Category Archives: Bitcoin
Buoyant bitcoin stirs crypto-bubble fears – CNBC
It is mainly the new "token" cryptocurrencies that are issued in ICOs with no regulatory oversight, which have exploded since the start of the year, that are causing the most anxiety.
One, the "Useless Ethereum Token", which appears to have been set up as a way of showing how worthless many of the ICOs really are, is nonetheless changing hands for 3 cents a unit. "No value, no security, and no product. Just me, spending your money," its website states.
"It's just so easy to raise money on an ICO right now, it just feels like there's a gold rush going on there," said Moffat. "Some of the new currencies - beyond bitcoin and Ethereum - could crash to zero."
By mid-July, about $1.1 billion had been raised in ICOs this year, roughly 10 times more than that in the whole of 2016, according to cryptocurrency research firm Smith + Crown.
The rapid ascent of ICOs prompted the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to warn last month that some ICOs should be regulated like other securities.
This is new digital territory and how the rapidly proliferating cryptocurrency market will play out is anyone's guess.
While critics say the highly correlated nature of the currencies means the weakness of newer entrants could bring the whole house down; others argue market forces will ensure the best players prevail.
"Will some of these (currencies) go away? Of course," said Vias of Ripple.
"We're going to see Darwinism in real-time here. Only the strong will survive."
Read the original:
Buoyant bitcoin stirs crypto-bubble fears - CNBC
Bring on the Forks: Bitcoin Traders See Improving Price Outlook for 2017 – CoinDesk
There aretwo bitcoins now?
It's safe to sayuncertainty cast a pall over the cryptocurrency markets last week when on August 1, a group of developers and miners split the blockchain and created a new cryptocurrency.
It was the first (high-profile) bitcoin fork to date, and in response, the price very well could have entered a period of unprecedented churn. With bitcoin and bitcoin cash competing, it wasn't hard to foresee this creating market dislocations and downward pressure on price.
What happened, however, was the opposite, as in the last few days markets have surged past all-time highs. In fact, analysts have indicated a major upswell in confidence and a broad consensus that the upward march of bitcoin's price could continue.
Brad Chun, CEO of blockchain startup Mooti Digital Identity, went so far as to argue that institutional money is likelyto pour into bitcoin as a result.
Chun told CoinDesk:
"For early tech adopters who can't fathom a market cap of over $50 billion or $100 billion for bitcoin, they haven't seen anything yet. While we might see profit taking short-term, I view any dips as buying opportunities."
Chun, who plans to hold bitcoin through the remainder of 2017, has a $5,000 end-of-year price target on bitcoin, a price figure that includes bitcoin cash and any other potential "fork currencies" created as a result of disagreements over the network's future.
Kevin Zhou, of the cryptocurrency fund Galois Capital, is also bullish on the price of bitcoin, particularly after Segregated Witness locked in on the main bitcoin blockchain yesterday and the split went by without incident.
Zhou said bitcoin could see price gains of 200 to 300 percent year-over-year, for the next two years. And added that $3,000 to $4,500 "seems reasonable" as a price target for the year, though he hedges a bit on that range.
Harry Yeh, managing partner at Binary Financial, is more categorical now that the hard fork has passed.
"Expect a big move past $3,500 possibly this week," he told CoinDesk. Yeh believes $4,000 "is on the horizon" for bitcoin by the end of the year.
But perhaps the most prevailing view in the wake of the bitcoin cash fork is that a major headwind has just come off the table.
The argument goes like this: bitcoin survived a fork without a major technical or price catastrophe. As a consequence, the market has stabilized, clearing the way for higher prices in the future.
Yehexplained:
"Traders trade based on technical and fundamental analysis. With the hard fork issue gone and the technicals being very bullish again, long term there is definitely a lot more confidence amongst traders."
Once again, confidence has risen because the downside risks weren't realized.
Tellingly, and in keeping with this thesis, Yeh points out that this is only the case until "the next" fork arises to darken markets.
Here, Zhou's comments reflect how forks can be both positive and negative factors in the market. While forks can create uncertainty and risk, he noted forks also have an upside the ability to spawn new assets.
"I also think after the success of bitcoin cash forking off bitcion, we might see a lot of other forks happening. 2014 was altcoin mania; 2015-2016 was blockchain mania; 2017 is ICO mania; maybe 2018 will be fork mania," he said.
Elsewhere, Petar Zivkovski, director of operations at Whaleclub, struck a more nuanced note on price direction and short-term price targets.
"2017 has been a stellar year for bitcoin. Barring a black swan event (this is a big assumption in the industry), I think the bull run will continue through the end of the year since it's the predominant trend," he remarked.
While Zivkovski has admitted that the price could see a short-term pullback, he said he is watching out for whether the $3,000 price will hold. If it does, he said $4,000 might not be far off.
Interestingly, Zivkovski struck a novel note that none of the other analysts picked up on: The possibility that soaring bitcoin prices could cause a negative feedback loop for the price of bitcoin.
In a nutshell, his thesis is that the "incredible price rise" in bitcoin is attracting the attention of both governments and regulators on a global basis. As a consequence, "a wider crackdown on bitcoin exchanges," he said, could mitigate price gains.
In other words, bitcoin could become a victim of its own success.
Fork art image via Shutterstock
The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is an independent media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. Interested in offering your expertise or insights to our reporting? Contact us at [emailprotected].
Original post:
Bring on the Forks: Bitcoin Traders See Improving Price Outlook for 2017 - CoinDesk
Bitcoin extends record climb, as digital currencies on the rise – MarketWatch
Bitcoin on Monday extended its ascent into rare air, with the digital currency adding to a recent record run-up about a week since the currency split into two distinct cyber units: bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash.
A single bitcoin BTCUSD, +1.41% was up 3.5% at $3,369.82, after enjoying a weekend ascent that has taken the cryptocurrency to its highest level since being created back in 2009. The total market value of bitcoin was nearly $55 billion, its highest on record, according to Coinmarketcap.com.
Some market participants theorized that this current rally in bitcoin is due to deceptive trading tactics employed by at least one deep-pocketed investor intended to create the illusion that a potential buyer is willing to, for example, buy bitcoin at a lofty price, which drives its value higher and potentially allows the bidder to then cancel the trade and sell at an inflated level, according to digital-money news site The Cointelegraph.
Bitcoin Cash, meanwhile, was up 52% on the session, but down 57% since its Aug. 2 peak when it hit $727.
Read: Bitcoin rallies to record, market cap hits $50 billion for first time
Prices of the original bitcoin have surged in the past week, after bitcoin launched last Tuesday a new version of its currency with a different configuration, known as Bitcoin Cash. Bitcoin Cash is an attempt to solve processing issues by allowing blocks to be processed in 8-megabyte units, rather than the 1-megabyte block the older version of bitcoin uses.
Prices appear to be mostly rising across much of the digital-currency network, with Ethereums ether token ticking 0.4% higher. An ether token was at $266.61 in recent trade, with a total value of $25 billion for the currency network.
Total market value across the top cryptocurrencies put them at $116.9 billion, with Bitcoin Cash coming in as the fourth-largest cybercurrency at $5.2 billion, ahead of Litecoin tokens at $2.4 billion.
Here is the original post:
Bitcoin extends record climb, as digital currencies on the rise - MarketWatch
OSTK to HODL: Overstock to Keep 50% of All Bitcoin Payments as Investments – CoinDesk
Online retailer Overstock.com is shifting its cryptocurrency investment strategy keepinghalf of the bitcoin it takes in as payment, the company's CEOhas said.
Overstock reported itssecond-quarter earnings last week, revealingthat its Medici blockchain business lost $3.3 million before taxes during that period. At the time, the company explained the loss as necessary as it continues to ramp up development around it t0 crypto-securities trading platform.
In an accompanying earnings call, CEO Patrick Byrne was asked about the recent price increases in bitcoin markets and whether Overstock which has traditionally kept 10 percent of its bitcoin earnings and converted the rest to dollars had "changed its strategy" in light of the developments.
According to Byrne, Overstock's board of directors approved a plan to keep 50 percent instead. Notably, he indicated that the firm may move to hold other "crypto-securities", but did not elaborate further on what that might constitute.
He said on the earnings call:
"I mean we can keep it either in Bitcoin or in some assortment of cryptosecurities. So you'll see a portfolio emerge there. We've had there -- had some good luck with some of our -- we've been storing some coins from counterparties for a couple of years and they've turned out -- they've grown up nicely. Anyway, we have some nice gains in the coin department."
In response to the question, Byrne said that the company did at one point see a bump-up in overall bitcoin spending.
"We have seen a material change, in part because of everything in the news it spiked and then it settled back down to about $50,000 per week," Byrne explained.
Image via Shuttesrtock
The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is an independent media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. Have breaking news or a story tip to send to our journalists? Contact us at [emailprotected].
More here:
OSTK to HODL: Overstock to Keep 50% of All Bitcoin Payments as Investments - CoinDesk
Why is bitcoin surging? Ask ‘Spoofy,’ the trader who’s reportedly manipulating prices – MarketWatch
Bitcoin BTCUSD, +1.41% caught fire this weekend, taking out yet another record high and pushing above $50 billion in market capitalization for the first time ever. This after selling off in the wake of the split last week.
So whats triggering the latest push?
Apparently, a deep-pocketed trader (or group of traders), nicknamed Spoofy, is rumored to be manipulating the bitcoin market by employing his namesake tactic on the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange, according to Cointelegraph.
Read: 10 things you need to know about bitcoin.
Spoofing is when a trader makes a deceptive bid or offer with the intent of canceling it before execution, thus giving the illusion that somebody is getting ready to buy or sell and potentially triggering a notable move in price.
For example, if Spoofy places a large buy order that entices smaller traders to hop aboard, he can turn around and instead use the uptick to execute a sell order.
Weve seen it before in other markets, like when Navinder Sarao, the British trader accused of contributing to the 2010 stock market flash crash, pleaded guilty to using the shady tactic.
So yes, spoofing is illegal, but since bitcoin markets are mostly unregulated, its quite common, Cointelegraph reports. The difference in Spoofys case is that hes got a massive bankroll that allows him to regular place orders upward of $60 million.
The BitCryptoed blog described the impact hes had on bitcoin.
Spoofy makes the price go up when he wants it to go up, and Spoofy makes the price go down when he wants it to go down, the blogger wrote. And hes got the coin both USD, and bitcoin, of course, to pull it off, and with impunity on Bitfinex.
Read: It could get ugly soon for bitcoin if this chart is right.
Continue reading here:
Why is bitcoin surging? Ask 'Spoofy,' the trader who's reportedly manipulating prices - MarketWatch
Bitcoin rallies to new record, market cap hits $50 billion for first time – MarketWatch
Bitcoin surged above $3,000 to reach a new all-time high over the weekend, less than a week after a split that worried some investors.
Bitcoin BTCUSD, -1.16% peaked Saturday at a record $3,360.87, according to CoinDesk.com. By Sunday, the cryptocurrency had settled down to $3,286.87, with a market cap of $53.4 billion, according to Coinmarketcap.com. Saturday marked the first time bitcoin surpassed $50 billion in market cap.
Read: Confused about bitcoin? 10 things you need to know
Prices have jumped more than 10% in the past week, after bitcoin on Tuesday launched a new version of its currency with a different configuration, known as Bitcoin Cash. Bitcoin prices initially fell more than 5% as the new currency confused markets, but quickly recovered.
Despite its volatility, bitcoin has more than tripled its value this year, crossing the $2,000 threshold in May and hitting $3,000 for the first time in June, before crashing back to earth and shedding about 20% of its value before continuing its meteoric gains.
Competing digital currency ethereum tagged along for the weekend rally, surging 12% Saturday and another 7% Sunday, to $270.07, with a market cap of $25.2 billion.
Read the original:
Bitcoin rallies to new record, market cap hits $50 billion for first time - MarketWatch
Illicit activity is hurting Bitcoin’s future | New York Post – New York Post
Dear John: I really think you missed the boat on bitcoin.
You assume bitcoin is just money, when in fact it has many other uses. Its here to stay, and will disrupt every industry, including governance.
Bitcoin ATMs are an easy on/off ramp, since due to regulations in the US its very hard to get bitcoin today. If you look at all the companies (including all banks) that are looking into utilizing this technology, I think you may want to rethink your view.
Santander Bank alone will save $20 billion in internal transfers. E.G.
Dear E.G.: You are referring to a column I wrote about bitcoin being used to launder money from illegal activities.
It just so happens that last week a US jury indicted a Russian man for operating a digital bitcoin exchange that he allegedly used to launder more than $4 billion for people involved in crimes ranging from computer hacking to drug trafficking. The guys name is Alexander Vinnik, and he was arrested in a small beach-side village in northern Greece. This is all according to a report by Reuters.
US officials alleged Vinnik and his firm received more than $4 billion in bitcoin and did substantial business in the US without allowing appropriate protocols to protect against money laundering and other crimes.
So that pretty much confirms what I wrote about the sudden growth of bitcoin ATMs throughout the city.
But lets also look at the illogical stance you are taking. You say that bitcoin is going to disrupt every industry, including governance.
If that were so if governments were going to be disrupted why would governments allow bitcoin and other digital currency to survive? They wouldnt.
Will there someday be a universal currency used by all countries? And will it be digital?
Probably. But thats not going to happen until bitcoin and the others control the illicit activities they are condoning, and until someone backs these currencies with something other than the full faith and credit of nothing.
In other words, eventually governments will band together to create and back a digital currency. And it probably wont be bitcoin.
Dear John: The only way to make going to the doctor affordable is to get rid of the insurance companies, Medicare and Medicaid.
When I first began working full-time in 1985, I went to a neighborhood doctor, God rest his soul.
For a $20 visit and another $20 for a prescription, he got me well. Follow-ups were free. He gave free samples. He even made house calls.
In a cash business, doctors would only be able to charge what the patients have in their wallets and pocketbooks. No greedy middle men. Prices would fall.
God bless and straight ahead. S.H.
Dear S.H.: I remember when I could get an ice cream cone for 25 cents and a decent dinner would cost $20.
But those days are gone.
And so is the Marcus Welby-era that you describe.
Now Id like to see some real letters on the health care problem.
Here is the original post:
Illicit activity is hurting Bitcoin's future | New York Post - New York Post
Coinbase to Let Users Withdraw Bitcoin Cash After Outcry – Fortune
The world's most popular digital currency exchange, Coinbase, reversed course on Thursday and announced it would accept a new bitcoin offshoot that was issued to every bitcoin owner.
The reversal comes after days of tumult as angry Coinbase customers demanded to know why the company had not released their new currency, called Bitcoin Cash, to them. The exchange rate for the currency, which began trading on August 1, briefly reached $700 on Wednesday and is currently trading around $400.
Coinbase announced the decision in a blog post, explaining it wanted to first ensure the company could safely support Bitcoin Cash before developing technology to support it. The exchange said it would start supporting Bitcoin Cash begining on Jan. 1, 2018.
Over the last several days, weve examined all of the relevant issues and have decided to work on adding support for bitcoin cash for Coinbase customers. We made this decision based on factors such as the security of the network, customer demand, trading volumes, and regulatory considerations.
We are planning to have support for bitcoin cash by January 1, 2018, assuming no additional risks emerge during that time.
While the decision to support Bitcoin Cash may placate some Coinbase customers, others are likely to question why the company will take months to do so, even as other digital exchanges support the new currency.
It's also unclear how Coinbase's announcement will affect a campaign by a group of customers who had vowed to file a class action lawsuit if the company did not permit them to withdraw their Bitcoin Cash.
Get Data Sheet, Fortunes technology newsletter.
In the days preceding the arrival of Bitcoin Coin cash, Coinbase made clear it did not intend to support the new currency and advised customers who objected to the policy to withdraw their bitcoins. This position, however, appeared to trigger a stampede of withdrawals, akin to a bank run, that led many customers to complain about long delays in getting access to their funds.
Meanwhile, reports suggest a large percentage of Coinbase's customer base elected to leave prior to August 1, which is when a so-called fork in bitcoin's underlying software took place that gave rise to Bitcoin Cash. A graph published by analytics company BlockSeer suggests customers withdrew over half of the $1 worth billion bitcoins stored in Coinbase's "vault" storage service:
It's unclear how many of the departing Coinbase customers elected to cash out their bitcoins into dollars or instead to transfer it to other digital wallet services where they would be eligible to receive the Bitcoin Cash immediately. One such company, London-based Blockchain, suggested most customers chose the latter course.
"It's been a record week for Blockchain," said a spokesperson for the company.
An earlier version of this story incorrectly suggested customers had withdrawn half of 1 billion bitcoins, not $1 billion worth of bitcoin.
See the original post:
Coinbase to Let Users Withdraw Bitcoin Cash After Outcry - Fortune
Bitcoin Price Surges Past $3200 to Hit All-Time High – CoinDesk
The price of bitcoin has risen sharply, exceeding the $3,200 level for the first time on the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (BPI).
The market advancebegan after 1:00 UTC, when the price of bitcoin climbed above $2,900, market data shows, crossing the $3,000 line around 3:12 UTC.
Markets hit a high of $3,216.02, according to the BPI, and at press time are currently trading at an average of $3,154.94. Per the BPI, bitcoin's price hasn't been above the $3,000 level since June 12.
The price advance also pushed bitcoins collective market capitalization past the $50 billion mark for the first time. According to the BPI, bitcoins market cap is around $52.35 billion at press time.
As might be expected, market volumes jumped along with the price. Data from Bitcoinity showsmore trade volume during the past several hours than at any other point during the past week.
Hot air balloon imagevia Shutterstock
The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is an independent media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. Have breaking news or a story tip to send to our journalists? Contact us at [emailprotected].
Here is the original post:
Bitcoin Price Surges Past $3200 to Hit All-Time High - CoinDesk
Bitcoin Rockets Past $3000 to a New Record High – Fortune
In just four hours of early Saturday trading, the price of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin surged over 9% to a new record. At the time of this writing, one Bitcoin is valued at $3,169.90, well above the previous record of $3,000 set in June.
Bitcoin's total market value is now more that $52 billion, according to data from CoinMarketCap, and the return on Bitcoin investments made on January 1st of this year stands at nearly 220%.
Bitcoin will almost certainly remain a highly volatile asset, but its latest high reflects a major positive development. After years of heated debate over how to increase the Bitcoin networks transaction capacity, major players have finally agreed on a compromise solution known as Segwit2x. That accomplishment is reassuring for those who may have begun to doubt the effectiveness of Bitcoins leaderless governance model.
Get Data Sheet, Fortunes technology newsletter.
The Segwit2x solution also seems to have driven Bitcoin's price higher in a less direct way. On Tuesday, a faction who disagreed with the proposal spun off a so-called fork of Bitcoin, known as Bitcoin Cash, which implemented a different fix. All holders of Bitcoin received matching Bitcoin Cash, which now trades as BCH on exchanges, and has a total current value of $3.75 billion.
However, the price of Bitcoin Cash has declined steadily over the last two days as Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies have surged. That suggests investors are cashing out of the upstart fork, which has sparse support from miners and exchanges, and pumping their gains back into older, more trusted, and more widely-adopted cryptocurrencies.
View original post here:
Bitcoin Rockets Past $3000 to a New Record High - Fortune