roadrunner

BTC is often a good macro indicator for the entire crypto market, so this is a good place to start. Bitcoin (BTC) has recently surpassed its all-time high price just shy of $20,000, so it’s a unique time to zoom out and look at the weekly chart for the past several years. The last several weeks have been a rocket ride, and we’re now bumping up against the technical resistance level of $20,000. Amidst the bullish sentiment fueled by corporate investors such as MicroStrategy, this could appear as resistance that will soon break. The leg up from $11,000 was particularly strong, and this kind of move often has a second leg. So the market is looking quite bullish indeed. Nevertheless, bears will also see shorting the $20,000 level as a trade. Typically, selling at resistance is a low probability (but good risk/reward) trade, as this kind of trade usually involves a tight stop. If the bulls fail to conquer the 21k handle, then price may slump. Aggressive bears will set stops there, hoping to see a sell off to $17,000 or more. Zooming into the daily chart, price is in a tight channel. We’re seeing the straight up price action on a more detailed scale. You can see price consolidating recently as it encounters the $20,000 resistance level. Runaway trends are always hard to trade since putting on a big position after a big run-up in price is risky. One strategy is to put on a small position as soon as you know the trend is in play. You can then manage the trade and add on later at either higher or lower prices, and more information is made available to you by the market and other factors. Steep trends are not very sustainable, and will have to correct at some point. If you buy, it is better to buy closer to the lower trendline of the channel. If there is an extreme overshoot to the high side and the market prints a full bear candle reversing down, it may be an opportune time to short the market, although this should be considered an advanced trade, as shorting in a bull market needs to be done very carefully. Now let’s take a look at Bitcoin Cash. Since BCH is correlated to BTC in dollar terms, let’s look at the BCH:BTC chart. Obviously, the trend has been down for many months. But is the ratio low enough now that we’ll see a bottom? Perhaps. There are signs indicating a decent chance. The daily chart above shows a steep channel that formed October through December, but is now broken to the upside by some strong candles. For such a long bear trend, we would expect at least another push down and/or a retest of the recently broken channel. Price usually can’t retest a broken trendline that’s too steep. Still, price can’t seem to get near it now, and the candles are small. The bears aren’t able to push the price down further so the ball is now in the bull’s court. Will they push the ratio up again? Things look poised for a possible reversal, but we have to assume the overall bear trend is still in play until the bulls prove otherwise. This column was written by Jonald Fyookball Disclaimer: Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the content. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any information in this article. The post Market Watch by Fyookball: Price Is in a Tight Channel appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Nigerian crypto startup Yellow Card says it processed over $165 million in volume during the first eleven months of this year. The figure represents a growth of more than 1,840% over the amount of remittances processed in the last six months of 2019. Launched in June 2019, Yellow Card enables Africans at home and abroad to buy and sell cryptocurrency using their local currency via bank transfer, cash, and mobile money. The service is being used mainly for remittances, a multi-billion-dollar industry in Africa. Yellow Card co-founder and chief executive officer Chris Maurice told news.Bitcoin.com that Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy and most populous nation, makes up 50% “of our volume currently, it is our most active market.” The firm has over 35,000 merchants in the West African country. Maurice said uptake in Kenya and Cameroon, which went live in September following a $1.5 million capital raise, is “exciting”, but did not provide figures. In South Africa and Botswana, Yellow Card added 30,000 vendors soon after entering the markets some months ago. “[The $165 million volume] only includes a customer buying bitcoin with fiat or selling bitcoin for fiat. We don’t inflate our numbers by counting every customer deposit and withdrawal as volume,” Maurice elaborated. He stated that the crypto remittance business in Africa “is growing rapidly” and that competition is increasing. Yellow Card is, however, better placed to stay ahead of the competition, Maurice boasted. “We have the goal of becoming synonymous with cryptocurrency in Africa. We believe we are on track to see that goal realized in the near future. We have the best rates and liquidity on the continent, and we want to make sure everyone across Africa is able to access this technology,” he detailed. Crypto-based remittances are considerably cheaper and faster compared to fiat remittances. For example, it costs a fraction of one cent to send any amount of money via the Bitcoin cash network. By comparison, banks will charge an arm and a leg for a similar service, an average of 10.89% of the amount being remitted, according to a new World Bank study. In Nigeria, citizens living abroad have turned to crypto to escape the country’s overvalued foreign currency exchange rates imposed by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Recipients are thought to be losing 20-30% of their remittance value each time they cash out their money. What do you think about Yellow Card’s crypto remittance business in Africa? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Nigeria’s Yellow Card Processes $165 Million in Crypto Remittances So Far This Year appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

On December 5, the American author and retired politician, Ron Paul, joined the Stephan Livera Podcast episode 234 and discussed cryptocurrencies and bitcoin at great length. During the interview, the prominent libertarian said when bitcoin came out he was still in congress and he thought the most important thing to do at the time was make it legal. Paul stressed that he advises cryptocurrency advocates to be vigilant toward the government’s future intrusive financial meddling. Making Sure Bitcoin Remains Legal Ron Paul is one of the most beloved libertarians alive today and when he speaks a great number of people listen. Paul is an author of many books that encourage liberty and he also argues for the circumvention of unwarranted government entities like the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Federal Reserve. The former congressman and presidential candidate has always been a staunch supporter of free markets, libertarianism, and a proponent of safe-haven assets like gold. During the last few years, Paul has shared his thoughts about bitcoin and the crypto economy many times in the past. Moreover, even though he’s not super well-versed in the technology, he likes cryptocurrencies for “philosophic and legalistic reasons.” Ron Paul is a well known libertarian and former member of Congress. Paul is a fan of free markets, precious metals, cryptocurrencies, and sound money. He’s written a number of books including “End the Fed,” and has been a critic of the U.S. government’s policies which include the tax system, the Federal Reserve, the war on drugs, the war on terror, Covid-19 lockdowns, and the military-industrial complex. On December 5, 2020, Paul appeared on the recent Stephan Livera Podcast episode 234 and discussed bitcoin and free markets for over 30 minutes. As usual, Paul was a critic of the U.S. federal government’s fiscal policies on the show, and he even questioned the existence of the American tax policy. As far as bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are concerned, Paul said: “I think there’s a lot of questions to be answered and I don’t think the conclusion is there yet.” “I’ve been impressed with what’s happened in the last few years because some people predicted [bitcoin] would be this popular, [and] other people were skeptical,” Paul told Livera during the podcast. “I think [skepticism] still exists, and my introduction to [bitcoin] has been mainly for philosophic and legalistic reasons, because I knew about this when it was becoming vogue when I was in congress. I thought the most important thing is to do is whatever we can to make [bitcoin] legal. This is why I [drafted] a bill that would legalize competing currencies because if it’s to be used as money, you are competing with the dollar and there’s some people who don’t like that.” The former politician further added: There are tax collectors out there too that want to know exactly what people are doing with alternative currencies. Paul said when he was a politician, he was “mainly interested to make sure that it was legal.” “I think it basically is and a lot of people trust it, a lot of people are buying and selling, but that doesn’t totally reassure me because I have a skepticism toward the government all the time,” Paul stressed. “You see I don’t even have total reassurance that the government won’t come along and want to confiscate my gold. Governments are pretty ornery, ya know, the more successful crypto is going to be and bitcoin, I think the more you have to be aware of what’s going on with the government becoming more aggressive.” Ron Paul’s Advice to Crypto Advocates Is to Remain Vigilant Paul then compared crypto assets to those in the private sector offering better services in the world of education in comparison to the government school system. “If you are doing private education outside the government’s education [system], such as homeschooling or private schooling and if you are too successful, the government is going to want to close you down— I think that’s the way it is in finance too,” Paul explained. During his conversation with Livera, Paul continued to criticize the IRS and the Fed’s massive 2020 money creation. “As of now it looks like a lot of people believe in the marketplace and believe it can work,” Paul said about crypto advocates who support free markets. “My advice is to be vigilant. There’s information collected, the [crypto] exchanges are not totally anonymous and I read the stories about the IRS checking up on things. For somebody like myself, I don’t even believe in the IRS let alone being flexible enough [to say] ‘well as long as they are investigating me even if I follow the rules,’ well… In 1932 in the depth of the depression, people were allowed to own gold, and we were on the gold standard,” Paul declared. The former congressman continued: But immediately what did they do? They made it illegal to own gold all the way up until 1975. During the podcast, Paul was very adamant about letting people make their own financial decisions. He highlighted that he likes the idea of how “cryptocurrencies have made people think” about that specifically. The self-professed gold bug and precious metals fan also added that he likes bitcoin’s supply limitation as well. “The other thing I like about it is so far, [is] there’s a limitation of the creation of new currency. When I endorse cryptocurrency, I always admonish and say it will work if fraud is prohibited. Governments are used to doing fraud and that’s why the systems always go badly,” Paul added. What do you think about Ron Paul’s recent statements about the federal government and bitcoin? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. The post Ron Paul Advises Bitcoin Proponents to ‘Be Vigilant’ of Government – ‘There’s Information Collected’ appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Decentralized cloud data storage platform SINOVATE is developing its own in-house blockchain technology known as Deterministic Infinity Nodes (DIN). The potentially groundbreaking new tech works in unison with Incorruptible Data Storage (IDS) to create a new consensus system with security levels never seen before. Market Growth & Unsustainable Solutions The data storage industry is Projected to exceed $80 Billion USD in the next 4 years as a result of the rise of mobile devices, the app market, and growth across Blockchain IoT, AI, and e-commerce. The market is split between Mainstream providers (Amazon, Microsoft) and the new, more technically secure blockchain-backed (Storj, Filecoin) dCloud alternatives. Mainstream cloud data providers are struggling with consistent data breaches, exposing a whole range of sensitive information (logins, passwords, IP addresses), while some blockchain alternatives face problems with token inflation. What is SINOVATE? SINOVATE is a (SIN) decentralized cloud data storage platform that offer a potential solution to these ongoing problems. Its unique decentralized data storage network is backed by Deterministic Infinity Nodes (DIN) which interact seamlessly with Incorruptible Data Storage (IDS), through a novel protocol called bFTP (blockchain-based File Transfer Protocol). Masternodes Vs Infinity Nodes Masternode networks support many other dCloud projects but most still suffer from issues with inflation. Although the (initial) high rate of return for masternodes projects is attractive to investors, this leads to inflation, reducing the incentive for a user to continue to maintain a node as the token falls over time, negatively affecting the network. SINOVATE’S Deterministic Infinity Nodes reduce inflation and promote network growth through its Infinity Nodes. Infinity Nodes use a unique Proof of Burn (PoB) feature, burning a specific amount of SIN across the 12 month node lifespan. This counters inflation by reducing the amount of SIN in circulation, and creates a new proof of transaction type called BurnTx. Legacy masternode-based networks are susceptible to vulnerabilities and attacks which can result in reward stealing and node instability. Infinity nodes solve the new deterministic algorithm: lock/reward and PoB to bring provably fair deterministic rewards, with bulletproof stability, and network stability. DIN 1.0 Hard Fork On the 21st of November 2020, SINOVATE concluded a hard fork bringing online its innovative Deterministic Infinity Nodes (DIN) 1.0, at block 550,000. The network will consist of more than 1,800 DIN that will bring more data storage capacity to the network. There are already over 1,400 nodes running on the network with expectations of 5,000 nodes in 2021. DIN uses a deterministic score system based on Schnorr Signature to retrieve that data from IDS. bFTP allows the user to easily re-authenticate to any of the nodes that hold a copy of the stored data using the deterministic “score” algorithm. Incorruptible Data Storage IDS is being developed carefully to allow a fully secure and reliable network for a worldwide decentralized Cloud (Cloud 3.0). This demands the development of a variety of technical features. The first step of IDS will be delivered in Q2 2021 which will give the possibility to use the functionality “DataStore” for saving your file in the DIN of the blockchain, send mails with unprecedented blockchain-based mailing system or write to your friends in a fully secure and anonymous way with SIN Mobile messenger. SINOVATE will go beyond to provide security, decentralization, and efficiency by updating the blockchain to the Bitcoin core 0.21 and by delivering a fourth generation of Proof-of-Stake (PoS4) built in-house that will allow to add passive incomes alongside DIN and the HCO program. To Infinity And Beyond Exponential growth in numerous data-centric markets and the rise of mobile devices has exposed a severe lack of a viable long-term solution for the world’s future data storage needs. Blockchain-based dCloud platforms do address some of the security failings of their mainstream counterparts, but many face questions of token inflation. SINOVATE’s decentralized infinity node architecture and incorruptible data storage underlayer provide an incredibly secure foundation upon which new companies can be built, and its Proof of Burn feature offers both a answer to network sustainability, inflation, while offering everyone involved a chance to benefit for being apart of its future vision for decentralized data. SINOVATE Blockchain Developers SINOVATE’s rise in the dCloud Industry is largely thanks to its innovative blockchain developers Xuantan Nguyen (Xtdev) and Giacomo Milligan. (Giaki3003/SINTOSHIS) Xtdev is a highly experienced Big data and data mining specialist. He is also the innovator of Deterministic Infinity Nodes and one of the lead developers and Master SINOVATORS of SIN. Giaki3003 is the second lead developer on SINOVATE team and fellow Master SINOVATOR. He is also a highly experienced blockchain core developer, as well as Innovator of the upcoming PoS4 custom proof-of-stake algorithm, and hybrid consensus. Together they make a uniquely experienced and highly skilled duo and creators of the technical evolution that is SINOVATE. Check out SINOVATE and start running a node today Read about SINOVATE on the Official blog – https://sinovate.io/blog/ Join the conversation on Discord – https://discordapp.com/invite/CWbnW5y Official SINOVATE Telegram Channel – https://t.me/SINOVATEChain Meet the Team on LinkedIn – https://linkedin.com/in/sinovhttps://sinovate.io/ate-foundation-818672172 Official SINOVATE Medium – https://medium.com/@sinovatechain Media Contact Details Contact Name: Alex Thurston Contact Email: alex.t@bitcoinprbuzz.com SINOVATE is the source of this content. This Press Release is for informational purposes only. Virtual currency is not legal tender, is not backed by the government, and accounts and value balances are not subject to consumer protections. Cryptocurrencies and tokens are extremely volatile. There is no guarantee of a stable value, or of any value at all. About Bitcoin PR Buzz: Bitcoin PR Buzz has been proudly serving the crypto press release distribution needs of blockchain start-ups for over 8 years. Get your Bitcoin Press Release Distribution today. This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. The post Introducing SINOVATE: The Future of Decentralized Cloud Storage appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary, also known as Mr. Wonderful, is ready to put 5% of his investment portfolio in a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) that is approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Long known as a bitcoin skeptic, O’Leary is worried about bitcoin’s volatility and wants regulators to be comfortable with it before he jumps in. Kevin O’Leary Wants to Invest in Bitcoin ETF Canadian investor and television personality Kevin O’Leary discussed his view on bitcoin last week in a podcast hosted by Morgan Creek Digital partner Anthony Pompliano. O’Leary has been a bitcoin skeptic. He told CNBC in May last year that bitcoin was “worthless” and “a useless currency,” stating that to him, “it’s garbage because you can’t get in and out of it in large amounts.” While he still has the same concerns, the Shark Tank star said that he is not against bitcoin. “I do own a small amount of bitcoin,” he said, adding that he bought the BTC because a class he taught at Harvard University challenged him to get involved in cryptocurrency. However, he is worried about bitcoin’s volatility and the regulators’ adverse response to it. “Every time I talk off the record to the regulators, because I talk to them all the time for various reasons, they’re a little squeamish on bitcoin, they are not quite there yet,” he cautioned. O’Leary added, “When I can get this thing regulated so that I can put millions of dollars into it and know that I’m not off the side in any way. I’m not breaching anything … and it would be stable,” he affirmed: If that was the case, if tomorrow morning we woke up and the SEC said you can create an ETF with bitcoin and we think bitcoin is a legitimate, you know, payment system and store of wealth, not only would it go up but you’d have a lot of people like me investing in it. He elaborated that if that happens, “I’d say okay I’m going to give it a 5% weighting so you know I don’t really want a significant portion of my portfolio having that amount of volatility.” He said he prefers to invest in an ETF and many of his investments are in ETFs. As an investor who believes in diversification, O’Leary reiterated that it bothers him “a little bit” that “in the crypto space you have to be very concentrated to get these returns in one cryptocurrency, bitcoin.” Do you agree with O’Leary? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary Ready to Put 5% of His Portfolio in SEC-Approved Bitcoin ETF appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Two new stimulus packages have been proposed while lawmakers continue to push for second stimulus checks to help Americans cope with the coronavirus-led economic crisis. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell want to add stimulus measures to the spending bill that must be passed before the Dec. 11 deadline. Stimulus Measures Could Be Added to Spending Bill That Must Pass This Week U.S. lawmakers unveiled new stimulus proposals last week after months of negotiations with no progress on either a new coronavirus relief stimulus package or second stimulus checks for Americans. Time is running out for a stimulus bill to be approved before the end of the year when several key benefits from the first stimulus package will expire. Lawmakers are also scheduled to begin their holiday recess on Dec. 18, and they must approve a spending bill by Dec. 11 to avoid a government shutdown. After failing to come to an agreement with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is now discussing stimulus terms directly with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Pelosi told reporters on Friday that she and McConnell had agreed to try to reach a deal that could be included in the spending bill that must be passed by the Dec. 11 deadline. She believes that there is “sufficient time” to close a deal before that date. Both President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden have urged Congress to pass the next stimulus bill now. Two New Stimulus Proposals A compromise $908 billion bipartisan stimulus package was unveiled last week by a group of GOP and Democratic senators who are expected to finalize legislation over the weekend. This stimulus package includes $300 weekly federal unemployment benefits, $160 billion in state and local aid, another $288 billion for more small business assistance through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), $45 billion for struggling airlines and mass transit systems, $25 billion for rental assistance and $35 billion for healthcare. However, it does not include a provision for second stimulus checks for individuals. Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer issued a joint statement on Wednesday, stating: In the spirit of compromise we believe the bipartisan framework … should be used as the basis for immediate bipartisan, bicameral negotiations. While top Democrats have embraced this $908 billion stimulus plan as the starting point for negotiations, McConnell indicated last week that he would not support this package, pushing for his own smaller proposal. However, Senator Bill Cassidy, one of the lawmakers who worked on the bipartisan framework, said Sunday that both McConnell and Trump will eventually “come on board,” noting that President Trump has already indicated that he would sign the $908 billion package. Meanwhile, McConnell has proposed another stimulus package of his own that is being negotiated behind closed doors and likely resembles the two $500 billion stimulus bills he previously proposed. His plan omits both second stimulus checks for Americans and the $600-per-week federal boost to unemployment insurance. McConnell tweeted on Wednesday: I put forward yet another proposal that would invest many billions in workers, laid-off Americans, small businesses, & vaccine distribution. I hope Democrats will finally let us get a bipartisan outcome soon. “We don’t have time for messaging games. We don’t have time for lengthy negotiations. I would hope that this is something that could be signed into law by the president, be done quickly, deal with the things we can agree on now,” he continued. Mnuchin told reporters that “The president will sign the McConnell proposal” as he walked into a House committee hearing on his department’s response to the pandemic on Wednesday. Did Pelosi Make a Mistake Rejecting the $1.8 Trillion White House Offer With Second Stimulus Checks? Pelosi has come under fire for turning down a larger stimulus deal with direct payments to Americans only to back a smaller package with no second stimulus checks. Prior to the election, the White House offered her a $1.8 trillion stimulus package that contained second stimulus checks, which she turned down, refusing to compromise her $2.2 trillion Heroes Act. The $908 billion package she now supports does not provide for another round of direct payments to Americans. Pelosi insists that her rejecting the $1.8 trillion offer was not a mistake. She said during her weekly press conference Friday: That was not a mistake, it was a decision … Now, the fact is, I’m very proud of where we are. However, some of her colleagues disagree with her. Democratic Representative Ro Khanna told CNN on Friday that they should have taken the $1.8 trillion stimulus deal. Mnuchin publicly said at the time that if Pelosi accepted it, President Trump would squeeze McConnell and get the bill passed. The house speaker attributed her decision to support the $908 billion stimulus package without second stimulus checks to Biden’s election and the looming arrival of two vaccines, which she called “a total game-changer.” Pelosi said: “President-elect Biden has said this package would be at best just a start. That’s how we see it, as well.” Meanwhile, Biden said on Friday that he was “confident” that an agreement was possible, stating: It’s not going to satisfy everybody, but the option is, if you insist on everything, we’re likely to get nothing on both sides. Lawmakers Fighting to Provide Direct Payments to Americans The omission of second stimulus checks for individuals has caused quite a stir, with a number of lawmakers vowing that they will not support a bill without direct payments to Americans. Senator Bernie Sanders was among those who are unsatisfied with the new stimulus proposals. “I look forward to working with my colleagues in the House and Senate to significantly improve this bill. But in its current form, I cannot support it,” he said Friday. Sander affirmed that the omission of another round of $1,200 direct payments to Americans was “unacceptable.” Representative Rashida Tlaib is also against not providing a second round of stimulus checks to individuals. She tweeted: It’s critical that we have another stimulus check. Direct payments help families in desperate need & it stimulates our local economy. Do you think Americans will soon receive second stimulus checks? Let us know in the comments section below. The post New Stimulus Proposals Gain Support While Lawmakers Push for Second Stimulus Checks to Help Americans appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Twenty million yuan ($3 million) in China’s central bank digital currency will be given away to 100,000 people in the country’s largest test of the digital yuan to date. The digital currency will be accepted at 100,000 stores, including JD.com, one of China’s largest online retailers. $3 Million in Digital Yuan Giveaway The Chinese city of Suzhou, located west of Shanghai, is reportedly gearing up to hand out 20 million yuan in the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) to 100,000 residents, according to a statement posted Friday by the Suzhou municipal government. The digital yuan is officially known as the Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP). The South China Morning Post detailed: A total of 100,000 digital red packets, each containing 200 yuan, will be distributed to residents on December 11, the eve of the so-called Double Twelve shopping festival. They will be valid until December 27. “Any Chinese citizen living in the eastern city can register for the lottery through Suzhoudao, the city’s official public services app,” the publication added. The lottery winners will receive the red packets through the official Digital Renminbi App. A few hundred digital yuan giveaway recipients will also become the first to use what the central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), calls “dual offline wallets.” This allows them to use the digital yuan to pay for goods in stores without having to be connected to the internet, “effectively replacing notes and coins with the digital yuan,” the news outlet conveyed. About 10,000 stores will take part in Suzhou’s digital yuan trial. This includes JD.com which claims to be China’s largest online retailer. The company announced on Saturday it has become China’s first online platform to accept the PBOC-backed digital currency, Reuters reported. JD.com’s fintech arm JD Digits will accept the digital yuan as payment for some products on its online mall, a post on the company’s official Wechat account details. Suzhou’s digital yuan airdrop follows a similar giveaway in Shenzhen where the first large-scale public trial of the PBOC-backed digital currency took place in October. Ten million yuan were airdropped to 50,000 Shenzhen residents and 3,389 stores participated. What do you think about China airdropping digital yuan? Let us know in the comments section below. The post China Airdrops Digital Yuan Worth $3 Million — 10,000 Stores Will Accept It appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The top U.S. banking regulator has confirmed that positive cryptocurrency regulation is coming in a matter of weeks, by the end of the Trump term. “It’s going to work for everybody,” said the regulator, adding that the new regulation will “make it easier for crypto investors to know how to invest,” therefore attracting more institutional investors. New US Crypto Regulation Will ‘Work for Everybody’ Acting Comptroller of the Currency, Brian Brooks, answered some questions about the upcoming U.S. cryptocurrency regulation in an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box on Friday. Brooks is the administrator of the federal banking system and chief officer of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The OCC supervises nearly 1,200 national banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches of foreign banks that conduct approximately 70% of all banking business in the U.S. Regarding the new U.S. cryptocurrency regulation, Brooks said: “We’re very focused on getting this right. We are very focused on not killing this, and it is equally important that we develop the networks behind bitcoin and other cryptos as it is we prevent money laundering and terrorism financing.” He elaborated: Believe me, there is a balance here and it’s going to work for everybody … there’s going to be very positive messages coming out. Brooks’ answer was in response to a question about a rumor that the Treasury Department may be rushing out crypto regulation before the end of the Trump term. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong voiced his concerns on Twitter on Nov. 25. He wrote: “We heard rumors that the U.S. Treasury and Secretary Mnuchin were planning to rush out some new regulation regarding self-hosted crypto wallets before the end of his term. I’m concerned that this would have unintended side effects.” “What we do need is clarity about what is allowed, and so we need some guidance for example whether banks can connect directly to blockchains as payment networks, the answer has to be yes,” explained Brooks, who previously served as the chief legal officer at Coinbase. He emphasized that some aspects of the new regulation will provide clarity around the nature of crypto assets. While noting that “it’s a dangerous world out there,” the top banking regulator stressed: Nobody is going to ban bitcoin. Nobody is going to ban some of these transmission technologies so I think it’s going to be a lot less bad than than people worry about. When asked about whether he believes more regulation will benefit the crypto industry, the OCC chief said: “I don’t think we need 50 regulations instead of two, but what we do need is clarity about what’s allowed.” He continued: “We need some guidance, for example, about whether banks can connect directly to blockchains as payment networks. The answer has to be yes … We need the answers about can banks custody cryptocurrencies so that institutions feel comfortable adopting. And you saw what happened when we gave that clarity.” When to Expect New US Crypto Regulation Brooks was specifically asked whether people should expect new U.S. crypto regulation by the end of the Trump term. “I think you’re going to see a lot of good news for crypto by the end of the Trump term,” he replied, adding: So you have clarity across a variety of areas that I think you’ll be seeing just in the next 6 – 8 weeks, which will make it easier for crypto investors to know how to invest, to know how institutions can be in this asset class. “Those are the things that are driving prices at this point,” he opined. “You know it may have been a bubble two years ago, but with more clarity, institutions that see this as a real thing are going to adopt at scale, which they’ve already started to do. So stay tuned.” Do you think the new U.S. crypto regulation will benefit the crypto industry and bitcoin’s price? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Top US Banking Regulator Reveals Positive Cryptocurrency Regulation Coming in Weeks appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In order to spread the message about peer-to-peer electronic cash, some people talk about cryptocurrencies on a daily basis or wear t-shirts that display the bitcoin logo. Digital currency proponent, David Valenz, has taken the message spreading to a whole new level when he got a large tattoo on his forearm that displays a Bitcoin Cash logo. Valenz believes bitcoin cash is the best digital cash he’s ever used, and it’s beneficial to someone like him that lives outside the banking system. Just recently, Bitcoin Cash proponent, David Valenz, decided to get a tattoo on his arm that displays the BCH logo in order to show people that cryptocurrency is a way of life to him. Valenz recently tweeted about getting his new tattoo and shared a video getting the ink work on Youtube as well. Bitcoin Cash proponent, David Valenz and his new BCH tattoo. The crypto enthusiast also said that the tattoo parlor accepted BCH for payment, which to him is “just another business that’s now accepting bitcoin cash.” Following the post on Twitter, Valenz further wrote about why he got the tattoo on the BCH-fueled blogging web portal read.cash. “Cryptocurrency, more in particular [bitcoin cash] is the best digital cash I’ve ever used,” Valenz said. “Sending, receiving, being able to send a text of payment or email to someone alone is huge for me. I do not have a lot of money like a lot of people are blessed to have, but what little I have… I 100% throw all of it into crypto. It defines freedom to me.” Valenz getting the BCH tattoo at a parlor that now accepts bitcoin cash (BCH) for payments thanks to his patronage. Valenz further wrote that he’s tried other crypto coins and “there’s always bugs, issues” and things he will nitpick about. However, with bitcoin cash (BCH), Valenz says the cryptocurrency has never given him any issues. “So why the tattoo? It’s my way of life. It saved me,” Valenz insisted. “I have very very great friends in the crypto industry who are well off better than I am financially… And they understand my situation and it sucks… I wish it was different. If it wasn’t for crypto, I would literally be dealing with cash, on a physical cash basis with everyone I encounter… so If I was to have thousands of dollars, that would be a lot of money to protect, handle, etc,” the BCH supporter stressed. Valenz added: Bitcoin Cash solves endless amounts of problems for me, so I appreciate it on a much higher level than most people could understand… The crypto enthusiast’s story shows how much conviction people have toward spreading economic freedom, and how digital assets are changing people’s lives for the better. Valenz’s read.cash blog post highlights that he lives “outside” the banking system, which is pretty much like “living like a ghost” to Valenz. There are billions of people who are dealing with crazy economies that are spiraling downward thanks to corrupt and manipulative governments. Millions of individuals are also “living like a ghost,” and many people worldwide have literally no access to banking necessities. Bitcoin cash (BCH) can help people safely store wealth and anyone can transact with the peer-to-peer digital cash in a permissionless fashion. For this reason and many others, Valenz explains on the read.cash blog in his bio that he spreads the word of bitcoin cash (BCH) regularly. “Everyday to everyone I encounter,” Valenz’s bio says. “Why? Because it’s the future, and I can only hope one day it pays off,” he added. What do you think about David Valenz’s story? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. The post Bitcoin Cash Proponent Tattoos Forearm to Spread Digital Cash Awareness appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

A crypto intelligence firm has raised red flags about an increasing flow of comments in the crypto community about an ongoing phishing campaign, which is stealing funds from people who install a malicious browser extension. Chrome Browser Extension Is Redirecting Crypto Users to a Fake Metamask Site According to an alert published by Ciphertrace, since December 2, 2020, they have been noticing “an uptick of alerts and comments” about crypto funds stolen via a Chrome browser extension posing as the ethereum (ETH)-based wallet Metamask. The fraudulent extension redirects victims to installmetamask.com, which is not an official site of Metamask. Per Whois information, the web domain was registered on November 29, 2020. Ciphertrace found out the first mention in Twitter of the fraudulent domain from a user who asked Metamask team about the site’s authenticity. The screenshots taken to the fake MetaMask site mirrors the real one: Fraudulent site’s screenshot Fraudster Is Paying for Ads to Promote Phishing Site Moreover, U.S.-based Ciphertrace posted an update on December 3, 2020, detailing that phisher behind Metamask’s fake extension keeps buying sponsored ads on Google, which appear when people search for “metamask” term. This time, sponsored ads have been relying on other domain names by attempting to impersonate Metamask. One of the domains (meramarks.io), however, is offline as of press time. The firm has been in contact with the crypto wallet company about the situation. Also, Metamask issued the following warning through their official Twitter account: @Google is allowing a phisher to buy sponsored ads on their search results. When using crypto, try to use direct links, and if you need to use search, watch out for sponsored links. Back on January 02, 2020, Google reversed its decision to ban the Metamask app from the Play Store, as per request from the crypto community. In 2019, the company argued that its strict content policy on apps that expose users to “deceptive or harmful financial products and services” was a reason for the ban. Have you or a friend been a victim of similar crypto-related phishing scams? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Fraudulent Crypto Browser Extension Redirects to a Fake Metamask Domain appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Well before the coronavirus pandemic, global economists expected a grim-looking American economy and during the last ten months of the Covid-19 outbreak, the U.S. financial system looks even worse. Economists and analysts say the biggest concern is the U.S. dollar faltering into the unknown, as a great number of distinguished individuals believe the USD will see a significant value decline in 2021. Moreover, renowned economist Stephen Roach thinks there’s more than a 50% chance the U.S. dollar could collapse by the end of next year. The U.S. dollar currency index (DXY) has continued to spiral lower, as investors have been looking for safer assets to hedge against a turbulent economy. During the last week, a myriad of economists and financial analysts have predicted that next year, the U.S. dollar is going to weaken even more so than it did in 2020. This past year, the U.S. currency’s trade-weighted index or DXY has dropped to lows not seen since May 2018. Meanwhile, as the American dollar plunged this summer to new lows, Goldman Sachs warned that the USD is at risk of losing its dominant power as the world reserve currency. 2021 could be the year that Americans begin to find how much all this free government actually costs. The bill for the bailouts and stimulus will come in the form of a collapse in the value of savings and incomes, as the cost of living begins a long overdue explosive move higher. — Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) December 3, 2020 During the last month of 2020, a great number of analysts still indicate that they are bearish about the dollar’s performance in 2021. On December 2, the economist and gold bug, Peter Schiff, explained that he expects more dollar decline next year. “The U.S. dollar is now trading at its lowest level against the Swiss franc since Jan. of 2015,” Schiff tweeted. “This is a harbinger of things to come. The franc is leading the way, but other currencies will soon follow. 2021 may be the worst year ever for the U.S. dollar, at least until 2022,” the economist added. World famous analyst and former chief economist at Morgan Stanley, Stephen Roach, says the USD has a 50% chance of collapsing by the end of next year. Normally, it’s just bitcoiners and gold bugs predicting that the dollar is on its last leg, but many other well known people in the financial world are skeptical about the USD as well. Stephen Roach, the former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, recently told CNBC that the “seemingly crazed idea” of a U.S. dollar collapse could come to fruition. Roach highlighted during his interview that his prediction was based on historical evidence and previous economic cycles. The economist wholeheartedly believes there’s a 50% chance the dollar could collapse by the end of next year. “The current-account deficit in the United States, which is the broadest measure of our international imbalance with the rest of the world, suffered a record deterioration in the second quarter,” Roach emphasized. “The so-called net national savings rate, which is the sum of savings of individuals, businesses, and the government sector, also recorded a record decline in the second quarter, going back into negative territory for the first time since the global financial crisis.” Further, Reuters hosted its annual Investment Outlook summit this week, and many of the financial executives at the event didn’t have much faith in the American currency’s future either. “The markets are right, I think the dollar will cheapen from here,” Rick Rieder, Blackrock’s chief investment officer for fixed income told the summit participants. This follows Blackrock CEO Larry Fink’s recent statements when he said the crypto asset bitcoin “can evolve into a global market.” A number of other executives attending the Reuters Investment Outlook summit said similar statements about the American currency. “A re-emergence of a growth gap between the rest of the world and the U.S. should push the dollar down,” David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management said during the event. In fact, the summit was filled with individuals and organizations who expect the USD to weaken by at least next year. The financial institution BNP Paribas explained to the press it expects the dollar will soften more and Citi is forecasting a 20% USD decline in 2021 as well. Further, investment bankers think that it will be hard for other central banks to “out-dove” the U.S. Federal Reserve. For this reason, Peter Fitzgerald, chief investment officer for multi-asset and macro at Aviva Investors, says he is long on foreign currencies and “emerging market currencies versus the dollar.” “It’s going to be very difficult for any other central bank to effectively out-dove the Fed,” Fitzgerald noted at the summit. Meanwhile, a few other analysts like M&G Investments executive, Jim Leaviss, believe that foreign central banking institutions will probably weaken their fiat currencies first. During his recent discussion, the economist Stephen Roach further explained that the U.S. may see some more economic aftershock from the new Covid-19 infections and the flu season. “We’ve gotten data that’s confirmed both the saving and current-account dynamic in a much more dramatic fashion than even I was looking for,” Roach stressed. The former chief economist at Morgan Stanley predicted the U.S. dollar’s latest crash in value this past summer, and he’s firmly pressed that the currency will decline another 35%. “As we head into flu season with the new infection rates moving back up again, with mortality unacceptably high, the risk of an aftershock is not something you can dismiss,” Roach concluded. “That’s a tough combination. And I think the record of history suggests that this is not a time, unlike what the frothy markets are doing, to bet that this is different.” What do you think about all the economists and analysts that are bearish about the U.S. dollar’s future? Do you think the USD faces collapse? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. The post Financial Analysts Expect US Dollar to Soften Further, 2021 Could Be the Greenback’s ‘Worst Year Ever’ appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

S&P Dow Jones Indices has made it official: they will launch cryptocurrency indexes in 2021, becoming the latest major finance company to make its inception into the digital asset industry. More than 550 of the top traded coins to be included in the indexes As Reuters reported initially on December 3, 2020, such indexes will measure the performance of over 550 top traded crypto by market cap, including bitcoin, and they will use data from the New York-based company Lukka. According to the statement issued by both companies, S&P’s clients could create customized indexes, among other benchmarking tools on cryptocurrencies. Peter Roffman, global head of Innovation and Strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices, told Reuters: With digital assets such as cryptocurrencies becoming a rapidly emerging asset class, the time is right for independent, reliable, and user-friendly benchmarks. Both parties also mentioned in the joint statement that they expect cryptocurrencies to achieve the status of “mainstream investments” with the indexes’ launching in 2021. Larger financial institutions have been flirting with the crypto sphere, such as JP Morgan, who has been showing a surprising turnaround from their view towards Bitcoin, shifting to a bullish view in the medium and long-term. Also, payment processing giant Paypal has been taking significant steps to adopt cryptocurrencies within their portfolio, as they announced on October 21, 2020, the official support of bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), bitcoin cash (BCH), and litecoin (LTC). During an earnings call held on November 2, 2020, PayPal’s CEO Dan Schulman revealed plans such as increased crypto-asset purchasing limits. Another big bank shifting to a bullish view on BTC is Deutsche Bank, which argued that “more investors are starting to see it emerge as a credible asset to invest in,” where gold is used to hedge dollar risk, and inflation. What do you think about this announcement? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Cryptocurrency Indexes Are Set to Launch in 2021 by S&P Dow Jones Indices appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Cryptocurrencies have been getting quite popular in the Caribbean region and in Antigua and Barbuda, the island has seen significant growth. Crypto adoption has been on the rise in the island country and just recently, a regional news report detailed that more than 40 major businesses are accepting bitcoin cash for goods and services. During the last few years, a myriad of Caribbean-based island nations are getting into digital currencies. Many Caribbean regions such as Nevis & St Kitts, Bermuda, Barbados, the Cayman Islands, and Antigua and Barbuda have become hotspots for blockchain innovation and crypto merchant acceptance. Two years ago, Antigua’s Minister of Information Technology, Melford Nicholas said “Antigua and Barbuda is determined to be on the cutting edge of the new system of creating wealth.” Moreover, this past spring crypto regulations passed in Antigua’s lower Parliament called the “Digital Assets Business Act 2020,” which applies money laws to custodial providers and crypto exchanges. On December 2, 2020, a local report from the web portal antiguanewsroom.com explained that cryptocurrency adoption is “making its way across the island of Antigua, bit by bit.” The report notes that over 40 major businesses in Antigua are accepting bitcoin cash (BCH) today. The article explains that accepting digital currencies has become more prominent throughout the island during the Covid-19 pandemic. “Businesses and individuals who have opted into using [bitcoin cash] BCH have experienced the benefits of instant money transfer with low fees,” the author of the report wrote. Moreover, the editorial also explains that people can find all the bitcoin cash (BCH) accepting merchants by visiting map.bitcoin.com. At the time of publication, data from map.bitcoin.com shows that there’s a total of 45 bitcoin cash (BCH) accepting businesses on the island country. Bitcoin.com’s founder Roger Ver has been instrumental toward spreading adoption throughout the region and hopes Antiguans learn more about the economic benefits a peer-to-peer electronic cash system provides. Companies included on the Antigua merchant acceptance list includes businesses like Sheer Rocks Restaurant, Fort Medieval, The Cool Pool, Creole Antigua Tours, Relocate Antigua, Steph & Vlada’s Studio, Akropolis Greek Restaurant, Gents World, 2M Heavy Enterprises, M & M Service Station, Midtown Car Rental, Thirty Six 5 Beach Bar, The Tailor’s Daughter, Learning Ladder Child Care Centre, North Coast Hardware, and more. Antigua also has a local Telegram channel called “Antigua Bitcoin Cash and Crypto Trading” where locals can discuss trades and merchant acceptance. Additionally, bitcoin cash supporters in Antigua have monthly meetups every third Thursday at Hemingways Caribbean Cafe & Restaurant on St. Mary’s Street. Hemingways also accepts BCH for drinks, lunch, and dinner services. Further, there’s a web portal called payantigua.com that offers educational information for accepting BCH, an introduction to crypto automated teller machines (ATM), information about the Bitcoin Cash Register App, and how to shop with bitcoin cash and save up to 50% on Amazon by leveraging Purse.io. What do you think about Antigua and Barbuda having more than 40 bitcoin cash accepting businesses? Let us know what you think in the comments section below. The post Caribbean Crypto Hotbed: More Than 40 Businesses Accept Bitcoin Cash in Antigua appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Nexo, the leading regulated digital financial institution with over $2 billion in assets under management, today announced the details of its buyback program. The company’s Board of Directors approved an initial repurchase of $12 million of its NEXO Token on an open-market principle, with the decision coming into force with immediate effect. Part of the company’s recently launched tokenomics overhaul Nexonomics, the move seeks to further boost the value of the NEXO Token, which marked a 160% price increase since the campaign’s launch in late October. The buyback program is yet another step to bolster the NEXO Token’s stability and growth potential, ultimately rewarding token holders for their investment and loyalty. “Nexo has had another record year, affording us the flexibility to give back to our clients and reinvest in the company and the NEXO Token as an integral part of the business,” said Co-Founder and Managing Partner Antoni Trenchev. “The market is finally acknowledging what the pricing models have been saying since our 2018 token sale – that the NEXO Token holds tremendous potential that has so far been undervalued. Our first buyback program highlights the Nexo team’s firm belief in our native token’s prospects and further incentivizes investors to share our view.” Elaborating on the buyback’s role within Nexonomics, Trenchev continued: “We have seen demand for the NEXO Token progressively increase, confirming its desirability — its price tripled and over 60% of our clients chose to earn interest in NEXO Tokens over the past month. With buybacks guaranteeing the supply remains limited, we are closing the circle and laying the groundwork for an even more desirable NEXO Token with an even stronger token economy.” NEXO Tokens repurchased within the program will be placed transparently on the blockchain in an Investor Protection Reserve (IPR) with an ERC-20 address 0x1C433CBF4777e1f0dCe0374d79aaa8ecDC76B497. Each buyback tranche will be vested for a minimum of 12 months after repurchase. Tokens locked into the IPR will not be eligible for dividends, making the program all the more beneficial to loyal NEXO Token holders during future dividend distributions. Once vested, upon management discretion, buyback tranches may be re-locked or withdrawn to be used for interest and cashback payments, dividend distributions and/or liquidity provision on decentralized exchanges. Additional budgets may be allocated for future repurchases in accordance with company growth and market conditions. About Nexo Nexo is the world’s leading regulated financial institution for digital assets. The company’s mission is to maximize the value and utility of cryptocurrencies by offering tax-efficient ‘Instant Crypto Credit Lines’, high-yield ‘Earn Interest’ products, ‘Send & Pay’, and sophisticated trading and OTC capabilities, while providing top-tier custodial insurance and military-grade security of the Nexo Wallet. Nexo manages assets amounting to $2+ billion for over 1М users across 200+ jurisdictions, and has processed over $5 billion since its launch in 2018. Official website: https://nexo.io For media enquiries: Nexo PR Department pr@nexo.io This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. The post Nexo Launches Buyback Program, Commits Initial $12M appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The CEO of Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, said that bitcoin “can evolve into a global market.” Moreover, the cryptocurrency has a “real impact on the U.S. dollar,” making the need for the USD “less relevant.” Bitcoin Evolving Into a Global Market Blackrock CEO Larry Fink made some bullish statements about bitcoin in a conversation with former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney at the Council on Foreign Relations symposium on Tuesday. Blackrock is the world’s largest asset manager with over $7 trillion in assets under management. “Bitcoin has caught the attention and the imagination of many people,” Fink said. “We look at it as something that is real,” he continued but noted that the market for the cryptocurrency is “still untested. It’s still a pretty small market relative to other markets.” While pointing out that bitcoin’s price sees “these big giant movements every day. It’s a thin market,” the Blackrock CEO said: Can it evolve into a global market? Possibly. He elaborated: “Certainly by evidence of the imagination of so many who want to learn it or are interested in it. To me, it’s a very telling sign.” The CEO proceeded to point out that a page on the Blackrock website about bitcoin recently generated about 600,000 views compared to pages on monetary policy and Covid-19, which only saw about 3,000 views each. Bitcoin Has Real Impact on US Dollar Fink also shared his view about bitcoin’s impact on the U.S. dollar with Carney. He asserted that “Having a digital currency has real impact on the U.S. dollar,” elaborating: Having a digital currency makes the need for the U.S. dollar to be less relevant. The CEO of the world’s largest asset manager clarified: “I’m not talking about for Americans. I’m talking about for international holders of dollar-based assets.” He then raised the question of whether cryptocurrency changes “the need for the dollar as a reserve currency, if there was a true digital currency that was separated from dollar-based assets.” Fink’s comments follow another positive view about bitcoin by Blackrock’s Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of Global Fixed Income, Rick Rieder. He said last month that “cryptocurrency is here to stay” and bitcoin “is a durable mechanism that could replace gold” as a store of value and hedge against the devaluation of fiat currencies. A growing number of hedge-fund luminaries have also come out to endorse bitcoin, including Paul Tudor Jones, Bill Miller, and Stan Druckenmiller. Do you agree with Blackrock CEO Larry Fink about bitcoin and the US dollar? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Blackrock CEO Larry Fink: Bitcoin Makes US Dollar Less Relevant, Can Evolve Into a Global Market appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

On November 30, 2020, bitcoin crossed an all-time price high on a few global exchanges and between spot and derivatives markets there’s been a lot of action. One metric people didn’t notice was the fact that November 2020 saw the most number of redeemed Casascius physical bitcoins in three years. Approximately 92 coins were peeled throughout the last 30 days and there are only 20,686 Casascius physical bitcoins left active. In the bitcoin world, there are a number of coins that hold numismatic value, which means the bitcoin could be worth more than the spot market value of the BTC. For instance, legend has it that virgin bitcoins (freshly minted by a miner) can fetch a premium because no one has ever transacted with them before. However, the most common bitcoins holding numismatic value are physical bitcoins that also hold a premium and a value of BTC as well. The most famous and most valuable physical bitcoins were created by Mike Caldwell from 2011 to 2013. Caldwell’s Casascius physical bitcoin collection website is still online, but the manufacturing operation is no longer operational. This is because Caldwell had to quit issuing physical bitcoins that are loaded with real BTC thanks to harsh U.S. regulations. Ever since Caldwell created the Casascius coins, people have been redeeming the digital value from the physical metal’s private key. Caldwell made both coins and bars and last year at the end of December, someone peeled (redeemed) a 100 BTC gold-plated bar. The digital value on the bar alone is worth close to $2 million today and there’s not that many 100 Casascius bars left. Current data shows that there’s been over 78% of the series one 100 BTC Casascius gold-plated bars redeemed to-date, according to casasciustracker.com. Last month, when BTC touched record highs, the crawler from casasciustracker.com recorded 92 coins redeemed, which is the highest peel-rate in three years. Last month’s number of Casascius bitcoin redemptions is the highest since December 2017 when BTC touched a high of $19,666 per unit. In 2017, however, a greater number of Casascius bitcoins were peeled, as data shows 411 Casascius bitcoin redemptions during the month of December. This means in November 2020, people peeled 22% of the aggregated count of physical coins and bars redeemed during the last bull run. At the time of publication, 20,686 Casascius physical bitcoins are still left active and there is only one series that has been fully redeemed. The series 2 Casascius 500 BTC bars have all been redeemed, but there was only one 500 BTC bar made and it’s worth $9.5 million today. The holy grail of all the Casascius bitcoin collection treasures is the 1,000 BTC series one bar worth a touch over $19 million using today’s exchange rates. Caldwell issued 16 of these large bars and so far 14 have been redeemed, which means there are only two left in existence. Another thing that makes Casascius bitcoins even more valuable than face value, is the fact that every coin was made before 2013. This means owners can not only redeem the BTC’s private key, but all the forked assets as well including BCH, BSV, and other branches. Second market sales of the Casascius bitcoin collection are catching premiums today and even peeled coins that Caldwell produced are selling for $750 empty. Ebay has a number of sellers selling funded Casascius bitcoins too and in order to buy any, people have to have a lot of money to spare. For instance, there’s an Ebay ad for five Casascius bitcoins minted in 2012 and the seller wants $150k for the lot. Meanwhile, another seller is selling a rare 2011 physical Casascius coin with a single bitcoin funded on it for $101k. Connoisseurs who are looking to break the bank to buy one of these funded Casascius bitcoins on Ebay could spend anywhere between $40,000 to well over $100k per coin. Moreover, physical bitcoins made by BTCC, Denarium, Cryptolator, Lealana, Titan, and others sell for a premium on second market websites too. Casascius bitcoins and many other physical bitcoin crafters who loaded digital BTC to the coins during manufacture are a super rarity to find these days. Regulations have quite literally ruined the loaded physical bitcoin industry, and people now have to buy coins from secondary markets. The popular physical bitcoin manufacturer Denarium stopped selling coins in July 2020 after running the operation since 2015. “It is a great achievement to retire a five-year-old physical bitcoin business with zero hacks and more than 15,000 produced units that hold more than 5M USD (600+ BTC),” Denarium’s Chief Production Officer Viljami Räisä said when the business closed. Similar to Casascius bitcoins, Denarium coin owners can also check the status of the coins the company issued since inception. Data shows that out of the 15,084 Denarium physical bitcoins minted, 603 BTC remain active and unpeeled. What do you think about the recent spike in Casascius bitcoin redemptions last month? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. The post Last Month Casascius Owners Redeemed the Highest Number of Physical Bitcoins in 3 Years appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

A brand-new paper which analyzes the Ripple network concluded that the network does not reach true consensus, as its protocol “may violate safety and liveness,” and doesn’t follow the established models and algorithms for a Byzantine agreement. Report Claims XRP’s Network Is Vulnerable to Malicious Actors According to Ignacio Amores-Sesar, Christian Cachin, and Jovana Micic, researchers from the University of Bern, the Ripple consensus protocol introduces the idea of “subjective validators”, such that every node declares “some trusted validators.” In the case of Bitcoin and Ethereum, both reach consensus permissionlessly through Proof-of-Work (PoW). However, through Byzantine systems, access is permissioned as the system can’t block malicious actors. The paper goes in-depth by explaining the mechanism: The designers of Ripple aimed at opening up membership in the set of validator nodes compared to BFT [Byzantine-fault-tolerant] consensus. The trusted validators of a node are defined by a Unique Node List (UNL), which plays an important role in the formalization of the protocol. The research explains that a consensus protocol in a blockchain network must guarantee that “nothing bad ever happens” – malicious participants cannot double-spend a token –, calling it “safety,” and the network should “continue to process transactions” in parallel, known as “liveness.” As there are no proper conditions in terms of network-wide validation in XRP’s network of what’s being communicated through it, the paper explains why it’s vulnerable to simple attacks by threat actors. The consensus protocol of the Ripple network is brittle and fails to ensure consensus as commonly understood in computer science and among blockchain practitioners. However, the University of Bern’s researchers clarified that their explanations given on the paper with samples of attacks on the Ripple network are “purely theoretical” because, as of press time, a live attack has not been seen yet on XRP. If Ripple had adopted one of the standard Byzantine-fault-tolerant (BFT) consensus protocols, “then the network would not be exposed to such dangers,” the researchers said. Do you agree with the paper’s findings on the Ripple network? Let us know in the comments section below. The post New Paper: Ripple Network Doesn’t Meet Criteria To Reach Consensus appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. ZKSwap developed by L2Lab is the first layer2 dex based on ZK-Rollups technology and using the AMM model. The team has recently closed a $1.7 million Angel Round led by Bixin, followed by Longling Capital, SNZ Holding, FBG Capital, Jubi, and Consensus Lab. After launching on the Ethereum Ropsten test network on November 16th, 2020, many community members have participated in the test and helped ZKSwap improve the product. To give back to the community, ZKSwap launched several testnet incentive programs to the users starting from November 27th, 2020, Beijing time. Details of the incentive program campaign have been announced on the official website zks.org. ZKSwap will give away 1 million ZKS for those users who are helping testing the layer2 transaction this time. There will be no public fundraising for ZKSwap and the community incentive program is a rare opportunity to receive the ZKSwap governance token ZKS. About ZKSwap ZKSwap is the first layer2 dex based on ZKRollup using the AMM model. Users can now deposit and withdraw between the ZKSwap layer1 and layer2 wallet, swap tokens, transfer tokens, and add/remove liquidity on ZKSwap with real-time transactions and zero gas fees. ZKSwap is led by Alex Lee and a lean tech team with rich experience in zero-knowledge-proof research and development. This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. The post First AMM Layer2 DEX ZKSwap Announces Testnet Incentive Program with 1 Million ZKS Tokens Rewards appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

At least 65% of people who use the Paypal app to trade bitcoin are prepared to start using the top cryptocurrency to pay for goods and services at the 28 million stores supported by the payments company throughout the world. According to a proprietary survey of 380 Paypal users by Mizuho Securities, 17% of the respondents said they have already traded bitcoin (BTC) via their Paypal accounts since the firm started offering crypto services in October. Of these, the majority are the ones who showed readiness to utilize bitcoin for purchases. The finding is significant to the extent that it bolsters bitcoin’s credentials as a viable means of payment – something that bitcoin opponents have routinely used to discredit the digital asset. Paypal is expected to allow all its customers to use bitcoin as a funding source to pay for goods and services at its 28 million global merchants beginning in early 2021. The firm boasts around 346 million active users. The survey found that bitcoin traders use the Paypal app three times as much as non-bitcoiners and that they had significantly higher cash balances on their Paypal digital wallets. It said 50% of traders reported using other Paypal functions such as pay-in-4 and QR code more after they started trading bitcoin on the platform. Mizuho analyst Dan Dolev has guided Paypal’s revenue to climb 20% in 2021 thanks to the new crypto service. He has also upgraded his share price target to $290 from the previous $270. Shares of Paypal are down 1.84% at $212.56 as of the Dec. 2nd closing price. The Nasdaq-listed firm is up more than 100% year-to-date. Recently, hedge fund manager Pantera Capital revealed that Paypal bought up to 70% of all the newly mined bitcoin since the payments giant started offering cryptocurrency services in October. Together with Square’s Cash App, the two companies are buying more than 100% of all newly issued virgin BTC, it said. With demand so high, Paypal’s entry into crypto appears to have spurred a massive rally in the price of bitcoin. The asset temporarily breached its 2017 high on Nov. 30, when it hit $19,864, but has since fallen between $18,850 to $19,150 at the time of writing. What do you think about the number of Paypal users ready to make purchases with bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below. The post 65% of Traders on Paypal Ready to Use Bitcoin to Pay for Goods and Services: Survey appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Two Chinese state-run media outlets have published a brief news item urging citizens to focus more on blockchain technology than on the “hype” of the recent surging Bitcoin prices across the board. China’s Government to Focus on Blockchain Both Sina and Xinhuanet have stated that the recent rally in BTC prices has no clear explanation. Instead, the reporters behind the article, Mao Zhenhua and Zhang Xiaohui, said people should focus on pro-blockchain state policies. Within the brief piece, the state-run press agency ensures that people are “gradually seeing the potential of blockchain technology and technological progress and regulatory escort are going hand by hand.” This is in line with the state’s negative stance towards the surge of interest in BTC and altcoins. The article adds that while crypto trading still represents an investment method that only generates “uncertainty”, blockchain technology is within a “narrow right path,” the results of which will be “fully realized” in the future. While it is not the first time that larger Chinese state media outlets have referred to BTC prices, they have had a history of staying out of mentioning or reporting on cryptocurrencies within their editorial line. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency-related activities have been practically marginalized due to the country’s crackdown on the industry in 2017. The Chinese government also continues to push its boundaries to make the digital yuan fully a reality, as the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) published a draft law on October 20 that gives legal status to its central digital currency (CBDC). Interest in Bitcoin skyrockets Not only have Bitcoin prices reached significant highs this year, very close to the $20,000 threshold, also according to Google Trends, interest in the term “bitcoin” hit an 18-month high. The last time interest touched such level dates back to mid-June 2019, while the all-time high in searches was seen in February 2018. What are your thoughts on the Chinese state-run media stance on BTC? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Chinese State-Run Media Believe BTC Price Surge Is Just ‘Hype’ While Praising Blockchain appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The largest bank in Russia, the state-owned Sberbank, has reportedly unveiled its crypto plans as the country is set to begin regulating the industry in January. Sberbank’s CEO says the bank may issue its own cryptocurrency in collaboration with JPMorgan. Sberbank’s Crypto Plans and Sbercoin The CEO of Sberbank, Herman Gref, unveiled on Monday his bank’s plans for when the country’s upcoming crypto regulation takes effect. Gref explained that the law “On digital financial assets” will enter into force in Russia on Jan. 1. It provides a legal definition for digital assets and legitimizes cryptocurrency in Russia. A separate bill, “On digital currency,” which is still under consideration by the Duma, will provide a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency. Gref was quoted as saying: From January 1, the law comes into force, we want to bring to the market our new blockchain platform, which will provide services for the purchase of digital financial assets. In addition, Reuters reported Tuesday that Sberbank is considering issuing its own cryptocurrency called “sbercoin” and may team up with JPMorgan to work on the project next year. JPMorgan recently launched the JPM Coin. Gref explained that Sberbank will work on its cryptocurrency at the same time as the Bank of Russia works on a central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital ruble. Sberbank is the largest bank in Russia, Central and Eastern Europe. Its Russian network features 11 regional banks with 14,200 branches in 83 regions. The bank has a worldwide presence in 18 countries. The Russian Federation represented by the Ministry of Finance “owns 50% plus one voting stake in Sberbank’s authorized capital (or 52.23% of all voting Sberbank shares),” the bank’s website details. What do you think about Sberbank’s crypto plans? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Russia’s Biggest Bank Sberbank Unveils Crypto Plans to Follow Upcoming Regulation appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

A former top economic advisor to President Donald Trump and president of Goldman Sachs has shared his view about bitcoin. He claims that the cryptocurrency “lacks some of the basic integrity of a real market,” warning that it “may fail.” Gary Cohn Thinks Bitcoin May Fail Former White House chief economic advisor Gary Cohn said in an interview with Bloomberg’s Emily Chang, published Monday, that bitcoin “may fail.” Cohn served as president and chief operating officer of Goldman Sachs for 26 years. He left the firm in 2016 to become President Donald Trump’s chief economic advisor, the position which he resigned from in 2018. During the interview, Cohn was asked: “how bullish are you on bitcoin and cryptocurrencies and how much do you believe they will fundamentally transform our economy?” Admitting that he does not have a strong opinion about bitcoin, he said: “I’m not a strong believer in bitcoin.” The former Goldman Sachs executive elaborated: It is a developing asset class, potentially. And for all the reasons it’s a strong developing asset class, it may fail. The former top economic advisor to President Trump explained that “part of the integrity of an asset class or part of the integrity of a system is knowing who owns it, and knowing who has it, and knowing why it’s being transferred. And is it being used for legitimate causes, is it being used for good, or is it being used for illegitimate causes, is it being used in corrupt practices in corrupt ways?” Claiming that “The bitcoin system today has no transparency to it,” the former Goldman Sachs president asserted: “So there are a lot of people that question why would you need a system that does not have an audit trail, does not have integrity, you don’t know who owns it, you don’t know exactly how much exists today, how much has been mined, how much has been lost, how much has been thrown away on hard drives because they don’t exist anymore.” Cohn concluded: So it [bitcoin] lacks some of the basic integrity of a real market. While pessimistic about bitcoin, Cohn said he is “very bullish” about blockchain technology, noting that they are the “highways and the pipes that are necessary for bitcoin” and “for many other applications.” He added, “they’re very useful.” Bitcoiners React to Cohn’s Comments Bitcoiners on social media were flabbergasted and amused by Cohn’s comments about bitcoin. Satoshi Nakamoto Institute co-founder Pierre Rochard tweeted in response: “I formally challenge Gary Cohn to a televised debate on Bitcoin’s auditability. Bring him to me.” Castle Island Ventures partner Nic Carter wrote that Cohn saying that “bitcoin comes up short on the domain of auditability” is “Mystifying.” Bitcoin evangelist and chairman of Divvy Systems and Barefoot Mining Bob Burnett tweeted to Cohn: “Lots of errors here. We know exactly how many bitcoin are mined. We know exactly how many bitcoin are left to be mined and when they will be mined. It doesn’t lack transparency, it defines it. And that no one owns it, is the very point.” What do you think about Gary Cohn’s view on bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Former Trump Economic Advisor and Goldman Sachs President Gary Cohn Warns Bitcoin May Fail appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Bitcoin.com Exchange is thrilled to announce the upcoming listing of HUB on the 1st of December 2020 at 14:00 UTC. HUB was created by the Human Trust Protocol Network, under founding member Eric Ly. HUB will be listed with BTC and USDT trading pairs. What is the Human Trust Protocol? Human Trust Protocol solves endemic trust problems, and provides verifiable and portable trust. The vision of the Human Trust Protocol, and that of its HUB token is to encode identity and reputation on the blockchain, to become the next digital identity protocol interoperable across multiple platforms. The platform focuses on 3 factors: Identity, Reputation and Trust. Each account will reference an identity using decentralized digital identities, having the capability to capture rich and raw reputation data by which applications can enable users to make the best interpretation of trustworthiness. After all, the solution the platform is providing is the ability to evaluate a user’s capability and intent on a new interaction via a Decentralized Trust Network. Why should one choose HUB? HUB has a number of unique properties: Verifiable & portable trust Self-sovereign reputation data Multi-dimensional reputation Context-sensitive trust scoring Incentivization of trustworthy interactions It effectively solves endemic trust problems and usability in any community and marketplace. It’s backed by an astounding and experienced team, with the platform being created by LinkedIn Co-Founder Eric Ly at the helm, as a seasoned veteran in the tech space and a successful entrepreneur the company surely has the potential to become the next big thing. Outside of just the backing of the team, HUB’s seen major adoption as a blockchain platform, especially with its user base increasing this year by 603% and MAU increased 688% with tens of thousands of users on the HUB platform at joinhub.com. Strong Endorsement Danish Chaudhry, CEO of Bitcoin.com Exchange, shared his views on the HUB platform and the next stage in incentivising trustworthy interactions: “The Human Trust Protocol, and the HUB token is a very interesting project, billions of users on the internet interact with each other every day on messengers, online communities, social networks and peer-to-peer marketplaces, making constant contact with people they never met, let alone trust. This token will flourish within our exchange, and I am sure our users will gain a lot of interest in what their team has to offer.” Eric Ly, Founder and CEO of HUB says that, “we are incredibly excited to partner with Bitcoin.com to begin trading the HUB token. Given the reputation of the HUB project and our global ambition to deliver economic prosperity through decentralized trust and reputation to every corner of the world, we were looking for a partner who shared our global ambitions for the project. We were impressed by the exchange’s unparalleled support of our efforts and its increasingly widespread reach across the globe.” About Bitcoin.com Exchange The mission of Bitcoin.com Exchange is to empower people from all over the world to trade cryptocurrencies with ease and confidence, from first-time traders to advanced trading professionals. With high liquidity, 24/7 multilingual support and dozens of trading pairs, complemented with a high level of security, we offer an attractive platform for trading any cryptocurrency. Within one year since launch, on average, our exchange has been visited by more than 500K active traders per month, and this number continues to grow as you read this sentence. About HUB Started in 2018 by LinkedIn co-founder Eric Ly, HUB’s vision is to encode identity and reputation on the blockchain to become the next digital identity protocol interoperable across multiple platforms. By putting identity data, one of the most valuable data types, back into the hands of users, people will gain access to an unprecedented level of economic opportunity and prosperity. HUB’s ecosystem includes the HUB platform at joinhub.com, a rapidly growing rewards-based event and community platform, and partner companies in the background verification and DeFi areas. This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. The post Bitcoin.com Exchange To List HUB Token as the Next Gen Trust-Based Cryptocurrency appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

A new security report by Microsoft says nation-state hacker group Bismuth is now deploying cryptocurrency-mining malware alongside its regular cyber-espionage toolkits. According to the report, the deployment by Bismuth of Monero coin miners in recent campaigns has provided another way for the attackers to monetize compromised networks. Bismuth is reportedly backed by the Vietnamese government. Before pivoting to cryptocurrency miners, Bismuth had traditionally targeted human and civil rights organizations both inside and outside Vietnam using sophisticated techniques. However, according to a Microsoft security report, since “cryptocurrency miners are typically associated with cybercriminal operations, not sophisticated nation-state actor activity.” This means crypto miners are not seen as the most sophisticated type of threats and therefore, are not “among the most critical security issues that defenders address with urgency.” Yet, as the report explains, investigators began observing a change in Bismuth’s tactics back in July 2020. The report says: In campaigns from July to August 2020, the group deployed Monero coin miners in attacks that targeted both the private sector and government institutions in France and Vietnam. Although the Microsoft security report acknowledges that Bismuth’s use of coin miners was unexpected, the strategy remains “consistent with the group’s longtime methods of blending in.” The report adds that “this pattern of blending in is particularly evident in these recent attacks, starting from the initial access stage: spear-phishing emails that were specially crafted for one specific recipient per target organization and showed signs of prior reconnaissance.” Further, the use of cryptocurrency miners enables Bismuth “to hide its more nefarious activities behind threats that may be perceived to be less alarming because they’re ‘commodity’ malware.” Meanwhile, the same report proffers what it terms “mitigation recommendations for building organizational resilience.” Part of the recommendations includes educating end-users about protecting personal and business information on social media. The report also encourages users to filter unsolicited communication, identifying lures in spear-phishing email, and reporting of reconnaissance attempts and other suspicious activity. Do you agree with the report’s assessment that cryptocurrency miners are associated with cybercriminal operations? Share your views in the comments section below. The post Microsoft Report says Nation-State Hacker Group is Leveraging Cryptocurrency Techniques to Stay Under the Radar appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The US government says it has extradited Gutemberg Dos Santos, the co-founder of the Airbit Club Ponzi scheme from Panama and he now awaits his trial in a Manhattan court. Dos Santos is facing charges relating to his role in perpetuating a “cryptocurrency” scam which defrauded victims of “tens of millions of dollars.” Fraudulent Claims According to the US Department of Justice (DOJ), Dos Santos and five accomplices are accused of falsely promising victims that they will earn passive income from cryptocurrency mining. However, investigations found that “no bitcoin mining or trading on behalf of victims actually took place.” In a November 30 statement, the DOJ said Dos Santos – a citizen of Brazil and the United States – instead “hosted lavish expos and small community presentations aimed at convincing victims to purchase Airbit Club memberships.” Once Dos Santos and his accomplices gained control of the money, they would proceed to hoodwink unsuspecting victims into believing that everything was above board. The DOJ press statement explains: Following a victim’s investment, a promoter provided the victim with access to an online Airbit Club portal to view the purported returns on memberships. While victims saw ‘profits’ accumulate on their Online Portal, those representations were false. With victims convinced that their “investment” was earning them an astronomical return, Dos Santos and his accomplices in the meantime were using victims’ funds to enrich themselves. As the DOJ statement explains, the accused “spent victim money on cars, jewellery, and luxury homes, and financed more extravagant expos to recruit more victims.” Bringing in the ‘New Blood’ According to the DOJ, one of the accused, lawyer Scott Hughes is separately accused of “helping to remove negative information about Airbit Club and Vizinova from the internet.” Hughes has previously represented Dos Santos when he faced an investigation by the US SEC. Furthermore, the DOJ is accusing Dos Santos and the co-defendants of using “excuses, delays, and hidden fees” to deny victims access to their funds. In one instance, a female victim was told that “she should bring ‘new blood’ into the Airbit Club scheme in order to receive her returns.” The victim was informed of this after she lodged a complaint about her inability to make a withdrawal. In another instance, a victim was told their account had been closed and the principal investment had been lost. One of the accused mentioned the following as reasons for the loss: Due to execution of financial sustainability Reserve, policy #34 of the Airbit Club Terms and Conditions, due to the economic and financial crisis caused by (Covid-19). According to the DOJ, a total of $20 million is believed to have been laundered by Dos Santos and his accomplices. Consequently, Dos Santos, who must answer to three charges, faces a total maximum sentence of 70 years in jail. Do you think Dos Santos’ jailing will help the cause of victims? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. The post Mastermind of Bitcoin Mining Ponzi Scheme Extradited to the US: $20 Million in Victims’ Funds Laundered appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article