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If the NYSE has its way, a risky leveraged ETF which doubles the return of bitcoin could soon hit the market

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If the NYSE has its way, a risky leveraged ETF which doubles the return of bitcoin could soon hit the market

If the NYSE has its way, a risky leveraged ETF which doubles the return of bitcoin could soon hit the market

  • The New York Stock Exchange has asked SEC regulators to list five exchange-traded funds that track bitcoin futures on one of its markets.

  • The ETFs are short-term investment vehicles designed to multiply returns in the cryptocurrency market, the SEC filing said.

  • The NYSE has already issued several bitcoin-related filings to the SEC.

If the NYSE has its way, a risky leveraged ETF which doubles the return of bitcoin could soon hit the market
An improvised message tells passersby to "buy bitcoin" on the University of Oregon campus in December 2017 — the same month the cryptocurrency's price rocketed from $10,000 to nearly $20,000.

The New York Stock Exchange has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to allow it to list five bitcoin-related exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on one of its markets, according to an SEC filing.

The ETFs were created by Direxion Asset Management to track bitcoin futures trading. While they are not tied to the price of bitcoin itself, the funds aim to multiply investor returns when compared to the underlying market, the filing said.

The instruments, named 1.25X Bull Fund, 1.5X Bull Fund, and 2X Bull Fund, will leverage "investment results (before fees and expenses) that correlate positively to either 125%, 150%, or 200% the daily return of the target benchmark," the filing said.

For each fund, that means a 1 percent rise in the price of bitcoin futures should result in a per-share gain of between 1.25 percent and 2 percent, depending on which Bull Fund is used. However, the potential for higher rewards also comes with higher risk: If the price of bitcoin falls, investors' losses would be multiplied by 1.25.

As such, the funds are not intended for long-term investing, the filing said. The NYSE has issued several filings related to the bitcoin market, including for bitcoin-related ETFs, with the SEC.

If the SEC approves this request, the five ETFs will be listed on Arca, a secondary marketplace on the NYSE. The news was first reported by Business Insider and Reuters.

The NYSE's move comes after two of its rival exchanges, the Cboe and the CME, won approval to list bitcoin futures.

The buzz around bitcoin and its competing digital currencies exploded in 2017, driving a 1,300 percent annual gain in the price of bitcoin. Asset managers have been racing to design more than 10 proposals for bitcoin funds that are currently before U.S. regulators.

New ETFs could make access to bitcoin easier and, in the case of the Direxion product, mean bigger stakes for investors.

The NYSE did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

Author: Elizabeth Gurdus CNBC

 

Posted by David Ogden Entreprenuer
David ogden cryptocurrency entrepreneur

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

Markethive

Five predictions for digital currencies in 2018 — including stomach-churning drops, bitcoin-related IPO

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Five predictions for digital currencies in 2018 — including stomach-churning drops, bitcoin-related IPO

 

  • More institutions will get into cryptocurrencies this year, analysts say.
  • They expect more regulation and bitcoin's price to drop, before recovering.
  • Stock investors may also get a chance to invest in a digital currency-related IPO.
  • After the bitcoin craze rose to a near-fever pitch in the last several weeks of 2017, several investors and analysts in the space see more growing pains for cryptocurrencies this year.

Here are five predictions for digital currencies, based on those interviews:

1. More institutions will get into cryptocurrencies.
"Our institutional investor base is very interested in learning more and getting exposure," said Michael Graham, a Canaccord Genuity analyst who has published several reports on digital currencies. "One of our major themes is that as we roll out through 2018, it's the year of institutions getting exposure to the space."
The number of institutional-level investment products related to bitcoin is increasing.
In addition to the CME and Cboe bitcoin futures that launched in December, Cantor Fitzgerald and Nasdaq are planning their own derivatives products. Analysts also expect regulators will approve a bitcoin exchange-traded fund in the second half of this year, or in early 2019.
"With the regulated futures markets going live in 2017, the stage is set for ETFs to gain approval in 2018," Nolan Bauerle, director of research at CoinDesk, said in an email. "In fact, the Cboe filed for 6 cryptocurrency ETFs at the end of 2017 which could go live in 2018. This would dramatically increase how institutional investors can get exposure."
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission declined to comment.

2. There will be more regulation and bitcoin's price will drop.
However, in the meantime, regulators will likely try to limit speculation in cryptocurrencies.
In the last several months, the SEC has become increasingly vocal in warning investors about the risks of cryptocurrencies. The commission also has suspended trading in some companies due to concerns about their claims regarding their token-related announcements.
"One of the things we'll see [is] enforcement here from the regulators," Canaccord's Graham said. He expects that greater regulation will cause a "major price dislocation event for the whole sector."
Bitcoin has soared more than 1,500 percent to near $16,200 over the last 12 months. But it is still down about 18 percent from its all-time high above $19,800 hit in mid-December. Meanwhile, smaller cryptocurrencies have surged hundreds of percent in the last several weeks, bringing the total market value of all digital coins to above $770 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Action by regulators could halt those gains. Bitcoin fell more than $2,000 in September when China cracked down on digital currencies.
Spencer Bogart, managing director and head of research at venture capital firm Blockchain Capital, expects that many cryptofunds will not be prepared to handle a monthly decline of 25 percent.
"I think we could easily purge 60-75% of crypto hedge funds in this type of market," Bogart said in an email. "In this environment, funds that can call capital and deploy it counter-cyclically stand to benefit significantly."
More than 120 such funds opened in 2017 for a total of 175 funds, according to financial research firm Autonomous Next.
In contrast to Bogart, Autonomous' global director of fintech strategy, Lex Sokolin, predicts the total number of cryptofunds will nearly triple to 500 this year. But he said the focus will be less on the number of funds and more on assets under management, which he expects to reach $20 billion.

3. It will be a wild, volatile ride. 

The contrasting views on the future of cryptofunds come as some analysts expect bitcoin to ride an even wilder wave this year.
Ari Paul, chief investment officer of cryptocurrency investment firm BlockTower Capital, predicts that bitcoin will trade at both $4,000 and $30,000 at some point in 2018.
One reason some analysts say bitcoin will ultimately rise further is that investors will bet on a payout from more splits in the digital currency. When some bitcoin developers decide to implement their own upgrade of the bitcoin network, bitcoin investors at the time of the split receive equal amounts of the split-off coin.
Aug. 1's split of bitcoin into bitcoin and bitcoin cash was "a change in the trend," said Ramon Quesada, a vocal member of Spain's cryptocurrency community. Developers "are using the brand bitcoin and they are splitting the main chain. They are making a fork. You create a new chain and you give a new name to this chain."
Bitcoin trades near $16,200, while bitcoin cash trades around $2,600.
"We think we're going to have more forks in 2018 than 2017," Canaccord's Graham said. "Ultimately we think those forks are going to be a short-term tail wind to bitcoin's value and a long-term headwind"
Bitcoin still faces many challenges, such as improving transaction fees and speed.

4. Bitcoin will prevail, while other cryptocurrencies grow. 
While bitcoin's price has stagnated in the last two weeks, smaller digital currencies such as ripple, stellar and tron have surged into the ranks of the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.
Erik Voorhees, CEO of digital asset exchange ShapeShift, said that in contrast to bitcoin's dominance on the platform a year ago, about half of transactions on the platform now don't involve the popular digital currency at all.
However, bitcoin should still benefit from the increased interest in the "alt-coins." Analysts also point out that since bitcoin is the most established digital currency, it is often the way new investors access the cryptocurrency space.
"Bitcoin has such magnificent network effects that I don't see another alt-coin that's a little better at payments" or some other function right now, Autonomous' Sokolin said. "One of the top 10 will collapse."

5. Stock investors may get a chance to invest in a digital currency-related IPO.
As interest in digital currencies has grown, the companies involved with the business have become billion-dollar entities. Leading U.S. cryptocurrency marketplace Coinbase, valued at $1.6 billion, has indicated it could pursue an initial public offering.
"I do think the public is going to see some crypto-owned IPOs this year and more broadly blockchain IPOs," Canaccord's Graham said. He said cryptocurrency-related companies that want to give U.S. regulators a better impression are likely "going to rely on old-fashioned equity."
Coinbase declined to comment.
Pic
But just as greater regulation in the U.S. has encouraged more blockchain development outside the country, the first crypto-related public offering may not happen in America either.
"IPOs are going to happen outside the U.S. first," said Ryan Gilbert, partner at Propel VC, which focuses on financial technology and has a $250 million fund. Propel is indirectly a minority investor in Coinbase, Gilbert said.
Regardless, investors will need to be extremely cautious about companies making announcements related to cryptocurrencies and adding "blockchain" to their name. Some tiny stocks have soared on such changes, prompting regulators to issue warnings about potential scams.
The market moves mirror the tech bubble, when many stocks saw a dramatic price surge after adding "dot-com" to their names.
A paper published in 2000 through Purdue University found the dot-com name changes began around June 1998 and picked up in the first five months of 1999, at an average rate of seven name changes a month. Most of the companies were traded over the counter, and regardless of their level of involvement with the internet, the name change resulted in returns of about 74 percent for the 10 days surrounding the announcement day, the paper said.
"What the dot-com paper shows is that reasoning goes away when you're looking at a hot industry," co-author Raghavendra Rau told CNBC in a phone interview this week. He is now a professor of finance at the University of Cambridge.
If he had to guess, Rau said it may take at least two or three years for the blockchain stock mania to subside. "My personal sense is the technology is good, but like every new technology I don't think the broad pattern [of] history changes very much. There will be manias."

Author: Evelyn Cheng

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

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Bitcoin Exchanges seeking clarity over levy of GST

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Bitcoin Exchanges seeking clarity over levy of GST

Bitcoin Exchanges seeking clarity over levy of GST

MUMBAI: Are Bitcoin exchanges required to pay goods and services tax? If they are, what would the rate be? And, will GST be levied on the revenues or operating margins of these exchanges?

India's top seven Bitcoin exchanges, which include Zebpay, Unocoin, CoinSecure and BtcxIndia, plan to approach the Advance Authority of Ruling (AAR) for clear answers to these questions, two people with direct knowledge of the matter told ET. AAR is a quasi-judicial body that can decide the applicability of tax rates.

"At least one Bitcoin exchange has already filed an application with the Maharashtra AAR for future tax liability," said one of the persons cited above. "The tax department is currently researching the concept as Bitcoins are a very complex subject." Zebpay, Unocoin, CoinSecure and BtcxIndia didn't respond to queries.

For the exchanges, the rate could depend on what the authorities deem Bitcoins to be — goods, services or currency. If Bitcoin is held to be a currency, there will be no GST. If it's a good, then tax of 18% could be levied, and 12% if deemed to be a service.

"The question for many Bitcoin players is whether GST is applicable on the total revenue or on the margins they earn," said Abhishek A Rastogi, partner at law firm Khaitan & Co. "This is mainly because the tax authority must give clarity on whether Bitcoin exchanges are selling goods and services, or are mere trading platforms that earn margins."

AAR DECISION TO DEFINE BIZ MODEL FOR BITCOIN EXCHANGES

According to another government official, who has reviewed the balance sheets of Bitcoin players, their size is quite substantial. "The combined revenue of top seven players would be around Rs 40,000 crore and they operate at about 20% margins," the official said. "In most cases, whenever there is a 'buy' or a 'sell' order on their platforms, these exchanges charge huge differences, in the range of about Rs 1lakh." ..

If that's the case, the indirect tax department could be looking at potential revenue of up to Rs 7,200 crore (if GST is levied at 18%). AAR's decision will also help establish the business model for Bitcoin exchanges in India, defining the category for cryptocurrencies — goods, services or currency.

"The option of proceeding with advance rulings under GST should be exercised to enable clarity on future tax treatment, more so in cases where existing tax positions are untested," said MS Mani, partner, Deloitte India. Industry insiders said Bitcoin players, including Indian exchanges, earn their revenue through commissions, transaction fees, or price-arbitrage opportunities. Most of the exchanges allow trading of various cryptocurrencies besides Bitcoins.

Experts said some Bitcoin exchanges have not been forthcoming with their data and have not paid any sales tax or VAT until now. One of the persons cited above said some exchanges had submitted different revenue figures to the sales tax and VAT authorities. "When we compared the annual results and explanations submitted to the sales tax and VAT authorities, they were diametrically opposite," he said.

Bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency that allows online payments between individuals without the involvement of middlemen or financial institutions. Bitcoin prices lost about 4% Thursday evening, and were trading at $14,546 a unit, Coindesk data showed.

 

Author: Sachin Dave ET Bureau|Updated: Jan 05, 2018, 10.30 AM IST

 

Posted By David Ogden Entrepreneur
David ogden cryptocurrency entrepreneur

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

Markethive

BITCOIN PRICE – LIVE UPDATES: CRYPTOCURRENCY VALUE RECOVERING AFTER HEAVY RECENT SLUMPS

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BITCOIN PRICE – LIVE UPDATES: CRYPTOCURRENCY VALUE RECOVERING AFTER HEAVY RECENT SLUMPS

The value of bitcoin appears to be recovering after a tumultuous period for the cryptocurrency.

After hitting a new record high when it passed the $19,850 mark in mid-December, it tumbled rapidly, falling to below $12,000 within days.

It has been constantly rising and falling ever since, and is worth $14,932 as of Wednesday afternoon UK time, according to the Coinbase exchange.

That’s a significant improvement on yesterday, when it almost slipped below the $13,000 mark. However, earlier this morning it had been worth more than $15,370.

Its value is up more than 30 per cent over last month and more than 1,320 per cent over the last year, but recent goings-on have demonstrated just how quickly the situation can change.

The cryptocurrency’s value fell dramatically just ahead of Christmas, dropping by almost $2,000 in just an hour at one point, and almost slipping below the $11,000 mark.

Bitcoin is notoriously volatile, and its value is expected to continue to shift unpredictably. Its rise has also led to increasing amounts of interest in alternative cryptocurrencies, such as ethereum, litecoin and XRP.

Those fluctuations have caused problems with actually using bitcoin, with Steam recently announcing that it won’t be able to take it any more and multiple exchanges saying the huge amounts of trading is leading to problems with actually transferring them.

Naturally, its spectacular rise has coincided with increasing amounts of interest, with more and more people now looking to invest.

However, there are serious fears that bitcoin has created a bubble that could burst at any moment.

Numerous financial experts are advising potential investors to avoid getting involved with bitcoin, though others are speculating that it could keep rising towards the $1m mark.

Bitcoin only exists online, has no central bank and isn’t linked to or regulated by any state.

An anonymised record of every bitcoin transaction is stored on a huge public ledger known as a blockchain.

However, transactions made with the cryptocurrency are irreversible, which makes investors in bitcoin attractive targets for cybercriminals.

 

Author AATIF SULLEYMAN

 

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur
David Ogden Cryptocurrency entrepreneur

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

Markethive

Bitcoin rises 10% on Peter Thiel fund’s likely holding; may revisit December high

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Bitcoin rises 10% on Peter Thiel fund's likely holding; may revisit December high

Bitcoin rises 10% on Peter Thiel fund’s likely holding; may revisit December high

Bitcoin prices advanced over 10 per cent in two trading sessions after The Wall Street Journal reported Peter Thiel's Founders Fund has amassed hundreds of millions of dollars of the volatile cryptocurrency.

The report further said that the fund bought $15 to $20 million worth of the cryptocurrency and multiplied the principal investment by over 5 times.

Bitcoin jumped to $14,951 on January 3 from $13,354 on January 1. During the period, the digital currency hit a high and low of $15,300 and $12,787, respectively.

Peter Thiel is an entrepreneur and investor. He started PayPal in 1998, led it as CEO, and took it public in 2002, defining a new era of fast and secure online commerce. He is a partner at Founders Fund, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm that has funded companies like SpaceX and Airbnb.

According to another report, vice president of Group Nduom, Papa-Wassa Chiefy Nduom has advised the Bank of Ghana to expand its investment by putting some of its funds in bitcoin.

He further advised the bank to put around 1 per cent of Ghana's reserves in bitcoi

According to Reuters, bitcoin may revisit its December 17, 2017 high of $19,666 in three months, as suggested by its wave pattern. The deep correction from this high has been driven by a wave (4), the fourth wave of a five-wave cycle from the July 16, 2017 low of $1,830. This wave is expected to be totally reversed by an upward wave (5).

Back home, bitcoins or such cryptocurrencies are not legal tenders and those indulging in such transactions are doing it at their own risk, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Tuesday as several members expressed concerns over trading on these platforms.

Source India Times

 

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur
David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

Markethive

Record-breaking 2017 Brought Bitcoin, Altcoins Drastically Increased Mainstream Acceptanc

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Record-breaking 2017 Brought Bitcoin, Altcoins Drastically Increased Mainstream Acceptanc

Record-breaking 2017 Brought Bitcoin, Altcoins Drastically Increased Mainstream Acceptance

As non-profit cryptocurrency research institution CoinCenter’s Neeraj K. Agrawal wrote, 2017 was the year in which Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies went mainstream.

Wall Street

Numerous major financial institutions have integrated support for Bitcoin, with elite investment banks like Goldman Sachs contemplating the creation of Bitcoin trading desks in 2018. The Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe) and CME Group, the two largest futures exchanges in the world, successfully launched Bitcoin futures trading last month.

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the biggest stock market in the world in terms of daily trading volume, has applied two launch two Bitcoin-related exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Cboe has applied to launch six such ETFs themselves. Bitcoin futures are strictly regulated investment vehicles that can provide institutional investors and high profile individual investors immediate access to the Bitcoin market. Bitcoin ETFs, on the other hand, will provide easy access to Bitcoin for retail investors and some classes of institutions that do not trade on the futures market.
 

Regulatory environment

In March 2017, as Cointelegraph reported, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejected a Bitcoin ETF filing submitted by the Winklevoss twins, the first confirmed billionaire Bitcoin investors, because of the Bitcoin market’s lack of regulation. However, the global Bitcoin market and its regulatory landscape have drastically changed since then. The Japanese government recognized Bitcoin as a legitimate currency while other large markets like South Korea have introduced practical regulations for local cryptocurrency businesses and investors.

Most importantly, the SEC left the door open for approval of a future Bitcoin ETF in the event that regulated Bitcoin futures markets should be developed. As such, it is highly likely that Bitcoin ETFs will be approved in 2018, given that Cboe and CME have proven that Bitcoin can be traded on strictly regulated platforms with proper investment protection.
 

Mainstream media

Mainstream news publications around the world have drastically increased their coverage of Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies in the last year. Several news publications, including CNBC and Forbes, have created cryptocurrency-specific media channels to address the rapidly growing demand for Bitcoin and other digital currencies.

 

Frenzy

In some countries, cryptocurrency mania has formed, as investors of all ages have begun to engage in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency trading. In South Korea, speculation around the cryptocurrency market has reached a point in which the South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon released a public statement addressing the sudden increase in demand for digital currencies.

 

Several months ago, the South Korean government formed a task force to draft regulations to cover the digital currency market.

 

Extraordinary rise of altcoins

Over the past few months, the entire cryptocurrency market has experienced a drastic trend-shift as altcoins have surged in value. The “Bitcoin Dominance” metric has reached an all time low of 37.3%, indicating that the number one cryptocurrency now accounts for just over one third of the market cap of the entire digital currency sector. While there is some controversy over the use of market cap numbers to estimate the size of the market, it is clear that Bitcoin is no longer the only major player. Alternate digital currencies like Ethereum and Dash have increased in value over 100x in the past year.
 

Ripple in particular had an spectacular rally throughout 2017, as its value skyrocketed from $0.006 to $2.38, a 360-fold increase. While its current $88 billion market valuation is being questioned by analysts like Ryan Selkis from ConsenSys, it still remains as the second largest digital currency by market cap.

 

Author Joseph Young

 

Posted By David Ogden Entrepreneur
David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneurs

 

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

Markethive

Bitcoin Alternatives – Ethereum Vs Litecoin Vs Verge Vs Ripple Vs Zcash

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Bitcoin Alternatives - Ethereum Vs Litecoin Vs Verge Vs Ripple Vs Zcash

Bitcoin Alternatives – Ethereum Vs Litecoin Vs Verge Vs Ripple Vs Zcash

After bitcoin, ripple is one of the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization

The bitcoin prices may have stabilized but, they still hover around $13,000, a price far too high for a lot of potential investors. The exorbitant price of bitcoins dissuaded hundreds of thousands of potential investors who missed the 2017 rally. The bitcoin prices had jumped in the last month of 2017 in run up to the launch of futures trading by CBOE (Chicago Board of Options Exchange) and CME Group this month. After the futures trading launch, the prices have more or less fallen from the peak of $19,666, a feat achieved on December 17. However, there are numerous cryptocurrencies which are still not as popular and can be bought owing to their affordability.

Following are some of the bitcoins' smaller rivals

Ripple (XRP): Ripple, one of the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, claims to offer frictionless experience to its customers to send money globally using the power of blockchain. By joining Ripple, financial institutions can process their customers' payments anywhere in the world instantly. The Ripple woos banks and payment providers to use the cryptocurrency for reducing costs. Ripple's price had surged $1 for the first time on December 21.

 

Litecoin (LTC): The market capitalization of litecoin rose from $1 billion in November 2013 to $4.6 billion. What makes a litecoin appealing is that the price of a litecoin (at $277) is still affordable for many such investors, at least as of now. Another thing that distinguishes litecoin from a bitcoin is that the litcoin takes relatively less processing speed (2.5 minutes) unlike bitcoin that takes around 10 minutes for one block. The market capitalization of litecoin is over $15 billion.

 

Ethereum: Ethereum is a distributed public blockchain network. Ethereum was proposed in late 2013 by Vitalik Buterin, a cryptocurrency researcher. Bitcoin offers one particular application of blockchain technology, a peer to peer electronic cash system that enables online Bitcoin payments, the Ethereum blockchain focuses on running the programming code of any decentralized application. The value token of the Ethereum blockchain is called ether. The price of Ethereum is over $700.

 

Verge (XVG): Verge currency is a cryptocurrency that improves upon the original Bitcoin blockchain and aims to meet the primary purpose of providing individuals and businesses with a fast, efficient and decentralized way of making direct transactions while maintaining personal privacy, says the Verge currency's website. Verge makes it possible to engage in direct transactions quickly, efficiently and privately. With Verge currency, businesses and individuals have flexible options for sending and receiving payments. Verge uses multiple anonymity-centric networks such as Tor and 12P. The IP addresses of the users are obfuscated and the transactions are completely untraceable. Price of one verge is around $0.1583 on Saturday while the total market cap is over $2.2 billion.

 

Zcash (ZEC): While the bitcoin blockchain contains records of the participants in a transaction, as well as the amount involved, Zcash's blockchain shows only that a transaction took place, and not who was involved or what the amount was. Zcash is an open-source protocol because of which, the Zcash Company does not control it (including controlling the mining or distribution of it), not does it have any special access to private or shielded transactions. Just like anyone else, the Z cash Company only has the ability to see a private or shielded transaction if it is a party to that transaction or someone provides it with the correct view key. Zcash is valued at $518.

 

David Ogden Entrepreneur
David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

 

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

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Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, IOTA, Litecoin, Dash, Monero: Price Analysis, Dec. 30

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Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, IOTA, Litecoin, Dash, Monero

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, IOTA, Litecoin, Dash, Monero: Price Analysis, Dec. 30

Cryptocurrencies have generated wealth for the traders like no other asset class. While Bitcoin has garnered most of the attention, it is not the only one to have risen in 2017. There have been scores of winners.

Ethereum was the second leading currencies aiming to overtake Bitcoin as the dominant leader of the year; it could never really achieve the feat.

However, within the past two weeks, Ripple has skyrocketed from a low of $0.22 on Dec. 10, to a high of $2.47 today. That’s a whopping rally of 1024 percent within a span of 20 days.

As a result, Ripple has now overtaken Ethereum as the second most valuable currency by market capitalization.

Bitcoin’s dominance, which had risen above 60 percent just a few weeks back has again cooled off to 38.3 percent.

As the market matures, we are likely to see a number of changes in the rankings of these currencies. Therefore, one has to keep an open mind towards all the cryptocurrencies because as traders; our main goal is to earn money.

So, do we have any good buy setups for the end of the year or is it best to remain on the sidelines and enjoy the holidays, returning to trade in the new year? Let’s find out.

BTC/USD

We expected a pullback from the trendline, however, due to lack of buyers, the recovery never gained strength. Today, the bears easily broke below the trendline support, which has escalated the selling.

Bitcoin has broken down of the neckline of the bearish head and shoulders pattern. If the cryptocurrency sustains below the neckline, it has a pattern target of $5,745.

However, we don’t expect to see such a plunge in the short-term.

We believe that the bulls will attempt to defend the recent lows of $10,704.99. But if they fail, the bears are likely to intensify their selling. A number of long positions will start to bleed, which is likely to lead to panic selling. We see another support at the $8,000 mark.

All these lower levels will come into play only if the BTC/USD pair breaks and sustains below the 50-day SMA.

Contrarily, if the bears are unable to breakdown of the 50-day SMA, we may see a recovery in the new year. Yet, we will prefer to wait until the digital currency breaks out of the downtrend line to initiate any position. We don’t find any trades at the current price.
 

ETH/USD

We mentioned that Ethereum will become positive in the short-term only on a breakout and close above the downtrend line. Yesterday, the bulls broke out of the trendline but could not manage a close above it.

On the downside, the 20-day EMA has been providing a strong support. If this support level breaks, we may see a slide towards $646.08 and thereafter to $600 levels. On the other hand, the ETH/USD pair will become positive above $770 because it has returned from the $760 levels on three occasions.

Between the 20-day EMA and $760, we are likely to witness a volatile range-bound trading action.

Therefore, we suggest waiting until we get a clear breakout and a confirmation of the resumption of the uptrend.
 

BCH/USD

For the past two days, the bulls had been defending the $2300 mark. But their attempt to resume the rally failed yesterday.

Today, the bears have broken down of the critical support level of $2300. The next downside target on the BCH/USD pair is a fall to the 50-day SMA.

We expect a strong buying around the $1,733 levels. Nonetheless, we recommend waiting until there is a clear bottom in sight.

Consider avoiding buying in a falling market.
 

XRP/USD

Ripple roared past our initial target objective of $1.5. Today, it reached an intraday high of $2.474.

Traders who had purchased on our bullish prediction should close their positions or at least trail with a close stop loss depending on their strategy.

After such a stellar rally, we expect the XRP/USD pair to enter into a correction or a consolidation. Therefore, we don’t have any fresh buy recommendations on it.

 

IOTA/USD

The bulls have successfully held on to the lower end of the range at $3.032 for the past few days. However, they have not been able to push the cryptocurrency higher.

Today, the IOTA/USD pair is again under a bear attack, which is threatening to break below the critical support. If the bears succeed, the cryptocurrency will fall to the 61.8 percent Fibonacci retracement level of $2.62196.

Yet, if the bulls manage to hold the supports once again today, IOTA will continue to trade inside the range. We shall initiate buy positions only on a breakout and close above the downtrend line. Until then, we shall remain on the sidelines.

LTC/USD

The bears have broken below the neckline of the head and shoulders pattern. Unless the bulls stage takes a sharp recovery today, chances are that Litecoin will continue lower in the next few days.

We anticipate a strong support at the recent lows of $175.199. The 50-day SMA is also just below this level, which should also provide some support.

However, if both these levels fail to hold, the LTC/USD pair will fall towards $110, which is the target objective of the breakdown of the head and shoulders pattern.

Our bearish view will be invalidated if the bulls manage to push the digital currency above the neckline at $240.
 

DASH/USD

For the past two days, the bulls managed to hold on to the 20-day EMA. But today, the bears have broken below the moving average support.

Dash has a strong support at the trendline. We expect the bulls to strongly defend this level.

Though we shall avoid buying until we get a confirmation of a bottom formation because if the trendline breaks, the DASH/USD pair can fall to $800 and thereafter to $650 levels.
 

XMR/USD

We were expecting a range-bound trading action in Monero. Despite that, the bears have taken control and have broken below the 20-day EMA today, which is a bearish development.

The immediate support on Monero is at $300. If this level breaks down, we are likely to see the decline extend to the recent lows of $245.1. The 50-day SMA is also at this level. Just below there is the 61.8 percent Fibonacci retracement level of $230.66.

We expect a strong support in this zone. At the same time, we don’t suggest buying until the fall is arrested.

When the markets are in a bear grip, it is a good strategy to wait until the decline ends, instead of being brave and attempting to catch a falling knife.

 

Author: Rakesh Upadhyay

 

Posted By David Ogden Entrepreneur
David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

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Bitcoin is passé: these are the cryptocurrencies to look at in 2018

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Bitcoin is passé: these are the cryptocurrencies to look at in 2018

Bitcoin is passé: these are the cryptocurrencies to look at in 2018

Bitcoin had a monumental 2017, with its price rising by more than 1,400pc over the past year. However, it was far from the best-performing cryptocurrency.

Of the 10 most important digital currencies by total value at the time of writing, six have been around for more than a year. All six have experienced price rises that eclipse Bitcoin, ranging from 2,870pc for Monero to 31,560pc for NEM.

As the first blockchain-based cryptocurrency, Bitcoin contains many flaws that later rivals have aimed to iron out. Transaction numbers per second are severely limited, “mining” – producing – Bitcoin consumes huge amounts of energy, and the transaction fees required for a payment to be processed quickly have been spiraling out of control.

All of these problems place doubt on Bitcoin’s ability to become a widely adopted means of payment, and ultimately on its value.

Gary McFarlane, a cryptocurrency analyst at investment shop Interactive Investor, said: “Bitcoin is the benchmark for the cryptocurrency market – other coins are judged by what they do differently to it, and how they address its flaws.

“No cryptocurrency has achieved mass adoption as a means of payment yet, so later projects that can address earlier technological issues are in a better position.”

So, aside from Bitcoin, which cryptocurrencies do those who analyse the fledgling cryptocurrency “market” have their eye on in 2018? Before you part with any money, bear in mind that any cryptocurrency investment is highly speculative, so only risk cash that you could afford to lose in its entirety and will not need in the short term.
 

Iota

Total value: $9.5bn

Iota stands for Internet of Things Application, and differs significantly from Bitcoin.

Instead of transactions being bundled together into “blocks”, those blocks being verified by a “miner” and then added to a blockchain ledger, as happens with Bitcoin, Iota uses a different technology called the “Tangle”.

Each transaction remains separate, is not amalgamated into blocks, and there are no separate miners who compete to verify transactions.

Instead, for a transaction to go through, the computer, smartphone or other device the transaction originated from must complete a mathematical problem to confirm two other random transactions.

There are no transaction fees, as the only cost is the amount of electricity a device uses to verify those transactions, which is borne by the user. In theory, this system could attain huge scale, as the more transactions that are put through, the more capacity there is to verify new transactions.

Mr McFarlane said there was a “good team” behind Iota and there were major companies interested in the technology, including Microsoft.

It is intended to be used as part of the “internet of things” – where homes, appliances and other day-to-day items are connected and communicate via a network. Its creators envisage that Iota will be used to enable micro-transactions and to allow almost anything, from a bicycle to computer processing power, to be rented out in real time.

 

Cardano

Total value: $10.2bn

Mr McFarlane said Cardano was sometimes described as an “Ethereum killer”. Like Ethereum, it is a platform that digital applications can be run on, with its own digital currency. Cardano is the name of the platform, while Ada is the currency.

“The person who heads Cardano was part of the core Ethereum team and the Cardano team are trying to address some of the problems they see with Ethereum,” he added.

Instead of using a “proof-of-work” system to verify transactions, where “miners” dedicate computing power to solving complex mathematical problems, Cardano uses a “proof-of-stake” system.

The power to verify transactions is determined by the number of coins a user holds, which also determines whether they can vote on proposed upgrades to the system. Those who verify transactions are rewarded with transaction fees.

The idea is that this system negates the need for a power-hungry proof-of-work system like that used by Bitcoin, and that those with larger stakes are incentivised to maintain a functioning system.

Critics say that in theory proof-of-stake systems are more open to certain kinds of attack, although penalties can be applied to discourage such abuse. They also point out that the largest stakeholders receive the most in transaction fees, which could give them more and more control over time.
 

Other Bitcoin rivals

David Drake, a professional investor who serves ultra-high net worth families, said he had high hopes for Verge and EOS, in addition to Iota.

He said the focus over the next six to 12 months would be on transaction speeds and the technology that underlies cryptocurrencies – areas in which Verge and EOS perform well.

Verge is focused on privacy, intending to offer completely anonymous transactions. EOS is similar to Ethereum in that it is a platform on which developers can build digital applications. EOS coins are the currency of the platform.

They are the 11th and 21st largest cryptocurrencies respectively, at $5.4bn and $1.8bn in total value.
 

How to buy

None of the currencies mentioned above is currently offered by the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges, Blockchain.info and Coinbase. That may change in the future.

Buyers will therefore require more technical knowhow and will need to carry out more research. You will need to find a cryptocurrency exchange that offers the currency you wish to buy, and a wallet service that will let you store it.

Watch out for the large number of scam outfits that appear in search engine results in this area; they may be difficult to distinguish from legitimate businesses.

You can also choose to store cryptocurrencies offline in a "hardware wallet", essentially a hard drive.

Be sure to check the fees charged by any exchange or wallet provider and the difference between the actual price of a coin and the price being offered to you.

You may be able to purchase some coins only with larger cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, rather than with cash. In that case, you will need to buy some of the required currency first.

 

Author James Connington 29 DECEMBER 2017 • 12:09PM

 

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur
David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur
 

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

Markethive

Trade in bitcoins at your own risk, finance ministry warns users

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Trade in bitcoins at your own risk, finance ministry warns users

Trade in bitcoins at your own risk, finance ministry warns users

The recent Bitcoin surge has triggered a ponzi scheme fear,in India, forcing the finance ministry to flag it on Friday.

"VCs (virtual currencies) such as bitcoins don't have any intrinsic value and are not backed by any kind of assets. The price of bitcoin and other VCs therefore is entirely a matter of mere speculation resulting in spurt and volatility in their prices," the ministry said in a statement.

The government is currently in a huddle to find out how to create safeguards against such a risk.

Flagging the risk, the ministry said there is "a real and heightened risk of investment bubble of the type seen in ponzi schemes which can result in sudden and prolonged crash exposing investors, especially retail consumers losing their hard-earned money".

Consumers need to be alert, the ministry warned, adding that currencies stored in digital/electronic format are vulnerable to hacking, loss of password, malware attack etc. that may also result in permanent loss of money.

There is a suspicion that some so-called cryptocurrencies and bitcoin investments may actually have nothing to do with any blockchain-developed virtual currency and are just new ways devised by scamsters to ride the wave and what they may be offering could be 'e-ponzi' schemes.

The ministry, along with the RBI and Sebi, is in the process of creating a framework to safeguard gullible investors and to clamp down on the fraudsters who may try to manipulate the regulatory gaps.

The users, holders and traders of VCs have already been cautioned three times, in December, 2013, February, 2017 and December, 2017, by Reserve Bank of India about the potential financial, operational, legal, customer protection and security related risks that they are exposing themselves to by investing in Bitcoin and/ or other VCs.

The Income Tax Department had recently conducted survey operations at major Bitcoin exchanges across the country on suspicion of alleged tax evasion. They said various teams of the sleuths of the department, under the command of the Bengaluru investigation wing, visited the premises of nine such exchanges in the country including in Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi and Gurugram.

 

Source: ET Online|Dec 29, 2017, 11.26 AM IST

 

Posted by David Ogden Entrepreneur
David Ogden Cryptocurrency Entrepreneur

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member