Category Archives: Cryptocurrency
How will Bitcoin halving shake the cryptocurrency market in 2020? – FXStreet
The creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto incorporated a rule into the code that executes Bitcoin that sees mining rewards slashed byhalf every four years. The impact of the reduced mining rewards leads to a reduction in the supply of the coin. The event is known has halving and is scheduled to take place in May 2020.
The reduction in the supply of Bitcoin will affect the players in the market differently considering Bitcoin's total market cap is only $120 billion. These players include miners, traders and investors. They are all looking forward to making the most out of the halving.
Meanwhile, some of the fundamentals likely to be affected immensely are volatility, supply and demand of Bitcoin. Rapid gains and losses due to extreme volatility will characterize Bitcoins market after halving. Therefore, losers and winners will rub shoulders but for now, anticipation is growing on how participants will take advantage of the event.
Traders, particularly are expecting higher volumes and extreme volatility. However, the reduction in supply could spike the prices to higher levels. Other parties that benefit from high volatility are quantitative hedge funds and high-frequency traders who mainly make money from price swings.
Read more:The Cryptocurrency Market Update: Bitcoin stagnates above $7,000 after an action-filled week
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How will Bitcoin halving shake the cryptocurrency market in 2020? - FXStreet
How China’s National Cryptocurrency Will Improve the Nation’s Economy – Bitcoinist
According to recent information, Chinas e-yuan will roll out in early 2020, and it will be very cautious, initially only focusing on consumer spending.
Recent reports regarding Chinas upcoming cryptocurrency claim that Beijing is preparing to launch the so-called e-yuan in early 2020. This will be the worlds first digital sovereign currency. However, the reports also indicate that China plans to be very tentative with its new coin and the initial rollout process.
The new technology is bound to be very disruptive, which is why China plans to take each step with extreme care, and initially focus on consumer spending.
As many are likely aware, there are many among the worlds largest monetary authorities that are currently studying cryptocurrencies. Some of them are even planning of creating their own versions of digital money. However, this time, the Peoples Bank of China is taking the lead, likely due to concerns about Bitcoin and Facebooks Libra.
Just like the space race from half a century ago, the world is in a rush to see who will be the first to gain the lead in the crypto space, with China currently being ahead of everyone else; especially the US. Of course, the country has been rather secretive and cryptic about its upcoming crypto.
But, earlier this year, in November, the Peoples Bank of Chinas head of digital currency research institute, Mu Changchun did give away a few hints. According to him, the e-yuan will come to the public via several commercial banks, including Ant Financial and Tencent. Both of them are the nations online payments giants.
While the new form of digital money will likely bring a number of benefits to its users, it will also greatly benefit the countrys government. Thanks to the underlying technology the blockchain, Chinas government will have the ability to follow all payments done with e-yuan at all times.
This will be very helpful to the countrys financial watchdogs, which would be able to detect criminal activities such as money laundering, tax evasion, and any other kind of fraudulent activity. As for the coins users, all payments and interbank settlements would become significantly more secure and efficient.
The new technology would also improve the situation in parts of China that were not previously covered properly. Not to mention the fact that it would help the countrys efforts to clean up as much as $341 billion of bad debt. It will also solve some of Chinas biggest problems, such as the practice of pledging the same asset for multiple loans. With distributed ledgers potential for storing and quickly retrieving this type of data, the country will become a lot more efficient at identifying and eliminating this type of fraud.
Finally, it will also be able to improve the situation for a lot of local businesses, which still trade discounted acceptance notes. Their digitization will also lead to a reduction of fraud, which will help businesses and the country, in general, move forward.
With blockchain and crypto still being unregulated and uncertain around the world, many have speculated whether or not Chinas decision to accept blockchain and launch e-yuan is such a good idea. Bitcoinist discussed this at length in one of their posts published around a month ago. However, there are some who support the move and believe that the new mechanism will allow Chinese yuan to be used in everyday transactions around the world, such as Circles CEO, Jeremy Allaire.
Do you think that Chinas acceptance of blockchain and its launch of a national cryptocurrency are a good decision? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Images via Shutterstock
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How China's National Cryptocurrency Will Improve the Nation's Economy - Bitcoinist
This bizarre anime cryptocurrency is now ranked 12 in the world – Decrypt
An obscure cryptocurrency designed to help promote and develop the Japanese 'Otaku' subculture, called MINDOL (MIN), has just pumped a further 9.5% to reach the hefty price of $4.73. MINDOL now sits at its all-time highest market capat just shy of $900 millionand, according to CoinMarketCap, this now means the cryptocurrency is now ranked twelfth by market cap.
Not bad for a coin that was worth just $0.17, just two months ago.
The anime-focused cryptocurrency has actually been recording back-to-back gains for more almost two months. In this time, the MIN token appears to have multiplied in value by more than 20x, while trading volume has remained roughly consistent throughout this time periodat around $3-5 million per day. But does this sound too good to be true?
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Definitely. While this performance may make MINDOL look like a project on the up and up, the truth is far less spectacular. As it stands, the vast majority of MINDOL trade volume occurs on a relatively unknown exchange known as Coinalla platform that has been accused of faking its trade volume. Beyond this, since the price action appears to be completely unrelated to any recent developments or improving project fundamentalsand the trading volume has barely increasedit suggests that the price is being artificially boosted.
This is not the first time (and won't be the last) that a coin has pumped unexpectently into the top 100 coins by market cap. Back in March, Maximine rose into the top 40 coins by market cap. It's now ranked 352. But this is one of the highest positions that an obscure coin has reached without getting there through genuine growthor at least some significant real trading volume. Whatever will be next? Decrypt coin?
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This bizarre anime cryptocurrency is now ranked 12 in the world - Decrypt
Zimbabwe Could End Corruption With This Cryptocurrency Initiative – Bitcoinist
Cryptocurrency has long been trumpeted and used as a tool to escape the hardships of abusive, inflationary financial regimes. Step forward an audacious plan to economically jailbreak the entire population of Zimbabwe with Dai.
Bitcoin use has soared in Zimbabwe over the past year, as the government has applied increasingly oppressive legislation on citizens in an attempt to prop up the failing economic system. A ban on foreign currency transactions sent LocalBitcoins use soaring, resulting in large premiums on BTC price in the region.
US Dollars are still transacted on the black market but this leaves a heavy reliance on cash, as digital payment methods are not accessible. For digital payments, citizens were using local mobile phone-based cash-in cash-out services. These were also banned in October, but reinstated after a public outcry.
But still, any payments in local currency are affected by increasing inflation, and the volatility of bitcoin makes it a less than ideal alternative.
Team Toast, developer of the decentralised and oppression resilient fiat-to-crypto gateway, DAIHard, has put forward a plan for the entire nation. A Blueprint for an Economic Jailbreak if you would,which they have published as The ZimDai Whitepaper.
Utilising the Dai stablecoin, DAIHard and Bis as its major tools, it attempts to overcome challenges such as user education and ease of use, state opposition, patchy and government-controlled internet connectivity, and funding issues.
The core of the plans revolves around recruiting a network of ZimDai agents. These agents could initially be anybody who can use cryptocurrency/Dai services with confidence, and use this to offer bank-like services to others.
Services would include inter-city transfers, international Dai to cash-in-hand for remittances from abroad, access to South African bank accounts, or simply education on how to set up and use the Dai stable cryptocurrency. Agents would charge a small commission for these services, but user would still be avoiding the huge fees charged by banks and other financial institutions.
The project is currently looking at a potential token sale to raise funds from the cryptocurrency community in order to put the plan into action and start recruiting agents.
Clearly, there is still much work to do. But at Christmas, it is nice to see a project using cryptocurrency for the good of others, rather than a desire for profit. After all, wasnt that a big part of the whole idea in the first place?
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Zimbabwe Could End Corruption With This Cryptocurrency Initiative - Bitcoinist
Why This Developer of the Controversial HEX Cryptocurrency Accused of Scam Left – newsBTC
The cryptocurrency market is has a wild west atmosphere, rife with hackers, cybercriminals, and scammers galore.
The developer of a new altcoin project called HEX accused of being a widespread scam has now left the project and is sharing his thoughts about why he made the decision for a departure.
A new cryptocurrency known as HEX has exploded onto the scene over the last few weeks and was immediately subject to the extreme controversy surrounding accusations that the altcoin project was nothing more than a scam perpetrated by the projects founder, Richard Heart.
HEX has been dubbed a Ponzi scheme, a scam, and even worse, and has been compared to the likes of notorious crypto projects gone defunct like BitConnect.
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The cryptocurrencys official website even claims that the asset is designed for 10,000x returns, something that even the SEC would say fails their Howey test, which helps investors determine if an investment is too good to be true and may be a scam.
Promises of returns are an immediate red flag, especially around the cryptocurrency asset class, which is known for its infamous volatility and assets that lose as much as 99% of their value.
But HEX makes many of these bold claims to lure investors into their scheme.
In a new live interview posted on YouTube by crypto influencer Naomi Brockwell, the host speaks to former HEX developer Kieran Mesquita, who has since distanced himself from the project.
Mesquita says that he was once proud to contribute to the project but later became uncomfortable with the projects business practices and the projects founder Richard Heart. He says that the most interesting technical aspects of the project were removed, instead of focusing on marketing jargon and empty promises.
Heart is said to hold nearly half of the coins circulating supply after the first year of the projects existence. Unfair distribution that goes to making the projects founder wealthy, is yet another warning sign that the investment may be a scam.
Oftentimes, if something seems too good to be true, it often is. Projects like HEX were a dime a dozen during the initial coin offering boom of 2017, and has left many investors burned and holding investments that are down 99% or more from their initial buy-ins.
Any investors thinking about making an investment into HEX, or any cryptocurrency should do their due diligence, including both fundamental and technical analysis to understand how an asset may perform, before taking a position.
Related Reading | Crypto-Demanding Cybercriminals Ramp Up Ransomware Threat With Data Exposure
If it looks like a scam, smells like a scam, it probably is a scam, and its best to avoid at all costs. HEX, may just be one of those projects, but only time will tell if it ends up like BitConnect and the other projects that the crypto angry mob has gone after in recent years.
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Why This Developer of the Controversial HEX Cryptocurrency Accused of Scam Left - newsBTC
Could there be a halal cryptocurrency? – The Malaysian Reserve
Local Shariah advisors believe halal coin is a viable idea, as long as governments collectively agree to it
By DASHVEENJIT KAUR / Pic By BLOOMBERG & issf.isra.my
LEADERS at the Kuala Lumpur Summit 2019 last week called on Muslim nations to strengthen financial and trade cooperation, and to cut their reliance on the US dollar.
Iranian President Dr Hassan Rouhani, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad mooted the idea of a unified currency as one of the ways to confront the economic dominance of the US.
Local Shariah advisors believe halal coin is a viable idea, as long as governments collectively agree to it, financial technology entrepreneurs maintain their appetite for it and the Islamic finance ecosystem comes to understand it enough to regulate it.
Mohamad Akram says Shariah authorities have not ruled on whether cryptocurrencies are permissible and none have the authority to impose them
International Shariah Research Academy (ISRA) for Islamic finance ED Prof Dr Mohamad Akram Laldin said cryptocurrencies have drawn a variety of rulings from scholars with differing views on how these fit with Islamic principles that emphasise real economic activity and forbid outright monetary speculation.
One or more individual Muslim governments must embrace halal coin before it can become a reality. If more governments came forward to support this idea, I think it would have more potential on the market, he told The Malaysian Reserve recently.
Mohamad Akram believes the big challenge to roll out a halal cryptocurrency has to do with the capacity of regulators, scholars and standards setting bodies to see and understand what it all means having a unified currency.
A single currency wouldnt be subject to exchange rate fluctuations because there would be no competing currencies to exchange against.
Shariah authorities have not ruled on whether cryptocurrencies are permissible, and while several global bodies recommend standards for Islamic finance, none have the authority to impose them. Many governments seem ambivalent, worried about the potential for instability, but unwilling to lose the chance of benefiting from new technology, he added.
A number of global jurisdictions have been considering the creation of cryptocurrencies to dodge sanctions by the US to date.
As reported by Cointelegraph in September, authorities in North Korea announced its intention to issue a digital currency with experts believing the initiative is aimed at helping the country bypass sanctions by the US.
Oil producer Venezuela is another example of countries trying to circumvent US sanctions using its own crypto. Launched in February 2018, the Petro became the worlds first national oil-backed cryptocurrency.
One of the biggest difficulties is that there is so much to talk about, let alone do. Execution is the hurdle and the idea of a unified currency using cryptocurrency is a far-fetched reality as of now Mohamad Akram said.
Companies are seeking to sway the debate by launching instruments based on physical assets and certified as valid by Islamic advisors.
In Malaysia, HelloGold Sdn Bhd launched an initial offer of its gold-backed cryptocurrency in October, receiving approval from Islamic scholars at Kuala Lumpur-based Amanie Advisors Sdn Bhd.
HelloGold CMO Manuel Ho said its coin is Islamic as transactions occur within a defined period, making them less volatile and addressing the issue of ambiguity of pricing. But the issue of religious permissibility is influential and could determine whether Islamic funds and institutions, which are formally committed to the principles of Islamic law, deal in cryptocurrencies.
Muhammads working paper concludes that Bitcoin fully meets the definition of Islamic money and is generally permissible under Shariah
The haram vs halal crypto debate has been ongoing since bitcoins initial surge in popularity.
A check on Google shows Internet searches for the phrase bitcoin halal peaked in December 2017, when the leading cryptocurrencys price hit record highs of around US$20,000 (RM82,800) per coin, while bitcoin haram was queried most in January 2018.
Blossom Finance of Indonesia commissioned and released a working paper last year, exploring the Islamic permissibility of bitcoin, cryptocurrency and blockchain.
The research and development of the working paper was led by Mufti Muhammad Abu Bakar Blossoms internal Shariah advisor and Shariah compliance officer.
The paper concluded that bitcoin fully meets the definition of Islamic money under certain conditions and was generally permissible under Shariah.
The author pointed to the fact that bitcoin was recognised as a legal currency in Germany and therefore qualified as Islamic money in that country.
Bitcoin is permissible in principal as it is treated as valuable by market price on global exchanges and it is accepted for payment at a wide variety of merchants. Moreover, many private individuals accept bitcoin as a medium of exchange in their private transactions, the study stated.
The publication of the study in April 2018 preceded unprecedented price gains of bitcoin as its value surged by more than US$1,000 in less than an hour following several months of steady decline.
This has led some analysts to speculate that news of bitcoins Shariah law compliance may have contributed to the price spike.
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Could there be a halal cryptocurrency? - The Malaysian Reserve
Even 2019s Strongest Cryptocurrency is Unable to Escape the Bear Market – newsBTC
Binance Coin (BNB), the eighth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, opened on Tuesday in a severely negative area as a string of poor fundamentals scared investors away.
BNB plunged by 5.78 percent, or $0.77, to trade at $12.65. The latest downside move came as a part of an extended bearish correction seen across the entire cryptocurrency market. Like BNB, top coins including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Ripple (XRP), too suffered intraday losses.
On the whole, the cryptocurrency market had erased approx $16bn off its capitalization from Monday until 1523 UTC today.
The entire cryptocurrency market had plunged by 8 percent from Monday | Source: TradingView.com, CoinMarketCap.com
The rapid decline in the BNB price also came two weeks before the enforcement of the European Unions Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD).
In retrospective, 5AMLD requires Europe-based cryptocurrency exchanges to register with the local authorities. It also orders them to perform KYC checks on all their users.
Binance, which is based in Malta, do not impose strict KYC on users withdrawing less than 2 BTC. That leaves the exchange with two options: Either it can impose new regulations on its hundreds of thousands of traders, or it can decide to stop offering services to European clients altogether.
Historically, geo-blocking users have not helped BNB, a de-factor reward token at Binance. Back in June, when Binance had announced that it would stop offering trading services to the United States citizens, the price of BNB had taken a toll.
The token though established a year-to-date high of $43.15 but has since erased a large portion of its profits. As of 1523, it was changing hands at a 70 percent lesser price.
The 5AMLD directive has prompted smaller cryptocurrency businesses, including Bottle Pay, which had raised $2mn earlier this year, to shut down. Irrespective of what Binance does, it would lose a huge chunk of traders that want to circumvent KYC checks.
The latest shakedown has brought Binance Coin closer to testing its 78.6 percent Fibonacci level of $12.455 as support. So it appears, it is one of the last levels standing before BNB and a vast breakdown.
BNB price is undergoing a vast bearish correction | Source: TradingView.com, Binance
The prevailing bearish sentiment could see traders eyeing targets below the $12.45 support. Ideally, a break below the said level could have them open short positions towards $8.96, an interim downside target. A further breakdown, meanwhile, could have traders extend their shorts towards $4.086.
Conversely, a pullback from $12.45 could open an attractive interim long opportunity towards the 50-daily MA in orange.
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Even 2019s Strongest Cryptocurrency is Unable to Escape the Bear Market - newsBTC
Why Analysts Across the Board Expect Bitcoin Price to Surge by 8% – newsBTC
After days of no price action, Bitcoin (BTC) has started to show signs of life. The leading cryptocurrency broke higher on Sunday morning, pushing past the $100 range that had defined Bitcoins price for the better part of three days.
As of the time of writing this, the top cryptocurrency is trading for $7,400, seemingly poised to break higher as these levels hold. In fact, a number of prominent analysts expect for BTC to see an 8% bounce in the coming days, citing simple technical and charting factors.
According to Amsterdam Stock Exchange trader Michal van de Poppe, Bitcoins outlook for the coming week is looking bright, despite the expectations by some that the cryptocurrency will see a red week.
The CoinTelegraph contributor and professional analyst noted that the green box depicted below has held as support, which marks the range low. Due to this bullish sign, he went on to say that he wouldnt be surprised if Bitcoin makes another push to the $7,800 to $8,000 resistance region later next week. A move to this area would mark an 8% rally from current prices.
Theres also trader Mac, who recently noted that with the Money Flow Index starting to reset, a move to the $7,800s could be had, which is where there is a liquidity pool, heading into the end of 2020.
This comes shortly after CryptoBirb remarked that the move to $7,400 brings BTC above the key mid-range zone of the trading range for the past five weeks the range being $6,400 to $7,900. This, theanalyst wrote, implies that the cryptocurrency is on its way to the range highs of $7,900.
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Why Analysts Across the Board Expect Bitcoin Price to Surge by 8% - newsBTC
Investors who lost $190m demand exhumation of cryptocurrency mogul – The Guardian
Lawyers for customers of an insolvent cryptocurrency exchange have asked police to exhume the body of the companys founder, amid efforts to recover about $190m in Bitcoin which were locked in an online black hole after his death.
Miller Thomson LLP sent a letter to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on Friday, requesting authorities conduct an exhumation and postmortem autopsy on the body of Gerald Cotten, founder of QuadrigaCX, citing what the firm called the questionable circumstances around his death earlier this year.
Citing decomposition concerns, lawyers requested the exhumation be completed no later than spring 2020.
Gerald Cotten, 30, died abruptly in December 2018 of complications relating to Crohns disease while on honeymoon in Jaipur, India, with his wife, Jennifer Robertson. His body was repatriated to Canada and a funeral was held in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Soon after his death, however, reports surfaced that nearly 80,000 users of QuadrigaCX at the time Canadas largest cryptocurrency exchange were unable to access funds totalling more $190m.
Cotten was the only one with access to necessary permissions. While Robertson has possession of the laptop containing the necessary passwords, she remains locked out.
The laptop computer from which Gerry carried out the companies business is encrypted and I do not know the password or recovery key. Despite repeated and diligent searches, I have not been able to find them written down anywhere, she said in court filings.
Uncertainty about the missing funds has fueled speculation that Cotten may still be alive. In their letter to the RCMP the law firm underlined the need for certainty around the question of whether Mr Cotten is in fact deceased.
The accounting firm Ernst & Young, tasked with auditing the company as it undergoes bankruptcy proceedings, discovered numerous money-losing trades executed by Cotten, using customers funds.
They also found a substantial amount of money was used to fund a lavish lifestyle for the couple, including the use of private jets and luxury vehicles. Ernst & Young was able to recover $24m in cash and $9m in assets held by Robertson.
Both Canadas tax authorities and the FBI are also investigating the company.
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Investors who lost $190m demand exhumation of cryptocurrency mogul - The Guardian
Moonday Mornings: IRS readies to tax your cryptocurrency no matter what – The Next Web
Welcome to Monday, its the start of another week and that means its time for Hard Forks wrap-up of the weekends top cryptocurrency and blockchain headlines.
Take a look.
According to CNBC, the US Internal Revenue Service has released a new tax form, asking cryptocurrency traders to declare their holdings.
The IRS new Schedule 1 for the 2019 tax season, asks tax payers if they received, sold, sent, exchanged, or acquired virtual currency by any other means over the past year.
Earlier this year, the IRS started sending letters to known cryptocurrency traders telling them to fess up about their trading habits.
In a similar move to the IRS, the government in South Korea is looking to levy taxes on citizens that trade cryptocurrency.
The Korea Times reports that the countrys Ministry of Economy and Finance is exploring a revised bill to tax capital gains from cryptocurrency transactions. The bill is reportedly going to be drawn up early next year.
The that the countrys Ministry of Economy and Finance confirmed that its exploring a revised bill to tax capital gains from cryptocurrency transactions. The bill is reportedly going to be drawn up early next year.
The latest Ethereum network update went live over the weekend. Dubbed Istanbul, the update was actioned at block number 9,069,000,Ethereum tweeted yesterday.
Istanbul features six major upgrades designed to improve the Ethereum networks efficiency and operational speed. Read more about it here.
Chinas central bank is reportedly going to test its digital currency in Shenzhen and Suzhou, The Block reports.
Four state-run commercial banks, in collaboration with three state-owned telecom companies, are reportedly working to find the best way to introduce the digital currency.
Earlier this year, Bank officials from the country said it had no timeline for the roll-out of its digital currency, but according to the latest report claims Chinas central bank has accelerated the project in response to Facebooks announcement of its own cryptocurrency Libra.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission is now looking to question messaging app Telegrams former chief investment advisor. The SEC is asking John Hyman to testify and hand over documents about Telegrams suspicious token sale, writes CoinDesk.
The SEC had to ask the High Court of England and Wales to get hold of the information.
Telegram was supposed to distribute its blockchain-based token TON back in October, but has put that on hold to maintain the status quo until it settles the legal battle with the SEC.
Well there you have it, another weekends headlines caught up with. Now go get on with your week!
Published December 9, 2019 10:17 UTC
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Moonday Mornings: IRS readies to tax your cryptocurrency no matter what - The Next Web