Bitcoin bets, ranging from predictions the cryptocurrency would soon to be worth millions to forecasts it would fade into obscurity, are easily made and more easily forgotten.

The bitcoin price explosion over the last few years took most by surprise with some bravely betting the bull run would never end.

Now, John McAfee, the controversial and outspoken one-time software pioneer-turned international playboy, has revealed his famous promise to "eat my dick" if bitcoin isn't worth $1 million by the end of 2020 was nothing more than a ploy to gain attention and followersleaving many bitterly disappointed.

John McAfee made his name in computer security software but has recently turned to more unorthodox ... [+] pursuits, including a run for U.S. president in 2016.

"Eat my dick in 12 months? A ruse to onboard new users," McAfee said via Twitter.

"It worked. Bitcoin was first. It's an ancient technology. All know it. Newer blockchains have privacy, smart contracts, distributed apps and more," adding that bitcoin is to cryptocurrency what the Ford Model T was to cars.

A little over two years ago, McAfee upped his previous prediction that bitcoin would be worth $500,000 by the end of 2020, claiming he used an out-of-date model that predicted a single bitcoin would be worth $5,000 at the end of 2017. The bitcoin price at the end of 2017 was almost $20,000 after an epic, ballooning bull run through the last month of the year.

"[Bitcoin] has accelerated much faster than my model assumptions," McAfee said in November 2017. "I now predict bitcoin at $1 million by the end of 2020. I will still eat my dick if wrong."

The bitcoin price would have to climb around 14,000% between now and the end of the year for McAfee win his bet with the Dickening countdown website, named after the crypto community's name for the bitcoin halving, keeping track of the odds.

McAfee, who is planning to repeat his 2016 run for U.S. president this year, has now said the vow to "eat my dick" resulted in "onboarding 10,000 new users to crypto," adding that he doesn't care what the bitcoin price will be in two years time and bitcoin is "irrelevant" to cryptocurrency.

McAfee also named privacy-focused cryptocurrency monero as his digital token and blockchain of choice but poured scorn on the controversial XRP token created by U.S.-based company Ripple.

The bitcoin price has outperformed almost all other major cryptocurrencies over the last two years, with many smaller bitcoin-rivals losing almost all their value.

The bitcoin price rose by thousands of percent over the last decade though bitcoin has failed to ... [+] maintain its near-$20,000 price tag over the last two years.

Meanwhile, many are still confident bitcoin is the cryptocurrency to back.

A little over a year ago, Anthony Pompliano, co-founder and partner at bitcoin and cryptocurrency-focused asset manager Morgan Creek Digital, put up a $1 million wager that the performance of the top ten biggest cryptocurrencies will prove to be a better investment than the biggest U.S. stocks and shares.

Others have made less headline grabbing bitcoin bets, with the billionaire PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel last year upping his stake in a renewable energy-focused bitcoin mining operation based in San Francisco.

In October, widely-respected bitcoin analyst PlanB, who created the so-called stock-to-flow bitcoin pricing model, reiterated his expectation that bitcoin will hit $100,000 before Christmas 2021.

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One Of The Biggest Bets In Bitcoin Revealed To Be A Ruse - Forbes

Ripple's XRP, currently the world's third-biggest cryptocurrency by market value behind bitcoin and ethereum, has suddenly soaredjumping by around 10% and prompting an uptick in most other major cryptocurrencies.

Ripple's XRP led the market higher today, up around 10%, while bitcoin cash added some 5% and ethereum was up 3%. Bitcoin, usually the main crypto market mover was relatively unchanged, up by some 1% along with its rival litecoinperhaps due to a famous bitcoin bet being revealed as a "ruse."

[Update: 1.34am EST 01/07/2020] Bitcoin joined the rally late in the day, with the bitcoin price rocketing more than $400 in just a few hours to over $8,000, according to prices from the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange, before falling back to trade around $7,850up some 5% over the last 24-hour trading period.

Ripple chief executive Brad Garlinghouse has faced accusations the company is selling off large ... [+] amounts of the XRP token, driving the price lower and upsetting XRP holders.

XRP's sudden surge higher comes after Malta-based bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange by volume, announced it will be adding Ripple's XRP and the stablecoin tether as a futures trading pair.

The XRP tether contract offers leverage of up to 75 times, according to Binance, and is the exchange's fourth tether-tied futures trading pair, along with bitcoin, bitcoin cash, and ethereum.

Ripple has said it expects to grow its customer base by 30% to 40% this year, from 300 currently, and boasted transaction volume on the Ripple network will rise more than 600%.

The sharp rise in the XRP price comes on the back of comments made by Ripple chief executive Brad Garlinghouse late last year playing down suggestions Ripple is selling off large amounts of XRP and claiming Ripple "cant control XRP price."

"Ripple owns a lot of XRP, were very interested in the success of XRP, but the accusations of us dumping, thats not in our best interests to do that," Garlinghouse told U.S. television network CNN last month, adding "we would never do that and in fact, weve taken steps to lock up most of the XRP we own in escrows so we cant touch it."

Garlinghouse also denied that Ripple, which owns some 60% of XRP tokens, could move the XRP price.

"Ripple cant control the price of XRP any more than the whales can control the price of bitcoin."

The price of Ripple's XRP has been on a long-term downward trend as the company works to sign up ... [+] banks and other financial service companies to its technology.

The price of Ripple's XRP is down some 45% over the last 12 months, with many in the Ripple community decrying the company's practice of selling XRP tokens to boost its financial performance.

Bitcoin has outperformed almost all of its peers over the last year or so. The bitcoin price is around double where it began 2019 while most other major cryptocurrencies, including Ripple's XRP, ethereum, bitcoin cash, and litecoin have struggled to break out of their now two-year long bear market.

Read more from the original source:
Bitcoin Rockets Over $8,000 As Ripples XRP, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, And Litecoin Suddenly Soar [Updated] - Forbes

Bitcoin has settled above SMA50 weekly for the first time since the beginning of December. If the coin holds the ground, we may see another bullish leg towards $8,500 in the nearest future.

At the time of writing, BTC/USD is changing hands at $7,859. The first digital coin stopped within a whisker of psychological $8,000 before the technical correction pushed it back below $7,900. Bitcoin gained over 4% in recent 24 hours and 1.2% since the beginning of the day. Notably, Bitcoin has been growing strongly since January 3 and printed the fifth bullish candle in a row amid strong upside momentum.

Iran-US tensions tops the list of possible Bitcoin bullish drivers. While opinions divided on this matter, the escalation may have had at least an indirect influence on the cryptocurrency market. The conflict may lead to growing oil prices, which in turn will translate into higher inflation rates. Being regarded as a hedge against inflation along with gold, Bitcoin may gain popularity among investors.

Upcoming halving is another potential reason behind the pump. A stock to flow (S2F) ratio implies that Bitcoin is grossly undervalued even after the current price surge. The Bitcoin's S2F ration that defines how long would it take to reach the maximum supply at the current rate of production has multiple -0.15, which means that its fair value is about $8,500. However, the data is retrieved from the S2F Multiple Twitter bot that has a history of overestimating Bitcoin price potential. While the model is not perfect, it can be used in conjunction with other tools and indicators.

At the time of writing, BTC recovery is capped by SMA100 (Simple Moving Average) at $7,950. This barrier is closely followed by a psychological $8,000. Once it is out of the way, the upside is likely to gain traction with the next focus on $8,400. This barrier is created by a confluence of 50.0% Fibo retracement for the upside move from December 2018 low to July 2019 high and the upper boundary of the long-term descending wedge.

On the downside, the initial support lies with $7,700 (SMA50 weekly and the upper line of the daily Bollinger Band). If this area is cleared, the sell-off may be extended towards $7,350 (SMA50 daily) and $7,000.

Read more:
Bitcoin may extend the growth to $8,500 and here is why - FXStreet

Bitcoin may have started 2019 strong but ever since it posted a high of $13,880 in June, the top cryptocurrency has been correcting. It dropped to as low as $6,425 in December. At that point, bearish calls for a revisit to $5,000 levels were strong.

Those who have been waiting to buy below $6,000 have been left out. The digital gold is now trading above $7,000 and analysts are expecting bitcoin to leave this price area soon. Many see a base being formed, which can propel the number one cryptocurrency to greater heights early this year.

After a weak second half of 2019, it appears that the worst is behind for the most dominant cryptocurrency. A number of widely-followed analysts on Twitter say that bitcoin is carving a bottom.

For instance, Faisal Sohail believes that the cryptocurrency has already tapped the bottom when it dropped to $6,475 in December. He believes that the digital asset will trade between $7,000 and $12,000 before the halving.

User Bitcoin Macro supports Faisals view. In an emphatic tweet, Bitcoin Macro exclaims that the bottom is already in. He also tells his followers not to get shaken out.

Majin, Crypto Twitters biggest bull, has also turned bullish after months of uncertainty. The liquidity game theorist believes bitcoin will take off and leave $7,000 behind.

BTC has been range trading between $6,700 and $7,600 since November 20, 2019. Thats a $900 range over 45 days. To many analysts, this is a sign that a new base is being built to prepare bitcoin for the next leg up, hence, the call for a bottom.

Charles Edwards, head of digital investment firm Capriole, sees a potential accumulation pattern forming. More importantly, he believes that the bottom is already in. According to Edwards, his bias would be confirmed once bitcoin trades above $8,000.

Edwards is not alone in seeing a pattern indicating that whales and other smart money investors are accumulating the largest cryptocurrency. Trader CryptoWolf also sees an accumulation pattern developing. His bias will be confirmed once the price goes above $8,090. A move above that level would also trigger the breakout from a large falling wedge.

CryptoWolfs initial target is $9,550 and then $11,600.

With these signals, other traders are expressing their optimism on the prospects of the top cryptocurrency. The popular trader The Crypto Dog tweeted that hes bullish on bitcoin.

The widely-followed Crypto Rand shares The Crypto Dogs upbeat outlook on the dominant cryptocurrency.

Is it a coincidence that the top analysts are tweeting bullish statements on bitcoin as the top cryptocurrency prints an accumulation pattern? Probably not. Its very likely that these analysts are also seeing the bottom or base-building signals on the number one coin. If theyre right, then strap in. Bitcoins 2020 price action might start off with fireworks.

Disclaimer: This article represents the authors opinion and should not be considered investment or trading advice from CCN.

This article was edited by Sam Bourgi.

Last modified: January 6, 2020 5:00 PM UTC

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Bitcoin 2020: The Bottom is In and Prices are About to Surge, Several Analysts Claim - CCN.com

With massive earthquakes and a possible Tsunami warning for Puerto Rico, Bitcoin (BTC) billionaires like Brock Pierce have an opportunity to make good on promises made to transform the Caribbean island.

The U.S. Geological Survey says another earthquake hit Puerto Rico on Tuesday (January 7, 2020). Tuesdays 6.4 magnitude tremor follows a 5.8 magnitude shock that ripped through the island on Monday (January 6, 2020).

According to CNN, Puerto Ricos Electric Power Authority is reporting power outages across the island as the tremors have triggered emergency protection protocols in many electric power stations.

Back in 2017, following the decimation of Hurricane Mara, Brock Pierce and several other Bitcoin billionaires moved to Puerto Rico promising to revamp the islands infrastructure while enjoying massive tax holidays.

At the time, the group of crypto billionaires reportedly wished to create a cryptocurrency utopia in Puerto Rico transforming the island into a high-tech virtual currency paradise.

Now, with the island suffering another major devastation, its perhaps time for these Bitcoin billionaires to make good on their promises. Still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Mara, the island is likely in need of emergency relief. Crypto funds are certainly better suited to fund such an endeavor with lightning fast payment channels available and low fees.

While Pierce and co may have been unable to build their crypto utopia on Puerto Rico, the current situation is perhaps an opportunity to stand up and be counted.

As previously reported by Bitcoinist, Bitcoin has proven to be an effective currency for supporting relief efforts across the globe. Global charity organizations like UNICEF are open to the growing utility of BTC for humanitarian projects.

Amid the ongoing devastation of wildfires in Australia, a Bitcoin donation address has been created to assist those fighting the flames. Bitcoin donations are also providing sustenance for thousands of economically disenfranchised people in Venezuela as reported by Bitcoinist back in 2019. Bitcoin donations were also sent after the Notre Dame fire incident in April 2019.

Apart from emergency relief efforts, Bitcoin donations are also supporting projects that combat internet censorship. In mid-2019, Tor raised 65% of its $10,000 target from Bitcoin donations in only one day.

Do you think the likes of Brock Pierce and other crypto billionaires in Puerto Rico have a duty to contribute to relief efforts on the island following the recent earthquakes? Let us know in the comments below.

Images via Shutterstock

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Puerto Rico Suffers 2 Earthquakes, Will its Bitcoin Billionaires Help Out? - Bitcoinist

While much of the world may have been tuned into the 77th Golden Globes awards to see who took home the award for Best Motion Picture, Bitcoin investors couldnt take their eyes off the weekly candle close last night.

The first-ever cryptocurrency has been stuck in a downtrend for months, and last nights close was bulls best opportunity to close out the week on a bullish note. But instead, Bitcoin closed its sixth consecutive week in a row under the critical resistance level of $7,500.

Bitcoin price has been falling since June, with very few signs that the leading crypto asset by market cap is ready to reverse. After a third retest of lows was swiftly defended by bulls earlier in the week, it gave hope that the weekly close last night could be the first in over a month to close above the key level of $7,500.

Related Reading | The Most Lucrative Signal in Bitcoin History Just Flipped Buy

However, a short-lived selloff kept the price at bay leading up to the important weekly close, falling short of $7,500 for the sixth straight week in a row.

Six weeks of trading below a resistance level with multiple failed attempts doesnt appear to be very bullish for Bitcoin and the crypto market, however, altcoins have been breaking out today, suggesting that BTC could soon follow.

Bitcoin is currently trading at around $7,530, trying to make its way through the overhead resistance and break higher.

While things do look bleak for bulls, repeatedly failing to break and close above $7,500 on weekly timeframes, the asset is currently trading above that price, and after sending those six weeks below $7,500 building a base, support could end up being stronger than the resistance, and one side will eventually give way causing this weeks close to be lucky number 7.

Former IMF economist Mark Dow had been advocating for crypto traders to wait for such a base to be built much like the base it built back when it bottomed at the bear market low trading range around $3,000. At that time, many tests of support held up, and eventually, resistance failed, causing the asset to skyrocket.

If Bitcoin is once again building a base and readying a breakout, the bull run may be back on. The last time this occurred, Bitcoin rallied from $3,000 to $14,000, bringing investors a 350% return before falling back to current prices.

Related Reading | Crypto Comeback: After Two Years of Bear Market, Bitcoin And Ethereum May Be Ready To Rebound

Should a similar breakout and rally follow, Bitcoin could set its sights on setting a new local high. If its able to take out its previous all-time high at $20,000, a new bull market will be confirmed and serious FOMO should boost the crypto market to new heights once again.

Original post:
Lucky Number 7? Bitcoin Closes Six Consecutive Weeks Below $7,500 - newsBTC

/latest/2020/01/bitcoin-surging-toward-8000-as-speculators-bet-on-it-becoming-a-safe-haven-asset/

Bitcoin Surging Toward $8,000 As Speculators Bet on It Becoming a Safe Haven Asset

As the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas Day today (January 7), Bitcoin HODLers around the world are celebrating the fact that Bitcoin is now trading at the highest level it has been since 20 November 2019.

According to data from CryptoCompare, Bitcoin started the year at $7,174. Since then, it has gone up almost 10% since it is currently (08:40 on 7 January 2020) trading at $7,888, up 4.65% in the past 24-hour period:

This surge toward the $8K level has reversed the losses suffered during the past seven weeks, and it has brought the Bitcoin price to where it was on 20 November 2019, as you can see in the three-month price chart shown below:

Within the crypto community, there are three competing explanations for the great start to the year that Bitcoin has enjoyed:

One man who remains highly skeptical of Bitcoin despite Bitcoin outperforming gold in the first week of 2020 (and more importantly despite admitting that Bitcoin was the top performing asset of the previous decade) is gold bug Peter Schiff, who isthe CEO of Euro Pacific Capital and Chairman of SchiffGold.

Here is what Schiff said on January 2:

This is what he had to say on January 3:

And finally, this is Schiff tweeting about Bitcoin yesterday:

Schiff has undoubtedly said many silly things about Bitcoin in the past, but it is hard to argue with his assertion that Bitcoin is "being bought by speculators betting that investors will buy it as a safe haven."

Here is what highly-respected macroeconomist and crypto analyst/traderAlex Krger says about this comment by Schiff:

Featured Image Credit: Photo via Pexels.com

Continued here:
Bitcoin Surging Toward $8,000 As Speculators Bet on It Becoming a Safe Haven Asset - CryptoGlobe

Last year was pretty dismal for the bitcoin and crypto industry in India. Regulatory procrastination and a negative outlook from politicians have stifled the ecosystem and innovation, will 2020 be any better?

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been relentless with its disapproval towards bitcoin and the crypto industry over the past couple of years. Bankers and politicians remained resolute in their stance on digital assets during 2019 as Supreme Court hearings got left on the back burner.

According to reports, Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, remained cautious on cryptocurrencies in her speech at the weekend. Her primary concern at the moment is one shared by many other nations Facebooks Libra.

She told reporters than many countries are cautions about rushing into this, and that the term stable currency or stablecoin should not be used to describe it.

Last year, the social media giant kicked the digital hornets nest with its plans for financial domination through its own crypto coin. Central banks across the globe were worried, and rightly so.

Reports last month indicate that the RBI may be joining the growing crowd of central banks researching their own digital currencies (CBDCs), in response to the threat of Facebook domination. China is already leading this particular race.

In December, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das stated that the bank was very clearly against any private digital currency. Bitcoin, however, is the complete opposite, but it is unlikely that Indias central bank will change its stance on that anytime soon either.

There was a little light at the end of the 2019 tunnel when Binance acquired Indian bitcoin exchange WazirX, with plans to create a fiat onramp for the Rupee.

Company chief executive, Nischal Shetty, said that a CBDC would be of major benefit to Indians, and open the doors for further innovation in the crypto asset space. In an interview with bitcoin.com, he was asked about the RBI ban, Supreme Court hearing, and possibility of it being lifted;

I really hope they do. I think well see some solid progress with the case in 2020 as the matter has reached a stage where its being heard in court.

As it stands, proceedings are set to resume sometime later this month when the hearing may finally take place.

Shetty stated that the government has taken its time over a cryptocurrency bill, as they want to understand the technology beforehand. He added,

Were confident that our leaders will engage with the crypto industry of India and then progress in the right direction.

He continued to assert that the state will eventually turn pro-crypto but that may not happen for another year or two. India will wait and watch other progressive nations before making any regulatory moves in crypto.

For 2020, he predicted more competition among exchanges, lawmakers and politicians taking positive steps towards understanding the industry with a view towards a regulatory framework, and a massive growth in DeFi markets.

What will 2020 have in store for bitcoin in India? Add your thoughts below.

Images via Shutterstock

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What's Going to Happen with Bitcoin in India in 2020? - Bitcoinist