisco’s Partner Summit, the company announced an AI-powered voice assistant for corporate meetings. Powered by the NVIDIA Jetson platform, Spark Assistant as it is called includes machine-learning technology from MindMeld (a recent acquisition), speech recognition technology and natural language understanding (it can identify different people in the organization and sign them on to the meeting on the basis of their voice commands), as well as question-answering and dialog-management capabilities.
New Surface Pro in December: At the company’s Future Decoded event in London, Panos Panay, Microsoft’s corporate VP for Windows devices, announced that the new Surface Pro with LTE Advanced will be available on Dec 1. The product targets the mobile professional or enterprise customer looking for alternatives to the MacBook Pro.
So the basic version with Intel i5 processor, 4 GB RAM and 128 GB SSD will sell for $1,149 while the one with double the RAM and SSD storage will cost $1,449. Microsoft expects 17 hours of video playback time. The devices will also feature a Cat 9 modem for download speeds of up to 450 Mbps and support for 20 cellular bands, offering connectivity in almost any country in the world.
Amazon Prime Video Comes to Xbox OneX: The Amazon Prime Video app that launched last year in more than 200 countries will now be available on the Xbox family devices (including the just-launched Xbox One X). While the new device’s 4K capabilities will be good for streaming high definition gameplay, a growing number of users in Canada, Mexico, France, Italy, Spain and India will also be able to stream video. This gives Microsoft a better chance of grabbing a share of the living room as it’s been trying to do for a long time.
Google Launches Poly: Integrated with Tilt Brush and Blocks tools, and designed with a range of VR headsets and phone-based AR systems in mind, Google’s Poly is a searchable database of free 3D objects that developers can easily incorporate in their 3D content. The database already has thousands of objects but Google is looking to increase that number manifold. Google may ultimately sell the objects to developers, but for now, the goal is to create more AR and VR content for its ARCore and Daydream platforms.
Amazon Launches AR Shopping: Amazon has added AR viewing on its iOS app for some items like furniture, electronics and toys. So users can press the camera icon inside the app to select AR View and then point the phone in the position they want to see how it goes with the décor. This won’t earn Amazon extra money unless it makes you buy more Echos, but it can save costs arising from customer returns and encourage people to buy more furniture on Amazon (for example).
The feature is built on Apple’s ARKit, so it can encourage more people to upgrade to iOS 11. Amazon hasn’t said if it’s building the feature for Android users as well, but that may take more time given that the companies compete on multiple levels and also because it will then have to develop the feature based on Google’s ARCore. AR viewing in shopping isn’t particularly novel however; companies like Target, Ikea, Wayfair and Houzz already offer the experience. Alibaba offers VR viewing.
Amazon Could Be Interested in Bitcoin Too: Amazon says it isn’t likely to accept bitcoin any time soon because there isn’t sufficient demand for it. But the retailer is going on registering domain names nonetheless. Three years ago, it registered amazonbitcoin.com, following that up last week with amazonethereum.com, amazoncryptocurrency.com, amazoncryptocurrencies.com. CNBC says that Amazon may just be protecting its brand name.
Snapchat Launches Snap Pixel: Snap is launching a conversion-tracking tool called Snap Pixel so brands can measure the performance of their ads on Snapchat in terms of subsequent purchase, save, start checkout, add to cart, view content, add billing, sign up, search and page view activities. The product is still in the testing phase, with Snapchat’s sales team handling specific access requests from brands.
Separately, Google announced that it would be more closely integrating Snap into its just-announced Pixelbook where the conversation window will be larger, in line with the Pixelbook’s 12.3-inch quad HD display.
Collaborations and M&A
Waymo Service Deal with AutoNation: Alphabet’s self-driving unit Waymo has partnered with AutoNation, the largest auto dealer in the U.S. for the provision of maintenance and repair services to Waymo’s self-driving vehicles. Waymo has in the past been in favor of fully automated vehicles as drivers lose contextual awareness of the surroundings when in self-drive mode, making it very hard for them to take over in an emergency.
While it will no doubt include the technology in its Waze service, in recent times, Waymo has gotten closer to ride hailing startup Lyft, leading many to think that it would be one of the first companies deploying the vehicles. But all these vehicles will need servicing, which is where AutoNation or others like it will play a role.
HP Closes Acquisition of Samsung Printer Business: HP has completed the acquisition of Samsung’s printer business for $1.05 billion bringing on board Samsung’s 6,500+ print patents and a workforce of nearly 1,300 researchers and engineers with expertise in laser technology, imaging electronics, and supplies and accessories. The acquisition expands HP’s portfolio, greatly increases its capabilities in the $55 billion A3 copier segment and cements its leadership in the A4 laser printing business.
Some Numbers
Strategy Analytics Smartphone Market Share: Strategy Analytics estimates that Samsung held on to its leadership position in the third quarter of 2017 having sold 83.4 million units for a global market share of 21.2%. Apple stayed in the second place with 46.7 million units and 33.9% share. Huawei was third with 39.1 million units and 9.9% share, OPPO fourth with 31.4 million units and 8.0% share. Xiaomi was fifth with 27.7 million units and 7.0% share with other companies making up the balance.
Samsung grew 11% (the highest in 4 years), Apple grew 3% and Huawei 16%, with OPPO and Xiaomi growing a respective 45% and 91% off a much smaller base.
Nintendo Switch Shipments: Based on the considerable success the Switch console has brought Nintendo, the company now expects total shipments in its fiscal year ending March 2018 to be 14 million units. Its initial forecast was for 10 million units. But Nintendo is likely baking a strong holiday season into its forecast, so it will have to overcome current supply constraints.
Other Earnings Reports From Last Week: Snap, Groupon, FireEye, Equinix, Symantec, Cirrus Logic, CyberArk Software, TiVO, Arrow, Paylocity, Automatic Data Processing, Qorvo, Fiserv, Electronic Arts, Dun & Bradstreet, Cognizant, Insperity, ActiVision, Teradata, Pandora, FDC, Garmin, Fitbit, Alibaba, Ametek.
Some Companies Reporting This Week: MCHP, SWKS, GDDY, PCLN, TRIP, TTWO, SNAP, ZNGA, DXC, NVDA
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Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportCisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) : Free Stock Analysis ReportAmazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) : Free Stock Analysis ReportFacebook, Inc. (FB) : Free Stock Analysis ReportAlphabet Inc. (GOOGL) : Free Stock Analysis ReportApple Inc. (AAPL) : Free Stock Analysis ReportMicrosoft Corporation (MSFT) : Free Stock Analysis ReportMicron Technology, Inc. (MU) : Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment Research || Tech Roundup: AAPL & FB Earnings, Responses to Russian Meddling: President Trumps proposed tax reforms are particularly positive for the big technology companies that have been hoarding their cash overseas to avoid high taxes on repatriation. Apple AAPL, Microsoft MSFT, Cisco CSCO and Alphabet GOOGL will all benefit from the new plan to charge a one-time tax of 12% on all cash and 5% on all non-cash assets brought back into the country. The reduction in the corporate tax rate to 20% is also a positive. The top stories from last week- Earnings Apple : Apple sailed past the Zacks Consensus Estimates on both top and bottom lines, helped by growth across product lines and most geographies. Most encouraging was the acceleration in services revenue growth, the improved pricing across iPads and Macs and relative strength in China. But iPhones, which still account for more than half the revenue were a drag on margins. The guidance of $84 to $87 billion was better than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $83.3 billion, which is great considering that some people are definitely bypassing the iPhone 8 for the iPhone X, which is likely to remain supply-constrained. Read more: Apple Q4 Earnings Impress, iPhones & Services Lead Facebook : Facebook FB also topped expectations. As far as revenues are concerned, the company grew both users (MAUs and DAUs grew 16% each) and prices (average price per ad increased 35%). There was a spike on the cost side that Facebook attributed to a bigger workforce and marketing. Costs will rise greatly going forward, as Facebook invests in security, video and AR/VR. Read more: Facebook's Mobile & Video Efforts Drive Q3 Earnings Tech Companies Grilled on Russian Meddling While Google, Twitter and Facebook were all taken to task by government officials for allegedly allowing meddling by Russians in the 2016 U.S. elections, it was Facebook that faced most of the flak. Officials were particularly upset with the time the social network took to track the ads bought in Russian rubles and that violated its terms of service, as well as its general lack of knowledge about the 5 million advertisers on its platform. Story continues Facebook has said that at least 3,000 U.S. political ads had been bought by people in Russia. These people had also published another 80,000 Facebook posts that were seen by around 126 million Americans over two years. The company has now admitted that it could have done more to protect its platform from people deliberately posting divisive, hurtful, hateful posts. The company has now committed to doubling its security staff (including temporary workers) to 20K by the end of 2018 (it currently employs around 20K in total). It also intends to give political ads special treatment going forward. So political advertisers will have to furnish more information about their identities now and there will be a 1,000 more people reviewing these ads. Facebook will compile a publicly searchable archive of political ads beginning next year. Twitter said that Russians had 2,752 accounts on the platform. Google said that Russia-linked ad spending on its platform was only around $4,700, but it would build a database of political ads in any case. Both Facebook and Google said that Russia linked ads were a tiny fraction of the total content on their platforms. Ticker Price Change Last Week Price Change Last 6 Months AAPL +5.80% +15.80% FB +0.57% +19.08% GOOGL +1.58% +10.49% MSFT +0.39% +21.94% INTC +4.37% +25.85% CSCO +0.12% +0.23% AMZN +0.97% +19.00% Other Stories Corporate iPhone X Demand in India : iPhone X is seeing very strong demand in India with the first devices selling off in a few minutes on Amazon.in. Pre-orders are much higher than expected as many customers bypassed the iPhone 8 series, waiting instead for the tenth anniversary device. But the limited availability also put off a few that may now go for a Samsung device, according to media reports. Tech Companies Building Undersea Cable : Companies like Softbank, Facebook and Amazon AMZN are getting together with telecoms to build an undersea cable that can transfer data at speeds of up to 60TBPS. The 8,700 mile long wire will lie beneath the Pacific Ocean connecting Hermosa Beach, near Los Angeles, to Japan and the Philippines. The new cable is intended to cater the growing number of IoT devices, according to Softbank. Gartner estimates that these devices will grow from more than 8 billion this year to more than 20 billion by 2020. Microsoft Acquires Wind Power in the Netherlands : A wind farm adjacent to Microsofts data center operations in the Netherlands is being expanded and repowered to generate 180-megawatts of energy to be used entirely by the software giant. The construction and operation will be by Nuon, part of Vattenfall in the Wieringermeer Polder, near Amsterdam. The plant will be the largest of its kind in the area and is expected to be operational in 2019. Amazon Exits Fresh Grocery Biz in Some States : Delivering fresh groceries is a tricky business, as it deals with highly perishable items. Theres also the need for more local sourcing because things gone bad are harder to return. The business is also hard for retail king Amazon, which is discontinuing the service with minimal notice in parts of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and California. Its true that Amazon may be working on synergies between Whole Foods, Amazon Prime Now one-hour delivery and Amazon Fresh to bring the service to these and other markets. But it isnt a given, especially because spokespersons for the company are not providing much further information. Micron CEO Joins AMD Board : Mark Durcan, who resigned from the position of Micron MU CEO in February and from its board effective May 8, after 32 years at the company, has joined AMDs board. Sanjay Mehrotra, former SanDisk co-founder and CEO, is the new CEO and President at Micron. Legal/Regulatory Facebook Faces Overtime Lawsuit : Susie Bigger, who joined Facebook in 2013 and worked there until earlier this year as a Client Solutions Manager, alleges that Facebook routinely classifies people wrongly to avoid paying overtime. She says that [Client Solutions Managers] primary duties do not involve the exercise of discretion or independent judgment with respect to matters of significance. On the other hand, these people generally handle advertiser accounts based on decisions taken at the team level. So they should be eligible for overtime when they work more than 40 hours. The lawsuit claims damages for lost wages. Biggers lawyers are now asking a judge to grant the case class action status, so they can sue for lost wages on behalf of not only Bigger, but also other Client Solutions Managers, Customer Solutions Managers and Account Managers at Facebook. New Products/Technology Ciscos AI-Powered Voice Assistant for Meetings : At Ciscos Partner Summit, the company announced an AI-powered voice assistant for corporate meetings. Powered by the NVIDIA Jetson platform, Spark Assistant as it is called includes machine-learning technology from MindMeld (a recent acquisition), speech recognition technology and natural language understanding (it can identify different people in the organization and sign them on to the meeting on the basis of their voice commands), as well as question-answering and dialog-management capabilities. New Surface Pro in December : At the companys Future Decoded event in London, Panos Panay, Microsofts corporate VP for Windows devices, announced that the new Surface Pro with LTE Advanced will be available on Dec 1. The product targets the mobile professional or enterprise customer looking for alternatives to the MacBook Pro. So the basic version with Intel i5 processor, 4 GB RAM and 128 GB SSD will sell for $1,149 while the one with double the RAM and SSD storage will cost $1,449. Microsoft expects 17 hours of video playback time. The devices will also feature a Cat 9 modem for download speeds of up to 450 Mbps and support for 20 cellular bands, offering connectivity in almost any country in the world. Amazon Prime Video Comes to Xbox OneX : The Amazon Prime Video app that launched last year in more than 200 countries will now be available on the Xbox family devices (including the just-launched Xbox One X). While the new devices 4K capabilities will be good for streaming high definition gameplay, a growing number of users in Canada, Mexico, France, Italy, Spain and India will also be able to stream video. This gives Microsoft a better chance of grabbing a share of the living room as its been trying to do for a long time. Google Launches Poly : Integrated with Tilt Brush and Blocks tools, and designed with a range of VR headsets and phone-based AR systems in mind, Googles Poly is a searchable database of free 3D objects that developers can easily incorporate in their 3D content. The database already has thousands of objects but Google is looking to increase that number manifold. Google may ultimately sell the objects to developers, but for now, the goal is to create more AR and VR content for its ARCore and Daydream platforms. Amazon Launches AR Shopping : Amazon has added AR viewing on its iOS app for some items like furniture, electronics and toys. So users can press the camera icon inside the app to select AR View and then point the phone in the position they want to see how it goes with the décor. This wont earn Amazon extra money unless it makes you buy more Echos, but it can save costs arising from customer returns and encourage people to buy more furniture on Amazon (for example). The feature is built on Apples ARKit, so it can encourage more people to upgrade to iOS 11. Amazon hasnt said if its building the feature for Android users as well, but that may take more time given that the companies compete on multiple levels and also because it will then have to develop the feature based on Googles ARCore. AR viewing in shopping isnt particularly novel however; companies like Target, Ikea, Wayfair and Houzz already offer the experience. Alibaba offers VR viewing. Amazon Could Be Interested in Bitcoin Too : Amazon says it isnt likely to accept bitcoin any time soon because there isnt sufficient demand for it. But the retailer is going on registering domain names nonetheless. Three years ago, it registered amazonbitcoin.com, following that up last week with amazonethereum.com, amazoncryptocurrency.com, amazoncryptocurrencies.com. CNBC says that Amazon may just be protecting its brand name. Snapchat Launches Snap Pixel : Snap is launching a conversion-tracking tool called Snap Pixel so brands can measure the performance of their ads on Snapchat in terms of subsequent purchase, save, start checkout, add to cart, view content, add billing, sign up, search and page view activities. The product is still in the testing phase, with Snapchats sales team handling specific access requests from brands. Separately, Google announced that it would be more closely integrating Snap into its just-announced Pixelbook where the conversation window will be larger, in line with the Pixelbooks 12.3-inch quad HD display. Collaborations and M&A Waymo Service Deal with AutoNation : Alphabets self-driving unit Waymo has partnered with AutoNation, the largest auto dealer in the U.S. for the provision of maintenance and repair services to Waymos self-driving vehicles. Waymo has in the past been in favor of fully automated vehicles as drivers lose contextual awareness of the surroundings when in self-drive mode, making it very hard for them to take over in an emergency. While it will no doubt include the technology in its Waze service, in recent times, Waymo has gotten closer to ride hailing startup Lyft, leading many to think that it would be one of the first companies deploying the vehicles. But all these vehicles will need servicing, which is where AutoNation or others like it will play a role. HP Closes Acquisition of Samsung Printer Business : HP has completed the acquisition of Samsungs printer business for $1.05 billion bringing on board Samsungs 6,500+ print patents and a workforce of nearly 1,300 researchers and engineers with expertise in laser technology, imaging electronics, and supplies and accessories. The acquisition expands HPs portfolio, greatly increases its capabilities in the $55 billion A3 copier segment and cements its leadership in the A4 laser printing business. Some Numbers Strategy Analytics Smartphone Market Share : Strategy Analytics estimates that Samsung held on to its leadership position in the third quarter of 2017 having sold 83.4 million units for a global market share of 21.2%. Apple stayed in the second place with 46.7 million units and 33.9% share. Huawei was third with 39.1 million units and 9.9% share, OPPO fourth with 31.4 million units and 8.0% share. Xiaomi was fifth with 27.7 million units and 7.0% share with other companies making up the balance. Samsung grew 11% (the highest in 4 years), Apple grew 3% and Huawei 16%, with OPPO and Xiaomi growing a respective 45% and 91% off a much smaller base. Nintendo Switch Shipments : Based on the considerable success the Switch console has brought Nintendo, the company now expects total shipments in its fiscal year ending March 2018 to be 14 million units. Its initial forecast was for 10 million units. But Nintendo is likely baking a strong holiday season into its forecast, so it will have to overcome current supply constraints. Other Earnings Reports From Last Week : Snap, Groupon, FireEye, Equinix, Symantec, Cirrus Logic, CyberArk Software, TiVO, Arrow, Paylocity, Automatic Data Processing, Qorvo, Fiserv, Electronic Arts, Dun & Bradstreet, Cognizant, Insperity, ActiVision, Teradata, Pandora, FDC, Garmin, Fitbit, Alibaba, Ametek. Some Companies Reporting This Week : MCHP, SWKS, GDDY, PCLN, TRIP, TTWO, SNAP, ZNGA, DXC, NVDA Today's Stocks from Zacks' Hottest Strategies It's hard to believe, even for us at Zacks. But while the market gained +18.8% from 2016 - Q1 2017, our top stock-picking screens have returned +157.0%, +128.0%, +97.8%, +94.7%, and +90.2% respectively. And this outperformance has not just been a recent phenomenon. Over the years it has been remarkably consistent. From 2000 - Q1 2017, the composite yearly average gain for these strategies has beaten the market more than 11X over. Maybe even more remarkable is the fact that we're willing to share their latest stocks with you without cost or obligation. See Them Free>> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) : Free Stock Analysis Report Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Facebook, Inc. (FB) : Free Stock Analysis Report Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Apple Inc. (AAPL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Micron Technology, Inc. (MU) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research || Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on bitcoin: Bitcoin prices have been surging, sending its market cap past a $100 billion as more people are becoming believers in the value of this cryptocurrencey. When asked about bitcoin, Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin said he is primarily concerned about its use for illicit purposes. “It’s something we are looking at very carefully and will continue to look at,” Mnuchin said. “The first issue and the most important issue is to make sure that people can’t use bitcoin for illicit activities. So we want to make sure that you don’t have the dark web funded in bitcoins. And that’s something that is a concern of ours today.” “So if you’re a bitcoin dealer in the United States, you have the…customer requirements and BSA requirements. And those are issues I’m discussing with all my international counterparts. So our number one issue is, we wanna make sure that this is not used for illicit transfers of funds.” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin sits down with Yahoo Finance’s Nicole Sinclair to talk about the administration’s tax reform push Mnuchin added he didn’t have timeline for one the Treasury might have an official position on the cryptocurrency. But he emphasized that the government is looking into it. “There’s nothing specific. But we do have working groups that are looking at this. And again something we’ll be watching very carefully.” The surging value of the cryptocurrency has continued to attract attention . The IRS is looking into big individual profits by pushing for records for users on Coinbase, one of the US online exchanges for bitcoin. Meanwhile, law enforcement is on the alert as transactions are anonymous and difficult to track, making it popular for terrorist financing, ransom for cyber criminals and money laundering. Chart of Bitcoin Meanwhile, figureheads across finance have chimed in. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon called it a “ fraud ,” Bridgwater’s Ray Dalio called it a “ bubble ” and Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said he thinks it’s “ Enron in the making .” On the other hand, investment strategist Tom Lee sees it continuing to surge . This week, Citi CEO Michael Corbat, who said he doesn’t dismiss it, also said to Bloomberg that bitcoin is enough of a threat to the financial system that governments will need to issue their own versions. Story continues — Nicole Sinclair is markets correspondent at Yahoo Finance For more from Secretary Mnuchin, please see: Secretary Mnuchin: Corporate tax cuts are about bringing jobs back to the US Please also see: Benioff: Companies like Facebook and Twitter must take ‘full responsibility’ for what they’ve created Marc Benioff: We can’t leave anyone behind during the ‘fourth industrial revolution’ Mellody Hobson: Diversity isn’t about do-gooderism—it’s about the bottom line Former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis: ‘America doesn’t have a debt problem’ || Mnuchin: We are looking 'very carefully' at bitcoin: Bitcoin prices have been surging, sending itsmarket cap past a $100 billionas more people are becoming believers in the value of this cryptocurrencey.
When asked about bitcoin, Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin said he is primarily concerned about its use for illicit purposes.
“It’s something we are looking at very carefully and will continue to look at,” Mnuchin said. “The first issue and the most important issue is to make sure that people can’t use bitcoin for illicit activities. So we want to make sure that you don’t have the dark web funded in bitcoins. And that’s something that is a concern of ours today.”
“So if you’re a bitcoin dealer in the United States, you have the…customer requirements and BSA requirements. And those are issues I’m discussing with all my international counterparts. So our number one issue is, we wanna make sure that this is not used for illicit transfers of funds.”
Mnuchin added he didn’t have timeline for one the Treasury might have an official position on the cryptocurrency. But he emphasized that the government is looking into it.
“There’s nothing specific. But we do have working groups that are looking at this. And again something we’ll be watching very carefully.”
The surging value of the cryptocurrencyhas continued to attract attention. The IRS is looking into big individual profits by pushing for records for users on Coinbase, one of the US online exchanges for bitcoin. Meanwhile, law enforcement is on the alert as transactions are anonymous and difficult to track, making it popular for terrorist financing, ransom for cyber criminals and money laundering.
Meanwhile, figureheads across finance have chimed in. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon called it a “fraud,” Bridgwater’s Ray Dalio called it a “bubble” and Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said he thinks it’s “Enron in the making.” On the other hand, investment strategist Tom Leesees it continuing to surge.
This week, Citi CEO Michael Corbat, who said he doesn’t dismiss it, alsosaid to Bloombergthat bitcoin is enough of a threat to the financial system that governments will need to issue their own versions.
—
Nicole Sinclair is markets correspondent at Yahoo Finance
For more from Secretary Mnuchin, please see:Secretary Mnuchin: Corporate tax cuts are about bringing jobs back to the US
Please also see:Benioff: Companies like Facebook and Twitter must take ‘full responsibility’ for what they’ve createdMarc Benioff: We can’t leave anyone behind during the ‘fourth industrial revolution’Mellody Hobson: Diversity isn’t about do-gooderism—it’s about the bottom lineFormer Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis: ‘America doesn’t have a debt problem’ || This is what you get when you invest in an initial coin offering: Miko Matsumura, co-founder of the Evercoin Cryptocurrency Exchange , talks with Business Insider executive editor Sara Silverstein about initial coin offerings. The following is a transcript of the video. Miko Matsumura: Hi, I’m Miko Matsumura; co-founder of the Evercoin Cryptocurrency Exchange and here’s everything you need to know about initial coin offerings. Sara Silverstein: So I really want to learn everything I can from you about ICOs. Seems to be a lot going on right now. Generally speaking what is an ICO? Matsumura: ICO is kind of a funnily named thing. ICO which is Initial Coin Offering. So essentially what is happening is that tokens are being created and they are being sold to the public. So it’s quite a phenomenon these days. Silverstein: And what are you getting? So you're getting a coin. What is that? Matsumura: So what you're getting is that you’re getting a cryptographic token to store in a piece of wallet software and ultimately the value is determined by the value of the economy being created by this entity Silverstein: So it’s not like you have a stake in an IPO? You don’t have a stake in what’s behind it? Matsumura: One of the big concerns people have about coins and cryptographic tokens is that they don’t actually confer legal rights in most cases. So that’s pretty interesting and potentially concerning for people who hold them. Silverstein: So kind of like the bitcoin — the value of the bitcoin is what keeps the bitcoin blockchain going right? Matsumura: Correct. Silverstein: So the ICO coins associated with those, new ICOs are spurring new companies. And if that company continues to grow then maybe that coin will increase in value. Matsumura: That’s correct. There’s really two classes of ICO tokens. One of them is asset backed securities. So asset backed is literally what it means, which is there’s real estate back there. So it represents the physical or virtual goods of that token. Story continues The other class is a utility token. And that’s basically used to buy goods and services in some kind of microeconomy. Silverstein: And how many of these are there? Matsumura: Well we’re seeing about 30 new ICOs launching per day. Year to date we've seen about 3 billion go into the ICO market. So we’re seeing companies raise as much as 200 million USD per ICO. And what’s interesting they’re raising it in bitcoin and ether. The value of which also continues to rise. One case — for example — eos has probably estimated about 700 million USD that's been raised as a function of increase in bitcoin and ether. Silverstein: And is that one of the things causing bitcoin to go up? To have ICOs you have to use bitcoin. So all this ICO activity is actually increasing the price of bitcoin Matsumura: The most common platform is actually the ethereum blockchain. So ether purchasing for the purpose of transferring into ICO is definitely an economic driver for that. But I would say there are actually much larger geopolitical fundamentals with the respect to the price for bitcoin itself. And we are seeing a large movement — with respect — to the fiat currency to bitcoin interface, to crypto interface. So we’re seeing a lot of new hedge funds. There’s over 100 crypto hedge funds that have emerged; some of which — I know of four — that are at the $500 million USD size. They’re fairly sizeable fiat to crypt interfaces. Silverstein: And one of the funds you’re invested in is an ICO only fund, correct? Matsumura: That’s correct, I am a limited partner with Pantera Capital. And that’s a $100 million ICO only fund. So it invests exclusively in tokens, not in traditional venture equity. Silverstein: So if you missed out on the bitcoin rally or you think you did, should everyone just go into these ICOs? Because it sounds like a really exciting things that’s happening Matsumura: Well I’d like to be a little more cautionary about this. One of the things that’s happened is that it’s such a popular fundraising vehicle, because it has genetic roots with crowdfunding. And so one of the problems is that everybody has like a cousin that’s doing an ICO. And that is actually a little scary. I would probably stay away from most of these instruments. What’s happening now is that more and more kind of whale-class investors are diligencing these instruments and that’s actually very proper. It’s actually interesting that the market is self regulating. So there are fewer and fewer retail investors that are randomly throwing cryptos at CEOs, which I think is a healthy trend. Matsumura: Because I do think these are very complex to analyze. And understanding the fundamental value of a specific ICOs I think the job of people who do that all day long as professionals. Silverstein: And what are the types of flags you would look for as far as an ICO that doesn’t make sense? Matsumura: Well for me I’m really looking for a fundamental connection to the technology underlying it, which is blockchain. So to describe blockchain very succinctly, it’s a really, really slow database. And the only reason you would want to use blockchain is if you didn’t trust anyone. And what’s a situation like that? Bitcoin is a perfect situation because you shouldn't trust anyone with your money and so that’s what that blockchain is doing. To underscore it, it’s a very slow database. So if you want a faster database, you just need to find a situation in which someone can be trusted to run it. So to me, when I analyze ICO, I’m really looking for fundamental uses of the technology. Whether it’s relevant or not, I feel like that’s key. Silverstein: So this general idea that blockchain can revolutionize everything and everything can be decentralized, doesn’t necessarily make sense. Matsumura: No, so it is one of my investment thesis points that we are at a point of peak centralization and so it is the case that the pendulum — in many cases — swings toward decentralization in a lot of infrastructures. And that there are a lot of externalities, which means that there are costs that people are bearing that they didn’t agree to bear in many different kinds of systems. See Also: We talked to the chief investment strategist at $920 billion fund giant Invesco about where you should invest right now Why this New York City preschool accepts bitcoin but doesn't accept credit cards SEC issues warning on celebrity-endorsed investments || This is what you get when you invest in an initial coin offering: Miko Matsumura, co-founder of theEvercoin Cryptocurrency Exchange, talks with Business Insider executive editor Sara Silverstein about initial coin offerings.The following is a transcript of the video.
Miko Matsumura:Hi, I’m Miko Matsumura; co-founder of the Evercoin Cryptocurrency Exchange and here’s everything you need to know about initial coin offerings.
Sara Silverstein:So I really want to learn everything I can from you about ICOs. Seems to be a lot going on right now. Generally speaking what is an ICO?
Matsumura:ICO is kind of a funnily named thing. ICO which is Initial Coin Offering. So essentially what is happening is that tokens are being created and they are being sold to the public. So it’s quite a phenomenon these days.
Silverstein:And what are you getting? So you're getting a coin. What is that?
Matsumura:So what you're getting is that you’re getting a cryptographic token to store in a piece of wallet software and ultimately the value is determined by the value of the economy being created by this entity
Silverstein:So it’s not like you have a stake in an IPO? You don’t have a stake in what’s behind it?
Matsumura:One of the big concerns people have about coins and cryptographic tokens is that they don’t actually confer legal rights in most cases. So that’s pretty interesting and potentially concerning for people who hold them.
Silverstein:So kind of like the bitcoin — the value of the bitcoin is what keeps the bitcoin blockchain going right?
Matsumura:Correct.
Silverstein:So the ICO coins associated with those, new ICOs are spurring new companies. And if that company continues to grow then maybe that coin will increase in value.
Matsumura:That’s correct. There’s really two classes of ICO tokens. One of them is asset backed securities. So asset backed is literally what it means, which is there’s real estate back there. So it represents the physical or virtual goods of that token.
The other class is a utility token. And that’s basically used to buy goods and services in some kind of microeconomy.
Silverstein:And how many of these are there?
Matsumura:Well we’re seeing about 30 new ICOs launching per day. Year to date we've seen about 3 billion go into the ICO market. So we’re seeing companies raise as much as 200 million USD per ICO. And what’s interesting they’re raising it in bitcoin and ether. The value of which also continues to rise.
One case — for example — eos has probably estimated about 700 million USD that's been raised as a function of increase in bitcoin and ether.
Silverstein:And is that one of the things causing bitcoin to go up? To have ICOs you have to use bitcoin. So all this ICO activity is actually increasing the price of bitcoin
Matsumura:The most common platform is actually the ethereum blockchain. So ether purchasing for the purpose of transferring into ICO is definitely an economic driver for that. But I would say there are actually much larger geopolitical fundamentals with the respect to the price for bitcoin itself. And we are seeing a large movement — with respect — to the fiat currency to bitcoin interface, to crypto interface.
So we’re seeing a lot of new hedge funds. There’s over 100 crypto hedge funds that have emerged; some of which — I know of four — that are at the $500 million USD size. They’re fairly sizeable fiat to crypt interfaces.
Silverstein:And one of the funds you’re invested in is an ICO only fund, correct?
Matsumura:That’s correct, I am a limited partner with Pantera Capital. And that’s a $100 million ICO only fund. So it invests exclusively in tokens, not in traditional venture equity.
Silverstein:So if you missed out on the bitcoin rally or you think you did, should everyone just go into these ICOs? Because it sounds like a really exciting things that’s happening
Matsumura:Well I’d like to be a little more cautionary about this. One of the things that’s happened is that it’s such a popular fundraising vehicle, because it has genetic roots with crowdfunding. And so one of the problems is that everybody has like a cousin that’s doing an ICO. And that is actually a little scary. I would probably stay away from most of these instruments.
What’s happening now is that more and more kind of whale-class investors are diligencing these instruments and that’s actually very proper. It’s actually interesting that the market is self regulating. So there are fewer and fewer retail investors that are randomly throwing cryptos at CEOs, which I think is a healthy trend.
Matsumura:Because I do think these are very complex to analyze. And understanding the fundamental value of a specific ICOs I think the job of people who do that all day long as professionals.
Silverstein:And what are the types of flags you would look for as far as an ICO that doesn’t make sense?
Matsumura:Well for me I’m really looking for a fundamental connection to the technology underlying it, which is blockchain. So to describe blockchain very succinctly, it’s a really, really slow database. And the only reason you would want to use blockchain is if you didn’t trust anyone.
And what’s a situation like that? Bitcoin is a perfect situation because you shouldn't trust anyone with your money and so that’s what that blockchain is doing. To underscore it, it’s a very slow database. So if you want a faster database, you just need to find a situation in which someone can be trusted to run it.
So to me, when I analyze ICO, I’m really looking for fundamental uses of the technology. Whether it’s relevant or not, I feel like that’s key.
Silverstein:So this general idea that blockchain can revolutionize everything and everything can be decentralized, doesn’t necessarily make sense.
Matsumura:No, so it is one of my investment thesis points that we are at a point of peak centralization and so it is the case that the pendulum — in many cases — swings toward decentralization in a lot of infrastructures. And that there are a lot of externalities, which means that there are costs that people are bearing that they didn’t agree to bear in many different kinds of systems.
See Also:
• We talked to the chief investment strategist at $920 billion fund giant Invesco about where you should invest right now
• Why this New York City preschool accepts bitcoin but doesn't accept credit cards
• SEC issues warning on celebrity-endorsed investments || GLOBAL MARKETS-U.S. tax cut worries dent hopes of longest winning run in 14 years: * MSCI world index unlikely to hit strongest streak since 2003 * Asia-Pac index near 10-year high, Nikkei lurches after high * Tax plan worries weigh on dollar, U.S. stocks * Crude oil steadies, gold hovers near 3-week high * Bitcoin slides 5 percent after latest record high (Updates throughout) By David Randall NEW YORK, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Broad equity market declines in Asia and Europe on Thursday, combined with growing concerns that the Republican-led corporate U.S. tax cut may not pass this year, threatened to spoil the longest winning streak for MSCI's global stock index since 2003. Wall Street stocks opened lower after Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, a member of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, said that the Senate tax proposal will delay a corporate tax cut by one year to 2019. Major stock indexes came off their session lows after Senator John Cornyn said Senate Republicans were looking to avoid such a delay. [.N ] The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 130.51 points, or 0.55 percent, to 23,432.85, the S&P 500 lost 14.82 points, or 0.57 percent, to 2,579.56 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 57.13 points, or 0.84 percent, to 6,731.99. "The stock market has run out of a little momentum," said Societe Generale strategist Kit Juckes. "We are waiting for some news from the Republicans on the (U.S.) tax plans, there is a bond market that has stalled and we've got rather soggy-looking emerging markets ... We probably need to get U.S. Treasury yields higher to get things going again." Junk bonds fell to their lowest intraday levels since March, victims of a broader flight to safety as the Republican-led proposed U.S. corporate tax cut seemed on the verge of a delay. Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes were last down 4/32 in price to yield 2.331 percent, from 2.317 percent late on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, Japan’s Nikkei index swung by a wild 2 percent after hitting its highest since 1992 and Europe's main indexes were firmly in the red as tech and commodity stocks tumbled while Brexit talks resumed amid low expectations in Brussels. MSCI's all-country equity index is clocking year-to-date gains of almost 19 percent. ( http://reut.rs/1WAiOSC ) But as a measure of relative calm amid the current bull market and a reflection of the low volatility environment that has dominated all year, none of the most recent 10 daily gains has exceeded half a percent and more than half of them were less than 0.1 percent. TAXING TIMES The dollar index, which tracks the greenback versus a basket of six key currencies, fell 0.44 percent to 94.448. Story continues "There's very much a risk of disappointment. The U.S. dollar could go through a weakening phase on the back of uncertainty around that tax reform," said Steven Dooley, currency strategist for Western Union Business Solutions in Melbourne. Some also focused on fallout from Democrat wins in regional U.S. elections this week as a signal for next year’s mid-term congressional elections for President Donald Trump. Trump was in China on Thursday, pressing President Xi Jinping to do more to rein in North Korea and to open the Chinese economy, the second-biggest in the world after the United States, to more foreign firms. The euro was last up 0.47 percent at $1.1648 while Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index dropped 1.09 percent at 1,534.88. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.39 percent. Oil prices steadied just below two-year highs, supported by supply cuts by major exporters, but analysts said the market could be vulnerable to a sell-off after several months of gains. U.S. crude rose 0.58 percent to $57.14 per barrel and Brent was last at $63.88, up 0.61 percent. Spot gold added 0.5 percent to $1,287.41 an ounce. U.S. gold futures gained 0.36 percent to $1,288.30. Cryptocurrency bitcoin skidded about 3.5 percent after being down almost 5 percent. It had hit a record high just shy of $8,000 on Wednesday after a coalition of developers and investors suspended a software upgrade planned for next Thursday that could have split the digital currency in two. (Additional reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro; Editing by Dan Grebler and James Dalgleish) View comments || GLOBAL MARKETS-U.S. tax cut worries dent hopes of longest winning run in 14 years: * MSCI world index unlikely to hit strongest streak since 2003
* Asia-Pac index near 10-year high, Nikkei lurches after high
* Tax plan worries weigh on dollar, U.S. stocks
* Crude oil steadies, gold hovers near 3-week high
* Bitcoin slides 5 percent after latest record high (Updates throughout)
By David Randall
NEW YORK, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Broad equity market declines in Asia and Europe on Thursday, combined with growing concerns that the Republican-led corporate U.S. tax cut may not pass this year, threatened to spoil the longest winning streak for MSCI's global stock index since 2003.
Wall Street stocks opened lower after Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, a member of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, said that the Senate tax proposal will delay a corporate tax cut by one year to 2019. Major stock indexes came off their session lows after Senator John Cornyn said Senate Republicans were looking to avoid such a delay. [.N ]
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 130.51 points, or 0.55 percent, to 23,432.85, the S&P 500 lost 14.82 points, or 0.57 percent, to 2,579.56 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 57.13 points, or 0.84 percent, to 6,731.99.
"The stock market has run out of a little momentum," said Societe Generale strategist Kit Juckes. "We are waiting for some news from the Republicans on the (U.S.) tax plans, there is a bond market that has stalled and we've got rather soggy-looking emerging markets ... We probably need to get U.S. Treasury yields higher to get things going again."
Junk bonds fell to their lowest intraday levels since March, victims of a broader flight to safety as the Republican-led proposed U.S. corporate tax cut seemed on the verge of a delay. Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes were last down 4/32 in price to yield 2.331 percent, from 2.317 percent late on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, Japan’s Nikkei index swung by a wild 2 percent after hitting its highest since 1992 and Europe's main indexes were firmly in the red as tech and commodity stocks tumbled while Brexit talks resumed amid low expectations in Brussels.
MSCI's all-country equity index is clocking year-to-date gains of almost 19 percent. (http://reut.rs/1WAiOSC)
But as a measure of relative calm amid the current bull market and a reflection of the low volatility environment that has dominated all year, none of the most recent 10 daily gains has exceeded half a percent and more than half of them were less than 0.1 percent.
TAXING TIMES
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback versus a basket of six key currencies, fell 0.44 percent to 94.448.
"There's very much a risk of disappointment. The U.S. dollar could go through a weakening phase on the back of uncertainty around that tax reform," said Steven Dooley, currency strategist for Western Union Business Solutions in Melbourne.
Some also focused on fallout from Democrat wins in regional U.S. elections this week as a signal for next year’s mid-term congressional elections for President Donald Trump.
Trump was in China on Thursday, pressing President Xi Jinping to do more to rein in North Korea and to open the Chinese economy, the second-biggest in the world after the United States, to more foreign firms.
The euro was last up 0.47 percent at $1.1648 while Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index dropped 1.09 percent at 1,534.88.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.39 percent.
Oil prices steadied just below two-year highs, supported by supply cuts by major exporters, but analysts said the market could be vulnerable to a sell-off after several months of gains. U.S. crude rose 0.58 percent to $57.14 per barrel and Brent was last at $63.88, up 0.61 percent.
Spot gold added 0.5 percent to $1,287.41 an ounce. U.S. gold futures gained 0.36 percent to $1,288.30.
Cryptocurrency bitcoin skidded about 3.5 percent after being down almost 5 percent.
It had hit a record high just shy of $8,000 on Wednesday after a coalition of developers and investors suspended a software upgrade planned for next Thursday that could have split the digital currency in two. (Additional reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro; Editing by Dan Grebler and James Dalgleish) || Mark Cuban: Here's the best way to invest your money: You hear it all the time: Put your money to work. But how exactly should you be investing your money? Stocks? Bonds? Funds? Bitcoin? Mark Cuban weighed in on the topic in a recent interview with Hayman Capital Management founder Kyle Bass, MarketWatch reports . If you don't know too much about markets, the best way to invest your money right now is to put it in a cheap S&P 500 SPX fund, the self-made billionaire said. A Standard & Poor's 500 index fund will hold 500 of the largest U.S. companies in the United States. It offers diversity at a low cost and generally delivers good long-term returns.Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Warren Buffett agrees with Cuban's recommendation. "Consistently buy an S&P 500 low-cost index fund," the legendary investor told CNBC's On The Money . "I think it's the thing that makes the most sense practically all of the time." And stay the course, even through periods of no returns or losses, Buffett said: "Keep buying it through thick and thin, and especially through thin." While the S&P 500 is your best bet, Cuban also told Bass that investing a bit of your savings in digital currencies like bitcoin or ethereum isn't a bad idea. He brought up cryptocurrency in another recent interview with Vanity Fair , too: "If you're a true adventurer and you really want to throw the Hail Mary, you might take 10 percent [of your savings] and put it in bitcoin or ethereum. "But if you do that, you've got to pretend you've already lost your money. It's like collecting art, it's like collecting baseball cards, it's like collecting shoes. Something's worth what somebody else will pay for it. It's a flyer, but I'd limit it to 10 percent." Like this story? Like CNBC Make It on Facebook ! Don't miss:Mark Cuban and Warren Buffett agree on the No. 1 way to guarantee you'll never get rich You hear it all the time: Put your money to work. But how exactly should you be investing your money? Stocks? Bonds? Funds? Bitcoin? Mark Cuban weighed in on the topic in a recent interview with Hayman Capital Management founder Kyle Bass, MarketWatch reports . If you don't know too much about markets, the best way to invest your money right now is to put it in a cheap S&P 500 SPX fund, the self-made billionaire said. A Standard & Poor's 500 index fund will hold 500 of the largest U.S. companies in the United States. It offers diversity at a low cost and generally delivers good long-term returns. Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Warren Buffett agrees with Cuban's recommendation. "Consistently buy an S&P 500 low-cost index fund," the legendary investor told CNBC's On The Money . "I think it's the thing that makes the most sense practically all of the time." And stay the course, even through periods of no returns or losses, Buffett said: "Keep buying it through thick and thin, and especially through thin." While the S&P 500 is your best bet, Cuban also told Bass that investing a bit of your savings in digital currencies like bitcoin or ethereum isn't a bad idea. He brought up cryptocurrency in another recent interview with Vanity Fair , too: "If you're a true adventurer and you really want to throw the Hail Mary, you might take 10 percent [of your savings] and put it in bitcoin or ethereum. "But if you do that, you've got to pretend you've already lost your money. It's like collecting art, it's like collecting baseball cards, it's like collecting shoes. Something's worth what somebody else will pay for it. It's a flyer, but I'd limit it to 10 percent." Like this story? Like CNBC Make It on Facebook ! Don't miss: Mark Cuban and Warren Buffett agree on the No. 1 way to guarantee you'll never get rich More From CNBC Jeff Bezos, Sheryl Sandberg and other business leaders prioritize the same habit How Wyclef Jean applied the lessons he learned in music to business What it's like to ride on Japan's $12,000-a-ticket luxury train || Mark Cuban: Here's the best way to invest your money: You hear it all the time: Put your money to work. But how exactly should you be investing your money? Stocks? Bonds? Funds? Bitcoin? Mark Cuban weighed in on the topic in a recent interview with Hayman Capital Management founder Kyle Bass, MarketWatch reports . If you don't know too much about markets, the best way to invest your money right now is to put it in a cheap S&P 500 SPX fund, the self-made billionaire said. A Standard & Poor's 500 index fund will hold 500 of the largest U.S. companies in the United States. It offers diversity at a low cost and generally delivers good long-term returns.Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Warren Buffett agrees with Cuban's recommendation. "Consistently buy an S&P 500 low-cost index fund," the legendary investor told CNBC's On The Money . "I think it's the thing that makes the most sense practically all of the time." And stay the course, even through periods of no returns or losses, Buffett said: "Keep buying it through thick and thin, and especially through thin." While the S&P 500 is your best bet, Cuban also told Bass that investing a bit of your savings in digital currencies like bitcoin or ethereum isn't a bad idea. He brought up cryptocurrency in another recent interview with Vanity Fair , too: "If you're a true adventurer and you really want to throw the Hail Mary, you might take 10 percent [of your savings] and put it in bitcoin or ethereum. "But if you do that, you've got to pretend you've already lost your money. It's like collecting art, it's like collecting baseball cards, it's like collecting shoes. Something's worth what somebody else will pay for it. It's a flyer, but I'd limit it to 10 percent." Like this story? Like CNBC Make It on Facebook ! Don't miss:Mark Cuban and Warren Buffett agree on the No. 1 way to guarantee you'll never get rich You hear it all the time: Put your money to work. But how exactly should you be investing your money? Stocks? Bonds? Funds? Bitcoin? Mark Cuban weighed in on the topic in a recent interview with Hayman Capital Management founder Kyle Bass, MarketWatch reports . If you don't know too much about markets, the best way to invest your money right now is to put it in a cheap S&P 500 SPX fund, the self-made billionaire said. A Standard & Poor's 500 index fund will hold 500 of the largest U.S. companies in the United States. It offers diversity at a low cost and generally delivers good long-term returns. Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Warren Buffett agrees with Cuban's recommendation. "Consistently buy an S&P 500 low-cost index fund," the legendary investor told CNBC's On The Money . "I think it's the thing that makes the most sense practically all of the time." And stay the course, even through periods of no returns or losses, Buffett said: "Keep buying it through thick and thin, and especially through thin." While the S&P 500 is your best bet, Cuban also told Bass that investing a bit of your savings in digital currencies like bitcoin or ethereum isn't a bad idea. He brought up cryptocurrency in another recent interview with Vanity Fair , too: "If you're a true adventurer and you really want to throw the Hail Mary, you might take 10 percent [of your savings] and put it in bitcoin or ethereum. "But if you do that, you've got to pretend you've already lost your money. It's like collecting art, it's like collecting baseball cards, it's like collecting shoes. Something's worth what somebody else will pay for it. It's a flyer, but I'd limit it to 10 percent." Like this story? Like CNBC Make It on Facebook ! Don't miss: Mark Cuban and Warren Buffett agree on the No. 1 way to guarantee you'll never get richMore From CNBC
• Jeff Bezos, Sheryl Sandberg and other business leaders prioritize the same habit
• How Wyclef Jean applied the lessons he learned in music to business
• What it's like to ride on Japan's $12,000-a-ticket luxury train || Rising tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran rattle markets: • Rising tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, as well as the kingdom's weekend crackdown, have unnerved investors this week.
• But, notably, markets in countriesoutsideof Saudi Arabia have been hit harder than the stocks in the kingdom, likely reflecting investor worries about the possibility of regional tensions increasing.
• Political uncertainty in the region is offsetting the boost from oil, analysts say.
Rising tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, as well as the kingdom's weekend crackdown, have rattled markets in the region.
Lebanon's benchmark equity index has fallen about 3% since the weekend.
Capital Economics
Qatar, Kuwait, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi's benchmark equity indices have also tumbled in recent days.
Notably, the stock moves in Saudi Arabia have been relatively modest (aside from the shares of companies owned by people who have been detained). Saudi Arabia's Tadawul index is down by about 0.5% since the end of last week.
"We suspect that this reflects concerns that the Kingdom’s increasingly aggressive tone towards Iran will stoke regional tensions that could ultimately morph into a military confrontation," Jason Tuvey, Middle East economist at Capital Economics, said in a note to clients.
"A direct conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran seems unlikely but the threat of a proxy war unfolding, most probably in Lebanon, is building," he continued. "Such a scenario would clearly have a devastating social impact on Lebanon and hit the country’s economy hard. A period of capital flight would quickly erode the country’s foreign exchange reserves and probably force the authorities to abandon the dollar peg."
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri — a dual Lebanese-Saudi citizen— resigned in a surprise announcement on Saturday during his trip to Saudi Arabia. Hariri is part of a joint government that includes Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group, and he used his resignation speech to criticize that group and Iran.
On Thursday,Reuters' Laila Bassam and Tom Perry reportedthat Lebanon believes Hariri is being held in Saudi Arabia. A senior politician close to Hariri told Reuters that Saudi Arabia had ordered him to resign and put him under house arrest. Saudi Arabia has denied reports that he is under house arrest. Meanwhile, the kingdom ordered its citizens out of Lebanon, and warned against traveling to the country.
Meanwhile in the United Arab Emirates, the UAE central bank requested commercial banks and finance companies in the UAE to provide details of the accounts of 19 Saudis,commercial bankers told Reuters on Thursday. The UAE, and particularly Dubai, is among the main places where wealthy Saudis park their money abroad.
Whileclimbing oil pricestheoretically are a good sign for the region, which still relies heavily on energy, the heightened regional tensions could erase those gains.
"For the past few months, we have highlighted that political uncertainty has more than offset any potential boost to financial markets in the region from higher oil prices.The latest developments have reinforced this picture," Tuvey said. "The MSCI GCC Index has fallen by around 1.5% since the weekend, extending its underperformance relative to other emerging (and frontier) equity markets this year."
NOW WATCH:$6 TRILLION INVESTMENT CHIEF: Bitcoin is a bubble
See Also:
• How your tax bracket could change under Trump's tax plan, in one chart
• Saudi Arabia's purge is 'a stunning political development' and 'a shot across the bow at the old establishment'
• Oil climbs after Saudi Arabia detains princes and dozens of former officials
SEE ALSO:Saudi Arabia's purge is 'a stunning political development' and 'a shot across the bow at the old establishment' || Rising tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran rattle markets: Mohammed bin Salman Saudi Arabia Deputy Crown Prince Rising tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, as well as the kingdom's weekend crackdown, have unnerved investors this week. But, notably, markets in countries outside of Saudi Arabia have been hit harder than the stocks in the kingdom, likely reflecting investor worries about the possibility of regional tensions increasing. Political uncertainty in the region is offsetting the boost from oil, analysts say. Rising tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, as well as the kingdom's weekend crackdown, have rattled markets in the region. Lebanon's benchmark equity index has fallen about 3% since the weekend. mena markets Capital Economics Qatar, Kuwait, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi's benchmark equity indices have also tumbled in recent days. Notably, the stock moves in Saudi Arabia have been relatively modest (aside from the shares of companies owned by people who have been detained). Saudi Arabia's Tadawul index is down by about 0.5% since the end of last week. "We suspect that this reflects concerns that the Kingdom’s increasingly aggressive tone towards Iran will stoke regional tensions that could ultimately morph into a military confrontation," Jason Tuvey, Middle East economist at Capital Economics, said in a note to clients. "A direct conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran seems unlikely but the threat of a proxy war unfolding, most probably in Lebanon, is building," he continued. "Such a scenario would clearly have a devastating social impact on Lebanon and hit the country’s economy hard. A period of capital flight would quickly erode the country’s foreign exchange reserves and probably force the authorities to abandon the dollar peg." Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri — a dual Lebanese-Saudi citizen— resigned in a surprise announcement on Saturday during his trip to Saudi Arabia. Hariri is part of a joint government that includes Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group, and he used his resignation speech to criticize that group and Iran. Story continues On Thursday, Reuters' Laila Bassam and Tom Perry reported that Lebanon believes Hariri is being held in Saudi Arabia. A senior politician close to Hariri told Reuters that Saudi Arabia had ordered him to resign and put him under house arrest. Saudi Arabia has denied reports that he is under house arrest. Meanwhile, the kingdom ordered its citizens out of Lebanon, and warned against traveling to the country. Meanwhile in the United Arab Emirates, the UAE central bank r equested commercial banks and finance companies in the UAE to provide details of the accounts of 19 Saudis , commercial bankers told Reuters on Thursday . The UAE, and particularly Dubai, is among the main places where wealthy Saudis park their money abroad. While climbing oil prices theoretically are a good sign for the region, which still relies heavily on energy, the heightened regional tensions could erase those gains. "For the past few months, we have highlighted that political uncertainty has more than offset any potential boost to financial markets in the region from higher oil prices. The latest developments have reinforced this picture ," Tuvey said. "The MSCI GCC Index has fallen by around 1.5% since the weekend, extending its underperformance relative to other emerging (and frontier) equity markets this year." NOW WATCH: $6 TRILLION INVESTMENT CHIEF: Bitcoin is a bubble See Also: How your tax bracket could change under Trump's tax plan, in one chart Saudi Arabia's purge is 'a stunning political development' and 'a shot across the bow at the old establishment' Oil climbs after Saudi Arabia detains princes and dozens of former officials SEE ALSO: Saudi Arabia's purge is 'a stunning political development' and 'a shot across the bow at the old establishment' || Bitcoin hits all time high as controversial 'hard fork' called off: Bitcoin shot to just shy of $7,900 (£6,000) after a controversial proposal that could have split the cryptocurrency was called off.
The currency had been scheduled to undergo a so-called "hard fork", a change to bitcoin's code that would have created an offshoot cryptocurrency, and which developers argued was necessary to keep up with the pace of its growth.
Despite widespread agreement over the summer that the upgrade, known as SegWit2x, would be implemented on November 16, support for the change had waned.
On Wednesday, proposals to implement the changes were suspended over fears they could divide bitcoin irreparably and damage the cryptocurrency's growth.Bitcoin'sprice briefly surged to a new high of $7,848, compared to less than $1,000 at the start of the year. It has since fallen back to trade at around $7,250.
Members of leading bitcoin exchanges supporting the "SegWit2x" proposals have signed a letter calling off the upgrade. SegWit2x would have doubled the size of the bitcoin "blocks" on the blockchain, the record of bitcoin transactions, essentially making it easier to process more trades as more people join and trade bitcoin.
"Although we strongly believe in the need for a larger blocksize, there is something we believe is even more important: keeping the community together," said Mike Belshe, chief executive of bitgo.com.
Because bitcoin is decentralised it has no one controlling party. This means that changes to the code are decided as a group, similar to a vote or referendum.
However, this has led to previous rivals to the current bitcoin splitting off, such asBitcoin Cashover the summer. If certain developers refuse to accept the current bitcoin code, they can "hard fork" the blockchain and create a new one, and thus a new, rival currency.
With SegWit2x, around 95 per cent of bitcoin miners and developers had signalled support for the proposal over the summer. However, this had since fallen to around 75 per cent, with opponents calling the changes a power grab on bitcoin bybitcoincompanies and large exchanges.
The code had also lacked "replay protection", which would have prevented transactions being copied across the old and new network. SegWit2x had also not been supported by bitcoin's core development team.
If bitcoin had suffered a split, there were fears major exchanges would not be able to decide which was the true bitcoin. Coinbase, one of the best known trading platforms, had said it would "let the market decide" and would suspend trading of bitcoin ahead of the split.
Bitcoin developers still believe the currency needs to scale to cope with booming demand, but those proposals are on ice.
For now, bitcoin has remained one currency and investments in the currency remain on the original blockchain. || Bitcoin hits all time high as controversial 'hard fork' called off: Bitcoin has avoided splitting - Getty Images Europe Bitcoin shot to just shy of $7,900 (£6,000) after a controversial proposal that could have split the cryptocurrency was called off. The currency had been scheduled to undergo a so-called "hard fork", a change to bitcoin's code that would have created an offshoot cryptocurrency, and which developers argued was necessary to keep up with the pace of its growth. Despite widespread agreement over the summer that the upgrade, known as SegWit2x, would be implemented on November 16, support for the change had waned. On Wednesday, proposals to implement the changes were suspended over fears they could divide bitcoin irreparably and damage the cryptocurrency's growth. Bitcoin's price briefly surged to a new high of $7,848, compared to less than $1,000 at the start of the year. It has since fallen back to trade at around $7,250. What has happened? Members of leading bitcoin exchanges supporting the "SegWit2x" proposals have signed a letter calling off the upgrade. SegWit2x would have doubled the size of the bitcoin "blocks" on the blockchain, the record of bitcoin transactions, essentially making it easier to process more trades as more people join and trade bitcoin. "Although we strongly believe in the need for a larger blocksize, there is something we believe is even more important: keeping the community together," said Mike Belshe, chief executive of bitgo.com. bitcoin price Why has SegWit2x been cancelled? Because bitcoin is decentralised it has no one controlling party. This means that changes to the code are decided as a group, similar to a vote or referendum. However, this has led to previous rivals to the current bitcoin splitting off, such as Bitcoin Cash over the summer. If certain developers refuse to accept the current bitcoin code, they can "hard fork" the blockchain and create a new one, and thus a new, rival currency. FAQ | Bitcoin With SegWit2x, around 95 per cent of bitcoin miners and developers had signalled support for the proposal over the summer. However, this had since fallen to around 75 per cent, with opponents calling the changes a power grab on bitcoin by bitcoin companies and large exchanges. Story continues The code had also lacked "replay protection", which would have prevented transactions being copied across the old and new network. SegWit2x had also not been supported by bitcoin's core development team. What happens now? If bitcoin had suffered a split, there were fears major exchanges would not be able to decide which was the true bitcoin. Coinbase, one of the best known trading platforms, had said it would "let the market decide" and would suspend trading of bitcoin ahead of the split. Bitcoin developers still believe the currency needs to scale to cope with booming demand, but those proposals are on ice. Bitcoin milestones For now, bitcoin has remained one currency and investments in the currency remain on the original blockchain. || Bitcoin hits all time high as controversial 'hard fork' called off: Bitcoin has avoided splitting - Getty Images Europe Bitcoin shot to just shy of $7,900 (£6,000) after a controversial proposal that could have split the cryptocurrency was called off. The currency had been scheduled to undergo a so-called "hard fork", a change to bitcoin's code that would have created an offshoot cryptocurrency, and which developers argued was necessary to keep up with the pace of its growth. Despite widespread agreement over the summer that the upgrade, known as SegWit2x, would be implemented on November 16, support for the change had waned. On Wednesday, proposals to implement the changes were suspended over fears they could divide bitcoin irreparably and damage the cryptocurrency's growth. Bitcoin's price briefly surged to a new high of $7,848, compared to less than $1,000 at the start of the year. It has since fallen back to trade at around $7,250. What has happened? Members of leading bitcoin exchanges supporting the "SegWit2x" proposals have signed a letter calling off the upgrade. SegWit2x would have doubled the size of the bitcoin "blocks" on the blockchain, the record of bitcoin transactions, essentially making it easier to process more trades as more people join and trade bitcoin. "Although we strongly believe in the need for a larger blocksize, there is something we believe is even more important: keeping the community together," said Mike Belshe, chief executive of bitgo.com. bitcoin price Why has SegWit2x been cancelled? Because bitcoin is decentralised it has no one controlling party. This means that changes to the code are decided as a group, similar to a vote or referendum. However, this has led to previous rivals to the current bitcoin splitting off, such as Bitcoin Cash over the summer. If certain developers refuse to accept the current bitcoin code, they can "hard fork" the blockchain and create a new one, and thus a new, rival currency. FAQ | Bitcoin With SegWit2x, around 95 per cent of bitcoin miners and developers had signalled support for the proposal over the summer. However, this had since fallen to around 75 per cent, with opponents calling the changes a power grab on bitcoin by bitcoin companies and large exchanges. Story continues The code had also lacked "replay protection", which would have prevented transactions being copied across the old and new network. SegWit2x had also not been supported by bitcoin's core development team. What happens now? If bitcoin had suffered a split, there were fears major exchanges would not be able to decide which was the true bitcoin. Coinbase, one of the best known trading platforms, had said it would "let the market decide" and would suspend trading of bitcoin ahead of the split. Bitcoin developers still believe the currency needs to scale to cope with booming demand, but those proposals are on ice. Bitcoin milestones For now, bitcoin has remained one currency and investments in the currency remain on the original blockchain. || Bitcoin hits all time high as controversial 'hard fork' called off: Bitcoin has avoided splitting - Getty Images Europe Bitcoin shot to just shy of $7,900 (£6,000) after a controversial proposal that could have split the cryptocurrency was called off. The currency had been scheduled to undergo a so-called "hard fork", a change to bitcoin's code that would have created an offshoot cryptocurrency, and which developers argued was necessary to keep up with the pace of its growth. Despite widespread agreement over the summer that the upgrade, known as SegWit2x, would be implemented on November 16, support for the change had waned. On Wednesday, proposals to implement the changes were suspended over fears they could divide bitcoin irreparably and damage the cryptocurrency's growth. Bitcoin's price briefly surged to a new high of $7,848, compared to less than $1,000 at the start of the year. It has since fallen back to trade at around $7,250. What has happened? Members of leading bitcoin exchanges supporting the "SegWit2x" proposals have signed a letter calling off the upgrade. SegWit2x would have doubled the size of the bitcoin "blocks" on the blockchain, the record of bitcoin transactions, essentially making it easier to process more trades as more people join and trade bitcoin. "Although we strongly believe in the need for a larger blocksize, there is something we believe is even more important: keeping the community together," said Mike Belshe, chief executive of bitgo.com. bitcoin price Why has SegWit2x been cancelled? Because bitcoin is decentralised it has no one controlling party. This means that changes to the code are decided as a group, similar to a vote or referendum. However, this has led to previous rivals to the current bitcoin splitting off, such as Bitcoin Cash over the summer. If certain developers refuse to accept the current bitcoin code, they can "hard fork" the blockchain and create a new one, and thus a new, rival currency. FAQ | Bitcoin With SegWit2x, around 95 per cent of bitcoin miners and developers had signalled support for the proposal over the summer. However, this had since fallen to around 75 per cent, with opponents calling the changes a power grab on bitcoin by bitcoin companies and large exchanges. Story continues The code had also lacked "replay protection", which would have prevented transactions being copied across the old and new network. SegWit2x had also not been supported by bitcoin's core development team. What happens now? If bitcoin had suffered a split, there were fears major exchanges would not be able to decide which was the true bitcoin. Coinbase, one of the best known trading platforms, had said it would "let the market decide" and would suspend trading of bitcoin ahead of the split. Bitcoin developers still believe the currency needs to scale to cope with booming demand, but those proposals are on ice. Bitcoin milestones For now, bitcoin has remained one currency and investments in the currency remain on the original blockchain. || Bitcoin hits all time high as controversial 'hard fork' called off: Bitcoin has avoided splitting - Getty Images Europe Bitcoin shot to just shy of $7,900 (£6,000) after a controversial proposal that could have split the cryptocurrency was called off. The currency had been scheduled to undergo a so-called "hard fork", a change to bitcoin's code that would have created an offshoot cryptocurrency, and which developers argued was necessary to keep up with the pace of its growth. Despite widespread agreement over the summer that the upgrade, known as SegWit2x, would be implemented on November 16, support for the change had waned. On Wednesday, proposals to implement the changes were suspended over fears they could divide bitcoin irreparably and damage the cryptocurrency's growth. Bitcoin's price briefly surged to a new high of $7,848, compared to less than $1,000 at the start of the year. It has since fallen back to trade at around $7,250. What has happened? Members of leading bitcoin exchanges supporting the "SegWit2x" proposals have signed a letter calling off the upgrade. SegWit2x would have doubled the size of the bitcoin "blocks" on the blockchain, the record of bitcoin transactions, essentially making it easier to process more trades as more people join and trade bitcoin. "Although we strongly believe in the need for a larger blocksize, there is something we believe is even more important: keeping the community together," said Mike Belshe, chief executive of bitgo.com. Why has SegWit2x been cancelled? Because bitcoin is decentralised it has no one controlling party. This means that changes to the code are decided as a group, similar to a vote or referendum. However, this has led to previous rivals to the current bitcoin splitting off, such as Bitcoin Cash over the summer. If certain developers refuse to accept the current bitcoin code, they can "hard fork" the blockchain and create a new one, and thus a new, rival currency. FAQ | Bitcoin With SegWit2x, around 95 per cent of bitcoin miners and developers had signalled support for the proposal over the summer. However, this had since fallen to around 75 per cent, with opponents calling the changes a power grab on bitcoin by bitcoin companies and large exchanges. Story continues The code had also lacked "replay protection", which would have prevented transactions being copied across the old and new network. SegWit2x had also not been supported by bitcoin's core development team. What happens now? If bitcoin had suffered a split, there were fears major exchanges would not be able to decide which was the true bitcoin. Coinbase, one of the best known trading platforms, had said it would "let the market decide" and would suspend trading of bitcoin ahead of the split. Bitcoin developers still believe the currency needs to scale to cope with booming demand, but those proposals are on ice. Bitcoin milestones For now, bitcoin has remained one currency and investments in the currency remain on the original blockchain. || Bitcoin hits all time high as controversial 'hard fork' called off: Bitcoin shot to just shy of $7,900 (£6,000) after a controversial proposal that could have split the cryptocurrency was called off.
The currency had been scheduled to undergo a so-called "hard fork", a change to bitcoin's code that would have created an offshoot cryptocurrency, and which developers argued was necessary to keep up with the pace of its growth.
Despite widespread agreement over the summer that the upgrade, known as SegWit2x, would be implemented on November 16, support for the change had waned.
On Wednesday, proposals to implement the changes were suspended over fears they could divide bitcoin irreparably and damage the cryptocurrency's growth.Bitcoin'sprice briefly surged to a new high of $7,848, compared to less than $1,000 at the start of the year. It has since fallen back to trade at around $7,250.
Members of leading bitcoin exchanges supporting the "SegWit2x" proposals have signed a letter calling off the upgrade. SegWit2x would have doubled the size of the bitcoin "blocks" on the blockchain, the record of bitcoin transactions, essentially making it easier to process more trades as more people join and trade bitcoin.
"Although we strongly believe in the need for a larger blocksize, there is something we believe is even more important: keeping the community together," said Mike Belshe, chief executive of bitgo.com.
Because bitcoin is decentralised it has no one controlling party. This means that changes to the code are decided as a group, similar to a vote or referendum.
However, this has led to previous rivals to the current bitcoin splitting off, such asBitcoin Cashover the summer. If certain developers refuse to accept the current bitcoin code, they can "hard fork" the blockchain and create a new one, and thus a new, rival currency.
With SegWit2x, around 95 per cent of bitcoin miners and developers had signalled support for the proposal over the summer. However, this had since fallen to around 75 per cent, with opponents calling the changes a power grab on bitcoin bybitcoincompanies and large exchanges.
The code had also lacked "replay protection", which would have prevented transactions being copied across the old and new network. SegWit2x had also not been supported by bitcoin's core development team.
If bitcoin had suffered a split, there were fears major exchanges would not be able to decide which was the true bitcoin. Coinbase, one of the best known trading platforms, had said it would "let the market decide" and would suspend trading of bitcoin ahead of the split.
Bitcoin developers still believe the currency needs to scale to cope with booming demand, but those proposals are on ice.
For now, bitcoin has remained one currency and investments in the currency remain on the original blockchain. || Euro Range Looks Calm: The Euro has declined in value since early September, but its recent trading has shown the ability to sustain its value in a calm and consolidated manner. Speculators may try to buy the Euro against the U.S Dollar with the thought it has reached important support and will rise in value.
The Eurohas continued to traverse its weaker range this week and is near the 1.16 juncture against the U.S Dollar.
The Euro has managed to sustain a tight range the past two weeks in a calm manner after its sudden drop in late October, and traders may be wondering if the tranquil range of the Euro is about to burst.
Support for the Euro appears to be near the 1.1580 level mid-term, but the range of the European currency has been very consolidated the past day. Resistance for the Euro against the U.S Dollar looks to be around 1.1660.
A look at the mid-term for the Euro shows the decline in value which has occurred since early September.
The question speculators and investors are asking alike, is if the Euro has now reached the bottom of its value range against the U.S Dollar?
The Euro may traverse lower as its tests support, but it has also shown the ability to sustain its current valuation levels, which may prove to be intriguing for traders who have the courage to buy the currency and anticipate a climb in price.
In the short term, we believe the Euro may be positive. Mid-term and Long-term we are unbiased.
Yaron Mazor is a senior analyst atSuperTraderTV.
SuperTraderTV Academy is a leader in investing and stock trading education.Sign upfor a class today to learn proven strategies on how to trade smarter.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• Bitcoin Prices Drop after Segwit2X Fork Cancelled, US Futures Point to Lower Open
• European Economic Quarterly Outlook Coming, Positive Sentiment in Asia after Trump-Xi Meeting
• Kiwi Gets a Boost
• Forex Trading Signals – November 9, 2017
• Euro Range Looks Calm
• USD/CAD Daily Fundamental Forecast – November 9, 2017 || Euro Range Looks Calm: The Euro has declined in value since early September, but its recent trading has shown the ability to sustain its value in a calm and consolidated manner. Speculators may try to buy the Euro against the U.S Dollar with the thought it has reached important support and will rise in value. Euro Sustaining Current Price Level The Euro has continued to traverse its weaker range this week and is near the 1.16 juncture against the U.S Dollar. EUR/USD 1H Chart The Euro has managed to sustain a tight range the past two weeks in a calm manner after its sudden drop in late October, and traders may be wondering if the tranquil range of the Euro is about to burst. Mid-Term Decline in Value Support for the Euro appears to be near the 1.1580 level mid-term, but the range of the European currency has been very consolidated the past day. Resistance for the Euro against the U.S Dollar looks to be around 1.1660. EUR/USD 4H Chart A look at the mid-term for the Euro shows the decline in value which has occurred since early September. Euro Support Holding The question speculators and investors are asking alike, is if the Euro has now reached the bottom of its value range against the U.S Dollar? The Euro may traverse lower as its tests support, but it has also shown the ability to sustain its current valuation levels, which may prove to be intriguing for traders who have the courage to buy the currency and anticipate a climb in price. EUR/USD Daily Chart In the short term, we believe the Euro may be positive. Mid-term and Long-term we are unbiased. Yaron Mazor is a senior analyst at SuperTraderTV. SuperTraderTV Academy is a leader in investing and stock trading education. Sign up for a class today to learn proven strategies on how to trade smarter. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Bitcoin Prices Drop after Segwit2X Fork Cancelled, US Futures Point to Lower Open European Economic Quarterly Outlook Coming, Positive Sentiment in Asia after Trump-Xi Meeting Kiwi Gets a Boost Forex Trading Signals – November 9, 2017 Euro Range Looks Calm USD/CAD Daily Fundamental Forecast – November 9, 2017 View comments
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6357.60, 5950.07, 6559.49, 6635.75, 7315.54, 7871.69, 7708.99, 7790.15, 8036.49, 8200.64
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 9240.55, 9119.01, 9235.92, 9743.86, 9700.76, 9858.15, 9654.80, 9373.01, 9234.82, 9325.18, 9043.94, 8441.49, 8504.89, 8723.94, 8716.79, 8510.38, 8368.83, 8094.32, 8250.97, 8247.18, 8513.25, 8418.99, 8041.78, 7557.82, 7587.34, 7480.14, 7355.88, 7368.22, 7135.99, 7472.59, 7406.52, 7494.17, 7541.45, 7643.45, 7720.25, 7514.47, 7633.76, 7653.98, 7678.24, 7624.92, 7531.98, 6786.02, 6906.92, 6582.36, 6349.90, 6675.35, 6456.58, 6550.16, 6499.27, 6734.82, 6769.94, 6776.55, 6729.74, 6083.69, 6162.48, 6173.23, 6249.18, 6093.67, 6157.13, 5903.44, 6218.30, 6404.00, 6385.82, 6614.18, 6529.59, 6597.55, 6639.14, 6673.50, 6856.93, 6773.88, 6741.75, 6329.95, 6394.71, 6228.81, 6238.05, 6276.12, 6359.64, 6741.75, 7321.04, 7370.78, 7466.86, 7354.13, 7419.29, 7418.49, 7711.11, 8424.27, 8181.39, 7951.58, 8165.01, 8192.15.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2018-07-28]
Volume: 3988750080, RSI (14-day): 68.28, 50-day EMA: 7201.90, 200-day EMA: 7922.26
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Bitcoin Ransomware Creators Avoid Jail Time for $11,000 Heist: Two brothers convicted of creating bitcoin ransomware and infecting more than 1,000 computers have narrowly avoided jail time and will instead perform community service.
Authorities initially arrested the two Dutch brothers in 2015 for infecting thousands of computers during the previous two years. Three years later, the story is finally coming to an end, as the court sentenced the brothers to 240 hours of community service, local media sources havereported.
CNN initially reported the news on November 2015. At the time, two ransomware strains, CoinVault and Bitcryptor, were taken down by a joint effort between The Netherlands’ law enforcement agency and a Russian private security firm, Kaspersky.
Authorities say that the hackers infected at least 1,259 computers between 2014 and the time of their arrest. The malware employed a file-locking method to keep its victims away from their files. Once users triggered the ransomware through a downloaded file, CoinVault would copy all the data to a server, encrypt them, and delete them from their original location.
A CoinVault window would pop-up and blackmail the user into transferring a certain amount of bitcoin to receive the key to decrypt the files. The window allowed the victim to check a list of the encrypted data and would even decrypt one file as proof of its word.
The payment included a 24-hour timer, which would add around $100 to the total value of the ransom every time it reset until the victim paid it. Users had the choice to send 0.5 BTC — valued around $190 at the time — before the first increase.
The two brothers, aged 21 and 25, from Hoogland, Utrecht, were initially sentenced to a year in prison and 240 hours of community service, a month ago. However, due to this being their first offense, the court decided to waver their prison sentences, and punish them solely with community service.
Reportedly, the hackers cooperated fully with the investigation, most likely hoping for a lighter sentence — it seems it paid off. Thanks to their help, authorities were able to identify 1,259 computers infected and retrieved over 14,000 decryption keys.
The brothers allegedly received over $11,000 from around 100 victims. In addition to the community service, the court also sentenced the hacker duo to pay compensation to the affected victims. According to local press, the majority of the victims were from the Netherlands.
At the time of their arrest, Kaspersky had successfully decrypted both CoinVault and Bitcryptor. Apart from the 14,000 decryption keys collected, the security firm was also offering for download a free decryption tool to help users get rid of the ransomware.
Images from Shutterstock
The postBitcoin Ransomware Creators Avoid Jail Time for $11,000 Heistappeared first onCCN. || Bitcoin Ransomware Creators Avoid Jail Time for $11,000 Heist: Two brothers convicted of creating bitcoin ransomware and infecting more than 1,000 computers have narrowly avoided jail time and will instead perform community service.
Authorities initially arrested the two Dutch brothers in 2015 for infecting thousands of computers during the previous two years. Three years later, the story is finally coming to an end, as the court sentenced the brothers to 240 hours of community service, local media sources havereported.
CNN initially reported the news on November 2015. At the time, two ransomware strains, CoinVault and Bitcryptor, were taken down by a joint effort between The Netherlands’ law enforcement agency and a Russian private security firm, Kaspersky.
Authorities say that the hackers infected at least 1,259 computers between 2014 and the time of their arrest. The malware employed a file-locking method to keep its victims away from their files. Once users triggered the ransomware through a downloaded file, CoinVault would copy all the data to a server, encrypt them, and delete them from their original location.
A CoinVault window would pop-up and blackmail the user into transferring a certain amount of bitcoin to receive the key to decrypt the files. The window allowed the victim to check a list of the encrypted data and would even decrypt one file as proof of its word.
The payment included a 24-hour timer, which would add around $100 to the total value of the ransom every time it reset until the victim paid it. Users had the choice to send 0.5 BTC — valued around $190 at the time — before the first increase.
The two brothers, aged 21 and 25, from Hoogland, Utrecht, were initially sentenced to a year in prison and 240 hours of community service, a month ago. However, due to this being their first offense, the court decided to waver their prison sentences, and punish them solely with community service.
Reportedly, the hackers cooperated fully with the investigation, most likely hoping for a lighter sentence — it seems it paid off. Thanks to their help, authorities were able to identify 1,259 computers infected and retrieved over 14,000 decryption keys.
The brothers allegedly received over $11,000 from around 100 victims. In addition to the community service, the court also sentenced the hacker duo to pay compensation to the affected victims. According to local press, the majority of the victims were from the Netherlands.
At the time of their arrest, Kaspersky had successfully decrypted both CoinVault and Bitcryptor. Apart from the 14,000 decryption keys collected, the security firm was also offering for download a free decryption tool to help users get rid of the ransomware.
Images from Shutterstock
The postBitcoin Ransomware Creators Avoid Jail Time for $11,000 Heistappeared first onCCN. || Bitcoin Ransomware Creators Avoid Jail Time for $11,000 Heist: bitcoin ransomware hack Two brothers convicted of creating bitcoin ransomware and infecting more than 1,000 computers have narrowly avoided jail time and will instead perform community service. Authorities initially arrested the two Dutch brothers in 2015 for infecting thousands of computers during the previous two years. Three years later, the story is finally coming to an end, as the court sentenced the brothers to 240 hours of community service, local media sources have reported . CNN initially reported the news on November 2015 . At the time, two ransomware strains, CoinVault and Bitcryptor, were taken down by a joint effort between The Netherlands law enforcement agency and a Russian private security firm, Kaspersky. CoinVault Took Control of Personal Files and Demanded Bitcoin as Ransom Authorities say that the hackers infected at least 1,259 computers between 2014 and the time of their arrest. The malware employed a file-locking method to keep its victims away from their files. Once users triggered the ransomware through a downloaded file, CoinVault would copy all the data to a server, encrypt them, and delete them from their original location. A CoinVault window would pop-up and blackmail the user into transferring a certain amount of bitcoin to receive the key to decrypt the files. The window allowed the victim to check a list of the encrypted data and would even decrypt one file as proof of its word. The payment included a 24-hour timer, which would add around $100 to the total value of the ransom every time it reset until the victim paid it. Users had the choice to send 0.5 BTC valued around $190 at the time before the first increase. The Two Dutch Brothers Had Their Prison Sentence Wavered bitcoin crime canada british columbia silk road The two brothers, aged 21 and 25, from Hoogland, Utrecht, were initially sentenced to a year in prison and 240 hours of community service, a month ago. However, due to this being their first offense, the court decided to waver their prison sentences, and punish them solely with community service. Story continues Reportedly, the hackers cooperated fully with the investigation, most likely hoping for a lighter sentence it seems it paid off. Thanks to their help, authorities were able to identify 1,259 computers infected and retrieved over 14,000 decryption keys. The Two Hackers Will Compensate Their Victims The brothers allegedly received over $11,000 from around 100 victims. In addition to the community service, the court also sentenced the hacker duo to pay compensation to the affected victims. According to local press, the majority of the victims were from the Netherlands. At the time of their arrest, Kaspersky had successfully decrypted both CoinVault and Bitcryptor. Apart from the 14,000 decryption keys collected, the security firm was also offering for download a free decryption tool to help users get rid of the ransomware. Images from Shutterstock The post Bitcoin Ransomware Creators Avoid Jail Time for $11,000 Heist appeared first on CCN . || SEC Disapproves Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF: What Next?: The Securities and Exchange Commission has forbidden an application by the Winklevoss brothers to come up with a bitcoin ETF, finding the product not safe enough for investors. The SEC said that it cannot "conclude that bitcoin markets are uniquely resistant to manipulation."
Bitcoin dropped about 6% to the level of $7,922 on Jul 27 from the one-week high of $8431.88 recorded on Jul 25 due to the rejection news, as per data from condesk.com. Bitcoin prices have been gathering steam in recent weeks on rumors that the SEC could give a nod to a bitcoin ETF as early as August (read: Is Bitcoin Surging on ETF Approval Prospects?).
This is the second time the SEC is rejecting a bitcoin ETF proposed by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. Last year, the SEC said no to an applicationfor the "Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust," but in June, the group submitted a proposed rule change.
Why Such Stringency?
SEC is worried about its extreme price volatility in cryptocurrencies and liquidity in bitcoin-related funds. Per Reuters, the virtual currency can be deployed to quickly move money anywhere in the world without any central authority intervention, such as a bank or government. A fund holding the currency could draw more investors and materially boost its price.
Several central banks issued warnings against it.South Korea, which makes up about 20% of global bitcoin trading, created a government department last week targeted at formulating policy initiatives around financial technology and cryptocurrencies.
The Chinese government also clamped down on initial coin offerings (ICO). The Reserve Bank of Australia sees it as "speculative mania" and finds bitcoin more popular in the illegal economy, not among consumers.
Several Filings on the Way
In the past several months, many issuers tried to launch a bitcoin ETF. Among the latest expectants,Bitwise Asset Management filed (this July) for an index fund that intends to follow the performance of a basket of the 10 largest cryptocurrencies.
Another money management firm VanEck made renewed efforts for a bitcoin exchange-traded product launch, forming a pact with blockchain company SolidX. But, this week, the SEC delayed discussions on five bitcoin ETFs filed by NYSE Arca. With Winklevoss rejection, we see tough luck for other companies (read: No Bitcoin ETFs in 2018?).
Try Blockchain ETFs Till Bitcoin ETF Comes Our Way
There are Blockchain ETFs available in the market, namelyReality Shares Nasdaq NexGen Economy ETFBLCN,Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETFBLOK andFirst Trust Indxx Innovative Transaction & Process ETFLEGR. These funds look to track a portfolio of stocks from companies that are deemed to have strong exposure to blockchain technology development. But issuers are not allowed to use the word “blockchain” in the name (read: Forget Bitcoin, Bet on Blockchain With These New ETFs).
As per a source, “the blockchain in Bitcoin literally acts a ledger; it keeps track of the balances for all users and updates them as money changes hands.” So, if investors are not getting a bitcoin ETF now, they can definitely be in touch with the concept through blockchain ETFs.
Though there are no bitcoin ETFs on the U.S. market right now,Bitcoin Investment Trust(GBTC) is similar to an ETF and trades over the counter, as quoted on barrons.com.
Want key ETF info delivered straight to your inbox?
Zacks’ free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis, as well as top-performing ETFs, each week. Get it free >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportAMP-TFR DAT SHR (BLOK): ETF Research ReportsREALT-NDQ NEXGN (BLCN): ETF Research ReportsFT-INDXX INN TP (LEGR): ETF Research ReportsTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWant the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report || SEC Disapproves Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF: What Next?: The Securities and Exchange Commission has forbidden an application by the Winklevoss brothers to come up with a bitcoin ETF, finding the product not safe enough for investors. The SEC said that it cannot "conclude that bitcoin markets are uniquely resistant to manipulation."
Bitcoin dropped about 6% to the level of $7,922 on Jul 27 from the one-week high of $8431.88 recorded on Jul 25 due to the rejection news, as per data from condesk.com. Bitcoin prices have been gathering steam in recent weeks on rumors that the SEC could give a nod to a bitcoin ETF as early as August (read: Is Bitcoin Surging on ETF Approval Prospects?).
This is the second time the SEC is rejecting a bitcoin ETF proposed by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. Last year, the SEC said no to an applicationfor the "Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust," but in June, the group submitted a proposed rule change.
Why Such Stringency?
SEC is worried about its extreme price volatility in cryptocurrencies and liquidity in bitcoin-related funds. Per Reuters, the virtual currency can be deployed to quickly move money anywhere in the world without any central authority intervention, such as a bank or government. A fund holding the currency could draw more investors and materially boost its price.
Several central banks issued warnings against it.South Korea, which makes up about 20% of global bitcoin trading, created a government department last week targeted at formulating policy initiatives around financial technology and cryptocurrencies.
The Chinese government also clamped down on initial coin offerings (ICO). The Reserve Bank of Australia sees it as "speculative mania" and finds bitcoin more popular in the illegal economy, not among consumers.
Several Filings on the Way
In the past several months, many issuers tried to launch a bitcoin ETF. Among the latest expectants,Bitwise Asset Management filed (this July) for an index fund that intends to follow the performance of a basket of the 10 largest cryptocurrencies.
Another money management firm VanEck made renewed efforts for a bitcoin exchange-traded product launch, forming a pact with blockchain company SolidX. But, this week, the SEC delayed discussions on five bitcoin ETFs filed by NYSE Arca. With Winklevoss rejection, we see tough luck for other companies (read: No Bitcoin ETFs in 2018?).
Try Blockchain ETFs Till Bitcoin ETF Comes Our Way
There are Blockchain ETFs available in the market, namelyReality Shares Nasdaq NexGen Economy ETFBLCN,Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETFBLOK andFirst Trust Indxx Innovative Transaction & Process ETFLEGR. These funds look to track a portfolio of stocks from companies that are deemed to have strong exposure to blockchain technology development. But issuers are not allowed to use the word “blockchain” in the name (read: Forget Bitcoin, Bet on Blockchain With These New ETFs).
As per a source, “the blockchain in Bitcoin literally acts a ledger; it keeps track of the balances for all users and updates them as money changes hands.” So, if investors are not getting a bitcoin ETF now, they can definitely be in touch with the concept through blockchain ETFs.
Though there are no bitcoin ETFs on the U.S. market right now,Bitcoin Investment Trust(GBTC) is similar to an ETF and trades over the counter, as quoted on barrons.com.
Want key ETF info delivered straight to your inbox?
Zacks’ free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis, as well as top-performing ETFs, each week. Get it free >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Click to get this free reportAMP-TFR DAT SHR (BLOK): ETF Research ReportsREALT-NDQ NEXGN (BLCN): ETF Research ReportsFT-INDXX INN TP (LEGR): ETF Research ReportsTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWant the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report || SEC Disapproves Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF: What Next?: The Securities and Exchange Commission has forbidden an application by the Winklevoss brothers to come up with a bitcoin ETF, finding the product not safe enough for investors. The SEC said that it cannot "conclude that bitcoin markets are uniquely resistant to manipulation." Bitcoin dropped about 6% to the level of $7,922 on Jul 27 from the one-week high of $8431.88 recorded on Jul 25 due to the rejection news, as per data from condesk.com. Bitcoin prices have been gathering steam in recent weeks on rumors that the SEC could give a nod to a bitcoin ETF as early as August (read: Is Bitcoin Surging on ETF Approval Prospects?). This is the second time the SEC is rejecting a bitcoin ETF proposed by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. Last year, the SEC said no to an applicationfor the "Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust," but in June, the group submitted a proposed rule change. Why Such Stringency? SEC is worried about its extreme price volatility in cryptocurrencies and liquidity in bitcoin-related funds. Per Reuters, the virtual currency can be deployed to quickly move money anywhere in the world without any central authority intervention, such as a bank or government. A fund holding the currency could draw more investors and materially boost its price. Several central banks issued warnings against it.South Korea, which makes up about 20% of global bitcoin trading, created a government department last week targeted at formulating policy initiatives around financial technology and cryptocurrencies. The Chinese government also clamped down on initial coin offerings (ICO). The Reserve Bank of Australia sees it as "speculative mania" and finds bitcoin more popular in the illegal economy, not among consumers. Several Filings on the Way In the past several months, many issuers tried to launch a bitcoin ETF. Among the latest expectants,Bitwise Asset Management filed (this July) for an index fund that intends to follow the performance of a basket of the 10 largest cryptocurrencies. Story continues Another money management firm VanEck made renewed efforts for a bitcoin exchange-traded product launch, forming a pact with blockchain company SolidX. But, this week, the SEC delayed discussions on five bitcoin ETFs filed by NYSE Arca. With Winklevoss rejection, we see tough luck for other companies (read: No Bitcoin ETFs in 2018?). Try Blockchain ETFs Till Bitcoin ETF Comes Our Way There are Blockchain ETFs available in the market, namely Reality Shares Nasdaq NexGen Economy ETF BLCN, Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF BLOK and First Trust Indxx Innovative Transaction & Process ETF LEGR. These funds look to track a portfolio of stocks from companies that are deemed to have strong exposure to blockchain technology development. But issuers are not allowed to use the word “blockchain” in the name (read: Forget Bitcoin, Bet on Blockchain With These New ETFs). As per a source, “the blockchain in Bitcoin literally acts a ledger; it keeps track of the balances for all users and updates them as money changes hands.” So, if investors are not getting a bitcoin ETF now, they can definitely be in touch with the concept through blockchain ETFs. Though there are no bitcoin ETFs on the U.S. market right now, Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC) is similar to an ETF and trades over the counter, as quoted on barrons.com. Want key ETF info delivered straight to your inbox? Zacks’ free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis, as well as top-performing ETFs, each week. Get it free >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report AMP-TFR DAT SHR (BLOK): ETF Research Reports REALT-NDQ NEXGN (BLCN): ETF Research Reports FT-INDXX INN TP (LEGR): ETF Research Reports To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report || Nasdaq Drops Over 1%, Tech ETFs Suffer: This article was originally published on ETFTrends.com. The Nasdaq Composite shed 1.46% by the end of Friday's trading session with stocks like Intel Corp, Western Digital Corp and Electronic Arts helping to drag the index down collectively. The losses took a toll on technology ETFs like Invesco QQQ Trust ( QQQ ) --down 1.35%, Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF ( XLK ) --down 1.71%, Vanguard Information Technology ETF ( VGT ) --down 1.95%, First Trust Dow Jones Internet ETF ( FDN ) --down 3.06%, and iShares US Technology ETF ( IYW ) --down 2.02%. Related: ETF Investors Are Ditching Stocks, Seeking Refuge in Bonds Overall, tech stocks posted their second straight day of deep declines, as the sector dropped more than 1.5 percent on Thursday as a result of Facebook posting its worst trading day ever. In addition, shares of Intel and Twitter extended the losses for the Nasdaq on Friday after releasing their latest quarterly results. "When growth companies, particularly tech companies, are priced to perfection, the price for imperfection is quite high," said Michael Arone , chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors. "Meanwhile, the reward for beating on earnings is much lower than usual." Intel lost more than 8.5%, citing delays on its next generation chips, but the chipmaker did report better-than-expected earnings. Also in the Nasdaq, Facebook and Apple shares dropped 0.8 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively. The losses in the Nasdaq juxtaposed the Commerce Department reporting that the U.S. economy grew by 4.1 percent in the second quarter, meeting consensus expectations by economists. Nonetheless, other indices closed the trading day in the red--the S&P 500 ended down 0.66% and the Dow closed 0.30% down. However, the Nasdaq is still trading above its 50-day moving average and continues to trend upward based on its year-to-date chart. Nasdaq Drops Over 1%, Tech ETFs Suffer 1 "While we may be late in the game when it comes to our economic expansion, we're likely not in the last inning, and I think we see that in today's numbers," said Mike Loewengart , vice president of investment strategy at E-Trade. "Sure the trade war has begun to take its toll, but our economic fundamentals continue to be solid." Story continues Related: Traders Get Defensive With a Chip ETF Despite the losses today, over 50 percent of S&P 500 companies have reported earnings. Of those companies, 79.8 percent have reported better-than-expected earnings, according to data provided by FactSet. For more market trends in technology ETFs, click here . POPULAR ARTICLES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM Custom Global Market Indexes May Be Sounding Alarms What Does the First Half of the Year Tell Us About What’s Coming? A Walk Through the First 60 Days of Retirement ETF Investors Are Ditching Stocks, Seeking Refuge in Bonds Mob Mentality Rules Bitcoin Space READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || Nasdaq Drops Over 1%, Tech ETFs Suffer: This article was originally published onETFTrends.com.
The Nasdaq Composite shed 1.46% by the end of Friday's trading session with stocks like Intel Corp, Western Digital Corp and Electronic Arts helping to drag the index down collectively.
The losses took a toll on technology ETFs like Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) --down 1.35%, Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) --down 1.71%, Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT) --down 1.95%, First Trust Dow Jones Internet ETF (FDN) --down 3.06%, and iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) --down 2.02%.
Related:ETF Investors Are Ditching Stocks, Seeking Refuge in Bonds
Overall, tech stocks posted their second straight day of deep declines, as the sector dropped more than 1.5 percent on Thursday as a result of Facebook posting its worst trading day ever. In addition, shares of Intel and Twitter extended the losses for the Nasdaq on Friday after releasing their latest quarterly results.
"When growth companies, particularly tech companies, are priced to perfection, the price for imperfection is quite high,"said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors. "Meanwhile, the reward for beating on earnings is much lower than usual."
Intel lost more than 8.5%, citing delays on its next generation chips, but the chipmaker did report better-than-expected earnings. Also in the Nasdaq, Facebook and Apple shares dropped 0.8 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.
The losses in the Nasdaq juxtaposed the Commerce Department reporting that the U.S. economy grew by 4.1 percent in the second quarter, meeting consensus expectations by economists. Nonetheless, other indices closed the trading day in the red--the S&P 500 ended down 0.66% and the Dow closed 0.30% down.
However, the Nasdaq is still trading above its 50-day moving average and continues to trend upward based on its year-to-date chart.
"While we may be late in the game when it comes to our economic expansion, we're likely not in the last inning, and I think we see that in today's numbers,"said Mike Loewengart, vice president of investment strategy at E-Trade. "Sure the trade war has begun to take its toll, but our economic fundamentals continue to be solid."
Related:Traders Get Defensive With a Chip ETF
Despite the losses today, over 50 percent of S&P 500 companies have reported earnings. Of those companies, 79.8 percent have reported better-than-expected earnings, according to data provided by FactSet.
For more market trends in technology ETFs,click here.
POPULAR ARTICLES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM
• Custom Global Market Indexes May Be Sounding Alarms
• What Does the First Half of the Year Tell Us About What’s Coming?
• A Walk Through the First 60 Days of Retirement
• ETF Investors Are Ditching Stocks, Seeking Refuge in Bonds
• Mob Mentality Rules Bitcoin Space
READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || U.S. Congress Should Make Cryptocurrency a Key Focus: House Rep.: Bill Huizenga cryptocurrency At a Congressional hearing earlier this year, a key member affirmed his intention to not sit by idly while the cryptocurrency investors remain unprotected. That congressman, Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI), has once again called Congress for oversight of what he believes is a muddled and fairly opaque cryptocurrency market. A contender to lead the House Financial Services Committee, Huizenga promised to make cryptocurrency regulation his crucial agenda, if he assumes the office after the midterm elections this year. The statement, first reported by Bloomberg , arrives in the wake of growing securities frauds, both in the U.S. and abroad. People are reportedly investing their life savings into imaginary projects backed by worthless digital currencies. An ICO market study by MIT professor Christian Catini revealed that 85% of all ICO investment has been directed at scams. In response, U.S. and Canadian regulatory bodies have accelerated an Operation Crypto Sweep that targets companies found to be indulged in crypto-scams. By the end of May, the North American enforcement had already issued cease-and-desist letters to more than 40 local companies. While the enforcement continues their operations, government agencies around the globe have unknowingly expressed a paradox a puzzled stance when it comes to regulating cryptocurrencies. A decentralized assets multifaceted nature, which allows it to be used as a currency, stock or even commodity, does not suit the traditional regulation standards that categorize asset classes based on their use case. Huizenga also expressed concerns over classifying cryptocurrencies, while adding that US regulators would push for a law that brings bitcoin and other decentralized assets into the categories of stock or currency. Everyones trying to figure out whether its fish or fowl, he remarked. It turns out it might be a platypus. Its kind of an unknown or something sort of in between. How do we deal with that? Story continues U.S. Congress Divided View on Cryptocurrency Rep. Brad Sherman bitcoin cryptocurrency Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-IL) this year had called for a cryptocurrency regulation that protects investors as much as it catalyzes technological innovation. Ted Budd, another Congressman, had also argued that the U.S. should get it right before coming up with any potentially rushed policy. Rep. Brad Sherman, California, on the other hand, has publicly called Bitcoin a crock , arguing that the digital currency has the ability to help terrorists, criminals, tax evaders and start-up companies looking to commit fraud. He called for a blanket ban on cryptocurrency trading. The year 2018 continues to be a regulatory-centric period for cryptocurrencies. As bitcoin and its peers become the critical focus in U.S. Congress, it would be difficult to expect a funambulist out of them, owing to a directionless effort. Approaching a global crypto regulatory framework, as proposed by European Commissions Vice President, Valdis Dombrovskis, could still be an option to explore. Featured Image from YouTube/Mlive The post U.S. Congress Should Make Cryptocurrency a Key Focus: House Rep. appeared first on CCN . || U.S. Congress Should Make Cryptocurrency a Key Focus: House Rep.: At a Congressional hearing earlier this year, a key member affirmed his intention “to not sit by idly” while the cryptocurrency investors remain unprotected.
That congressman, Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI), has once again called Congress for oversight of what he believes is a “muddled and fairly opaque” cryptocurrency market. A contender to lead the House Financial Services Committee, Huizenga promised to make cryptocurrency regulation his crucial agenda, if he assumes the office after the midterm elections this year.
The statement, first reported byBloomberg, arrives in the wake of growing securities frauds, both in the U.S. and abroad. People are reportedly investing their life savings into imaginary projects backed by worthless digital currencies. An ICO market study by MIT professor Christian Catini revealed that 85% of all ICO investment has been directed at scams.
In response, U.S. and Canadian regulatory bodies have accelerated an “Operation Crypto Sweep” that targets companies found to be indulged in “crypto-scams.” By the end of May, the North American enforcement had already issued cease-and-desist letters to more than 40 local companies.
While the enforcement continues their operations, government agencies around the globe have unknowingly expressed a paradox — a puzzled stance — when it comes to regulating cryptocurrencies. A decentralized asset’s multifaceted nature, which allows it to be used as a currency, stock or even commodity, does not suit the traditional regulation standards that categorize asset classes based on their use case. Huizenga also expressed concerns over classifying cryptocurrencies, while adding that US regulators would push for a law that brings bitcoin and other decentralized assets into the categories of stock or currency.
“Everyone’s trying to figure out whether it’s fish or fowl,” he remarked. “It turns out it might be a platypus. It’s kind of an unknown or something sort of in between. How do we deal with that?”
Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-IL) this year had called for a cryptocurrency regulation that protects investors as much as it catalyzes technological innovation. Ted Budd, another Congressman, had also argued that the U.S. should “get it right” before coming up with any potentially rushed policy.
Rep. Brad Sherman, California, on the other hand, has publicly called Bitcoin a “crock,” arguing that the digital currency has “the ability to help terrorists, criminals, tax evaders and start-up companies looking to commit fraud.” He called for a blanket ban on cryptocurrency trading.
The year 2018 continues to be a regulatory-centric period for cryptocurrencies. As bitcoin and its peers become the critical focus in U.S. Congress, it would be difficult to expect a funambulist out of them, owing to a directionless effort. Approaching a global crypto regulatory framework, as proposed by European Commission’s Vice President, Valdis Dombrovskis, could still be an option to explore.
Featured Image fromYouTube/Mlive
The postU.S. Congress Should Make Cryptocurrency a Key Focus: House Rep.appeared first onCCN. || Lyn Ulbricht and the Effort to Free Ross: Looking at "the End of the Road”: The darknet site founded by Ross Ulbricht, Silk Road, has been offline for years now. But the legal questions behind his conviction and subsequent sentencing to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2015, remain fresh, raw and real to Ulbricht’s advocates.
Among the people most passionate in their belief that Ulbricht has been given an unfair shake by the American justice system is his mother, Lyn Ulbricht. Her staunch support of her son should come as no surprise, and it’s a stance that has seen her make her case — that Ross was unjustly convicted and sentenced — to audiences of CNN, the Wall Street Journal and international media of every stripe.
Lyn now has an unfortunate impetus for making a fresh round of appearances, in therecent denial by the U.S. Supreme Courtto reconsider Ross Ulbricht’s conviction or life sentence. As a guest this weekonThe Tatiana Show!podcast, Lyn provided listeners not only with an update on the dwindling legal options available to the Ulbrichts but also with an intimate view of the personal costs that afflict the family members of those who have been incarcerated.
There are many who are unsure of where they stand on Ross Ulbricht, whose online creation employed both Tor (a.k.a. The Onion Routing, an anonymous communication platform) and bitcoin to enable an anonymous global marketplace of items both illicit (drugs were a preponderance of the offerings) and legal (art, cigarettes, jewelry).
His supporters see a man whose guilt was never actually proven and whose work actually served to take on the War on Drugs’ overreaches while standing up for personal privacy online. His detractors believe he became a bitcoin multimillionaire while committing a rash of crimes including money laundering, computer hacking, conspiracy to traffic narcotics and attempting to order the murders of six people. They also see Silk Road as a major contributor to a negative public image for cryptocurrency, a high-profile example of bitcoin as an engine of criminal activity.
For those on theFreeRossside of things, Ulbricht’s interview with show host Tatiana Moroz did not reveal a hopeful darkhorse plan to counter the Supreme Court’s June 28 decision, which effectively declined to consider arguments that Ulbricht’s fourth and sixth amendment rights had been violated.
“You can’t go any further with it,” Lyn said of the possibility of filing another petition on those points. “That’s it. That’s the end of the road. According to our lawyers, who seem to know these things, there’s no other option.”
Barring the emergence of new legal strategies, the primary hope that the Ulbrichts are clinging to is a granting of clemency by the President of the United States.
“We’ve moved from the judicial to the political,” Lyn said. “His options for direct appeal to the courts has ended. There is something called a 2255 (motion for retrial) that you can do within the year. That rarely works, but we’ll try. We’re not counting on it. What we really are focusing on is clemency from the President, and that means commuting Ross’ barbaric sentence.”
Apetition supporting clemencyhas 38,000+ signatures as of press time.
In her conversation with Moroz, Lyn Ulbricht helped listeners to go beyond legal jargon with another dimension of the case. Her window on the effect of prison on nonviolent offenders, and the families attached to them, reveals the emotional impact of America’s punitive action penchant.
“There are so many people in the prison system now that it’s bigger than 11 states! It’s really metastasizing. It’s a crisis,” Ulbricht relates. “What really gets to me is the children [who are visiting their relatives in prison]. The kids are so happy to see their dad, they’re crawling over him and in his lap, and they have to be torn away. Every time we leave, there are sobbing, heartbroken children, who are being harmed and have a better statistical chance of being in the prison themselves.”
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || Lyn Ulbricht and the Effort to Free Ross: Looking at "the End of the Road”: Lyn Ulbricht and the Effort to Free Ross: Looking at "the End of the Road” The darknet site founded by Ross Ulbricht, Silk Road, has been offline for years now. But the legal questions behind his conviction and subsequent sentencing to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2015, remain fresh, raw and real to Ulbricht’s advocates. Among the people most passionate in their belief that Ulbricht has been given an unfair shake by the American justice system is his mother, Lyn Ulbricht. Her staunch support of her son should come as no surprise, and it’s a stance that has seen her make her case — that Ross was unjustly convicted and sentenced — to audiences of CNN, the Wall Street Journal and international media of every stripe. Lyn now has an unfortunate impetus for making a fresh round of appearances, in the recent denial by the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider Ross Ulbricht’s conviction or life sentence. As a guest this week on The Tatiana Show! podcast , Lyn provided listeners not only with an update on the dwindling legal options available to the Ulbrichts but also with an intimate view of the personal costs that afflict the family members of those who have been incarcerated. Almost Out of Options There are many who are unsure of where they stand on Ross Ulbricht, whose online creation employed both Tor (a.k.a. The Onion Routing, an anonymous communication platform) and bitcoin to enable an anonymous global marketplace of items both illicit (drugs were a preponderance of the offerings) and legal (art, cigarettes, jewelry). His supporters see a man whose guilt was never actually proven and whose work actually served to take on the War on Drugs’ overreaches while standing up for personal privacy online. His detractors believe he became a bitcoin multimillionaire while committing a rash of crimes including money laundering, computer hacking, conspiracy to traffic narcotics and attempting to order the murders of six people. They also see Silk Road as a major contributor to a negative public image for cryptocurrency, a high-profile example of bitcoin as an engine of criminal activity. Story continues For those on the FreeRoss side of things, Ulbricht’s interview with show host Tatiana Moroz did not reveal a hopeful darkhorse plan to counter the Supreme Court’s June 28 decision, which effectively declined to consider arguments that Ulbricht’s fourth and sixth amendment rights had been violated. “You can’t go any further with it,” Lyn said of the possibility of filing another petition on those points. “That’s it. That’s the end of the road. According to our lawyers, who seem to know these things, there’s no other option.” Barring the emergence of new legal strategies, the primary hope that the Ulbrichts are clinging to is a granting of clemency by the President of the United States. “We’ve moved from the judicial to the political,” Lyn said. “His options for direct appeal to the courts has ended. There is something called a 2255 (motion for retrial) that you can do within the year. That rarely works, but we’ll try. We’re not counting on it. What we really are focusing on is clemency from the President, and that means commuting Ross’ barbaric sentence.” A petition supporting clemency has 38,000+ signatures as of press time. Family Matters In her conversation with Moroz, Lyn Ulbricht helped listeners to go beyond legal jargon with another dimension of the case. Her window on the effect of prison on nonviolent offenders, and the families attached to them, reveals the emotional impact of America’s punitive action penchant. “There are so many people in the prison system now that it’s bigger than 11 states! It’s really metastasizing. It’s a crisis,” Ulbricht relates. “What really gets to me is the children [who are visiting their relatives in prison]. The kids are so happy to see their dad, they’re crawling over him and in his lap, and they have to be torn away. Every time we leave, there are sobbing, heartbroken children, who are being harmed and have a better statistical chance of being in the prison themselves.” This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine . || 10,000%: Pantera Reports Massive 5-Year Crypto Investment Return: Pantera Capital announced it had seen a lifetime return of more than 10,000 percent in its first five years. Cryptocurrency investment firm Pantera Capital reported a more than 10,000 percent lifetime return on Friday, coming five years after its formation. In an email, co-chief investment officers Dan Morehead (who is also CEO) and Joey Krug shared the figure as they celebrated the fund's fifth anniversary. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they're still bullish about bitcoin, particularly in the years since Pantera's launch, noting that "the Fund's lifetime return is 10,136.15% net of fees and expenses." To that end, Morehead and Krug included two emails that the fund sent out in 2013 to illustrate that point. Central Bank Crypto Could Bring Economic Gains: Bank of Canada Paper "We wanted to share the original logic â as it is equally compelling today," Morehead and Krug wrote. At the time, an email sent by Morehead predicted that bitcoin â which was trading at $104 at the time â would see $5,000 because "bitcoin dominates cash, electronic fiat money, gold, bearer bonds, large stone discs, etc. It can do all of the things that each of those can. It's the first global currency since gold. It's the first borderless payment system ever." Three months later, bitcoin was trading at $253 when Morehead again touted the principles behind the cryptocurrency. Morehead wrote at the time: "In my opinion, it's like deciding whether to buy Microsoft back in the day at $0.20 a share. It was hard to do when the stock was just at $0.10. In the fullness of timeâ¦clearly a great trade. I believe bitcoin right now is just like that. The world's first global currency since gold and the world's only borderless payments system (frictionless to boot) at a market cap of $3bn? Now that Silk Road is gone, a new wave of sophisticated investors are entering." Accenture May Use Blockchain to Track the Quality of Shipments Pantera, which has since launched its own hedge fund to invest in blockchain startups, plans to travel "over the next months to discuss Venture Fund III and the blockchain disruption." Story continues "We have organized group lunches in many cities, should you want to meet other investors who share your interest in blockchain," the officers wrote. Some of the firm's recent investments include sharing economy startup Origin and "stablecoin" startup Basis . Bitcoins image via Shutterstock Related Stories CFTC Chair Says Regulator Is 'Behind' on Blockchain Hubble Researcher Focuses on Blockchain for Space Data Processing || 10,000%: Pantera Reports Massive 5-Year Crypto Investment Return: Cryptocurrency investment firm Pantera Capital reported a more than 10,000 percent lifetime return on Friday, coming five years after its formation.
In an email, co-chief investment officers Dan Morehead (who is also CEO) and Joey Krug shared the figure as they celebrated the fund's fifth anniversary. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they're still bullish about bitcoin, particularly in the years since Pantera's launch, noting that "the Fund's lifetime return is 10,136.15% net of fees and expenses."
To that end, Morehead and Krug included two emails that the fund sent out in 2013 to illustrate that point.
Central Bank Crypto Could Bring Economic Gains: Bank of Canada Paper
"We wanted to share the original logic â as it is equally compelling today," Morehead and Krug wrote. At the time, an email sent by Morehead predicted that bitcoin â which was trading at $104 at the time â would see $5,000 because "bitcoin dominates cash, electronic fiat money, gold, bearer bonds, large stone discs, etc. It can do all of the things that each of those can. It's the first global currency since gold. It's the first borderless payment system ever."
Three months later, bitcoin was trading at $253 when Morehead again touted the principles behind the cryptocurrency.
Morehead wrote at the time:
"In my opinion, it's like deciding whether to buy Microsoft back in the day at $0.20 a share. It was hard to do when the stock was just at $0.10. In the fullness of timeâ¦clearly a great trade. I believe bitcoin right now is just like that. The world's first global currency since gold and the world's only borderless payments system (frictionless to boot) at a market cap of $3bn? Now that Silk Road is gone, a new wave of sophisticated investors are entering."
Accenture May Use Blockchain to Track the Quality of Shipments
Pantera, which has since launched its own hedge fund to invest in blockchain startups, plans to travel "over the next months to discuss Venture Fund III and the blockchain disruption."
"We have organized group lunches in many cities, should you want to meet other investors who share your interest in blockchain," the officers wrote.
Some of the firm's recent investments include sharing economy startupOriginand "stablecoin" startupBasis.
Bitcoinsimage via Shutterstock
• CFTC Chair Says Regulator Is 'Behind' on Blockchain
• Hubble Researcher Focuses on Blockchain for Space Data Processing || This Week In Cryptocurrency: New No-Fee Crypto Trading Platform, SEC Rejects Bitcoin ETF: The cryptocurrency market finished another strong week on a low note on Friday, with most major currencies trading down more than 1 percent on the day. Here’s a look at some of the headlines that were moving the cryptocurrency market this week and which currencies were on the move.
Headlines
On Wednesday, startup Voyager announced plans to offer commission-free trading of at least 15 major cryptocurrencies on its platform in the near future. The company intends to take on Robinhood, the current market leader in no-fee crypto trading. Voyager will be listing crypto prices from 10 currency exchanges and three additional market makers and said it will be able to provide better prices for customers than they would pay by directly using a single exchange such as Coinbase or Binance.
On Tuesday, Bitwise joined the growing list of companies racing to launch the first cryptocurrency ETF approved for listing on a major U.S. stock exchange. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has yet to approve a cryptocurrency ETF due to concerns about investor safety and market liquidity.
Just two days after the Bitwise announcement, the SEC officially rejected the bitcoin ETF proposed by the Winklevoss twins. Friday’s decision is the second time the SEC has rejected a Winklevoss bitcoin ETF proposal. In its rejection, the commission cited concerns over fraud, investor safety and the proposal’s claims that the bitcoin market is “uniquely resistant to manipulation.”
Price Action
TheBitcoin Investment Trust(OTC:GBTC) traded at $11.98, up 7.9 percent for the week.
Here’s how several top crypto investments fared this week. Prices are as of 3:30 p.m. ET and reflect the previous seven days.
• Bitcoin gained 11.2 percent to $8,228;
• Ethereum gained 3.4 percent to $469;
• XRP gained 1.9 percent to 45 cents;
• Bitcoin Cash gained 5.6 percent to $824;
• EOS gained 4.7 percent to $8.40.
The three cryptocurrencies with at least $1-million market caps that have made the biggest gains over the past seven days are:
• InflationCoin: $6.8-million market cap, 459.3-percent gain.
• HollyWoodCoin: $6.2-million market cap, 151.6-percent gain.
• Kobocoin: $1.6-million market cap, 101.2-percent gain.
The three cryptocurrencies hit hardest in the past seven days were:
• PinkCoin: $2.8-million market cap, 50.8-percent decline.
• CHIPS: $2.0-million market cap, 49.1-percent decline.
• Mooncoin: $5.2-million market cap, 44.2-percent decline.
Related Links:
This Week In Cryptocurrency: Bannon Bullish, BlackRock Curious, MLB And Ethereum
A Brand New No-Fee Crypto Trading Option
See more from Benzinga
• Argus Sees Even More Upside For AMD
• This Day In Market History: Bank Of England Founded
• Facebook Lost 0 Billion In Market Cap: Here's Some Perspective
© 2018 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || This Week In Cryptocurrency: New No-Fee Crypto Trading Platform, SEC Rejects Bitcoin ETF: The cryptocurrency market finished another strong week on a low note on Friday, with most major currencies trading down more than 1 percent on the day. Here’s a look at some of the headlines that were moving the cryptocurrency market this week and which currencies were on the move. Headlines On Wednesday , startup Voyager announced plans to offer commission-free trading of at least 15 major cryptocurrencies on its platform in the near future. The company intends to take on Robinhood, the current market leader in no-fee crypto trading. Voyager will be listing crypto prices from 10 currency exchanges and three additional market makers and said it will be able to provide better prices for customers than they would pay by directly using a single exchange such as Coinbase or Binance. On Tuesday , Bitwise joined the growing list of companies racing to launch the first cryptocurrency ETF approved for listing on a major U.S. stock exchange. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has yet to approve a cryptocurrency ETF due to concerns about investor safety and market liquidity. Just two days after the Bitwise announcement, the SEC officially rejected the bitcoin ETF proposed by the Winklevoss twins. Friday’s decision is the second time the SEC has rejected a Winklevoss bitcoin ETF proposal. In its rejection, the commission cited concerns over fraud, investor safety and the proposal’s claims that the bitcoin market is “uniquely resistant to manipulation.” Price Action The Bitcoin Investment Trust (OTC: GBTC ) traded at $11.98, up 7.9 percent for the week. Here’s how several top crypto investments fared this week. Prices are as of 3:30 p.m. ET and reflect the previous seven days. Bitcoin gained 11.2 percent to $8,228; Ethereum gained 3.4 percent to $469; XRP gained 1.9 percent to 45 cents; Bitcoin Cash gained 5.6 percent to $824; EOS gained 4.7 percent to $8.40. The three cryptocurrencies with at least $1-million market caps that have made the biggest gains over the past seven days are: Story continues InflationCoin: $6.8-million market cap, 459.3-percent gain. HollyWoodCoin: $6.2-million market cap, 151.6-percent gain. Kobocoin: $1.6-million market cap, 101.2-percent gain. The three cryptocurrencies hit hardest in the past seven days were: PinkCoin: $2.8-million market cap, 50.8-percent decline. CHIPS: $2.0-million market cap, 49.1-percent decline. Mooncoin: $5.2-million market cap, 44.2-percent decline. Related Links: This Week In Cryptocurrency: Bannon Bullish, BlackRock Curious, MLB And Ethereum A Brand New No-Fee Crypto Trading Option See more from Benzinga Argus Sees Even More Upside For AMD This Day In Market History: Bank Of England Founded Facebook Lost 0 Billion In Market Cap: Here's Some Perspective © 2018 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || This Week In Cryptocurrency: New No-Fee Crypto Trading Platform, SEC Rejects Bitcoin ETF: The cryptocurrency market finished another strong week on a low note on Friday, with most major currencies trading down more than 1 percent on the day. Here’s a look at some of the headlines that were moving the cryptocurrency market this week and which currencies were on the move.
Headlines
On Wednesday, startup Voyager announced plans to offer commission-free trading of at least 15 major cryptocurrencies on its platform in the near future. The company intends to take on Robinhood, the current market leader in no-fee crypto trading. Voyager will be listing crypto prices from 10 currency exchanges and three additional market makers and said it will be able to provide better prices for customers than they would pay by directly using a single exchange such as Coinbase or Binance.
On Tuesday, Bitwise joined the growing list of companies racing to launch the first cryptocurrency ETF approved for listing on a major U.S. stock exchange. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has yet to approve a cryptocurrency ETF due to concerns about investor safety and market liquidity.
Just two days after the Bitwise announcement, the SEC officially rejected the bitcoin ETF proposed by the Winklevoss twins. Friday’s decision is the second time the SEC has rejected a Winklevoss bitcoin ETF proposal. In its rejection, the commission cited concerns over fraud, investor safety and the proposal’s claims that the bitcoin market is “uniquely resistant to manipulation.”
Price Action
TheBitcoin Investment Trust(OTC:GBTC) traded at $11.98, up 7.9 percent for the week.
Here’s how several top crypto investments fared this week. Prices are as of 3:30 p.m. ET and reflect the previous seven days.
• Bitcoin gained 11.2 percent to $8,228;
• Ethereum gained 3.4 percent to $469;
• XRP gained 1.9 percent to 45 cents;
• Bitcoin Cash gained 5.6 percent to $824;
• EOS gained 4.7 percent to $8.40.
The three cryptocurrencies with at least $1-million market caps that have made the biggest gains over the past seven days are:
• InflationCoin: $6.8-million market cap, 459.3-percent gain.
• HollyWoodCoin: $6.2-million market cap, 151.6-percent gain.
• Kobocoin: $1.6-million market cap, 101.2-percent gain.
The three cryptocurrencies hit hardest in the past seven days were:
• PinkCoin: $2.8-million market cap, 50.8-percent decline.
• CHIPS: $2.0-million market cap, 49.1-percent decline.
• Mooncoin: $5.2-million market cap, 44.2-percent decline.
Related Links:
This Week In Cryptocurrency: Bannon Bullish, BlackRock Curious, MLB And Ethereum
A Brand New No-Fee Crypto Trading Option
See more from Benzinga
• Argus Sees Even More Upside For AMD
• This Day In Market History: Bank Of England Founded
• Facebook Lost 0 Billion In Market Cap: Here's Some Perspective
© 2018 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || CME Wont Be Listing New Cryptocurrency Futures Anytime Soon: CEO: CME Group bitcoin futures CME Group, the second regulated U.S. derivatives market to list bitcoin futures and by far the largest trading venue for these products, will not be listing any new cryptocurrency futures anytime soon, the firms chief executive said on Thursday. Speaking with Bloomberg Television , CME Group CEO Terry Duffy said that the reputation of his firm is too important to him to rush into listing new cryptocurrency futures products when the exchange has not even had enough time to evaluate its bitcoin futures product, which began trading in December. Before we get into any other cryptocurrencies, were going to see how this one goes, and I think that six to eight months as a listing of bitcoin is not a good enough barometer to decide what your future should be for any other cryptocurrency, he said. I will not just put products up there to see where theyre going to go. I will take a wait and see approach with Bitcoin for now. Bitcoin futures hit record volume of 12,878 contracts on Tuesday, equivalent to 64,390 bitcoins with a notional value of $530M. Learn more about #Bitcoin futures. https://t.co/AIsPztBU6V pic.twitter.com/7RIRL2qZ3A CMEGroup (@CMEGroup) July 25, 2018 Bitcoin futures trading volume on both CME and fellow Chicago-based exchange CBOE started out small but has steadily increased over the life of these products. On Tuesday, Wall Street traded approximately $572 million worth of BTC futures , a surge in volume that correlated with bitcoins push past $8,000. Nevertheless, it still represents a fraction of CMEs overall derivatives business and does not in itself warrant the expansion of this product line. Were not seeing huge flows regardless and thats OK, Duffy said, adding that bitcoin was the most controversial launch of a product that he has ever seen in his four decades in derivatives trading. This is going to take some time one way or another and well do it the right way. Story continues As CCN reported , CME earlier this year partnered with several cryptocurrency exchanges to launch a real-time price index for ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency. This raised speculation that the exchange was laying the groundwork to list an ethereum futures product, speculation that was spurred by confirmation from the exchange that it was gauging client interest in such a product. Featured Image from Shutterstock The post CME Wont Be Listing New Cryptocurrency Futures Anytime Soon: CEO appeared first on CCN . || CME Won’t Be Listing New Cryptocurrency Futures Anytime Soon: CEO: CME Group, the second regulated U.S. derivatives market to list bitcoin futures and by far the largest trading venue for these products, will not be listing any new cryptocurrency futures anytime soon, the firm’s chief executive said on Thursday.
Speaking withBloomberg Television, CME Group CEO Terry Duffy said that the reputation of his firm is “too important” to him to rush into listing new cryptocurrency futures products when the exchange has not even had enough time to evaluate its bitcoin futures product, which began trading in December.
“Before we get into any other cryptocurrencies, we’re going to see how this one goes, and I think that six to eight months as a listing of bitcoin is not a good enough barometer to decide what your future should be for any other cryptocurrency,” he said. “I will not just put products up there to see where they’re going to go. I will take a wait and see approach with Bitcoin for now.”
Bitcoin futures trading volume on both CME and fellow Chicago-based exchange CBOE started out small but has steadily increased over the life of these products. On Tuesday, Wall Street traded approximately$572 million worth of BTC futures, a surge in volume that correlated with bitcoin’s push past $8,000.
Nevertheless, it still represents a fraction of CME’s overall derivatives business and does not in itself warrant the expansion of this product line.
“We’re not seeing huge flows regardless and that’s OK,” Duffy said, adding that bitcoin was the “most controversial launch” of a product that he has ever seen in his four decades in derivatives trading. “This is going to take some time one way or another and we’ll do it the right way.”
As CCNreported, CME earlier this year partnered with several cryptocurrency exchanges to launch a real-time price index for ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency. This raised speculation that the exchange was laying the groundwork to list an ethereum futures product, speculation that was spurred by confirmation from the exchange that it was gauging client interest in such a product.
Featured Image from Shutterstock
The postCME Won’t Be Listing New Cryptocurrency Futures Anytime Soon: CEOappeared first onCCN. || Kim Dotcom Creates Own Cryptocurrency Aimed at Content Creators: Kim Dotcom Bitcoin Megaupload Kim Dotcom has embarked on a project to create its own cryptocurrency that will enable direct monetisation by content creators rather than depending on third parties and intermediaries. The digital publishing industry is confronted with the outcry of fraud and poor remuneration for publishers among other vices. The bulk of these problems are blamed on the opaque nature of the industry due its hugely centralized configuration. For an industry where billions of people participate on a daily basis via the internet and the search for content, the existing formation is plagued with a lot of limitations. As a matter of fact, in 2016 Adobe estimated the losses in global ad-revenue to be in the region of US $42 billion. These were losses resulting from ad-blocking acts by users for which the US alone accounted for about 45 million. A Direct Transaction Channel The Kim Dotcom ecosystem is focused on enabling a direct and easy process for both publishers and consumers to conduct businesses. According to a whitepaper released by the company, the platform will empower content creators by allowing them to monetise their creations instantly. Other issues that the project promises to resolve include the reduction in risk of fraudulent transactions and identity theft and giving consumers the choice and versatility of content without having to rely on outdated third-parties, wherever they are. In order to achieve the monetisation of digital content, the projects platform function in such a way that content creators can transform their products into encrypted data. Hence, for consumers to access such content the data will need to be decrypted. That is where actual monetisation comes in. As described in the whitepaper , consumers who may want to access the already encrypted data will have to do so through the K.im Payment Engine. This engine will enable consumers to pay for content with cryptocurrency and therefore authorise the file decryption. This system eliminates the interception by middlemen who currently stand as a barrier for appropriate remuneration as far as publishers are concerned. A Huge Marketplace The current trend of how information is consumed reveals an increasing dominance as far as digital content is concerned. In the USA alone, adults spent 5.6 hours a day viewing digital media. Combining other content views such as Youtube and Twitch amounts to an average of 430 billion monthly content views across the internet. This is a staggering market size and revenue opportunity that should not be under the control of a few group of individuals as it is today. Story continues By implementing a cryptocurrency powered marketplace, Kim Dotcom claims to initiate a decentralized ecosystem that will benefit everyone involved. These benefits are expected to cover both the quality in service delivery and fix the revenue distribution structure. For consumers, it is expected that the platform will enable them to access the content they have paid for, whenever they want. It is also expected to allow easy monetisation of online content such as blog posts, news articles, YouTube videos,scientific articles, github repositories, Facebook posts, etc for the real content owners. The Power of Cryptocurrency Cryptocurrencies as transaction vehicles are beginning to play a huge role in various ecosystems, most especially within the cyberspace. Be it for remittance purposes or regular business transactions, the peer to peer transaction enablement is encouraging lower costs and direct auditable, immutable and secure financial communications. Considering the perceived imbalance that currently exist within the digital content distribution marketplace, this may come as a huge relief to both content creators and publishers who stand to benefit enormously as long as the promised goals are realised. Featured image from Flickr/ Ruben Dominguez . The post Kim Dotcom Creates Own Cryptocurrency Aimed at Content Creators appeared first on CCN . View comments
[Social Media Buzz]
Price: $8,190.20
1h: -0.24%
24h: 3.34%
7d: 11.91%
Market Cap: $140,672,008,630.00
#Bitcoin #BTC || 現在の1ビットコインあたりの値段は905,895.1013円です。値段の取得日時はJul 28, 2018 13:59:00 UTCです #bitcoin #ビットコイン || $BIX may go up
BINANCE
COINMARKETCAP: http://bit.ly/2GoPeh6
BITTREX
COINMARKETCAP: http://bit.ly/2GoPeh6
Price: 0.00011746 BTC
1H: 1.96%
24H: 0.28%
7D: 15.00%
24H Vol: $62,933,000
This is not an investment advice. #DYOR #YTD #Robostopia || Cotización del Bitcoin Cash: 704 80.€ | +0.9% | Kraken...
|
8218.46, 8180.48, 7780.44, 7624.91, 7567.15, 7434.39, 7032.85, 7068.48, 6951.80, 6753.12
|
Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 47054.98, 47166.69, 48847.03, 49327.72, 50025.38, 49944.62, 51753.41, 52633.54, 46811.13, 46091.39, 46391.42, 44883.91, 45201.46, 46063.27, 44963.07, 47092.49, 48176.35, 47783.36, 47267.52, 48278.36, 47260.22, 42843.80, 40693.68, 43574.51, 44895.10, 42839.75, 42716.59, 43208.54, 42235.73, 41034.54, 41564.36, 43790.89, 48116.94, 47711.49, 48199.95, 49112.90, 51514.81, 55361.45, 53805.98, 53967.85, 54968.22, 54771.58, 57484.79, 56041.06, 57401.10, 57321.52, 61593.95, 60892.18, 61553.62, 62026.08, 64261.99, 65992.84, 62210.17, 60692.27, 61393.62, 60930.84, 63039.82, 60363.79, 58482.39, 60622.14, 62227.96, 61888.83, 61318.96, 61004.41, 63226.40, 62970.05, 61452.23, 61125.68, 61527.48, 63326.99, 67566.83, 66971.83, 64995.23, 64949.96, 64155.94, 64469.53, 65466.84, 63557.87, 60161.25, 60368.01, 56942.14, 58119.58, 59697.20, 58730.48, 56289.29, 57569.07, 56280.43, 57274.68, 53569.77, 54815.08.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2021-11-27]
Volume: 30560857714, RSI (14-day): 39.35, 50-day EMA: 58370.79, 200-day EMA: 49704.18
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
The Weekly Wrap: New COVID-19 Stain Unravels the Market’s Pandemic Recovery: The Stats It was a busier week on the economic calendar , in the week ending 26 th November. A total of 50 stats were monitored, which was down from 60 stats in the week prior. Of the 50 stats, 29 came in ahead forecasts, with 17 economic indicators coming up short of forecasts. There were 4 stats that were in line with forecasts in the week. Looking at the numbers, 27 of the stats reflected an upward trend from previous figures. Of the remaining 23 stats, all 23 reflected a deterioration from previous. For the Greenback, it was a 5 th consecutive week in the green. Market reaction to FED Chair Powell’s reappointment and rising new COVID-19 cases in Europe had delivered Dollar demand. A 0.73% slide on Friday reversed the gains, however, as the markets responded to the news of the new COVID-19 strain and containment measures. In the week ending 26 th November, the Dollar Spot Index rose by 0.04% to 96.071. In the previous week, the Dollar had risen by 0.95% to 96.031. Out of the U.S Early in the week, prelim private sector PMIs were in focus, with the numbers skewed to the negative. While the manufacturing PMI rose from 58.4 to 59.1, the all-important services PMI declined from 58.7 to 57.0. As a result, the Composite PMI fell from 58.7 to 57.0. Ahead of the Thanksgiving holidays, a particularly busy set of numbers also drew plenty of interest. Personal spending rose by 1.3%, with jobless claims falling from 270k to 199k in the week ending 19 th November. Core durable goods orders were also positive, rising by 0.5% in October, with inflationary pressures picking up once more. The FED’s preferred core PCE price index rose by 4.1%, year-on-year in October. In September, the index had risen by 3.7%. GDP numbers for the 3 rd quarter fell short of estimates, however. In the 3 rd quarter, the economy expanded by 2.1%, falling short of a forecasted 2.2%. The economy had expanded by 6.7% in the previous quarter. Out of the UK It was a relatively busy week, with prelim private sector PMIs and industrial trend orders in focus. Story continues The stats were skewed to the positive, with the all-important services PMI rising from 54.6 to 58.6. Manufacturing sector activity also picked up, with the PMI up from 54.1 to 57.7. Also positive was a marked increase in the CBI Industrial Trend Orders, which increased from 9 to 26 in November. COVID-19 woes weighed, however, muting the impact of the positive numbers In the week, the Pound declined by 0.85% to end the week at $1.3337. In the week prior, the Pound had risen by 0.28% to $1.3451. The FTSE100 ended the week down by 2.49%, following a 1.69% loss from the previous week. Out of the Eurozone Early in the week, consumer confidence and prelim November private sector PMIs were in focus. Rising new COVID-19 cases weighed on consumer sentiment, with the Eurozone consumer confidence index falling from -4.8 to -6.8. Private sector PMIs for November were positive, however. A pickup in service sector activity across France and German led to a rise in the Eurozone’s services PMI from 54.6 to 56.6. French manufacturing sector activity also picked up, while Germany’s held steady, supporting an increase in the Eurozone Composite PMI from 54.2 to 55.8. The rest of the numbers were skewed to the negative, however, with the German economy in the spotlight. German business sentiment waned in November, with the Ifo Business Climate Index falling from 97.7 to 96.5. It wasn’t much better for consumers. Consumer sentiment took a hit, with the GfK Consumer Climate Indicator for December falling from 1.0 to -1.6. German GDP numbers also disappointed. In the 3 rd quarter, the German economy expanded by 1.7% quarter-on-quarter, according to 2 nd estimate figures. This was down from a prelim 1.8% and a 2 nd quarter 2.0%. For the week, the EUR rose by 0.24% to $1.1317. In the week prior, the EUR had slumped by 1.35% to $1.1290. The DAX30 slid by 5.59%, with the CAC40 and the EuroStoxx600 ending the week with losses of 5.24% and 4.53% respectively. For the Loonie There were no major stats to consider, leaving the Loonie in the hands of market risk sentiment and crude oil prices. In the week ending 26 th November, the Loonie declined by 1.19% to C$1.2791. In the week prior, the Loonie had fallen by 0.72% to C$1.2640. Elsewhere It was yet another bearish week for the Aussie Dollar and the Kiwi Dollar . The Aussie Dollar fell by 1.55% to $0.7123, with the Kiwi Dollar sliding by 2.60% to end the week at $0.6822. For the Aussie Dollar Private new CAPEX and retail sales were in focus. In the 3 rd quarter, private new CAPEX fell by 2.2% after having risen by 4.4% in the previous quarter. While negative for the quarter, forecasts for 2021/22 were raised, limiting the damage. Retail sales were also upbeat, supported by the reopening. In October, retail sales jumped by 4.9% after having risen by 1.3% in September. Market reaction to COVID-19 news late in the week sank the Aussie, however. For the Kiwi Dollar Retail sales and trade data were in focus on the economic data front. In the 3 rd quarter, retail sales slid by 8.1% quarter-on-quarter, reversing a 3.3% increase from the previous quarter. The impact on the Kiwi was muted, however, with the slide stemming from the latest lockdown. Trade data for October was upbeat, however. New Zealand’s trade deficit narrowed from NZ$2,206m to NZ$1,286m. The numbers were not enough to prevent a reversal, however, with RBNZ monetary policy doing the damage. On Wednesday, the RBNZ lifted cash rates by 25pbs to 0.75%. Market participants were expecting a bigger move, which ultimately led to the slide in the Kiwi Dollar. The slide in the Kiwi came in spite of the RBNZ statement highlighting the need for a continued tightening of policy. Ultimately, however, it was news of the new COVID-19 strain that did the damage. For the Japanese Yen Private sector PMIs and inflation were on focus, with the stats skewed to the positive. In November, Japan’s manufacturing PMI rose from 53.2 to 54.2, with the services PMI up from 50.7 to 52.1. There was also a pickup in inflationary pressure. In November, Tokyo’s core annual rate of inflation accelerated from 0.1% to 0.3%. The stats had a muted impact on the Yen, however, with the new COVID-19 strain and government measures in Europe and beyond to prevent the spread driving demand for the safe haven. The Japanese Yen rose by 0.54% to ¥113.38 against the U.S Dollar. In the week prior, the Yen had fallen by 0.09% to ¥113.990. Out of China There were no material stats to provide the markets with direction. On the monetary policy front, the PBoC left loan prime rates unchanged, which was in line with market expectations. In the week ending 26 th November, the Chinese Yuan fell by 0.10% to CNY6.3933. In the week prior, the Yuan had ended the week down by 0.12% to CNY6.3871. The CSI300 slipped by 0.61%, with the Hang Seng sliding by 3.87%. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Natural Gas Weekly Price Forecast – Natural Gas Markets Recover for The Week BTC and ETH Dip as Covid Variant Fears Affect Financial Markets S&P 500 Price Forecast – Stock Market Continues Volatile Action Crude Oil Price Forecast – Crude Oil Markets Get Hit in Low Liquidity Crude Oil Weekly Price Forecast – Crude Oil Markets Get Bashed Due to Variant The Weekly Wrap: New COVID-19 Stain Unravels the Market’s Pandemic Recovery || The Weekly Wrap: New COVID-19 Stain Unravels the Market’s Pandemic Recovery: It was a busier week on theeconomic calendar, in the week ending 26thNovember.
A total of 50 stats were monitored, which was down from 60 stats in the week prior.
Of the 50 stats, 29 came in ahead forecasts, with 17 economic indicators coming up short of forecasts. There were 4 stats that were in line with forecasts in the week.
Looking at the numbers, 27 of the stats reflected an upward trend from previous figures. Of the remaining 23 stats, all 23 reflected a deterioration from previous.
For the Greenback, it was a 5thconsecutive week in the green. Market reaction to FED Chair Powell’s reappointment and rising new COVID-19 cases in Europe had delivered Dollar demand. A 0.73% slide on Friday reversed the gains, however, as the markets responded to the news of the new COVID-19 strain and containment measures. In the week ending 26thNovember, the Dollar Spot Index rose by 0.04% to 96.071. In the previous week, the Dollar had risen by 0.95% to 96.031.
Early in the week, prelim private sector PMIs were in focus, with the numbers skewed to the negative.
While the manufacturing PMI rose from 58.4 to 59.1, the all-important services PMI declined from 58.7 to 57.0. As a result, the Composite PMI fell from 58.7 to 57.0.
Ahead of the Thanksgiving holidays, a particularly busy set of numbers also drew plenty of interest.
Personal spending rose by 1.3%, with jobless claims falling from 270k to 199k in the week ending 19thNovember.
Core durable goods orders were also positive, rising by 0.5% in October, with inflationary pressures picking up once more.
The FED’s preferred core PCE price index rose by 4.1%, year-on-year in October. In September, the index had risen by 3.7%.
GDP numbers for the 3rdquarter fell short of estimates, however. In the 3rdquarter, the economy expanded by 2.1%, falling short of a forecasted 2.2%. The economy had expanded by 6.7% in the previous quarter.
It was a relatively busy week, with prelim private sector PMIs and industrial trend orders in focus.
The stats were skewed to the positive, with the all-important services PMI rising from 54.6 to 58.6. Manufacturing sector activity also picked up, with the PMI up from 54.1 to 57.7.
Also positive was a marked increase in the CBI Industrial Trend Orders, which increased from 9 to 26 in November.
COVID-19 woes weighed, however, muting the impact of the positive numbers
In the week, thePounddeclined by 0.85% to end the week at $1.3337. In the week prior, the Pound had risen by 0.28% to $1.3451.
The FTSE100 ended the week down by 2.49%, following a 1.69% loss from the previous week.
Early in the week, consumer confidence and prelim November private sector PMIs were in focus.
Rising new COVID-19 cases weighed on consumer sentiment, with the Eurozone consumer confidence index falling from -4.8 to -6.8.
Private sector PMIs for November were positive, however.
A pickup in service sector activity across France and German led to a rise in the Eurozone’s services PMI from 54.6 to 56.6. French manufacturing sector activity also picked up, while Germany’s held steady, supporting an increase in the Eurozone Composite PMI from 54.2 to 55.8.
The rest of the numbers were skewed to the negative, however, with the German economy in the spotlight.
German business sentiment waned in November, with the Ifo Business Climate Index falling from 97.7 to 96.5.
It wasn’t much better for consumers. Consumer sentiment took a hit, with the GfK Consumer Climate Indicator for December falling from 1.0 to -1.6.
German GDP numbers also disappointed.
In the 3rdquarter, the German economy expanded by 1.7% quarter-on-quarter, according to 2ndestimate figures. This was down from a prelim 1.8% and a 2ndquarter 2.0%.
For the week, theEURrose by 0.24% to $1.1317. In the week prior, the EUR had slumped by 1.35% to $1.1290.
The DAX30 slid by 5.59%, with the CAC40 and the EuroStoxx600 ending the week with losses of 5.24% and 4.53% respectively.
There were no major stats to consider, leaving the Loonie in the hands of market risk sentiment and crude oil prices.
In the week ending 26thNovember, theLooniedeclined by 1.19% to C$1.2791. In the week prior, the Loonie had fallen by 0.72% to C$1.2640.
It was yet another bearish week for theAussie Dollarand theKiwi Dollar.
The Aussie Dollar fell by 1.55% to $0.7123, with the Kiwi Dollar sliding by 2.60% to end the week at $0.6822.
Private new CAPEX and retail sales were in focus.
In the 3rdquarter, private new CAPEX fell by 2.2% after having risen by 4.4% in the previous quarter. While negative for the quarter, forecasts for 2021/22 were raised, limiting the damage.
Retail sales were also upbeat, supported by the reopening. In October, retail sales jumped by 4.9% after having risen by 1.3% in September.
Market reaction to COVID-19 news late in the week sank the Aussie, however.
Retail sales and trade data were in focus on the economic data front.
In the 3rdquarter, retail sales slid by 8.1% quarter-on-quarter, reversing a 3.3% increase from the previous quarter. The impact on the Kiwi was muted, however, with the slide stemming from the latest lockdown.
Trade data for October was upbeat, however. New Zealand’s trade deficit narrowed from NZ$2,206m to NZ$1,286m.
The numbers were not enough to prevent a reversal, however, with RBNZ monetary policy doing the damage.
On Wednesday, the RBNZ lifted cash rates by 25pbs to 0.75%. Market participants were expecting a bigger move, which ultimately led to the slide in the Kiwi Dollar.
The slide in the Kiwi came in spite of the RBNZ statement highlighting the need for a continued tightening of policy.
Ultimately, however, it was news of the new COVID-19 strain that did the damage.
Private sector PMIs and inflation were on focus, with the stats skewed to the positive.
In November, Japan’s manufacturing PMI rose from 53.2 to 54.2, with the services PMI up from 50.7 to 52.1.
There was also a pickup in inflationary pressure. In November, Tokyo’s core annual rate of inflation accelerated from 0.1% to 0.3%.
The stats had a muted impact on the Yen, however, with the new COVID-19 strain and government measures in Europe and beyond to prevent the spread driving demand for the safe haven.
TheJapanese Yenrose by 0.54% to ¥113.38 against the U.S Dollar. In the week prior, the Yen had fallen by 0.09% to ¥113.990.
There were no material stats to provide the markets with direction.
On the monetary policy front, the PBoC left loan prime rates unchanged, which was in line with market expectations.
In the week ending 26thNovember, the Chinese Yuan fell by 0.10% to CNY6.3933. In the week prior, the Yuan had ended the week down by 0.12% to CNY6.3871.
The CSI300 slipped by 0.61%, with the Hang Seng sliding by 3.87%.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• The Weekly Wrap: New COVID-19 Stain Unravels the Market’s Pandemic Recovery || European Equities: A Week in Review – 26/11/21: The Majors It was a bearish week for the majors in the week ending 26 th November. The DAX30 slumped by 5.59%, with the CAC40 and the EuroStoxx600 ending the week with losses of 5.24% and 4.53% respectively. Disappointing economic data from Germany had pegged back the DAX30 in particular ahead of a broad-based market sell-off on Friday. Adding to the market angst ahead of Friday’s sell-off was FED Chair Powell’s reappointment, which led to bets of a more hawkish stance on monetary policy. The Friday sell-off, however, came off the back of news of a new COVID-19 variant identified in South Africa. Considered a significantly more virulent strain, border closures and talks of tight measures to contain the spread sank the majors on Friday. The Stats Early in the week, consumer confidence and prelim November private sector PMIs were in focus. Rising new COVID-19 cases weighed on consumer sentiment, with the Eurozone consumer confidence index falling from -4.8 to -6.8. Private sector PMIs for November were positive, however. A pickup in service sector activity across France and German led to a rise in the Eurozone’s services PMI from 54.6 to 56.6. French manufacturing sector activity also picked up, while Germany’s held steady, supporting an increase in the Eurozone Composite PMI from 54.2 to 55.8. The rest of the numbers were skewed to the negative, however, with the German economy in the spotlight. German business sentiment waned in November, with the Ifo Business Climate Index falling from 97.7 to 96.5. It wasn’t much better for consumers. Consumer sentiment took a hit, with the GfK Consumer Climate Indicator for December falling from 1.0 to -1.6. German GDP numbers also disappointed. In the 3 rd quarter, the German economy expanded by 1.7% quarter-on-quarter, according to 2 nd estimate figures. This was down from a prelim 1.8% and a 2 nd quarter 2.0%. From the U.S Early in the week, prelim private sector PMIs were in focus, with the numbers skewed to the negative. Story continues While the manufacturing PMI rose from 58.4 to 59.1, the all-important services PMI declined from 58.7 to 57.0. As a result, the Composite PMI fell from 58.7 to 57.0. Ahead of the Thanksgiving holidays, a particularly busy set of numbers also drew plenty of interest. Personal spending rose by 1.3%, with jobless claims falling from 270k to 199k in the week ending 19 th November. Core durable goods orders were also positive, rising by 0.5% in October, with inflationary pressures picking up once more. The FED’s preferred core PCE price index rose by 4.1%, year-on-year in October. In September, the index had risen by 3.7%. GDP numbers for the 3 rd quarter fell short of estimates, however. In the 3 rd quarter, the economy expanded by 2.1%, falling short of a forecasted 2.2%. The economy had expanded by 6.7% in the previous quarter. The Market Movers From the DAX , it was a particularly bearish week for the auto sector. Volkswagen tumbled by 9.59% to lead the way down, with BMW and Continental sliding by 8.30% and by 8.09% respectively. Daimler wasn’t far behind, ending the week down by 7.88%. It was a relatively bearish week for the banking sector, however. Deutsche Bank slipped by 0.83%, while Commerzbank fell by 5.83%. From the CAC , it was also a bearish week for the banks. Soc Gen slid by 5.48%, with Credit Agricole and BNP Paribas ending the week with losses of 3.29% and by 4.21% respectively. The French auto sector also saw deep red. Stellantis NV and Renault slumped by 10.00% and by 10.08% respectively. Air France-KLM fell by 6.76%, with Airbus sliding by 9.18%. On the VIX Index It was a 2 nd consecutive week in the green for the VIX in the week ending 26 th November, marking a 4 th weekly gain in 8-weeks. Following a 9.94% rise from the previous week, the VIX surged by 59.8% to end the week at 28.62. 3-days in the green from 4 sessions, which included a 54.04% surge on Friday delivered the upside. For the week, the NASDAQ slid by 3.52%, with the Dow and the S&P500 ended the week down by 1.97% and by 2.20% respectively. The Week Ahead It’s another busy week ahead on the economic calendar . Early in the week, French consumer spending and German unemployment figures will be in focus alongside prelim inflation figures for November. While Germany’s unemployment figures will draw plenty of attention, member state and the Eurozone’s inflation figures will be key. Mid-week, German retail sales and November manufacturing PMI numbers will be in focus. Barring marked revisions to prelims for France and Germany, expect Italy and the Eurozone’s PMIs to have the greatest impact. At the end of the week, service sector and composite PMIs will also influence, with the Eurozone’s composite PMI the key stat. Other stats include Eurozone retail sales and unemployment figures and French GDP numbers that should have a muted impact on the majors. From the U.S, it’s also a busy week. Consumer confidence figures will be in focus early in the week ahead of ADP nonfarms on Wednesday. On Thursday, the weekly jobless claims will also influence ahead of November’s ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI and nonfarm payrolls on Friday. From elsewhere, private sector PMIs from China will draw interest, with the Caixin Manufacturing PMI on Wednesday the key stat. Away from the economic calendar, however, COVID=19 news updates and government measures to contain the spread of the new strain will be key. Also of particular significance will be any news updates of the strain’s resistance against existing vaccines. With lockdown measures being reintroduced, central bank chatter will need monitoring. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: BTC and ETH Dip as Covid Variant Fears Affect Financial Markets NZD/USD Forex Technical Analysis – .6805 Could Be Trigger Point for Acceleration to Downside European Equities: A Week in Review – 26/11/21 Crude Oil Price Forecast – Crude Oil Markets Get Hit in Low Liquidity Polkadot (DOT) Plummets Over 10% as COVID Variant Fears Intensify Shiba Inu Coin – Daily Tech Analysis – November 27th, 2021 || European Equities: A Week in Review – 26/11/21: It was a bearish week for the majors in the week ending 26thNovember.
The DAX30 slumped by 5.59%, with the CAC40 and the EuroStoxx600 ending the week with losses of 5.24% and 4.53% respectively.
Disappointing economic data from Germany had pegged back the DAX30 in particular ahead of a broad-based market sell-off on Friday.
Adding to the market angst ahead of Friday’s sell-off was FED Chair Powell’s reappointment, which led to bets of a more hawkish stance on monetary policy.
The Friday sell-off, however, came off the back of news of a new COVID-19 variant identified in South Africa. Considered a significantly more virulent strain, border closures and talks of tight measures to contain the spread sank the majors on Friday.
Early in the week, consumer confidence and prelim November private sector PMIs were in focus.
Rising new COVID-19 cases weighed on consumer sentiment, with the Eurozone consumer confidence index falling from -4.8 to -6.8.
Private sector PMIs for November were positive, however.
A pickup in service sector activity across France and German led to a rise in the Eurozone’s services PMI from 54.6 to 56.6. French manufacturing sector activity also picked up, while Germany’s held steady, supporting an increase in the Eurozone Composite PMI from 54.2 to 55.8.
The rest of the numbers were skewed to the negative, however, with the German economy in the spotlight.
German business sentiment waned in November, with the Ifo Business Climate Index falling from 97.7 to 96.5.
It wasn’t much better for consumers. Consumer sentiment took a hit, with the GfK Consumer Climate Indicator for December falling from 1.0 to -1.6.
German GDP numbers also disappointed.
In the 3rdquarter, the German economy expanded by 1.7% quarter-on-quarter, according to 2ndestimate figures. This was down from a prelim 1.8% and a 2ndquarter 2.0%.
Early in the week, prelim private sector PMIs were in focus, with the numbers skewed to the negative.
While the manufacturing PMI rose from 58.4 to 59.1, the all-important services PMI declined from 58.7 to 57.0. As a result, the Composite PMI fell from 58.7 to 57.0.
Ahead of the Thanksgiving holidays, a particularly busy set of numbers also drew plenty of interest.
Personal spending rose by 1.3%, with jobless claims falling from 270k to 199k in the week ending 19thNovember.
Core durable goods orders were also positive, rising by 0.5% in October, with inflationary pressures picking up once more.
The FED’s preferred core PCE price index rose by 4.1%, year-on-year in October. In September, the index had risen by 3.7%.
GDP numbers for the 3rdquarter fell short of estimates, however. In the 3rdquarter, the economy expanded by 2.1%, falling short of a forecasted 2.2%. The economy had expanded by 6.7% in the previous quarter.
From the DAX, it was a particularly bearish week for the auto sector.Volkswagentumbled by 9.59% to lead the way down, withBMWandContinentalsliding by 8.30% and by 8.09% respectively.Daimlerwasn’t far behind, ending the week down by 7.88%.
It was a relatively bearish week for the banking sector, however.Deutsche Bankslipped by 0.83%, whileCommerzbankfell by 5.83%.
From the CAC, it was also a bearish week for the banks.Soc Genslid by 5.48%, withCredit AgricoleandBNP Paribasending the week with losses of 3.29% and by 4.21% respectively.
The French auto sector also saw deep red.Stellantis NVandRenaultslumped by 10.00% and by 10.08% respectively.
Air France-KLMfell by 6.76%, withAirbussliding by 9.18%.
It was a 2ndconsecutive week in the green for theVIXin the week ending 26thNovember, marking a 4thweekly gain in 8-weeks.
Following a 9.94% rise from the previous week, the VIX surged by 59.8% to end the week at 28.62.
3-days in the green from 4 sessions, which included a 54.04% surge on Friday delivered the upside.
For the week, the NASDAQ slid by 3.52%, with the Dow and the S&P500 ended the week down by 1.97% and by 2.20% respectively.
It’s another busy week ahead on theeconomic calendar.
Early in the week, French consumer spending and German unemployment figures will be in focus alongside prelim inflation figures for November.
While Germany’s unemployment figures will draw plenty of attention, member state and the Eurozone’s inflation figures will be key.
Mid-week, German retail sales and November manufacturing PMI numbers will be in focus. Barring marked revisions to prelims for France and Germany, expect Italy and the Eurozone’s PMIs to have the greatest impact.
At the end of the week, service sector and composite PMIs will also influence, with the Eurozone’s composite PMI the key stat.
Other stats include Eurozone retail sales and unemployment figures and French GDP numbers that should have a muted impact on the majors.
From the U.S, it’s also a busy week. Consumer confidence figures will be in focus early in the week ahead of ADP nonfarms on Wednesday.
On Thursday, the weekly jobless claims will also influence ahead of November’s ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI and nonfarm payrolls on Friday.
From elsewhere, private sector PMIs from China will draw interest, with the Caixin Manufacturing PMI on Wednesday the key stat.
Away from the economic calendar, however, COVID=19 news updates and government measures to contain the spread of the new strain will be key. Also of particular significance will be any news updates of the strain’s resistance against existing vaccines.
With lockdown measures being reintroduced, central bank chatter will need monitoring.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Shiba Inu Coin – Daily Tech Analysis – November 27th, 2021 || BTC and ETH Dip as Covid Variant Fears Affect Financial Markets: A new coronavirus variant was recently discovered, and the news has sent shocks through the global financial markets. As a result, stocks and commodities have been negatively affected over the past few hours. The negative performance also spread into the cryptocurrency market, with Bitcoin and Ether both suffering huge losses in the last 24 hours. BTC and ETH Down by More Than 5% The prices of Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency, and Ether, the second-largest coin by market cap, have dipped by more than 5% over the past 24 hours. The dip comes following the broader cryptocurrency market’s poor performance over the last two weeks. Bitcoin reached a new all-time high at $69k earlier this year. However, it is now down by more than 20% from that price. BTC is currently down by more than 7% and is trading below the $55k level for the first time since October. Ether is also suffering huge losses after losing more than 8% of its value over the past few hours. ETH is currently struggling to stay above the $4,000 level following the recent losses. The losses recorded by Bitcoin and other leading cryptocurrencies are tied to the general performance of the global financial markets. A new Coronavirus strain was discovered in South Africa earlier today, and the news has sent shock waves across the global financial markets. Stocks, commodities and cryptocurrencies, with the exception of a few, are all trading in the red zone at the time of this report. BTC and ETH Could Experience Further Losses The losses could get bigger over the coming hours and days if more investors react to the current news. The possibility of another round of lockdown could also affect the prices of Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies. BTC/USD chart. Source: FXEMPIRE The BTC/USD chart is looking bearish at the moment, with the MACD line below the neutral zone. Meanwhile, the RSI could drop below 35 soon, indicating that Bitcoin is currently oversold and could record further losses over the coming hours. Story continues BTC and ETH remain positive in terms of yearly performance. The coins have added more than 100% to their values since the start of the year despite the recent poor performances. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: AUD/USD Forex Technical Analysis – In Position to Post New Low for the Year Natural Gas Weekly Price Forecast – Natural Gas Markets Recover for The Week BTC and ETH Dip as Covid Variant Fears Affect Financial Markets S&P 500 Price Forecast – Stock Market Continues Volatile Action USD/JPY Forex Technical Analysis – Trader Reaction to 113.173 to 112.619 Sets the Near-Term Tone The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers – November 27th, 2021 || BTC and ETH Dip as Covid Variant Fears Affect Financial Markets: A new coronavirus variant was recently discovered, and the news has sent shocks through the global financial markets. As a result, stocks and commodities have been negatively affected over the past few hours. The negative performance also spread into the cryptocurrency market, with Bitcoin and Ether both suffering huge losses in the last 24 hours. BTC and ETH Down by More Than 5% The prices of Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency, and Ether, the second-largest coin by market cap, have dipped by more than 5% over the past 24 hours. The dip comes following the broader cryptocurrency market’s poor performance over the last two weeks. Bitcoin reached a new all-time high at $69k earlier this year. However, it is now down by more than 20% from that price. BTC is currently down by more than 7% and is trading below the $55k level for the first time since October. Ether is also suffering huge losses after losing more than 8% of its value over the past few hours. ETH is currently struggling to stay above the $4,000 level following the recent losses. The losses recorded by Bitcoin and other leading cryptocurrencies are tied to the general performance of the global financial markets. A new Coronavirus strain was discovered in South Africa earlier today, and the news has sent shock waves across the global financial markets. Stocks, commodities and cryptocurrencies, with the exception of a few, are all trading in the red zone at the time of this report. BTC and ETH Could Experience Further Losses The losses could get bigger over the coming hours and days if more investors react to the current news. The possibility of another round of lockdown could also affect the prices of Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies. BTC/USD chart. Source: FXEMPIRE The BTC/USD chart is looking bearish at the moment, with the MACD line below the neutral zone. Meanwhile, the RSI could drop below 35 soon, indicating that Bitcoin is currently oversold and could record further losses over the coming hours. Story continues BTC and ETH remain positive in terms of yearly performance. The coins have added more than 100% to their values since the start of the year despite the recent poor performances. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: AUD/USD Forex Technical Analysis – In Position to Post New Low for the Year Natural Gas Weekly Price Forecast – Natural Gas Markets Recover for The Week BTC and ETH Dip as Covid Variant Fears Affect Financial Markets S&P 500 Price Forecast – Stock Market Continues Volatile Action USD/JPY Forex Technical Analysis – Trader Reaction to 113.173 to 112.619 Sets the Near-Term Tone The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers – November 27th, 2021 || BTC and ETH Dip as Covid Variant Fears Affect Financial Markets: A new coronavirus variant was recently discovered, and the news has sent shocks through the global financial markets. As a result, stocks and commodities have been negatively affected over the past few hours. The negative performance also spread into the cryptocurrency market, with Bitcoin and Ether both suffering huge losses in the last 24 hours. BTC and ETH Down by More Than 5% The prices of Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency, and Ether, the second-largest coin by market cap, have dipped by more than 5% over the past 24 hours. The dip comes following the broader cryptocurrency market’s poor performance over the last two weeks. Bitcoin reached a new all-time high at $69k earlier this year. However, it is now down by more than 20% from that price. BTC is currently down by more than 7% and is trading below the $55k level for the first time since October. Ether is also suffering huge losses after losing more than 8% of its value over the past few hours. ETH is currently struggling to stay above the $4,000 level following the recent losses. The losses recorded by Bitcoin and other leading cryptocurrencies are tied to the general performance of the global financial markets. A new Coronavirus strain was discovered in South Africa earlier today, and the news has sent shock waves across the global financial markets. Stocks, commodities and cryptocurrencies, with the exception of a few, are all trading in the red zone at the time of this report. BTC and ETH Could Experience Further Losses The losses could get bigger over the coming hours and days if more investors react to the current news. The possibility of another round of lockdown could also affect the prices of Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies. BTC/USD chart. Source: FXEMPIRE The BTC/USD chart is looking bearish at the moment, with the MACD line below the neutral zone. Meanwhile, the RSI could drop below 35 soon, indicating that Bitcoin is currently oversold and could record further losses over the coming hours. Story continues BTC and ETH remain positive in terms of yearly performance. The coins have added more than 100% to their values since the start of the year despite the recent poor performances. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: AUD/USD Forex Technical Analysis – In Position to Post New Low for the Year Natural Gas Weekly Price Forecast – Natural Gas Markets Recover for The Week BTC and ETH Dip as Covid Variant Fears Affect Financial Markets S&P 500 Price Forecast – Stock Market Continues Volatile Action USD/JPY Forex Technical Analysis – Trader Reaction to 113.173 to 112.619 Sets the Near-Term Tone The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers – November 27th, 2021 || El Salvador compra otros 100 bitcoins tras una caída del mercado de criptomonedas: El gobierno de El Salvador compró 100 bitcoin más, según tuiteó el viernes el presidente Nayib Bukele, mientras el precio de la mayor criptomoneda por capitalización de mercado caía hasta cerca de los $54.000. El Salvador acaba de comprar el dip. 100 monedas extras adquiridas con descuento, dijo Bukele en un tuit en inglés. El precio de bitcoin cayó alrededor de 8% el viernes y se ubicó en torno a los $54.237, mientras los principales mercados caen por el temor a una nueva variante de COVID-19. Bitcoin se convirtió oficialmente en moneda de curso legal en El Salvador en septiembre, tres meses después de que el Congreso del país aprobara la Ley Bitcoin. El 20 de noviembre Bukele dijo que El Salvador construirá una ciudad entera basada en bitcoin, durante una presentación en el evento Bitcoin Week realizado en el país centroamericano. || El Salvador compra otros 100 bitcoins tras una caída del mercado de criptomonedas: El gobierno de El Salvador compró 100 bitcoin más, segúntuiteóel viernes el presidente Nayib Bukele, mientras el precio de la mayor criptomoneda por capitalización de mercado caía hasta cerca de los $54.000.
• “El Salvador acaba de comprar el dip. 100 monedas extras adquiridas con descuento”, dijo Bukele en un tuit en inglés.
• El precio de bitcoin cayó alrededor de 8% el viernes y se ubicó en torno a los $54.237, mientras los principales mercados caen por eltemora una nueva variante de COVID-19.
• Bitcoin se convirtióoficialmenteen moneda de curso legal en El Salvador en septiembre, tres meses después de que el Congreso del país aprobara la Ley Bitcoin.
• El 20 de noviembre Bukeledijoque El Salvador construirá una ciudad entera basada en bitcoin, durante una presentación en el evento Bitcoin Week realizado en el país centroamericano. || Could Riot Blockchain Fall Further Amid Declining Bitcoin Price: Riot Blockchain Inc. (NASDAQ:RIOT) shares declined by more than 5% on Friday, extending the losses of the last two weeks. The stock has plunged more than 20% since Nov. 12, dragging the net year-to-date gain down to 113%.
Riot Blockchain is a cryptocurrency mining company whose operations are based in North America. It is one of the few corporate bitcoin miners that focuses on using renewable energy solutions, and according to industry experts, moving towards environmentally friendly mining solutions may also come with added benefits like lower costs associated with power consumption.
• Warning! GuruFocus has detected 4 Warning Signs with RIOT. Click here to check it out.
• RIOT 15-Year Financial Data
• The intrinsic value of RIOT
• Peter Lynch Chart of RIOT
With the ever-expanding emphasis on ESG investing, bitcoin miners that exclusively mine using renewables have the greatest upside in my opinion. RIOT made headlines for missing earnings, but that stock is still up ~15x in a one year period. Clearly, the appetite for exposure to the asset class is there. RIOT relies on the inexpensive hydroelectric power in upstate New York with a 300-megawatt facility and running nearly all Bitmain S19 miners, this is a winning combination with more upside, said Stephen Gregory, the U.S. Regional Chief Executive of currency.com.
The companys fiscal Q3 mining revenue jumped 2,099% from the same quarter a year ago to $53.6 million with a gross margin of 76%, up from 47% in 2020. Total revenue came in at $64.8 million, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 2,532%. Naturally, Riot attributed the improvement in revenue and mining revenue margin to the rising price of bitcoin during the quarter. Therefore, with the price of the pioneer cryptocurrency pulling back below $58,000 in recent trading sessions after topping $68,500, Riot Blockchains fiscal Q4 results are almost certain to be affected, thus adding pressure to the stock price.
Valuation and growth
From a valuation perspective, Riot Blockchain shares trade at a steep trailing 12-month price-earnings ratio of 165.52, making the stock a less attractive option for value investors. However, its forward price-earnings ratio of 20.30 could gain the interest of some investors when you factor in Riots forecast earnings growth. Keep in mind that earnings will be directly tied to the price of bitcoin regardless.
Analysts expect Riot's earnings per share to rise by more than 70% this year, before increasing by a further 75.79% next year. In the long term, they expect Riot Blockchains bottom line to improve at an average annual rate of about 20% over the next five years. Therefore, the stock could be an exciting option for growth investors who are bullish on cryptocurrency and believe in its long-term viability.
Investors could also watch out for periodic rebounds in the price of bitcoin to determine when to buy or sell Riot Blockchain shares. The bitcoin price has demonstrated over the years that a significant pullback is often followed by a major rebound. High volatility stocks carry high risks, but the rewards can be significant if you get the timing right.
Conclusion
In summary, although Riot Blockchain shares have recently pulled back more than 16%, the stock has still more than doubled this year. In addition, although analysts expect its bottom line to improve significantly over the next few years, its current price-earnings ratio suggests it could be massive overvalued.
Given the unpredictable movement of the bitcoin price, it may be best to monitor the companys performance in the next quarter, rather than buying the stock in anticipation of a rebound in the bitcoin price. For those looking out for a good entry point to hold on for the long-term, now might not be the best time.
This article first appeared onGuruFocus. || Could Riot Blockchain Fall Further Amid Declining Bitcoin Price: Riot Blockchain Inc. (NASDAQ:RIOT) shares declined by more than 5% on Friday, extending the losses of the last two weeks. The stock has plunged more than 20% since Nov. 12, dragging the net year-to-date gain down to 113%. Could Riot Blockchain Fall Further Amid Declining Bitcoin Price Riot Blockchain is a cryptocurrency mining company whose operations are based in North America. It is one of the few corporate bitcoin miners that focuses on using renewable energy solutions, and according to industry experts, moving towards environmentally friendly mining solutions may also come with added benefits like lower costs associated with power consumption. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 4 Warning Signs with RIOT. Click here to check it out. RIOT 15-Year Financial Data The intrinsic value of RIOT Peter Lynch Chart of RIOT With the ever-expanding emphasis on ESG investing, bitcoin miners that exclusively mine using renewables have the greatest upside in my opinion. RIOT made headlines for missing earnings, but that stock is still up ~15x in a one year period. Clearly, the appetite for exposure to the asset class is there. RIOT relies on the inexpensive hydroelectric power in upstate New York with a 300-megawatt facility and running nearly all Bitmain S19 miners, this is a winning combination with more upside, said Stephen Gregory, the U.S. Regional Chief Executive of currency.com. The companys fiscal Q3 mining revenue jumped 2,099% from the same quarter a year ago to $53.6 million with a gross margin of 76%, up from 47% in 2020. Total revenue came in at $64.8 million, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 2,532%. Naturally, Riot attributed the improvement in revenue and mining revenue margin to the rising price of bitcoin during the quarter. Therefore, with the price of the pioneer cryptocurrency pulling back below $58,000 in recent trading sessions after topping $68,500, Riot Blockchains fiscal Q4 results are almost certain to be affected, thus adding pressure to the stock price. Valuation and growth From a valuation perspective, Riot Blockchain shares trade at a steep trailing 12-month price-earnings ratio of 165.52, making the stock a less attractive option for value investors. However, its forward price-earnings ratio of 20.30 could gain the interest of some investors when you factor in Riots forecast earnings growth. Keep in mind that earnings will be directly tied to the price of bitcoin regardless. Story continues Analysts expect Riot's earnings per share to rise by more than 70% this year, before increasing by a further 75.79% next year. In the long term, they expect Riot Blockchains bottom line to improve at an average annual rate of about 20% over the next five years. Therefore, the stock could be an exciting option for growth investors who are bullish on cryptocurrency and believe in its long-term viability. Investors could also watch out for periodic rebounds in the price of bitcoin to determine when to buy or sell Riot Blockchain shares. The bitcoin price has demonstrated over the years that a significant pullback is often followed by a major rebound. High volatility stocks carry high risks, but the rewards can be significant if you get the timing right. Conclusion In summary, although Riot Blockchain shares have recently pulled back more than 16%, the stock has still more than doubled this year. In addition, although analysts expect its bottom line to improve significantly over the next few years, its current price-earnings ratio suggests it could be massive overvalued. Given the unpredictable movement of the bitcoin price, it may be best to monitor the companys performance in the next quarter, rather than buying the stock in anticipation of a rebound in the bitcoin price. For those looking out for a good entry point to hold on for the long-term, now might not be the best time. This article first appeared on GuruFocus . || Could Riot Blockchain Fall Further Amid Declining Bitcoin Price: Riot Blockchain Inc. (NASDAQ:RIOT) shares declined by more than 5% on Friday, extending the losses of the last two weeks. The stock has plunged more than 20% since Nov. 12, dragging the net year-to-date gain down to 113%.
Riot Blockchain is a cryptocurrency mining company whose operations are based in North America. It is one of the few corporate bitcoin miners that focuses on using renewable energy solutions, and according to industry experts, moving towards environmentally friendly mining solutions may also come with added benefits like lower costs associated with power consumption.
• Warning! GuruFocus has detected 4 Warning Signs with RIOT. Click here to check it out.
• RIOT 15-Year Financial Data
• The intrinsic value of RIOT
• Peter Lynch Chart of RIOT
With the ever-expanding emphasis on ESG investing, bitcoin miners that exclusively mine using renewables have the greatest upside in my opinion. RIOT made headlines for missing earnings, but that stock is still up ~15x in a one year period. Clearly, the appetite for exposure to the asset class is there. RIOT relies on the inexpensive hydroelectric power in upstate New York with a 300-megawatt facility and running nearly all Bitmain S19 miners, this is a winning combination with more upside, said Stephen Gregory, the U.S. Regional Chief Executive of currency.com.
The companys fiscal Q3 mining revenue jumped 2,099% from the same quarter a year ago to $53.6 million with a gross margin of 76%, up from 47% in 2020. Total revenue came in at $64.8 million, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 2,532%. Naturally, Riot attributed the improvement in revenue and mining revenue margin to the rising price of bitcoin during the quarter. Therefore, with the price of the pioneer cryptocurrency pulling back below $58,000 in recent trading sessions after topping $68,500, Riot Blockchains fiscal Q4 results are almost certain to be affected, thus adding pressure to the stock price.
Valuation and growth
From a valuation perspective, Riot Blockchain shares trade at a steep trailing 12-month price-earnings ratio of 165.52, making the stock a less attractive option for value investors. However, its forward price-earnings ratio of 20.30 could gain the interest of some investors when you factor in Riots forecast earnings growth. Keep in mind that earnings will be directly tied to the price of bitcoin regardless.
Analysts expect Riot's earnings per share to rise by more than 70% this year, before increasing by a further 75.79% next year. In the long term, they expect Riot Blockchains bottom line to improve at an average annual rate of about 20% over the next five years. Therefore, the stock could be an exciting option for growth investors who are bullish on cryptocurrency and believe in its long-term viability.
Investors could also watch out for periodic rebounds in the price of bitcoin to determine when to buy or sell Riot Blockchain shares. The bitcoin price has demonstrated over the years that a significant pullback is often followed by a major rebound. High volatility stocks carry high risks, but the rewards can be significant if you get the timing right.
Conclusion
In summary, although Riot Blockchain shares have recently pulled back more than 16%, the stock has still more than doubled this year. In addition, although analysts expect its bottom line to improve significantly over the next few years, its current price-earnings ratio suggests it could be massive overvalued.
Given the unpredictable movement of the bitcoin price, it may be best to monitor the companys performance in the next quarter, rather than buying the stock in anticipation of a rebound in the bitcoin price. For those looking out for a good entry point to hold on for the long-term, now might not be the best time.
This article first appeared onGuruFocus. || ShibaSwap Explained: Everything You Need to Know About the Shiba Inu Crypto Ecosystem: Almost every crypto investor has heard of the Shiba Inu (CCC: SHIB-USD ) token at this point. The altcoin is noted for its massive gains in the year to date, and it doesnt look like its quieting down anytime soon. Many investors want to buy in and hold the token. But, by simply buying and holding onto SHIB, are you getting the most out of the currency? Quite honestly, no. Thanks to the robust Shiba Inu ecosystem, there are a number of ways you can earn even more on your investment. Here is ShibaSwap explained. A smiling Shiba Inu dog in front of a bright yellow background. Source: Shutterstock The ways to earn on Shiba Inu continue to grow. Earlier this year, the token implemented its own decentralized exchange (DEX) onto the Ethereum (CCC: ETH-USD ) network, called ShibaSwap. Through ShibaSwap, users can task their assets with a variety of different functions in order to earn passive income. If youre just holding your SHIB in a wallet, youre probably still earning. But if you want to see the true potential of the assets, you should be utilizing the full Shiba token ecosystem. Of course, for someone who might not know much about the ecosystem, or about the functions of staking and providing liquidity, the process can be confusing. Heres everything you need to know, from Shiba Inus sibling tokens to how you can use them best. InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips SHIB Isnt the Only Token in the ShibaSwap Network To understand how to use your SHIB, you must first understand SHIBs sibling tokens. There are three tokens in the Shiba Inu ecosystem. Dogecoin Killer (CCC: LEASH-USD ) is one of these, most commonly referred to simply as Leash. The other token is Bone (CCC: BONE-USD ). Leash came about as part of Shiba Inus efforts to overtake Dogecoin (CCC: DOGE-USD ) as the most popular puppy-themed cryptocurrency. Leash originally leveraged Dogecoins prices as a way of accruing value. Essentially, Leash prices were controlled by an algorithm which constantly tweaked the supply of the LEASH token. This algorithm would ensure that LEASH prices are always 1,000 times larger than the price of Dogecoin at any given time. Leash no longer operates in this fashion. Rather, its now more of a store of value, holding its near-$2,000 value thanks to a very limited total supply. Story continues Bone is the newest token of the three, representing the governance aspect of the ShibaSwap decentralized network. See, Shiba Inus network employees a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) to make decisions on the network. This is considered the most truly democratic way to operate a network, seeing as everybody who owns a governance token holds voting power. Bone is that governance token, allowing holders to vote on initiatives. Holding more Bone gives you more voting power. ShibaSwap Explained: Why You Should Train Your SHIB Of course, you can simply hold SHIB or LEASH and let their values appreciate. But, in doing this, you are sacrificing the full potential of these assets. Rather, its better to become acquainted with the dig and bury functions to understand how they can earn you more tokens on top of your existing holdings. You can dig or bury each of the three ShibaSwap tokens. Digging is the networks liquidity providing function, while burying is the staking function. Just like every other DEX, you can provide liquidity to the platform to ensure that it holds enough assets to execute every transaction; this is digging on ShibaSwap. Burying is the same staking you would find on any proof-of-stake network. Burying Yields Different Rewards for Different Assets While you can bury or dig any of the three tokens, the yield you earn back from these functions is always Bone. Bone is the only token which continues to be minted by the network, yet it is a very important function of the ecosystem given its governance power. More so, its a token which continues to build value, tripling over the year. The bury function allows users to stake their Leash, SHIB and Bone for xLEASH, xSHIB and tBONE, respectively. When burying SHIB, users earn 3% of Bone minted with each new block of data. Whats extra special about xSHIB is that it also nets users a percentage of all ETH transaction fees on the ShibaSwap platform and part of those fees converted into SHIB tokens. Leash burying yields just 1% of Bone minted per block, but it also nets users part of all ETH transaction fees converted to Leash. This can be especially lucrative, seeing as the Leash supply is so low and the tokens value is so high. Like Leash, burying Bone earns 1% of Bone minted per block, as well as the fee percentage converted to Bone. Of course, this type of yield farming is very appealing to those looking to vastly up their DAO voting power. Of course, this function requires a bit of patience. When you wish to cash out and un-bury your assets, you can only withdraw 33% your rewards. For the other 67%, you must wait six months. ShibaSwap Explained: Digging By digging your tokens, you are doing a great service to the platform. Through digging, you provide the platform with the liquidity necessary to fuel each and every transaction on the exchange. By digging SHIB, Leash and Bone, you receive your token back as a ShibaSwap Liquidity Protocol (SSLP) version of the asset. In digging SHIB, your SHIB temporarily swaps out for SHIB SSLP. SHIB SSLP is a sort of placeholder token which you will then trade back for your SHIB when you want to un-dig it. While the tokens are dug, users passively earn Bone. While digging Leash, you swap your LEASH for LEASH SSLP, and you earn the same passive Bone rewards as SHIB diggers. However, theres an extra reward for Leash diggers. While digging Leash, users also earn 0.1% on every USD Coin (CCC: USDC-USD ) and every Wrapped Bitcoin (CCC: WBTC-USD ) transaction on the platform. Digging Bone involves exchanging BONE tokens for BONE SSLP. And as is the case with the other two tokens, you can earn additional Bone rewards by digging. Unlike the other two tokens, though, Bone diggers gain 0.1% of all Dai (CCC: DAI-USD ) and Tether (CCC: USDT-USD ) transactions on the platform. As is the case with burying, users can only receive 33% of their total rewards when they want to stop digging; the other 67% is dealt after six months. On the date of publication, Brenden Rearick did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines . More From InvestorPlace Stock Prodigy Who Found NIO at $2
Says Buy THIS Now Man Who Called Black Monday: Prepare Now. #1 EV Stock Still Flying Under the Radar Interested in Crypto? Read This First... The post ShibaSwap Explained: Everything You Need to Know About the Shiba Inu Crypto Ecosystem appeared first on InvestorPlace . || ShibaSwap Explained: Everything You Need to Know About the Shiba Inu Crypto Ecosystem: Almost every crypto investor has heard of theShiba Inu(CCC:SHIB-USD) token at this point. The altcoin is noted for its massive gains in the year to date, and it doesn’t look like it’s quieting down anytime soon. Many investors want to buy in and hold the token. But, by simply buying and holding onto SHIB, are you getting the most out of the currency? Quite honestly, no. Thanks to the robust Shiba Inu ecosystem, there are a number of ways you can earn even more on your investment. Here is ShibaSwap explained.
Source: Shutterstock
The ways to earn on Shiba Inu continue to grow. Earlier this year, the token implemented its own decentralized exchange (DEX) onto theEthereum(CCC:ETH-USD) network, called ShibaSwap. Through ShibaSwap, users can task their assets with a variety of different functions in order to earn passive income.
If you’re just holding your SHIB in a wallet, you’re probably still earning. But if you want to see the true potential of the assets, you should be utilizing the full Shiba token ecosystem. Of course, for someone who might not know much about the ecosystem, or about the functions of staking and providing liquidity, the process can be confusing. Here’s everything you need to know, from Shiba Inu’s sibling tokens to how you can use them best.
InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips
To understand how to use your SHIB, you must first understand SHIB’s sibling tokens. There are three tokens in the Shiba Inu ecosystem.Dogecoin Killer(CCC:LEASH-USD) is one of these, most commonly referred to simply as Leash. The other token isBone(CCC:BONE-USD).
Leash came about as part of Shiba Inu’s efforts to overtakeDogecoin(CCC:DOGE-USD) as the most popular puppy-themed cryptocurrency. Leash originally leveraged Dogecoin’s prices as a way of accruing value. Essentially, Leash prices were controlled by an algorithm which constantly tweaked the supply of the LEASH token. This algorithm wouldensure that LEASH prices are always 1,000 times largerthan the price of Dogecoin at any given time. Leash no longer operates in this fashion. Rather, it’s now more of a store of value, holding its near-$2,000 value thanks to a very limited total supply.
Bone is the newest token of the three, representing the governance aspect of the ShibaSwap decentralized network. See, Shiba Inu’s network employees a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) to make decisions on the network. This is considered the most truly democratic way to operate a network, seeing as everybody who owns a governance token holds voting power. Bone is that governance token, allowing holders to vote on initiatives. Holding more Bone gives you more voting power.
Of course, you can simply hold SHIB or LEASH and let their values appreciate. But, in doing this, you are sacrificing the full potential of these assets. Rather, it’s better to become acquainted with the “dig” and “bury” functions to understand how they can earn you more tokens on top of your existing holdings.
You can dig or bury each of the three ShibaSwap tokens. Digging is the network’s liquidity providing function, while burying is the staking function. Just like every other DEX, you can provide liquidity to the platform to ensure that it holds enough assets to execute every transaction; this is digging on ShibaSwap. Burying is the same staking you would find on any proof-of-stake network.
While you can bury or dig any of the three tokens, the yield you earn back from these functions is always Bone. Bone is the only token which continues to be minted by the network, yet it is a very important function of the ecosystem given its governance power. More so, it’s a token which continues to build value, tripling over the year.
The bury function allows users to stake their Leash, SHIB and Bone for xLEASH, xSHIB and tBONE, respectively.
When burying SHIB, users earn 3% of Bone minted with each new block of data. What’s extra special about xSHIB is that it also nets users a percentage of all ETH transaction fees on the ShibaSwap platformandpart of those fees converted into SHIB tokens.
Leash burying yields just 1% of Bone minted per block, but it also nets users part of all ETH transaction fees converted to Leash. This can be especially lucrative, seeing as the Leash supply is so low and the token’s value is so high.
Like Leash, burying Bone earns 1% of Bone minted per block, as well as the fee percentage converted to Bone. Of course, this type of yield farming is very appealing to those looking to vastly up their DAO voting power.
Of course, this function requires a bit of patience. When you wish to cash out and un-bury your assets, you can only withdraw 33% your rewards. For the other 67%, you must wait six months.
By digging your tokens, you are doing a great service to the platform. Through digging, you provide the platform with the liquidity necessary to fuel each and every transaction on the exchange. By digging SHIB, Leash and Bone, you receive your token back as a ShibaSwap Liquidity Protocol (SSLP) version of the asset.
In digging SHIB, your SHIB temporarily swaps out for SHIB SSLP. SHIB SSLP is a sort of placeholder token which you will then trade back for your SHIB when you want to un-dig it. While the tokens are dug, users passively earn Bone.
While digging Leash, you swap your LEASH for LEASH SSLP, and you earn the same passive Bone rewards as SHIB diggers. However, there’s an extra reward for Leash diggers. While digging Leash, users also earn 0.1% on everyUSD Coin(CCC:USDC-USD) and everyWrapped Bitcoin(CCC:WBTC-USD) transaction on the platform.
Digging Bone involves exchanging BONE tokens for BONE SSLP. And as is the case with the other two tokens, you can earn additional Bone rewards by digging. Unlike the other two tokens, though, Bone diggers gain 0.1% of allDai(CCC:DAI-USD) andTether(CCC:USDT-USD) transactions on the platform.
As is the case with burying, users can only receive 33% of their total rewards when they want to stop digging; the other 67% is dealt after six months.
On the date of publication, Brenden Rearickdid not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.comPublishing Guidelines.
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The postShibaSwap Explained: Everything You Need to Know About the Shiba Inu Crypto Ecosystemappeared first onInvestorPlace. || El Salvador Buys 100 More Bitcoins as Crypto Market Falls: The government of El Salvador bought 100 more bitcoin, President Nayib Bukeletweetedon Friday, while the price of the largest cryptocurrency by market cap fell near $54,000.
• “El Salvador just bought the dip. 100 extra coins acquired with a discount,” Bukele said on Twitter.
• Bitcoin price fell about 8% on Friday around $54,237 asbroader markets tumbled fear related to the newly discovered COVID-19 variant.
• Bitcoinofficiallybecame legal tender in El Salvador in September, three months after the country’s legislature passed the Bitcoin Law.
• On Nov. 20, during a presentation at Bitcoin Week in El Salvador,Bukele said the country is going to build an entire city based on bitcoin. || El Salvador Buys 100 More Bitcoins as Crypto Market Falls: The government of El Salvador bought 100 more bitcoin, President Nayib Bukele tweeted on Friday, while the price of the largest cryptocurrency by market cap fell near $54,000. El Salvador just bought the dip. 100 extra coins acquired with a discount, Bukele said on Twitter. Bitcoin price fell about 8% on Friday around $54,237 as broader markets tumbled fear related to the newly discovered COVID-19 variant. Bitcoin officially became legal tender in El Salvador in September, three months after the countrys legislature passed the Bitcoin Law. On Nov. 20, during a presentation at Bitcoin Week in El Salvador, Bukele said the country is going to build an entire city based on bitcoin . || El Salvador Buys 100 More Bitcoins as Crypto Market Falls: The government of El Salvador bought 100 more bitcoin, President Nayib Bukeletweetedon Friday, while the price of the largest cryptocurrency by market cap fell near $54,000.
• “El Salvador just bought the dip. 100 extra coins acquired with a discount,” Bukele said on Twitter.
• Bitcoin price fell about 8% on Friday around $54,237 asbroader markets tumbled fear related to the newly discovered COVID-19 variant.
• Bitcoinofficiallybecame legal tender in El Salvador in September, three months after the country’s legislature passed the Bitcoin Law.
• On Nov. 20, during a presentation at Bitcoin Week in El Salvador,Bukele said the country is going to build an entire city based on bitcoin. || Dow closes down more than 900 points as new Covid variant sparks market sell-off: U.S. stocks fell aggressively on Black Friday aftera new Covid-19 variant was found in South Africa.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped about 905 points, or 2.5 percent, for its worst day of the year, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite slid 2.3 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively. The Dow was down more than 1,000 points at session lows. Friday was a shortened trading day, with U.S. markets closing at 1 p.m. ET because of the Thanksgiving holiday.
The drop comes after officials on Thursday warned of a new Covid-19 variant that’s been detected in South Africa.
TheWorld Health Organizationon Friday classified the variant as a “variant of concern.” As the world continues to learn more about the new variant,which WHO named “omicron,”epidemiologists say countries around the world should be on the alert.
In astatement released Friday, WHO said preliminary evidence suggested “an increased risk of reinfection with this variant” as it added the new discovery to the list of variants of concern.
The U.K. said late Thursday it was banning all direct flights from six African countries: South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
A few cases have been confirmed beyond Africa.
The Hong Kong governmentsaidThursday that it had detected two cases, while Belgium became the first E.U. country to announce a case of the variant on Friday. Israel also said it had identified a case in a traveler returning from Malawi, with two other suspected cases placed in isolation.
“When I read that there’s one [case] in Belgium and one in Botswana, we’re going to wake up next week and find one in this country. And I’m not going to recommend anyone buy anything today until we’re sure that isn’t going to happen, and I can’t be sure that it won’t,” CNBC’s Jim Cramer said.
But several investment professionalstold CNBCon Friday that the sell-off could be a buying opportunity.
“Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, probably not as many traders on the desks with an early close today. So potentially lower liquidity is causing some of the pullback,” Ajene Oden of BNY Mellon Investor Solutions said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “But the reaction we’re seeing is a buying opportunity for investors. We have to think long-term.”
Bond prices rose and yields fell amid a flight to safety. The yield on the benchmarkU.S. 10-year Treasury notefell 15 basis points to 1.49 percent (1 basis point equals 0.01 percent).
The Cboe Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street’s “fear gauge,” rose to 28, its highest level in two months. Oil prices also tumbled.
Travel-related stocks were hit hardest, and bank shares retreated on fears of the slowdown in economic activity and the retreat in rates. Bank of America dropped 3.9 percent and Citigroup slid 2.7 percent.
Meanwhile, investors huddled into the vaccine makers. Moderna shares surged more than 20 percent. Pfizer shares added 6.1 percent.
And some of the stay-at-home plays that gained in the earlier months of the pandemic were higher again. Zoom Video and Peloton each added more than 5 percent.
Asia markets were also hit hard in Friday trade, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index both falling more than 2 percent. Germany’s Dax index slid more than 4 percent.Bitcoin fell 8 percent. || Gold Price Futures (GC) Technical Analysis – Buyers/Sellers Take Advantage of Thin Post-Holiday Volume: Gold futures are inching higher late in the session on Friday after giving up all of its earlier gains. The market rose earlier in the session and was up more than $30.00 before sellers came in. Prices rose sharply higher as concerns over the spread of a newly identified coronavirus variant boosted the metal’s safe-haven appeal. The move was primarily driven by a steep plunge in Treasury yields and a weaker U.S. Dollar. The early rally and the steep drop were likely the result of thin post-holiday trading conditions. We may not see the real reaction to the new virus variant threat until next week when the major traders return. The big issue for gold investors is whether a new COVID-19 outbreak will encourage central banks, especially the Federal Reserve, to delay any plans to reduce stimulus or raise interest rates. At 16:00 GMT, February Comex gold futures are trading $1787.10, up $0.20 or +0.01%. This is down from an intraday high of $1819.30. Daily Swing Chart Technical Analysis The main trend is up according to the daily swing chart. However, momentum has been trending lower since the formation of the closing price reversal top on November 16. A trade through 1881.90 will negate the closing price reversal top and signal a resumption of the uptrend. A move through $1761.00 will change the main trend to down. The main range is $1680.00 to $1881.90. Its retracement zone at $1781.00 to $1757.10 is a potential value zone. Since the main trend is up, buyers are likely to come in on a test of this zone. On Wednesday, this zone stopped the selling at $1780.20. On the upside, the first resistance is a minor pivot at $1821.50. The short-term range $1881.90 to $1780.20. Its 50% level at $1831.10 is a potential upside target. Daily Swing Chart Technical Forecast The direction of the February Comex gold futures contract into the close on Friday is likely to be determined by trader reaction to $1781.00. Bullish Scenario A sustained move over $1781.00 will indicate the presence of buyers. If this move creates some late session momentum then look for the rally to possibly extend into the pivot at $1802.80. Story continues Overtaking $1802.80 will indicate the buying is getting stronger. This could trigger a further rally into the intraday high at $1819.30, followed by a pivot at $1821.50 and the short-term 50% level at $1831.10. Bearish Scenario A sustained move under $1781.00 will signal the presence of sellers. Taking out this week’s low at $1780.20 will indicate the selling pressure is getting stronger. This could trigger a steep break into the main bottom at $1761.00, followed by the main Fibonacci level at $1757.10. Since the main trend is up, don’t be surprised if buyers show up on a test of $1781.00 to $1757.10. For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar . This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Natural Gas Price Forecast – Natural Gas Markets Break 50 Day EMA Polkadot (DOT) Plummets Over 10% as COVID Variant Fears Intensify European Equities: A Week in Review – 26/11/21 BTC and ETH Dip as Covid Variant Fears Affect Financial Markets Zoom Shares Rally on the Emergence of New Covid Variant Crude Oil Weekly Price Forecast – Crude Oil Markets Get Bashed Due to Variant || Gold Price Futures (GC) Technical Analysis – Buyers/Sellers Take Advantage of Thin Post-Holiday Volume: Gold futures are inching higher late in the session on Friday after giving up all of its earlier gains. The market rose earlier in the session and was up more than $30.00 before sellers came in.
Prices rose sharply higher as concerns over the spread of a newly identified coronavirus variant boosted the metal’s safe-haven appeal. The move was primarily driven by a steep plunge in Treasury yields and a weaker U.S. Dollar.
The early rally and the steep drop were likely the result of thin post-holiday trading conditions. We may not see the real reaction to the new virus variant threat until next week when the major traders return.
The big issue for gold investors is whether a new COVID-19 outbreak will encourage central banks, especially the Federal Reserve, to delay any plans to reduce stimulus or raise interest rates.
At 16:00 GMT,February Comex gold futuresare trading $1787.10, up $0.20 or +0.01%. This is down from an intraday high of $1819.30.
The main trend is up according to the daily swing chart. However, momentum has been trending lower since the formation of the closing price reversal top on November 16.
A trade through 1881.90 will negate the closing price reversal top and signal a resumption of the uptrend. A move through $1761.00 will change the main trend to down.
The main range is $1680.00 to $1881.90. Its retracement zone at $1781.00 to $1757.10 is a potential value zone. Since the main trend is up, buyers are likely to come in on a test of this zone. On Wednesday, this zone stopped the selling at $1780.20.
On the upside, the first resistance is a minor pivot at $1821.50.
The short-term range $1881.90 to $1780.20. Its 50% level at $1831.10 is a potential upside target.
The direction of the February Comex gold futures contract into the close on Friday is likely to be determined by trader reaction to $1781.00.
A sustained move over $1781.00 will indicate the presence of buyers. If this move creates some late session momentum then look for the rally to possibly extend into the pivot at $1802.80.
Overtaking $1802.80 will indicate the buying is getting stronger. This could trigger a further rally into the intraday high at $1819.30, followed by a pivot at $1821.50 and the short-term 50% level at $1831.10.
A sustained move under $1781.00 will signal the presence of sellers. Taking out this week’s low at $1780.20 will indicate the selling pressure is getting stronger. This could trigger a steep break into the main bottom at $1761.00, followed by the main Fibonacci level at $1757.10.
Since the main trend is up, don’t be surprised if buyers show up on a test of $1781.00 to $1757.10.
For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out oureconomic calendar.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• Natural Gas Price Forecast – Natural Gas Markets Break 50 Day EMA
• Polkadot (DOT) Plummets Over 10% as COVID Variant Fears Intensify
• European Equities: A Week in Review – 26/11/21
• BTC and ETH Dip as Covid Variant Fears Affect Financial Markets
• Zoom Shares Rally on the Emergence of New Covid Variant
• Crude Oil Weekly Price Forecast – Crude Oil Markets Get Bashed Due to Variant
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57248.46, 57806.57, 57005.43, 57229.83, 56477.82, 53598.25, 49200.70, 49368.85, 50582.62, 50700.09
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 3810.43, 3882.70, 3854.36, 3851.05, 3854.79, 3859.58, 3864.42, 3847.18, 3761.56, 3896.38, 3903.94, 3911.48, 3901.13, 3963.31, 3951.60, 3905.23, 3909.16, 3906.72, 3924.37, 3960.91, 4048.73, 4025.23, 4032.51, 4071.19, 4087.48, 4029.33, 4023.97, 4035.83, 4022.17, 3963.07, 3985.08, 4087.07, 4069.11, 4098.37, 4106.66, 4105.40, 4158.18, 4879.88, 4973.02, 4922.80, 5036.68, 5059.82, 5198.90, 5289.77, 5204.96, 5324.55, 5064.49, 5089.54, 5096.59, 5167.72, 5067.11, 5235.56, 5251.94, 5298.39, 5303.81, 5337.89, 5314.53, 5399.37, 5572.36, 5464.87, 5210.52, 5279.35, 5268.29, 5285.14, 5247.35, 5350.73, 5402.70, 5505.28, 5768.29, 5831.17, 5795.71, 5746.81, 5829.50, 5982.46, 6174.53, 6378.85, 7204.77, 6972.37, 7814.92, 7994.42, 8205.17, 7884.91, 7343.90, 7271.21, 8197.69, 7978.31, 7963.33, 7680.07, 7881.85, 7987.37.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2019-05-24]
Volume: 25919126991, RSI (14-day): 65.90, 50-day EMA: 6289.31, 200-day EMA: 5269.96
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1283.00, Gold RSI: 49.73
Oil Price: 58.63, Oil RSI: 34.84
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Morgan Creek CEO Says Every Investor Should Hold Some Bitcoin: CEO of Morgan Creek Capital Mark Yusko says bitcoin (BTC) should be in every investor’s portfolio in aninterviewwith CNBC on May 22.
Yusko remarked that he thinks BTC investments will far outperform the S&P 500 investment fund over the next 10 years.When asked about putting money into BTC, Yusko said:
“Bitcoin is a great diversifyingasset. It has very low correlation. It should be in everybody’s portfolio.”
Yusko alsorecalledhis $1 million ‘Buffet Bet 2.0’, in which Morgan Creek Digital made an open bet that its Digital Asset Index Fund would outperform the SPX from January 2019 to January 2029. The Digital Asset Index fund includes ten majorcryptoassets — not just bitcoin. The proceeds of the bet would reportedly be donated to charity.
Yusko has previously been very bullish on bitcoin, going on recordpredictinga $400,000 high for the cryptocurrency at some point. In addition to his optimistic prediction, he commented on its potential for disrupting traditional banking and finance:
"This will change the supply and demand equation for banking. It is that big. I'm not surprised at all that bankers, financiers and Saudi Princes are coming out against it. This is a truly disruptive technology.”
As previouslyreportedon Cointelegraph, bitcoin recently hit a peak of over $8,000. Bitcoin is currently trading at $7,902 and is trending up by 2.76% at press time, according todatafrom CoinMarketCap.
• Montana Passes Bill to Recognize Utility Tokens and Exempt Them From State Securities
• Facebook in Talks With Coinbase, Winklevoss’ Gemini to Launch Its Globalcoin: FT Report
• Galaxy Digital Founder Michael Novogratz: One of the Social Media Cryptos Will Succeed
• Ethereum Co-Founder Vitalik Buterin Proposes Creating On-Chain Ether Mixer || Morgan Creek CEO Says Every Investor Should Hold Some Bitcoin: CEO of Morgan Creek Capital Mark Yusko says bitcoin ( BTC ) should be in every investor’s portfolio in an interview with CNBC on May 22. Yusko remarked that he thinks BTC investments will far outperform the S&P 500 investment fund over the next 10 years.When asked about putting money into BTC, Yusko said: “Bitcoin is a great diversifying asset . It has very low correlation. It should be in everybody’s portfolio.” Yusko also recalled his $1 million ‘Buffet Bet 2.0’, in which Morgan Creek Digital made an open bet that its Digital Asset Index Fund would outperform the SPX from January 2019 to January 2029. The Digital Asset Index fund includes ten major crypto assets — not just bitcoin. The proceeds of the bet would reportedly be donated to charity. Yusko has previously been very bullish on bitcoin, going on record predicting a $400,000 high for the cryptocurrency at some point. In addition to his optimistic prediction, he commented on its potential for disrupting traditional banking and finance: "This will change the supply and demand equation for banking. It is that big. I'm not surprised at all that bankers, financiers and Saudi Princes are coming out against it. This is a truly disruptive technology.” As previously reported on Cointelegraph, bitcoin recently hit a peak of over $8,000. Bitcoin is currently trading at $7,902 and is trending up by 2.76% at press time, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Related Articles: Montana Passes Bill to Recognize Utility Tokens and Exempt Them From State Securities Facebook in Talks With Coinbase, Winklevoss’ Gemini to Launch Its Globalcoin: FT Report Galaxy Digital Founder Michael Novogratz: One of the Social Media Cryptos Will Succeed Ethereum Co-Founder Vitalik Buterin Proposes Creating On-Chain Ether Mixer || Morgan Creek CEO Says Every Investor Should Hold Some Bitcoin: CEO of Morgan Creek Capital Mark Yusko says bitcoin (BTC) should be in every investor’s portfolio in aninterviewwith CNBC on May 22.
Yusko remarked that he thinks BTC investments will far outperform the S&P 500 investment fund over the next 10 years.When asked about putting money into BTC, Yusko said:
“Bitcoin is a great diversifyingasset. It has very low correlation. It should be in everybody’s portfolio.”
Yusko alsorecalledhis $1 million ‘Buffet Bet 2.0’, in which Morgan Creek Digital made an open bet that its Digital Asset Index Fund would outperform the SPX from January 2019 to January 2029. The Digital Asset Index fund includes ten majorcryptoassets — not just bitcoin. The proceeds of the bet would reportedly be donated to charity.
Yusko has previously been very bullish on bitcoin, going on recordpredictinga $400,000 high for the cryptocurrency at some point. In addition to his optimistic prediction, he commented on its potential for disrupting traditional banking and finance:
"This will change the supply and demand equation for banking. It is that big. I'm not surprised at all that bankers, financiers and Saudi Princes are coming out against it. This is a truly disruptive technology.”
As previouslyreportedon Cointelegraph, bitcoin recently hit a peak of over $8,000. Bitcoin is currently trading at $7,902 and is trending up by 2.76% at press time, according todatafrom CoinMarketCap.
• Montana Passes Bill to Recognize Utility Tokens and Exempt Them From State Securities
• Facebook in Talks With Coinbase, Winklevoss’ Gemini to Launch Its Globalcoin: FT Report
• Galaxy Digital Founder Michael Novogratz: One of the Social Media Cryptos Will Succeed
• Ethereum Co-Founder Vitalik Buterin Proposes Creating On-Chain Ether Mixer || Still Reeling From $54 Million Bitcoin Hack, Binance Sues Sequoia Capital: ByCCN: Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao — who is still reeling after a $54 million bitcoin hack — is suing Sequoia Capital China, a unit of California-based venture capital firm Sequoia Capital.
In his May 20 legal filing with the High Court in Hong Kong, Zhao claims Sequoia Capital China prevented him from raising capital between Dec. 27, 2017 and March 1, 2018 at the height of the bitcoin bull market.
Moreover, Zhao claims Sequoia damaged his reputation.
Zhao did not respond to repeated requests for comment from CCN about his claims. However, in his filing, which wasleaked to CoinDesk, Zhao claimed:
“The injunction order has caused loss to me, for which I am entitled to reasonable compensation by Sequoia. In particular, I have suffered i) a loss of chance to raise capital through successive rounds of financing at increasing high valuations; and ii) damage to my reputation.”
Zhao is seeking an unspecified amount in damages, mainly because he’s uncertain what damages he allegedly incurred.
Binance lost 7,074 bitcoin in a hack on May 7, 2019. | Source: Blockchain.com
Read the full story on CCN.com. || Still Reeling From $54 Million Bitcoin Hack, Binance Sues Sequoia Capital: ByCCN: Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao — who is still reeling after a $54 million bitcoin hack — is suing Sequoia Capital China, a unit of California-based venture capital firm Sequoia Capital.
In his May 20 legal filing with the High Court in Hong Kong, Zhao claims Sequoia Capital China prevented him from raising capital between Dec. 27, 2017 and March 1, 2018 at the height of the bitcoin bull market.
Moreover, Zhao claims Sequoia damaged his reputation.
Zhao did not respond to repeated requests for comment from CCN about his claims. However, in his filing, which wasleaked to CoinDesk, Zhao claimed:
“The injunction order has caused loss to me, for which I am entitled to reasonable compensation by Sequoia. In particular, I have suffered i) a loss of chance to raise capital through successive rounds of financing at increasing high valuations; and ii) damage to my reputation.”
Zhao is seeking an unspecified amount in damages, mainly because he’s uncertain what damages he allegedly incurred.
Binance lost 7,074 bitcoin in a hack on May 7, 2019. | Source: Blockchain.com
Read the full story on CCN.com. || Still Reeling From $54 Million Bitcoin Hack, Binance Sues Sequoia Capital: Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, who is still reeling after a $54 million bitcoin hack, is suing Sequoia Capital China, claiming it damaged his reputation. | Source: (i) Shutterstock (ii) Shutterstock; Edited by CCN By CCN : Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao — who is still reeling after a $54 million bitcoin hack — is suing Sequoia Capital China, a unit of California-based venture capital firm Sequoia Capital. In his May 20 legal filing with the High Court in Hong Kong, Zhao claims Sequoia Capital China prevented him from raising capital between Dec. 27, 2017 and March 1, 2018 at the height of the bitcoin bull market. Moreover, Zhao claims Sequoia damaged his reputation. Zhao Seeks an Accounting of Damages Zhao did not respond to repeated requests for comment from CCN about his claims. However, in his filing, which was leaked to CoinDesk , Zhao claimed: “The injunction order has caused loss to me, for which I am entitled to reasonable compensation by Sequoia. In particular, I have suffered i) a loss of chance to raise capital through successive rounds of financing at increasing high valuations; and ii) damage to my reputation.” Zhao is seeking an unspecified amount in damages, mainly because he’s uncertain what damages he allegedly incurred. binance bitcoin hack may 2019 Binance lost 7,074 bitcoin in a hack on May 7, 2019. | Source: Blockchain.com Read the full story on CCN.com . || Finance IT Infrastructure Firm Partners With Institutional Crypto Exchange Seed CX: Trading IT infrastructure company Avelacom has partnered with digital currency exchange Seed CX, according to a press release published on May 23. The partnership aims to allow institutional clients of Avelacom — an IT infrastructure provider for the financial services industry — to utilize Seed CX’s real-time market data and order-routing products. Currently, Seed CX provides services of a licensed exchange for institutional trading and settlement of spot digital asset products, with plans to offer its products for Commodity Futures Trading Commission -regulated digital asset derivatives. Managing Director of Avelacom Aleksey Larichev said that crypto markets have experienced “low uptime, slow matching engines, insufficient support and platforms that are not friendly for latency and jitter sensitive applications.” The new partnership will purportedly improve access to pertinent data for crypto traders. Recently, Seed CX partnered with Singapore -based fintech company Hydra X to offer its trading service in Asia. Seed CX thus joins the list of supported digital asset trading venues available on the Sigma trading platform offered by Hydra X, which is currently in public beta. The partnership will also reportedly allow institutional Sigma users to access Seed CX’s fiat-crypto gateway. Seed CX also launched a digital asset wallet solution with on-chain settlement, reportedly developed together with its settlement subsidiary, Zero Hash. Seed CX states that dispersing digital asset holdings across multiple unique wallets helps to mitigate the risk of hackers accessing pooled assets via a single vector of attack. As Cointelegraph reported earlier this week, cryptocurrency research firm Diar indicated that institutional traders recently registered record high volumes on bitcoin ( BTC ) derivatives exchanges. Bitcoin derivatives trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and BitMEX reportedly hit an all-time-high for two months in a row. Related Articles: Trading App Robinhood Set to Raise at Least $200 Million: Report Japan to Check Money Laundering Policies of Crypto Exchanges Ahead of FATF Inspection NYMEX Trader: Bitcoin Soon to Move Back to $7,000, Markets to Consolidate New Zealand Blockchain Group to Request Government Blockchain Strategy || Finance IT Infrastructure Firm Partners With Institutional Crypto Exchange Seed CX: Trading IT infrastructure company Avelacom has partnered with digital currencyexchangeSeed CX, according to a press releasepublishedon May 23.
The partnership aims to allow institutional clients of Avelacom — an IT infrastructure provider for the financial services industry — to utilize Seed CX’s real-time market data and order-routing products. Currently, Seed CX provides services of a licensed exchange for institutional trading and settlement of spot digital asset products, with plans to offer its products forCommodity Futures Trading Commission-regulated digital asset derivatives.
Managing Director of Avelacom Aleksey Larichev said that crypto markets have experienced “low uptime, slow matching engines, insufficient support and platforms that are not friendly for latency and jitter sensitive applications.” The new partnership will purportedly improve access to pertinent data for crypto traders.
Recently, Seed CXpartneredwithSingapore-basedfintechcompany Hydra X to offer its trading service in Asia. Seed CX thus joins the list of supported digital asset trading venues available on the Sigma trading platform offered by Hydra X, which is currently in public beta. The partnership will also reportedly allow institutional Sigma users to access Seed CX’s fiat-crypto gateway.
Seed CX alsolauncheda digital asset wallet solution with on-chain settlement, reportedly developed together with its settlement subsidiary, Zero Hash. Seed CX states that dispersing digital asset holdings across multiple unique wallets helps to mitigate the risk of hackers accessing pooled assets via a single vector of attack.
As Cointelegraph reported earlier this week, cryptocurrency research firm Diarindicatedthat institutional traders recently registered record high volumes on bitcoin (BTC) derivatives exchanges. Bitcoin derivatives trading on theChicago Mercantile ExchangeandBitMEXreportedly hit an all-time-high for two months in a row.
• Trading App Robinhood Set to Raise at Least $200 Million: Report
• Japan to Check Money Laundering Policies of Crypto Exchanges Ahead of FATF Inspection
• NYMEX Trader: Bitcoin Soon to Move Back to $7,000, Markets to Consolidate
• New Zealand Blockchain Group to Request Government Blockchain Strategy || Semiconductor ETFs Test Long-Term Support as Trade Row Continues: This article was originally published on ETFTrends.com. Semiconductor ETFs tested their long-term trend lines on Thursday as the trade-induced, risk-off selling continued with Chinese officials throwing more fuel into the fire. On Thursday, the iShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF ( SOXX ) declined 1.6% and the VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF ( SMH ) decreased 1.7%, with both ETFs slipping below their long-term trend lines at the 200-day simple moving average. The broad sell-off in the equities market continued Thursday after a Chinese official said the U.S. should “adjust its wrong actions” if it would like to continue negotiations in response to the Trump's administration's restrictions on the telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies, fueling investors’ concerns that Washington and Beijing are moving further apart on a trade deal. Following the U.S. Commerce Department's decision last week to blacklist Huawei and effectively halted the Chinese telecom firm's ability to buy American-made parts and components, Google has suspended business activity with the Chinese giant, along with a number of Huawei suppliers, including Qualcomm, Broadcom, Intel and Xilinx, CNBC reports. U.S. semiconductors were among the hardest hit in the wake of the Huawei blacklisting as chipmakers lost a big customer in Huawei, the world's largest provider of telecommunication equipment, which purchased about $20 billion in semiconductor chips each year. “Let’s be clear – we are talking tens of billions of dollars impact,” C.J. Muse, senior equity research analyst at Evercore, said in a recent note. “Loss of this business would slow down investments by U.S. chipmakers, thereby reducing the competitiveness of the U.S. semiconductor industry – and that is a national security issue that the U.S. government needs to consider as well.” RBC analyst Mitch Steves also warned that the U.S. restrictions could particularly impede companies with meaningful revenue exposure to 5G and the Chinese market. “We view the Huawei and China/US relationship as a negative overhang on the semiconductor space and a lift of either would likely send the semiconductor industry materially higher (5-10% in our view),” Steves said in a recent note. For more information on the tech sector, visit our technology category . POPULAR ARTICLES AND RESOURCES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM SPY ETF Quote VOO ETF Quote QQQ ETF Quote VTI ETF Quote JNUG ETF Quote Top 34 Gold ETFs Top 34 Oil ETFs Top 57 Financials ETFs Kevin O’Leary: Motherly Advice I Will Never Forget Marijuana ETF YOLO Looks Toward A Budding Future Vans, Nike Among 170 Footwear Companies Concerned About Tariffs Bitcoin, Stablecoin, Blockchain, Enterprise Ledger … WTF? So Many Retirement Idiots READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > View comments || Semiconductor ETFs Test Long-Term Support as Trade Row Continues: This article was originally published onETFTrends.com.
Semiconductor ETFs tested their long-term trend lines on Thursday as the trade-induced, risk-off selling continued with Chinese officials throwing more fuel into the fire.
On Thursday, theiShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) declined 1.6% and theVanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH) decreased 1.7%, with both ETFs slipping below their long-term trend lines at the 200-day simple moving average.
The broad sell-off in the equities market continued Thursday after a Chinese official said the U.S. should “adjust its wrong actions” if it would like to continue negotiations in response to the Trump's administration's restrictions on the telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies, fueling investors’ concerns that Washington and Beijing are moving further apart on a trade deal.
Following the U.S. Commerce Department's decision last week to blacklist Huawei and effectively halted the Chinese telecom firm's ability to buy American-made parts and components, Google has suspended business activity with the Chinese giant, along with a number of Huawei suppliers, including Qualcomm, Broadcom, Intel and Xilinx,CNBCreports.
U.S. semiconductors were among the hardest hit in the wake of the Huawei blacklisting as chipmakers lost a big customer in Huawei, the world's largest provider of telecommunication equipment, which purchased about $20 billion in semiconductor chips each year.
“Let’s be clear – we are talking tens of billions of dollars impact,” C.J. Muse, senior equity research analyst at Evercore, said in a recent note. “Loss of this business would slow down investments by U.S. chipmakers, thereby reducing the competitiveness of the U.S. semiconductor industry – and that is a national security issue that the U.S. government needs to consider as well.”
RBC analyst Mitch Steves also warned that the U.S. restrictions could particularly impede companies with meaningful revenue exposure to 5G and the Chinese market.
“We view the Huawei and China/US relationship as a negative overhang on the semiconductor space and a lift of either would likely send the semiconductor industry materially higher (5-10% in our view),” Steves said in a recent note.
For more information on the tech sector, visit ourtechnology category.
POPULAR ARTICLES AND RESOURCES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM
• SPY ETF Quote
• VOO ETF Quote
• QQQ ETF Quote
• VTI ETF Quote
• JNUG ETF Quote
• Top 34 Gold ETFs
• Top 34 Oil ETFs
• Top 57 Financials ETFs
• Kevin O’Leary: Motherly Advice I Will Never Forget
• Marijuana ETF YOLO Looks Toward A Budding Future
• Vans, Nike Among 170 Footwear Companies Concerned About Tariffs
• Bitcoin, Stablecoin, Blockchain, Enterprise Ledger … WTF?
• So Many Retirement Idiots
READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || Soft Fork: The Apache Tribe and Bitcoin: In 1519, famed Spanish explorer Hernando Cortés had his eyes set on the Aztec capital, which was located in what we now know as Mexico City. Cortés was leading an expedition of theNew Worldon behalf of the Spanish Empire, eager to bring back gold for his king.
Upon arrival, Cortés went straight to speak with Aztec leader Montezuma II, demanding gold from the ruler under threat of his army decimating the Aztec capital. Montezuma, thinking the explorer was a god, yielded to Cortés demands and gave him gold. Despite meeting his demands however, Cortés and his Spanish army wiped out Montezuma and the rest of the Aztec empire within two years.
Join Genesis nowand continue reading,Soft Fork: The Apache Tribe and Bitcoin! || Soft Fork: The Apache Tribe and Bitcoin: In 1519, famed Spanish explorer Hernando Cortés had his eyes set on the Aztec capital, which was located in what we now know as Mexico City. Cortés was leading an expedition of the New World on behalf of the Spanish Empire, eager to bring back gold for his king. Upon arrival, Cortés went straight to speak with Aztec leader Montezuma II, demanding gold from the ruler under threat of his army decimating the Aztec capital. Montezuma, thinking the explorer was a god, yielded to Cortés demands and gave him gold. Despite meeting his demands however, Cortés and his Spanish army wiped out Montezuma and the rest of the Aztec empire within two years. Join Genesis now and continue reading, Soft Fork: The Apache Tribe and Bitcoin ! || Soft Fork: The Apache Tribe and Bitcoin: In 1519, famed Spanish explorer Hernando Cortés had his eyes set on the Aztec capital, which was located in what we now know as Mexico City. Cortés was leading an expedition of theNew Worldon behalf of the Spanish Empire, eager to bring back gold for his king.
Upon arrival, Cortés went straight to speak with Aztec leader Montezuma II, demanding gold from the ruler under threat of his army decimating the Aztec capital. Montezuma, thinking the explorer was a god, yielded to Cortés demands and gave him gold. Despite meeting his demands however, Cortés and his Spanish army wiped out Montezuma and the rest of the Aztec empire within two years.
Join Genesis nowand continue reading,Soft Fork: The Apache Tribe and Bitcoin! || Bitcoin Price Analysis: Macro Resistance Could Push Price Down to $6,000s: 1. Thebitcoin marketis seeing some pullback as the monthly and weekly resistance level has proven to be a tough level to crack. On the daily level we can see a couple of attempts to break the level, but ultimately this was matched with strong selling pressure.
2. Onbitcoin’sfour-hour chart we can see that support that once held the market up is now turning into support with a failure to reclaim the level.
3. If we fail to reclaim the $7,800s, we can expect to see a retest of the $7,300s and if that level doesn’t hold, we will very likely see a test of the low $6,000s.
Trading and investing in digital assets like bitcoin is highly speculative and comes with many risks. This analysis is for informational purposes and should not be considered investment advice. Statements and financial information onBitcoin MagazineandBTC Incsites do not necessarily reflect the opinion ofBTC Incand should not be construed as an endorsement or recommendation to buy, sell or hold. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || Bitcoin Price Analysis: Macro Resistance Could Push Price Down to $6,000s: Price Analysis Video.jpg Summary: The bitcoin market is seeing some pullback as the monthly and weekly resistance level has proven to be a tough level to crack. On the daily level we can see a couple of attempts to break the level, but ultimately this was matched with strong selling pressure. On bitcoins four-hour chart we can see that support that once held the market up is now turning into support with a failure to reclaim the level. If we fail to reclaim the $7,800s, we can expect to see a retest of the $7,300s and if that level doesnt hold, we will very likely see a test of the low $6,000s. Trading and investing in digital assets like bitcoin is highly speculative and comes with many risks. This analysis is for informational purposes and should not be considered investment advice. Statements and financial information on Bitcoin Magazine and BTC Inc sites do not necessarily reflect the opinion of BTC Inc and should not be construed as an endorsement or recommendation to buy, sell or hold. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine . || Bitcoin Price Analysis: Macro Resistance Could Push Price Down to $6,000s: 1. Thebitcoin marketis seeing some pullback as the monthly and weekly resistance level has proven to be a tough level to crack. On the daily level we can see a couple of attempts to break the level, but ultimately this was matched with strong selling pressure.
2. Onbitcoin’sfour-hour chart we can see that support that once held the market up is now turning into support with a failure to reclaim the level.
3. If we fail to reclaim the $7,800s, we can expect to see a retest of the $7,300s and if that level doesn’t hold, we will very likely see a test of the low $6,000s.
Trading and investing in digital assets like bitcoin is highly speculative and comes with many risks. This analysis is for informational purposes and should not be considered investment advice. Statements and financial information onBitcoin MagazineandBTC Incsites do not necessarily reflect the opinion ofBTC Incand should not be construed as an endorsement or recommendation to buy, sell or hold. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.
This article originally appeared onBitcoin Magazine. || Indonesia ETFs Gather Momentum as Post-Election Protests Abate: This article was originally published on ETFTrends.com. Indonesia country-specific exchange traded funds stood out Thursday, strengthening on hopes of stability following a round of post-election riots that seem to be dying down. Among the best performing non-leveraged ETFs of Thursday, the iShares MSCI Indonesia ETF ( EIDO ) increased 2.7% and VanEck Vectors Indonesia Index ETF ( IDX ) rose 2.5%. Indonesia's stock market strengthened with calm return to the streets of Jakarta, following post-election protests. Riots broke out after the election commission confirmed earlier this week that incumbent President Joko Widodo's beat out ex-general Prabowo Subianto in the April 17 poll, Reuters reports. Anugerah Zamzami Nasr, an equity research analyst with PT Phillip Sekuritas Indonesia, argued that traders turned risk-on once the unrest settled down and grew confident that stability would return. The government deployed tens of thousands of police officers to deal with violence that burned through two nights, which left at least seven people dead and over 200 injured. "We will not give any space for riots, especially those who will damage Indonesia," Widodo told reporters. President Joko Widodo defeated former army general Prabowo Subianto by a margin of 55% to 45% in the recent polls, but Prabowo planned to challenge the result Thursday in the Constitutional Court, alleging massive fraud but provided no credible evidence, VOANews reports. "We support all moral and constitutional means that are peaceful and non-violent in this political fight for our nation. I plead to all elements who [are] exercising their aspiration — the police, the armed forces and everyone else — to refrain themselves from acts of violence, or even verbal violence, anything that is provocative," Prabowo told reporters late Wednesday. Earlier in the week, Prabowo urged supporters to show their support peacefully. "Our steps should be constitutional, democratic, peaceful, without any violence! Those who still believe in me and my friends here ... we fight not for personal benefit, but for the sovereignty of the people, for democracy, for independent Indonesia, to be free from occupation in any form," he said. Story continues For more information on the Indonesian market, visit our Indonesia category . POPULAR ARTICLES AND RESOURCES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM SPY ETF Quote VOO ETF Quote QQQ ETF Quote VTI ETF Quote JNUG ETF Quote Top 34 Gold ETFs Top 34 Oil ETFs Top 57 Financials ETFs Kevin O’Leary: Motherly Advice I Will Never Forget Marijuana ETF YOLO Looks Toward A Budding Future Vans, Nike Among 170 Footwear Companies Concerned About Tariffs Bitcoin, Stablecoin, Blockchain, Enterprise Ledger … WTF? So Many Retirement Idiots READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || Indonesia ETFs Gather Momentum as Post-Election Protests Abate: This article was originally published onETFTrends.com.
Indonesia country-specific exchange traded funds stood out Thursday, strengthening on hopes of stability following a round of post-election riots that seem to be dying down.
Among the best performing non-leveraged ETFs of Thursday, theiShares MSCI Indonesia ETF (EIDO) increased 2.7% andVanEck Vectors Indonesia Index ETF (IDX) rose 2.5%.
Indonesia's stock market strengthened with calm return to the streets of Jakarta, following post-election protests. Riots broke out after the election commission confirmed earlier this week that incumbent President Joko Widodo's beat out ex-general Prabowo Subianto in the April 17 poll,Reutersreports.
Anugerah Zamzami Nasr, an equity research analyst with PT Phillip Sekuritas Indonesia, argued that traders turned risk-on once the unrest settled down and grew confident that stability would return.
The government deployed tens of thousands of police officers to deal with violence that burned through two nights, which left at least seven people dead and over 200 injured.
"We will not give any space for riots, especially those who will damage Indonesia," Widodo told reporters.
President Joko Widodo defeated former army general Prabowo Subianto by a margin of 55% to 45% in the recent polls, but Prabowo planned to challenge the result Thursday in the Constitutional Court, alleging massive fraud but provided no credible evidence,VOANewsreports.
"We support all moral and constitutional means that are peaceful and non-violent in this political fight for our nation. I plead to all elements who [are] exercising their aspiration — the police, the armed forces and everyone else — to refrain themselves from acts of violence, or even verbal violence, anything that is provocative," Prabowo told reporters late Wednesday.
Earlier in the week, Prabowo urged supporters to show their support peacefully. "Our steps should be constitutional, democratic, peaceful, without any violence! Those who still believe in me and my friends here ... we fight not for personal benefit, but for the sovereignty of the people, for democracy, for independent Indonesia, to be free from occupation in any form," he said.
For more information on the Indonesian market, visit ourIndonesia category.
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READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || An Exciting Group of Chinese Stocks in This ETF: This article was originally published on ETFTrends.com. The US/China trade war has stung a variety of riskier assets, including stocks in the world's second-largest economy, but for investors mulling China rebound opportunities, it may pay to consider some of the country's more compelling equities. The VanEck Vectors ChinaAMC SME-ChiNext ETF ( CNXT ) is one way of accomplishing that objective. CNXT, which is almost five years old, tracks the SME-ChiNext 100 Index. That index “tracks the performance of the 100 largest and most liquid China A-share stocks listed and trading on the Small and Medium Enterprise ("SME") Board and the ChiNext Board of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange,” according to VanEck . With more mainland Chinese stocks, also known as A-shares, poised to join major international equity benchmarks later this year, some index providers are considering upping exposure to ChiNext stocks. “The FTSE Global Equity Index Series (GEIS) China A implementation opens up a range of China stocks to investors globally,” said FTSE Russell in a recent note . “One interesting detail about it is that ChiNext stocks will be included. We were the first international index provider to announce the inclusion of ChiNext stocks in global indexes and we opted for ChiNext inclusion at the outset as we believe they are an important component of what it means for international investors to access the China equity markets.” Growth Opportunities in China CNXT could prove advantageous to tactical investors considering China because of its exposure to growth stocks and lack of exposure to state-owned enterprises (SOEs). A mix of Chinese stimulus measures have been providing the fodder for economic growth, such as lower taxes, no corporate tax breaks, monetary policy adjustments, and more market access for foreign companies to set up shop. All in all, Wall Street is looking at the Chinese government’s latest efforts as a plus for its economy. “As an important component of the China A Shares opportunity set, we’re adding ChiNext large, mid and small cap stocks to the FTSE GEIS and derived indexes,” according to FTSE Russell. “Our indicative data at the end of March 2019 suggests that a total of 141 ChiNext stocks are poised to join the FTSE Global All Cap Index , representing about $400B in total market cap, or $25B in net market cap (at a 25% inclusion factor).” Story continues While ChiNext stocks are often perceived as smaller growth names, there are some large-cap stocks residing on that benchmark. “A common misconception is that companies listed on the ChiNext Board are start-up companies and fledgling in nature,” said FTSE Russell. “If we take a closer look at ChiNext Board companies, this is easily proven untrue. As the ChiNext board has grown over the past decade, so, too, have the companies it comprises. Today, the ChiNext Board is home to many large and mid cap stocks, in addition to smaller firms. For example, in our March 2019 index review, ChiNext stock Wens Foodstuff Group joined the FTSE China A50 Index —a mega cap index composed of the 50 largest companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges.” For more information on Chinese markets, visit our China category . POPULAR ARTICLES AND RESOURCES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM SPY ETF Quote VOO ETF Quote QQQ ETF Quote VTI ETF Quote JNUG ETF Quote Top 34 Gold ETFs Top 34 Oil ETFs Top 57 Financials ETFs Kevin O’Leary: Motherly Advice I Will Never Forget Marijuana ETF YOLO Looks Toward A Budding Future Vans, Nike Among 170 Footwear Companies Concerned About Tariffs Bitcoin, Stablecoin, Blockchain, Enterprise Ledger … WTF? So Many Retirement Idiots READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM > || An Exciting Group of Chinese Stocks in This ETF: This article was originally published onETFTrends.com.
The US/China trade war has stung a variety of riskier assets, including stocks in the world's second-largest economy, but for investors mulling China rebound opportunities, it may pay to consider some of the country's more compelling equities.
TheVanEck Vectors ChinaAMC SME-ChiNext ETF (CNXT) is one way of accomplishing that objective. CNXT, which is almost five years old, tracks the SME-ChiNext 100 Index. That index “tracks the performance of the 100 largest and most liquid China A-share stocks listed and trading on the Small and Medium Enterprise ("SME") Board and the ChiNext Board of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange,”according to VanEck.
With more mainland Chinese stocks, also known as A-shares, poised to join major international equity benchmarks later this year, some index providers are considering upping exposure to ChiNext stocks.
“TheFTSE Global Equity Index Series (GEIS) China A implementationopens up a range of China stocks to investors globally,” said FTSE Russellin a recent note. “One interesting detail about it is that ChiNext stocks will be included. We were the first international index provider to announce the inclusion of ChiNext stocks in global indexes and we opted for ChiNext inclusion at the outset as we believe they are an important component of what it means for international investors to access the China equity markets.”
Growth Opportunities in China
CNXT could prove advantageous to tactical investors considering China because of its exposure to growth stocks and lack of exposure to state-owned enterprises (SOEs). A mix of Chinese stimulus measures have been providing the fodder for economic growth, such as lower taxes, no corporate tax breaks, monetary policy adjustments, and more market access for foreign companies to set up shop. All in all, Wall Street is looking at the Chinese government’s latest efforts as a plus for its economy.
“As an important component of the China A Shares opportunity set, we’re adding ChiNext large, mid and small cap stocks to theFTSE GEISand derived indexes,” according to FTSE Russell. “Our indicative data at the end of March 2019 suggests that a total of 141 ChiNext stocks are poised to join theFTSE Global All Cap Index, representing about $400B in total market cap, or $25B in net market cap (at a 25% inclusion factor).”
While ChiNext stocks are often perceived as smaller growth names, there are some large-cap stocks residing on that benchmark.
“A common misconception is that companies listed on the ChiNext Board are start-up companies and fledgling in nature,” said FTSE Russell. “If we take a closer look at ChiNext Board companies, this is easily proven untrue. As the ChiNext board has grown over the past decade, so, too, have the companies it comprises. Today, the ChiNext Board is home to many large and mid cap stocks, in addition to smaller firms. For example, in our March 2019 index review, ChiNext stock Wens Foodstuff Group joined theFTSE China A50 Index—a mega cap index composed of the 50 largest companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges.”
For more information on Chinese markets, visit ourChina category.
POPULAR ARTICLES AND RESOURCES FROM ETFTRENDS.COM
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• JNUG ETF Quote
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• Top 57 Financials ETFs
• Kevin O’Leary: Motherly Advice I Will Never Forget
• Marijuana ETF YOLO Looks Toward A Budding Future
• Vans, Nike Among 170 Footwear Companies Concerned About Tariffs
• Bitcoin, Stablecoin, Blockchain, Enterprise Ledger … WTF?
• So Many Retirement Idiots
READ MORE AT ETFTRENDS.COM >
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|
8052.54, 8673.22, 8805.78, 8719.96, 8659.49, 8319.47, 8574.50, 8564.02, 8742.96, 8209.00
|
Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 30817.83, 29807.35, 32110.69, 32313.11, 33581.55, 34292.45, 35350.19, 37337.54, 39406.94, 39995.91, 40008.42, 42235.55, 41626.20, 39974.89, 39201.95, 38152.98, 39747.50, 40869.55, 42816.50, 44555.80, 43798.12, 46365.40, 45585.03, 45593.64, 44428.29, 47793.32, 47096.95, 47047.00, 46004.48, 44695.36, 44801.19, 46717.58, 49339.18, 48905.49, 49321.65, 49546.15, 47706.12, 48960.79, 46942.22, 49058.67, 48902.40, 48829.83, 47054.98, 47166.69, 48847.03, 49327.72, 50025.38, 49944.62, 51753.41, 52633.54, 46811.13, 46091.39, 46391.42, 44883.91, 45201.46, 46063.27, 44963.07, 47092.49, 48176.35, 47783.36, 47267.52, 48278.36, 47260.22, 42843.80, 40693.68, 43574.51, 44895.10, 42839.75, 42716.59, 43208.54, 42235.73, 41034.54, 41564.36, 43790.89, 48116.94, 47711.49, 48199.95, 49112.90, 51514.81, 55361.45, 53805.98, 53967.85, 54968.22, 54771.58, 57484.79, 56041.06, 57401.10, 57321.52, 61593.95, 60892.18.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2021-10-16]
Volume: 34250964237, RSI (14-day): 72.02, 50-day EMA: 49538.73, 200-day EMA: 43765.66
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Square Sets Its Sights on Bitcoin Mining: Now that abitcoinETF is on its way in the U.S., it’s more hip than ever to be a crypto company. Jack Dorsey’s payments companySquarehas been committed to proliferating bitcoin adoption, and now they are considering upping the ante.
Dorsey revealed in atweetstormthat Square is exploring the creation of a bitcoin mining system that is “based on custom silicon and open source for individuals and businesses worldwide.” The company appears to be testing the waters and has not reached an official decision yet. If they proceed, it will be in true Square fashion as they “build in the open in collaboration with the community,” explained Dorsey.
Bitcoin mining is the process of validating transactions on the blockchain, securing the network and creating new coins. Miners are rewarded in bitcoin for solving what are known as complicated proof-of-work (PoW) math problems using software. When they solve the equation, new blocks are added to the public ledger, or blockchain.
Twitter, Dorsey’s other company, has also made inroads into bitcoin adoption. The social media behemoth has integrated bitcoin payments into the Twitter iOS app and has set its sights on Android integration next.
Galaxy Digital founder Mike Novogratzcheered Dorseyfor continuing to invest in crypto while other tech giants, including Facebook, have stalled.
Shares of Square were up fractionally on the day and extended those gains in the after-hours market. Year-to-date, the stock is up approximately 15%. If Dorsey’s company follows through with the project, they will seemingly reduce the barriers to entry to bitcoin mining for individuals and potentially open up yet another revenue stream for Square.
Bitcoin transactions on the Cash App have been a revenue driver for Square. In Q2 2021, Square’s bitcoin sales surpassed $2.7 billion. The company’s profit from bitcoin was a lesser $55 million, a mere 2% of the revenue because “they only applya small margin to the market cost of bitcoin.”
Dorsey’s bitcoin aspirations come as the maiden bitcoin futures ETF is poised to make its debut. The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, which will trade under the symbol BITO, could begin trading as soon as Monday. NYSE Arca gave the fund the green light even without the U.S. SEC’s approval.
A bitcoin futures ETF is another rung in the ladder of wide-scale crypto adoption. The Pro Shares ETF will reportedly have lower fees than Grayscale’s high-profile bitcoin trust. Grayscale isreportedlyfiring back by gearing up to apply for a bitcoin spot market ETF.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• Square Sets Its Sights on Bitcoin Mining
• The Weekly Wrap – Market Risk Appetite Returned, Weighing on the Greenback
• S&P 500 Price Forecast – Stock Markets Continue to Rally During Earnings
• Shiba Inu – Daily Tech Analysis – October 16th, 2021
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• Crude Oil Price Forecast – Crude Oil Markets Continue to Grind Higher || Square Sets Its Sights on Bitcoin Mining: Now that abitcoinETF is on its way in the U.S., it’s more hip than ever to be a crypto company. Jack Dorsey’s payments companySquarehas been committed to proliferating bitcoin adoption, and now they are considering upping the ante.
Dorsey revealed in atweetstormthat Square is exploring the creation of a bitcoin mining system that is “based on custom silicon and open source for individuals and businesses worldwide.” The company appears to be testing the waters and has not reached an official decision yet. If they proceed, it will be in true Square fashion as they “build in the open in collaboration with the community,” explained Dorsey.
Bitcoin mining is the process of validating transactions on the blockchain, securing the network and creating new coins. Miners are rewarded in bitcoin for solving what are known as complicated proof-of-work (PoW) math problems using software. When they solve the equation, new blocks are added to the public ledger, or blockchain.
Twitter, Dorsey’s other company, has also made inroads into bitcoin adoption. The social media behemoth has integrated bitcoin payments into the Twitter iOS app and has set its sights on Android integration next.
Galaxy Digital founder Mike Novogratzcheered Dorseyfor continuing to invest in crypto while other tech giants, including Facebook, have stalled.
Shares of Square were up fractionally on the day and extended those gains in the after-hours market. Year-to-date, the stock is up approximately 15%. If Dorsey’s company follows through with the project, they will seemingly reduce the barriers to entry to bitcoin mining for individuals and potentially open up yet another revenue stream for Square.
Bitcoin transactions on the Cash App have been a revenue driver for Square. In Q2 2021, Square’s bitcoin sales surpassed $2.7 billion. The company’s profit from bitcoin was a lesser $55 million, a mere 2% of the revenue because “they only applya small margin to the market cost of bitcoin.”
Dorsey’s bitcoin aspirations come as the maiden bitcoin futures ETF is poised to make its debut. The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, which will trade under the symbol BITO, could begin trading as soon as Monday. NYSE Arca gave the fund the green light even without the U.S. SEC’s approval.
A bitcoin futures ETF is another rung in the ladder of wide-scale crypto adoption. The Pro Shares ETF will reportedly have lower fees than Grayscale’s high-profile bitcoin trust. Grayscale isreportedlyfiring back by gearing up to apply for a bitcoin spot market ETF.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• Square Sets Its Sights on Bitcoin Mining
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• S&P 500 Price Forecast – Stock Markets Continue to Rally During Earnings
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• The Crypto Daily – Movers and Shakers – October 16th, 2021
• Crude Oil Price Forecast – Crude Oil Markets Continue to Grind Higher || Company behind Tether 'token' fined $41M by US regulators: The company behind a digital token called Tether has agreed to pay $41 million to settle charges that it misled investors by claiming the token was fully backed at all times by U.S. dollars and other fiat currencies. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Friday it charged Tether Holdings Limited with making untrue or misleading statements and omissions in relation to its claims. Specifically, the U.S. regulator found that since launching the token in 2014, Tether Holdings represented that its was a “stablecoin” with its value pegged to fiat currency, including U.S. dollars and euros. A stablecoin is a digital currency backed by real-world assets such as national currencies or other commodities. Unlike Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, stablecoins are designed to not fluctuate wildly in value. However, the CFTC determined that at least from June 1, 2016 through Feb. 25, 2019, Tether misrepresented to customers and the market that it maintained sufficient U.S. dollar reserves to back every Tether token in circulation with the equivalent amount of “corresponding fiat currency.” The agency also found that Tether failed to disclose that it included unsecured receivables and non-fiat assets in its reserves, and that the company falsely represented it would undergo regular audits to prove it was maintaining the fiat currency reserves it needed to back Tether tokens. In a statement, Tether, which is headquartered Hong Kong and maintains an office in Santa Monica, California, said the CFTC’s findings pertained to certain disclosures about the company’s reserves that were “fully resolved” in February 2019, when the company updated its terms of service. “As to the Tether reserves, there is no finding that Tether tokens were not fully backed at all times — simply that the reserves were not all in cash and all in a bank account titled in Tether’s name, at all times,” the company said, noting that it has “always maintained adequate reserves and has never failed to satisfy a redemption request.” Separately, the CFTC also ordered Bitfinex to pay a $1.5 million civil penalty after finding that the cryptocurrency trading platform made illegal, off-exchange retail commodity transactions involving digital assets with U.S. investors and operated as a futures commission merchant without registering to do so. || Company behind Tether 'token' fined $41M by US regulators: The company behind a digital token called Tether has agreed to pay $41 million to settle charges that it misled investors by claiming the token was fully backed at all times by U.S. dollars and other fiat currencies. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Friday it charged Tether Holdings Limited with making untrue or misleading statements and omissions in relation to its claims. Specifically, the U.S. regulator found that since launching the token in 2014, Tether Holdings represented that its was a “stablecoin” with its value pegged to fiat currency, including U.S. dollars and euros. A stablecoin is a digital currency backed by real-world assets such as national currencies or other commodities. Unlike Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, stablecoins are designed to not fluctuate wildly in value. However, the CFTC determined that at least from June 1, 2016 through Feb. 25, 2019, Tether misrepresented to customers and the market that it maintained sufficient U.S. dollar reserves to back every Tether token in circulation with the equivalent amount of “corresponding fiat currency.” The agency also found that Tether failed to disclose that it included unsecured receivables and non-fiat assets in its reserves, and that the company falsely represented it would undergo regular audits to prove it was maintaining the fiat currency reserves it needed to back Tether tokens. In a statement, Tether, which is headquartered Hong Kong and maintains an office in Santa Monica, California, said the CFTC’s findings pertained to certain disclosures about the company’s reserves that were “fully resolved” in February 2019, when the company updated its terms of service. “As to the Tether reserves, there is no finding that Tether tokens were not fully backed at all times — simply that the reserves were not all in cash and all in a bank account titled in Tether’s name, at all times,” the company said, noting that it has “always maintained adequate reserves and has never failed to satisfy a redemption request.” Separately, the CFTC also ordered Bitfinex to pay a $1.5 million civil penalty after finding that the cryptocurrency trading platform made illegal, off-exchange retail commodity transactions involving digital assets with U.S. investors and operated as a futures commission merchant without registering to do so. || Bitcoin ATM Pros (BAP Token) Announces 2nd Pre-Sale Phase, Aims At Major Rewards: San Diego, CA, Oct. 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- For those that are unaware, BAP Token is a unique token that's built by Bitcoin ATM Pros. The central goal of BAP Token is simple - to build a community where every member will have easy access to cryptocurrencies to pay for goods and services and also generate passive income. Bitcoin ATM Pros has a team that's dedicated and knowledgeable in the crypto, blockchain, and fintech space. The team intends to utilize their knowledge to help different countries and individuals in need of a financial revolution. To achieve this lofty vision, the team at BAP token is pleased to announce the commencement of the second phase of its pre-sale. Like the first phase, the second phase also promises to reward investors with massive offerings. BAP Token has achieved a lot in the short period of its existence. For instance, the team was able to roll out their first dividend payments to investors who invested during the first phase of the pre-sale. The payment took place on the 3rd of October, 2021. The dividend was higher than the project's expectation. Invest In The Pre-Sale 2nd Phase There are several reasons why you may consider investing your hard-earned money in the second phase of the token sale. Top among the reasons is that beginner investors will receive a share of 10% of the profits that the company intends to generate from their crypto ATMs. The profits will be credited to individual investors as BAP tokens every quarter. Buying and holding the token means that, in the future, your investment portfolio will increase in value and also fetch you massive returns on your investment. What's more? The dividend payout will also increase in the future as the project builds momentum and gains traction. How To Buy BAP Tokens The process of buying BAP tokens is simple and straightforward. You can purchase the token directly on the official website via www.baptoken.com or you visit Coinpros exchange to place your order. Coinpros is the native exchange of the project. For now, the exchange is still in its developmental stage. However, once it comes on stream, crypto enthusiasts would be able to exchange their cryptos on the platform. Story continues About BAP Token BAP Token is the native token of the Bitcoin ATM Pros ecosystem. BAP Token stands for financial freedom. It intends to revolutionize the financial landscape so that everyone can have access to decentralized banking services and cryptocurrencies. Social links: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bitcoinatmprosSD Twitter: https://twitter.com/bitcoinatmpros Telegram: https://t.me/OFFICIALBAPTOKENCHANNEL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/baptoken/ Media Contact: Company: Bitcoin ATM Pros Contact Name: Micheal Cuillard Address: San Diego, CA E-mail: [email protected] Website: https://www.baptoken.com Source Link || Bitcoin ATM Pros (BAP Token) Announces 2nd Pre-Sale Phase, Aims At Major Rewards: San Diego, CA, Oct. 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- For those that are unaware, BAP Token is a unique token that's built by Bitcoin ATM Pros. The central goal of BAP Token is simple - to build a community where every member will have easy access to cryptocurrencies to pay for goods and services and also generate passive income.
Bitcoin ATM Pros has a team that's dedicated and knowledgeable in the crypto, blockchain, and fintech space. The team intends to utilize their knowledge to help different countries and individuals in need of a financial revolution.
To achieve this lofty vision, the team atBAP tokenis pleased to announce the commencement of the second phase of its pre-sale. Like the first phase, the second phase also promises to reward investors with massive offerings. BAP Token has achieved a lot in the short period of its existence.
For instance, the team was able to roll out their first dividend payments to investors who invested during the first phase of the pre-sale. The payment took place on the 3rd of October, 2021. The dividend was higher than the project's expectation.
Invest InThePre-Sale 2nd Phase
There are several reasons why you may consider investing your hard-earned money in the second phase of the token sale. Top among the reasons is that beginner investors will receive a share of 10% of the profits that the company intends to generate from their crypto ATMs. The profits will be credited to individual investors as BAP tokens every quarter.
Buying and holding the token means that, in the future, your investment portfolio will increase in value and also fetch you massive returns on your investment. What's more? The dividend payout will also increase in the future as the project builds momentum and gains traction.
HowToBuy BAP Tokens
The process of buying BAP tokens is simple and straightforward. You can purchase the token directly on the official website viawww.baptoken.comor you visit Coinpros exchange to place your order. Coinpros is the native exchange of the project. For now, the exchange is still in its developmental stage. However, once it comes on stream, crypto enthusiasts would be able to exchange their cryptos on the platform.
About BAP Token
BAP Token is the native token of the Bitcoin ATM Pros ecosystem. BAP Token stands for financial freedom. It intends to revolutionize the financial landscape so that everyone can have access to decentralized banking services and cryptocurrencies.
Social links:
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/bitcoinatmprosSDTwitter:https://twitter.com/bitcoinatmprosTelegram:https://t.me/OFFICIALBAPTOKENCHANNELInstagram:https://www.instagram.com/baptoken/
Media Contact:
Company:Bitcoin ATM ProsContact Name:Micheal CuillardAddress:San Diego, CAE-mail:[email protected]:https://www.baptoken.com
Source Link || Bitcoin ATM Pros (BAP Token) Announces 2nd Pre-Sale Phase, Aims At Major Rewards: San Diego, CA, Oct. 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- For those that are unaware, BAP Token is a unique token that's built by Bitcoin ATM Pros. The central goal of BAP Token is simple - to build a community where every member will have easy access to cryptocurrencies to pay for goods and services and also generate passive income.
Bitcoin ATM Pros has a team that's dedicated and knowledgeable in the crypto, blockchain, and fintech space. The team intends to utilize their knowledge to help different countries and individuals in need of a financial revolution.
To achieve this lofty vision, the team atBAP tokenis pleased to announce the commencement of the second phase of its pre-sale. Like the first phase, the second phase also promises to reward investors with massive offerings. BAP Token has achieved a lot in the short period of its existence.
For instance, the team was able to roll out their first dividend payments to investors who invested during the first phase of the pre-sale. The payment took place on the 3rd of October, 2021. The dividend was higher than the project's expectation.
Invest InThePre-Sale 2nd Phase
There are several reasons why you may consider investing your hard-earned money in the second phase of the token sale. Top among the reasons is that beginner investors will receive a share of 10% of the profits that the company intends to generate from their crypto ATMs. The profits will be credited to individual investors as BAP tokens every quarter.
Buying and holding the token means that, in the future, your investment portfolio will increase in value and also fetch you massive returns on your investment. What's more? The dividend payout will also increase in the future as the project builds momentum and gains traction.
HowToBuy BAP Tokens
The process of buying BAP tokens is simple and straightforward. You can purchase the token directly on the official website viawww.baptoken.comor you visit Coinpros exchange to place your order. Coinpros is the native exchange of the project. For now, the exchange is still in its developmental stage. However, once it comes on stream, crypto enthusiasts would be able to exchange their cryptos on the platform.
About BAP Token
BAP Token is the native token of the Bitcoin ATM Pros ecosystem. BAP Token stands for financial freedom. It intends to revolutionize the financial landscape so that everyone can have access to decentralized banking services and cryptocurrencies.
Social links:
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/bitcoinatmprosSDTwitter:https://twitter.com/bitcoinatmprosTelegram:https://t.me/OFFICIALBAPTOKENCHANNELInstagram:https://www.instagram.com/baptoken/
Media Contact:
Company:Bitcoin ATM ProsContact Name:Micheal CuillardAddress:San Diego, CAE-mail:[email protected]:https://www.baptoken.com
Source Link || Jack Dorsey says Square is ‘considering’ building a Bitcoin mining system: Jack Dorsey says that Square is “considering” building its own Bitcoin mining system using custom silicon and open source software. “Square is considering building a Bitcoin mining system based on custom silicon and open source for individuals and businesses worldwide,” Dorsey wrote ina Twitter threadFriday.
He added that such a project would follow a similar approach as the bitcoinhardware walletSquare began working on earlier this summer. But building a mining system would be considerably more complicated for the payments company than simply building a wallet. Creating custom chips is, as Dorsey points out, “very expensive,” and would be new territory for the payments company, which has been a major supporter of Bitcoin.
“Mining needs to be more efficient,” Dorsey wrote. “Driving towards clean and efficient energy use is great for Bitcoin’s economics, impact, and scalability. Energy is a system-level problem that requires innovation in silicon, software, and integration.”
As with his earlier tweets about plans for the hardware wallet, Dorsey didn’t share many details about how the mining system would actually work. But he said the goal would be to make mining more efficient and accessible to more people, which could address two of the most important issues related to cryptocurrency mining.
Bitcoin-related power usage has reachedrecord highsin recent years, raisingmajor concernsabout the cryptocurrency’s impact on climate change. Mining has also driven up the prices and scarcityof GPUs, which has made it increasingly difficult for the average crypto enthusiast to mine on their own.
"Bitcoin mining should be as easy as plugging a rig into a power source,” Dorsey said. Whether or not Square will be able to accomplish that, is less clear. He said that the company “will start the deep technical investigation required to take on this project,” and is hoping to hear feedback on the idea in the meantime. || Jack Dorsey says Square is ‘considering’ building a Bitcoin mining system: Jack Dorsey says that Square is “considering” building its own Bitcoin mining system using custom silicon and open source software. “Square is considering building a Bitcoin mining system based on custom silicon and open source for individuals and businesses worldwide,” Dorsey wrote in a Twitter thread Friday. He added that such a project would follow a similar approach as the bitcoin hardware wallet Square began working on earlier this summer. But building a mining system would be considerably more complicated for the payments company than simply building a wallet. Creating custom chips is, as Dorsey points out, “very expensive,” and would be new territory for the payments company, which has been a major supporter of Bitcoin. “Mining needs to be more efficient,” Dorsey wrote. “Driving towards clean and efficient energy use is great for Bitcoin’s economics, impact, and scalability. Energy is a system-level problem that requires innovation in silicon, software, and integration.” 3/Silicon design is too concentrated into a few companies. This means supply is likely overly constrained. Silicon development is very expensive, requires long term investment, and is best coupled tightly with software and system design. Why aren’t more companies doing this work? — jack⚡️ (@jack) October 15, 2021 As with his earlier tweets about plans for the hardware wallet, Dorsey didn’t share many details about how the mining system would actually work. But he said the goal would be to make mining more efficient and accessible to more people, which could address two of the most important issues related to cryptocurrency mining. Bitcoin-related power usage has reached record highs in recent years, raising major concerns about the cryptocurrency’s impact on climate change. Mining has also driven up the prices and scarcity of GPUs , which has made it increasingly difficult for the average crypto enthusiast to mine on their own. Our team led by @jessedorogusker will start the deep technical investigation required to take on this project. We’d love your thoughts, ideas, concerns, and collaboration. Should we do this? Why or why not? We’ll update this thread as we make our decisions. And now over to Jesse. — jack⚡️ (@jack) October 15, 2021 "Bitcoin mining should be as easy as plugging a rig into a power source,” Dorsey said. Whether or not Square will be able to accomplish that, is less clear. He said that the company “will start the deep technical investigation required to take on this project,” and is hoping to hear feedback on the idea in the meantime. || Jack Dorsey says Square is ‘considering’ building a Bitcoin mining system: Jack Dorsey says that Square is “considering” building its own Bitcoin mining system using custom silicon and open source software. “Square is considering building a Bitcoin mining system based on custom silicon and open source for individuals and businesses worldwide,” Dorsey wrote ina Twitter threadFriday.
He added that such a project would follow a similar approach as the bitcoinhardware walletSquare began working on earlier this summer. But building a mining system would be considerably more complicated for the payments company than simply building a wallet. Creating custom chips is, as Dorsey points out, “very expensive,” and would be new territory for the payments company, which has been a major supporter of Bitcoin.
“Mining needs to be more efficient,” Dorsey wrote. “Driving towards clean and efficient energy use is great for Bitcoin’s economics, impact, and scalability. Energy is a system-level problem that requires innovation in silicon, software, and integration.”
As with his earlier tweets about plans for the hardware wallet, Dorsey didn’t share many details about how the mining system would actually work. But he said the goal would be to make mining more efficient and accessible to more people, which could address two of the most important issues related to cryptocurrency mining.
Bitcoin-related power usage has reachedrecord highsin recent years, raisingmajor concernsabout the cryptocurrency’s impact on climate change. Mining has also driven up the prices and scarcityof GPUs, which has made it increasingly difficult for the average crypto enthusiast to mine on their own.
"Bitcoin mining should be as easy as plugging a rig into a power source,” Dorsey said. Whether or not Square will be able to accomplish that, is less clear. He said that the company “will start the deep technical investigation required to take on this project,” and is hoping to hear feedback on the idea in the meantime. || Square to Consider Building a Bitcoin Mining System: Payments service provider Square is looking to develop a bitcoin mining system, the company’s CEO Jack Dorseytweetedon Friday.
• “Square is considering building a Bitcoin mining system based on custom silicon and open source for individuals and businesses worldwide,” Dorsey wrote.
• In his threaded tweets, Dorsey wrote that mining needs to be more distributed and energy-efficient, and that silicon design is too concentrated into just a few companies, leading to reduced supply.
• He also said that mining should be more accessible to everyone, and he was soliciting thoughts on whether Square should pursue the project or not, and why or why not.
• Dorsey wrote that if the payments service provider begins the initiative, it would follow the open-source model it is using to build a hardware wallet.
• Square hardware lead Jesse Dorogusker will “start the deep technical investigation required to take on this project,” Dorsey wrote.
• Dorogusker is alsoleadingthe wallet project, tweeting in July that he was assembling a team to focus on that initiative.
• Dorsey has been an enthusiastic supporter of bitcoin, believing that the cryptocurrency has great potential. In August, hetweetedthat TBD, Square’s new division focused on creating an open developer platform, is planning to build a decentralized bitcoin exchange.
UPDATE (Oct. 15, 21:34 UTC):Updated with additional detail on Dorsey’s tweets. || Square to Consider Building a Bitcoin Mining System: Payments service provider Square is looking to develop a bitcoin mining system, the company’s CEO Jack Dorseytweetedon Friday.
• “Square is considering building a Bitcoin mining system based on custom silicon and open source for individuals and businesses worldwide,” Dorsey wrote.
• In his threaded tweets, Dorsey wrote that mining needs to be more distributed and energy-efficient, and that silicon design is too concentrated into just a few companies, leading to reduced supply.
• He also said that mining should be more accessible to everyone, and he was soliciting thoughts on whether Square should pursue the project or not, and why or why not.
• Dorsey wrote that if the payments service provider begins the initiative, it would follow the open-source model it is using to build a hardware wallet.
• Square hardware lead Jesse Dorogusker will “start the deep technical investigation required to take on this project,” Dorsey wrote.
• Dorogusker is alsoleadingthe wallet project, tweeting in July that he was assembling a team to focus on that initiative.
• Dorsey has been an enthusiastic supporter of bitcoin, believing that the cryptocurrency has great potential. In August, hetweetedthat TBD, Square’s new division focused on creating an open developer platform, is planning to build a decentralized bitcoin exchange.
UPDATE (Oct. 15, 21:34 UTC):Updated with additional detail on Dorsey’s tweets. || Reports of Fraud Mar El Salvador’s Bitcoin Journey: In a week that saw bitcoin rocket to near previous highs, El Salvador’s own grand experiment with embracing the crypto as legal tender seems to be getting some pushback.
At this writing, bitcoin is trading at more than $61,000, well within highs of roughly $64,000. But the mechanics of getting bitcoin more firmly entrenched into El Salvador’s daily life is proving to be a challenge. Security issues have arisen, according to reports.
La Prensa Grafica reported that identity theft through the Chivo wallet has been on the rise. Those who claim to have been victimized have said their Unique Identity Document (DUI) had been used to withdraw the $30 in bitcoin that is tied to the wallet downloads. Those alleged victims said they had not downloaded the applications or received any of the bitcoin – but the IDs had been used to download the apps and withdraw the $30 in bitcoin.
Elsewhere, in an examination of how people are spending their bitcoin, the same site noted that many individuals have been withdrawing their bitcoin tokens, embracing dollars to buy what they need. In other examples, social media sites like Facebook are dotted with offers to buy the $30 worth of bitcoin for $25 in cash, via bank transfer or payments on electronic platforms.
In the meantime, there is evidence that government efforts will embrace bitcoin in paying for public works and various projects. In one example, José María Chicas, from the New Ideas party and mayor of Ilopango, has said that the municipal council agreed to purchase a bitcoin. The profits will reportedly be used to finance municipal projects.
And in another example, President Nayib Bukele said the country will invest some of the $4 million in gains stemming from its own bitcoin holdings to build a veterinary hospital. The government will reportedly fund the project by drawing dollars from its bitcoin trust account.
According to La Prensa Grafica, Banco Hipotecario has aligned with four blockchain-focused companies to promote the use of bitcoin. The firms partnering with the bank include TESOBE (described as the company behind the Open Bank Project); API3, which is focused on smart contracts; Qredo, an asset management company; and Sovryn, a trading and lending platform. || Reports of Fraud Mar El Salvador’s Bitcoin Journey: Bitcoin - El Salvador In a week that saw bitcoin rocket to near previous highs, El Salvador’s own grand experiment with embracing the crypto as legal tender seems to be getting some pushback. At this writing, bitcoin is trading at more than $61,000, well within highs of roughly $64,000. But the mechanics of getting bitcoin more firmly entrenched into El Salvador’s daily life is proving to be a challenge. Security issues have arisen, according to reports. La Prensa Grafica reported that identity theft through the Chivo wallet has been on the rise. Those who claim to have been victimized have said their Unique Identity Document (DUI) had been used to withdraw the $30 in bitcoin that is tied to the wallet downloads. Those alleged victims said they had not downloaded the applications or received any of the bitcoin – but the IDs had been used to download the apps and withdraw the $30 in bitcoin. Elsewhere, in an examination of how people are spending their bitcoin, the same site noted that many individuals have been withdrawing their bitcoin tokens, embracing dollars to buy what they need. In other examples, social media sites like Facebook are dotted with offers to buy the $30 worth of bitcoin for $25 in cash, via bank transfer or payments on electronic platforms. In the meantime, there is evidence that government efforts will embrace bitcoin in paying for public works and various projects. In one example, José María Chicas, from the New Ideas party and mayor of Ilopango, has said that the municipal council agreed to purchase a bitcoin. The profits will reportedly be used to finance municipal projects. And in another example, President Nayib Bukele said the country will invest some of the $4 million in gains stemming from its own bitcoin holdings to build a veterinary hospital. The government will reportedly fund the project by drawing dollars from its bitcoin trust account. According to La Prensa Grafica, Banco Hipotecario has aligned with four blockchain-focused companies to promote the use of bitcoin. The firms partnering with the bank include TESOBE (described as the company behind the Open Bank Project); API3, which is focused on smart contracts; Qredo, an asset management company; and Sovryn, a trading and lending platform. || Reports of Fraud Mar El Salvador’s Bitcoin Journey: In a week that saw bitcoin rocket to near previous highs, El Salvador’s own grand experiment with embracing the crypto as legal tender seems to be getting some pushback.
At this writing, bitcoin is trading at more than $61,000, well within highs of roughly $64,000. But the mechanics of getting bitcoin more firmly entrenched into El Salvador’s daily life is proving to be a challenge. Security issues have arisen, according to reports.
La Prensa Grafica reported that identity theft through the Chivo wallet has been on the rise. Those who claim to have been victimized have said their Unique Identity Document (DUI) had been used to withdraw the $30 in bitcoin that is tied to the wallet downloads. Those alleged victims said they had not downloaded the applications or received any of the bitcoin – but the IDs had been used to download the apps and withdraw the $30 in bitcoin.
Elsewhere, in an examination of how people are spending their bitcoin, the same site noted that many individuals have been withdrawing their bitcoin tokens, embracing dollars to buy what they need. In other examples, social media sites like Facebook are dotted with offers to buy the $30 worth of bitcoin for $25 in cash, via bank transfer or payments on electronic platforms.
In the meantime, there is evidence that government efforts will embrace bitcoin in paying for public works and various projects. In one example, José María Chicas, from the New Ideas party and mayor of Ilopango, has said that the municipal council agreed to purchase a bitcoin. The profits will reportedly be used to finance municipal projects.
And in another example, President Nayib Bukele said the country will invest some of the $4 million in gains stemming from its own bitcoin holdings to build a veterinary hospital. The government will reportedly fund the project by drawing dollars from its bitcoin trust account.
According to La Prensa Grafica, Banco Hipotecario has aligned with four blockchain-focused companies to promote the use of bitcoin. The firms partnering with the bank include TESOBE (described as the company behind the Open Bank Project); API3, which is focused on smart contracts; Qredo, an asset management company; and Sovryn, a trading and lending platform. || Silver Price Prediction – Prices Slip as Gold Tumbles: Silver prices reversed lower but held key support as copper prices rallied, helping to buoy silver. Silver is also used in electrical conduction and industrial capacities but is more expensive than copper. Gold prices tumbled, creating a dark cloud for the precious metals complex. U.S. yields surged higher, which seemed to put upward pressure on the dollar versus the yen and downward pressure on silver. Retail sales in the U.S. were stronger than expected, while sentiment declined.
Silver prices reversed and moved lower falling back to support near the 50-day moving average near 23.27. Prices made a higher high and a higher low which is a sign of an uptrend. Target resistdance is the September highs at 24.82. Short-term momentum turned negative as the fast stochastic generated a crossover sell signal in overbought territory. Medium-term momentum has turned positive as the MACD (moving average convergence divergence) index generated a crossover buy signal. This occurs as the MACD line (the 12-day moving average minus the 26-day moving average) crosses above the MACD signal line (the 9-day moving average of the MACD line). The MACD histogram is printing in positive territory but the upward sloping trajectory is decelerating, which points to consolidation.
The preliminary estimate of the consumer sentiment index released by the University of Michigan decreased to 71.4 in October from 72.8 in September. The reading missed forecasts which estimated the index would come in at 73.0. In a separate report, Retail sales for the month increased by 0.7%, versus expectations that sales in September would decline 0.2%. Excluding auto-related sales, the number rose 0.8%, better than the 0.5% forecast.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• S&P 500 Price Forecast – Stock Markets Continue to Rally During Earnings || Silver Price Prediction Prices Slip as Gold Tumbles: Silver prices reversed lower but held key support as copper prices rallied, helping to buoy silver. Silver is also used in electrical conduction and industrial capacities but is more expensive than copper. Gold prices tumbled, creating a dark cloud for the precious metals complex. U.S. yields surged higher, which seemed to put upward pressure on the dollar versus the yen and downward pressure on silver. Retail sales in the U.S. were stronger than expected, while sentiment declined. Technical analysis Silver prices reversed and moved lower falling back to support near the 50-day moving average near 23.27. Prices made a higher high and a higher low which is a sign of an uptrend. Target resistdance is the September highs at 24.82. Short-term momentum turned negative as the fast stochastic generated a crossover sell signal in overbought territory. Medium-term momentum has turned positive as the MACD (moving average convergence divergence) index generated a crossover buy signal. This occurs as the MACD line (the 12-day moving average minus the 26-day moving average) crosses above the MACD signal line (the 9-day moving average of the MACD line). The MACD histogram is printing in positive territory but the upward sloping trajectory is decelerating, which points to consolidation. Sentiment Turns Lower The preliminary estimate of the consumer sentiment index released by the University of Michigan decreased to 71.4 in October from 72.8 in September. The reading missed forecasts which estimated the index would come in at 73.0. In a separate report, Retail sales for the month increased by 0.7%, versus expectations that sales in September would decline 0.2%. Excluding auto-related sales, the number rose 0.8%, better than the 0.5% forecast. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: The Weekly Wrap Market Risk Appetite Returned, Weighing on the Greenback Gold Weekly Price Forecast Gold Markets Give Up Early Gains Square Sets Its Sights on Bitcoin Mining Gold Price Prediction Prices Reverse on Strong Treasury Yields Gains Silver Price Prediction Prices Slip as Gold Tumbles S&P 500 Price Forecast Stock Markets Continue to Rally During Earnings || World stocks notch best day in 5 months; oil, govt bond yields up: By Koh Gui Qing
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks surged globally on Friday in their best day in five months as strong U.S. corporate earnings reports fueled optimism about the economy, though three-year-high oil prices kept inflation risks alive and lifted government bond yields.
U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc was the latest on Wall Street to trounce market expectations when it reported a 66% surge in third-quarter profit, thanks to a record wave of investment banking activity.
Though some analysts warned investors against complacency so early in the earnings season, especially given current constraints in the supply chain, U.S. stocks joined Friday’s rally in global equities.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.1% in its best weekly performance since June 25. The S&P 500 climbed 0.75% to notch its best week in 2-1/2 months, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.5%.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.74% and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.86%, the biggest daily rise since May 14.
“We are clearly off to a good start of the third-quarter earnings season, but have miles to go before we sleep,” said Arthur Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities Corp. Hogan noted that only 35 of the S&P 500 companies have reported their earnings.
Unperturbed by news of a fatal stabbing of a British lawmaker on Friday, Britain’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.37% to hit a near 20-month high. The UK blue-chip index has now recovered all ground lost since the coronavirus pandemic began in March last year.
Concerns that soaring oil prices could drag on businesses and the economy also took a backseat for now.
Forecasts of an oil supply deficit over the next few months as demand rises on the back of relaxed travel restrictions drove oil prices to a three-year high of above $85 a barrel.
U.S. crude recently jumped 1.13% to $82.23 per barrel and Brent added 0.83% to $84.70, after hitting a high of $85.10.
Bets that rising prices are likely to prompt central banks to raise interest rates sooner than expected lifted government bond yields, though gains were more pronounced in the United States than in Europe.
The yield on two-year U.S. Treasuries, which reflect short-term rate expectations, zoomed up to a near 19-month-high 0.3949%, from Thursday’s 0.354%. Benchmark 10-year Treasury yield also rose to 1.5738%, from Thursday’s 1.519%.
In Europe, 10-year Bund yields slipped after registering seven straight weeks of gains on signs of rising inflationary pressure and robust economic growth.
The dollar, bolstered by bets that quickening inflation could prompt the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates sooner than expected, touched a three-year high against the yen, which is usually sensitive to rate differentials. One dollar bought as much as 114.46 yen, the most since October 2018.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of other currencies, was lower on the day, however, slipping 0.104%, and set for its first weekly decline versus major peers since the start of last month, having lost a little ground to sterling and the euro.
Gold prices took a breather on Friday after having their best day in seven months the previous day. Spot gold dropped 1.6% to $1,766.82 an ounce, and U.S. gold futures fell 1.67% to $1,766.70 an ounce.
The return of optimism will be tested by next week’s anticipated weaker growth data from China, and the impact of strengthening oil prices on consumers going into the winter months, said Mike Hewson, chief markets analyst at CMC Markets.
Indeed, China’s energy crisis deepened on Friday with coal prices hitting a record high.
European car registrations slumped by more than a quarter in September, and Toyota Motor Corp said it would cut global output in November as chip shortages and supply chain problems continued to dog the sector.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 1.35%, rising 2.1% for the week in its best weekly performance since late June, while Japan’s Nikkei surged 1.81%, led by tech stocks.
Analysts largely attributed the gains in Asia to the U.S. rally.
Chinese shares rose more cautiously than elsewhere with blue chips up 0.38% ahead of next week’s growth figures.
A Chinese central bank official said on Friday that the spillover effect of China Evergrande Group’s debt problems on the banking system is controllable, in rare official remarks on the liquidity crisis at China’s No. 2 developer that has roiled markets.
Bitcoin hit a six-month high of $61,895.05 on Friday, approaching the record hit in April, as traders became increasingly confident U.S. regulators would approve the launch of an exchange-traded fund based on its futures contracts.
Bitcoin on the rise https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/movanjqkapa/bitcoin.PNG
(Reporting by Huw Jones, additional reporting by Alun John; Editing by Kirsten Donovan, Will Dunham, Steve Orlofsky and Susan Fenton)
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Ethereum, Litecoin, and Ripple’s XRP – Daily Tech Analysis – October 16th, 2021
• Crude Oil Weekly Price Forecast – Crude Oil Markets Continue to Look Very Bullish || World stocks notch best day in 5 months; oil, govt bond yields up: By Koh Gui Qing NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks surged globally on Friday in their best day in five months as strong U.S. corporate earnings reports fueled optimism about the economy, though three-year-high oil prices kept inflation risks alive and lifted government bond yields. U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc was the latest on Wall Street to trounce market expectations when it reported a 66% surge in third-quarter profit, thanks to a record wave of investment banking activity. Though some analysts warned investors against complacency so early in the earnings season, especially given current constraints in the supply chain, U.S. stocks joined Friday’s rally in global equities. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.1% in its best weekly performance since June 25. The S&P 500 climbed 0.75% to notch its best week in 2-1/2 months, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.5%. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.74% and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.86%, the biggest daily rise since May 14. “We are clearly off to a good start of the third-quarter earnings season, but have miles to go before we sleep,” said Arthur Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities Corp. Hogan noted that only 35 of the S&P 500 companies have reported their earnings. Unperturbed by news of a fatal stabbing of a British lawmaker on Friday, Britain’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.37% to hit a near 20-month high. The UK blue-chip index has now recovered all ground lost since the coronavirus pandemic began in March last year. Concerns that soaring oil prices could drag on businesses and the economy also took a backseat for now. Forecasts of an oil supply deficit over the next few months as demand rises on the back of relaxed travel restrictions drove oil prices to a three-year high of above $85 a barrel. U.S. crude recently jumped 1.13% to $82.23 per barrel and Brent added 0.83% to $84.70, after hitting a high of $85.10. Bets that rising prices are likely to prompt central banks to raise interest rates sooner than expected lifted government bond yields, though gains were more pronounced in the United States than in Europe. The yield on two-year U.S. Treasuries, which reflect short-term rate expectations, zoomed up to a near 19-month-high 0.3949%, from Thursday’s 0.354%. Benchmark 10-year Treasury yield also rose to 1.5738%, from Thursday’s 1.519%. In Europe, 10-year Bund yields slipped after registering seven straight weeks of gains on signs of rising inflationary pressure and robust economic growth. The dollar, bolstered by bets that quickening inflation could prompt the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates sooner than expected, touched a three-year high against the yen, which is usually sensitive to rate differentials. One dollar bought as much as 114.46 yen, the most since October 2018. Story continues The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of other currencies, was lower on the day, however, slipping 0.104%, and set for its first weekly decline versus major peers since the start of last month, having lost a little ground to sterling and the euro. Gold prices took a breather on Friday after having their best day in seven months the previous day. Spot gold dropped 1.6% to $1,766.82 an ounce, and U.S. gold futures fell 1.67% to $1,766.70 an ounce. The return of optimism will be tested by next week’s anticipated weaker growth data from China, and the impact of strengthening oil prices on consumers going into the winter months, said Mike Hewson, chief markets analyst at CMC Markets. Indeed, China’s energy crisis deepened on Friday with coal prices hitting a record high. European car registrations slumped by more than a quarter in September, and Toyota Motor Corp said it would cut global output in November as chip shortages and supply chain problems continued to dog the sector. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 1.35%, rising 2.1% for the week in its best weekly performance since late June, while Japan’s Nikkei surged 1.81%, led by tech stocks. Analysts largely attributed the gains in Asia to the U.S. rally. Chinese shares rose more cautiously than elsewhere with blue chips up 0.38% ahead of next week’s growth figures. A Chinese central bank official said on Friday that the spillover effect of China Evergrande Group’s debt problems on the banking system is controllable, in rare official remarks on the liquidity crisis at China’s No. 2 developer that has roiled markets. Bitcoin hit a six-month high of $61,895.05 on Friday, approaching the record hit in April, as traders became increasingly confident U.S. regulators would approve the launch of an exchange-traded fund based on its futures contracts. Bitcoin on the rise https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/movanjqkapa/bitcoin.PNG (Reporting by Huw Jones, additional reporting by Alun John; Editing by Kirsten Donovan, Will Dunham, Steve Orlofsky and Susan Fenton) This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: USD/CAD: Loonie Snaps Three-Day Winning Streak But Set to End Week Strong Gold Weekly Price Forecast – Gold Markets Give Up Early Gains Silver Bearish Again After Rallying Against The Greenback On Thursday Virgin Galactic Delays Spaceflight Until 2022, Stock Price plunges Ethereum, Litecoin, and Ripple’s XRP – Daily Tech Analysis – October 16th, 2021 Crude Oil Weekly Price Forecast – Crude Oil Markets Continue to Look Very Bullish View comments || Jack Dorsey’s Square Considers Building a Bitcoin Mining System: (Bloomberg) -- Jack Dorsey said Friday that Square Inc. is considering building a Bitcoin mining system that would be based on “custom silicon and open source for individuals and businesses worldwide.”
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Dorsey said in a thread on Twitter that the company would follow a hardware wallet model and “build in the open in collaboration with the community.”
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61553.62, 62026.08, 64261.99, 65992.84, 62210.17, 60692.27, 61393.62, 60930.84, 63039.82, 60363.79
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 1063.07, 994.38, 988.67, 1004.45, 999.18, 990.64, 1004.55, 1007.48, 1027.44, 1046.21, 1054.42, 1047.87, 1079.98, 1115.30, 1117.44, 1166.72, 1173.68, 1143.84, 1165.20, 1179.97, 1179.97, 1222.50, 1251.01, 1274.99, 1255.15, 1267.12, 1272.83, 1223.54, 1150.00, 1188.49, 1116.72, 1175.83, 1221.38, 1231.92, 1240.00, 1249.61, 1187.81, 1100.23, 973.82, 1036.74, 1054.23, 1120.54, 1049.14, 1038.59, 937.52, 972.78, 966.72, 1045.77, 1047.15, 1039.97, 1026.43, 1071.79, 1080.50, 1102.17, 1143.81, 1133.25, 1124.78, 1182.68, 1176.90, 1175.95, 1187.87, 1187.13, 1205.01, 1200.37, 1169.28, 1167.54, 1172.52, 1182.94, 1193.91, 1211.67, 1210.29, 1229.08, 1222.05, 1231.71, 1207.21, 1250.15, 1265.49, 1281.08, 1317.73, 1316.48, 1321.79, 1347.89, 1421.60, 1452.82, 1490.09, 1537.67, 1555.45, 1578.80, 1596.71, 1723.35.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2017-05-08]
Volume: 1340320000, RSI (14-day): 92.06, 50-day EMA: 1282.91, 200-day EMA: 1023.97
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1225.30, Gold RSI: 32.93
Oil Price: 46.43, Oil RSI: 32.58
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
A Wall Street bear warns 'bad things are about to happen,' and a recession is on the way: Investor David Tice is going deeper into bear territory, predicting that the economy is months away from a deep correction that will send stocks down by as much as 50 percent.
Tice is known for his tenure as manager of the Prudent Bear Fund. He sold the fund, which depends on market pullbacks for profits, to Federated Investors just as the financial crisis was unfolding in 2008.
Since the acquisition, he's been involved in private equity, film producing and charities. But he's planning his emergence from hibernation to capitalize on the potential downturn.
"The market has tended to go down about every seven years. It went down in 1987, 1994, 2001 and 2008," Tice told CNBC's "Trading Nation" on Friday. "During these periods after the declines, it rallies like crazy. But now bad things are about to happen again."
He sold his bear fund(NASDAQ: BEARX)when it had $1.2 billion in assets under management. According to Morningstar, it has just $254.7 million right now under Federated's leadership. CNBC reached out to Federated for a comment.
The steep losses could just be a stark reminder of the nature of the stock market rebound. The S&P 500(INDEX: .SPX)Index rebounded 92 percent since the financial crisis hit in September 2008.
"The catalyst is we're 93 months into an economic recovery. We have the [Federal Reserve] starting to tighten. We have banks actually starting to tighten," he said. Tice pointed out the economy is not doing very well, with the gross domestic product growing by an anemic 0.7 percent in the first quarter.
Tice's timing in selling the Prudent Bear Fund may have been pretty good, but his calls on a pullback haven't materialized.
He's calling for a 30 to 50 percent S&P pullback over the next six to 10 months. He also made that prediction in 2012 and 2014. It never happened.
"The bears are always early. I've certainly always been early," said Tice. "Policymakers end up doing what they think is right in order to kick the can down the road. However, now we have so many issues."
If there is a correction, Tice says there are two protection plays investors should consider. Gold, which is down more than 6 percent over the past three years, is one of them.
"You should own gold(Exchange: @GC.1.S)stocks... They're still priced very, very well compared to the bullion," he said.
Tice says bitcoin(Exchange: BTC=-USS)makes a lot of sense, too. Unlike the bearish activity in gold, bitcoin has soared 253 percent since 2014.
"It's been looked on as a fraud, as a fad, etc.," added Tice. "It truly is a competitor to debased currency. And it makes a lot of sense just from a transactional basis."
Also From CNBC
WatchThe ProfitonYahoo View, available now oniOSandAndroid.
More From CNBC || A Wall Street bear warns 'bad things are about to happen,' and a recession is on the way: Investor David Tice is going deeper into bear territory, predicting that the economy is months away from a deep correction that will send stocks down by as much as 50 percent. Tice is known for his tenure as manager of the Prudent Bear Fund. He sold the fund, which depends on market pullbacks for profits, to Federated Investors just as the financial crisis was unfolding in 2008. Since the acquisition, he's been involved in private equity, film producing and charities. But he's planning his emergence from hibernation to capitalize on the potential downturn. "The market has tended to go down about every seven years. It went down in 1987, 1994, 2001 and 2008," Tice told CNBC's " Trading Nation " on Friday. "During these periods after the declines, it rallies like crazy. But now bad things are about to happen again." He sold his bear fund (NASDAQ: BEARX) when it had $1.2 billion in assets under management. According to Morningstar, it has just $254.7 million right now under Federated's leadership. CNBC reached out to Federated for a comment. The steep losses could just be a stark reminder of the nature of the stock market rebound. The S&P 500 (INDEX: .SPX) Index rebounded 92 percent since the financial crisis hit in September 2008. "The catalyst is we're 93 months into an economic recovery. We have the [Federal Reserve] starting to tighten. We have banks actually starting to tighten," he said. Tice pointed out the economy is not doing very well, with the gross domestic product growing by an anemic 0.7 percent in the first quarter. 'The bears are always early'—but they're not always right Tice's timing in selling the Prudent Bear Fund may have been pretty good, but his calls on a pullback haven't materialized. He's calling for a 30 to 50 percent S&P pullback over the next six to 10 months. He also made that prediction in 2012 and 2014. It never happened. Story continues "The bears are always early. I've certainly always been early," said Tice. "Policymakers end up doing what they think is right in order to kick the can down the road. However, now we have so many issues." If there is a correction, Tice says there are two protection plays investors should consider. Gold, which is down more than 6 percent over the past three years, is one of them. "You should own gold (Exchange: @GC.1.S) stocks... They're still priced very, very well compared to the bullion," he said. Tice says bitcoin (Exchange: BTC=-USS) makes a lot of sense, too. Unlike the bearish activity in gold, bitcoin has soared 253 percent since 2014. "It's been looked on as a fraud, as a fad, etc.," added Tice. "It truly is a competitor to debased currency. And it makes a lot of sense just from a transactional basis." Also From CNBC Watch The Profit on Yahoo View , available now on iOS and Android . More From CNBC || Ethereum Is The Next Big Thing In Cryptocurrency: The cryptocurrency ether, which hails from the open source blockchain network Ethereum, is now valued at over $100 per token for the first time since the Ethereum platform went live in the summer of 2015 . Much like the fellow cryptocurrency bitcoin, the market value of ether has surged upwards over the past few weeks. Coindesk reported ethers value skyrocketed 900 percent so far this year. The New York Department of Fiscal Services has already approved Ethereum trading and ether tokens are officially a regulated currency. Ethereum has also attracted investment from major corporations like Microsoft and JPMorgan Chase , two of the 30 companies that now make up the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance . Yet the new blockchain technology is still largely shrouded in mystery. Read: UN Using Blockchain Technology To Help Refugees, Fight World Hunger So International Business Times sat down with Jutta Steiner, founder and COO of Parity Technologies , a blockchain startup that developed an Ethereum network browser. Parity Technologies is one of the companies behind the United Nations first large-scale Ethereum test , a humanitarian aid project at refugee camps in Jordan. Together with Steiner, weve put together a list of three things you need to know about this up and coming cryptocurrency. 1. Ethereum is the worlds second most popular cryptocurrency. Ether tokens are the second most popular currency for blockchain transactions. According to a recent study by Cambridge University , the first two months of 2017 saw more than 47,790 daily transactions on the Ethereum network. The study revealed that Bitcoin is still king, supported by 98 percent of cryptocurrency exchange networks and vendors, compared to 33 percent that accommodate ether tokens. However, ether tokens are gaining traction at a much faster rate than bitcoin. The number of Ethereum transactions has more than doubled since last year. 2. Although Ethereum has its own coins, Bitcoin exchanges still sell ether tokens. Story continues Bitcoin exchanges like Kraken, Bitfinex, Coinbase and Gemini, all allow ether trading and some even let users trade the tokens for U.S. dollars, CoinDesk reported . These days its easier to go shopping with bitcoin than it is with ether tokens . But Ethereum and Bitcoin arent necessarily competitors. They are more like cousins. They generally use the same technology for different purposes. Rather than competing with Bitcoin like many other cryptocurrencies, Ethereum complements it, Entrepreneur magazine explained. While the Bitcoin blockchain network tracks ownership of its own currency...People use Ethereum to create custom [but trustworthy] crowdfunding platforms, autonomous online organizations and even their own cryptocurrencies. 3. Ethereum has the potential to be much more than just digital money. Ethereum has, from my perspective, much more vibrant developer community that thinks about different usages and explores them, Steiner told IBT. For example, rather than needing Airbnb or Uber to facilitate exchanges between individuals, Ethereum could be used to disrupt the sharing economy, which critics see as exploitive . In the future, the ether blockchain network could connect users directly with providers. Right now, these middleman apps charge the provider a fee and collect the users data for their own corporate interests. Read: Bitcoin Price Reaches All-Time High, Continues Upward Trend In 2017 Ethereum processes user's transactions on these applications, Steiner explained. Parity's browser can be used to explore the new generations of Uber or Airbnb networks that are 100 percent in the hand of their users, where no intermediary can extract large fees just by sitting in the center. The Ethereum community is still relatively small. Steiner estimates user's number in the tens of thousands, compared to 2.9 to 5.8 million cryptocurrency users worldwide, according to the Cambridge study. But since the same study estimates around 1,875 people now work full-time in the cryptocurrency industry, many of which are Ethereum developers, that ratio is expected to change quite quickly. I really believe we've reached a tipping point, Steiner said. Maybe not yet in day to day adoption, but definitely in awareness, which I'm sure will turn into adoption in the end. Related Articles Russia Announces Plan To Legalize Cryptocurrency Cryptocurrency Is Coming To A Las Vegas Strip Club || Ethereum Is The Next Big Thing In Cryptocurrency: The cryptocurrency ether, which hails from the open source blockchain network Ethereum, is now valued at over $100 per token for the first time since the Ethereum platform went live in the summer of 2015 . Much like the fellow cryptocurrency bitcoin, the market value of ether has surged upwards over the past few weeks. Coindesk reported ethers value skyrocketed 900 percent so far this year. The New York Department of Fiscal Services has already approved Ethereum trading and ether tokens are officially a regulated currency. Ethereum has also attracted investment from major corporations like Microsoft and JPMorgan Chase , two of the 30 companies that now make up the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance . Yet the new blockchain technology is still largely shrouded in mystery. Read: UN Using Blockchain Technology To Help Refugees, Fight World Hunger So International Business Times sat down with Jutta Steiner, founder and COO of Parity Technologies , a blockchain startup that developed an Ethereum network browser. Parity Technologies is one of the companies behind the United Nations first large-scale Ethereum test , a humanitarian aid project at refugee camps in Jordan. Together with Steiner, weve put together a list of three things you need to know about this up and coming cryptocurrency. 1. Ethereum is the worlds second most popular cryptocurrency. Ether tokens are the second most popular currency for blockchain transactions. According to a recent study by Cambridge University , the first two months of 2017 saw more than 47,790 daily transactions on the Ethereum network. The study revealed that Bitcoin is still king, supported by 98 percent of cryptocurrency exchange networks and vendors, compared to 33 percent that accommodate ether tokens. However, ether tokens are gaining traction at a much faster rate than bitcoin. The number of Ethereum transactions has more than doubled since last year. 2. Although Ethereum has its own coins, Bitcoin exchanges still sell ether tokens. Story continues Bitcoin exchanges like Kraken, Bitfinex, Coinbase and Gemini, all allow ether trading and some even let users trade the tokens for U.S. dollars, CoinDesk reported . These days its easier to go shopping with bitcoin than it is with ether tokens . But Ethereum and Bitcoin arent necessarily competitors. They are more like cousins. They generally use the same technology for different purposes. Rather than competing with Bitcoin like many other cryptocurrencies, Ethereum complements it, Entrepreneur magazine explained. While the Bitcoin blockchain network tracks ownership of its own currency...People use Ethereum to create custom [but trustworthy] crowdfunding platforms, autonomous online organizations and even their own cryptocurrencies. 3. Ethereum has the potential to be much more than just digital money. Ethereum has, from my perspective, much more vibrant developer community that thinks about different usages and explores them, Steiner told IBT. For example, rather than needing Airbnb or Uber to facilitate exchanges between individuals, Ethereum could be used to disrupt the sharing economy, which critics see as exploitive . In the future, the ether blockchain network could connect users directly with providers. Right now, these middleman apps charge the provider a fee and collect the users data for their own corporate interests. Read: Bitcoin Price Reaches All-Time High, Continues Upward Trend In 2017 Ethereum processes user's transactions on these applications, Steiner explained. Parity's browser can be used to explore the new generations of Uber or Airbnb networks that are 100 percent in the hand of their users, where no intermediary can extract large fees just by sitting in the center. The Ethereum community is still relatively small. Steiner estimates user's number in the tens of thousands, compared to 2.9 to 5.8 million cryptocurrency users worldwide, according to the Cambridge study. But since the same study estimates around 1,875 people now work full-time in the cryptocurrency industry, many of which are Ethereum developers, that ratio is expected to change quite quickly. I really believe we've reached a tipping point, Steiner said. Maybe not yet in day to day adoption, but definitely in awareness, which I'm sure will turn into adoption in the end. Related Articles Russia Announces Plan To Legalize Cryptocurrency Cryptocurrency Is Coming To A Las Vegas Strip Club || Money is pouring in on Macron to win the French election: Centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen are set to square off in the second round of the French Presidential election this Sunday.
People betting on the outcome — on sports-betting websites and in currency and bond markets — seem to be pretty sure Macron will win.
Macron, who saw his lead in apoll conducted by Elableextend to 62% to Le Pen's 38%, has attracted about 76% of all bets, totaling $1.1 million, according toSportsbet.com.au. A winning bet on Macron will pay out $1.11 for every $1 wagered. Previously those bets were paying out $1.14.
Of course people were similarly sure that a pro-Europe vote in the UK, just before the country chose instead to exit the union, and pollsters were predicting President Donald Trump would lose the US election. In this case, those willing to bet against the grain would get a $7 payout for every $1 wagered on a Le Pen victory at Sportsbet.com.
It's not just the polls and betting markets pointing to a Macron win. The spread between the French 10-year yield and the German 10-year yield is narrowing, a sign that traders believe Macron will win and France will stay on the euro.
(Business Insider/Andy Kiersz, data from Bloomberg)
During her campaign, Le Pen said she would ask European leaders and the European Central Bank toreplace the eurowith a basket of new national currencies, in effect breaking up the single currency.
"The euro is not a currency,"Le Pen said in February. "It is a political weapon to force countries to implement the policies decided by the [European Union] and keep them on a leash.
Currency traders are also seemingly on board with a Macron win. The euro is near 1.0970 on Friday, its highest level in six months.
More From Business Insider
• One of the biggest pillars of the stock bull market is crumbling
• Bitcoin is closing in on $1,500
• Stock market shorts are getting their faces ripped off || Money is pouring in on Macron to win the French election: Centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen are set to square off in the second round of the French Presidential election this Sunday. People betting on the outcome — on sports-betting websites and in currency and bond markets — seem to be pretty sure Macron will win. Macron, who saw his lead in a poll conducted by Elable extend to 62% to Le Pen's 38%, has attracted about 76% of all bets, totaling $1.1 million, according to Sportsbet.com.au . A winning bet on Macron will pay out $1.11 for every $1 wagered. Previously those bets were paying out $1.14. Of course people were similarly sure that a pro-Europe vote in the UK, just before the country chose instead to exit the union, and pollsters were predicting President Donald Trump would lose the US election. In this case, those willing to bet against the grain would get a $7 payout for every $1 wagered on a Le Pen victory at Sportsbet.com. It's not just the polls and betting markets pointing to a Macron win. The spread between the French 10-year yield and the German 10-year yield is narrowing, a sign that traders believe Macron will win and France will stay on the euro. france germany spread COTD (Business Insider/Andy Kiersz, data from Bloomberg) During her campaign, Le Pen said she would ask European leaders and the European Central Bank to replace the euro with a basket of new national currencies, in effect breaking up the single currency. "The euro is not a currency," Le Pen said in February . "It is a political weapon to force countries to implement the policies decided by the [European Union] and keep them on a leash. Currency traders are also seemingly on board with a Macron win. The euro is near 1.0970 on Friday, its highest level in six months. More From Business Insider One of the biggest pillars of the stock bull market is crumbling Bitcoin is closing in on $1,500 Stock market shorts are getting their faces ripped off || How to win the World's Greatest Scavenger Hunt: GISHWHES stands for theGreatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen. Teams of 15 have one week to complete a list of 200 difficult, charitable, or hilarious tasks. They prove they’ve completed each item by submitting a photo or video of it; their $20 entry fees go to a charity, and the winning team gets a trip to an exotic location.
This is Part 4 of our five-part series.
Part 1•Part 2•Part 3• Part 4 •Part 5
In the early years of the world’s largest scavenger hunt, when you signed up to enter, you’d have to answer only one question: Have you put together your own team of 15 people? Or would you like us to add you to a team?
But sometimes, the team-building system failed—because people came in with different expectations.
Florida State University students Nat Jones and Kira Sullivan, for example, had a rough ride during their first years competing. “In our first years of the hunt, we were on teams that weren’t as competitive as the one we’re on now [Team Raised from Perdition],” Kira says.
“We were in it to win it, but no one else on our team was,” Nat adds. “They saw us as too competitive: ‘Why are you guys so obsessed with GISHWHES?’”
(Lots of people join just for the hilarity of it, without any intention of completing all 175 items. Some, for example, choose to execute only a few, but in spectacular fashion. GISHWHES offers two showcases for such masterpieces: an onlineHall of Fame, and a hardbound coffee-table book that’s published after each year’s hunt.)
That’s why, nowadays, when you sign up to enter,the siteasks which kind of team you’re interested in. Do you intend to play competitively, or are you joining just for fun?
If you do intend to enter GISHWHES competitively, Team Raised from Perdition—a runner-up last year, and the team we’ve been following in this miniseries—offers some tips.
• “Fill the team with a variety of backgrounds and experiences. Spend some time bonding before the hunt.” —Suzanne Simpson
• “You can’t win if everyone’s not 100% committed. I’m talking, no work for the whole week, no school for the whole week, no anything but GISHWHES for the whole week.” —Nina Mostepan, Co-Captain
• “Another really essential skill to have in GISHWHES is the ability to not sleep for long periods of time. This year, I went for three and a half days on less than four hours of sleep.” —Christine Gervais
• “A lot of teams struggle with keeping communications going. We talk to our team all the time [using a system like Slack or Google Hangouts]. Even all year long, we talk to them. We do a lot of practices, too.” —Shiane Gaylie
• “Strategize in advance. You can look at past years’ item lists, and items created by top teams, for inspiration.” —Suzanne Simpson
• “A good strategy is to have more than one person in a town. You have to have someone modeling, and someone taking the pictures. And someone to bounce ideas off of, or talk in the car on the way to the place you’re going to.” —Nat Jones
• “Recruit a friend or family. Gishing is very social, so it’s always more fun if you have someone to do it with.” —Kira Sullivan
• “We have a spreadsheet [a Google Docs sheet] full of all our items, and we claim them on the spreadsheet, so that everyone on the team knows who’s doing what.” —Shiane Gaylie
• “We make up a laminated list of the items. So when we’re talking to someone about helping us with one of the challenges, we start by handing them the list, show them which item we need help with. It has explanations of everything that’s going on. A lot of the time, they’re like, ‘Hold on, I need five minutes to read this.’ (Laminated versus not laminated makes a miraculous difference. You don’t want to hand someone a piece of paper that’s floppy and has stains on it.)”—Rob Fitz-James
• “We’re fortunate that we have a good camera, but some of our team members just use their phones. If you pay attention to composition and lighting, the results can be just as good.” —Kira Sullivan
So far, for Team Raised from Perdition, it looks like those tips are paying off; as GISHWHES week draws to a close, only three of the 175 tasks seem unattainable. Unfortunately, one of them is worth a lot of points:
#127.Do the “airplane” with an astronaut—you know, like your parents used to? Lie on your back with your feet in the air while an astronaut lies face-down, hips on your feet, hands in yours, pretending to be flying. This must be a real, official astronaut or cosmonaut, wearing appropriate flight garb.
NASA’s official response to team requests for an astronaut for this purpose is, of course, “Um, no thanks.”
(Overall, though, NASA has a good relationship with GISHWHES. “One year, we put an item in the hunt that was to get one of the eight astronauts on the space station Mir to hold up a piece of paper that said ‘GISHWHES’ and your team name written on it,” says hunt creator Misha Collins. “Which resulted in all of the people on the space station having their social-media feeds bombarded. And so NASA posted, ‘Please leave our astronauts alone. They’re doing serious work.’ So the next year, I put an item into the hunt that read, ‘Last year, NASA asked us to leave them alone. We know that they’ve been kicking themselves all year for this. So here’s your second chance. Get ‘GISHWHES’ written in space.” NASA ended up naming a mountain on Mars ‘GISHWHES,’ maybe just to shut everybody up.”)
Things are going more smoothly for item 41:
#41.Treat a Vermont dairy cow to the most pampered milking session in human/bovine history. At least three attendants must milk the cow. One person must be feeding her clover by hand, as another milks her wearing satin gloves, as another massages her gently. The attendants must be dressed in semi-formal attire. The milking must take place in a well-appointed living room.
By a stroke of good luck, Tia’s step-grandmother Janet Watton lives in Vermont—next door to a dairy farm. By a stroke of bad luck, the farmer informs the team that you can’t bring a cow indoors. Cows don’t respond well to new environments, and even Paula Deen, the sweet-natured cow he has in mind, might balk—or, worse, rampage.
Janet devises a plan B: In her small barn, there’s a space that she can dress up tolooklike a living room. She sheetrocks the walls with posterboard, hangs curtains and a chandelier, brings in furniture, books, flowers, paintings. It’s not an actual living room, but it’s close enough for GISHWHES work.
On the last day of the hunt, the attendants, including a violinist, arrive in formal wear; the farmer sets up to do the milking; and Paula Deen takes her place. Distracted by the bucket of delicious fresh-picked clover, she performs like a champ as the camera rolls. “She didn’t even relieve herself,” the farmer marvels.
The cow is in the can; now all the team needs is an astronaut.
They have six hours left.
Part 1•Part 2•Part 3• Part 4 •Part 5
More from David Pogue:
Inside the World’s Greatest Scavenger Hunt: Part I
Inside the World’s Greatest Scavenger Hunt: Part 2
Insider the World’s Greatest Scavenger Hunt: Part 3
The David Pogue Review: Windows 10 Creators Update
Now I get it: Bitcoin
David Pogue tested 47 pill-reminder apps to find the best one
David Pogue’s search for the world’s best air-travel app
The little-known iPhone feature that lets blind people see with their fingers
David Pogue, tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, welcomes nontoxic comments in the comments section below. On the web, he’sdavidpogue.com. On Twitter, he’s@pogue. On email, he’s [email protected]. You canread all his articles here, or you can sign up toget his columns by email. || Why Startups Are Trading IPOs for ICOs: This article first appeared in Term Sheet, Fortune’s newsletter on deals and dealmakers.Sign up here.
Last week a very confusing press release crossed my radar. It read:
“The Argon Group is working on the first secondary market raise by ICO. The company, Storj had one of the most successful ICOs several years ago, returning ~20x to investors in that round.”
Those two sentences apparently make perfect sense to people who know about ICOs, which stands for Initial Coin Offerings.
ICOs are the hot new thing in the blockchain community, I’m told. They are an alternative to crowdfunding, and have the potential to transform the way companies capitalize themselves. They are also of dubious legal status.
As such, I have recruited my colleague Robert Hackett to crypto-spain what an ICO is and why investors should care.
Term Sheet: Bob, What is an ICO?
Hackett: Can we do a little later in the day? I’m reporting on thishack of Medium.
Term Sheet: Fine.
[Waits three hours, then 24 hours, then four days.]
Term Sheet: Bob, what is an ICO?
BH: It’s basically a way for blockchain startups to raise money outside the traditional VC world.
TS: Only blockchain startups?
BH: Indeed. It’s sort of like an IPO, except for early stage blockchain projects. It’s effectively a Kickstarter campaign that uses blockchain-based “tokens” (aka app coins, cryptocurrencies, digital assets) to raise money.
TS: So startups raise tokens. How does that translate to money they can use to write paychecks and buy office snacks?
BH: Let’s try the socratic method. What is money, Erin?
TS: Money is the system societies use to assign value and pay for things, Bob.
BH: So, cryptocurrencies are a kind of money, so long as people ascribe value to them and use them to pay for things. The main benefit is the blockchain (aka distributed ledger) on which they’re based. Blockchains let you transact without needing the blessing of a third party or banker middleman. (Picture Uncle Pennybags.)
Bitcoin was the first successful implementation of a blockchain, and it’s optimized almost entirely for transferring value securely over the Internet. People like to call it “digital gold.” Then came another blockchain called Ethereum, which is a more flexible twist that aims to create a whole decentralized network on top of which people can build their own decentralized apps and tokens.
TS: And the paychecks and office snacks?
BH: People can get paid in ether and then cash out into fiat currency whenever they fancy (assuming the market keeps up).
TS: And if the market tanks...? This is a huge risk for the companies using it, right? Startups are already risky enough. Now they have to worry about wild fluctuations in currency on top of everything else.
BH: Some companies are justifying the creation of their own tokens as an insulator against the price movements of bitcoin and ether. How that fares in practice remains to be seen.
TS: So, why would a company want its stock to be made up of cryptocurrency rather than real money currency?
BH:“Real” money? HAVE I TAUGHT YOU NOTHING.
TS: Okay! Why would a company want its stock to be made up of cryptocurrency rather than fiat currency?
BH: This gets to the heart of the philosophy behind blockchains. From a founder’s perspective, you might like the idea of setting your own terms-or rather, letting the network, the community of users, set its own terms. Why give equity stakes to a small cohort of moneymen when instead you can let the people who will be using the network, the ones creating the value, have stakes in the project? This way, every participant is incentivized-especially, those who have bought in early-to increase the project’s value.
TS: Sure...
BH: What you’ve identified as a liability (currency fluctuations), others might view as an advantage. The crypto markets are highly liquid. No more waiting, waiting, waiting for an IPO or other exit to recoup funds. People can pull out money whenever they wish (assuming they haven’t agreed to some lockup period in the terms of a token sale). So the price tends to move, a lot. Speculators are having a field day while the world figures out how to price these weird assets. In the meantime, if you’re a company or “investor” you can cash out of your ether or bitcoin or whatever reserves and hold fiat whenever you like. Or you can play the game and take a gamble.
TS: And who can invest? Anyone?
BH: Ya, anyone. It’s a crowdsale!
TS: How would I buy tokens of, say, Storj, the company that recently held a secondary sale?
BH: You would go to an online exchange where it’s traded and make your purchase.
TS: It sounds like I’m just buying equity in a company in a different currency.
BH: Well, equity is one way to think about it. It’s notreallyan equity stake (although it sort of operates that way in practice). This is important for legal reasons! The SEC would not be pleased if startups were selling unregistered securities. Another way of conceiving of tokens is as licenses that give people the ability to use a particular application, or participate in a particular network.
TS: That gets to my biggest question. Which is, how is this legal?
BH: _()_/ #yolo
TS: Let me ask another way. Is some unsuspecting person who doesn’t know what they’re doing going to get fleeced by this, thus leading to an outrage followed by overly onerous regulation?
BH: That’s the billion bitcoin question.
TS: Are lots of companies using ICOs?
BH: One of the first projects to host an ICO was Mastercoin in 2013 (called OMNI since 2015). Ethereum had a particularly successful token sale in 2014, raising ~$18 million in bitcoin-although the project lost millions when the price of bitcoin crashed that year. The DAO, a decentralized venture capital firm built atop the ethereum network, became infamous after it raised something like $160 million in the summer of 2016 and soon after got hacked to the tune of $50 million. The number of token sales has been ticking up since the latter half of last year. Smith & Crown, crypto-market research firm, maintains a curated list of upcoming and recent token sales thatyou can check out here.
TS: Does this have ramifications outside the cryptocurrency world? Why should investors care?
BH: In my world, this is a big thing, yes. It’s how the most exciting blockchain projects are getting funded. Some VC firms, like Andreessen Horowitz and Union Square Ventures, have already gotten involved by funding cryptocurrency hedge funds to buy up tokens when they go on sale. A lot of crypto boosters compare the present time to the early days of the internet. There will be gold and there will be ghost towns. If you buy into the church of blockchain, then you’ll want to pay attention.
Have more cryptocurrency questions or observations?Email Boband Iand we will attempt to answer in a follow-up column.
This article was originally published on FORTUNE.com || Why Startups Are Trading IPOs for ICOs: This article first appeared in Term Sheet, Fortune’s newsletter on deals and dealmakers. Sign up here . Last week a very confusing press release crossed my radar. It read: “The Argon Group is working on the first secondary market raise by ICO. The company, Storj had one of the most successful ICOs several years ago, returning ~20x to investors in that round.” Those two sentences apparently make perfect sense to people who know about ICOs, which stands for Initial Coin Offerings. ICOs are the hot new thing in the blockchain community, I’m told. They are an alternative to crowdfunding, and have the potential to transform the way companies capitalize themselves. They are also of dubious legal status. As such, I have recruited my colleague Robert Hackett to crypto-spain what an ICO is and why investors should care. Term Sheet: Bob, What is an ICO? Hackett: Can we do a little later in the day? I’m reporting on this hack of Medium . Term Sheet: Fine. [Waits three hours, then 24 hours, then four days.] Term Sheet: Bob, what is an ICO? BH: It’s basically a way for blockchain startups to raise money outside the traditional VC world. TS: Only blockchain startups? BH: Indeed. It’s sort of like an IPO, except for early stage blockchain projects. It’s effectively a Kickstarter campaign that uses blockchain-based “tokens” (aka app coins, cryptocurrencies, digital assets) to raise money. TS: So startups raise tokens. How does that translate to money they can use to write paychecks and buy office snacks? BH: Let’s try the socratic method. What is money, Erin? TS: Money is the system societies use to assign value and pay for things, Bob. BH: So, cryptocurrencies are a kind of money, so long as people ascribe value to them and use them to pay for things. The main benefit is the blockchain (aka distributed ledger) on which they’re based. Blockchains let you transact without needing the blessing of a third party or banker middleman. (Picture Uncle Pennybags.) Story continues Bitcoin was the first successful implementation of a blockchain, and it’s optimized almost entirely for transferring value securely over the Internet. People like to call it “digital gold.” Then came another blockchain called Ethereum, which is a more flexible twist that aims to create a whole decentralized network on top of which people can build their own decentralized apps and tokens. TS: And the paychecks and office snacks? BH: People can get paid in ether and then cash out into fiat currency whenever they fancy (assuming the market keeps up). TS: And if the market tanks...? This is a huge risk for the companies using it, right? Startups are already risky enough. Now they have to worry about wild fluctuations in currency on top of everything else. BH: Some companies are justifying the creation of their own tokens as an insulator against the price movements of bitcoin and ether. How that fares in practice remains to be seen. TS: So, why would a company want its stock to be made up of cryptocurrency rather than real money currency? BH: “Real” money? HAVE I TAUGHT YOU NOTHING. TS: Okay! Why would a company want its stock to be made up of cryptocurrency rather than fiat currency? BH: This gets to the heart of the philosophy behind blockchains. From a founder’s perspective, you might like the idea of setting your own terms-or rather, letting the network, the community of users, set its own terms. Why give equity stakes to a small cohort of moneymen when instead you can let the people who will be using the network, the ones creating the value, have stakes in the project? This way, every participant is incentivized-especially, those who have bought in early-to increase the project’s value. TS: Sure... BH: What you’ve identified as a liability (currency fluctuations), others might view as an advantage. The crypto markets are highly liquid. No more waiting, waiting, waiting for an IPO or other exit to recoup funds. People can pull out money whenever they wish (assuming they haven’t agreed to some lockup period in the terms of a token sale). So the price tends to move, a lot. Speculators are having a field day while the world figures out how to price these weird assets. In the meantime, if you’re a company or “investor” you can cash out of your ether or bitcoin or whatever reserves and hold fiat whenever you like. Or you can play the game and take a gamble. TS: And who can invest? Anyone? BH: Ya, anyone. It’s a crowdsale! TS: How would I buy tokens of, say, Storj, the company that recently held a secondary sale? BH: You would go to an online exchange where it’s traded and make your purchase. TS: It sounds like I’m just buying equity in a company in a different currency. BH: Well, equity is one way to think about it. It’s not really an equity stake (although it sort of operates that way in practice). This is important for legal reasons! The SEC would not be pleased if startups were selling unregistered securities. Another way of conceiving of tokens is as licenses that give people the ability to use a particular application, or participate in a particular network. TS: That gets to my biggest question. Which is, how is this legal? BH: _()_/ #yolo TS: Let me ask another way. Is some unsuspecting person who doesn’t know what they’re doing going to get fleeced by this, thus leading to an outrage followed by overly onerous regulation? BH: That’s the billion bitcoin question. TS: Are lots of companies using ICOs? BH: One of the first projects to host an ICO was Mastercoin in 2013 (called OMNI since 2015). Ethereum had a particularly successful token sale in 2014, raising ~$18 million in bitcoin-although the project lost millions when the price of bitcoin crashed that year. The DAO, a decentralized venture capital firm built atop the ethereum network, became infamous after it raised something like $160 million in the summer of 2016 and soon after got hacked to the tune of $50 million. The number of token sales has been ticking up since the latter half of last year. Smith & Crown, crypto-market research firm, maintains a curated list of upcoming and recent token sales that you can check out here . TS: Does this have ramifications outside the cryptocurrency world? Why should investors care? BH: In my world, this is a big thing, yes. It’s how the most exciting blockchain projects are getting funded. Some VC firms, like Andreessen Horowitz and Union Square Ventures, have already gotten involved by funding cryptocurrency hedge funds to buy up tokens when they go on sale. A lot of crypto boosters compare the present time to the early days of the internet. There will be gold and there will be ghost towns. If you buy into the church of blockchain, then you’ll want to pay attention. Have more cryptocurrency questions or observations? Email Bob and I and we will attempt to answer in a follow-up column. This article was originally published on FORTUNE.com || 10 things you need to know before the opening bell: (A warden guards Sudan, the last surviving male northern white rhino, at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Laikipia national park, KenyaReuters/Baz Ratner)
Here is what you need to know.
The jobs report is coming.The US economy is expected to have added 190,000 nonfarm jobs in April as the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.6%, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Additionally, average hourly earnings are expected to have held steady at up 2.7% year-over-year. The data will cross the wires at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Oil plunges suddenly.In a matter of 20 minutes, West Texas Intermediate crude oil tumbled 3.6% to a low of $43.76 a barrel. However, it has recovered its losses, and now trades little changed near $45.55.
Bitcoin is swinging violently.The cryptocurrency gained as much as 9% on Thursday, putting in a record high of $1,652 a coin before plunging below $1,500. On Friday, bitcoin trades up 6.4% at $1,598.
The 1st large Chinese-made passenger jet took off on its maiden voyage.The C919 took off from Shanghai Pudong International Airport, making China the fourth jumbo jet producer after the US, Europe, and Russia, Reuters says.
Warren Buffett unloads some of his IBM stock.Buffett sold one-third of Berkshire Hathaway's 81 million shares saying he "revalued it somewhat downward" from six years ago. Berkshire's annual meeting will take place on Saturday, and Business Insider will have full coverage.
ChemChina clinches its $43 billion takeover of Syngenta."At the end of the main offer period on May 4, based on preliminary numbers, around 80.7 percent of shares have been tendered," the companies said in a joint statement. "Subject to confirmation in the definitive notice of interim results scheduled for May 10, the minimum acceptance rate condition of 67 percent of issued Syngenta shares has been met."
Shake Shack same-store sales whiff.The burger chain said sales at stores open at least a year fell 2.5%, missing the 0.2% growth that Wall Street analysts were expecting. Shake Shack shares sank more than 7% in extended trading on Thursday.
Stock markets around the world are lower.Hong Kong's Hang Seng (-0.8%) lagged in Asia and Germany's DAX (-0.3%) trails in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open little changed near 2,391.
Earnings reporting slows down.Cigna, Cognizant, and Fannie Mae are among the names reporting ahead of the opening bell.
Aside from the jobs report, US economic data is light.Consumer credit will be released at 3 p.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is unchanged at 2.35%.
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• 10 things you need to know before the opening bell || 10 things you need to know before the opening bell: The last surviving male northern white rhino (A warden guards Sudan, the last surviving male northern white rhino, at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Laikipia national park, KenyaReuters/Baz Ratner) Here is what you need to know. The jobs report is coming . The US economy is expected to have added 190,000 nonfarm jobs in April as the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.6%, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Additionally, average hourly earnings are expected to have held steady at up 2.7% year-over-year. The data will cross the wires at 8:30 a.m. ET. Oil plunges suddenly . In a matter of 20 minutes, West Texas Intermediate crude oil tumbled 3.6% to a low of $43.76 a barrel. However, it has recovered its losses, and now trades little changed near $45.55. Bitcoin is swinging violently. The cryptocurrency gained as much as 9% on Thursday, putting in a record high of $1,652 a coin before plunging below $1,500. On Friday, bitcoin trades up 6.4% at $1,598. The 1st large Chinese-made passenger jet took off on its maiden voyage . The C919 took off from Shanghai Pudong International Airport, making China the fourth jumbo jet producer after the US, Europe, and Russia, Reuters says. Warren Buffett unloads some of his IBM stock . Buffett sold one-third of Berkshire Hathaway's 81 million shares saying he " revalued it somewhat downward" from six years ago. Berkshire's annual meeting will take place on Saturday, and Business Insider will have full coverage. ChemChina clinches its $43 billion takeover of Syngenta . " At the end of the main offer period on May 4, based on preliminary numbers, around 80.7 percent of shares have been tendered," the companies said in a joint statement. "Subject to confirmation in the definitive notice of interim results scheduled for May 10, the minimum acceptance rate condition of 67 percent of issued Syngenta shares has been met." Shake Shack same-store sales whiff . The burger chain said sales at stores open at least a year fell 2.5%, missing the 0.2% growth that Wall Street analysts were expecting. Shake Shack shares sank more than 7% in extended trading on Thursday. Story continues Stock markets around the world are lower . Hong Kong's Hang Seng (-0.8%) lagged in Asia and Germany's DAX (-0.3%) trails in Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open little changed near 2,391. Earnings reporting slows down. Cigna, Cognizant, and Fannie Mae are among the names reporting ahead of the opening bell. Aside from the jobs report, US economic data is light. Consumer credit will be released at 3 p.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is unchanged at 2.35%. More From Business Insider Watch one of the baddest A-10 pilots ever land after being hit by a missile This upgrade will extend the life of your MacBook Air for years 10 things you need to know before the opening bell || David Pogue: The best service for fast, cheap transcriptions: We, the modern people, are tickled with our phones’ voice-recognition powers. We can ask questions! We can open apps with our voice!
You know who’s not so tickled? Anyone who records other people talking. Our phones are terrible at transcribing voices—converting them to text that we can edit.
I realize that most people don’t care about transcribing audio. But if you’re a reporter, producer, editor, author, YouTuber, filmmaker, student, documentarian, researcher, government agency, doctor, lawyer, or police officer, for example, you mightreallycare. Manual transcription of audio and video files is an excruciating, tedious, soul-sucking exercise, and we’ve doing it pretty much the same way for 50 years.
The world waits for a method that’s fast, cheap, and accurate. We want this:
But you can’t have that.
Until now, there have been only a few ways to convert a recording into text:
• Transcribe it manually.You do the typing yourself as you listen. Hit Play, Stop, Rewind, Play, Stop, Rewind, over and over. That’s accurate and cheap, but not fast. It’s a royal pain, especially if you have several long interviews to do.
• Transcribe it manually, with web assistance.This Chrome extensioncombines an audio player and a text editor, so at least you’re spared some of the back-and-forth between two apps as you type it out yourself. Still tedious.
• Let your phone transcribe it.Yeah, play the recording into your phone, as though you’re speaking to it. The results are terrible. There’s no punctuation, no paragraph breaks, and the result needs so much editing, you could have done the job yourself faster. Fast and cheap, but not accurate. (Same thing for the automatic transcription features of YouTube and Google Docs. The results are generally a mess.)
• Hire a web-based service to do it.Services likeRev.com,Scribie.com,Transcribeme.com, andVoiceBase.comemploy human transcriptionists to type out your audio. Usually, they charge between $1 and $3 per minute of recorded audio or video—more if you want same-day turnaround, and even more if you want the transcriber to add time codes, the names of who’s speaking, and the little “ums” and false starts. Bottom line, you’re looking at $60 to $150 per hour of audio. Accurate, but not fast or cheap.
• Hire a professional service.Professional news channels hire professional transcription services likeTranscript Associates,Audio Transcription Center, orProfessional Transcriptions. You get incredible quality—flawless transcriptions; “ums” and “uhhs” and dashes representing pauses; time codes typed in; the speakers’ names identified. And you get it in a matter of hours. But we’re talking $220 per hour of audio, or more. Accurate and fairly fast, but not what you’d call cheap.
This is a review of a new, fifth approach:Trint.com. (The name, we’re told, is a combo of “transcript” and “interview.”) It lands on a new point in that speed-cost-accuracy continuum by (a) automating the conversion instead of hiring humans, and (b) providing a slick, easy way for you to breeze through the results and correct the errors.
“The idea is to take the very best of automated speech recognition [ASR] and push it as far as it will go, then give the user a simple tool to get those last yards,” Trint founder Jeffrey Kofman told me. “By combining a text editor with an audio/video player, we let you quickly search, verify, and correct the output of our ASR.”
The cost is $15 per hour of video—about a quarter of the cost of even the cheapest human web-based services.
You sign up. You upload your audio or video file. You pay in advance: $15 for an hour of converted audio or video. (If you’re willing to commit to doing a lot of this, the cost comes down to $12 an hour.)
You wait maybe five minutes—an insanely short time—and then it’s done. You open the transcription right there in your browser, looking like this:
Already, what you get is good enough that you can search for words or highlight the good parts.
But while the system correctly detects sentences and adds periods, it adds no other punctuation. It makes no attempt to add commas, for example. So you wind up with phrases like “I went to you know the store and bought peaches plums and pickles.” No question marks, either.
Now you read through it, correcting the errors, adding punctuation and paragraph breaks, and identifying speaker names using a pop-up menu. The video above shows what this process is like.
What’s kind of wonderful is how the audio or video playback is integrated with the editing: Wherever you click your mouse, that bit plays back automatically. There’s no Play, Pause, Rewind cycle here; the system always knows what to play when. (You can turn this playback on or off with a keystroke, and also control the playback speed.)
So how long does this cleanup process work? I tried Trint on seven interviews, and the editing generally wound up equaling the length of the interview. Thirty-minute interview, 30 minutes to clean it up.
That will never fly in the professional world. CBS News won’t be using Trint any time soon. But doing the job yourself would take five to ten times the length of the original recording. And if you hired a professional service, you’d pay four to eight times as much.
(For many people, of course, a full cleanup isn’t necessary; often, the point of transcribing an interview is just to skim it to find the good parts. That’s where Trint really shines. It’s simple to read or search for text in a transcript, highlight the juicy parts, and even play back only the highlighted portions. In that case, you can clean up only those few bits.)
To compare the results, I submitted the same interview recording to Trint, to Rev.com ($1 a minute for 24-hour turnaround), and to a high-end pro service. Here’s what I got back:
There are some bugs left to squash in Trint. For example, copy and paste don’t work in the text editor. (I was editing an interview that contained the wordGISHWHESover and over again, a non-word that Trint never once transcribed correctly. I thought I could just paste it in over and over again, but no joy.) The company explains that if you went nuts, pasting in blobs of text, you’d throw off the software’s underlying links between the audio and the text.
Chrome extensions can trip up Trint, too. Every time I inserted a Return to break up a paragraph, some text would disappear. Turning off all my extensions fixed that.
You should also keep in mind that Trint requires clean, clear audio, in which your subject was miked. You can’t feed it the echoey recording of your kid’s school play, for example, and expect decent results. And, as you’d guess, thick accents dramatically impair the accuracy. (When you post the recording, you specify which accent the speaker has; that helps.)
The company acknowledges that it has some work to do, and says that it has big plans for Trint 2.0 this summer.
In the meantime, Trint is here now. It’s not this—
—but it’s this:
—and that’s a new spot on the time-cost-accuracy spectrum. It’s therefore a welcome new weapon in the fight against the costly, time-consuming, soul-sucking act of transcribing the human voice.
More from David Pogue:
Inside the World’s Greatest Scavenger Hunt: Part I
Inside the World’s Greatest Scavenger Hunt: Part 2
Inside the World’s Greatest Scavenger Hunt, Part 3
The David Pogue Review: Windows 10 Creators Update
Now I get it: Bitcoin
David Pogue tested 47 pill-reminder apps to find the best one
David Pogue’s search for the world’s best air-travel app
The little-known iPhone feature that lets blind people see with their fingers
David Pogue, tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, welcomes nontoxic comments in the comments section below. On the web, he’sdavidpogue.com. On Twitter, he’s@pogue. On email, he’s [email protected]. You canread all his articles here, or you can sign up toget his columns by email. || David Pogue: The best service for fast, cheap transcriptions: We, the modern people, are tickled with our phones voice-recognition powers. We can ask questions! We can open apps with our voice! You know whos not so tickled? Anyone who records other people talking. Our phones are terrible at transcribing voicesconverting them to text that we can edit. I realize that most people dont care about transcribing audio. But if youre a reporter, producer, editor, author, YouTuber, filmmaker, student, documentarian, researcher, government agency, doctor, lawyer, or police officer, for example, you might really care. Manual transcription of audio and video files is an excruciating, tedious, soul-sucking exercise, and weve doing it pretty much the same way for 50 years. The world waits for a method thats fast, cheap, and accurate. We want this: The holy grail of transcription tools. Unattainable. But you cant have that. Until now, there have been only a few ways to convert a recording into text: Transcribe it manually. You do the typing yourself as you listen. Hit Play, Stop, Rewind, Play, Stop, Rewind, over and over. Thats accurate and cheap, but not fast. Its a royal pain, especially if you have several long interviews to do. Transcribe it manually, with web assistance. This Chrome extension combines an audio player and a text editor, so at least youre spared some of the back-and-forth between two apps as you type it out yourself. Still tedious. Let your phone transcribe it. Yeah, play the recording into your phone, as though youre speaking to it. The results are terrible. Theres no punctuation, no paragraph breaks, and the result needs so much editing, you could have done the job yourself faster. Fast and cheap, but not accurate. (Same thing for the automatic transcription features of YouTube and Google Docs. The results are generally a mess.) Hire a web-based service to do it. Services like Rev.com , Scribie.com , Transcribeme.com , and VoiceBase.com employ human transcriptionists to type out your audio. Usually, they charge between $1 and $3 per minute of recorded audio or videomore if you want same-day turnaround, and even more if you want the transcriber to add time codes, the names of whos speaking, and the little ums and false starts. Bottom line, youre looking at $60 to $150 per hour of audio. Accurate, but not fast or cheap. Hire a professional service. Professional news channels hire professional transcription services like Transcript Associates , Audio Transcription Center , or Professional Transcriptions . You get incredible qualityflawless transcriptions; ums and uhhs and dashes representing pauses; time codes typed in; the speakers names identified. And you get it in a matter of hours. But were talking $220 per hour of audio, or more. Accurate and fairly fast, but not what youd call cheap. Story continues No method gives you everything. This is a review of a new, fifth approach: Trint.com . (The name, were told, is a combo of transcript and interview.) It lands on a new point in that speed-cost-accuracy continuum by (a) automating the conversion instead of hiring humans, and (b) providing a slick, easy way for you to breeze through the results and correct the errors. The idea is to take the very best of automated speech recognition [ASR] and push it as far as it will go, then give the user a simple tool to get those last yards, Trint founder Jeffrey Kofman told me. By combining a text editor with an audio/video player, we let you quickly search, verify, and correct the output of our ASR. The cost is $15 per hour of videoabout a quarter of the cost of even the cheapest human web-based services. How it works You sign up. You upload your audio or video file. You pay in advance: $15 for an hour of converted audio or video. (If youre willing to commit to doing a lot of this, the cost comes down to $12 an hour.) You wait maybe five minutesan insanely short timeand then its done. You open the transcription right there in your browser, looking like this: Now the fun begins: Cleaning up the Trint transcription. Already, what you get is good enough that you can search for words or highlight the good parts. But while the system correctly detects sentences and adds periods, it adds no other punctuation. It makes no attempt to add commas, for example. So you wind up with phrases like I went to you know the store and bought peaches plums and pickles. No question marks, either. Now you read through it, correcting the errors, adding punctuation and paragraph breaks, and identifying speaker names using a pop-up menu. The video above shows what this process is like. Whats kind of wonderful is how the audio or video playback is integrated with the editing: Wherever you click your mouse, that bit plays back automatically. Theres no Play, Pause, Rewind cycle here; the system always knows what to play when. (You can turn this playback on or off with a keystroke, and also control the playback speed.) So how long does this cleanup process work? I tried Trint on seven interviews, and the editing generally wound up equaling the length of the interview. Thirty-minute interview, 30 minutes to clean it up. That will never fly in the professional world. CBS News wont be using Trint any time soon. But doing the job yourself would take five to ten times the length of the original recording. And if you hired a professional service, youd pay four to eight times as much. (For many people, of course, a full cleanup isnt necessary; often, the point of transcribing an interview is just to skim it to find the good parts. Thats where Trint really shines. Its simple to read or search for text in a transcript, highlight the juicy parts, and even play back only the highlighted portions. In that case, you can clean up only those few bits.) How does it compare? To compare the results, I submitted the same interview recording to Trint, to Rev.com ($1 a minute for 24-hour turnaround), and to a high-end pro service. Heres what I got back: Transcriptions compared. Its in beta There are some bugs left to squash in Trint. For example, copy and paste dont work in the text editor. (I was editing an interview that contained the word GISHWHES over and over again, a non-word that Trint never once transcribed correctly. I thought I could just paste it in over and over again, but no joy.) The company explains that if you went nuts, pasting in blobs of text, youd throw off the softwares underlying links between the audio and the text. Chrome extensions can trip up Trint, too. Every time I inserted a Return to break up a paragraph, some text would disappear. Turning off all my extensions fixed that. You should also keep in mind that Trint requires clean, clear audio, in which your subject was miked. You cant feed it the echoey recording of your kids school play, for example, and expect decent results. And, as youd guess, thick accents dramatically impair the accuracy. (When you post the recording, you specify which accent the speaker has; that helps.) The company acknowledges that it has some work to do, and says that it has big plans for Trint 2.0 this summer. In the meantime, Trint is here now. Its not this but its this: and thats a new spot on the time-cost-accuracy spectrum. Its therefore a welcome new weapon in the fight against the costly, time-consuming, soul-sucking act of transcribing the human voice. More from David Pogue: Inside the Worlds Greatest Scavenger Hunt: Part I Inside the Worlds Greatest Scavenger Hunt: Part 2 Inside the Worlds Greatest Scavenger Hunt, Part 3 The David Pogue Review: Windows 10 Creators Update Now I get it: Bitcoin David Pogue tested 47 pill-reminder apps to find the best one David Pogues search for the worlds best air-travel app The little-known iPhone feature that lets blind people see with their fingers David Pogue, tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, welcomes nontoxic comments in the comments section below. On the web, hes davidpogue.com . On Twitter, hes @pogue . On email, hes [email protected]. You can read all his articles here , or you can sign up to get his columns by email . View comments || Hedge fund manager David Einhorn escalates battle with GM with UnlockGMValue.com site: David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital(NASDAQ: GLRE)cranked up the pressure on General Motors(NYSE: GM)on Thursday by launching a website that encourages shareholders to vote for the hedge fund's proposal.
GM rejected Greenlight's plan in March to appoint three directors to GM's board and divide the common stock into two classes. Now the hedge fund's newly launched website, UnlockGMValue.com, calls for investors to "VOTE GREEN CARD TODAY."
GM's annual shareholder meeting is scheduled for June 6.GM said in a statementthat Greenlight's proposal "creates an unacceptable level of risk."
Shares of the automaker fell about 1.5 percent in midday trade and are down more than 5 percent this year.
Website landing page
The proposal "would unlock tens of billions of dollars of shareholder value and was specifically designed not to change GM's business strategy, capital allocation priorities or financial policy," according to the website.
Greenlight owns 3.6 percent of GM common stock, making it the fifth largest public shareholder of the auto manufacturer.
The hedge fundreturned just 1 percent in the first quarter, trailing the S&P 500's 6 percent gain, according to the hedge fund's letter sent to shareholders last week.
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• Bitcoin surges above $1,500 to record as more investors bet on 'digital gold' || Hedge fund manager David Einhorn escalates battle with GM with UnlockGMValue.com site: David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital (NASDAQ: GLRE) cranked up the pressure on General Motors (NYSE: GM) on Thursday by launching a website that encourages shareholders to vote for the hedge fund's proposal. GM rejected Greenlight's plan in March to appoint three directors to GM's board and divide the common stock into two classes. Now the hedge fund's newly launched website, UnlockGMValue.com, calls for investors to "VOTE GREEN CARD TODAY." GM's annual shareholder meeting is scheduled for June 6. GM said in a statement that Greenlight's proposal "creates an unacceptable level of risk." Shares of the automaker fell about 1.5 percent in midday trade and are down more than 5 percent this year. Website landing page The proposal "would unlock tens of billions of dollars of shareholder value and was specifically designed not to change GM's business strategy, capital allocation priorities or financial policy," according to the website. Greenlight owns 3.6 percent of GM common stock, making it the fifth largest public shareholder of the auto manufacturer. The hedge fund returned just 1 percent in the first quarter , trailing the S&P 500's 6 percent gain, according to the hedge fund's letter sent to shareholders last week. More From CNBC Why ‘fear and love’ could send gold on a 20 percent rally within months US fintech charter imperiled as Curry leaves Bitcoin surges above $1,500 to record as more investors bet on 'digital gold' || Bitcoin just soared to a new $1,600 high — but the first investor in Snapchat thinks it could hit $500,000 by 2030: (Jeremy Liew.Getty)
Bitcoin has been thetop-performing currencyin the world in six of the past seven years, climbing from zero to a new high value of about $1,600.
But the cryptocurrency isn't anywhere close to its potential, according to Jeremy Liew,the first investor in Snapchat, and Peter Smith, the CEO and cofounder of Blockchain.
In a presentation sent to Business Insider, the duo laid out their case for bitcoin exploding to $500,000 by 2030.
Their argument is based on increased interest in bitcoin, thanks to:
Remittance transfers, or electronic money transfers to foreign countries, havealmost doubledover the past 15 years to 0.76% of gross world product, data from the World Bank shows.
"Expats sending money home have found in bitcoin an inexpensive alternative, and we assume that the percentage of bitcoin-based remittances will sharply increase with greater bitcoin awareness," the two said.
Liew and Smith said increased political uncertainty in the UK, US, and developing nations would help elevate the level of interest in bitcoin.
"We believe bitcoin awareness, high liquidity, ease of transport, and continued market outperformance as geopolitical risks mount will make bitcoin a strong contender for investment at a consumer and investor level," the two said.
Liew and Smith said the percentage of noncash transactions would climb from 15% to 30% in the next 10 years as the world becomes more connected through smartphones.
The global smartphone penetration rate is 63%, and the total number of smartphone users is expected to increase by 1 billion by 2020. The GSMA, a trade body that represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, says90% of these userswill come from developing countries.
This would make it possible for nearly everyone to have a bank in their pocket, and that should provide a boost for bitcoin as well. Liew and Smith say bitcoin could account for 50% of all noncash transactions.
Here are the basic model drivers Liew and Smith used:
1. A bitcoin price of $1,000 in 2017.
2. Network users will grow by a factor of 61 from now until 2030."Put another way, we need a population of bitcoin users around a quarter of the Chinese population (or 5% of the global population) in 2030 to see bitcoin at $500k," Liew and Smith told Business Insider.Bitcoin's user network grew from 120,000 users in 2013 to 6.5 million users in 2017, or by a factor of about 54, and this could be just the beginning. Growth of that magnitude would mean 400 million users in 2030.
3. The average value of bitcoin held per user will hit $25,000."As institutional investor cash in bitcoin, sophisticated investors trading bitcoin, and bitcoin-based ETFs proliferate, we think the average bitcoin value held will increase to around $25k per Bitcoin holder," Liew and Smith said. Currently, with bitcoin's market cap of $16.4 billion, each of its 6.5 million users holds $2,515 worth of bitcoin on average.
4. Bitcoin's 2030 market cap is decided by the number of bitcoin holders multiplied by the average bitcoin value held.
5. Bitcoin's 2030 supply will be about 20 million.
6. Bitcoin's 2030 price and user count will total $500,000 and 400 million, respectively.The price was found by taking the $10 trillion market cap and dividing it by the fixed supply of 20 million bitcoin.
But a lot could go wrong, too. News surrounding bitcoin has been rather negative as of late.
China, which is responsible fornearly 100% of tradingin bitcoin, has beencracking downon trading. The three biggest exchanges recently announced a 0.2% fee on all transactions andblocked withdrawalsfrom trading accounts.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission also rejected two bitcoin exchange-traded funds and will rule on another one in the future. It's not expected to be approved.
However, Smith says bitcoin is still in its early stages.
"The SEC's ruling wasn't a surprise to us," he told Business Insider. He said that "getting that sort of approval" could take a long time.
"In the meantime, bitcoin is already simple to buy and hold, and as the asset continues to mature, we'll continue to see an increase in the development and deployment of surrounding products," he said.
(Markets Insider)
And while bitcoin hasn't been granted regulatory approval in the US, it is catching on elsewhere. On April 1, the cryptocurrency became alegal payment method in Japan.
Another threat to its future is developers who are threatening to set up a "hard fork," or alternative marketplace for bitcoin. This would result in the split of into bitcoin and bitcoin unlimited. However, Smith isn't worried.
"Bitcoin has strong economic incentives to prevent this," he said. "If the last two years of healthy contention and debate lead to a conclusion, it's that bitcoin is incredibly resilient and stable. In fact, the bitcoin blockchain has operated for seven-plus years with no downtime, a feat no other back-end system operating at this scale can claim."
But the cryptocurrency sees violent price swings uncommon among the more traditional currencies. Bitcoin rallied 20% in the first week of 2017 before crashing 35% on word that China was cracking down on trading.
The cryptocurrency has regained those losses and is trading up about 67% so far this year.
NOW WATCH:People are outraged by a Pepsi ad starring Kendall Jenner — here's how the company responded
More From Business Insider
• The price of Bitcoin just hit an all new high — here's how easy it is to buy your first one
• Bitcoin is closing in on $1,500
• Bitcoin busts out to an all-time high above $1,400 || Bitcoin just soared to a new $1,600 high but the first investor in Snapchat thinks it could hit $500,000 by 2030: Jeremy Liew (Jeremy Liew.Getty) Bitcoin has been the top-performing currency in the world in six of the past seven years, climbing from zero to a new high value of about $1,600. But the cryptocurrency isn't anywhere close to its potential, according to Jeremy Liew, the first investor in Snapchat , and Peter Smith, the CEO and cofounder of Blockchain. In a presentation sent to Business Insider, the duo laid out their case for bitcoin exploding to $500,000 by 2030. Their argument is based on increased interest in bitcoin, thanks to: Bitcoin-based remittances Remittance transfers, or electronic money transfers to foreign countries, have almost doubled over the past 15 years to 0.76% of gross world product, data from the World Bank shows. "Expats sending money home have found in bitcoin an inexpensive alternative, and we assume that the percentage of bitcoin-based remittances will sharply increase with greater bitcoin awareness," the two said. Uncertainty Liew and Smith said increased political uncertainty in the UK, US, and developing nations would help elevate the level of interest in bitcoin. "We believe bitcoin awareness, high liquidity, ease of transport, and continued market outperformance as geopolitical risks mount will make bitcoin a strong contender for investment at a consumer and investor level," the two said. Mobile penetration Liew and Smith said the percentage of noncash transactions would climb from 15% to 30% in the next 10 years as the world becomes more connected through smartphones. The global smartphone penetration rate is 63%, and the total number of smartphone users is expected to increase by 1 billion by 2020. The GSMA, a trade body that represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, says 90% of these users will come from developing countries. This would make it possible for nearly everyone to have a bank in their pocket, and that should provide a boost for bitcoin as well. Liew and Smith say bitcoin could account for 50% of all noncash transactions. Story continues Here are the basic model drivers Liew and Smith used: A bitcoin price of $1,000 in 2017. Network users will grow by a factor of 61 from now until 2030. "Put another way, we need a population of bitcoin users around a quarter of the Chinese population (or 5% of the global population) in 2030 to see bitcoin at $500k," Liew and Smith told Business Insider. Bitcoin's user network grew from 120,000 users in 2013 to 6.5 million users in 2017, or by a factor of about 54, and this could be just the beginning. Growth of that magnitude would mean 400 million users in 2030. The average value of bitcoin held per user will hit $25,000. "As institutional investor cash in bitcoin, sophisticated investors trading bitcoin, and bitcoin-based ETFs proliferate, we think the average bitcoin value held will increase to around $25k per Bitcoin holder," Liew and Smith said. Currently, with bitcoin's market cap of $16.4 billion, each of its 6.5 million users holds $2,515 worth of bitcoin on average. Bitcoin's 2030 market cap is decided by the number of bitcoin holders multiplied by the average bitcoin value held. Bitcoin's 2030 supply will be about 20 million. Bitcoin's 2030 price and user count will total $500,000 and 400 million, respectively. The price was found by taking the $10 trillion market cap and dividing it by the fixed supply of 20 million bitcoin. But a lot could go wrong, too. News surrounding bitcoin has been rather negative as of late. China, which is responsible for nearly 100% of trading in bitcoin, has been cracking down on trading. The three biggest exchanges recently announced a 0.2% fee on all transactions and blocked withdrawals from trading accounts. The US Securities and Exchange Commission also rejected two bitcoin exchange-traded funds and will rule on another one in the future. It's not expected to be approved. However, Smith says bitcoin is still in its early stages. "The SEC's ruling wasn't a surprise to us," he told Business Insider. He said that "getting that sort of approval" could take a long time. "In the meantime, bitcoin is already simple to buy and hold, and as the asset continues to mature, we'll continue to see an increase in the development and deployment of surrounding products," he said. Bitcoin (Markets Insider) And while bitcoin hasn't been granted regulatory approval in the US, it is catching on elsewhere. On April 1, the cryptocurrency became a legal payment method in Japan . Another threat to its future is developers who are threatening to set up a " hard fork ," or alternative marketplace for bitcoin. This would result in the split of into bitcoin and bitcoin unlimited. However, Smith isn't worried. "Bitcoin has strong economic incentives to prevent this," he said. "If the last two years of healthy contention and debate lead to a conclusion, it's that bitcoin is incredibly resilient and stable. In fact, the bitcoin blockchain has operated for seven-plus years with no downtime, a feat no other back-end system operating at this scale can claim." But the cryptocurrency sees violent price swings uncommon among the more traditional currencies. Bitcoin rallied 20% in the first week of 2017 before crashing 35% on word that China was cracking down on trading. The cryptocurrency has regained those losses and is trading up about 67% so far this year. NOW WATCH: People are outraged by a Pepsi ad starring Kendall Jenner here's how the company responded More From Business Insider The price of Bitcoin just hit an all new high here's how easy it is to buy your first one Bitcoin is closing in on $1,500 Bitcoin busts out to an all-time high above $1,400 || Bitcoin just soared to a new $1,600 high — but the first investor in Snapchat thinks it could hit $500,000 by 2030: (Jeremy Liew.Getty)
Bitcoin has been thetop-performing currencyin the world in six of the past seven years, climbing from zero to a new high value of about $1,600.
But the cryptocurrency isn't anywhere close to its potential, according to Jeremy Liew,the first investor in Snapchat, and Peter Smith, the CEO and cofounder of Blockchain.
In a presentation sent to Business Insider, the duo laid out their case for bitcoin exploding to $500,000 by 2030.
Their argument is based on increased interest in bitcoin, thanks to:
Remittance transfers, or electronic money transfers to foreign countries, havealmost doubledover the past 15 years to 0.76% of gross world product, data from the World Bank shows.
"Expats sending money home have found in bitcoin an inexpensive alternative, and we assume that the percentage of bitcoin-based remittances will sharply increase with greater bitcoin awareness," the two said.
Liew and Smith said increased political uncertainty in the UK, US, and developing nations would help elevate the level of interest in bitcoin.
"We believe bitcoin awareness, high liquidity, ease of transport, and continued market outperformance as geopolitical risks mount will make bitcoin a strong contender for investment at a consumer and investor level," the two said.
Liew and Smith said the percentage of noncash transactions would climb from 15% to 30% in the next 10 years as the world becomes more connected through smartphones.
The global smartphone penetration rate is 63%, and the total number of smartphone users is expected to increase by 1 billion by 2020. The GSMA, a trade body that represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, says90% of these userswill come from developing countries.
This would make it possible for nearly everyone to have a bank in their pocket, and that should provide a boost for bitcoin as well. Liew and Smith say bitcoin could account for 50% of all noncash transactions.
Here are the basic model drivers Liew and Smith used:
1. A bitcoin price of $1,000 in 2017.
2. Network users will grow by a factor of 61 from now until 2030."Put another way, we need a population of bitcoin users around a quarter of the Chinese population (or 5% of the global population) in 2030 to see bitcoin at $500k," Liew and Smith told Business Insider.Bitcoin's user network grew from 120,000 users in 2013 to 6.5 million users in 2017, or by a factor of about 54, and this could be just the beginning. Growth of that magnitude would mean 400 million users in 2030.
3. The average value of bitcoin held per user will hit $25,000."As institutional investor cash in bitcoin, sophisticated investors trading bitcoin, and bitcoin-based ETFs proliferate, we think the average bitcoin value held will increase to around $25k per Bitcoin holder," Liew and Smith said. Currently, with bitcoin's market cap of $16.4 billion, each of its 6.5 million users holds $2,515 worth of bitcoin on average.
4. Bitcoin's 2030 market cap is decided by the number of bitcoin holders multiplied by the average bitcoin value held.
5. Bitcoin's 2030 supply will be about 20 million.
6. Bitcoin's 2030 price and user count will total $500,000 and 400 million, respectively.The price was found by taking the $10 trillion market cap and dividing it by the fixed supply of 20 million bitcoin.
But a lot could go wrong, too. News surrounding bitcoin has been rather negative as of late.
China, which is responsible fornearly 100% of tradingin bitcoin, has beencracking downon trading. The three biggest exchanges recently announced a 0.2% fee on all transactions andblocked withdrawalsfrom trading accounts.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission also rejected two bitcoin exchange-traded funds and will rule on another one in the future. It's not expected to be approved.
However, Smith says bitcoin is still in its early stages.
"The SEC's ruling wasn't a surprise to us," he told Business Insider. He said that "getting that sort of approval" could take a long time.
"In the meantime, bitcoin is already simple to buy and hold, and as the asset continues to mature, we'll continue to see an increase in the development and deployment of surrounding products," he said.
(Markets Insider)
And while bitcoin hasn't been granted regulatory approval in the US, it is catching on elsewhere. On April 1, the cryptocurrency became alegal payment method in Japan.
Another threat to its future is developers who are threatening to set up a "hard fork," or alternative marketplace for bitcoin. This would result in the split of into bitcoin and bitcoin unlimited. However, Smith isn't worried.
"Bitcoin has strong economic incentives to prevent this," he said. "If the last two years of healthy contention and debate lead to a conclusion, it's that bitcoin is incredibly resilient and stable. In fact, the bitcoin blockchain has operated for seven-plus years with no downtime, a feat no other back-end system operating at this scale can claim."
But the cryptocurrency sees violent price swings uncommon among the more traditional currencies. Bitcoin rallied 20% in the first week of 2017 before crashing 35% on word that China was cracking down on trading.
The cryptocurrency has regained those losses and is trading up about 67% so far this year.
NOW WATCH:People are outraged by a Pepsi ad starring Kendall Jenner — here's how the company responded
More From Business Insider
• The price of Bitcoin just hit an all new high — here's how easy it is to buy your first one
• Bitcoin is closing in on $1,500
• Bitcoin busts out to an all-time high above $1,400 || UNBOXED: David Pogue gets a first look at the Samsung Galaxy 8: Yes, kids, it’s that time of year again: Another Samsung Galaxy phone is here! And it’s mostly phenomenal.
Starting at $726—that’s $77more than the equivalent iPhone 7—you get a waterproof, fast, rugged, gorgeous, expandable smartphone that packs a huge screen into a relatively small body. How? By filling the entire front, nearly edge to edge, with screen. No margins.
That also means no physical Home button. The Home button is now apictureon the screen. Works fine, except that where will the fingerprint reader go?
Samsung has opted to put it on the back of the phone—unfortunately, right next to the camera lens. Every time you try to unlock the phone with your finger, you’ll get finger grease on the lens. Oopsie!
The other bad news is Samsung’s philosophy of “there’s no such thing as too much.” The phone is laden with bloatware, including Samsung’s own, pointless duplicates of Android’s browser, photo manager, and so on. And there are, believe it or not, 55 setup steps before you can start using the phone.
That’s out of control.
You should also know that one of the mostdelicious new features of the S8isn’t yet activated: Bixby. That’s Samsung’s smarter version of Siri or Google Now. Once it’s turned on, Samsung says, when you press the dedicated Bixby button on the left edge of the phone, you’ll be able to say, “Email this photo to my mom,” for example, or “Put on my Party playlist and call me an Uber home.” (It will work with only 10 apps at the outset.)
But never mind all that: As long as you don’t mind its new tall, skinny shape (and the letterbox bars that therefore appear when you’re watching videos), you will adore this phone. The camera (basically the same one as on last year’s S7) is terrific. It now come with coolfeatures like Bixby Vision, which recognizes products by their packaging and offers to let you buy them; recognizes famous buildings and gives you information about them; and recognizes text in other languages and tries to translate them.
The phone also charges super fast—basically, 1 minute per percent. 30 minutes, 30%. A “wireless” charging stand is also available.
And you can log in with either a fingerprint, face recognition (people say you can fool it with a photo, but I wasn’t able to), or iris recognition (fails in bright sunlight).
And no, the Galaxy S8 won’t explode on you, like last year’s Note 7 fireball. The battery in the S8 is, alas, smaller than last year’s just for that reason; it will just get you through a day.
In other words, the new Galaxy is hot only in the sense of “lots of people will want it.”
For more,here’s Dan Howley’s full review.
More from David Pogue:
Inside the World’s Greatest Scavenger Hunt: Part I
Inside the World’s Greatest Scavenger Hunt: Part 2
Inside the World’s Greatest Scavenger Hunt, Part 3
The David Pogue Review: Windows 10 Creators Update
Now I get it: Bitcoin
David Pogue tested 47 pill-reminder apps to find the best one
David Pogue’s search for the world’s best air-travel app
The little-known iPhone feature that lets blind people see with their fingers
David Pogue, tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, welcomes nontoxic comments in the comments section below. On the web, he’sdavidpogue.com. On Twitter, he’s@pogue. On email, he’s [email protected]. You canread all his articles here, or you can sign up toget his columns by email. || UNBOXED: David Pogue gets a first look at the Samsung Galaxy 8: Yes, kids, it’s that time of year again: Another Samsung Galaxy phone is here! And it’s mostly phenomenal. Starting at $726 —that’s $77 more than the equivalent iPhone 7 —you get a waterproof, fast, rugged, gorgeous, expandable smartphone that packs a huge screen into a relatively small body. How? By filling the entire front, nearly edge to edge, with screen. No margins. That also means no physical Home button. The Home button is now a picture on the screen. Works fine, except that where will the fingerprint reader go? Samsung has opted to put it on the back of the phone—unfortunately, right next to the camera lens. Every time you try to unlock the phone with your finger, you’ll get finger grease on the lens. Oopsie! The other bad news is Samsung’s philosophy of “there’s no such thing as too much.” The phone is laden with bloatware, including Samsung’s own, pointless duplicates of Android’s browser, photo manager, and so on. And there are, believe it or not, 55 setup steps before you can start using the phone. That’s out of control. You should also know that one of the most delicious new features of the S8 isn’t yet activated: Bixby. That’s Samsung’s smarter version of Siri or Google Now. Once it’s turned on, Samsung says, when you press the dedicated Bixby button on the left edge of the phone, you’ll be able to say, “Email this photo to my mom,” for example, or “Put on my Party playlist and call me an Uber home.” (It will work with only 10 apps at the outset.) But never mind all that: As long as you don’t mind its new tall, skinny shape (and the letterbox bars that therefore appear when you’re watching videos), you will adore this phone. The camera (basically the same one as on last year’s S7) is terrific. It now come with cool features like Bixby Vision , which recognizes products by their packaging and offers to let you buy them; recognizes famous buildings and gives you information about them; and recognizes text in other languages and tries to translate them. Story continues The phone also charges super fast—basically, 1 minute per percent. 30 minutes, 30%. A “wireless” charging stand is also available. And you can log in with either a fingerprint, face recognition (people say you can fool it with a photo, but I wasn’t able to), or iris recognition (fails in bright sunlight). And no, the Galaxy S8 won’t explode on you, like last year’s Note 7 fireball. The battery in the S8 is, alas, smaller than last year’s just for that reason; it will just get you through a day. In other words, the new Galaxy is hot only in the sense of “lots of people will want it.” For more, here’s Dan Howley’s full review . More from David Pogue: Inside the World’s Greatest Scavenger Hunt: Part I Inside the World’s Greatest Scavenger Hunt: Part 2 Inside the World’s Greatest Scavenger Hunt, Part 3 The David Pogue Review: Windows 10 Creators Update Now I get it: Bitcoin David Pogue tested 47 pill-reminder apps to find the best one David Pogue’s search for the world’s best air-travel app The little-known iPhone feature that lets blind people see with their fingers David Pogue, tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, welcomes nontoxic comments in the comments section below. On the web, he’s davidpogue.com . On Twitter, he’s @pogue . On email, he’s [email protected]. You can read all his articles here , or you can sign up to get his columns by email .
[Social Media Buzz]
1 #BTC (#Bitcoin) quotes:
$1570.00/$1572.31 #Bitstamp
$1576.20/$1582.18 #BTCe
⇢$3.89/$12.18
$1648.59/$1665.89 #Coinbase
⇢$76.28/$95.89 || Price Alert: BitShares -10.00% 1h change $BTS - Current Price: 0.000028365 BTC | More #BTS Info http://crypto.press/coins/BTS-BitShares … #CryptoPress || Current price of Bitcoin is $1627.00. || Free BitCoin আয় করোন SwissAdsPaysFaucet থেকে 1bitcoin =1674.00 US Dollar !! https://lnkd.in/fqt79ZT || $1644.50 at 01:45 UTC [24h Range: $1560.00 - $1653.97 Volume...
|
1755.36, 1787.13, 1848.57, 1724.24, 1804.91, 1808.91, 1738.43, 1734.45, 1839.09, 1888.65
|
Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 10895.83, 10051.70, 10311.55, 10374.34, 10231.74, 10345.81, 10916.05, 10763.23, 10138.05, 10131.06, 10407.96, 10159.96, 10138.52, 10370.82, 10185.50, 9754.42, 9510.20, 9598.17, 9630.66, 9757.97, 10346.76, 10623.54, 10594.49, 10575.53, 10353.30, 10517.25, 10441.28, 10334.97, 10115.98, 10178.37, 10410.13, 10360.55, 10358.05, 10347.71, 10276.79, 10241.27, 10198.25, 10266.42, 10181.64, 10019.72, 10070.39, 9729.32, 8620.57, 8486.99, 8118.97, 8251.85, 8245.92, 8104.19, 8293.87, 8343.28, 8393.04, 8259.99, 8205.94, 8151.50, 7988.16, 8245.62, 8228.78, 8595.74, 8586.47, 8321.76, 8336.56, 8321.01, 8374.69, 8205.37, 8047.53, 8103.91, 7973.21, 7988.56, 8222.08, 8243.72, 8078.20, 7514.67, 7493.49, 8660.70, 9244.97, 9551.71, 9256.15, 9427.69, 9205.73, 9199.58, 9261.10, 9324.72, 9235.35, 9412.61, 9342.53, 9360.88, 9267.56, 8804.88, 8813.58, 9055.53.
|
[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2019-11-10]
Volume: 20587919881, RSI (14-day): 52.56, 50-day EMA: 8976.02, 200-day EMA: 8723.91
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
How Bitcoin’s Lightning Can Be Used for Private Messaging: Bitcoin’s lightning network might have a use case beyond faster and more scalable payments.
Last week Lightning Labs developer Joost Jagerrevealedan experimental, new proof of concept: Whatsat, a version of lightning that can be used to send private messages.
Like bitcoin, it’s censorship-resistant. But, unlike encrypted apps that morph messages into unreadable, garbled text to keep messages from prying eyes, there’s no central entity to stop users from employing the network.
Related:Why Bitcoin’s Next ‘Halving’ May Not Pump the Price Like Last Time
Jager told CoinDesk:
“Lightning is a peer to peer network in which anyone can participate. There is no central entity that has the ultimate power to decide on [what] users are allowed to communicate.”
Private messaging is a hot topic in the digital age, as it’s easy for bad actors to intercept messages that aren’t encrypted. Apps such as Signal and Wire give users more privacy, but private messaging is still far from everywhere.
“I like to compare private messaging with talking to someone in person privately. We can do this without asking for permission,” Jager argued. “It is a freedom that is so natural, that we hardly even realize how important it is. As we humans continue to digitize ourselves further every day, I think it makes sense to extend this freedom into the digital domain.”
Related:Bitcoin’s Weekly Chart May See Golden Cross for First Time in 3.5 Years
Whatsat is a passion project for Jager, not something he’s working on for Lightning Labs. The app is at an early stage, not to be used with real bitcoin yet.
Jager said it’s always been possible to add extra data to lightning payments. But a recent change to lightning’s specifications has standardized how this built-in messaging system works, so lightning network software remains compatible.
There are other technologies that can be used to decentralize messaging, Jager said, but he argues there are some advantages built into lightning that other apps don’t have.
“Lightning is not the only way to decentralize this, but it does have the advantage that it is also a payment network,” he said. “Running any sort of centralized or decentralized service costs money and with lightning it is easy to pay for that on a per-message basis.”
It’s hard for chat platforms and social networks to achieve “network effects,” whereby they become exponentially more useful as more people use them. But twinning payments and messaging might help lightning.
“It is a question of how many [peer-to-peer] networks you want to participate in. It simplifies things if you get the two major uses, payment and chatting, from a single network,” Jager said.
Getting so many people to join such a project could be a challenge, Bitcoin Core contributor Sjors Provoost argued on Twitter. He suggested someone build “bridges” to popular existing apps, like WhatsApp or Signal, so users don’t have to download a whole new program to participate in the lightning chat.
Messages sent on lightning are free for now. Whatsat “relies on the fact that there is no charge for a failed payment. The payment reaches the recipient, the recipient extracts the message and they fail the payment,” Jager said. But, should he or others develop the idea further, it’s unclear how lightning fees will evolve over time.
“The network isn’t mature yet and realistic fees still need to be discovered. It is hard to give an estimate now on what the actual costs will be of running a routing node in the future,” Jager said.
According to public data about the network, lightning payments currently cost a median of .0001 satoshis, a single satoshi (or 100 millionth of a bitcoin) currently being worth a fraction of a penny.
“There surely are people willing to pay for it, but for what price would make it a no-brainer for almost anyone?” Jager asked. “Suppose the average user sends 30 messages per day. That comes down to about 1 satoshi per message with the current bitcoin exchange rate.”
That’s about a dollar per year.
“If the lightning network matures to a system that can sustainably handle 1 [satoshi] payments, I think a future of permissionless private messaging is unlocked,” Jager said.
“The Dispatch of the Messenger”by François Boucher image via the Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Bitcoin Price Risks Drop Below $9K if Bulls Can’t Muster Rally Soon
• Square’s Cash App Now Charging Fees for Bitcoin Purchases || How Bitcoins Lightning Can Be Used for Private Messaging: Bitcoins lightning network might have a use case beyond faster and more scalable payments. Last week Lightning Labs developer Joost Jager revealed an experimental, new proof of concept: Whatsat, a version of lightning that can be used to send private messages. Like bitcoin, its censorship-resistant. But, unlike encrypted apps that morph messages into unreadable, garbled text to keep messages from prying eyes, theres no central entity to stop users from employing the network. Related: Why Bitcoins Next Halving May Not Pump the Price Like Last Time Jager told CoinDesk: Lightning is a peer to peer network in which anyone can participate. There is no central entity that has the ultimate power to decide on [what] users are allowed to communicate. Private messaging is a hot topic in the digital age, as its easy for bad actors to intercept messages that arent encrypted. Apps such as Signal and Wire give users more privacy, but private messaging is still far from everywhere. I like to compare private messaging with talking to someone in person privately. We can do this without asking for permission, Jager argued. It is a freedom that is so natural, that we hardly even realize how important it is. As we humans continue to digitize ourselves further every day, I think it makes sense to extend this freedom into the digital domain. Related: Bitcoins Weekly Chart May See Golden Cross for First Time in 3.5 Years Whatsat is a passion project for Jager, not something hes working on for Lightning Labs. The app is at an early stage, not to be used with real bitcoin yet. Accidental messaging system Jager said its always been possible to add extra data to lightning payments. But a recent change to lightnings specifications has standardized how this built-in messaging system works, so lightning network software remains compatible. There are other technologies that can be used to decentralize messaging, Jager said, but he argues there are some advantages built into lightning that other apps dont have. Story continues Lightning is not the only way to decentralize this, but it does have the advantage that it is also a payment network, he said. Running any sort of centralized or decentralized service costs money and with lightning it is easy to pay for that on a per-message basis. Its hard for chat platforms and social networks to achieve network effects, whereby they become exponentially more useful as more people use them. But twinning payments and messaging might help lightning. It is a question of how many [peer-to-peer] networks you want to participate in. It simplifies things if you get the two major uses, payment and chatting, from a single network, Jager said. Getting so many people to join such a project could be a challenge, Bitcoin Core contributor Sjors Provoost argued on Twitter. He suggested someone build bridges to popular existing apps, like WhatsApp or Signal, so users dont have to download a whole new program to participate in the lightning chat. Messages sent on lightning are free for now. Whatsat relies on the fact that there is no charge for a failed payment. The payment reaches the recipient, the recipient extracts the message and they fail the payment, Jager said. But, should he or others develop the idea further, its unclear how lightning fees will evolve over time. The network isnt mature yet and realistic fees still need to be discovered. It is hard to give an estimate now on what the actual costs will be of running a routing node in the future, Jager said. According to public data about the network, lightning payments currently cost a median of .0001 satoshis, a single satoshi (or 100 millionth of a bitcoin) currently being worth a fraction of a penny. There surely are people willing to pay for it, but for what price would make it a no-brainer for almost anyone? Jager asked. Suppose the average user sends 30 messages per day. That comes down to about 1 satoshi per message with the current bitcoin exchange rate. Thats about a dollar per year. If the lightning network matures to a system that can sustainably handle 1 [satoshi] payments, I think a future of permissionless private messaging is unlocked, Jager said. The Dispatch of the Messenger by François Boucher image via the Metropolitan Museum of Art Related Stories Bitcoin Price Risks Drop Below $9K if Bulls Cant Muster Rally Soon Squares Cash App Now Charging Fees for Bitcoin Purchases || How Bitcoin’s Lightning Can Be Used for Private Messaging: Bitcoin’s lightning network might have a use case beyond faster and more scalable payments.
Last week Lightning Labs developer Joost Jagerrevealedan experimental, new proof of concept: Whatsat, a version of lightning that can be used to send private messages.
Like bitcoin, it’s censorship-resistant. But, unlike encrypted apps that morph messages into unreadable, garbled text to keep messages from prying eyes, there’s no central entity to stop users from employing the network.
Related:Why Bitcoin’s Next ‘Halving’ May Not Pump the Price Like Last Time
Jager told CoinDesk:
“Lightning is a peer to peer network in which anyone can participate. There is no central entity that has the ultimate power to decide on [what] users are allowed to communicate.”
Private messaging is a hot topic in the digital age, as it’s easy for bad actors to intercept messages that aren’t encrypted. Apps such as Signal and Wire give users more privacy, but private messaging is still far from everywhere.
“I like to compare private messaging with talking to someone in person privately. We can do this without asking for permission,” Jager argued. “It is a freedom that is so natural, that we hardly even realize how important it is. As we humans continue to digitize ourselves further every day, I think it makes sense to extend this freedom into the digital domain.”
Related:Bitcoin’s Weekly Chart May See Golden Cross for First Time in 3.5 Years
Whatsat is a passion project for Jager, not something he’s working on for Lightning Labs. The app is at an early stage, not to be used with real bitcoin yet.
Jager said it’s always been possible to add extra data to lightning payments. But a recent change to lightning’s specifications has standardized how this built-in messaging system works, so lightning network software remains compatible.
There are other technologies that can be used to decentralize messaging, Jager said, but he argues there are some advantages built into lightning that other apps don’t have.
“Lightning is not the only way to decentralize this, but it does have the advantage that it is also a payment network,” he said. “Running any sort of centralized or decentralized service costs money and with lightning it is easy to pay for that on a per-message basis.”
It’s hard for chat platforms and social networks to achieve “network effects,” whereby they become exponentially more useful as more people use them. But twinning payments and messaging might help lightning.
“It is a question of how many [peer-to-peer] networks you want to participate in. It simplifies things if you get the two major uses, payment and chatting, from a single network,” Jager said.
Getting so many people to join such a project could be a challenge, Bitcoin Core contributor Sjors Provoost argued on Twitter. He suggested someone build “bridges” to popular existing apps, like WhatsApp or Signal, so users don’t have to download a whole new program to participate in the lightning chat.
Messages sent on lightning are free for now. Whatsat “relies on the fact that there is no charge for a failed payment. The payment reaches the recipient, the recipient extracts the message and they fail the payment,” Jager said. But, should he or others develop the idea further, it’s unclear how lightning fees will evolve over time.
“The network isn’t mature yet and realistic fees still need to be discovered. It is hard to give an estimate now on what the actual costs will be of running a routing node in the future,” Jager said.
According to public data about the network, lightning payments currently cost a median of .0001 satoshis, a single satoshi (or 100 millionth of a bitcoin) currently being worth a fraction of a penny.
“There surely are people willing to pay for it, but for what price would make it a no-brainer for almost anyone?” Jager asked. “Suppose the average user sends 30 messages per day. That comes down to about 1 satoshi per message with the current bitcoin exchange rate.”
That’s about a dollar per year.
“If the lightning network matures to a system that can sustainably handle 1 [satoshi] payments, I think a future of permissionless private messaging is unlocked,” Jager said.
“The Dispatch of the Messenger”by François Boucher image via the Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Bitcoin Price Risks Drop Below $9K if Bulls Can’t Muster Rally Soon
• Square’s Cash App Now Charging Fees for Bitcoin Purchases || Bitcoin Cash ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis 09/11/19: Bitcoin Cash ABC Takes a Hit Bitcoin Cash ABC tumbled by 4.67% on Friday. Following on from a 3.79% slide on Thursday, Bitcoin Cash ABC ended the day at $277.11. A bullish start to the day saw Bitcoin Cash ABC rise to an early morning intraday high $294 before hitting reverse. Falling well short of the first major resistance level at $304.32, Bitcoin Cash ABC slid to an early afternoon intraday low $270. Bitcoin Cash ABC fell through the first major support level at $284.61 and the second major support level at $275.62. Of greater significance was a fall through the 23.6% FIB of $273. Finding support late on, Bitcoin Cash ABC recovered to $281 levels before ending the day at sub-$280. At the time of writing, Bitcoin Cash ABC was up by 0.8% to $279.34. A mixed start to the day saw Bitcoin Cash ABC fall to an early morning low $275.86 before striking a high $279.34. Bitcoin Cash ABC left the major support and resistance levels untested early on. For the day ahead, a move through to $280.50 levels would support a run at the first major resistance level at $290.74. Support from the broader market would be needed, however for Bitcoin Cash ABC to break back through to $290 levels. Barring a broad-based crypto rally on the day, Bitcoin Cash ABC would likely fall short of Fridays high $294. Failure to move through to $290 levels could see Bitcoin Cash ABC hit reverse. A fall through the 23.6% FIB of $273 would bring sub-$270 levels into play before any recovery. Barring another crypto sell-off, Bitcoin Cash ABC should steer clear of the first major support level at $266.74. Litecoin recovers to $60 Levels Litecoin fell by 1.58% on Friday. Following on from a 4.33% slide on Thursday, Litecoin ended the day at $60.4. A bullish start to the day saw Litecoin rise to an early morning intraday high $62.43 before hitting reverse. Falling short of the first major resistance level at $63.74, Litecoin slid to an early afternoon intraday low $58.68. Story continues Litecoin fell through the first major support level at $59.58 before finding support from the broader market. Through the latter part of the day, Litecoin managed to move back through to $60 levels to limit the loss on the day. At the time of writing, Litecoin was up by 1.09% to $61.06. A bullish start to the day saw Litecoin rally from an early morning low $60.10 to a high $61.42. Litecoin left the major support and resistance levels untested early on. For the day ahead, a move back through the morning high would bring the first major resistance level at $62.33 into play. Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Litecoin to break through to $62 levels. Barring an extended rally, the first major resistance level and Fridays high $62.43 would likely cap any upside. Failure to move back through the morning high could see Litecoin hit reverse. A fall back through to $60.50 levels would bring sub-$60 levels back into play before any recovery. Barring another crypto meltdown, however, Litecoin should steer clear of the first major support level at $58.58. Ripples XRP Back at sub-$0.28 Ripples XRP slid by 5.02% on Friday. Following on from a 6.47% tumble on Thursday, Ripples XRP ended the day at $0.27613. Tracking the broader market, Ripples XRP rose to an early morning intraday high $0.29154 before taking a hit. The sell-off saw Ripples XRP slide to an early afternoon intraday low $0.27100 before finding support. Ripples XRP fell through the first major support level at $0.2715 before moving back through to $0.2720 levels. Through the latter part of the day, Ripples XRP briefly returned to $0.2790 levels before easing back. At the time of writing, Ripples XRP was up by 0.6% to $0.27779. A mixed start to the day saw Ripples XRP fall to a morning low $0.27501 before striking a high $0.27846. Ripples XRP left the major support and resistance levels untested early on. For the day ahead, Ripples XRP would need to move through to $0.2790 levels to support a run at the first major resistance level at $0.2881. Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Ripples XRP to break through to $0.28 levels. In the event of an extended rally, Ripples XRP could visit $0.29 levels before any pullback. Failure to move through to $0.2790 levels could see Ripples XRP slide back into the red. A fall through the early morning low $0.27501 would bring Fridays low $0.2710 into play before any recovery. Barring a crypto meltdown, however, Ripples XRP should steer clear of the first major support level at $0.2676. Please let us know what you think in the comments below Thanks, Bob This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: E-mini S&P 500 Index (ES) Futures Technical Analysis Treading Water Above Minor Pivot at 3080.00 Crude Oil Price Forecast Crude Oil Markets Choppy And Neutral Bitcoin Cash ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis 09/11/19 Silver Weekly Price Forecast Silver Markets Breakthrough Trendline Crude Oil Weekly Price Forecast Crude Oil Markets Range Bound E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM) Futures Technical Analysis Guided Higher by Uptrending Gann Angle at 27367 || Bitcoin Cash – ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis – 09/11/19: Bitcoin Cash ABC tumbled by 4.67% on Friday. Following on from a 3.79% slide on Thursday, Bitcoin Cash ABC ended the day at $277.11.
A bullish start to the day saw Bitcoin Cash ABC rise to an early morning intraday high $294 before hitting reverse.
Falling well short of the first major resistance level at $304.32, Bitcoin Cash ABC slid to an early afternoon intraday low $270.
Bitcoin Cash ABC fell through the first major support level at $284.61 and the second major support level at $275.62. Of greater significance was a fall through the 23.6% FIB of $273.
Finding support late on, Bitcoin Cash ABC recovered to $281 levels before ending the day at sub-$280.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin Cash ABC was up by 0.8% to $279.34. A mixed start to the day saw Bitcoin Cash ABC fall to an early morning low $275.86 before striking a high $279.34.
Bitcoin Cash ABC left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.
For the day ahead, a move through to $280.50 levels would support a run at the first major resistance level at $290.74.
Support from the broader market would be needed, however for Bitcoin Cash ABC to break back through to $290 levels.
Barring a broad-based crypto rally on the day, Bitcoin Cash ABC would likely fall short of Friday’s high $294.
Failure to move through to $290 levels could see Bitcoin Cash ABC hit reverse.
A fall through the 23.6% FIB of $273 would bring sub-$270 levels into play before any recovery.
Barring another crypto sell-off, Bitcoin Cash ABC should steer clear of the first major support level at $266.74.
Litecoin fell by 1.58% on Friday. Following on from a 4.33% slide on Thursday, Litecoin ended the day at $60.4.
A bullish start to the day saw Litecoin rise to an early morning intraday high $62.43 before hitting reverse.
Falling short of the first major resistance level at $63.74, Litecoin slid to an early afternoon intraday low $58.68.
Litecoin fell through the first major support level at $59.58 before finding support from the broader market.
Through the latter part of the day, Litecoin managed to move back through to $60 levels to limit the loss on the day.
At the time of writing, Litecoin was up by 1.09% to $61.06. A bullish start to the day saw Litecoin rally from an early morning low $60.10 to a high $61.42.
Litecoin left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.
For the day ahead, a move back through the morning high would bring the first major resistance level at $62.33 into play.
Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Litecoin to break through to $62 levels.
Barring an extended rally, the first major resistance level and Friday’s high $62.43 would likely cap any upside.
Failure to move back through the morning high could see Litecoin hit reverse.
A fall back through to $60.50 levels would bring sub-$60 levels back into play before any recovery.
Barring another crypto meltdown, however, Litecoin should steer clear of the first major support level at $58.58.
Ripple’s XRP slid by 5.02% on Friday. Following on from a 6.47% tumble on Thursday, Ripple’s XRP ended the day at $0.27613.
Tracking the broader market, Ripple’s XRP rose to an early morning intraday high $0.29154 before taking a hit.
The sell-off saw Ripple’s XRP slide to an early afternoon intraday low $0.27100 before finding support.
Ripple’s XRP fell through the first major support level at $0.2715 before moving back through to $0.2720 levels.
Through the latter part of the day, Ripple’s XRP briefly returned to $0.2790 levels before easing back.
At the time of writing, Ripple’s XRP was up by 0.6% to $0.27779. A mixed start to the day saw Ripple’s XRP fall to a morning low $0.27501 before striking a high $0.27846.
Ripple’s XRP left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.
For the day ahead, Ripple’s XRP would need to move through to $0.2790 levels to support a run at the first major resistance level at $0.2881.
Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Ripple’s XRP to break through to $0.28 levels.
In the event of an extended rally, Ripple’s XRP could visit $0.29 levels before any pullback.
Failure to move through to $0.2790 levels could see Ripple’s XRP slide back into the red.
A fall through the early morning low $0.27501 would bring Friday’s low $0.2710 into play before any recovery.
Barring a crypto meltdown, however, Ripple’s XRP should steer clear of the first major support level at $0.2676.
Please let us know what you think in the comments below
Thanks, Bob
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• E-mini S&P 500 Index (ES) Futures Technical Analysis – Treading Water Above Minor Pivot at 3080.00
• Crude Oil Price Forecast – Crude Oil Markets Choppy And Neutral
• Bitcoin Cash – ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis – 09/11/19
• Silver Weekly Price Forecast – Silver Markets Breakthrough Trendline
• Crude Oil Weekly Price Forecast – Crude Oil Markets Range Bound
• E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM) Futures Technical Analysis – Guided Higher by Uptrending Gann Angle at 27367 || Bitcoin Cash – ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis – 09/11/19: Bitcoin Cash ABC tumbled by 4.67% on Friday. Following on from a 3.79% slide on Thursday, Bitcoin Cash ABC ended the day at $277.11.
A bullish start to the day saw Bitcoin Cash ABC rise to an early morning intraday high $294 before hitting reverse.
Falling well short of the first major resistance level at $304.32, Bitcoin Cash ABC slid to an early afternoon intraday low $270.
Bitcoin Cash ABC fell through the first major support level at $284.61 and the second major support level at $275.62. Of greater significance was a fall through the 23.6% FIB of $273.
Finding support late on, Bitcoin Cash ABC recovered to $281 levels before ending the day at sub-$280.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin Cash ABC was up by 0.8% to $279.34. A mixed start to the day saw Bitcoin Cash ABC fall to an early morning low $275.86 before striking a high $279.34.
Bitcoin Cash ABC left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.
For the day ahead, a move through to $280.50 levels would support a run at the first major resistance level at $290.74.
Support from the broader market would be needed, however for Bitcoin Cash ABC to break back through to $290 levels.
Barring a broad-based crypto rally on the day, Bitcoin Cash ABC would likely fall short of Friday’s high $294.
Failure to move through to $290 levels could see Bitcoin Cash ABC hit reverse.
A fall through the 23.6% FIB of $273 would bring sub-$270 levels into play before any recovery.
Barring another crypto sell-off, Bitcoin Cash ABC should steer clear of the first major support level at $266.74.
Litecoin fell by 1.58% on Friday. Following on from a 4.33% slide on Thursday, Litecoin ended the day at $60.4.
A bullish start to the day saw Litecoin rise to an early morning intraday high $62.43 before hitting reverse.
Falling short of the first major resistance level at $63.74, Litecoin slid to an early afternoon intraday low $58.68.
Litecoin fell through the first major support level at $59.58 before finding support from the broader market.
Through the latter part of the day, Litecoin managed to move back through to $60 levels to limit the loss on the day.
At the time of writing, Litecoin was up by 1.09% to $61.06. A bullish start to the day saw Litecoin rally from an early morning low $60.10 to a high $61.42.
Litecoin left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.
For the day ahead, a move back through the morning high would bring the first major resistance level at $62.33 into play.
Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Litecoin to break through to $62 levels.
Barring an extended rally, the first major resistance level and Friday’s high $62.43 would likely cap any upside.
Failure to move back through the morning high could see Litecoin hit reverse.
A fall back through to $60.50 levels would bring sub-$60 levels back into play before any recovery.
Barring another crypto meltdown, however, Litecoin should steer clear of the first major support level at $58.58.
Ripple’s XRP slid by 5.02% on Friday. Following on from a 6.47% tumble on Thursday, Ripple’s XRP ended the day at $0.27613.
Tracking the broader market, Ripple’s XRP rose to an early morning intraday high $0.29154 before taking a hit.
The sell-off saw Ripple’s XRP slide to an early afternoon intraday low $0.27100 before finding support.
Ripple’s XRP fell through the first major support level at $0.2715 before moving back through to $0.2720 levels.
Through the latter part of the day, Ripple’s XRP briefly returned to $0.2790 levels before easing back.
At the time of writing, Ripple’s XRP was up by 0.6% to $0.27779. A mixed start to the day saw Ripple’s XRP fall to a morning low $0.27501 before striking a high $0.27846.
Ripple’s XRP left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.
For the day ahead, Ripple’s XRP would need to move through to $0.2790 levels to support a run at the first major resistance level at $0.2881.
Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Ripple’s XRP to break through to $0.28 levels.
In the event of an extended rally, Ripple’s XRP could visit $0.29 levels before any pullback.
Failure to move through to $0.2790 levels could see Ripple’s XRP slide back into the red.
A fall through the early morning low $0.27501 would bring Friday’s low $0.2710 into play before any recovery.
Barring a crypto meltdown, however, Ripple’s XRP should steer clear of the first major support level at $0.2676.
Please let us know what you think in the comments below
Thanks, Bob
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
• E-mini S&P 500 Index (ES) Futures Technical Analysis – Treading Water Above Minor Pivot at 3080.00
• Crude Oil Price Forecast – Crude Oil Markets Choppy And Neutral
• Bitcoin Cash – ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis – 09/11/19
• Silver Weekly Price Forecast – Silver Markets Breakthrough Trendline
• Crude Oil Weekly Price Forecast – Crude Oil Markets Range Bound
• E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM) Futures Technical Analysis – Guided Higher by Uptrending Gann Angle at 27367 || How to make a Bitcoin paper wallet: A paper wallet is one of the simplest methods of storing your Bitcoin. However, even though paper wallets are safer than leaving your coins on exchanges remember, not your keys, not your coins there are better methods available to safeguard your Bitcoin. In this article, I will discuss what paper wallets are, how they work and where you can create one, the pros and cons of paper wallets, and other methods to store your cryptocurrency. Bitcoin paper wallets Resultado de imagem para bitcoin paper wallet A Bitcoin paper wallet is essentially a single private key and Bitcoin address, usually generated by a website, printed onto paper. However, as you might have guessed, this method can be unsafe as it is not recommended to reuse Bitcoin addresses. If you use paper wallets, you would have to keep printing new sheets of paper after each transaction. Deterministic wallets and seed phrases, which I will expand upon below, partly avoid the use of websites for key generation. This provides added security as the website you use to generate your paper wallet could be corrupted or fake. These solutions provide better mechanics to store, receive, and send BTC without the need for third-party solutions like external websites. A paper wallet, which was a common method to store Bitcoin during the early days, can have other faults as well. They have proven to be error-prone, since users can lose BTC if the private key is imported to a hardware wallet, and paper can be easily destroyed or lost if not carefully protected. Bitcoin clients and hardware wallets Better and safer methods to store cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin include full nodes, light clients, and hardware wallets. Each solution has its pros and cons, as explained in more detail here, but I will mainly focus on how they work in this article. Full nodes, as I discuss here, are the key driver for security. Nodes secure your Bitcoin. Validating and broadcasting your own transactions is not only safe for you, but by running a full node, youre actively participating in consensus and helping the entire Bitcoin network to remain secure. Story continues Light clients do not offer the same level of protection as a full node because transactions are validated by the network. However, they are a great solution if you like to store your Bitcoin on your laptop, for example. With this method, you keep the seed phrases and you run a local copy of the Bitcoin protocol on your device, storing block headers for validation. A useful feature of Electrum, for example, is the ability to do Simple Payment Verification (SPV). SPV allows a lightweight client to verify that a transaction is included in the Bitcoin blockchain, without downloading the entire blockchain. Finally, hardware wallets like Trezor or Ledger allow you to keep your cryptocurrency safely stored away from the internet. A great deal of crypto-enthusiasts use hardware wallets as a preferred method of securing Bitcoin since they allow you to plug-and-play whenever you want to access your account, without the need to store information locally. In addition, these hardware wallets are usually small and easy to use. The post How to make a Bitcoin paper wallet appeared first on Coin Rivet . || How to make a Bitcoin paper wallet: A paper wallet is one of the simplest methods of storing your Bitcoin. However, even though paper wallets are safer than leaving your coins on exchanges remember, not your keys, not your coins there are better methods available to safeguard your Bitcoin. In this article, I will discuss what paper wallets are, how they work and where you can create one, the pros and cons of paper wallets, and other methods to store your cryptocurrency. Bitcoin paper wallets Resultado de imagem para bitcoin paper wallet A Bitcoin paper wallet is essentially a single private key and Bitcoin address, usually generated by a website, printed onto paper. However, as you might have guessed, this method can be unsafe as it is not recommended to reuse Bitcoin addresses. If you use paper wallets, you would have to keep printing new sheets of paper after each transaction. Deterministic wallets and seed phrases, which I will expand upon below, partly avoid the use of websites for key generation. This provides added security as the website you use to generate your paper wallet could be corrupted or fake. These solutions provide better mechanics to store, receive, and send BTC without the need for third-party solutions like external websites. A paper wallet, which was a common method to store Bitcoin during the early days, can have other faults as well. They have proven to be error-prone, since users can lose BTC if the private key is imported to a hardware wallet, and paper can be easily destroyed or lost if not carefully protected. Bitcoin clients and hardware wallets Better and safer methods to store cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin include full nodes, light clients, and hardware wallets. Each solution has its pros and cons, as explained in more detail here, but I will mainly focus on how they work in this article. Full nodes, as I discuss here, are the key driver for security. Nodes secure your Bitcoin. Validating and broadcasting your own transactions is not only safe for you, but by running a full node, youre actively participating in consensus and helping the entire Bitcoin network to remain secure. Story continues Light clients do not offer the same level of protection as a full node because transactions are validated by the network. However, they are a great solution if you like to store your Bitcoin on your laptop, for example. With this method, you keep the seed phrases and you run a local copy of the Bitcoin protocol on your device, storing block headers for validation. A useful feature of Electrum, for example, is the ability to do Simple Payment Verification (SPV). SPV allows a lightweight client to verify that a transaction is included in the Bitcoin blockchain, without downloading the entire blockchain. Finally, hardware wallets like Trezor or Ledger allow you to keep your cryptocurrency safely stored away from the internet. A great deal of crypto-enthusiasts use hardware wallets as a preferred method of securing Bitcoin since they allow you to plug-and-play whenever you want to access your account, without the need to store information locally. In addition, these hardware wallets are usually small and easy to use. The post How to make a Bitcoin paper wallet appeared first on Coin Rivet . || How to make a Bitcoin paper wallet: A paper wallet is one of the simplest methods of storing your Bitcoin. However, even though paper wallets are safer than leaving your coins on exchanges remember, not your keys, not your coins there are better methods available to safeguard your Bitcoin. In this article, I will discuss what paper wallets are, how they work and where you can create one, the pros and cons of paper wallets, and other methods to store your cryptocurrency. Bitcoin paper wallets Resultado de imagem para bitcoin paper wallet A Bitcoin paper wallet is essentially a single private key and Bitcoin address, usually generated by a website, printed onto paper. However, as you might have guessed, this method can be unsafe as it is not recommended to reuse Bitcoin addresses. If you use paper wallets, you would have to keep printing new sheets of paper after each transaction. Deterministic wallets and seed phrases, which I will expand upon below, partly avoid the use of websites for key generation. This provides added security as the website you use to generate your paper wallet could be corrupted or fake. These solutions provide better mechanics to store, receive, and send BTC without the need for third-party solutions like external websites. A paper wallet, which was a common method to store Bitcoin during the early days, can have other faults as well. They have proven to be error-prone, since users can lose BTC if the private key is imported to a hardware wallet, and paper can be easily destroyed or lost if not carefully protected. Bitcoin clients and hardware wallets Better and safer methods to store cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin include full nodes, light clients, and hardware wallets. Each solution has its pros and cons, as explained in more detail here, but I will mainly focus on how they work in this article. Full nodes, as I discuss here, are the key driver for security. Nodes secure your Bitcoin. Validating and broadcasting your own transactions is not only safe for you, but by running a full node, youre actively participating in consensus and helping the entire Bitcoin network to remain secure. Story continues Light clients do not offer the same level of protection as a full node because transactions are validated by the network. However, they are a great solution if you like to store your Bitcoin on your laptop, for example. With this method, you keep the seed phrases and you run a local copy of the Bitcoin protocol on your device, storing block headers for validation. A useful feature of Electrum, for example, is the ability to do Simple Payment Verification (SPV). SPV allows a lightweight client to verify that a transaction is included in the Bitcoin blockchain, without downloading the entire blockchain. Finally, hardware wallets like Trezor or Ledger allow you to keep your cryptocurrency safely stored away from the internet. A great deal of crypto-enthusiasts use hardware wallets as a preferred method of securing Bitcoin since they allow you to plug-and-play whenever you want to access your account, without the need to store information locally. In addition, these hardware wallets are usually small and easy to use. The post How to make a Bitcoin paper wallet appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Natural Gas Price Prediction – Prices Rebound Ahead of Committment of Traders Report: Natural gas prices moved sideways on Friday, rising slightly and forming an inside day. The move comes despite a smaller than expected build in natural gas stockpiles reported by the Department of Energy on Thursday. The amount of natural gas held in storage in 2019 went from a relatively low value of 1,155 billion cubic feet at the beginning of April to 3,724 Bcf at the end of October because of near-record injection. The weather is expected to remain colder than normal over the next 6-10 days but the weather is expected to become milder during the 8-14 day period. The CFTC is likely to show that managed money that was short continued to cover positive in futures and options during the latest week. Technical Analysis Natural gas prices formed an inside day which is a higher low and a lower high. Support near the former breakout level of 2.73. Resistance is seen near the November highs at 2.91. After this level target resistance is seen near the May highs at 2.98. Short term momentum is turning negative as the fast stochastic generated a crossover sell signal. The current reading on the fast stochastic is 77, which is a decline from 85 on Wednesday which reflects accelerating negative momentum. Medium-term momentum is decelerating as the MACD (moving average convergence divergence) histogram is printing in the black with a declining trajectory which points to consolidation. The EIA Reports Large Storage Builds in 2019 The EIA reported that the amount of natural gas held in storage in 2019 went from a relatively low value of 1,155 billion cubic feet at the beginning of April to 3,724 Bcf at the end of October because of near-record injection activity during the natural gas injection, or refill, season. Inventories as of October 31 were 37 Bcf higher than the previous five-year end-of-October average, according to interpolated values in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report. This article was originally posted on FX Empire More From FXEMPIRE: Crude Oil Weekly Price Forecast – Crude Oil Markets Range Bound Bitcoin Cash – ABC, Litecoin and Ripple Daily Analysis – 09/11/19 Natural Gas Weekly Price Forecast – Natural Gas Markets Break Out But Failed To Hang On To Gains U.S. Dollar Index Futures (DX) Technical Analysis – Reaction to 98.095 – 98.380 Retracement Zone Sets Near-Term Tone Gold Price Forecast – Gold Markets Continue To Slump Gold Price Forecast – The Next Great Buying Opportunity || Natural Gas Price Prediction – Prices Rebound Ahead of Committment of Traders Report: Natural gas prices moved sideways on Friday, rising slightly and forming an inside day. The move comes despite a smaller than expected build in natural gas stockpiles reported by the Department of Energy on Thursday. The amount of natural gas held in storage in 2019 went from a relatively low value of 1,155 billion cubic feet at the beginning of April to 3,724 Bcf at the end of October because of near-record injection. The weather is expected to remain colder than normal over the next 6-10 days but the weather is expected to become milder during the 8-14 day period. The CFTC is likely to show that managed money that was short continued to cover positive in futures and options during the latest week.
Natural gas prices formed an inside day which is a higher low and a lower high. Support near the former breakout level of 2.73. Resistance is seen near the November highs at 2.91. After this level target resistance is seen near the May highs at 2.98. Short term momentum is turning negative as the fast stochastic generated a crossover sell signal. The current reading on the fast stochastic is 77, which is a decline from 85 on Wednesday which reflects accelerating negative momentum. Medium-term momentum is decelerating as the MACD (moving average convergence divergence) histogram is printing in the black with a declining trajectory which points to consolidation.
The EIA reported that the amount of natural gas held in storage in 2019 went from a relatively low value of 1,155 billion cubic feet at the beginning of April to 3,724 Bcf at the end of October because of near-record injection activity during the natural gas injection, or refill, season. Inventories as of October 31 were 37 Bcf higher than the previous five-year end-of-October average, according to interpolated values in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report.
Thisarticlewas originally posted on FX Empire
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• Gold Price Forecast – The Next Great Buying Opportunity || Bitcoin Falls 4.3%, Slipping Below $9,000 for First Time in Two Weeks: Bitcoin fell 4.4 percent Friday, slipping below $9,000 for the first time in two weeks.
Analysts cited a lack of positive market drivers and speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve might pause this year’s rate-cutting cycle, which could curb demand for the cryptocurrency as a potential inflation hedge.
The price dropped to $8,800 as of 18:57 UTC (1:57 p.m. New York time), according to Trading View. It’s still more than double where bitcoin was at the start of the year, leaving the cryptocurrency as one of the world’s best-performing asset classes in 2019.
Bitcoin had rallied more $2,000 in late October after Chinese President Xi Jinping declared that the country would embrace blockchain – the decentralized computing networks underpinning cryptocurrencies – as a “core” technology, followed bythe reveal of hundreds of blockchain projectsalready in motion. Since then, though, the price had mostly fluctuated within a range between $9,100 and $9,600.
Friday’s decline accelerated after bitcoin broke below its 200-day moving average of $9,186, which had been seen as a price support by some traders using technical analysis.
“This is a pretty classic example of a technical move,” said Kevin Kelly, co-founder at Delphi Digital, a cryptocurrency research firm in New York. “It just sort of broke to the downside.”
The price drop appears to have triggered margin calls for some traders, leading to position liquidations and creating additional selling pressure, Kelly said.
One of the macroeconomic narratives for buying bitcoin is that, like gold, it can be used as an inflation hedge, Kelly said. But with increasing signs that the economy might be responding to the Fed’s three interest-rate cuts earlier this year, speculation is mounting that the U.S. central bank might refrain in the near term from further moves to ease monetary policy, he said.
“You have seen an unwind of the consensus on this doomsday narrative,” Kelly said.
Some investors may also have become more skeptical that China’s public push to use blockchain would translate into new demand for bitcoin, according to Greg Cipolaro, co-founder of Digital Asset Research.
While many traders thought bitcoin, as the original blockchain and biggest digital asset by market value, might benefit from broader adoption of the technology, if China has been at work developing a digital version of its own currency, it could be a win for blockchain technology on the whole but mean little for bitcoin today.
“My opinion is that that wasn’t the right read of that news,” Cipolaro said. “They were clearly saying blockchain not bitcoin.”
With that realization in the backdrop, “you really haven’t seen follow-through on the price,” he said. “There hasn’t been a major catalyst post that $2,000 rip two weeks ago.” || Bitcoin Falls 4.3%, Slipping Below $9,000 for First Time in Two Weeks: Bitcoin fell 4.4 percent Friday, slipping below $9,000 for the first time in two weeks.
Analysts cited a lack of positive market drivers and speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve might pause this year’s rate-cutting cycle, which could curb demand for the cryptocurrency as a potential inflation hedge.
The price dropped to $8,800 as of 18:57 UTC (1:57 p.m. New York time), according to Trading View. It’s still more than double where bitcoin was at the start of the year, leaving the cryptocurrency as one of the world’s best-performing asset classes in 2019.
Bitcoin had rallied more $2,000 in late October after Chinese President Xi Jinping declared that the country would embrace blockchain – the decentralized computing networks underpinning cryptocurrencies – as a “core” technology, followed bythe reveal of hundreds of blockchain projectsalready in motion. Since then, though, the price had mostly fluctuated within a range between $9,100 and $9,600.
Friday’s decline accelerated after bitcoin broke below its 200-day moving average of $9,186, which had been seen as a price support by some traders using technical analysis.
“This is a pretty classic example of a technical move,” said Kevin Kelly, co-founder at Delphi Digital, a cryptocurrency research firm in New York. “It just sort of broke to the downside.”
The price drop appears to have triggered margin calls for some traders, leading to position liquidations and creating additional selling pressure, Kelly said.
One of the macroeconomic narratives for buying bitcoin is that, like gold, it can be used as an inflation hedge, Kelly said. But with increasing signs that the economy might be responding to the Fed’s three interest-rate cuts earlier this year, speculation is mounting that the U.S. central bank might refrain in the near term from further moves to ease monetary policy, he said.
“You have seen an unwind of the consensus on this doomsday narrative,” Kelly said.
Some investors may also have become more skeptical that China’s public push to use blockchain would translate into new demand for bitcoin, according to Greg Cipolaro, co-founder of Digital Asset Research.
While many traders thought bitcoin, as the original blockchain and biggest digital asset by market value, might benefit from broader adoption of the technology, if China has been at work developing a digital version of its own currency, it could be a win for blockchain technology on the whole but mean little for bitcoin today.
“My opinion is that that wasn’t the right read of that news,” Cipolaro said. “They were clearly saying blockchain not bitcoin.”
With that realization in the backdrop, “you really haven’t seen follow-through on the price,” he said. “There hasn’t been a major catalyst post that $2,000 rip two weeks ago.” || Bitcoin Falls 4.3%, Slipping Below $9,000 for First Time in Two Weeks: Bitcoin fell 4.4 percent Friday, slipping below $9,000 for the first time in two weeks. Analysts cited a lack of positive market drivers and speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve might pause this years rate-cutting cycle, which could curb demand for the cryptocurrency as a potential inflation hedge. The price dropped to $8,800 as of 18:57 UTC (1:57 p.m. New York time), according to Trading View. Its still more than double where bitcoin was at the start of the year, leaving the cryptocurrency as one of the worlds best-performing asset classes in 2019. Bitcoin had rallied more $2,000 in late October after Chinese President Xi Jinping declared that the country would embrace blockchain the decentralized computing networks underpinning cryptocurrencies as a core technology, followed by the reveal of hundreds of blockchain projects already in motion. Since then, though, the price had mostly fluctuated within a range between $9,100 and $9,600. Fridays decline accelerated after bitcoin broke below its 200-day moving average of $9,186, which had been seen as a price support by some traders using technical analysis. This is a pretty classic example of a technical move, said Kevin Kelly, co-founder at Delphi Digital, a cryptocurrency research firm in New York. It just sort of broke to the downside. The price drop appears to have triggered margin calls for some traders, leading to position liquidations and creating additional selling pressure, Kelly said. One of the macroeconomic narratives for buying bitcoin is that, like gold, it can be used as an inflation hedge, Kelly said. But with increasing signs that the economy might be responding to the Feds three interest-rate cuts earlier this year, speculation is mounting that the U.S. central bank might refrain in the near term from further moves to ease monetary policy, he said. You have seen an unwind of the consensus on this doomsday narrative, Kelly said. Story continues Some investors may also have become more skeptical that Chinas public push to use blockchain would translate into new demand for bitcoin, according to Greg Cipolaro, co-founder of Digital Asset Research. While many traders thought bitcoin, as the original blockchain and biggest digital asset by market value, might benefit from broader adoption of the technology, if China has been at work developing a digital version of its own currency, it could be a win for blockchain technology on the whole but mean little for bitcoin today. My opinion is that that wasnt the right read of that news, Cipolaro said. They were clearly saying blockchain not bitcoin. With that realization in the backdrop, you really havent seen follow-through on the price, he said. There hasnt been a major catalyst post that $2,000 rip two weeks ago. || Calibra chief: Bitcoin is gold, not cash: The head of Libra cryptocurrency wallet Calibra says Bitcoin is more of an asset, like gold, than a true currency. David Marcus, speaking at the New York Times DealBook Conference in New York, was asked about his opinion on the most well-known crypto. Libra is a blockchain-based digital currency planned to be launched in 2020. Facebook aims to let its nearly two billion users pay and send digital cash using Libra via the Calibra digital wallet. Marcus said: “I don’t think of Bitcoin as a currency. It is actually not a great medium of exchange because of its volatility. I see it as digital gold.” He added that Bitcoin’s volatility is why consumers do not use it to make purchases. Despite his comments, Bitcoin’s viability as an online payment method appears to be growing. Zuckerberg defends Libra Earlier this month, it was reported that Bitcoin is the third-most popular payment method for online shopping in Italy – even beating Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. The data from marketing analysis firm SEMRush shows the cryptocurrency comes in at number three after PayPal and national reloadable prepaid card service PostePay. According to Italian news outlet La Stampa, Bitcoin is used more than 215,800 times per month for online purchases in Italy, while American Express is used just 189,000 times per month. Libra has suffered a number of setbacks recently. The project was left in the lurch after PayPal, a founding member of the Libra Association, headed for the door at the start of October , followed swiftly by Mastercard, Visa, eBay, and Stripe. Numerous financial regulators in France, Germany, the UK, Russia, and China see it as a threat to the existing financial order. The post Calibra chief: Bitcoin is gold, not cash appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Calibra chief: Bitcoin is gold, not cash: The head of Libra cryptocurrency wallet Calibra says Bitcoin is more of an asset, like gold, than a true currency. David Marcus, speaking at the New York Times DealBook Conference in New York, was asked about his opinion on the most well-known crypto. Libra is a blockchain-based digital currency planned to be launched in 2020. Facebook aims to let its nearly two billion users pay and send digital cash using Libra via the Calibra digital wallet. Marcus said: “I don’t think of Bitcoin as a currency. It is actually not a great medium of exchange because of its volatility. I see it as digital gold.” He added that Bitcoin’s volatility is why consumers do not use it to make purchases. Despite his comments, Bitcoin’s viability as an online payment method appears to be growing. Zuckerberg defends Libra Earlier this month, it was reported that Bitcoin is the third-most popular payment method for online shopping in Italy – even beating Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. The data from marketing analysis firm SEMRush shows the cryptocurrency comes in at number three after PayPal and national reloadable prepaid card service PostePay. According to Italian news outlet La Stampa, Bitcoin is used more than 215,800 times per month for online purchases in Italy, while American Express is used just 189,000 times per month. Libra has suffered a number of setbacks recently. The project was left in the lurch after PayPal, a founding member of the Libra Association, headed for the door at the start of October , followed swiftly by Mastercard, Visa, eBay, and Stripe. Numerous financial regulators in France, Germany, the UK, Russia, and China see it as a threat to the existing financial order. The post Calibra chief: Bitcoin is gold, not cash appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Calibra chief: Bitcoin is gold, not cash: The head of Libra cryptocurrency wallet Calibra says Bitcoin is more of an asset, like gold, than a true currency. David Marcus, speaking at the New York Times DealBook Conference in New York, was asked about his opinion on the most well-known crypto. Libra is a blockchain-based digital currency planned to be launched in 2020. Facebook aims to let its nearly two billion users pay and send digital cash using Libra via the Calibra digital wallet. Marcus said: “I don’t think of Bitcoin as a currency. It is actually not a great medium of exchange because of its volatility. I see it as digital gold.” He added that Bitcoin’s volatility is why consumers do not use it to make purchases. Despite his comments, Bitcoin’s viability as an online payment method appears to be growing. Zuckerberg defends Libra Earlier this month, it was reported that Bitcoin is the third-most popular payment method for online shopping in Italy – even beating Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. The data from marketing analysis firm SEMRush shows the cryptocurrency comes in at number three after PayPal and national reloadable prepaid card service PostePay. According to Italian news outlet La Stampa, Bitcoin is used more than 215,800 times per month for online purchases in Italy, while American Express is used just 189,000 times per month. Libra has suffered a number of setbacks recently. The project was left in the lurch after PayPal, a founding member of the Libra Association, headed for the door at the start of October , followed swiftly by Mastercard, Visa, eBay, and Stripe. Numerous financial regulators in France, Germany, the UK, Russia, and China see it as a threat to the existing financial order. The post Calibra chief: Bitcoin is gold, not cash appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Craig Wright savaged on stage in Malta: Australian Craig Wright was savaged on stage after continuing his claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto – the founder of Bitcoin – following the closing presentation at the AIBC Summit in Malta this evening. Wright had spent the best part of his expletive-addled 20-minute speech ripping into Bitcoin and blockchain before agreeing to take a question from the audience as he prepared to walk off the stage. The question came from crypto thought-leader Richard Heart who, after a frosty exchange, put a simple enquiry to the controversial entrepreneur: “Okay, so, are you Satoshi?” “Yes,” replied Wright forcibly, triggering a ripple of mocking laughter throughout the auditorium. “So you wrote the Satoshi whitepaper?” Heart pressed. “Yes,” came the reply. Heart pushed further, asking: “And you implemented the one megabyte block limit?” “I put a temporary limit in there after being badgered by Mr Finney,” snapped a visibly irritated Wright. As he paced up and down the stage, the heat was turned up on the barrage of uncomfortable questions from the social media influencer. “So when you got access to the code base and could update the GitHub, and when you had access to your account on Bitcointalk, and when you had access to your Satoshi email, when did you decide you would stop using it to have influence over the project? “And then a side-channel appears later of a broke guy with no successful business interests, no Bitcoin tied to his address, no running from the Australian tax office…” Unable to contain himself, Wright interjected. “Sorry, I’m not running from Australia, I’m in Britain – you know there are extradition laws?” he shouted. “Morons who make things up – that’s called libel and slander! “That’s why I’ve already got a number of people in court – because they’re dumb! They have no idea that you can’t basically be a public figure in Britain and run from the government.” That then prompted the killer line from Heart… “You’re only a public figure because you cosplay as Satoshi, right?” Story continues Luckily for the 49-year-old computer scientist, the summit’s organisers called time on the session by playing the closing music and drowning the heated discussion out. Craig Wright labels Binance’s CZ a ‘lowlife money laundering piece of scum’ By Oliver Knight – November 8, 2019 The post Craig Wright savaged on stage in Malta appeared first on Coin Rivet . || Craig Wright savaged on stage in Malta: Australian Craig Wright was savaged on stage after continuing his claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto – the founder of Bitcoin – following the closing presentation at the AIBC Summit in Malta this evening. Wright had spent the best part of his expletive-addled 20-minute speech ripping into Bitcoin and blockchain before agreeing to take a question from the audience as he prepared to walk off the stage. The question came from crypto thought-leader Richard Heart who, after a frosty exchange, put a simple enquiry to the controversial entrepreneur: “Okay, so, are you Satoshi?” “Yes,” replied Wright forcibly, triggering a ripple of mocking laughter throughout the auditorium. “So you wrote the Satoshi whitepaper?” Heart pressed. “Yes,” came the reply. Heart pushed further, asking: “And you implemented the one megabyte block limit?” “I put a temporary limit in there after being badgered by Mr Finney,” snapped a visibly irritated Wright. As he paced up and down the stage, the heat was turned up on the barrage of uncomfortable questions from the social media influencer. “So when you got access to the code base and could update the GitHub, and when you had access to your account on Bitcointalk, and when you had access to your Satoshi email, when did you decide you would stop using it to have influence over the project? “And then a side-channel appears later of a broke guy with no successful business interests, no Bitcoin tied to his address, no running from the Australian tax office…” Unable to contain himself, Wright interjected. “Sorry, I’m not running from Australia, I’m in Britain – you know there are extradition laws?” he shouted. “Morons who make things up – that’s called libel and slander! “That’s why I’ve already got a number of people in court – because they’re dumb! They have no idea that you can’t basically be a public figure in Britain and run from the government.” That then prompted the killer line from Heart… “You’re only a public figure because you cosplay as Satoshi, right?” Story continues Luckily for the 49-year-old computer scientist, the summit’s organisers called time on the session by playing the closing music and drowning the heated discussion out. Craig Wright labels Binance’s CZ a ‘lowlife money laundering piece of scum’ By Oliver Knight – November 8, 2019 The post Craig Wright savaged on stage in Malta appeared first on Coin Rivet . || PODCAST: Meltem Demirors on the 3 Things Bitcoin Represents: “Let’s untangle that a bit,” says Meltem Demirors, the chief strategy officer of CoinShares. “Bitcoin represents three different things.”
In this episode of Bitcoin Macro, one of the most prolific voices in the space speaks with CoinDesk’s head of strategy, Nolan Bauerle, about bitcoin as software, as a “supranational global communication network” and as an asset.
“For traditional investors, it’s sort of a challenging paradigm when these three things are wrapped together,” Demirors explained.
Related:PODCAST: Josh Brown on Why Bitcoin Is Like the 1800s Railroad Boom
The conversation takes place ahead of Demirors’ appearance at CoinDesk’sInvest: NYCconference on Tuesday, Nov. 12. TheBitcoin Macro pop-up podcast seriesfeatures speakers and themes from the event, which explores bitcoin’s current role in the global financial system.
On the podcast, Demirors talks with Bauerle about:
• Why crypto is all-encompassing to the people in the space, but barely registers for most investors.
• Why Libra is in many ways the antithesis of bitcoin.
• Why the U.S. dollar remains the most desired asset in troubled regions and why education is key to bitcoin one day playing that role.
• Why speculation is a gateway for deeper engagement with bitcoin.
• How the global “hunt for yield” is shaping the bitcoin narrative.
• The “future fetish” era of blockchain development.
• Why the idea of bitcoin as “unregulated” isn’t quite accurate.
• The new battles around central bank digital currencies.
• Why the most interesting metric in the crypto space is the percentage of bitcoin held by third-party institutions.
Listen to the podcast here or read the whole transcript below.
Related:PODCAST: Kaiko’s Ambre Soubiran on Bitcoin’s ‘Intrinsic Value’
Nolan Bauerle: (00:09)
Welcome to Bitcoin Macro, a pop-up podcast produced as part of the CoinDesk: Invest New York conference in November. I’m your host Nolan Bauerle. Both the podcast and the event explore the intersection of bitcoin and the global macroeconomy with perspectives from some of the leaders thinkers in finance, crypto, and beyond.
Nolan Bauerle: (00:29)
I’m delighted to be joined today by Meltem Demirors, one of the most famous people in crypto, that’s for sure. Meltem has been around for a long time, but really sprung to international prominence with her amazing testimony in a Congress Committee this past summer on the whole Libra offering. The people who have been working in cryptocurrencies for a long time have always been aware of Meltem’s brilliance, and she’s been kind enough to join us for today’s podcast.
Nolan Bauerle: (01:05)
This podcast is really trying to look at bitcoin’s place in the world today, and is a taste of the type of content that we’re going to be focusing on in New York City on November the 12th at Invest. So Meltem, thank you for joining me.
Meltem Demirors: (01:21)
Thank you so much for having me, Nolan. That was such a beautiful intro. I feel like I’d love to have you intro me all the time.
Nolan Bauerle: (01:32)
[inaudible 00:01:32]. I have had the good fortune of knowing you for quite a while now.
Meltem Demirors: (01:35)
I know. We met a long time ago.
Nolan Bauerle: (01:37)
And watching you gather up all this ability to sort of let your ideas shine on the global stage has been a real treat, and I’m happy to have even met you on the train back from Washington that day.
Meltem Demirors: (01:49)
That’s right. I think I was enjoying a Bud Light.
Nolan Bauerle: (01:57)
You definitely earned it. You definitely earned it. So let’s jump right in. We’re talking about bitcoin in the world today, and the first question I have really is around whether or not you see bitcoin as a true macro asset? Is it there? Is it in the main stage? Is it in the side stage somewhere? Is it in the wings? Or is this really something that can be thought of as the macro today?
Meltem Demirors: (02:19)
I think for most people in the world right now, particularly in the world of investing and finance, bitcoin and crypto assets are not yet an asset they think about. It’s a very small asset class. It’s around 200 to 250 billion right now. That’s very small, and so for most investors looking to allocate capital moving even 5 to 10 million dollars into the coin creates a lot of price movement, and there are not really efficient ways to do that today. So that’s one concern I think certainly.
Meltem Demirors: (02:55)
I think the other piece to think about just on a macro level that’s really relevant is macro investors sort of define the world in the context of specific assets in markets, and so I think as an investor you look at sovereign debt, and you look at debt generally as an asset class, corporate debt funds, you look at equities, and then a lot of people like to lump crypto under the alternatives category. Alternatives is sort of a growing part of the investment world, and I think it’s challenging for a lot of investors, even in the alternative space, to really try to figure out where bitcoin fits in.
Meltem Demirors: (03:38)
And so, I think the big challenge is to people in our industry, we like to talk about bitcoin as an asset class, because we live, breath, eat, sleep crypto all day every day, and certainly in our little part of the world bitcoin feels like the big asset, but I think frankly to most investors bitcoin’s not really on their consciousness, and if it is it’s far too early, and if anything the place are getting exposure if through their PA or personal account, certainly not through their firm, or their fund, and I don’t think that’s going to change in the near future, and we can talk about that more as well.
Nolan Bauerle: (04:20)
So in practice what you’re saying is it’s not quite there yet. If it was in this sort of macro level the features that would define it, the aspect of it that would sort of propel it forward, I think we can even trace to some of your testimony back in Washington in July. In that testimony, I think what we saw was you had Facebook, which was almost threatening, not a nation-state, but it was taking on certain powers. It was taking on certain responsibilities that we would normally prescribe to a nation-state, and it was saying we’re going to issue this private money, that, of course, got everyone’s back up.
Nolan Bauerle: (04:58)
I think one of the things that was remarkable about your testimony is you showed that bitcoin didn’t propose these same challenges, yet it is coherently creating what amounts to a digital jurisdiction at the same time, and is perhaps is at the foundation for this type of macro asset going forward, the foundation for what could amount to an important money supply, a hard money supply.
Meltem Demirors: (05:25)
Let’s untangle that a bit. So I think what’s challenging when we talk about bitcoin is unlike debt or equities bitcoin represents three different things. Bitcoin is technology in the context of the bitcoin protocol, which is open-source code, and open-source software has been a part of our world for a long time, and open source is I think starting to gain acceptance as an investible category in the venture world and beyond. And so, bitcoin at its core is the bitcoin protocol.
Meltem Demirors: (05:56)
Bitcoin is a network and what’s interesting here is bitcoin is kind of a supranational global communication network, and so there are tens of thousands of devices around the world, whether people are running minors, or people are just running full nodes there’s this network of computational devices that are maintaining the bitcoin ledger, and engaging the invalidating transactions, and maintaining the integrity of the ledger, and so the bitcoin network is physical in nature.
Meltem Demirors: (06:26)
And then, lastly, you have bitcoin the asset. And so, what I think is interesting here is for traditional investors it’s sort of a challenging paradigm when these three things are wrapped together, so when you see people look at bitcoin they’ll talk about bitcoins in the context of software infrastructure. You’ll hear people talking about bitcoin in the context of a commodity because it’s produced in its mind digitally in the way that we sort of think about producing and mining things like gold, and oil, that are limited in supply theoretically.
Meltem Demirors: (06:57)
And then, you have people talking about it in the context of currency, of hard money. What I think is interesting about Libra is Libra styles itself as a cryptocurrency, but really the point I was trying to make in Congress is anyone can call anything a cryptocurrency but that does not make it so. What’s interesting about bitcoin is unlike a commodity, unlike a bond, unlike an equity bitcoin is packed by nothing but the demand for it.
Meltem Demirors: (07:25)
And so, it’s a little bit unique in that regard. It has no physicality, which I think is part of the larger conversation about the evolution from highly physical to where we increasingly engage digitally. So that’s difficult for people to grasp. It doesn’t necessarily fit into the constructs we have for assets in our world, even assets that have been dematerialized part in like stocks that trade, you know, they still have a physical share certificate that’s somewhere.
Meltem Demirors: (07:53)
And then, I think the other component that’s interesting is when we look at what Libra is comprised of, and what it proposes to do, it’s really just a pooled investment vehicle where the interest in the fees accrue to the association. And so, I think it’s an interesting series of choices made by Facebook. I’m not really clear as to why they felt this was the best approach, but I think if you look at the intent of Libra it’s a pool of capital. You’re taking money from people who purchase the tokens, you’re putting it into currencies, and interest-bearing instruments, and we’re holding it, and then we’re distributing that plus transaction fees to people who participate in this private closed sort of group called the Libra Association.
Meltem Demirors: (08:37)
And so, to me, that’s sort of the antithesis of bitcoin. So my only goal really in the testimony was to help clarify that bitcoin is not Libra, bitcoin is separate and distinct from every other cryptocurrency and it has features that make it incredibly unique. And Libra, and many things, are in fact not cryptocurrencies. There’s a lot of ambiguity in language but certainly having specificity in how we use these terms is starting to become more and more important, particularly for regulators, policy makers, who are trying to understand what’s happening, but sometimes the translation they’re getting isn’t particularly helpful, and in fact can be more confusing than not.
Nolan Bauerle: (09:19)
So I want to pick up on two things that you said, and you said that Libra’s, of course, this pool investment, so the incentives of all these parties are definitely for protection fees, but you also mentioned that because bitcoin is only backed by the demand of the user that it really can exist as an uncorrelated asset, because Libra would theoretically be involved in all the ups and downs of a typical economy because the value of bitcoin is only really based on the demand that users and people have for it. Can it behave as a safe-haven asset?
Meltem Demirors: (09:59)
I think the idea of a safe haven is an interesting conversation. I think the way people typically frame this is this risk-on or risk-off asset. And I think the challenge with safe haven is again everything’s relative, so if I live in the United States, and I have US dollars, and I have a driver’s license, and I have a bank account, and a debit card I probably don’t view bitcoin as a safe haven asset, because the dollar’s pretty safe for me, and I’m able to do everything I want, and I don’t necessarily in times of crisis feel that the dollar depreciates rapidly, and so my purchasing power parody, my PP, stays intact.
Meltem Demirors: (10:42)
Now, conversely if I live in a part of the world where there is a lot of instability, and volatility, now I’m from Turkey personally, I was just there, and speaking to people about bitcoin, I think within the bitcoin community there’s this idea that people who live in regimes or parts of the world where their purchasing power parody, or their ability to buy the same basket of goods fluctuates a lot, because of the fluctuations and the value of their local currency. I think in our community we like to believe that they’re just going to rush to adopt bitcoin, and go out, and hold bitcoin.
Meltem Demirors: (11:17)
What’s really funny is if you actually go out and talk to people they don’t want to hold bitcoin they want US dollars. And so, this is where I think some of the challenge emerges in explaining a new asset class, and also really understanding some of the macroeconomic shifts happening in our world. We live in a dollar-denominated world today, and at the end of the day you can’t yet pay your rent, or your taxes, or your employees, or for your groceries in bitcoin, and I think someday you’ll be able to, and there’s certainly a number of companies I’ve invested in, and worked with, and support that are enabling people to do that, but I think again for your average person who’s living in a part of the world where they don’t have stability in their currency I think they’re not necessarily thinking of bitcoin as the solution, it’s maybe one part of the solution.
Meltem Demirors: (12:12)
I think right now they’re looking more at things like the dollar, and unfortunately, I think it’s going to take some time for the world to get to a point where bitcoin achieves that status in a larger sort of way. I think to us in the bitcoin community we certainly like to pontificate about what hyper bitcoinization will look like, and what a world will look like if people start holding bitcoin as a safe haven asset, but I just don’t think that narrative on a global scale has gotten there yet, and I think again part of the challenge there is how you communicate something that is so new, and a lot of people ask who’s the CEO of bitcoin, what’s stopping bitcoin, and so explaining this it’s really a fundamental shift in mental model and how people think. It’s a shift in trust instead of trusting an institution, or company, or a brand, you’re trusting an idea, and a set of principles.
Meltem Demirors: (13:11)
And so, that in my view is going to take some time, and it’s going to take the technology being developed, it’s going to take the on and off-ramps being developed, it’s going to take the user experience putting it a little easier, but most importantly it’s going to take some hard work from our community to translate a lot of the topics we talk about into things that people are actually thinking about on a day-to-day basis.
Nolan Bauerle: (13:36)
And so, your recent experience in Turkey did it strengthen your idea what it wasn’t quite there yet, but there was this work to do, or did it actually bring you out of a state of let’s say being disconnected, and sitting in one of these bitcoin ivory towers saying this is what bitcoinization is going to look like, and all that stuff, or was this just you’ve been enough times, you’ve seen it in this context, and you know that people just aren’t ready, and even if we are seeing some increased trade flows out of Turkey on local bitcoins it really is still isolated individuals and it’s not enough of a wave to really push the needle?
Meltem Demirors: (14:13)
So let’s talk about that. I think first and foremost I feel like I’ve tried to constantly force myself to step outside the bitcoin world, and interact with people who come from a totally different perspective, totally different viewpoint. I think the context is really important, especially when one of your functions is serving as a translator. I sometimes feel like my role is I’m a translator between two very different worlds, and so we have these crazy bitcoiners over here, and I’m certainly a part of that community, but at the same time I’m also communicating with a very different audience who has the potential to really shape and influence the trajectory of bitcoin as a technology, as an infrastructure, and as an asset in very material ways, and so I think it’s very important for me to be aware of all of the different perspectives and viewpoints in order to be an effective translator, and I do wish we did that more.
Meltem Demirors: (15:12)
I think hopefully that’s starting, but we’ll see. When it comes to Turkey, so Turkey’s interesting because ING the bank releases this study every year, this is the second year they’re done it. They just released it in October of this year, and what they look at is rates of digital currency adoption in different parts of the world, and Turkey ranks number one. And so, a lot of people are like oh yeah people in Turkey want to hold bitcoin because the lira is unstable, and that’s an attractive narrative, but the reality actually is that Turkey is a place where people are already accustomed to trading FOREX.
Meltem Demirors: (15:50)
People like speculative trading. I’m a Turk myself so we have that cultural acceptance for speculation. And so, FOREX trading, currency trading, is something a lot of people engage in. You have a population that’s already accustomed to digital banking because when banking services came to Turkey they kind of leapfrogged the ’80s and ’90s and it sort of went direct to digital. And then, you have a high population of young people who are really interested in the technology, and what they’re doing is they’re speculating on bitcoin.
Meltem Demirors: (16:26)
And I think that’s certainly exciting, but I think the narrative that people have isn’t, oh, I want to protect myself from price fluctuation in the lira, and certainly if you look at their experience over the last year even though the lira depreciated dramatically had they bought bitcoin when that happened, or before that happened, they would’ve lost more holding bitcoin. And so, I think again it’s important to be careful with these narratives because it’s very easy to overgeneralize, and I don’t think we’re quite at that point yet.
Nolan Bauerle: (16:56)
So you’re saying the simple argument holds, they just want to make money like anybody else.
Meltem Demirors: (17:01)
And look, I think through that process I actually think speculation is one of the great drivers of bitcoin adoption, because as people start to speculate, and as people start to interact with bitcoin they start to appreciate some of the principles and social values, what it represents, and I think that leads to people holding bitcoin longer, and viewing it more and more in the context of a form of sound digital money, but I do think we get a little bit overly excited about narratives that aren’t really quite supported by the evidence yet.
Meltem Demirors: (17:38)
Now, the good thing is I do think the bitcoin community’s doing more diligent research. Cambridge in the UK releases their annual study on bitcoin and blockchain adoption. ING, which is a global bank, is now doing their report. The coverage and the research methodology keeps getting better and better. And within the crypto space there’s also a number of new research firms that are starting to parse data in different ways to try to analyze, and provide more context, and insight as to what the actual growth metrics might look like, but I think as I travel around the world and interact with people all over the world that story just isn’t there yet.
Nolan Bauerle: (18:16)
And so, going back to what you had mentioned about bitcoin presenting these opportunities for people to learn, and let’s say inform their worldview, one sort of test that I’ve had for a long time about someone’s world view is how accurately it can predict the future. A lot of bitcoin people have been saying we anticipate a global recession because of sovereign debt, and all these other factors. When we look around the world today we certainly see some of the things that people who have been in bitcoin as long as yourself have been predicting for some time. What we’re not seeing, for example, recently in the United States not a recession, but we have seen let’s say liquidity crunch with the repo news.
Nolan Bauerle: (19:00)
But bitcoin hasn’t behaved in the way that most people had predicted according to these narratives, these narratives that sort of said if we have another round of quantitative easing in America you’re going to see a lot of demand for bitcoin in America. The wider question being the following, what happens to bitcoin in a recession? Is it going to be this asset that you can use to get out of these little ups and downs around the world as many people have predicted for years now, or is it going to become more and more correlated and the demand will go down just because there isn’t as much liquidity in general?
Meltem Demirors: (19:35)
I think this topic is an interesting one, and certainly, it’s very tempting for people to buy into the recession narrative. After all, we are in the longest bull run in market history. We’re not at 10 years and three months, and counting. And look, I think the fact of the matter is the financial system is changing. There’re certain beliefs we’re had for a long time about how markets should work, and how investing should work, and we’re not seeing a lot of those beliefs we had being proven false.
Meltem Demirors: (20:11)
You look at just the sheer volume of negative-yielding debt. I mean, that’s a bit mind-boggling. The numbers just don’t make sense. You look at what’s happening in the passive investing space. When you look at the challenges that many hedge funds are facing, and generating meaningful alpha, through active management. They’re just a lot of challenges that the financial markets are facing, that investors are facing, but I don’t think that points naturally to we are in for a recession, because at the end of the day capital continues to flow, we are continuing to see people continuing to move out on the risk curve investing in high-risk venture investing, more and more capital being deployed there.
Meltem Demirors: (20:57)
Alternatives continue to grow as an asset class. So I think this narrative of a recession is coming is a tempting one, but I think it’s one that’s sort of difficult to predict. I’m not really in the business of reading teal leaves if you will. What I think is more interesting to think about, and one thing we’ve never seen in how bitcoin behaves in a recession, right? Because bitcoin was introduced to the world in 2009 after the 2008 financial crisis, the bitcoin network launch, and so we’ve never seen it in an environment like a recession.
Meltem Demirors: (21:32)
And so, I think there are a lot of what I like to call unknown unknowns about what will happen when we enter that new time. And I think again the forces shaping our world and the forces shaping the financial system there are some known unknowns, but then I feel like a lot of investors I talk to feel like they’re facing a lot of unknown unknowns, and so there are a lot of open questions about what the world will look like in this new era. It does feel like we’re in a new stage of financial markets. Some people call this late-stage capitalism. Some people look to Japan as an example of what might happen.
Meltem Demirors: (22:11)
But again, I think my job really is trying to focus on what this means for bitcoin, and really trying to manage the ups and downs of what’s happening with bitcoin and crypto assets, and put it in context for investors who are looking at the world feeling very confused, looking at bitcoin saying no way, this is too much, there’s so much other stuff going on in my world that I don’t need to add more risk, and add so much uncertainty by adding a highly volatile, poorly understood asset, that I just fundamentally don’t get yet.
Nolan Bauerle: (22:45)
Yeah, so it’s basically that perhaps we’re living in an era of unlimited leverage for now, which makes basically everything funded including bitcoin, and all the ICOs, and all the crazy projects. What happens if that funding just isn’t there anymore? Does bitcoin still stand up on its own, or is it a product all this free money all around the world that’s just looking for risk? As you mentioned, appetites for risk are growing just because there is so much leverage out there that you can take in going.
Meltem Demirors: (23:16)
The hunt for yield, right? There is a hunt for yield because ultimately what we’re relying on here in the US, and in many other Western developed economies, we have a population that is retiring, and pensions are underfunded. There are all of these social liabilities that need to get paid for, and historically the way we’re paid for them is through the compounding of interest, and through yield, and when that stops working the only other alternatives is to extract it sort of from society through taxation, or through inflation, right?
Meltem Demirors: (23:51)
And we’re seeing that effect around the world. You look at what’s happening in Chile, you look at what’s happening in Argentina, you look at what’s happening in Hong Kong, you look at what’s happening in the UK. There’s only so much you can squeeze that out of a system, so I think there’re a lot of fundamental existential questions about the relevance of nation-states, the relevance of currencies generally, and what I think is so interesting about bitcoin if we leave aside sort of the price of bitcoin, and these arguments around bitcoin as sound money, and these things that are very exciting, I think what’s even more interesting is the questions that bitcoin introduces to the conversation.
Meltem Demirors: (24:33)
So when people first learn about bitcoin I think it opens their mind to the idea that there is a different choice, because we’ve never really contemplated a world where I could hold something other than government-issued currency, and so that to me is the more interesting, and more profound question, and now of course with China announcing the digital renminbi with a lot of US corporations including Facebook looking at getting involved in the currency game in different ways, or in the cryptocurrency game, or other versions of digitized dollar, or digitized store value, I think it starts to get really interesting.
Nolan Bauerle: (25:12)
Meltem, you’ve always enjoyed a real tremendous bird’s eye view of the industry in your time with DCG and now with CoinShares. You’re really someone who’s able to not just be in touch with the sort of grassroots of the industry but also the more sophisticated investors, buyers, all of those folks. Have you seen a change from their perspective in the last six months around bitcoin in what they’re looking for, the questions they’re asking, and what they’re interested in?
Meltem Demirors: (25:43)
Yeah. Absolutely. I think people are certainly getting smarter faster. I think a part of what’s so amazing about the bitcoin community is just the extremely high level of quality content that’s out there, that’s produced by members of the community, for free, is easily available online, on Twitter, on people’s websites, on blogs, and podcasts. There’s just a real wealth of content information, knowledge being created to share, disseminated, expanded on, which I think is really exciting, and people are responding to that, and people are certainly reading that, and reacting to it.
Meltem Demirors: (26:23)
And so, I think people are starting to gain more of an appreciation for, an understanding, of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, but at the same time I think there’s also more confusion than ever, and unfortunately there’re a lot of people who look to bitcoin’s success and attempt to use it as a way to substantiate whatever their project is, and we saw a lot of this with the ICOs of 2017 and 2018. Everyone wanted to build a better, greener, faster, more scalable bitcoin, name your favorite feature here. I like to call this the era of future fetish in blockchains.
Meltem Demirors: (27:01)
But I think there are so many things about bitcoin that can’t be replicated, but what you get is you get a bunch of people in the market who are spreading their own narratives around what bitcoin is and why their asset or their project is different, or better, and I think that market confusion is now being reflected at the government level where we see a lot of conversation around central bank-issued digital currency, a lot of fundamental misunderstandings about how bitcoin works, even in US Congress. I think there was this perception from some of our congressman and congresswoman that bitcoin was unregulated, and I think again the confusion there is yes as a protocol there is no regulation around bitcoin, but if you operate a bitcoin company, and you’re domiciled in the US, or you touch a US customers your subject to the rules and regulations of this nation, and there are a lot of rules and regulations from every agency out there going from the CFTC, to the IRS, to FinCEN.
Meltem Demirors: (27:59)
So this sort of notion that bitcoin’s unregulated I think is just a misunderstanding, and I think the media’s also played a big part in that, in perpetuating some of the sensationalism of what’s happening here, and so, unfortunately, there are these series of narratives that have defined bitcoin for the last 10 years of its existence. I think they’re starting to die down and fade a bit, but I think that’s just a really strong inertia that we as the bitcoin community need to overcome.
Meltem Demirors: (28:32)
And unfortunately, we have not done a very good job with storytelling, and with grasping the why. It still feels like it’s stuck in a bit of an echo chamber, and so I’m really hopeful that as more, and more people start to understand bitcoin, start to get interested in bitcoin, and in digital currencies, and they go out there, and they educate themselves whether it’s going through events, like Consensus: Invest, or whether it’s listening to podcasts, or reading blogs that they’ll start to piece together their own view of the world, but I guess that’s one of the challenges of having no leader, and essential coordinator, and no marketing body for bitcoin.
Nolan Bauerle: (29:12)
I like the comment you made about that future fetish, because some of it comes up. People will say well what if there’s a better bitcoin? Well, this isn’t Nintendo. It’s not consumer electronics. This is something different. This is cryptography and it develops at a different pace than Nintendo or video games. Just because something is newer doesn’t mean it’s more useful, and will sell at a fixed sum feature.
Meltem Demirors: (29:34)
Right.
Nolan Bauerle: (29:34)
The very idea that people have accepted demand for this secure network that in many ways is already the most secure network in the world, depending on your basis, or your metrics, you know, here it is. It’s about the buy-in, you know? Not the same as consumer technology.
Meltem Demirors: (29:54)
Yeah, and I think when people talk about features a lot of the common complaints you hear about bitcoin are either around technical features, or certain aspects of bitcoin, and I think it sort of misses the point. Yes, bitcoin is technology. Yes, bitcoin is infrastructure, it’s communication infrastructure, but we communicate about value, and we can also communicate other types of information. And yes, bitcoin is about money. But at the end of the day I think bitcoin more than anything else represents a social movement and a set of ideas, and I know that sounds very esoteric, and a bit philosophical, but I think what a lot of people are starting to grasp as they go down the proverbial bitcoin rabbit hole, and I love that we call it a rabbit hole, because it’s such a strong reference to the movie The Matrix.
Meltem Demirors: (30:47)
I think as people start to learn more and more about bitcoin they understand that it’s less and less about technical features, but it’s more about some of the unique aspects of bitcoin’s design that are impossible to replicate. And at the end of the day, we’ve seen this time and time again if you have a company that has paid employees, you have a known founder, you have entities that are set up that hold funds that were raised, that creates points of failure that governments can go after.
Meltem Demirors: (31:17)
And bitcoin’s sort of birth and creation, and the myth of Satoshi Nakamoto, and how bitcoin was launched and released into the world I think has some of those characteristics of other social movements that sort of emerged that are leaderless that become really powerful. And by the way throughout history, a lot of revolutions have been started by pseudonymous or anonymous creators, writers who have hidden or obfuscated their names. And so, I think there’s this interesting sort of tension there where a lot of people try to reduce or simplify bitcoin to just technology, or to just money, or to just one thing.
Meltem Demirors: (31:57)
And it is complex and multidisciplinary and multifaceted, so in order to have that conversation, I think it just takes time for people to understand these multiple components that are working together to imbue bitcoin with some of the really unique characteristics that it has.
Nolan Bauerle: (32:12)
And I did notice your reference to The Matrix on Twitter recently where you did that great Twitter thread sort of linking what it really meant for the pills, and I think that speaks to what you’re mentioning right now, this sort of a choice of the foundation that you’re going to create some of these super and national institutions out of, or even just ideas that link us together. Maybe they’re not institutions at all, or maybe they’re just the type of tissue that goes between us all, so that we can transact, and have these types of relationships without the sort of pieces in the wall that were necessary to make it happen before.
Nolan Bauerle: (32:50)
So once again mentioning the reference to your Twitter thread and graph, or chart, or particular visual insight you have to offer the audience that can really sort of capture what you’re thinking right now with bitcoin in the world?
Meltem Demirors: (33:07)
Yeah, absolutely. I think just going back to that thread one of the points I was trying to make was the point around systemic risk, and SIFIs, or systemically important financial institutions, and what that means for systems. So I think one chart that’s really important, one graph that’s really important, I thought to keep in mind is the percent of the total bitcoin supply that’s held in third-party custody, and there is this ongoing sort of meme in the bitcoin community around not your keys, not your coin.
Meltem Demirors: (33:40)
But there is a fundamental question I have that if we institutionalize and financialize bitcoin, and we take 50% of the world’s bitcoin supply, lock it up somewhere with the GTCC, and we start trading paper certificates that represent an underlying bitcoin, and sort of dematerialize bitcoin markets, and detach them from the underlying, what does that really do for us other than to create a new tool for speculation? I’m not really sure.
Meltem Demirors: (34:06)
And so, one metric I’m tracking closely is the number of bitcoin in third-party custody according to our latest research, which is linked in the thread, and also on our CoinShares website. It’s close to 20%, and so that’s just an interesting thing to keep in mind. And then, the next thing I’m looking at … So that’s sort of relates to systemic risk we’re creating, and in my view if we’re just recreating the same financial system, if we’re recreating banks, and institutions, and governments because they’re the people who hold the coins ultimately, and control who can access them then that doesn’t really accomplish much of the end state of bitcoin, which I think is interesting, and sort of intellectually challenging to think about. It’s important to stay intellectually honest as we look at these things.
Meltem Demirors: (34:55)
And then, the second thing I think about that’s really more relevant on the macro scale is the balance of accounts and trade flows between countries. I think one of the big questions that’s emerging now US economic, political, military hegemony has been a reality for the last 100 years almost, and as we start to see geopolitics shift and get reshaped, and as we start seeing increasing anger, and social frustration in the world about wealth inequality, and income inequality, and the unequal consumption of our planet’s resources, and what the implications are I do think we are starting to see nation-states, and people kind of waking up, and saying, well, wait a minute. Why are we living in a dollar-defined world?
Meltem Demirors: (35:49)
And it’s interesting to see just over the weekend Rosneft, which is Russia’s largest energy exporter, said that they were going to start taking steps to minimize their use of the US dollar with the plan to eliminate it completely. And so, they could use euros, maybe they use digital renminbi, maybe they create their own digital currencies as means for payment and settlement, but that I think is really material because the petro dollar, the dollar defines 90% of the trade flows in the energy industry, and the energy industry’s a huge part of the global economy.
Meltem Demirors: (36:24)
And I think the other thing that’s really interesting here is the narrative around China’s adoption of blockchain technology, and the recent statements made by the government there that they fully intend to create a digitized currency that is going to be used by commercial banks to start, and what do commercial banks do? They finance trade flows.
Meltem Demirors: (36:44)
And so, I do think there’s an increasing awareness on the importance of the base currency that’s used to sort of shape economic activity around the world, and that’s an area I think is really fascinating, because again some of the aspects of bitcoin that make it unique, the fact that it’s leaderless, and not controlled by any one entity, and some of these things could potentially also position bitcoin well to be a neutral sort of means of a value transfer.
Meltem Demirors: (37:14)
And so, I think it’ll just be very interesting to see how different nation-states attempt to capture that narrative, an attempt to use certain aspects of what we’ve learned from the growth and rise of bitcoin, and other digital currencies to shape their own place in the world’s financial system.
Nolan Bauerle: (37:32)
Fascinating stuff, Meltem. We’re coming up at the end of our time here. So you’re going to be leading off Consensus: Invest. You’re our first keynote speaker out of the block’s that morning.
Meltem Demirors: (37:44)
Right.
Nolan Bauerle: (37:44)
So excited to have you there, excited to hear what you have in store, the research that you guys have been working on at CoinShares. I still use your Mining Profitability document that you guys created a year ago to really test, or to quantify mining profitability, through that whole big one, so keep up the good work. CoinShares’ research continues to be a reliable resource for myself. Thank you a ton for your time.
Meltem Demirors: (38:08)
Thank you. I’ll see you soon, Nolan.
Nolan Bauerle: (38:16)
Enjoyed this episode? I’d like to personally invite you to come to Invest: New York in November. The event features not only the speaker you just heard but an array of other amazing thinkers. Visit coindesk.com and click events, or simply follow the link in the description. Thanks for listening, and see you in New York City.
Meltem Demirors image via CoinDesk archives
• PODCAST: Ikigai’s Travis Kling on Why Bitcoin Is a ‘Baby X-Man’
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[Social Media Buzz]
11/11 01:21 bitFlyer FXBTCJP738
Loss Cut 🤗 1,011,184円(-27,970円幅)
#BTC #bitFlyer #FXBTCJP || @CharlieShrem Hello @CharlieShrem , would you like to see this project https://t.co/kqU051Ljpj
As one your fans and @creditscom investor, I would like to have a collaboration with you. This is gonna be a promising project #credits #Crypto #bitcoin || #仮想通貨 #BTT
Bittrex高騰/暴落 速報(5分前価格と比較)
[BTC-BTT]-20.00%0.000000040
[BTC-UBQ]-7.29%0.000008520
[BTC-SLS]7.03%0.000797470
[BTC-HXRO]-6.92%0.000001480
たった5分間で【2...
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8757.79, 8815.66, 8808.26, 8708.09, 8491.99, 8550.76, 8577.98, 8309.29, 8206.15, 8027.27
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 242.16, 241.11, 236.38, 236.93, 237.60, 236.15, 236.80, 233.13, 231.95, 234.02, 235.34, 240.35, 238.87, 240.95, 237.11, 237.12, 237.28, 237.41, 237.10, 233.35, 230.19, 222.93, 225.80, 225.87, 224.32, 224.95, 225.62, 222.88, 228.49, 229.05, 228.80, 229.71, 229.98, 232.40, 233.54, 236.82, 250.90, 249.28, 249.01, 244.61, 245.21, 243.94, 246.99, 244.30, 240.51, 242.80, 243.59, 250.99, 249.01, 257.06, 263.07, 258.62, 255.41, 256.34, 260.89, 271.91, 269.03, 266.21, 270.79, 269.23, 284.89, 293.11, 310.87, 292.05, 287.46, 285.83, 278.09, 279.47, 274.90, 273.61, 278.98, 275.83, 277.22, 276.05, 288.28, 288.70, 292.69, 293.62, 294.43, 289.59, 287.72, 284.65, 281.60, 282.61, 281.23, 285.22, 281.88, 278.58, 279.58, 261.00.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2015-08-08]
Volume: 58533000, RSI (14-day): 34.63, 50-day EMA: 272.38, 200-day EMA: 262.09
[Wider Market Context]
None available.
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
4 buys for retail stocks ahead of earnings: The bar has been reset in the retail space, and Macy's(NYSE: M)is now the stock to buy for the near term, CNBC "Fast Money" trader David Seaburg said Friday.
"Macy's is the one to own here for the short term, but long term, I caution you: I think they're going to have some real struggles," he said. "I think right now is the time to buy it for a trade: I think the stock's been beaten up, there are no expectations they're going to make numbers-I think you'll get a trade to the upside."
Still, Seaburg reiterated his caution for investors looking to go long into the retailer, as he predicted that Amazon will displace the company by 2017.
For his part, trader Brian Kelly said he "might pick at" Macy's, but similarly cautioned that "it's not really a long-term type of investment."
Kelly said he doesn't like the retail space in general because consumer spending is not seeing much boost from the decline in oil.
"Fast Money" Trader Steve Grasso, meanwhile, said that "if you have to play in that retail space," go with Target(NYSE: TGT).
That company, he said, has been an outperformer with a more than 4 percent year-to-date gain.
He also suggested buying Deckers Outdoor(NYSE: DECK), saying, "It makes an excellent takeout target." He noted that it would also work as a seasonal buy in October.
Disclosures:
Steve Grasso
Grasso is long AAPL, BA, BAC, CC, DD, DECK, EVGN, FIT, KBH, MJNA, MU, PFE, PHM, T, TWTR, GDX. His kids are long EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY. His firm and some of its partners are long NEM, LYB, WDR, SHLD, STRP, UDR, ACI, AVP, TEX, CLI, TWTR, WYNN, PCRX, AXP, FNMA, SALT, AMD, CUBA, HSPO, ICE, AMZN, FCX, IBM, KDUS, KO, MAT, MCD, MJNA, NE, NEM, OXY, RIG, STAG, TAXI, TITXF, TSE, VALE, ZNGA.
Guy Adami
Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.
Brian Kelly
Brian Kelly is long BBRY, BTC=; ITB, TAN, TLT, TSL, the VIX, GDX call spread, TWTR call spread, US dollar; he is short DAX, Yuan and Yen. Today he closed his Oil and Ruble shorts.
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• Personal Finance || 4 buys for retail stocks ahead of earnings: The bar has been reset in the retail space, and Macy's (NYSE: M) is now the stock to buy for the near term, CNBC "Fast Money" trader David Seaburg said Friday. "Macy's is the one to own here for the short term, but long term, I caution you: I think they're going to have some real struggles," he said. "I think right now is the time to buy it for a trade: I think the stock's been beaten up, there are no expectations they're going to make numbers-I think you'll get a trade to the upside." Still, Seaburg reiterated his caution for investors looking to go long into the retailer, as he predicted that Amazon will displace the company by 2017. For his part, trader Brian Kelly said he "might pick at" Macy's, but similarly cautioned that "it's not really a long-term type of investment." Kelly said he doesn't like the retail space in general because consumer spending is not seeing much boost from the decline in oil. "Fast Money" Trader Steve Grasso, meanwhile, said that "if you have to play in that retail space," go with Target (NYSE: TGT) . That company, he said, has been an outperformer with a more than 4 percent year-to-date gain. He also suggested buying Deckers Outdoor (NYSE: DECK) , saying, "It makes an excellent takeout target." He noted that it would also work as a seasonal buy in October. Disclosures: Steve Grasso Grasso is long AAPL, BA, BAC, CC, DD, DECK, EVGN, FIT, KBH, MJNA, MU, PFE, PHM, T, TWTR, GDX. His kids are long EFA, EFG, EWJ, IJR, SPY. His firm and some of its partners are long NEM, LYB, WDR, SHLD, STRP, UDR, ACI, AVP, TEX, CLI, TWTR, WYNN, PCRX, AXP, FNMA, SALT, AMD, CUBA, HSPO, ICE, AMZN, FCX, IBM, KDUS, KO, MAT, MCD, MJNA, NE, NEM, OXY, RIG, STAG, TAXI, TITXF, TSE, VALE, ZNGA. Guy Adami Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS, INTC, Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck. Brian Kelly Brian Kelly is long BBRY, BTC=; ITB, TAN, TLT, TSL, the VIX, GDX call spread, TWTR call spread, US dollar; he is short DAX, Yuan and Yen. Today he closed his Oil and Ruble shorts. More From CNBC Top News and Analysis Latest News Video Personal Finance || Is Marijuana Closer To Making It Off The Schedule I Drug List?: Despite the fact that it has become legal in many states across the United States, marijuana is still seen as a criminal substance in the eyes of the federal government. That means at a federal level, marijuana is listed alongside drugs like heroin and LSD as a Schedule I drug with no known medical uses. This classification has made it difficult for researchers to test the effects of marijuana on certain illnesses and has created a host of questions as to how the conflicting laws will impact the industry as a whole. DEA Remarks However, advocates for full blown marijuana legalization in the United States moved one step closer to their goal this week after the Drug Enforcement Administration made a statement indicating that its view on marijuana is shifting. DEA acting Chief Chuck Rosenberg remarked on Wednesday that "heroin is clearly more dangerous than marijuana." While that may not seem like much, the marijuana community has considered it a win in the ongoing battle with legislators over the drug's status. Related Link: Bitcoin, Marijuana And Drones: Meet Trees Why Does It Matter? New studies on the effects of marijuana, both long-term and short-term, have suggested that the drug isn't as dangerous as previously believed. However, while public opinion in the United States has shifted, the DEA has remained adamant about the drug's place on the Schedule I drug list. The DEA also challenged Obama's decision to allow states to make their own decisions regarding marijuana legislation, making the industry's future uncertain. Bright Future The latest comments suggest that the DEA may be changing its mind and could eventually get on board with legal marijuana. For now, federal law still prohibits the drug and until that legislation is changed, the agency will continue to regard marijuana use as a criminal offense. However the DEA's more relaxed attitude could help promote change in Washington in the coming years. See more from Benzinga Bitcoin Rewards Gain Popularity Can Income Share Agreements End The Student Debt Argument? Firms' Perks Competing To Attract Top Talent © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Is Marijuana Closer To Making It Off The Schedule I Drug List?: Despite the fact that it has become legal in many states across the United States, marijuana is still seen as a criminal substance in the eyes of the federal government. That means at a federal level, marijuana is listed alongside drugs like heroin and LSD as a Schedule I drug with no known medical uses.
This classification has made it difficult for researchers to test the effects of marijuana on certain illnesses and has created a host of questions as to how the conflicting laws will impact the industry as a whole.
DEA Remarks
However, advocates for full blown marijuana legalization in the United States moved one step closer to their goal this week after the Drug Enforcement Administration made astatementindicating that its view on marijuana is shifting. DEA acting Chief Chuck Rosenberg remarked on Wednesday that "heroin is clearly more dangerous than marijuana." While that may not seem like much, the marijuana community has considered it a win in the ongoing battle with legislators over the drug's status.
Related Link:Bitcoin, Marijuana And Drones: Meet Trees
Why Does It Matter?
New studies on the effects of marijuana, both long-term and short-term, have suggested that the drug isn't as dangerous as previously believed. However, while public opinion in the United States has shifted, the DEA has remained adamant about the drug's place on the Schedule I drug list. The DEA also challenged Obama's decision to allow states to make their own decisions regarding marijuana legislation, making the industry's future uncertain.
Bright Future
The latest comments suggest that the DEA may be changing its mind and could eventually get on board with legal marijuana. For now, federal law still prohibits the drug and until that legislation is changed, the agency will continue to regard marijuana use as a criminal offense. However the DEA's more relaxed attitude could help promote change in Washington in the coming years.
See more from Benzinga
• Bitcoin Rewards Gain Popularity
• Can Income Share Agreements End The Student Debt Argument?
• Firms' Perks Competing To Attract Top Talent
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin Rewards Gain Popularity: While the general public may be hesitant to convert their existing money into bitcoins, some are betting that being rewarded with the cryptocurrency will prove more appealing. Bitcoin rewards are being used by some firms to get customer feedback or provide incentives for loyal use. The idea has been a step forward for the bitcoin community, as it gets digital currencies into the hands of more people who otherwise may not use it.
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation(NASDAQ:MSFT)'s Bing search engine has launched a platform called Bing Rewards in which users can earn credits that are redeemable for things like gift cards and other products. The site is aimed at boosting the search engine's user base. In an effort to rope in the growing bitcoin community, Bing Rewards haslaunched a sweepstakesthat will enter participants in a drawing for $500 worth of bitcoin. The company's partnership with Tango Card is responsible for the offering, as Tango Card recently made a deal to incorporate bitcoin processing service SnapCard.
Related Link:Venture Capitalists Pouring Money Into Bitcoin
Qualtrics
Survey moderator Qualtrics is also using bitcoin as an incentive to get people to answer questions and participate in research. Again, Tango Card and SnapCard are behind the bitcoin offerings, which are given to survey participants. Qualtrics users are able to earn points by completing surveys and those points are redeemable for gift cards at retailers likeAmazon.com, Inc.(NASDAQ:AMZN) or they can be transferred into bitcoins.
See more from Benzinga
• Firms' Perks Competing To Attract Top Talent
• Google Pushes Back In EU Privacy Case
• Will Video Game Makers Profit In China?
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin Rewards Gain Popularity: While the general public may be hesitant to convert their existing money into bitcoins, some are betting that being rewarded with the cryptocurrency will prove more appealing. Bitcoin rewards are being used by some firms to get customer feedback or provide incentives for loyal use. The idea has been a step forward for the bitcoin community, as it gets digital currencies into the hands of more people who otherwise may not use it. Microsoft Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT )'s Bing search engine has launched a platform called Bing Rewards in which users can earn credits that are redeemable for things like gift cards and other products. The site is aimed at boosting the search engine's user base. In an effort to rope in the growing bitcoin community, Bing Rewards has launched a sweepstakes that will enter participants in a drawing for $500 worth of bitcoin. The company's partnership with Tango Card is responsible for the offering, as Tango Card recently made a deal to incorporate bitcoin processing service SnapCard. Related Link: Venture Capitalists Pouring Money Into Bitcoin Qualtrics Survey moderator Qualtrics is also using bitcoin as an incentive to get people to answer questions and participate in research. Again, Tango Card and SnapCard are behind the bitcoin offerings, which are given to survey participants. Qualtrics users are able to earn points by completing surveys and those points are redeemable for gift cards at retailers like Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN ) or they can be transferred into bitcoins. See more from Benzinga Firms' Perks Competing To Attract Top Talent Google Pushes Back In EU Privacy Case Will Video Game Makers Profit In China? © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. View comments || Bitcoin Rewards Gain Popularity: While the general public may be hesitant to convert their existing money into bitcoins, some are betting that being rewarded with the cryptocurrency will prove more appealing. Bitcoin rewards are being used by some firms to get customer feedback or provide incentives for loyal use. The idea has been a step forward for the bitcoin community, as it gets digital currencies into the hands of more people who otherwise may not use it.
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation(NASDAQ:MSFT)'s Bing search engine has launched a platform called Bing Rewards in which users can earn credits that are redeemable for things like gift cards and other products. The site is aimed at boosting the search engine's user base. In an effort to rope in the growing bitcoin community, Bing Rewards haslaunched a sweepstakesthat will enter participants in a drawing for $500 worth of bitcoin. The company's partnership with Tango Card is responsible for the offering, as Tango Card recently made a deal to incorporate bitcoin processing service SnapCard.
Related Link:Venture Capitalists Pouring Money Into Bitcoin
Qualtrics
Survey moderator Qualtrics is also using bitcoin as an incentive to get people to answer questions and participate in research. Again, Tango Card and SnapCard are behind the bitcoin offerings, which are given to survey participants. Qualtrics users are able to earn points by completing surveys and those points are redeemable for gift cards at retailers likeAmazon.com, Inc.(NASDAQ:AMZN) or they can be transferred into bitcoins.
See more from Benzinga
• Firms' Perks Competing To Attract Top Talent
• Google Pushes Back In EU Privacy Case
• Will Video Game Makers Profit In China?
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Bitcoin startups lure quant whizzes from Wall Street: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Armed with a doctorate in financial engineering, 34-year-old Timo Schlaefer was on his way to a promising career at Goldman Sachs in London. Previously with the bank's mergers and acquisitions team, he became an executive director of credit quantitative modeling at Goldman, where quants like Schlaefer are highly valued.
In February he gave that up, and launched a company called Crypto Facilities Ltd, a bitcoin derivatives trading platform, which now has six employees. For now, the platform trades bitcoin forwards, which are directly linked to the price of bitcoin, but it's also developing other digital currency derivative products.
"This is uncharted territory," said Schlaefer. "It's an exciting opportunity to participate in a new area of technology that has massive potential."
Bitcoin is a virtual or online currency created through a "mining" process where a computer's resources are used to perform millions of calculations. Once mined, bitcoins can be stored in an online wallet, traded in an online exchange, or used to buy goods and services.
Once the province of small-time investors driven by their distrust of government-backed currencies, now Wall Street bankers and traders are leaving high-paying jobs to join bitcoin start-ups, while big firms hire in-house to get their arms around bitcoin and the related 'blockchain' technology.
"A lot of people are entering the bitcoin space as the sector has reached an overall level of funding that's hard to ignore," said Jaron Lukasiewicz, founder and chief executive officer at New York-based bitcoin exchange Coinsetter. Lukasiewicz, 29, moved to the bitcoin world in late 2012, having left behind a six-figure salary in private equity at The CapStreet Group in New York.
Bitcoin is not backed by a government and its value fluctuates. On Thursday, it was trading at $278 <BTC=BTSP>, making the value of outstanding bitcoin worth about $4 billion. It has had a volatile history, with a rapid rally in 2013 that boosted its value to more than $1,150 per bitcoin at one point.
Right now, Crypto Facilities' Schlaefer probably won't make anywhere near the kind of money that he would potentially earn at Goldman. But it's less about the compensation for Schlaefer and more about being part of the growth in bitcoin and its underlying technology, the blockchain.
The blockchain - a ledger or list of all of a digital currency's transactions - is viewed as bitcoin's main technological innovation, allowing users to make payments anonymously, instantly, and without government regulation.
Software engineers have started developing multiple applications for the blockchain, including a land title record system in Honduras to the clearing of trades in financial markets.
Meanwhile, Wall Street firms are doing their own hiring in the cryptocurrency realm. In June, online bitcoin job ads surged to a record high of 306, according to data from Wanted Analytics, with demand coming from banks such as Capital One and tech companies such as Intel and Amazon. In previous months, Citigroup and TD Canada Trust posted bitcoin job ads as well.
RISKY BUSINESS
For 31-year-old Paul Chou, founder and chief executive officer of Ledger X, an institutional trading and clearing platform for bitcoin options, moving into the digital currency space represents what he hopes results in lucrative profits down the road. But there are other reasons for his shift.
LedgerX is awaiting regulatory approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to trade and clear options on bitcoin. Chou said the firm hopes to operate the first regulated exchange and clearinghouse to list and clear fully-collateralized, physically-settled bitcoin options for the institutional market.
"I took a very large salary pay cut to do this, in return for equity in a start-up that can be worth a lot someday," Chou said.
Before LedgerX, Chou worked at Goldman Sachs in New York as a quant equity trader after graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with degrees in computer science and mathematics. Chou said his hours are much longer as an entrepreneur - he's constantly refining ideas for strategy and thinking which areas to focus on.
"The domain expertise, relationships, and career equity I've built are things I never could have done while at Goldman," Chou said. "As a former trader, I'm glad I made this trade-off at the stage of my career that I did."
It's a risky move, however. There are already several tales of bitcoin company failures and mismanagement.
U.S. bitcoin marketplace Buttercoin, for instance, shuttered its operations in April this year despite raising $1.3 million in funding. Bitcoin exchange MyCoin closed its doors in February of 2015, leaving about 3,000 investors out of pocket.
Tokyo-based Mt. Gox, once one of the most dominant bitcoin exchanges, closed its doors without warning in February last year, filing for bankruptcy and leaving investors approximately $500 million in the red.
BITCOIN INVESTMENTS, HIRING
Total investments in bitcoin companies for the first half of 2015 - totaling $375.4 million - have already exceeded 2014's total of $339.4 million, data from CB Insights showed. Last year's venture capital funding of bitcoin start-ups grew roughly 280 percent from 2013.
The number of bitcoin start-ups has increased by more than 80 percent from last year. As of end-July, there were 814 start-up digital currency companies, up from 444 a year earlier, according to Angel List, an online marketplace for start-ups seeking to raise money from angel investors.
As banks defer compensation and add more clawback provisions that give them the right to limit bonuses, traders are seeing better risk opportunities elsewhere, said San Francisco-based Rick Henri Chan, chief operating officer at Airbitz, a digital wallet platform.
Chan, 47, who joined the bitcoin industry three years ago, worked for Deutsche Bank as head of its over-the-counter derivatives technology in Japan, and was a trader at UBS and Morgan Stanley.
He works long hours at Airbitz, doing everything from strategy to raising money, but the work environment is more flexible. At Deutsche, Chan had a multi-million dollar package, and he admits to missing that paycheck.
"But we're doing something special here at Airbitz. And I do think our company will be valued at a lot more in the future," he said.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss, editing by David Gaffen and John Pickering) || Bitcoin startups lure quant whizzes from Wall Street: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Armed with a doctorate in financial engineering, 34-year-old Timo Schlaefer was on his way to a promising career at Goldman Sachs in London. Previously with the bank's mergers and acquisitions team, he became an executive director of credit quantitative modeling at Goldman, where quants like Schlaefer are highly valued.
In February he gave that up, and launched a company called Crypto Facilities Ltd, a bitcoin derivatives trading platform, which now has six employees. For now, the platform trades bitcoin forwards, which are directly linked to the price of bitcoin, but it's also developing other digital currency derivative products.
"This is uncharted territory," said Schlaefer. "It's an exciting opportunity to participate in a new area of technology that has massive potential."
Bitcoin is a virtual or online currency created through a "mining" process where a computer's resources are used to perform millions of calculations. Once mined, bitcoins can be stored in an online wallet, traded in an online exchange, or used to buy goods and services.
Once the province of small-time investors driven by their distrust of government-backed currencies, now Wall Street bankers and traders are leaving high-paying jobs to join bitcoin start-ups, while big firms hire in-house to get their arms around bitcoin and the related 'blockchain' technology.
"A lot of people are entering the bitcoin space as the sector has reached an overall level of funding that's hard to ignore," said Jaron Lukasiewicz, founder and chief executive officer at New York-based bitcoin exchange Coinsetter. Lukasiewicz, 29, moved to the bitcoin world in late 2012, having left behind a six-figure salary in private equity at The CapStreet Group in New York.
Bitcoin is not backed by a government and its value fluctuates. On Thursday, it was trading at $278 <BTC=BTSP>, making the value of outstanding bitcoin worth about $4 billion. It has had a volatile history, with a rapid rally in 2013 that boosted its value to more than $1,150 per bitcoin at one point.
Right now, Crypto Facilities' Schlaefer probably won't make anywhere near the kind of money that he would potentially earn at Goldman. But it's less about the compensation for Schlaefer and more about being part of the growth in bitcoin and its underlying technology, the blockchain.
The blockchain - a ledger or list of all of a digital currency's transactions - is viewed as bitcoin's main technological innovation, allowing users to make payments anonymously, instantly, and without government regulation.
Software engineers have started developing multiple applications for the blockchain, including a land title record system in Honduras to the clearing of trades in financial markets.
Meanwhile, Wall Street firms are doing their own hiring in the cryptocurrency realm. In June, online bitcoin job ads surged to a record high of 306, according to data from Wanted Analytics, with demand coming from banks such as Capital One and tech companies such as Intel and Amazon. In previous months, Citigroup and TD Canada Trust posted bitcoin job ads as well.
RISKY BUSINESS
For 31-year-old Paul Chou, founder and chief executive officer of Ledger X, an institutional trading and clearing platform for bitcoin options, moving into the digital currency space represents what he hopes results in lucrative profits down the road. But there are other reasons for his shift.
LedgerX is awaiting regulatory approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to trade and clear options on bitcoin. Chou said the firm hopes to operate the first regulated exchange and clearinghouse to list and clear fully-collateralized, physically-settled bitcoin options for the institutional market.
"I took a very large salary pay cut to do this, in return for equity in a start-up that can be worth a lot someday," Chou said.
Before LedgerX, Chou worked at Goldman Sachs in New York as a quant equity trader after graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with degrees in computer science and mathematics. Chou said his hours are much longer as an entrepreneur - he's constantly refining ideas for strategy and thinking which areas to focus on.
"The domain expertise, relationships, and career equity I've built are things I never could have done while at Goldman," Chou said. "As a former trader, I'm glad I made this trade-off at the stage of my career that I did."
It's a risky move, however. There are already several tales of bitcoin company failures and mismanagement.
U.S. bitcoin marketplace Buttercoin, for instance, shuttered its operations in April this year despite raising $1.3 million in funding. Bitcoin exchange MyCoin closed its doors in February of 2015, leaving about 3,000 investors out of pocket.
Tokyo-based Mt. Gox, once one of the most dominant bitcoin exchanges, closed its doors without warning in February last year, filing for bankruptcy and leaving investors approximately $500 million in the red.
BITCOIN INVESTMENTS, HIRING
Total investments in bitcoin companies for the first half of 2015 - totaling $375.4 million - have already exceeded 2014's total of $339.4 million, data from CB Insights showed. Last year's venture capital funding of bitcoin start-ups grew roughly 280 percent from 2013.
The number of bitcoin start-ups has increased by more than 80 percent from last year. As of end-July, there were 814 start-up digital currency companies, up from 444 a year earlier, according to Angel List, an online marketplace for start-ups seeking to raise money from angel investors.
As banks defer compensation and add more clawback provisions that give them the right to limit bonuses, traders are seeing better risk opportunities elsewhere, said San Francisco-based Rick Henri Chan, chief operating officer at Airbitz, a digital wallet platform.
Chan, 47, who joined the bitcoin industry three years ago, worked for Deutsche Bank as head of its over-the-counter derivatives technology in Japan, and was a trader at UBS and Morgan Stanley.
He works long hours at Airbitz, doing everything from strategy to raising money, but the work environment is more flexible. At Deutsche, Chan had a multi-million dollar package, and he admits to missing that paycheck.
"But we're doing something special here at Airbitz. And I do think our company will be valued at a lot more in the future," he said.
(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss, editing by David Gaffen and John Pickering) || Bitcoin startups lure quant whizzes from Wall Street: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Armed with a doctorate in financial engineering, 34-year-old Timo Schlaefer was on his way to a promising career at Goldman Sachs in London. Previously with the bank's mergers and acquisitions team, he became an executive director of credit quantitative modeling at Goldman, where quants like Schlaefer are highly valued. In February he gave that up, and launched a company called Crypto Facilities Ltd, a bitcoin derivatives trading platform, which now has six employees. For now, the platform trades bitcoin forwards, which are directly linked to the price of bitcoin, but it's also developing other digital currency derivative products. "This is uncharted territory," said Schlaefer. "It's an exciting opportunity to participate in a new area of technology that has massive potential." Bitcoin is a virtual or online currency created through a "mining" process where a computer's resources are used to perform millions of calculations. Once mined, bitcoins can be stored in an online wallet, traded in an online exchange, or used to buy goods and services. Once the province of small-time investors driven by their distrust of government-backed currencies, now Wall Street bankers and traders are leaving high-paying jobs to join bitcoin start-ups, while big firms hire in-house to get their arms around bitcoin and the related 'blockchain' technology. "A lot of people are entering the bitcoin space as the sector has reached an overall level of funding that's hard to ignore," said Jaron Lukasiewicz, founder and chief executive officer at New York-based bitcoin exchange Coinsetter. Lukasiewicz, 29, moved to the bitcoin world in late 2012, having left behind a six-figure salary in private equity at The CapStreet Group in New York. Bitcoin is not backed by a government and its value fluctuates. On Thursday, it was trading at $278, making the value of outstanding bitcoin worth about $4 billion. It has had a volatile history, with a rapid rally in 2013 that boosted its value to more than $1,150 per bitcoin at one point. Story continues Right now, Crypto Facilities' Schlaefer probably won't make anywhere near the kind of money that he would potentially earn at Goldman. But it's less about the compensation for Schlaefer and more about being part of the growth in bitcoin and its underlying technology, the blockchain. The blockchain - a ledger or list of all of a digital currency's transactions - is viewed as bitcoin's main technological innovation, allowing users to make payments anonymously, instantly, and without government regulation. Software engineers have started developing multiple applications for the blockchain, including a land title record system in Honduras to the clearing of trades in financial markets. Meanwhile, Wall Street firms are doing their own hiring in the cryptocurrency realm. In June, online bitcoin job ads surged to a record high of 306, according to data from Wanted Analytics, with demand coming from banks such as Capital One and tech companies such as Intel and Amazon. In previous months, Citigroup and TD Canada Trust posted bitcoin job ads as well. RISKY BUSINESS For 31-year-old Paul Chou, founder and chief executive officer of Ledger X, an institutional trading and clearing platform for bitcoin options, moving into the digital currency space represents what he hopes results in lucrative profits down the road. But there are other reasons for his shift. LedgerX is awaiting regulatory approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to trade and clear options on bitcoin. Chou said the firm hopes to operate the first regulated exchange and clearinghouse to list and clear fully-collateralized, physically-settled bitcoin options for the institutional market. "I took a very large salary pay cut to do this, in return for equity in a start-up that can be worth a lot someday," Chou said. Before LedgerX, Chou worked at Goldman Sachs in New York as a quant equity trader after graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with degrees in computer science and mathematics. Chou said his hours are much longer as an entrepreneur - he's constantly refining ideas for strategy and thinking which areas to focus on. "The domain expertise, relationships, and career equity I've built are things I never could have done while at Goldman," Chou said. "As a former trader, I'm glad I made this trade-off at the stage of my career that I did." It's a risky move, however. There are already several tales of bitcoin company failures and mismanagement. U.S. bitcoin marketplace Buttercoin, for instance, shuttered its operations in April this year despite raising $1.3 million in funding. Bitcoin exchange MyCoin closed its doors in February of 2015, leaving about 3,000 investors out of pocket. Tokyo-based Mt. Gox, once one of the most dominant bitcoin exchanges, closed its doors without warning in February last year, filing for bankruptcy and leaving investors approximately $500 million in the red. BITCOIN INVESTMENTS, HIRING Total investments in bitcoin companies for the first half of 2015 - totaling $375.4 million - have already exceeded 2014's total of $339.4 million, data from CB Insights showed. Last year's venture capital funding of bitcoin start-ups grew roughly 280 percent from 2013. The number of bitcoin start-ups has increased by more than 80 percent from last year. As of end-July, there were 814 start-up digital currency companies, up from 444 a year earlier, according to Angel List, an online marketplace for start-ups seeking to raise money from angel investors. As banks defer compensation and add more clawback provisions that give them the right to limit bonuses, traders are seeing better risk opportunities elsewhere, said San Francisco-based Rick Henri Chan, chief operating officer at Airbitz, a digital wallet platform. Chan, 47, who joined the bitcoin industry three years ago, worked for Deutsche Bank as head of its over-the-counter derivatives technology in Japan, and was a trader at UBS and Morgan Stanley. He works long hours at Airbitz, doing everything from strategy to raising money, but the work environment is more flexible. At Deutsche, Chan had a multi-million dollar package, and he admits to missing that paycheck. "But we're doing something special here at Airbitz. And I do think our company will be valued at a lot more in the future," he said. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss, editing by David Gaffen and John Pickering) || Bitcoin startups lure quant whizzes from Wall Street: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Armed with a doctorate in financial engineering, 34-year-old Timo Schlaefer was on his way to a promising career at Goldman Sachs in London. Previously with the bank's mergers and acquisitions team, he became an executive director of credit quantitative modeling at Goldman, where quants like Schlaefer are highly valued. In February he gave that up, and launched a company called Crypto Facilities Ltd, a bitcoin derivatives trading platform, which now has six employees. For now, the platform trades bitcoin forwards, which are directly linked to the price of bitcoin, but it's also developing other digital currency derivative products. "This is uncharted territory," said Schlaefer. "It's an exciting opportunity to participate in a new area of technology that has massive potential." Bitcoin is a virtual or online currency created through a "mining" process where a computer's resources are used to perform millions of calculations. Once mined, bitcoins can be stored in an online wallet, traded in an online exchange, or used to buy goods and services. Once the province of small-time investors driven by their distrust of government-backed currencies, now Wall Street bankers and traders are leaving high-paying jobs to join bitcoin start-ups, while big firms hire in-house to get their arms around bitcoin and the related 'blockchain' technology. "A lot of people are entering the bitcoin space as the sector has reached an overall level of funding that's hard to ignore," said Jaron Lukasiewicz, founder and chief executive officer at New York-based bitcoin exchange Coinsetter. Lukasiewicz, 29, moved to the bitcoin world in late 2012, having left behind a six-figure salary in private equity at The CapStreet Group in New York. Bitcoin is not backed by a government and its value fluctuates. On Thursday, it was trading at $278, making the value of outstanding bitcoin worth about $4 billion. It has had a volatile history, with a rapid rally in 2013 that boosted its value to more than $1,150 per bitcoin at one point. Story continues Right now, Crypto Facilities' Schlaefer probably won't make anywhere near the kind of money that he would potentially earn at Goldman. But it's less about the compensation for Schlaefer and more about being part of the growth in bitcoin and its underlying technology, the blockchain. The blockchain - a ledger or list of all of a digital currency's transactions - is viewed as bitcoin's main technological innovation, allowing users to make payments anonymously, instantly, and without government regulation. Software engineers have started developing multiple applications for the blockchain, including a land title record system in Honduras to the clearing of trades in financial markets. Meanwhile, Wall Street firms are doing their own hiring in the cryptocurrency realm. In June, online bitcoin job ads surged to a record high of 306, according to data from Wanted Analytics, with demand coming from banks such as Capital One and tech companies such as Intel and Amazon. In previous months, Citigroup and TD Canada Trust posted bitcoin job ads as well. RISKY BUSINESS For 31-year-old Paul Chou, founder and chief executive officer of Ledger X, an institutional trading and clearing platform for bitcoin options, moving into the digital currency space represents what he hopes results in lucrative profits down the road. But there are other reasons for his shift. LedgerX is awaiting regulatory approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to trade and clear options on bitcoin. Chou said the firm hopes to operate the first regulated exchange and clearinghouse to list and clear fully-collateralized, physically-settled bitcoin options for the institutional market. "I took a very large salary pay cut to do this, in return for equity in a start-up that can be worth a lot someday," Chou said. Before LedgerX, Chou worked at Goldman Sachs in New York as a quant equity trader after graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with degrees in computer science and mathematics. Chou said his hours are much longer as an entrepreneur - he's constantly refining ideas for strategy and thinking which areas to focus on. "The domain expertise, relationships, and career equity I've built are things I never could have done while at Goldman," Chou said. "As a former trader, I'm glad I made this trade-off at the stage of my career that I did." It's a risky move, however. There are already several tales of bitcoin company failures and mismanagement. U.S. bitcoin marketplace Buttercoin, for instance, shuttered its operations in April this year despite raising $1.3 million in funding. Bitcoin exchange MyCoin closed its doors in February of 2015, leaving about 3,000 investors out of pocket. Tokyo-based Mt. Gox, once one of the most dominant bitcoin exchanges, closed its doors without warning in February last year, filing for bankruptcy and leaving investors approximately $500 million in the red. BITCOIN INVESTMENTS, HIRING Total investments in bitcoin companies for the first half of 2015 - totaling $375.4 million - have already exceeded 2014's total of $339.4 million, data from CB Insights showed. Last year's venture capital funding of bitcoin start-ups grew roughly 280 percent from 2013. The number of bitcoin start-ups has increased by more than 80 percent from last year. As of end-July, there were 814 start-up digital currency companies, up from 444 a year earlier, according to Angel List, an online marketplace for start-ups seeking to raise money from angel investors. As banks defer compensation and add more clawback provisions that give them the right to limit bonuses, traders are seeing better risk opportunities elsewhere, said San Francisco-based Rick Henri Chan, chief operating officer at Airbitz, a digital wallet platform. Chan, 47, who joined the bitcoin industry three years ago, worked for Deutsche Bank as head of its over-the-counter derivatives technology in Japan, and was a trader at UBS and Morgan Stanley. He works long hours at Airbitz, doing everything from strategy to raising money, but the work environment is more flexible. At Deutsche, Chan had a multi-million dollar package, and he admits to missing that paycheck. "But we're doing something special here at Airbitz. And I do think our company will be valued at a lot more in the future," he said. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss, editing by David Gaffen and John Pickering) || Bitcoin startups lure quant whizzes from Wall Street: By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss NEW YORK (Reuters) - Armed with a doctorate in financial engineering, 34-year-old Timo Schlaefer was on his way to a promising career at Goldman Sachs in London. Previously with the bank's mergers and acquisitions team, he became an executive director of credit quantitative modeling at Goldman, where quants like Schlaefer are highly valued. In February he gave that up, and launched a company called Crypto Facilities Ltd, a bitcoin derivatives trading platform, which now has six employees. For now, the platform trades bitcoin forwards, which are directly linked to the price of bitcoin, but it's also developing other digital currency derivative products. "This is uncharted territory," said Schlaefer. "It's an exciting opportunity to participate in a new area of technology that has massive potential." Bitcoin is a virtual or online currency created through a "mining" process where a computer's resources are used to perform millions of calculations. Once mined, bitcoins can be stored in an online wallet, traded in an online exchange, or used to buy goods and services. Once the province of small-time investors driven by their distrust of government-backed currencies, now Wall Street bankers and traders are leaving high-paying jobs to join bitcoin start-ups, while big firms hire in-house to get their arms around bitcoin and the related 'blockchain' technology. "A lot of people are entering the bitcoin space as the sector has reached an overall level of funding that's hard to ignore," said Jaron Lukasiewicz, founder and chief executive officer at New York-based bitcoin exchange Coinsetter. Lukasiewicz, 29, moved to the bitcoin world in late 2012, having left behind a six-figure salary in private equity at The CapStreet Group in New York. Bitcoin is not backed by a government and its value fluctuates. On Thursday, it was trading at $278, making the value of outstanding bitcoin worth about $4 billion. It has had a volatile history, with a rapid rally in 2013 that boosted its value to more than $1,150 per bitcoin at one point. Story continues Right now, Crypto Facilities' Schlaefer probably won't make anywhere near the kind of money that he would potentially earn at Goldman. But it's less about the compensation for Schlaefer and more about being part of the growth in bitcoin and its underlying technology, the blockchain. The blockchain - a ledger or list of all of a digital currency's transactions - is viewed as bitcoin's main technological innovation, allowing users to make payments anonymously, instantly, and without government regulation. Software engineers have started developing multiple applications for the blockchain, including a land title record system in Honduras to the clearing of trades in financial markets. Meanwhile, Wall Street firms are doing their own hiring in the cryptocurrency realm. In June, online bitcoin job ads surged to a record high of 306, according to data from Wanted Analytics, with demand coming from banks such as Capital One and tech companies such as Intel and Amazon. In previous months, Citigroup and TD Canada Trust posted bitcoin job ads as well. RISKY BUSINESS For 31-year-old Paul Chou, founder and chief executive officer of Ledger X, an institutional trading and clearing platform for bitcoin options, moving into the digital currency space represents what he hopes results in lucrative profits down the road. But there are other reasons for his shift. LedgerX is awaiting regulatory approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to trade and clear options on bitcoin. Chou said the firm hopes to operate the first regulated exchange and clearinghouse to list and clear fully-collateralized, physically-settled bitcoin options for the institutional market. "I took a very large salary pay cut to do this, in return for equity in a start-up that can be worth a lot someday," Chou said. Before LedgerX, Chou worked at Goldman Sachs in New York as a quant equity trader after graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with degrees in computer science and mathematics. Chou said his hours are much longer as an entrepreneur - he's constantly refining ideas for strategy and thinking which areas to focus on. "The domain expertise, relationships, and career equity I've built are things I never could have done while at Goldman," Chou said. "As a former trader, I'm glad I made this trade-off at the stage of my career that I did." It's a risky move, however. There are already several tales of bitcoin company failures and mismanagement. U.S. bitcoin marketplace Buttercoin, for instance, shuttered its operations in April this year despite raising $1.3 million in funding. Bitcoin exchange MyCoin closed its doors in February of 2015, leaving about 3,000 investors out of pocket. Tokyo-based Mt. Gox, once one of the most dominant bitcoin exchanges, closed its doors without warning in February last year, filing for bankruptcy and leaving investors approximately $500 million in the red. BITCOIN INVESTMENTS, HIRING Total investments in bitcoin companies for the first half of 2015 - totaling $375.4 million - have already exceeded 2014's total of $339.4 million, data from CB Insights showed. Last year's venture capital funding of bitcoin start-ups grew roughly 280 percent from 2013. The number of bitcoin start-ups has increased by more than 80 percent from last year. As of end-July, there were 814 start-up digital currency companies, up from 444 a year earlier, according to Angel List, an online marketplace for start-ups seeking to raise money from angel investors. As banks defer compensation and add more clawback provisions that give them the right to limit bonuses, traders are seeing better risk opportunities elsewhere, said San Francisco-based Rick Henri Chan, chief operating officer at Airbitz, a digital wallet platform. Chan, 47, who joined the bitcoin industry three years ago, worked for Deutsche Bank as head of its over-the-counter derivatives technology in Japan, and was a trader at UBS and Morgan Stanley. He works long hours at Airbitz, doing everything from strategy to raising money, but the work environment is more flexible. At Deutsche, Chan had a multi-million dollar package, and he admits to missing that paycheck. "But we're doing something special here at Airbitz. And I do think our company will be valued at a lot more in the future," he said. (Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss, editing by David Gaffen and John Pickering) || The most elite students in America have had it with investment banking: MBA Grad (flickr/willbeardphoto) Harvard MBA grads are no longer interested in banking. Harvard Business School graduates are some of the most sought-after new hires in the world. They're among the top choices for companies in just about every industry — including Wall Street investment banks. It turns out, however, many of them are no longer interested in that industry. Only 4% of the 2015 graduating class said they wanted to work at an investment bank, reports Bloomberg's Jennifer Surane . Of the 46 students in the top 5% of the class, only one expressed an interest in banking, according to the report. The report cited data from a member of the graduating MBA class , who blogged about the findings of a class survey he received from the university. Banking no longer sexy This may not come as a surprise. Entry-level jobs on Wall Street are notoriously grueling: Young people work 90-hour weeks perfecting pitch books, scrolling through spreadsheets, or making presentations . MBA grads, of course, would typically join banks at the associate or vice-president level. But many of them started out their careers as interns and analysts and may not have shaken the memories. The Harvard blog's author started out in M&A at Morgan Stanley, according to his bio . Now he's running a tech startup as well as a family healthcare business, Bloomberg reported. Industry veterans, too, know that banking is no longer as sexy. Ex-Credit Suisse managing director Fred Lanes said: "The opportunities elsewhere ... are more attractive outside of investment banking." And then there's the buyside That doesn't mean that bright Harvard MBA-holders are leaving finance altogether. Many young financiers, after putting in their time at investment banks, make the jump to the "buyside" — hedge funds or private-equity firms. The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that many MBA students are now only interested in becoming activist investors like Bill Ackman or Carl Icahn. Ackman's Pershing Square even holds an annual investing competition at Columbia as part of its recruiting efforts. Story continues Ex-Merrill Lynch analyst and Financial Times writer Sujeet Indap published a study on Wednesday on where his banking analyst class from the year 2000 now work. Over half the class, he found, had taken a break at some point to earn graduate degrees, two-thirds of which were MBAs. More than 40% of the analyst class now work in private equity or in the hedge fund/investment management industry. Less than 20% still work at investment banks. NOW WATCH: The 10 trickiest Goldman Sachs interview questions More From Business Insider A 10-year-old cyber security company just raised $35 million from Goldman in its first series A This is one Wall Street business that big banks won't lose to upstarts and tiny rivals Bitcoin keeps surging, makes another new high for 2015 || The most elite students in America have had it with investment banking: (flickr/willbeardphoto)Harvard MBA grads are no longer interested in banking.
Harvard Business School graduates are some of the most sought-after new hires in the world.
They're among the top choices for companies in just about every industry — including Wall Street investment banks.
It turns out, however, many of them are no longer interested in that industry.
Only 4% of the 2015 graduating class said they wanted to work at an investment bank, reportsBloomberg's Jennifer Surane.
Of the 46 students in the top 5% of the class, only one expressed an interest in banking, according to the report.
The report cited data froma member of the graduating MBA class, who blogged about the findings of a class survey he received from the university.
This may not come as a surprise.
Entry-level jobs on Wall Street are notoriously grueling: Young people work 90-hour weeks perfecting pitch books, scrolling through spreadsheets, ormaking presentations.
MBA grads, of course, would typically join banks at the associate or vice-president level. But many of them started out their careers as interns and analysts and may not have shaken the memories.
The Harvard blog's author started out in M&A at Morgan Stanley,according to his bio. Now he's running a tech startup as well as a family healthcare business, Bloomberg reported.
Industry veterans, too, know that banking is no longer as sexy.Ex-Credit Suisse managing director Fred Lanessaid: "The opportunities elsewhere ... are more attractive outside of investment banking."
That doesn't mean that bright Harvard MBA-holders are leaving finance altogether.
Many young financiers, after putting in their time at investment banks, make the jump to the "buyside" — hedge funds or private-equity firms.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday thatmany MBA students are now only interested in becoming activist investorslike Bill Ackman or Carl Icahn.
Ackman's Pershing Square even holds an annual investing competition at Columbia as part of its recruiting efforts.
Ex-Merrill Lynch analyst andFinancial Times writer Sujeet Indap publisheda study on Wednesday on where his banking analyst class from the year 2000 now work.
Over half the class, he found, had taken a break at some point to earn graduate degrees, two-thirds of which were MBAs. More than 40% of the analyst class now work in private equity or in the hedge fund/investment management industry.
Less than 20% still work at investment banks.
NOW WATCH:The 10 trickiest Goldman Sachs interview questions
More From Business Insider
• A 10-year-old cyber security company just raised $35 million from Goldman in its first series A
• This is one Wall Street business that big banks won't lose to upstarts and tiny rivals
• Bitcoin keeps surging, makes another new high for 2015 || Neste's Interim Report for January-June 2015: Neste CorporationInterim Report5 August 2015 at 9 am. (EET)
Neste`s Interim Report for January-June 2015
Continuing strong refining market enabled good result despite the scheduled major turnaround at the Porvoo refinery
Second quarter in brief:
• Comparable operating profit totaled EUR 78 million (Q2/2014: EUR 86 million)
• Negative impact of the Porvoo refinery turnaround on comparable operating profit was EUR 130 million
• Total refining margin was USD 10.83/bbl (Q2/2014: USD 8.33/bbl)
• Renewable Products` comparable sales margin was USD 210/ton (Q2/2014: USD 200/ton)
• Net cash from operations totaled EUR 227 million (Q2/2014: EUR 219 million)
January-June in brief:
• Comparable operating profit totaled EUR 293 million (1-6/2014: EUR 136 million)
• Return on average capital employed (ROACE) was 12.5% over the last 12 months (2014: 10.1%)
• Leverage ratio was 40.3% as of the end of June (31.12.2014: 37.9%)
• Comparable earnings per share: EUR 0.80 (1-6/2014: EUR 0.30)
President & CEO Matti Lievonen:
"The second quarter was characterized by a strong refining margin environment, and the major turnaround at our Porvoo refinery. Neste recorded a comparable operating profit of EUR 78 million during the second quarter, compared to the EUR 86 million during the corresponding period last year. As announced on 16 June, the turnaround had a negative impact of approximately EUR 130 million on comparable operating profit.
Oil Products generated a comparable operating profit of EUR 14 million (EUR 33 million) during the second quarter. Neste`s reference margin averaged USD 8.7/bbl, which was more than double that in the same period last year. Gasoline margins continued particularly high, supported by global demand growth and the summer driving season. The maintenance turnaround implemented during the second quarter was the largest in the history of the Porvoo refinery. It has now been successfully completed and will help ensure the refinery`s performance and safety for the next five years.
Renewable Products recorded a comparable operating profit of EUR 54 million (EUR 32 million) during the second quarter. Renewable Products` additional margin and a stronger US dollar had a positive effect on the result compared to the same period last year. Feedstock optimization continued, and the share of waste and residue feedstocks reached 67% of total inputs. The Porvoo turnaround reduced renewable diesel production by more than 10% of total production capacity during the second quarter.
Oil Retail`s markets continued competitive, but we were able to increase profits by higher sales volumes particularly in the Baltic markets, and improving margins. The segment generated a comparable operating profit of EUR 22 million, higher than the EUR 20 million booked in the second quarter of 2014.
Global oil demand growth estimates for 2015 have been generally upgraded to 1.3-1.5 million bbl/day, and the forward refining margin outlook for the coming quarters is stronger than that seen in April. Current crude oil price level promotes oil product demand, and there seems to be limited upside potential in oil price.
Our result guidance remains unchanged: Neste estimates the Group`s full-year 2015 comparable operating profit to remain robust and to be higher than that reached in 2014."
The Group`s second-quarter 2015 results
Neste`s revenue in the second quarter totaled EUR 2,605 million (EUR 4,104 million). The decrease mainly resulted from lower sales volumes due to the Porvoo refinery turnaround, which had an impact of EUR 1.1 billion, and lower sales prices caused by the oil price decline, which had a negative impact of EUR 0.7 billion. The change in USD/EUR exchange rate had a positive impact of EUR 0.3 billion on the revenue year-on-year. The Group`s comparable operating profit came in at EUR 78 million (EUR 86 million). Oil Products` result was negatively impacted by the planned major turnaround at the Porvoo refinery, but positively impacted by reference refining margins, which were higher than in the second quarter of 2014. Renewable Products` result improved mainly due to higher additional margin and a favorable USD/EUR exchange rate. Oil Retail`s result was positively impacted by higher sales volumes and margins year-on-year. The Others segment recorded a lower comparable operating profit compared to the second quarter of 2014.
Oil Products` second-quarter comparable operating profit was EUR 14 million (33 million), Renewable Products` EUR 54 million (32 million), and Oil Retail`s EUR 22 million (20 million). The comparable operating profit of the Others segment totaled EUR -14 million (2 million).
The Group`s IFRS operating profit was EUR 63 million (70 million), which was impacted by inventory gains totaling EUR 78 million (2 million), changes in the fair value of open oil derivatives totaling EUR -91 million (-18 million), mainly related to hedging of inventories, and non-recurring items totaling EUR -3 million (0 million). Pre-tax profit was EUR 52 million (48 million), profit for the period EUR 42 million (39 million), and earnings per share EUR 0.17 (0.15). The Group`s effective tax rate was 20% (18%).
The Group`s January-June 2015 results
Neste`s revenue during the first six months totaled EUR 5,348 million (EUR 7,613 million). The decrease mainly resulted from lower overall sales prices caused by the oil price decline, which had an impact of EUR 1.9 billion, and lower sales volumes due to the Porvoo refinery maintenance during the second quarter, which had a negative impact of EUR 1.1 billion. The change in USD/EUR exchange rate had a positive impact of EUR 0.7 billion on the revenue year-on-year. The Group`s comparable operating profit came in at EUR 293 million (EUR 136 million). Oil Products` result was positively impacted by reference refining margins, which were clearly higher than during the first half of 2014. However, the scheduled major turnaround at the Porvoo refinery negatively impacted the segment`s result during the second quarter. Renewable Products improved as a result of successful margin management, feedstock optimization and a favorable USD/EUR exchange rate. Oil Retail`s result was positively impacted by increased sales volumes and margins. The Others segment recorded a lower comparable operating profit compared to the first half of 2014.
Oil Products` six-month comparable operating profit was EUR 170 million (65 million), Renewable Products` EUR 96 million (44 million), and Oil Retail`s EUR 39 million (34 million). The comparable operating profit of the Others segment totaled EUR -11 million (-9 million).
The Group`s IFRS operating profit was EUR 296 million (120 million), which was impacted by inventory gains totaling EUR 2 million (losses of 1 million), changes in the fair value of open oil derivatives totaling EUR -73 million (-13 million), mainly related to hedging of inventories, and non-recurring items totaling EUR 74 million (-2 million), mainly related to the capital gain from the disposal of the Porvoo electricity grid. Pre-tax profit was EUR 257 million (81 million), profit for the period EUR 223 million (66 million), and earnings per share EUR 0.87 (0.25). The Group`s effective tax rate was 13% (20%) mainly due to the tax-exempt items, such as the sale proceeds of the shares of Kilpilahden Sähkönsiirto Oy, electricity grid company.
Outlook
Developments in the global economy have been reflected in the oil, renewable fuel, and renewable feedstock markets; and volatility in these markets is expected to continue.
Global oil demand growth estimates for 2015 have been increased and are generally at 1.3-1.5 million bbl/d, as especially gasoline demand growth has been healthy. The forward reference refining margin outlook for the coming quarters is stronger than that seen in April. While the refining capacity growth in Asia and the Middle East and ending of the refinery maintenance season are expected to increase product supply, the transatlantic supply demand balance is also dependent on demand growth and possible refinery shutdowns. Lifting of the economic sanctions against Iran could increase the supply of medium heavy crude oil in the European market in the future.
Vegetable oil price differentials are expected to vary, depending on crop outlooks, weather phenomena, and variations in demand for different feedstocks, but no fundamental changes in the drivers influencing long-term average feedstock price differentials are expected. Feedstock prices have been on a downward trend, but vegetable oil price differentials have remained narrower than the historical average. Market volatility in feedstock and oil prices is expected to continue, which will have an impact on the Renewable Products segment`s profitability.
Crude oil price changes, supply and demand balances, together with uncertainties related to political decision-making on biofuel mandates, the US Blender`s Tax Credit (BTC) and other incentives will be reflected in the oil and renewable fuel markets. Reintroduction of the BTC would have a positive impact on Neste`s comparable operating profit, and it is not included in the company`s current result guidance.
Neste`s guidance remains unchanged: Neste estimates the Group`s full-year 2015 comparable operating profit to remain robust and to be higher than that reached in 2014.
Further information:
Matti Lievonen, President & CEO, tel. +358 10 458 11Jyrki Mäki-Kala, CFO, tel. +358 10 458 4098Investor Relations, tel. +358 10 458 5292
News conference and conference call
A press conference in Finnish on second-quarter 2015 results will be held today, 5 August 2015, at 11:30 a.m. EET at the company`s headquarters at Keilaranta 21, Espoo.www.neste.comwill feature English versions of the presentation materials. A conference call in English for investors and analysts will be held on 5 August 2015 at 3 p.m. Finland / 1 p.m. London / 8 a.m. New York. The call-in numbers are as follows: Finland: +358 (0)9 6937 9543, rest of Europe: +44 (0)20 3427 1906, US: +1646 254 3362, using access code 6785568. The conference call can be followed at the company`sweb site. An instant replay of the call will be available until 12 August 2015 at +358(0)9 2310 1650 for Finland, +44(0)20 3427 0598 for Europe and +1 347 366 9565 for the US, using access code 6785568.
Neste in brief
Neste is a pioneer in oil refining and renewable solutions. We provide our customers with premium-quality products for cleaner traffic and industrial products based on world-class research. Our sustainable operations have received recognition in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and the Global 100 list of the world`s most sustainable companies, among others. Our net sales for 2014 amounted to approximately EUR 15 billion, and our shares are listed on NASDAQ Helsinki. Cleaner traffic, energy and life are moved forward by about 5,000 professionals. More information:neste.com/en
Neste interim report Q2 2015
This announcement is distributed by NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions on behalf of NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions clients.The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.Source: Neste Oyj via GlobeNewswireHUG#1943713 || Obama's Clean Power Plan: Winners & Losers: On Monday, the Obama administration together with the Environmental Protection Agency unveiled a new set of guidelines aimed at reducing emissions in the United States. The Clean Power Plan will reduce carbon emissions by 32 percent from their 2005 levels by 2030. Obama plans to allow states to create their own individual plans to meet their designated targets, which they will need to submit in the coming years. Controversial Plan The Clean Power Plan has been heralded by environmentalists as a necessary step forward in the battle against climate change. Obama called the proposal "the biggest, most important step" the nation has ever taken. However, not everyone agrees. Critics of the plan say Obama has waged a war on coal and that the new rules will stifle job growth and raise the cost of energy in the US. See Also: Why Are Solar Stocks Down After Obama's Carbon Announcement? Losers Should the plan make it through a barrage of criticism in Washington, it is expected to have an uneven impact across the US. Much of whether or not a specific state will benefit depends on that particular state's reliance on coal and how its industry is regulated. Despite that, the coal industry as a whole is expected to suffer under the new regulations. Companies like Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. (OTC: ANRZ ) and Xinergy Ltd. which are already struggling to stay afloat, are likely to face a bumpy road ahead. Winners Nuclear power is expected to see a boost from the Clean Power Plan as it is an effective way to generate power without major greenhouse gas emissions. Renewables like solar and wind power are also expected to gain momentum as more and more states turn to alternative energy sources to meet their new targets. See more from Benzinga Fed Stuck In The Middle Of Marijuana Debate Australian Government Takes Steps Toward Becoming A Bitcoin-Friendly Nation Tech Firms Gear Up For 2016 Presidential Race © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Obama's Clean Power Plan: Winners & Losers: On Monday, the Obama administration together with the Environmental Protection Agencyunveileda new set of guidelines aimed at reducing emissions in the United States. The Clean Power Plan will reduce carbon emissions by 32 percent from their 2005 levels by 2030. Obama plans to allow states to create their own individual plans to meet their designated targets, which they will need to submit in the coming years.
Controversial Plan
The Clean Power Plan has been heralded by environmentalists as a necessary step forward in the battle against climate change. Obama called the proposal "the biggest, most important step" the nation has ever taken.
However, not everyone agrees.
Critics of the plan say Obama has waged a war on coal and that the new rules will stifle job growth and raise the cost of energy in the US.
See Also:Why Are Solar Stocks Down After Obama's Carbon Announcement?
Losers
Should the plan make it through a barrage of criticism in Washington, it is expected to have an uneven impact across the US. Much of whether or not a specific state will benefit depends on that particular state's reliance on coal and how its industry is regulated. Despite that, the coal industry as a whole is expected to suffer under the new regulations. Companies likeAlpha Natural Resources, Inc.(OTC:ANRZ) and Xinergy Ltd. which are already struggling to stay afloat, are likely to face a bumpy road ahead.
Winners
Nuclear power is expected to see a boost from the Clean Power Plan as it is an effective way to generate power without major greenhouse gas emissions. Renewables like solar and wind power are also expected to gain momentum as more and more states turn to alternative energy sources to meet their new targets.
See more from Benzinga
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• Australian Government Takes Steps Toward Becoming A Bitcoin-Friendly Nation
• Tech Firms Gear Up For 2016 Presidential Race
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Fed Stuck In The Middle Of Marijuana Debate: One of the major issues plaguing the United States' newly developing marijuana industry has been banking. Although President Barack Obama has granted states the right to determine their own marijuana laws, the substance is still classed as illegal in the federal government's eyes. For that reason, banks bound by federal law have been unable to engage with marijuana firms even in states where the drug is legal.
Fed Lawsuit
Last week, Colorado's Fourth Corner Credit Unionsuedthe Kansas City Fed after its application for federal insurance was rejected. The credit union was denied a routing number in order to set up its master account, meaning that Fourth Corner would be unable to operate. The firm said the Fed's decision to reject Fourth Corner is an unreasonable restraint of trade and commerce and that the credit union's receipt of a state charter should have given it access to federal insurance.
Fed Pushes Back
The Fed has argued that it has the right to use its own discretion when it comes to opening new master accounts. The bank claims it was unable to accurately asses the risks associated with Fourth Corner's business and therefore is allowed to reject the application.
Conflicting Laws
The legal battle underscored the pitfalls of conflicting laws at the federal and state level. While legalization efforts have been successful in many states across the US, the banking issue will likely continue to plague the industry as long as federal law continues to class marijuana as illegal.
See more from Benzinga
• Australian Government Takes Steps Toward Becoming A Bitcoin-Friendly Nation
• Tech Firms Gear Up For 2016 Presidential Race
• Are Tethered Drones The Answer To Safety Concerns?
© 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Fed Stuck In The Middle Of Marijuana Debate: One of the major issues plaguing the United States' newly developing marijuana industry has been banking. Although President Barack Obama has granted states the right to determine their own marijuana laws, the substance is still classed as illegal in the federal government's eyes. For that reason, banks bound by federal law have been unable to engage with marijuana firms even in states where the drug is legal. Fed Lawsuit Last week, Colorado's Fourth Corner Credit Union sued the Kansas City Fed after its application for federal insurance was rejected. The credit union was denied a routing number in order to set up its master account, meaning that Fourth Corner would be unable to operate. The firm said the Fed's decision to reject Fourth Corner is an unreasonable restraint of trade and commerce and that the credit union's receipt of a state charter should have given it access to federal insurance. Fed Pushes Back The Fed has argued that it has the right to use its own discretion when it comes to opening new master accounts. The bank claims it was unable to accurately asses the risks associated with Fourth Corner's business and therefore is allowed to reject the application. Conflicting Laws The legal battle underscored the pitfalls of conflicting laws at the federal and state level. While legalization efforts have been successful in many states across the US, the banking issue will likely continue to plague the industry as long as federal law continues to class marijuana as illegal. See more from Benzinga Australian Government Takes Steps Toward Becoming A Bitcoin-Friendly Nation Tech Firms Gear Up For 2016 Presidential Race Are Tethered Drones The Answer To Safety Concerns? © 2015 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || 10 things you need to know today: (REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz)An image of Cecil the lion was projected onto the Empire State Building as part of a projection to raise awareness for endangered animals, in New York on Saturday.
Happy Monday! Here's what you need to know.
The Greek stock market is crashing.The Greek stock market reopened for the first time in five weeks, and it's ugly. The benchmarkASE index plummeted 22.8%before recovering some of its losses. Piraeus Bank and National Bank of Greece crashed the maximum 30% before being halted.
The Greek economy is crashing. Greece's economy screeched as political turmoil took over. The Markit manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) reflected a record contraction,crashing to 30.2 in Julyfrom 46.9 in June. Any reading below 50 signals contraction. "Manufacturing output collapsed in July as the debt crisis came to a head," Markit's Phil Smith said. "Factories faced a record drop in new orders and were often unable to acquire the inputs they needed, particularly from abroad, as bank closures and capital restrictions badly hampered normal business activity. Demand was hit amid the heightened uncertainty surrounding Greece's future, leading both total new business and exports to contract sharply, and it remains to be seen how long it takes these to recover."
The rest of Europe is doing much better. Thecomposite eurozone manufacturing PMI signaled growth, registering at 52.4 in July, which was higher than the earlier estimate of 52.2. Germany, Spain, and Italy all grew. "The eurozone manufacturing economy showed encouraging resilience in the face of the Greek debt crisis in July," Markit's Chris Williamson noted. "The PMI held close to its June level, which had been the highest for over a year, coming in ahead of the earlier flash estimate largely on the back of stronger than previously recorded growth in Germany."
China is definitely slowing.China's official manufacturing PMI fell to 50.0 in Julyfrom 50.2 in June.China's Caixin manufacturing PMI fell to 47.8 in Julyfrom 49.4 in June; this was the weakest reading since July 2013. The numbers werejust as ugly in Taiwan, Indonesia, and South Korea.
Markets are mixed.Europe is mostly up, with Germany's DAX up 0.4%, France's CAC 40 up 0.3%, and Spain's IBEX up 0.3%. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei closed down 0.2%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed down 0.9%, and China's Shanghai composite tumbled 1.1%. US futures are down modestly, with Dow futures down 11 points, S&P futures down 2.2 points, and Nasdaq futures down 4.7 points.
Get ready for a ton of data. On Monday, we'll get reports on US personal income and spending (8:30 a.m. ET), manufacturing (9:45 a.m. and 10 a.m.), construction spending (10 a.m.), and auto sales (all day). This, as we kick off jobs week in America. Read our complete preview inBusiness Insider's Monday Scouting Report.
HSBC beats. "HSBC Holdings beat expectations with a 10% rise in first-half profitthanks to a strong performance in Hong Kong and said it had agreed a $5.2 billion sale of its business in Brazil," Reuters reported. "Europe's biggest bank by market value is to sell the unprofitable Brazilian arm to Banco Bradesco SA, Brazil's second-biggest private-sector bank, for a higher than expected 17.6 billion reais ($5.2 billion)."
Puerto Rico will default. "Puerto Rico will miss a payment on debt due Aug. 1, the governor's chief of staff said on Friday, an event that will be considered a default by investors as the commonwealth lurches towards what could be one of the largest US municipal debt restructurings in history," Reuters reported. "The missed payment will mark the first default by the commonwealth and shows the depth of the island's economic and cashflow problems. Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla shocked investors in June when he said the island's debt, totaling $72 billion, was unpayable and required restructuring."
Private-equity pioneer Jerome Kohlberg has died. "Jerome Kohlberg Jr., a founder of the investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.and a pioneer of the leveraged buyout, died on Thursday at his home in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, aged 90," Reuters reported. "Kohlberg's death was confirmed by his former partners at KKR on Saturday. His son, James, said the cause of death was cancer."
Bitcoin-exchange CEO arrested. "Mark Karpeles, the head of the collapsed MtGox Bitcoin exchange who was arrested in Tokyo, is facing fresh allegations that he misused $8.9 million in customers' deposits, Japanese media reported Sunday," AFP said. "French-born Karpeles, 30, was arrested on Saturday after a series of fraud allegations led to the Tokyo-based exchange's spectacular collapse last year and hammered the digital currency's reputation."
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[Social Media Buzz]
bitcoin rate-2015-08-08 PDT start_rate:$279.11 current_rate:$278.00(-0.40%) #btc_q @MoneysEdge http://www.moneysedge.com/bitcoin || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 20 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $384.23 #bitcoin #btc || One Bitcoin now worth $278.00@bitstamp. High $280.43. Low $277.55. Market Cap $3.956 Billion #bitcoin || In the last 10 mins, there were arb opps spanning 21 exchange pair(s), yielding profits ranging between $0.00 and $570.01 #...
|
265.08, 264.47, 270.39, 266.38, 264.08, 265.68, 261.55, 258.51, 257.98, 211.08
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Given the historical Bitcoin prices from the last 90 days, predict the next 10 daily closing prices. The historical prices are: 15579.85, 15565.88, 14833.75, 15479.57, 15332.32, 15290.90, 15701.34, 16276.34, 16317.81, 16068.14, 15955.59, 16716.11, 17645.41, 17804.01, 17817.09, 18621.31, 18642.23, 18370.00, 18364.12, 19107.46, 18732.12, 17150.62, 17108.40, 17717.41, 18177.48, 19625.84, 18803.00, 19201.09, 19445.40, 18699.77, 19154.23, 19345.12, 19191.63, 18321.14, 18553.92, 18264.99, 18058.90, 18803.66, 19142.38, 19246.64, 19417.08, 21310.60, 22805.16, 23137.96, 23869.83, 23477.29, 22803.08, 23783.03, 23241.35, 23735.95, 24664.79, 26437.04, 26272.29, 27084.81, 27362.44, 28840.95, 29001.72, 29374.15, 32127.27, 32782.02, 31971.91, 33992.43, 36824.36, 39371.04, 40797.61, 40254.55, 38356.44, 35566.66, 33922.96, 37316.36, 39187.33, 36825.37, 36178.14, 35791.28, 36630.07, 36069.80, 35547.75, 30825.70, 33005.76, 32067.64, 32289.38, 32366.39, 32569.85, 30432.55, 33466.10, 34316.39, 34269.52, 33114.36, 33537.18, 35510.29.
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[Bitcoin Technical Analysis for 2021-02-02]
Volume: 63088585433, RSI (14-day): 56.86, 50-day EMA: 30836.68, 200-day EMA: 20385.49
[Wider Market Context]
Gold Price: 1830.50, Gold RSI: 42.51
Oil Price: 54.76, Oil RSI: 70.28
[Recent News (last 7 days)]
Market Wrap: Bitcoin Trading Tepidly at $33.7K While SushiSwap Eats Raw Market Share: Bitcoin is taking a break, staying in a tight trading range with lower than average volume compared to the past month. Meanwhile, alternative cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance are stealing the spotlight.
• Bitcoin(BTC) trading around $33,782 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 2.5% over the previous 24 hours.
• Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $32,341-$34,715 (CoinDesk 20)
• BTC above the 10-hour and the 50-hour moving average just slightly on the hourly chart, a sideways-to-bullish signal for market technicians.
The price of bitcoin is extending its weekend respite Monday, trading in a fairly tight $32,500-$34,500 range, although its 24-hour performance is up 2.5% as of press time.
“XRP– andDOGEinterestingly – both jumped over the weekend while most of the majors, including BTC andETH, floundered,” noted Andrew Tu, an executive at quantitative trading firm Efficient Frontier. “While the timing is hard to say, it is usually the case after a period of low volatility that the market breaks out in one direction or the other.”
Related:First Mover: Federal Reserve Soup Now Includes Bitcoin, DeFi, Silver, GameStop
Bitcoin spot trading volumes on major exchanges were at $2.6 billion Monday as of press time on the eight major venues tracked on the CoinDesk 20. That’s much lower than frenzied $4.8 billion average the past month, but well within earshot of the three-month average of $2.7 billion.
Lower volumes may explain some price sluggishness. Yet, given its 16% rise over the past month, Tu is skewing more bull than bear.
“The market seems to be leaning bullish, though a break to the downside again is always possible,” he said.
“January was a bumper month for bitcoin spot and futures volume, easily establishing new monthly all-time highs,” noted Jason Lau, chief operating officer of San Francisco-based exchange OKCoin. “For OKCoin, January spot volumes were more than two times December, which was already an all-time high,” Lau added “There’s clearly still a lot of interest in bitcoin as an asset, with the latest seeing Elon Musk expressing his support.”
Related:Bullish Bitcoin Fundamentals Point to Renewed Price Rally Ahead
Read More:‘A Good Thing’: Elon Musk Says He’s a Supporter of Bitcoin
Lau told CoinDesk he is seeing a consolidation of bitcoin prices at current levels after the run-up to $42,000. He noted bitcoin’s dominance, a measure of the world’s oldest cryptocurrency market share in the ecosystem, continues to drop. Less than a month ago, on Jan. 3, bitcoin dominance peaked at over 73% and it has dropped roughly 10% since then.
“Alt and DeFi tokens are having their moment with bitcoin dominance down,” said Lau.
The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization,ether(ETH), was up Monday, trading around $1,334 and climbing 2% in 24 hours as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).
Read More:Decentralized Exchange Volumes Hit Record Above $50B in January
SushiSwap is making gains in trading volume market share for decentralized exchanges, or DEXs, hitting an all-time high of over 23% of the entire market as of press time, according to data aggregator Dune Analytics.
SushiSwap is a “fork” of reigning DEX by volume Uniswap, meaning that Uniswap’s smart contract code was used to create the rival exchange.Peter Chan, head of trading for OneBit Quant, says both SushiSwap and Uniswap are benefiting from cryptocurrency price gyrations to better position themselves in the market.“They both experienced huge growth in volume lately, most due to increased market volatility,” Chan told CoinDesk.
In addition, Misha Alefirenko, co-founder of crypto market maker VelvetFormula, says the DEX exchanges’ token price gains recently enticed traders to switch from centralized exchanges (CEX) over to DEXs. “As we saw in the rally in altcoins, it is predictable that DEXs gain some market share from CEXs, especially in native DeFi tokens.”
Digital assets on theCoinDesk 20are mostly green Monday. Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• orchid(OXT) + 18.8%
• omg network(OMG) + 14.8%
• cosmos(ATOM) + 14.4%
Notable losers:
• xrp(XRP) – 11.5%
• chainlink(LINK) – 0.25%
XRP, the native asset of San Francisco-based Ripple Labs, experienced a huge price run-up and subsequent precipitous fall Monday, making it the top loser on the CoinDesk 20 the past 24 hours.
“The XRP pump and dump may have been another situation where retail day traders brought the price upwards only to crash it,” noted Efficient Frontier’s Tu. “It seems like this sort of phenomenon is going to become more commonplace, especially in less-liquid markets like crypto, having been legitimized by the currentzeitgeist.”
Read More:XRP Pump Fails to Materialize as Price Crashes 40% From Day’s High
Equities:
• Asia’s Nikkei 225 index closed up 1.5% asinvestors hit the buy button amid positive corporate earnings results, particularly NEC jumping 12.8%.
• In Europe, the FTSE 100 ended the day in the green 0.92%with mining stocks across the continent seeing big gains, pushing the index higher.
• In the United States, the S&P 500 climbed 1.6%,led by gains in the tech and consumer discretionary sectors ahead of another week of corporate earnings reports.
Commodities:
• Oil was up 2.8%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $53.66.
• Gold was in the green 0.75% and at $1,860 as of press time.
• Silver made major gains, up 7.5% and changing hands at $28.93.
Treasurys:
• The 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield was flat Monday at 1.069.
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Trading Tepidly at $33.7K While SushiSwap Eats Raw Market Share
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Trading Tepidly at $33.7K While SushiSwap Eats Raw Market Share || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Trading Tepidly at $33.7K While SushiSwap Eats Raw Market Share: Bitcoin is taking a break, staying in a tight trading range with lower than average volume compared to the past month. Meanwhile, alternative cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance are stealing the spotlight. Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $33,782 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 2.5% over the previous 24 hours. Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $32,341-$34,715 (CoinDesk 20) BTC above the 10-hour and the 50-hour moving average just slightly on the hourly chart, a sideways-to-bullish signal for market technicians. The price of bitcoin is extending its weekend respite Monday, trading in a fairly tight $32,500-$34,500 range, although its 24-hour performance is up 2.5% as of press time. “ XRP – and DOGE interestingly – both jumped over the weekend while most of the majors, including BTC and ETH , floundered,” noted Andrew Tu, an executive at quantitative trading firm Efficient Frontier. “While the timing is hard to say, it is usually the case after a period of low volatility that the market breaks out in one direction or the other.” Related: First Mover: Federal Reserve Soup Now Includes Bitcoin, DeFi, Silver, GameStop Bitcoin spot trading volumes on major exchanges were at $2.6 billion Monday as of press time on the eight major venues tracked on the CoinDesk 20. That’s much lower than frenzied $4.8 billion average the past month, but well within earshot of the three-month average of $2.7 billion. Lower volumes may explain some price sluggishness. Yet, given its 16% rise over the past month, Tu is skewing more bull than bear. “The market seems to be leaning bullish, though a break to the downside again is always possible,” he said. “January was a bumper month for bitcoin spot and futures volume, easily establishing new monthly all-time highs,” noted Jason Lau, chief operating officer of San Francisco-based exchange OKCoin. “For OKCoin, January spot volumes were more than two times December, which was already an all-time high,” Lau added “There’s clearly still a lot of interest in bitcoin as an asset, with the latest seeing Elon Musk expressing his support.” Story continues Related: Bullish Bitcoin Fundamentals Point to Renewed Price Rally Ahead Read More: ‘A Good Thing’: Elon Musk Says He’s a Supporter of Bitcoin Lau told CoinDesk he is seeing a consolidation of bitcoin prices at current levels after the run-up to $42,000. He noted bitcoin’s dominance, a measure of the world’s oldest cryptocurrency market share in the ecosystem, continues to drop. Less than a month ago, on Jan. 3, bitcoin dominance peaked at over 73% and it has dropped roughly 10% since then. “Alt and DeFi tokens are having their moment with bitcoin dominance down,” said Lau. SushiSwap eating up DEX market share The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, ether (ETH), was up Monday, trading around $1,334 and climbing 2% in 24 hours as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET). Read More: Decentralized Exchange Volumes Hit Record Above $50B in January SushiSwap is making gains in trading volume market share for decentralized exchanges, or DEXs, hitting an all-time high of over 23% of the entire market as of press time, according to data aggregator Dune Analytics. SushiSwap is a “fork” of reigning DEX by volume Uniswap, meaning that Uniswap’s smart contract code was used to create the rival exchange. Peter Chan, head of trading for OneBit Quant, says both SushiSwap and Uniswap are benefiting from cryptocurrency price gyrations to better position themselves in the market. “ They both experienced huge growth in volume lately, most due to increased market volatility,” Chan told CoinDesk. In addition, Misha Alefirenko, co-founder of crypto market maker VelvetFormula, says the DEX exchanges’ token price gains recently enticed traders to switch from centralized exchanges (CEX) over to DEXs. “As we saw in the rally in altcoins, it is predictable that DEXs gain some market share from CEXs, especially in native DeFi tokens.” Other markets Digital assets on the CoinDesk 20 are mostly green Monday. Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET): orchid (OXT) + 18.8% omg network (OMG) + 14.8% cosmos (ATOM) + 14.4% Notable losers: xrp (XRP) – 11.5% chainlink (LINK) – 0.25% XRP, the native asset of San Francisco-based Ripple Labs, experienced a huge price run-up and subsequent precipitous fall Monday, making it the top loser on the CoinDesk 20 the past 24 hours. “The XRP pump and dump may have been another situation where retail day traders brought the price upwards only to crash it,” noted Efficient Frontier’s Tu. “It seems like this sort of phenomenon is going to become more commonplace, especially in less-liquid markets like crypto, having been legitimized by the current zeitgeist .” Read More: XRP Pump Fails to Materialize as Price Crashes 40% From Day’s High Equities: Asia’s Nikkei 225 index closed up 1.5% as investors hit the buy button amid positive corporate earnings results, particularly NEC jumping 12.8% . In Europe, the FTSE 100 ended the day in the green 0.92% with mining stocks across the continent seeing big gains, pushing the index higher . In the United States, the S&P 500 climbed 1.6%, led by gains in the tech and consumer discretionary sectors ahead of another week of corporate earnings reports . Commodities: Oil was up 2.8%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $53.66. Gold was in the green 0.75% and at $1,860 as of press time. Silver made major gains, up 7.5% and changing hands at $28.93. Treasurys: The 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield was flat Monday at 1.069. Related Stories Market Wrap: Bitcoin Trading Tepidly at $33.7K While SushiSwap Eats Raw Market Share Market Wrap: Bitcoin Trading Tepidly at $33.7K While SushiSwap Eats Raw Market Share || Market Wrap: Bitcoin Trading Tepidly at $33.7K While SushiSwap Eats Raw Market Share: Bitcoin is taking a break, staying in a tight trading range with lower than average volume compared to the past month. Meanwhile, alternative cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance are stealing the spotlight.
• Bitcoin(BTC) trading around $33,782 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 2.5% over the previous 24 hours.
• Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $32,341-$34,715 (CoinDesk 20)
• BTC above the 10-hour and the 50-hour moving average just slightly on the hourly chart, a sideways-to-bullish signal for market technicians.
The price of bitcoin is extending its weekend respite Monday, trading in a fairly tight $32,500-$34,500 range, although its 24-hour performance is up 2.5% as of press time.
“XRP– andDOGEinterestingly – both jumped over the weekend while most of the majors, including BTC andETH, floundered,” noted Andrew Tu, an executive at quantitative trading firm Efficient Frontier. “While the timing is hard to say, it is usually the case after a period of low volatility that the market breaks out in one direction or the other.”
Related:First Mover: Federal Reserve Soup Now Includes Bitcoin, DeFi, Silver, GameStop
Bitcoin spot trading volumes on major exchanges were at $2.6 billion Monday as of press time on the eight major venues tracked on the CoinDesk 20. That’s much lower than frenzied $4.8 billion average the past month, but well within earshot of the three-month average of $2.7 billion.
Lower volumes may explain some price sluggishness. Yet, given its 16% rise over the past month, Tu is skewing more bull than bear.
“The market seems to be leaning bullish, though a break to the downside again is always possible,” he said.
“January was a bumper month for bitcoin spot and futures volume, easily establishing new monthly all-time highs,” noted Jason Lau, chief operating officer of San Francisco-based exchange OKCoin. “For OKCoin, January spot volumes were more than two times December, which was already an all-time high,” Lau added “There’s clearly still a lot of interest in bitcoin as an asset, with the latest seeing Elon Musk expressing his support.”
Related:Bullish Bitcoin Fundamentals Point to Renewed Price Rally Ahead
Read More:‘A Good Thing’: Elon Musk Says He’s a Supporter of Bitcoin
Lau told CoinDesk he is seeing a consolidation of bitcoin prices at current levels after the run-up to $42,000. He noted bitcoin’s dominance, a measure of the world’s oldest cryptocurrency market share in the ecosystem, continues to drop. Less than a month ago, on Jan. 3, bitcoin dominance peaked at over 73% and it has dropped roughly 10% since then.
“Alt and DeFi tokens are having their moment with bitcoin dominance down,” said Lau.
The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization,ether(ETH), was up Monday, trading around $1,334 and climbing 2% in 24 hours as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET).
Read More:Decentralized Exchange Volumes Hit Record Above $50B in January
SushiSwap is making gains in trading volume market share for decentralized exchanges, or DEXs, hitting an all-time high of over 23% of the entire market as of press time, according to data aggregator Dune Analytics.
SushiSwap is a “fork” of reigning DEX by volume Uniswap, meaning that Uniswap’s smart contract code was used to create the rival exchange.Peter Chan, head of trading for OneBit Quant, says both SushiSwap and Uniswap are benefiting from cryptocurrency price gyrations to better position themselves in the market.“They both experienced huge growth in volume lately, most due to increased market volatility,” Chan told CoinDesk.
In addition, Misha Alefirenko, co-founder of crypto market maker VelvetFormula, says the DEX exchanges’ token price gains recently enticed traders to switch from centralized exchanges (CEX) over to DEXs. “As we saw in the rally in altcoins, it is predictable that DEXs gain some market share from CEXs, especially in native DeFi tokens.”
Digital assets on theCoinDesk 20are mostly green Monday. Notable winners as of 21:00 UTC (4:00 p.m. ET):
• orchid(OXT) + 18.8%
• omg network(OMG) + 14.8%
• cosmos(ATOM) + 14.4%
Notable losers:
• xrp(XRP) – 11.5%
• chainlink(LINK) – 0.25%
XRP, the native asset of San Francisco-based Ripple Labs, experienced a huge price run-up and subsequent precipitous fall Monday, making it the top loser on the CoinDesk 20 the past 24 hours.
“The XRP pump and dump may have been another situation where retail day traders brought the price upwards only to crash it,” noted Efficient Frontier’s Tu. “It seems like this sort of phenomenon is going to become more commonplace, especially in less-liquid markets like crypto, having been legitimized by the currentzeitgeist.”
Read More:XRP Pump Fails to Materialize as Price Crashes 40% From Day’s High
Equities:
• Asia’s Nikkei 225 index closed up 1.5% asinvestors hit the buy button amid positive corporate earnings results, particularly NEC jumping 12.8%.
• In Europe, the FTSE 100 ended the day in the green 0.92%with mining stocks across the continent seeing big gains, pushing the index higher.
• In the United States, the S&P 500 climbed 1.6%,led by gains in the tech and consumer discretionary sectors ahead of another week of corporate earnings reports.
Commodities:
• Oil was up 2.8%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $53.66.
• Gold was in the green 0.75% and at $1,860 as of press time.
• Silver made major gains, up 7.5% and changing hands at $28.93.
Treasurys:
• The 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield was flat Monday at 1.069.
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Trading Tepidly at $33.7K While SushiSwap Eats Raw Market Share
• Market Wrap: Bitcoin Trading Tepidly at $33.7K While SushiSwap Eats Raw Market Share || Stock Market Today: Big Tech Leads Another Snap-Back Rally: Investors' necks are no doubt sore from the violent back-and-forth trading action these past few days, but at least Monday's charge was in the right direction. A surge from several mega-cap tech and tech-adjacent stocks helped lift the major indices – Amazon.com ( AMZN , +4.3%) and Google parent Alphabet ( GOOGL , +3.6%) were up strongly ahead of their earnings reports, due out after Tuesday's close. ( Here's what Wall Street is expecting out of them. ) SEE MORE 13 Best Consumer Discretionary Stocks for 2021 The rousing market rebound came despite a report that President Joe Biden was meeting with a group of Republicans to discuss their coronavirus relief package – a mere $618 billion plan with smaller direct payments to fewer Americans and no state or local government aid. The Dow Jones Industrial Average , led by Microsoft ( MSFT , +3.3%), finished 0.8% higher to 30,211, while the S&P 500 (+1.6% to 3,773) and Nasdaq Composite (+2.6% to 13,403) enjoyed even stronger advances. Other action in the stock market today: The Russell 2000 roared ahead by 2.5% to 2,126. Gold futures finished slightly higher again, improving 0.7% to $1,862.50 per ounce. U.S. crude oil futures jumped 2.3% to settle at $53.42 per barrel. Bitcoin prices, at $34,538 on Friday, cooled down by 2.0% to $33,849. (Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day; prices reported here are as of 4 p.m. each trading day.) Clubhouse Media Group ( CMGR ) – a Chinese healthcare company that renamed itself Clubhouse after buying West of Hudson Group, which is responsible for a number of content creation houses filled with young influencers – shot 57.8% higher on Monday. However, the over-the-counter stock's rally came after Tesla ( TSLA ) CEO Elon Musk's Sunday live talk on audio app Clubhouse, which is not related to Clubhouse Media, and which is not publicly traded. This led many, including Financial Times , to deduce the movement was at least in part due to confusion over their similar names. Story continues stock chart for 020121 'Short Busters' Find a New Shiny Object The market's "short squeeze" saga also continued Monday. Momentum favorite GameStop ( GME , -30.8%) lost more than a quarter of its value as traders followed a new manufactured wave into silver and silver exchange-traded funds (ETFs) . SEE MORE The 21 Best Stocks to Buy for 2021 "Market participants have found and exposed weaknesses in hedge fund risk-management models surrounding the shorting of individual stocks, and engaged in a classic 'short squeeze' but with a new level of speed," says Mark Heppenstall, chief investment officer at Penn Mutual Asset Management. "This week begins with volatility moving into the metals market, with the price of silver seeing significant price changes." Indeed, silver futures prices spike 8.0% on Monday to $29.06 per ounce. Investors can still expect a great deal of volatility around the market's most shorted stocks , and most of these names should be considered hands-off unless you have extreme risk tolerance and money you can afford to lose completely. But a few stocks that Wall Street is betting against have budding bull cases and could be good for more than a quick swing trade. While these 10 heavily shorted stocks still will require some stomach for turbulence, they remain worth a look for those who invest for the next few years, not just next week. Kyle Woodley was long AMZN and Bitcoin as of this writing. SEE MORE The 15 Best Value Stocks to Buy for 2021 || Stock Market Today: Big Tech Leads Another Snap-Back Rally: Investors' necks are no doubt sore from the violent back-and-forth trading action these past few days, but at least Monday's charge was in the right direction. A surge from several mega-cap tech and tech-adjacent stocks helped lift the major indices – Amazon.com ( AMZN , +4.3%) and Google parent Alphabet ( GOOGL , +3.6%) were up strongly ahead of their earnings reports, due out after Tuesday's close. ( Here's what Wall Street is expecting out of them. ) SEE MORE 13 Best Consumer Discretionary Stocks for 2021 The rousing market rebound came despite a report that President Joe Biden was meeting with a group of Republicans to discuss their coronavirus relief package – a mere $618 billion plan with smaller direct payments to fewer Americans and no state or local government aid. The Dow Jones Industrial Average , led by Microsoft ( MSFT , +3.3%), finished 0.8% higher to 30,211, while the S&P 500 (+1.6% to 3,773) and Nasdaq Composite (+2.6% to 13,403) enjoyed even stronger advances. Other action in the stock market today: The Russell 2000 roared ahead by 2.5% to 2,126. Gold futures finished slightly higher again, improving 0.7% to $1,862.50 per ounce. U.S. crude oil futures jumped 2.3% to settle at $53.42 per barrel. Bitcoin prices, at $34,538 on Friday, cooled down by 2.0% to $33,849. (Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day; prices reported here are as of 4 p.m. each trading day.) Clubhouse Media Group ( CMGR ) – a Chinese healthcare company that renamed itself Clubhouse after buying West of Hudson Group, which is responsible for a number of content creation houses filled with young influencers – shot 57.8% higher on Monday. However, the over-the-counter stock's rally came after Tesla ( TSLA ) CEO Elon Musk's Sunday live talk on audio app Clubhouse, which is not related to Clubhouse Media, and which is not publicly traded. This led many, including Financial Times , to deduce the movement was at least in part due to confusion over their similar names. Story continues stock chart for 020121 'Short Busters' Find a New Shiny Object The market's "short squeeze" saga also continued Monday. Momentum favorite GameStop ( GME , -30.8%) lost more than a quarter of its value as traders followed a new manufactured wave into silver and silver exchange-traded funds (ETFs) . SEE MORE The 21 Best Stocks to Buy for 2021 "Market participants have found and exposed weaknesses in hedge fund risk-management models surrounding the shorting of individual stocks, and engaged in a classic 'short squeeze' but with a new level of speed," says Mark Heppenstall, chief investment officer at Penn Mutual Asset Management. "This week begins with volatility moving into the metals market, with the price of silver seeing significant price changes." Indeed, silver futures prices spike 8.0% on Monday to $29.06 per ounce. Investors can still expect a great deal of volatility around the market's most shorted stocks , and most of these names should be considered hands-off unless you have extreme risk tolerance and money you can afford to lose completely. But a few stocks that Wall Street is betting against have budding bull cases and could be good for more than a quick swing trade. While these 10 heavily shorted stocks still will require some stomach for turbulence, they remain worth a look for those who invest for the next few years, not just next week. Kyle Woodley was long AMZN and Bitcoin as of this writing. SEE MORE The 15 Best Value Stocks to Buy for 2021 || Rapid7 Acquires Alcide.IO For $50 Million To Tap Budding Cloud Security Market: Rapid7, Inc. (NASDAQ: RPD ) acquired Israeli Kubernetes security provider Alcide.IO Ltd for a purchase price of $50 million. Alcide.IO marks Rapid7’s second acquisition in the cloud security market in the past nine months, following the acquisition of DivvyCloud in April. The acquisitions have the potential to boost Rapid7’s cloud-native security platform and risk management competencies thereof. Cloud’s flexibility, swiftness, and, dexterity have immensely contributed towards the acceleration of innovation and value delivery attracting more developers towards Kubernetes. Alcide’s cloud workload protection platform (CWPP) offers extensive, real-time prominence and governance, container runtime, network monitoring, and the capacity to inspect security threats. The acquisition will help to expand and strengthen Rapid7’s cloud security offering. “The technical talent within Israel’s cybersecurity ecosystem is unparalleled and we look forward to working together with the Alcide team to provide organizations with comprehensive cloud security that drives business growth and innovation,” said Rapid7 CEO Corey Thomas. Price action: Rapid7 shares are up 1.68% at $88.28 on the last check Monday. Related News: Accenture (NYSE: ACN ) to acquire Imaginea to accelerate cloud services. Cognizant (NASDAQ: CTSH ) acquired cloud transformation consultancy group Linium . See more from Benzinga Click here for options trades from Benzinga Mogo Posts Robust Bitcoin Transaction Volume In January ON Semiconductor Beats Q4 Earnings, Issues Better Than Expected Q1 Guidance © 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. View comments || Rapid7 Acquires Alcide.IO For $50 Million To Tap Budding Cloud Security Market: • Rapid7, Inc.(NASDAQ:RPD)acquired Israeli Kubernetes security providerAlcide.IO Ltd for a purchase price of $50 million.
• Alcide.IO marks Rapid7’s second acquisition in the cloud security market in the past nine months, following the acquisition of DivvyCloud in April.
• The acquisitions have the potential to boost Rapid7’s cloud-native security platform and risk management competencies thereof.
• Cloud’s flexibility, swiftness, and, dexterity have immensely contributed towards the acceleration of innovation and value delivery attracting more developers towards Kubernetes.
• Alcide’s cloud workload protection platform (CWPP) offers extensive, real-time prominence and governance, container runtime, network monitoring, and the capacity to inspect security threats.
• The acquisition will help to expand and strengthen Rapid7’s cloud security offering.
• “The technical talent within Israel’s cybersecurity ecosystem is unparalleled and we look forward to working together with the Alcide team to provide organizations with comprehensive cloud security that drives business growth and innovation,” said Rapid7 CEO Corey Thomas.
• Price action:Rapid7 shares are up 1.68% at $88.28 on the last check Monday.
• Related News: Accenture (NYSE:ACN)to acquire Imagineato accelerate cloud services.
• Cognizant (NASDAQ:CTSH)acquired cloud transformationconsultancy group Linium.
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• Mogo Posts Robust Bitcoin Transaction Volume In January
• ON Semiconductor Beats Q4 Earnings, Issues Better Than Expected Q1 Guidance
© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Facial Recognition Tech May Be Being Used Against Russian Protestors: As massive protests sweep across the nation, activists fear Russia has been deploying facial recognition technology to clamp down on dissent. Following nationwide protest rallies on Jan. 31, several people reported on social media they were detained by the police after subway and street surveillance cameras recognized them as protesters. Countries all over the world deploy facial recognition tech to surveil cities, leading to fears of possible abuse. Over the past two weekends, Russians have been protesting the arrest of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who recently returned to Russia after recovering from being poisoned . Navalny built a nationwide political movement in Russia by exposing corruption among the country’s high-ranking officials. Related: FinCEN's Wallet Rule Aims to Close Crypto-Cash Reporting Gap, Official Says His latest investigation , released on YouTube after he was jailed, reveals a luxurious palace reportedly belonging to Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin. (Putin denies he owned the property.) The authorities have responded to the protests with mass arrests , beatings, criminal persecution of protesters and apparently some fresh surveillance methods. Cameras at work Popular photographer George Malets wrote on Facebook he was detained on Jan. 31 in the Moscow subway. Malets told CoinDesk that at the police station the police officers mentioned some “Face ID” system being used to search for people. He added that he overheard people saying they were detained because they were spotted by street cameras at the previous protest rally on Jan. 23. Related: Bitcoin Donations to Navalny Surge After Russian Opposition Leader Is Jailed “According to what I heard from police officers talking to each other, there was a mass search yesterday,” Malets said. “Apparently, they were looking for anyone who was at least near the rally.” The officers asked Malets about his presence at the rally, he wrote in his Facebook post, and were not convinced by his words that he went to the rally as a journalist to take photos. During the rally police detained journalists along with protesters, even though they were wearing green “Press” vests. Story continues Lawyer Mikhail Biryukov posted yesterday his client Kamil Galeev, a historian, was detained at his home. According to the lawyer, street cameras captured Galeev during the protest rally on Jan. 23, and to identify him the police used photos from Galeev’s passport and social networks. Rapper Samariddin Rajabov also tweeted yesterday that he was detained in the subway. Moscow subway stations have been recently equipped with video cameras, some of them placed on the entrance turnstiles. The city authorities announced last year that those cameras would use facial recognition software to charge passengers for entrance and locate people “in need of medical assistance” for express help. The Moscow government is planning to spend $33 million to ramp up video surveillance in the peripheral districts of Moscow this year. Related Stories Facial Recognition Tech May Be Being Used Against Russian Protestors Facial Recognition Tech May Be Being Used Against Russian Protestors || Facial Recognition Tech May Be Being Used Against Russian Protestors: As massive protests sweep across the nation, activists fear Russia has been deploying facial recognition technology to clamp down on dissent. Following nationwide protest rallies on Jan. 31, several people reported on social media they were detained by the police after subway and street surveillance cameras recognized them as protesters. Countries all over the world deploy facial recognition tech to surveil cities, leading to fears of possible abuse. Over the past two weekends, Russians have been protesting the arrest of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who recently returned to Russia after recovering from being poisoned . Navalny built a nationwide political movement in Russia by exposing corruption among the country’s high-ranking officials. Related: FinCEN's Wallet Rule Aims to Close Crypto-Cash Reporting Gap, Official Says His latest investigation , released on YouTube after he was jailed, reveals a luxurious palace reportedly belonging to Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin. (Putin denies he owned the property.) The authorities have responded to the protests with mass arrests , beatings, criminal persecution of protesters and apparently some fresh surveillance methods. Cameras at work Popular photographer George Malets wrote on Facebook he was detained on Jan. 31 in the Moscow subway. Malets told CoinDesk that at the police station the police officers mentioned some “Face ID” system being used to search for people. He added that he overheard people saying they were detained because they were spotted by street cameras at the previous protest rally on Jan. 23. Related: Bitcoin Donations to Navalny Surge After Russian Opposition Leader Is Jailed “According to what I heard from police officers talking to each other, there was a mass search yesterday,” Malets said. “Apparently, they were looking for anyone who was at least near the rally.” The officers asked Malets about his presence at the rally, he wrote in his Facebook post, and were not convinced by his words that he went to the rally as a journalist to take photos. During the rally police detained journalists along with protesters, even though they were wearing green “Press” vests. Story continues Lawyer Mikhail Biryukov posted yesterday his client Kamil Galeev, a historian, was detained at his home. According to the lawyer, street cameras captured Galeev during the protest rally on Jan. 23, and to identify him the police used photos from Galeev’s passport and social networks. Rapper Samariddin Rajabov also tweeted yesterday that he was detained in the subway. Moscow subway stations have been recently equipped with video cameras, some of them placed on the entrance turnstiles. The city authorities announced last year that those cameras would use facial recognition software to charge passengers for entrance and locate people “in need of medical assistance” for express help. The Moscow government is planning to spend $33 million to ramp up video surveillance in the peripheral districts of Moscow this year. Related Stories Facial Recognition Tech May Be Being Used Against Russian Protestors Facial Recognition Tech May Be Being Used Against Russian Protestors || Mogo Posts Robust Bitcoin Transaction Volume In January: Mogo Inc. (NASDAQ: MOGO ) noted an over 300% month-over-month growth in bitcoin transaction volume in January. The new bitcoin account rose by 141%, with a 323% increase in dollar value in January from December. Higher access by Canadians towards the evolving digital asset drove the growth. “The continued growth in bitcoin transaction activity is very encouraging, and although it is not yet a material contributor to our overall revenue, it represents our fastest-growing product. Assuming we continue to experience strong uptake with MogoCrypto, it could represent a meaningful component of the growth in our Subscription & Services revenue in 2021. Moreover, it creates the opportunity for engagement with all our products and long-term growth in member monetization,” said Mogo CFO Greg Feller. Mogo declared preliminary corporate investment plans of up to $1.5 million in bitcoin just a month back, with further investment plans in 2021 upon the monetization of its $17 million investment portfolio. It disclosed the acquisition of digital payment company Carta Solutions Holding Corporation just a week back. Recently Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA ) CEO Elon Musk endorsed the bitcoin Clubhouse audio chat app and attached the “#bitcoin” tag on his Twitter profile page, reported CNBC . Price action: Mogo shares closed 1.43% higher at $4.25 on Monday. See more from Benzinga Click here for options trades from Benzinga ON Semiconductor Beats Q4 Earnings, Issues Better Than Expected Q1 Guidance Integrated Media Technology Acquires Shenzhen Koala To Tap IoT Business © 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Mogo Posts Robust Bitcoin Transaction Volume In January: • Mogo Inc.(NASDAQ:MOGO)noted an over 300% month-over-month growthin bitcoin transaction volume in January. The new bitcoin account rose by 141%, with a 323% increase in dollar value in January from December.
• Higher access by Canadians towards the evolving digital asset drove the growth.
• “The continued growth in bitcoin transaction activity is very encouraging, and although it is not yet a material contributor to our overall revenue, it represents our fastest-growing product. Assuming we continue to experience strong uptake with MogoCrypto, it could represent a meaningful component of the growth in our Subscription & Services revenue in 2021. Moreover, it creates the opportunity for engagement with all our products and long-term growth in member monetization,” said Mogo CFO Greg Feller.
• Mogodeclared preliminary corporate investment plansof up to $1.5 million in bitcoin just a month back, with further investment plans in 2021 upon the monetization of its $17 million investment portfolio.
• Itdisclosed the acquisitionof digital payment company Carta Solutions Holding Corporation just a week back.
• RecentlyTesla Inc(NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk endorsed the bitcoin Clubhouse audio chat app and attached the “#bitcoin” tag on his Twitter profile page,reported CNBC.
• Price action:Mogo shares closed 1.43% higher at $4.25 on Monday.
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• ON Semiconductor Beats Q4 Earnings, Issues Better Than Expected Q1 Guidance
• Integrated Media Technology Acquires Shenzhen Koala To Tap IoT Business
© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Mogo Posts Robust Bitcoin Transaction Volume In January: • Mogo Inc.(NASDAQ:MOGO)noted an over 300% month-over-month growthin bitcoin transaction volume in January. The new bitcoin account rose by 141%, with a 323% increase in dollar value in January from December.
• Higher access by Canadians towards the evolving digital asset drove the growth.
• “The continued growth in bitcoin transaction activity is very encouraging, and although it is not yet a material contributor to our overall revenue, it represents our fastest-growing product. Assuming we continue to experience strong uptake with MogoCrypto, it could represent a meaningful component of the growth in our Subscription & Services revenue in 2021. Moreover, it creates the opportunity for engagement with all our products and long-term growth in member monetization,” said Mogo CFO Greg Feller.
• Mogodeclared preliminary corporate investment plansof up to $1.5 million in bitcoin just a month back, with further investment plans in 2021 upon the monetization of its $17 million investment portfolio.
• Itdisclosed the acquisitionof digital payment company Carta Solutions Holding Corporation just a week back.
• RecentlyTesla Inc(NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk endorsed the bitcoin Clubhouse audio chat app and attached the “#bitcoin” tag on his Twitter profile page,reported CNBC.
• Price action:Mogo shares closed 1.43% higher at $4.25 on Monday.
See more from Benzinga
• Click here for options trades from Benzinga
• ON Semiconductor Beats Q4 Earnings, Issues Better Than Expected Q1 Guidance
• Integrated Media Technology Acquires Shenzhen Koala To Tap IoT Business
© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Exchange Tokens Hit New All-time Highs as Stock Traders Rush to Crypto: Some retail equities traders, frustrated with recent restrictions on stock buying on trading platforms including Robinhood , are turning their attention to centralized and decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges (CEX and DEX, respectively), according to new data. That’s helping to drive several of these exchanges’ tokens to new highs. Last week GameStop (GME) and and other stocks involved in a battle between a short-selling hedge fund and a Reddit group captured the imagination of the general public, a battle that drove these stocks’ prices higher and squeezed the short seller. Now, some of that buying excitement has spilled over to crypto where CEX and DEX trading volumes have risen over the past week, according to several crypto trading data sites. Related: State of Crypto: How Will the Government React to GameStop? Read More: After GME, Dogecoin and Bitcoin, Chinese Traders Are Betting What Will Pump Next CEX volumes rise, taking tokens with them Trading volumes for bitcoin futures on Binance and FTX surged over the weekend, according to data site Skew. Binance’s BNB token hit a new all-time high at $50.27 during early U.S. trading hours on Monday, while FTX’s FTT token logged a record price of $12.95 on Friday, according to data from Messari. “ATH [all-time highs] on a few different matrices” [for BNB], Changpeng Zhao, chief executive of Binance, tweeted earlier Monday. Related: Interoperability Project Ren 'Joining' Alameda Research Through a spokesperson, Zhao told CoinDesk that Binance’s utility token’s price rally is driven by its multiple use cases. “[BNB’s] use cases have expanded to hundreds of applications on numerous platforms and projects within the crypto ecosystem [and] these are reflected in its growing price,” said the spokesperson, quoting Zhao. “…To become a true mass-adopted application, BNB must be able to facilitate billions of transactions per day. In its current form, we still have a long way to go.” Story continues The traffic spike last weekend pushing BNB and FTT to the record highs likely resulted from increased trading traffic by retail traders coming from the traditional stock market, according John Todaro, director of institutional research at TradeBlock. (Cryptocurrency analytics firm TradeBlock is a subsidiary of CoinDesk.) “The recent retail trading saga has shown that trading platforms, brokerages and even exchanges can shut down aspects of the trade process without much notice,” Todaro said. “This pushed some retail traders into cryptocurrency markets, as we saw with dogecoin , xrp , and stellar lumens catching a bid on the week.” Read More: Crypto Long & Short: GameStop, Dogecoin and a New Market Paradigm In an effort to capitalize on the retail trading frenzy caused by the GameStop stock drama, FTX last week listed a WallStreetBets (WSB) index quarterly futures contract , named for the Reddit group involved with the GameStop drama. The basket of stocks in the contract include GameStop plus Nokia (NOK), BlackBerry (BB), AMC Entertainment (AMC) plus the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) because of recent interest in silver . Read More: FTX Exchange Lists WallStreetBets Futures to Capitalize on Investing Movement “FTX lists tokenized equities, so investors could also be anticipating that Robinhood users and others may switch over to FTX to continue investing in stocks without the limits that various traditional brokerages have applied on their retail users,” Todaro added. As of press time, FTX did not respond to CoinDesk’s requests for comment. UniSwap and SushiSwap lead way for DEXs Activity in decentralized finance (DeFi) is on the upswing. Total January trading volume on DEXs soared to an all-time high above $50 billion. On a seven-day basis, UniSwap and SushiSwap, the two leading DEXs, took 48.8% and 23.3%, respectively, of all DEX trading volumes, according to Dune Analytics’ DEX metrics tracker . Read More: Decentralized Exchange Volumes Hit Record Above $50B in January “Overall, the [crypto] market has had a lot of volume increased, both on CEX and DeFi,” Peter Chan, lead quant trader at Hong Kong-based OneBit Quant, told CoinDesk. He credits growing trade volume on SushiSwap for its SUSHI token’s price surge. At the same time, Uniswap (UNI) and SushiSwap tokens exceeded their previous high prices, on Jan 31. and Feb. 1, respectively, according to data from Messari’s decentralized finance tracker. Retail traders appear to be driving at least part of the price movement. The number of Google searches for “Uniswap,” the biggest decentralized exchange by market cap, is almost as high as during last year’s “DeFi summer” boom. That is an indicator of retail demand for DEXs, according to TradeBlock’s weekly newsletter of Feb. 1. It also reflects some retail traders’ growing concerns regarding centralized trading platforms, with more people wanting to learn about decentralized exchanges such as Uniswap. “Within DeFi, arguably the most ostensible applications in the sector are the DEXs [such as] Uniswap and SushiSwap,” Todaro said. “As the sector heats up, UNI and SUSHI have been the primary benefactors as they are the most visible.” Related Stories Exchange Tokens Hit New All-time Highs as Stock Traders Rush to Crypto Exchange Tokens Hit New All-time Highs as Stock Traders Rush to Crypto || Exchange Tokens Hit New All-time Highs as Stock Traders Rush to Crypto: Some retail equities traders, frustrated with recent restrictions on stock buying ontrading platforms including Robinhood, are turning their attention to centralized and decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges (CEX and DEX, respectively), according to new data. That’s helping to drive several of these exchanges’ tokens to new highs.
Last week GameStop (GME) and and other stocks involved in a battle between a short-selling hedge fund and a Reddit group captured the imagination of the general public, a battle that drove these stocks’ prices higher and squeezed the short seller.
Now, some of that buying excitement has spilled over to crypto where CEX and DEX trading volumes have risen over the past week, according to several crypto trading data sites.
Related:State of Crypto: How Will the Government React to GameStop?
Read More:After GME, Dogecoin and Bitcoin, Chinese Traders Are Betting What Will Pump Next
Trading volumes forbitcoinfutures on Binance and FTX surged over the weekend, according to data site Skew.
Binance’s BNB token hit a new all-time high at $50.27 during early U.S. trading hours on Monday, while FTX’s FTT token logged a record price of $12.95 on Friday, according to data from Messari.
“ATH [all-time highs] on a few different matrices” [for BNB], Changpeng Zhao, chief executive of Binance,tweetedearlier Monday.
Related:Interoperability Project Ren 'Joining' Alameda Research
Through a spokesperson, Zhao told CoinDesk that Binance’s utility token’s price rally is driven by its multiple use cases.
“[BNB’s] use cases have expanded to hundreds of applications on numerous platforms and projects within the crypto ecosystem [and] these are reflected in its growing price,” said the spokesperson, quoting Zhao. “…To become a true mass-adopted application, BNB must be able to facilitate billions of transactions per day. In its current form, we still have a long way to go.”
The traffic spike last weekend pushing BNB and FTT to the record highs likely resulted from increased trading traffic by retail traders coming from the traditional stock market, according John Todaro, director of institutional research at TradeBlock. (Cryptocurrency analytics firm TradeBlock is a subsidiary of CoinDesk.)
“The recent retail trading saga has shown that trading platforms, brokerages and even exchanges can shut down aspects of the trade process without much notice,” Todaro said. “This pushed some retail traders into cryptocurrency markets, as we saw withdogecoin,xrp, andstellar lumenscatching a bid on the week.”
Read More:Crypto Long & Short: GameStop, Dogecoin and a New Market Paradigm
In an effort to capitalize on the retail trading frenzy caused by the GameStop stock drama, FTX last week listeda WallStreetBets (WSB) index quarterly futures contract, named for the Reddit group involved with the GameStop drama. The basket of stocks in the contract include GameStop plus Nokia (NOK), BlackBerry (BB), AMC Entertainment (AMC) plus the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) because of recent interest insilver.
Read More:FTX Exchange Lists WallStreetBets Futures to Capitalize on Investing Movement
“FTX lists tokenized equities, so investors could also be anticipating that Robinhood users and others may switch over to FTX to continue investing in stocks without the limits that various traditional brokerages have applied on their retail users,” Todaro added.
As of press time, FTX did not respond to CoinDesk’s requests for comment.
Activity in decentralized finance (DeFi) is on the upswing. Total January trading volume on DEXs soared to an all-time high above $50 billion. On a seven-day basis, UniSwap and SushiSwap, the two leading DEXs, took 48.8% and 23.3%, respectively, of all DEX trading volumes, according to Dune Analytics’DEX metrics tracker.
Read More:Decentralized Exchange Volumes Hit Record Above $50B in January
“Overall, the [crypto] market has had a lot of volume increased, both on CEX and DeFi,” Peter Chan, lead quant trader at Hong Kong-based OneBit Quant, told CoinDesk. He credits growing trade volume on SushiSwap for its SUSHI token’s price surge.
At the same time, Uniswap (UNI) and SushiSwap tokens exceeded their previous high prices, on Jan 31. and Feb. 1, respectively, according to data from Messari’s decentralized finance tracker.
Retail traders appear to be driving at least part of the price movement. The number of Google searches for “Uniswap,” the biggest decentralized exchange by market cap, is almost as high as during last year’s “DeFi summer” boom. That is an indicator of retail demand for DEXs, according to TradeBlock’s weekly newsletter of Feb. 1. It also reflects some retail traders’ growing concerns regarding centralized trading platforms, with more people wanting to learn about decentralized exchanges such as Uniswap.
“Within DeFi, arguably the most ostensible applications in the sector are the DEXs [such as] Uniswap and SushiSwap,” Todaro said. “As the sector heats up, UNI and SUSHI have been the primary benefactors as they are the most visible.”
• Exchange Tokens Hit New All-time Highs as Stock Traders Rush to Crypto
• Exchange Tokens Hit New All-time Highs as Stock Traders Rush to Crypto || Litecoin, Polkadot & Yearn.Finance - American Wrap: 2/1/2021: Litecoin Price Prediction: LTC Is On The Brink Of A Massive Breakout To $180 As Whales Go Into Buying Spree Litecoin has been trading downwards since its peak of $185 on January 10 but has established a robust support level at $122. The digital asset seems to be on the verge of a breakout as several metrics have turned positive for LTC. Polkadot Price Might Need To See A Strong 20% Pullback Before Resuming Uptrend Polkadot had one of the best performances in 2021 reaching rank fourth above XRP with a market capitalization of $16 billion. Although DOT already had a significant pullback from its all-time high price of $19.4, the digital asset could be bounded to fall lower. Yearn.Finance Price Analysis: Only This Crucial Level Separates YFI From Reaching $40,000 YFI is currently trading at $30,000 and has been moving sideways for the past week. It seems that one crucial resistance level is separating Yearn.Finance from a massive breakout towards a high of $40,000. See more from Benzinga Click here for options trades from Benzinga Bitcoin, Stellar & Tezos - American Wrap: 1/28/2021 Ripple, Chainlink & Vechain - American Wrap: 1/26/2021 © 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || Litecoin, Polkadot & Yearn.Finance - American Wrap: 2/1/2021: Litecoin Price Prediction: LTC Is On The Brink Of A Massive Breakout To $180 As Whales Go Into Buying Spree
Litecoin has been trading downwards since its peak of $185 on January 10 but has established a robust support level at $122. The digital asset seems to be on the verge of a breakout as several metrics have turned positive for LTC.
Polkadot Price Might Need To See A Strong 20% Pullback Before Resuming Uptrend
Polkadot had one of the best performances in 2021 reaching rank fourth above XRP with a market capitalization of $16 billion. Although DOT already had a significant pullback from its all-time high price of $19.4, the digital asset could be bounded to fall lower.
Yearn.Finance Price Analysis: Only This Crucial Level Separates YFI From Reaching $40,000
YFI is currently trading at $30,000 and has been moving sideways for the past week. It seems that one crucial resistance level is separating Yearn.Finance from a massive breakout towards a high of $40,000.
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• Bitcoin, Stellar & Tezos - American Wrap: 1/28/2021
• Ripple, Chainlink & Vechain - American Wrap: 1/26/2021
© 2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. || 4 Lessons From GameStop's Price Frenzy: Warren Buffett has expressed very negative view towards gambling, saying, “ Day trading comes very close to gambling.” and that “gambling is a tax on ignorance.” His advice? Get rich slowly. These days, capital markets are anything but slow. A Reddit forum of 3.5 million users that discuss speculative bets banded together to push GameStop’s stock price 2,300% over two months. GME went from $13 in early December to $315 by late January. One forum member turned $50,000 into $50 million in just a few months. WallStreetBets has since grown to 6.1 million users. They describe themselves as “degenerates” in the subreddit channel. The recent mayhem surrounding GameStop, AMC Theatres , Dogecoin and Bitcoin does, at least, reveal four compelling lessons about modern finance. Related: For GameStop Investors, It's Game On 1. It’s easier for Gen Y and Gen Z to mobilize capital In the past, pooling investment capital came from smoking cigars at a country club or Ivy League reunion. Big finance was an exclusive boys’ club. There’s still an element of that today. However, socially aware Generations Y and Z have injected tens of billions into the capital markets by joining retail apps like Robinhood , Beanstox and PayPal. These allow literally anyone (i.e., “dumb money”) to gamble, speculate and trade with extra $5 Starbucks cash or $1,000 student loan money or $5,000 from grandma’s inheritance. Many “invest” for potential capital gains (without knowing how to properly value a business, as Buffett feared). And just as many naively buy and sell stocks and cryptocurrencies to support a social cause or, in the case of WallStreetBets, give a middle finger to Wall Street bullies like short-sellers. When profit isn’t the primary motive, it can wreak havoc, as market signals can become invalidated. (Melvin Capital needed a $3 billion capital infusion to avert bankruptcy after the GameStop fiasco.) Story continues 2. Disillusionment with institutions can create monetary mutiny Hedge funds have been short-selling GameStop’s steadily declining stock, seeking to profit in a video-game company’s demise. As Ollie Leech of CoinDesk writes , “This was likely an attempt by large players to out-muscle amateur traders and induce panic selling. The WallStreetBets Reddit community saw this as an opportunity to push back against the financial elite and decided to whip up a buying frenzy.” That, in turn, led to billions in losses for Wall Street’s short-sellers , a pending investigation by Congress and calls for stringent regulations. There are macroeconomic forces that blur the lines of investing, gambling, market speculation and extreme, hype-fueled trading and price volatility. Then-President Bill Clinton’s repeal in 1999 of the Glass-Steagall Act turned the stock market into a gigantic casino by enabling commercial banks to legally offer massive sums of risky credit for equally massive speculation by politically connected hedge funds. 3. Media coverage can fuel a frenzy The democratization of media, as well as mainstream access to financial tech have liberalized investing, speculating, gambling and day trading. Retail investors can wield power when efforts are concentrated. On Jan. 29, meme-based cryptocurrency Dogecoin catapulted 80% in a 24-hour period and reached a top-10 market capitalization of $7 billion. During the extreme price surge, Elon Musk tweeted a picture of a dog in an apparent nod to the peer-to-peer currency’s meme-based logo. For mischiefs and misfits, putting money in a struggling stock (i.e. GME) or cryptocurrency like Bitcoin isn’t about pursuing a prudent strategy for increasing one’s retirement account . It’s about lifestyle — to bask in the momentary hype of being a contrarian, financial anarchist and troublemaker. It’s about naked-ass-mooning the very billion-dollar institutions that caused the 2008 Great Recession, and which received taxpayer bailouts from politician friends. Bitcoin (BTC) is a digital commodity that doesn’t yield any dividend or cash flow. On Jan. 29, Elon Musk put a Bitcoin logo on his empty Twitter bio and the crypto’s price surged by 17%. To understand the psychology of what is transpiring, Musk’s action symbolizes a rebellious, libertarian streak and not an attempt to manipulate BTC’s price. (The tech billionaire recently moved Tesla’s headquarters from regulation-heavy California to freedom-loving Texas.) To members of WallStreetBets, struggling stocks like GameStop and AMC Theatres (as well as alternative digital cash like decentralized Bitcoin and dog-meme-based Dogecoin) create an opportunity to point a middle finger to (what they perceive as) a corrupt status quo. On Jan. 28, Musk tweeted: “u can’t sell houses u don’t own u can’t sell cars u don’t own but u *can* sell stock u don’t own!? this is bs – shorting is a scam…” Related: What Is Going on With GameStop? Meme Stocks Explained. 4. Automation has quickened the pace of price action Finally, markets have been automated for more than a decade where key indicators can trigger an avalanche of buy and sell orders. These systems can significantly quicken the pace of market action where fortunes and losses are made within minutes or seconds. Moreover, fintech innovators are introducing platforms like Mudrex that allow quants and analysts to design, publish and monetize algorithmic strategies. Capabilities like these allow investors to bet on auto-pilot based on a larger thesis or from a collection of micro signals. One decentralized finance (DeFi) entrepreneur thinks that global connectivity and light speed dissemination of information have created financial tsunamis in the traditional capital and digital alt-cash markets. CEO Brian Kerr of yield-farming platform Kava.io says that decentralized bandits (via Twitter and Reddit) now possess the capability to potentially bankrupt billion-dollar institutions. According to Kerr, in a quote that just about sums up this wild couple weeks in trading, "Wall Street knows they’re being disrupted and that the future may be volatile." || 4 Lessons From GameStop's Price Frenzy: Warren Buffett has expressed very negative view towards gambling, saying, “ Day trading comes very close to gambling.” and that “gambling is a tax on ignorance.” His advice? Get rich slowly. These days, capital markets are anything but slow. A Reddit forum of 3.5 million users that discuss speculative bets banded together to push GameStop’s stock price 2,300% over two months. GME went from $13 in early December to $315 by late January. One forum member turned $50,000 into $50 million in just a few months. WallStreetBets has since grown to 6.1 million users. They describe themselves as “degenerates” in the subreddit channel. The recent mayhem surrounding GameStop, AMC Theatres , Dogecoin and Bitcoin does, at least, reveal four compelling lessons about modern finance. Related: For GameStop Investors, It's Game On 1. It’s easier for Gen Y and Gen Z to mobilize capital In the past, pooling investment capital came from smoking cigars at a country club or Ivy League reunion. Big finance was an exclusive boys’ club. There’s still an element of that today. However, socially aware Generations Y and Z have injected tens of billions into the capital markets by joining retail apps like Robinhood , Beanstox and PayPal. These allow literally anyone (i.e., “dumb money”) to gamble, speculate and trade with extra $5 Starbucks cash or $1,000 student loan money or $5,000 from grandma’s inheritance. Many “invest” for potential capital gains (without knowing how to properly value a business, as Buffett feared). And just as many naively buy and sell stocks and cryptocurrencies to support a social cause or, in the case of WallStreetBets, give a middle finger to Wall Street bullies like short-sellers. When profit isn’t the primary motive, it can wreak havoc, as market signals can become invalidated. (Melvin Capital needed a $3 billion capital infusion to avert bankruptcy after the GameStop fiasco.) Story continues 2. Disillusionment with institutions can create monetary mutiny Hedge funds have been short-selling GameStop’s steadily declining stock, seeking to profit in a video-game company’s demise. As Ollie Leech of CoinDesk writes , “This was likely an attempt by large players to out-muscle amateur traders and induce panic selling. The WallStreetBets Reddit community saw this as an opportunity to push back against the financial elite and decided to whip up a buying frenzy.” That, in turn, led to billions in losses for Wall Street’s short-sellers , a pending investigation by Congress and calls for stringent regulations. There are macroeconomic forces that blur the lines of investing, gambling, market speculation and extreme, hype-fueled trading and price volatility. Then-President Bill Clinton’s repeal in 1999 of the Glass-Steagall Act turned the stock market into a gigantic casino by enabling commercial banks to legally offer massive sums of risky credit for equally massive speculation by politically connected hedge funds. 3. Media coverage can fuel a frenzy The democratization of media, as well as mainstream access to financial tech have liberalized investing, speculating, gambling and day trading. Retail investors can wield power when efforts are concentrated. On Jan. 29, meme-based cryptocurrency Dogecoin catapulted 80% in a 24-hour period and reached a top-10 market capitalization of $7 billion. During the extreme price surge, Elon Musk tweeted a picture of a dog in an apparent nod to the peer-to-peer currency’s meme-based logo. For mischiefs and misfits, putting money in a struggling stock (i.e. GME) or cryptocurrency like Bitcoin isn’t about pursuing a prudent strategy for increasing one’s retirement account . It’s about lifestyle — to bask in the momentary hype of being a contrarian, financial anarchist and troublemaker. It’s about naked-ass-mooning the very billion-dollar institutions that caused the 2008 Great Recession, and which received taxpayer bailouts from politician friends. Bitcoin (BTC) is a digital commodity that doesn’t yield any dividend or cash flow. On Jan. 29, Elon Musk put a Bitcoin logo on his empty Twitter bio and the crypto’s price surged by 17%. To understand the psychology of what is transpiring, Musk’s action symbolizes a rebellious, libertarian streak and not an attempt to manipulate BTC’s price. (The tech billionaire recently moved Tesla’s headquarters from regulation-heavy California to freedom-loving Texas.) To members of WallStreetBets, struggling stocks like GameStop and AMC Theatres (as well as alternative digital cash like decentralized Bitcoin and dog-meme-based Dogecoin) create an opportunity to point a middle finger to (what they perceive as) a corrupt status quo. On Jan. 28, Musk tweeted: “u can’t sell houses u don’t own u can’t sell cars u don’t own but u *can* sell stock u don’t own!? this is bs – shorting is a scam…” Related: What Is Going on With GameStop? Meme Stocks Explained. 4. Automation has quickened the pace of price action Finally, markets have been automated for more than a decade where key indicators can trigger an avalanche of buy and sell orders. These systems can significantly quicken the pace of market action where fortunes and losses are made within minutes or seconds. Moreover, fintech innovators are introducing platforms like Mudrex that allow quants and analysts to design, publish and monetize algorithmic strategies. Capabilities like these allow investors to bet on auto-pilot based on a larger thesis or from a collection of micro signals. One decentralized finance (DeFi) entrepreneur thinks that global connectivity and light speed dissemination of information have created financial tsunamis in the traditional capital and digital alt-cash markets. CEO Brian Kerr of yield-farming platform Kava.io says that decentralized bandits (via Twitter and Reddit) now possess the capability to potentially bankrupt billion-dollar institutions. According to Kerr, in a quote that just about sums up this wild couple weeks in trading, "Wall Street knows they’re being disrupted and that the future may be volatile." || Wall St. strategist warns on GameStop: 'There's not an infinite pool of greater fools': AlphaOmega Advisors founder Peter Cecchini, the former chief market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald, expects “the fantasy narrative” surrounding GameStop's ( GME ) surge “reverts to reality” at some point. Cecchini, who points out that Gamestop’s “fundamentals under no circumstances justify the valuation,” believes that the retail traders who feel they're up against the hedge funds are going to be the ones “left holding the bag.” “The only way the stock can go up in value is if you have someone that wants to buy it higher,” he said, “[Because] there's no way that there's an infinite pool of greater fools. There's not an infinite pool of greater fools. At some point, the fundamental reality of a company's performance will matter. It might not be today. It might not be this week. It might not be next month. But ultimately, it does,” Cecchini told Yahoo Finance in a phone interview on Friday afternoon. He argues that the army of retail day traders will eventually lose interest and will turn paper profits into realized gains. “There's not there's not an infinite pool of greater fools, meaning that at some point people are going to want to take profits and people who want to buy it at a yet higher and more ridiculous price will be left holding the bag, eventually. And that'll be exacerbated by the fact that a lot of the upward pressure on these stocks is driven by the gamma at broker-dealers. So, as soon as the option activity dies down, there’s not going to be anything supporting the bid for the stock coming from the broker-dealers.” In addition to the fundamentals, there's a technical dynamic stemming from low-fee or no-fee options trading, creating gamma squeezes in certain stock names, something people need to pay attention to, according to Cecchini. “One of the things that have helped to drive up the price of these names that have the short squeezes is the options activity. Retail buyers are buying these very near-dated options, which requires the broker-dealers to hedge the short calls that the broker-dealers own, and in buying the shares that helps to drive up the stock. The opposite effect happens on the way down,” he explained. Story continues According to Cecchini, the upward pressure on these stocks is driven by the gamma by the broker-dealers, and as soon as the options activity dies down there’s not going to be anything to support the bid for the stock from the broker-dealers. “So that'll exacerbate the fall in these stocks, especially if there are any changes to margin requirements, or the requirements and the restrictions around opening up options accounts, any of that stuff will chill the activity in these heavily shorted stocks,” he added. A GameStop store is pictured in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., January 29, 2021. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri Cecchini has long felt that the markets have been “somewhat dysfunctional for a while.” He highlighted monetary policy accommodation and fiscal policy coordination that's helped companies extend and amend their obligations, making folks unconcerned about default risk and thereby boosting equity valuations. What's more, fiscal policy in the form of direct deposits into personal checking accounts has found its way into the stock market, primarily via no-fee trading apps and the ability to buy fractional shares. “Whether it's anecdotal or it's flow-based data, it's pretty clear that people are using the stimulus money to speculate in the stock market,” Cecchini added. What’s more, Reddit users on the r/WallStreetBets subreddit have galvanized an army of retail traders , marching in the same direction and targeting companies with large short interest. The Reddit-fueled surge in GameStop shares has burned a handful of high profile hedge fund firms that were short the stock. Shares of GameStop, which started the year around $19 per share, have surged more than 1,625% to close at $325 on Friday. “It builds on itself — not only is it entertaining, not only is it gambling, but then all of a sudden it becomes a social war, where it's like the rich versus poor, it's hedge funds versus the little guy. And none of it would be possible if it weren't for easily available credit because the other thing that facilitates it is really inexpensive margin and all the brokerage houses alongside fee-less trading,” Cecchini noted. He also pointed out that no fee trading is available because market-makers like Citadel Securities pay for order flow data from Robinhood. “You can't expect to trade your options for no fee if there's not a trade-off, that trade-off is that the market-makers see the flow, period. So, look, I think it's all about to unwind, I really do. I think it's just such a mess at this point that, that game is over,” he added. Julia La Roche is a correspondent for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter . Paul Tudor Jones makes bull case for Bitcoin: 'The path forward from here is north' Ray Dalio calls Bitcoin ‘one hell of an invention’ || Wall St. strategist warns on GameStop: 'There's not an infinite pool of greater fools': AlphaOmega Advisors founder Peter Cecchini, the former chief market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald, expects “the fantasy narrative” surrounding GameStop's (GME) surge “reverts to reality” at some point.
Cecchini, who points out that Gamestop’s “fundamentals under no circumstances justify the valuation,” believes that the retail traders who feel they're up against the hedge funds are going to be the ones “left holding the bag.”
“The only way the stock can go up in value is if you have someone that wants to buy it higher,” he said, “[Because] there's no way that there's an infinite pool of greater fools. There's not an infinite pool of greater fools. At some point, the fundamental reality of a company's performance will matter. It might not be today. It might not be this week. It might not be next month. But ultimately, it does,” Cecchini told Yahoo Finance in a phone interview on Friday afternoon.
He argues that the army of retail day traders will eventually lose interest and will turn paper profits into realized gains.
“There's not there's not an infinite pool of greater fools, meaning that at some point people are going to want to take profits and people who want to buy it at a yet higher and more ridiculous price will be left holding the bag, eventually. And that'll be exacerbated by the fact that a lot of the upward pressure on these stocks is driven by the gamma at broker-dealers. So, as soon as the option activity dies down, there’s not going to be anything supporting the bid for the stock coming from the broker-dealers.”
In addition to the fundamentals, there's a technical dynamic stemming from low-fee or no-fee options trading, creating gamma squeezes in certain stock names, something people need to pay attention to, according to Cecchini.
“One of the things that have helped to drive up the price of these names that have the short squeezes is the options activity. Retail buyers are buying these very near-dated options, which requires the broker-dealers to hedge the short calls that the broker-dealers own, and in buying the shares that helps to drive up the stock. The opposite effect happens on the way down,” he explained.
According to Cecchini, the upward pressure on these stocks is driven by the gamma by the broker-dealers, and as soon as the options activity dies down there’s not going to be anything to support the bid for the stock from the broker-dealers.
“So that'll exacerbate the fall in these stocks, especially if there are any changes to margin requirements, or the requirements and the restrictions around opening up options accounts, any of that stuff will chill the activity in these heavily shorted stocks,” he added.
Cecchini has long felt that the markets have been “somewhat dysfunctional for a while.” He highlighted monetary policy accommodation and fiscal policy coordination that's helped companies extend and amend their obligations, making folks unconcerned about default risk and thereby boosting equity valuations. What's more, fiscal policy in the form of direct deposits into personal checking accounts has found its way into the stock market, primarily via no-fee trading apps and the ability to buy fractional shares.
“Whether it's anecdotal or it's flow-based data, it's pretty clear that people are using the stimulus money to speculate in the stock market,” Cecchini added.
What’s more, Reddit users on the r/WallStreetBets subreddit have galvanizedan army of retail traders, marching in the same direction and targeting companies with large short interest. The Reddit-fueled surge in GameStop shares has burned a handful of high profile hedge fund firms that were short the stock. Shares of GameStop, which started the year around $19 per share, have surged more than 1,625% to close at $325 on Friday.
“It builds on itself — not only is it entertaining, not only is it gambling, but then all of a sudden it becomes a social war, where it's like the rich versus poor, it's hedge funds versus the little guy. And none of it would be possible if it weren't for easily available credit because the other thing that facilitates it is really inexpensive margin and all the brokerage houses alongside fee-less trading,” Cecchini noted.
He also pointed out that no fee trading is available because market-makers like Citadel Securities pay for order flow data from Robinhood.
“You can't expect to trade your options for no fee if there's not a trade-off, that trade-off is that the market-makers see the flow, period. So, look, I think it's all about to unwind, I really do. I think it's just such a mess at this point that, that game is over,” he added.
Julia La Roche is a correspondent for Yahoo Finance. Follow her onTwitter.
• Paul Tudor Jones makes bull case for Bitcoin: 'The path forward from here is north'
• Ray Dalio calls Bitcoin ‘one hell of an invention’
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