roadrunner

In this roundup, we cover crypto regulatory developments amid the global crisis effected by the coronavirus outbreak, bank closures, interest rate cuts, and plunging stock markets. Through it all, governments worldwide are still focusing on cryptocurrency regulation, including the U.S., South Korea, India, and Russia. Also read: Bitcoin Legal in India — Exchanges Resume INR Banking Service After Supreme Court Verdict Allows Cryptocurrency US: Proposal to Issue Two $1 Trillion Coins, Covid-19 Responses, State Cryptocurrency Bills Governments worldwide are in a panic mode as the number of covid-19 cases has skyrocketed, bringing many industries to a standstill. In the U.S., the Federal Reserve has slashed interest rates to 0% and launched unlimited QE, but the moves have failed to impress the markets so far. Some financial institutions, facing cash shortages, are imposing withdrawal limits, which threatens the risk of a bank run. An attempt to solve the economic problem was proposed by U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who wants the U.S. Treasury to mint two trillion-dollar platinum coins. Her new “Automatic Boost Act” claims it will not add any debt to anyone thanks to the ideas behind Modern Monetary Theory. Some supporters of this theory believe that it can attract crypto proponents, as news.Bitcoin.com explained. Several U.S. states have independently pushed ahead with their own crypto bills. The state of Illinois has advanced a bill to allow its Treasury to seize cryptocurrencies left unclaimed at custodians after five years. The state of Hawaii is looking for cryptocurrency companies to join its first regulatory sandbox for digital currency, launched on March 17. Applicants can apply until May 1. U.S. President Donald Trump is contemplating grounding passenger flights and halting stock trading. While a massive stimulus package has failed to gain the Senate’s approval, an analyst has predicted that the U.S. housing market will sink to a 29-year low. In Rhode Island, House Bill 7989, entitled “Rhode Island Economic Growth Blockchain Act,” was introduced on March 11. The bill “Establishes an economic growth blockchain act, set regulations for the sale of hemp, regulate virtual and digital assets and establish depository banks for these purposes,” its summary details. On the federal level, Rep. Paul Gosar introduced the Crypto-Currency Act of 2020 on March 9 while under a coronavirus self-quarantine. Meanwhile, the New York State Department of Financial Services is requiring each regulated institution, including crypto companies, to submit a response describing their plans to address the operational and financial risk posed by the covid-19 outbreak. They have 30 days from March 10 to submit their responses. South Korean Government Approves Regulatory Framework for Cryptocurrencies Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the South Korean government approved a revision to the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information at a cabinet meeting on March 17, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) announced. The bill passed National Assembly on March 5, as news.Bitcoin.com reported. The South Korean government has approved a bill that provides the regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies. The FSC explained that cryptocurrency businesses will be required to report their transactions to the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KOFIU). They will be subject to basic AML requirements, including customer due diligence and suspicious transaction reporting. They also must “follow additional obligations such as keeping separate transaction details for users,” maintain separate transaction details for users, ensure that only real-name accounts are used for crypto trading, and obtain approval from the FSC and KISA (Korea Internet & Security Agency) to offer services in the country. Financial institutions will be required to conduct customer due diligence on the crypto-asset business operators they deal with, checking whether these companies report their business to KOFIU and maintain customer deposits in a separate account. “The revision bill will take effect one year after promulgation, and the current crypto-asset business operators will be given a six-month transition period to report to the KOFIU,” the FSC emphasized, adding: This revision act will place Korea’s legal framework on crypto assets more in line with international standards set forth by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and strengthen its AML/CFT regime. India Working on Crypto Regulation, Waiting on April Supreme Court Hearing The Indian government has reportedly revealed that it is also working on a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency. It is discussing the matter with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for the central bank to regulate cryptocurrency. Crypto exchanges may come under the purview of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The government is waiting for the supreme court to hear a cryptocurrency case on April 27 before it makes the final decision on the cryptocurrency regulation. Recently, Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur informed Lok Sabha, the lower house of India’s parliament, that the Ministry of Corporate Affairs had inspected some bitcoin businesses through the Registrar of Companies. Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur said that the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has inspected bitcoin companies registered. The central bank, however, is reportedly planning to file a review petition after the supreme court quashed its circular which banned regulated financial institutions from providing services to crypto businesses. The RBI is worried that the anonymous nature of cryptocurrencies may undermine the Indian banking system. After the historic ruling by the supreme court earlier this month, crypto exchanges started resuming INR services and several global companies have indicated that they are expanding into India and investing in local startups. Venezuela Shuts Down Banking System, Residents Seek Refuge in Cryptocurrencies Venezuela’s president, Nicolas Maduro, has shut down the nation’s banking system and ordered his entire country to self-quarantine, news.Bitcoin.com reported last week. The regulator Sudeban sent out a circular to all the financial institutions in the country on March 15, stating: All activities involving direct attention to customers, users and the general public through agencies, branches, offices and administrative headquarters throughout the country will be indefinitely suspended. The economic events in Venezuela have driven some residents to find refuge in cryptocurrencies and peer-to-peer markets. Venezuela’s president, Nicolas Maduro, has ordered the banking system in his country to shut down in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Russian Central Bank Reaffirms Its Stance on Cryptocurrencies Alexey Guznov, Director of the Legal Department of the Bank of Russia, provided an update on the bill for the regulation of cryptocurrencies in an interview with Interfax news agency, published on March 16. The bill on digital financial assets was adopted on first reading almost two years ago. Since then, its text has been modified and undergone significant changes. “The position of the central bank remains unchanged,” Guznov said. “We believe that there are big risks in the legalization of cryptocurrency circulation, both from the point of view of financial stability and the system of combating money laundering, and from the point of view of protecting consumer rights .. We are opposed to the fact that there are institutions that organize the release of cryptocurrency and facilitate its circulation.” The director added, “But if a person who owns, conditionally, bitcoins, completes his transaction in a jurisdiction that does not prohibit this, we are unlikely to be able to limit it.” The central bank has so far been skeptical about cryptocurrencies. Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina has voiced her opinion several times that cryptocurrencies should not be legal in Russia. She also does not believe that Russia needs to have its own national digital currency. What do you think of the regulatory developments covered in this roundup? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Regulatory Roundup: Crypto Regulations Advance Despite Global Crisis, Cash Shortages, Bank Closures appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

So you’ve got a little bitcoin to your name but are all out of weed. What you gonna do? Well, if you’re fortunate enough to live in a region where marijuana is legal, there are ways to exchange the two. While if you don’t inhabit such an enlightened area, rumor has it there are still ways and means to get your fix without touching fiat. Here are five options for legally buying weed with bitcoin. Also read: California City Official Uses Bitcoin Cash to Purchase Cannabis How to Swap Sats for Sativa Bitcoin and weed go all the way back to the Silk Road in 2011, and the duo remain staples of the darknet. The weed world has come a long way since then, however, with scores of U.S. states legalizing recreational use of marijuana starting with Colorado and Washington in 2012. Today, medical marijuana is legal in 29 U.S. states and it’s recreationally legal in nine. Around the world, 30 countries have legalized medical marijuana, while there are four countries where it is recreationally legal (Canada, South Africa, Uruguay, and Georgia) subject to certain conditions, and dozens more where it is decriminalized. Unless you reside in Asia, you’re probably not far from a country where it’s legal to blaze up, and are almost certainly near a locale where the authorities have no interest in what you do in your own home, provided you’re not bothering anyone. Failing that, you can at least benefit from the non-psychoactive part of the marijuana plant, by legally purchasing CBD products such as coffee with bitcoin. However, with a number of vendors willing to ship weed directly to your door, it’s possible to swap sats for sativa without leaving the house. Here are five ways to buy weed with bitcoin. Visit a Physical Dispensary There are medical marijuana dispensaries dotted all over the U.S. and Canada, while the Netherlands is home to an array of coffee shops that serve the same purpose, with a handful of other European nations following suit. Bitcoin acceptance is very much piecemeal, but if you can find a store that will let you spend sats, you’ll be hooked up for as long as you’re in the neighborhood. Ohana dispensary in Emeryville, California, accepts crypto, and last year was the setting for the first crypto purchase of marijuana by an elected official. A few other dispensaries along America’s West Coast, including Seattle, are also known to accept bitcoin. Visit an Online Marijuana Dispensary If you’re fortunate enough to live in a region where weed is legal, you should be able to find an online store that will ship to you. Naturally you’ll need to pass verification checks, which include proving your residence, but once approved, you’re free to order all manner of THC-laced goods, from edibles to smokables. Canadians can get hooked up by Herb Approach which accepts BTC. Current deals include an ounce of Cheese for CA$170 – that’s 40% off – or a half ounce of Violator Kush for CA$87. The store also sells extremely potent shatter hash. Visit a Seed Bank If you’re choking for a smoke, this option isn’t for you. Bitcoiners in less of a hurry, however, may like the idea of ordering cannabis seeds by mail, bought with BTC. Dutch company Royal Queen Seeds accepts bitcoin and ships globally. The highly rated store stocks a wide range of autoflowering, feminized, and CBD seeds as well as CBD oil. Choose from such strains as Northern Light Automatic, Quick One, and perennial favorite Amnesia Haze. Bitcoin holders are known for their low time preference. If you can wait 12 weeks, while lovingly tending your crops, you’ll take receipt of some of the finest cannabis known to man. Other online seed stores that accept bitcoin include U.K-based Attitude Seedbank and Seedsman, which promises offers such as three feminized white widow seeds free when you spend €30. Visit the Darknet Technically speaking, none of the darknet vendors selling weed are licensed to do so. Technically speaking, that’s not your problem. If it’s legal to consume weed where you live, who are you to police the sellers and worry about whether their paperwork’s correct and tax is filed? Leave that to the cyber cops. If you can access the darknet, you can find your way to a store that’s stocked with everything you need to make it through long weekends, quarantine, and extended house arrest. What other methods of legally buying weed with bitcoin have you heard of? Let us know in the comments section below. The post How to Buy Weed With Bitcoin appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

During the last few days, members of the U.S. Congress have been trying to pen a stimulus plan to help the American economy. Since then, a few bills have been submitted by representatives and two particular proposals House democrats have tabled talk about a “digital dollar” and “digital ledger entries.” Following the submission of the “Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act,” a revision was filed that does not contain the “digital dollar” section. Also read: #NotDying4WallStreet – Twitter Trends Show People Are Fed Up With Wall Street, Banks and Oligarchs Two Congressional Bills Speak of Digital Dollars and Ledger Entries Kept by the Fed News.Bitcoin.com recently reported on the Michigan lawmaker Rashida Tlaib’s “Boost Act” which aims to give American citizens $1K per month if Congress approves the idea. Tlaib’s concept was derived from the framework behind Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) and allegedly the funding would not cause any debt. The Michigan democrat’s bill is also bolstered by its co-author, Modern Money Network’s Rohan Grey, and bureaucrats like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) approve the act. Following Rashida Tlaib’s proposal, two more bills have been submitted that offer a similar approach. The “Financial Protections and Assistance for America’s Consumers, States, Businesses, and Vulnerable Populations Act” and the “Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act” (TRWF) both contained phrases and terms that hint at a “digital dollar.” However, shortly after the “digital dollar” section in the TRWF act made headlines, it was removed. In fact, both bills look like they were authored by the same writer. Just before the “digital dollar” section within the TRWF bill was deleted it read: The term ‘digital dollar’ shall mean a balance expressed as a dollar value consisting of digital ledger entries that are recorded as liabilities in the accounts of any Federal Reserve bank; or an electronic unit of value, redeemable by an eligible financial institution (as determined by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System). World Economic Forum (WEF) head of blockchain, digital currency and data policy, Sheila Warren sent a statement to news.Bitcoin.com about the idea of a “digital dollar.” “While it is always exciting to see openness to innovation on the part of the United States government, such an initiative would require careful consideration of digital identity and security and would require cross-sector engagement, including from civil society and technical experts beyond the financial system,” Warren told our newsdesk. “The use case for a US Central Bank Digital Currency is not entirely clear, and a CBDC in any country is not a silver bullet solution to the problems of financial inclusion, which are deeply complex.” The WEF author added: On the other hand, increased digitization of the economy could result in a faster response to stimulus and enable readiness for future crises. Overall, it’s encouraging to see further evidence that the government is paying very close attention to the technology space and exploring fitness for purpose. Central Bank Coins, Stablecoins, and a Cashless Society All three bills do not contain language that refers to a blockchain or digital currency like bitcoin. However, the three bills have a lot of people speculating because the past few years the research and development of central bank digital currency (CBDC) has been very popular. Moreover, stablecoins have been thriving as well and people think that a concept like tether (USDT) could help governments like the U.S. leverage a blockchain. Besides the blockchain and cryptocurrency speculation, the digital part of these bills reminds people how the U.S. and much of the world is going cashless. Speculators assume that the current economic storm could be leveraged to reset the entire monetary system toward cashless finances. Congress is hoping the stimulus package will be fully approved on March 24 and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the media there is “real optimism” American representatives can come to a decision on Tuesday. Meanwhile, U.S. citizens are not holding their breath waiting for this deal and many Americans will be pretty upset if politicians bail out Wall Street again. What do you think about the bills talking about a “digital dollar” and “digital ledger entries”? Let us know in the comments section. The post Shelter-in-Place for Cash? 2 Bills Submitted by US Congress Mention ‘Digital Dollars’ appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

As the coronavirus outbreak causes havoc to the world economy, the U.S. is trying to prepare for the onslaught of new cases. U.S. politicians crafted shelter-in-place orders in various states and shut down a decent fraction of American industries. Now politicians are penning an enormous bailout package and American citizens are fighting about whether or not the money should help people or corporations. Right now as democrats and republicans are deadlocked over the stimulus bill, Americans on social media are tweeting hashtag phrases like “General Strike” and “Not Dying 4 Wall Street.” Also read: US Real Estate in Jeopardy – Analysts Predict Housing Market Crash to 29-Year Lows On March 23, news.Bitcoin.com reported on how the corporate world and financiers are begging for trillions if the government decides to print a bunch of money to keep the economy afloat. Nearly every major industry in the U.S. from cruises, airlines, restaurants, hotels, defense contractors and lobbyists are all begging for a piece of the stimulus. At the moment, between the corporatists and monopolies looking for a handout, the American people want some money too, as politicians have been promising common citizens a cut of the pie. However, lots of Americans think they will probably get screwed over because of all the times the bureaucracy has failed them in the past. For instance, average citizens took to the streets in 2012 after people realized that the 2008 bailouts went to private institutions and to uphold the status quo. I will keep my business closed until the doctors and scientists who know what they're taking about say otherwise. We the people can take care of each other. We don't need permission to act like decent human beings.#NotDying4WallStreet — JB (@Idaho_JB) March 24, 2020 #NotDying4WallStreet & #GeneralStrike Trends The bailouts are here again and people are not pleased seeing Wall Street looking for a cut of the stimulus especially after a record-breaking stock market in 2019. The recent list of corporations and financial institutions looking for a handout has spurred the hashtag #NotDying4WallStreet on Twitter. The hashtag has over 87,000 tweets on March 24 and the trending term continues to climb hour after hour. “I didn’t work my entire life, live by the rules, to be considered expendable by men who are idiots — I AM #NotDying4WallStreet,” one person tweeted. “#NotDying4WallStreet,” another individual wrote. “Occupy Wall Street was a picnic compared to what people are going to do if this ass tries to sacrifice their lives and lives of loved ones for greedy pricks on Wall St. Also no corporate handouts for slimy execs.” In 2012, Americans took to the streets of New York during the Occupy Wall Street movement. The movement spread worldwide because global citizens realized that during the 2008 financial collapse the oligarchs and banking elite reaped benefits while taxpayers foot the bill. In addition to the #NotDying4WallStreet hashtag, the term “#GeneralStrike” is also trending. Currently, there are more than 22K tweets connected to the #GeneralStrike hashtag and people are upset for the same reasons. “A #GeneralStrike is the best way to figuratively punch the oligarchs in the wallet,” one American tweeted on Tuesday. “But it’s only effective if a massive number of people do it — We have to do it together,” he added. “#GeneralStrike #GeneralStrike2020 — The USA is LONG overdue for a general strike — Bring American politicians and the corporations who put them in office to their knees,” another person tweeted. “They steal their wealth from us,” the individual added. Does anyone else smell a general strike in the air? GOP and Democrats, you bailed out Wall St, you can bail out the people. We're #notdying4wallstreet $2000 a month for 3 months. At least. — carol leonard (@laughingcat2016) March 24, 2020 Bitcoin: The Real Occupy Wall Street Despite the fact that people are mad at the corporatists and monopolies that have screwed them, society had already learned that the Occupy Wall Street movement didn’t really help much. Sure it woke a few people up and a lot more people noticed the oligarchs but people still went right back to using federal reserve notes and continued to enrich the bankers. If people are really upset they can opt-out of the manipulated financial system today because Satoshi Nakamoto provided the world with a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. Bitcoin.com has numerous resources available for anyone to get started learning about and using cryptocurrencies like BCH, BTC, and ETH. Our comprehensive website has a local peer-to-peer marketplace, an exchange, a fantastic gaming platform, a mining pool, cloud contracts and so much more. Check out our guides, resources, and services today. If people are thinking about general strikes and upsetting Wall Street maybe they should control their own destiny and be their own bank. Getting mad and upset about the oligarchs is a waste of time and you can move off the status quo’s monetary system right now. When people use bitcoin there’s no interest for politicians and the banking elite, no fees to corporatists, and more importantly, the money doesn’t feed war. Even Julian Assange recognized that crypto is very important to fighting the fascist leaders when he said: “Bitcoin is the real Occupy Wall Street.” What do you think about the recent trends regarding the stimulus plan in the US? Let us know in the comments section below. The post #NotDying4WallStreet – Twitter Trends Show People Are Fed Up With Wall Street, Banks and Oligarchs appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

On or around May 13, the BTC network will see a block reward reduction as miners will go from getting 12.5 coins per block to 6.25 coins following the halving. The last time the protocol’s block reward halved was on July 9, 2016, and the global economy looked a whole lot different back then. This time around, while BTC miners see reward reductions the world’s financial system has been crumbling and the digital asset’s value is much lower than it was four weeks ago. Also read: Countdown to Block Reward Reduction – 18 Days Until Bitcoin Cash Halving Bitcoin Halving Countdown – 50 Days Until the Block Reward Reduction It’s kind of hard to believe that last month BTC was trading for much higher than it is today at $10,371 per coin on February 14. Then again it’s getting easier to believe anything is possible nowadays as the entire world is fractured by economic hardships from the covid-19 pandemic. Bitcoin is now trading for $6,600 and the network is set to see a block reward reduction from 12.5 BTC per block to only 6.25 BTC in 50 days. Give or take a week or so, the protocol has halved every four years starting in 2012. The last halving was in 2016 and the one expected after April is scheduled for May 13. According to bitcoinblockhalf.com the reward-drop ETA date will be on or around May 13, 2020, at 16:50:46 UTC. Besides the price lows right now, the ongoing economic uncertainty worldwide has cast a shadow on crypto markets in general and no one’s quite sure what will happen next. For the first time since Bitcoin’s birth, the cryptocurrency is caught amidst a financial meltdown worldwide and many people believe the technology was made for this event. In the midst of the economic calamity, and no matter what the price is come May 13th, miners will get their revenues chopped in half instantly. #Bitcoin leveraged longs are liquidated, system cleared. Traditional system did not clear because of circuit breakers, bail outs, non 24/7: who knows how many blow ups are out there?! Markets show current $5trillionUSD promised QE is not enough. Bitcoin halving in May. #DoTheMath pic.twitter.com/tdtvLBtwNV — PlanB (@100trillionUSD) March 19, 2020 BTC miners will face other obstacles as well because Satoshi Nakamoto probably never accounted for two other SHA256 networks. In 2020 there are three high-profile blockchains that share the same SHA256 algorithm and some mining operations process blocks on all three networks. An even larger number of mining pools can be seen switching hashrate from chain to chain in hopes of gathering better profits. Roughly a month before BTC’s halving, bitcoin cash (BCH) and bitcoinsv (BSV) will see block reward reductions as well. Bitcoin miners have been doing this for quite some time and there have been various occasions where it’s more profitable to mine BCH than BTC or vice versa. Because miners follow these windows of opportunity to bounce around chain to chain, speculators believe profit fluctuations will be more drastic as each network halves. Did you know you can mine BTC and BCH with Bitcoin.com’s profitable mining operation Pool.Bitcoin.com? If you own SHA256 mining rigs, you can plug into our pool or if you don’t have hardware, you can also check out our cloud mining contracts as well. 2020 Halving Produces Uncertainty and Possible Diminished Security Further, while a good number of BTC supporters are optimistic about the bitcoin halving, there are those who think it might not be a big deal. Longtime analyst and trader Peter Brandt who has 334K followers on Twitter recently said that the halving might be overemphasized. Brandt tweeted that the bitcoin halving was “grossly overrated.” “The daily trading volume of BTC = the REAL supply of BTC,” Brandt stressed. “The daily reduction of mined bitcoins (NEW supply) equals approx 2/100th of 1% of REAL supply.” Bitcoin halving & bull market are approaching as the fundamentals are very much in place Bitcoin is a ticking time-bomb 💣 — Crypto Capital Venture ⚡ (@cryptorecruitr) March 24, 2020 When people told crypto pundit and trader Tone Vays that economic conditions would probably bolster BTC, Vays seemed to think the opposite. “Actually the halving being so close is a bad thing, if this Zombie Apocalypse continues into the summer,” Vays replied. “BTC might still be crashing as the halving just crushes the miners.” The popular crypto trader Donalt’s view of the situation seemed grim as well. “So miners get half the amount of Bitcoin and can only sell it for half the price in a few week’s time,” the trader tweeted. “Halving sounds like a sh** deal for them, not gonna lie.” I gotta say, not many better ways to make the point as #Bitcoin going through its halving right as the world's fiat currencies go through a doubling. — Nathaniel Whittemore (@nlw) March 19, 2020 The first two halvings were followed by increased BTC values and security increased a great deal as well. Since the 2016 halving, BTC miners’ combined hashrate processed at the time was just above one exahash per second (EH/s). In the four years since, miners have captured an all-time hashrate high of around 136 EH/s on February 20, 2020, although since the price slid during the last two weeks, the overall hashrate has lost 26%, dropping to 100 EH/s. BTC hashrate on March 24, 2020 has dropped 26% since February 20. At press time the BTC hashrate is between 90-100 EH/s. While many BTC supporters believe that the chain is secure, a few skeptics think security will drop after May 13. The CEO of AVA Labs and Cornell Professor Emin Gün Sirer thinks that the next few reward reductions will diminish BTC’s overall security. “As the amount of awards given to the miners dwindles down, the security of the network will drop,” Gün Sirer said. “If the security drops sufficiently, we may even see massive double-spend attacks targeting exchanges. This would, in turn, trigger exchanges to extend their confirmation times.” The professor added: At some point, the attackers might have access to so much hashpower that no reasonable number of confirmations may be sufficient to guarantee security. Miners Must Rise Above the Tide to Remain Profitable No one quite knows what will happen during the next BTC halving but we do know there’s a lot of different factors in 2020 such as the price after the halving, the global economy, hashrate and difficulty, and the number of transactions and fees as well. James Todaro, head of research at Tradeblock, has tweeted that miner costs need to surge from $7K per BTC to between $12,000 and $15,000 following the halving event. “Following the Bitcoin halving, miners’ estimated breakeven costs will rise from ~$7,000 today to ~$12,000–15,000 per BTC after. I would not be surprised if we see Bitcoin prices rise above these levels so that miners remain profitable,” Todaro wrote. What do you think about BTC’s upcoming block reward reduction? Let us know in the comments section. The post Crypto Mining Crunch Time – Bitcoin Halving Less Than 50 Days Away While Global Economy Shudders appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Fiat currencies across the globe have experienced sharp declines in the wake of the coronavirus panic, with the Norwegian Krone falling over 30% lately last week. The Mexican peso and Australian dollar trailed close behind over the same period, with multiple fiat currencies also taking a nosedive. Though USD remains strong, some speculate this is due to flight from other markets, and that the bastion of fiat strength might not be able to withstand endless printing and reckless credit creation of QE much longer. Also read: The Multi Trillion-Dollar Stimulus Package: These Are the US Corporations Begging for Bailouts ‘Unlimited Money’ Announcing an open-ended QE program Monday for unprecedented asset purchasing, the U.S. Federal Reserve has pledged to purchase assets “in the amounts needed,” signaling the beginning of a virtually unlimited easing effort which will include moving into corporate bonds for the first time. As lockdown orders, enforced business closures and travel bans continue to wreck economies, world currencies are reeling from the massive shock spiked by coronavirus panic and containment measures. The Fed and other central banks of the world may have their eyes on unlimited support, but many fiat currencies are telling a different story. Norwegian Krone and Others Knocked Down by Virus-Plagued Markets The Norwegian krone has now hit a record low against the U.S. dollar, falling 25% from the end of December, and over 20% in just under two weeks from March 9 to 20. Other currencies have taken the same trajectory in that 11-day time frame, with the Mexican peso and Australian dollar falling 17% and 13% respectively. In the last two weeks, some major currencies tanked by as much as 20% against the dollar. And currencies have historically had fairly low volatility. British Pound hit the lowest level since 1985. The imported products are going to suddenly get a lot more expensive pic.twitter.com/th91nL0YKm — Larry Cermak (@lawmaster) March 23, 2020 NZD, GBP, SEK, and other fiat currencies aren’t doing a whole lot better. The British pound has tumbled downward past levels not seen since 1985, falling against the euro. Quoted in a March 19 report by Bloomberg, European head of currency strategy at Toronto-Dominion Bank, Ned Rumpeltin, opined: At a minimum, we think there is a strong impulse to liquidate what you can — before you can’t — as London’s trading floors are probably about to be slammed shut before too long. Fears of circuit breakers and trading suspensions aren’t unwarranted. March has seen stock exchanges across the globe tighten restrictions and adjust trading rules, with a temporary suspension of all trading in the Philippines on March 17, and the NYSE opening yesterday for the first time in 228 years to an empty floor. But What About the US Dollar? Amidst all the chaos the U.S. dollar is surging against other world currencies. While the dollar remains strong for now, some are not certain the situation can continue, especially with the unadulterated market intervention happening currently, and talk of humongous stimulus packages. U.S. Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer described his plan for “unemployment on steroids” Sunday: You lose your job because of this crisis or any other reason, the federal government will pay you your full salary for 4 to 6 months. .@SenSchumer on Dems’ Coronavirus “stimulus”: "You lose your job because of this crisis OR ANY OTHER REASON, the federal government will pay you your full salary for 4 to 6 months." pic.twitter.com/pcdr4I6CQY — Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) March 21, 2020 While many imagine hyperinflation to be a freak economic phenomenon reserved only for non-U.S. countries, An Art Cashin piece from October 15, 2011 notes that “Hyperinflation requires a central bank to willingly commit economic suicide.” Though Cashin thought this was unlikely for the U.S. almost a decade ago, his descriptions of the hyperinflation in Germany’s Weimar Republic now sound eerily familiar to some: Things did not go badly instantly. Yes, the deficit soared but much of it was borne by foreign and domestic bond buyers … that means foreign bond buyers said – ‘Hey this is a great nation and this is probably just a speed bump in the economy.’ “When things began to disintegrate, no one dared to take away the punchbowl,” Cashin continues. “They feared shutting off the monetary heroin would lead to riots, civil war, and, worst of all communism. So, realizing that what they were doing was destructive, they kept doing it out of fear that stopping would be even more destructive.” At the height of the German hyperinflation in November 1923, 1 USD was worth roughly 4,200,000,000,000 German marks. Future of Fiat Uncertain, as Governments Stave Off Painful Economic Realities While it’s yet uncertain if such a fate awaits the USD, it is interesting to note the similarities. The Weimar Republic was a product of the first World War’s ravaging, prolonged effects on Germany. With a war-torn economy that was unable to produce, the answer was to just print more money. Looking at U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent proclamation that he is a “wartime president” and that fighting the Covid-19 virus is now “a war — a different kind of war than we’ve ever had,” it raises suspicion about the forced shutdown of economies currently witnessed. Unemployment rates are expected to skyrocket in coming months. There’s no worries according to the U.S. leader, however, who maintains: First of all, you never have to default because you print the money, I hate to tell you, OK? As astute economists are quick to point out, you can print money infinitely, but you cannot print the scarce assets, resources, labor and expertise the money is meant to represent. This is one reason some now are moving value to perceived safer, hard-capped supply assets such as bitcoins or physical gold. What do you think about the decline of national currencies being witnessed now? Let us know in the comments section below. The post Cash Crisis: National Currencies Plunge in the Wake of Coronavirus appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The coronavirus outbreak has caused considerable damage to the global economy and this week the U.S. is facing the onslaught of the scare. As Republicans and Democrats battle in congress over a 2020 stimulus plan, corporate industries are leaping at the chance to get a bailout. While the Fed tosses around trillions of dollars, nearly every major American industry is looking for a cut. The airline industry, the restaurant sector, hotel enterprises, lobbyists, defense contractors and more are knocking at the government’s door looking for a piece of a growing $5 trillion handout. Also read: US Real Estate in Jeopardy – Analysts Predict Housing Market Crash to 29-Year Lows $5 Trillion – Fed’s 2020 Bailouts to Eclipse 2008’s Stimulus Wall Street and the corporatists in America who have monopolized certain industries for years are once again seeking stimulus from the U.S. federal government. During the last two weeks, the Federal Reserve has created trillions out of thin air and it seems everyone now wants a piece of the action. Of course, private megabanks are being taken care of as we speak but a large number of American industries are begging bureaucrats for some cash injections and tax cuts. Megabanks and Corporate America wants the Fed to bail them out. Between the stimulus package being offered to U.S. citizens and America-based businesses asking for trillions, the total stimulus plan could cost upwards of $5 trillion. On March 21, author Matthew Stoller tweeted about the massive tidal wave of corporatists who are begging politicians to be included in the great stimulus plan being penned in Congress. During the 2008 financial crisis, financial institutions, auto manufacturers, and a myriad of industries were bailed out by simply telling U.S. politicians these businesses were in trouble. Corporations that got bailouts after the 2008 collapse included AIG, General Motors, Citigroup, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Ally Financial, Chrysler Financial Services, GM Supplier Receivables, Ford Motors and hundreds more. Stoller’s recent tweet highlights 2020’s list of corporate beggars waiting at the Fed’s doorstep for a handout. For instance, the U.S. airline industry estimates that it will need $150-200 billion to survive the economic catastrophe. Oddly enough, manufacturers of war, like American defense contractors, want payments sped up. Reports nationwide note that the hotel industry is seeking $150 billion from the federal government because revenue is drying up. The trade organization and policy advocates the National Association of Manufacturing (NAM) want $1.4 trillion. While defense contractors are bad enough to fund during times of distress, thousands of lobbyists are seeking funds for businesses as well. The Council of Shopping Centers wants $1 trillion because no one is going to U.S. malls. Stoller stressed in his tweet that Tesla and Amazon want $5 billion in R&D tax credits. The restaurant industry, which was closed across a majority of American states, wants $145 billion to cover losses. Despite the fact the Americans are consuming more alcohol than usual due to the stress, the beer and wine industry is seeking $5 billion from politicians. U.S. residents have been munching a lot of snack foods and candy during the last week, but the candy and confection industry still wants $500 million. Even the sneaker firm Adidas is looking for some money while the Fed plans to showers corporatists and bankers with trillions. The list of corporations, unions, and financial institutions that are looking for a bailout is enormous and eclipses the 2008 bailouts by a long shot. Not to mention the fact that while the Fed issues trillions of dollars, the American people want some money too because they have been promised $1,000 per month or more amid the economic disaster. Democrats like Michigan Representative Rashida Tlaib have been promising Americans monthly payments of $1K per month and claiming it won’t burden citizens with debt. Not only are corporations begging for Fed money, but politicians like Bernie Sanders, Rashida Tlaib, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are promising American citizens $1K per month in stimulus. Fiat Junkies Fiending for a Fix The comprehensive list of ‘fiat junkies’ mentioned above barely scratches the surface when it comes to financial institutions and corporations looking for a handout in 2020. Economists understand that once you create trillions of dollars on a whim and throw free money around, monopolies and corporatist unions will start jonesing like drug addicts for fiat and will relentlessly circle like vultures. Bitcoin.com has numerous resources available for anyone to get started learning about and using cryptocurrencies like BCH, BTC, and ETH. Our comprehensive website has a local peer-to-peer marketplace, an exchange, a fantastic gaming platform, a mining pool, cloud contracts and so much more. Check out our guides, resources, and services today This is why Bitcoin’s inventor created a robust peer-to-peer electronic cash system because Satoshi Nakamoto knew in 2009 the bailouts would return in the future. 11 years later, the Fed and central banks worldwide are in the midst of creating massive stimulus plans and bailing out megabanks and corporations. The hardcoded coinbase parameter in Bitcoin’s genesis block reminds people of why the decentralized cryptocurrency was created. The message stemmed from the Times January 3, 2009 headline: “Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.” Today the Fed’s floodgates are wide open and U.S. banks and corporations know if they beg enough they’ll probably get a handout. The system has been monopolized and manipulated for so long, the 2020 bailouts just might get the country’s citizens angrier and a recurrence of Occupy Wall Street protests could easily happen again. What do you think about the list of corporatists looking for a government handout? Let us know what you think about this topic in the comments section. The post The Multi Trillion-Dollar Stimulus Package: These Are the US Corporations Begging for Bailouts appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Launched in the second quarter of 2019, CDL Token is a rapidly growing project, which has more and more to offer for its users. From the very beginning, CDL was not supposed to be an ordinary token. The goal was to create a functional cryptocurrency which would enable the users of the CoinDeal exchange to gain additional benefits. Earn a return of up to 11% The reward in the form of CDL Token for voting reveals many possibilities for CoinDeal users. Not only can you use it to lower your fee or gain access to OTC trading, but now the exchange introduces another feature. By staking CDL Token, the equivalent of up to 11% return in the form of the selected currency: CDL, Bitcoin or USDT. Staking, which is storing cryptocurrencies by blocking coins in your wallet for a fixed period, to get more profits, will appear on 19th March on CoinDeal. To start, you need to have at least 1000 CDL in your wallet as this is the minimum amount of tokens you can stake, and the maximum length of time to stake is one year. Besides, you can get an extra 30 CDL Tokens for your first staking. By knowing the value of the tokens at the moment of staking, you can easily find out how much benefit you can receive from it. When you stop staking, the prize and your funds will return to your wallet immediately. Reduced fees and convenient purchase of BTC The most attractive feature seems to be an option to reduce the fee by having CDL Tokens in your wallet. Furthermore, CoinDeal has also reduced its standard fees to 0.29% and 0.39% for Maker and Taker. As a 150,000 CDL Token holder, your fees are only 0.05%. OTC trading on CoinDeal is a convenient and quick way to trade and buy Bitcoins. Until now, it was available for Premium users, but now the exchange has also introduced the possibility to use it with 20,000 CDL Tokens. New voting system Voting on CoinDeal is a unique event – the exchange allows its users to choose new crypto. For the first few months, users were able to choose from the list of coins on the CoinDeal website. At the beginning of 2020, voting took place under completely new rules. Once again, CoinDeal met the users’ needs, letting them nominate the new cryptocurrencies that they want to see in the voting and on CoinDeal markets. The first step that users have to take is nominating their favorite cryptocurrency in the appropriate CoinDeal Twitter post. Then, after about two weeks, the exchange closes the nominations and selects the TOP10 of the most interesting projects to put them in the voting. Once the voting has started, users can cast one vote within 24 hours for one of the top ten currencies. For each vote, they will receive CDL Tokens in proportion to all votes cast. The last two votings allowed the participants to win the evaluation of the votes cast in USD. After positive feedback from CoinDeal users about this brand new way of casting votes, the system has been rebuilt. The new form of voting is more transparent and useful. CDL on other exchanges Since March 2020 CDL has been available on P2PB2B exchange The platform has 483 trading pairs including the CDL/BTC market with the current 24 h volume of over 18K USD. The WhiteBIT exchange is the third platform, besides CoinDeal, which has CDL token market, with over 4K USD 24 h volume on the CDL to the Bitcoin market. Contact Email Address kate@coindeal.com Supporting Link https://coindeal.com/ 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 CoinDeal Token – a Wide Range of Earning Possibilities appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In 2019, cryptocurrency and blockchain businesses saw more regulation than any year prior. G20 finance ministers, central bank governors, and regulators cracked down hard on the bitcoin industry. However, during the covid-19 scare, U.S. authorities have been dropping regulations on a whim, making it easier on the financial sector. On March 22, the Federal Reserve revealed it would work with a group of regulatory agencies in order to give banks more leeway when it comes to modifying loan terms. Also read: Minting Basic Income – US Lawmaker Asks Treasury to Issue Two $1 Trillion Coins With No Debt What Are Regulations Good For? Absolutely Nothing The overlords of the U.S. banking system have been doing a lot of unusual things lately to cope with a looming recession brought on by the coronavirus outbreak and forced economic shutdown. Nearly every day, President Donald Trump and the Federal Reserve have been making new announcements and radical changes. On Sunday, the Fed alongside a slew of other U.S. regulators like the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency have made it so financial institutions can make changes for debtors without oversight. The Fed revealed its decision would allow banks to reduce interest rates, extend loan times, modify loan terms, provide fee waivers, and offer payment deferrals whenever they feel it is necessary. In a heavily regulated environment prior to the covid-19 outbreak, financiers couldn’t do these things without setting off regulatory red flags or receiving massive penalties. 2019 Crypto Industry Assaulted With Manipulative Regulatory Policy Right now, all of the so-called “much needed” financial regulations are being torn down like the Berlin Wall. The recent move to drop regulations follows Fed chair Jerome Powell’s decision to slash benchmark interest rates to 0%, inject trillions into the hands of private banks, and eliminate all reserve requirements for banks. U.S. financial institutions can not only modify loan terms as they please, but also loan as much as they want without any need for worrying about FDIC insured deposits. Just a month ago, however, financial regulations were quite abundant and U.S. officials from the Fed to the Treasury took aim at bitcoin businesses. Austrian economists have warned of the adverse effects and inefficiency that government intervention and regulations have created for years. If government regulations were waived then the results would lead to more economic freedom. However, the U.S. two-party oligarchy wants full control over the private sector and the only reason regulations were dropped is because they know the economy would collapse if they did not remove these stifling financial requirements. On February 11, Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari said that the cryptoconomy and bitcoin are “like a giant garbage dumpster.” Later that week, Steven Mnuchin the Treasury Secretary told the Senate Finance Committee that new regulations focused primarily on cryptocurrencies were rolling out soon. Not to mention central bank governors worldwide, G20 finance ministers and the Financial Action Task Force that have regulatory guns aimed at cryptocurrency businesses and exchanges. The only people who are protected by regulations and oversight are those who are engaged in parasitic behaviors. Austrian economists have noted multiple times in the past how awful regulations are to the economy and data has backed up their arguments. Amid the economic calamity, however, politicians and regulators are quickly changing their tune. A number of Austrian-schooled economists over the years have explained in great detail why regulations stifle efficiency. Regulations always add hidden costs because compliance comes with complex hurdles and mandates. More expenses are handed down to citizens, as regulations make Americans pay for all types of redundant operations. Government guidelines against free markets make consumers deal with dull and non-innovative products because regulations place various barriers to entry. Legislative guidelines enforced by the arbitrary whims of bureaucratic leaders have devastated privacy and property rights. But since the start of the failing monetary system, politicians have created a framework that is riddled with manipulation and monopolies, and lawmakers know infrastructure would collapse if they didn’t remove regulations during the covid-19 outbreak. Regulations have added hidden costs to our goods and oversight has violated society’s privacy and property rights. Another adverse effect of regulation is the fact that big companies simply move to less regulated countries in the face of the American regulators’ red tape and redundant oversight. Hundreds of Federal Regulations Removed Throughout a Variety of Industries The last two weeks of economic mayhem have caused people to question why we need regulations and all this KYC/AML crap at all. Whimsical regulatory rules have violated our financial privacy and it has made the economy inefficient. Parasitic politicians and central bank governors do understand that laissez-faire is the most efficient monetary attitude. Yet if they removed these legislative guidelines, government entities wouldn’t be able to create revenue from the backs of entrepreneurs and the working class. Sunday evening’s decision by the Fed is just a small fraction of the regulatory requirements that have been removed since the covid-19 outbreak started. On March 22, free-market advocate and Openbazaar developer Chris Pacia tweeted a list of regulations the U.S. government has dropped since the crisis. Pacia’s tweet further underlined that so far the American regime has released non-violent offenders from prison, they have allowed foreign doctors to practice medicine in the U.S., registered nurses can travel state to state without a license now, police officers have suspended arresting people for victimless crimes in a few cities, occupational licensing has been suspended, FDA regulations for medical products waived, and alcohol for the first time can be delivered to your home in some states. So why do Americans need regulations at all? Especially when we know and data clearly shows that regulations only benefit a certain group (specifically the oligarchs). Why did they aim all the government guns and regulatory policy at free-market solutions like bitcoin during the last few years? The reason they attacked the cryptoconomy is because digital currencies like bitcoin represent true economic freedom and permissionless, financial prosperity. Right now megabanks and monopolies created by the U.S. government are being bailed out. At the same time, American bureaucrats want ordinary citizens to foot the bill with higher taxes, austerity measures, hidden costs, and rabid inflation. What do you think about the hundreds of regulations waived because of the covid-19 outbreak? Let us know in the comments below. The post Coronavirus Bailouts: US Banking Watchdogs Waive Hundreds of Regulations, Red Tape, Financial Oversight appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Amid worldwide crisis and stock market turmoil, a growing number of investment schemes advertise a way to speedily double your bitcoins. Moon Bitcoin Live, for example, claims to be a licensed bitcoin doubler, promising that investors can double their bitcoins within 24 hours, with guaranteed payouts. However, there are many red flags about this type of investment scheme. Also read: 50 Companies Back New Cryptocurrency Project Competing With Facebook’s Libra Moon Bitcoin Live Plunging stock markets and the coronavirus scare have crippled many industries and driven many people to seek an alternative way to make money. Unfortunately, many scams are capitalizing on people’s monetary desperation, some of which have been around before Covid-19 while others only recently popped up. Among them is Moon Bitcoin Live, a bitcoin doubler scheme that promises to double your bitcoins within 24 hours. Its website contains many bold, unsubstantiated claims, displaying the message “Moon Bitcoin Live Awesome Investment” right front and center. “Moon Bitcoin Live gives you a real platform to multiply your bitcoins instantly,” the website states, claiming that it is the “first trusted bitcoin doubler” and payouts are guaranteed. This investment scheme is very similar to a few others, including Bitcoin Doubler Club. Moon Bitcoin Live claims to offer an “awesome investment” where investors can double their bitcoin within 24 hours, with guaranteed payouts. In reality, the same claims have been used by many scams. Red Flags, Guarantees, Bitcoin x2 in 24 Hours Like many scams, Moon Bitcoin Live has some obvious red flags. Investment fraudsters always hit their targets with an array of persuasion techniques, counting on them not to do research before investing. Besides promises that are too good to be true, such as “double your bitcoin in just 24 hours,” “100% secure,” and “instant payouts after 24 hours,” Moon Bitcoin Live advertises “guaranteed payouts.” Its site also displays, without proof, what it claims to be the payouts its members supposedly received. Another major red flag is asking for an upfront investment. Creating an account is free, “Just enter your BTC address,” the Moon Bitcoin Live website urges, noting that payments are processed instantly and all payment methods are accepted. It will then ask you to send between 0.005 and 5 BTC to the company’s “deposit address.” To encourage large deposits, the scheme offers a 200% bonus for payments above 0.5 BTC. Moon Bitcoin Live also offers an affiliate program which it claims pays a 20% commission. However, once you send your bitcoin to these scammers, you are not likely to ever see your coins again. These tactics have been used by many scammers since a regulated entity would be prohibited from making such claims. Instead, they are required to warn investors of potential investment risks. A section of the Moon Bitcoin Live website shows the scheme’s promise to double your bitcoin in 24 hours. In reality, this is a scam tactic. Regulated entities are prohibited from making such claims but are required to warn investors of any investment risks. Beware of Fake Address and Registration Scams often list a fake address and sometimes a fake registration number in an attempt to sound legit. Moon Bitcoin Live clams to be a U.K.-registered company, but instead of having one registration number like all other legit companies, this scheme lists two different numbers on its website. The first is 10518084, displayed at the footer of the website, and the other is 10714202, found on the scheme’s certificate of incorporation. News.Bitcoin.com contacted Companies House, the U.K.’s registrar of companies which is an executive agency and trading fund of Her Majesty’s government, to inquire about the two registration numbers. According to Companies House, the first number (10518084) actually belongs to a company called Crypto Zero Ltd. while the second (10714202) belongs to Bitcoin Finance Ltd. More importantly, the authority confirmed directly to news.Bitcoin.com that the company listed on Moon Bitcoin Live’s certificate of incorporation, Moonbitcoin.live Finance Ltd., is not registered with them. Moon Bitcoin Live claims to be registered under two different company numbers. However, in reality, none of the numbers belong to the company. A fake certificate of incorporation is posted on the Moon Bitcoin Live website. Furthermore, the address Moon Bitcoin Live listed on its website does not exist in reality. Its fake registration document also incorrectly references “the Companies Act 2019,” instead of Companies Act 2006. There are many bitcoin doubler schemes; some even promise to double your bitcoin in less than 24 hours. Take extreme caution when searching for investment opportunities, as news.Bitcoin.com previously warned. With so many red flags, anyone sending their bitcoin to an investment scheme like Moon Bitcoin Live is unlikely to ever see their money again, let alone double it. Furthermore, as the worldwide crisis deepens, a slew of new scams have come online to take advantage of investors. What do you think of investment schemes that promise to double your bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below. The post 2x Bitcoin: Wanna Double Your BTC to the Moon? Forget About It appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The introduction of institutional heavyweights like CME, CBOE and Bakkt to the bitcoin space was heralded by many as the key to solidifying bitcoin’s mainstream acceptance, and driving prices to a stabilized moon. While this hasn’t played out exactly as some predicted, it is still early in the game, and bitcoin futures markets do arguably exert an influence on spot price. The quality and degree of said influence is debatable, but in this article we’ll look at a few ways the still young BTC derivative markets can potentially push and pull on the charts. Also read: Liquid Gold vs Digital Gold: Why Bitcoin Beats Oil in the Current Climate The First Regulated Bitcoin Futures and Corresponding Market Climate At the end of 2017, both the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), introduced trading in bitcoin futures. This afforded many previously hesitant segments of the world market safer exposure to an asset deemed too dangerous to touch by many. It further allowed traders in countries where bitcoin was illegal or heavily restricted to benefit from the movements of BTC markets. There is much debate as to if and how these markets significantly affect the bitcoin spot price, but comparing markets at specific times and climates can help analysts draw their own conclusions. When regulated BTC futures came on the scene in early December 2017, for example, bitcoin prices were already in rapid ascent. On December 10, the day CBOE bitcoin futures launched, the BTC spot price saw a rise of over 10% and some speculated that the run up and meteoric rise of BTC to a December 17 all-time high of nearly $20,000 owed in part to excitement surrounding CME and CBOE futures. CBOE was the first to debut. CME futures had made their announcement two months earlier, in October, and notably launched on the exact day of the ATH, to see prices begin a precipitous decline soon after. Theoretical Manipulation Of course, many factors other than BTC futures are said to have played into the high bitcoin prices of late 2017 and early 2018. 2017 was the year of the ICO, with exciting and questionable projects popping up everywhere. Crypto was, prior to the regulations and reigning in of markets in years that followed, still a kind of financial Wild West. While there are theories about financial giants manipulating markets by taking short positions in futures markets, and subsequently influencing public perception negatively via mainstream media, these accusations of market manipulation are hard to prove. Still, bitcoin futures did provide bearish investors a new means by which to short crypto markets, and some speculated this is what preceded the ensuing fall in price in 2018. Entrance of Bakkt BTC-Settled Futures, Price Gap Hypothesis When Intercontinental Exchange-owned Bakkt entered the scene with physically settled BTC futures in September 2019, regulated futures market influence on spot price became less theoretical. Unlike the CME bitcoin futures which are cash settled, Bakkt’s bitcoin settled futures are fully collateralized, and require the movement of actual BTC at contract expiry. Bakkt's BTC Futures Open Interest reaches a new all-time high. pic.twitter.com/9ve3pdqCtT — skew (@skewdotcom) February 6, 2020 Hitting a new all-time high on February 6 this year, Bakkt’s open interest seemed to trace a 17% rise in BTC spot price which started January 24th. It makes sense that futures markets could be correspondingly affected by BTC spot price, but this doesn’t always seem to be the case historically. Evidenced by record numbers for Bakkt in November 2019, in the midst of a $1,000 BTC market plunge, institutional futures sometimes seem to hold their own. Of course, the product had just launched in September, and some might assign novelty and bullish sentiment regarding institutional involvement as the driving force there. Still, from November 2019 until the new year BTC spot prices would hover relatively steady at just over $7,000, lending to speculation about the power of institutional involvement for spot price stability. Example of a CME price gap being filled. Price gaps in futures markets are another point of interest. As news.Bitcoin.com’s Jamie Redman pointed out in February, spot prices tend to follow and “fill” price gaps in futures markets. A gap in CME futures in that same month, for example, was followed by an almost immediate correction on the spot market when futures trading reopened. However, these predictions do not always pan out. Some recently predicted there were “no more gaps” on March 10, and that a bull run was in the works. Prices would plummet almost $4,000 in the next few days. Covid-19 Incites Economic Panic, Futures and Options Falter, but Institutional Influence Remains a Force Bakkt and CME bitcoin futures have taken a big hit due to the economic recession now underway as a result of coronavirus fears and ensuing business and travel shutdowns, with crypto analytics group skew noting a “50% collapse in bitcoin futures open interest last week.” There is almost no activity on the CME options front, and the same goes for an even worse-off Bakkt. Visualising the 50% collapse in bitcoin futures open interest last week pic.twitter.com/g0xHPscrHq — skew (@skewdotcom) March 18, 2020 CBOE, for it’s part, announced it would no longer be offering bitcoin futures back in March 2019, but current contracts remain tradeable until they expire in June. Whether institutional futures and options markets may step in here with greater contract numbers and surprise speculators as in previous dips is uncertain. As spot prices continue to be affected by media and bitcoin whales moving financial clout, institutional players like Bakkt and CME inarguably offer a relatively new and regulated forum by which movers and shakers in the crypto world can find novel ways to leverage markets, and by which analysts can learn more about BTC spot price and how it moves relative to these. With heavy regulation, though, comes risk and dependence. Perpetually waiting for the SEC to approve a bitcoin exchange traded fund, for example, doesn’t exactly sound like the decentralized or permissionless crypto mainstreaming a lot of Satoshi acolytes want. Further, the more bitcoin moves into institutional money, the more sway these legacy and regulatory financial powers will be able to exercise over market prices, for better or for worse. Do you think institutional players are good for bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below. Want to create your own secure cold storage paper wallet? Check our tools section. You can also enjoy the easiest way to buy Bitcoin online with us. Download your free Bitcoin wallet and head to our Purchase Bitcoin page where you can buy BCH and BTC securely. The post How Institutional Players Like CME, CBOE and Bakkt Influence the Bitcoin Price appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Extreme volatility. Sudden loss of value. A purported store of value. An economic hedge. An alternative to gold. On the face of it, bitcoin and oil have a lot in common. Both markets have been buffeted by the covid-19 economic downturn, but while bitcoin has stabilized, oil keeps plummeting. What does “digital gold” have that its liquid counterpart does not? Also read: Can’t Lock Down Bitcoin: Trump Ponders Halting Stock Trading, Grounding US Passenger Flights Oil Keeps on Slipping The oil market has been buffeted by three calamities that have conspired to create a genuine black swan event: Intense competition: From the relentlessly expanding U.S. shale industry to the endless oil wells of the Saudis, oil has never been more plentiful. Falling demand: Even before the coronavirus kicked in, oil demand was dropping. The travel ban and global quarantine have severely exacerbated this. Price warfare: Saudi Arabia and Russia have long colluded to maintain healthy oil prices. Then they fell out at the start of March and oil lost 30% in a day, with worse to come. This latter incident has had a profound effect on oil’s downward trajectory. As energy expert Gregory Brew observes, “If it so desires, Saudi Arabia can rapidly increase production and flood the market on a scale that other producers cannot match.” The TRC could step in to control runaway US production amidst a global economic depression and a persistent supply glut. It's 1931-1933 all over again https://t.co/5xGwFCMtZj — Gregory Brew (@gbrew24) March 19, 2020 US Starts Stockpiling Oil The U.S. Department of Energy has begun buying up cheap oil for its Strategic Petroleum Reserve, but is only able to physically add 2 million barrels a day, and in four months it will reach capacity. Texas, meanwhile, is considering halting oil production for the foreseeable future, with depressed prices making it impractical to sell the commodity at a loss. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil, the U.S. benchmark, is under $20, while Brent is trading for $27. There is likely more pain to come, with Paul Sankey, managing director at Mizuho Securities, telling Fox Business that “Oil prices can go negative.” By this, he means that the cost of extracting and storing it can exceed its market price. Something similar can occur with bitcoin, when the cost of mining a coin exceeds its market value. In such cases, neither bitcoin or oil suffer from a “death spiral,” however, because there are always entities who can continue to extract it profitably, ensuring a constant supply is maintained. The world consumes 100 million barrels of oil a day and has the capacity to store 1.5 billion barrels. Once those reserves are full, if demand for oil hasn’t picked up, there will be no option but to wind down production in facilities that are operating at a loss. The performance of WTI oil for the year to date, priced per barrel ($). Bitcoin and Oil: Commodities with a Lot in Common The commodity that bitcoin is most frequently compared to is gold, yet it also bears a number of similarities with oil. Aside from the digital/physical duality, there are several ways in which bitcoin and oil overlap. Oil is prone to being hoarded by whales, who have the buying power to move the markets. And both assets have been hit hard in 2020, following long periods of stability in which they were assumed to maintain store of value qualities. In the last week, however, oil and bitcoin have diverged, with the former maintaining its downward trajectory, while BTC has regained ground. The performance of Brent oil for the year to date, priced per barrel ($). Abundance vs Scarcity Bitcoin is scarce. Oil is plentiful. Both resources will run out eventually, but circulating bitcoin can be reused i.e bought and sold on the open market, ensuring that everyone who wants it can acquire it. Only a fraction of all oil can be recycled, resulting in continuous extraction just to match ongoing demand. Saudi Arabia and Russia have an “abundance” of oil and can depress prices for as long as they like, should the pair remain locked in a price war. Bitcoin, on the other hand, is not so easily manipulated and certainly not for so long. Regional vs Borderless The extraction of oil is closely linked to key global regions; the Middle East, Russia, the North Sea, North and South America. Bitcoin, in comparison, is borderless. While its extraction can also be linked to certain hotspots – China, Iran, North America, Scandinavia – bitcoin can be mined anywhere. As such, it is less susceptible to geo-political conflicts, cartels, and price wars. The performance of bitcoin for the year to date. Compact vs Cumbersome Just as bitcoin miners can hoard coins in the hope of selling them at a higher price in the future, oil producers can stockpile. The difficulty is that oil requires vast warehouses and tanks to store, whereas all of the bitcoin in existence can be stored on an SD card the size of your thumbnail. The only pipeline bitcoin needs to flow is the data pipes of the internet. Bitcoin for Oil: The Ultimate Trade? Bitcoin and oil have always inhabited separate domains. But what if the pair were to become trading partners, with bitcoin being used as settlement for oil? The notion isn’t as outlandish as it may seem. Venezuela’s launch of the petro digital currency was an attempt to move away from the petrodollar, and the hegemony it hands the U.S. The much-maligned petro has failed to gain traction, but bitcoin remains a tantalizing possibility for nations looking to avoid sullying their hands with USD. Year to date performance of BTC (orange), USD (green), gold (yellow), silver (white), crude oil (purple), U.S. stocks (blue). Gabor Gurbacs, director of digital asset strategies at VanEck, believes that any country deeply invested in energy should be looking closely at bitcoin, saying: “While for now the petrodollar system remains dominant and the U.S. dollar outperforms other currencies, sovereign nations are increasingly searching for alternatives,” while acknowledging that because “bitcoin is a relatively young asset … it’s not a full-fledged store of value yet.” Should a vacancy for a petrodollar replacement become available, bitcoin is ready to answer that call. In the meantime, it remains a safer haven than oil. Do you think bitcoin is a better store of value than oil and other commodities at the moment? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Mati Greenspan. Did you know you can verify any unconfirmed Bitcoin transaction with our Bitcoin Block Explorer tool? Simply complete a Bitcoin address search to view it on the blockchain. Plus, visit our Bitcoin Charts to see what’s happening in the industry. The post Liquid Gold vs Digital Gold: Why Bitcoin Beats Oil in the Current Climate appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Exchange data and statistics from Google Trends, Twitter, and Baidu show that despite the recent price drop people are looking to buy bitcoin. During the week of the crypto market massacre that started on March 12, Coinbase broke traffic records and witnessed considerable trade volumes. Similarly, the trading platform Kraken saw an 83% increase in account signups during the market calamity as well. Also read: US Real Estate in Jeopardy – Analysts Predict Housing Market Crash to 29-Year Lows As Crypto Prices Fell, Kraken and Coinbase Noticed Increased Traffic, Trade Volume, and Signups While crypto prices are low you would think that most people would be selling their coins for cash. However, statistics show that people are actually more interested in buying bitcoin than selling the digital asset amid the market downturn. For instance, financial columnist Michael del Castillo recently reported on how the San Francisco-based exchange Kraken saw an influx of new registrations last week. According to the report, Kraken saw an 83% increase in registrations during the week after March 12. Kraken was not the only exchange that reaped the benefits as multiple exchanges across the globe are seeing higher trade volumes and registrations. Typically, crypto exchange volumes increase during a bull run but when the price slides trading platform volumes usually follow the falling price. The latest cryptocurrency crash has seen the opposite, as exchange volumes look like they would during a price spike. On March 20, reporters Danny Nelson and Nikhilesh De published a report that disclosed Coinbase saw massive traffic during the week of the market fallout and the exchange processed significant trade volume. “This hard work contributed to our stability last week while many platforms, in both crypto and traditional equities, struggled with the increased volume,” Coinbase founder Brian Armstrong explained on Friday. According to the exchange, Coinbase processed a whopping $2 billion worth of crypto trades in 48 hours. Further, the traffic and volume overload came at a time when Coinbase employees are all working remotely from home. Coinbase head of engineering, Jesse Pollak, detailed that the exchange had been preparing for a busy week like this since the 2017 crypto bull run. Searches for ‘Buy Bitcoin’ on Baidu, Google Trends, Twitter Continue to Surge Exchange data shows that there’s been an increase in traffic and registrations and popular search engines like Baidu and Google are showing significant interest in the term “buy bitcoin.” On Saturday, the researcher from Shenliancaijing published a study that shows searches for the terms “bitcoin” and “buy bitcoin” are up 183%. Shenliancaijing’s report notes that the Baidu index data also indicates that searches for the term “blockchain” and “ethereum” have also risen exponentially. Searches for “bitcoin” and “buy bitcoin” have also swelled on Google’s web browser, as the term “bitcoin” jumped from an interest level of around 29 to 56 on Google Trends. The level of interest between the terms “buy bitcoin” and “sell bitcoin” shows quite a difference as “buy bitcoin” has skyrocketed well above the search for “sell”. Google Trends data for “bitcoin” on March 22, 2020. Are you looking for a secure way to buy Bitcoin online? Start by downloading your free Bitcoin wallet from us and then head over to our Purchase Bitcoin page where you can easily buy BTC and BCH. The term “buy bitcoin” on Twitter has also been trending higher than usual as well. A significant number of crypto supporters who leverage the social media platform are tweeting that it’s the perfect time to buy. Whether it be after the Fed’s rate cut, watching gold prices tumble, observing the stock market meltdown – during all of these feverish discussions people are talking about purchasing bitcoin and various cryptocurrencies. I feel like the Federal Reserve should just buy $1 Trillion in #Bitcoin. Makes more sense than what’s about to happen. — Adam Draper 🛸 🌊 (@AdamDraper) March 21, 2020 After the crypto market carnage, coins like BTC are still showing great form during the economic storm that has rattled nearly every market. If bitcoin and the 5,000+ cryptocurrency networks in existence were correlated with traditional stock and commodity values then the cryptoconomy would have likely been defeated on March 12. A thread on r/bitcoin titled “Comparison between should I buy bitcoin vs should I sell bitcoin on google trends” shows the search term “buy bitcoin” has spiked well above the search to sell. Central bankers, politicians and people like Peter Schiff, Nouriel Roubini, Warren Buffet, Jamie Dimon and many others have said for years that BTC was the riskiest asset and would be the first to die. Unfortunately for them, their opinions don’t matter and the economic hardship is making people look closely at bitcoin and the digital asset economy. The crisis might be making people understand that more than ever before, people are searching for a decentralized, permissionless electronic cash system. What do you think about the heightened interest in bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below. The post ‘Buy Bitcoin’ Searches Skyrocket, Exchange Volumes Spike, Crypto Account Signups Swell 83% As Coronavirus Fears Heighten appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The U.S. is now facing the onslaught from the coronavirus outbreak. During the last two weeks, bureaucrats have shut down multiple industries while the Federal Reserve has injected trillions into the hands of private banks. Bipartisan members of Congress have been penning a 2020 stimulus plan, as the government may send $1-2K to every American on a monthly basis until the covid-19 hardship ends. On Saturday, Michigan Democrat Rashida Tlaib, with the help of Modern Money Network Rohan Grey, proposed a plan that will allow the U.S. Treasury to mint new coins that don’t cause any debt to taxpayers. Also read: Can’t Lock Down Bitcoin: Trump Ponders Halting Stock Trading, Grounding US Passenger Flights Michigan Democrat Unveils MMT-Backed Universal Basic Income Concept for Americans Dealing With Covid-19 The entire world faces an economic recession due to the covid-19 virus that has been infecting nearly every country. In response to the pandemic, politicians and central bankers have been using every tool they have to keep the economy afloat during the outbreak. In the U.S., the Federal Reserve slashed rates to 0%, allowed banks to operate without reserve requirements, and funneled trillions of greenbacks into a mostly electronic dollar system. Meanwhile, U.S. politicians on the federal level are promising American citizens at least 1-2K per month to help deal with the economy after shutting down a variety of industries nationwide. Now the U.S. representative for Michigan’s 13th congressional district, Rashida Tlaib, wants the U.S. Treasury to mint two trillion-dollar platinum coins. Moreover, Tlaib’s new “Automatic Boost Act” claims it will not add any debt to anyone thanks to the theory behind Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). Michigan representative Rashida Tlaib has proposed her plan to President Donald Trump. Modern Monetary Theory has been growing popular among Democrats and advocates of socialism. Tlaib’s proposed plan aims to create a universal basic income system that initiates the first payout of $2,000 to every American citizen. Following the first $2K payment, U.S. residents will get an additional monthly payment of $1K up until one whole year after the covid-19 outbreak. The plan follows the MMT doctrine and was co-written by the president of the Modern Money Network Rohan Grey. Rohan Grey, the president of the Modern Money Network, helped Tlaib co-write the Boost Act. Grey has called the MMT concept “sound-finance socialism.” Essentially, the Boost Act would allow the Treasury to create a card administered by the U.S. Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service. Each card would be recharged with currency on a monthly basis. Every person includes dependents, the Boost Act underlines, “so a couple with two children would receive 4x $2,000 = $8,000 in total.” Undocumented people who exceed three months of residency in the U.S. are also eligible. The plan also extends to “individuals who do not have a bank account, social security number, or permanent address.” “To ensure that this program is as universal and comprehensive as possible, the U.S. Treasury will develop its list of eligible individuals in coordination with the Internal Revenue Service, the Social Security Administration, the Federal Election Commission, and every other relevant federal, state, and local government agency, including state-level Departments of Motor Vehicles (DMVs),” the Boost act notes. Tlaib’s proposal adds: These pre-paid digital cash cards could be used to withdraw physical currency at regular ATMs or FDIC-insured banks or credit unions or make payments at Point-of-Sale terminals, as well as online. In addition, these cards could be topped-up with additional funds as needed, during and after the crisis. The Magic of MMT – Inflation Is Offset by Pillaging the Private Sector After explaining the distribution methods, the Boost Act details how the whole plan will be funded. Basically, the plan has a catch like no other because Tlaib and Grey believe after issuing the new coins no additional U.S. debt would be issued. In contrast to stacking debt, Congress will simply use the constitutional power of the purse in unison with the Treasury and mint the new money. Under the Boost Act, Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin would tell the U.S. Mint to create “two $1 trillion platinum coins.” Congress using its vested powers would then order the Fed to buy the new coins at face value and the private bank would retain ownership over the two $1 trillion coins permanently. Then Mnuchin can simply “sweep” the fresh reserves and distribute it into the Treasury General Account. From here the Treasury, with help from other federal entities, will disperse the money to every person in America in the form of pre-loaded cards. “This approach would preserve the historical separation between fiscal and monetary policy and avoid financial entanglement between the Treasury and the Federal Reserve which would eventually undermine the independence of the Fed,” the Boost Act details. The Boost Act is only two pages long, but attempts to explain how it will get away with creating money from thin air by leveraging MMT. Long ago, U.S. dollars stemmed from the backing of a commodity (gold) and the government standardized a system of bills. Since the greenback has been off the gold standard, most of society’s money isn’t tangible anymore and the Fed can create as many dollars as they want behind closed curtains. The Fed has already been doing this for years but with MMT, the plan claims to remove inflation. MMT is popular these days among politicians like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The reason for this is because MMT aims to increase taxes considerably and take most of it from the private sector. Congress, the Fed, and the Treasury will allow massive amounts of stimulus and inflation will be balanced by stifling the private sector’s ability to purchase resources. MMT Supporters Think the Economic Theory Can Attract Crypto Proponents Despite MMT and Tlaib’s Boost plan showing its true colors and instead of removing money from the state it connects the two together permanently. In fact, the Boost act mentions that after the covid-19 issues are dealt with, the federal government can decide on whether or not they want to keep the new money in the system. MMT advocates have even tried to persuade cryptocurrency and blockchain proponents that the two concepts are similar. Modern monetary theory (MMT) is not at all like bitcoin, as MMT gives centralized, unlimited monetary power to the federal government. Bitcoin is fundamentally decentralized by nature, censorship-resistant, permissionless, and provides economic freedom across any border. MMT, like all concepts that derive from re-hashed socialism, gives wealth to a certain group (specifically the government) because MMT supporters believe the government knows best. Bitcoin is light years ahead of recycled money concepts designed by unrelatable politicians and MMT intellectuals. Unfortunately, many MMT supporters do not understand the importance of a permissionless, peer-to-peer payment system that is not controlled by a government, corporation, group or any single individual. Instead, representative Tlaib and Modern Money Network’s Grey want to give the federal government unlimited power. Ironically, MMT shills push this propaganda during a crisis and right after parasitic politicians and the Fed relentlessly wreaked havoc on the financial lives of American citizens. What do you think about the proposal to have the Treasury mint two $1 trillion platinum coins? Let us know in the comments below. The post Minting Basic Income – US Lawmaker Asks Treasury to Issue Two $1 Trillion Coins With No Debt appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Governments around the world have been trying for some time to bypass encryption and backdoor messaging apps. End-to-end encryption was preventing authorities from stopping terrorist attacks, we were told, and personal privacy had to be sacrificed for the greater good. Now, as the coronavirus spreads through the world, the powers-that-be claim public health is being jeopardized by the oversharing of false or misleading information pertaining to the pandemic. The encryption battle is warming up. Also read: Can’t Lock Down Bitcoin: Trump Ponders Halting Stock Trading, Grounding US Passenger Flights Coronavirus Provides the Latest Pretext to Steal Civil Liberties In the age of social media, misinformation travels fast. Enough has been written about the “fake news” that spread like wildfire during the 2016 Brexit and U.S. Presidential elections, but suffice to say misinformation is once again at the forefront of debate four years on. This time Whatsapp – rather than Facebook and Twitter – is in the cross-hairs of legislators due to the rampant sharing of inaccurate coronavirus information on the platform. As governments and medical bodies scramble to educate the public on the dangers of coronavirus, Whatsappers have apparently been busy sharing medical misinformation and fake cures, leading to calls from politicians to stop trading unverified info on the encrypted platform. Legislators, of course, want to go one step further than making impassioned pleas to share only sound advice: they want to prohibit encryption without a mandatory backdoor for state access and strip away Section 230 protections. Notice how much people are pushing proposals that depend on indefinite mass surveillance. This stuff is a wet dream for people who dream of a scary excuse to know the movements of every citizen, all the time. https://t.co/kM9JaJE8W8 — Peter Todd (@peterktodd) March 20, 2020 As Marty’s Bent newsletter lamented on March 20, “Crises are seen as opportunities by sociopaths who want to tighten the grip of their control over you. When the masses are sufficiently scared and fear is palpable in the air the kleptocrats look to pounce,” adding: In the face of the spread of COVID-19, you better believe the incompetent kleptocrats are licking their lips in anticipation of the Stay Healthy Act they are inevitably going to draft and attempt to force down our throats. They will use “public health and safety” as emotional Trojan Horses to lower your guard and leverage your fear to accept draconian measures that erode your civil liberties. An End-to-End Privacy Grab Because Whatsapp messages are encrypted in a way that allows them to be viewed only by sender and recipient, it is argued that such measures would halt the spread of dangerous medical misinformation. Of course, this overlooks the fact that authorities have been seeking to get around encryption protocols for years now. The covid-19 panic is merely the perfect trojan horse to push through a troubling bill that effectively bans end-to-end encryption and facilitates the scanning of internet communication en masse. In response to criticism, Whatsapp says users can forward viral messages to special fact-checking accounts – but they are hardly likely to abandon encryption and jeopardize users’ security, and the same is true for pro-encryption tech giants like Apple and Facebook. Last month, Facebook spokesman Thomas Richards told the Washington Post the company was committed to encryption that “protects everyone’s safety from hackers and criminals.” Ultimately, people should be able to parse legitimate and illegitimate information of their own accord; verifying the validity of any piece of information is but a click away. As one Twitter user said in response to Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar’s plea for accurate information-sharing, “In a democratic country people are entitled to act in their own best interests, do their own research and question the wisdom of those in authority. This isn’t North Korea.” These days of uncertainty and chaos, your government will use the opportunity to increase its power. The excuse will be your own protection and they will put in place measures that in any other situation it would be unthinkable. Expect mass surveillance.https://t.co/inDOthfOon — Jaime (@_j4ime_) March 20, 2020 EARN IT Bill Presents a Flagrant Threat to Privacy and Security The Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies (EARN IT) bill currently progressing through Congress had its first hearing on March 11, and is widely viewed as the biggest threat towards end-to-end encryption. If passed, the act would make encryption providers responsible for “dangerous” or “illegal” user-uploaded content, and grant governments access to encrypted user data. It also places the responsibility for determining “best practices” in the hands of a small, 19-member committee with implicit bias: the committee head is Attorney General William Barr, who has fought tooth and nail to undermine encryption for years. Before covid-19 supplied a convenient pretext, the bipartisan bill’s advocates claimed it would help to tackle child sexual exploitation. On March 5, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden called the proposal “a transparent and deeply cynical effort by a few well-connected corporations and the Trump administration to use child sexual abuse to their political advantage, the impact to free speech and the security and privacy of every single American be damned.” It is not just diehard security advocates and activists who should be worried about the potential impact of this draconian act: it’s everyone who values personal liberty, privacy and free speech. If you are uncomfortable with the dystopian vision of governments reviewing all your digital messages and listening to your calls, you should oppose it vigorously. You can sign a petition to reject the Act here. I know covid and corn kinda dominate the news cycle here, but they are trying to gut encryption in USA. If you live here write your rep, it takes less than 5 minutes https://t.co/HMIbT01jJu — JerryHowell✪ (@pennykoin1) March 20, 2020 In many ways, EARN IT seeks to replicate the Patriot Act which was hastily pushed through in the wake of 9/11, with coronavirus fears being weaponized to justify the urgent need for greater oversight into people’s movements and activities. It would give ostensibly democratic governments the same obsessive surveillance power as regimes in China and North Korea and stifle independent thought. Like the coronavirus, the all-out assault on encryption shows no signs of letting up. Do you think the coronavirus is being exploited to erode civil liberties? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Did you know you can verify any unconfirmed Bitcoin transaction with our Bitcoin Block Explorer tool? Simply complete a Bitcoin address search to view it on the blockchain. Plus, visit our Bitcoin Charts to see what’s happening in the industry. The post Encryption Standards Threatened Under Pretext of Battling Coronavirus appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak and a looming recession, U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration are contemplating halting stock markets next week. The White House is currently considering grounding all passenger planes and ordering a nationwide shelter. However, bureaucrats from the White House believe that the grounding of U.S. passenger planes and the execution of a federal lockdown order will wreak havoc on Wall Street. In order to curb panic, bipartisan U.S. representatives are considering plans to temporarily stop stock trading. Also read: US Real Estate in Jeopardy – Analysts Predict Housing Market Crash to 29-Year Lows Trump Considers Stopping Wall Street Trades and Grounding US Passenger Flights Reports on Saturday, March 21, note that U.S. President Donald Trump is contemplating drastic measures in order to combat the covid-19 outbreak. According to various publications, including the Washington Examiner, Trump and his team are thinking about announcing a nationwide shelter-in-place order in the near future, if the virus grows more persistent. Basically, a shelter-in-place order means residents will be asked to stay home and not leave their residence to travel unless it’s an emergency. Washington Examiner columnist Paul Bedard writes that “Trump eyes grounding jets, halting stock trading, and ordering shelter-in-place.” The report notes that in order to combat a financial fallout, the Trump administration also has plans to close Wall Street for an unspecified time frame. In order to make the executive order stick, Trump is also considering grounding all U.S. passenger planes. No one will be allowed to take a plane to another state and sources familiar with the matter say the measure being considered is for an unspecified time frame. Moreover, the U.S. President and bipartisan members of Congress have already enacted several executive orders like forcing corporations to produce certain goods. Trump and his team understand that grounding U.S. passenger planes might send shock waves through financial markets and they are prepared to tackle this issue. From FDR to George W. Bush – Presidents in the Past Have Shut Down Stock Trading Key officials and unnamed sources told the Washington Examiner that the Trump administration is seriously considering to shut down the stock market at the same time it grounds the U.S. passenger fleet and Trump orders a nationwide shelter-in-place, the report notes. Places like California have already enacted shelter-in-place orders throughout the entire state. It’s not the first time an American President has shut Wall Street down either, as Wall Street was closed for a whole week right after the 9/11 attacks. After the 9/11 attacks, NYSE and Nasdaq closed until Sept. 17, 2001, which was the longest shutdown since 1933. When President George W. Bush and bankers reopened Wall Street, the first week of trading saw the S&P 500 slide more than 14%. In 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) also stopped Wall Street with the Emergency Banking Act, which shut down the banking system, Wall Street trading, and the Federal Reserve’s operations. FDR initiated the Glass-Steagall Act too and broadened the powers of the acting president more than any of his predecessors. Furthermore, FDR banned gold hoarding and ordinary people’s stashes of gold were stolen and repatriated. All the legislation FDR created under the ‘New Deal,’ made it so government examiners could investigate bank reserves and as soon as a bank was deemed “financially secure” it could reopen. On March 9, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt executed a weeklong bank holiday. “I can assure you that it is safer to keep your money in a reopened bank than under the mattress,” FDR told the American people during his first Fireside Chat, March 12, 1933. Bitcoin Network Commands 99.9% Uptime Since 2009 One thing that President Trump cannot do, however, is stop the censorship-resistant cryptocurrency networks fueled by millions of peers. Unlike Wall Street trades, no one can stop people from transacting on the BTC network, which has been operational for 99.9849602734% of the time since its inception on Jan. 3, 2009. Trump can’t create a ‘Bitcoin Holiday’ and make it so people will stop trading bitcoins and other digital assets. Moreover, there are 5,000+ cryptocurrency protocols in the wild today that will simply continue operating no matter how hard the president or any bureaucrats try to stop them. For instance, right now people can start using bitcoin cash (BCH) in a permissionless manner that’s free from bank charges, delays, and fraud. Source: http://bitcoinuptime.com After FDR stole gold from hard-working American citizens and froze America’s financial markets in its tracks, people had often said it would never happen again. Individuals thought that after FDR gave the American people a solution to the financial woes, they would be well protected from future financial catastrophes. The 9/11 attacks had proved them wrong, as they learned that Wall Street could be closed again in the face of an emergency. Once again and especially in 2020, people are swiftly learning that the American government will do whatever it wants when there’s a crisis. On March 18, President Trump issued an executive order which initiated the Defense Production Act (DPA), an order for U.S. corporations to produce certain products during a national emergency. Trump will also need to enact an executive order to ground passenger jets, halt Wall Street, and order a nationwide shelter-in-place. The state of American affairs today and what’s happened so far indicate that it’s not out of the question that Trump and his administration will ground passenger planes and halt stock trading. What is out of the question is the fact that no politician, government, corporate entity, or group can stop the cryptoconomy and bring it to a halt. While Wall Street traders twiddle their thumbs and wait for the markets to reopen, crypto advocates will know they can trade and swap value without any third-party interference. What do you think about President Trump contemplating grounding passenger planes and temporarily closing Wall Street? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. The post Can’t Lock Down Bitcoin: Trump Ponders Halting Stock Trading, Grounding US Passenger Flights appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

As the coronavirus outbreak ravages the global economy, a number of industries are taking a bit longer to feel the brunt of the financial hardship. As individuals watch the value of their investments fall, economists believe the U.S. housing market will crash to 29-year lows amidst a looming global recession. Lendingtree’s chief economist Tendayi Kapfidze is one of those analysts who believe the U.S. might see a complete “shutdown in the housing market.” Kapfidze warns that Covid-19 fears will leave a “drastic impact” throughout the entire real estate industry. Also read: US Cash Crisis: Withdrawal Limits Spark Bank Run Fear While the Fed Slashes Interest Rates and Pumps Trillions Into Banks, US Real Estate Interest Rate and Prices Remain High Stocks, bonds, equities, commodities, and digital currencies all saw an intense sell-off during the last week and a half. Industries like airlines, tourism, hotel chains, agriculture, and construction have seen revenues slide to levels not seen in well over a decade. One industry that hasn’t been affected much yet is home prices, at least by assessment values in the real estate market where prices remain at 2019’s high levels. Searching MLS listings in the U.S., clearly indicates that home prices haven’t changed and overvalued properties are still very prevalent. Despite the Federal Reserve dropping the benchmark interest rate for private financial institutions to 0%, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate spiked 0.3% higher this month. Right now, 30-year loans from the same banks with 0% interest rates, zero reserve requirements, and a trillion dollars spoon-fed to them daily, the real estate loan rate is still set at 3.65%. Moreover, the government-owned Freddie Mac released data that shows its rates are still stuck at 4.28% this week as well. 30-year mortgage rates remain expensive and prices across the real estate market haven’t changed a lot. Home values are still extremely high and no one is buying and selling right now due to Covid-19 fears and a looming recession. Economists Envision a Complete Shutdown of the American Housing Market As Covid-19 continues to escalate in the U.S., American economists are predicting an “absolutely brutal” housing market report next month. This is because the real estate market is dealing with a shocked U.S. economy and prospective homeowners are putting off purchasing properties right now with the currently crippled financial situation. The National Association of Realtors noted that a great number of real estate firms have restricted open houses and property showings due to the coronavirus. Even without the restrictions, people are canceling showings and open house listings are being rescheduled abruptly. For example, during the first week of March, 193 homes in San Francisco were listed as “active,” but now 172 of those same properties are now on a “hold” status. Even though the benchmark interest rate for private megabanks is currently at 0%, financial institutions are making it difficult for potential real estate buyers. “Banks have tightened lending standards considerably, so there is less supply of home equity credit in the marketplace,” Lendingtree chief economist Tendayi Kapfidze told WTOP News. Lendingtree chief economist Tendayi Kapfidze thinks that the U.S. might see a complete “shutdown in the housing market” soon, according to his recent interview with Yahoo Finance. Kapfidze noted that the U.S. real estate market could be in for a rude awakening and a “drastic impact” might be in the cards. Further, Kapfidze highlighted that American homeowners are sitting on a record $18.7 trillion in home equity, but they are not rushing the banks to refinance. “People are more wary about taking on high levels of debt on their homes. A lot of people lost homes because they took on too much debt during the financial crisis,” Kapfidze stressed in another interview published on March 18. Capital Economics: Unemployment and Increasingly Restrictive Measures Are the Key Reasons Real Estate Markets Will Suffer Kapfidze is not the only economist who understands that the real estate industry is facing a looming recession across the nation. A recently published analysis from Capital Economics notes that the housing industry should brace for a storm and home sales could plunge 35% by the end of next month. Capital Economics cites the American economy’s current standstill and stressed that this trend will likely continue to force people out of jobs. Capital Economics’ recent report notes that the real estate industry could face an intense crash to levels not seen since 1991. Capital Economics property economist Matthew Pointon expects a strong fiscal response from governments and hopes there is “pent up demand” for properties from the traditional spring buying season. Key reasons include “increasingly restrictive measures on people’s movement, and an imminent surge in unemployment,” the Capital Economics property economist Matthew Pointon noted in the report. Further, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) also recognized that there’s been a significant drop in buyer and seller interest across the board. Interest levels declined 3X more than usual and confidence in homeownership is declining considerably. “The decline in confidence related to the direction of the economy coupled with the unprecedented measures taken to combat the spread of Covid-19, including major social distancing efforts nationwide, are naturally bringing an abundance of caution among buyers and sellers,” reported Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the NAR. “With fewer listings in what’s already a housing shortage environment, home prices are likely to hold steady.” While Manipulated Markets Become an ‘Opportunity’ for JPMorgan, the World Desperately Needs a Censorship-Resistant and Non-Trust-Based Financial System While the real estate industry faces collapse, economists and speculators have wondered if digital currencies like bitcoin are a better investment than office, retail, industrial, and multi-family home-ownership. Gold and precious metal markets, which are often perceived as safe havens, have been suppressed and held down the same way they were manipulated in 2007-2008. Real estate properties have always produced revenue and profits and have offered one of the best risk-adjusted returns of the major asset classes so far. Although during the subprime mortgage crisis, home sales dived and real estate markets also faltered in 2017. BTC’s phenomenal performance outshined real estate investments by a long shot that year. However, BTC’s performance changed drastically in 2018 and 2019 and the housing industry saw some steady growth and performed better than most coins in the cryptoconomy. JPMorgan CEO understands that the economy and a looming recession is “bad for America.” However, the well known Wall Street banker says that a recession is a window of “opportunity” for JPMorgan. At the moment the world is at a crossroads and with the real estate industry facing impending hardships, property investments might end up turning into a much softer asset class. More than ever, the world needs censorship-resistant money that will keep people’s wealth safe from manipulation. Unfortunately, history shows both real estate and precious metals markets are rife with oversaturation during economic hardships. We all know that precious metals offer industrial use as far as intrinsic value is concerned. Property ownership can also be valuable because homes are scarce and necessary. But right now more than ever, as banks are faced with significant cash liquidity issues, Americans and global citizens need permissionless finance to shelter them from the storm. 0% interest and trillions of dollars are being funneled into the hands of private banks and the bailouts are not trickling down to common citizens. Wall Street bankers are prospering and are actually smiling because declining stock markets and housing market fears will line their pockets. Take for instance JPMorgan’s CEO Jamie Dimon’s recent statements on CNBC. Dimon disclosed: I don’t look at recessions as a bad thing. I mean, it’s bad for America. It’s bad for the people that are unemployed. It’s usually an opportunity for JPMorgan. Satoshi Nakamoto knew society could not trust the current banking cartel and the inventor designed his system specifically to remove third parties. “I think this is the first time we’re trying a decentralized, non-trust-based system,” Nakamoto said in February 2009. Bitcoin was created because the modern central banking system and even precious metals and real estate markets have been manipulated for years. Bitcoin.com has numerous resources available for anyone to get started learning about and using cryptocurrencies like BCH, BTC, and ETH. Our comprehensive website has a local peer-to-peer marketplace, an exchange, a fantastic gaming platform, a mining pool, cloud contracts and so much more. Check out our guides, resources, and services today Stocks, real estate and gold markets require a trusted entity to keep the system going and nine times out of ten, crony politicians, the Fed and bankers like Jamie Dimon ruin confidence. If anything, the current economic crisis has shown society that precious metals and real estate investments, even though they have been trusted for centuries, are faltering and confidence is lacking among participants. The world needs a monetary system that cannot be manipulated on a whim and Nakamoto provided society with this invention 11 years ago. “The root problem with conventional currency is all the trust that’s required to make it work,” Nakamoto wrote years ago. “The central bank must be trusted not to debase the currency, but the history of fiat currencies is full of breaches of that trust. Banks must be trusted to hold our money and transfer it electronically, but they lend it out in waves of credit bubbles with barely a fraction in reserve.” What do you think about the real estate industry’s hardships in the near future? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. The post US Real Estate in Jeopardy – Analysts Predict Housing Market Crash to 29-Year Lows appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

If you are not ready to part with decentralized money, at a time when prices are relatively low, but need some fiat cash to cover costs in times of crisis, crypto-backed loans are a working solution. A number of platforms offer this type of service and their popularity is growing among cryptocurrency enthusiasts who are intent on hodling. Also read: If You Don’t Trust Yourself, These Crypto Vaults Will Help You Hodl Safely Borrow Fiat Money With Crypto-Backed Loans Various providers allow you to borrow against your crypto. Blockfi, a wealth management platform for crypto investors, extends loans in U.S. dollars backed by three cryptocurrencies, BTC, ETH and LTC. Use its calculator to enter an amount you’d like to get, minimum $5,000, and calculate the required collateral. To receive $10,000, for instance, you’ll have to deposit 3.53 BTC at the time of writing, based on a 50% loan to value ratio (LTV). To receive an individual offer, you must create a Blockfi account. On the backdrop of the troubles facing the traditional financial sector, the nascent crypto banking industry has seen more positive development. Unlike banks in many countries, crypto lending platforms have been able to offer high interest rates and new services too. Blockfi recently announced that its balance sheet is “stronger than ever” and its margin has expanded. As a result, it’s going to raise interest rates on BTC and ETH deposits starting from April 1. Another leading provider of loans backed by cryptocurrency is Salt Lending which operates in multiple markets. Salt takes a dozen coins as collateral including BTC, BCH, XRP, ETH, and LTC. The website lets you determine the conditions of your loan including the LTV ratio between 30 and 70% and the repayment period, three to 12 months. Interest rates start from 5.95% APR. In December, the trading platform Uphold announced a deal with Salt Lending to provide its users with fiat and stablecoin loans using crypto as collateral. Partnerships Extend New Banking Services to Crypto Community Cooperation within the blockchain space helps to expand the coverage of crypto credit and banking services. Crypto-friendly Silvergate Bank, a U.S.-based financial institution, announced in January a new product allowing customers to obtain loans collateralized by bitcoin. SEN Leverage was launched with the participation of cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp, as news.Bitcoin.com reported. A partnership with Cred provides Bitcoin.com Wallet users with the opportunity to earn up to 10% interest on their BTC and BCH held with the platform that also permits the borrowing of funds, offering sub-10% APR on crypto-backed loans. Nexo is a crypto lender targeting cryptocurrency holders in over 200 jurisdictions who can borrow in more than 40 fiat currencies against their digital assets. In December, the company introduced loans backed with bitcoin cash (BCH) and users can borrow in local currency when they need liquidity without selling their BCH. Nexo’s loan rates start from 5.9% APR. Its instant credit lines are available after you deposit cryptocurrency to your account. You can also earn 8% interest on euro and stablecoin deposits with Nexo. Bitcoin cash users can benefit from saving with crypto exchange Binance’s lending facility. It recently added BCH, ETH and EOS to its flexible deposit options which already supported BTC, BNB and two stablecoins, BUSD and USDT. Youhodler is an established player in the sector which lends funds in euro, U.S. dollar and tether against the top 12 cryptocurrencies and it also pays out up to 12% APR on deposits in six cryptocurrencies including BTC, BNB and all major stablecoins. The company claims to have the highest loan-to-value ratio, up to 90%, with a minimum amount starting at just $100. Other competitors offering crypto-backed loans include Unchained Capital (accepts BTC with 35-50% LTV), Hodl Finance (uses BTC, ETH and XRP as collateral at 50% LTV) and Coin Loan (takes six cryptocurrencies with loan to value ratio of up to 70%). Lendabit facilitates peer-to-peer lending and borrowing against crypto collateral in BTC and ETH. What other crypto-backed loan services would you recommend? Let us know in the comments below. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is 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 this article. Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Blockfi, Cred. Do you need a reliable bitcoin mobile wallet to send, receive, and store your coins? Download one for free from us and then head to our Purchase Bitcoin page where you can quickly buy bitcoin with a credit card. The post 10 Loan Providers Taking Crypto as Collateral, If You Think the Time Is Right for Hodling appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The government of India is reportedly discussing a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies with the central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Furthermore, the government is awaiting the outcome of another cryptocurrency case at the supreme court to make its final decision on crypto regulation. Also read: Bitcoin Legal in India — Exchanges Resume INR Banking Service After Supreme Court Verdict Allows Cryptocurrency Indian Government Expected to Finalize Crypto Regulatory Decision After Supreme Court Hearing The Indian government has so far been quiet about whether it plans to regulate or ban cryptocurrencies. While there is a draft bill that seeks to ban all cryptocurrencies except state-issued ones, Bloombergquint reported on Friday that the government is currently discussing the prospect of regulating cryptocurrencies with the central bank. Citing “people aware of the development,” journalist Nikunj Ohri detailed: The government is weighing whether the virtual currencies can be regulated by the Reserve Bank of India … A framework for the regulation will be decided upon after deliberations with the central bank. The Indian government is reportedly considering whether cryptocurrencies can be regulated by the Reserve Bank of India. However, the central bank is worried that the anonymous nature of cryptocurrencies could pose a threat to India’s banking system. The discussions are at a nascent stage but the framework may not permit the use of cryptocurrencies in the country’s payment systems and will not recognize them as legal tender, the publication noted, elaborating: The digital currencies may be notified or approved by the RBI, and cryptocurrency exchanges could be recognized and regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India. Furthermore, the government is reportedly waiting for the outcome of another cryptocurrency case at the supreme court, scheduled for April 27. The court is expected to hear a couple of writ petitions, one of which seeks to ban cryptocurrencies and declare them illegal while the other seeks to regulate them. The petitions were filed in 2017 but the hearing has been postponed until now. This case is separate from the RBI ban case which the court ruled on March 4, quashing the central bank’s April 2018 circular which prohibited regulated financial institutions from providing services to crypto businesses. Some banks, however, continue to refuse service to crypto businesses, including HDFC and Indusind Bank. The RBI reportedly said that it will file a review petition with the supreme court since it believes that the anonymous nature of cryptocurrencies poses a threat to the country’s banking system. The central bank has until April 3 to file this petition. Meanwhile, the supreme court’s ruling has boosted the crypto industry in India as global investments begin flowing into the sector. The Indian supreme court is scheduled to hear another cryptocurrency case next month. This case concerns writ petitions to ban cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, as well as to regulate them. Is the Indian Government Changing Its Mind About Banning Cryptocurrencies? The Indian government has been deliberating on the “Banning of Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill 2019” since February last year. The bill was drafted by the interministerial committee (IMC) tasked with studying all aspects of cryptocurrencies and providing recommendations for the country. The committee was heading by former Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg. The Indian crypto community believes that the bill is completely flawed and has been campaigning for the government to reevaluate the IMC recommendations. Garg has since left his position in government. This bill was supposed to be introduced in the winter session of parliament last year but it was not. An official explained that a complete ban on cryptocurrencies would not only be difficult to implement but also lead to underground cryptocurrency trading, Ohri conveyed. Regulating them, on the other hand, would enable the government to oversee their activities, thereby preventing their usage in illegitimate activities. Moreover, the official asserted that even if most of the IMC recommendations were accepted, the government still has the power to exempt some cryptocurrencies and related activities, including using, holding, selling, dealing in, and mining. The official was quoted as saying: The change in bureaucracy at the top level, from the time when an outright ban on cryptocurrencies was considered, has also led to a shift from the previous stance. Do you think the Indian government will ban or regulate cryptocurrencies? Let us know in the comments section below. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is 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 this article. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Did you know you can buy and sell BCH privately using our noncustodial, peer-to-peer Local Bitcoin Cash trading platform? The local.Bitcoin.com marketplace has thousands of participants from all around the world trading BCH right now. And if you need a bitcoin wallet to securely store your coins, you can download one from us here. The post Indian Government Engages RBI to Discuss Cryptocurrency Regulation appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Buying bitcoin just got easier for Italians. The country’s mobile bank Hype has announced a partnership with fintech startup Conio, enabling customers to buy, sell, and securely store BTC from within their banking app. With over a million Italians choosing to bank with Hype, and 60,000 new customers being onboarded each week, the challenger bank’s decision to offer bitcoin is significant. Also read: Onchain Data Suggests Bitcoin Sell-Off Fueled by New Investors Believe the Hype Launched in 2015 by Italian bank Banca Sella, Hype reflects the growing trend towards digital-first challenger banks which cater predominantly to millennials. By linking up with Conio, Hype’s mobile platform saves customers the trouble of using cryptocurrency exchanges to buy bitcoin. Instead, they can purchase the digital currency in-app, without the need for extra verification requirements. When it comes to bitcoin storage, Milan-based Conio utilizes a multi-key solution, with three keys for each wallet. Because two are necessary to authorize transactions, with one stored on the user’s device, another on Conio’s servers, and a third kept offline by Hype, customers can maintain control over their funds and regain access if they lose their device. Giving the Customer What They Want The wallet integration is the result of demand for bitcoin among Hype’s customers, according to CEO Antonio Valitutti: “Over 13% of our customers demanded bitcoin. We heard them, and we did our best to bring them the best solution: that’s why we chose Conio. We are very happy with our partnership, which also demonstrates the pioneering spirit of Hype.” Christian Miccoli, Conio co-founder and CEO, added, “We are thrilled by this result. It shows that banks must not be afraid of cryptocurrencies, but can instead embrace them and make this sector grow in the future.” The homepage of Conio’s website. By normalizing BTC and exposing 1.2 million customers to crypto, Hype could play a key role in advancing bitcoin’s cause in the region. Customers will be able to directly use their account balance to buy bitcoin, with a daily purchase limit of €500 and an annual limit of €2,500 for Hype Start accounts. Premium accounts, meanwhile, can buy up to €4,990 per day or €50,000 per year, with the bank claiming a 1% fee for every purchase and sale. Corona Carnage and a Way Forward for Bitcoin Italy has been the worst-hit nation amid the covid-19 outbreak, with its death toll overtaking China’s on March 19 and all citizens on lockdown. At the time of writing, 4,032 people have perished from the virus there, with the total number of cases exceeding 41,000. Last week, the Italian Red Cross and blockchain startup Helperbit announced that they were raising donations in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, with the intention of establishing a second-level advanced medical post for pre-triage of covid-19 cases. So far, the appeal has raised over $17,000. While a mere drop in the ocean given the government’s announcement of a €3.6 billion stimulus package, it indicates that the country is marshaling whatever resources it can to counter the virus. Hype is one of Italy’s most popular challenger banks. It caters to a web-savvy, younger demographic than most traditional banks. As central banks desperately inflate the money supply to shore up a flagging economy, the appeal of fixed supply assets such as bitcoin is heightened. As well as being able to buy and sell bitcoin, Hype customers can use their card to pay for goods and services anywhere BTC is accepted. With citizens currently urged to avoid cash payments to prevent spreading the virus via contaminated notes, bitcoin may prove to be a valuable alternative, particularly as a hedge against rising inflation. Do you think bitcoin will prove its worth as a hedge against inflation? Let us know in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Did you know you can verify any unconfirmed Bitcoin transaction with our Bitcoin Block Explorer tool? Simply complete a Bitcoin address search to view it on the blockchain. Plus, visit our Bitcoin Charts to see what’s happening in the industry. The post 1.2 Million Italians Can Now Buy Bitcoin From Their Bank appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Sensorium Corporation has partnered with KuCoin cryptocurrency exchange and launched an in-game currency for Sensorium Galaxy. This move is set to drive cryptocurrency usage given that Sensorium Galaxy users are projected to reach into the millions. Los Angeles, 20 March, 2020: Sensorium Corporation is launching a digital currency called Senso Token, for in-game purchases in the Sensorium Galaxy. The token enables users to make gaming related purchases and exchange game content. Third party companies involved in Sensorium Galaxy, such as those developing unique locations for customised events as well as gaming content for in-game purchases, will also use the Senso Tokens. Trading of the Senso Token cryptocurrency begins at 18.00 Singapore time, 20 March on the KuCoin exchange. The Senso Token has been developed on the Ethereum network, the global decentralized platform for digital currencies. It has also been created in line with the ERC20 standard, the de facto technical standard for token implementation on the Ethereum blockchain. Given that Sensorium Galaxy is set to attract millions of users from all over the world to its groundbreaking Social VR Platform, which brings a new form of entertainment and social engagement to the world, the introduction of cryptocurrency Senso tokens will also spur cryptocurrency adoption. Participants in the 3D virtual worlds will make in-game purchases such as avatars while businesses who are investing in the Sensorium Galaxy to provide entertainment themed content and venues, can buy virtual locations to develop their own unique spaces in the virtual worlds. The Senso token will be listed on KuCoin, an IDG-backed cryptocurrency exchange with 5 million users globally. The listing consists of 1 billion tokens available to closed round investors in a one-time issue. Following the listing a withdrawal opportunity, that is sale and withdrawal, will also open at 18.00 Singapore time, on 22 March. A number of token ‘give-away’ sessions will also be available for current users of the KuCoin exchange. KuCoin is also partnering with Sensorium Corporation which as a result is set to drive further investment in the Sensorium Galaxy. Brian Kean, Head of External Communications, Sensorium Corporation said: “Our partnership with KuCoin is the coming together of two advanced future technologies; our virtual social reality platform and an industry-leading blockchain platform for cryptocurrencies. As user numbers for Sensorium Galaxy build momentum millions of users will become new crypto currency users and as such both Sensorium and KuCoin will make significant contributions, and take to a new level, the cryptocurrency market.” Johnny Lyu, CEO at KuCoin, said: “This is a very significant partnership. Both KuCoin and Sensorium represent how new technologies are shaping the future and this strategic cooperation signals a strong drive in this direction. Sensorium ultimately aims to attract millions of global users and clearly this is going to have an important influence on the use of cryptocurrencies and of course the KuCoin platform. We are now looking forward to developing and driving this partnership forward and helping drive both social virtual reality and cryptocurrencies into the mainstream.” Founded in September 2017, KuCoin has grown into one of the most popular crypto exchanges, and it currently provides a series of financial services including fiat-to-crypto, crypto-to-crypto, futures, staking, borrowing, token launch and more to its 5 million users across 207 countries and regions around the world. One out of four crypto holders worldwide are with KuCoin. About Sensorium Galaxy Sensorium Corporation, together with Redpill VR, is currently developing the Sensorium Galaxy social virtual reality platform which enables the seamless broadcast of synchronized virtual reality content to users all around the globe. This platform signals a radical change in the way users can experience virtual reality, moving beyond its previously solitary nature. Sensorium Galaxy enables users to interact with each other as events are either live-streamed or accessed from a library. Sensorium Galaxy also signals an evolution of social networks, with users not confined to one-dimensional platforms, but able to engage and interact with friends and other users in a virtual environment. Sensorium Galaxy will be comprised of themed planets that present users with different options for social interaction. About Sensorium Corporation Sensorium Corporation is a technology company that creates digital simulations of real-world venues and virtual worlds in cooperation with its content partners – globally recognized concert venues, clubs and festivals. Investment in the project to date is approximately $70 million, and it has come from a group of EU companies in both the gaming and entertainment industries. For more information, visit sensoriumxr.com Contact Email Address ikonnikova@vincipr.com Supporting Link https://sensoriumxr.com/ 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 Gaming Token SENSO Lists on KuCoin appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

While the covid-19 outbreak has caused economic calamity, cryptocurrencies have regained some of the losses that devastated digital currency markets on March 12. A recent report published by the researchers at Coin Metrics notes the “crypto asset sell-off was driven by short-term holders.” Further, an analyst at Unchained Capital agreed with Coin Metrics’ findings and wrote that “a majority of the volatility came from UTXOs 6 months old or younger.” Also read: The 35 Most Influential Bitcoiners Dominating Crypto Twitter by Follower Count Coin Metrics’ State of the Network Research Claims Short-Term Holders Fueled the Crypto Asset Sell-Off The events of March 12 left people wondering why BTC and many other cryptocurrencies lost considerable value. Of course, most individuals understood that the panic selling stemmed from the fears surrounding the covid-19 outbreak that ravaged global markets. Furthermore, speculators have assumed that the Plustoken scammers offloaded a large sum of ETH and BTC prior to the dump. In total, crypto markets lost $44 billion in a matter of hours on March 12 as BTC spot prices dropped to a low of $3,870 per coin. Since then, however, BTC has managed to climb back over the $6K, region gaining more than 16% in the last week. Top performing digital currencies like bitcoin cash (BCH) saw seven-day percentage gains upwards of over 30%. Maddrey highlighted all the BTC price reactions to recent events. In addition to monitoring new and old UTXOs, the researchers also studied BTC transfer value days destroyed as well. “There was not a significant spike in BTC transfer value days destroyed on March 11th or March 12th,” Maddrey wrote on Tuesday. “This signals that there was not a relatively high amount of long-held coins moved prior to the recent price action.” Following the crypto market carnage, Coin Metrics researcher Nate Maddrey and fellow team members published data that shows the “crypto asset sell-off was driven by short-term holders.” Maddrey highlighted that on March 12 “growing concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic” caused one of the largest one-day price drops in BTC’s history. The researcher also noted that the entire cryptoconomy followed suit as most coins lost more than 30% in a week. Further, despite all the people saying that BTC is uncorrelated, Coin Metrics’ “State of the Network” update underscored that “BTC and the S&P 500’s correlation touched a new all-time high.” “BTC’s historic price drop was concurrent with the equity markets’ worst day since 1987,” Maddrey wrote. “On March 12th, the Pearson correlation between BTC and the S&P 500 soared to a new all-time high of 0.52. The previous all-time high was 0.32. This suggests crypto asset markets are becoming more intertwined with existing markets, and are reacting to external events more than we have ever seen before.” The Pearson correlation between BTC and the S&P 500 according to Coin Metrics Community Data. BTC prices also reacted to certain events during the last two weeks including the Fed’s emergency rate cuts and Trump’s travel ban announcement. Coin Metrics and Maddrey believe that most of the BTC sellers appeared to be short-term holders. “On-chain data shows that recent price movements were likely mostly driven by shorter-term and relatively new holders,” Maddrey’s research details. “Coin Metrics’ revived supply tracks how many old coins come back into circulation after being untouched for a specific period of time. For example, thirty day revived supply tracks how much supply is moved on-chain (i.e. transacted) after being untouched for at least thirty days.” The researcher added: On March 11th, about 281k BTC that had been untouched for at least thirty days were revived. But only 4,131 BTC that had been untouched for at least one year were revived. This signals that a vast majority of the activity on March 11th and March 12th involved BTC that had been held for less than a year. “March 11th was the fourth largest spike in BTC thirty day revived supply over the last eight years,” Maddrey’s report notes. “Long term holders appear unfazed in spite of the severe market downturn. March 11th’s one-year revived supply was not unusually large.” Unchained Capital Notices Similar Patterns Researchers at Unchained Capital decided to review the firm’s HODL Waves charts to find out who has been selling and holding as well. “The volatility certainly didn’t come from the 5-year [holders]. Are those coins lost or do those bitcoiners have hands of steel?” Unchained Capital tweeted. “Over the course of the last year, the percent of 5-year coins has increased from 20.37% > 21.65%, or by ~233,800 BTC.” The final tweet in Unchained Capital’s thread explained: A majority of the volatility came from UTXOs 6 months old or younger. Unchained Capital’s HODL Waves chart shows UTXOs (Unspent Transaction Output) six months or younger sold the most coins during the sell-off. News.Bitcoin.com has written about Unchained Capital’s HODL Waves charts in the past and you can read about the subject here and here. Traditionally, new investors jumping into global markets have weak hands compared to seasoned traders and the same goes for crypto investors as well. New crypto investors usually make the same mistakes like waiting too long to invest, investing too little even though they have enough money, frequently making trades without patience, buying while markets are spiking in value and selling based on emotions. With characteristics like this and data stemming from Unchained Capital and Coin Metrics, it’s likely new investors were the ones who dumped their coins and veterans are still sticking around for the long haul. What do you think about short-term holders driving most of the cryptocurrency market sell-off? Let us know what you think about this topic in the comments section below. Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Image credits: Shutterstock, Coin Metrics’ State of the Network and Community Data, Coin Metrics Network Data Pro, Unchained Capital, HODL Waves, Fair Use, Twitter, and Pixabay. Want to create your own secure cold storage paper wallet? Check our tools section. You can also enjoy the easiest way to buy Bitcoin online with us. Download your free Bitcoin wallet and head to our Purchase Bitcoin page where you can buy BCH and BTC securely. The post Onchain Data Suggests Bitcoin Sell-Off Fueled by New Investors appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

When will normality return? How long till global markets recover and bitcoin resumes the bull run it was teasing at before the coronavirus materialized? These are questions that all investors are pondering as the epidemic wreaks havok on gold, oil, stocks and – up until March 19 – on bitcoin itself. BTC is up 20% today, but there is still a long way to go before a full recovery is made. News.Bitcoin.com has asked several analysts when they believe this will occur. Also read: Scramble for Dollars: Emergency Cash Injections in $250 Trillion Global Debt Place the Fiat Ponzi On Ventilator Crypto Market Rallies Amid Corona Chaos Crypto markets are back in the green on March 19, one week after bitcoin suffered its biggest one-day drop in seven years, tumbling over 50% to $3,700. “Bitcoin is uncorrelated [with traditional markets] over any time period other than 1-2 week “indiscriminate panic to cash” time,” noted Ryan Selkis. On March 19 at 20:00 EST, BTC was up 14% for the day. “Full recovery when?” many are asking. It’s hard to say for sure, but a guess can be hazarded. Since the Second World War, global bear markets have tended to last an average of 13 months, although a sustainable comeback in 2020 will depend very much on countering the coronavirus. Some economists suspect that a rebound will occur during the summer, when warming temperatures will potentially weaken the virus, while others think the misery will persist for the remainder of the year. Saga founder Ido Sadeh Man takes a measured view of where the global markets will go from here. “If you believe that the world as we know it ceases to exist any time soon, we can definitely expect an unprecedented rally in prices of crypto assets that are uncorrelated and independent of any existing financial infrastructures,” he told news.Bitcoin.com. “However, I am quite certain that the world is not about to end, and we can therefore expect people to look for diversification within known financial paradigms. This much is certain: as the world is changing, people are seeking stability above all.” He added: Governments, through their central banks, are deploying unprecedented means of trying to stabilize and provide security to their citizens. However, these means are extremely dangerous and it remains uncertain whether they will indeed provide security or endanger the system as a whole because they’re taking place in an already-weakened global financial environment. What Fiat Printing Means for Bitcoin “Over the past two days, bitcoin and certain other coins have already started diverging from traditional markets,” observes Kronos CEO Jack Tan. “DASH, STEEM, and DATA all up a ton even as Asian and western equities are under sell pressure.” On the matter of quantitative easing, Tan ventures “The price impact from fundamental factors such as QE and negative rates will be seen maybe 6-12 months down the line. Certainly the expected impact on crypto from inflation and negative rates will help in the short term to support prices, but whether these catch on and instill confidence in the market remains to be seen.” STEEM is up 40% on the news of a hard fork to move the Steemit community away from Justin Sun’s kingdom to a new blockchain. Jack Tan remains bullish however in the mid to long term, predicting: “I believe bitcoin and a few other currencies will emerge stronger than ever after this stress test. However, it will take at least six months to see the true impact the virus has on global GDP, currencies and crypto. While we wait patiently for more signs of bullish divergence in crypto, I have an optimistic target of 30k on BTC for the end of 2020.” Mati Greenspan, founder of Quantum Economics, also believes that bitcoin could be in “full recovery within the next few months” provided efforts to contain covid-19 are constructive. I can not express how bullish I am on bitcoin. We are at risk of losing the entire system right now. I know they will find a way to save it but all trust is lost. Gold guys/girls – you’ll be fine too. It’s just that $BTC has bigger upside, by far but is riskier than gold — Raoul Pal (@RaoulGMI) March 19, 2020 Given that bitcoin is fundamentally immune to the inflationary policies of the global financial system, it could be poised to capitalize on gross monetary mismanagement by actors such as the Fed, finally demonstrating its “sound money” credentials. Bitcoin advocates have long contended that the currency is a hedge against inflation and profligate financial institutions, rather than a safe haven from recession. Nobody can arbitrarily create more bitcoin and expand the supply. As noted in the March 18 Marty’s Bent newsletter, bitcoin “is completely bereft of the debt handcuffs linked to the traditional financial system … Consistently producing blocks and enabling peer-to-peer transfers for those who have access to the software … This is the type of environment in which bitcoin was birthed. This is why bitcoin exists.” Castle Island Ventures’ Nic Carter also believes that “as long as people continue to crave a permissionless, globally-available, freely usable, always-on, never impaired alternative monetary system, bitcoin will continue to matter. Now more than ever.” The volatility across assets is unreal right now – not even "safe havens" are immune To get a sense of how drastic the vol in the treasury market has been this past week, 30-day annualized rolling vol for 20Y US treasury (TLT) index is higher today than bitcoin was a year ago🤯 https://t.co/kFFgGcJnDW pic.twitter.com/c99cy7QIPn — Ryan Todd (@_RJTodd) March 19, 2020 How Long Will the Downturn Affect Global Markets? The current bear market took just 22 days to arrive, but it could take as long as 18 months before corona disruption fully abates, with the next three to four months set to be especially tough. The economic effects of coronavirus continue to reverberate, with global stocks plummeting despite major stimulus packages being announced. With many national governments taking the unprecedented step of writing blank checks to help businesses and workers navigate a coming recession, and the Fed slashing interest rates to near zero, it’s natural to wonder how much pain when the global markets will emerge from the wreckage. Comments by UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak sum up the prevailing mood. At a news conference on March 17 he remarked, “Never in peacetime have we faced an economic fight like this.” Wildfires ignited by the covid-19 pandemic have scorched every part of the economy, hitting sectors such as aerospace, supply chain, housing and travel particularly hard. On the markets, even safe haven assets like gold and corporate bonds have taken a battering as traders wrestle with rising risk. Liquidity continues to dry up as companies draw down on credit lines. On Tuesday, the U.S. Treasury announced a $1 trillion support package, with $250 billion provisioned for small businesses and $500 billion for individual aid via direct payments and tax cuts. The Fed also announced that it would bail out debt-burdened corporations by purchasing some of their loans. It’s 2009 all over again, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Part II. The most pervasive thing about QE & bailouts (aka printing money) is that we won't see their economic impact in years As global debt intertwines, #Bitcoin becomes the hedge It'll also take years until its utility is widely accepted; but that's something long term hodlers know: pic.twitter.com/w1mZJKHCFG — Lucas Nuzzi (@LucasNuzzi) March 19, 2020 In the U.K., meanwhile, £350 billion has been earmarked for businesses, while in the EU, a €37 billion Corona Response Investment Initiative was proposed to complement member states’ own fiscal measures. The CRII fund will be made available to healthcare systems, SMEs, labor markets and other beleaguered parties. Money printer goes BRRRRRRRRRR#Bitcoin Goes BRRRRrrr r r r r r Fiat is infinite. #BTC only gets scarcer. 59 days and counting to the next halving.https://t.co/zFrFY8u4bG pic.twitter.com/SlP8Wbd2e9 — Binance (@binance) March 19, 2020 With a vaccine potentially 18 months away, flights grounded, borders closed and virus-suppressing, social distancing/home isolation measures in place, life has started to look very different for us all. How long do you think the economic effects of coronavirus will last? Let us know in the comments section below. Disclaimer: Price articles and market updates are intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered as trading advice. Neither Bitcoin.com nor the author is responsible for any losses or gains, as the ultimate decision to conduct a trade is made by the reader. Always remember that only those in possession of the private keys are in control of the “money.” Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Did you know you can verify any unconfirmed Bitcoin transaction with our Bitcoin Block Explorer tool? Simply complete a Bitcoin address search to view it on the blockchain. Plus, visit our Bitcoin Charts to see what’s happening in the industry. The post How Long Will the Market Downturn Last? appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

The last few weeks of global hysteria has shown there’s been a mad dash for dollars and various fiat currencies. Moreover, central banks have tried to quell cash liquidity issues by injecting trillions into the hands of private banks and hedge funds worldwide. As the financial system shudders with more than $250 trillion in global debt, the government’s monetary system looks more like a crumbling Ponzi scheme every day. Charles Ponzi would be proud of the world’s fiat system, as today’s monetary framework requires an endless supply of victims to sustain confidence in currencies backed by nothing. Also read: US Cash Crisis: Withdrawal Limits Spark Bank Run Fear Central Banks Pump Trillions Into the Hands of Financial Institutions Trying to Establish Confidence in the Fiat Ponzi Scheme The coronavirus scare has created havoc across global markets and in response, central banks worldwide have injected trillions into the hands of private banks and corporate entities. For instance, the Federal Reserve revealed it would be funneling $500 billion per day into repo markets until Friday and the central bank started repo operations on Monday. Bank of England’s governor Andrew Bailey told the press on Wednesday that the bank was “prepared to pump unlimited money into the financial system.” The Bank of England’s Andrew Bailey said he’s willing to pump unlimited QE into the hands of financial institutions. There are also at least 20 well known central banks that have injected vast amounts of fiat into the hands of financial institutions. In the U.S., partisan Congress members and President Trump have approved a trillion-dollar package to combat the coronavirus effect on the economy. The federal government is even talking about ‘helicopter money’ by putting $1K or more into the hands of American residents. At the end of 2019, global debt had risen to $250 trillion and trillions more have been added within the last two weeks. With all the massive printing and all the debt amassing, people have been scrambling for dollars and a short term fix throughout the chaos. The monetary system is looking like a Ponzi scheme where participants at the top are rushing to leave before the system collapses. With covid-19 attacking their revenue, corporations and banks are begging for more stimulus even after last year’s incredible stock market bull run. Still, the crisis has so many people shocked that they are not questioning the debt problem until they are faced with a credit crunch. The U.S. dollar and the rest of the fiat currencies are quickly showing their true colors as full-fledged Ponzi schemes. In its most recent release, the Fed revealed that its balance sheet ballooned by $356.3 billion last week to a record high $4.668 trillion. I'm sure that next week's number will show a balance sheet in excess of $5 trillion, headed to infinity and beyond! — Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) March 19, 2020 The term Ponzi scheme derives from the method’s creator Charles Ponzi, an Italian born swindler who defrauded a number of investors with one of the first high-profile pyramid schemes. Essentially, Charles Ponzi conned paying participants into recruiting even more participants by promising big returns that were supposed to funnel downward. However, Ponzis typically collapse because they don’t sustain for very long. Top members of the Ponzi always leave the lower end participants with nothing after taking everything during a period of time. The three top U.S. indexes saw gains on Thursday as well but still have a ways to go for a decent recovery. In order for a Ponzi scam to continue, participants must be confident in the system. Politicians and Bankers Faced a Margin Call – They Want You and Future Generations to Bail Them Out Out of the $250 trillion+ of global debt, the U.S. commands a large sum ($23 trillion) of that, alongside countries like Japan ($11 trillion), and China ($6.2 trillion). Bureaucrats and central bankers from these countries have no intention of paying off their debts. They simply know that the Ponzi system will lose considerable amounts of money annually and they just create new debt to keep it going. Essentially, when the margin calls come in and debts are due, profits are paid to the politician swindlers and the bankers who sell the scam to newcomers. The profits stem from suckers who are willing to bolster the confidence of the U.S. dollar, the euro, pound sterling, yen, and manipulated stock markets. Governments like the U.S. solely rely on the confidence of their creditors and they know they can cheat the game even more each year without citizens even knowing. Instead of growth, politicians shill debt in order to keep the Ponzi scheme going even stronger. If bureaucrats didn’t sell the fiat Ponzi scheme, the con would be uncovered easily and the citizens would likely toss them out of office. Crises and economic fires they started and tossed gasoline on are often used to keep the pyramid scheme still going in the face of a burning emergency. Bitcoin.com has numerous resources available for anyone to get started learning about and using cryptocurrencies like BCH, BTC, and ETH. Our comprehensive website has a local peer-to-peer marketplace, an exchange, a fantastic gaming platform, a mining pool, cloud contracts and so much more. Check out our guides, resources, and services today. While central banks and bureaucrats find ways to manipulate the world’s monetary system, cryptocurrencies can benefit global citizens by offering them a way out of the manipulated and monopolized game. As more people join the cryptoconomy by using digital assets like bitcoin cash (BCH), they can opt out of a system filled with rabid inflation and great busts and booms. While the central banks deal with the cash crunch and create more financial crises worldwide, cryptocurrencies will be there to offer financial sovereignty and censorship-resistant money. A monetary solution that offers such benefits in a society filled with multi-level fiat currency Ponzi scams will certainly thrive in the face of adversity. What do you think about the scramble for dollars and how cryptocurrencies offer economic freedom in a world filled with monetary manipulation? Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. Neither the company nor the author is 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 this article. Image credits: Shutterstock, Apple Stocks, Google Stocks, Fair Use, bitcoin.com/get-started/, CNBC, and Pixabay. You can now purchase Bitcoin without visiting a cryptocurrency exchange. Buy BTC and BCH directly from our trusted seller and, if you need a Bitcoin wallet to securely store it, you can download one from us here. The post Scramble for Dollars: Emergency Cash Injections in $250 Trillion Global Debt Place the Fiat Ponzi On Ventilator appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article

Tether, the world’s most popular stablecoin, will be using the Simple Ledger Protocol built upon the Bitcoin Cash network for issuing its tokens. Among other things, this means that millions of Bitcoin.com Wallet users will now be able to send and receive USDT via SLP tokens right within the app. Also Read: Paypal Pullout Prompts Pornhub to Add Tether as Payment Option for Its Adult Models Tether Joins The SLP Ecosystem Tether, the venture behind the largest stablecoin by market cap, has announced the launch of its token on Bitcoin Cash via the Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP). USDT has a capitalization of over $5.5 billion, with the majority of tokens running on Ethereum as of today. Other cryptocurrency networks supported by Tether include Algorand, EOS, Liquid Network, Omni and most notably Tron. Tether’s launch on SLP underlines its growing role within the cryptocurrency ecosystem. The protocol is an easy to use, robust and extensible token management system that allows anyone to create tokens on the Bitcoin Cash network in a permissionless way. It has helped the development of an ecosystem for BCH that replicates the variety of ERC20 tokens on the ETH network. “A key strength of Tether is that it is underpinned by a rich diversity of different blockchains,” said Paolo Ardoino, CTO at Tether. “Our latest collaboration with Bitcoin Cash will provide Tether with a variety of benefits. We expect the adoption after launch to be pretty easy for any integrator. The launch will also support more applications on the Bitcoin Cash chain, with Tether facilitating payment for these applications.” The Simple Ledger Protocol SLP tokens can easily be created, traded, and managed on the Bitcoin Cash blockchain within seconds, while costing users only fractions of a penny for each transaction. All transactions are recorded onchain, and custom token behavior can be defined using a bitcoin Script development language. Following a recent upgrade, millions of Bitcoin.com Wallet users have access to SLP tokens right in the app. With built-in token management support, users can send, receive, and store a variety of tokens that represent anything from dollar-pegged stablecoins to virtual gaming assets and company loyalty points, with the private keys held only by the user. SLP Tokens in the Bitcoin.com Wallet “It’s extremely exciting to hear that the world’s biggest stablecoin will be using the Bitcoin Cash Blockchain and that the millions of Bitcoin.com wallet holders will be able to send and receive Tether using SLP tokens,” said Roger Ver, Executive Chairman of Bitcoin.com. What do you think about Tether launching on SLP? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Images courtesy of Shutterstock. Verify and track bitcoin cash transactions on our BCH Block Explorer, the best of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, keep up with your holdings, BCH and other coins, on our market charts at Bitcoin.com Markets, another original and free service from Bitcoin.com. The post Tether Launches Stablecoin Token on Bitcoin Cash via Simple Ledger Protocol appeared first on Bitcoin News. View the full article