Over the last several years, the cryptocurrency arena has been very hit or miss when it comes to security. For companies like Moon Pay, the notion of keeping customers, as well as their cryptocurrency stashes and their data, safe as possible is one that has taken serious precedence with executives.

The financial company has announced that it is bringing Nils Puhlmann a cybersecurity expert on board to serve as their new security advisor. The company says it has approximately 80 or more partner integrations to oversee in the coming weeks, and it wants to make sure everything goes as smoothly and as by the numbers as possible.

In a statement, co-founder and CEO of Moon Pay Ivan Soto-Wright explained:

At Moon Pay, we are building mission-critical infrastructure to accelerate cryptocurrency adoption. As we are mapping our goals for growth, it is essential that we prioritize security and privacy for our users and partners above all else. In Nils, we have a seasoned security executive who has built some of the strongest security teams at places like Twilio, Zynga and Electronic Arts, and we feel tremendously honored to have his guidance.

Cybersecurity threats in the cryptocurrency arena have become all too real. Just yesterday, Live Bitcoin News reported that foreign exchange company Travelex was forced to pay as many as 285 bitcoins worth approximately $4 million at the time to hackers that had infiltrated their systems and taken control of their users data.

The company initially reported that it was stuck dealing with software glitches, but later admitted to being subjected to malware. The attack had occurred in early January and the company had no choice but to pay up to get its networks back on track.

Moon Pay says that it has experienced an 80 percent surge in the number of customers who have bought or who are looking to buy cryptocurrencies. Executives claim this is due to the unforeseen economic turmoil that has been caused by the coronavirus.

Thus, digital assets are becoming far more mainstream, and something that popular and large needs to offer customers the highest level of safety possible. Nils Puhlmann explains:

The cryptocurrency space is still an evolving industry, and as we have seen in the past with cloud computing and the Internet of Things [IoT], security and privacy are imperative to its success and widespread adoption. Deploying mature security programs will be essential for every major player in the cryptocurrency world, and I look forward to guiding Moon Pay over its next phase of growth.

Since the Coincheck hack in early 2018, many crypto exchanges and related trading platforms are doing more to ensure they know who their customers are and to ensure anti-money laundering protocols are in place.

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Crypto Company Moon Pay Ups the Ante on Its Security Protocols - Live Bitcoin News

Bitcoin price managed to stay above $7,200 support in the wake of rejection from levels under $7,500. The most traded cryptocurrency has stepped above $7,300 but is currently struggling with the resistance at $7,400. Across the cryptocurrency market, bears appear to be taking over control. All the top three cryptoassets are slightly in the red. Ethereum is trading marginally below the opening value at $173.31 while Ripple is down 0.88% to trade at $0.20.

A cryptocurrency trader and analyst on Twitter Henrik Zeberg is not afraid to openly speak of Bitcoins possible dive to $1,000. Zeberg is choosing to remain bearish in spite of Bitcoin price recovery from levels around $3,864 (reached in March) to highs close to $7,500 (earlier this week). Using the chart below, the trader points out that Bitcoin is vulnerable at $7,200.

Alongside the gold, the worlds most precious metal, Bitcoin is likely to fall into another selloff. Zeberg says that Bitcoin and gold are so misunderstood at this point! We have strong illiquid phase in front of us.

According to the daily chart, Bitcoin upside is limited by the 50-day SMA. Movement above $7,400 (tipping point) could push the price above $7,500. This is likely to shift the focus back to $8,000.

However, in relation to Zebergs bearish prediction, a bearish pennant patent puts Bitcoin in grave danger of breaking down to retest the support at $6,000 or even $5,000.

Meanwhile, short term analysis shows Bitcoin is likely to embrace consolidation as long as the RSI keeps on with the leveling motion between 50 and 60.

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Cryptocurrency Market Update: Bitcoin and gold toying with a massive selloff, is $1,000 in the picture? - FXStreet

Discussion forum Reddit appears to be building a points system that runs on a blockchain, according to a video posted by one Redditor.

Redditor MagoCrypto, who according to his profile is a community manager at Unstoppable Domainswhich builds censorship resistant websitesuploaded the video yesterday. It appears to show a beta implementation of the system.

Screenshots show a wallet, which comes with a blockchain address. Image: Reddit.

"I opened my app yesterday morning and saw the 'wallet' menu option. Went through it, saw 'blockchain' and got super excited to share with rest of y'all," MagoCrypto wrote on Reddit.

A Reddit spokesperson told Decrypt that it is testing a blockchain-based feature but only for one community.

"We continuously experiment with ways to support communities on Reddit. In this instance, were working with one community to test a feature that represents a users involvement in a community. We value and seek out community feedback as we continue to explore features that engage our users and communities, the spokesperson said.

According to the screenshots, the main feature is a cryptocurrency wallet where the user can collect points. But each user will have their own blockchain address where they will be able to see their points.

The FAQ gives some more clues as to what's coming. Image: Reddit.

It appears that these points will have some value. In the frequently asked questions, there is a section called "Tipping and Transfers." This suggests that the points can be sent to other Redditors and will have value, probably as cryptocurrency. It is unclear whether these points can be sent outside of the Reddit app.

It is possible the points will have futher functionalities in the Reddit ecosystem. Other questions involve memberships and voting, implying that they could be used to contribute to Reddit's development.

Reddit has long been a popular source of information for cryptocurrency projects. It is home to many crypto communities, with r/Bitcoin boasting 1.4 million members and r/Cryptocurrency with 994,000. But so far, it has held off on implementing a blockchain-based system. Maybe the crypto-loving Redditors have good karma after all.

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Reddit is finally adding cryptocurrency, screenshots show - Decrypt

The cryptocurrency market is being treated to a couple of halving events this week. Bitcoin Cash and its rival sibling Bitcoin SV will both undergo a mining reward halving. Halving is an event that reduces the reward miners get per block of coins mined. Bitcoin Cash halving is its first since it hard forked from Bitcoin in 2017. It is scheduled to take place on Wednesday and will have mining rewards slashed in half from 12.5 BCH to 6.25 BCH. On the other hand, Bitcoin SV halving will take place a proximately a day after that of BCH.

BCH/USD has surged 8% on the day as investors take their positions ahead of the mining. It is exchanging hands at $274 after advancing from $252 (opening value). An intraday high has been reached at $280. However, buyers eye $300 while riding on the speculation surrounding the halving event.

Bitcoin price has made a considerable movement above $7,000 this week. The price stepped above $7,400 on Tuesday but lost steam short of $7,500. At the time of writing, BTC is trading at $7,330 following an intraday growth of 1.77%. Immediate support has been established above $7,200, further cementing the buyers position on the market as they look forward to testing the level at $8,000.

Ethereum has also been in a bullish phase this week. The price action took a positive turn on breaking above $140. The rally above $160 9 (former resistance) allowed the improved sentiments towards Ether to improve. This catapulted Ethereum to test $180 resistance. For now, the price trading at $171 after adding 3.91% to its value on the day.

Ripple price is trading 3.77% higher on the day. The price movement has been bullish from the opening value at $0.1928 to $0.2001 (market value). The step above $0.20 is key to the next rally eyeing $0.30. Therefore, it is essential that bulls find support above this level and shift their focus to $0.30.

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Cryptocurrency Market Update: Bitcoin Cash rallies ahead of halving, Bitcoin stable above $7,200, ETH and XRP in the green - FXStreet

Major cryptocurrencies are staying relatively quiet on Saturday and struggle to break out of their daily trading ranges amid a lack of significant catalysts.

Bitcoin (BTC/USD) climbed to its highest level since March 13th at $7,250 on Thursday but lost its momentum as the Fibonacci 61.8% retracement of the mid-March fall formed a stiff resistance at that level. After closing the day little changed on Friday, the pair continues to move sideways below $7,000 on Saturday. On the downside,$6,600 (Fibonacci 50% retracement) aligns as the initial support ahead of $6,250 (20-day SMA) and $6,000 (Fibonacci 38.2% retracement/psychological level). Resistances, on the other hand, could be seen at$7,250, 7,650 (50-day SMA) and $8,170 (100-day SMA/200-day SMA).

Ethereum (ETH/USD) advanced to a fresh two-week high of $150.70 on Thursday and had gone into a consolidation phase. As of writing, the pair was up 1.3% on a daily basis at $143. With a weekly close above $150 (Fibonacci 38.2% retracement of mid-March drop), the pair could target $153.50 (Mar. 20 high). The 200-day SMA at $173 is the key resistance for the pair in the near-term. Supports are located at $137 (Apr. 3 low) and $126.50 (Fibonacci 23.6% retracement).

After finding support near $0.16 at the start of the week,Ripple(XRP/USD)gained traction and closed the last five days in the positive territory and gained more than 10% during the period. However, the pair seems to be having a difficult time preserving its bullish momentum as it trades in a tight range above the $0.18 mark. On the upside, the initial hurdle aligns at $0.1875 (Mar. 27 high/Apr. 2high) ahead of $0.2000 (psychological level). Near-term supports for the pair could be seen at $0.1620 (Fibonacci 38.2% retracement of mid-March drop) and $0.1420 (Fibonacci 23.6% retracement of mid-March drop).

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Cryptocurrency market update: Major cryptos trade in tight ranges on Saturday - FXStreet

Crypto analyst Nicholas Merten says he believes Bitcoin is firmly on a long-term trajectory that will bring the leading cryptocurrency to $100,000.

In a new episode of DataDash, Merten takes a birds-eye look at Bitcoins boom and bust cycles over the years. By looking at the long-term logarithmic chart of the BraveNewCoin Liquid Index (BLX), which provides a reliable USD price of Bitcoin based on real-time trading data, Merten seesa likely timeline for the next bull run.

If we take a look at the previous three clear cycles that we had here in cryptocurrency markets, we can generally take into note that weve seen an expansion of about a year added to each and every cycle The first cycle was around 11 to 12 months, in this case, for Bitcoin.

Afterwards, from the bottom to the high, just like we did with the previous cycle, 24 months With the third cycle, we have a 35-month period from bottom to top, roughly give or take almost three years

Theres no guarantee that history is going to repeat itself exactly. There might be some big discrepancies this time around with the macro environment. The halving might play out differently. But if we take a look here of the logarithmic growth curves and take into mind the significant lows and the significant resistance, we actually are going to line up quite nicely here to a top of $100,000, give or take it might not be exactly even sometime in 2022.

The DataDash founder offers two key fundamental catalysts that can drive Bitcoins rise to $100,000.

We havent even seen the economic ramifications of the halving event and the continued macro environment going into a higher state of fear. These are the things that can drive Bitcoin to that valuation

I believe pretty consciously in this case that $100,000 is quite reasonable. Bitcoin at over $1 trillion market cap is going to be relatively reasonable in an environment where theres money fleeing from global bonds, from global currencies, from equities or property markets as we enter into a longer drawn out bear market through a potential depression.

Thats a very, very conservative ask, in my opinion, for a new emerging digital gold for Millennials and Gen Z. A key point here is to focus on these longer-term time frames. To be patient. This is going to be a long journey, but its going to be a fun one.

Although the future of the global economy is far from certain, Merten says he believes that in the long run, Bitcoin will benefit from the increasing intervention in the economy from the US Federal Reserve as investors look outside of equities for assets with a fixed monetary supply.

Unlike the Fed which says, We are going to do x and [then] they do y, Bitcoin has been chugging along. If you need to process a transaction, you can do it. If you want to know that your money is going to be fixed in a system or your purchasing power is fixed into a system that isnt going to change the rules every five minutes, Bitcoin does that Bitcoin is the clear winner here.

Featured Image: Shutterstock/Chat Karen Studio

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Heres Why Bitcoin (BTC) Is Rocketing Toward $100K, According to Crypto Analyst Nicholas Merten - The Daily Hodl

Introduction

The concept of cryptocurrencies and the bitcoin is changing all the ideas and approaches about it. Now since the highly educated people are aware of the use of bitcoins, we have brought this idea of it for the ones who are feeding us for years The Farmers.

Here we will tell you how the blockchain concept has helped the farmers all across the world but before that click this link to find some interesting facts about bitcoins.

Reach and Access

One must be thankful for bitcoin and its inventor who is anonymous but the world is well aware of the presence of bitcoin in the financial sector. With the progress of bitcoins in the industry, it is also helping one to understand the concept of the bitcoin and helping to reach out to the neediest section of the society. Now the cryptocurrency is reaching out to the farming sector of the countries.

Bitcoin is decentralized and the farmers would get an opportunity to choose the buyer or their choice, this means that they will get back a great share of the business as there will be no middlemen involved in it. In the traditional way of farming the most profit goes away to the middlemen who do the service from middle, so in this kind of business the money will be retained to the farmer only.

The use of cryptocurrency opens a great window for the farmers of the world, already the farmers of Argentina have accepted it and it is showing the great result of it.

The Coffe Coins

Crypto coffee coin is a concept that is used by the farmers of Brazil, happily. It is the name given to digital currency in brazil and anyone in brazil can shop or sell any service or product confining to farming in Brazil. All the farmers have access to all the products that could be sold in exchange for these coins. Through this selling concept, the farmers have been possible to raise the required fund to go for the next set of farming while saving some money at home for their family and daily use purposes. They also get access to the requisite fund to produce coffee at the same time.

The farmers are also given the opportunity to buy their favorite product or any household necessity using these coins. This will help them to get their necessary items while saving some amount of money for themselves. This plan has now been widely accepted by all and it has been quite accepted by people all over the world. In no time this scope and opportunity are increasing largely among all the farmers.

The Utility of the Blockchain

Till now, we saw how bitcoins are helpful for the farmers but we havent yet seen how the blockchain is also important to them. It is very important to introduce them to the concept of blockchains across the world. This will bring then a lot of profit, hence it is important that they realize how to use it.

The whole transformation in the financial sector is due to the bitcoins, which is again supported by the blockchain technology. This technology gives power to the bitcoins and the cryptocurrencies. With the presence of blockchain, all the transactions from all the transaction addresses are recorded in the blockchain and due to the decentralized method, they cant be altered by any chance.

Conclusion

May be slowly but gradually people are becoming aware of the idea of the cryptocurrency in the world. While people do realize the set of benefits from this type of digital currency. Take a step forward to this great facility, understand yourself and make others understand the utility of it. You will have a great future secured for the rest of your life.

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Know-How Cryptocurrency will Help the Farming Community - Programming Insider

Introduction

India is known as a country that embraces all the new technologies and for the first time, India failed to embrace the new technology of bitcoins. Specially bitcoins are very helpful when you think to trade online from anywhere on earth. As the other best parts like easily transferable and could be sent anywhere on earth, this coin is extra money for you.Internet Users are Increasing

A large number of people are gradually moving into the digital world or the world of the internet very quickly. As of now, it can be said that there are about 480 million internet users in India which are growing rapidly and soon it is expected to rise as high as 660 million internet users. This number of users have been given to be increasing by 2023, magically dragging more people to the digital world. This is really good news for bitcoin trading applications because the greater number of people will use the internet will be able to use bitcoins for a better purpose. As per experts and the bitcoiners, India is a much stronger fertile ground for the use of bitcoins.

Digital Population for the Younger Generation

A concept-driven technology is a cryptocurrency or a bitcoin concept. This concept of cryptocurrencies is most appealing to the young population of India. India has the largest number of people below 35 years of age which covers like 65% of the people while 55% of the citizens are below 25 years. The average age of an Indian is somewhat around 29-30. On average, if we calculate more than 870 million it below 30 years old. It makes one thing clear that most of the Indians should use crypto to have some great time earning money.

The IT Sector is Enough

India has the required intellect to grow the best base for an intellectual industry strongly on the earth. Luckily India has an abundance of access to the crypto concept, but it is a different story that they do not want to use it. India has the miserably high number of Computer Engineers and plenty of people who are fresh graduates they join the software industry PR the IT sectors every year. Not only that the graduates are interested, in fact, but some of the best and well-known companies are also in India such as Wipro, TCS, and HCL, Infosys, etc. Some of the Indian cities like Pune, Hyderabad, and Bangalore are house to the best IT sectors and Software shades in India which are known globally. This also proves that the crypto world can work in India very easily without brining much difficulty on the way to deal with it.

India always had and still has everything that is required to have a great crypto trade in the market but somehow, it has failed to accept the concept gladly and it still considers it to be a crime. There are many reasons that have led to the ban on usage of the cryptocurrency but the major setback has been brought by the RBI.

RBI is a Curse on Cryptocurrencies in India

The finance regulatory body of India is the RBI who is solely responsible for the banning of the use of cryptocurrency in India. As soon as the RBI banned cryptocurrency in India, the roots of Cryptocurrency began to freeze brick by brick in India.

Conclusion

The Coronavirus that affected the entire world has also added some disappointment for the ones who deal with cryptocurrencies. The crypto-community is India has been left open mouth for the kind of a disappointment that they are facing from the government as well as the pandemic.

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Cryptocurrency is a Curse on the Indian Reserve Bank - Programming Insider

According to experts, the Supreme Courts recent verdict on setting aside RBIs circular on banking ban should not be interpreted as the legalisation of cryptocurrency trade in India.

On April 5, 2018, Reserve Bank of India had issued a few advisory guidelines concerning cryptocurrency activities in India under a circular titled Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies.

Paragraph 13 of the circular asked entities governed by RBI not to deal with or give services to any person or business organizations dealing with or transacting in virtual currencies. Additionally, it also asked these entities to end such ties if any. As per RBI, the circular was issued in the public interest.

This circular was challenged by the chief petitioner Internet And Mobile Association Of India in the court of law. On March 4, 2020, the Supreme Court of India delivered a historical judgment.

As per popular interpretation of the verdict, it signalled the legitimacy of virtual currencies in India; that is, the Supreme court had lifted the ban on virtual currencies, and thus, trading in virtual currencies was now legal. The petitioners had been entitled to supersede, and the challenged circular issued on April 6, 2018, was subject to be taken down, as per the Supreme Court.

Though the Supreme Court of India upheld the plea for striking down the applicability of the circular, the order pronounced by the bench consisting of Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, Aniruddha Bose and V. Ramasubramanian, may need careful evaluation for better understanding of the judgement.

The arguments in support of petitioners were on Article 19(1) (g). The denial of banking access to a profession not prohibited under the Indian law was deemed a violation of Article 19(1) (g) of the Constitution of India (which provides the right to practice any legal profession).

The petitioners also argued that the power contained in the circular lied outside the powers of the RBI, but the Apex Court negated that argument. The Supreme Court held that anything that may act a threat to or have an impact on the financial system of India should be regulated or prohibited by RBI, despite the said activity not constituting part of the credit system or payment system of the country.

In its judgement, the court observed, It is no doubt true that the Reserve Bank Of India has pervasive powers not only in view of the statutory design but also in view of the special status and role that it possesses in the economy of India. These powers can be applied both in the form of preventive as well as curative measures.

The court was convinced about wide powers of RBI and issuance of the circulars as preventive measures for the betterment of Indian financial scenario, but as the circular could not pass the test of proportionality, the circulars were smacked down. So, it should not be seen as the Supreme Court has lifted the ban on cryptocurrency in India, or that cryptocurrency trading is official in India as many of us are construing this decision, said Advocate Dr Mahendra Limaye, who heads cyber law firm- Mahendra Limaye Associates.

The Supreme court stated RBI did not show any empirical data highlighting the damage caused by cryptocurrency exchanges on the entities regulated by RBI, which is a significant reason that petitioners were able to win. Given that official ban on cryptocurrency still not exist India, RBIs ban on banking support for crypto firms remained unjustified on the grounds of proportionality.

The availability of power is distinct from the manner and extent to which it can be exercised by RBI. To test the proportionality of banking ban, it required RBI to present at least some semblance of any damage endured by its regulated entities. But there is none, the Supreme Court stated.

So, the overturn of the circular does not mean cryptocurrencies are legal in India or that crypto exchanges will be permanently allowed to function, according to experts.

Given RBI will further challenge the verdict to prove the alleged risk that cryptocurrencies pose to the banking system, the banking ban could be reinstated later. Plus, we know that an Inter-Ministerial Committee proposed in February 2019 a blanket ban on cryptocurrencies.

Known asBanning of Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Act,the draft bill is yet to be presented in front of the legislature. If passed, it could make buying, selling, mining, and even holding of cryptocurrency a punishable offence. So, have we interpreted the recent verdict by the Supreme Court wrongly?

Dr Limaye says, In my views, the mainstream interpretation of the verdict is wrong. The petitioners received the benefit of doubt and lassitude from governments part also played an imperative role in tiling the balance in favour of petitioners. The Apex Court has accepted the powers of RBI to issue circulars in Public Interest. There was no blanket order banning Virtual Currency and diametrically opposite views by the Central government regarding virtual currencies, and it let down the populous move of RBI banning VC exchanges from banking exposures.

What is essential to note, is that all petitions are filed against the Reserve Bank Of India, and not the Finance Ministry draft ban bill. The verdict remains only short-term relief as the verdict against the RBI does not impact activities on the policy level, also wrote Tanvi Ratna, a technology consultant and CEO of Policy 4.0 in herblog.

The verdict had been welcomed and celebrated by professionals in the crypto industrymultiple exchanges like Unocoin, Wazirx and CoinDCX started INR deposit services soon after.

The announcement also was followed by multiple investment announcements in cryptocurrency-related startups. This included Binance, Aeternity and HashCash investing in the countrys blockchain and cryptocurrency economy in 2020.

The cryptocurrency ecosystem in India saw a revival of fiat liquidity and resurgence of fiat-based trading at exchanges and as well as investments in startups. But, is this festive mood going to be a short-lived affair if Banning of Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Act is passed?

The verdict of the Supreme Court solely addresses the Reserve Bank of India circular. The Supreme Court is very unlikely to issue any action against the Finance Ministry, and impact their view on the subject, according to Tanvi Ratna.

Experts believe the Supreme Court seemingly gave a verdict in favour of the cryptocurrency industry as there is no such law yet in India which bans cutting banking support for exchanges. This means the judgment would not hold once there is such anti-crypto regulation is in place.

In the entire judgement, the Supreme Court never uttered a single word about legitimacy or genuineness of virtual currencies or about exchanges trading such virtual currencies. But SC only decided that the activities of petitioner exchanges, trading in virtual currency were not declared unlawful. Hence, their bank accounts could not be debit frozen by the banks citing the challenged RBI Circular, said Dr Mahendra Limaye.

Also Read: How Lifting Crypto Ban In India Will Accelerate Jobs And Blockchain Startups

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SC Verdict On Lifting Cryptocurrency Ban In India May Be Misinterpreted, And We May See The Ban Reinstated - Analytics India Magazine

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Nexo Facilitating Cryptocurrency Turnover with Tax Friendly Credit Lines - The Cryptocurrency Analytics