Bears Getting Their Jabs in During Bitcoin Downtime



Since Bitcoin took a tumble from the great heights of $20,000, the positive predictions have abated with the bears emerging from their caves, getting more vocal as they do. In such a market for Bitcoin, it is easy to predict downturns, which is fueling many anti-Bitcoiners to spread negativity about bubbles and crashes.

Cleary buoyed by his last statement on Bitcoin Peter Boockvar is one of these such people. He has come out again saying the bubble is about to pop and Bitcoin will fall to about $1,000.

The Chief Investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group called Bitcoin crashing a few days before it tipped $20,000 and then collapsed to half that.

This Wall Street veteran again highlights the divide that is still strongly cut in Wall Street. With more adoption, there has been some softening of opinions, so much so that even the steadfast Jamie Dimon has changed his tune.

In the current cryptocurrency market, it is easy to make dire predictions on the likes of Bitcoin, which is struggling to make it back from its drop. As such, there has been onrushing of bears to the fore.


FUD or market manipulation?

These predictions cannot be stopped, or nor should they, for it is freedom of speech and the opinion of an expert in the field - albeit sometimes the field of institutionalized investing is distant from cryptomarkets.

However, their power is akin to the power of positive prediction and the hype that comes with them. In the run to Bitcoin’s peak last year, the likes of Ronnie Moas, John McAfee, Tom Lee and others were battling to keep their predictions up with the rising price of the digital currency.


90 percent down by year-end

Those Bulls have been silenced somewhat  and it has left a soapbox open for Boockvar, who said:

    "I think over time Bitcoin's going to be around for a long time but the price itself I wouldn't be surprised if over the next year it's down to $1,000 to $3,000."

This is, of course, an opinion of someone who has been anti-Bitcoin from the outset, and bearish on its chances. What this entails for Boockvar is more how it can impact the stock market, an environment the Wall Street veteran is far more comfortable in.

"From an economic standpoint it's not really something that's relevant in a $19 tln economy," Boockvar said when asked if Bitcoin’s collapse would have far-reaching implications.

"Maybe in South Korea and Japan – and even in the US – where people are taking on credit card debt to buy coins, yeah they are going to be necessarily impacted,” he added.


Who to trust

While the sentiment in the crypto market is always seemingly heavily swayed one way or the other, with very little time for a stable middle ground, it becomes tough to follow opinions. In these bearish times, it is easy to make negative comments on Bitcoins chances, and equally so, it is easy to predict the moon in the good times.

Co-founder and Fundstat strategist, Lee is one of the few on Bitcoiners that are speaking out. Instead of seeing the low points in Bitcoins trajectory as panic points, he sees them as buy opportunities. Lee said:

    "We expect Bitcoin's major low to be $9,000, and we would be aggressive buyers around that level [...] We view this $9,000 as the biggest buying opportunity in 2018."

He also added a reversal of Boockvar’s opinion forecasting that Ethereum and Ethereum Classic would see about 90 percent growth by the end of the year.


Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/bears-getting-their-jabs-in-during-bitcoin-downtime

I think the Chinese government really like the idea of centralized currency where the government controls every penny. They hate bitcoin because it is the currency which is truly decentralized, they can't control it while their people are using it. Bitcoin is the currency of the people by the people. it gives people freedom by putting them in control of their money.

As of November/December 2017, the bitcoin is safer and more profitable than any coin while since early January 2018 the Ethereum is growing consistently. At the current time, the Ethereum price is more stable and profitable compared to bitcoin. But we are still in January, meaning it is too early to say which coin is better than the other because we still have a long way to go in this year 2018.

Bitcoin is a digital currency that is fast, secure, and decentralized. Bitcoin is currently acceptable worldwide. I think people should invest in bitcoin because the value of bitcoin appreciates over time. People should invest in bitcoin for long-term as it is more profitable for long-term. 

Deutsche Bank: ‘Required Governance’ For Crypto ‘Could’ Arrive By 2023



Deutsche Bank’s Chief Investment Office head Markus Mueller has suggested that “governance” that will legitimize crypto investments could exist in “five to ten years.”

Originally speaking in an interview with Bloomberg on Monday, Jan. 29, Mueller cautioned against current investment in cryptocurrency as only for those “who invest speculatively” while appealing for businesses in the sphere to work together with regulators.

“Once security and the corresponding trust have been created, cryptocurrencies can be assessed and evaluated like established asset classes,” he forecast.

    “It’s possible that the required governance will be in existence in five to ten years.”

Deutsche Bank has traditionally taken a bearish view on cryptocurrencies as prices rise, cautioning in December that a major fall in Bitcoin was being “discounted as a small issue” by financial markets.

The lack of volatility in traditional stocks was driving investor interest in more risky assets such as Bitcoin, fellow Deutsche Bank analyst Masao Muraki determined in a note mid-January.

“Now, a growing number of institutional investors are watching cryptocurrencies as the frontier of risk-taking to evaluate the sustainability of asset prices,” he wrote.

Germany continues to fall behind in its treatment of cryptocurrencies at the consumer level, providing a stark contrast to initiatives in other countries, such as neighboring Switzerland.

Earlier this month, the country’s central bank director nonetheless precluded comments from UK and US lawmakers at the World Economic Forum 2018 that regulation of cryptocurrency should be a joint international effort.

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/deutsche-bank-required-governance-for-crypto-could-arrive-by-2023

World’s Largest Investment Company: ‘Interesting’ Bitcoin Is Under ‘Close Review’



Isabelle Mateos Y Lago, chief multi-asset strategist at BlackRock, an investment management corporation with $5.7 trln in assets under management, has said that the company is keeping cryptocurrency under “close review” as an “interesting development.”

Speaking to Bloomberg TV Monday, Jan. 29, the senior executive said that although cryptocurrency did not constitute “an investable asset” for the world’s largest money manager at present, it was actively tracking progress as it is “clearly evolving very fast.”

The comments temper those of BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, who last week went on record at the World Economic Forum 2018 to describe the space as an “index of money laundering” and previously implied he had no plans to enter the future Bitcoin ETF arena.

As the dust settles on Japanese exchange Coincheck’s $530mln hack, Mateos Y Lago nevertheless saw little reason to discard cryptocurrency investment entirely.

“The fact that interest has persisted despite these repeated hacks,” she continued, describing customer demand for Bitcoin at BlackRock, “despite regulators waking up and trying to catch up with this new development and gradually weeding out all the illegal uses suggests there really is something to it.”

    Isabelle Mateos Y Lago, global chief multi-asset strategist at BlackRock Investment Institute, says Bitcoin isn't investable "at this stage" https://t.co/1808eRwzNO pic.twitter.com/8jgKsUH9Jg
    — Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) January 29, 2018

By adopting a ‘not-now-but-later’ perspective on interaction, BlackRock echoes sentiments from Deutsche Bank’s Chief Investment Office leader Markus Mueller, who likewise told Bloomberg that while crypto is for “speculative” investors now, the next five to ten years should see regulatory progress allow its treatment as an “established asset class.”

“There are lots of ways to get in; the question is, are they safe?” Mateos Y Lago continued on Blockchain and ICO investment opportunities, saying it was “hard to put a fair value” on them for regular investors.


Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/worlds-largest-investment-company-interesting-bitcoin-is-under-close-review

Texas Orders Suspected ‘Cryptocurrency Bank’ Scam To Leave State



Texas regulators have issued an unconditional cease and desist order to the self-described ‘cryptocurrency bank’ AriseBank on Friday, Jan. 26, ordering it to halt any services to the state’s residents.

In a formal press release Friday, the Texas Banking Commissioner Charles G. Cooper implied the business, which has generated considerable controversy with its alleged offerings, does not in fact offer “banking services.”

The release explains:

    “The Cease & Desist Order was based on the Commissioner’s finding that AriseBank violated Texas Finance Code Chapter 31 by using the term “bank” in its name and marketing materials to imply that it is in the business of banking in this state”

“The order requires AriseBank to cease and desist from implying that they engage in the business of banking in Texas. AriseBank is further required to clearly disclose that they do not offer their services to consumers in Texas,” it continues.

Arise came to prominence late last year when an alleged partnership with BitShares and a launch of an ICO were decried as a scam in cryptocurrency circles.

Describing itself as “the first-ever decentralized banking platform,” the project was led by Jared Rice, a figure who himself has attracted negative publicity for defrauding business partners according to complaints portal Ripoff Report.

Arise’s ICO and partnership sparked a dedicated review of the website’s activities, researchers similarly concluding the business was a “total scam.”

Earlier, Cointelegraph reported that the state of Texas had similarly ordered the now-defunct platform Bitconnect to cease and desist in the selling of unlicensed securities.

According to the Texas order, Arise must now comply with the terms and adopt a 100% hands-off approach to Texas consumers by January 26, after failing to reply to the original order issued January 5.

Cointelegraph was unable to verify the situation with AriseBank due to its website no longer functioning as of press time Monday.


Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/texas-orders-suspected-cryptocurrency-bank-scam-to-leave-state

'Bitcoin Could Alter the World', Says Former U.S. Senator Judd Gregg



Former New Hampshire governor and three-term senator Judd Gregg has said he believes bitcoin could alter how the world views currency.

In an opinions piece published by The Hill yesterday, Gregg outlined why he thinks people believe in bitcoin, how bitcoin could be used and what it could mean for the global economy.

Briefly comparing bitcoin to gold, Gregg noted that the latter has value because it is rare and widely accepted by banks, while the former is supported primarily by the belief of its holders. The key difference is that bitcoin is not held by central banks at this time, he wrote.

Since bitcoin is not controlled by any nation, government or central bank, Gregg said, "it sounds so good that one is tempted to say, 'Throw in some pixie dust and it is off to never-never land.'"

He continued:

    " However, that would be too traditional a view. Bitcoin could indeed alter the entire world of commercial transactions.”

Should people have sufficient belief that bitcoinSor subsequent cryptocurrencies have real value, then it could usher in "a new era," he said, and have "staggering" potential as a world currency.

However, Gregg also noted the importance of the dollar in the world economy today, saying it was "difficult to project a time when the dollar will not stand as a core element of world commerce."

The ex-senator's comments come at a time when U.S. politicians are awakening to the technological and fiscal possibilities of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.

In June 2017, Nevada Senator Ben Kieckhefer sponsored a new law paving the way for the state's broad bid to attract new blockchain startups. The bill prohibits the taxation of blockchain technology in Nevada, while at the same time recognizing the legality of blockchain signatures.

And in March last year, a legislative proposal submitted to Maine's Senate, and sponsored by sponsored by the state's senator, Eric Brakey, was aimed to create a commission dedicated to studying the use of blockchain alongside paper ballots in elections.


Source: https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-could-alter-the-world-says-former-u-s-senator-judd-gregg/

Bitfury Enters Bitcoin Crime-Fighting Business with Crystal Launch




After years of working with government agencies leery of bitcoin's seedy past, the blockchain services firm best known for its bitcoin transaction processing business has decided to take matters into its own hands. Launched today, a number of tools collectively identified as Crystal are intended to make it easy for users to identify and investigate criminal activity on the world's largest blockchain.

But that's not to say that the end goal of Crystal is philanthropic.

Developed over a two-year period with feedback from former senior-level government officials, the platform was ultimately created to help bitcoin once and for all move past its association with black market transactions.

The next time potential Bitfury customers balk at getting involved with the cryptocurrency, the CEO of Bitfury Group, Valery Vavilov hopes Crystal will provide a solution.

Vavilov told CoinDesk:

    "The industry needs some very user-friendly tools so that you can track bitcoin transactions and see if this bitcoin address that you're getting money from is green or black."

Beginning today, a light version of the Crystal software will be made available for free to individuals, with pricing for enterprise subscriptions to be released in March.

The core of the toolkit is a detailed risk scoring solution that helps law enforcement agents and investigators trace suspicious transactions to a final address, or a point of withdrawal. By tracking the relationships between so-called "bad actors," Crystal will generate a score of the likelihood a particular address is related to illegal activity.

The results of the data analysis are then presented in a visual graph that can be integrated with other software tools and used to prepare legal reports as part of larger investigations.

Other tools enable the autonomous tracking of bitcoin addresses over time, custom reports that can be sent based on predetermined criteria or triggered by transactions between groups and advanced services that include previously revealed technology for "untangling" transactions that have been sent through laundering software, called mixers.

"We are analyzing the web, we are analyzing the forums, we are analyzing different kinds of sources, and combining this information and getting some kind of result if this transaction is risky or not," said Vavilov.


Untangling from the competition

Overall, Bitfury's entrance into the bitcoin security space marks the latest expansion for the company, founded in 2012 as a bitcoin mining startup.

As part of a larger push to gain industry adoption of blockchain technology, Bitfury last year entered the blockchain industry more broadly, with the launch of Exonum, its own blockchain infrastructure aimed at enterprise users.

Now, to further distinguish Bitfury's enterprise offering, Crystal Pro will be deployable in a customer's in-house architecture, a service designed to extend beyond simply tracking bitcoin transactions and into providing an additional security layer for bitcoin companies.


Crystal Bitfury screen capture

The expansion is important, as a niche industry surrounding blockchain analytics has emerged over the past couple years.

Among the most notable competitors offering users a way to investigate the bitcoin blockchain are Elliptic, which has raised $5 million, Chainalysis, which has raised $1.6 million, and Skry, which was last year acquired by Bloq.

"The bottom line is it is very critical for the blockchain and all of this technology to really advance," said Bitfury global chief communications officer and former White House deputy press secretary Jamie Smith.

She added:

    "And if bad people are doing bad things, then nobody really benefits that's not in anyone's interest."


The justice league

The origin of Crystal goes back to about 2015, when Bitfury was working to help overcome the reluctance of financial institutions and government agencies who were curious about the cryptocurrency.

At the time, Bitfury had just helped kick off the first Blockchain Summit in 2014 at bitcoin supporter and billionaire Richard Branson's personal retreat, Necker Island.

Gathered at the event were numerous blockchain entrepreneurs, several people from Bitfury — and former 15-year veteran of the U.S. Department of Justice, Jason Weinstein, who played a crucial role in inspiring Crystal.

According to Smith, it was at Necker Island where the seeds were first sown for the Blockchain Alliance to explore how private companies could join in the public fight against criminal activity.

Weinstein, who now directs the alliance is also a strategic advisor to Bitfury confirmed Smith's story.

He reflected:

    "I’ve often said that bitcoin is friendlier to cops than it is to crooks, and that criminals should run, not walk, away from using bitcoin. With Crystal, they should be running away even faster."


Source: https://www.coindesk.com/bitfury-enters-bitcoin-crime-fighting-business-crystal-launch/

Buying and holding coins is not as profitable as it was used to be.
Thus, I decided to be working and investing in promising ICOs.
Once the ICO is over I normally sell all the coins/tokens.

I recently discovered, few weeks after the ICO the value of coins/tokens normally drop by a minimum of 30% - so that is my entry level again.
Meaning once I noticed that, I'll just go ahead and rebuy the same coins/tokens at cheaper rates. By doing that, I can make lots of profits.
Share with us what you think about my latest strategy, thanks

A Little Lightning Project Has Two Big Implications




How will the Lightning Network change bitcoin?

Although it might be too soon to know, it's a question everyone's seemingly asking following tests that take the long-anticipated tech closer to launch. The network's garnered its fair share of excitement over the past few months, so much so that individuals and businesses are looking to take advantage of its cheap, fast payments.

Out of this comes a small Japanese startup called Nayuta, which has been experimenting with adding Lightning payments to the Internet of Things, where everything from door locks to BMWs are connected to the internet to increase efficiency.

With this experimentation, Nayuta is exploring a couple of implications of the tech.

First, the startup believes Lightning could bring value to the Internet of Things in a way that old payment systems and bitcoin couldn't because they're both simply too slow.

Second, it's one of the first earnest businesses working on a product built on Lightning, showing that the off-chain network might actually have a business proposition, even this early on.


Lightning + IoT

Nayuta started off in 2015 by adding normal bitcoin transactions to the Internet of Things in a range of prototypes.

But, like others using bitcoin, they were disappointed by its limitations. They found instant "zero-confirmation" transactions weren't secure enough and that 10 minutes was too long to wait for a transaction to be secure.

Then Lightning came along, the idea being it's possible to actually make more secure instant payments (though there are still some caveats). Since it's faster than traditional payments, Nayuta decided it was the "only" solution to Internet of Thing's desire for payments that are as fast as the internet connections that fuel them.

One recently popular Internet of Things product is the so-called "SmartLock." Rather than requiring the metal keys we're all used to (just one more thing to remember), the rightful owner can use their smartphone to unlock it.

Showing the company's switch in gears toward Lightning, they released a proof of concept of such a lock that opens only once it's sent a Lightning payment.

Neither of these things are particularly useful, at least in the current form (why would anyone want to require a payment to unlock something?). But, as Nayuta sees it, these proof-of-concepts demonstrate how real-time payments can for Internet of Things more broadly, one of millions examples being a sensor gathering data about an ocean, and a researcher directly paying the sensor a small fee over the Internet to get that information.

The test payment was made between Nayuta's homegrown Lightning software implementation, dubbed "Thunderbird", and c-Lightning, an software implementation by bitcoin infrastructure startup Blockstream.

In that way, not only does Nayuta "open the door" to interesting Lightning use cases, it also diversifies the number of Lightning software implementations there are, which the company thinks is important, because, it believes, some features are missing from current Lightning implementations.

"We do not think Lightning is ready," Nayuta CEO Kenichi Kurimoto told CoinDesk.


Lighting businesses emerge

All this feeds into the second interesting thing Nayuta is doing: It's one of the first companies to build a business around Lightning, showing that perhaps Lightning has a business proposition.

The handful of Lightning startups out there so far, such as Lightning Labs and Paris-based ACINQ are focused on the low-level technology, not building a product that their company around a particular application of Lightning.

Though, Kurimoto admitted they're not really being sure what to make out of all the prototypes they've launched over the last few years.

"We did not decide the product future. Currently we're concentrating on development of the [Lightning Network] software," Kurimoto said, adding that one company that they can't disclose due to NDAA using their software so far.

Even so, Nayuta sees business promise in this area. Internet of Things payments have been floated for a long time, with even the likes giant payment processor Visa launching payment solutions in this area.

But, to Kurimoto, the current financial infrastructure is behind the times.

If refrigerators want to pay grocery stores and users want to use micropayments to pay for video and so forth, payments often need to be really small and fast. The current financial infrastructure wouldn't be able to handle it.

Kurimoto said:

    "The Lightning Network is the only solution for real-time transactions."


Source: https://www.coindesk.com/little-bitcoin-lightning-project-has-two-big-implications/

Bitcoin Exchange BTCC Just Got Acquired




Bitcoin startup BTCC has been acquired by a Hong Kong-based blockchain investment fund.

While details remain scarce on the deal, BTCC said in a press release that the move will help its efforts to expand internationally following its recent closure in mainland China.

Bobby Lee, BTCC's co-founder, said:

   "Today's acquisition is an incredible milestone for BTCC. ... I'm very excited about the resources this gives BTCC to move faster and aggressively grow our businesses in 2018 and beyond.”

According to the statement, the company now aims to "lead every segment of the digital currency ecosystem," expanding into the international market after Chinese authorities forced the closure of all cryptocurrency exchanges at the end of September 2017.

While its DAX cryptocurrency exchange is no longer in operation, BTCC will focus on its three main products: a mining pool, its Mobi bitcoin wallet and a USD/BTC exchange service.

According to BTCC, which is now registered in the U.K., its exchange business traded over $25 billion in bitcoin in 2017, while its mining pool produced almost $900 million worth in bitcoins in the same year.

CoinMarketCap data indicates that trading volumes for USD/BTC on the BTCC exchange was $123 million over the last 24 hours. It is currently in eighth place in the global volume rankings.

The BTCC pool accounts for 3.2 percent of bitcoin's hashing power at press time, according to blockchain.info.


Source: https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-exchange-btcc-just-got-acquired/

Can Bitcoin Claw its Way Back to Being a Payment System?



The header of the Bitcoin white paper defines the digital currency as “A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.” However, a deeper look into what Bitcoin has become, and where it has come from, shows a very different picture.

Users have flooded to the cryptomarket, usually through the gateway that is Bitcoin, for its possibilities as a store of value and an expanding asset. Its potential to work as a legitimate payment system, one that could replace fiat and revolutionize money, has fallen away somewhat.

There are ways in which to make Bitcoin work as payment system though, even for micropayments like for a cup of coffee, but in all reality, it is still very much a tool for the rich when it comes to its buying power.

There are also plans in the pipeworks to try and bring Bitcoin back to its original purpose, with the Lightning Network being tested in certain instances. The belief being that Lightening network can cut the exorbitant transaction fees, and slice the waiting times to a manageable level.


Not for your daily cup o’ Joe

The way Bitcoin has grown and been shaped with upgrades such as SegWit2x failing to fire has seen its scaling languish. This, tied to the influx of users on the network, has led to a backlog and bottleneck which in turns means slow transactions, and expensive ones to boot. Hardly ideal for a currency.

Because transactions must compete to get picked up by miners, who favor the ones that offer the biggest fees, somebody who wants to move $1 mln can easily afford to offer $20, but someone who wants to buy a pizza probably can’t.

This is why Bitcoin is still growing in adoption for things like art, luxury cars, and real estate as a payment method. The fees matter little, and the transactions are speedy, but this smacks a bit of elitism and inequality, something very much against Bitcoin’s mantra.


Other options?

So, what if you are steadfast in leaving fiat currencies behind and freeing yourself with Bitcoin as a functioning currency?

There are ways to do this, using major exchanges and popular wallets. People, who for instance are with Coinbase, can make Bitcoin payments to one another instantly, through the provider’s own books, without the cost or delay of broadcasting to the Blockchain.

This again though is not really in Bitcoin's mantra as now individuals are trusting a centralized entity to ensure their payments, bypassing the Blockchain which is designed to be this decentralized technology freeing people of such control.


The next Lightning strike

There is an option on the horizon, that is gaining a lot of traction seeing as the first physical transaction using it took place - the Lightning Network.

The idea behind this on-chain upgrade would allow micropayments as a payment channel will be opened between two parties, which is recorded on the Blockchain. This channel allows a user to make as many transactions through this channel as they wish, in a predetermined time. These transactions are not put directly onto the Blockchain but are rather verified once the channel is closed.

Lightning could well become a game changer for Bitcoin as it could maintain its monumental power as a store of value while restraining its bow with a payment string that could double its use effectively.


Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/can-bitcoin-claw-its-way-back-to-being-a-payment-system

IMF’s Lagarde Says That Bitcoin Mining Consumes Too Much Electricity




Bitcoin mining is too energy intensive — that’s the message that International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde has for advocates of the flagship cryptocurrency.


Bitcoin Mining Too Energy Intensive: IMF Director Lagarde

Lagarde, who was speaking from Davos at the World Economic Forum, said that Bitcoin mining is an “energy angry” industry, a factor that the IMF finds concerning.

    “The Bitcoins mining, which is this accelerated and augmented use of computers to actually determine the value and incentive the functioning of the mechanism, is energy angry,” Lagarde said in Bloomberg TV interview. “And we figure that in 2018 if it continues that system will actually consume as much electricity as Argentina.”

According to Bloomberg, the Bitcoin mining industry’s collective power consumption tripled in 2017, reaching a peak daily usage of 43 GWh in December.





Many analysts and environmentalists have sounded the alarm on the industry’s power usage, and Lagarde said that it has turned in to a “big concern” given that the world is already battle climate change.

“In times of climate change and when we look at how much coal is being used in some Chinese provinces to actually mine Bitcoin it’s a big concern,” she concluded.

However, despite such clarion calls, other analysts have said that the industry’s energy consumption has been overblown. Last week, a Credit Suisse report said that although miners’ electricity usage will increase as long as the practice remains profitable, actual projections are a “far cry from the power and environmental Armageddon that some have feared.”


Blockchain ‘Fascinating,’ But Bitcoin Has a ‘Dark Side’

But, as she has on many occasions, Lagarde sought to separate the “technology that is underneath” cryptocurrency from Bitcoin itself. This technology, she has said in the past, will bring “massive disruptions,” a prediction she reiterated in the present interview.

   “What is fascinating about [cryptocurrencies] is the technology that is underneath, this distributed ledger technology that guarantees identification, trustability, authentication of transactions, without intermediation, I think that was the dream of the original Bitcoin inventors,” she said, perhaps without knowledge of Bitcoin’s genesis block.

Lagarde noted that a myriad of central banks have begun to experiment with how to integrate distributed ledger technology (DLT) into their own operations, without sacrificing the authority to control and issue new units of currency.

Public cryptocurrencies, however, have another dark side beyond their massive energy consumption, Lagarde claimed.

“The anonymity of it is likely to facilitate money laundering, dark money moving around, and things that no one is happy about, if we are looking for financial stability and transparency of financial transactions, so that’s the dark side,” she said.

In response to this threat, the IMF recently called for international collaboration on regulating cryptocurrencies, joining similar entreaties from financial regulators in a variety of G20 nations.


Source: https://www.ccn.com/imfs-lagarde-says-bitcoin-mining-consumes-much-electricity/

Bitcoin Won’t Do a Lehman Collapse: Singapore Central Bank FinTech Chief



The financial technology chief of Singapore’s central bank does not foresee a scenario where bitcoin would trigger a global financial meltdown akin to the 2008 collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers.

In an interview with Channel News Asia, Sopnendu Mohanty – chief of financial technology at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the country’s central bank, opined bitcoin will not cause a global financial crisis in the event of a price collapse. The central bank official insisted global regulators are “getting serious about this whole cryptocurrency market”, suggesting authorities would step in with regulations when bitcoin markets continue to grow globally.

He stated:

    We know exactly when to intervene, based on the market size and the demand and transaction volume, and we will come in at the right time. So, I’m not overly worried about getting to some large financial system crisis.

Specifically, Mohanty pointed to consumer protection regulations to address ‘the hype’ surrounding cryptocurrency markets.

Singapore, long seen as a technology-forward society, has emerged as a global FinTech hub and has – through its central bank – had plenty to say about cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology and ICOs (initial coin offerings) recently.

After taking a largely hands-off stance on decentralized cryptocurrencies like bitcoin over the years, Singapore’s central bank cautioned the general public against cryptocurrency investments in December, at a time when bitcoin price was trading at all-time high near $20,000.

In October, the head of Singapore’s central bank insisted that bitcoin itself didn’t need any oversight as a cryptocurrency. Instead, MAS chief Ravi Menon insisted a regulator’s focus ought to be on the abuse of cryptocurrencies for illicit financing and other illegal activities. “So, those [regulatory] requirements apply to the activity around cryptocurrency, rather than the cryptocurrency itself,” Menon said at the time.

Further, the central banker insisted that cryptocurrencies had wider applications in addition to their use as a store of value.

The MAS chief said:

    If it [cross-border remittance] was going through a blockchain using cryptocurrencies, it could yield benefits. That ought to be the question, rather than whether bitcoins or ether are going up in value or not.

After issuing a public advisory urging the public to be diligent in investments into initial coin offerings (ICOs) in August, the central bank released official guidelines for ICO operators in November.


Source: https://www.ccn.com/bitcoin-wont-lehman-collapse-singapore-central-bank-fintech-chief/

LOL Tell him the truth. We are still going head-to-head we need more people to work this out.
It is very funny to see only Legendary members are happy with the new merit system. Why?
Perhaps, they never have to work for the new merit system

Bitcoin Not a ‘Legitimate’ Currency, But a Trusted Digital Currency Could Be: Starbucks Chairman



Bitcoin is not a “legitimate” currency, but a digital currency could one day form the linchpin of a cashless future, at least according to Starbucks Executive Chairman Howard Schultz.

Schultz made this prediction during a post-earnings conference call on Thursday, stressing — as mainstream executives so often do — that distributed ledger technology (DLT) can be leveraged outside of cryptocurrency-based applications.

    “I don’t believe that bitcoin is going to be a currency today or in the future,” Schultz said during the conference call, audio of which can be found on the Starbucks website. “I’m talking about … the possibility of what could happen — not in the near term, but in a few years from now — with a consumer application in which there’s trust and legitimacy with regard to a digital currency.”

The former Seattle Supersonics owner stressed that Starbucks is not planning to launch its own digital currency, as both Kodak and Burger King Russia have done in recent months.

Rather, he said that increasing consumer interest in digital payment options makes it necessary for companies like Starbucks to anticipate future consumer behavior.

    “I’m not bringing this up because Starbucks is announcing that we are forming a digital currency or we’re investing in this,” Schultz said,”I’m bringing this up … as we think about the future of our company and the future of consumer behavior.”

Starbucks is currently pilot-testing its first cashless store, which is located in Seattle, while central banks across the world have begun researching how to use DLT to digitize their fiat currencies.

Support for Russia’s proposed Cryptoruble appears to be picking up steam, as RT reported on Thursday that a legislator had submitted a bill to the country’s parliament that in a bid to make the state-backed digital currency legal tender.

A People’s Bank of China (PBoC) official, meanwhile, published an op-ed this week explaining the government’s vision for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) that would replace cash.

Venezuela is reportedly even planning to hold what is effectively an initial coin offering (ICO) to distribute its “Petro” cryptocurrency, which is purportedly backed by oil reserves, although some analysts believe those claims to be dubious.


Source: https://www.ccn.com/bitcoin-not-a-legitimate-currency-but-a-trusted-digital-currency-could-be-starbucks-chairman/

Cryptocurrency Market Continues Recovery as Ethereum Records 15% Gain



The cryptocurrency market has continued to recover at a rapid rate over the past 24 hours, as several major cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and Ethereum recorded major gains.


Ethereum’s Massive Gain

In particular, Ether, the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network, demonstrated a staggering 15 percent increase in price overnight, from around $1,100 to $1,235. The recent surge in the price of Ether can be attributed to the progress the Ethereum open-source development community has led in scaling the network.





As shown by Etherscan, the Ethereum network is processing more than a million transactions per day. At its peak, the Ethereum network settled over 1.4 million transactions within 24 hours, demonstrating a daily transaction volume that is seven times larger than that of the Bitcoin network.

The increase in the daily transaction volume of the Ethereum network reflects the exponential growth rate of decentralized applications launched on top of the Ethereum protocol. Applications like EtherDelta, 0x, Radar Relay, and CryptoCribs have gained a significant amount of active users over the past few months.

This week, $1.6 billion cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong praised CryptoCribs, a decentralized Ethereum-based Airbnb-like platform with a non-ICO model. In the cryptocurrency industry, it is difficult to find commercially successful decentralized applications that had not conducted initial coin offerings (ICOs), because ICO has become an easy cash grab for developers.

In July of 2017, Aragon co-founder Luis Cuenda stated that he does not know any Ethereum developer who is not a millionaire yet due to the ICO market.

    “I don’t know any good Ethereum developer that isn’t a millionaire — There’s a gold rush among developers to learn the coding language of money,” Cuende stated.

As Cuende noted, evidently, there is a gold rush amongst developers, venture capitals, large conglomerates, and large-scale investors to dive into the Ethereum market. The demand for ICOs have increased to a point in which blockchain startups have stopped launching public ICOs. Today, only whitelisted investors and institutional investors can invest in most ICOs.

Additionally, as the scalability of the Ethereum network continues to improve through innovative solutions like Sharding and Plasma, Ethereum will be able to provide a better infrastructure and ecosystem for decentralized applications.

The price and the market valuation of Ethereum solely depend on the performance and adoption of decentralized applications launched on the Ethereum protocol. If decentralized applications continue to perform well, the price of Ether will reflect the success of decentralized applications.


Trend of the Market

While the cryptocurrency market has demonstrated optimistic signs of short-term recovery over the past week, it is still down $240 billion from its monthly peak at $820 billion. At $586 billion, major cryptocurrencies in the global market such as bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, and Cardano will have to record massive gains in the upcoming weeks to bring the market to its previous highs.

But, cryptocurrencies like Ripple and Bitcoin Cash are down by more than 50 percent from their all-time highs and the with the exception of bitcoin and Ethereum, most major cryptocurrenices have not performed well.

Based on a variety of factors such as the entrance of institutional investors through bitcoin futures and the adoption of cryptocurrencies by large-scale financial firms including Robinhood, analysts remain enthusiastic regarding the short-term growth trend of the cryptocurrency market.


Source: https://www.ccn.com/cryptocurrency-market-continues-to-recover-as-ethereum-records-15-gain/

Nigeria’s Central Bank Governor: Bitcoin Investing is a ‘Gamble’



Nigeria’s central bank governor has become the latest to speak out against bitcoin, claiming that investing in it is a ‘gamble’ and that it may need to be regulated.

Bloomberg reports that speaking during an interview in Nigeria’s capital city Abuja, Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, said:

    Cryptocurrency or bitcoin is like a gamble, and there is a need for everybody to be very careful. We cannot as a central bank give support to situations where people risk savings to ‘gamble.’

Emefiele is the latest person to join a growing list of global authorities that have spoken out about their concern regarding bitcoin and its need to be regulated. Last year, the number one digital currency saw its value rise by over 1,700 percent, with the culmination of December seeing bitcoin within touching distance of $20,000 for the first time.

Heightened interest from retail and institutional investors has meant that there is increasing concern among regulators that the currency is in a bubble due to its volatility. Not only that, but there remains a strong perception that the crypto market is being used among criminals.

Just yesterday it was reported that Tokyo-based digital currency exchange Coincheck had been hacked, resulting in the theft of $530 million worth of NEM, and making it the biggest cryptocurrency theft in history.

Situations like this are what are fuelling the demand for more oversight within the market. However, while countries such as China and South Korea are tightening their stance around digital currency trading, demand for cryptocurrencies continues.

Since record highs with bitcoin last month the currency has slumped in value, and in recent weeks has been struggling to regain highs above $11,000. Now, though, it what has been a slight upward shift, major cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ethereum have seen their prices increase. Earlier today it was reported that the two had posted five percent gains.

At the time of publishing, bitcoin’s value is trading at $11,489, according to CoinMarketCap. Ethereum is once again priced above $1,000, at $1,100.

The fact remains, however, that the start of 2018 has not been the best of beginnings for the cryptocurrency market, with many still arguing that it seems like a bubble. According to Emefiele, it is because of this uncertainty around it that he has asked his ‘colleagues in the research and monetary-policy department to study the market and get to know what the issues are.’


Source: https://www.ccn.com/nigerias-central-bank-governor-bitcoin-investing-gamble/

Bitcoin bombshell: Cryptocurrency could hit $50,000 THIS YEAR in new prediction



BITCOIN could hit $50,000 (£35,000) this year, but cryptocurrency will remain volatile as it enjoys its meteoric rise, an expert has predicted.

Jeet Singh, a cryptocurrency portfolio manager for the last six years, says it is common for virtual currencies to fluctuate by 70 or 80 percent.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, he compared cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and Ripple to early tech giants like Microsoft.

He said: "If you look at Microsoft or Apple, when they went public their stocks were very volatile because the market wasn’t mature."

The volatility of the market may have worried newer cryptocurrency traders, but long-time investors are less concerned, as they are used to some fluctuations, Mr. Singh explained.

As the market for bitcoin becomes more mainstream, and traders begin to better understand cryptocurrencies, some of this volatility is likely to calm do.

Mr. Singh predicts: "Bitcoin could definitely see $50,000 in 2018."

However, he added: "We will probably go through a suffering period of volatility" around the time of Bitcoin’s next $10,000 landmark.

Bitcoin’s volatility has led traditional financial experts to slam the investment, claiming it is a "bubble" doomed to crash and burn.


Bank of Canada boss Stephen Poloz claimed crypto would never be used as a real currency, branding it a form of "gambling" rather than a legitimate investment.

Delivering a stark warning to investors, he said: "A lot of words have been used but I think the main thing is, buyers should be aware it is much closer to gambling than investing."

He claimed cryptocurrencies have no intrinsic value and would not be seen as "assets" in the same strain as other investments.

Mr. Poloz said: "They are not assets, really, for the most part. I suppose they are securities, technically.
 
"But tax authorities treat them as securities. Because you have to pay tax on a capital gain or loss."

However, Mr. Singh said he believed cryptocurrencies would be used transactions in increasing measure in the coming months and years.

He claimed: "There are not so many vendors right now who accept cryptocurrencies but there’s huge adoption on the black market."

Adoption has begun principally in countries with unstable national currencies but is set to extend, he claimed.


Source: https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/911036/Bitcoin-cryptocurrency-2018-expert-predictions-50k-35k