Category Archives: Bitcoin

Bitcoin’s Tether Printer Divergence is Immensely Bullish; Here’s Why – Bitcoinist

Bitcoin has been experiencing some lackluster price action throughout the past several days and weeks, with the crypto hovering around the $7,000 region as its bulls and bears reach an impasse.

This boring price action has not corresponded with the massive issuance of stablecoins like Tether (USDT) leading some analysts to deem this as Bitcoins Tether printer divergence.

The phenomenon has been seen in the past and is historically followed by intense uptrends.

Bitcoin has been seeing some choppy trading between the upper-$6,000 region and the lower-$7,000 region for the past several days.

This has marked what appears to be a temporary end the cryptos firm uptrend that was sparked when it dipped to lows of $3,800 in early-March.

One interesting thing to be aware of is that the issuance of new stablecoins and USDT in particular has ballooned in recent times, signaling that these newly minted tokens will ultimately be cycled into Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

The demand for these stablecoins could be coming from a myriad of difference sources, and one analyst believes that there are three primary suspects including wealthy Chinese, institutions looking to de-risk, and smart money accumulating a fixed supply hedge.

An unprecedented flood of stablecoin is being issued. Its likely liquidity for: -Chinese wealth bypassing capital controls -Institutions thatll de-risk on the next leg down -Smart money accumulating a fixed-supply hedge against collapse, he said while pointing to a chart showing the growth in USDT issuance.

Image Courtesy of Cole Garner

As for how this could impact the benchmark cryptocurrency, the same analyst refers to a phenomenon called Tether printer divergence to explain how it could be bullish.

BTC is experiencing Tether printer divergence. That story always seems to end the same way, he said while referencing the below chart.

Image Courtesy of Cole Garner

While looking at this chart, it does appear that USDT issuance front runs Bitcoins price action.

If history repeats itself, this means that the cryptocurrency could be poised for a major rally that is fueled by investors funneling these stablecoins into BTC.

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Bitcoin's Tether Printer Divergence is Immensely Bullish; Here's Why - Bitcoinist

Avoid Liquidation – Trade Bitcoin with Leverage in Options – CryptoGlobe

Why is Bitcoin Options Trading Popular?

Since 2018, the so-called crypto winter, derivatives trading almost became the go-to choice for investors in the cryptocurrency space, because of its leverage and hedging functions. Bitcoin perpetual contracts, which have no expiry date and with high leverage, used to be the most popular crypto derivative among retail as well as institutional investors. However, as the bitcoin market is incredibly volatile, trade, that go against the market trend, will risk being liquidated. Investors are looking to minimize the risks in conjunction with amplifying the potential profits. Therefore, BTC Options Contracts comes to the stage!

Similar to futures trading, you can long or short BTC. But the main difference is that you cannot set the open price for the options contracts. In other words, a Call option (buy/long) and Put option (sell/short) are triggered at a fixed strike price so that you can know potential gains and losses beforehand. And the option contract will be automatically closed until its expiry.

Lets check the step-by-step guide. With BTC currently trading at $7,211.69, you predict that it will decline.

The put option contract will expire in 2 minutes. Between the Lock Time and Expiration Time, as long as Bitcoin drops below the fixed open price of $7,211.69, you would make profits.

The fact that a call option buyer has unlimited upside, while a put option seller an unlimited downside, no forced liquidation will occur. Hence, traders have more opportunities to make up for the loss of one wrong trade by starting another trade in the opposite direction.

IE Option is a cryptocurrency options exchange established in the United Kingdom. Besides Bitcoin, it also provides options trading of ETH, LTC and EOS. By making accurate trend predictions (higher or lower than the strike), you can get a maximum profit of 91%.

Signup an account in IE Option, you dont need to do KYC identification. You can easily register with email in 30 seconds.

To try options trading in IE Option, there is a demo account with 10 BTC for you. If youve been familiar bitcoin options trading and build up strategies and skills, you can switch to live mode and earn real bitcoins.

All users are eligible to get up to 100% deposit bonus. As long as your deposit is larger than 0.01 BTC, you can enjoy a deposit bonus. For example, if you deposit 2 BTC in, you will get 4 BTC in total.

Give it a shot to IE Option and make profits on options trading easily. Join IE Option now to claim 10 Free BTC welcome bonus in a demo account. Android and iOS apps are available for you to make successful trades everywhere!

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Avoid Liquidation - Trade Bitcoin with Leverage in Options - CryptoGlobe

Roger Ver Claims His Bitcoin Transaction Fees Totaled $1,000 at Times – Cointelegraph

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) proponent, Roger Ver, claims he paid thousands of dollars in Bitcoin (BTC) fees on multiple occasions.

"I paid a thousand dollars in fees for a single transaction on the Bitcoin network, more times than I can count," Ver said in a video posted by Bitcoin Meme Hub on Twitter.

Bitcoin's chain split into Bitcoin Core and Bitcoin Cash in 2017, dividing a chunk of the community after disagreements over the asset.

Proponents of big blocks wanted faster transactions at lower cost. Those folks veered off with the BCH side of the fork. Bitcoin Core advocates wanted to keep a lower block size, partly to help BTC remain decentralized.

The Bitcoin Cash community saw even further divide in 2018, when BCH itself split into Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Satoshi's Vision (BSV).

A well-known name in the crypto industry, Roger Ver has argued the point of fees and usability many times, often lobbying that BTC is too slow, expensive, and unable to scale.

On April 7, Reddit user, Braclayrab,posted that, "If everyone on BTC wanted to move their coins, it would take 165 days."

"That's almost six months," Ver said in an April 9 video response to the Reddit post. "Does that not seem crazy to anyone else."

Users saw similar difficulties near the peak of Bitcoin's $20,000 bull run in 2017 and early 2018, when transactions stalled amid soaring fees. Ver has often riffed on the concept of Bitcoin Core being a slow and expensive network, pointing toward BCH as an alternative.

In contrast, BTC proponents, such as programmer Jimmy Song, often mention the other side of the table, in keeping BTC decentralized through smaller blocks.

Bitcoin Cash recently completed its halving roughly one month before Bitcoin's scheduled May halving event.

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Roger Ver Claims His Bitcoin Transaction Fees Totaled $1,000 at Times - Cointelegraph

Crypto Scams on the Rise and Can Still Affect Bitcoins Price – Cointelegraph

Bolstered by the new coronavirus pandemic, scams continue to be rampant in the cryptocurrency world. From malware to fake investment programs and even fake donations to health organizations, scammers are known for taking advantage of desperate times and desperate people. One of the most prominent scams in the industry, PlusToken, has come under the spotlight again after rumours emerged that the March crash was caused by its operators selling their stolen Bitcoin (BTC).

According to research by Chainalysis, a blockchain analysis company, PlusToken did not cause the Black Thursday sell-off of March 12. In a recent webinar, Chainalysis sought to bring clarity to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cryptocurrency markets by analyzing key points in on-chain data such as exchange inflow and more.

During the presentation, Philip Gradwell, the chief economist at Chainalysis, addressed a somewhat common opinion that the crypto market crash that happened March 12 to March 13 was caused by PlusToken liquidating the Bitcoin acquired through its Ponzi scheme, which came to around $2.9 billion, according to Chainalysis. In the webinar, Gradwell stated:

We can also dispel another theory that has been going around, that PlusToken [...] selling triggered the price decline. We actually dont think thats the case because PlusToken had largely cashed out before early March.

According to Chainalysis data, PlusToken movements to exchanges decreased severely before the crash, which indicates funds were already cashed out. A noticeable amount of 12,423 Bitcoin, worth $123 million at the time, was moved to a mixer or cold wallet on Feb. 12, followed by a similar amount in early March. Its possible that the Bitcoin was cashed out immediately to avoid exchanges freezing funds.

PlusToken may still have 61,229 Bitcoin, currently worth around $420 million, according to a report released by OXT Research on March 10. While some Bitcoin has been sold after the crash, low prices seem to discourage those behind PlusToken from selling, if they are still in fact holding such large quantities of Bitcoin. Its possible that the PlusToken operators may be waiting for the Bitcoin halving to capture a higher price.

According to Chainalysis, volumes prior to and during December 2019 were much higher than those observed in 2020. The accentuated inflows were discussed in another Chainalysis report where it took another stance on the PlusToken and Bitcoin price relation, stating that at the time the sell-offs from PlusToken were keeping Bitcoin prices down.

Although PlusToken has largely cashed out, there is still a chance it will continue to affect Bitcoin. According to Kim Grauer, the head of research at Chainalysis, a large sell-off by PlusToken could bring down the price of Bitcoin in the future, especially if liquidations are executed irresponsibly. She told Cointelegraph:

We found in the past that large inflows to exchanges, such as those from PlusToken last year, tend to increase the price volatility on exchanges. This problem can potentially be exacerbated by trading bots that pick up on those on-chain movements and execute trades, not to mention the highly leveraged positions on derivatives exchanges that can get liquidated rather quickly. But overall, prices tend to bounce back quickly from those one-off events.

PlusToken, now known as the biggest cryptocurrency exit scam in history so far was a 2019 Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors out of $2.9 billion in cryptocurrency assets by posing as a South Korea-based crypto wallet project that offered depositors interest in crypto, a practice that has become fairly common in decentralized finance applications, centralized banking applications and exchanges offering margin trading.

PlusToken explained that its high interest payments would be generated by exchange profits, mining and referral programs. Shortsighted by the promising gains, over 3 million users registered with PlusToken.The scheme even announced that it expected to grow to 10 million users by the end of 2019, shortly before it exited with depositors money.

Related: Crypto Exit Scams How to Avoid Falling Victim

In China, PlusToken was quickly exposed as a Ponzi scheme when six individuals were arrested by Chinese authorities in June 2019, with reports connecting them to the PlusToken project. Cointelgraph reported on the incident at the time, but it was in August 2019 that the cybersecurity firm CipherTrace released its second quarter Cryptocurrency Anti-Money Laundering Report that confirmed the connection to the PlusToken scam.

Interest-generating products have been gaining evermore popularity in the cryptosphere, including MakerDAOs decentralized protocol, which according to a report by DappRadar saw peak activity during March, and other centralized options such as BlockFis banking app or Binances lending services. Although crypto has always been prone to illicit activity and shady ventures, the relatively high interest rates practiced in these services may have helped normalize PlusTokens profit claims, easing unwary investors.

Similar models have been seen elsewhere. In August 2019, a cryptocurrency wallet project from Nigeria called Satowallet allegedly made off with $1 million in a smaller-scale exit scam. Last year, another Ponzi scheme promising returns from cloud mining also made headlines after pulling off a $200 million exit scam that later resulted in 14 individuals being arrested.

An ever-increasing number of topical crypto-schemes have surfaced since the worsening of the coronavirus pandemic, from fake donation campaigns for the World Health Organization and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to fraudsters impersonating officials from these agencies who can sell information on active infections for a price, paid with Bitcoin of course.

Now more than ever, cryptocurrency holders need to be wary of crypto scams. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations recently issued a press release in which it warned of the potential increase of cryptocurrency-related fraud schemes during the COVID-19 pandemic, adding:

There are not only numerous virtual asset service providers online but also thousands of cryptocurrency kiosks located throughout the world which are exploited by criminals to facilitate their schemes. Many traditional financial crimes and money laundering schemes are now orchestrated via cryptocurrencies.

Although tough times create a perfect chaotic setting for scammers to operate in, its relieving to know that despite the increased activity and novel coronavirus-related scams, revenue for crypto scammers fell by around 30% in March.

Despite taking on new forms, cryptocurrency scams are almost as old as crypto itself. For example, OneCoin one of the most prominent names when it comes to cryptocurrency-related scams was founded in 2014 and it is still making headlines in crypto media. Although OneCoin has been sued, the lead plaintiff for the ongoing $4 billion class-action suit against the project, Donald Berdeaux, has repeatedly failed to meet the courts monthly status reports, which may lead to the case being dropped.

According to Chainalysis, most of the funds moved by the PlusToken scam were liquidated in two Asian exchanges: Huobi and OKEx. This has raised some concerns about exchanges Know Your Customer practices, which do not seem to have been useful when it came to spotting or censoring the transactions from PlusToken.

Although other sources were used, they were small in comparison to the inflows to the aforementioned exchanges. Grauer stated that Chainalysis had found traces of funds at mining pools, mixers, other scams, and p2p exchanges, but the paths were too small to be interrogated.

If cryptocurrency schemes are to be stopped, exchanges should ideally act as a final barrier for illicit transactions. Responding to past criticism, Huobi is aiming to improve its security measures by launching Star Atlas, an on-chain monitoring tool that can identify crimes like fraud, money, laundry and other problematic activities.

Moreover, Huobi is also looking to partner with data providers like Chainalysis and CryptoCompare to build a more transparent and compliant ecosystem, a measure that will surely be essential for institutionalization and regulatory compliance going forward. Ciara Sun, the vice president of global business at Huobi, told Cointelegraph:

While we may be able to identify illicit activities once they reach our exchanges and prevent their outflow, we can't yet prevent illicit transactions that start outside of our platform. However, we believe that collaborative efforts among industry players, including but not limited to information sharing, are the key to success to create a safer friendly ecosystem for the crypto industry to grow.

While efforts to reduce illicit transactions are being undertaken by exchanges such as Huobi and Paxful, users should always be aware of possible fraud attempts and conduct meaningful diligence into any project they are willing to trust with their coins, as it is unlikely theyll get them back once lost.

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Crypto Scams on the Rise and Can Still Affect Bitcoins Price - Cointelegraph

Bitcoin Price is Showing 3 Textbook Technical Signs of a Severe Correction – Cointelegraph

The Bitcoin price (BTC) has been consolidating in the $6,900 to $7,100 range throughout the past 36 hours, right below a heavy resistance level at $7,200. Typically, a large price movement occurs when BTC gets stuck in a tight range for a prolonged period of time.

Crypto market daily performance. Source: Coin360

Currently, there are three technical factors that show Bitcoin is vulnerable to a large move down: deviation from the descending trendline, the emergence of a fractal resembling the 2019 top, and the increase of Tether supply.

Technically, when the Bitcoin price rejects off of a descending trendline, it suggests a bearish retest of lower support levels. Earlier this week, a cryptocurrency trader known as Trader XO suggested that in the near-term, the Bitcoin price could be following a descending trendline and possibly retest the months open.

Potential Bitcoin short-term price trend. Source: Trader XO

The Bitcoin price ended up breaking out of the trendline to rise to as high as $7,200 on Coinbase, and the price of BTC is now hovering above the line at around $7,107.

But, if the BTC price rejects the $7,000 resistance level and breaks back into the previous range, the entire move would be considered a deviation and would signal a severe downtrend.

The $6,950 to $7,050 area has been an important area of resistance for Bitcoin throughout the past two weeks, and it has attempted to break out of it nine times since March 20.

In February, before the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic were considered as a strong variable to the near-term trend of the Bitcoin price, BTC was showing signs of a local top at $10,500.

The price rejected at a key multi-year resistance level and in the days that followed, BTC faced a steep downtrend to $7,700, eventually dropping to as low as $3,650.

According to technical analyst, Crypto Capo, the current Bitcoin price trend is strikingly similar to the entire fractal that sent BTC from $10,500 to the $3,000s.

Bitcoin 2019 chart and recent 1-hour chart comparison. Source: CryptoCapo

Although the comparison is between a daily chart and a 1-hour chart, the analyst said that if the structure of the chart is the same, it is likely to see a similar outcome regardless of the timeframe.

Throughout the past two weeks, the supply of Tether (USDT) has increased significantly by more than $2 billion, as it surpassed $6.3 billion in market capitalization.

The noticeable rise in the inflow of Tether into exchanges may indicate that the demand for the stablecoin is rising at a rapid rate, as investors seek for a safety net. In fact, a cryptocurrency investor known as Light recently said:

Tether exchange balances ballooning as potential BTC supply available to be acquired on exchanges is falling.

The fast growth of the Tether supply at a time wherein uncertainty shades above the cryptocurrency market could indicate that many investors remain cautious and skeptical towards the v-shape recovery of BTC since March 12.

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Bitcoin Price is Showing 3 Textbook Technical Signs of a Severe Correction - Cointelegraph

Crypto Analyst Cautions Investors Against Bitcoin for 3 Key Reasons – Cointelegraph

Bitcoin is often described as gold 2.0; a superior system of storing and transferring value. It has seen a rapid increase in market capitalization since its introduction in 2009, with strong custodial, exchange, and futures infrastructure.

Yet, one cryptocurrency analyst known as cryptocomicon recently laid out a series of compelling reasons why one should not invest in Bitcon. The three that stood out most were limited privacy, centralized mining, and the lack of scalability.

Despite each of these being valid points to consider, they can also be seen as advantages for BTC.

Up until 2018, governments and various financial bodies criticized the anonymous nature of Bitcoin, stating that it poses a risk to the global financial system. But, as reported by Cointelegraph, South Korea recently cracked down on a large-scale sex crime ring earlier this month through tracking Bitcoin addresses.

One could argue that the lack of privacy measures on the Bitcoin network has actually improved the image of the dominant cryptocurrency.

Previously the public and governments perceived Bitcoin as the currency most preferred for use in criminal activities and terrorist financing, but this view appears to have changed in recent years as sophisticated blockchain analytics companies who offer crypto transaction tracking services emerged.

Following the release of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)s revised guideline on crypto assets on February 22, 2020, it has become even more challenging to launder money using Bitcoin than ever before.

Thus, the lack of privacy can also be viewed as increased transparency and this could eventually prevent governments from over-regulating Bitcoin-related companies.

The low scalability of Bitcoin is similar to the no privacy argument in the sense that it can be comprehended in two ways: it can make transactions expensive when the network reaches its peak, but it can also encourage second-layer scaling.

Some state that the relatively high fees on the Bitcoin network would push for the use of second-layer scaling solutions, which many believe to be inevitable if public blockchain networks are eventually used by billions of people worldwide.

Other major public blockchain networks with high scalability like Ethereum are exploring second-layer scaling solutions such as plasma, indicating that second-layer scaling is necessary for any large blockchain network.

According to a report from CoinShares Research, up to 65 percent of the Bitcoin network hashpower comes from China, a level unseen since 2017. While the level of mining centralization in China is currently high, over time it is expected to become more distributed across the world.

To date, large mining centers in China have been able to access cheap electricity in mountainous regions of the country, operating ASIC miners at low costs with natural cooling. Consequently, the level of mining centralization in China reached unprecedented levels in December 2019.

Additional data from CoinShares explained that:

While we expect this ratio to fall again as latest generation hardware further makes its way into the non-Chinese market, at the time of writing, as much as 65% of Bitcoin hashpower resides within China the highest weve seen since we began our network monitoring in late 2017.

The researchers also said:

We have reasons to believe the lions share of the newly deployed hardware has been predominantly installed in China. There could be many reasons for this, but Occams Razor suggests that it is likely an effect of relational and geographic proximity to manufacturers making barriers to business comparatively lower.

Chinas Bitcoin mining equipment access and hashrate. Source: CoinShares

Currently Chinas mining sector has two clear advantages over the rest of the world, cheap electricity and direct access to new mining equipment. Eventually, lower electricity rates and better access to newer mining equipment could push the global mining industry to expand outside of China in the years to come, reducing the level of centralization.

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Crypto Analyst Cautions Investors Against Bitcoin for 3 Key Reasons - Cointelegraph

TOP 3 Bitcoin and Crypto News for Today: 17 April – U.Today

Geoffrey Schwartz

Bitcoin (BTC) price prediction, Binance (BNB) smart chain white paper released, and Nassim Taleb recommends cryptocurrencies.

The last day of the workweek ended in the green for the three major indexes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) rocketed up 704.81 points (about 3%) to close at 24,242.49. The S&P 500 went up 75.01 points (about 2.7%) to close at 2,874.56. The NASDAQ Composite advanced 117.78 points (about 1.4%) to close at 8,650.14. All of this optimism and hope was based on a drug report published by Gilead Sciences, which showed some promise for treating the coronavirus.

As for news within the crypto world, some of the major headlines include a price prediction for Bitcoin (BTC), the release of a Binance (BNB) Smart Chain white paper, and Nassim Taleb recommending the use of cryptocurrencies.

Yesterday morning was strong bullish impulse for the average price of Bitcoin (BTC). As a result, this pushed the BTC/USD pair above the $7,026 mark. By the end of the day, the price of BTC was able to gain a foothold above this support level.

Overnight growth was not supported by large volumes, and a local maximum was set around the $7,224 area. The next morning, the priced rolled back from its maximum.

Looking at the lines from the Stochastic Relative Strength Index (Stoch RSI), the price of BTC is now in the overbought zone. A rollback to the average price region can therefore be expected in the near future. If the 2H EMA55 provides support, then growth may continue to the $7,300 mark.

Yesterdays growth to $7,190 mark closed above $7,000 with a full candle, indicating buyer strength. It is likely not the usual removal of short positions. For the moment, the big picture is an upswing. To confirm this, the bulls need to keep the price above $6,900 and pass the $7,150 resistance level. If that is the case, then traders can expect a significant increase to its previous local maximum of $7,459 or higher.

Binance has broken into the decentralized application market by creating the Binance Smart Chain, a special parallel blockchain to land smart contracts. The Binance Smart Chain, which will be cross-chain interoperable, will use a Proof-of-Stake Authority consensus. As a result, staking the Binance Coin (BNB) will be available to all users.

According to the recently released white paper, the reason a separate chain was required was because:

The execution of a Smart Contract may slow down the exchange function and add non-deterministic factors to trading

While Binance (BNB) is aware of the situation in the dApps market, EOS (EOS), Ethereum (ETH), and Tron (TRX) have managed to address the needs of dApp developers.

With developed countries announcing one stimulus package after another to counteract the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, some governments are screwing over its citizens. Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan, highlighted the importance of cryptocurrencies as a tool for cross-border remittances.

According to Pierre Madani, Chief Financial Officer of Kafalat S.A.L., BDL has begun to confiscate hard currencies from over-the-counter remittances because of hyperinflation for the Lebanese Pound (LBP) and the national banks losing credit. Instead of acquiring stable foreign currencies, beneficiaries can only obtain the worthless LBP.

Taleb, a major advocate for Bitcoin (BTC) and other financial institutions involving cryptocurrencies, believes that they could replace the classical remittance and exchange tools in emerging markets. He also applauded the anti-authoritarian nature of Bitcoin (BTC) and other major cryptocurre

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TOP 3 Bitcoin and Crypto News for Today: 17 April - U.Today

Bitcoin: The Halvening Cometh – Forbes

HONG KONG, HONG KONG - NOVEMBER 9: As a visual representation of the digital Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin ... [+] with US Dollar on November 9, 2017 in Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Cryptocurrencies - Bitcoin, have seen unprecedented growth in 2017. (Photo by studioEAST/Getty Images)

Bitcoin remains a controversial asset with most people either believing it as doomed to be valueless or set to be worth $1 million a coin. As such it is probably a fair bet to say it will do neither.

Here is the state of play:

The Bitcoin chart as the 'halvening' approaches

This is what happened last time:

Here's what happened to the Bitcoin price after the last 'halvening'

The idea is that the price will go up because the supply of new coins will halve, so on an even keel basis there will be the same demand but less supply. The increase of bitcoin supply will half but interestingly it will also fall below the recent rate of U.S. dollar inflation. So the thinking goes: supply of new bitcoin down + supply of bitcoin less than U.S. dollars (substantially less since the recent titanic stimulus packages) + ever increasingspread of acceptance = significant price rise.

Doomsters say that miners will flee as they can no longer make money mining and the blockchain will seize up. However, every two weeks the mining difficulty retargets to take that into account, so this scenario simply wont happen and in the end transaction costs would make up for any drop in new coin rewards if the situation became difficult. A $6 per transaction fee would fill the gap, which is super pricey, but not when large transactions are at stake.

The halvening wont break bitcoin, but will it be the beginning of the next leg up?

I think so.

Will it catapult bitcoin to $100,000 a coin? It could happen but I want to believe because I have a pile of bitcoins.

The key factor will be the shape of the developing coronavirus recession. The outcome of these huge stimulus packages are impossible to predict. Not only is their effect utterly unpredictable but even their scale is uncertain. Bitcoin (BTC) is just a tiny sideshow to all these goliath moves.

The only outcome that would hurt BTC is deflationary depression and with trillions of cash being helicoptered in to bailout everyone, at least the deflationary part seems hard to imagine.

What isnt so hard to imagine is something the ex-Federal Reserve Chairman brought up: Hysteresis. Thats not the electrical thing, its the political type. Hysteresis is what Marxists use to explain away the fact that their fabulous theories never seem to be adopted or work. Its a shock to the system that is needed to create the momentum for a sudden and irreversible change. That Ben Benenke should bring up the prospect for that is enough to make your ears burn. Bitcoin $1 million is totally ridiculous but then.

A Zimbabwe one hundred trillion dollar note

Whether hysteresis would mean a trillion dollar bill or something else entirely, it wont do bitcoin any harm.

Love it or hate it, in times of hysteresis a bitcoin wallet would be a prized possession. Even without the halvening, bitcoin looks good as a haven/flight asset in very uncertain times.

-

Clem Chambers is the CEO of private investors websiteADVFN.com and author of 101 Ways to Pick Stock Market Winners and Trading Cryptocurrencies: A Beginners Guide.

Chambers won Journalist of the Year in the Business Market Commentary category in the State Street U.K. Institutional Press Awards in 2018.

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Bitcoin: The Halvening Cometh - Forbes

Grab your Bitcoin while you can because Purse.io is shutting up shop in June and you could lose the lot – The Register

Pulse.io is advising its customers to withdraw all digital funds from the site "as soon as possible," after announcing it'll shut down completely on June 26.

The online souk, which matched bitcoin (BTC) and bitcoin cash (BCH) users who wanted to buy Amazon gift cards at a discount and sellers that wanted cryptocurrency, said on Thursday that no new accounts will be allowed. On April 23 no new deals between buyers and sellers will be allowed, and all current transactions will be completed or terminated by the June 26 deadline.

"If you have a balance on Purse.io, please withdraw all funds as soon as possible," said Pulse in a statement. "It's been a privilege serving people all around the world. Thank you for helping us make crypto useful."

No reason for the closure was given but there are a couple of possibilities. Firstly, earlier this week, Amazon announced that it was cutting the amounts paid to affiliates that refer business to Bezos & Co, by as much as 80 per cent in some cases. That may have fundamentally altered Purse's business model.

Some have suggested that the crypto-biz might be the victim of a government crackdown on such forums. While Pulse was one of the biggest players in the market, other forums offering similar services are still trading. Make of that what you will.

Finally there's the possibility that Pulse simply ran out of money. The San Francisco-based concern has raised $1.3m in funding over the last six years and VC funding is drying up faster than California's aquifers as capital hunkers down for a long recession.

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Grab your Bitcoin while you can because Purse.io is shutting up shop in June and you could lose the lot - The Register

Bitcoin Price Predicted to Go to $50,000 by Trading Guru Peter Brandt (but Don’t Get Too Excited) – U.Today

Alex Dovbnya

$50,000 or Beanie Babies? Here's what the future holds for Bitcoin, according to Peter Brandt

Peter Brandt has shared his latest take on the Bitcoin (BTC) price, predicting that ithas a 50 percent chance of shooting up to as high as $50,000.

However, this price target is not set in stone since there appears to be the same possibility that the orange coin ends up being just 'another pet rock or Beanie Baby.'

Bitcoin has been likened toBeanie Babiesby everyone and their mother -- from permabears in the likes of Peter Schiff to "Last Week Tonight"host John Oliver.

These chictoysare the ultimate fads of the dotcom bubble in the 1990s.During the peak of the craze, some people were willing to fork out their life savings to buy exclusive items that were nothing but stuffed animals. One Beanie Baby was sold for as much as $15,000.

Whether you believe in the future or Bitcoin (BTC) or not, comparing a decentralized cryptocurrency to a toy bubble might be a bit of a stretch. Besides, there are some exclusive Beanie Babies that will now set you back more than $500,000.

As of recently, Brandt has been sending mixed signals about Bitcoin. The prominent chartist who predicted that BTC could conquer $100,000 this year rapidly changed his tune after the March crash.

Following the events of "Black Thursday,"when BTC erased 50 percent of its value, Brandt tweeted that it was more likely to go to zero.

Moreover, he recently argued that the much-anticipated May was highly overrated.

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Bitcoin Price Predicted to Go to $50,000 by Trading Guru Peter Brandt (but Don't Get Too Excited) - U.Today