Coinbase Unveils New Rewards-Centered BTC Debit Card

Top U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has unveiled a new bitcoin debit card that allows users to draw money from attached cryptocurrency accounts and retailers to garner profits and funds in USD. The card can be used anywhere Visa is accepted.

Coinbase Issues New Rewards Card

The idea is that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are not utilized for payments enough given that they are too volatile and that transactions can often take extremely long periods to clear. If a person goes into a store and buys $50 worth of merchandise with bitcoin, but tomorrow the price of BTC goes down and that $50 turns into $40, the store lost money while the customer manages to get away with everything they purchased.

It’s a tough situation in that bitcoin and cryptocurrencies were initially designed to give people who don’t have bank accounts or credit cards access to new payment methods. Users could potentially buy goods and services with digital currencies. This was the original goal behind the development of digital assets, but sadly, they are just too vulnerable to price swings and as a result, many retailers and merchants have outright refused to accept them.

In addition, the bitcoin network is known for its unusually slow transaction times, and many of these payments can often take ten minutes or more to clear. All the while, as parties are waiting those ten minutes, the door is open to financial fraud and similar issues. However, Coinbase is hoping it can help solve some of these problems and potentially push mainstream crypto payment adoption.

The cryptocurrency exchange has been testing the new debit card in Europe for the past several months. A statement has been issued claiming that users in America can gain access to the card by early next year. One of the big benefits of the card is that anyone who utilizes it can garner crypto rewards. Engaging in a transaction allows the paying party to receive either one percent cashback in bitcoin, or four percent in Stellar Lumens (XLM).

Here’s How to Avoid the Fees

In the future, Coinbase says that crypto rewards delved out in other assets are likely to be introduced. This system is designed to eliminate many of the fees associated with the bitcoin network. Not only can they be relatively expensive, but Coinbase will typically be forced to charge a near 2.5 percent levy with every card charge. Paying users in BTC or Stellar is meant to help them get past the fee system.

However, card owners can avoid the fees altogether granted they have USDC units stashed away in a digital account somewhere. USDC is a type of stable currency tied to the U.S. dollar, and if the person in question utilizes this asset to pay for goods and services, they can avoid any kind of fee while still earning the one to four percent rewards.

The post Coinbase Unveils New Rewards-Centered BTC Debit Card appeared first on Live Bitcoin News.

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Bitcoin Could Rally to an All-Time High if It Hits One Key Level

Bitcoin could be on the cusp of posting a move to fresh all-time highs if it can close its monthly candle today above one critical level.

The benchmark cryptocurrency has been caught within the throes of an intense uptrend throughout the past several days and weeks, with each selloff being fleeting and followed by it setting higher highs.

This type of price action shows that it is now in a clear bull market, and the fundamental and technical strength underpinning it at the present moment suggests new all-time highs could be on the table.

One analyst is stating that a monthly close above $13,900 could be all that it takes to rally significantly higher in the days and weeks ahead.

In 2017 during the peak of the bull run, Bitcoin’s price was rejected at $20,000 mid-way through the month, with its monthly candle for December closing below $14,000.

This means that tonight’s monthly candle close could be one of the most significant ones that Bitcoin has ever seen before.

Bitcoin Rallies to Fresh Post-2017 Highs as Bulls Maintain Control 

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading up over 2% at its current price of $13,855. This marks a slight decline from its daily highs of $14,100 that were set overnight.

The cryptocurrency has not seen any sustainable declines since this uptrend first began, which is an incredibly positive sign that speaks to bulls’ current strength.

So long as buyers continue absorbing any intense selling pressure, there’s a strong likelihood that upside is imminent.

The key level to watch in the near-term is roughly $13,900, as a daily candle close above this level would allow BTC’s monthly candle to see its highest close ever.

Analyst: Break Above $13,900 Could Send BTC to Its All-Time Highs

Highlighting the importance of breaking and closing above $13,900, one analyst explained that he would not be surprised to see a rally to all-time highs of over $20,000 if Bitcoin’s monthly close takes place above this level.

“Lets close BTC above that green line on the monthly and send it to ATH,” he said.

Image Courtesy of Josh McGruff. Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.

Bitcoin bears have been vying to stop this from taking place, which means that it will require a significant influx of buying pressure in the coming hours for this crucial breakout to occur.

Featured image from Unsplash.
Charts from TradingView.

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$1.1 Billion Crypto Ponzi: Masterminds of Wotoken Head to Prison in China

A Chinese court has confirmed the sentencing of the masterminds behind the 7.7 billion yuan Chinese Ponzi scheme Wotoken, which had over 715,000 investors.

Wotoken Scammers Sentenced to Prison

The Intermediate People’s Court of Yancheng city, Jiangsu province, denied an appeal by four convicts involved in the billion-dollar Ponzi scheme Wotoken on Tuesday, several local media reported.

The court upheld the original sentences for Gao Yudong, Li Qibing, Wang Xiaoying and Tian Bo who were dissatisfied with their original sentencing and filed an appeal. They believe they had minor roles in the scheme. The four were sentenced to prison for 8 years and six months, seven years, seven years, and two years and six months respectively, IT Times reported. They were also fined 2 million yuan, 1.5 million yuan, 1.5 million yuan, and 1 million yuan respectively.

In addition, two other defendants were sentenced for their roles in the Wotoken scam. Li Guomin was sentenced to 3 years in prison and fined 100,000 yuan while Tang Xiaohua was sentenced to 6 months imprisonment with one-year probation, the publication added. In May, 12 people allegedly behind the Wotoken Ponzi scheme were tried, including the six defendants mentioned above.

Chinese law enforcement has seized 425 million yuan ($64 million) of illegal proceeds from the Wotoken scheme, which were turned over to the state treasury. The illegal proceeds belonging to the four who appealed will also be recovered and turned over to the state treasury, the publication conveyed.

The scheme involves a number of cryptocurrencies, collectively worth about 7.7 billion yuan ($1.15 billion), according to blockchain data. They included 46,050 BTC, 286 million USDT, 2 million ETH, 292,590 LTC, 56,900 BCH, and 6,841,797 EOS.

The Wotoken (WOR) platform attracted 715,249 registered users between July 2018 and October 2019. The scheme has 501 MLM layers.

At least one person behind the Wotoken Ponzi scheme was also a key member of a larger Chinese Ponzi scheme called Plustoken, according to an investigative reporter. The Plustoken Ponzi swindled about $6 billion from more than 715,000 investors. Chinese police took down the scheme in July, arrested 109 people involved, and charged six members with fraud.

What do you think about the Wotoken Ponzi scheme? Let us know in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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John Bollinger: Bitcoin Won’t Be Affected By the Election

According to financial advisor and investor John Bollinger, bitcoin is likely to continue growing throughout the rest of the year. However, he’s uncertain about the $14,000 – $15,000 prices that many other traders and investors appear so confident in.

John Bollinger: $14,000 May Be Out of the Question

In a recent interview, he commented about what route he saw bitcoin potentially taking in the final two months of 2020. He says:

The real thing is – can we clear this $14,000 level which is so psychologically important now because it’s exactly where the rally stopped in June of 2019, just shy of $14,000… I’m constructive on bitcoin at this moment. I’m not an outright screaming bull, nor am I a bear.

Interestingly, the bitcoin market did reject this very price just a few days ago, and briefly, bitcoin was trading back in the high $12,000 range following a bit of a drop, thereby showing that Bollinger just might know what he’s talking about.

It’s been a strange year for bitcoin. Nobody can deny that, and yet it’s impossible to say that it hasn’t been a solid year in many ways. The currency – despite all the news of the pandemic and the frailty of the American economy prior to October – has managed to remain in five-figure territory for roughly four months, now.

The currency first moved past the $10,000 line in February, though things took a nasty turn a month later and bitcoin ultimately lost about $6,000 off its price. The asset managed to recover to $9,000 in May but would not hit $10,000 until July after more stimulus talks began permeating the walls of Congress. From there, the asset would remain above $10,000 and never drop again.

One thought is that this is because 2020 is an election year, and that bitcoin is preparing itself for a presidential rally of sorts, though Bollinger doesn’t think this is the case. Uniquely, he doesn’t believe the presidential election is likely to make bitcoin swing either way. He comments:

I don’t think the election is really going to impact bitcoin one way or the other. Far more important is to look at important corporate adoptions.

Markets Won’t Show Sway

In addition, he doesn’t think the election is likely to have any serious effect on mainstream markets, further stating:

I suspect that for the traditional markets, the election itself is going to be pretty much a non-event. That is, we’ve built in such a tremendous level of emotional involvement going into the election, I think that whatever the results are, that could actually be a bit of a letdown, at least for some people, and I think that the traditional markets are actually going to be either flat or higher coming through the election cycle. I am not one of these people that’s forecasting doom and gloom in relation to the election or any events that may occur after the election.

The post John Bollinger: Bitcoin Won’t Be Affected By the Election appeared first on Live Bitcoin News.

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OCC's Brian Brooks Against Government Issued Digital Dollar – Supports Regulation of Privately Issued Stablecoins

The acting director of the U.S. Office Comptroller of Currency (OCC) Brian Brooks says the creation of the U.S. digital dollar is a terrible one because the government is not good at building things. Instead, Brooks believes tech companies, which already possess the know-how, to be in a better position to issue stable digital currencies. He says the U.S. government needs to focus on doing what it does best-regulation.

Growing Stablecoin Supply

The acting comptroller of currency’s comments come as reports suggest the US is currently working on a digital dollar. However, the U.S. digital dollar can only be issued in four years’ time.

Speaking in an interview, Brooks, who uses analogies to support his stance on stablecoins, believes the United States can only flourish when the government allows the private sector to innovate. Expounding on this belief, Brooks says U.S. government regulatory agencies should instead be concerned with the protection of investors.

To support his theory, Brooks points to the phenomenal growth of stablecoins in the past few months. He says:

If you look at the growth of the major stablecoin, the USDT, you see it has been doubling in market capitalisation every 60 days for the past four, five to six months. This kind of growth is astounding.

Therefore, instead of competing with private innovators, Brooks advises the US government to focus on “putting audit and consumer disclosure rules so that the market can have confidence that the money is there.”

The Envisioned Role for Central Banks

Still, Brooks makes it clear that allowing private companies to be the issuers of stablecoins does not diminish the effectiveness of the monetary policy since any such tokens issuance is backed by dollars that are in circulation.

“Just like Circle and Coinbase have issued a stablecoin and not the Federal Reserve…. still that stablecoin is issued with the promise that it is redeemable for a dollar.” All dollars in circulation are issued by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Brooks also clarifies that stablecoins issued by private tech companies cannot be more than the circulating supply because “you cannot sell the stablecoin unless someone gives you the dollar.”

When asked about the role of commercial banks in this setup, Brooks says he envisions the financial institutions “being nodes on these blockchains or themselves be issuers of stablecoins at some point.” This will be in addition to banks acting as depositories.

Contradictions

Meanwhile, the OCC acting chief appears to contradict the US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell as he laments how the U.S. has been slow to embrace digital currencies. Powell recently said that the U.S. not very concerned about being the first to issue a central bank digital currency. Instead, he says prefers getting it right the first time.

However, pointing to the EU’s release of a stablecoin framework as well as China’s distribution of the e-RMB, Brooks asks:

The question is where is the U.S. in all this? It is not an answer to just say we are worried about AML.

Brooks explains that other countries are seeing “crypto and stablecoins in particular as a strategic advantage” and the U.S. “has not figured that out yet.”

Do you agree that the US government must not issue a digital dollar? Tell us what you think in the comments section below

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blockchains, brian brooks, Circle, circulating supply, Coinbase, commercial banks, depositories, EU stablecoin framework, Fed Chair Jerome Powell, OCC, occ crypto, RMB, Stablecoins, The US Federal Reserve, USDT

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Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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Yield Trust DeFi Protocol with Anti-Manipulation and Unique Trust Score Feature - Presale Now Live

PRESS RELEASE. Yield Trust Team from Stockholm, Sweden is ready to launch their new DeFi protocol for public access, providing users exciting and unique technologies to finally beat market manipulation and reduce market affection by the whales. The protocol is going to grow all around starting it’s move to Polkadot after releasing all significant features and might become one of the biggest multichain DeFi projects in the industry.

What makes Yield Trust so unique?

Yield Trust is part of the large Yield Trust protocol which will include way more features in future to build around the main governance which will control the whole ecosystem of dApps.

It is built for people not users implying a trust score system to treat everyone as a person.

Main Yield Trust advantage is that it is not another compilation project from the others or copycat or fork. It brings absolutely new features to decentralized finance scope.

Upcoming Features of Yield Trust Protocol

► Trust score (Monetary proxy)

The system to reward holders and punish manipulators by restricting whales. Trust score is an internal smart contract variable which is applied to everyone, but restricts only the people who are manipulating token price. Smart contract as a monetary proxy will decide if a user is violating Trust score.

► Insured farming

Is the new yield farming approach where users get cover tokens instead of getting nothing by depositing liquidity or tokens into a pool. Cover tokens represent liquidity rate for the pair of the pool and served by separate smart contract and can be redeemed anytime.

► Early Referral program Airdrop

Instead of throwing away tokens there is a Referral program to reward the most active users of the community for spreading the word about Yield Trust. 1,000 Tokens are going to be distributed between everyone who joined it.

Token Metrics

• 48.3% – Dapps & Rewards


• 30% – Presale Allocation


• 15% – Initial Liquidity (forever locked)


• 3.3% – Team


• 3.3% – Referral program

Presale Info

Yield Trust is making Yield Trust ($YTRU) Governance Token accessible by joining an exclusive presale through bounce.finance from OCT 30th 3PM UTC – NOV 8th 3PM UTC.

At the end of the presale YTRU/ETH pair will be listed on Uniswap and initial liquidity added and locked forever. Repositories with source code of the protocol will be available on Github after deployment.

• 1 ETH = 15 YTRU


• Soft Cap: 400 ETH

• Hard Cap: 600 ETH


• Presale Allocation: 9,000 YTRU


• Max Supply: 30,000 YTRU

• Unsold Tokens: Proportional Burn

• Individual Cap: No Max


• Presale venue is bounce.finance

More information at https://yieldtrust.finance/presale

Social Media

Website: https://yieldtrust.finance

Telegram: https://t.me/ytru_finance

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ytru_finance

Medium: https://yield-trust.medium.com/

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This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

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Expect Bitcoin to Break $14,000 Once Altcoin Bleeding Ends: Analyst

It’s been a brutal past few days and weeks for altcoins despite Bitcoin’s strength. Top digital assets aside from BTC have plunged a handful of percent, even dozens of percent, against the U.S. dollar, even as Bitcoin hits new year-to-date highs.

This divergence has shocked many investors in the space, especially those that entered the altcoin market late this summer. This pain may eventually end, though, an analyst noted. This same individual added that this may coincide with BTC breaking $14,000.

Related Reading: Here’s Why Ethereum’s DeFi Market May Be Near A Bottom

Bitcoin to Break $14,000 Once Altcoin Hemorrhaging Ends

Bitcoin analyst “Light,” who is celebrated by fund managers like Su Zhu of Three Arrows Capital, thinks that Bitcoin could soon break above $14,000 once the market sell-off ends:

“BTC is behaving in an incredibly strong fashion, up 0.9% l24hrs while alts hemorrhage and derisking continues in equities. Expect it to break $14,000 after the bloodletting runs its course.”

BTC is behaving in an incredibly strong fashion, up 0.9% l24hrs while alts hemorrhage and derisking continues in equities.

Expect it to break $14,000 after the bloodletting runs its course. pic.twitter.com/Zxeaq2FIcM

— light (@lightcrypto) October 30, 2020

$14,000 has long been a critical technical level for the leading cryptocurrency. It almost perfectly marked the highs of 2019’s rally, and also is in the vicinity of where Bitcoin closed its yearly candle at the end of 2017. Bitcoin moving above, then closing on a notable time frame on $14,000 will likely suggest the cryptocurrency will move dramatically higher.

Real Vision CEO Raoul Pal recently commented that $14,000 and $20,000 are the only two technical levels stopping new Bitcoin all-time highs.

Analysts assign much more importance to $14,000 than they do to $20,000 due to the amount of trading volume around the former price level.

Related Reading: Tyler Winklevoss: A “Tsunami” of Capital Is Coming For Bitcoin

Altcoins to Bounce

Altcoins are expected to bounce once Bitcoin begins to consolidate or distribute and once global markets turn risk-on once again.

The fundamentals of certain altcoins are stronger than ever. Case in point: the total value locked in decentralized finance (DeFi) contracts recently hit a new all-time high above $12 billion, around five times higher than this metric was in June.

Analysts expect these fundamentals to eventually translate into price action in the DeFi market.

Other altcoin sectors have also shown fundamental strength. Though, whether enough this will allow altcoins to outperform Bitcoin remains to be seen.

Related Reading: 3 Bitcoin On-Chain Trends Show a Macro Bull Market Is Brewing

Featured Image from Shutterstock
Price tags: xbtusd, btcusd, btcusdt
Charts from TradingView.com
Expect Bitcoin to Break $14,000 Once Altcoin Bleeding Ends: Analyst

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Bitcoin.com Exchange Reveals Role in the Cryptopia Rescue Group

The world-class trading platform, Bitcoin.com Exchange announced it’s participating in the Cryptopia Exchange rescue consortium in order to help redistribute coins to customers. Bitcoin.com’s trading platform will provide an exchange environment in order to bolster the Cryptopia Rescue redistribution plan.

Back in January 2019, the New Zealand cryptocurrency trading platform Cryptopia Exchange suffered a major breach and it affected 2.3 million account holders from all around the world. Estimates note that roughly $860 million worth of cryptocurrency was held on the exchange before the hack. Bitcoin.com is pleased to announce that our exchange will assist a rescue program dedicated to helping Cryptopia account holders.

Bitcoin.com Exchange has joined a consortium called the “Cryptopia Rescue” program, and it will produce a platform to distribute coins to Cryptopia Exchange Account Holders. The group formed in order to create a class action against the Liquidator, Grant Thornton.

Victor Cattermole, a Cryptopia Rescue spokesperson said:

The liquidator was proposing to write off more than 50% of the coin holdings. In our alternative plan, we have established a relationship with Bitcoin.com to provide an exchange environment to emulate the Cryptopia model so that all coins can be redistributed.

Currently, the Cryptopia Rescue team is working to connect with as many account holders as possible. The plan is to do everything possible to provide the best resolution to Cryptopia’s former customers. Since launching on September 2, 2019, the premier Bitcoin.com Exchange has provided customers with a professional trading engine combined with top-of-the-line security practices.

Speaking about joining the Cryptopia Rescue effort, Danish Chaudhry, CEO of Bitcoin.com Exchange explained the exchange team looks forward to helping the crypto community.

“We take this role very seriously within the consortium,” Chaudhry stressed. “[Bitcoin.com Exchange] will do everything we can as a united group to provide the best-in-class platform to redistribute Cryptopia account holders their coins via our exchange,” he added.

There are five limitations Cryptopia Exchange Account Holders need to take into account.

• The Cryptopia trustee is independent of Bitcoin.com Exchange.


• Claim information is stored only on the trustee’s servers, not on Bitcoin.com Exchange’s servers.


• Claim information is private between clients and the trustee.


• Bitcoin.com Exchange is not involved in approving or denying claims.


• Bitcoin.com Exchange does not determine when claims are distributed.

When the Cryptopia Exchange trustee completes the claim approval process and selects a distribution date, a provided payout support plan for distribution may be added. Customers that have any questions or issues with the Cryptopia claim process will need to contact Cryptopia support.

What do you think about the Bitcoin.com Exchange providing support to Cryptopia account holders? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Tags in this story

Bitcoin.com Exchange, claims, Crypto exchange hack, Cryptocurrency, Cryptopia Exchange Account Holders, Cryptopia Rescue, Cryptopia Rescue Group, Danish Chaudhry, Grant Thornton, liquidator, Promoted, redistribution, support, Victor Cattermole

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Cryptopia Logo, Bitcoin.com Exchange, Bitcoin.com Logo,

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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Ethereum Reaches Bedrock Support Against BTC as Sellers Run Out of Fuel

Ethereum is in the process of trying to reclaim its key $380 support level following a brief dip below it earlier today.

The cryptocurrency has been struggling to gain any momentum despite the intense strength seen by Bitcoin as of late, which is currently grinding up towards its key resistance at $13,800 as buyers maintain full control over its price action.

Although BTC and ETH have been highly correlated in the past, they are now trading fully independent from one another.

This correlation only returns when BTC is showing signs of weakness, which places immense pressure on Ethereum.

The weakness seen by ETH as of late is particularly transparent while looking towards the cryptocurrency’s Bitcoin trading pair.

One analyst is noting that ETH/BTC has now reached a bedrock support level that he has been watching for quite some time. A strong defense of this level could confirm it as a long-term bottom and help catalyze a strong rebound in the days ahead.

Conversely, a break below this level would be dire.

Ethereum Struggles to Match Bitcoin’s Momentum as Bulls Try to Reclaim $380 

Earlier this week, Bitcoin faced a dire rejection at $480 that caused its price to see some immense short-term weakness that has since been erased.

Before this rejection, Ethereum was stable within the lower-$400 region. The subsequent BTC decline to lows of $12,800 caused ETH to reel all the way down to lows of $370.

It is now in the process of trying to reclaim its $380 support level but remains well below its multi-week highs of $420, while Bitcoin is just a stone’s throw away from setting fresh 2020 highs.

It is unclear when or if there will be a rotation of capital out of the benchmark cryptocurrency and back into altcoins.

Trader: ETH Reaches Critical Support Level

One trader explained in a recent tweet that Ethereum has now reached what he describes as a crucial support level on ETHBTC that he has been watching for quite some time.

He said that he is now lightening up on his bearishness and will reassess once the monthly candle closes tomorrow.

“I’ve been short biased (&short) ETH for quite a while now anticipating weakness into the monthly close. That has largely played out. Now that we’re hitting supports on the ETHBTC chart I’m going to lighten up and reassess once the monthly chart has actually closed.”

Image Courtesy of DonAlt. Source: ETHUSD on TradingView.

Unless Bitcoin dives lower in the near-term, there’s a possibility that Ethereum will start bottoming out and recoup some of its recent losses.

Featured image from Unsplash.
Charts from TradingView.

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Timing Tops & Bottoms In Bitcoin: Data Suggests New Peak Is Less Than A Year Away

Bitcoin, although a powerful and disruptive financial technology, at its core, is mere mathematics. Its code is what keeps the network operating, its supply hard-capped at 21 million BTC, and much more.

But could that computer code and supply mechanism also help provide clues to when the crypto market tops and bottoms? According to a strange correlation with the asset’s block reward halving and the timing of tops and bottoms, the solution could be nothing more than simple addition and subtraction.

Adding Up All The Reasons The Bitcoin Bull Run Is Here

All signs point to Bitcoin breaking into a new bull market after bottoming now nearly two full years ago. A higher low set this year on Black Thursday during one of the worst selloffs the young asset has ever seen was one half of the equation in confirming a new uptrend.

The other half of the puzzle is a higher high, which Bitcoin this week came just dollars away from setting.

Related Reading | Bitcoin RSI Moves Into Bull Market Territory, Here’s What Happens Next

The cryptocurrency is now trading a few hundred dollars away and declining, however, another higher high this year post-election, or at the start of 2021 is still very likely.

Bitcoin for the first time this week since 2019 entered bull market territory on the weekly RSI – yet another signal that its clear skies again for the crypto asset once it cracks $14,000.

Could crypto tops and bottoms be related to the halving also? | Source: BLX on TradingView.com

Can Math Plus The Halving Subtract The Stress Out Of Timing Crypto Market Tops and Bottoms?

Bitcoin’s bottom is now two years behind us, and even the halving is now in the past. All the necessary ingredients are here for the perfect storm bull market for cryptocurrencies.

But the time distance between those two important events could provide a solution to predicting when the next peak in Bitcoin arrives.

Timing tops and bottoms isn’t easy and should be avoided at all costs. But once the bottom is in, there is a chance of perfectly timing the top, according to one crypto analyst’s striking discovery.

Related Reading | Bloomberg Intelligence Strategist Hints At Bitcoin Bull Run In 2021

They have found that the distance between each Bitcoin bottom and the block reward halving, just so happens to have been nearly the exact distance from the halving to the top (pictured above).

Other crypto analysts fact-checked the data and found it to be within 2% accuracy, suggesting there is possibly credence to the analyst’s speculative conclusion.

If they are correct, that puts the next Bitcoin peak at roughly eleven months away, on October 4, 2021.

Featured image from Deposit Photos, Chart from TradingView.com

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FTX Increases Trump Futures Margins Before the Election, Biden Futures Lead by 64%

At the beginning of the year, the trading platform FTX Exchange launched a futures market so people can bet on the U.S. election and created a futures contract token called TRUMP. On Friday, FTX revealed that the exchange is lifting the initial margin requirements to $0.50 for its TRUMP token contracts.

Individuals who don’t live in the United States can participate in betting on the U.S. 2020 presidential election by leveraging the trading platform FTX. News.Bitcoin.com reported on FTX launching its TRUMP token futures contracts back in February, as our newsdesk disclosed a number of other betting portals that use digital currencies to bet on the upcoming election.

At the time, gambling sites and FTX’s TRUMP futures had shown Donald Trump was expected to win the 2020 election. However, on September 30, our newsdesk’s latest report had shown Joe Biden was leading across gambling portals by at least 60%.

On Friday, FTX announced some changes to the original TRUMP token futures market and the exchange is also offering a BIDEN futures market as well. FTX said:

[FTX Exchange will] increase [the] initial margin requirement to $0.50, so you need $0.50 to get short 1 TRUMP or $0.36 (the current price of TRUMP) to get long 1 TRUMP.

Screenshot of FTX Exchange’s TRUMP futures token on Friday, October 30, 2020.

Looking at both futures markets on FTX shows that traders are expecting Joe Biden to win the U.S. election and percentages are over 60% today. BIDEN futures tokens are swapping at prices between $0.62 to $0.64 (64% chance of winning) at the time of publication. Meanwhile, TRUMP tokens are swapping at prices between $0.34 to $0.38 (38% chance of winning) a unit, which means current support for a Donald Trump win is lagging.

As stated during the original FTX TRUMP futures announcement, “[TRUMP] is a futures contract on FTX, [The token] expires to $1 if Donald Trump wins the 2020 U.S. presidential general election, and $0 otherwise.” The latest announcement also notes that FTX is increasing the “maintenance margin requirement to $0.40 – $0.10” until the election as well.

On Friday, October 30, a great number of polls say that Joe Biden is leading the race. However, reports also show that Trump may actually be in the lead in the United States election polls.

“A handful of contrarian pollsters believe Trump’s support is underrepresented and that election analysts could be headed for another embarrassing miss on election day,” Jonathan Easley from The Hill wrote on Friday.

What do you think about FTX Exchange lifting the initial margin requirements to $0.50 for TRUMP contracts? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

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2020 election, BIDEN Futures, Bitcoin, cryptocurrency futures, Digital Assets, Donald Trump, Ethereum, Favor, ftx, FTX Exchange, Gambling, general election, Joe Biden, Odds, polls, Predictions, Predictions Markets, The Hill, Trump, Trump Futures, United States, US Election, Voting, Wagers

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, FTX Exchange TRUMP futures

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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Chainlink’s Parabolic Trendline is Intact, But Analysts Fear a Breakdown

Chainlink has been struggling to gain momentum over the past couple of days, with the ongoing bout of capitulation within the altcoin market, creating far-reaching shockwaves that have impacted LINK.

The crypto is now struggling to hold above its $11.00 support level, and some analysts believe that it could be at risk of seeing further losses if this level is broken.

That said, while looking towards LINK’s BTC trading pair, the cryptocurrency’s parabolic trendline formed throughout the past few years remains fully intact. A break below this, however, could mark the start of a new – and bearish – era for the cryptocurrency.

Where altcoins like Chainlink trend next should depend largely on whether or not Ethereum can gain momentum in the near-term.

ETH has been firmly guiding the altcoin market, but it has been unable to match Bitcoin’s momentum – which has led it to drift lower throughout the past few days.

Bitcoin and ETH have broken their correlation to one another, which means that Bitcoin’s price action in the near-term will do little to provide insight into that of altcoins like Chainlink.

Chainlink Struggles to Find Support as Selling Pressure Ramps Up

Prior to the strong decline seen by altcoins over the past couple of days, Chainlink was flashing some signs of strength as its price climbed above $12.00

It has since broken below this level and is now at risk of also breaking below $11.00.

At the time of writing, Chainlink is trading down just over 2% at its current price of $11.00. This is around the price at which it has been trading throughout the past few days and weeks.

If it breaks below $11.00, it could see a capitulatory decline driven by panic selling.

Analyst: LINK Defends Parabolic Trendline, But Risk of Downside Remains

While sharing his thoughts on where the aggregated market might trend in the near-term, one analyst explained that its multi-year parabola against its Bitcoin trading pair is still intact.

The same analyst also said that it does appear to be entering a corrective phase on a lower time frame, which could mean that some downside is imminent.

“LINK Parabola still intact. Macro structure is bullish until proven otherwise. Ltf structure seems corrective,” he said while pointing to the below chart.

Image Courtesy of il Capo of Crypto. Source: LINKBTC on TradingView.

The coming few days should provide investors with greater insights into where altcoins like Chainlink will trend in the near-term. Any further Ethereum downside could place some serious pressure on LINK.

Featured image from Unsplash.
Charts from TradingView.

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Trump Reelection Site Briefly Overtaken By Bad Actors Seeking Crypto Payments

The website devoted to Donald Trump’s reelection campaign has apparently been hacked in what appears to be the latest example of a cryptocurrency-relater cyberattack. Trump is looking to garner four more years as president of the United States in less than a week on November 3 of this year.

Trump Is at the Center of a Crypto-Based Hack

Presently, those involved in his campaign are looking into what happened and examining what might have caused the security breach. They explain that while the site itself was potentially compromised, donors and other individuals that have contributed to the reelection campaign shouldn’t worry about their personal data being exposed given that their information is not stored on the site.

It looks like the hackers fought their way onto the platform and posted a message saying that the world was tired of the fake news “being spread daily” by the President. Another phony message was posted that contained the badges of both the US Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) claiming that the Trump administration was allegedly linked to the “origin of the coronavirus” and that it is interfering directly with the American election process.

Finally, the message claims that those looking for additional information should pay cryptocurrency in exchange for hidden data. A major red flag if there ever was one…

At the time of writing, these statements have been deemed false and there is no evidence backing them up. Those involved in the Trump campaign have stated that they do not know who is behind the attack, but that a thorough investigation is being conducted at press time.

Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh explained in a statement:

The Trump campaign website was defaced, and we are working with law enforcement authorities to investigate the source of the attack. There was no exposure to sensitive data because none of it is actually stored on the site.

Thus far, both presidential candidates have been the targets of cyberattacks this year. Strangely, these attempts try to work cryptocurrency into the mix. In July of this year, for example, democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden was one of many high-profile figures at the center of a Twitter-based cryptocurrency scam.

His account – along with those of former president Barack Obama, Elon Musk and Bill Gates – were all overtaken by a computer hacker that sought to garner cryptocurrency from users.

This Seems to Happen a Lot

The hacker claimed in a phony message that all who donated bitcoin to provided anonymous addresses would see these totals doubled by the figures in question. Instead, the money was flat out stolen, and the hacker clearly had no intention of keeping his word.

The Trump campaign was quick to remove the threat, with the hackers only having control for about half an hour before being removed from the site.

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Yearn.finance Could Rally to $14,000 Following Sub-$10,000 Dip

Yearn.finance’s YFI token saw a sharp capitulatory decline overnight that caused it to post some massive losses. This decline briefly sent it below $10,000, which is a level that had not been broken below since weeks before its parabolic move to $45,000 started.

This decline has come about amidst a capitulatory bout of panic selling amongst altcoins, as many are trading down 20% or more today while Bitcoin continues consolidating.

Part of this weakness may stem from Ethereum’s intense underperformance, as it is now trading below $380 while BTC pushes past $13,300.

YFI has been able to get some relief, however, as the break below $10,000 was rapidly absorbed and followed by a sharp upswing that sent it to highs of $11,500.

It now appears to be consolidating as its bulls look to build a strong base of support around its recent lows.

One analyst is noting that this range reclaim is bullish and could indicate that a push towards $13,000 or $14,000 is imminent in the near-term.

This would be a serious rebound that helps negate some of the technical weaknesses resulting from this latest decline.

Yearn.finance Price Craters Below $10,000 During Brief Overnight Selloff

At the time of writing, Yearn.finance’s YFI token is trading up just over 2% at its current price of $11,000. This is around where it has been trading all morning following its brief decline to lows of $9,750.

The selling pressure it faced last night was intense and likely came about due to a mixture of panic selling and capitulation.

Where it trends next will undoubtedly depend largely on whether or not bulls can guard against another decline.

Analyst: YFI Could Rally Towards $14,000 Following Bullish Range Reclaim

While sharing his thoughts on Yearn.finance’s price action, one analyst explained that he is watching for YFI to rally up towards $13,000 or $14,000 following a bullish range reclaim.

He pointed to this technical development in a recent tweet, noting that a failure to print a sharp upwards movement would be grave.

“YFI: Range reclaim – might get a long back upto 13-14k. Blue arrow trigger, otherwise doesn’t look good – price capped nicely within the down trending channel,” he said.

Image Courtesy of TraderXO. Source: YFIUSD on TradingView.

Yearn.finance’s YFI has become a benchmark for the DeFi sector, so a strong rebound could create shockwaves across the market that allow other altcoins to rally in tandem.

Featured image from Unsplash.
Charts from TradingView.

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Central Banks Dump Gold for the First Time Since 2010, Precious Metal Drops 9% Since August High

A few central banks have started selling tons of gold for the first time since 2010 in order to ease the financial suffering from the Covid-19 pandemic. At $1,875 per ounce, gold prices are down -9.63% since the commodity’s high of $2,075 on August 6.

Even though gold has dropped significantly in value in contrast to bitcoin (BTC), gold bug Peter Schiff decided to use the opportunity to rag on bitcoin on Twitter. “If you measure the size of asset bubbles based on the level of conviction buyers have in their trade, the Bitcoin bubble is the biggest I’ve seen,” Schiff tweeted on October 28. “Bitcoin hodlers are more confident they’re right and sure they can’t lose than were dotcom or house buyers during those bubbles.”

However, unlike bitcoin which has been on a tear lately, gold prices per ounce have floundered. The precious metal did reach a high of $2,075 on August 6 but dropped -9.63% to today’s current $1,875 per ounce low. According to a report from Bloomberg, a few central banks are starting to sell gold in order to offset the disastrous economy driven by central planners and bureaucrats. The World Gold Council notes that year-over-year gold demand has dropped 19%.

The report notes that among some of the countries, Russia sold gold reserves for the first time in 13 years. Other countries that saw central banks selling gold in the third quarter include Turkey and Uzbekistan. Net sales totaled 12.1 tons of bullion in the third quarter with more sales expected, and 2019’s third quarter saw 149 tons purchased. In fact, last year central banks worldwide purchased the most tonnage of gold in more than 50 years. During the first week of April, a few gold investors stressed they were terrified that central banks might dump bullion during the economic crisis.

Speaking on the recent central bank gold sales, a WGC senior analyst says the central banks that sold tonnage last quarter doesn’t surprise him.

“It’s not surprising that in the circumstances banks might look to their gold reserves,” Louise Street, the lead analyst at the WGC explained. “Virtually all of the selling is from banks who buy from domestic sources taking advantage of the high gold price at a time when they are fiscally stretched.”

The report written by WGC dubbed “Gold Demand Trends Q3 2020” further explains:

Demand for gold dropped to 892.3t in Q3 – its lowest quarterly total since Q3 2009 – as consumers and investors continued to battle the effects of the global pandemic. At 2,972.1t year-to-date (y-t-d) demand is 10% below the same period of 2019. The total supply of gold fell 3% y-o-y in Q3 to 1,223.6t, despite 6% growth in gold recycling, with mine production still feeling the effects of the H1 Covid-19 restrictions.

The WGC said that jewelry demand improved in Q2 but in the third quarter, thanks to government lockdowns, jewelry demand shrunk significantly.

However, in contrast to jewelry sales, “bar and coin demand strengthened, gaining 49% y-o-y to 222.1t.” The report concluded by adding gold used in certain technologies also “remained weak” and only a few emerging tech markets improved.

What do you think about the price of gold slumping and central banks dumping gold bullion last quarter? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, WGC,

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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Ethereum Approaches “Do or Die” Level Against BTC, Analyst Claims

Ethereum spent most of 2020 outperforming Bitcoin by a large margin, thanks to the burning hot DeFi trend and the related tokens’ reliance on the second-ranked crypto asset.

But since things have reversed and Bitcoin has gone on its own individual run, on the ETHBTC trading pair, Ethereum has reached a point of “do or die” according to one crypto analyst. Here are the key levels and factors to look for in the weeks ahead to see if the top altcoin was able to withstand the force of a BTC bull run, or if it gets chewed up and spit out as Bitcoin has done so recently.

Ethereum Approaches Do Or Die Level Against On BTC Trading Pair

Bitcoin has been surging for the last few weeks while altcoins have struggled to come anywhere near close to the top crypto asset’s bullish momentum.

A surge of buying after a key breakout combined with sudden PayPal support and a massive increase of corporations adding BTC to their treasure reserves.

Related Reading | Ethereum Lagging Behind Bitcoin Could Demonstrate Altcoin Weakness

With so little BTC supply to go around, the buying has resulted in an explosive move. And with Bitcoin potentially heading off onto a new bull run, crypto investors have been dumping their altcoins and FOMO buying the leading cryptocurrency by market cap.

It has even put a major damper on Ethereum, which spent the rest of the year outperforming Bitcoin by a mile. But with DeFi floundering itself, there’s nothing left to prop up the top altcoin any longer. And its left Ethereum on the ropes against Bitcoin, and at a “do or die” level on the ETHBTC pair.

Its do or die for the top altcoin according to il Capo of Crypto via Twitter | Source: ETHBTC on TradingView.com

How A Bitcoin Bull Run Could Leave Altcoins And DeFi Bleeding Out

According to a crypto analyst and their interpretation of the ETHBTC chart, the top altcoin is facing a “do or die” level against Bitcoin.

If Ethereum falls further, the altcoin could dive on the USD pair, while Bitcoin keeps on racing toward all-time highs. Other crypto analysts have called for such a scenario to play out any day, and the theory is presently being proven correct.

Related Reading | Ethereum Matching Market Psychology Roadmap Leads To Bull Run Next

BTC dominance, a crucial metric weighing Bitcoin against the rest of the crypto market cap, also points to prolonged altcoin weakness against the most dominant crypto.

Unfortunately for Ethereum, most takes suggest that the altcoin will choose “die” against Bitcoin for the rest of the year, but in early 2021, the altcoin season that follows will be something not to be missed.

Featured image from Deposit Photos, Chart from TradingView.com

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Medici Has Put a Lot of Money into the Barbados-Based BTC Company Bitt

Overstock subsidiary Medici Ventures is putting a lot of money into a bitcoin and cryptocurrency startup known as Bitt. Thus far, the firm has placed roughly $8 million into the venture, which is based in the small Caribbean island nation of Barbados. The money that Medici has placed in Bitt means that it is now the company’s biggest investor, and thus holds controlling interest.

Medici Ventures Is Trying to Sway BTC Adoption

We have seen a lot of companies turning away from cash and traditional methods of money in the past several days and weeks. Quite a few – such as Square and MicroStrategy – are doing everything they can to ensure they have control over bitcoin and are adding it to their portfolios. MicroStrategy is interesting in that not only has it purchased large amounts of the digital currency, but it is also giving all the companies investing in its platform indirect access to it.

A similar situation is being viewed here. While Medici doesn’t necessarily own bitcoin, it’s a controller in the sense that it holds heavy sway over Bitt and the company’s operations. Medici initially purchased a massive stake in the company back in 2016. This stake is worth approximately $4 million at the time of writing. From there, it purchased another $3 million in the company about two years later.

Now, with its latest $1 million investment, the total Medici has put into Bitt reaches the $8 million mark, making Medici the “parent company” if you will of the Barbados-based firm.

The company explained in a recent letter penned by Jonathan Johnson – Medici’s and Overstock’s chief executive officer and president – that it can potentially persuade and influence the growth of digital currency adoption with the money and financial resources it has provided Bitt. The letter explains:

We are strong believers in what Bitt is doing, and remain committed to supporting its forward-thinking vision, which aligns with Medici Ventures’ mission of democratizing capital, eliminating middlemen, and re-humanizing commerce. Bitt’s pioneering work in the central bank digital currency space promotes social inclusion, financial empowerment, and economic growth. It is the perfect use case for blockchain technology to change the way in which we transact fundamentally, and fundamentally change how societies function.

The Growth of the Caribbean BTC Space…

Bitt was primarily designed to enable bitcoin-based transactions and infrastructure in the Caribbean. The company has been around for over seven years. Not long ago, the company signed a contract with the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) to test out a new digital version of the eastern Caribbean (EC) dollar.

Medici is also ensuring traders and investors in the Caribbean that Bitt will remain based in Barbados, and that the president of the company – Brian Popelka – will now serve as its new chief executive.

The post Medici Has Put a Lot of Money into the Barbados-Based BTC Company Bitt appeared first on Live Bitcoin News.

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The New Bullrun Rushes Investors Towards Securypto

PRESS RELEASE. With Round 1 Fully Sold Out, Investors scramble to get on board of Securypto IEO. In a world where datahacks have become the norm rather than the exception, anonymity has become a necessity. Securypto project is making headlines across major news media for its remarkable innovative approach to encrypted messaging.

As the security expert and the Lead Dev of Securypto pointing out:

“It’s not just WhatsApp, almost everything connected to the internet is at risk of cyberattacks. That’s what easily can be concluded following continuation news about the messaging platforms been targeted by spywares and hacks. The unfortunate reality is that most messaging apps have vulnerabilities that can be exploited by sophisticated cyber spies, No messaging service is bulletproof”

The Securypto story – Rise of the underdog

Amid the hype of countless ICOs of projects without a product or even a use case in 2018, Securypto went against the grain and kept the focus on delivering a working product and released his own Android Encryption App DigiSafeGuard earlier this year without any founding.

The past two years has seen the Securypto team laboring over its blockchain platform and conducting innumerable tests and even offering a 10BTC reward to anyone that could break their encryption (which to this date no one has succeeded in doing so).

Consistent hard work has paid off and the securypto platform has been steadily rolling out update after update and with the listing on the exchange the next logical step is here for both the team and investors and the community. Having grown a strong following throughout its developing stages, last week, the Securypto project saw its IEO reach a level of fervour unheard of in today’s IEO narrative, as loyal supporters rallied behind the project’s token sale.

Securypto’s IEO success serves as a testament to good old-fashioned persistence and hard work. As Henry Ford put it, “Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.”

Keeping community at the forefront

As finally token holders will be able to start making deposits in preparation for trading. Available trading as SCU/ETH pairs are confirmed at Bilaxy and Uniswap exchange which will open for trading after IEO. In the meantime, Securypto remains committed to making listing partnerships with credible exchanges vetted to be safe for users, keeping the community always at the forefront of any listing decisions.

Exchange listings

“Bilaxy is a world-class digital asset trading platform and we are proud to be listed on such a reputable exchange. For the DEX supporters, we have selected UniSwap, the leading decentralized permissionless exchange.” stated earlier by Lead Dev of Securypto.

Bilaxy support has quite been unprecedented , “Bilaxy has always been the home of crypto hidden gems, and we are happy to support more promising blockchain projects with our various financial services like trading, staking and more. Anonymity is a scarce commodity in this day and age and we have seen Securypto’s potential to develop a model where you take back control of your data and send and receive truly anonymous encrypted data.

About SCU

SCU, which stands for Securypto Token, is a utility token that enables users send and receive encrypted messages and data with it’s app DigiSafeGuard. The app itself already allows you to do that but the utility token enables a anonymity layer on top of it which makes it a perfect instrument for everyone that cares about their privacy to send and receive data. Early feedback from early adapters shows that mostly people who live in restrictive countries make use of this application like North Korea and places where censorship is very high and freedom of speech is a luxury where Securypto has given them a voice. Whistleblowers have also commended it’s ease of use and high level of encryption and how it makes it easy to use as Whatsapp but the moment you send the message it looks like your message goes into a wormhole and the receiver gets the message and no one can discover the path it has taken from sender to receiver making it impossible for anyone to track the message or decrypt it. It comes then as no surprise why both the community and investors have been excited about the development and launch of IEO and listing SCU on Bilaxy and Uniswap. As Initial Coin Offering of Securypto Tokens has been started, this golden opportunity is getting massive attention from the cryptocommunity all over the world.

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This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

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Bitcoin Drops $300, but Could Reach $20,000 Again

Just yesterday, bitcoin rose to about $13,400, though at press time, the currency has dropped a bit and is now trading for around $13,100. That’s a $300 slip in less than 24 hours. Not a good sign, and yet per many analysts’ thoughts, bitcoin is still in relatively tough shape and likely to remain so for the remainder of the year.

Bitcoin Is Heading Up Again

The present price of bitcoin has been preceded by all kinds of serious news in the industry, including the growing rate of institutions taking part in digital currency trading. For one thing, companies like Square have purchased more than $50 million in BTC units, while Grayscale has seen the amount of assets its managing jump significantly over the course of a single day.

In addition, companies like PayPal – arguably the largest online payment platform to ever exist – says it will now permit customers to utilize bitcoin and other forms of crypto when paying for goods and services. This appears to have had the biggest impact on bitcoin, as shortly after the announcement, bitcoin began to exhibit its largest spurts of price action.

Companies like JPMorgan are even beginning to take strong notice of what bitcoin is becoming. In a recent letter, the company compared the asset favorably to gold and said that it’s a prime example of an “alternative” currency. The letter also commented that millennials see bitcoin in a rather powerful light, and that the generation is likely to play a significant role in the asset’s growth.

JPMorgan even said that it expects bitcoin to grow and that it could be two or three times larger than it is now in a relatively short period of time. The company explained:

Even a modest crowding out of gold as an ‘alternative’ currency over the longer term would imply doubling or tripling of the bitcoin price.

With all this good news in the mix, there are many analysts out there who seem to think that new technical signs are emerging. These signs suggest that BTC could once again reach $20,000, which means that the asset will be at its all-time high again for the first time in roughly three years. BTC has not been trading this high since December of 2017.

$20,000 in the Close Future?

Fairlead Strategies founder Katie Stockton explained in a recent note:

Bitcoin has seen short term momentum improve within its long-term uptrend and has a good amount of room for resistance, which is close to about $14,000.

Still, however, the currency has a while to go before it reaches its December high again, as the asset is still about 32 percent lower than where it stood three years ago. The good news, however, is that BTC is presently up by about 87 percent since the beginning of the year, so clearly the currency has what it takes to strike up its momentum quickly.

The post Bitcoin Drops $300, but Could Reach $20,000 Again appeared first on Live Bitcoin News.

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Video: What Is Utreexo And What Could It Mean For Bitcoin?

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On this episode of The Van Wirdum Sjorsnado, Aaron and Sjors are once again joined by Ruben Somsen. But this time, the trio isn’t discussing one of Somsen’s own proposals but diving into a concept from research scientist and Lightning Network creator Tadge Dryja called “Utreexo.”

Whenever a new Bitcoin transaction is made, Bitcoin nodes use a UTXO set (the overview of all bitcoin in existence at any given time) to determine that the coins that are being spent really exist. This UTXO set is currently several gigabytes in size and continues to grow over time and there is no upper limit to how big it can potentially get.

Because Bitcoin nodes perform best and fastest if the UTXO set is kept in RAM (in particular when syncing a new node), and RAM is usually a relatively scarce resource for most computers, it would benefits a node’s performance if the UTXO set could be stored in a more compact format. This is the promise of Utreexo.

Utreexo would take all the UTXOs in existence and include them in a Merkle Tree, a data-structure consisting only of hashes. Aaron, Sjors and Ruben explain how the compact Utreexo structure could suffice in proving that a particular UTXO is included when a new transaction is made, and they discuss the potential benefits that could surface if this solution becomes available, as well as some of its potential tradeoffs.

More Resources:

• Bitcoin Nodes_ Decoupling Trust And Storage With Uteexo


• Bitcoin’s Growing UTXO Problem And How Utreexo Can Help Solve It

The post Video: What Is Utreexo And What Could It Mean For Bitcoin? appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

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Career Trader Calls Yearn.Finance A “Strong Buy” If It Hits $7K

The DeFi trend is finally dying down, and it has left even the once hottest and most hyped coins reeling in the wake. Yearn.Finance, for example, was once trading at over $40,000 and four times the price of Bitcoin. Now, it could be headed for just half a BTC per YFI token, where one career trader claims the altcoin will be a “strong buy.”

Here’s how the once piping hot DeFi token might get there.

Yearn.Finance Carnage Continues, But Will Make An Ideal HODL Eventually

Yearn.Finance was one of the hottest tokens of the summer of DeFi. FOMO only recently began to fizzle as the summer’s sizzle started to cool off, and investors began to worry about the upcoming election and began moving profits into the now trending Bitcoin.

The token that was once worth four times as much as one full BTC, is now trading nearly on par with the leading cryptocurrency by market cap. In fact, the DeFi coin with a 30,000 token supply that was previously worth over $40,000, is now trading $2,000 below Bitcoin, and it could fall much lower, according to career trader Bob Loukas.

Related Reading | DeFi Hangover: Yearn.Finance Falls Nearly 20% From Weekend Highs

Loukas shares his calls and ideas on crypto Twitter, and today posted a chart of YFIUSD that shows the ominous head and shoulders top that anyone who is interested in the asset at all should have seen by now. Except rather than talking trash about the falling Yearn.Finance, he says it’s a “strong buy.’

The only problem with Loukas’ statement is that the strong buy occurs when the token trades at $7,000 per YFI.

Yearn.Finance falling wedge retest and math matches Loukas' target | Source: YFIUSD on TradingView.com

YFI Charts, Patterns, And Math Create Roadmap To Loukas’ Strong Buy Support

Yearn.Finance has already fallen 78% from peak to the current bottom, so a drop to $7,000 would likely shock early investors who expected the scarce asset to charge toward $100,000, not $10,000.

After the high of $44,000, Yearn.Finance plummeted to the current low of $9,600 but is now trading around $11,200. The DeFi token’s volatility makes Bitcoin seem like a smooth-riding Cadillac compared to a beaten-down destruction derby car.

The peak to the neckline of the head and shoulders structure that acted as the top of the uptrend measured as a 52% collapse. After the neckline was broken, YFI went crashing lower by another 52%.

Related Reading | Coinbase Users Lose $25K On Yearn.Finance Since DeFi Token’s Debut

When assets reverse, they tend to reach around 50% – also the 0.5 Fibonacci level – of the previous advance before another leg down.

The current reversal and break out from a potential falling wedge pattern could take Yearn.Finance 50% of the way, or potentially all the way back to the neckline. If the DeFi coin falls back from the halfway point, another 52% decline would fall exactly where Bob Loukas points to as a “strong buy” for YFI.

Interestingly, the complete downtrend from $44,000 to just $7,000 would result in a full 84% decline – roughly the same exact retracement as Bitcoin after it peaked at $20,000.

Featured image from Deposit Photos, Chart from TradingView.com

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Remittance Costs Lower in Q3 World Bank Study Shows – Only Cryptocurrencies Meeting UN Goal

The latest study by the World Bank shows that it costs 4.98% on average to remit funds to South Asia which makes it the least expensive region while sub-Sahara Africa is the most expensive with an average cost of 8.47%. The quarterly study also finds that it is costlier to remit funds when using service providers such as banks that charge an average of 10.89%.

Marginal decline

Mobile operators are the cheapest as their sending costs averaged 3% and below during the period under review. Still, the study, which predictably excludes cryptocurrencies, shows a marginal decrease in the Global Weighted Average (GWA) from 5.03% in Q2 to 5.0% in Q3 of 2020.

The World Bank’s aptly named Remittance Prices Worldwide (RPW) report monitors remittance costs across all regions. Data from the report shows that the Global Average remitting cost dropped from 9.67% seen Q1 of 2009 to the latest 6.75%. This represents a 2.92% decline during this period.

Meanwhile, the global financial institution says that in addition to tracking the Global Average, “another average total cost is introduced to track the average price of digital remittances in RPW database.” In following this cost metric, the study finds that:

In Q3 2020, the global average for digital remittances was recorded at 5.29 per cent while the global average for none- digital remittances was 7.24%.” Furthermore, the report data shows remitting costs gradually decreasing across all sending corridors since 2008.

Meanwhile, despite their absence in the World Bank’s RPW, cryptocurrencies seem to be cheaper and faster-remitting methods.

Cryptocurrencies a cheaper option

To illustrate, on the Bitcoin Network, transacting costs for coins like bitcoin cash and dash remain insignificant when compared to the cost of sending funds via Money Transfer Organisation (MTO). For instance, during Q3 of 2020, the average fee when sending or paying $100 with bitcoin cash was less than one cent. The same was true for Dash as well as for Ripple’s XRP token. Yet, on the other hand, it may cost 10% or more to send funds between two Southern African countries.

Remitting funds via bitcoin and ethereum is also faster and sometimes cheaper than traditional remitting corridors. As the data from Bitinfocharts shows, at the start of Q3 2020 on July 1, transaction fees on the Bitcoin and Ethereum networks averaged $1.51 and $0.70 respectively. Since then, fees on the two networks have fluctuated wildly but still went on to average $5 or below for much of Q3. An average fee of $5 per transaction translates to 5% if the amount being sent is $100.

Achieving UN SDG 10.c with cryptocurrencies

With transacting costs that are a tiny fraction of a per cent, cryptocurrencies like bitcoin cash and XRP, which the World Bank and others refuse to recognise, appear to have achieved one of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) already.

Under the world body’s SDGs 10.c, the UN and others are committing to reducing to “less than 3 per cent the transaction costs of migrant remittances and to eliminate remittance corridors with costs higher than 5 per cent.”

The UN is targeting to achieve this goal by 2030 yet more migrants are already using cryptocurrencies because they are a much cheaper and more convenient option.

Do you agree that cryptocurrencies are cheaper for remitting than traditional methods? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Tags in this story

Bitcoin, bitcoin cash, bitcoin remittances, dash, Ethereum, money tranfers, Remittance Prices Worldwide, remittances, Sustainable Development Goals, Transaction fee, un, UN SDG, World Bank, XRP

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

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Trending Bitcoin News and Market Sentiment, Weekly Edition October 30th, 2020: Crypto Swings But Bitcoin Above $13,000, More States Adopt Crypto, Blockchain

• Bitcoin and crypto markets faced a volatile week but Bitcoin manages to stay above USD 13,000


• Iran and Cambodia make the news as more governments adopt crypto and blockchain

What a week it has been for Bitcoin! After surfing to new highs in price for 2020, Bitcoin almost broke the USD 14,000 resistance but faced at least two sell-off dips that took it temporarily below USD 13,000, before recovering by the weekend’s close to stay alive above USD 13,000.

The rest of crypto has not fared as well, with Ethereum failing to hold levels above USD 400 and continuing most of Friday struggling to stay afloat past USD 390. Nevertheless, even amid Defi slowdown and Bitcoin network reaching its highest level of congestion since 2017, the mood remains buoyant that crypto markets could hold on and prepare for a fresh rally in the closing months of the year.

On the latter fundamentals, the Bitcoin network is currently experiencing high levels of transaction congestion, with the mean fee per transaction right now reaching about USD 11 (just under 0.009 BTC) according to data analytics firm Glassnode. This is an almost five-fold increase over the past two weeks, accompanying a price jump from USD 11,100 to USD 13,900 or thereabouts.

London broker Bequant told CoinDesk:

“Bitcoin mempool is back in focus in the wake of rising transaction volumes, causing congestion in the network and consequently driving fees higher.”

Basically, this just means that because the transaction queue has become so long, people are paying more to miners so that their transactions are prioritized before others, leading to a fee war that forces people to outbid each other in an attempt to get selected to enter the next block found — which is how Bitcoin transactions are confirmed.

Bitcoiners will be quite pleased, however, as the last time this happened was in 2017 when Bitcoin hit its current all-time high close to USD 20,000 and historically, price rallies do lead to network congestion. Miners dropping out of the network are currently to blame, as hashrate has slid over the same period. Over the last week, the 7-day moving average of Bitcoin’s hashrate has lost about 20% of its hashrate or 26 exahashes per second (EH/s) to 120 EH/s.

All the same, more good news all around for crypto and blockchain as the Iranian central bank makes amendments to national law to allow for Bitcoin, as the cash-strapped Central Bank of Iran looks to alternative currencies to help imports.

The Iran Daily, citing The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), reports that the national cabinet has amended recent legislation on digital assets that now makes it legal for cryptocurrency to be used as a payment for import funding. This doesn’t mean a free for all, as it only means that Bitcoin must still be legally mined and can only be exchanged to fund external imports but it has allowed for Bitcoin miners to directly supply the central bank an authorized limit of Bitcoin, based on how much subsidized electricity the miner uses alongside further guidelines supplied by the Iranian Ministry of Energy.

Bitcoin mining is legal as of 2019 but it is heavily regulated in Iran due to the cheap cost of subsidized energy but the same report suggests that Bitcoin could help Iran circumvent sanctions that restrict the country’s access to the US dollar.

In Southeast Asia, Cambodia has also announced the Bakong, which will be its national blockchain-based platform for digital money transactions. According to local media Dap-News, it is “a payment and money transfer service through banks or microfinance institutions” that an initiative of the National Bank of Cambodia has established under a collaboration with several other national entities.

Cambodian financier PRASAC first invested in Bakong last year in October, before the central bank set a launch as a closed circuit enterprise. The report quoted PRASAC executive vice president Sony Say:

“Bakong is a new and modern payment tool that allows customers to make interbank transactions and bill payments easily, quickly, securely and free of charge.”

Mass adoption full steam ahead, it would seem!

 

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The post Trending Bitcoin News and Market Sentiment, Weekly Edition October 30th, 2020: Crypto Swings But Bitcoin Above $13,000, More States Adopt Crypto, Blockchain appeared first on BitcoinNews.com.

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