Something to look forward to: While crypto enthusiasts are no doubt interested to see the effects of Bitcoin's 'halving' slated for later this year, it looks like others are joining the fray. The question on everyone's mind is whether 2020 is the year Bitcoin reaches new heights, and the increase in awareness might well send its price well above the $20,000 mark it reached in 2017... or not.

A lot of people seem interested to see what 2020 will bring for the cryptocurrency industry. Arcane Research points out to how Google searches for related keywords have spiked this month and that might be because on May 20, 2020, the third Bitcoin 'halving' will occur.

That means the rate at which new Bitcoins are generated will decrease by 50 percent of what's been for the past few years. Bitcoin is designed as a deflationary coin that is limited to 21 million units, the last of which will be mined in 2140.

Historically, "halving" events have boosted the price of Bitcoin by an order of magnitude, while cutting rewards for miners that solve "blocks" of transactions. The current block reward is 12.5 BTC and takes place every 10 minutes, but in May it will go down to 6.25 BTC. Consider for a moment the current price of 1 BTC, which is hovering at ~$9,000 -- give or take a few hundred dollars -- as of writing.

If history were to repeat itself, it could send Bitcoin higher than the already crazy peak of almost $20,000 reached in 2017, possibly even as high as $90,000 if you believe some enthusiastic German bankers. If that sounds impossible, it's worth noting that some of the people that bought this token for pennies close to its inception didn't exactly believe it would become so valuable over time, and nowadays even the most pessimistic investor doesn't see it falling below $5,000 for the foreseeable future.

On one hand, you have people like Kraken CEO Jesse Powell, who thinks Bitcoin would still be undervalued even if it reached $100,000. And considering the sudden increase in public awareness, it's not hard to imagine people rushing to buy Bitcoin in the hopes of makings easy returns if it happens to skyrocket over night.

On the other, you have the skeptics that believe the Bitcoin halving may have already been priced in, in which case there isn't much to gain by pouring your life savings into the cryptocurrency. Then there's the hypothesis that investors and companies will mostly trade in derivatives rather than speculate on Bitcoin.

However, there's enough indication out there that newly mined Bitcoins would most likely be absorbed through Square's Bitcoin purchasing service and Grayscale's Bitcoin Trust. Add to that some 30 million Coinbase customers and people using trading apps like eToro and RobinHood, and you have a lot of variables that will affect Bitcoin's value.

But let's forget the halving for a minute. In the last decade, the best investment you could make was Bitcoin, provided you jumped into the boat relatively early. Some were even able to ride the recent wave of miners that bought each and every capable graphics card on the market hoping to make a profit. Now you'd have to own a large mining operation with specialized equipment somewhere in a cold climate or in places like China where electricity cost is just a few cents per kWh.

Companies like Starbucks and AT&T are slowly adopting Bitcoin as a payment method, while others like Apple might never integrate it into their services. Some would be quick to dismiss it based on how transactions are very slow and not at all energy efficient, but solutions backed by tech executives like Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey are on the way to solve that in the near future.

When that happens, there is a good chance the value of Bitcoin will rise, as it has the potential to offer inexpensive financial services for the 1.2 billion people in places like Africa who can't rely on the banking system.

Governments don't like the idea of highly volatile and speculative assets like Bitcoin, but they are much more open to the idea of currency-pegged "stablecoins." After the 2020 halving, much of the effort that was previously devoted to mining will have to be directed towards greater adoption, so at least there's a low chance we'll see Bitcoin go down in price.

In any case, expect more companies to follow in the footsteps of Facebook to launch their own cryptocurrencies, which is also known to cause surges in Bitcoin's price as soon as an announcement is made. If anything, 2020 might be the year cryptocurrency hits the mainstream and governments start to take it more seriously.

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Bitcoin's next halving in May could send the currency to new all-time high - TechSpot

Despite a rising death toll, the coronavirus may not be the only thing ready to break out.

The precious yellow metal and its so-called digital gold equivalent are on the verge of escaping containment themselves.

Are gold and bitcoin finally ready to play their parts as global risk-off assets? Only time will tell, but the charts increasingly say yes.

The slide in stocks from mid-January seems to coincide with increased awareness of this potential new pandemic. But gold and bitcoin are marching ever onward as investors run for cover.

Bitcoin pierced the $9,100 handle late Monday but only temporarily, as traders took profits. The flagship cryptocurrency is not far from posting a new yearly high in the $9,200 area:

Thats excellent news for 2020 buyers, not so much for mid-2019 ones. But despite a deceptively superior-looking gold chart, bitcoin still dominates in the safe haven space.

Gold, too, is about the break out after having posted multi-year price gains above $1,600 on Jan. 8.

The commoditys stellar two-year performance looks strikingly similar to its post-global recession price run.

If that scenario plays out, it may even test its all-time high above $1,900 a troy ounce sometime this year.

For gold-punting investors who cant operate their bitcoin wallets, the below chart makes an excellent argument for crypto.

Youll notice that the bitcoin-to-gold ratio is forming a classic bull flag pattern:

This typically resolves with a big push to the upside. Bitcoin is already worth five times its tangible brother in price terms, and if this pattern plays out, it may be worth upwards of 15 times that.

Gold has long held the mantle of risk-off king. But a real financial panic has not emerged for more than ten years:

The decade-long bull market will have to end sometime. Only then will we know the full potential of these competing global hedge assets.

If coronavirus has its way, that may be sooner than we think. Ironically, gold underperformed during the last financial crisis, losing roughly 10% of its value until early 2009.

Bitcoin, on the other hand, has yet to be tested. Until it is, theres no way to know for sure whether it really is digital gold.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article do not represent investment or trading advice from CCN.com.

This article was edited by Sam Bourgi.

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Coronavirus Infects Gold and Bitcoin: Both Assets Poised for Risk-Off Break Outs - CCN.com

Bitcoin was one of the few assets heading higher this week as fears about the Coronavirus outbreak led a steep fall in global markets.

The benchmark cryptocurrency on Tuesday was up by 1.91 percent to trade near $9,066.21 per token in spot markets. At the same time, CME Futures linked to bitcoin were also trading 0.5 percent higher at $9,040. The moves uphill suggested that speculators were increasing their exposure on the cryptocurrency.

That was further evident in the weekly performance of GBTC, an institutional-grade trust tied to bitcoin. The OTC stock jumped 3.59 percent in the last two days, further suggesting an influx of large capital from accredited investors. GBTC last year had raked in about $600 million worth of investments.

GBTC on a path to recovery as investors appetite for risk-off mounts against global crisis | Source: TradingView.com, Grayscale

Bitcoin and bitcoin-related derivatives typically do well in times of global macroeconomic and geopolitical crises. And it appears the world is under one right now.

Global markets remain under pressure with the rising death reports in China due to Coronavirus. European shares, for instance, recorded their worst daily performance in four months this Monday. Asian stocks, too, got caught up in the selling frenzy.

In a statement published last week, Chinas securities regulator suggested traders to objectively analyze the Coronavirus outbreak. The office indicated that a mass hysteria about the so-called epidemic could be falsely negating stocks values.

On the other hand, economists at Goldman Sachs said that investors could remain outside risk-on markets unless the Coronavirus situation comes to a halt.

The sentiment leaves investors with a choice to migrate some part of their capital to safe-havens. Gold, US Treasuries, Japanese Yen are all their go-to assets as the crisis looms over.

Bitcoin, a relatively new and unfound haven, is also behaving like a hedging asset against the fears of the Coronavirus outbreak.

In the simplest chronology, investors particularly in mainland China could be pumping bitcoin especially when the markets were closed due to the Lunar year.But today, China announced that it is suspending trading on two of its biggest stock market exchanges until February 3.

A section of cryptocurrency experts also believes bitcoins latest pump is a farce in the name of Coronavirus. Prominent market analyst Alex Krger noted that the cryptocurrency flipped its correlation with gold and stock markets a one-too-often as the Coronavirus narrative took control.

$BTC did without a doubt move on the Iran events. January 7th was a game-changer, he said. That did not mean we should expect $BTC to move every time stocks pump or dump, but to be attentive to select geopolitical events.

The statement indicates that if not all but some institutional investors are closely watching bitcoin for its potential to behave as a hedge against global market downturns. And the pump is just the beginning.

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Bitcoin Eclipses $9,100, And Data Shows Institutions Are Only Just Getting Started - newsBTC

Bitcoins (BTC) risk-return is a different beast compared to even the darling of the stock market of the 2000s, Amazon.

That was the conclusion drawn by one of the cryptocurrency industrys best-known analysts and the creator of a uniquely accurate Bitcoin price model.

Uploading a chart showing BTC risk-return versus Amazon stocks, U.S. bonds, gold and the S&P 500 on Jan. 24, PlanB showed Bitcoin behaved completely differently as an investment.

Amazons significant losses in the year 2000, combined with its revered recovery ever since still keeps it far below Bitcoins risk-reward ratio.

Bitcoin is a different beast! PlanB summarized, describing Amazons position on the chart as much closer to normal.

Amazons share price appeared to shake off revelations involving Saudi Arabia allegedly hacking CEO Jeff Bezos this week. Both $AMZN and BTC nonetheless fell over the past seven days, with the latter potentially reacting to uncertainty stemming from China.

Bitcoin risk-return vs. major investments. Source: PlanB/ Twitter

The impressive contrast comes days after Cointelegraph reported on Bitcoins risk-adjusted returns outperforming every major investment offering based on a four-year investment.

Then, PlanB appeared to hint that four-year periods the time between each reduction in the new Bitcoin supply could continue to boost performance.

Further, cryptographer Nick Szabo added, the susceptibility of traditional instruments to react to government and central bank meddling in currency markets meant Bitcoin was a natural fit for long-term, or low-time preference, investors.

PlanBs price model, stock-to-flow, has correctly called much of Bitcoins historical behavior and continues to forecast a level of $100,000 for BTC/USD in 2021.

At current levels, markets continue to conform to stock-to-flow, at $8,300 trading just below its suggested range. Before the next halving in May, $8,300 is, in fact, the average price the model says Bitcoin will trade at before moving significantly higher.

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Bitcoin Risk-Return a Different Beast Compared to Amazon: Analyst - Cointelegraph

The Bitcoin price started pumping from the $8,300 area on January 26 three days after the Chinese city of Wuhan, which is believed to be the epicenter of the new coronavirus epidemic, was put underquarantine.

Image via CoinMarketCap

By now, the BTC price has reached the $9,345 level. However, an article by The Independent claims that this mightnot be the truecause of the BTC rally.

The Bitcoin price took off several times last year, when the US initiated a tariff war with China andthen nearly provoked WW3 with Iran. A price growth was noticed during the impeachment trial of Donald Trump, when the Australian forests caught fire and, finally, following the coronavirus breakout in China recently. The virus has also been negatively impacting both the US and Chinese stock markets, however, Bitcoin remains healthy and continues togrow.

Many cryptocurrency experts believe that Bitcoin starts appreciating when the global economy faces turmoil or whenother large-scale problems occur.

Other cryptocurrencies, such as ETH, XRP or TRX, have also been surging in price. Simon Peters from eToro says:

"Prices jumped to near three-month highs following turbulence on traditional stock markets, reinforcing cryptocurrency's growing position as a possible safe haven investment."

However, the article from The Independent states:

Despite this, there is little research to actually support the theory that such events are related to bitcoin's fortunes. Market movements have instead been connected to developments within the cryptocurrency industry, such as favourable regulation being introduced, or rumours that a country is developing its own cryptocurrency.

The article has it that cryptocurrency quotes are often manipulated by crypto whales and by insider trading, citing cryptocurrency author David Gerard.

Must Read

Earlier today, Tron CEO Justin Sun tweeted that the Tron team are sending medical supplies to Wuhan to support the coronavirus victims. In the video Sun is wearing a mask.

Image via Twitter

Somein the community believe this is yet another excuse for Sun to promote Tron.

Image via Twitter

Meanwhile, the TRX price is up 9.99 percent, thougha short while ago the coin showed an 11-percent rise.

Image via CoinMarketCap

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Bitcoin (BTC) Predicted by Henry Ford 100 Years Ago - U.Today

dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images

How many credit cards do you have? If youre like the average American, you carry four in your wallet.

Chances are your credit cards are from different banks. But if you dumped out your wallet on the table and laid all your cards side by side, youd notice something odd.

While all the cards are from different banksand they all have their own special privileges, prestigious names, and color schemesmost have one thing in common:

Visaor MasterCardstamped on the bottom right.

Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA) Created a Global Currency

It hardly matters what bank you use. At the end of the day, your card likely needs Visa or Mastercards payment network to function.

Over 80 million stores accept Visa or Mastercard. With one of their cards in your wallet, you can buy stuff anywhere in the world.

Visa and Mastercard have effectively created a universally accepted moneya global currency. $13trillionflowed through their networks last year. Thats 24X more than Bitcoin processed in 2019, according to CCN.

They make money by taking a small cut of each transaction, like a tollbooth on a highway. Both Visa and Mastercard are minting record profits, and their stocks have handed investors tremendous gains:

Visa and Mastercard

Heres why this is important for you.

Banks Stranglehold on Money Is Weakening

For many decades, weve had to deal with banks to move money. If you wanted to cash your paycheck, wire money, or get a credit card, you often had to talk to a banker.

These days, you can do all these things without ever stepping foot inside a bank. You can even get a mortgage without ever talking to a human banker!

Sending money no longer means writing a check and waiting three days for it to clear. Now you can send and receive money instantly withPayPals (PYPL)Venmo.

Roughly 50 million Americans use Venmo every month. You can even pay your taxes with PayPal.

Have you ever usedSquares (SQ)little white box that swipes credit cards? It plugs into your smartphone to turn it into a cash register. Over two million small businesses use it to accept cards instead of cash.

And getting a credit card no longer requires filling out piles of paperwork and answering a bankers questions. Smartphone giantApple (AAPL)made a splash when it debuted its shiny new titanium credit card last August.

These disruptors will end banks as we know them. Nobody cares if banks have fancy lobbies with marble floors these days. Most Americans just want a fast and convenient way to manage their money.

I havent stepped foot in a bank in years. And foot traffic into branches has fallen close to 50% in the past decade.

Many folks assume old money companies like Visa and Mastercard are in trouble too. These folks are wrong.

Visa and Mastercard Are Untouchable Stocks

What few people realize isall the "money disruptors I just mentioned are plugged into Visa and Mastercards networks.

Apple designed its titanium card to resemble its sleek products. But did you know it runs on Mastercards network? And credit cards from PayPal, Square, and Stripe all have Visa or Mastercard logos.

These disruptors arent ripping out the pipes of our financial system and trying to cut out Visa and Mastercard. Instead, theyre partnering with them, sending even more money flowing through their networks.

Remember, each time you pay with a card, Visa and Mastercard collect a small fee. In fact, even when you pay with your phone, these giants make money.

Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Amazon Pay, are simply apps built on Visa and Mastercard networks!

Nobody Can Touch These Untouchable Stocks

How we move money around and pay for things has changed for good. Yet these changes have only cemented Visa and Mastercards dominance.

Theyve built payment networks nobody can match. More than 30,000 banks use their credit cards. There are 3.4 billion Visa cards alone in circulation!

And now partnerships with PayPal, Square, and others are injecting a new wave of growth into Visa and Mastercard. Visas sales shot up 11.5% last year to a record $22 billion. And Mastercards revenue jumped 20% to $14.5 billion.

They Are Two of the Most Consistently Impressive Businesses Ive Ever Analyzed

Visas profit margins are 5X better than the average US stock. It turns 52 cents on every dollar into pure profit. Mastercards profit margins are 3X better than the average S&P 500 company. If youre investing for the long haul, you could do a lot worse than owning these two undisruptible tollbooth stocks.

Get my report"The Great Disruptors:3 Breakthrough Stocks Set to Double Your Money".These stocks will hand you 100% gains as they disrupt whole industries.Get your free copy here.

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The Invisible Global Currency Thats 24 Times Bigger Than Bitcoin - Forbes

The crypto community is divided on whether or not the Bitcoin halving is already priced in. However, one thing is for sure: the topic is getting a lot of attention.

Norwegian cryptocurrency intelligence company Arcane Research says Google searches for the term Bitcoin halving have spiked in the last 12 months. While the exact number of queries is not documented, the firm says its research has revealed the level of interest over time for the phrase, using data from Google Trends.

In January of 2019, searches for the term flashed readings of below 20. A year later, the term registered an interest level of 100, indicating peak popularity. The conclusion from Arcane Research is that Bitcoins upcoming halving is gaining more traction among the crypto curious.

The last time the term spiked in popularity was back in 2016, when the king of cryptocurrency halved for the second time. In that year, Bitcoins price grew by nearly 125%.

In May 2020, Bitcoin rewards will be halved from 12.5 BTC to 6.25 BTC per block. Past halving events have foreshadowed a bull market. Today, not all crypto enthusiasts are convinced that the next bull market will emerge after the third halving. Arcane Research notes,

Independent of the conclusion, there is now a clear indication that awareness of the concept has spread to new people.

Featured Image: Shutterstock/Alberto Andrei Rosu

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Hype Over Bitcoin (BTC) Halving Accelerating, Reports Cryptocurrency Analysis Firm Arcane Research - The Daily Hodl

After an 11% drop last week, Bitcoin (BTC) started to mount an extremely strong recovery on Sunday and Monday. Just earlier today, the cryptocurrency reached a local high of $9,150, trading 5% higher on the day.

Per Raoul Pal, a former Goldman Sachs executive, this move has allowed BTC to break out of an inverse head and shoulders formation (with a very weak right shoulder, which makes it often more powerful.

This move has also notably brought Bitcoin above the key 200-day simple moving average. While the price has yet to close above this key technical level, sitting around $9,000, this specific moving average has long been seen as analysts as an indicator of an assets long-term directionality.

With these bullish factors in mind, where do analysts say the leading cryptocurrency can go next?

Unsurprisingly, this latest boost higher has analysts convinced that the market is ready to see even more gains.

Per previous reports from NewsBTC, eerily accurate trader Filb Filb in a recent edition of hisDecentrader newsletter wrote:

Overall, Bitcoin is exactly where [I] anticipated; slowly grinding up towards previous resistance Im very much of the opinion that Bitcoin will reach to at least $12,500 level before the halving.

As to why $12,500 makes sense, he noted that that is the top target for a bullish inverse head and shoulders chart that is forming on a medium-term basis for Bitcoin.

This belief that the cryptocurrency will soon head over $10,000 has been echoed by other prominent traders and commentators.

Trader and industry advisor Josh Rager noted that BTCs current monthly candle is looking good, adding that if January can close above $9,250, the price would likely look to push up over $10,000 to re-test the point of control of the June to September 2019 price action.

While there is the above bullish sentiment, there are some signs that the cryptocurrency may soon see a price pullback, one that may bring it back into the $8,000s for the time being.

The below trader noted that the four-hour chart of BTC is printing a number of signs that bears may soon assert control over the market: 1) the price of Bitcoin has not yet passed the previous high set on the 18th, the Klinger trend indicator is looking to roll over to bearish, the BitMEX funding rate is reaching extreme levels that imply impending reversal, and the RSI has started to roll over as well.

It currently isnt clear whether or not there remain any bearish on Bitcoin from a medium-term perspective after this surge to $9,000. But should there be some, NewsBTC will let you know as soon as possible.

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Bitcoin in Midst of Powerful Breakout: How Far Will Prices Go Past $10,000? - newsBTC

INDIA - 2020/01/23: In this photo illustration a Cryptocurrency Bitcoin logo seen displayed on a ... [+] smartphone. (Photo Illustration by Avishek Das/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Fortunes are changing in cryptocurrency markets. A rally that began three weeks ago lost steam last week.

By Saturday evening, Bitcoin was down 6.43%, ETH was down 7.38%, XRP was down 8.44%, and LTC dropped 11.20%. Bitcoin slid back towards the key $8,000-mark.

The retreat was board with only 18 out of the top 100 cryptocurrencies advancing and 82 dropping.

That's a significant change from the previous when 90 cryptocurrencies advanced out of the top 100.

And it came as the spread of coronavirus unsettled financial markets.

That should have come as a surprise to digital asset experts. Bitcoin has emerged as a safe-haven asset in times of global uncertainties, according to some studies. And should have been rallying rather than retreating last week.

koyfin_20200126_081340494

Is Bitcoin's pull-back just the pause of the rally or something more serious?

Christopher Brookins, Founder and CIO at Valiendero Digital Assets, thinks that Bitcoin is re-affirming his previous position that the rally takes a "breather."

"At the time of writing, the Hurst Exponent is still recovering from oversold levels and its recent "breather," with a value of 0.52, he says. The resumption in upward trajectory after its brief consolidation and value still being far from overbought territory bodes well for price in the near to mid-term."

Brookins' estimates apply the Hurst exponent (H) model, which is rooted in mathematics founded by Benoit Mandelbrot, to determine if a financial market is trending or not.

Screen Shot 2020-01-25 at 7.40.21 PM

He's watching the $8400 (short-Kumo Cloud) and $8600 (long-Kumo Cloud), but he remains bullish in the digital currency, in the face of the upcoming halving.

And he sticks in his previous prediction that ETH price increases are unlikely to last for a sustained period, and that will lag behind BTC.

"As stated prior, given the dramatic reversal in Hurst values to overbought, ETH price increases are unlikely to last for a sustained period in 2020," he says. "Furthermore, given the divergence between ETH and BTC Hurst values, we expect BTC to begin demonstrably outperforming ETH over the coming weeks and months."

Screen Shot 2020-01-25 at 7.52.55 PM

He also sticks with his prediction that LTC price increases are unlikely to last for a sustained period. They will also lag behind BTC.

"As stated prior, given the dramatic reversal in Hurst values to overbought, LTC price increases are unlikely to last for a sustained period in 2020," he adds. "Furthermore, given the divergence between LTC and BTC Hurst values, we expect BTC to begin demonstrably outperforming LTC over the coming weeks and months."

Screen Shot 2020-01-25 at 7.58.50 PM

Continued here:
Bitcoin, ETH, XRP, And LTC Rally Fades: What's Next? - Forbes

An interesting poll on Twitter revealed that if Bitcoins price reached $100,000, most people would prefer to sell either all or some of their holdings for fiat. A comparison with another poll, however, shows an exciting consistency with what Bitcoin holders supposedly intend to do.

One of the most important decisions that an investor has to do is to come up with an exit strategy. In other words, they need to have a clear picture in mind as to when to sell their holdings.

Bitcoin is no different. Despite the multitude of specifics that it has compared to traditional assets, its also an investment option as any other its price goes up and down. As such, those who buy it as a means of investment need to come up with a figure at which theyd eventually dispose of their holdings.

Thats precisely what popular cryptocurrency commentator Chris Dunn aims to understand with his latest Twitter poll.

In a straightforward question, Dunn asks Bitcoin holders what they would do if BTCs price reaches $100,000. Over 1,700 people took part in the survey, where 45% of them answered that they would sell some or all of their BTC for fiat.

Another major part of the voters answered that they would sell their Bitcoin for physical assets. In other words, $100,000 seems like a number that a lot of people consider as a price target to dispose of their BTC holdings, at least partially.

Going beyond this, however, the poll also reveals a very interesting similarity when compared to a similar survey from not so long ago. In late 2019, Cryptopotato reported on a similar poll carried out by Binance Life, which showed that 23% of the people dont intend to sell their Bitcoin holdings at all.

In Dunns poll, 20.8% of people said that they wouldnt be selling their BTC if it reaches $100,000 but instead would HODL everything.

This brings us to the other group of people who buy Bitcoin those who are in it for what it was intended to be a viable, peer-to-peer means of electronic payments. In a scenario where Bitcoin replaces traditional fiat currencies, however far-fetched this might seem right now, one wouldnt need cash as hed be spending his bitcoins instead.

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BTC HODL Target Found? Almost 50% Say They Will Sell If Bitcoin Price Reaches $100,000 - CryptoPotato