A forensic study on bitcoin's 2017 boom has found that nearly the entire rise of the digital currency at the time is attributable to "one large player," although the market manipulator remains unidentified.

Finance professors John Griffin and Amin Shams instructors at University of Texas and the Ohio State University, respectively analyzed over 200 gigabytes of data for the transaction history between bitcoin and tether, another digital currency. Tether is an asset known as a "stablecoin," which has its trading value connected to the dollar.

The professors' study found that tethers being traded for bitcoins revealed a pattern.

"We find that the identified patterns are not present on other flows, and almost the entire price impact can be attributed to this one large player," Griffin and Shams wrote. "We map this data across both blockchains and find that the one player or entity (labeled as 1LSg throughout the paper) is behind the majority of the patterns we document."

Griffin and Shams were able to follow the clusters of data to a source: "One large account at Bitfinex." The digital currency exchange Bitfinex is one of the largest in the world. The study found that, through Bitfinex, the single player was able to manipulate demand for bitcoin via "extreme" flows of tethers. The Wall Street Journal first reported on the updated study's results on Monday.

The manipulation occurred as bitcoin rose to an all-time high of nearly $20,000 in late 2017, the study found. Bitcoin traded at about $9,300 on Monday.

"One of the SEC's top worries is that crypto is subject to manipulation. This study appears to lend credibility to that argument," Cowen analyst Jaret Seiberg said in a note on Monday.

The study comes after an analysis published in March found that 95% bitcoin spot trading is faked. The survey, created by cryptocurrency asset manager Bitwise for the SEC, found that only $273 million of about $6 billion in average daily bitcoin volume was legitimate.

Cowen said Griffin and Shams' study will likely add even more scrutiny of bitcoin and cryptocurrency at large, especially from regulators and lawmakers.

"We see this as further souring Washington on crypto and believe it is negative for efforts to launch crypto ETFs and for Facebook to launch Libra," Seiberg added.

Libra is Facebook's cryptocurrency project, which has seen several major backers drop out in the past month.

While the latest study doesn't identify the manipulator, the professors suggest those running Bitfinex either knew of the operation or were even possibly assisting the scheme. Bitfinex's general counsel Stuart Hoegner told the WSJ that the study "lacks academic rigor," saying that "it is the global rise of digital currency that has driven the market's demand for tether."

Both Bitfinex and Tether Ltd., the company that controls tether, are owned and operated by the same people. The WSJ noted that both companies are under investigations for alleged fraud by the Department of Justice and the New York Attorney General.

CNBC's Tom Franck contributed to this report.

Continued here:

A single anonymous market manipulator caused bitcoin to top $20,000 two years ago, study shows - CNBC

The status of Bitcoin (BTC) in the cryptographic community is not under doubt. What had started as a rumoured disruptive currency after the debut of the whitepaper in 2009 has now blossomed into one of the most used cryptocurrencies of all time. With the value towering over many other cryptocurrencies in the crypto market, and with many values by market capitalization, the currency has been able to amass many investors and use cases.

On the flip side, the primary problem with the currency is when it comes to trading. Many investors are yet to figure out how to trade on Bitcoin and indeed, other cryptocurrencies. That is why you need to venture into the profitable and hassle-free model of cryptocurrency investments, as instituted by the Bitcoin Era Pro software.

You may be wondering about the importance of using the Bitcoin Era Pro App in the first place. The truth is that the cryptocurrency market has been struggling after the all-time high of 2017 when the bulls were very much active. Since the start of 2018 until now, it has been seasons of bearish markets. So, traders and cryptocurrency investors need to have some returns on their investments.

The first reason why you should use the app is the legislation it has in certain quarters. For instance, the Securities Authority of the US and Japan Stock Exchanges are currently reviewing the submitted application for acceptance into the trading table. Also, some lawyers and accountants are already keeping tabs on the app. Would all those have been possible if the Bitcoin Era Pro App doesnt have something good to offer? Moreover, the participation of the aforementioned parties is a signal that the Bitcoin Era Pro App is to a larger extent, going about the operations legally.

Besides the collaborations it has sought in the past, the Bitcoin Era Pro App also has a team of dedicated and experienced cryptocurrency traders. It was their experience and ability to maneuver the market even in bearish trends that triggered the inception of this automated cryptocurrency robot/software. It would interest you that despite the losses at intervals, the Bitcoin Era Pro software has been able to consistently scale the market to be ranked as one of the cryptocurrency trading software of the year 2019. That feat can only be possible for trading software that could clock up to 1,342 trading sessions per day, with only a few losses.

In the light of the circumstances and the features ascribed to the Bitcoin Era Pro software, its evident that the software has some of the auto trading tools you need to beat the bears in the crypto market. Worthy of note is that in the last couple of years, it has only lost a few of the trades. Others were on a winning streak!

You must be wondering about how possible it is to trade Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies without manual inputs. The point is that the Bitcoin Era Pro software is built in a way that the platform uses a network of fast computers to aggregate funds/assets from investors and investing the same into the financial markets.

Collating and investing/selling the assets/currencies in the financial markets is one side of the coin. The other is to monitor the market via a dedicated algorithm that surveys the market. The work of the algorithm is to evaluate the movement of the market to discover the best moments to trade and the moments to engage in distress sales. Whichever is the case, you can be confident that the Bitcoin Era Pro software would be in tune with the directions of the market. Moreover, the reliability, the commission-free, and the secure networks of the software make it the perfect one for cryptocurrency traders.

The Bitcoin Era Pro Investment Limited, which is the parent company of this software, is offering over 165 exhibitions in over 35 countries of the world. For that reason, the residents of those countries can participate in the automated cryptocurrency trading experience exclusive to the platform. Provided you have access to stable Internet, you can always invest and reap massive returns from the platform. The autopilot/auto-trading mode notwithstanding, the software also provides the opportunity for you to learn the ropes to become a successful trader.

Now, if youve seen the benefits of engaging in cryptocurrency trading via the Bitcoin Era Pro software, then the steps below would help you in signing up for the service.

Register

The impressive cryptocurrency trading tools offered by the software are exclusive to the registered members. So, you need to sign up or create an account to get started. All you need do is to visit the homepage and fill your First Name, Last Name, and Mail Address to sign up for a Bitcoin Era Pro account.

Create a Broker Account

The next step is to create a broker account from the member area. You can only get to this point after signing up and logging in. So, be sure the signup process was successful before continuing. Once you sign up for a broker account, you would be assigned a broker.

Fund Your Account

The second step is to add money to your account. Many payment options are available to help you in adding money to your newly-created Bitcoin Era Pro account. Worthy of note is that the minimum deposit is $50. However, this figure tends to differ by the brokers. So, be sure of the deposit range of your assigned broker before continuing.

You can now channel your crypto investments to the right place for onward investments and trading. On the average, you stand a chance to make as much as $2,734 each day. Note that this income range varies by the amount of investments. Therefore, the higher the investments, the higher the profits you make.

You can now see that cryptocurrency trading might not be an arduous task after all. Take advantage of this offer from the Bitcoin Era Pro software to get the most out of your crypto investments.

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Trade and Earn Huge Profits with the Bitcoin Era Pro Software - newsBTC

A mystery is playing out on the Bitcoin BTC subreddit: the infamous Bitcoin time traveller post has been edited, and nobody knows who did it.

In 2013,a Reddit user appeared to present a bleak outlook of the year 2025, where rampant inequality and parabolic Bitcoin value has pushed the world to the brink of collapse.

Thepost is absolutely ridiculous, but surprisingly, it appears someone has recently doctored it to read as if OP themselves returned to edit the post, despite their account being deleted years ago.

Strangely, its now prefaced with: Well gee, this blew up, Bitcoin should not be treated as an investment, it should be recognized as a speculative negative-sum game.

The editor then launches into scathing attacks on its mining infrastructure and the software developers that maintain its code.

As a self-professed time-traveler, OP claimed that on average, the value of Bitcoin would increase by about a factor ten every year: from $0.10 in 2010, to $1 in 2011, to $10 in 2012, and so on.

This trend would eventually lead a single Bitcoin to be worth $1 million by 2021. From then, there will be apparently no good way to express Bitcoins value in dollars, as the dollar is no longer used. In this version of the future, land and cryptocurrency will be the only relevant assets of value left.

In my world, soon to be your world, most governments no longer exist, as Bitcoin transactions are done anonymously and thus most governments can enforce no taxation on their citizens. Most of the success of Bitcoin is due to the fact that Bitcoin turned out to be an effective method to hide your wealth from the government. Whereas people entering rogue states like Luxemberg, Monaco, and Liechtenstein were followed by unmanned drones to ensure that governments know who is hiding wealth, no such option was available to stop people from hiding their money in Bitcoin.

OPs post is also the origin of Bitcoin Citidels, automated future-cities formed by the Bitcoin rich to protect themselves (as well as their worth) from no-coiners.

Bitcoin Citadels have evolved into a permanent part of the Bitcoin vernacular; a meme to help imagine what life would be like post-hyperbitcoinization.

The moral of the original post was to implore the reader to reconsider theirinvestment, as widespreadBitcoin adoption is tosupposedly ruin the world beyond repair.

Sadly, this piece of Bitcoin history now has an ironic problem with legitimacy. If the OPs account is deleted, how can they return to edit it something Redditors have been quick to highlight.

Hard Fork has reached out to thesubredditsmoderators to learn more and will update this piece should we receive a reply.

Still, its certainly possible to access the original post via archive links, but one must wonder: why the hell is this happening to one of the mostpopular Bitcoin shitposts of all time, and why now?

Update 07:31 UTC, November 5: A /r/Bitcoin moderator has since contacted Hard Fork to shed some light on the status of OPs account.

The post was originally made on August 31st, 2013 and was edited by the original account onOctober 27th, 2019, they said.

It is unclear when or why the original account became inactive. The account was never banned by moderators of ther/Bitcoinsubreddit, and such site-wide actions can only be performed by reddit site administrators, they added.

The moderator then went on to explain that there could be a number of reasons for the current status of OPs account.

Spam, malware, vote cheating, or ban evasion were listed as possibilities. It couldve also been flagged as compromised, and the site took action to disable it.

However, depending on the technique that Reddit admins used to disable the account, the account holder is not prevented from editing previously posted threads and comments, said the moderator.

It should be noted that there is no indication whatsoever that any time travel is involved, and that the original unedited post was held in high regard solely as an imaginative piece of fan-fiction. It is also unclear whether the original thread was intended to be an ominous warning about Bitcoin as the edit portrays, or if the account holders motive and outlook shifted since 2013. It also seems unlikely that one could contact the account holder directly since there is no way to send them a private message, they noted.

The moderator then concluded by highlighting that there are more exciting things happening in Bitcoin than a six-year-old post that had recently been edited.

Published November 4, 2019 17:00 UTC

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The Bitcoin time-traveler Reddit post has been edited, but nobody knows who did it - The Next Web

Buying Bitcoin in the first few years after its creation would have been the investment equivalent of winning the lottery.

But what might happen if an actual recent lottery winner invested half of his winnings into Bitcoin, and how much could he potentially earn if Bitcoin reaches its full potential?

The emerging asset class of digital currencies is a speculative, high-risk market. Those interested in investing into crypto or Bitcoin are often told to never invest more than they can afford to lose.

Related Reading | Dot Com Vs Crypto Bubble: A Glimpse Into Human Psychology and The Future of Bitcoin?

But what happens when a millennial male happens to win the lottery, and suddenly finds himself with an excess of money they dont actually need, and can easily afford to lose? He invested half of it in Bitcoin, of course.

Reddit user /u/Joxnlol recently won half a million dollars on a scratch ticket from the Illinois State lottery this past April and promptly invested half of it in Bitcoin the following month in May.

Given Bitcoins penchant for rising a few thousand percent in value during bull runs, then later dropping 90% in value in downtrends, will either make the decision the smartest one the man has ever made or possibly the most foolish only time will tell.

Depending on when the investment was made in May 2019, the price of Bitcoin was anywhere between $5,000 and $9,000. Assuming the investor bought in around early May, at the recent $14,000 peak, a $250,000 investment in Bitcoin at $5,000 would have netted the bold Reddit user a 180% profit, taking the $250,000 and turning it into $700,000 had he sold the top.

A $250,000 investment in $5,000 Bitcoin would result in holdings of 50 BTC. Bitcoin has been predicted to reach prices ranging from $100,000 per BTC to as much as $1,000,000.

If Bitcoin reaches $100,000 per BTC, it would represent a 1,900% increase in the investment and would take the total value to $5,000,000, earning the investor a $4,750,000 profit.

If Bitcoin reaches the highest predicted amount a prediction that John McAfee is willing to bet his manhood on it would earn the investor a nearly 20,000% ROI, and take the total value of 50 BTC to over $50,000,000, with a profit of just under.

Of course, these numbers are only possible if Bitcoin reaches such lofty predictions. The other factor is a matter of when this occurs, and if it does at all.

On the flipside, most investors in the first-ever cryptocurrency agree that the asset will reach such incredible values, or fall to zero and disappear from existence with very few scenarios possible in between. Bitcoin either fulfills its potential and replaces fiat currencies, or it doesnt.

If Bitcoin does fall to zero, it would represent a total loss for the investor, and hell have thrown away $250,000 he had just won via a scratch ticket.

Related Reading | Make It Or Break It Time For Bitcoin, Rally In Jeopardy If Support Is Lost

If you were to win the lottery, would you take the same risk this bold Reddit user did? If you do, just be sure not to tell the world youve done so, as the second most important advice crypto investors are given after the dont invest more than you can afford to lose is never disclose your crypto holdings.

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Reddit User Wins Lottery, Buys Bitcoin: Heres What He Could Earn - newsBTC

The European Union is considering the development of its own digital currency that could rival Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency.

Draft documents from the European Central bank urged the EU to come up with a consistent approach to all cryptocurrencies, which range from decentralised currencies like bitcoin, to state-backed efforts currently underway in China.

Until now, the bloc has failed to implement any significant regulationsurrounding cryptocurrencies but several European countries have implemented their own rules.

Sharing the full story, not just the headlines

"The ECB and other EU central banks could usefully explore the opportunities as well as challenges of issuing central bank digital currencies including by considering concrete steps to this effect," stated the document, which was seen by Reuters.

The draft could be discussed by finance ministers later this week, before potentially being adopted next month.

On 3 January, 2009, the genesis block of bitcoin appeared. It came less than a year after the pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto detailed the cryptocurrency in a paper titled 'Bitcoin: A peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System'

Reuters

On 22 May, 2010, the first ever real-world bitcoin transaction took place. Lazlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins the equivalent of $90 million at today's prices

Lazlo Hanyecz

Bitcoin soon gained notoriety for its use on the dark web. The Silk Road marketplace, established in 2011, was the first of hundreds of sites to offer illegal drugs and services in exchange for bitcoin

On 29 October, 2013, the first ever bitcoin ATM was installed in a coffee shop in Vancouver, Canada. The machine allowed people to exchange bitcoins for cash

REUTERS/Dimitris Michalakis

The world's biggest bitcoin exchange, MtGox, filed for bankruptcy in February 2014 after losing almost 750,000 of its customers bitcoins. At the time, this was around 7 per cent of all bitcoins and the market inevitably crashed

Getty Images

In 2015, Australian police raided the home of Craig Wright after the entrepreneur claimed he was Satoshi Nakamoto. He later rescinded the claim

Getty Images

On 1 August, 2017, an unresolvable dispute within the bitcoin community saw the network split. The fork of bitcoin's underlying blockchain technology spawned a new cryptocurrency: Bitcoin cash

REUTERS

Towards the end of 2017, the price of bitcoin surged to almost $20,000. This represented a 1,300 per cent increase from its price at the start of the year

Reuters

On 3 January, 2009, the genesis block of bitcoin appeared. It came less than a year after the pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto detailed the cryptocurrency in a paper titled 'Bitcoin: A peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System'

Reuters

On 22 May, 2010, the first ever real-world bitcoin transaction took place. Lazlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins the equivalent of $90 million at today's prices

Lazlo Hanyecz

Bitcoin soon gained notoriety for its use on the dark web. The Silk Road marketplace, established in 2011, was the first of hundreds of sites to offer illegal drugs and services in exchange for bitcoin

On 29 October, 2013, the first ever bitcoin ATM was installed in a coffee shop in Vancouver, Canada. The machine allowed people to exchange bitcoins for cash

REUTERS/Dimitris Michalakis

The world's biggest bitcoin exchange, MtGox, filed for bankruptcy in February 2014 after losing almost 750,000 of its customers bitcoins. At the time, this was around 7 per cent of all bitcoins and the market inevitably crashed

Getty Images

In 2015, Australian police raided the home of Craig Wright after the entrepreneur claimed he was Satoshi Nakamoto. He later rescinded the claim

Getty Images

On 1 August, 2017, an unresolvable dispute within the bitcoin community saw the network split. The fork of bitcoin's underlying blockchain technology spawned a new cryptocurrency: Bitcoin cash

REUTERS

Towards the end of 2017, the price of bitcoin surged to almost $20,000. This represented a 1,300 per cent increase from its price at the start of the year

Reuters

Facebook announced earlier this year that it plans to launch its Libra cryptocurrency at some point next year. It is designed to allow people to make and receive payments through Facebook-owned apps like Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp, which are used by billions of people around the world.

Since its unveiling, however, Libra has faced significant resistance from financial regulators in the US and Europe. In September, French economy and finance minister Bruno Le Mairesaid that he would block the development of Libra and France as it posed a threat to "monetary sovereignty".

Politicians in the UK have expressed similar reservations, with Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee Chair Damian Collins claiming that Libra represents Facebook's attempt to "turn itself into its own country".

Several of the payments firms that Facebook worked with in the early stages of Libra's development, such as Mastercard and Visa, also recently dropped out.

In China, plans for a state-backed cryptocurrency appear to be moving forward as the country's central bank prepares for a launch expected in the coming months.

Last week, President Xi Jinping hailed bitcoin's underlying blockchain technology as an "important breakthrough", marking an about-turn in the country's official stance on cryptocurrency.

All negative sentiment towards the technology also appears to have been purged from Chinese social media, with cryptocurrency news resource CNLedgernoting that "articles saying blockchain technology is a scam are now banned".

A new law coming in to effect on 1 January will also serve to facilitate "the development of the cryptography business and ensuring the security of cyberspace and information".

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EU considers launching its own version of bitcoin - The Independent

Ethereum price is slowly climbing higher versus the US Dollar, similar to bitcoin. ETH price is likely to rise towards the $200 level as long as above $182.

After forming a support base near $180, Ethereum started a steady rise above $182 against the US Dollar. ETH price recovered and broke a strong resistance near the $185 and $186 levels.

Moreover, there was a close above the $185 level and the 100 hourly simple moving average. During the rise, there was a break above yesterdays highlighted bearish trend line with resistance near $182.

Finally, the price tested the $190 resistance area and it is currently correcting lower. There was a break below the $188 level, plus the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the recent wave from the $179 swing low to $189 swing high.

However, the previous resistance near the $185 area is now acting as a decent support. More importantly, there is a new bullish trend line forming with support near $185 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD.

The 50% Fib retracement level of the recent wave from the $179 swing low to $189 swing high is also near the trend line to provide support. The main support is near the $182 level since it coincides with the 100 hourly SMA.

If Ethereum breaks the trend line and trades below $182, it could move back into a bearish zone. On the upside, an immediate resistance is near the $190 level. If there is a proper break above $190, the price could start an increase towards the main $200 resistance area.

Looking at the chart, Ethereum price is showing a few positive signs above the $185 support area. Having said that, the path towards the $200 barrier wont be easy. If the bulls struggle to clear the $190 and $192 resistance levels, there could be a bearish reaction below the $185 support. In the mentioned case, the $182 support holds the key.

Hourly MACD The MACD for ETH/USD is about to move back into the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI The RSI for ETH/USD is currently well above the 50 level, with positive signs.

Major Support Level $182

Major Resistance Level $190

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Ethereum (ETH) Eyes Fresh Rally To $200, Bitcoin Up 3% - newsBTC

Bitcoin transactions have been exploding recently, and the network managed to collect over half a million in fees within only 24 hours.

The last several days have been pretty happening for bitcoin. This time, the benchmark cryptocurrency did not see a massive surge that added thousands of dollars to its price, but it did make a few milestones, of sorts.

Only a week ago, on October 30th, the bitcoin network surpassed $1 billion in cumulative fee revenue, which is quite an important milestone.

Now, however, BTC is once again a topic of conversations and speculations as it reportedly collected over $500,000 in transaction fees within only 24 hours.

As many are likely aware, the bitcoin blockchain is not among the fastest ones out there. In fact, it might be among the slowest ones, with only 5-7 transactions being processed per block, each of which requires around 10 minutes to be solved, on an average. This can lead to some prolonged waiting periods to have a transaction processed.

However, the network also allows users to choose how large of a fee they are willing to pay. Higher fees get the advantage, and so transactions that pay more end up being processed faster.

Meanwhile, the number of BTC users continues to appreciate, which leads to even higher fees. As mentioned, bitcoin has collected over $500k in fees within only 24 hours. At the same time, other bitcoin forks are not seeing nearly as high transaction fee count. BSV has collected only $220 within 24 hours, while BCH has even less, only $200.

As for other well-known coins, Ethereum managed to collect $96,000, while Litecoin only has $840.

What do you think about the huge amount that the bitcoin network has collected through fees? Leave a comment below, and let us know your thoughts on the matter.

Images via Shutterstock, Twitter: @yassineARK @CryptoBacon

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Bitcoin Transactions Brought in $500k in Fees Within 24 Hours - Bitcoinist

Bitcoin Cash's Roger Ver took to Facebook to announce that he is giving away Bitcoin Cash (BCH) to further spread the adoption of the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

On Nov. 4, the Bitcoin Cash proponent and former CEO of Bitcoin.com, Roger Ver, said that he will send $5 worth of BCH to all of his Facebook friends, which could easily become worth $5,000 some day an increase of 99,900%.

If people are not already part of Vers network of Facebook friends, Ver will still send them $1 in BCH, which as well could easily become worth $1,000 some day. Ver asked interested parties to post a Bitcoin Cash address below the Facebook post.

Ver, who recently told Cointelegraph that he has been involved in the crypto space since Bitcoin (BTC) was less than $1 per coin, is attracting some attention to his give-away, as he claims that BCH could easily see a massive gain of almost 100,000 percent. At press time the post is closing in on 900 comments, with many of them including wallet addresses.

As the current price of BCH sits at $290.88, for one of the recipients to reap the returns purported by Ver, the price would need to shoot up to $290,880 per coin. Ver did not pinpoint a specific date or reason for the astronomical price increase.

In August, Bitcoin.com appointed Stefan Rust as the companys new chief executive officer as Roger Ver left the post. Rust stated that he will continue working on the development of the companys new products and services that promote peer-to-peer electronic cash. Commenting on the appointment, Rust said:

Im hugely excited to take on the role of CEO working alongside Roger. Together we can now turbocharge the awesome team and great brand that is Bitcoin.com. [...] We will play an integral part in making money work for everybody as society undergoes such an enormous and pivotal change. Its going to be a wild ride, so dont miss it!

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Roger Ver Apparently Thinks Bitcoin Cash Value Could Increase 100,000% - Cointelegraph

Ethereum developers are using the Lightning payments network to build bridges into the bitcoin ecosystem.

The venture-backed crypto startup Radar, best known for its decentralized exchange (DEX) relayers for 0x, just launched a service called RedShift, which allows people to pay a lightning invoice from an ethereum wallet.

Radar product lead Brandon Curtis told CoinDesk:

There are some people out there who want to be bitcoin maximalists or only work on ethereum things. But I think theres a large, silent majority of us that are interested in multiple chains, in multiple assets, and want to build things that bridge between them.

MetaMask wallet users with an in-browser widget can simply add a second widget to their browsers and paste a lightning invoice into the ethereum wallet, like a normal wallet address. On the back end, Radar will swap the ether for bitcoin and manage channels so the recipient is paid in bitcoin. This widget will eventually connect the user to a pool of market makers beyond Radar, Curtis said, and work for other ethereum-based tokens as well.

Our number one request from [DEX] users and market makers was somehow adding the ability to trade bitcoin, Curtis said. [Bitcoin has] more liquidity and just a lot of holders, users, a lot of interest.

Radar may see the move as a competitive differentiator as it jockeys for usage in the DEX space. Currently, IDEX and Kyber Network are the leading DEXs in terms of trading volume, according to Etherscan statistics.

Radar is now among a handful of projects working to connect various cryptocurrency ecosystems.

Indeed, the Cross-Chain Working Group is already building a system for wrapped bitcoin tokens that can be used on the ethereum blockchain. Plus, the Electronic Coin Company is working on bridges for zcash into the ethereum network, according to ECCs VP of marketing, Josh Swihart.

Likewise, Arwen CEO Sharon Goldberg told CoinDesk her startups atomic swap and settlement service for centralized exchanges like KuCoin now offers ethereum mainnet capabilities.

You can take some bitcoin, buy some ETH, and do that settlement without losing custody, she said. The way were doing it is free of any third party. We dont have any pegs, or any of the complexity were seeing from some of the other projects. Youre actually introducing new counterparty risk with those types of things.

Whether startups focus on sidechains, lightning or other layered protocols like Arwen, Radars Curtis said that bitcoin is still the best form of cryptographic money, due to open questions about how ethereum development will play out. However, from his perspective, bridges that allow flows of value into bitcoin from more experimental assets can add more value to the bitcoin ecosystem by opening it up to new users.

Right now, the hardest part about lightning is the onboarding process, Curtis said, adding:

With tools like RedShift, we can allow people who already have digital assets to tap into the [lightning] network without all that setup.

Team photo courtesy of Radar Relay

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Ether on Lightning Is the Latest Bridge Crossing Crypto's Great Divide - Coindesk

NEW YORK, Nov. 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite its volatile nature, nearly half of financial professionals believe Bitcoin will be the investment class with the highest growth rate over the next 12 months according to a recent survey conducted by Chainalysis, the blockchain analysis company. Chainalysis polled 350 finance professionals including executives from banks, credit unions, financial services providers, and regulatory agencies at the ACAMS 19th Annual AML & Financial Crime Conference.

Following the 48% of financial professionals that chose Bitcoin, one-third of survey respondents said equities (S&P 500) would be the investment class with the highest year-over-year growth, followed by fixed income (Bloomberg Barclays Bond Index) and the House Pricing Index (HPI) at 13% and 5%, respectively.

The Gap Between Perception and Reality

Despite recognizing the value in cryptocurrency, more than three-fourths (78%) of financial professionals said less than half of their retail clients transact with cryptocurrency businesses. Twenty-eight percent of financial professionals noted that between 1-10% of their customers transact with cryptocurrency businesses while one-third of respondents said that none of their customers are involved at all.

"Many finance professionals understand that cryptocurrency presents a massive opportunity, yet institutions are hesitant to enter the market due to perceived risk and some don't even realize the exposure that they already have to cryptocurrency," said Michael Gronager, Co-Founder and CEO at Chainalysis. "Blockchain analysis can help institutions and exchanges monitor transactions and detect criminal activity. The integration of these tools will allow the financial sector to mitigate existing risk, provide banking services to cryptocurrency businesses, offer new opportunities to clients, and ultimately promote transparency and build trust in blockchains."

Risk Vs. Customer Reward

Nearly 40% of professionals cited the 'inability to control for illicit activity' as the number one thing holding them back from doing more work with cryptocurrency. While many finance professionals recognize the potential for cryptocurrency, 25% said the number one thing holding them back from doing more work with cryptocurrency is that the market opportunity isn't big enough. Lack of executive support (18%) and inability to comply with regulations (18%) were also cited as reasons respondents' firms are not more involved in cryptocurrency activity.

When asked what is or would be the most likely factor to motivate their employer to get more involved with cryptocurrency, almost half (44%) answered client demand. Other motivating aspects include the opportunity to future-proof the institution (20%), the money-making opportunity (18%), and being viewed as a pioneer in a growing industry (18%).

The Future of Digital Currency

Strikingly, Chainalysis's survey found that 70% of financial professionals believe that there will be a global digital currency in the next 5-10 years. More than one-third (37%) believe that the United States will control that currency, followed by 21% who believe that China will control it.

"Our belief in the potential of cryptocurrency was echoed by the number of finance professionals who view Bitcoin as a high-growth asset class and envision a global digital currency in the near future," said Jonathan Levin, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Chainalysis. "Financial institutions are a critical component to the cryptocurrency ecosystem. At Chainalysis, we're focused on creating transparency across blockchains to mitigate risk and promote confident engagement in cryptocurrency so institutions can realize the major opportunity available to them."

Survey Methodology

Chainalysis polled finance professionals at the ACAMS 19th Annual AML & Financial Crime Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 24 and 25, 2019. A total of 350 responses were collected from industry professionals including banks, credit unions, financial services providers and regulatory agencies.

About Chainalysis

Chainalysis is the blockchain analysis company. We provide compliance and investigation software to the world's leading banks, businesses, and governments. Our experts in financial crime and economic analysis empower our customers to derive insights they can act on. Backed by Accel, Benchmark, and other leading names in venture capital, Chainalysis builds trust in blockchains. For more information, visit http://www.chainalysis.com.

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Despite Volatility, Nearly Half of Financial Professionals Believe Bitcoin Will Outperform S&P 500 Over the Next 12 Months - Salamanca Press