Same as cash, gold, oil (ISIS oil in the latest example), diamond and others. Assets in itself are benign, its neither good or bad. It's just a tool that can either be harnessed to do good or used for sinister purposes.  So why direct hate to crypto? Might as well say that the internet is a tool for terrorist while they're at it. In short, misguided statements like what this security chief said is best left unreported. Not to be given any media mileage at all.

No strong indicator of a bull yet, but who knows, it may be an early sign of a re-surging market.

Do both. Ease up on college a bit and take advantage of bitcoin. When you get your degree, it all comes down to making the most out of what you can offer to earn as much as you can so why give your earnings up when you can keep it. If you can make a good enough living off of bitcoin, you may even be able to diversify your investments and earn a lot more.

Always be very vigilant when doing stuff online. The most innocent looking emails may have a scammer behind it just waiting for the victims  to fall.

Marrying the right one will make life different with more of the better stuff each day. Getting the wrong partner is a grind that you need to get out off as soon as you can.

People will always find alternative routs to get the end that they want. As long as two people would like to do it the Skype way, they'll find a way to make it happen.  Before things got techy, one person could just easily go to his neighbor and negotiate an exchange of sorts. If they get to an agreement, they have a transaction. For most portable stuff, things other than Skype may already be in use as a vehicle for the processing of the transaction.

Bitcoin will still exceed it's 2017 high. I do not have any data to support this belief, but bitcoin has continued to defy the odds. I strongly believe that it may even get to $50k one of these days. $0 to $21k was not on anyone's radar yet it happened. $21k to $50k can readily be achieved.

If left to choose between the two, I'll say that I'll have to spread the investment between the two. Going all in on one bet would surely pay off huge dividends in the end, but if things go south, they won't even have crumbs to dust off their empty tables. But I guess the question reflects more on how you perceive risk and manage it. I'm not the all-in gambler type thus the approach.

I agree with Vitalik. If the conference organizers had any respect to their audience, they should not give a person of dubious claims any platform to spread his self-serving lies. Having a fraudster as one of the speakers puts the other speakers in a bad light. One gets to wonder why people behind the scenes wants Craig Wright out front.

The U.S. government may soon have the ability to add cryptocurrency addresses to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List. Coincidently the oversight advice happened on the same day President Trump signed an executive order banning the Venezuelan petro (PTR). The petro is mentioned among a variety of digital assets including BTC, ETH, LTC, NEO, XMR, and XRP.

The Treasury calls a cryptocurrency wallet “a software application (or other mechanisms) that provides a means for holding, storing, and transferring digital currency.” The report also describes a virtual currency and an address:   

A [Digital Currency Address] is an alphanumeric identifier that represents a potential destination for a digital currency transfer.

U.S. Treasury Plans to Add Cryptocurrency Addresses to the SDN List
OFAC May “Alert the Public” About Suspect Digital Currency Identifiers
Additionally, the agency issued guidance to those who have identified SDN owned wallets and addresses and ask them to report the news to OFAC immediately. Further, the Treasury says that the market itself, businesses, and cryptocurrency exchanges should work together to keep an eye on suspect addresses that might be on the SDN list.

“The digital currency address field on the SDN List provides the unique alphanumeric identifiers (up to 256 characters) for digital currency addresses and identifies the digital currency to which the address corresponds,” explains the OFAC report.

OFAC will use sanctions in the fight against criminal and other malicious actors abusing digital currencies and emerging payment systems as a complement to existing tools, including diplomatic outreach and law enforcement authorities — To strengthen our efforts to combat the illicit use of digital currency transactions under our existing authorities, OFAC may include as identifiers on the SDN List specific digital currency addresses associated with blocked persons.

The Treasury’s OFAC guidance does not go into great detail on how they will block these wallets and addresses or enforce the sanctions. According to the report, OFAC may “alert the public” about suspect digital currency identifiers.

https://news.bitcoin.com/u-s-treasury-plans-to-add-cryptocurrency-addresses-to-the-sdn-list/?utm_source=OneSignal%20Push&utm_medium=notification&utm_campaign=Push%20Notifications

Ever heard of this saying - Don't put your eggs in one basket. Bitcoin is only one of the many assets you can invest in right now and it would not be wise to tie your own future to it. As what the old timer's in investing say, diversify your portfolio. One can do very well on spreading your bets on the promising horses instead of gambling all out on a very risky favorite. It's from controlling the risk that one reap the gains.

I for one look forward to bitcoin crashing. I believe that we are not utilizing it the right way by speculating on it as an asset which result to a few people hoarding it and having their way with it's value, lording it over the minnows who are trying to make money off it. What's the right way to use bitcoin? Use it as a currency, a form of exchange that is free from the central bankers who have such a tight hold on the world economy that governments actually do their bidding because of the tremendous amount of power that they hold. This quote is often attributed to central bankers for the vast power that they hold through their monopoly of the monetary supply:  "Let us control the money of a country and we care not who makes its laws.". We have the ticket in our hands to be really free from central banker's control, bitcoin and the decentralized currency. 

You must be a very good trader to make a living out of bitcoin trading. As it is, having deep pockets and hodling is the only way to make good money out of the way bitcoin behaves. If you're in it, stick around for the long haul as making the right call on it's day to day ups and down is a very tricky business and plenty of people are a few thousands poorer by the day because of it.

Not the whales but the market would realize that $20k is a very much inflated value for the asset. I'm in for bitcoin but I strongly believe that the $20k peak from last year was just a one-off and market corrections would remain steady at around $11k levels. 

I hope that we'll sober up and stop the wild speculations on bitcoin. $90k is such a heady number that one drools at the prospect of reaping the rewards should bitcoin get to that value. As always, think, research and be disciplined when investing in bitcoin. Don't let your expectations run away with your imagination as you'll surely be left crying in the end.

Indeed, evolution is a great lie, supported by people who are afraid of learning the truth and who steadfastly cling to the popular belief of their times to preserve their careers and academic stature. Evolution can't be proven yet we accept it as being true. The evidence that they presented from what they observed from the Galapagos Island is hardly true if viewed through the context of the volume of fossils that archaeologist have excavated. 

They will never find the missing link because there is no such thing in the first place.

Morgan Stanley put out a note to its clients on Monday the 19th breaking down Bitcoin trading in comparison to the Nasdaq during the dot-com crash 20 years ago.

Bitcoin Similar to Dot-Coms Through Bear Markets
According to the report, Bitcoin is behaving very similar to the way the Nasdaq did in 2000. There is parity in the pattern of price declines and the rally of 250 -280 percent “in their most exuberant period” just before the bear market.

“Just that the bitcoin rally was around 15 times the speed,” Sheena Shah, strategist at Morgan Stanley said.

There have been four bear markets with Bitcoin since 2009 and through each, the cryptocurrency has lost between 28 and 92 percent of its value. It lost 70% of its value from it’s $20,000 high mark in December to $7,000 in February before recovering slightly to where it is today over $8,000. Averaging a loss of between 40-50% of its value through each bear market is similar to the Nasdaq’s performance 18 years ago Shah said.

According to the Morgan Stanely report trading volume can also be seen as a red flag. The Bitcoin trading volume has jumped nearly 300% since the market decline in December but each rally saw volumes fall ahead of the bear market to come. Shah said regarding the trading volumes;

“The follow-up rally for both bitcoin and the Nasdaq always saw falling trading volumes. Rising trade volumes are thus not an indication of more investor activity but instead a rush to get out.”

Tethers Effect on Market Trading
The Morgan Stanley report continued to point out the effect that the Tether cryptocurrency may have had on market trading. Citing that during the latest bear market the Tether USDT coin which is purportedly backed up one to one with US Dollars took up a bigger share of Bitcoin trading compared to the three historically major trading currencies; US Dollar, Chinese Yuan and the Japanese Yen.

“The coin USDT is not a major funding unit but its increasing use is an interesting development,” Shah wrote. “Over the coming years, we think that market focus could turn increasingly towards cross trades between cryptocurrencies/tokens, which would transact via distributed ledgers only and not via the banking system.”

Bloomberg reported in January that Tether has been subpoenaed by the US commodities trading commission under speculation that they do not hold the $2.2 billion in reserve in order to back their token. Bitcoin’s price continues to vacillate around the $8,000 mark early this week after enjoying a $1,000 price boost from the news that the G20 would not be receiving any further regulatory recommendations from the FSB.

https://www.newsbtc.com/2018/03/20/bitcoin-following-nasdaq-path-15-times-faster/

Bitcoin is behaving a lot like the Nasdaq did in the dot-com bubble but 15 times faster, Morgan Stanley says.
Similarities in price moves and trading volume could be signs that history is repeating itself, according to a note published by Morgan Stanley on Monday.
Morgan Stanley also points out changes in bitcoin trading volume into a cryptocurrency called tether.

Bitcoin is behaving a lot like how the Nasdaq did during the dot-com bubble nearly 20 years ago, but the timeline is unfolding much faster, according to research published by Morgan Stanley on Monday.

The Nasdaq in 2000 and modern-day bitcoin both rallied 250 to 280 percent in their most "exuberant" periods ahead of bear markets, Morgan Stanley said in a note to clients.

"Just that the bitcoin rally was around 15 times the speed," Sheena Shah, strategist at Morgan Stanley said.

 Bitcoin bounces back once again   Bitcoin bounces back once again 
13 Hours Ago | 00:41
These price moves and similar behavior in trading volume could be signs that Nasdaq history is repeating itself, according to Shah.

Bear markets for the digital currency are not new. Since it was created in 2009, bitcoin has seen four of them, with price drops between 28 percent and 92 percent, Shah said. Bitcoin's value has fallen roughly 70 percent from its peak near $20,000 in December to a low in February below $7,000, according to data from CoinDesk.

On average, bitcoin prices have lost 45 percent to 50 percent of their value in each bearish wave, which Shah said is similar to Nasdaq's behavior 18 years ago.

"The Nasdaq's bear market from 2000 had five price declines, averaging a surprisingly similar amount of 44 percent," Shah said.

Trading volume could be another red flag. Since December, bitcoin trade volumes have jumped nearly 300 percent, Shah said. But each rally ahead of the bear markets saw volumes fall.

"The follow-up rally for both bitcoin and the Nasdaq always saw falling trading volumes," Shah said. "Rising trade volumes are thus not an indication of more investor activity but instead a rush to get out."

Morgan Stanley pointed out changes in bitcoin trading that are not correlated to Nasdaq trends but could be "an interesting development."

There have historically been three major currencies used to buy bitcoin: The U.S. dollar, Chinese yuan and Japanese yen. During the most recent bear market, a new digital currency called tether ate up a bigger share of bitcoin trading.

Tether is a digital token that creators say is backed with one U.S. dollar for every unit, meaning its market price is $1, and it could theoretically be more stable than most digital coins with huge price swings.

"The coin USDT is not a major funding unit but its increasing use is an interesting development," Shah wrote. "Over the coming years, we think that market focus could turn increasingly towards cross trades between cryptocurrencies/tokens, which would transact via distributed ledgers only and not via the banking system."

Bloomberg reported in January that the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission sent subpoenas to Tether, the company that issues the virtual currency. The company has come under scrutiny, as some are skeptical it actually has $2.2 billion on reserve.

https://www.c[Suspicious link removed]m/2018/03/19/bitcoin-is-unfolding-like-the-dotcom-crash--just-15-times-faster.html

I think some other platform would take the slack for the advertising bans imposed by the likes of FB and twitter and that platform would be greatly rewarded for it. I have no idea which platforms are in good position to benefit from these bans but I'm positive that somebody will come out on top in all of this. The business from crypto is just too good to pass up on if you are in the position to provide service to those willing to pay.

Who owns all the Bitcoin? A few billionaire whales in a small pond

Even if you’re sitting on what you consider a sizable number of Bitcoin, or a Litecoin horde that would make you rich if you sold it all, you’re almost certainly not as big a fish as you might think. Neither are most of the millions of other wallet owners. The majority of the world’s digital currency is owned by just a few thousand wallets. Though the owners are anonymous, they are absolutely, stinking rich.

Few would have predicted in early 2017 that, by the tail end of the year, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies would increase in value by factors of thousands of percent. Many jumped on the bandwagon late and found themselves floundering as prices crashed down. The problem was so severe that banks stepped in to curtail Bitcoin purchases.

sec arisebank initial coin offering ether cryptocurrency
Jaap Arriens/Getty Images
The recent correction didn’t shake the biggest owners of cryptocurrency, however. A few crypto-whales are sitting on a stash of Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Dash worth billions of dollars, and they’re not selling. Instead, most of them continue to buy, hoarding masses of cryptocurrency, gradually migrating Bitcoin and altcoins into the hands of the crypto elite.

Bitcoin ownership by the numbers
According to statistics put together by BitInfoCharts through parsing the blockchain, of roughly 23 million Bitcoin wallets in existence, more than 13 million of them own only a fraction of a Bitcoin. While many in number, they make up a minuscule portion of the overall financial landscape.

At the other end of the scale, only 1,500 addresses have between 1,000 and 10,000 Bitcoins in them. The top 111 wallets have more than 10,000 Bitcoins a piece. That’s tens of millions of dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency in each wallet.

The 100 largest Bitcoin wallets are together worth $28.6 billion.

Using BitInfoChart’s latest calculations, 87 percent of all Bitcoins ever mined are owned by just half a percent of Bitcoin wallets. The figures only tighten from there. 61 percent of all Bitcoins are owned by just 0.07 percent of wallets. That’s an incredible amount of wealth in the hands of very, very few.

The second largest wallet in the world contains 163,133 Bitcoins, worth around $1.6 billion. It’s thought to be a cold storage wallet — a Bitcoin wallet kept offline to avoid hacking – owned by BitFenix, a cryptocurrency exchange. That may be the case for many of the largest wallets; the frequency of payments in and out give a hint to such an identity. Whoever owns them, they are sitting on vast fortunes. There are over 100 Bitcoin wallets around the world with a collective $28.6 billion worth of Bitcoin in them, and that’s with a price half that of the December 2017 peak.

Tantalizingly, there’s many wallets in the top-100 richest that haven’t been touched in a long time. Some of those, like the 9th most full Bitcoin wallet in the world – worth around $657 million — have never taken any Bitcoin out, and haven’t had a meaningful input since 2014. These are classed as “dormant” wallets. They could be true long term holders who want to see where the market goes, or part of the millions of Bitcoins thought lost to wiped hard drives, forgotten passwords, and other problems.

graph showing largest volume of bitcoin in a wallet as of March 12, 2018
The single most packed Bitcoin wallet in the world as of March 12, 2018. Courtesy: bitinfocharts.com.
Many large wallets are active, however, and the largest Bitcoin wallets are getting larger. The single most packed Bitcoin wallet in the world increased its holdings by 60,000 Bitcoins in the last days of 2017. While it’s transferred out a few thousand since, it seems clear that it was taking advantage of the big dip that hit Bitcoin pricing following its latest surge. The number four wallet followed a similar pattern in early 2018.

The spread of wealth among the whales of other cryptocurrencies is much the same and, if anything, the largest altcoin wallets are even less keen on trading out their currency than the key Bitcoin owners. In the case of Litecoin, 70 addresses — less than .001 percent of all Litecoin wallet addresses in existence — own more than 23 million Litecoin. That’s 42 percent of all holdings. Just 0.15 percent of Litecoin wallets – around 3,200 of them – control more than 70 percent of the total. The top 30 percent of Litecoin wallets control 99.62 percent of all Litecoin in existence.

While an argument can be made that some the top Bitcoin wallets with lots of ins and outs are owned by exchanges due to their frequency of transactions, the infrequency of Litecoin wallet transfers suggest they are more likely owned by wealthy investors. Of the top 10 wallets, only one has ever moved Litecoin out. That wallet first purchased Litecoin in 2014 and has brought in, and transferred out, hundreds of thousands of Litecoin in the following years.

What do these numbers mean?
The hoarding of wealth by a slim number of wallets gives those owners incredible power. Like stock traders, if the largest Bitcoin wallet owners decided to cash out, it could send prices tanking, leaving the much smaller investors concerned about what to do with the rapidly dwindling value of their own holdings.

If the largest Bitcoin wallet owners decided to cash out, it could send prices tanking.

The whales don’t even need to sell to raise concerns. In November of 2017, Bitcoin investor Roger Ver caused consternation by moving tens of thousands of Bitcoin to various exchanges. His public comments on the viability (or lack thereof) of Bitcoin also caused problems with the market, and alongside the transaction cost issue Bitcoin faced at the time, may have been part of the reason that Bitcoin values crashed hard in December.

As Edgar Bers of HashFlare told Digital Trends in a recent interview, it’s possible that large cryptocurrency owners might ‘shake the trees’ of nervous investors by deliberately downing cryptocurrency values through large sales, or public statements of low confidence, only to increase their holdings when prices decrease.

It’s almost impossible prove that’s the case given the psyeduanonymous nature of cryptocurrency wallets. Still, we know the biggest wallets are buying more at perceived lows, and few of the top wallets are selling much, if any, of their holdings. It’s also possible the biggest wallet owners communicate with one another – many suggest they do – which could make the strategy of shorting cryptocurrencies, even through something legitimate like Futures trading, far more viable.

The Silver 2.0 lining
This may seem depressing for those looking to make a small profit from their cryptocurrency investments, but there’s a silver lining. This distribution of wealth shows big money is interested in cryptocurrency.

Given the amounts invested, it seems certain that billionaires have invested in its future, and they see it as bright enough that they’re willing to not only continue to hold on to their existing wallet holdings during big downturns like the one at the end of 2017, but even use the downturn as an opportunity to buy more. Many people look to financial advisers and talking heads for investment advice, but perhaps the best bet with cryptocurrencies is to keep an eye on the biggest wallets in the world. The crypto-whales seem to be able to track and predict (or at worst, influence) the biggest downturns, often using them to increase their holdings.

Cryptocurrency’s future is not certain but, for now, the commitment of big investors at least offers a bare measure of stability. Whatever happens, cryptocurrencies will remain relevant as long as the whales don’t abandon them.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2018/03/16/bitcoin-to-suffer-the-same-fate-as-other-bubbles/#3d431e30ffb6