The Bitcoin (BTC) price dropped to $3,600 overnight, marking Bitcoins biggest daily drop in the last seven years. Over $1 billion worth of longs was liquidated on March 12, causing one of the most intense long squeezes in the crypto markets recent history.

The main catalyst of the sudden 50% decline in the price of Bitcoin within a span of eight hours was the 9.99% drop of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The United States stock market experienced its worst sell-off since 1987, as panic over the coronavirus pandemic intensified to unprecedented levels.

In the past seven days, Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general have shown a high level of correlation with the U.S. stock market, possibly due to the overall drop in investor appetite for high-risk assets. The steep correction in the U.S. stock market together with a lack of buying demand as Bitcoins price fell to the low $5,000 levels ultimately led the price to decline to $3,600.

Until the global financial market begins to show signs of recovery, potentially through the introduction of more stimulus packages from central banks in Europe and the U.S., Bitcoin is likely to remain vulnerable to abrupt pullbacks in the near-term.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, cryptocurrency trader and technical analyst Eric Thies said that while the focus of investors has solely been on the coronavirus pandemic, there have been major geopolitical conflicts and risks affecting the market as of late, such as the the dispute over oil prices between Saudi Arabia and Russia. The unexpected decline in the price of oil further imposed additional pressure on global markets, adding to the uncertainty, fear and instability felt by investors. As Thies said:

Todays massive dump in both the crypto markets and the traditional markets was very interesting to say the least. While many would say it is solely due to the coronavirus, looking into it further and you will see this does not show the usual signs of a recession. This may be because of the war on oil that many people have not heard about due to the news of the virus.

Thies noted that with the drop to $3,600, a new market cycle for Bitcoin could begin. Top traders have said in the last 24 hours that the overnight plunge of Bitcoin could kickstart a long accumulation phase, similar to in early 2019.

If that happens, institutions could continue to accumulate BTC at lower prices if the appetite for risk-on assets improves over time, making the market less concentrated on whales or individuals that own a significant amount of BTC. Thies explained further:

One thing I think that is overlooked by many crypto investors is the money flow in this new market cycle. This is the first market cycle where the weight of the money will potentially be held by institutions. That means that Bitcoin is now tied to the traditional markets, and far from being a safe haven when it comes to the emotional cycles of humans, and our instinct to save our money when we become fearful.

Throughout February, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust showed a premium of around 30% relative to the spot exchange price of Bitcoin on platforms like Coinbase. This represented a steady inflow of capital from accredited and institutional investors in Bitcoin.

The Bitcoin price crashed down into the $3,000s because of the highly leveraged nature of the cryptocurrency market and the unwillingness of buyers to step in amid extreme volatility and uncertainty. After the drop, the liquidity of Bitcoin wore to the point in which a limit sell order of around $11 million was lowering the BTC price on BitMEX by $300 relative to other exchanges. Cryptocurrency trader Jacob Canfield explained in a tweet:

This guy is trying to offload $11 million here with limit sells, but it's been holding the price down relative to other exchanges. Mex was running $300 lower than almost any other exchange due to liquidation backlogs.

$11 million limit sell order for BTC on BitMEX. Source: Jacob Canfield Twitter

A large portion of the daily cryptocurrency exchange market volume comes from futures trading platforms like BitMEX, OKEx, Binance Futures and FTX. This suggests that the majority of traders in the cryptocurrency market are trading major cryptocurrencies with borrowed capital.

In times of heightened volatility and unforeseen market sell orders in the hundreds of millions of dollars, Bitcoins price could react with a severe correction with no end in sight, such as on March 12. Before the large drop occurred, Thies said that $4,800 looked as the next logical level of support based on previous areas with high trading activity. Thies said prior to the drop to the $3,000s:

It appears BTC may have been caught by the $5.6K breakout range from 2019. For bulls, the only good sign at the moment is that it technically confirms last years breakout as a legitimate change in trend from the 2018 bear trend, with a successful back-test of that break out range.

The Bitcoin price dropped below every major support, even further than the last remaining support at $4,800 across all major exchanges, as virtually all longs in the market were wiped out in a span of several hours.

A screenshot shared by well-known cryptocurrency trader I am Nomad showed an investor on BitMEX losing 1,220 BTC overnight, which would have been an equivalent of $9.7 million before the drop.

More than $1 billion of longs was liquidated in the last two days on BitMEX alone, precisely because large longs above $10 million started to be stopped or liquidated, which then turned into strong selling pressure.

In the aftermath of the 50% drop in the price of Bitcoin, top industry executives that oversee the sectors largest investment firms expressed their belief in the asset class and confidence in the long-term trend of the market.

Michael Sonnenshein, the managing director at Grayscale which oversees the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, a publicly tradable Bitcoin investment vehicle with around $2 billion in assets under management said that he hasnt doubted his faith in the cryptocurrency industry and the community amid this extreme volatility:

I'm 7+ years into my digital currency journey. Years ago I'd wake up in the middle of the night to check prices or allow my stomach to churn when the market dropped precipitously, but I never once lost faith in what this incredible community has built. Stay strong. HODL on.

The billionaire CEO of Galaxy Digital, Mike Novogratz, said that the confidence of investors across the world in just about every asset seems to have dropped, which makes Bitcoin all the more valuable in the long term. Paolo Ardoino, the chief technology officer at Bitfinex, said that one single day does not make a market, adding that:

"Bitcoin is a battle tested asset which in time will prove its underlying strength as a genuine store of value. While Bitcoin has grown to fruition during a period of massive QE from central banks it will in time prove its metal as these policies surely begin to fail."

According to Thies, one positive takeaway from the market crash is that it occured at the beginning of the month, leaving more time for BTC to recover and stabilize. Had the drop happened in late March, it would have caused larger time frame candles like the monthly candle of BTC to close with a drop to the $3,000s, which could have established an intensely negative precedent for the months to come. Thies concluded:

Although we arent sure what mayhem ensues in the media and markets from here, just know this: Buy when people are fearful. Sell when people are greedy. Times like these, in which emption and stop-losses are triggering catastrophic results are typically a sign of true capitulation and often a time to countertrade the masses.

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Crypto Traders Explain What Caused the Bitcoin Price Plunge to $3,000s - Cointelegraph

Bitcoin prices plummeted today, driven lower by various factors. (Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images)

Bitcoin prices plummeted today, shedding approximately half of their value as global markets were afflicted by widespread panic and liquidity problems.

The digital currency fell to as little as $3,867.09, CoinDesk figures show.

At this point, the cryptocurrency had plunged 49.6% from its price of more than $7,600 at the start of the day, and was trading at its lowest in almost a year, additional CoinDesk data reveals.

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

When explaining bitcoins extreme price decline, analysts emphasized concerns surrounding the coronavirus and a global liquidity crunch.

Further, several market observers pointed to Asian trading as fuelling the digital currencys sharp losses over the last several hours.

Most of crypto is driven by the Asian market, said Marouane Garcon, managing director of crypto-to-crypto derivatives platformAmulet. The threat of coronavirus is greater over there.

Joe DiPasquale, CEO of cryptocurrency hedge fund managerBitBull Capital, also weighed in, stating that as Asia woke up to the market crash, it helped drive prices down further.

John Iadeluca, founder & CEO of multi-strategy fundBanz Capital, emphasized the importance of trading activity in South Korea.

When investors in the East Asian nation woke up several hours ago and began their day, they realized the destruction that the global financial markets caused while it was their night time, he stated.

The psychological stance as well as global virus pandemic are playing perfectly into one another to see cash as the only possible current safe haven, said Iadeluca.

While this latest drop may look dire for bitcoin, there may also be a silver lining, according to Michael Conn, founder and managing partner of financial services firm Quail Creek Ventures,

He stated that while the liquidity crunch continues, the current situation is an overreaction and will lead to buying opportunities in the near future, he said.

Disclosure: I own some bitcoin, bitcoin cash, litecoin, ether and EOS.

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Bitcoin Lost Roughly 50% Of Its Value In A Day - Forbes

Bitcoin (BTC) has made a quick bounce from a dip to below $4,000 seen early on Friday.

The cryptocurrency is currently trading near $5,415, up around 40 percent from the low of $3,867 reached around 02:15 UTC. That was the lowest level since March 25, 2019, according to CoinDesks Bitcoin Price Index.

Equity markets are also flashing green alongside the slight recovery for bitcoin.

S&P 500 futures are currently reporting more than 3 percent gains, while the Euro Stoxx 50 index the eurozones benchmark index has added more than 2 percent to its value.

Asian markets had gapped lower at the open, tracking the overnight losses on Wall Street, but recovered a major portion of the losses before the closing bell.

Year-to-date losses

While bitcoins recovery looks impressive, the cryptocurrency is still down by more than $2,000 from levels near $8,000 seen early on Thursday.

Bitcoin is now reporting a 27 percent loss on a year-to-date basis after showing gains of 46 percent just a month ago when the cryptocurrency was trading near $10,500.

Back then, bitcoin was outshining gold by a notable margin, as the yellow metal was flashing a 6 percent gain for 2020. However, as of March 13, gold is back on top with a 7.5 percent year-to-date gain.

The yearly gains were shed as the cryptocurrency plummeted by nearly 39 percent on Thursday during the relentless coronavirus-led sell-off in risk assets. The resulting liquidity crisis was accentuated by a massive long squeeze (forced liquidations) on prominent crypto derivatives exchanges such as BitMEX.

Corrective bounce?

Bitcoins sudden crash to $3,867 from $8,000 looked overstretched as per technical studies.

The latest bitcoin correction has pushed BTC to oversold levels last seen in September 2019 and November 2019, co-founder and partner at Morgan Creek Digital Jason A. Williams tweeted today.

Indeed, the widely tracked relative strength index (RSI), which oscillates between zero to 100, had dropped to 15 the lowest since November 2018. A below-30 reading indicates the cryptocurrency is oversold.

As a result, the rise seen over the last few hours could be an oversold bounce," which occurs when investors view a preceding sell-off as too severe and ease selling pressure by squaring off short positions.

Focus on risk sentiment

Bitcoin will regain poise with risk assets, which will start seeing a sustainable recovery once there is stabilization in the coronavirus infection curve, Mike Alfred, co-founder, and CEO of Digital Assets Data told CoinDesk.

As per the latest reports, coronavirus continues to spread in Europe and the U.S. Therefore, the current uptick in the equity markets could be a chart-driven bounce or investors may have taken heart from the Federal Reserves decision to inject $1.4 trillion worth of liquidity into the financial system.

If the recovery gathers momentum during the U.S. trading hours, bitcoin could very well find acceptance above $6,000 once more.

However, as long as the virus outbreak shows no signs of slowing down, the risk of further downside moves in equities and bitcoin would remain high.

Still, dips below $5,000 would be transient, according to Alfred, as there is too much fundamental demand from long-term holders investors who bought bitcoins before the massive rally from $6,000 to $20,000 seen in the fourth quarter of 2017 and during the last five weeks of 2018.

Currently, there are 12.19 million addresses that acquired coins below $5,700, according to blockchain intelligence firmIntoTheBlock.

These players could increase their exposure on price drops below $5,000, especially with the miners' reward halving (a bitcoin supply cut) due in two months.

Alfred said the price range of $2,500 to $5,000 offers incredible value for investors.

Bottom in?

The bear market, which began at the end of 2013, ran out of steam at the 200-week average in 2015. Back then, the average was placed near $220.

The sell-off from the record high of $20,000 reached in December 2017 also ended at the 200-week MA in December 2018.

The long lower wick attached to the current weekly candle suggests seller exhaustion below the 200-week average. If history is a guide, bitcoin looks to have found a bottom below $4,000.

That does not necessarily imply a v-shaped recovery to $10,000. If the equities resume their sell-off, prices might revisit sub-$5,000 levels.

Disclosure:The author holds no cryptocurrency at the time of writing.

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

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Bitcoin Price Briefly Dips to 12-Month Low in Overnight Trading - CoinDesk - Coindesk

CoinDesk reporter Leigh Cuen is joined by VR meetup organizer Udi Wertheimer to talk about how bitcoin (BTC) fits into the broader cypherpunk movement.

The cypherpunk movement has expanded far beyond the 2,000 people who subscribed to mailing lists in the 1990s. In 2018, Entrepreneur reported there are more than 8,000 posts on Bitcointalk every day, while Coinbase garnered millions of user accounts. Such experimental technology is no longer the realm of just a few thousand geeks.

However, across the board, even in 2020 cypherpunk projects rarely exceed a few dozen regular contributors. For example, Exiledsurfer, an event organizer and hacker space co-founder from the Parallele Polis collective, said his space in Vienna was inspired by a collective in Prague that collects roughly $5,000 a month in cryptocurrency from members to share a venue. Likewise, the Vienna chapter accepts dues in DAI, monero and bitcoin, just to name a few.

Were a crypto pure organization, Exiledsurfer said. This will be an alternative asset class or, in a hundred years, there will by three guys in a garage in Topeka, Kansas, tweaking on a 2020 computer to keep the chain alive, just like people tweak on old cars.

The cypherpunk movement appears to be growing, albeit slowly.

I still get people every week, young people and programmers who say they want to give their lives to this thing, cypherpunk icon Amir Taaki said, underscoring why he believes the movement will only succeed through groups with structured training methods.

Theres a yearning need for this...we can build our own financial networks outside of the control of the state, Taaki said of the academy he plans to launch in Barcelona.

How do all of these pieces that were working on fit together to serve a higher goal? Whats our narrative? Taaki said.

Yet, even as a cypherpunk technology aficionado, Wertheimer disagrees with such collectivist views of our narrative or pure projects.

I dont think we need bitcoin evangelists, Wertheimer said. Well talk about why he views the ideological movement as divorced from user groups that may now utilize cypherpunk technology.

Want more? Read my article about how bitcoin compares to the early days of the internet.

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

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Cyperpunk Myths and Bitcoin in Real Life with Udi Wetheimer - Coindesk

Bitcoin crashed this week, losing almost 50% of its value in a little over a weekwith some thinking it could fall even further before finding a firm floor.

The bitcoin price, well known to be highly volatile, had climbed over $10,000 last month before crashing back in the face of broader market turmoil caused by the spreading coronavirushitting lows of just under $4,000 per bitcoin before rebounding to around $5,000.

Ahead of bitcoin's massive sell-off this week, the incoming Bank of England governor, Andrew Bailey, warned that bitcoin investors need to "be prepared to lose all [their] money"adding his voice to a raft of bitcoin warnings from top government officials and regulators.

Andrew Bailey, the incoming Bank of England governor, has previously said that owning bitcoin is ... [+] similar to gambling.

"Theres no guarantee of the value of bitcoin," Bailey, who will begin his term as Bank of England governor tomorrow, told the U.K.'s Treasury select committee at the beginning of the month, where he was defending his record as head of the country's Financial Conduct Authority watchdog, adding bitcoin "hasn't caught on that much."

"I've said publicly because we were concerned about itif you want to buy bitcoin, be prepared to lose all your money," Bailey said. "If you want to buy it, fine, but understand that what you've got has no intrinsic value. It might have extrinsic value, but no intrinsic value."

Bailey, who served as the deputy governor of the Bank of England from 2013 to 2016, has previously slammed bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, comparing bitcoin investors to gamblers in 2017 because "[bitcoin] is not a currency" and is "a very volatile commodity in terms of its pricing."

Bitcoin's sudden sell-off has caused chaos within the bitcoin and cryptocurrency community, with one veteran trader warning the bitcoin price could crash below $1,000 per bitcoina level not seen since bitcoin's epic 2017 rally sent the bitcoin price from under $1,000 to around $20,000 in under 12 months.

Elsewhere, bitcoin bull and hedge fund multi-millionaire Mike Novogratzsaid he fears confidence in bitcoin has "evaporated."

The bitcoin price has given up all of its 2020 gains over the last week, falling back to levels not ... [+] seen since early last year.

Bitcoin's massive crashthis week has been put down to global market turmoil sparked by oil cartel Opec's failure to agree to a supply cut last weekend, sending the oil price to historic lowsbut some think bitcoin's move lower could have its origins elsewhere.

Opec, lead by Saudi Arabia, had wanted to cut oil production due to weaker demand caused by spreading coronavirus but some members, including Russia, torpedoed the plan.

Meanwhile, Bailey said the Bank of England would move quickly to soften the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak under his leadership.

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New Bank Of England Governor Sent Bitcoin Buyers A Stark Warning - Forbes

Although its difficult to quantify demand for bitcoin (BTC) in informal markets across the Middle East, small-scale traders from Lebanon to Yemen say interest in bitcoin as a safe-haven asset, not a speculative asset, is stronger than ever.

Rami Mohammad Ali, a bitcoin miner and trader based in the Palestinian area of East Jerusalem, said the sell side of the local peer-to-peer market dried up and the buy side exploded in March.

So far, hes sold a cumulative total of 30 bitcoin to 90 customers. Thats a significant increase from September 2019, when he said he sold roughly 20 bitcoin a month to 50 customers.

The appeal of holding value in bitcoin, he said, is that people can access the money any time they need it.

This appears to be true across the region. One anonymous Syrian trader with family in Lebanon said small Lebanese business owners are struggling to pay their invoices abroad. So, among the few Lebanese with family abroad and the necessary computer skills, some now buy [bitcoin] locally with cash and liquidate it abroad through friends and family to pay their invoices.

In fact, some Middle Eastern bitcoin traders reported relative newbies are learning quickly and looking to buy bitcoin this week, as global prices dip.

Meanwhile, in Tehran, an anonymous Iranian bitcoiner said people now tend to keep their assets in gold, dollars and housing, plus a little bitcoin. Due to the coronavirus outbreak in Iran, the economic situation has gotten progressively worse. This means fewer public bitcoin meetups and quieter trades among a population with even less faith in national institutions. Small-scale bitcoin mining is now commonplace, locals say, despite the challenges faced by industrial operations.

Bitcoin is a revolutionary product but it needs a few more revolutions, the Tehran-based bitcoiner said. In the past, people thought bitcoin was a new type of scam. Now bitcoin is more trusted.

The analytics firm Gate Trade estimated there are now more than 30 Iranian companies using bitcoin, instead of fiat, for cross-border deals. But a Gate Trade spokesperson declined to specify which companies because the greatest barrier to bitcoin adoption in the Middle East appears to be international sanctions. That challenge isnt limited to Iran.

Yemeni bitcoin trader Mohammed Alsobhi said roughly five civilians continue to buy a small amount of bitcoin each month. The bitcoin market in Yemen is much smaller and quieter than most in the region due to the widespread censorship of telecommunication networks. But there is interest among locals knowledgeable about computer science.

"If I had the capabilities available in developed countries, I would have made great progress in this field," Alsobhi said of selling bitcoin in his war-torn nation. "Most companies that deal globally are excluding Yemen."

He said he hopes people in Yemen will gain access to crypto markets for trading opportunities. But, he added, war is the biggest barrier to bitcoin adoption in his country because of sanctions. For example, due to compliance concerns, he said people in Yemen cannot download wallets via Google Play.

Crypto-curious civilians are barred from the system as the sanctions collateral damage.

Yemen offers a microcosm of the global challenges civilians face using decentralized monetary networks.

Stepping back, a currency war emerged from Yemens civil war between Iran-backed Houthi rebels, which conquered the former capital city of Sanaa, and the Saudi-aligned Central Bank of Yemen, now in Aden. Yemenites dont trust either side. Yemeni activist Tawakkol Karman recently accused President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi of being just another pawn under the Saudi occupation.

As such, sanctions have ripple effects for civilians trapped between failing banks and warring parties. Yemens United Nations representative, Abdullah Al-Saadi, accused the Houthi militants of consorting with the ultimate target of U.S. sanctions, the armed forces of Iran.

The militias continue to welcome Iranian experts and receive military support and weapons from Iran, Al-Saadi said in a U.N. Security Council meeting in February.

With widespread reports of Houthi looting and the ongoing humanitarian crisis, the idea of digital cash appeals to some tech-savvy Yemenites in urban areas.

Most of the population of Yemen is in [Houthi]-controlled areas, and are engaged in the bulk of economic activity in the country, said Hassan Al-Haifi, an ex-banker based in Sanaa. Cryptocurrency or e-money could help Yemenites under a formidable siege and blockade. Sana'a would be favorable to a more autonomous currency regime.

Ben Freeman, a former Goldman Sachs oil trader and CEO of Creo Commodities, said cryptocurrencys value in the region relies on being decentralized and censorship-resistant. He doesnt believe bitcoins current volatility has any impact on that value proposition, especially in light of the risk Yemens civil war presents for Saudi Arabian oil production.

Extreme market sell-offs generally hit most asset classes as assets are sold to generate collateral for losing positions, Freeman said. If institutions break down, and bitcoin is independent to any institution or government oversight, then well start to see more flight to bitcoin as an asset class.

The hurdles preventing local adoption in the Middle East arent the lack of opportunity or demand; they are primarily the byproduct of political conditions. In Yemen and Iran, bitcoiners may need to avoid both domestic and international compliance risks. Most fintech companies overlook Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, even without sanctions. As such, there are few comprehensive or clear datasets related to usage beyond global (and heavily regulated) crypto exchanges.

This makes local markets hard to quantify. Still, it doesnt appear that broader market dips reduced demand on the ground for over-the-counter (OTC) trades. Institutional players fleeing bitcoin have little impact on demand from grassroots Middle Eastern networks. To the contrary, lower prices present an opportunity for buyers in emerging markets.

Bitcoin transactions in Iran increased [in 2020], compared to previous years, the Tehran-based bitcoiner said. But the slope seems gentle.

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

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Despite Bitcoin Price Dips, Crypto Is a Safe Haven in the Middle East - CoinDesk - CoinDesk

Bitcoin (BTC) falling as a result of financial turmoil was obvious to one of the spaces leading speakers and educators he predicted it just two months ago.

Speaking on the What Bitcoin Did podcast on Jan. 3, the impact of a recession or similar event was obvious to Andreas Antonopoulos.

What most people dont realize I think is that, in the beginning at least, crypto will crash hard, he explained.

And the reason it will crash hard is because a lot of the venture capital, corporate investments and private investment from individuals that is based on cheap money and disposable income and excess cash in portfolios etc., like in any other part of the economy, will dry up.

That scenario forecast this weeks market mania to an uncanny degree. After some markets saw their worst day since 1987, Bitcoin followed by tanking 60% to lows of around $3,600 on some exchanges.

While commentators are scrambling to explain the phenomenon, Antonopoulos appeared to have already catered to such a scenario.

When people get scared, when there is a recession like that, they pull back their investments, and theyre going to pull back from crypto too, he continued.

Bitcoin derivatives trading volumes with March 12 spike. Source: Skew.com

He noted that Bitcoin alone in January required around $18 million of buys per day just to keep price parity.

From that perspective, I think the first order effect that happens if we have a recession is crypto crashes because all the liquidity dries up which is a classic effect and symptom of a recession.

Thereafter, Bitcoin has the chance to emerge as a safe haven, but the relative difficulty of accessing and storing for non-technical investors could form hurdles to adoption and price stability.

Antonopoulos concluded:

All of those things are really a symptom of the fact that we have a small lifeboat and a very, very large number of people who need saving.

BTC/USD managed to recoup some of Thursdays monumental losses the next day, but at press time still traded down 9%.

See more here:
2 Months Ago, Andreas Antonopoulos Explained Why Bitcoin Would Crash - Cointelegraph

A programmer has released a tool that can recover lost Bitcoins using partial key data. The program simplifies what can be a painstaking and frustrating process when wallet data has become damaged or corrupted. Other tricks may also be employed to find lost funds.

Redditor u/Coding_Enthusiast recently released the tool, which he calls the FinderOuter. Although not the first program designed to recover lost key data, it simplifies the process. The FinderOuter has a simple interface that enables the user to enter the partial information for Base-58 or Base-16 private keys. It then recovers the entire key.

The open-source tool can be downloaded from Github. The author intends to add more features, such as the ability to use partially known information to recover full BIP-based seed phrases and passwords.

There is no shortage of potential users of this software, as missing information is responsible for many lost Bitcoins. In fact, by some estimates, as much as twenty-five percent of all existing Bitcoins are currently inaccessible.

It is next to impossible to recover missing private keys without a partial amount of information, yet not every case of lost Bitcoins is hopeless. For example, computer crashes have often been responsible for losing funds, but many tools exist, both hardware and software, that can restore failed hard drives.

Also, files believed to be corrupted are often easily recoverable. In fact, it is common for different hardware or operating systems to read data believed to be hopelessly lost. The same is true of files that have been deleted, as tools designed to recover erased data have been around for decades.

Any crypto investment strategy should start with a plan to properly store funds for the long-term. Simply put, the best way to restore lost Bitcoins is to never lose them in the first place. Unfortunately, the mishandling of cryptocurrency is all-too-common.

Cold storage, generally via hardware wallets, has long been considered the best means to protect against loss. However, recovery phrases for these devices must still be carefully written down and stored in a very secure location. Cryptocurrency should never be kept on exchanges, nor should wallet data be kept on any device without adequate backup.

Also, substantial amounts of cryptocurrency have now been lost because owners have died without providing needed recovery information. Thus, this possibility should be factored into any long-term investment plan.

Have you lost any or all of your bitcoins? Tell us in the comments below.

Image via Shutterstock

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Lost Your Bitcoin? Here Is How You Can Recover It - Bitcoinist

To put an end to seven days of pandemonium in both the crypto world and traditional markets, crypto traders followed up a spurt of record-breaking activity with eerie quiescence.

In the past 24 hours, trading volume for Bitcoin totaled just $31 billion, down from peaks of near $80 billion on Fridaythe highest on record, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

The tumult was down to the coronavirus pandemic: this week, the US announced a national emergency; Italys hospitals became overrun with patients; and Spain declared a nationwide lockdown. Uncertainty in the global economy caused a massive selloff of crypto. As a result, Bitcoin's price was cut in half, to lows of $4,107.

But following the historic trading boom, trading volume for Bitcoin this weekend hit its lowest ebb since the beginning of February. Last weekend, daily trading volume hovered around $36 million. The weekend before, $43 million.

Trading volume on major exchangesCoinbase and Krakenalso dipped over the past 24 hours, according to data from metrics site CoinGecko. In Fridays blowout, Kraken traded over $1 billion and Coinbase Pro reached $2 billion. In the past day, they traded around $100 million and $300 million, respectively.

Price stayed much the same in the past 24 hoursBitcoin now trades for around $5,360after taking a severe battering just days before.

Litecoin made modest gains of 0.85%, and Bitcoin Cash rose by 0.38%. Ethereum Classic was up by 0.63% and Bitcoin SV, rose just under 1%.

The outbreak is only getting worse: A World Health Organization report yesterday confirmed that 142,539 have the virus (9,769 new cases since Friday), and 5,393 have died (an increase of 438).

And the global economy already took this weeks news badly. The Dow Jones index fell 10% on Thursday, its worst performance in over 30 years, before rebounding slightly on Friday.

Bitcoin, which doesnt have the circuit breaker mechanisms of traditional markets, which temporarily cease trading if things get too rough, fared even worse.

But despite a big sell-off earlier in the week, Nic Carter, a partner at crypto venture capital firm Castle Island Ventures, said that most of the Bitcoin was traded between exchanges, and that it would be much more worrying if long-term holders were selling off their crypto assets.

After crypto's quiet weekend, all hell may break loose once again when global markets open for trading tomorrow.

The views and opinions expressed by the author are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice.

Excerpt from:
After coronavirus panic, Bitcoin has quietest weekend in over a month - Decrypt