As the decade draws to a close, it's time to look at the investments that were the most successful. And, unsurprisingly, cryptocurrencies top the list of the most profitable investments of the decade.

Up first, is Bitcoin. The first cryptocurrency, built by an anonymous programmer known as Satoshi Nakamoto, it led to the creation of many Bitcoin forksalternative versions running on similar codeand thousands of altcoins, either using the same code or trying out new features. But, if you got in early, you had the chance to make a quick buck.

Since the first bitcoin was available for trading, its price has accelerated 62,500 percent. Outshining many traditional stocks, it even spawned an entire culture built around prices "mooning" and the promise of lovingly labelled "lambos." Due to the extreme rise, many critics have called it a Ponzi Scheme and say that its price pumps are bubbles that keep popping. But despite the criticism, an entire industry has been built around Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, leading many countries around the world to start adoption blockchain technology.

Much of the promise of blockchain technology can be seen with Ethereum. It offers features known as smart contracts, which allow for the creation of decentralized apps. These have interesting applications, particularly in the world of finance.

The price of Ethereum has shot up too. Even though the price has dropped heavily since its all-time high in January 2018, the price of Ethereum is still up by 17,900 percent. One ETH is currently worth $132.

However, some traditional stocks have not been far off. Netflix had a strong performance this decade, rising 4,280 percent. It's not too surprising given how ubiquitous it now is. Even new films are now launching on Netflix instead of heading to the cinema. But it's epic rise has led to an increase in the number of competitor video streaming companies. Will it be able to fend off the competition going into 2020?

Along with the rise of Netflix, and watching TV at home in general, another company did particularly well. Domino's Pizza saw an increase in share price of 3,000 percent. Who knew pizza and TV were a winning combination?

In line with the trend of not needing to go outside, Amazon grew considerably in the last decade, rising 1,250 percent. It's worth noting that not only does Amazon ship products to your door but it also offers a TV streaming service. What's next, Amazon pizza?

Those doing yoga, trying to work off the 1,000 calorie pizzas, helped to boost the price of Lululemon shares, a retailer known for creating activewear and clothes for "most other sweaty pursuits." They rose by 1,300 percent.

On a different track, healthcare company Abiomed saw a 2,000 percent rise in the last decade. It creates medical devices, such as artificial hearts.

Shotly behind Amazon is NVIDIA, known for creating computer chips. Interestingly, it pulled in $1.95 billion in revenue from its crypto mining business. But it wasn't without controversy. In September, critics accused it of surreptitiously influencing the development of an upgrade to the Ethereum network. But nothing was ever proved.

Other profitable investments of the decade were payments processors, including Mastercard and VISA, up 1,100 percent and 760 percent respectively. Google shares rose by 350 percent and Apple shares went up by 840 percent.

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Bitcoin, Ethereum are most profitable investments of the decade - Decrypt

Im reviewing the 2010s in Bitcoin. This is the story about 2017 in Bitcoin. Read about 2016here.

The price of Bitcoin reached in December 2017 nearly $20,000 per bitcoin. The bitcoin price traded between $930 and $978 on December 29, 2016, and surpassed $1,000 on New Years Day 2017, then $5,000 in October, and $10,000 in November.

On the news front, the year didnt start out so hot for Bitcoin. The Peoples Bank of China met in January with major bitcoin exchanges and advised them to adhere to the relevant laws and regulations.

Bitcoin saw a drop in trading volume due to new trading fees implemented by Chinese exchanges Huobi, OKCoin, and BTCC. OKCoin and Huobi would soon thereafter halt withdrawals for an entire month, in order to undergo an upgrade.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejected in March the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, an exchange-traded fund, for which the twins had first filed in 2013. Bitcoin immediately sold off, with the price falling 18%, from almost $1,300 to $1,060.

"[T]he Commission is disapproving this proposed rule change because it does not find the proposal to be consistent with Section 6(b)(5) of the Exchange Act, which requires, among other things, that the rules of a national securities exchange be designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices and to protect investors and the public interest,the SEC stated.

Organizer David Bailey concludes Bitcoin Conference 2019.

The agency said a Bitcoin ETF would need "surveillance-sharing agreements with significant markets for trading the underlying commodity or derivatives on that commodity. And second, those markets must be regulated."

The twins didnt sweat it. "We remain optimistic and committed to bringing COIN [the proposed ticker] to market, and look forward to continuing to work with the SEC staff, Tyler Winklevoss, chief financial officer of Digital Asset Services, stated. We began this journey almost four years ago, and are determined to see it through. We agree with the SEC that regulation and oversight are important to the health of any marketplace and the safety of all investors."

Just days after the ruling, the Bitcoin price had climbed back to its pre-ETF decision price.Then, between May and September, the Bitcoin price rocketed. Bitcoin set a new all-time high after all-time high before a brief correction.

At the end of May, Bitcoin increased to more than $2,000 for the first time ever, and weeks later it broke through $3,000.But, one day after Bitcoin surpassed $3,000, the price fell $300 in one hour.

The Bitcoin price eclipsed $5,000 the first week of September, but fell below $3,400 on September 14. One day later, the price fell below $3,000.

Amid the price increase, JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon said in September that Bitcoin is a fraud.

Its worse than tulip bulbs, Dimon said at CNBC-Institutional Investor Delivering Alpha. It wont end well. Someone is going to get killed.

He added: Its just not a real thing, eventually it will be closed.

By mid-October, the price of Bitcoin had yet again surpassed $5,000. In November and December, the price went even more parabolic. Bitcoin hit nearly $18,000 on December 15, which was a more than 1,700 percent increase since the start of the year and an 80% increase in December alone.

Between December 16-17, the price of Bitcoin increased 5% in 24 hours to it's all-time high of $19,783.06, a 1,824% increase since Jan. 1.

One of the biggest market corrections Bitcoin has seen to date followed, as the price fell below $11,000. The Bitcoin price swiftly increased yet again to more than $16,000, but, by Dec. 28, had fallen to about $13,500. It ended the year 2017 at just above $14,000.

Thats 2017 in Bitcoin. Coming soon: 2018.

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2010s In Bitcoin: The Year 2017 - Forbes

2019 was a crazy year for cryptocurrency enthusiasts and a number of interesting events happened throughout the last 12 months. Its hard to keep track of the day-to-day activities taking place within the cryptosphere and there may be a few incidents some of our readers missed. At news.Bitcoin.com we took the opportunity to scan our most popular articles from 2019 in order to create a year-end list to share with our readers.

Also Read: A List of Self-Proclaimed Bitcoin Inventors and Satoshi Clues Debunked in 2019

Bitcoin.coms writers are entrenched in the cryptosphere and every day our writing team is on the hunt for cryptocurrency-related news. During the last 365 days, a number of our writers have published news stories seven days a week to keep our readers informed. Theres been a number of developments in 2019, as the community is dealing with digital asset regulations, crypto exchange hacks, central banks practicing monetary easing, and people claiming to be Satoshi Nakamoto. The following is a look at news.Bitcoin.coms most popular crypto articles in 2019 by order of the highest-trafficked content.

In September, news.Bitcoin.coms Kevin Helms reported on the Reserve Bank of Indias regulatory guidelines imposed, which limited bank customers withdrawals from 137 financial institutions. Customers from these bank branches were only allowed to withdraw 1,000 rupees (approximately $14) per account for six months.

After the news spread, a number of Indias citizens revolted and the government had to send police assistance to a few different banks located in Mumbai. The report highlighted how the current banking system, no matter what country you live in, continues to grow untrustworthy.

Across 2019, a great number of central banks and countries participated in practicing monetary easing. However, one specific economy, that has been considered the foundation of Europe, has been showing signs of financial failure. In August, Lubomir Tassev explained that the German economy is facing an economic crisis that could cause a domino effect throughout the EU.

2019 statistics had shown that Germanys strong industrial economy saw significant declines in production. [Germany] is now seeing a significant decline in production by 2.7% year-on-year in January and 1.9% in April compared to the previous month, Tassev detailed. Then in May, factory orders declined 2.2% from a month ago and registered an 8.6% annual drop, the biggest in a decade. The following month the country invoked a five-year rent freeze in Berlin.

In May, the cryptocurrency community found another suspect who might be the infamous creator of Bitcoin. Kai Sedgwick reported on how the name Paul Le Roux found its way into the cryptosphere last spring. During the Kleiman v. Wright lawsuit, Document 187 had shown an unredacted name and Wiki link which belongs to the criminal mastermind Paul Le Roux.

The document led people to believe that Le Roux was smart enough to create Bitcoin and the coincidental timing of his arrest was around the same time Nakamoto left the community. Speculators really started wondering if Le Roux was Nakamoto when an anon from 4chans /biz/ messageboard insisted that Bitcoin was a project of a evil genius Paul Solotshi Calder Le Roux.

Satoshi Nakamoto was a popular topic in 2019, and a few of news.Bitcoin.coms highest-trafficked articles are written about this legendary character. The day before Halloween, news.Bitcoin.com published a story about the fascinating clues left behind by Bitcoins notorious creator.

The editorial discusses Satoshis planning, theories as to why Nakamoto left the community, and conspiracy theories like the idea that Bitcoin was created by the CIA. Satoshi left behind a bunch of clues and said some interesting statements back when the monicker spoke on bitcointalk.org and the cryptography mailing list.

All year long Indian cryptocurrency enthusiasts have been waiting on the final word in regard to digital currency regulations in India. News about the regulatory situation started coming to life in the spring and in March, Indias government told the supreme court that the crypto regulations being drafted were near completion.

Attorney Jaideep Reddy of Nishith Desai, a lawyer behind a writ petition opposing the crypto banking ban by the Reserve Bank of India, told news.Bitcoin.com at the time: The matter was heard for a very short period of time The matter started with the counsel for the Union of India stating that its committee is in the final stages of deliberations and that the matter should be heard after that.

During the first week of August, it was discovered that the giant retail corporation Walmart patented plans for a stablecoin backed by USD. The news followed Facebooks announcement to launch a coin called Libra. Walmarts attempt also followed the time when the company attempted to start its own banking services back in 2006.

At the time, politicians and financial incumbents opposed Walmart joining the banking industry and the firm got so much pushback it decided to quit the banking attempt. However, with a Walmart Coin, the company could skip all the banking charter laws and offer customers a different kind of savings incentive through cryptocurrency dividends.

News about cryptocurrency laws in India was of great interest to news.Bitcoin.com readers in 2019. On July 26, headlines detailed that an Indian official who led the committee which had created the crypto ban bill resigned.

Former Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg decided to apply for voluntary retirement after receiving flak from the Indian cryptocurrency community. Supporters of friendlier digital asset laws in India, called the drafted bill flawed and after a few controversial tweets about crypto, he left his post. Moreover, a few days prior, members of the Indian government told the public that digital currencies were not banned.

In the first month of 2019, news.Bitcoin.coms Lubomir Tassev wrote a review about eight different crypto debit cards people can use around the world. The editorial discussed cards issued by firms like Wirex, Bitpay, Revolut, Cryptopay, and Fuzex.

The report explained the negatives and the positive benefits to a loadable cryptocurrency card. In addition to detailed information about existing crypto cards on the market, Tassev also wrote about the upcoming card companies that planned to launch in 2019. The editorial highlights how the use of crypto debit cards significantly expands the usability of digital coins in the world.

There were a hell of a lot more popular stories last year and the eight mentioned above just scratch the surface when it comes to news.Bitcoin.coms 2019 archive. Other reader favorites in our library this year included subjects like a possible Deutsche Bank collapse, how Citi, Deutsche, and HSBC laid off thousands of employees, the Indian supreme courts struggles with drafting regulations, and the Philippines seeing 10 government approved exchanges.

There were plenty of Satoshi Nakamoto stories and unique editorials involving the mysterious creator of Bitcoin. The news about the U.S. tax agency telling the public they planned on sending 10,000 letters to American cryptocurrency owners shocked our readers. 2019 also saw the downfall of the biggest multi-level-marketing (MLM) crypto scam of all time when the so-called Bitcoin Killer Onecoin crumbled.

What do you think about the eight most popular news.Bitcoin.com articles from 2019? Let us know what you think about the subjects and articles 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 ideas, concepts, content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

Image credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Fair Use.

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 whats happening in the industry.

Jamie Redman is a financial tech journalist living in Florida. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. He has a passion for Bitcoin, open source code, and decentralized applications. Redman has written thousands of articles for news.Bitcoin.com about the disruptive protocols emerging today.

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These Are the Bitcoin Stories You Loved in 2019 - Bitcoin News

On January 1, the BTC network hashrate touched an all-time high at close to 120 exahash per second (EH/s). Despite the crypto market lull and lower BTC prices, the 2020 milestone happened just before the blockchains 11th anniversary. BTCs curious jump in hashrate has the cryptosphere wondering whether or not the price truly follows hashpower.

Also Read: Market Update: Crypto Traders Search for Bullish and Bearish Trends

One of the crypto communitys favorite topics is hash power, which is a cryptocurrency mining rigs processing speed. The overall hashrate is the combined hash power used to mine cryptocurrencies like BCH, BTC, and a slew of other coins. The hashrate that analytical websites track is typically measured in calculated hashes per second. Data sites use terminology like terahash (1,000,000,000,000 hashes per second), petahash (one quadrillion hashes per second), and exahash, which equals one quintillion hashes per second.

For some perspective, most single-unit machines produce a number of terahash per second. Bigger facilities filled with mining rigs and collaborative pools produce petahash, and the entire network of single miners, giant facilities, and pools combined yield a number of exahash. Miners on the BTC network did not process one exahash until the last week of January 2016. At the time, the milestone was considered a noteworthy spike in overall hashrate. On January 1, 2020, the BTC network hashrate touch 119 EH/s surpassing the chains previous all-time high of 100 EH/s.

Similar to now, in 2016 BTC prices were low, at $380 per coin when the network crossed one exahash. Following the jump in hash power, the price did follow, and very slowly crept from $380 per BTC to $700 per coin in June of that year. Following the month of June, BTCs hashrate climbed above two EH/s but BTC prices remained stagnant fluctuating between $600-$775 per coin. At the end of November 2016, the price per BTC started climbing higher and the value continued to spike in the spring of 2017. From the spring months of 2017 all the way until December 2017, both BTCs fiat value and hashrate skyrocketed. In April 2017, the overall BTC network hashrate was around 4 EH/s and by the years end, it was hovering around 15 EH/s. Now, despite the price dropping from close to $20k per BTC all the way to the $3,500 range, the hashrate jumped to 56 EH/s in September 2018 without dropping much in between.

In September 2018, with a hashrate around 56 EH/s, the price per BTC was similar to todays market prices at $6,500 per coin. From September to December 2018, the BTC network lost a significant amount of hashrate as it plummeted to 31 EH/s. Of course, the price in December 2018 was between $3,200 to $4,000 per BTC. Bitcoin prices didnt start to recover until the end of March 2019, but from December 2018 until the spring months of 2019, BTCs hashrate regained the hash power it held in September 2018 at around 56 EH/s. The overall hashrate has doubled since then, touching a milestone of 100 EH/s in November 2019. The price per BTC has also followed suit up until it touched the 100 EH/s all-time high. Since then, BTCs fiat value has hovered around the $6,500 to $7,500 region.

There is always a lot of talk that the price follows hashrate and historically this has been true. However, statistics show that the hash power typically gets a decent lead before the prices start kicking into gear. This means that it could take some time for the price to follow the climbing hashrate.

If historical patterns remain consistent with future patterns, it could mean a few more months before the price comes around. People should also keep in mind that past price and hashrate patterns do not necessarily reflect what will happen in the future.

What do you think about the BTC network hashrate coming close to 120 EH/s on January 1, 2020? Do you agree that the price will follow BTCs hashrate? Or do you think that patterns like price and hash do not matter? Let us know what you think about this subject 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. Cryptocurrency prices referenced in this article were recorded at different times using historical fiat prices and todays global exchange rate for BTC at 3:00 p.m. EST on January 2, 2020.

Image credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Twitter, Fair Use, Blockchain.com, markets.bitcoin.com, and Wiki Commons.

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.

Jamie Redman is a financial tech journalist living in Florida. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. He has a passion for Bitcoin, open source code, and decentralized applications. Redman has written thousands of articles for news.Bitcoin.com about the disruptive protocols emerging today.

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BTC's Hashrate Touches 120 Exahash, But the Price Has Not Followed - Bitcoin News

India has been one of the most notable emerging economies in the world in the last few decades. It currently stands at seventh place with a nominal GDP of $2.72 trillion and it is expected to overtake the United Kingdom in years to come. Indias PM Narendra Modi envisioned a dream of making India a $5 trillion economy by 2024. But achieving that dream for a country with a population of 1.3 billion might be a challenge if the current economic performance is to be considered. Indeed, bitcoin adoption in India could be the key to its economic future.

If Indias GDP is to reach $5 trillion by 2025, its minimum annual growth rate will need to be greater than 10.8 percent every year. Indias current GDP growth has fallen sharply from 8 percent last year to 5 percent in the second quarter of 2019. Manufacturing growth in India slumped to a 15-month low in August due to lower sales growth, resulting in factories being forced to shut down production.

Another reason for slowing economic growth is Indias rising unemployment rate, which was 8.5 percent in October, its highest in the last three years. Foreign portfolio investors were net sellers of Indian stocks during the July-September quarter, withdrawing over $3.2 billion from Indian capital markets. The Indian central governments fiscal deficit is projected to widen to about 3.7 percent in FY20, contrary to the plan of keeping it under 3.3 percent.

With all these lower-than-expected results, the Indian government has been taking a series of measures to boost the economy from the supply-side by pushing public capital expenditures, lowering the corporate tax from 35 percent to 25 percent. Indias central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cut its interest rate five times since the start of 2019 to boost spending.

Back in 1991, India adopted economic liberalization which helped to expand its economy and its role in private investment. Due to this radical reform, India achieved the status of a developing country but failed to adopt similar reforms which would have propelled it toward becoming fully developed. What the Indian government could do is adopt measures to stir the economy in an upward direction and also focus on opening the doors to supplement growth. Right now, India has a chance to live up to this potential by adopting another radical monetary innovation: Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is the worlds most powerful monetary innovation, with an idea to democratize exchange/store of value without any control from a single authority. Eleven years after its birth, it has been the best-performing asset class and, importantly, is on its way from being merely collectible to achieving the status of digital gold in years to come. Recently, Bitcoins hash rate just hit an all-time high of 111 EH/s, restoring confidence in its network despite the price dump. Every day (or, more precisely, every 10 minutes) as Bitcoins network becomes stronger than before, it will absorb more monetary value in proportion.

Whats important is that the rise in bitcoins monetary value will have a significant impact on Indias fiat currencies. Countries with the weakest monetary policies and currencies are most at risk of economic failure at the outset. Once they begin to fall, a domino effect of all fiat currencies which adopted the wrong monetary policy and engaged in excessive money printing will follow. This threat to fiat currencies is a large part of the reason why governments all around the world are hesitant toward directly adopting bitcoin. But governments should view bitcoin not as a threat but as an opportunity.

Long before bitcoin, gold was considered a robust store of value. In 1944, 44 countries signed onto the Bretton Woods system, agreeing to peg their currencies to the U.S. dollar (which was, itself, declared to be backed by gold). Due to this structure and overall confidence in its economy, the USA achieved the status of superpower in decades to come. The same sort of robust growth could be achieved by India through bitcoin adoption.

First, India can open the roads for everyone to directly invest in bitcoin legally through banking channels. As it has done with gold, the Indian central bank can continue accumulating bitcoin as the countrys reserves. Due to bitcoins fixed supply of 21 million, accumulating earlier than other countries will have a significant advantage in years to come. These bitcoin reserves will be beneficial for carrying out public capital expenditures and aiding the private sector through serial reforms.

Whenever a new investment opportunity knocks on a countrys doors, it has the potential to have an entire ecosystem built up around it. Same is true for bitcoin. It will give rise to new entrepreneurs, new start-ups, new businesses, new innovations, new products and services, new consumers, and altogether new markets. It happened with the internet and smartphones.

It is happening with other technologies like AI and IoT. It is happening with blockchain technology and Bitcoin in some countries like Singapore, Germany, and Switzerland. Hence, it makes eminent sense to let bitcoin flourish in a regulated environment around the world. This philosophy may run contrary to the rebellious roots of some Bitcoin enthusiasts who strive to challenge the current financial system. But lets be practical here. If bitcoin has to reach a population of 1.3 billion people like India, it will only happen through appreciation, acceptance and minor adjustments.

Coming to a common Indian individual, giving them access to invest in bitcoin through regulated channels will help increase their purchasing power. Currently, per capita income is just over $2,000 which is significantly lower than in other developed countries. Also, average retail investors are not allowed to have access to open global high performing markets, secluding them to limited options in Indias equities and commodities markets.

If the Indian government classifies bitcoin as a good/commodity/currency, a population of 1.3 billion will get access to store their wealth in the hardest money resulting in an increase in overall per capita income over time. More importantly, providing access to the hardest money will help maintain a base level of demand during critical times like recession or economic slowdown. Even today, 190 million people in India are unbanked, with the help of bitcoin these people can have access to money management like savings and transacting.

Bitcoins on-chain growth will give rise to multiple Bitcoin companies on second/third-layer solutions. With open Indian Bitcoin regulations, it will create many significant Bitcoin innovations and also create a plethora of Bitcoin-related jobs in technological engineering, marketing, etc.

India can take a proactive approach toward bitcoin by first accepting the innovation and later recognizing it. This will help India achieve the status of a $5 trillion economy, or maybe beyond.

In conclusion, it is fair to say, very soon, that bitcoin will help India be more visible and we can become the powerhouse that we have the potential to be. Coupled with our aim to integrate financial inclusivity, we will be unstoppable, as far as booming economies go.

This is an op ed by Sumit Gupta. Views expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Bitcoin Magazine or BTC Inc.

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How Bitcoin Adoption Will Help India Achieve Its $5 Trillion... - Bitcoin Magazine

Todays mid-week daily close in Bitcoin price charts carries significantly more weight than usual, as New Years Eve marks the last day of the calendar year, and the crypto assets yearly candle close.

If the leading crypto asset by market cap closes today at current prices around $7,250, the yearly candle will close with the largest wick on record, clearly showing the failed parabolic rally that occurred around mid-year 2019.

Bitcoin price charts can be viewed across multiple timeframes, with the most significant being given to the largest and longest timeframes.

Crypto traders and analysts often pay particularly close attention to daily, weekly, or monthly price charts in order to get a better grasp on the market and the trend underway.

Related Reading | Past Performance Shows Bitcoin Historic High Could Serve As True Bear Market Bottom

And while yearly price charts arent as oft used as the other, longer timeframes, they can be helpful in looking at the bigger overall picture.

One crypto analyst has shared a yearly Bitcoin price chart on Twitter and invited others from the community to do what they do best and speculate on what the yearly candle close means for the crypto asset, and what is expected for the following years close.

The candle itself while green does show a failed rally in the form of a massive wick that stopped at prior yearly resistance. The wick is also the largest ever recorded in Bitcoin price on yearly candles, as even 2017s peak has a $6,000 range from wick peak to candle body close, whereas this years reaches from the current price of $7,250 all the way to $14,000 representing a $6,750 long wick.

Analysts responding to the thread suggest that because this years candle is closing at under 50% of 2017s candle, 2020s yearly close is expected to be red.

For 2020 to close red, Bitcoin price would need to end next year lower than whatever the price closes at when the clock strikes 7PM ET tonight. Another year of sideways or downtrend would likely be too much for many crypto investors who have been holding through two full years of a bear market already.

Others, however, say that the next years candle will close green, filling out the wick of 2019 with continued price action until Bitcoin eventually sets a new high.

Related Reading | Heres What $100 in Bitcoin Would Have Made Next To The Decades Best Investments

While many crypto investors are already thinking about 2020, Bitcoin price still needs to close the daily candle tonight to put 2019 in the history books for good, and set its sights on a new year or trading.

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Bitcoin Price Yearly Candle Shows Failed Rally, Longest Wick on Record - newsBTC

There may come a time when you need to convert your Bitcoin into fiat or another cryptocurrency.

Perhaps you want to realise a profit, simply need the cash, or believe another cryptocurrency offers more potential.

There are several different ways you can sell Bitcoin, and there are also lots of exchanges that enable you to convert Bitcoin into fiat currency such as GBP or another cryptocurrency like Ethereum.

The first step is to ensure the timing is right and thats where a Bitcoin calculator comes into play.

Bitcoin calculators

Bitcoin calculators are an essential tool if youre considering converting Bitcoin to cash because they show you how much currency youll get for your Bitcoin.

Since the price of Bitcoin is extremely volatile, its important to check its conversion rate in real time. This will ensure you dont end up cashing in at the wrong moment for example, when Bitcoins value has just plummeted.

There are a whole host of free Bitcoin calculators available on the web which let you convert Bitcoin to and from a range of world currencies using up-to-date exchange rates.

You can check the live Bitcoin rate with GBP, EUR, USD, JPY, and lots more fiat currencies. Some calculators also show the closing rate of the previous day as well as the highest and lowest rates of the conversion.

If you think the price is worth it, the next step is to make a Bitcoin conversion.

Converting Bitcoin to fiat

The main method of converting Bitcoin to fiat is to sell it on a cryptocurrency exchange. A crypto exchange lets you quickly and easily exchange your Bitcoin for a wide range of world currencies. The exchange essentially acts like a middleman between you and the buyer and will take a cut via trading fees.

To sell your Bitcoin, you will need to set up an account with the exchange of your choice. This will involve going through an identity verification process and connecting your bank account to the exchange.

Once completed, you can then make a sell order by entering the amount and type of coin you wish to sell (in this case BTC) and selecting the fiat currency you wish to receive.

Once the cash funds are in your account you can withdraw them to your connected bank account a process that could take up to a week to complete.

There are other ways to make a Bitcoin conversion for example, through a peer-to-peer platform, via a Bitcoin ATM, or through a direct trade with another person.

The right method for you will depend on factors such as how quickly you want to sell your Bitcoin, whether you want to secure the market rate, and the fees youre willing to pay.

Converting Bitcoin to other crypto

Although most people who make a Bitcoin conversion do so in order to get cash, there might be instances where you want to exchange your Bitcoin for another cryptocurrency such as Ethereum or Litecoin. Again, you will need to head over to a cryptocurrency exchange.

The first step is to find an exchange that supports your chosen Bitcoin trading pair. There are a vast number of exchanges in existence and, together, they let people exchange Bitcoin for hundreds of altcoins, so this step should be relatively straightforward.

Once youve selected an exchange, you can sign up for an account with your personal details and proof of ID.

The next step is to deposit Bitcoin into your exchange account. On most exchanges, you select the deposit button, choose Bitcoin as your deposit currency, and copy the account address shown.

You then need to open up the external wallet youd like to send your Bitcoin from, enter the account address, and press send.

Once the Bitcoin has arrived in your account, you can begin the exchange process. You simply navigate to the currency pair you wish to trade for example BTC to ETH and then enter the amount of BTC you want to convert and click sell.

To avoid the risk of being hacked, its recommended that you transfer your new crypto from the exchange into a secure, external wallet for safe storage.

The post How to make a Bitcoin conversion appeared first on Coin Rivet.

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How to make a Bitcoin conversion - Yahoo Finance

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Two years ago last week, Bitcoin peaked at $19,783, after starting 2017 at about $1,000. Since then, prices have fluctuated wildly, falling 73% in 2018 and rising 85% this yearbut they have not come close to retesting previous highs. Recently, Bitcoin was trading near $7,000.

An investor who bought early in 2017 would still be up more than 500%. But thats not the whole story. Dan Wiener, chairman of Adviser Investments and founder of the Independent Adviser for Vanguard Investors, analyzed Bitcoin price movements since the start of 2017 and found that the average five-day rolling return was 1.5%. But the range of five-day gains and losses was enormous, with a high of 47% and a low of minus 29%. And investors lost money 45% of the time when they held Bitcoin for 10 days, he calculated.

Beyond the price action, the biggest change since 2017 is Bitcoins rising competition. Two years ago, the market was awash in initial coin offerings for currencies expected to challenge Bitcoins dominance. But Bitcoin still accounts for 67% of the market value of cryptocurrencies, according to Coinmarketcap.com. Bitcoins real competition now comes from companies looking to use blockchain technology to create currencies, and governments that want to produce digital coins backed by their treasuries. Will the dominant coin be decentralized like Bitcoin, corporate-backed, or government-controlled?

Facebooks Libra project has run into regulatory issues, but could launch as soon as next year. China has been working on digital currencies since 2014 and has reportedly accelerated efforts this year.

The Census Bureau reports new-home sales data for November. Consensus estimates are for a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 730,000 new homes sold, roughly even with Octobers figure. That estimate would be about an 11% increase from November 2018s 657,000 rate. In October, the average price for a new house was $383,300 while the median price was $316,700.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago releases its National Activity Index for November. Economists forecast a negative 0.1 reading, similar to the October data. The index has had a negative reading every month this year except for June and August, after having three negative reading in 2018. This indicates that the economy, while still growing, is decelerating.

The Census Bureau releases its Durable Goods report for November. New orders for durable manufactured goods are expected to jump 1.6% after a 0.5% rise in October. Excluding transportation, new orders are seen edging up 0.2%. This compares with a 0.5% gain in October, as well.

Trading ends early, at 1 p.m., on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Composite for Christmas Eve. The bond market closes at 2 p.m.

The Bank of Japan releases minutes from its monetary-policy meeting at the end of October.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond releases its Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing for December. Expectations are for a 3.0 reading, up from Novembers minus 1.

Markets all over the world, including in the U.S., are closed in observance of Christmas Day.

China hosts a trilateral summit with Japan and South Korea in the southern city of Chengdu. The two-day confab convenes on Dec. 24. and concludes on Dec. 25. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in are scheduled to attend. The denuclearization of North Korea and ongoing trade war between Japan and South Korea will be among the topics for discussion. In August, Japan removed South Korea from its list of trusted trade partners. Seoul followed suit the next month. The root of the disagreement is over Japans compensation of forced Korean laborers during World War II.

Many bourses, including those in Canada, England, and Hong Kong, are closed in observance of Boxing Day.

The Department of Labor reports initial jobless claims for the week ending on Dec. 21. The four-week moving average of claims is 225,500.

Pivotal Software holds a special shareholder meeting in San Francisco to seek approval for a proposed merger with VMware. In August, VMware announced a cash and stock offer for Pivotal Software valued at $2.7 billion.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration releases its Petroleum Status report for the week ending on Dec. 20.

Write to Avi Salzman at avi.salzman@barrons.com

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Bitcoin Hit Its All-Time High in 2017. Here Comes New Competition. - Barron's

Bitcoin (BTC) has beaten gold in terms of returns by such a large amount this decade that investors have firmly dismissed recent price declines.

Data from monitoring resource Blockchain shows that since 2010, Bitcoin has delivered profits of almost 9 million percent.

Put differently, $1 invested in BTC ten years ago was worth around $90,000 as of Dec. 18. By comparison, $1 of gold is now worth $1.34.

Bitcoin average market price 2009-2019. Source: Blockchain

Visibly buoyed by Bitcoins performance, Barry Silbert, CEO of cryptocurrency investment conglomerate Digital Currency Group, deployed the popular Twitter hashtag #dropgold, with his post subsequently receiving over 1,600 retweets.

The statistics underscore Bitcoin as a winning investment for the vast majority of existence. As information portal 99 Bitcoins confirmed on Thursday, since 2009, Bitcoin has only been unprofitable to buy on 434 days at price peaks.

This equates to 89.16% profitability, allowing BTC to put pay to golds record despite the precious metals own recent advances in U.S. dollar terms.

Year-on-year, Bitcoin returns have been similarly impressive. At current price levels around $7,150, Bitcoin investors made 85% profits versus December 2018.

With 2017 as an exception, they remain in the green every year since the beginning.

Bitcoin profits over different time frames. Source: Coin Dance

As Cointelegraph reported, a recent analysis of wallets has shown that Bitcoin hodlers have in fact remained highly disciplined in 2019, despite this year producing a bull-run from lows of $3,100 to almost $14,000.

The phenomenon supports the perception of BTC as an investment tool, suitable for savers with a low time preference who wish to preserve wealth for the long term.

As Saifedean Ammous summarized in his popular book, The Bitcoin Standard, that characteristic will continue to pit Bitcoin directly against easy forms of money, including fiat currency.

Over the New Year period, the U.S. Federal Reserve alone will add an extra $425 billion in fiat value to the economy more than three times Bitcoins market cap that is essentially money created out of thin air.

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At 8,990,000% Gains, Bitcoin Dwarfs All Other Investments This Decade - Cointelegraph

George Washington wearing sunglasses with Bitcoin signs. Cryptocurrency, digital money concept.

After Bitcoin peaked in July, investors began unloading and its been steadily downward ever since. From 14,000 to 6600, thats quite a drop in a short time for such a widely-followed investment vehicle: more than 50% is not for widows and orphans.

A couple of technical indicators suggest that with this weeks price action, things may have changed, emphasis on the may have, for the highly speculative and quite volatile cryptocurrency.

Heres the daily price chart:

Bitcoin daily price chart, 12 20 19.

The main thing is the big fat bullish engulfing candlestick on Wednesday Ive circled it in red. Price dropped below the November low initially and then buyers came in to take out the high price of the previous session. A bullish engulfing candlestick isnt always perfectly predictive, but its obvious that, at least temporarily, buyers have taken the upper hand.

The reason it may mean something this time is the positive divergence apparent on the technical indicators for relative strength and for the relationship of moving averages. You can see how the RSI, above the price chart, comes in with a slightly higher low from the November low price to the lower mid-December low.

You can also see the similar pattern of the moving average convergence divergence indicator below the price chart. The MACD is trending upward again even with this months lower price.

It would be foolish to take any one of these indicators by themselves to be somehow predictive of future price. That all 3 of them the bullish engulfing candlestick, the RSI and the MACD are lined up favorably suggests the possibility of a reversal for the cryptocurrency.

Heres the problem: the other major cryptos that typically follow Bitcoins basic trading pattern are not reflecting the same kind of strength. This type of price action is a non-confirmation, so far anyway.

Heres the Litecoin daily price chart:

Litecoin daily price chart, 12 20 19.

The bounce off the mid-December low has failed to make it back above the November low at just below 45.. The RSI indicator shows lack of strength. These are significant divergences from the Bitcoin price chart.

Its the same problem with the Ethereum chart:

Ethereum daily price chart, 12 20 19.

Unlike Bitcoin, this one failed to make it back above the November low. Like Litecoin, the relative strength indicator suggests weakening.

Its similar to analyzing precious metals charts. When gold rallies a bit and silver fails to rally with it, youre getting a failure to confirm in the price strength of the overall sector. Same thing going on here (in a way) with the popular cryptocurrencies.

It was a good week for Bitcoin and its unconfirmed by the action in Litecoin and Ethereum.

Stats courtesy of FinViz.com.

I do not hold positions in these investments.No recommendations are made one way or the other.If you're an investor, you'd want to look much deeper into each of these situations. You can lose money trading or investing in stocks and other instruments. Always do your own independent research, due diligence and seek professional advice from a licensed investment advisor.

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Did Bitcoin Bottom? The Positive Case And The Negative Case. - Forbes

Bitcoin surged by over 10 percent on Wednesday the biggest single-day gain since Oct. 25, according to CoinDesks Bitcoin Price Index.

Notably, prices had slumped to seven-month lows below $6,500 around lunchtime (UTC), but the breakdown was quickly undone and the cryptocurrency was trading above $7,400 before midnight.

The rebound from multi-month lows is a tell-tale sign of seller exhaustion especially, as it erased the losses seen in the preceding eight days.

Wednesdays spike has neutralized the immediate bearish case. That said, a bullish reversal would be confirmed only if and when prices rise above the Nov. 29 high of $7,870. That would invalidate the most basic of all bearish patterns a lower-highs setup.

With bitcoin currently trading at $7,170, the bull reversal is still $770 away.

Bitcoin has charted (price via Bitstamp) a series of lower highs (arrows) and lowers lows over the last five months.

The last lower high at $7,870 was printed on Nov. 29 and is still intact. A UTC close above that level is needed to confirm a short-term bearish-to-bullish trend change, as noted above.

A move above that level shouldn't be ruled out, as the 14-day relative strength index (RSI) has diverged in favor of the bulls. A bullish divergence occurs when an indicator prints higher lows, contradicting lower lows on price, and is considered an early warning of an impending corrective bounce.

Additionally, Wednesdays big bullish engulfing candle is indicating seller exhaustion and would gain credence if prices find acceptance above $7,450 (the candle's high) in the next 24 hours. That would further strengthen the case for a test of resistance at $7,870.

Both patterns would be invalidated if prices drop below $6,428, although that looks unlikely at press time.

The overall outlook would turn bullish if and when the falling channel on the weekly chart is breached to the higher side. Currently, the channel resistance is located at $8,463.

Disclosure: The author currently holds no digital assets.

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

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Bitcoin Price Jumps 10%, But Bull Reversal Still $700 Away - Coindesk

Outlier Ventures, a venture capital firm, said that 2020 will be the start to a new phase in crypto, bitcoin, Ethereum, and blockchain following ten years of development and speculation.

The firms head of research Lawrence Lundywhich has invested in major cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, Ethereum, Cosmos, Brave, and Chainlinksaid that the next ten years will be about deployment, if the last decade was primarily about installment.

S-Curve trend of crypto and bitcoin for the past decade and the next ten years (Source: Outlier Ventures)

In an end-of-the-year report entitled 18 Predictions for 2020, Lundy identified key trends in bitcoin, Ethereum, and blockchain that would set the tone for the start of the deployment phase.

For major cryptocurrencies, scalability has always been the biggest issue as the demand for digital assets and blockchain usage increased.

Most blockchain developers generally agree that over the long-term, a second-layer settlement network on top of existing blockchains is crucial for growth.

Beginning 2020, the report suggested that the second-layer usage of bitcoin will see more light. Since its inception in 2009, bitcoin has been recognized as a store-of-value more than a payment settlement network.

With Lightning and other potential layer two solutions, Lundy said that bitcoin will increasingly be seen as an open financial platform.

But the growth of LApps (Lightning Apps) and more broadly data anchoring will be a stronger fundamental signal of the development of a fee market and the long-term viability of Bitcoin, read the report.

It is hardly any surprise but Outlier Ventures expect decentralized finance (DeFi) to continue to be the main narrative around Ethereum in the coming years.

In 2019, DeFi on Ethereum has seen explosive growth. Based on the data from DeFiPulse, the total value locked in DeFi platforms reached $661 million, the overwhelming majority coming from Ethereum.

DeFi on Ethereum grows exponentially throughout 2019 (Source: DefiPulse)

Specifically, Ethereums largest DeFi platform Maker accounts for $329 million of the $661 million, and Ethereum is used as the main collateral for most DeFi applications.

Lundy noted:

With Istanbul now live, we expect EIP-2028 to have a major impact on layer 2 adoption opening up use cases beyond crowdfunding and DeFi. Expect to see games currently using EOS and Tron to migrate over to Ethereum to take advantage of the DeFi lego available.

In the area of blockchain, the report says that central bank-backed digital currencies will see significant progress with the lead of China.

On October 25, Chinese President Xi Jinping formally encouraged the development of blockchain and blockchain-related platforms while distancing from crypto.

Since then, as reported by NewsBTC, major industry executives have said that the reputation of the blockchain industry noticeably improved.

In 2020, we expect this to be how the Chinese Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP) launches with licenses given to select exchanges and dominant platforms as distribution platforms to hundreds of millions of users like Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent, suggested the report.

Following China, France and other nations have signaled interest in developing government-owned digital currencies. There are expectations that South Korea is likely to be next with the hiring of a cryptocurrency specialist by the Bank of Korea.

Featured image from Shutterstock

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VC: New 10-Year Phase in Crypto to Begin in 2020: What it Means For Bitcoin, Ethereum, Blockchain - newsBTC

With bitcoin first dipping, then spiking up 10% yesterday, we're talking market action, new Federal Reserve comments, the challenges of exchange and taking a look at CoinDesk's annual most influential list...

No time to listen? Scroll down for the full episode transcript with links.

More ways to Listen or Subscribe (MP3 Download Here)

On Todays episode, its Bitcoins BIg Bounce, DEXs and CEXs, and a look at our Most Influential of 2019 list.

Adam B. Levine: Its December 19, 2019, and youre listening to Markets Daily, Im Adam B. Levine, editor of Podcasts here At Coindesk, along with our senior markets reporter, Brad Keoun, to give you a concise daily briefing on crypto markets and some of the most important news developments in the sector over the past 24 hours.

Adam: We kick things off with Brad, whos been watching the action in the overnights.

(MARKET UPDATE) SEGMENT 1

Brad Keoun: December is often a key month in the bitcoin market - it was Dec 2017 when BTC reached its all-time-high of $20k, and it was in Dec of last year that the market bottomed at $3000.

For the past couple weeks, bitcoins price charts have been sending bearish signals, with the market trending lower

Piling on, Arcane Research of Norway wrote that the market was registering "extreme fear"

But then on Wednesday, the price suddenly jumped more than $600 for a 10% gain, the most seen in two months

Today, the bitcoin price appears to be down just a touch, currently around $7200

CoinDesks Omkar Godbole writes that Wednesdays spike has neutralized the immediate bearish case, in terms of the signals from price charts, but bitcoin would have to jump another $770 to pass $7,780 to confirm the start of a bullish trend

Adam: Turning to the news, there continues to be a stream of negative pronouncements about digital assets emanating from U.S. officials and regulators

U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard warned Wednesday in a speech that the Facebook-led Libra project has a core set of legal and regulatory challenges ahead.

She said more clarity is needed about the basket of currencies underlying the stablecoin and that its model is still unproven.

And Internet startup Blockchain of Things Inc. (BCOT) agreed to pay $250,000 to settle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for launching an initial coin offering without registering the token as a security with the regulator.

Brad: Even so, the traditional financial industry continues to show keen interest in blockchain technology

Accounting multinational EY on Thursday released new code that it claims can reduces the cost of transacting on the ethereum blockchain by as much as 90 percent, by batching multiple transfers into a single transaction

Adam:Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation, a key player in Wall Streets clearing of bond trades, predicts digital assets will have a big year in 2020

Mike Bodson, the companys CEO, says next year will be QUOTE dominated by the impact of geopolitical events, digitization and tokenized securities END-QUOTE

And an executive with Fidelity, the money management giant, envisions a future where cryptocurrency custodians will work behind the scenes, whitelabeling services in the way that supermarkets put brands on generic food packaging

Brad: Finally, CoinDesk reports that the privacy coin Moneros lead maintainer is stepping down after five years at the helm

Riccardo Spagni, better known by his alias Fluffypony, plans to continue his association with Monero but will turn the day-to-day leadership over to a longtime contributor to the community

Spagnis other business ventures include no fewer than three crypto startups, and he told CoinDesk more than a year ago that the monero leadership left him feeling exhausted

Spagni says hes making the change now to QUOTE better streamline developments and collaborations END QUOTE

Adam: For todays featured story, were joined again by CoinDesks Markets Reporter Sebestian Sinclair for a look into Centralized, and Decentralized exchange

Sebastian Sinclair: Thanks Adam

For the first time in history, cryptocurrencies allow us to control our assets without having to rely on third parties such as banks or brokers.

This has been achieved through blockchain technology, offering participants a way to tap into decentralized networks via peer to peer connections.

However, despite this new tech, nearly 99 percent of crypto trading takes place on centralized exchanges, which seems at odds with the new era of digital money that should be utilizing blockchains trustless capabilities.

Centralized exchanges have a lot of advantages, they're fast, cheap and in some ways quite private. On the other hand, to get those benefits, traders must give their tokens TO the exchange, and trust that they'll not only be honest, but resistant to the sectors notorious if not ubiquitous exchange thefts.

It's easy to see that even without downplaying the advantages, the disadvantages should give any trader pause.

After all, mistrust in middlemen, ie banks, brokers and centralized exchanges, is essentially what led to the success of blockchain tech in the first place.

History has shown us that placing our faith in these middlemen tends to be unwise and one consistently runs the risk of having funds stolen, such as what occurred this year as CoinDesk previously reported, up to 7 different exchange hacks valued at over $157 million US dollars were siphoned off.

Adam: So whats the solution then?

Sebastian: Well, this is where decentralized exchanges come in.

Decentralized exchanges can circumvent the issues of custody by building its infrastructure on the blockchain with the use of smart contracts to coordinate trades from a users own wallet. These smart contracts must be implemented correctly with appropriate withdrawal controls, but ultimately a decentralized exchange should never require a user to give up control of their assets.

Adam: Decentralized exchanges must have a downside?

Sebastian: Of course, decentralized exchanges face their own inherent problems. Blockchains are generally slow by nature, reducing the number of possible trades per second thereby limiting volume and liquidity. Whats more, decentralized exchanges generally result in unfriendly user interfaces that are based around block explorers such as etherscan making it difficult for new users in the space to pick up and understand right away.

Adam: So whats out there and whats worth using?

Sebastian: Well, Binance for example, opened its decentralized exchange to the public back in April this year while OKEx, another major exchange, announced plans way back in March, but still has plans in the works. From my research, most decentralized exchanges lack the liquidity and volume I previously mentioned. More work needs to be done to attract traders away from the centralized model to a decentralized one in order for them to function optimally and as intended.

While the solutions to custody continue to be hashed out (pun intended) there are still a ways to go before users can begin experiencing the same user-friendly interactions, liquidity and volume they get from a centralized exchange. But we need to start looking into blockchain tech as a solution to these issues of centralized custody, otherwise, what are we all doing here?

Adam: And now, for todays spotlight, were giving you the rundown of what has become an annual CoinDesk tradition - the Most Influential people in the crypto industry of 2019

Brad: Thats right, Adam -- were getting closer to the end of the year and that means its time for the Most Influential list, a project thats led by CoinDesk Features Editor Ben Schiller but features some incredible profiles written by CoinDesk staffers

The list highlights people who have had a big year, made significant contributions to the industry in 2019 or simply even been at the center of a big story. I picked a few of the most fascinating.

Brad: First on the list is JACK DORSEY - Twitter's co-founder, who emerged as bitcoin's biggest ally in Silicon Valley. Dorsey invested heavily in the networks' future, and says he hopes one day that the interent will have a native currency, and he hopes that will be bitcoin

Next is Caitlin Long, a former Morgan Stanley banker who has established Wyoming as the most crypto-friendly jurisdiction in the nation. She's helped pass a series of bills designed to attract crypto startups to her home state.

Andrew Yang, the presidential candidate, came from nowhere to be a top-tier presidential candidate, with his brand of sophisticated tech-bro intelligence and ideas like basic universal income. More to the point, Yang is the only Democratic contender with a fleshed-out crypto policy,

David Marcus - the French-born co-founder of Libra, the Facebook stablecoin project, became the face of the effort as he went to Washington to testify in high-profile hearings, where he experienced backlash from lawmakers and U.S. regulators. With big corporate partners like Mastercard peeling away from the effort earlier this year, the big question is whether he can convince Americans to trust Facebook with the future of money

Meltem Demirors, chief strategy officer at CoinShares, testified in Washington in July that while Facebooks Libra was getting all the attention, it was bitcoin that should be getting the attention, with its track record of more than a decade, saying that the worlds largest and oldest cryptocurrency had already been tested

Ted Livingston - founder of the messaging app Kik Interactive, which was accused by the SEC of running an illegal securities offering when it sold digital tokens in 2017. Hes attracted notoriety and attention, along with some support from the crypto industry, for pushing back against the regulator

Gerald Cotten, former CEO of the now-defunct QuadrigaCX exchange, wasnt even alive during 2019, if you believe his death report out of India from December 2018, but he was at the center of controversy from creditors who say he might not have actually died, and theyre now asking for his body to be exhumed

But wait, theres meow. The last on the list is Hodlonaut, who publicly is a cat in an astronaut costume who emerged on Crypto Twitter as a folk hero representing the freedom to speak the truth and maintain ones own privacy, challenging, among others, Bitcoin SV backer Craig Wright, who claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of bitcoin. Hodlonaut became one of the biggest memes of the year in the crypto industry. In reality, CoinDesk reports, hes a mild-mannered, middle-aged man from Norway who loves tattoos, ice cream, and tucking his child into bed.

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

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MARKETS DAILY: Bullish Bitcoin Dreams and a 2019 to Remember - Coindesk

BITCOIN sign on a bank

Bitcoin is the most popular digital asset in the institutional trading world as it has the best trading options available, both spot and derivatives, proven track record with the longest history and availability of data. This made some of the largest financial services institutions highly interested and in 2019 we saw the birth of several bitcoin products like Bakkts physically delivered bitcoin futures, Fidelity Digital Assets bitcoin custody solution and TD Ameritrades trading offerings.

But is it also the case for the large enterprises looking at blockchain as technology and wanting to innovate using easier payments over fast and secure transaction networks and processes built around smart contracts? Can they use the bitcoin blockchain as a foundation and place their middleware stack and end-user decentralized Web 3 and decentralized finance (DeFi) applications on top?

So far the majority of enterprise-focused blockchain development has been done on permissioned and private blockchain protocols like Hyperledger Fabric and R3s Corda. This is mostly due to the fact that they offer sufficient privacy, scalability and transaction finality guarantees. Compared to them, development on top of the bitcoin blockchain was not seriously considered until recently when in May, Microsoft announced their permissionless, Decentralized Identifier (DID) network called ION running exclusively on top of the bitcoin blockchain. That triggered a shift in the sentiment that developers and enterprises should also consider bitcoin as a potential layer for enterprise blockchain development. For example, companies like Bitfury are already making significant progress with enterprise-tailored blockchain offerings like blockchain as a service (BaaS) using bitcoin as a base layer.

Lets review how bitcoin stacks up as an enterprise-ready development platform. According to a recent Ernst & Young study among decision makers across the U.S., Europe and Asia, the major reasons to consider blockchain in general are:

Preservation of data integrity In this area bitcoin is the absolute winner as the most trusted and secure public blockchain. The bitcoin blockchain is currently secured by 97 quintillion hashes per second, or EH/s. Data integrity is priority number one for the maintainers of the bitcoin blockchain and they are very restrictive about any new feature that can introduce security bugs and potentially compromise the integrity of the protocol. The accuracy and consistency of the data can be easily observed and analyzed by simple blockchain explorers as well as by using surveillance tools like Elliptic, Elementus and Chainalysis.

Bitcoin hashrate

Ability to build new revenue/business models Bitcoin currently has a $128 billion liquid market cap so building new models on top of it can unlock new significant revenue channels. Furthermore, the increased adoption of Layer 2 technology like the Lightning Network, which operate via channels and enable cheap and fast payments, will enable new business processes and ways to revenue.

Increased operational efficiency Since 2010, when certain opcodes were taken out of the core protocol, smart contracts were considered taboo in bitcoin. Lately, with the development of Blockstreams Liquid and the new RSK framework, Schnorr signatures and Taproot will make smart contractslike executions possible via sidechains.

RSK stack

Reduced costs The existence of the Lightning Network as a Layer 2 protocol on top of the bitcoin blockchain already enables cheap, private and instant transactions and payments. Of course, there are certain limitations as of now but they can be manually changed or improved in future iterations of the network.

Increased transparency This is natively supported and enforced in the bitcoin blockchain, contrary to other public protocols that incorporated privacy features like MimbleWimble, Confidential transactions, STARKs and ZK-snarks. The bitcoin core developers stayed away from such features as they can make bitcoins monetary supply of 21 million difficult to audit and verify.

Development on top of the bitcoin blockchain might be one of the major catalysts in the upcoming year. In contrast to the rest of the public chains, bitcoin is having the first-mover advantage and doesnt suffer from the same growing-pain issues as Ethereum and EOS. Overall, the security concerns most enterprise CIOs and CTOs will have with public chains are mitigated in the Layer 2/Sidechains areas. Moreover, one of the main blockchain concerns, the interoperability between networks and especially between bitcoin and others, can be explored via several ways: Keeps tBTC or an Interledger Protocol (ILP) bridge.

Bitcoin has many strong characteristics as it is the most stable and sufficiently decentralized public blockchain now. There are many teams working on a wide range of products and services on top of it, from Layer 2 to privacy, sidechains and smart contracts.

Innovations in bitcoin

Of course, a lot more will be required from bitcoin for it to become the dominant enterprise development stack. We still need to see a greater availability of development tools and IDE environments; Lightning Network should mature as a viable scaling solution and increase its adoption and usability. Soon, we will see if bitcoin can be a base layer for DeFi and match the growth Ethereum and EOS have seen. The timing cannot be better as the uncertainty around the other public chains is growing and we might see the decline of Ethereum as the dominant Web 3 platform. Regardless if that move is welcomed by the die-hard libertarians on the bitcoin platform, the companies that are building and investing on the protocol are open for enterprise customers and eventually, bitcoin will prove to its critics that its not only used for illegal activities and speculative trading.

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Will 2020 Be The Year Of Enterprise Bitcoin? - Forbes

Bitcoin price may be dropping deeper into a downtrend over the course of the last few months, but the first-ever cryptocurrency is actually much closer now to fair market value than it has been throughout the year.

However, as Bitcoin price falls toward fair valuations, the cost of production rises exponentially, and may be part of the cause of the downtrend itself.

Chartered financial analyst and staunch Bitcoin supporter Timothy Peterson has shared various metrics from crypto data aggregator CoinMetrics related to the leading cryptocurrency by market cap.

Related Reading | Former IMF Economist: Current Bitcoin Trend is Textbook Echo Bubble

According to the analyst, Bitcoin is currently trading at prices that would be considered fair for the cryptocurrency. Prices have fallen back toward levels of fairness, after spending much of 2019 soaring higher than the fair market valuation of what Bitcoin should be priced at.

Following the crypto asset bottoming out at fair prices around $3,100 at the start of the year, Bitcoins parabolic rally took the cryptocurrency beyond its fair price, but nowhere near as overvalued as it was during the crypto hype bubble in late 2017, or even its value during the 2018 bear market.

It wasnt until Bitcoin bottomed at $3,100 that the cryptocurrency reached fair value, and prior to that, it was 2016 before the crypto bull market really began. At the height of the bubble, Bitcoin reached valuations 1,000% higher than what it should have been.

But even though crypto prices are falling toward fair valuations, the cost of producing each BTC continues to rise.

According to a chart shared by digital asset analyst Charles Edwards, who has developed a tool that plots production costs onto Bitcoin price charts on TradingView, the price per BTC has begun to fall below the cost of production, causing miners to capitulate en masses, which could be in part responsible for the recent downtrend in crypto markets.

With Bitcoins halving in May set to reduce the block reward crypto miners receive in BTC by half, the cost of production could double overnight. How this may impact the market is anyones guess, but it could cause extreme selling by capitulating crypto miners, rather than pushing up the price of the scarce digital asset as many others are expecting to happen.

Related Reading | Bitcoin Must Clear Multiple Resistance Levels Before Its Out of The Woods

Bitcoin price is currently trading at roughly $7,150, a couple of hundred dollars less than the cost to produce each BTC. Interestingly, the fair market valuation metric also appears to coincide with of producing each Bitcoin.

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Bitcoin Price Reaches Fair Market Valuation, While Costs of Production Rise - newsBTC

Cryptocurrency is more than just Bitcoin. New cryptos have emerged and given the blockchain forefather a run for its (digital) money. Most notable among them is Ethereum, which is both an online currency and a platform for creating smart contracts and blockchain-supported apps. It typically runs second to Bitcoin in overall value but has been adopted by some corporate entities, acquiring a possible edge in legitimacy.

Courtesy of Shutterstock

Courtesy of Shutterstock

2009

BEGAN IN

2015

Satoshi Nakamoto, which is almost certainlya pseudonym. The creators true identityor identitiesremains unknown.

Eight people are attributed as cofounders,but programmer Vitalik Buterin isthe most active today.

Prague

San Francisco

Mike Tyson. The former pro boxer launched a line ofBitcoin ATMs that would convert real-world moneyinto crypto. Its design featured his signature face tattoo.

Courtesy of Shutterstock

Ashton Kutcher. The actor tweeted his supportfor Ethereum and decentralizing the world in 2014(prior to its launch) with a link to the site.

Courtesy of Shutterstock

18 million

HOW MANY IN CIRCULATION?

108 million

BUNDLE OF ENERGY

In a year, mining consumes moreenergy than all of Singapore.

BUNDLE OF ENERGY

Ethereum minings yearly energy usage isequivalent to all of Costa Ricas.

VALUE AS OF 12/2/2019

$7,277

VALUE AS OF 12/2/2019

$147

YOU CAN BUY WHAT WITH IT?

A trip to space via Virgin Galactic.

Courtesy of Virgin Galactic

YOU CAN BUY WHAT WITH IT?

A $30 million beaux arts mansion in New York.

Courtesy of Anton Brookes/H5 Properties

IF YOU INVESTED $1,000 WHEN IT WASFOUNDED IT WOULD NOW BE WORTH

Roughly $170 million

IF YOU INVESTED $1,000 WHEN IT WASFOUNDED IT WOULD NOW BE WORTH

$67,000

EVERYONES A CRITIC

Probably rat poison squared.Warren Buffet

EVERYONES A CRITIC

Ethereum could have done a better job in its life.It hasntWilliam Mougayar, author

BUY A 2019 FERRARI 812 SUPERFAST FOR

64.7

BUY A 2019 FERRARI 812 SUPERFAST FOR

3,201.4

Continued here:

Bitcoin vs . Ethereum: Which Cryptocurrency Should You Invest In? - Robb Report

Major news outlet CNN has touted Bitcoin as the star investment of the decade, eclipsing stocks, bonds, commodities, and (of course) fiat currencies worldwide.

CNN backed its claim with numbers provided by Bank of America Securities, which showed a tiny $1 investment in Bitcoin at the start of 2010 would be worth more than $90,000 today (or, considering its latest price dives, until quite recently).

Still, regardless of its recent performance, Bitcoin dominated more traditional investments. Even though the US stock market is the strongest in the world, $1 in American stocks at the start of the decade would now reportedly be valued at just $3.46.

One dollar invested in a 30-year US treasury bond over the same time period would now be worth $2.08.

Gold, however, was reportedly the top commodity of the 2010s (aside from Bitcoin, of course). A$1 gold investment in 2010 is said to be worth just $1.34, while the same in oil would equate to 74 cents.

CNN listed some terrible investments, too. A dollar in Myanmar currency at the start of the decade would now reportedly be worth a measly 4 tenths of one US cent today.

Thanks to Greeces debt crisis, 100 cents in the Greek equity market would now equate to only seven cents.

While BTCs value indeed went from fractions of a penny to thousands of dollars today, itll surely be hard to defend its title of best investment of the decade.

Now, Bitcoin faces its next test: the 2020s.

This is not investment advice. This is for educational purposes only. Do your own research, damnit. No, really, dont buy Bitcoin because you read this article. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Im not even qualified to tell you that. See what I mean? Do your own research. Please.

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CNN: Bitcoin was the best investment of the decade - The Next Web

This post is part of CoinDesk's 2019 Year in Review, a collection of 100 op-eds, interviews and takes on the state of blockchain and the world. Anil Lulla is a co-founder of Delphi Digital, a research and consulting boutique specializing in digital assets.

Anil Lulla co-founded Delphi Digital in mid-2018 with four friends he met while working at Bloomberg and Deutsche Bank. Their idea: to provide credible, actionable research for an industry populated by noisy clout-chasers and ensnaring scammers.

When I left my job, my managing director literally didnt understand why I was leaving for fake internet money, Lulla said. In a way, this goodbye proved his thesis that there wasnt anything anyone could point to to explain the value proposition of bitcoin, he said.

While I personally buy into the crypto ethos, were not selling anarchist thoughts, just offering perspective on why should you pay attention: because crypto is a great investment opportunity.

More than a year later, Lulla reflects on the intricacies of the market, how a background analyzing distressed debt can help one understand the token industry, and why crypto will always be infinitely more interesting than real money.

Has this past years cycle from bust to boom to bust revealed anything new about how BTC operates?

This cycle has been interesting to see from a crypto fund perspective, which use bitcoin as both an investment and beta. We saw the thesis of bitcoins market supremacy play out in real time in the first two quarters, as bitcoin continued to get all the attention and alt-bagholders saw their satoshis disappear. The headlines and investment interest flowing back in proves the reflexivity of the market. Its also interesting to consider over the past 12 months where every incremental dollar was added in the market. While some was new money, most was sitting on the sidelines from people who had sold their positions and were waiting to come back in.

Whats the deal with technical analysis? What does it actually tell you, if anything?

At Delphi, we dont use TA as much as fundamentals, though weve added a little more because it's a traders market. If it can help execute trades accurately 60 percent of the time, its worth it. But we think bitcoins real advantages over traditional assets for market analysis is on-chain indicators. My partner Yan led our UTXO analysis which was used to call the bottom of the market by looking at HODL waves, or when certain massive hodlers start selling. Its a way to help predict when people will take cash off the table based on their potential returns and selling pressure.

How has the addition of institutional holders affected bitcoin?

Its a slow change, but we think Bakkt and Fidelity will be huge for the market long term. My team laughed at the focus given to Bakkts launch, and the reaction once it didnt move the needle the first week. The benefit of these products isnt from short term inflows of capital, but that credible brands are making long-term investments because they view crypto as a long-term project. This allows traditional investors to take risks they wouldnt otherwise with the latest crypto unicorn.

The amount of capital coming in also includes human capital.

Does Delphi get any crossover from traditional finance?

Whenever you have volatility in the market, we have people crossing over from that side of the market. They may not actually be interested in making an allocation, but funds may have clients who see bitcoin spike and ask them why they are not allocated to that asset, or at least wonder whats going on. Most conversations revolve around bitcoin. At a macro view, a lot of the people who look at the market seriously are starting to understand the value proposition of bitcoin beyond being a store of value.

If 2019 was year of bitcoin, where does that leave tokens or ICO projects for 2020?

Next year will see a lot of layer ones launching. But, the reality is a lot of token projects need help figuring out their economic or governance structures. Meanwhile, a lot of the projects that raised during the 2017 craze have essentially become distressed assets. That doesnt necessarily mean theyre dead projects. One of cryptos biggest value propositions is how quickly developments can happen. Maybe the biggest is changes on ethereum. We werent even aware of the real efficiency gains of Optimistic Rollups until Vitalik published a blog post. These things come from long periods of hard work and then, to the general public, they seem to come out of nowhere.

Sometimes I cringe at comparisons between crypto and the early days of e-commerce, just because of the investment activity. In the 90s, every website was an iteration of the same basic website, but with crypto its a constant evolution.

The amount of capital coming in also includes human capital. Its amazing to see what people are creating. The easiest way to talk about crypto is that its dis-intermediating middlemen while organizing or incentivizing groups to work together. Instadapp. Uniswap. The composability between projects is incredible. Things like that are why I think this sector will ultimately produce things that are valuable and give mainstream audience no choice but to participate. It's something Im willing to bet my career on.

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

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It's Not Just the Money, It's the People in Bitcoin: Anil Lulla - Coindesk

According to recent estimates, bitcoin mining in 2020 is expected to take off at an explosive pace. Miners are predicted to mine around $3 billion worth of BTC as per the coins current price.

Bitcoin mining has always been a crucial part of the BTC network. Mining involves validating transactions, adding blocks to the blockchain, which leads to the production of new BTC adding to bitcoins total supply

It has been growing at a pretty steady rate over the years, and as more people became interested, bitcoin mining difficulty continued to appreciate. Meanwhile, two subsequent BTC halvings led to an increase in the bitcoin price due to reduced supply and increased demand.

Bitcoins infamous price volatility has both been rewarding and besetting for all market participants. BTC miners especially have had a tough time navigating through this volatility, as it affected the coins value, and therefore their earnings. The extreme bitcoin price movement in 2018 led to many unplugging their mining gear and leaving the industry, as the cost of producing BTC exceeded the profits.

Recent reports, however, indicate that bitcoin miners are in for some respite. As per South China Morning Post, Nasdaq listed bitcoin mining equipment manufacturer Canaan has partnered with Hong-Kong based digital asset liquidity providers and market makers to offer risk management products and methods to their clients in order to protect them from volatility in bitcoin prices.

Canaans strategic Interhash will be offered customized financial instruments such as swaps and collars by GSR. These will help them skirt losses and expedite returns on available inventory. These risk hedging alternatives are pretty crucial in the bitcoin mining business. According to the manager of Canaans blockchain division, Kevin Shao, there arent any hedging instruments that match a miners production costs and production cycle.

Experts predict that 2020 will be a very successful year for the bitcoin mining industry. GSR predicts that around $3 billion worth of BTC will be mined globally next year (at current prices). The estimate is made with the assumption that Bitcoins blockchain will produce around 1,800 coins per day. But the numbers may appreciate after the halving in May 2020, since production will reduce to 50% (900 coins per day).

New BTC mining operations will come up across the world in different geographies such as Russia, Canada, and the US, which may reduce Chinas monopoly and truly decentralize the bitcoin mining ecosystem.

Financial products such as hash rate futures will help bitcoin miners hedge themselves against the fluctuating BTC hash rate, as was reported by Reuters, a few days back. This might lead to an overall strengthening of confidence in bitcoin mining and the attraction of participants in droves to contribute their available power.

What are your thoughts on the state of the bitcoin mining industry? Do you expect new miners to arrive in 2020? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Image via Shutterstock

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Bitcoin Worth $3 Billion Expected to be Mined in 2020 - Bitcoinist

Bitcoin has faced turbulence throughout 2019, with the first half of the year being firmly controlled by bulls that sent it as high as $13,800, while the second half of the year played to the favor of BTCs bears who were able to push it as low as $6,500.

The downtrend that was first sparked this past summer may have been the result of a Ponzi scheme that harvested and subsequently began selling a significant amount of Bitcoin from a plethora of victims.

Now, a prominent research group is now noting that the nefarious actors behind this scheme may still be selling off their illicitly obtained cryptocurrency and could lead Bitcoins price significantly lower in the mid-term.

PlusToken was a Chinese cryptocurrency wallet and storage solution that was structured like an archetypal Ponzi scheme, offering users referral rewards for every new user they bring the platform.

At its peak, the operation is said to have stolen north of $3 billion worth of Bitcoin from unsuspecting users, which resulted in a large number of the team members being arrested.

Unfortunately, it does appear that a small number of individuals who ran the operation are missing abroad, and data suggests that these users may be selling a significant amount of Bitcoin on a daily basis, providing a steady stream of downwards pressure on the markets.

As of late-November, Ergo, a data analyst, explained on Twitter that he estimates the scammers still have about 187,000 BTC left to sell.

So what is the current status of the PlusToken coins? Here is a work in progress table showing my rough totals. My current totals are around 187,000 BTC. This analysis is not complete yet, but roughly confirms the previous 200,000 BTC estimates, he noted.

Although it does appear that a significant amount of PlusTokens BTC has already been sold on the markets, data from Chainalysis signals that the scammers may force Bitcoin to incur further near-term downside.

Thats certainly something to consider when you are thinking about where the price is going, at least in the short term It could be, according to our research, continued downward pressure, Kim Grauer, senior economist at Chainalysis, said while speaking to Bloomberg about the significant amount of BTC the PlusToken ring leaders still hold.

Bitcoins current technical bearishness coupled with this ongoing fundamental development could point to the possibility that the price action seen at the end of 2019 and beginning of 2020 will favor sellers.

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Heres What Burst Bitcoins $14,000 Yearly Top and May Lead it Even Lower - newsBTC