The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is once again poised to approve or reject a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), when Wilshire Phoenixs United States Bitcoin and Treasury Investment Trust meets a filing deadline Wednesday.

Wilshire Phoenix is the latest in a long line of companies hoping to secure SEC approval to list shares of a bitcoin-related ETF, and the only one that has an active application before the securities regulator. Such an instrument would allow retail investors to get exposure to the bitcoin market without what some see as the added difficulty of owning bitcoin itself, potentially boosting market participation by individuals wary of bitcoins stance as an unregulated investment.

While its chances are slim the SEC has yet to approve any bitcoin ETF applications for a multitude of stated reasons the company was filing updates to its proposal as recently as last week in efforts to bolster its application.

Wilshire managing partner William Herrmann told CoinDesk that he was optimistic about the filing, saying in a phone call last week that we wouldn't have filed it if we didn't think that it would be approved.

To boost its chances, the amended S-1 filed on Feb. 14 now includes an entire additional section on underwriters, though no specific entities are named. The filing also now includes Wilshire Phoenixs maximum share price ($2,500), a number of shares it intends to register initially (8,040) (though this number is likely to change when the actual shares are being offered) and a note on the trust's fees (68 basis points).

The firm filed the ETF application in mid-2019, with the regulator repeatedly postponing any decision, leading to the final Feb. 26 deadline.

In rejecting ETFs previously, the SEC has pointed to concerns about market manipulation, the bitcoin markets overall size and a need for surveillance-sharing agreements as some factors it considers.

Wilshire is attempting to address these concerns by composing its ETF with a basket that automatically rebalances itself between U.S. Treasury bonds and bitcoin in response to the cryptocurrencys volatility. As volatility goes up, the basket favors bonds, and vice versa.

Herrmann previously told CoinDesk that in his view, this automatic rebalancing reduces the risk to investors.

The SEC certainly appears to be paying attention to the filing. According to public documents, Commissioners Hester Peirce and Allison Herren Lee both met with representatives from Wilshire Phoenix, NYSE Arca and their law firms.

The Division of Trading and Markets met with representatives from the companies in January, as well as twice last year, to discuss the proposal. Still, the SECs thinking on the proposal remains opaque.

Wilshires Herrmann, reiterating a point often brought up in favor of bitcoin ETFs, told CoinDesk the product would allow a wider group of investors to safely access what is essentially a new asset class.

"We want to provide easy access to strategies that are often only limited to institutions or accredited investors, Herrmann said. Restraining who is able to invest in any product or strategy on the basis of socioeconomic status or for any reason is simply wrong. This leaves many exposed to sudden market volatility followed by likely losses due to lack of diversification.

The bitcoin ETF Wilshire has proposed is actually one in a larger family of such products. The company has also filed to issue a gold and Treasury-backed ETF.

Herrmann said he believes creating multiple investment strategies for consumers is a part of its overall strategy.

"We're confident we will have the bitcoin ETF soon, and the gold ETF won't be far behind. We are aiming to launch a lot more products as well, Herrmann said.

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

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SEC to Decide the Fate of Another Bitcoin ETF Proposal This Week - CoinDesk - CoinDesk

A new German law requires every entity that holds private keys for others (e.g., bitcoin exchanges and/or bitcoin custodians) and that actively addresses the German market must become licensed as early as January 1, 2020. And to address the most common misconception right at the beginning: No, it absolutely not matter where your company is based. What matters is if you are addressing the German market with your services.

The law implementing the amendment to the fourth EU money laundering directive (Federal Law Gazette I of December 19, 2019, p. 2602) included the crypto deposit business as a new financial service in the KWG . Companies that want to provide these services require BaFins permission when the law comes into effect on January 1, 2020. However, the law provides for transitional provisions for companies that have already performed the transactions that are now subject to authorization before they came into force.

Despite the many open questions that are still unresolved, let me start this piece by stating that I am a general supporter of regulation if executed right. And I believe this new law could pave the way for Germany to become the Crypto Heaven of Europe, as especially large financial institutions and investors are in favor of regulated entities. But to also be honest right from the start, this will heavily depend on how regulators finally deal with questions as they arise. Even the best of intentions can still backfire on the German ecosystem if executed poorly. But, I am full of hope that this will not be the case, as the regulators and the industry appear to be working together more and more. And by working with, instead of against, each other, good regulatory decisions seem possible.

Taking everything into account, here are the four things I believe to be the main challenges regarding the new regulations:

There is no clear definition of what actively addressing the German market means; this will be decided on a case-by-case basis. By one possible interpretation, anyone operating a designated German website or offering German marketing material is likely to be actively addressing the German market. But if someone for whatever reason has a growing number of German customers without any official marketing, it could also be concluded you somehow MUST be actively addressing the German market (as otherwise you simply wouldnt be able to gain this many new customers from Germany).

As the French are currently sorting out their regulations as well, it would have been great if both countries would have agreed on potentially passporting their respective licenses, meaning that if you are licensed in Germany, you could also operate in France without applying for a new license (or registering, to be exact). Although we strongly believe that this will come soon, it would have been great to have this agreement right from the start.

For an outsider not familiar with German regulations and law, the means of implementation and the timelines might seem strange (although they are very clever in fact). In short, you are deemed to be a licensed provider as of January 1, 2020, provisionally and retroactively, if you state to the officials that you plan to apply for a license before March 31, 2020, and then hand in your application before November 30, 2020 (yes, it appears to ask you to go back in time). This also means that if you say you are going to apply for a license before March 31, 2020, and then dont hand in your application before November 30, 2020, you are deemed to have been illegal since January 1, 2020.

Furthermore, it also means that if you are conducting your business as you always have, you will most likely be deemed illegal since January 1, 2020. And that is a felony and not a misdemeanor. Although this is the case, some market players really seem to rely on a tactic called reverse solicitation (which means that basically a customer is free to choose whatever supplier he or she wants) and not apply for such a license.

I strongly believe that this is not the best idea, given the massive political implications of this new rule. As weve seen in the past, I would assume that Germanys Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) will regulate pretty strictly in this case, as otherwise the new law would simply make no sense and would harm the German economy, which would make little sense from a German point of view.

Big improvements are needed on the communication side, especially regarding the international community as this is an international topic. Up until now, I have seen neither a direct translation of the law nor any advice in English from the regulators. Although this is advantageous for those of us who work in consultancy and advise exchanges and custodians in exactly these matters, this lack of clear communication from regulators is problematic in general.

I sometimes laugh at a very funny cultural thing. Germans are known to have a form and a rule for pretty much everything. And it is true, that is how we are (with all the pros and cons that come with it). So it feels bizarre that, in this instance, it is not the case; hence the need for us to work together with regulators in order to establish proper rules and regulations on the fly.

For example, MPC (multi-party computation) is not addressed in the new law yet; the question of multisignature issues is also still open among a myriad of different other, sometimes very specific issues. This lack of clarity makes a typical German feel pretty uncomfortable, as we are simply not used to that. What we have, at best, is a step-by-step approach with educated guesses and a lot of communication still to come.

Another interesting fact is the way custodians (tech providers) are dealing with these issues. According to a study carried out by Digital Assets Custody (to my knowledge the largest digital assets custodian comparison website on the internet), it seems as if most specialized infrastructure providers for digital assets custody seem to be avoiding regulation like the plague by stating that they would only serve as a tech provider and not as a custodian that needs to be regulated.

While I understand this avoidance approach, as regulation comes with its very own challenges, it seems shortsighted. On the one hand, I believe that regulation will ultimately evolve, concentrating on exchanges as a first step, but then they will come to focus on custodial services.

Depending on each entitys respective tech stack and business model, it seems possible to me that not only the exchange but also the custodian will ultimately be deemed regulated entities. So it is basically just a matter of time before the regulators come knocking. And as seen in the past, its usually a good idea to be ahead of the game.

It is interesting to see that the new law around custodianship functions as kind of a wake-up call for the industry, although the respective players should have been alert in regards to Germany beforehand. This goes back to the view of the BaFin that judged Bitcoin as a so-called Unit of Account, making it a financial instrument; therefore, everybody dealing with these financial instruments should already have the proper licenses. This means that if you were to operate a bitcoin exchange you would depending on the business model need a license as a multilateral trading facility, for example. The Berlin Court of Appeal expressed a different view of this in a court case, resulting in some confusion here.

With the introduction of the newly created term Krytowerte (direct translation would be crypto values), it is now clear that bitcoin is indeed considered to be a financial instrument and that every entity dealing with it will have to be regulated in the same manner as firms dealing with any other financial instruments.

As the respective licenses are subject to the specifics of the business model, it is hard to give some general information about what is needed. The custodian licensing will most likely require two fit and proper managing directors, 125,000 ($136,000) in starting capital plus setup costs of around 250,000350,000 ($272,000$380,000) and recurring yearly costs of 350,000 ($380,000). (These are rough estimations and can vary widely depending on your business model and various costs.)

All in all, the new law makes operating a digital assets business harder. But on the flipside, it also brings some degree of clarity and security to the people who interact with providers in the digital asset space.

Will everybody be happy with this new direction? No. But its a start.

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

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How the Latest German Regulations Target Bitcoin Exchanges and... - Bitcoin Magazine

Bitcoin, along with the surging wider cryptocurrency market, has had an incredible start to the year.

The bitcoin price has rallied around 50% since January 1, with some smaller cryptocurrencies making surprise triple-digit percentage gains, and many bitcoin bulls think it still has further to gothough problems could be on the horizon.

Now, Changpeng Zhao, the widely-respected founder and chief executive of the world's biggest bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange Binance, has broken his rule against market forecasting to predict "the bitcoin price will likely increase."

Binance's chief executive is feeling bullish on the bitcoin price ahead of bitcoin's upcoming ... [+] halving event, expected in May.

"I personally believe the halving has not been priced in," Changpeng Zhao, often known simply as CZ, told bitcoin, cryptocurrency and blockchain video news site BlockTV this week, adding he "doesn't usually give market predictions" because he will be wrong "50% of the time."

Bitcoin traders and investors have begun gearing up for the looming May bitcoin halving event, among other positive bitcoin developments expected this year, when the coin reward for mining new bitcoin blocks is scheduled to drop from 12.5 bitcoin to 6.25 bitcoincutting the supply of new bitcoin coming onto the market by half.

There have already been two bitcoin halvings since bitcoin launched in 2009, one in 2012 and another in 2016. Bitcoin halvings are scheduled to continue roughly once every four years until the maximum supply of 21 million bitcoins has been generated by the network, something that won't happen until well into the next century.

Whether the upcoming bitcoin halving has been "priced in" by the market has become a controversial issue among investors. Generally, in well-developed markets, equity, commodities and currencies are priced based on future expectationssuggesting that as bitcoin traders and investors are aware of the May halving, the price will have already made the gains related to it.

CZ disagrees, however, telling BlockTV: "The market is not efficient. Most people don't get information quickly. People need a lot of time to let concepts sink in and adjust."

Many are hoping the 2020 bitcoin halving will see a repeat of the last cut to supply. Bitcoin prices doubled in 2016 and soared 13-fold the following year.

However, CZ warned that "historic events do not predict future events, so don't take that too literally," but explained the bitcoin halving will mean "it costs miners almost double what it does now to produce one bitcoin. Psychologically, those miners won't be willing to sell below that price."

The bitcoin price has soared so far this year but has swung wildly in recent weeks, bouncing around ... [+] the psychological $10,000 per bitcoin mark.

"New bitcoin coming to market will be severely limited and at the same time we're seeing more users and traders coming in."

"Economic theory tells us that the bitcoin price will likely increase but this is just the theory and hard to predict," CZ said, adding he's feeling "pretty positive."

Meanwhile, the number of people searching Google for the term "bitcoin halving" has been steadily rising along with the bitcoin price.

Analysts at Arcane Research found last monththat an increase in searches could be a sign bitcoin's halving will recapture the wider public interest in bitcoin and crypto that catapulted the bitcoin price to around $20,000 in 2017.

Many other bitcoin and cryptocurrency market watchers share CZ's enthusiasm, though some think it could be other factors that push up the bitcoin price.

"I still think that bitcoin will hit $100,000 by end of December 2021," Anthony Pompliano, the cofounder of bitcoin and crypto investment group Morgan Creek Digital, said last month, pointing to bitcoin's "fixed supply" and "increasing demand" as the reason for bitcoin's performance.

Elsewhere, others are not so upbeatwith the the chief executive of China-based investment advisory group RockTree Capital last month forecasting we could see the bitcoin price dip.

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Binance CEO Makes Rare Price PredictionSays This Is When To Buy Bitcoin - Forbes

Crypto analysts Tone Vays and Willy Woo said bitcoin's 2020 price run looks different from last ... [+] year's. (Photo Illustration by Avishek Das/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

[Ed note: Investing in cryptocoins or tokens is highly speculative and the market is largely unregulated. Anyone considering it should be prepared to lose their entire investment.]

During the first half of 2019, bitcoin (BTC) tallied significant price gains, only to face stark decline during the latter portion of the year. As part of a strong 2020, cryptos largest asset posted similar price gains of more than 50% between January and February, leaving the public to wonder if bitcoin will repeat its 2019 performance and lose its upward momentum. This years price run looks different, however, according to crypto analyst, YouTube host and Twitter personality Tone Vays.

I do see a little bit more retail interest helping to drive this current run up, Vays told me in a February 17 interview regarding bitcoins 2020 price rally so far. This run up is moving a little bit slower its a little bit more orderly than the last one, Vays added.

Between April and July 2019, bitcoin flew from $4,025 up to $13,910, as recorded on TradingView.com. Cryptos pioneer asset fell on hard times in the latter half of the year, however, riding declining prices until December, during which it sank to $6,400. This entire run-up didnt seem right to me, Vays said in a September 2019 YouTube video regarding bitcoins surge past $13,000. Price is king, and the price did not make sense, Vays added.

Instead of natural market price positivity, Vays told me he attributed last years price rise to two factors. The first of which was the PlusToken Ponzi scheme, an infamous scam that swindled approximately $2 billion in crypto assets from victims, including 180,000 BTC, according to Chainalysis data. That helped the run up, and that also contributed to the big drop from $14,000 down to $6,500, Vays said of the PlusToken ordeal.

Additionally, crypto traders and investors sold many of their altcoins for bitcoin, which also fueled the pioneer assets 2019 run, Vays explained. Between April and July 2019, bitcoin dominance the amount of capital held in BTC versus all the other cryptocurrencies rose from approximately 50% to almost 70%.

This rotation out of altcoins was basically the money that was already in the crypto space, Vays said, explaining that bitcoins rally likely was not the result of fresh capital being injected into the industry but rather a different mixture of the same funds. If 10% or 15% of ethereum is exiting into bitcoin, that will significantly raise the price of bitcoin, Vays said noting the low amount of liquidity present in the crypto space.

The Halving Is Coming

This years bitcoin rally also differs from 2019 in terms of excitement. This time around, we are much closer to the halving, so there is hype in the crypto space because the bitcoin production is about to become half in about two and a half months or so, Vays said.

According to its code, bitcoin is expected to undergo a halving event around May 2020, which will decrease the reward participants receive when they mine the coin. Bitcoin miners compete for a mining prize, called a block reward, paid out approximately every ten minutes as compensation for helping the assets network run. At present, each block reward is 12.5 BTC, meaning 12.5 new bitcoin enter the market every ten minutes, 24 hours per day, seven days per week.

In May, as part of a halving event that occurs every four years, this reward will cut down to 6.25. Bitcoin has historically risen in price after halving events, filling the crypto space with positivity for the upcoming event.

Derivatives Trading Plays A Part

Blockchain analyst and crypto trader Willy Woo said crypto derivatives trading played a part in bitcoins exuberant 2019 price increase from $4,000 to $13,000. The 2019 run up was very extreme and driven by derivatives trading on futures exchanges, since the majority of retail traders were in short positions, it was lucrative to squeeze them out of the trade, Woo said in a message Vays forwarded to me. [T]his sent the price soaring but was unsustainable, Woo added.

Since cryptos mega bull run of 2017, derivatives trading has gained prevalence. Even mainstream exchanges such as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and the Intercontinental Exchnages (ICE) Bakkt platform now offer bitcoin futures and options trading.

Derivatives trading allows participants to buy and sell contracts based on an underlying assets price. In the case of bitcoin, entering a short position is essentially a bet that the coins price will go down in the future.

If an overabundance of participants sit in short positions, and bitcoins price starts to move up, the upward pressure can squeeze those short positions, eventually fueling an explosive move upward as those positions close and the market reacts.

Contrary to 2019, Woo said bitcoins price action this year has been different, rising in price due to an increase in buyers. In 2020 the mid-$6,000 floor coincided with organic investor flow coming in, Woo said. [T]hat's to say the 2020 run up has been dictated with fundamental long-term investor activity, being organic demand, this run is much more sustainable, he added.

During the first few days of January, bitcoin posted a higher low on its chart, just below $7,000, setting the stage for a price bottom, which has held so far, with bitcoin holding a press time price of $9,567.

In an early February video, looking back at Januarys upward bitcoin price activity, Woo said actual bitcoin purchasing activity picked up, which then led into an uptick in derivatives trading. The spot markets were leading the futures markets, which is a really good sign, Woo said in the video. That means that real investors are putting money in.

Although Woo and Vays said bitcoins price rise looks more sustainable this year, skepticism in the asset will likely continue at least in some capacity for cryptos main asset which was proclaimed dead 41 times in 2019, according to 99bitcoins.

Disclaimer: I actively trade cryptocurrencies, as well as hold a small amount of BTC, ETH, LTC, XMR, NEO, ZEC, BEAM, BCH, DASH, LINK, XTZ andvarious insignificant other altcoin positions.

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Bitcoins 2020 Rally More Sustainable Than 2019 Surge - Forbes

Following the huge price dump last Wednesday, we saw Bitcoin trading in the tight range between $9550 and $9750 until a few hours ago, where the primary cryptocurrency had decided to fire some engines towards a critical resistance level.

As of writing these lines, Bitcoin is testing the $9900 $10,000 resistance. As mentioned in our previous analysis, the $9900 horizontal resistance is also the Golden Fib retracement level (61.8%, lies at $9922). As can be seen on the following daily chart, this resistance is also a retest of the mid-term ascending trend-line (marked yellow).

While Bitcoin is in the middle of another weekend, we need to keep in mind a possible CME Futures gap waiting at $9830. Those gaps usually tend to get filled very quickly.

Total Market Cap: $286 billion

Bitcoin Market Cap: $179.6 billion

BTC Dominance Index: 62.7%

*Data by CoinGecko

Support/Resistance levels: As mentioned above, the first level of resistance is the Golden Fib level (61.8%) at $9922, before the $10,000 benchmark. Higher above lies the past weeks high of $10,200 $10,300, followed by $10,500 where lies the current 2020 high.

From below, the first significant level of support lies at $9750. Further below lies $9550, followed by $9400, before the weekly low of Wednesday, which lies at $9300.

The RSI Indicator: After a huge drop to the 50 RSI levels, the indicator found the needed support, and since then showing bullishness.

On the 4-hour chart (the lower time-frame), we can see a little bit of bullish price divergence starting to develop, which could be fuel for the next move up.

In addition, the Stochastic RSI oscillator had made a crossover in the oversold territory, and now about to enter the neutral zone, this could be another short-term bullish sign.

Trading volume: Since Wednesday, we can see that the daily volume candles are declining. Yesterday had carried a minor amount of volume. This might be a sign that the next Bitcoin move is coming up. As a reminder, during weekends, the trading volume tends to be lower.

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Bitcoin Price Analysis: Following Decent $300 Surge Is Bitcoin Ready To Conquer $10,000 Again, Or Just A Temp Correction? - CryptoPotato

Bitcoin has been falling ever since meeting resistance at the $10,400 level this past week. During the week, tt found support at around $9,600, however, it was unable to overcome the resistance at $10,190, causing it to drop and fall once again.

Things are now looking troublesome for Bitcoin after not being able to make any movement higher over the past few days. Despite all the latest price falls, Bitcoin remains up by a total of 11% over the past 30-days of trading.

Bitcoin Price Analysis

BTC/USD Daily CHART SHORT TERM

Taking a look at the daily chart above, we can see that Bitcoin has found support at the .382 Fib Retracement, priced at $9,569. During the week, it made a rebound and broke above the $10,000 level again, however, it was unable to break above $10,190 (previous 1.414 Fib Extension) which caused it to reverse and rollover.

The cryptocurrency remains bullish, however, it is very close to becoming neutral. If it drops beneath the $9,000 level, we can consider the market as neutral. It would need to drop beneath $8,200 before we could consider it to be in danger of turning bearish.

Toward the downside, if the sellers break beneath $9,569 the next level of support lies at $9,311 (.5 Fib Retracement). Beneath this, support lies at $9,159 (downside 1.272 Fib Extension), $9,053 (.618 Fib Retracement), and $9,000.

On the other hand, if the buyers rebound here and push higher, resistance lies at $9,815 and $10,000. Above this, additional resistance lies at $10,190 (1.414 Fib Extension), $10,474 (1.618 Fib Extension) and $10,500.

The RSI dipped beneath the 50 level and remained there for the longest period during 2020. If the RSI is unable to climb back above 50 pretty soon, we can expect the moment to shift and for the bears to regain control.

Support: $9,569, $9,311, $9,280, $9,200, $9,169, $9,053, $9,000.

Resistance: $9,637, $9,615, $9,815, $10,000, $10,190, $10,360, $10,474.

Summary

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Bears Continue To Gain Momentum In Bitcoin - Are We About To Collapse?

Description

Bitcoin saw a 6% price fall over the past week, bringing the price of the coin down to $9,613.It is finding support at the short term .382 Fibonacci Retracement level, however, it certainly looks like the momentum is on the side of the bears at this moment in time.

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Yaz Sheikh

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Coin Gape

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Bears Continue To Gain Momentum In Bitcoin Are We About To Collapse? - Coingape

Data from researchers at Skew shows funds have been increasing short exposure throughout the past several weeks as the bitcoin price surged past $9,000 to hit a yearly high at $10,500.

Leveraged funds increasing short exposure week after week. Cash and carry strategies or outright shorts? said Skew.

Short-term movements in the cryptocurrency market are typically swayed by short and long contract liquidations.

During a short squeeze, sellers that expect the bitcoin price to go down begin to panic close or adjust their positions if the bitcoin price starts to go up.

While liquidations on platforms like Bitfinex and CME are significantly lower than exchanges like BitMEX and Binance Futures that offer up to 125x leverage, an abrupt bitcoin spike still causes short sellers to control their positions.

When that happens, as seen with short squeezes in the equities market like with Tesla, it adds powerful short-term momentum to an asset.

It remains unclear whether the bitcoin short exposure on CME represents hedge positions by investors who also expect the bitcoin price to go up and hold a net long position.

For instance, many whales or individuals with large amounts of bitcoin like to place hedge shorts in an event the price of BTC corrects significantly in the near-term. But, the whales have net long positions in place.

Considering that CME tailors to accredited and institutional investors rather than retail traders, it is highly likely that the majority of the short exposure are simply hedge positions against the market.

Even then, if the bitcoin price starts to show signs of a bullish market continuation by reclaiming the $10,500 yearly high, it could convert short positions to market buy orders in a squeeze, adding buying demand in the market.

The bitcoin price was at risk of a steep pullback as it dropped to as low as $9,350 on February 20. However, the dip was quickly bought up, prompting analysts to categorize it as a liquidity fill.

A heavy support level at $9,550 has been described as a key level that prevents BTC from seeing a sharp correction in the upcoming weeks if defended until weekly close.

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Holding a similar EMA that held the market up during 2019. Another hidden bull div printing after $9500 S/R flip. Holding 50RSI on the daily Possible we test $9100-$9200 50EMA on the daily, but anything that holds and closes above $9670 is still bullish for me, said highly regarded trader Jacob Canfield.

With less than 15 hours left to the weekly close, analysts are generally anticipating the support to hold. Above $9,550, key resistance levels exist at $10,300 and $10,900, two levels that rejected bitcoin many times throughout the past two years.

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Bitcoin (BTC) Funds Are Placing More Shorts, Will This Fuel A New Rally? - U.Today

Vitalik Buterin, Co-founder of Ethereum, and Justin Sun, Founder of Tron. Source: Twitter

Tron (TRX) is a superior platform to Ethereum (ETH), claim multiple Bitcoin (BTC) people.

For several weeks now, certain Bitcoiners have been trolling the Ethereum camp, claiming that Justin Sun and his Tron are coming to take its throne as the platform of choice for blockchain-based apps and development. It might be not surprising, as Ethereans are intensifying their efforts to push the ether is money narrative, thus increasing competition with Bitcoin.

However, the provocations raise a serious question: just how well does Tron compare to Ethereum, objectively? Well, according to a number of industry observers, Tron is a better platform in technical terms, although it isn't as decentralized and doesn't have as healthy a community of developers.

For the sake of context, the whole Tron vs Ethereum debate was kicked off by a viral tweet from Opendime and ColdCard founder Rodolfo Novak (aka @NVK), who posted a picture of himself with Tron founder Justin Sun and Blockstreams CEO Adam Back.

Bitcoin supporters were quick to jump on the bandwagon following this tweet. For example, here's Blockstream CSO Samson Mow claim Tron all-round trounces Ethereum as a platform:

Needless to say, many such tweets come from people who, like Blockstreams Samson Mow and Adam Back, may have an interest in promoting Tron over Ethereum.

Watch the latest reports by Block TV.

Still, some independent industry observers do agree that, at least in technical terms, Tron is more advanced than Ethereum. Glen Goodman, a cryptoasset analyst and the author of The Crypto Trader, points out that it can currently operate at greater scale than Ethereum.

"As things stand, I'd have to say I prefer Tron's blockchain to Ethereum's, due to its far greater transaction capacity," he tells Cryptonews.com. "It can handle far more users and far more activity. But all of that is about to change when Ethereum 2.0 launches, with sharding and a new proof-of-stake model which should allow far more transactions."

Guardian Circle CEO/co-founder Mark Jeffrey also agrees that Tron is slightly ahead of Ethereum technologically. Although, in his opinion, this is mostly a function of its development being more centralized around founder Justin Sun.

"They seem to be more or less equivalent to me," he tells Cryptonews.com. "However, the technical infighting in the ETH community is a significant technical hurdle, especially for ETH's famous scalability issues, and Tron has a strongman Justin Sun defining what is and what is not Tron cannon. In this respect, Tron is stronger technically."

These observations are backed up by data. According to Coin Metrics, Tron has consistently handled more transactions than Ethereum (and Bitcoin) over the past year.

However, Ethereums Vitalik Buterin argued previously that the purpose of a consensus algorithm is to keep a blockchain safe, not to make it fast. According to him, when a blockchain project claims they can do 3,500 transactions per second due to a different algorithm, "what we really mean is We are a centralized pile of trash because we only have seven nodes running the entire thing.

Moreover, in 2018, researchers accused Tron of plagiarizing its code from Ethereum, among other projects, which Justin Sun denies.

Ethereum is the more decentralized blockchain. As Glen Goodman explains, "Ethereum massively outguns Tron when it comes to node numbers, which suggests Ethereum is winning the decentralization battle."

Goodman admits that both cryptocurrencies have witnessed a decline in node numbers over the past year, but Ethereum is still way ahead, with about eight times as many nodes.

He adds, "For both blockchains, there are worries over collusion between different nodes, as most are concentrated in the U.S., China and Europe. Collusion tends to happen more easily when nodes are close to each other geographically, but Ethereum is notable for increasing its node spread in recent months, particularly to Germany, Singapore and Japan."

Mark Jeffrey concurs, with his analysis focusing mostly on the role Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin plays in development.

"Vitalik refuses to take up the strongman mantle, saying he is 'one voice among many'," he says. "While this sentiment is admirable, it is also less useful to making technical advances quickly."

Lastly, there's the question of community, both in terms of developers and the wider community of supporters. Here, Ethereum wins again.

"Ethereum recently launched its 'One Million Developers" initiative'," explains Glen Goodman. "They claim to already have at least 200,000 developers working in the Ethereum ecosystem and they're aiming for the big million. Tron is thought to have far fewer developers but it's got a huge number of active users, nearly a million, eclipsed only by you guessed it Ethereum, which has nearly one and a half million."

That said, Mark Jeffrey argues that Tron has a much healthier economic and dapp (decentralized app) situation.

"There are basically only six ways to make money right now in the crypto space: gambling, exchanges, and DeFi (decentralized finance) and then referrals to gambling sites, exchanges and DeFi. Tron has the healthiest gambling environment by far. This means secondary offerings like wallets can survive by providing referrals."

Jeffrey adds that Tron itself has been very proactive in spending money on its ecosystem. "It will throw money into better wallets, more exchanges and better dapps quite aggressively. Ethereum has done none of these things." (However, in May 2019, the Ethereum Foundation promised to spend USD 30 million on key projects across the ecosystem over the next year.)

It's this kind of market strategy that leads Jeffrey to predict that Tron may ultimately triumph over Ethereum. "In the end, the platform with the healthiest raw economics will win. Tron is the clear leader in that department right now."This may be true, but predicting what crypto will look like in six months is tricky enough as it is, so predicting which fairly well-matched altcoin platform will 'beat' the other in the next few years is probably impossible. Still, competition is healthy, so let's hope Tron and Ethereum continue to push each other in the near and distant future. And Bitcoiners will always find someone to troll.

____Learn more: Market Deaf to Trons Justin Sun Call to 'Buy His Shitcoin' as TRX Down 4%Ethereum vs. EOS vs. Tron vs. Tezos - How do they Compare?

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"Tron Is Better Than Ethereum!" A Bitcoin Game - Cryptonews

Chinas Center for Information and Industry Development has published its latest crypto project ranking the first this year. A total of 37 crypto projects, two more than in the previous ranking, were evaluated and ranked overall this month as well as in three separate categories.

Also read: Bitcoin, Tesla Stock, Tron: How Warren Buffett Got His First Bitcoin

The Center for Information and Industry Development (CCID), under Chinas Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, released its first crypto project ranking for the year on Friday. Prior to this, the last one was published in December, with 35 crypto projects ranked. This month, two more were added, bringing the total of ranked projects to 37. In addition to the overall ranking, the center evaluated the crypto projects based on their basic technology, applicability, and creativity. The ranking is updated every two months and this month is the 16th update.

EOS remains top of the overall ranking, followed by Tron and then Ethereum. In December, Tron was in third place with Ethereum in second. This month, Bitcoin fell from the 9th place to the 11th place while Bitcoin Cash dropped from the 27th place to the 34th.

Meanwhile, Nuls dropped from the 4th place to the 10th place, Bitshares from the 8th place to the 24th, Waves from the 12th to 22nd, Zilliqa from the 13th to 25th, and Tezos from the 26th to 33rd. Some projects improved such as Ripple which rose from the 18th place to the 13th and Cosmos from the 24th to the 14th.

Two additions to the list of projects ranked this month are IOST and GXS. The former describes itself as an ultra-fast, decentralized blockchain network based on the next-generation consensus algorithm Proof of Believability (PoB). The latter, also called Gxchain, is a fundamental blockchain for the global data economy, designed to build a trusted data internet of value, according to its website. IOST debuted at number six in the overall ranking. Gxchain was previously ranked but was removed in the October update. It is now back at number seven in the overall ranking.

In terms of the three sub-rankings, EOS scored the highest in the basic technology category, followed by Tron, IOST, GXS, and Steem. For the applicability category, Ethereum tops the ranking, followed by Tron, and Neo. For the creativity category, BTC scored much higher than the other projects. The second place is occupied by Ethereum, then Lisk, and EOS.

The rankings are compiled by the CCID (Qingdao) Blockchain Research Institute, an entity established by the CCID. The evaluation work is carried out in collaboration with multiple organizations, such as the CCID think tank and the China Software Evaluation Center. The result of this assessment will allow the CCID group to provide better technical consulting services for government agencies, business enterprises, research institutes, and technology developers, the center previously explained. The CCID provides professional services to the government, including research, consulting, evaluation, certification, and research and development, its website details.

In January, news.Bitcoin.com reported that the CCID released a report stating that there were more than 33,000 registered blockchain companies in December.

What do you think of Chinas new ranking? Let us know in the comments section below.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation, endorsement, or sponsorship of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock and the CCID.

Did you know you can buy and sell BCH privately using our noncustodial, peer-to-peer Local Bitcoin Cash trading platform? The local.Bitcoin.com marketplace has thousands of participants from all around the world trading BCH right now. And if you need a bitcoin wallet to securely store your coins, you can download one from us here.

A student of Austrian Economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open-source systems, network effects and the intersection between economics and cryptography.

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Chinese Government-Backed Institute Releases New Ranking of 37 Crypto Projects - Bitcoin News

Everybody dreams of financial freedom, but how do you achieve it? My answer is to invest in a diversified spread of stocks and shares, tax-efficiently through a Stocks and Shares ISA.

I think this is a better way of building your long-term wealth than investing in other asset classes, such as Bitcoin, buy-to-let property or gold, all of which have done well at certain points, but may now be past their best.

There is no doubt about it, Bitcoin catches the eye. At the start of last year, it was trading at around $3,500. Lately, it has been bobbing around the $10,000 mark, which means if you bought 12 months ago, you would have tripled your money.

The big problem with Bitcoin is its massive volatility. Its price can rise or fall by hundreds or even thousands of dollars in a matter of days. That makes it too volatile to rely upon for what is arguably your most important financial task, building your long-term retirement wealth.

There is nothing wrong with having a bit of gold in your portfolio, to offset any losses if stock markets fall. The price is up around 33% over the last five years, so you could enjoy some capital growth, too.

I wouldnt put too much into gold, though. The precious metal doesnt pay any income, which makes you wholly dependent on price movements to make a profit. If coronavirus worries recede and confidence recovers, gold could fall back, and sharply.

I was a big fan of buy-to-let property until former Chancellor George Osborne unleashed his multi-pronged tax attack in 2015. The 3% stamp duty surcharge and phasing-out of mortgage interest tax relief will eat into your profits, while you still have all the work of buying and managing a property, and finding and replacing tenants.

I keep the vast majority of my retirement pot in the stock market, because I believe this will generate the best returns over the longer run. History suggests equities can deliver an average annual return of around 7% a year, from share price growth and reinvested dividend income.

Now maybe a good opportunity to invest, as current uncertainties have knocked the FTSE 100, throwing up plenty of bargain stocks.

You could start by investing in a spread of UK blue chips, for example spirits giant Diageo, housebuilder Taylor Wimpey, or Lloyds Banking Group, which currently yields 6.2%.

You could supplement this with an exchange-trading fund (ETF) tracking the FTSE All-Share, sold by managers such as iShares and Vanguard.Always invest within your Stocks and Shares ISA allowance, which allows you to put away anything up to 20,000 this financial year and take all your returns free of tax, for life. This combination of tax-free capital growth and passive income is a better way to achieve financial independence than Bitcoin, gold, and buy-to-let, in my view.

The post Forget Bitcoin, buy-to-let, and gold. Im investing in a Stocks and Shares ISA to gain financial freedom appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

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Harvey Jones has no position in any of the shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has recommended Diageo and Lloyds Banking Group. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

Motley Fool UK 2020

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Forget Bitcoin, buy-to-let, and gold. Im investing in a Stocks and Shares ISA to gain financial freedom - Yahoo Finance UK