Bitcoin set to ‘soar in value’ this year, says deVere chief – International Investment

Bitcoin - already one of the year's best-performing assets - is likely to "soar in value" this year with central banks' money printing agendas and a spike in public interest, the CEO of deVere Group said this morning.

The bullish comment from deVere Group's founder, Nigel Green, follows a wider positive investor sentiment regarding the leading cryptocurrency. This week Bloomberg analysts said in a note that the digital currency could jump to $20,000 in 2020.

Green affirmed: "Bitcoin price is already up around 30% from the beginning of the year, putting it on track to be one of the year's best-performing assets.

Bitcoin price is already up around 30% from the beginning of the year, putting it on track to be one of the year's best-performing assets."

"I believe it would be surprising not to see Bitcoin soar in value further throughout this year for three key reasons.

Bitcoin underwent a scheduled "halving" last month, which led to an itial fall against the dollar. But the world's most popular cryptocurrency has since recovered its losses.

"First, the massive money-printing, or quantitative easing, programmes currently being rolled-out by central banks around the globe devalue traditional currencies and provide a boost for other recognised stores of value, such as Bitcoin and gold.

"Second, the global health emergency has been accelerating the demand and need for digital money.

"And third is that it is a legitimate hedge against longer-term inflation concerns."

He continued: "Globally, we have seen client interest in Bitcoin, and other cryptocurrencies such as ETH, spike since the beginning of May.

"There's been about a 25% month-on-month jump in enquiries about deVere Crypto, our crypto exchange app.

"We largely attribute this to the pandemic collectively focusing minds on readjusting to a new world.

"Of course, our lives in this new era, which was on its way but which has been ushered in faster due to Covid-19, will be increasingly tech-driven. This includes our financial lives, meaning digital currencies such as Bitcoin, amongst other fintech [financial technology] solutions."

Geopolitical risks, including the heightening of U.S.-China tensions, Brexit and the U.S. presidential election can also be "expected to serve as a boost for Bitcoin" says Mr Green.

"Investors will increase exposure to decentralized, non-sovereign, secure digital currencies, such as Bitcoin, to help shield them from the potential issues in traditional markets."

The deVere CEO concluded: "2020's global public health emergency, the record-shattering policies implemented to soothe economic downturns, political uncertainty and social unrest can be expected to drive the price of Bitcoin upwards."

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Bitcoin set to 'soar in value' this year, says deVere chief - International Investment

India is trading more Bitcoin now than ever – Decrypt

Bitcoin trading in India is on fire.

Over the past month, data from analytics site Useful Tulips indicates that more Bitcoin has changed hands on local, peer-to-peer exchanges in India than ever before. Whats more, relative newcomer Paxful has recently overtaken LocalBitcoins as the exchange of choice in India.

Bitcoin trading on Paxful within India surged to $1.48 million on May 10, while competing exchange LocalBitcoins saw more than $1.25 million in BTC traded. The combined total, roughly $2.7 million, comes close to matching the all-time high of $2.9 million in December 2017. Despite the spike in late December, however, the growth in BTC volume on P2P exchanges in May is so far unmatched, as data from Useful Tulips demonstrates a clear upward trend.

The Indian market holds great potential and importance for the future of the crypto economy, Paxful CEO Ray Youssef said in a statement. People in India are betting big on Bitcoin, which is presenting an opportunity for greater financial returns. We are actively focusing our efforts on bringing cryptocurrency to the masses across the nation to aid in the eradication of poverty, boost economies and create jobs.

Up until early March of this year, India had a ban in place that disallowed banks from doing business with Bitcoin and cryptocurrency firms. The nations Supreme Court struck down the ban after deeming it unconstitutional, though this was only a few weeks before the coronavirus took its hold on much of the globe and the initiation of several national lockdowns occurred.

During this time, Bitcoinwhich had been trading above the $10K mark during the previous monthlost more than half its value within just weeks and fell into the $4,000 range. That could explain the dip in Bitcoin trading at the time. Volume dropped to a yearly low of around $1.5 million at the end of March in India, which falls in line with worldwide trends.

Besides the changes in the way local law treats crypto, the current state of Indias economy may also have something to do with the growth of BTC trading in the region. Indias national currency, the rupee, currently suffers from a yearly inflation rate of 9.66%, which is considerably greater than the rupees average annual inflation rate of around 4.72%. By comparison, the inflation rate of the US dollar is 2.31%.

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India is trading more Bitcoin now than ever - Decrypt

Bitcoin Could Be About To Surge To $100,000 After Stock-To-Flow Update Revealed – Forbes

Bitcoin has been struggling to break over the $10,000 per bitcoin level since its highly-anticipated supply squeezebut that could be about to change.

The bitcoin price, up around 30% since the beginning of the year and on track to be one of the year's best performing assets, has swung wildly over the last few months.

Now, one of the most closely-watched bitcoin analysts, an anonymous strategist who claims to be a member of an institutional investment team that manages around $100 billion in assets, has released an update to his so-called stock-to-flow model, suggesting the bitcoin price could be about to surge to around $100,000.

The bitcoin price has bounced around $10,000 over recent months but bitcoin has failed to hold onto ... [+] its gains.

Widely-respected bitcoin analyst PlanB, who created the stock-to-flow bitcoin pricing model, revealed a chart update last night.

The update, which has been expected since bitcoin's third supply halving last month, is thought to signal the beginning of the next 18-month bitcoin price cycle that puts bitcoin at almost $100,000 before 2021.

The stock-to-flow pricing model calculates a ratio based on the existing supply of an asset against how much is entering circulation.

Commodities such as goldwith the largest stock-to-flow ratio of 62, meaning it would take 62 years of gold production to get the current gold stockhave a higher stock-to-flow ratio and are valued by investors for their scarcity.

Silver has a stock-to-flow ratio of 22 years for its production to reach the current silver stock.

Bitcoin's stock-to-flow ratio is now 50 following bitcoin's third halving last month, which saw the number of the number of bitcoin rewarded to those that maintain the bitcoin network, called miners, cut by halfdropping from 12.5 bitcoin to 6.25.

"Somewhere between a year and a year-and-a-half after the [May 2020] halving, so say before Christmas 2021, bitcoin should be, or should have been above $100,000," PlanB said late last year.

"If thats not the case, then all bets are off and [the model] probably breaks down. I dont expect that to happen."

The bitcoin analyst known as PlanB revealed an update to the bitcoin stock-to-flow model last ... [+] night--suggesting bitcoin could be about to soar toward $100,000 per bitcoin in the next few months.

Others have also suggested a "fourth crypto cycle" could be on the horizonsignalling the end of the third crypto winter and kicking of a cycle that begins with the bitcoin price rising.

"The 2017 cycle spawned dozens of exciting projects in a wide range of areas including payments, finance, games, infrastructure, and web apps," Andreessen Horowitz partners Chris Dixon and Eddy Lazzarin wrote in a blog post last month.

"Many of these projects are launching in the near future, possibly driving a fourth crypto cycle."

Elsewhere, co-founder of social news aggregation site Reddit and early investor in major U.S. bitcoin and crypto exchange Coinbase, Alexis Ohanian, has said he sees the green shoots of a new bitcoin and "crypto spring."

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Bitcoin Could Be About To Surge To $100,000 After Stock-To-Flow Update Revealed - Forbes

Stocks, Safe Havens and Hodlers 5 Things to Eye in Bitcoin This Week – Cointelegraph

Bitcoin (BTC) is going into the third week of its new halving cycle just $550 away from five figures but what could really impact price this week?

Cointelegraph takes a look at the main factors that could help or hinder the biggest cryptocurrency over the coming days.

Traditional markets are off to a rocky start this week. Protests in the United States have coupled with President Donald Trumps softer response to China over Hong Kong to worry already panicky stocks.

As a result of this uncertainty, safe-haven assets are rallying. Gold is up around $50 since May 27, at press time trading at $1,743 near its highs from 2011.

Oil is also falling in the U.S., something which could benefit local cryptocurrency miners, Andreas Antonopoulos has argued.

As Cointelegraph reported, Bitcoin has shown increased decoupling from macro movements in recent weeks, and the potential to follow gold remains.

Data currently shows that Bitcoin has delivered returns of nearly 50% in Q2 alone.

Bitcoin quarterly returns. Source: Skew

All things being equal, however, Bitcoin still faces a downward difficulty adjustment in three days time.

One of the Bitcoin networks most important features, automatic adjustments ensure miners remain incentivized to participate in transaction validation.

As noted previously, Bitcoin has not had two back-to-back downward adjustments since the bottom of its bear market in December 2018.

Bitcoin hash rate estimate 1-month chart. Source: Blockchain

Unlike difficulty, the hash rate is slowly creeping up this week, reaching roughly 95 quintillion hashes per second on Monday. The adjustment should further this upward trend in the short term.

Last months halving has cut miners BTC revenue by 50%, but outflows accelerated after the event. For a time, miners were selling more BTC than they earned.

That trend has died down over the past ten days, and outflows have reduced dramatically.

Bitcoin mining pool outflows 1-year chart. Source: CryptoQuant

The reduced desire to sell BTC holdings coincides with consumer activity hodlers have withdrawn more from exchanges than at any time since the December 2018 lows.

In addition, 60% of the Bitcoin supply has now not moved in a year or more something true for the past five months, despite considerable price fluctuations.

Whether exchange withdrawals are an indication that investors expect a bull run is currently a topic of debate in analytic circles.

CME Bitcoin futures look set to open just a short space away from where they closed on Friday.

This reduced gap in the market leaves less chance of a sudden move up or down by Bitcoin to fill it.

As Cointelegraph has often noted, BTC/USD tends to make up for gaps left in futures. The past two weeks were no exception, with large and small gaps getting filled within days of opening.

CME Bitcoin futures with a gap at $9,510. Source: TradingView

At the focal price point of $9,500, Bitcoin is behaving exactly as forecast, according to the creator of the historically very accurate stock-to-flow price model.

As Cointelegraph reported, June 1 produced a crucial red dot on the model, which has previously signaled the start of a bullish phase.

For the stock to flow, each bullish phase ups the price by an order of magnitude this time around, highs by 2024 could reach $576,000 or more.

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Stocks, Safe Havens and Hodlers 5 Things to Eye in Bitcoin This Week - Cointelegraph

Following The Third Halving in Its History, Is Bitcoin in for Yet Another Wild Ride? – Digital Transactions

Three weeks after an automated slashing of the reward cryptocurrency miners collect to process Bitcoin transactions, average prices are up while transaction fees have slipped. With respect to the price of Bitcoin, at least, this result follows an historical pattern.

On May 10, the Bitcoin miners reward was cut in half from 12.5 Bitcoin to 6.25, the third such halving event in the digital currencys history. Since then, Bitcoins average daily price has jumped 10%, from $8,697 to $9,564 at this writing on June 1. If history is any guide, holders may be in for a sweet ridefor a while. In the year following the last halving, which occurred July 9, 2016, Bitcoins price surged fully 384%, according to data compiled by Coindesk, a newsletter that follows cryptocurrency.

The impact on the median transaction fee earned by miners has been more modest. This is the fee users of Bitcoin pay to get transactions entered on the Bitcoin blockchain. This levy has dropped 30 cents, to 85 cents, since May 10, according to data from BitInfoCharts.com. In the same time after the 2016 halving, the fee actually climbed, from 8 cents to 12 cents, BitInfoCharts data indicate.

The halving event is programmed into Bitcoins code and occurs every 210,000 blocks, or roughly every four years. The object is to help manage the flow of new Bitcoin into circulation by reducing the miners reward. The total supply of Bitcoin is programmed to cap at 21 million.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results, but previous halvings have led to big run-ups in Bitcoins price, which has proven to be notoriously volatile. Besides the one-year increase following the 2016 event, the first halving, in November 2012, was followed by an 8,000% surge over the following 12 months to more than $1,000, according to Coindesks data. Within a few weeks, however, the price began to slump, and by spring 2014 it had been cut by more than half. Similarly, the wild runup in 2017 led to a crash that unfolded pretty much throughout 2018.

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Following The Third Halving in Its History, Is Bitcoin in for Yet Another Wild Ride? - Digital Transactions

Samsung Doubles Down On Bitcoin And CryptoGemini Exchange Integration Revealed – Forbes

Samsung, the South Korean smartphone giant that has been experimenting with bitcoin for some time, is doubling down on cryptocurrency.

Samsung's Blockchain Wallet will add support for users of U.S. bitcoin and crypto exchange Gemini in North America, it has been revealed.

Users of Samsung's popular Note and Galaxy phone lines in North America will be able to link their ... [+] Samsung Blockchain Wallet to their Gemini bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange account.

Users of Samsung's crypto wallet, which allows self custody of bitcoin and crypto directly on newer Samsung Galaxy models, will be able to buy and sell bitcoin and a small selection of other cryptocurrencies via the Gemini exchange.

They will also be able to view Gemini account balances and transfer their bitcoin and crypto into a higher security cold storage account.

"Crypto is not just a technology, it is a movement," said Gemini chief executive Tyler Winklevoss, who, along with his twin brother, has campaigned for Wall Street adoption of bitcoin and crypto.

"We are proud to be working with Samsung to bring cryptos promise of greater choice, independence, and opportunity to more individuals around the world."

Samsung has become an early leader in smartphone bitcoin and cryptocurrency support after introducing the Blockchain Keystore last yeara move that could boost ailing bitcoin and crypto adoption.

Many in the bitcoin and cryptocurrency community see stalled user adoption as one of the biggest hurdles the nascent technology is currently facing.

Clunkey exchanges and clumsy customer support are common complaints made against bitcoin and crypto services, with many potential users lacking the required technology confidence to buy and store cryptocurrencies themselves.

The bitcoin price has climbed over the last year but remains highly volatile and has failed to ... [+] return to its all-time highs of around $20,000 per bitcoin set in late 2017.

"For millions of Samsung users across the U.S. and Canada, being able to store crypto directly on their phones lowers another barrier to entry," said Jeanine Hightower-Sellitto, managing director of operations at Gemini.

The partnership comes as bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchanges around the world see user registrations and trading volumes soar amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"Customer demand for regulated crypto products has remained strong across the investing spectrum, from retail to institutional investors, throughout the pandemic and we expect that demand to continue to grow," Hightower-Sellitto added.

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Samsung Doubles Down On Bitcoin And CryptoGemini Exchange Integration Revealed - Forbes

This Crypto Could Blow Bitcoin Out Of The Water This Year After 1,000% GainHeres Why – Forbes

Bitcoin, the world's most valuable cryptocurrency by a wide margin, is treading water after rallying hard since its March crash.

The bitcoin price failed to breach $10,000 last week and has been trending downward sincedespite a raft of bullish signals.

Now, as a number of smaller cryptocurrencies and bitcoin rivals make big gains, one tiny token has soared over 1,000% since its March lows.

As the bitcoin price treads water, a number of smaller cryptocurrencies have been outpacing bitcoin ... [+] over recent weeks.

Theta, the primary cryptocurrency token of the Theta decentralized video streaming network, has added over 1,000% to its price since the bitcoin and wider cryptocurrency market crashed in March, according to CoinMarketCap data.

Theta's massive gains so far this year eclipse bitcoin's 120% rally since the March coronavirus-induced crasheven as bitcoin looks on track to be one of the best bets of 2020.

The theta mega-rally comes as rumors swirl the San Francisco-based Theta Labs is poised to announce a partnership with YouTube-owner Google on Wednesday, May 27.

Theta Labs did not respond to a request for comment.

The Theta Network bills itself as a "decentralized streaming video protocol" powered by bitcoin's blockchain technology and is designed to give "users the opportunity to contribute their excess bandwidth and computing resources in exchange for token rewards."

A partnership with search giant Google, which recently launched the cloud gaming service Stadia, could be seen as an endorsement of Theta Labs' decentralized video infrastructure and business model.

Earlier this month, it was revealed Theta.tv will be included on future Samsung Galaxy phones with the software expected to be added to some 75 million existing devices.

"Our groundbreaking approach to streaming is a perfect fit for Samsungs worldwide user base," Theta Labs co-founder and chief executive Mitch Liu said at the time.

"Its a huge step toward our goal of making Theta a global infrastructure for video content and data delivery."

The theta token has surged an eye-watering 306% in the last month, eclipsing bitcoin's 17% gains.

Meanwhile, the world's largest bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange Binance has revealed it will support Thetas upcoming mainnet upgrade. Binance also announced today it will launch a theta-U.S. dollar perpetual trading contract with up to 50-times leverage.

Similar bitcoin and crypto exchange announcements of support have boosted smaller cryptocurrencies in recent weeks, indicating the market is desperate for clearer direction.

Some bitcoin and cryptocurrency watchers have suggested a broader rally in small capitalization cryptocurrencies, including the likes of theta, could mean these tokens are "decoupling from the rest of the market."

"The small caps index is now up more than 15% so far in May, while the other indexes are struggling to even be in the green this month," analysts at London-based bitcoin and crypto exchange Luno wrote in a weekly update.

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This Crypto Could Blow Bitcoin Out Of The Water This Year After 1,000% GainHeres Why - Forbes

Here’s What Comes Next After Bitcoin Closed Above Yearly Resistance at $9500 – Bitcoinist

Bitcoin has been seeing some turbulence as it consolidates within the mid-$9,000 region. Overnight the crypto plunged to lows of $9,300 before posting a sharp rebound that led it up to highs of over $9,600.

This volatility likely came about, in part, due to the cryptocurrencys monthly close yesterday evening.

Previously, BTC was unable to close its monthly candle above $9,500 on multiple occasions throughout the past several months.

Yesterday, buyers were able to successfully surmount this level, now opening the gates for BTC to see further upside.

One analyst is noting that Bitcoin isnt in the clear yet, as there is still one other key resistance level that must be broken for it to see any further upside.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading up nominally at its current price of $9,560. This marks a notable rebound from daily lows of $9,300 that were set overnight.

The cryptocurrency saw some turbulence yesterday afternoon, which is largely rooted in the importance of its weekly and monthly close that was posted yesterday.

Prior to midnight GMT time, sellers catalyzed an influx of selling pressure that led the crypto to lows of $9,300.

Buyers supported this level on multiple occasions, working hard to defend against a breakdown.

The defense of this level was successful, as buyers subsequently sparked a sharp rally that led Bitcoin to over $9,500 just prior to the candles closing.

This last-minute boost significantly bolstered BTCs technical outlook, as it shows that it has firmly reclaimed its position within the $9,000 region.

As for where Bitcoin might go next after posting this bullish close, one analyst is setting his sights on $10,170.

He notes that this level is important because closing above it would mark a higher high on BTCs recent uptrend.

BTC Monthly Close: Great month for Bitcoin, as it broke above previous resistance and while this would typically be bullish this happened in Jan followed by two-month downtrend. Want to see buyers continue to push above $10,173 on a weekly close for a higher-high on the trend, he explained.

Image Courtesy of Josh Rager

Time will tell as to whether or not Bitcoin will be able to support itself above this key resistance level, but it is likely that its next reaction to $10,000 will be quite telling.

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Here's What Comes Next After Bitcoin Closed Above Yearly Resistance at $9500 - Bitcoinist

J.P. MorganBitcoins Biggest EnemySuddenly Appears To Be Going All In On Crypto – Forbes

J.P. Morgan, the largest U.S. bank by assets, has been waging a war of words with bitcoin and cryptocurrency for years.

The bitcoin price has swung wildly since J.P. Morgan chief executive Jamie Dimon called bitcoin a "fraud" in September 2017rising to around $20,000 per bitcoin before crashing to under $4,000 (twice).

Now, J.P. Morgan's turbulent relationship with bitcoin appears to be rapidly softening, after the bank added its first crypto exchange customers and Dimon reportedly hosted secret meetings with the boss of major bitcoin and crypto exchange, Coinbase.

J.P. Morgan chief executive Jamie Dimon has previously criticized bitcoin but the bank says it has ... [+] always "believed in the potential of blockchain technology."

Earlier this month, J.P. Morgan signed Coinbase and rival bitcoin and crypto exchange Gemini after a lengthy vetting period, it was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

J.P. Morgan approved the two bitcoin exchanges' accounts last month and is already processing transactionspotentially signalling the end of the crypto industry's banking woes.

The bitcoin and cryptocurrency community has complained for years that banks including J.P. Morgan have denied them services and blocked accounts that dealt with crypto businesses.

Meanwhile, it has emerged Jamie Dimon has been hosting secret meetings with Coinbase chief executive Brian Armstrong since 2018, author Jeff Roberts revealed in his book, Kings of Crypto.

"Ironically, Brian Armstrong and Jamie Dimon of J.P. Morganwho was the biggest enemy of bitcoin and has pissed on it for yearsit turns out they were having secret meetings in 2018 at J.P. Morgans headquarters," Roberts told Laura Shin's Unchained podcast while promoting the book, which charts Coinbases rise to the top of the crypto industry.

However, J.P. Morgan's interest in cryptocurrencies might not extend all the way to bitcoin quite yet.

"We are supportive of cryptocurrencies as long as they are properly controlled and regulated," Umar Farooq, JP Morgan's head of digital treasury services and blockchain, said back in 2017.

J.P. Morgan launched its own answer to bitcoin last year, JPM Coin. Unlike bitcoin, JPM Coin is pegged to the dollar and aimed at speeding up and reducing the costs of global payments.

The bitcoin price has swung from around highs of $14,000 per bitcoin to under $4,000 over the last ... [+] year--though bitcoin now be on course to be one of the best bets of 2020.

Meanwhile, some have accused Coinbase's Armstrong as being "skeptical" of bitcoin while working to promote other blockchain networks and cryptocurrencies such as ethereum.

"I'm sure he would deny it, but it's interesting to me that the CEO of the world's most prominent bitcoin-related company seems so skeptical of bitcoin," said Bloomberg editor and analyst Joe Weisenthal, commenting on a Twitter thread by Armstrong suggesting it might not be bitcoin that pushes the cryptocurrency ecosystem into the mainstream.

Despite J.P. Morgan's softening attitude toward bitcoin and crypto, the nascent technology is still fighting an uphill battle.

Earlier this year, Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin warned "significant" new bitcoin and cryptocurrency regulations are on their way, Minneapolis Federal Reserve president Neel Kashkari branded cryptocurrencies "a giant garbage dumpster," and the Department of Justice called bitcoin mixing "a crime."

Just this week, Goldman Sachs listed five reasons that "cryptocurrencies including bitcoin are not an asset class" in a much-hyped but ultimately disappointing presentation titled "U.S. Economic Outlook and Implications of Current Policies for Inflation, Gold and Bitcoin."

Ernest Hemingway described going bankrupt as "gradually and then suddenly"Wall Street's adoption of bitcoin and cryptocurrency could be happening the same way.

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J.P. MorganBitcoins Biggest EnemySuddenly Appears To Be Going All In On Crypto - Forbes

Bitcoin Rising, Satoshi Discoveries, & Google Enters the Race: Bad Crypto News of the Week – Cointelegraph

Its been a strange week for BTC as we move forward in our new mining rewards era. The price ends the week down but a late rally has pushed it back over $9,000. Technical analysts expect Bitcoin to continue rising based on the liquidation range of short positions, a discussion of cryptocurrency in Goldman Sachss client call, and a lack of funding in the futures market. On the other hand, if ratings agency Weiss is right, more than 21 million Bitcoins may now be in circulation. The agency, known for controversial opinions, blames leverage in agencies.

The entry of Google into the blockchain space might help soak up some that extra supply though, if it exists. Blockchain company Theta Labs has partnered withGoogle Cloud to let users deploy and run nodes. Google Cloud will also act as a validator serving Europe.On the other hand, Googles Chrome is facing strong competition from crypto-powered Brave. The browser now offers video calls, even as the Telegram messaging service seals its departure from the Telegram Open Network. TON will now stand for The Open Network.

While Google prepares to validate, other Bitcoin owners have been in-validating. Theyve used 145 addresses to call Satoshi pretender Craig Wright a liar and a fraud. Wright had claimed that he controlled the addresses. Maybe they should have just asked Wright if he owned a Mac. Laszlo Hanyecz, the Bitcoin pizza guy who worked with Satoshi to develop Bitcoin, has said that Satoshi only worked on Windows. Kenneth Blanco, Director of the United States Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), warned in an interview with Chainalysis against bad actors as well as rogue nations hijacking blockchain technology.

A crypto-enthusiast could soon control the Fed though. President Trumps nominee for the US Federal Reserve board of governors, Judy Shelton, has talked of a return to a gold standard, with a side of cryptocurrency. Other national banks appear to be moving the same way. The Bank of Lithuania has completed research into its blockchain project, LBChain. Antigua and Barbudas House of Representatives has passed a bill that will start to make the region a friendly place for digital assets. China, too, looks set to promote its DCEP digital currency, which is backed by the countrys central bank, as a rival to the US dollar.

Private industry also continues to warm to the blockchain. Household goods manufacturer LG has joined the governing council of Hedera Hashgraph. Hedera wants to build an enterprise-grade blockchain platform to benefit businesses and consumers. Coinbase is buying brokerage Tagomi in order to cash in on the rise of hedge fund and macro investors in cryptocurrencies. In the world of online entertainment, Dapper Labs, the maker of CryptoKitties, is swapping cute digital cats for collectible digital basketball cards in a deal with the NBA. PornVisory wants to give users tokens for watching porn(!) And Minecraft is giving cryptocurrency a new kind of mining. The EnjinCraft plugin now lets players integrate blockchain-based Minecraft assets. Thats a whole different kind of mining reward.

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Joel Comm is an internet pioneer, New York Times best-selling author, futurist speaker and co-host of The Bad Crypto Podcast. Thats a fancy way of saying he writes words, says things and loves to play with cryptos.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

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Bitcoin Rising, Satoshi Discoveries, & Google Enters the Race: Bad Crypto News of the Week - Cointelegraph