Thailand is getting tough on cryptocurrencies with the threat of jail time and hefty fines for those who go against the laws and legislation regulating digital currencies


Thailand has been strict on its stance regarding cryptocurrency, taking a negative view towards it similar to India. The Asia nation’s central bank has ordered the country’s banks to avoid cryptocurrency transactions due to fear of illegal activity.

As of today, Thailand has put a new law in place to control and regulate cryptocurrency transactions and ICOs. The law decrees that cryptocurrencies are digital assets and thus under the control of the country’s Security Exchange Commission.

Next harsh step

This latest move was proposed by Finance Ministry in February following the ban on financial institutions from dealing with cryptocurrencies. The move is again aimed at heavily regulating cryptocurrencies in order to stop any form of money laundering, tax avoidance and crime.

The law, which is a royal decree, stipulates that unregistered token brokers or exchanges, or those who perform token transactions through unregistered exchanges will face a jail term of up to two years and fines of at least two times the token values, up to a maximum of 500,000 baht ($20,930).

It gets more harsh, especially for those who are intending to use cryptocurrencies for tax avoidance. Fraudulent filings could invite a five-year jail sentence. Those who carry out unauthorized business in digital assets face jail terms of between two and five years. They could also face fines of up to 10,000 baht ($314) for each day that the business was conducted.

Those who allow others to use their accounts to carry out transactions can be jailed up to one year and fined up to 100,000 baht ($3,000).

Better confidence?

On top of the threats of jail time, a separate decree has set a 15 percent capital gains tax on each digital transaction. This all sounds very harsh on digital currencies, however, in this highly regulated space, the feeling is rather positive.

Because the government is starting to really crack down on fraudsters and dodgy dealings, it will mean in the long run, there will likely be much better quality digital currency offerings from Thailand.

https://cryptocomes.com/jail-awaits-those-who-go-against-cryptocurrency-regulations-in-thailand

05/14/18 Bullish Hopes Are Broken Again As Bitcoin, Litecoin, Monero And NEO Decline on Monday



Weekend bullish scenario seems to end up as the currency pairs move downwards

Bullish scenario progressed on weekend after a true fiasco on Friday as all the reviewed currency pairs declined significantly, establishing new local lows.

However, the situation has changed on Saturday as all the reviewed currency pairs were able to move higher and to form a kind of an uptrend. On Monday we see the contrary picture as all the allies go downwards, breaking levels and trend lines. It seems like bears want to remind bulls who is in control of the markets currently.

BTC/USD



Bitcoin has broken through the short term descending trend line on Friday and retested it later. Then BTC/USD jumped off this trend line and started to grow slowly with wide range fluctuations allowing to earn both bulls and bears.

We have drawn an ascending trading line, which supported the price during the weekend. The currency pair entered the Ichimoku cloud on Sunday and even reached its upper border. Bitcoin has tested it and the resistance level at 8 694.

Later, bears have taken control again and pushed the currency pair lower for another correction. Bitcoin has tested the ascending trend line and crossed it meaning the end of this short-term upside tendency. It has also broken through the support line at 8,528 area.

The currency pair has reached the next support line at 8,372 are in the moment of writing. Bears make attempts to cross it. There are two scenarios here. The first one means BTC price will jump off this 8,372 support line area and reverses towards the resistance area at 8 528. However, bulls will have to deal with another obstacle- the lower border of the Ichimoku cloud. If successful, they will be able to test the resistance.

The other scenario for Bitcoin is the breakout of the current support area at 8,372 with the development of local downtrend.



Let’s have a look at the daily chart. Here the situation remains unchanged as the price stays still within the Ichimoku cloud in the middle of the formation. Bulls were trying to counterattack but in the moment of writing the candlestick bearish. It is better to wait until it forms to make any conclusions.

LTC/USD



Litecoin follows Bitcoin as the price has crossed the descending trend line on Saturday and then went slightly upwards along a new local ascending trend line that we have drawn recently. LTC/USD managed to cross the upper border of the Ichimoku cloud unlike Bitcoin but then started to decline.

Litecoin has broken through the ascending trend line recently and is testing the support area at 138. Litecoin price shifted even lower this line but returned above later meaning the breakout was false. LTC price resides below the Ichimoku cloud as bears control the market for the moment.

There are two possible scenarios here. Litecoin will reject the support area and go through the Ichimoku cloud (which is thin here) to test the local ascending trend line from below and then to reach the resistance area at 147.

If LTC/USD fails to jump off the support area, it is able to develop the downtrend towards Friday’s lows and the midterm descending trend line.



As for the daily chart, Litecoin has reached the lower border of the Ichimoku cloud and jumped off it meaning there is an opportunity for bulls to gain initiative. However, it is better to wait until today’s candlestick forms as it is bearish now.

Check more details on XMR/USD and NEO/USD pairs HERE and also post review HERE

Past ICO Review: Aeternity For All Eternity?

Claiming to be better than Ethereum, Aeternity is rising up, but what does it do?

The scalable Blockchain platform was launched out of Germany on June 1, 2017. The initial token price was $0.68 and now, at the time of writing, is trading at $4.70 per token, a 591 percent gain!

The ICO raised some $24 mln from approximately 8,000 investors over a two-week period. The mission behind Aternity is similar to many of the ERC20 tokens out there: to be similar to Ethereum, but better by introducing more complex technologies layered on top of the smart contracts system.

Premise of technology

Aeternity offers a network of state channels, which enables the exchange of value with anybody in the world in a trustless way.

Users can interact privately with each other and businesses can keep their records off-chain and not in public view. Additionally, users can have infinite almost instant transactions because the Blockchain is needed for adjudication or transfer of value. Furthermore, to facilitate the use of the smart contracts, Aeternity uses oracles to feed data into smart contracts which require it to transact.

Commodity prices, stock prices, weather conditions, the list is limitless on what parameters can be set by the smart contracts. The Aeternity Oracle Machine provides real-world data to the Blockchain. Each user can ask questions about the environment, surrounding the smart contract and the oracle provides the answer.

A consensus mechanism comes into play in case of disagreement. However, Aeternity takes an unusual step in having two consensus mechanisms on the Blockchain.

Danger of dual consensus mechanisms?

Oracles are generally singular, centralized data streams that often brings in security risks. To determine whether a supplied fact is true a new consensus mechanism has to be placed on top of the existing consensus mechanism. However, this strategy does not add security and if attacked it can be made to produce “false” values.

The development team of Aeternity is well aware of these security risks and is working on converging the two consensus mechanisms into one. This approach will reduce costs and increase security. By planning to decentralize the oracle, Aeternity will actually tighten the security of the network and the smart contracts developed on it.

The following excerpt  is taken from the website and describes the advantages of Aeternity:

“We present a highly scalable Blockchain architecture with a consensus mechanism which is also used to check the oracle. This makes the oracle very efficient because it avoids layering one consensus mechanism on top of another.”

It reads further: “State channels are integrated to increase privacy and scalability. Tokens in channels can be transferred using purely functional smart contracts that can access Oracle answers. By not storing contract code or state on-chain, we are able to make smart contracts easier to analyze and faster to process, with no substantial loss in de facto functionality.”

The team

The CEO and Founder of Aeternity, Yanislav Malahov, who had been working on Ethereum with Vitalik Buterin and had envisioned using powerful algorithms for Ethereum. Now, he is using these algorithms for Aeternity.

There are 47 employees listed on the website, all of whom have a deep interest in Blockchain and a breadth of other related skills. Overall, there is a positive outlook on this company, which has risen up into the top 30 on coinmarketcap.

You may find other Past ICO Reviews HERE

05/11/18 Bears Regained Crypto Markets Control, Midterm Outlook for Bitcoin, Litecoin, Monero, NEO Negative


Bitcoin, Litecoin, Monero and NEO have reached new lows during the US and Asian sessions

BTC/USD, LTC/USD, XMR/USD, NEO/USD declined sharply yesterday meaning the end of a deep correction, started Thursday. Bears established new lows confirming they are still in the game and have total control over the markets.

There are signs of a short-term correction that is likely to start within the next couple of hours. However, the midterm outlook is negative as almost all of the reviewed currency pairs stay below their midterm descending trend lines.

The currency pairs may fall even deeper after this correction. We advise looking for clear candlestick signals in order to take meaningful decisions.

BTC/USD



The currency pair started to fall during the American and continued the downside tendency within the Asian session. There was a Flag pattern in the middle of this short-term downtrend. Bitcoin is currently close to the support line (8,886 area) and the descending trendline testing both of them.

Bears had no difficulties to cross the Ichimoku cloud during the US session with a long body candlestick. Bitcoin price is far from the formation currently signaling temporary changes in moods.

There was a reversal signal a couple of bars ago (reversed Hammer). Bulls are able to start a correction at least. The closest target for it is the resistance line at 9,035 area. BTC price can reach this level in a couple of hours.

Another scenario for Bitcoin is to develop its downside tendency. Bears will break the ascending scenario in this case as BTC  price will fall below the descending trend line.



The situation is still unclear on the daily chart as BTC price has entered the Ichimoku cloud opening an opportunity for bears to push Bitcoin even further towards the lower border of the Ichimoku cloud at midterm.

LTC/USD



There was a bad day for Litecoin bulls as well as LTC/USD started to decline during the American session and developed the local downtrend during the Asian session. LTC price crossed the lower border of the Ichimoku cloud, the support line, residing at 154.14 area, and the descending trend line, confirming the temporary change of trend.

The situation is intriguing currently as LTC/USD is likely to start a correction (we have a Hammer candlestick pattern) and to test the descending trend line from below. If bulls succeed, they have an opportunity to regain initiative and to test the closest resistance line at 154.14 area. If they fail to cross the descending trend line, LTC price will probably fall below the support line at 146.29 area.

Cryptocurrency is far from the Ichimoku cloud now signaling bears are dominating the market for the moment. If LTC/USD stays below the descending trend line, the currency pair will confirm its midterm downside tendency.



The currency pair still stays within the Ichimoku cloud on the daily chart and seems to aim the lower border of the formation at midterm. There are no clear signals currently and we advise to midterm and long-term traders to wait until the price finds support and demonstrates any signal in order to open positions.

Check more details on XMR/USD and NEO/USD pairs HERE and also post review HERE

Past ICO Review: Nebulas Not as Cloudy as Appears


Search engine for Blockchains? It will be needed soon to find the right Dapps

The token sale for Nebulas ended on Dec. 16, 2017, and it raised some $60 mln. It currently has a market cap of $345.5 mln and the token price is increasing in value since the ICO. The token debuted before the official ICO and it was trading at $4.58 when it entered the market in August 2017. At the time of writing, it was sitting at $9.71 per token, a 112-percent gain!

Nebulous Blockchain searches- no more!

One of the main problems that Nebulas tries to solve is searching for relevant decentralized applications (Dapps). As Dapps become more and more prevalent, being able to find the right Dapp to meet your needs will be harder and harder. That is why the value ranking will be vital in sorting Dapps. It will be akin to page rankings on a search engine, but for Blockchains and Dapps instead.

No forks at this table

The elimination of hard forks or fundamental programming codes changes that affects how the Blockchain functions. In the past year, there have been countless hard forks that have created new cryptocurrencies, and thusly, “parent-child” rivalries, such as the most notorious case, Bitcoin and it’s hard fork of Bitcoin Cash.

The latter, supporters like Roger Ver say, is the original Bitcoin! Without the hard forks, it makes it easier to manage a Blockchain and its nodes, the originator of the programming code, does not have to worry about miners and coders going rogue and splitting up the Blockchain. The idea behind the no forking is that the system should upgrade over longer periods of natural changes to the protocols and policies.

3 Pillars of Nebulas

The following are descriptions, taken from the website, of the three core technologies that will allow Nebulas to develop continuously and naturally.

1. Value Ranking: Nebulas Rank (NR) provides a measure of value for every unit in the Blockchain. It is the core ranking algorithm and was open sourced. The algorithm is based on liquidity, propagation of users' assets, and the interactivity between users. NR is used to rank addresses, smart contracts, Dapps and other entities on the Blockchain.

2. Self-evolving: Nebulas Force (NF) enables Nebulas to respond to new demands without forks. It provides the Nebulas Blockchain and its distributed applications built on top, the capability to self-evolve. In this way, developers are able to make changes, incorporate new technologies, and fix bugs without needing to hard fork.

3. Native Incentive: Nebulas Incentive (NI) rewards devoted Nebulas developers and virtuous users. Incentives are the driving force of Blockchain evolution. The Nebulas Incentive includes Developer Incentive Protocol (DIP) and Proof of Devotion (PoD).

Development team

The China-based team behind Nebulas has some developers who are responsible for creating Antshares or what is now known as NEO.

Hitters Xu- Founder and CEO of Nebulas, Founder of AntShares, now known as NEO, a Blockchain pioneer in China, the former Director of Ant Financial's Blockchain Platform, Alibaba’s financial branch and part of Google's Search & Anti-Fraud team.

Robin Zhong- Nebulas co-founder, former architect of Ant Financial's Blockchain Platform, former Senior Development Director of Dolphin Browser, Leader of Game Division.

Aero Wang- Nebulas and NEO co-founder, initiator of OpenIP and IP Community, a serial entrepreneur in Blockchain industry.

With a strong development team, mission, vision, $60 mln raised, and most importantly an actual purpose, Nebulas has some strong potential.

Ypu may find other Past ICO Reviews HERE

05/10/18 Crypto Bulls Launch Counterattack, BTC, LTC, XMR, NEO Change Tendency


Cryptocurrencies finally seem to change their mood, offering buyers the opportunity to take initiative

BTC/USD, LTC/USD, XMR/USD, NEO/USD have managed to make significant upside movements during the American and Asian trading sessions. Bulls seem to take control over the market. Midterm downside tendencies were broken as Bitcoin, Litecoin, Monero and NEO prices are rising above the descending trend lines. The situation looks promising for the buyers and they can develop their success in the next several hours.

BTC/USD



Bitcoin has started a correction yesterday, which is looking like a complete reversal. BTC price is now above the descending trend line, alerting traders to the possibility of significant short and midterm changes. BTC/USD has entered the Ichimoku cloud during the American and Asian sessions. It is still there and is testing the upper boundary of the formation.

As we can see, there was one Shooting Star during the Asian session, which led the currency pair to a brief decline towards the lower boundary of the Ichimoku cloud. We now have two more Shooting Stars which are able to drive BTC price to the lower side of the formation, as there is a sort of channel trading now, which is natural for such situations when the price is within the Ichimoku cloud.

The lower boundary of the Ichimoku cloud coincides with the $9,200 support line. If  Bitcoin price goes there, BTC/USD will test this line and we advise readers to look for candlestick signals close to the support area. If the candles indicate reversal, the price will probably rebound from the support and go upwards. If there are no signals and BTC price falls below the support, BTC/USD will probably move to meet the descending trend line.

There is another scenario, where Bitcoin fails to fall towards the support area and breaks through the upper boundary of the Ichimoku cloud without any further correction. Then, it is going to test the $9,440 area.



As for the daily chart, the midterm picture had no significant changes. However, we can see that the upper boundary of the Ichimoku cloud held BTC price above the formation and there is probability for the development of an upside tendency.

LTC/USD



Litecoin followed Bitcoin in its upside tendency as LTC/USD jumped over the descending trend line during the Asian session. LTC price is now close to the lower side of the Ichimoku cloud. If Litecoin tests it successfully, there are more chances for the cryptocurrency to develop its upside tendency. The Ichimoku cloud is rather thin there and Litecoin price will probably meet no significant resistance. The next level to pay attention to in this case is the $165 resistance line.

Another possible scenario is where the bears try to take the initiative. They will attempt to drive LTC/USD lower until the descending trend line, at least. However, this scenario is not the primary one, as bulls are getting stronger and the situation looks promising for them.



LTC price is still below the ascending trend line on the daily chart, but it fails to reach the lower boundary of the Ichimoku cloud. There are some signs that LTC/USD will be able to return above the ascending trend line. If this happens, Litecoin will test the upper boundary of the Ichimoku cloud at midterm.

Check more details on XMR/USD and NEO/USD pairs HERE and also post review HERE

All the reviewed cryptocurrencies went downwards in the second half of the day, marking the inability of bulls to gain momentum. The bears resume their market domination and seem to have enough power to develop this midterm downside tendency further towards the closest local support areas, which will be described here

Past ICO Review: How Real Product Failed to Boost Token Sales

Small company offers microloans to stimulate economic well-being of developing nations, but its ICO results are mixed

The developing world has a challenge: people have the skills they need to start a business and bring themselves out of poverty, but there is no easy way for them to get the credit to buy the capital equipment they need to get started. According to Micromoney’s website, “100 out of 196 countries in the world serve as a home for two mln unbanked people, who use cash only, do not have any credit history and do not have access to any financial services.” Here is where Micromoney steps in.

It is an automated open-source credit and big data bureau that promises to provide instant credit check and microloans to users in 15 min via their smartphone. The platform also claims that users can pay lower interest rates and earn better credit scores the more they use the platform.

Crypto backed by a real product

Micromoney claims it is backed by a real product unlike many of the other cryptos out there. The following are important points made by the company:

- Built on Ethereum
- Smart contracts eliminate the intermediaries and provide fast service
- Open source software that is free and transparent  
- Financial inclusion of more than two bln people
- Create a digital identity
- Massive future growth and expansion into more than 100 countries

The ICO

For a small company founded in Cambodia, the token sale commenced on Oct. 17, 2018 and raised $10.5 mln. Despite what the company wants to do, the sales figures are a bit lower than expected. Despite that, the company has grown and expanded since its founding in 2015.

Short timeline of achievements

2015 — Cambodia: In December 2015, the company started with: $30,000 of initial capital, three employees, first 20 customers, and all the processes were executed in Excel and Google Docs.

2016 — Expanded into Myanmar. Work began to develop the Decentralized Credit Bureau, grew to 35 people working for the company. 23,000 unique registered users.

2017 —Expanded into Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand In 2017, the team increased to 85 people now 95,000+ unique registered users.

2018-- The company expanded into the Philippines and is ready to expand into the following countries:

- Hong Kong
- Vietnam
- China
- Malaysia
- Singapore
- Nigeria

The above countries have a large populace which will truly benefit from microcredits and loans. This will help raise the standard of living in these counties, too. The more people that can get the loans to start their businesses, the better their financial situation, which should spread to others and raise the quality of life over time.

The team behind the coin

Sai Hnin Aung -  Co-founder, COO. Serial Entrepreneur, experienced business development professional, investor, strategic leader, and executive with more than 18 years of experience in microfinance & financial services, new loan products initiative, risk management, business start-up, financial analysis.

Anton Dzyatkovskiy -  Co-founder, IT & Scoring. Lending Director in Everex, a payment crypto.

Token trading unimpressive

Micromoney (AMM) entered the market on Dec. 17, 2017 at $0.50 per token. In January, it rocketed upward to a high of $2.42 per token before falling back down in late January to $0.81 and then remaining relatively flat through March and April. At the time of writing, AMM is trading at $0.30 per token, rather unimpressive for all the expansion and growth taking place.

The coin is currently ranked at 747 on Coin Market Cap. On the one hand, this is a small company that is working in developing countries, on the other it has some great potential should it take off and continually grow and expand its operations. Perhaps, another ICO would be the shot in the arm this company needs to raise its profile among investors and the general public.

The link: https://cryptocomes.com/past-ico-review-how-real-product-failed-to-boost-token-sales

Positive Monday For Bitcoin Price, LTC, NEO, Monero Still Negative



Bitcoin price still has some room for further growth until the closest resistance level

Bitcoin is starting the week positively as bulls got a momentum. The Bitcoin price still has some room for further growth until the closest resistance level. Litecoin and NEO follow almost the same scenario. As for Monero, the cryptocurrency seems to remain under pressure.

BTC/USD



BTC/USD still goes upwards on the Daily chart as it fluctuates along the upside trend line and is testing it today. Depending on the results of this testing, BTC/USD is likely to either fall below the trend line, looking for a major support line, which lies around 7,000 area or to resume its growth towards the resistance line, which is close to 11,500 level.

Generally, BTC/USD price fluctuates within a large horizontal channel established by the above-mentioned support and resistance levels. There are no candlestick signals currently.



As for the Ichimoku indicator, Bitcoin price went above the upper side of the cloud demonstrating bulls commitment to change the tendency and reach the closest resistance line in the medium term. However, BTC price returned to the upper Ichimoku cloud line in order to test it (which is natural for this kind of indicator). If the line resists and gives support to Bitcoin price, bulls will probably have a good chance to reach their mid-term goals. Otherwise, bears have a chance to gain momentum again.



As for the hourly chart, BTC/USD still has the same direction, going along the upside trend line. There were two chances yesterday to open short-term long positions from the trend line. Bitcoin price has a correction now as we can see the Shooting Star candlestick pattern. We expect the correction last until the upside trend line, where BTC price is able to reverse again towards the resistance line, which is close to the 9,500 area.



As for the Ichimoku indicator, BTC/USD is below its cloud but is likely to meet it today. If Bitcoin price enters the cloud, there will be opportunities to trade from its borders (channel trading).

LTC/USD



Litecoin goes the same direction as Bitcoin does, but Litecoin price is close to the resistance line. Bulls were trying to assault the resistance at 180.00 last week, but they had no luck and enough power to break through this line. Litecoin price jumped off 180.00 and went towards the upside trend line, where it stays now, waiting for bulls and bears to take active steps. If LTC price breaks through 180.00, the next midterm target will be close to 240.00 area.



As for the Ichimoku indicator, Litecoin price resides within the cloud and rejected its upper side. Now it has two ways- to go downwards and to test the lower side or try the upper side again (the trend line may support bulls and help them to stop the correction, which is clearly seen on the chart at the moment).



The situation is favorable for short-term bulls as LTC price goes along the upside trend line and rejected it twice already. However, there is a high probability for a downside correction now, which is able to aim the upside trend line. The closest target for LTC/USD on the hourly chart is 171 area, where the resistance line lies.



When we look at the Ichimoku indicator, we can see that the bulls still try to break the situation and to gain momentum. However, LTC/USD fluctuates below the cloud, which means that bears still have some power. We expect the currency pair to reach the Ichimoku cloud today and to test its lower line.

Take a look at analysis on XMR/USD and NEO/USD HERE

Past ICO Review: Paragon the Dope Dope

Anytime you mix drugs and cryptocurrencies, there is always disaster.

Anytime you mix drugs and cryptocurrencies, there is always disaster. The same goes for Paragon, a company that launched an ICO back on October 25, 2017. Despite raising more than $100 mln during the ICO, the token price tanked a day after the launch starting at $1.68 per token and falling down to $0.48 only three days later. On Dec. 21, 2017, there seemed to be something of a pump and dump when the token price surged to an all-time high of $4.11 and then crashed back down $0.52. Paragon is currently trading at $0.28 at time of writing.

While it is a novel idea to have Paragon run on ERC20 smart contracts, the world is just not ready for legal marijuana. Despite the gains it is making in some states in the US, it is still illegal in the eyes of the federal government, which keeps out major institutions, such as banks, which are key to helping the industry run. The fact that only a small percentage of the world’s population are using crypto, combined with an illegal substance spells disaster for the producer. That’s a train that is just not getting out of the station. Furthermore, its a bit of a crowded market out there in the marijuana crypto space.

What Paragon was designed to do

According to their website, the smart contract block train is supposed to cover two aspects of the so-called legal or medical marijuana industry: 1) linking the customer securely with a doctor who will write a prescription for the patient and then 2) remit that information to a dispensary to verify the product, and the entire supply chain, lab testing of the said product, ID verification of the patient, and the secure payment from the patient to the dispensary.

The team behind the smoke

Jessica VerSteeg CEO- Formerly Miss Iowa. Her motive behind Paragon was born out of tragedy, when her NFL boyfriend, who played for the New York Giants became addicted to opioid painkillers after suffering five concussions. This unfortunate addiction later led to his suicide. The idea is to promote Paragon as a non-addictive alternative painkiller.

Egor Lavrov, chief creative officer, is a Russian public relations specialist who earned his millions in web-based projects in Russia and abroad. He runs several online projects, of which Paragon is just one of them.

Lavrov and VerSteeg are married to each other.  

The lawsuit: Paragon up in smoke

In February 2018, Paragon was hit with a lawsuit, claiming that it violated the securities act. The lawsuit states that approximately between Aug. 15, 2017, through Oct. 16, 2017, the defendants raised at least $70 mln in digital cryptocurrencies by offering and selling unregistered securities in direct violation of the Securities Act.

It also stated that on Nov. 2, 2017,  Paragon ICO investors received an email updating them that during the Paragon ICO crowdsale they had collected 533 BTC and 8,092 ETH- worth approximately $7.3 mln and $10.2 mln, respectively, as of Jan. 12, 2018. Unfortunately, these amounts did not include any of the cryptocurrencies they collected during the Paragon ICO presale.

The presale, according to several sources claims, that the presale of some $33 mln was raised by family and friends only. There were no outside parties involved in the presale. Is that considered private gifts?

Cards stacked against

With the pending lawsuit and the gray area of marijuana, it is easy to understand why the token price has fallen so fast. While the idea of Paragon is nice on paper, the world is not ready for legalized weed just yet, and therefore, Paragon is ahead of its time.

Other Marijuana related cryptos



- Potcoin

- Tokken

- Hempcoin

- Cannabis Coin

Source: https://cryptocomes.com/past-ico-review-paragon-the-dope-dope

Past ICO Review: Polkadot, Wait, What Does it Do?



A Blockchain that offers scalability and interconnectivity, but yet with no inherent purpose raised $345 in 2017 in an ongoing ICO.

It’s a rather curious case about Polkadot. If you ask around, not many have heard of the coin, which has raised some $345 mln! The ICO started on October 14, 2017 and was finished in just three days, on October 27, 2017.

This is a bit of a mysterious coin because its position is that it is a Blockchain designed to be just that: a generic Blockchain without any special purpose.

The following passage is an excerpt from the white paper:

Polkadot is a scalable heterogeneous multi-chain. This means that unlike previous Blockchain implementations which have focused on providing a single chain of varying degrees of generality over potential applications, Polkadot itself is designed to provide no inherent application functionality at all.

Rather, Polkadot provides the bedrock “relay-chain” upon which a large number of validatable, globally-coherent dynamic data-structures may be hosted side-by-side. We call these data-structures “parallelized” chains or parachains, though there is no specific need for them to be Blockchain in nature.

What Polkadot attempts to do is to take create the scalability and interconnectivity that is missing in the Blockchain sphere.

Three pillars of Polkadot

Governance

Polkadot holders have complete control over the protocol. All privileges, which on other platforms are exclusive to miners, will be given to the relay chain participants (DOT holders), including managing exceptional events such as protocol upgrades and fixes.

Operation

Game theory incentivizes token holders to behave in honest ways. This mechanism rewards good actors while bad actors will lose their stake in the network. This ensures the network stays secure. This ensures the network stays secure.

Bonding

New parachains are added by bonding tokens. Outdated or non-useful parachains are removed by removing bonded tokens. This is a form of Proof of Stake.

The founder

Gavin Wood is the co-founder and former CTO of Ethereum. He is also the founder, CTO, and Chairman of Parity Technologies Ltd, which is supplying the development team behind Polkadot. He is also the founder and President of the Web3 Foundation, which aims to nurture technologies that can benefit the envisioned Web3 ecosystem of a truly decentralized Internet.

Year-long ICO continues

So what we have here, is essentially a generic Blockchain that has not even had a genesis yet. The genesis block is supposed to occur in Q3 2019. Strangely, the website states there is an inherent risk that it might not happen at all:

Due to the decentralized nature of Polkadot, there is no guarantee that the Polkadot genesis block (to the extent that it is developed) will be deployed as intended or at all. As DOTs are native tokens to Polkadot, they will not come into existence, whether as part of the Polkadot genesis block or otherwise, if there is no deployment of the Polkadot genesis block.

Frozen funds lead to stalled plans

We might not see that genesis block after all.  The company developing Polkadot, Parity Technologies, reported that there was a significant vulnerability in the Ethereum parity wallet library contract and some 68 percent of the ICO-raised funds in ETH are frozen.

The funds were raised during an auction that took place for three days after the opening of the year-long ICO. At the end of the auction, the final DOT price was 0.109 ETH meaning that a total of 485,331 ETH was raised from the sale of the five mln tokens.

At the time of writing, the above ETH figure is worth some $345 mln. A very impressive figure from just an action. Despite the frozen funds, the team at Parity Technologies insists that they will meet the Q3 2019 launch date on time. This coin still has potential, yet its practical use case still must be proved for a better understanding of what it is supposed to do.

The link: https://cryptocomes.com/past-ico-review-polkadot-wait-what-does-it-do

05/04/18 Bitcoin Bulls Gain Confidence, Litecoin and NEO Grow, Monero Falls Behind


Bitcoin achieves previous local maximum. Litecoin and NEO react positively, while Monero investors are still in despair

By the end of the first week of May, the market has returned to its normal state: assets are regaining independence and no longer moving up and down synchronously, Bitcoin and altcoins are compelled to fight for the attention of investors who are investing funds with a great deal of caution. As we expected, the phase of unrestrained growth for altcoins is over for now, while Bitcoin’s lateral movement continues (despite yesterday's achievements of bulls).

The number of both long and short margin positions is falling, which means that exchanges will be less aggressive in using bots for price manipulation.

Although, the market still needs a shepherd- a big player who will indicate the direction of movement, especially for Bitcoin.

On the other hand, the price of most altcoins has arrived at a comfortable value for holders- less than January’s, perhaps, but enough for respectable portfolios.

Movement of top 10 assets becomes multidirectional

Market capitalization has grown to $450 bln in the course of the day. The $10 bln gain can be attributed to the price increase of Bitcoin. The main question at the moment- will these funds remain with the main asset or will they be dispersed among altcoins? Out vote goes for the first version. For the first time in a long while, we see multidirectional movement among the top 10 coins. The old-timers Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and Litecoin all show gains, and IOTA joins them from the less “traditional” assets. Other altcoins are at a loss, with EOS doing worse than others with a decline of seven percent.

BTC/USD

The break through the triangle happened earlier than we expected, and the prices were not given a chance to test the level of $8,900. Even now, after updating the previous local maximum (the new one is $9,780), we do not discount the possibility of correction.

Despite the obvious growing trend, we can only be confident that Bitcoin has left the lateral trading after it gains a foothold above the psychologically significant mark of $10,000.



Readers who bought Bitcoin after the upward break in the triangle can be congratulated, but they should not lose vigilance- the market will certainly try to take this profit away. The price has already been corrected to 0.786 of the old Fibonacci grid, and may even go down further, to the value of 0.618 and the price of $9,350, respectively. The equilibrium price in the lateral trade is $9,200, coinciding with the correction level of 0.5 and the intersection of the already broken facet of the triangle and the ascending channel. Such points of accumulated interest often act as magnets for the price, but it is unlikely to be reached today.

Prospects for further growth after a quick bullish run also remain vague, but the targets are clearly seen. The closest is $10,200, the next one is indicated by the mirror level and the 1.618 value of the Fibonacci extension- $10,500. The day’s key mark is at $9,550, if the price gets a hold above it, the scenario of further growth is more likely, otherwise- the scenario of correction.

LTC/USD

Despite a growth dynamic resembling Bitcoin’s, which becomes evident when comparing charts, the situation for Litecoin investors is less optimistic (though recently, that always seems to be the case).

If the main asset was able to overcome its previous high, its younger brother has formed a classic "double top” with the potential for further correction.



The nearest correction level is 0.236, coinciding with the price of $152, and Litecoin will almost definitely not fall below $144. Immediate growth is also unlikely, but over a few days, the price may reach $175, which is indicated by the activation of the potential flag. Above, Litecoin will face the most powerful mirror resistance level, which has more than once held back growth- it is marked in green on the chart. We recommend close monitoring of the asset’s approach to this level.

XMR/USD

We don’t have any good news for Monero investors today. The asset is experiencing difficulties with rising above the $260 level, which has turned into a resistance. Young bull calves (we can’t quite call them mature bulls) were able to push the price out of the descending channel for a short time, but could not hold the position.



But even if success favored the horned ones, the parallel expansion of this channel a little bit higher would certainly foil plans for further growth. Because of this, we predict that the asset will once again test the level of $230, where buyers should try their hardest to support the coin.

We don’t see any prospects of rapid growth for Monero - at best, the bulls can expect a test of the previous local high-  $300.

The medium-term goal of $340, which we marked on the chart, can be kept in mind, but there are no reasons to count on its rapid achievement.

NEO/USD

We are definitely liking NEO’s chart: the asset is slowly but confidently moving in the ascending channel, without sudden ups or downs. In addition, confidence in the asset’s future is boosted by the huge initial purchase volume which we observed at the end of April. Active purchases started from the level of $80, which means that it will serve as a support in case of a negative development.



The medium-term prospective target for NEO remains the same- it is $105. However, some interference can be seen from the mirror level, similar to the one on the Litecoin chart. It is likely that the price will rebound from it, without reaching the designated goal directly. Depending on the growth rate, this can happen in the range of $98-$102.

The link: https://cryptocomes.com/bitcoin-bulls-gain-confidence-litecoin-and-neo-grow-monero-falls-behind

05/03/18 Fresh Capital Inflow Helps Crypto Market Grow, Altcoins Feed Off Bitcoin

Bitcoin wants to break free: $9,000 is left behind, but a strong resistance lies ahead. Altcoins have some time to grow



After a short pause, the celebrations in the altcoin camp continues. By the beginning of Thursday, we can see moderate growth for all assets, with the exception of only a few coins including Verge, TRON and Stellar, but even those fell back just a few percent. This growth looks forced- it’s difficult to move upward for a long time without fallbacks, heavy coins feel the gravity more, but a trend is a trend and has to be reckoned with.

And what about Bitcoin? It seems that the father has become a blood donor for the children- its dominance makes up 35.9 percent at the time of writing. Since the beginning of the year, Bitcoin has already lost more than 10 percent of the market share. However, there is no doubt that it will eventually return all losses, redeeming the altcoins’ debt with interest.

Here is the remarkable part- despite the drop in dominance, Bitcoin price itself has been growing slowly over the last 24 hours. From this discrepancy, we conclude that the market is not just stewing in its own juices, but has new players with fresh capital.

IOTA’s turn to get some positive news hype

Thanks to this, total capitalization has grown by another $20 bln and now amounts to $440 bln, which is a record since the beginning of March. Among the top 10 coins, Bitcoin Cash has shown the best results with an increase of 13 percent, boosted by the news of being added to the London Block Exchange, and is followed by IOTA which has displaced TRON in ninth place. The coin grew an impressive 20 percent aided by the announcement of IOTA Ecosystem- a “home” for developers and members of the project’s community.

BTC/USD

In the context of a generally positive mood, Bitcoin is growing as well, although it would make more sense if it fell. Buyers are not allowing the asset’s price to fall significantly, but it’s far from setting local records. It is hard to say right now whether this is a plan by some higher powers that need a stable Bitcoin to guarantee altcoin growth. In any case, the descending channel has been broken. We left just its upper boundary on the chart- most likely, we will see testing of this mirror level.



On the new markup, first of all, we draw the readers’ attention to the ABC triangle, the activation of which will determine the future fate of not only Bitcoin but the entire market.

While prices are inside the triangle, we do not advise any purchase-sale transactions- this should only be done if one of the triangle facets is broken.

In the course of the day, we are likely to see a test of the upper facet at the level of $9,300-$9,350. If the resistance proves to be strong enough, Bitcoin will be testing the opposite side at $8,900 where the former descending channel will remind us of itself.

If the bears persevere, the set of decline targets  $8,800 - $ 8,560 - $ 8,400 will become relevant. They all correspond to values of the Fibonacci grid, as well as to mirror levels. In the case of the triangle breaking upward, the nearest prospective target, aside from the previous local maximum at $9,750, will be $10,500.

BCH/USD

The surge in purchase volumes over the past 24 hours confirms investors' interest in Bitcoin Cash. Having formed the "double bottom" figure with a minimum of $1,230, the asset began the next growth stage and is attempting to overcome the previous high at $1,580. We believe that lateral trading will move to the upper level, which will become the launching pad for further movement.



The prospective goal of bulls is clearly seen at $1,800: it is confirmed by the mirror level, and by the 1.618 value of the Fibonacci extension, and by the boundary of the symmetrical figure, which suggests itself as the zone for the new lateral trading. The triple confirmation inspires confidence, but let's not forget that Bitcoin Cash trading is playing crypto on hard mode. Moreover, as usual, a lot depends on the original Bitcoin. In case of negative developments, a fallback to the level of $1,300 is possible. Therefore, once again, we recommend that readers refrain from trading until the situation becomes clear.

ETH/USD

Ethereum buyers have attained an important achievement- the price was returned to the long-term ascending channel, formed in early April. Now, in case of correction, a price drop to $535 looks unlikely, but $575 remains possible. In order to stay within the channel, the bulls will need to do their best. Because of its steep slope, slowing down is not permissible, so Ethereum investors need to pray for continued Bitcoin growth.



In the case of a continued upward movement, the prospective target that we indicated earlier, $800, gets closer. For greater accuracy, we constructed a Fibonacci extension and got a target range of $780-$800. At the moment, Ethereum is looking better than the market, trading volumes remain stable. In case of correction, we recommend increasing long positions.

XRP/USD

Storm clouds are beginning to lift over Ripple investors. However, while the price is in the lower register of the ascending channel, it is premature, just as in the case of Ethereum, to say that the threat has passed completely. The safe margin of movement from the current price of $0.87 is insignificant - only $0.02, while the critical level coincides with the 0.382 value of the Fibonacci retracement and the intersection of the ascending and the descending channels.



In addition to the immediate growth target of $0.96-$1, the Fibonacci expansion points to a prospective target of $1.085, but it’s a hefty 25 percent away, so its attainment in the next few days is extremely unlikely. We believe that until the end of the weekend, the trading range will be $0.85-$ 0.92, at best.

The link: https://cryptocomes.com/fresh-capital-inflow-helps-crypto-market-grow-altcoins-feed-off-bitcoin

05/02/18 Bitcoin, EOS and Ripple Recover From Small Correction, Monero Sinks

Volatility stays low despite expectations, Bitcoin, EOS and Ripple bounce back as neither buyers nor sellers make their move

Just as for seafarers any kind of wind is better than dead calm, for a cryptotrader any fluctuation in prices is better than stability, on which, with all effort and skill, it is difficult to make any profit. We are talking specifically about crypto trading, because in traditional markets, low volatility is the norm, and margin trading, where the risk/return ratio is easily regulated by changing the size of the long or short position, is actively used to compensate for small adjustments in trading pairs.

For the cryptocurrency market, this approach can be disastrous, because low volatility here is an exception to the rule, a temporary trend. No one knows when it will end- in a day or in a month.

Therefore, we are getting the impression that players’ vigilance is being relaxed deliberately, since we’ve seen the “whales” change Bitcoin price by as much as $1,000 in a day, and the lesser the capitalization of an asset, the easier it is to manipulate its value.

Stronger inverse correlation between market cap and Bitcoin dominance

By the middle of the week, market capitalization has grown to $420 bln. Recently, another trend has formed: market growth is accompanied by a decrease of Bitcoin dominance (today down to 36.5 percent), which confirms the conclusion that altcoins are the driving force. On the other hand, altcoins can lose value as quickly as they gain it, so $20 bln fluctuations in capitalization go by unnoticed and have virtually no effect on the price of the top 10 assets.

Today, also, changes in the prices of top coins are insignificant, with average gains of three to five percent. EOS has grown the most after a rapid restart, increasing by 12 percent, followed by Cardano and Stellar with nine percent. After 24 hours, Bitcoin is still dawdling at $9,000, while TRON finished its growth stage and has lost a modest 1.5 percent so far.

BTC/USD

During the previous day’s trades, before returning to initial values, Bitcoin reached our first decline target- the minimum was $8,818, we’ll consider an $18 error acceptable. Seller pressure was contained by the boundary of the descending channel, which received another confirmation as a result. Now, if the channel continues to be relevant, a new bear attack will take the prices below $8,700.



The moment of truth on the chart could be defined by the points of intersection of the young descending and long-term ascending channels. Depending on speed of movement, they are marked by numbers one and two respectively.

In case the first scenario is realized, the breakthrough to the second decline target $8,400-$8,500, with a subsequent rebound and return above the boundary of the ascending channel becomes obvious.

But in case of reaching point two, there may be no downbreak, more than that, an upward breakthrough the formed triangle may give an impulse for new purchases and cancel the scenario of further correction.

EOS/USD

As we expected on Monday, after the fallback EOS continued to trade in the range of $17-$ 20, and the minimum price since the beginning of the week was $16. Buyer support was provided by the nearest level of Fibonacci retracement- 0.236. For now, trading volumes remain high, but yesterday the lion’s share of transactions was made up by sales, so in the upcoming days we may see a slight decrease of investor interest in the asset.



Due to the spasmodic movement of the price, there is still not enough data for building channels according to the rules of technical analysis. Therefore, we cheated a bit and built an ascending channel on the basis of the mirror level, to which the price of the asset was previously sensitive. Today we expect a decrease in the volatility of trades with an equilibrium price of $18. Meanwhile, the previously mentioned range of $17-$ 20 is unlikely to be expanded. It is still best to refrain from purchases.

XRP/USD

A stable Bitcoin continues to give Ripple the opportunity to please investors. The ascending channel has held, and the price has formed some margin of safety. Until Bitcoin marches on to conquer the second decline target, this margin should be sufficient.



The situation is complicated somewhat by the approach to the boundary of the descending channel. Its intersection with the ascending channel forms a triangle, which will be resolved within 24 hours at the most. We do not exclude the possibility that it might be activated upwards, taking prices to the level of $0.88-$0.9.

The set of decline targets at $0.77 and $0.70 remains relevant, but the probability of their attainment, especially the second one, has slightly decreased since yesterday.

XMR/USD

There is still no cause for joy in the Monero camp. It’s true that the support of $230-$235 has held, but trade volumes are not indicating any enthusiasm from buyers, and the asset itself continues to move in the lower register of the descending channel.



In the course of the day, we expect a repeat test of $235. If it does not hold (especially in case of negative developments on Bitcoin), the possibility of a decline to the range of $213-$220 will be higher.

In this case, correction will reach the 0.618 value of the Fibonacci grid, and if even at this level investors remain indifferent, we will have to reconsider the attractiveness of the asset for the medium term.

Nevertheless, the huge amount of capital that came into Monero on April 18 is still there, and will certainly be defended- there is no reason to panic at the moment.

The link: https://cryptocomes.com/bitcoin-eos-and-ripple-recover-from-small-correction-monero-sinks

Mayday Distress: Bitcoin Falls Below $9,000 Dragging Down Ethereum, Litecoin



Mayday, Mayday! The market spirals down as Bitcoin nosedives to $9,000.

The last month of spring begins, and today we would like to look back on how expectations have been changing in the market since the beginning of the year. At first, investors assumed that given the intense media attention to cryptocurrencies, the correction would be brief and the new growth spurt will follow in February. This did not happen.

Then, realizing that the decline is getting drawn out, many prepared themselves for Bitcoin’s fall to $4,500. And again, the players were deceived in their expectations. Finally, after the trend reversal was confirmed, buyers bet on Bitcoin as the guiding star that would lead the entire market to a brighter future. But the altcoins took over the spotlight.

What does this all mean? Only that the cryptocurrency market does not lend itself to a medium term forecast in the classical sense (several months). A confident discussion of the potential of Bitcoin and other assets in the long term, also, can only be attempted by Mr. McAfee, perhaps. On the other hand, short term technical analysis never loses its relevance. Fortunately for our readers, that is exactly what we know how, and love, to do.

A reckoning day for EOS and NEO

By Tuesday, market capitalization fell 7 percent, down to $409 bln. Bitcoin dominance almost returned to its stable 38 percent.

The overwhelming majority of positions have turned red, with the only exception in the top 10 being TRON, with a growth of 3 percent compared to yesterday.

EOS is doing worst of all, falling by 16 percent, although that’s hardly a surprise. It is followed by NEO with minus 10 percent, and the third place from the bottom is shared by Stellar and Bitcoin Cash, which declined by 9 percent within the day. Needless to say, it was these four coins that especially pleased investors for the past two weeks. Well, the hour of reckoning has come.

BTC / USD

As we predicted yesterday, Bitcoin investors could not take the pressure of a prolonged lateral trade, so by the end of Monday the rate of the cryptocurrency started creeping down slowly, having fallen out of the ascending channel formed in mid-April.

In addition, on the chart we see the formation of a narrow descending channel, which can become a haven for the price of the main asset in the next few days.



The immediate target of the decline is the range of $8,800 - $8,750. To those readers who agreed with our opinion from yesterday's review and opened a short position, in the hope of making a profit on the fall, we recommend reducing the position at least by half at this level.

The second goal, which we have been mentioning for some time, is in the range of $8,400 - $ 8,500. Its achievement is quite realistic, unlike, for example, $8,100, which also fits into the current picture, but might not be reached. This is related to the fact that investors will attempt to direct profits earned on altcoins mostly into Bitcoin, which will provide additional support to the asset.

ETH / USD

Like Bitcoin, Ethereum could not hold on to the ascending channel. The hopeful news is that, unlike Bitcoin, it has not yet formed a descending channel, having rebounded from the nearest support in the form of the 0.236 Fibonacci correction at  $630.



The next support coincides simultaneouA more negative situation as compared to Ethereum is explained by the fact that Litecoin has reached the 0.382 value of the Fibonacci retracement already. Therefore, any additional weakness of the main asset will push Litecoin to a lower level - $135.

Buyers will have to work hard to hold this level, but they do not have any other choice - if the mirror support-resistance is broken, then the prospects for Litecoin are not at all rosy.

XRP / USD

Among all assets discussed today, Ripple is still doing best of all. The growth channel has been tested, but not broken, although we are under no illusion about its reliability in case of Bitcoin’s continued correction. Among negative points, there is the decline of trading volumes which began after the events on the exchange that we addressed on April 26.sly with the next mark on the Fibonacci grid, and with a solid mirror level at $575. We believe that achieving the second goal coincides with Bitcoin’s decline to $8,400 - $8,500.

A deeper correction of the main asset could theoretically open the door leading Ethereum to $535, but this scenario is not the primary one at the moment.




LTC / USD

We have not reviewed the Litecoin chart for some time, but were not particularly surprised by the nearly complete absence of significant changes. The asset left the ascending channel a week ago and since then has been trading in the narrow range of $145 - $155, showing a flatter movement than even Bitcoin.



The nearest support, with a double confirmation in the form of a mirror level and a 0.382 value of the Fibonacci correction, is close by at $0.77. Further, there are the levels $0.70 and, as an extreme possibility, $0.65. However, we doubt that the latter will be reached. Most likely, despite the fears associated with the bugs (or malicious intent) of Bitfinex, investors will show increased interest in Ripple already at $0.70.

The link: https://cryptocomes.com/mayday-distress-bitcoin-falls-below-9000-dragging-down-ethereum-litecoin

Ethereum Trading Guide for Beginners

Ethereum trading, main features of ETH, how to become professional trader and investor

Ethereum is a platform for decentralized applications. The concept of this system was offered by Vitalik Buterin in 2014. Canadian developer positioned his project as an alternative Blockchain system with brand new tools for developers around the World. This is a complete Ethereum trading guide for beginners, which will help you to understand how to buy this crypto and what are the main aspects that influence Ethereum’s price.

Why Ethereum looks attractive for traders and investors

This system has wider tools as compared to Bitcoin. Main Ethereum’s idea is to provide businesses as well as individuals with reliable tools for transactions and their activities.


Ethereum has better scalability than Bitcoin meaning the higher speed of transactions and their lower fees. The project has an open source nature allowing businesses to create their own Blockchains.

The key factors to influence Ethereum’s price

Ethereum is a decentralized network with no governmental body to supervise it or to affect coins’ price. There is no regulatory authority as compared to traditional markets where central banks have the right to issue currencies and to affect them by their decisions.


Cryptocurrencies’ trading is not an easy trip to do. You need to monitor several aspects in order to take a decision as they influence demand, which is crucial for Ethereum’s price. Here they are:

Experts’ opinion

This is one of the main factors that affect ETH’s cost. Those experts may be famous investors or developers from cryptocurrency community. Their comments are very important for traders and may result in huge price changes. It is to mention that Vitalik Buterin’s view is also a key factor that may influence Ether price.


Deployment of technology

Ethereum is more than just a cryptocurrency as this platform allows users to make contract and create dApps (decentralized applications). This is one of the key factors of Ethereum’s success. The wider this technology will be spread, the more users it will attract and the more investments Ethereum will get in future. This may positively affect ETH’s price.

Ethereum’s popularity grows as this technology attracts attention of both businesses and consumers. Smart contracts, for example, offer the opportunity to conduct transactions without mediators. How do they work?


Let’s say a buyer purchase a keyboard online. He does all the necessary steps on the website. The funds, necessary to complete the transaction are frozen within the Smart contract, which includes the price of this keyboard, and the delivery conditions. Once the buyer receives the keyboard, he confirms the transaction and his funds are transferred to online shop.

Events and investors’ moods

Every professional trader and investor has seen at least one huge price drop irrespective of the market they trade. There was significant price falls on stock markets during 2008-2009 crisis period, provoked by investors’ panic and rumors.


All bans and restrictions lead to fears and result in downtrends. However, when there are positive events, Ethereum’s price goes upwards.

Technology uniqueness

One of the main factors of Ethereum’s success is uniqueness of the technology. As we had mentioned it before, this system was created not only to support the inner cryptocurrency or to allow user to conduct faster and cheaper transactions as compared to Bitcoin, but also to provide businesses with wide range of tools to create different applications and to use smart contracts.

Find more on topic https://cryptocomes.com/ethereum-trading-guide-for-beginners

Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin was selected to be among the four distinguished scientists to receive Liberty Science Center's  (LSC) 2018 Genius Awards.

Twenty-four year old Buterin will be honored for his contribution towards creating Ethereum, the world’s second most valuable cryptocurrency behind Bitcoin.

Read more: https://cryptocomes.com/ethereum-founder-vitalik-buterin-to-receive-genius-award

Past ICO Review: Mysterium, an ICO as Mysterious as the Name

Mysterium offers a decentralized VPN powered by users renting out unused network capacity.

Lithuania-based Mysterium is a decentralized, private VPN powered by Blockchain technology. It is an Open Sourced Network allowing anyone to rent out their unused network traffic while providing a secure connection.

Bubble ICO: popped quickly, bubbled up again, burst

The Mysterium ICO debuted May 30, 2017 and raised more than $13 mln in the one-day ICO sale. The Mysterium token entered the market at $2.45. One month later, at the end of June, it was down to $1.66. At the end of July, it was down further to $0.74, sinking to $0.48 by the end of November, before rocketing up to more than $4.00 in January!

The gains were brief, as it came crashing back down below $1.00 in January and has stayed there since that time. Mysterium was listed on Bittrex before it was removed earlier in 2018, possibly due to the crash in the price. According to the Mysterium team on the Reddit ADA in March 2018:

When the MYST token has been integrated in the VPN and nodes with the payments system we will be able to apply for relisting. We are also in the final stages of negotiations with several exchanges for listing. As mentioned previously we will be listed on at least one medium size exchange and a decentralized one. MYST is currently listed on: centralized- Liqui, BigONE; decentralized - IDEX, ForkDelta.

Additionally, according to the Mysterium Website, there will be a second ICO sometime in 2019. Perhaps, the second coming of an ICO will help lift the company back up.

Much potential, but lack of action scares investors 

It is rather surprising that Mysterium did not do better considering the privacy services that it offers to users:

- Focus on network participant benefits

- Private data is decentralized

- Obstructed access of your data for third parties

- Perfect competition sets fair price

- Essentially, you get paid to rent your unused network capacity

Since the first ICO almost one year ago, Mysterium has been pretty quiet about what is developing. A second AMA was held on April 19, 2018 on Reddit, but there have been no updates as to what questions were selected and answered. Investors need to see the progress of the technology to realize the potential to invest.

Possible prosperity ahead

While Mysterium might seem like one of the many ICO losers, it had a massive spike in January before falling back down. That spike makes it stand out in the crowd of failed ICOs. A second ICO on the horizon and a pending response to the Reddit AMA give hope that Mysterium will rise from the ashes like the Phoenix.

Furthermore, this coin was designed to facilitate more secure internet usage. Aside from working on establishing entirely private internet usage, Mysterium focuses on providing the users of its technology with an internet connection that is solid, stable and secure. Globally, the internet is challenged by many regimes and oppressive governments, and not everyone has an established fast internet connection, or any connection at all.

The link: https://cryptocomes.com/past-ico-review-mysterium-an-ico-as-mysterious-as-the-name

04/27/18 Bitcoin, Ethereum and Monero Fight Off Bears While Litecoin Retreats

Guess what? Another surprise! The market defies expectations as Bitcoin rises to $8,325.

The deviousness of the market as a whole and of its individual subjects is limitless. Yesterday we had the opportunity to observe how the money gets taken away from traders who forgot about caution and risk management.

Manipulators, with the eager assistance of exchange bots, twisted prices this way and that, directing them according to their own wishes and against market orders.

As a result, correction was replaced by growth, and the crowd, having expected (not without grounds) a further decline in cryptocurrency prices, rushed to increase long positions again.

Capitalization bounces around as Bitcoin dominance stays still

The total capitalization of the market continues to leap back and forth around the key mark and amounts to $416 bln by the beginning of Friday. Bitcoin dominance surprises us with its stability - it has not deviated from 38 percent for several days now.

The absolute majority of the top 10 coins grew by 4 to 6 percent. Stellar, having grown by 20 percent, is in the vanguard today, justifying its logo in the shape of a rocket. It’s followed by IOTA with a more modest, but still above average, increase of 12 percent.

BTC / USD

Despite all the stars in the sky of technical analysis that aligned in favor of further correction, in the second half of past day we saw a sudden price jump to the level of $9,325, coinciding with the boundary of the parallel ascending channel.

At the same time, the chart clearly shows that in the course of 24 hours trading volumes for sales remained consistently higher than for purchases. Why was this the case? We were following the trades closely and we know the answer!



It seems that the exchanges are on a course to sustain the value of the main asset in spite of market sentiment. We are primarily thinking of Bitfinex here, but we’re sure it’s true to some extent for other exchanges as well.

As soon as a large Bitcoin lot was sold, an exchange bot would rush in and fill the remaining void with a string of minimum purchases, bringing the price back to the original value.

One can only imagine the pain this must have caused to traders who parted with long positions. The market is turning out to be a veritable Wild West!

As for potential further price movement, two options are possible. The chart shows the formation of a bullish flag, the full-fledged activation of which can bring prices to the level of previous local highs at $9,650 - $9,750. For today, this would be enough for the bulls.

At the same time, we may be dealing with a false upward price exit. Even though the bearish wedge was broken, point 1 can still serve as the door to further correction. In this case, yesterday's review, with all of its indicated goals,will not lose relevance. At present, the key level is located at $9,200. If the bulls (or manipulators) manage to hold the price above it, then the first scenario is more likely - otherwise, the second.

ETH / USD

Ethereum investors can breathe a sigh of relief: the asset did not embarrass them and survived the correction with dignity. Even if we see a second wave of price declines, the coin has formed a margin of safety which will allow it to stay inside the growth channel for some time. The markup that we placed earlier also remains in force.



The boundary of the ascending channel remains the most important support for Ethereum. If during continued correction it is broken through, the next support for buyers is at the 0.236 level of the Fibonacci grid and coincides with $630.

This is followed by the 0.382 value of the same grid and the price $575. Considering how well the asset is holding up, our third correctional targe of $535 becomes increasingly more illusory. As with Bitcoin, the growth scenario is currently limited by the previous high at the level of $710.

LTC / USD

Unlike Ethereum, Litecoin has left the ascending channel and, given the turmoil in the market, it will have a difficult time returning there. At the time of writing, the asset is trading at an equilibrium price of $150 and is ready to follow in the direction where its commander Bitcoin will point.



The diligence with which the remaining fans of Litecoin protected the level of $145, coinciding with the 0.382 value of the Fibonacci retracement, deserves respect. Long lower shadows of candles indicate a decisive stance, but that won’t help the asset if Bitcoin updates previous local lows.

In such a case, the next, and very likely last, stop on the way down will be the level of $137, although the possibility of reaching $130 cannot be completely ruled out.

XMR / USD

It’s been a while since we’ve examined the Monero chart, but nothing critical has taken place in the meanwhile.

The return to the previous ascending channel while most assets have fallen out of theirs - or just barely holding on - is a good sign.



In the event of negative developments, the targets for bears are $245 near the 0.382 value of the Fibonacci retracement and $230, although the arrival at that mark is very questionable. More likely, buyers will try to hold the price at the level of $245 as long as possible, with the hope that Bitcoin’s drop (if it happens at all) will not go too far. It is too early to discuss growth targets - to begin with, Monero needs to reach its previous highs at  the level of $300.

The link: https://cryptocomes.com/bitcoin-ethereum-and-monero-fight-off-bears-while-litecoin-retreats

Past ICO Review: The DAO Split ETH and Subsequently Destroyed itself

The DAO: the Ethereum-based coin that hard forked Ethereum and blew itself out of existence

The DAO - Decentralized Autonomous Organization - was one of the spectacular ICO failures. After collapsing, it simply ceased to exist. It is not searchable on CoinMarketCap. An error in its software code was exploited by hackers and $50 million of its $168-million ICO-raised funds were stolen, leaving investors frenzied to sell and get out as quick as possible. The result was a massive price collapse, subsequent delisting from exchanges and eventual abandonment.

The short-lived DAO was a game changer, as it burst forth to introduce a paradigm shift in the way of thinking about finances in the digital age. The now-defunct DAO was meant to operate a venture capital fund for the cryptocurrencies and decentralized space.

The lack of a centralized authority would reduce costs and, in theory, provide more control and access to the investors. This is a massive benefit for investors who want to reduce trading and maintenance fees.

Smart complex contracts - maybe too complex?

DAO operated a complex Smart Contract code with many features. The contract system would have allowed companies to make proposals for funding. Once a proposal was white-listed by one of the curators, the DAO token holders, or investors,  would then need to vote on the proposal.

If the proposal got a 20 percent quorum, the requested funds would be released into the white-listed contractor's wallet address. This idea was revolutionary in the way that investors could make proposals and then be funded by democratic voting principles. This was great on paper, but when it came to coding it, problems arose.

Code carefully

When the DAO smart contract was created, the coders did not take into account the possibility of a software command known as a recursive call. The fact that the smart contract code first sent the ETH funds and then, only after sending the funds, updated the internal ledger balance, meant that the code could be exploited to drain accounts for more than the balance. In this case a recursive call could keep taking funds from the account before the ledger had a chance to reconcile itself. This is what allowed hackers to steal some $50 mln worth of Ether.

Soft Fork, Hard Fork, DAO is done

To remedy the hacking situation and correct the coding, action was taken by the Ethereum community with the use of a soft fork in the software coding that was designed to essentially go back and void all past transactions on the blockchain, including the hack which transferred the $50 mln worth of Ether.

The complex smart contract had what could be called an escrow account that all transactions had to pass through and wait 28 days before being allowed to be cashed out. While the hacker waited for his transactions to clear the soft fork took place and voided his withdrawal.

Or, this is what was supposed to happen, but did not. Further drastic action had to be taken and a hard fork was proposed. The hard fork would allow all the transactions to be voided and essentially reverse the withdrawal of all DAO back into Ether at 100 DAO to 1 ETH. 89 percent of the community supported the hard fork. With that step, DAO was done and Ethereum split into two tokens: the Ethereum we know today and what is known as Ethereum Classic.

While the DAO really had some great innovation behind it, its own coding and structure brought it down. The idea of an automated venture capital funding system is so so novel that it is bound to appear again under the guise of a new name and better coding.

The link: https://cryptocomes.com/past-ico-review-the-dao-split-eth-and-subsequently-destroyed-itself