Alex Liegl, CEO of Layer1 Technologies, a US-based Bitcoin (BTC) mining company that recently announced its intention to repatriate 30% of Bitcoins hash power by 2022, has described Texas as offering miners the cheapest power in the world, at scale.

Less than two weeks ago, Layer1 commenced mining operations at its facility in western Texas, bringing multiple 2.5-megawatt container rigs online.

Texas is the largest producer of wind power in the United States, outproducing the second, third, and fourth-largest producers combined. If Texas were an independent nation, it would be the worlds fifth-largest generator of wind power worldwide.

Despite the cheap electricity, many miners have avoided the Lone Star state due to its heat with temperatures regularly exceeding 90 degrees for half of each year. To combat the heat, Layer1s mining apparatus comprises 20-by-8 shipping containers filled with miners that are suspended in a non-conductive liquid.

If they were air-cooled, the processors would burn up," Liegl told Forbes.

During October 2019, Layer1 raised $50 million for its venture capital investors, led by Peter Thiel alongside Digital Currency Group and Shasta Ventures.

The cash infusion funded Layer1s acquisition of an electric substation capable of generating 100 megawatts situated on 30 acres in western Texas and rose the companys value to $200 million.

Layer1 also plans to take advantage of skyrocketing summer electricity prices and selling its power to the grid, with Liegl stating: We can stabilize the grid by selling capacity for curtailment at the push of a button.

During January, Whinstone, a subsidiary of Frankfurt-based mining company Northern Bitcoin, announced that it had inked partnerships with Japanese internet provider GMO and financial services company SBI to process transactions at its forthcoming facility in Rockdale, Texas.

Whinstones facility is slated to launch with a capacity of 300 megawatts, with the company to expand to 1 gigawatt before 2021.

When constructed, Whinstones facility will have three times the capacity as Bitmains mining site in Rockdale which is held to currently comprise the largest mining operation in the world.

Read more:
Peter Thiel-Backed Startup Says Texas Is the Best Place to Mine Bitcoin - Cointelegraph

Cattle graze at the Buffalo Gap Wind Power project near Abilene, Texas.

To make money mining cryptocurrencies you need fast microprocessors and cheap electricity to run them. It also helps to be in a cold climate, because a roomful of computers puts out a lot of heat, which slows them down. Thats why the worlds biggest miners tend to set up shop in places like Iceland, with its plentiful geothermal power, or Washington state and upstate New York, which enjoy cheap hydropower.

Thats why it seemed odd that a crypto-mining startup called Layer1 Technologies chose as its center of operations an empty part of west Texas, which suffers through 90-degree-plus days for nearly half the year. Even in February it can get hot. I was shvitzing, says Alex Liegl, CEO of Layer1, who was out there recently 100 miles west of Midland setting up the companys first two bitcoin factories 20-by-8 shipping containers chock full of bitcoin miners. If they were air-cooled, the processors would burn up, he says. But theyre not. Instead, the mining machines are immersed in vats of liquid a non-conductive solution that keeps them cool.

Why go to the trouble? Because the real draw of west Texas is its cheap power. Were not talking about the Texas mainstays of oil and gas, but rather wind. Texas is by far the biggest wind power generator in the United States, with 29,000 megawatts installed and 7,600 mw under construction. If the Lone Star state were its own country it would rank fifth in wind power worldwide. When the gusts come at night the power generated is often so plentiful that grid operators have to pay customers to use it.

This gets crypto miners excited. Its the cheapest power in the world, at scale, says Liegl, 27, who co-founded Layer1 in 2017 years ago alongside Jakov Dolic, who previously cofounded whats said to be the worlds biggest bitcoin cloud mining service provider, called Genesis Mining.

Last year Layer1 received a $50 million cash infusion from its v.c. investors led by billionaire Peter Thiel, alongside Shasta Ventures and Digital Currency Group. That raise valued Layer1 at $200 million, and gave Liegl the capital he needed to acquire an entire electric substation capable of handling 100 megawatts, and 30 acres of land on which they aim to install a village consisting of dozens of their container-based bitcoin factories, each of which draws 2.5 mw (enough to power more than 1,000 homes).

Liegls strategy is to make Layer1 independent of any third-party suppliers or service providers. That way he can be certain that even when bitcoin prices surge and suppliers hike their prices, Layer1s economics will be insulated. Thats why the company is manufacturing its own processors and outfitting its own containers in factories in China and Croatia. We want to avoid all edge risks and be at the point where no one can take away our advantage.

Another startup: Peter Thiel and Elon Musk at the launch of PayPal, 2000.

Theres a power arbitrage opportunity as well. In the summertime when air conditioners in Dallas, Houston and Austin are going full tilt, Texas electricity prices sometimes surge to nosebleed levels. When that happens, Layer1 will be able to make more money by shutting off its mining machines and allowing the power to flow through its substation to the grid. We can stabilize the grid by selling capacity for curtailment at the push of a button, says Liegl.

Liegl grew up in Germany then studied math and philosophy at Stanford. He was first exposed to bitcoin during a stint working on the special investments desk at the Stanford Management Company (which boasts a $27 billion endowment). He describes Peter Thiel as an invigorating conversationalist, who traces the logic tree then proceeds and who sees bitcoin as a useful hedge against central bank policy missteps. Liegl credits Thiels investment as enabling Layer1 to gain a first mover advantage on their liquid cooled mining machines. Its easier to keep liquid chilled than air, and Liegl claims that Layer1 is able to overclock its processors, essentially running them at twice the rate they would be able to in an air-conditioned space. Whats more, the liquid keeps away the dust, which along with tumbleweeds is in no short supply.

Liegl is convinced that his machines will avoid obsolescence for at least 5 years because chip cycles have lengthened. Chips have little differentiation now; cheaper electricity and more efficient cooling is most important.

Layer1 wont say how many bitcoin it expects to mine in Texas this year. Liegl says theyre profitable enough that hes already thinking about pursuing an IPO in order to scale nonlinearly and potentially fill the vacant position of being the bitcoin mining company. He envisions in time having enough machines to consume 1 gigawatt of power.

And what happens if they run out of cheap wind? My personal dream is to own a nuclear plant in the future.

Continued here:
Why Is This Peter Thiel-Backed Startup Mining Bitcoin In West Texas? - Forbes

Research by Jesus Rodriguez and Lucas Outumuro ofIntoTheBlock

Derivatives are becoming an important element of the crypto markets. With more exchanges introducing products such as futures, perpetual swaps or options, the influence of derivatives in crypto markets has been increasing linearly. With the increase in derivative trading comes more data and with more data the opportunity of producing richer analytics that evaluates derivative products to extrapolate insights about the behavior of crypto assets.

From an analytical standpoint, derivatives are an incredible source of intelligence in capital markets and crypto is not an exception. For starters, derivatives are a clear indicator of the market sentiment in crypto assets as well as an accurate descriptor of behaviors such as hedging and speculation.

Additionally, derivatives are one of the elements that can contribute to the eventual rationality of crypto markets and become a key indicator for important aspects such as risk monitoring and portfolio management. In the current, still immature, state of the crypto markets, derivatives can have a disproportionate effect in price fluctuations which make it an even more interesting aspect to consider when studying crypto assets. If we look at this weeks movements in the Bitcoin price through the lens of derivative contracts, we can extrapolate some very interesting insights.

In the last seven days, Bitcoin has experienced a strong bearish momentum dropping over $10,000. The market behavior is attributed to macro-factors such as the impact of the coronavirus and its negative impact in global capital markets. However, crypto derivative contracts such as futures and perpetual swaps help paint a more complete narrative of the current market turmoil. Specifically, the indicators of volume, open interest, turnover ratio and basis are incredibly useful tools to comprehend Bitcoins recent price drop and what may follow.

Perpetual swaps, which essentially function as futures contracts without an expiration date, have quickly been adopted as the crypto space go-to derivative contract. During the recent price drop, Bitcoin perpetual swaps volume reached a yearly high on February 26, surpassing $14 billion traded within 24 hours. Although this is a very large number, it is important to take into account that volumes are a function of leverage. With the option to select leverage of 100x (and sometimes even higher) in popular derivatives exchanges, perpetual swaps volumes have quickly surpassed spot volumes for several exchanges like Binance and Huobi.

While price and volume are the two main metrics of which indicators are derived for traditional technical analysis, derivatives trading introduces a third elemental factor: open interest. Open interest is the total amount of outstanding investor positions, usually measured as the dollar amount of open contracts in the case of cryptocurrency derivatives. In other words, open interest reflects the cumulative amount of open positions, regardless of the direction of the trades (includes both long and short data).

For example, lets say a $100 million long contract is opened at a price of $10,000 with a liquidation price of $9,000 at this moment both volume and open interest would increase by $100 million. (To clarify the liquidation price is the level at which a leveraged position is closed due to unrealized losses reaching the level of initial capital used to fund the position.) Lets then say that the price reaches $9,000 this effectively closes this position, therefore reducing open interest by $100 million, while volume still increases reaching a total of $200 million.

Open interest for perpetual swaps so far this year peaked on February 18 at $2.26B, right when Bitcoin registered a lower high. In the last week, open interest fell to a low of $1.9B on February 27 as prices dropped, indicating that several long positions were either closed or, perhaps more likely, liquidated. Additionally, we can see a spike in open interest in February 24 and 25 preceding the large price decline on February 26 hinting to an increase in the amount of investor short trades at that moment.

Afterward, though, open interest dropped 12 percent pointing to some of these positions being closed, a sign of weakening bearish momentum.

Another helpful metric introduced in derivatives trading is the turnover ratio, which is the 24-hour volume for a contract over its open interest. In a nutshell, this represents the ratio of short-term speculation and hedging in a contract relative to its longer-term open positions. As one may expect, the turnover ratio tends to increase in volatile days as traders intend to profit from quick price movements. While volatility attracts trading volume, it usually also leads to decreases in open interest as a significant amount of positions get liquidated. Because of these relationships, the turnover ratio provides interesting insights on the expectations and reactions derivatives traders have towards volatility

This pattern can be seen on two of the most volatile days in the recent Bitcoin retracement, February 19 and February 26. As Bitcoin dropped over $700 on February 26 from its high point to its low, turnover quickly spiked to a monthly high. While the turnover ratio varies across exchanges it does tend to move in tandem, averaging around 5x for top exchanges versus a weekly average of 3.51. Following this drop, the turnover ratio stabilized but at a slightly higher average level indicating that Bitcoins recent relative volatility may resume.

A natural complement to the turnover ratio is the basis indicator. While the turnover ratio can offer insights into volatility, the basis provides a better understanding of price movements. Basis is the premium (or discount) between the spot price and the futures contract price.

Over time, this premium or discount decreases as futures price converge towards spot prices approaching the expiration date. In traditional markets, this concept is often tied with the concepts of contango and backwardation. In essence, a futures contract is considered to be in contango when its priced at a premium relative to current prices and in backwardation when its at a discount. Since basis is the index price minus the futures price, premiums are shown as negative values for basis and discounts as positive.

Going back to Bitcoins recent drop, basis increased significantly meaning that the premium decreased. However, futures contracts settling on March 27 still remain in contango, as seen in the graph below, which is a sign that expectations remain positive among derivatives traders.

While it may come as no surprise that the recent price decline is reflected on a decrease on the contract premium, it is worth noting out that the basis also appears to have a strong correlation with the price movement the day after. Throughout the month of February, the basis has had a remarkable 0.7 r-squared versus price movements on the following day, indicating the strong relationship between futures market activity and changes in spot prices.

Overall, these indicators demonstrate the prominence that derivatives markets are having in the crypto space. Analyzing the volume and open interest in the recent Bitcoin price drop point to the fact that several long positions got liquidated in the past few days, but is also showing a decrease in the bearish momentum. The subsequent spike in the turnover ratio demonstrates how derivatives traders looked for short-term hedging and speculating opportunities to take advantage of the recent volatility.

Lastly, changes in futures contracts premium, which can be seen in the basis, indicate how derivatives traders positioning end up reflecting in spot prices. Ultimately, these examples confirm the importance of derivatives indicators as effective complements to traditional technical analysis and blockchain-specific metrics.

Jesus Rodriguezis the CEO-CTO of IntoTheBlock, a market intelligence platform for crypto assets. He is a computer scientist, a speaker, and author on topics related to crypto and artificial intelligence.

Lucas Outumurois a Sr. Researcher at IntoTheBlock, a market intelligence platform for crypto assets. His areas of focus include crypto derivatives, DeFi and web 3.0 in general.

Bitcoin, currently ranked #1 by market cap, is down 0.8% over the past 24 hours. BTC has a market cap of $159B with a 24 hour volume of $44.59B.

Chart by CryptoCompare

Bitcoin is down 0.8% over the past 24 hours.

The rest is here:
Derivatives tell an interesting story of the recent Bitcoin price drop - CryptoSlate

Bitcoin is on the brink of a major correction this weekend after suffering an 18% slide over the past 15 days.

With it now trading below the daily 200 moving average downside price targets at both $8,450 and $7,830 have emerged.

The $7,830 level of support is intriguing as it is in confluence with the diagonal trendline dating back to the start of 2019 when Bitcoin was worth just $3,350.

A potential breakdown from that level would see Bitcoin trade outside the trendline for the first time in more than a year a clear indicator of a bear market.

However, its worth noting that Bitcoin has enjoyed a fruitful year to date with it still being 27% up since January 1.

As a result, several analysts remain bullish on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies especially in light of recent turmoil in traditional markets.

Bitcoin is often described as digital gold, with gold being a common hedge to global equity markets.

As coronavirus sweeps across the globe at an alarming rate, economic instability is to be expected, and could well drive the price of Bitcoin to the upside.

Another point from a bullish perspective is that Bitcoin will undergo a block reward halving in May an event that has historically been kind to cryptocurrency due to a reduction in supply.

Both bullish scenarios are based on macro time-frames, whereas immediate price action is signalling a move to the downside.

As previously noted, the key levels of support to monitor are $8,450 and $7,830, while a break above $8,830 would indicate a move back into the $9,000 region.

For more news, guides and cryptocurrency analysis, click here.

Current live BTC pricing information and interactive charts are available on our site 24 hours a day. The ticker bar at the bottom of every page on our site has the latest Bitcoin price. Pricing is also available in a range of different currency equivalents:

US Dollar BTCtoUSD

British Pound Sterling BTCtoGBP

Japanese Yen BTCtoJPY

Euro BTCtoEUR

Australian Dollar BTCtoAUD

Russian Rouble BTCtoRUB

In August 2008, the domain name bitcoin.orgwas registered. On 31st October 2008, a paper was published called Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System. This was authored by Satoshi Nakamoto, the inventor of Bitcoin. To date, no one knows who this person, or people, are.

The paper outlined a method of using a P2P network for electronic transactions without relying on trust. On January 3 2009, the Bitcoin network came into existence. Nakamoto mined block number 0 (or the genesis block), which had a reward of 50 Bitcoins.

If you want to find out more information about Bitcoin orcryptocurrenciesin general, then use the search box at the top of this page.Heres an article to get you started.

As with any investment, it pays to do some homework before you part with your money. The prices of cryptocurrencies are volatile and go up and down quickly. This page is not recommending a particular currency or whether you should invest or not.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author should not be considered as financial advice.

The post Bitcoin braced for brutal weekend as fear sets in appeared first on Coin Rivet.

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Bitcoin braced for brutal weekend as fear sets in - Yahoo Finance

U.S. stock markets fell for the sixth straight day on Thursday after the coronavirus epidemic sparked fears of a slowdown in the major economies of the world. Following this, investors rotated out of stocks to safer haven assets such as gold and U.S. Treasury bonds.

Bitcoin prices rose 1.4% to $8,902. The worlds favorite cryptocurrency rose along with other popular cryptocurrencies such as ether. While some might argue, like they have in the past, that Bitcoin is all but a fad, millennials have a different take on it when it comes to investing.

Approximately one-third of all the millennials in the country prefer to hold Bitcoin over shares. Further, a staggering 43% of U.S. millennials stated that they trusted cryptocurrency exchanges more than Americas stock exchanges.

A report by Edelman stated that approximately 25% if the countrys millennials who earn at least $100,000 in individual or joint income or own $50,000 worth of investable assets, admitted to either holding or using cryptocurrencies. Further, the report also stated that another 31% expressed their interest in using them.

Quite unsurprisingly, a shift toward alternative banking options such as PayPal (PYPL - Free Report) and Square Cash have also popularized Bitcoins. Tech-savvy millennials who find the digital way of doing business efficient and normal choose to take this route.

Bitcoin or Digital Gold?

It is a norm to save up for the future by investing in gold and bonds, a lesson that has been passed down through generations. However, technology and money have revolutionized the way investing is done in todays age. Millennials, who vouch for bitcoin democratization, also prefer the worlds numero uno cryptocurrency as a form of investment to save for the future.

A survey revealed that millennials are five times more likely than baby boomers to say that Bitcoin is the best way to save for the future. Such sentiments have only cemented the cryptocurrencys place as the digital gold of the modern world.

Transfer of Wealth from Baby Boomers to Millennials

Now that it has more or less been established that millennials prefer Bitcoins for long-term savings, an increase in millennials wealth should only prove to be a boon for Bitcoin. A generational shift of wealth from the baby boomers, currently the richest generation in Americas history, is set to take place through the 2020s.

After living the American dream and enjoying a long period of economic prosperity, baby boomers are all set to pass on the baton of wealth to the largest generational cohort currently in America, the millennials. It is estimated that millennials would collectively receive approximately $7 trillion from their elders till 2030. This is going to shape up the cryptocurrency space over the next decade, not to mention technology.

4 Stocks to Watch Out For

As with any revolutionary technology, the Lindy effect applies to Bitcoin as well. The Lindy effect is a theory, which states that the future life expectancy of certain non-perishable things such as technology or an idea is proportional to their current age. This means that for every additional period that the technology survives, it ensures a longer life expectancy. This only strengthens the argument that Bitcoins are the future.

In this context, we have selected four stocks that are expected to gain from these factors.

Microsoft Corporation(MSFT - Free Report) became the first major cloud hosting provider to integrate blockchain into its Azure cloud last year. Furthermore, the companys affinity for Bitcoin is a known fact. The tech giant, has in the past, also launched the decentralized identity system on Bitcoin.

The company carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and is based out of Redmond, WA. It has an expected earnings growth rate of 18.72% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has improved 5.4% over the past 60 days.

You can seethe complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM - Free Report) has been one of the early providers of the blockchain technology. Broad-based availability of the IBM Blockchain World Wire a blockchain driven global payments network has driven the companys performance in the past.

The company carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and is based out of Armonk, NY. It has an expected earnings growth rate of 4.30% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has improved 1.2% over the past 60 days.

PayPal Holdings, Inc.is another bitcoin-related stock that you must watch. The leader in digital payment process has done well recently to strike a deal with three major bitcoin payment processors, BitPay, GoCoin and Coinbase, to help PayPal merchants accept Bitcoin as a mode of payment.

The company carries a Zacks Rank #3 and is based out of San Jose, CA. It has an expected earnings growth rate of 11.35% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has improved 1.4% over the past 60 days.

Social media giant Facebook Inc. (FB - Free Report) is another stock worth taking note of. Facebook currently has a Zacks Rank #3. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its current-quarter earnings has increased 2.7% over the past 60 days. It has an expected earnings growth rate of 44.79% for the current year.

5 Stocks Set to Double

Each was hand-picked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2020. Each comes from a different sector and has unique qualities and catalysts that could fuel exceptional growth.

Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.

Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>

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Millennials to Drive Bitcoin Higher: 4 Stocks to Watch - Zacks.com

Ethereum-based DeFi applications are the trigger that is expected to drive the ETH price high up this year by many investors. This belief has not been changed even by the two consecutive hacks of the bZx dapp.

However, now the famous Bitcoin supporter and VC investor Anthony Pompliano, aka Pomp, says that dev teams prefer to build DeFi dapps on the Bitcoin ledger, rather than on Ethereum.

Pomp becameengaged in a discussion with the cryptocurrency educator and YouTuber Brad Laurie. The latter supports Ethereum as the basis for DeFi, calling ETH the tech backbone.

Must Read

Pompliano responds to that, saying that he has had four dev teams pitch him on different DeFi ideas to be implemented on the Bitcoinledger recently. In particular, he says:

Most of DeFi mechanisms are being built on top of Bitcoin.

To top it off, Pompliano says that Ethereum is not money.

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Bitcoin (BTC) is What DeFi Makers Want to Build on: Anthony Pompliano - U.Today

Bitcoin is currently recovering from the $8,512 weekly low against the US Dollar. However, BTC price is still facing many key hurdles near $9,000 and it could resume its decline.

This week, we saw a strong downward move in bitcoin below $9,000 and $8,800 against the US Dollar. BTC price even traded below the $8,680 support level and settled well below the 100 hourly simple moving average.

A new weekly low is formed near $8,512 and the price is currently correcting losses. It surpassed the $8,700 resistance level, and the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the downward move from the $9,281 high to $8,512 low.

On the upside, there are many resistances forming near the $9,000 and $9,200 levels. More importantly, there is likely a bearish flag forming with support near $8,735 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair.

Bitcoin Price

Bitcoin is currently struggling near the 50% Fib retracement level of the downward move from the $9,281 high to $8,512 low. The first key resistance is near the flag resistance at $9,000.

If the bulls gain strength above $9,000, the next important breakout zone is visible near the $9,200 level and the 100 hourly SMA. Therefore, the price must climb above the $9,000 and $9,200 levels to start a fresh increase in the coming sessions.

If bitcoin fails to correct above the $9,000 and $9,200 resistance levels, it is likely to resume its decline. An initial support is near the flag trend line at $8,735.

A successful break below the flag support could open the doors for a fresh decline below $8,700 and $8,600. In the mentioned case, the price could even decline below the $8,512 swing low.

The next major support and buy zone is near the $8,200 level (as discussed yesterday using the daily chart). In the medium term, bitcoin price is likely to bounce back as long as there is no daily close below $8,000.

Technical indicators:

Hourly MACD The MACD is slowly moving in the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) The RSI for BTC/USD is currently just below the 50 level.

Major Support Levels $8,735 followed by $8,500.

Major Resistance Levels $9,000, $9,200 and $9,280.

Read more from the original source:
Bitcoin is Recovering, But This Key Data Shows Bears Are Still Well in Control - newsBTC

The S&P 500 value has dipped over 10% in the past week, its highest weekly loss since the global financial crisis in 2008, raising huge concern across the financial world. Gold on the other hand is on a steady rise as an ounce of gold hit a nine-year high of $1,690 USD earlier in the week. While the former has presented unprecedented gains prior to the sharp fall over the week, the latter asset is continuing to make its case as the go-to store of value (SoV) for investors.

In any SoV discussion, Bitcoin (BTC) has become a common conversation and the recent volatile moves in BTCs market is a factor that a number of analysts are debating. After briefly dropping below the $8,500 USD, questions were raised on BTCs actual use as a store of value.

Over the past, three month, the world has been fighting off the Corona Virus epidemic that has affected financial markets in equal proportion as the S&P 500 witnessed its lowest fall since the GFC in 2008. The stock market falling has seen a number of investors looking at alternative assets across the board with money flowing into gold and commodity markets.

One market that has not enjoyed any capital bumps is BTCs market, which experienced over 10% in losses over the past week lower than the S&P 500. Is BTC losing its sense of a store of value?

Having lost close to $30 billion over the past week, is BTC volatile nature killing its prospects as a store of value? Probably not.

Well, BTC may be entering its first ever bearish global trend as the stock market and commodities market experience the first ever drawdown since the global recession. Well, it has not started off so brightly in the days following the spread of corona virus to a number of countries but the long term prospects of BTC look healthy to provide safety for investors in times of economic repression.

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Stocks Fall 10% In A Week As Global Recession Signals, Can Bitcoin (BTC) Hold As A Store Of Value (SoV)?

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In any SoV discussion, Bitcoin (BTC) has become a common conversation and the recent volatile moves in BTCs market is a factor that a number of analysts are debating. After briefly dropping below the $8,500 USD, questions were raised on BTCs actual use as a store of value.

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Lujan Odera

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Coingape

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Stocks Fall 10% In A Week As Global Recession Signals, Can Bitcoin (BTC) Hold As A Store Of Value (SoV)? - Coingape

There arent many rules at Noisebridge, the pioneering 10-year-old hackerspace in San Franciscos Mission District. The first one: Be excellent to each other. The second: If you let someone in who hasnt been there before, you have to give them the tour.

There is plenty to see. Spread out over the entire third floor of its Mission Street building, the space is a playground for creative makers. Theres a woodshop stocked with tools that smells sweetly of sawdust, a mini recording studio complete with guitars and keyboards, 3D printers, a laser cutter and a ceramic kiln. All of it is open to the public and available to use by anyone, free of charge.

I think this place is sort of perfect, says Noisebridge regular John Backus. Its a creative home for lots of people.

Its also in jeopardy.

Since 2017, Noisebridge has been the subject of a complaint with the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection for converting the space into a workshop without proper permitting. Violations included installation of a ventilation system and construction of walls and bathrooms without permits. According to members of the hackerspace, they now need to install a full sprinkler system on the buildings lower floors to be in compliance. A rough estimate prices those upgrades at $150,000.

In an email provided to The Chronicle, the buildings owners wrote that they are not interested in doing the construction: The requested upgrades likely go over 150K and wont even be the last of the citys requests.

The hackerspace also didnt have the funding for the project. It would have been a little more than our entire bank account, says Noisebridge treasurer Tyler Maran. We run entirely on month-to-month donations. Were not piling up cash over here.

The only option would be to pick up and move.

Then at 8:24 a.m. Thursday morning, Maran received an email that the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken had deposited $150,000 worth of bitcoin into Noisebridges account. The only acknowledgement of the donation was a tweet from Kraken about the sprinkler requirement: Sounds like a subtle way of saying ya'll neckbeards need a shower. Anyway, we got you. @noisebridge

Within the hacker community, Noisebridge is an icon. Its been on Mission since 2009, open to anyone who rings the doorbell and walks up the rainbow-painted stairs. Theres no entry fee or membership charge, no official leadership or management running the show. Its open daily from about 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and hosts regular events from classes on 3D printing to the SF Stupid Sh*t That No One Needs and Terrible Ideas Hackathon 7 (March 28). About 1,000 people pass through the space every week and around 600 donate monthly via Patreon or a cash box affixed to the wall.

It operates according to do-ocratic principles: If you want to do something paint a mural, put up a piece of art, build yourself a wooden storage locker because the metal ones are full youre free to go ahead, provided youre accountable to anyone impacted by the change and willing to talk about it. A set of shelves for hands-off works-in-progress is tagged with signs that say Do not hack.

I started going to the space because I knew it had the equipment I wanted to use, but I stayed there because of the cool people, says Ruth Grace Wong, a Noisebridge regular whos on the board.

The vibe inside Noisebridge is really motivating, really encouraging, really inspiring, she says.

Its an iconic part of SF tech culture, Backus says. Its something that I think inspired a trend all around the world that this is how to cultivate a culture where people can be creative and do things just for the fun of it.

The space is infused with the humor and inventiveness of its community. iZac, a Futurama-inspired bartending robot with a bucket for a body, overlooks the main workspace opposite a pastel portrait of Nikola Tesla on one wall. The Flaschen Taschen, a 10-by-9-foot video display made up of 1,575 beer bottles (that people from Noisebridge actually drank) each capped with an LED, blinks out colorful patterns.

The tech industry, and the wealth it has brought to San Francisco, has both threatened and aided Noisebridge. The hackerspaces landlord has raised the rent twice over the past few years, from about $4,000 per month to $7,000 monthly, an increase Noisebridge was only able to handle thanks to a $100,000 donation from Handshake, a decentralized service for domain names with its own crytocurrency.

There have been previous scares about Noisebridges finances and future such as whether it can afford building updates or make rent. Right now, the elevator that serves the third floor is broken.

We pride ourselves on being ADA compliant, Maran says, referring to the Americans with Disabilities Act. Weve lost members of the community.

This time around, it took Maran and other members of the Noisebridge community a while to understand how much it might cost to upgrade the buildings sprinkler system and allow Noisebridge to stay in its home of 10 years. The $150,000 estimate is just that, a guess at the price tag to modify a building that the hackerspace doesnt own.

After Noisebridge reached out to its immediate community for donations, on Wednesday Backus tweeted a thread about the importance of the space and the threats to its future. Nothing I've seen better captures **pure SF hacker culture** than Noisebridge, he wrote. It's *surrounded* by companies and VC firms that brand themselves as loving the values that define Noisebridge. I wish they helped fund it.

The next day, Kraken made its transfer. CEO and co-founder Jesse Powell quote-tweeted his companys response and added his own: Thanks for calling attention to this. Hopefully, were good.

What the influx of bitcoin means for the future of Noisebridge is still up in the air, but the money opens up options.

It was kind of a lost cause at first because we didnt have that kind of cash, Maran says. Were going to have to start talking to the landlord about it; were going to go to our upcoming hearing with the building department. Its a lot of work weve got to do now, if that means that we can stay, or if it means that we use that money to support us moving to another space.

Already Maran and others have been looking into the latter, touring spaces designed and permitted to house the kind of work that happens within Noisebridges mural-covered walls.

Weve always been searching for a forever home, Maran says.

Leaving the Mission building, if thats what the community decides to do, will be bittersweet. The layers of paint and posters and clever signage and circuit-board chandeliers that cover the walls and hang from the ceiling form a physical history of a place that means a lot to a lot of people.

Itll be really sad. Well have to have a party, says regular and board member Wong. Theres really a lot of beautiful murals there that well have to leave behind, but coming to a new space with a lot of blank walls, thats also really beautiful.

Sarah Feldberg is San Francisco Chronicle Culture Desk editor. Email: sarah.feldberg@sfchronicle.com

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Iconic hackerspace Noisebridge is saved by donation of $150K bitcoin - San Francisco Chronicle

After trading below the USD 8,850 support, bitcoin found bids near the USD 8,550 support area. Recently, it started an upside correction above USD 8,700, but the previous supports near USD 8,850 and USD 9,000 are now (09:00 UTC) acting as key resistances for the bulls.

Similarly, most major altcoins are struggling to recover further above key pivot levels, including ethereum, XRP, litecoin, bitcoin cash, BNB, EOS, TRX, ADA, and XLM. ETH/USD topped near USD 235 and it is back below USD 230. However, XRP is still holding the USD 0.232, but it remains at a risk of more downsides in the near term.

Total market capitalization

Recently, bitcoin price managed to correct higher above USD 8,650 and USD 8,700 (as discussed yesterday). However, the previous supports near USD 8,850 and USD 9,000 prevented a convincing upside break. As a result, BTC/USD is now showing a few bearish signs below USD 8,800. If there is a clear break below USD 8,650, the price could even break the USD 8,550 support area.Any further losses may perhaps lead the price towards the USD 8,250 level. On the upside, the bulls need to gain pace above USD 8,850 to start a decent recovery wave.

Ethereum price corrected more than 10% from the USD 210 support area. ETH/USD climbed above USD 220 and USD 230. However, the USD 235 zone prevented further gains. A swing high was formed near USD 238 and the price declined below USD 230.It is currently testing the USD 225 zone, below which there is a risk of a drop towards the USD 210 area in the near term.

Bitcoin cash price corrected higher from the USD 300 support area, but it failed to continue above the USD 330 area. BCH/USD formed another top and it is currently declining below USD 320. If it continues to move down, there is a risk of a bearish break below the key USD 300 support area in the near term.Litecoin is under a lot of bearish pressure and it is currently struggling to stay above the USD 60.00 support. If there is a successful close below USD 60.00, there is a risk of a sharp decline towards the USD 55.00 support. Conversely, the price could recover above USD 62.50 and USD 64.50.XRP price gained bullish momentum and recovered above USD 0.235. However, the bears came into action near the USD 0.245 level. As a result, the price trimmed its gains and it is now approaching the USD 0.232 support area. Any further losses may perhaps lead the price towards the USD 0.225 level.

In the past three sessions, a few small-capitalization altcoins declined more than 5%, including AION, DX, MONA, BCD, ALGO, LSK, ABBC, REN and HC. Conversely, SXP, BCN, MKR, KNC, ZB, FTT and LINK are up more than 5%.

Watch the latest reports by Block TV.

To sum up, bitcoin price is facing a couple of important resistances near USD 8,850 and USD 9,000. BTC/USD must settle above USD 9,000 to start a decent recovery. If not, it could dive below the recent low at USD 8,550 in the near term._____

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Bitcoin and Altcoins Struggle to Recover - Cryptonews